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Anonymous

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Everything posted by Anonymous

  1. @ Writer Girl Side A Look at you… …emotional Side B Doesn’t it make sense that you want people to appreciate your art once you put it out in the universe??? If you really didn't care, you'll keep your art to yourself NAH'SUN, this is all I'm going to read, because you clearly didn't bother to take the time to READ WHAT I WROTE. SHEESH!
  2. Nah'Sun, I don't know if you do this intentionally but sometimes you come across as ALL-KNOWING and I find it exhausting. However, I will address this and then leave it alone. I never said I wouldn't want to be appreciated. I said I was okay if this happens after I'm dead and gone & I said I wouldn't mind if my descendents were the ones reap the benefits. I understand that my position may seem a little "off." And that's cool. After having had a life-altering situation/experience, I just happen to look at things a lot differently today than I did say two years ago. But whatever. Have a nice day.
  3. Maybe I'm just weird. I feel like my descendants *are* me...well, pieces of me anyway. So if I'm dead and long gone, and they are the ones that get to enjoy the spoils, I don't mind. Then again, my inner circle is EXTREMELY small, and I happen to genuinely like them...soooo, maybe that has something to do with the way I think. Maybe I'll change my mind once they start getting older and getting on my nerves. :-) I want to add to this because I just thought of it: I believe that if I were truly out there hustling and on the grind as a writer, I WOULD have a problem with all my hard work going unnoticed & the spoils of success being left for others to enjoy after I'm dead. But in all honesty, I'm not doing that & I've realized this for a while now...and I believe that this has more to do with my personality than anything else. I'm so laid back and I have such a low desire for material things that I'm always in the state of satisfaction, even if I don't have much. I think that this personality does hold me back in terms of the standard Western definition of financial success, but at the same time, I'm pretty happy... Soooo, I can certainly see your point, Troy, and also yours Nah'Sun when you say you'd want to enjoy the appreciation while still living. When I used to work 9-5s at the office, I busted my butt and I certainly expected to have my paycheck on time so that I could enjoy that money! lol...so, yeah, I can see where you guys are coming from.
  4. I wouldn't mind. Then again, I have kids. I suppose I look at this from a different angle ---- Even if I'm not here, my kids and their future kids could enjoy whatever perks come along with being "appreciated."
  5. I love this! and this... Absolutely! Good, bad, or indifferent, it's still your story, your baby. Even if it doesn't make much money at all, it's an accomplishment, a creation. Writing is just...awesome!
  6. Thanks Cynique! HICKSON, I'm learning & yes, this does make sense. I understand. And this does give me some things to think about regarding how I proceed in this industry. Thanks for your response. (wow...I almost forget to complain about the all-caps. You know I wouldn't be me if I didn't mention that it hurts my EYES. lol. jk...you've made the point before already that you aint changing! ) Much success to you!
  7. I agree with you on both sentiments. I try not to knock others' hustle too. And I also believe that 99cents means cheap and that you shouldn't expect high end quality if the prices are dirt low. HOWEVER, you just might find a diamond in the rough. And that holds especially true for "cheap" books. HICKSON, I've read in other posts where you say that the lowered prices placed on e-books hurts professionals like you. I can somewhat see how that could be the case, but then again, it might not be the case. Right now I'm looking at this topic from a reader's perspective. I've downloaded enough of the zero-$0.99 books to where I already KNOW when I go that route not to expect miracles. But honestly, I think that most people who dare to muddle through 99cent land know that there's a good chance they'll end up hitting the refund button. The word is already out about the multitude of cheap e-books that aren't worth one's time. You can find several blogs out today where people are bitching and moaning about how finding a good book (especially by indie's) is like finding a needle in a haystack. Matter of fact, one of MY first posts here was centered around that problem. And then the books coming out by major publishing houses aren't all that great either. My overall experience with buying books online tells me that the pricing doesn't mean a whole lot. (Troy didn't you just say that?) I've purchased e-books for $9.99 and have felt totally ripped off because the book was poorly written and I waited too late to return it for a refund. And I've downloaded free-$0.99 books that were awful too. So, basically what I've done is gotten real good about starting the book immediately after I buy it, so that if I do need to return it for a refund, there's no problem, except for the fact that I can't get back the time I wasted trying to read it. Could have been writing. But anyway, back to the point I was trying to make. People who like to read learn how to find out where the good books are. And then when they find those authors that they truly love, they likely will start spending some money to support them. I know that I never had a problem paying top dollar for books from authors that I truly trusted would deliver. So I don't think you should worry too much about $0.99 books. If your books are good enough to draw a fan base, AND you're great at marketing (which you seem to be) AND you get some luck AND I'm sure there's a list somewhere that I got from Troy but I can't find it right now, then naturally you're going to have the upper hand against the 99cent folks - and any other folks for that matter. Readers like good books. Period. People who need toilet paper may go to the dollar store to get a roll because they have no choice. But readers have far more choices than to have to be stuck reading crappy books (be it at $0.99 or $9.99). Like Troy mentioned, the library is a great option. These days, I personally would rather go to the library than to buy a book, unless it's a book I want to collect, or unless it's a book I prefer to have on my Kindle for whatever reason. So am I now part of the problem that's ruining the publishing industry? And I'm also selling a book for $0.99. And I also encourage people to loan my books to their friends. So, I'm really looking like the bad guy here if your assessment of the situation is correct. I just don't know if it is correct. Any thoughts? P.S. I think the problem w/the sluggish publishing industry may have more to do with the readers than with the prices of the books. Maybe people just aren't heavy duty readers like many from past generations. And maybe those of us who used to read regularly have simply gotten to stages in our lives where there's no time - and nothing we really want to read. I think Troy and Cynique touched on this in other threads. Maybe the generations coming after us haven't gotten hooked on books. And so, who's left to buy this stuff? Now we've got a huge supply and little demand. So prices start dropping...etc etc...but it all goes back to the readers. If people don't want to read, well then... Then again, people could be waiting for the next great creative trend to kick off another era of lots of reading. I don't know...it could be anything. I'm just going to keep on writing. Maybe somebody will find my stuff after I'm dead and gone, but dag-namit they'll know I was here! lol
  8. Oops, you are right Troy. She sure did post that one. I corrected my post.
  9. I would have to say that I tend to lean toward the notion that fiction writing for me is more of a creative pastime that happens to bring in a few bucks here and there. It is also, as Cynique mentioned, a form of therapy for me. I don't even know how to explain the need to get these stories out of my head and down on paper. But I do know that I get great personal satisfaction in the creative part of watching a story come together. Maybe if I was a die-hard music lover, I'd probably be somewhere composing a song right now. But I'm a book lover, and so far, the books I've written have completely drawn me in. Now I can't stop - not even to market. To that end, I am confident that Troy is right - that there could be limited financial success because of this. But I'm starting to realize that I honestly - and I do mean honestly - do not care enough to do anything about it at the moment. I think my book covers clearly show that I'm not in this for the money - yet. However, that's not to say that one day I won't take this thing more seriously in terms of a money-making venture. I pay attention to people like HICKSON and how they market and make mental notes for the future, just in case I decide to get with the business-minded program. If I get hungry, this will become inevitable. But so far, that desire for great monetary gain hasn't kicked in yet. I'm just glad to be publishing. I'm just thrilled that someone actually took the time to read something I wrote. I think I must be in some sort of honeymoon phase or something. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what killed it? Or is it still there? As far as selling one's soul? So glad you glad you brought that up Cynique. I was just thinking as I read the email Troy Cynique posted by the author team (Deberry and Grant) that I would be so upset if an agent kept asking me to change things, like "make it more street" or "go back and make this more urban" There's no way! Seriously. No way could I see myself putting up with that. I'll pass on the upfront big money, thank you very much, if it means dealing with that type of garbage. Where's the joy in writing fiction if you can't write what you want? I guess that's the point where it really becomes a J.O.B. Troy, thanks for the input on the pricing situation. I always - ALWAYS - have a tough time figuring out how to price these things, especially the e-books (haha, like I have so many out there ). In the end, I settled on my own little pricing system based on how much work I put into the book. That's probably not going to be in anybody's self-publishing 101 manual and that probably needs to be revised. And that's why sites like this are invaluable as a learning tool. No one way is the right way, but it sure helps to hear about different strategies and the reasons behind them, whether you're in it for the money or only sorta kinda in it for the money.
  10. My thoughts exactly. And I think it's okay to give things away, including books. Why bother to write it down, if you don't want someone else to read it (diaries don't count; neither do self-proclaimed crappy works that you know should never see the light of day)? Sometimes you can get people to pay to read it; other times you settle for sharing your work just for the sake of sharing. I see nothing wrong with that. Even people who write as their sole profession have been known to give away freebies or samples of their work. I don't think this trend is going to stop. p.s. I have heard the argument before that writers who keep dropping their prices to 99cents and below are making it hard on the rest of the artists. I can see how this would happen. But I am one of those writers who will give a book away for a day or so, and even publish one for dirt cheap and leave it there for a while, especially if it was a book that didn't require a lot of time on my part. So far I haven't heard anything to compel me to stop doing this. Let me add that I also can relate to what Cynique says when she mentions that sometimes the reader should be paid to read some of the stuff that's out there. Yep. Been there. Done that. And yes, some of the stuff is that bad. On the flipside, the reader needs to understand the concept of "you get what you pay for"...A person shouldn't expect a Pulitzer prize winner out of any of my 99cent books. And I know for a fact that if I put something out there for free (for more than a couple of days), you better believe it's probably not going to be something I spent an insane amount of time on. I'm just saying.
  11. Mzuri, yes the way they operated was crazy! "Let's buy us a president..." I didn't watch the program from beginning to end, but I watched enough to realize that there are definitely similarities with today and yesteryear.
  12. I was watching that docu-drama "The Men Who Built America" which covers the stories of Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, & others. After seeing that, I think for the most part, these extraordinarily rich people in power have had a habit of not dwelling all that much on what's going on down in the "regular" world. By that I mean they operate on a different playing field. Their spats & competitions with each other have led to domino effects that at times have cost innocent American bystanders (of all races) their lives and jobs. But the insanely rich don't appear to take the losses to heart. They don't really care. We average folk are probably no more "real" to them than the starving kids in other countries that you see on late night television with the lone spokesman walking through the village asking for your 35cents a day. You know they're there, but you tend to forget to sign up to help them out. And Troy, you're right. These uber wealthy folk are going to be just fine. The slap in the face of reality does not belong to them...they are so far removed from it, it aint even funny. That realization is coming out now & yep, ppl are mad. But what did they expect? Did they REALLY think they were part of the inner circle? Ha!
  13. Anyone heard about this yet?: "In the wake of last week's presidential election, thousands of Americans have signed petitions seeking permission for their states to peacefully secede from the United States. The petitions were filed on We the People, a government website." http://news.yahoo.co...-190210006.html All I keep thinking about are those "oh, they mad? they mad..." banners that were circulating on Facebook. smh.............like some people say about slavery, "get over it"...
  14. Wow. I like that there poem. I haven't seen Zeitgeist the Movie, but I've seen some clips here and there regarding similar conspiracy theories. You know, Troy, I agree with you that something wasn't quite right about that whole Bin Laden thing. If he is dead, I tend to think there should have been more of a fight put up. It happened so quickly that I sometimes wonder if he wasn't friends with his killers. I imagine that they walked right up to his door, having known his address and having been there before, and knocked. "Oh, what's up Laden...what's good..." and his reply would have been, "ah, what's up my n*****, long time no see...come on in..." And that was the end of him. Two shots to the head, or whatever it was that they did. But that's just me and my imagination. Of course nothing like that would EVER happen...America could never sink so low...Oh, wait! What was that that Troy said? Something about slavery... smh...we'll probably never know the real truth about any of this stuff, but if I were a betting woman, I'd bet that whatever the truth is, it aint good.
  15. nice...good times...i can only imagine of course, but my mind's eye tells me these were good days...nice thnx 4 sharing
  16. Wow wow wow! Cynique I got totally carried away with your story...I was right there with you, growing older and facing a fear of death...I was even there with you on the youtube quest for old songs (I was doing that today, actually, and when I listened to some of that old jazz - thanks to a nudge by Troy's posting of Ella's video - I swore I was back in Harlem in the glory days of jazz ...and I've never even been to Harlem in any days!), and I could see myself through your eyes as one whose "mind and body are not in sync." Cynique, I think Troy has said this before: you have a way with words! Thanks for yanking me back to the present with that last paragraph, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten any work done today for sitting here daydreaming. Oh that last segment delivery made me laugh. Have a wonderful day! P.S. I too have readers block right now. The Warmth of Other Suns was my last true attempt at reading a book, and it sat and sat and sat until finally I had to return it to the library. After that I tried one of Walter Mosley's audio books - the Socrates Fortlow series - and got busy and forgot to go back to it.
  17. Someone to waaaatch over me... now this song will be stuck in my head for days! not a bad thing...much better than BANDS TO MAKE HER DANCE! lol Awww...I remember when Lena was on Sesame Street! childhood throwback ...such wonderful voices! all of them - so pretty!
  18. Wow...that voice! Beautiful! (Ella...not MJ...I didn't even click the MJ doc vid. )
  19. Thanks for the advice! You're definitely right - especially about Hickson. LOL! He's got this thing down to a science!
  20. Thanks Troy! It'll be a freebie this Saturday & Sunday (11/3 & 11/4) for anybody interested. This should be a good one for the teens!
  21. The other day I almost got frustrated because the "belt" at the grocery store line was broken. So I had to push my items by hand. Oh the horror. Then I realized how spoiled I am to these perks of the modern world. I can only imagine what the people on the East Coast are going through w/everything that has happened. And the lady who had her boys swept away & went for help but nobody would let her in? Sheesh! Man o man, where's the humanity?
  22. http://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Catfish-ebook/dp/B00A030VR4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1351873761&sr=8-4&keywords=chandra+borden
  23. I wouldn't either. In another post (I think it was started by Troy), the topic was Extinction of the Black Man. Guess what I'm watching? DL Hughley's Endangered Species List. Hope you guys can catch it.
  24. I've given home school some serious thought. I even tossed the idea out there for the kids just to see what they'd say. They almost said Hell no. Apparently they think I'm too strict & despite all the drama at the schools, they have made friends and they'd miss them.
  25. I have mixed feelings about this whole topic. On the one hand I get that the system is rigged and it is probably more difficult to get out of the ghetto these days than it was when many of us were younger. On the other hand, I am one who has started becoming increasingly frustrated with the mentality of MANY of the ppl living in the ghetto (and the suburbanites who emulate them). I have witnessed star students coming out of the worst parts of Chicago...going off to college on full ride academic scholarships. And I have witnessed the mothers of those children accuse them of thinking they are better "just because he/she going to college" and I've witnessed those same parents say things like "he/she better not come back talking white; i can't stand that shit"...ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!! And these are things I've seen/heard in the past few months! And try reasoning w/a person who is so stuck in that mode of thinking...you'll want to throw you hands up and just give up. I try to keep my kids in a diverse community because I don't want them to be uncomfortable around their own people...but now I'm starting to rethink that. I'm tired of my sons having to go to school and deal w/ignorant BS...I'm sick to death of them always having to be the "bigger" people and avoiding fights and turning the other cheek and being understanding that the other kid maybe was just raised differently than them. It gets old after a while. When the very people you care about and try to show compassion to (because they look like you and probably share at least a piece of your own personal "black struggle" and they look and sometimes even act like members of your own family) steal from you, try to fight you because you "talk proper," start shit because you get good grades, etc, what the heck are you supposed to do???? And as a parent, you want your kid to be able to communicate w/everyone without judgment/prejudice and not be afraid of anyone, but at what point do you say enough is enough and I'm out of here, never to look back...or give back. What to do? I think I might be a little bitter. Any advice?
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