On Reviewing. On Keeping.

A few folks have suggested that I review some bad POD titles as well, to use my caustic tongue to make the point that people need to edit their work and so on.

Here's why I don't: Frankly, I wouldn't know where to begin; there are so many titles to choose from. But mostly, there is no value in it, other than a good laugh at some poor writer's expense. And I'm not about that. It is easy to stand under the apple tree, reach to the ground and pick up a mushy mess and say, "Look--a rotten apple." Greater is the pursuit (and success) of finding the gleaming red fruit shining high up in the tree, finding a way to climb the branches and bringing the perfect, sweet apple back to the ground to share with those around you.

Oh, man--did I just write that?
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Here's an advantage to buying the occasional POD. For every POD title I have in my library (only those I enjoyed), I keep them in mint condition. Because you never know. I have the original POD paperbacks for LORD VISHNU'S LOVE HANDLES, LEGALLY BLONDE and a host of others. What I'm getting at is this: I have a mint copy of Grisham's A TIME TO KILL when it was released by Wynwood Press before he had sold 2500 copies (and way before THE FIRM was ever released.) I was offered $2700 for it last month.

And if my book stays in the midlist you may see it on eBay.

But there is nothing better than having the original of a book that someday breaks out--and in POD, the odds of anyone selling more than a few hundred copies is slight, so you would probably own 1% of all the original paperbacks.