Okay, I understand: people in your home town see you in the flesh and conclude you can’t be of any importance. It’s hard to impress people who know you.
My books used to occupy a nice place on the shelves at my local library. But since the arrival of a new library director, my books have been banished to a “Local Authors” ghetto in the most remote region of the building, along with Mrs. Gesundheit’s genealogical researches and Grandpa Fongo’s reflections on the best local parade of 1956. One more step, and these books would be under the floorboards.
When I asked the new library director to please restore my books to their former place, she looked at me quizzically, the way Godzilla looks at a power plant before he kicks it to smithereens, and said, “Well, you are self-published, aren’t you?” Like any Local Author couldn’t possibly be good enough to be paid for his work.
For the sake of those among you who do publish your own writing, I will limit the description of my reply to the word “no.”
Anyhow, I looked again today and my books are still in the Local Authors ghetto where no one in this town will ever discover them and read them.
You just can’t make it in your own home town.
You’re in good company, Lee. Jesus had the same problem. 🙂
That’s exactly what I was going to write!
I think the copy of my book that went to the library got thrown into their “used book sale” and never shelved at all. They didn’t even have a local author section. So you’re definitely not alone. You’d think the library would be happy to have you as a local resource to get more kids interested in reading! Maybe it will help you to know my daughter loved Bell Mountain and I had no trouble getting her to write her book report. She is ready and eager for book 2.
Well, Book 2 is ready for her!
Even though I left this comment on the main page, I’m repeating my comment here for emphasis.
Matthew 13:57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
As I said above, you’re in good company, Lee. Jesus had the same problem.
Now if you were a Leftist, Lee, you could scream and yell obscenities and maybe knock over a bookcase or two. Better yet, email Soros and he could send his paid protesters to the library with ready-made banners “This Library is homophobic.”
The previous library director became a good friend of mine, but this new one “knew not Joseph.”
That is truly unjust. Your work is of high quality and is not, by any means, local interest only. Could you imagine if Paul McCartney was relegated to the local artist shelf at every record store in Liverpool. In Nashville, Eddie Arnold was a “local artist”, but he certainly had a much wider market than just his home town.
It’s a shame that you have to be treated thusly.
The damage inflicted is small, but the insult rankles.
It’s probably unintended, but nonetheless hurtful.