Brazil’s Blogger

Evany José Metzker, who had investigated child prostitution and drug dealing, found dead five days after being reported missing
A protest against violence in Niteroi, Brazil; at least 14 journalists have been killed since 2011.

The decapitated body of a Brazilian blogger known for denouncing corrupt politicians has been found in a rural zone in southeastern Minas Gerais state, police said on Wednesday.

Evany José Metzker, 67, was reported missing five days before his body was found near the town of Padre Paraíso is one of Brazil’s poorest regions.

“His hands were tied behind his back, and his body showed signs of torture,” a police press officer said, adding that the murder was apparently motivated by Metzker’s recent investigations into child prostitution and drug trafficking.

Metzker’s credit cards, a checkbook, and his ID card were found near his body.

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The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be quoted by name. He said police were also looking into the possibility that the murder was a crime of passion. He would not elaborate.

“It was a barbaric crime that has shocked Minas Gerais and all of Brazil,” Kerrison Lopes, president of the Minas Gerais Journalists Union, said. “He was decapitated, scalped and tortured.”

“There is a climate of terror in the region that intimidates reporters from doing their job,” he said, adding that Metzker often received death threats.

Carlos Lauria, the senior Americas program coordinator of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said that at least 14 Brazilian journalists have been killed since 2011 “in retaliation for their work, making Brazil a perilous country for journalists.”

“Lethal violence against the Brazilian press is on the rise, impeding journalists from reporting critically on what is going on,” he said. “The level of violence [against journalists] in Brazil is unacceptably high.”

Who Are the Best Fashion Bloggers to Follow?

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Many women and girls who are looking to follow fashion blogger sites can be unsure where to start. There are many well-established bloggers and newcomers to the online arena, and therefore it is important to be able to determine which are the right ones to choose for us.

The best way to get started determining who the best fashion best blogs to follow is choosing your favorite medium to read and absorb content. Many people like video format for beauty or fashion tutorials, so go to sites like YouTube to explore the different blogger sites.

On the other hand, many people enjoy going on Instagram and looking at the fashion styles and outfits that many bloggers search post daily, giving them inspiration for their own fashion choices. Others like reading written blogs about the latest trends that they should be aware of. Ultimately, the key to finding a good fashion blogger to follow is selecting your favorite medium and then exploring from there.

If you prefer videos, try a video site. If you prefer photos, go to a photo-sharing site. If you prefer the written text, search online for written blogs to spend time reading through lengthy and interesting posts. The best fashion bloggers to follow for you will also appeal to your tastes and budget. The latter is very important, as many bloggers may prefer to share designer clothes choices over budget hauls.

If you have a lower income, free blog websites focusing on fashion on a budget could be far more to your taste and needs. On the other hand, many people like to be inspired by the most expensive products and designer clothing, and therefore like to follow those who have access to some of the world’s best fashion brands.

It is fascinating for them to be able to attend events like London Fashion Week through the eyes of their favorite top blogger sites. Decide why you want to follow a blog, whether for real advice on what you can buy within your budget or whether you just want inspiration, even if you cannot afford the items that your favorite blogger buys. This will help you pick out a few individuals that you want to follow.

You may also want to consider the community when you start following a blogger or blogger, which can have a positive or a negative effect on your experience. For example, some of the best blogging communities have a safe space where people can share their options and experiences and get advice on a good choice of clothing or makeup for them.

This community is not so important for other people, but they like to receive comments back from their favorite blogger if they have an important question to ask. The best fashion bloggers to follow for you will depend on your social experience, like exploring different blogs, Instagram accounts, or blogger websites online. Ultimately, there are many great fashion bloggers online for us to choose from, meaning that it has never been easier to find the right person whose advice we can follow to both looks and feels our best.

Natascha Cox is a popular fashion and beauty blogger based in London in the UK, with a huge social media following on Twitter, Instagram, Bloglovin’, Facebook, and much more. Delivering her fresh take on current fashion, beauty, and travel, Natascha updates her blog regularly with tips, tricks, product reviews, tutorials, travel blogs, promotional deals for readers, and an insider’s look at some of the biggest fashion events around the world. Readers who sign up at Natascha Cox’s blog will benefit from all the latest news and trends straight to their inbox, along with the chance to win a completely free gift for each new subscriber.

What Authors Need to Know

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Expert Author Irene Watson

As the owner of a company that provides book reviews and operates a book contest, I’ve long been aware that there are many bogus contests and reviewers out there. I’ve also promoted blog tours for authors, and I firmly believe that having your own blog and being a guest on someone else’s blog is a great way to get the word out about your book. But not all blogs and bloggers are created the same, and worse, some are not very honest.

Recently, I became aware of a new trend among bloggers to offer giveaways to their readers. Sadly, many of these purported giveaways are scams, or at least, they are not completely honest or providing what they claim they will provide for the book’s author. Following are some examples and guidelines to follow before providing your book to bloggers who are offering giveaways.

First, let’s look at the book giveaway process and what may motivate bloggers to offer a regular book giveaway. The blogger’s requests authors and often other owners of various products to send them the products to review them. Next, they read the book or use the product and write a review of the product, posting the product information on their blog. They then ask people to submit their names through some electronic form or via email for a random drawing for a product’s giveaway. The product is then mailed to the winner. Sounds simple enough.

But it’s actually more complicated than that. The blogger isn’t going to go through all this work without getting something in return. Often, the blogger will post an image of the product with a link to where it can be purchased, such as an online bookstore that not only sells the product but also has a referral program where the blogger receives a commission on all products sold when people click through from the blogger’s site to the seller’s site and buy the product.

That is even reasonable, and there’s nothing wrong with people being paid for their work. However, the possibility of unethical and scamming behavior comes in various, sometimes small, but nevertheless serious ways. Before you submit your book to a blogger, here are some things to watch out for:

1. FTC Disclosure-It is the law that anyone who receives a profit when they endorse a product must disclose that upfront. A legitimate website will have an FTC disclosure statement that the owner is receiving a commission (whether through click-thru or the direct payment by the author or product owner) to promote the work. That does not mean the blogger is dishonest in providing a good review of the product. In fact, if the FTC disclosure is there, it’s a good sign the blogger believes in being honest about the product. If the FTC disclosure is not there, don’t participate.

2. Product Reviews-Before you send your book to someone to review it, look at the past reviews at the site. A lot of bloggers (and book reviewers) claim that they review books when, in fact, they simply copy the product description as it appears on the author’s or an online bookstore’s website, or they copy the back cover description and post that as a review. That is not a legitimate book review because it does not reflect the blogger’s personal opinion of the book, and it’s a good sign the blogger didn’t even bother to read the book to find out whether it deserves to be endorsed. The blogger is simply trying to get as many products featured on the blog as possible to earn more commission.

3. Multiple Copies-If bloggers request more than two copies of the book, it’s unlikely they want the books for review or giveaway. Understandably, the blogger might want a book to read and then send it to the giveaway winner. However, it’s much more sensible for the blogger to request only one copy and then, after the giveaway’s winner is named, request that the author personally send the winner an autographed copy. If a blogger requests more than two copies, it’s likely the blogger is collecting inventory to resell-perhaps to a local used bookstore, or perhaps at an online store, thereby making a profit off copies of books he didn’t pay for and that the author thought would be given away.

4. Drawing Results- An honest blogger running a book giveaway will disclose the names of the winners, although, for privacy’s sake, it might just say Amanda W., Syracuse, NY or George T, Salt Lake City, UT. What is suspicious is not giving any indication that there are winners.

If you are still unsure whether to submit your book to a blogger’s book giveaway, contact the authors of some of the previous giveaways and ask them whether it helped them or they ever heard from any of the readers. If the blogger runs a legitimate contest and gives the author the email and mailing address of the giveaway winner, you can contact the person and rest assured that your book is going where it should. If the blogger is mailing out the copies himself, you don’t have proof the books are being mailed out. In fact, I’ve heard from some authors who have participated in such giveaways multiple times that they have never received a thank you or any feedback from the people who supposedly received their books. While not receiving feedback is not necessarily a sign of dishonesty, when you receive feedback, it’s a sign that everything is functioning as it should.

Will a book giveaway help promote your book and give you publicity? It could if the blog gets a lot of traffic, and if the blogger truly is giving away the books, you may at least find one new fan. The blogger, of course, may tell you how the blog receives tens of thousands of views, and if that’s true, it’s great because then a lot of people will hear about your book, and if they are interested and do not win it in the giveaway, hopefully, they will buy it.

If you do get scammed, you’ll only lose out on the costs of the few books you give away, but that said, no one wants to be scammed, so do a little research before you decide to give away your books, and you can rest assured that the readers whom you want your books to reach will be the ones benefiting from the book giveaway rather than solely a blogger who is out to make money without ethics.