Film Review

Joni Pypers asked:


You want to write a book – a very exciting and challenging undertaking. Good for you. You have a great book idea – an idea that you believe needs to be in print. You believe that other people have an interest in what you have to say. You believe that many people will buy your book, and if you do the job of writing correctly, many people WILL buy your book. 

It is your dream to have your book in every bookstore in the country, perhaps even in several countries. But wait, have you planned beyond bookstore sales? Many authors are unaware that there are many markets for books beyond the bookstores. The bookstores may be your first market, but there are many other “hidden” markets, and here are some key book marketing tips to help you tap into those markets.

Let’s begin with the job of writing the book. When you put “pen to paper”, it is important that you focus on one audience but write for many markets. Let’s begin by identifying why you are writing a book. Some people merely want to be a published author, giving them claim to a copyright and their name on a book. That is satisfaction enough. They don’t care about the financial return or the development of writing or publishing as a career. Other people just want to write a family history and sell it to their extended family. Some people are interested only in selling to the attendees of their seminars. Many others, however, want to sell thousands of books in as many markets as possible. Decide at the beginning of the writing process why you are writing so that you can determine whether or not you are creating a business venture.

Once you have established your reason for writing, move on to what you are writing about. Don’t try to be all things to all people or the encyclopedic source of all information on a subject. Choose an area of a subject with which you are very familiar and develop your topic well so that you don’t overwhelm or bore your readers. For instance, if you are writing a cookbook, don’t try to be The Joy of Cooking – that’s already been done. Instead, write about a category of recipes, such as heritage recipes, or recipes of a region or culture, or recipes from famous restaurants, etc. Your goal is to make your book different, and better, than other cookbooks.

Having now decided on the why and the what, focus on the who, meaning who will buy your book. You believe that many people will be interested in your book, but let’s define “many”. Do you mean all of the people in your interest group, your church or your workplace, or do you mean everyone? A word of caution, though – there is NO book that is for everyone. Sure, everyone may need your book but not everyone will want it. If your book is a healthy lifestyle cookbook, everyone might need it, but only people who actually want to be healthy will buy it. Do some research on who those people are and where they are likely to actually buy your book. Understand their demographics: age group, income level, shopping habits, activities, etc. Now write for them. What information are your target readers looking for? Is their a gap in the information about a subject that is very familiar to you or in which you have the credentials to fill the gap? Make sure that your book solves a problem or problems for the reader, or make sure that your book will increase the well being of the reader. Avoid falling into the trap of writing to make yourself feel better – you are not the one who will buy your book. Or if you are, you are the only buyer that you will have!

The why, what and who now being defined, you can turn your attention to the where you can sell your book. Because there are many markets for books, decide early in the writing process just what those markets are and write to sell your book in those markets.

It is likely that the first market that will come to mind is traditional book stores, and of course they can be a vital part of your sales. Do your research in getting to know your competition on the book store shelves, i.e., look at the other books that have been written in your genre. What writing style is most appealing to a wide audience? Is there a gap in the information provided in the other books? Are there problems that have not been addressed? Find the needs and fill them. When you are satisfied with the information that you are providing, think about what will attract the book store buyers. They will want to know about your planned publicity campaign. If you want people to buy your book in book stores, you are responsible for letting people know that your book is available, thereby driving buyers to the stores.

Besides book stores, books are purchased in the nontraditional book market by display retailers, book clubs, catalogs, gift retailers, volume buyers (think Costco and Price Club), corporations, foundations and foreign markets. These markets are considered “hidden” because they exist outside the usual bookstore market, yet they account for many millions of dollars each year in book sales. In fact, we sell thousands of books to buyers like these every year (for more about our Book Marketing tips and secrets click here: Book Marketing Tips). These markets, however, do not buy any and every book. They are looking for books that appeal to their customers.

For instance, if you are writing a book about spiritual experiences, think about which of those markets will likely buy your book. Will you approach book clubs? If yes, which book clubs – those that specialize in spiritual books only, or those that market to the general public? Will you approach the gift market or catalogs? Each market evaluates its purchases for its own clientele. Book clubs that target the religious book reader have a greater interest in spiritual books than do general interest book clubs. Volume buyers, catalogs and gift buyers (unless they target a religious market), display retailers and corporations will very seldom buy a spiritual book. Foreign markets, however, are often very interested.

Even if your book is written for the general book trade, you can still think of corporations that might be able to use your book as a promotional item. Make a list of corporations that could be interested in your book and make sure that your writing supports their products or philosophy, and that what you are writing about will solve some problems for the corporate clients. For instance, one cookbook was targeted at busy people who want to follow a healthy lifestyle. It became a bestseller very quickly in the traditional book trade, but sales exploded when it was sold to pharmaceutical companies who used the book as support information for clients who needed to achieve a healthy weight. The book also sold successfully in foreign markets, to catalogs, as fund raisers and to shopping malls as a customer reward.

The point is: you need to know how to slant your writing for your markets. You can sometimes get around the road blocks by giving your book the look and feel of a gift book rather than one that is a “serious read”. Don’t give your book the look and feel of a thesis. Many volume buyers are looking for broad interest books that people buy on impulse as gifts. This approach to writing increases your market tremendously, so if you want to appeal to a very large audience, approach your subject from a much “lighter” angle.

However, if you are a professional speaker who knows that you have a very good chance of selling your book to your seminar attendees, and perhaps to the corporations who hire you, writing for a very broad market is not necessary. You are not even trying to sell to the impulse buyer. Your buyer is already looking for a source of expertise such as yours.

If you are planning to sell your book primarily from a website to a specific type of buyer, someone who is searching the internet for answers to a concern or problem, you can be as specific as you like. The general public, again in this instance, is not your market – you already have enough buyers to make you very successful.

 

So, before you begin the writing process, make an outline of your book. Then, look at your list of potential buyers. Have you filled their needs? If not, can you add information or chapters to your book that will increase the likelihood of sales to those buyers? If you want to sell thousands of books, think about the end user of your book and write for them, not for yourself. That is the ultimate book marketing tip. See you on the bestseller list!

© Copyright 2004 Ink Tree Ltd.



Sam

Caleb Anderson asked:


Printed materials serve as a visual clue for people who see them. Some of them are Bookmarks, Business cards, postcards and promoting your book. Hence, book marketing is essential to build legitimacy, increase the books credibility and is a stepping-stone for potential sales. Below are some of the most common tactics used for book marketing techniques:

How To Start Book Marketing?

Postcards

They are cost effective and inexpensive. Give postcards to your close friends and ask them to send to their friends. Form a chain so that many people get these postcards.

1. Send a business card stating useful information about your book.

2. Form a group, go to event places, and distribute various copies of brochures.

3. Frame a postcard with all the information about your book listed on it.

4. Get large copies of autographed books.

Printed Bookmarks

1. Give them to people at social events and book signing sessions.

2. People will have a look at them for future book events.

3. Make a note of your next book signing campaign date and time, publish it and give it out as a reminder.

4. Tell your friends to give these bookmarks to their friends.

Business cards

Build a network and pass on a business card with information about you and your book. This will help agents, publishers, reporters, and readers to remember you and your book.

1. It doubles as a bookmark for readers.

2. Give them out at book signing campaigns and speech sessions so that people can pass it onto others.

Posters

Put a poster in view of advance of your book marketing campaign.

1. Put a poster of your book, where verbal speech is not possible. Posters send out a subtle and powerful message.

2. Place posters near you on the writing desk. It will be a great source of inspiration.

3. Display them at all book fairs and other events.

4. Hire people to wear them at large community gatherings.

Benefits Of Online Book Marketing:

1. The cover of your book will feature on the main home page for about a month, which will be a good exposure for tons of book buyers on the Internet. Several online book marketing services also offer Flash slide show to promote books on the Internet.

2. Next, the book will feature in its preferred category page with appraisals and outline of the book, provided by you.

3. To obtain excellent search engine results, the listings of your book will be search engine optimized.

4. Formats and price structure of your book will also be showcased along with awards and other bookish achievements.

5. The Really Simple Syndication (RSS) will introduce your book to RSS users.

6. Finally, your book will get Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Purchase-path Evaluations, and Promotional Powers from some of the best domains.

Start an e-mailing campaign by sending an e-mail to all the people in your e-mail list about the announcement of your new book release. This is also one good alternative book marketing technique.

Book Marketing is very important, it gives readers a chance to know you as an author, and it helps them to understand your interest and the interesting aspects of your book.



Claudette

thevision9 asked:


I’ve never done it myself, but I think I know the main ideas behind filming stopmotion. Should I film myself moving everything and just cut myself out, or should I record and pause repeatedly? What is the best way to do this technique?

Isis

Mark Falco asked:


The idea of exchanging your old used books for new ones you haven’t read is an idea which is gaining momentum across the internet. Used book swapping sites now boast hundreds of thousands of registered members and millions of used books ready for to be exchanged with other book lovers.

So what is the appeal? Why should you join an online book exchange web site when there are so many other ways of acquiring books? Well, here are some arguments for and against joining.

The Advantages Of Online Book Swapping Sites

Why should you join a book trading site?

Well, for a start, if you are someone who regularly buys books, it is more than likely going to save you a lot of money. Book swapping sites are free to join, and for the price of postage and one used book from your collection, you can get new books to read. Effectively, this means you can pick up a new book for under $2 – this includes hardback books, cookbooks and textbooks too. That offers the possibility of making big savings when compared to any other way of buying books.

Secondly, you can give yourself a pat on the back for recycling books and saving the environment in the process. Swapping rather than buying books means less trees are felled to produce reading material. Again, this can only be a good thing so far as environmental issues are concerned.

Thirdly, it’s a great way to declutter your book shelves and help out someone else at the same time by giving them a book they are looking for.

Book trading sites are also a great place to find out of print and hard to find books. These can often be expensive to find otherwise, and you can waste a lot of time looking for them. At book swapping sites, you simply add the books you want to a wish list and when it comes in to the site, you are sent an email alert saying its there. Much easier.

One more thing – the selection is huge. Sure, you can go hit all the used book stores in town and you might find what you are looking for but probably not. A used book club on the other hand has millions of books in their system. One swap site claims to have over 2.5 million books and that’s just on one site.

The Disadvantages Of Online Book Exchange Sites

Firstly, why not just use a library? Then the books are free right? Personally, I look at libraries as something aside from all other forms of acquiring new reading material because you do not get to own the book. You get a specified period in which to read the book, in many cases will get fined for returning it late if you’ve not done with it, and have a limited selection to choose from. Libraries are great, but they’re not ideal.

Used books are not for everyone. If you like your books shiny and new regardless of the price, then an online book swapping club is not for you. Most swap sites have rules about the quality of book allowed to be offered up for exchange but they are predominantly used books.

New books make money for the publisher and the author, used books do not. Whilst its easy to argue they have already factored in trading on the used book market into the price of a new book, the fact remains, buying or swapping used books costs them money and may affect new authors in particular.

The Verdict?

Either way, online book swapping sites are becoming increasingly popular, with millions of books waiting to be traded with swappers all over the world. Whether a book swapping club is right for you is a matter of personal choice, but either way, it is something to consider the next time you look at that shelf full of books you’ll never read again or choke on the price of a new hardback.



Chantal

Ally asked:


I am currently writing a novel, but from your point of view, what makes a book so popular and that others love to read? An excellent example would be the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Why do you think some books are so good, they become best sellers?

Tomas

annaya rana asked:


I’ve been involved in publishing for over a decade now as an author, editor, and project manager; however, it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I decided to move into self-publishing. Indeed, my first few projects involved consulting for others and, now, I am involved in my own, personal projects. It has taken a while for me to come back around to my own works, but in the process I learned how to minimize time and expenses in producing a book and getting it to market.

This short article will not try to explain every aspect of book publishing in detail, but it will brush on a few of the important topics. I have a few other book projects in the making that will detail the book self-publishing process; however, in the mean time, this should give you a good basis of understanding.

— The Idea —

The most difficult part of creating your manuscript is deciding on the topic. We all have ideas. It’s part of our being. Ideas pop in and out of our heads all day long; however, we usually dismiss many of them as useless or too simple to be of use. You would be surprised at how many people want “simple” and easy-to-understand information! Readers want books that teach, inform, and entertain.

When you sit down and really think about all you’ve learned throughout your life, you’ll be amazed at how much you really know! Your life experiences alone could fill a library! Even if you feel that you don’t have any knowledge that would be of interest to anyone, you can start small. Research a market that interests you, find your competition, learn all that you can about a specific subject, and then write about it. Your ideas are important, as your knowledge and point-of-view are unique and of interest to others.

— Planning the Product —

I always suggest keeping your book concise and informative. This provides a small footprint, yet it also allows your readers to purchase your book at a reasonable price. Keep it around 100 pages, which, once in book format, equals about 50, two-sided pages.

The core content of the manuscript consists of a title page, copyright, table of contents, figure and table references, acknowledgements, forwards, content, appendices, index, and back page. This list is the basic minimum requirements to support the information necessary to present your book and its content. Of course, you can add other items such as a glossary and a preface, but such inclusions are at your discretion.

It is best to produce your book in the standard 5.5″ by 8.5″ format in both print and PDF. I always suggest PDF to my publishing clients because it is one of the few cross-platform (i.e., Mac, PC, PDA, and UNIX-based machines) document distribution products available today and it is the most popular.

— The Manuscript —

Once you’ve focused on an idea, you’ll have to create an outline or table of contents to define the content. The best way I’ve found to do this is to break the idea down into blocks of contiguous information — similar to assembling a pyramid. Step through your idea and ensure that you are building from, for example, the most general information to the most specific information. Check the outline several times, and have a friend review it, to ensure that gaps are filled in appropriately.

You can actually over-rewrite your work to the point of frustration and burn-out. Ensure that you’ve planned and researched appropriately to provide a solid foundation. In this way you can develop a first draft and then perform substantive and grammar edits. Then, perform a technical edit and a second draft. Once the second draft is complete, move into a final copy edit then, once you produce galleys or a sample version of the finished book, perform a proof read. Don’t rework any of the core steps of document development, but ensure that each step is completed with quality in mind. This ensures a solid product in a short amount of time. If you would like to update or add to the information in your first release, provide a follow-up revision.

— ISBN and Copyright —

Once you’ve started your manuscript, order your group of ISBNs. You can sign up for your ISBNs at http://www.isbn.org for about $240 for 10 ISBNs. However, additional fees can be imposed based on express orders. This is why I say, order the ISBNs while you’re writing the manuscript so that you can afford to wait the 10 days for standard, free, delivery.

You will have to convert your ISBN numbers to EAN barcodes to apply to the back page of your book. The barcode must consist of the ISBN you assigned to the book as well as the coded pricing of the book. You can have a vendor generate the barcodes for between $3 (http://www.toupin.com/serv_writing.asp) and $20 per barcode or you can download and use the Barcode Maker (http://hem.passagen.se/sams/barcode.htm) to generate your own barcodes. For the price, it will pay for itself in just a few ISBNs for your books.

Once you have assigned one of your ISBNs to a book, you can register it in Books In Print (http://www.booksinprint.com/bip/). This is how booksellers are able to access your information and sell your book through their outlets. Additionally, you’ll want to register your manuscript-in-progress with the Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication (http://cip.loc.gov/cip/ecipp14.html). This registers your book for access by libraries and government archives. You will be e-mailed the “CIP data” to be printed on the copyright page following the heading “Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data”.

To protect your work and ideas, copyrighting your book is a simple and inexpensive process. There are actually several different methods of protecting your work including government and commercial organizations. The primary sites are the government copyright office (http://www.copyright.gov/forms/) and WriteSafe (http://www.writesafe.com/).

— Production —

There are many different ways to produce your books; however, costs range from a $1,000 initial setup plus the purchase of a few hundred copies down to no setup fees and pay-as-you-go. The final choice is yours, but my direction involved a local printing company and a pay-as-you-go scheme. With this approach, reduced initial costs are reflected back to the readers and your profit potential is seen immediately.

Three places that I’ve experimented with to print some of my books include Kinko’s (http://www.kinkos.com/), InstantPublisher (http://instantpublisher.com/pricing.htm), and Mimeo (http://www.mimeo.com/). Of course, use these for starters to experiment with your books. Eventually, you’ll find the right bindery for your needs. You can locate many publishers via Google.com or AllTheWeb.com using keywords such as “online printing”, “book printing”, and “print on demand”, but once you get some experience behind you, the choice will be much easier.

— Marketing and Distribution —

Once you assign and register your ISBN for your manuscript, it becomes available to the multitude of book stores around the globe including Amazon, Borders, Barnes&Noble, and various other major book sellers. Now that you have your book out there, the trick is to have people purchase the book and have book stores stock copies on their shelves.

To have the book stores purchase in quantity, you’ll have to devise a solid marketing plan to their acquisitions personnel. In many cases, book stores will simply sell your book to their customers as it is requested, but if you can get them to buy in bulk, that’s greater exposure and sales for you!

You can also license out the content to various professional speakers. Speakers are always looking for ways to provide quality information specific to their presentations. They might use your content in a handout, or perhaps for sale in the back of the room. Locate those speakers that fit within your audience and contact them. Find out their needs for their next presentation and work out a deal for them to resell your books. I’ve had many speakers use my articles in their presentations and the exposure and feedback has been overwhelming.

Of course, you should always locate affiliates to help sell your books. One way is to offer them a percentage of the gross sales or sell them copies of the books at a discount. Either way, you will have “agents” out pushing your books for you to make money for them, as well as for you.

Always provide a web site that boasts the benefits of your book. Use a book cover maker to create a book image on the web site. One quality book cover creator is called CoverFactory (http://www.ans2000.com/a2k_coverfactory.php) and provides numerous capabilities to generate professional looking covers for books, software, and services.

Free content is an important way to bring people to your site and let people know about your book. You can provide rewritten excerpts from your book as articles and submit them to various article announcement lists, press release sites, zines, and directories. I’ve been able to locate and associate with over 1,000 sites and lists that accept and publish my articles. This provides outstanding coverage for my sites, services, and products.

— Sales and Returns —

Since you are the publisher, you now have to determine how to handles sales. It’s important to define how you will handle direct sales and shipping, bulk sales, and affiliates. You want to ensure that your sales go smoothly as well as provide enough of a margin so that everyone profits.

When collecting funds, it’s important to accept credit cards through one of the popular merchant vendors. To minimize expenses and provide a common and secure payment mechanism, I use StormPay (http://www.stormpay.com) and PayPal (http://www.paypal.com). Since people have their likes and dislikes of online payment vendors, using both allows many different types of users to submit payments. Of course, you must always determine how to handle returns as part of a quality customer service program.

— What’s next? —

Obviously, the information provided here is merely an overview of the entire process. However, I am working on a book that provides all of the details of producing your own book under your own imprint. Publishing provides excellent return monetarily as well as through enhanced self-esteem. There is quite a feeling that comes with getting your message out there and having people return positive feedback. Perhaps, once you self-publish a few of your own titles, you can work on publishing other authors and open a full-fledged publishing house. In this day, such a venture is not unheard of!



Odette

phavi kannan asked:


                                                      Books or TV

 

Have you ever put down a good book to watch a TV show? Or did you ever stop watching television to read a good book? Well I never did put down a book for a TV show because I think that a book is way better than a TV show. I do have evidence supporting my statement. A TV and book both affect the viewer or reader physically, academically and mentally which I will be explaining in the upcoming paragraphs. But think about this, there are a people who occasionally blink when they are staring at the television barely inches away from the screen. There are also people who barely even look up when they are reading a book for hours and hours until their neck burn from looking down. Both of these types of people are really into what they are doing, but which one is better and more useful?

 

Physically, the eye gets damaged when you look at the TV for a longtime. When you look at the TV, you’re eyes are straining to catch all the fast motion pictures and send the pictures up to your brain. If you strain too much your vision will start getting blurry Since some TV shows are addicting, it is more likely that you will be staring at the screen for a longer time than you really intended. Above 50% of all people who are wearing contact lenses and glasses are people who watched too much of TV. So your eyes will eventually get damaged if you watch television too much .You will also not be getting enough of fresh air and exercise, because, as I said earlier you will be watching more than you intend to which makes it hard to turn it off and go outside. Things are made even harder when you have to turn off the TV when a good program is going on. If there is not any good program in one channel, it is the other. Unlike TV, when you finish a book, you will most likely close it and go out for the rest of the day and start the next book later. Physical activity is necessary for being healthy, TV makes physical activity less among students making them unhealthy, but books prevent this from occurring. Does books and television just affect the reader or viewer just physically or also academically?

 

Academically, reading books have a lot of influence in your Language Arts grade. The best part in reading books is that it increases your vocabulary without yourself knowing it. When you read a book you are really into, you will mainly focus on the story more than the structure of sentences, and will eventually start using context clues to figure your way out of the story, which makes your vocabulary grow. Even if you consciously ignore the grammar, your mind will subconsciously take note of it, increasing your proficiency in the language. This happens even when you read leisurely books. Reading informative books help you gain more knowledge than seeing the news on the TV. In the TV the people will just summarize the big idea, just giving you a little knowledge of it, but in books, you can expect it to give you information from head to toe if you know where to look. If you don’t get a sentence in a book you can always go back and reread it again, but if you are watching a show in the television, you cannot do that unless you recorded it .You can also never get bored reading a good book again and again but you will eventually get tired of seeing the same episode more than three times. After you finish a good book, you will always wonder if you could also write a book like that. With good proficiency and motivation, it will help you write good essays and short stories with ease. When you look at the television watching the ready-made film, you will not be doing anything, but staring at a screen. A book makes you creative because you are the one imagining the story in your head, but does a book or TV just affect you physically, academically?

 

Sometimes TV and books also affects you mentally and change the way you think. A book with information on a subject will change your idea on the subject when you finish the book; gaining full knowledge of that subject, but this is not the same with the TV. You may say that you can also learn from the television by watching discovery channel or animal planet, but actually it gives you very less information compared to a book or mostly makes you more confused. A book that you read for hours will be crammed into a half hour show with breaks. How much do you think you will learn? Not much and also, these channels approach a subject with a very fast introduction, which makes it very difficult for the viewer to understand leaving them with wrong information about the subject. TV also sometimes provides viewers with unwanted information in some Ads which maybe inappropriate for children. As I have told you TV is addicting and can sometimes leave the viewer excited, which everyone may have experienced, but if that keeps going on without control, the person who is watching may become uncontrollably addicted to it, and will start concentrating on it more than his or her surrounding. This leads the child getting diverted from his/her academic field to the TV, and the child will only concentrate on that TV show. Because of this TV, the child’s test scores will go down, start ignoring homework and the presence of mind of his/her surroundings will go down. If the addiction still goes on, it will make them more miserable by the reasons I stated above. A book does not leave the child like this.

 

As you see a book is way better than TV and it does not have any negative side affects. Addiction to TV is bad and gives you problems but addiction to books is good because it helps with your academics. Just because books helps you in academics doesn’t make it boring, because there are many good books out there if you know what to choose. So books are better than television.

 

 

 

 

 



Lester

Phyllis Zimbler Miller asked:


Book marketing is an activity that most book authors undertake to promote their books.

If you’re a book author, you may have a website where you have downloads of your first chapter or chapters. But have you also made available discussion questions for book clubs to use?

Book groups can be a good target market for your book, especially if it’s fiction. But given how busy people are, it’s helpful for readers to know that if they suggest a book to their reading group they won’t have to struggle to come up with questions. All the work has already been done for them by you the author!

If you haven’t yet provided downloadable questions off your website, do so now.

Here are 6 tips for creating these discussion questions:

• Direct your questions at the appropriate age level for your book. If you’ve written a children’s fiction or non-fiction book, questions should be targeted at the reading level of your book’s market.

• Questions for adult fiction or non-fiction books should include a range of questions so that different levels of book groups can find questions that appeal to their groups.

• For fiction books, are there any current or historic events that impact the story you’ve told? If so, create questions based on these events

• As people often read discussion questions before reading the book, be careful about accidentally revealing a fiction book’s surprise plot points in the questions. With careful consideration, you will usually be able to find a way to discuss a question topic without revealing these plot points.

• Before making available your discussion questions, test them on friends who haven’t read the book yet. Check that the questions mean to others what these questions mean to you.

• Offer the questions to anyone who might be interested besides making the questions available as a free download on your website or other author platforms.

By making available good discussion questions for your book, you’re providing book clubs with the resources for a better discussion. And, with any luck, the better the discussion the more buzz will be created.

In addition, to encourage book clubs to choose your book you should provide the first chapters for free on your website so that prospective readers can get a good feel for the story and characters. You can do this with pdf downloads or audio or video recordings or all three methods.

If you have other information related to your book that you can share on your website, do so. For example, if your novel is connected to an historical event, you can include photos or videos or commentary about that actual event.

Or let’s say you wrote a non-fiction book about breast cancer. You could include on your website names and contact information for organizations that help breast cancer patients. By sharing such information with your prospective readers you’re creating a bond between you and them.

Of course, there is the basic question of do you need a website at all? Couldn’t you put your book club discussion questions on book author websites and forget about having your own website?

Yes, you could. But you’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity to have a destination URL for you and your books.

On the other hand, there is an alternative to having a website designed for you. You could do what many people are doing now – using WordPress blog software to create a website. This is usually less expensive and easier than having a programmer design a website, and you have the added advantage of more easily changing content.

With your own website featuring sample chapters, helpful information and book club discussion questions, you will be providing prospective readers with a number of reasons to say yes to reading your book.



Virginie

Celia Webb asked:


Looking for a way to encourage your students’ interest in a topic?  Trade books can provide the needed spark.  Trade books, which are primarily designed to entertain and inform outside the classroom, can be used successfully in the classroom to heighten motivation in your students.  Trade books cover just about every topic under the sun, so you can probably find a book that will align with your curriculum objectives in such a way as to help your students see the applicability of the topic. Students may show a keener interest in the lively way a trade book presents material over the stilted writings in a textbook.  While textbooks cover a topic in a prescribed way, a trade book may introduce or expand upon a topic by including it in a fictional setting, or alternatively, a non-fiction account from real life.

Classroom activities can be built around the book’s topic, so in addition to the reading practice and vocabulary development, all types of offshoot activities can be developed.  Depending on the book, there may be several ways to explore the concepts presented in the story or account.  Possibilities for math, science, social studies, geography, history, economics, and more may exist using the book as a jumping off point.  Here are some ideas on how to use a trade book in the classroom.

Interest is fundamental.  Since the primary reason for introducing a trade book into the classroom is to create interest in a topic, look for books which tell a story which is engaging.  Humor helps since many children enjoy humor and they may read with more attention if it is presented in a funny way.  The book can still present serious topics and ideas.  Another tip is to select books which address the interests of your students’ age group.  Elementary students tend to like stories about animals, children their own age, and fairy tales.  Middle school students are often like adventures, science fiction, and mysteries.  High school students enjoy books written for grown-ups – biographies, general fiction, adventures, mysteries, historical novels, and science fiction.

Check for special features.  Books with special features add more educational value.  For instance, books with glossaries can aid vocabulary development.  Books with research notes, bibliographies listing more potential material for exploration, and website listings related to the topic can assist you in developing teaching materials or assist students in writing reports.  Recipes can make for fun learning experiences.  Maps provide visual orientation for written descriptions.  Drawings and photographs can provide precise information on the physical aspects of an object.  All of these features can be used to enhance your students’ understanding of the teaching objective.

 Reinforce literacy skills.  Almost any trade book can be used to support literacy skill development and reinforcement.  Besides providing reading practice, trade books can be used to support vocabulary development, story telling skills, writing skills, and even editing skills.  Some publishers provide reading grade-level score information for their books.  Many do not, as there is the perception that doing so many prevent some readers who would otherwise be interested, from reading the book.  Most schools grant credit to students who read books beyond assigned reading as a method of encouraging reading practice.  The Accelerated Reader Program is used by over 73,000 schools nationwide.  The database for this service includes more than 120,000 books, but is limited when you consider that according to Publishers Weekly around 30,000 new children’s books are published each year.  You may wish to allow a wider choice in books than those currently in the Accelerated Reader Program database.  Have students write a few paragraphs summarizing the story to prove they have read the book.  A child may be really interested in cars and willing to spend time reading about vintage models or auto repair but not be particularly interested in Tom Sawyer.

Search for resources.  Search the internet for teaching resources designed for the book you have selected.  Some publishers provide lesson plans, worksheets, discussion questions, and other teaching material to complement their books.  Visit the publisher’s website or the author’s website to see what might be offered.  You can also do this in reverse to find a book to use.  Search the internet using keywords like “teaching materials”, “teaching aids”, “lesson plans”, “lesson plan”, “teaching ideas”, “teaching resources”, or “teaching activities”.  You can also search for particular lesson plan topics and you may find a publisher who has developed material for a related book.

 Read, discuss, then act.  Start the new lesson by having students read the book you have selected.  This can be done as homework or an in-class activity depending on your objectives and available time.  Then begin a discussion of the book bringing out the aspect related to your teaching objective.  Follow the discussion by actively using the material related to your teaching objective.  For instance, if your objective is for students to understand a historical event, have your students:

a.  construct timelines,

b.  create dioramas,

c.  assemble costumes,

d.  reenact the event,

e.  participate in a mock game show where the students are divided into teams and answer questions related to the event,

f.  create poster board displays,

g.  draw pictures depicting the event,

h.  or write their own story incorporating the historical event. 

 Any or all of these activities will make the lesson more interesting to your students.

 You might also consider inviting the author to your classroom or the author may offer an e-mail exchange service where your students can interact with the author directly to ask questions about the book.  The author’s enthusiasm for the topic is often infectious and students can connect to the material through the author.

 Engage your students’ imagination and curiosity.  Use trade books to bring fresh excitement to your classroom.  You can develop teaching materials to fit your teaching objectives or you may be able to find teaching resources ready for use on the internet.  In either case, you can enliven a potentially dull topic and captivate your class by taking advantage of a trade book.



Roslyn

Rose Z asked:


well iv read the book, but we have to write a short summery, but theres so much to be said its hard to make it a short one
can u give me a brief detail about the book?

Chantal