I think I've mentioned this before, but it always hits me when I'm rewriting. Since I spend a lot of time rewriting, that means I think about it fairly often.

On several of the loops I participate in, I regularly get beat up by saying that if people don't want to pay for their books, pretty soon there won't be any new books for them to read. I've been told writing is such fun, writers will keep on writing. I've also been told that most writers would rather be famous than rich. Leaving aside the issue of whether that's true, and the fact that in America at least, it's hard to be famous without being rich, the whole idea that writing is such a joy that we'll do it even if we know we'll never make a nickle out of it seems rediculous.

It especially seems rediculous when I'm rewriting. Which is what I'm doing these days. I'm up to page 279 of 363 in GOING POSTAL, the latest of the Texas Trailer Park mystery series. There is a certain joy in making books better, but it's not something I'd spend as many hours on as I do if I didn't hope that people would read it--and pay for it. Of course, it may not make me rich--but the hope that it will, or that it'll help me get noticed and help my next book break out, keeps me going. Yeah, I know few authors get rich--but a few do, and more make enough to get by.

My wife, Karen, and I frequently discuss whether books are an entertainment option that will benefit from the weak economy. I'm afraid that the downturn in reading is systemic and not cyclical. She thinks there's no value for your money that comes close to books. Of course I agree with her (I'm her husband--I always agree with her) but I'm not sure the downturn is really helping book sales. Certainly not that I've noticed. Anyone out there have an opinion on this?

I'm going to make REVERSE ANGLE by Cathy Richard Dodson the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. A woman seeking success (fame and wealth) in Hollywood grasps for a final opportunity to break out--she'll make a documentary of the family's moving long-dead Grandmother's coffin across the country in the back of a pickup truck. Dodson combines laugh-out-loud funny with strong emotion and character growth. Great woman's fiction--and only $3.99. Learn more, read the free excerpt, or buy the entire eNovel here: http://www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2006/reverse_angle.html. (Available in HTML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Mobipocket, Palm Reader/eReader, and Palm DOC formats). Here's the cover (cover design by Jim Dodson):

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