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Never in my wildest dreams (and yes I have wild ones) would I think a short observation would spur such a nourishing conversation! Thank you @richardmurray, @Troy and @Kalexander2 for you evocative perspectives!

I never heard this before, but it is a brilliant observation.

Thanks Richard. Of course spam on your blog has increased since i blocked guest posts on the forum… i honestly believe someone just wants to make my life miserable. @Pioneer1 would say it is an overt act of racism.

I would like to live in this painting (the house by the river) with someone.

Thank you, Mel. You have made my day. Yes, the text next to each picture gives ingredients, process, and an anecdote that includes a quote from my mother or a story that illustrates not only her philosophy about food, but, of course, about life. From the beginning, I make it clear that it is not a cookbook or a how to book, but a book that will inspire some to create their own culinary art, others to enjoy the art when they frame the perforated large format prints on their wall, and everyone to be touched by my mother's story. It is a companion book to the first book, An Extraordinary Life: Josephine E. Jones. The talented illustrator has created an elegant cover that is a work of art, just like the contents of the book. Now if I can get the emergency loan-grant to pay the publicist, I won't have to attempt to do it myself. Thanks again.

Okay, WOW! I am going to make a notebook to keep up with this information. Thank you @Mel Hopkins I am going to break this down and digest this. OMGOSH! I can understand this.

@Chevdove Thank you for asking!!! (I'm so excited)...ACCESS = LOCATION and refers to where people are most likely to get information about something that interest them. Example - If you are interested in creole cooking - you're are likely to show up to a location that either serves creole food or teaches creole cooking. You will most likely search for creole recipes and even find a creole history club to join locally or the internet. You may even show up here AALBC to look for books on the origins of creole culture or if experts post here. You might even start your own thread about creole culture. NOTE: business owners provide what customers need so the customer can get what they want. Your interest in creole cooking means either you or loved one wants to eat it. So business owners fills the need - by selling a cookbook, opening a restaurant or inviting you to take a trip to the source. So, someone who is promoting, lets say Louisiana travel tours, will make sure they share their information at all those access points where you are likely to show up. They will be at the places where you might look for information creole cooking. It may be advertisement or even information about authentic creole cooking spot on the tour - or even the best dish and include a recipe... Now they have your attention you may even jot down their information for future reference - and remember them when you plan your trip so you can get some good food. This is how the best marketers are getting noticed in today's marketplace. EDUCATION = A MOVEMENT A lot of independent authors think they don't know their audience. My suggestion is to start of movement of one. Ask yourself, "what do I believe needs changing?" I did something similar when starting this blog. I believe Marketing = Change. Marketing is a force that shakes up the status quo. I believe independent authors are unaware they use marketing in the course of their daily living. Therefore, my mission is to help authors realize they can create change through intentional use of the marketing techniques they unwittingly use daily. I was the first person in my "marketing is a four-letter word" movement. I was the first one in the audience. I'm so passionate about this topic, I just want to spread the word to anyone who will listen. I believe, "If you don't believe in your movement or are passionate about it - no one will be." Creating a movement of one is the first step. It will help you clarify what you intend to change. Then, you will be able to identify the people who are interested in your subject matter. You'll notice there are "followers" who will agree with your mission. (note: it might not happen immediately - that's why you have to be patient and passionate.) These people are your core audience. Don't waste your time trying convert anyone who is not interested. Focus on those who are interested. -These "followers" will become your ambassadors who will bring other like-minded people to the movement. How to start a movement: Now, the best thing about being a writer is ideas and words are our movement. We just have to educate others and lead them to the goal we he hope to accomplish. If we didn't believe in changing something we wouldn't write in the first place. And the best way to help others make a change is by sharing information (Education). So when you start your movement answer "Who, what,where, when, why and how." from there you will understand what information you need to share to build your audience.

@Troy The action is here! Some of Independent authors here seem to echo the same thing "I didn't know how to market my book." Except, they do. -It appears they're not strategic in their marketing practices. I was the same way with my first novel - I knew what to do but I didn't work my plan. I like how you call it a (book marketing )"clinic" because it is! We, independent authors, already know what's wrong - we just aren't consistent with our "outpatient" care. I'm writing this out for me too. I believe this is one the best places for original content on the subject. By the way, I like that I don't even have to repost it to my profile - the software keeps track of all my postings as long as I'm signed in. Oh! I'll check out @dtpollard. @Troy OMG @hen81 is my writing "hero"! He didn't come here to play with us one-book every 20 year folks !!! 65 titles according to his last post!

You are giving a clinic now @Mel Hopkins. DT PollarUsed to posr here quiet regularly. He really was cranking the ebook several a year (or so it seemed).

@richardmurray Thank you! Happy New Year! @Troy LOL! You don't miss a chance to give facebook the boot LOL GOOD JOB!!! Facebook and anything it touches is anti-life...

Making money trumps (pardon the pun) serving the community everyday of the week. Johnson made it clear the "E" stood for "entertainment," not enlightenment or education. The reality is that it stood for enrichment, Johnson's personal enrichment, and that is the legacy of BET.

true @Troy Just today @Mel Hopkins the mayor to new york city, blamed trumps election or racial biases publicity in the usa on rupert murdoch or fox news. He blames someone whose role is to make money through the media for placating how white people raise themselves in their community. It is not murdoch's fault that he saw a mob and played to it, to make money, in the usa, where making money is the way to anything. Again, merit does not matter. De blasio today suggest a certain philosophical merit must come before fiscal profiteering when the fiscal profiteering is the philosophical merit. One note, when chernobyl happened the soviet russian government had soldiers pick up the waste, all those soldiers died of radiation sickness. Over 10,000 have died from the world trade center wreckage, but if we all recall, mayor guiliani let those people ,fiscally poor people or municipal workers,pick up waste just like the soviet government did the military at chernobyl... ah welll

The irony of this article dated May 7, 2018 appearing here as a post is that I believe it was inspired by awesomelyluvvie article - dated April 17, 2018 - Still, It drives home the point that unless a black woman's feelings are echoed by a woman of non-color - then those words are just another "fart in the blizzard." Further, tears of woman of non-color are assigned as the attributes of all women especially black women. And if we don't cry at the drop of a hat then we are labeled Angry black women. Or we're not women at all, or rather we're acting like "men"...because we don't act weak. When in reality women are not weak at all - but women of non-color just play men that way. Now, they've joined the me-too movement to kick men out of their offices all the while playing victim but getting the corner offices in the process. All I got to say is "well-played women of non-color; well-played.

@richardmurray: Doubt sister Hopkins meant where that's going, but i'll leave it up her to check it up!

@Mel Hopkins true:) but, what separate a baby from a program is a baby while it is created at least physically through parents, its design is special. the parents can not determine what it will be, like all the rest created from humans. @Kalexander2 yes , the one key thing that black people must state or remember is that our vote would not had changed it. The presidential election in the u.s.a. is fifty elections. whomever get the majority vote in a state gain all their electoral votes, except for two states, where the votes are divided upon the percentage. Black people do not have a majority vote in any state in the usa, and the white vote this past election voted as a block for donald trump. The black vote voted against trump, all non white votes , voted against trump side carson, but none of them separately or together did and do have the quantity to win it alone, as the white vote proved.

@richardmurray ... OMG!!! this is true of everything we create. Understanding the creator reveals the creator.. I knew this to be true of my writing ... to read me is to know my heart - (good bad or indifferent). BUT now looking from your perspective I'd say this is true of what we consume. @Kalexander2., "It's not that I have something to hide. It's that I have nothing I want you to see." ~ANON (Netflix) @Kalexander2 If I understand this premise correctly, if the state is receiving the money - then why aren't officials distributing the HUD funds based on needs - rather than using the cash to integrate communities. One challenge, however, is to make sure millionaires such as Fox News Sean Hannity don't get the HUD money and then fix up buildings in areas - and charge exorbitant amount of rent for each apartment. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/sean-hannity-under-fire-for-allegedly-using-hud-money-to-help-buy-housing-property-in-georgia/85-548596246

Remember @Kalexander2 every machine purpose stem from its creator, not itself

The esteem commentary here is encouraging and I'm especially happy to hear Black folk speak this way. All too often people tend to hide from themselves, who they are and how they feel. While I'm no great admirer of anyone putting all their cards on any table unnecessarily, I do believe anyone with something to hide exposes everything about her/his self. Machine learning, AI, data mining, analysis, etc., does indeed seek to learn in efforts to control and manipulate to gain some advantage over others; to little avail, because there is no 'human' touch (or intimacy). There may be an advantage, however, when people, government advance programs based on such intelligence; what they think they see or know, because a person's true feeling, beliefs, and principles get ignored in all the excitement of so-call innovative technics of 'social engineering,' (use of centralized planning in an attempt to manage social change and regulate the future development and behavior of a society). Thanks guys, for giving me an additional way of seeing things.

@richardmurray , interesting perspective and one that makes a lot of sense - especially with the history of humans seeking to control each other.

I see @Mel Hopkins yes, one member in the masses at a time:) Nice line Data analysts can collect all the information in the world; sift through it and concoct part of our stories but it will never be accurate. It will always lack intimacy. For me, artificial intelligence will never be truly intelligent. Merely an illusion alluding to intelligence that serve the vanity in humans to be masters to something.

@richardmurray & @Troy I hadn't thought about involuntary ways we share our stories. I was thinking more about how we share moments, and events with each other. For example, I can tell a part of your story, Troy, that took place at Brooklyn Tech because it was my journey too. Or Richard, I can share a little of your writing journey as I know it from AALBC because both of us look for ways to get our words to the masses. But your responses allow my little observation to become so much more than I'd realized. Data analysts can collect all the information in the world; sift through it and concoct part of our stories but it will never be accurate. It will always lack intimacy. Humans are too fluid. We possess innate ability to connect with another human in a way that allows us to feel what the other person is feeling in that moment. This is one reason, Artificial Intelligence will never become the standard. It can never be intimate - because it doesn't understand vulnerability. Such as the intimacy of community. In a community, we allow ourselves to see others and " be seen" by them. Looking through our data and trying to figure out the human experience is as hard as looking through our excrement and understanding WHY we eat the things we do. To know WHY we eat, takes sharing a meal and feeling the nuances of the story we tell. Speaking of meal and stories, -Amistad author Michael W. Twitty, won the James Beard Foundation Award for his book - The Cooking Gene. But I digress. I happened to stumble on this early tedtalk yesterday and while the speaker rambles on, he expands on this concept when he said "emotional empathy, feeling with the other person" His talk reminded me of why it is a lot easier to turn humans into robots than it will be for Artificial Intelligence to reach the level of humanity. Humans will always have shared stories; AI, not so much.

That would pretty much be anyone with a smart phone. Even tbe senior citizen with all those plastic rewards card attached to their keyring. It is hard not to freely share your information.

I amend:) especially today:) I do not have the numbers but how many people had their informatios shared from others, given freely from others in the internet age.

@TSegal, those are some views you got there, brother! However, this mess goes a lot deeper than most people realize. For the sake of this discussion let’s say that instead of 400+ years for European White folks to get it together; they had over 1000+ years of planning. I must use caution here as all I say must be accurate, though ever so unpopular. Allegations of ‘anti-semitism’ holds must greater penalties than violations of civil rights. Here we go! Since before the Roman empire was established, Jews who separated from other European Whites were prosecuted by virtually every society on earth, they got tired and got smart. Really evil smart. More than 1000+ years developing the theory of ‘double entry (modern-day accounting); 1000+ years studying (sizing-up their enemies) habits, likes and dislikes; 1000+ years stealing (plagiarizing) ideas, philosophies, science, ways of ruling a nation, and medicine from Black Africa (there were more than 2000 Black/Muslim universities in Africa) while infiltrating the very government they were subject to. Gaining trust, even marrying into families of their taskmasters. How astute would that group be after 1000+ years trial and error, and what would they do to the people who looked down upon them? Yes, it has always been White on White crime before the phrase was invented. Never forget for one moment, or underestimate the resolve of greed and power, and how even innocent children are fair game in the name of maintaining that power and feeding that greed. NO! No sir, White folks are not hypocrites, they not fools; they have always practiced what they preach. What they preach are all lies, contrary to the theologian riddled metaphor “mixing lies with the truth.” They always lie and cause us to think it’s the truth. I’ll prove it to you, right here and now! How often do we hear Blacks (you and me) asset that we are entitled to the same rights as White folks? What are those rights, I might ask? Freedom of life liberty and pursuit of happiness. Freedom for White folks is ethnocentric related (right to marginalize anyone different from them), kill whoever they want whenever they want and; freedom to follow the hegemony, their own. SORRY, but I am not entitled to, nor want that kind of freedom. Happiness for White is living perversely. I don’t to be a pervert. Just look at the most basic insignificant ways of living in modern society today, from the substance to subsistence, from what is acceptable to what is looked down upon. What rules and social values would you ordain right and wrong? All on the one hand. On the other hand, it does cause one to think (again), and reconsider principles of theology, all of them, excluding none. You’re on the right track, brother, keep up the question asking!!

Yes Troy, afromerica is my site and we still around. We were on hiatus for awhile but came back last year. Google has filtered some sites but we started back in 2000 so the Internet has not spit us out yet.

Fear is tool that provokes are real-life response. Fight or Flight... Prolonged fear leads to mental breakdown. It's not easy to just resist because most people are approaching psychotic breaks. Most people of EVERY color. We are not just humans; we are human animals and animals all react differently when they're afraid. Some animals play dead, faint and poop when they're afraid and there are animals that make themselves bigger when they're afraid and if pushed to their limit, they will attack. This is where we are today - you can't use a weapon without expecting a weapon to be used against you. Use of fear has pushed everyone to mental instability. Danger is real and it also provokes the same response as those experiencing fear... Fight or Flight. There is another way to combat danger and its through the use of CHAOS... Clear Head Assess Observe Situation then respond. Response requires training. Those who are in imminent danger are usually not of the mindset to survive the danger... especially those who have experienced duress due to prolonged fear. So first we must learn how to respond to a situation. However I suggest first locating the fire (the danger) because fighting smoke (fear) is a waste of resources.

Happily ever after is the problem, in literary terms. I will reply to your personal query but after I speak on the problem with the entire modern relationship genre. The first problem is where happily ever after came from. It came from a change in european fairy tales. Originally fairy tales were meant to refer to tales concerning the magical. A fairy traditionally is not positive or negative, in literary terms fairies is a magical label, how the magic apply to humans or the human world depend on the fairies, the humans, the various natural aspects. Most of these fairy tales were variations on pre christian stories from various places in europe that were becoming or would become heavily christian, at the zealot level. The christian clergy to their part, maintained the original christian method, making non christian things negative. This is why the word villans means criminal or peasant is low class compared to urban, where the christian church started, in modernity.Originally fairy tales had many unhappy endings. Some meant to scare, some meant to educate, others cause the story was good. But, over time, as books were being created, some writers decided to omit the unhappily ending fairy tales and only include the happy ones, or convert the unhappy ending ones into happy ending ones. This was the way in the european literary world; that coincided to the european global colonial age. The funny thing is that many of the conquered peoples native to <using commonly used geographic nameplace, not appropriate ones>: Africa/Asia/America had their own fairy tales which reflected the same style that the original european fairy tales did; but, these non european or non white fairy tales were barely transcribed or remembered or recalled through enslaved or genocidal histories. This lead up to modernity, in the united states. The U.S.A. media traditionally likes an inhuman position. From davey croket <is that the correct spelling> to the founding fathers , whether referring to real or unreal history the u.s.a. puts a happily ever after spin on all tales. When, the world wars are ended, the USA through its relatively advanced media machine, spread the happily ever after style and embedded it in films or entertainment. Artists who tried to reject this had to be independent or their work was undermined in advertising. The original scarface black and white film/comedy shows on early television/tales from the crypt comic books are all examples of media in the u.s.a. where someone was telling a story that did not end happy ever after and in each genre rules were set up to enforce a happily ever after product. From the movie ratings to comic code to prewritten shows on television. The artistic goal was blocking unhappily ever after from being experienced. Now, in modernity, the film industries technological capability has allowed an audience to see some of the most fantastic written elements absent reading or use of their imagination. The non science fiction or high fantasy fiction genre's like relationships or biographies are where books are making the most money. And, with centuries of happily ever after saturating the media in anglo led ,u.k. then u.s.a. , humanity you get to the current scenario. Now to answer your query, I believe in being happy in the now and not expecting anything tomorrow. Time is a teacher, treasure each moment you live, hope for the better tomorrow, praise the best from yesterday. Expectation is the enemy to a happy life, cause humanity live in nature, not dominate it, nature will give sad days, unhappy days, and nature is no sinner for it.

thanks @TroyImagine if we can get aalbc to grow more:) wouldn't that be great @Mel Hopkins as the online black community, this should be our goal, to make a black owned website more popular:) Ok Mel:) private message me on here, we will work something out. I will say this, the promote or social share is not present on blogs and i think is not needed. let us be honest. more and more online people, spend their time with photo viewing or tweeting but very few of them spend alot of time with in depth looking at any level. So, social promotion is good but in the end of the day, we have to come up with ways to engender them to us. many people today have filters to their social experience that grooms it.

@Troy @richardmurray I get them as well and just delete them.

You are correct. I do expect more from the games I play. Especially in regard to effects and ingame character physical interaction, as well as more voiceover relevant to the ingame universe at that moment in the game. At the same TIME. I dont mind watching the basic gameplay. Because I am not the one who is playing. I have lost track of how many of the advanced effects and liveaction videos of game characters I have watched over the years. Many of them becoming a favorite of mine in their respective gaming category, and specific game genre.

I remember when I saw Hialeah after waking up. The members of the raiding band cautiously behind me. She was cooking food for all. I knew few english words, my name being John; but she didn’t mind. I met her eyes and she already knew mine. We fell in love, and I joined her raiding party. We survived tons of gunfire as colonist numbers grew and grew. We even got through a pregnancy in a winter woods in the MicMaq lands now called New England. Aponi, our little treasure, skipping in the snow. Hialeah’s feet after the pregnancy always needed extra comfort. I had to make special shoes for her. Then, the colonists in 1775 finally wanted to not be english. We talked about what we should do. She reminded all of us, her people were assaulted by the colonist and had to flee. The colonists fable of being aided is their version of saying they stole from native people. Her people of the Powhatan Confederacy had to protect our food from colonists, who eventually raided across the Tsenacommacah and made it Virginia. She will never forgive the colonists, whether they call themselves english or american. And the persistence of their myth of friendship, sickens her very soul. I agreed, some others joined me and her, but most chose to go farther west. I didn’t know about my people across the great water, but I will never forgive the colonists, no matter what they call themselves either. And, we few went south. We were at the battle for Jersey. I even saw a flamboyant soldier defend against the colonists. After meeting Richard Freeman, he told me that Ethiopia is a place across the big water. Since I never heard of a place across the great water where I came from before, I called myself John Ethiopia. And then, the war got worse. My beautiful land was shot during a raid, I held our butterfly, as her mother sung her last song to her. And, in 1783, the war ended. Me plus our daughter, the last of our band, were sent to Nova Scotia. The cold was too much for the little butterfly and she died. Alone, cold, my memory of her with our little life losing color or definition in the last thoughts in my life. My spirit now gives thanks not living under the colonists, as their kingdom grew. A kingdom full of thieves. I give thanks for being eternally free from its lies, side my loving wife and child. Beyond the confines or the reach of the eagle. Thank you for reading, if you want to read more of my work read below Poetry or More https://www.kobo.com/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/richard-murray-16885e64-6c28-459e-bf5f-45c7d458ce49 AALBC https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/blog/29-richard-murray-hearth/

I watched the local news yesterday and when I look at the photo all I can see is a forest fire consuming me and all of my belongings or that river over flowing it's banks an washing everything I own away... More seriously; I guess were are in the midst of autumnal equinox. Here in Florida that is usually heralded by a drop in the humidly, the end of the afternoon thunderstorm, and the arrival love bugs. Since the tree leaves don't change color and die here it is like the springtime. @rosa "...with someone" is the important part. That experience would be goo alone, but great with someone.

An autumn wind speak this morning. It speak that the autumn is here for good, until the winter wind come. Let me boil some syrup. I need to get the wood, give me a moment. <Sniffle> I remember when I came here. The tantalum rush was amazing. Can you imagine a stream of automated vessels, frozen bodies inside , risking fate, between harvested body parts to raided goods to slavery on an A.B. hideaway , streaming from the spaceport in Addis Abeba to Beijing2 on Europa. I recall viewing it,nightly, with my ElectronMacroscope, from here on Titan. Few of those brave travelers made it here; the terraforming of this moon was the last initiative of the United Nations before the fall. But, millions came to this moon for the Tantalum. I worked my way here: a labor ticket to the moon from Earth, thirty years serving Senor Quetza who is still a lunar lord, paid my way to the graneries of mars for thirty years of overseering the self-automates, then enough money to take a long arc frozen trip around the AB and the battles of Jupiter. From out of my mother's womb to Titan took ninety one years. At seventy-eight I was content. I never found a woman on the way who wanted eternity with me or likewise. I helped a few people become mature. But, I just wanted to reach this place. Took me five years but I found this little enclave between mountains, no Tantalum, but everything I truly wanted. Some place to rest after a life lived. I hear something. I am getting dressed to go out. Sometimes my fellow minors lose themselves in their depression. <creeeeek> I don't see anyone. ... I hear it again. Let me check the river. Ahh.... The Autumn Deer is looking at me from the frozen mist down the mountain in the nearby wood. Amazing how the deer evolved here. "Hello Friend!" Ahh, he is going into the ice blue mist. Enjoy life my friend, as I have. If anyone find my audiorecordings this land is in your caretaking. The tantalum can not be mined forever. And the beauty here can not outlast the dying sun, but will last longer. Thank you for reading, if you want to read more of my work read below Poetry or More https://www.kobo.com/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/richard-murray-16885e64-6c28-459e-bf5f-45c7d458ce49 AALBC https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/blog/29-richard-murray-hearth/

I love your cute graphic:) will share:)

@Troy@Mel Hopkins@Cynique maybe AALBC community can do something together ? Wild idea throw, a panel on black owned websites? thoughts @Sarah Gordon Weathersby @sabine ziya@Maame Dede maybe shesolidarity panel on womens empowerment in comics? @rosa@Uniquelymade7 @Lauretha Ward@Neftali Rivera Jr@Jasonnicholson05@M'Bwebe@Tyr1Jax@zetkabawn FIYAHCON is a virtual convention centering the perspectives and celebrating the contributions of BIPOC in speculative fiction. Put in your email to get updates! Hop around the website and see all the features we have coming your way. Get involved! We're looking forward to bringing this to SFF BIPOC fam https://theconvention.fiyahlitmag.com/ ACTIVITIEs The Meloscriptorium- add a spotify song, good idea to get your name in the list- add a song Chef’s Tables- host recipes from your kitchen, discuss food as a vital element of world building- host a show The Tea House- a place for small gatherings Panels + Presentations - for panels to discuss topics- suggest one Office Hours- one on one meetings, suggest you be a host Workshops- 1 to 2 hosts doing an interactive learning session - host one https://theconvention.fiyahlitmag.com/features/ GET INVOLVES Volunteer Submit an idea to program OR place yourself for consideration Host an office hour Add to the MELOSCRIPTORIUM - https://theconvention.fiyahlitmag.com/get-involved/

Hello, Mel Gladys Mae West is another Hidden Figure. She reminds me of my mother. Quite a story. I read your reply earlier, but I Just found this. Thank you. Having another example is helpful. I will refer to your questions to create the promotion for my next book, The Culinary Art Portfolio of Josephine E. Jones. I have mostly finished the text. It just needs one more revision before I send it to the developmental editor. What I came up before asking your questions was this: The Culinary Art Portfolio of Josephine E. Jones with Ready-to-Frame prints, where food and art intersect. This is my revision after using your questions. Please let me know if I'm on the right track. Who, Why, and How: The Culinary Art Portfolio of Josephine E. Jones with Ready-to-Frame prints The first black woman in management at a Fortune 500 company in 1967, who overcame racism, sexism, and classism, to create food that looked too good to eat.

@Chevdove YAAAY!!! More to come!

@Mel Hopkins I like the name, bittersweet soul I concur that soul is a secular version of gospel. All black music is from gospel from slave days/blues from the earliest days free/jazz from new orleans.

I don't have a Valentine's album per se, but I do have a collection on apple music called "bittersweet soul." I like soul music which I've recently learned is secular version of gospel music. I kind of knew that though. "This must be heaven" performed by Brainstorm and written by Lamont Johnson is less romance and more like a love song to THE ALL.

Kobo Audio books- Kobo has set up an audio book system. It is straight forward. I already had audiobooks in their system but they were accessible through the kobo app, which i mentioned in their description. I made versions that I will link to in the newsletter and this post in the near future. Video Article https://kobowritinglife.com/2019/09/27/breaking-news-kobo-writing-life-launches-direct-audiobook-upload/ you see the video, it is that straight forward, I am considering continuing my sport audio blog through it now. @Mel Hopkins @Troy Kobo Audio FAQ Direct Audio FAQ Can I publish audiobooks in other languages? Yes! The interface is currently available in English, and will become available for additional languages by the end of 2019. However, you can publish is whatever language you like. Do I have to be exclusive with Kobo? Never! We believe in reaching readers wherever and however they want to read, and we encourage you to make use of the many platforms available to you. How should I price my audio titles? We want you to have complete control over your pricing. Take a look at other audio titles in your category and consider length and production cost when setting your price. What is the payment rate for audio content? For audiobooks, you will receive 45% of the list price for a-la-carte purchases, provided the list price is greater than, or equal to $2.99 USD. For subscription downloads, you will receive 32% of the list price. For more details, click here. https://kobowritinglife.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001056548-What-will-my-earnings-be-?utm_source=Kobo+Writing+Life&utm_campaign=c381073e6f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_01_03_31&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d7d32e9e8b-c381073e6f-31135551 I don't have an audiobook tab on my dashboard! The audio tool is being rolled out slowly and it not yet active on all accounts. If you would like us to enable the tool on your dashboard, please email us to request it. writinglife@kobo.com Can I opt my titles out of the audio subscription program? We want to offer audiobooks however the reader wants to purchase them, so all Kobo audiobooks are offered via the subscription programme as well as a-la-carte. Can I distribute my audiobooks to libraries? We are still in the beta stage at the moment; however, we are working hard behind the scenes to offer authors the opportunity to distribute their content via OverDrive. Stay tuned for an update coming soon! I'm already selling my audio content on Kobo. Are there any benefits to uploading my audiobooks directly? We are working closely with our merchandising team on future audiobook promotion opportunities, which will be available for all authors who upload directly. Keep an eye out for audio promos in the near future! How do I listen to a Kobo audiobook anyway? If you haven't already, get thee to the Kobo store and sign up for a free audiobook trial! Download the free Kobo mobile app, and you'll find all your eBook and audio content right there, in one handy place. Happy listening!

The Tiger inspired from The Tyger from William Blake Tiger Tiger, burning bright, In the fairway's grown in night; What media mouth or statry, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant green's or tee's, Burn from fire in thine ease? To what break's dare he conspire? What the hand, dare seize the iron? And what ankle, & what art, Could twist the sinew's of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hip? & what dread feet? What the driver? what the wedge, In what furnace burn'd all hedge? What the blade's? what dread club, Dare the deadly dimple's snub! When the bet's cash'd in their doubt's And water'd clicker's with their eclout's: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb's make thee? Tiger Tiger, burning bright, In the fairways grown in night; What media mouth or statry, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? The Lamb https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43670/the-lamb-56d222765a3e1 The Tyger https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43687/the-tyger

Tanks for sharing this research Richard. I went directy to the Pew Study: http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/ I'm really so very glad I grew up in a world before social media. I hate to think that I'd be walking around with a device in my hand constantly subjecting myself to bullying, pressure, and worse of all marketers. The did not speak to very many Black people about just over 100, so I'm not too sure this survey speaks to our experience (but what is is new). I collect similar data from my students a slightly older demographic and I think a more influential demographic. The most surprising thing I learned speaking to my students, and this is reflected in the pew data, is how irrelevant Twitter is. I was also surprised by how popular Instagram has become by largely copying and improving upon Snapchat. I find the fact Facebook owns instagram troubling, but that is another story. My students have suggested to me that I use Instagram to market AALBC.com. This is something that I have, believe it or not, decided to try. The most difficult thing in this process for me was installing instagram on my phone. I'm completely against having social media apps installed on my phone, but for the sake of learning I decided to experiment with Instagram. Interestingly, I'm not finding the application particularly intuitive. the concept of, and how to create a "story," is not really clear to me. But I'll learn. If a 13-year-old can do is so can I. I've always had an instagram account; I just never used it, so I'm starting out with over 1,000 followers. In additional to learning the application I'm trying to build up my fan base which I'm largely doing by following others. I'll probably look into using a bot to amp up my followers but I wanna learn more about the system first. Below is are the results of a surveys with my students over the last three semesters. I allowed students to pick their two favorite social media platforms, unlike Pew I did not have them select from a list, so I discovered platforms I never heard of. The frequency of use of these platforms too small to have an individual column and are included in the "other" category. For the spring 2018 semester more than 50% of my students said Facebook or Instagram were their favorite social media platforms.

@Mel Hopkins: As with any venture, there's always the best and better way to benefit; offering cryptocurrency platforms may very well be the best way for Black investors to get involved. That involves manipulation, bold approaches, and deceit seem to always work for the short-run. Remember, banking was a moral success story until the usury was implemented and paper replaced gold, values we placed objects. The question is how much more our human morality are we willing to give-up, in the name of modern success, post slavery? Some things we can make happen, but for Black folk it's mostly about things that's happened us, and even that doesn't account for the way our fractured lives have somehow been held together. Now, I'm about to go off script for a moment here with a totally controversial POV. Going into financial product ventures market today call for completely joining the fray; diving in head first rather than a quick dip. To start justifying, looking at this as an equalitarian method for helping our people is the first step towards something sinister, in my opinion. No, we should not just sit around waiting for the change we need to fall from the sky, either. Nor do I know of any alternative means Black folk can embark on. No one else knows either, which is the point I'm attempting to make here. Shovels break as with all tools some are better than others. Some people get their tools on credit, others with symbolic valuables like cash. I would not feel comforable, to outright try to sell a glass of ice-water to someone living in Alaska. Nor am I of the opinion we should do to each other what Whites do to us, just because some else will get them if I don't. With some reservations, I'm like Sam Cooke's African American song: "A Change is Gonna Come."

Yes, this is a very old aphorism. I've read one about fishing poles to fisherwomen/men. But do we still find value in tools today? Also, do you think wealthy people are “careful”? Let's unpack this sage advice using the top 25 wealthiest people in the world. (1) Jeff Bezos–sells tools, provides a virtual and real location for tools and storage for information. (2) Bill Gates – makes and sells tools (3) Warren Buffet buys companies that sell tools, transportation and shelter & tools protection (4) Bernard Arnault sells luxury tools and goods (5) Mark Zuckerberg’s product is people and sells their attention Mark Zuckerberg provides the tools, but his company, Facebook’s product is people and he sells their attention. Allegedly, he doesn't even sell personal information, he sells access to those who’d like to get in front of specific eyes. In this case, is attention the shovel/fishing pole? I'm not sure. Also, MZ allows those who want access to determine the value of those eyes. Although this tends to be my blind spot, most of these people on the list "sell shovels/fishing poles", some sell "fish” but there are a few gold-miners /fisherwomen/men here too. But all those businesses have one thing in common – they earn and require currency. Now bitcoin is cryptocurrency, and its value is in the exchange. I don’t know if the goal is to get rich quick from using bitcoin but rather allowing those who use it, determine its value. It’s practically an egalitarian currency that’s in use nearly worldwide. So, I guess the key to predict who will profit from the proverbial gold rush is the one provides the platform for trading. Currently, heavily regulated financial institutions are the ones who profit. But now we have the Winklevoss Twins who were awarded a patent for ETP (exchange-traded products (ETPs) using cryptocurrencies) –(See Vanguard ETF) Then on a smaller scale we have Anari Sengbe's website OWO where gaming and purchasing products at a discount using cryptocurrency gives the platform its value. We still have bitcoin miners (With Bitcoin, miners use special software to solve math problems and are issued a certain number of bitcoins in exchange) AND cryptocurrency platforms just might be the new “shovels or fishing poles" in this digital economy. Edit: to change but to AND. According to Anari Sengbe in this talk, the internet of things (IoT) allows the devices to mine bitcoins for others and earn a fee for the transaction. In short your refrigerator, thermostat or any device in your home can become a virtual "Check Cashing Place" except its mining bitcoins or any other cryptocurrencies. I don't think the Black community can afford to be ignorant of cryptocurrencies. We're already 10 years behind.

@Mel Hopkins our pleasure... I bet one of the wild dreams has an opening line... it all begins with honey:)

For kobo Authors This week we’re announcing our upcoming takeover of the Reedsy short story contest! Who is Reedsy? Reedsy is an online marketplace of professional editors, marketers, and cover designers who are available to guide you through every stage of the publishing process. Reedsy handpicks these professionals for their incredible work experience in the publishing industry. As well, Reedsy offers beautiful and easy collaboration tools to help you co-author your next book. As a Kobo Writing Life author, you are entitled to a $20 credit when you sign up for Reedsy. To get started, visit the link below: https://reedsy.com/a/kobo What is the Reedsy Short Story contest? Every Friday, Reedsy kicks off a weekly short story contest by sending out a newsletter that includes five themed writing prompts. Subscribers have one week to submit a short story based on one of the prompts. One winner will receive $50 and publications on Reedsy’s blog. For our takeover, we’re also adding in an extra prize: a 60 minute one-on-one consultation with the Kobo Writing Life team! How do I enter? Head to http://www.reedsy.com/writing to subscribe and you’ll receive a newsletter with our theme and our five writing prompts. To enter, submit a short story based on one of the prompts by April 27th. Don’t forget to read the contest rules. We can’t wait to read your stories!

Black owned creative outlets I apologize for posting these late cause creativity require time, but if any of you have work, please apply. I sadfully will not be able to apply to the fiyah in time so my work to that I will probably submit in the email listing once finished. https://www.fiyahlitmag.com/submissions/ Issue 7 Theme: Music | Accepting submissions April 1, 2018 – April 30, 2018 Black contributions to musical genres are unmatched. Music is the language of the soul, and for this issue we’re looking for stories where music plays a central role. Maybe the devil really does hand out talent at the crossroads, or maybe that lounge singer isn’t quite what she seems. Send us all of your stories featuring music as magic, music as catalyst, or whatever your devious little hearts come up with. Share your favorite stories on Twitter with #FiyahLit Nubianpoets.com is proud to have Latorial Faison who has been featured along with Iyanla Vanzant, Danny Glover, and Dr. Cornel West in the 2003 NAACP Image Award winning book Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing, and Hope from the Black Community as this year’s contest judge. https://madmimi.com/p/79b2db

I say, "may" because of the time I spent with her from during her trial involving the San Quintin Six (United National Community to Free Angela Davis and Political Prisoners), her disposition of Black professionals and politics. Yes, she is very insightful.

@sabine ziya As always, the best thing to do is submit your work to any publisher when the time comes. You have to be pure to your story and then , resubmit it accordingly if need be. I checked fifty shades of grey, it is listed as contemporary or romance so... at least in kobo you can categorize your work as such. but you should check the publisher you will use for your book

I'll check it out...