The place was Alice Waters's Chez Panisse. My cousin Ronna had asked a Big Favor and my payment was dinner there. Jack, another cousin, was invited to join us. While having a drink before being seated in the dining room, Jack met a friend with the same last name as his They had joked that they were cousins.
“Steve,” Jack said. “Come meet my real cousin, Gay Courter. She’s in publishing too.
Steve explained he was with a West Coast book distributor. “What do you do?”
“I’m a writer.”
Steve arched his eyebrows. “Oh, self-published?”
I gulped. I had never been asked this before and searched for the right quip—and quips are not my strong suit. “Ah, how many self-published books ever get to the New York Times Bestseller List?”
Jack laughed nervously. “Gay is my famous cousin.”
Lucky for Steve, his table was called. I elbowed Jack. “Hardly famous kiddo, but that guy was rude.”
“A pompous jerk,” Ronna added.
Okay, I’ll admit to being miffed. and also a feeling superior to most self-published authors—although a few have broken through to not only sell millions but be bought up by major publishing companies. (I will also to admit to having publishing fantasies as an aspiring-writer teen when I saw those come-hither ads in the back of intellectual magazines shouting: Authors Wanted.
At times I have suggested self-publishing when someone wants to preserve his life story for future generations and self-publishing has other worthy purposes. But this site is meant more for previously published authors who want to put their older work--and new material--in digital format.
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