I was very glad that my buddy Lee Nordling wrote his tome on newspaper syndication, Your Career in the Comics. About three times a month, someone writes or calls to ask me how to sell their sure-fire, can't-miss, certain- to-eclipse-Peanuts strip idea. You have no idea how much time it saves to just tell them to go buy Lee's book. It really is a wonderful overview of a complicated, capricious business, and it explains things far better than I could ever manage. If you're interested in syndicated comics, it's a must-buy.
The thing that gets me is that, ever since I recommended it in my column, I instead get calls and e-mails inquiring as to how and where one might procure a copy of said book. Well, how about almost any large bookstore anywhere? It can't be that difficult to find, considering that the websites for Amazon-dot-com and Borders both say it usually ships in 24 hours. How lazy and/or dense do you have to be to e-mail me instead of typing in www.amazon.com and doing a search for "Lee Nordling?" Or picking up the phone and calling Waldenbooks?
If you're interested in the press recount of the votes in Florida, a fine site to visit is that of the Miami Herald, which is doing their own audit, as well as reporting on others. Somewhere on the page you'll reach by clicking that name, you'll find a section called "Florida Count: What Went Wrong." This will help you wade past the Bush partisans who have no idea what the ballots said but will never admit their boy didn't get more votes, as well as the Gore supporters who have no idea what the ballots said but will never admit their boy didn't get more votes. It's kinda frustrating that the history of this whole sorry blight on democracy will be written by whichever of those groups is more adept at spin and press manipulation and not, say, by people who want to know what the actual vote was, or should have been.
Lastly for today, I want to thank all of you who've written nice e-mails about this site and chatted it up across the web. I'll be adding more columns some time in the future…whenever I feel you've all read most of what's already here. And I have a few other add-ons in mind, if and when I get the time. I don't know when that might be, either.