AP Stylebook-istas: Right now, I've got my article referencing a "28% increase in six months" Is this correct style or not? I used to have two stylebooks and now I can't find either and the AP rules about numbers have always confused me anyway. I really thought I wasn't doing reporting anymore. Please help.

Gaaaah. See Jilli suck at self-promotion. Lip Service, a world-famous gothy/alternative clothing company, is releasing a line in spring 2010 called Lolita Candy. The items in this line are ruffled Victorian-style blouses, a waist cincher, and ruffly knee-length skirts. All in black and pink striped fabric.

Many, many people have said to me, "Oh wow, they based it off of you!" They're probably not wrong. Pete and my friend the guerrilla marketing genius have informed me that I am going to write to Lip Service and tell them that they need to give me an entire set of the line, so I can wear it everywhere and be a walking billboard for them. Which sounds like a brilliant idea! Except that I have no idea what to write, and I am terrified of sounding self-aggrandizing or greedy.

Help me, oh Buffista hivemind!

Sadly, I have no idea what to write either. It sounds like a great idea though.

Chapter 23 and 24 have fallen. Chapter 24 is a tiny chapter though.

Onward to chapter 25. Revising it will be plenty of work, but it's a fun chapter.

After having looked at the rough draft, I can see that 25 will be some serious work. There is a lot of narrative summary that really sucked the life out of what should be a fun chapter.

I've decided to pick a few scenes 3-4, probably 3 to play out and do very short summaries to glue them together. I think that should greatly improve things. The problem is that I don't want to use up too many precious words. Extra words is better than excess narrative though, so maybe I'll have to find something to cut later on. There's a lull in the plot I already have in mind.

Dear Ms. Lip Service PR Person:

I am Jillian V., the author of Gothic Charm School: An Essential Guide For Goths And Those Who Love Them and the proprietress of the website Gothic CHarm School.

As a fan of the Lip Service line, who owns and wears several items from your line (I especially admire a, b, and c), I would like to propose a relationship from which we would both benefit; you, with substantial web-based and possible print-based marketing access, and myself (not only from an aesthetic viewpoint) but also from the possibility of a Lip Service tie-in for my book and/or website.

Let me familiarize you with some statistics about my audience: (Put in some stuff about website hits, books sold, print and video hits, reviews of books, self and site from well-recognized Gothy sites/mags that Lip Service advertises in) In addition, I am often interviewed and/or photgraphed; attached are an (article) (video) (interview). I know you can see the benefits of having a recognized personality from your target audience wearing and speaking positively about your line.

I would be interested in speaking with you further about this possibility. I have beeen very enthusiastic about Lip Service as a brand for years; our aesthetics are very complementary. My audience is your audience. Let's talk more about how we could work together to benefit each other.

Contact info, blah blah

Sincerely, JV Queen of the Cupcake Goths BOW DOWN

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That's a rough possibility, Jilli

Also Jilli, you could include a copy of the book?

Still filling out the author questionnaire.

Kind of stumped on potential audience. Such a hard question to answer without sounding like an egomaniacal dickhead.

Erin, that is awesome, and I'm going to use it as a starting place.

Ailleann, I don't *think* I need to send them a copy of the book, because I did blogging for them on the Lip Service Webzine over the summer.

My cubicle neighbor here at work was telling me last month about how she used to love to write, but has lacked the motivation to do so in recent years. I told her about NaNoWriMo, and she thought it was brilliant. I forgot about it until today, when she told me she actually decided to do it, and worked on her book for several hours yesterday. She's looking forward to getting past all the introductary stuff and getting into the meat of the book.

She thanked me over and over again for telling her about it, and getting her to write again. I told her it was all her for following up on it, and I really hope she gets out of it what she wants.

Feedback! Boy, beta exchange person sure hated chapter 7. I'll definitely have to look into that.