Tuesday, November 5, 2019

An Interview with Publishizer Founder Guy Vincent

An Interview with Publishizer Founder Guy Vincent Putting Readers First - An Interview with Publishizer’s founder Guy Vincent Crowdfunding is possibly one of the evolutions in publishing that is most exciting to independent authors who are serious about their work. It turns the traditional publishing model upside down, with readers basically funding the books before they are published, and authors finding an audience before even finishing the manuscript. Last year, we hosted a fascinating interview with Maris Kreizman, from Kickstarter publishing, on how authors could use Kickstarter to, well†¦ â€Å"kickstart† their next book. Today, we’re interviewing a smaller player - but just as exciting!In the past few months, we’ve been impressed by the quality of the projects on the Publishizer platform, as well as the amounts raised (take a look at their â€Å"ended campaigns† here), so we’ve decided to interview the founder, Guy Vincent. He’ll tell you just as useful Publishizer can be for your next book!The print run of Mobile Ready, Publishizer’s first success storyDo certain genres work better than others on Publishizer?It’s still early days for our startup. We started out focusing on startup and business topics, since that’s the community where I had the most connection to writers. Early on we attracted cookbooks, children’s books and a few novels.We can see tha t business authors have a natural tendency to understand having a target reader, marketing plan and publishing strategy. Our business authors are paving the way to help us build our own audience, who we can eventually help to bring them books in other genres they might be interested in, such as fiction.Our authors are encouraged to think of their book as a startup. That means having an entrepreneurial and creative spirit when it comes to promoting their work, experimenting with different marketing tactics and learning what works best for their audience.Authors who have successfully completed a pre-orders campaign on Publishizer can either go on to self-publish, or submit their book proposal to traditional publishers. Now, if you have money and an established reader base, why would you want to sign with a traditional publisher? What more can they offer?Self publishing offers wondrous opportunities for authors, however, it can also be time consuming and some authors might prefer to ha nd over their work to a publisher who can take care of the nitty gritty details.Publishizer helps authors activate and expand their existing audience, and publishers can potentially take the book to the next level through wider distribution channels. There is also still a perceived credibility to having a traditional publisher. If we can help our authors attract the right kind of publisher to bring their book higher up the value chain, we’ll do our best to support this.You insist on the importance of quality cover art, and say it should be left to the professionals. Would you agree that the explosion of self-publishing, where authors have limited budgets, is endangering the quality of graphic design in books?We see a clear parallel with authors who insist on high quality cover artwork and the success of their Publishizer campaign. There are plenty of tools and resources available to allow authors to get a professional looking front cover, without spending much (if anything) u pfront.After a successful preorders campaign, with money in the bank, we notice our authors who go on to become bestsellers really invest in their editing and design, to make their book the best it can be. Professional quality editing and design often doesn’t come cheap, and this is where preorders makes it possible for authors to afford the best services for their book.I feel we’re heading into the golden age of self publishing, where authors have access to the world’s best editing, design and marketing talent. In the future, books won’t be ‘self published’, they’ll be the artistic creation of writers who activated their audience, and hired the best talent to bring their vision to reality. We hope Publishizer can be a part of that vision.And we share that hope. Thanks a lot for your time, Guy!  Follow Publishizer and Reedsy on Twitter:  @publishizer  and @ReedsyHQ  Have you tried a crowdfunding platform for a publishing projec t? Do you also feel like we’re heading into the golden age of self-publishing? Leave us your thoughts, or any questions for Guy, in the comments below!

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Andy Warhol as Designer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Andy Warhol as Designer - Essay Example The essay "Andy Warhol as Designer" analyzes an American artist, Andy Warhol. Pop art is classified as postmodernism type of art. As a pop artist, Warhol was capable of using different art techniques including: blotted-line ink style or monoprints, hand-painting with paint drips, silk-screens, oxidation paintings, and Rorschach blots among others. Because of his personal desire to become a successful business artist, Warhol eventually concentrated on the use of silk-screen in mass producing his work of art. Discussing the differences in the motivating techniques adopted by the modernist and postmodernist artists is useful in terms of determining how Warhol is unique from other famous artists. The personality of an artist could affect the art technique used in a given art design. Knowing that Warhol has a strong detachment over emotional feelings to his environment, it is easier on the part of the readers to understand the factors that triggered Warhol to come up with a creative way o f reproducing a piece of art design. As part of the modern art movement which took place in England and America during the late 20th century, pop art involved using the popular imagery of the time as subject a matter for art. The movement was contemptuous and mocked many aspects of the modern world such as: comic strips, consumer products, and advertising through the use of celebrities. Andy Warhol – an American painter, printmaker and filmmaker earned the title â€Å"Pope of Pop Art† for playing an important role in pop art.

Friday, November 1, 2019

War is an Addiction Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

War is an Addiction - Research Paper Example War is seen amongst the scholars, researchers and philosophers as means of destroying involving parties in a manner, that they would not be able to question the authority of the winning side. This lust for winning and gaining control of others’ resources sometimes result in a war, and the invader becomes addict to winning again by engaging into further wars. On one hand, engaging into war escalates the economic activities due to the increasing demand for weaponry and supplies. On the other hand, engaging into war exhausts a country or state’s resources into destroying other country or state’s assets and its ability to counter attack the invading country or state. As the world is becoming globalized and entities of each country are coming closer due to extensive use of technology, more and more information is gathered in order to make assumptions about a country’s resources. On top of that, the invention of modern weaponry systems and aggressive war doctrin e possessed by armies of different nations in the world, paves way for setting up wars and winning them to capture resources. This can be seen as a scenario, where the big fish is always looking to hunt small fishes, even if the big fishes have their hunger fulfilled. This is because this is in their nature to hunt, thus falling victim to their addiction of hunting small fishes they neglect the outcomes. Similarly, countries of the world engage into war, even knowing that the outcomes of the war would be devastating for both invader and the invaded country (Barash 4-9). The coming section would present different theories and concepts presented by researchers and scholars from the past, pertaining to addiction to war and what are the reasons behind it. Theoretical Grounds for Addiction to War As soon as mankind stepped on earth it engaged in understanding what are the reasons that mankind keeps its luxuries and satisfaction behind, and commit war against each other. A number of resea rchers, scholars and philosophers have carried out extensive research into the area so that a century old question can be answered, i.e. why man is addicted to war? It is the resultant of hard work of researchers and scholars from the past that a number of theories are presented today which helps in understanding the phenomenon of addiction to war. In this manner, mankind today is also able to eliminate war doctrine from their militant activities  in order to ensure that peace and harmony maintains on earth. Despite of the fact that all theories and research work present almost similar ideas on addiction to war, every field of study has a different perspective in understanding this phenomenon. Followers of social school of thought view addiction to war as an act of social frustration and injustice, whereas economic school perceives addiction to war as a result to unavailability of resources. Business scholars view addiction to war as a result to scarcity of resources and an attemp t to keep control of greater competitive advantage over rivals. Despite of the fact that while understanding the causes of addiction to war is different in every discipline of life, political science seems to be the best field, which explains the causes of addiction to war. War has been defined as a comprehensive attempt of individuals, group of individuals or state to aggressively outclass their rivals on the battlefield or in any field of life. Theorists also views addiction to war

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Objective Toward Somali Immigrants In The Healthcare Setting Research Paper

Objective Toward Somali Immigrants In The Healthcare Setting - Research Paper Example These include prayer and fire-burning which entails applying a heated stick to the skin. According to Lewis, 1996, those immigrants exposed to modern medicine expect medication for every illness thus may be disappointed when nothing is prescribed. Additionally, they also put their trust in health professionals of the same sex and do not believe in preventive medicine. I believe that in as much as it aims to maintain their cultural heritage, the Somali should give up some of their beliefs and move into the modern day by embracing the technology of science and health. This opinion holds because some of the methods used by the Islam to treat their complications are crude and can end up affecting them even negatively. With their location in the U.S, they have accessibility to the modern methods of healthcare and this will even reduce the spread of certain diseases such as T.B. The Somali are more prone to this because in their culture it is customary for family and friends to eat with their hands from the same plate and drink from a shared cup, according to Putnam and Noor (1999). There are experiences with the Somalis who refuse to be treated for some treatments because of what they uphold in their culture. Somali hesitates to initiate TB treatment because they believe they must discontinue chewing ‘khat’ while undergoing treatment. However, United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) states that using the leafy narcotic may affect one’s ability to remember their medication. The family, community and the media enhance the beliefs in modern health by insisting on one seeking medication whenever they are unwell. The media has a key role of agenda-setting in the society and through this; they make their audience aware that adopting proper health practices is advisable. The church advises their members to visit health

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Media globalisation

Media globalisation What do we understand by media globalisation? Make an assessment of the arguments for and against globalisation processes. Globalisation can be defined according to (Lodge cited in Ali, 2000:6) as â€Å"the process whereby the worlds people are becoming increasingly interconnected in all facets of their lives- cultural, economic, political, technological, and environmental†. Since (Dominick,2002:513) noted that information is being produced at a rate that is four times faster than the consumption of information. And media globalisation has contributed to increasing media production and consumption, this essay will outline the different views about the advantages and dis advantages of global television (TV). There is a general tendency to believe that most of the traditional definitions of globalisation focus primarily on economics issues,however, (Giddens, 2003,10) refuted that saying â€Å"[to see] the phenomena almost solely in economic terms is a mistake. Globalisation is political, technological, and cultural, as well as economic†. However, he was not straight in articulating the relation between globalisation and media, he rather described it as â€Å"the intensification of world-wide social relations, which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa† (Giddens,1990:64). Even though he does not directly refer to media globalisation but it can be understood from the context. ( Rantanen,2005:6) commented that â€Å"although[Giddens] does not mention media and communication, it is obvious that the worldwide social relations are intensified by them†. Media globalisation includes many means such as internet, television,cinema, radio, and other digital media. Television can considered to be a main medium in life. (Schneider and Wallis,1988:7) claimed that â€Å" television could united the world†. However, television has been affected considerably by globalisation(Sinclair, Elizabeth, and Stuart, 1996:1) stated that a sea-change in television systems around the world began in the late 1970s. An integral element in the various complex phenomena usually captured under the rubric of globalisation. There has been a highly-charged debate on determining the benefits and drawbacks of global satellite TV. Some scholars say that there are many advantages that come along with global TV, for instance, (Curtin,2005:156) contended that during the satellite era, electronic media can easily transmit images and information from one locale to any given combination of points around the world at relatively the same cost and velocity. It is noteworthy that, Communication media play a crucial role in the global epoch. Satellite TV, for instance, has enabled viewers worldwide to access diversified information and images. Therefore, it has contributed to widen their knowledge about other cultures in the world. Moreover, the producers of the most closed global TV has changed their policy in order to extend their audience base outside their regions. Arab global television networks producers,for example, convinced, according to(Sinclair,Jacka, and Cunningham, 1996:124), that â€Å"satellite services are essential to project Arab culture internationally†. Further, (kim,2005:449) suggested that â€Å" television stands as the dominant representation of global culture†. To put that in other words, in satellite era, information monopolisation has been eliminated, as a result of that, localisation has been undermined and national peoples culture become available for everyone to look at. That has led, on some occasions, to reduction of some local malpractices (Curtin,2005:157) asserted that national regimes no longer have information monopolies nor can they justify their actions by reference to tradition or to divine cosmologies. Fate no longer governs human existence, as media encourage more active and reflexive citizenries. Moreover, media globalisation has decreased the differences of ethnicity, religion, gender or literacy between people. As a consequent, their expanded experience and knowledge about others cultures have contributed to encourage them to evolve and modernize themselves. As (Curtin,2005:289) put it: Satellite television figures prominently in scholarly speculation about globalization, since it has the potential to cross boundaries of class, gender, ethnicity and literacy,in addition to nation. Scholars furthermore suggest that satellite TV moves audiences towards a shared repertoire of images and ideas, thereby encouraging modernization. Furthermore, reflexivity is considered to be the nucleus of global media, to be more precise, the knowledge that people have been obtained about other cultures would consequently reflex on their lives and enable them to compare and criticize their own lives . It would resulted also in shifting their perceptions about life which has led predominantly, to improve their standard of livings, (Kim,2005:447) manifested that â€Å"people have a reflexive and critical engagement with the new global television culture, which involves learning to deal with their life conditions in a new light†. In addition, satellite TV has given the worldwide audience a broaden chance to choose between a myriad of international satellite channels which cater to the diversity of linguistics regions all over the world.(Sinclair,Jacka, and Cunningham, 1996:3) said that â€Å" new satellite and cable delivery systems permitted the opening up of viable international channels†. Undoubtedly, English is the most dominant language in the world which most of the channels have spoken in. (Kim,2005:455) considered â€Å"English, as a language of global modernity†.Therefore, many people have endeavored to learning it. Global television is well-regarded and beneficial medium to acquire and master it. listening to news, drama, entertainment programmes, movies, for example, has introduced a practical way to listening practice. (Kim,2005:455) contended that â€Å" learning English and involving [ourselves] with wider Western culture through travel and global television† is a construct ive way to learn it. Besides, Global television has brought out financially profits to many worldwide media corporations, for instance, (Sinclair, Elizabeth, and Stuart, 1996:5) mentioned that â€Å"the existence of sizeable Arab populations outside the Middle East, mainly in Europe, North America, and Asia, opens up new markets for Arab-language programming†. Media globalisation has provided substantial opportunities for many media companies to rise their profits; even though, the domination of the largest media companies on the world media communication markets, according to(Dennis and Merrill,1996:225) The main benefits of global media is that people are better informed and get a wider range of information and entertainment than ever before. people worry that a few companies will dominate world communication, but many small entrepreneurs are also flourishing, and entry into the communication market is easier than it has ever been in human history. On the other hand, media globalisation has been criticised by many media communication scholars due to its negative effects on people and countries. It has been postulated that the prevalence of satellite channels has been accused of invading peoples life, customs , traditions or cultures because those channels have shown what do not aligned with some peoples way of living resulting in changing their lifestyle and manner.. In Arab world, serious steps have been taken toward eliminating the harmful effects of some TV programmes which do not suit with the Islamic communities. (Sinclair,Jacka, and Cunningham, 1996:122) claimed that â€Å" most of the programming available from satellite services contains material that is not acceptable in Islamic societies. Sex, nudity, obscenity, and violence are considered offensive by Islamic leaders†.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Gender based difference in managerial styles Essays -- essays research

Executive Summary This report looks at several researches that have studied the managerial styles of males and females with an attempt to define perceived differences between them. In addition discussed are the results from studies on the effectiveness of managers between the two genders. The results of these studies have been analyzed through readings of several researches and personal experiences of the students doing this report. Studies say both genders are at least equally effective in the business world and that success is affected by diverse individual factors and has very less to do with gender. Commonly held perceptions of males being more effective managers are not only a loss to the female manager, but a loss to the organization and society as a whole. A note on the report writers The team consists of six members – five males and one female. The gents are in Executive positions with at least four years of full-time work experience and the lady a middle level manager with a total of 10 years in the corporate world out of which five have been in a management position. Although cultural issues are out of the scope of this assignment, the ethnicity of the members is thought to be relevant. All group members are from the Indian sub-continent, except one member who is a Middle Eastern male. All members work experience have been derived in the UAE and most members have been in the country for at least six years. Snap-shots of the brainstorming session Researches Used Extensive researches have been conducted on the topic of gender-based difference in managerial styles. All members prior to commencing of the session have thoroughly read these. An example of one of the researches used has been attached in the appendix and outlined below: Management Research Group (MRG) has conducted a study on gender differences and leadership that claims to have eliminated key shortcomings that other such researches have, such as small number of participants, reliance on self-reports, use of inappropriate subjects, uncontrolled differences etc. This research claims to be the largest controlled study of gender differences in leadership style with data compiled over 15 years. Further details of this research participants and form of research can be found in the research report in the appendix section. Discussion between the team members Almo... ...9-560. Eagly, A. H., & Johnson, B. T., 1990 Gender and leadership style: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, p: 108, 233-256. Kabacoff R, Peters H, 1998 â€Å"The Way Women and Men Lead – Different but Equally Effective.† Management Research Group Research Report: Leadership & Gender. http://www.mrg.com/Publications/articles/The_Way_Women-Men_Lead.pdf [Accessed: November 17, 2004] Eagly et al, â€Å"Transformational, Transactional, and Laissez-Faire Leadership Styles: A Meta-Analysis Comparing Women and Men† Psychological Bulletin http://www.ratcow.com/paf508/lazzifar_leader.html Formichelle, L, 2001, He Does, She Does Management styles may differ, but success isn’t gender-related.http://www.wellsfargo.com/biz/products/resources/advisor/archives/012002He/012002He.jhtml Robbins, S. P. 2004,10th edition, Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall, USA. Turner, D. H. â€Å"Gender differences in management style: Evidence from the accounting profession†, The Centre for the study of Women, Science and Technology. http://www.wst.gatech.edu/Gender_Differences_in_Management_Style.ppt [Accessed: November 14, 2004] http://www.kon.org/archives/forum/12-1/prehl.html

Thursday, October 24, 2019

My Broter my executioner Essay

When Luis returned to Sipnget for vacation after being unable to visit for years because of studying and then now because of work he visited his grandfather and his mother, but originally he decided to go back to visit his ailing father, Don Vicente. He planned to stay for weeks even for a month but then he suddenly changed his mind when he realized that the place had already changed a lot, his brother is not there and more over his mother and grand father has gone believing that his father and all the rich people should give up their wealth to the poor. He couldn’t take it. And, also there was the Hukbalahap which is against the Japanese and the elite’s— he couldn’t take it anymore. Before leaving first thing in the morning the next day he heard his father shout in surprise and when he ran to look after him he saw the window glass of his father’s room was broken and a stone wrapped in paper was on the floor, when his father picked it up and then read the message it says that â€Å"he should give all he has to those who deserves it better— the poor.† Luis, stunned by what he saw was also wondering who did it. He kept thinking but only one suspect is fitted with the situation. It’s his brother Victor who is very best at using sling—sling was the best thing to use to throw a stone trough the mansion’s security. After that, Luis fled off back to manila and then there was a time that Victor came to him and asks for his support—just the same as to the message his father got, back to Sipnget. What is the conflict of the story? Thus, the brothers had different personalities, beliefs, views and status in life. They met again as both friends and foes. These are their misunderstandings as brothers. Luis considers himself liberal. He is against the goals of his brother which is to put down his status as a wealthy landowner for the benefit of the poor. What is the climax of the story? He returned to Rosales. He came home together with Trining, his female cousin, who studies in the convent. In order for the Asperris to preserve their wealth, Luis married Trining. After sometime, she got pregnant. But in manila, Luis also had an affair with his manager’s daughter – Ester – which is also Trining’s best friend. But because they quarreled one night, Ester disappeared and was found out to be dead. He then found out from his mother that his half-brother Victor became the commander of Hukbalahap (hukbong bayan laban sa mga hapon) which is against rich people and feudal landowners. What is the resolution? At the end of the story, Vic warned them about the Huks. He told him to leave the place. But they didn’t listen. Trining got shot and died. Luis then revenged and fought for his status and for the death of his wife. VI.REACTION TO THE NOVEL This story is a must read for everyone for it elaborates on the political structures and some aspects of the Philippine history. It is also somewhat similar to Jose Rizal’s Noli me Tangere and el Filibusterismo. Reading it really requires full attention for them to be able to grasp the meaning of the story. Although the theme tackles more on political life of the rural people, readers can still be caught by romance in some chapters, particularly to Luis, and his affection for 2 women, Trining and Ester. When Trining died I felt sorry for both the main character and her. As said Luis took revenge for his status and his wife so that settles it because I definitely like to have my revenge if it was me. Good for Luis he is elite so he didn’t feel so down and he had the power to do so. I was surprised to read the incest situation in the novel I couldn’t bring myself to believe but the writer simply made it as if it was real. I fell thinking, are there many incest here in our country just to preserve their pure elite blood? I felt being more understanding to respect everyone’s choices for they have their own motives. My understanding of people’s motives has now been clear to me that everything has a cause and that cause might be good or bad but still we follow what we believe because we are humans we can decide for our own. While reading I found some Filipino values depicted in the novel and they we’re: the true love and respect of family members. Patience, dignity, disciplines and being responsible—they were all shown with great passion. From what I now observe in our system as Filipinos we must keep deep understanding between the poor and the rich. Now we have this border that keeps our world apart that sparks a revolution against each other. We must learn to understand, listen and share. VII.BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR F. Sionil Josà © or in full Francisco Sionil Josà © (born December 3, 1924) is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society. Josà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s works – written in English – have been translated into 22 languages, including Korean, Indonesian, Russian, Latvaian, Ukrainian, Dutch. Childhood Josà © was born in Rosales, Pangasinan, the setting of many of his stories. He spent his childhood in Barrio Cabugawan, Rosales, where he first began to write. Jose was of Ilocano descent whose family had migrated to Pangasinan before his birth. Fleeing poverty, his forefathers traveled from Ilocos towards Cagayan Valley through the Santa Fe Trail. Like many migrant families, they brought their lifetime possessions with them, including uprooted molave posts of their old houses and their alsong, a stone mortar for pounding rice. Life as a writer Josà © attended the University of Santo Tomas after World War II, but dropped out and plunged into writing and journalism in Manila. In subsequent years, he edited various literary and journalistic publications, started a publishing house, and founded the Philippine branch of PEN, an international organization for writers. Josà © received numerous awards for his work. The Pretenders is his most popular novel, which is the story of one man’s alienation from his poor background and the decadence of his wife’s wealthy family. Throughout his career, Josà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s writings espouse social justice and change to better the lives of average Filipino families. He is one of the most critically acclaimed Filipino authors internationally, although much underrated in his own country because of his authentic Filipino English and his anti-elite views. Sionil Josà © also owns Solidaridad Bookshop, which is on Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila. The bookshop offers mostly hard-to-find books and Filipiniana reading materials. It is said to be one of the favorite haunts of many local writers. Works Rosales Saga novels A five-novel series that spans three centuries of Philippine history, widely read around the world and translated into 22 languages * Po-on (Dusk) (English, 1984) * The Pretenders (1962) * My Brother, My Executioner (1973) * Mass (December 31, 1974) * Tree (1978) Original novels containing the Rosales Saga * Dusk (Po-on) (1993) * Don Vicente (1980) – Tree and My Brother, My Executioner combined in one book * The Samsons Other novels * Gagamba (The Spider Man) (1991) * Viajero (1993) * Sin (1994) * Ben Singkol (2001) * Ermita * Vibora! (2007) * Sherds (2008) Short story collection * The God Stealer and Other Short Stories (2001) * Puppy Love and Other Short Stories (March 15, 1998) * Olvidon and Other Stories (1988) * Platinum: Ten Filipino Stories (1983) (now out of print, its stories are added to the new version of Olvidon and Other Stories) * Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories (1980) * Asian PEN Anthology (as editor) (1966) * Short Story International (SSI): Tales by the World’s Great Contemporary Writers (Unabridged, Volume 13, Number 75) (co-author, 1989) Children’s books †¢ The Molave and The Orchid (November 2004) Verses * Questions (1988) Essays and non-fiction * In Search of the Word (De La Salle University Press, March 15, 1998) * We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our Heroic Heritage * Soba, Senbei and Shibuya: A Memoir of Post-War Japan * Heroes in the Attic, Termites in the Sala: Why We are Poor (2005) * This I Believe: Gleanings from a Life in Literature (2006) * Literature and Liberation (co-author) (1988) In translation * Po-on (Tagalog language, De La Salle University Press, 1998) * Anochecer (Littera) (Spanish language, Maeva, October 2003) In anthologies * Tong (a short story from Brown River, White Ocean: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Philippine Literature in English by Luis Francia, Rutgers University Press, August 1993 In film documentaries * Francisco Sionil Josà © – A Filipino Odyssey by Art Makosinski, 1996 Awards * Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Awards for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts (1980) * National Artist Award for Literature (2001)[8] * Pablo Neruda Centennial Award (2004) * Palanca Awards