Jason,
I see your confusion. Daniel Ruesch is my brother and a hell of a graphic designer. I forgot to put my by line on the top of the article, so naturally you gravitated to the strongest image on the page which is the ad for my brother. Strangely enough, this really makes my point. To sell a book, you HAVE to capture the buyer's attention.
Bill Ruesch

Hi Joe,
I've written it down and will let you know when the book is done. How many copies would you like? And yes, before you even have to ask I will sign them for you.

As a progress report, The Whistlin' Salamander has been written. The manuscript is going through yet another edit by Tami and myself, then off to a professional editor. The cover design is in progress. We still have the page layouts to complete after the editing then we can go to a finished book. I'm thinking it is probably six months away, maybe less.

Deborah,

Thank you for the kind words. I hope that my blog post didn't discourage you. All publishing is risky and self-publishing even more so. No one can guarantee a writer's success, but if you believe in yourself and your work, and you are willing to put your shoulder into promoting it, I would say your odds are much better than the oaf who writes and leaves the rest up to the God's of fate. The fact that you won a book award should help buoy you.

The problem, Phil, is we have a ginormous trade imbalance right now. The things you are proposing we do are probably 20 years away. What happens in the meantime? Here are three steps that would go a long way to preventing the further subjugation of Americans: The American citizenry needs to understand our financial position and slam on the brakes by refusing to buy from China. Then every member of congress needs to be replaced. It is the congress that has allowed the banks, insurance companies, and foreign interests to take advantage of us. A new congress has to create a constitutional amendment banning professional lobbying, and especially lobbyists foreign countries. The upheaval would be shocking and world changing and probably couldn't happen, but it should. And it could if the citizens pulled together like they did during the revolutionary war.

Tia,
You are absolutely right. I hope by posting your comment readers will go to your site and learn about indexing. I intend to do it myself. Would you like to submit a post to The Red Hen Association -- Chicken Sratchings blog? We would welcome you as a guest blogger.

Bill Ruesch