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I'm currently writing a book due out in September. Unlike my previous book, where I had a traditional publisher who took care of everything (financially and otherwise) but left me a minuscule royalty on my books that sold, I went a different route this time. I hired a "Book Shepherd".

Follow me on this because I'm going to get to the tie in with real estate in just a moment. My "shepherd" acted as my editor and manager of the process. I paid him by the hour to edit my manuscript and then guide me as to what needed to be done. While I am publishing my book myself, I am certainly not doing this by myself. My shepherd has provided excellent recommendations for an interior designer and cover designer. He has advised me where to get my ISBN numbers. I have paid for each of these experts as they provide the service and am getting great results because I each of these experts (including my book shepherd) were compensated very well for their time and talents.

When the book is published, I will only pay for the costs to print them. The difference between the printing costs and the jacket price goes into my pocket.

A recent post in Active Rain asked very simply "When Do Realtors Stop Working for Free?" She mentioned that she: "got an email today from a colleague who is a real estate investor. He is very savvy and someone who "gets" it. His advice can be summed up in a couple of snippets. If we are as smart as we think we are and we give great advice, why are we giving it away?"

The comments were overwhelmingly from agents that agreed with her premise but questioned how they could get paid in any way other than by commission. But there were a few responses that blew me away - one actually said that she "hated this conversation" because she maintained that we are (I guess she thinks we always have to be) commissioned salespeople without ever letting her mind expand that practices change when businesses do.

"Don't get too close to me...I have a cold!" We have believed for so long that breathing the same air will spread germs, that it's almost a given. But if you talk to medical professionals, they will tell you that colds and viruses are rarely spread by breathing the same air. It's the exchange of body fluids that spread the germs.

In our profession, we have been told, and continue to tell the consumer, that a commission is a payment for services rendered. We've repeated it for so long that, almost universally, we believe it to be true. But logically, it's not. The consumer knows this and with a tight economy, they are increasingly asking some very logical questions:

In a recent article in Inman News: Mortgage bankers oppose workouts for bankrupt homeowners, Matt Carter reports that legislation that would allow judges to modify the mortgage loans of troubled borrowers who file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection would increase the interest rate on loans with small down payments by up to 2 percent, according to testimony by the Mortgage Bankers Association at a hearing on HR 3609, the Emergency Home Ownership and Mortgage Equity Protection Act of 2007.