Tag Archives: Income Inequality

Book Done, Search Has Begun

Posted on by under Agent Search

Sorry for the dearth of recent posts… the good news, the manuscript for Dark Matters: The Chosen is complete at 91,000 words and 40 chapters. I’m very happy with the first draft. Or more accurately, the 128th draft – a few revisions were done over the summer. šŸ™‚

Over the past few months, I’ve given portions of the book to people I know that are “in the business” – professional editors, a few publishers, and even one NY Times best-selling author. Based on their feedback (not all of it glowing, believe me), I’ve decided to spend several months pursuing the traditional publisher route. This means finding an agent to represent the book – a daunting task for a first-time fiction authorĀ (the first agent I approached says he received 5,000+ requests in 2012 and signed just 5 new clients). But I’m fortunate to have the time and resources to go down this path, and if it doesn’t pan out, I can still choose to self-publish next year. So that’s the plan.

One other bit of good news, I’ve hired someone to help with the search and to do PR for me and the book – she is an amazing resource for on-line research, publisher/agent information, and general marketing and promotion. In fact, she’s already gotten me invited to the sold-out 2014 World Science Fiction/Fantasy Convention in Washington DC. So look for usĀ in DC in November. Thanks Jodi! I have to admit, to see my name listed just a few down from Stephen R. Donaldson and the others is pretty cool!

http://worldfantasy2014.org/members.php

So stay tuned for more in the coming months. With the book (mostly…) complete, I should have more time to keep everyone in the loop. Or email me to say hello!

Billionaires at Play

Posted on by under Book Research

What if the 20 wealthiest Americans pooled their resources and worked together to develop and pass a set of ‘third-rail’ legislation that generally has the support of a silent majority, but is doomed to languish in our current political landscape? Just for fun and to annoy everyone, let’s say:

1. Congressional term limits; eliminating anonymous and unlimited PAC contributions

2. Banning semi-automatic weapons; background checks for gun purchases

3. Social Security Reform (raising rates, income caps, and/or retirement age)

These twenty individuals could use just 10% of their total wealth (a mere $60 billion) and fashion a political campaign for the ages. Here is what $60 billion might buy:

  • A staff of 1,000Ā in every stateĀ to lead the grassroots campaign. They could place personal phone calls to every U.S. household multiple times per month.
  • A staff of 2,500 in Washington DC to coordinate and lead the charge.
  • $1 billion in a PAC fund for each of the issues.
  • One-third of all U.S. advertising for an entire year – TV, internet, radio, magazines, newspapers, billboards, etc. Sure, it doesn’t actually work like this but you get the point.
  • About $5 billion in ‘pocket change’ to deal with unexpected problems as they arise, and to hire an army of expert consultants :).

Of course, once this set of low-hanging fruit was accomplished – who knows what they might be able to tackle next? The possibilities are endless…

(Don’t forget to visit our Kickstarter page!)

Kickstarter Project Is Launched!

Posted on by under Dark Matters Kickstarter Project

Dark Matters kickstarter screenshotIt’s official: The Ā Dark Matters Kickstarter projectĀ  has launched! Check out the full video on the Kickstarter site. The project (I hope…) will fund continued research on the topics of worldwide economics and income inequality, as well as the latest on dark matter, string theory/quantum mechanics, and related fields. If you are so inclined, I’d appreciate your support. Thanks!

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