Don’t leave me!

Here is a small tip for anyone with a website or a blog: Why not make your links open up in separate windows so your visitors don’t have to leave your website? Just open your HTML editor and look for a link, which will look something like this:

<a href="http://somewebsiteorother.com">The link</a>


Simply add the following code after the link exactly as shown:

target="_blank"

So it looks like this:

<a href="http://somewebsiteorother.com" target="_blank">The link</a>

Be sure to include the underscore.

Internet publicity tips by Penny Sanseveri

Tonight I spent a fruitful hour on the phone with Penny Sanseveri of Author Marketing Experts, who ran a telephone conference on “Red Hot Internet Publicity.” One of her great tips was to join one or two social networking groups such as Facebook or Squidoo, then seek out like-minded friends on them and blog regularly.

You can get in on these free weekly conferences by checking out that website.

Three Generations, No Imbeciles

The November 2008 issue of The Internet Review of Books published my review of Three Generations, No Imbeciles, which covers the eugenics movement here in the US as well as the specific case of Carrie Buck, who was sterilized because she was considered morally and mentally unfit to bear children. Not cheery stuff, but as someone noted today, it's not the type of history you learn in school.

This is my 14th contribution to the IRB, where I can also yahoo because they allow me to play webmaster. My pay is zero, but the editor has promised me a 10 percent raise if I continue to behave.

Sign sighted in Southwest

The other day, a nice note arrived from a reader of When Pigs Fly:

“My wife and I both read your book and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Shortly after reading the book we were on a bicycling tour through southwest AZ and spotted your adopt a highway sign.  We should have taken a picture.  We use a company called Cycling Escapes and the owner has offerred to snap a photo for us but we couldn't narrow down the stretch of road.”

I don’t live in Southwest Arizona and don’t have an adopt a highway sign anywhere, but no matter. An unexpected note like this makes writing worthwhile.