04-14-2024, 08:50 AM
Well, this week has been what my mother would have called “fun and games”.
I began with my access to internet locations. Started tweeting again. As usual, this had little effect even when I remembered to use hashtags, but I’ve just thought of a way I can tweak the approach by quoting a different sentence each day. Also set up my first paid campaign on Reddit. Focusing on my target audience wasn’t as easy as I hoped it would be. Reddit doesn’t appear to recognise “religion” as an interest group. As a matter of policy, it won’t allow “Christian” or “Bible” as key words. But they let me use “temple” the first time round, and the second campaign is using “prophet”, “priest” and “king”.
When I wrote about publishing the first books, somebody on ATS advised me to go to “the big religious conventions” to promote them. But of course he was thinking of the American conventions, and I’m on the wrong side of the Atlantic for that. We do have Keswick, and my mind began groping towards a way of doing something at Keswick. Obviously the first priority was booking accommodation at the relevant time. I soon discovered, with a few online checks, that I had left it rather late to be booking a room at Keswick itself in July. No matter. I’ve been to the Lake District before, so I felt comfortable about travelling in from Penrith, and the hotel in Penrith had plenty of space.
Then my bank decided to throw a spanner into the works. I was booking the room over the phone and had got to the point of making an advance payment, when I was informed that payment had been declined because of “suspected fraud”. Fortunately there was enough money in a completely different account to pay a deposit, but there was now an urgent need to sort things out. Fortunately, again, this crisis blew up just in time for me to visit my local bank branch the next day, only a week before it would close down for good.
I was puzzling over the question overnight, helped by the fact that I’ve worked in that industry. Was it just the size of the amount? Banks now are getting very protective about older customers, wanting to make sure they don’t get scammed. Did they think I was engaged in fraud myself? Twenty years ago, the same bank was blocking my account on what was probably suspicion of money-laundering. We had just sold my late father’s house, and I paid in the solicitor’s check for my half of the proceeds, and suddenly I couldn’t use my card any more. Of course there was total silence on the matter, because they are not allowed to tell a suspect that he is under suspicion, but I’d been through the relevant course and soon began to guess. Had to spend my lunch hour in the nearest branch giving my best imitation of rage and complaining that they were obstructing my new house purchase (e.g. I couldn’t get a copy of my surveyor’s report). They succumbed.
Or was it just that the software had taken fright on receiving a payment request from a foreign source, i.e. Reddit? It turned out that I was nearly right, but the problem was McAfee. I’m still not sure why. It was only the annual renewal, and I can see no reason why they might have been using an expired card number. Just in case, I tried to update my information with McAfee, and discovered I couldn’t do it without a mobile phone number, which I don’t possess. So I removed that problem by cancelling the subscription altogether, and even that had to be done over the phone for the same reason.
I’m thinking of using the order forms in an old-fashioned mail shot to the clergy. Not the bishops, they’re too busy to take an interest. I’ve been an Anglican long enough to have some knowledge of the structures of the C. of E. I know that the dioceses are divided into deaneries, headed by a rural dean who calls together regular deanery synods of clergy and lay representatives. I needed a list of rural deans (“Please share this with your synod”). Searching around, I remembered the existence of Crockford’s Clerical Directory, and discovered that it can now be found online. I have subscribed. They asked for a delivery address, so I think that may mean that I get a physical copy as well. That would be easier to work with.
I knew about Crockfords from the time when I was working for a one-man Christian publishing company. That’s when I met the genial, clean-shaven post-graduate student Tom Wright, who gave me a lift home from work. On the strength of that, perhaps I’ll send him one of my complimentary copies.
The memory of being a deanery synod representative led me on to the associated memory of being chairman of Penge Council of Churches (yes, I’ve been an important figure in my time). The national movement has now become “Churches Together”, which is another possible set of contacts. I found a national website, which offers a list of local group websites, which will usually offer me a list of member church websites.
At least I won’t run out of things to do.
I began with my access to internet locations. Started tweeting again. As usual, this had little effect even when I remembered to use hashtags, but I’ve just thought of a way I can tweak the approach by quoting a different sentence each day. Also set up my first paid campaign on Reddit. Focusing on my target audience wasn’t as easy as I hoped it would be. Reddit doesn’t appear to recognise “religion” as an interest group. As a matter of policy, it won’t allow “Christian” or “Bible” as key words. But they let me use “temple” the first time round, and the second campaign is using “prophet”, “priest” and “king”.
When I wrote about publishing the first books, somebody on ATS advised me to go to “the big religious conventions” to promote them. But of course he was thinking of the American conventions, and I’m on the wrong side of the Atlantic for that. We do have Keswick, and my mind began groping towards a way of doing something at Keswick. Obviously the first priority was booking accommodation at the relevant time. I soon discovered, with a few online checks, that I had left it rather late to be booking a room at Keswick itself in July. No matter. I’ve been to the Lake District before, so I felt comfortable about travelling in from Penrith, and the hotel in Penrith had plenty of space.
Then my bank decided to throw a spanner into the works. I was booking the room over the phone and had got to the point of making an advance payment, when I was informed that payment had been declined because of “suspected fraud”. Fortunately there was enough money in a completely different account to pay a deposit, but there was now an urgent need to sort things out. Fortunately, again, this crisis blew up just in time for me to visit my local bank branch the next day, only a week before it would close down for good.
I was puzzling over the question overnight, helped by the fact that I’ve worked in that industry. Was it just the size of the amount? Banks now are getting very protective about older customers, wanting to make sure they don’t get scammed. Did they think I was engaged in fraud myself? Twenty years ago, the same bank was blocking my account on what was probably suspicion of money-laundering. We had just sold my late father’s house, and I paid in the solicitor’s check for my half of the proceeds, and suddenly I couldn’t use my card any more. Of course there was total silence on the matter, because they are not allowed to tell a suspect that he is under suspicion, but I’d been through the relevant course and soon began to guess. Had to spend my lunch hour in the nearest branch giving my best imitation of rage and complaining that they were obstructing my new house purchase (e.g. I couldn’t get a copy of my surveyor’s report). They succumbed.
Or was it just that the software had taken fright on receiving a payment request from a foreign source, i.e. Reddit? It turned out that I was nearly right, but the problem was McAfee. I’m still not sure why. It was only the annual renewal, and I can see no reason why they might have been using an expired card number. Just in case, I tried to update my information with McAfee, and discovered I couldn’t do it without a mobile phone number, which I don’t possess. So I removed that problem by cancelling the subscription altogether, and even that had to be done over the phone for the same reason.
I’m thinking of using the order forms in an old-fashioned mail shot to the clergy. Not the bishops, they’re too busy to take an interest. I’ve been an Anglican long enough to have some knowledge of the structures of the C. of E. I know that the dioceses are divided into deaneries, headed by a rural dean who calls together regular deanery synods of clergy and lay representatives. I needed a list of rural deans (“Please share this with your synod”). Searching around, I remembered the existence of Crockford’s Clerical Directory, and discovered that it can now be found online. I have subscribed. They asked for a delivery address, so I think that may mean that I get a physical copy as well. That would be easier to work with.
I knew about Crockfords from the time when I was working for a one-man Christian publishing company. That’s when I met the genial, clean-shaven post-graduate student Tom Wright, who gave me a lift home from work. On the strength of that, perhaps I’ll send him one of my complimentary copies.
The memory of being a deanery synod representative led me on to the associated memory of being chairman of Penge Council of Churches (yes, I’ve been an important figure in my time). The national movement has now become “Churches Together”, which is another possible set of contacts. I found a national website, which offers a list of local group websites, which will usually offer me a list of member church websites.
At least I won’t run out of things to do.
