04-22-05 @ 1:40 am EDT

By now, it doesn't even lift a flutter in my chest.

Tehuti 88,

The following review has been submitted to: Manitou Island Chapter: 1

From: Josh Cooper([e-mail omitted])

I am Intrrested in publishing this book and any future books your write
please contact me ASAP, I am amazed by your writing. Josh Cooper of
Cooper Publishing and Cooper and Crokett films

WHATEVER.

What kind of publisher leaves a note on your story, when your private e-mail is right there on your profile, which is linked from said story?

What sort of publisher can't spell particular words? (Intrrested, "your write")

And what sort of publisher insists, on the basis of ONE work, that they are interested in ANY of your work?

Uh-huh, whatever.

I remember the last and only other time a "publisher" showed interest in any of my stuff. It was a note left in my Per guestbook, I believe, which would make it for Horus. Left in my GUESTBOOK, when I HAVE and ALWAYS HAVE HAD my e-mail right on the site. That was the first tipoff. And guess what? They were a subsidy publisher. That is, a VANITY PRESS. YOU pay, and THEY publish you. Oh. You also have to do all the legwork--that is, publicizing your book, getting out word of mouth, getting it in the stores, and actually convincing people to BUY it. In short...they print the thing and take your money, and that's it. The same thing I could do on my home printer. Only maybe a teeny bit nicer looking.

Still, I looked up "Cooper Publishing" at Google and did hit a website. It hasn't been updated since 2003. Didn't mention subsidy publishing, but looks very small, and doesn't look like it's geared toward novelists. Doesn't even have its own domain. Can't even be sure this person who commented on my story is even affiliated with it.

I could not find any mention at Google of "Cooper & Crokett Films."

So...thank you, but no thank you. I'm not THAT naive anymore.

Just wish I knew how to write to this person to tell them no thanks without being rude. Should I just ignore it altogether? There IS the slightest chance it's a teeny publisher which would not have my best interests at heart and it would at least be polite to tell them no. Because even being snotty to somebody who might want to rip me off could get me a bad reputation (not that that matters, but still...). My first instinct is to just fire off an e-mail saying, "Ha ha, very funny. No thanks," because honestly, based on the first several (by now VERY cheesy and crappy) chapters of Manitou Island, WHAT publisher in their right mind would want to publish THAT? Much less anything else of mine? By now I recognize that story needs a serious rewrite, and any REAL publisher wouldn't be in the least bit interested in TOUCHING it as it is. Even rewritten, who would want to publish a 380,000-word story from a no-name writer? A story that has already had its rights compromised by posting it online? NOBODY.

The cynical part of me believes there is somebody sitting out there snickering their ass off thinking they've got some stupid girl believing her story stands a chance.

Nope, they don't have me doing that. They just have me wondering how to say, "No thanks, whatever" without coming across as a total bitch.

I know, I think about things entirely too much, but in the slighest chance it's a real guy, however misled, I hate appearing so rude. *sigh*

On the other hand, did get a comment on TAC's main folder, which was nice.

Don't really have anything left to say, I guess. Just wanted to express my utter cynicism. Maybe a few years back, I would have been all jazzed by a note like that, but now I know much better. There's more than one reason why I changed my handle to "Tehuti Gives Up." No, it doesn't have to do with quitting writing, because I'm not. But it has plenty to do with quitting trying to interest people in said writing. Especially publishers. I have better things to do with my time than subject myself to inevitable disappointment.