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More on library and books

Posted on May 6, 2008 by aspcode

Writing an Ebook

I’ve been making a fantastic living through online ventures for the past five years or so, and I’m completely convinced that with my help and guidance, others will be able to do the same thing. I’m sure that people would pay good money to learn my secrets, so that’s why I’m thinking about writing an ebook to sell on my websites. The only problem is, I’ve never done this sort of thing before, and don’t really know where to start.

From talking to other online entrepreneurs, there are several things that I need to take into consideration before writing an ebook. For example, it’s important that I guard my ebook from theft or illegal reproduction. I can do this by purchasing a protection program, issuing passwords to unlock the book only after payment is received, or by using Digital Rights Management. These steps will ensure that the ebook can’t be copied or traded very easily.

I also learned that there’s a definite formula to writing an ebook, and that once I get the basic feel for how to do it, the entire creation process will become a lot easier. Savvy marketers have discovered that there’s an ideal length for ebooks, that the margins should be a certain width, and that there should be plenty of white space on each page so the reader doesn’t get intimidated at the prospect of taking in too much information. There are even pricing guidelines out there to help me decide how much to sell my finished product for! I never could have figured these things out for myself, so I feel like I’m making good progress already.

At this point, I think it would probably be best for me to purchase some special software that will allow me to take a step-by-step approach to writing an ebook. I’ve seen several of these types of programs advertised online, and have even checked out some of their features. It seems that the prices are pretty good for what the software delivers, so I should probably place my order soon. After all, the sooner I finish my book, the sooner I can start making money from it!

I’m excited about the prospect of writing an ebook, but I definitely need more information before I can begin in earnest. I’m going to devote the next couple of days to research, and will hopefully be in a better position to evaluate where I stand after that.

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libraries and books

Posted on May 6, 2008 by aspcode

Writing illustrated childrens books is a pretty tough way to make a living. A lot of people assume that it is an easy life because the books are so simple. In a sense it’s true. Anyone can write a children’s book. It takes a good author to write a good children’s book because it takes a good author to write a good book period, but writing for kids is still a lot less work than writing for adults. The industry, however, is cutthroat. There are so many people who can churn out kids books that the competition can be brutal and crushing. Having your books discovered by a good publisher is almost impossible. You need good contacts, a good agent, and most of all you need to get your books illustrated by an excellent artist.

Illustrating books is a tough sell. A lot of artists turn down requests by people wanting to have their books illustrated without even considering them. You see, the chance of “making it” from the work you do on a kids book is slim to none. Thousands of authors out there want to get their books illustrated, and few of them are willing to part with the money it requires. Most writers wants to hire illustrators on spec. This means that the illustrator only gets a commission if the book gets picked up. Only a tiny proportion of children’s books get published, and of those very few are financially successful. It is no wonder there are so few book illustrators for hire.

Rather than looking for authors who wants to get a book illustrated, most artists will actually go to the company themselves. Many book publishers will hire artists and assign them to new authors. This is the best way for a book illustrator to make a living. Unfortunately, there is no similar offer for authors. Just because you are a good writer doesn’t mean that a company will want to hire you. Unless you can successfully pitch your idea, you will not be picked up. No one hires writers purely for their craft. Writers are hired for a marketable idea. Without that marketable idea and the right pitch, they will never get their books illustrated unless they want to part with a lot of money out of pocket. The only solution is to go to the book publishers who will assign you an artist if they like your book. These publishers, unfortunately, are very difficult to get picked up by.

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Heard of federal stats

Posted on May 6, 2008 by aspcode

In general, I like brand-new things. I have never liked second hand furniture or second hand clothes. I don’t want to wear something that someone already wore. The very thought kind of disgusts me. As for second hand furniture, I like my house to be well decorated with new, shiny things. I do not want some worn, weathered couch in my living room. One thing I have always liked used, however, is books. I cannot get enough of used bookstores, and visit them whenever I get the chance.

Some of my friends would consider these to be second hand books, but I consider them antiques. What is great about second hand book stores is that you can find interesting reads that are long out of print. Publishing decisions are not based on the quality of book but on the ability to sell. At second hand bookshops, you might be able to find something that, in its day, was quite a classic but has fallen by the wayside amidst the millions and millions of books that have been printed over the years. I have found some amazing second hand books in my time. I found, for example, an illustrated Encyclopedia of the ancient world from the turn of the century. It was fascinating because it detailed the prevailing views of science at the time, views which now we see as quaint and outdated, but which back then were the cutting edge. The best used books can be a window into the past, allowing us to see the way people saw themselves and their world at a certain point in time.

Another great thing about second hand books is that they make such great decorative additions to your house. I know this is shallow of me, but in my living room the books do not serve merely as scholastic function. I like people to know that I am intelligent and well read, and having a wide variety of books on different subjects conveys this impression admirably. Modern books are printed in a fairly standard and uniform way, but with old antique books, there were many different conventions. Some of them are printed on fancy paper with handcrafted, uneven edges. Other ones are of unusual sizes or shapes. Every once in awhile, I even find second hand books filled with illuminated pages. They make such varied and colorful eye candy that I just cannot resist the temptation. Even if it is years before I read a book, I will still enjoy having it in my shelf.

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All about public libraries

Posted on May 6, 2008 by aspcode

Childrens Book

Now that my daughter is getting older, the same old childrens book is just not cutting it. She has a few that she loves to hear over and over again, but she has started to read them back to me. She can’t really read yet, but she has heard them so many times that she can recite them back to me word for word. It think it is about time to get her some new books, and I think I will get them one a time until we have a great collection to look forward to.

I think she is ready for more complex stories. I want to find a childrens book that has a lot of chapters but is geared towards girls her age. I want something that we can read a little of each night before bed, but not something we will finish right away. I want to find a childrens book that has a simple story that she can understand and remember from night to night, but one complex enough to stretch her imagination as we read through it. Reading is very important to me, and I want it to be important to her too.

I will look for her first childrens book at our local bookstore, but I don’t know how hard it will be to find the right one. I remember reading the Trixie Beldon series when I was young, but I’m not sure if she is old enough to handle the length and depth of those stories just yet. Trixie may have to wait a few years, but I do think I will get her that series when she is reading on her own. For right now, perhaps I will find a childrens book that stands on its own and is not part of a series for simplicity sake.

There are many friends who have suggested their favorite childrens book to me, so I am going to take that list and see what I can find. All children like something different, so I will probably go with the childrens book that she seems to be the most interested in. I will simply show her two or three of them and let her make the final choice. I think that way she will be more excited about starting the book. Quite often when children have a choice in the matter they feel more in charge, and they are then more interested. This has helped me in many things, and I think it will work just as well in getting her interested in newer books.

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All you need to know about library and books

Posted on May 6, 2008 by aspcode

Bargain Books

I’ve always loved going to the used bookstore to find bargain books. It’s not just that I’m someone who can’t resist a deal – I also can’t resist a book. My love for books defies their utility. Yes I like to read them, but I also love to collect them. I have shelf after shelf of book after book, piling up around my house and onto the floor. I buy books at the drop of a hat, even if I won’t have a chance to read them for years.

This is why it is so important for me to find book bargains. Every market varies and fluctuates, but the price of books varies more than almost any other consumer good. If you go to a remaindered book store, for example, you can get last year’s best-sellers for pennies. If you go to a used bookstore, sometimes you can find something that would cost you 30 dollars for less than three. If the used book store you go to throws out some of their books, you’ve really hit the jackpot. There is no telling what you’ll find discarded behind the back of the bookstore.

I suppose that my obsession with bargain books started in college. Back then, I bought bargain textbooks because I needed to. I was a poor student living off financial aid, and I needed to make every dollar count. Getting a bargain book wasn’t easy in those days. All the students wanted to buy used books, and the bookstores didn’t always stock enough of them. Sometimes, the professors would wait until the very last minute to put in their book orders, and as a result we would have to pay full price.

Back then, I used the Internet to buy bargain books. Nowadays, everyone takes this technology for granted, but when I was going to college it was still pretty new. Setting up book swaps with other students over e-mail was something that a lot of people didn’t know how to do, and I sort of pioneered it on our campus. There was a bargain bookstore, however, that usually did have pretty good selections of most of the major textbooks used in college. When I couldn’t trade books with someone or buy used books from them, that is where I would go. I would say that three times out of four, I could find a used version of whatever I was looking for.

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All about reading

Posted on May 6, 2008 by aspcode

Buying books online is a great approach to expanding your home library. There are a handful of reasons that this purchasing strategy is so popular. It has never been easier to find texts and novels and you basically have the world of books at your fingertips when you buy books online.

I do not mean to suggest that you neglect your local library and I definitely do not mean to suggest that you forgo your local bookstore. Both of these locations are wonderful places to visit. You can borrow or buy what you need in these places and you do have an opportunity to spend some time relaxing while you browse. Buying books online is a whole other experience.

The Internet offers a vast selection that no bookstore can match. Of course, you can always order a book from the brick-and-mortar store but if the item is out of print, you are pretty much out of luck. Buying books online offers a different experience in that you might be able to get your hands on texts that are no longer in print.

I recently wrote an entry in a writer’s blog about a short story that had a profound impact on my life. While this story is very important to me I hadn’t read it in so long that I forgot the author’s name. I also lost my copy of the literary magazine that published the short piece of fiction.

One of the readers added a comment under the post. He suggested that buying books online would be the best option for me if I wanted to get my hands on something that is a challenge to find. I took the sound advice and within a few minutes I not only found the author’s name, I also found a collection of her short stories for sale.

Needless to say, I have a copy of the collection of short stories and I also have a new approach to shopping. Buying books online is the best way to find just about anything you want, no matter how obscure the author or title. It is nice to know that I can use this valuable tool to purchase hard-to-find books.

I have been buying books online ever since I had this experience. The process of ordering is secure and simple and sites like Amazon offer books new and used. You are pretty much guaranteed the best price when you are buying books online through a site like this.

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