Guidelines to Publishing

Those of you who've been following my activities on social media are aware that I gave a talk last month about domestic and workplace abuse.

There was the research for the most current information and practices. There was getting past the barriers to reaching those sources. And the challenge of getting digital handouts was enormous. (Consider attempting to collect paper copies from a physical - not virtual - location when you have no personal vehicle but do have mobility impairments and the resources are more than 15 miles away in any direction.) Then came writing the manuscript (think speech). Started as a script with a resource list. Became a PowerPoint. Moved back to script. You're also aware that I was developing digital resources to accompany that talk. That was why we returned to the idea of a script. That resource was to become my first ebook.

Needless to say, there was a lot of learning to do about how to self publish. Enter the generosity of some virtual colleagues who shared their knowledge of e-publishing - from 2008. Technologies and software have changed about every two years. So the guidance about how to do things from one source was good but the the way to do it was obsolete (not to mention time consuming when it came to interpolation). Fortunately, some of those authors pointed to updated versions. And those updated versions pointed to newer instructions.

Ultimately (around the tenth hour and return to PowerPoint - with more success), I kept being steered to some of the best known self publishing sites that have instructions about preparing your manuscript for digital publication. (Some of them even offer advice on how to convert from digital to print!)

Publishing is more than researching and then writing a manuscript. There is an entire process to it. The foundation is creating a plan. (Yes, I know. Planning detracts from inspirational writing. Spontaneity detracts from delivering a meaningful message.) Over the past five months, I've uncovered some remarkable materials about the steps involved in publishing a book. It can be applied to publishing anything, including a resume or profile. And what has me talking to you today is coming across an email promo from Writers Market that talks about the 100 things a writer should know about publishing. It's extremely similar to other content that went before it. You know, I think we can rely on this information.

So today I'm providing you with links to the self publishing sites as well as the resources they provide about using their site to self publish. (Disclaimer: The next sentence is unabashed promo.) Just remember that you can come to me to get proofreading (or editing) services for your masterpiece. As is indicated in the name of this site, you can also just get a constructive critique.

All of that messing about that went into preparing for last month's talk had a starting point. The idea and presenting it along with a plan in the back of my mind about how it was to be delivered and to whom it was intended to reach. Of the 100 things a writer should know is start with a plan.

Now for that list of resources.

Resources:

• IngramSpark - 100 Things Authors Should Know (check the Entrances Bulletins for information and link)
  
• Plan Your Book
  
• IngramSpark - Publishing IQ Quiz from IngramSpark
  
• BISACs: Cracking the Code
  
• How to make and publish an eBook from BookBaby
  
• Five Steps to Self Publishing from BookBaby
  
• SmashWords Style Guide
  
• Formatting Parts of an eBook from Digital Publishing 101
  
• Introduction to Ebook Publishing (Smashwords tutorial series, #1), a YouTube video
  
• What is KDP?: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Explained
  
• KDP Tools and Resources
  <-- amended items 11/9/17 >
  
• KDP How-to Resource Guide
  
• KDP Help Pages
  
• CreateSpace How-to Resource Guide
  

Sponsored Links:

• The McGraw-Hill Desk Reference for Editors, Writers, and Proofreaders
  
• Poets & Writers Magazine
  

About Copyright Notices

So the publication is written, formatted, and ready to be published. Time to do the happy dance.

But wait a minute. There are those folks who think that because there's no copyright notice anywhere on the content that they're free to reproduce it or even put their name on it or submit it elsewhere and say they produced it. Let's get the copyright notice on this baby.

Er, what should be in the copyright notice? It's pretty simple. "@ [insert year] [insert name of author]". There. You've created the copyright notice. Want a variation of it? Okay. "Copyright [insert year] [insert name of author]". Just open any book to the cover page or the copyright page. You'll find an example in either of those locations. (Sometimes the copyright page is combined with the cover page.)

If you're dealing with those copyright neophytes, you may want to include some restricted rights language. Follow your copyright notice with the sentence, "All rights reserved."

Unfortunately, these folks have no clue about what "reserved" means. So you can expand the statement with additional details. The Book Designer provides the language that can be used for legal notices, both long form as well as short. There's no guarantee that they'll pay any attention to the language. However, duplicating services do understand what it means and they will not reproduce a work that lacks the proper notices. Heavy penalties are levied if they're caught violating these laws.

The Book Designer goes into a lot (I mean a lot) of detail about what to do if you discover your content is being "shared" all over the place. (Can you tell I've discovered another book publishing magi?)

Okay. It's time to start working on the manuscript, inserting the images, formatting the table of contents and chapter headings. Then this precious babe can get submitted to the publisher.

And the next bit of satisfaction can start. Rehearsing the speech.

Wait a minute. What about that thing called the ISBN?

Resources:

• Copyright Page Samples You Can Copy and Paste Into Your Book
  
• Self-Publishing Basics: An Unabridged List of the Parts of a Book
  
• Avast! Piracy and the Self-Publisher
  
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act
  

Sponsored Links:

• The Self-Publisher's Quick & Easy Guide to Copyright (The Self-Publisher's Quick & Easy Guides)
  
• Self-Publisher's Legal Handbook: Updated Guide to Protecting Your Rights and Wallet
  

Is This What You Want?

Yes, it's very prudent to go into a new environment and do a lot of listening before speaking up (and showing how much you don't yet know). It's also very easy to listen a lot and attempt to make an addition to the conversation. Then it's time to muster the courage to launch into doing something in the venue to gain experience and recognition.

So it is with stepping from reading, to writing, to submitting, to publishing, to becoming self published. There's all the stuff that has different names. What seemed like a straightforward reference to a particular portion of the book is not what it seemed. (This isn't First Grade anymore.) And looking it up before speaking only leads to finding great information but on a different path. Does that mean do more listening? It means learning the terminology.

Foot in Mouth

So you want to know how to handle formatting the front matter. Front matter is just what it sounds like. It means the. beginning of the book. But here we are in the Electronic Age. There are print books and there are digital or ebooks. The front matter for one is very different from the other. So you talk about wanting to format front matter to someone hoping they'll reveal some precious nuggets to get you started on your own project. You think you're talking about the book cover, title page, acknowledgements, foreword, dedication, and the table of content. Right? For a print book, that would be true. For an ebook, that's not the case. How much do you know? Not a lot.

The front matter of an ebook title page, copyright page, and table of contents. There are other parts of a book that are considered front matter. Those are probably what were in the novice's mind as they posed the question. There will be polite responses that attempt to guide. Don't be dismayed. Writers and authors are busy people. They're not in the business of tutoring while they're attempting to make a living at their craft.

Ask the Right Questions

So listen and learn the terminology, the lingo. Because we're so carefree with terminology (and sometimes because it's simply so basic it isn't even discussed), it's important to look up the terms to be certain you know how a term is being used. Yes, it would be ideal to have a mentor. Mentors are people who have the time to guide another. You can find them in discussion groups, professional and fraternal organizations. You can also find assistance from sites that provide professional services - for a fee. Having a professional do the work is going to cost money. If your budget doesn't have that space, your learning and development will be even stronger because you're going to get hands-on application with knowing what it is you seek. It's also called "trial and error" and at other times it's considered practice. Do it; test; see the mistakes; fix them; test again. But at least you have a greater awareness of what it is you're talking about and what you're requesting a service provider (professional) to do.

Screening

Let's say you do have the budget to have a service provider do the work for you. You tell them what you want. You need to do some screening. (No, not silk screening nor film screening; those are something else.) They need to be asking you questions to be certain they understand what you want. You're forming a meeting of the minds, a contract for services, that is the foundation for the exchange of money for product. Furthermore, you need to be asking questions about their level of expertise. You need to be aware of whether this is the first time the gig worker or organization volunteer has done this type of work or whether they have three or four projects under their belt. Where can you find representations of their finished product, their work samples?

Just the Beginning

So there you are. You want to create and publish your digital book. Now you realize "front matter" isn't the same thing in all cases.

By now and because of your research and listening, you've come to the realize that there's also formatting that needs to be done. It needs to be applied to different parts of the digital book in different ways because the publishing processor sees the different parts as separate sections. You need to ask the processor to handle publishing your masterpiece in the proper way. There's book cover. There's the front matter. There's formatting and saving. There's using the right template and properly formatting it.

And then there's the manuscript. It's another story. But the creation of the manuscript, and the various things that are embodied in it, is probably the predominant part of the conversations you've been listening to in those discussion groups. They're all important. But it's essential to understand the language and speak it before you ask for help and get a surprise.

Resources:

• Amazon Kindle Publishing Guidelines
  
• How to make and publish an eBook
  
• 5 Steps to Self Publishing
  
• How To Format Your E-Book (the Non Migraine-Inducing Way)
  
• 
  Formatting the parts of an ebook
  
• Lulu Ebook Creator Guide
  
• EPUB Conversion: Prepare Your Manuscript for eBook Conversion
  
• One Thing You Shouldn’t Put at the Front of Your Ebook
  
• Smashwords Style Guide
  
• Self-Publishing Basics: How to Organize Your Book’s Front Matter
  
• Best Practices: Front Matter for eBooks by Section
  
• Kindle Formatting: Requirements for the Kindle Book Cover Image
  

Sponsored Links:

• Formatting e-Books for Writers: Convert Your Word File to Kindle
  
• Indie Poet Formatting: How to Format Poetry Collections for Ebook & Print (Indie Poet Rock Star 2)
  

The Selves

Selfies have become not only the rage, they're now the norm. Selfies are pictures that are taken of your own self by your own self. While they used to be single-person images, they've grown to include clusters of people. Although that would qualify them to be called "groupies", they're not. That's something completely different.

But as you can see from the opening sentences, the matter of how to use and when to use "yourself" compared with "theirself" or "themself" (complete with spellcheck's squiggly red underscore) can become problematic. Sometimes it's easier to go the long way around and just say "they did it on their own" or "they did it to their own self," which, admittedly, becomes a bit cumbersome. All that work to say something simple about "them."

So here's the skinny from Dictionary.com.

About "Theirself"

According to Dictionary.com, "theirself is the nonstandard variant of (what else?) "themself." Its usage comes from 13th Century Middle England and is an informal usage, i.e., spoken by the common folk; not necessarily proper English. Have we spent enough time on this part of the exercise?

Checking the Sources

It's useful to check the guidelines about use and usage before jumping into the middle of the ocean. After all, you want to know you'll have good footing or an easy way to swim. In this regard, I did a bit of research for you who (like me) were wondering about this and gaining way more gray (which way to spell that, with an "e" or an "a"?) hair than you deserve. With a search string that queried the principles of usage between the two words (themselves compared with theirselves), an avalanche hit me.

These words are considered reflective pronouns. Writing Explained (WE) tells us not only do these reflective pronouns talk about what's being done, they also emphasize who is doing it. (Hint: According to Stack Exchange, it means the speaker is doing it to their own self. A bit like self flagellation, e.g., he was flogging himself.) EX: The class took theirselves to the bistro. Who did this? The class. what did they do? They took themselves, and no one else. (Maybe it was a private party.) One example WE gives is the classic "Please CC myself and Donna on the email." That was one of the grammar lessons from Third Grade. The speaker comes last in the enumeration. Fortunately, that phrasing is noted as being "nontraditional" (ahem) and the correct phrasing (called more graceful) is provided, "Please CC Donna and me on the email."

Now, I'm starting to get confused about which word to use, them or their. So let's just plow (did you know that the "plough" version of this word is British?) through all of this themming and theiring (not real words).

"Theirselves" is more typically spoken and is definitely not correct when written. Okay. Just don't use it. And if you don't speak it, you're less inclined to get confused about what to do when it needs to be (hint: never) written.

Them and Themselves

Grammar Girl is a major guru. She's a member of the American Copy Editors Society (did anyone know such a society exists?) and dutifully stays up to date on all things grammar. She even tracks what AP and Chicago Manual of Style have to say about proper usage. Apparently, this subject has been plaguing the brains of others. But the two monsters of style are at odds. Where AP says, with caution, it's okay to use "themself" but you may want to rephrase your sentence. Why? Because "themself" is considered that naughty of naughties, nonstandard, i.e., incorrect. However, guru Grammar Girl tells us "themselves" is okey-doke.

As for the Tangents

As for all those tangents that (ahem) arose, we'll deal with them on an item by item basis over the coming months.

Resources:

• Themselves or Theirselves – Which is Correct?
  
• ‘Themself’ or ‘Themselves’?
  
• American Copy Editors Society
  
• The Chicago Manual of Style Online
  
• The Chicago Manual of Style Online New Questions and Answers
  
• “them”, “themselves,” or “their selves”?
  

Sponsored Links:

• The Associated Press Stylebook 2017: and Briefing on Media Law
  
• PHR/SPHR Certification
  
• In a Word - CCJP digital subscription
  

Review: For Dad

Some of us keep journals. Others keep vlogs (that is, videos of us speaking to a camera about our personal thoughts). They're personal. They're helpful in getting through some situations that are simply not comprehensible in any other fashion. Even more importantly, they are the tool we use when we dare not express our thoughts aloud with someone else.

It's sort of the duty of maturing adolescents to assert themselves and challenge authority figures. They need to figure out how hard to push, when to push, and how to be good, responsible people. And then there's learning how to deal with loss or death.

Techniques in good story telling involve many dynamics. Building tension is one such technique to keep the audience's attention. That requires having a good premise. The characters need to have charisma but they also need to have flaws.

There need to be contrasts. "For Dad" offers them from the perspective of the adolescent, full of promise juxtaposed to the comatose adult. We wonder what the outcome will be. A good story has an ending that's a surprise each time you experience it. Should the audience expect this conclusion?

Enter the adolescent girl, probably 15 or 16. Her father has just slipped into a coma. In "For Dad," we meet the unnamed heroine of the video journal. She is saddened at the loss. She poses one ultimatum after another to her sleeping father in an attempt to force him back into consciousness and reunion with the family. But those ultimatums are deals she makes after filling him in on what's been happening in her current world without him.

It's fascinating how much we learn from our parental experiences. Those are the foundations upon which we decipher how to navigate Life. Our protagonist has her first boyfriend. He wants her to break up with him. And she expresses what she realizes Dad will say in response to that situation. It shows she has a good foundation upon which to reason through good decision.

Her journal takes us through nearly a year and a half of fighting through the range of emotions that come from loss - grief, anger, depression, determination, resolve, acceptance. But she continues to bargain with Dad to wake up while also keeping him up to date on her progression through learning how to live and be vital again.

That includes being a teenager and going to the mall. Although they aren't the focus, we see the seasons passing. She meets a guy. She likes him. Opportunity lost. Opportunity regained. Bargain with Dad to wake up so he can meet the guy.

In her determination to get Dad back, she rummages through some of his belongings that were boxed and stored. She finds some things that were hidden. Best not kept for public viewing, especially for teenagers.

Seasons come and go. Dad's birthday comes around. It's celebrated by her with a nose ring and black lipstick - and more bargaining. But all the while, a return to living is evolving in the protagonist's life. More bargaining; more pressing the story forward. The tension is rising. It keeps us riveted to this story coming from a young perspective, one filled with promise.

Being vital culminates in taking a bike trip with the new boyfriend and a few other friends. They start from home on a journey to the coast, 400 miles away. She's still challenging Dad. She's still bargaining with him. When she makes that 800-mile round trip adventure, it will be tantamount to Dad's having gone on his own adventure and the both of them will complete their journeys and reconvene to celebrate.

Sure enough, her determination, her faith, have a payload. She receives a text message that Dad woke up. Since she's still on her own bike trip and three hours away from home by car, she (now a licensed driver) uses the car of one of the members of the group to get home. She's excited. She's so thrilled that she doesn't realize some of the things she's doing that are putting them in harm's way.

This is a short-short. The tension isn't predicated on what's not told (names, location, time of year) as much as it is on what's going to happen. Identifying with the experiences is also easy. No matter what the race or gender, the scenarios are of the human experience.

Sponsored Links:

• In a Word - CCJP digital subscription
  
• Creating Tension: Make Your Speculative Fiction Novel A Page-Turner (Writer's Toolbox)
  

But It's Protected

The wonderful world of copyright. When did that evolve into law that provides legal remedies for taking the work of another, claiming ownership of it, and then reaping economic reward for the theft?

Outright plagiarism still happens. Copying and modifying a theme gets us into murky waters. And then there is the matter of ideas and proposals that contain the idea for a work. Some of it is entitled to protection. Some of it takes finessing in order to make certain it doesn't unintentionally become public domain. And some simply isn't protected - or maybe it isn't.

Advice regarding what can be protected comes from copyright lawyer, Brian Klems. "[C]opyright doesn’t stop at your words, but protects any original expression in your work, including detailed outlines, plots and characters." Not too many folks understand that. Consider the kindly folks in the church committee who are trying to approve a new program. Someone steps up to the plate and outlines something they believe will be worthwhile. It sits in Committee for six months. It languishes. Meanwhile, someone needs further details. Those are willingly supplied. After all, this is a church group that is founded on ethical and honest behavior. A year later the program is nixed but someone else produces a program that is eerily similar to the one that was proposed. The doppelganger has some nice aspects to it but lacks the true thrust of the original idea. The original idea is somewhere in either the back of the file drawer or last year's trash.

Then there's the idea presented to a professional organization. "That's a fantastic idea," someone exclaims. "Let's work on it together so we can develop the details." Of course that collaboration happens. And then the colleague is mysteriously unavailable, that is, until they produce an initiative under their own authorship.

We need to be certain of the ethics of those with whom we're working and that they understand the principles of copyright. That doesn't mean browbeat everyone with your encyclopedic knowledge each time you have a discussion. But some preliminaries are justified. Observe the members of the group and learn about their habits and beliefs. Notice how they treat others. Have a conversation about their understanding of limits and boundaries, what will happen and under what circumstances is a healthy idea. (Document it.) If you see eye to eye, move forward. If they breach the understanding, it's time to move on to a healthier environment that focused on mutual benefits.

Be clever with your creations. Be smart and informed with how you handle marketing and publishing them. Be agreeable but also be wise about the nebulous subject of copyright.

Resources:

• What Does Copyright Protect?, Copyright.gov
  
• Copyright, IPWatchdog.com
  
• Can You Copyright an Idea?, Brian A. Klems, Writer's Digest (July 29, 2013)
  
• FREE DOWNLOAD: What is Plagiarism? – And other Copyright Law FAQs, Writer's Digest
  
• How To Copyright An Idea For Film Or TV, (How to Copyright and Protect Your Ideas), Stephanie Palmer, Good in a Room
  
• Protecting Your Ideas: Copyright Boundaries, Howard G. Zaharoff, Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton, PC (May 15, 2001)
  
• A Brief History of Copyright, Intellectual Property Rights Office
  
• History of Copyright (2005)
  
• Copyright law of the United States, Wikipedia
  
• Gaye vs. Thicke: How blurred are the lines of copyright infringement?, By Matthew D. Morrison, OUPBlog, Oxford University Press (March 26th 2015)
  

Sponsored Links:

• Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age 2017: Vol. II Copyrights, Trademarks and State IP Protections
  
• Digital Rights Summit
  

Review: First Stage of Being in the Club

Becoming a mother doesn't start on that final push, it starts with preparation. And giving birth is only the beginning of the wondrous adventure. As with Nature, maternity and motherhood comes in stages: there's the time of flirtation, getting attention and attraction, inviting a touch or visit that leads to fertilization. And then the miracles that happen during gestation.

"In the Club" is a mini series aired on KCET. It allows us to visit the lives of six women who become acquainted with one another because of a prenatal class they attend together. With a major life issue in common and regular visits filled with learning and sharing, they form a bond, even a friendship, with one another. Their partners become part of that friendship.

One by one, we learn about each woman and her circumstances. We learn about her partner and their living circumstances. With each episode we get drawn into the intrigue of what will happen next and whether the characters will be able to work through the challenges they face.

At first blush, it would seem that it's merely a story about six bloated women who will ultimately go through a time of screaming and groaning and exposing their bottom to the world so that they may receive a slimy, wriggly, wailing newborn. Well, we do go through all of that but there's more to each of the six stories.

One woman discovers, at 37 weeks, that she's expecting twins. An hour later, she discovers that her husband was fired five months before but never told her. Their car has been repossessed, they are in arrears on their house payments, they have two adopted children who are very much a part of the parents' lives, and Mom has been blithely going about preparing a nursery that the family cannot afford. The final straw comes when Dad takes the children for pizza after school but can't pay the bill. His solution is to feign being a terrorist and robbing a bank.

There is also the older woman who became pregnant by a lover who is 25 years her junior and has a lot of maturing that needs to be done before he'll be ready to become a responsible father. Meanwhile, Mom is going through a torrid divorce from a resentful husband and even more resentful adult children.

The unwed teen has been hiding her pregnancy from her widowed long-haul driver father. She's been resourceful enough to rent tapes about childbirth but she has no clue about what's happening to her. Housekeeping skills have not been part of her maturation agenda. She stumbles into the class in full labor. Meanwhile, her dad has fallen asleep at the wheel and suffered a serious injury. The teen and hre baby's after care become a major issue.

The young Indian couple are having their ups and downs. It doesn't help that she claims she became pregnant while they were honeymooning. She confides to one of her friends that she's not really in love with her husband but he's a good man. Tensions rise when her doctor questions why her ankles are so swollen this much in advance of her due date. Complications arise not only with her pregnancy but also with determining the paternity of her baby.

The lesbian couple are going through the strains of living out of the closet with the teenage son of the non-gestating partner. The ex-husband is also the father of the the coming life. What is ultimately revealed is that the pregnancy was not started by in vitro fertilization and the couple are falling in love with one another.

And then there's the prenatal class instructor, a nurse, who is expecting the child of her boss, the OB/GYN for the women in the class.

Yes, it's a bit of a soap opera scenario. The thing of it is, the story is well written. You don't get bored with weekly screaming and grunting sessions. It's the intricacies of each story that pull the attention. It's the tension that mounts causing the viewer to wonder what will happen next. The writers make the audience try to anticipate how the challenges will be resolved and ask their own selves how they would handle each one or whether they would be able to do so.

The writers succeed in making this a story of diversity in a unique way. Each mother faces a unique situation. There are different social issues at play, different ethnicities represented, different economic circumstances. Even the children pose non-traditional challenges that wouldn't be expected in a traditional family drama.

For example, one of the fraternal twins was a successful birth. But his sister had a difficult time and will be a special-needs baby. Those twins are special to their adopted older siblings. As far as those two are concerned, they are a family of six, all special and all equally loved. The teen son is going through rage and hate for his mother now that she's come out. He's abusive and disrespectful. Getting him to curb his behavior toward her is not the responsibility of her partner nor her ex-husband. Although she's good at being demanding, it's at the wrong time and her aggressive behavior is directed at the wrong person.

The story winds the audience into its telling but there's a bit of a snag there. This is a story premised on six expecting women. Those pregnancies are the primary basis of the show. It's not feasible to have the same six women having a new pregnancy year after year. So how will the series perpetuate itself? Perhaps by morphing into a story about raising children. That friendship bond can only last so long when lives become disparate because of disparate circumstances.

Spoiler alert: This show only lasted for one season.

The good things about it are the acting, the writing, the symbolism. It makes for some good conversation about dealing with Life circumstances and how many options we actually have. It's eye opening to consider Life outside of our circumstances in order to safely consider how long we should stay on a particular path before taking a turn onto another road that may get us to our destination in a more comfortable or safer manner.

Even though it's a brief indulgence, it's worth making friends with these women and becoming involved with their lives. We learn that maternity is only the beginning of the story.

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Review: Writer in a New Land

Public Broadcast Stations (PBS) are airing a few new week night series. It's a mixed bag of drama, light comedy, situational comedy, mystery, and whodunits. These are in addition to the weekend Masterpiece dramas.

One of the new series, 800 Words, seems to pick up on a theme from the Masterpiece story, Durrells in Corfu. There we were told the 1930s story of the newly widowed English woman and her four children who left England in search of a more affordable existence in a small village in a Greek island. Her eldest embarks on a career as an author.

With 800 Words, the story is modified. It's a contemporary Australian widower, George Turner, who transplants to a small town in New Zealand with his two teenagers. Each day is a new adventure of errors and calamities. The family learns the house they thought they were moving into is not the ideal abode. Instead, it's more than a fixer-upper. It's a disaster that is barely tolerable - and then gets worse. Then the boat with all of their furniture and belongings sinks. The family is left to quite literally rough it as they learn about the island, the people, the customs, and survival in a new place.

Now in a new place with offspring who need to be cared for, George needs to earn a living. He finds a job as the local newspaper columnist and journalist. Somehow, that job pays for the family's most immediate needs and affords George the ability to pay for the numerous repairs for the house and the car. While the teenagers go through their form of grieving and trying to make sense of this new life, we learn about Dad as he works through his own battles through his weekly column that has a word count limit of 800 words - thus the name of the series. He speaks to us, and the village, through his column. He philosophizes. He learns. He discloses.

The story is made more endearing because it's situated in a very small town on an idyllic island. Needless to say, everyone knows everyone else. Gossip is the mainstay. People pitch in to help one another. Spontaneous housewarmings happen. Scandals come; scandals go. Peace abides as Life shifts and existence spins its way into a new day and new situations.

We go through the maturation process with the teens. It's easy to recognize that the story is authored by a man. The older daughter seems a bit more mature for her years than we would expect of a 16 year old. She is also not shy about speaking her mind to anyone, whether adult or peer. The younger son is learning about claiming territory and where he fits into the pecking order of the land. But he is also learning about his voice and he uses his voice and sophistication to work through the various situations that confront him.

Both of the youth are very sophisticated and philosophical. They make the viewer wonder what type of woman Mum was and what type of parenting was happening before the transplant occurred.

When George isn't writing, he's negotiating his way through existence as he goes through his own form of release from grieving. He attempts to reclaim the precious days of his youth when he longed to surf the New Zealand waters. Now approaching middle age, he realizes that may be more of a daydream than something that will be attained but it creates an occasional respite and an opportunity to meet more of the neighbors and become one with the land. He wants to fit in and he wants his family to be accepted by the locals. After all, they're going to live there for the rest of their lives.

Like the petals of a flower that slowly peel away from the bud, so the knowledge about the transplanted family comes to life in the series and we're drawn into the drama of life in a new place. We laugh at the double-handed doses Life dishes out in the form of tragedies that morph into moments of laughter that make it all the sweeter to be in Weld. We begin to yearn for that simpler time when Life was much more mellow in spite of what seems like chaos.

Perhaps the chaos is merely the unpredictable nature of living one day into the next. It's all a surprise and an exercise in a type of game of survival. In this idyllic setting, the threats and dangers are sparse. It's a relief to believe that type of existence can happen both in the past for the Durrells and in the present for the Turners.

If only more of us were as articulate so that we would paint word pictures for others to savor while we surf through our days.

Sponsored Links:

• 800 Words: Season 1
  
• 800 Words: Season 2, Part 2
  
• The Garden of the Gods (The Corfu Trilogy Book 3)
  

First Impressions

I love this blurb from an American Management Association promotional email. It highlights the reasons why using a proofreading and copy editing service is so important:

Troubleshoot Writing Errors That Make You Look Bad

Every time you send an email or submit a report, you are being judged on your writing skills. Business writing errors (even simple grammatical mistakes) can complicate your message, confuse your readers, cost you money, diminish your professional image, and hold you back in your career.

There are many instances when the writer's message attempts to convey the level of expertise they have to offer. Were it not for the grammatical and spelling errors in their written message (the ones that the reader is willing to overlook because the logic is very sound), the advances the author could be realizing could dramatically increase. It's a heartbreaking situation.

For example, it may be possible that the author of this content wasn't able to afford the time for an additional copy edit before publishing it. Or maybe they were simply so motivated to get the content published, were pressed for time, and had a lot of confidence in what existed that they felt there was no need for an additional read-through.

Cash – obviously if you can make a sale that’s revenue for your company. One example of this would be a facility that sells monthly memberships.

Attention and Trust – now they’re lots of businesses that need this. For example: I’m going to watch channel 6 news tonight. Well, I’m not paying them cash. I’m giving them attention and trust, in which they can figure out how to make money through advertising.

Referral – Does your service or product work better when your friends use it too? Krispy Kreme uses the revenue of referral. Everytime they open up a new location, employees start giving away thousands of donuts. The people most likely show up for a free hot donut are those who have heard the legend of Krispy Kreme and are delighted that the company is finally in town. These people spread the word. They tell their friends and even bring them into a store.

Imagine the fan's disappointment when they read this excerpt and sincerely want to recommend the author to colleagues:

"The problem with this approach is if you think everyone that breaths is your ideal customer chances are you’ll spend money in the wrong media channels and time at the wrong events or on the wrong platforms, wasting your greatest resources of time and money."

or here when they find the stupendous advice that's laced with a few problems with the use of articles, such as:

"The typical bland response for many is to say . . . “I’m in the cleaning business, I’m an consultant, I’m a plumbing contractor or I’m a account specialist.”"

Then there are the writers who allow their spell checker to dominate their proofreading. Unfortunately, the spell checker is simply an automated system that doesn't really pay attention to context. So the printed version of the speech may sound right but it talks about the person who "lead" the throngs or the one who "new" all of the facts. And there's the classic where the reporter wrote about their interview with a South African artist who shared with comfort she derives from going back to the "crawl" to escape from the rigors of touring and being in the entertainment industry.

A grammatical issue makes the speaker seem to be in charge but the copy editor is wincing when they read this sentence: "Let's look at it another way. Do you care to listen to people whom you dislike?"

It's a good idea to use at least a proofreader for a quick review of the copy before it's published. Yes, the pressures of being first to speak are there. Yes, there are other issues happening that are demanding your attention and attempting to tear you away from that precious item to be pushed out to the world (literally).

Perhaps life would be better if instead of a one-time, gig-style service, a retained copy editor (or just a proofreading service) would be the answer. No doubt a reduced, continuous service rate could be worked out that would provide a more satisfactory result for all involved. After all, the real goal of the writing is reaching a destination that represents success for the writer / speaker. So it just makes sense to have the end result be an enduring positive first impression.

Sponsored Links:

• First Impressions: What You Don't Know About How Others See You
  
• Self-Publishing Books 101: A Step-by-Step Guide to Publishing Your Book in Multiple Formats (Author 101 Series) (Volume 1)
  
• Hypnotic Writing: How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Words
  

Historic Controversies

There is a renewed interest in the author, James Baldwin these days. One of the reasons for this may be that his birthday is August 2.

However, there is a lot to be said about the gay Black author. He wrote about topics that were exotic to a 1950s and '60s audience. He explored heterosexual relationships between people who were of different racial backgrounds and sexual identities. He considered whether these relationships could survive in a Jim Crow culture where segregation and discrimination was the way of the land, where homosexuality was only whispered about in smoke-filled cocktail party room of predominantly comprised of the Beat crowd and university thinkers. But that, in and of itself, was a distinction because few Black writers were able to rise to having the status of having their works and theories form the basis of serious discourse.

He dared to speak of the rejection of the Black native son and portray his position in a society that allowed travel on one of two paths while ignoring all the others. And, like Richard Wright, Baldwin attempted to explain the psychology of existence and moral standards of one racial group compared with another.

Perhaps Baldwin's friendship with archaeologist Margaret Mead explains some of his essays and the depths into which he went with his analyses of his subjects and the critical acclaim he gained because of his willingness to explore these topics with the reading world. When we compare some of the titles of his works to those of Richard Wright, the critical-thinking reader will ponder to what extent Wright influenced Baldwin's voice.

And here we are, more than a half century since he emerged in the literary world, now daring to include black characters on both the large and small screen who go about their lives in all walks of life, without restraints, because the diversity and inclusion conversation was doing little toward moving us forward in the realm of diversity and acceptance in reality.

Perhaps this birthday will be the one where the resurgence in interest will be the one that also encourages the lowering of the barriers to outright acceptance and nurtures consideration and inclusion based on actual ability without regard to genetics.

Resources:

• Margaret Mead and James Baldwin on Identity, Race, the Immigrant Experience, and Why the “Melting Pot” Is a Problematic Metaphor
  
• Brain Pickings
  
• “First Friend”
  
• 25 Powerful Quotes From James Baldwin To Feed Your Soul
  
• In memoriam | Remembering Sedat Pakay 1945 - 2016
  
• Catching Up to James Baldwin
  
• Trapped Inside James Baldwin
  
• Richard Wright, Biography.com: Poet, Author, Journalist (1908–1960)
  

Sponsored Links:

• James Baldwin : Collected Essays : Notes of a Native Son / Nobody Knows My Name / The Fire Next Time / No Name in the Street / The Devil Finds Work / Other Essays (Library of America)
  
• A Rap on Race
  
• Black Boy: A Record of Childhood and Youth
  

Critique: Still Star-Crossed

It's been a goal to write a review/critique of the TV series "Still Star Crossed" since it first aired. That is still my goal. It's one thing to watch an adaptation of a classic. It's yet another to view the sequel not anticipated by the original author, complete with 21st Century modifications for inclusiveness. How closely the after story follows the conventions of the times is worth at least a viewing or few.

When it first aired, it was one of the Summer substitutes for the Shondaland empire on Thursday nights. That was interrupted when the air dates started changing in deference to things such as awards shows, sports specials, TV reality contests, and other madness. Then the show air dates started moving. Initially, it followed episodes of "The Bachelorette." That changed. It showed up again on a Sunday night then eclipsed itself only to reappear on a Saturday night - in conflict with KCET's dramas and PBS's Masterpiece Mysteries.

At this point, it isn't clear whether it's supposed to be a weekly Summer show or just a filler until the Fall season starts. It appears the series is going to suffer a slow death. Thus, a good review/critique may be a postmortem.

In the meantime, here are a few observations about "Still Star-Crossed."

It's the next chapter of the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet, penned by the bard, Shakespeare. Perhaps that's why the Italian families speak with extremely British accents.

There's nothing to explain why the royal families are so diverse. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that Italy is so close to Morocco and the northern areas of Africa. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the remains of Beachy Head Woman of British archaeology was originally from a sub-Saharan country and who could have been the wife or mistress of merchant. At any rate, the awareness of Beachy Head Lady lends credence to the array of colors of the Veronese and Venetian aristocracy portrayed in the series.

Much of the story line has a "Scandal" feel with regard to the intrigue the hangs like a heavy cloud over the characters. But that was also the signature intrigue unique to the bard in many of his dramas. Richly colored costumes (that have a certain color scheme for particular characters) are very accurate for the time. There's a very limited view of the common life that should be part of the population. The story feels like we're watching a period-based soap opera. But it's well executed, which is one of the reasons for my frustration when it isn't aired on the expected day and time.

It was a bit difficult to take when Lady Rosalind ran off astride a horse instead of side saddle with Lord Benvolio. There were reasons why ladies rode side saddle. But there were also women who broke with traditions and were brazen and bold and rode cross saddle. It appears she was among them. (Right on, ladies!)

Which brings me to the roles of the women in this series. Were they truly involved in the various maneuverings of political plans and schemes or were they merely window dressing for their husbands? Theory has it that the former was true. Although there could have been strategic pillow talk, it was not uncommon for there to be his and hers bedrooms. Is it really possible that the women of rank from the House of Escalus could fall to being servants and then rise again to being considered aristocracy? Is that, perhaps, how the stardust of Liberty was sprinkled onto the subconscious of the masses? (wink)

For the time being, the series can be viewed on Saturday evenings. Find episodes and show dates here. [I just found it while attempting to learn whether it's still being aired.] Each episode can be viewed on Amazon.com for $1.99 per episode. The episodes are exciting and very close to a Dumas novel.

So there you have it. A review of the show that isn't a postmortem.

Resources:

• Face Of ‘Beachy Head Lady’ Revealed, Roman Era Woman Is A ‘Fantastic Discovery’
  
• The 1,800-year-old face of 'Beachy Head Lady' is revealed for the first time thanks to 3D scanning
  
• Characters in Romeo and Juliet (from Wikipedia)
  
• A (Not So) Short History of Women Riding Astride
  
• Women in the [Italian] Renaissance
  
• Gender Roles of Women in the Renaissance
  
• The Place of Women in Renaissance Italy and Women's Opportunities for Making a Life of their Own
  
• Images of ladies of the renaissance who became servants
  
• Alexandre Dumas
  

Sponsored Links:

• Women of the Renaissance (Women in Culture and Society)
  
• Alexandre Dumas: Père; His Life and Works (Classic Reprint)
  

Proofreading and Attention to Detail - Spam or Scam

Many times documents are created but the finishing touches aren't added. Most of the time the reason for the lack of attention to detail is because the writing is simply a reminder to self or a quick note to a friend. Those are instances when the errant misspelling or incorrect punctuation can be forgiven. Additionally, the circulation is negligible, if any at all.

But there are communications such as business letters, proposals, articles and blog posts intended for generating new business, and even term papers (not to mention books), that demand attention to detail. The typos, misused words, and so on, detract from one's credibility.

Lately a large amount of spam and scam mail has been reaching my mailboxes. Much of it presents itself as emanating from a legitimate source. Well, that comes into question when reading the message starts. Here is one example. I've added proofreader comments as we move through the text so that all of us can benefit from this exercise. Please also note that this post is made with the assumption that the name of the person at the end of the message is fictitious although the intent of the message becomes clear by the end.

Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2017 11:38 PM
Subject: <<<< [brackets should not precede the content of the subject line]From U.S. Department of the Treasury [The name of the agency sending the message will not be in the subject line. The subject line denotes what the message is about.]

Attention:

Your credit payment file have been [should read "has been"] added and opened,[This should be a period followed by a space to start the new sentence. ]We received an email from Mr Fred Atkinson [titles that are abbreviations such as "Mr.", "Ms.", "Mrs.", or "Dr." are followed by a period to show they are abbreviations.] today that you had an accident and died in the act.. [only one period at the end of a sentence.]
Mr [title] Fred Atkinson claim [should read "claims"] to be your lawyer and he is ready to claim your funds related to your compensation funds of $500,000.00 (five hundred thousand United State Dollars [the amount should be initial capitals; the name of the nation is plural]) that has been with us for three months now which you refuse to claim. he has also agreed to pay the fund release charges of US$460 [consistency of reference].

So we write to confirm if you are DEAD OR ALIVE, [punctuation] if [first word of a sentence is capitalized] you fail to reply back within 48hrs [space between number and word; "hrs" should be spelled out], We [improper use of a pronoun as a proper noun] will assume that what Mr Fred Atkinson said about you is right so we have no other alternative than to believe that you are truly dead according to Mr Fred Atkinson . [no space between last word of the sentence and the closing punctuation]

After 48hrs of no response from you, We [improper use of pronoun] will start the transfer and the delivery of your funds to your next of kin account which he claim to be [parenthetical phrase should be set off by a comma; end of sentence should be closed with a period]

IF YOU ARE STILL ALIVE, YOU ARE ADVICE [wrong word] TO GET INTOUCH [should be two words] WITH US BY A REPLY ON [should be "by"; unclear] MAIL OR GIVE US A CALL AS FAST AS YOU CAN..my cell phone. [numerous errors: One period followed by a space; first word of a new sentence is capitalized; reference has changed from "plural pronoun to singular] +1 484-305-9864[end a sentence with a period before starting a new paragraph.]

Take note that Mr Fred Atkinson has agreed to pay for THE RELEASE CHARGES, if you refuse [punctuation; new sentence] to get back to us, am afraid [missing pronoun; improper verb] we shall give him the go ahead with the release chareges [spelling] payment and then the fund transfer will be made to his Name and Account [no initial caps].

NOTE: He has drop is ["dropped his"?] account details and his home address for delivery of the funds into his International [no initial cap] ATM card and he promise [tense] to make the neccessary [spelling] payment.We are writing to confirm if all he said was [tense] true because he want [tense] us to start the transfer ASAP [should be spelled out].

You are to send a scan [tense] copy of your driver's licence [this is the British spelling of the word that is used by an American government agency] or national ID [abbreviation improper] for proper confirmation.Please ,get back to us as soon as possible to know if we are to get Mr Fred Atkinson Arrested [lower case] for trying to claim your fund illegally.note that you have been given just 48hrs to get back to us .

fill the Information Below. [incorrect use of capitals]
Name:
Country:
House Address:
Occupation:
Phone Number:

We await your swift response in regard to this news we received from Mr.Fred Atkinson

U.S. Department of the Treasury
Sanusi Kayode.

In addition to the numerous composition errors, Mr. Kayode does not provide his title. His email message did not contain a reply address. And he does not indicate which Treasury office location is where he is located. The Treasury Department has at least one office in each state.

There are a number of ways to contact the Treasury Department by phone. Mr. Kayode's phone number doesn't seem to match any of the ones listed.

The Treasury Department also has a division that can be contacted to learn whether it is holding unclaimed federal funds for individuals. Their website can be searched. It should also be noted that each state has a department for unclaimed funds.

Incidentally, a lawyer does not have a right to a client's (current or past) unclaimed property. To claim the property would be a form of unjust enrichment. It isn't clear why Mr. Kayode is giving legal advice in his letter of notification. He does nothing to identify himself as a member of the legal staff in the Treasury Department.

After experiencing this correspondence, there are probably questions going through your mind about various forms of property, such as

• life insurance benefits
  
• real estate
  
• intellectual property rights
  
• tax refunds
  
• insurance overpayments
  

and other types of funds and properties. There is a page on Reference.com that provides many answers to these types of questions. We've meandered away from copy editing and proofreading but when your writer comes from many backgrounds and wears several hats, you get bonus information. No matter what, do your own research to confirm that the information is correct.

Resources:

• U.S. Department of the Treasury
  
• Contact Us - Treasury.gov
  
• How do you contact the government's U.S. Treasury Department directly?
  
• What is U.S. Treasury unclaimed money?
  
• Report Phone and Email Scams
  

Sponsored Links:

• The Unclaimed Property Resource Guide
  
• Examples & Explanations: Professional Responsibility
  
• Money Finders System: Because It's Your Money