My next book

Johnny Carson once defined a New York Minute as the interval between a Manhattan traffic light turning green and the guy behind you laying into his horn.

In other words, it's an instant.

It's also iconic.

And proprietary to the city itself.

It elicits a response like, "Only in New York Fuckin' City."

If you've ever stepped foot in the Big Apple, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The other day I was having lunch with a friend and we were recalling our funniest NYC tales. We have a lot of them. It was at this point, usually when I go to the bathroom hoping my friend will pick up the check, that I remembered I had an idea for a crowd-sourced book.

It's called A New York Minute. And it's simply a collection of stories from colleagues, friends, even family members, who have a unique Gotham City tale to tell. The hook is the story must be told in less than 150 words.

Why 150?

Because if you've ever recorded a radio spot and tried to beat the digital clock that becomes your instant studio enemy, 150 words is the maximum you can squeeze into a script. Despite the client's demand to add in a few points about the dual climate control, the two pizza toppings for $6.99 or some horseshit about locally grown hops and barley.

Pretty simple right?

So break out your anecdotes that have anything to do with New York. They can take place in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island or The Bronx. They can be funny, sad, pathetic, romantic, violent or violently romantic. Angry cab drivers, drunken doormen, one armed hookers, the weirder, the better.

Just throw down 150 words and dash it off to me via private email: siegelrich@mac.com.

I'll select the best stories, make the necessary edits, and format them into a book with a much better cover than the one you see above. You'll see your name in print. You'll be credited as a participating author. You'll enter the glamorous world of book publishing.

Are you picturing those huge royalty checks? And sitting atop the deck of your new yacht?

Of course you are.

In fact, as a successful published author I'm writing this from the deck of mine.