Okay so it’s been a while since I last posted and I have a ton of news. First of all, there is more information on the traditional publishing world under-reporting book sales. Last time I posted, I talked about some of the Big 6 under-reporting e-book sales. Well, now there is evidence that they are under-reporting print sales as well. For more information, see Kris’s blog, Royalty Statements Update. I also recommend her blog post called Sea Changes, where she talks about the changes in the publishing industry and her latest, Advocates, Addendums, and Sneaks, Oh My! where she discusses the dangers of hiring an agent. All very good reads and worth the ten minutes to learn information that will protect new, and old, writers into the future.
There was one point that Kris made that I thought was interesting and that is that there seems to be two camps of authors emerging: indie authors and traditionally published authors. I loved this quote:
Dean’s right: writers are already splitting into two groups— the traditionally published professionals and the self-published professionals — with a handful of us straddling both camps. The problem is that we already speak different languages, and these camps have only existed for a few years.
Imagine what a decade will bring.
We’re going to have to figure out how to keep each other in the loop, and how to respect each other’s choices. Because it’s becoming clearer and clearer to me that only by sharing information will we be able to help each other in our traditional—and untraditional—careers.
Well said Kris!
Now, onto other news. I recently read an article called, The Most Dangerous Thing You’ll Do All Day. So what did it say? What is the most dangerous thing we do all day? Sitting. Sitting. Sitting. Statistics show that people who sit all day long, five or more days a week, are 54% more likely to die of a heart attack than people who are on their feet:
Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana analyzed the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over about 13 years, and found that people who sit for most of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart attacks.
According to the article, sitting also screws up your posture, makes you fatter and causes neck and back pain:
1. Screws up your posture. The fascia, the tissue that connects individual muscles into a full-body network, begins to set when you stay in one position for too long, says Men’s Health advisor Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S., a physical therapist in Indianapolis. If you’re hunched over a keyboard all day, this eventually becomes your normal posture.
2. Makes you fatter. This happens for two reasons. First, you burn 60 more calories an hour when standing versus sitting. But more importantly, says Hartman, when you spend too much time sitting, your largest muscle group—the glutes (a.k.a. your butt)—become lazy and quit firing. This is called gluteal amnesia. And it means you burn fewer calories.
3. Causes back pain. Weak glutes push your pelvis forward, putting stress on the spine, says Hartman. Here’s the other unseemly thing that happens when your pelvis tilts forward: Your belly protrudes, making you look 5 months pregnant.
In recent months at work, I noticed I was having severe neck pain. So severe, in fact, one morning I couldn’t get out of bed. So I went to the doctor and she prescribed some medication that didn’t really help. Well, that’s not exactly true. It did help … temporarily but when the medicine ran out, the pain came back. At the time, I was considering taking medical leave from work when I came across this article. Then it occurred to me that I felt no pain when I was standing up. Only sitting down. So what I decided to do was to raise my desk up about a foot and a half and stand instead of sit:
Desk stands were made by a family friend, Steve Wayman.
What a difference it has made! Not only do I no longer have neck pain, I have much more energy and I have lost weight without changing my exercise routine or my diet. I also sleep very well at night. Then it struck me – no wonder Americans are overweight and dying of heart disease. The majority of Americans I know have sit-down jobs where they are sitting down eight or more hours a day, five or more days a week. So they sit at work all day and eat. And what do they do when they get home? More sitting and eating. Hmmm … (scratches head.) And then, on top of it, they complain about being overweight and so they spend hundreds of dollars in hard earned cash to go on fad diets that usually never work, or they work temporarily, that is, until the person goes off the diet and gains the weight back.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! And for ten years, I have been that stupid not to notice that when I gave up my restaurant serving job, that I had during college, to follow my career, a sit-down job, I gained a ton of weight. It never occurred to why … until now. Duh!
Granted, standing up all day is NOT easy … at all! And the older and heavier you are, the harder it is. I’ve been at it for about a week, and I go home every evening with sore stomach, back, glute, and quad muscles. Also, by the end of the day, my feet are killing me! Slowly my body is getting used to it but it’s very hard and at times I feel like I can’t do it but I keep telling myself that I have to because I can’t sit down any longer.
If you are reading this post and are interested in making the change, here is some advice:
1. Get really really good shoes with arch support.
2. Consider buying a cushy pad to stand on all day to lessen the foot pain.
3. Get a barstool to sit on when the pain becomes to great but don’t rely on it.
4. Eat a healthy diet and drink water.
After a couple weeks, your body will get used to it, the pain will go away, and you will start to notice a huge difference.
Good luck!
~ Melissa
