Publish And Persevere In A Global Media-Sensitive Climate

An article titled "Publish and Perish," was posted on the Rense website on April 16, 2008, by Eric Walberg ([email protected]), who writes for Al-Ahram Weekly.

I responded to that article because it referred to Israel Shamir, a Russian-Israeli former Dandelion author.

According to Mr. Walberg, anyone who writes and publishes anti-Israeli reports or observations is subject to a potential lawsuit and imprisonment.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Russian-Israeli author Israel Shamir told Al-Ahram Weekly. "There are thousands of people sentenced and imprisoned for similar 'crimes,' mainly in Germany and Austria, more than all the dissidents ever imprisoned in Soviet Russia. The majority of these cases never reach public awareness."

When Israel Shamir came to us with Flowers of Galilee, at once I realized it was a brilliant book, beautifully written and rich with information that the world needed to know.

I was aware at the time that Mr. Shamir was facing difficulties in France and then shortly after, I learned that the French version of Flowers of Galilee had been burned and banned.

After releasing the book, we received what is commonly called a media blackout.

As a producer of "uncensored books" and works that deal specifically with issues of human injustice and corruption, we have experienced media blackouts many times.

It was not surprising that Mr. Shamir's book was ignored. Every attempt for exposure was blocked.

Ultimately, Mr. Shamir requested a termination of his contract with Dandelion, and I was happy to honor his request, since the spirit of that request intended to place the blame for failure to sell the book on Dandelion rather than on himself, or current widely recognized media controls.

Mr. Shamir taught me a valuable lesson; shortly thereafter, I changed the Dandelion business model. Authors now invest in the success--or failure--of their books by investing in the production and marketing costs.

It is time to recognize that the more we whine about "They" and "Them" holding us back from delivering the truth, the more we play into "Their" hands. It is to "Their" benefit that we act like the victims "They" want us to be.

It is both inspiring and creative to find new ways to publish and promote our works rather than continuing to use methods that are doomed to failure because of their predicability.

Publish And Persevere

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