Publish and be damned

Sometimes I dream of publishing a book. Yes, a real book, not a virtual one...

I enjoy writing, sharing my wanderings (or should I call it wanderlust?) using both words and pictures, sharing thoughts, random and organized. For now, I am using the web as my publication tool, with my bicycling journals, photo galleries, and blogs, using my denisegoldberg.com site to link all of the pieces together. But even with the reach of the Internet, I still dream of publishing on (real) paper.

I just started reading "Moods of Future Joys" by Alistair Humphreys, a cyclist who spent four years riding his bicycle around the world. I don't know why, but as I opened the book the name of the publisher leaped off of the page at me: Publish and be damned. Just below the publisher's name was their web address. for the past four years. And guess what - they are an independent publisher that publishes books for a fee. I think the more classic method of publishing would be to search for a publisher and convince them that my writing (when I actually do put something together!) is worth publishing. This comes at the publication game from another angle - pay a fee to publish a book, which is then set up for print-on-demand with listings in online bookstores. I would set the price of the book, and get a paid a small amount for each book sold. Hmmm. That's something to think about.

Oh, you're right, I do need to write the book first. And remember, publish and be damned. Someday.