Saturday, February 25, 2012

Another one of my favorite articles... We got a Black President - Now what?


We got a Black President…Now what?
  Now that Obama’s in office has young America stopped voting? Who and where are our Senators? Here I go again with my statistics.
  On February 23rd, 1870 the first African American was elected to serve in the United States Senate. Since 1870, there have only been five (yes, I said ONLY five) other African Americans ever to serve in the Senate and only seven Hispanics.
  How come this is something that young America, especially young African Americans and Hispanics are not more concerned about? The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the Federal Government. Shouldn’t we be more involved?
  Not surprisingly, President Obama is the first and only President to appoint an African American to Senate. Of the only six African Americans, President Obama was the fifth and won his election by the popular vote. That goes to show you right there that your vote does count!
  The fact that Illinois has a high rate of voters as well as a high African American population may account for the fact that the last three Senators, Carol Mosley Braun (1-3-93 – 1-3-99), Barack Hussein Obama (1-3-05 – 11-16-08) and Roland W. Burris (12-31-08 – incumbent) were all from the state of Illinois. Come on America, let’s take a page out of Illinois book and start voting for our Senators as well.
  On February 3rd, 1870 when the amendment was ratified and everyone was given the right to vote why hasn’t this advantage been taken yet? What are you waiting for young America? You think just because we got a Black President, everything is all good now? Why aren’t we exercising this right? This is a privilege we are being given. Many people died and are still dying to this day just to make sure we maintain this right. Have we become that complacent that we are leaving all of the decisions regarding our future to the few people that decide to get out there and vote?
  It just absolutely blows my mind that these statistics are true and correct. How can we not be more aware of who are government is.  I wish this article would have been my topic last month and maybe I could have encouraged just a few of you to vote. Hopefully, this time next year you will remember this article and get out and vote. You may think your vote doesn’t make a difference but it does. When it comes to our Alderman, Mayors and Senators, the popular vote makes a big difference.  I hear constant complaints regarding discrimination. How can we even have the nerve to complain when we are not using our right to vote and starting in our backyard by getting the proper people in place to insure that discrimination does not happen?
  I said all of that to say…If you didn’t get out and Vote, you have no “Right” to complain about anything.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Choosing a Child Care Provider... or an Editor!



I often get the question, “How do I choose an editor?”
I often equate it to finding a childcare provider. Sounds silly, huh? Let me explain. When an author creates a manuscript it is much like a pregnancy. The author is creating, growing and producing something from within side of them. They prepare for the birth, which would be the release of the book and then they continue to help it grow which would be the marketing and promotion. So I suggest, finding someone with the same qualities you would want in a childcare provider for your child.
First of all, you want a professional. You will want someone whose references you can check and confirm. You will not want to hear what their best friend or sister thinks about them but what actual clients of their service think.
You will want someone firm yet caring. You need to work with someone who is not going to be afraid to reprimand mistakes and tell you about them, but will also be able to do it in a kind way. This will insure productivity as opposed to putting the author on the defense.
You will want someone educated in that field. Unfortunately, there are no licenses or boards governing the conduct or education of editors. There are no mandated continuing education classes as there are with most professional careers. It is up to the editor to stay active in educating themselves and keeping up with changes. A lot of people think that since they can spot typographical errors in their favorite books, that they can be an editor. This is not true.
Ask your editor what Style Guide they will be using. Most fiction uses The Chicago Manual of Style but some publishers such as Triple Crown Publications prefer The AP Style Guide. Your script needs to have a consistent style so it is imperative that one of these is used. Your editor should also include with his or her service, a style sheet that is specific to your writing. If they don’t know what this is or don’t do this, don’t use them.
As with any type of service, make sure that your editor provides you with specific contracts detailing their obligation to you and your financial obligation to them. When making payments via Pay-Pal, be sure to mark it as payment for a service should there ever be any disputes. If you are paying via check or money order, be sure to designate specifically what the payment is for in the memo section.
Lastly, make sure you have an open line of communication with your editor. There are a few terrific editors out there who can help introduce your baby to the world in style. Unfortunately, there are also several want-to-be editors who are looking to take advantage of people and their dream. Make sure you are as careful and as thorough as you would be if you were choosing a childcare provider and you should be just fine.
You can check out our editing service at www.21StreetUrbanEditing.com or if you have any specific questions, you can always email those to questions@21StreetUrbanEditing.com
Niccole Simmons
Co-Founder of 21st Street Urban Editing & Publishing

One of my Favorite Interviews... Author Terry Wroten

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.