#Buddhism, #Buddhists, #Tibet and Patheos: Get your #Interfaith Dialogue On!

04/28/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

This is a great year to be a #Buddhist, especially in the USA. President Barack Obama met publically with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the first time any USA president has done so in public since 1959 (when China invaded and illegally began to occupy Tibet, causing the Dalai Lama and millions of Tibetans to flee across the mountains into other countries), which bodes well for work towards liberating Tibet. http://goo.gl/EiP9bj

Tibetans in exile now live in dozens of countries worldwide, with His Holiness the Dalai Lama continuing to serve as their spiritual leader and Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay as their recently elected political leader.

Educated in the West and filled with optimism, Dr. Sangay recently expressed his heartfelt belief that Tibet will be reclaimed by Tibetans: “Success is right in our hands!” http://thetibetpost.com/en/news/international/4497-qsuccess-is-right-in-our-handsq-tibetan-political-leader-sikyong

Chinese government policies are still to imprison, torture, rape, steal from and otherwise oppress millions of Tibetans, taking over more and more land and controlling the government in occupied Tibet. It is a horrible situation which the USA has done little to alleviate, probably because no one has yet found oil in Tibet. However, a glimmer of hope for change appears in some USA 2015 policy statements, such as this one: “…the Chinese government’s failure to address problems in Tibet ‘will continue to be a stumbling block to fuller political and economic engagement with the United States.’” https://www.savetibet.org/us-government-believes-resumption-of-dialogue-on-tibet-is-critical/#sthash.2iIypjg2.dpuf

The two sources, above, http://SaveTibet.org and http://theTibetpost.com, are excellent ways to keep up with the news of Tibet and Tibetans.

For “all about Buddhism,” especially in the USA, I turn to “PATHEOS: Hosting the Conversation on Faith”

ABOUT Patheos:

Founded in 2008, Patheos.com is the premier online destination to engage in the global dialogue about religion and spirituality and to explore and experience the world’s beliefs. Patheos is the website of choice for the millions of people looking for credible and balanced information about religion. Patheos brings together faith communities, academics, and the broader public into a single environment, and is the place where many people turn on a regular basis for insight, inspiration, and stimulating discussion. Patheos is unlike any other religious and spiritual site on the Web today.

As evidenced by the company founders’ story, religion and spirituality continue to be an important part of American life, with more Americans today than ever before identifying themselves as spiritual. In fact, according to the Pew Internet Project, more than 82 million Americans (and 64 percent of all Internet users) utilize the Web for faith-related matters. The importance of religion and spirituality, coupled with the growing use of the Internet for religious matters, point to the ongoing need for an online resource for religious and spiritual engagement and dialogue. Patheos fills this need.

Patheos is a place to:

Find accurate, balanced information on the world’s religions in our extensive library.
View religious history and facts through unique interactive tools that allow visitors to compare, contrast, and explore religions and belief systems in new and innovative ways.
Participate in the global dialogue on religion and spirituality through responsible, moderated discussions on critical issues across religious traditions.
Read commentary on current events from a wide range of viewpoints.
Follow your favorite bloggers and columnists.
Engage with others from various faith traditions.
Get a glimpse into the beliefs and traditions of other faith groups in a safe and welcoming environment.

I subscribe to the “Buddhist Channel,” but receive a variety of faiths’ updates as well.
“American Buddhist Perspectives” mostly gathered/written by Justin Whitaker, which has this tagline in its logo:
“Buddhism, Philosophy, Ecology, Life, Teaching, Politics: May All Beings be Happy”
http://www.patheos.com/

I get reports via Patheos on small and large “engaged Buddhism” projects, endeavors of individual practitioners and groups of Buddhists to improve life for all sentient beings. These include: raising awareness of climate change; preventing/ending sex trafficking/slavery; reducing extinctions of species; and, many other ecological and political causes.

I also find out: there are fake Buddhist monks panhandling for fake charities in many large USA cities; the revered and much-loved Vietnamese Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, is recovering from his stroke; Buddhism now dominates among world religions, second only to Christianity, in western USA states; what the latest Buddhist publications (books, magazines, online journals) are and what they contain; how feminist Buddhists are awakening interest among other Buddhists for intersectionality (addressing the overlapping oppressions, such as racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism) and discussing homosexuality more frankly and openly than ever before; what other Buddhist blogs exist and what they are posting about lately; global news relevant to Buddhists.

Where else would I read about a rally in India for Tibetan Freedom that resulted in 100 Tibetans’ being detained for protesting outside the Chinese Embassy on the 56th anniversary of Chinese occupation of Tibet?

How about a great response to Christian TV evangelist, Pat Robertson‘s, absurd claim that Buddhism is “contagious” and that a Christian could “get infected by” Buddhism (I WISH!), posted by Justin Whitaker?

My all-time favorite move by the Chinese government has been repeatedly to “order” H.H. the Dalai Lama to reincarnate according to their dictates. I loved reading about his refusal to agree to this absurd demand: “China Orders Dalai Lama to Reincarnate After Death,” by Michael Stone http://goo.gl/R75Akl
“The government of China is ordering the Dalai Lama to reincarnate after his death, and accusing the Tibetan spiritual leader of blasphemy for saying he might not be reincarnated after he dies….the Dalai Lama declared that he would not be reincarnated so long as Tibet is under Chinese rule, and that no one, including China, has the right to choose his successor.”

Next, I could read an interview with an up-and-coming “Dharampunx” teacher/leader, Josh Korda; or, watch the beloved actor, Bill Murray, talk about being himself and a Buddhist in a videoed “dharma talk”; then, I could sample USA Buddhist leaders’ blogs and articles featuring stories from their lives, activism, journeys and teachings.

If you have interest in interfaith dialogues, other religions, or more about your own spiritual practices and how they intersect with others’, please subscribe to Patheos: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/subscribe/

If you can afford to, please donate to support Patheos‘ work. It offers ten different religions’ “Channels” and one for general “Spirituality” as well as news, blogs, a publication department, a comparative religions library, internships, newsletters and a “Public Square,” which

…brings people together at the intersection of ‘current concern’ and ‘ultimate concern.’ Beneath the surface of ever-changing news headlines are the big, perennial questions about life, meaning, the divine, ultimate purpose — questions that human societies have always wrestled with. In the Public Square, we connect the timely and the timeless and host conversations about some of the most important questions in life.

What else is coming up? Oh, just a small event…
“On May 14, Buddhist leaders, including the scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, will join together to present the first-ever White House-US Buddhist Leadership Conference. Sessions for the conference will be held at George Washington University, moving then to to the White House—specifically, in the Treaty Room of the Old Executive Office Building, overlooking the West Wing, in the afternoon.”
http://goo.gl/lNbrcQ

Brilliant Words You Didn’t Know You Needed

04/26/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

So fun! Please add my inventions: *nrtml*, which is an acronym of “not relevant to my life,” which is used as an adjective, especially when dumping unwanted items, people, mail, email. Also, *anticipitacious,” which is also an adjective, describing that delicious state of anticipation mixed with eagerness and anxiety in equal parts, such as what one feels when one is awaiting the arrival of a blind date.

I used to teach writing/Freshman Comp to undergraduates and used lexicalization for extra credit as a monthly fun romp. My favorite student-created word: “cinegoo,” which perfectly captures the noun form of the gunk that we step on and through when walking through a movie theatre after a show has just ended.

Great post from Nicholas Rossis!

Nicholas C. Rossis

Photo: Daniel Dalton / BuzzFeed / unsplash.com / Via urbandictionary.com

Continuing on the subject of words, you may have heard me say now and again how I marvel at the beauty and flexibility of the English language.

So why aren’t these beauties found on BuzzFeed part of our everyday conversations already?

Errorist
(n) Someone who repeatedly makes mistakes, or is always wrong

Carcolepsy
(n) A condition where a passenger falls asleep as soon as the car starts moving

Textpectation
(n) The anticipation felt when waiting for a response to a text

Bedgasm
(n) The feeling of euphoria experienced when climbing into bed at the end of a very long day

Nonversation
(n) A completely worthless conversation

Destinasia
(n) When by the time you have reached your destination, you have forgotten why you were going there in the first place

Cellfish
(n) An individual so caught up on their cell phone that…

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Twelve Stupid Ideas You Wished You’d Had

04/26/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

I LOVE inventors!

2015 GLORIA AWARDS (in honor of Gloria Steinem) from the Ms. Foundation for Women

04/24/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Can’t say enough good things to and about these #feminist leaders, innovators, advocates and authors. read about and support this year’s group of honorees!

There is a great GALA on May 11 at 6 PM in New York City, USA, and an “after party” from 9 – 11 PM at the same location. Both cost money.

See below for more info, but mostly, I’m posting about the Honorees, who ROCK!

2015 GLORIA AWARDS
Ceremony is on May 11, 2015, in New York City, Pierre Hotel, 6 PM, 2 E 61st St, 10065
Contact: events@ms.foundation.org or 212.709.4436
Purchase tickets, get more info here:
http://www.forwomen.org/gala

the Ms. Foundation for Women

to celebrate and honor
ACT FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS
Ms. Foundation Grantees
2015 Woman of Vision Award Winners

****CENTRO DE LOS DERECHOS DEL MIGRANTE
Ms. Foundation Grantee
Woman of Vision Award

http://www.cdmigrante.org/

“CDM supports Mexico-based migrant workers to defend and protect their rights as they move between their home communities in Mexico and their workplaces in the United States. Founded in 2005, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM) is the first transnational migrant workers’ rights organization based in Mexico.”

****SUZANNE LERNER
Co-Founder and President, Michael Stars, Inc.
Woman of Vision Award

http://www.michaelstars.com/

“Suzanne Lerner is an entrepreneur, political activist and philanthropist. She is currently the president of Michael Stars and owner of Lerner Et Cie. Suzanne Lerner boasts decades of experience in business, as well as a background in dozens of causes, primarily centered around female empowerment. In 1983, Lerner founded Lerner et Cie, a wholesale fashion showroom, currently with four locations nationwide. Lerner co-founded and currently serves as President of retail clothing company, Michael Stars. Lerner primarily oversaw sales and marketing until 2015, when she was appointed President. Lerner’s second career is philanthropy – both personal and with the Michael Stars Foundation. Lerner serves on the board of Women Thrive Worldwide, ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Prosperity Catalyst and Children Mending Hearts. She is also a member of Women Donors Network and Women Moving Millions. Lerner funds a number of NGO’s that focus on women’s empowerment, economic stability, gender reconciliation and gender-based violence. She resides in Los Angeles.”

****GOLDIEBLOX: Construction Toys for Girls
Corporate Innovation Award

http://www.goldieblox.com/

“Debbie Sterling is the founder and CEO of GoldieBlox. She never knew what engineering was until her high school math teacher suggested she pursue it as a college major. Debbie couldn’t figure out why her math teacher thought she should be a train conductor! Nevertheless, she gave engineering a try during her freshman year at Stanford. Four years later, she graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering / Product Design. Bothered by how few women there were in her program, Debbie became obsessed with the notion of “disrupting the pink aisle” with a toy that would introduce girls to the joy of engineering at a young age.”

****JANET MOCK, Author and Advocate
Marie C. Wilson Emerging Leader Award

http://janetmock.com/

“JANET MOCK is the New York Times bestselling author of Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More. She considers herself a Beyoncé scholar but is widely known as a sought-after speaker and prominent advocate for trans women’s rights. A native of Honolulu, Janet attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, earned her MA in journalism from New York University, and worked as a Staff Editor for People.com (People magazine’s website) for five years. In 2012, Janet launched #GirlsLikeUs, a social movement that empowers trans women and celebrates the diversity of womanhood. In 2013, Janet joined the board of directors at the Arcus Foundation, a leading global organization advancing social justice and conservation issues. She lives and writes in New York City with her boyfriend, photographer and filmmaker, Aaron Tredwell and their cockapoo, Cleo. Currently, she hosts the weekly culture show “So POPular!” on MSNBC’s Shift network and serves as Contributing Editor for Marie Claire.”

And, a special award:
The Free to Be Foundation gives its first-ever
Peggy Charren/Free to Be You and Me Award to
JOAN GANZ COONEY, Co-Founder, Children’s Television Workshop

“Joan Ganz Cooney, co-founder in 1968 of Children’s Television Workshop (renamed Sesame Workshop in June 2000) and originator of the preschool educational series, Sesame Street, served as President and Chief Executive Officer until 1990. She is currently Chair of the Executive Committee of Sesame Workshop‘s Board of Trustees and in November 2007 introduced the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, dedicated to investigating the potential of digital media to help children learn and collaborating with educators, media producers, policymakers and investors to put this research into action.

“Sesame Street, which began as an experiment, is the first preschool program to integrate education and entertainment as well as feature a multi-cultural cast. It has been broadcast daily since 1969 in the U.S. on the more than 300 stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and is seen by millions of children in more than 150 countries. Indigenous co-productions of Sesame Street reflecting local languages, customs and educational needs are produced for audiences all over the world.

“Following the successful launch of Sesame Street, Ms. Cooney and her colleagues created other award-winning children’s series on network and public TV including The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, Square One TV, Ghostwriter, CRO, Big Bag, Dragon Tales, Sagwa the Chinese Cat and Pinky Dinky Doo, each offering educational opportunities around science, mathematics, reading and bringing new experiences to life.

“Sesame Workshop programs have been awarded over 150 Emmys and have received scores of other honors presented here and around the world. The Workshop’s activities also include publishing, digital media, product licensing and community engagement efforts such as the award winning program — Talk, Listen, Connect — launched in 2006 to help military families with young children between the ages of two and five build a sense of stability and resiliency during times of separation and change.

“Ms. Cooney is presently a Director at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and a Lifetime Trustee of the Paley Center for Media, The New York Presbyterian Hospital, WNET Channel 13/Educational Broadcasting Corporation and of the National Child Labor Committee and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.”

In 1968, children’s television programming was revolutionized with the creation [by of the Children’s Television Workshop – the force behind Sesame Street, The Electric Company and many other award-winning educational programs.”
Peggy Charren was the founder of Action for Children’s Television, which lobbied broadcasters, advertisers and legislators to create quality educational programming and TV commercials that promote healthy eating and positive child development.

Also being honored:
ACT for Women and Girls as Women of Vision
http://www.actforwomenandgirls.org/

“Based in Visalia, California, ACT for Women and Girls works to transform women of all ages into leaders for reproductive rights and health care. Through the Female Leadership Academy, ACT engages women from the community to take active roles in eradicating the oppression that lies deep in the roots of California’s Central Valley region – addressing poverty, teen pregnancy, unemployment and environmental issues.

“The Ms. Foundation for Women is proud to be a longtime supporter of ACT for Women and Girls, and honors them as Women of Vision for their innovative efforts to promote and protect reproductive rights.”

“ACT is located in Visalia, California, the epicenter and largest metropolitan area of Tulare County. Led by Erin Garner-Ford, ACT‘s mission is to engage women of all ages in leadership opportunities to promote social and personal change. ACTwas founded in 2005 with the creation of the Female Leadership Academy (FLA) program. From the inception of FLA, it was evident that reproductive justice issues demanded to be addressed, as participants were often misinformed about reproductive health, justice, and access.

“Unlike Southern California and the Bay Area, Tulare County has few resources and is the most adversely impacted region in California regarding social issues, such as poverty, unemployment, teen pregnancy, and environmental degradation. ACTtakes an active role in eradicating the oppression that lies deep in the roots of the Central Valley. Through one young woman at a time, ACT makes an impact.

“ACT engages young people ages 14-24 through three program areas: The signature eight month leadership program, FLA, which develops young women leaders to actively engage in the reproductive health and justice movement; ACTion Teams for young women and men to educate their peers on sexual health information in the community through events, street outreach and education; and Teen Success, a support group for pregnant and parenting teen moms. ACT’s program participants come from every rural community in Tulare County.

“Through ACT’s programs, young women are prepared and energized to actively participate in shaping the future of their communities (both locally and globally). ACT focuses on reproductive justice leadership, developing young women leaders to engage in civic participation projects and partners with state and national groups for policy advocacy work. The overarching vision of ACT’s reproductive justice work is to INCREASE ACCESS to reproductive health education, contraception, abortion, and protection against sexually transmitted infections. ACT strives to promote services that are comprehensive and culturally competent, influence legislation, and provide a voice from the Central Valley on important bills that impact women and their health.

“Each of ACT’s program participants contribute to ACT’s grassroots campaigns to increase awareness of reproductive health and justice. One of the cornerstones to developing young women’s leadership is through direct action and organizing opportunities. Participants help shape and implement three signature reproductive justice campaigns annually: Pharmacy Access; Comprehensive Sexual Health and Education Initiative; and ‘Don’t Let a Hot Date Turn Into a Due Date.'”

Link to purchase tickets for the “after-party”: http://forwomen.org/afterparty
($75 in advance; $100 at the door).

“What We Bring to the Table”: Guest Post by Colette Black

04/22/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

I am delighted to welcome dance-, art- and music-lover, author, and previous guest on CHANGES conversations between authors (Episode 16; see below for more info and URL), Colette Black, as a guest blogger today! Please enjoy her post as much as I did, comment, visit her sites, check out her series.

“What We Bring to the Table”
by Colette Black

Piano Pinkies: by Deanna Roberts

Art, like most information, is diverse and subject to interpretation. I grew up listening to my oldest brother’s piano skills. He could play almost anything by ear, read and juxtapose most pieces of music, and composed according to his fingers’ whims. My brother never seemed to get rattled, always even keel, but his music told a different story. Sometimes, it told me he was happy, contemplative, angry, annoyed, or a myriad of different emotions. When he was going through a divorce, it spoke of profound loss, confusion, anger, and pain. That is what art does: it speaks to us in a deeper language.

I started to understand art’s language when I saw my first ballet performance, in lower elementary school, on the small stage of our cafeteria/rec center.

Ballerina: Wikimedia Loadmaster (David R. Tribble)

I was amazed, entranced, dumbfounded. And I began to seek. Dancing was out of the question. My sister had told me I had the coordination of a clown from the time I could walk. As a side note, I now love to dance and my coordination is much improved. Unsure what this inner yearning meant, I attended plays, participated in plays, failed at orchestra, did pretty well in high school choir, developed a love for Shakespeare and poetry, melted in bliss as I walked the halls of the Louvre, and even dabbled in cake decorating. I learned a few things. One, is that I never want a career as a cake decorator; too much stress. The other, that art’s language is broad and powerful.

For example, the Mona Lisa. I’d seen replicas and art prints of the Mona Lisa more than once. Eh; no big deal. What’s all the fuss? Then I saw the real deal in the Louvre. Wow. It touched me on a deep and profound level: the “mystery,” the “humanity”: all of the adjectives I’d heard to describe her finally came together. Other paintings and sculptures within that gorgeous museum had similar effects, but some didn’t. Some expressed an appreciation for the human body while others seemed to only suggest lust and base emotions.

Some brought a smile to my face while others brought only darkness and discomfort. Now, I’m not making a judgment on the value of art, but I made a personal decision.

Whatever I bring to the table, I want it to make a positive difference in people’s lives, even if subtly. So, when I started to write with hopes of publication, I tried to come up with nice, Christian stories….and failed.

As a devout Christian, this was difficult for me to accept. Was I not good enough? Was my faith lacking? It took time to realize that my muse just didn’t roll in that direction. I wanted to observe and recreate human nature from the viewpoint of alternate worlds, realities and circumstances. We all live in the real world, but it’s when we put ourselves in another world, with other possibilities, that I feel we are able to look at our biases and our beliefs with the most clarity: there are fewer preconceptions to stand in our way. And so, after seeking for decades, I found my medium and I knew exactly how I wanted to use it.

Desolation: Cover art by Suzanne Helmigh

Words placed in the strategic organization of sentence structure, as an art, is both limiting and unlimited. Like other media, there are rules, but just as the rules of dimension, line, and color can be dabbled with by an artist, the rules of grammar and vocabulary are the author’s palette. Many have at least painted a room or a piece of furniture, taken pictures with their cell phone, or at least watched one episode of Dancing with the Stars or The Voice? But some people haven’t. Words, whether spoken, signed, or read, are something that resonates with everyone, regardless of race, socioeconomic class, or age. As authors, we arrange that familiar-to-all medium so it evokes the same deep message that comes from other forms of art. Each sentence and each page are asking our reader to look at life from another angle, under different lighting and with a different knowledge set. When readers are done, we hope they can set the book down and see their own world, even themselves, from another perspective, under different lighting and with more knowledge.

That is what I hope to bring to the table. In the end, I hope it makes for a brighter, better world.
#Art #cmbvyawrite #Words

Colette Black lives in the far outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona, USA, with her family, 2 dogs, a mischievous cat and the occasional unwanted scorpion. She loves learning new things, vacations, and the color purple. She writes New Adult and Young Adult sci-fi and fantasy novels with kick-butt characters, lots of action, and always a touch of romance. You can find her at: http://www.coletteblack.net/ or http://www.fictorians.com/

You can find her series, Mankind’s Redemption, in ebook and paperback formats:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Noble-Ark-Mankinds-Redemption-1/dp/1497456207
Barnes&Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Colette-Black?store=allproducts&keyword=Colette+Black
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=Mankind%27s+Redemption
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Mankind%27s+Redemption
and other major retailers.

Colette Black was my guest on Episode 16 of CHANGES conversations between authors. Watch conversations with my previous CHANGES guests any time:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPbfKicwk4dFdeVSAY1tfhtjaEY_clmfq

Learn more about and get yourself or recommend someone to be scheduled as a guest: https://sallyember.com/changes-videocasts-by-sally-ember-ed-d/

Want to be a guest blogger on my site? Visit my “Guest Bloggers Hall of Fame” to review other guest posts, read my guidelines and then contact me if you’re interested: http://www.sallyember.com/guest-bloggers-hall-of-fame/

PETA: Just. Stop.

04/21/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Excellent analysis, great examples, and well-formulated objections to truly objectionable advertising and promotion tactics by PETA. I was unaware of most of them (blissfully, I might add), so, thanks for raising awareness that having a “good cause” but approaching it with malice, bias and arrogance kind of ruins the “goodness” of the cause.

Of Means and Ends

If I had a nickel for every time I shook my fist and cursed to the heavens because PETA did something that made me angry, I’d have a lot of nickels.

Think Progress recently covered what they call a “new low” for PETA: teaming up with notorious Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to promote serving vegetarian meals in prison. The piece reminds us about just what kind of character PETA is heaping praise on:

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“Kindness Chronicle” and “Elephant Journal”: Humans Sometimes Do Good

04/21/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

I grow weary of bad news, humans’ behaving atrociously and other direct hits to my ever-decreasing optimism. To counter the effects of the inevitable daily doses of ugly, I subscribe to two great sources of “humans sometimes do good”: The Kindness Chronicle at http://kindnesschronicle.com and
The Elephant Journal at http://elephantjournal.com

Unfortunately, my life is somewhat fast-paced and my priorities are often elsewhere, so instead of actually reading these daily posts and clicking on their links, I stockpile them in a folder. Just knowing they are there gives me comfort, and since I also subscribe/ LIKE their public pages on Facebook, I often see some of the individual link posts, anyway.

However, I mostly had no idea what actual uplifting stories are in this folder…until this week. So glad that I scheduled time to go through them to prepare this post.

From this stuffed inbox of good news (not the Christian “Good News” kind), I share some of these inspiring anecdotes with you all.

Enjoy! Subscribe! Do some good yourselves!

From The Kindness Chronicle:

Most of the posts are stories describing individuals or organizations who have made considerable (but not necessarily extraordinary, given how many of them there are, now) efforts to demonstrate gratitude, kindness, helpfulness, volunteerism, respect, support, encouragement and other forms of caring to humans, animals and the environment. So many of them are similar, with the main distinction being location rather than activity, I decided not to list them here.

Please visit the above link, or the link below, for plenty of ideas, examples and even some research results on outcomes for “Paying it Forward,” teaching empathy and compassion, and other actions taken in the name of Kindness.

—The Write Place: Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness site http://goo.gl/mWZ5nk recommends, among other sites: http://randomactsofkindness.org

Below is one of hundreds of images that heralds this excellent “movement”:

image from http://www.cbizschool.com

From The Elephant Journal:

The Elephant Journal is an online ‘zine and site that provides updates, information and opinion articles (warning: most of these are junk science, “New Age” garbage, and “affirmations” that aren’t worth reading) on a variety of topics related to living “a more mindful life.” This open-ended mandate allows The Elephant Journal to surprise me often with their choices of topics, perspectives and data.

TEJ‘s pieces include multimedia formats that can feature humor, health, relationships, nutrition info/recipes, politics and edgy/radical points of view (with the aforementioned exceptions), pulled from a diverse group of commentators. I don’t always agree with or even like what is posted, but I appreciate the range of opinions, which can veer way over to “totally ‘woo-woo,’ New-Age junk science” to well-researched, documented, data-filled info pieces.

I appreciate this compilation enormously and respect the people who work there and write/ create/ collate/ curate for TEJ a lot. TEJ also posts excellent images (photographs, logos, infographics, memes) that are inspiring, beautiful and informative separately or to accompany an article.

Here are some of my favorite recent examples of their offerings, which arrive in emails entitled: “A Daily Gap in the Inbox of Your Mind,” steered by Waylon Lewis, editor-in-chief, host of Walk the Talk Show.

—Evan Silverman opens his heart and explores how we can do the same in “Blow The Roof off Your Heart” (a piece that originally appeared in the Shambhala Times) http://goo.gl/ppT30e

—Great resources for businesspeople who wish to incorporate more mindfulness into their work lives are in “Waylon & Blake’s Best Mindful Business Books & Resources for Entrepreneurs,” in which Waylon Lewis wrote:

“This is a list that would have saved me years of my life, made me hundreds of thousands of dollars and spared me (and my team) hundreds of mistakes.” http://goo.gl/z9wbo9

—What about something eminently practical? Shoes that grow! Awesome! http://goo.gl/v5BJst

—Waylon Lewis (the editor of TEJ) also bares his soul (sensing a theme, here, of my faves?), in “Thank You for Helping to Break My Heart,” that richly moved and helped me: http://goo.gl/Lj928K

Most tellingly, he starts with this subtitle: “I am sorry I loved you so badly.” I have a list of people I should say this to….Sigh.

The ending is also worth quoting in its entirety, in case you don’t click through:

May our relationships teach us. May we improve, instead of merely defending our confusion. May our intention be to be of benefit, and not merely to “get what we want.”

Life is hard, sometimes. Sometimes it’s rich and dear. If we want to take it easy, we should instead wish to be stronger, and more vulnerable.

May our love life be as full of grace as our spiritual path, our right livelihood, and our friendships and family relationships.

True love is defined by correct intention.

Thank you, Waylon.

My email program just informed me: “Your ‘Kindness and Good Deeds’ folder is now empty.” I’m glad to know it will surely be filling up again.

Part IV: Letter to my Earlier Self about #Blog #Hops and #Virtual #Book #Tours

04/18/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Part IV: Letter to my Earlier Self about #Blog #Hops and #Virtual #Book #Tours

This is Letter Four of Four of my “open letter to my earlier self” series that first appeared on The Book Cove Reviews, http://www.thebookcove.com/2014/12/author-sally-ember-edd-letter-to-my_15.html, late November – December, 2014.
Letter One appeared on my site, http://www.sallyember.com/blog , on 3/26/15.
Letter One posted on 3/26/15; Letter Two appeared on 4/4/15 and Letter Three on 4/11/15.

image from http://phyllisiturner.com

I published my first ebook in December, 2013, and my second in June, 2014. I intend to publish my third in April, 2015. What I wish I had known before my first ebook went into pre-sales in November, 2013, about Virtual Book Tours and Blog Hops and other kinds of “shared” PR continues to grow. I write these Open Letters in order to share my wisdom “backwards” to my earlier self from today’s vantage point.

Dear Sally,

Now that you know you are going to be an indie published author, and you know you’re going to start with only ebooks and then see what happens, your choices about book marketing are more limited than if you were going to have both print and ebooks available or if a major or even minor publisher were backing your books. Mostly, your entire author platform and writing life are going to exist almost exclusively online.

That all means no book signings (you have no books to sign). It also means that you will have few or not any public readings, at least, not yet, since those usually go with book signings. You won’t be paying for much publicity since you have almost no budget for it, so forget print ads, posters, or other signage in the “real” world. Your PR is going to all be virtual.

What does this new type of non-in-person, non-print PR include besides your blog? You will have online “stores,” places that sell your books online, where the cover, blurb and reviews live. You can post your photo and bio there (on some, anyway). You should have author pages and book pages on vendor sites. What else?

Blog Hops and Virtual Book Tours.

Well, no wonder you have no idea what a “Blog Hop” or “Virtual Book Tour” is: You just barely started to blog last August, 2013, and barely know what blogging is. You have recently published your first fiction book while is also your first ebook. It’s hard to be more of a newbie than you are!

When someone invites you to “join” a Blog Hop or be part of a Virtual Book Tour, you don’t know what you’re saying “Yes” or “No” to, do you? How could you?

First of all, go visit/go on a Blog Hop or Virtual Book Tour at least once, each. Be a visitor to one or more that have some of the same organizer(s), authors and/or books as the Blog Hop or Virtual Book Tour you’re considering as a participant.

Take notes: what do you like/not like? What is confusing/clear? How appealing are the promos, widgets, banners, graphics? Since you are also a reader, consider: would YOU be more or newly interested in these authors/these books because of this Blog Hop or Virtual Book Tour?

If the answer is “NO,” stop there. You might want to join a Blog Hop or Virtual Book Tour, but not THIS one.

Visit some more until you can say “Yes” to these questions, above.

Now that you know what you like, it’s time to get more educated. There are hundreds of (free or fee-based) webinars, Google+ Hangouts On Air (HOAs), teleseminars, podcasts, blog posts, and, don’t forget: BOOKS and EBOOKS devoted to explaining everything about creating or joining a Blog Hop or Virtual Book Tour and all aspects of book marketing.

I won’t even try to recap it all here. Nonfiction can or should be marketed differently than fiction, short fiction differently than long. Target audience for and chosen genre/subgenre of your writing change the PR scene as well. Poetry and memoirs are in their own niches. Etc.

Attend, read, watch. Take more notes.

There was an excellent month-long series of educational events and posts I attended last May, 2014. Well worth it. Thanks, D’vorah Lansky! The Book Marketing Challenge has both free and paid options. Look into them! Email D’Vorah and ask about the next round: support@bookmarketingmadeeasy.com

image from http://buildabusinesswithyourbook.com/community-blog-hop/

If you are leaning toward “Yes,” before deciding whether or not to join a particular Blog Hop or Virtual Book Tour or to create your own, regardless of how enticing the organizers or instructors make it sound or you found theirs to be, there are some key questions to ask:

What are the requirements? Are they easy, moderately easy or arduous to fulfill? If you have to create or acquire a lot of new graphics, redesign or add to your website, write new blurbs or text to fit their guidelines, is it worthwhile? Answer the other questions, below, to determine that.
What’s in it for you? Are you allowed to promote/feature your own books, your blog, or just others’ books and blogs?

image from http://acupofteaandabigbook.blogspot.com
How much of your precious writing time will be given over to this endeavor?
How long does it go on? Does that timeframe work with your schedule (i.e., for visiting others’ sites, cross-promoting, posting widgets/modifying your own site, commenting, etc.)?
Can you be ready to submit everything by the deadlines and post on your day as scheduled?
How much does it cost to join, e.g., do you have to provide a “Raffle” prize, a “giveaway,” or any other “swag,” discount coupons, gift cards, or what? Is that affordable?

image from http://www.crystaljordan.com
What amount of traffic is likely to be driven to your site from these other sites, i.e., how many followers do they have, what are their ALEXA scores?
Are the other Blog Hop or Virtual Book Tour participants in the same or similar or at least compatible genres/subgenres with yours?
Are the other blogs/sites/books/authors’ brands compatible with yours (NSFW [Not Safe For Work] vs. SFW [Safe For Work], for example)?
Is this organized by a paid promoter or someone else with experience organizing a Blog Hop or Virtual Book Tour so that there is at least one person who will handle the responsibilities of corralling, collecting, scheduling, managing this event professionally and well?
How many other participants’ sites are being visited on the same day as yours? Do that number and variety seem likely to be competitive, supportive, confusing, appropriate?
What possible benefits will there be and how likely are they to accrue to YOU?

image from http://www.rtbookreviews.com
Having answered all these questions, is this Blog Hop or Virtual Book Tour a worthwhile endeavor?

Bottom line, Sally, is that your writing time MUST be a priority, but you also have to put in time to create relationships in order to find readers, get more visible, be part of an online community with important and meaningful connections, and, oh, yeah, MARKET your books. Be cautious, be discerning, be wise.

I hope you are finding this series of Open Letters helpful to your decision-making and planning for your first and subsequent book launches and ongoing marketing and promotions. I might add to this series as I get even more experienced; we’ll see.

Meanwhile, don’t forget to ENJOY the ride!

Best to you!

Your future Sally

Would you say that to a man?

04/16/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Excellent examples and advice for becoming more aware of #sexism and calling it out/refraining from perpetuating it. Thanks, Rebecca Griffin!

Of Means and Ends

“I’m not going to apply for the job because I want you to get it.”

I was in my mid-20s and a promotion opened up in my division at work and I planned to apply for it. Given the hierarchy in our department, one male coworker and I were the natural ones to consider for the job. When the topic came up, that’s what he said to me: “I’m not going to apply for the job because I want you to get it.” I don’t remember what I said in the moment, but I remember quietly seething and thinking, “Don’t do me any favors. Go ahead and apply and I’ll still get it.”

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“Trust the Process,” Guest Post by Krysten Lindsay Hager

04/15/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

I am excited to host today’s post from another previous CHANGES conversations between authors’ guest (Episode 15; see below for links), blogger and author, Krysten Lindsay Hager

“Trust the Process”

Years ago, whenever I’d go to writing conferences, workshops, or critique groups, there was always one particular type of writer that showed up and made me feel anxious. I would wonder what I was doing with my life and/or career. It wasn’t that this person’s success made me question my work; they’d say something that seemed to imply that if we were not getting our work published, then we didn’t count as “real writers.”

I joined a critique group a few years ago that got me back into enjoying the very act of writing again. I found that having regular meetings was keeping me accountable and I enjoyed getting constructive criticism and feedback. I also appreciated talking about the story with people who were on the journey with me and my characters.

Then, another person came along with the constant talk about all the agents and editors they had met and often dismissing anything that wasn’t “hot” in the industry at the moment. I’ll never forget the day I brought a chapter of my young adult novel to read and I was excited to share it, but right before I went to read, this person declared that no agent or editor would ever be interested in my novel because it was written in first person. Her tone very dismissive, as if I shouldn’t even bother. I sat there feeling so small. I went on to read, but even I could hear the insecurity in my voice. I sounded like a little kid who had been reprimanded.

I went home that night and started to think about my story, how writing it and editing it had brought me so much joy. I had begun to rewrite that novel during a difficult time for me. I had gotten sick and was dealing with a whole new way of life. That story had brought me back, so to speak.

It hit me that the point of the writing process for me hadn’t been whether or not this piece got published, but the enjoyment I got from writing and working on it and sharing it with other people who enjoyed it as well. As I folded laundry that night (doing laundry is my stress reliever), I realized that there was more to writing than just getting to what some called the final destination—-publication. It was about the journey for me.

So, a few weeks later, I returned to the group, determined not to let this person into my head. They again put out little comments about how I shouldn’t bother with a first-person narrative, but this time I took it as an opinion and not the final word.

That night, I started reading a book called The Creative Call, which talks a lot about how it’s not about what the work can do for you or getting it published, but what the work can do for others. Reading that took the pressure off.

However, when I mentioned this very thing to my writing group a few weeks later, some of them weren’t receptive to it. A few of them had publication as their only goal. That’s fine, but for me, this was what I choose to believe: that I would do the work and leave the outcome (and my ego) out of what would make this story successful in my eyes. Even if the book were never published, I felt that writing, finishing, sharing and enjoying it would be enough for me.

A week after I finished reading The Creative Call, I realized that maybe I should send out my young adult novel, True Colors, to see if it would be something that might help teens dealing with the similar self-esteem/self-image and other young teen issues that my character faces. I knew that trying to navigate through upper elementary and middle school while attempting to fit in as well as dealing with frenemies and mean girls would resonate with many readers. I submitted the story.

In less than two months, I got a contract for the book. I remember sitting at my computer staring at that acceptance email and I felt a calmness come over me. It felt as if a weight had been lifted. I guess I had always assumed I’d be dancing around the room, but it was more like a confirmation that writing was the right path for me. I knew that I was supposed to share my novel. Receiving the contract and knowing that the book (my first book in the Landry’s True Colors Series) was going to be published ended up not being about me at all, but more about what I could share with others.

The books I have written as part of this series are the ones I would have wanted to read at that age. The first one was now going out there into the world, which said to me that maybe there kids out there who need to read about these issues.

A lot of people go into writing wanting fame, money, etc., but I think that takes away from the purpose of writing a book. It’s not what you can get out of it, it’s what you can give back. For me, it has been about those messages and comments I’ve gotten from people who say that, when they see my character, Landry, and her insecurities and worries, they feel less alone in what they are going through. When I heard about a teen who had been upset about dealing with being left out by people she had called “best friends,” then she had read my book and gotten perspective on the situation, well, that made me happier than I was the day I signed that first contract. It made me feel that I had a purpose.

Sure, it took me a while to get to a place where I saw the benefits of enjoying the journey and not focusing on the end goal or numbers. However, it has been so gratifying to appreciate the writing process more fully and to feel connected to my greater purpose.

About Krysten:

(author photo courtesy of Shannon DiGiacomo)

Krysten Lindsay Hager is a book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and writes middle grade, YA, humor essays, and adult fiction. She is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series. Originally from Michigan, Krysten has lived in Portugal and South Dakota; she currently resides in Southern Ohio, where you can find her reading and writing, when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

Connect with Krysten Lindsay Hager:
Website: http://www.krystenlindsay.com/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/krystenlindsay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KrystenLindsayHagerAuthor
Twitter: @KrystenLindsay
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8298036.Krysten_Lindsay_Hager
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Krysten-Lindsay-Hager/e/B00L2JC9P2/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Book trailer provided by Videos by O.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFp2fPFbvTQ&feature=youtu.be

If you enjoyed this post, please comment/like it here AND go visit Krysten’s sites.

Here is the cover of Best Friends Forever, Book Two in her Landry’s True Colors Series:

Krysten Lindsay Hager was my guest on Episode 15 of CHANGES conversations between authors. Watch conversations with my previous CHANGES guests any time:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPbfKicwk4dFdeVSAY1tfhtjaEY_clmfq

Learn more about and get yourself or recommend someone to be scheduled as a guest: https://sallyember.com/changes-videocasts-by-sally-ember-ed-d/

IndieReCon2 = April 15-17, 2015, ONLINE and FREE! #IndieReCon #IRC15

04/13/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

The online IndieReCon2 conference is “a 3-day global event to promote quality and craft in #indie #publishing…scheduled for April 15-17, 2015, with online seminars, workshops, discussions and master classes culminating in a reader-centered, Indie #Author Fringe Fest live!”

Our posts, talks and online seminars cover all stages of the publishing process:

—Author Education: How to Write and Publish Well
—Author Empowerment: Finding Your Best Pathways to Publication
—Reaching Readers: Understanding and Serving Your Readers

“10 Reasons to Attend IndieReCon2” HERE:
ONE: “IndieReCon2 is FREE to attend.”
TWO: “IndieReCon2 is a conference for authors by authors.”

Click link below for the other 8 reasons:
http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/10ReasonsToAttendIndieReCon2.pdf

REGISTER HERE:
http://indierecon.org/register/

SPEAKERS LIST HERE:
Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, and Orna Ross, founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors (sponsor of this event), and many others!
http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/All-you-need-for-IndieReCon-2015.pdf

…and more info, plus photos and bios of speakers HERE:
http://indierecon.org/speakers/

EVENTS LIST HERE:
http://indierecon.org/events/

PRIZES/COMPETITIONS LIST HERE:
http://indierecon.org/competitions/

Learn more about the ALLi and its Ethical Code HERE:
http://allianceindependentauthors.org

Drop Everything and Read

04/12/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Last day! Get Free and Discounted Sci-fi/Fantasy ebooks throughout Sunday, 4/12, including two from The Spanners Series! GO!

Nicholas C. Rossis

Oh D.E.A.R.!

D.E.A.R. stands for “Drop Everything and Read“. This is a month-long celebration of reading designed to remind folks of all ages to make reading a priority activity in their lives. With declining literacy among children and adults, it is now more important than ever for reading to be encouraged and cherished as a worthy past time.

D.E.A.R. programs have been held nationwide on April 12th in honor of Beverly Cleary’s birthday, since she first wrote about D.E.A.R. in Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Inspired by letters from readers sharing their enthusiasm for the D.E.A.R. activities implemented in their schools, Mrs. Cleary decided to give the same experience to Ramona and her classmates. As D.E.A.R. has grown in popularity and scope, the program has expanded to span the entire month of April . . . offering classrooms and communities additional time to celebrate!

Can D.E.A.R. be celebrated anytime?

Every…

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Book Marketing Timeline ‘6 to 12 months before Release’ Infograph

04/11/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Great info from our favorite online Ape, Chris Graham, on #bookmarketing.

Sharing! Thanks for posting!

Her Name Was Taylor

04/11/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

If you live in California or anywhere else that has underutilized laws/policies to protect youth from bullying, READ and SHARE this. If you areas have no such laws or policies, GET SOME!

Thanks for posting. Sharing!

Raising My Rainbow

Photo Cred: Yahoo! Parenting via xxtayloralesanaxx/Instagram

My heart is sad today for 16-year-old Taylor Alesana of Fallbrook, California. Taylor, a transgender high school student, committed suicide after being bullied and harassed at school.

“When you’re a kid, parents always tell you sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you,” Taylor said. “To me that’s not true. Words hurt, and words turn up to threats and threats turn up to physical violence.”

Popular for her YouTube make-up tutorials, Taylor encouraged other transgender teens to protect themselves by reporting bullying to school administrators and law enforcement. She had followed her own advice and was also seeking support at the North County LGBTQ Resource Center.

The sadness in my heart shares space with anger. Taylor lived just one hour from my home; so, as a fellow Californian, I can tell you that the California Department of Education…

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Ursula Le Guin at 85

04/11/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

One of my idols and main inspirations. Just brought home a re-issued version from TOR of Ursula K. LeGuin’s three novellas (Rocannon’s World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions) and eager to re-read them all together. They’re all set on Hain, as is Left Hand of Darkness.

What a treasure she is. Thanks for posting this!

Best to you! Sharing!

J. Giambrone

BBC Interviews

My Posts | Reblogs | Films

View original post

Part III: Letter to my Earlier Self about #Preorders

04/11/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Part III: Letter to my Earlier Self about #Preorders

This is Letter Three of Four of my “open letter to my earlier self” series that first appears on The Book Cove Reviews, http://www.thebookcove.com/2014/12/author-sally-ember-edd-letter-to-my.html, late November – December, 2014.
Letter One will appear on my site, http://www.sallyember.com/blog, on 3/26/15, Letter Two on 4/4/15; Letter Four re-posts on April 18, 2015.

I published my first ebook in December, 2013, and my second in June, 2014. My third will release late in the Spring of 2015.

This is a letter to describe all that I wish I had known about Pre-Orders before my first ebook went into Pre-orders in November, 2013, and what I used somewhat for Volume II’s Pre-order period in the Spring of 2014 before its release in June of 2014. I will certainly build upon these experiences for subsequent releases of Volumes of The Spanners Series in preparation for their Pre-Order weeks, especially since Amazon has recently joined the Pre-Order bandwagon.

Dear Sally,

Thanks to Mark Coker, Founder/CEO of #Smashwords, #indie #authors have lots of information in FREE slide shows and several webinars to help indie ebook authors succeed in self-publishing.

Mark provided excellent instructions, tips and support for my first ebook’s publication last fall, the sci-fi/romance which has been getting great reviews, This Changes Everything, Volume I, The Spanners Series. His exhortations and statistics persuaded me to engage in a Pre-order period prior to full sales release on Smashwords and its affiliates and before uploading to Amazon (which did not allow pre-orders at that time).

In his post (link to full post, below), Mark defined Pre-orders:

Mark also gave great info on how to schedule a Pre-Order, here:

Furthermore, Mark detailed the benefits of Pre-Orders for Authors and Readers:

A great realist, Mark also provided great info as to what to expect, a “Reality Check”:

So, you will do it all correctly. You will follow his instructions to the letter. That’s the kind of meticulous, organized person you are. Brava.

Now, let me tell you how your first experience with pre-orders will go, Sally.
Not so well.

Let’s review the Tips Mark provided and clue you in as to what you will actually experience:

Tip One: Plan and implement AGGRESSIVE, multi-week marketing campaign
Okay, Sally. Since this is your first time as any kind of book marketer, it’s a good thing you are going to be laid off in August, 2013. Really. You will need every extra minute and a full-time job would just get in the way. Oh, sure, you could have used the extra cash, but believe me, you will be extremely busy job-hunting and lucky to be able to fit book marketing in the interstices of each day.

By the way, being laid off will avail you of a little more family support (thanks, Ellen Fleischmann, Merlyn Ember, Sarah Miranda, Lauri Stern and Carole Harris) to move your heretofore unpublished book forward into self-publication. I applaud that you are going to take this unemployment time to learn, via Mark Coker’s videos and others’ videos via Google Hangouts, as well as free webinars, blog posts, groups’ posts and articles, all about the publication and marketing processes for indie authors.

You were always a good student: this is your current “class.” You want an “A,” don’t you?

Get it all done, except pay for PR (no extra funds). You will:

start a new website and blog;
become active on Goodreads and Twitter;
start and add to several Pinterest Boards; y
become more active on Facebook, both on your personal and newly started Series pages;
become more active on LinkedIn;
join Google+ and begin to use it more, including starting a Series page there;
join many Groups/Communities on Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads and Google+ as well as local, in-person writers’ groups;
research and find, then engage a professional cover artist (thanks, Aidana Willowraven!);
start tracking your KLOUT, SNAP and ALEXA scores.

What will happen with all this effort?
OUTSTANDING results (you will think) in the first few months. For example, you will see your KLOUT score go from 31 to 61 by Volume I’s release day (12/19/13).

Your website (sallyember.com) will go from being so invisible as to have no ranking at all to being in the top 3.5 million via ALEXA. (You will postpone using Snapscore.) By a few months after releasing Volume II, your ALEXA score will be in the 500,000 range!

Your Twitter #FF will increase from 7 to over 1600. Your blog will gain almost 40 #FF (NOT your family, either!).

You will acquire almost 300 LIKES on The Spanners Series Facebook page and over 300 new contacts personally there and on LinkedIn and Goodreads. 60 become #FF on Pinterest.

Seems good, to you.

Don’t forget how hard you will work at networking by posting excerpts of Volume I, then Volume II on Wattpad and Authonomy and allowing previews of the same number of chapters on all vendors’ sites.

You will then garner several very positive pre-release-day reviews which will be posted on/into Volume I’s front matter, your website, Goodreads and all other social media.

You will join many authors’ sites, such as Shelfari and BookLikes, Authors’ Database and others with author and then book pages. You will create and update your Author’s Central page on Amazon (which doesn’t do Pre-orders, yet, but since you already had a nonfiction book authorship, you could do this prior to uploading your ebook).

You will provide copy for and link to postings of several author interviews on several websites and Blog Talk Radio‘s IndieBooks show. You will leverage the local writers’ group to do public readings and then video yourself doing them and post these on Youtube, to start your Spanners Series‘ Channel.

Using the cover for Volume I, you will print up 50 flyers (second time you spend money on this endeavor, first being the cover) and give them out everywhere you go, even the Farmers’ Market.

cover and logo art by Willowraven

You will talk up your book and series everywhere you go, also. You will send out Facebook and Goodreads reminders of the release date and plan an Author Q & A on Google Hangout On Air/ YouTube and Goodreads for release day as an “EVENT,” which you will extensively promote, along with the Pre-orders themselves, for weeks prior to the release date.

You will believe you have done everything you could to create a strong “Author Platform” and prepare for Pre-orders to succeed. But, being a new author to sci-fi/romance and to ebooks, and an indie, self-published author in a very crowded field, the “splash” you will be making, despite KLOUT‘s encouraging stats, will not be feeling large.

from http://www.bakerviewconsulting.com

Furthermore, due to your inexperience and Smashwords‘ lack of statistics given to authors in real time, you will have no way to gauge the success of your Pre-order marketing via the numbers of Pre-orders, from Smashwords, iBooks, KOBO and nook. You will be very frustrated that these vendors do not provide ANY kind of info as to the numbers of Pre-orders accumulating to authors at this time.

I can tell you: you are not the only one who is frustrated with the lack of real-time sales feedback. Because of all the complaints, perhaps, some aspects of this process do change by the time you do Pre-orders for Volume III.

It remains to be seen if stats for Pre-orders become available. But, at least authors can get almost-real-time sales stats via Smashwords from Smashwords and iBooks/iTunes by release date of Volume II. Yeah!

Kobo only provides book ranks and nook only provides ranks when sales are high enough to “warrant” them. None of them will provide any stats until actual sales begin accruing on “release” day, though.

iBooks has a sales threshold before it agrees to put out a ranking, though, so although you will soon be able to see sales stats (about 3 days after the sale occurs), your ebooks won’t yet have met the threshold for sales and reviews that will let your ebooks get ranked on iTunes. Bummer.

As a Kindle Direct (KDP), not Kindle Select (KSP), author, you won’t have the option to do Pre-orders on Amazon until Volume III, but at least you can check in on any day, any hour and get not only several different sales and author relative ranks, but go look at your actual sales figures online, including total sales, gross cash intake and net royalties. Yeah, Amazon!

Pre-orders’ Results, Volume I:

Going solely by Amazon‘s and Smashwords‘ sales figures (the only ones you will have for quite a while), your Pre-Order and regular sales periods will not be huge successes, to say the least.

Your first royalty check from Amazon would not even pay for one tank of gas. Smashwords only pays quarterly; first check from them, not a lot better.

You CAN say that you are now a professional, paid ebook author, nonetheless! Woohoo!

Tip Two: Mobilize fans
You will first try to gather fans (see above) and then mobilize them. However, as a first-time ebook author with no other fiction sales before this, your “fan base” is minimal and will stay that way for over a year, through Volume II.

Sorry, Sally. Your “fan base” is nonexistent prior to Pre-orders.

Please do use your growing fan base extensively for This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Volume II, which will go into Pre-Orders in April and on sale June 9, 2014.

[PRIVATE, PERSONAL NOTE: something very bad is going to happen to you (which I’d rather not talk about now) right after you upload Volume II which will greatly curtail your utilization of this Tip.]

cover and logo art by Willowraven

So, great Tip, but you won’t be able use it for TCE and it won’t help much for Volume II, either. Set your sights on using this Tip for Volumes III and beyond, all right?

Tip Three: Special pricing
You will be smart and take Mark’s advice about pricing all the way. He suggested lower prices or free for Pre-orders, but strongly suggested NOT offering it free if the ebook has no others before it in the Series.

Mark also suggested, based on his extensive research, the “sweet spot” balancing sales with profits for ebooks, currently set @$3.99.

So, you will set TCE’s Pre-Order price @$1.99. The sale price for TCE will be $3.99 and will stay that way until Volume II goes into Pre-orders, 4/1/14, at which point Volume I will be PERMAFREE and Volume II will be set @$1.99 for Pre-orders and then @$3.99 when it goes on sale 6/9/14.

When/if The Spanners Series ebooks start selling well and your fan base has grown sufficiently, you may raise Volume II’s price to $5.99 during Volume III’s Pre-order period, now pushed into spring, 2015, and set the Pre-order price @$2.99 for Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change.

Volume III’s sale price, releasing in late Spring, 2015, will then probably be $5.99.

If sales aren’t great (YET), you should follow your previous pricing plan for a while longer for upcoming Volumes (the series has 10, total): Pre-orders @$1.99 and sale price @$3.99.

The exact pricing may not make that much difference, but you really can’t tell. You also won’t be able to glean much about how the switch from Pre-order’s lower price to the higher sales price affects sales. Oh, well. Deal with it.

Tip Four: Use your other books to help
I know; you wish you could for Volume I, but you suffer from lack of said “other” books, except for the professional book of nonfiction; hardly relevant. Will do for Volumes II onward.

This involves putting a call for reviews into the back matter of each Volume, thanking readers, letting them know about upcoming Volumes’ release and pre-order dates, and generally sending them to your Author Platform via many links you will provide in each Volume after Volume II.

Plus, you can now put the first Chapter of Volume I IN Volume II, at the very end, for a “Sneak Preview,” getting readers hooked even before Volume II is in their hands.

Keep doing all that linking and revising for each Volume in the Series: upload the revised versions with added review snippets in the front matter as well adding Chapter One of the upcoming Volume, adding any new links, giving release and pre-order dates, etc.).

Good Tip!

Tip Five: (MY TIP): Do it better each time
Yes, plan to do it all better, as I am explaining so patiently to you, earlier Sally.

One thing you WILL do better: Networking!

One way you do that is to start your own talk show! Use your network on Google+ to get some training, practice and support. Watch a lot of Hangout On Air (HOA) shows to see how you want to do yours.

You will enjoy being a Google+ HOA talk show host, inviting authors to converse with you LIVE almost weekly on Wednesdays, 10 – 11 AM EST USA. This show, CHANGES, will greatly increase your visibility and credibility and raise the FUN factor of being an indie author.

You will LOVE doing CHANGES and meet some great authors, readers and fans in the process. I promise. Start your new show in August, 2014.

Add a page about CHANGES to your website and keep up with adding guests, URLs for shows and other information. Link to your shows on your site and on Pinterest as well.

OTHER RECOMMENDED IMPROVEMENTS:

Get more and different Beta readers for Volumes II and III.
Try to get some reviewers for Volume I to be reviewers for Volume II. When you have actual fans, ask some of them. Also, remember that you are involved in several networks of authors and others that help with promoting each others’ social media sites. ASK!
It’s great that you have 3 Book Trailers ( which you created myself, free, via Animoto) so that your Youtube Spanners Series Channel is growing. Each time you release a Book Trailer, your sales go UP on Amazon and Smashwords (and perhaps the other sites; don’t know, yet). Do more trailers for Volumes II and beyond.
Use the existing flyers and make new ones when Volume II comes out. Make free business cards via KLOUT/MOO and Vistaprint which you design. They will have some links, Vol I book cover and Series logo on them. Give them out EVERYWHERE.
Join and attend workshops with several local writers’ groups.
Comment on and re-blog/re-post others’ blog posts instead of just writing your own (see? like HERE!).
Use StumbleUpon, Reddit, Quora, AllExperts.com, Suvudu and other sites to raise the visibility of your “brand” and drive traffic to your website (via WordPress.com). Your website now has over 290 #FF with 45 more on Tumblr, which are still small numbers, but show a massive increase since the websites launched in August, 2013. Make sure you post a link to every Guest Post, Author Interview, Review and Youtube video on your own website.
Set up cross-posting so that each receives all posts from your WordPress blog: re-post on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google +, Goodreads, Shelfari, BookLikes and Amazon as well as Suvudu, etc. (see above).
Use JustUnfollow to keep your Twitter #FF useful, active and not ‘bots. Now up over 4000!
Continue to use author networks to share and collaborate for increasing each other’s visibility, rankings and comments. All of your numbers are fairly high and staying there on the book and author sites mostly due to these efforts.

So, with all of the above, you will be as READY as you can for your ebooks’ Pre-order periods.

Good luck, earlier Sally!

I’ll keep in touch.

current Sally

Link to Mark Coker’s full Smashwords Pre-order Slide Show post here, which is well worth viewing: take notes! Please share, tweet, USE!

http://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/hit-the-ebook-bestseller-lists-with-preorders-a-guide-to-preorder-strategy

Links to Reviews of Volume and Volume II of The Spanners Series, Author Interviews, other Guest Blog Posts, Book Trailers, CHANGES Episodes and more on: http://www.sallyember.com

Listen to slang

04/09/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

I LOVE looking at language to understand the underlying cultural assumptions and values, Jnana. Thanks for posting!

AND if readers here would like to read/hear more about Jnana Hodson, check out our conversation between authors on *CHANGES*, Episode 24: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPbfKicwk4dFdeVSAY1tfhtjaEY_clmfq

#Authors, learn more about and get yourself on or #Readers, recommend an #author to be scheduled as a guest: https://sallyember.com/changes-videocasts-by-sally-ember-ed-d/

D.E.A.R. = “Drop Everything And Read” #Amazon Sale of #Fantasy and #Science-Fiction Books/Ebooks April 10-12, 2015

04/09/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

The Fantasy and Science-Fiction Network (#FSFnet), of which I am a proud member, is having an excellent book/ebook sale April 10 – 12, 2015 only: #DEAR for “Drop Everything And Read” or D.E.A.R., on Amazon.

For a list of participating authors, free and discounted books and links to the sale on Amazon, go to FSFnet’s D.E.A.R. Facebook Event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/943589552319241

HOWEVER, since not everyone uses a Kindle ereader, if YOU want to download my ebooks in other formats, please go to Smashwords (see below) for the format of your choice, and a discount coupon good ONLY on Smashwordsfor Volume II (also, see below).

Both published Volumes of the sci-fi/romance/multiverse/utopian/paranormal (psi) ebooks in The Spanners Series for adults/NA/YA are participating in this great sale!

Volume I, This Changes Everything, The Spanners Series, by Sally Ember, Ed.D.
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are. Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions. In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth? This Changes Everything begins the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series. Are YOU ready for the changes?

Vol I is FREE!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197

Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, The Spanners Series, by Sally Ember, Ed.D.
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, The Spanners Series. Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II. How would YOU do with the changes?

Usually $3.99; “D.E.A.R.” Promotional price: $2.99
Your coupon code is DP34M (not case-sensitive). Good only April 10, 11, & 12. Expires: April 13, 2015
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
Enter the code prior to completing checkout.

Cover art and logo by Aidana Willowraven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/

‪#‎DEAR‬ ‪#‎FSFNet‬

It’s Alive! Legends of Windemere: Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue LIVE on Amazon Kindle!

04/08/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Mazel Tov to Episode 9’s guest on *CHANGES* conversations between authors, Charles Yallowitz, for his latest release!
Watch conversations with my previous *CHANGES* guests any time: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPbfKicwk4dFdeVSAY1tfhtjaEY_clmfq Learn more about and get yourself or recommend someone to be scheduled as a guest: https://sallyember.com/changes-videocasts-by-sally-ember-ed-d/

The Perils of Potion Making

04/08/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

THIS was posted by my upcoming guest, puzzle-maker and author, Debbie Manber Kupfer, on 4/15/15’s Episode 27 of *CHANGES* conversations between authors, Wed., 10 – 11 AM EDT USA! Join us on Google+ or Youtube.
Watch conversations with my previous *CHANGES* guests any time: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPbfKicwk4dFdeVSAY1tfhtjaEY_clmfq Learn more about and get yourself or recommend someone to be scheduled as a guest: *CHANGES* G+ HOA https://sallyember.com/changes-videocasts-by-sally-ember-ed-d/

Paws4Thought

Camp NaNoWriMo is upon us and this month I’m determined to finish the first draft of P.A.W.S. 3. I was delighted a couple of days ago when an old friend reappeared in my story. Like with children if you’re a writer you’re not supposed to have favorites, but yet we all do, and one of mine is the old Welsh magician Gromer the Green.

So, here’s a sneak peak snippet from P.A.W.S. 3. Enjoy!

It took three days for Max and Gromer to gather the ingredients. The bogwump toenails were particularly challenging. They hunted the creature down to a dank cave about five miles away from Gromer’s castle. They watched him prepare for bed, combing his shaggy green locks, brushing his pointy blue teeth and finally laying down on his bed under an enormous blanket with pictures of gnomes on the side. But he couldn’t sleep, he toss and turned…

View original post 140 more words

The Quiet One, Guest Post by Tonya R. Moore

04/08/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

I am delighted to offer this elegant, fascinating post by CHANGES guest (Episode 5; see below) and speculative fiction author, Tonya R. Moore, today! Enjoy!

The Quiet One
Guest Post by Tonya R. Moore

I remember sitting on my uncle’s verandah as a kid, watching Star Trek through the living room’s glass-paned window. I remember the voice of Captain Jean Luc Picard speaking of “exploring strange, new worlds and seeking out new civilizations, of boldly going where no one has gone before.”

Hearing those words for the very first time, I was electrified.

I was somewhere between eight and ten years old that day I first fell truly, madly and deeply in love with sci-fi.

I remember nighttime stories of the rolling calf, river mummas and duppies, especially some woman named Shirley’s duppy. I remember the lore and superstition that gave me curious thrills of fear and sent chills running down my spine.

I myself have had a supernatural “encounter” or two of my own…like those times I would hear someone call my name when there was no one else there. Like that time I thought I was being chased by a rolling calf.

Hearing and sharing these tales gave rise to my love of horror fiction.

I remember a land of twisted rivers, seething hills, lush valleys and the gloriously salty sea air–—the breathtaking island of Jamaica, where I was raised.

I was a lonely child, uncommonly quiet at times. I was treated unkindly because of that silence, accused of being “sneaky” and “devious” by the adults around me. The ominous words “silent rivers run deep” were often thrown my way. This used to confuse me because I didn’t think I was being quiet.

After all, it was never quiet inside my head.

I remember reading Ray Bradbury for the very first time. The story was “All Summer in a Day” and I cried because I thought I was very much like Margot, treated like a weirdo and subjected to the casual cruelty of other children.

Years later, when I read “The Foghorn” my breath was taken away. My god: was it really possible to put that into words? That desperate, endless yearning?

It was then that I realized that I’d found in writers, like Bradbury, McCaffrey, Asimov and Niven, kindred spirits of some kind.

It was then that I started dreaming of writing a story, a story that had not yet been told, a story that would let some other child realize that there was nothing under the sun or beyond that couldn’t be put into words.

When I sleep, I dream in sci-fi and horror. I dream of monsters and invading aliens. I dream of chasing and being chased. The flotsam and jetsam of my childhood are always interwoven within the fabric of my most fantastic nightmares.

In my dreams, I speed along the gnarly roads I once travelled in Jamaica. I smell the cereus that bloomed at night in my uncle’s garden and the cool moss and dark greenery of Fern Gully. I grow drunk on the deep, mysterious scent of the earth and sounds of this one winding river that always follows me in my dreams.

Somewhere along the line, my love of reading, dreaming and writing had collided with my love of science-fiction and horror. Now, bits and pieces of my dreams and the vaguely remembered lore from my childhood spill from my fingers onto the page.

In the middle of the night, I wake up from terrible nightmares eagerly reaching for a pen.

My name is Tonya Regina Moore. I am a lonely speculative fiction writer, uncommonly quiet at times. I’ve accepted the fact that I’m sometimes regarded as strange by others. I believe silent rivers do run deep but believe me, there’s nothing quiet about me.

It is never quiet inside my head.

About Tonya R. Moore

Tonya R. Moore is a speculative fiction writer and Public Safety professional from Sarasota, Florida. She writes science fiction, urban literature and horror stories, some of which have been published in various magazines and anthologies. Tonya hails from on the island of Jamaica. She has lived in the United States of America since 1998. She enjoys speculative fiction books and film, as well as anime and manga.

Website: http://genrelove.co
Twitter: @genrelove
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/genrelove

AND, if you’d like to get to know this “quiet” author better, please watch our excellent conversation on CHANGES, Episode 5, on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPbfKicwk4dFdeVSAY1tfhtjaEY_clmfq

Critical Review of This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series from the Starving Reviews site: Not a Fan!

04/06/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Critical Review of This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
from the Starving Reviews site: Not a Fan!

I am grateful to James B. Garner and every other reviewer who takes their time, makes the effort, reads indie authors’ books and writes thoughtful reviews: THANK YOU!

This is the first careful, thorough, critical review TCE has received in a long time, so I am sharing it in its entirety: so no one can say I “cherry-picked” his sentences or phrases. I haven’t changed one word.

I also post the link to the Starving Reviews site, below, so please visit there and comment!

And, for an alternative view of the type of social/utopian/speculative/visionary fiction I write, please also visit and watch/read: “Radical sci-fi by social activists ‘decolonizes the imagination,'”
by Laura Hudson http://boingboing.net/2015/04/02/octavias-brood.html

“Every once in a while, I feel like I have to break the rules set down for me by the Starving Reviews, LLC corporate office. So far, I have restrained myself because, well, I’m starving, darn it! I need this literary sustenance to flow and I dare not cut off my biggest supplier. Today, though, I may wind up breaking that creed, as today’s long-delayed culinary snack can’t be dissected without some SPOILERS!

“This Changes Everything is, on the surface, a science fiction novel talking about an alternate future where aliens approach Earth and offer entrance into a galactic collective. This sort of treat, at first glance, looks scrumptious, offering a many-layered look at the interactions between our delightfully bizarre little planet and a vast series of societies and species. In some ways, Changes delivers on some aspects of that promise.

“The writing itself is solid, at least once you get used to the various styles employed. The book is comprised of many nuggets of scenes, each written in a different style and from different view points. It can be a bit jarring at first but is easy to get a grip on once you realize what’s going on.

“The plot … has problems. The majority of the rest of this review will touch on that, but let me get one thing out of the way. If you ever wanted a true definition of a Mary Sue, read Changes. You see, the Mary Sue concept isn’t one of abilities or perfection (though those help), it is the plot black hole they represent. The protagonist in this book is the most important person in the world (literally), receives almost universal praise from most quarters, gets pretty much everything she could desire, lives happily ever after, and nothing really bad, dramatic, or dangerous really happens. There is the hint of tension at several points but, as described below, there are certain story and structure elements that destroy all the drama before it even has a chance to start.

“The problems start to come in when the concepts of the ‘reality’ of how time and history work in this universe. The core concepts of the book (that all time exists simultaneously and that time lines can be altered and culled by anyone with the appropriate psychic training) do provide some interesting promise, but the way they are actualized in the story create a rolling cascade of issues that really break the book down as a fictional slice of cake.

“It boils down to a few major, seemingly paradoxical, concepts. First, the concept of all time being simultaneous doesn’t really hold out in how the events of the book work. The aliens, and later Earthlings, can alter time by changing events (which don’t often require them actually doing the actions, which is strangely dissatisfying) … but how does that work when all time is simultaneous, which suggests there cannot be true causality? Likewise, the book repeatedly talks about the existence of free will, but how can free will truly exist in a world where others can reset and alter their personal time lines, altering entire sequences of events, thereby altering those free will decisions? Finally, there are strange arbitrary limits on how often people can alter their time lines, with no mention on how this is enforced or even known to be. Maybe it’s something touched on later in what is supposed to turn into a ten book series, but arbitrary, unexplained limits on what is essentially a ‘magic’ system in a fictional world is always a bit of a distaste for me.

“The main story issue that this concept of time and time altering brings about is the total destruction of dramatic tension. Very early in Changes, we already know, from the characters that can see the future as well as future documents included, that everything turns out A-OK. The girl gets the boy, Earth turns out fantastic, and the main character gets a healthy, happy ending. We know this by (if I remember correctly) chapter 5 of a 30+ chapter book. Yes, you can argue that the meal can be no less tasty when you sneak in dessert early, but that’s usually not the case. Knowing everything turns out great turns every attempt at adding some drama or tension to any point of the novel fall flat.

“That is a key component of what really leeches the taste out of Changes. I could excuse the very strange time alteration parts (it is a fictional universe, after all) and roll with it, but the lack of dramatic tension, the lack of any real conflict and consequences (something that the writer tries to interject with the idea of ‘Psi-P’, the emotional backlash of choosing to go with time-lines that benefit others but are not the best for you personally, something that never gets written to have the real impact it could), just makes Changes a sludge of a book. It is simply tiring to read, with no real emotional high or pay-off. It’s just not entertaining and that is the biggest sin a work of fiction can have.

“You may be wondering where the spoilers were? Well, I saved that for last because I have to take a moment to chew the fat about something that may very well be opinion. This next bit isn’t a critique of the book, which is why it comes at the end, but a critique of some ideas in the book (a very different thing). Changes has some very insulting and, to me personally, dangerous ideas about what is good about humanity. Humans are depicted in some cases as being so unable to cope with the idea of actual alien contact that they die or go crazy from the news. Like significant swaths of the population, at least before the aliens change history again. Not to mention there is an Appendix, as well as mentions in the main text, where it is shown that many human achievements in many areas, from the Underground Railroad to splitting the atom to most major religious figures (Jesus, the Dahli [sic] Lama, and others) were directly influenced by this alien collective, either through dreams or direct intervention. It frankly made my gut curdle to see so much of humanity’s accomplishments turned into the results of alien meddling. Changes pains humans with a very savage and ignorant brush, laying our salvation and much of our past good points in the hands of our alien saviors. Now, about those aliens …

“The aliens in this world alter time repeatedly to change human history to make the Earth a better fit for their galactic collective. They banish people unable to conform with their way of doing things to a ‘prison’ alternate time line until they reform or die. They alter the biochemistry of the ENTIRE human race in one chapter to make them more receptive and peaceful without the consent of, well, anyone. They are fully telepathic and casually mind-read the main character (and the rest of humanity) for most of the book. In a different book, these aliens would be the worst kind of manipulative overlords. In this book, though, they are perfect, wonderful utopians. I find especially that their methods really don’t jive with that ‘free will’ concept. How can you have free will when aliens are altering your biochemistry, psychically manipulating you, and implanting thoughts, dreams, and knowledge into you?

“Wow, that went on for a while. Okay, so, how does this come together? This Changes Everything is a science fiction yarn that just has no drama or fun in it. Regardless of how you may feel about its philosophical or moral points, Changes breaks the cardinal rule of any fictional work, and that is to entertain. If you’re looking for good, interesting sci-fi, look elsewhere. If you, however, are looking for a very unusual tract on philosophy and morals, you might want to give this a read, just don’t expect to be entertained by it.

“FINAL VERDICT: ** (Heavy on philosophy and moral tracts, without a single tasty bit of fun!)”
Link to full review:
https://jbgarner58.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/starving-review-this-changes-everything-the-spanners-book-1-by-sally-ember/

TCE is FREE everywhere ebooks are sold: http://www.sallyember.com has links to every TCE download/sale site as well as links and more reviews for it and Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever. Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, is due out some time in 2015.

Scifaiku: Cold

04/04/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

AND, if you’d like to know writer Wendy van Camp better, watch our excellent *CHANGES* conversations between authors Episode 17: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPbfKicwk4dFdeVSAY1tfhtjaEY_clmfq Learn more about and get yourself or recommend someone to be scheduled as a guest: *CHANGES* G+ HOA https://sallyember.com/changes-videocasts-by-sally-ember-ed-d/

No Wasted Ink

Cold

Twin moons chase stars
Mars descends into the cold
another night alone

A Scifaiku by Wendy Van Camp
Illustrated by Wendy Van Camp

Inspired by scientific data from NASA about the planet Mars.

View original post

Part II: Letter to my Earlier Self about #Book #Reviews and #Reviewers

04/04/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Part II: Letter to my Earlier Self about #Book #Reviews and #Reviewers

This is Letter Two of Four of my “open letter to my earlier self” series that first appeared on The Book Cove, http://www.thebookcove.com/2014/12/author-sally-ember-edd-open-letter-to.html, late November – December, 2014.
Letter One appeared on my site, http://www.sallyember.com/blog, on 3/26/15.
Letters Three and Four post on April 11 and 18, 2015.

I published my first ebook in December, 2013, and my second in June, 2014. My third just published last month, March, 2015. What I wish I had known before my first ebook went into pre-sales in November, 2013, about book reviews and reviewers could probably fill a book all by itself. I will try to make my life lessons more pithy, here.

Dear Sally,

You undoubtedly feel all excited about your first science-fiction/romance ebook’s publication, as you should. You are eager to read the first reviews, wondering how readers will respond, right?

Part of your preparation has been to read reviews and write reviews yourself on Goodreads. You have mostly been reading books you get from the library from rather well-known authors and writing reviews of those.

Alternatively, you have been reading a few works-in-progress by new and indie authors on http://www.Authonomy.com and http://www.Wattpad.com and leaving comments. Some authors have been commenting on your excerpts, also.

Several authors and bloggers are volunteering to review your first ebook and you are searching sites for other possible reviewers. You have been lucky: several have agreed, so you are able to put some of their choice reviewers’ comments into the final epub version’s front matter of your first Volume of The Spanners Series, This Changes Everything, prior to its actual release!

image from http://mandydegeit.wordpress.com

You are feeling great! Many of the reviewers are quite positive, giving the book 5 and 4 stars. Even the 3-star reviews have positive comments amidst the critiques and offer valuable points of view. You are psyched!

Then, the DNF (Did Not Finish) “reviews” start to appear, with 1- or 2-star ratings even though they didn’t read even half (and in some cases, even one-quarter) of your 323-pg book. Now come the lessons.

image from http://authorceo.com

Reviews and Reviewers Lesson No. 1: Do not expect all reviewers actually to read your book or to behave like professional reviewers.
What? How do non-readers get to call themselves “reviewers”?

People who only watch a few minutes of a movie or TV show or walk out at intermission for a live performance aren’t entitled to submit a full review much less a rating. Why are these readers doing this? What gives them any right to even comment, much less evaluate your book with so little experience of it? Reviewers are supposed to READ the book, first, aren’t they?

HA HA HA HA HA! You wish!

It’s all right. Calm down. Blog about DNFs and move on. Enjoy their snarky comments(some of the are quite witty and even funny), post them right along with the other reviewers’ insightful remarks. What do you care? It’s not as if their DNF opinions matter: they did not read your book! Ignore.

image from http://frodosco.com
Reviews and Reviewers Lesson No. 2: Not all readers will comment; not all downloads lead to readers.
Do not expect all readers to leave comments or reviews.

image from http://oscarmini.com
Reviews and Reviewers Lesson No. 3: Reviewers are all volunteers (or mostly) and often do not have the ability to meet stated deadlines.
Do not expect all reviewers who say they will review your book to do it in a timely fashion or at all. Waiting for reviews? May as well be waiting for Godot. “There is nothing to be done.”

image from http://blogs.mprnews.org
Reviews and Reviewers Lesson No. 4: Reviewers will not always respond to requests.
Do not be surprised when requests for reviews are ignored even when you follow all the reviewers’ guidelines and fill out their forms, even when your book falls within their genre specifications and meets their criteria perfectly, not even when they claim they will respond to all requests.
Reviews and Reviewers Lesson No. 5: Be open to a “swap” or don’t join the clubs.
When you say that you are not a “review swap” kind of author, explaining that, on the rare occasion you do accept another author’s book to read and review (because you’re very busy writing), that:
a) you cannot promise to provide their book with a 4- or 5-Star ranking,
b) you do not know what you will think of their book prior to reading it, and
c) you can’t promise a “positive” review,
do not be surprised when some reviewers/authors refuse to review your book at all (and some are quite snarky about it).

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) developed a Code of Ethics(#ethicalauthor) http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org/ethical-author-campaign/ in November, 2014, that included these statements in the Reviewing and Rating books section, which I like (except for the missing apostrophe on the final use of reader):
“I do not review or rate my own or another author’s books in any way that misleads or deceives the reader. I am transparent about my relationships with other authors when reviewing their books.

“I am transparent about any reciprocal reviewing arrangements, and avoid any practices that result in the reader being deceived.”

Then, they also included this part in Reacting to reviews, which I thoroughly agree with:

“I do not react to any book review by harassing the reviewer, getting a third party to harass the reviewer, or making any form of intrusive contact with the reviewer. If I’ve been the subject of a personal attack in a review, I respond in a way that is consistent with professional behaviour.”

Read the entire Ethical Author Code and decide if you, as an author, want to adhere to it, or you as a reader want authors to adhere to it. If you do, download the badge, below, and spread the word! http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org/alli-campaigns/ethical-author/
Reviews and Reviewers Lesson No. 6: Most reviews and authors’ groups do not accept “negative” reviews.
Some even have agreements up front that they will not post or give any books lower than a 3-Stars ranking. They consider a 3 (out of 5) to be a “terrible” rating.

When you are involved with some authors’ groups which require “review swaps” as part of “belonging” to their “club” (which I heartily recommend AGAINST joining for precisely that reason and more besides) and you read the book you have chosen or been assigned and discover that it is a book you have to give a 2-star rating to (and that is being generous, in your opinion), do not be surprised when the club leaders seem supportive but it turns out that they are not.

Be prepared for the author to tell you that s/he is “too thin-skinned” to talk to you about your responses prior to your posting the review. You do wonder, however, how anyone can publish books, put their writing out in public, expect all their readers to react positively every time and make no emotional preparations for the eventuality of rejection or negative feedback from readers.

Take it in stride when the leaders refuse to post your review even though it meets all their stated criteria, you warned them in advance that it was not “positive,” and they emailed you that “an honest opinion was all they wanted or expected from their members.” Do not take their lack of integrity personally, even when they cast aspersions on your character and hint that you are “being unfair” and “unkind.” Do not take the bait, even when they keep asking you questions that imply how heartless you are to rate that book so low, such as, “Don’t you know how hard this author worked on that book?”

We wish everyone realized that rational, negative reviews can be helpful, as blogger Jody Hedlund points out in this great meme:

image from http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com
Reviews and Reviewers Lesson No. 7: Even the readers who chose to review your book may not like your genre or understand your book, yet will blame you for their lack of enjoyment and comprehension.
Why, you wonder, would a reader who already knows she doesn’t like science-fiction choose to read, much less claim to want to review, a science-fiction book? There are ALIENS on the cover. There is no mistaking the genre of this book! What is the deal?

The components of Buddhism and Judaism figure prominently in your books and you make that clear in blurbs and your bio. So, why would a born-again Christian, a devout Muslim or Catholic or any other religious-leaning person who has problems accepting Buddhism or Judaism in fictional characters and plots (or in real life, actually) choose YOUR books to review? What were they imagining would happen?

You put information right in the first chapters of your books regarding its format (all in the present tense on purpose, for example, and presentations of multiple timelines), yet some reviewers will criticize your writing for these exact components, commenting that you “needed a better editor” since you “obviously don’t know how to use verb tenses,” or complain that “there were too many versions of the same story.”

We authors can’t please everyone, nor should we even try. Write your best book, Sally. Appreciate ALL reviews, even the DNFs. Keep going. By the time you get to Volume III or IV, this “newbie indie author” phase will seem as if it happened in another lifetime.

Meanwhile, support other indie authors. Write and leave reviews, rankings, comments and LIKES.

image from http://alifeboundbybooks.blogspot.com

How to Contact Book Reviewers

04/02/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Let me know how it goes if you follow this advice! #reviews #authors

How does a Squeamish, Nonviolent Author’s Series Include a War? by @sallyemberedd

04/01/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

Thanks, Cate Russell-Cole, for giving me this forum to share a writing dilemma I’ve been having and how I’m solving it with violence in “The Spanners Series”!