Mentioned in my last post: as I polished the “Faces In the Mist” series of articles into an ebook, I included many readers’ comments in the ebook.

Here’s my reasoning… (and it’s all a work in progress as I try to get a feel for this new world of blogs and ebooks. Things are very different from the ‘old’ days of printed books!) – – –

Readers’ comments provided diverse, important perspectives and insights that I hadn’t thought of. The comments helped the articles to “come alive” in ways I couldn’t achieve as the sole writer… and I wanted to capture it all in the ebook.

Each comment in the book is accompanied by the username that’s published on the blog at the top of your comment. The picture-icons and dates were removed.

It’s kind of an experiment… this being my second ebook, and the only one that includes readers’ comments. My hope is that those who share their views on this blog would also enjoy having them shared in the ebook.

The ebook world is a perfect venue for this experiment. If it turns out that any readers are uncomfortable sharing their comments in my ebooks, I can easily remove them, (Unlike printed books, ebooks can be edited and updated at any time after they’re “published.”)

I don’t advertise my ebooks, other than the announcement on my blog, so they’re not exactly “flying off the shelf” at the moment.

So this is the ideal time to start forging a “policy” about the use of your comments.

The main thing I don’t want to do is to discourage open discourse on the blog… and if including your comments in my ebooks makes you reticent about posting your comments on the blog, I’ll certainly exclude your comments in the ebook(s).

I’m experimenting, as I said… trying to get a feel for this new world of blogs and ebooks.

Long-story-short: if you made any comments in my “Faces In the Mist” articles, there’s a good chance they’re included in my ebook of the same title.

If you tell me how you feel about this carrying-over of comments from the blog to the ebook (you could either post a comment on this article or send a private email to markmacy@worlditc.org ) I would very much appreciate it!

My “policy” will be able to evolve, and I’ll be able to tailor it to each reader’s preference.

For example, if you feel uncomfortable with your comments being included in this recent ebook, I’ll remove them. If you’d like them included (or not) in future ebooks, I’ll make note of that for future reference.

Well, on to my next ‘gender drama’ article. The subject: the difference between love and sex… and I hope to post it tomorrow.  MM