John Alexander Baker

Biography:

John Alexander Baker was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia in 1943. He was the third oldest of 8 children who moved away from Nova Scotia, in 1949, to what is now known as Cambridge Ontario, Canada. His father was the victim of a drunk driver when John was ten years old and so John grew up without a father.

John seemed like a restless soul always searching for something but not really knowing what that something was. He joined “The Royal Canadian Navy” in 1963 and served until 1967. Then, he became a “Fire-Fighter/Fire-Inspector in Cambridge, Ontario until 1981. John took some College courses and became a, “Main-Frame Computer Operator” which he also lost interest in.

So, at the urging of his wife, Brenda, they moved back to her home town of Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1983. John worked as a, Truck Driver and other odd jobs and even worked as a Film Extra in 1983. That’s where he got the “Bug” to be an actor. John really enjoyed acting on camera, especially. After doing about a dozen T.V. Commercials and small parts in Films, John sadly came to the conclusion that there was very little work in the field that he loved.

Next, John got a job at a Halifax Hospital as a Technician and was working in a 24-7 operation until he took an early retirement in 2002. Now, he was excited to get back into acting with the little bit of financial security of two small pensions to fall back on. The area was now quite busy with filming, but the competition was also that much more developed.

Along with the bustling film business in the area, was a lot of politics and control over who got auditions. Of course, established actors were seeking protection of their livelihood from new comers and I was now considered a, New Comer.” So, it didn’t work out the way that he had planned. So, he had to be content to do just Back-Ground work until he was considered too old for that by the “Casting Agencies.”

So, here he am now, trying to write books. This is another field that is filled with, “Road Blocks.” It seems that those in control don’t even care about good stories, they are more interested in the, “Mechanics” of the writing and impressive credentials that follow your name. Traditional Publishers are un reachable, so you need a, “Literary Agent” to represent you to a publisher.

Literary Agents and Traditional Publishers are actually “Shooting themselves in the foot,” with all of the “Hoops” they expect authors to jump through. Then, they expect authors to do all of the work that Publishers used to do, like, “Marketing, Promotion and even Distribution” of their own books. However, John discovered that Amazon KDP offers the authors, “Self-Publishing” services and there are very few if any, HOOPS” for the authors to have to jump through.

In other words, the Traditional Publishers and the “Arrogant” Literary Agents are on their way out of a job that they, themselves, undermined and is gradually going the way of the, “Dinosaurs” just like most “Brick and Mortar” book stores have gone.

So, after sending out more than 400 “Query Letters,” in a four Month span, to Literary Agents who claim that they don’t have the time to read manuscripts, John gave up on them and decided that the “FUTURE” of book publishing is with a reputable “self-publishing” company like Amazon KDP.