Final Assignment for the Open University
Wilma had been preparing for her final assignment for her 5th year in Criminology at the Open University. The first step was to create an annotated bibliography for the materials she planned to use in her writing. She chose to focus on the broad topic of addictions and how they relate to learning disabilities. To support her argument, she needed to find four peer-reviewed articles and grey literature. Wilma’s next challenge was using the Open University library to locate relevant materials. Despite using keywords she thought would be helpful, the library consistently indicated that there were no relevant resources. Frustrated, she turned to Google Scholar and WorldCat Library, where she discovered valuable articles. She signed up for Academia to receive relevant journal articles directly. Additionally, as a member of the British Criminological Society, Wilma searched for articles that discussed addictions in individuals with learning disabilities.
Verification
She verified these articles with the Open University library to ensure they were peer-reviewed and reliable. To expand her research, she consulted her tutor about using government websites as a source of grey literature. Wilma began organising her findings using Scolarcy software, which allowed her to break down the articles into manageable sections. She links up her Speechify to have articles read to her, and her favourite voice is Snoop Dogg. She entered all her material into the writing helper and added citation information to aid with referencing. Taking a different approach to her essay writing, she decided to write the body of the assignment first, saving the introduction and conclusion for last. Additionally, using Grammarly as a writing helper enhances her punctuation and improves her writing with the effective use of language. She also utilised Zotero software to assist with referencing.
Feedback
After receiving feedback from her Open University tutor, Wilma felt disappointed in her performance, hoping to do better with her assignment on crime, harm, and the state. While she had selected suitable content, her argument was disjointed, particularly regarding the state’s harmful effects on individuals with learning disabilities facing addiction. With her tutor’s support, she began to piece her argument together. She also mentioned her struggles with spelling and researching in the library. After finishing her assignment and adding citations using Zotero, she felt uncertain about the appropriate amount of referencing. Finally, she pressed “Add bibliography,” and all her references appeared in order. It may not have been perfect, but it was done. Time to submit it to the Open University for marking!
Marketing a Book
Apart from the Open University Wilma has been working out how to market her book. One of the many sites which were set up was Kindle Direct Publishing. This is not dyslexia-friendly, and trying to work out all the information is “mission impossible”. Amazon originally set her up with a Facebook page and an Instagram account. One of the issues Wilma found with this was that Amazon would do all the advertising for her. However, Wilma did not have the money Amazon wanted for advertising. She started advertising on her business page and other social media accounts. Instagram is regularly overloaded with messages looking to promote her book on pages for a fee. It is overwhelming at times. However, she has had great reviews from people. One person returned, asking to read more of Wilma’s books; she had returned, saying it was her debut. They were surprised thinking she had written over 100 books.
Amazon
Wilma was thrilled by a lovely remark she received, which made her day. Eager to submit her book for the Kindle Storyteller Award, but feels overwhelmed and unsure of how to proceed, often going in circles. Wilma always appreciates when fellow dyslexics reach out to let her know they’ve purchased a copy. One of the challenges she faces is converting her book into an audiobook so that more people can enjoy the story. Amazon approached her about this idea, and she was excited until she saw the price. “Crikey, I’m a student; where am I going to find that kind of money?” she thought. Wilma believed she had found a solution when she connected with Booksagram-WC through Instagram. They offered her multiple packages, and she decided to invest in the premium package, which included a promise to write articles about her book in The Guardian and The New York Times.
Advertising in Times Square
Do a podcast with Wilma and even advertise her book on a billboard in Times Square, New York City. This would be perfect, as the dates they gave her would coincide with when she was at the Neurodiversity show in Birmingham. They came back to her saying that their PayPal account had been hacked. However, they were still moving on with work, which she had paid for. She had checked out the PayPal account to discover it was in India. She became suspicious and replied; then they said they had given her a refund. No such thing had happened, and she reported this to her business account. The money had gone into their account. She replied that no refund had been received from them through PayPal. Now, Wilma understands cybercrime through her studies and will report it to the police; however, she does not have much hope.
Scam
She has learned that cybercrime is often investigated as a normal crime. She has watched plenty of scams on YouTube to know that there is a greater chance of catching a burglar. It just goes to show that even criminologists can be caught off guard. She is currently exploring ways to make her book available as an audiobook. It is a fabulous idea to become a bestseller on Amazon. However, this may still have to wait as she has other projects to prioritise. Marketing is a black hole that consistently requires funding.
#OnlyFans
Wilma was looking forward to a bit of respite. A few months off studying would be blissful. She had seen that Professor David Wilson was touring and talking about his new book. Wilma and her friend had talked about seeing this famous criminologist for a while. Wilma and her friend had gone to the Playhouse to see a talk on “The psychology of serial killers”. This had raised many jokes about being a pair of “Lady Killers”. They joked about using chainsaws to chop up the bodies. At the same time, playing Richard Marx’s tune “Hazard” at full volume and then having bags of lime and a digger ready for a bit of gardening at 3 am! Nobody would suspect them, and everyone had a good laugh. They had decided to wait for new dates.
David Wilson
Wilma was getting ready to buy the tickets for “A History of Modern Britain in 20 Murders” with David Wilson when disaster happened. Wilma’s bank account was hacked! She woke up on a Sunday morning to find a message from her bank stating that she had purchased at 3 a.m. Wilma had been fast asleep at that time of the morning. She decided to check her bank app and found that she had three subscriptions to #OnlyFans. If they had picked something to do with cooking, it might have been different! Subscribed to sorted food, for instance, as she loves watching their YouTube channel, especially when they play “poker face”. However, the criminologist inside her was screaming, ‘Why? #onlyfans?’. As it was a Sunday and she had been visiting people, it was hard to contact her bank.
Help from Banking
As a person with dyslexia, remembering vital information seemed impossible. She went through the app, stating that she wanted the #onlyfans subscription flagged as fraudulent. She decided to visit the new banking hub, which had been established in her area. As it was new, it had a temporary setup with Wi-fi, so the person helping her had issues connecting her equipment. However, it was eventually sorted, and her account was refunded. At this point, they were giving Wilma advice on where to enter her card details. She did tell them that she was becoming a criminologist, but this seemed to be ignored. She is unsure how her account details were leaked, but wants everyone to be vigilant, as this is becoming increasingly common.