One Month Down

So it's already February, 2013.  This year is gonna be gone before I realize it began.

I hope all of you are doing well.  It's been a while since I posted, and I'm going to be honest:  I haven't written a whole lot lately.

That's not to say I don't want to.  I'm anxious to continue with Outcry (I already have two more chapters written that I haven't edited yet) so I can move on to other projects.  But my mind shuts down every time I sit down to actually write something.  I burned myself out mentally last year by trying to work my full-time job, juggle writing two different books, spread the word about my published books, keep up with the blog, and so on and so forth.  I was trying to do far too much, and my brain wasn't getting any time to unwind.  Some people don't need that, I know - I envy them at times.  But I needed it.

I was speaking with fellow author Jerry Hanel recently about this very issue.  Here's what I told him:

"I think my time away has been about refocusing on why I write. Initially, I wrote because I had something to say. Because I wanted to share my world and my characters with people. Because I wanted to make people think about life, about how we treat each other in today's society, and maybe get them to consider the existence of God. But once I got a taste of paid writing, my goal suddenly became maximizing sales numbers. Public opinion suddenly mattered to me, and as a result, my mindset got away from doing what I felt God was leading me to do and became focused on pleasing the public and making money. In the process, I fried both my brain and my motivation button. My heart wants to go back, and my creative need is dying to go back, but my brain just feels like jelly whenever I try to actually sit down and type.

I need to get my mind off sales numbers and reviews and just focus on getting my work to people. I need to write because I enjoy it, write because I have something to say, and write because it's in my heart to do."

So, I'm trying to get my creative juices flowing again.  And as a part of that, I've started a little page on reddit (called a "subreddit") called "Creative Challenge."  There, users exercise their creativity by proposing and/or completing challenges based on a simple premise or idea.

For example, one might post a challenge such as: "A rosebush. The beach. A child's stuffed toy. Take those three things and come up with a plot for a short story or novel." Then, in the comments, everyone can respond with whatever they've come up with.

The challenges aren't restricted to writing either.  There are music challenges, artistic challenges, and even open challenges which allow users to respond using any medium they wish.

I started the subreddit only a few days ago, and it's already got over 140 subscribers.   I'm hoping it can become a fun little community where we bounce ideas off each other's heads, learn from one another, and make a few friends.  You're welcome to join us, too!

Creative Challenge on Reddit (r/creativechallenge)

I know I've been promising new writing from me soon.  And I have TONS of ideas (the outline for the rest of Outcry is mostly complete).  I just need to get past this slump first.  And I will, I'm sure.  I've gone through longer slumps than this before.  :)

Hope all of you are having a great new year thus far.

God bless,
Kevin

Kindle Fire HD Giveaway

Happy New Year, everyone!  Hope you had a safe and happy holiday season!  2013 is looking to be a great year, and what better way to start off a great year than with an awesome giveaway?  Here's the scoop.

Jerry Hanel, author of the Brodie Wade series, is hosting a Kindle Fire HD Giveaway on his website.  The winner will receive one brand-new Kindle Fire HD.  In addition to that, Jerry has assembled a collection of books from various authors (including myself) to be preloaded onto the Kindle for your reading enjoyment.  That means you'll have 22 free books waiting for you the first time you start up your new Kindle.

The rules for entry are pretty simple: Sign up for his newsletter.  That's all it takes.  Be sure to check the "Giveaway" box when signing up, and you'll automatically be entered for a chance to win the Kindle Fire HD.  Doing this will also automatically enter you to any future giveaways as well!

Along with the single entry you gain by signing up for his newsletter, there are several ways you can obtain additional entries!  For further details, check out the announcement page over at JerryHanel.com.  Click now, because you've only got until February 1st, 2013 to enter!

Good luck, and have a great 2013 everyone!

God bless,
Kevin

Christmas Nostalgia

Being in Missouri is hard around the holidays.  I miss my family and the traditions we used to enjoy together, but times have changed so much that even if I was back in New Jersey, Christmas wouldn't be the same.  My father is gone, and my siblings share the holidays with their own families.  I have Laura, and I feel blessed in that, but I've had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that the Domenic family traditions we grew up with are no more.

I do visit New Jersey for a week each December, and many members of the family do try to stop by for a visit.  I love them and appreciate it - my aunt and cousins stopped by during this year's trip to share a traditional Christmas dinner with us.  And while I enjoyed it and hope that our yearly gatherings can be a new tradition going forward, that nostalgic part of me that clings to the past so strongly has a hard time letting go of things like our trips to the Fountains of Wayne and a family-filled living room on Christmas morning.

It is what it is, though.  We're all adults now, and everything has changed.  Those chapters of our lives are written, scrawled across pages of a book to be revisited whenever nostalgia taps me on the shoulder.  I cherish the memories we had together, and I hope that someday we will be able to create more.

I love and miss you guys.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  I hope 2013 is a great year for you and your families.

See you all in the new year.

God bless,

Kevin

Thanksgiving Ramblings

Just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  There are many things to be thankful about, but I personally would like to extend my thanks to the men and women across the country who put themselves and their families aside to travel east and assist with the recovery efforts throughout areas affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Many people are missing Thanksgiving with their loved ones to be in New Jersey, New York, and the surrounding areas where the cleanup process is ongoing.

I also want to thank the good people at Ward Realty in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Jersey Shore, many of the homes there are small beach houses that get rented out to tourists throughout the spring and summer months.  Most of those homes are closed down with utilities shut off at this time of year, but Ward Realty has been working with homeowners to open those that are still standing so that victims who lost everything can have a place to stay and share in Thanksgiving.  Ward has done far more than just that - along with many other organizations up and down the eastern coast - but I just wanted to highlight their assistance to the Point Pleasant community and thank them for their service to its people.

Of course, I also thank God for the blessings he's given me in this life.  I have so much that I am undeserving of and he has blessed me with a well-paying job that I actually like.  As if that wasn't enough, he has also blessed me with the chance to share my writing with each of you, a journey that has introduced me to so many wonderful people I likely wouldn't have otherwise had the chance to meet.  You make the sleepless nights of clacking away at my keyboard more than worth it.  Thank you so much for your support, and don't worry - new content is in the works!

One last thing.  Please, if you have any compassion for humanity at all, do NOT go shopping tonight.  The reason retail stores tear their employees from their families to handle these mobs of unforgiving and ruthless customers is because customers show up. Have some sympathy for the millions of retail employees across the nation and don't go shopping today!

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

God bless,
Kevin

After the Storm

I moved to Missouri in January of 2010.  Coming from New Jersey, I didn't really know what to expect.  I figured those midwest states were all about shotguns and chewing tobacco.  I guess it's easy to develop that kind of stereotype when that's all you see on television.  But after living here for nearly three years, I can safely say that I like it here.  Sure, the tornado sirens are a bit tough to handle at times, and the F4 tornado that came within a couple short miles of our apartment last year (the one that hit the St. Louis Airport) certainly put the fear of God into me.  But there are lots of places where you can view the beauty of nature in ways I couldn't in Jersey.  And the attitudes of people here are a good deal better - no Jersey girls or Situation wannabes here.

Still, no matter where I live or where I go, I'll always call New Jersey home.  So when Hurricane Sandy was forecast to hit my home head-on earlier this week, I got a bit nervous.  I mean, I still have family there - my mother, my sister and her husband, one of my brothers and his family, and aunts, uncles, and cousins.

But New Jersey has been through this routine before.  The earliest storm I can remember that sent the state into panic mode was Hurricane Gloria in 1985.  I was five years old then, but I remember schools being closed that day and the morning TV shows were all taken over by news broadcasts.  My cousins were taping up their windows next door.  People were bracing for the worst.  Everyone expected it to be a disaster.

The sun was out by lunch time.

Throughout the following years, that became the trend.  No, not trend - the norm.  Whenever the news would forecast a terrible storm like a tropical storm or hurricane, they'd freak out like New Jersey was going to crumble to its foundation.  But the storms hit, the winds blew, the rains flooded, and we moved on within days.  Even the dreaded Hurricane Irene, the fabled storm of storms from last year, was at one time expected to flood out Wall Street in New York City.  Don't get me wrong, I know that flooding happened in several areas and there were trees/power lines down in many places.  But just like all the other storms, it left relatively little damage when compared to the real hurricane destruction in places like Florida and Louisiana.

So naturally, when forecasters started running around like headless chickens over the threat posed by Hurricane Sandy, many long-time New Jersey natives shrugged and went about their daily lives.  That's not to say no one prepared anything, of course - we always sandbag our shorelines and board up coastal windows.  But for the most part, those steps were taken more as precautions than as necessities.  The people did it "just in case" the storm turned out to be bad, figuring the most cleanup they'd need to do would be to remove the wooden boards and maybe pump an inch or two of water out of their basements.

That's not what happened this time.

I can't fault New Jersey for being caught offguard despite the warnings.  I really can't.  We live in an age when meteorologists can't seem to determine the path or intensity of 99% of storms until they are already happening.  So why would anyone believe this to be any different?  Even when Irene hit, forecasters were calling for several inches of additional rainfall as the sun was coming out.  That rain, of course, never came.  New Jerseyans are so used to being protected by that "It can't happen to me" feeling that they had no way of knowing what was about to happen to them.

They know now.  And as I stood outside my office on Monday, staring into the clear autumn skies over St. Louis while I talked to my mother on the phone, I wished I could trade places with her.  She sat in our house - the house she raised four children in, the house in which my father was born, the house in which he died, and the house she now cares for by herself - alone to face the biggest storm the northeast United States has ever seen.  I'd have traded spots with her in a second if I could have.

But my mother, trooper that she is, didn't seem worried.  She may have been; I don't know.  But she didn't seem to be.  She said she hoped the power would last long enough for the sump pump to keep the basement dry, but other than that, she was ready to ride it out.  Our house is kind of on a mountainside, and that helps to prevent winds from really reaching top speeds.  That also helps drain off major rainfall so that there's never really and drastic flooding.  She said she'd be OK, and if there's one thing I know about my mother, it's that I can trust her judgement.  If she said she'd be OK, she would be.

My sister, on the other hand, lives right on the edge of a flood zone.  She's near the Passaic River, which requires little more than the squirt of a water gun to flood.  And even though she's on the second floor, that didn't mean she was necessarily safe.  Plus, she's got a sliding glass door that leads to her balcony from her living room - a bullseye for any powerful gust of wind. But she didn't seem too worried either, so that made me feel a bit more confident.

Most of my other family members made it clear via facebook that they were ready to take on Sandy. But my worries shifted to the south.  Growing up, my family shared ownership in a beach house down in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey.  Due to circumstances beyond our control, we wound up selling the house in 2008.  But it was, without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite place in the world.  Laura has painted me a few pictures of the house since we left Jersey, and I've got an old photo of it here on my desk at home.  Many of my most cherished memories are from Point Pleasant, and as a child, I hoped to be able to buy the house from my parents once day.  But life doesn't always work out quite the way we want, and we no longer own the house.  Still, that has done nothing to weaken my attachment to it, and every summer when we drive out to NJ to visit my mother for her birthday, I make sure we spend at least a day in Point Pleasant.

Our simple little beach house.  If, by chance, you happen to be familiar with my "One Last Time" video series on Youtube, you'll be familiar with this place.  That video series was from our last stay in the house before its sale.

So when they said that the Jersey Shore was taking the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, my heart dropped.  The house is literally two houses away from the beach.  If the flood waters raised to the levels being predicted, it would surely be destroyed.  And even though it's not my house to be concerned with anymore, a part of me sincerely hopes that it provides the same good times and great memories to its new owners that it provided to us over the years.  To see it destroyed would break my heart in more ways than one.

My family/friends made it through the storm, thank the Lord.  There was no visible damage to my mother's house, and while two trees fell near my sister's home, they didn't hit the building.  However, like most of New Jersey, just about everyone I know everyone lost power.  While it was a nuisance and an inconvenience at first, the temperatures in my sister's and mother's homes dropped significantly with the cold.  Additionally, gas has become a precious commodity in New Jersey, making it difficult for them to drive anywhere for supplies.  I'm sure authorities would say they should've stocked up on tanks of gas and extra batteries (which they did to an extent) to be more prepared for the storm than they were, but again, this kind of crazy storm has never happened before.  The weathermen had cried wolf so many times that there was no way to know that they would actually get it right this time around.

I've kept in close contact with both my mother and my sister since Sandy blew over.  I offered to drive out with a bunch of gas-filled cans in my car, but Mom wouldn't allow it.  My older brother (who lives out of state) was awesome enough to offer the same and even suggested taking her back to his house until her town recovers.  However, I'm happy to report that Mom got her power back tonight.  I imagine the joy she felt must've been similar to that of the Emperor in Episode III of Star Wars when he screams his cheesily-delivered line of, "UNLIMITED POWER!!"

My other brother also has his power back, but as of this writing, my sister, aunt, and cousins are still waiting on theirs.  Hopefully it won't be too long, but state officials are estimating that total restoration won't be complete for 6-14 days. I'm optimistic that it will be faster than that, but this whole thing has been so unprecedented that there's really no previous experience from which conclusions can be drawn.

And what of the beach house, you ask?

Ever since Tuesday morning, Laura has been watching The Weather Channel and scouring the internet for any pictures or info.  Given that TWC has spent so much time reporting from Point Pleasant, we figured they might get a shot of the houses along the boardwalk at some point.  But no matter how much we watched, we couldn't seem to get a shot of what we were looking for.

Thankfully, Ward Realty, a company based right next to the boardwalk that handles a lot of the summer home rentals along the beach, was kind enough to walk up and down the streets and private walks, taking pictures until the battery in their camera died.  And guess what!

She's certainly seen better days, but there she is - alive and well.

When Laura showed me this picture, I loaded up Youtube and played Elton John's "I'm Still Standing."

I left a comment on this picture thanking them for posting it and saying that I hoped the owners had the resources to repair the damage.  Shortly thereafter, the new owner's son left a comment stating that they just had some minor work and that they planned to be up and running by next summer!  I was so thrilled/relieved to hear that.

Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky.  Here are more shots from that same street, courtesy of Ward Realty.

The building on the Ocean Avenue side of the walk.  This place has been everything from a convenience store to a pizza place in my lifetime.

The view down the court looking from Ocean Avenue toward the boardwalk.  Doesn't look good.

The south side.  Obviously, those were once fences that lined the main path to the boardwalk.

The north side.  You can see how badly the blue house was pushed from its foundation by the rushing ocean waters.

 

The house across from ours.  The comments on facebook say that the basement was flooded out but the house seems to be otherwise okay.

I believe that this house is the reason that our house fared so well.  It's size likely helped to redirect any larger surges of sand/water away.

I feel terrible for the owners of the blue house.  I can't imagine how it could not end up as a total loss.

The Frank Sinatra House lives!  For anyone who may not know, this house is famous for ALWAYS piping Frank Sinatra music through an outdoor sound system.

Ward Realty posted the full album of pictures to their facebook page, so if you'd like to see more of the damage throughout town (many homes were NOT as lucky), just "Like" them on facebook.

I've seen some comments online referring to how much people will miss Point Pleasant as though the town is gone forever, but there's no way it won't be rebuilt.  I'd be surprised if the boardwalk and Jenkinson's aren't up and running by Memorial Day 2013.

Seaside Heights, on the other hand, may take a bit longer.

Anyway, before I go to bed I just want to say one last thing.  Watching all of this unfold from a distance has put a new perspective on human suffering for me.  When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, I watched as many others did while people waved from rooftops hoping to be rescued from rising flood waters.  Then, as many others did, I flipped to the next channel from the comfort of my warm bed.  I felt bad for the victims, of course, but there was no direct connection.  I didn't know anyone there, and I'd never been to New Orleans.  Besides, what could I do other than donate money?  I thought feeling sympathy was enough.

This time, as Sandy rolled over the New Jersey shorelines, I felt much more connected and involved in what was going on.  Here I am sitting safely in Missouri watching the people around me go about their daily routines with not a cloud in the sky while millions of people fought for survival 900 miles to the east. And while my workplace always has the news on in the break room, no one seemed to care much about the horrific scenes of destruction taking place along the eastern seaboard.  They talked about basketball games, the World Series, weekend plans, and other mindless drivel.  Some even made jokes - jokes! - about how dumb it was to live near an ocean.

It made me understand the difference between sympathy and empathy.  It's easy to see something like Hurricane Katrina, the Japanese Earthquake, or the Joplin/Tuscaloosa tornadoes and not feel an emotional connection to the victims.  It's sad, but my brain doesn't really register the reality of what the victims are going through because I'm not personally invested in the outcome.  I feel bad, and I pray for their quick recovery, but it doesn't really hit home because I'm not worrying about any person or place in particular.  That's sympathy.

Empathy, however, comes when you can personally identify with someone or something being affected.  I want to be able to have empathy not just for the people and places I am familiar with, but for anyone who struggles, anyone who mourns, and anyone who perishes.  If my goal is really to help people learn to appreciate and love each other (and it is), then I need to be able to be the first to set that example.

I've been cold.  I've been selfish.  I've been heartless.  And it needs to change.  It must change.

It will change.

If you wish to donate to the relief efforts of Hurricane Sandy, you can do so by clicking this link: American Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund

God bless each and every one of you affected by this storm.  My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Kevin

Self-Publish Your Novel In Seven Steps

Let's say that you have a completed novel on your computer, but it is just a file on your PC. You now want to share it with the world, but you don't know the first thing about self publishing.  What do you do?

You're in luck!  I've put together the following guide based on my own self-publishing experience to help you get your books onto all major ebook websites.  It is no small task, but with some time and dedication, you can do it!

7 Steps to Self Publishing

Step 1: Ensure that your book is e-reader friendly by formatting it properly. There's a website called Smashwords that provides a free Smashwords Style Guide that you can read online. It will show you how to properly format margins, indents, font size, font type, pre-book legal crap, and just about everything else you'll need.  Click the link above, scroll down, and you can either download it to your e-reader or read the guide in your browser.

Step 2: This can be done at the same time as you do step one. Get a cover artist. If you're a talented artist, go ahead and create something original. But if you're like me and have zero artistic skill, hire an artist to do work for you. There are a number of different sites where you can find artists; I found mine at deviantArt. There's also a site called Flip City Books that does covers for indie authors.

Step 3: Once your manuscript is ready and you've got your cover, submit your work to Amazon.com's Kindle Direct Publishing for distribution on Amazon.com. You will need to convert your manuscript from Word format to HTML format, but that's simple; just select "Save as Web Page" from Word's "Save As" dialogue. For the other e-retailers, I personally use Smashwords.com. Smashwords is great because they will distribute your work to a plethora of other ebook sites like Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony ReaderStore, the iBookstore, and a few others. They take a small percentage of your sales (they usually take about $0.18 from each book I sell) and the rest is yours.

*Note: After I published, Barnes and Noble released their own ebook publishing site for users to publish directly with them. I haven't used it myself, so I don't know anything about how it works.  Feel free to check it out, though - I've heard good things.

Step 4: Create a website, Twitter, and facebook author page. This is how you can hype/promote your book and keep in touch with your readers. I don't know much about website design (although I'm taking classes!), so I just use blogger for my site (obviously). Facebook allows you to create author-specific pages, so you can keep your personal profile separate from your author page. Link any pages together so that readers can find you, and put all links at the end of each book you publish so that readers can find more of your work after finishing the book they purchased.

When posting content to these pages, it is important to vary your material.  If all you post over and over again is, "Buy my book! Buy my book! Buy my book!" people will stop visiting.  A variety of interesting and useful content will help you build a following.

Step 5:  Join Triberr. It's a site where you can connect with other indie authors who will share your work on their sites/twitters/facebook pages and you can share theirs on yours to create cross-promotional web traffic.  This has dramatically increased traffic to my site.  Just by posting this blog entry, Triberr will add it to our group feed, and other members will then share the link on their twitter and/or facebook accounts.

Step 6: Join author groups. There is a group on facebook called Indie Writers Unite that has been nothing but helpful, friendly, and constructive. They're great people in a very critical industry, and that's really hard to find.  There are lots of other sites to connect with authors as well, like the Nookboards, the Kindleboards, and Amazon's own KDP Support Forums.

Step 7: Promote. Lots of other authors will hold interviews on their sites - request an interview. Interview people for your own site. Submit your work to review sites - there's a good directory of reviewers for Indie authors at Indie Book Reviewer.  Post snippets of your work to your site. Provide snippets for other sites. There are tons of things you can do to get your work out there. Run promotions - Smashwords allows you to create discount coupons to give to readers).

*IMPORTANT: Spamming any forums and webpages related to reading/writing is not an effective method of promotion.  It comes across as amateur and often annoys more people than it attracts.  However, there are specific facebook pages, twitter feeds, reddit pages, and other forums that are set up specifically for book promotions.  Use them to your heart's content!

--

After you've done all that, write a new book and repeat! :) I know it looks like a lot of work (and it is) but the first time you get an email from a reader telling you that your book taught them something or inspired them or was just a great piece of work, the effort will seem minimal.

However, on the flip side of that, you'll also have people tell you that your work sucks. It happens. Just about all e-book sites give readers the ability to preview the book, so it's not like they don't have a chance to see what they're getting. Also, many authors have varying opinions of what is "art." Some will argue that everything needs to be grammatically proper. Some will say otherwise. My response to that is simple: If I'M happy with my work, then that's good enough for me.

Best of luck to you.  If you have any questions, feel free to either leave them in the comments section of this blog or use the "Contact" button at the top right of this page.

God bless,
Kevin

Business Tactics

Is there a single company in America that operates with any amount of honesty and transparency anymore?  Do businesses care about their employees or customers?  Ethic and integrity?

I'm beginning to think not.

Sure, there are lots of companies that "do good" for the sake of the public eye by way of charity and product donations.  But even those acts of philanthropy are done with the underlying intention of improving the company's image with the public.  Everything is about making the most money possible regardless of who must be trampled in the process.

A business needs to make money to be successful.  I get that.  Without profits, growth is impossible.  I don't have a problem with a company making money from their goods and services.  What bothers me is when the little guy - whether it be employee or customer - gets trampled in the process.  I know that I generally hold a no-tolerance policy over at Retail Ramblings when it comes to customers, but there are times when they, too, are victimized by the cutthroat nature of American business.

Wait - see what I did there?  For the purposes of being completely honest and transparent to you, let me point out how I just proved my own point by mentioning my other site, Retail Ramblings, and inserting a clickable link in hopes that you might click it.  And I inserted it again in the previous sentence to try to lure your attention to it.  Maybe you'll click it if you read the words Retail Ramblings more often.  The more frequently you see it, the more you curiosity about Retail Ramblings might grow to the point where you can't help but click on it.

Sorry, I'm done mentioning Retail Ramblings now.  Retail Ramblings.

Actually, all of that is very much true.  It's the reason you can't go anywhere without seeing corporate logos all over the place.  Branding is essential to just about any business these days.  It's the reason why you have to watch a stupid little Verizon animation every time you turn on your cell phone.  It's the reason the Nike Swoosh is everywhere.  It's the reason why Kelloggs plasters their name across the plastic watch that your child mailed four cereal box tops to obtain.  The more you see a company name or logo, the more you hear or read it's slogan, the more you're going to think of them the next time you need a product or service they offer.

I suppose that, in itself, isn't all that harmful.  When done appropriately, of course.  But there are other times when it is completely unnecessary and actually becomes a hindrance.  Personally, I still harbor ill feelings toward Panasonic for what they did to hockey for so many years.  If you don't watch hockey (or any sport, for that matter), let me give you a quick recap.

Hockey, like any sport, has its fair share of instant replays.  Years back, business started paying networks to "Sponsor" these replays.  Don't ask me how one sponsors a replay, because I still don't get that. Are they paying for the equipment costs incurred when a station replays a clip?

(Yes, I'm aware that these companies aren't actually sponsoring individual replays but instead the league and/or broadcasting network.)

Anyway, it doesn't matter.  What began to happen is that sportscasters would show a replay, then say something like, "This replay was brought to you by Coca-cola."  And that's what happened in hockey when Panasonic served as a sponsor.  However, Panasonic asked for a bit more than that.  After every replay (and if you watch any amount of sports, you know there are usually a lot), the sportscasters would end the replay by saying, "This Panasonic Digital Replay has been brought to you by Panasonic.  Panasonic: Ideas for Life."

After. EVERY. Replay.

Needless to say, it really damaged the quality and integrity of the broadcast.  Thankfully, the Panasonic deal seems to have run its course as these sponsor notes were not included last season.

But it irks me that companies have no problem taking a steaming dump all over anything that stands in the way of promoting their products.  And it bugs me even more that so much of their promoting is exaggerated at best and complete lies at worst.  How come my fast-food never looks like it does in the commercials?  Why can't I navigate my average sedan down a dusty road like a stunt driver?  Why isn't my airline experience as smooth and comfortable as the advertising suggests?

Because the "food" in those fast-food commercials isn't even real; it's made of artificial materials designed to look like food so that your mouth will water when you see it.

Because there are very few places where it is legal to drive like a stuntman, and you could kill yourself without the proper training.

Because flying sucks, and comfort is subjective.

None of that stops companies from deceiving people into buying their products.  A great example of this is a recent 5-Hour Energy commercial.  I was unable to locate the original commercial as it seems to have been yanked by the manufacturers.  There are some versions of it on Youtube, however, but they are edited by users adding their own voiceovers and commentary.

Here's why:

The commercial states that they surveyed over 3000 doctors, and 73% of doctors surveyed stated they'd recommend a low-calorie energy supplement to healthy patients who use energy supplements.  Does anyone else see a problem with that?  You're talking about patients who already use energy supplements, so you're asking doctors to either offer a higher calorie option or a lower calorie option.  Which one do you think they're going to select?  Had the choice been between energy supplements or no energy supplements, the survey might have a fraction more validity.

Second, the fine print reveals more (as it always does).  Of those 73% of doctors, only 56% recommend 5-Hour Energy specifically.  The fine print then changes to read that of all doctors surveyed, 47% recommended 5-Hour Energy specifically.  As always, all of this fine print is visible for such a short period of time that you need to pause the video to see it.

So the commercial is designed to make you think that 73% of doctors recommend 5-Hour Energy.  What it actually states is that 47% of doctors believe that if you MUST use an energy supplement, you should use 5-Hour Energy.  That is a BIG difference.

This happens all the time.  If there is fine print in ANY commercial, read it.  It will hold the truth you're looking for, or at least whatever portion of the truth the company needed to print to avoid lawsuits.

And that's just one method by which businesses deceive.

More deception comes from lower level employees.  I have no doubt that some of them don't care or don't realize that they are being taught to deceive consumers.  However, there are others who recognize it, stand up against it, and are terminated for their integrity.

The average shopper doesn't seem to realize that everything about their shopping experience (and I mean everything) is designed to make them spend more money.  Even the store associate's question of, "What can I help you find today?" is meant to try to make you spend money.  Statistics show that customers who are helped by salespeople - regardless of the product or service being offered - are more likely to make a purchase.  So management instructs salespeople to use "assumptive phrases" when interacting with customers.  Simply put, they are to assume the customer is going to be buying something.  "They didn't come into the store for nothing," management says.  Right, because window shopping never happens.

The question "What can I help you find today?" forces the customer to rudely ignore your question if they don't want salesperson assistance.  The company is banking on the fact that most customers won't do that.  So the customer answers.  "I'm just looking at digital cameras."  The salesperson then says they'll show you where it is and begins walking before you can object.  Once you've reached the product, the pitch begins.  You don't have to ask anything, because he'll start asking you.  Again, you are faced with the choice of either being rude and just telling him to go away, or just answering his questions.  So you answer.  Inevitably, he suggests the most expensive camera, memory card, leather case, swappable lenses, color printer (you'll obviously want to print those pictures, after all), printer paper, printer cartridges, cable, warranty plans (for both devices), and any other related items he can find to attach to the sale.  This is completely reasonable in the eyes of the company.  After all, nobody minds spending five hundred dollars instead of the one-fifty they originally considered, right?

Employees aren't allowed to question this process, either.  Believe me, I've tried.  I don't like making assumptions about anyone's shopping plans, nor do I like assuming everyone wants help from a salesperson.  I feel that using tactics designed to have a certain psychological effect on a person's shopping habits is deceptive.  Personally, I do most of my shopping online to avoid all that garbage.

There are also times when salespeople are expected to either lie or avoid the truth.  "This is the best camera we have," doesn't necessarily mean it's the best one for your needs or even the best one the store sells.  It means it's the most expensive one they have in stock at that moment that has the features you want (and probably more that you'll never use).  It's essentially the same advice given to Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street.

But when I'd raise these objections with my previous jobs, I was basically told that I was welcome to seek employment elsewhere if I didn't agree to go along with the established process.  Either I take part in the deception, or I lose my job.  That's American business ethics for ya.

How about the never ending battle over rights?  The tactics being employed to protect products go way beyond necessary.  In many cases, they downright spit in the face of logic.

Now, let me say first and foremost, that I support the battle against trademark infringement and intellectual property piracy.  The legitimate battle.  The question becomes, "What is legitimate and what is not?"  To me, the answer is quite simple.

Legitimate:  I found that two of my books were made available for free download online without my authorization.  I contacted the website, and they pulled the books for me.  Only I hold the rights to make my books available, and only I can grant permission for them to be made available elsewhere.  This isn't a case of someone mentioning my work, it's the providing of my full-version product for free.

Illegitimate:  Someone posts my book covers/titles to their site saying that they either loved/hated my writing.  Or if someone created a fanpage for The Fourth Dimension.  As long as it is identified as a fansite and doesn't try to pass itself off as being connected with me, I don't see the problem (not that anyone has done that, but for the sake of this point, that was the example I came up with).

Here's a real-world example: Amazon recently told a facebook page with over 5000 followers called "Kindle Korner" promoting Kindle titles that they did not have permission to use the Kindle name, forcing them to create a new page and start from scratch.  I argue this as illegitimate because the whole purpose of this page was to promote the Kindle and its product library.  The fact that the page was dedicated to Kindle alone as opposed to the Nook, iPad, Kobo, or other ereaders should've been something Amazon appreciated.  At the most, I'd say that Amazon should have required Kindle Korner to indicate that they are not operated by or affiliated with Amazon in any way.  I understand the company's need to ensure that consumers identify an official site from a user-run page, but to refuse to allow any use of the name is absurd.  Especially when so many other sites use the name (I'm looking at you, Kindleboards).

Yes, I realize there is a difference between trademarks and copyrights.  I know that the laws are different and that trademarked names aren't the same as book titles - they cannot be used without permission.  But we're not talking about a revenue-generating business here.  Kindle Korner wasn't in this to make money, and I'm fairly confident they aren't a revenue-based page.  Are trademarked names so taboo that we can't even use them as parts of fan-made pages?  If I made a facebook page called, "Pepsi Equals Awesome" would I be sued for using the name Pepsi?  Would that make any sens at all?

Do they have legal right to use the name?  No.  But they weren't trying to manufacture or sell Kindles.  They weren't claiming ownership of the Kindle brand.  They weren't even using the name to represent a different company and/or product.  So at what point does a product name become something that costs money to use?  This sets a frightening precedent.  How long will it be before we will be expected to pay to use any company product/name?  Geez, in this blog alone, I've named quite a few.  How far will this go?  Will I get in trouble for posting a picture of Mario to my facebook?  I have links to the Kindle, Nook, iPad, and other versions of my books on the sidebar.  Am I "stealing" those names?

It is getting so out-of-hand, I'm worried the day will soon come when I send a text message that says, "Going to get a Pepsi, will be there soon," and I get a letter from Pepsi demanding I stop using their name without permission.  I'm willing to bet that Panasonic could come after me for my comments above.  But why?  Our entire lives are dominated by products of one kind or another, whether it be the car you drive, the dinner you eat, the TV shows you watch, or the sports teams you follow.  Try to have a conversation without referring to a single product.  It's nearly impossible.

Why must it be this way?

Simple.  Because businesses know they are integral parts of American lives.  They can get away with charging money for the mere mention of their names because people will pay.  And courts support them because the politicians support them.  And politicians support them because companys pay for their support.  It's a disgusting cycle of corruption and greed that has rotted away the foundations of capitalism.

Drastic changes are needed in this country.  There needs to be complete honesty in advertising.  We need limits to the intrusiveness of advertising.  And there needs to be a better way of differentiating between property theft and freedom of speech.  Then again, there are those who suggest that true freedom of speech never really existed.

And I'm one of them.

God bless,
Kevin