Five Questions with Writer Ken Keller
This week we would like you to meet one of our Individual Creator Members, Writer Ken Keller
1. What was the inspiration behind becoming a writer? What do you enjoy most about the creative process?
“Enjoy” is too strong a word. Gertrude Stein observed that she hated writing but loved having written. I feel much the same. When it’s time to write, nothing will do but to write. But it’s often hard and lonely work, with no assurance anyone will care. When its completed, the words you’ve chosen and the way you’ve arranged them on the page is its own reward.
2. Can you take us through your process? How long does it take? Does everything you produce make money?
I begin by asking myself, How would someone else have written this? Then I look for alternative ways of arriving at the same message. For years, everything I wrote made money because I worked in commercial communications. Today, I write what I want and earn just enough to contribute to annual college scholarships funded by my Kiwanis Club.
3. What do you think is the biggest misconception about your line of work?
Because most of us are seated while we write and accountable only to ourselves, it must beat working for a living.
4. When did you first become aware of copyright and why?
My early years were spent as a radio disc jockey in a major Midwestern market. Since we pulled our own music to play on the air, we frequently and aggressively were counseled by station management on the mechanics of copyright.
5. Have you experienced copyright infringement and if so how has it affected you personally and financially?
My experience probably constitutes fraud more than copyright infringement. Since shortly after the publication of my book in 2007, an unscrupulous source has been offering access to my book online. I’ve been told that, although they identify the book both by title (Monkey on a Turntable) and subtitle (Living on Love and Leftovers in Local Radio), the website to which the reader is referred is a scam, somehow collecting valuable data from the e-mail of the person who contacts them. A month ago, my book really did find its way to the Internet (mincemeatpublishing.com) and now I’m concerned that people will confuse the site with the earlier, unlawful site and will not chance visiting it.
Ken Keller
Author, Monkey on a Turntable
kenkeller@att.net
Photo by Jim Shively/Larry Phillips Photography
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