Since starting Thayer Literary Services, a book editing business, in 1997 and after reading what seems like a gazillion first novels, I have seen the same mistakes over and over again. After a while I started calling them “the usual suspects.” I have considered collecting them into a book, but I thought that seeing so many of them all in one place would drive me to drink.

So I decided to create this blog as a way to discuss grammar and punctuation problems one at a time, along with many other writing issues, all of which I think will be helpful to budding writers. Follow this blog, and I’m sure you will find some information that will help you become a better writer.

Welcome aboard!

Paul Thayer
Thayer Literary Services
paulthayerbookeditor.com

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Paul Thayer is a full-time professional book editor with more than 35 years of experience. During that time he worked in the trenches of the real world of writers, editors, and publishers. He uses his extensive knowledge to help writers who still have a lot to learn, offering them critiques and line editing of their work.

Author Interview: Gary Goldstein

By Keri B.

In June of 1998, Gary Goldstein was arrested after robbing a series of dry cleaners to pay back bookies and feed his addiction. After serving 6 years in the New York State Department of Correction and Community Supervision, Goldstein was released and penned a memoir entitled Jew in Jail. Today, Goldstein is clean and sober, working as a motivational speaker, and promoting his book.

1. What prompted you to write this? I mean, there are lots of people who do prison time; what prompted you to write a book about it?JewInJail_Cover

I have always wanted to write a book, although, obviously, not under these conditions of becoming incarcerated. However, once I knew that my fate was going to be serving time in prison, I decided to write Jew in Jail, and was inspired to do so once my beloved late father, Irving Goldstein, passed away from the effects of lung cancer and emphysema on January 23, 1999, which was only 15 days after I had been sentenced, and still on Rikers Island waiting to be transported north to a correctional facility. My father had always encouraged me to be my best, and offered unending support my entire life, so I wanted to honor my father by dedicating Jew in Jail to how special my father was to me.

In addition, the other reason why I wrote Jew in Jail was to show anyone that whatever obstacles appear in one’s life – and in my case it was the disease of addiction – it is possible to overcome them and go on to lead a positive and fruitful life. These days, aside from being a published author, I am also a motivational and inspirational speaker on the topic of recovery from addiction, and get so much out of helping others.

2. What was your writing process like for this? Did you write most of it as it happened or did you later decide to put pen to paper?

I wrote Jew in Jail as I was serving my time, and it turned about to be extremely therapeutic to do so! It allowed me to not only document my life behind bars on a daily basis, but also helped me keep my sanity under the worst possible conditions, as well as plan my strategy for my eventual release.

3. Did you consider traditional publishing routes before deciding to go for indie publishing?

Yes, I did, and I sent many query letters out. Unfortunately, though, as a first-time author, I received a lot of rejection letters, so eventually simply decided to self-publish Jew in Jail.

4. What have you done for marketing? You seem to have a lot more blog and online interviews than many of the indie authors; you’ve really gotten your name out there. How did you do it?

Thank you for noticing that, Keri!

First of all, it is very, very important for any author – especially an indie one – to come up with a “hook,” which is a way to get readers, and the public in general to notice you.

In my case, the most successful marketing technique I have used thus far – and continue to use – is dressing up in my prison costume to get attention for Jew in Jail, which I first did in May of 2011 at the Jacob K. Javits Center for BookExpo America 2011 (BEA 2011). I paraded around the entire center handing out my business cards and bookmarks, took photos with attendees, and also autographed copies of my book wearing that outfit. Now, wherever I go, I am known as the Jew in jail, or at least, that Jew who was in jail, and wrote about it! It certainly was a smart marketing strategy, and one that has definitely gotten me noticed.

Aside from blog, online and radio interviews, I also remain involved in social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Goodreads as well.

I also speak at drug treatment programs, hospital detoxes, jails, schools, or anywhere else I can help make a difference in someone’s life, whether they are an addict in recovery, a current or former prisoner, or just a person not living up to their full potential.

5. How many copies have you sold so far?

Honestly, I really don’t know, since my royalty payments are deposited directly into my bank account.

I can tell you that, as mentioned earlier, I actually didn’t write Jew in Jail to make money, but only as a way to honor and pay tribute to my late father, as well as help others in a similar situation in life.

Now, though, with the 10 year “anniversary” of my release from prison quickly approaching, coupled with the fact that I have invested a lot of money to get the word out, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I would like to see Jew in Jail sell millions of copies, in addition to myself becoming a highly successful motivational & inspirational speaker!

6. I see that you do some public speaking – how did you get into that?

Becoming a motivational & inspirational speaker has only been possible by remaining clean and sober, and then from going out into the world to meet people and promote myself, Jew in Jail, and, of course, tirelessly doing my best to help others.

In other words, good things happen when one works hard, is selfless, and listens to others and takes suggestions.

I have found that doors have opened up for me by simply being honest about myself and my past, remaining humble, and choosing to give, rather than take.

In one particular instance, I met a man who runs a drug treatment center in Virginia when he appeared as a guest and listened to me speak at a meeting in New York City.

I handed him a copy of my book, he liked what he read, and then invited me down to his program to speak – not only there, but at two local jails in the area as well.

Here is the video of that speech, which, although admittedly new at doing back then, I am still very proud of the message of hope I gave to those in attendance

7. Your bio says that you worked in journalism before your arrest but in construction after (until you turned to public speaking). As a journalist, I’m curious why you didn’t return to journalism? Did it have negative associations for you? Did a felony make getting a job at that level – you had been working for big names like CBS and NBC – not feasible?

That is such a great question, Keri!

I started working at CBS TV as an unpaid intern while a senior at Long Island University way back in 1982 and loved it.

Upon graduation, I was given a full-time paying job and thought I would work there forever!

However, not long after I started, I injured my back on the job and discovered I was living with many physical problems that I didn’t know about until I aggravated it in the accident.

Long story short was that I quickly developed an addiction to pain medication and then gambling, until I became too big for my britches and a liability for the company, which eventually caused them to terminate my employment.

I did return many years later on a per diem basis, although I was forced to start back at the bottom, as opposed to where I had ascended to previously, and was just not comfortable with that situation.

But I have nobody else to blame except for myself – notwithstanding the fact that addiction is a disease – because I also did have “many bites of the apple” elsewhere, having also worked at NBC TV, NBA Entertainment, Major League Baseball Productions, The New York Post, and other prominent organizations in the media field.

8. Somewhat randomly, what was your prison name? I was called Harry Potter the entire time I was in prison – what were you called? Or were you lucky enough to escape without a prison name?

Fat chance! I was called many names, both by my fellow prisoners, the correction officers and staff alike!

Just think for a moment. I am a Jewish man from Brooklyn, who was incarcerated with hundreds of men who were mostly black and Hispanic, not to mention a majority of the officers and other staff members who were white and looked down on me for being locked up in the first place.

I am sure you can get where this is going, but if not, you and your readers are definitely invited to check out Jew in Jail to find out!

9. Do you have any plans for future books?

I have been taking notes for another book for several years now, but decided to hold off and pursue a career in motivational and inspirational speaking instead.

I can always write when I have free time, and definitely enjoy putting pen to paper.

However, for now, this “Jew in Jail” feels the need to tell his story, so that others can be helped and prevented from making the same mistakes in life.

From my WordPress blog https://michellespaul.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/fair-trade-kenyan-green-beans-net-good-thing/

Mavis the Fat Fairy asked:

“Always intrigued about fair trade green beans from Kenya. The fact that they are flown in from Kenya scores negative points for environmental impact. But they are fair trade, so doesn’t that mean I should support them, and encourage more fair trade in supermarkets, but what if land is given over for fair trade cash crops that should be used for more sustainable farming….So fair trade Kenyan green beans, are they a net good thing or not?”

Not just yummy, Green Beans are one of your five a day
Photo used with permission by Samuel Cheney (Via morgueFile)

The straight forward answer is – it is a personal choice, depending on what is important to you; so consider these four factors and work out the net ‘goodness’ from your own perspective.

• Carbon aka climate change
• Development
• Water
• Fair Trade

Go straight to the summary

Or to have your question answered go to ‘What should I write about‘.

Carbon aka climate change

(Note I will use Carbon to mean Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Dioxide Equivalents, as it is easier on the eyes)

Yes, flying beans from Kenya creates a lot of Carbon and if carbon impact was as simple as food miles then Carbon would be a clear negative for imported green beans.  But, the food miles debate is one-sided and distorts our understanding of Carbon impact, it is now largely discounted (did you know it was initially promoted in the UK through a campaign by the Farmer’s Weekly magazine?).  It is not enough to consider how far food has travelled because food production in the UK, indeed all Western nations, is Carbon intensive.

The Kenyan flag
Via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

The Carbon arguments for food imports from developing nations

In the West we use oil powered equipment vs In Africa most farms depend on manual labour

In the West we use hydrocarbon based fertilisers vs In Africa most farmers use the free fertiliser produced by cows (both produce Nitrous Oxide which is about 300 more powerful than CO₂ as a greenhouse gas, but the cows were doing that anyway)

In the West ‘out of season’ foods are grown in heated greenhouses vs In Africa the sun is enough

In the West growing seasons are prolonged with the use of polytunnels vs In Africa the sun is enough

The Carbon arguments against food imports from developing nations

In the West crop yields are three to four times greater than in Africa

Airfreight is sometimes in the ‘belly’ of passenger planes, thus reducing the cost of, and encouraging more, flights

Can we be more scientific about this?

To be scientific we need to compare the Carbon produced by both the UK and Kenyan supply chains, but this is difficult for two reasons, so even though I provide a number here, you might choose to take it with a pinch of salt.

• When calculating Carbon we have to decide how to manage the data.  In the Netherlands two studies using the same data about importing flowers from Africa drew opposing conclusions because they used the data differently.
• In his book ‘How Bad are Bananas’ Mike Berners-Lee discusses when to stop attributing Carbon to individual items, in his example he asks whether to add the Carbon produced in the manufacture of the paper clips used in an office, to the Carbon calculation for the output of a factory.  In the case of Green Beans we could debate endlessly whether to include the personal carbon footprint of the farmer.

The energy required to grow, package and transport Green Beans – UK vs Kenya

In 2011 PIP, a European forum, issued a report about Food Miles, Carbon and African Horticulture, this report shows that 59 MJ more energy is used to produce Kenyan Green Beans than UK Green Beans.  This is equal to 12 Kg of Carbon per Kg of Kenyan Green Beans.  As mentioned earlier, you might disagree with some of the assumptions made and want to take other factors into consideration.

It is worth noting that for other food stuffs the Carbon arguments are different, for example apples in cold storage in the UK create more Carbon emissions than apples flown from New Zealand.

Air Freighter
Via Wikimedia Commons, used under Creative Commons

Other Carbon thoughts

Carbon trading; in Africa the average Carbon emission per person is 1/30 of that in the UK.  In a Carbon trading scheme – if all else remains equal – Africa could trade the Carbon emissions of flying food to Europe and still produce less Carbon per person than the amount that damages the environment.

There are many other ways of reducing your Carbon foot print which are much more effective than avoiding Kenyan Green Beans, here are a few examples*:

• In 1996 agriculture bought 0.1% of airfreight capacity – banking and finance bought 157 times as much – ask your bank what they are doing about airfreight
• A kilogram of beef releases 36.4Kg  of carbon - eat less meat
• Flying to Barcelona from London releases the same Carbon as 420 packets of Green Beans (250g), flying to New York from Liverpool uses the energy that could fly 1,200 packets of Green Beans – fly less
• The Carbon released by one packet of Beans will fuel 12 school runs – pool with other parents or educate your children nearer to home
• Driving 6.5 miles to the supermarket emits more CO₂ than airfreighting one bag of beans from Kenya – car share or buy on-line
• According to the World Bank flying in 1^st class has three times the Carbon emissions of Business, which in turn has three times the emissions of economy – if you have to fly, fly in economy
• Sea freight uses much less energy than air freight, but vegetables are refrigerated and will still not be as ‘fresh’ when they arrive (it was never going to be an easy choice)

*All these numbers and their sources can be found in the links throughout this article or in the additional reading below

Structural diagram of Carbon Dioxide
Via Wikimedia Commons, used under Creative Commons

Development

The UK has a policy of trade not aid, when you read stories about the way that aid is sometimes spent irresponsibly or stolen this seems like a logical approach.  Countries like Kenya welcome trade and, unlike aid, the money paid for Green Beans goes directly to the farmer.  Once farmers take on an export licence they start to buy their own food from other farmers.  Taken positively this ensures that money trickles down the community; from a negative perspective farmers are forced to displace subsistence crops for cash crops.  Both arguments are valid, though the latter is mitigated by Fair Trade.

Another positive for development is that farmers are encouraged to find better ways of producing food from their land.  The exporting farmers share the techniques and skills developed to grow Green Beans with other farmers and use the same skills to improve farming for other crops.  Our demands for static, if not reducing, food prices produce the downside of development.  To reduce transaction costs some Western buyers of food promote the development of ‘Industrial Estate’ farming, this disengages small farmers from the market (and increases Carbon).

Water

The UK uses 189 million litres of African Water to get its out of season vegetables.  Given the impact of lack of water and poor sanitation has on people in all developing nations, it would seem that a good way to balance our use of their water would be to support one of the many charities that are seeking to make sure that everyone in the world has access to clean water – for example WaterAid or Toilet Twinning

Irrigation – the primary use of water in agriculture
Via WikiMedia Commons, public domain

Fair Trade

The Swedish Fair Trade logo
Via WikiMedia Commons, Public Domain

In Mavis’ question she asked if land was being given over to cash crops that should be used for sustainable farming.  Cash crops are those grown only for sale and in many developing countries the allure of cash crops has resulted in subsistence farmers relying on the income.  When the income fails people can lose their land and could starve.  At the same time cash crops are necessary to buy goods, services (eg health care) and education.  Fair Trade was founded to counter balance the potential for harm that comes from cash crops – in the words of the Fair Trade Foundation (UK).

“Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices (which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives.”

Malawian farmers can be seen here talking about the impact of Fair Trade on their lives and communities.

While Fair Trade doesn’t impact the carbon effects of flying food from Africa, it does make sure that the positive benefits of trade are genuinely delivered, including environmental benefits.  It is worth noting that many farmers involved in Fair Trade comment on the improved availability of water and sanitation.

In summary

Carbon aka climate change impact

• Negative, seek to reduce your footprint elsewhere to balance this factor

Development

• Positive, will definitely remain so for Fair Trade farmers

Water

• Negative, offset by supporting a water charity

Fair Trade

• Positive, if the Green Beans are Fair Trade you are genuinely supporting development for small farmers and their communities, if not you are dependent on supermarkets to trade ethically.
  • Which is the most ethical supermarket
  • The role of supermarkets in Ethical food production

If you have a burning question and not enough time to find the answer, post your question here ‘What should I write about‘.

Additional reading

The Independent newspaper reports Kenyan Green Beans arriving in UK supermarkets for the first time

Waitrose and PIP show the source of the food on Waitrose shelves

A handy Carbon equivalents calculator – limited input units

Convert energy units into kilowatt hours so that you can use the calculator above

Pictures from WikiMedia Commons and morgueFile

By the way, this is what the Fair Trade foundation says about local vs Fair Trade

“Some people say ‘buy local’ rather than ‘buy Fairtrade’. What is the Fairtrade Foundation’s response?

The Fairtrade Foundation recognises that many farmers in the UK face similar issues to farmers elsewhere, not least ensuring that they get a decent return for upholding decent social and environmental standards in their production. We therefore support the promotion of sustainable production for UK farmers but our specific role will continue to be supporting farmers from the developing world.

Fairtrade isn’t in competition with UK farmers and the purchase of locally produced and Fairtrade products are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Fairtrade focuses by and large on tropical agricultural products such as coffee and bananas that can’t be grown in temperate climates or products that can’t be grown in sufficient quantities in the EU e.g. grapes and oranges. For some items such as honey and flowers, local supply is not able to meet the total demand – it has been estimated that both UK flowers and honey account for less than one-third of the UK market – and so imports are necessary to keep up with consumers’ shopping preferences. Other products, such as apples, are seasonal in both the UK and places like South Africa, and for as long as shoppers want to buy apples out of season, there is a demand for fruit from other countries. Often the choice facing shoppers is not necessarily between local honey and Fairtrade certified honey but between Fairtrade honey and conventional honey imported from, say, the US or China. It is up to each person to weigh up these choices and shop accordingly.

Ultimately, it is up to each person to do what they see as being in the interests of people and the planet. What is important is that we all try to make informed choices wherever possible. The Fairtrade Foundation is committed to raising awareness of ways in which buying products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark is empowering and strengthening the future for disadvantaged producers in developing countries.”

If you have a burning question and not enough time to find the answer, post your question here ‘What should I write about‘.