Fading Fame

“I usesta be a contendah! I useta be sumboddy!” -Me

It’s tough to experience a bit of fame, and then find out how fleeting it is. Believe it or not, once upon a time people actually asked me for autographs. Oh, not many. But some. I even did a book signing at the big annual BookExpo show in Chicago one year. Trust me, when someone thrusts a pen in your hand with a look of admiration and asks you to autograph their book, it’s a real ego boost.

Those days are now long gone. INFO magazine went under some 14 years ago now, and my last book was published in 1997 and is long out of print.

There are still some remnants of fame left; tattered rags that hint at their once gleaming spendor.

Amazon (who got my name wrong in the first place: I’m listed as ‘Mark Robbin Brown’) still lists nine of my books here. And my publisher, Que, still lists a bit of information about my books when you enter the ISBNs for them here. You can even buy some of them used on Abebooks by searching for my name here. (For most of them, the shipping is four times the cost of the book.)

But being a faded star (especially one that didn’t shine that brightly in the first place) ain’t the same as being in the spotlight, kiddo. Not by a long shot.

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