Friday, February 20, 2009

Dirty Words - Self-Publishing, E-Publishing, POD

Just wondered. What's wrong with self-publishing, e-publishing, or print on demand technology? At times, I get the impression some people believe books published by any of these methods don't meet the standards of those published in the traditional manner.

All things being equal, if a book is edited correctly, looks good, and reads good, what more could readers want?

What's your take on this subject? Please share.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Facebook Backs Down

The twits on Twitter.com reached record proportion the last few days as news spread about Facebook's new terms of service. Foul was cried and many Facebook members rushed to their sites and removed items to prevent them from belonging to Facebook in perpetuity. To protect members of my network, I promptly removed the Book Place video and photo feeds to Facebook. Then I removed my own personal photos.

Here's one link on the matter:
http://www.canada.com/Entertainment/Facebook+about+face+content+rights/1301996/story.html

For more information, if you're a Twitter user, sign in, go to the bottom of the page, click search, type #Facebooktos and you'll see all sorts of enlightening tidbits and links.

As of Wednesday, Facebook, realizing the repercussions of the fallout of unhappy campers, backed off from the new terms and switched back to the old ones, with a promise of studying the matter thoroughly before making or revising another set. With news of the reversal, I downloaded my profile pic again to my Facebook account, but don't plan to overdo it until I'm more comfortable with the situation.

The same thing that made Facebook so popular threatened to destroy it. For now, it appears the danger has passed. And how was the reversal achieved? By social networking. People spoke out.

One person may not make a difference, but collectively we pack a wallop.

What are your feelings about Facebook and its terms of service? Were you aware of what happened? Do you trust them? Or, maybe you don't have a Facebook account. Please share.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

What Are They Saying?

As promised - Another Reenactor Fest Photo - This is my favorite.

Let's play a little game. What do you think these characters are thinking or saying?Have some fun with it.

When you're through, I invite you to stop on by at Acme Authors Link for a great motivational post from my guest, L. Diane Wolfe.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Embarrassing, Annoying, Nosy Questions

Today, I'll do a fun post. Here's the plan. I'll list a bunch of embarrassing, annoying and nosy questions. If you want, you can pick one to answer, or if you want, you can relate something embarrassing that happened to you, a friend or a book character.

Here goes:

Ladies - When was the last time you shaved your legs or underarms?

Guys - Do you ever shave or get shaved your nose hairs or ear hairs?

Anyone - What do you wear to bed at night?

Anyone - Do you ever pick your nose? Or have you seen someone else pick theirs?

Anyone - How often do you brush your teeth?

Anyone - Have you ever worn shoes from two different pairs and not realized it right away?

Anyone - Have you ever gotten toilet paper stuck to your shoe?

Ladies - Has your skirt ever ridden up in the back, or gotten stuck in the waistband in the back and you didn't realize it?

Guys- Have you ever left your fly open in public and someone had to tell you?


I'll start by answering a few -

Because it's winter and cold around here, I shaved my legs and underarms a few days ago, after not bothering for a while. During the summer, I do it every few days at least.

I usually wear a nightshirt to bed, sometimes with a fleece vest. If it's really, really, cold, I'll wear my flannel pajamas plus a fleece jacket over it. Our upstairs doesn't get as warm as the rest of the house, but the water bed makes up for it.

I did wear two different types of shoes to work one day and didn't discover it until on the train ride hope, so no one else noticed all day either.

Okay, your turn. Provide your own question and answer, or Take Your Pick - Pun intended.