Bugorta Info

These days, there are several ways to get your book published. You can get an agent and go the traditional route, you can self-publish, or you can take advantage of a new form of publishing called “print-on-demand” or POD.
What exactly is print-on-demand publishing? Think of it as self-publishing with a twist. It used to be, if you wanted to circumvent the traditional publishing houses, you had to tackle everything from printers to cover designers, ISBNs (International Standard Book Number) to distribution. Feeling dizzy yet? Sure, there were also self-publishing houses called vanity presses. They churned out about 6,000 titles per year and the author paid anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 to publish his or her book. Cost alone was usually enough to discourage anyone who had not spent a great deal of time in the industry. Options were pretty limited, until the Internet explosion occurred.
Enter the on-demand publisher. Now, for a minimal fee (usually from $159 to $1,500), you can see your book in print. Essentially, what you’re doing is hiring a publisher to publish your book. They take care of the cover, the book interior, the ISBN, and the distribution. They are compensated for this by receiving a portion of the profits every time you sell a book. You are compensated through royalties and while these do vary, they typically fall somewhere in the 18-20 percent range per book. The great part about POD publishing is that the “on-demand” part enables them to print books as they are needed, meaning that someone (probably you) won’t get stuck with a garage full of books you can’t get rid of. If you only sell 100 books, that’s what they’ll print. There are no minimum orders, and your book will always stay in print.
To give you an idea of the scope of the on-demand publishing industry, consider this: the typical big New York publisher prints about eight hundred new titles a year. At last count, some of the print-on-demand publishers were doing five hundred a month. Early estimates indicate that POD publishers printed around half a million books in 2001. This year, there are indications that this industry will hit the $78 billion market. These indicators tell us that the POD industry is growing at a pace no one anticipated. Why? Because the traditional publishing field is narrowing. Only one percent of books published each year are by unpublished authors. Does this low number tell us that there are fewer new authors out there? Absolutely not. What it tells us is that publishing houses are cutting back, merging and no longer willing to take chances on untested material.
The challenge with this industry is that you can’t get published unless you’re published it’s a cycle from which we all aspire to escape. Now, we can. If you publish your book through a POD press, you are no longer considered a first-time published author. That is, if you sell the book. You still have to market your book. But take heart. With shrinking publishing budgets, you have to market your own book, no matter who publishes you. The hefty marketing budgets that used to accompany new releases are dwindling quickly.
So, let’s say you publish your book through a POD publisher and you market it. You market it so well that you begin to garner interest from bigger publishing houses. How many books you need to sell is anyone’s guess. Traditionally, the range has been between 5,000 and 8,000. Recently, however, Kensington Books (an imprint of Citadel Press) formed an alliance with POD giant iUniverse (www.iuniverse.com) to consider any book that sold over five hundred copies. By “consider,” they mean they will consider publishing it. At five hundred copies, this levels the playing field considerably. If you’ve written a good book and you market it effectively, you’ll sell five hundred copies in the blink of an eye.
Publishers I’ve spoken to at some of the biggest houses in the industry (Time Warner, Simon & Schuster) readily admit they watch these books very carefully to see what’s selling. By picking a book that is selling moderately well, the publisher knows two things: the book has found an audience, and the author knows how to market it.
Even if you don’t get picked up traditionally, there’s still hope. If you sell a reasonable amount of books and you still aspire to a bigger publishing house, you can include this first publishing experience in your query letter.
How do you find these on-demand publishers? A list of some I’ve worked with follows this article, but who you pick will depend entirely on you and the needs of your book. For some, it’s the turnaround time; for others, it’s whether or not they can print in hardcover. Generally, though, the final product should be your first consideration; distribution or shipping time should be second. Once you’ve narrowed your publishers down to two or three, a good idea would be to order a book from each of them. This will tell you two things. First, you’ll get a sense for their ordering process and how quickly they ship the book to you, and second, you’ll get a firsthand look at the quality of their books.
What about the selection process? Do these publishers accept anything that’s sent to them? The answer is no. While the approval process is far less restrictive than traditional publishers and you don’t need an agent, some POD publishers still have guidelines as to what they will and won’t consider. These guidelines vary from publisher to publisher, so you’ll need to check their individual sites or contracts for specifics. Also, some publishers will even read the manuscript to determine the quality; if they feel the work is so poor it’s unmarketable, they will turn it down.
While you’re in the selection process, download the publishing company’s publishing contract and look it over carefully. You’ll want to make sure a few things are in place before you sign on the dotted line. First off, be certain you’re able to retain all the rights to your book (foreign, film, audio, hard cover, paperback, and ebook). This is extremely important. Never give or sell any of the rights away to a book you’re publishing through the POD process. Second, determine how quickly you can cancel this agreement. Ideally, cancellation should be immediate. Cancellation clauses will benefit you if your book should get picked up by a traditional house or if you decide to switch publishing companies.
Your time to market, meaning the time it takes them to format your manuscript into a book and get it ready for sale, will vary. Generally, you should see a completed book within ninety days, or in some cases, even less. This turnaround is incredible when you consider it takes a traditional house about twelve to eighteen months to get a new title ready for sale.
As with anything, there are drawbacks to this form of publishing. One of the biggest issues with print-on-demand is that there is a no-return policy in place for these books. Returns are a crucial part of doing retail business in the U.S. In fact, a whopping 35 percent of merchandise purchased is returned. Still, authors are finding ways around this issue. Some place books in specialty shops because these stores have a lower return factor. Others sell books on-line. Some bookstores will even carry a non-returnable book if the demand exists.
Secondly, this form of printing is more expensive than the traditional trade paperback model. Generally, POD books will be priced higher. Their price is often determined by the page count. As print-on-demand machines become more efficient and the per-page printing costs decline, POD book prices will drop. Many have already decreased considerably from where they were a year ago.
Despite the obstacles, there are many success stories emerging from this industry and many more are finding their way to success everyday. Here are a few titles you might recognize that were (or are) POD books:
•”Legally Blond” (1st Books)
•”The Idiot Girls’ Action Adventure Club” (iUniverse) currently on the New York Times bestseller list
•”The Pearls of the Stone Man” (Xlibris.com) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002

With on-demand publishing, what was once a dream can now be a reality.
In an industry that is saturated with exceptional talent, the advent of these publishers has afforded authors an opportunity that might otherwise not be available to them. It is an opportunity millions are taking advantage of. For some, it’s a way to finally see their book in print. For others it’s a road to publishing success.

Print-On-Demand Publishers:
http://www.iuniverse.com/
http://www.1stbooks.com
http://www.traffordpublishing.com
http://www.infinitypublishing.com
http://www.xlibris.com

Penny C. Sansevieri
The Cliffhanger was published in June of 2000. After a strategic marketing campaign it quickly climbed
the ranks at Amazon.com to the #1 best selling book in San Diego. Her most recent book: No More Rejections. Get Published Today! was released in July of 2002 to rave reviews. Penny is a book marketing and media relations specialist. She also coaches authors on projects, manuscripts and marketing plans and instructs a variety of coursing on publishing and promotion. To learn more about her books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at www.booksbypen.com. To subscribe to her free ezine, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@booksbypen.com
Copyright  2004 Penny C. Sansevieri

About the Author

None

“The Little Black Book of Secrets” gives parents the step by step instructions to set up professional identification files on their children. This ebook explains how to do it with things you probably already have at home. It even explains how to set up a DNA file on your child for positive identification. You can make a complete identification file on your child for about $5 at home with this ebooks step by step instructions. Get it now! http://www.protect-a-kid.com

About the Author

Trained private investigator specializing in crime prevention and missing children recovery. I am totally dedicated to stopping crimes against children.

If you are debating whether wooden flooring is right for your home it’s critical that you understand what the wooden flooring terms refer to. There are huge array of online flooring retailers, and its important to understand there are multiple factors which determine how wood looks, and makes each wooden floor look different from another. It is very unlikely that the wooden floor you saw in the showroom or on the internet will look exactly the same as the final product in your home.

Part of the appeal of hardwood floors is that they are not uniform. One factor which effects the appearance of the wood is how close the wood is to the bark of the tree, this is called sapwood. The closer to the outside of the tree, the paler the wood will appear. The grain of the wood is another major factor, this can vary is direction and also changes in appearance depending on the colour of the wood fibers. The growth rings of the tree are also an important factor which effect how the wood looks. Tightly packed layers of wood are likely to result in a darker colour, these are formed when only a marginal layer of wood is added per year during a growing season. Other factors which can have an effect on the wood are mineral Streaks. These occur when trace elements are in the water, resulting in grey and olive markings. Knots are also a big factor in the appearance of your flooring, and are produced where branches of a tree have been encased, as the tree has grown. Often lower grade flooring will have more knots in it than higher grade.

The great thing about wooden flooring is its durability, and also the ease with which damage can be repaired. But because it is a natural product, as opposed to an artificial one, it is also prone to expand and contract during changes in the weather or season. This needs to be taken into account when your floor is fitted.

I know that love will save the day
It’s funny but it’s true
Especially if the reason is you
That’s the magic of love anyway
And the reason why I’m in your way
Still hoping you love me too…
Like the way I do…

Please enlighten up my mind
If you’re the person my heart been longing
If the sense of being kind
Is through your affection
Then now I knew I found the true sense of belonging…

About the Author: Now I’m a 17 yr.old college student taking up BS Accountancy.Actually writing poems is my hobby whenever I’m free that’s why when I discover Isnare it help me a lot keeping my poems although there are few as of now,because I don’t find time keeping them so I keep it here before I’m just using scratches but now I just post it here. Hope you enjoy!

Source: www.isnare.com

Writers block! Even columnist Dave Berry has it. He admits that at least 30 times a day when writing his humor column, he gets up from his computer to sip his Pepsi and to divert his attention when he can’t think of what to write. Recently, he reached for the cola and instead found a coiled snake. He tried barbecue tongs to carry it away, but when it landed in his pool, he kept the dance going trying to catch the thing.

As a writer you may think you are blocked because you think your book may not be significant enough, you don’t know how to format it, or since you aren’t famous, your book won’t sell. Or, like Dave you can’t think of something great to say.

Let the book coach encourage you beyond your doubts. Know that your book is unique and offers useful solutions to help your audience solve their challenge or problem. You don’t have to write like others, and yes, you can write a saleable book.

What is Writer’s Block?

To me it’s just that I’m distracted and don’t seem organized enough with what’s important to write for my particular audience. It’s a signal that my brain won’t focus temporarily. Like Dave Berry, I need a break.

To some of you, it’s like stepping off a cliff and plunging into the abyss. You don’t have all the answers to start, so it becomes overwhelming to even put words to paper..

Why do we have Writer’s Block?

1. We have too many ideas/ choices. We need to focus on one thing at a time. Write down 3-4 topics you are passionate about. Take some deep breaths, and let the #1 come forth. Write on one book primarily, and just put new ideas into the others’ folder. Stay with your #1 book until you finish it. When we don’t finish a project, we feel guilty–and hence more stuck!

2. Fear. Really, “False Evidence Appearing Real.” Our performance anxiety keeps us from taking that next step.However, we can get direction and skills from a how-to book on writing or a qualified book coach if we are willing.

3. We don’t have enough information to move forward to write a clear, compelling book. Perhaps we aren’t sure of how to publish our book. Or, we don’t know how to put a chapter together. Book writing information is easily available from the Internet. Do a search on “book coaching” and find helpful resources.

4. It seems an enormous task in time and money. What most emerging authors don’t realize is that they don’t have to write the “end all, be all” book. Just choose one focus such as solving one problem or writing for only one preferred audience per book. Targeted audiences are much easier to sell to.

How to Get Unstuck.

1. Warm up! Writers need to relax, get into alpha state each time before they write. So take deep belly breaths for 1-2 minutes first. Another way to set up your book writing success is to listen to relaxing music before you set out to write. You may even warm up by handwriting something before you commit it to your computer.

2. Got the blank page blues? Write a little the day before—then you have a partial page to hook new related, information onto. I wrote this article in two sittings because I didn’t like my old introduction.

3. Switch tasks, but honor a time set aside for writing each day. If you are stuck in #1 book, add research stories, or how to’s to the #2 book. If stuck on one chapter, start or work on another one.

4. Organize your book, both on your computer and in paper files. For your book, name it and save as the main folder. Add new files to this folder such as - the introduction - Chapter One and the rest - Table of Contents with Chapter Titles - The back cover, sales letter, or 30-60 Second Tell and Sell (sales message).

4. Start a promotion folder too. Name one folder “traditional” and another one “online.” Start adding files of promotion information as it comes to you.

Then, when your book is almost finished, you’ll have your promotion foundation ready to hit the ground running for fast, continuous sales that keep your cash flow going.

4. Love your topic. When you have passion for your book, you won’t have many blocks. You’ll be excited to sit down and spend special time each week on it. You may want to work daily like I do. When you do one “high level” activity a day on your book, you will finish before you know it and you will feel exhilarated and satisfied at your results.

Remember a page a day yields 365 pages a year. Think about a shorter book of only 25-50 pages you can deliver as an eBook or print book. You can finish one in less than a month!

Judy Cullins: 20-year author, speaker, book coach

Helps entrepreneurs manifest their book and web dreams

eBk: “Ten Non-techie Ways to Market Online”

www.bookcoaching.com/products.shtml

Send an email to mailto:subscribe@bookcoaching.com

FREE The Book Coach Says… includes 2 free eReports

mailto:judy@bookcoaching.com

Ph:619/466/0622

Are you presently thinking of jumping over into the thrilling sphere of next generation computer gaming? There are a cornucopia of of unique video-games consoles to pick from all having particular specifications and specific games for sale on each console. Eventually making the important decision as to which particular video-games console is best for you at this time might well be an overwhelming task; but with a little bit of support from the useful John Lewis shopping guide you will be relishing your beloved video games in no time. For more information of next generation consoles, including the Xbox 360, consult the John Lewis buyers guide.

Remember, you of course have the vital selection to make betwixt a portable handheld or standard home gaming console? The final decision is decidedly conditional on where abouts you presently enjoy playing video-games - are you at this current time the type of individual who likes to spend the occasional night in front of an Sony PS3? Or do you like to play video-games on your Nintendo DS Lite while you take the bus to and from collage? Or possibly you are a truly devoted video-gamer and quite simply cannot last without video games action no matter where abouts you currently are located - in which case why not think about buying one of each.

whatever video games console you pick, be it a Nintendo DS, Sony PS3, Sony PSP, or an Xbox 360, you will have a wide selection of addons to select from on the John Lewis site. From additional controllers and remote controls, to hard drives and battery packs. And of course that there is a comprehensive variety of the most current video games in stock too - so you will have a game to play when your machine turns up.

Shopping on-line with John Lewis has got to be one of the simplest methods of getting hold of a brand new next generation gaming console. Not only will you get the choice to make from the exciting latest gaming-consoles, e.g. the exciting PS3, all at fantastic prices; but you shall of course get free standard delivery on each and every one of your orders. Of course if you should be in a big hurry for your new video-games machine don’t forget, you can always pay a negligible premium for next day delivery. Not just that, but if you have second thoughts about your machine you can return it free of charge.

Title: HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER
Author: Arthur Zulu
Contact Author: mailto: controversialwriter@yahoo.com
Copyright: Copyright © Arthur Zulu 2002
Word Count: 560
Web Address: http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/10975

Publishing Guidelines: Permission is granted to publish this article electronically or in print as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER

By Arthur Zulu

If you want to write a best-seller, you may wish to write on any or all of the genres discussed below. This is because they are topics that attract an all time sale. It is frustrating for an author to spend nights and days, writing and re - writing, only to release his work to an unreceptive public. Most writers cause it with their difficult writings, and on strange subjects. Consider an author spending his time writing THE DANCE OF A COCKROACH! Who cares? It is only a mental exercise to keep the writer on duty. But if you are writing for money (the muses forgive you), you must target an audience — a wide audience for your work.

Now, let’s consider best selling subjects to write about.

General interest topics make great sales.
Yes, write a book on a subject that interests people. Even if others have written on such topics, it will continue to command general attention.

The film, LOVE AND SEX by Valerie Breiman got instant attention, and even hundreds were turned back when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to a packed theater. Beware though of writing pornography. You will lose your audience, and your works will be stigmatized.

Apart from love and sex, people want to know how to make money, how to find a panacea for incurable diseases; and so on. Try writing a fiction, for example on how AIDS resistant mosquitoes were used to cure AIDS patients in some distant land. That will generate instant interest, and put scientists on their toes to find a cure for AIDS, using mosquitoes. Sounds funny? Not at all!

Success books cannot be bettered
That’s true, for who is he that wants to fail? It is for this reason that how - to books are in great demand. And a writer, like Anthony Robbins with his book, AWAKEN THE GIANT WITHIN, has become an icon. People lack confidence in themselves, are frustrated, and need guidance to succeed.

If you, therefore, want to join Tony Robbins and others in his league, dream big dreams on how to help people succeed in life. Tell them they are the greatest, tell them to brighten up for success is around the corner, tell them that failure is a trickster, and tell them they have a mission to accomplish on earth, and that they must accomplish it only if they try. And then your reward for this education will be in big sales and plenty of cash!

Mystery Books are hot
The latest sensations are mystery books. Suddenly, everyone wants to know about ET’s, witches, wizards, and so on. Many authors have been identified in this genre, and are smiling away to the bank. See how the HARRY PORTER series is selling, yet the public is asking for more. So if you dream up THE SECOND COMING OF JULIUS CAESAR with his dead warriors from Hades, all armed to launch a final war on the world’s super power, the book will sell out, before publication.

Controversial books are radioactive
If a work sparks debate, interest in the book will skyrocket. Why? Readers want to know what makes the work controversial. So it becomes a case of one man’s meat and another man’s poison.

Controversial works are easy to write. Sometimes, only a sentence or two is enough to generate the debate that is needed to sell a book. Ask Salman Rushdie, author of SATANIC VERSES. But note that a controversial work need not be scandalous or defamatory. You also have to be careful not to offend, like writing THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SATAN.

Readers are looking for Doomsday Books
Yes, apocalyptic literature are best-sellers any day. And disciples of Nostradamus are on hand to whet their appetite. Doomsday writers lined their pockets with cash, writing about the end of the world, at the dawn of the millennium. Yet, the world did not end. But that does not mean that interest in the final hour has waned, for once in a while people get jittery about the onslaught of a wandering, earth-bound, comet.

So, if you have a fondness for figures and come out with the date for the final destiny of the world, and even provide escape for those who want to survive, you will be a celebrity overnight. After all, George Orwell did it with 1984, and the world waited in apprehension. That year has now been consigned to the dustbin of history.

Spiritual Books are echo Bibles
Many are now seeking spiritual help outside the Bible, and this is creating a new market for faith writers. Among them is Iyanla Vanzant who wrote YESTERDAY I CRIED. These brand of writers are offering spiritual help to victims of child abuse, rape, broken marriages and the like. Since the list of such victims is growing, it is understandable why this genre has become a favorite for writers.

The choice is now yours
So, what would you like to write about? A general interest, success, or mystery book? Or do you like controversial, doomsday or spiritual subjects? Or a combination of two or more of the above?

After you have made that decision, the next thing to do is to put your thought on paper. Yes, I am talking about the development of your best-seller.

You have no cause to worry. Let me share with you my practical writing experience for the past twenty years. It can be exciting and enjoyable, as you will see in the next chapter.

Copyright © 2002, all rights reserved

About the Author:

ARTHUR ZULU, The Most Controversial Writer in the World, is the author of the best - selling book,
HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER. Download your copy and FREE excerpt at :
http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/10975.
For FREE writing helps, mailto : controversialwriter@yahoo.com

About the Author

ARTHUR ZULU, The Most Controversial Writer in the World, is the author of the best - selling book,
HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER.

“Everyone has a story to tell.” It seems like a clichebut it’s true. After working as a newspaper reporter for more than eight years, I know that everyone does, indeed, have a story to tell.

But even before I started working as a journalist, I knew that life experiences make interesting stories. Consider my parents.

My mother was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants, and her grandfather homesteaded our dairy farm in Wisconsin in the late 1800s. My father was the son of German and Scottish immigrants. When Dad was a little boy, his parents worked as cooks in a lumber camp in northern Wisconsin. As I was growing up, Mom and Dad would tell stories about their own childhoods. When Mom was a little girl, the whole family would sleep in the screen porch on hot summer nights. Indians also used to stop at our farm, and gypsies would camp nearby during the summer. When Dad was a little boy, he enjoyed spending time at the lumber camp kitchen because all of the cooks knew that little boys needed special treats during the day: a piece of Key Lime pie, a slice of chocolate cake, or a couple of extra-large sugar cookies. When Dad wasn’t staying with his parents at the lumber camp, he lived with his grandmother, a tiny tough-as-nails German woman who owned a German shepherd named Happy.

Unfortunately, I never wrote down any of those stories, and I never asked Mom and Dad to sit down with a tape recorder and tell those stories. My mother died in 1985 at the age of 68, and my father passed away in 1992 at the age of 78. The majority of their stories, except for the few that I remember, are lost forever. Your family stories do not have to share the same fate.

Here are some tips for writing your family stories:

• Decide which person you want to interview first (Grandma or Grandpa, Mom or Dad, Aunt or Uncle), and then tell that person about your plan to write a collection of family stories and ask for permission to conduct an interview.

• Set a formal date and time for the interview. This will give your interviewee an opportunity to mentally prepare and to remember various stories that he or she would like to talk about.

• Provide a list of questions several days or weeks before the interview. This will also give your interviewee time to remember various stories.

• Focus on a single subject or event in your list of questionsschool, holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July), birthdays, seasons (spring, summer, winter, fall)the list is endless.

• Ask open-ended questions and not “yes or no” questions. “How did you get to school?” is better than “Did you walk to school when you were growing up?”

• Use a tape recorder to record the interview. Taping the interview will help you gather details that you might miss if you are only taking notes.

• Chat about something else for a while if the person you are interviewing seems nervous at the prospect of being tape-recorded. Your interviewee will soon relax and won’t even notice the tape recorder. And once you start the interview, you will find that one subject will lead to another and one question will lead to another.

• Transcribe the tape and write up your notes after you have finished the interview. This, in itself, will provide a fine record of the stories that are told “in their own words.” And you will be in good company. Studs Terkel’s oral history books are written that way, and they are fascinating to read. Terkel’s books include Division Street (1967), Hard Times (1970), Working (1974), The Good War (1984), The Great Divide (1988), and RACE (1992).

• After you have finished all of your interviews and have written down the stories, print the stories from your computer and put them into a three-ring binder. Make multiple copies and give them to family members as gifts. Or you might want to consider publishing the stories POD (print-on-demand). There are many POD companies, and for a price that starts out at a couple of hundred dollars, you can publish the stories as a trade paperback. To find POD companies, conduct an Internet search with the keywords, “print-on-demand.”

Here are some examples of questions to help you get started with your interviews:

Subject: school

1. Where did you go to school when you were growing up?

2. Tell me about any amusing or unusual incidents that happened on your way to or from school.

3. What kinds of clothes did you wear?

4. How many students were in your class? How many students were in the whole school? How many grades?

5. What was your favorite subject? Why?

6. What was your least-favorite subject? Why?

7. Who was your favorite teacher? Why?

8. Who was your least-favorite teacher? Why?

9. Tell me about your best friend.

10. Tell me about your happiest moments in school. What was your best accomplishment?

11. Tell me about your worst moments in school. Did you learn anything from your worst moments?

12. What advice would you give to students who are in school today?

About the Author

LeAnn R. Ralph is a freelance writer for two newspapers in west central Wisconsin, is the editor of the Wisconsin Regional Writer (the quarterly publication of the Wisconsin Regional Writers’ Assoc.) and is the author of the book, Christmas In Dairyland (True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm), http://ruralroute2.com

Golden Rules for Writing
By: Sonali Raval, Writer at Work, MBA

Want to add punch to your words?
Want to write copy that gets results?
Here are some golden rules that make for powerful writing….

Oh, before you get all excited - a small note of caution. Not every writer will agree with me. But these are rules I have made for myself after a lot of trial and errors. I follow them no matter what I am writing. Even personal letters and emails. And they work. Always.

Define the “take-away”
First things first. Define to yourself the “take away” - the one single message you want the reader to understand and remember. This will determine what arguments you include and what facts you use to support your position.

The take away could be anything - your opinion on a topic, product benefits, what your company stands for… By the way, in case I haven’t made it clear yet - My “take-away” today is to leave you with some tips that will turn your text into “Writing that Works.”

Know your audience
Think of your audience as a person, not a customer base. Create a mental picture of ONE individual - her likes, dislikes, preferences, habits etc. Color it with as much detail as you can. Pay particular attention to two things - her understanding of your topic and her language ability. Then, write to HER. Pitch your words at her level, talk to her in a tone and voice she appreciates.

Tell a Story
Stories fascinate us. That’s why they sell so much.

If you surf the net, you must have come across tens of sales letters saying the same thing - “I am an average guy, with average skills. Yet I am making tons of money. Buy my book / program / workshop / whatever… and I will show you how to do it.” Believe it or not, these letters work! That’s why there are so many floating around.

Another big draw is a “case study”. Case studies that describe a real life problem and then offer a convincing solution are being used as very effective marketing tools. An informal survey shows that almost every business professional opens and reads email with “case study” as the subject line.

Benefits First
Q: When is it right to not emphasize benefits?
A: Never.
Enough said.

Be Direct - Make Action Calls
Tell your reader what action you expect.
If she doesn’t know what you want, she can’t give it.

One of my friends did a survey to find out why people in Ahmedabad do not donate blood. The result was amazing. 88% of the respondents said: I do not donate because nobody asked me to donate.

Don’t make the same mistake.

Limit yourself
Ah! This is one rule I have a lot of trouble with J
When writing, less is definitely more. Whatever you do, don’t try to cram too many things into one piece of writing. It dilutes your message; leaves the reader confused and you almost never achieve your objective.

Instead, make one strong statement. Back it up with 3-4 credible facts. And then, leave it there. Resist the temptation to include everything you know.

Having said this, I must end my article here.

About the Author

Sonali Raval is a corporate communications professional based in India. An Economist and MBA by training, she is a freelance writer by choice. Sonali’s writing credits include motivational & soft skills articles, ad copy, speeches, brochures, business proposals, case studies, & web copy. She helps business professionals craft crisp, convincing copy. mailto:sonali@writeratwork.com or visit her at http://www.writeratwork.com

My friend mike tells me about a naval experiment from long ago where a ship full of navy boys went into a wormhole or time tunnel or something and came back all dead and fused to the ship in-between walls and the floors. Is that real? What else is there out there? If that’s true what else is the government doing with our money? Building gods? Really, if that experiment was done in the 40’s then nearly seventy years later who knows what they could be figuring out? Where is my cut? I want to go into a wormhole of space and time. I could care less about the risks. I always look up at the sky and think how unfair it is that most likely I will never be able to go up there. And it is really unfair. I know for a fact that there is plenty of life in the endless reaches of space. The chances of there not being any are so slim to me that I just can’t comprehend how someone could think there wasn’t. UFOs aside, if space goes on forever in every direction like they say it does with no conceivable end, and we came from single celled organisms and adapted to our planet how could that not happen anywhere else in the gazillions of planets and suns and galaxies?