Blockheaded Publishing : "OPEN ACCESS" in all senses

It is a telling example of our debased (and post-religious) moral culture that no reputable reviewer today would ever review a book that was made available free as a 'tract for our time'.

'Review a book offered up free by an author merely to contribute to the collective public debate on important issues, without any thought of personal gain or fame ?'

You're joking aren't you ---- even Thomas Paine charged for his pamphlets !

People who self consciously call themselves "Book Reviewers" - whether professional or amateur - pride themselves on considering all books written without thought of personal gain as likely to be the rambling rantings of almost lunatics, unworthy of serious attention.

(Add here, in defence of their response, the well known words of Samuel Johnson who said anyone who wrote not for money was a blockhead.)

No doubt these "Reviewers"  might even consider the actions of a doctor who freely gives his life to better others' lives, without any thought to personal gain or fame, as also bordering upon the lunatic.

So a serious book freely offered up to tell the tale of a doctor who willing offers up his life for general humanity is somewhat doubly cursed - if it seeks to be seriously reviewed by serious reviewers.

And a serious book, on serious issues, published in serial fashion - as a series of tracts or pamphlets -stands even further outside today's book trade.

For tracts and pamphlets are usually published by being shoved through someone's letter slot and reviewed, it at all, by the person behind that door.

But in George Orwell's day, pamphlets were the 'containers' for almost all the serious thought about the serious issues thrown up by the crisis of the Great Depression - which is why he collected them to stimulate his own writing.

But new young pamphleteers and tractarians are today probably all bloggers ; globally-minded digital pamphleteers no longer content to merely push a few paper pamphlets into mail slots along their own street.

I am not young, but I certainly am one such blogger.

Because I want my tracts read by everybody in the world, of every income group, any hour of the day, and in any language that Google Translator will handle.

I will make printable versions of longer blog posts available to suit those who still prefer print - just as I will do likewise for those who prefer to read longer E-Pub files offline.

But really I think the web browser-based book or pamphlet (aka "the Blog") is the true wave of the present ....

Scandal : Writers Union of Canada rejects BLOCKHEAD

Great news !

The Writers' Union of Canada has changed its membership requirements and I am still not allowed in.

For a few weeks there , I feared I might be.


I am still not allowed in , but it is not because I am female or black or gay  --- writers' organizations have never been accused of arresting anyone for DWB (driving while black) .

No, it is because I have committed the ultimate taboo in the Union's eyes : I try to do good, as a writer, for others without expecting a reward in return.

I write without commercial intent.

WWCI : 'writing without commercial intent'

Oh , the horror of it all !

As a writer, I am , as Samuel Johnson famously noted , a blockhead : I do not write for money.

I do not copyright my writing (I release it fully into the Public Domain without any sort of reservations) and I give my works away as either e-books or as downloadable print books.

Tractarian ?

Regard my comparatively short works as Tracts or Pamphlets and thus not real books - call me a Tractarian or Pamphleteer - as Eva Tanguay sang , "I don't care, I don't care, I don't care !"

How could I even think about selling my work for self gain when my books (Tracts/Pamphlets) are all about Agape selflessness ?

Did Dr Martin Henry Dawson or Philip Bent VC give up their lives, just for the money ?

So why should I write about their selflessness, for my selfish gain ?

The Writers' Union decision was widely reported and commented upon, in Canada and abroad.

But not once so far have I come across a negative comment on the Union's continued need for their potential members to want to make money off their writing.

Negative comments aplenty for sure from many independent authors.

But only over the Union deciding it had to vet the self published for quality control while letting in those published with someone else's money without any need to meet quality standards.

No one seems to think that working hard and skillfully at your occupation without expecting financial gain - much like the medical professionals in 'Doctors Without Borders' - is a worthy human activity.

Indeed since very few people these days agree to head up a 'professional' charity without being very well paid for doing good , why should professional writers feel any different ?

Right then - as an amateur (someone who does something out of  love ) - it seems only appropriate that I call myself a proud amateur writer - and a 'blockhead writer' to boot ...