tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27458044437750681162024-03-13T00:12:36.172-07:00The Accidental Anarchist (or, This Way to the Firing Squad)How My Grandfather was Sentenced to Death Three Times and Lived to Tell About ItUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-79141932241596442002014-07-27T10:10:00.001-07:002014-07-27T10:10:45.966-07:00Review of "Keys to the Corner Office"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-22593537674348497012014-07-23T14:31:00.001-07:002014-07-23T14:35:14.944-07:00UpcomingI will be speaking for the Jewish Family Services, College Avenue Senior Center, on September 4 at 12:45 p.m. This is my last planned talk in San Diego, but it is open to the public.<br />
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Also, I was just notified that <a href="http://jewishliteraryjournal.com/">The Jewish Literary Journal</a> will publish an excerpt from <u>The Accidental Anarchist</u> in its August 1 issue.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-51432037135093251572014-04-29T13:21:00.001-07:002014-04-29T13:21:29.433-07:00Into the Tiger's Mouth, a historical biography based on family lettersDavid Dana, author of <u>Into the Tiger's Mouth: A Novel of the China Trade, 1857-1863 (http://amzn.to/1jetm88</u>, spent about 20 years) researching and writing a historical novel that was inspired by letters from his great-grandfather who worked in China in the mid-1900s. I was fortunate to have the privilege of helping him edit it. The novel is remarkable for its historical detail and colorful characters, some of which are based on real, historical figures while others are composites or inventions of the author's imagination.<br />
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What I found so remarkable about David's book is that he didn't portray his ancestor as a saint; he had flaws -- plenty of them -- and that makes him more real to the reader. The in-depth research that David conducted adds texture to a fascinating story that keeps the book feeling like a novel rather than a history lesson.<br />
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Anyone interested in the evolution of Western business interests and of the individuals who worked in China in the 1850s-60s ought to find this novel fascinating.<br />
<img height="400" 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" width="260" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-15280388583111501882013-10-09T11:22:00.000-07:002013-10-09T11:22:43.521-07:00Next Talk Coming Up<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-84291045459116005892013-07-14T05:15:00.000-07:002013-07-14T05:15:12.523-07:00UK Guardian is Seeking Recommendations for Self-Published Books to Promote<div id="header" style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 0px 0px;">
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<div class="trackable-component" data-component="Article:global nav" id="global-nav" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 10px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; width: 940px;">
<ul style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; float: left; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<li class="first news" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="1:News" href="http://www.guardiannews.com/" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #d61d00; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">News</a></li>
<li class="news" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="2:US" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #d61d00; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">US</a></li>
<li class="news" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="3:World" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #d61d00; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">World</a></li>
<li class="sport" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="4:Sports" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: green; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">Sports</a></li>
<li class="comment" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="5:Comment" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/us-edition" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #0061a6; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">Comment</a></li>
<li class="culture" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="6:Culture" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #d1008b; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">Culture</a></li>
<li class="business" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="7:Business" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/us-edition" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #3246ab; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">Business</a></li>
<li class="money" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="8:Money" href="http://www.guardiannews.com/money" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #8f1ab6; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">Money</a></li>
<li class="environment" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="9:Environment" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #4a7801; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">Environment</a></li>
<li class="news" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="10:Science" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #d61d00; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">Science</a></li>
<li class="travel" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="11:Travel" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #066ec9; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">Travel</a></li>
<li class="news" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap; width: auto;"><a data-link-name="12:Tech" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; border-right-color: rgb(190, 190, 190); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #d61d00; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 5px; text-decoration: none; width: auto;">Tech</a></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">The </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Guardian</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> is running a series on self-published authors and is asking for recommendations for authors to include.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jun/20/self-published-author-series" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">http://www.<span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">guardian</span><u></u>.co.uk/<wbr></wbr>books/<u></u>2013/jun/<u></u>20/self-<wbr></wbr>publishe<u></u>d-author-<u></u>series</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-50371387565525230252013-07-12T15:35:00.003-07:002013-07-12T15:35:59.157-07:00Apple Guilty of Price-Fixing of E-Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324425204578597453053469898.html">Judge Rules Apple Colluded on E-Books</a><br />
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<a class="companyRollover link11unvisited" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=AAPL" style="color: #093d72; outline: none;">Apple</a> Inc. <span data-change="-0.778" data-changepercent="-0.1820785980416019" data-company-name="Apple Inc." data-country="US" data-datetime="Jul. 12, 2013 4:00 PM" data-exchange-iso="XNAS" data-iso="$" data-offset="-4" data-pc="427.288" data-price="426.51" data-ticker-name="AAPL" data-ticker="AAPL" data-volume="9833476.00" data-widget="dj.ticker" id="0.7370295629370958"><a class="tkrQuote tkrNegative" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=AAPL?mod=inlineTicker" style="background-color: #ffcccc; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 0, 0); color: #cc0000; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3em; outline: none; padding: 0px 5px; text-decoration: none;" target=""><span class="tkrName">AAPL</span> <span class="tkrChange">-0.18%</span></a></span> colluded with five major U.S. publishers to drive up the prices of e-books, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in a stern rebuke that threatens to limit the technology company's options when negotiating future content deals.</div>
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The ruling—which follows Apple's high-stakes gamble to go to trial even though the publishers settled similar charges—exposes the tech company to as-yet undetermined damages and opens the door for the Justice Department to take a closer look at its other business lines. In settling, the publishers denied wrongdoing.</div>
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At issue are the steps Apple took to gain a foothold in e-books for its iTunes online store. The iTunes store is a strategically vital area that accounts for about 10% of Apple's revenue and faces fierce competition from rivals—in particular <a class="companyRollover link11unvisited" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=AMZN" style="color: #093d72; outline: none;">Amazon.com</a>Inc. <span data-change="7.89" data-changepercent="2.6329840485884" data-company-name="Amazon.com Inc." data-country="US" data-datetime="Jul. 12, 2013 4:00 PM" data-exchange-iso="XNAS" data-iso="$" data-offset="-4" data-pc="299.660" data-price="307.55" data-ticker-name="AMZN" data-ticker="AMZN" data-volume="4485122.00" data-widget="dj.ticker" id="0.1418477373663336"><a class="tkrQuote tkrPositive" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=AMZN?mod=inlineTicker" style="background-color: #eafaea; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 153, 0); color: #009900; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3em; outline: none; padding: 0px 5px; text-decoration: none;" target=""><span class="tkrName">AMZN</span> <span class="tkrChange">+2.63%</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">E-Books Ruling Against Apple</span></h3>
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See the full ruling document with key sections highlighted.</div>
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Justice Department prosecutors argued that Apple used publishers' dissatisfaction with Amazon's aggressive e-book discounting to shoehorn itself into the digital-book market when it launched the iPad in 2010. Apple's proposal: Let publishers set prices themselves. That led to Amazon losing the ability to price most e-book best sellers at $9.99, causing prices to rise.</div>
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In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said the evidence was clear that Apple, despite its claims that it negotiated fiercely and separately with each publisher, was at the center of the conspiracy.</div>
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"Understanding that no one publisher could risk acting alone in an attempt to take pricing power away from Amazon, Apple created a mechanism and environment that enabled them to act together in a matter of weeks to eliminate all retail price competition for their e-books," she wrote in a 160-page decision.</div>
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Apple said it did nothing wrong and said it plans to appeal. "Apple did not conspire to fix e-book pricing and we will continue to fight against these false accusations," an Apple spokesman said. "When we introduced the iBookstore in 2010, we gave customers more choice, injecting much needed innovation and competition into the market, breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry."</div>
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Consumers won't see changes in e-book prices as a result of the ruling. Prices of many best-selling titles had already come down after the major publishers settled.</div>
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<cite style="color: #666666; display: block; font-style: normal; margin: 3px 0px 0px; text-align: right;">Reuters</cite><div class="targetCaption" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px;">
Apple executive Eddy Cue arrived at court to testify in the case last month.</div>
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Apple's decision to fight the Justice Department underscores the stakes in the case. The company makes most of its money selling iPhones and iPads. But its iTunes service has become a central part of its offering with huge volumes of electronic content enticing people to buy and upgrade Apple products.</div>
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The company has been an aggressive bargainer, successfully opening up new markets for electronic content, most notably with music. But the ruling raises questions about the leverage Apple may have when negotiating future content deals.</div>
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The Justice Department itself isn't seeking monetary damages but has instead asked the court to adopt a variety of measures to ensure Apple doesn't engage in similar conduct in the future. This includes not entering "most-favored nation" clauses requiring publishers to match competitors' prices in Apple's digital bookstore, and possibly ending the company's practice of charging a 30% commission on books sold through third-party apps in its App Store.</div>
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A judge found Apple guilty of price-fixing in the e-book market. How can the company get out of a public-relations mess? Michael Robinson, executive vice president at Levick, a crisis-communications firm, joins digits.</div>
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The judge, who will hold a hearing on those requests, could choose to heavily regulate Apple, legal experts say, potentially slowing deal-making with content partners for new products, such as its long-awaited television. "Under antitrust law, you can not only prevent the unlawful conduct, but also prevent other conduct that can lead to a similar result," said David Balto, former policy director at the Federal Trade Commission.</div>
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Because Apple was found liable for violating U.S. antitrust laws, a separate trial on damages will take place in a lawsuit against the company brought by 33 state attorneys general, who are seeking to recover money on behalf of consumers who paid higher prices for e-books. Apple also faces a private class-action suit alleging price-fixing. The private plaintiffs could recover damages from Apple, provided their legal claims are distinct from the states'.</div>
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<cite style="color: #666666; display: block; font-style: normal; margin: 3px 0px 0px; text-align: right;">Bloomberg News</cite><div class="targetCaption" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px;">
Apple last year separately settled an antitrust case with the European Commission over e-book pricing but didn't admit any wrongdoing.</div>
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In the ruling, the judge pointed to comments by <a class="topicLink" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://topics.wsj.com/person/J/Steve-Jobs/605" style="color: #093d72; outline: none;">Steve Jobs</a>, Apple's co-founder and CEO who died in 2011, as "compelling evidence of Apple's participation in the conspiracy."</div>
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In emails introduced as evidence, Mr. Jobs seemed to gloat after published reports in January 2010 that Macmillan and Amazon were separately clashing over pricing following the Apple deal. "Wow, we have really lit a fuse on a powder keg," Mr. Jobs wrote in an email from Jan. 30, 2010.</div>
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In a group email at Apple the next day, Mr. Jobs said: "We have definitely helped stir things up in the publishing world."</div>
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Judge Cote said she wasn't persuaded by testimony from <a class="topicLink" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://topics.wsj.com/person/C/Eddy-Cue/7115" style="color: #093d72; outline: none;">Eddy Cue</a>, an Apple senior vice president who led negotiations with publishers, who argued that his company's only motivation was to get the best deal from publishers.</div>
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A federal judge found Apple colluded with five major U.S. publishers to artificially drive up the prices of e-books in the months ahead of its entering the market in 2010. Ashby Jones discusses the details on MoneyBeat. Photo: Apple.</div>
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The judge said she believed Mr. Cue was driven in his negotiations by a desire to please Mr. Jobs. "Cue knew that Jobs was seriously ill and that this would be one of his last opportunities to bring to life one of Jobs's visions and to demonstrate his devotion to the man who had given him the opportunity to help transform American culture," Judge Cote wrote.</div>
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Mr. Cue didn't respond to a request for comment Wednesday.</div>
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When it entered the e-book market in 2010, Apple agreed to shift to a so-called agency model in which publishers, rather than retailers, set the price of e-books. As part of its deals with the publishers, Apple received a 30% commission on each book sold and the publishers had to match the price of Amazon or other competitors if the competitor's price was lower.</div>
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Amazon declined to comment.</div>
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At the time, Amazon was the dominant player in the market, accounting for between 80% and 90% of all e-book sales. However, the major publishers were concerned that Amazon was selling books at a loss in order to gobble up market share and had threatened to begin withholding some of their most popular books from the online seller.</div>
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The odds of reversing the decision and avoiding damages are long, some legal experts said. The outcome may be similar to the Justice Department's lawsuit against <a class="companyRollover link11unvisited" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=MSFT" style="color: #093d72; outline: none;">Microsoft</a> Corp.<span data-change="-0.015" data-changepercent="-0.04203446826397646" data-company-name="Microsoft Corp." data-country="US" data-datetime="Jul. 12, 2013 4:00 PM" data-exchange-iso="XNAS" data-iso="$" data-offset="-4" data-pc="35.685" data-price="35.67" data-ticker-name="MSFT" data-ticker="MSFT" data-volume="34954385.00" data-widget="dj.ticker" id="0.17616005707532167"><a class="tkrQuote tkrNegative" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=MSFT?mod=inlineTicker" style="background-color: #ffcccc; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 0, 0); color: #cc0000; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3em; outline: none; padding: 0px 5px; text-decoration: none;" target=""><span class="tkrName">MSFT</span> <span class="tkrChange">-0.04%</span></a></span> The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was constrained by the judge's heavily fact-based opinion and in 2001 upheld many of his inferences, said Keith Hylton, a professor at Boston University's School of Law.</div>
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The Apple case could resonate beyond e-books, with broader implications for providers of everything from music to movies. "If you're a tech company and you are looking to aggregate content, you have to be exceptionally conscious about how you talk to your suppliers," said Ankur Kapoor, an antitrust lawyer at Constantine Cannon LLP. "U.S. v. Apple has put these communications under a very fine microscope."</div>
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Apple has recently shown signs of more flexibility in its negotiations. Many of the terms of Apple's royalty agreements for its radio service, for example, were more generous to the music companies than what rivals, such as <a class="companyRollover link11unvisited" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=P" style="color: #093d72; outline: none;">Pandora Media</a> Inc.,<span data-change="0.61" data-changepercent="3.347969264544457" data-company-name="Pandora Media Inc." data-country="US" data-datetime="Jul. 12, 2013 4:00 PM" data-exchange-iso="XNYS" data-iso="$" data-offset="-4" data-pc="18.220" data-price="18.83" data-ticker-name="P" data-ticker="P" data-volume="5722286.00" data-widget="dj.ticker" id="0.7821197928860784"><a class="tkrQuote tkrPositive" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=P?mod=inlineTicker" style="background-color: #eafaea; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 153, 0); color: #009900; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3em; outline: none; padding: 0px 5px; text-decoration: none;" target=""><span class="tkrName">P</span> <span class="tkrChange">+3.35%</span></a></span> pay.</div>
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Apple's reputation appears unharmed, according to Mark Patterson, a professor at Fordham Law School who specializes in antitrust matters and agreed with Judge Cote's ruling. "The consumer response is a big yawn," he said.</div>
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Its shares were little changed on the news, dropping less than 1%, to $420.73 on Wednesday. The stock, however, has fallen about 30% in the past year amid concerns that its growth is slowing.</div>
<a href="" name="U902033621681HKG" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681F0C" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681RNB" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681ZXF" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681QHI" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U9020336216810F" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681KBB" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681UOG" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681LJG" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681GCD" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033690534YFC" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681F8" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U9020336216812G" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U9020336216815DF" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681K5H" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U9020336216812JF" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U9020336216816CI" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681NOI" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681RKD" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U9020336216813BE" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><a href="" name="U902033621681HBC" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 10px;"></a><cite class="tagline" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px;">—Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg<br />and Jacob Gershman contributed to this article.</cite>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-51511281017442743262013-06-20T08:53:00.001-07:002013-06-20T08:53:42.226-07:00Still (like me) Trying to Figure Out How to Manage Your Social Media Presence?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijvMs6qVnAQRsisYOz20ZBDJdJlMFf6hsRcokRTm3XLNhictzlsOn21gkyxO_4ULDMBE6niuFEOaja_Shq2YZFQCpe7pSc9kbH-eWPe5cY9j7YhyfQRd0y3BA1-d2XBMTNPMHxnb7apig/s320/155140b.jpg" width="320" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130617171759-2484700-how-i-manage-my-social-media-presence?trk=eml-mktg-condig-0108-p1">How I Manage My Social Media Presence, by Guy Kawasaki</a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-48083329868404719982013-06-18T16:24:00.000-07:002013-06-18T16:24:48.249-07:00Guy Kawasaki's 10 Social Media Tips for Authors<a href="http://theaccidentalanarchist.com/10-social-media-tips-for-authors-by-guy-kawasaki/">http://theaccidentalanarchist.com/10-social-media-tips-for-authors-by-guy-kawasaki/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-865084439693223712013-06-08T00:06:00.002-07:002013-06-08T00:06:31.291-07:00Who Would Have Guess It? Leonardo DiCaprio as RasputinWord is out that <a href="http://bit.ly/12xuONh.">Leonardo DiCaprio</a> is slated to play Rasputin in a movie about "The Mad Monk." Any ideas on how do we get my friend's books to him...?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-11297404440019114382013-06-04T20:00:00.004-07:002013-06-04T20:00:52.581-07:00Video of Reading from The Accidental Anarchist Posted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyf4Sf1JLJ0"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOamc3TfYKTOYM1NFjhxt1E26FrM_k9kEiOTWYXmq8QMwN8bceq1e27vMTFgSZxgvhF3IBqXA08AXLDvPto6wWM2qTMBZOd2p8hmoVpfDz9usvHkq-0Guyl244w0QObKWh5ZmzcI2VzpQ/s200/MyYouTube.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-70853587849613410622013-06-03T08:30:00.000-07:002013-06-03T08:30:01.212-07:00Pixar's #22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #18: No Writerly Fussing Allowed<br />
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<strong>#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.</strong></div>
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I think something got lost in translation with the 2nd sentence there, and I honestly have no idea what Ms. Coats meant by it. However, I have quite a bit of experience dealing with the first sentence.</div>
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With one of my first novels, I spent way too much time fussing. I'd finished the draft, sent it out to people who said they wrote or read a lot, made revisions, and then spent forever fussing with the language. Sentence-level modifications that clarified actions, boosted voice, removed passive verbs, etc. A lot of it helped, but a lot of it was just messing around. I spent far too much time, and burned myself out, on tiny issues. When I was done, I'd spent so much time revising I couldn't see the forest for the trees. I needed to stop pruning the branches and step back so I could see the shape of the whole forest, but by that time, I was burned out.</div>
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My novel needed streamlining and focus. It needed to not rely so heavily on tropes. It needed to be set apart from what was already on the market. I had no idea, though, because I'd spent so much time fussing with it that I just didn't have the energy to seriously consider these things. Note: I THOUGHT I'd considered them. I'd had it beta-read and made big changes and cut big chunks. But since I was exhausted, and since I could check those things off my list, I did. Fussing with language was easier than stepping back, taking the story itself 100% seriously, and double-checking the big things. Here's the cost: my book still needs those things. It's chilling out in the corner right now.</div>
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So, from personal experience, here's what I think Ms. Coats is getting at, and here's what I should have done:</div>
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Don't mess with language until you're done with big scene and action changes. You'll burn yourself out. Sure, take along your laptop on car rides and use CTRL-F to find "that" and passive voice, but don't fuss. There's no point to messing with language in a scene if you're going to cut it or change it later. Seriously-<strong> no fussing.</strong></div>
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Find people who you are 100% confident know what they're doing. A writer once told me as a revision note that my POV wasn't clear- things needed to be more clearly from my character's perspective. This person suggested I insert "he saw", "he wondered", etc, to show that it was my main character perceiving all this. Consequently, I littered my MS with filter words that six months later, I had to take out. This is a small, nit-pick revision, but it's a great example of why not all critiques are equal. I didn't get critiques tough enough to show me that my novel was too much like most other fantasies out there, and the advice often prompted me to harm my book rather than improve it. <strong>So get critiques from writers who have the experience and credentials to genuinely help you; you need tough critiques.</strong> (How? Check out the tabs above- crits are everywhere in this industry.) It's hard to take, but shelving your MS is even harder.</div>
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Once you have several sets of revision notes from trusted writers/industry professionals,<strong>don't revise.</strong> That's right. Don't revise immediately. I tossed out a lot of helpful advice because I was too close to my story and couldn't see how that change could work. I thought my novel had to start with the girl in high school, and I couldn't see a way around it. So, I tossed out the advice. Don't do that if it's from someone you trust. <strong>Daydream about it a little first.</strong> If you WERE going to take that advice on cutting out this character, how could you do it? If you HAD to change your opening, how could you do it? Take a few days to do this, not a few minutes. Just a few weeks ago, the answer to how to start that novel hit me. It doesn't have to start with the main character in high school, and my planned revision is much more interesting.</div>
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Know yourself. A lot of writers tend to channel their perfectionism toward fussing with language instead of really doing their best with the story itself. Use that perfectionism to be honest with yourself and your book. There's a point where your book needs you to pick over every line, and there's a point where it's just fussing. Don't burn yourself out with the latter if your time, energy, and honesty are still needed by your plot and characters.</div>
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<a href="http://katebrauning.com/author/katebrauning/">http://katebrauning.com/author/katebrauning/</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-46823165830830862302013-05-25T23:03:00.001-07:002013-05-25T23:05:25.921-07:00Today is the 106th Anniversary of My Grandfather's 3rd Death SentenceFor a reading today, I had coincidentally chosen a section about my grandfather's 3rd death sentence, not realizing that today was the anniversary of the date he was to be executed:<br />
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<div>
<i>"...My advocate comforted me with the forecast that I was almost certain to be sentenced to death. Therefore, the only thing worth doing was pleading, in view of my military record and my obvious youthful ignorance, to be let off with ten years of hard labor.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"I can’t say I was charmed by his readiness to bury me alive, although in time I would learn that getting a 'tenner' was practically the equivalent of being found 'not guilty.' But from the moment the trial got under way, I could see that my lawyer had been, if anything, overoptimistic.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"My three judges put on their spectacles to study the charges. Wasting no time on what I might have had to say for myself, they retired to consider their verdict.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"After a leisurely five minutes, they returned and pronounced sentence.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>"The blood raced in my ears, but I had no trouble hearing the words, 'firing squad.'</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"Rather than dawdle about it for months or years as the courts did in Columbus’ Country, the appeal my lawyer had wisely prepared in advance was already scheduled to be heard the following day.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>"Late the next morning, I was marched back into the courtroom, this time attached to three other prisoners who were also appealing their death sentences. Not a good sign.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>"One look at the bench and my heart sank. Th e judges who would rule on my appeal were the same three antiques who, only yesterday, had sentenced me to death. It would have surprised me very much if, overnight, each of them had had a miraculous change of heart.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"What’s more, there was no sign of my lawyer. Instead, I was furnished with a military advocate, a pudgy-handed captain whose middle bulged like a pregnant barmaid. Barely glancing in my direction, he explained to the judges that he had not had time to study my file and asked for a recess for a quick consultation with me.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"He took me to the adjacent room where he favored me with a well-fed smile, and said, “To defend you against these terrible accusations, I must have the full truth, you understand?”</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"Since I had no idea who this man was or which side he was working for, I was not quite ready to take him at his word.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'How many men have you killed?'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"I did not find this a very encouraging question. Still, I answered as best I could. 'Probably dozens.' His eyes brightened. 'In combat,' I added, 'it’s difficult to keep an accurate count.'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'Fool, I meant in Warsaw. On orders from the Party.'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'What ‘Party?’'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"He raised his voice. 'Do you or don’t you want me to defend you?'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'Against what?'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'Don’t you know you’ve been sentenced to death?'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'What has that to do with you?'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'I’m your lawyer. I want the truth. All of it.'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'I told the truth. Yesterday. And look at where it got me.'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'You’re a damned Jew-faced liar!'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"This, I confess, provoked me. 'I want nothing to do with you. If they won’t let me have a proper lawyer, I’ll defend myself.'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"My defender sucked in his breath and apologized for having, perhaps, expressed himself a little too heartily. What he would not do was admit that his only job was to extract a confession from me so that the judges</i></div>
<div>
<i>could put away my comrades, too.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"Sulking, he delivered me back into the courtroom where things had begun without us. Of the prisoners to whom I had been chained, two had already had their death sentences confirmed and were weeping. My turn</i></div>
<div>
<i>was next.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"The clerk read the charges against me once more. This time I listened more attentively to his monotonic recital of killings, robberies and such, each listed according to date and location. </i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"It took me some moments to realize that nearly all of these charges dealt with crimes committed long before I arrived in Warsaw. I tried to interrupt and point this out, but the clerk told me to be silent.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"It was my lawyer’s job to speak for me. I looked at my defender, who was goggling at a fly that had settled on his briefcase.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"I called out to the court, 'I don’t accept the man you have assigned to me. I want a civilian lawyer.'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'This is a military court. Here you can only be defended by an officer.'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'What happened to the lawyer I had yesterday?'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"'That was a mistake. The man had no right to defend you. He will be severely punished for misrepresenting himself.'</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"While my doomed fellow prisoners looked greatly impressed by the depth of my depravity, my alleged lawyer went through the motions of pleading with the court to show some leniency to a man who had, in battle, repeatedly proven his love for, and loyalty to, the Czar.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"True, he admitted in the same breath, I might have murdered some people in Warsaw, although perhaps not as many as the honorable Court had been led to believe. But surely the real criminals were the Party leaders</i></div>
<div>
<i>who distorted my young mind and sent me out to commit these deeds without my fully understanding their seriousness.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"He driveled on like this for I don’t know how long while the judges listened with all the patience of old men whose bladders were about to burst. The moment he was done, they scurried out to confer.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"A few eternal minutes later, about as long as it would have taken each one to have had his turn at the urinal, they were back. The general, himself, read the verdict. It confirmed yesterday’s sentence – death by firing squad – to be carried out on the twenty-fifth of May, 1907, a date that has somehow stuck in my memory.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"Much as I hated to give them the satisfaction, I staggered for a moment and nearly lost consciousness."</i></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-23363860018662759912013-05-21T17:46:00.001-07:002013-05-21T17:46:18.415-07:00Now Available: RASPUTIN: MEMOIRS OF HIS SECRETARY<br />
<u>Rasputin: Memoirs of His Secretary</u>, the book I worked on with Delin Colon (author of <u>Rasputin and the Jews: A Reversal of History</u>), is now available on Amazon (http://amzn.to/12U3X9lV). Based on the diaries of Aron Simanovitch, Colon's great-granduncle and Rasputin's personal secretary, <u>Rasputin: Memoirs of His Secretary</u>, gives a rare glimpse into the lives of the Romanovs, Nicholas and Alexandra, who were beset by threats from both within and without.<br />
<br />
You'll have privileged access to the royal palace beside one of the most interesting characters (previously mostly a caricature) in history: Grigori Rasputin, the so-called "Mad Monk," who had rare access to the royal family. Read the fascinating account of the multiple attempts on Rasputin's life; he was stabbed, poisoned, shot, bludgeoned, and thrown into the freezing Neva river before finally succumbing. And as I've written earlier, there is one chapter that leads me to wonder whether he might have been part of the inspiration for Obi Wan Kenobe...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_jWE4MCByyiY9jU1Qwg08iIIMOIk2qKzpPyATmnjfVZ4oe-C-iodRXmCC5rEJW6m2NA-8dka2i3bYRl3MuM4onYXmIUIbcFIwLKKW2FxN-DTn_EAfGw4GkhITfwcLHIxpp4HpLXM0i0/s1600/Rasputin+front+cover+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_jWE4MCByyiY9jU1Qwg08iIIMOIk2qKzpPyATmnjfVZ4oe-C-iodRXmCC5rEJW6m2NA-8dka2i3bYRl3MuM4onYXmIUIbcFIwLKKW2FxN-DTn_EAfGw4GkhITfwcLHIxpp4HpLXM0i0/s640/Rasputin+front+cover+final.jpg" width="403" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-35500318131053821732013-05-17T08:30:00.000-07:002013-05-17T08:30:00.906-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #17: The Heart of the Story<br />
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<strong style="line-height: inherit;">Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it. </strong></div>
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Focus is one of the most important elements in fiction. By focusing your story on certain characters, events, and ideas, you are choosing to not focus on other characters, other events. You’re saying “these specific elements matter most.” You’re cutting out all the people, events, years, and themes that don’t matter to your story. Without focus, readers would simply be taken on a rambling journey through tons of material that has no apparent relevance. Focusing your novel to discuss certain characters at a certain point in time dealing with specific experiences and held together by specific ideas (loss, grief, revenge, first love) allows the story to have meaning and impact. Focus gives clarity. It allows the reader to see what’s important and why.</div>
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Here’s the part I find fascinating: focus often helps <strong style="line-height: inherit;">the writer</strong> to see what’s important and why, and then shape the story to explore those ideas more deeply. Knowing the focus as you write can help you cut tangents, limit your themes to give the ones you have to have room to breathe, and challenge your characters with experiences that push them in meaningful ways.</div>
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So how do you know what the focus of your story should be? Rule 14 is the answer. When I start concepting a novel, there’s usually something that originally drew me to that idea. Something that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. Something about the idea has emotional resonance with me. Maybe it’s the trauma of powerlessness, or the wearing effect of daily life on relationships. Maybe it’s the strength of innocence. Use that detail, that idea, to shape the whole story.</div>
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Finding out why that idea grips me so strongly helps me figure out what’s at the heart of the story. This is what makes it MY story. It’s what makes it different from how anyone else would write it. And it’s what keeps me writing when it gets difficult, when I’m busy and tired, and when I’m not sure if I can do it. That bit of an idea shapes the characters and events, keeps me going, and makes the story unique. It’s the heart of the story.</div>
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(<a href="http://katebrauning.com/blog/" style="background-color: transparent;">http://katebrauning.com/blog/</a>)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-85834592207719673632013-05-16T08:30:00.000-07:002013-05-16T08:30:02.395-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #16: Stakes and Sweat<br />
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<strong style="line-height: inherit;">What are the stakes? Give us a reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.</strong></div>
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This is going to sound silly at first, but bear with me: I think the best part of Rule #16 is the word “stakes.”</div>
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Stakes are everything in writing. I mean, of course there’s good character, story, crescendo, climax. But to me that all sounds like wah wah wah without some serious stakes.</div>
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What are “stakes”? I mean, other than things with which you stab vampires and they explode and cover you in gooey bits?</div>
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I propose this definition:</div>
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Stakes are the potential consequences to failure; what could or will happen if the hero does not succeed in his or her mission.</div>
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Think about this: you have a great hero. A complicated hero that we both love and hate a little. She’s quirky. Her flaws are funny at best, and tragic at worst. We want to be her. We want to be with her. She’s smarter than us but sometimes we think, “What are you thinking? No! Don’t do that! Why would you do that?!”</div>
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But what is she other than a quirky hero we love to hate, if she doesn’t struggle a little? How will we ever know her flaws and her virtues unless she’s put in a position where she has to use them?</div>
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You can build the best character you like, but unless we see that character under duress, we readers won’t fall in love with her. We won’t root for her.</div>
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Stakes invest the reader in the character. Stakes give her meaning, purpose, and conflict. What happens if she succeeds in her mission? What happens if she fails?</div>
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And now, my second-favorite part of Rule #16: “Stack the odds against.”</div>
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A lot of writing is really just clinical abuse. I’m pretty sure that if our characters were real people, most of us writers would be sitting behind bars.</div>
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Think about it: when are you most thrilled in a story? When do you find the pages flying by? When the hero is under stress; when it seems like there is no possible way this will all work out, and you keep reading in hopes that it will. (You know, because you’re invested?)</div>
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Not only does it seem like the hero going to fail now, but the consequences of her failure have just doubled. No, tripled! Not only will her best friend die, but the world will implode because of that mistake she just made. And then not only will the world implode, but it will also set off a chain reaction resulting in the total destruction of the universe.</div>
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And then? Make it look like she’s going to fail. For real. The hurdles between the hero and her best friend have multiplied ten-fold. Literally, she cut the head off the hydra and it grew ten more. Then, each head grew wings and became independent hydras and she is super, super screwed.</div>
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Now we really get to see our hero sweat. We get to see her smarts and her courage and her talent with a bow-knife, and we are floored when she has some clever, sneaky little solution and somehow manages to succeed. She kills the hydra, saves her best friend, and the world is safe again.</div>
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Stakes unite your work. Good stakes set up conflict, imply the consequences, and make your hero’s success (or failure! Failure is a fine way to end, too) vindicating and enjoyable for the reader.</div>
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And don’t forget that characters aren’t real people! You don’t have to feel bad about grinding them into the pavement before you let them win.</div>
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(<a href="http://katebrauning.com/blog/">http://katebrauning.com/blog/</a>)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-25978357318973364452013-05-15T08:30:00.000-07:002013-05-15T08:30:02.235-07:00Pxar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #15: How Would You Feel?<br />
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<strong style="line-height: inherit;">If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.</strong></div>
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Think about how you would feel if your sister disappeared. How would you feel if your brother was running for mayor, but you knew he wasn’t the right man for the job? Put yourself in your character’s shoes and track those emotions for a while. Jot them down so you can see what fits your character later on, but give it some time first. Really daydream about how you would react. Of course, don’t create your characters as yourself, but doing this will add a layer of believability and genuine emotion to them.</div>
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The flip side of this whole “give your characters opinions” thing is that your characters are going to disagree with each other. Mary likes olives. Claudia does not. Father thinks John should support his brother’s campaign regardless of political differences, because they are family. John can’t support him in good conscience, brother or not. Adding real-life texture to your characters through preferences and opinions and disagreements will deepen your characters. It’s also going to make their world more complex- small conflicts, things to enjoy, preferences people surround themselves with that start arguments or create inside jokes. And of course, all of this is going to complicate the main conflict. The good guys aren’t all agreeing on what to do. Not all of them are 100% good. Rivalry between the bad guys means things don’t go as planned.</div>
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So think about what you prefer, what things you argue with others over, what conflicts you have with your friends and family. Listen to the opinions that crop up that guide people’s lives. Work bits of those things into your characters, and they’ll be more active, more complex, and more enjoyable.</div>
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(<a href="http://katebrauning.com/blog/page/2/" style="background-color: transparent;">http://katebrauning.com/blog/page/2/</a>)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-73356573423472246872013-05-14T08:30:00.000-07:002013-05-14T08:30:02.024-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #14: The Heart of the Story<br />
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<strong style="line-height: inherit;">Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it. </strong></div>
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Focus is one of the most important elements in fiction. By focusing your story on certain characters, events, and ideas, you are choosing to not focus on other characters, other events. You’re saying “these specific elements matter most.” You’re cutting out all the people, events, years, and themes that don’t matter to your story. Without focus, readers would simply be taken on a rambling journey through tons of material that has no apparent relevance. Focusing your novel to discuss certain characters at a certain point in time dealing with specific experiences and held together by specific ideas (loss, grief, revenge, first love) allows the story to have meaning and impact. Focus gives clarity. It allows the reader to see what’s important and why.</div>
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Here’s the part I find fascinating: focus often helps <strong style="line-height: inherit;">the writer</strong> to see what’s important and why, and then shape the story to explore those ideas more deeply. Knowing the focus as you write can help you cut tangents, limit your themes to give the ones you have to have room to breathe, and challenge your characters with experiences that push them in meaningful ways.</div>
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So how do you know what the focus of your story should be? Rule 14 is the answer. When I start concepting a novel, there’s usually something that originally drew me to that idea. Something that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. Something about the idea has emotional resonance with me. Maybe it’s the trauma of powerlessness, or the wearing effect of daily life on relationships. Maybe it’s the strength of innocence. Use that detail, that idea, to shape the whole story.</div>
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Finding out why that idea grips me so strongly helps me figure out what’s at the heart of the story. This is what makes it MY story. It’s what makes it different from how anyone else would write it. And it’s what keeps me writing when it gets difficult, when I’m busy and tired, and when I’m not sure if I can do it. That bit of an idea shapes the characters and events, keeps me going, and makes the story unique. It’s the heart of the story.</div>
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(<a href="http://katebrauning.com/blog/" style="background-color: transparent;">http://katebrauning.com/blog/</a>)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-47678909437508290482013-05-13T08:30:00.000-07:002013-05-13T08:30:01.728-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #13: Flip-Flops and Sexism<br />
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<strong style="line-height: inherit;">Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.</strong></div>
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Your characters, especially the character through whose eyes we’re seeing the story happen, have to have opinions. Until recently, their whole lives didn’t revolve around the main conflict. Chances are, not too long ago, they were fairly normal people. Even if they weren’t, they still have a complete personality- or they should. How do they feel about global warming? Flip flops? Sexism? Onions? Preferences and opinions on even small things will help add real-life texture and believability to your writing. A passive character who is just a lens through which we watch the story, reporting what happens around them, would be even less fun than watching the evening news (hey, look an opinion!).</div>
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Of course, opinions about what’s going on in the plot need to be included, too. Do they think justice is being served? Do they think, even as rush to rescue her, that their sister brought most of this on herself? Your characters should personally react to the events going on around them, and that means they are even going to disagree with each other. I’m going to jump ahead to rule #15 here because it applies so well:</div>
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<strong style="line-height: inherit;">If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.</strong></div>
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Think about how you would feel if your sister disappeared. How would you feel if your brother was running for mayor, but you knew he wasn’t the right man for the job? Put yourself in your character’s shoes and track those emotions for a while. Jot them down so you can see what fits your character later on, but give it some time first. Really daydream about how you would react. Of course, don’t create your characters as yourself, but doing this will add a layer of believability and genuine emotion to them.</div>
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The flip side of this whole “give your characters opinions” thing is that your characters are going to disagree with each other. Mary likes olives. Claudia does not. Father thinks John should support his brother’s campaign regardless of political differences, because they are family. John can’t support him in good conscience, brother or not. Adding real-life texture to your characters through preferences and opinions and disagreements will deepen your characters. It’s also going to make their world more complex- small conflicts, things to enjoy, preferences people surround themselves with that start arguments or create inside jokes. And of course, all of this is going to complicate the main conflict. The good guys aren’t all agreeing on what to do. Not all of them are 100% good. Rivalry between the bad guys means things don’t go as planned.</div>
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So think about what you prefer, what things you argue with others over, what conflicts you have with your friends and family. Listen to the opinions that crop up that guide people’s lives. Work bits of those things into your characters, and they’ll be more active, more complex, and more enjoyable.</div>
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(<a href="http://katebrauning.com/blog/page/2/" style="background-color: transparent;">http://katebrauning.com/blog/page/2/</a>)</div>
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-71726517052316942362013-04-24T08:30:00.000-07:002013-04-24T08:30:01.082-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #12-The Perfect Draft, Part II<br />
Rule #12 relates closely to Rule #11. You need to seriously consider The Concept before you start drafting.<br />
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#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.<br />
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My super cool “list of 10″ trick applies well here. I talked more about this and gave examples in the post for rule 9, but here’s the general idea: when you’re working on your concept or trying to figure out any problem in your story, make a list of 10 things that could occur. Don’t let your critic get in the way here, just list 10 options. The first 3 or 4 that come to mind need thrown out. Since you thought of them first, most likely everyone else did too. A concept that low down on the list isn’t going to be original enough to carry the story. Push yourself from the very beginning to explore original ideas, motivations, and fixes in your story concept. If you’ve got that covered, you’re in a great starting place. You can write your draft and trust yourself to make it everything you want it to be in revisions.<br />
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But first, the draft has to exist.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.90625px;">http://katebrauning.com/blog/</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-50336214585900302382013-04-23T08:30:00.000-07:002013-04-23T08:30:02.294-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #11--The Perfect Draft, Part I<br />
Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.<br />
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I’ve been thinking about my current WIP for months. Granted, I want to be more thorough in the planning stages with this one, and I’ve been querying, interning, and revising as well. But I will admit a small part of me is nervous my draft won’t live up to my expectations. It can’t possibly be as good as it is in my head. It can’t be as impacting or engrossing as I imagine it.<br />
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If I don’t try, I can’t fail, right? Sure. In a sense. But (you knew there was going to be one, didn’t you?) I can’t succeed with this story, either– not until I put words on paper.<br />
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So maybe you’re thinking I’m going to tell you to knuckle down and bulldoze through. Trust yourself! Be inspired! Take a risk! You can do it!<br />
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More helpful than that, I think, is taking the pressure off drafting. A draft isn’t a book. A draft is just a starting place. Here’s my rule about drafts:<br />
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All a first draft has to do is exist.<br />
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A perfect first draft has a beginning, a middle, and an end. That’s it. Is that a perfect book? Of course not. A draft isn’t the same thing as a book, though. Don’t expect to hit your literary goals with your first draft. Good writing is rewriting. Second and third and tenth drafts are for adding layers and subtlety and poetry. Don’t expect too much from your first draft. Don’t burden it with your visions of grandeur to the point you’re scared to write it. An unwritten book isn’t a book. So take the pressure off drafting, don’t expect perfection, and trust yourself to improve it and make it what you want in later drafts. That is what they’re for. All a first draft has to do is exist.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.90625px;">http://katebrauning.com/blog/</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-88940243747046965492013-04-22T08:30:00.000-07:002013-04-22T08:30:03.625-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #10-Learning from What You Read<br />
Rule #10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.<br />
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I’ve read this way since I was twelve years old. At least, I’ve tried. When I love something in a book, I’m automatically curious why. I wanted to know why I loved that scene, that line, that character, long before I realized I wanted to be a writer. When a person loves something about a book, usually that means the author did something well. Pull it apart to see why it worked. If a scene just gripped you so thoroughly you couldn’t put the book down, look at why. Clipped, backloaded sentences? High personal stakes? Action where the timing was just dead-on?<br />
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I cannot get over the voice in The Fault in Our Stars. It’s funny, sarcastic, intelligent, and humble. I’m still working on breaking down how John Green did that, but frankness is a part of it. Hazel is honest with the reader about both love and death. I had no idea honesty about difficult things could be that impacting.<br />
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What Alice Forgot paints a relationship with effortless, breathtaking strokes. A tiny detail here, just a glimpse of an early scene in their marriage there. Liane Moriarty pulls together a complete, gorgeous picture of a marriage with tiny heartbreaking details. This book takes showing not telling to a whole new level. Seeing which details she uses, and how effective they are even without the summary and lines of telling that so many writers use to ground the reader, is such a powerful way to explore that concept.<br />
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In Jennifer Donnelly’s Revolution, I connected particularly with the main character. She’s skeptical and introspective, which I enjoyed, but after thinking about it, what drew me so much to her is her passion for music. I love music, but it’s particularly the way she talks about it, thinks with it, needs it, that gets me. The way she feels about music, I feel about writing. Giving your characters passions is a powerful thing. We all have deep desires. Giving them to your characters opens up a strong connection point with your readers.<br />
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So when you love something in a book, pause to think about why and jot it down. Process it. Use it. Doing so will change how you write- and how you read.<br />
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http://katebrauning.com/blog/Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-37691638840669434412013-04-21T08:30:00.000-07:002013-04-21T08:30:01.325-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #9--Using a List of Ten to Solve Everything<br />
#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.<br />
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I can see the sense here. This rule requires you to think through the situation, what’s plausible and what’s not, and sometimes by exploring the opposite of what you want, you’ll trigger a thought that will bring you full-circle. I’ve never tried this particular tactic, but it seems like it could help. The nuts and bolts of it, though, is getting figured out what has to happen in a scene when you’re stuck.<br />
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When I’m stuck, or brainstorming, or just want to boost the originality of an element, I use what I call “the rule of ten.” List ten things that could happen on a piece of scratch paper. Don’t think through them- just list. Don’t get bogged down trying to figure out if you’d actually want that thing to happen- just list ten things. So let’s try that. Pick an issue you have with your story right now- a character who needs a stronger motivation to do something, a twist or complication that needs ironed out, options for resolving the conflict-anything works. Try it with me. Yes, I’m serious.<br />
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Got your paper and pen? Let’s do it.<br />
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For mine, I’m going to say I have a contemporary YA where the girl is in conflict with her parents over a guy (I know, how original). What sort of conflicts could this be? I’ll be honest and draft this the same way I would all my other lists.<br />
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1) he’s a “bad boy”/has a record so they think he’s a bad influence<br />
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2) he’s a poor kid from across the tracks. Their princess deserves “better”<br />
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3) It’s a racial/cultural thing thing<br />
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4) He’s much older<br />
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5) they know a secret about his family that she doesn’t<br />
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6) They want her to go to college and are afraid local commitments will hold her back<br />
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7) She’s pregnant and they don’t think it’s appropriate for her to be dating right now<br />
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8) She’s been in abusive past relationships and they simply don’t trust her judgment; if she likes him, he has to be the wrong guy<br />
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9) The guy previously dated her older sister and broke her heart<br />
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10) They’ve been cursed to not like their daughter’s boyfriend, no matter who he is.<br />
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Ooh, look- that last one isn’t really contemporary. Interesting. Of course, some of these are silly, but that’s okay, because it’s brainstorming. Don’t let your critic get in the way at this point.<br />
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So here’s what happens with the rule of ten:<br />
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The first 3 things will probably be the same things everyone thinks of. Since they’re what your mind immediately went to, they are probably also what everyone else thought of. Unless you’re certain one of them is genius, cross them off right away. The mid-list items might be more unique, so look from there down for something that has genuine potential.<br />
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Chances are you will have a much harder time than you think coming up with the items for 7, 8, 9, and 10. You’ll probably have to do quite a bit of thinking about how complex people are and how strange life can be just to finish out the 10. Even though some of these have problems with them, several of these really catch my interest. This is a great way to get inspiration and cross off the story ideas that have been overused. I never let myself settle on something until I have listed at least 10 things.<br />
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Having done 10, do you think you could do 20? Could you take the one or two that catch your interest, and fill that out into a list of 10? What 10 minor complications could option, say, 7<br />
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http://katebrauning.com/blog/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-55858399491640330722013-04-20T21:50:00.003-07:002013-04-20T21:50:31.453-07:00Amazon Is Finally Setting Up Shop In Russia, Says Report, Expanding Its International Footprint Again<br />
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<span style="display: block;"><a class="name" href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/19/amazon-is-finally-setting-up-shop-in-russia-says-report/#" style="background-image: url(http://s2.wp.com/wp-content/themes/vip/tctechcrunch2/images/techcrunch.module.PostDetail.sprite.png); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #0a9600; display: block; float: left; font-size: 14px; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px; outline-style: none; padding-right: 5px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="avatar avatar-60 grav-hashed" height="60" id="grav-6648ec93043f0f368091adece63c6d52-0" src="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/6648ec93043f0f368091adece63c6d52?s=60&d=identicon&r=G" style="border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); display: block; float: left; height: 30px; margin: 4px 8px 0px 4px; width: 30px;" width="60" /><span class="name" style="background-image: none; display: block; float: left; height: 40px; margin: 0px; padding-right: 25px;">INGRID LUNDEN</span></a></span></h4>
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E-commerce giant <a href="http://www.amazon.com/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a> looks like it is gearing up for the latest chapter in its international expansion: an operation in Russia. According to this article in <a href="http://www.forbes.ru/kompanii/potrebitelskii-rynok/237640-amazon-prishel-v-rossiyu" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Forbes</a> (in Russian) the company has opened its first office in the country, headed by Arkady Vitrouk. Vitrouk is the former general director of ABC-Atticus, a publishing group owned by media baron Alexander Mamut.</div>
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Forbes cites unnamed sources but notes that the appointment, and the office opening, have not been confirmed by Amazon itself. However, we’ve discovered that Vitrouk’s <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/arkady-vitrouk/0/358/144" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LinkedIn profile</a> does confirm him as director of Kindle Content for Amazon in Russia.</div>
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Looking a little closer, Amazon is hiring for at least three other positions for Russia specifically for its Kindle business and the sourcing of local content: a <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=5448652&trk=vsrp_jobs_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A9830241366362529029%2CVSRPtargetId%3A5448652%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">senior product manager for Kindle content pricing</a>, and a <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=5448573&trk=vsrp_jobs_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A9830241366362641045%2CVSRPtargetId%3A5448573%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">principal for content acquisition</a> for Kindle Russia, and another <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/jobs/215319/ref=j_sr_3_t?ie=UTF8&category=*&jobSearchKeywords=russia&location=*&page=1" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">content acquisition manager</a>.</div>
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A visit to <a href="http://www.amazon.ru/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">amazon.ru</a> currently redirects to the company’s <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/gateway-eu" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">main page for Europe</a>, with links to other countries’ local sites, including the UK, France, Spain, German and Italy. The Forbes article also notes that Amazon has applied for patents in Russia around some of the activities we know it for already: storage and delivery of goods; the storage of electronic texts and media files; and book publishing. We have contacted Amazon and Vitrouk himself for more detail and will update this story as we learn more.</div>
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The news comes in the same week that Amazon <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/17/amazon-takes-its-android-appstore-global-adding-200-more-countries/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;">announced</a> that it would take its Appstore business international — extending it to nearly 200 countries, another sign of how the company is gearing up for more scale. It also follows <a href="http://thenextweb.com/eu/2012/11/30/barnes-noble-is-gearing-up-to-enter-russian-market-with-nook-tablets/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">reports</a> (again unconfirmed) that Barnes & Noble is also preparing for more Nook activity in Russia.</div>
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Russia is currently Europe’s largest internet market, according to a recent study from <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/22/comscore-russia-widens-online-lead-in-europe-with-61-3m-users-eu5-smartphone-penetration-now-57-samsung-android-leading/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;">comScore</a>, with an online audience of 61.3 million users.</div>
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That, combined with Russia’s rapidly rising middle class, has led to a boom in e-commerce. <a href="http://rt.com/business/russia-online-shopping-report-769/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Morgan Stanley</a> believes the Russian e-commerce market will be worth $36 billion by 2015, up from $12 billion in 2012.</div>
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Russia has been a noticeable hole in Amazon’s footprint, but that has spelled opportunity for local and other international players, too.</div>
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<a href="http://www.ozon.ru/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Ozon</a> — commonly called the “Amazon of Russia” — has raised <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/ozon-ru" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">$121 million</a> in funding and has been building up a very Amazon-like business, complete with a logistics network.</div>
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As we’ve pointed out <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/21/from-russia-with-money-how-kupivip-is-riding-the-middle-class-wave-in-europes-most-connected-market/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;">before</a>, this is especially important in a country like Russia, which doesn’t have a solid, extenstive pre-existing delivery infrastructure that spans across the whole of the huge country.</div>
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That, and the lack of credit card penetration, has meant that companies like Ozon and fashion/home goods site <a href="http://www.kupivip.ru/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">KupiVIP</a> (itself <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/kupivip" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">flush with $120 million of funding</a>) have built out fleets of their own delivery trucks, with drivers who take cash on delivery for goods (KupiVIP, focusing on clothes, will<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/21/from-russia-with-money-how-kupivip-is-riding-the-middle-class-wave-in-europes-most-connected-market/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;">even wait until the recipient tries something on</a>, so that the item can also get returned on the spot if it’s unsuitable).</div>
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Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.ebay.com/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">eBay</a> earlier this month, during its analyst day, <a href="https://twitter.com/ebayinc/status/317311383597375488" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">called</a> Russia the “number-one priority” for expansion for both eBay and PayPal. In 2012, people in Russia bought over $400 million of goods on eBay.</div>
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Ozon’s business has been built on its extensive logistics network to deliver a soup-to-nuts range of goods, but it has <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/04/ozon-russian-amazon-result/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;">not ruled out doing more in cloud services</a>. However it seems less interested in Kindle-style products like tablets, e-readers and digital content.</div>
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This is where Amazon could come in. In another BRIC market, <a href="http://www.amazon.com.br/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Brazil, Amazon</a> has been <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/06/amazon-finally-reclaims-its-namesake-launches-in-brazil-with-kindle-store/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;">building out a business based</a> on its non-physical goods — Kindle books and Kindle devices.</div>
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This could be one route to how Amazon decides to tackle Russia, at least in part. In that sense, it’s interesting that the Forbes report specifically names as the head of Amazon in Russia someone whose immediate experience lies precisely in publishing, rather than e-commerce or retail, and that he’s already heading up business for the company there in that vein.</div>
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P.S. I write “at least in part,” because it turns out that Amazon is also hiring for other Russia-related expansion plans. Fashion e-commerce site <a href="http://www.shopbop.com/" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Shopbop</a>, owned by Amazon, is seeking a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/jobs/207098/ref=j_sr_1_t?ie=UTF8&category=*&jobSearchKeywords=russia&location=*&page=1" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">marketing manager</a> for a new rollout in Russia. Amazon has also been <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/jobs/202238/ref=j_sr_2_t?ie=UTF8&category=*&jobSearchKeywords=russia&location=*&page=1" style="color: #0a9600; font-weight: bold; outline-style: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">headhunting in Moscow for software engineers</a> — although these would be for relocation to Seattle.</div>
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<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/19/amazon-is-finally-setting-up-shop-in-russia-says-report/">http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/19/amazon-is-finally-setting-up-shop-in-russia-says-report/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-56178345654833490002013-04-15T08:30:00.000-07:002013-04-19T15:02:54.250-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #8--Be Honest With Yourself About Revising<br />
#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.<br />
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A number of principles are wrapped up in this one, and it covers some tough stuff:<br />
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1) Finish the story. That’s so important. If you finish it, you’re already ahead of a lot of writers. Be determined and see it through. Don’t get bogged down revising the first 50 pages if you haven’t finished it. Finish the draft, then revise. Losing determination is easy if you start revising before you’ve finished.<br />
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2) After revisions, let it go. Let it go out to beta readers and let it sit on your shelf while you gain some distance. Of course, revise thoroughly, but keep in mind there’s a point where you can’t really do anything more to your manuscript. When I finished my adult fantasy novel, I knew there were areas that probably needed work, but I wasn’t sure if my feeling was accurate, I couldn’t see how to make the changes or even if they were necessary, and tinkering with minor changes weren’t going to help. I had done all I knew to do. I let it go.<br />
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3) Move on and do better next time. Why? Because a writer needs to build his skills. He needs to try something new, get out of the box he’s been in, and use what he learned writing story 1 to write story 2. I drafted MOON RIVER, and it was such a joy to start something completely different. Thinking about new characters, new plotlines, new themes, and all these new possibilities was inspiring. And guess what? Moving on had an interesting side effect. I gained the distance and some of the skills necessary to see the issues with my adult novel. With another set of revisions- ones I’m excited to make- I think it could be unique enough to make it in a crowded market. Moving on isn’t giving up, and sometimes it’s best for everyone.<br />
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4) No book is perfect. I’d argue some of them are, but that’s just me being the enthusiastic fan I am. Obviously, make your story as close to perfect as you can, never query anything less than your best work, and don’t use this rule as a crutch. If you suspect the beginning is too slow and your antagonist is flat, they probably are. Don’t leave those things, because your book probably won’t make it with them and you’ll just end up taking longer to get where you want to go. Do the work, learn the skills, revise, get critiques, revise, get tougher critiques, revise. Just keep in mind endlessly scrolling through 300 pages to pick over word choice and changing sentence structures three times may not be making anything better, and it can actually become a reason to delay querying. Sometimes, revisions don’t make a book better, they just make it different.<br />
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All of this requires a good deal of being honest with yourself. Develop your instinct by reading great books and breaking them down to see what works and what doesn’t, and then trust your instinct. Are you done revising? Do you need distance to really tell? Do you need to move on to something new for now? Are you endlessly revising because you don’t want to jump into the query trenches yet? It’s tough, but be honest with yourself about all this. And find writer friends to discuss these things with- I promise you, there are thousands of us in the same situation, thinking and feeling and worrying the same things. Being honest with yourself and sharing the worries with others frees you to do what you do best: write.<br />
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Here’s a chance to get started- what’s your gut instinct about where you are with your WIP? What do you need to do to know if your instinct is right?<br />
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http://katebrauning.com/blog/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2745804443775068116.post-59444492954127927872013-04-12T08:30:00.000-07:002013-04-18T14:55:37.027-07:00Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #7--Come Up With Your Ending<br />
#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.<br />
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Beginnings are important. They set the stage, draw in the reader, and present the problem. Often they have catchy first lines, hilarious boy-meets-girl moments, frightening she-might-die conflicts, and dozens of compelling questions we want answered. Middles have raising stakes, surprising twists, and character motivations revealed in ways that make us desperately wish they get what they’re after. But endings. Endings. They are the payoff.<br />
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We read for the journey, right? The complete experience. Following along after Augustus and Hazel. Watching Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy overcome their pride. Trying to figure out what happened to Jason Bourne before it’s too late. It’s less about where they end up and more about how they get there.<br />
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But that’s how we read. If writers wrote that way, we’d have a directionless path winding forever onward, and eventually, readers would bail. When we write- wait for it- we have to take aim.<br />
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As a farm girl, I’ve done my share of target shooting. Sometimes I’d use my brother’s .22, but most often it was an air rifle that fired BBs or this wicked little BB pistol I had. Not a real gun, I know, but that was kind of the point. I knew I wasn’t likely to accidentally kill anyone. Plus, BBs are cheap. So, sixteen-year-old me would tie a soda can to the fence and shoot away until I cut the can in half. When I took aim and pulled the trigger, I had a target in mind.<br />
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From the very beginning of the story, writers need to aim at their target. Sometimes the target changes, and that’s fine, as long as the writer adjusts for it. Aiming at the target gives the story a journey, makes it progress, and pulls the reader onward. They are going somewhere, not wandering.<br />
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When I started writing DINAH, I didn’t know the beginning. I still need to work out a chunk of the middle. But I’ve known the ending since I started plotting: a seventeen-year old girl standing in the town square, with a gun to the head of the man who took away her land and killed her family. (What happens next is top secret.) As I plot and write scenes, I’m aiming to get my characters there. Everything leads up to that moment and the aftermath, the echoes of the shot she does or doesn’t take.<br />
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Figure out your ending. Pick your target and aim for it. Chances are you won’t hit much of anything if you fire wildly into space. It’s rare to hit your target if you don’t take aim.<br />
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http://katebrauning.com/blog/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0