E-Readers Read More

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a study of e-reader owners.

People who buy e-readers tend to spend more time than ever with their nose in a book, preliminary research shows.

A study of 1,200 e-reader owners by Marketing and Research Resources Inc. found that 40% said they now read more than they did with print books. Of those surveyed, 58% said they read about the same as before while 2% said they read less than before. And 55% of the respondents in the May study, paid for by e-reader maker Sony Corp., thought they’d use the device to read even more books in the future. The study looked at owners of three devices: Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle, Apple Inc.’s iPad and the Sony Reader.

… People report they’re reading more and at times when a book isn’t normally an option: on a smartphone in the doctor’s waiting room; through a Ziploc-bag-clad Kindle in a hot tub, or on a treadmill with a Sony Reader’s fonts set to jumbo.

So those who believe that e-books are detrimental to reading may need to take another look. You don’t have to read print or electronic exclusively. You can choose to read in print or on an e-reader, whichever is most convenient at the moment. 

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of reading on an e-reader. I’ve had several through the years, and now read on the original Kindle. I’m looking for an excuse to buy the Kindle 3. Maybe I can drop my Kindle and break it? It still works great—I’d just like to add the new features in the latest version of the device.

Gaining Inspiration from the Greats: Ten Tips for Great Writing – Guest Post by Cathryn Johnson

Have you ever wished that you had a writing mentor?  Someone who could show you the ropes?  Have you ever wished for advice on writing?  Inspiration when you are feeling down? 

I have found that the greatest inspiration and the most valuable advice comes from viewing the lives of those who have walked in our shoes because it is those who can truly understand us. It is those who can show us the way. So, as we as writers persevere to write on, why not turn back and gain inspiration from other writers who have struggled and eventually succeeded.

Here are ten tips from writers throughout history that I have compiled to challenge, motivate, and inspire us:

Write Simply

My aim is to put down what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way I can tell it.
Ernest Hemingway – a Nobel Prize winning writer and journalist whose greatest works include For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea

Don’t Underestimate Your Readers

No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence or whose attitude is patronizing.
E. B. White – a writer who is best remembered for her children’s books Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little

Do Not Be Verbose

As for the adjective, when in doubt leave it out.
Mark Twain – an American author and humorist best known for his books The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
Thomas Jefferson – the third President of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence

Use Common Words when Writing for the Common Man

Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
C. S. Lewis – an Anglo-Irish novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist who is best known for The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia

Tell Your Story – Don’t Worry About Your Writing

If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.
Somerset Maugham – a playwright, novelist, and short story writer who was reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s

Be Your Own Critic – Evaluate What You Write
A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
George Orwell – an English author and journalist who is best known for his satirical novella Animal Farm

Write About What You Know About

When men ask me how I know so much about men, they get a simple answer: everything I know about men, I learned from me.
Anton Chekhov – a Russian short-story writer, playwright, and physician, who is often touted as one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature

Most beginning writers (and I was the same) are like chefs trying to cook great dishes that they’ve never tasted themselves. How can you make a great (or even an adequate) bouillabaisse if you’ve never had any? If you don’t really understand why people read mysteries (or romances or literary novels or thrillers or whatever), then there’s no way in the world you’re going to write one that anyone wants to publish. (This is the meaning of the well-known expression “Write what you know.”)
Daniel Quinn – an American writer and environmentalist who is best known for his award-winning book Ishmael

Make it Original

Observe, don’t imitate.
John M. Ford – an American science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet who is best known for his Star Trek novels

Your Characters are Key

The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail. The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell, together, as quickly as possible.
Mark Twain – an American author and humorist best known for his books The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.
Stephen King – a horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy fiction writer who is best known for novels such as Carrie, Firestarter, and Christine

Be Passionate about Your Writing

No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.
George Moore – an Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist, and dramatist
====================================

AUTHOR BIO:  Cathryn Johnson is passionate about writing. She is currently a resident writer for Top Online Nursing Programs 2010, which researches areas of nursing education, online nursing programs, and healthcare. In her spare time, she enjoys travel, theater, and having fun in the sun.

photo credit: The Story Lady

Bowker Reports on the Book Industry

Bowker® assigns ISBNs, maintains Books In Print®, and provides what it calls “bibliographic information management solutions.”  The agency just released its 2009 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behaviors Annual Report. You can read a summary of the report on the Bowker Web site. 

Here is a brief excerpt from the summary:

It’s the demographics of book buyers that make the Report an essential read for any book industry maven. The report reveals income levels, age, generation and more. For example,

• More than 40% of Americans over the age of 13 purchased a book in 2009 and the average age of the American book buyer is 42.
• Women lead men in overall purchases, contributing 64% of sales. Even among detective and thriller genres, women top 60% of the sales. Where do men catch up? Fantasy titles are purchased evenly by men and women.
• Baby Boomers spend. The boomer generation is the largest purchasing generation, making up 30% of sales. Their elders – Matures – contribute 16%.
• More income doesn’t mean more book purchases. 32% of the books purchased in 2009 were from households earning less than $35,000 annual and 20% of those sales were for children’s books.
• Americans like people. The biggest selling non-fiction genre is biography – auto and otherwise.

Do these facts change your opininon about the state of the publishing today?

Thanks to July 2010 Commenters

Thank you to the 204 commenters who left 306 comments in July. Your comments extended the conversation and added value and interest, and I enjoyed replying to every one of them. Every month when I post thanks to commenters, I get questions about how I compile this list. I have explained my system in detail in Compiling Thanks to Commenters.
Top Contributor (15 comments)
Beverly Ellison (My apprentice who will be posting here starting next month responded to comments on her welcome post.)	Administrative Support Services
Major Contributor (13 comments)
Christopher Roberts	Christopher Roberts Technology
Outstanding Contributors (4-8 comments)
Jane	Recovering Deleted Files
Carolyn Howard-Johnson	How to Do It Frugally
Holly Jahangiri	It’s All a Matter of Perspective
Dominique	4 Walls and a View
Andrew Heaton	Good Honest Dollar
Bluestocking	The Bluestocking Guide
Jeremiah	Yes PDX
Krista	Krista McCrae Jewellry
Nick	Luxury Spanish Property Blog
Sabrina	Sara K Blanco Photography
Ron	Smart Trading
Significant Contributors (2-3 comments)
Cath Lawson	Cath Lawson
Helen Ginger	Straight from Hel
Karen Swim	Words for Hire
Mia	Software Business Partners
Restuty Yusnita	Shopacoholic
Robert Pendleton	Blue Water Benefits
Vinish Parikh	Storm Shadow Costumes
Aggie Villanueva	Visual Arts Junction
Angelie	Virginia Criminal Lawyer
Brian	Yo-Yo Books
celine	Custom Harley Davidson Handlebars for All
Chris	PDF Electric and Supply Company
Ed	Affordable Indiana Health Insurance
Gibbs	Kids Rolling Suitcase
Jeanne Dininni	Writers Notes
Jenny	Software Business Partners
John	Sytek Central MN
Julie	The Premier Collection
Larry	Host Nexus
Mike Rowan	etermlifeinsurance.com
Nikolay	Absorb the Web
Peter	Agriya
Sally	Sara K Blanco Photography
Steve	Flower Canvas
Important Contributors
Alex	SQL Steps
Alfred	Bruce Witchel
alice	Health Insurance Washington
Amanda	Giving Plants
Andrew Keir	Andrew Keir
Andy	Let It Grow
Angela	In His Name
Anne	Michigan DUI Defense
Anthony	Animo Para Vivir
April	Confessions of a Working Mum
Aridne	The Premier Collection
Arthur M	Uncut-Spiele
Audrey	Squidoo: Razor Pocket Rocket
Barbara	Stainless Steel Pan
Bonnie	Resin Wicker Patio Furniture Store
Brian	The Up Blog
Caroline	Top Translation
Cedric	diadema
Christina	Eden Pure Heaters
Corissa	Network Marketing Tools
Cher	Samantha Milner Blog
Christopher	8 Walls Real Estate
Claudia	Villanova U HR Certification
Cori	Well Being Universe: Alternative Health Product
Craig Williams	Adelec
Crystal Andrus	Crystal Andrus Blog
Danielle	The Premier Collection
Dave	Benzomatic Torch
Dave	Car Sat Nav World
Dave	Citronella Torches
Dave	Cordless Straighteners
Dave	Folding Camping Chair
Dave	Reciprocating Saw
Dave	Solar Torches
David	Garden Candles
David	Virginia DUI Lawyer
Deb S	Media by Sistrunk
Dennis Cheng	Baby Play Mats Store
Dina	Mother-Ease
diocelin	Art Viper
Edgar Allen	Cinesource
Elina Chong	Leveraged ETF
eric	Cambium Works
Ernest	Giving Plants
Fblack	EasyIRS.com
Francis	Global Matrix Media
Fred Black	Internet Business
Gadi	JA Law
Geoff	Cross Country Running Shoes
gnemeno	MKT Pro Realty Group
Heidi Simpson	Bpovia Internet Marketing
Henry	Credit Card Debt and Debt Consolidation Solutions
Heru Kurniawan	Golf Swing Mechanics
Ian	Giochi Gratisq
Ian	Out of Stress
Jack	Blog Hosting
Jack	Electrician Tool Pouch
jaycee	Living in the Sun
Jake	FoxPro Answers
James	Nail Polish Rack
James	Xpirt Design
Jamie	Modern Wall Company
Jan	Mortgage Sanity
Jane	Halcyon Days Salons and Spas
Jane	Outdoor Scene
Jane	Writing Children’s Books
Janet	Queen Anne Furniture
Jason	Cutsa
Jean Lassen	n/a
Jef	Law Offices of Jef Henninger
Jen	M.P. Interiors Ltd.
Jennifer	Squidoo: Purity Rings
Jennifer	Taylor Fencing
Jenny	Button Down Short Sleeve Shirts
Jimmy	Gaming 20
Jimmy Cliff	Lawyers for Business
Johan	Gratis Pengar
John	Ubscure Article Directory
John Legend	Just in Time Hotels
John Sargent	Modani
Josh	Healthish Blog
Jovit	Sytek
Kaitlyn Blacket	A&S Gifts
Katlyn	Halcyon Days Salons and Spas
Kelvin	Youngman Richardson
Kim	HGH Works
Kyle	Downriver Computer Solutions
Lee Costley	Symptoms of Alzheimer’s
Lara	Liver Disease Herbs
linda	Logo Design New Zealand
Linde	Mother-Ease
Lori	The Premier Collection
Malcolm	Bedroom Furniture Shop
Marcy	Vaniqa Cream
Mark	Projecting British Culture
Mark	UK Jobs Guide
Matt	Lose Weight Daily
Mich	Marketing with Michael S. Brown
Michael	Marketing with Michael S. Brown
Michael Stinger	Patriot Coach
Michelle	Tenant Direct
Mike	eBay PortoGear
Mike B	Global Matrix Media
Mini	Play Poker
mithun	DBS Infosoft
Nathan	World of Zune
Nick	Rajdhjani
Nicole	wwwFull
Novan	therapistca.com
Parminder	Tenant File
Patrick	Unleash Your Full Potential
Paul	Funky Fancy Dress
Paul	India Snacks
Paul	Sytek
Peter	Glenn Beck Books
Peter	Healing Emotions
Peter Harrison	Print Buying Direct
Philippa Burgess	Your Media Brand Mentor
Pietas	First Central Mortgage Funding
rasim muratovic	Slow Computer Fix
Rhea	Sunday Drive
Richard	Christmas Tree Scented Candle
Ricky	The X Views
River	CBS Custom Business Solutions
Rob	Lester Levenson’s KISS Releasing Sedona Method
Robert	Mountain Bike Shorts
Robert Vessels	Skechers Superstore
Robin Alley	Inspiration Motivation Information
Sally	Real Estate & Homes for Sale
Sally Ferguson	Sally’s Words
Sam	Folding Camping Chair
Sam	Hellraiser Costumes
Sammy	Tiki Oil Torches
Samuel	Fast Quick Weight Loss Diets
Samuel	Viagens Online
Sandy	CBS Custom Business Solutions
Sarah Lam	Writing Consultation
schimdth	Blogging with Pride
Scott	Advanced Web Marketing
Scott	Between the Lines – BookRix Blog
Sean	RNB Guitar Academy
shabana	Thomas Sabo
Shane Dayton	Master Dayton
Shanna	The Premier Collection
Sheila Walker	Maternity Clothes
Shirley Kelly	Lanterns for Less
Spot	Spot Cool Stuff
Steve	Crystal Table Lamps
Steve	Home Gym Systems
Steve	Hydration Rucksack
Steve Marino	Games Live
Stewart	We Do Web Pages
Sylvia Dickey Smith	Sylvia Dickey Smith
Thalita	Sultan Costumes
Thomas	Texas Home and Lifestyle – Houston, TX
tihiro hayasi	Blue Water Benefits
Tony	A Vital Limousine
Tori	The Premier Collection
Valor	Avital  Limousine
velharth	First Central Mortgage Funding
vince	10Articles.com
Vince	Blogging with Pride
vinusha	Nilayoram
Wilhemina Meek	Gift Bed
William	Nilayoram
Willy	Remote Access Software
Zezebel	Princess Zezebel Lair

Interview and Review

I’m featured in an interview at  Apex Reviews’ Above the Fold. Hope you click over and read it!

Apex Reviews also recently reviewed Dream or Destiny.  

Dream Or Destiny
Lillie Ammann
ISBN: 9781933869032
GASLight Publishing
Reviewed By Josee Morgan
Official Apex Reviews Rating: 5 stars

Marilee Anderson wakes one morning from a horrendous dream, one about a murder so horrific and terrifying, she could swear it was real…to her dismay, not only does she soon discover that it was – she also learns that she’s been named a suspect in the crime. So, she teams up with the victim’s brother – who finds himself similarly accused in his sister’s death – and the two of them launch their own investigation in order to solve the mystery of the gruesome homicide…if they’re not careful, though, their fevered quest to clear their names may ultimately cost them their lives…

Taut and fast-paced, Dream Or Destiny is an entertaining thriller. In it, author Lillie Ammann merges vivid characters with a twisting, tortuous storyline in fostering a page-turning mystery sure to keep readers rapt until the shocking conclusion. Furthermore, Ammann throws in just enough red herring to preserve the suspense of her tale, repeatedly tricking readers into believing that they’ve solved the mystery long before the sinister truth is finally revealed. Such a feat is not an easy one to pull off, but the engrossing appeal of Dream Or Destiny is living proof that Ammann is more than up to the task.

Surprisingly engaging, Dream Or Destiny is a highly satisfying read.

Case Study of a Life Story: Part 4 – The Result and Recommendations

Now, long after Borge started recording his life story and a little more than seven months after his first phone call to me, Borge can hold his life story in his hand and share it with those he loves. Borge and Brigitte are traveling to Germany next April to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary with Brigitte’s family in the place they met, fell in love, and married. They will give a copy of the book to each family member who attends the party. Although many of them won’t be able to read the story in English, they will be able to enjoy the photos, and English-speaking members of the family can translate.

I recently asked Borge a few questions about his experience.

Lillie: After the time, effort, and money that you spent, how satisfied are you with the results?

Borge: I’m very happy with the book. It turned out really good.

Lillie: What advice would you give to anyone else considering writing their own life story?

Borge:  Go ahead and do it. I’m really glad I wrote my book. 

Lillie: Thank you for letting me use you and your book for a case study.

Borge: You’re welcome. I hope it helps other people who want to tell their own stories.

If Borge’s story has captured your attention, you can order My Life Story: Adventures of the Great Dane from Amazon.com.  You’ll enjoy a good read, and you just might get some ideas on how to tell your own life story.

Maybe you would like to write your memoir or autobiography but don’t want to spend the amount of time and money that Borge did. You have a lot of options.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Instead of dictating the story into tapes, write your story in a word processor on your computer. Or write it in longhand and get a family member or friend to type it for you.
• If you prefer to dictate, hire an administrative professional or even a high school student to transcribe the tapes at less cost than an editor would charge.
• Before hiring a professional editor, ask a friend or relative to read your story. This first reader should be someone who is good with grammar, punctuation, and spelling. The person also must be objective and honest with you. Submitting a well-written manuscript to your editor will reduce her time and save you money.
• Use the template provided by the print-on-demand company to lay out the interior of your book. You can do this yourself in Word. The result should be adequate for a non-commercial book.
• Rather than create a custom book cover, choose a fill-in-the-blank template provided by the POD company. The companies offer a variety of stock photos for cover art, and you can probably find something suitable for your book.

Following these suggestions will allow you to produce your book in a cost-effective way. The quality will be acceptable, and you will create a priceless  legacy for future generations.

You can find more advice about writing your memoir, autobiography, or family history in Preserving Memories: How to Write a Family History. I welcome your comments and questions.

Disclosure: I received compensation from the author for editing and formatting the book, creating the cover, and providing consulting and self-publishing services. The author did not ask me to write about his book. I asked his permission to share his experiences to encourage and help others who want to write their life stories. The links to Amazon.com are affiliate links.

Case Study of a Life Story: Part 3 – Turning a Story into a Book

As I said in the previous post, the Hansens and I were excited to have a completed story, but it existed on my hard drive and on computer printouts. Borge and Brigitte wanted the story in a book to share with loved ones.

Knowing that they would want fewer than 100 copies, I explained that their best option for printing was print on demand (POD). Typically my clients print 1000 to 5000 copies through offset printing, but that generally isn’t feasible for a family history or memoir. The unit price per book is higher with print on demand than offset printing. However, the author doesn’t have to tie up a lot of cash printing an inventory of books, and there are no costs or hassles associated with storage. Books are ordered only when needed, and if readers order from the print-on-demand company, the POD company handles order processing, shipping, and customer service.

We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the various POD companies and decided on Amazon.com’s CreateSpace. Like most POD companies, CreateSpace offers templates to create the interior and cover of the book. Borge wanted to include a lot of photos, so I laid out the interior of the book in InDesign, just as I do for clients who use offset printing. When possible, I incorporated photos in the text in the appropriate place. Borge and Brigitte’s wedding photo is placed alongside the story of their wedding, and a picture of their son Jeff and a cousin eating (or more accurately playing with) the birthday cake is next to the description of his first birthday party. More photos and certificates are grouped on the pages at the end of the book.

I was a little concerned about the quality of the images. Some were quite old and of poor resolution. There were even a couple of Polaroid shots taken 40 or more years ago. I manipulated the images—changing to grayscale, cropping or resizing as needed, and adjusting the resolution within the limitations of the original pictures. Even though I pointed out the quality issue, Borge and Brigitte wanted to include the photos.

Borge also wanted a map to show all the places he had traveled in his lifetime. He drew a world map by hand and drew two lines showing his travels. A solid line marked his travels as a seaman, and a dashed line marked his travels as a soldier. I scanned the map, converted it to grayscale, cut it into two halves, and inserted the two images into facing pages at the front of the book. I formatted the rest of the pages and exported to PDF to create the file to print.

 

The Hansens didn’t want to use a fill-in-the-blank template for the cover, so Borge took a photograph of a globe, an American flag, and a picture of Borge at age 12. Yes, that means the cover image is a photo of a photo along with a couple of other items. I downloaded the cover template for a custom design to ensure I got the size and technical requirements right. I created the cover in InDesign, using Borge’s photo as the cover art, and created a PDF document for printing.

Note that the image isn’t very good here, but the print quality is outstanding.

After the text and cover were finished, my apprentice, Beverly Ellison, proofread the final document. As usual, she found a few minor errors even at this stage of production. I made the corrections and uploaded the text and cover files to the POD printer’s Web site.

Although CreateSpace allows authors to use their own ISBN numbers, we chose to have CreateSpace assign the ISBN. Borge does not intend to publish any more books and has no need to purchase his own block of numbers. 

CreateSpace approved the files but suggested that some of the photos would print better if they were a higher resolution. Although we recognized that, we could not improve the quality of old photos. We ordered a proof copy to be sure the photos were acceptable before Borge ordered copies for family and friends.

As soon as they received the proof copy, Borge and Brigitte brought it to me. All of us were very pleased with the quality. The book was gorgeous! Even the old, low-resolution photos turned out well. They obviously don’t look like high-resolution pictures in good condition, but they fit perfectly with the story.

The project was finished. We approved the proof and ordered 50 copies for Borge and Brigitte to distribute to friends and family.

In the final installment of the series, we’ll hear Borge’s reaction to the finished product and share some recommendations for others who want to write their own life story.

Case Study of a Life Story: Part 2 – Writing the Story

In the first installment of the series, I discussed my first meeting with my client Borge Hansen, who had dictated his life story into audiotapes.

I transcribed the tapes one side at a time. Understanding and spelling the names of places Borge visited and people he encountered in his world travels turned out to be a challenge. Sometimes I had to replay a small section of tape several times and then guess at the spelling. It typically took me two or three hours to transcribe a one-hour recording. Then I spent another two or three hours editing the document, trying to keep a good balance between making the book readable and maintaining the author’s voice.

When we talk, we tend to repeat favorite expressions and patterns. The spoken word doesn’t always translate well to the written page. I wanted readers to “hear” Borge when they read the words of the book, yet I wanted to eliminate the “uh-and-uhs” that we all use when we talk. I also wanted to avoid overusing his favorite expressions, which can be endearing in conversation and tedious in written narrative. The more I listened to Borge’s voice on the tapes, the better I understood him and the more comfortable I became with making changes. As with all my clients, I wanted Borge’s book to sound exactly like him—only better.

If I couldn’t understand some of the words on the tape or if I wasn’t clear on the meaning, I asked a question or typed a few question marks to show there was missing information.

After I finished transcribing and editing one side of a tape, I sent it to Borge and Brigitte. I typically do this via e-mail, but they preferred that I fax the documents to them. They reviewed the documents, made manual corrections, then faxed the pages with changes back to me.

I made the corrections, read the manuscript again, and made a few more corrections. Then I sent the revised manuscript back to Borge and started on the next side or the next tape.

After both sides of all five tapes had been transcribed, edited, and reviewed, I combined all the documents into a single manuscript. Then I read the story from beginning to end, adding transitions to ensure the story flowed smoothly, and inserting chapter breaks. I did more editing, especially at the beginning of the book as I had a better understanding of Borge and his voice than I did when I started.

I put the entire manuscript on a CD, which Borge took to a copy shop to have printed. Borge and Brigitte then reviewed the printout and made some corrections and changes. I incorporated their changes into the document and edited it once again. At that point, I discovered a few discrepancies, such as a name spelled one way in chapter two and the same name spelled slightly differently in chapter five. So I called Borge to ask him questions, then made the corrections based on his answers.

Finally, we had a written story! Next step: turn that story into a book.

Case Study of a Life Story: Part 1 – The Beginning

When people contact me about publishing their memoir or family history, I always encourage them to do so for a family legacy. I make sure they understand that it’s highly unlikely their story will be published by a large New York publisher and distributed in bookstores around the country—unless they were famous (or infamous). However, every child, grandchild, and future descendant will treasure the family history or life story of their parent, grandparent, or ancestor, and I’m a firm believer that everyone should leave that legacy.

My e-book Preserving Memories: How to Write a Family History explains how individuals and families can tell their stories, but the project can seem overwhelming to many people. I thought a case study of a real client might encourage others to write their own stories as well as provide practical advice on how to do it. This is by no means the only way to write a memoir or family history, and it probably isn’t the best way for you. I hope, however, that it will open your eyes to possibilities. If you think you can’t tell your story because you’re not a writer, you will be inspired by this example of someone who isn’t a writer who wrote and published his life story.

Last fall, I received a phone call from Borge Hansen. He said he was looking for someone to turn ten hours of audiotapes into a book. Borge was born in Denmark, joined the merchant marine at an early age, and traveled around the world as a seaman for five years. He came to the United States and overstayed his visa for five years, went back to Denmark, and returned to the US legally. Borge joined the Army and served nearly 24 years in the military. Along the way he became a United States citizen, a husband, and a father.

Many people have told him, “You should write a book,” but he didn’t take it seriously until his son, Jeff, encouraged him to write about his fascinating life.

Since English is a second language for Borge, he wasn’t comfortable writing his story. However, he loves to talk, so he simply told his story aloud and recorded it on tape. He started at the beginning of his life and continued chronologically up to the present. After he recorded, he and his wife Brigitte listened to the tapes and made notes of things that needed to be added or corrected. When he finished, he had almost ten hours of tape telling the story of his life.

However, he had no idea how to take those audiotapes and turn them into a book. So he went online and looked for someone to help him. I don’t know what keywords Borge and Brigitte searched for, but my Web site appeared in the search results. They contacted some other writers and editors but wanted someone local in San Antonio, Texas, so they continued down the list until they found me.

When Borge called me the first time, he said he had been to my Web site and “printed out and read every page.” He told me about his tapes and said he wanted me to turn them into a book. I suggested he could hire a transcriptionist for a lower fee than my standard hourly rate. I would then edit the Word document created from the transcribed tapes. Borge said he would prefer for me to do everything, so we set an appointment.

When Borge and Brigitte came to my office, we spent a good while discussing their expectations. Borge wanted to tell his story for his family and friends. He was willing to self-publish and didn’t expect to sell books in bookstores or get rich and famous from his book. Borge and Brigitte gave me a check for the deposit along with the tapes and the notes to get started.

We were all excited to begin writing the story.

There’s Always a Choice

My last post about spam generated some interesting comments.

One commenter suggested that spammers have to spam because they can’t afford to pay for backlinks and have no other way to rank well in the search engines. I totally disagree with that position and wrote a long comment in rebuttal. I got on my soapbox so much I decided to move the soapbox to a post instead of a comment.

There are three specific reasons that I disagree with the theory that anyone has to spam.

Reason #1. I don’t think spamming is going to get them to the first page or anywhere else in Google or any other search engine. Few if any of their comments will ever appear on any blog because they will be caught by spam filters. If the comments do appear anywhere, it will be on sites that don’t do a good job of screening for spam. No one achieves a high page rank by allowing spam comments, so the only places where spam is likely to slip through won’t help the spammers with the search engines.  

Reason #2. It’s not necessary to spam to get decent rankings in the search engines. I have never spammed anyone in my life, and I have not gone out of my way to optimize my site for any keywords. This is a hobby for me, so I don’t work on getting traffic. Yet this blog is a PR4 and ranks well in the search engines. For example, posts on this blog are #1 on Google for “freelance editing rates” and in the top 10 for “creating fictional characters.” I figured that out only after getting lots of comments on those posts on a regular basis and deciding to see where the visitors were coming from. When I looked at Google Analytics, I realized that a large percentage of people coming to those posts come from search engines. I haven’t checked out any other terms, so it’s possible there are more terms for which this blog ranks well. If I had worked on search engine optimization, I’m sure I could rank high for a number of search terms. I’ve done it by providing  content that at least some people want to read and by leaving relevant comments on other blogs. I do those things because I enjoy doing them; fortunately, they also happen to be good SEO techniques.

Reason #3. Aside from reasons #1 and #2, everyone has the freedom to choose. No one is holding a gun to the spammers’ heads saying, “Spam or I’ll shoot.” Even then, the spammer has a choice. I’m sure most of us would choose to save our lives, but we could make the other choice. There is always a choice. It’s possible, though I don’t think likely, that the choice is either to do something wrong or to fail in business. If those were my only choices, I would rather fail in business than to do something unethical to succeed.

One of my pet peeves is to read in a novel:  “She had no choice but to …” Perhaps she shoplifts food because she sees no other way to feed her family. She thinks she has no choice, but she can choose whether to let the family go hungry or to shoplift food.  Shoplifting may be the best choice she can see in the situation, but it is a choice. In most situations, there are other, less obvious, options that we may not be able to see. But even we see only two extreme options, we do have a choice.

No, spammers don’t have to spam any more than the heroine in the hypothetical novel has to shoplift.

I’ll get off my soapbox now and see what you have to say about choices. Do you think there are circumstances where “she had no choice”?

photo credit: fsse8info

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