By: Lisa Brunel

Are you in the progress of writing a children’s book? Have you thought about writing a nice little story that children and their caregivers would like to read?

There is definitely a need for more well written children’s books. Write a children’s book, you never know what might happen if you do!

Writing for children is a fun and creative and the stories you can write can be filled with excitement and imagination. Once you know what you’re doing; you could be asked to write books faster than you can come up with the ideas. Wouldn’t that be nice. You could be busy for quite awhile or choose to write whenever you want! Before you start or if you already have, have a look at the following 5 best-kept secrets that you need to know when you write a children’s book! These guidelines will help you to make sure your children’s book is as great as it can be!

Research
Do your research. Research what you’re writing about. If your story idea is based on something you’re not exactly sure about or the story is unclear to you, your readers will probably pick up on this. When you write a children’s book ensure you do your research so your writing is clear and valuable to the reader. It is important to do your research so you’re knowledge of the situation is credible for the reader. The worst thing is leaving your reader thinking “What if….Be precise and straight to the point. Don’t ramble into too much detail; again, you will lose the interest of the reader.

Characters
Have you made the big mistake a lot of writers of children’s books are making? Many beginner writers develop a wonderful story that they believe everyone will fall in love with then they try to fit the characters around this storyline. This can see you in a wee bit of trouble down the line. The best way to create realistic characters your readers will connect with and care about is to develop them first! Get to know everything about the characters you create. Know their physical characteristics, their personality traits, their background and emotions. The more you know about them the better off your story will be! This will show your readers you have passion toward them and will project through your writing. Therefore, your audience will want to find out what happens to them.

Mood of the story
As most of us writers know, you rarely sit down and write a book cover to cover in one sitting right! Unless you don’t fancy sleeping, then you are the minority. The rest of us will write in sections or little bits here and there. Attempt to write when you are in the same mood you were in when you were last writing. Otherwise, you might have a situation where the readers emotions are up and down throughout the story. This can be quite upsetting for a young child. Another reason could be when the beginning is fulled of excitement, the middle is dull and the best is saved till last. You’ll probably end up with an uncomfortable read for your audience. Try to divide the drama throughout the story and keep the tone and mood steady. It would be sad if you lose the reader before getting to the best part of the story.

The Plot
When you write a children’s book, as it is with all books, the plot is another important aspect to consider. Especially when writing for children. Children are more likely to look to the characters as role models. Therefore, when you are creating the plot for your children’s book, you need to keep your audience in mind. All great books have one thing in common, weather it’s for children or adults.It’s plot will have some sort of conflict! There are two types of conflict, internal and external. Internal conflict is when the main character has to deal with a conflict from within. For example, fear, insecurities or a struggle of right and wrong. External conflict is when the main character has a conflict to deal with outside of their control. For example other people, animals, or a situation where they have no control. Add some sort of conflict to the characters journey and you have a great story!

“Show, Don’t Tell”
Have you heard about “show, don’t tell”? All modern day writers are now using the “show, don’t tell” way of writing. You can defiantly learn how to write in this style, and I strongly recommend that you do. But “show, don’t tell” is where you become a ‘storyshower’ and not a storyteller. What I am trying to explain here is, that even though writers are telling the story, you want to show your readers what is happening so they can create a picture in their mind. This can be done through description. Show your reader how the character is feeling, their actions, their physical reactions and body language, where they are in the story, etc. Add description of the surroundings and the feel of what’s happening around them so you reader feels like they are standing next to them. Show the reader through description as much as possible to add depth to the story. Imagine a movie; the director doesn’t put words up on screen when a character is sad, happy or excited. He instructs the actors to act a certain way and show through their faces and actions how they are feeling. This is the same with an author. You must give enough description to show your readers how the characters are feeling and the situation they are facing.

Hopefully you have found these 5 best-kept secrets helpful for planning how you will write a children’s book. Next comes editing, proofing and formatting. Remember to find out what individual publishers are looking for so you have the most success when submitting your manuscript. Don’t forget to check for grammar and spelling mistakes so you finished result will look professional.

About the Author:
Follow the advice of an author of over seventy children’s books and write a children’s book with success! Go to http://www.learntowriteforchildren.com. You will be able to download a few children’s books for free, straight from the site, and discover some useful writing tips for success with your own writing!

Have you been thinking of writing a book this year?

A New York Times survey accounted that 81% of people feel that they have a book inside them and should write it. Don’t let your dream and message fade away. Write your book and release it to the world while it’s still in your heart.

Writing a book is a great way to position you and your business to increase your fees, create additional income streams and take more time to be with your family. A book will elevate your name, add credibility and increase your travel opportunities. Still not convinced? Here are 9 more extraordinary reasons to write your book:

1. A book creates a professional image. After writing your book, you will gain an instant professional image. You will be perceived as a professional person.
2. A book expands your referral source. Your completed book becomes your new referral source. More people will want to do business with you as an author. Your book readers will more readily refer you as well.
3. A book makes it easier to up sell to your customers. After reading your book, your customers are easier to upsell to other products. They get to know you and trust you faster for any other products, including higher priced ones.
4. A book gets media attention. Your book can open the door to getting the media’s attention. You will have to have other things in place to seal it. But with a book, you are more apt to gain the attention and respect from media personnel.
5. A book builds your name and brand. You become famous with a book. Of course, you will grow your fame as you promote your book effectively. Your book travels so quickly from place to place. It will grow your name much faster than most any other product.
6. A book gives you the ability to live anywhere. As book author, you can live anywhere and work. You don’t have to settle in one place for life, unless you want. Many successful authors live in one place for the summer and another for the winter.
7. A book raises your status. The title book author is still a prestigious title. So, after you have completed your book your status is immediately elevated. You are respected among the community as a local author. As your name grows, your status will grow beyond your community even unto the world.
   
8. A book makes you important. You will receive special treatment as an author. In all the end of the world movies, they select important and special people to save and start society over again. They choose artist, teachers, authors and musicians, etc. Your book will make you an important person in society.
   
9. A book gives you the spotlight. Your fifteen minutes of fame will come sooner with a book in your list of achievements. You never know when someone has heard of you because of your book and the spotlight swings over to you. Be ready; stay prepared to offer your thoughts. A close friend complained not long ago about always being put on the spot to speak. She said her husband gently reminded her you are an author and speaker now; you may as well get over it and stay prepared.

Are you ready to join the ranks of successful authors? You don’t have to let your message slip away. I can’t think of a more opportune way to change your status, grow your brand, and even change your life than by writing a book. Go ahead; write your best book now and become extraordinary.

About the Author:
Earma Brown, 14 year author and business owner helps small business owners and writers who want to write their best book now! Author of ‘Write Your Best Book Now: 12 Week Book Writing Course’, she mentors other writers and business professionals through her monthly ezine ‘iScribe’ Visit her for FREE mini-course ‘Jumpstart Writing Your Best Book.’

Once you sell your first novel, chances are good your editor will want you to deliver at least one book a year.

Some writers have no problem with this schedule, while others scramble to keep up. I used to find it difficult to deliver novels at this rate, since I needed at least six months to develop my plot outline and at least another six months to write the novel.

My current publisher wants me to deliver my novels nine months apart. This was a problem I’d always dreamed of having, but it was a problem nevertheless. So I had to come up with ways to speed up the writing processes. I’ll share my tips with you below.

Set quotas
Novels are built a page at a time. The bottom line is that you’ve got to produce those pages. If you don’t write enough pages a day, you won’t have your novel finished on time; it’s as simple as that. Here’s what I do. After my outline is written and approved by my publisher, I take the number of pages I need (around 350) and divide that number by the number of days I have until my deadline-less two weeks for editing and polishing. For the novel I’m currently writing, the magic number is 13 pages a day. That’s carved in stone. I am not allowed to leave my office until those pages are done. Quotas take the stress off because you know that when you’ve produced that number, you don’t have to feel guilty when you attend to other matters.

Don’t print out.
When I’m writing a novel, I don’t allow myself to print out a hard copy until the first draft is completely finished. Printing out-for me, at least-leads to all kinds of distractions that slow writing down. For example, I’m tempted to reread everything I’ve written, which can lead to changing my mind about story elements, which can lead to taking my book completely apart and virtually starting all over again. If you’re starting a writing session and need to reread some of what you’ve written in order to get back into the flow, reread the previous few scenes or chapter; you don’t need to reread the whole book.

Follow your outline.
Your outline should be detailed enough that it’s a reliable roadmap for the novel. When you’re writing the first draft, keep to this outline; don’t veer off in new directions. It slows things down.

Don’t over-research while you’re writing.
There will of course be times when you need to do some research to decide something major about how your story will go. But if you come to a place and need some details for “color,” just type TK (the old journalist’s abbreviation for “to come”) and deal with it when the novel is finished.

Make notes.
Similarly, if as you’re writing you think of things you want to go back and put in, make notes (right in the manuscript is fine) and deal with all of these later. Don’t go back and put them in now.

Paste liberally!
Let’s say I’m writing a scene set at the Wollman Skating Rink in New York City’s Central Park, and I need some details for authenticity. I Google the rink, find some photos, and paste them right into my manuscript so that I can look at them as I’m writing. When I’ve finished, I simply delete them. You can do this with text from other sources, links to Web pages, audio-anything. Gather up everything you need and paste it in. Just remember to remove it all when you’re finished.

Write directly on your outline.
Why have your outline at your elbow as you write your book? Simply turn the outline itself into your novel, developing it paragraph by paragraph.

Implement any of these tips and you’ll see your writing going faster. You’ll produce more, which will help build your career. You may come up with more techniques that work for you. With solid speed-writing tricks, you can be both fast and good.

About the Author:
Evan Marshall, president of The Evan Marshall Agency, is a former book editor and packager. Recently he and coauthor Martha Jewett released The Marshall Plan® Novel Writing Software, based on his bestselling The Marshall Plan® writers’ guides. Evan is also the author a number of popular mystery novels; recently released are Death is Disposable and Evil Justice. Visit http://www.writeanovelfast.com and download Evan’s 77-page Fiction Makeover Guide with tips and ideas on writing a great novel.

Fresh from presenting a sell-out masterclass, I was looking forward to writing this article for my ezine and had it scheduled in my diary to do the following morning.

My most creative and productive writing time is usually in the mornings so I always aim to organize my other business commitments around this fact. The title of the article popped into my mind as soon as I picked up my pen.

I wrote it down and then decided to deal first with a specific task which also needed to be done that day. It was a financial task which I thought would only take about 30 minutes. Over an hour later (do you recognize that one?!), the task was completed but it had involved some serious working out and concentration.

So although it felt good to have it done, the process had shifted me out of feeling like writing! Fortunately I have been working consciously with the creative process for quite a few years now so instead of feeling frustrated, I knew that I could turn the situation around. This did not involve pushing myself to write when I didn’t really feel ‘in the flow’ but instead came from accepting fully the way events had unfolded and finding a way to re-ignite my creative feelings.

So I had an early lunch and went for a walk up the track near the house. I stopped at the brow of the hill where a broken branch provides a welcome resting place to breathe in the magnificent view across the landscape…

Without consciously thinking it through, by the time I began my return journey, the outline of this article had already ‘arrived’ in its entirety. Once I was back, the words found their way freely onto the page and I felt energized by the whole process.

So here is my 5 step process to help ignite your creativity when you need it and to keep it burning day after day:

1. Write a list of activities which lift your spirits and inspire your soul.

If you’re not sure what to include, think of what you enjoyed as a child and then interpret the principle to suit you as an adult. For example, I used to enjoy being outside and making ‘dens’ in the small patch of woodland by our house. Today, I enjoy being outside & walking through trees, especially when the sun dapples through the branches …

2. Identify what’s stopping you from incorporating more of these creative triggers in your current rhythm of life.

Many people will have time and/or money on this list of factors which hold them back from incorporating more creative activities in their lives. If they are on your list, take this opportunity to review what is truly important to you, and if necessary, reframe your thinking around the value of your creativity?

3. Write a list of solutions which ideally includes asking a friend or colleague if they would become an active partner – or even simply a ‘sounding board’ – in support of your creativity.

Try shifting your focus away from how hard it is to find the time and/or money onto how much you get from feeling creatively inspired. This should make enough of a difference for you to incorporate more choices each and every day which bring you closer to your creative intentions.

4. Choose an activity from your list to engage in at least once a week and ideally 3 times a week, or even better, every single day!

These don’t all have to be large, time consuming activities. In fact many of them should be easily manageable alongside other commitments. I recommend having a mix of different ideas to suit different occasions, moods, time frames and feelings. Sometimes a 20 minute walk at lunchtime will do the trick. Other times, a longer session making a colorful vision board is just what you need to inspire you subsequently with the words on the page.

5. Share your choice with your creativity partner and then let them know how you get on!

Announcing your intention out loud to someone else is an excellent way of helping yourself to stick to it. The sense of accountability and support for staying on track can work both ways so offer this opportunity to your creativity partner too. He or she does not need to be a writer for this purpose. Anyone who values creative expression no matter what the form can be a good creativity partner. Once a month, catch up by email, on the phone or in person and exchange summaries of what you’ve enjoyed most from your creative focus that month.

Enjoy the journey!

About the Author:
Julia McCutchen opens the way for writers to find their true voice, discover themselves in the process, and write consciously, creatively, successfully and with soul. A former managing director and publisher with over 20 years’ publishing experience, Julia’s holistic approach includes coaching, mentoring and masterclasses for aspiring authors. To access free articles, audios and other resources for writers, visit http://www.JuliaMcCutchen.com.

It is just as important to study the current methods, techniques, and technology of marketing novels as it is to write your novel. Why? Because once you are published (think positive), your publisher is not the primary push behind marketing your novel or you as an author. You will be the primary marketing department for all of your creative work. This is a shock to many writers once they become published authors, and probably results in many one time novelists who sell five hundred copies and fade away.

But knowledge is power, and now you know.
So what do you do about it? Read and learn. There are literally hundreds of free online information sources dedicated to online marketing and the more narrow discipline of marketing fiction, both online and through other mediums. I will just lay out a few of the things I did for starters as a baseline.

Choose your author name
I know, sounds silly. But if you try Googling your name, you may quickly find that it is very serious. Most people have at least three names, first, middle, and last. You want to find the combination of those names and/or initials least represented in a web search. This will allow people to find articles and websites about you with much less competition from others. For example, I searched for Hugh Thomas and found a well known historical writer by that name listed for pages on end. Then I searched for “J Hugh Thomas” and found no writing competition. Therefore, as a writer I am always J Hugh Thomas.

Buy your domain name
It is cheap and in today’s world, it is pretty much expected. This also factors into your decision on your author name, because ideally you want to choose that name as your domain, in my case jhughthomas. It is best to get the .com domain, but if it is not available you can always go with something like .net or .info instead. Buy the domain from a company that will allow you to put up a simple website without a hosting fee. This means that for less than $10 per year, you can have a searchable presence on the web with some basic information about you and your novel.

Start a blog
In the past you could write a great novel and either academics or media figures would fall in love with it causing old style viral marketing. Today, users are coming to expect a new level of access and interaction with the producers of fiction. This combined with the fact that blogs are probably the single best way to develop a web presence makes your blog critical. My recommendation is to blog about writing your novel, or blog about parts of your novel. The reason is to keep you from being overwhelmed going in too many directions at once. Just write about what you are learning and doing. And post regularly. The best way to lose followers is to post sporadically. Once a week is usually a good schedule. Many free blogging sites exist but I use blogger.com.

Feedburn your blog
Now we are getting into some real marketing. By using feedburner.com, you are optimizing your blog to be delivered through RSS feeds to whatever platform the user chooses. In addition, you can give users the option of subscribing to your blog by email. You can setup feedburner to ping Google every time you post a new entry causing it to be instantly indexed for search. There are more features than I can cover here, but I think you can see that this step will go a long way to making you very searchable on the internet. Remember, every skill you learn now will be applied in new ways once your novel is complete. This is a time of education with some side benefits.

Blog or podcast some free fiction
I have not reached this stage yet, but I think it is the next logical step. When you are trying to sell a $10-$15 soft cover or a $25-$30 hard cover book, why will a reader choose your novel? Once you are established you have your brand name, like Stephen King or James Patterson, and the brand is what attracts the buyer. The reader does not see a Stephen King book as being a big risk. You do not have that luxury. If you are willing to write some great fiction and give it away, you have a bigger chance of developing readers who will buy your books. The key here is “great fiction,” not just your leftover ideas. Spend as much time, if not more, writing multiple drafts and editing your free fiction as you do with your novel. This is your first impression so dazzle your readers so they will come back for more.

This only scratches the surface of all the ways you can market yourself while writing your novel. I hope that these ideas will help you as you complete your novel, get published, and market like crazy to drive up sales.

J Hugh Thomas is a database developer and a programmer who is writing his first novel. Read his blog http://onwritingmyfirstnovel.blogspot.com to see all of his writer’s resources and free advice.

Booklets Are A Perfect Fit With Tweens
When was the last time you saw an 8 – 14 year old sit down and read a book that wasn’t required reading for school?  Probably never.  Although some tweens do read books, the vast majority would rather spend time online, watching TV, or talking on the phone.  Reading books takes too long, and tweens generally don’t have the attention span or the patience that reading a full length book requires.  This is why booklets are perfect for this market.  They give the reader the facts in a short, concise manner.

Booklets are also convenient for tweens to carry with them in a purse, backpack or tote.  This age group loves to share things they like with their friends.  Booklets are easy to share because they’re easy to take along wherever the tween goes.  Once the tweens friends see the booklet, they’ll want one too.

Topics That Interest Tweens
So, just what do tweens want to know more about today?  High on the list of priorities are:

• Fashion
• Hair Care
• Make Up
• Room Decor
• Food
• Fun Websites
• Electronics
• Music
• Celebrities
• Sports
• Relationships (especially with friends and the opposite sex, but also includes parents and God)

Writing about any of the above will get a tweens attention, and if you can find a way to make your booklets collectible tweens will share them, trade them and keep them.

Writing About Tweens
Writing a booklet for tweens isn’t the only way to capitalize on this market.  Writing a booklet for parents or grandparents of tweens, or for teachers or sports coaches, or for another professional who works with tweens on a regular basis can also be very lucrative.  Some topic ideas for these categories might include:

• Tween Parenting – How To Have A Better Relationship With Your 8 – 14 Year Old
• Grandparenting Tweens – What Today’s Kids Are Into And How To Connect With Them
• Teaching Tweens – How To Get And Keep Their Attention So They Love To Learn
• Overweight Tweens – Why Diets Don’t Work And What You Can Do About It
• How To Talk To Your Tween About Sex
• Busy Tweens – How To Help Your Tween Balance And Enjoy Middle School life

This is a short list, but you can see there are a variety of subjects having to do with tweens that would make an excellent booklet.  The key is to provide well written, helpful content so that people will not only purchase your booklet, but they’ll be happy to tell others about it as well.

The Tween Market Is Diverse And Profitable
As you can see from the above examples, the market for tween booklets is wide and varied.  You can write booklets directly to tweens or write them for their parents.  You can write booklets for teachers and coaches too.  But the market is even further reaching than this, because you can sell those booklets to companies who sell to tweens, such as magazines.

There are many avenues for profiting from the tween market.  If you have a tween in your life or you work with tweens, you’ve got riches right under your nose just waiting to be mined!

Copyright 2009 Kim Hillman
Six time author Kim Hillman publishes the Writing For Riches With Booklets blog. If you’re ready to jump-start your writing career, make more money and enjoy the success you’ve been dreaming of, get your FREE tips now at http://www.kimhillman.wordpress.com

In addition to giving your creative muse a break, these strategies will help you foster rapport with potential clients, keeping your name at the top of their minds when they find themselves in need of the products or services you offer. The best part is that, with these strategies, you won’t need to search for new topics every time you sit down to write. In fact, you may even find yourself having fun with your writing!

Let’s get started.

Content Strategy #1: Layer up
In Strategy #1, you will brainstorm one topic that can be layered throughout your marketing or networking vehicles.

On Twitter, FaceBook and/or LinkedIn
One idea is to ask your followers on Twitter or other social networking platforms to tell you their stories. For instance, if you’re a dating coach, find out the worst thing that’s ever happened on your prospects’ dates. Career coaches can ask the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to your prospects at work. Financial coaches can ask people to share a financial crisis that they lived through and maybe learned a few lessons from.

People love to talk about themselves and tell their funny stories, and you’re also giving them the therapeutic benefits of venting about their challenging experiences.

On your blog
Next, pick one story to talk about in a blog post and offer any personal reflections about the topic, including your own experience with the issue at hand (if applicable).

Ask your readers if they’ve ever been in a similar situation and what they did to resolve it. Even if they haven’t found themselves in such a predicament, they can still share possible resolutions that spring to mind.

At the end of the post, tell readers that you’ll offer your suggestions in a few days so they should be sure to check back (or, better yet, subscribe to your blog).

In your follow-up post a few days later, recap the situation in one sentence, such as, “The story we talked about on Tuesday was shared by Mary, who (insert brief synopsis of problem here)…” Then, summarize the best suggestions or comments received from other readers, followed by your own professional tips or suggestions as promised. Not sure what to write? Just respond as if you were advising one of your own clients who presented a similar situation and asked for your help.

In an article
Your next step is to pull the story, reader comments, and your own suggestions into an article that can be submitted to Ezine Articles and posted to your website.

Simply continue this process with the best story submissions you receive, and before you know it, you’ve got a few months’ worth of blog posts and several articles that can help position you as an expert in your field.

The articles can then be developed into free reports to be given away on your website in exchange for your potential clients’ contact information. Eventually, you can combine these articles and reports into an e-book that will further establish your credibility as an expert (more on that in strategy #2).

Content Strategy #2: Spin off
In Content Strategy #2, you’ll build your flagship product and expand on it.

Consider the main message you want to get through to your coaching clients and the core products that you already have in place to deliver that message, such as your curriculum, success plan, articles, emails, etc.

For example, as a health coach, you might have a 3-month plan to help clients start an exercise routine. In a series of articles, briefly discuss the steps that you typically take your clients through. Provide enough information to whet your potential clients’ appetites and get them interested in learning more.

From there, you can branch into offering e-books, teleclasses, speaking presentations, live events or other spin-off products – the possibilities are endless. Just keep developing your main message further and further as you progressively lead your prospects along the path to eventually purchasing your coaching services. The best part about this strategy is that people can sample your services in a low-risk, low-cost way by reading your free articles or purchasing an inexpensive e-book. If they like what they see, they can delve deeper into one of your teleclasses, speaking presentations, or another product until they’ve built up enough trust in your expertise to hire you as their coach.

Content Strategy #3: Plan ahead
In Content Strategy #3, you’ll use an editorial calendar to set up your discussion topics for the year.

Start with a blank calendar – use a standard printed calendar, create one on the computer or sign-up for an online calendar service (many are free). Then, sit down and set up your topics for the year, using the holidays and seasons to guide you. In February, for instance, you could talk about relationships (family or business).

You don’t have to stick to the traditional holidays, either. Search the Internet for lists of unique and bizarre holidays that you can discuss. For example, did you know that January 13th is Make Your Dream Come True Day? You can easily tailor this topic to your area of expertise and advise your readers to take one step in the direction of their goals and dreams. You might even have a special offer that could be their first step.

Another online resource for topic ideas is Quote Garden, where you can easily find quotes to share with your readers. Be sure to include your own reflections on the quotes and offer insights into how your prospects can solve their problems.

Aside from specific topics, you might also create an editorial schedule for the types of blog posts you want to write. Having this kind of structure in place takes away some of the anxiety of sitting down in front of a blank screen or page.

Here’s a sample weekly blogging schedule:

• Week 1: Share your thoughts on a meaningful quote or an interesting holiday.
• Week 2: Ask readers to share a story (see strategy # 1).
• Week 3: Follow up on the story by sharing other readers’ comments and your own suggestions.
• Week 4: Give an update on what’s going on with you to give readers a personal glimpse into your life. Readers are more likely to work with and refer people who they know, like and trust, so help them get to know you.

In the following month, during weeks 2 and 3, you could discuss another story that you received in your first month. In fact, it you get several quality stories, you could easily have a few months’ worth of blogs. Once you run out, simply ask for more stories. Chances are, you’ll catch some people that didn’t see your request the first time around, and you’ll have a whole new batch of fresh material.

Do you want to write smarter? If you use these three simple strategies, you’ll discover that there are endless topics out there just waiting to be covered by you, and your struggles to find fresh content will be gone for good.

Linda Dessau is an editor, ghostwriter and certified coach, and is the author of The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write: Look Smarter, Write Faster and Get Better Results from Your Writing. Want more secrets to good writing? Visit http://www.forcoacheswhowrite.com to pick up your FREE copy of the Readability Secrets for Coaches Who Write. It includes a 5-point checklist that is guaranteed to improve your writing.

What the Heck is Squidoo?

Squidoo is the creation of the brilliant mind of marketing guru Seth Godin, author of Meatball Sundae, among other titles.

Squidoo is just another example of how you can harness the power of social media and use it as a tool to promote and grow your business. As a writer, you can use Squidoo to showcase your literary chops, gain instant exposure, and build your reputation as an expert in your niche.

Sites like Squidoo offer particularly good news for small business owners that may be struggling during these tough economic times — when you have more time than money, it makes good sense to focus your energy (and your creativity) on the resources that are available to you. If you aren’t using Squidoo, you’re leaving money on the table.

But What Am I Going to Do With a Lens?
Redirect a parked domain to your newly designed Squidoo lens. If you are less than impressed with some of the alternatives for parked domains, give this some careful consideration. Perhaps you purchased a few extra domains when you set up your main site — whether that purchase was simply to protect the names or part of a project on your never-ending “to do” list — these names are perfect candidates to redirect to your Squidoo lens.

Use your lens as a tool to boost your main site’s ranking.

* Create well-ranked pages in Google that can bring in even more traffic;
* Position yourself, your business or blog as an expert, and direct qualified traffic your way;
* Use your lens to promote news items that provide a tie-in to your business;
* Post original articles that illustrate the need for your product or service;
* Provide technical information or alternative uses for your products.

Use Squidoo lenses for cheap market research. Your only investment in Squidoo lenses is your time — so this is a great way to conduct a bit of research to see if there is enough interest to launch a full-blown site. You can test out niches to see how they’ll perform – with minimal investment and effort.

Promote collateral affiliate products and services. Squidoo offers an assortment of monetization methods to its lensmasters, and, as long as you adhere to their terms of service, you can certainly incorporate your own as well. Whether you choose to embed text links within the body of relevant articles or showcase an assortment of Amazon products — these are just a few of the options available. The key is to use your creativity to strike a balance between providing solid content and making a bit of coin in the bargain.

Earn money for your favorite charity. This last point may be a bit of a surprise, so let me explain. Squidoo encourages folks to designate a portion (or even all) of their earnings from their lenses, and donate them to charity. This isn’t mandatory, but Squidoo reports that over 50% of their lensmasters current donate some portion of their earnings. If you elect to donate a portion of your earnings to a particular charity, this is something that you could cross-promote on your main website, and get your current customer base involved in. In fact, launching a lens (or series of lenses) in support of a particular charity could be the basis for an entire promotional campaign — with press releases, promotional videos, flyers, sales, and other activities.

Not All Lenses Are Created Equally: The Importance of Rank
It isn’t enough just to get your page up on Squidoo — you want your page to actually be found. In order to do that, you must have solid content, good titles, and strong keywords. With over 900,000 pages, that is no small feat, but it is possible.

A Big Squid Teaches You to Swim With the Sharks
Thanks to a special agreement with my good friend Bob Jenkins (aka Bob the Teacher), you can get a leg up on your Squidoo competition, and implement some of his best strategies for gaining traffic and customers from your Squidoo lenses.

In case you aren’t familiar with Bob, he’s had a #1 lens on Squidoo (no small feat!), he’s been selected as a Lens of the Day on multiple occasions, and he’s been featured in the New York Times as an expert based on the content of one of his lenses.

Needless to say, Bob is one knowledgeable squid. Follow his example, and soon you will be, too.

A career in romance writing allows you to work from home, at your own pace, and during the hours you prefer. Romance writing generally pays better than other genres of fiction, so you can make more money, or work fewer hours, whichever you prefer. Finally, this line of work lets you truly touch the hearts of your readers, and give them the confidence to seek love and happiness in their own lives.

No special education or experience is necessary to break into this career. Successful romance writers merely require independence, creativity, and a determination to succeed. If this sounds like you, follow these ten steps based on the FabJob Guide to Become a Romance Writer to make your mark in this field. Who knows, you may be the next rising star!

Do some reading
If you already love to read romance novels, you are likely an ideal candidate for writing them. If you are unfamiliar with this type of novel, you will want to start off by exploring the genre. If you haven’t read a romance lately, you might be surprised at the new trends within the industry. Try reading a variety of genres to get an idea of what you would enjoy writing, and to familiarize yourself with the conventions of each.

Develop your skills
Many of the skills you need to write will be developed as you practice, so keep those pens moving. Keep in mind that becoming a writer is an ongoing process. If you need some feedback, a local or online writers critique group can also help you further hone your writing skills. If you find yourself stuck for ideas, there are creativity exercises you can learn, and if your grammar needs some help, brush up with a book or quick course.

Get some experience
So you want to list publishing credits to help your chances of selling, but you can’t list those without selling, and it’s hard to sell without the credits. Sound like a Catch-22? It is. Fortunately, you can get your feet wet publishing articles and short stories in magazines and ezines. Make sure you are familiar with the writers’ guidelines and the publication itself before you submit. You may even consider accepting a couple of non-paying assignments in order to build your credentials.

Your proposal package
It is important to create a professional image when you submit your work to an agent or editor, since editors are often swamped with submissions and will only read those that follow their guidelines. Most publishers want to receive a ‘proposal,’ which consists of the first three chapters, a synopsis of the plot and a cover letter. Send them whatever their guidelines indicate, and don’t forget to include a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) for a reply or return of your manuscript.

Target a publisher
If you have read widely in the romance genre, you will have an idea of which publishers will be most interested in your style of writing. In addition to the major publishers (Harlequin, Kensington, etc.) be aware that there are thousands of smaller and electronic presses that initially may be more receptive. You will want to send them your proposal package, addressed to the current editor. Directories and the FabJob Guide to Become a Romance Writer are useful for finding contact information of publishers to submit to.

Self-publishing
What if your book is so cutting edge that even the small presses don’t feel comfortable taking it on? If you have shopped your book around and not received a positive response, self-publishing may be the route for you. Digital printing now allows for the cost-effective printing of as few as one copy of your book at a time, so you can set up your novel for around $100 and have it available to the public within a few weeks.

Get an agent
If you’ve got your sights set on the large publishing houses, or are terrified of negotiating, you may consider getting an agent to help you find a home for your book. Once you have found an agent you’d like to work with, ensure that he or she has a good reputation in the industry. Bear in mind that an agent will take about 10-15% of everything you earn on your book.

Dealing with editors
It’s important to have a good relationship with someone you hope to be dealing with on an ongoing basis, so once you have interest from an editor, establish and maintain a professional relationship with him or her. Allow three to six months for them to consider novel proposals, and don’t pester them with phone calls. Once they have expressed interest, be business-like, and make changes to your work as requested. A little respect goes a long way in this business.

Networking
Conferences, local writing workshops and conventions are wonderful places to meet fellow authors, editors, agents and publicists. Many are even set up to allow writers to meet on a one-to-one basis with agents and editors. Not only are these situations great for networking, but just joining a national or local writers organization can bring you knowledge from the workshops and conferences they offer.

Self-promotion
Building a readership and increasing book sales are two of the most important things authors can do to promote their careers. If hiring a publicist isn’t in your budget (and you may be surprised to find it is) there are a number of things you can do to promote yourself, such as getting media attention, creating a website, and doing book signings. Be creative, and be persistent…it can only benefit you in the long run.

Lori Soard is the author of the FabJob Guide to Become a Romance Writer. The complete guide offers detailed information about how you can break into this career and become a published romance writer. To check out this guide, visit the website for information.

But what are creative writing prompts anyway? Well, these are questions or statements that tickle your brain cells and get your imagination back up and running. If you find yourself a little low on writing energy, I suggest you try these prompts out.

1) You wake up one morning only to find yourself in Egypt. What do you do?

Creative writing prompts can be as crazy or outlandish as you want them to be. This is actually a good thing because your mind is forced to react to something new.

Being stuck in Egypt without warning offers you an adventure. This is a fantasy world where you can bring yourself anywhere and do whatever you want. The story is your own and only you and your creativity can finish it.

2) If you could have an hour with God, what would you do with it?

Here is another interesting question. Being face to face with your Creator will undoubtedly bring forth many questions you have wanted to ask in the past.

Such a prompt will have you examining your own purpose in life and what you have done so far to make it meaningful.

Answering this question can really open your mind up to the kind of person you are, which in turn, will help you become a better writer.

3) Describe a favorite childhood memory.

Sometimes, a person tends to lose part of himself or herself growing up. By looking into the past, you will be able to come to terms with your childhood, and reminisce about whatever wonderful memories you may have had.

Creative writing prompts that deal with the past can help you practice writing better descriptions and add more depth to your overall writing style.

Creative writing prompts are very interesting to take up. Even if you’re not bogged down with writer’s block, it’s still fun to answer these what-ifs and hone your writing skills.

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