From: Jack Saunders
To: Michael Lister
Subj: Reply to "Books"

Sorry to hear you can't afford to publish the Willeford book.

Thanks for the offer to cooperatively publish it if I pay the printing costs.

It's not that I vowed never to pay to publish my own books again. That's the only way I'll get them published. It's that I don't have the money either.

Six months ago I would have had the money. But if I had spent it publishing a book, I wouldn't have had it to live on while I wrote the books I wrote instead.

Writing the books is more important to me than publishing them.

I am out of money, though, worrying about money, looking for a job, not sure what kind of a job I will be able to get. I'm also worried about reliable transportation and clearing up my status with the tax collector.

I'm sorry to hear you're in the same situation with the anthology. I don't think many of the contributors can afford to buy presale copies at 30% off.

I would like to see the book published because I think it is a good book, and because I represented it to the contributors as a done deal.

If I bought 100 copies for myself at a 50% discount, say half off a $16 retail price, and sent you $800, would you still be able to print it up and give contributors their copy?

That's the last of my discretionary savings. I can't dip into it any further.

I will buy that many, though. I can sell that many and make my money back.

Let me know. See you at booksALIVE.