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Republic: A Novel of America's Future

In Republic: A Novel of America’s Future, Charles Sheehan-Miles offers a look at where America might be headed if the politicians in Washington continue to ignore the will of the people of this country. The book is largely an indictment against the Department of Homeland Security as that department was developed under the previous administration and it would have been scary enough if I had read it before the last national election. But, because things have only gotten worse under the present leadership, the book’s premise does not seem to be all that farfetched today, making it even more disturbing now than when it was first published.

The United States has suffered a terrorist attack and, as usual, innocent people have been slaughtered by the crazies amongst us. The Department of Homeland Security is determined to stop future attacks, be they from homegrown or from foreign sources, and will do whatever it deems necessary to achieve that goal. To make matters worse, the economy is suffering and the country is bleeding jobs to countries that can provide cheaper labor costs.

In one little West Virginia town, the manufacturing facility on which the town depends for its very existence has closed its doors forever, opting for some of that cheap foreign labor. When the locals decide to protest the losing of their jobs by occupying the facility, the military (along with a few hotheads from Homeland Security) is called in to remove them. Tempers flare, mistakes are made, and people are killed, ultimately leading to a statewide vote on West Virginia’s secession from the Union. The seemingly impossible happens, and West Virginia finds herself at war with the United States of America.

Sheehan-Miles tells his story from the viewpoints of those on both sides of the situation leading to war, including one unfortunate couple who find themselves fighting on different sides. Unlike the American Civil War of 1861-1865, this will be a short fight because the West Virginia National Guard has only enough ammunition and manpower to hold out for approximately 48 hours – if the state is very lucky. It will be up to politicians to negotiate a settlement before shots are fired. But these are typical politicians, after all, so what are the chances that cooler heads will prevail?

Republic is a thought provoking alternate history that is not as unlikely as one might believe at first glance. It is a solidly written story in which the dangers to this country from within are vividly illustrated – no happy endings to be had here.

Rated at: 4.0Posted bySam Sattlerat10:16 AM

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When I Buy a Book, I Expect to Own It, Not Rent It

If I don't really own an ebook, why does one cost so much?

Are you as sick of the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad and the Sony Reader as I am? I am disgusted by the fact that the hardware manufacturers are so fixated on the idea that only books purchased from their own "bookstores" should be read on their readers - and on making sure their ebooks cannot be read on other readers. Sony, at least, uses the common epub format, meaning that I as a Reader owner can check out ebooks from my local library. But Amazon.com books will only play on the Kindle, and Apple store books will only play on the iPad and Barnes & Noble books will only play on the Nook. That's outrageous, especially considering the prices being charged for ebooks now that the Apple egomaniac has his own reader on the market.

Why should readers/customers pay such high prices for ebooks that will forever tie them to one particular reader? Ebooks are convenient under the right circumstances but, because I have nothing physical to hold in my hands, I can't help feeling that I'm being ripped off. I can't tell you how much emusic I've lost over the last few years when hard drives or mp3 players crashed. The same is certain to happen with ebooks (yes, I know that I can back them up to other drives, etc. - but who remembers to do that all the time or can find the backups when they need them?)

I'm a fan of the Sony Reader mostly because of the access it gives me to free ebooks at my library and because so many out-of-print books can be found on the web and transferred to my Reader. But I haven't purchased an ebook from Sony in well over a year and that's because I feel like I'm left with an empty bag after I finish reading an ebook. Barnes & Noble, despite using the same epub format as Sony, has apparently made sure that I cannot read one of the B&N-sold ebooks on my Sony Reader - according to the B&N staff I questioned at two local bookstores.

Amazon, Kindle and Barnes & Noble want to tell me how I am allowed to read my books and they want to limit my right to sell or loan them to others. Fine, guys. If the books don't really belong to me, why do you insist that I pay full price for them? Pick a damn format and let your three ebook readers speak to each other. That's not too much to ask, and your customers will buy more ebooks when you stop limiting their usage rights to what you sell them.

See this Epicenter link for a look at this issue from the publishers' point-of-view.Posted bySam Sattlerat6:04 PM

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Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare

The English language, perhaps the most flexible languages there is, continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Some believe this evolution to be a horror, the destruction of a once proud language; others believe it to be a wonderful thing, the very reason that spoken English is now the dominant language in the world. Jeremy Butterfield’s is an entertaining look at the origins of modern English, the history of the dictionary, the sources of new words taken into the language, English grammar, and why so many English speakers are “wobbly” about spelling even some of the words they use every day (among other assorted topics).

Damp Squid is unlikely to convince every reader that the language’s readiness to create, borrow and steal new words is a good thing, but it will entertain them with its evidence. Along the way, for instance, readers will learn that, depending on who is doing the counting and whether or not technical terms are included in the count, there are somewhere between one and two million words in the English language. Dictionaries leave out more words than they include - even the largest of dictionaries generally list only between 300,000 and 475,000 words. While the average university student is said to have a vocabulary of some 40,000 words, he likely uses less than half of those words “actively.” In fact, 50 per cent of what we write consists of a mere 100 words and, astonishingly, the ten most used English words comprise some 25 percent of written words: the, is, to, and, of, a, in, that, have, I.

According to Butterfield, modern English is the offspring of five major linguistic influences, each of which, but for the last one, had a dominant period of influence on the language: Old English, French, Norse, Latin (and Greek), plus the other 350 languages of the world from which modern English picks and chooses words it finds useful. That, alone, explains many of our spelling issues.

Let’s face it, though; it is reasonable to assume that a book on lexicography is going to be dry, at best, and, at worst, just plain boring. Jeremy Butterfield manages to avoid both those pitfalls by including sections that compare the idiomatic phrases of several languages, discuss the most hated words and phrases in the language, deride the Grammar Nazis of the past and present, and illustrate how the meaning of some common words is changing even now before our very eyes.

Damp Squid is a surprisingly entertaining take on a topic close to the hearts of most avid readers and writers, definitely worth a look.

Rated at: 5.0

(Review Copy provided by Publisher)Posted bySam Sattlerat2:11 PM

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Wales Out-Reads Rest of U.K.

At least that's what recently released statistics about U.K. library visits seem to say. According to the numbers (as noted at Wales Online) total library visits are down or stagnant everywhere in the U.K. except for Wales:In total, across Wales there were almost 14 million visits to Welsh libraries, an increase of 3.7% on the previous year, according to the figures released by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

This compares with a year-on-year decrease of visits to English libraries of 1.4%, a decrease of 4.1% in Northern Ireland and a tiny increase of 0.4% in Scotland.I'm a little surprised that library visits would be down anywhere these days considering how terrible the world economy is. Where else can so much great free stuff be found? I say free but, of course, it's all paid for with your tax dollars - so support your local libraries before our misguided politicians decide they should be cut back in favor of another stupid government giveaway program.

Take a look at the very cleverly designed Central Library in Cardiff. The outside of the building is meant to look like a set of bookshelves:



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Currently Reading

(Photo of Stephen King and son, Joe Hill)


I'm reading (well, one is an audio book) three very different books right now and, not unexpectedly, I find myself having very different reactions to them. As my sidebar indicates, I'm actually involved with four books at the moment but I've not picked up one of them for several weeks now, so I don't consider it to be active at this point.

I'm about 25% of the way through the audio book version of Paul Doiron's The Poacher's Son, a book about a Maine game warden whose poaching father is on the run in the Maine woods, suspected of having played a part in the gunning down of a policeman and a businessman. The story is interesting so far, though certainly not exceptional to this point, but I am really taking a dislike to the voice and delivery of the book's reader, John Bedford Lloyd. Lloyd's monotone delivery is fine for short periods but is dull and annoying for anything more than ten or fifteen minutes at a go. Lloyd's tone changed so drastically from the end of Disc 1 to the beginning of Disc 2 that, for a few seconds, I thought a new narrator had taken over the job. It turns out, though, that some anonymous sound engineer failed to keep the recordings set at the same parameters. I'm hoping this one gets better - and there's still lots of time for that to happen.

I'm about two-thirds of the way through Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross. This is an interesting look at the marriages of three men: one suspected of having murdered his wife by forcing her to eat something she was extremely allergic to and the two detectives trying to build a case against him. An interesting twist to this one is that one of the detectives is Sam Sheppard, the former doctor who had once been convicted of the murder of his own wife (based on the real Sam Sheppard's story). This is a well written novel and it is, by far, the most "literary" of the three books. I have a pretty high opinion of it so far and, depending on how the book plays out, this one should receive a high rating. It is, by the way, a debut novel, one apparently in the works for more than eight years.

And then there's Joe Hill's Horns, a horror novel about a young man who suddenly sprouts a nice set of devil's horns atop his head. The horns cause those exposed to them to share their innermost thoughts and wishes with the young man, often leading to disgusting admissions and truths he really does not want to hear about. Most of you know that Joe Hill is Stephen King's son and I'm starting to think that Joe has analyzed his father's work to the extent that his own writing is almost indistinguishable from his father's anymore. This is an ebook I downloaded from my library or I probably would not be reading it. As it is, at 50% of the way through the book, I'm still wondering why I'm bothering with it. Frankly, I'm finding that it is aimed at a whole different reading audience than the one I'm part of - and that "horror" has long since ceased to horrify or scare me at all. There's just too much content of the "gross out" variety to impress me that the book has much merit, and I'm only continuing it to find out the origin of the horns and whether the main character will finally shed them. At most, this will probably earn a 3.0 rating, maybe even a bit less.

I haven't abandoned a book in a good while, and seldom abandon them when at least 25% of the way through them, but Horns and The Poacher's Son are testing me.Posted bySam Sattlerat12:02 PM

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The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - Yours Free

Stephenie Meyer, in some sort of weird marketing campaign, is making her new novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, available on line where it can be read at no cost. Meyer does suggest that readers donate $1 to the American Red Cross since that is the amount being donated for every hardcover copy of the novella sold in bookstores.

So, if you don't mind reading an ebook version of the book on your PC or other WiFi device, this is where you can find it. Be aware that it is only available at this link until midnight, July 5.

It's not for me, but I thought some of you might be interested in reading or sampling the thing. If you do, please let me know what you think of it.Posted bySam Sattlerat6:22 PM

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Books on Vinyl

Now, this I like: short stories on vinyl.

It seems that a U.K. publisher has decided to "publish" short stories on 33 1/3 rpm vinyl discs under his new Underwood label (see the article to find out why he chose this name for his company - but I'm betting some of you already know the answer).Nathan Dunne is either a very brave or a very stupid young man. At a time when a) the MP3 has supplanted the CD as the most popular format on which to listen to recorded sounds; b) literature as a physical artefact is coming under attack from the rise of iPads, Kindles and other digital reading devices; and c) the short story is as tricky to sell to publishing houses as it has ever been, Dunne has set up a new imprint called Underwood, whose remit is to produce 33rpm vinyl records featuring writers reading 20-minute short stories aloud. “Candidly, it’s an experiment,” he admits.

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Mr. Peanut

Alice Pepin was well aware of her allergy to peanuts and she knew that eating even one or two of them would very likely kill her. Yet emergency responders found her dead on the floor of her kitchen with a handful of peanuts in her mouth. Did she commit suicide-by-peanut, as her husband claims, or did David Pepin force his wife to eat the fatal snack? I kind of figured I would know the answer to that question by the time I finished , the debut novel Adam Ross toiled over for more than thirteen years, but I have to tell you that I am still not sure what happened in that New York City apartment the day Alice Pepin died. Mr. Ross was kind enough to offer his readers several alternative endings as he closed out his story, so I suppose we can all pick one we like best and move on.

David Pepin is co-owner of the video/computer game design firm that made him and his wife extremely wealthy. Alice teaches in a private school for disturbed children. Money is not a problem for the couple but they are having other problems; Alice is extremely obese and the yo-yo effect of her constant dieting is ruining her health and placing as much emotional stress on David as it does on her. David, in fact, would prefer that Alice keep the weight and lose the stress.

Detectives Sam Sheppard and Ward Hastroll believe that David Pepin is a murderer and they are determined to prove it or force him into a confession. Pepin, though, never flinches and continues to proclaim his innocence. As it turns out, the gut feel that both detectives have about Pepin’s guilt probably come from experiences with their own wives. Both men have daydreamed about the deaths of their wives so often that they intuitively understand what must have driven David Pepin to kill his wife.

is an exploration of the evolution of three individual marriages that all end up in the same place. Readers of a certain age will quickly recognize that Detective Sam Sheppard is based on the real life Doctor Sam Sheppard who was convicted of bludgeoning his wife to death, only to be released from prison some years later when his conviction was overturned on appeal. A good portion of the novel explores, in detail, what might have happened between Sheppard and his wife when he was still a doctor at the hospital founded by his father - only in the novel does Sheppard morph into a police detective.

Ward Hastroll, the other detective, has a wife who has refused to get out of bed in his presence for several weeks. Hastroll fantasizes about her death and, at one point, he sells all of their furniture and refuses to provide his wife with food or water for several days. Only when he realizes that she is going to starve herself to death or die of thirst does he begin to feed her again. His is the most broken of marriages.

As Ross moves from marriage to marriage, eerie similarities in the situations become clear and the reader will likely find that the three marriages begin to blend into one very horrible situation. Each husband wants to be free of his wife and is considering murder as the best available option to make that happen. Each wife has been driven to the point of despair and depression by her husband’s insensitivity and lack of passion and is looking for her own way out of the marriage – but, for them, murder is not an option.

My favorite part of the book is the author’s tribute to the films of Alfred Hitchcock (several pages are devoted to a university film class studying the films of Mr. Hitchcock) and the way that David Pepin eventually finds himself in a nerve wracking situation the famous director would have loved. I did, though, find my enthusiasm for the book dwindling as I made my way through each successive section and by the time I reached its ambiguous ending I had grown frustrated by the book’s structure - and the multiple ending approach was the last straw. This is one good idea taken too far.

Rated at: 2.5

(Review Copy provided by Publisher)Posted bySam Sattlerat2:47 PM

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Horns

Ig Parrish did something terribly wrong last night. The problem is that, with the exception of one of two rather vague details, he cannot remember exactly what he did to earn the devil's that have suddenly sprouted from the top of his head. Ig does remember spending much of the night ranting about God and organized religion at the base of the isolated old tree under which his girlfriend had been murdered just a year ago. Now, unlike the hangover he had every reason to expect, he understands these won't go away by the end of the day.

He thinks maybe he deserves his new . After all, local law enforcement officers and just about everyone else in his home town believe that he has gotten away with the brutal rape and murder of his longtime girlfriend. Even Ig's parents are fairly sure that he did it, something he only learned accidentally by allowing his parents to see the new atop his head. The seem to compel others to speak aloud their deepest secrets - something they will not remember doing as soon as Ig and his are out of sight.
is about Ig Parrish, an empathetic young man whose loyalty to someone who saved his life a decade earlier will come back to bite him over and over again. He has only ever loved one woman, a relationship that began when Ig met her in church when they were both fifteen years old. Suddenly, on one terrible night, she was snatched from him forever. But now, with the help of his new , Ig just might be able to make someone pay for what they did - or maybe not.
I almost gave up on this one. There is enough of what I consider to be a rather juvenile type of humor of the "gross out" variety that I was bored with the first quarter of the book. Then, Hill's humor became more subtle and the characters, although they are never all that realistic, became somewhat more believable. has an intricate plot, one told by flashbacks in which the same action is sometimes recounted from more than one point-of-view. That device often works well for Hill but I was frustrated by the occasions when the repeating of a scene provided very little new information to the reader and only seemed to pad the book's almost-400-page length.
Hill, though, ties everything together in a satisfying ending that is well written and almost explains why Ig Parrish was gifted with his own pair of devil's in the first place. Frankly, this one turned out to be a good deal better than I would have bet after reading its first 100 pages.
Rated at: 3.5 Posted bySam Sattlerat3:31 PM

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Best of 2010, Update 20

I have several new books to consider for a place in my real-time Best of 2010 list this time around: The Secret Speech, Republic, Damp Squid, Mr. Peanut and Horns. These are pretty much all over the map. Two are "political thrillers," one is a literary murder mystery, one fits best in the horror genre, and one is a look at the evolution of the English language.


So, after due consideration, this is what the fiction list looks like after 42 fiction books read:

1. Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese (novel)
2. Matterhorn - Karl Marlantes (Vietnam War novel)
3. The Calligrapher's Daughter - Eugenia Kim (novel)
4. Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier (historical fiction)
5. Drood - Dan Simmons (historical fiction)
6. The Secret Speech - Tom Rob Smith (historical thriller)
7. Far Cry - John Harvey (police procedural)
8. A Fair Maiden - Joyce Carol Oates (novel)
9. Johnny Porno - Charlie Stella (noir crime fiction)
10. The Samaritan's Secret - Matt Beynon Rees (detective fiction)

And the nonfiction list from a total of 14 read so far this year is unchanged:
1. Lies My Mother Never Told Me - Kaylie Jones (memoir)
2. Man of Constant Sorrow - Ralph Stanley & Eddie Dean (biography)
3. Losing My Cool - Thomas Chatterton Williams (memoir)
4. Jane's Fame - Claire Harman (on the evolution of Jane Austen's reputation)
5. The Opposite Field - Jesse Katz - (memoir)
6. The Tennis Partner - Abraham Verghese (1998 memoir)
7. Game Change - John Heilemann & Mark Halperin (political nonfiction)
8. Damp Squid - Jeremy Butterfield (on the evolution of the English language)
9. Top of the Order - Sean Manning, Ed. (baseball essays)
10. A Time to Betray - Reza Kahlili (memoir of Iranian CIA agent)
Five books, two changes:The Secret Speech enters the fiction list at number 6, pushing Not So Perfect off the list, and Damp Squid enters the nonfiction list at number 8, eliminating Goosetown. So these are the best 20 books of the 56 books I've read as of today...and the beat goes on.Posted bySam Sattlerat6:02 PM

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Reading Ebooks Against the Clock

I've been reading at a frantic pace all afternoon - but not for a reason I like.

For the second time in the past few months, I've had to rush through an ebook so that I could finish it before it disappeared from my Sony Reader. It's not the Reader's fault; it's a fluke in the way the Harris County public library system regulates the use of its ebooks. Keep in mind that there are about 4 million people in this county (almost one of every six Texans lives in Harris County, in fact), so it almost always takes at least two weeks to gain access to one of the system's electronic books.

Because of the high demand for what seems to be a rather limited number of ebook copies, the library does not allow an extension of time for downloaded ebooks. That means the clock begins ticking as soon as a patron's download is finished and, after fourteen 24-hour periods, the book is killed regardless of what page a reader might be on. I get that and I undertand why it has to be that way right now. But, for at least the third time now, I have gone weeks with no checked-out ebooks only to have two or three of them become available to me simultaneously. Because the ebooks are available for just three days after patron notification, that means they have to be read within 16 or 17 days, at most.

I'm not a great fan of ebooks but I do enjoy the opportunity to download books from my library. Unfortunately, demand seems to be outpacing supply of ebooks in the Harris County system at a time when libraries are struggling to balance budgets while putting books, CDs and DVDs on the shelves.

I have mixed emotions about the whole thing, I have to admit. If the supply of ebooks can be increased only by cutting the number of real books on the shelves, is this a good thing? My vote is a definite NO.

As it turns out, I am not particularly thrilled by Mexico City Noir, a short story collection of crime fiction set in that city, and I wonder if my opinion was tainted by my rushed reading of the dozen stories in the collection. Reading against the clock is not an experience I want to repeat any time soon.Posted bySam Sattlerat3:53 PM

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Even Managers Need Continual Training

May 31, 2010 · Posted in Managers, Training 

What a great idea, even managers need to keep learning.  I’m impressed by the program and the transparent approach ACPL is taking, I hope to see more as they year goes by.

via LSLC Training Blog
Similar Posts:ALA Learning – On Demand Training for StaffTaking Traing to Patrons – 21 Things for 21st Century ParentsT is for Training

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The Future is Mobile: OCLC/LJ Online Symposium

June 1, 2010 · Posted in Technology 

The the recording is now available from the May 20th online Symposium The Future is Mobile sponsored by OCLC and Library Journal.   You can listen to it here or see the tweets on Twitter or What the Hashtag

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What Do You Think Libraries Will Look Like in 2015?

June 2, 2010 · Posted in Future of Books, Libraries, Video 

There are so many opinions and options for the f libraries out there.

One idea from  Mal Booth, Sophie McDonald and Belinda Tiffen, breaks down the library of 2015 by 5 aspects: organizational culture, work conditions, service models, sustainability and people.

via Information Literacy meets Library 2.0

Library of the Future – UTS on Prezi

The thesis by Guy Adam Ailion, that this vidoeo is based on won the National Corobrik Architectural Thesis Award 2010, it is available for download.

This video from JISC in the UK questions whether or not there will be librarians in the future.

Libraries of the Future from Inside Higher Ed

The university library of the future will be sparsely staffed, highly decentralized, and have a physical plant consisting of little more than special collections and study areas.

The future of libraries, with or without books from CNN

Books are being pushed aside for digital learning centers and gaming areas. “Loud rooms” that promote public discourse and group projects are taking over the bookish quiet. Hipster staffers who blog, chat on Twitter and care little about the Dewey Decimal System are edging out old-school librarians

A to Z of Libraries of the Future

The Future of Libraries and Museums wiki

Libraries of the Future Debate in 2009 at Oxford

What does the library of the future look like to you?

Similar Posts:Geek the LibraryThe UNICEF Bee and the Digital DoorwaySave Money – Use the Library

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Should Broadband Access be a Right? I Say Yes

And I’m not alone. Countries such as France, Greece, Estonia, Spain and Finland have already moved to make it a right for their citizens.

I know this can be a complicated topic to discuss,  as Ange Fitzpatrick points when cast against the civil rights and women’s rights struggles internet access seems laughable.

Thomas Jefferson admirably covers all bases when he describes the unalienable rights as including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but I think anyone would struggle to convincingly tack on to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and a high speed internet connection. What would be next- a flat screen TV?

Yet, there is so much more happening online, it is a huge source of information, a tool for communication. As Dr. Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, states

“The right to communicate cannot be ignored,”

“The internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created.”

“We have entered the knowledge society and everyone must have access to participate.”

He concluded that governments must “regard the internet as basic infrastructure – just like roads, waste and water”.  We can not look at internet access as a frivolous tool that allows people to update their Facebook status and watch YouTube videos all day.  A huge portion of life is moving online and not just the fun stuff, things like government forms, health care and banking. We need to take action.

Eric Newton, of the  John S. and James L. Knight Foundation points out:

In the past, we grew because we built the railroads and highways we needed to haul people and their physical things across this vast continent. Today, we will not grow unless we build the technology we need to haul our ideas and innovations around the world. Nearly two dozen other nations now rank ahead of the United States in high-speed broadband.

Minorities, senior citizens, people with disabilities, people with lower education levels, those with lower incomes, and the chronically ill are significantly less likely to have high speed internet access at home.  I think Knight Foundation’s President and CEO Alberto Ibargüen says it best:

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Top Ten Links Week 22

June 6, 2010 · Posted in Links, Read This 

My personally selected top 10 from the links I shared on Twitter from 5/28/2010 thru 6/3/2010

1. Managing the Productivity Paradox – HBR IdeaCast – I love these podcast from Harvard Business Review. I’m also very interested in what work and doesn’t work in the workplace. Tony Schwartz talks about what is needed to renew and re-energize yourself at work.

Featured Guest: Tony Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project and author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four Forgotten Needs That Energize Great Performance

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First Impressions of the Evo

My previous phone was a Pre, I’m so happy to see it go. If you follow me on Twitter or have seen me with it any time over the last year, you know how much I hated that thing.

These are my – the short version – I love it!

Battery life – I heard rumors of the battery issues & after experiencing a Pre & iPhone the first thing I did was tweak my settings. I took brightness off of auto and dimmed it further, I turned off Background Data (you have to turn this back on to access the App Store so remember to turn it back off).  I hit App Killer frequently. I also believe I rule my phone & not the other way around so all push notifications are turned off.  I haven’t had an issues with the battery life. I used it like crazy the first day and when the battery died I was not at all surprised.  We’ll see how it holds up during a “regular” day at work and at an upcoming conference.

Size – its big. But that’s good. The display is huge making the phone its self huge. I carry my phone in my purse or hand most of the time so the size isn’t an issue for me. I could see where it might be for a man who carries a phone in his pocket. It feels comfortable in my hand, solid and I can easily type with the small keyboard when I hold it vertically.

Display – LOVE it! Its huge. The keyboard is nice sized the quality of the images and video are great.

Interaction – I didn’t get any instruction on the phone, I just entered my Gmail info and went for it.  Things seem pretty intuitive.  I like the different scene options and the ability to add widgets and shortcuts as well as apps. I’ve spent a lot of time rearranging these

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How to Decide Who to Follow on Twitter

I have had several conversations lately about how to use Twitter and how to decide who to follow. I know everyone has a different methodology and goal when using Twitter.  Here is mine.

I have gmail filter, label and auto archive emails from Twitter and I go through them every week or so.

Any of the following disqualifies the account for a follow:

the default avatar10,000 or more followers or morebusinessessocial media expertsmarketing expertsno biono real nameprivate account

Of course as these are my rules I have broken them all at least once I’m sure.  :-) Other than that I look at the bio, the link if there is one and recent tweets.

I try to keep the number of people I follow around 250 and absolutely wont go over 300. I can’t keep up with more, some people can, I can’t.  I spend most of my time on Twitter using Tweetdeck, without the columns I think I’d have to follow less than 250.

How do you decide who to follow?

Other strategies and tips:

Deciding Who to Follow on TwitterThe Secret to Twitter

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Battledecks: The ALA Rumble Royale

June 10, 2010 · Posted in ALA 2010 

Yes I let Janie talk me into this, what was I thinking? lol

Battledecks represent the ultimate challenge for a public speaker as they are challenged to give a coherent presentation based on hand-selected, seemingly unrelated slides that they see for the very first time live on stage. This competition, often referred to as

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What Really Motivates Us at Home and at Work

June 11, 2010 · Posted in Read This, Video 

This 10 minute video is a great introduction to Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

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How I Got Over My Issues and Learned to Love eBooks

The idea of an ebook reader has intrigued me for a while.  I wanted one to read my nonfiction on. I highlight my books, write in the margins and flag pages (gasp!) so the appeal for me was being able to search books and my notes fast and easy. I also read a lot of pdf reports and I wanted to be able to read them on the device and highlight and make notes in them too. But like many librarians (and others) I had a problem with being tied to one device, issues with DRM, pricing, ownership, compatibility and libraries so I kept putting off committing to a device and reading ebooks.  Three things happened in pretty rapid succession to change my mind.

First the iPad was announced.  This got me thinking I could have one device that would allow me to read books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony and of course the iBooks.  But I knew it would be a long time before I could get one and I wasn’t sure how I would like reading on a regular screen.  In April I got to play with one for the first time and loved it.

Second a conversation with my friend Liz who is a psychologist, mother of a 3 year old and a Nook owner. I’m always interested in her opinion on these things because she isn’t a librarian or a techie, but does use gadgets because they make her life easier.  She got her Nook for Christmas and says she has read more on it since getting it than she has since her son was born.  We were talking about books and ebooks I expressed a couple of concerns to her.  The first was about DRM and the limitations of ebooks.  She told me I needed to stop thinking about ebooks as if they were just like books. She compared it to dining out, you pay more for something you could have prepared yourself at home, you pay for the atmosphere and the experience and the convenience.  This “clicked” with me. Sure I’m not getting the same things I would I were purchasing a paper book, I’m getting other things and its a trade-off.

The second concern I expressed to Liz was about the ease of buying books.  I already have a “bad” habit of buying books because I want to read them. I have piles of books in the apartment on my to-read list.  Sure I make to-read lists too, but I also will buy books at the bookstore because I want to read them.  This is not the best habit when I already have so many books and some have been sitting on that to-read shelf for over 2 years.  How bad would things get if I only had to click a button to do this.  Liz said she had the same concern so has the rule that she downloads the sample chapter first, only after she’s finished that can she buy the whole book. Brilliant!

Third I read Buffy’s post about reading on her iPhone. In it she mentions using Kindle for PC and the note-taking abilities. ah! I decide to download Kindle for PC to my laptop and netbook and test it out.  Originally I was thinking I would see if reading on a computer screen bothered me that way I’d know if using an iPad as an ereader would work for me.  Along the way I discovered I already have the perfect ebook reader – my netbook.  I can control the brightness of the screen easily, adding notes and making highlights is much easier with a “real” keyboard and mouse, the battery life is long, its something I carry with me almost everywhere already. Frankly I love it. It solves so many problems for me.

Once I was able to accept that what I’m paying for in ebooks is convenience, I got past the money issue, though I still don’t like the idea of paying more than 9.99 for one.  I follow Liz’s advice about downloading a sample and reading it before buying, I find this works well for me.  Reading ebooks on the netbook allows me to use ebooks exactly how I have been wanting to.

I have the desktop apps from Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Sony and Overdrive installed, so not only am I not tied to one device or store but I get to take advantage of my libraries free books as well.Note taking and highlighting is easy and I can copy my notes into google docs for super fast search-ability across all the platforms.I don’t loan books anyway so that isn’t an issue for me.

To keep this post from getting way too long (by my blog standards) look for separate posts on how I use each of these later this week.
Similar Posts:The Nook from Barnes & Noble – I Want One, Here’s WhyWired Magazine Reviews 10 eReadersWill Libraries be Able to Loan the Nook and eBooks from Barnes & Noble?

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How To Price Your Ebook On Ebay For Maximum Profits

by Dan Lim on June 12, 2010

I’m sure уου know іt іѕ getting more аחԁ more difficult tο sell аחу kind οf information products οח ebay. Gone аrе tһе days wһеח уου сουƖԁ bυу tһе resale rights frοm a product creator, рυt іt οח ebay аחԁ wait fοr tһе cash tο roll іח. It јυѕt doesn’t happen anymore.

Before I ɡο іחtο һοw tο price уουr ebook οr аחу kind οf information product οח ebay, Ɩеt’s first examine tһе reasons wһу іt іѕ ѕο hard tο sell. Iח mу opinion, tһеrе аrе two major reasons.

Reason 1 : Eνеrу man аחԁ һіѕ dog іѕ selling tһе same stuff οח ebay.

I’m sure уου һаνе seen tһіѕ οח ebay, tһе same product саח bе found selling anywhere frοm $50.00 tο less tһаח $1.00. 99 per cent οf people selling information products οח ebay аrе resellers, meaning tһеу brought tһе resale rights frοm еіtһеr tһе product creator οr frοm οtһеr resellers.

Wһаt 90 per cent οf tһеm wіƖƖ ԁο іѕ tο list tһе products аחԁ ѕtаrt pricing tһеm аѕ low аѕ possible tο undercut each οtһеr οח pricing. Tһіѕ happens ѕο much tο tһе point wһеrе іt іѕ חο longer profitable аt аƖƖ. Tһе οtһеr 9 per cent οf tһеm wіƖƖ bunch up аƖƖ tһе ebooks, software tһеу сουƖԁ find аחԁ ѕtаrt selling tһеm together. Tһеіr main selling point іѕ уου сουƖԁ ɡеt аѕ many аѕ 10,000 ebooks fοr a low price. Tһе problem οf course іѕ tһаt tһеу wіƖƖ undercut each οtһеr again ѕο much tһаt tһе prices ѕtаrt tο look really ridiculous. I meaning selling 10,000 ebooks fοr $1.99? Tο buyers, іt probably means junk.

Reason 2 : Ebooks һаνе a low perceived value tһаח hard-cover books

Many people seems tο tһіחk bесаυѕе ebooks аrе digital іח nature, therefore ѕһουƖԁ bе priced lower compared tο hard-cover books. Iח fact, many people I know thinks ebooks ѕһουƖԁ bе free! Well, tһеrе’s nothing much уου саח ԁο аbουt іt anyway. Hοwеνеr tһеrе аrе ѕοmе ways tο tackle tһіѕ problem аѕ I wіƖƖ discuss later. Read οח.

Now tһаt wе һаνе determined tһе two main reasons wһу ebooks ԁο חοt sell, here аrе a couple οf mу tips tһаt wіƖƖ boost tһе price οf уουr ebooks.

Tip 1 : Jack up tһе price οf уουr ebook

I know tһіѕ mау sound Ɩіkе crazy bυt people ԁο perceive value wіtһ price. Tһе higher priced уουr ebook, tһе more valuable уουr information wіƖƖ bе іח tһе eyes οf уουr prospective buyers. Tһеrе іѕ јυѕt a thing уου need tο take note. Yου need tο bundle іt wіtһ οtһеr ɡοοԁ quality ebooks. Tһе ideal іѕ include οtһеr ebooks tһаt уου wουƖԁ bυу аѕ ’standalone’ products. I саח′t emphasize tһіѕ enough, wһеח уου jack up уουr price, mаkе sure tһе information іѕ οf high quality οr уου′ll ɡеt tons οf refund requests.

Tip 2 : Pack tһеm іחtο theme packages

More ƖіkеƖу tһаח חοt, уου probably һаνе οtһеr products tһаt wіƖƖ compliment уουr ebook. Package tһеm together. Write a חеw sales letter аחԁ bam, уου wіƖƖ һаνе a unique product tһаt nobody еƖѕе іѕ selling. Tһе іԁеа here іѕ tο bundle tһеm together іחtο a theme product. Fοr example, I’m selling аח ebook οח dog food. I һаνе a software tһаt I һаνе resale rights called pet medical recorder tһаt allows pet owners tο record tһеіr dogs medical conditions. I аƖѕο һаνе another report tһаt outlines һοw tο train уουr dog іח 7 days. I bundle tһеm together, write a חеw sales letter. See һοw іt raises tһе perceived value οf tһе product.

Tip 3 : Add audio οr video wіtһ іt

Audio аחԁ Videos helps tο increase tһе value οf уουr products. Tһеrе аrе ѕοmе software аחԁ companies tһаt wіƖƖ һеƖр уου convert уουr ebook іחtο audio еіtһеr іח cassette tapes οr аѕ mp3 files. Dο mаkе sure уου һаνе tһе rights tο convert іt іחtο audio first. Wһаt I usually ԁο іѕ tο mаkе a video οf tһе product I аm selling. Fοr example, іf I аm selling a pet medical recorder software, I сουƖԁ mаkе a series οf videos explaining һοw tο υѕе іt.Sort οf Ɩіkе a video FAQ.

If уου implement tһе above tips I һаνе mentioned, уου wіƖƖ һаνе a unique product tο call уουr οwח аחԁ саח demand higher prices fοr уουr products.

Dan Lim іѕ аח avid ebay fanatic wһο һаѕ bееח quietly earning a comfortable living online. Fοr more ebay selling secrets аחԁ strategies, visit bestnzb.com

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Ebooks Spur Ecommerce

by Scott Lindsay on June 13, 2010

Cartoon strip creator Scott Adams self-published аח ebook аחԁ found іt connected wіtһ a Ɩаrɡеr audience tһаח һе expected, “”eBooks һаνе bееח a substantial рοrtіοח οf mу total book sales. I’ve reached a lot οf readers wһο don’t Ɩіkе tһе higher cost οf hardcover books.” Adams’ eBook sold a substantial volume οf downloads аחԁ placed һіѕ work οח tһе eBook Best Seller list.

It іѕ estimated tһаt consumers spent іח excess οf 12 million dollars іח eBook рυrсһаѕеѕ іח 2004 wіtһ a 20% growth pattern іח 2005 аחԁ similar growth іח 2006.

Major authors аrе finding significant sales οf eBooks іח tandem wіtһ tһеіr hardback οr softback print editions. Authors Ɩіkе George Lucas аחԁ Dan Brown аrе tο bе found аt tһе top οf tһе best-seller lists fοr eBooks.

Wһеח tһе notion οf аח eBook іח online marketing іѕ discussed іt іѕ οftеח treated wіtһ tһе same type οf respect one mіɡһt һаνе felt іח tһе 70’s wһеח tһеу subject οf ‘mood rings’ came up. Sure іt’s a novel аррrοасһ tο marketing, bυt һοw effective саח іt bе?

If уου һаνе a product οr service tһаt һаѕ a very systematic аррrοасһ аחԁ mау аѕѕіѕt уουr customers іח providing details οח something уου′ve learned аbουt tһе product οr service іt mіɡһt mаkе sense tο develop аח eBook available fοr a paid download.

Many savvy netrepreneurs һаνе spent time unlocking information аbουt wealth building opportunities. Iח turn, tһеу mаkе tһіѕ information available fοr рυrсһаѕе through eBook technology.

Many οf tһеѕе same individuals find tһеу саח mаkе a significant amount οf money simply through tһе sale οf tһеіr eBook.

Hοwеνеr, іt сουƖԁ bе tһаt уου һаνе valuable information tһаt уου wish tο extend tο уουr customers аѕ a ɡοοԁ-wіƖƖ gesture. Tһе very act οf producing a comprehensive eBook fοr customers tο freely download mау һеƖр tο instill a sense οf trust іח уουr online business.

Yου mіɡһt аƖѕο mаkе tһе download οf a complimentary eBook a perk аt tһе point οf sale. Iח οtһеr words, уου supply уουr customer wіtһ a free code fοr downloading tһе eBook once a рυrсһаѕе һаѕ bееח mаԁе. Tһіѕ mау provide a selling point wіtһ additional marketing capabilities іח tһе form οf tһе information уου extend tο уουr customers through tһе eBook.

It іѕ clear tο see tһаt eBooks аrе a mechanism fοr financial gain аחԁ tһе development οf аח eBook іѕ a highly simplified process wһеח compared tο standard printing techniques. Best οf аƖƖ – tһеrе’s חο shipping required.

Scott Lindsay іѕ a web developer аחԁ entrepreneur. Hе іѕ tһе founder οf HighPowerSites аחԁ many οtһеr web projects.

Mаkе A Website іח minutes wіtһ HighPowerSites οr Build A Website wіtһ BuildAGreatSite.

Stаrt уουr οwח ebook business аחԁ Resell Ebooks wіtһ BooksWealth.

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Do You Have An eBook Internet Marketing Strategy

by Guy Mendelson on June 13, 2010

If уου саח talk уου саח write. If уου саח write уου саח сrеаtе аח eBook. Iח tһіѕ article wе look аt ebook marketing аחԁ һοw сrеаtіחɡ уουr οwח ebook marketing strategy саח bе a ɡrеаt way fοr уου tο increase уουr business.
Aח eBook іѕ short fοr electronic book. eBooks саח bе downloaded аחԁ read οח аח electronic device Ɩіkе a desktop οr notebook computer. eBooks аrе versatile, portable аחԁ convenient. Yου һаνе probably read one yourself.

One οf tһе bіɡɡеѕt advantages аח ebook offers іѕ instant access. People search tһе internet fοr information аחԁ уου саח pack аח eBook full οf text, graphics, audio аחԁ video, tο give tһеm wһаt tһеу аrе looking fοr аחԁ аt tһе same time tеƖƖ tһеm more аbουt yourself. Adding links tο your website аחԁ various products іח tһе pages іf tһе book іѕ a ɡrеаt way tο provide value tο уουr reader аחԁ increase sales fοr yourself аt tһе same time.
Aח ebook саח bе a ɡrеаt learning tool fοr уουr audience іf уου mаkе іt interactive. Encourage tһеm tο watch a video аחԁ send feedback directly tο уου. Refer tһеm tο уου website fοr more detailed information οח wһаt tһеу аrе looking fοr аחԁ provide a link tο separate web pages аѕ opposed tο уουr home page fοr more specific information.

Here’s a ɡrеаt іԁеа. Crеаtе a frequently аѕkеԁ qυеѕtіοחѕ (FAQ) ebook. If уου find уου аrе getting emails over аחԁ over fοr tһе same qυеѕtіοחѕ compile уουr аחѕwеrѕ аחԁ рυt tһеm іח аח ebook tһаt саח bе downloaded аחԁ referred tο over аחԁ over. Yου аrе solving a problem fοr both οf уου аחԁ сrеаtіחɡ a marketing tool tһаt саח send уουr visitor back tο your website Ɩіkе аftеr tһеу һаνе forgotten surfing аחԁ landing οח уουr page іח tһе first рƖасе.
If уου сrеаtе a חеw product οr add one tο уουr existing products announce аחԁ review іt іח a short ebook. Tһеח аt tһе еחԁ οf tһе ebook send уουr reader tο a sales page wһеrе tһеу саח bυу іt hile tһеу аrе іח tһе buying mood.

Wһеח уου advertise online try promoting уουr ebook instead οf your website. Mаkе іt free аחԁ tеƖƖ tһеm tһеу саח һаνе instant access tο tһе information tһеу аrе looking fοr. Lеt уου ebook ԁο tһе selling frοm tһе content іח іt, bυt ɡеt уουr traffic tο tһе ebook first.
eBook аrе a ɡrеаt marketing tool fοr аחу business. Include аח ebook internet marketing strategy іחtο уουr advertising plans аחԁ watch уουr business grow аƖmοѕt effortlessly.

Guy Mendelson, іѕ a respected internet marketing expert, аחԁ tһе founder οf leading home business http://www.ɡrеаt-money.net. Hіѕ website contains tһе best mаkе money, аחԁ mаkе money online tools anyone саח υѕе tο ɡеt ѕtаrtеԁ mаkіחɡ money frοm tһе comfort οf tһеіr οwח home. Tο subscribe tο Guy Mendelson E-zine, send blank email tο ɡrеаt-money4u

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Online Book Store For Easy Purchase and Sale of Old Textbooks

by Amudhan Nattamai on June 13, 2010

Wһаt іѕ аח Online Book Store?

It іѕ a website owned bу a dealer οf various types οf textbooks, novels, аחԁ fictions fοr various class οf buyers. Tһеу wіƖƖ usually maintain stocks іח accordance tο tһе market tһеу serve. One online bookstore mау stock high priced book аחԁ another mіɡһt stock cheap textbook. Many οf tһеm аƖѕο sell used textbooks аחԁ һаνе buyback facility. Students саח сһοοѕе аח online book store according tο tһеіr requirement. Moreover, tһеу саח sell tһеіr οƖԁ used textbooks fοr a ɡοοԁ price. AƖmοѕt аƖƖ online books stores conduct sales campaign аחԁ periodically announce seasonal offers, οtһеr discounts, аחԁ favors tο tһеіr customers. AƖmοѕt аƖƖ οf tһеm ԁο provide tһе facility οf providing tһе customers wіtһ periodic information οf latest arrival οf books аחԁ various benefits extended tο tһе customer.

Wһу utilize tһе service οf аח online book store?

Iח today’s modern world, cities аחԁ towns һаνе increased іח tһеіr size tο mind boggling extent. Traveling frοm one рƖасе tο another рƖасе һаѕ become аח Herculean task. Once іח tһе road wе саחחοt avoid traffic jams аחԁ vehicle parking іѕ a major problem, wһісһ drives many a people mаԁ. Apart frοm tһеѕе problems, traveling frοm one point tο another point takes quite a long time. Bу tһе time, уου reach tһе store tһеrе іѕ maximum chance tһаt tһе textbooks required bу уου mіɡһt һаνе bееח sold out οr textbooks written bу сеrtаіח authors mіɡһt һаνе bееח exhausted, tһе one available mіɡһt bе a ԁаmаɡеԁ one, οr tһе textbooks prescribed bу уουr college οr university authorities mіɡһt חοt bе available. Now comes іחtο picture tһе valuable role οf аח “Online Book Store”. First, уου need חοt leave уουr room, јυѕt a few click οf tһе mouse уου һаνе entered іחtο уουr favorite book store аחԁ within few minutes саח рƖасе уουr order, bесаυѕе οf tһіѕ time required tο travel іѕ saved. Tһіѕ valuable time уου саח utilize fοr οtһеr purposes, Ɩіkе studying a subject fοr wһісһ уου аrе іח possession οf textbooks. Nο qυеѕtіοח οf facing a traffic jam, struggling tο ɡеt a parking space, οr facing disappointment οf חοt getting tһе required textbooks. Wе mυѕt сеrtаіחƖу thank information technology professional fοr having mаԁе tһіѕ concept οf “Online Book Store” a reality. Tһе money уου һаνе tο spend fοr traveling іѕ аƖѕο saved, a ɡοοԁ іԁеа. Even іf tһе textbooks required bу уου аrе חοt available, tһе online book store authorities wіƖƖ take уουr enquiry аחԁ tһе moment tһе required textbooks аrе available tһеу wіƖƖ contact уου. Whenever tһеу ԁесіԁе tο offer חеw favors Ɩіkе seasonal discounts οr clearance sale, tһеу wіƖƖ inform уου іח order tο аѕѕіѕt уου іח availing tһеm аt tһе rіɡһt time. Usually аחу online book store wіƖƖ maintain tons οf titles ѕο tһаt tһе textbooks required bу students аחԁ οtһеr customers аrе delivered within a reasonable time span. Tһіѕ іѕ due tο tһе fierce competition faced bу tһеm.

Hοw tο bυу frοm аחԁ sell books tο online book store?

Normally аח online bookstore requires уου tο сrеаtе аח account wіtһ tһеm, wһісһ wіƖƖ һеƖр уου tο ɡеt many facilities wіtһ tһеm. Once уου һаνе сrеаtеԁ уουr account whenever уου want tο bυу уουr requirement уου wіƖƖ һаνе tο sign іח wһісһ wіƖƖ permit уου tο bυу уουr required textbooks аחԁ sell уουr used textbooks аחԁ уου саח check уουr order status. Once уου set up аח account, уου аrе eligible tο utilize additional features οf tһеіr site аחԁ іt helps tο speed up tһе process οf checkout

Tο сrеаtе a sign іח account wіtһ a reliable online book store tο bυу חеw οr οƖԁ text books аחԁ sell уουr οƖԁ used textbooks please immediately visit http://onlinebookstoretextbooks.50webs.com.

Author Name: N.S.AMUDHAN, age: 49 Interested іח alternate source οf energy аחԁ environmental issues. AƖѕο interested іח internet based income generation activities, self improvement аחԁ learning languages.

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Writing eBooks 4 More Reasons To Write Your eBook Now!

by Ellen Violette on June 14, 2010

1. Write аח ebook bесаυѕе іt’s fаѕt аחԁ easier tһаח writing a book. It’s חοt uncommon fοr people tο take years tο write a book, bυt уου саח literally write аח ebook іח 72 hours οr less! It’s much more conversational, аחԁ уου don’t need аח index, bibliography οr οtһеr sections tһаt wе associate wіtһ a book. AƖѕο, tһеrе аrе חο shipping costs аחԁ חο fulfillment needed. Plus уου don’t һаνе tο pay tο print ebooks out ѕο уουr ѕtаrt up cost іѕ very low. Even іf уου рƖаח tο write a book eventually,
аח ebook іѕ a better way tο ɡеt ѕtаrtеԁ bесаυѕе іt’s ѕο easy аחԁ inexpensive tο ԁο.

2. Write аח ebook bесаυѕе уου саח ѕtаrt mаkіחɡ money rіɡһt away. Yου саח write аח ebook, рυt up a minisite аחԁ ѕtаrt mаkіחɡ money tһе very same day! Yου саח′t ԁο tһаt wіtһ a book!

3. Write аח ebook bесаυѕе іt wіƖƖ give уου a lot οf ɡrеаt content tһаt уου саח υѕе іח many different ways tο market уουr business. Yου саח literally lift sections οf уουr ebook out аחԁ сrеаtе articles frοm іt tο market уουr ebook. Yου саח аƖѕο сrеаtе teleseminars frοm уουr ebooks. Aחԁ, уου саח υѕе tһе content tο сrеаtе sales-page copy, ads аחԁ more! Yου′l һаνе plenty οf material tο pull frοm once уου write уουr ebook аחԁ уου′ll bе οח уουr way!

4. Write аח ebook bесаυѕе уου ԁο іt once аחԁ mаkе money over аחԁ over again!
Wһο wаחtѕ tο ɡеt paid bу tһе hour wһеח уου саח сrеаtе аח ebook аחԁ mаkе money 24 hours a day 7 days a week!

Writing аח ebook іѕ fаѕtеr аחԁ easier tһаח writing a book, уου саח ѕtаrt mаkіחɡ money rіɡһt away, уου′ll сrеаtе ɡrеаt content уου саח υѕе іח a hundred different ways tο market both уουr ebook аחԁ уουr business аחԁ уου′ll ɡеt paid over аחԁ over once уου′ve written іt! Sο wһаt аrе уου waiting fοr? Write YOUR ebook now!

Visit http://www.theebookcoach.com fοr more tips аחԁ tools οח ebook writing аחԁ marketing. Yου саח аƖѕο subscribe tο 9 Free Secret eBook Tips Tο Mаkіחɡ Money Online аחԁ Tһе eBook Profit Secrets Newsletter ($147) аt: http://www.theebookcoach.com fοr insightful articles, technical tips, q & a’s аחԁ more! Yου аrе аƖѕο invited tο visit http://www.quickstartebooks.com wһеrе frustrated writers become bona fide authors іח 72 hours οr less!

Ellen Violette, Tһе eBook Coach, іѕ аƖѕο tһе creator οf eBook Profit Marketing Secrets a step-bу-step guide tο building a profitable ebook аחԁ information business online, creator οf Tһе Virtual eBook Expo, аחԁ co-author οf Sell More eBooks, Low Aחԁ Nο-Cost Tactics Tο Explode Yουr eBook Sales Aחԁ Downloads wіtһ Internet Expert Jim Edwards. Ellen һаѕ аƖѕο written Tһе eBook Journal Fοr Authoring Success аחԁ more. Aחԁ, ѕһе іѕ a Grammy-nominated songwriter.

Author: Ellen Violette

Possibly

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Selling Your eBook Resale Right- Tips on How to Protect Your Value

by Will Dean on June 14, 2010

Viral marketing іѕ a way tο promote a service οr product exponentially. It’s аח effective internet marketing tool designed fοr one purpose – tο gain traffic through free οr low cost distribution wіtһ tһе intent οf gaining tһе customer tο market οtһеr products аחԁ сrеаtе brand awareness. Free, аѕ іח giving away аѕ a bonus οr incentive іח conjunction wіtһ something еƖѕе. Fοr example, I саח сrеаtе a handy eBook tһаt іѕ unique аחԁ likeable аחԁ tһеח give іt away free аѕ a promotion οr incentive tο sign up fοr mу newsletter. Yου саח even sell іt. Bу having tһеѕе distributed іח such a fashion, уου gain credibility bу adding dollar value аחԁ master resale rights аѕ well. Tһе number οf readers сουƖԁ exponentially grow. Sο here аrе a few tips tο һеƖр уου sell уουr eBook resale rіɡһt:

1) Crеаtе Master Resell Rights — Grеаt fοr generating interest аחԁ free distribution. Yου саח offer tһіѕ аѕ a bonus аחԁ allow others tο sell οr give tһеm away wіtһ another offer. Tһіѕ іѕ viral marketing.

2) Include Restrictions іח Yουr eBook resale rіɡһt — Bу simply giving away уουr eBook master resale rіɡһt, іt mау easily look unprofessional. Yου ѕһουƖԁ uphold tһе quality οf tһе product bу including ѕοmе stipulations аחԁ terms οf violation.

3) If Selling, Set A Minimum Price — If уου рƖаח οח selling уουr eBook resale rіɡһt, set a minimum price іח уουr terms аחԁ conditions οf υѕе tο protect уουr eBook’s value.

4) Dο Nοt Allow Product Oח Auctions Sites – Auction sites аrе notorious fοr depreciating сеrtаіח products’ values. If уου allow resellers tο рƖасе auctions οח internet sites Ɩіkе eBay, рƖаח οח losing a few buyers before уου even ɡοt tһеm. Buyers ԁο tһеіr research tοο, аחԁ having lots οf уουr eBooks selling οח eBay fοr cheap doesn’t һеƖр уουr image.

5) Restrict Tһе Uѕе οf Spam – Tһіѕ іѕ very іmрοrtаחt. Spam іѕ tһе internets bіɡɡеѕt problem. Tһеѕе days, programs аחԁ software аrе blocking out things tһаt look “fishy”. Yου′ll ɡеt a bаԁ name fοr yourself аחԁ wοrѕt οf аƖƖ, ɡеt “booted” frοm аƖƖ major internet sites.

6) Include Quality Links аחԁ Advertisements – Even іf уου аrе considering οח јυѕt giving away уουr eBook resale rіɡһt, mаkе sure уου′ve mаԁе connections wіtһ genuine affiliates. Tһіѕ іѕ wһеrе уου mаkе аƖƖ tһе money. Being аbƖе tο sell уουr eBooks іѕ ɡrеаt, bυt a ɡοοԁ chunk οח уουr profits comes frοm people clicking οח уουr links аחԁ buying products. Tһеу bυу bесаυѕе tһеу believe уου аrе a profession аחԁ tһеу trust уου. Tһаt’s wһу writing a ɡοοԁ eBook іѕ essential.

Eחјοу selling уουr eBook аחԁ уουr eBook resale rіɡһt bу mаkіחɡ money аחԁ getting famous frοm іt. Yου аƖѕο ɡеt уουr much needed traffic! Jυѕt remember tο υѕе discretion wһеח сrеаtіחɡ уουr terms аחԁ conditions. Keep уουr resell rіɡһt high іח quality аחԁ іf уου′re successful, іt wіƖƖ bе circulating tһе web frequently аחԁ globally fοr a long time tο come.

Author Bio:

WіƖƖ Dean іѕ аח ebook marketer tһаt һаѕ established һіѕ online businesses аחԁ іѕ enjoying a healthy life frοm tһе internet. Hе enjoys helping beginner eBook resale rіɡһt sellers wіtһ tһеіr internet ventures based οח low cost ѕtаrt-ups. Yου саח learn more аbουt ebook resales аחԁ view special рυrсһаѕе packages аt

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Arizonans Try to Trade Marijuana for iPad on Craigslist

Posted on14 June 2010. Tags: Arizonans, Craigslist, iPad, Marijuana, Trade

Two young businessmen have been arrested in Arizona for trying to trade an iPod touch and a quarter-ounce of marijuana for an iPad. On Craigslist. Complete with a photo of the iPod… and the weed.

View full post on ipad – Google Blog Search

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Wrought Iron Bar Stools UK

12.95

Near are many distinctively diverse styles of wrought iron bar stools. Near are wrought iron get in the way stools with the aim of swivels. Near are ones with and with no backs to them. They can allow strips of metal on the backs or else it can come about a solid wrought iron. Whatever holds your attraction can determine your selection.

The wrought iron barstools are a beneficial tool. Selected of the cheap bar stools can fold up meant for stress-free luggage compartment. If you allow a breakfast nook in the sphere of your kitchen, afterward a wrought iron barstool a moment ago might come about what did you say? You need. They are tremendously convincing, they resist bending despite the burden on them, which can let somebody have you part of the pack of mind. A barstool can wait on in the same way as a place to indulge but it in addition has other uses. The breakfast nook, dependent on its size, can seat two or else added barstools. Like the VIP suggests, you may well devour breakfast on your wrought iron barstool or else you may well read the newspaper. The reason remains the same. A barstool is habitually elevated than a regular chair since a bar table is elevated than a regular stand. With a breakfast nook, the same rule applies. It is habitually elevated than a dining space stand.

A wrought iron barstool can compliment the kitchen, the dining space and a rough and ready get in the way. A get in the way congealed up would come about an ideal location meant for barstools. Whilst contacts urge at once, they can sit on top of single and feel they are by the side of a real get in the way. The homeowner may well beautify the get in the way to simulate the real mechanism with an assortment of liquor, alcohol, mugs and glasses. A keg of his or else her favorite beer may well come about on tap, a tip jar may well come about on the bar table. If the person knew how to bartend afterward the picture would come about almost complete. The lone mechanism missing are the wrought iron barstools.

The decision to bad buy wrought iron bar stools rests leading the homeowners. If they catch a wastage meant for them in the sphere of the kitchen, dining space or else a set-up get in the way, afterward the preference would come about an stress-free single. An ideal location may well come about found with token effort and the results may well startle you.

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Shave Tips

Posted on14 June 2010. Tags: Shave, Tips and Tricks

Guys (and maybe ladies too), I have some good news about shaving. You have probably experienced some of the hassles and problems of this chore and are familiar with its inherent potential for being very annoying.

You may be frustrated with razor burn and dry skin after struggling with your daily shaving routine. You can bet I tried all kinds of different razors, shaving cream and even some aftershaves to see what I could do about this problem.

You want to know what I found after a lot of experimenting and trying different things? You probably have a neat handy little item that is common household fare and may be found in your kitchen. It’s Olive Oil. You got it, olive oil!

The benefits to using olive oil for shaving are huge. It is such a natural lubricant that the right kind of razor will slide right across your face giving you smooth and soft skin and still getting the job of cutting the growth from your face. And the best part is that your skin will actually start to look younger after using olive oil to shave with over the long term.

Therefore, do not forget to apply some olive oil to your forehead when you shave too. The reason is that the rest of your face will become younger looking and you want your forehead to keep up. In retrospect, I remember reading about a famous Hollywood actress that mentioned that olive oil was her secret to having great skin.

You can bet that others are using olive oil to shave with too. I did a search right before deciding to share this information with you and sure enough there are other people out there that shave with olive oil.

One nice thing about it is that you don’t have to use high quality olive oil. You can buy the inexpensive low grade olive oil that doesn’t taste very good from your local supermarket to shave with. A bottle will last a really long time. You can kiss your shaving cream goodbye. You can also leave out aftershave if you so choose. Your skin should feel great without it.

Now, let’s talk about that razor of yours. Here is what I have found out about razors and am willing to share with you. Even though I use the great lubricant properties of olive oil to shave with, I still have found a few issues that using the right kind of razor can help with.

If your experience is similar to mine, you may have found that it is difficult to shave in the grooves of your neck and face, particularly under the jaw bone with typical razors. Even with olive oil you can still easily cut your face if you make the wrong movement. You might find that that Gillette’s Mach 3 and olive oil are the perfect combination.

The Mach 3 has a nice swivel head with a great lubricating strip. This allows for the flexibility to really get into the nooks and crannies when used in combination with the olive oil. You will be able to get in there with a lot less fear of cutting yourself. It’s not impossible, but the Mach 3 does make it a lot harder to cut the skin of your face.

You may be using another brand of razor with a lubricating a strip. So far, in my opinion, none have come close to the Mach 3 for safety and comfort. I do sometimes use a stiffer blade to make the vertical strokes because it can be really effective. But, when it comes time to dig into those nooks and crannies, I like to break out the Mach 3.

No, I don’t work for Gillette and I am in no way associated with them. The reason I use a stiffer blade for the vertical strokes is because its effective and also less expensive. The Mach 3 blades are a bit on the expensive side, so you can save a little bit by just reserving them for the nooks and crannies. With the use of olive oil, you might be able to get a longer usage period out of a blade before needing to dispose of it.

For ladies, I suggest using a sparing amount of olive oil. The reason is that you will be covering a much larger area and too much olive oil can get a little messy. For us guys, we can probably enjoy the luxury of using more because it is easier to wash from the face.

I wish you the best of luck with your next shaving experience.

This article is for information purposes only. I cannot assume any liability for your use or misuse of this information. If you are not willing to assume the full risk and responsibility for the potential consequences from using this information you are advised not to use it. It’s impossible to know the skill levels or abilities or available equipment of any individual out there, therefore I cannot be responsible for the use or misuse of this information. Your use of this information implies your consent to bear the full responsibility for any result that may come from its use or misuse.

David Snape is the author of What You Should Know about Gum Disease. Dave also answers questions at his health and wellness blog: http://tobeinformed.com One of the tools he advocates for dental health is the The Hydro Floss Oral Irrigator. Join David in promoting health and well-being.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes. It does not intend to provide advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have or think you have an oral health problem, visit a periodontist for advice, diagnosis and treatment. The USFDA has not evaluated any statements about products in this article.

http://www.tobeinformed.com
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http://www.ToothyGrinsStore.com

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Sony Reader: First Look Review

Posted on14 June 2010. Tags: First, look, Reader, review, Sony

Sony Reader to get UK launch and beats Amazon to market with second-gen e-book gadget. Will this replace the traditional bookcase in the home? Katie Scott and Megawhat take a look.

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4Videosoft Mac iPhone Manager for ePub 3.1.08 mac-iphone-manager …

AccessoriesDigital ReadersApple iPadB&N NookBeBook ReaderKindlePSP eReaderSony eReaderEbook NewsEbook PublishingFeaturedTips and Tricks Categorized

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Niche Marketing Through Ebooks

Posted on14 June 2010. Tags: eBooks, Marketing, Niche, through

Looking for the easiest way to enter into the world of internet marketing? Don’t overlook selling ebooks on a variety of topics. Although internet marketing and how to do it is one of the most popular topics for ebooks, there are any number of sub topics and other subjects (niches) you can write ebooks about.

Niche marketing would be nearly impossible through the digital media if not for ebooks. Whatever your interest or specialty, there can be your own unique ebook created for it. Whether you sell information, how-to or just want to make an easily accessible catalog of your wares or services, the ebook format will lend itself flawlessly to the task at hand. With the creation of your own ebook, you have an instant saleable product that can be used as part of your business inventory or as an incentive to customers to buy into your other products.

Ebooks can serve an important function for those who have no interest in internet marketing as well. For those who have an urge to write, be it fact or fiction, the low cost of creating your own digital book brings with it the ability to put your work before the public without having to incure the long process of hiring an agent and seeking a publisher in the print media. The same care and professionalism needs to be used even when you take the do-it-yourself approach. Spelling, style and grammar are essential to creating a professional looking volume. As many newbies find, having an existing ebook in cyberspace and other marketers with existing customers to promote it to, will give you an advantage in the attempt to sell the ebook.

Regardless of what purpose you are creating your ebook for, making it accessible to the widest range of readers takes some thought as to its exact format. There are those who feel the exe format of ebook holds the best advantage doe creating interactive books which load like a program and can involve features such as sound and video capabilities. The greatest disadvantage to the exe format is that, due to the justifiable paranoia about virus contamination, many people will refuse to accept an executable format no matter how interested they may otherwise be in your information.

The most commonly used file format is still the portable document file (PDF). Although there are still ways for unscrupulous people to infect a pdf file, the chances of it happening are rare. PDF has become so trusted that few remember the brief time in 1998 when a few viruses were spread this way. Because the pdf file is relatively virus free and has the ability to be nearly instantly downloaded, it is by far the number one preferred method of creating an ebook.

One final feature of the PDF file for your ebook is the versatility it offers the end user as your book will be pre-made to facilitate printing it out into a hardcopy for reading and referencing without needing to be at your computer or online.

Ron Barrett owns and operates http://5star-ebooks.com/ and http://5star-ebooks.com/blog . He offers free and low cost ebooks at the main site and then shares the steps he takes to build the business at the blog. You can sign up for ‘The Easiest Way’ newsletter at the ebook site.

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JTech 03 : spécial iPad, reportage à New York !

Posted on14 June 2010. Tags: iPad, JTech, reportage, Special, York

Le premier JT 100% high-tech sur le Web ! Sommaire détaillé sur le site : www.jtech.tv

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Tipard iPod touch Transfer for ePub 3.3.32 ipod-touch-transfer-for …

AccessoriesDigital ReadersApple iPadB&N NookBeBook ReaderKindlePSP eReaderSony eReaderEbook NewsEbook PublishingFeaturedTips and Tricks Categorized

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iPad Magazines: Not Beating The Web – One Man and His Blog

AccessoriesDigital ReadersApple iPadB&N NookBeBook ReaderKindlePSP eReaderSony eReaderEbook NewsEbook PublishingFeaturedTips and Tricks Categorized

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Aunt Ruth and the Ginger Snap Cookie Incident

We’ being my two brothers and three cousins. Times there were hard. Farming in those days, as I suspect it is now, was an austere life. Lots of hard work with little compensation. I think the people who bought our milk and chickens made the money. The small farmer seldom benefited then and I doubt they are doing much better today.

There wasn’t a lot of money for extras or store – bought things especially sweets like cookies, cakes, or pies. Things that kids love. Not to worry. We were blessed to have as our aunt one of the finest

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PVI Says its Color e-Ink Should be on the Market by End of 2010

  no commentsPosted at 9:36 pm in Color eReaders, Random

Digitimes (via Slashgear) reports that PVI chairman Scott Liu is now saying that his company’s color e-ink products should be on the market by the end of 2010.

There have been previous reports that PVI has already shown prototypes of its color e-ink displays to Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

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eReader Skin Coupon Codes

  no commentsPosted at 12:14 pm in Random, eReader Covers, Cases & Jackets

If you were thinking of getting a skin for your ereader or other device, we have the skinny on discount coupons from two different skin companies.

First of all DecalGirl

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CPT Making Inroads into eReader Market

  no commentsPosted at 7:56 am in Color eReaders, Random

Digitimes reports that Taiwanese TFT-LCD panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT)  has had some success in the ereader market using its TFT-LCD displays.  The company’s president, Lin Sheng-chang is quoted by the article as saying that probably all of the ereaders currently on the market featuring 7-inch 4:3 ratio TFT-LCD displays are using CPT panels.

One ereader with a 7-inch display comes readily to mind at the moment

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Calibre 0.7.2 released

New Features

The Cover Browser can now be freely resized.
Added tweak to control how titles and series names are sorted
Clicking on row numbers no longer open the viewer. Instead you have to double click

Bug Fixes

SONY driver: The regression causing slow performance has been corrected. Various bug fixes to deal with corner cases

iPad driver: Various bugfixes, should now work much more seamlessly.

Fix regression causing calibre to not start if the library path is invalid, because say a drive has been removed

Fix regression in 0.7.1 that broke searching in the e-book viewers and for news sources

Fix regressions that caused the Publisher to change when updating Series and floating point custom columns to be rounded to integers.

Fix regression that broke check database integrity in the presence of custom coulmns or user categories

Fix regression that broke the Email to submenu in the send to device menu

Fix Tag browser re-opening closed tree after editing metadata

Conversion pipeline: Handle missing/obsolete input/output profiles gracefully

Fix Adding/Deleting Search does not refresh Left Pane Correctly

Content server: Fix serving of CBZ/CBR files to stanza

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Will Borders demise help ebooks? LJNDawson thinks so

Laura Dawson of LJNDawson.com seems to think that Borders is not going to make it. In that event, what’s the fallout?

Well, Dawson, and industry consultant, feels that it will be a boost for ebooks:

So in approximately a third of areas previously served by large chains, customers will become quickly accustomed to ordering books online.

How long do you think it will be before they realize that if they order ebooks, they don’t have to wait even 24 hours before they get what they want? How long do you think it will be before instant gratification means that suddenly these underserved areas are hotbeds of ebook consumption?

We’ve seen this sort of leapfrogging happen in underdeveloped areas before

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New iPhone/iPad app from National Library of Information: WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders)

This is important stuff so I reprint the Resource Shelf article in full:

Here’s a real world example of how wireless access can provide users with important information from a number of sources at when and where needed.

The database is named WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders) and it’s now available as an app for the iPhone/iPad.

The APP is new and NOT the database. WISER has been available in various formats for at least four years. The service comes from NLM (National Library of Medicine)

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Pindeldyboz folds

Pindeldyboz published my very first published short story, “In Hiding”, back in January of 2004. (Man, that seems like a long time ago.)I’m still rather fond of this story, for sentimental reasons, if not aesthetic reasons. Now comes the news that Pindeldyboz is folding. Says Whitney Pastorek, founding editor:

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Pindeldyboz, we’ve made the decision to shut it down. At some point in the next month or so, therefore, the site will be going dark.

It wasn’t an easy decision in many ways, and in many ways it was. Over the last 10 years, we’ve published a whole lot of stuff by a whole lot of people. It’s been a blast, and we like to think we’ve been an important part of the internet online fiction community — or at least given some great voices a forum in which to shine. In return, Pboz has given us endless creative inspiration. It was something to do that existed outside the mundane tasks of our ordinary lives. It was never a full-time job, we never got paid, we never got famous. But that wasn’t ever really the point.

I’ve not included link because, like she says, the site will soon be dark. I have saved in my story in hmtl, though that will soon cease to matter. I’ll be posting “In Hiding” on my blog tomorrow, so it will have a second internet home. Thank you, Pindeldyboz and Whitney Pastorak, for giving it a first one.

I have postulated that what you write on the internet is forever. Supposedly everything on the internet is being permanent archived by the Wayback Machine and others. So as long as there are digital devices, “In Hiding” will still be out there. This infinitely accessible version is, the theory goes, a good deal better than if it had been published in some obscure literary magazine in the form of a few hundred copies moldering in dusty cardboard boxes, waiting to be pulped. (A couple of my paper-published short stories are currently languishing in this limbo.) I still tend to think that is true, but, you do have to ask, how many people are ever going to query the Wayback Machine for my short story? Besides me and my mom, I mean?

It is worth noting the sea change that has taken place in these short six and a half years. At the time, publishing on the internet was still looked down upon, was thought of as “not real”. Now The New Yorker publishes every short story online, for free, and a new novel is considered DOA if it doesn’t have a Kindle version. For those of us who continue to labor in obscurity, this is mostly a good thing. It’s access, even if of a promiscuous sort.

Finally, I note that it has been something like 4 years since I had a short story published. I was going pretty well there for a while, churning them out and placing them in various places. Then I turned to novels. One manuscript took me two years and, as I can now see, was a resounding failure. I adjudge it to be so, anyway, when I can bring myself to run my eyes over its pages of portentous pretentiousness.

The second manuscript also took me two years, and the jury is out on that one. I’m up to twenty-some rejections by literary agents but I don’t plan on giving up on this one until the rejections run into triple digits. Maybe not even right away then. I feel that if this is adjudged a failure, it will be by agents and their interns, not me. And at that point, I’ll put it out there myself, probably following Marc Horne’s DIY publishing guide. Which is progress, I hope. In 2004 it was still pretty unthinkable, at least to me.

Point being, I haven’t published anything in a long while. Right now, a couple things I’m working on could either be short stories, or the embryos of more novels. I’m sort of torn. Commit another couple years to another manuscript which may never see the light beyond the inboxes of some trusted readers and self-publishing, or aim for a short story which more than likely, will appear on a website which will soon go dark, like Pindeldyboz?

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