Should you only help others if
you're getting "something" in return?

Blazing Reader,

My post yesterday, where I reviewed Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, probably raised a few inquisitive eyebrows:

"Are you saying you shouldn't help others unless you are getting something in return?"

Yes. That's more or less the conclusion I've reached after reading Ayn Rand's objectivist fiction. But what you get in return for helping others doesn't have to be "tangible" — it just has to be valuable... to you.

In other words, I wouldn't want anybody helping me as some form of self-sacrifice. I would want them to help me because, at the very least, it makes them feel good to do so.

Por ejemplo, people help me out by buying my novel, Much Ado About Corona. In exchange for giving me money (well, Amazon usually keeps most of it) they receive "a ripping story of courage, awakening and love with some good laughs thrown in" (according to Hollywood director Patrick Corbett).

Now, there are other people who helped with the creation of the novel — ranging from consultants to editors to proofreaders. Most of them received money in exchange.

But some refused payment.

And some people — such as Dr. Gary Magdar, Christian and Gauri Pillon, Patti and Randy Rothwell, Michelle Qureshi and Paul Jackson — even made large donations toward the production costs without asking anything in return.

Though I did name streets in the story after them. For example, Vincent McKnight lives at 211 Magder Road.

Other than their family names being immortalized in the fictional town of Moosehead, why did they help me? Because they believed in its message and wanted to help make the book possible. They weren't doing it because they felt sorry for me. If that were the case, I would have sent the money back. They did it for the same reason I wrote the book: because it feels good to create something meaningful.

Likewise, with every sale of the book, a percentage of the proceeds goes towards the cover artist, Jordan Henderson. I love his artwork and happily send him a royalty statement every month. I'm not doing it because I feel sorry for him, but because I enjoy and feel uplifted by the artwork he creates and consider it an honour to have his painting on the cover of my novel (and the original on the wall behind me).

The message behind Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead was largely that if it feels like a sacrifice then don't do it — don't belittle your own self-worth for some "greater good." If you don't value your own happiness and well-being, how can you possibly care about someone else's?

That's why I never play the altruism card when selling my novel. Don't buy Much Ado About Corona to save the world. Buy it to save yourself from boredom and your future self from tyranny — because...

1) You'll find it a page-turner that brings guidance, inspiration and laughs into your life.

2) The more sales it makes, the more publicity it gets, the more it is read, the more it will serve to protect your individual rights and freedoms from mob rule.

And #2 is also why it's in your self-interest to buy copies for friends and family.

As Will Dove of The Iron Will Report said: "Seriously folks, read the book. Much Ado About Corona is a fantastic read and well worth your time. The thing I really enjoyed about the story was how three-dimensional the characters were. It’s an excellent tool if you have friends, family or co-workers who are on the fence and open to starting to hear the truth.”

So be "selfish" and buy some more copies at: https://MuchAdoAboutCorona.com

—John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/