Why put your book in the Creative Commons and give it away for free here?
Herbert Spencer put it well when he wrote in his Autobiography, “At that time I was, and have since remained, one of those classed by Dr. Johnson as fools— one whose motive in writing books was not, and never has been, that of making money. The thought that I might profit pecuniarily, never even occurred to me— still less served as a prompting thought. To get the work printed and circulated without loss, was as much as I hoped;”
I am under no illusions about the publishing world. It is hard to make a living as a writer. Since I already have a day job, I figured I would focus more on my writing and less on making money. I have more interest in spreading my ideas and encouraging debate.
Why did you self-publish your book with CreateSpace?
Createspace allows you to print your book quickly and for free. Since the company is owned by Amazon, so I was able to set a reasonable price for the book and still make some money when someone buys a copy. I make more money when the book is sold on Amazon as there is no middle man. It is the future of publishing.
I found a typo or a formatting mistake.
Well, first, that’s not a question. Second, because I quote from many sources from the 18th and 17th century there are bound to be some spelling differences. I didn’t change the primary sources, obviously. Third, I’ve edited the book many times and yet a typo may survive. If it really bothers you, email me at bill at williamcooke dot com. Fourth, I did the formatting myself on a computer running LibreOffice and had to convert it to Word before uploading, so there might be some small formatting mistakes. Sorry.
So do you really believe they were real witches?
I’m not sure. That’s not really the point. The point was to see the perspective of the people who believed that they were real witches.
Why do you go off-topic with political points? Do you have an agenda and what is it?
Whenever we look at events from the past, I believe that it is important to compare them to what is happening today. Many of the themes are the same. Now maybe not all of my conclusions are justified. I’m happy to concede that I don’t have all the answers and welcome a debate. My philosophy tends to be fairly libertarian, which isn’t obvious at points in the book. Sometimes I am really just playing Devil’s advocate, so keep that in mind before you jump to conclusions.
I enjoyed this book and want to support your work. How can I do this?
Thanks. I have some suggestions here.
