Alternative Transport & Writing

 -- Quote of the Day --

"Success comes to a writer, as a rule, so gradually that

  it is always something of a shock to him to look back

  and realize the heights to which he has climbed."

   ~ P.G. Wodehouse

-- A Review! --

I am thrilled to announce that a review of our e-book: Purple Snowflake Marketing - How to Make Your Book Stand Out in a Crowd, was published on a writer's blog yesterday. I hope you have time to check it out :) - Visit My Writer's Blog to access this well-written review by someone who's been in the writing industry a long time - prolific author and internet marketer, Nick Daws. His points out that the book can be used to market e-book and self-published (or vanity) authors... it can also be used to promote audio books. The concept of a marketing plan for these various ways of producing a book will remain the same - it is up to the author to tweak the guide we've provided to suit their unique situation. The information in the book, as Nick mentions, was affected by the many interviews I've conducted - and also from the many years of conversing with fellow authors, however the book is based on our own experience in the writing industry for 12 years. It has everything we learned in that time listed there for you to dip into. This book is available at the introductory price for a limited time, so take advantage of that now while you can... before the price goes up. :)
- MyWritingBlog.com/2011/01/review-purple-snowflake-marketing.html

-- Positive Eco-News --

I've been hearing a lot about bike and car share companies sprouting up in many metropolitan areas. Businesses, too, are starting to get on board with this - offering incentives for their staff who are car-poolers or choose to take alternative transportation to work.  Companies that service cars (i.e. tire shops and mechanic shops) are now offering bikes for their clients to borrow while work is being done to the car. These are excellent steps in the right direction - just choosing to live more sustainably with the tools and resources we already have... it can, and will, be done. We are seeing this all over the world. 

In Japan for instance, there was a pilot bicycle rental project started in September 2010 for several of their largest metropolitan cities - among these are: Tokyo, Saitama and Fujisawa. Of course city infrastructure and bike lane route implementations would be necessary to make something like this work in a safe manor. Here locally in our city (Grand Forks) the city staff have created a chain of paved and crushed gravel paths, that is lit (not a fan of that) with tall lights, and is wide enough for 4 scooters to pass by each other without issues. Most people have been using them to walk their dogs, but I've seen several people using them regularly to get to work using their scooters. 

We no longer see garbage and debris from people hanging out in those path areas, where they used to have little fires and hang-outs. However, the city neglected to clean up their own debris and the old waste that is down the banks of the path... some of this is down in a delicate bog. Hopefully they will consider this in their upcoming maintenance. There's also no garbage or recycling bins on the entire chain of paths leading to, and through, the city park (except in the park itself). So if they did this, more pedestrians would be willing to put the waste where it belongs - instead of along the river, down the banks or in the ponds. 

Unfortunately most of the side-roads (in our area) are full of pot-holes and are difficult to drive if you have a little car - and very few of the roads have bike lane space of any kind. So there is still a lot of room for improvement - but the point is that we are making headway toward a more sustainable community.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blogs, and more at: www.brummet.ca 

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