by: Tony Murtagh | |
Weather posting a page to your Website, writing a letter to a customer, or submitting an article for publication, it is extremely important to demonstrate how professional you are. Not only does a series of spelling and grammatical errors show a discourtesy to your readers, it makes you look amateurish. Potential customers will lose any trust they may have had in your business. Only a week or so ago, I read a classified ad asking me to visit their "sight" - needless to say I did not bother. If someone does not take care over their advertising, how reliable is the rest of their business? Perhaps you are not very good at spelling - or typing - and your articles and letters are riddled with mistakes (probably when you were working for an employer you had a secretary to type your male) so, what are you going to do? The first thing, but NOT the only thing, is to use your spellchecker. This is fine to get rid of the typos and obvious spelling mistakes, but does not correct any instances of you typing in the wrong word e.g. there (denoting a place) or their (belonging to them). So, read your work back after you have written it. Many people find that actually reading out loud is a great way of spotting errors. If it is an important item, print it off and read it a little while after you have typed it. Ideally, get someone else to reed it and mark off any errors. When I was involved in publishing, it was always a strict rule, even with the most experienced writers, to get someone else to check their work. It is surprising how often one is unable to spot one's own mistakes. So to summarise, use your spellchecker, re-read the item yourself, print out and proof read and ideally get someone else to do the proof reading. One last point, make allowances for the fact that some articles are written in "British" English, as opposed to "American" English. So if you see colour spelled color, or centre spelled center, the author has not misspelled the word, he is just likely to be American (or at least has the American version of English on his spellchecker.) And finally, there are three deliberate mistakes in this article where I have intentionally used the wrong word (at least I HOPE there are only three!!) in order to demonstrate the point I am making. The first three readers to email me detailing the errors will each be given a FREE ad in my newsletter and in the classified sevtion of my Web Site. murtagh@bigfoot.com?subject=TAD
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miércoles, 23 de febrero de 2011
Don't Rely on your Spellchecker - or - The Importance of Good Proof Reading
Take My Publisher, Please!
by: Ed Williams | |
An actual phone conversation I had earlier today.... “Hello, is this Ed?” “Uh, yes it is.” “Ed Williams, the writer guy?” “Uh, yeah, Ed Williams the writer guy.” “How are you? My name is Sam Filbert, and I’m a big fan.” “Hey Sam, it’s nice to meet you, what can I do for you?” “It’s really you, isn’t it?” “Yeah Sam, last time me and my mirror met, it was me.” “What? Oh, okay! I see what you’re meaning. That could even be funny, you know. Did you mean for it to be?” “Just horsin‘ around. What can I do for you?” “I was given your name and number by your dad, Fred Williams, Jr. He seems like a really nice guy. We talked for a long time, and then he gave me your phone number so that I could call you. What a great guy!” “Great isn‘t even close to how I‘d describe him right now, Sam. Old Fred is quite a guy, and then some. Now look, I have some work I have to get done, and I know you didn’t call just to tell me just how much you like sweet old Fred. What can I do for you?” “Ed, I wanted to know if you’d like to help America’s next humor writing superstar!” “Well, tell me the name of the person and what they’ve done, and then we can talk more.” “Ed, with all due respect, I’m talkin’ about myself!” “Sam, you write?” “I sure do, Ed. Let me tell you a little about what I’ve written. For the last six months I’ve written something every day, in fact, I write at least two pages each day no matter what!” “Sam, that’s very impressive. What kind of stuff do you write?” “Well, I love to write stories about growing up in a small Southern town. I grew up in Shady Dale, Georgia, so my manuscript is a bunch of funny stories about all the crazy things we did when I was growing up there.” “That’s great, Sam, I give you a lot of credit for being persistent enough to complete an entire manuscript. That’s quite an accomplishment. What’s next for you?” “That’s where you come in, Ed.” “That’s where I come in? What’re you talking about?” “Ed, look. I know getting a book published is hard. Real hard. And I’m sitting here with all these great stories about growing up in Shady Dale - I have no doubt that they’ll be popular and sell tons of books. That’s where you come in, and that’s where you can help me. You can get me in front of a publisher in no time, and then I’ll convince them that they need to publish my book!” “I can do that? How?” “Just introduce me to the people over at River City Publishing, your publisher. I’ll take it from there. Once they see my stories, I guarantee you they’ll want to do a book.” “Ummmmm, Sam, I don’t quite know quite how to say this, but my own stuff happens to be “growing up in the country” stories set in Juliette. If I bring River City your stories, which also seem to be “growing up in the country” stories set in Shady Dale, then I’m competing with myself. And that’s a not a very smart thing for me to do.” “Ed, you’re being a little selfish here, aren’t you? I know my stories are better, but I’ll bet you could still find someone to continue publishing yours. River City is just one publisher, I’ll sure you could find another one.” “Exactly, Sam, which is why you should take the initiative and go out and find your own publisher. I wish you the best in your search.” “You’re not gonna help me? Don’t you think you’re being a little selfish here, Ed?” “No, Sam, I don‘t. I wish you the best of luck.” “Man, this isn’t how your dad Fred said it would go. I trusted him, especially after reading so much about him. Mr. Fred said you like helping new writers, and here I am asking you for help, and you don’t wanna help me.” “Sam, tell you what, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll help you out with River City if you’ll go out first and find me another publisher. Then we’d be even, you’ll have a publisher and I’ll have a publisher. Whatcha think?” “I gotta run, Ed. The wife is hollering for me. Tell Fred hello!” *click*........................
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The Biggest Challenge Facing A Poet, Getting Published
by: Rose DesRochers | |
The best advice that I can give any child or adult who wants to be a poet is to read lots of poetry. Get a feel for poetry. Look at different styles of poetry. I have grown so much in my own writing by reading the work of other poets. Don’t be afraid to accept constructive criticism. Part of being a writer is being able to accept criticism. Everyone who writes poetry is eager to publish a book but why not start out small. Before you send off your poetry for publication ask yourself if you are ready. It might be wise to Join an online poetry community and share your poetry with other poets who will be honest with you and offer some constructive criticism. Once you are ready to take that plunge the best place to start is poetry magazines and ezines . You might also want to check some publishers that accept poetry for anthologies. You are going to want to purchase a copy of Poet’s Market that is published annually. This is an essential book for poets who are interested in publishing their work. For younger poets some places you might want to check out are Poetry for Kids , Teen Ink and About.com's Creative Writing for Teens. You are also going to want to reach your market. You are going to want to see just what kind of poetry the magazine publishes as often time’s magazines will receive poetry that is just not right for their magazine. Submission guidelines are on most sites and many magazines will post a sample of poems that can be found in their magazine. When submitting your poetry to magazines. Always present it in typescript, using a simple 10 or 12 point font like Arial or Times New Roman. Present a cover letter that is professional addressing the magazine editor by their name. Offer the poems for publication in their magazines, be sure to list your other publications if any and thank the editor for considering your work for possible publication. Send them about five of your poems and always include a S.A.E. (Self Addressed Envelope) with your submission. Editors most times do not return your poems but without submitting a S.A.E. your poems won’t even be looked at. Also make sure that you have included enough return postage in your S.A.E. Example of a cover letter: Dear (name), Please consider the enclosed poems for publication in (name of magazine). I have enclosed a self-addressed stamped envelope for your reply. Thank you for your consideration of my work for possible publication. Your very brief bio here and other publications here.) If you are submitting by email make sure that you follow the guidelines on the website. Most publishers prefer the poem to be submitted as an attachment in word document. If you are unsure of the guidelines it never hurts to email the editor and ask them. You should never submit a poem that has already been published or that you have sent to another magazine to be published. This includes if you have published them on your own homepage. In most cases magazines will consider a poem posted on your website or an open poetry community to be already published. Therefore you will not be able to claim first rights to it and most magazines; newspapers etc will not accept it as submission. Sandra Soli of byline magazine says if a poem appears on a web page, it is published. If a poem can be accessed via the general internet user, it is published. On the other hand, if the forum is closed to a limited membership and your poem is not available for general viewing, then she would consider that a workshopped item just as in a private critique group. This concerns how easily the piece can be accessed by readers. Most web appearances are open to all and byline magazines considers that to be a publication. The Pedestal Magazine quotes “The Pedestal Magazine would consider such a piece previously published, in that it has been inserted into the public domain If you are submitting work that has already appeared in the web for publication, mention in the cover letter the forum(s) where the poems have been posted and let the editor make an informed decision. You really do not want to do anything that jeopardizes your chances of seeing your poem published. Also be sure to keep track of all your submissions. Then prepare yourself also for a long wait. Chicken Soup for the soul states that they receive 100 stories per day and it takes up to three years to develop a book. Poets should not be discouraged by rejections. Part of being a poet or any kind of writer is preparing yourself for rejection. Trust me I’m an over sensitive person and when I got my first rejection letter I thought it was the end of the world. But I later learned that a rejection letter does not mean that you are by any means a bad poet. A rejection letter should never discourage you from pursuing your craft. Not all poetry will be published but find comfort in knowing that someday somewhere your poem will find its rightful reader. By all means consider me and every other writer who has been rejected on your side. Having your poetry published is only one part of writing. Until it happens and you have that first publication enjoy your writing and join a community and find a few good readers and supporters of your work and be proud that you took the step and sent your poetry off to be considered for publication. I have a confession of my own I have only had my poetry published in a few newspapers, ezines, and my own book that was published by one of the worse publishers out there but that has not discourage me one bit from working towards fulfilling my dreams or wishing my fellow poets great success. I have had my accomplishments and one of the greatest is seeing that an article such as this one I have just written might help just one of you. Many poets end up self-publishing their own writing and that isn’t a bad rout to go either. To find out about self publishing and pod publishing be sure to read my article Publishing and Promoting of Poetry Anthologies and Chapbooks Goodluck and have fun writing. Resource links http://www.todays-woman.net/link-23.html
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I'm A Romance Novel Hero!
I'm A Romance Novel Hero! | |
by: Ed Williams | |
Before we get started here, let me tell y’all that what you’re about to read is the absolute truth. The absolute, unvarnished truth. I swear it on every one of my Elvis and BTO CDs. Now, let’s get right down to it, y’all just focus your eyes on the following sentence: I was the inspiration for the male lead in a published romance novel. Okay, okay, scoff all y’all want. I’m not shooting the bull here, I’m shooting just as straight as Annie Oakley. And before I give out the name of this book, I need to tell y’all a little about its author and how it all came about. Trish Jensen is the author of the book in question. Those of you who read romantic fiction might know her name, as she’s the author of several highly popular romance novels, her two latest being “Stuck With You,” and “Against His Will.” Let me also add that Trish (www.trishjensen.com) publishes with Leisure Books, a large New York based publishing house. So Trish is a major league romance author, she’s the real deal, a veritable BTO of publishing acumen, and she also happens to be a wonderful judge of character, if I do say so myself. Trish and I met out in cyberspace several years ago because we both frequented a popular writer’s online group at that time. She writes humor, and I try to, so we became friends. I give Trish a whole lot of credit, she gave me lots of encouragement when I first began writing, and I credit a lot of whatever has happened since directly to her. Friends like her don’t just come along everyday, and I’m very proud of her and her accomplishments. Now, in order to fully disclose, I feel that I need to tell y’all something else about Trish - she’s a yankee. Yep, I know some of y’all may be in shock over this, and I fully understand, but she’s still a good person. The best thing about Trish is that she realizes that the true utopia of the United States is right here in the South, and on account of that just about all of her books are set here. She’s so good at writing about us that I sometimes wonder if she’s being totally truthful about never having lived here. There’s some Southern blood somewhere in this girl, for sure. Now, about the book. A few years ago, when Trish was just starting out, she wrote a romance novel called “Send Me No Flowers.” She even had to use her maiden name, Trish Graves, on the book’s cover because of some kind of contractual thing regarding her name with another publisher. Anyway, Trish starts writing this book, and the lead male character happens to be a South Carolina sheriff who’s honest, good looking, and who has women falling all over him. She named this character Rob Townsend. And when Trish considered all of his qualities, she felt that there was only one true role model for Rob, only one living person out there who could fully capture his essence, and that was moi. Me. So the book got written, and you can get on the internet and probably find a copy out there somewhere if you look really, really hard. And if y’all still don’t want to believe me, just take a gander at the dedication to the book after you get your hands on one. Read it closely. Ahem. Case closed. Y’all might wonder why I’m finally “outing” myself as the male lead of a romance novel after this much time. Well, I’m doing it cause Trish has been a little under the weather here lately, and sometimes I think you need to acknowledge dear friends who’ve been kind to you. And in this case one who’s always been kind to me. Odds are that she’ll probably get a look at this article, and I sincerely hope that she realizes just how special she is, and why I’ll always think so fondly of her. She’s a great writer, and an even classier person. I could go on and write even more about her, but I‘m scheduled for some plastic surgery in just a couple of days, so I’ve gotta start packing - after all, one never knows when they might meet the editor of Playgirl Magazine somewhere out there in the literary world...
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The Three Cs of Writing an Excellent all Purpose Headline
by: Steven Boaze |
Since the headline is the first contact your readers have with your message, it must reach out to them. Promise them a benefit. Tell them how they will be better off if they read the rest of the ad. Use action verbs. Save ten dollars is a stronger heading than Savings of ten dollars because of the verb. Headlines can be classified into the following five basic types; effective headlines frequently combine two or more of these kinds. News Headlines This form tells the reader something he or she did not know before. Using the word news does not make it a news headline. "Now - a copy machine that copies in color" is an example of this type headline. Advice and Promise Headline Here you are promising something if the reader follows the advice in your ad. "Switch to Amoco premium, no-lead gasoline, and your car will stop pinging." Selective Headline This headline limits the audience to a specific group. For example: "To all gray-haired men over forty." Caution! Be absolutely sure you do not eliminate potential customers with this type of headline. Curiosity Headline The intent here is to arouse the reader's interest enough to make him or her read the ad. The danger is that this headline often appears "cute" or "clever" and fails in its mission. An example: "Do you have trouble going to sleep at night?" Command or Demand Headline Watch out for this one as most people resist pushiness, especially in advertising. "Do it now!" or "Buy this today!" This headline generally can be improved by changing to less obtrusive wording such as: "Call for your key to success!" One common misconception about headlines is that they must be short and easy to understand. This is not always true. Here is a headline that was used extensively in print ads by Ogilvy and Mather for one of their clients: At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock. Illustrations There are three primary reasons for using illustrations in an advertisement.
Everyone has heard, A picture is worth a thousand words; in advertising, the illustration frequently helps the reader visualize the benefits promised. You can almost feel the warmth of the tropical sun when you see the photos in January travel ads. Cost and practicality may dictate whether your ad uses photographs, artists' drawings or merely canned artwork. Any of these can make the ad more appealing to the reader's eye. Copy If you follow the three principles of good copy, your ads will be effective:
Clear, crisp and concise . . . the three Cs of copy writing suggest that the words in your advertising message merely do a good job of communicating. Do not use big words when small words can make your meaning clear. Use colorful, descriptive terms. Use the number of words necessary to make your meaning clear and no more-but also no less! Selecting the right words is critical to the success of the ads. Recent research conducted at Yale University found that the following 12 words are the most personal and persuasive words in our language. You Discovery Safety Money Proven Results Love Guarantee Save New Easy Health Notice the overused word free is not on the list. REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOUR MESSAGE IS PRINTED IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS INSTEAD OF UPPER- AND LOWERCASE LETTERS, IT IS FAR MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE READER TO FOLLOW AND REMAIN INTERESTED. EVEN IN HEADLINES ALL CAPITAL LETTERS SHOULD BE AVOIDED. About The Author Steven Boaze (Chairman) is The Owner of The Corporate Headquarters Boaze.comWhich houses and controls 5 websites including Web Development services. Steven is also the author of "Hidden Secrets To Business Marketing" and "12 Step Remedy To A Successful Ezine" along with numerous articles on Marketing and Advertising published by Boaze Publishing. http://www.boazepublishing.biz Copyright © 1998-2003 Boaze.com |
About Writing
by: Michael LaRocca | |
In this free email course, I'll tell you everything I know about improving your writing, publishing it electronically and in print, and promoting it after the sale. Two questions you should ask: (1) What will it cost me? (2) What does this Michael LaRocca guy know about it? Answer #1 -- It won't cost you a thing. The single most important bit of advice I can give you, and I say it often, is don't pay for publication. My successes have come from investing time. Some of it was well spent, but most of it was wasted. It costs me nothing to share what I've learned. It costs you nothing to read it except some of your time. Answer #2 -- "Michael LaRocca has been researching the publishing field for over ten years." This quote, from an ezine (electronic newsletter) called Authors Wordsmith, was a kind way of saying I've received a lot of rejections. Also, my "research" required 20 years. But in my "breakout" year (2000), I finished writing four books and scheduled them all for publication in 2001. Then I spent almost a year as an editor and Author Development Specialist for one of my publishers. After my first book was published, both my publishers closed. Two weeks and three publishers later, I was back on track. All four books were republished, and a fifth will be released in 2004. Written in 2003, no rejections. See how much faster it was the second time around? That's because I learned a lot. 2004 EPPIE Award finalist. 2002 EPPIE Award finalist. Listed by Writers Digest as one of The Best 101 Websites For Writers in 2001 and 2002. Sime-Gen Readers Choice Awards for Favorite Author (Nonfiction & Writing) and Favorite Book (Nonfiction & Writing). 1982 Who's Who In American Writing. Excuse me for bragging, but it beats having you think I'm unqualified. Also, I found more editing jobs. That's what I do when I'm not writing, doing legal transcription, or teaching English in China (my new home). But the thing is, if I'd become an editor before learning how to write, I'd have stunk. I'll tell you what's missing from this course. What to write about, where I get my ideas from, stuff like that. Maybe I don't answer this question because I think you should do it your way, not mine. Or maybe because I don't know how I do it. Or maybe both. Once you've done your writing bit, this course will help you with all the other stuff involved in being a writer. Writing involves wearing at least four different hats. Writer, editor, publication seeker, post-sale self-promoter. Here's what I can tell you about my writing. Sometimes a story idea just comes to me out of nowhere and refuses to leave me alone until I write it. So, I do. And, whenever I read a book that really fires me up, I find myself thinking, "I wish I could write like that." So, I just keep trying. I'll never write the best, but I'll always write my best. And get better every time. That's the "secret" of the writing "business," same as any other business. Always deliver the goods. I read voraciously, a habit I recommend to any author who doesn't already have it. You'll subconsciously pick up on what does and doesn't work. Characterization, dialogue, pacing, plot, story, setting, description, etc. But more importantly, someone who doesn't enjoy reading will never write something that someone else will enjoy reading. I don't write "for the market." I know I can't, so I just write for me and then try to find readers who like what I like. I'm not trying to whip up the next bestseller and get rich. Not that I'd complain. Nope, I have to write what's in my heart, then go find a market later. It makes marketing a challenge at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. When you write, be a dreamer. Go nuts. Know that you're writing pure gold. That fire is why we write. An author who I truly admire, Kurt Vonnegut, sweats out each individual sentence. He writes it, rewrites it, and doesn't leave it alone until it's perfect. Then when he's done, he's done. I doubt most of write like that. I don't. I let it fly as fast as my fingers can move across the paper or keyboard, rushing to capture my ideas before they get away. Later, I change and shuffle and slice. James Michener claims that he writes the last sentence first, then has his goal before him as he writes his way to it. Then there's me. No outline whatsoever. I create characters and conflict, spending days and weeks on that task, until the first chapter really leaves me wondering "How will this end?" Then my characters take over, and I'm as surprised as the reader when I finish my story. Some authors set aside a certain number of hours every day for writing, or a certain number of words. In short, a writing schedule. Then there's me. No writing for three or six months, then a flurry of activity where I forget to eat, sleep, bathe, change the cat's litter... I'm a walking stereotype. To assuage the guilt, I tell myself that my unconscious is hard at work. As Hemingway would say, long periods of thinking and short periods of writing. I've shown you the extremes in writing styles. I think most authors fall in the middle somewhere. But my point is, find out what works for you. You can read about how other writers do it, and if that works for you, great. But in the end, find your own way. That's what writers do. Just don't do it halfway. If you're doing what I do, writing a story that entertains and moves you, then you will find readers who share your tastes. For some of us that means a niche market and for others it means regular appearances on the bestseller list. Writing is a calling, but publishing is a business. Remember that AFTER you've written your manuscript. Not during. I've told you how I write. For me. The next step is self-editing. Fixing all the mistakes I made, that I can identify, in my rush to write it before my Muse took a holiday. Several rewrites. Running through it repeatedly with a fine-toothed comb. Then what? There are stories that get rejected because the potential publisher hates them, but far more are shot down for other reasons. Stilted dialogue. Boring descriptions. Weak characters. Underdeveloped story. Unbelievable or inconsistent plot. Sloppy writing. That's what you have to fix. After my fifteen-year hiatus from writing, I started by using Free Online Creative Writing Workshops. What I needed most was input from strangers. After all, once you're published, your readers will be strangers. Every publisher you submit to will be a stranger. What will they think? I was far too close to my writing to answer that. Whenever I got some advice, I considered it. Some I just threw out as wrong, or because I couldn't make the changes without abandoning part of what made the story special to me. Some I embraced. But the point is, I decided. It was my writing. After a time, I didn't feel the need for the workshops anymore. I'm fortunate enough to have a wife whose advice I will always treasure, and after a while that was all I needed. But early on, it would've been unfair to ask her to read my drivel. (Not that I didn't anyway.) I don't know how far along you are in your writing, but if you've never used a workshop, I keep a list of them at http://freereads.topcities.com/creativewritingonline.html. Your goal when you self-edit is to get your book as close to "ready to read" as you possibly can. You want your editor to find what you overlooked, not what you didn't know about. To that end, I offer two resources. http://freereads.topcities.com/usefullinksforauthors.html contains links to online quotations, grammar and style guides, dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, scam warnings, writer groups, copyright stuff, etc. http://freereads.topcities.com/commonwritingmistakes.html contains a list of the most common mistakes I've seen in my years as an editor. I still reread it from time to time just so I don't forget. Your story is your story. You write it from your heart, and when it looks like something you'd enjoy reading, you set out to find a publisher who shares your tastes. What you don't want is for that first reader to lose sight of what makes your story special because you've bogged it down with silly mistakes. Authors don't pay to be published. They are paid for publication. Always. It's just that simple. And later, I'll tell you where to get some free editing. But there's a limit to how much editing you can get without paying for it. Do you need more than that? I don't know because I've never seen your writing. But if you evaluate it honestly, I Think you'll know the answer. As an editor, I've worked with some authors who simply couldn't self-edit. A non-native English speaker, a guy who slept through English class, whatever. To them, maybe paying for editing was an option. This isn't paying for publication. This is paying for a service, training. Just like paying to take a Creative Writing class at the local community college. By the way, I don't believe creativity can be taught. Writing, certainly. I took my Creative Writing class in high school, free, and treasure it. But I already had the creativity, or else it would've been a waste of the teacher's time and mine. If you hire an editor worthy of the name, you should learn from that editor how to self-edit in the future. In my case it took two tries, because the first editor was a rip-off artist charging over ten times market value for incomplete advice. That editor, incidentally, is named Edit Ink, and they're listed on many of the "scam warning" sites mentioned at Useful Links For Authors. They took kickbacks from every fake agent who sent them a client. (I'll talk about fake agents later.) If you choose to hire an editor, check price and reputation. And consider that you might never make enough selling your books to get back what you pay that editor. Do you care? That's your decision. The first, most important step on the road to publication is to make your writing the best it can be. ** PUBLICATION ** My goal is to be published in both mediums, ebook and print. There are some readers who prefer ebooks, and some who prefer print books. The latter group is much larger, but those publishers are harder to sell your writing to. I want both, because I want all the readers I can get. Thus, I advocate something of a stepping-stone approach. Publish electronically with a quality place, enjoy the benefits of free editing and almost instant gratification regarding publishing time. Later, if you think you can sell your book to a traditional print publisher, you have a professionally edited manuscript to submit. Before you epublish, check the contract to be sure you can publish the edited work in print later. If you know your book just plain won't ever make it into traditional print, print-on-demand (POD) is an option. Some of my books fall into this category. The best epublishers will simultaneously publish your work electronically and in POD format, at no cost to you. A lot of authors swear by self-publication, but the prospect just plain scares me. All that promo, all that self-editing, maybe driving around the countryside with a back seat full of books. I'm a writer, not a salesman. But, maybe you're different. I self-published once, in the pre-POD days. Mom handled the sales. I had fun and broke even. With POD, at least it's cheaper to self-publish than it was in 1989. If you're flying solo, POD can range anywhere from US$99 to over $1000. Don't pay the higher price! Price shop. Also, remember that POD places publish any author who pays, and do no marketing. Print Publishing vs Electronic Publishing Electronic Publishers How To Break Into Print Publishing Print-On-Demand Publishing ** PROMOTING YOUR PUBLISHED WRITING ** It doesn't matter how you publish your book. Self-published, epublished, POD, or traditional print publishing from an absolute powerhouse. Marketing falls largely on you, and the same things always work. Book signings, interviews in the local newspapers and on radio. Start with http://www.kidon.com/media-link/index.shtml. It will allow you to look up all the local media outlets in your area that have websites. If you write to them all, you're a spammer. Plus, it'll take ages. Look for the ones with a legitimate interest and fire away. If you find a stale URL, and I think you will, look for the name of that media outlet at some place like Google. Spend some time looking for the right press contacts, spend some time writing your press release, and do what you can. Most of these sites list email, snail mail, and phone calls. Since I live in China, I've only used email. Book reviews, author interviews, book listing sites, and book contests are something we can all do, regardless of where we live. Again, I'm going to give you some web pages to visit. Pages where I keep my resources, so I don't lose them. Some of the sites I mention do ebooks, and some do not. The POD option can help e-authors here, but balance cost vs. likelihood of gaining enough readers to offset that. Some are ezines and some are websites. Some are printed newsletters, some are printed magazines, and some are newspapers. This is just a starting point. If you visit them all, and you have time for more promotion, you can find many more. Book Reviewers, Author Interviews, Book Listing Siteshttp://freereads.topcities.com/bookreview.html Book Contests http://freereads.topcities.com/bookcontests.html Okay, let's get back to my overseas angle. Aside from two radio interviews and a seminar in Hong Kong, and some emailed press releases to the LOCAL media back in the US which may or may not have succeeded in anything, my marketing has come from the Internet. I have a website. I have a newsletter. I'm giving away a free ebook, the essence of which you're reading now. You found me somehow, right? Here's the type of message I receive often in email. To be more precise, in spam. If a million people see your ad, and you get 1% of them, that's 10,000 readers and therefore $15,000 profit and you only paid $1000 for those million addresses. NO!! It doesn't work that way. Need I use the words dot-com bust? My website is free. My newsletter is free. I don't buy mailing lists, I don't harvest email addresses, and I don't spam. I want interested traffic, not just sheer numbers. Do you think the Phoenicians tried to sell sails to people a thousand miles from the water? Internet marketing isn't a replacement for the methods mentioned above, but a complement to them. And by using it, I got you here. Your goal in marketing is this. There are certainly people in the world who like what you like. And since you like your book, they probably will too. But you have to find those readers and make them interested, without spamming them and without just "playing the numbers game." If you're an e-author, let me state the obvious. Nobody buys ebooks who doesn't have Internet access. Do they? So you definitely need a website. Traditional print authors need websites too. Even blockbuster authors like J.R. Rowling and Stephen King, who I doubt could garner any more name recognition, have websites. So does every long-established inescapable monstro-business like McDonalds and Coke. Okay, those folks pay web designers. I'm not doing that. I can't generate those kinds of sales figures. And yes, I've formerly been employed as an HTML programmer. But you can write your own website without even learning HTML if you want. It's no harder than writing a manuscript with a word processor. It won't be super-flashy like the big boys, but it'll communicate the information. Remember, you can communicate. You're an author! And that's what keeps people coming back to a website after the thrill of the flash wears off. Information. Content. Your specialty. I consider my website and my newsletter to be successful, and I've created a free email course to analyze how they got that way. Yes, there are legitimate ways to bring traffic to your website and your newsletter. Not massive numbers overnight, but slow steady growth over the long term. ** CLOSING THOUGHTS ** We've been talking about soft sell. Now, at the end of my free workshop, I'll tell you about 2 URLs that I think will help you and one that won't. You can decide if any are worth a visit. After that, I'll get back to the lesson. Books OnLine Directory Mad About Books Both URLs mention my books, but in the background. I hope you'll look one day out of curiosity or because you really like my generous nature, but it's not mandatory. Soft sell. From Watha, NC, USA to Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China Now let's get back to your writing. That's why you're here. Here's something you've heard before. When your manuscript is rejected -- and it will be -- remember that you aren't being rejected. Your manuscript is. One reader took me to task for that statement, claiming he'd never been rejected in his life. I'm very happy for him. But why, if I may be so bold as to ask, would he need advice on How To Get Published? I'd rather he write some advice so I can hang up my "helper guy" hat and learn from a master. But I digress. You aren't being rejected, I was saying. Your manuscript is. Did you ever hang up the phone on a telemarketer, delete spam, or close the door in the face of a salesman? Of course, and yet that salesman just moves on to the next potential customer. He knows you're rejecting his product, not him. Okay, in my case I'm rejecting both, but I'd never do that to an author. Neither will a publisher or an agent. All authors tell other authors not to take rejection personally, and yet we all do. Consider it a target to shoot for, then. Just keep submitting, and just keep writing. The best way to cope with waiting times is to "submit and forget," writing or editing other stuff while the time passes. And finally, feel free to send an e-mail to me anytime. michaellarocca@yawweb.org. I'll gladly share what I know with you, and it won't cost you a cent. I would wish you luck in your publishing endeavors, but I know there's no luck involved. It's all skill and diligence. Congratulations on completing the course! No ceremonies, no degrees, and no diplomas. But on the bright side, no student loan to repay. Best regards, Michael LaRocca http://freereads.topcities.com/archive.html
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Blog Your Way to Success - What a "Blog" is?
by: Pavel Lenshin | |
Blog is a short of "weB LOG" or a method of storing any kind of information online. Such organized informational posting and archiving was named "Blog".By the form Blog represents an updated web-site of current and archived posts. A dead-simple concept turned out to be extremely powerful in terms of satisfaction of Internet community needs. People online look for fresh, relevant information on a certain topic and this is where Blogs come into arena and win that battle for a visitors' attention hands-down. They give you exactly what you need - targeted, updated information on any given topic, with an access to archive, search functions and even some sort of interactive experience as you can usually read comments of other visitors and participate in a small discussion like on a message board. Why Blog can be just the perfect solution you have been looking for and how it can solve massive publishing problems at once. Here is why Blog can be your website and money-making system in one: 1. Blog is a simple CMS (Content Management System). It helps you solve hundreds of little hassles webmasters were forced to waste months before in order to solve each of them such as means of easy creating new pages with automatic cross-linking and archiving functions, installing visitor feedback script, managing and updating navigational menu, republishing RSS feeds and creating own feed and so on. 2. Built-in promotion. RSS feed is also a great viral marketing tool by itself. You don't have to stuff your head with "how-to-make-my-content-viral" problems any "traditional" website webmaster faces. As a Blog publisher you use the same RSS feed as a way of syndicating your Blog content for any other websites. What they need is adding your RSS feed to their Feed rendering software. The technology is highly popular, so you will not have any problems with that. Just add your RSS feed to a number of Blog Directories, ping (notify) Blog servers each time you make a new post (a common built-in feature for almost all Blogs) and in 90% case it will be enough to start your marketing ball rolling plus reassure fast search engine indexing. 3. Built in RSS (Atom) feeds are considered by many to be the ideal solution for all SPAM and filters problems of "traditional" email marketers. RSS feeds are updated automatically as soon as you make a new post to your Blog. No more troubles with managing "email lists", subscribers, unsubscribers, email filters, HTML forms, SPAM complaints, follow-ups and so on and so forth. Forget about it. RSS will help you do everything, including follow-ups and even email courses publishing. The difference, and many consider it to be the true benefit, is that RSS uses so-called "pull" method of delivering a message. Unlike "traditional" email, you don't have to send (push) anything to anybody. When you publish a new post, your RSS feed updates automatically, pings syndicating websites with a new Blog post and notifies (or not) your RSS subscribers about your new post, so they can load (pull) it and read. That is how RSS solves SPAM emails and SPAM filters problems with one stone. Your subscribers just don't receive anything to be complained or worried about. They just personally subscribe to your RSS feed (no one can subscribe for them) with their special RSS reader program (RSS aggregator, available free everywhere on the net). Then they periodically and mostly automatically load your new Blog posts. If they don't like it, they just remove your RSS feed from their RSS feed aggregator software and that's all. Unlike email you cannot "push" your post to their RSS soft without their wish. Depending on set options, they need to manually, semi-automatically or automatically load your Blog post themselves. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against email. Quite the contrary, at some point, when you feel that you have a lot of spare time because of advantages that RSS brings, I strongly advise you to add email marketing to your arsenal. It does help you out in some special occasions. It is just you won't rely on email as the only money-making resource and will use it professionally as a great add-on instrument, limiting its possible negative effects. From what you can see, blogs are perfect and simple software machines to run and maintain your informational business. They proved their efficiency in small niche markets as well as multilevel blog systems generating stable income for their glad owners. You can be one of them.
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