December 6, 2005 by s.z.

An Offer You Can't Refuse The December issue of Virtual Occoquan (featuring the best of the Salon blogs) is now on-line. Act now and you can enjoy such holiday favorites as: Pat Peeved - Leslie Talbot, which explains one woman's complicated relationship with her TV boyfriend. Take My Identity, Please - C. J. Laity, a poem for our times. Crestmont Methodist - Mark Hoback, in which the new pastor's sermon doesn't go over too well. Intriguing art by Dana Pattillo. AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!  This is a limited time offer, so act now.  Operators are standing by. 4:26:25 AM

Making it Big in Publishing As you may know, my friend Scott C. and I have written a book, Subliminal Cinema: Life Lessons From Lousy Movies, and we are currently looking for a publisher.  And thanks to Townhall (see the banner at the top of the page of this review of Byron York's sappy book), I think I've found one.  (Well, not a publisher for our book, but a publisher none-the-less.) TOWN FORUM PRESS: SUBMIT YOUR WRITING NOW! BE PUBLISHED AND BE HEARD Our mission: To give conservative writers a place to get published, and to give readers an alternative to books coming from left-leaning publishers. Public opinion is shaped largely through books. Through the years’ books like Barry Goldwater’s Conscience of a Conservative and Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics greatly impacted the way people thought about our government and culture. Unfortunately there are not enough of these kinds of books on the market today. No, there aren't!  So, thank  heaven for Town Forum Press, which is meeting that need by inviting every wannabe Barry or Thomas in America to write a short piece on a wingnutty topic (this month's is "Howard Dean's lunatic liberalism"), compiling them, doing a print-on-demand version of the book, and then convincing the "authors" to buy copies of the volume for all their friends and acquaintances.  (It's an update of those "America's 100,000 Most Outstanding Students" and "Who's Who in the Bestest Kids in the World" book scams that have been around for decades.) Aside from a handful of small publishers, conservatives have nowhere to turn to express their views in print. As a result liberals are able to impact public opinion in a way we cannot. Town Forum Press exists to bridge that gap. Yes, that's why liberals are able to impact the public opinion more effectively than conservatives: because liberals have cornered the market on vanity publishing. Here's more info:  We're like a blog, but rather than posting your thoughts online, we publish them in quality paperback and hardcover books. Each of our books are collaborate efforts by our members. They are published lightning-fast, on-demand, and they are available in bookstores and on Amazon.com. Because people are just dying to purchase the writings of "any and all conservative activists who want their voice to be heard."  That's why Renew America is such a hot property. [And speaking of Renew America's extremely influential writers,  Kaye Grogan has a new column out called " On NOTICE . . . Christmas spirit alive and well."  Here's my favorite line from it: "For over two-thousand years, Christ has been attacked, and His very existence has been denounced by atheists."  I have to say, those atheists of 2000 years ago had a lot of nerve to deny the very existence of Christ, presumably right to his face.] But anyway, back to Town Forum Press's compilations of writings by bloggers,  authors, attorneys, ministers or priests, and "even student or housewife," and how they will be flying off the shelves because there just aren't any conservative books out there.  (Okay, an Amazon search for "conservative" books comes up with 155,703 of them -- but it is true that nobody is buying them except Scaife.) But if you get published by Town Forum, at least YOUR family will want copies of your book, because it will have your name on the cover! Our members have collected quips and quotes by Howard Dean. We need you to write a 300-500 word Introduction about Dean's lunatic liberalism. Then we'll publish an edition of this book with your Introduction and your name on the cover. Using our innovative on-demand publishing, we can publish this book just for you! [...] Your book will be available for purchase. Give them out to your family and friends or make them available as fund-raising gifts for your organization. Because there is no better way for an organization to raise funds that by giving out copies of drek. The retail price for each book will be $9.99. Order 3 copies for $22.99 and save 25%. Order 5 copies for $32.99 and save 35%. Order 10 copies for $49.99 and save 50%. Conservative writers, I have an even better deal for you: write a 300-500 word column on whatever moves you, send it to me, and for a small fee, I will email you a document that you can print on your very own printer.  It will feature YOUR words, YOUR name, and it can be printed on whatever color or type of paper you choose!   And you can print AS MANY COPIES AS YOU WANT for no additional charge. Anyway, once you sign up with Town Forum Press, you'll be buying lots of books, because you're going to be contributing to one each month. As a member you'll be asked to write a monthly column on an important topic, ranging from current events to public policy to social and cultural issues Start building that extra wing to the library now. P.S.  Despite the claim that these books are "available in bookstores and on Amazon.com," a search at Amazon reveals that there are currently no Town Forum Press books available in their catalog.  But hey, don't let that stop you from getting your thoughts published by Town Forum, and thereby impacting public opinion in a major way. 3:42:40 AM