Share Me That Information

This is good advice for Yoga teachers and students alike.

Unfortunately, you cannot progress without implementing new ideas, changing systems, or generating action. You have to accept evolution of ideas and be willing to leap forward. “Sitting on your laurels,” will make you lazy and stale.

New ideas come from a variety of resources - your teachers, mentors, coaches, students, books, videos, and many more directions. If you don’t write them down, they will be forgotten. Then you must put them in an area where you will refer back to them.

Hopefully, this is an area that you will visit often. Good places to store valuable notes are: On your desk top, in a personal journal, or on your palm pilot. Refer back to your notes often and start setting realistic goals.

The next step is to put them into action, and monitor your progress. Otherwise, you have wasted your time, your coach’s time, and your money.

Paul Jerard, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at Aura Wellness Center in North Providence RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in Providence. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher.

The obvious skill of being able to communicate in a language that the age group you are targeting, is an evident one. Choosing a topic that the child relates to is all important. In many cases it is also deemed to be imperative to include graphics - again, depending on the child’s age; BUT all children of all ages like to see illustrations.

You need to understand what the children want from reading and what their parent’s want. Keeping the children happy and enjoying the story while enticing their imagination and appealing to their creative spirit is essential. But what is it that will make the parents purchase the book? Parents are also looking for books that will give some educational benefit to the child. It is obvious that new words and ideas are educational in themselves, but parents often want something more constructive - they want a way to measure the success of the book, to the educational value to their children.

Activities included within the text of the book can certainly give your book a uniqueness that will appeal to both kids and parents. Having a glossary of words that may be new or unusual will ensure that children and parents alike fully understand the text and kids will not be constantly asking what a certain word means.

Including quizzes, crossword puzzles, writing and drawing/colouring exercises - all add value to the story - for both the children and the parents. Years ago it was very popular to receive a large book full of stories and activities for a Christmas gift. These Annuals were always popular because they gave the child a series of activities to accompany the reading of the stories.

Currently, books are creeping onto the markets that have more activities than stories. But if you can combine the gift of story telling with suitable fun activities, you will appeal to both the kids and their parents and give your writing a better chance of being successful.

With the Internet you can produce e-books with full colour graphics and not be hindered by the production costs. This, of course, means that your books can be cheaper than what is available in the retail outlets.

As to how to promote and market your book so that it can make sales - that is a more complicated task. But it is generally agreed on by Internet Marketers that one of the best ways is to write articles and have them published, to establish your credibility as a children’s author. Include in that article a reference box at the end of the article to include a link to your website (or email) where you can offer the book for sale.

The good news is that you already have a head start over others, because you can write and producing an article would be ‘no big deal’. Just make sure that you target the right type of e-zine or newsletter or the correct category in web sites such as this one, to submit your article to - you need to target the customer who has children e.g. Mums.

If you decide to approach your own church or school - consider adding an affiliate programme, whereby the organisation gets a commission (around 50%) in return for promoting your book for you e.g. via a testimonial. Don’t be mean about giving commissions - once you have written your book there is virtually no further cost for you, so you can afford to give a good commission. This is a great way for you to show your community spirit and to further add to your credibility as a caring children’s author. The parents will appreciate your generosity while the children love your book!

Barbara Gabogrecan is a renowned artist and author, winning many awards. You can see an example using the techniques discussed above, at:- http://www.mbnsolutions.com.au/index.php?module=Website&action=Text&content=1133081509671-8917

Many people may wonder the need for letter writing in a world dominated by emails. If you wish to streamline your communication, never ignore the power of a well constructed letter. An email cannot achieve the impact that a well written letter can generate. Whether it is business, sales, cover or personal letter, you can master it by learning some simple tips.

1. The content of a letter should be planned well. To streamline your communication, make a draft of your letter. This will help in communicating effectively. Make sure that all the points have been detailed and check your letter for readability. Rephrase those sentences that can be misunderstood. Check the spelling, especially, the name of the receiver. Another key aspect is the consistency in the spelling of names. To be on the safer side, it is always wise to prepare a draft of business, sales and cover letters.

2. Use of language. For business letters, always use formal language. Sales letters need to attract potential customers. So they can be informal with catchy headlines. But when the sales letter talks about guarantee, delivery and other core issues, use a formal tone. Cover letters should always be written in formal language. Maximum flexibility with language can be shown in a personal letter. Depending upon your relationship, you can choose a formal or informal language. To streamline your communication, you should learn the art of selecting the appropriate tone for your letter.

3. Your letter might be intended for several people. This does not mean that it should not have a personal touch. Always write a business or sales letter like writing to a single person. A personal touch in your sales letter or newsletter will make the reader feel more comfortable. The reader should never feel like reading a brochure. The letter should have the effect of a personal conversation.

4. One of the best methods to streamline your communication is to make effective use of all modern day writing techniques. Use headlines to indicate the subject matter. Make use of bullets to detail important points. Use simple language. If a scientific term is used explain it in parentheses. You can make use of italics, bolding and underling in the letter. You can also create a template for your letter.

5. Brevity. Today, people do not have time to spend on reading long letters. Make your point in least number of words. Never deviate from the core subject. Unnecessary deviations from the subject can cause your readers to lose interest. Sometimes the reader may totally ignore the letter.

Letters are an important tool of communication. Remember, they can also become documental evidences. Your success in the modern day world depends on how effectively you are able to streamline your communication.

John Khu is an experience entrepreneur and internet marketer. He specialises in communication development and personal happiness.

http://www.communicationessence.com

your query letter is your first step to getting your novel published. A good query letter catches the agent’s attention and is the first step in how to get a novel published. What should be included in your query letter?

The first paragraph should be a brief synopsis of your novel. No more than 100 words, perhaps 150 words. This synopsis is written in the present tense. You want to hook the agent’s curiosity to read more. It’s a challenge to condense a 100,000 novel down to 150 words, but important you do. Think of the synopsis as a back cover blurb. It gives just enough information to create excitement about the novel. If you need some examples go to the bookstore and look at the back cover blurbs of books in the same genre as yours.

The second paragraph describes the market for your novel and includes the genre. Are you aiming for romance readers, cozy mystery readers or is your book a young adult novel? You can compare your book to other similar books, saying something like “readers of Sandra Brown will enjoy TITLE OF YOUR BOOK. Mention the word count and that the novel is completed.

The third paragraph includes your background as a writer and a brief bio. If you have writing credits make sure you mention them. Many agents don’t consider a vanity/subsidy book or self-published book as a writing credit. If you include the title they will look it up on amazon.com to see who the publisher is.

The third paragraph is where you can describe any special experience you have that could become a publicity hook or gives you an insight other writers might not have. For example if you are a pastry chef and your heroine is also a pastry chef that would be relevant.

End the letter by thanking the agent for their time and consideration and asking if they would like to see the first few chapters or a completed manuscript. The purpose of the query letter is to motivate the agent to ask for the manuscript.

The query letter should be no more than one page single spaced. You could also include a 2 or 3 page synopsis of your novel, but don’t include the first chapter or the entire manuscript.

A great query letter is the first step in “how to get a novel published.”

Avoid scams and get your book published. Complimentary report Perils and Pitfalls of Publishing for Writers just visit Free Report
Dee Power is the author of several books including The Publishing Primer: A Blueprint for an Author’s Success and The Making of a Bestseller

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the spelling police run rampant in cyberspace! From website guest books to blog comments, these policemen and women are constantly writing tickets for the slightest infringements on English spelling rules. Unfortunately there is no Spelling Police Academy that explains to these officials the differences between American and British spelling. That’s why you’ll find so many websites today (especially websites dealing with topics related to the English language) that have bold spelling disclaimers across the top of the home page.

To ward off the spelling police, fill in the blanks of this disclaimer with either “American” or “British” depending on the variety you use:

“I am _____________. Therefore, all the text on all the pages of this site is written in ___________ English. Please do not write me with complaints about my spelling or grammar before you have checked an authorized ______________ dictionary or grammar reference.”

Of course, if you are a British English speaker, you’ll also have to ‘correct’ all the spelling and grammar ‘errors’ in that disclaimer before you post it, because I am American, and therefore this article is written in American English. Please do not write me with complaints… I think you get the point.

Since I would also like to do my part and offer a public service, I thought I would provide everyone with a simple explanation for the most common spelling differences in these two Standard English varieties - grammar and vocabulary will have to be covered in another article! So next time you get a ticket on your site, forward the police this list in your defense. Maybe they’ll consider reducing the fine - or just keeping their mouths shut next time!

1) UK -our = US -or

Examples: colour/color, humour/humor, flavour/flavor, favourite/favorite

2) UK -re = US -er

Examples: centre/center, metre/meter, litre/liter

3) UK -ise = US -ize

Examples: realise/realize, organise/organize, recognise/recognize

4) UK -que = US -ck

Examples: cheque/check, chequered/checkered

5) UK -ll before -ing = US -l before -ing

Examples: travelling/traveling, signalling/signaling

6) UK -l = US -ll

Examples: appal/appall, enrol/enroll

7) UK -ce = US -se

Examples: licence/license (noun form), defence/defense

An exception to the rule: UK practise (verb) and practice (noun) = US practice (both verb and noun). I got a ticket for this one recently, so I just had to include it.

UK -ogue = US -og

Examples: catalogue/catalog, dialogue/dialog, epilogue/epilog

9) UK -t =US -ed (in a select group of past tense verbs)

Examples: spelt/spelled, dreamt/dreamed, burnt/burned, spoilt/spoiled

I hope that this clarifies some of the most common spelling misunderstandings. This list is not exhaustive, and there are, of course, exceptions to some of the rules. Despite these shortcomings, I hope that I have helped by providing you with a proper defense in spelling court.

Heather Hansen, founder of Singapore-based Hansen Speech & Language Training, is an executive speech and language coach, writer and trainer. Become a star speaker! Visit her website www.hansenslt.com now for free information on how to speak clearly, correctly and confidently! Join her mailing list to receive your free special report, and as a special bonus you’ll also receive her monthly newsletter, Speak like a Star!