Your First Step To A Digital Publishing Empire

Written by Markku Saastamoinen


The hardest part of writing isrepparttar first sentence. When you look atrepparttar 150353 whole project, it seems like an impossible task. That's why you have to break it down into manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain. You are standing atrepparttar 150354 foot of it and looking up at its summit vanishing intorepparttar 150355 clouds. How can you possibly scale such an immense and dangerous mountain?

There is only one way to climb a mountain ? step by step.

Now think of writing your ebook inrepparttar 150356 same light. You must create it step by step, and one day, you will take that last step and find yourself standing onrepparttar 150357 summit with your head inrepparttar 150358 clouds.

The first thing you have to do, as if you actually were a mountain climber, is to get organized. Instead of climbing gear, however, you must organize your thoughts. There are some steps you should take before you begin. Once you've gone throughrepparttar 150359 following list, you will be ready to actually begin writing your ebook.

Beginning Steps to Writing an ebook

First, figure out your ebook's working title. Jot down a few different titles, and eventually, you'll find that one that will grow on you. Titles help you to focus your writing on your topic; they guide you in anticipating and answering your reader's queries. Many non-fiction books also have subtitles. Aim for clarity in your titles, but cleverness always helps to sell books ? as long as it's not too cute. For example, Remedies for Insomnia: twenty different ways to count sheep. Or: Get off that couch: fifteen exercise plans to whip you into shape.

Next, write out a thesis statement. Your thesis is a sentence or two stating exactly what problem you are addressing and how your book will solve that problem. All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement. Once you've got your thesis statement fine-tuned, you've built your foundation. From that foundation, your book will grow, chapter by chapter.

Your thesis will keep you focused while you write your ebook. Remember: all chapters must support your thesis statement. If they don't, they don't belong in your book. For example, your thesis statement could read: We've all experienced insomnia at times in our lives, but there are twenty proven techniques and methods to give you back a good night's sleep.

Once you have your thesis, before you start to write, make sure there is a good reason to write your book. Ask yourself some questions:

* Does your book present useful information and is that information currently relevant?

* Will you book positively affectrepparttar 150360 lives of your readers?

* Is your book dynamic and will it keeprepparttar 150361 reader's attention?

* Does you book answer questions that are meaningful and significant?

If you can answer yes to these questions, you can feel confident aboutrepparttar 150362 potential of your ebook.

Another important step is to figure out who your target audience is. It is this group of people you will be writing to, and this group will dictate many elements of your book, such as style, tone, diction, and even length. Figure outrepparttar 150363 age range of your readers, their general gender, what they are most interested in, and evenrepparttar 150364 socio-economic group they primarily come from. Are they people who read fashion magazines or book reviews? Do they write letters in longhand or spend hours every day online. The more you can pin down your target audience,repparttar 150365 easier it will be to write your book for them.

Next, make a list ofrepparttar 150366 reasons you are writing your ebook. Do you want to promote your business? Do you want to bring quality traffic to your website? Do you want to enhance your reputation?

Portrait Photography; The Ideal Home Business

Written by Tom Ray, CPP


What I learned from a mentor that enabled me to go from an amateur photographer to a professional portrait photographer in very specific steps is something I like to pass on. Rather than spending countless hours in classes learning every possible detail about photography, I learned justrepparttar necessary specifics to get started inrepparttar 150272 business and now I work out of my home part-time earning a full-time income and have been in business for over 17 years; but I started out with practically nothing, just an interest in photography andrepparttar 150273 need to earn more money. One ofrepparttar 150274 things that my mentor taught me wasrepparttar 150275 Three Classic Elements to produce “salable portraits.” "Salable" is an industry term every photographer quickly becomes familiar with to distinguish betweenrepparttar 150276 everyday reality of making money versus creating those “artistic competition” or “award winning prints” which don't earnrepparttar 150277 money. I've been inrepparttar 150278 business for over 17 years now and I'm still amazed that: People don't buyrepparttar 150279 award winning prints that you see wearing many ofrepparttar 150280 ribbons at professional photography conventions. When my clients are faced withrepparttar 150281 choice of buying an artistic pose of their child being demure and not looking directly intorepparttar 150282 camera or buying a pose smiling close-up straight intorepparttar 150283 camera, they buyrepparttar 150284 smiling close-up every time. Not very original, but I'm telling you now so take note: Happy people whose faces you can readily see arerepparttar 150285 most salable prints. They'll never tell you this at a photography workshop, seminar, Annual Convention or at a photography institute because their job is to create award winning photo artists rather than people whom simply make a living, but... if you haven't learned allrepparttar 150286 fancy lighting techniques, then you've saved time becauserepparttar 150287 most important thing about light is having enough to keeprepparttar 150288 face out ofrepparttar 150289 shadows. People prefer any kind of light, as long as there is enough of it to lightrepparttar 150290 face and eyes so you can get a good look atrepparttar 150291 person! The quality of light people prefer for portraits is soft light, whether it be from an artificial source like a flash umbrella or a natural source fromrepparttar 150292 sky at sunset, but other than a soft quality of light they want enough of it to SEErepparttar 150293 face ofrepparttar 150294 person you're photographing, even if it is a flat almost straight on technique. You may not win any competitions or awards this way, but if you get plenty of light onrepparttar 150295 faces you'll create salable prints. This leads me to talk about fill flash. There are times outdoors when you'll need a flash on your camera to fill in dark shadow areas mostly inrepparttar 150296 eye sockets. Just use one f stop less flash thanrepparttar 150297 existing ambient light calls for. That's enough light to fillrepparttar 150298 shadows and don't worry about not lugging around a portable umbrella to getrepparttar 150299 perfect modeling technique. My mentor is right again: there is no change inrepparttar 150300 sale. The customer pays for well lit faces, not perfect modeling. I've tried it both ways andrepparttar 150301 customer buysrepparttar 150302 same amount of pictures inrepparttar 150303 same sizes no matter what you do. Element number Two: Body Positioning. This is a little more detailed area, but it is important, believe me. My basic education from my mentor began withrepparttar 150304 same advice I'll pass on to you: You should rarely photograph anyone straight on. The exception to this rule will be for family and large groups, which for reasons of body placement will often break this rule. But for individuals or smaller groups of people this rule applies. Now, when you're not just photographing a head and shoulders close-up you'll have to understand other aspects of body positioning that makes people want to buy their pictures. Hands. They should always be turned slightly so they are seen fromrepparttar 150305 edge with fingers together, or hiderepparttar 150306 hands altogether behind your subject or somebody else next to them. Never position hands straight on with open fingers. Simply put, anything that minimizes how much hand you see works to make it a better portrait. This is always more flattering in a portrait and you'll see they arerepparttar 150307 ones people buy. Crossing legs atrepparttar 150308 ankles refinesrepparttar 150309 pose and minimizes this area ofrepparttar 150310 body making it more appealing. Look at it this way, what's less of a distraction: two legs leading to two ankles leading to two feet -- or two legs blending into one ankle section with blended feet? Surely it'srepparttar 150311 latter. When standing, one cannot simply cross their ankles unless they have something to lean against, so I will have one foot in front ofrepparttar 150312 other in such a way that they taper into one general unit. Have them place their weight onrepparttar 150313 back leg (remember, they are at a slight 3/4 angle) and bringrepparttar 150314 front leg forward and slightly tiltrepparttar 150315 foot to face out towardrepparttar 150316 camera. Whenever I'd show my mentor my portraits that I was just unsure of, it was these recurring themes that he patiently pointed out to me. As I began to look for these simple things during my portrait sessions, my pictures got better! I can't stress enough how basic, but important, it is to watch for these details.

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