Reprieve

“The world is too much with us now . . .”  T.S. Elliot.  And so it is with me.  I am posting a day early this week so that I may leave soon on a short sojourn.  In my publication update posted last week my path contains Promethean boulders.  It has been six months since I terminated my publishing contract with the California micro-publisher and the reality of publishing this year remains uncertain.

I have been disappointed that outside my small group of local friends, those offering to help are motivated by the almighty dollar.  Recently one editor proposed both content editing and proofreading.   When I responded that my manuscript had the skills of a retired Journalism Professor for content editing she countered with “many authors have two editors review their work.”  I asked twice for a proposal for only proofreading and the editor didn’t respond.  Her fee for content editing was $54/hr. and for proofreading $42/hr.  Whose interest did she have in mind when requiring an all or nothing deal?

While the path to publication is again temporarily blocked while I search for a proofreader, I need a reprieve.  I am giving myself a week to experience another culture and will return to post about that experience next week.