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?Oh come on, it?s all based on a true story isn?t it? Come on. Tell me. I know it is.?

I hear this comment often. And now that my novel Letters Between Us has been published by Plain View Press and is going out into the world, some of my preliminary readers, friends, and colleagues are certain that it is an autobiographical novel. Interestingly enough when readers take up works written in first person point of view an incorrect assumption is sometimes made that it?s the voice of the author speaking through the narrator. Because my novel is written in first person, other readers have suggested that I am using the narrator in the novel, Laura Wells, as my persona. After all, she attended Hollywood High School, so did I. She worked in television production, so did I long ago. There are other characteristics we do not share, but you?ll have to read the book to discover what those are besides getting to know me.

Amazing how readers read what they want into a work and believe they are correct no matter what I, or other authors might say about their fiction. My two main character?s names were actually inspired by Katharine (Hepburn) and her dear friend American Express heiress Laura (Harding).

Only because a writer friend of mine who had been close to Hepburn?helping produce some of her movies made for television?thought it would be a nice testament to them and their sixty year friendship. In fact, my two lead characters are nothing like Hepburn and Harding, but I liked the way their two first names looked on the page. Also, I admired Hepburn?s work on film and still relish watching them. So that may dispel any notion of autobiography there. Truth is that although the ?I? in the novel is the protagonist, that ?I? is not me, but the voice of a completely made up character struggling with issues I did not necessarily struggle with, but that others may be able to relate to.

The fact is that fiction means ?shaping? in Latin. So as an author of fiction I am shaping a story I am telling from a world I know, yes, but not necessarily a world I have lived in. Like any artist using the act of sculpting, I must know just how much to leave intact and just how much to pare down in creating a sense of reality, not my specific reality, but the reality of the characters in the novel. This of course is accomplished through manipulation of literary aspects such as setting, point of view, style, tone, imagery, plot, and so on with the assistance of description. And, as any writer knows, description is only an effective tool on the page if it brings alive the reader?s five senses to savor what has been written. But sometimes boundaries between fact and fiction are blurred creating what is referred to as faction.

I do write fiction and have written and published creative nonfiction so I agree that at times lines between the two become indistinct. And as a writer, I see no difference (as writer John Daniel has said) between what I do in creative nonfiction, narrative essay, dated journal entries, dialogue, faction, or memoir, using the same technical devices as a fiction writer might to tell a story. As far as I am concerned it is all acceptable as long as the text we are reading teaches us how to read it. However, not every reader wants to accept that lesson and prefers to put their own spin on what they are reading and its origins.

The important thing about this entire creative act and the result of its output is that the reader is getting a ?good read.? As a reader myself, I want to get lost in someone else?s interpretation of reality, someone else?s rendition of another time, another place. I want to believe in those who populate that space. This so I can escape the pressures of my own world, pressures I desperately seek relief from at times. And through the act of purchasing a book, holding it in my hand, inhaling it, marking the place I left off at with a bookmark, leaving it on my night stand, and often, finding the imprints of rings from a moist steaming cup of tea on it, I can do just that. That for me is a good read. Isn?t the experience the book brings us what really counts?

Again, I hear an echo from a friend last week proclaiming that my novel is based on truth . . . and then adding, ?Isn?t it??

?No,? I answer and explain further that ?the label Novel implies a work of fiction.? My girlfriend smiles and says, ?Sure.?

Linda Rader Overman is a Professor of English at California State University, Northridge. Her work encompasses fiction, and nonfiction consisting of multifaceted elements including photographs, narrative portraits, images, texts, personal and social history, poetry, letters, and diaries. Her novel Letters Between Us was a finalist in the National Best Book Awards 2008. To learn more about her, and to receive her newsletter, visit Linda Overman.

When I think about the different types of adversity that have been a constant presence in my life, my mind goes back to the one event that has shaped me more than any other. My mother, Vivian Pray passed away on November 17, 2003. Although she was in failing health, death was never a thought. Like so many others, I felt like my mother?s medical issues were tied to her emotional health. She was depressed. She never had a chance to recover. On November 5th, she woke up like normal and had a short conversation with me before suffering a petit mal seizure and never waking up again.

At the time of her death, I was in the midst of a life changing experience. I was writing my first book. One year prior to my mother?s death, she had convinced me that I did indeed have enough talent to undertake the awesome task of bringing my friend, Faye Baker?s story to light. For six months, I wrote, enlarged the font and my mother would proofread. She would put on her reading glasses and read paragraph after paragraph. When she died, so did my desire to finish the story that was begging to be told?

Faye Baker, a high school teacher and basketball coach from Allenhurst, Georgia became paralyzed in an accident while traveling with her church to an anniversary celebration in Round O, South Carolina. The van in which she was traveling suffered a blowout before flipping over three times and landing upside down in a ditch beside Interstate 95 in Bluffton, South Carolina. The accident left Coach Baker fighting for her life- suffering with a broken neck and paralyzed from the waist down.

Although she was given less than a 4 percent chance of recovery, Coach Baker fought against the odds, not only to live but to reclaim some semblance of independence. Buoyed by her family, friends and spiritual faith, she undertook the challenge to reclaim the life that had drastically changed on that beautiful fall day. Entering the Shepherd Center for rehabilitation two weeks after the accident, Faye Baker challenged herself daily to do better than yesterday.

Keeping a firm eye on her team that was back at Bradwell Institute moving through the south east region taking no prisoners; Coach Baker used her desire to return to her job as motivation. Twelve weeks after being admitted into the Shepherd Center for Rehabilitation, she returned home to Liberty County and continued the long road to recovery. After reclaiming her job in the fall and coaching her team to the final four, she was voted the All Coastal Empire Women?s Coach of the Year for two years in a row. Albeit in a wheelchair, Coach Baker was back.

Day after day, I would go to work and see Faye Baker moving on with her life despite having experienced a life altering event. I would watch her teach her class during the day and coach her team in the evening. In between time, she would ride her bicycle. She would go outside and with her family at her side, she would walk. Although she used a wheelchair during the school day, she would never skip an exercise session in her quest to permanently give up the chair. In my eyes, she was simply amazing!

I was working as her teacher?s assistant when the idea of the book came up. I was so awed at her independence and determination, one day I told her I thought she should write a book to encourage others who are going through similar situations. She stated that her parents had made the same suggestion but she didn?t like to write. She then asked me if I wanted to do it, considering the fact that I loved to write. Of course I thought she had lost her mind, but secretly I allowed myself brief moments to fantasize about actually writing a book.

My mother didn?t share my sentiment. When I laughingly told her about the conversation, she sucked her teeth and said ?why not?? Of course I thought she was crazy, too. After all, I was a single parent working as a teacher?s aide. I had never taken any writing classes. All I knew was I had a knack for completing papers at the last minute and still making a passing grade. Friends often asked me to write letters to their sweethearts but I never saw my writing as a talent or a gift. It was just something I enjoyed doing. At the time I had just completed my first college quarter and marketing 100 and computer apps was not going to help me write a book. How in the world could they ask me to write a whole, entire book?! Was the whole world going crazy?

Slowly, I allowed myself to dream. I began putting a few sentences on paper and hiding my notebooks. I was afraid someone would see my writing and laugh at me. On a whim, I showed Faye an opening I had written and her reaction left me stunned. She then took the ball out of my court by announcing my secret to her family and from that point on, I couldn?t turn back. That is until my inspiration died.

Six whole months went by after my mother?s death and I was no closer to completing the book than I was before she died. As a matter of fact, I stayed as far away from the computer as possible-claiming headaches. I just couldn?t imagine writing and not watching her strain to read in those silly dollar store reading glasses. The thought upset me terribly. Therefore, I simply gave up writing.

One afternoon I rushed to the parking lot to help Faye get out of her truck. I was running late and I didn?t want her to have to sit in the parking lot and wait for me. We had developed a routine where either me or our friend, Michelle would meet her and take the wheelchair out the back of her truck. This particular day Faye met me at the door - already in her chair. When I asked her who had taken the chair out for her, she proudly replied, ?Me. I did it myself.? She then wheeled past me - moving on with her life.

Imagine my shock! Faye had been practicing this task for a while, unbeknownst to us. I looked at her once again and said to myself, ?quit using mama?s death as a reason not to succeed.? With all Faye goes through, she never uses her disability as a reason not to do anything. The next day, I picked up my notebook and once again, I began writing.

Tamara Pray Frazier is a freelance writer and author who likes to write true life stories that often uses her very colorful life as a reference tool. She is the author of one book titled, In His Own time ? A Story of Family, Friends and Courage. To learn more about her book or her work, visit In His Own Time.

Whether you are someone who needs content for your site, or you are someone who wants to make sure that your content gets out there, you will find that one of the best things that you need to do is that you need to think about making sure that you take advantage of sites that have plenty of free content to give away.

When you are looking at your options and you are looking to make sure that you really get somewhere by advertising your services and giving out the right information, you’ll find that free article directories will start by showing you where to go and what to do, and that when you take a look at the Go Articles Article Submission Service, you’ll soon discover that there are plenty of different options available to you when it comes to looking around.

When you examine the possibilities that are open when you look at the Go Articles Article Submission Service, you’ll soon discover that there are many things that you can really consider. In the first place, you’ll find that you are surrounded by free content; in fact, this site is known as the world’s largest free article content provider and by looking around, you’ll certainly see why this is true.

Make sure that you take a look at the content that pertains to your work; and remember that when you are looking at it that it is all free for the taking. When you want to get work done and find good content for your website, newsletter or blog, this might be where you need to to look. Don’t think that just because it is free doesn’t mean that it is good! When you are looking at the various different options in front of you, don’t disregard this one.

For many people, looking at the Go Articles Article Submission Service is something that will make their lives easier. Are you someone who knows about articles, but doesn’t know how they can go together? Maybe you are just someone who doesn’t have the time to sit and home and pound out words on a keyboard. With that in mind, when you look for free articles that will represent your site. Think about your time and what it is worth. If you find that writing articles isn’t worth the time, you might realize that finding them free of charge is much more your thing! Why write articles and waste your time when you can get excellent articles for free!

Many people find that with just a little bit of time spent surfing the site and considering what is going on that they will be able to move on and get a lot of work done with the resources provided. Don’t get left behind when it comes to looking at what your options are. With Go Articles Article Submission Service, you’ll be able to move farther and faster than you have ever dreamed when it comes to your options online. This is a powerful tool, so see how you can use it!

Let Article Marketing Review Kings Brian Garvin and Jeff West teach you more about Go Articles. Feel free to use this article but please leave all links and author bio intact.

In my case, it was really at the suggestion of my wife after I?d written a Business Book ? CORONA THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA?S #1 IMPORTED BEER. She suggested that I could turn that story ? with all its twists and turns ? into an interesting novel. I wasn?t so sure, but it got me thinking.

A cousin of mine in London had completed a Genealogical research into our family history, which he had published privately under the title ? A TARNOW CONNECTION. He had retired and decided he would spend a few months creating a Family Tree. The few months eventually turned into five years, by which time he had traced 1500 members of our family through 42 branches, back to 1760, and had communicated with many of them around the world. His research produced a comprehensive encyclopedia of information about the history of Tarnow, located 45 miles west of Krakow, when it was part of an independent Poland, part of the Austrian Hungarian Empire, and during occupations by the Russians and more recently in the mid-20th Century ? the brutal Nazis.

As I read through this award-winning piece of Genealogical research, I started to formulate a story based upon our family experiences, coupled with my knowledge of the Beverage Alcohol Industry and some of the characters that one meets over a busy lifetime.

The result is BEAR ANY BURDEN ? A Cold War Espionage Thriller set in Poland in 1983. Sir Alex Campbell, head of an international drinks company is on a business trip to Poland, a country in the midst of political turmoil. A new ?Solidarity? movement is rising on the streets, and the Communist government is cracking down mercilessly. Alex Campbell has an additional mission, a ?little job? for the British Secret Intelligence Services. He will deliver an airline bag containing money and passports to a British agent who is to help the world-renowned nuclear scientist, Dr. Erik Keller, escape across the Iron Curtain to the West.

Alex meets the beautiful Anna Kaluza, the British agent, whose life, like his and that of Erik Keller, had been impacted forever by their World War II experiences.

Alex agrees to help Anna complete her mission.

Alex Campbell had been a nineteen-year-old Lieutenant in the British Intelligence Corps in April 1945, at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, with all its visual horrors of dead bodies, walking skeletons, and disease. He had also witnessed the suicide of a fanatical Nazi officer, who had attempted to kill him before taking his own life. These traumatic experiences stayed with him for forty years.

Anna Kaluza, the daughter of an aristocratic land-owning Polish family had been born in a Russian labor camp in 1940. She spent the first five and a half years of her life in that camp, followed by two more years in a refugee camp in Uganda operated by the British before moving to Australia.

Erik Keller was fifteen when the Nazi forces marched into Tarnow in September 1939. Over the next three years, before escaping into the forest, to fight with local partisans, he witnessed the gradual abuse, starvation, and ultimate killing of half of the population.

What begins as one of many routine ?little jobs? Alex has done for the SIS, quickly turns into an increasingly dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, involving murder, bribery, and international politics.

I hope I have created an interesting Espionage Thriller, which illustrates the lifetime impact of war-time traumas, and is also a family saga spanning 90 years of European History.

Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA?S #1 IMPORTED BEER, and has recently completed his Cold War Espionage Thriller Novel ? BEAR ANY BURDEN. To learn more about Ellis M. Goodman and BEAR ANY BURDEN, visit Bear Any Burden.

It?s been more than half a year since you retired. The novelty of free time is wearing off and you find yourself lonely for your old work buddies. You miss those lively conversations over lunch or a business dinner, and feel your mind getting a bit sluggish. For the first three months or so of your retirement you enjoyed reading the trade journals in your specialty. But now they just make you nostalgic for those happier days when you had a purpose in life and the stimulation of a working environment.

The Age of Specialization

If you look at the state of the periodical field today, you will see that widely circulated consumer magazines with a potpourri of content, the ones you saw on every newsstand have been losing ground for several years. Many were forced to close their doors before the Internet began stealing away readers. The boom has fallen even harder during the current economic crunch.

However, niche magazines and trade journals seem to be surviving the onslaught quite well, and that should tell you something about the new age of specialization. The Internet has become a major source for information seekers because it is specialized. You select the topic that interests you, click on the search engine, and there you will find page after page of articles as well as references to web pages on the subject.

Head to the library and thumb through a periodical directory like Writer?s Market. Better yet, if you are serious about writing, buy a copy for your desk. There are 60 categories of trade journals detailed in the book with anywhere from four to 26 publications listed under each category. Each listing contains all of the information you need to contact the magazine and submit an article. If you visit the library you will find several other extensive directories to research.

Actually you don?t have to be limited just to trades. Thumb through the lists of

consumer periodicals in these directories, and you will find a number of publications that deal with the subject of your expertise. There?s no reason why you can?t use your knowledge to publish consumer-oriented articles as well.

Targeting Trade Journals

. You probably have no desire to work full-time again, but it would be rewarding to maintain some sort of contact with the arena in which you played for so many of your adult working years. Instead of reading those trade journals, start writing for them!

It?s not all that difficult to do. With 30 years of hands-on experience in the field and lots of contacts still available to you, all you need is a quick refresher to bring you up to date on any new directions your field has taken since your departure. Who knows? Possibly after six months or a year turning out trade articles, you may just be ready to write a book on the subject. Not a bad way to enjoy your retirement and maintain a working relationship with your specialty.

Whether you were a neurosurgeon or a plumber, a pilot or a bridge designer matters little. There are publications servicing every field, and their editors have to keep a steady flow of new informative articles coming every month to fill their pages. These editors are hungry for content. Neither they nor their readers are looking for highly polished prose. They want facts and figures. New ideas, fresh approaches to solving problems, new vision. Now in your retirement, you have the time and the background to work through those needs and come up with innovative articles.

Most publications ask that your send a query first. This document, sent in letter form, should state the subject of your article, the specialized angle you are incorporating and your qualifications to write it. If at all possible, the query should be only a single spaced page in length. The editor will then contact you by phone, e-mail or possibly even postal mail and make the assignment with whatever changes he/she might want.

Magazines buy specific rights when they contract with you. Most common is First North American Rights. This means that once you enter a contract with the publication, you cannot publish that piece anywhere else in North America until it has been produced first by the contracting magazine. World English Rights increase the area to any English-speaking nation and World Rights limits you totally.

Branding Yourself as an Expert

Content is king in the trade journal world, so it is essential that you establish your credentials as rapidly as possible. The best way to do that is to write and publish frequently. It would also help to create either a web site or a blog or even both if you have the time and inclination. Web sites of course are more static than blogs and require a great deal less updating. Writing a blog is lots of fun, but it will keep you busy, for its success depends upon a steady flow of new information.

Since you are no longer in the everyday world of active work, you must be sure to keep yourself abreast of progress and changes by reading related blogs and journals. Research is essential. Regardless of the subject you write about, your success or failure will be determined by your willingness to complete the research required by a quality article or book.

The Bio Box

The key to developing recognition is the bio box at the end of the article. While the article itself is a straight-forward narration, the bio box is your ?advertisement.? In it you can outline your qualifications, direct readers to your web site or blog and if you have graduated to books you can send readers to your sales page.

Bio boxes vary greatly. Some are designed simply to list the way the reader can contact you, referring the reader to your web site, blog and/or telephone number. Others attempt to sell either you or the products and services you offer (books, coaching, editing etc). Of course, in many cases the author combines both in the box.

Take advantage of this marvelous way to maintain contact with your former career and enjoy the fulfillment of seeing your name in print in some of the publications you once only read. This is one ?flip-flop? that will serve you well.

If you need support jumpstarting your writing, help is available from author Charles Jacobs? coaching program or by reading his latest book ?The Writer Within You,? a seven-time ?Best Books of the Year? award winner. It is discount- priced on the web site www.retirementand http://write.com. Also available

When you are in a situation where you can start to think about how people will see your company and what they are taking away from it, you’ll find that one of the most important things that you need to consider is how people are going to find your company in the first place! Take some time and seriously look at how people are going to be finding you. Have you made it easy for them?

There is a good chance that there are a number of unrelated ways that people are finding your site. Some people might be finding it by accident, while other people have discovered it through links from other places. The truth of the matter is that you need to make sure that people can find you quickly and easily and one of the best ways to do that is by taking a look at the Expert Articles Article Submission Service, which more and more people are discovering.

If you want to take a look at the Expert Articles Article Submission Service, you’ll soon see that one of the most important things that you will get out of this is a publishing credit. When you look at this work, you’ll soon discover that you are an in excellent place to move forward and make sure that you get the reputation as an expert that you need.

Make sure that you take a look at your articles and make sure that they are professionally written and that you will be able to get the work out of them that you need. Think about how they will communicate what kind of person you are and make sure that you will be able to be proud of them. Of course, part of what makes an article so good is what you can draw from the place that you put it!

When you are looking for place where you can put your article, there are many different reasons to consider the Expert Articles Article Submission Service. For instance, if you are a fan of cartoons, you’ll find that the heading of this service is the grumpy super genius Dexter, from the famous cartoon Dexter Laboratory.

Not only is the mascot quite charming and eye-catching, you’ll also find that this is a good way to advertise yourself and your interests. Does this feel like the company that you want to associate yourself with? What can you learn from looking at this service and what it can do for you? When you want to make sure that you are going to get the attention that you need for your site, you’ll find that looking at this directory might be the best thing that you can do.

Take some time to really consider your options when it comes to getting your articles taken care of. Don’t forget that moving forward and putting yourself out there are essentially the same things and that you can do a lot just by looking at the places where you post you articles. See how the Expert Articles Article Submission Service can help you proceed.

Let Article Marketing Review Kings Brian Garvin and Jeff West teach you more about Expert Articles. Feel free to use this article but please leave all links and author bio intact.

The hardship letter is the most important document that you submit to your lender. The hardship letter is necessary if you want your lender to agree upon a loan workout, short sale, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, forbearance agreement, loan modification, and any other foreclosure solution that requires their cooperation. Your hardship letter presents your desperate situation to the lender when they consider your request for help. Given that fact, you need to make sure your hardship letter presents your situation in a way that screams, ?You must help me!?

Before you begin to write your hardship letter, first consider what type of solution you are seeking from your lender. There are several ways to avoid foreclosure, some that will allow you to keep your home and some that won?t.

An effective hardship letter will be personal and demonstrate your distressing situation. The reason for falling behind on your payments should legitimately be caused by things like a job loss, job relocation that leads to two mortgage payments, change of job, long-term health issue, or a death in the family. You cannot be afraid of any embarrassment involved with telling your story. Remember that financial hardship falls upon everyone: rich and poor, old and young, strong and weak.

Be detailed in your hardship letter on how you got into your situation and state examples of ways you have attempted to keep up with payments such as tapping into your savings, retirement funds, and renting rooms. If you cannot rent rooms because you have a family, then mention that as well. After you have explained the steps you?ve taken, then admit that you have been forced (with no other choice) to ask the lender for help. Do not forget to be detailed, personal, and heartbreaking with your story. Remember that human beings are reading the letter and there is some level of compassion involved with their decision.

You should also remind the lender that working with you on a forbearance agreement, short sale, loan workout, etc. is much better than letting the home go into foreclosure. If your situation is temporary, and you want to keep your home, tell the lender you will be able to afford future payments once you get out of our current situation. Assuming you can get out of your situation within six months, then lender may be more inclined to consider a workout.

Lastly, do not lie on your hardship letter, because everything you said must be backed up with bank statements, credit card bills, and other documentation. The lender will probably look through finances more thoroughly than they did when making the loan. If you lied on your loan and the lender figures it out through this process, you may be turned over for mortgage fraud.

Should you still be confused or need additional guidance on how to write a short sale, then I suggest you read hardship letter templates and examples on foreclosure help websites.

Dean Williams is a foreclosure specialist and researcher who wrote “The Foreclosure Solution Manual”. For more information on avoiding foreclosure visit: www.foreclosure-help-book.com

Article Writing has in recent times become extremely popular. A poorly written article can be harmful, both to you as the author and the products you are promoting. The article you write should not only display your creative and imaginative skills but also satisfy the needs of your target audience.

These ten article writing tips can act as a guide in helping those who wish to succeed in writing articles for the internet.

1. Write on a Topic that you know best:

Always write on some topic that you know best or are familiar with. If you have a website it is important to write on topics relevant to your website. The reason is obvious. No visitor will want to visit a website he is not interested in.

2. Have a Captivating Title:

This is the most important of all the writing tips. The title should be powerful and captivating but not misleading. Spend some time and think about a title that will attract and captivate the imagination of your target audience.

3. Organize your Topic in a Point wise form:

You topic should be organized in a point wise form so that the reader easily understands and grasps your ideas. There should be an Introduction at the commencement and a Conclusion at the end of the article.

4. Have sub-titles, Numbers or Bullet points:

When the article is organized in the above manner, it will be even more effective if these sections have sub-titles, numbers or bullet points. When the audience click on the title of your article and view the sub titles and the organized presentation, you can be certain that they will want to read your article.

5. Use simple language and Short sentences:

One of the best article writing tips I ever got was to use simple language. Most of your audience will be people who want to learn some thing from your article and would find it difficult to understand technical jargon. Simple language also helps those whose mother tongue is not English, to understand and appreciate your writing. Short sentences are attractive, easily readable and understood. Like getting lost in translation the point you so anxiously wish to make can be lost by the time the reader finds his way to the end of a long sentence.

6. Avoid grammatical mistakes and spelling errors:

However good the article might be, if it is sprinkled with grammatical mistakes typos and spelling errors, the reader will before long click away from the article. Proof read and Spell check your article before submission.

7. Display your Expertise:

One of the great advantageous in writing for the internet is the opportunity you get to display your expertise. The more you are able to convince the audience of your knowledge and skills, the more popular you will be in the internet world and more targeted visitors you will get to your website. Always proof read your article.

8. Limit the length of article:

Always limit the length of your article. It should neither be too short or too long. The popular range is between 500 words and 650 words. This gives you sufficient space to express yourself clearly to your targeted audience.

9. Do Not Sell:

If you want your article to be read, appreciated and published by other webmasters, then do not sell. You will loose credibility if you have links from your article to your products and services.

10. Resource Box:

Though this is the last of the ten article writing tips, this tip is of vital importance. Here you get the opportunity to write a few lines about yourself, your website and have a life link to your website. Where ever possible link to your website using HTML code and having the keywords embedded in it. Make the best use of it.

Conclusion.

Writing good content is absolutely important if you wish to succeed in the internet. These ten article writing tips I am confident will be a source of inspiration and motivation for you to write top quality articles. Your own imaginative and creative skills can make them even better.

Copyright ? Kanaga Siva. Kanaga Siva is an Expert Author and Marketer. You are welcome to his Internet Business Opportunities Website and Internet Marketing Blog for more Tips on Article Writing and for an Affiliate Marketing experience that can help you make money from home.

With the rise in the number of self published authors, there is much debate as to whether it’s better to self publish your own books or whether to still follow the traditional route of trying to find a publisher.

There are many people who say that self published books won’t sell or that no one trusts self published books, but the people saying this are not publishers or published authors. They are simply people who want to be published authors, but their not, so they spend their time trying to discredit the work of self published authors.

But when it comes to selling books, the only opinions that matter are those of the readers. And readers don’t care who has published the book, as long as it’s a good book.

So the only decision you should be making is which type of publishing is best for you and your personality type?

Traditional publishing means that the author has to relinquish all the rights to their own work and some authors don’t want tot do this.

A publisher will control the cost of the book, the interior layout, the cover design, the editing, any changes to the finished manuscript and the publishing date.

If you’re a first-time author a publisher may delay publishing your book for quite a while. So the time between you signing the publishing contract and the time your book is published, can be several years.

It also may take several years before you find a publisher which can mean a lot of writing time lost in sending out query letters and proposals. Even the first “Chick Soup for the Soul” book, which has now sol millions of copies, was originally turned down by over 140 publishers.

A publishing contract is also something that needs to be taken into consideration.

A contract will be dozen of pages long and is best looked over by a lawyer who deals with intellectual property law to make sure that all the clauses are fair to the author.

And even when you’ve found a publisher and negotiated a contract, you will still be responsible for marketing your won work because publishers prefer to use their marketing department to work on their best selling books or celebrity biographies.

And after all that, if your book fails to sell at least a few thousand copies quickly, it can be withdrawn in only a few months.

But if you prefer to have a large publishing company publish your book then this is the way for you to go.

On the other hand you may want to retain complete control of your work and this is where self publishing can help you.

Everything about the publishing process is left in your complete control and with the use of modern technology, publishing a book, or a thousand books, can be done from home with only a computer and internet connection.

You can easily set out your book, create a cover of your own choosing and have your book selling internationally within only a week or two.

And you don’t have to worry about the low sales or your book being withdrawn because while a sale of only a couple of thousand copies after publication is bad for a large publishing company, it’s great for a self published author, who, instead of receiving a small royalty from book sales, is making $15 or more per sale.

And you can keep your book “in print” for as long as you want.

With the ease of modern publishing methods, you can now write as many books as you want to, as often as you want to and you can relax in the knowledge that they will all be published.

And once you become a regularly self published author, even if you only sell a few thousand copies a year of each book, you can still achieve a 6-figure income. And if you want to increase your income all you have to do is write and publish more books.

Now isn’t that the kind of life you’ve always dreamed of?

Ruth Barringham is a writer, author and publisher. To learn more about the how easy it is to publish every book you write, go to http://selfpublishworldwide.com.

If you want to have a successful writing career, you need to prioritize your writing and make it the thing you do the most, rather than something you do in your spare time now and again.

Anyone who is successful in their career is driven by their work. When you look at Stephen King, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, or any other successful person, you’ll soon realize that they didn’t get to where they are by working on their careers in their spare time.

They all started out by having to hold down a full-time job to put food on the table while they became established in what they wanted to do, but hey never lost their drive and determination and that’s what kept them going.

You’ll also recognize that these people are different from those around them. They don’t sit around every night watching Seinfeld and Jerry Springer on TV. Instead they use all their free time to work on their careers. So while their friends and family are still sat staring at the TV for several hours every night, they have reached the pinnacle of their success and are all multi-millionaires enjoying their lives.

They knew that if they did the same things as everyone else, they’d be the same as everyone else, and that’s what they didn’t want.

So if you want to is a successful and wealthy writer, working your own hours, living wherever you want in the world and not being part of the 9-5 rat race any more, then you need to work on becoming the writer that you want to be. And the time to start is right now.

So don’t sit on the couch every night watching TV. Instead, sit down and write. Or if you don’t know what to write or how to sell your work, invest in a book or course that will teach you how.

But stay away from the television, which is often called “the brain drain” or “the plug-in drug.” Watching too much television can become a bad habit and while you’re watching it, it is also sucking away your creativity and your dreams.

And don’t watch the news any more either. These programs don’t give you a balanced view of what’s happening in the world. They only show news that they think will shock, horrify and attract more viewers.

Remember that they are in it for the money so it’s in their best interests to attract as many viewers as they can.

And don’t worry about missing out on any big news that happens. If it’s something important, you’ll find out anyway, one way or another.

You just need to concentrate on your writing. And keep away from anyone who has a negative attitude about what you are trying to achieve. These kinds of people are toxic and you really don’t need them. True friends will support you, or at the very least, ignore you if they don’t agree with what you are trying to do. But they will never be nasty.

Just think what would have happened to Bill Gates or Stephen King if they’d listened to the critics in their lives? Instead they were too busy getting on with what they were doing and didn’t let anyone stop them.

So let yourself become the successful and wealthy writer that you’ve always wanted to be. Just sit down and imagine yourself working as a full-time writer and author, living your dream life in your dream home.

Then turn off the television and get to work. And before you know it you’ll be a prolific and wealthy writer.

Just remember that your habits create your future, so adopt better writing habits.

Ruth Barringham is a full-time writer, author and publisher. To learn more about becoming a successful writer, visit her web sites at http://writeaholics.net and http://selfpublishworldwide.com. Sign up for the free newsletter and receive a free writers’ eBook.