My eBook, 'Freemaonry Inside-Out' (formally known as 'Hoodwinked - How I Slipped the Freemason's Grip'), was a top seller in the ClickBank catalog last year, consistently in the top ten in its category.

After a year of good sales and fascinating feedback from both members and non-members, the book was allocated an ISBN number and I placed it into the US library system where it can be borrowed for free and stopped selling the book myself online. It is true that the library has to buy in one copy (at a very low price), but it is then available to literally hundreds or thousands of people.

The lending out of eBooks is still quite a new idea and as not many eBook authors know about this I wrote a FREE guide for eBook authors on the marketing benefits of this idea and how to go about making it happen (click here for a copy). There is also a section in the guide on how to stop unscrupulous people from trying to steal eBook authors' work - after my book was first mentioned in some newsgroups such as alt.freemasonry, there were a number of (unsuccessful) attempts at illegal downloads - "Can anyone send me a copy of the text?" and "If the original poster is so interested I think he should download and pay the fee, then tell us what he read. I would not for one minute suggest that after downloading it he copy and pastes it here (or parts of it), because as we well know that would be illegal (probably)"!!

'Freemasonry Inside-Out' is quite a controversial book. It doesn't set out to expose the so-called masonic secrets but based upon my own experience, explores the social dynamics of Freemasonry, in particular the process of recruiting new members and how the masonic ritual itself, which is so cleverly crafted, especially the masonic oath, affects new, old and ex-members, psychologically. What it doesn't do is to criticise or ridicule individual members.

Not surprisingly, masons themselves are very sceptical about any book that looks at Freemasonry in an irregular way, and this book was no exception getting a fair bit of critical airtime on the newsgroup 'alt.freemasonry', mainly by people who hadn't read it. Here is an example referring to some text on my information page about pyramid scams - "I haven't read the book. I thought pyramid schemes, by their very nature, promised money to those on the bottom. I'm not quite sure how you think GL are making money out of Freemasonry. You think there are secret Swiss bank accounts overflowing with money?" - now you come to mention it, maybe. Usually it is the people on the bottom that lose their money but the main point about pyramid scams relates on one level to pyramid scheme type recruitment methods and on another level, taking a swipe at the notion held by some that Freemasonry might be linked back to ancient Egypt. Here is another - "The picture on the cover has the square and compass in the wrong positions. With that said, how much could this author really know about the Masonic Fraternity and how much of what he writes could be factual?" - with the title being 'Freemasonry Inside Out - A New Angle on Masonic Secrets' you would have thought this poster might have seen the relevance of the graphic image. "I didnt need to read the book to understand its motive."

Edward L. King, self-styled anti-mason guru, when asked by someone why McFarland was listed on his personal crusading website as an anti-mason said "he is, simply, listed on the site. Nothing more and nothing less" then went on to say about the fact that 'Freemasonry Inside Out' was published in eBook format - "the author didn't even have the brains to find a (quasi) legitimate vanity publisher" and concluded "this guy's not going to go too very far in the world of anti-Masonry. I give him a 3 out of 10". Strangely, he got very excited when I withdrew 'Freemasonry Inside Out' from sale and devoted quite a bit of space on his website, (www.masonicinfo.com) about this and became obsessed with the fact that an article I wrote about my free report for eBook authors was replicated by so many independent websites, that it just had to be a scam (he even provides a link to prove his point!).

I have never posted on alt.freemasonry or had any communications with Mr King but oddly he says "As I had mentioned here in the past, I had received a 'solicitation' from the person you regularly refer to as "Worshipful" or "Past Master" McFarland. His reply to my questions was, to say the least, less than Masonic" and "I don't want to spend money on the book, particularly in light of my correspondence with him" which encouraged others to comment such as "McFarland I have not looked at but I would presume that his posting style also left a lot to be desired". When someone innocently asked whether any of the posters had read the book then he was attacked - "Have we seen YOU around here before. Under a different name perhaps? Or (dare I even suggest this?), perhaps you're looking to stir up comments to sell the book yourself?".

Fortunately some of those that did read the book posted reasonable comments, e.g. "WB McFarland isn't anti-mason by any stretch of the imagination, he simply has some theories about the fraternity that are not popular with some people, and wrote a book called "Freemasonry Inside Out". Personally, I think most of his points are spot on, and I certainly look at the degrees in a whole new way" and "I am a freemason and have read the book. Although I do not agree with all his findings, I did find the book well written and had some good points. The author spent much time as a freemason and some time after he left in writing the book. He does not give away any secrets and offers a good insight of how an ex-mason feels about the craft which is worthy of discussion".

This poster sums it up - "It is masonic critical especially of the Order's secrecy and speculates that members are subtly conformed to go along to get along. Other organizations are referenced for similar indoctrination methods. It challenges an informed response ... and silence, evasion, distraction or ridicule are inadequate for same".

Mr King's comments have prompted me to make 'Freemasonry Inside-Out' available again (with a money-back guarantee) for a short period of time until I decide to withdraw it again, although it will still be available from US public libraries.

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Hugh McFarland