Freakanomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Introduction Different phenomena in human life have attracted explanations from experts and other observers, which unfortunately, have become to be regarded as the conventional truth even when they seem to fail. This paper seeks to analyze an article that describes the different explanations advanced for changing trends in crime, politics and other social factors in the American society.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Freakanomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The article is termed freakanomics, the authors (Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner) analyze different social aspects of the daily life in the most dazzling way that defies conventional wisdom. The article mainly dwells on the changing trends of crime in the American society. It also uses other social indices such politics and professionalism to underscore the misconceptions that lead to erroneous explanation s for different phenomena in the United States and the world at large. Analysis This article mainly intends to show that some of the expert views which are often held as conventional may be sometimes, if not always false. The article begins by citing the soaring levels of crime that were witnessed in the 1990’s. The level of crime was rising at rates that had never been witnessed before. The rising trends in crime got experts forecasting a more chaotic future. For instance, the article cites that in 1995, a criminologist named James Alan Fox produced a report that pointed to a sharp rise in cases of teenage homicide over a decade. Similar sentiments were being propelled from different quarters such as other criminologists, political scientists and other learned forecasters. As time went by, it became apparent that the exact opposite of what had been forecasted was taking place. Instead of soaring levels of crime, the country was experiencing unpredicted decrease in crime leve ls. The sharp fall which peaked in the year 2000 was much more baffling than the later days when crime was the order of the day. False predictions were giving way to false explanations by the same experts. According to the article, the sharp decrease in crime levels had everything to do factors such as tough gun controls, strong economy, and innovative police strategies, increase in the number of police, increase in the use of capital punishment, change in the crack and other drug markets, and finally the aging population factor. The authors shrugged off this type of explanation as cheap as all these efforts when were in place when the same experts predicted a sharp rise in crime.Advertising Looking for critical writing on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to the authors, the real cause of the drop in crime was the legalization of abortion across the United States. The legalization of abortion which ha d happened in the 1970 has lead to a significance drop in crime in the late 90s. The major step was towards countrywide legalization of abortion was initiated by a woman, Norma McCorvey. She was from Dallas and had already given up two kids for adoption. She was not in a position to raise a child, she was uneducated, poor, unskilled, an alcoholic and other drugs abuser. This kind of characteristics would create unfavorable conditions for child up bringing. This increases the chances of raising a spoilt, frustrated child who may end up in the streets as a criminal. The initial laws had restricted abortion thus creating a scenario whereby it was expensive to procure an illegal abortion or worse still, confer to unfit women the role of mothers. As the authors quote, the forced child raising may lead to a distressful future and further impart a psychological harm to the child. It was argued that a woman who decides not to have a child has a good reason for that, for instance she might b e too poor, unmarried or in a bad marriage. This article cites other examples to show how conventional wisdom leads to false conclusions that mislead the masses. For instance, the power wielded by practitioners in different professional fields may be exploited at times to take advantage of a situation. The article cites, among others, a real estate agent who exploits their client’s inability to understand real estate matters. The authors also point out the same flawed beliefs in the political arena, whereby rich politicians or politicians who spent more money during campaigns are almost certain of wining. The authors claim that the electorate must have an inner connection with a certain candidate in order to vote for him. The authors do not however sound convincing with this example as indeed money plays a major role in gaining votes, especially in unjust systems where corruption and voter bribery are the order of the day.Advertising We will write a custom critical writi ng sample on Freakanomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion This paper sought to analyze the article freakanomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. The article is supposed to explore the bad side or everything, that’s according to the subheading. However, as much as it touches on other matters, it’s more seen to revolve around the crime, its causes and how abortion legalization has helped reduce rates of crime. The article uses other examples to show that what is often regarded as conventional wisdom or expert views may be sometimes false. This critical writing on Freakanomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner was written and submitted by user Sage Rose to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Is It Worth Partnering With A Book Marketer

Is It Worth Partnering With A Book Marketer Is It Worth Partnering With A Book Marketer? Since starting Reedsy, I’ve heard time and again that â€Å"what authors need most help with is marketing.† But that’s akin to saying startups like us primarily need help with fundraising; to me, it’s a startup founder’s job to raise funds when the company needs them, just as it’s a writer’s task to sell his or her book. Sure, help would be appreciated, but going as far as outsourcing? The best startups don’t do that.Of course, I can see the case for bringing on a marketing specialist, particularly when an author is not technically savvy or familiar with social networks and communities. Still, this raises the question: who is best placed to promote an author’s work? If promotion isn’t done by the creator himself, isn’t there a chance the message will get lost?These are several of the questions I asked author Jonathan Gould, who decided to partner with book marketer Mike Doane for the promotion of his latest book, Magnus Opum.Book marketer: it begins with strategyâ€Å"It begins with strategy,† says Gould. â€Å"I have very little idea about how to strategize a book selling campaign. That’s where Mike comes in. From the very beginning, we discussed my goals as a writer, and the sorts of books I like to write. From that, Mike can not only give me advice on which readers I should be reaching out to but also suggestions on how to reach them. Together we are in the process of developing an overall strategy that should help get my name out and define me as a writer with a distinct style and voice.†I’ve gotten to know quite a few authors just like Jonathan: they blog on a regular basis, spend time on Twitter and Facebook, do Goodreads giveaways, and write to bloggers and reviewers. But not everyone takes time to assess their objectives with each of these marketing tasks.A good book marketer can (or should) help you identify your target audience, find ways to reach out to it, and measure the results of your efforts in each marketing â€Å"channel† so you can focus on the ones that work. You end up doing the work (reaching out to reviewers, interacting with readers, etc.), so it doesn’t endanger your brand image or your relationship-building. And you know why you’re doing what you’re doing.Mike Doane explains: â€Å"I think a lot of authors do those things they’re supposed to do without knowing the reasons why. ‘I blog once a week’ is not a strategy, it’s a tactic. What’s even worse is not being able to measure the outcomes, let alone produce outcomes to measure. This is my job. I’m supposed to help Jonathan understand why he’s using the tactics he’s using, plus find new tactics and help him test them.†Essentially, that’s what a â€Å"marketing plan† is all about, and there is a certain skill to putting one together that not every author has taken the time to learn. That said, there is a vast amount of content out there around â€Å"book marketing†, whether in the form of blog posts, podcasts, webinars, online courses, or even books. Our initial thought was that there is no reason why an author couldn’t learn this on his own (while in contrast, specialized skills like editing and design can take years to learn and perfect). So I asked several authors on forums: what does hiring a personal book marketer bring that you couldn’t achieve on your own with enough time and effort?Personalized advice, moral support, and an extra pair of legsAs indie author and marketing consultant Debbie Young told me: â€Å"Authors often have very unrealistic expectations of how hard it’s going to be to market a book. Too often authors get discouraged and stop trying to market at all, but with a little direction and encouragement of the kind I’m able to offer, they discover that actually there is a lot they can do after all, and they are re-enthused to do it.†The degree of moral support a personalized marketing consultant can give you might actually be the most valuable part of that collaboration. The same way a good content editor can help you gain confidence in your craft, a good book marketer should be able to teach you how to promote your book in a more confident and effective way.Plus, as Jonathan puts it, â€Å"It’s nice to have an extra pair of legs when it comes to chasing promotional opportunities such as guest posts, interviews, or paid promotions.† This touches on the subject of personal VAs (Virtual Assistants), which was brilliantly covered on Joanna Penn’s blog recently.Flat fee remuneration or royalty-share?Of course, this extra pair of legs doesn’t come for free. And how much (or even how) you should pay for marketing help is a slightly controversial question.Jonathan and Mike have contracted on a royalty-share basis. This is something that you rarely see for editing or design services, but is a much more frequent occurrence in narration (audiobook) or translation services.The logic behind it is pretty simple: a marketer’s only job is to generate sales for your books, so it makes sense to index the marketer’s remuneration on the results of their work. However, in nearly every other marketing-related profession, such as publicity, flat fees are the norm. I don’t know of one good book publicist who works on a royalty-share basis. Mike explains why: â€Å"Any author-publicist contract that’s based around sales is foolish. It’s like those SEO companies that promise a #1 position on Google for a given keyword. That’s extremely hard to deliver, especially on a budget. Publicists can’t promise things like reviews or sales. There are just too many factors involved.†As marketers develop deeper, longer-lasting relationships with the authors they partner with, royalty- share might make more sense for them than for publicists or SEO specialists. Whether it makes sense to the author is another question, and one that largely depends on sales, budget-consciousness and risk-aversion. Mike suggested to me that he would like to see a flexible model where authors and marketers can choose to work together on a mix of fee and royalty-share.This would have the advantage of keeping a bonus element (royalty) to incentivize the book marketer, while assuring that he gets paid a decent remuneration even if the book fails to sell well. There is no guarantee in book marketing and asking the marketer to assume all the risk makes little sense. In that sense, a hybrid model is certainly worth exploring.Follow Ricardo, the author of this article, and Reedsy on Twitter: @RicardoFayet  and  @ReedsyHQDo you have any questions about book marketing and whether it makes sense at your stage to hire a professional marketer? Leave us your thoughts in the comments below!