Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 205
January 31, 2012
Indie books and bookstores…
Sunday's (Jan. 29) edition of the NY Times featured an article on Barnes & Noble bookstores in the business section. A summary of the article: B&N thinks that it's doing everything it can to survive. My observation: No, there are things it could do but doesn't want to do. Since we are in the middle of a paradigm shift in the publishing world, I wouldn't dare make predictions on how eBooks and indie publishing are going to affect legacy publishers. I can warn them to look out, though. I...
January 27, 2012
Interview with Detective Castilblanco…
Author: [Whisper, like I'm announcing the Masters.] Readers, today I'm interviewing NYPD Detective Sgt. Rolando Castilblanco. He has a busy schedule, so let's get right to it. [My normal voice.] Rollie, are you fully recovered from the knife fight portrayed in The Midas Bomb?
Castilblanco: Physically, I suppose. Mentally, I'm still pissed. I think we lost a chance to grill that guy and learn more about the case in general and Vladimir Kalinin in particular. On the other hand, it...
January 26, 2012
Economic woes versus foreign policy problems?
Notice anything missing in the GOP debates? We have the usual occurrences of candidate X sniping at candidate Y (with Y increasingly being the perceived front-runner). We have the usual jabs being thrown at the incumbent President. We have whining and moaning about the economy and how trickle-down wealth will magically solve the middle class' problems. Largely missing is a serious debate on foreign policy and how our poor choices there have ruined our economy. I include in this...
January 24, 2012
Emotional voters versus rational voters…
"The problem with democracy is that it assumes people are intelligent enough to vote." Sounds arrogant and elitist, right? Let me explain. I'm paraphrasing an opinion often expressed by a dear friend. Before people start throwing e-tomatoes my way (that would prove the point, by the way, if you read on), my friend was distinguishing between logic and reason versus knee-jerk emotional reactions. He meant that most people vote emotionally, not rationally. Add to that the fact that many...
January 20, 2012
News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #16…
News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #16…
#101: Paula Krapf of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., has posted in the AME blog (Jan. 16) a copy of my Dec. 8 blog post "The Internet and the eBook" (visit http://www.amarketingexpert.com/the-internet-and-the-ebook%e2%80%a6/ )—thanks Paula! AME's website and newsletter offer marketing hints for authors and the company also offers many marketing services (see their free catalog), including virtual book tours and SEO for your website. Present...
January 19, 2012
The flip-side of internet freedom…
I support in principle the "internet protest" pulled off yesterday (Weds. Jan. 18) by Wikipedia, Google, and others, but let me remind everyone of the flip-side of internet freedom, namely internet responsibility. Internet anarchists, i.e. those who don't want any rules concerning the web, too often abuse this new tool of information and democracy. Let's consider some examples.
Wikipedia is used by everyone. However, many "facts" lack references, there is very little depth and analysis...
January 17, 2012
Big government versus small government?
Is this really the burning issue in 2012? Many GOP members, especially Tea Party madhatters, and also many Dems, tell us that it's the core issue in the political debate. This is pure perception and has nothing to do with reality. The real debate is about whether the 99% Americans let the infamous 1% continue to control their lives or not.
Too many Americans mock the European system. Paul, who never will have an epiphany on the road to Damascus due to his isolationism, is the most...
January 13, 2012
News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #15…
#97: I received a very nice review of Survivors of the Chaos from Kellie Sheridan of Sift Book Reviews (www.siftreviews.com), which posts honest reviews of science fiction and fantasy books. Thank you, Kellie. Just a reminder: This book is available in trade paperback and all eBook formats. You'll want to read it before the sequel, Sing a Samba Galactica, comes out—a teaser for this sequel is included in Survivors of the Chaos.
#98: As a follow-up to my blog post "Antisocial...
January 12, 2012
Antisocial networking…
"Perception is reality"—a phrase often attributed to Marshall McLuhan, but apparently Lee Atwater's, could be today's Madison Avenue mantra. In my case, my perception is that the internet gods are against me. There are the generation Xers and younger versions of hacking monsters out there, who grew up with computers and think they own all the internet ideas, good and bad, and seem dedicated to making my life miserable. Moreover, these are just the ones who are legally employed—in other...
January 10, 2012
Computer-illiterate teachers?
I read that teachers in Idaho are pushing back on requirements that they become computer savvy (NY Times, Jan. 3). While the Idaho Statesman, a local newspaper, writes this off as politics (there are always at least two sides in these matters), blaming it on legislators pandering to high-tech companies (apparently they contributed to some school superintendent's election campaign), it reminds me that I've heard about teachers resisting technology even in high tech areas like the Northeast...
