From a Cluttered Desk

I am Tammy Cardwell, she of the cluttered desk. (Hey, you think I'm kidding?!) I'm having a blast here in Blogland and invite to you to peruse my ramblings. Like a buffet, they offer variety - essentially whatever makes it to the top of the piles that sometimes clutter my brain. We'll eventually cover it all - homeschooling, God, our church, the Eclectic Homeschool Online, books I'm writing and publishing, conferences I speak at, the joys of grandmotherhood, and hopefully chocolate. Of course, this is only what's near the top now. Who knows what's in those piles?

This post has been modified.

Our church is hosting The Glory and the Fire this week and last night’s service was AWESOME. This is a group that comes into churches, sets up their own sound and lighting systems, and trains your church’s people to act with them in a variety of scenes depicting real life situations and their real "after life" consequences. In our church, because of the height of our sanctuary, they’re also able to use pyrotechnics and believe me, they add to the effect. Inspiring tears, laughter, and "OhmyGodHellisreal" reactions, this is one of the most consistently powerful dramatic ministries I’ve ever seen, one that inevitably bears fruit. For instance, last night we had over 300 people respond to the altar call.

I wish I could give you a website for them, but they don’t have one. I have been told they have a MySpace, though, if you happen to play around in that neck of the woods.

I had requests, so I finally tracked down their email address.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Like many bloggers, I regularly look at my site stats. I watch where people come from and what brings them here. One of the most interesting things to watch is search strings - the words people type into search engines when they’re seeking out specific information. Sometimes these searches are absolutely hysterical and I wonder how in the world the search engine thought my blog fit the criteria, then I’m curious about what made the seeker click on my link, and I’ll often run the same search to see what else pops up. Other times it’s encouraging because I know that somehow, some way, things I’m saying are attracting people’s attention. If I were more business oriented, I might even figure out a way to work with the search strings to bring more visitors to my blog…but that’s another post.

Other times the search strings are far from funny, like the ones I found yesterday. They varied slightly, but in essence were…

free copy see i told me so

Now, it is possible that this person  was searching for some other book entitled See, I Told Me So, but even if they were I’m going to say what I have to say on that author’s behalf as well as my own.

For the benefit of those who do not know, See, I Told Me So! is one of my ebooks. I and a group of homeschool parents and graduates wrote it to encourage anxious homeschoolers, to reassure them that no matter what your life looks like it is possible to homeschool and raise responsible children….to look back at homeschooling and say, "See, I told me so! I knew it was going to come out all right!" We, as a group, put countless hours into writing this book, and then I put even more hours into editing it and prepping it to publish as an ebook and then to market it. Because I want as many people to be able to read it as possible, I’ve priced it at $9.95, which is about as low as you can go and people not think a book must be worthless.

I have given hundreds…perhaps thousands…of copies away for free. I’ve spoken at conferences where I offered it to attendees as a free download. I’ve been part of benefits and fundraisers where I offered it as part of download packages people would receive after making donations. I’ve even given free copies to individuals as I felt the Lord lead. It is an important message that I and those who co-authored it with me want to get out and as a result I am open, on occasion, to taking part in projects that put it in the hands of other people without me making a dime.

But me choosing to give copies away for free and someone else choosing to give copies away for free are two different things. It is MY book. When someone stumbles across a link that was intended to be a private link for conference members to download their free copy and the discoverer - who is not a conference member - downloads a copy, they’re stealing. And when that person shares the link with others and those people download copies, that also is stealing. I’m using a concrete example here. This very thing has happened, where someone discovered just such a link and shared it on at least one homeschool list I know of.

Another scenario that has played out, more than once, is where "thrify" homeschoolers "share" their efiles of this and other ebooks. This can be as small as one homeschooler emailing a copy to a friend and as large as one woman I’m aware of who set up a yahoo group specifically so that she could share illegal copies of hundreds of homeschool products.

Even if you do find it as a supposedly free download online…that doesn’t mean it’s free.

With few exceptions, when someone purchases an ebook, they are purchasing THAT copy of the book. THAT copy is their copy. If they make a copy of it, there is no longer one copy; there are two - and the second is an illegal copy. This is because they did not buy copy right; they bought a single book. It may be easy to make copies of and share ebooks and other electronic products, but you have to think of them as if they were printed…at least if your ethics are right.

As harsh as it sounds, if someone’s hard drive crashes and they lose the book, it’s just as if they accidently left a regular book on a seat in the subway, they’ve lost the book and should buy another if they want it replaced. Now, most of the publishers I know personally would probably replace the ebook in this instance if it had originally been purchased directly from them (I almost surely would), but they’re certainly not required to by law or even ethics.

Yes, it bugged me to see that someone was trying to find a free copy of a book that I have a massive amount of hours, prayer, and effort invested in, a book that should be helping me make it financially.

::::thinking:::::

Okay, I’m going to be a little more open than usual. See, most seem to envision publishers as being people with money. Most of us are not; in fact, in the homeschool arena the opposite is usually the case. In point of fact, my monthly income is… Huh… I suppose I shouldn’t share hard figures. Let me just say this. I’m frugal. We’ve lived frugally for years because we’ve had to. At the very least, it would be nice if my publishing company could make enough money to keep me online, but when I leave the house I’m living in right now (returning to the old house even though Ike left it in even worse shape), there is every possibility - probability - that I will be offline, because paying the local cable company isn’t even remotely in the budget right now. I’m just rejoicing that I’ll be able to pay the electric company tomorrow. And the water company? Well, they’ll have to wait and so will running water. Normally, our grocery budget is about $50 a week, maybe $100 on a really good week. Splurges are rare and I was absolutely thrilled today when I was finally in a position financially that I could buy not one, but two pair of work shoes and a new pair of work slacks. (Shoe Carnival and Burlington Coat Factory…bless you!)

So you see, YES, it does impact me when people steal copies of See, I Told Me So! Just say ten copies are shared illegally every month. That’s $99.50 that, were the books purchased from me instead, would have been enough to keep me online…or put gas in the car…or bought groceries…or paid a chunk of the light bill…or…

It matters, which is why I finally decided to say something. I try really hard not to offend people, most of the time, but right now… I guess you’d say I’m the one who is offended.

Celebraing Jesus! (in the midst of everything)
Tammy C

Join the Campaign

It looks like we’re moving back into the old house this weekend, and unless God works something out that means no more Internet access for me for a while. Well, not unless I can fit trips to the library or wherever into my extremely busy schedule. We’ll see.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Like most Christians, I love the song Amazing Grace; it speaks to me in a powerful and unique way. A friend recently sent me a link to this YouTube video and not only do I recommend it as a great rendition of Amazing Grace, but also because it shares some fascinating information that I never knew before. The speaker/singer’s name is Wintley Phipps and oh man is he good!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Reading my Bible has given me a hunger for more, so I started asking friends for book recommendations.

"What do you consider to be the must-read books where Christians are concerned?"

I had originally intended to stick to the classics, but got some really great suggestions for more modern books too, two of which really surprised me.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades), by Robert Spencer
The Apocalypse of Ahmadinejad, by Mark Hitchcock

I’ve done a little (VERY little) research into Islam in the past few years and have learned a decent amount from one particular friend who studies such things, but I’ve never had much desire to really do any in-depth reading. However, when this particular gentleman not only included these two books in his four-book must-read list, but offered to loan me his copies as well, I decided it must be important material for the Christian to get hold of.

Uh huh

I understand much better, now, about the different types of Muslims and how they view Christians, Jews, and everyone else. I also understand why everyone has been telling me for years that Ahmadinejad is one of the most dangerous, if not the single most dangerous, men  on earth. Both of these books were real eye-openers, each in its own way, and I’m glad I invested time in reading them, especially since I now know even more about how I should be praying in these end times.

Next on the list, the book I’m reading now, is The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel. And this is another winner. I have a feeling I’ll be looking for more of Strobel’s books once I’ve made more inroads into my must-read list.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Gas is under $3! WOOOO WHOOOOOO!!!!!!

That’s here, of course. I realize it’s still MUCH higher than that in other parts of the country.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

In 1999, Greenleaf Press published my first book, FrontPorch History: Researching and Telling Your Family’s Stories. That was nearly ten years ago and, though it is still an excellent book that I highly recommend, I’ve decided it’s high time for an updated, electronic version.

And I’d like your help.

This book will be all about family heritage - specifically preserving it and sharing it with family members and future generations. As held true with the first book, I’ll deal with family stories, genealogy, and tools you can use in your family-oriented venture. Since I’m essentially embarking on a whole new book, I have total freedom in deciding how I want to approach it and what I’ll include. Which is where you come in.

Suggestions?

And I mean any suggestions. What topics would you particularly like to see covered, for instance? I felt I was pretty thorough before, but things have changed in the past ten years and the Internet opens vistas I’d never considered. I’ll definitely be reviewing products that I believe are helpful and might even consider including reviews and short pieces written by others. I also plan to include links to websites, blogs, etc., and I’m open for suggestions for all of the above. I will also, as I did in the previous books, include samples of things I’ve done for my own family, along with detailed explanations.

I’m excited. While other projects have been put on hold now that we’ve moved in with our friends for a season, this is something I can do even in a single bedroom with little more than my computer and the Internet. I’ll have to work on it around my usual schedule, of course, but that’s always been true of my writing projects, so there’s nothing new there.

It is GOOD to be back online!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

A friend just sent this in an email with the comment that it makes her wonder if they’re using this kind of logic on Wall Street.

As the members of one of my lists would say, "This one deserves a cats and coffee warning" (Meaning don’t be drinking coffee or have a cat sitting in your lap while you watch and listen).

tammycardwell.net/cluttered_desk/wp-content/uploads/file/KentuckyMath.wmv

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

I work for the music department in my church on Mondays and today my son left the following video up and ready to play on my boss’ computer. He told her he wants to do it as a choir special. The group is apparently from the 70s and the name is Sonseed. I don’t remember them, though maybe the name sounds familiar? Who knows.

If, like me, you grew up with The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch, from the moment you see this video you’ll be laughing. We didn’t stop laughing until….well after the end. Some of the lyrics are priceless, the outfits and hair styles bring back memory-induced giggles, and some of the people… The lead singer is definitely reminiscent of a young Donny Osmond and about halfway through it someone in our group (We attracted a crowd) said, "Hey look, Greg Brady is playing the drums!" (And if, like me, you were a young Donny Osmond fan…)

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

A friend’s family has a dream that is close to my heart and I’ve got to share.

My friend’s name is Jill Novak and the dream is Hopeful Farm, a place where families with special needs members can go for some true rest and relaxation (And LOTS of fun.) Jill is hosting an online benefit. Through this benefit, you can get an outstanding collection of gifts in exchange for a tax deductible donation, and bless a world of special people at the same time.

Hopeful Farm Benefit
 
Also, listen to an interview on Mom-to-Mom Radio Show to learn more about what they are doing. Here is the link to Cindy Rushton’s website:
 
http://www.MomtoMomRadioShow.com
 

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C