Dean Koontz - Breathless

I started reading Dean Koontz when I was about 14 years old and I only started reading his books because he came across as a horror writer with the odd novel of suspense thrown in for good keeping. I started out reading Tick Tock and although a small novel, I loved it. There was no waffle or long drawn out descriptions. Just plain story. So what about the latest book, Breathless?

Well, it's the story of Grady Adams, the novels primary character, who one days goes for a stroll and comes across furry animals unlike anything he has ever seen before. Already there's nothing out of the ordinary here. This isn't a storyline that will blow your mind or keep you up at night wishing the book never ended. Far from it. The story goes on with Grady trying to get closer and closer to the furry animals not realising that he is also being watched. In comes to government. The area sectioned off by Homeland Security. Army Biologists. Does it all seem a bit serious for a couple of furry animals even though they may be an alien species? I think so. I could understand it if they were a couple of carnivores but that's not the case. If the government really wanted to study these animals all they would have to do is send in a couple of nuns to gain the furry animals' confidence, capture them and turn them over. One reviewer on Amazon even noted that he couldn't understand why the book was called Breathless unless it was describing how you felt after running back to the shop for a refund. I can see exactly where he's coming from and it even pains me to say it. I loved Dean Koontz's books but his later books like The Good Guy, The Husband, The Darkest Evening of the Year etc etc are falling way short of the mark.

Does anybody else think that Koontz has lost his mojo? It seems to me that he's just knocking out book after book maybe to stay at the top of the bestsellers list but if all his future books mirror the quality of Breathless he won't be on the bestsellers list. The dialogue between characters has gone from genuine to sarcastic like he just wants to beef up the book. I'd much rather he wrote one book every two years rather than two or three a year if it meant the quality of the story soared. Right now, he's sinking.

Being a Koontz fan I hope he makes a decent comeback. If you're new to Koontz then start with something like Phantoms, Whispers or even Fear Nothing, one of my personal favourites.

I have been employed by FlamingTeeth.com to spread the word that horror, science fiction and fantasy are not dead and should be promoted as much as thriller, crime and mystery.

I'm a massive horror fan myself so it's a pleasure to finally be doing something to help. You can find the site here@ [http://www.flamingteeth.com]

Writing a Great Book Proposal - Part One

When I prepared to write a great book proposal, the first step I took was to write a book proposal that would pique a publisher's interest. My book proposal consisted of 9 parts. In order to limit this article to the requested length of 500 words, I'll focus on the first, second, and third parts:

The Proposal Proper

Annotated Chapter Outline

The Market

The Proposal Proper

In the Proposal Proper, I give a general idea of what I am going to write about:

Biographies blending with history.

Introduction to the three protagonists in the book.

Then I explain why my book will make a unique contribution to a market already flooded with books and manuscripts about China.

The three protagonists in my book actually played their parts in the central political events of their day. The historical details provided are unknown in the West, or even in China. New details shed new light on events. Therefore I write from a special vantage point and fill quite a few gaps in the history of one of the most vital periods of modern China.

Annotated Chapter Outline

The Annotated Chapter Outline offers me an opportunity to demonstrate my control over the material, my ability to organize it, and my writing style.

To begin with, each chapter title should promise a reader that I'll lead him to a place where he has never been to, and where he'll meet fascinating characters he has never known.

I cite some chapter titles as an example.

I end each chapter summary with a titillating hint about the next.

When a reader finishes reading the outline, he will have a bird's eye view of a vast mosaic of historical events and human behaviors.

The Market

A publisher wants to buy a salable manuscript and makes a profit, so it is important for me to provide the information.

This book, I believe, has a broad appeal.

Here is why.

Yuan-tsung was born in China, and immigrated to USA in 1972. Her first book, THE DRAGON'S VILLAGE, (was published by Pantheon, and) its Penguin paperback sells an average of 3,000 copies per year since 1981. Her latest book (nonfiction), RETURN TO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM, is now available through the Union Square Press of Sterling Publishing. For more information, please visit http://www.yuantsungchen.com

What Defines a Bestseller in Books?

Every author dreams of writing a bestselling book, but few new authors really understand what it takes to be a bestseller and just what defines a bestseller.

What it takes is selling a lot of books. How to do so is an entire topic of its own, but before figuring out how to reach the goal, authors first need to understand what the goal is. Just what does it mean to have a bestselling book-how many books do you have to sell?

Today, a bestseller is usually determined either by 1) Making the New York Times Bestseller list, 2) Having a high Amazon sales rank, or 3) Selling a large number of copies.

How does a book get on the New York Times Bestseller list? The truth of the matter is it's rather arbitrary. The New York Times has relationships with numerous bookstores that report their weekly sales to the New York Times. (Note that the New York Times' numbers do not include Internet sales, sales in department stores like Walmart, or sales in local gift shops). The books that sell the most each week in the targeted stores determine which ones make the list. If your fishing book is selling like hotcakes in Minnesota, but no bookstore there is reporting to the New York Times, your book isn't going to make the list, even if you sell more copies than the current Harry Potter of that week. Just as political polls have margins for error, so do the bestseller lists because it would be impossible to track each week every book sold everywhere in the country.

A book that never appears on the New York Times Bestseller list may well be a bestseller and outsell books on that list over time. Books that do not make a hit when they first come out can become popular through word-of-mouth and sell enough copies to achieve bestseller status even if they never appear on any bestseller lists. (Note that other lists exist such as Publishers Weekly, but the New York Times is the best known. Comparing a few different lists will show different books and different ranks, which shows no numbers are perfect representations of book sales. Accurate numbers are nearly impossible to acquire since publishers withhold sales numbers as privileged information, until generally books sell a million copies and then publishers simply print something like "Over a million copies sold" on paperback reprints).

Amazon has also become a key player in determining a bestseller because it provides a sales rank for each book listed. By getting a high sales ranking, for example, top 100, a book can also claim bestseller status. Like the New York Times, however, if a book on Amazon sells steadily but does not sell a large number within a short timeframe, its sales rank is not likely to go up as high as a book that sells ten thousand in a week. According to Brent Sampson's "Sell Your Book on Amazon" (2007) to acquire a ranking of 1-10, a book must sell over 500 copies in a day. Books that sell only one copy a week by comparison, end up in the 10,000-100,000 ranking. Many authors follow various strategies to manipulate and increase their book's Amazon rating by holding campaigns to sell as many books as possible within a week.

So just how many books do you need to sell to claim bestseller status? According to self-publishing guru, Dan Poynter, the number is 35,000. Since the popularity of a bestseller can be long or short, I think that's a fair number. A book might come out and make a huge hit and sell a million copies in a year, and then be forgotten. Other books, like the Bible, "A Tale of Two Cities" or "Pride and Prejudice" never appear on bestseller lists but they continue to sell steadily and have far outsold most books making the bestseller lists simply by their quality, word of mouth, and acceptance as great literature.

To sell 35,000 copies of your book is a big task. Studies show that 500,000 books a year are now being published. Of those, over 98% will sell less than 500 copies. If you're just starting out, shooting for 500 is a good start. After that, I would say you're moderately successful-and ready to strive for the thousands.

How important is it to claim "bestseller status"? At Wikipedia is an excellent list of all top ten bestsellers by year in the United States. Take a look at the list from 1951:

1. From Here to Eternity by James Jones


2. The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk


3. Moses by Sholem Asch


4. The Cardinal by Henry Morton Robinson


5. A Woman Called Fancy by Frank Yerby


6. The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat


7. Melville Goodwin, U.S.A. by John P. Marquand


8. Return to Paradise by James A. Michener


9. The Foundling by Cardinal Spellman


10. The Wanderer by Mika Waltari

My guess is that, with the exception of maybe the first two listed, most of us have never heard of these books. So I ask again, how important is it to have a bestseller?

Your book may never make a bestseller list, but steady wins the race. Over time, you may sell more copies of your book than those books that make the bestseller lists. Authors dream of becoming famous over night, but producing a quality book is the best investment if you're looking for longevity, and longevity, in my opinion, is the best indication of success.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Review The Book, where authors and reviewers meet. Her team provides reviews of recently published books that are posted on the site as well as at least ten other sites.

Traditional vs Self-Publishing

I love to write. In fact, I am quite a prolific writer having hundreds of articles and blog postings on the internet. I also have several websites that I author. However, when it is time for me to publish my own book, I might try self-publishing. The traditional method of publishing just seems like too much of a hassle for me.

The traditional way of getting a manuscript published is to first get a list of publishers. Then, you must contact them to find out whom to send your manuscript to at the publishing house. You must print out and send your manuscript to them. They receive your work and read it. This can take several weeks to months. During this time, you can't really do anything else with your book. This can be a very stressful time. Eventually, you will either get an acceptance letter or rejection letter from the editor who has read your book. If they accept your book, congratulations! If not, you must start all over again with another publisher!

Once accepted, the publisher takes care of everything else. They will send you a contract that states how much (or how little) money you will receive for your book and what percentage of royalties you will receive for each book sold. Your book will then go into production. First, it will be designed and given a layout. This takes several weeks. Then, once the completed book is designed, the entire thing must be proofread by several people to be sure it is free from errors. Once that is completed, it is sent to the printer for printing and binding. This can take another several weeks. After this time, you have a completed book! The publisher then will market your book and distribute it to the bookstores like Borders and Barnes and Noble and to online merchants like Amazon. At this point, several months may have passed but your book is finally available for sale.

If you pursue self-publishing, you can cut many months out of the production schedule by designing the book yourself. You are then responsible for getting your book printed and bound. However, with self-publishing, you can usually get fewer copies printed to save money. You must then market and distribute the book yourself. However, all this work can be worth it because you get to keep all the profits you make from your book and you won't be paying a publisher any of your profits.

Dean Novosat owns and operates http://www.publishmehome.com, which contains many tips and information on self publishing.

Book Promotion - Getting on Oprah's Show

One of my book coaching clients sent me an amazing story of how a friend of his got on Oprah & Friends, Oprah Winfrey's XM radio show.

I know other people who have been called to be on Oprah's show as well. Sometimes it works out and the crew actually shows up, sometimes not. That's TV land; producers are prone to change anything at the last minute.

One thing I note from those I know who Oprah calls back: They did not seek her out with publicity stunts. The people I know who have tried seemingly every trick you can think of, still haven't gotten on. (Yet.)

Most of those who end up talking to Oprah did dream of getting on her show. They followed Oprah with genuine interest and admiration-often for years. They were in tune with Oprah and what she is doing. In many cases, they were Oprah's audience!

If they were experts, they also knew how to present well on television. They had been on TV before. They had a message that Oprah knew would be interesting to her audience-and they knew how to deliver that message in a polished, entertaining way.

Make no mistake, Oprah knows her audience, inside and out. It's her number one aim to speak to their needs and to entertain them.

If you want to get on any of Oprah's shows, you have to do it her way. Listen--she even tells you how! Go to Oprah's Web site and you'll see a whole list of show ideas they're looking for. Fill out the forms that match your story to what they want. Be genuine about it.

I have heard interviews with former Oprah producers, and they affirm what I've said above. They also know how to spot insincerity instantly. If you don't genuinely have a story to tell that fits what Oprah is all about, but are just trying to get on her show for your own gain-you don't have a chance. An occupational hazard for really famous people like Oprah Winfrey is that people try to use you for their own gain. I'm convinced she and her producers can smell that a mile away.

If you want to get on Oprah's show, you need to do two things.

First, study her closely. Sign up for her newsletter. Read her magazine. Don't just watch her show-study it. Note the different formats she uses. What can you discern of her audience, from what you see, hear, watch? Don't forget the clues the ads give you as to who her audience is.

Also note: What are the experts like? How does she use "real people" stories? Where might you fit in?

Visit her web site as often as possible and note carefully what they are looking for. Respond appropriately, being careful to follow their guidelines as to word count etc.

When you share your story, make sure it matches what they want, is believable, genuine, and as dramatic as you can honestly make it. Don't exaggerate. Remember, she's all about creating an entertaining show. Nobody cares about your book, your business, or you. They care about your story, if it can inspire, instruct, help or otherwise benefit the people who watch or listen to Oprah's shows.

If you're an expert, how can your expertise speak to Oprah's audience? Do you have your "hook" ready, and has it worked with other media? Have you gotten comfortable with being on the media by doing lots of radio and television already? Have you gotten media training?

If you have an idea of your own, Remember, what they're looking for is a whole show idea. I once pitched her on my book, Men in Search of Work and the Women Who Love Them. I gave her ideas for couples to have on, other experts, everything. She never called me, but I did hear later she did a show similar to what I'd proposed. (Hey, it happens. Frankly, I wasn't ready to be on her show at the time. Anyway, it could have been someone else's idea as well. Good ideas whose time has come tend to occur to more than one person in any given period of time. Nevertheless, I still like to think she ended up using and idea I gave her!)

Another approach: Make enough noise around her so that she hears about it and sees that you are right for her demographic. Her company stays on top of what's happening in other media. They're watching for emerging stars. Are you supporting the same organizations she supports? What are you personally doing for the African-American community in Chicago? If you're making enough noise in other spaces about what she cares about, she will find you.

Spend your effort on the other noises.

Does all this sound like a lot of work? It can be. After all, Oprah is The Big Leagues. Here's where Step Number Two comes into play: Be patient, diligent and persistent in following Step One.

If all this seems worth it to you, go for it! (If and when you get on Oprah using these suggestions, let me know!)

For more articles like this on writing, publishing and making money with books and other information products, visit http://www.wordstoprofit.com to sign up for the free newsletter and to get your questions answered. And if you're ready to start your book today, check out the downloadable coaching session called Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer to Write a Book that Sells at http://www.wordstoprofit.com/JumpStartYourBook.html From Diane Eble, "Your Book Publishing Coach"

The Value of Negative Publicity

Ever read CrapAuthors.com? They take pride in their ability to destroy a book and its author. A month ago I had the dubious distinction of being a featured author on CrapAuthors. Of course this happened about the same time I was being slammed on an Internet board where I had been the subject of a feature interview two months earlier (RINF.com). I was scared.

I knew the adage "no publicity is bad publicity." But, my confidence stumbled as I read:

"...makes a great gift for someone you dislike."

"I would use this book as toilette paper...but I'm afraid my ass would give me hemorrhoids in protest."

"...the literary equivalent to nails on a chalkboard..."

My sales had been steadily rising but these words would surely grind everything to a halt. The title of this essay let's you know what happened...my sales went up. I mean way up. I average selling 20 books a week. I sold 300 books that week, more than any other promotional stunt I have yet to pull off. I was scandalous.

Here's how I handled this media event--I fought back. When somebody made a vacuous criticism of my book, I asked my detractors to elaborate their perspectives. If I didn't hear back, I'd spell-out their inaccuracies.

I used the opportunity to email other authors and explain what was happening to me, detailing what was happening to me--In the last three weeks, I've been invited to contribute essays to two books that will be published next year.

In replying to readers, I learned that harsh criticism encouraged my fans on those forums to step forward and plead my case. Readers would plead my case when I kept my replies short and SWEET. The testamonies of these fans outweighed the criticism of my detractors.

I made mistakes. I learned to take the high ground. When somebody sassed me and I was sassy back, my quote haunted me from site to site. Google is a powerful tool. Google allows me to indentify possible target audiences, and it allows spurned readers to locate where I'm currently posting.

Allow me to recap, by being the focus of extreme scrutiny, my immediate sales went up and I've secured future exposure. Not bad. Publicity is good. Bad publicity may be even better.

Ben Mack is author of Poker Without Cards. Reading Poker Without Cards disengages your mind from The Matrix by explaining secrets of theatrical magic. Read praise from Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Anton Wilson at http://www.PokerWithoutCards.com

ISBN - What Does it Really Mean?

ISBN = International Standard Book Number

Most small and self-publishers know that an ISBN is a necessary number that identifies their book within the book industry. But what do all those numbers actually mean? Can anyone look at an ISBN and extract any useful information?

Let's consider what the 13 digits in an ISBN mean to the book industry (publishers, wholesalers, distributors, libraries, and retailers).

First, note that you may encounter two versions of ISBNs -- the ISBN-10 and the ISBN-13. Besides three more digits, what's the difference?

A few years ago, the ISBN folks realized that they would soon exhaust the mathematical possibilities of the 10-digit format. Too many books were being published in too many different formats. The solution was obvious -- expand the format to incorporate more digits. You might think that adding three more digits would increase the available numbers by a factor of 1,000...but you'd be wrong.

It only doubled them.

How could that be? you might wonder.

To answer that question, consider the bar code on the back cover of a book. You will usually find the ISBN printed in human-readable form (i.e., in numerals) just above the bar code. Up until a couple of years ago, that would have been the 10-digit ISBN. Then, during a transition period, it frequently included both the 10- and 13-digit forms of the ISBN. Now, most newly published books will show only the ISBN-13 (although some are still including both). You might also have noticed that there are human-readable numerals sort of embedded along the lower edge of the bar code. Those digits are the ISBN-13...and always have been (even when there was no such thing as an ISBN-13).

In the days of only ISBN-10, a book's bar code with its embedded numerals (technically known as the Bookland EAN, or European Article Number) consisted of the ISBN-10 plus a 978 prefix and, usually, a different final digit.

Now, with the implementation of ISBN-13, the ISBN and the Bookland EAN will be identical, including the final digit.

Confused yet? Hold on. Let's decode an ISBN-13 to help clear things up.

The ISBN-13 and Bookland EAN, consist of five distinct parts:

• 
  978 or 979 prefix (all this means is that the number refers to a book -- after all, the EAN is used for a lot of other non-book products with their own unique prefixes)


• 
  Group or country identifier (for books published in the English group -- meaning the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. -- this will a "0" or a "1")


• 
  Publisher prefix (this can from two to seven digits, depending on the size of the specific block of ISBNs)


• 
  Title identifier (this is actually the part that is assigned to a specific title, edition, and format published by the publisher identified by the publisher prefix)


• 
  Check digit (the last digit in the ISBN, always just a single digit, that is calculated using a specific mathematical algorithm and only really matters to computer databases and such -- you don't have to know how to compute it)

Note: To date, nobody has been assigned an ISBN block with the 979 prefix, although R. R. Bowker expects to begin issuing those later this year.

Since the ISBN-13 system allows for only two book-prefix possibilities (either 978 or 979), the change to ISBN-13 only doubles the available possibilities. One mystery solved.

Real-World Example: 978-1-934631-21-8

What does that string of numbers tell us?

Right away, you can see the "978" prefix that tells us this is a book. The next digit, the "1" following the first hyphen, says it was published in one of the English group countries. The next set of digits (934631) is the publisher prefix. If you looked up this prefix in one of the industry databases, like Books-in-Print, you would find out that "934631" identifies Slipdown Mountain Publications LLC...and only Slipdown Mountain Publications LLC. Nobody else will ever be issued that specific publisher prefix.

The next set of digits (21) represent one specific title, edition, and format in the block of "934631" publisher-prefix ISBNs. In this case, it is the first edition of my own book Devil in the North Woods and, specifically, the e-book format of that book. No other book will ever use the title identifier "21" with the publisher prefix of "934631" and the group identifier "0." And that's what makes it unique. And what makes sure nobody orders an e-book format for this book when they really wanted the paperback format.

Note: The paperback format of that same book has a different ISBN (in this case 978-0-9746553-1-4, which also has a different publisher prefix since our company owns two different blocks of ISBNs although both point only to us).

And then there's the final, check, digit (8, in this case). The check digit calculation involves applying a mathematical algorithm to all the preceding digits (which is why the check digit for the ISBN-10 format is almost always different than the check digit for the ISBN-13 format of the same basic ISBN). The check digit can also be an "X," which is used if the check digit calculation results in "10."

By knowing the publisher prefix, you can immediately determine the size of that block of ISBNs. Since there are only 13 digits total, and the 978 (or 979 eventually) plus the group identifier always total four digits and the check digit is always a single digit, there are only eight digits left to work with. In the above example, the publisher prefix is six digits, leaving only two digits to assign to specific books and, thus, only 100 possibilities (00-99). Therefore, this represents a block of 100 ISBNs.

Since self-publishers usually buy a block of 10 ISBNs and small publishers typically buy a block 100, anyone who cares can quickly determine the size of your publishing venture. And they can determine that even if you leave out the hyphens...but that's a lengthy subject better suited for a follow-up article.

If the ISBN for your book was assigned by one of the many subsidy publishers (who prefer to call themselves "self-publishing companies" or "POD publishers"), the publisher prefix will clearly designate that subsidy publisher as the publisher-of-record. Which means you did not really self-publish at all, as far as the book industry (trade journals, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, libraries, etc.) is concerned. Having a subsidy publisher listed as your book's publisher is like starting your at-bat with two strikes already counted against you.

And that's probably not the way you want to launch your book's marketing campaign.

Walt Shiel is the Managing Partner and Publishing Mentor at Five Rainbows Services for Authors & Publishers, a subsidiary of Slipdown Mountain Publications where he serves as Publisher. Besides offering a full range of affordable publishing solutions, Five Rainbows can tailor a mentoring program to help you achieve your specific goals for your book! And be sure to check out Walt's View From the Publishing Trenches blog.

Powerful Thoughts vs. Positive Thoughts

It is powerful thoughts and not positive thoughts which execute. To understand this let us look at the whole process of execution which has its root in a desire.

The desire gets converted to action which in turn gets converted to accomplishment.

Desire is a thought. And thought is a form of energy. It is energy in stored form.

Execution or action is also another form of energy, energy in motion.

So when we act upon a desire , we actually convert the stored energy in our desire to energy in motion. One form of energy is getting converted to another form of energy.

This is exactly like in archery where the stored energy in the Bow gets converted to energy in motion, the movement of the arrow.

So Action or execution depends upon the energy that our desire stores.

In fact, The process of accomplishment exactly operates on principles of archery.

No energy in your desire, no energy in action, no accomplishment

Little energy in your desire, little energy in action, little accomplishment

Abundant energy in your desire, abundant energy in action, abundant accomplishment

Unlimited energy in your desire, unlimited energy in action, unlimited accomplishment.

So , the Desire needs to store abundant energy . We need to first ensure that there is abundant energy stored in our desire and only then should we release it.

In other words act or execute only when the desire is powerful .

The moot question then is how do we make our desires powerful?

To start with, many thoughts can never lead to a powerful desire. The desire, a thought ,needs energy to be fulfilled .However a normal person has over 60000 thoughts in a day. The thought which is also your desire gets totally lost in this pool of 60000 thoughts.

Each of these 60000 thoughts consume energy. Even if you have abundant energy, you will waste all that energy in feeding these many thoughts.

As a result the desire does not get meaningful energy.

Without energy in the desire, the action would be weak and erratic.

A weak action will not lead to accomplishment . So the solution is in packing abundant energy in our desire. And the only way is to Drastically reduce the number of thoughts.

Just for illustration let us assume that we have 600000 units of energy and 60000 thoughts. then each thought gets only 10 units of energy.

If we are able to reduce our thoughts to 10000 then each thought now has 60 units of energy . In other words our thoughts are 6 times more powerful.

As we keep reducing the number of thoughts so will the energy behind each thought keep increasing. If we have only 1 thought then this thought is now 6000 times more powerful.

The highly effective constantly endeavor to

Reduce the number of thoughts to one.

Store unlimited energy in it.

And when the thought is released from here,

Action will be swift and effortless.

Accomplishment will be instant and certain.

Potharaju Ravindra is the author of bestsellers like GIVE ME BACK MY GUITAR published by Macmillan and FOOLS WORK HARD FOR OTHERS. To know more about him and his company please visit [http://www.givemebackmyguitar.com]. To exchange views with him please visit his personl blog at [http://ravi.givemebackmyguitar.com]

How To Create A Pen Name

A pen name is a pseudonym adopted by an author for various reasons. It may be to replace a boring or uninteresting name, to create a new persona, or for some other reason. Creating a pen name can be as easy as combining two of your friends names or can be as complex as choosing masculine (or feminine) names depending on the intended use of the pen name.

The first step in creating a pen name is to think of a name. It can be a first and last name, or it may even include a middle name. There is an online random name generator at Behind the name (google search for it) which will create a random first middle and last name for you.

Once you have settled on a name it is very important to Google search the name for several reasons. Firstly, you do not want to use a name that is already well established or famous. It may cause legal problems in the future. You also don't want a name that is associated with a murderer or some other criminal activities. Make sure you search for your pen name in quote, for example "pen name". If you find that there aren't many hits for your pen name, then its probably a good choice.

Thats it, you now have a pen name that is unique. You can now 'brand' this pen name by adding a photo or a graphic signature. Since your name is unique, it is easy to track sites that link to it in Google by performing the same search you did earlier for the name.

For more articles on internet writing, visit Internet Writing

Building an Author's Media Kit

Much has been written about media kits and on what should be included in them. When I started putting mine together, I searched for information high and low. What I found was as many different opinions as I had questions. So I did what I could to take the good examples, throw out those which didn't apply to my target group, then added suggestions from proven sources. After a bit of mixing and matching, the result was a kit I was comfortable with. Time will tell, and since I'm an unknown and have no expectations of calls from media giants, I chose to go electronic and make mine available in PDF format. I can easily have it professionally printed, packaged, and ready for delivery in literally a few hours should a request for a hard copy be made. Until then, it is readily available for download via my website.

The basics:

Here's a list of the things which should be included in your media kit. Mine consists of 8 pages and I'll use it as an example. It is important to note that because I have no way of knowing who will download my media kit, I did not include a Pitch Letter in its electronic form. I do, however, include one for every printed kit I send out.

Page 1: Table of Contents

As the name implies, it lists the pages to follow.

Page 2: Pitch Letter (Personalized)

This is your sales pitch and should be modified and personalized for the intended recipient. You should know who will read this letter and address it specifically to that person. You should also tailor each pitch letter to meet the role of the organization you're sending it to. For instance, pitch letters addressed to TV stations will not be the same as those addressed to radio stations, or online interview sites.

Page 3: Biography

Include the full version. This is where you let the reader know who you are. Make the reader like you as a person and he, or she may be more inclined to move on to page 4. Be sure to include anything that will authenticate you as an authority on your book's subject.

Page 4: Book Excerpt.

Just about everyone agrees that whoever wants to see your media info will also want at least a sample of your writing.

Page 5: Q and A

If people have written you asking questions about your book or article, include a sampling of those questions, along with your answers.

Page 6: Reviews

Include any positive reviews your book has received. This is not the place to let your sense of fair play enter the picture. Forget balancing the good with the bad. Include only the good stuff here.

Page 7: Press Release

Include your most recent press release. As you issue new press releases, be sure to modify your media kit as well.

Page 8: Author Photo

Include, if possible, a print-ready photo. It can be color, black and white, or both. If that is not possible then provide a way for the reader to get a copy. Make sure whatever process you have for readers to obtain copies of any material included in your kit is as easy as possible. If a reader has to 'work' to get info from you, then he or she is more likely to just move on to the next candidate rather than waste time on you.

Page 9: Book Cover Photo

Provide a full scale, print-ready photo of your book cover. Follow the same rules for distribution as you would for your author photo.

Now that you know what to include, how do you put it together?
This is where you decide on which method of distribution is right for you. If you're an established author and get frequent requests from the media, you'll want to have a few hard copies bundled and ready to go. Do not, however, seal the packages. One of the most important things to do prior to sending out a media kit is to personalize at least the pitch letter to the person that requested it.

Create an electronic copy of your media kit. If you have a website, make it available for download. If you don't have a website, you should seriously consider getting one. Find a local printer and work together to come up with a method for bundling the kit for hard copy distribution. The day will come when you're asked to send in your information and you'll want to make a good impression.

Speaking of good impressions, creativity is good, but to a point. Your media kit should be all about information and the ability of the reader to read it. Consider the fact that most people who request media kits receive many of them daily. Make it easy for the reader to read. Use standard typefaces on non-colored, or neutral paper. Using "funky" fonts and brightly colored paper may have negative effects. Know who you're sending your kit to and make your decision for flare based on that.

So now you know what a media kit is and how to construct one. Use this article as a guide, but gather more information until you get a combination that's right for you. Remember, pertinent, up-to-date information should be considered ahead of flash and flare. Good luck!

Kenneth R. Eaton is a published author and web columnist. He writes suspense/thriller fiction novels. To learn about his latest works, or to just read more articles and writing tips, visit his company website at [http://www.eatonbooks.com]

How to Write and Sell a Novel

Here's an "eight easy steps" guide.

Step 1) Realize that publishing is a harsh business, maybe the harshest in the world. Over 99% of novels written will never be published legitimately. By "legitimately", I mean by an authentic publisher who pays you an advance (unlike vanity publishers or self-publishers) and probably prints an actual print run (unlike print-on-demand or electronic publishers). Of those few novels that are published legitimately, the vast majority will sell a few copies and then quickly go out of print. Only a tiny fraction of a percent of novels will end up proudly displayed on the shelves of your local bookshop; far fewer will become bestsellers. The odds of your novel becoming a smash hit--or, to be honest, published period--aren't much better than winning the lottery.

Step 2) Accept step 1 and decide that you're crazy enough to go for it anyway. After all, some people have done it, so why not you? Odds are, if you're still here, you will write your novel because you have to; to most writers, writing is as essential as eating or breathing.

Step 3) Find your inner voice. Find the story that inspires you. Find the characters you believe in. Find the book you have to share with the world.

Step 4) Read more writing tips and study the craft.

Step 5) Find a good place to write. I like to take a notebook and pen to a local coffee shop. I sometimes like to stay home, sit in an armchair, turn on music, and write on a laptop.

Step 6) When your novel is written, revise it. Polish the writing, reorder scenes, rethink characters, cut out boring scenes, write new ones, rewrite where necessary. I repeat this step several times. For me, step 6 is ten times more work than step 5. For an hour I spend writing, I can spend a day revising.

Step 7) Submit your novel. Some people start by submitting to literary agents. Others go directly to publishers. Some people will recommend the former approach, others will swear by the latter. Whatever route you choose, your first submissions will be rejected. Trust me on this one. See step 1. Selling a novel on the first try is like writing a major piece of software, with thousands of lines of code, and compiling it successfully on the first try. Technically it's possible, but it doesn't happen. Even bestselling authors like Stephen King or John Grisham received many rejections when peddling their first novels. For most people, step 7 will take years.

Step 8) While working through step 7, start writing your second book!

Good luck!

Find more writing tips at http://www.DanielArenson.com.

Daniel

Daniel Arenson is the author of the fantasy novel FIREFLY ISLAND, published by Thomson Gale. To read FREE stories, writing tips, and more, visit http://www.DanielArenson.com

Rose McGowan and the Gothic World

Did you know that gothic fashion came about as a retaliation to the punk culture? Rose McGowan is known as one of the celebrities who have a gothic taste in fashion. Though she is not always in gothic clothes and accessories, she is probably linked to that image because of her role in the TV series Charmed. Today, one can notice that gothic and punk share some of the same tastes and needs in so many ways. The music during the gothic stage can be described as morbid, gloomy and melancholic. A lot of people are impressed and mesmerized with the new Gothic culture, and adored, if not idolized, the vampire image.

It is very difficult to give the exact date when the Gothic culture came to life. Rose McGowan?s fashion is such a small aspect when we look at the bigger picture. During the latter part of the seventies, there are a lot of new groups that came off as somewhat dark, like Banshees, The cure, The damned, Ultravox, etc.

In the UK, the very first fashion Gothic label that became highly popular, which was the UK Decay. Their style showed different images of vampires and deaths, and became the typical stereotypes which had its origins from horror magazines.

It was not only in England where the dark wave was being accepted widely. There are also some American bands who became famous for their dark side such as Faith and the muse, and London after midnight. A lot of these industrial music, which was a combination of lots of layers of sound, was created to be suitable to be heard with headphones.

Because of all these genres of music, the Gothic fashion started to flourish. It became more accepted by the larger community. And it also evolved into subcategories such as Emo (emotional) subcultures, and would not back down from the punk culture of the world.

Today, Rose McGowan walks on the red carpet in gothic fashion that has been crossed with more trendy mainstream fashion pieces, making her look more stylish than ever.

SalwarKameezIndia.com offers safe and secure online shopping [http://www.salwarkameezindia.com/salwar-kameez-540.htm] of more than 5000 unique fashion products for men, women, teens & kids shipped to you absolutely free anywhere in the world. Check out some bestsellers like pearl necklace [http://www.salwarkameezindia.com/necklace-117.htm] and different types of clothing, shoes, jewelry and fashion products.

Writing Ebook Bestsellers - Low Cost Ways to Test Your Idea Before You Write an Ebook

It always amazes me when a reader of mine sends me an email asking me why their ebook is not selling as well as they thought it would. I ask them if they tested their idea before they wrote their ebook and 100 out of 100 times, the answer is no.

Do not let this happen to you, especially since testing whether there is a market for your ebook before you create it is cheap, easy and quick. Here is how you do it:

Select Your Market
This is the first step in the process. In the beginning, I like to tell first time ebook writers to focus on a market (also called a niche) that they are passionate about and familiar with. When you are passionate about something and know a lot about it, writing ebooks about the market will be that much easier.

Product Brainstorming
Once you have the market selected, you need to figure out what kind of product you want to create. The best and easiest way to do this is to go to one of two places - Amazon or ClickBank.

You can search Amazon by category and see what the bestselling books are about. You can even use their Search Inside feature and look at the Table of Contents fro the top-selling books. This makes it easy for you to create a list of topics for your ebook. But I am getting just a little bit ahead of myself here.

Is The Competition Selling?
ClickBank will rank the bestselling ebooks in each sub-category by their "gravity score" which is a complicated formula, but the higher the number, the better.

If you find a number of products in your niche that have high numbers (greater than 4 or 5 is best), you will probably have a hot niche on your hands and the likelihood of success is pretty high.

If the gravity score is lower than a 4 or 5, you might want to look at a different niche. Once you have confirmed that the market is good and there are enough competitive products selling, you move onto the next step - Creating Your Product.

Create Your Product
If you have a winner on your hand, the next step is to create the product. If you have a loser on your hands, no big deal. You just start back at step one and go from there. At this point you might be frustrated, but at least you have not wasted your time and effort behind creating a product that no one wants to buy.

Be an Expert - They Capture Names
I almost forgot this one, but it is a "must do" when it comes to testing your ebook ideas.

One more tactic you should use, but most people overlook - creating a list. Using an email management program like Aweber, you should have people sign up for a "waiting list" and give them a free gift (ecourse or e-report) for giving you their name and email. This page is called a name squeeze page. While you are working on your product, you send them informative information on your topic and niche.

Why set this page up? Easy. While you create your product, you are building your list. When the product is done and ready for sale, you can send out one tiny little email to your list and make money from day one. Pretty cool, huh?

Now all you have to do is get to work on coming up with ideas to test.

Fabio Marciano is the author of over 40 ebooks and 2 print books.

Visit his site for a FREE Report on how to create best-selling ebooks. Grab it now at: http://www.TheOneMinuteEbook.com While you are there, read the dozens of free articles about starting your very own ebook publishing empire.