The wrong online publishing software will spoil any inventive electronic magazine. Once you’re determined to produce an online catalog the key decision is to select the software supplier. This isn’t a case of merely picking a good format for your magazine - quite the contrary, this is a crucial decision as it can well mean success or failure for your entire venture.
Click here and review our superb webpage for pdf to flash software info!
One of the most crucial features to look for is, obviously, ease of use. If you can’t make the software run it doesn’t matter how good it is being touted to be! Make sure to test multiple packages before you pick a provider for your ebrochure.
In creating an online magazine you also want to maintain awareness of the menace posed by hackers and spammers. Do you know what is in situ protecting your account? Is the content secured? Can individuals just copy-paste the magazine content or does the online publishing software supplier have protection to stop this? Is content protected by the e-publishing software vendor from copy-pasting by the common reader?
Has a marketing plan been produced? A step within this plan is what you do with social media. What ad-handling is covered? An over-arching of your endeavour should be shown throughout. Contemporary marketing means considering search engine necessities when editing your content. Back editions will be something you ought to consider when creating a digital publication. Is your interactive publication going to be publically available? Your vendor providing hosting has a certain amount of sense if it’s going to be easily available. Will you share teasers to publicize this flash newsletter?
Tech support is a huge consideration in the pick of host. Do they offer emergency only technical help? What is their response time like? What are the FAQ pages like? Don’t wait until too late before checking to check out the level of tech-support. The decision you make here will be what will decide whether your publication goes well or not - think very carefully when choosing your provider. You might also Google the term “Zmags” to find further useful tips.
Maybe you are thinking about it. Maybe you don’t know it it’s worth it. A book coach can help you save time, frustration, and money down the drain because you will stop book writing, publishing, and promotion mistakes before they start.
Here’s some common mistakes and how you can avoid them.
One. Emerging authors don’t know their book’s purpose. Answer the question why your are writing it? For fame, fortune? To answer a challenge? To brand your business and make money? To entertain?
Two. Emerging authors don’t know what their preferred audience wants. They just have an idea and start writing in a kind of automatic voice. If fiction, who is your audience? Do they mainly want entertainment? If self-help, what benefits will your reader get after they read your book? Where is your audience so you can promote to them? Online?
It’s always best to write the book your audience wants rather than write a book and hope others will buy.
Three. New authors think they need to write a print book of 200 plus pages, need an agent and a publisher. But today’s audience is Online and wants a short book with just the key points. They don’t need so many stories because their reading time is limited. They want it fast and easy. They will be happy to buy and print out a short electronic book under 100 pages, and as long as they get answers, they don’t care if you have a publisher.
Four. Emerging authors leap into an introductory chapter all about THEIR story. You audience wants what you can do for them first.
Five. Writers don’t realize they need to write the easiest chapter first. If they pick a difficult one, they get stuck fast, and either give up or go more research.
Six. Emerging authors think they need to research a lot. Really, what you know is already in you about one particular topic. Make a short list of questions on one topic in your book.
Then, answer them. Now you have part of the middle of your chapter.
Seven. Both emerging and professional authors write on and on without giving their reader a break or a reason to read on. Get your readers to turn pages and keep turning to finish when you put headlines up in your non-fiction work.
Eight. Authors forget to use a hook at the beginning of the chapter and after each heading. They launch on telling their reader all kinds of info they didn’t set the reader up to want.
Nine. Authors don’t realize a hook includes a few questions about where your audience is now. Or, some wild facts that affect your reader. Just not including your reader.
Ten. Non-fiction authors forget to put a finish on the end of the chapter. Maybe action steps. But always a last paragraph that gives the reader a reason to turn to the next chapter. Remember benefits sell.
Most clients tell me that they receive the value of the coaching costs and more when they get coaching.
Judy Cullins ©2005 All Rights Reserved.
Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people’s lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Judy is author of 10 eBooks including Write your eBook or Other Short Book Fast, Ten Non-Techie Ways to Market Your Book Online, The Fast and Cheap Way to Explode Your Targeted Web Traffic, and Power Writing for Web Sites That Sell. She offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, “The BookCoach Says…,” “Business Tip of the Month,” blog Q & A at http://www.bookcoaching.com and over 185 free articles.
===============
Email her at Judy@bookcoaching.com or Cullinsbks@aol.com
Phone: 619/466-0622 — Orders: 866/200-9743
The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters:
The Hero’s Journey:
• Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.
• Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.
• Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.
The Hero’s Journey is also a study of repeating patterns in successful stories and screenplays. It is compelling that screenwriters have a higher probability of producing quality work when they mirror the recurring patterns found in successful screenplays.
Consider this:
• Titanic (1997) grossed over $600,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.
• Star Wars (1977) grossed over $460,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.
• Shrek 2 (2004) grossed over $436,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.
• ET (1982) grossed over $434,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.
• Spiderman (2002) grossed over $432,000,000 - uses the Hero’s Journey as a template.
• Out of Africa (1985), Terms of Endearment (1983), Dances with Wolves (1990), Gladiator (2000) - All Academy Award Winners Best Film are based on the Hero’s Journey.
• Anti-hero stories (Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990) etc) are all based on the Hero’s Journey.
• Heroine’s Journey stories (Million Dollar Baby (2004), Out of Africa (1980) etc) are all based on the Hero’s Journey.
Hero’s Journey - Antagonist’s True Self Revealed.
The penultimate stage of the standard Hero’s Journey is the Master of the Two Worlds (detailed versions include the Afterlife etc…). This stage can also be called the Final Conflict as it is where the hero conquers his or her outer challenge.
The Outer Challenge is conquered in stages of, normally, three: the three catharses. This process is more evident in straight good versus evil stories but can be spotted in other stories (Raging Bull, 1980).
At around about the time of the Second Catharis, the antagonist’s true self is revealed and it normally turns out that the antagonist resembles, is familiar with, mirrors, is a shadow or similar of the hero.
Though there is no definite proof or reason for this - except maybe in the fields of psycholanalysis or similar - some texts in literature argue that it is because the hero and antagonist are one and the same; two sides of the same coin - which is why they were destined to battle. It is also stated in some texts that the true reason for the hero’s journey is to encourage the antagonist to reveal himself [to himself] - to bring light to the darkness.
In fact, the Supernatural Aid and the hero are both mirrors of the antagonist - it is simply that these two chose a different path.
For example, in Return of the Jedi (1983) Vader takes off his mask to reveal his true self to Luke. In Spiderman (2002), the Green Goblin reveals himself to be Harry’s Father.
Learn more…
The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and FREE 17 stage sample and other story structure templates can be found at http://managing-creativity.com/
You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.
Kal Bishop, MBA
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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.
Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://managing-creativity.com/
By Arthur Zulu
“He who whose face gives no light shall never become a star.”William Blake
In the second part of this series, attention was drawn to the importance of styling, promoting, and timing your work if it must become a best-seller. But other things are involved in this.
Get a good publisher
Your success and stardom or your weal and woe, starts with the publisher. Note this: there are more Shylocks than Samaritans in that family. Or better still, more sharks than the friendly whales.
You will know a good publisher from the contract. Examine it critically. Some seemingly “good” contracts will not give you the full right of your book till you die! If you do not understand the document, get an attorney to examine and interpret it for you.
Or you could contact an author who has published with the potential publisher for advice. The author will tell you the truth because some of them are already going through Catholic hell with their publishers–legal suits over rights, royalties, and so forth.
You could also check with other sites for information about the publisher. I have earlier provided you the most credible site to check up with. The site owner gives the most updated, fearless critique of all the publishers. He throws his darts without giving a heck whether it lands in the White House.
A good publisher should give you the right of your book, pay your royalties regularly, and–mark this–promote your book. There are few of such ones. The majority are hypocrites.
Publish in different formats
It is best to make your book available in many formats. The wisdom in this is that sales will be coming in from different sourcesfrom just one book.
What did they say about one man’s meat? The fact is that people have many choices. So publish your book in hardcover, paperback, e-book and as an audio book. Also have it put in movie, DVD, and video.
The present technology can handle all of that. Look around and you will see that all the selling books today are produced in that way. And there are even readers who will buy your book in more than one format. Why don’t you make hay as the sun shines.
Keep revising your book
The man that would write an error free manuscript has not been born. Or maybe he lives on second earth out there in outer space. Why is that so? Because the writer is an imperfect creature. This means that your book can be revised even after publication.
A review of Bill Clinton’s My Life says that the book is short on editing–an euphemism for badly written. Yet it is a great book. Many great works have been revised. Consider these.
James Joyce has been regarded as one of the most important novelists if not the most influential of the twentieth century. Yet, his Ulysses, a parody of Homer’s Odyssey, has a corrected version. Miguel Cervantes Don Quixote, considered the world’s first modern novel, contains many slips. Just to mention two.
Cervantes records three expeditions for Don Quixote, yet it was actually four. And the author forgetting the names he has given to Sancho Panza’s wife, Juana Panza or Juana Gutierrez (after the custom in La Mancha for wives to take the surnames of their husbands), calls her Teres Cascajo (her father’s name) in Part II.
Even William Shakespeare reputed to have the widest vocabulary of any man born on earth (4,000 words) has ironically turned out o be the writer whose works has had the highest number of editions.
Most authors regard the revision of their work as a matter of life-and-death. A typical example is that of the Greek poet Virgil. When he was about to die, he ordered that his Aeneid be burnt for the reason that he had not polished it to his satisfaction. But the great Augustus Caesar got wind of it and countered the poet’s wish. So Aeneid lived and Virgil died. Or Virgil lived because Aeneid did not die.
Your work could therefore be revised after publication. So it would be a course of wisdom for you to revise your published book. You can revise the subject matter, structure, and grammar of your work. And you can also cross check it for facts. It makes you a better writer.
Translate your work
When your book starts selling, the course of wisdom is to make it available in many languages. J.K. Rowling took advantage of that after she “arrived.” Now the first five Harry Potter books have been translated into 61 languages making it possible to be read in 200 countries. How about that?
In translating your book, use languages that serve large populations like Arabic, Chinese, French, and Hindustani. If you could make that happen, then the world is your oyster. You could be listed among the first five richest people in the world.
These things are practical. They have worked for the 20 percent who have tried it; but the 80 percent who know all the things on earth that don’t work have continued to live miserable, wasted lives. But “you can do what you want,” says B. Catland. And he added a proviso: “If you don’t think you can’t.”
So, how deep is your desire? The Wright brothers failed 99 times before flying an airplane. They had deep desire. Yuri Gagarin flew in space. He desired it. Neil Armstrong landed on the moon (what a lonely place!) Because of desire. Bill Gates hit fame and fortune with computer. Because that was what he desired. And J.F. Kennedy ran about a dozen times for office before becoming the thirty-fifth president of the United States. Because he was ambitious.
But desire alone is not enough. Back your desire with positive action. Start writing your best-selling book today! Burn all the bridges that stand between you, and your desire. Do not say: “I can’t.”
An army general crossed the sea with his fleet of soldiers to an enemy territory, and had all his boats burnt. Why? He told his soldiers: “See, all our boats are gone. So, if you don’t fight to win this battle, there is no escape for us, for we shall all be dead men.”
The soldiers were inspired. Because there was no going back. Because they had no option than to fight till the very death! They fought hard. They won!
William Blake said: “He who knows not his own genius has none.” Thomas Wolfe agrees. Said he: “If a man has talent and cannot use it, he has failed….” And hear Erica Jong: “Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.”
Those are memorable words from men who have a right to know. Men whose names have been immortalized. What about you? You can write a best-seller.
Many unknowns have done so: Margaret Mitchel (Gone with the Wind), James Jones (From Here to Eternity), Colleen McCullough (The Thorn birds) and Norman Mailer (The Naked and the Dead).
Why don’t you now go on to write and publish your echo Bible? And then your book will make it to the best-seller lists of the world’s most prestigious newspapers. And you, the now celebrated writer, will end up in a popular American TV Talk show, name them: Oprah Wimfrey, Larry King Live, Sean Hannity and many othersthe precursor for a cover appearance on Time, or Newsweek, magazine.
Or find yourself appending your signature on a million dollar contract document in Hollywood, the entertainment capital of the world, for the movie right of your blockbuster.
And just in case you do not know how to spend your millions, I recommend you to buy a yacht and sail the Mediterranean. Or jump into the next space ship and become the first writer to travel to the final frontier.
Or better still; buy a country home, and write your magnum opus, titled: How I Made My Millions.
And live happily ever after. . . .
(Concluded)
Excerpted from How to Write a Best-seller by Arthur Zulu
Arthur Zulu is an editor, book reviewer, and author of Chasing Shadows!, How to Write a Best-seller, A Letter to Noah, and many other works. For his works and FREE help for writers, goto:
http://controversialwriter.tripod.com
Mailto: controversialwriter@yahoo.com
Web search: Arthur Zulu
About the Author
Arthur Zulu is an editor, author, and book reviewer.
One of the most commonly heard quotes in our world, especially in motivational circles and in Internet marketing is: “Don’t reinvent the wheel.” The advice for the writer is to read other peoples work, notice what is successful, and follow the formula that they have perfected. This way you can be “successful” without having to put in too much work. If this is what you want to do then I have laid the formula out for you right here. In eight easy steps you too can be a successful epic fantasy novelist.
The formula for success:
1. Create a bunch of interesting non-human characters like orcs, dragons, elves or dwarves; of course your hero should be human or nearly human
2. Put them in a fantastical world filled with magic and secret places
3. Open up your novel with something exciting to get the reader hooked
4. Keep the action moving - insert a series of small obstacles that need to be overcome
5. foreshadow something really big that will happen (won’t happen in this novel though -if it ever happens at all)
6. Come up with two big things that will happen and when they are resolved they cancel each other out so the plot hasn’t advanced at all
7. Make a big lead up to the next novel (promise the moon)
8. Repeat steps 3-7 in the next novel
Before you follow this formula (Which is guaranteed to make you a wealthy and successful novelist in less than 30 days) why don’t you stop and think about why you want to write epic fantasy.
You are probably writing epic fantasy or thinking about writing it because of the appeal of creating a hero that you can admire. You want to write a story about an average person (or hobbit) that goes against the grain, ignores popular opinion, and yet somehow comes out triumphant in the end. So why are you not going to follow this path in your own writing?
Isn’t this a bit of an irony? It’s kind of like watching a bunch of Bruce Lee movies then writing a book on self-defense. It is all technically sound but in your own life do you actually do it?
In Epic Fantasy the basic tenet is about having courage -courage in the face of insurmountable odds or even probable death and the courage to continue on when the path is dark. It’s what we admire about the genre. It’s why we read the genre. The little guy (often little is literal as in a hobbit as in lord of the rings or a even a rabbit as in Watership Down) overcomes everything to do what is right. He fights internal conflict, battles evil creatures, and learns something about himself along the way. The great writers of the genre had this courage.
Tolkien was terribly criticized for his work when it was first published. But he believed in the world he was creating and he persevered. Stephen King had the courage to move freely across different genres even within the same book. Robert Howard had the courage to write what he wanted to write even though he never gained the financial reward that he deserved. Frank Herbert had the courage to tackle the big questions and the big themes in life. And do you think Harry Potter would have climbed to such heights if J.K. Rowling didn’t truly believe in Harry?
So where are the muscle bound struggling writers of the epic fantasy world with the courage to push for what is right? Is the next writer to advance the genre out there somewhere? Maybe it’s you?
Some advice
Have courage! Don’t write something because you think it will sell. Don’t shoot for something popular. Don’t read the currently popular epic fantasy novels and follow the same formula. Remember: this one of the basic lessons of epic fantasy itself -not to follow popular opinion. You are writing an epic fantasy story and your main character is no doubt going to face challenges on an epic scale. Have the courage to do the same thing. Come up with something new.
It’s about the ideas
Epic fantasy isn’t really about the slaying of dragons and the rescuing of princesses. It’s about deeper meaning. It’s about finding meaning in life. It’s about taking a road never before taken and facing the unknown challenges that await. Follow this same path in your life and in your writing.
Forget about the grammar - for now
Too often a writer gets caught up in sentence structure, grammar and a host of other technical minutiae. You are going to break new ground. Let the story grow and let the ideas flow. Worry about the grammar later. For now you should just write. Get your ideas on paper. The world is waiting for your novel. Take a chance and go against the grain of popular belief. The world will thank you for it.
Need some help?
If you have written an Epic Fantasy novel that you think is courageous and none of the publishers will touch because it’s too risky then send the manuscript to me. If I agree that it is something special -something worthy of a hero, I will get it published even if I have to pay for it myself. No thanks necessary and no financial reward considered. Just think of yourself as Bilbo and me as your Samwise Gamgee.
Will Kalif Is an epic fantasy writer who has written two novels. If you like epic fantasy you can visit his site at:
http://www.epic-fantasy.com
Interviewing Hugh Rosen, author of Silent Battlefields: A Novel
Tell us about yourself first.
I graduated high school in 1948 and enlisted in the army for
three years. Next I went to college majoring in English
Literature. I later earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in
clinical social work. For thirty years I was a faculty member at
a local university in Philadelphia and served as a tenured
professor. Upon retiring I returned to school and completed an
MA in creative writing.
I work out in the gym three days a week. I love reading,
writing, films, classical music, and my two cats, Bandit and The
Kid. Oh, and there are also some humans I love amongst my
friends and family, but I enjoy solitude much of the time. When
did you start writing?
I began writing in college where I wrote several one-act plays,
which were published in the school’s literary journal. Two of
them were performed on the college stage. While in academia I
started writing non-fiction related to my professional work.
Once in the creative writing program I started writing short
stories and began my novel there. What genres have you written?
I’ve written both fiction and non-fiction. The latter is
clinical-scholarly in nature, the former mainstream drama.
Is Silent Battlefields your first book?
No, it is my seventh, but it is my first novel.
Tell us about your first book. What is it about?
It is about the Holocaust and its aftermath almost three decades
later on two families. One family is that of parents who are
survivors with a young adult son. The other is a gentile family
with a husband who was once a Hitler Youth and German soldier.
It also has a young adult son. When members of both families
begin to meet and interact, startling revelations surface and
unexpected relationships develop.
What inspired you to write this book?
I have a friend who is the adult son of Holocaust survivors. He
has frequently told me of the effect it had on his parents, as
well as on himself. I thought this could be the nucleus of a
good story, although I had no idea then how much more complex
the plot would become. That emerged during the actual writing
process.
How long did it take you to write it? It took four years to
complete, but the actual writing time in years was
two-and-a-half, since I took time out to participate as a
volunteer in teaching “English as a second language” to
immigrants in the United States.
Who is the publisher of your book?
The publisher is iUniverse.
Where is it on sale?
Silent Battlefields: A Novel can be obtained online at
www.amazon.com,www.barnesandnoble.com, www.booksamillion.com,
and through the publisher, of course at www.iuniverse.com. The
book can also be accessed directly by clicking the appropriate
link on my website: www.hughrosen.com. It is also on the
websites of other major booksellers.
Tell us about your other books/works.
The subjects of my other books are cognitive development, moral
reasoning, psychotherapy, and constructivism. Three of the books
I am the sole author of, two of them were published by Columbia
University Press and the other three I co-edited with a chapter
I wrote in each of those three. I have also contributed chapters
to other people’s edited books. In addition I co-edited a
special issue for an international journal on cognitive therapy.
The title of that special issue was entitled, “Creativity in the
Context of cognitive therapy.”
What are the major challenges you have faced in your career?
Speaking generally, I was well suited for my career as a
professor, educational administrator, and academic writer, all
of which I did for thirty years. Things moved quickly and
progressively for me and there were no major roadblocks. My
major challenge came when I shifted to the creative writing
program upon retiring, as then I had to learn to give more free
rein to my imagination and transition to a fiction writer from a
non-fiction academic writer. The modes of both styles differ
considerably. Has the Internet helped you in your writing
career? Yes. The newsletters for authors have proven to be very
informative and useful. The Internet offers a great venue
through which to promote my novel. What do you advise new
writers to do?
Don’t strive for perfection in the first draft. Give free play
to your imagination. Persevere and keep writing. Ideas will come
to you in the process. Revise later. Read books on writing and a
variety of fiction. Find an objective reader who will give you
honest feedback. In the end, trust your own judgment. Know the
rules of your craft, but break them if it’s in the best interest
of your story. Expect rejection letters, don’t give up, and have
faith in yourself. Creating a world of your own making is an
enriching experience.
