A Critical Eye
I wish I could say I was surprised at the level of discourse about my comments regarding the editorial style of "Exempt from Disclosure", but disappointed is a more appropriate sentiment.
We invited Robert Collins to the show, and gave him an opportunity to express his views and talk about his book. I had personally ordered - as in PURCHASED - a copy of his book, when normally I would probably have asked for a complimentary review copy. I am fully aware of the challenges facing folks who take the independent publishing route, and wanted to support his effort.
We talked to Robert for a little under an hour, and asked him various questions. In a couple of instances, he basically came out and said "read the book", instead of elaborating on a specific topic or response to a question. I was personally not thrilled with this stance - we certainly don't mind people hawking their books, newsletters, web sites, etc., but when someone is on the show, we expect them to address us - and our audience - in a direct fashion.
At the time that we conducted the interview, I had not yet received the book in the mail. In fact, it arrived later that same day. it was a couple more days until Gene & I recorded the wrap, so in that time, I had the chance to read a good portion of the book. While I found some of the content to be compelling, I was less than thrilled with the writing style, grammar, organization and layout. I made a brief comment about those feelings upon recording the wrap segment.
After the show aired, the emails began - Robert had gotten word that we were not "complimentary" towards him, that somehow we trashed him PERSONALLY. Folks, my comments were regarding the ORGANIZATION and WRITING STYLE of the book. I feel that it seriously lacks the hand of a skilled editor, and that the information in the book suffers as a result. If a writer cannot separate the form from the message, then I feel that they are lacking insight and understanding of the art of convincing storytelling. The editor of the book, Victor Martinez, began to chime in to the email exchange, claiming lack of time, lack of understanding of computer technology and some other obstacles as the reasons for his less than thrilling editing job. Robert sent some emails stating the he was against the use of the type of "sweeping" language we used on our show, and was generally VERY defensive of my critiques about the lack of editorial polish.
Robert, I would suggest that if you indeed engaged a professional editor to do a once-over on the book, you would definitely have problems with his/her feedback. The ability to listen to editorial criticism without taking it as a personal attack is essential for professional writing of ANY genre, but especially the non-fiction arena. In the reality of the publishing world, the lack of clear story and flow structure is poison to even the most informative of writing efforts, and will instantly limit your audience and get you negative feedback. To take criticism in such a defensive way is to be expected of a child, but NOT an adult. Making excuses about the reasons for the lack of editorial oversight - lack of funds, constrained time, an editor lacking computer skills - it simply not acceptable. Case in point: in the bio of Victor Martinez, your editor, his home is stated to be LoA Angeles. How to you expect a reader to approach your book with a sober, serious attitude when such a GLARING typo gets through the editing chain? Perhaps they'll wonder where else the ball was dropped, especially in a book dealing with a sensitive subject matter where ACCURATE DETAILS are CRUCIAL.
And now I see that the producer of the Jerry Pippin show has chimed in, claiming that Gene and I are somehow not possessing the "pre-knowledge" required for reading the Exempt from Disclosure book, and that neither of us knows anything about the topics we discuss on the show. Apparently, there is some sort of academic degree awarded to folks who complete a set of stringent courses of paranormal understanding, and we don't possess this piece of paper. BULLS--T - there is no degree, no program, NOTHING which qualifies someone to be a "professional UFO-ologist". In fact, I could take the extreme stance that only someone who has FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE with UFOs or ANY aspect of the paranormal is qualified to offer an opinion about the subject - in a world where experience is the only qualifier, this would be true. Of course, as a rational person, I know full well that such a position is both unrealistic and largely unreasonable. Larry Dicken also states that UFOs are somehow NOT part of the realm of the paranormal, which to me makes it very clear that he is stating a prejudice towards analytical thinking and consideration. UFOs are very much OUTSIDE of the realm of normal experience for most people, and to claim otherwise is foolish at best, ignorant at worst. Further, ANYONE who states that they KNOW where these things come from, is displaying the typical human vanity which has brought our civilization to the brink of self-destruction. WE DO NOT KNOW where UFOs come from, regardless of the claims of cranks, conmen, crazies and the folks who tend to inhabit this field. We will get no closer to the truth of the matter by engaging in personal attacks, protecting vested interests and taking hard positions. I personally have my ideas and opinions about these topics, and base them on what I've personally SEEN and EXPERIENCED, NOT some second and third-hand stories from folks looking to sell books, videos, lectures or other products.
On The Paracast, Gene & I have addressed what we've perceived to be a huge gap in the paranormal talk radio realm, trying to bring some clear thinking, honest approaches, analytical reasoning and open discourse to a field which has been marginalized, thrust to the sidelines and branded the sandbox of lunatics. Childish defensiveness, off-the-cuff statements from people who have NO IDEA of my personal background in paranormal subject matter, and related silliness, detract from open debate and careful consideration of the little we know about UFOs and their actual reality. I don't really worry about what people think about me, or my opinions, never have, never will. If our show makes at least ONE person think more critically about these topics, we've done our job. I don't want to believe, I want to KNOW and UNDERSTAND what the hell is going on here. THAT is my agenda. Come along for the ride if you want, otherwise, go listen to the shows where snake oil and horses--t is on the menu. Bon Appetite.
dB