DEAR CRABBIT: Can I pitch an unfinished book to an agent?

Thanks for your questions for Dear Crabbit so far. Keep them coming! For guidelines, see the Dear Crabbit page above.
You asked:
"I have read your book (AKA my bible) Write to be Published and I have one small query: I understand why it is wrong to send a publisher an unfinished book (i.e. you are offering them a product, which may never get off the drawing board and therefore potentially

Game Booster 3.5 BETA

Game Booster adalah sebuah software gratis yang digunakan untuk meningkatkan performa komputer anda saat memainkan game ataupun sesuai keperluan anda. Software ini menutup aplikasi dan services yang tidak diperlukan pada saat bermain game.

Game Booster 3.5 Beta memiliki 4 menu, yaitu Boost/GameBox, Diagnose, Tools dan FPS.

• Tombol Start Boost digunakan untuk menambah performa komputer sebelum anda memilih game yang akan dimainkan, untuk mengembalikan pada kondisi semula anda harus klik tombol restore.
• Sedangkan GameBox, ketika anda memilih game yang akan dimainkan, performa komputernya dinaikkan terlebih dahulu secara otomatis, dan ketika anda keluar dari game, performa akan kembali seperti semula secara otomatis pula.
• Diagnose untuk mendiagnosa semua informasi di komputer anda.
• Tools, di dalam tools sendiri ada tiga submenu: Tweaks untuk mengcustom menu yang akan dioptimisasi. Defrag untuk  merefresh sistem untuk menampilkan semua game yang terinstall di komputer anda. Drivers untuk mengecek driver versi terbaru untuk hardware komputer anda.
• FPS untuk benchmarking, lalu ada video capture dan screenshoot yang aktif apabila anda menekan hotkeynya

Download : 

What happens when you put fresh fruit & veg in local corner shops?

Posted by Jean Adams

This post is about a research paper that is published on-line today. Writing about research findings is a new venture for the Fuse Blog. Let us know if you want to see more results write-ups like this by leaving a comment below, or tweeting me @jeanmadams

In 2008, the Department of Health in England decided that one way to get people to eat more fruit and veg was to make it more readily available in local, corner shops.

The rationale was fairly simple – corner shops are less likely to sell fruit and veg; people who live in poorer neighbourhoods are less likely to have cars; thus they probably shop more at local corner shops and so probably have less opportunities for buying fruit and veg than people who have a car and use it to shop at a big supermarket.

Simple, but perhaps flawed. But let’s not talk about that for now. 

The corner store initiative was part of the all-singing-all-dancing Change4Life campaign. In our region, the North East, 17 stores were selected for an intensive intervention that involved part funding for a brand new chiller cabinet, a partial store re-fit to allow fruit and veg to be displayed more prominently, a funky little fruit and veg stand on wheels, and lots of Change4Life branded ‘merch’ – posters, stickers, shelf strips, you name it. A further 70 stores got just the stand and the merch. All stores were given various written materials to help them make more of fruit and veg.

Launch of a new Change4Life store in Portsmouth

There was a lot of publicity around the intervention and lots of shops got in their local papers. Which was great. But the point was to encourage people to eat more fruit and veg. Did it?

We spent a lot of time and effort trying to get funding to do a full-on outcome evaluation of this intervention. Sadly, although we did initially get awarded funding, it was withdrawn at the last moment (a story for a different post). Instead we did a small, process evaluation. Around two years after initial implementation, we looked at whether the stores were still using the intervention materials. We also asked 10 people who had been involved in the intervention in different capacities how it had gone.

What we found was that less than half of the stores were still using the campaign materials – apart from the funded chillers, which were all still in place. Shopkeepers told us that the merch just didn’t last very long and they didn’t know how to get replacements. They also thought that the campaign had been intended as a short-term initiative and were a bit surprised that we were still interested two years on.

Lots of shopkeepers and managers complained about a lack of communication with the intervention team. They didn’t have a clear idea what the intervention was aiming to do, or how to keep it going after the initial fanfare of its launch. DH was aware of this, and they tried to maintain the momentum by linking shops to local health workers and primary schools in the hope that schools and other community organisations might choose to buy their fruit and veg from Change4Life stores. Unfortunately, this never really worked and there were some tensions between the ultimate commercial aims of shops and health promotion aims of health workers.

As we weren’t able to collect any information on the impact of the intervention on consumption of fruit and veg amongst local people, we can’t ever say for sure whether or not the campaign was effective. But our results do suggest that it was unlikely to have had any sustained impact.

Sadly, lots of enthusiasm and funding seems to have got bogged down by poor communication and a focus on style over substance. The lessons are wide reaching, but perhaps not new.

You can read the full results here.

IBD: Manusia dan Harapan

Nama : Nadhofa Walannae

NPM : 55411067

Kelas : 1IA03

Manusia dan Harapan

Harapan

Setiap manusia mempunyai harapan. Manusia yang tanpa harapan berarti manusia itu mati dalam hidup. Orang yang akan meninggal sekalipun mempunyai harapan, biasanya berupa pesan-pesan kepada ahli warisnya. Harapan bergantung paa pengetahuan, pengalaman, lingkungan hidup dan kemampuan masing-masing. Berhasil atau tidaknya suatu harapan tergantung  pada usaha orang yang mempunyai harapan. Harapan harus berdasarkan kepercayaan, baik kepercayaan pada diri sendiri, maupun kepercayaan kepada Tuhan yang maha esa. Agar harapan terwujud, maka perlu usaha dengan sungguh-sungguh. Bila dibandingkan dengan cita-cita, maka harapan mengandung pengertian tidak terlalu muluk, sedangkan cita-cita pada umumnya perlu setinggi bintar. Antara harapan dan cita-cita terdapat persamaan yaitu : keduanya menyangkut masa depan karena belum terwujud, pada umumnya dengan cita-cita maupun harapan orang menginginkan hal yang lebih baik atau meningkat.

Menurut kodratnya manusia itu adalah mahluk sosial. Setiap lahir ke dunia langsung disambut dalam suatu pergaulan hidup, yakni ditengah suatu keluarga dan anggota masyarakat lainnya. Ada dua hal yang mendorong manusia hidup dalam pergaulan manusia lain yaitu dorongan kodrat dan dorongan kebutuhan hidup.

Menurut Maslow sesuai dengan kodrat dan dorongan kebutuhan hidup itu maka manusia mempunyai harapan. Pada hakekatnya harapan itu adalah keinginan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan hidupnya. Sesuai dengan kodratnya harapan manusia atau kebutuhan manusia itu adalah :

1.    kelangsugnan hidup

2.    keamanan

3.    hak dan kewajiban mencintai dan dicintai

4.    diakui lingkungan

5.    perwujudan cita-cita

Kepercayaan

Kepercayaan berasal dari kata percaya artinya mengakui atau meyakini akan kebenaran. Kepercayaan adalah hal-hal yang berhubungan dengan pengakuan atau keyakinan akan kebenaran. Dasar kepercayaan itu adalah kebenaran. Kebenaran atau benar amat penting bagi manusia. Setiap orang mendambakannya, karena ia mempunyai arti khusus bagi hidupnya. Ia merupakan focus dari segala pikiran, sikap dan perasaan. Dalam tingkah laku, perbuatan manusia selalu hati-hati agar mereka tidak menyimpang dari kebenaran. Manusia sadar bahwa ketidak benaran dalam bertindak, berucap dapat mencemarkan atau menjatuhkan namanya.

Dr Yuyun suriasumantri dalam bukunya filsafat ilmu mengemukakan tiga teori tentang kebenaran :

1.    teori koherensi; suatu pernyataan dianggap benar bila pernyataan itu bersifat koheren atau konsisten dengan pernyataan – pernyataan sebelumnya yang dianggap benar. Misalnya setiap manusia pasti mati. Paul manusia. Paul pasti mati.

2.   teori korespondensi’ teori yang menyatakan bahwa suatu pernyataan benar bila materi pengetahuan yang dikandung penyataan itu berkorespondesni (berhubungan dengan) obyek yagn dituju oleh pernyataan tersebut.

3.   teori pragmatis’ Kebenaran suatu pernyataan diukur dengan criteria apakah pernyataan tersebut bersifat fungsional dalam kehidupan praktis.

Dasar kepercayaan adalah kebenaran, sumber kebenaran adalah manusia. Kepercayaan itu dapat dibedakan atas :

1.     kepercayaan pada diri sendiri

2.     kepercayaan padaorang lain

3.     kepercayaan pada pemerintah

4.     kepercayaan pada Tuhan

Sumber: Seri Diktat Kuliah MKDU: Ilmu Budaya Dasar karya Widyo Nugroho dan Achmad Muchji, Universitas Gunadarma

IBD: Manusia dan Kegelisahan

Nama : Nadhofa Walannae

NPM : 55411067

Kelas : 1IA03

Manusia dan Kegelisahan

Pengertian Kegelisahan

Kegelisahan berasal dari kata gelisah, yang berarti tidak tenteram hatinya, selalu merasa kwatir tidak tenang, tidak sabar, cemas. Sehingga kegelisahan merupakan hal yang menggambarkan seseorang tidak tentram hati maupun perbuatannya, merasa kwatir, tidak tenang dalam tingkah lakunya, tidak sabar ataupun dalam kecemasan. Kegelisahan hanya dapat diketahui dari gejala tingkah laku atau gerak gerik seseorang dalam situai tertentu. Kegelisahan merupakan salah satu ekspresi kecemasan. Karena itu dalam pengertian sehari-hari kegelisahan juga diartikan kecemasan, kekwatiran ataupun ketakutan. Masalh kecemasan atau kegelisahan berkaitan juga dengan masalah frustasi, yang secara definisi dapat disebutkan, bahwa seseorang mengalami frustasi karena pa yang diinginkan tidak tercapai. Sigmund Freud ahli psikoanalisa berpendapat, bahwa ada tiga macam kecemasan yang menimpa manusia yaitu kecemasan kenyataan (obyektif), kecemasan neorotik dan kecemasan moril.

Kecemasan obyektifadalah suatu pengalaman perasaan sebagai akibat pengamatan atau suatu bahaya dalam dunia luar. Bahaya adalah sikap keadaan dalam lingkungan seseorang yang mengancam utnuk mencelakakannya. Pengalaman bahaya dan timbulnya kecemasan mungkin dari sifat pembawaan, dalam arti kata, bahwa seseorang mewarisi kecenderungan untuk menjadia takut kalau ia berada dekat dengan benda-benda tertentu dalam keadaan tertentu dari lingkungan..

Kecemasan neorotistimbul karena pengamatan tentang bahaya dari naluriah Menurut Sigmund Freud kecemasan ini dibagi tiga macam yakni; kecemasan yang timbul karena penyesuaian diri dengan lingkungan, bentuk ketakutan yang irasional (phobia) dan rasa takut lain karena gugup, gagap dan sebaganya.

Kecemasan morildisebabkan karena pribadi seseorang. Tiap pribadi memiliki bermacam=macam emosi atnra lain: isri, dengki, marah, gelisah, cinta, rasa kurang. Semua itu merupakan sebagian dari pernyataan individu secara keseluruhan berdasarkan konsep yang kurang sehat. Sikap seperti itu sering membuat orang merasa kwatir, cemas, takut gelisah dan  putus asa.

Bila dikaji sebab-sebab orang gelisah adalah karena hakekatnya orang takut kehilangan hak-haknya. Hal itu adalah akibat dari suatu ancaman, baik ancaman dari dalam maupun dari luar. Mengatasi kegelisahan ini pertama-tama dimulai dari diri kita sendiri, yaitu kita harus bersikap tenang. Dengan sikap tenang kita dapat berpikir tenang, sehingga segala kesulitan dapat kita atasi.

Keterasingan

Keterasingan berasal dari kata terasing, dan kata itu adalah dari kata dasar asing. Kata asing berarti sendiri, tidak dikenal, sehingga kata terasing berarti, tersisihkan dari pergaulan, terpisahkan dari yang lain, atau terpencil. Jadi kata terasing berarti hal-hal yang berkenaan dengan tersisihkan dari pegaulan, terpencil atau terpisah dari yang lain. Keterasingan adalah bagian hidup manusia. Sebentar atau lama, orang pernah mengalami hidup dalam keterasingan sudah tentu dengan sebab dan kadar yang berbeda satu sama lain. Yang menyebabkan orang berada dalam keterasingan ialah perilakunya yang tidak dapat diterima atau tidak dapat dibenarkan oleh masyarakat, atau kekurangan yang aa pada diri seseorang, sehingga ia tida dapat  atau sulit menyesuaikan diri dalam masyarakat.

Kesepian

Kesepian berasal dari kata sepi yang berarti sunyi atau lengang, sehingga kata kesepian berarti merasa sunyi atau lengang, tidak berteman. Setiap orang pernah mengalami kesepian, karena kesepian bagian hidup manusia. Lama rasa sepi itu bergangung pada mental orang dan kasus penyebabnya. Bermacam sebab terjadinya kesepian, frustasi dapat mengakibatkan kesepian. Jadi kesepian  itu akibat dari keterasingan. Keterasingan akibat sikap sombong, angkuh, kaku, keras kepala, sehingga dijauhi teman-teman sepergaulannya.

Ketidakpastian

Ketidak pastian berasal dari kata tidak pasti artinya tidak  menentu, tidak dapat ditentukan, tidak tahu, tanpa arah yang jelas, tanpa asal-usul yang jelas. Ketidak pastian artinya keadaan yang pasti, tidak tentu, tidak dapat ditentukan, tidak tahu, keadaan tanpa arah yang jelas, keadaan tanpa asal-usul yang jelas itu semua adalah akibat pikirannya tidak konsentrasi. Ketidak konsentrasian disebabkan oleh berbagai sebab, yang jelas pikirannya kacau. Beberapa sebab orang tak dapat berpikir dengan tidak pasti ialah :

1. obsesi
2. phobia
3. kompulasi
4. hysteria
5. delusi
6. halusinasi
7. keadaan emosi

Untuk dapat menyembuhkan keadaan itu bergantung pada mental si penderita. Andaikata penyebabnya sudah diketahui, kemungkinan juga tidak dapat sembuh. Bila hal itu terjadi, maka jalan yang paling baik bagi penderita diajak pergi sendiri ke psikolog.

Sumber: Seri Diktat Kuliah MKDU: Ilmu Budaya Dasar karya Widyo Nugroho dan Achmad Muchji, Universitas Gunadarma

IBD: Manusia dan Tanggung Jawab

Nama : Nadhofa Walannae

NPM : 55411067

Kelas : 1IA03

Manusia dan Tanggung Jawab

Tanggung jawab

Tanggung jawab adalah keadaan wajib menanggung segala sesuatunya. Sehingga

bertanggung jawab adalah kewajiban menanggung, memikul jawab, menanggung segala sesuatunya, atau memberikan jawaban dan menanggung akibatnya. Tanggungjawab adalah kesadaran manusia akan tingkah laku atau perbuatannya yang disengaja maupun yang tidak disengaja. Tanggungjawab juga juga berarti berbuat sebagai perwujudan kesadaran akan kewajibannya. Seseorang mau bertanggungjawab karena ada kesadaran atau keinsafan atau pengertian atas segala perbuatan dan akibatnya dan atas kepentingan pihak lain. Timbulnya tanggungjawab itu karena manusia itu hidup bermasyarakat dan hidup dalam lingkungan alam. Tanggungjawab itu bersifat kodrati, artinya sudah menjadi bagian kehidupan manusia, bahwa setiap manusia pasti dibebani dengan tanggungjawab. Apabila ia tidak mau bertanggungjawab, maka akan ada pihal lain yang memaksa tanggungjawab itu. Dengan demikian tanggungjawab itu dapat dilihat dari dua sisi, yaitu dari sisi pihak yang berbuat dan dari sisi kepentingan pihak lain. Dari sisi pembuat ia harus menyadari akibat perbuatannya itu, dengan demikian ia sendiri pula yang harus memulihkan ke dalam keadaan baik. Daari sisi pihak lain, apabila si pembuat tidak mau bertanggungjawab, pihak lain yang akan memulihkan baik dengan cara individual maupun dengan cara masyarakat.

            Apabila dikaji, tanggungjawab itu adalah kewajiban atau beban yang harus dipikul atau dipenuhi sebagai akibat dari pebuatan pihak yang berbuat, atau sebagai akibat dari perbuatan pihak lain, atau sebagai pengabdian pada pihak lain. Kewajiban atau beban itu ditujukan untuk kebaikan pihak yang berbuat sendiri atau pihak lain dengan keseimbangan, keserasian keselarasan antara sesama manusia, antara  manusia dan lingkungan, antara manusia dan Tuhan selalu dipelihara dengan baik. Tanggungjawab itu cirri manusia beradab (berbudaya). Manusia merasa bertanggungjawab karena ia menyadari akibat baik atau buruk perbuatannya itu, dan menyadari pula bahwa pihak lain memerlukan pengabdian atau pengorbanannya. Untuk memperoleh atau meningkatkan kesadaan bertanggungjawab perlu ditempuh usaha melalui pendidikan, penyuluhan, keteladanan, dan takwa terhadap Tuhan.

Macam-macam Tanggungjawab :

1. Tanggungjawab terhadap diri sendiri
2. Tanggungjawab terhadap Keluarga
3. Tanggungjawab terhadap  masyarakat
4. Tanggungjawab terhadap bangsa / negara
5. Tanggungjawab terhadap Tuhan

Pengabdian dan Pengorbanan

Wujud tanggungjawab juga berupa pengabdian dan pengorbanan. Pengabdian dan pegorbanan adalah perbuatan baik untuk kepentingan manusia itu sendiri. Pengabdian adalah perbuatan baik yang berupa pikiran, pendapat ataupun tenaga sebagai perwujudan kesetiaan, cinta kasih sayang, norma, atau satu ikatan dari semua itu dilakukan dengan ikhlas. Pengabdian itu pada hakekatnya adalah rasa tanggungjaab. Apabila orang bekerja keras sehari penuh untuk mencapai kebutuhan, hal itu berarti mengabdi keapada keluarga.  Manusia tidak ada dengan sendirinya, tetapi merupakan mahluk ciptaan Tuhan. Sebagai ciptaan Tuhan manusia wajib mengabdi kepada Tuhan. Pengabdian berarti penyerahan diri sepenuhnya kepada uhan, dan merupakan perwujudan tanggungjawab kepad Tuhan.

Pengorbanan berasal dari kata korban atau kurban yang berarti persembahan, sehingga pengorbanan berarati pemberian untuk menyatakan kebaktian. Dengan demikian pengorbanan yang bersifat kebaktian itu mengandung keikhalasan yangtidak menganadung pamrih. Suatu pemberian yang didasarkan atas kesadaran moral yang tulus ikhlas semata-mata. Perbedaan antara pengabdian dan pengorbanan tidak begitu jelas. Karena adanya pengabdian tentu ada pengorbanan. Antara sesame kawan sulit dikatakan pengabdian karena kata pengabdian mengandung arti lebih rendah tingkatannya, tetapi untuk kata pengorbanan dapat juga diterapkan kepaa sesame teman..

Pengorbanan merupakan akibat dari pengabdian. Pengorbanan dapat berupa harta benda, pikiran dan perasaan, bahkan dapat juga berupa jiwanya. Pengorbanan diserahkan secara ikhlas tanpa pamrih, tanpa ada perjanjian, tanpa ada transaksi, kapan sja diperlukan. Pengabdian lebih banyak menunjuk pada perbuatan sedangkan pengorbanan lebih banyak menunjuk pada pemberian sesuatu misalnya berupa pikiran, perasaan, tenaga, biaya. Dalam pengabdian selalu dituntut pengorbanan, tetapi pengorbanan belum tentu menuntut pengabdian.

Sumber: Seri Diktat Kuliah MKDU: Ilmu Budaya Dasar karya Widyo Nugroho dan Achmad Muchji, Universitas Gunadarma

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Trainer

Ya, ini dia solusi bagi anda yang lelah / frustasi karena selalu kalah dalam game need for speed hot pursuit!

Software ini berupa trainer yang jika diaktifkan dengan menekan tombol-tombol tertentu akan memberikan semacam cheat terhadap game need for speed hot pursuit ini, berikut penjelasan trainernya:

Langkah pertama download dulu trainernya yang bisa di download di:

diekstrak dahulu dari 7z nya, lalu letakan file exe nya sesuai keinginan anda.

Kedua klik dua kali pada Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Trainer.exe maka akan muncul seperti gambar ini

by KelSat

Ketiga buka game Need for Speed Hot Pursuit yang telah diinstal di komputer anda, tunggu loading selesai dan tampil map Seacrest Country, tekan tombol-tombol ini untuk mengaktifkan cheat nya:

- Numpad 1 untuk nyawa tidak terbatas

- Numpad 3 untuk Nitro tidak terbaras

- Numpad 5 untuk Membuka semua kendaraan

- Numpad 7 untuk menghilangkan waktu penalti

- Numpad 9 untuk membekukan musuh

- Numpad - untuk memberhentikan mobil

- Numpad + untuk super boost

- F1 untuk mendapatkan bounty pada saat balapan

- F2 untuk menjadikan mobil musuh menjadi lemah

- F3 untuk bounty total 1 juta

- F4 untuk tidak pernah crash/tabrakan

- END untuk memberhentikan timer

- INSERT untuk trap skill 99 point

- HOME untuk membuka semua skill dan cooldown

Tapi yang saya sarankan lebih baik yang diaktifkan yaitu tombol:

numpad 1, numpad 3, numpad 7, numpad +, END dan INSERT saja agar tidak HANG pada saat bermain game ini.

Oke selamat mencoba, dan resiko ditanggung oleh diri sendiri..

Can banking help fight health inequalities?

Guest post by Cam Donaldson

In 2010, Glasgow Caledonian University established the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health. Muhammad Yunus is the 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate, awarded jointly with Grameen Bank for their efforts to relieve poverty, largely through promulgating microcredit. Grameen - 97% owned by its borrowers - issues small collateral-free loans, often for enterprise, to millions of the poorest people in Bangladesh and in several other countries.

Yunus does not fund our Centre. Why, then, is a UK University working with him, and what has microcredit got to do with health? Let me try to explain by bringing together three strands of thought.

Cam, with Muhammad Yunus and GCU Principal Pamela Gillies

First, on health, a more explicit strategy of inclusion combined with fair loan provision - essentially what Grameen promote - could facilitate health improvement. Gaps in life expectancy between the richest and poorest areas of Glasgow have grown to 28 years. We already have a world class NHS, so solutions do not lie there. Even public health policy seems more like “products chasing diseases”. We identify ‘risk factors’ and then target products (mainly drugs) at them. Either that or we tell people to exercise more, eat less fatty foods, give up smoking and drink less. But, can health be ‘compartmentalised’ like this? Further away from diseases and risk factors are the root causes - it is low income, societal exclusion and hopelessness that kill people. Without working on the ‘causes of the causes’ more-conventional attempts at public health improvement will have limited impact.

Second, on banking, the sector has been bolstered by national bailouts and quantitative easing. The bonus culture continues. Banks pander to middle class ‘trendies’ with more flexible opening hours (a 1980s phenomenon on which they had cut back!) and the entry of flash providers like Metro and Virgin. As we argue whether regulation goes far enough, the poorest are largely ignored – many trapped on benefits, which, despite being squeezed, people still cannot get off because, whilst raking in billions from QE, banks will not go near such people or their business ideas.

Government matches this lack of support, not allowing the welfare system to become a facilitator. They could do this by permitting schemes allowing income from welfare to taper off gradually whilst that from private sources grows - providing a minimum income overall and a guarantee of a return to welfare if such businesses fail. No less a guarantee than the banks have had, and one with much less risk – if a business is a success, one more person is off welfare and likely creating jobs for others. If it fails, then, at worst, we are merely back where we started, although it is thought that having tried and failed still enhances future job prospects. Money is placed more directly in the hands of those more likely to spend, contributing in a small way to getting the economy moving.

Third, on the ‘Big Society’, implementing some of the above would mean society could truly claim to be big, ensuring enhancement of well-being amongst the worst off. So far, many examples of the Big Society merely show it being captured by the middle class to their own advantage – with many more schemes in affluent as opposed to more-deprived areas, despite notable exceptions.

So here it is. To create a truly Big Society, and enhance the health and well-being of the poor, there is a role for banking. Examples are now spreading to the West – Fair Finance in London, started up by the son of Bangladeshi immigrants, is an excellent case. But we need more and they need more strategic support. Hence, the attempt to bring Yunus’ ideas to the most deprived areas of Scotland and the creation of our research centre to assess its impact. 

If it can be done in Bangladesh, why not here?

DEAR CRABBIT: how long till I can follow up a query?

Hooray! The very first Dear Crabbit post! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, see this post from last week, in which I announced a change of direction for this blog.) From now on, most posts here will answer YOUR questions, in an agony auntish sort of way.So, to kick off, you asked:"I find it so frustrating when submitting work that it takes so long for people to get back to me - if indeed

A non-fiction pitch - Deep Country

Not exactly a pitch paragraph today, but a pitch letter - the covering letter that you'd normally send with your synopsis and sample chapters if fiction, or your proposal+synopsis+sample if non-fiction.


In a minute, you'll read a letter that actually did grab an agent, and then a publishing deal. It's also an example of an imperfect letter, and an illustration of the truth that if your idea

How can I help you help me?

Posted by Dorothy Newbury-Birch

I’ve never failed to get practitioners on board for a research project.

I’m not bragging (oh okay I am a bit). Some of the projects have been really difficult environments to do research: Accident and Emergency Departments, prisons, probation, magistrates courts, crown courts, youth offending teams, police stations, schools, GP surgeries. But I see people struggling with engaging practitioners and I wonder why. It’s by no means easy – actually getting someone to answer the phone or respond to your email can be really difficult but there are ways around that. Don’t believe what people say about it being more difficult elsewhere in England either – we’re often told that its much harder in London to engage but I don't agree: it is harder to get around London for meetings, but not harder to engage. I’ve done it – I know!

So what are my tips for success in engaging practitioners?

1. Send an email followed up by a telephone call about a week later where you tell them you’re following up on your email will probably get you somewhere. If you are a Dr. or working with a Dr. saying this helps.

2. Use current contacts to help you – however remember if you say that ‘Dorothy’ suggested I call you that you are using my reputation, so use it wisely.

3. When arranging to meet, ask what suits them best. Making it clear that you will come to them,  out of hours if necessary, usually works.

4. NEVER say you want to arrange a meeting (even though you do). Always say something like, ‘have you got time for a coffee and a chat about some research I’m working on which I think you would be really interested in’.

5. When you do meet (for a coffee!) find out very quickly if they are the right person to talk to about the research – they may be the PI but it may be someone else that you will be liaising with. Get the first person to introduce you to the next person.

6. Don’t go the meeting (coffee) with a huge list of things you need them to do. Tell them about the research and go through the main things – the list should come later (although you should never have too long a list).

7. When you get to meet the team (there is usually a team) my years of research experience tell me that ONLY providing blueberry muffins works. For some reason, chocolate ones don’t work the same.

8. Offer solutions to problems. In one trial I worked on with probation where I wanted them to fax me something each day, they said that they didn’t have time. So I offered to set the fax up to send me the list at the same time that they HAD to send it to someone else.

9. Listen to their solutions. They know their systems much better than you.

10. Keep them updated with what is going on throughout the research. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT not just for your research project, but for others that may come after.

11. Ok, I know I have 11 tips and 10 sounds better but this one is important. Involve the people you’re working with in the design, carrying out and the dissemination of the work (if they want to) it really makes for much better research.

Pitch paragraph - The Internet Revolutionary

Before I start my Crabbit Agony Aunt posts on Wednesday (and I already have several questions from you!), I have two pitches to offer you.

Today's is a self-published book from Beryl Kingston, who has previously had many books successfully published. She also has another publishing deal. But today we are looking at the pitch Beryl sent me.

The Internet Revolutionary by Beryl Kingston - 

This blog it is a-changing

Some recent thoughts and happenings have come together to produce a conclusion. And the conclusion affects the fundamental nature and perhaps existence of this blog. Perhaps the blog is having an existential crisis.

Thoughts and happenings

I've been doing this for three and a half years. There are over 600 posts, a million words etc etc. 
I've probably said it all. 
I'm feeling stale. Less

Audiobooks

One of my fondest memories of my time in legacy publishing was visiting Brilliance Audio in Michigan and playing a character on my first audiobook, Whiskey Sour.

I love audiobooks. And I've always maintained the belief that their popularity was directly proportional to their price--it isn't unusual for audiobooks for be twice the hardcover price of a book. This high barrier to entry has meant a lot of folks who would enjoy audiobooks (while travelling, commuting, exercising, on vacation, etc.) haven't ever purchased one. For many, audiobooks are a library checkout (or a rental--there used to be audiobook rental stores). That's a shame, because, like paper and ebooks, I think audiobooks are worth owning.

When I began self-publishing, Brilliance bought 13 of my ebook titles--an unprecedented move and a strong show of faith in my brand. These titles have done well, but even though they were less expensive than my previous titles, I felt the prices were a bit prohibitive.

I recently released my second Timecaster novel, Timecaster Supersymmetry, with the help of my agent acting as an estributor (more on that in a future blog post, but in a nutshell they did everything I needed them to and I'm pleased.) One of the things I spoke with Brilliance about was releasing Supersymmetry as a download for under five bucks.

They went one step better.

Right now, on audible.com, every Joe Konrath Brilliance Audiobook title is $4.95. http://www.audible.com/mt/konrath

Want to try an audiobook but thought they were too pricey? Now is the time to buy one.

I also encourage readers to buy the ebook version of Timecaster Supersymmetry for $3.99. This book was a true labor of love for me, written completely from the heart and without keeping anything reigned in. I had no legacy editor to tell me, "You can't do that." The result is a science-fiction thriller that I am 100% positive no publishing house would ever release in its current uncut form. Sex, violence, bad jokes, dinosaurs, talking fruit, the multiverse, robots, tons of inside jokes and parodies, insane plot twists, several major WTF moments, and a future Jack Daniels fighting zombies. It is seriously crazy, and was so much fun to write I had to see a surgeon to remove the smile on my face when I finished it.

Timecaster hasn't found its audience yet. Penguin gave it a crappy cover and priced the ebook too high ($7.99), among other mistakes. Supersymmetry is so unlike anything else anyone has ever written it is almost unclassifiable, which will no doubt limit early sales. But ebooks are forever, and forever is a long time to find an audience. Maybe it will take years, and that's okay. I have years. And hopefully I'll have the rights back to Timecaster by then (I have world rights and am releasing it soon on Amazon.co.uk among other places) so I can price it to sell.

Please spread the word on the audiobooks, and on Supersymmetry. I'd love to see a future where all audiobook downloads are priced comparably to ebooks, and where authors are free to truly unleash their creativity on readers without having to kow-tow to the narrow-minded sales-driven biases of legacy publishers.

On realist approaches

Posted by Monique Lhussier

Whilst I was originally educated as a scientist (an engineer in biological processes), many years later, I wrote a PhD thesis in… Nomadology.

This is not only about the kind of nomadism that describes the life of Bedouins in North Africa. It’s also about a flexibility of the mind, which allows us to accept that all research paradigms have a point, but rejects the fact that any single one of them could provide answers for everything at all times. The approach is postmodern and offers perspectives that most, at best, consider iconoclastic. It is as far from science as one can go, but I found it liberating. My PhD journey was one of discovery and intellectual indulgence that we rarely have the opportunity to engage in. This, for me, is what working in academia is all about. In fact, my ambition in life is to reach a stage where I am paid to think and do little else…that unlikely dream is what keeps me interested. 

The hampter wheel career stage

After my PhD, I went through a hamster-on-the-wheel stage. Work needed to be done to attract funding, deliver, attract more funding and deliver some more, with little time to build some kind of cumulative knowledge. 

Then, in the past few years I discovered realist approaches (evaluation, synthesis), which are about building theories of understanding. Understanding of how things work, for whom and in what circumstances. The kind of theory that isn’t a million miles away from the realities of life, but explains it in a way we might not have thought about before. It talks about the way in which contexts interact with underlying mechanisms to produce favourable outcomes. 

I recently attended a seminar on realist approaches, where the presenter illustrated this beautifully. Imagine a tennis ball in a hand. On earth, if the hand releases its grip, the ball falls. The action of the opening hand is only the visible part of what made the ball fall, though, as it is gravity that attracts the ball to the floor. Take that hand in outer space and, when it opens, the ball floats. The same visible thing happened (hand opening), but gravity has ceased to work. Take that hand under water and the ball goes upwards, towards the water surface. Gravity still applies, but is outweighed by buoyancy. Take the same action in three different contexts, and it leads to three different outcomes. 

How relevant is this in public health? Unless we can understand what really happens as a result of a public health intervention, we have no chance of replicating its successes and avoiding its pitfalls. I am currently undertaking a realist synthesis. Existing theories provide me with potential ‘menu’ of forces that may, in isolation or combination, explain published outcomes in any given circumstances. We constantly operate a toing and froing from theories to published data, until we feel we have developed a comprehensive enough explanatory framework. This process forces us to step out of our normal modus operandus of understanding (engaging in some kind of nomadism), to develop a new area of knowledge that can readily be translated. 

That knowledge is also beginning to instil conceptual sense in many other things I have done – whilst unfortunately not all I do, I at last am being paid to think my way out of the wheel.

Happy birthday health economics, from public health!

Guest post from Cam Donaldson, Kenny Lawson, Helen Mason and Emma McIntosh

UK Health economics is 40 years old this year. Well, more accurately, the Health Economists’ Study Group is 40 years old. This is to be celebrated in itself – few areas of applied economics have been as successful in terms of sustainability and influence, as well as contributing significantly to our parent discipline of economics.

Ironically, health economics concepts can be traced back to Adam Smith’s pronouncements on public health:

“In some parts of Lancashire it is pretended, I have been told, that bread of oatmeal is a heartier food for labouring people than wheaten bread, and I have frequently heard the same doctrine held in Scotland. I am, however, somewhat doubtful of the truth of it. The common people of Scotland, who are fed with oatmeal, are in general neither so strong nor so handsome as the same rank of people in England, who are fed with wheaten bread. They neither work so well, nor look so well; and as there is not the same difference between people of fashion in the two countries, experience would seem to show that the food of the common people of Scotland is not so suitable to the human constitution as that of their neighbours of the same rank in England.”

We say ‘ironically’ because, despite the claimed successes of health economics and public health, growing health inequalities within nations remains an outstanding societal challenge, and one with significant health economic consequences. The main challenge, of course, is in devising effective and efficient interventions to reduce such inequalities. For health economics, the question then becomes one of whether our tools, which have been so successful to date, are up to the task of economic appraisal of public health interventions.

Indeed the dominant rubric of ‘cost per quality adjusted life year’ seems to present something of a moral dilemma for health economics when it comes to assessing public health interventions. The cost-per-QALY metric has served well the assessment of health technologies, but, amongst others, has the following limitation: all that is measured (and hence valued) are health gains for health care resources expended.

Public health economics: more than just cost-per-QALY?

On the cost side this is limiting, given that many public health interventions will, by their nature, be multi-sectoral, thus requiring more of a ‘societal approach’. Likewise, on the benefit side: although one may wish to assess the output of public health interventions in QALYs, what about other outcomes such as ‘improving life chances’ as well as enhancements in quality of housing and built environment, dignity, esteem and capabilities? Many community-based public health interventions also have spill over effects on their communities which need to be captured. The reductionism of the now-dominant health economics evaluation approach does not match what needs to be measured in evaluating public health. A broader and longer time horizon is required to fully capture all impacts.

This becomes a moral dilemma because, given that so many interventions previously evaluated by bodies such as NICE have been assessed using cost-per-QALY, should we permit others to be appraised via a broader societal approach which now takes these ‘other broader attributes’ into account?

There are two answers to this question. First, if the general scientific principle of working from ‘broad to specific’ were adhered to in health economics, no such moral dilemma would exist. We could start off our evaluations by thinking broadly and then either remain so or work to something more specific (e.g. cost per QALY) depending on the issue at hand. Just because health economics has come at this principle the wrong way round - specific to general - should that be allowed to limit our evaluations by leaving out the measurement of important potential impacts?

Secondly, and following on from this, a broader societal approach actually takes us back to the origins of economic evaluation, which was designed to:

“...identify relevant options for consideration; enumerate all costs and benefits to various relevant social groups; quantify as many as can be sensibly quantified; not assume the unquantified is unimportant; use discounting where relevant to derive present values; use sensitivity analysis to test the response of net benefits to changes in assumptions; and look at the distributive impact of the options”

So, public health has given health economics a birthday present - the opportunity to return to a societal perspective, which many, even in health economics itself, have been advocating for some time.

Hopefully, we can take advantage of this coming together of health economics and public health in measuring and valuing what is relevant and so implementing effective and efficient public health solutions to reduce health inequalities in the communities we all seek to serve.


Cam, Kenny, Helen and Emma run the Economics of Public Health blog, hosted by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health

Pitch para - Your Bed of Heather

A pitch paragraph for you this morning.


YOUR BED OF HEATHER by Lorraine Blencoe  – YA historical fiction


Lorraine’s pitch
paragraph:

This is an emotive and captivating story about a teenage
German boy during World War 2. He can see the world around him changing and one
day his father tells him he must leave their hometown, using false papers, and
disappear. The only way to do this without

Communicating science

Posted by Jean Adams

Not so long ago, I promised never to do another degree again. This came after finally completing an MSc in Psychology and Health in London. For 20 long weeks I caught the early flight to London each Thursday morning, attended lectures for two days, and then struggled to make it back to Newcastle before midnight on Friday evening. I learnt some stuff. I did an interesting dissertation that I’m still pretty pleased with. But overall, the effort was not worth the gain.

But another fellowship application, and another blank ‘training plan’ section, and I found myself thinking that the only thing I needed to do to become an ‘independent researcher’ was a Postgraduate Certificate in Science Communication – at the University of the West of England, in Bristol. A PGCert isn’t a degree anyway. So it’s not like I was breaking a promise.

Love the box hedge logo at UWE Frenchay campus

So let’s be clear: Bristol is further from Newcastle than London is. The travelling was longer, more expensive and more arduous this time; each trip was three days, rather than two. But, I only had to make six trips. And, most importantly, I learnt so much more during those six trips than I did from the 20 I made to London.

In a nutshell, I learnt that it’s all about story. Communicating stuff is about narrative. Communicating difficult science to people who aren’t necessarily that interested in it, is about telling a good story. You catch people’s attention with a compelling tale, then once you’ve got them hooked, you can slip in whatever you want – complex methods, difficult concepts, mashed swede, whatever.

Which is not exactly rocket science. But, you know, the science communication field is full of used-to-be scientists – if they were rocket scientists, they might have stayed in science.

I also got to do some pretty cool other stuff. I edited a (pretend) travel magazine, I set up a blog, I recorded and edited a podcast, I got totally over-excited in the Knit-a-Neuron workshop, I bought a copy of The Sunday Telegraph – for research purposes (which wasn’t that cool, but it’s certainly something I’ve never done before). In order to complete my writing portfolio, I attended a conference and pretended I was journalist, not a researcher. At the end of each day I wrote a 500 word news article on something I had heard. It made the whole experience a whole lot more immediate and exciting.

Which is all well and good, Dr. Adams, and we are certainly trying to encourage our staff to do more in the way of 'public engagement', but not at the expense of research excellence and impact.

I think this stuff is important for research excellence and impact too. Good research papers also tell good stories. Not necessarily in the same way that a newspaper or novel does, but without narrative your paper is just a series of facts (or, if you’re a social scientist, just a series of 'facts'). That's why you remember some research papers so much better than others. Ditto good grant applications, teaching sessions, and conference presentations.

So, I’m thinking about doing a degree in creative writing.

Only joking.

"My novel is YA / cross-over" - GAH

The reason for the GAH is that a novel is hardly ever genuinely cross-over and your claim that it is is rather like the claim in my recent post about age ranges. It induces much eye-rolling from the agent you've submitted to.


Every YA/teenage writer wants her book bought and devoured and loved by adults. Of course. Every adult writer wants the increased sales that would come from having

Pitch para - Witch, Nun, Shaman's Drum

A pitch paragraph for you to consider and comment on.

WITCH, NUN, SHAMAN’S DRUM by Cameron Lawton – fantasy romance, self-published.
I know Cameron via Twitter and she's very serious about getting her work (various genres) published and learning as she goes, so she will welcome your constructive advice. But be gentle - writers bleed!



Cameron’s pitch:
A Pagan re-telling of the Romeo and Juliet

Nothing personal

Posted by Peter Tennant

When I was four feet tall, and each year felt like a Chinese dynasty, certain annual events used to really standout. The first hot day of summer. That strange day when there were flying ants everywhere. And the day when young adults would cry in the streets.

Apparently they had 'A-levels'. Or more accurately, they didn't.

These days, I find it harder to notice anything among the blur. Christmas is a long lunch. Summer a short weekend. But every now and again, grown men and women can still be found crying. The tears are usually less visible. But there’s no doubt about it, Fellowship applications are the A-levels of the early career researcher.

Vladimir Putin, after hearing he didn't get his fellowship

In a recent post, Fuse director Martin White listed personal funding (in particular getting a Fellowship) as one of 10 "easy" steps to achieve "rapid and effective progression" in a research career. It reminded me of one of those weird logic puzzles. If Andrea is lazier than Beth, and Catherine is greedier than Delia, how many cakes will Delia eat before Andrea has woken up? In short, getting a Fellowship may make career progression easier, but it's certainly not easy to get one. At least not in my experience.

At this point, my academic enemy would probably volunteer a simple explanation. Like the overly-blunt PE teacher to the short fat boy (sorry, boy of below average height and above average weight) who doesn't understand why he's so rubbish at the high-jump. But as much as we might blame my own academic physique, the statistics tell a bruising story. For every 5-10 applications, only one will be successful.

On the surface of it, this doesn't sound too bad. At least not in a world where there are hundreds of applications for any one academic position. But firing off a job application and applying for a Fellowship are like chalk and cheese. Occasionally cheese may have a chalky texture. But I guarantee, the chalk and pickle sandwich will never catch on.

To start with, Fellowship applications belong to that special category of things that completely take over your life. Partly because they take up so much time – I reckon I did about 200 hours on my NIHR Fellowship application, not to mention the countless time staring into space 'thinking' about it. And whenever I did stop thinking about it, a friend would usually ask: "Have you heard about your Fellowship yet?".

But it's the personal focus that makes a Fellowship application so uniquely challenging. Yes, the project needs to appear excellent. But so do you. And, sadly, not just in the eyes of your Mum (sorry Mum, but I'm afraid 'having good A-levels' isn't quite enough any more). Which means there's lots to write about how great you are and why you deserve the money more than anyone else. There's no place for modesty. So if I ever come across like a egotistical jerk, I'm just practising for my next application. Honest.

Before finishing, I would like to offer some advice. Some magic formula that boosts those slim chances of acceptance. But as a twice-reject, you might as well ask McDonald's to help solve the obesity epidemic. All I can advise, is you try to keep your emotional distance. They might call it personal funding, but (believe it or not) rejection is nothing personal.

If it ain’t fixed, broker it

Guest post from Oliver Francis, Centre for Diet and Activity Research

Before I applied for my current job, I’d never heard of a Knowledge Broker. I’d always described what I did as ‘communications’. But a year in, this role has confirmed that the word 'communication' doesn’t really cover the challenges of linking public health evidence with policy and practice. In this time I’ve also met a couple of other ‘Brokers’ so I’m now a little less embarrassed about telling people my job title at parties.

As the recent Geek Manifesto reminds us, there are plenty of voices clamouring for more evidence-based policy making, so why does all this knowledge need brokering at all? Surely academics just need to publish their findings and they’ll be automatically taken up by policymakers and practitioners who want to do a good job.

Well, put simply, the world isn’t built like that. There are many barriers within the complex world of public health research translation. To take just one, there are often big gaps between the evidence that individual studies generate and the broader information that policymakers use to make their decisions. There are the practicalities of implementation, there’s money, ideology, politics, public opinion, the media. Or to put it another way: how many purely evidence-based decisions do you make in a day? Thought so.

Research translation: not so simples

One thing academics can do to help is make our research more available and easier to digest. So at CEDAR we’re producing short summaries of our research findings. Hopefully these Evidence Briefings are a step in the right direction. Indeed, these sorts of documents are increasingly common outputs from research groups, in addition to the wider syntheses of evidence coming from organisations such as NICE and (soon) Public Health England.

So, writing engaging and straightforward summaries of emerging, nuanced and complex evidence in no more than two pages… Simples! Well, actually, not so simples. For instance, how do we deal with expressing uncertainty for those who need to make clear cut decisions? How do we produce something that’s short enough to hold attention, but long enough to convey all the important information without a hundred web links? How do we convince a local authority in Newcastle to pay attention to findings generated in Cambridgeshire? People love case studies, but as we know, the plural of anecdote is not data. How can we make sure we tell only ‘true stories’?

Or should we just face up to the fact that there is a limit to what researchers can contribute to this process? Is the job of academic institutions just to produce summaries of the evidence in plain English, and then leave it to others to interpret them in the light of the demands of the so called ‘real world’?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have a look at the first Briefing in the series about physical activity and schools, and take our quick survey to tell us what you think of it. Or post here, or contact me directly if you’ve something to share. Even if you don’t work in this particular area, your views can help us improve future Briefings on other topics, and hopefully make sure that as little as possible gets lots in translation.

Covering letters / query letters / submission letters

*waves to the audience at my Belfast Lit Festival event this evening*

For anyone approaching writing a submission letter for an agent or publisher, here is some basic advice, in advance of my forthcoming book, Dear Agent (scheduled for August 10th and published by the one and only Crabbit Publishing - me).


Many of you have heard this advice over and over again, so I apologise, but you wouldn't

The Slippery Slope

If You Eat Hamburgers, You Will Kill Billions of People

1. Hamburgers are made of cow.

2. Cows produce methane.

3. Methane is a greenhouse gas, 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

4. Methane comprises 14% of the world's greenhouse gas. By 2030 that could increase by 60%.

5. Greenhouse gases lead to global warming.

6. Global warming will lead to the sea level rising.

7. The sea level rising will lead to the ecosystem collapsing.

8. The ecosystem collapsing will kill billions.

9. So stop eating burgers, or you will destroy mankind.

This is a slippery slope argument--a logical fallacy that makes sense taken in small steps, but when all the small steps are put together it leads to a silly, baseless conclusion.

But in the case of this particular slippery slope, there is some merit to it. The world's consumption of beef is leading to more cows, which is leading to more methane. While saying that eating a burger will kill billions is stretching the point to ridiculousness, at least each step taken individually seems plausible.

Right?

That hamburgers are made of cow and cows produce methane is irrefutable. So is the fact that methane is a greenhouse gas, and more potent than CO2. 

Then things get fuzzy. I pulled the 60% number of the net, and I'm sure there is some scientific justification behind it, but we truly won't know for sure until it happens.

We can guess. But we don't know. This isn't a scientific experiment with a control group. Saying the earth's methane output will rise 60% may look good on paper, it it isn't the same thing as saying 2 + 2 = 4, or mix oxygen and hydrogen and you'll get water.

Greenhouse gases do lead to global warming. Venus is a pretty decent example of this. But it can be argued that global warming is cyclical and has little to do with humans, or that it is manageable, or that a hundred other things might happen before sea levels start to rise.

The ecosystem collapsing is a pretty big leap. And if the ecosystem does collapse, how can we be sure billions will die?

That's the problem with guesses. They cause fear, but are unproven until they happen.

But you probably looked at the original statement, that eating burgers will kill billions, and realized it was bullshit from without me dissecting it. Other statements, however, aren't as obvious.

Let's look at another slippery slope argument:

The Agency Model Encourages Competition and Is Good

1. Amazon has the lion's share of the ebook market.

2. Amazon has sold ebooks for under the publisher's cover price, and below cost.

3. Other retailers can't sell this low, and will be driven out of business.

4. The only way to save retailers is if publishers set the retail price of books.

5. If Amazon becomes a monopoly, they will harm authors and readers.

6. Publishers had no choice but to stop Amazon from predatory pricing, to protect competition and for the good of everyone.

The first two points are true. Amazon does have the lion's share of the ebook market, and they have sold ebooks at below cost.

But we need a bit more information here. Amazon pretty much single-handedly created the current ebook market. Just like they created online bookselling. As Bob Mayer says, Amazon didn't exist except for in Jeff Bezos's mind back in 1994.

Amazon listened hard to what readers wanted, and it fulfilled those wants. They've kept prices low. I'd guess they do it to attract customers, because customers are drawn to low prices. But I truly don't know Amazon's motivation, other than the fact that they are a company in business to make money. Just like Big Publishing. Except Amazon seems to be doing it by giving people what they want, rather than forcing people to take what is offered.

Then we get to "retailers will be driven out of business."

That can cause an emotional, knee-jerk reaction when someone hears it. We don't want companies to go out of business. We all know companies that have. That leads to people losing their jobs, which is sad. It leads to places we once liked to go to no longer existing. That's sad. As human beings, we don't like to see unemployment, and we don't like to see bullies.

But this statement is no different than stating greenhouse gases lead to global warming. Certainly, they might. But we won't truly know until it happens. Until it does, it's fear mongering.

A lot of bookstores might blame Amazon for putting them out of business, or competing unfairly. Welcome to capitalism, kids. That's like saying, "My girlfriend left me for another guy who is more attractive and treats her better."

Don't blame the guy. Blame your girlfriend for preferring someone over you. And blame yourself for not stepping up your game to win her back.

Nobody owes anyone a living. Just because you did well in the past doesn't mean you deserve to do well in the future, especially in the face of competition. If you want to run your own business, you better pay attention to what the customers want. If you can't give them what they want, you shouldn't be in business.

Then we get to the next giant leap in logic; the only way to save retailers is to let publishers set retail price.

Huh? How can otherwise smart men and women seriously say and believe something so stupid?

If the price of a book is the same everywhere, that leads to less competition, not more competition. Customers are price conscious, and they will shop for the best deal. You can lure them to your store many different ways, but price is one of the biggies.

Taking away a store's ability to set a retail price is fixing the game.

The other side to that coin also needs to be addressed. Not only do stores get harmed by not being able to set prices, but there is nothing illegal, immoral, or unfair when companies do set prices.

Passive Guy says it very well:

In the United States, it is not against the law to sell at low prices. It is not against the law to sell products for less than they cost. It is not against the law for you to price your products so low that you put other retailers out of business. For all intents and purposes, it is virtually impossible to win an antitrust case based upon predatory pricing.

Show me a case where a retailer used predatory pricing to drive competitors out of business. And let's say you find a case or two, what's wrong with that? The customer benefits from lower prices.

But you can't say "Amazon is evil for keeping prices low" because people will think you're an idiot. Show me someone who doesn't want to pay less for something.

So instead, the pinheads use a slippery slope argument, and a damn poor one at that, to instill fear in those who aren't paying close attention.

I also have to ask, is the Agency Model really the only way to save bookstores and publishers? There really are no other ways?

You see how silly that is, right? Especially since I've shown, many times, how bad the Agency Model is for authors and customers.

Which brings us to Amazon's potential monopoly power, and how it will hurt everyone.

Huh?

People love to bash Walmart. Walmart ruins communities. Walmart destroys American Main Streets. Walmart murders malls. Walmart forces poor mom and pop shops out of business.

And then, once Walmart takes over a town and enslaves the populace, it triples all of its prices, holding customers hostage.

Except that it doesn't. The great evil empire that is Walmart keeps its prices low, even after it has killed the competition.

Hmm. Kinda sounds like Amazon, which continues to keep prices low, no matter how many businesses it allegedly destroys.

So what are we afraid of exactly?

Oh, yeah. All the unemployment. All the jobs lost. Except for the 65,000 people Amazon employs. And the tens of thousands of authors who--many for the first time--are making money.

But once Amazon reaches a critical mass and eliminates everyone, certainly it will begin a reign of terror, even though that is the exact opposite of everything Amazon has done thusfar.

It could happen. Just like cows could cause the icecaps to melt. Just wait and see it to get proof.

Except I doubt we'll ever get that proof. Companies have always competed with Amazon, and I'm sure more will come along. Amazon hasn't put Smashwords, or Kobo, or B&N out of business. They didn't put Borders out of business (nor did the raise prices on books once Borders collapsed.) And the Agency Model isn't the reason these other companies have been able to compete. Innovation, location, and customer service are how they've stayed alive. They were around before the Agency Model. Some will be around after it ends. And new companies will enter the game.

That's capitalism for you.

Capitalism is not about allowing the publishing cartel to collude so they can continue screwing readers with high prices and authors with unconscionable contracts.

Capitalism is not about putting businesses on life support when they refuse to innovate or cater to their customers.

Capitalism is not about price-fixing.

And competition doesn't exist for its own sake. The point of business isn't to encourage competition. The point of business is to beat the competition by having more customers. The more businesses in a market, the more a customer will benefit, unless the businesses collude to fix prices.

I'll say it again: No one owes you a living. And I won't weep for any company that whines, lies, or makes bullshit arguments to stay afloat. You shouldn't either.