Kaye Lynne Booth's Blog: Writing to be Read, page 41

Growing Bookworms – Fun creations using fondant and Easter eggs #fondantart #Easter

This month, I thought I would share a few ideas for making fun Easter creations using Easter eggs and fondant. Children love making things and modelling fondant is similar to modelling play dough.

I used candy coated hens eggs to make my creations but you can use any hens eggs sized Easter egg.

Step-by-step: How to make an Easter chick from fondant and an Easter egg

If you don’t have cutters, you can just cut the shapes freehand.

You can download a free PDF with these instructions here: https://robbiesinspiration.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/easter-chick.pdf

Step-by-step: How to make panda bear from fondant and an Easter egg

You can download a free PDF with these instructions here:

https://robbiesinspiration.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/panda-bear.pdf

Some other fondant and Easter egg idea – a dinosaur and a pig.

About Robbie Cheadle

Photo of Robbie Cheadle standing in front of trees.

Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published fifteen children’s book and two poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

The eleven Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie and Michael’s new Southern African Safari Adventures series is aimed at teaching young children about Southern African wildlife in a fun and entertaining way. Each book contains a rhyming verse story about a particular animal, as well as illustrations by Robbie Cheadle, photographs and links to video footage about that animal.

Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews. https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

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Published on March 12, 2024 23:01

Day 2 of the WordCrafter “Northtown Angelus” Book Blog Tour

Join us over at Robbie’s Inspiration for Day 2 of the WordCrafter Northtown Angelus Book Blog Tour with an enlightening guest post from author Robert White. And don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of this hardboiled crime novel.

Robbie’s Inspiration – Blog Tour: Northtown Angelus, Raimo Jarvi Investigates Book 3 by Robert White #readingcommunity #booktour

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Published on March 12, 2024 06:35

Lessons learned from our characters

What I Learned from my Prehistoric Character, Lucy

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Published on March 12, 2024 06:15

Welcome to the WordCrafter “Northtown Angelus” Book Blog Tour

Welcome to the WordCrafter Northtown Angelus Book Blog Tour. We have a great tour planned with a generous giveaway, so let me tell you about that first.

Giveaway

Each stop where you leave a a comment,

you get another chance to win one of five digital copies,

and one signed print copy of Northtown Angelus.

Opening Day

Today is opening day, and we have a special interview with author Robert White, where we talk about what draws him to crime thrillers, and writing in general. Of course, he will also talk about Northtown Angelus, and if you pay attention, he might even reveal a few insider clues about the story.

Interview with author Robert White

Kaye: Please tell us a bit about your author journey and how you got into writing as a profession and a business?

Robert: I taught five sections of freshman composition at a regional branch campus, which meant I was steeped in marathon grading sessions during the week and throughout the weekend in my tiny office circling to/too homonyms. The desire to write was always there but not the time. In the two decades of writing I’ve enjoyed—strictly as hobby—I’ve made a few bucks, but I knew even as a fledgling English major that no one but a lucky or extraordinarily talented few make a living at it.

The immediate impetus was serendipity (not a word to use easily). A student of mine called down from the IT lab where he worked part-time. He said my computer was scheduled for an upgrade and I would lose all my unsaved files. I’d written a Haftmann ms. a decade earlier for fun and forgotten it. He sent it to me, I looked it over, updated it with cell phones and laptops, and sent it out to Grand Mal Press. Ryan Thomas, still the managing editor, published it in 2011. Ryan has since brought out nearly all the Haftmann novels and this last novel in the Northtown trilogy.

Kaye: What’s the most difficult thing about being an author for you?

Robert: Not a thing. I’ve been a stockboy in a grocery store, a factory worker, and a deckhand on the Great Lakes. I remember what hard work is. Sitting in my room, sipping coffee, and mulling over word choices is not it.

Kaye: What is the most rewarding thing about being an author for you?

Robert: Just having my foot in the door. When I was fifteen a girlfriend gave me a copy of William Styron’s Sophie Choice. I’d never read such beautiful prose before. To be a very junior member of that “club” is an honor in itself regardless of the boos I get on Amazon and elsewhere.

Kaye: What part of being an author was unexpected, something that you didn’t realize starting out?

Robert: That note of jaundiced humor that creeps into my narrative voice from time to time. Both my private eyes have it. I might have been influenced by Chandler’s Marlowe more than I realized, but my fictional landscapes veer toward the grim.

Kaye: You’ve received a few awards for your writing. The Russian Heist won Best Novel in Thriller Magazine. Your book, Betray Me Not, was selected by the Independent Alliance as a Truly Best Independent Book, and your story “Inside Man” was selected by Otto Penzler of Houghton Mifflin for Best Mystery Stories of 2019. How important have these awards been in propelling your author career forward?

Robert: Any distinction is a pleasure. I’m not immune to flattery. I do think I have a proper sense of humility about my own talent vis-à-vis the outstanding writers I admire intensely: Martin Cruz Smith, Thomas Harries, and David Lindsey.

Kaye: Regarding Thomas Haftmann, Private Eye: The Short Stories, The Midwest Review said, “Clearly, author Robb White is a master of the noir style mystery genre…”, and many of your works are noir, hardboiled crime fiction. What draws you to this genre?

Robert: I suspect there’s a glitch in my DNA molecule that absorbed something from my mother. She loved paperback mysteries, especially Agatha Christie. It didn’t stick all the way because I quit halfway through one Miss Marple book. Not my cup of tea, as they say.

I’m drawn to the genre because of its ambiguity, the half existence between knowledge and ignorance, truth and lies, good and evil—trite as that sounds. That’s real life, isn’t it? “Peering through a venetian blind,” as metaphor, is wonderfully apt.

Kaye: What other genres, if any do you write?

Robert: I dip my toe into the horror genre from time to time because psychological horror and crime are intricately related and there’s a slender passageway between them, easy to cross. But I’ve never gone beyond short stories.

Kaye: Northtown Angelus is volume 3 in the Raimo Jarvi Investigates series. For readers who may not have read books 1 & 2, please tell us, who is Ray Jarvi? What drives him? How did he end up as a P.I.? What makes him good at his job?

An outstanding critic in U.K. crime fiction is Rowena Hoseason, who said Ray is “broken.” She nailed it. He fights his past as a victim of a boyhood fire that scarred his face and isolated him in society thereafter. He’s driven by his refusal to stay locked away in a brooding isolation despite his physical appearance that keeps people away, although he did have one love affair that ended in tragedy, and he has a boyhood friendship with a deputy. A few minor figures in law enforcement pop up to help Ray out because he’s running on a shoestring budget and doesn’t have access to the best databases.

Kaye: Where did you get the inspiration for the Raimo Jarvi character?

Robert: I created Raimo Jarvi because Thomas Haftmann, my first series investigator, was set in stone. He was cast in the Spade-Marlowe mode and I couldn’t get him to “evolve” without denying the characteristics that made him. His surname is a play on “half-man,” and he wasn’t capable of aging gracefully, as flippant as that might sound. I needed a more self-effacing narrator akin to my own aging temperament.

Kaye: Please tell us a little about the first two books. Should the books for this series be read in order, or do they work as standalones?

Robert: I do think they’re standalones despite the fact a few characters and references follow from book to book. In Northtown Eclipse, Ray investigates a case involving his macho brother and some former classmates involved in a sordid catastrophe involving a female victim in the same sleazy resort town Haftmann has an office in. In Northtown Blitz, Raimo is again drawn back to the past of his painful high-school days. A woman asks him to investigate the death of her sister. The main suspect is her own brother-in-law, a prominent lawyer in Northtown.

Kaye: What is it about Northtown Angelus that would make crime thriller fans want to purchase this book? Tell us a little about the story within.

Robert: I believe fans of mystery aren’t locked into a niche that inhibits, say, a lover of big-city crime fiction from appreciating a small-town mystery about people who hide behind masks of middle-class respectability.

In Northtown Angelus, a recent widow asks Ray to investigate her husband’s death, which the cops have written off as suicide. As Ray peels the onion layers away, he meets a bevy of high and low characters involved. There are dark, ongoing secrets that no one wants exposed to the light.

Kaye: Tell us something about yourself that your readers would never guess.

Robert: I’m a skywatcher, not a real amateur star-gazer, but I drag the telescope out of the garage now and then to check out the celestial skies. What goes on in interstellar space is so remote from the mundane and our puny, temporal existence that it appeals strongly to me.

About Author Robert White

Robert T. White writes from Northeastern Ohio. He has published several crime, noir, hardboiled novels and genre stories in various magazines and anthologies. He’s been nominated for a Derringer. “Inside Man,” a crime story, was selected for Best American Mystery Stories 2019. His second hardboiled p.i. series (after the Thomas Haftmann mysteries begun in 2011 with Haftmann’s Rules) features Raimo Jarvi in Northtown Eclipse (Fahrenheit Press, 2018) and Northtown Blitz (2020). British website Murder, Mayhem & More cited When You Run with Wolves (rpt. 2018) as a finalist for Top Ten Crime Books of 2018 and Perfect Killer in 2019. “If I Let You Get Me” was selected for the Bouchercon 2019 anthology and The Russian Heist (Moonshine Cove, 2019), another crime thriller, was selected by Thriller Magazine as winner of its Best Novel category. “Out of Breath” and Other Stories is a mixed collection of mainstream and noir fiction (Red Giant Press, 2013).

About Northtown Angelus

Johnny Dillon took his life. His wife Cora wants to know why. The Northtown cops don’t care; they closed the case as a suicide. The M.E. hasn’t got any answers for the discrepancies Ray Jarvi discovered in the autopsy report and from what Johnny’s wife told him about the days leading up to his decision to take his life.

This is the beginning of an investigation for private investigator Ray Jarvi, who follows a twisting path of corruption and vice in his rust-belt town on the shores of Lake Erie to help her find some resolution to the worst day in her life. Like a medieval play between warring devils and angels battling for a soul, he must deal with a variety of Northtowners who play one part or the other on his journey to find those answers. Getting past one obstacle only leads to another—and another. Before long, Jarvi does not know whom to trust. He realizes nothing in his town is what it appears to be and that there are some dangerous people who like it that way.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Northtown-Angelus-Raimo-Jarvi-Investigates/dp/B0CRQ66L4Y

About the Tour

We have a brief, but great tour planned with guest posts from the author, a second interview on Day 3. So you’ll hear a lot more from author Robert White and learn more about this thriller that takes after the classic hard-boiled crime novels. Day 4 will feature a double stop day with a guest post on Undawnted, and my review of Northtown Angelus.

Visit each day and leave a comment for more chances at one of five digital copies or a signed print copy of the book. You’ll find the tour schedule with links below, but remember the links won’t work until that day’s stop goes live. I hope you all will join us.

Tour Schedule

Day 1: Writing to be Read – Interview

Day 2: Robbie’s Inspiration – Guest Post

Day 3: Patty’s Worlds – Interview

Day 4: Undawnted – Guest Post/ Writing to be Read – Book review

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Published on March 11, 2024 04:00

Book Review: The Haunting of Blackwood House

About the Book This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is the-haunting-of-blackwood-house.jpg

As the daughter of spiritualists, Mara’s childhood was filled with séances and scam mediums. Now she’s ready to start over with her fiancé, Neil, far away from the superstitions she’s learned to loathe, but her past isn’t willing to let her go so easily. And neither is Blackwood House.

When Mara and Neil purchased the derelict property, they were warned that ever since the murder of its original owner, things had changed. Strange shadows stalk the halls. Doors creak open by themselves. Voices whisper in the night. And watchful eyes follow her every move. But Mara’s convinced she can’t possibly be in danger. She doesn’t believe in ghost stories, and she didn’t buy a haunted house; it’s just not possible.

Because ghosts aren’t real, are they?

Purchase Links:

Audible: https://www.amazon.com/The-Haunting-of-Blackwood-House/dp/B0CNBRKQGP/

Chirp: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/the-haunting-of-blackwood-house-by-darcy-coates

First time Chirp users can get this book for $2 here: https://www.chirpbooks.com/r/7bae7e35a7a4/device_share?source=referral_fallback_1dollar

My Review

I listened to the audiobook of The Haunting of Blackwood House, by Darcy Coates and narrated by Piper Goodeve. I have to say that the tale was skillfully crafted, making it one of the best haunted house stories that I’ve heard, or read, in a long time. The narration was was honed and precise, distinguishing the different characters, and building suspense at all the right places. Bravo!

Mara grew up in a spiritualist household, in a long line of spiritualists, and has an aversion to anything having to do with ghosts and spirits now that she is free of their crazy beliefs and fraudulant medium friends. Because Mara knows first hand that it’s all a sham. There’s no such thing as ghosts.

Until she buys a house with a history: Blackwood House. The history of deaths and reports of hauntings don’t bother her, but the house has a strange attraction for her and she just has to have it. In spite of the misgivings of her boyfriend Neil, who stands by her, lending his support in spite of her strange behavior when it comes to the house, and the odd things which have occurred since she moved in.

Mara denies that anything is amiss at Blackwood, and refuses to consider abandoning the house, even when ethereal activities escalate, and she learns that the house was built by her spiritualist great-grandfather, determined not to let what she believe to be non-existant, or her past haunt her. But, what if she’s wrong?

Thoroughly emmersive story. An excellent example of what a ghost story should be. I give The Haunting of Blackwood House five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.

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Writer’s Corner: Debunking Library Myths

Woman typing on a computer at a very messy desk. Text: Writer's Corner with Kaye Lynne Booth

Libraries as Institutions

When I was a little girl, I used to love going to the library. Sometimes, my mom would take me for story hour, where one of the kindly librarians would read a story aloud to a group of children. As I grew older and my reading abilities improved, I would visit the library on my own, and carry home stacks of books, because there were soooo many books that I just had to read. I might have to renew my checkout on some, but I was a voracious reader. (Still am.)

As an adult, I relished in taking my own children to the library, and practicing using their ‘library voices’. We would make a day of it, going to the park first, which was right down the street, and stopping at the drug store for a soda on the way home. The kids would each have two or three books which they had chosen, and I got to renew my book stack, as well.

With the rise of the internet and digital books, there were rumors that libraries would fade out of the picture and no longer be necessary when you could buy a book with the click of a button. But not everyone can afford to click that button, especially not with the sheer volume of books that are available today. Thank goodness libraries have learned to shift with the times and seem to still be thriving.

For me, with the feelings I have associated with libraries, it only makes sense that I would want to get my books into libraries. But not all authors feel that way. Many authors look at having their books in libraries as being detrimental to sales or that authors loose money by having their books in libraries.

Myths About Having Your Books In Libraries

Myth 1: If someone can walk into a library and read my book for free, then why would they go buy it? That’s like giving your work away.

Not true. In fact, many readers go to libraries to discover new authors. Once they find one they like, they may buy more books by the same author. I think this may be especially true for genres where whale readers are typical, like romance. When you read a lot of books, it might be smart to be sure you’re going to like their stuff before dropping a lot of coinage on an author.

Myth 2: If a library buys my ebook, it’s a once-and-done type deal. Then they can check it out as many times as they want, so I lose money.

There are two pricing models through library services which list the ebooks available to libraries.

The first, is the One Copy, One User model. This model is the one used most by library services. The library pays a set price for your ebook, higher than the price paid through retailers for each copy of your book . In the other model, they pay a certain price for each checkout made. In this model, you make money from the initial purchase, whether anyone checks out your book or not. With the second, the amount you make is in direct relation to the number of people who are reading your book.

The second model is the Cost Per Checkout model. In this model you get paid a small amount, under a dollar, everytime someone checks out your ebook. With this model, the amount of money you make is in direct relation to how many library patrons are reading your book.

Either method used, having your book in libraries offers exposure which could lead to recommendations by word of mouth, or maybe even a review. And that is gold for authors.

How To Get Your Books Into Libraries

There are two things required to get your books into libraries.

AccessDemandAccess

If you want to get your books into libraries, librarians must first have access to them. Librarians do not purchase books from Amazon or any of the other major retail distributors, but there are outlets which serve libraries specifically,including Overdrive, Bibliotheca, Odilo, Baker & Taylor, Hoopla, Borrow Box, and Palace Marketplace. These services provide lists of books which they have available to libraries, and that’s the main route librarians use to find and order books.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre wrote a book called How to Get Your Books Into Bookstores & Libraries (Purchase link at the end of this article). You can see my review of this book here.

In it, he talks about building relationships with local bookstores and libraries. They can’t support your books if they don’t know that they exist. Librarians are in contact with many readers every day. They are more likely to recommend the book of a local author they know and can put a face with the name. They are also more likely to purchase your book for their library if they know you, so here the underlying motivator is developing a relationship with your local librarian, by getting to know them and making yourself available for readings and/or author talks at their facility.

You can also listen to Mark discuss this subject and share his wisdom on Stark Reflections episode 292: https://starkreflections.ca/2023/02/24/episode-292-learning-by-doing-and-baptism-by-pyromancy-with-oskar-soderberg/

Demand

Library patrons coming in and requesting your books increases the chances phenomenally that they will order and carry your book. With the help of readers, who are also library patrons, it is often as simple as having them ask their acquisitions librarian to carry the book. So, it pays to encourage readers to request your books at their local libraries.

Purchase Link for An Author’s Guide to Working With Libraries & Bookstores: https://www.amazon.com/Authors-Libraries-Bookstores-Publishing-Solutions-ebook/dp/B082DJ1GZ6

Building Relationships

Getting your book listed on Overdrive and the other library services provides the access, and if people are requesting your book it demonstrates demand. But you can tell everyone over and over to walk into their local library and request your books, but there’s no way to assure they will follow through. And if they do, that’s great! Your books may now be carried in local libraries wherever it has been requested. But what about local libraies in your area, or in the area where your book is set?

This is the part that requires work on the author’s part. Just like books don’t sell themselves, they also don’t magically appear in libraries.

The library is a great place to discover local authors, and many folks are really into that. If your book is available in your local library, the folks who are into local authors may just discover your book, and go on to buy other books written by you. And if you write with settings in local areas, those libraries are likely to have folks interested in a book set near their homes. For example, my Women in the West series is set on the Colorado frontier, with stops in towns such as Leadville (Delilah) and Glenwood Springs (Sarah), and since they are historical fiction, they feature events and people from the local histories for those areas, so people who live there could be interested in those stories. The Leadville and Gunnison libraries are likely places where I’d like to see my books carried.

Local libraries are the easiest to build a relationship with, because it’s likely that you are already a patron, and a familiar face there. But you can’t just walk in and say, “Hey, I’m a local author, so you should carry my books.” That would be too much like a cold call, unless your face is very familiar there. But it also takes research to build the right relationships. Chances are, there are several librarians working in your local library, and while it doesn’t hurt to be familiar with all of them, the acquisitions librarian is the the one who offers the most benefit, because they are the person who decides which books to purchase for the library. If you can build a solid relationship with the acquisitions librarian, you might even get them to carry your print books, too.

I know one local author who just walked into the library and asked if they would display and sell her book there. They were quite agreeable to this, and she left a stack of print books, which they kept stacked on a corner of the checkout desk, where library patrons would see them, as they prepared to depart. Her book wasn’t even carried on the library shelves, but library patrons found her book there. She had her foot in the door, but didn’t build on the relationship. It’s too bad she didn’t take that next step and ask the library to purchase a copy, or even offered to donate a book for their shelves.

So, how do you build a relationship with your local librarians? You might start by introducing yourself, and letting them know what it is you have to offer. I’m not just talking about your books. Offer to do readings or to speak on a topic of your expertise. Libraries are always on the lookout for guest speakers, and often host local authors for readings. These are events that will draw patrons into their library, and they like that. Once you’ve done a reading of one of your books, the library is much more likely to carry on their shelves.

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For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Published on March 04, 2024 06:00

Praise for Neema the Misfit Giraffe

Neema the Misfit Giraffe by Robbie Cheadle

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Published on March 03, 2024 07:51

WordCrafter Books Are Discounted for the 2024 Smashwords Read an Ebook Week

When:

March 3 – 9, 2024

Where:

On Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/ebookweek

What:

All WordCrafter Press books

The Discount:

50% off!

Find all WordCrafter Press books on Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Kaye_LynneBooth

Get all your favorite WordCrafter Press books today!

If there are WordCrafter Press books on your TBR list, now is the time to buy them. All WordCrafter Press Books are 50% off for the Smashwords 2024 Read an Ebook Week. That’s right. All titles in the WordCrafter Press catalog are on discounted 50% this week only on Smashwords.

Titles Included:Ask the Authors: Writing Reference Anthology, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.Ask the Authors 2022: Writing Reference Anthology, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.Behind Closed Doors: A Collection of Unusual Poems, by Robbie CheadleDelilah: Book 1 of the Women in the West adventure series, by Kaye Lynne BoothFeral Tenderness: Poetry & Photography, by Arthur RoschHidden Secrets: Paranormal Mystery Novella, by Kaye Lynne BoothLast Call and Other Short Fiction: short story collection, by Kaye Lynne BoothLingering Spirit Whispers: Paranormal Anthology bundle, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Fairy Tales & Folklore, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.Poetry Treasures: Poetry Anthology, by Kaye Lynne Booth and Robbie Cheadle, et. al.Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships: Poetry Anthology, by Kaye Lynne Booth and Robbie Cheadle, et. al.Poetry Treasures 3: Passions: Poetry Anthology, by Kaye Lynne Booth and Robbie Cheadle, et. al.Raise the Tide: Daily Devotional, by James RichardsRefracted Reflections: Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.Small Wonders: Reflective Poems, by Kaye Lynne BoothSpirits of the West: Western Paranormal Anthology, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.The Rock Star & The Outlaw: Time Travel Adventure, by Kaye Lynne BoothVisions: Multi-genre Anthology, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.Where Spirits Linger: Paranormal Anthology, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.Whispers of the Past: Paranormal Anthology, by Kaye Lynne Booth, et. al.

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Published on March 03, 2024 04:00

Undawntech: Corporate Terms of Service and Theft of Intellectual Property

Have you ever read the Terms of Service (ToS) for your social media accounts, or even for your Internet Service Provider (ISP)? You may be surprised by what is written there. Corporations are interested in their financial and legal bottom lines, and not protecting any of your rights.

As creators of art, film, poetry, podcasts, and writing, how can we be certain that when we sign up for an account with an online application or platform our best interests are being served? First, we must read the laborious legalese contained in the Terms of Service. The document outlines what the corporation deems allowable under its rule. The dry text gives insight into how little corporations value their customers. You are little more than fodder to pump up their stock prices. Your concerns and rights have no value to the monopolies called corporations.

In the bygone years since Standard Oil and Ma Bell, lawmakers in the United States have stripped regulations that kept corporations from becoming tyrants in the rebel yell of libertarian idealism. Regulations to maintain a level economic playing field have been sliced and diced for the Free Trade and no regulation crowd (see speeches by President Javier Milei of Argentina or underdog political candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy about their views on deregulation). These concepts in action have left consumers vulnerable and small businesses tittering on an uneven scale against the mega-corporate, multinational giants who believe that corporate governance is mightier than any nation’s Constitution or law.

A recent ToS change has created a problem for copyright holders on the platform Spodify. A user posted this response:

“Get rid of the audiobook T.O.S. changes that apply to rightholders of the works.

Rescind changes to your Terms of Service as the relate to the rightholders of audiobooks, most notably the effective grant of a “non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, fully paid, irrevocable, worldwide license to reproduce, make available, perform and display, translate, modify, create derivative works “. Especially since it binds the rightful rightholders such that “Where applicable and to the extent permitted under applicable law, you also agree to waive, and not to enforce, any “moral rights” or equivalent rights, such as your right to object to derogatory treatment of such User Content. Nothing in these Terms prohibits any use of User Content by Spotify that may be taken without a license.”

This represents a clear attack on their lawful claim to their own intellectual property, and as such it is ridiculous and disgraceful that you would make such amendments to your Terms of Service.

Furthermore, it is cowardly to have done so quietly rather than with prominent preemptive announcement of such important changes.”

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Get-rid-of-the-audiobook-T-O-S-changes-that-apply-to/idi-p/5888834

What do you think? Should creators leave this platform? If you would like to keep your copyright intact, then the answer is a resounding: YES.

The problem is, that most users ignore a corporation’s Terms of Service. From either apathy or inability, corporations have seized power by user indifference to their legal rights. This has allowed corporations to use their users, instead of users using these platforms. The “good faith” clause no longer applies.

To see just how users disregard the Terms of Service document, a study was performed with a fake social media site called NameDrop. What the researchers discovered dismayed them. Here is what happened:

“Unbeknownst to the students, the terms of service contained two questionable clauses. The first said NameDrop may be required to share your data with the government, including the National Security Agency(NSA).

That clause is concerning when you really think about it, but it’s close enough to what you’d see in a real ToS. Twitter’s terms, for example, says “we also reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information as we reasonably believe is necessary to (i) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request.

NameDrop’s second crazy clause should’ve stopped most users in their tracks—or at least clued them in that the service wasn’t real. The second clause said all users agree to give their “first-born child” to NameDrop. If the user didn’t have children yet, their first baby would still have to go to NameDrop until 2050.”

https://www.pcworld.com/article/415643/goodbye-firstborn-children-this-study-shows-how-wordy-terms-of-service-hurt-users.html

What the researchers found was that 74 percent of those who signed up for NameDrop did not read the policy. Less than two minutes were spent reading the TOS, while the full document took about 30 minutes. If the customers had read the legal document, then they would have seen that the social media site was fake.

And kept the rights to their firstborn child, anywho…

Most people who do read the ToS take less than one minute to do so, but if they did take that fifteen to thirty minutes of their time to safeguard their rights and privacy, probably would not sign up for such an account.

When something is free, YOU are the commodity that is being used to make someone wealthy at the expense of you, your rights, your privacy, and your mental health.

Expert reveals the ‘slot machine’ tricks Facebook uses to keep people addicted

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/expert-reveals-slot-machine-tricks-facebook-uses-keep-people-addicted-090211355.html

Social Media Use and Its Connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7364393/

As a creator, how do you intend to maintain your personal and legal sovereignty in the face of corporate governance? Is it time to push lawmakers in the direction of protecting our copyright against corporate power grabs?

Perhaps, creators should read the ToS for accounts on sites they use, outline the legal issues, and then demand a change to the laws for these platforms. Before we run to our local Congressional office, perhaps a walk down memory lane on how we got here will give us context to the situation:

47 U.S. Code § 230 – Protection for private blocking and screening of offensive material

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230

Americans Finally Have Access to American Propaganda
The Smith-Mundt Moderization Act of 2012

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/07/americans-finally-have-access-american-propaganda/313305/

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 29, Section 3:

These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

If more people read the Terms of Service to our treaties, regulatory laws, and online accounts, then more people would understand what seems like a platform problem is really a ubiquitous issue of eroding rights, privacy, and property on an international scale rather than an endemic one.

_____

DL Mullan holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with Technology.

Her lecture, Spacescapes: Where Photography Ends; Imagination Begins,
debuted at the Phoenix Astronomy Society, which then led to her Sally
Ride Festival lecture invitations. Her presentation, Bridging the Gap
between Technology and Women, won her accolades at a community
college’s Student Success Conference. She has been a panelist at
speculative fiction, science fiction, and other regional conventions.
Her digital exhibition pieces have won awards at convention art shows,
as well as garnered her Second Premium at the Arizona State Fair.
Currently, Ms. Mullan’s artistic renditions are seen on book covers,
blog sites, video presentations, and various merchandise. As an
independent publisher, she uses her technical background to innovate
the creative arts.

As a writer, DL Mullan loves to stretch her imagination and the
elasticity of genres. She writes complex multi-genre stories in
digestible and entertaining forms, be it poetry, short fiction, or
novels. Her science, history, mythology, and paranormal research
backgrounds are woven into her writings, especially in Undawnted’s
Legacy Universe. Ms. Mullan’s creative endeavors are available in
digital and print collections, from academia to commercial
anthologies. She is also an award-winning poet.

Be sure to subscribe to her newsletters and follow her on social
media. For further information, visit her at www.undawnted.com and
www.undawntech.top.

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Published on March 01, 2024 07:52

My Books Are Now Available in AI Audio!

Exciting news for me and all the audiobook listeners. I now have three books available in AI narrated audiobook on Google Play!

That’s right. My paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, my time-travel adventure, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, and Delilah: Book 1 of the Women in the West Adventure Series are all available now, in AI Audiobook on Google Play.

Delilah: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECSazYrtM

The Rock Star & The Outlaw: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECSG2Zb5M

Hidden Secrets: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECSG0ZbxM

I had a hunch that some of you have a preference for audiobooks, and have been waiting for these stories to come out in audio to make a purchase. If that’s you, then pay special attention to this next part.

Audiobooks Launch Promotion

The promotion runs from March 1 – 31, 2024. During the entire Month of March, you can get any of the above audiobook titles for only $2.99 on Google Play by using this code: SEYD037C90NT4

This is the only place you can get this code. Whether you’re a reader who has been with me, or one who just happened by, this is my way of saying thank you for being one of my readers, so I hope you all will take advantage of it, and then comment and tell me what you think. The AI Narration is still pretty new and this will be my first experiences with it.

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Published on February 29, 2024 04:00