2/15/07 - Dust It off, Keep It Swingin'

When in doubt, follow your dreams.

Yesterday during the two hours I was awake I looked up a bunch of lectures and events around the Boston area. Today after working at Espresso Royale in the morning (and sleeping through the entire afternoon... of course... maybe I made my room too cozy) I went to a Q&A session at BU with Webster Bull- founder of Commonwealth Editions, a publishing company he founded out of the trunk of his car (literally) eight years ago which has grown into one of New England's most successful small publishing companies (named 2006 Publisher of the Year by the New England Bookseller's Association).

The lecture was called 'An Informational Evening for Writers'. It sounded pretty bland.

But something was telling me I'd do best to go, so I went to see Webster. And I'm glad I did. I'm not really sure what I was trying to accomplish... he and Caroline, head of the New England Writer's Union asked me the same question: "Are you a writer?" and it was hard for me to answer because I wasn't sure what that meant. Caroline said, 'Well, are you a new writer?' and I replied. 'I guess?' I had no idea what being a writer meant in the publishing world but I had a feeling I was not one, at least in that sense, yet.

I told Webster I've been writing every day of my life for the past seven years. He said he wished every day he could do that, and that was why he started doing what he does. I didn't really see why he couldn't.. it only takes a few minutes.

But then again I realize they might have a different definition of what writing is in the publishing world, just like they have a different definition of what being a writer is.

The session was small, intimate and fantastic. My favorite kind. Webster introduced me to his daughter Martha who is about my brother's age, and about to graduate from U of Chicago and move to NYC. I asked her to contribute to my media project. She said she didn't write creatively, but that she'd written about things she was excited about.

They might have a definition of what writing is in the publishing world, but for my book, I am looking for people writing about things that they are excited about. So Martha will be contributing to the CMP.

There was a lot of insight gained from both the session and my conversations with Webster, a few notable quotes and notions:

- "There is a false dichotomy between being creative and being commerce-oriented" (something I'd been learning a little bit about at my old job... and indeed my brief experience with Oleg has opened doors for creative potential that I didn't know existed... a veritable 'wardrobe to Narnia' so to speak)

- "I started out in Magic" - Webster commenting on how he started out founding a vaudeville-style magic theater company in his late 20s

- On the future of books: "A book is a physical object in the home that tells a person who they are."(A big question in publishing is whether or not books will be replaced by other media. Bull's belief was that 80% of books will be replaced by other media, but that the other 20% would be valued as a physical presence. He referred to the Family Bible, and how once, there was one in every home.)

- On how he got into publishing- "I believe in detours. Take lots of them, take all of them if you can. It's important to surround yourself with the people you want to be around- the people that inspire you and enrich your life. I was fortunate enough to have a lot of mentors, one in particular has been my mentor since I was 19 years old (he is 55) and he has helped me out every step of the way."

Webster also taught me a lot about the business aspect of publishing, tips on what is best self-published versus outsourced, what aspects you can cut financial corners on, and which aspects (copy-editing, book design) you should NOT cut corners on.

Webster also offered to let me use his publishing company's printing rate with his favorite press in Chicago when the time is right. Using his resources, I could have a professionally copy-edited, professionally designed book published in an edition of 2000 for about $2.50 per book. Which is unbelievable.

I'm feeling pretty good about where this is going.

Webster is a great contact to have- he talks about me for a while in his speech which will be in podcast form whenever Chris Kenneally posts it, called "Beyond the Book". I'll keep you updated.

I'm going to make something amazing soon. It's going to be amazing because it is going to be me helping YOU make something amazing. I'm just gathering the skills.

I really did learn something from all this. And I'm going to keep learning, every day.