My Best Ever Christmas Present

Everyone will have their own answer to this question.

My answer came just the other day, courtesy of Kindle.

It is a simple fact that publishing has been transformed by the Internet, and self publishing no longer carries the same stigma that it might once have carried.

Although doubtless much that is published without the intervention of a professional publisher will be in serious need of some proper editing. And certainly could do with the marketing expertise that comes with the territory.

I for one am at one with the majority of people, that still foresee that genuine books, made of paper, and often smelling of age, will never be superseded by the electronic book.

Although it certainly does democratize the whole process of publishing.

Before I discovered the world of publishing for the Kindle, I had discovered the world of publishing using the Internet, and the technology that enables books to be printed when purchased.

There are disadvantages of this, not least of all the fact that the printing of such books has much to learn from the crispness of old  fashioned typesetting.

As someone that in a previous life did learn how to operate an old offset lithographic printing press, I speak from personal experience of the joy to be gained from that magical process, whereby ink is transferred from a metal plate to paper.

However, the Kindle exists, and a new market for words, and for the reading of them, which is a skill that should be encouraged in every possible way.

And so, it is possible these days to download an application that enables most computers and no doubt any other kind of handheld device that operates in the same way that a computer does.

So that they can read this kind of book, which is really no more than the capacity to read a PDF document.

And of course, such devices make it possible for large numbers of written works to be portable, and therefore read, in those moments in busy lives when it is possible to stick one’s head in a book. However unlike a book the device on which the written word is carried.

The Christmas present that I referred to earlier was my first ever payment in respect of a Kindle version of my own writings.

It’s not the kind of money that will suddenly transform my life, and in any case, I am not in a position to earn income, as I am severely disabled, and therefore supported through benefits.

I am therefore precluded from personally benefiting from the industry of my pen, which is how I still imagine my writing to be generated, even though the truth is far from this.

For some time now, I have been unable to hold a pen, nor even use a typewriter or a computer keyboard.

But as this is the age of the Internet, it is also the age of assistive technology, and I am able to type much faster than I ever could, through the use of voice activated software.

About five years ago, I received a small award from the Arts Council of England, in respect of my poetry.

And thus any income earned from my poetry, will be gifted to a local charity, the Queen Alexandra Hospital Home for soldiers, in Worthing.

One of my six or seven books is a special edition of my first collection of poetry, entitled 50 x 50: Useful Poetry For Troubled Times.

Although paper copies of this collection can be purchased direct from the Hospital, Kindle versions can also be purchased.

And as it is Christmas, it is not too late for this kind of present to be downloaded from the Internet, with payment being made in any of the usual ways.

As I have only just completed the complicated Google tax information, so that my Kindle bookshelf is now available for sale across the world of the Internet, any purchases can be made at just a moment’s notice.
I dare say that all that will be required is to search the Kindle store for my name, Stephen Page, and to find the correct person that is me.

The title of my first collection of poetry should be unique enough to enable my books to be identified. The other volume that I will mention by name is my collection of short stories, Mother And Child With other stories.

If my motives were simply to line my own pockets, I don’t think I would be so brazen in my suggestion that people reading this blog might consider purchasing any of my publications.

It is fortunate that the Kindle bookshelf offers the fraternity to read significant parts of any volume offered for sale, and anyone that is a member of Google Prime can borrow before purchasing free of charge in any case.

And so, this is my challenge. I have already had that first moment of excitement at receiving a portion of the purchase price, which I shall be passing on as I will any other payments from this source.

But it is nevertheless truly exciting to earn money in this way, and it would be most exciting for me to have others reading my work across the world.