Author tricks Amazon!; Border patrol repeatedly harasses journalist; “Amazon Choice sellers caught paying for good reviews; and much more! In The News … 10/10/19

Author tricks Amazon!; Border patrol repeatedly harasses journalist; “Amazon Choice sellers caught paying for good reviews; and much more! In The News … 10/10/19

This guy is a GENIUS!
Author tricks Amazon into distributing union materials to its own employees via book cover
“I haven’t read Mike Monteiro’s new book Ruined by Design, so I can’t say whether it’s any good. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t available at Amazon for all that much longer, now that its cover encourages Amazon workers to form a labor union.”

“Amazon giveth and Amazon taketh away”
Amazon driver takes photo of delivered package, then steals it
“A Nest video camera (made by Google, not Amazon) in a North Carolina neighborhood captured the scene as a driver left a package, snapped a picture to prove it was delivered, and then walked off with the package.”

Some Customs Agents are extremely big-headed!
US Customs Officer Harasses Defense One Journalist at Dulles Airport
“A U.S. passport screening official held a Defense One journalist’s passport until he received an affirmative answer to this repeated question: ‘You write propaganda, right?'”

Writers: Repeat After Me – DO NOT TRAVEL TO IRAN!!!
Iran frees Australian travel bloggers in possible prisoner swap
“Iran has freed two Australian travel bloggers who were detained for three months after being arrested for flying a drone near a military zone without a license.”

Hint: Never give top-secret info. to your bed buddy!
Defense Intelligence Agency worker arrested on charges of leaking top-secret information to reporters
“An employee of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency was arrested on federal charges that he leaked classified information, including details of a foreign country’s weapons systems, to two reporters in 2018 and this year.”

Another reason to never trust reviews on Amazon!
These “Amazon’s Choice” Sellers Are Bribing Customers For Good Reviews
“Some sellers offer gift cards or freebies to customers in exchange for five-star reviews. Amazon is recommending their products as ‘Amazon’s Choice.'”

We hope this firm doesn’t owe any of this money to WRITERS!
Tiger Oak Media, publisher of Minnesota Bride magazine, files for bankruptcy
The Minneapolis firm, which publishes Minnesota Bride, owes creditors more than $2 million.

If you can’t prove you were actually damaged, you can’t win a lawsuit
A loss for couple who sued Westlaw for publishing digits of Social Security number
“A Michigan court has denied a couple’s appeal of a ruling that dismissed their lawsuit over allegations a company published the first five numbers of their Social Security number on its public records website.”







7.625 STRATEGIES IN EVERY BEST-SELLER - Revised and Expanded Edition


At this moment, thousands of would-be authors are slaving away on their keyboards, dreaming of literary success. But their efforts won’t count for much. Of all those manuscripts, trade book editors will sign up only a slim fraction.

And of those titles--ones that that editors paid thousands of dollars to contract, print and publicize--an unhealthy percentage never sell enough copies to earn back their advances. Two years later, most will be out of print!

Acquisition Editor Tam Mossman shares seven essentials every book needs to stay in print, and sell!



Read more here:


https://writersweekly.com/books/5635.html







33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters



I admire any writer who wants to tackle a blind character. But so many writers take up this challenge and FAIL. They research blindness by reading other fiction books, by observing their blind colleagues and acquaintances, and by tying on a blindfold and pretending to be blind themselves.



I understand the challenges your characters face, their triumphs, their hopes and their fears, because I've lived them. I work with people who have varying degrees of blindness every day, so I've seen every challenge, every situation you could imagine.



Let me share my knowledge to improve your writing. You can create blind characters that readers will fall in love with.

~Stephanie Green



HOW TO REMEMBER, WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR LIFE STORY


Angela Hoy's popular online class is now available in book format!


Remember Your Past
Write It and Publish It
in as little as 12 weeks!



Angela Hoy's book will get you started!



  • Using Angela's MEMORY TRIGGERS, recall memories that have been dormant for years
  • Record those memories in chronological order in your memory notebook
  • Using the memory notebook as your outline, write your autobiography!
  • Also works for biographies and memoirs!

Read more here:
https://booklocker.com/books/4764.html