Cold Open: The Agent Wall

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Yes, I've published hundreds of things over the last 60 years, but I've never published a book. And everything I knew said, well, gee whiz, you need an agent, and the agent needs to take it to a publisher, and you do that. So I spent two years looking for an agent. And I must have talked to and subsc uh corresponded with over a hundred. And nobody had any any interest whatsoever. And I was talking with a friend who'd published a number of books, and I said, Bert, you know, how did you get an agent? He said, Are you trying to get an agent? You don't want to do that. He said, I've given up with agents. He said, Uh, you know, the new thing is you got to publish it yourself. And I said, Vantage Press? He said, No, no, that that's ancient history.

Host Intro And Guest Bio

SPEAKER_03 0:50

Hi friends, this is Read and Write with Natasha Podcast. My name is Natasha Tines, and I'm an author and a journalist. In this channel, I talk about the writing life, review books, and interview authors. Hope you enjoy the journal. Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of Read and Write with Natasha. I have today with me Bill William, whose career spans journalism, broadcasting, and communications, from working as a photographer and a writer while earning his degree at Texas Tech, to directing instructional television, running a media consulting firm in Washington, D.C., and serving as FEMA's first director of news and information during major events like the Three Mile Island Crisis and the eruption of Mount San St. Helens. Now he's turned his decades of experience and wit into a book series, 20 years of internet humor, and some other interesting things based on years of sharing his daily thought of the day online. So, Bill, so nice to have you here on the podcast. And it's fun to have a fellow journalist

Pivot From Media To Humor

SPEAKER_03 2:08

as well. So, and so I'm curious, Bill, so you pivot from journalism to a completely different topic, which is humor. How did that happen?

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Well, uh, it was basically I've had uh a bunch of things in addition to journalism. Like you said, I started on a newspaper, but uh I've written for uh motion pictures and television. I was a member of the writers' guild the whole bit. But uh when the uh technology came in and changed uh film and TV to make it all digital, I decided I'm too old for learn something new like that. So I changed careers and became a financial advisor. Okay.

Birth Of The Daily Thought

SPEAKER_00 2:44

And uh I was managing a batch of sales folks in the Midwest uh back in the 90s, and the email just came out. Everybody heard about email, but nobody used it. They didn't know what it was, what it could do. And my sales folks all had email, but they never read it. So I decided to send them a thought for the day, which was typically funny, humorous, uh inspirational. And it worked. They started reading their emails, and better yet, they started uh sharing some of these stories with their clients, and it helped their sales a lot, that's for sure. And then the clients said, Hey, could we get on that list too? And I said, Hey, there's no postage, why not? We'll send it to anybody that wants it. And so now, 30 years later, I'm still sending out that thought for the day to anybody who would like to get it. And I've got people reading it all over the U.S., I've got people in Europe, I've got people in Asia, I've got people in Australia that are getting this thing. So that's where it originated with the humor.

Why Humor Now

SPEAKER_00 3:41

And then after uh, you know, a couple years ago, when the discourse in this country started getting angry and upset, and everybody's yelling at everybody else, I thought people need to laugh. And so maybe I can put some of this stuff into a book. And I took it to a publisher and they said, This is not a book, this is a series of books. Probably have 10 or 12 volumes here. Oh wow. The first volume came out uh the first of the year, so uh that's where it came from, and that's how it got started.

First Volume And Format

SPEAKER_03 4:09

Oh wow, congrats on on publishing

Sample Stories And Sourcing

SPEAKER_03 4:12

it. So, can you give us an an example of uh a a daily thought of the day? Like what what do you actually talk about?

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Well, basically there's stories that people have sent in to me. And you know, one of the uh easier ones to think about was uh a story about uh a mother and her son, Jimmy. They'd been out shopping at the store and they came home and uh Jennifer said when they got there, Jimmy ran into the kitchen with a bag of groceries and started taking things out and dug out a box of animal crackers. Opened the box of animal crackers and started spreading them all over the kitchen table. And he says, Jimmy, what are you doing? He said, Mom, when we bought this box of crackers, it said if the seal is broken, don't eat them, so I'm looking for the seal.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

That is funny. And where did you get this idea from?

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Well, like I say, people send these things to me. I've got a whole file drawer full of uh stories that people have sent me. And I just try to edit them to where they're acceptable because many of them are, shall we say, a little touchy, and uh try to get them to for a general audience before I use them. That's just one from uh some something somebody sent me years ago.

SPEAKER_03 5:26

So how many subscribers do you have to your newsletter?

Audience Growth And Word Of Mouth

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Currently I've got about 500. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

But I've I've had, you know, many, many more that come and go and come and go because it's free and you can take it for a while, and then somebody else comes on. So on the other hand, I've got people who've been with me all 30 years.

SPEAKER_03 5:46

Oh wow. So how did these people find you? So because you started at your job, right? Like your your colleagues, and how did you expand to hundreds of people reading this?

SPEAKER_00 5:56

People would share it, they'd send it to somebody else, and somebody would say, Hey, can I get on it? And uh, sure, why not? And uh I haven't really been advertising it, it's just been word of mouth from people hearing about it. But now that the book is out, I'm starting to get more people signing up for it, going to my website and signing up for it. So that's fun. It's uh just growing that way.

SPEAKER_03 6:18

That's I mean, it's as you said, it's definitely definitely highly needed, especially these days.

“Bizarre” Bits And The Laugh Line

SPEAKER_03 6:24

So, what was like kind of the most bizarre story or that was sent to you, if you can think of substance?

SPEAKER_00 6:34

There have been so many, and I I can't really think of well, I can think of one thing that has definitely uh caused a lot of consider uh con it's one of those things men love it and women hate it. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

Ah, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Okay, so I I'll get off on the bad side of you to start with. But uh this couple and their young son went to a wedding. And after the wedding, uh boy uh said to his mother, Mom, why are the wedding dresses always white? And she looked at him and said, Son, that's to show everybody that the bride is pure. And she said, he said, thought to himself, I'm gonna ask Dad. He says, Dad, why are wedding dresses always white? And dad looked at him and said, Son, don't you know all kitchen appliances come in white?

SPEAKER_03 7:27

Uh so basically saying that she's gonna be in the kitchen. And he wondered why women did not like it. Man, that dad is in a lot of trouble.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

But you're laughing, right? That's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Yeah, I mean, I I I have I have an open mind, so it's a good uh I mean I'm the one who cooks around the house, but anyways, regardless.

The Publishing Maze

SPEAKER_03 8:01

So I'm actually curious about your publishing journey, right? So you decided to publish it at the book. How okay, so who gave you the idea? Did you did you come up with it or someone suggested it? And how did you start? Did you get an agent, traditional publisher? How was your journey?

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Well, my journey in that was yes, I've published hundreds of things over the last 60 years, but I've never published a book.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

And everything I knew said, well, gee whiz, you need an agent, and the agent needs to take it to a publisher, and you do that. So I spent two years looking for an agent. And I must have talked to and subscribe uh corresponded with over a hundred. And nobody had any any interest whatsoever.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

And I was talking with a friend who'd published a number of books, and I said, Bert, you know, how did you get an agent? He said, Are you trying to get an agent? You don't want to do that. He said, I've given up with agents.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

He said, Uh, you know, the new thing is you gotta publish it yourself. And I said, Vantage Press? He said, No, no, that that's ancient history.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Yeah.

Choosing A Hybrid Path

SPEAKER_00 9:10

But now we have what are called hybrid publishers who will work with you, provide editorial services and everything, and then get it out. So I looked around and did a uh research on the hybrid publishers and picked one I thought would work out very well. And so far it has, Fulton Fulton Books in uh Meadville, Pennsylvania. They've done a very good job editing the book and putting it together, and uh I really like the way it looks. And so we did that. And uh I'm convinced that that seems to be the way to go these days because I certainly didn't get an agent. On the other hand, now that the book's out, I have people pounding on my door and filling my email basket saying, Why don't you do business with us now?

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

What kind of business?

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Yeah, let us publish your next book or let us represent you with the big publisher.

SPEAKER_03 10:00

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

You know, those kinds of things. Said, where were you when I needed you?

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Wow, and how did they find you, like after you self-published? How did did you promote your book to the degree that it attracts agents and publishers?

Early Buzz And Events

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Well, I have publicized it on Facebook, I've publicized it on LinkedIn and uh a number of other places, but uh basically just through my emails. And uh what I have found is the fact that because it's on Amazon, Amazon gives all the information about the publisher and how to contact the author and all that sort of stuff. And I'm sure that's how most people get are getting in touch with me. But I'd say I probably have two or three, maybe a day, contacting me about wanting to work with me.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

Oh wow. That that must feel good. Well, uh, it's kind of like validates your work at that, you know, you're you're so what are you gonna do? Are you gonna work with them or are you gonna stick with self-publishing?

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Well, I I'm happy with Fulton right now with you know what they've done for me.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

And uh they've done a very nice job in publicizing it. They put out a nice little uh film that uh they put on Instagram and uh a number of the other social media. And I'm also working with uh Steve Harrison and Jack Canfield, who uh did Chicken Soup for the Soul, has been a consultant with me and helping me get this thing going too.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

Yeah, I actually spoke with another person right before you who uh used the same person as well to to work on their book, so it's interesting. All right, so in terms of of marketing, how has the book been selling and what do you think was your best marketing tactic that resulted in a high ROI?

SPEAKER_00 11:57

That's a very good ex question, and I don't really have a good answer for you because it hasn't been out for a full quarter yet. The publishers only give reports on how you've actually done at the end of a quarter. So anything I know is basically uh what I've heard through the grapevine, so to speak. But I've been getting a lot of very good reviews that are showing up on Amazon and Books a Million and Goodreads and things like that. And I'm going out and making presentations. I've got a library, a local library that I'm doing a book fair for, and I'll be out in Los Angeles for the Los Angeles Book Fair in April. So, you know, I'm I I'm selling the book on my own, uh, you know, personally out uh representing myself and showing it to people and markets.

SPEAKER_03 12:49

What are what are you doing to set it besides going to events?

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Basically, uh uh using promotion on my thought for the

Process: Curating And Editing

SPEAKER_00 12:58

day thing. Every every time I send something out with that, there's a a little ad in that, you know, you can sign up here, you can sign up there. But I am still in the learning stage because as I mentioned, this is my first book, and I've never had to sell a book before and uh trying things that work, and I'm sure I'm trying a bunch of things that aren't gonna work.

SPEAKER_03 13:21

Are you paying for ads?

SPEAKER_00 13:23

I have not paid for any ads so far.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

Okay, okay, just curious.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

But that doesn't mean I'm not going to, it's just one thing at a time. See what works.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

Do you have your own publicist or do you you are your own publicist?

SPEAKER_00 13:38

I I am my own publicist.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

Okay, okay, well.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Because I'm still working as a financial advisor, too, so it's not like I have nothing else to do.

SPEAKER_03 13:46

Oh, well, I saw you still work full-time plus writing the book, plus marketing. Oh, wow. Right. You're you're busy. So when you wrote the book, did you just compile everything? And did you actually have to add material? How was like the process of creating the book?

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Well, when I first started creating the book, what I started doing was going back through the files and putting a whole stack of stories together. And then I thought to myself, how do I pick them out? And I said, Well, let's just take it logically. I'll pick some that start with A, some that start with B, some that start with C, and went through the alphabet.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

And got about uh close to 200 books for or 200 articles for this first book. And it was just alphabetical. I got A through Z. And uh that's probably what I'll be doing in the future, too, because it gives a good mix of things. And uh the first book show has uh stories from 2005 up to 2023, and uh it's a good mix, you know, from a bunch of different uh contributors, and so there's a lot in there, and it covers everything

Reader Reception And Use Cases

SPEAKER_00 14:55

out. So some things are historical, some things are patriotic, some things are just funny. It's the actual book is 20 years of internet humor and other interesting things. So we've got the but the whole gamut covered there.

SPEAKER_03 15:10

So, what was the reaction to the book? Like you mentioned, you got a lot of good reviews. What what are they saying?

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Uh they are saying this is a great coffee table book. I can sit down and start it and uh, you know, uh read it for five minutes and pick it up again, and I haven't missed a thing. And that's basically what it would be very good for is to sit next to your bed and you know, you read uh a couple stories and go to bed, and when you get up in the morning and read another couple stories and start the day with a smile. That's what I tell people that you know, get my thought for the day because when you wake up in the morning it'll be in your inbox and there's something to smile about.

Pipeline: Volumes Two And Three

SPEAKER_03 15:48

So you mentioned that you the publishers said that this is like not only one book but a series of books, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:57

So are you working on a second book now? What what are you doing? What are you doing about it?

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Second book is ready to go. I'm you know, actually the ther the third book is just about ready to go, too. I'm just waiting to see how this works and see what changes I need to make in the second one because it's only been out for two months now. So uh I'm I'm still listening to getting responses from people around the country.

SPEAKER_03 16:24

So you have 200 stories per each book? How many stories do you have?

SPEAKER_00 16:29

About that, yeah. Okay. This one I think is 189. Not exactly 200, but close to it.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

And how many stories do you have in total?

SPEAKER_00 16:38

Well, I know I've got about 2,500.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

So you have like that I've edited.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

I've got others that have not edited yet.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

Okay, okay.

Routine, Output, And Balance

SPEAKER_03 16:48

So for you to have such a busy schedule and also manage to write books on the side, you must have to have like develop good, like a discipline, a good writing habit. So what is your writing routine or your writing habit that makes you manage to do all of that?

SPEAKER_00 17:53

Keep at it. Okay. You know, I uh typically get up in the morning and go to the gym, and then when I get through with that, I come in and spend a couple hours writing. And uh since I'm doing something every day on the internet, I try to keep at least a week or so ahead of that thing so that I don't oh, I forgot to do something today. It's it's already set up and running. And uh my wife thinks I spend entirely too much time doing this.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

So she wants your attention. So how how many hours a day do you spend on this?

SPEAKER_00 18:25

Well, I would probably say I would do 10 to 12 hours, not just on this, but on my other things as well, you know. So that that's easy to say if 12 hours is not a bad day.

SPEAKER_03 18:38

12 hours on working on your job plus the writing?

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Right.

unknown 18:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Okay. So 12 hours of writing a day?

SPEAKER_00 18:46

No, no, no. Of both combination.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Ah, okay. Okay, okay. Oh, wow. So you're coming on podcasts, uh, you're you're signing books, you have your email address. Have you ever thought of, you know, like recording videos, reading something from a joke on like and posted it on TikTok to I don't know, attract a younger audience?

SPEAKER_00 19:10

I will have to admit, I have never thought of that.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

That's a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

I've never been on TikTok. I don't know TikTok. I'm not a big social media person. The fact that I'm on Facebook is, you know, still something new to me.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

Yeah, yeah. I mean, because what meant what's happening now is uh I'm not sure if you've been following the news, like Barza Nob Noble opened, I don't know, like tens of new uh or they announced the opening of tens of new stores now because people are reading again. And that's because of the power of TikTok or book talk that's driving, especially younger generation to reading. So I was thinking of for you since you have these like small stories uh or small jokes,

Social Video As A Growth Idea

SPEAKER_03 19:57

it's a perfect format for for small uh or short videos like reels on Instagram, even on Facebook or TikTok of you just reading a joke or two just to attract the people to your book.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

So that's just I love that idea. I you know, I really never thought of that. And like I said, I've never been on TikTok, so I I I don't know what what all is involved, but uh I appreciate the idea and I will definitely give that some consideration.

SPEAKER_03 20:27

You can even do it on Facebook. All you have to do is just put your uh camera horizontally, say the joke, and upload it, and that's it.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Okay. I'm learning something new every day.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

Good, good. Well, I'm I'm I'm glad I inspired you. Uh all right, what else? Um, okay. So Um how many books do you see coming out of this series?

SPEAKER_00 20:51

I'd be looking at ten to twelve right off the top of my head.

SPEAKER_03 20:55

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

And then, you know, once I get all the stories into books, what I'm thinking about doing is putting out some additional volumes with one volume just dedicated to kids, and one volume just dedicated to, for example, aging, and one dedicated to marriage, and you know, things of that nature with marriage jokes and kid jokes and religion jokes, so that they have a topic for the book, not just some of everything.

SPEAKER_03 21:23

Oh, this is great. So you're like it's you're becoming like the chicken soup for the soul, but for humor.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

It's chicken soup for the heart.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

And then uh I have a bunch of people who have contributed, you know, dozens and dozens of these things, and I could put a book put out uh an issue just for Jim Smith's books, uh Jim Smith's story. You

Series Vision And Spin-Offs

SPEAKER_00 21:47

know, so there's a lot of possibilities there. And then when I get tired of that, I've got a couple books in my mind that I'd like to just write myself, you know.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

Like what?

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Spent 20 years in Washington, and uh my experiences there would be a a good topic for a book called Tales from the Swamp.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

Well, I'm in the DC area, so I I hear you. Um I live like outside of DC in Rockville, Maryland.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

So I was in Springfield, Virginia, so other side of town.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um so you're you think your future books will like analyzing the crazy life of of the Beltway? Is is that where like you're going with it?

SPEAKER_00 22:27

No, not so much that as telling stories about my experiences as a government contractor.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

Some of the Ah, that's a hot topic these days.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_03 22:39

And in what sense, yeah, because now uh government contractors are in it in dire straits.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Well, the government employees are in pretty bad straits right now, too.

SPEAKER_03 22:49

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. Um, so if if you want to advise someone who wants to start a book and have the discipline that you have and actually map make it to the end line, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Well, the first thing I tell them is writing a book is just the start.

SPEAKER_03 23:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Okay. And I have worked with many writers. I know many writers. As a matter of fact, I'm in a couple of writing clubs. And what I see all the time is that once they get the book out, they think, okay, I'm done. That's all. But then the work is really just getting started. Because if you don't get out and market it, it's never gonna go any place. And if you ask Amazon, you know, they'll say the average book only sells a hundred copies or two hundred

Future Books Beyond Humor

SPEAKER_00 23:32

copies.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Okay. Because the person who wrote it said, Okay, I'm done. I wrote the book, I'm I'm finished. But if you do that, it's not gonna go anyplace. It's not going to, you know, get a big audience. And that's unfortunate because there's a lot of stuff out there that really should have a good audience. They just have never marketed it.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

Yeah, yeah, that's true. So, you know, there are a number of humor writers out there, right? Uh, David Sidaris and other do you have a favorite one that sort of inspired you to start this venture?

SPEAKER_00 24:05

No, honestly, I don't. I like, you know, some of everybody's stuff, okay. And uh for the I've been very fortunate in that the my readers have been sending me things that uh have kept me going on this thing, because I certainly haven't been writing a daily thing for 30 years. The vast majority of what I've got are things that other people have sent in. And I've adapted or edited and you know modified to fit into the format. So it gives me a lot of uh a lot of raw material to work with. And each each of the stories in there tells where it came from, who gave it to me, and when it actually first appeared.

SPEAKER_03 24:45

I also like to ask uh anyone who comes here about

Advice: Writing Is Half The Job

SPEAKER_03 24:49

uh what are they reading these days? Uh what are you reading these days? A book that uh you know you you can't stop can't put down, uh just you know, because we have a lot of readers who listen to this show.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Well, I have a couple of favorite authors, and Bernard Cornwell's one of them for historical.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

Which one?

SPEAKER_00 25:08

Bernard Cornwell, okay. Okay uh who writes some fantastic historical material and uh yes it's fiction, but uh right now I'm uh going through his uh the uh Archer series for about the third time uh over the last 20 years. Okay and then another uh uh great uh favorite of mine was W. E. B. Griffin, who uh was writing military stories, the you know, the generals, the lieutenants, uh fantastic stuff. And I grew up on a military b background with on military bases, and he's got 20 or 30 books out. And I I would love for him not to have died and the books to continue because I think I have his entire collection. So yeah, I read a lot of that.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

All right, so how can um listeners or viewers reach you? Or if

Influences And Attributions

SPEAKER_03 26:09

they want to submit a story to you, how do they how can they submit it? How do they get in touch? Where do they find your book? All of that.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

Okay, well, the book is available, 20 years of internet humor, and it's available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It's all all the major bookstores and a lot of the independents too. Or they can reach me directly at bill at wgwilliams.com, okay, which is my personal website, or bill at 20 years of internet humor, all one longword.com. And that uh tells what's going on and as it gives gives them a place to sign up and get the emails.

SPEAKER_03 26:46

Do you accept all stories or do you reject some?

SPEAKER_00 26:49

Oh, I no, I I don't accept them all, uh, because some of them are quite frankly I can't even make socially acceptable.

SPEAKER_03 26:56

So what is your what is your criteria for accepting these stories? If I want to submit something to you, what what should I be uh paying attention to?

SPEAKER_00 27:04

I would like for it to be interesting. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:06

Define interesting.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Defined interesting uh could be humorous, it could be historical, it could be something that keeps my attention.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Okay. It can be as much as a paragraph or two, but I've run a bunch of very, very short ones. It can be three or four or

What He’s Reading Now

SPEAKER_00 27:20

five pages, you know, if it keeps my attention.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

I I do not use stuff that, you know, people send me things that they've found in a magazine or something that's copyrighted. I don't you do that, you don't use the copyrighted material unless I can get the copyright permission. And yeah, I do check that. But any good writer has been rejected more than once. And I've certainly got my own file of rejections. But uh give it a shot. It doesn't cost anything, and then I'm not paying for them either. So uh on the other hand, the fact that you can say you are a published author, you know, here here's a copy of the book that I'm in, that sort of thing. So people like that.

SPEAKER_03 28:01

It's a good incentive. So do you have any uh final words,

Where To Find The Book

SPEAKER_03 28:04

uh a piece of advice, anything for for our uh viewers or listeners before we conclude?

SPEAKER_00 28:10

No, I'd say, you know, hey, send me something. You know, the worst thing that can happen is I'll say thank you, but I can't use it. And that's something else again, with all of this stuff in here. I've got a great memory. And many of these things I've seen 20 or 30 times come to me because hey, I saw this.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

The same one?

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Same, the same story over and over and over again.

SPEAKER_03 28:31

They keep sending it hoping for you to change your mind.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

No, no, not the same person, but many different people sending me the same story that they found on the internet.

SPEAKER_03 28:40

Ah, that they found internet. Ah, okay, okay, I see. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

And so I I keep a track of where they are, you know. And if this looks familiar, I'll check my files. And if I've already run it, I'm not gonna run it again.

SPEAKER_03 28:53

I see. I see. Do you do when you get back to them, do you give them another chance to kind of fix what they

Submission Guidelines And Ethics

SPEAKER_03 29:01

send and send it back? Do you give them feedback or no?

SPEAKER_00 29:04

Or you just uh uh I I would have to say that with the number I get, uh mostly I'll say thank you. Uh if I can use it, I'll put it aside. And I've frankly, Natasha, I've still got some from 2005 that I haven't had a chance to run yet.

SPEAKER_03 29:21

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

So uh it's it's not like it's gonna be appearing tomorrow, or it could be. If it's very topical, it could be appearing. Well, not tomorrow because that's already set up, but you know, next week.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

So I guess people gotta have patience. Well, uh thank you so much for joining me, and thank you for the laugh. It was fun to to laugh. And I I I know this is the whole point of your book is you know, it's through the harsh times and the hard but a political climate. So, whatever you're going through, it's it's always nice to laugh. And on that note, um, thank you everyone for joining us today for another episode of Read and Write with Natasha, and until we meet again. Thank you for tuning in to Read

Volume Of Submissions And Patience

SPEAKER_03 30:11

and Write with Natasha. I'm your host, Natasha Tines. If today's episode inspired you in any way, please take the time to review the podcast. Remember to subscribe and share this podcast with fellow book lovers. Until next time.