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8Jul/100

How to Avoid the 11 Biggest Mistakes of First Time Authors

How to Avoid the 11 Biggest Mistakes of First Time Authors

"If you want to change your life," Harry Beckwith wrote in The Invisible Touch, "write a book." But writing a book can also be tremendously frustrating and unrewarding.Following are the 11 biggest reasons most first-time authors fail to receive the rewards they are due.1. Unrealistic expectations. Don't expect to get rich off your book, even if it's a success by publishing standards. The vast majority of books fail to earn out their advance.Instead, develop a personal marketing plan to leverage your career off your book. Instead of trying to make money on the book itself, use your book to open doors, promote your credibility and build relationships with readers.2. Writing without a contract. Never write a book without a signed contract. Instead, prepare a polished proposal and two sample chapters.Publishers are increasingly selective about the titles they accept. Often, less than 1 in 20 titles proposed are published. Writing a book that isn't accepted is not a good use of your time.3. No agent. You must be represented by a literary agent. Publishers rarely accept unsolicited book proposals. Unsolicited proposals are frequently returned unread or are simply discarded.The right agent will know exactly which publishers might be interested in your book. Agents can also negotiate terms more effectively than you.4. Weak titles. Titles sell books. The title of your book is like the headline of an advertisement. The title represents your one and only chance to attract the attention of acquisition editors or bookstore readers.Successful titles stress the benefits readers will gain from your book. Successful titles arouse curiosity and offer solutions. They often include consonants and alliteration (repeated 'hard' sounds like G, K, P or T).5. Title versus series. Focus on a series of books rather than an individual title. Publishers want concepts that can be expanded into a series rather than individual titles.6. Going it alone. Successful careers involve a nurturing support group of readers and peers. Your quest should include the support of your friends, other authors, book coaches, readers and others who will help you maintain your enthusiasm while providing ideas, assistance and feedback.7. 'Event' writing. Write a little each day rather than 'going away' to write your book. Stress is an author's biggest enemy. When you attempt marathon writing, you're putting an unrealistic burden on yourself. "What happens if I come back and my book isn't written?"8. Self-editing. Avoid unnecessary self-editing. It's far more important to complete the first draft of your book than to agonize over the perfection of every word.Editors will ensure that grammar is correct and ideas appear in the proper order. But they can't do anything until you submit the final manuscript.9. Failure to promote. Publishers are not promoters. Publishers are skilled at editing, manufacturing and distributing books. But they are not set up to give your book the marketing attention it deserves. A single publicist may represent over 100 books!If you want your book to succeed, you have to promote it as well as write it.10. Failure to back up and save. Save frequently when writing. Always save before printing. Never turn off your computer without making a copy of your files for off-premises storage. Never end a writing session without printing out a hard copy of the latest version of the chapter you're writing.11. Failure to plan future profits. Before writing your book, create a book marketing plan. Book sales should be just the first step in an ongoing relationship with your readers. Your plan should identify opportunities from consulting, newsletters, audio/video recordings, seminars, speeches and yearly updates.A book can, indeed, change your life. But you must take charge; take a proactive role in promoting and leveraging its success.Roger C. Parker knows the secrets to promoting your business one page at a time. Find out the simple way to keep in constant touch with your customers, while saving you time and money. Visit http://www.OnePageNewsletters.com for your three free reports.

6Jul/100

Internet Forums – Six Ways To Avoid Disaster

Internet Forums - Six Ways To Avoid Disaster

Internet Forums are highly popular, they cater for all tastes and deal with every topic imaginable. People visit Internet forums for a variety of reasons, the most common being the search for information or entertainment. The Internet forum is a safe environment if you behave sensibly but you can find yourself in dangerous territory if you ignore the following warnings.Don't Join Internet Forum Flame WarsAn Internet Forum flame war is to be avoided at all costs. The airing of differing points of view, debate and discussion are healthy things for an Internet forum: they keep it lively. An Internet forum flame war can make entertaining reading but don't be tempted to join in or start one. If you make a habit of leaping into forum flame wars, you will acquire a reputation as a trouble-maker and you could find yourself barred from a forum because of your behaviour. Another good reason for avoiding forum flame wars is that you could find yourself caught in the crossfire. Before you know it, people will be firing at you from every direction when all you intended to do was have a bit of fun.Don't Make Jokes On An Internet ForumWell, you can if you really must, but remember that the Internet forum has the same drawback as email: the reader can't see your expression or gestures. The smile, shrug or grimace which can lift your comment from serious to humorous will be missing and your message will be something which the reader has to interpret. If the reader gets it wrong, you might very well find that you just started your very own Internet forum flame war quite unintentionally. You can safely tell a joke on a forum (provided that your joke's content is appropriate) but sarcasm and irony are dangerous and best avoided.Don't Be An Internet Forum Drama QueenThe Internet forum is not a suitable stage for you to perform your very own drama. If you flounce about making extravagant statements merely for effect, you will be the object of ridicule by other forum members even if nobody tells you so. If you are a member of a support forum for a particular programme, it is quite in order to post a message to the forum saying something along the lines of "I've started to feel unsure about [whatever], I don't think it's going to work out unless I make some changes. Can anybody suggest what I should try next?" Compare this to the next post in drama queen style: "I quit! This Sucks. I've done everything right so it must be this ****ing programme. You will never hear from me again!" Which forum member would you want to help? There will be kind people who feel the drama queen's pain and offer support and suggestions. When the drama queen makes a big re-entrance to the forum after a few days sulking, posts "I'm back!" and expresses a resolve to work diligently towards success, the kind people who offered support will feel that their advice must have done the trick. When the forum drama queen posts another "Goodbye Forever!" message, the same kind people will empathise as the drama queen is obviously being affected by an emotional roller coaster and they will offer further sound advice. The kind forum members will be pleased when the drama queen makes a further "I'm Back And Here To Stay!" recovery. By about the third or fourth "I Quit!" drama, even the kindest people will be wishing the drama queen had stayed quit the first time round and Internet forum credibility for the drama queen ends there.Don't Be An Internet Forum PuppyA real puppy can't help chasing after everything that moves, getting under people's feet and being hyperactive to the point where it sometimes becomes annoying: that's just its nature. The Internet forum member who behaves like a puppy can help it and should desist. I am talking about the person who joins an Internet forum for the sole purpose of getting the links in his signature file on the forum as often as possible. The annoying forum puppy will respond to every message posted whether he knows anything about the subject or not. He will post messages which are of no value to anyone, these messages will range from boring pointless observations to obscure drivel to requests to poll an unimportant question which bears no relevance to the forum. If you are desperate to plaster your signature file all over the place, join lots of Internet forums and just post a few messages on each. With any luck, you will grow out of this time-wasting pursuit before the other forum members form a lynching party.Don't Be An Internet Forum SeconderHave you ever come across Mr Me Too? If you have, you will know who I mean. He is about as annoying as the Internet forum puppy. Mr Me Too will post a response to every thread that appears on a forum. It won't take him long as he won't bother to read through the thread, all he will do is add a comment saying "me too" or "I agree". This gets his signature file posted with the link back to his website and that's all he wants. Mr Me Too does not go to the Internet forum for entertainment or information or to contribute anything useful. If you are subscribed to a forum thread and receive notification that someone has posted a further message on the topic, it is very irritating to log in at the forum only to find that someone has posted a message saying "me too" or "I agree" just to give his signature file an airing. It is sadly true that the Internet forum puppy and Mr Me Too will get their links on the Internet alongside the forum members who post meaningful messages. When the day arrives that Search Engine Robots are able to distinguish the difference between valuable forum messages and drivel, those two offenders will find that it's pay back time for their transgressions.Don't Attack The Internet Forum ModeratorsIf you have a message removed or edited by an Internet forum moderator, there will be a reason, so don't post complaints on the forum. Even if you don't understand or don't agree with the decision, there is no point in arguing. Attacking a moderator is like holding up a placard saying "I'm a pest, throw me out". The moderators are there to ensure the Internet forum is kept to the required standard. Remember that somebody owns this forum and invests time and energy in keeping the environment -- well -- moderate. The Internet forum is not your private sand-pit, you are a guest and if your behaviour is not appropriate, your invitation to play could be withdrawn. You should also remember that anything you post on an Internet forum will be available for public scrutiny for years to come.The dictionary definition of the verb to moderate is: "to keep within measure or bounds; to regulate; to reduce in intensity; to make temperate or reasonable". If this does not sound like your kind of environment, perhaps you should stay away from Internet forums.Copyright 2005 Elaine CurrieElaine Currie provides ideas, help and resources for anyone wanting to start a home business visit: http://www.Huntingvenus.com

5Jul/100

How To Avoid The 3 Destructive Traits Of Traditional Gambling / Lottery Systems-Gambling

How To Avoid The 3 Destructive Traits Of Traditional Gambling / Lottery Systems

There is over $120,000,000,000 spent on lottery systems along across the US and around the world. Yes, that's one hundred and twenty Billion on just lotteries not to mention the billions spent on other gambling systems.Massive jackpots are dangled in front of players but the only ones who truly win in most gambling/lottery systems are those operating them because of 3 dangerous characteristics. Let's review them:1.) Odds stacked against the playersTraditional gambling/lottery systems only win when the player loses. They continue to generate massive amounts of front-end profits and heavily stack the odds against the players to minimal back-end payouts are necessary.If you're going to gamble, at least do a little research and determine which of the systems provide you with the best chance of winning and learn everything you can about ways to increase your odds.2.) Addicted to more chances to winSince the odds are stacked against you winning, a psychological trigger gets set off in your brain that makes you "want" to find more chances to win.This burning desire to seek more and more chances to win is a natural human reaction. It's a true addiction with feeling the "winning" sensation. People will actually pay $1,000, win $100 and feel "good" because they won something without realizing they actually lost money.In traditional gambling/lottery systems the only way to quench this desire to win is to get more chances to win which means? spend more money. Traditional systems require you to pay for each chance to win.At least research the systems and find the one that offers you the most chances to win for each entry you purchase. Give yourself the best chance to win with the least money spent.3.) Lack of informationThere's a common joke that says, "Gambling is a tax on the stupid." Gambling or playing the lottery is not "stupid" ? it does serve as entertainment value. But it does punish the uneducated.If you don't research the odds of winning and find the games that provide you the best chance of winning, then you're more likely to throw your money away than if you do some research. More importantly, if you don't know what to do with the money you do win then you're even more likely to end up in a worse financial situation than before you started playing.Make sure you spend time up front finding out as much as you can about the games you're considering playing. Compare the odds and your chances of actually winning a cash prize. Also, educate yourself about your own personal budget and set a limit on the amount you're willing to lose in pursuit of "entertainment".Have fun? play smart!Scott Britner blended his background in programming and analysis with a little creativity and a lot of focus on the customer to develop the unique WeeklyWinning.com lottery system. If you want to benefit from Increasing Jackpots, Guaranteed Weekly Winners, Instant Winner Bonuses, and No Limits... then check out http://www.WeeklyWinning.comWeeklyWinning.com is so simple, so powerful, and so profitable for the players? it just makes sense. We look forward to making you a winner.