Your E-book is your calling card

Writing an e-book or a series of e-books is a demanding process involving time and dedication. However, once published, your e-book can be your best friend when it comes to generating publicity for you as an author or expert in your field. Promoted correctly, your e-book can lead to future commissions for your writing skills, or even guest speaker requests from peers in your chosen niche market.

Promoting your e-book is not just about telling potential customers how buying your publication can help solve their problems. It is also about building your brand image. Essentially, this means that your promotional strategy should include some form of social interaction between you and your customer. Just saying ‘thank you’ to someone who has bought your e-book is not enough. You need to follow through by opening a channel for dialogue between you and your customer, much in the same way a customer service department does when a consumer enters a store. There are several ways you can do this.

1. Your e-book is your calling card so you should include your contact details in the footer of your e-book pages. This will allow buyers of your publication to contact you if they have any queries related to your e-book’s content. More often than not, these queries will be requests for further information. When you receive such requests, it is important that you respond positively by supplying the requested information, or by directing the enquirer to a relevant and accessible source that will meet their request. The key here is to build up a rapport between you and your readers.

2. Do offer a ‘satisfaction or your money back guarantee’ with your e-book. This demonstrates that you are confident about the value and quality of your e-book offering. A ‘satisfaction or your money back guarantee’ also helps to build trust around you and your publication. Consumer trust is intrinsic to building a positive brand image around you and your work.

3. Include some free pages for potential customers to review, after which they can leave a comment on, or rate, what they have read.

4. Create a community blog around your e-book’s content. This will encourage social interaction between you and your readers. Blogging is a handy feedback tool as visitors can post comments on what you have written.

5. Don’t make outlandish claims about what your e-book can deliver. This is a sure fire way to destroy your credibility as an expert in your chosen field. Instead, be honest and forthright about the content of your e-book. Tell it how it is. Your integrity and reputation as an author are assets that you can ill afford to lose.

6. While publishing testimonials help to build a positive image around your e-book, you shouldn’t be afraid to publish any criticism about your work either. Don’t abdicate your ability to control criticism by not responding to anyone who has a genuine grievance against what you have written. Responding to criticism positively is a great opportunity for you to demonstrate your excellent ‘customer service’ skills. Use criticism of your work as a feedback tool.

7. Include a bio at the end of your e-book. Your bio is an opportunity to stake out your credentials as a knowledgeable author on the subject you are writing about. Again, honesty is the best policy here. You don’t need to be a university professor or a college graduate to be a knowledgeable author. Your ‘hands-on experience’ of a given topic is worth more than a college degree without experience. The online ‘expert industry’ is more about exchanging life experiences than it is about exchanging ideas on academic theory.

In the final analysis, your e-book should be treated as your calling card and not just another product you sell.

Writer’s block and inspirational movies

As a writer, there will invariably come a time when you will experience the frustration of writer’s block. Unfortunately, it’s an occupational hazard. It happens to all of us. What makes writer’s block even more frustrating is the fact that it always happens when you’ve got a deadline to meet. The question is: how to overcome this impediment which threatens to derail your writing career?

Well, different writers use different techniques to get their writing back on track. But the methods I find most useful are the ones that inspire me. If the block is only temporary and it’s a beautiful day, then I merely go dig in the garden. (We have a vast garden, which includes a small orchard, so there is always plenty to do.)

Spending time in the garden has a calming effect. It takes away all the anxieties that are contributing to my writer's block. A few hours in the garden not only clears the head, but it also inspires me too. There is nothing more inspiring than looking at the way plants, insects and animals interact with each other. No matter what happens during any given day, the world keeps spinning. And that’s the beauty and the miracle of the world in which we live.

If the block is a little more serious, then I turn to my movie collection. My movie collection is only a modest one, but it does contain a lot of inspirational material. Here are my top eight favorite movies for kicking writer’s block:

1. Balboa (Rocky VI)

2. Jerry Maguire

3. Any Given Sunday

4. Wall Street

5. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

6. Working Girl

7. National Velvet (Old but pure gold when it comes to inspiration)

8. Champions

The theme that runs through all of these movies is one of overcoming adversity to achieve success. The first three movies all contain inspirational speeches that galvanize the spirit towards action.

My all-time favorite inspirational movie speech comes from Balboa (Rocky VI) in which Rocky (Sly Stallone) tells his son that if he knows what he is worth, then he should go out and get it. Basically, advises his son not to be such a puss by blaming others for his lack of success. He’s right. If you want to be successful, then you’ve got to get out there and start pitching.

My second all-time favorite inspirational movie speech comes from ‘Any Given Sunday’ in which Al Pachino lifts his team to a victory with awe inspiring and heartfelt vocalization of what it takes to win. What a performance!

‘Jerry Maguire’ is another great movie for lifting the spirits. It is about a guy (Tom Cruise) who follows his instinct for a more compassionate approach to being a sports agent. The movie is not only a ‘feel good’ experience it also restores your faith in humanity.

‘Wall Street’ (I & II) are all about the follies of avarice and unethical practices. The message is simple: there are no shortcuts to fame and fortune. However, there is one quote from ‘Wall Street’ that I just love. ‘There is no nobility in poverty.’ It is a reminder to all that it is up to us to make sure we don’t live an impoverished life. Poverty is not just about a lack of tangible wealth, it can also mean a lack of personal integrity.

‘Working Girl,’ starring Melanie Griffiths, is another ‘feel good’ movie. It reminds you that when you are on the bottom the only place you can go is to the top.

‘National Velvet’, starring Elisabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney, is a film from my childhood days. A teenage girl winning the Grand National, the most spectacular and dangerous of all horse races, gets your blood pumping. If a teenager can scale the heights of victory, then so can we all.

And last, but not least, we come to ‘Champions,’ which is another Grand National movie. The movie charts the true story of jockey Bob Champion and his fight against cancer. It also charts the story of his mount, Aldaniti, who suffered a serious injury which nearly had him sent to the afterlife. Together, the two of them formed a bond of friendship as each of them struggled to overcome their life-threatening afflictions. Eventually, against all the odds, man and horse overcame adversity to win the Grand National. ‘Champions’ is a moving and inspirational story which resonates with anyone who has had to deal with the inequities of life. It is well worth the watch.

So if you are an author suffering from writer’s block, then check out one or two of the above movies. You might be surprised at how quickly your writer’s block disappears.

Writing and Publishing Your Personal Success Story

Nothing stirs the emotions quite like an individual success story. I think it is fair to say that we all love reading or listening to tales of how someone has triumphed over adversity to achieve success. Someone else’s success, after all, can be a source of inspiration for others. So what makes a good success story?

Aside from inspiring others to action, a good success story charts the history of an individual’s effort to overcome obstacles to achieve their goals. These obstacles can come in many forms, such as escaping from poverty to become a successful entrepreneur or creating new opportunities out of a life-changing experience. In any event, a good success story is one that evokes empathy rather than sympathy.

We’ve all heard of Steve Jobs, the founder and CEO of Apple, and the story of how he was given up for adoption by his biological mother. How he dropped out from mainstream college education but went on to found Apple, a seriously successful company with a brand image that now spans the globe. Steve Jobs’ success has also been punctuated by numerous personal crises including a battle with cancer. Nonetheless, at no point in his life has he ever given up his goal of successfully serving others.

Steve Jobs’ success story exemplifies the courage and tenacity of someone prepared to take on life’s inequities to lead a productive and fulfilling life. Moreover, Steve Job’s success has inspired countless people around the world by revolutionizing how we communicate with each other. This is an enormous achievement by anyone’s standards.

But what about those individual success stories that never see the light of day or fail to make it into mainstream media? What happens to those stories? More often than not, those stories are lost along with the lessons that go with them. However, occasionally, a person who feels strongly enough about their personal achievements will take the plunge and write and self-publish their success story. In general, such a person will not print and publish their story out of vanity. They will write their story in the sincere hope that it will inspire others to rise up out of the mire of misfortune and to conquer their fears to live a more meaningful and productive life. One such person is my writing colleague Carole.

Carole was involved in a near-fatal helicopter accident some years ago. The accident left Carole with terrible head injuries, which effectively put paid to her career as a helicopter pilot. It was a life-changing event, to say the least, and it took some time for Carole to come to terms with the reality of her new situation.

After months in a critical care unit and subsequent years of rehabilitation, Carole began to look at other career options. She really had no choice if she was going to keep a roof over her family’s head.

In any event, Carole tried her hand at writing. At first, it was difficult, for obvious reasons, but it wasn’t long before she soon discovered a real passion for putting words down on paper. Carole loved the writing process, so much so that she decided to coach others in the art of writing. Now she has written a book called ‘LIVE YOUR LIFE BOLDLY,’ a personal story of how she overcame serious physical injury, including brain damage, to start a new career as a writing coach. Carole’s book will be released in electronic format later this year, and I would highly recommend it as a good read.

Carole’s success story is a good example of how an ordinary individual created opportunity and success out of adversity. It is not always easy to write about oneself and lay bare our most intimate details for the whole world to read. But, for some of us, writing about our personal struggles and triumphs is the only strategy we have for excising the ghosts of the past and to bring closure to events that have dramatically changed our lives.

So long as what we write does not delve into the realm of self-indulgence, then people will read what we have written. As Mikhail Lermontov so aptly put it in the introduction to his epic novel, A HERO OF OUR TIME, ‘The story of a human soul, even the pettiest of souls, is no less interesting and instructive than the story of a nation, especially if it is the result of the observation of a mature mind and written without the vain desire to evoke compassion or wonder.’

If you’ve got a personal success story to tell, then you should write and share it with a broader audience. You may have lessons that others might want to learn. 

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

What an amazing day! It has been without doubt a day to remember, if only for its feel good factor.

The Royal Wedding captivated audiences from around the world, sending good vibrations throughout all those who tuned into the much heralded event. I, for one, was riveted to the TV as Wills and Kate made their vows to each other. The pomp and pageantry of the ceremony certainly stirred the emotions. It was a great spectacle, even for those who are cynical about the role of the Royals in today’s society.

I felt good and so did millions of others when the Royal Couple exuded genuine warmth and affection as they waved to the crowds who had lined the streets of London to watch the ceremony. And that warmth and affection was reciprocated when Wills and Kate appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to wave to the 500,000 well wishers who had gathered to cheer and see the iconic ‘kiss’ between the newlywed Royals. Amazing stuff!

But when I thought the day couldn’t get any better, I got an email from a writing colleague in South Africa. She had sent me a video link from YouTube.

The link was to the performance of Edward Reid, a Scottish drama teacher, during an audition for Britain’s Got Talent. And what a performance it was too. Edward gave a very unusual rendition of some well known nursery rhymes accompanied by an instrumental of Leona Lewis’ ‘Run’. It was simply brilliant! Way to go Edward!

I guess today was one of those rare inspirational days when hope was restored to a world beset by crisis and conflict. If today taught me anything, it was never to lose faith in mankind’s indomitable spirit and ability to reach for the stars.

Big or small, young or old, royal or commoner, we owe it to ourselves and others to radiate a sense of positivity in all that we do. Being positive certainly makes the world a more bearable place in which to live.

Checkout Edward’s Audition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQlNbtM5Okk

E-books and Wedding Bells

The big day has finally arrived for Wills and Kate. Today’s Royal Wedding promises to be the biggest event in the British Social Calendar this year.

Thousands of people will line the streets in the nation’s capital to witness the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton, and two billion more will watch the ceremony on TV or the Internet. If other Royal Weddings are anything to go by, there will be plenty of partying today. I certainly wish I could be in the UK to join in the celebrations. There is nothing like a good wedding to lift the spirits.

One of the things I like about this particular Royal Wedding is the fact that everyone can participate in the celebrations thanks to the online publication of the Order of Service. The Order of Service is free to download and comes in a page turning PDF format. What a nice little touch for those of us who can’t get to London to witness the nuptials firsthand.

Having downloaded a copy of the Order of Service, I have to say that it is beautifully put together and includes such details as the couple’s family Coat of Arms and their wedding vows. Anyone who is a fan of the Royal Family will enjoy the publication. I certainly enjoyed reading it.

Whilst I was thumbing through the pages, electronically that is, a thought crossed my mind. Why don’t more young couples make use of the e-book format to publish their Order of Service? After all, what is good for Royalty is certainly good for the people.

Creating a page turning PDF copy of your wedding ceremony is not that difficult. You can include photographs, a brief history of the families involved and the vows you plan to make. You can even thank those who have helped plan and organize your wedding, much in the same way Kate and Wills have done.

If you don’t feel confident in putting together your own Order of Service, then you can always ask an e-book writer/creator to compose one for you.

You can contact an e-book writer/creator at: info@mapconsult101.com

Reap the Harvest of Effort

It’s that time of year again. The sun is reaching ever higher into the sky, casting its gilded warmth over the shock of color now spreading across the landscape. Yes, spring has finally arrived here on the River Danube, my home.

Kiliya is a quiet rural backwater on the border between Ukraine and Romania. It is a place where life goes on pretty much as it has done since the Cossacks reclaimed the town from the Turks back in the days of Catherine the Great.

The smallholding is a way of life in these parts, with the landscape a patchwork of strawberry and potato fields. The people, uncomplicated by the politics of an urban environment, live each day as it comes. The way nature intended.

Our own smallholding is a modest affair made up of an orchard of cherry, apple, pear and apricot trees, and some land to grow potatoes, corn, and other vegetables.

In addition to growing fruit and vegetables, we also keep chickens, ducks, and geese. Rarely do we buy food, as much of what we need is produced by ourselves. We live a simple lifestyle, one which is far removed from the clamor, noise and speed of our previous existence in the city that never sleeps, London.

The decision to swap the comfort of our urban existence for the uncertainty of a lifestyle impacted by the vagaries of nature was not an easy one. It took a lot of souls searching before we actually made the decision to leap into the dark unknown of living off the land. In the end, we decided to give it a go and last year we planted our first crops.

Our first harvest yielded barely enough to sustain us through the winter months. However, we learned a lot from that initial experience. We learned that to succeed at smallholding, we needed to have patience and an understanding of how nature works.

Nature is not a machine. It is an interlocking system of life cycles dependent on weather and season. You work alongside nature, learning how to harness its power to produce what you need. That is how it works. And so it is with writing.

You have to have patience and understanding to learn the art of writing. It takes time. There are no shortcuts, just a constant and prolonged effort to learn the nuances of articulating your thoughts through the written word. But once you’ve mastered the art of writing, as with learning how to plant crops, you will reap a rich and bountiful harvest.

Article Marketing and Your Info Product

I woke up early this morning to do some research on article marketing. Like all my projects, I plan my research using a set of aims and objectives. This saves time and stops me wandering off at a tangent as I surf the net for information.

My research starting point this morning was the various article directories I use to submit my own articles. Article directories house a wealth of information on every subject imaginable so it was only natural to start my research here.

Although the articles posted on free directories are fairly limited in scope and sometimes quality, they do, nonetheless, contain references to other sources of information. It is these references that prove the most valuable when it comes to building knowledge around a chosen subject. However, that is not what I want to write about today.

Most of the articles I read on article marketing this morning were absolutely appalling. Yes, they contained reference material, but the articles themselves were so poorly written I had to ask the question: why were they ever published in the first place?

One article in particular, promoting the services of ‘a web content writer’, was so poorly written that I had to stop reading it before I threw up over my laptop. (Barfing at four in the morning is something that family would not have appreciated.)

I am certainly no purest when it comes to writing and I do make mistakes, as we all do. However, proof reading and a good spell checker eliminates a majority of errors in my work. If only the author of the article in question had used the same tools, they might have received more work from content hungry webmasters. And this is the point I want to make.

A majority of info product writers spend an inordinate amount of time and energy producing a first class product only to throw all their hard work down the drain with a poorly planned, written and executed article marketing campaign. Why?

As info product creators, we owe it to ourselves and our product to produce an article marketing campaign that builds credibility around the material or services we want others to buy. You don’t have to be a writing expert to produce a good article marketing campaign. You just need to apply a little thought and effort to the process of planning and producing articles that people will want to read. Here are some useful tips for producing a good article marketing campaign.

1. Plan your campaign. The five ‘P’s apply here. PRIOR PLANNING PREVENTS POOR PERFORMANCE.

2. Research your subject before you begin writing. Your articles should be written from a foundation of knowledge. Don’t write garbage. Always remember that you are trying to build credibility for yourself and your info product.

3. Produce articles that are fresh and unique. Don’t rewrite PLR articles or use article generating software. It’s your voice the audience wants to hear, not the nonsensical sound of a word mincing machine.

4. Quality is better than quantity. Some article marketers suggest writing 50 to 100 articles at the beginning of each campaign. This is nonsense. Think about it for a moment. If you write 50 articles at 500 words each, then you will need to write 25,000 words for each campaign. That’s the equivalent of a novella, and probably more than the total number of words it took you to produce your info product. It is better to write 10 to 15 really good quality articles in the initial stages of your campaign. Then simply add to that number as your campaign gathers momentum.

5. Don’t submit the same article to multiple directories. Most search engines employ filters to sift out duplicate content. You will simply be wasting your time submitting the same article to multiple directories.

6. Don’t use article submission software to submit your articles. Submit them manually, selecting only the top ten directories in your chosen niche.

7. Proof read your articles before submitting them to an article directory. A poorly written article will destroy the image of your info product and call into question your credibility as an authority in your chosen niche.

8. Monitor the progress of each article. Check to see how many people have viewed your article. Readers sometimes leave comments. Read them. Reader comments will provide you with valuable insight into how your article marketing campaign is going.

Article marketing takes time, patience and effort. Planned, written and implemented correctly, your article marketing campaign will generate genuine interest in your info product and build your credibility as an authority in your chosen niche.

Writing Strategies for Promoting Your ‘Info Product’

So you’ve written an outstanding ‘info product,’ one that you feel certain will profit your endeavors. But writing an outstanding ‘info product’ is only part of the equation. You also need to promote your ‘info product’ if your expectations of profit are to be realized.

There are many ways to promote your ‘info product,’ some of which have been discussed on this blog. But one area of promotion that is often overlooked by ‘info product’ creators is the ‘landing page’ which they use to attract potential customers.

The ‘landing page’ is where you tell people how brilliant your ‘info product’ is and why they should click on the buy link. Unfortunately, a lot of landing pages that I’ve come across of late have failed to do justice to the ‘info product’ they are trying to promote. This is because the 'landing page' writer has overlooked the fundamentals of writing good sales copy.

Let’s start with one significant fact: most visitors to your landing page will probably spend less than 12 seconds viewing what you have to offer. Twelve seconds is about the length of time it has taken you to read the first three paragraphs of this post. It’s not a lot of time in which get your message across.

A useful ‘landing page’ is one that:

1. Speaks to its audience without overwhelming them with too much information
2. Identifies with its audience’s needs
3. Offers solutions relevant to its audience’s needs
4. Builds credibility around the product it is trying to sell
5. Creates a clear ‘call to action.’

Speak to Your Audience

Don’t overburden your audience with fluff. Get to the point. Tell your audience what can be expected from reading your ‘landing page.’ There will be plenty of time to extol the virtues of your ‘info product’ once you’ve hooked your readers.

Use big, bold headers to break up your sales copy into easy to digest pieces of information. Reams of text is a surefire invitation for your audience to click away from your ‘landing page’.

Identify with Your Audience

Visitors to your landing page are there for a reason – they have needs, wants and desires which they would like satisfied. So address your audience’s needs with understanding. Empathy is the glue that will bind your audience to your ‘info product.’

Offer Real Solutions that Work

Offer real and tangible solutions to your audience’s needs. Spare them the hype, as they’ve heard it all before. Offer your audience proof that the answers contained in your ‘info product’ actually work.

Build Credibility

Building credibility is essential to the success of your ‘info product.’ So speak with authority about your work, citing past achievements and successes. Use testimonials where possible.

Create a Clear Call to Action

Tell your audience how their lives will be vastly improved once their needs have been met. Your ‘info product’ can help them achieve this, if only they decided to purchase a copy.

So there you have it, some useful tips on how to create a compelling ‘landing page’ that will convert visitors into buyers. Good luck!

Crafting Your E-book: The Beginning, the Middle and the End

At an elementary level, if you want to earn money from writing e-books, you will need to know how to structure your material so that it forms a coherent message. In this post, I look at a strategy for structuring your work through the use of chapters.

The Introduction Chapter

The introduction speaks for itself. In this chapter, we tell our readers what they can expect from reading our e-book. We also outline some of the problems associated with the topic we are writing about. It is at this juncture we also tell the reader how our e-book will help them to overcome these problems.

Identifying your reader’s problems and then telling them how your e-book could possibly help them is all part of the process of building a rapport with your audience. Once this has been achieved, the reader will be more receptive to your ideas on how to solve their problems.

Chapter One

Most writers have heard of the Aristotelian three-act play theory in one form or another. The Aristotelian theory states that every play has a beginning, middle and an end. This seems quite logical. However, in its simplified form, the three-act play theory lacks the sophistication to be a useful writing tool. Instead, I prefer to use the Conflict, Development and Resolution concept.

The conflict and resolution on a timeline are much shorter in length than the development. This is because the setting up of any conflict requires fewer words than the development, likewise the resolution. The development of any story takes much longer because you need to address the conflict before you can present a solution.

In chapter one of ‘How to Succeed as a Newbie E-book Author,’ I set out to dispel the myth that everyone can make money from writing e-books. I also tell the reader some of the reasons why people don’t make money from writing e-books, and then I offer a solution. The solution, however, is not a standalone mantra but is part of an integrated strategy to help the reader develop their e-book writing skills.

Here is an example of the conflict I set up in chapter one.

There are several reasons why many wannabe e-book writers will never cut the mustard when it comes to turning their writing into cash. The most obvious reason is the lack of effort on the part of the wannabe writer to write effectively.

These two sentences capture the conflict that every e-book writer will encounter – we need to know how to write correctly before we can begin to write for profit. It is here that we set the course for the first chapter and every chapter that follows. In short, the conflict determines the route our project will take. Get this part of our writing project wrong, and our reader is going to look elsewhere for his or her reading material.

The Middle Chapters

Our writing project is like a journey, and as with all journeys, there is always a danger of being sidetracked. It is, therefore, imperative when planning our writing project to think about the sequence which our middle chapters will follow. The last thing we want to do is to take a wrong turning which might lead our readers and ourselves along the garden path. The middle chapters, or our development chapters, must address the issues set up by the conflict in a sequential order that is clearly understood by our readers.

In chapter one of ‘How to Succeed as Newbie E-book Author’ I address the issue of being able to write clear and accurate sentences. I then went onto offer tips or solutions to some of the other problems that writers encounter while writing.

In chapter two I explored the process of finding a topic to write about. I could have very easily placed this chapter much further down the development process and moved directly to the chapter on the writing your e-book. Although the chapter on writing dovetails neatly into chapter one, it is not necessarily the logical choice. Put simply, in order to begin our writing project we must first have something to write about. Consequently, it made sense to explore how to choose a topic for our writing project before we do anything else.

The next two chapters, packaging and marketing your e-book, continue to build on the development process. They address each of the issues related to writing for profit until we finally come to the resolution – the summary.

The Summary Chapter

The summary chapter brings all the threads and potential solutions related to our conflict into one easy to read and discernable package. It is here that we reinforce the ideas we have written about throughout the course of our e-book.

Most writers normally write their summary at the end of their work, but I am not one of them. I find it useful to write my summary prior to writing the main body of my work. I do this because it gives me a focal point to work towards. Used together with my aims and objectives, the pre-written summary provides a useful addition to my writing tool kit.

Knowing how to sequence chapters will lend structure to your work and make writing your e-book that much easier.

Strategies for improving article writing

I came across an article from a publisher earlier today. It was primarily a critique of article writers who fail to follow the fundamentals of good writing. Below are some of the publisher’s criticisms.

· Article lacks an overall basic structure

· Article requires pace and rhythm.

· Article meanders and fails to get to the point

· Too much use of the one-sentence paragraph.

· Sentences are too long.

· Poor punctuation

· Bad spelling

I have to agree with the publisher. The Internet is awash with poorly written articles, which makes life difficult for webmasters who must sift through reams of dross to find quality content for their sites. But it doesn’t need to be like this. All the above errors can easily be remedied by the simple application of a ‘best practice’ approach to the art of writing.

As writers, we should ensure that the quality of our written material matches the expectations of our readership. This can be achieved by applying a few basic strategies to improve our writing skills.

Structure:

1. Write a thesis statement about the topic of your article. This will give your article direction.

2. Mindmap or brainstorm content for your article. Exclude anything that is not relevant to your thesis statement.

3. Write the article summary first. This will give your writing focus.

Rhythm and Pace:

1. Divide your article into an introduction, development and a summary.

2. The introduction, which should be no more than one paragraph, is where you tell your reader what the article is about.

3. The development is where you put across your ideas on the topic you are writing about. For written pieces of 500 words or less, use no more than four paragraphs.

4. Summary. The article summary should be no more than two paragraphs in length and included the salient points covered in the development section of your article.

5. Paragraphing – paragraphs should contain three to six sentences of varying length. Avoid over long sentences as they can confuse your readers.

Proofread/edit your article:

1. Proofread your article, checking for grammar, spelling, and typos

2. Edit your article – be ruthless. Remove anything that doesn’t work towards your thesis statement or article summary. This should prevent your material from going off point and leading your reader up to the garden path.

Grammar and Punctuation:

1. The English language contains only four types of sentences. They are The statement, exclamation, question and the directive. You should, therefore, punctuate accordingly. Capital letter at the beginning of the sentence, then a period (.) or exclamation (!) or a question mark (?) to complete the sentence.

2. There are only four sentence structures that you can use in the English language. They are: the ‘Core Sentence’, which contains a subject and a verb; the ‘Basic Sentence’, which contains a subject, a verb and an object; the ‘Compound Sentence’, which contains two ‘Basic Sentences’ of equal status joined together by ‘and’, ‘or’, or ‘but’; and finally there is the ‘Complex Sentence’, which is made up of dependent and non dependent clauses. Any other structure is not a sentence. It is a fragment. Avoid using fragmented structures where possible.

When it comes to writing, none of us is perfect, and we all make mistakes. However, by applying a few well thought out strategies to our writing process, such as those written above, we can reduce the number of errors we make and improve our overall writing skills.

For those of you looking to improve your punctuation skills, I can recommend: ‘The Penguin Guide to Punctuation’ by R.L. Trask. Larry Trask, who sadly passed away in 2004, was one of my former professors at the University of Sussex. He was a great teacher and role model for those of us who had the privilege and good fortune to study under his tutelage.

How to search for ideas for your next e-book

In a previous post on this blog (Writing E-books: How to choose a topic), I wrote about where you should begin your e-book writing career.

Basically, I suggested that you begin by writing on a subject familiar to you, drawing on existing knowledge and supplementing it with research. If you have followed this piece of advice, then the chances are you’ve already written several well-received e-books on your particular area of expertise. However, with the success of your first e-book under your belt, you’ve probably now reached the point whereby you would like to expand your writing experience into other subject areas. So where should you begin?

As with all areas of expertise, you will have built up a core of knowledge which can be transferred from one topic to another. And this is your starting point for finding new subjects to write about. For example, if you write about growing roses in an urban setting, then you might want to consider writing about other plants which might be of interest to your existing readers.

If, however, you are looking to write about an altogether different subject, then you will need to think about doing some research. Knowing where to begin your research is the key to finding new subject areas to write about.

As a starting point for your research, you might want to consider visiting the following websites:

1. Amazon.com

2. DMOZ

3. Dummies

Amazon.com

Amazon is a rich source of information when it comes to finding new subjects to write about. Just look through the latest hot products on sale at Amazon to get an idea of what is in demand. This should throw up some related topics which you can write about.

DMOZ

DMOZ is an open directory that lists all the niche markets available on the Internet. Browsing the DMOZ directory will not only stimulate ideas for your next e-book, but it will also give you an indication of what is already available on the Internet. This will provide direction to your writing and prevent you from entering a market already saturated by other e-book products.

Dummies

Dummies are the largest repository of ‘how to’ subjects on the Internet. This is by far my favorite website for sourcing new topics to write about. The wealth of information available on Dummies is phenomenal and is guaranteed to stimulate your imagination. Why not give it a try. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The above three websites have proven to be an invaluable source of ideas for my own writing. I hope they prove likewise for you. If you would like to make a comment on any of the posts on this blog, please feel free to do so, as feedback is always useful.

How to use your blog to promote your e-book

Promoting your e-book requires a continuous effort across a range of marketing platforms, including article marketing, social media networks and forums, to name but a few. However, one platform that is often overlooked when it comes to promoting e-books is blogging.

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ve no doubt posted a link or showcased your e-book publication on your blog. But have you ever thought about posting extracts from your e-book to your blog?

Posting extracts from your e-book to your blog will give your readers a taste of what you have on offer. Furthermore, it will allow your readers to make an informed decision about whether to download your e-book or not. And, if you’ve enabled comments on your blog, it will allow readers to post their reaction to your publication. This will provide you with valuable feedback on your work, enabling you to tweak content in order to meet your reader’s needs.

In posting extracts from your e-book to your blog, you need to consider very carefully which parts of your publication are best suited for this purpose. If your e-book publication is on a ‘how to do’ subject, then the most appropriate chapter to post will be your introduction. On the other hand, if your e-book is a novel, then you should think about serializing the first two chapters.

To persuade readers to download a full version of your publication, you should provide them with a link at the end of the extract. This will encourage your reader to act while the information from your e-book extract is still fresh in their mind.

Write with a passion to communicate, not for money

Today is Sunday. After what was a warm and beautiful day yesterday, the weather has turned cold and grey. It seems that winter is not yet ready to let go of her grip on this part of Eastern Europe. How I long for the warmth and color of spring’s awakening. I guess I will have to wait a little longer for winter to be banished to the season to which she belongs.

Although there is much to appreciate about winter, I can’t say that I’ve enjoyed being forced back into the house with this sudden and unexpected cold snap. However, not all has been lost as I was able to catch up on a documentary about horse whisperer Gary Prince.

I checked out Gary on the Internet, but there was only a limited amount of information about him and his work. Nonetheless, what Gary had to say about horses and his connection with them got me thinking about my writing.

I’ve always loved animals, especially horses. As sophisticated as our society has become, there is still much that we can learn from the animal kingdom, not least how to connect with each other in a positive and meaningful way. And this was the point that Gary was trying to make during the documentary.

Gary’s unique connection with horses was born out of passion, a desire to connect with an animal of beauty and grace. Encouraged by his father, Gary learned how to ride at the age of three. Eventually, Gary’s natural riding ability took him into the competitive arena of horse dressage. It was here that he began to truly understand his gift of being able to communicate with horses. It came from within, a burning desire to be at one with a creature he had grown to love from a very early age. And herein is a lesson for all of us who are moved to become writers.

Passion, desire, connecting and understanding are words that all newbie writers should learn and comprehend before they set out on their writing career. All too often I come across newbie writers who enter the profession on the assumption that writing is a path to making money. It is not. Few, if any of us, ever reach the privileged position of earning a living from the articles or books we publish. At best, most of us can only hope to generate a little pocket change from the things we write about. So why do we write?

The reason why many of us write is that we have a passion and desire to connect with others. Just in the same way that Gary has a passion for connecting with horses, successful writers have a love for connecting with their audience.

If you are writing only to make money, then your audience will recognize that you are not in love with your chosen profession. They will quickly abandon you once they discover your writing lacks passion, much in the same way as a horse will throw its rider if the rider kicked it too hard with a set of sharp spurs!

Your success as a writer can never be measured in dollars or cents. It can only be measured by the number of people who actually read your material. It doesn’t matter whether you sell or you give away what you have written, the most essential part of writing must be your desire to connect with your readership.

Something magical occurs when you connect with others through your writing. That magic comes in the shape of an invisible bridge to your audience, a bridge that transcends space, time and place.

Ask yourself this question: Who are my favorite authors? The chances are that at least one of your favorite authors has long since passed on, leaving only their indelible thoughts to trickle down the passage way of time and into your hands. As a consequence, your favorite dead author’s success can never be measured by the sound of a cash register. They are simply no longer around to collect royalties or payment from their work.

The only way to measure a dead author’s success is by counting the number of people that their work has influenced since their demise. Many of the classic writers of the past knew this. However, their passion to communicate with others kept them at their desk long after their contemporaries had abandoned the writing profession from want of success through monetary gain. George Orwell’s ‘1984’ is a case in point.

When George Orwell wrote ‘1984’ he was dying, and he knew it. His motive for writing ‘1984’ had nothing to do with monetary gain but everything to do with communicating a message, a warning to audiences of the future about the perils of a totalitarian government . It is a message that continues to resonate with all freedom loving audiences of today. George Orwell was a writer with a passion to connect with others – a whisperer from the past still communicating with audiences long after his passing. Now that is what I call success!

Facebook and Your E-book

With a market reach of over 500 million users, it is not difficult to understand why many e-book authors look upon Facebook as an opportunity to market their e-book products. However, marketing your e-book on Facebook is not as easy as it looks.

Unlike other forms of advertising, social media marketing is built around the concept of social interaction, a two way dialogue where information is shared between individuals or peer groups. The thing to remember about social networks like Facebook is that they empower users to question, challenge and offer opinions on a diverse range of topics, including your e-book.

While Facebook may offer e-book authors the opportunity to promote their e-book to a wider audience, the issue of how to manage social discourse should never be far away from the author’s mind. If managed badly, authors could quickly find their e-book generating negative press which could adversely affect sales. And herein lays the conundrum for authors looking to market their material on social networking sites.

The key to successful social media marketing is to think ‘relationship’ rather than ‘promotion’. When it comes to planning your e-book’s SMM strategy, try to establish a set of goals that take into consideration the following:

· Know your audience – where do they hang out and why? Get to know them

· Connect – how do you plan to connect with your audience? What channels and tools will you use and why?

· Opportunities – what opportunities can you create for dialogue? What topics, other than your e-book, are likely to engage your audience?

· Position – how do you plan on finding common ground with your audience? Don’t burden them with the ‘I’ syndrome. The constant use of ‘I’ will simply drive your audience away. Empathy is the secret to finding common ground with your audience.

· Time – How do you plan to manage the social interaction balance?

Once you’ve established your SMM goals, try to be an ‘ambassador’ in your market niche. Respond to criticism positively and not defensively. Remember, your audience will have an opinion on what you have to offer, good or bad. Whatever their opinion, take the opportunity to thank your audience for their input. This will create a positive twist on any negative criticism you may receive by turning it into an open appreciation of your audience’s time and energy in reading your material.

Social networking sites are about interaction, not promotion. So interact in a way that builds your credibility as an e-book author who listens rather than promotes. Sales will come after you’ve built up enough credibility with your audience.

Seeing is believing: the importance of referencing photos in your e-book

We’ve all heard or used the cliché ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’. This is because of all the five senses we use, sight plays the biggest role in how we make sense of the world around us. What we see, we tend to believe.

The interesting point about sight is the fact that no two people see and read a given image in the same way. For example, two people might see a red London bus but each of the individuals concerned will describe it differently. The reason for this apparent anomaly has a lot to do with the way our cognitive abilities have been shaped by our immediate environment and the surroundings in which we were brought up in.

If I saw a red London bus, I would quickly recognize it as an iconic symbol of the city in which I’ve lived and worked. I would therefore describe the image of a red London bus in those terms. However, if a native of Papua New Guinea saw the same image, they might describe it in quite a different way. They might describe what they saw as: ‘a noisy beast that carries people inside its belly’. This is because their description is dictated by the language of the forest and not by that of an urban setting.

So what does all this have to do with the power of imagery and your e-book? Well, a lot when it comes to using photos and images as part of your e-book’s content.

Imagine for a moment, if you will, you are browsing an e-book about the City of London. The author of the e-book has used un-referenced photos and images taken from the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in Wakehurst to highlight the parks and walk ways of London city centre. But, because there is no reference the Royal Botanical Gardens, you, as the browser of the e-book, might be forgiven for thinking that the City of London is a tropical paradise, especially if you had never been there.

Though the above example is a slight exaggeration, the point I’m trying to make here is this: Using un-referenced photos or images in your e-book can leave your readers with the wrong impression. You need to give your readers some direction when it comes to photos and images so that they can interpret them in a way that aligns with how they perceive the world. Don’t assume that all your readers will follow the same cognitive process when it comes to understanding what they see and read, because they won’t.

Any images you use in your e-book must be clearly referenced and underpinned by text so that your readers do not misinterpret what you are trying to tell them.

Remember, although a picture may convey a thousand words, those words still need to make sense in order to have any value.