Tom Evans | Monthly Archives: March 2011

Karmic Rights Management

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Tom Evans Posted in Scribing Leave a comment

I am often asked by both new and experienced authors how you go about protecting your books in the digital age.

In these days when you can blog a story or submit an ebook direct to the Amazon Kindle Store, the Apple iBookstore or to one of many aggregator sites like Issuu, Lulu, BookBuzzr and Smashwords, what’s to stop anyone stealing and copying your work illegally?

If you submit your novel to a author community site like Authonomy, what’s to stop someone stealing your idea and writing their own book on the subject?

Well if you think about it … not a lot and it’s not much different from how it has been since Caxton invented the printing press.

If you produce a printed book, there is nothing to stop anyone photocopying it. How many times have you borrowed a book and read it and not paid the author or the publisher a penny? How many times did you not give it back?

For digital products, you can add password and enable DRM protection but there is nothing to stop someone telling someone else the password. Even if the digital rights management is tied down to a particular device as it is for Kindles, iPhones and iPads, there is nothing to stop people other than the purchaser enjoying the work.

I am sure when you write your book, you didn’t do it in isolation of any influences from other authors, friends, colleagues or teachers.

By far the best way by far to protect your work is to look at your behaviour and modify it so it’s karmically balanced.

Now I am not trying to preach here or be holier than thou – this is just good common sense and politeness and I too have fallen foul of not playing by the karmic rule book.

My seven top tips for karmic rights protection

1. Don’t run the fear your work will be copied

2. If you use a quote or concept from another writer, give them some credit in a Thanks section of your work or, at least, list their book in references

3. Be open to your payback coming back in another form other than the sale of your books

4. Don’t steal another writer’s work

5. If you like a book you borrowed, buy a copy or buy another book from the same writer

6. Give loads of stuff away for free

7. Be thankful for everything you receive

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– just think what it would be like to live & breathe in a world that worked to these principles, it’s within our grasp & starts with each one of us today

p.s. if you ‘breach’ the spirit of KRM, you will find others will ‘steal’ from you

Soulwave – a future history

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Tom Evans Posted in Scribing 1 Comment

Soulwave is a short story extracted from my forthcoming novel.

At only 7000 words long, you can read the whole book in a single commute on your iPhone or Kindle.

Soulwave is a future-history – that is something that might just happen It has happened to the Earth in the past and will undoubtedly happen again – we just can’t say when. It makes any fears about global warming seem trivial.

Although the message seems terminal, the story is really about how life propagates around the Universe that we are just one small part of. It will make you realise that we are only alive on this planet at this time by the slimmest of coincidences. Our planet and solar system are very special and we should cherish them and look after them.

Soulwave is completely free for the iPhone so why not download it today and I’d be so grateful for your feedback here and in the iTunes store.

Note that it’s also available for the Amazon Kindle and Kindle readers for PC, Mac, Blackberry, Android etc but Amazon don’t seem to be allowing UK authors to add free stuff yet so I’ve made it as cheap as they let me.

Get Soulwave for the Kindle in the UK here …

Get Soulwave for the Kindle in the US here …

Writing a Trojan Horse

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Tom Evans Posted in Scribing 2 Comments

If you have an important message you want to share with the world, how do you go about it?

The answer lies in writing a literary Trojan Horse using metaphor and story telling. The acknowledged masters in this art I strive to emulate are Paulo Coelho and Deepak Chopra.

The secular and the cynic might shy away from the Mind, Body, Spirit section of a bookstore – be it online or in the High Street.Sometimes this is for good reason as the writing can be inaccessible or a little preachy. Spirituality in general can also be ethereal in nature with no tangible real world benefits.

Let me share how I’ve been going about it.

When I wrote my first book, 100 Years of Ermintrude, I was told that I was channelling my work. My first reaction was to say, “Don’t be stupid, I’m not a medium.”

When I looked into it some more, I discovered channelling is really just getting your conscious mind out of the way so another form of consciousness can come through. The external consciousness may well be a dear departed spirit but can also be your guide, fairies at the bottom of the garden or even your Future-Self. I even teach how to do it now on my workshops and show how you can even channel the chair you are sitting on.

It turns out to be a great way to access your Creative Muse and is essentially what all the literary, artistic and musical greats have done down the years.

So when I wrote my first non-fiction book, I thought it would be a good idea to write about channelling but to open up the ideas to a new audience – to all writers and creatives. The book turned out to be ostensibly about writer’s block – it is even simply called Blocks – and was published by a non-MBS publisher.

By writing about things that stop your Muse coming through, you cannot help but touch on topics that would appear in a book on channelling such as the collective consciousness, higher self, karma, the importance of breath and even the food you eat.

It even promotes, without mentioning it explicitly, the practice of active channelling where the author is in the loop and adding value and context. The book though doesn’t appear in the MBS section.

For my next trick, I had the idea that it would be great to introduce a new audience to the magic and wisdom of the Major Arcana of the Tarot.

So I wrote Flavours of Thought which explains the essence of each key in simple contemporary language with no baggage. Furthermore it shows how triplets of cards can be combined into recipes to tackle many common and real world issues and opportunities.

In some ways, it’s a book of spells but without the baggage of any arcane ritual.

I managed to pull this off without mentioning the word Tarot once. The references are all there for those who want to learn more.

My latest work published by O-books in 2011 is ostensibly about how to have light bulb moments on demand.

Guess what though? It’s really a book on how to prepare for ascension into the new awakened consciousness and merged mind. It is written to be read by business people, entrepreneurs and scientists as well as the spiritual awakened. By reading the book and following the exercises, you will raise your vibration and become a transceiver for the Light. I don’t of course use this type of language in the book.

Of course, you will also have loads of blindly good ideas you can use in your personal and business life and learn how to have the on demand and not at random!

The common themes of the work is to fabricate real world applications from spiritual practices. I call it making the esoteric into the exoteric – that is taking the unknown, occult and hidden into the known and understood.

I should also mention that each book was simultaneously published in print and for the Kindle, iPhone and iPad. They are also augmented by audio tracks to help get the reader into the perfect state of consciousness. I also merge words, video and audio into Enhanced Edition books and ecourses too.

Has this overall tactic worked you may ask?

Well the results for me have been the opening of new doors, new business opportunities and dialogues with those that have been searching for answers but want them delivered in a contemporary context.

There’s a number of new authors who are now happily writing and being published with a new and strong connection with their Muse. I find that spiritually aware businesses approach me and we can use spiritual practices such as channelling, timeline entanglement and manifestation in the board room … as well as the odd bit of magic.

This particular ‘horse’ is now riding on to the next project … the emergence synthesis of a new mode of consciousness, being and doing. I may choose to write the next book though with gloves off.

Why Ideas Get Away

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Tom Evans Posted in Illuminating Leave a comment

Have you ever had a brilliant idea, not acted upon it and found someone else doing it a year or so later?

Have a listen to this chat I had with Manifest Genie, Susie Pearl, to find out why this happens and what you can do about it …

and check out the Moments of Light workshop schedule to experience how to have light bulb moments on demand

The Art and Science of Light Bulb Moments

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Tom Evans Posted in Scribing Leave a comment

Available June 2011

Publishing details here …

Pre-order from Amazon UK here

Pre-order from Amazon US here

Pre-order from the Book Depository here

The first review for this book from the editor at O-books said, “This book is quite simply brilliant.”

This is kind of expected as tapping into our innate brilliance is what this book is all about and, most specifically, how to do it simply.

The Art and Science of Light Bulb Moments is an interactive, educational and entertaining guide on how to have ideas on demand. In it I explain how the mind works (and doesn’t work) so you that you can experience inspirations about anything pretty much any time you like.

Light bulb moments don’t have to be random.

You will learn the secrets to Whole Brain and Whole Mind Thinking, the importance of the breath and how to reconnect with your vestigial minds and the superconsciousness. Find out where ideas come from and why most thoughts aren’t necessarily your own.

Reading this book will quite possibly change your world by helping you spot serendipities, making you luckier and even healthier and wealthier.

List of Contents

Part 1: The Art
1: What is a Light Bulb Moment?
2: What stops Light Bulb Moments?
3: Maps in Your Mind
4: The Devil on Your Shoulder
5: Re-minding yourself
6: Collective Thoughts
7: The In-Spirational Breath
8: Ordering your Dreams
9: Flavours of Thought
Part 2: The Science
10: The Cascade of Creativity
11: Getting in Sync
12: The Importance of Grounding
13: The Chasm
14: The Wisdom of Growds
15: Managing Ego
16: The Future’s Bright
17: Magic Moments
18: A Whole New Mind

For more insight of how this book is being received, here’s the early endorsements:

“Creativity is one of the mind’s most mysterious processes, long thought to come and go of its own volition. But in this insightful book, Tom Evans unlocks some of the mystery and he shows that this isn’t the case. This is an insightful book which uncovers some of the mind’s mysterious creative processes. Tom Evans shows us how we can create the right conditions which enable insight and inspiration to arise, so that don’t just have to wait for them. A very practical and accessible guide to uncovering your mind’s potential.” Steve Taylor, Author of Waking From Sleep and Making Time

“Tom Evans shows how everyone in a team can be encouraged to have light bulb moments which can be used throughout the entire product life cycle”
Mike Southon, Financial Times columnist and best-selling business author

“What a wonderful tool and resource for tapping into our creative muse anytime, anyplace. Written in an accessible style this book is for anyone who wants to take an idea from inspiration to manifestation.”
Davina MacKail, Author of The Dream Whisperer

“Like Tom himself, ‘The Art and Science of Light Bulb Moments’ works powerfully and effectively on many levels; it is well-written, inspiring,practical and like a breath of fresh air for the heart and mind. If you put into practice only a fraction of the rich resources on offer in this book, you will transform your own life, and quite possibly that of many others, too. Read, digest, do – and be sure to send a copy to everyone you care about.”
Christine Miller MA FRSA, Editor of ReSource Magazine & ‘Secret Garden of the Soul’

“A very nifty little book for Entrepreneurs wanting to learn how to harness the power of our ideas. It’s arty, scientific and magical and much, much more useful and inspiring than Dragon’s Den!” Judith Morgan, Entrepreneur, www.JudithMorgan.com

Optimology

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Tom Evans Posted in Scribing 1 Comment

When I hear the word optimist, I am reminded of the phrase, “an optimist is a pessimist not in possession of all the facts.”

When I first heard this I laughed and have ‘dined out’ on it more than once when the word comes up in conversation. I confess to being a born optimist – something I inherited from my mother who always sees the bright side of everything.

On reflection though this phrase could be seen to show optimists in a dim light. It could be inferring that optimists are dreamers, Walter Mittys and that blind optimism is no more than wishful thinking.

Optimists will always see a glass as half full. Pessimists see it not just as half empty but containing a liquid which is distasteful or even poisonous. Yet sometimes optimists can become the target of those with a cynical disposition.

Well I think that such blind optimism does lead itself to being open to criticism but it has too much of a bad press. To redress this situation, it’s time that we got a bit scientific about it. So much so that I’ve coined a new term called Optimology. In fact I am really optimistic about this word as I Googled in and found nobody is using it for anything of relevance. This means that as soon as this article is published and I blog it, these viewpoints will even be on top of Google within 24 hours.

It is this type of ‘creative’ optimism that the word refers to. If you simply take an optimistic view and do not act upon it, you will have a better life than a pessimist who will simple manifest the ‘not so good’. If you take an optimistic view and act upon it, you will have a Great Life. To ensure your optimism grounds into physical reality, it is important to use the Cascade of Creativity.

The first step towards such greatness is to back your optimism with high intent, not just wishful thinking. For example, by simply coining this term I have the seed of an Inspiration to start a new movement training professional Optimologists who teach these principles. When enough people think differently, Mother Earth tilts her axis in recognition.

The next step is to Dream where this might lead to. Imagine a world where companies employ Optimology consultants or even have one on the Executive board. For each corporate action, only the positive spins will be sought. I was trained to faciliate meetings a few years ago with a wonderful tool called Appreciative Enquiry. In it you simply discover what works well and just make it work even better. No time is spent navel-gazing or on the Blame Game. Egos aren’t supressed but harnessed and pointed in the right direction.

In Appreciative Enquiry too, the outputs of the dream phase are then managed. This is the next crucial step in the Optimology process. Before acting wildly and running off with unbridled excitment, desired outcomes are defined and tested in an Evaluation phase. So to take Optimology to the next phase, I throw the gauntlet down and ask any trainee Optimologists to get in touch. Collectively we will define a training and testing programme to see where this can go. From which we can set some goals – they will be high ones. As I know already this works, all activity will be synced to the Moon Phase.

Finally, there comes Action. My first action is to write this article and broadcast it. There will inevitably be the book to be written on the subject and all the training manuals. If this is to be, I know the right team will materialise so that this won’t just fall on my shoulders. My role is as creative spark – and CEO. Where CEO stands for Catalystic Evangelist of Optimology.

Now my ever present optimism has already created a Pretty Good Life for me. I have no desire to ‘own’ this movement or even to lead it. This is a call to action for all of an optimistic disposition out there to come together to make a change. This is no new religion and the dogmatic need not apply. The philosophy will be freely available and distributed. Revenue will generated only where Added Value is delivered.