November 2010
50 posts
4 tags
Note to Authors: Stop Tweeting, Start Writing!
Note: I love this essay by a Canadian contrarian who thinks we should put the brakes on all the pre-publication marketing by aspiring authors. BY RUSSELL SMITH: ON CULTURE In these dark times for publishing, one consistent piece of advice goes around for writers: You have to learn to be your own marketer and advertiser. You have to try to build up some kind of Web following by blogging or...
Nov 27th
2 tags
Happy Thanksgiving, and Thanks for Coming!
Nov 26th
2 tags
Politics: Palin Hating
Sarah Palin looks like she stole Snooki’s BumpIt. RT @billmaher Palins have such a big sense of entitlement, and such a small feeling for how embarassing they are. @KeithOlbermann Is it North Korea we like? Or South? Sarah Palin gets them mixed up. http://j.mp/eAP9YS RT @ElayneBoosler Dang! Obama missed a golden opportunity. He could have appointed Sarah Palin Ambassador to our ally,...
Nov 25th
2 tags
Article: Thanksgiving Was Not Always So Great
I just published an article entitled “How I Came to Love Thanksgiving” at ThirdAge.com. When I was little, Thanksgiving was torture. I had an alcoholic mother who hated cooking, a dysfunctional family with two older, teenage brothers, and a small collection of cranky, ungrateful relatives. When I wrote a little poem in sixth grade about giving thanks that was published in the...
Nov 24th
2 tags
Article: Immune System Balance
I just published an article at ThirdAge.com about keeping your immune system healthy. The idea is to have your immune system strong enough to react to germs and kill them, but not so hyper-vigilant that it will react to everyday substances like food or feathers and give you allergies. A compromised, under-active immune system can kill you (AIDS), but so can a runaway, hyper-active immune system...
Nov 24th
1 tag
Quote for the Day from Mark Twain
RT @allgreatquotes “Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” - Mark Twain
Nov 24th
2 tags
Quote for the Day from Russell Brand
RT @rustyrockets The Orion Nebula … makes Human conflict seem a bit silly. We’re all one rock, we might as well attack our own feet.
Nov 23rd
1 tag
Terror at the Airport - the PatDown
RT @shannynmoore Here’s the playmobil airport security playset so u can teach ur kids “bad touch” doesn’t count from TSA http://amzn.to/7Y7E0 So, who wins when we went from a few dozen terrorists on 9/11 to 300,000,000 at the airport? #TSA RT @DustyTrice Congress members exempted themselves from airport security screening http://bit.ly/hwAl8N RT @Gawker Special...
Nov 23rd
3 tags
Buy Your Friends' Books!
RT @elizabethscraig For God’s Sake, Buy Your Friends’ Books: http://dld.bz/7rxY // Excellent post! 
Nov 21st
6 tags
SUBJECT: OUR MARKETING PLAN
FROM THE NEW YORKER by Ellis Weiner OCTOBER 19, 2009 Hi, Ellis— Let me introduce myself. My name is Gineen Klein, and I’ve been brought on as an intern to replace the promotion department here at Propensity Books. First, let me say that I absolutely love “Clancy the Doofus Beagle: A Love Story” and have some excellent ideas for promotion. To start: Do you blog? If not, get in touch with Kris...
Nov 20th
1 note
Pilots Skip Pat-Downs
Remember the episode of “24” where the bad guy killed the pilot and put himself in the cockpit? Yeah, terrorists saw it, too.
Nov 20th
1 tag
Kids These Days - 400 BC
RT @allgreatquote Children nowadays are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers. -Socrates
Nov 20th
No One Likes Abortions
RT @HawleyRoddick Let’s remember we’re all pro-life. The issue is pro-choice or anti-choice.
Nov 19th
3 tags
What a Difference a Hyphen Makes
@GrammarMonkeys Why we need hyphens: because “50-odd people” isn’t the same as “50 odd people.” 
Nov 19th
7 tags
Advice for Authors
Don’t forget you can click “Advice for Authors” in blue at the top of the page and go to a different page where I’ve collected good articles for authors.  These days as an editor, I feel I need to provide authors who are looking for a publishing contract with a complete Personal Publishing Program to help make sure they get published. It is no longer sufficient just to...
Nov 18th
1 tag
Quote for the Day: Who's Stupid?
RT @quotejoy “Everybody’s a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life thinking it’s stupid.” - Einstein
Nov 17th
3 tags
Borborygmus
RT @GrammarMonkeys There’s a word for the rumbling in one’s guts: borborygmus. http://goo.gl/QAreX
Nov 16th
2 tags
Help Kill Cancer
RT @navarrotells Please help with cancer awareness: http://2preventcancer.org
Nov 16th
2 tags
Palin's Path to the White House?
RT@ABC  http://bit.ly/d5yeaM // Palin gets as much as $2.25 million “in free media exposure” per episode
Nov 16th
3 tags
James Frey Should Just Go Away
RT @merrileefaber @BookEditorLM James Frey+His New Hobby:Ripping Off Talented MFA Students http://tinyurl.com/32mbsay // REPREHENSIBLE
Nov 15th
1 tag
One Cannot Defeat Ideas with Wars
RT @ebertchicago Head of UK armed forces says victory over al-Qa’ida & Taliban is impossible. http://tl.gd/6vqgvm
Nov 15th
2 tags
From Joe Navarro
RT @atotalstitch @navarrotells Navarro on Deception with Schafer: http://bit.ly/4JKi82 exceptionally good article // How to tell if someone is lying - or giving tricky answers. Should be required reading if you have a teenager!
Nov 15th
5 tags
Hope Springs Eternal
RT @elizabethscraig Read Betsy Lerner http://dld.bz/6t2G // Publishing pro Betsy Lerner writes a bracing article about the fact that unpublished authors who have given up on Santa still believe Oprah will like their book. Dream on, folks.
Nov 14th
1 tag
imustreadfaster
RT @joe_hill I’m looking at my shelf this morning and thinking imustreadfaster, imustreadfaster.
Nov 14th
3 tags
From Andy Borowitz
RT @BorowitzReport Bush definitely plagiarized parts of his book - like the whole section with the Man in the Yellow Hat.
Nov 14th
1 tag
Quote for the Day: Stop Waiting
RT @copyblogger Quit waiting for the one moment that changes your life. Every moment changes your life.
Nov 13th
3 tags
From Shannyn Moore
RT @shannynmoore I would like a nap. I’d also like a magical unicorn that poops money. Oh, and tax cuts for the middle class.
Nov 13th
1 tag
Oxymoron: United States Postal Service
RT @thedailybeast The US Postal Service losses doubled in 2010 - to $8.5 billion, despite cutting 105,000 jobs http://thebea.st/bFS4tA // This is why people are afraid of Obamacare. 
Nov 13th
3 tags
HRT Hasn't Stopped Killing Women
RT @nytimeshealth Vital Signs: Study Links Ovarian Cancer and Hormone Therapy http://nyti.ms/99DUG2 // HRT kills. When will we get it?
Nov 13th
3 tags
Fat Person Next to You? Don't Judge
I’m fat. I wasn’t always that way, but after years of doctor-prescribed medications (including heavy duty steroids)  all of my body’s regulatory systems were just knocked out. I developed a near-fatal case of Cushing’s Syndrome, and after that I got cancer. I’m happy I didn’t die. But it took a long time to get to where I am: out of shape, with very, very...
Nov 13th
1 tag
Do You "Forgive and Forget"? If So, Why?
Please see my article on this subject at the web site for baby boomers, ThirdAge.com. Nowhere in the Bible does it say “forgive and forget.” I’m not sure where this ridiculous advice even came from. As the Dalai Lama points out, if you “forget,” then what is your “forgiveness” really worth? Read more...
Nov 13th
1 tag
How Did George Bush Write a Book?
He cheated, of course. How does he do anything? In addition to “working with” one of his former speechwriters (that’s code for he golfed while the speechwriter tried to “remember” for him) he lifted many articles from different books and newspaper articles word for word. Don’t we call that plagiarism? The article points out that unfortunately his book gives no...
Nov 13th
2 tags
Andy Borowitz on Sarah Palin
RT @BorowitzReport Intriguing that Palin is doing a reality show, given her opposition to reality.
Nov 12th
1 tag
Entertainment: Gwyneth Paltrow Can Sing?
RT @eonline Gwyneth Paltrow Country Strong Enough for Music Career, Say Insiders http://eonli.ne/9tDHIV // If she loses the fake guitar prop. It’s also a little weird to hear Miss East Coast/England sing “I’m Country Strong.”
Nov 12th
2 tags
Frankie Has Two Moms. Lucky Frankie.
Results of a 24 year study show that the rate of child abuse is lesbian households is ZERO PERCENT.  Also, < 3% of the kids end up gay - so no child is being “turned gay.” http://tinyurl.com/233aodm
Nov 11th
2 tags
Tucker Carlson Should Go Away
RT @GregMitch Tucker Carlson admits he sent fake emails posing as Olbermann. He said it was “just too funny.”  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/09/keith-olbermann-hoax-did-_n_781241.html // I’m not seeing the humor here. Shouldn’t this be illegal? 
Nov 10th
2 tags
Facebook Is...
RT @JPBarlow Facebook is “500 million sentient people entrapped in the recent careless thoughts of a Harvard sophomore.” - Zadie Smith
Nov 8th
4 tags
Considering a Hysterectomy?
Considering a hysterectomy? See my articles “Let Me Tell You About My Hysterectomy,” Parts 1 & 2, by Nellie Sabin at http://www.thirdage.com
Nov 8th
6 tags
Why Do E-books Cost So Much?
RT @thecreativepenn   Why do ebooks cost so much? http://dld.bz/4Fgq  This article, by a publisher, points out some of the expenses associated with e-books. But it never mentions the ridiculous advances given to celebrities and others!
Nov 7th
2 tags
Daylight Savings with Small Children
RT @adamisacson The clocks go back tonight. I hope everyone with small children remembered to leave out breakfast and show them how to use the TV remote.
Nov 7th
6 tags
Seth Godin: Nonfiction Publishing is Finished
RT @BookEditorLM  Seth Godin on nonfiction: “understand that book publishing is an organized hobby, not a business.” He makes many points why traditional publishing of nonfiction is now hopeless - unless you have a giant fan following, in which case you don’t need a traditional publisher anyway. He adds that taking a year to publish a nonfiction book is no longer a viable...
Nov 7th
4 tags
"Cooks Source" Magazine Plagiarizes Blogger
Shame on “Cooks Source” magazine and editor Judith Griggs for plagiarizing a blogger’s article. The editor told the writer that an article she posted on her blog was “fair use” because it appeared online!  People have really lost their moral compass.  “The web is considered ‘public domain’ and you should be happy we just didn’t ‘lift’...
Nov 6th
2 tags
How Much It Cost to Lose in California
RT @turnageb: @Fritinancy @ovillalon Meg Whitman’s personal spending on her campaign: $163 million - more than the entire 2010 budget for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Nov 3rd
We Love New York
RT @HawleyRoddick: After moving West, what I miss most about NYC is irony and boiled bagels.
Nov 3rd
1 tag
Politics: Tea Partiers Are Anti-Intellectual
This election reminds me of the anti-intellectual Cultural Revolution in China. Not a great idea to start tossing out all the people with brain.
Nov 3rd
2 tags
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
RT @DustyTrice: Sadly, I think the group hit hardest tonight is the American worker. Prepare to fight for your wages, your benefits and your jobs.
Nov 3rd
1 tag
Politics: Your Turn Smarty-Pants
RT @blogbooktours: Well, now Republicans can show us all how well they can turn the economy around. Hurry up. We’re waiting. 
Nov 3rd
2 tags
My Precioussss
RT @adamisacson: 10:30 PM. No more nasty trick-or-treaters. Now I get to be alone with my precious. It’s all mine. My precious giant bag of Snickers bars.
Nov 3rd
6 tags
What If They Tried to Get Published Today?
By Nellie Sabin ——————————————————————————————————————————————- Dear Mr. Tolstoy, With this note I am returning the 2,300...
Nov 2nd
1 tag
Happy Halloween - Call Your (Dead) Mother
This is the time of year when the “veil” between us and those who have passed is supposed to be thinnest. I believe our loved ones on the other side can “hear” us when we think about them, so send few shout-outs to your people. If you are looking for a psychic medium who is the real thing, and not  fraud or a nutjob, I highly recommend you get in touch with Glenn Dove...
Nov 1st