4/1/24
Newsletter #578
The Crack of Dawn
“Beginnings are easy; endings are hard” – Brian Eno
My good pal, Bruce Campbell, admonished me about a year ago, “You’ve got to publish your books yourself,” just like he does. I said, “But you have fans who buy your books, I don’t.” He said, “It’s not about sales; it’s about finishing.” And of course he’s right. Until a thing is done, it ain’t done. It’s undone, and therefore festers in its own insidious way.
So I finished Hitler in the Madhouse after ten years of screwing around with it. I certainly hope it sells, and I’ve hired an ad agency to push it. Uh-oh, it’s gaining awareness on social media. Yay! But whether it sells a hundred copies, or a hundred- thousand copies doesn’t really mean all that much to me. Seriously. I don’t want to do interviews, or appear on podcasts, get hits, become an influencer, or anything more than I’m presently doing. I would however like people to read my book, and the more the merrier. However, because I enjoyed writing the book, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks.
Anyway, I just “finished” my new book, The Gospel According to Judas. When I say finished, what I mean is that I just sent my revision of the editor’s edited and proofed draft back to her. She will now revise my revisions, but that’s it; it’s done. Probably.
Ultimately, I’ll get whatever I want, even if I’m wrong. I’m paying for the edit and it’s my book. But the remaining issue is the italicizing of foreign words. Specifically, when has a foreign word become an acceptable part of the English language? Like kibitz, for instance. I’m happy at this point to let her make the final decisions, though I’ve already made most of them.
The front and back covers are done. The book designer – Craig “Kif” Sanborn – is presently awaiting the manuscript to put it in a different font, give it the proper formatting for publication, then create Drop Caps for the chapter headings. I love Drop Caps – I didn’t know what they were called until recently – which are when you make a big deal out of the first letter.
I can’t wait to see what Kif comes up with. But it won’t take him very long and then the book will be printed and become an object that I can hold in my hand, and place on the bookshelf with all the other books. It’s done.
The Gospel According to Judas, by the way, is a parody of the New Testament Bible. It just so happens that our former president, Donald Trump, has just gone into the bible business. He says, regarding the number of bibles he owns, he has “many.” When asked which testament he likes better, he said he likes them both the same. His “endorsed” bible, at $59.99, the God Bless the USA Bible, comes with a U.S. Constitution, a Bill of Rights, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Lee Greenwood’s song, God Bless the USA.
Coincidentally, I too collect bibles. I would love for he and I to sit around and discuss various translations and printings. I don’t know about his many bibles (mostly Gideon’s, I’d expect), but I have a 1611 facsimile (which is what the English bible looked like for 400 years), as well as one in Hebrew, Latin, Chinese (with cool illustrations), my first bible that I got from my Hungarian grandmother when she visited Israel when I was 7 years old, illustrated by Gustave Doré.
Who could have possibly known that Trump loved the bible so much? Both testaments. Equally. Or the Constitution? Or the Bill of Rights? Or even the Pledge of Allegiance?
But $59.99? Sorry, not going there.
I recently paid $40 on eBay for a perfect condition family bible from 1860 the size of a phone book. Behold.
We bible collectors welcome you into our club, Mr. Former President.
Today the sun shines.