Mel Hopkins

@Troy now you're just being contrary for no reason. You wrote you never "heard" a scientist say the same thing as Neale. Neale quote: "Quantum Physics tells us that nothing that is observed is unaffected by the observer." From the article "Thus, (as in conclusion) the mere act of observation affects the experimental findings" Neale quoted the findings of physicists . and goes on to say "that statement from SCIENCE holds powerful insight." You make it clear that you have a bias against New Age-y folks but it shouldn't cloud your reading comprehension ability, right? Of course we all have opinions, so I'd understand if you disagree with Neale's summation. But even by disagreeing you make his statement valid. We see different "truths" based on our creations.

Actually Quantum Mechanics is pretty popular - that's how it made it into mainstream. The first time I heard of the observer effect was in What the bleep do we know. (2004) ... I already knew it was possible but to hear scientist validate what I already knew was fascinating. Still that movie made QM popular and folks such as me actually started following and reading what physicists were researching and writing about... Again, I'd been writing about this QM stuff since the 90s... but for me it was the stuff "dreams" were made of. I guess I was "New Age-y" By the time Angels and Demons was made into a movie - the audience was educated enough to follow along. It made it even easier for them to follow CERN's developments ... "Particle Fever" - was a highly rated and watched documentary - that wouldn't have happened without all the "new age-y" folks making science "cool" again. Neale Donald Walsch is not a scientist, but he echoed physicists in that meme. You mentioned you never heard a scientist say it - so, I was sharing with you that they did say it. New Age-y people as you call them may not be able to prove what they know but they don't have to. That's left to folks who get the fancy equipment like the LHC -to prove what someone "saw" years before in their mind's eye. For Us New Age-y folks - nothing is "unknowable"...

Yes... this is truth but there's also something novel about it... but you have given me an idea - when my book was mentioned in black enterprise - it wasn't a review but a mention related to how I used digital marketing to sell the book - but having a known publication mention my book is kind of cool to list with my book https://melhopkins.com/portfolio/news-hook-pitches-get-inches/

@Troy https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/02/980227055013.htm Do they qualify as scientists? "In a study reported in the February 26 issue of Nature (Vol. 391, pp. 871-874), researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now conducted a highly controlled experiment demonstrating how a beam of electrons is affected by the act of being observed. The experiment revealed that the greater the amount of "watching," the greater the observer's influence on what actually takes place." I think they call the phenomenon "observer effect"

@Faith U Here's something I noticed. I did a general search on Amazon for your eBook "Trigger is an easy name to remember) and it didn't come up on the first page...so I did a search for the book title and your first name. This time, your title came up #1 ... I went to read the reviews and I was sold! @Troy I forgot about the amazon reviews.... Amazon reviews are huge and can be a deal closer.. In fact, I almost bought the kindle version and then I remembered to buy directly from the author . I didn't realize how enticing reviews can be - and I don't remember seeing customer reviews on our author's pages. I remember I did notice on my page - that I have two reviews for other books here on aalbc - please link me to customer reviews here on aalbc. I know now that I have to get a customer review page for my website (I forgot how important it is) @Faith U I went right to your website. Nice site and your sales page is ALL OF THAT! You have, reviews, a trailer and soundcloud playlist for your book! Awesome ... Plus the upsell is an excellent tool! I bought the signed book but I was tempted to by the magnet and bookmark too! Great sales eSheet! I look forward to reading "Trigger" . Also before you sell digital copies from your site - I have to put in that disclaimer to beware of bootleggers.

@TroyI did this once -for a print title back in 2008. If I remember correctly, the $2.13 came back to me through my lulu.com royalty distribution. (You know me too well LOL) Btw, I also purchased a digital copy of my book through the fetchapp to see how it would work. (the cost of doing business LOL) and fetchapp works perfectly. After the buyer makes a purchase - the app sends a link to download the pdf. The difference between fetchapp and gumroad (which also allows for direct digital sales) is fetchapp is free based on volume. Gumroad charges $15 per month whether you sell or not. But gumroad provides an imprint/watermark for each pdf it distributes. This cuts down on book bootlegging.

@Troy Selling more books and making money are two different things. Now that publishers have to compete for the Amazon buy box - I don't believe these authors are actually making money. I didn't get most of my sales from amazon but that's because I promoted the sites where I would make more money such as lulu.com, my own website or link and of course direct sales or through personal booksellers. When I sold through amazon - I only made $2.13 per book - lulu was $8. 68 and of course when I sold from my website or direct - it depended on how many books I ordered in advance...My royalty could go as high $10 per book. Direct was best because even if I didn't sell in person, I could offer free shipping - Priority mail and still have a decent royalty per book. I first published in 2006 - so no stores would buy my books. Since I had an isbn # folks could still order it through their local stores - but I didn't see any of those royalties. Aside: My daughter purchased 10 Kindle copies of one of my short stories to send to her friends - and I got none of those royalties... It made me suspect that wasn't the first time - I got cheated out of my KDP royalties. I removed my short story from kindle and I sell it directly from my site using fetchapp ( FetchApp allows you to sell and digitally deliver downloadable goods) I will be the sole distributor for my next release. I'll keep good notes so I can report how it goes. Oh by the way, when I get a large order - I will definitely use AALBC printing services.

@Troy , I'm not surprised... I used to be a amazon devotee. hell, I used to be somewhat of an evangelical christian... now I barely say "grace" . I'm still a media junkie but now that I've focused on achieving my goals - I don't read everything. My point is you were dealing with a "cult". They are addicted. The ease of Amazon fulfills their needs - especially their need for acceptance. If you really examine their words you can easily read through them to see how they believe amazon is their savior. Even hearing the possibility of someone wanting them to boycott AMZN, the messiah, makes them ill and you the enemy for suggesting it. You want to deal with independent thinkers. (self-acceptance is probably the Number 1 trait) Also, forget about the bargain-hunters. The only thing that will change their mind is if the prices go up or the product is cost-prohibitive. For those addicted to their kindle -or the ease of digital readers, there will have to be an alternative with a perk. For example, they will be able to "own" their purchase and transfer their content to any device at will. Yep, you'll have easier time recruiting folks who have already soured on Amazon or even those looking for another way to publish independently. Those people are usually business-minded and for them the bottom-line is their bottom-line. For those recruits, the book business isn't an extension of their personality. It's a business. So you're right, you don't need an MBA - you just need to be clued on business operations and "the cult of personality".

Here's an article from EDC, publisher who pulled 2000 titles from amazon.com, Ingram and baker & taylor (because they're distributors to Amazon) and big box stores in 2012. He said it meant $2 million in annual sales but after a few tense months, they started making money again... http://www.businessinsider.com/edc-beat-amazon-2014-8 One more thing; EDC also has home sales consultants who sell their books - I mentioned that's how I sold my first book. There are other ways to sell books besides Amazon.

@Cynique Yes! (or as they say on twitter " I get so excited when folks live their truth! Not what society expect of them -but what they feel is right for them in the moment... We have enough of folks doing their best trying to fit in . When we have people doing to suit themselves - it allows the rest of us to figure out what is true for us.. Reading your words allowed me to check my own barometer... where I stand. I believe this may be true for a lot of us - all it takes is for one to speak up - and we are all freed.

and me!!! How far would you go to find love? An ingénue will go to hell and back to find the man of her dreams. Or is it her nightmares. * * * “Sleeping with a D-Man” is a supernatural tale of forbidden love, conspiracy and sacrifice in a world where nothing is as it seems.

@Pioneer1 1) I asked if you watched the film because I asked my questions within context of the film. Since, you answered "No” then you can't provide an informed opinion that is relative to the film. That's cool. In the documentary, the problem is NOT white supremacy... Now if you want to go off topic, that's fine. 2) But for sake of argument let's say the film discusses "white supremacy" then we see it's not a goal or a problem per se, it's a tactic. In this film, the goal was empire building and where necessary” white supremacy" was used as a tactic to divide the people from their natural resources and riches. 3) THE PROBLEM, both in the film and globally, is the goal of a pseudo emperor attempting to seize and control resources, even natural resources to amass a fortune for his/her empire. Thereby reducing the rest of the planet and its inhabitants to slavery and servitude. In sports, such as basketball, I know you don’t get distracted by your opponent’s fancy footwork & dribbling – that’s how you get your ankles broken. You maintain your focus on achieving your goal. Leaving the sports analogy, defense can be a goal but it’s not an effective one. There are a few countries that have created their own goals – and as a result are not at the mercy of the World Bank or IMF. One country has already taken steps to create its own world bank. They may have problems but white supremacy ain’t one. If you really understood white supremacy, you'd know you fell for the illusion. Then you’d know it’s a distraction to keep alleged “non-white” people on a defense to lose sight of their own goals. You’d know the would-be emperor is skilled at the art of legerdemain. The easiest way to defeat him is to stop letting him rent space in your head. @Cynique thank you for this - I think I've been a victim of this eggcorn

@Troy, how can you help people who are looking for an EASY-BUTTON? Remember what you told me about not everyone living in "my world"? Well, that's the task you're about to undertake - barging into worlds unlike your own. Independent publishing came long before amazon or kindle... but Independent publishing was never easy that's why only a few people did it. I self-published in 2006 because I learned about print on demand. But I still had to do the heavy lifting to get the book into the reader's hands. And I wasn't even as dedicated as Zane and the others who self-published and sold out of the trunk. All this to say, you don't have to convince the willing because we already know... If you're attempting to convince people who aren't used to doing the heavy lifting; refocus your energy. Showcase people who can and do publish without the help of Amazon/KDP - Those looking for an easy button might be more incline to follow those who can light the way.

@Cynique , Nope! You sound like a wise woman who's witnessed a lot. And now you have the opportunity to watch this big sh*t show brought to us by a reality TV show performer. Or you can tune out too... I used to think Gil Scott Heron prophecy of " the revolution won't be televised" as something profound. Now I see it's simply because there won't be one. We're not going out with a bang...just a petering out.

Yes... because while I knew of the inequity- I didn't know of the laws that made it possible. What's worse is we haven't stopped it yet. We haven't changed our ways. We continue to vote to allow the oligarchs to take more of our rights. We haven't taken the steps prescribed in the documentary or even from the man who is a confessed economic hit man to act on it. @Troy is sounding the alarm to put an end to it by slowing down Amazon, facebook, google , apple - microsoft - what NY Times called Technology's Frightful Five ... and he posted the push back he received from doing something as simple as boycotting Amazon. Those people are extremely scary...(I was them before I had the information we have today) - So yes, I think we do need more people of every color to keep speaking up and providing solutions. These are laws being enacted that are enslaving people once again. I bet if I tracked my activities of a 24 hour period it would reveal how I'm contributing to poverty in the motherland. In fact, I know it..because I'm a huge coffee and tea drinker ...so even that simple action is aiding in the genocide of Kenyans. @Pioneer1 Question: What part shocked you? What part did you already know but decided there was nothing you could do about it? What simple action can you do to make a difference in all our lives today?

@Troy Ok this exchange is scary. But what's worse in 2008, I was an affiliate and I felt the same way as these devotees. All it took for me to wake up from my slumber was to realize that my book was selling through amazon but I wasn't getting my royalties. But yes, I think this is exactly how we became slaves. "There are none so blind as those who will not see" ...

The U.S. House of Representatives just passed their version of Senate bill which is a large tax cut bill that benefits anyone who earns more than $900,000 a year ...47 Million Americans (what's left of the middle class) are expected to be impacted ... We aren't inching towards the haves and have nots... we are there - slaves and slave masters... This documentary shows how we got there... From the dailymotion video with english subtitles " http://filmow.com/the-end-of-poverty-t71910 The End of Poverty? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies -- in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries. The End of Poverty? asks why today 20% of the planet's population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate? The film has been selected to over 25 international film festivals and will be released in theatres in November 2009. Directed by Philippe Diaz, produced by Cinema Libre Studio with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, 104mins, 2008, USA, documentary in English, Spanish, French with English Subtitles. The End of Poverty The End of Poverty"

Yes, I was just reading how others use a customized thank you to return to the website... I'm open to that as well especially since the "buy button" is on my websites. I didn't take into the account that some sell books through shopify, squareup market and gumroad and wordpress pay page but I agree it would have to be flexible enough to incorporate those options too. Plus we would want to make sure that you can verify that the book is aalbc bestseller too. I've been putting together a check list of the ways big 5 tradebook publishing companies market their books for my own use. I truly thought most indie author/publishers had access to the books that detail the activity they didn't need one more... but maybe I'll make it available too. Right now it goes back to paypal confirm - but I will create a page on my website. Then I will connect the custom thank you page via this button. But will you have the information too? How does that work? Either way you'll get your cut but I want it to be seamless accounting. -

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@Troy Absolutely they did! They are sales people supported by THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT!!! Penguin RandomHouse has several types of marketing departments. I worked in one of them (Academic Marketing and Sales) We dealt mostly with backlist titles. There was a marketing department that dealt with only adult front list titles., there was one for children's books ...et al. By the way, Trade book In-house Publicity departments and their publicists don't market books - they work with the authors and get publicity for them - (different department/different activities) There's another department in trade book publishing that is like publicity but they are speakers bureau for authors. Then there's media relations too. When I worked for G.P. Putnam's sons I worked in Special Sales. We handled the marketing and sales for institutional markets and commercial premium incentives sales...) You might think you're discovering books through Ingram - but guess how Ingram gets the info -Trade book publishing Marketing departments and marketing collateral from small presses too. Ingram even has their own marketing department which is probably who pitches and promotes to you too. Marketing is a full-time job. Don't get me started on Communication. lol - in Academic Marketing & Sales we'd produced quarterly catalog that would go to every professor on our mailing list... and then we'd look for other markets to enter. I'd write occasional copy for the catalog, but do you know my primary job was planning and setting up and attending conventions/exhibits and meetings?!!! You know that list you post about all the black book conferences/meetings. Imagine being an exhibitor at most of all the major U.S. conferences. Imagine carting around classics and backlist titles and setting up exhibits around the country... I was that person! And that's just a small part of marketing that trade book publishing companies do... See where I'm going with this? The majority of departments in Big 5 trade book publishing are marketing & sales. Editorial is a small and elite group in the Big 5. All this to say, it is the job of the publisher (big or small) to market their books. Amazon is a distribution channel no different than Ingram. If publishers are leaving it to amazon to market their books too then that's no good. Even when working with AALBC - I would expect the use of the platform and positioning of my books would be worth more than $1 per book .... I’d be grateful for yet another channel but that wouldn't stop me from marketing the heck out of my book - Right now, thank page is self-contained with the checkout ... maybe if I create a paybal button specifically for aalbc -and then you can code a customized thank you page that I can attach to it?

I have customized thank you page and I've also written thank you notes directly. Of course I would be interested in selling wholesale and I have in the past So far my I've also sold my first book through independent sellers - Just like they were Tupperware saleswomen. It was great! I got the idea from one of my readers (and friend) She liked the book so much she sold it at her job. $1.00 per book is fine-. Just as you mentioned Amazon took a lot more - and they had nothing to do with the book -other than sell it from their website (at least the sales the reported to me). I'm not losing control of my inventory again. By the way, I'll let you know when I've release "So, You Want to Be Flight Attendant : A Memoir" - I hit a production snag delayed it. * * * Troy, you know I come from a publishing marketing background so it's difficult for me to understand - someone buying another book if they don't see a book they want to buy on a website? When we sold books at Penguin - professors contacted us for specific books - not "whatever we had"... We marketed books - and that's what they asked for...so if authors/publishers market their books and sell their books on their websites - wouldn't it be because someone was interested in purchasing that book? Or are you saying that Amazon is marketing their books too? I just bought a book today - I was looking for that book - I didn't purchase a book like it ---I purchased the book I wanted to read. I got it from the publisher 's website and they had a paypal option. By the way, they didn't send me a "thank you" - they gave me the option to print my receipt. I remembered my paypal account offers the same. I'm confused by your statement. Are you saying that independent publishers/authors don't market and sell their books - like old school booksellers did back in the day? If not - then it's not Amazon or the reader that's the problem... It's the independent author/booksellers not pushing and promoting their books. That has to change too!

I rarely buy "black" books and when I do they are old books...usually out of print books. I usually learn about new titles through articles that I read . That's usually-my impetus to purchase the book. I buy based on benefits - not word of mouth. If the author or the publisher isn't selling the book, I then go straight to an online retailer. The online retailer of choice is usually amazon - unless I have a Barnes & Noble gift card. If I were to change the way I buy books , it would be based on a change in the marketplace. As an independent author, publisher and bookseller - I've decided not to sell my books through amazon. I don't see the benefit. I removed my debut novel from amazon - (and all online retailers) and my soon to be released book "So, You Want to Be A Flight Attendant" will only be available through me. I haven't decided if I'm going to release it through Lulu yet... So if anyone should boycott Amazon it should be the independent author/publishers. Buying direct from independent publisher will have a greater impact their bottom-line that it will Amazon.

AMEN! I can't even imagine someone saying "oh, yes...I want to spend the rest of my life or even a minute with you, Mr. Potty Mouth"

@Troy Oh no, that's been there. I didn't know that's what you meant. I did put up a widget for popular content and since yours is one the most popular - it's listed on the front page. I'm still bummed out about VSB... Maybe they just wanted the money and job with bennies. (oh well smh)

@CDBurns She tryin' to kill you man...that's sugar it will take you out! LOL.. Just kidding. Beautiful gesture of kindness!