RANDOMNESS

RANDOMNESS Nathan Bransford wrote recently about the randomness of bestsellers. In other words, there isnt some magical power that preordains the qualities of a story that breaks records and defies the odds. Sometimes a perfect storm just comes together. Like the mega waves he describes at sea, the ones that appear from nowhere and make a huge impression in that vast, monstrous water, they just happen and cant be fore casted. http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2012/06/randomness-of-bestsellers.html And yet, we keep trying to understand the process. Whats worse,in my opinion, and this is a BIG gripe with me, is that we also bash traditional publishers for producing books that do not do well. Thats talking out of both sides of our mouths. We try to think we can duplicate bestseller status, and really learn how to define the path to such a level, as if there was a manual somewhere. That logic should also mean that if we can predict great books, then we know enough to avoid a bad one. The deal is, people, is that we can only write our best.Publishers can only attempt to predict what will sell. eaders can only pretend to recognize a debut book as a bestseller. The fact is that nobody has mastered how to make a bestseller. There is no HOW TO WRITE A BESTSELLER FOR DUMMIES. Just spoke to someone this week who justified self-publishing Hes only trying to assuage his own conscience, the one thats attempting to rationalize into a hazy reality that he probably has no chance with traditional publishing. So he says theyve lost touch, can no longer produce quality material, thus leaving him no choice but to proceed with self-publishing since it has equal credibility. This is my reality . . . and my explanation of publishing: The more seasoned, experienced people who lay their eyes and hands on your manuscript, the better the book. Note, I did not say traditional or self-published. Multiple layers of review and decision making goes into traditional publishing. If you self-publish, make sure you put the same degree of attention into your manuscript as a traditional publishing house would put into it. Hire editors. Hire a cover designer. Hire a for matter. That is, unless you are experienced yourself. That doesnt mean read instructions and learn as you go. Sure, you CAN learn as you go, but do not go it alone. Youll never see the landmines, no matter how many blog posts you read about the business. This business isnt about randomness. Its about diligence and focus to detail. Nothing is fool-proof. Failure exists. Less than satisfactory happens. But your odds improve the more experience you put into your books development, writing,and promotion. Instead of trying to orchestrate a bestseller, just write your best. Then recognize what you should and should not do. Be daring in your writing. Be grounded in your publishing, no matter which route you take.

Listen to and Learn Spanish on the Internet

Listen to and Learn Spanish on the Internet Many people want to hear what native-speaker Spanish sounds like, but dont have access to native speakers or even Spanish-language radio or TV. Chances are that if youre reading this article, you have all the tools you need need to start listening. An abundance of Spanish-language webcasts, podcasts, and other programming is available for free on the Internet. The system requirements for listing to Internet audio vary with the site, but chances are that if your computer was built within the past three or four years, you already have the hardware you need. Most sites that provide audio content also have links to the software you need. Most audio content can be played using one of three audio players that are readily available for free: Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, and Apple QuickTime. The three are available for both recent versions of the Windows and Macintosh operating systems; the RealPlayer is also available for Linux. Some sites also have downloadable audio in MP3 or other formats that you can listen to on portable players. A high-speed Internet connection is helpful, although a good dial-up connection will sometimes be sufficient if you arent Web surfing at the same time. Listening Online in Spanish Spanish-language programming can be found for almost any interest, and a complete list would be far too long to list here. Following, however, are some of the sites that have been recommended by readers of this site: Batanga: You wont find any classical music here (unless you count classic rock), but youll find just about every other style of music.BBC Mundo: True, the BBC is well-known British news service. However, youll find quality programming in Spanish here.Deutsche Welle: This German network offers streaming programming in nearly all the European language and then some. At the time of this writing, however, its Spanish-language programming is not available to U.S. listeners.Ke Buena: Popular music from Acapulco, Mexico.La100: Rock from Argentina.Notes in Spanish: Tips about Spain, news, conversation and all the cool words they never teach you in class.M80 Radio: Classic rock from Madrid.Mitre: Variety of programming from Argentina.RAC105: International rock and pop from Spain. The home page is in Catalan, but if youre adept at reading Spanish you can probably comprehend most of it.Metro951: Self-described as the most popular radio, from Argentina.Radio Bilingà ¼e: Public radio-type progra mming from the United States. Radio Isla: Talk shows and more, from Puerto Rico.Radio Jai: Catering to Argentinas Jewish community with a mix of programming.Radio Progreso: Music, news and a bit of propaganda from Cuba.RTVE: This network from Spain provides a choice of six channels streamed over the Internet.Terra Radios: Talk, music and sports are featured on stations from Guatemala.Yahoo Music: About a dozen music stations feature Spanish music of various genres including rock, rap, reggaeton, pop, tejano, and jazz.

CASE STUDY tree Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

CASE STUDY tree - Essay Example It will also help Joan overcome the exceptional situation she is put in. There are various vital points that Joan needs to establish in order to justify her decision to follow the recommendation made by one of her officers that the 16-year-old mentally retarded boy should be provided with a community based treatment. She has to prove all her arguments valid to the reporter and therefore the following points may be put across in justification of the decision. May go about finding fault with the decision taken and rearrange the entire policy in a way that an experienced and more efficient officer is given the responsibility of the entire activity regarding the matter wherein he plays a key role. Although all these are possibilities, the chief probation officer should take the most innovative and judicious steps to see the plans of Joan are carried forward and realized as such an action alone could help the specific case to be resolved. Therefore, he needs to act with extra maturity and consciousness. The recommendation made by the probation officer in relation to the specific case of the 16-year-old child may be criticized on various levels. However, when the facts about the specific case are considered, these criticisms prove to be without any room. There is no situation in which the officer is making an escape from the responsibility. Many often the longevity of probation officers is treated as reason for stress and/or burnout and they â€Å"are more likely to leave the position or try to avoid additional work.† (Peak, 2001). Conversely, the recommendation of the officer is not based on any such reasons. It is a correct recommendation to make considering the given facts. It is particularly notable that the recommendation and the decision with regard to the specific case must be followed through and if any type of

The member of the wedding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The member of the wedding - Essay Example Jasmine and proceeds to try grown up things, like going to a bar and drinking, making a date with a much older military man, and dresses nicely with perfume. It is noticeable that both of these personas – Frankie and F. Jasmine – have the same obsession, which is to leave the town. In the end, Frankie seems to settle into her own identity of who she is in that moment, which is neither a boy, a woman, nor an adult, but is, in fact, an adolescent girl and it is only then that Frankie stops obsessing about leaving the town and settles into the normal life of schoolwork and hanging out with a best friend. Frankie Addams, while ostensibly a tomboy is also confused, as she is perched on the boundaries of childhood and adulthood, as well as straddling the lines between masculinity and femininity, while being subjected to sexuality that is presumably beyond her tender years. The masculine/feminine dichotomy is shown by the fact that Frankie has a boy’s name, and is, by all accounts, a tomboy, yet also puts on Sweet Serenade perfume (White, 1985, p. 89). In one scene, Frankie is cussing like a man, and threatening to shoot every person who said that she â€Å"smelled bad† with a pistol, then John Henry repeats that Frankie smelled like â€Å"a hundred flowers† because of her perfume (McCullers, 1946, pp. 610-611). The feminine side is further shown when Frankie dreams about changing her name to F. Jasmine Addams (McCullers, 1946, p. 616), although this name is still a blend of the masculine and feminine. The Jasmine part is definitively feminine. Yet calling herself à ¢â‚¬Å"F. Jasmine Addams† denotes a certain sound of masculinity. According to Groba (1994), in quoting Simon de Beauvoir, this is to be expected when young girls who rebel against society and refuses to accept the roles that others have thrust upon her, yet does not have the courage to completely repudiate the roles. This leads the young girl to either take flight from reality, as

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Essay Example for Free

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Essay The two short stories I am going to be comparing are The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Young Goodman Brown. At first, these two stories might seem very different but they many similar themes. Both stories have the main character hallucinating about different situations. In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Walter Mitty wishes to hallucinate to escape reality and be part of an unreal world. In Young Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown, the main character was forced into seeing something not though of as being real by a stranger he met in the middle of the woods. Another similarity between both stories was that the main characters in both the stories had spouses who affected them throughout their lives. The most important reason that I will be comparing both these stories is because they both follow a general plot, leaving the main character very unhappy at the end. In Young Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown leaves his wife and heads for the village. There, he meets a devil figure and they both continue the journey. Goodman Brown does get a feeling of turning around and heading back home, but keeps going after seeing some of his townspeople in the woods. After getting to a secluded spot, he sees that most of the townspeople are also going to a meeting to crossover to the evil side. Goodman then sees his wife among the crowd and screams her name out and tries to tell her to look towards heaven and resist the evil. As he screams that statement to his wife, Faith, everything around him goes away and hes in the forest all by himself. He wonders if what happened was a dream or a reality. He thinks that what he saw was not a dream and lives his life from that point onwards thinking it was real. Walter Mitty hallucinates in a different way in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Having a dominating wife who never lets him as he pleases, he escapes his existing life daydreaming about adventures. If daydreaming were an illness, his would be diagnosed as life threatening. It was so serious that if he were to pass a hospital, he would start imagining being a very famous surgeon practicing an extremely complicated procedure. His unrealistic experiences ranged from being a commanding officer on a ship in bad weather, to a famous trial lawyer, as well as a courageous member in the armed forces. In the time range of dropping his wife to the hairdresser to meeting up with her when she was done, he had gone through four different illusions. The hallucinations between both the characters are very different. Walter Mitty knows that what he experiences are daydreams and never real, but he is not bothered because he is very content with escaping his current life. He also has short dreams which most of the time never make it to a conclusion. On the other hand, Goodman Brown didnt even know if what he had experienced in the forest was real or a bad dream. However, being so confused, he took it as not being a dream and went on with his life. Logically speaking, it was most likely a dream, and the length of his dream was a lot longer that Walters. He also didnt enjoy the pleasure of that kind of a dream, because he felt very uncomfortable when he realized that he was in the forest by himself after what he had witnessed. He also was not able to finish his hallucination completely, leaving it up to question if Faith, his wife ever did cross and join the evil.

Celie :: essays research papers

Celie   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In section three of The Color Purple, the main character is Celie. In this section she gains a little more control over her life, begins to express herself through creativity and also becomes more free and independent. Her decision to leave with Shug to go to Tennessee and begin her own pants business is good examples of these things. This section shows how much progress she has made in herself. We learn about Celie through different situations and dialogues she has throughout this section.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On page 183, Celie decides to leave with Shug Avery to go back to her home in Tennessee. Previously in one of the lost letters from her sister Nettie in Africa, she read that her Pa wasn’t really her Pa at all. All of a sudden her world is shook when she discovers the real truth about her parents. â€Å"My daddy lynch. My momma crazy. All my little half brothers and sisters no kin to me. My children not my sister or brother. Pa ain’t Pa (Walker 183).† She realizes that everything she was told since she was a child was a lie and decides to just get away from it all with Shug. No one was there to hold her back. In leaving, she is gaining more control of her life. She is moving on to do better things for herself for once in her life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also in this section, Celie begins her own pants business. Making these pants is more than just simply constructing pieces of fabric together for her. For Celie it’s a new road to her own freedom and independence. We learn through her that she has a creative flair and is actually quite good at making theses pants. She uses her creative abilities to make a living. We see that she begins to that she begins to feel that she has more of a purpose. She isn’t so dependent on Shug as she used to be and learns to depend more on herself. Shug says to Celie at the end of this section, â€Å"You making your living. Celie, she say, Girl, you on your way (Walker 221).† We can obviously see that she definitely is on her way to being more self-reliant and independent.

A Nation of Wimps Essay

A Nation Of Wimps Parents are going to extreme lengths to take the bumps out of life for their children. However, that has the net effect of making kids more fragile, and that may be why they’re braking down so easily. People learn through experience, and through failure they learn how to cope with things later on in life, themselves. And whether we realize that or not, this nation is turning out to be producing more and more wimps. The Fragility Factor College is one of the biggest fragility factors. It leads to psychological distress, binge drinking, substance abuse, self-mutilation, etc. Relationship problems don’t go away, anorexia and bulimia keep on coming. Welcome to the Hothouse Parents are overprotecting their children, they are intruding too much into their lives. They started to call colleges and asking about their grades. American parents today expect their children to be perfect, and that puts to much pressure on them. Arrivederci, Playtime Children don’t play enough these days. Over 40, 000 schools in the U. S. don’t have recess anymore. Commercialization of children’s play leads to more stressed out children. Plays develops cognitive thinking, and is important for normal development of children. The Eternal Umbilicus Cellphones today make children addictive to their parents. Students are typically in contact with their parents several times a day, which makes them constantly homesick, and keeps them away from learning how to manage for themselves. All that is the pathway to depression, it weakens self-regulation, it influences relationships and friendships, and make children become more frustrated and impatient which then leads to the fail of relationships and even greater depression. From Scrutiny to Anxiety†¦ and Beyond What creates anxious children is parents hovering and protecting them from stressful experiences. This group of children experiences stress in situations most kids find unthreatening. They grow up shrinking from social contact, and lack confidence. They are later on easily influenced by others. Overparenting creates lifelong vulnerability to anxiety and depression. Endless Adolescence Adulthood no longer begins after adolescence ends. Kids are starting to extend childhood, because they are making up for the things they weren’t supposed to do as children, and are creating a whole new stage called the â€Å"early adulthood. † Boom Boom Boomerang Play is connected to the making of healthy relationships later on in life. The less time children spend in play, the less socially competent they become. Through play we learn how to read feelings and negotiate conflicts. Taking the play out of childhood is bound to create development lags. Just Whose Shark Tank Is It Anyway? Competition has become a stressful and significant part of our everyday lives. Parents imagine that their children must be swimming in a big shark tank. Kids today are more ambivalent about the college race than are parents. Nowadays, parents are actually locking their kids into fragility, and by that the kids never learn how to cope with anxiety. Putting Worry in its Place Parents need to abandon the idea of perfection and give up some the invasive control. Children are far less integrated into adult society than they used to be, and by that parents have introduced a tendency to assume that children can’t manage difficult situations. Parents need to remember that one of the goals of higher educations is developing the capacity of thinking for ourselves. Conclusion Indeed parents today have became overprotective of their children, they overshelter them and overpraise them. They cheat for their children by making up fake diseases and getting them into colleges by relations. All of that is creating a whole different type of kids, that aren’t individuals anymore, we are creating the nation of kinds depending on their parents, a nation of wimps,