Winners of the 2008 OUT of the BOX Promotion Idea Contest for Writers

TRI Studio LLC in cooperation with Authors’ Coalition announces the winners of The 2008 Out of the Box Promotion Contest for Writers, in an e-book that publishes their winning ideas.

Margot Finke at Margot Finke's Books for Kids blog garnered honorable mention along with other honorable authors Mindy P. Lawrence, Dorothea Buckingham, Nikki Leigh, Karina Fabian and Jessica Kennedy.

The top winners include promotional experts Janet Elaine Smith, Allyn Evans, Phil Harris and Billie Williams.

Ideas range from a Book-of-the-Week Club that partners the publisher and author with an Internet radio program, to an Amazon Tour Group, a Video Tour Group, and an idea that allows readers to watch the progress as an author writes a book.

This valuable e-book is available for a free download from TRI studios and Authors' Coalition AND from me. Click HERE to download.

Also go over to Margot's blog here and read in more detail about Carolyn Howard-Johnson, TRI Studio LLC and The Fiction Flyer, a free ezine for readers and writers of (you got it) Fiction.

Write it down,

Carma

Three Book Choices for Middle School Boys

It is important to introduce young people to quality writing and good story telling. I have reprinted the following article Three Book Choices for Middle School Boys by Rebekah Kogelschatz. Good stories encourage children to read. As a children’s writer, promoting reading is what I desire to achieve. Enjoy the article.

As a middle school teacher of students in advanced academics programs, I had the opportunity to read a selection of books for middle grade readers that were published in 2007. The books were selected because of their potential to be Newberry contenders. Although none of them were awarded the highest honor, they are well worth the time for your middle school student to read. These three selections may be of particular interest to boys, but also would be great for any girls to read also.

Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson (Random House): Leepike Ridge is an exciting adventure of Tom and his quest to survive. After hearing the potential wedding plans of his mother and her boyfriend, Tom leaves his home to escape the thought of the marriage. He chooses to float down the nearby stream to clear his head. After a brief sleep, he finds himself slipping into an underground cavern in complete darkness. The story continues with Tom's determination to get out of the cavern alive and the many obstacles he encounters along the way. This story is a page turner with one exciting event after another.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt (Clarion Books): The Wednesday Wars was a Newberry Honor book for 2007. Based in 60's, a 7th grade boy, Holling Hoodhood, is sentenced to Wednesday afternoons with his teacher while the other students attend religious training. At first, what seems like a curse of a unlikable teacher turns into a loving friendship and a great amount of learning about life and education. Holling's antics and situations will make any child laugh. With talk of baseball greats and rats running rampant through the school, any boy is certain to enjoy this story.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Carson Ellis (Little, Brown, and Company): The Mysterious Benedict Society is a longer book, but well worth reading all the way to the end. It follows a group of extremely gifted students that are hand selected to save the world from an evil man trying to control the minds of everyone in the world. The children have to go undercover in a boarding school to discover and foil the plans of Mr. Curtain with the assistance of Mr. Benedict. While trying to be selected to the coveted Messenger position, Kate, Constance, Stickie, and Reynie discover the world is not as easy to figure out even with the highest of intelligence. There are many plot changes and surprises throughout the book that makes the ending even better.

Encouraging boys to read is easy with a great book. Try one of these with your middle school boy or girl and be prepared for some excitement about reading.

Rebekah Kogelschatz is a gifted education teacher. She has taught all grades from pre-school to 8th grade in all subject areas. She is a co-founder of the site http://www.smartmoms-smartbusiness.com/ and the founder of a preschool resource site http://www.preschool-activities-everyday.com/ You can learn more about Rebekah by visiting her blog, http://the-day-of-a-mom.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rebekah_Kogelschatz

Write it down,

Carma

Trading Places by Claudia Mills - Book Review

Trading Places
Author: Claudia Mills
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Reading Level: Ages 9 - 12
ISBN: 13:978-0-374-31798-0
ISBN:10:0-374-31798-4
Hardcover: 138 pages

Amy and Todd Davidson learn that things in life rarely turn out perfectly and that labels don’t always fit. Amy and Todd are fraternal twins who get along as well as any other brother or sister except they share the same birthday and the same classroom. This is where the similarity stops. Amy is the poet, sentimental and a bookworm while Todd is the engineer, super organized and an over achiever.

As the twins begin their Mini-Society school project things get flipped upside down at home. Their father loses his engineering job and their mother takes a job at the local craft store. The father becomes depressed and hangs around the house in his pajamas all day. This turns out to be an embarrassing situation for Amy when her best friends come home with her after school. Learning how to cope with change becomes a daily experience.

Through the alternating view points of Amy and Todd, Trading Places shows how acceptance of non-traditional roles can open minds to change. Claudia Mills has artfully written about a common problem for many families in today’s changing economy. Her easy going prose presents a realistic solution to a difficult situation in words for the “tween” years.

The fundamental message is about how change can affect everyone in the family, even Wiggles the dog. Amy and Todd learn that change can be good and they learn that opportunities in life pop up when you least expect them too.

This story has all the characters that you would expect to find in a regular classroom. The super shy girl with no friends, the clumsy kid who is a walking accident, the class show off and several more. This is an attention-grabbing read for middle graders.

Write it down,
Carma

Countdown 2008. Time Is Perception

I could express a bunch of positive and motivating bits and pieces for the New Year but every one else is doing that so I am going to recommend a book for you in the New Year. A book where you can learn to obtain balance in your life.

Think Logically, Live Intuitively, Seeking The balance by J.R. Madaus.

The Part One title page jumped out and claimed me. “How can we get up to speed when we are going too fast already?”


Does that fit you? Have you lost control of your daily time management? How many “must-do” items are on your list?

“When one is faced with nothing but “must-do” items, priority-setting loses clarity as one faces the question of which two of the top ten priorities can be tackled today, or more realistically, in the next hour.”

According to Madaus, time is not the rigid equally measured ticks of a second hand. Time is a perception of the participants in an event.

Do these sayings sound familiar? They certainly reflect the idea that time may be perception.

Time sure does fly when you are having fun.

A watched pot never boils.

The hurrieder we go, the behinder we get.

Are your decision processes squeezed into unrealistic time frames? Long term planning has been compacted into months instead of years and today a writer can publish a book in six weeks!

The pressure is on to hurry, hurry, hurry. Even though there is so much information available to us it is sometimes difficult to find just the right facts we need. We are drowning in a sea of data. Is it possible for inspiration to be dropped into the fast lane?

Happy New Year.

Write it down,

Carma

Electronic Readers Revisited

I was ecstatic when my new Sony Electronic Reader arrived via UPS a couple of weeks ago. I just knew Sony’s Electronic Reader was the cat’s meow and would save time, paper and money. But now I have egg on my face after my enthusiastic praise in a recent post.

Downloading my PDF files to the Sony reader was remarkably easy but when the document was opened on the reader’s 5 x 7 screen the PDF file was not readable. The font could only be increased from a six to an approximate size eight which made reading impossible without a magnifying glass.

It boils down to format. My main purpose for purchasing an electronic reader was to have the ability to download all of my PDF ebooks in one location, therefore enjoying reading in comfort at the library, in the car, or at Starbucks instead of at the computer screen or printing out hundreds of unbound pages.

I talked to Sony about this and they apologized and suggested that I reformat all of my ebooks and then download to the reader. I told them that I have 64 ebooks and reformatting was out of the question. Also, I informed them that their instructions did not indicate personal documents, such as PDF files, are not in the correct format for downloading to the electronic reader and therefore not compatible unless you purchase ebooks from Sony’s Ebook Store. You can bet I will reassess my need to have an electronic reader.

This just means that there will always be some type of “bugs” to work out no matter how far advanced the technology is. This also means you can’t judge a Reader by its cover.

Write it down,

Carma

Books and Memes: Memes and Books

My dear talented friend and coach, Lisa Gates at Design Your Writing Life has tagged me for a book meme.

People don't depend on hard copy books as much as they used to for obtaining information. Today with the Internet still in its infancy, new benchmarks are being made in the field of communication and education at a rapid pace.

We can download seven or possibly more books into an electronic reader weighing less than a pound and place it in our pocket book to carry around! However, electronic readers will never take the place of a hard copy book on a sunless rainy day....On with the meme.

What to do: Answer 5 questions. Tag 5 book lovers

Questions:
1. How many books do you own?
2. What was the last book you read?
3. What was the last book you purchased?
4. What five books are most meaningful to you?
5. What is your most obscure favorite book? Or, favorite most obscure book…

My Answers

1. Approximately 250

2. Currently I am reading 3 books simultaneously The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield; Escape by Carolyn Jessop and The Passion Test by Janet and Chris Atwood.

3. The Frugal Editor by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

4. All the books are meaningful to me but I would have to say that the last five I purchased currently hold that position. Blink by Malcom Gladwell; The Gift, by Shad Helmstetter, Ph.D; The Mandala of Being by Richard Moss, MD; 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health, by David Riklan; The Cracked Pot by Jim Cyr

5. Anguished English by Richard Lederer

OK Now it is your turn all Book Lovers!

If you are reading this, consider yourself a tagged Book Lover .

Write it down,

Carma

Book Shopping -

Thanks to Chris Brogan who wrote 100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write, I have a topic to write about today. Thanks Chris for sharing such a wealth of jump starts.

It has been pretty tough these last few days to come up with ANYTHING to write about! I was thrown off my quill when I had to go attend to my adult daughter who had surgery last week.

What writer doesn’t love book stores? When you walk into your local book store and see all the newly released books proudly displayed on the front table, do you picture your book there? I do. Visualization is a great tool to motivate and activate your sluggish momentum that has been dragging you down.

Someone might want to know what kinds of books writers read. I like true life stories, self help, motivational and biographies. Recently I bought (and am reading) “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell, The power of thinking without Thinking. Who wants to spend all their time thinking? If you are like me, you want your ideas to pop in with out any effort and you want to be able to make sound and accurate decisions in the blink of an eye. This book promises to be mind opening reading.

A couple of other interesting books recently purchased by me are “The Nazi Officer’s Wife” How one Jewish Woman survived the Holocaust and “101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health” which is being released nation wide tomorrow, September 25. This is a collaborative book with 101 authors from radically different branches of the healing profession to help you overcome unhealthy habits. The authors were selected by David Riklan and Dr. Joseph Cilea.

One of the authors, Shayn Cutino from Anja Health Center, is a dear friend of mine. Visit Shayn’s website and discover how you can improve your self esteem. She and I are also co-authoring a new book that will blend the implementation of hypnosis and the insight of philosophy. More news on that is forth coming.

Reading is an important part of writing and there have been times when I feel I don’t have time to read. Today, my mantra is "I don’t have time NOT to read". Well it is off to the library to do research on my book proposal. Treading new waters is exciting and scary but remember nothing happens with out action.

Write it down,
Carma

"10 Ways To Make It Great" Book Review

I just finished reading Phil Gerbyshak’s book, “10 Ways To Make It Great!” Phil’s enthusiasm stands out on each page and he has equipped the reader to become an active participant by making the book not only motivational, but also a daily work book with spaces for notes and goals. This is the type of book you don’t put back on the shelf after you read it. You will carry this book around with you for quite a while.

Phil redefined my definition of what it means to answer someone with the word “Fine” in response to the question How are you? In the past when I would answer Fine, I felt confident that no one would pry any further as to my condition or feelings. In other words, answering with "Fine" was a way to put up another wall to keep people out. Read 10 Ways To Make It Great and find out what is wrong with being "Fine".

10 Ways To Make It Great also sheds insight into the type of person Phil Gerbyshak is. He definitely is a Woo person but you will have to read the book to find out what a Woo person is.

Chapter 10, Finish What You Start, really spoke to me because I can start a lot of things but finishing is another story. Phil gives me the tools to help make my biggest fears more manageable and doable.

All in all 10 Ways To Make It Great is just that. It is Great! I recommend you experience Make It Great and get this book.

Write it down,

Karma

You Can Write, But Can You Speak?

You can write a great book but if you can’t talk about it in public, it will fail. There will come a time when communicating over email just ain’t gonna cut it.

Your book just made the New York Times Best Seller list. The Today Show has scheduled you for an interview. So far so good, huh? Just as the interviewer asks you that first question your tongue twists into knots and all that comes out of your mouth is something akin to the voice of Peanuts Cartoon Character Charlie Brown’s mother. 0ow—wau---ooo--uuhh—uhhhh—hmmm, shazzaam.

Just recently Neil Chethik, author of VoiceMale: What Men Really Think About Their Marriages, attributed his membership in Toastmasters to his success on the talk show circuit. “Unless I learned to speak in public, I would have never had a successful career as an author” he says.

I belong to a local chapter of Toastmasters and March 5, I am scheduled to give my “icebreaker” speech. This is a speech that will tell my fellow toastmasters a little bit about me. I say, what they don’t know won’t hurt them, but the idea is to learn to speak with confidence. Speaking is like writing, to get good at it you need to practice, practice, practice.

I am not a spokesperson for Toasmasters, but I think it would behoove anyone who has a tendency to clam up or get sweaty palms when talking to a group, to check out a local Toastmaster group. All meetings last only one hour and anytime you are around a group of people, this is a perfect time to get ideas for your writing projects and make contacts.

Write it down,

Karma

Ready, Set, 1 - 2 - 3 Write......

Screech!!!! Halt!!! Wait, wait. I just saw the latest software for writers who are just starting out on xyz website and it is a must. A manuscript cannot be written without it. I can't start writing until I have that in my writer's tool kit. I mean it is very important to keep track of my word count.

Oh, and while I was at the bookstore I just had to buy this book on how to sell books and articles. Never mind that I already have 10 books with all the advice that any novice writer needs even though I don't have anything written yet, but I know I will, so I need to be prepared.

I can't forget to subscribe to 15 magazines, websites and news papers and read 30 books before I put my first word on paper.

Now....What else do I need? Oh, what about that seminar?....oh, oh, dictionary, thesaurus, uh, ......just put it in the basket. I'll read later.

Okay, okay, you get my drift. As a new writer, blogger, etc, I have found myself doing everything BUT writing lately. Instead, I have gathered as many self-help books and articles on a freelance writing career, looking for THE secret. I have discovered that I have THE secret. It is in my fingertips right here, right now.

I realize I am not saying anything new to you veterans out there, but if there are any new writers listening in...run...don't walk to the nearest keyboard or note book and start putting your words down. Until that happens, you will never be a "writer" and any advice you receive won't do you any good until you put it to Action.

All of those things I mentioned above are very important but my point is that they do not stand alone and a writer can not learn by osmosis. I appreciate all the help that is out there for people like me and I shouldn't waste it by doing nothing.

To name a few of the important people who are here to help fledgling writers like me are Lisa Gates of Intrinsic life design, FundsforWriters, Writer in the making, The Golden Pencil and on and on. Please visit them.

Write it down,
Karma