by: Kristin Johnson
What does holly, that untidy traditional greenery you just have to festoon your house with every year, have to do with not tearing your hair out before it's even Thanksgiving? Plenty. You can use H-O-L-L-Y to help you get organized.
1. H: Help
How many times have you tried to do the perfect turkey all by yourself just so your mother-in-law would be impressed? Here's a reality check: (a) If your mother-in-law is any kind of a real woman, she remembers that her mother-in-law put the exact same pressure on her, and (b) if she's the kind of person who complains because the cranberries come from a can, she's the kind of person who complains anyway and would be unhappy if she couldn't try to make you look like an incompetent nitwit, and how a woman like that could raise your wonderful husband is beyond everyone.
If that husband is such a great guy, get him in the kitchen. Sit down and plan what the two of you really want---he might not want a six-course dinner, which is fine, because you don't either. Get the kids involved. By now some of them are at that stage where they want to show off what they can do "all by myself," and you know that even though you hate your daughter's taste in music, she did make killer stuffing last Thanksgiving. And your son makes a great omelet for Christmas morning. Then there's your sister who loves to chat, so put her to work while you listen to her endless monologue.
Electronic help is great too---use a PDA or the family computer to keep a list of recipes and ingredients. There are many great, sometimes free, computer programs available.
2. O: Oh-No
Let's face it. You'll make mistakes. The sugar cookies will burn. You can always "eat" your mistakes and try again---just don't try a new recipe for the first time Christmas Day. In fact, plan for your mistakes. That's right. Most of us spend so much time agonizing over avoiding mistakes we forget that they are going to happen anyway, and not necessarily at our hands. So your best girlfriend Susan brought over deviled ham instead of double chocolate cake...there's a reason we have bakeries, right? Just cheerfully accept the mistake and move on. People can get over a slightly too well-done roast, but they will be downright uncomfortable if you spend the entire dinner moaning about it.
3. L: Love
You know Christmas is the season of love, and you can have as much fun with take-out pizza as you can with an elegant dinner if the company is right. One sure way to recapture love is to bake cookies together. There's nothing like the sight of kids rolling dough and decorating their works of art.
4. L: Let It Be
Sorry for the Paul McCartney overtones, but once you have your plan in place, stick to it---that doesn't mean you can't compromise slightly. Agonizing over turkey versus tofu causes you to lose your appetite, and is as harmful to your cooking as disorganization. Sticking to a decision and keeping your plan, no matter what everyone else thinks, gives you peace of mind.
5. Y: You
Remember that there will be stress around the holidays, but that your mind can choose not to give in. You can choose to refuse another beer because "I'm frazzled" or avoid inviting people you really can't stand just because your mind thinks you have an obligation to be popular and kill yourself feeding 25 people. You can throw snowballs, or, if you live in California, go throw some water on the wildfires...just take your mind off your cooking. You'll rediscover just why it is you're cooking and what you love about Christmas.
So that's your H-O-L-L-Y for a happy holiday. And when all else fails, there's chocolate.
Copyright Kristin Johnson.
Kristin Johnson is co-author of the “highly recommended” Midwest Book Review pick, Christmas Cookies Are For Giving: Stories, Recipes and Tips for Making Heartwarming Gifts (ISBN: 0-9723473-9-9). A downloadablemedia kit is available at our Web site, www.christmascookiesareforgiving.com, or e-mail the publisher (info@tyrpublishing.com) to receive a printed media kit and sample copy of the book. More articles available at http://www.bakingchristmascookies.com.
kristin@poemsforyou.com
Use H-O-L-L-Y to Beat Christmas Cooking Stress
What Are Internet Radio Hosts Looking For In Their Guests?
by: Maxine Thompson
Copyright 2005 Black Butterfly Press
http://www.maxinethompson.com
As an Internet Radio Host of On The Same Page on www.voiceamerica.com, over the past three and a half years, I have interviewed such illustrious guests as Haki Madhubuti of Third World Press, Dr. Rosie Milligan of Milligan Books, Celebrity Mother Love, Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield, (Chicken Soup For the Soul Fame), Dan Poynter, and other writing/publishing experts. From the experienced to the non-experienced guests, this much I have gleaned—these skills are learnable. Even if you are a first-time author, you, too, can become an exciting interviewee.
Why is Internet radio important as a media? For one, it has a global audience. I’ve interviewed guests who were as far away as Paris and in the Bahamas. Anyone with a computer and Internet Access can listen to your show
Most of all, Internet radio is not only the wave of the future, it is beginning to be heard in automobiles, so this is a good place to start your publicity trek.
What are Internet Radio Hosts looking for In Their Guests?
1. Hosts are drawn to an energetic, upbeat, personable guest. If you have a flat liner personality, be honest with yourself. Practice on a tape recorder, even if it’s your own answer machine, or in the mirror. If necessary, get a media coach. But practice, practice, practice.
2. Host like guests who are well-informed and on top of their game. Stay abreast of trends and provide updated new information. (Read the newspaper, the Internet, do research. Be an information junkie.) Consider different hooks and angles, i.e. how has the Internet changed the way we do business? How can writers market their books on the Internet?
3. Hosts like controversy, but not particularly of the “shock jock” variety. If you are speaking on a controversial subject, be non-judgmental and do not offend any particular group of people. Make sure you learn how not to use language, which is condescending or demeaning such as using phrases like “those people.”
4. If you are a fiction writer, show how your novel addresses social issues such as race, police brutality, crime, corruption, drugs, AIDS, etc. Most of all, show how your story can provide information that improves the quality of other people’s lives, even if your story is fiction.
5. If you are from a medical, business or scientific background, make your interview interesting and lively. Don’t make it a pedantic lecture.
Tips for Improving Your Interview:
Send the host your press release and a review copy of your book, including news articles or book reviews, before the show.
Send the host a list of questions or topics that you are well versed in.
Become a guest who knows how to talk about his/her work and not just all about “me.” Remember, people are always tuned into this station—WIFM—“What’s in it For Me?”
Don’t just try to sell the store (your book, your seminar, your product), but sell the story.
Learn to answer in sound bites. Do not go over one minute for a reply.
Drop your voice to cue the host that you are through speaking and waiting for the next question.
Give the host time to ask a question, without having to interrupt, which means you are going on too long.
Learn the importance of pausing and deep breathing. Don’t run on like a motor mouth.
Learn the power of the pause, even while you are answering. This habit will make listeners lean forward to hear what you’re saying. It also sends a message that you are a serious person who chooses his words carefully.
If possible, use anecdotes, recite poems, or read excerpts from your book. Tasteful humor always works.
Don’t forget to provide your web page and where your book can be purchased.
When you hear the music before the break, you have 30 seconds to wrap up whatever point you were making.
Sharpen your axe. Attend Toastmaster’s or join Speaking Bureaus to become a better speaker.
Learn how to adlib and speak off the cuff, particularly if a caller catches you off guard.
Learn to disagree, without being disagreeable.
Listen to other shows as well as “On The Same Page” on www.voiceamerica.com.
Before the show, confirm with the host. (Most of the time, I confirm beforehand.) Email if an emergency comes up and you can’t be on the show.
Although I usually email a thank you note, I seldom get them back. Remember to send a Thank-you email. This could go a long way if you get on Howard Stern’s Show or Oprah’s.
* “On The Same Page” airs on Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time live, then re-airs at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Friday 4:00 p.m. PST and Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
About the author:
Dr. Maxine Thompson, Internet Host, http://www.voiceamerica.comand www.maxinethompson.comand owner of http://www.maxineshow.com. You can sign up for my free newsletter at http://www.maxinethompson.com
What Can I Do for You?
by: Arthur Zulu
FREE HELP FOR UNPUBLISHED WRITERS
Includes editing, reviews, publication, and help to start and develop your story.
EDITING / PROOF READING SERVICES
Any work, any length. Sympathetic to first-time authors.
GHOST WRITING
For books, scripts, including custom-written school essays, term papers and projects.
SCRIPT WRITING
Develop and edit your scripts and submit to Hollywood movie stars.
BOOK REVIEWS
Write a diagnostic evaluation of your work and submit to hundreds of search engines, web sites, and media outlets in any country of your choice.
PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS
Run a story of your business or web site and submit to search engines and the media.
GRANT AND BUSINESS PROPOSALS
Do a successful proposal for your business to help you get money to finance your project.
SEMINAR AND BOOK EVENT SHOWS
Invite the controversial writer to speak in your seminar or book event.
ARTHUR ZULU is an editor, book reviewer, playwright, and published author. He also writes short stories, scripts, essays, and poems, and ghost writes for others.
For his works, professional services, and FREE helps for writers, goto:
http://controversialwriter.tripod.com
mailto: controversialwriter@yahoo.com
Web search: Arthur Zulu
About the Author
Arthur Zulu is an editor, book reviewer, and published author.
When Internet Marketing Gurus Sell Their Soul
by: Gobala Krishnan
If you're just getting started in Internet Marketing, you may be awed by the amount of "Internet Gurus" out there, each one making millions of dollars (or so they claim) and for some reason seem more than willing, for a fee, to teach you their biggest, most intimate secrets.
Well, I believe in one thing - "If it sounds too good to be true, it most probably is!"
While I have no doubt about the specialized skills and techniques used by these gurus, it can get a little too frustrating simply getting tangled and lost in all their hype, and find almost no value at the end of the day. Hype - that's one thing I agree these guru's are really good at. For some of them, unfortunately, hype is the only thing they're good at.
So the question, for those who are trying to master Internet Marketing, might be:
1. Can I learn anything from these gurus without paying money?
2. Who's real and who's not?
3. Whose Internet marketing methods should I follow?
Question 1: Can I Learn Something for Free?
Most Internet guru's have opt-in newsletters on specialized subjects like website marketing, Pay-Per-Click advertising, search engine optimization or whatever specialized skill they have "mastered". Almost all of them try to convince you to subscribe to their newsletter in return for some kind of "breakthrough" report, and promise to deliver "valuable information" weekly or monthly to your email address. Sounds great...
Here's what happens 2 weeks later - You realize that the "breakthrough report" is the same old regurgitated information which you can find almost anywhere. You might also realize that the "valuable information" almost never comes without any hidden agenda. The "valuable information" usually turns out to be a soft-selling ad (sometimes even blatant advertisements) for the guru's latest products or paid seminars, or even worse, some other Internet marketer's products.
I'm not trying to shoot down any marketer here, but the irony is in their teaching. Almost all internet gurus would advice you to offer valuable, free information that benefits other people. Profits, as they say, is secondary to actually helping people and making a difference in their lives. Give before you take....what a load of BS!
How come they don't practice what they preach? Of is that how the "Internet Marketing Game" is really played? Surely, nobody minds receiving ads and promotions, as long as there is a fair deal of free information being offered.
Fortunately, not all Internet marketers are the same. There are still some jewels to be found, and they offer some great information in their newsletters, which they unselfishly offer for free, such as:
1. Vishal Rao (http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com) talks about starting and managing home based businesses.
2. Mike Cheney (http://www.magnet4web.com) talks about building an effective and efficient business web site.
3. Jill Whalen (http://www.highrankings.com) talks about Search Engine Optimization.
4. Allan Gardyne (http://www.associateprograms.com) is the authority on affiliate programs and affiliate marketing, with an award-winning newsletter.
Of course there are many more good marketers out there, and you'll have to get through several bad ones first before you get to the good ones. It is not necessary to subscribe to every Internet Marketing newsletter just to hope for nuggets of gold that may never come. Instead, give the gurus a "trial" month, and if you don't find anything of value from them, just unsubscribe from their mailing lists.
It will only be a loss to them, not you.
Question 2 : Who's Real and Who's Not?
To answer this question, you really have to "get around" the Internet a lot. Take part in Internet Marketing forums where you will definitely find topics on info-products, seminars and software offered by these gurus, and see what others are saying about them.
Forget about all those blaring testimonials that the gurus compile on their site. After visiting several guru websites, you may start to find the same faces and names, helping each other out by giving testimonials which are seldom backed by proof. Forums are where the real testimonials are.
If you find yourself browsing the Internet a lot, trying to find good value for money, then you'll need the Alexa toolbar. What this toolbar does is that it gives you an idea of the popularity of the website you're visiting. Secondly, it allows you to see who the closest competitors are, giving you more alternatives to choose from. Besides that, it also displays reviews and ratings given by others who have visited the website or used any product being sold via the website. This is where you'll find the "not so beautifully polished" opinions and testimonials.
- Alexa Toolbar : http://www.home-business-association.com/rd/alexa/
(Alexa is owned by Amazon.com. If you're concerned about installing toolbars on your computer, make sure you adjust the privacy settings accordingly)
You may also want to consider this site:
- GuruDaq : http://www.gurudaq.com
Taking on a Nasdaq-like approach, this site lists all gurus according to ratings and 'stock price'. Although I would advice you to take it more for its entertainment value than actual recommendations, perhaps this site will allow you to get a glimpse of "who's who" in Internet Marketing.
Question 3 : Whose methods should I follow?
Honestly, nobody's. At least not word-for-word of what is thought in their newsletters or ebooks. The important thing to realize is that you need to develop your own technique to be really successful. The guru's don't teach you everything, anyway. They almost always feed you the crop but keep the cream for themselves. In other words, no one really tells you the "hot money-making secrets". They only teach you their not-so-secret money making facts.
There are many places you can get reviews on internet marketing ebooks, but be warned that most will be biased in one way or another. Here's a good downloadable PDF resource on ebook reviews, distributed with the permission of the author:
- "Web Promotion Products Exposed" by Mike Cheney:
http://www.magnet4web.com/WebPromotionProductsExposed.pdf
Its really up to you to learn some tips and tricks of the trade from Internet gurus, but set out on your own course. In order to be successful in anything, you need to do your own thing. Be original in your approach, whether it's writing sales letters, doing email marketing, writing articles, pay-per-click or search engine optimization, and the world will take notice.
It is also important to realize that before you go around shopping for all kinds of "how-to" material and software, you need to get a good grip of what your business really needs. You'll need to develop a strong, specific and detailed business plan before you set out on a quest to improve your knowledge on that are critical to the success to your business. Here are some good resources for writing effective business plans:
* http://www.home-business-association.com/rd/bplans/
* http://www.bplans.com
When you know what your business truly needs, you're more likely to recognize the exact type of internet marketing method you'll need to study and master. Don't just look to someone who has sold their soul a long time ago to guide you to the path of success.
That's just wishful thinking.
Gobala Krishnan is an internet marketer and home business owner. Visit his site at http://www.sfidreamteam.com to start your own Internet based home business today, and get a free kick start package, one-on-one coaching and a clear, proven system to earn a six figure income. Article reprint info available at http://pub.gobalakrishnan.com
Who is watching You?
by: By Val .K.
Which is your preferred reality TV show: Survivor, Real World, American Idol, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, Big Brother, Dog Days, Starting Over, or Temptation Island? Or is it Paradise Hotel, Playing it Straight, Mad Mad House, Love Cruise, Last Comic Standing or Next Action Star? Would you prefer Road Rules, My Big Fat Fiancé, Forever Eden, Fame, Both Camp, or the longer name Beg, Borrow and Deal? How about The Apprentice, Top Model, Rebel Billionaire, Extreme Makeover, I Want a Famous Face, and Fear Factor. Consider a more bizarre list: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Queer Eye for the Straight Girl, Can You Be a Porn Star?, Wife Swap, and Murder in Small Town X. Because the list is long, I had to abridge it. (What an abridgement!) So, forgive me if I excluded your favorite.
It appears, nowadays, that everyone has a new concept for reality TV. (Next season watch out for these new shows coming your way: The Cut, Rock Star, Fire me . . . Please.) But not all new concepts make it to TV land. Some, like the dream conquests of Hannibal and Napoleon, are writ on water. For the other day while browsing the Web, I came across these "new" ideas for reality TV shows, which might never see daylight: Ultimate Reality, World's Scariest Prostitute Chases, World's Most Uneventful Videos, Middle School Blind Date, Rent-a-Cops, When Hobos Attack, Joe Heterosexual, Accountants, The Saddams, Meet my Internet Stalkers, I'm an Online Gamer. Since everyone is coming up with their own concepts for reality TV, I shan't be undone. So here are mine: Tax Evaders and My neighbors, the Terrorists.
The proliferation of reality TV shows only highlights their popularity—they are over a hundred of them running on cable alone. And their ratings are enough to make TV producers dream up more. For out of 10 most viewed television programs 5 are reality shows. Like the smash hit among reality buffs, Big Brother. But little do the many fans of these shows realize its allusion to Orwell's classic novel, 1984, where the machinery of a totalitarian state, personified by an anonymous "Big Brother," oversees the lives of its citizens. In the book spy cameras were every where—in the bathrooms, in bedrooms, and at places of work!
In the days of yore spying was the sole reserve of Intelligence agencies. Like the American CIA, the British MI6, the Israeli Mossad, and the defunct Soviet Union's KGB. Now, anyone who has the right tools and a little time could play "Big Brother." Like in Thailand, Asia, where peeping-Toms run amok and famous actresses and ministers are filmed having sex in their own boudoirs, and beamed live to viewers all over the country. (The Clinton / Lewinsky fiasco was sissy stuff.)
And not too long ago in Spain, a man was caught by the Spanish police for spying, and stealing people's data through their webcams. Scary? I have heard worse. Because you can also be spied upon through your computer monitor.
Paranoia appears to be necessary in today's brave new world. Because privacy is nix. Hear this from Andrew Shen, a privacy analyst at the Electronics Privacy information Center (EPIC): "Most people haven't fully grasped how everything that you see or do on the Internet is recorded and stored somewhere." Or this more harrowing remark from Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems: "You already have zero privacy—get used to it."
Yes, get over it. Because in today's knowledge obsessed world, data is priced commodity. And any organization—or individual—who wants it will. And the sad thing about this is that we most times give it away without knowing. Did you just ask how? Simple. You are the kind that likes to download lot of free stuff—music, games, softwares and what have you. But what you never knew is that you are actually paying for those programs with your personal data. Surprised? Don't be. (There is no such thing as a free lunch.) And when this data is taken and used for marketing purposes it can also be sold to a third party, who may use it for whatever it pleases.
And if you're not tricked into giving your data away, there are always insidious programs like Cookies and Trojan horses. A Cookie is a program which you sometimes download for the better viewing of certain websites. (It is a security loophole and can be used by skilled hackers and crackers to infiltrate your system.) A Trojan horse—like the fabled wooden horse which the Greeks used in infiltrating Troy—is a back door to your computer which a cracker can use whenever he or she desires to steal data. Or simply take over your computer to cause mayhem. (To discover a Trojan horse—it works invisibly—a good antivirus like Norton, MacAfee, or even Panda is required.)
They are a lot of compromised websites out there embedded with Spywares and Trojan Horses. But the problem is—it's impossible to tell a normal website from a compromised one. So what do you do? The best bet is to browse without downloading anything you don't trust. I personally prefer this advice from Bob Kane's and Bill Fingers' Batman: "Trust nobody." Because your friends' computers or emails maybe compromised without them ever knowing it. (Never open an attachment you are not expecting, even from those you know.)
With the Net and the Web came good things. Like the exchange of knowledge and ideas (a student studying micro electronics somewhere in Srilanka maybe reading the latest development in nanotechnology published by professors in MIT.) People interact today from far corners of the globe who would not have met ten years ago (a boy from South Africa chatting with a girl from the Philippines). We can download the latest music through Mp3s. We can send and receive pictures and home movie videos. But for all this freedom which the web gives we pay a price—we forfeit our privacies. Because anyone, anywhere on the Web, who is interested, can trace us. (Our digital tracts are everywhere.)
So, even if you choose to move unnoticed like a phantom by using an Anonymizer—a software which masks your identity—it's all just a means to make us feel better. Because the fact is no matter what we do on the Net, no matter how we try to conceal our movements or even use softwares to protect our privacies—Big Brother is watching us!
Val .K. is a poet, and a nature lover. A collection of his poems "Without a Name" will soon be published by AuthorHouse, U.S.A. For personal contact, send mails to: leviathandepthsreturns@yahoo.com
About the Author
Val .K. is a free lance writer, a book reviewer, a poet, and a nature lover.
Writing Fiction to Get Rich
by: Michael LaRocca
WRITING FICTION TO GET RICH
Copyright 2004, Michael LaRocca
Some of us write simply because we can't not write. Ideas grab us, move us, and demand to be written. We strive to make it as real as we possibly can, to improve at our craft every day, hopefully to make it into the realm of literature as well as entertainment. We want to craft an entire world where the places and people are so real that the reader doesn't feel like he's reading a book as much as he is going to another place. In the lofty world of literature that we strive for, the reader will still think about the book after reading that last page. It's our gift to the reader, something to take with him. Given sufficient skill, this can even happen long after we are dead.
Then we learn that doesn't sell. Oh, there are exceptions. Some novelists make a living by consistently writing quality literature. But, there are quite a few best sellers who have no such goals. They write for money, and they make it.
Even the writer who has written great literature has trouble marketing it that way. We have to look at our "target audience." Who will buy this book? Let me see, our heroine survived spousal abuse, so there's an audience. There's a suicide, so we can get the bereavement crowd. Where's the setting? We can get a local audience. The hero's a cop. Maybe the teen boys will go for that. Nah, too light on action. But there's a romance. Maybe we'll market to the romance readers. Give the hero bedroom eyes and pass him off as a romantic hero. Yeah, that might work.
But if you want to write to get rich, even that's not enough. Nah, the time to think about your reader is before you write the book, not after.
Throw in lots of gratuitous sex, preferably extramarital. One (and only one) character who flirts and is sorely tempted and walks away from "love" to remain true to his wife.
Use taboo words for shock value. Ram, hump, scream, oral sex, voluptuous, female orgasm (the great revelation). Make sure a lot of your leads enjoy sex. Horny women are a good way to pull in the readers you want. We all know men are horny, but most of your readers haven't discovered that some women enjoy sex too. Tell them this. Give the female readers a balm for their consciences and the male readers someone to dream about.
Your heroine should be tough, sweet, sensitive, and very horny, and has to think she's not attractive even though every guy in the book except her husband falls off his chair with a tent in his pants.
Don't let the length of a novel faze you. Just throw some people on the stage, move them around a bit, and get them into bed. Then, change the rules so they have to move around a bit again and get them back into bed. (It doesn't always have to be a bed. Office desks and car seats work too.) When the book's long enough, stop. Don't worry about the "climax," because people are climaxing all over the place.
Exotic locales. Foreign countries with beaches. Lots of rich people. Remember that you're writing for the lowest common denominator, because they spend most of the money that you're trying to reel in. Make it sleazy. No one ever went broke underestimating the public.
How to publish? To do it right, write the sales pitch before you write the book. Make sure the book follows the pitch and the formula. If your cover letter alone has eight typos, no problem. Nobody cares. The publisher will wanna rush this baby to print and get you, or an attractive stand-in, doing as many TV appearances as possible before the book reviewers have time to draw breath. Heck, your target market doesn't read book reviews anyway! Also keep in mind that once that reader buys your book, you've won. They won't get a refund just because you're illiterate. So don't worry about hiring an editor. Hire a publicist!
Think Hollywood. You want your book to become a movie. It doesn't have to be a good movie, because most of them aren't. It just has to sell, baby, sell! Write parts for all the hottest stars. True, today's hottest stars will have faded by the time they start filming your movie, but no matter. Someone just like them will replace them.
I've been doing it wrong for all these years. I started writing over 20 years ago, and the five books I have on the shelves are enough to make it a hobby that barely pays for itself. Meanwhile, I work at a job for my money. But if you follow my advice, you won't make the same mistakes I have. You'll get rich!
Michael LaRocca's website at http://freereads.topcities.com was chosen by WRITER'S DIGEST as one of The 101 Best Websites For Writers in 2001 and 2002. He published two novels in 2002 and has two more scheduled for publication in 2004. He also works as an editor for an e-publisher. He teaches English at a university in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China, and publishes the free weekly newsletter Mad About Books.
Your First Step To A Digital Publishing Empire
by: Markku Saastamoinen
The hardest part of writing is the first sentence. When you look at the whole project, it seems like an
impossible task. That's why you have to break it down into manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain. You are standing at the foot of it and looking up at its summit vanishing into the clouds. How can you possibly scale such an immense and dangerous mountain?
There is only one way to climb a mountain ? step by step.
Now think of writing your ebook in the same light. You must create it step by step, and one day, you will take that last step and find yourself standing on the summit with your head in the clouds.
The first thing you have to do, as if you actually were a mountain climber, is to get organized. Instead
of climbing gear, however, you must organize your thoughts. There are some steps you should take before you begin. Once you've gone through the following list, you will be ready to actually begin writing your ebook.
Beginning Steps to Writing an ebook
First, figure out your ebook's working title. Jot down a few different titles, and eventually, you'll find
that one that will grow on you. Titles help you to focus your writing on your topic; they guide you in
anticipating and answering your reader's queries. Many non-fiction books also have subtitles. Aim for clarity in your titles, but cleverness always helps to sell books ? as long as it's not too cute. For example, Remedies for Insomnia: twenty different ways to count sheep. Or: Get off that couch: fifteen exercise plans to whip you into shape.
Next, write out a thesis statement. Your thesis is a sentence or two stating exactly what problem you are addressing and how your book will solve that problem.
All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement. Once you've got your thesis statement fine-tuned,
you've built your foundation. From that foundation, your book will grow, chapter by chapter.
Your thesis will keep you focused while you write your ebook. Remember: all chapters must support your thesis statement. If they don't, they don't belong in your book. For example, your thesis statement could read: We've all experienced insomnia at times in our lives, but there are twenty proven techniques and methods to give you back a good night's sleep.
Once you have your thesis, before you start to write, make sure there is a good reason to write your book. Ask yourself some questions:
* Does your book present useful information and is that information currently relevant?
* Will you book positively affect the lives of your readers?
* Is your book dynamic and will it keep the reader's attention?
* Does you book answer questions that are meaningful and significant?
If you can answer yes to these questions, you can feel confident about the potential of your ebook.
Another important step is to figure out who your target audience is. It is this group of people you
will be writing to, and this group will dictate many elements of your book, such as style, tone, diction,
and even length. Figure out the age range of your readers, their general gender, what they are most
interested in, and even the socio-economic group they primarily come from. Are they people who read fashion magazines or book reviews? Do they write letters in longhand or spend hours every day online. The more you can pin down your target audience, the easier it will be to write your book for them.
Next, make a list of the reasons you are writing your ebook. Do you want to promote your business? Do you want to bring quality traffic to your website? Do you want to enhance your reputation?
Then write down your goals in terms of publishing. Do you want to sell it as a product on your website, or do you want to offer it as a free gift for filling out a survey or for ordering a product? Do you want to use the chapters to create an e-course, or use your ebook to attract affiliates around the world? The more you know upfront, the easier the actual writing will be.
Decide on the format of your chapters. In non-fiction, keep the format from chapter to chapter fairly
consistent. Perhaps you plan to use an introduction to your chapter topic, and then divide it into four
subhead topics. Or you may plan to divide it into five parts, each one beginning with a relevant anecdote.
How to make your ebook "user friendly"
You must figure out how to keep your writing engaging. Often anecdotes, testimonials, little stories, photos, graphs, advice, and tips will keep the reader turning the pages. Sidebars are useful for quick, accessible information, and they break up the density of the page.
Write with a casual, conversational tone rather than a formal tone such as textbook diction. Reader's respond to the feeling that you are having a conversation with them. Break up the length and structure of your sentences so you don?t hypnotize your readers into sleep. Sentences that are all the same length and structure tend to be a good aid for insomnia!
Good writing takes practice. It takes lots and lots of practice. Make a schedule to write at least a page a day. Read books and magazines about the process of writing, and jot down tips that jump out at you. The art of writing is a lifetime process; the more you write (and read), the better your writing will become. The better your writing becomes, the bigger your sales figures.
In an ebook that is read on the screen, be aware that you must give your reader's eye a break. You can do this by utilizing white space. In art classes, white space is usually referred to as "negative space."
Reader's eyes need to rest in the cool white oasises you create on your page. If your page is too dense,
your reader will quit out of it as soon as their eyes begin to tear.
Make use of lists, both bulleted and numbered. This makes your information easy to absorb, and gives the reader a mental break from dissecting your paragraphs one after the other.
Finally, decide on an easy-to-read design. Find a font that's easy on the eyes, and stick to that font
family. Using dozens of fonts will only tire your readers out before they've gotten past your
introduction. Use at least one and a half line spacing, and text large enough to be read easily on
the screen, but small enough so that the whole page can be seen on a computer screen. You will have to experiment with this to find the right combination.
Of course, don't forget to run a spell and grammar check. You are judged by something as minor as correct punctuation, so don?t mess up a great book by tossing out semicolons randomly, or stringing sentences together with commas. (By the way, that's called a "comma splice.")
Last of all, create an index and a bibliography. That's it! You've written a book! Now all you have to
do is publish your ebook online, and wait for download request from your website visitors.
About the author:
Markku Saastamoinen is an Online Business Entrepreneur and
has recently created an amazing system for increasing
your free time AND profits in few weeks at:
http://www.megapreneursystem.com
Your Name on the Line
by: Val .K.
I might be in “big” trouble. Because some persons hacked into my e-mail box. I don’t know who they are. But I am worried. No! Scared. Because I know its implications. And these may be far reaching—even, incriminating. I might just be visited, any day from now, by Interpol or the local police. And arrested—like one of my unfortunate friends—for any of the dozen or so cyber crimes.
But know this. I will not be arrested for denial-of-service attacks. Neither will it be for credit card hijacks. Nor downloading my MP3 songs into NASA’s computers. Not even of every hackers dream--gaining access into the Pentagon's secret files to find out if “Area 51” exists.
I would not be arrested in a "blaze of glory" like Kevin Mitnick, a former prima hacker. But like some bogus Nigerian prince.
The situation in which I find myself, however, is not an isolated case. Because I am just one of the many victims of identity theft which the FBI called the "hottest, and most troubling, new scam on the Internet."
I might call myself lucky because I found out soon. (I checked my e-mail, only to find scam mails sent from it, much to my horror.) But there are those not so fortunate. And these had to wait months, or even years, before finding out that some miscreant was using their name as a front.
Because of this some have lost their credit card privileges, loans, houses and jobs. Or in some cases, arrested for crimes they did not commit. Can life be this unfair? It is. Because the dishonesty of others may rub off on you. (Like the sins of the fathers visited upon the sons.)
Dishonesty is an art. And the spammers have gotten so artful. Gone are the days when you worried about the simple spam mail. Though annoying, these were easily detectable. Now, your worries are greater—the mails are not easily detectable. So good are these counterfeits, replete with links and genuine looking logos of bonafide outfits like eBay, that many customers are deceived into parting with their credit card and social security details. And the name of this new actor in our cyber sitcom? Phishing mail.
When trouble comes it does so in pairs. For phishing mail—like Bonnie and Clyde—don’t operate alone. It also has an even more deceptive collaborator named pharming or website faking. And this is rife. For every genuine website there may be 10 or more falsies.
The modus operandi of spammers are becoming nastier by the day. I know of some phishing mails which compromise your e-mail box when you open them. Some pharming techniques are known to target web browsers like Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. The purpose, redirection. So when you type a URL of an authentic website, say, www.aol.com, it takes you not to American Online but to a bogus website. And be preyed upon. Cyberspace is not the Nirvana you thought it was.
Because “Dragons” so says one writer “live there.” And the dragons—a dishonest few with criminal intent—are out to get us.
But while we wait for Saint George or a group of dragon slayers to deliver us from this menace, I have a siesta. And I dream. And in my dream I find myself teleported into the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons, and chased by goblins, wizards and warlocks.
And I flee into a nearby tower and bolt its immense door. My adversaries are outside, thirsty for my blood. I climb its stairs to the top. I peer down. I see them produce, a battering ram.Suddenly I awake to sharp raps on my door. I start. Could it be Interpol come to take me away? My fear returns with a vengeance. I hear a voice. And heave a sigh of relief. It was not the cops after all. But a friend!
Val .K. is a poet, and a nature lover. A collection of his poems "Without a Name" will soon be published by AuthorHouse, U.S.A. For personal contact, send mails to: leviathandepthsreturns@yahoo.com
About the Author
Val .K. is a freelance writer, a book reviewer, a poet and a nature lover
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