Since you already have some success with publishing I think it is a route you can seriously consider, and one that might end up making more money for you then.
It'd be fun, for sure... Just to see what it was like. Sometimes I wish I didn't have such great job security - it makes it really hard to find the motivation to take a chance on something else!
I thought the same thing. I wondered if perhaps a large population of indigenous people might have originally been the reason it was yellow. The map was out of date to say the least. It wasn't my map, I just posted the image for @AASmith.
It has an autonomous government so it would at least be a Second World lol. That's okay, that's the charts fault . China and Russia DO NOT lead like America does. Yes, China may be leading the world economically here in a year or two, but that's it. Their cities are tremendously polluted, army is vastly emulated from ours, and their economy heavily relies on our trade. (Vice versa for America to an extent) Russia DOES NOT lead in anything other than the amount of Nuclear weapons they have and how many troops they can use against an enemy. Russia's economy is suffering worse than the United States due to the people being taxed to death by the Russian Mafia. Russia does lead in many things, but it does not dominate the world in the same level as the United States does. To be honest, if you compare China and Canada at a glance you will notice that Canada looks far nicer and more developed. So therefore, Canada is ahead of China and is more a of a leading nation due to NATO and it's embargo with the US. (Same with the UK, Saudi Arabia and Israel.Canada has an advantage with the US over China due to it's geographical closeness.) The United States gets most of it's oil from Saudi Arabia and Canada so for you to say it's a second class nation is just really inapposite and unnecessary. China does not have the Oil supply that Canada has- and Oil runs the world! So give Canada some credit. I'm not saying the United States is perfect and is the best, but we're basically our own category. Each nation has it's advantage and role that helps the world dramatically, so we can't act like only three run the show. The US is the ONLY GENERAL Superpower overall, as China is only a ECONOMIC superpower. Russia is kind of in a way. Like i said, you can't really compare them to the US. It's unfair for everyone actually.
Please, everyone, this secondary conversation concerning the socioeconomic status of Canada is not only inflammatory, it is based on what was clearly an obnoxious and ill-informed initial comment. The member in question will not be responding to any replies or retorts because the member is no longer a member. For the sake of clarity, this final (and firm) corrective action was based on a stunningly quick accumulation of points, the prior corrective action only weeks expired. If this conversation is to continue, please let it continue on its original trajectory, and no longer spend time on this conversation concerning Canada being a second world nation, a falsehood of which we are all well aware.
I've written a book and self published it to Amazon Kindle to see how well it will do. I'm not depending on it doing well, but if some people read and enjoy it, then I'll be satisfied with its performance.
Is it wrong that I now want to start a separate thread to explore the socio-economic status of Canada?
Writing for money can be a goal but what exactly kinda money are we talking about? A winfall like E.L. James who is an overnight sensation, or writers who make a comfortable income? Being realistic even when one considers publishing through a publisher the numbers aren't very hopeful. If I was to write a book and sell it to a publisher I might get a 5,000 advance. Now for me a first draft takes 3 months and to polish maybe a couple more. How many people are willing to work six months for 5,000? That's even if the publishers gives an advance. As for the royalties - the rock bottom royalty I've heard is 7.5% up to 10%. And sometimes you have to sell a certain amount for that to even to kick in. Writing ( fiction ) isn't about money. At least not in the beginning. It is very much like art. You take it on the chin until you build an audience and a reputation. And the only ways of doing this is to write something so startling everyone talks about you or you consistently put out good fiction. On a few other sites I've heard that a couple of writers have managed to self publish enough short stories to cover their half of the rent. Another does fairly well self publishing books. Both are very polished writers. And have good marketing strategies - they've also developed audiences. I think making an income through writing is possible. But it's not for everyone. And you have to look at it more in a long haul than an immediate success ... unless you're lucky/blessed enough to write that breakout novel.
The hard part about TV is getting writing credits. I live in LA and have a few good friends trying to do just this. You spend your days humping away as a writing assistant hoping the series is good enough and lasts long enough that the original writers move on to new projects thereby clearing the way for your promotion. If that doesnt happen, you move on to a new show as a writers assistant and try again. Rinse, repeat. One of the difficulties is that a lot of shows run fewer episodes than they used to back 20-30 years ago. 25 episode seasons often might be 10-20 now. So, one of the ways to make a name was the writers would give some of the writers assistants an episode here or there. Suddenly you have a credit to put on the resume. But with fewer episodes it gets that much more difficult. The other way is to write your own stuff and try to sell it, which from what I can tell isnt a whole lot different than writing your own novel and trying to sell it. Note, I dont have first hand experience but this is the observations and experiences of those I know reasonably well. YMMV.
Admittedly there are several soaps in the UK where I would love the opportunity to kill off the entire cast.
Interesting thread, entertaining. I know of only one person whose actual goal was to make money from writing from the very start and that was Geoffrey Archer. He had one major advantage over everyone else; everybody knew him. He was famous before he even put pen to paper (and when he started it probably was) so his fame made publishing a very real prospect, in fact it was practically a slam dunk. I appreciate he had major financial problems but to write only for money must be torture. If the money comes I`ll grab it with both hands but if it doesn`t at least I can enjoy my writing.
I heard, and some of you may be able to correct me, that the average advance on a novel (the source said book but i assume novel) is about $10,000 but it generally ranges anywhere from $1,000 (i assume for children's books) to $15,000 but 10k is more typical. Then you don't make any money until your book sales have paid off your advance. Then if you want to market your book, which the publish will expect, you have to take into account the cost of going to conferences, traveling, book signings, other things that do cost you money so that $10,000 advance could be gone really quick. I wish I remember the website but apparently, when you get an agent and publisher you only make 30% of the sales of your book. I would imagine that if you do end up being able to make a full time career out of writing, it will take a long time before you cement yourself in the industry to make enough money to stop working. book advance source: http://goodereader.com/blog/indie-author-news/first-time-authors-normally-get-a-10000-advance-from-a-major-publishing-company
Tell me about it. Day and night all my mum watches is Neighbours, Home and Away, and Eastenders - on repeat. I've been at my parents' for... 5 days. And I've watched the same 2 episodes of both Neighbours and Home and Away at least twice each. On my first night back we had Eastenders on TV for a full hour... In fact, I'm currently being made to watch Home and Awaaaaaay... And lemme tell you this - none of the couples behave like normal human beings
Those numbers are for first-time authors. For subsequent books, the advance will likely increase (or, if sales of the first book were poor, subsequent contracts won't be offered). And I don't think publishers expect authors to spend money on promo. Some authors might choose to, but it's hardly required (and dubiously effective). That said, 30% is really high for the author share of a Big 5 book. It depends on the format, but 7.5% of print and 25% of e-books is pretty standard. And then 15% to the agent. The money comes from volume of sales, not per book profit. So I don't really disagree with your conclusion - just thought I'd clarify some numbers.
Re-watching the same episode of a soap repeatedly (i.e. drama for the sake of drama and designed to be disposable). But yes, re-watching a series, as in a discrete number of episodes with a beginning a middle and an end, is also a little odd, but much less so. But then I can't watch soaps in the first place, particularly the likes of EastEnders and Coronation Street where it is a bunch of morons screaming at each other for half an hour.
