Writing Inrochester

The other day someone mentioned to me that they too were an online article writer of sorts and were concerned that their online article view averages needed to go up. Well this makes sense right? Sure it does by let me explain something to you.

You see if you wish to hit your target market or customer and attract them thru a by-line at the bottom of the article then you must also consider the issues that you may not have a large target niche and therefore it is less relevant how many people contact you this way and more important that the right people contact you.

If on the other hand you simply want massive article views and do not care who reads your article then simply views write articles about SEX, Hollywood Movie Stars, and popular topics in the news. Make good titles, with key words and have them match with each article having used the key words 3-5 times each.

Pick popular subjects in the news and society. If that is your goal then you will have achieved it you see? It is my contention that you work towards a higher standard and write more targeted articles instead and be careful with the key wording, titles and subject matter.

Yes, a poorly written article on a popular subject can get a ton of article views yet and I have written several to test this fact. But really other than that what is the real point? Consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

The first award I won in elementary school was for my English work. Looking back, this is something of a surprise. Later on, my English teachers would describe my handwriting as “the trail of a messy spider crawling over a page, after a particularly rowdy party.” But at the time, my ambitions curiously included the hope to be an author, along with the usual fare of explorer, astronaut and captain of industy. I reasoned that I would still have time to write on my days off. I was an annoyingly precocious child.

Oddly enough, mathematics proved to be my real academic strength. Which was just as well. Writing to me was becoming an exercise in torture. Left-handed people should never be forced to write in fountain pen. It is a cruel and unusual punishment for us. The process of composition became agonisingly slow, as each sentence would be writ, like the Law of the Medes and Persians - with no changes permitted. Re-writing an essay would be a chore too far.

And so, I escaped into the more forgiving world of numbers and algebra, where a page of untidy activity would result in a succinct and concise proof. That is, until the day I entered the world of the trainee teacher…

“You will submit four short essays of 1500 words, and one long essay of 6000 words,” we were told by our tutor. Ashen faces filled the room, with eyes like rabbits caught in a car’s headlights. Our peers from the Arts courses stammered, “B-but you can’t even write an introduction in 1500 words!” Meanwhile we mathematicians were wondering if we had ever seen as many as 6000 words in one place before.

I found my salvation in a new toy - a word-processing program. For the first time in my life, I could edit, redraft, move paragraphs around and experiment with sentence structures. I could type faster than I could write, my fingers could keep up with my thoughts, and then I could review them, discarding the chaff, improving the quality of what remained on the page. No crossings out, no painfully slow re-writes.

People sometimes ask me whether the use of information technology has any place in a creative curriculum. Just ask the left-handed kid who wants to express themselves on paper, but can’t find the time to do so.

David Hellam is a professional educator working on a new project at educator.pro Educator.pro.

So you have a website but your traffic counters not exactly burning? Maybe it’s not even turning! You may have tried reciprocal linking to gain search engine rankings. Its boring isn’t it! Reciprocal linking with other on theme websites will slowly help increase your websites rankings in the search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN. However it takes along time and each time someone links to you, you get one link back to your site. I’d like to introduce you to a much more effective method.

This method is very easy and not nearly as boring. Simply write an article about a topic that is relevant to your site; please make sure you include a link back to your site in the author’s by-lines. Then submit it to a submission service such as Isnare. They will then distribute your article and other websites will pick it up. So instead of your one measly back link for a reciprocal link you could get one hundred, two hundred, even a thousand back links.

Several things will determine how many people pick up your article:

1.) How many different sites you submit it too
2.) How interesting and well written your article is
3.) How catchy the headline is
4.) How much public interest there is in the topic

With the above considered you can make your website very successful by submitting articles. I recommend submitting 3 articles in a week, and then continue submitting one or two articles a week for a month. This should get you a nice amount of traffic for a long period of time. Obviously the more articles you write the more traffic you receive. This traffic is not only from people reading your articles but from the search engines, as your ranking will improve as you gain more link backs to your site. So go on get writing the worlds your oyster!!

for more information please see articlesnet.co.uk articlesnet.co.uk

You can make a lot of money by writing and self-publishing your own material, if you are willing to write books, manuals, reports or newsletters that millions of people across the United States, and throughout the world for that matter, desperately want to buy.

Today, more than ever before, is the age of information. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, there continues to be an incredible demand for information throughout America and the world. There is an astronomical demand for information packed books, manuals, reports and newsletters of almost every imaginable kind.

It’s really much easier than you might have ever guessed to start filling your bank account with cash from information you possess. People crave information that appeals to their basic needs and will somehow educate or enlighten them. Simply by putting your own specialized information into books, manuals, reports or newsletters, you can start putting a hefty price on information you have no doubt been giving away.

FIND YOUR MARKET-THEN WRITE YOUR MATERIAL

Anyone who can communicate an idea to another person, should be able to get their same message across on a written page. If you are either an expert on some subject, or are interested enough to obtain the information for a project, you have what it takes to go from having an idea, to self-publishing your own material in whatever format it develops into. There are hundreds of publications filled with ads by people just like yourself, who discovered they could make a lot of money writing and publishing their work. Looking through opportunity magazines, or other publications that cover the field you are interested in, is a good place to start looking for ideas.

Review all the advertisements in the magazines you have chosen to see what popular topics and subjects are being written about in books, manuals, reports and newsletters. Then ask yourself if you can come up with a better way, or have equally interesting information you can present from a different angle, or with a different twist that would be of interest to the readers in that market. If the answer is “yes,” then you can enter that market and also make some incredible money!

CASH IN ON YOUR OWN CREATIVITY AND EXPERTISE

Be creative in developing your material. Perhaps you are aware of some technique that allows people to accomplish their goals faster in a certain field. Maybe you can think of a better way to cash in on a current fad. The bottom line is that people are hungry for information and ideas, and you can become the writer or self-publisher of information people want to buy. People are eager to buy information that can help them improve their lives 1) Financially; 2) Physically; and 3) Emotionally. If you can fill any of those needs with information that can be put onto a written page, there are millions of people waiting to hand over their cash to get it.

KNOWING HOW TO PACKAGE YOUR INFORMATION CAN EARN YOU A FORTUNE!

After you have written your material, you will have to decide on how you will package the information to make it salable. Depending on your market, some packaging will sell better than others. For example, you can print your information in a series of publications, print it in a book, manual, report or newsletter, put it on a cassette tapes or present it at seminars. You can focus on one area, or utilize many area.

One thing is certain, people are paying billions of dollars to obtain well packaged information! there are books that sell for up to $100 and more, with manuals in a close second. There are reports that consist of 10-12 pages selling for up to $10 or more, while seminars can cost as much as $15,000 for a single weekend. It may sound incredible to the average person, but people are willing to pay top dollar for information. However, the “packaging” must be perceived as being worth the price you are asking.But before you decide on how to package your information, you must first consider who your primary audience is, and cater to those people in everything you do.

FOCUS ON SUBJECT MATERIAL THAT IS SALABLE

Information for your subject matter can be found in various places. For the best results, start with your field of expertise and turn it into a book, manual, report or newsletter.

Focus on providing your targeted market with simple, understandable, and helpful information. It must overwhelmingly appeal to your customers’ wants and desires…

Never forget that this is the age of specialized information. People are completely willing to spend their money for tens of thousands of different forms of information, provided it is useful to them. Your job is to either find a need and fill it, or create the need and supply it.One of the best ways to get started is to sit down with some paper and write down every subject you have some degree of knowledge about. Your list of subject doesn’t have to be in any particular order. Don’t force it. When ideas for headings no longer come easy, stop and start up again at a later time. When you feel comfortable that you have covered most of the areas you know, start picking out the topics that interest you the most. Then you can start researching more material for your writing projects.

FILL YOUR MATERIAL WITH SELF-INTEREST BENEFITS

Many new writers fail to understand that if they expect any hope for business survival, let alone success, they must come to realize early on that a big part of their job is to arouse the emotions and desires of their customers. Your product, whether a boo, manual, report or newsletter, must be portrayed as being jam-packed with self-interest benefits.

Millions of dollars in failed business ventures are wasted every year simply because entrepreneurs fail to understand that what customers want to hear is not necessarily what they have to say. You should never forget this valuable lesson. It can make you rich!

YOUR MATERIAL MUST STIR EMOTIONS AND DESIRES

Emotions are what move people to buy anything. therefore, the job of your product and advertisement vehicle is to move your prospect to buy. You have to stir enough emotions, not only to cause desire, but the rationalization that provides an excuse based on logic.

Even after a prospect makes a commitment to buy your book, etc.,they may think they have acted logically. None of your customers will ever admit that emotions had anything to do with their purchase. What you must always be aware of however, is that logic probably had little to do with the buyer’s decision. That is because human actions are often caused by instincts and compulsions that most buyers are unaware of.

As you write your material for publication in any form, or as you develop an ad or other sales package, always think in terms of how a particular benefit will stir a reader’s emotions and desires. Try to understand how your product might be perceived by reader’s by focusing on your own feelings.

ADVERTISING IS VITAL TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR SELF-PUBLISHING VENTURE

The success of your advertising will ultimately depend on the salability of your book, manual, report, newsletter, etc. Good advertising will make a good book sell better, but it cannot transform a poor book into being successful.

Advertising is vital to any business venture because:

1) It allows a business to deliver their message repeatedly and reinforce it in the minds of targeted consumers.

2) It allows a business to reach hundreds of thousands of potential customers at a relatively low cost compared to individual calls.

3) It allows a business to target their market and test their product.

4) A business identity can quickly be established.

5) A forum for showing a product, together with benefits and advantages can be established.

BASIC ADVERTISING RULES

Effective marketing is a vast field. It includes using marketing tools such as: direct mail space and classified ads signs radio and TV commercials business involvement, and more. In fact, the approaches you can take and the methods you use are only limited by your imagination and resources. There are basic rules however that do not change however. They are as follows:

Rule No. 1-You must get a prospects ATTENTION. ( Your headline is the most important part of an advertisement.)

Rule No. 2-You must create reader INTEREST (Your ad should be built around an idea that offers value.)

Rule No. 3-You must arouse the reader’s DESIRE. (By focusing on all the benefits they will receive.)

Rule No. 4-Your ad must move them to ACT. (Tell your readers exactly what it is you what them to do.)

In order to avoid making careless advertising decisions that can cost you money, it is important that you understand and participate in your own strategies. That means getting involved and researching what strategy will produce sound advertising.It is essential that you have a plan before you take action on developing an advertising strategy. Your plan must be based on an objective analysis that resulted from your knowledge and it doesn’t matter what your background is, you can learn to master the type of mail order advertising that is needed to launch a self-publishing business.

Through research and careful planning you can become familiar with the writing skills you will need to create effective ads. Obtain all the information you can from the masters in the business. Read and study every book, manual, report, newsletter, sales letter, ad, article, and publication you can get your hands on that will help you in developing your own successful strategies and techniques. Then bring all of that knowledge together to obtain winning results.

10 MONEY-MAKING REASONS WHY SELF-PUBLISHING IS THE BEST CHOICE

You become a “self-publisher” by taking your material (book, manual, report, newsletter, etc.) and by-pass all the middlemen. You by-pass the middlemen, by going directly to a printer and handling all the marketing and distribution of the product yourself. As a self-publisher you invest your talent,time and energy and money. The benefits you receive are complete control over your product and all the profits~

Here is a condensed version of 10 good reasons why you should self-publish:

1) Self-publishing may be the only way to get published. With thousands upon thousands of manuscripts, etc. being sent to publishers continually you may not be able to get to anyone to even look at your idea. Self-publishing may be your only solution.

2) As a self-publisher you get to keep all of the profits from your sales. Why accept 45-6% in royalties from a publishing company when you can have it all!

3) You have absolute marketing and editing control when you self-publish. According to A Writer’s Digest poll, 60% of the big publishing firms do the final editing; 23% select the final title; 20% will not even consult an author on the cover design, and 37% do not involve authors in promoting their own material.

4) Major publishers may receive up to several hundred manuscripts a week. Unless they have already published your work, the odds they will even look at your material aren’t very high.

5) When you self-publish you are in control every step of the way. By depending on another publisher to make things happen for you, you take the chance of never getting anywhere.

6) By self-publishing you gain the perspective of being able to see the complete marketing picture from a publisher’s point of view.

7) Even if a publisher did accept your work, it would take an average of 18 months before the first copy reached the marketplace. Self-publishing will save you valuable time. Especially if you can’t afford to miss a market that can quickly pass by.

Waiting for a letter from a publisher that never comes can be frustrating and embarrassing. Self-publishing eliminates the waiting and wondering.

9) When you self-publish and get more directly involved in marketing you will obtain a more total business picture.

10) As a self-publisher you will receive more tax advantages.

———————————————————
Julia Tang publishes Smart Online Business Tips, a fresh
and informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people
like you! To find out the best online business opportunities,
and to discover hundreds more proven and practical internet
marketing secrets, plus FREE internet marketing products
worth over $200, visit:

I read frequently, but tend to buy more books than I can read in one sitting. By the time I finish the first couple books, I’ve forgotten about the other three on the shelf next to my bed and head back to the bookstore for another shopping spree. So when I went on vacation a couple weeks ago, I had several dusty books to choose from for the trip.

As I read the novels, I noticed I was becoming a book critic. The first started out rather dull. The characters had potential to be interesting, but I had to wade through several chapters to find out if the author took advantage of the potential. The second novel had interesting characters but the plot was predictable. The third novel started with a bang and kept me interested until the end. This was the kind of novel I wanted to read.

After finishing the novel, I thought about what it was that kept my interest. All three books had exciting action scenes. The characters were interesting in all three. In two of the books, the plot was intriquing. Finally I realized the difference. It all came down to tension. The third book increased the tension chapter by chapter. It encouraged me to read on by leaving me in suspense at the conclusion of the chapter. I needed to read on to find out if the characters would survive their ordeals.

After I returned from vacation I read through some of my own stories. I found in my efforts to feed the reader the facts, I eliminated most of the tension. In my quest to assure all questions were answered, I left nothing to the readers imagination.

Novels are easy to edit for this mistake. Read the end of each chapter. Then ask yourself, if you were a reader, would you need to know what happens next? If you could put the book down at that point with all questions answered, you have some editing to do.

Short stories are a little more difficult to edit for tension. Short stories must tie up the loose ends rather quickly. This doesn’t mean that they cannot contain an element of suspense. The tension in a short story must build quickly but alluding to things to come often piques the interest of the reader. The first couple paragraphs must hook the reader. Give them just enough information to make them want to find out more. Drop hints throughout the story of things to come. By feeding the reader a little information at a time, you encourage them to keep reading.

I plan on spending the next several weeks editing and rewriting several items in my portfolio. I hope you′ll take a look at your stories and do the same.

Sonia Fischer is an author and editor of the Short Story Newsletter on Writing.Com/ Writing.Com
which is located at Writing.Com/ Writing.Com/ and is accessible by anyone.

Toasting is not nearly as common as it once was. However, the polished public speaker should have a few short toasts ready to go if and when the occasion arises. Here are a few fun toasts and a few touching ones too:

Birthdays:

To your birthday, glass held high. Glad it’s you that’s older not I.

Heres to you. No matter how old you are, you don′t look it.

Christmas:

‘Twas the month after Christmas, and Santa had flit; Came there tidings in the mail, which read: Please remit.

Here’s to the Holly with its bright red berry. Here’s to Christmas, let’s make it merry.

Meals:

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you diet.

A full belly, a heavy purse, and a light heart.

Friendship:

Here’s to a friend who knows me well and likes me anyway.

May the friends of our youth be the companions of our old age.

Banquet speech ending:

Good day, good health, good cheer, good night!

Health:

Here’s to your health. You make age curious, time furious, and all of us envious.

Luck:

As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never face the wrong way.

May your luck be like the capital of Ireland. Always Dublin.

New Year:

May all our troubles in the coming year be as short as our New Year’s resolutions.

In the year ahead may we treat our friends with kindness and our enemies with generosity.

Marriage:

Marriage is an institution, but who wants to live in an institution. Groucho Marx

May for ‘better or worse’ be far better than worse.

To close this section I would like to tell you that I feel like a loaf of bread. Wherever I go, they toast me.

Copyright © 1998 - 2005 Advanced Public Speaking Institute

Tom Antion provides entertaining speeches and educational seminars. He is the ultimate entrepreneur, having owned many businesses BEFORE graduating college. Tom is the author of the best selling presentation skills book “Wake ‘em Up Business Presentations″ and “Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing.” It is important to Tom that his knowledge be not only absorbed, but enjoyed. This is why he delivers his speeches laced with great humor and hysterical jokes. Tom has addressed more than 87 different industries and is thoroughly committed to his clients′ needs. antion.com antion.com

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Yes, you know your subject. You also need to think about entertaining your audience, and making your book or other writing easy to read. If your writing lacks organization and compelling, vital sentences that convince your readers to keep reading, they will leave your book or Web site immediately.  There goes your “word-of-mouth” promotion.

Try my “Check and Correct” for These Top Five Mistakes

1. Stop passive sentence construction.

When you write in passive voice, your writing slides along into long sentences that slow your readers down, even bore them.

Before you put your final stamp of approval on your writing, circle all the “is,”  “was″ and other passive verbs like: begin, start to, seems, appears, have, and could. Use your grammar check to count your passives. Aim for 2-4% only.

Correct:  “Make sure that your name is included on all your household accounts and investments.” “Make” and “is included” –the culprits. Create more clarity with this revision,” Include your name on all household accounts and investments to keep your own credit alive after your divorce.”

2. Stop all pompous language and phrases.

Well-meaning professionals often use the word, “utilize.” You see this criminal in resumes, military directives and medical or lawyer documents. “Utilize” not only puts people off because we don’t relate to “jargoneze,” but because we want simple language. Think of Hemingway who knew that one or two syllable-words work better than longer ones.

When you aim at 10th grade level, you make it easy for your audience to “buy.”  Attempts to impress your audience with research babble or long words fail because they sound unreal and create a distance from the audience. Your reader wants a savvy friend, not an expert.

3. Show, don′t tell to keep your audience reading.

When you take the lazy shortcut using -ly words like suddenly, or the adverb “very,” your telling makes your reader yawn a “ho hum” and stop reading. Instead show “suddenly.” For example, “When she saw the pistol, she ran and slammed the door behind her,” shows “suddenly.” Instead of “Alice was fat,” say “Alice’s girth prevented her from buying just one airline seat.” 

Circle the -ly and very words and sit down with your Thesaurus and replace them with power words that describe or show emotion.

4. Reduce your passive -ing constructions.

Think of a title that inspired you in the past. I like “Jump Start your Book Sales” by Marilyn and Tom Ross. “Jump Starting” lacks power because it doesn’t ask for action. “-Ing” construction implies passive. Next time you think heading, title, or even compelling copy, think command verbs as sentence starters as well as using other strong verbs and nouns.  Keep your sentences active using verbs in either present or past tense.

5. Take the “I” out of your writing to satisfy your reader

Whether you write a book introduction, biography, chapter or web sales message (did you know these are part of the essential “hot-selling points?”), keep the “I’s” to a minimum. Your audience doesn’t care about you, only what you can do for them.
Think about where your audience is now–their challenges or concerns. Remember to answer their question, “Why should I buy this from you?”   Put a big YOU at the top of each page you write. Write three or four paragraphs. Then, circle the “I’s” and vow to replace them with a “you” centered sentence or question.

So instead of telling your story, (I know that’s important to you) put your story in the third person. Use another name, maybe a client’s or friend’s. If you think your bio is important, instead of placing a long passage on your home page, place it instead, on your “About Us” page.  On your book’s back cover, put your longer bio and photo inside the back cover page, so you can put more of what sells on your back cover–testimonials and benefits. Get everything you write checked by a book or writing coach to make sure it sells.

You cannot only get more sales from what you write, you can put yourself out there as the savvy friend to your audience who wants a problem solved. In the long run, these satisfied readers will return to you again and again–even buy your products and services.

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” and “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at

With the new age of tele-communication video over the Internet it is a way that many Corporations, Students and small business people are saving money in travel. It is also allowing more information flow to where the information needs to get. As fuel prices rise during this 2006 Atlantic Tropical Hurricane Season and the Iranian President considers using oil as an economic weapon we may see our first $85 per barrel prices.

Tele-seminars make a lot of sense and you may wish to consider capitalizing on the time advantages and efficiencies of such technologies to assist you with on-going education for your profession, assisting in advancing your education or getting you consulting business information out to the world you see?

Tele Seminars can save Gasoline and Fuel and in this day and age that is certainly good news with the $115 fill up the gas tank of the SUV prices. If you consider the amount tele-seminars can save your company in hotel costs, airline fares and travel expenditures then it makes sense to re-do you policy on travel and tele-seminars to day.

Every dollar your company can save is many dollars you will not have to produce in income. Consider the value of these tele-seminars and this latest technology and think on this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Not too long ago, I walked into a room where some of the country’s top oncologists were preparing to launch a new cancer-fighting drug. The occasion was the group’s rehearsal before a big presentation to the Federal Drug Administration. Given that these men and women are some of the best and brightest in their field, I thought the rehearsal would be a breeze. So, I sat down, pen poised to make a few notes so I could help them fine-tune their presentations and be ready for the onslaught of media that was sure to follow.

What a letdown. Five articulate, highly educated, well-dressed presenters, armed with shiny animated slideshows, droned on and on and on and on. It didn’t matter what they were saying because the audience wouldn’t really hear any of it anyway. Around me, eyes closed, and others pretended to take notes while playing solitaire on their laptops. I wondered how in the world I could help these presenters. I also thought about tripling my consultation fee on the spot.

All presenters believe their words are important, and they are. But if you don’t give an audience a good reason to listen, they will quickly tune you out. In an age where sound bite is king, cutting through the clutter is more important now than ever.

Consider the following 7 points before stepping into the limelight:

The Take-Home

No matter how many years and dollars you’ve spent on research and development, no matter the technical complexity of your subject matter, when speaking to a group your entire presentation must boil down to one key point. If you had to sum up your talk in 10 seconds, what would you want your audience to know?

Ask Yourself the Right Questions

What you think a listener needs to know is not always what that listener wants to know. Put yourself in your listener’s seat and ask the following questions: So what? Who cares? What does this mean to the listener, reader or viewer and me? Until you frame your messages from your audience’s perspective, they won’t care. If they don’t care, you’ll never receive their full attention.

Talk in nuggets

Powerful communicators who can hold attention have something in common with each other. They’ve learned that speaking is for the ear, not for the eye. Instead of preparing a presentation as a research paper jammed with minutiae, condense complicated information into bite-sized nuggets and present only the information needed to move an audience toward the desired outcome.

Present, Don’t Read

Is your presentation written like a term paper? Is it written in sentences? Do you allow room for pauses so the listener can participate? People don′t converse in long-winded sentences. We speak in short phrases. So write in phrases or bullet points. You will then find yourself talking more and reading less. Also, take time to pause between key thoughts so your listeners can digest what you’re saying.

Paint the Picture

Explaining the features of your product may be important, but explanation without example has no meaning. People can’t remember all of the facts, but they do remember impressions. By comparing and contrasting, providing analogies and visual images, your presentation will come to life.

Slideshow or Presentation?

No one comes to a presentation to see a slideshow. They come to hear a knowledgeable person share ideas and talk. Visuals should reinforce what you’re saying, not serve as your script. Instead of preparing the slides first, prepare your remarks then create appropriate supporting visuals. Let your words drive the visuals instead of the other way around.

Nix the Jargon

Just because your audience is packed with colleagues or you’re providing information for an industry trade publication doesn’t mean you should talk jargon. Get rid of the buzzwords and throw away phrases. Rather, look for opportunities to put your words in context by humanizing your material and telling stories or anecdotes.

As I worked with the oncologist presenters and brought many of these points to their attention, they worried that simplifying the information would harm their credibility. Quite the opposite. By making an effort to connect with their audience rather than throw too much information at them, they created a focused, central theme with real-life examples that excited and inspired listeners. And in the end, the cancer drug they believed in made it to market and received a lot of good press!

Act like a sponge, and grasp all the knowledge you can from Karen Friedman, a leading communications coach in today’s business world. From her experiences as an award-winning television news anchor and reporter, she has helped thousands of spokespeople across the globe make the most of every interview, appearance and presentation. She has also authored five communication survival guides, which can be found at karenfriedman.com/ karenfriedman.com along with many popular audio programs. And don′t forget to sign up for a FREE newsletter at karenfriedman.com/Forms/newsletter.htm karenfriedman.com/forms/newsletter.htm
to receive a free bonus tip sheet today.

Question:

What was it like as new authors in the publishing world?

Answer:

As free-lance writers of informative articles, we had no prior
experience with book publishers. We did a lot of research
and were aware of some basic contract and publishing
procedures, yet there were many things we were not
prepared for. For instance, there was the book cover design
to conceive of - which our good friend Brian McAndrew
created. The back cover text had to be developed, an
author’s bio written, photos to have taken and lists of nearly
2 hundred contacts to sort out. The marketing research took
weeks to do, but it resulted in a 12-page plan to ease our
way. Then there were formal things like dealing with the
Library of Congress and Copyrighting. For instance, copies
of the book had to be sent to the Library of Congress at our
expense. There are rules to be aware of as well. The rights
for free use (using quotes from other people) is so gray that
we opted out of including this kind of text. Unfortunately, that
meant more editing. We were disappointed because there
were some very good quotes that would have added a great
deal to the book.

Question:

What were some publishing experiences or unexpected turn
of events?

Answer:

While Lillian was browsing the Internet looking up
information on other publishers, she came upon Publish
America’s website. It inspired her to send a query in on the
spot. Within 3-days we received a request for a sample
manuscript. Now, these publishers only accept 20% of the
thousands of queries that cross their desks, so we were
excited to have such a good response in a very short time.
Unfortunately, we were also relocating our home from one
part of town to another, finishing a garden year and working
as well. Time was short and stress was high. We got that
sample manuscript off in a timely fashion, however, and we
received an acceptance within a few days. The heady
sensation of signing the 7-year contract flew by us in a blur.

Question:

What time and resources do we put in for promoting the
book?

Answer:

Every day we put in 2-6 hours into some aspect of the book.
The Internet has proven to be a powerful tool where an
immense amount of information can be found from
newsletters, publishers, forums and authors. Every on-line
communication we have is an opportunity to plug our book
by simply attaching an auto signature. We developed
promotional materials (flyers, mini-posters, large posters,
bookmarks, labels) and, of course, galleys and sample
packages for editors and booksellers. Most importantly, we
had a great website built for us by Brian McAndrew of
Beyond Graphix.

Question:

What did you learn in researching the book?

Answer:

We thought we were committed to the concept of the book
in our lives, but when researching and writing this book we
found we became much more motivated, more committed
and more informed about waste reduction.

Question:

As a writer, what have you learned about staying organized
or motivated?

Answer:

Having a plan of action for every project is vital. Every project
should have an outline starting from the title through to the
end. There should also be a market plan laid out. Who are
you marketing to? How you are going about it? What will you
do first? These are the most important tools of a writer. Most
people think of a writing career being one where you have
lots of leisure time and creating with words. On the contrary,
most of the time is spent marketing and organizing projects.
For instance, we might write an article and query it to a
market. That market may take a few days to get back to us,
but it may also be as long as a year before we hear from
them. That article is idle and we do not get paid until after it
is published. A writer may have hundreds of pieces of their
work at various stages of writing and marketing at one time.
They need to know where it is and its status, at a glance. We
use the Excel program to take care of this. For the book,
plans were indispensable. The market plan alone is a book
in itself and will take us years to complete. That is normal,
actually. A writer must spend much of their time promoting
the book for years after publication in order to keep sales
happening. Unfortunately, promotion and writing time are
unpaid hours in the meantime.

Question:

When do you write?

Answer:

We have to do a bit of juggling to manage our business, day
job and writing career with some kind of balance. Usually,
We work as a team, though we write separately and then
conglomerate and edit the work together. Because we
share one computer, this can be a bit of a juggle. Dave
works shift work so when he is at work or sleeping Lillian
will use the computer to research and promote.

Question:

What is your professional background?

Answer:

Dave and Lillian began their (paid) writing career working as
staff writers at Openminder Newsletter where they
experienced the harried pace of getting several articles and
even feature or interview articles ready for a by-weekly
deadline. It was our start in the writing world and plunged us
head-first into the community, interviewing unique and
enterprising people. The concept of Trash Talk was already
developed and this market snatched up the column
immediately. When Openminder closed shop, we started a
free-lance career. Our articles have since appeared in a
variety of magazines including Seeds of Diversity, Country
Connection and ISKRA.

Question:

Have you won any awards or contests?

Answer:

Yes, Dave has recently won first prize in the Nature category
of BC Cottage Magazine’s 2004 Photo contest. Lillian has
won several editorial awards for her poetry and has had her
work published in 5 hardcover anthology books of poetry
through contests.

Question:

What is the most important lesson in your writing career?

Answer:

Research. If you know something is coming up, research it
and make a plan of action well ahead of time. If we did not
start the market plan and develop a plan of action and
estimated schedule soon after finding out the manuscript
was accepted, we would have never been ready for the
myriad of work ahead of us, much of which is time-sensitive.
Doing it right is essential - there is but little chance to make
an impression with a reviewer, reader or publication. Even
with the best of preparation you will be caught off guard or
unprepared. Don’t sweat it too much if you make a mistake.
Think of it as a lesson.

Question:

Have you any advice for new writers?

Answer:

We hate to sound redundant, but again, do your research.
Join forums and research the previous messages for
several months ago. You will find many novice questions
are thoroughly answered with many different people
contributing ideas and opinions. Always research your
market and query them in a professional manner before
sending a finished product.

Dave and Lillian Brummet, authors of the book Trash Talk -
a guide for anyone concerned about his or her impact on the
environment, that offers useful solutions to reduce waste
and better manage resources.

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