But…what intrigues me is that it’s also a book of stories. Stories of people who chucked it all and started something that they believed in. I want to read those, and that’s why I’m going to buy the book.

I mean - I’m closer than some to the ideal that Chris writes about. I’ve got my own side business doing something I enjoy, and it’s not made me much money, but it’s not designed as a money-making venture. I could take what I do during the day to a freelance basis, but it’s not something that I really want to do at the moment.

But if I ever decide to move on, I’ll use Chris’s book as a guide.

1) I try my password
2) It fails
3) I try another password
4) It fails, and Apple locks me out
5) I reset my password, and Apple doesn’t let me use any password that I’ve used in the past year.

I’ve done this something like twelve times, because I reset the thing once, a year ago. And now…well, I have to reset it every time, because I’m twelve passwords in and I have no idea what password I used, because it’s been reset so many times. Frustrating.

I did end up at, I think, the best place in Thousand Oaks tonight - Akrey’s Tavern. In a town full of strip malls and a Levittown-meets-Taco-Bell style of architecture, the place is…well, it’s real. I sat at the bar and had a Pacifico with lime and wondered at the jukebox (Sammy Hagar, Nirvana unplugged, remixed Bruno Mars), the drunk guy shooting pool and dancing after every shot, and the UFC/World Poker tour mix on the television. The bartender was nice, the drinks were cheap, and it was loud and alive.

Did I mention that it’s straddled by a trailer park and a tire shop? Little things like this make business travel kinda fun.

(pause for the amazing)

We’re flying in business class and first class. I’ve never done this before (well, except for the time I got bumped up to Virgin Atlantic Upper Class ten years ago, but that was before flat-bed seats), and I couldn’t be more excited. I should also give a shoutout to the guys at PointsPros; they were incredible - got us tickets to/from Japan on miles. Well worth their consulting fee for my peace of mind. That’s in September. In the meantime, I’ve got things to write and a not-selling-much book to promote. But at least I’m in a fantastic mood.

And donuts.

I was the only person there at 9:30 pm who ordered a rice bowl; the other people all got donuts. Now, as I lie in my hotel room bed…I kind of wish I’d bought a donut to go.

But I will say a big thanks to everyone involved; Writers Week at Los Altos High was a total blast.

It’s a nice feeling, though - I’m so, so close to done. Then it’s a couple of weeks off to research and think about the second phase of this writing project, and then it’ll be time to plug in old things, rewrite, edit, and find the story that lies somewhere inside all of the prose.

(Well, it’s not poetry or anything. So it’s got slightly more than zero potential, I suppose)

And did a bunch of fun things with The Perplexing Problem, which I’m not sure what I’m going to do with through the next year.

Per my last post - the problem for fiction writers in this current environment is that putting together a fan base for fiction is tough; you can’t tour, you can’t release singles (well, you can, but not as a set of long-form stuff) and the editing process means that stuff takes a long, long time. There’s some way to do it, but…well, there you are.

Also, came up with an idea for yet another website; it’s burning in the back of my head. We’ll see.

Anyway, ’twas a very good year for me and what I’m trying to do with myself. So there is that.

It’s very heartening for those of us who do produce content of any kind. It’s less heartening for those of us who don’t have a rabid fan base. Louis can do this because he’s got that base. It’s a base that he’s worked and bled for, and now he’s basically totally in control of his own destiny. As long as he keeps being funny, people will buy his stuff, watch his show on FX that he has total control over, and go to see him at the clubs.

No pressure on that, BTW. I’d never sleep.

But for those of us trying to break out…how does this new world of distribution work? Louis is almost the reverse of the ideal - he had to go through the standard system to build his base, getting a terrible sitcom, appearing on unfunny late-night shows, all of that. In a system where the creators are their own distributors and promoters, how do you break out? Being a brilliant writer/funnyman/musician doesn’t mean anything if nobody hears.

And…no sour grapes here; if I had the time and energy to really promote the book, I’d have done a better job promoting it. As it is, I got married this year, got laid off and found a new job, and managed to keep my life together. That’s pretty good. And I’ll get a decent tax writeoff on all of the book stuff for the business side of my life. So I’m OK.

But man, I’d love to sell 100,000 copies of the book at $3 apiece. It’s not that much money, really. So how to do it?