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I see it everywhere, in every writing magazine I read and wherever I go on the Internet. If you want to publish an e-book you have to set up a web page and then you have to write blogs on it and plug your book. I would love to publish an e-book but the thought of asking people to buy it really puts me off. Of course, you can always say, ‘I have written this book, say, Fifty Shades of Murdering an Agent and then wait and see. But even that wouldn’t be good enough, I am told. You have to make yourself known: visit other people’s sites, turn up at virtual parties when their books are published and buy one in the hope that if yours ever comes out they’ll do you the same favour.
I find the thought of entering the world of Facebook, Twitter and the rest in a serious way so time-consuming, when all I want to do is write stories, that whenever I come close to getting a web site, I procrastinate by writing another book. An adverse reaction to what networking the internet is supposed to do for you, I suppose. But I now have three books waiting for me to process with the dreaded html.
And that’s another thing. I am the kind of person who reads instructions like twist the lid and push off so literally that I twist the lid and go away. Well, not quite; but close. The few things I’ve learnt about the Internet have come mostly from our Jo who is very patient with me. But I have to confess that until recently, I’ve never even tried to do a hyperlink. So my web page would be very dull unless I come into some money and pay somebody to do it.
But now I wonder. In a recent issue of the Sydney Morning Herald I learn that acclaimed writers like Nick Hornsby, Dave Eggers and Zadie Smith have all become addicted to wasting time on the Internet. Apparently, when Zadie Smith thanks freedom and self-control in the acknowledgements in her new novel, NW, she is referring to two applications: Freedom and SelfControl, their sole purpose being to increase productivity by blocking access to the Internet. Perhaps I’ll wait a little longer, and see what happens. The tide might turn.
By the way, if you want to read the article – it’s very interesting – then click on the hyperlink. My first, with the aid of my grandson who came along as I was writing this and insisted that I do it. It’s easy. But will I be able to do it next week? It’s: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/-25i6n.html
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