Squee!  I’m A Tiny Water Dragon.  It’s Very Appropriate Both for Me And For My Sister Who Is In

This is one of my pet peeves, and I’m going to loosen its leash a little.  The way the Big Five publishers handle e-books “sales” to libraries is depressing.  (I put “sales” in quotes because it is frequently more like leasing than buying.)  Libraries pay more, have limitations on the number of check-outs (which can only be used sequentially, no matter how many people are waiting to read the book), and/or have limitations on how long they can “own” an e-book.  Libraries also have to make their patrons jump through numerous hoops in order to access their e-books.

Want some examples?  These are books currently on the New York Times best seller list.

Where the Crawdads Sing -- list price: $26 (hardcover), e-book price on Amazon: $15, e-book price for a library: $55 (for a 24-month lease)

The Art of Racing in the Rain -- list price: $17 (paperback), e-book price on Amazon: $9, e-book price for a library: $17 (for 26 check-outs)

Becoming by Michelle Obama -- list price: $32.50 (hardcover), e-book price on Amazon: $15, e-book price for a library: $55 (for a 24-month lease)

Bitterroots -- list price: $28 (hardcover), e-book price on Amazon: $15, e-book price for a library: $60 (for the earlier of 52 check-outs or 24 months)

Bear in mind, if a library needs more copies of a physical book to fill holds, their vendors have it at a discounted price.  If not, the library can go to any bookstore or even to Amazon to get the book.  For an e-book, libraries can only buy from a small collection of companies because library e-books need extra restrictions to allow patrons to check them out at all.  A library can’t just go to Amazon to get e-books at consumer prices because they wouldn’t be able to loan that copy to people.

Libraries are fighting to preserve your right to borrow e-books

Creating barriers to access to e-books, which is what publishers are doing to resist dominance by Amazon, says Jessamyn West, disrupts the public good libraries were created to serve. Public libraries exist in large part because they are necessary to a functioning democracy, West writes.

As publishers struggle with the continuing shake-up of their business models, and work to find practical approaches to managing digital content in a marketplace overwhelmingly dominated by Amazon, libraries are being portrayed as a problem, not a solution. Libraries agree there’s a problem – but we know it’s not us.

Discriminating against people based on their religion, ethnicity, skin color, or anything else is just as wrong in the QUILTBAG community as it is anywhere else.  The ways some members of a religion use it to justify doing terrible things to other people is horrible, whether that’s Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, atheism, or anything else.  However, that does not mean that the religion itself is horrible, or that all of its followers should be blamed for those people’s actions. 

anyway here’s your reminder that lgbt muslims exist and islamophobia shouldnt be tolerated within lgbt communities!

shout out to lgbt muslims living in places where our identities are still criminalised. 

I want the books, but I also love that little dragon!

Asexuals In Fiction 4.0

It’s the fourth year I’ve put together this list and it’s so huge I can no longer host in on tumblr. Click over to google database and you will find 51 YA novels, 14 New Adult novels, and 22 Adult novels. As well three video game characters and five comic books characters.

Not only will this database tell you if there’s an asexual it also includes the following: Series name, character name, own voice authors, type of rep, genre, main character or minor, and if it includes other representation of some sort.

This is oddly enthralling.  You build towers of sand, and periodically, a wave comes and dissolves them.  Then you start over.  That’s the whole game.

I can’t decide whether this little game is ultimately soothing or super frustrating. :D 

Just in case anyone needed a reason.

Worth sharing every day 😄 The benefits of reading books #infographic http://bit.ly/2ExeRup

If you haven’t read Tab’s Minority Monsters comics, I highly recommend them!  I’m about to succumb to the added temptation of the ace succubus charm and buy the print copy for myself.  (I’m pretty sure I can find someone who would like a charm if I win the giveaway, too.)

Looking for some Queer Cheer this December?

I’ve got a Bisexual Unicorn and an Asexual Succubus looking for a home this festive season! Like, comment or share this post on Facebook, Tumblr or Twitter to enter a prize draw on the 25th and either of these could be yours!

If you don’t want to take your chances then I’ve got 25 of these adorable squishy charms (12 Asexual Succubi and 13 Bisexual Unicorns) which I’ll be giving away with every copy of the Minority Monster book bought this December (tinyurl.com/minoritymonsterbook). First come first served, just pick your monster in the drop down menu!

Perfect for hanging on a tree, keeping you company in the cold or being used as a stress ball for difficult family dinners.

Rules

-Each like, comment, share or retweet counts as an entry, multiple entries are fine. -First winner gets their pick of the two monsters, second winner gets the other one. -If you buy a book you can still enter the prize draw

Seriously.  Science is not like an illusion in D&D.  It does not go away if you disbelieve in it hard enough.

I love this sign.

Also, I’ve been seeing more FedEx/UPS shipments where the final leg is actually done by USPS.  Apparently, it is more cost effective for FedEx/UPS to outsource part of their shipping to a competitor, even if they can do most of the distance more cheaply themselves.  So if the Postal Service goes under, would we have to pay even more for shipping, or would we just have to pick it up in a centralized location instead of actually getting packages delivered to our doors?

Have yourself a pretty decent little Christmas, a not-so-bad Hanukkah, a mediocre Hogswatch, and/or a reasonably happy Whatever You’re Having.  Enjoy it in your own way, whether that’s glittery or gloomy.  You certainly don’t need my permission, but if you want someone to say, “Yes, it’s ok if this year isn’t the best, the brightest, the most amazing ever,” I’m here for you.  (And if it is the best and brightest and most amazing, that’s ok, too.)

I was looking at making a family christmas card for the first time in our eight years of being a family, and i feel. just.  kinda bummed out.  all these cards on shutterfly are foil-stamped and covered in glitter and say things like “merriest christmas,” “happiest holidays,” “best year ever,” “awesomest year ever.”  and maybe for some people it was.  but this wasn’t our glitteriest happiest merriest awesomest year.  and i know it wasn’t the happiest merriest awesomest year for a lot of other people too.  

for me one of the crappiest parts of commercialized christmas culture is all this pressure to make it pretty.  to be the -est: the best, the merriest, the happiest.  like if you go get professional photos taken at a christmas tree farm with wavy hair and coordinating outfits and put those photos on a embossed glittery card then somehow it erases the fact that your wife lost her job or your new baby spent three months in the nicu.  

why isn’t it ok to just have a mediocre christmas? why isn’t it ok to have a christmas card that just says plain old “happy holidays” with a mediocre pixelated cell phone pic of your family where the toddler isn’t wearing pants and you have your glasses on and no one matches?  why isn’t it ok to say this ISN’T going to be the merriest christmas? that no one is getting the shinest newest cell phone or toy because dad is in the hospital and we can’t afford it?  that some families are tired and stressed to even put up a tree or hang up lights?  

when you can’t do Big Best Christmas the way all those perfect families on instagram do christmas, the way all those families in commercials and sitcoms do christmas, it starts to make you feel.  like.  left out.  like your little bit of christmas isn’t enough.  like your twenty-dollar plastic tree with tinsel and two ornaments isn’t enough.  like your .99 cent felt stockings with names glitter-glued on isn’t enough.  

the world chants joy!! merry!! bright!! stocking stuffers!!! and you just feel alienated because the world is bellowing CHRISTMAS!! at you through a megaphone but all you want is just to whisper it quietly this year.  not every year is going to be your best christmas ever.  christmases aren’t an escalating crescendo of personal happiness and fulfillment.  some years will be harder than others.  i just want it to be a normal, good, happy thing to just have a little christmas.

Election day in the US is less than 2 months away.  If you are legally allowed to vote, start planning!  Make sure you are registered.  Look into whether you qualify for an absentee ballot, so you have more time to research the candidates and issues.  If you will need help turning in your ballot or getting to the polls, figure out what you need and who you can ask.

Even if you feel like none of the candidates are good, vote for the person who will do the least harm.  (Hint: it’s not a Republican.)

The system is rigged. The advantages for the wealthy are immediate and endless.