#PB Editorial

[cdlicarnaval]

LANÇAMENTO – O CASAMENTO DO REI DAMIÁN

LANÇAMENTO – O CASAMENTO DO REI DAMIÁN

Autor pernambucano lança seu segundo livro infantil neste domingo dia 04/12/22 durante a FEIRA DE CULTURA LITERÁRIA PAULA BRITO Depois do lançamento do livro em Audiobook pelo selo independente Itaquerendo Folia, através da campanha UM LIVRO ALI com o intuito de fomentar a acessibilidade e ampliar o acesso do leitor-ouvinte às obras de literatura nacional de forma gratuita, agora é a vez do…

[bcircuitobrasil]

LANÇAMENTO – O CASAMENTO DO REI DAMIÁN

LANÇAMENTO – O CASAMENTO DO REI DAMIÁN

Autor pernambucano lança seu segundo livro infantil neste domingo dia 04/12/22 durante a FEIRA DE CULTURA LITERÁRIA PAULA BRITO Depois do lançamento do livro em Audiobook pelo selo independente Itaquerendo Folia, através da campanha UM LIVRO ALI com o intuito de fomentar a acessibilidade e ampliar o acesso do leitor-ouvinte às obras de literatura nacional de forma gratuita, agora é a vez do…

[theinkphantom]

Topolino e l'incubo dell'isola di corallo book and translation of the interview!

I got in my hands that wonderful book.

The book was much smaller i've imagined, and the cover have that nice glossy effect, for the title and the figures of Phantom Blot and Mickey.

Talking about that, i've discovered a secret (or not...) if you flap carefully the shiny/glossy effect of the book you can saw the white eye of the costume of PB.

it's very transparant but how cool is that? I love this. I don't know if the original topolino cover got that effect too.

Anyway, there the preface of Alex Bertani who the editorial chief of the italian Mickey Mouse magazine and how grateful they win a prize, (Gran Guinigi by Lucca comics event for best short story) since Topolino never got such a big prize before. It stated for PB :

"A few years ago, I asked Disney authors to remove Phantom Blot from all their subjects. I felt the need for a stop. In my childhood readings, Phantom Blot was a great villain, the kind that, as a child but not only, instills fear and awe in you. Frankly, I did not find the same intent in his, now very frequent, appearances. I called Marco Nucci. A master at this kind of storytelling. I asked him to return to the phantom blot of my memories. To that "villain" capable of giving disturbing the sleep of me reader."

It tells also a big thank you to Casty for the drawings and Michela Frare inking and colors.

Now to the interviews :

[lizzybeth1986]

A Brief History of Alternative Romances in Choices

Series - TRR's Alternative LIs: The "Romances" that Didn't Happen

TW: Mentions of OH2's handling of Rafael (though not in detail), racism.

To be clear, this introductory essay isn't directly related to the rest of this series. TRR operated very differently to the other Choices series' when it came to alternative LIs, so a lot of what I'll discuss here won't actually apply to its specific romance mechanics.

Still, it is important to explore what it means to give an LI an alternative romance in PB, and for that we need to look at what the approach to such romances were. Both in the past, and after TRR became popular. Looking into this gives us a general idea of which specific LIs got an alternative romance, why just them and not others, and what such developments said about the way the writing team viewed a particular character.

The Choices App was introduced in 2016, with three stories that were likely meant to cater to different audiences. Out of the three, the crime drama Most Wanted was the only series that focused on a single romantic pairing.

The other two - The Freshman and The Crown and the Flame - presented players with multiple romance options for their main character(s). TCaTF split its narrative between two main characters - Kenna Rys and Dominic Hunter - exploring both Kenna's fight to gain back and then expand her kingdom, and Dom's discovery of his heritage as a member of the Fire Tribes. Even though Kenna and Dom could be paired romantically, they had other potential LIs. Notably, Kenna had 6 (Dom, Tevan, Raydan, Annelyse, Val and Diavolos) and Dom only 2 serious contenders (Kenna, Rose, Sei, Will Jackson all had romances with him. Of these four, Rose was eliminated early on in the series, and Will was a last-minute addition at the end of TCaTF3). TCaTF didn't seem to focus much on the love lives of these LIs outside of Kenna and Dom, until Book 3 in 2017 - and of the cast only Raydan and Tevan seemed to get hints at other potential romances (with Aurynn and Zenobia, respectively).

Unlike MW and TCaTF, The Freshman's focus zeroed in on just one character. It was the first series to feature a customizable MC, whose experiences and choices alone would move the story forward. The original three-book series featured romances with three LIs - Chris Powell, James Ashton and Kaitlyn Liao. By the third book, two more were added to the roster - Zig Ortega and Becca Davenport.

You could choose a boy/girlfriend by the end of Book 1, and change partners in Book 3 if you weren't happy with your first LI and/or wanted one of the newer ones. The first three books didn't really have any alternative romances for the LIs themselves, but all that was about to change (for two LIs) in The Sophomore (released in 2017).

(Screenshots from the UnruleLee Gaming Youtube Channel)

In TS, the MC had the opportunity to pair James and Kaitlyn up with other side characters if she wasn't dating them. Kaitlyn begins to show an interest in Annisa, the new keyboardist in her punk band. Similarly for James and Reyna, a member of the editorial staff of Hartfeld's student-run newspaper. Both pairings only resulted in long-term relationships if the MC encouraged them enough, and she had both free and paywalled opportunities to do so.

What is noticeable at this point is that there are three LIs that are not given romantic alternatives - Chris, Zig and Becca. Though members of the fandom did headcanon certain pairings that had some potential in canon (such as Zig with his roommate Aaron and Becca with Madison), the narrative itself never indicated any romances for these characters, preferring perhaps to focus on their romance with the MC.

A possible reason for this could have been popularity. At the time, some in the fandom theorized that Chris was the most popular of the OG LIs, and that Zig and Becca garnered popularity quite quickly when they emerged as options in TF3. So there would be a lot more investment from the teams in charge of the book to focus their writing on their MC-centric routes.

James and Kaitlyn received criticism and sometimes outright hate from fans - some of whom complained ad nauseum whenever options to help them with their professional lives or personal development came up, while being largely accepting of the more popular LIs' conflicts. So it is possible that the writing focused on giving these two LIs other romantic options, in a way they didn't need to for the other three.

However, giving James and Kaitlyn other love interests didn't affect their overall writing. The Freshman series handled the balance between all five LIs with a deft hand, ensuring that every LI had adequate growth, development and attention within the narrative. Whether they were single or paired with the MC, all of them had unique stories that allowed the characters to make mistakes and learn from them, to confront their fears and conquer them, to deal with their problems in a realistic way.

James' story wasn't simply stuck on Reyna - he spent most of TS honing his writing skills and developing a novel, and later co-writing a play with the MC. Kaitlyn's story wasn't simply about romancing Annisa - it was about dealing with her insecurities, building her band from scratch, getting over her fears of Natasha sabotaging her again, being comfortable in her own identity. Their romances with Reyna and Annisa felt like bonus side stories that we could get if we were interested enough...not the be-all and end-all of their stories.

Alternative romances for LIs didn't happen in all books. Many didn't bother with one, especially those that wound up being one-book stories. Some books that ended with an elaborate wedding for an MC and their LI also seemed to do away with this too, mostly by eliminating other love interests or making their presence scarce (for instance, in RoE, the other two LIs for "Katie" virtually disappear when she make her choice, only featuring in brief cameos and mentions). Alternative LIs often featured in series' that were successful enough to get three books, so more often than not, two-book series' like #LoveHacks would barely even have the time to develop new characters to date any LI.

The books that did end up following this route often lasted long enough for at least three books (with PM and ATV standing as exceptions), and likely had more than 3 LIs. In certain books the pairing was paywalled, and in others you could choose a number of free options to encourage the romance.

After a while a pattern seemed to emerge in who got such romances. Sometimes the alternative LI was given only to the "forgotten fourth/fifth" of a series (the extra LI who would get the least attention) - sometimes the "lucky" LI would be a character that was NOT a late addition to the roster of LIs, but an OG LI that just got so little attention and buildup it became obvious that they were given an alternative because the writers couldn't be bothered to imagine what their romance with the MC would look like. One can confidently say this because very often the "alternative romance" was written with more thought than the romance with the LI or any of that character's individual problems, and it started becoming very obvious that the writers felt more comfortable imagining the playthroughs where such LIs could only be friends with the MC.

Once the Choices app found its "core demographic" and started churning out more books, there were more and more cases of the writers indicating who their favourites were, early on (through providing a higher frequency and quality of diamond scenes for certain LIs, and through their interviews before the book releases). Which resulted in those characters getting more popular and others less so. And it was this "popularity" that often impacted writing choices and treatment.

Such a system of storytelling results in a vicious cycle, where a team will either assume already that one particular character will rake in more money, and give them a head start over others...or where a writer - through intentional or unintentional bias - could push forward a "favourite" front-and-center to the detriment of other LIs.

Here's a list of books that wrote alternative romances for certain LIs (except for OH, but I will get to that one in a minute). See if you can figure a pattern in at least most of these books:

High School Story 3 (2018) - Caleb Mitchell (Jade Ali), Emma Hawkins (Luis Marino), Aiden Zhou (Cameron Levy)

High School Story: Class Act 3 (2019-20) - Skye Crandall (Lilith Vidal)

Desire and Decorum 3 (2018-19) - Luke Harper (Cordelia Parsons)

Perfect Match 2 (2018) - Sloane Washington (Khaan Mousavi)

Across the Void (2018-19) - Zekei Sentry becomes a love interest both to the MC as well as their sibling Eos Elara.

Endless Summer 3 (2017-18) - Quinn Kelly (Kele), Sean Gayle (Michelle Nguyen). (Technically, almost every LI does get some potential in terms of alternative romance...but Estela and Jake's pairings feature mostly in the AUs shown by The Endless (Sean x Michelle, Estela x Zahra, Jake × Yvonne are all shown - among other AU romances). Quinn and Sean's romances, however, are solidified in the MC's handfasting ceremony with their LI, where the couples could share a romantic look and Michelle even leans on Sean's shoulder.)

In theory, the alternative romance could sound tempting. It allows the MC to demonstrate care and concern for an LI regardless of their romantic interest, or lack thereof. It may potentially give the reader the surface comfort of seeing an LI they rejected lead a happy life with someone they can love. It seems like a win-win situation for everyone.

But it becomes apparent when you comb through both the romantic and friendly versions of these characters' stories, that something is not quite right. I will take two LIs here as an example.

(Screenshots from Abhirio's YouTube Channel (D&D3) and Danni Stone's YouTube Channel (PM1))

Sloane Washington's major character points in Book 1 involve her love for coding and astronomy, as well as her strong bond with her mother. Book 2 (2018) does very minimal work on either of these; once Khaan enters the picture, almost every diamond scene she gets focuses solely on the possibility of a romance with him. The narrative doesn't even focus the reunion with her mother Kim on her!

Likewise, many, many complaints emerged during D&D3 (2019) about the way Luke's wedding was handled. His mother - who is supposedly very close to him - only features in letters and one memory about his brother Ezra's gambling addiction, doesn't have a name, is given a used sprite that isn't even dressed in period-appropriate clothing, and never even attends his wedding. On the other hand, his alternative romance with Cordelia was explored in excruciating detail, to the point where the two are given a wedding and the promise of a future child. It is almost as if the writers couldn't bear to envision him marrying their precious MC.

There are two major things that become apparent the more you observe the above list of LIs who got alternative romances.

One, the LIs that don't get "alternative LIs" are often white and male (Chris in TF, Micheal in HSS, Ernest in D&D, Meridien in AtV) with a couple exceptions. The writing takes care to weave their issues and conflicts into the MC's larger narrative and try their best to ensure that we become invested in whatever they have going on in their stories. A good example of this are Ernest's larger storylines about his stepson Percival and his destroyed house in Book 3. On certain rare occasions (especially when there is no default white man in the LI cast), an ambiguously brown man who can be easily exoticized fits into this role of "Creator's Pet" just as well. The writers spend enough time on perfecting their romances with the MC that there is literally no time for anything (or anyone) else.

Two, in all but two of these books, the LI that gets their 'alternative romance' most often...is a black love interest. On the rare occasion a white character is included in such a list, it is often a canonically queer white woman (only if she is an LI tho, because white female side characters have attention and love practically showered upon them) who ends up in such a position (Emma and Skye from the HSS series'). But besides that, it is usually the black LI - who btw is often one of the first people we interact with and written as the most approachable - that bears the brunt of a narrative that makes it clear that it isn't interested in exploring their story on their terms.

That is why Luke's mother never gets a name or his younger brother is hardly seen. That is why Sloane is sidelined in her own reunion scene with her mother. That is why most of the romantic playthroughs featuring these characters feel so scarce on the details or the nuances, while their white male (or ambiguous brown male) counterparts chew scenery in their own and everyone else's playthroughs.

In narratives like these, the "alternative LI" is no longer the sweet, sensitive, "they deserve happiness" route that it pretends to be...but more a sign that the writers are uncomfortable with writing said LI in a romance with the main character, and the audience they most want to cater to is uncomfortable reading it.

When the intent behind such a supposedly-nice gesture becomes so rife with bad faith, what is the end result? What happens when an 'alternative LI' - a route that seemed to promise happier futures for certain LIs - becomes more of a tool to punish them for lack of popularity? What happens when the company that created this system stops pretending to value the diversity they claimed to pride themselves in??

What happens - is that you get a story like Open Heart 2.

A lot of the stories I mentioned above were written within the space of 2017-2019. In fact, most of the books in the list came out in 2018. During these years Choices was gaining popularity in the choice-based storytelling business, and romance stories were on the rise. Many Choices Books at this point had at least 3 LIs - 2 male and 1 female - and some had more. And most of the writing teams managed to get away with treating their LIs of colour (specifically their black male and female LIs) badly without significant backlash.

At the time of OH2's release (2020), the book had four LIs in its lineup. Ethan Ramsey - like most white male LIs - was meant from the start to chew scenery. Comparatively the other LIs: Jackie Varma, Bryce Lahela and Rafael Aveiro were at a disadvantage and often it felt like the team seemed to work more on writing them out rather than incorporating their stories organically into the narrative. Rafael particularly seemed to suffer from this in the first book, and by this time making one LI the "forgotten fourth" became accepted as the norm. So when OH2's cover showed every single LI except for Rafael, there was a sense of mild alarm.

It soon became clearer, however, that something more insidious was afoot. The book itself began with a funeral, and Rafael was missing in the first chapter. When Rafael stans finally did get to see him, in Ch 2, they would be hit with a nasty surprise - the LI who was utterly devoted to their MC and introduced them to his beloved Vovó, would be shown dating a childhood sweetheart without any explanation or warning.

(Screenshots from Gabbieschoices YouTube Channel)

When asked about the sudden shift, PB's response was cryptic...but also ominous to a fandom who had already seen all kinds of unfair, horrible treatment meted out to a wide range of black characters by then:

For all intents and purposes, the relationship between the MC and Rafael appeared to be over, with very little by way of closure. Even the few diamond scenes they would get later would show friends-only options. As the book went on, it became frighteningly clear that the narrative was planning to do away with Rafael. At one point, Rafael even spoke of leaving the city altogether, and there were hints towards a far, far worse manner of departure in later chapters.

(Most people who were playing at the time remember PB's plans for OH2 Ch11-12, and the backlash, response and hiatus that followed. If you weren't there at the time, PB's Statement following the backlash - "Representation at Pixelberry" - briefly alludes to the issues that people in the fandom had with the writing decisions OH2 took at the time)

As most of us know by now, this ended with significant changes in the existing story - ensuring that Rafael lived, reinstating him as an LI and having Sora break up with him so they could disappear from the book altogether. Post 2020, no further attempts have been made the "alternative LI" route for LIs.

Part of this could be attributed to the change in format. With the introduction of VIP-access and single-LI books, the need to prepare an alternative romance for an LI has reduced greatly. Other factors too could have contributed: the extra romances becoming too much work, possible fatigue among fandom towards such pairings leading to less revenue from diamond options featuring them, certain books having only one or at most two LIs.

No one in PB has spoken of Rafael's treatment or the inclusion of Sora in OH directly...but since OH2 featured the last ever alternative romance till date, it would be safe to say that perhaps even PB recognised that the Sora story crossed a significant line. In any case, this practice hasn't been adopted in recent books in a while.

At the outset, one could argue that the Rafael and Sora situation is extremely different from the "alternative romances" I have listed so far. Unlike all the others, the intent behind introducing Sora was to deny the player a Rafael romance altogether, rather than present Rafael himself with an option. Whatever the problems with the other LIs, at least they got a romance with the MC!

However, I do think the Sora story was rooted in what the alternative LI route had become over time. It may have started with good intentions - with the idea that perhaps if the numbers showed certain LIs being ignored, it may be kinder to give them happy futures with other people who would love them. As long as the alternative romance was just a part of the character's larger story (as is the case with James and Kaitlyn), it felt less harmful and more sweet.

But when the ability to rake in finances becomes a marker of a character's worth, when the writing itself rigs the game from the start of a series, when both PB and fandom find themselves incapable of examining their own biases with regards to said characters...the purpose of such romances becomes warped.

At such points, it becomes more about establishing that this character's romance with the MC is not worth exploring. About delivering the message that it's okay to drop this LI - that as a player, you had more chance of getting your money's worth if you did drop them.

To be more clear, the Sora story is a culmination of what happens when a certain type of LI is set up to fail from the start. There are less opportunities for them to win the reader over, less time, less options to bring in money. In such an environment, the "alternative romance" becomes about considering certain types of LIs "less worthy", and spending far less time developing their MC-route - because as far as the "data", "money" and "finances" are concerned, they hardly have one!

The culmination of such a system, is that the worth of an LI can be brought down so much that the writers become comfortable with killing a non-main and non-white LI. Sora, as an alternative LI, was a way to write Rafael himself out as a romantic option, not a route meant to move his own story ahead. Sora is what happens when PB pushes forward favouritism and racism to the point where the writing is emboldened to take such steps for LIs of colour (particularly black LIs) they deem unpopular.

Which is why - in the present climate - the elimination of such a system is a marginally better prospect. If we cannot trust such a seemingly "nice" process, what's the use of having it around?

This essay series isn't about all of PB's stories, however. It is about TRR. Still - it is essential to explore and understand the original intent behind using these romance routes, and the history of how such storylines developed over time. Considering that TRR released from 2017-2018, analysing the significant patterns of that time places the writing of TRR's alternate romances into context.

TRR's approach to the alternative LI route has been different from other books, in very specific ways. One of the most prominent ways was that the narrative featured romantic options for the three OG LIs, and briefly attempted one for a fourth (the closest parallel to this in another book would be Endless Summer). Even popular love interests were presented with romantic routes, in case the MC wasn't going to marry them.

Does this mean that TRR managed to avoid falling into the same rabbit hole of bias and favouritism, that the other books did? Not by a long shot. The same problems just manifested in very different ways - and in this essay series, I will discuss those problems, romance route by romance route.

Next - Liam and Olivia: When You Prefer the Side Character to the Main

[strangebiology]

How Funding Affected my Journalism Jobs

The different places I’ve worked as a journalist, and in related fields, have all had different funding. Here are my experiences at different places–and it seems to me that grant-funded stuff is the best. 

Internship at Nat Geo

Grants sponsored both of the other interns, but not me. Nat Geo makes a lot of its money through things like books at TV.

Mine was low-paid, but probably normal for an internship in 2016? LOVED the experience. Freelance at Nat Geo afterward was MUCH better paid. $14/hour part-time. IDK how much the grant-funded interns made. 2016.

Fellowship at PBS Newshour

A grant from the National Science Foundation funded me, but PBS is state-sponsored media. Interestingly, that’s a huge red flag in China and Russia, but I found the US-funded Public Broadcasting Service very fair to its subjects. Good experience, but even worse pay, at $13/hour full-time. 2016-2017

Job at Newsweek 

Their funding is from clicks. This place was crazy bad and paid garbage. Everyone hated it and almost everyone quit, unless they were being fired for making a living wage. Some people even got fired for accurately reporting on the company itself on assignment from their editors–there was no obscuring it, that was cited as their reason for termitation. Newsweek is Hellfire and damnation. I suspect the nonsense demand for 5 stories/day/person and silly demand that we make them go viral stemmed from the following: the fact that the company primarily made its money from clicks and higher-ups didn’t appear to care about the long-term reputation of the company or its reporters, and perhaps an ego-fueled refusal to try to understand what actually got clicks. $39k/year. 2017-2018

Freelance at VOX 

Funded by clicks/ads and grants at the time, but halfway through they started a contribution campaign. The difference I noticed between VOX and Newsweek was that VOX practices were smarter and they actually paid attention to analytics and sane business practices. Also, it's much easier to qualify for and get grants if you're actually doing good journalism, so I don't believe that Newsweek's policy of "lots of garbage" was actually business-savvy in any way.

Vox was a good experience, even though I wasn’t working as a journalist, but doing SEO/social media for journalists. $35/hour, then $50/hour part-time. Then I was laid off due to the pandemic. 2019-2020

Freelance at Alzheimer's Association 

Remote, not really journalism, but I liked it anyway. Nonprofit, so, funded by donations and grants. $65/hour part-time. 2021

Job at Bay Nature

My job was entirely funded by a grant. Odd situation–I got the grant and I could bring it to any legit journalism employer. Bay Nature was supposed to contribute 40% of my salary but flexibility happened and they just paid health insurance and such. They got basically no money at all from clicks, like, pennies a year. Not much from subscriptions. They have fundraisers, and at the time, there were 3 writers/editors and 2 fundraisers on staff. Later they hired another writer whose entire salary was paid by a philanthropist, and then I’m told they got another salary funded by a UC Berkeley journalism grant program. So, like half of their editorial staff was grant-funded.

Great experience, but low pay for the Bay Area. $50k/year, all from Poynter-Koch, 2021-2022.

Freelance at Politifact

A nonprofit and they probably get lots of grants. My particular position was also funded by a grant entirely. Loved it. $250/article fact check. 2022. 

Book

REALLY love it. $50k is from MIT Press, which is a not-for-profit, and it gets some grants and endowments. Then I got $56k from a grant from the Sloan Foundation on top. 

Future? 

I also got $500 (plus gas and hotels) to attend a day of learning with a program called Investing in Wyoming’s Creative Economy, and that means I’m one of 100 people eligible to apply for 10 $25k grants for future projects. The idea is to support creatives to stay in Wyoming and have sustainable businesses here. Maybe do some art that will bring in tourists. 

_____________________

Note that a grant sort of does, and sort of doesn’t, mean free money. It means money to support a project that usually has to have a mission and a public good, like educating the public. You don’t pay these back, and the org giving the grants doesn’t require a percentage of the profits or anything. But, for instance, the $50k grant from Poynter-Koch was more like a gift to Bay Nature, so they could pay me, and I worked for a year to actually have the funds. 

However, I’m not yet convinced that there is any objectively good funding model to ensure the most fair and accurate journalism. In theory, the capitalistic ones would be the best, but the public desire to read inflammatory stories about how their political enemies are evil, or a different generation is full of idiots, adversely affected the accuracy of headlines at Newsweek IMO.

You might think that the worst funding source would be Poynter-Koch, which is a program run by Poynter and funded by the Charles Koch Institute. But neither Poynter nor Koch even asked me to tell them what I was writing, let alone try to stop me from writing it. (Poynter hosted mentor-led auxiliary groups to talk about our careers/lives and such, so the topics of our articles came up sometimes if we chose to share that.) 

Anyway, I’m thinking of writing an article on how funding models affect journalism, for better and worse. There are some high-profile examples of grant funding causing harm. But for now, the above is my experience–pretty much all good, except not enough funding sometimes. 

[songoftrillium]

Artist Spotlight: Jordan Mitchell (he/him)

The Dead Mountain team are all deeply honored to announce that the venerable Jordan Mitchell @indiedynamo has joined us to help bring the artistic vision of this game to life! His clients include Warner Brothers Animations, Cartoon Network, Netflix, NBC Universal, New York Times, PBS, and others.

Jordan Mitchell is an editorial illustrator and background painter for animation, his gravitation towards painting environments is simply his way of fulfilling his need to create worlds, worlds that the viewers can tell stories in, worlds where everyone is included, represented and see themselves as the protagonist.

We feel his ability to paint pieces with a high degree of photorealism will perfectly fall into place with this game's intent to immerse the reader in the town of Trillium.

We can't wait to show you what we have in store for his talent! And stay tuned, we have another artist announcement in the coming weeks! Be sure to check out his accounts below! Twitter Artstation Instagram

[literaticat]

I'm an illustrator working on my portfolio and I plan to query agents in a few months, which is so exciting!! I've also experimented with writing and I have a couple PB manuscripts (that got decent feedback when I was doing 12x12), but I'm not as confident in my writing as I am in my illustrations. Would you pass on an illustrator you liked because they also submitted manuscripts you didn't like? Or would you say, hey, I'll represent you as an illustrator but, girl, your writing is trash! Lol.

This is normal, just so you know. Great illustrators, who have spent however long going to art school, sketching, practicing, honing their craft, etc? Most of them are not ALSO just naturally amazing picture book writers. That takes a lot of skill and practice, too!

(Picture books are, in fact, QUITE HARD to write! I would say that there are many great writers in other categories who would be hard-pressed to write a great picture book! This is not a skill most people have!)

Point being: Agents are aware that many illustrators are still building up the writing piece and are quite used to working with illustrators editorially. If we love your artwork, it's worth it to spend that extra time helping you get your writing there, too -- and while we're doing that, we can hopefully sell illustration projects for you!

SO, I think if your main goal is to be an author-illustrator, you should query agents who do BOTH illustrator-only and author-illustrator clients (like lots of agents at my agency do for example!). So not artists reps -- literary agents who do a lot of illustration projects.

(I say this because artist's reps/illustration agencies often REALLY focus on the illustrations, which is great, and maybe would help you get non-book opportunities as well -- but they often have less focus on the WRITING piece and less deep connections in book world on the editorial side. Also they charge a higher commission!)

So you've chosen your literary agents, and now you have two options -- either of which would be fine, you just decide!

a) You lead with the illustration -- just query as though you are an illustrator-only client. And SAY in your letter something like "I'm querying as an illustrator today; I'd love to illustrate [examples: quirky picture books, young graphic novels, chapter book spot art, book jackets -- whatever your things are!] -- but my ultimate hopeful goal down the line is to also create my own author-illustrator projects. I've been working on a couple of manuscripts of my own, which I'd be happy to share if you're interested, though they are definitely still works in progress". That way they know that you know that the text part is not your main thing, you aren't expecting them to DO anything about those mss right this second, it's just IF they want to see it. (Which they probably WILL -- but they wouldn't be judging you based on those, they would really just be considering you as an illustrator) OR...

b) If you have a good sketch dummy of one of the picture books -- you have worked hard on it, you are proud of it, it's gotten good feedback -- (and I don't mean loosey-goosey illegible sketches, OR finished art -- I mean tight sketches with maybe one or two pages of full color) -- go ahead and query that dummy. Just be VERY CLEAR in your query letter that you consider yourself illustrator-first -- be sure to also include all the info as though you were querying as an illustrator -- links to your beautiful online portfolio, website, etc -- and SAY in the query something like, "I began in illustration, so the writing piece is still fairly new to me; While my ultimate goal is to be an author-illustrator, I'm also very much open to illustrating other people's texts, and I'm happy to start with illustration-only as I hone my writing skills" That way they know that the dummy is sort of a "FOR EXAMPLE" of the KIND of work you do, that you are open to doing other stuff while you work on the writing piece, etc.

Either way, again, is fine. just make sure you are leaning heavily on the ILLUSTRATION!!! part, and be open/flexible/not-uptight about the writing part, and they will totally understand. GOOD LUCK! <3

[loganslowdown4]

Extras & Headcanons 2024

Taurus/Queen of Pentacles Photo from 2022

Day Before Hummus Day (Thomas' Bday!)

Familiar Passage: Under The Whispering Door

Happy Hummus Day (April 25th)

Season Finale Blocks Meme

Remus Cape/Les Vampires

Smash States Remus Meme

Notification Short Meme (Guys with Glasses)

Unread Flag

Roman Eating his Jam Promo

Virgil Purple Eyeshadow

Join Me, No Thinking

My Incorrect Quote GIFs

Speculation On Janus’ Single Light

Logan Voicing Janus, Roman & Remus

Magic Change Janus Gif

Janus’ GRWM Makeup Video Reaction

Janus’ GRWM Canon Explanation

Roman’s Gonna Be 10!

Happy Pride!

Cake Incorrect Quote Day After Roman’s Birthday

Drag queen or wrestler twin prompt

Sanders sides text posts part 21 ❤️

Me & Janus Snap Transformation

sanders sides text posts part 22 🔪

TS 2018 t-shirt Designs

Delicious In Dungeon on Real Or Fake Anime (My Prompt!)

Karrot Kings & That Mixtape Journal

All Editorial Looks So Far (June 2024)

sanders sides text posts part 23🧊

Crofter’s PB&J Bars Recipe

Logince Edit Commission from Ashley

June Almost Over

Cockroaches for Remus

sanders sides text posts part 24 🤧

Roman Editorial Look Question (Patreon livestream June 2024)

My Little Logince Moment in IQ 4

The Little Anxceit Wave (IQ4)

Moceit Flirting Virgil’s Face (IQ4 meme)

Incorrect Quotes Volume 4 Reaction Video

The Giggle in the Ferris Quote

Stress Ball Quote IQ4 Without Subtitles

Then Beg IQ4 without Subtitles

sanders sides + text posts part 25 🐙

All Editorial Looks Update

Remus 🤝 Tank Tops

Janus as Dr Horrible

sanders sides + text posts part 26🙏

Remus Aesthetic Candle Holders B&BW Fall 2024

How To Be Perfec - Michael Schur Morality Book Very Similar to POF:SVSR

Name Spelling: Brandon’s Eyes lol

Sanders sides + text posts part 27 💤

Small Sides: Thomas Tweet 2019

Virgil Going To His Room/My Quote/My Journey On YouTube

Logan Angst Meme Template

Consumer My Soul Meme

Sanders sides + text posts part 28 🗣️

Virgil/Gideon on a Skateboard

Goldfish In A Condom Meme

2024 Nuclear Family Meme

Zander’s Fanders (Girls5Eva)

Prince & Knight Children’s Books (Roman)

Canadian Money (Spyro Livestream Sep 2024)

My Characters Read Your Tweets YT Reaction

Agatha All Along Purple Line (Sep 18)

Birthday Post!

[ausetkmt]

The Guardian: ‘You want it to outlive you’: an often-overlooked piece of civil rights history

"WE'VE SEEN IT AND ITS A HISTORY MUST SEE"

Martin Luther King Jr and his march from Selma to Montgomery is familiar to anyone with a glancing awareness of the civil rights movement. But on his way he went through Lowndes county, an often-overlooked hostile territory where a profoundly influential movement for equal rights was born.

With impassioned talking head testimonials and a staggering treasure trove of never-before-seen archival footage, documentary Lowndes County And The Road To Black Power covers the 80% Black population in one of the poorest counties in the US who rallied to register their vote and be heard despite the constant and immediate threat of white supremacist violence. Lowndes is where the college kids who made up the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Sncc, pronounced snick) went to support the local community and help create the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO). Their focus was to get Black people elected into positions of power and effect change. Because such practical and immediate goals were a threat to white power, these targeted activists had to arm themselves while moving through an area dubbed Bloody Lowndes.

On their election literature, the LCFO identified themselves with a logo borrowed from Clark-Atlanta University’s mascot: a panther. They were known as the Black Panther party.

Sncc’s story isn’t as widely circulated as say Martin Luther King Jr’s in the history books and popular culture. On a Zoom call with the Guardian, director Geeta Gandbhir, alongside co-director Sam Pollard, says that erasure is intentional. “It’s about a leaderless movement of folks organizing and claiming power in a way that is a threat,” Gandbhir says from her home in Brooklyn. “As Ruby Sales says in the film, Black power is a threat to white supremacy and to the white economic system everywhere.

“The Sncc veterans and also the local Lowndes county people were non-violent in theory, but they were going to defend themselves. They were carrying guns. That kind of movement, which ultimately was very successful and is the key to the freedom struggle, is seen as dangerous by folks who want to maintain the status quo.”

Gandbhir didn’t know the story about Lowndes county before writers and producers Vann R Newkirk II and Dema Paxton Fofang brought the project to her. She was down to direct, but wouldn’t take the project without Pollard because she felt it wasn’t her story to tell.

Gandbhir is Indian American. She cites Mira Nair as an influence, not just because the Mississippi Masala film-maker is a fellow Indian. Nair told stories about Indian Americans in relation to other Bipoc (Black, Indigenous and people of color) communities, not just in their own bubble where they can put on a performance as model minorities while their own anti-Black racism bubbles beneath the surface. Gandbhir carefully acknowledges that while she sees unity in the struggles shared by the Bipoc community, she understands the privilege she has that the Black community doesn’t.

Pollard, a veteran in the industry who cut his teeth as an editorial assistant on Ganja & Hess, has been telling stories about the freedom struggle since making his directorial debut on the PBS series Eyes On The Prize. Lowndes County And The Road To Black Power is far from his first collaboration with Gandbhir. They began working together editing Spike Lee films like Surviving The Game, Girl 6, Bamboozled and When The Levees Broke. According to Gandbhir, they met when she was working as an editorial assistant on Spike Lee’s Malcolm X.

“That’s not true,” Pollard interrupts, from a recording studio in Hell’s Kitchen. “I only worked on Malcolm X for two weeks.” Gandbhir agrees, clarifying that she remembers him from when he came in to briefly help with the edit on Spike Lee’s epic biopic on the passionate civil rights era leader. “I don’t remember her at all,” he says, chuckling in defeat, the comfy groove created by their decades long working relationship is felt in the warm and comical back-and-forth.

“She was my apprentice editor, assistant editor, co-editor,” says Pollard. “Then she became a director and we started directing together. She’s always looking out for projects that she thinks will be interesting because of the social or political points of view.”

She points to an argument made by Kwame Ture, the Sncc organizer who coined the slogan “Black Power”. Then called Stokely Carmichael, Ture pointed out that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) would be lost without their leader, Martin Luther King Jr. “That is the danger where the people didn’t necessarily feel that they themselves had the actual power to impact change,” Gandbhir explains, adding that Sncc’s model ensured that every individual organizer or citizen exerting their voting power recognized why and how their voice matters. “As they say, strong people don’t need strong leaders ... You want the movement to outlive you. Ideally, you’re working yourself out of a job. That was Sncc’s concept of organizing and one that we need today.”

I turn the conversation to some of today’s activists, specifically those who have achieved internet notoriety. The day before this interview, Ziwe, the comic talkshow host who knows how to capitalize on awkward silences, aired her interview with DeRay Mckesson. He’s an activist who was on the ground at Ferguson, allied with Black Lives Matter and founded the police reform movement Campaign Zero. Ziwe asked Mckesson about a fellow celebrity activist Shaun King, who has been criticized for allegedly mismanaging money and capitalizing on his clout. Mckesson, who has also received his fair share of criticism, talked about how fame could erode activism, as Ziwe raised a pointed eyebrow at her guest. A chyron onscreen punctuated the irony, paraphrasing the famous activist as saying: “Fame is bad for activism.”

I ask Gandbhir and Pollard, given the tenets learned from Lowndes county, about their thoughts on these activists and some of the organizational criticism in today’s movements. Pollard shakes his head, letting out a big “nooooo”. He’s exerting his influence as the wise owl role in the conversation, simultaneously responding to me and warning Gandbhir that it is not her place to respond.

“We’re film-makers,” says Pollard. “It’s not our job to use our film to critique present-day movements.”

I take the query a step further, asking about their thoughts on bad faith players like Candace Owens, the conservative commentator who got Kanye West’s ear, works to discredit movements like Black Lives Matter and sows doubt regarding George Floyd’s murder. Lately, we’ve been inundated by YouTube ads for Owens’ documentary, spreading her arguments to the algorithmically vulnerable.

Pollard and Gandbhir remain wary about addressing any specific players, but remind why it’s important to tell truthful and impactful stories like Lowndes County; stories they feel, again, were suppressed by the powers that be for a reason.

“Disinformation and propaganda has always been a tool used to suppress, oppress and destroy communities and civilizations,” says Gandbhir. “It’s how certain groups feel that they can win.

“One group tells you it’s raining. The other group tells you it’s not raining. Our job is to go outside and see if it’s raining. That’s how I look at it. That’s what we try to do in the storytelling.”

Lowndes County And The Road To Black Power is now out in US cinemas with a UK date to be announced

[lboogie1906]

Jonathan T. Capehart (July 2, 1967) is a journalist and television commentator. He writes for The Washington Post’s PostPartisan blog and is the host of The Saturday/Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart on MSNBC.

He grew up in Hazlet and Newark, New Jersey, and attended Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School. He received a BA in political science from Carleton College.

He was a researcher for The Today Show. He worked for the New York Daily News, serving as a member of its editorial board. He was the youngest-ever member of the newspaper’s editorial board. He left the Daily News to work at Bloomberg News. He advised and wrote speeches for Michael Bloomberg during his run for New York City mayor. He returned to the New York Daily News, serving as deputy editor of the editorial page. He joined the global public relations company Hill & Knowlton as a Senior Vice President and senior counselor of public affairs.

He joined the staff of The Washington Post as a journalist and member of its editorial board. He continues in that capacity and is a contributing commentator for MSNBC. He hosts the Cape Up podcast, in which he talks to newsmakers about race, religion, age, gender, and cultural identity in politics. He began guest hosting the WNYC radio show Midday on WNYC.

He hosted the premiere episode of The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart on MSNBC. He is the fill-in host of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on Friday edition.

He replaced Mark Shields in the Friday political commentary segment on the PBS NewsHour. He became the associate editor of The Washington Post. The Sunday Show was expanded to Saturday as well, becoming The Saturday/Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart.

He was a key contributor to a New York Daily News staff entry that received the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. He was an Esteem Honoree. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”.

He married Nick Schmit (2017), who was the assistant chief of protocol at the State Department. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[crimsonpublishers-medical]

Fullerene Trend in Biomedicine: Expectations and Reality

Fullerene Trend in Biomedicine: Expectations and Reality- Crimson Publishers

Fullerenes are the third allotropic form of carbon, along with diamond and graphite, where carbon atoms are situated in vertices of the closed shells (cages) [1]. Since their discovery in 1985, fullerenes have attracted an attention of scientists not only because of their unique and beautiful structure but also as the materials for possible applications in engineering and medicine. Lots of fullerenes with hollow carbon cages were synthesized and chemically functionalized. Biomedical effects of such “empty” fullerenes are mostly defined by the chemical groups attached to the fullerene cage [1,2]. Besides, there are the so-called endohedral metallofullerenes (EMF) molecules of which contain one or more atoms, among them lanthanides or heavy elements like Pb or Bi trapped inside the carbon cage [3,4]. The goal of this editorial is to summarize the ideas of using fullerenes for biomedicine and express our opinion concerning the prospects of their application for therapeutic purposes.

For more open access journals in crimson publishers Please click on link: https://crimsonpublishers.com

For more articles on Research in Medical & Engineering Sciences Please click on link: https://crimsonpublishers.com/rmes/

[mattpallamary]

I am happy to share another great review from the MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW!

This time for my nonfiction.

I Am Consciousness Incarnate

Matthew Pallamary

Mystic Ink Publishing

9798988499800, $12.95, PB, 158pp

Synopsis: I am consciousness incarnate.

The fact that you just became conscious of me has made you more conscious than you were a moment ago. Your recognition has brought you a heightened awareness of my presence that constitutes an expansion of consciousness. In no more than a few words, this reflection of my existence within you is already bigger than that first moment of acknowledgment.

Now that you are paying attention, the energy you are giving me has caused me to grow both here where I am meeting you in one of my many forms, and inside of you where you embrace these myriad forms with the mirror of your own incarnate consciousness.

If you question what makes up their consciousness, you will come to the conclusion that your thoughts make up your consciousness, which leads to the question, "Who is it that is aware that I am thinking?"

The answer is, "I am aware that I am thinking," but it isn't that simple. If it is ourselves that is aware that we are thinking, that would mean that we are separate from ourselves in order to make that observation.

This is not the case, which leaves only one other option. Our individual consciousness has to be a part of something greater than itself; the proverbial drop of water in an ocean of consciousness, which begs the question, where does the ocean start and the droplet end?

They don't.

I am you, you are me, I am everything, and everything is me, so you are everything, and everything is you by default.

If you are still with me, then I am growing on you, but the truth of it is that I have been here all along.

What is growing is your awareness of me.

The more you ponder me, the more you find yourself struggling to define something that is ubiquitous both inside and outside of anything you have ever known or experienced. Like the infinite amount of drops of water in the ocean, there have been many attempts to define just what I am, but the reason I defy description is because I am definition itself.

Critique: A unique blend of cognitive psychology, New Age spirituality, personal transformation, and self-help guide, "I Am Consciousness Incarnate" by Matthew Pallamary is an inherently fascinating, iconoclastic, and thought-provoking read from start to finish. While also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $2.99), "I Am Consciousness Incarnate" will prove to be an appreciated and idiosyncratic pick for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Metaphysical Studies lists.

Editorial Note: Matthew J. Pallamary (https://mattpallamary.com/aboutmatt/author) has had his works translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Norwegian, French, and German. His historical novel of first contact between shamans and Jesuits in 18th century South America, was titled "Land Without Evil". It was also adapted into a full-length stage and sky show, co-written with and directed by Agent Red and performed by Sky Candy, an Austin Texas aerial group. The making of the show was the subject of a PBS series, Arts in Context episode, which garnered an EMMY nomination.

[thatstormygeek]

The big problem with Tyson’s move? Like the law enforcement raid on the Marion County Record newspaper in August, it creates a chilling atmosphere. This time, not just for journalists, but for all creatives and LGBTQ+ people in Kansans. Don’t just take my word for it. The recommended cut “smacks of governmental retaliation in violation of the First Amendment,” said Maxwell Kautsch, president of the Kansas Coalition for Open Government and a media lawyer. “Even if the recommendation is ultimately rejected by the Ways and Means Committee later this week, the mere threat of cutting public funding in direct response to editorial content with which members of the Legislature disagree has a chilling effect on the right to expression for all Kansans.”

[robertfrancis4]

Schizophrenia x2!

#schizophrenia x2!

I wrote two books on schizophrenia. Both can be found everywhere, Amazon included. Both of my books have been comprehensively reviewed including by some of the best in the world with expertise on schizophrenia. If you are interested in the topic of schizophrenia, my books may well-suit.

My first book is “On Conquering Schizophrenia; From the Desk of a Therapist and Survivor; With Purview on Metaphysics, Philosophy, and Theology”. My second book is “The Essential Schizophrenia Companion; With Foreword by Elyn R Saks, PhD, JD”. I am a longtime mental health talk-therapist (a Licensed Clinical Social Worker- LCSW) who has lived with schizophrenia for 25+ years. Both books combine clinical perspective with lived experience perspective i.e. clinical psychology amid an otherwise first-person narrative. Attached you will find some images of the books with some related reviews. More such editorial reviews can be found on the Amazon pages. -Robert Francis, LCSW

#schizophrenia #nytimes #usatoday #psychologytoday #nami #oprah #drphil #washingtonpost #nbc #cnn #nbc #bookclub #bookchat #philosophy #mentalhealth #socialwork #books #psychologygroups #schizophreniagroups #recovery #inspiration #psychoeducation #pbs #npr #iheartradio 

[literaticat]

What are the confidentiality standards for agents? I've looked at the AALA ethics page and I only see financials mentioned in that regard. Personally, I would expect much more than that to be kept confidential, or at least within the agency, but I've had some contrary experiences with agents. I'm thinking of things like, editorial feedback for a book under contract, or a PB writer disliking illustrations for their book and negotiating around that, etc.

Agents are considered "fiduciaries" for their clients, and there are certain legal/ethical standards for fiduciaries. Basically, we have to keep your financial info (contract terms, etc) and other personal stuff we're privy to confidential and can't use it to benefit ourselves, we have to act in your best interest, we can't "double dip" (ie, get some secret money/kickbacks from the publisher for a transaction), we must disclose if there's a conflict of interest or anything like that, etc.

And just generally, you know, your business is your business, we're your business partner, so obviously we shouldn't be spreading your business around.

That being said, I'm not 100% sure what you mean with your examples? If you're having some kind of editorial conflict, or you're a PB writer and you have a big problem with the illustrations, it would be part of our job to help you handle those conversations as needed, or have them on your behalf. (The publisher might or might not agree to DO anything about that, but the convo could not exactly be "confidential" if you want to do something to potentially fix it!)