Final Rally Schedule Posted

Yesterday afternoon I posted what I believe (hope) will be the final schedule for our Ohio Gypsy Journal Rally. Unless there is a major problem, I don’t anticipate any last minute changes. You can view the schedule by going to our Rally Registration Page and scrolling down.

A couple of readers have asked about last minute registrations, because they are still not sure the can make it to the rally for one reason or another. No problem, we have plenty of room for whoever shows up. Come on over and join the party!

Last week a nice lady from Bissell contacted me, asking if we would like to have one of their new Perfect Sweep Turbo sweepers to review. It arrived yesterday and Terry was very impressed with it. When I e-mailed to tell my contact at Bissell that it had arrived, I asked about the possibility of getting a second sweeper for a rally door prize. She quickly responded to say it was on its way! Very nice,

For those of you who have been reading my Big Lake mystery novel series (and thank you very much), here is a link to an item in the newspaper back in our old hometown about a murder at Big Lake. The suspect was involved in a gun battle with police and was still at large at press time. Where is Sheriff Jim Weber when we need him?

On the topic of books, if you read something and have enjoyed it (and even if you didn’t), the best compliment you can give an author is to post an honest review on Amazon and other online book sales venues. Good reviews help authors sell books, and even critical reviews, if given honestly, can help us learn and improve on our craft.

But not all book reviews are created equally. Here is a rather lengthy but very interesting article about a man named Todd Rutherford who started a company offering book reviews for a price. And apparently a lot of authors were willing to pay that price (as much as $499), because he was raking in $28,000 a month.

The quality of the book didn’t matter, because very few of them actually got read. Who has time for that? Just crank out a couple of paragraphs full of amazingly high praise and move on to the next title. Soon Rutherford was so busy he was advertising on Craig’s List for other reviewers to handle some of the load. Who needs to write a bestseller when you can just write a check and make your book a hit?

The story of Rutherford’s business has gone viral and has become a major scandal. Among the authors who used his service was John Locke, the first independent author to sell 1,000,000 e-books on Amazon. Locke wrote a book about his success, titled How I sold One Million E-Books In Five Months. For some reason Locke didn’t mention the $1,000+ dollars he paid early on to get his books way up in the ratings stratosphere.

Eventually Amazon and other booksellers got wise to Rutherford’s shady business and pulled most of his reviews, and he was pretty much out of business. What I personally find both ironic and hilarious is that Todd Rutherford is now employed selling RVs in Oklahoma! I always tell people that if an RV salesman’s lips are moving, he is lying. Sounds like the right man in the right job.

Thought For The Day – Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction.

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