Good Books... Are Hard to Find

I’m a little sad today. I’ve been looking for a good book to read, and have been unsuccessful in my efforts.

I find it ironic. We writers—especially those of the self-published persuasion—strive for ‘exposure’ as its known. We want our books to be found, and we want them to be read. All artists crave it: being seen (or heard), and being appreciated.

Yet somehow, even those of us searching for good Indie books seem to have trouble finding them. You can imagine why not many average Joes get contact with the Indie world. But, hey; there’s no point being glum about life. And possibilities do exist—from venerable book bloggers, who do almost as much review writing as we do fiction writing; to all those free social networking sites that let you find more readers; and even to things like reasonably affordable advertising (online ads are cheap compared to traditional alternatives like newspaper ads—let’s not even go into TV).

Part of an artist’s job is to promote, not merely to create. In some ways it is a curse—it can be emotionally draining, tiring and not always easy—but: so is the creating. Success requires work. Art requires passion. If you don’t have that—well, this world may not be for you.

For those of us who succeed, however, the gains can be great.

For now, I shall be reading a well known author: Aristotle. Specifically—his Poetics. It should provide much food for thought, and may even bring with it some practical use, i.e. improve my writing. It’ll give me more background for my A-level philosophy, as well.

If any of you reading have a book they’d like to share—whether it’s your own or not—please do so.

And to finish on a lighter note—here’s a screenshot of my latest desktop theme. I’ve found it very inspiring, especially for the Poem of the Week which I’ve just written. (It’ll be posted tomorrow!)