Child Abuse Prevention Project gets Blasted

Man, I might have really screwed up. Some of you know that I wrote a novel that has received great reviews, Rarity from the Hollow, and that author proceeds are donated to prevent child abuse. Well, anyway, I went to this newgroup to tell them about my novel winning a competition. The people there started an argument about whether I had the right to tell them about my novel -- they called my post spam. The argument lasted a long time.

Then, apparently emotions got worked up -- not mine as I was having fun and thought it was all philosophical -- but members who have never read by novel posted insults about me and it on the Mobipocket site as if they were posting reviews of something that they'd read, but had not.

I feel especially bad about my mistake on behalf of abused kids. Yesterday, a little girl in one of the group therapy sessions I facilitate told her peers that she was strong enough to testify about the awful things that her daddy had done to her. She's less than four feet tall and skinny.

It made me feel so guilty about deciding to quit my project that I'm going to find some type of solution. I don't think that arguing with people about what is or is not "spam" is a good idea, at least not from my self-promotion angle. I think that it's best as a debate strictly among consumers and I've got something that I can't help but promote and come off too strong.

I've already given the people who called me a liar the info to contact the agency to which author proceeds are donated for verification. I even gave them info on how to verify my own employment at my mental health center. It didn't help.

I gave them my email address hoping that they could verify that I had not posted reviews of my own novel in order to up the rating (an accusation). They responded that some of the reviews were from the same multi-state ISP even if not from the same address and posted a lie on the Mobipocket site.

I gave them the address for the five-year-old contest that named my novel as one of the best published in 2006. They said that it was not a contest, was inconsequential, but didn't put down any of the other books in various genres that were listed.

I'll figure out something. Thanks again

It's an established contest of a five year precedent. Let me know if you're interested in the citation.

Draft Press Release -- Please Comment

M E D I A R E L E A S E
CONTACT: Robert Eggleton
Phone: 304.346.7907 (home) or 341-0511 (work)
E-mail: robert_t@charter.net

Local Author Awarded the Noble (Not Nobel) Prize

Praised or maligned, the Nobel Prize for Literature is always news. It selects the best from the world and therefore misses much of value. Carolyn Howard-Johnson, “Back to Literature” columnist for MyShelf.com, closes the gap (only slightly) with her an annual “Noble Prize for Literature.”

Over the last years the Nobel committee has recognized authors for their literary expertise but there has also been a trend toward awarding the prize for, as Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Tim Rutten says, “an author’s particular relevance to the moral moment in which the world finds itself.”

Howard-Johnson’s prize therefore concentrates on books that address these same issues. Her lists have included well-known authors who explore discrimination in their writing like Toni Morrison and Ralph Ellison, but she tries to concentrate on authors who have not been posted to bestseller lists or won major awards. Some past winners are LA's Leora G. Krygier and Randall Sylvis. Fifteen books were named as the best releases in 2006. One of the winners announced in the January issue of Myshelf was:

Robert Eggleton for his e-book, Rarity from the Hollow (Fatcat Press). Nominated by Evelyn Somers, an Editor of The Missouri Review.

Mr. Eggleton is best known for his investigative reports about children’s programs. Today, he is a therapist at the Prestera Mental Health Center in Charleston, West Virginia. Rarity from the Hollow is his debut novel. Author proceeds are donated to a child abuse prevention program operated by Children’s Home Society of West Virginia (Dennis Sutton, Executive Director, can be reached by telephone at 304.346.6644).

To read an excerpt or to learn more about Rarity from the Hollow visit:

www.fatcatpress.com , or

book reviews can be found at:

www.baryon-online.com/baryon103/rarho.html
http://www.missourireview.com/tmr-blog/?p=310

To learn more about Howard-Johnson’s "Back to Literature" column or to see the complete listing of winning publications visit:

http://myshelf.com/backtoliterature/column.htm.