Archive for May, 2009
There are seven fundamental reasons that some books succeed and
others collect dust on the author’s bookshelf. These seven keys
to success as an author are simple, obvious even, and yet in the
midst of our writing many of us forget them.
We get so focused on the idea of the book that we forget the
mechanics. Here is the strategy that award winning authors use:
1) Create a hero that your audience can relate to.
Examine your target market honestly. Who will be reading your
book? Just because you think that your main character is funny,
charming and brilliant doesn’t mean that they will or even that
that is what they care about.
2) Write for your audience, not your highschool English
professor. There has already been a Shakespeare. Most genres do
not require you to write like him. You will just turn your
audience off if you write at a level beyond their comprehension.
3) Give your reader a problem that he or she can empathize with.
Ex. Are you writing for teenage girls? Then something to do with
the pains of adolescent romance, or lack thereof, might be a
good start.
4) Provide a nemesis that makes sense. The antagonist in your
story should appear to be everything that your main character is
not. Then go back in and give him or her some good qualities as
well.
People are not good or evil. Your characters should have the
same character traits, as the rest of humanity.
Ex. A Thief with a Conscience or who hates everyone except his
little sister, who he has taken care of since their mom died.
Give all your characters depth.
5) Provide obstacles for your main characters. Both your hero
and antagonist need to have a few bumps in the road. Life isn’t
smooth. Let them both screw up and figure their way out of their
messes.
6) Your hero, at the very least, must learn a lesson about
himself or herself. Is he braver than he thought he was? Is her
nerdiness actually an asset?
Your characters should have some type of self-realization. It
can be subtle. You do not have to go into a five chapter
monologue on it, just give the readers some clues that he or she
has changed.
7) Begin and end your story with a bang. Grab your reader’s
attention in the beginning and have them hoping for a sequel in
the end. The rest, no matter how much work you put into it, will
probably be skimmed until they hit the next seat gripping scene.
Your job is to make that skim time as short as possible
Caterina Christakos
http://www.articlesbase.com/writing-articles/7-keys-to-writing-a-childrens-book-that-sells-like-hotcakes-3001.html
By Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, authors of Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)
False memories allow us to forgive ourselves and justify our mistakes, but sometimes at a high price: an inability to take responsibility for our lives. An appreciation of the distortions of memory, a realization that even deeply felt memories might be wrong, might encourage people to hold their memories more lightly, to drop the certainty that their memories are always accurate, and to let go of the appealing impulse to use the past to justify problems of the present. If we are to be careful about what we wish for because it might come true, we must also be careful which memories we select to justify our lives, because then we will have to live by them.
Certainly one of the most powerful stories that many people wish to live by is the victim narrative. Nobody has actually been abducted by aliens (though experiencers will argue fiercely with us), but millions have survived cruelties as children: neglect, sexual abuse, parental alcoholism, violence, abandonment, the horrors of war. Many people have come forward to tell their stories: how they coped, how they endured, what they learned, how they moved on. Stories of trauma and transcendence are inspiring examples of human resilience.
It is precisely because these accounts are so emotionally powerful that thousands of people have been drawn to construct “me, too” versions of them. A few have claimed to be Holocaust survivors; thousands have claimed to be survivors of alien abduction; and tens of thousands have claimed to be survivors of incest and other sexual traumas that allegedly were repressed from memory until they entered therapy in adulthood. Why would people claim to remember that they had suffered harrowing experiences if they hadn’t, especially when that belief causes rifts with families or friends? By distorting their memories, these people can “get what they want by revising what they had,” and what they want is to turn their present lives, no matter how bleak or mundane, into a dazzling victory over adversity. Memories of abuse also help them resolve the dissonance between “I am a smart, capable person” and “My life sure is a mess right now” with an explanation that makes them feel good and removes responsibility: “It’s not my fault my life is a mess. Look at the horrible things they did to me.” Ellen Bass and Laura Davis made this reasoning explicit in The Courage to Heal. They tell readers who have no memory of childhood sexual abuse that “when you first remember your abuse or acknowledge its effects, you may feel tremendous relief. Finally there is a reason for your problems. There is someone, and something, to blame.”
It is no wonder, then, that most of the people who have created false memories of early suffering, like those who believe they were abducted by aliens, go to great lengths to justify and preserve their new explanations. Consider the story of a young woman named Holly Ramona, who, after a year in college, went into therapy for treatment of depression and bulimia. The therapist told her that these common problems were usually symptoms of child sexual abuse, which Holly denied had ever happened to her. Yet over time, at the urging of the therapist and then at the hands of a psychiatrist who administered sodium amytal (popularly and mistakenly called “truth serum”), Holly came to remember that between the ages of five and sixteen she had been repeatedly raped by her father, who even forced her to have sex with the family dog. Holly’s outraged father sued both therapists for malpractice, for “implanting or reinforcing false memories that [he] had molested her as a child.” The jury agreed, exonerating the father and finding the therapists guilty.
This ruling put Holly in a state of dissonance that she could resolve in one of two ways: She could accept the verdict, realize that her memories were false, beg her father’s forgiveness, and attempt to reconcile the family that had been torn apart over her accusations. Or she could reject the verdict as a travesty of justice, become more convinced than ever that her father had abused her, and renew her commitment to recovered-memory therapy. By far, the latter was the easier choice because of her need to justify the harm she had caused father and the rest of her family. To change her mind now would have been like turning a steamship around in a narrow river — not much room to maneuver and hazards in every direction; much easier to stay the course. Indeed, Holly Ramona not only vehemently rejected the verdict; she bolstered that decision by going to graduate school to become a psychotherapist. The last we heard, she was encouraging some of her own clients to recover memories of their childhood sexual abuse.
Yet every once in a while someone steps forward to speak up for truth, even when the truth gets in the way of a good, self-justifying story. It’s not easy, because it means taking a fresh, skeptical look at the comforting memory we have lived by, scrutinizing it from every angle for its plausibility, and, no matter how great the ensuing dissonance, letting go of it. For her entire adult life, for example, writer Mary Karr had harbored the memory of how, as an innocent teenager, she had been abandoned by her father. That memory allowed her to feel like a heroic survivor of her father’s neglect. But when she sat down to write her memoirs, she faced the realization that the story could not have been true.
Copyright © 2007 by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson from Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me); Published by Harcourt, Inc. May 2007; $25.00US; 978-0-15-101098-1
Carol Tavris And Elliot Aronson
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/true-stories-of-false-memories-134619.html
Im 17, How do I get my children's stories published?
I live in the UK.
I have wrote a few childrens stories and even made some of them into books ( not professional ones just ones i have made and drew pictures) and i would love to get them published, but i dont know how to. And is it possible to get a book published without having to pay loads of money.
First of all I have to say, 17 is quite young to be a successful author – but there are CERTAINLY no rules and regulations. In the UK the publishing houses are not as strict on using agents as the US, but it is heading that way, so you might still be okay.
Second thing to say is, NEVER pay money out to be published. Reputable houses pay YOU money, not the other way round – however, as a first time writer, don't expect an advance on royalties. You'll most likely have to wait until the book sells.
I've dealt with this before, so this is a copy of my earlier post on the same subject.
As a new author you have to live by the maxim to be not "As Good As" your favourite published authors. You have to be better!
The problem is, publishing houses will always go for the safe bet. They're in it to make money, not make you famous. They have a limited number of books they will publish each year. If yours isn't outstanding, I'm afraid you'll not get in, they'll reach for one of their stable of established authors.
To achieve this, you must first of all make sure your manuscript is as good as it can possibly be.
Be absolutely certain you've tied all loose ends and make sure you've followed industry standards for presentation. (See hints and tips in my blog http://ajbarnett-story.blogspot.com ).
Edit out ALL unnecessary pronouns and adverbs – nothing screams amateur more than overblown descriptions. Most new writers feel they need to give full descriptions of everything in the book. DON'T. Sometimes what's left out says more than what's in….
When you've cut, cut, and cut; when you've polished it until it glistens, write a short query letter to your chosen publisher. Explain any experience you may have, the genre of the work, the word-count, and present a VERY short synopsis of about 100 words (see book blurbs for examples). Only present a full synopsis IF the publishing house asks you to submit the first three chapters.
In terms of an agent – it's almost as difficult to gain acceptance with a reputable agent as a publishing house. You must go through the same process. You'll find lists of reputable agents and publishers in several trade oriented books such as Writers and Artist's Yearbook.
Anthony James Barnett – author of WITHOUT REPROACH
Hello everyone, im looking to resell Childrens books and have no idea where people get large amounts of books for such a little cost. The cheapest I have found is 10.00 for used banana box full and some of it was junk. Im looking to buy gaylords or truck loads full . Im located in New Smyrna Beach florida Thank you kindly for your time 
try going to garage sales,goodwill,or if there's a library around you that does book sales
What can you do with a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education besides teach? What can you do with a degree (masters or doctorate) in educational psychology?
I am really interested in education but I do not want to be a teacher. I like studying education.
design curricula, teaching plans, write books
***
The origins of contemporary bingo go back to 16th century Italy, where the lottery game Lo Giuoco del Lotto dItalia was introduced. The popular chance game was introduced to North America in the late 1920s by the name of Beano. A toy salesperson of New York was responsible for changing the name of the game into Bingo and to the increase of its popularity throughout the US.
In the late 18th century, the original Italian lotto game made its way to France. Historical evidence shows that a game called Le Lotto was popular among the French high society who used to play the game in parties and social gatherings.
Le Lotto used to be played with special cards that were divided into three rows and nine columns. Each of the three columns consists of 10 numbers, while each column had five random number and four blank spaces in it. Each player had a different lotto card where he used to mark the number announced by the caller. The first player to cover one row won the game.
By the 19th century, the lotto game spread around Europe and started to serve as a didactic childrens game. In the 1850s, several educational lotto games had entered the German toys market. The lotto games purpose was to teach children how to spell words, how to multiply numbers, etc.
By 1920s, a similar version to the lotto game, known as beano was popular at county fairs throughout the US. In beano, the players placed beans on their cards to mark the called out number. The first player who completed a full row on his card, used to yell out Beano!, until one night in December 1929, when a New Yorker toys salesperson by the name of Edwin S. Lowe visited a country fair outside Jacksonville, Georgia.
On his way back to New York, Lowe had purchased beano equipment including dried beans, a rubber numbering stamp and cardboard. At his New York home, Lowe has been hosting friendly beano games. During one game, one excited winner who had managed to complete a full row stuttered out Bingo, instead of Beano. Listening to the excited stuttering girl, Edwin S. Lowe thoughts went away. Lowe decided to develop a new game that would be called Bingo.
While Loweâ??s Bingo game was making its first steps in the market, a Pennsylvanian priest asked Lowe to use the game for charity purpose. After a short tryout period, the priest had found out that the bingo game causes the churches to lose money. Since the variety of bingo cards was limited, each bingo game ended up in more than five winners.
In order to develop the game and to lower the probabilities of winning, Lowe approached Prof. Carl Leffler, a mathematician from Columbia University. Leffler was asked to create bigger variety of bingo cards that each of them will have unique combination of numbers. By 1930, Lowe had 6,000 bingo cards and Prof. Leffler went insane.
Since then, the popularity of the bingo game as a fundraiser continued to grow. In less than five years, about 10,000 weekly bingo games took place throughout North America. Loweâ??s company grew to employ several thousands of employees and to occupy more than 60 presses 24 hours a day.
Now, bingo is one of the most popular chance games in the world. It is played in churches, schools, local bingo halls and land based casinos in the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the world.
Sharon Gerad is an expert in American popular culture. She writes articles for the online casinos portal, which provides information on bingo, poker, and other casino games.
Jack Reider
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-gambling-articles/bingo-history-story-of-the-game-bingo-95668.html
Manny Pacquiao was born Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao on December 17, 1978 in the impoverish neighborhood of Kibawe, Bukidnon in Mindanao, The Philippines. Before all the glory and riches were ever bestowed upon Manny Pacquiao, this ambitious young man who would one day become the Philippines’s most iconic figure was simply a young boy looking to survive the streets that brought him into this world. As a young boy Manny Pacquiao was already learning how to fight for his life, not in the ring but in the streets. Manny Pacquiao’s early childhood was not about winning boxing matches, becoming a world champion, or rising to become the Philippines most endearing and beloved iconic figure. Manny Pacquiao simply wanted to find food to feed himself and his family. Humbled by poverty, Manny Pacquiao always held a tight bond with his family and his devotion to God as a Roman Catholic to help him survive through the early years of hardship and hunger. Rising from humble beginnings, Manny Pacquiao used to sell a Filipino bread name pandesal in street corners to help his family survive starvation.
His mother Dionisia raised Manny Pacquiao, after his father left them along with 5 other children, and two of them were from his mother’s previous marriage.   Manny Pacquiao, a man with a big heart originally wanted to become a priest, but his mother could not afford the education so he soon found boxing as the only alternative to make his family proud. Long hungry nights never stopped Manny Pacquiao from pursuing his dream of becoming a masterful boxer so he can one day have all the money to help his family and the poor citizens from his town.
Today, Manny Pacquiao can simply not stop giving back to the very people and the town that fed him and supported him through the many years of hardship. Despite the many cars, 12,000 square foot mansion, and fan fare at every corner, Manny Pacquiao has been able to simply be a regular individual like all his adoring fans. This past Thanksgiving in the USA, Manny Pacquiao gave away 500 turkeys to feed the homeless and the poor. He also gave away $550,000 in fight ticket prices so all his Filipino childhood friends can see him live for his December, 6 fight with Oscar De la Hoya. Manny Pacquiao simply feels blessed to be able to give back and nothing can possibly make Manny Pacquiao more genuinely happy than to give to those who reminds himself of his own roots and early suffering in life. When recently asked by a reporter why he was so overly generous to his countrymen and countrywomen, Manny Pacquiao replied and said, “You know what? Our mission in this world – because I believe our mission in this world is not only to make money but we have a big responsibility. If you get the blessing from God, we are to give some of to your people and especially the poor people.” There is nothing further from the truth to describe Manny Pacquiao than a man that is simply, â??The People’s People’.
Chris Domasig
http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/manny-pacquiao-the-peoples-champion-735711.html
Publishers know they can save a lot of money joining others in joint or cooperative mailings. Co-op mailing is not a new concept or idea, but finding other publishers who want to mail to the same lists isn’t easy.
A free service is helping publishers sell more books through cooperative mailings with other publishers. Publishers submit listing information, as to what kind of mailing they want to do, the nature of the books or items they want to promote, and contact information. DVDs, audiobooks, CDs, software and other items work easily here too. The information is published each month free in a newsletter for entrepreneurs and publishers – ‘Helen Hecker’s Biz Hotline.’ We aren’t involved in helping with any arrangements you decide on. We only help you find others who are interested in joining with you by publishing the information in the newsletter, free.
You arrange with others and send out your fliers in co-op mailings to, for example, public libraries, independent bookstores, new age bookstores, children’s bookstores, hospitals, hospital gift shops, elementary schools, high schools, college libraries, college newspapers, colleges & universities, various departments in elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and universities, to medical libraries, military libraries, museums, and Christian and religion-related lists, etc.
You arrange with others and send out your press releases to daily newspapers, editors, travel columnists, health columnists, medical columnists, weekly newspapers, major magazine and trade publications in the genre field of the book – business, health, medical, disability, travel publications, etc. I’ve mailed several of my own press releases, successfully, in one business-size envelope third class ( bulk mail) for many years, promoting several of our books, videos, DVDs, titles and services and reaping a ton of orders for us in return. We’ve had thousands of write-ups -articles, items and features in many publications over the years. I think the envelopes are opened in the mail room and the editors never see the envelopes that press releases come in. Also they’ll never know if it arrived by priority mail, first class or third class (bulk) mail.
For many years I ran a sideline fee-shared cooperative mailing service to help our publishing company branch and other publishers, promote titles and sell more books through press releases to the print media (newspapers and magazines, for example) and news releases to the broadcast media (radio station talk shows, TV shows, Oprah, Today show, Good Morning America, etc.) Also we sent fliers to libraries, schools, hospitals, hospital gift shops, newspapers, independent bookstores, new age bookstores, etc.
The costs to do a co-op mailing are established by you and your co-op partners, for the amount necessary to do the mailing, then divided up and paid for well in advance of the mailing. This would include the cost of buying and printing #10 business-size envelopes, the cost of renting the labels, postage cost determined by the weight of the piece and other factors, and cost for the mailing house to do the mail out. All fliers are shipped directly to the mailing house with instructions on the box as to which mailing it’s for. The lead person gives them instructions so they know the boxes are coming.
We’ve always had good results from cooperative mailings and many others have reported they have too. Publishers need to know what markets their genres fit into. No two books or products are exactly alike. So one can’t compare the outcome for titles of books in mailings others have done, to their own titles and potential outcome.
Doing co-op mailings is a good way for book publishers, self publishers, (entrepreneurs and other types of business owners too) to distribute their press releases and fliers, and to save a lot of time and money. And this free cooperative mailing service is a good way for you to find other publishers with the same marketing goals.
Helen Hecker
http://www.articlesbase.com/publishing-articles/free-coop-mailing-listing-service-helps-book-publishers-self-publishers-sell-books-79791.html
Online dating is getting better and better. As an industry it now has millions of free and paid members who join an online dating site with the hope of meeting that special person that is out there for them. Because of the massive number of people joining an online dating site there are bound to be horror stories.
Surprisingly these pale in number compared to the high number of people who report happy results. Many go on to get married and have a very low divorce percentage because they have been matched with people compatible to them from the beginning. There really is a very high percentage number of success stories with online dating.
Comments like this come into different online dating sites everyday.
“I just wanted to email you guys and let you know I have met the woman of my dreams on your site. We have met in person and things are going great. I live in Mississippi and she lives in Arizona. We hope to spend the rest of our lives together and both wanted to thank you for the chance you gave us. I personally have found the most awesome woman in the world. Thanks for everything and please remove me from the site.”
What’s interesting here is that they live far apart and have been able to begin a long distance relationship. This is a common theme and is made possible thanks to internet dating sites around the world.
Here’s another online dating site success story:
“Robyn and I emailed back and forth for a while. She has a five-year-old son (my children are teens), so we were shy and protective. We hit it off so quickly; even through emails alone, we discovered and liked each other’s wit.
We eloped to Santa Fe, NM, in April. A golden opportunity had come up: Frequent flyer miles and spring break for the kids, so we flew off and got married in the beautiful Santa Fe courthouse.
We are in the process of adopting a two-year-old daughter right now. Robyn and I believe that we are the answer to each other’s prayers.”
As you can see some online dating stories end in marriage. Some end with people making a new friend or even a new group of friends. Being able to use an online dating site to meet all kinds of new people is exciting and fun.
The fact that so many people are having success doing it should give everyone encouragement to give it a try and join in.
Lee Blackspur
http://www.articlesbase.com/dating-articles/online-dating-site-success-stories-are-everywhere-109183.html
The incredible stories of children born with congenital hypertrichosis, otherwise known as ‘werewolf syndrome’
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