Andy's Book Publishing Fund
Donation protected
One night in August 2002, I had a dream. It was vivid and detailed. I was the Leader of a prospering Clan, living in what would some 28,000 years later become North-eastern Italy. When I woke up, I decided to key my dream into a MS Word Document. As I composed it, a book outline appeared in my consciousness. I finished the draft of The Dream, opened a new document, and drafted a detailed Outline for a book, the title of which would change a little over the years but is today: Why Women Are So Problematic: A Memoir and Irreverent Whimsical Polemic.
Writing a 400-page book turns out to be a not trivial undertaking, even with a detailed Outline. Much of it was written over a five-month period at the onset. A longtime friend, Annie Anonymous, decided to tell me as I started writing, just as I was breaking up with a woman I had lived with for almost 9 years, that my love for her was reciprocal; that she had loved and wanted me too for the 16 years we had been "just friends." A wonderful if brief lover relationship ensued. Between mind altering and sometimes life-threatening [for me at least] lovemaking sessions with my Goddess lover, I wrote and she content edited about 235 pages: The Foreword; all of Part 1: Amazement and Awe [Chapters 1 through 6; 98 pages]; and much of Part 2: Some Unpleasant Truths [Chapters 7 through 11; 137 pages]. But all things must end, so in the early Spring of 2003 we stopped being lovers and became dear friends with occasional, glorious benefits.
Through the intervening years, The Book continued to be written, in multi-month spurts between years of dormancy. Annie continued to content edit the evolving and growing draft. By 2008, about 95% of the book was written, including Part 3: Resolution (The Tao) [Chapters 12 through 14, and early drafts of the Epilogue, Author’s Postscript, and the last word, A Few Comments from Annie Anonymous; 140 pages]. A great professional editor, Barbara Ardinger, read and provided detailed edits for all of it.
Eight years (2009-2016) of a descent, modern, and woman respecting "real man," President Barack Obama, and his amazing wife and children, seemed to end the Gender Wars animating The Book. An unplanned personal Poverty Experiment, begun in early-2008 and on-going, didn't help. The soul crushing burden of poverty also didn’t lend itself to creative writing. Then, in November 2016, I received a gift from the Cosmos: A pussy grabbing misogynist and mentally ill lunatic, Donald Trump, lost a National Election by a 2.9 million votes plurality but was "elected" President by an Electoral College that gives low-population Red[neck] States disproportionate representation.
The day after his poorly attended Inauguration, millions of women across America, and tens of millions World-wide (along with their male supporters like me) were in the streets, protesting Trump’s election. I knew I had to finish and publish The Book, hopefully before, or shortly after, he was removed from Office in disgrace.
I was contacted by Black Lacquer Press on August 1, 2018 and told they were interested in publishing my book before the end of the year. In the time since, I've finished the manuscript.
That's where you come in. Trying to live on early Social Security net benefits of $1,400/month plus a couple thousand dollars a year teaching evening Tai Chi Classes for the County part-time--supplemented by funds begged and borrowed from friends, family, or even strangers, doesn’t leave a lot of time or creative energy to write, or money to: pay Black Lacquer Press for a manuscript prep and production services and purchase book copies for friends, family, and you; or funds to cover my monthly shortfall for living expenses [mostly rent, food, medications of Type II Diabetes, and gas, maintenance, and insurance costs for the 2006 Corolla my son Joseph gave me earlier this year].
To publish my book, I need your help; specifically, a financial donation. I’ll try to make it worth your while. Depending on what you can donate, I’ll give you a signed copy of my book ($50), all the way up to being the entertainment at your place for an evening ($500)—assuming you live within an hour’s drive of Rockville, MD or provide all my travel expenses. My “little” brother refers to my life as: “The Andy Show.” I am told I am an entertaining guy…
With your help, I can finalize The Book in October 2018 and have it published before the end of the year!
Two Month Budget
$ 700 Black Lacquer Press manuscript prep, production and marketing costs
$300 Purchase books for friends and to sell myself
$1,000 Total, book related
$500 Stipend for living expenses shortfall,
2 and a half months @ $200/month
$250 Dental checkup, a year overdue
$250 Cushion for unexpected expenses
$1,000 Total, living and medical expenses support
$2,000 Grand Total (Goal)
A Final Comment:
Asking for money is a humbling affair. Frankly, poverty really sucks, hugely. Being Rich and owning a home [as a $60/hour Senior Systems Analyst/Oracle DBA in the final years of my career, and having more money than I could spend or give away; 1979-2000], was much more pleasant than being Poor: scrambling for money to pay for vital expenses; waiting without health insurance for ObamaCare to finally start; holding on until qualifying for early Social Security Retirement benefits; finding a place to crash for free or on the cheap, and even doing a several month stint living out of my 2000 Saturn L1 in the Spring of 2012. [I was laid-off in the Tech Crash three months before my 50th birthday; too old and high-paid to ever work in Information Technology again].
Slowly, but inevitably, exhausting all my considerable assets and on-demand credit, I quickly discovered that people / family / banks / creditors who loved you when you were Rich don’t necessarily love you when you are Poor. It is not an experience for the faint of heart. For real…
Links:
I don’t expect you to hand over your hard-earned money without some evidence that The Book exists. Please check out the following links, and if you are curious, just Google my name: Andrew Paul Schettino, to find out more about me than you ever could want or need to know. I regularly post on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
(1) Table of Contents from a mature recent draft
(2) Title page, Dedication, Foreword, and Part 1
(3) Nightmare Scenario 2 [inspired by Trump's election]
Thank you for your time and consideration, and hopefully, if I’m worthy, your donation…
Andrew Paul Schettino, updated Aug 31, 2018
Writing a 400-page book turns out to be a not trivial undertaking, even with a detailed Outline. Much of it was written over a five-month period at the onset. A longtime friend, Annie Anonymous, decided to tell me as I started writing, just as I was breaking up with a woman I had lived with for almost 9 years, that my love for her was reciprocal; that she had loved and wanted me too for the 16 years we had been "just friends." A wonderful if brief lover relationship ensued. Between mind altering and sometimes life-threatening [for me at least] lovemaking sessions with my Goddess lover, I wrote and she content edited about 235 pages: The Foreword; all of Part 1: Amazement and Awe [Chapters 1 through 6; 98 pages]; and much of Part 2: Some Unpleasant Truths [Chapters 7 through 11; 137 pages]. But all things must end, so in the early Spring of 2003 we stopped being lovers and became dear friends with occasional, glorious benefits.
Through the intervening years, The Book continued to be written, in multi-month spurts between years of dormancy. Annie continued to content edit the evolving and growing draft. By 2008, about 95% of the book was written, including Part 3: Resolution (The Tao) [Chapters 12 through 14, and early drafts of the Epilogue, Author’s Postscript, and the last word, A Few Comments from Annie Anonymous; 140 pages]. A great professional editor, Barbara Ardinger, read and provided detailed edits for all of it.
Eight years (2009-2016) of a descent, modern, and woman respecting "real man," President Barack Obama, and his amazing wife and children, seemed to end the Gender Wars animating The Book. An unplanned personal Poverty Experiment, begun in early-2008 and on-going, didn't help. The soul crushing burden of poverty also didn’t lend itself to creative writing. Then, in November 2016, I received a gift from the Cosmos: A pussy grabbing misogynist and mentally ill lunatic, Donald Trump, lost a National Election by a 2.9 million votes plurality but was "elected" President by an Electoral College that gives low-population Red[neck] States disproportionate representation.
The day after his poorly attended Inauguration, millions of women across America, and tens of millions World-wide (along with their male supporters like me) were in the streets, protesting Trump’s election. I knew I had to finish and publish The Book, hopefully before, or shortly after, he was removed from Office in disgrace.
I was contacted by Black Lacquer Press on August 1, 2018 and told they were interested in publishing my book before the end of the year. In the time since, I've finished the manuscript.
That's where you come in. Trying to live on early Social Security net benefits of $1,400/month plus a couple thousand dollars a year teaching evening Tai Chi Classes for the County part-time--supplemented by funds begged and borrowed from friends, family, or even strangers, doesn’t leave a lot of time or creative energy to write, or money to: pay Black Lacquer Press for a manuscript prep and production services and purchase book copies for friends, family, and you; or funds to cover my monthly shortfall for living expenses [mostly rent, food, medications of Type II Diabetes, and gas, maintenance, and insurance costs for the 2006 Corolla my son Joseph gave me earlier this year].
To publish my book, I need your help; specifically, a financial donation. I’ll try to make it worth your while. Depending on what you can donate, I’ll give you a signed copy of my book ($50), all the way up to being the entertainment at your place for an evening ($500)—assuming you live within an hour’s drive of Rockville, MD or provide all my travel expenses. My “little” brother refers to my life as: “The Andy Show.” I am told I am an entertaining guy…
With your help, I can finalize The Book in October 2018 and have it published before the end of the year!
Two Month Budget
$ 700 Black Lacquer Press manuscript prep, production and marketing costs
$300 Purchase books for friends and to sell myself
$1,000 Total, book related
$500 Stipend for living expenses shortfall,
2 and a half months @ $200/month
$250 Dental checkup, a year overdue
$250 Cushion for unexpected expenses
$1,000 Total, living and medical expenses support
$2,000 Grand Total (Goal)
A Final Comment:
Asking for money is a humbling affair. Frankly, poverty really sucks, hugely. Being Rich and owning a home [as a $60/hour Senior Systems Analyst/Oracle DBA in the final years of my career, and having more money than I could spend or give away; 1979-2000], was much more pleasant than being Poor: scrambling for money to pay for vital expenses; waiting without health insurance for ObamaCare to finally start; holding on until qualifying for early Social Security Retirement benefits; finding a place to crash for free or on the cheap, and even doing a several month stint living out of my 2000 Saturn L1 in the Spring of 2012. [I was laid-off in the Tech Crash three months before my 50th birthday; too old and high-paid to ever work in Information Technology again].
Slowly, but inevitably, exhausting all my considerable assets and on-demand credit, I quickly discovered that people / family / banks / creditors who loved you when you were Rich don’t necessarily love you when you are Poor. It is not an experience for the faint of heart. For real…
Links:
I don’t expect you to hand over your hard-earned money without some evidence that The Book exists. Please check out the following links, and if you are curious, just Google my name: Andrew Paul Schettino, to find out more about me than you ever could want or need to know. I regularly post on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
(1) Table of Contents from a mature recent draft
(2) Title page, Dedication, Foreword, and Part 1
(3) Nightmare Scenario 2 [inspired by Trump's election]
Thank you for your time and consideration, and hopefully, if I’m worthy, your donation…
Andrew Paul Schettino, updated Aug 31, 2018
Organiser
Andrew Schettino
Organiser
Rockville, MD