Cate Russell-Cole's Blog, page 52
October 8, 2012
Unmissable November Events, Worldwide
If you need a helping hand with getting that novel written, NaNoWriMo is just about to start again! I have just signed up and the 2012 badges are on their blog. http://blog.lettersandlight.org/ So join their Twitter feed at the very least and get into it. Plus if you have funds to give, please donate!
From their official web site: “National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000-word (approximately 175-page) novel by 11:59:59 PM on November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.
In 2011, we had 256,618 participants and 36,843 of them crossed the 50K finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.”
For all of you who care about men’s health, here is an International initiative that is excellent!
From their site: “During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo’s, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. Once registered at www.movember.com, men start Movember 1st clean shaven. For the rest of the month, these selfless and generous men, known as Mo Bros, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery. Supported by the women in their lives, Mo Sistas, Movember Mo Bros raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts.
Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November. Through their actions and words they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.
At the end of the month, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas celebrate their gallantry and valor by either throwing their own Movember party or attending one of the infamous Gala Partés held around the world by Movember, for Movember… In 2011, over 854,000 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas around the world got on board, raising $126.3 million USD.”
Go for it! United States site, Australia and United Kingdom. They also have Twitter feeds and Facebook pages.
Filed under: Creativity, Personal Post, Writing Tagged: author, challenge, creativity, Events, fiction, goals, growth, health, inspiration, Men's Health, motivation, Movember, Nanowrimo, November, resource, success, Worldwide, writer, writing
October 7, 2012
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Reblogged from Doing A "Depp":
Breast cancer has affected my family. Even when the treatments are over, the emotional ramifications of serious illness still leave their mark. There is never that same sense of security; self-esteems have been altered and family members have either been bought closer together, or driven apart.
In honour of this month being Breast Cancer Awareness Month across the world, I would like to highlight two resources which are close to my heart.
October 2, 2012
Writing With Awareness
I don’t make a habit of putting book reviews on this blog, but this particular novel was such an outstanding example of how to highlight an important issue, I want to share it.
Erica James has a novel, “The Real Katie Lavender.” I bought it as I have enjoyed all her work. The novel is about identity; has the big romance and juicy family power struggles you expect in a good read… and it portrays the after-effects that a suicide can have on a family. Erica did an excellent job. From what I know of the topic (I have a background in social work), her depiction was accurate. She shows how horrifically difficult it is for those who are left behind, to try and grapple with “why,” when no one saw it coming and the answers will forever be unknown. That act threw everyone into grief, questioning their own lives. Who and what do you believe about yourself and those around you? What is really true?
If you would like to read an example of how you can weave a social issue into a book,
then this is the book for you.
I could not leave this post without saying something about suicide. I have been clinically depressed and suicidal myself. I understand it from the point of view of being backed into a corner of torment. You just cannot find any other way out of. I tried. Everything I tried so that my life could change, failed. I know what it is for the pain to be so great, it seems inescapable. Clinical depression can be likened to a state of paralysis. You can’t snap out of it. You are incapable of movement without professional help or divine intervention.
When those days were behind me, I watched a documentary on what happens to the families of those who have suicided and I was shocked. I’d never seen the other side. Family and friends of a victim of suicide, have a high risk rate of suiciding themselves. That left me with serious guilt. In my right mind, I cannot contemplate how I could hurt people like that. The cruelty of the act struck me forcibly. When suicidal, I had no capability of reasoning like that. You are genuinely convinced everyone would be better off without you. Depression twists your mind like a cult.
These are the signs of suicide to look out for in friends and family. This is directly quoted from http://www.suicideprevention.com.au/ It is too important to be shortened to point form.
“The vast majority of people who commit suicide have indeed talked to somebody about it beforehand. Also, it is generally agreed that being forced to promise you will not tell other people what you have been told in confidence does not apply when somebody’s life is in danger, so do talk to a professional if you are in this dilemma about a friend. Also, the statement made by some people that those who talk about suicide would never do it is totally wrong!”
Here are some warning signs:
Talking, writing or joking about death:
This usually indicates hopelessness and perhaps significant depression, both of which are important warning signs. Similarly, even if not talking about death, people who talk about life being pointless and having no meaning are also at risk.
Talking about people who have died from suicide:
Every suicide brings with it the risk of “copycat suicide” by those close to the person who died, especially other family members (please keep this in mind if you are thinking of suicide!). Copycat suicide is particularly a risk when a famous person dies from suicide, especially if media reports describe how the suicide was carried out, or make the action seem justified or glamorous. Unfortunately, every suicide really means the illness won again.
Withdrawing or avoiding contact with other people:
It is not normal for someone who was usually friendly to avoid contact with family and/or friends. Not making or responding to telephone calls or SMS messages indicate something is wrong. This is usually a significant sign of depression
Giving away personal possessions:
Why would anyone, especially a person still leading an active life, suddenly give away possessions they used and enjoyed? This is considered a particularly significant warning sign in young people.
Saying goodbye in a meaningful way:
This may be significant, especially if the person’s behavior has changed in other ways.
Making arrangements for after their death:
Pointing out where important papers or belongings are kept, or suddenly making a Will with unusual haste may be significant.
Risk-taking behaviour:
Unusual behaviour for the person, such as driving dangerously, or generally behaving recklessly, may be significant.
Deliberate self-harm or a suicide attempt:
These events indicate great distress and suffering, and there is very risk the person will repeat the situation (perhaps with a more drastic outcome), if the stresses affecting them have not changed or if the illness affecting them has not been treated. Statistically, suicide risk is highest in those who have already attempted suicide.
Discharge from a psychiatric unit:
The early days and weeks following discharge from a hospital for treatment of a psychiatric problem, are known to be one of the highest risk periods for suicide.
Evidence of depression:
Feeling hopeless about the future and having trouble sleeping, are considered the most serious indicators of suicide risk in someone who has depression.
Sudden calmness:
A person who has been very distressed, especially if they have had thoughts of suicide, may suddenly become calm and appear resigned to accepting whatever is happening. This may mean the person involved has decided to stop resisting the urge to suicide, and is calmly accepting that suicide is inevitable, and no longer able to be resisted.
“Terminal malignant alienation”:
This jargon phrase refers to a distressed person alienating all of those around them, often appearing extremely angry and grossly unappreciative of the help they are getting. While the normal human temptation in response to such behaviour is to lash out verbally in return, this may be the last ling the distressed person has with support. Instead, try to see their unreasonable behaviour and unreasonable irritability as symptoms of what they are suffering, not as the personality of the person involved. Be patient, and the normal person will eventually return, feel bad about the irritability and actually be very appreciative of what you have done!
World Suicide Prevention Day is held globally, every 10th September.
http://www.wspd.org.au
Filed under: Personal Post, Writing Tagged: accuracy, awareness., characterisation, depression, educationj, Erica James, mental health, plot, social issues, suicide, suicide prevention, The Real Katie Lavender, warning signs, writer, writing
Writing with Awareness
I don’t make a habit of putting book reviews on this blog, but this particular novel was such an outstanding example of how to highlight an important issue, I want to share it.
Erica James has a novel, “The Real Katie Lavender.” I bought it as I have enjoyed all her work. The novel is about identity; has the big romance and juicy family power struggles you expect in a good read… and it portrays the after-effects that a suicide can have on a family. Erica did an excellent job. From what I know of the topic (I have a background in social work), her depiction was accurate. She shows how horrifically difficult it is for those who are left behind, to try and grapple with “why,” when no one saw it coming and the answers will forever be unknown. That act threw everyone into grief, questioning their own lives. Who and what do you believe about yourself and those around you? What is really true?
If you would like to read an example of how you can weave a social issue into a book, then this is the book for you.
I could not leave this post without saying something about suicide. I have been clinically depressed and suicidal myself. I understand it from the point of view of being backed into a corner of torment. You just cannot find any other way out of. I tried. Everything I tried so that my life could change, failed. I know what it is for the pain to be so great, it seems inescapable. Clinical depression can be likened to a state of paralysis. You can’t snap out of it. You are incapable of movement without professional help or divine intervention.
When those days were behind me, I watched a documentary on what happens to the families of those who have suicided and I was shocked. I’d never seen the other side. Family and friends of a victim of suicide, have a high risk rate of suiciding themselves. That left me with serious guilt. In my right mind, I cannot contemplate how I could hurt people like that. The cruelty of the act struck me forcibly. When suicidal, I had no capability of reasoning like that. You are genuinely convinced everyone would be better off without you. Depression twists your mind like a cult.
These are the signs of suicide to look out for in friends and family. This is directly quoted from http://www.suicideprevention.com.au/ It is too important to be shortened to point form.
“The vast majority of people who commit suicide have indeed talked to somebody about it beforehand. Also, it is generally agreed that being forced to promise you will not tell other people what you have been told in confidence does not apply when somebody’s life is in danger, so do talk to a professional if you are in this dilemma about a friend. Also, the statement made by some people that those who talk about suicide would never do it is totally wrong!”
Here are some warning signs:
Talking, writing or joking about death:
This usually indicates hopelessness and perhaps significant depression, both of which are important warning signs. Similarly, even if not talking about death, people who talk about life being pointless and having no meaning are also at risk.
Talking about people who have died from suicide:
Every suicide brings with it the risk of “copycat suicide” by those close to the person who died, especially other family members (please keep this in mind if you are thinking of suicide!). Copycat suicide is particularly a risk when a famous person dies from suicide, especially if media reports describe how the suicide was carried out, or make the action seem justified or glamorous. Unfortunately, every suicide really means the illness won again.
Withdrawing or avoiding contact with other people:
It is not normal for someone who was usually friendly to avoid contact with family and/or friends. Not making or responding to telephone calls or SMS messages indicate something is wrong. This is usually a significant sign of depression
Giving away personal possessions:
Why would anyone, especially a person still leading an active life, suddenly give away possessions they used and enjoyed? This is considered a particularly significant warning sign in young people.
Saying goodbye in a meaningful way:
This may be significant, especially if the person’s behavior has changed in other ways.
Making arrangements for after their death:
Pointing out where important papers or belongings are kept, or suddenly making a Will with unusual haste may be significant.
Risk-taking behaviour:
Unusual behaviour for the person, such as driving dangerously, or generally behaving recklessly, may be significant.
Deliberate self-harm or a suicide attempt:
These events indicate great distress and suffering, and there is very risk the person will repeat the situation (perhaps with a more drastic outcome), if the stresses affecting them have not changed or if the illness affecting them has not been treated. Statistically, suicide risk is highest in those who have already attempted suicide.
Discharge from a psychiatric unit:
The early days and weeks following discharge from a hospital for treatment of a psychiatric problem, are known to be one of the highest risk periods for suicide.
Evidence of depression:
Feeling hopeless about the future and having trouble sleeping, are considered the most serious indicators of suicide risk in someone who has depression. For more information on depression, go to www.depression.ie at the bottom of the Home Page of this site.
Sudden calmness:
A person who has been very distressed, especially if they have had thoughts of suicide, may suddenly become calm and appear resigned to accepting whatever is happening. This may mean the person involved has decided to stop resisting the urge to suicide, and is calmly accepting that suicide is inevitable, and no longer able to be resisted.
“Terminal malignant alienation”:
This jargon phrase refers to a distressed person alienating all of those around them, often appearing extremely angry and grossly unappreciative of the help they are getting. While the normal human temptation in response to such behaviour is to lash out verbally in return, this may be the last ling the distressed person has with support. Instead, try to see their unreasonable behaviour and unreasonable irritability as symptoms of what they are suffering, not as the personality of the person involved. Be patient, and the normal person will eventually return, feel bad about the irritability and actually be very appreciative of what you have done!
World Suicide Prevention Day is held globally, every 10th September.
http://www.wspd.org.au
Tagged: accuracy, awareness., characterisation, depression, educationj, Erica James, mental health, plot, social issues, suicide, suicide prevention, The Real Katie Lavender, warning signs, writer, writing
October 1, 2012
Take A Little Love, Give A Little Love… Spicing Up Check-Ins (Edited)
Image source unknown, it’s been on my computer for ages! If it’s yours, please let me know so I can attribute it properly.
Update: this post has been misinterpreted. This is not a list of rules, I do not find everyone’s status posts boring: I found mine boring, which is typical of my driven character. These were only meant as suggestions. My sincere apologies for all those who have been offended by what I have written – however, I still stand by what I said in the misdemeanours. Using check ins for blatant self-promotion, rather than to support the other participants is still wrong.
The very last Round of ROW80 for 2012 started yesterday. I had the pleasure of being a sponsor, and a participant, for the last round and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. ROW80 was quite an education for me on how to write update posts which are readable. After writing my own second progress post, I realised I was boring myself silly! It was so dull! “I did this, this and this.” *yawn* So today I am sharing a few suggestions on spicing up posts, which I hope to use myself.
I’ve also listed misdemeanours which became my pet peeves as a sponsor and that may also turn your blog readers off! I am hoping these ideas will make checking in more enjoyable as a writer and reader. (The lessons I learnt could also apply to NaNoWriMo and whatever other writing initiative you’ve joined.)
Things I Love to See:
I love reading about writers rewarding themselves! If you hit your goal for the week, or as close to it as the havoc of life has let you, give yourself a reward. Then please, tell me about it. It makes me smile and leave your post feeling good.
Quickly share a lesson, blog post link or a quote that has inspired you in your writing that week. As well as the sponsors, I know there are other participants who like to visit others’ progress reports and leave some love. It would be great to give them back something small for their visit.
I love catchy titles that interest me, not just, “October 16 check-in.” They will attract readers scanning through the Linky list.
Throw in a picture, if you have one. Humour, quotes, anything to make your post more readable and lively.
If you read a great book worth sharing, write a very brief review so we can all get enthusiastic about reading it too. (Don’t take much time over it, just say why you liked it.) Just mentioning the title gives it no relevance.
If you’ve had a bad week, don’t go into massive guilt-trip overload. It is totally unnecessary and bad for your mental health and motivation! I was delighted to see Kait Nolan address this subject as the first post for this round. http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/failing-small-and-state-your-round-4-goals/ I don’t mind people venting frustration, but remember, distractions or needing time-out aren’t criminal acts. So be kind to yourself! As long as you’re planning and writing something, you are on the move!
I love it when people share plot and character issues they are trying to work through. They make me really think and get me enthused about the whole business of writing! In that situation, what would I do?
If twice a week posting is too much for you, then, post once a week and declare that in your goals. Don’t let your involvement become another heavy have-to.
Don’t stress yourself by trying to adopt my crazy ideas! These are just my views. Each to their own!
Things to Resist!
Don’t leave comments on participants posts purely to ensure that your blog gets promoted, particularly if you are not a participant! Readers know what you’re not there to genuinely support them, when you leave your latest post link in the actual comment itself. When you leave a blog comments, the systems allow you to leave a URL with your name and email address. It enables the blog owner to find and follow you.
Don’t put up a progress post which is just a regular blog post and fails to mention your goals, or any writing goals at all. It can be seen as inappropriate self promotion.
Tagged: blogging, challenge, creativity, goals, growth, inspiration, motivation, NoNoWriMo, NoPoWriMo, OctPoWriMo, resource, ROW80, support, Twitter, writer, writing
Take A Little Love, Give A Little Love… Spicing Up Check-Ins
Image source unknown, it’s been on my computer for ages! If it’s yours, please let me know so I can attribute it properly.
The very last Round of ROW80 for 2012 started yesterday. I had the pleasure of being a sponsor, and a participant, for the last round and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. ROW80 was quite an education for me on how to write update posts which are readable. After writing my own second progress post, I realised I was boring myself silly! It was so dull! “I did this, this and this.” *yawn* So today I am sharing a few suggestions on spicing up posts, which I hope to use this round myself.
I’ve also listed misdemeanours which became my pet peeves as a sponsor and that may also turn your blog readers off! I am hoping these ideas will make checking in more enjoyable as a writer and reader. (The lessons I learnt could also apply to NaNoWriMo and whatever other writing initiative you’ve joined.)
Please DO!
Like all writing, it can be helpful to keep your audience in mind. Keep your goals short and limit them to writing only. That way, we all have time to visit as many people’s posts as possible. I do care about your fitness, family and dietary goals, but they are personal. I am involved in ROW80 to help you write. Listing all your life goals, blows status posts into two thousand word plus essays, which overload the reader. It makes it hard to take it all in. That makes it hard to give good feedback. If you have fitness goals, fellow ROWer Steph Nickel has started up a special Facebook page just for ROWers who want to reach those goals. Her blog post is here and the Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/groups/119487451535625/. It’s a brilliant idea.
I love reading about writers rewarding themselves! If you hit your goal for the week, or as close to it as the havoc of life has let you, give yourself a reward. Then please, tell me about it. It makes me smile and leave your post feeling good.
Quickly share a lesson, blog post link or a quote that has inspired you in your writing that week. As well as the sponsors, I know there are other participants who like to visit others’ progress reports and leave some love. It would be great to give them back something small for their visit.
I love catchy titles that interest me, not just, “October 16 check-in.” They will attract readers scanning through the Linky list.
Throw in a picture, if you have one. Humour, quotes, anything to make your post more readable and lively.
If you read a great book worth sharing, write a very brief review so we can all get enthusiastic about reading it too. (Don’t take much time over it, just say why you liked it.) Just mentioning the title gives it no relevance.
If you’ve had a bad week, don’t go into massive guilt-trip overload. It is totally unnecessary and bad for your mental health and motivation! I was delighted to see Kait Nolan address this subject as the first post for this round. http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/failing-small-and-state-your-round-4-goals/ I don’t mind people venting frustration, but remember, ROW80 is for people with real lives and real life does get in the way. Distractions or needing time-out aren’t criminal acts. So be kind to yourself! As long as you’re planning and writing something, you are on the move!
I love it when people share plot and character issues they are trying to work through. They make me really think and get me enthused about the whole business of writing! In that situation, what would I do?
If twice a week posting is too much for you, then, post once a week and declare that in your goals. Don’t let your involvement become another heavy have-to.
Don’t stress yourself by trying to adopt my crazy ideas! These are just my views. Each to their own!
Things to Resist!
Don’t leave comments on participants posts purely to ensure that your blog gets promoted, particularly if you are not a participant! Readers know what you’re not there to genuinely support them, when you leave your latest post link in the actual comment itself. When you leave a blog comments, the systems allow you to leave a URL with your name and email address. That is enough without looking like you’re abusing the initiative. If the ROWer wants to find you, they can and they will. We all know thinly veiled spam when we see it.
Don’t put up a progress post which is just a regular blog post and fails to mention your ROW80 goals, or any writing goals at all. It’s seen as self promotion which is not in the spirit of what ROW80 is all about and again, those posts appeared to me as gratuitously abusing the system.
If you are involved in several writing initiatives, please put them all in separate check-in posts and submit them to that initiative only: even if you are just cutting and pasting the same information for all. As a sponsor with 14+ posts to read through a week, on top of my other work commitments, I don’t really have the time to read through lengthy posts that have one line jammed at the end telling me what is relevant to ROW80. These kinds of posts often take a lot of time talking about the other initiatives, dumping ROW80 anywhere as an afterthought, so it can come across as rude.
I am sure that often, no offence is intended by those who commit these misdemeanours. However, if I see misdemeanours such as 2 repeated on your blog all the time, I may leave a link to this post or kindly but directly say something. I am not trolling. Being a sponsor takes a lot of time and commitment. Being a participant that takes time out to support other participants is an act of love and again, is time consuming. I would like to see the investment of a friendly community protected. I don’t want to see any support program go under, due to an excess of self-indulgence or overt promotion… People will back out of anything where they feel used.
How ROW80 Works
ROW8O as described by Kait Nolan, the founder: ”We are all different and we all have different demands on our time. Why should we all have the same goal? The simple answer is that we shouldn’t. If you want to be a writer, then you have to be able to roll with the punches and adapt to your changing circumstances. If that means changing your goals when your life blows up, so be it. ROW80 is the challenge that champions the marriage of writing and real life.
We have 4 rounds a year, each running 80 days.
Your goal can be anything you like as long as it is measurable (e.g. number of words/pages, specified amount of time to spend on writing per day/week, number of pages edited, etc.–for more on what makes a measurable goal, see this post).
Once you have settled on a goal, you write it up on your blog (yes, you must have one) and link to it on the Goals Linky for the Round, which will be posted on the ROW80 Blog.
If your goal changes before the end of the 80 days, simply write up a new goals post and link to it on the latest check-in day.
We have check-ins twice a week on Wednesday and Sundays where you will update us the same way (e.g. write up a blog post of your progress and link to it on that day’s linky).
On Twitter we use a hashtag of #ROW80 if you wanna come hang out. Or if you’re more into Facebook, you can find that here.
And if you happen to find us after a round has begun, just write up your goals post and hop on in whenever. We’re a friendly bunch.
Be sure to grab the ROW80 badge from the sidebar on the ROW80 Blog (right click, save image location, then chuck it in your blog’s image widget or grab some basic image html and use a text widget).”
Tagged: blogging, challenge, creativity, goals, growth, inspiration, motivation, NoNoWriMo, NoPoWriMo, OctPoWriMo, resource, ROW80, support, Twitter, writer, writing
September 29, 2012
Amazon Self Promotion Bear Trap Update: Further Carnage!
Earlier this week I wrote a post which outlined the battle I went through with Amazon Kindle over how I promoted my e-books. I had that book enrolled in Kindle Direct Publishing Select, with an agreement that I wouldn’t sell the book anywhere else for three months. The only site that has that book for sale is Amazon. I have honoured the agreement. This book is my work, I have the ISBN for it… but promotion for the book was on my blog and it has been listed on all my bios and author pages (Goodreads etc.) all over the Internet. Amazon did not take the time to look at those listings and see they all linked back to the book on their site. I was guilty until proven innocent.
So they blocked my book sales, with no actual proof of breach of contract, until I proved I had done the right thing. They got a nasty email back and Amazon rectified the problem fast.
So that was an easy fix, right? Threaten them with bad publicity (which they have and it’s done wonders for my blog stats); and I get my book back, with a mere 48 hours of sales lost… (They wanted me to go in and resubmit the book again and wait for them to re-approve it.)
That was no easy fix.
There are other books.
One of the other books is “The Little Book of Back Care.” In a previous work-life, I worked for a back injury prevention charity. I wrote technical articles for them and the agreement (which I have on paper), was that I could use my articles however I wanted, whenever I wanted. So I have proof that all the work is mine plus I have the ISBN documentation etc. One issue is, the return letter from that charity which verifies that I can use that work, also has confidential, organisational details in it which I do not want to give to Amazon under any circumstances. It is simply none of their business and the charity would be none too pleased if I handed it over either.
The other issue is, if Amazon were to pull the same stunt on checking my e-book content against results from the web, they will find large chunks of my e-book on the web site of that charity. It’s existence on that site would be seen as a breach of terms in their eyes, possible plagiarism and I again would be blocked, banned and harassed. My work cannot be available anywhere else but Amazon. Ok fine, if that is for profit. But for a charity which sells nothing and is preventing serious injuries which result in disability and surgeries? Is this fair? My work originated on that site and belongs on that site! End of story!
My e-book has more content than that site. It is not being sold for profit anywhere else, so the complete work is not available anywhere but Amazon. Well, not any more. The “Little Book of Back Care” has been taken offline. I don’t need the stress of providing proof when I can’t hand over that letter, or being held in breach because I helped someone.
If you want a copy, after November 30th, please let me know. I have unpublished the book on the site, but Amazon’s system won’t let me un-enroll it in KDP Select so I may be locked in until that three month period is over, unpublished or not. I can still see the book’s page on Amazon even though they should NOT be selling or promoting it once it’s been unpublished.
So again, thank you so much for valuing and supporting the little people that build your success Amazon. Have a nice day.
Tagged: Amazon, author, blogging, books, challenge, charity, conflict, ebook, fiction, health, Indie publishing, Kindle, Select, stress, The Little Book of Back Care, Twitter, writer, writing
September 27, 2012
A Great Pick-Me-Up for Writers
This short video from Authors Magazine features the best writing advice from 21 well known authors.
Some of it may be what you know, but it just makes you feel better listening to it. Enjoy!
Tagged: author, autobiography, blogging, books, challenge, creativity, discovery, failure, fiction, goals, growth, ideas, inspiration, learning, passion, plot, resource, science fiction, success, thinking, writer, writing
September 25, 2012
Amazon’s Self Promotion Bear Trap: Beware
I wouldn’t suggest you try and buy my book in a hurry. It took four months to sort out my IRS status – with me filling out the paperwork honesty and them not wanting to accept a business as a legitimate, registered business… which it is!
Yeah, I am really fuming mad! They have no right to do this. Beware teasers on your blog. I guess I will be removing them to keep the threats at bay. Sorry about the formatting, it has messed up and I have to get to an urgent doctor’s appointment. I don’t have time for this rubbish this morning!
My reply:
Dear Amazon,
Re: Creating and Resolving Conflict in Fiction by Russell-Cole, Cate (AUTHOR) (ID: 2342424)
In regards to your email below, my e-book content is NOT widely available on the web. It is widely referred to on the web for promotion, as it should be. Would you please be so kind as to follow the links properly, read them and do your homework before you start making accusations! On that search did you not see how many times your web address came up?
There are several teasers articles on my business blog (https://cateartios.wordpress.com) which I exclusively author and has copyright warnings everywhere. All the content you are referring to is excerpts to pull people into buying the book and they link back to you. They are not complete articles! My bio and publication history appears widely around the Internet – mentions of the book ALL LINK BACK TO YOU.
Of course my web site also sends people to my books on YOUR SITE. http://www.virtual-desk.com.au/artios.html
Smashwords has my bio, no books are sold through them as I hate their meat grinder which destroys all formatting.
Of course I will promote my books through Goodreads as a Goodreads author, but just because I do that doesn’t mean I am selling through them. Anyway, I deleted my Goodreads log in last week as it was a time wasting spam generator.
I have honoured the rules. Your rudeness is noted. Your inability to give me the option to back out of an Indian market (which is a country which has broken copyright on many of my Faithwriters articles over the last 20 years) is noted and the four thousand writers I network with on Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook and my blog are just about to note this email and your ridiculous over reaction to self promotion which every writer has a need of.
Kindly unblock my book and adopt an ask first, block later policy.
Thank you for your time. Have a nice day.
Cate Russell-Cole
Their originating email:
On 26/09/2012, at 1:29 AM, Amazon Customer Service <title-submission@amazon.com> wrote:
Hello,
We are writing to you regarding the following book(s):
Creating and Resolving Conflict in Fiction by Russell-Cole, Cate (AUTHOR) (ID: 2342424)
During a review of your KDP submission(s), we found content that is widely available on the web. You can do an online search for the content inside your book(s) to discover which sites are offering the content for free. Copyright is important to us – we want to make sure that no author or other copyright holder has their work claimed and sold by anyone else.
To confirm you have publishing rights to and control where you distribute the book(s), please provide all of the following information:
1. The URLs for all websites where this content is published
2. An explanation as to why the content is available online
If the books are in the public domain, please confirm this and include the information you used to make this determination. We may request additional information to confirm the public domain status.
Please respond within 5 days to title-submission@amazon.com, and include the title and ID of your books in your reply. Your book has been moved to a blocked status on your bookshelf until we receive the documentation requested. If we do not receive the requested documentation, your book will not be made available for sale.
To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit:
https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/contact-us
Regards,
Kindle Direct Publishing
http://kdp.amazon.com
Adding a helpful Facebook comment which may assist anyone else going through this:
Jessie B Powell
26 September 11:54
Here’s what I think happened. (I’m having a devil of a time commenting over on your site). I teach college English, and I use plagiarism checking software. The way it works is I feed a student’s paper into the website, which then tells me which passages are not original. NOTE – the software is not telling me ‘this is plagiarized’. Rather, it’s telling me “these words are exactly like something we found elsewhere in our database/on the web.”. It tells me this even if the student has cited each work perfectly. I need to know to do my job right. Mostly, I skim over papers and say “OK, clearly no plagiarism, maybe relying too heavily on sources, but nothing stolen.”But the software absolutely requires that human intervention to make the distinction between ‘unoriginal’ and ‘plagiarized’. So I think two things happened here. First, Amazon sent a bot out to run an originality search. It found words exactly matching the words in your book. And right there, where human intervention should have taken place, Amazon stopped. The company has now put that burden of proof upon you. They got a report and sent it to you without even checking to see if your book or the website material came FIRST! (Imagine if you will that someone had plagiarized your book and YOU had to bear the burden of proving it?)
The whole situation sounds completely outrageous and like a total nightmare for you. Ugh. Good luck sorting through.
September 24, 2012
Writer’s Bonus: Fundamental Flaws
Human beings have an amazing ability to create and problem solve. We do this on so many levels: in our work, relationships and society. Human beings also have an astounding ability to be fundamentally flawed. Those flaws leak through into everything we touch. Brilliant ideas, corrupted by power, or formed with one predominant view in mind, can go horrifically wrong. If it’s a mistake you make at work, at worst, you’ll be fired. In a relationship, you can be forgiven or break up. If it’s a society making a huge error, people can die by the millions.
The negative always makes such great fodder for writers!
All ideas start out as great ideas once they gain support and momentum. Communism in it’s purest form: equality for all, was a great idea. In practice, it had some serious problems. Unless you have a magical way to completely eliminate corruption and greed, you will never achieve any pure goal. Equality without complete, incorruptible purity is impossible.
Despite what we see before us, politicians and societal leaders, quite often, never intend their power to be used for harm. The whole idea of giving Governments power is to get things done to help the whole. In retrospect you can look back through history and clearly see where they went wrong. However, when you are working with limited information and resources, trying to do the right thing often leads to the wrong thing galloping away from you. The damage cannot always be undone.
For example, look at the British prison system in the Victorian Era. They had a problem: mass poverty, mass crime. Something had to be done. Locking people away just mixed criminals with criminals, who gained more skills behind bars, then went back to normal life to reoffend with greater foresight. So they came up with a solution. Keep all the prisoners in hoods when moving them; lock them in separate cells; and have dividers between them when in the shared areas so they couldn’t see and talk to each other. That way they also had lots of time to consider the error of their ways. Better still, lets make them busy. The answer was hard work! Six months on the treadmill, plus the isolation and surely prison will be so utterly dreadful, they’ll never come back. The result: the isolation sent many men clinically insane. It seemed to be well intentioned, but from the outset, not all factors were taken into account and the initiative was thus, fundamentally flawed.
Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.
On a smaller community level, there is another example which has always left me scratching my head and wondering why a religious order, so utterly wise, could be so incredibly stupid! In Star Wars, Episode II, Attack of the Clones, you are greeted with the idea that a Jedi Knight should never love. Love is one of the most basic, imperative human needs. Young children showing significant force skills were removed from their family at any early age and trained. Adults could not marry. This allowed for no distractions; no attachments that could be used as weaknesses against them (as illustrated when Luke left his training early to rescue Han and Leia.) The Jedi societal structure was guaranteed 100% allegiance. As we saw, that didn’t work. It created a deep seated hunger, rebellion and mass destruction that went on for many years.
How can you stay mentally balanced and emotionally unfulfilled without love? People from home backgrounds where love needs were not met, are known to become violent, mentally ill and socially dysfunctional. So why such a massive flaw in such an awesome looking system? Power. If you give your love energy to a cause, it becomes what you love and has power over you.
This is what is all comes back to: power bringing harm when the intention was for good. So when you’re writing, don’t just write off politicians, religious figures, kings or any leader as just plain bad as they use power. Some have hearts of gold. It’s just that we are simply human, thus it often all goes wrong…
This article is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2012. It may not be reproduced in any form, without my prior written permission.
Tagged: author, books, characterisation, Communism, conflict, corruption, failure, fiction, flaws, fundamental flaw, Government, greed, humanity, ideas, Indie publishing, Jedi, leaders, love, philosophy, plot, politics, power, problem solving, religion, society, Victorian Prison, writer, writing
