Messing with the kid (or, timekilling thru a flu/cold)

BARTER: I CAN HELP GET YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED < sterryhead > 01/25 20:50:49
Bestselling author/publishing expert looking for personal assistant who can type. My wife is a big time book agent. Together we have written a book called “Putting Your Passion Into Print”, all about how to get a book successfully published. It is being published by Workman Press, and came out in September ’05. We just came off a 25-city tour of America and teach publishing at Stanford University. I can help you get your writing published, or get into the book business. www.passionintoprint.com

hmm... < iquestionyourveracity > 01/25 21:21:56
I've written a book about 4 children who wander into a laundry pile and find a magical world filled with chimeras and witches. It is set in Kirkuk and tentatively titled "The Camel, The Haj, and the Hamper". If you can give me a quote on my expected advance, let's talk!

your expected advance < sterryhead > 01/25 21:36:49
it would be impossible to know what your material is worth without evaluating it and you. i would need more information about the material, the quality of the writing, your experience as a writer, and your ability to promote the work. i do have a Young Adult book coming out in April, so i have experience in this area.

ahh... < iquestionyourveracity > 01/25 21:47:33
Many thanks for expounding. So you propose one work for you for perhaps nothing. If one works well and does not pass your evaluation, then not only is one without money one is without a published book. I'm not an expert on CA labor law, but this sounds like a raw deal. Perhaps you should pay cash for services required, and if the one you hire can write, offer to help him/her with a book. As the young child in my book, Akbar, would say, "He who works without compensation is like sand caught in a desert storm." Akbar is six years old, but very wise.