Writing Inrochester

Are you thinking of self-publishing your book and nearly fainting at the costs involved?

Well, here’s a way that you can get someone else to pay to publish your book—while you keep all the rights and royalties (unlike what happens with “traditional” publishers, who hold most of the rights and pay you a pittance of a royalty).

Have you ever noticed brand names in a movie or television? Maybe it’s a cereal box of Kellogg’s Cornflakes on the kitchen counter. Or the mention of a “Bluetooth” in a crime show. Remember how E.T. was lured from his hiding place with Reece’s Pieces?

Why Corporations Would Pay

Guess what—corporations pay big bucks for product placement. It’s much more powerful than running a commercial, because the movie, TV show or star acts as a sort of subliminal endorser of the product. (It works, too. My kids get excited when they see “that’s the same phone we have!” Underlying message: If it’s on TV, it must be the best.)

You can do the same thing with your published book. How?

Let’s say you write a book on sales strategies. You can mention several network type marketing companies as examples of people who have adopted this approach and are doing great. Before you publish the book, you go to one of the head marketing person of each of those organizations and let them know what you’re doing, how you’re featuring them as one of your “stars.” It won’t look like advertising because it’s part of the editorial content, and because you mention other companies, too, the credibility is high all around. You ask if they would like to sponsor publication of the book. You can do this for more than one.

Or let’s say you’re working on a murder mystery. Pharmaceuticals are involved in the crime investigation. You go to the marketing director of the pharmaceutical company and see if they would sponsor the book.

Here’s another idea. Let’s say you publish a romance that takes place on a tiny island in the Caribbean—say, St. Croix, in the American Virgin Islands. You could contact the director of tourism there and ask if they′d like to sponsor publication of your novel.

Structuring the Deal

You could approach the deal in two ways. You can ask them to sponsor publication of the book, or you can ask them to buy X number of copies for whatever the cost of your self-publishing (which you would have to research ahead of time). Either way, they subsidize the book. In the latter case, you already have built-in sales, and you could even work in a profit margin.

Here’s an important part of the deal: You must give the sponsor or buyer one condition: They can only either give your book away free, or sell it for the full cover price. This prevents them from undercutting you, the author, on price.

This can work for major companies, government agencies, or other large organizations such as professional groups. Why would they do this? Because advertising costs so much, and compared to that, underwriting the cost of a self-published book is cheap. A single-page ad in a magazine can cost $20,000 or more. Publishing 3000 copies of your book might only run them $10,000. Plus, sponsoring a book is more effective, because of the perceived endorsement value. A published book is seen as one of the most credible forms of endorsement there is. You’re giving them a promotional tool that will cost them very little of their total annual budget.

Next Steps

So how do you go about this?

First, write the book. Do not publish it keep it in manuscript form.

Brainstorm a list (at least 20) of companies that could benefit from either your topic, your setting, your direction, your examples, the entertainment value, or whatever else your book could offer them in terms of a mention.

Make one copy of your manuscript and include the specific product mention. Send that copy to the targeted company’s marketing with your proposal that they sponsor the project. Start with the most likely company first. (By most likely I mean the one that is mentioned most powerfully and naturally.)

If that company sponsors it, you win. If they refuse, you move on. If this will take too much time, do simultaneous submissions, being careful to keep good records. If you get more than one offer, you can either do more than one publication, include several companies and work out separate deals, or whatever works for you, them, and your book.

Diane Eble has 28 years experience in the publishing industry as an editor (magazines, fiction and nonfiction books), author (11 published books, more than 400 articles), and copywriter. She is now a

We’ve all heard a politician on their soapbox, pushing for some policy change or cleaning up after a scandal. Some will cut out a sharp point, while others leave the audience in bewilderment. You can often thank - or blame - the use of metaphor for the outcome of a speech.

Most often, the problem comes down to either poorly chosen metaphors, or “mixed” metaphors. A mixed metaphor is one in which half of the statement refers to something metaphorically that doesn’t match the other half. Here’s a hilarious example by cartoon superstar Homer Simpson:

—–”These people are the glue that holds together the gears of our society.”—–

The metaphors “glue” and “holds together” aren’t very appropriate when imagining gears. Gears are used in situations where there is movement, while glue is used to prevent movement. A sentence that puts these completely incompatible metaphors together is funny because it is perfectly ineffective but easily visualized.

Had Homer said “…the glue that holds together the pieces of society”, it would’ve been an effective metaphor and statement, but not at all funny. This is because “glue”, “holds together” and “pieces” are all metaphors belonging to the same metaphor system, one that, in this case, suggests that society is a solid construct of many parts.

But had Homer used half of the metaphors from “glue” and the other half from, say, “chemistry”, many listeners would not have found humor at all, having too little knowledge from chemistry to find the metaphors reachable. If you want people to find what you are pointing to in a metaphor, make sure it’s reachable to them.

Take great care in selecting every metaphor you are using in a sentence, paragraph or entire work. Do the metaphors you use work well together? Do they create an image in the reader’s mind that is consistent and easily visualized? Will most readers identify with the metaphor systems you refer to?

Points to remember when building effective metaphors:

1) Make your metaphors consistent.
2) Make sure your metaphor is easy to visualize.
3) Make sure your metaphor is reachable.

The metaphor has been held in high regard by many cultures for thousands of years. Its use as a tool in the right hands can build imagery that will stand the test of time. In the wrong hands, the metaphor will make one’s words fall flat, becoming soon forgotten. Build your metaphors to last - craft them carefully, deliberately and reachably.

John D. Casnig is a writer and publisher in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. His current focus is on the knowgramming.com/metaphors metaphor and its use as a teaching and learning tool. His online arts magazine, jaywalker.ca Jaywalker Magazine of the Arts, features some of his work, as well as works from other people in his region.

Article marketing is one of the greatest ways a website owner can drive targeted traffic to their website whilst educating the reader and allowing an author to demonstrate their expertise in a particular niche.

Many website owners however, do not use article marketing as much as they perhaps should. This is often due to the difficulty that webmasters have with creating a website and optimizing it for the search engines, let alone having to write articles and submit them to article directories.

Although a website owner may have significant knowledge in their chosen topic, this is not enough when it comes to generating traffic to the site to get the information read and products and services seen.

The difficulty that a lot of webmasters have in gaining those high search engine placements that can drive free targeted traffic to their website is the competition that can be fierce in many niches. There are often millions or even billions of websites all competing for top search engine placements in any particular niche. This makes it all important for the website owner to obtain backlinks that play a significant part in many search engine algorithms for high search engine rankings.

Article marketing can undoubtedly play a large role in gaining these backlinks, but that it is not only what article marketing is useful for:

- It allows the author to demonstrate how knowledgeable they are about a subject.

- It has the potential to drive targeted traffic direct from the article directories. People who find and read articles on any particular topic are more than likely doing so because the subject interests them. This means that the article author is attracting targeted traffic that already has an interest in what your website is going to offer.

There is a varying degree of success that can be achieved from article marketing. This is dependant upon factors such as the quality of the information contained within an article, and the niche that the article caters to. For example there is a greater audience for an article that caters to the marketing niche than a tight niche such as coin collecting.

This is not to say that an author writing about coin collecting cannot receive beneficial results. In fact there would be less competition within the coin collecting category than the marketing category, possibly providing the article more of an opportunity to be found by interested readers who search the article directories for content.

Article marketing possesses a huge potential for all article authors, regardless of the article topic. Concentrating on the quality of information and how informative the article is to a prospective reader is very important, but no matter how good an author is at writing it is essential that all webmasters use article marketing to drive targeted traffic to their website.

For a FREE eCourse on how to take advantage of the power of article marketing and flood your website with traffic and sales visit onlinewithjustin.com/ecourses/article-promotions/ www.onlinewithjustin.com/ecourses/article-promotions.

FORWARD

The 188 stage Hero′s Journey (Monomyth) is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the hundreds of Hollywood movies we have deconstructed (see URL below) are based on this 188 stage template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters. This is the template you must master if you are to succeed in the craft.

[The terminology is most often metaphoric and applies to all successful stories and screenplays, from The Godfather (1972) to Brokeback Mountain (2006) to Annie Hall (1977) to Lord of the Rings (2003) to Drugstore Cowboy (1989) to Thelma and Louise (1991) to Apocaplyse Now (1979)].

THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY

THE 188 STAGE HERO’S JOURNEY:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Gives you a tangible process for building and releasing dissonance (establishing and achieving catharses, of which there are usually four).

d) Tells you what to write. For example, at a certain stage of the story, the focus should be on the Call to Adventure and the micro elements within.

ABRIDGED TIPS, EXCERPTS AND EXAMPLES:

(simply go to heros-journey.info/ heros-journey.info/ for full details)

*****Atonement with the Father*****

This is the confrontation with and conquest of the Inner Challenge.

The Atonement is the At-One-Ment. The Atonement is a metaphor for the Inner Challenge.

Confrontation. That which is the greatest barrier to the apotheosis is confronted. In Scarface (1983), Tony Montana confronts himself and the choice he has taken (the restaurant scene). In Raging Bull (1980), Jake confronts Joey and asks him whether he slept with his wife. In Casablanca (1942), Rick confronts both Ilsa and Victor.

Death of the Father. The Father is a metaphor for the Inner Challenge. As the Inner Challenge dies, so does the Father.

The Father is often a Mentor figure that previously aided or restricted the Hero. That figure now dies or leaves. This is why death or departure is normal at this stage.

The Hero replaces (internalises) the Father. In The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Andy walks out wearing the warden’s shoes.

Learn more…

WRITE THAT SCREENPLAY!

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at monomyth.info/ monomyth.info/

188 stages of the Hero’s Journey can also be reached from story-structure.org/ story-structure.org/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

**********************************

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

Not everybody could, or should be Rich Little (I actually like some of his impersonations better than him, if you care.) However, he was a master at taking-on other characters. You will not necessarily aspire to showbiz quality impersonations, but you can give your other voices their own voice. Let’s back up just a bit. Your presentation, let’s call it a speech for the moment, but whether it is a motivational speech or a techy-one it should always have other “points of view.” I take the position as an actor - as most scripts have different points of view - the actor must assume a slightly different persona for each. This is simply effectuated with a shift in voice, posture and facial expression. That’s mostly it. Some people advocate, just look in the mirror and practice making faces. This is not my method but I am an advocate of “if it works - work it.”

If your presentation doesn’t have a different point of view then revise it till it does. At least two other points of view. Then when you come to that point of view just change something - preferably everything - voice, posture and expression. Why? Because it will be more interesting. Whoa, you say? I can’t possible do that, you say? The reason I call my drama workshop “Acting Naturally” is that you - we - do it all the time. At the grocery store we mimic the smart aleck cashier, the out-of-place cowboy, the mother who says a dozen time, “I ain’t gonna tell you again.” (Or my fav - “Don’t make me come over there.”) You see, mimicking, is just elementary impersonating.

Now don′t, in fact please don′t, overdo it. Not necessary, and if and when you do, it will be a caricature - you may not find that effective. The huge benefit is that it will be more interesting for you.

For the first element, lower or raise your voice just slightly. It’s more for you than for the audience. It will make you feel a little different and your persona will change.

Secondly, posture or stance. However you are standing, when you come to change in point of view, just do something different. Slouch to one side, rock up on your heels, lift one foot slightly, hands on your hips, cross your arms, something.

Add to that an expression. Roll your eyes, frown, grit your teeth, something. When you add expression your voice change will be semi-automatic.

Add the above to my other article “Public Speaking - How to Suck your Audience in Big Time. Then your presentation will become a continuing surprise - which captivates your audience. When the audience buys-in, you can sell them most anything, so be gentle.

Mac McConnell sold an award winning art gallery to form BibleActor.com BibleActor.com devoting full time to scripting and performing one-man Biblical dramas. He gained a world flying speed record and received his black belt in TaeKwon-Do at age 60.
His first historical novel, “Forever Changed” is now out on the life of Zacchaeus. OneWayBooks.org/ OneWayBooks.org/
More info on drama workshop at ActingNaturally.org ActingNaturally.org

Did you ever observe a cold audience? Have you experienced a group of participants who seem to be resistant to learning anything unless it is taking place around the swimming pool or beach lounge?

Well in this busy time, of just too many things to do and lots on our mind, we need to find ways to warm up that audience before we do our keynote or training.

1. If possible arrive early and chat with people

This will give you an opportunity to get a real feel of the audience. It also will alert you to issues that you may have been unaware of prior to arrival. These issues may be referral points useful in your presentation.

2. Ask your audience if they are physically comfortable

Your audience will appreciate your attempt to increase or decrease temperatures in the room or any other controllable situation that may distract them from hearing your message. This can also be done prior to a keynote if you observe people cold or too hot. You could as the meeting planner to help find the right person to change the temperature.

3. Ask your audience to applaud someone else who has done something to plan the meeting.

Contributions made by people should never be taken for granted. This will not only make the person(s) feel good but it will show your sensitivity and concern. If possible have a gift ready to give to the person in front of the audience.

4. Applaud your audience for attending

Even if some of your audience is not there by choice, it is good to recognize their attendance. This will often provide a much-needed decrease in any hostile feelings by a showing of your appreciation. You could also have people turn to each other and say “I am so glad you were able to attend.”

5. Let your body language show that you are friendly

Use openhanded gestures, smile and avoid crossing arms. It is amazing how much our bodies can communicate. People are not only watching but will sense your negative or positive “vibes”.

6. Remember the passion you have for your message.

Your sincere concern for sharing a hot message with your audience will warm up a cold audience.

7. Remain PRESENT with your audience.

Leave whatever may be happening in your personal life, prior to walking on that platform, outside the door. When you are completely tuned in to your audience they will know and feel your warmth.

Rosemary Horner is an inspirational keynoter, presentation, and communications expert.

You have permission to publish this article electronically,
or in print, free of charge, so long as the signature file
is included. I’d appreciate your telling me too.

I think one of the places where people go wrong with article marketing is that they do not understand the basic strategies of article marketing (there are two) and they do not know what steps to take to achieve either strategy, so they do a hit or miss effort, and get hit or miss results.h t

I have written and posted around 500 articles, about 50 of them to around 100 article directories, and have done extensive testing to determine what works and what does not.

Search Engine Results Strategy

This strategy focused on gaining search engine rankings throughe method of creating multiple backlinks to your website. The search engines assume that web sites with multiple backlinks are more ‘popular’ and thus they rank them higher than web sites with fewer backlinks.

To utilize this strategy, write a few articles and post them to as many article directories as possible, strategically using live links to create long-term backlinks to your web site for search engine rankings. I have effectively taken several web pages and web sites to the numbers 1, 2 and 3 rankings for several keywords simultaneously, using this strategy alone.

This strategy is extremely effective at getting your web site ranked and ranked well by the search engines for long-tailed keywords (more specific search terms) but is less effective at doing it with highly competitive keywords. At the end of this section I include a full list of article directories to submit to if you are using this strategy.

Keep in mind, this strategy is strictly for the purpose of creating high search engine rankings; most traffic received will be from natural search engine results, not from direct hits on your articles.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Download it free here:

As web writers we don’t make articles just to have them sit. We want hits! Based on what I have seen at Ezinearticles.com bookwired.com Ideamarketers.com and Article-Publicity.com, there are four key ingredients that get a article read, which the publishers and web masters will use, generating more hits to your ideas and your site.

Here they are:

1. Formatting: If your article does not have proper formatting then it will look like a block of non-sense. The publishers and web masters will just leave. So your article gets two seconds of exposure when it could have been circulated around the globe. Along with formatting comes spelling and grammar. If you are writing for an English audience using non English writers for ghost writers you can expect the worst when publications refuse to acknowledge the work. Even though to you and your writer, it is grammatically correct and the spelling is fine, wordperfect and Microsoft Word are not the last say in grammar. However the publisher is, and he or she can see the difference.

2. Placement: The placement of an article on the front page always means more hits. Most sites will have your article placed on the front page for up to a day. The sites that allow you to bid a small amount to keep your site on the front always seem to work the best. There your formatted and grammatically correct article can get the views that it deserves.

3. Photographs: Photographs of you, the writer, or a logo (where allowed) or even a product draw attention to your article. Those articles seem do draw almost ten times the amount of views and distribution than those without them. So where possible get the best picture of yourself you can and place it wherever possible.

4. Title: The most important part of your article is the title. Most do not spent enough time on creating a good title. You need a title that has keywords in it, but it still must grab the attention of the reader. How to articles and tutorials will grab attention, but most of us do not create those types of articles. No matter what type of article or the category, “New Site name for your topic” is not as powerful as “Your topic creates Interactive Site for professionals”

Time wasting sites: Out of 750 article directories over 75% do not post your article the same day it is received, over 50% are no longer active. Before you waste your time joining or posting or if you have someone else posting, check and be sure the site is active. To do this check the date of the last post. I found many that had not been active in months and about 30 more than said they were not accepting articles - yet the newest article was weeks old. These are time wasters for you and no one will see your article. Stop using those directories. Let them die without wasting your time.

Ryan Orr has authored six action adventure books including “Land of The Dragons” the “Jeremy Ruhl” Series “The Ranch 1982″ “Beyond The Oasis” “Pirates Cove” and others, he is a respected teacher, speaker and lecturer You can view and purchase his books at rwpbooks.com rwpbooks.com

Ask a writer to define him or her self and you’ll often get a wordy exposition on the meaning of life, referred to as plot dump. There’s always been a great deal of hubris among “serious” writers. They consider themselves among the most interesting people on the planet. If you happen to meet one or two celebs they′ll even have you believing them. As with the dizzying displays of cereal boxes, popular authors occupy all the shelf room while unknowns are lucky to make it to the bargain pile where I find many a good read.

Dead Writers Society

In the olden days (not that old), a newly anointed would stake out a corner at a writers’ cocktail party comfortable in his frayed tweed jacket puffing his vanilla scented pipe, while admirers drifted like lemmings to the scintillating monologue on his early life as an impoverished boy from a small mining town in the west. Up and coming women authors preferred the security offered by the armrest of an overstuffed club chair, where Arthur Miller, James Michener, Ayn Rand, Truman Capote, Lillian Hellman, Saul Bellow gathered to share juicy gossip. They’re gone, but we have their writings.

The Money Pot of Popular Culture

J.K. Rowling notwithstanding, the volumes lining today’s book shelves resemble more the disappointing motion pictures lining up at the box office. With Wall Street owning Hollywood, we rarely see a winning novel successfully translate to the screen, even one as visually gorgeous as “Evening.” The reason? The writing. Take for example the following narrative passage direct from the novel “Evening” by Susan Minot:

“A new lens passed over everything she saw, the shadows moved on the wall like skeletons handing things to each other. Her body was flung back over a thousand beds in a thousand other rooms. … In her mattress there beat the feathers of a wild bird. —Susan Minot”

In my view even the skills of Michael Cunningham (“The Hours”) who wrote the screenplay for “Evening” were insufficient to bring Minot’s written word to the screen. Somehow her prose was lost in translation. Again it’s the writing.

As with so many good writers, Robert Ludlum scored greatly with “The Bourne Identity.” But the melody (yawn) lingers on as long as the movie franchise continues to make him rich. At least Ian Fleming did his Bond best to make the sex, fun and villains more innovative each time. One cannot argue with the goose that lays the golden egg, ergo the runaway successes of James Paterson, Nelson DeMille, Jeffery Deaver, Michael Connelly, David Baldacci, Tom Clancy. The list, of course, is longer and includes all the ladies as well: Danielle Steel, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Sue Grafton, Patricia Cornwell, etc. They are masters of their craft. The public loves them, their publishers love them and everyone is happy…everyone except all the worthy writers who cannot get past publishers’ or agents’ gatekeepers, or they have neither the money nor the confidence to self-publish successfully.

Swimming With Writers

The world is literally swimming with writers, multitudes of writers—everywhere. And the World Wide Web is one of many places where you find them. What? You say you want to be a “serious” writer and you don’t think the Web is the place for your talents? Admittedly there is some bad writing on the Web. There’s also bad writing and misspellings and bad grammar in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other venerable publications. Maybe some of today’s tech graduates didn’t bother to learn how to spell or put a sentence together.

But look at those thousands of websites. Everyone is selling something. Everyone is competing for someone’s business. The ones that last are making money. They must know something. One of the things they know is how to write. Or, maybe they can’t write and they hired a writer like you. Maybe you can be one of those for hire while you write your great American novel or work your other enterprise on the side. Here’s a quote from one of successful author Terry McMillan’s websites:

“Too many of us are hung up on what we don′t have, can′t have, or won′t ever have. We spend too much energy being down, when we could use that same energy—if not less of it—doing, or at least trying to do, some of the things we really want to do. —Terry”

The Writer’s Secret

Terry’s advice is so simple so positive. We live in a sad complicated world. But when we focus on sadness, like fear and terrorism, it drags us down to that level. Writers with vision have an enormous advantage over people who see only the darkness. The writer’s secret lies in the unique vibrations they have, vibrations that become thoughts then words that translate into actions that can change attitudes. Writers can do what swimmers do—dive deep, enjoy the liberating depths of their quietude, surface, splash around and whoop out their joy to the sky. Out on the water, only God can hear. In this sizzling summer of global turmoil take the plunge. You surface as the writer you’re meant to be and the world is your oyster.

I will share with you what I found when last I pried open my oyster of secrets: The swimmer says, though I cannot leave my footsteps in the ocean, it is the corporal intimate solitude of swimming that sets me free. Agreeing, the solitary writer adds, it is the ocean of my mind that frees me—the waters of pure consciousness wherein reside the footsteps of lifetimes. Unencumbered by conversation, both swimmer and writer dive deep; roam unexplored islands in the stream to be one with the distant shore.

As a writer/editor I focus on one manuscript or news release or the text of one book jacket until the project is completed. Beginner or seasoned writer, the process is the same. There are many ways I can help you with your writing and marketing, and there is a forthcoming free newsletter. You’ll find examples of my work on my website susanscharfman.com susanscharfman.com SIGNED copies of my novel “The Sword & The Chrysanthemum, Journey of the Heart” are available in paperback at reduced rates directly from me. And you can “Look Inside The Book” at Amazon.com Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com barnesandnoble.com

I hate to admit this, but I rarely get an original idea. That’s bad for a writer.

However, I’ve got lots of paperback friends who help me sound smarter. They’re the seven reference texts I keep on top of my desk. Here they are, and why each one means so much to me.

1. Dictionary – And old teacher once told me, “If you don’t know the meaning, look it up.” Sound advice. My desk copy is “Webster’s New World Dictionary.”

2. Thesaurus – I’m always looking for a different way to say things, and this text helps me a lot. It’s called “Roget’s College Thesaurus.”

3. Idiom reference – People often use a common idiom or cliché’ to clarify what they say. I keep the “Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms” next to my keyboard.

4. Dictionary of synonyms – The one I use is “The Merriam-Webster Pocket Dictionary of Synonyms.”

5. Encyclopedia – To quickly find details on historical figures or products, I consult a great single volume paperback called “The New American Desk Encyclopedia.”

6. Quotations – A quote from an expert can add impact to a speech or report. The book I use is “The International Thesaurus of Quotations” by Rhoda Thomas Tripp.

7. Idea generator – Well, this sounds self-serving, but I often use my own book to give me ideas for first paragraphs, transitional sentences, and conclusions. That book is “Words That Stick” by Rix Quinn.

Rix Quinn writes a weekly syndicated humor column, and develops writing workshops for schools, colleges, and business groups. His book “Words That Stick” is available from amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580085768/qid/ amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580085768/qid/