Tag Archives: books

The World Is Changing. You In?

28 Thursday Jul 2016

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Earlier today I wrote an article about how sitting in a cubicle like a zombie will kill you. If you’re already undead, you might as well go all the way, right? In my story I mentioned that the job itself might be a problem.

Then I read a couple of pieces by James Altucher (one usually leads to another). You need to read them now. The first is 10 Reasons Your Boss Hates You. The Next is 10 Reasons You Have to Quit Your Job (in 2016). Go ahead, read them now – I’ll wait right here.

Okay, he’s right, right? The old economy is on life support. And the “old way” hasn’t really been around that long. At any rate it isn’t working anymore.

5) Income is Disappearing

In the past 25 years, real income has gone from $36,000 to $33,000 for people ages 18 to 35.

Why? Who knows. Because nobody cares.

Then the talking blobs on TV tell you you have to start saving during those years.

Meanwhile, the cost of living has gone up.

How do you save, when it costs more to LIVE, while the money coming in the bank is going down.

Society is being strangled. I don’t blame anyone. It’s not the government’s fault. It’s not Wall Street’s fault. Or Main Street’s fault.

Jobs were a myth from the beginning.

The Industrial Revolution standardized society so that factory workers would show up at the same time, have the same education, hit the same bolt on the same nut at the same time, and get paid every two weeks.

That’s the truth, good, bad or indifferent. I’m a fuddy-duddy. Yet, even I realize things are changing and must change. It’s not just incomes that are going down (away?). Home ownership is at the lowest level in over 50 years – only 62% of adults own a house. And, most of them don’t even own one – a bank owns it for them.

The whole economy is being shaken up. Facebook, today, passed Berkshire Hathaway in terms of market cap. Let that sink in for a second. Then again, many of you are reading this right now because you saw it on Facebook, not through one of Buffett’s companies.

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vimeo.com/HP.

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday and another, similar one today about how I publish words. To some, what I do seems like wizardry. Maybe it is in a sense. But, its academic and logistical, not magical. Me – computer – internet – Amazon – your computer, phone or bookshelf. Kind of like: cow – farmer – bottle – truck – grocery store – your fridge. Easy, huh?

The old economy is on life support and the funeral arrangements are now being made for the traditional publishing industry (and the bookstores). Meanwhile, Amazon keeps posting record profit after record profit. They capitalize on me and my computer and I on them. Heck, I’m preparing to give them two new amazing works to offer world-wide in a few days (weeks? – y’all know I’m slow). Then, I’m publishing more. And more after that.

If the world is changing, I’m going to make the most of it. I hope you do to.

Literary Pirates of the Internet

25 Monday Jul 2016

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This is not a story about a new ride at Disneyland – wouldn’t that one be boring. No, this is about me and my beloved books – I hope that’s not boring.

I’m working as steady as I can on two new volumes which should be released in tandem (or close to it) and released soon. One is another cigar book, a work of pure humor. The other is dead serious, a guide to fighting terrorism on the personal, day-to-day basis. Soon, folks, soon. Ready those debit cards now.

While I was taking a break I did a periodic check on The Happy Little Cigar Book. While it is not a bestseller, it has been more successful than I had originally hoped. Thank you all! I also discovered that it is available at Barnes and Noble. I had forgotten that CreateSpace has a B&N connection. Or, maybe I made that up in my head. Anyway, I’m now at the first and second largest bookstores in the world.

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I need 5-star reviews here to match Amazon. B&N.com.

The HLCB is also (allegedly) available from some not so reputable sites as I discovered on Friday. My Googling led me to several sites claiming to offer free downloads of my book. Free downloads of MY book!  That is piracy. It’s theft of my copyright protected material. Two of these are linked to Google somehow – probably via an aggregation service anyone can use. The others I looked at, like the one below, are probably just scams. I read up on this phenomenon. “Download” means get a free virus. I do not advise looking into this. That, and they likely operate outside of U.S. jurisdiction or through a laborynth of servers.

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I DID NOT and DO NOT authorize this theft of my property! I’m also not attributing this clipped picture (fair play).

This is a plain, simple DMCA violation. I have a warning right there inside my books, digital and paperback.  I have an action under 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 512, et seq., provided I could pinpoint exactly who the pirates are. It’s odd for me to ponder having to use one of the many laws I can’t stand. I’ll probably let it go; blades are more my style anyway.

Part of me is angry but mostly I am flattered. At least I have enough notoriety to get into the scam sites. I was also a little mad that I did not find any pirated copies of Perrin On Politics – then again, that one is free to begin with.

I may take action but I probably will not. I could send a DMCA warning and notice (a cease a desist letter) along with a civil pre-litigation notice. I doubt much would come of it.

However, one site says the HLCB has a 4.5 star rating out of about 6,000 views. If that means they gave away 6,000 copies, then I am owed a tidy little sum. Those numbers are likely fluff and lies put up by some Chinese hacker, trying to get your bank information or something. Enough said.

For now I’ll just be flattered and a slight bit amused. You, all of you, please avoid the pirates out there. Fake or not, these postings are illegal reproductions – stolen goods. Get the real thing at Amazon or B&N. And, look out for my new material coming very soon (to real sites and stores and with real pricing).

Perrin

Pokemon: Mass Hysterical Stupefaction

13 Wednesday Jul 2016

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I had forgotten about Pokemon – to me it was forgettable. Then, in the past few weeks, I started noticing a resurgence. People on Facebook were talking about the game – some for it, some against – as if it had relevance. I wondered once again if I had slipped-streamed back in time a few decades. It started showing up in the news. I investigated. Pokemon is back.

Pokemon.

It’s back with controversy. The first contention is that the cute little game is being played by many adults now. I remembered it vaguely as something nieces and nephews were into in the 90s. Now, it seems, it is for everyone (except me).

The second controversy comes from the manner in which Pokemon is delivered in the 21st Century – via a free phone app. The app, like most, comes with a long, draconian agreement that no one reads. Hidden in the terms one finds curious language about turning over private information (darn near all of it) to the app and its owners. People seem upset about this. Perhaps “free” really isn’t.

Little about Pokemon is actually known to me. I understand it is some sort of Japanese cartoon cock-fight, maybe mixed with a scavenger hunt. I know children loved it, or love it still, and many adults are completely obsessed. Then I found something…

Back in 1999 I started a book, one of many I never even came close to finishing. It didn’t even have a title. Still doesn’t. It was a “what’s wrong with modern society” kind of book. One of the chapters was “Pokemon”.

I am decades ahead of my time and have been for a while now. My thesis, if I remember rightly, was not that Pokemon is (was) inherently evil. It may be; I’m not sure. However, I am confident that it is one of numerous trivialities with which people obsessively entertain themselves while the world rots around them. I think I wanted to use it, specifically, as a benchmark of the mindless, dumbed-down fantasies people use generally to escape the real world. That was 1999. There’s more rot around now in 2016.

A child’s game is fine for children. If adults enjoy it too, in its place, that’s fine. But, when there is so much else going on, it seems a bit odd that millions spend hours and hours trying to … do whatever it is one does in Poke-land. While they’re searching for the bird or the egg or the rainbow (???) and giving away their identity and location to boot, the economy is collapsing. It’s not just bad numbers anymore – the underpinning themselves are being eviscerated as if by  a massive bombing. Then, there are the real bombings. And the terrorists. The racial strife. The robots. The debt. The attack of the one-worlders. The antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The civilization-resistant “refugees”. Wars. Real world things, many unpleasant. The adults play games.

Given the above turmoil, maybe a little trivial pursuit is in order – a little. I’m pleased today with two things. One, my thoughts are exceedingly constant across time. Two, so consistent also are the silly diversions employed by and against the people.

Notechmagazine.

Play this digital version of Grit and Steel if you like. Just remember: it’s a game; THEY are watching you, and; there’s a big mess sloshing around off-screen.

My thoughts – 17 years in the making.

Bookends, July 2016

10 Sunday Jul 2016

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The news keeps getting better month by month for authors and readers alike. The old, traditional, monopolistic publishing industry is fading rapidly. Good riddance. With it goes the middlemen, the obscene contracts, the thefts of rights, the low royalties, the limitations of access and of selection, and the tyranny of the gatekeepers.

Barnes and Noble, the last of the big chain booksellers, has announced it will allow some self-published books in its 640 or so stores nationwide. Some, not all. First, a book has to be formatted for Nook, which is B&N’s house version of Kindle. They’re keeping it in the family. Then, there are sales number requirements (1,000 for e-books, 500 for physical copies). Finally, a review board must approve the book for shelving.

Book Business/Mike Valasnick – Flickr.

This is a systemization of their current, difficult and arbitrary policy. An idie author can already get into B&N but the process and the resulting rewards (if any) are so uncertain it’s almost not worth it. B&N is desperately and belatedly trying to compete with Amazon, which allows any and all authors access to their digital store.

Book Business makes a bigger deal out of this story than it needs to. They compare B&N’s 640 stores (and shrinking?) to Amazon as if Amazon was a nebulous startup concept.

Amazon is the world’s largest bookstore. Period. No, they don’t just have one single store in Seattle. They have as many stores as there are computers, tablets, and smartphones in the world. What is that number? A billion stores? Five billion? It’s huge. I have two of those stores in my immediate possession right now.

Sometimes I get asked if The Happy Little Cigar Book is in bookstores. I always say “yes” and refer the inquirer to Amazon. By the way, just click the link two sentences back, and you’re in the store, ready to buy a copy.

When was the last time you went into a bookstore? Odds are it was a B&N as they’re about the only game left in town – and only in decent sized towns. There are, here and there, small private stores but their selection is extremely limited. An indie house might have 5,000 – 10,000 books that the owner felt like carrying. A big B&N might have 10,000 – 30,000. I’ve noticed B&N sells fewer and fewer real books in their stores and more picture books, calendars, coffee mugs, and other stuff. They’ll have popular bestselling novels but perhaps not a work of classical history or philosophy.

Amazon has millions and millions (scores of millions) of books. The e-books one can buy and start reading within about 30 seconds. Hardcover and paperbacks take a few days for delivery. They’re prices are better too because of the economy of scale.

**Want a FREE book from My Bookstore? CLICK HERE and have one, right now.**

It’s getting harder to find a “real” bookstore just as it’s getting harder to find a “real” book from a “real” publisher. The big houses are in deep trouble. If not for coloring books and romance novels, they would already be gone. The world has changed – for the better.

Am I happy B&N is opening up? Yes. Will I try to get a few of my works into their hallowed stores? Yes. Will I obsess about it? No. Amazon and the internet are the future and the future is now and has been for a few years.

What’s Cooking at PerrinLovett.me

24 Friday Jun 2016

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Today is the Fourth Anniversary of my little blog. I’m proud of how far I’ve come though I have many, many improvements to make and massive growth to capture. Thank you again for all your support during these formative years.

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Here’s where I am presently:

I need to do a lot of updates. This post, if published in order, will be number 547. That’s great, content wise, but I happen to have 56 more drafts in the works. That means I’m holding back more than 10% of my material. Some of those drafts will never see the light of the internet. Some are just notes for me. Some are redundant. Some are just terrible. Still I have plenty to work with and to do.

Then again, 500 posts is a lot already. If my blog was a novel it would be approximately twice the length of the Lord of the Rings.

It’s also leading into other, newer, better things for me and for you.

I’ve published two books in less than a year. One is for sale on Amazon. The other is free, here.

Please buy now.

Have this one for free!

Like the blog posts, I have a huge number of book drafts under way. I’m planning to publish several this summer.

I’m also working on a Udemy course. They’ve put me on a deadline so I should have that out by mid-July. The price range will be around $20-25; you’ll enjoy it and learn a heap.

The blog has also gotten me some positive attention and some freelance writing gigs. I’m so happy with those that I am in the process of becoming a full-time, paid writer and consultant. Much of that content will not bear my name but it will pay the bills until the books, courses, webinars, etc. take over.

In keeping with these business advancements, and for personal reasons, I am in the process of relocating to a certain income-tax free state. That project should be complete by the end of summer if all goes well. I move rather slowly but I always get there.

That’s what I have so far. I look forward to reporting this time next year on even greater successes. Thanks for all your help.

–Perrin

There are Lies, Damned Lies, and NYT Statistics

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

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In their quest to foist more gun control on the people, the New York Times regularly manipulates gun data just as they manipulate book sales data for their list of “bestsellers”.

Last week, the New York Times featured its latest article implying that the United States has the highest homicide rates in the “developed” world — defining any other country with a higher homicide rate as somehow unfit for comparison to the United States.

This is a common tactic among gun control advocates who make claims such as “the US has the highest homicide rate of any developed country.” The qualifier “developed” is then manipulated to make the US seem like a freakish outlier. As I’ve explained here, this common tactic requires a lot of cherry picking of data and ignores the way that many American states — many of which have few gun control laws — have some of the world’s lowest homicide rates.

— Ryan McMaken, Mises, 6/20/2016.

Gun grabbers always resort to lies and lying statistics.

You, Robot?

15 Wednesday Jun 2016

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What could possibly be scarier than ISIS and gun control? I saw two stories this morning that may answer the question. Facebook seriously wants to go all video and with the videos beamed telepathically from brain to brain.

I’m out on that, thanks. First, I’m a writer. I like books. I need people to purchase books. Second, I shun the Matrix for personal reasons. The Sun story covers the Matrix/Borg fear angle with a great explanation:

Many of us might think there’s something nightmarish about a world where we’re all plugged into the matrix.

But the billionaire [Zuck] has made his money from persuading huge numbers of people to drop their privacy shields and share every tiny aspect of their lives with friends, strangers and advertisers on Facebook.

In truth many are already plugged in but inefficiently. I assume half the population or more will welcome the changes when the time comes. Y’all have fun with that.

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20th Century Fox/Asimov

 

Righting and Writing

01 Wednesday Jun 2016

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I love James Altucher’s advice and style. This morning he sent me an email – an ad for a writing system. I didn’t (don’t) consider it solicitation or spam; it was more entertaining and insightful than a lot of regular articles and columns I read. Heck, I may invest in the system. The Title is How to Become an Addict Like Me. Here’s the intro:

Writing is my guiding philosophy of life.

It’s not a passion or a purpose. It’s the way I live.

Because I write, I think of ideas.

Ideas lead to things I can sell. Writing helps me sell these things.

I live for writing well…

I’m an addict.

If I can’t write well for two days, then something is wrong with my life. If I can’t write well for three days, then I cancel everything until I write.

It makes me happy. Many things make me happy. But every moment of the day is about writing for me. Nothing else. Not money. Not my career. Not my relationships. Not even my kids. Everything else comes in second.

Which sounds like a mental illness. Maybe it is. I love my kids. I will do anything for them. But first… be quiet until I write.

Building the skill of writing is one way I choose myself every day.

Without writing I would have no career and no self-esteem…nothing.

Writing is what put me on LinkedIn’s Top Influencers of 2015 list.

Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Mohamed El-Erian were ranked #1,#2, and #3 – all are three billionaires.

LinkedIn ranked me #4 because I’m a writer.

  • James Altucher, June 1, 2016.

 

That short piece resonated with me. I dedicated the month of May to posting at least once blog entry per day here – I failed. I hit 28 out of 31 days – not bad but the quality of what I wrote suffered a bit. Something was wrong. Something is always wrong but that’s how we improve. I should have taken days off. I’m working on as many thing as I can right now. I hope June’s articles are more substantive. I don’t know where I stand on LinkedIn although I do have more than 500 contacts. My Alexa ranking was rising but has fallen rather sharply in the past few months.

Google.

I stand way outside the mainstream (or even the extreme stream) of political thought. Wally does too. Scott Adams from today:

Tina: I saw your political opinion on Facebook and now I think you're an awful person. Wally: What did you think about me before? Tina: I didn't think about you before. Wally: Sounds like I got promoted.

Dilbert (love Dilbert!), Scott Adams, June 1, 2016.

Anyway … that’s the “righting” angle.

As for “writing”, I rarely explain how I come up with my stuff beyond base mention of cigars, booze, and a healthy dose of anger and sarcasm. I was going to do a proper “how-to” article on my writing methodology but I don’t really have the time this morning (late for the gym). And, I rarely write properly anyway – a lot of my work is posted straight from my phone and I do a good deal of talking to text. Messrs. Strunk and White must be aghast. Maybe I can round this out later…

Instead, here is a short list of some tools I use when writing (the write…right way):

A computer, duh (or a phone, pencil, dictaphone, whatever);

Coffee, coffee, coffee (in the morning);

Water (in the evening and as a healthy substitute for ale);

Cigar (really helps unless the ash falls on the keyboard);

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary;

Black’s Law Dictionary;

Harvard Legal Citation Guide (The Blue Book);

A thesaurus;

Latin Quotes;

Popular Quotes;

Google;

Strunk and White;

Chicago Style Manual;

MLA Manual;

Several other books on making books.

(I may come back and round this out later – you get the point.)

Off to the gym now. A particularly impressive milestone is just around the corner…

 

Pdemy (Perrin on Udemy)(…really…..)(………)

25 Wednesday May 2016

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The old blog is humming along nicely. This is post number 495 (I have D.C. surrounded, yes). I have a couple of books out now, several more shaping up, and a few score more in the hopper. I’m slower than Christmas but I’m getting there.

Here are a few things I have a mind to produce:

More books. More and better and certainly better sellers (you can help by generously maxing out your credit cards on Amazon;

With the paper copies I’m going to include e-books (like this) and maybe even books on tape (or MP3 or whatever sells these days);

More blog traffic via a constantly improving platform. Many changes to come;

Some sort of live-action forum. The Perrin Lovett Show is on life support over at Youtube. Hopefully this sleeper program will revive one day and gain a little more structure and professional design and consistency. I’m also thinking about web-radio of some sort;

Webinars. Webinars are the future and seem to make some money. We could have cigar webinars, gun webinars, political webinars, even a webinar about guns that shoot cigars at politicians. Heck, the sky is the limit;

and…

I always wanted to teach something. The limited experience I have came with terrific feedback. I’m looking into teaching via Udemy or Pdemy as I selfishly refer to it. Here are some courses you may (or most likely may NOT) see from me on Udemy:

HAPPINESS IS BUYING PERRIN LOVETT BOOKS, $20;

Ashton to Zino, Touring the Cigar Alphabet (this one might happen), $35;

JOHN OATS, JOHNNY CASH AND DVORAK, COMPARATIVE NOTES, with notes…, $15;

HYDRAZINE YOUR PROBLEMS AWAY, $500;

Or, for the more timid…

THORAZINE YOUR PROBLEMS AWAY, $75;

Legitimate Uses of Government (10 sec. course), FREE;

Speling made Ezee, $10;

Seduce Your IRS Auditor, $50;

Live to 100! Speed aging explained, $20;

Get More Traffic From FACEBOOK Using Cute “Hook” Pics Like the Following, $20.

Suckers… Someone’s Pinterest/Google.

Fit to be Read

19 Thursday May 2016

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A fitness update. Earlier in the new year I announced my intention to get back into shape or,rather, into athletic shape from so-so shape. It’s coming together nicely. Since New Year’s I have lost nearly 18 pounds and several notches off the belt. I’ve lost more fat but added muscle in its place. I’ve done it through hard work, dieting and another lifestyle alteration (miss my ales…). In addition to weights and my usual style of dirty boxing/mma I’ve lately added a lot of throws and such. Building Batman here.

WB/DC. Google.

And, I have a new book rapidly shaping up. This one, like The Happy Little Cigar Book, basically wrote itself. Unlike Happy it will feature a decent e-book version for Kindle. Less than a month away I’d say. Prepare the debit cards.