Thursday, July 22, 2004

Self Publishing

Rodger Jacobs writes: Jeez, Luke, you're going to bankrupt yourself with all this I-Universe self-publishing. Why don't you wait to see how the "market" welcomes all this Luke Ford scribbling. You should take Amalek's advice and expand the Jewish Journalism book, First: who the hell is going to read that? Second, the problem with journalism today -- your thesis is that JJ is "lousy" -- is not limited to "Jewish" journalism. The interviews you have been posting on the blog have been tear-inducing boring. No one is going to be interested in this subject except the participants involved. Using your premise, if you were assigned to write an article on the plight of pets in county animal shelters would you choose to focus solely on cats? (Or Katz as the case may be)

Anonymous writes: Many of Luke's current problems in life would be ameliorated were he to take Amalek's advice. A book on Jewish ethnic journalism sounds like one of those vanity books gathering dust on the back shelves of every Jewish book store. (You know the kind - "The Happiest Gabbai on Long Island.") I think he is fond of this style of writing because it does not require much additional input beyond the interview. You ask some questions, you get some answers, you edit the answers down a bit, you publish the stuff and presto, you got a new book. Bob Greene of the Chicago Tribune had this down to a science. Column after column, 90% filled with quotes. At a minimum, he ought to broaden the topic to include ethnic journalism in general (which would be a real stretch for him - can you picture Luke interviewing NEGROES?) or something else entirely. How about a book about how gentiles view Jewish journalists? You could get a lot of interesting comments for that one, so long as you don't bother interviewing goyishe Americans.