Not surprising to me, Lynne and I share some of the fantasy indulgences. I also think about what I would do if I won the lottery. Since I rarely ever play, there is absolutely no chance I would win… but if I did…
If I won one million, I would buy a house and a car, donate to worthy causes, and invest much of the money. At two million, it would look like the same.
20 million? I would quit my job and travel. :)
But what if it was an obscene amount? Like 100 million? Besides making sure that family was set for life, taking a year-long vacation, and donating a ton to worthy causes, I would probably start two businesses – an indie bookstore and a publishing company.
I would open a general interest/mystery bookstore. Like half mystery and half everything else. Why? I don’t know. Maybe I have interests that are too varied to limit my store to one subject. I like history. And self help. And travel writing. Pretty much I love putting books into the hands of readers. I don’t care if it’s crime fiction or science. Reading is important.
My mystery publishing company that would pub between 25 and 30 books a year. At Midnight Ink I have a solid mix of debut authors and established authors. I would continue that pattern. It’s an incredible feeling to offer a newbie author a publishing contract! But I also like picking up established authors. They know the game and what to expect, they already have a readership built up, and I like being able to offer them a new home. And I would create a new way of doing business - a model of paying authors a living wage and supporting them every step of the way with better royalty rates, dedicated publicity and marketing campaigns, and author tours. I would support indie bookstores.
I would probably also support various conferences and organizations that I have grown fond of. Kind of like what James Patterson is doing for bookstores, but for writers. Yeah, that would be pretty cool. A girl can dream, right?
Time to stop dreaming and to get back to work. I hope you all have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!
Two minds with a single fantasy, Terri... Depending which of us wins first, my bookshop and publishing company could be the UK branches of yours, or yours the US branches of mine.
Unfortunately, like you I play the lottery so rarely that my chances of winning are non-existent. But as you say, we can dream...
Posted by: Lynne Patrick | July 08, 2015 at 07:16 AM