Your response leans to cynical, but I’m going to reply anyway because there’s a lot of emotion packed in it.

Some people write to have a good time (or not) and forget about it. And they’re okay with that. But other people care about getting their work out into the world.

The marvelous thing about life is that we all get to choose what matters to us.

You’re wrong, though — it’s not a game of chance. Sometimes people get lucky, for sure. More often, they learn. How to grow any business — whether writing or other — is a learn-able skill, like driving a car or baking a cake.

And yes, you can “make” it happen. It’s what I do for a living.

For what it’s worth, a marketing degree wouldn’t help. What they teach in a college marketing course is hopelessly outdated because they can’t keep up with the pace of change on the internet.

While we all might be a demented old person dying somewhere some day, there’s some years between now and death and how we live them matters to some people. Chasing a dream matters to some people.

For that matter, whether we’re dying in a care home or not isn’t carved in stone either. Where I live, pension pays less than the cost of a care home. The people dying in care homes can afford to be there.

Not everyone find “this stuff” stressful. I find it exciting to stumble across someone with magnificent work and to say here — let me help you find your audience. I’ve done that for 23 years. It’s a buzz every single time.

I suspect the people who find it stressful are those who have discord between what they “think” marketing means and what they are willing to do. My “head trash” article talks a bit about that.

You say in the “final analysis” no one is going to care. I don’t agree.

Mary Oliver is dead and I still care about her work. Viktor Frankl is dead and I re-read his book every year.

There’s a lot of people who are long gone, but still cared about because they touched hearts and left a piece of them behind.

To some people, that matters. It’s okay if you’re not one of them. But 23 years in my field, I’m pretty good at recognizing cynicism when I see it. And I’m old enough to know where it comes from.

Your story isn’t finished either. Know what I mean? ❤