Comments on: A Guide to Ethical Self-Promotion

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:36:18 +0000

Troy: Funny you should mention it... see this article of mine.

By: Troy "fireSpeaks" Pearsall

Troy "fireSpeaks" Pearsall — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:03:50 +0000

Even though I never considered any of those things, as a person completely new to writing I wonder what can we really do to promote our book and ourselves?

By: Amy L.

Amy L. — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:37:12 +0000

Is it a fluke that many of the reviewers who gave raves for two of William R. Stanek’s newest Microsoft windows books, also have left positive reviews for his self published fantasy series (written under the name of Robert Stanek)?

10 out of 20 to be exact. And don’t believe Amazon “real name” badges – you can enter any name you want after you provide a valid credit card number on your account:

http://www.amazon.com/Windows%C2%AE-7-Administrators-Pocket-Consultant/dp/0735626995/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Definitive-Essential-Resource-Professionals/dp/0596800975/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259861342&sr=1-5

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:32:00 +0000

I still think the photo is fake.

In both photo’s Stanek is in the exact same position. And these pictures couldn’t have been snapped withing seconds because in one there is coffee cups and stuff in front of Stanek and in the other a clean table.

By: Margaret Garside

Margaret Garside — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:42:18 +0000

So, the picture is genuine. Well, you can see why we all thought it was fake-it’s the sort of thing he may have done.

Now, what about all of those ‘film offers’ Mr. Stanek claims to get? He says he’s just waitng for the right one. . .

By: Mainer 122

Mainer 122 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:58:54 +0000

It’s a real photo, alright. I found Brian Jacques’ book tour of 2005 (http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Brian_Jacques_on_Tour), and sure enough, on October 22 he was at a Barnes & Noble in Olympia. From 2-4 PM.

Too bad Stanek couldn’t have left it at that and so saved himself from becoming legend for something he never did – putting himself into a photo he was already in.

By: Mainer 122

Mainer 122 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:16:51 +0000

Thanks, David. For more proof, I opened his photo in Photoshop, checked the metadata, and it was taken on Oct. 22, 2005, at 3:14 pm. No clue what Jacques’ schedule was that year, but the photo was taken in 2005, just as Stanek states in that post.

So again, it’s a weird karmic payback he got – by trying to make it look like he was an author at the table, no one believed he was there at all.

As for everything else about him, though, I’ll leave that to these guys:

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/lofiversion/index.php/t19941.html

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:29:00 +0000

Hmm. Thanks for pointing that out, Mainer 122. The other photos posted on his blog of him and Brian Jacques do indeed look authentic to me. If Stanek really was there and just did a bad Photoshopping job of it, then I do indeed owe him an apology. I’ve updated this article with a note at the top.

By: Mainer 122

Mainer 122 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:07:40 +0000

Whoops – you can see the original, untouched photos here.

http://www.robertstanek.com/rsblog.htm

By: Mainer 122

Mainer 122 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:05:19 +0000

The photo is real – he actually was at that table with Brian Jacques.

Where he screwed up is he used Photoshop to take out Jacques’ coffee cup and put his own book in front of him, which screwed up both the table and his arm, and made it look fake. And the reason his legs aren’t in the photo you posted above is he tried to take them out as well, with that grey blob, since they show he was crouching behind the table and not actually sitting in a chair, as an author at the signing.

But you can tell he was really there by the lighting – flash from front, shadow to left on the kid’s shirt (same as Jacques on wall), tungsten fill from the right. You can also see the original, untouched photo here:

http://www.themagiclands.com/brianjacques.htm

For more proof, I opened his photo in Photoshop, checked the metadata, and it was taken on Oct. 22, 2005, at 3:14 pm. No clue what Jacques’ schedule was that year, but it was actually taken in 2005, just as Stanek states in that post.

I can’t say anything else in defense of the guy, just that it’s ironic that he got slammed for not being there when he actually was there and simply tried to make it look like he was an author at the signing.