Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Holdings Powers That Be Accountable

 

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthanalysis/gopublic/

 

My friends here at WordPress, especially those who’ve read The Mirror, know that I am not one who gives up easily.  Monday evening, I was having a beverage at a local saloon with a younger military Signals engineer whom I was on the Space Operations Course with, a couple of years ago. In discussing my book, he suggested that I contact the Go Public team at CBC News.

While the British have the BBC, Canadians have the CBC – the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. If you’re from the U.S., think of the CBC as if PBS was an arms-length agency of the Federal Government.

So, I’ve sent the CBC News / Go Public team an email about my book’s true story. I’ve reproduced the email below, with the necessary minor alterations to change the true names to the pseudonyms I used in the book, as required.

* * * * *

–IN CONFIDENCE–

Dear Go Public,

This will be difficult to believe, but it is a true story, I assure you. As you read this, bear in mind that I am a recently retired, 3rd generation RCAF navigator (almost 31 years of service) and a Member of the Order of Military Merit. I was a founding member of the Canadian Forces’ Welfare Centre, have the military equivalent to a basic post-graduate education, and have worked with defence scientists and researchers of various flavours. Character references upon request, etc., etc.

In 2008, during a nasty marriage breakdown, I had to deal with my estranged wife’s rabid parental alienation and possible Munchausen by proxy behaviour. Both of these are serious forms of child abuse. Experts hold that alienation abuse is at least as harmful to kids psychologically as is sexual abuse. Munchausen by proxy is the most lethal form of child abuse. By Ontario law, I had to contact a Children’s Aid Society (CAS) to report this, and so I did. (Pasties CAS.)

The CAS not only refused to investigate, which by their own admission would require outside psychiatric expertise, they tried to block an expert psychiatrist’s involvement. They assisted my ex-wife in alienating our three children from me–11, 13, 17–and got me court-ordered from my own home, without trial and without evidence, and with a cunning de facto no access order placed against me.

Even when the expert psychiatrist (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, psychoanalyst) corroborated everything that I had said was happening, the CAS still refused to help, as did the Ontario’s Office of the Children’s Lawyer. It would be more accurate to name that agency the Office of the Mother’s Lawyer. Better that children be subject to serious child abuse than mother not “win” HER child support payments, in Ontario.

I used my military background to analyze the child protection system, and discovered some rather interesting things. The mandatory 2007 Child Protection Standards in Ontario have been rigged with feminist ideology and definitions, so that a mother not getting exclusive custody of the children in divorce (and hence the child support payments) now technically constitutes child abuse, especially if she is a threat to the kids. This rationalizes what is in fact malicious interference in divorce by feminist CAS social workers under guise of fraudulent child protection.

Feminist CAS workers know this will establish “status quo” and “primary caregiver” child custody advantages for mother in the ensuing divorce proceedings, as these are the two largest determinants of child custody in Ontario. It also vilifies the father as being abusive, by implication, as he had to be removed from the home “due to conflict.” (i.e., It was his fault, he’s belligerent or abusive or has “anger issues.”)

This feminist ideology is in the realm of domestic violence “theory,” and it was refuted by UBC Professor Don Dutton back in 2006 (i.e., before the Child Protection Standards were written in 2007) in a peer-reviewed academic paper. My analysis also revealed something else: this systemic practice is criminal, and not in a trivial way.

I maintain that the Ontario government acted to cover up what happened in my case. I had brought this to the attention of Minister Rype-Blumers and Attorney General Guy Smiley. The Child and Family Services Review Board issued a misleading decision against Hastings CAS to cover up the criminal malfeasance. When I complained against the feminist judge who ordered me out of my house without trial, I specifically explained how her actions constituted the criminal offences of abduction as per sections 280.1 and 281 of the Criminal Code (abduction of a child under 14 or 16). The Ontario Judicial Council couldn’t refute my argument, so they merely wrote back to inform me that I had complained of criminal “abduction.” They literally put the word in quotes to express their contempt for me.

I’ve recently published a book to expose what constitutes, unbelievably, a covert Ontario-wide feminist criminal conspiracy to abduct children from their fathers in divorce, from which Children’s Aid Societies justify their government funding. I am openly alleging cover up and criminal malfeasance, including on the part of the feminist judge and others like her.

I also noted essentially similar narcissistic personality traits in the hard-core feminists in my case to those that the expert psychiatrist identified in my former wife. I’ve re-interpreted existing elements of narcissism theory to explain this.

My book and its thesis about feminists and narcissism have the endorsement of reformed former feminist Professor of English Janice Fiamengo (University of Ottawa). It’s garnered strong reader reviews, and is reported to be a gripping read. One reader described it as John le Carre meets Mommy Dearest, to which I would add a bit of author Malcolm Gladwell.

To due Ontario’s Child and Family Services Act, I cannot be publicly identified in association with my true story. Thus, I write and blog under the pseudonym of Michael M. McConaughey.

Please help me to expose this duplicitous system of injustice and abuse of children (and men!) in Ontario. The expert psychiatrist  -Toronto’s Dr. Sol Goldstein – told me in May 2010 that there were strong clinical indicators in the Russ Williams case that suggest that severe parental alienation at the hands of a highly narcissistic mother (e.g., his strange family name changes) is what caused Williams’ severe psychopathology. Please help me expose and thus defeat Ontario’s secret Russ Williams Training Program for Children of Divorce.

The whole story is even bigger than what I’ve outlined in this email. This is just the beginning. My book’s title is The Mirror, Book One – Welcome to the Evil Sisterhood.

Thank you.

Michael M. McConaughey

Ottawa ON

613.123.4567 (evenings and weekends)

* * * * *

Someday, somewhere, someone is going to break this story in the mainstream media. Hopefully, it will be CBC News Go Public. I note that they’re advertising that they are on a bit of a summer vacation from June to August. If I don’t hear back from them, I’ll contact them again later in the summer.

My father taught me that perseverance is a virtue. It was a good lesson.

Michael M. McConaughey’s New Author Website

Blog, then book, and now author’s website. Take that, J.K.Rowling! En garde!

Well, didn’t my “all-inclusive” package with FriesenPress.com include them setting me up with my very own author’s website. I’ll have to get Mom to Google it a thousand times or so, as this is about the limit of my knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO). I don’t dare reblog my own post about it, as I may get caught in an infinite loop SEO event horizon and freeze time.

Plus, that would be gauche.

To help guide the FriesenPress.com marketing expert in setting up a website that I would like, they had a questionnaire for me to fill out. Due to the workload involved in leaving the RCAF and starting a new job / 2nd career–or 3rd, if you count the one time that the brass pole broke under my not-inconsiderable weight–, I’d lost track of the questionnaire and had to hurry to get it done.

Regarding author websites that appealed to me and why, what I included:

1. Mary Yerkes (Classic look, simple, book will look great with simple B&W theme.)

2. Dan Brown (Scroll down to the very bottom – powerful symbolism, which I love. The Mirror uses this in its cover art very effectively, as narcissistic mirroring is a core theme. Somehow, distorted mirroring live the cover design has to be incorporated.)

3. Website attributes I am looking for: Simple, uncluttered, powerful, symbolism, easy-to-find information.

The FriesenPress.com marketing expert thought that MichaelMcConaughey.com would be better than MichaelMMcConaughey.com (i.e., no middle initial “M.”)

I also had to chose five words from a group of descriptive adjectives that characterized the book and my “author image.” (I could add to the list, if required.) I chose: dark (somewhat); personable; mysterious; controversial; and revelatory.

I had him use my WordPress avatar instead of an author photo, so that I didn’t run afoul of a non-identification legal issue.

What do you think about author websites in general and mine in particular?

 

 

 

 

The Book Fairy Waved Her Magic Wand: “The Mirror” For Sale At Barnes & Noble!

Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.

 

The last that I had heard (middle of this week), my book information was being uploaded to distribution channels, and I should expect to see it hit the major online sellers in a few weeks, probably by the end of June.

Imagine my surprise to find that The Mirror is now for sale at Barnes & Noble as an e-book. ***UPDATE: Changed to all formats as I was typing!*** It’s really happening, perhaps a bit faster than I had expected. I’m still working with my FriesenPress.com marketing guru to get things like my marketing plan and formal press release done. I don’t even have an “official” launch date or event planned yet.

May I ask a favour from those who’ve already read the manuscript or galley proof? It would be helpful if you’d leave comments and rank the book at both places where it is now for sale:

 

Barnes & Noble

FriesenPress

 

Honest opinions and rankings, of course. My feelings won’t be hurt in the slightest if I don’t see 5-stars across the board; far from it. I suppose I’ll have to get that goodreads.com author’s account established, so that scores / feedback can be done there, too.

As per a previous post, I’ve copied people’s review comments and pasted them below. If it’s been a while, these comments can be cut-and-pasted (by their authors!) to the Barnes & Noble and FriesenPress pages for The Mirror. Or, new comments can be written if desired, obviously.

It appears as if I’ve passed that point of no return; I’ve crossed a Rubicon, and the die is cast. (I’m sure I was the first to utter these words, honest.)

For those interested in blogging about this or having an author interview, let’s wait until my marketing guru fleshes out the marketing plan before doing anything formal. It’s certainly fine to discuss the book, but we should probably wait until the book is available at all the major retailers, first.

P.S. I still haven’t gotten my WordPress email alerts sorted out. If I’ve been absent from your recent posts, my apology.

 

* * * * *

 

Test Reader Feedback [NOTE: Significant majority are women]

“I spent the past weekend with your book. It is excellent: your patient and blow-by-blow recounting of the hell you endured makes for a very gripping reading experience.” Professor of English Janice Fiamengo, Ontario, Canada

“Absolutely love Book One. You captured my interest, my support and my heart.” S.F., U.S.A.

“In the beginning I felt as though I was reading “This Boys Life: A Memoir” written by Tobias Wolff, in addition to reading Follett or Le Carré filled with conflict and intrigue. I was on the edge of my futon. I will admit, this is my second reading. I want to buy it when published, you just have to autograph it so the book can sit in my book case along with my hard copy of my favorite authors. Definitely an awesome and honest story. It is terribly hard to believe the circumstances and that there are women out there like that “Mommy Dearest” comes to mind. Thank you for letting me read your story.” J.M., Seattle, WA, U.S.A.

“I really, really enjoyed it! It was so real and personal that it actually made me cry at times. Most of the time it was empathy, sometimes sympathy… I truly enjoyed reading this. I feel as if you were talking to me over coffee at times and the read was in person. Although I’ve never met you, I feel like I understand and respect you as if I did. Thank you so much!” J.C., Ontario, Canada

“I have just finished the book….to be quite honest, it’s left me speechless. I have been through a range of emotions, realizations, and was especially challenged by the last few pages regarding the rejection of ‘feminism’ as defined by Michael. What a story…It made me think about my own upbringing and how the qualities of narcissism show up differently within the masculine and feminine paradigms (as Michael suggests). Feminist or not, this book is a page-turner.” J.K., U.S.A.

“The Mirror is eloquent and it’s human. You told your story with passion, with confidence and with conviction. You’ve done brilliantly at keeping it coherent and you’ve paced it out as well as any good work of fiction I’ve ever read. Your writing style is that of a true storyteller, and it was only on very rare occasions as I read that I didn’t feel you were sitting beside me, telling of the joys and the trials, the triumphs and the frustrations. I felt your losses and your significant wins, few and far between as they may have been. You should be very proud of your work… it is awesome.” L.G.H., Ontario, Canada

“The Mirror is every parent’s worst nightmare—your children stolen from your life by a vindictive ex and a corrupt, incompetent and unjust system. Sit up and take notice, because this compelling and heartbreaking story will continue to happen to others until an outraged public demands social change.” K.H., Ontario, Canada

“I honestly struggled to keep this short, because I cannot speak highly enough of the book, and how and why it was written–and what reading it instilled in me. It was an intriguing, honest and at times humorous telling of the devastating injustice inflicted on one man. I was drawn intellectually and emotionally into the story of a father whose three children were alienated from him WITH the help of the judicial systems in place in Canada. I felt present with him through each encounter, unable to stop reading. Seeing and feeling not only his pain – but the indisputable truth he conveys with evidence to back up his words – caused me to rethink various aspects of my views on society as a whole. A must read for everyone who wishes for a fairer and better world.” B.B., U.K.

“I sat down intending to read the first twenty or so pages and was became so engrossed in the details that mirrored much of my own experience – I read it right to the end in one sitting. The Mirror reveals exposes a broken system that has punished many for no good reason.” B.C., Ontario, Canada

“I am so grateful you wrote this book, on so many levels. You just nailed it all so perfectly. My mother was quite a narcissist. She took me from my father when I was 3, allegedly to protect me. I never could quite figure out, protect me from what? Thanks to your book, I think I get it now. Thank you so much for letting me read your book. It was powerful. I’m quite impressed.” G.G., Seattle WA, U.S.A.

“With respect to the book, if I may say so, it has been very well structured and your dry humor runs throughout. As you had mentioned at the end, it sure is an ordeal to go through it again to put it down, but you have done a very good job of it to have it neatly segregated… I was wondering, ‘how is he going to handle the aftermath of this tornado once it gets published and recognized?’ Feminists all over are going to be so over him. And I got the answer at the last chapter. ‘Damn them,’ you say. I say the same.” K.G., India

“Just finished your book! Your passion for the dire need of the courts to return to the unfeminized Rule of Law is palpable and well-defined.Your personal experience will resonate with millions of men, and not just betrayed fathers, but any man who has been unfairly subjected to any influential female “authority” figure’s misguided decision-making process, whether she be part the judiciary, business community, government, academia, military, organized religion or politics. They will suddenly realize that it was not just bad luck that produced their negative outcomes, but a full-blown concerted conspiracy to denigrate them for being men.” K.Q.D., U.S.A.

“I found your book to be extremely interesting and very well written. You’ve also done your research, so it’s very well quoted, which I think is a plus for a book like yours. It is essential to read the experience of a man, so your book needs to be out there, needs to be read. Maybe it will help to make a difference and to help the system change.” V.B., Ontario, Canada

“Never have I seen the pain and horror resulting from the gross miscarriages of justice perpetrated against fathers (and men in general) in today’s society so clearly portrayed. ‘The Mirror’ is a rare, inside look at just how impotent the modern-day father is rendered by the current justice systems of North America. It exposes the insidious underbelly of feminism in a raw, unapologetic account of one man’s struggle to save his children, and his refusal to give up, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable opposition.” – A. T., VA, U.S.A.

“You weren’t kidding when you said some people couldn’t put it down. I was up until 2:00 am last night reading, and then I started again after the kids went to school this morning. I found myself drawn in by your story, but also by all of the research you included. I am astounded by everything that has happened to you and your children; injustice doesn’t even begin to describe it. If this was 30 years ago, I could see it happening. But in this day and age? I find your story simply appalling. I hope, one day, your children will be able to see through their mother. No child deserves to be without a loving father, and no loving father deserves to be without his children. Looking forward to Book Two.” CA, BC, Canada

“I have just finished reading your book! After 43 years in an unhappy marriage, I feel so lifted up to know that I am not alone. One must always see the problems of others to realize that we do have things to be grateful for. All the best to you, with kudos for your wonderful book.” I.L., Ottawa ON, Canada

 

 

How Should I Price My New Book?

Gare Metz. Credit: Archimatth, Wikipedia.org (“book store”)

 

For better or for worse, revisions to The Mirror, Book One – Welcome to the Evil Sisterhood are done. I doubt that the text is 100% error-free, but if it’s 99% or, better, 99.5%, that’s good enough for this first-time independent author. My friesenpress.com account manager has informed me that the next step is to identify the prices for the hardcover, paperback, and e-book formats. This sounds like a great topic for a post.

My ultimate goal with the book is to maximize sales, and thus maximize the book’s social impact. Having said this, I am not immune to author royalties, as I’d like to recover at least the ~ $10,000 investment in the book. Even better would be getting out of the rather significant personal debt hole that fighting court-ordered child abuse has put me in.

For those not familiar with my forthcoming book, it is a non-fiction work that is consistently reported to be a gripping read that compares favourably to quality fiction. It has strong elements of: autobiography, human interest, abnormal human psychology, scandal, cover up, intrigue, and fascinating new ideas. You can read more about it here, including what test readers are saying.

Having done some preliminary background digging, I’ve come up with some interesting information. First, however, this is what the default recommendations (based on page count) are on my author account page at the friesenpress.com website:

e-book: Recommended “Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price” (MSRP) was $2.99, which would net me a generous royalty of $2.10, if purchased from the friesenpress online bookstore. Any price above this at the FP bookstore nets me 70% royalties. For other online sellers, this would vary from 30% to 55% royalties. (See this link for some detailed information on e-book pricing and royalties. Generally, $2.99 appears to be the floor for the highest rates.)

paperback: Recommended MSRP is $21.99. For sales at the FP bookstore, this would net me a tidy $11.81 in royalty for each book. For normal distribution channels, this would net me a $1.76 royalty for each book sold, an order of magnitude less! The minimum MSRP is $20.49, at which my regular distribution channels sales would net me $0.00 in per-book royalty.

hard cover: Recommended MSRP is $35.99, which would net me a handsome $19.79 royalty if bought from the FP online bookstore. I feel like I am going to swoon at the very thought of such a sum! Through normal distribution channels, this drops to a $3.60 royalty per book sold. The minimum price is $32.02, at which I make a $0.00 royalty through normal distribution channels sales.

Since I make killer good royalty rates via the FP online bookstore, I can discount the price of the physical books there and still make a buck or two. However, before identifying actual prices, there is still more to consider. As it turns out, physical books don’t really matter that much for the independent author.

Kudos to blogger LindaGHill for bringing this one to my attention. Authorearnings.com describes its purpose being as “… to gather and share information so that writers can make informed decisions. Our secondary mission is to call for change within the publishing community for better pay and fairer terms in all contracts. This is a website by authors and for authors.” From their superb “The 7k Report” post, I pulled the following information:

Source: http://authorearnings.com/the-report/

Wow. E-book is, by far, the dominate format of Amazon.com bestseller sales. Watch what happens when we look at only the top 100:

Source: http://authorearnings.com/the-report/

Even more Wow. The dominance of the e-book format becomes more pronounced. It was this information that lead me to conclude that physical book sales and pricing are relatively unimportant for me as a new independent author.

I should note that these data are for fiction, whereas I have written non-fiction. I suspect that physical books are more important in non-fiction, especially if the books can be reused often (e.g., cookbook), will be a frequent reference to other works, or it has some emotional / sentiment value to the reader. Thus, I temper my expectations of the e-book format a bit.

However, given such dominance, I suspect that e-book will still be the most important format for my book, but not quite to the degree of significance shown here.

For the hardcover and paperback, then, it’s a no-brainer: I’ll go with FriesenPress.com’s recommended MSRPs. I might ask for their recommendations as to the discount offered at the FP online bookstore–25%, 33%, 45%, etc.–, but this too is nothing to lose sleep over. To be honest, I do like the idea that my book will be available in physical form. Perhaps I am old-fashioned.

Next, let’s consider the Forbes online article “Mark Coker: Indie Authors Are Underpricing Their Books.” These are the main points I pulled from this article on self-published e-books:

– Free e-books “sell” the most copies (not surprisingly).

– We sell fewer e-books as the price climbs: $.99 sells more e-books than $1.99, $1.99 sells more e-books than $2.99, etc. However, absolute $$$ per book author royalty goes up with price.

– $2.99 to $5.99 is the “sweet spot” band that produces optimal indie (i.e., independent) author income.

– Lower prices have the advantage that more readers, due to greater sales volume, will get to know you and your work (i.e., may help for future books’ sales or greater social impact if that is a goal, which it is in this case).

– Best selling e-books tend to be longer ones (e.g., 120,000 words or more), contrary to “conventional” book wisdom (mine is 94,000 words, with a sequel in progress).

– Top 30 selling e-books worked out to price at between 3¢/1000 words and 5¢/1000 words. (With my 94,000 words, this would range from $2.82 to $4.70, or $2.99 to $4.99 with standard $.99 price rounding.)

– One exception was a popular novella, which, at ~40,000 words and $2.99, worked out to 8¢ to 9¢/1000

Thus, The Mirror, Book One would seem to naturally fall into the “sweet spot” band, somewhere between $2.99 and $4.99. If it’s as good as the test readers seem to be saying, then it might be able to command 9¢/1000 words, or $8.49, rounded up a few cents.

This might be feasible were I a known author. However, I suspect that, as a new author, the e-book wouldn’t necessarily sell well at that high a price. Thus, $8.49 appears to constitute a price ceiling for the e-book form of The Mirror, Book One.

Successful author Tim Ferriss recommends 99¢ to $2.99 for e-book pricing. Even more interesting is his recommendation to initially set the price to $0, to drive “sales” and build a following with feedback for the book.

Let’s say that I follow Tim’s advice and initially give away the e-book as a marketing strategy. The hardcover and paperback prices will be as per FriesenPress’s recommendations, as they won’t be driving the book’s success bus, so to speak. After the free book giveaway period, assuming that it has the desired effect, what do you think the e-book price should be set to?

Book Update: Corrected Galley Proof Received!

Almost looks professional! Good work, FriesenPress.com

The corrected galley proof .pdf for The Mirror, Book One – Welcome to the Evil Sisterhood is back in my hands after having been emailed to me moments ago by my FriesenPress.com account manager. My decision to bring in a elance.com proofreader late in the game has delayed things, and, while I do not regret his involvement, in retrospect I should have done this much earlier in the process.

Amazing what one learns by self-publishing your first book.

My proof reader was a stickler for especially punctuation, so there were a fairly high number of tiny changes–curse those commas!–in this last and final revision round. What I have to do now is to compare the marked up version that I sent back to FP with this corrected version that I’ve just received from them, to verify that all the corrections have been properly implemented.

After this gets confirmed, we’re off to the races for a May-June release.

For those who’ve been waiting for this corrected version of the galley proof to have a coveted pre-release read of this riveting tale of scandal and intrigue, please fire me a reminder email at themirrorbooks@gmail.com or gently give me a prod here, just to ensure that I haven’t missed anyone.

I’m happy for followers to have a no-strings, IN CONFIDENCE, pre-release read. If you’re not already on the list, you have but to ask.

Cheers, everyone.

Nav

Upcoming Author Blog Tour

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

[FROM NAVIGATOR: Hello, everyone. I am assisting fantasy author Charles E. Yallowitz with the launch of his new book FAMILY OF THE TRI-RUNE. The plan is to have Charles stop by here at The Mirror on Monday, 7 April as part of his blogging book tour. Even if fantasy is not your genre, I invite you to tune in, as Charles has experience in the trenches of being a self-published author.]

Legends of Windemere: Family of the Tri-Rune has Arrived!!!

Buy it Here for $2.99!

Book Blurb:

The magical adventure continues after Luke Callindor and his friends recover from their battles in Haven.

Nyx still has nightmares about casting the genocide spell in Hero’s Gate. Every night her heart is gripped by the sensation of hundreds of goblins dying by her magic. By the request of Lord Highrider and Duke Solomon, she is returning to fix the damage she caused. With Luke Callindor and Sari by her side, Nyx is ready to face the vengeful goblins and opportunistic thieves that plague Hero’s Gate. Yet, there is a darker threat that was born from her violated magic: The Krypters.

It is another action-packed, character driven story that will reveal one of our heroes has been lied to for their entire life.

Wondering what you’re in for? Check out the praise earned by the first three installments of this high fantasy series.

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Review Excerpts for Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero:

“I greatly enjoyed the vivid characters, the gripping plot, and the refreshingly unique writing style (present tense). ” – kdillmanjones

“One of the things that won me over was the bouts of humor. Especially in the beginning. “This is not possible! I am a Paladin!” I thought I was going to die with delight.” – C.N. Faust

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Review Excerpts for Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower:

“Nyx is such a strong personality. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and more of the other characters, new and already known, with the rich tapestry of Windemere unfolding in between intense actions scenes and moments of kindness and budding friendships.” – Danielle Taylor

“Almost like the Harry Potter series. The books start out so young and innocent, but by the last book – watch out!” — Momto4Booklover

Cover by Jason Pedersen

Review Excerpts for Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies:

“One of the things I love most about this series are all the characters! They are developed so well that I feel like I know them personally. Even the newly introduced characters fit in immediately.” – BarbBookWorm

“Let’s talk about action. The author creates interesting action sequences with believable use of fantasy elements. He is very creative. There are also good sections where the characters stretch out and we get to know them better.” – Donald L. Mitchell “Music Lover”

Author Biography:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.

Contact:

Blog- www.legendsofwindemere.com
Twitter- @cyallowitz
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/CharlesYallowitz

New Milestone: Revised Galley Proofs Are In!

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

For those wonderful and supportive people who’ve been following my quest to self-publish my first book, I am pleased to report yet another milestone. With the generous help of some wonderful fellow bloggers, I was able to do a multiple proof read of the original galley proof and send the marked-up galley .pdf back to FriesenPress.com for revision. The revised galley proof made it into my inbox today.

Unless I want to pony up more money, this is the 2nd and final revision round in my “all-inclusive” package with FriesenPress. (Which implies that it is actually an almost-but-not-quite-all-inclusive package, but I suppose they’ve got a business to think about.)

My goal is to have this revised galley proof reviewed for errors and typos (I’ve already seen two minor ones), and to have it back to FriesenPress.com within one week.

Anyone who would like to help proof read please fire me an email at themirrorbooks@gmail.com. You don’t have to proof the entire book. Even one chapter would be really helpful, and we can spread these around.

Even if you don’t want to proof, if you’re interested in having a read, fire me an email anyways, and I’ll send you the galley proof. Or, if you’re an existing test reader in progress, fire me an email to wake me up, and I’ll send you the latest and best version.

Here is what University of Ottawa Professor of English Janice Fiamengo had to say about the manuscript when she read it back in the fall (2013):

I spent the past weekend with your book. It is excellent: your patient and blow-by-blow recounting of the hell you endured makes for a very gripping reading experience.

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Janice is a magnificent woman who used to be a devoted feminist for noble reasons, but who later left the movement when she saw through its false scholarship and learned of the rampant harm it was doing to men, children, and society. Janice now courageously writes and speaks against feminism.

I’m saving the rest of all my wonderful test readers’ feedback for a later post. However, if you like any of autobiographies, human interest, scandal, intrigue, gender politics, triumph over adversity, amazing new ideas, or dishing the dirt on “psycho chicks,” odds are you’ll find this book a difficult one to put down. Even more so if you are not a fan of feminism.

For all those people who’ve helped me and supported me in this, what you’ve done in this means more to me than words can say. Thank you. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to suggest that this book may be the most controversial of its generation.

You are part of bringing it to life.

On Writing A Book

If I can do it, so can you.(Credit: Pearson Scott Foresman, Wikipedia)

As with many people, I aspired to write a book one day. Now that I have done it—book should be out in a month or so—, I thought I might write on writing. A book, that is.

I don’t know if there is a right way or a universal formula, so I’ll just describe what I did. It may or may not apply to you.

While I do love fiction, I’ve always wanted to write non-fiction. The problem was, I never really had anything substantive enough to write about. Plus, those married-with-children years didn’t actually leave me with a lot of spare time, either.

This isn’t to say that I didn’t write—I did. Mostly shorter professional writing, though. (If you blog, you’re writing too.) But not the book or books that I had wanted to do.

Then something “good” happened. I had a divorce from hell starting in 2008. Every feminist within reach seemed to line up to put the boots to me. I finally had something to write about.

I did plenty of research. It’s so easy in today’s internet age. I checked all the applicable laws and regulations. As it turned out, I discovered that what some of the feminist social workers, lawyers, and judge did to my kids had a name: abduction, as defined in the Criminal Code. When I brought this to the attention of the authorities (everyone that I could think of), it was covered up.

I had a couple of false starts in writing the book. It really got going once I learned about writing a book proposal, as this allowed me to wrap my head around the project. With a planned structure in place, the writing had a framework to hang itself upon.

This is the last post on my series on book proposals. It has links to all the instalments.

It took me about five months, working vacations, evenings, and weekends, to write the first draft. It was in rough shape in terms of typos and errors, but there it was. This was almost a year ago. Since then, I’ve been doing a sequence of test readers. Get the feedback, check my emotions and ego, and think about it. Make enhancements. Another test reader. Repeat. Repeat again.

Around two dozen test readers later…

It appears that the trend for new authors is definitely to self publish their first book(s), and hopefully to get noticed and then signed by a traditional publisher. So, I began the self-publishing stuff in earnest last fall, while continuing with the test readers. I chose FriesenPress.com, as they offered a fairly comprehensive package. I have to do most of my own marketing, but that’s par for the course.

The beauty of test readers is fourfold, as I see it. First, they can give you the unbiased advice that you might be incapable of giving yourself. Second, they read what you actually have written, whereas you tend to read what you think you have written. Third, with enough eventual positive feedback, you gain confidence in both your manuscript and your ability to write. Fourth, if you work at it long enough, are personable enough, and are grateful enough, you just might build a humble PLATFORM that is said to be essential these days.

I’ve reviewed the galley proofs for my book and sent them back for correction. I should be receiving the revised galleys any day. The cover design, which I have deliberately not revealed yet, is finished, and people say that it is striking. I am getting so close.

This started five and a half years ago. Obviously, perseverance is a virtue as a general rule, and this applies to writing books as well. There is a message that everyone should take from this.

If I can do it, so can you.

* * * * *

I blog as navigator1965. My blog The Mirror is a reflection upon life, and covers different topics. I can be reached at themirrorbooks@gmail.com, and I do thank you for your kind interest in this guest post. Note that test readers are also referred to as beta readers.

[EDITORIAL Note: This has been simultaneously posted at A GOOD BLOG IS HARD TO FIND and HarsH ReaLiTy.

The Fantastic Quotes of Edward Gibbon

My man Eddie

This is going to be a fun post.

I was an avid reader as a kid. It started with Mom teaching me to read with the slightly Eurocentric Dick and Jane.

The land that multiculturalism forgot

Around grade 3, it turned to boys’ mysteries and adventures such as Brains Benton, adventures which I shared with the protagonist boys and treasure to this day.

Brains blows the Hardy Boys right out of the water!

Grade 5 saw me find H.G. Wells classic “The Time Machine” in my school library.

How to engage a grade 5 boy’s mind!

By junior high school, it was golden age science fiction and epic fantasy. I still recall being enthralled by Tolkein’s “Silmarillion” in grade 9, and I rather enjoyed the Shakespeare comedies that we studied in high school English class, along with provocative science fiction such as simpler works by Ayn Rand.

The standard by which all epic fantasy is judged

When I hit university, what became important was the caliber of the writing and the mind behind the writing, more than the genre. I got into the Easten Press’s “100 Greatest Books” program before the 90s military pay freezes, the Canadian dollar tanking, and the cost of raising a family put an end to it. (If you’re into great books and great minds, you’ll probably enjoy jrbenjamin’s blog. I do.)

One additional set of books that I bought from Easton Press that I have never had the chance to fully read (got through most of Book One before the kids and the rest of life interfered) is Edward Gibbon‘s classic of the Enlightenment Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Worth their weight in gold

My goodness, but Gibbon had a beautiful mind. One is best advised to have a dictionary at hand when reading him.

Gibbon’s work will be a major foundational element in the sequel to my current book. To introduce him to you, I thought we would look at some of his more famous quotes. To make it fun, I am introducing a poll. It asks which Gibbon quote you like best. The results will form the basis of a new post.

Enjoy:

Judging a book by its [not] cover

The cover I didn’t choose, (c) 2014 All Rights Reserved

It is, perhaps, a standard joke for writers that the saying “you can’t judge a book by its cover” doesn’t seem to apply to books when it comes to buyers.

I know when I am in a book store, a book’s title is probably the first thing that attracts my attention, followed closely by the cover design. If intrigued, I’ll look at the back cover and possibly the inner covers. If further interested, I might look at the table of contents or perhaps a sample of the writing. The cover design certainly plays an important part in attracting a reader’s interest.

My FriesenPress.com “All Inclusive” package came with two cover designs. This one above was the more conventional of the two. It is clean, straightforward, attractive, and professional looking. Perhaps it is a bit boring, perhaps not.

I do like the reflection of the title into the back cover, as I think this is a clever visual device.

The other option was based on some suggestions for symbolism that I forwarded for the cover designer to consider. I am not going to show this just yet. It is more intriguing, more symbolic, and sinister. Like a haunted house, it seems to mysteriously beacon to the reader to enter it.

In my unscientific poll of the statistically too small sample size of four people, it was a 50-50 split between the two cover designs. I had thought about doing a post where the readers might vote as to which design they preferred, but my gut strongly said to go with the other design.

So, for those interested, here are three easy questions:

1. What are your thoughts on the above pictured cover design that I decided against?

2. When is the “right time” to do a cover reveal in the publishing process?

3. Is there interest in a post with both cover designs, where commenters could vote and comment as to which they liked better and why?

*Please note that I will be out of town from 28-30 January*