The Cost of Selling Out

Eric is obviously an excellent writer. His ability to learn from his mistakes will be the key to his future success.

<RMinionis@aol.com>

I liked Eric Adam's column about not selling out. I've read his book Plot Twist and really liked it. It was such a page-turner, I finished it in one night. Would I have picked the book off the shelf had it been titled True Crime? Probably not. I would have thought that it was, as that title suggests, in the "true crime" genre and not been interested. And anyway -- is the title True Crime any less "inane" than Plot Twist?

He wanted the title Hands of Stone, which certainly is more original than Plot Twist, but would it have grabbed the readers of thrillers? At a quick glance, they might have thought it was a biography of Rodin or some other sculptor.

I think he should stop thumping his chest over what he thinks was the "biggest mistake in his literary life" and wasting time fretting over two words. The title wasn't as awful as he thinks.

Speaking of titles, what is the idea behind the title of Aquent? I have no clue from the title, what the magazine is about... friends and acquaintances? A certain blue color? A pipe carrying water? What is it supposed to mean?

Carolyn Minionis
<pminionis@fcc.net>

1099 is a webzine for and about independent professionals -- that is, self-employed, boss-free folks. Aquent is a made-up word whose dictionary definition might read as follows:

aquent \AY-kwent

1 n [fr. Greek, a- not + Latin, sequent- act of following] : not a follower; one who creates his or her own career along a non-corporate path; an independent professional.

2 v to strike out on one's own, chart one's own course.

When naming your company/book/whatever, there's a lively and ongoing argument as to which is better: to be descriptive or evocative. A parallel argument concerns whether IPs should name their business to make it sound like a "company," or alternatively to emphasize that they're working solo. We'd be happy to post more opinions on this subject... but ultimately, although names are important, how good you are is a lot more important.