Administration Notes:
December, 2003

There have been a number of updates on this site this time around. I am glad to have the time, energy, and support of other contributors to this site to make this all possible. I want to highlight a couple of things in the Administration end of things with KTJW and UPJ. Please bear with me.

1. UPJ is taking off with a bang. Not only will we have Channan being ready to rock this January but already there are 3 other books in the wings that have enormous promise. That is absolutely great, and I am delighted to see that authors are interested in maintaining the rights to their own works, want to maintain artistic control over how their books are presented and designed, and who see UPJ as the right medium for them to make this happen. UPJ is committed to two guiding principles in book production. The first is that we will produce the best books possible and will not develop books that are not in keeping with the general themes of being informative and entertaining to readers. Already, two authors who have come out with potential books for UPJ have been encouraged to look elsewhere. The second guiding principle is that authors receive the lion's share of any royalties coming in from the sale of their book. I never expect UPJ to make stacks of cash, but we do expect to make a profit. We are also committed to helping our authors succeed economically in the development and promotion of their books.
2. I should apologize for the lateness of some of the additions to the Links page. Both Chris and I have been quite busy these last couple of months and try as we might, there are only so many hours in the day, and we both have families and jobs that require our attention too. So for those of you who are a little irked that we have taken a bit longer than expected getting your link up, we sincerely apologize and hope that you realize that there is no malicious reason behind the delay. It is just that sometimes delays happen.
3. I get requests every now and then from readers of KTJW for autographed copies of my book. I have to admit, I am really incredibly flattered that people actually want that. I think I have a really ugly autograph, and anyways, who the heck am I to even have an “autograph”? But if having a signed book is something that you think that you would really like to have, just contact me directly at mark@karatethejapaneseway.com I have a couple dozen copies here in my office in Japan and I can mail it directly to you, rather than have you spend money to mail me a copy that you have and then pay again for the book to be mailed to you.
4. You may have noticed that the Guestbook has been squashed. Sorry about that. I thought it was kind of cool at first but then I realized that I had to check it everyday to remove messages like, “You think Shotokan rules? You are a fool! Shotokan sucks! If you want to know what rules, I will tell you! I rule!!! Yeah, so stick that in your nostril and smoke it, you hack! Who do you think you are? You are nothing but a snot-nosed brat! I can kick your ass anytime I like!!! See you for New Years! Dad says Hi. Love Mom.” Anyway, the Guestbook was a hassle for me to check on all the time, so it is history. Sorry Guestbook fans.
5. I am finding from time to time people who would like to, err. . . accidentally. . . err. . . “borrow” a cool image or kanji or something from this site. I understand the impulse, but before you borrow, please remember that someone somewhere may send me an email telling me about your minor indiscretion. So, if there is something that you think you would like to use, or better yet “quote”, just send me a little note. Chances of me saying yes are very good if you do. Thanks.
6. That is all I got for Admin Updates this time. So thanks for coming by the site again. Cruise around, let me know what you think. And by all means, send my URL (that means “address of my website” in cool computer-lingo) to all your karate students, all your friends, all your family. And if there are things that you think this site could develop better, drop me a line. KTJW is always a work in progress, always in a state of development, and your thoughts and opinions are of great value to me.

Best regards,

Mark Groenewold

Copyright Notice