This Time it's Personal

Friends, readers, pod-squaders, lend me your ears;

I come to you tonight with a very personal request, a request which, for a change, has nothing to do with podencos. Please don't stop reading!

Most of you know me as Alex, the podenco crazy blogging blond from Austria. Some of you know that writing is my passion, my lifeblood. Fewer of you know that I'm writing a book. A book which is the most important thing I've ever done. A book which is a part of me.

To succeed as a writer in this day and age, is a herculean task. It is a task which requires not only talent, hard work and luck, but also the proven ability to be able to market yourself and to persuade an agent or a publisher to take a chance on you. Writers and publishers come at the process from opposite ends of the spectrum. A writer wishes to create a thing of beauty, a work of art into which he has poured his heart and very soul. A publisher wishes only one thing, to make money from the books he sells and the authors he represents. Yes, he may be proud of representing an acclaimed author, but essentially he's running a business and his number one aim is to be profitable.

Competition among writers, is fierce. Scarily, extraordinarily fierce. J.K. Rowling was turned down by a string of publishers before Bloomsbury agreed to publish the Harry Potter series.

As a newcomer, my book must not only be well written, but a publisher must fall in love with the concept, the style and the book itself. If I can get that far, I have to be able to convince them that I am worth the risk.

A big part of this selling myself process, involves being able to demonstrate that I'm not a complete unknown. I must have what's called a 'platform' which shows that my name is recognised, even if not widely, and that there are already people who like to read me. This reduces their risk somewhat and helps me, tremendously.

And that, my friends and loyal readers, is where you come in. This is where you can help me. And your help is what I'm asking for tonight.

On the top right hand of this page you will see a box. Above the box it says 'Follow by Email'. By entering your email address here, you become a subscriber and you will be notified every time I post something new. It doesn't matter who your email account is with, gmail, hotmail, yahoo, btinternet etc, with any email address you can subscribe. If you happen to use gmail, you can also follow me in the About Me section, just a little lower down the page. For me, the number of blog subscribers and followers I have forms important part of my platform. It's an objective and independent measure of the number of readers I have.

Many of you will have read all or most of my blog posts and also my article 'The Podencos of Spain - Treasure Treated as Trash', which was published in the US magazine, The Canine Chronicle, at the beginning of January. These, I write purely and simply out of my love for these wonderful dogs and I receive no financial benefit from them whatsoever. Whatever happens, whether my book is successful or not, I'm proud to work alongside Beverley and Warren in their quest to promote and educate and I will continue to be a voice for the podencos of Spain.

My dream, however, is to find a publisher willing to take a chance on me and my book. I'm not writing it to be rich and I'm not writing it to be famous. I'm writing it for myself, for you and people like you and above all, because it's a story which has to be told.

Will you help me?

Thank you all so very much.

Alex xxx