adz

As I've mentioned before, over at Science Fiction Trails, where I am publisher, we're about to come out with a special Martian issue. One thing I thought odd was that I offered a free ad to every contributor in the issue. Only one person took me up on it and submitted an ad.  I was rather surprised.  I guess I shouldn't have been.  That's one of my biggest frustrations as a publisher. Very few of the contributors to our projects, and especially our books, have ever lifted a finger to help promote them. Nada, nothing. I don't just mean that we can't be bothered to send out a press release or do a reading at a bookstore or library. We can't even bother to list the publication on a blog or website. They don't lift a finger. Yet, they are usually the first ones to grumble about the size of their royalty payments. 

To put it another way, most writers are assholes.  There, I said it.  I've wanted to say it for years.

However, the ad offer was reverse. I wasn't asking them to promote anything I published, but was offering help in promoting books or services that the contributors were involved in. These people had nothing to lose.  I even offered to put the ads together for them--a free basic black and white ad and only one person even bothered. Although I found the lack of response baffling, I was not really surprised. Nothing really surprises me anymore.