Comment by Glenda Bailey-Mershon on May 7, 2012 at 2:28

I won't copy all the historical timeline here, as it is hard to break up into manageable chunks, but it is included in the packet link above. Please let me know if that link does not work for you.

Wonderful work getting the other author to unpublish. I suspect she was self-published, since she was able to so quickly unpublish it?

Carol Higgins Clark is a major, best-selling author, so there are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties at stake, and her publisher likely would have to destroy thousands of copies. They could recover the existing books and re-title future copies. It would take many, many calls and emails to get them to do so, I think. Can we do it? I don't know, but if we can use their events to create teachable moments, that also is a gain. 

Comment by Ciuin Ferrin on May 7, 2012 at 2:43

Julie has sent me a copy of the book she pulled. I'm on chapter two and I can understand her story and her reasoning behind it, though I'm not making any judgments just yet. Clark's book, on the other hand, isn't going to change. I suggest we use it as a vehicle for education, asking bookstores to hand out the fliers. The book itself is not the problem, only the title. The publishers are not going to spend the money to recover and re-title because less then 1% of the population is miffed. Use the title as a tool. We've already educated the author who may be an ally in the future. Julie Harris is also on our side now and that will benefit both sides. 

C

Comment by Glenda Bailey-Mershon on May 7, 2012 at 4:55

I agree. We have So much to do; we must assess what we can accomplish with each project.

Comment by Glenda Bailey-Mershon on May 7, 2012 at 16:15

I think we can go a step farther and send an email to bookstores asking them to place the material alongside the book. I have a number of bookstore emails.

On a more proactive note: What do you all think of the possibility of having an Internet talk radio program to provide profiles of accomplished Romani people, and also address a few of the issues and stereotypes, as appropriate?

Comment by Qristina Zavačková Cummings on May 7, 2012 at 16:20

I originally emailed the bookstores who said I could visit them with the flier. I think they can be quite receptive to emails. I'm not sure that the bigger stores would be though, since there's quite a corporate ladder to climb to get to the right person. I do plan to visit these bookstores anyway--regardless of whether they gave me a reply or not via email. Sometimes face-to-face is better. Also, would you have a problem if I offer a digital copy of the brochure for them to send to affiliate stores? I am hoping that if I speak to the bookshop later today, they'll offer the chance not only in the shop here, but their other store which is not in this town.

Comment by Ciuin Ferrin on May 7, 2012 at 16:25

You GO, girl! ;)

And yes, Glenda, I would agree. I have offered a suggestion about hosting conferences to writers, authors, media, script writers, etc about using Romanies as villains and the like. Maybe we should work on this over the summer to get into conferences next season?

 

Comment by Qristina Zavačková Cummings on May 7, 2012 at 16:27

(that conference idea sounds awesome)

Comment by Glenda Bailey-Mershon on May 7, 2012 at 16:30

Ciuin,

I know, I want to talk to you about that. I would think we can offer workshops at existing conferences and also present some work from Romani writers. I will try to pull together a list. I think--unfortunately, for me, since I'm not a fan--that we should start with the romance and mystery conferences, because they seem to be the worst offenders. I am even open to asking Carol Higgins Clark to work with us, if we can approach her again. She has a big name and this would be one way she could make up for her error. Also, there are a number of online writers' sites where we can post short articles. I am working on something and will ask for feedback when I get it into better shape.

Comment by Glenda Bailey-Mershon on May 7, 2012 at 16:32

Qristina,

Certainly you can send digital copies! You may use that information freely. Thanks so much. 

Comment by Stoimen on May 7, 2012 at 16:39

Sorry, I just jump in, but I followed your discussion. The internet talk radio may be a flexible tool to react right away. The conference may deepen the issue. For the radio all existing bodies need to cooperate. There are quite some here on this site. What we need, is more coordination.

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