# Hi, I'm a depressed writer who is NOT publishing a book

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-im-a-depressed-writer-who-is-not-publishing-a-book/210555>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 31, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-im-a-depressed-writer-who-is-not-publishing-a-book/210555 "2003-10-31T00:35:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-im-a-depressed-writer-who-is-not-publishing-a-book/210555/41 "2003-11-04T19:11:56Z")

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And in the category of, “Just When You Think It’s All Bad”, I was asked to do a review for Computer Games Magazine, one of the magazines I cold-called (well, cold-emailed). Unfortunately, it was for a game I’ve already agreed to review for Gamespy (which is where I’ve written for the last 3 years, but hopefully they’ll still give me a chance.

I’m doing the happy dance.

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**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hi-im-a-depressed-writer-who-is-not-publishing-a-book/210555/42 "2003-11-04T19:37:12Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by DeadlyAccurate \*  
> \*\*Well, the axe fell for me. Standard form rejection letter. I didn’t even get the “but we think you have potential and we’re compiling a list of authors for the future” bit. I suck. \*\*

Sorry about that. I’m a bit different in that I work in non-fiction, but it does seem like a really tight market. I published two “how to” books for a national professional organization for sale to (mostly) their members, so that was nice. Though if I compared the royalty checks to the hours I put in I would probably hang myself.

My reviewer career similarly dried up a few years ago, with the death of several of the magazines I wrote for (not a great demand for _DOS World_ anymore…). But man, it was nice while it lasted – $1000 or so for a 1200 word article.

I recently went to a class on publishing on demand. Not vanity publishing, but companies that will professionally publish your books and some will even put into the distribution channels (like getting on Amazon and [Borders.com](http://Borders.com)). I’m looking to go that route for an athletic training book I’m putting together, and possibly another with a co-author. Then we’ll hit the expo circuit and try to sell them.

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