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We Have Work To Do!
by destor23 10/9/2010 - 12:16 pm
I just ordered my Kindle edition of Blowing Smoke, which will be delivered by October 10th. Can't wait to read it. Couldn't help but notice that there are no user reviews for the book on Amazon yet. I definitely plan to write one after I consume some book but, come on... some of you have read it already! User reviews can pump book sales. Please go to Amazon and write intelligently (as I know you all can) about why this book is worth people's time heading into the midterms.
Genghis has been a bit shy about self promotion around here so I think we need to step up a bit for him. Genghis... you doing any book store visits in the New York/Philly area? If not, do you need or want some help setting some up? I know some people in New York but would also be happy to cold call a few strangers on your behalf. Send me an email and we can take that discussion off line. I have some other ideas that might help as well.
Ultimately, books are the original social media -- they're bought and sold by word of mouth. Let's all try to take some time over the next few months to let people know that Blowing Smoke exists. As you're commenting at various sites around the Web, mention Blowing Smoke (where appropriate, of course) and he could definitely use reviews at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Powell's. If any of you have connections at web or print publications, please let them know the book exists.
OKay, end of rallying speech. Get to work!
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In the News
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Conversations with suicide bombers
By Elizabeth Weingarten, ForeignPolicy.com, May 23, 2012
It was 2009 in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Mossarat Qadeem was sitting on the floor of a house with about a dozen young Pakistani men -- some of whom had nearly become suicide bombers. Qadeem's goal: to undo the destructive brainwashing of the al-Qaeda and Taliban teachers who trained them in extremism, in part by asking the students to narrate their life stories.
"We were handling one of the boys, and he just came, put his head here in my lap, and he started crying and weeping," Qadeem recalls. "I was taken aback. It is very unnatural in my country that a man that tall can just sit at your feet and put his head here. [The other men] were all crying with him, and I was looking at him, and thinking, ‘my God.'"
All in a day's work for Qadeem. She's the national coordinator of Aman-o-Nisa, a coalition of Pakistani women that convened in October 2011 to combat violent extremism in Pakistan at the grassroots level. [....]
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For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare Justice
The issue of sexual assaults on American Indian women has become one of the major sources of discord in the current debate between the White House and the House of Representatives over the latest reauthorization of the landmark Violence Against Women Act of 1994.
.......
“We should never have a woman come into the office saying, ‘I need to learn more about Plan B for when my daughter gets raped,’ ” said Charon Asetoyer, a women’s health advocate on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, referring to the morning-after pill. “That’s what’s so frightening — that it’s more expected than unexpected. It has become a norm for young women.”
The difficulties facing American Indian women who have been raped are myriad, and include a shortage of sexual assault kits at Indian Health Service hospitals, where there is also a lack of access to birth control and sexually transmitted disease testing. There are also too few nurses trained to perform rape examinations, which are generally necessary to bring cases to trial.
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Doctor Who Helped Find Bin Laden Given Jail Term (for...
By Ismail Kahn, New York Times, May 23/24, 2012
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A Pakistani doctor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency pin down Osama bin Laden's location under cover of a vaccination drive was convicted on Wednesday of treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison, a senior official in Pakistan said.
A tribal court here in northwestern Pakistan found the doctor, Shakil Afridi, guilty of acting against the state, said Mutahir Zeb Khan, the administrator for the Khyber tribal region [....]
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Russia lawmakers advance bill on penalties for protesters
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2012
MOSCOW — Stiff new penalties aimed at opposition protesters were given preliminary approval Tuesday by Russian lawmakers loyal to President Vladimir Putin, the target of mass rallies and demonstrations before his March election victory.
The bill, which opposition parliament members termed draconian and protested by threatening to file out of a legislative session, calls for fines of up to $50,000 and up to 200 hours of community service for organizers of rallies and demonstrations that grow violent or exceed the approved number of participants.
The sanctions were approved on first reading by parliament's lower house, which is controlled by Putin's United Russia party. They mark a return by the Kremlin to a tough stance against critics after concessions during the recent election campaign [...]
Also see:
Russians back Putin, strong leadership
Washington Post, May 22, 2012A Pew survey of 1,000 Russians found that President Vladimir Putin is well-liked by more than 70 percent of citizens, especially older adults.
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Associated Press, May 21, 2012
HAVANA — It was all sunshine, smiles and celebratory speeches as officials marked the arrival of an undersea fiber-optic cable they promised would end Cuba's Internet isolation and boost web capacity 3,000-fold. Even a retired Fidel Castro had hailed the dawn of a new cyber-age on the island.
More than a year after the February 2011 ceremony on Siboney Beach in eastern Cuba, and 10 months after the system was supposed to have gone online, the government never mentions the cable anymore, and Internet here remains the slowest in the hemisphere. People talk quietly about embezzlement torpedoing the project and the arrest of more than a half-dozen senior telecom officials.
Perhaps most maddening, nobody has explained what happened to the much-ballyhooed $70 million project....
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Yay! Just ordered mine on Kindle! I was worried that it wouldn't be Kindle-ready, so thanks for the heads up! Good idea about user reviews. I have access to my copy on October 12th and plan to write a review just as soon as I can finish it!
G-I can't help with the book tour unless you're coming to Jakarta. But I know all the good bookstores here, so if you're in the mood for a winter trip to the tropics, let me know!
P.S. You can also write a review at the Barnes & Noble Website:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Blowing-Smoke/Michael-Wolraich/e/9780306819193
Thanks, Destor! You're the best. Right now, there is a planned signing at the K-Street Borders in DC on 11/9, and my publicist mentioned a possible B&N reading in Manhattan on 12/15, but neither are confirmed. I'm also trying to set up an informal event at a bar/cafe in NYC. Possible dates include 10/22, 11/5, or 10/30 (for Stewart/Colbert fans who can't make it down to DC). I'll put up a post about ithe events once they are confirmed.
Publishers are hesitant to set up full book tours for first-time authors because the cost-benefit of the publicity is low, and it's often difficult to fill a room. They're definitely behind the book, however, and have arranged for it to be promoted on the tables in B&N and Borders starting next week. It will also be in Amazon's Featured Category all through November.
That said, it's a chicken-egg thing. If Blowing Smoke shows signs of taking off, they'll invest more in marketing, and then the book will fly. So anything that you folks can do to help drive publicity early in the game could make the difference between nice first effort and a bestseller. Well-written online reviews are be fantastic. So is networking. Know someone who has a media platform? Recommend the book. (Heck, buy 'em a copy. I'll reimburse you.) Know someone who has a lot of friends? Recommend the book. Know someone who can read? Recommend the book. Know someone who has yet to be potty-trained? Maybe wait a few years.
I'm also up for creative PR ideas. Destor, I'll email you to you to see what your thoughts are. Thanks again!
One other thought. If any of you write a post that relates to Tea Party / Beck / Palin craziness, you can stick a link on the end of it to my book. That way, if you your post happens to be featured in google news or goes viral, a lot of eyes will see it.
But no prressure on that if you don't want to do it, seriously.
I just checked, and my copy (from Amazon UK) is scheduled to arrive in early November. I'll make sure to write a scrathing critique glowing review once I've had a chance to read it. Major congrats on finishing what I assume will be an excellently written book, G!