Everyday we are learning new lessons about what kinds of jobs people need. From the perspective of my new publishing company, I am trying to hook people up not just with the books we would like to see sold but with their communities. Responding to the needs of one's community is a valuable lesson and a way to help create a sustainable entrepreneurial base.
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When I traveled in November and even on earlier trips, the one thing that always made me happy was the thing I learned that day about a place I may have driven through 6 times already and not noticed. For example, once I stopped at rest stop for the obvious reasons and began reading the sign telling me where I was. I was in the Pennsylvania Wilds.
When I reported to friends about this wonderful place, no one had heard of it. It was off all the radar screens and the reasons for that were many but the most important one to me was that there was no one writing about their experiences there that had made it into the larger media discussions of travel experiences.
I am not suggesting that every community or area of a state has something as unknown and yet to be discovered but I do think that all of us live somewhere that needs further development in terms of job offerings and possibilities for the future growth of even some of the most desolate places I have encountered so far.
I mean there is nothing more desolate than a truck stop, a post office and a hardware store that has its own zipcode but not much else to recommend it.
Yet there are things one can do.
This is not unlike what I saw when traveling by train to Baltimore last spring. I read about a group of organic farmers who could not keep up with the orders because they did not have enough workers to help them do the work. I kept thinking all it takes is to let people who are out of work know that these fields need to be tended and that planting needs to be done, etc. and there would be a large group there in need of work. And yes, that kind of work is beginning to appeal to lots of people who are out of work, have been out of work for a few months and are grateful to do work that does not stress them out and is more basic than answering telephones and helping people with their credit card woes.
So let me say again, no matter where one lives, there is more to do than work in a restaurant or in a motel. You can even start your own business and we can help you do that.
Believe it or not, there are so many ways one can begin to become involved in changing the life of your community that can all begin with selling books for many publishers who would love your help getting the word out about their undersold and unknown books.
If you like to read and want to make a difference in your own community by helping these publishers sell their books, then you can contact us at
and we can help you to help them and yourself get the word out about books and how they can change all our lives.
Authors Bio:Deborah Emin is the founder of the publishing company, Sullivan Street Press (www.sullivanstreetpress.com). She is also the impressario of the Itinerant Book Show as well as the program director of the REZ Reading Series in Kew Gardens, NY. Her novel, Scags at 7, is back in print as well as available as an e-book from Sullivan Street Press. In addition to writing for OEN, Deborah has a blog on the Sullivan Street Press website where she writes about her experiences on the road, i.e., writing about anything that has to do with the Itinerant Book Show. She is currently at work on Scags at 18, due out fall 2010. And she travels back and forth to Cedar Rapids, Iowa where she is writing a book about the aftermath of the 2008 flood there. To keep up to date with all she is involved in, please go to her website www.deborahemin.com