Well GURLZ and GHOULZ, it has taken slightly over 5 years here @ AD - and I had not checked my STATS for awhile - to my astonishment, just now I realized -
253,690 HITS, or visits - not bad for a - poor, old, undiscovered, underpaid, amateur writer, huh?
To be sure, I have not earned any money posting here - BUT - I've earned the respect of a handful of fellow/fellowess Authors, and made a couple of Friends, that ain't half bad, is it?
As I rapidly approach Age 68, I am still pleased that I am STILL - ALIVE - HAPPY - and LEARNING!
Heck, maybe even some day I will wake up, and actually send SOMETHING SOMEWHERE and get PAID some minor monetary tribute - MAYBE?
In the infamous words of EX-PREZ Richard Millhouse Nixon - "Let me say this about that ..."
Yes, it was around February 2003, when I discovered Authors Den. Previously, I had posted my ‘pearls of wisdom’ elsewhere, on a Yahoo site I think? For a couple of years, I was enthralled by the comments of another group of authors, poets, and writers. In fact, several of the people there thought I should be one of their Resident Paid Advisors; but politics got in the way, and certain ‘cliques’ were opposed, so they did not “Make It So!”
As fate would have it, a friend of one of my nieces, who had moved here from Australia to get help for her son, who had a learning deficit, introduced me to none other than, good old Publish America! At the time, I was more naïve than now, was quite impressed, and ultimately signed their one-sided contract for the publication of my first book - “BAWLMER, MERLYN - Home of The HONS.” Which they CANCELLED, one year later, for ‘lack of demand.’ WHAT A FARCE!
Why would someone LOCK you into a SEVEN YEAR CONTRACT and then cancel before anyone even knew the book existed? Because I caught them in LIES, told them so, and would not SUCCUMB to their GESTAPO TACTICS - that's why! CAVEAT EMPTOR!
Shortly thereafter, I found out that my Aussie friend, Janice, had ‘problems’ with PA and cancelled her book - she was going to self-publish. As a result, I did some research and found out that other authors had severe problems also - some of them were from AD.
But before that happened, I was also introduced to AD, visited, read, commented, and finally joined. As they say, “The Rest is History!”
Anyway, for the benefit of any new aspiring authors here at AD, I believe that the money I pay as a GOLD member is well spent. The features and benefits, as well as the good PEOPLE here, make the endeavor worthwhile.
Should the FATES ever decide that my MUSES are alive, well, and functioning - and I get discovered, and make a whole bunch of MONEY - I shall not forget my ‘ROOTS’ here!
In closing, at the risk of getting a really BIG SWELLED HEAD ---
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