#29 An Open Letter to my Readers & BtB staff
by Nate A. Lindell 19 Oct. 2011

Hey, BtB staff: I received your Aug. newsletter, with the photo of your "central command." Dig, you all look like some flaming nerds, except for Carl. But, I see ya work it, so it's all good. But, damn, Charlie, Benj. & Regan, get you some sun! Y'all look like you done more time in a stupormax than I have (10 years!). Don't take this as an insult - I'm told I look like a smoked - out Woody Harrelson. I feel like one too!
Okay staff, marketing tips from the resident Lex Luthor.
1) Send app's to high-profile convicts, those w/ infamous cases & those famous for legitimate reasons: Bernie Madoff, Sirhan Sirhan, Son of Sam, Numia Abdul-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Tommie Silverstein (infamous A.B. member, fed. convict), offering to air their voices. Be open to all, even those w/ unpopular views, like Timothy Mckeigh's rappy (forget his name.) Then let the press know, "Hey, we got ___ & ___... on our blog, ya might wanna hear what s/he has to say." Yeah, even Ted Kaczinski's crazy butt: I kinda wanna read his manifestos anyway. This all tier in w/ my suggestion in #2)
2) As I've said before, you should start spamming psych, neurology, sociology, political science professors & criminal science instructors at colleges, universities, etc., inviting them to use your blog as a way to reach out to convicts to study the phenomenology of crime, psychopathology, recidivism, personality development, etc. Your blog is an excellent source of info (1) to figure out why prisons ain't working, etc.
3) Spam politicians, activists, reporters, telling them. They can glean info to use in their policy making, exposes 7 efforts
4) Yeah, your logo's lame. I'll get some artists to send in their ideas & waivers; & I'll send my ideas in too.
5) Network with groups like www.prisonfoundation.org & prisonart.org, to market bloggers art! Or, steal their M.O.: hold & sell art from us, taking a 20% cut (to help fund your op's & ads). I have some sweet art, but, because I have no SASEs at the moment, I can't send it in because I won't get it back. I'd rather have you sell it & keep all the proceeds than know it's destroyed. This could get complicated, so you'll want to ensure it's well organized.
6) Temper your idealism with some pragmatism. Clearly you lack the resources (staff, funding, whatever) to run blogs for every convict in America. So, figure out practical ways to make your dreams come true. Some of us cons are very smart & will help.
7) You probably have some great writers & artists on your site. Start spamming literary agents, artist groups, colonies, publishers, whatever, letting them know they might find clients, comrades &/or pals on your blog. I'd love to network w/ these kind of people! Do ya want some specifics? Website URLs? Sample emails? Let me know.
8) Get your own Twitter, Facebook, & Myspace, Yahoo!, etc. pages, for your main site.
9) Invite cultural, religious & other orgs to scour your site for acolytes, amies, suckers & whatnot. E.g., I'm a Francophile & hoping to play w/ some lonely french-literate female.
10) Post ads on the lame-o prison pen-pal sites, like Writeaprisoner.com, prisonpenpals.com, etc. The people stalking those sites should go ape shizzy over yours, as you got far more details on convicts.
11) Get a sunlamp for Benj - he looks like a vampire!

Hey Readers: 1) Tell me what you like or dislike about my posts & what you want to see. Don't sweat about hurting my feelings. I've heard way worse. I do thrive on criticism.
2) That beautiful person contest I noted in post #4 - it's canceled. Nobody entered it. My reality was checked. Still, I know there's a lot of beautiful people out there, & in here.
3) I've promised to post my art. I will when I can ensure it will be scanned in & returned to me. Sorry for the delay.
4) Please gossip about me: tell your friends, tell writers, artists, philosophers, politicians, publishers, & weirdos to check me out, stare into this abyss. Promise I'll stare back. =)
5) Don't be shy or fear that you're not good enough to comment on my blogs. I don't know it all, such as how to get away with breaking the law or getting gout of prison.

W/ Love & Respect.