How do you deal with the long periods where you don't sell anything? I am consumed by writing and it fills a vast majority of my time, but the drought of responses can be nerve-racking. As an art school grad, I feel I can give and take criticism fairly well, so it's not rejection I'm dealing with. It's the long wait times in between and the feelings of a lack of progress I'm dealing with. How would you suggest to best cope with such feelings?

It mightbe related to any sales position. I write ad copy and sell advertising for a publication. However, I have to "sell" the ads that I put together based on what they (the client) wishes to see in the ad. There can be weeks when no one wishes to place an ad, no matter how good the ad looks. In sales, there is an old addage, you have to keeep the hopper full, and evetually something will trickle out.

You, however, are coming from a different view point in that you do not have, immediately that is, someone or someones who are anxious to purchase your wares. But, if you keep enough submissions going out, day after day, something is going to sell.

If you were to ask Ray---well I just did as I hadn't called him in a while. What he just told me he has talked about in several other sources. But what he said was that he mailed out a story each Friday, every Friday for 52 weeks of the year. Monday he would write a story, Tuesday he would re-write the story, and subsequent days tweak (my word, not his) it until it was ready to mail out and he said that he would usually get $15.00 a story.

I asked him if consistency was a key and he said yes, but also that you to get mad, mad as hell.

Ray said that his play Levithan 99 is opening this weekend in Pasadena and that he would be with all of his friends. He sounded great.

Also I mentioned that I had received The Dragon Who Ate His Tail that Donn Albright had put together. He said that it "was just wonderful what people were doing for him."

So, there might be a helpful answer. I hope so!

Hey biplane1,

I would assume that was in response to my post. Thank you so much for the time and efforts. I realize Bradbury's talked about such things elsewhere and I've read such things and was afraid he'd just refer to something of that sort, but it sounds like he's done more than that and I very much appreciate it.

I mail out all the time, or at least as often as I can. Unfortuantely, I am not in a financial situation where I can mail out every Friday. Yeah, it kinda sucks when you don't even have the money to afford stamps to mail your submissions. I'm assuming it is, to some degree, just the nature of the beast. I try to budget $20 each month for stamps. $19.50 gets me 50 stamps. This last month I could not because, instead of running out of stamps, I ran out of envelopes for my submissions first! LoL

But now I'm set and will be sending out both submissions as well as some zines I'm doing this month.

I really do appreciate your efforts. Please pass along a word of thanks when you get the chance to Mr. Bradbury and, of course, I thank you. It means a lot to occassionally hear some words of support.

And LordShen, remember, too, that Marguerite was working the many early years. Also she came from a family that had money. Nothing that I remember was ever said that Marguerite received a stipend from her family, but it may have happened.

I certainly know what you mean when even postage becomes an obstacle. It boils down to the hard realities of life, that we always don't have the wherewithal to accomplish what we wish.

But I like your spirit and many times a person't spirit can be so important to their ultimate success in life.

It is interesting to listen to Ray sometimes. He has answered questions so many times that his standard response might be viewed as being rote, but hey, at 86 who would ever question such a great man as Ray.

Yes, be of good cheer. Like many artists, I can honestly say,(quoting Groucho in "Monkey Business"),
"Look at me. I worked myself up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty."

biplane, braling, you guys are great! thanx for the support and smiles. :-D

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√ Last call for Questions...DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 11TH

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I'm not going to be able to make the play on the 10th, after all. Does he plan to be at any other performances?

Doug Spaulding:

Was just talking with Patrick, Ray's assistant. He doesn't know for sure if Ray will be at the play tonight. He has a signing at 1:30PM in Glendale TODAY, and may be a little too tired for the event tonight....It's up in the air...

Dear Mr. Bradbury, do you think there will be a great war in your lifetime that will, for all intents and purposes, cripple our standard of living in the western world? How serious a threat against America do you see things today against, say, the way you saw things back during the second World War?

Mr. Bradbury, Question 1: Will the Dark Carnival collection ever be released again, in some form, for those of us who missed it the first two times around?

2. Technologically speaking, at what age do you feel elementary school children should be using computers in the classroom, if at all?

Thank you

greenray: I can answer part of your question. (or did you include this re-issue? Are you asking if there will be a THIRD re-issuing)?

'Dark Carnival' was re-issued few years back (2001) by Donn Albright, for that frightening high price of $150. Handsome book with a cover painted by Ray Bradbury himself when he was a mere lad in his late 20's. It was a steal of a price back then, because it's far more expensive to buy a copy today. www.amazon.com/Dark-Carnival-Ray-Bradbury/dp/1887368507

Dear Nard,
Yes, my question to Mr. Bradbury is will there possibly be a third re-issue of Dark Carnival? Again for those who missed the original 1947 issue, I wasn't born yet, and the as mentioned 2001 Gauntlet Press Limited Edition.

I'm doing a project for English, where I have to interview people about what they think about the subject of banning books. And I figured since my class has been reading one of your books (Fahrenheit 451), which is a banned book, I figured I should ask you what you think about the topic of banning books.

lillady2@charter.net

Be careful of ordering "Dark Carnival" through Amazon.com. Someone here did that and got an unsigned copy for the same price as a signed one!