I'm Not Gonna Rat Myself Out

[Mickey]

Mickey Crimm was in a quandary. Some people been suggestin' to him that he should write a book-'bout gambler's....and situations. He called his old friend, Seattle Don.

"Hey, Don. I got this situation on vpFREE."
"Yeah, I know, idiot. I lurk that site. What are you gonna do, Mickey? Tell them every damn trick we know?
"Well, Don, I ain't told 'em all your tricks."
"Good, cause I'm not gonna rat myself out."
"Don, we ain't gettin' any younger."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Don, we're in our late fifties, early sixties. All of us. Are we gonna take this stuff to the grave with us?"
"Go ahead, Mickey."
"I can fictionalize the whole thing up."
"So we don't have to give ourselves away?"
"Yeah, Don. Can't we tell these American kids what we're all about? What the hell we know? Can't we tell them about our lives and how we live it? I think they deserve to know what us old hustler's think about, the plays we put down."
"You're right. They deserve to know. So what the hell you gonna do, Mickey, write a book?"
"I can write gamblin' stories, Don. That's no problem. What I wanna know about is the publishin' world. Do you know anything about it?"
"No, I don't"
"Well, you know yourself, Don. A hustler is a hustler. It don't matter what his trade is. I don't know jackall about the publishin' trade. If I go down there unarmed their gonna take me off. You know me, Don. I don't like bein' taken off. I need to know something about the publishin' trade. Because I'm not gonna rat myself out for cheap. And I ain't telling them any of you guys stories for cheap. I'm gonna get myself a decent cut of the money or those assholes can kiss my ass."
"I think you have the right idea."
"What do you think Johnny would think about it?"
"River Johnny can't keep his pecker in his pants."
"How 'bout the Commando?"
"The Fremont Street Commando is definitely the person that can run the intelligence on the publishin' trade. He's cold blooded. He can figure anything out."
"Don, Merry Christmas, brother."
"Merry Christmas, brother, good night."

[Frank1]

Well I can perhaps offer some insight into publishing pro "secrets". I'll break it into points:

1. Writing a book in todays market for profit is not viable. The other authors that I know are selling less books today than ever before, by a factor of 1/10th. There has been about a 90% decline in book sales in the last 8 years.

2. Writing my book was the most enjoyable and cathartic experience of my life. I spent half a lifetime hiding in the shadows unable to answer simple questions like, "so what do you do?" It's refreshing to be able to share.

3. If you really capture the essence of what it is to be a professional gambler, you will not encourage people, quite the opposite. You will save them from making some mistakes, that without your knowledge, they would almost certainly fall prey to. I find that accurately describing life as a professional gambler, and what it takes to be one, discourages nearly all.

4. Earning money isn't that uncommon. Almost everyone in our society makes money. Making money by sharing knowledge and helping people is far more rewarding.

5. A book about your life, is a legacy for children and your children's children. If you never write your experiences down and pass them on, they will be lost.

After losing all my family to death, I was moved to begin writing my book after seeing the movie "Blade Runner" and hearing Batty's last soliloquy,

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die."

It moved me to realize I had no legacy.

So in closing, I think writing a book would be very profitable, as long as you don't expect that profit to be in the form of currency.

~One cannot find the way, without first setting foot upon a path.

~Frank Kneeland

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Mickey" <mickeycrimm@...> wrote:

Mickey Crimm was in a quandary. Some people been suggestin' to him that he should write a book-'bout gambler's....and situations. He called his old friend, Seattle Don.

"Hey, Don. I got this situation on vpFREE."
"Yeah, I know, idiot. I lurk that site. What are you gonna do, Mickey? Tell them every damn trick we know?
"Well, Don, I ain't told 'em all your tricks."
"Good, cause I'm not gonna rat myself out."
"Don, we ain't gettin' any younger."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Don, we're in our late fifties, early sixties. All of us. Are we gonna take this stuff to the grave with us?"
"Go ahead, Mickey."
"I can fictionalize the whole thing up."
"So we don't have to give ourselves away?"
"Yeah, Don. Can't we tell these American kids what we're all about? What the hell we know? Can't we tell them about our lives and how we live it? I think they deserve to know what us old hustler's think about, the plays we put down."
"You're right. They deserve to know. So what the hell you gonna do, Mickey, write a book?"
"I can write gamblin' stories, Don. That's no problem. What I wanna know about is the publishin' world. Do you know anything about it?"
"No, I don't"
"Well, you know yourself, Don. A hustler is a hustler. It don't matter what his trade is. I don't know jackall about the publishin' trade. If I go down there unarmed their gonna take me off. You know me, Don. I don't like bein' taken off. I need to know something about the publishin' trade. Because I'm not gonna rat myself out for cheap. And I ain't telling them any of you guys stories for cheap. I'm gonna get myself a decent cut of the money or those assholes can kiss my ass."
"I think you have the right idea."
"What do you think Johnny would think about it?"
"River Johnny can't keep his pecker in his pants."
"How 'bout the Commando?"
"The Fremont Street Commando is definitely the person that can run the intelligence on the publishin' trade. He's cold blooded. He can figure anything out."
"Don, Merry Christmas, brother."
"Merry Christmas, brother, good night."

[Mickey]

Well, Frank, I've left a legacy of sorts. But not like you might suspect. Last September I delivered 30 copies of a 50 page genealogy report to a family reunion is Mississippi, over 100 in attendence. I gave them free gratis to make as many more copies as they needed. I did over 400 hours of research (time I could have been working). I paid for all the publishing myself, postage and everything.

Why did I do it? There was an old man of 80 years when he died buried up in the Northeastern part of the county. He died in the year 1900. He was our direct ancestor (my great-great-grandfather. The only thing known about him was "he was from Alabama." Absolutely nothing else known about him.

That was my starting point. Tracing the generations backwards I got to tell my folks about the great German/German Swiss emigration to the American colonies in the 1700's when over 100,000 of them emigrated to America.

I got to tell them about Susannah Crim, widow with children, who arrived at Charleston, SC aboard the ship Samuel in 1735. She was promised 300 acres of land, free provisions for 1 year and tax exempt status for 10 years to make the Atlantic crossing. Her's was one of the First Families of Orangeburgh Township, SC.

I got to tell of her son's experiences in the French & Indian Wars.
I got to tell about two of her grandchildren who were patriots in the American Revolution. I got to tell of the migration from South Carolina to Alabama and Mississippi in the 1820's when lands opened up in what was then the American Southwest. 4 Crim families made the migration. My great-great-grandfather was a 6 year old kid on the wagon train.

And I got to tell them of the heartbreak and tragedy of the Civil War where the Crim casualty rate was horrendous. One ancestor, Abraham Crim, saw 5 sons, along with 4 sons-in-law off to the war. Of the nine young men only 2 returned. One had his foot blown off at the Siege of Vicksburg.

My own great-great grandfather, William along with 4 brothers joined the Alabama 44th Infantry Regiment on 19 March 1862. The battles the 44th participated in reads like a who's who of Civil War battles. Two of his brothers died in the war. He was at the surrender at Appamatox.

William and his wife Martha had both married other people in the 1840's. His first wife died in 1848 after having two children. Martha had married Emberson Brockman Thrash, a plantation owner in Georgia. She was pregnant when Emberson "went west" looking to buy more land. Subsequent to his departure she received a letter stating that her husband had been killed and the party needed money to ship the body back to Georgia. She sent the money. Subsequent to that she received another letter asking for more money. There's are hustlers in every generation. William and Martha married in 1850 and are buried together. She died in 1906.

I got to deliver all these stories and many more to that family reunion. Not long after I started receiving emails thanking me, not only for themselves, but for their children and grandchildren. Being one of the "wayward sons" and a "black sheep" I got a big kick out of being the one that that did it. Even my uncle, the PHD and retired college president was impressed.

It was the most gratifying experience of my life. And sometime down the road, several generations from now, some kid is gonna read that document, and see my name on it.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Frank" <frank@...> wrote:

Well I can perhaps offer some insight into publishing >pro "secrets". I'll break it into points:

2. Writing my book was the most enjoyable and cathartic experience ?of my life.

5. A book about your life, is a legacy for children and your >children's children. If you never write your experiences down and >pass them on, they will be lost.

It moved me to realize I had no legacy.

So in closing, I think writing a book would be very profitable, as >long as you don't expect that profit to be in the form of currency.

[Meredith_And_Kenny]

That was a great read Mickey , thanks :-),
I am 75% Scottish, 25% German. I have done some work into my Geneology and found out that a family member had done all of the work for me already. I don't have any physical traits from the German side - mostly, Scottish but, I have the determination of both..hehe. Not sure where my Extreme positive outlook came from aside from the hard knocks that molded this into my personality but, it is truly amazing how Heraldry effects 'who' we are.

~ ¤(¯`*•.¸(¯`*•.¸ Meredith ¸.•*´¯)¸.•*´¯)¤ ~
My New Years Resolution is "That I will be less laz"

···

--- On Tue, 1/4/11, Mickey <mickeycrimm@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Mickey <mickeycrimm@yahoo.com>
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: I'm Not Gonna Rat Myself Out
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, January 4, 2011, 1:19 AM

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Frank" <frank@...> wrote:

Well I can perhaps offer some insight into publishing >pro "secrets". I'll break it into points:

2. Writing my book was the most enjoyable and cathartic experience ?of my life.

5. A book about your life, is a legacy for children and your >children's children. If you never write your experiences down and >pass them on, they will be lost.

It moved me to realize I had no legacy.

So in closing, I think writing a book would be very profitable, as >long as you don't expect that profit to be in the form of currency.

Well, Frank, I've left a legacy of sorts. But not like you might suspect. Last September I delivered 30 copies of a 50 page genealogy report to a family reunion is Mississippi, over 100 in attendence.

That was my starting point. Tracing the generations backwards I got to tell my folks about the great German/German Swiss emigration to the American colonies in the 1700's when over 100,000 of them emigrated to America.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]