Talisman

I know an awful lot of authors Adam on all five continents of the world, and I have never met or corresponded with any who were paid to write their books. The better known ones maybe who have a good track record and established careers, but these are very much in the minority and it takes years and several books to get to this point. Most of the time you write the book, tout it around agents and publishers for a year or so, and if you are lucky, two years later they might publish it and give you an advance of maybe

Thank you for saying so !

Books have the power to change not only lives, but the whole world, and yet we pay footballers and celebrities obscene amounts of money. There seems to be a unspoken belief that you should not be able to make a living from going something that the world benefits from - hence nurses and teachers are in the same boat. What a topsy turvy world we live in ! Point taken though - I am not trying to tell people what to do (I would never do that) just tell it like it is from the writers point of view. Writers may understand that the chances of writing a best seller and making loads of money are slim, but we try anyway because we always hope that we may be the one in a million (or whatever the figure is) that gets lucky. It is the same reason that millions buy lottery tickets every week ...

I looked them up in my copy of the Writers and Artists Yearbook, but they are not listed. I can only assume then that either they no longer exist or were taken over by another company. Is there an address in any of these books where you could maybe contact them, or maybe try and track down some of their authors to see if they know ?

Yesterday I had an artichoke salad with a bag of crisps

I understand what everyone is saying and don't want to make a big thing of this, since I know that most of the members here are not necessarily writers as well, but in actual fact the majority of us writers did not know that this was the situation before we wrote our books. If you read books for aspiring authors on how to get published they are filled with how this writer and that writer got a huge advance and sold this many books, blah, blah, blah, but what they don't say is that these are the top 1 percent of writers worldwide and the majority are living pretty much in what we call poverty. One man I know, a well known writer who has written best sellers lives in a drafty old caravan and grows his own veg because he can't afford to go to the supermarket ! He drives an old banger which is on its last legs and doesn't know what he will do once it stops working. Another writer I know, another well known man, who has written around 20 books and been published worldwide was considering filing for bankruptcy at one point ! It takes considerable time money and effort to write a good book - in my case five years. It cost me around £5000 to write the book and publication costs were a further £1500 on top of that. Because I self published (a whole other story) there is no one to help me with publicity - add to that then expenses such as telephone calls, internet charges, postage and paper etc, not to mention petrol and the cost of sending out umpteen free review copies, and it adds up to some considerable sum. I am nowhere near to even breaking even let alone covering my costs. I know lots of other writers in the same boat as well, who feel basically let down by the industry. I know what you are saying, that money is tight and so people buy used books etc, but to be honest I would rather they were borrowed from the library as at least then I would get public lending rights (the princely sum of 5 pence). I do not think it is a lot to ask - after all put it this way - if I make £1.60 per book and it took five years to write - would you work full time up to 60 hours a week for 32 pence a year - or 0.0001 pence per hour ! You don't have to be mad to do this but it certainly helps ! As for books being expensive - they are many costs involved in the process and lots of people needing to be paid - the author him or herself, the editor, proof reader, illustrator, indexer, cover designer, typesetter, printer, etc, etc, the list is endless. It is a complicated process that you have to get right and this costs money. Add to this the fact that only one third of books actually make money at all and a third are published at a loss, the successful titles thus subsidise those that are less so. I think then all things conisdered, the majority of books are more than fairly priced. June

I suppose I shouldn't really say this, as I have bought used books myself in the past (albeit mostly out of print ones), but buying them in this way does the author no favours whatsoever. Most of us are struggling to make ends meet as it is - a recent survey by the Society of Authors found that the majority of their members earn less than

Quorn Pate on buttered rice cakes with a large salad - batavia lettuce, cherry tomatoes, spring onions, celery, beetroot and sweetcorn washed down with a nice cup of tea

Roobosch with rice milk (I try to avoid dairy) or when I need caffeine English Breakfast or Assam June

I have a wheat free diet so pancakes and toast are off the menu for me, except when I travel and take wheat free bread with me (it is a very expensive treat). Most cereals are off the menu as well, since they are also wheat based. I tend to have things like millet or oat flakes then with rice milk or sometimes just fruit and yoghurt. June

Michael Buble and Amy Winehouse. Will be getting the new Katie Melua next I expect.

Heroes and Ugly Betty

So many I don't know where to start ! The Colour Purple What Dreams May Come What the Bleep American Beauty Life is Beautiful Gladiator All the Babylon 5 movies (American sci fi series) Star Trek Voyage Home Star Trek First Contact Star Wars When the Whales Came

Yesterdays lunch was Wheat free pasta with stir in Dolmio sauce, marinated artichokes, cherry tomatoes and black olivees with sprouting broccoli and carrots. Today I am volunteering for the National Trust so it is a bit simpler and will be a cold lunch Rice cakes with red pepper humous and a large salad, no doubt followed by the obligatory wheat free cake ! June

The last show I went to was 2 naked men contorting a certain part of their anatomy into weird and wonderful shapes which were then projected onto a screen ! Not the sort of thing I normally go to you understand ... I am shy and retiring really ... June

veggie burger and chips !

Thanks for the welcome everyone. Didn't notice the gender squiggle, but yes, you are correct in thinking I am female (well was last time I looked anyway!). June

I have 3 large book cases full of all different titles - mbs, religion, ancient history, cook books, travel books, novels, you name it I have them. 2 of the cases are in the living room, with the 3rd one in my partners work room. My wriitng books though (and spare copies of my own book) are kept in my own somewhat smaller work room. June

I am a non fiction writer from south east England, predominantly on the subjects of alternative history, religion and mind, body and spirit. Quite weighty subjects. I have also published one book - Genesis of Man, the first edition last year, but with a second updated edition in May of this year. I can't remember where I found the link to this site now, but look forward to getting to know you all. June