I was just writing to a new friend who has a great idea for a book but needed some encouragement.  I like what I wrote, so I thought it would make a good blog, personal details omitted . 
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Don't give up on your dream to write that book. You need to write the book for itself and to fulfil your dream.

We are creative people for the sake of creating, not commerce.

If you believe that this book needs to be written, you need to do it for yourself and for [omitted]. Don't stop because you can't find a book publisher who wants to buy it yet.

Write the book, then try to sell it. There are a million unwritten good ideas for books. As a first time writer you need to write something first before someone will buy if from you.

Or walk away from the old business paradigm. The book publishers of today are the record labels of yesterday. If I published books, I would be terrified of what technology will bring in the next 10 years. Most of them don't realize that their business model is about to become completely outdated. The same thing that MP3s & ipods did to the record labels is what ebooks are going to do to publishers...,mark my words, and if you can't sell it to a publisher you'll be able to self publish and cut out the middle man.
With the right attitude, dedication, and hard work, you can do anything you set your mind to in this life.

But you need to learn early on how valuable and fleeting your time is. Make smart decisions about what you focus and spend your time on. Think about the people you surround yourself with. Are they driven? Do they have dreams? Do they challenge you to be a better person? And don't get caught up with other people's ideas of what life is supposed to be like. Making sacrifices (or perceived sarcifices...you'll learn later how unimportant those distractions are) for your art or dream now is like planting seeds for your future, it will reward you later with a harvest.

[descends from pulpit]