Disclosures!

In the interest of simplicity and complicity with the United States Federal Government, it is necessary that I disclose certain things to be certain you are not badly misled by the things you read on this blog.  I'm writing this as a separate post so I can link back to it anytime I need to do so.

First of all: I don't blog, generally, for compensation.  No one pays me to put my thoughts into digital format and leave them there.  However, there are certain ways in which I do, occasionally, profit from my blogging:

1. Book Reviews:
   1. nearly every book review you see from me comes from a book I received for free in exchange for writing the review.  As far as I know, I've influenced one person to buy one book one time, but the FTC is concerned that you might think I'll push bad books simply because I get them for free.  I don't.  Here are some of my book review sources:
      1. Booksneeze.  This was once the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers program.  They renamed it Booksneeze.  Their CEO explains why on his blog, but I get a free book in exchange for reading it and reviewing it here and on any commercial website, like Amazon or CBD.  I write honestly.  They send books. 
      2. Waterbrook/Multnomah has a book review blogging program.  It doesn't have a slightly odd name, but I get a book, review it, post the review here and on a commercial website, and link you to purchase the book through Waterbrook/Multnomah's website, which, I believe links out to various booksellers.  They haven't complained about me giving a few books low ratings, and I don't receive any money from them either.
      3. I reviewed once or twice for Navpress, but haven't done much for them.  Same story.
      4. Occasionally other publishers, such as Zondervan, will give away a book if you review it.  If I like the look of the book, I'll do it.  No money.  Free book.
   2. What happens to the books?  Some of them I keep.  Some I give away. Depends on whether I want to read them again, and whether I know someone who I think would benefit from the free book.
   3. One last book review note: I am participating in programs that allow me to choose what books I read and review.  I'm not the book review guy for a print/paid publication that has to review certain things whether he likes it or not.  I tend to pick books that interest me, books that are from authors I like, and books that seem to have good potential.  As a result, I seem to review many books highly.  That's a "duh" situation: frequently the available lists have books I think I'd just pan.  I don't usually request those.
2. Affiliate programs:
   1. I'm signed up for a few affiliate programs that will, supposedly, pay me a commission for every amount you spend on certain websites if you click there from here:
      1. Amazon.com: many Amazon.com links are affiliate links.  Why? I like to shop at Amazon.com.  If I can occasionally generate Amazon credit by linking, I will.  Do I think Amazon is the world's best business? No.  But I have found them generally helpful.  I also forget to use my affiliate code to link, so I don't get much credit here.
      2. Sonlight.com: Ann and I homeschool our kids.  We use, primarily, the bundled curriculum we purchase from Sonlight to do this.  We like Sonlight and trust our children's education to what Ann does with their work.  As such, I'm not afraid to send people to them to get the resources to homeschool, neither am I afraid to make a whopping quarter every now and then.
      3. Monergism Books: I'm signed up as an affiliate for Monergism Books…or is it Westminster BookStore? I'm not sure…either way, I've never gotten around to installing the code.
   2. Are all affiliate links labeled? No.  If you click through a link here to buy something, you might just be passing .5-5% percent of your purchase to me.  I do not, however, participate in any program that would cause your cost to rise to cover that kickback.  Neither do I really think about it.  Amazon is convenient, for example.  I have an Amazon Prime membership, so I get my stuff from them in 2 days, unless they FedEx it where it will take a week. So I shop there a lot for anything they carry.  You don't have to shop there.
   3. I do not claim any responsibility for your shopping experience here, there, or anywhere.  If you get mad a retailer, tell them.  If they won't fix it, sign up for a free blog and tell the world.  I don't like Office Depot, so I don't shop there.  I sometimes fuss about it at other places, but if someone links me to OD, I just search at Staples instead.  Or at Amazon.
3. Advertising: I honestly don't know if I'm running ads or not right now.  I have a history of waffling about display ads on my blogs….and I don't make enough from them to worry about it.  If there are ads, they are third-party sourced (like Google Ads) and I do not select or approve them.  Concern over ad content is why they sometimes go away.
4. Stocks: because I will occasionally say something about businesses and stocks, you should know that our family owns a whopping lot of stock.  My wife owns nearly 1.5 shares of Campbell's Soup, and one daughter has a whole share of Del Monte (or did…that may have split or sold or something).  We also have fractional shares of a few other things in accounts with Sharebuilder Securities (a division of ING direct), and a retirement account at Guidestone Financial Resources.  None of these stocks are actively considered by us in any way, and if the stock market bends on my words, we're in deep.  Really deep.  Suffice it to say, don't buy a stock I advise.  Consider a stock if I advise, and then buy if you, your financial advisor, your family, and Scripture support the idea.

 

Wow.  1000 words.  Considering the FTC's threatened fines for bloggers (that they claim they won't enforce) were up to $16,000 for a post they found violated disclosure, I count those words worth $16 a piece.  Which, in full disclosure, I won't receive, but I also won't have to pay.