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A paradigm has been described as “A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them.”

Each writer comes at their work with a certain paradigm at work. Each writer will write with a set of assumptions about the world around them, they will subconsciously include concepts and values they find imperative. In the broadest perspective possible each writer will express their worldview in some form or fashion through what they write. This may not happen in every piece, however when the entire body of work is evaluated carefully it becomes clear what the author truly believes to be true, noble and right.

In the realm of writing this concept is known as Context. This means that the author of any work lodges certain absolutes in virtually all areas of story construction. The story may include the writer’s philosophy of politics or their view of religion.

A strong example of this was The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. While the story is fictional, Mr. Brown confirms that he believes much of what he wrote to be true. Many have appreciated the storytelling ability of Dan Brown, but have a hard time accepting the context and assumptions of his work.

As a writer of faith it is quite likely the core values you possess will show up in ways both intentional and unplanned. J.R.R. Tolkien made a point of saying that his faith was not the intended context of his storytelling. Yet, the pages of the Lord of the Rings trilogy were filled with Judeo Christian values and attributions to the power and sacrifice of God which are consistent with his personal faith. I would argue that this fiction writer could not write something that denied his internal paradigm.

Most fiction writers are not trying to proselytize, they simply present a story and in the process their belief system leaks onto the pages. It’s to be expected.

From an historical perspective a look at world event at the time a classic literary work was published can assist us in learning the context of the work and the paradigm of the author.

World events and our personal response are a unique combination that affects the context of our writing. If we are struggling with certain local, region, national or even global issues we will likely find the context of our circumstances coupled with out beliefs will alter our writing and the assumptions we include.

For a serious student of literature an understanding of context can help decode a sense of the angst or joy the author was experiencing when writing their classic.

Writers are very much in demand these days because of the rising demands for their online content. The pay is oftentimes better and the hours are not so long. Many even freelance full-time.

Freelance writing extends to several different categories. Before you begin looking for work, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want to get credit for your writing. If you insist on a byline, you may have difficulty finding a lot of paying jobs. Byline jobs are out there if you look. However, the most money to be made is from working as a web ghostwriter.

There are several different categories of freelance writing. When you see the term “content writing” you will normally be providing text for an existing or new website. Your writing will have to be engaging and clear for website visitors. Article writers concentrate on providing articles for websites, newsletters and blogs. Generally, articles for the web are between 400 and 800 words each. Any more than that is difficult for readers to sit through while looking at a computer screen. Copywriters are challenged with putting readers in the mood to buy. They write copy for Internet sales letters and marketing sites. Ebook ghostwriters provide clients with full-length books on a variety of topics.

Freelance writers need to be professional in their online presence. This means spell-checking all writing, including e-mails to clients. It is also a good idea to get an e-mail address that is specifically used for your writing. A personal e-mail address with a goofy handle will make you appear unprofessional. Your first and last name or a combination thereof is a good choice for your web writing e-mail address.

Writing for the Internet has a few differences from writing essays in school or writing for print magazines. Readers online have short attention spans, and you’ll need to keep your sentences short and your paragraphs clear.

The other difference is the use of “keywords” in certain writing assignments. Keywords are words that have been selected by your client to be used in the article. These words have been selected because they are Internet search terms and your client wants their website to show up for those search terms. Keyword articles will require you to use the word or phrase a certain number of times in the article. Sometimes it can be difficult to use the words without making it sound forced. Experienced web writers have developed ways to make the keywords flow naturally into their articles.

Below are some of the areas and industries where freelance writers are needed. Read on and find the freelance path that is right for you.

MAGAZINES

Freelance writers are frequently hired to contribute articles for magazines. In fact, this is one area where you can actually get regular assignments as a freelance writer especially if clients find your work good. The rate for every article is quite generous especially if it involves interviewing. Some writers even kill two birds with one stone by also taking photographs for the interview. This way, the client also pays for the pictures that accompany your article.

NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENT

Another area where you can get freelance work is the newspapers, where editors often hire freelance correspondents (sometimes called “stringers”). This is especially true with areas that are outside the city. Newspapers find it cheaper to hire correspondents and pay for their services than to send their own staff writers to cover an event.

ONLINE WRITERS

As mentioned before, online writers are in demand nowadays because writers are needed to update website content. Magazines that maintain their own websites hire freelance writers just to do online content. In fact, not all the write ups you see on the Internet can be found in the magazines and not all articles in the magazines are used for online content.

PR WRITING

Public relations writing is a cost-effective way to advertise products. Because of this, companies hire writers to do their PR write ups for them.

BLOGGING

Blogging is yet another way to make money as a freelance writers. Blogs are an ever-growing form of Internet media. Blog writers generally provide their own content. You can make money as a freelancer by starting your own blog and posting to it daily. If you love to write, you can start several blogs at once and multiply your earnings. Once you become an experienced blogger, you can apply for blogging jobs and post for other people.

GHOSTWRITING

Many freelancers find success with ghostwriting. When you work as a freelance ghostwriter you provide writing services for clients who will then use the work as their own. Ghostwriting is a lucrative opportunity, especially when you focus on web writing. For the most part, the Internet is a text and image based platform. Companies and individuals who run websites constantly need text to make their websites attractive to visitors. Since writing is something that a lot of people would rather not do, this leaves plenty of opportunities for people who love to write.

Once you’ve gotten a few web writing assignments under your belt, you can decide what type of web writing suits you best. You can find work on writing message boards, freelance writing job sites, such as .FreelanceWriting.com, and classified ad sites like Craigslist.org. Whenever you apply for a job, make sure to include your contact information and a few well-selected writing samples.

Every once in a while a writer comes along that demands we take notice; one that avails just the right meter, tempo, and rhythm; one that can engulf us in a story and keep us glued throughout 200 pages; one that offers a style sure to be emulated by his aspiring peers, both of his generation and generations to come.

Nelson Pahl is just that writer.

With simultaneous debut releases, entitled Bee Balms & Burgundy and Two for Tuesday, Pahl flexes a literary muscle short in supply today&ndashone that whispers, “legend in the making.”

Although the hardcover version of Bee Balms & Burgundy won’t hit stores until March, I had the pleasure of reading the pre-release, limited edition eBook version, which is available at .NelsonPahl.com and .IndieMill.com. There, you can even read a sample chapter, to whet your appetite.

Bee Balms & Burgundy is a charming story of latent lifelong love and the quest to conquer all that stands in its way. Nick May is a successful thirty-two-year-old entrepreneur living in Vancouver. He breaks off an explosive, distrusting eleven-month live-in relationship just before he travels home to St. Paul to see his widowed mother. The relationship leaves him cynical about love, to say the least. Once in St. Paul, he discovers next-door neighbor and lifelong pal Mia Lawson, 30, has a couple secrets she’s been dying to share with him. One, unbeknownst to Nick, is that she’s now a post-mastectomy breast cancer survivor, still hoping to conquer her disease. The second secret levels Nick even more.

Pahl not only delves into the oft-taboo topic of breast cancer with literary vigor, but he also revels in it, astutely capturing the female emotions attached to such a dreadful experience. The chemistry between his two main characters borders on the divine, as we ride along upon an always charming but sometimes heartbreaking chariot through Nicky and Mia’s sensual and ethereal yet trying world.

While Indie Nation Magazine bills the book as “…the best love story you’ll read this year,” I beg to differ, slightly; I’ll argue that it might be the best love story you ever read. Bee Balms courageously delves into a subject today’s “socially conscious” novelists won’t go near, and it treats the topic with grace, dignity, depth, and, yes, even endearing sensuality.

Pahl is a wonderful example of why some of America’s best writers now insist on writing for independent presses: A major publishing house would only shackle his rich and witty writing style and subdue his “outside-the-box” storytelling.

Yet, Pahl’s strict and uncommon literary discipline&ndashalong with his hand for sensuous descriptive writing and well-crafted dialogue&ndashmake him one of the very best writers in today’s fiction scene, indie lit or mainstream. His concise and fluid prose grip the reader from the onset, and then move him or her through the story with liberating ease and optimum intrigue. Through his articulate and warm first-person narrative, we see, feel, hear, smell, and taste everything; we live inside his fictional world; we are the characters.

Nelson Pahl’s writing style single-handedly restores my faith in today’s literature. Consider Bee Balms & Burgundy an essential inclusion to any A-list catalogue.

And, do yourself a favor: Say you read him before the world knew about him&ndashor, before he wins a Pulitzer.

Landmark Status is a wonderfully funny book. Alan Rolnick uses Miami as the backdrop, and real estate as the weapon, to take the reader on a madcap journey that I can guarantee you will enjoy. When I put the put the book down and wrote the review, I just knew I wanted to talk to this guy. Anyone that can create the outlandish characters and amazingly funny scenes that I encountered in Landmark Status, has to be a pretty interesting person to chat with. Alan agreed to an interview.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I grew up in Newburgh, New York, a little city on the Hudson River. It was a beautiful place, old, proud and mostly unaware it had been rendered obsolete, cut loose from history’s moorings and set adrift by changing times. As a kid, I played in an abandoned brewery, took bus trips to Yankee Stadium and collected autographs from Hector Lopez and Moose Skowron (we never could get close enough to Mickey and Yogi). One time, a big kid sat on my hand for the entire bus ride, leaving corduroy-striped welts that lasted a week, but it really wasn’t his fault I couldn’t throw strikes.

In my teens, Beatlemania struck. My brother Paul and I decided to be rock stars, saving for guitars with car wash money, playing battles of the bands on the firemen’s picnic circuit. Paul was an outstanding guitarist and singer, destined to become an award-winning producer in New York. I wasn’t, but joined him there after graduating from Johns Hopkins with a major in Frisbee. Together, we made brilliant recordings that few heard, earned fifty bucks opening for Buffy St. Marie at Philharmonic Hall, and fortuitously took the equipment home instead of leaving it for next weekend’s gig at the Mercer Arts Center (which collapsed later that night).

Taking up journalism to put myself through my career, I became the guy at the New York Times who used computers to rank college and pro football teams. In 1983, the human pollsters awarded the Miami Hurricanes the National Championship, but my computer preferred Auburn. I’d been to Miami, fallen in love with the place, and decided it was time to go to law school (as my family had urged since I was six, usually with comments like, “he talks so much, he’s gonna be a lawyer”). The idea of living where balmy breezes caress you on the way out the door in December was particularly appealing.

Atoning for my computer’s mistake, I learned torts in locked classrooms and pulled all-nighters on the Law Review, winning induction into the Society of Wig and Robe (which, fortunately, required wearing neither). After twenty years of schooling, they put me on the day shift, working at one of Miami’s top legal sweatshops, representing robber barons in complex cases in federal court. Years later, I switched sides and began representing Davids against Goliaths in class actions.

Eventually, I decided it was time to throw a rope around the places I’d met and the people I’d been, and set out to write the kind of story I liked to read.

What is it with attorneys, are you all closet authors? In the past year I have read at least a dozen books by people in the profession, oh and they have all been very good. I have come to the conclusion that every lawyer must have a book in them.

Jeez, are there that many? Seriously, though, lawyers have to write to eat, and they’re trained to turn “fact patterns” into stories. Many of those stories are stranger than fiction, and they do make you yearn to come up with your own. Storytelling is crucial in litigation, where winning requires framing compelling themes, keeping witnesses in character, and distilling every legal argument to the pithiest possible paragraph. One classmate used to say he aimed for hearing the imagined words, “so, f___ you,” after every sentence of written argument. The unifying experience of all law students is fatigue, so I’m not surprised he’s forgotten he said it.

Where did the idea for Landmark Status come from?

Miami’s a frontier town, where outsiders easily become insiders, bellying up to the bar, tipping back a mojito and quickly learning there’s no secret handshake. I’d never been in such a place, and my legal training had dropped me off in its inner sanctum. There, I worked and tangled with kaleidoscopically colorful movers and shakers who were busy with Miami’s principal business, buying and selling the same dirt over and over again. I also got involved in litigating some of Miami’s more infamous Ponzi schemes. Having become a fan of Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry, I wanted to do my part to honor this unique, subtropical nuthouse. It just had to involve a mad scramble for a piece of property, set against a backdrop of investment fraud. And it had to have a lawyer in the middle, doing real lawyering, citing real cases.

How long did it take you to bring this project to fruition?

Five years. It just seems longer.

I was very impressed with Landmark Status, I love the dark humor. Are you happy with the way it turned out?

First of all, thank you for the kind words. It’s always hard to know if the material is working! And yes, I’m very happy with the way the book turned out. Dark humor seems to grow wild here, a place so bright and beautiful it takes your breath away, even when random catastrophe is poised to strike, well, randomly. Miami is a city built by people on the run, from the cold, from persecution or personal dead ends, for whom making it to (and in) this magic city tends to foster a sort of self-absorbed sunstroke. It’s a narcissistic sense of safety and triumph you can feel merely by turning your face to the sun, until reality’s sudden impact shatters your daydream. This happens a lot in Landmark Status, starting with the wrecking ball in the first scene.

As the characters careen around Miami, where most folks are from somewhere else and ethnic politics dominates, they also collide with more serious questions about the American Creed and what’s happened to it in our fractious times. Everyone’s immigrant story gets told, but Delia, and to a lesser extent, Benjy and Raj, are the only ones thinking about what it all means. I really didn’t set out to explore Miami’s own origin story, how it came to be, who built it, and who came here when or why. But, as it unfolded, the story became a little more like “Hawaii” and a little less like “Hawaii Five-O” (tire-squealing car chase through Opa-locka notwithstanding). Looking back, I think giving the historical perspective makes it a richer story. It also means I don’t have to do it again.

Most authors style their characters after real people, so how much Benjy comes from Alan?

Benjy’s a lot more mellow than I am, for one thing. I’d like to think we share the almost unspoken inner sense of right and wrong that propels him, even though he makes light of it. I’m proud of him for that, because swimming against the tide he’s in isn’t easy. He also tends to withhold judgment a lot longer than I would, and suffers fools much more gladly than I do. He hates to lose, though, and will do what’s necessary to win, and we’re very alike in that respect. I enjoy his easygoing tolerance of the shenanigans of the connivers all around him. I have no idea where he got that. And that trust fund thing? Completely made up. All donations will be gratefully accepted.

Are we going to see more Benjy adventures in your next book?

Benjy will definitely be back. Once I figure out how to do this whole web publishing thing, clues to his whereabouts will be provided at my website (Alan Rolnick).

I remarked in my review that Landmark Status would transition nicely onto the silver screen, what are your thoughts?

It’s great to hear you suggest that. From the beginning, I’ve thought Landmark Status would make a smashing film (with apologies to the Spanish Inquisition sketch). I see pictures when I set a scene, and I’m looking forward to rendering them in pixels as well as words. Of course, destroying all those cars costs money, so we won’t be doing this one on a shoestring. Somewhere on my desk, there’s a legal pad devoted to casting choices and music cues. If it were a few years ago, I’d be chasing Dustin Hoffman to play Benjy, but I hope he’ll be interested in playing Benjy’s father Bernard, the legendary zoning lawyer and dealmaker.

I understand that you are currently working on a film project, can you tell us a little about that?

I’m Executive Producer of the film “Canvas,” which is in theaters now and will be out on DVD early next year. Produced by Sharon Lane (a force of nature, to whom I’m privileged to be married), it stars Joe Pantoliano, Marcia Gay Harden and Devon Gearhart. The film has won a number of festival awards, as well as praise for its realistic portrayal of a family struggling to cope with mental illness. Sharon fought for years to overcome studio apathy toward this indie film and first-time Director Joe Greco. We ultimately raised the money and shot it ourselves in South Florida during the legendary hurricane season of 2005, which almost blew us all out to sea. Sharon has another drama in development that also plays to her expertise in managing and working with young actors. I’m onboard for business and legal affairs, and just might Exec Produce this one, too. I’m angling for a comedy after that.

You obviously are a multi faceted person, lawyer, movie maker, and now author. What do you do with all your ’spare’ time?

I honestly don’t have much spare time. I’m usually fighting to carve some out to keep up with our overbooked son, Max, who’s busy with school, piano lessons, soccer and baseball.

Alan, I want to thank you very much for taking the time to talk with me, and once again congratulations on creating a wonderful book, I hope that I see it on the NYT best seller list in the very near future.

Thanks, Simon. It was a pleasure.

As a writer you may have ever felt overwhelmed by a blank sensation when trying to write an article. To eliminate the problem you may try to follow the tips in this article. Ok, let’s start it. I don’t want to waste your invaluable time.

First, if you have a collection of private label contents, take a look at them. Try to find an article that covers similar subject with the article you want to write. For example if you want to write an article about badminton you can look for an article about tennis. Both have many similarities. They are games that require racket and net to play. In addition they can be played single or double. Just change the word “tennis” to “badminton” and change any inappropriate words. For example you may have to change the word “tennis ball” to “shuttlecock”.

Another example is if you want to create an article about restaurants in your city you can use an article about restaurants in Kuala Lumpur or New York or any other cities. The key here is the more similarities exist the easier your writing task will be.

What will be easier if you want to create an article about “web writer”, using an article with title “Hire a Web Designer” or “Hire a Broker”? I believe you are agree with me to choose the first one because compared with a broker there are more similarities between a web writer and a web designer. Both of them, a writer and a web designer, normally serve people who are running a business on the internet which means their customers are more likely have similar problems.

In case you can not find an article that cover similar subject like that just open one of your private label articles. There are common titles which can be used for various subjects. Here are some of them:

How To Find …

The Secret To …

The Basics of …

The Benefits of …

Mistakes To Avoid When …

and so on…

Just open one of them no matter whether the subject is related with yours or not.

Now you can alter the article. For example, below is a private label article about cigar:

—– START —–

4 Tips for Lighting a Cigar

For new smokers, lighting a cigar can seem as daunting as learning to choose a good single. Here are four tips to guide you in lighting a cigar for the first time.

—– END —–

If you want to write an article about web hosting you can alter the article above so it becomes:

—– START —–

Several Tips For Finding a Reliable Web Hosting Provider

For beginners, choosing a reliable hosting service can be difficult because there are a huge number of hosting companies with different hosting plans in the market right now. Here are some important factors you should consider in deciding which one to choose.

—– END —–

After you have finished several first sentences like that you should be able to finish your article easily. You can do this method again and again for any subjects. Collecting many private label contents can also be very beneficial to you because besides you will have good quality contents to get the creative juices flowing you will be able to take some sentences from here and there.

Finally although you can just “search and replace” for some words it is advisable to take it a step further in order to make your article really unique. Do not forget also to check your article to make sure it does not contain wrong information.

Ask any published book author about writing a book, and they will tell you it’s a monumental task. The process is long, drawn out, and grueling. Even if you enjoy writing &ndash and don’t mind writing on the same subject for an extended period — the writing process will, undoubtedly, exhaust you. Getting your book published, however, will take even more time and effort than writing the thing in the first place.

Are you thinking about writing a book? Have you already written one? Do you wonder how to get your book published? If you so, read on. Here are some hand-picked tips on how to publish your book.

WRITING YOUR BOOK

To write a successful book you need to start out with some original thought. You probably have plenty of originality, but you may have trouble creating a coherent flow of ideas and information that the public will digest. The first step is to create the skeleton (or blueprint) of your book. You need to organize your thoughts into a progression of chapters.

If you are writing a non-fiction book, start with a table of contents. Write chapter headings and sub-headings. Organize your chapters so you build each chapter upon one another. If you can brainstorm more chapter headings than you will use, you will find it easier to fill your book with a series of short articles that flow into one another.

If you are writing fiction, you will need more of a storyboard. You will need to create cause and effect as well as character sketches. To make your story coherent your characters will need to react to events. Their reactions should become predictable as your readers get into the story. You may need to create some situations for your characters to introduce their traits to the reader.

These are general guidelines on how to construct your book. The complete process will be much more involved as you move closer to finding out how to get your book published. Even after you are finished with the bulk of the content, your goal to publish your book involves a lot more work.

GETTING YOUR BOOK INTO PRINT

The next step to get your book published is finding a publisher. Both the Internet and your local library have many resources. You can tap into these resources to find the best publisher to publish your book. After a series of queries and correspondence with potential publishers, you may get an invitation to submit your manuscript. Then the work begins.

A publisher is very experienced in finding marketable books. He knows what it will take to get your book to sell. Don’t be offended when a book editor tears your writing apart, as this may be a positive sign that the publisher is interested in your book. Expect to enter into a close relationship of compromise and change with the editor as you rework what you have already painstakingly written. When you are finished, you will have a readable, clean, and correct manuscript, ready for print.

The road to getting a book published is a long one, but it is well worth the effort. Trust yourself, and trust the publisher to create a beautiful masterpiece. Don’t be discouraged if several publishers are not interested in your book. You may have to self-publish your first book, and then again, your book may eventually get accepted right away. Good luck and enjoy the process.

When Warner Books, one of the world’s largest publishing companies, published my first book, The Angry Clam, back in 1998, the most common question I was asked was, “What were you smoking when you wrote this book?” This was quickly followed by the second most common question, “How in the world did a 40-page, hand-written book with bad drawings of a clam get published?”

The answer to the first question was easy - pure Turkish Hashish - just kidding. (Actually, I awoke in the middle of the night with the idea of a ticked off clam running through my head, then feverishly spent the wee hours putting a frantic pencil to paper.) The answer to the second question takes a little bit more explaining but I believe it contains one of the essential keys (and secrets) to getting published.

The story of how I got The Angry Clam published is a brief one so I will share it with you now:

After I awoke from my long morning nap after having spent the previous night beginning and completing my first ever attempt at literature, I reviewed what I wrote, kind of liked it, and then decided to show it to a few friends. To my amazement, they all thought it was hysterically funny - but in a good way. (They were actually laughing WITH the book not at it!)

Inspired by this, I purchased the supplies necessary to create a more presentable copy of the book - like giving it a cover and hand-writing and drawing each page in pen - and then went to my local Kinko’s to get 50 copies printed up. The following day, with my 50 copies in hand, I decided to go to the owner of a neighborhood bookstore to see if he would be interested in selling The Angry Clam on consignment. To my delight, he looked at the book, laughed, and then said sure, why not, he would take 5 copies. (I believe he was half taking pity on me.)

Unbelievably, within 24 hours, I received a call from the owner asking me for 10 more copies. He then explained how the staff of the bookstore had bought the books and they were now passing them around for everyone to read. I brought over the 10 copies and they were immediately placed in the “Staff Favorite” section near the front register. Incredibly, I began receiving weekly orders for the books.

Encouraged by this, I then went to the owner of another neighborhood bookstore, described the tale of what was happening down the street, and he too agreed to take a few copies. Astonishingly, a very similar phenomenon happened. So this was great - I now had 2 local bookstores consistently selling and promoting The Angry Clam. It was at this point that I stumbled upon the very simple idea that would eventually get big New York literary agents and then several major publishing houses to pay The Angry Clam notice.

Placing a call to the owners of the 2 bookstores, I very politely asked them if they would each write a brief letter describing the “phenomenon” of the The Angry Clam at their store. Thankfully, they both agreed and within a day I had my two letters.

Armed with these testaments of The Angry Clam’s selling prowess, I was ready to see just how far my little book could go. So I purchased a copy of the Writer’s Guide to Literary Agents, picked about a dozen agents, and then mailed out a copy of the book and the 2 letters to each one of them.

What happened next has made me a legend in my own mind. Within 2 weeks I received calls from 5 of the agents - each wanting to represent The Angry Clam. After carefully selecting one of them, it took less than a month to get my first of several publishing offers.

What happened after the book was bought by Warner Books is a tale for another day. (The Angry Clam eventually hit the shelves of bookstores all over the United States and even rose into the Hot 100 on Amazon.

But the moral of The Angry Clam story is this - in the publishing world, a book’s perceived ability to sell is king. Prove to the publishing companies that your books can sell on a small scale and they just might take a chance that your books will sell on a large scale. What have they got to lose? Unknown authors rarely get more than a tiny advance and the cost to print up the first 2,000 books is nothing to a large company.

After all, Publishing is just a business.

As a successful author interested in building a business off your book, you must understand the difference between features and benefits. Features are tangible and benefits are intangible.

Features describe what a product is or has based on physical/tangible characteristics. On the other hand, benefits are feeling oriented.

Remember that the reason that people come to the Internet is because they have wants and desires and want to be satisfied. This is the *sole* reason that people come to the Internet. The key for you is to market to people’s problems and present yourself as the only credible solution.

Once you know your market’s problems, you will create a list of benefits that they will experience from dealing with you. You want to distill this list of benefits down to their very essence, which gives you your key benefit. You do this by playing the Which Means What? game with yourself (choose a benefit and ask yourself Which means what? to get down to the base benefit)

Your assignment is to record all the features and benefits that your product will provide to your target audience.

What is the difference between Features and Benefits? Here are some Definitions to help!

Definitions

Feature = What a product IS or HAS

Advantage = What your product DOES

Benefit = How your product HELPS you

Example

Let’s look at the example of a pen. Let’s say you design a new fangled pen using a proprietary ink formula that you have developed.

Feature: Has non-blotching ink

Advantage: Won’t leave blotches of ink and hence smudge marks on a page

Benefit: Saves you the frustration of making a mess by smudging blotches of ink. Saves you the frustration of trying to get your ink to flow properly. (Which means what?) Saves you money since you don’t have to purchase pens as often.

You are now going to create a Benefits vs. Features comparison for your book.

An Exercise:

List every possible feature and benefit that your product offers your target group. Make sure that includes everyone. The key with successful marketing is to focus on the benefits, especially those that make you different in the market place, while meeting your market’s needs.

Remember, the most successful marketers in the world sell feelings. This is because they know the secret to making money from other people: People buy based on the emotional experience it creates for them and then justify their purchase rationally.

Position all the benefits of what your book, product or service does for someone. Then distill the key benefits that you offer the market place.

When you discuss your benefits use lots of subheads and bullets in the copy that you use in order to position them powerfully.

In fact, if you can get testimonials from people you have helped, have them list all of the problems you have helped them resolve and them look at the benefits of solving each of those. Have those writing testimonials for you key on the problems and the corollary benefits.

This is the best way of selling feelings. Focus on the benefits of your book, product and service and let others tell stories about how you solved their specific problems.

When it comes to meeting deadlines, one way to manage your timetable effectively is to divide the large jobs and farm them out to several freelancers.

Let’s say you’ve been awarded a writing job to write an e-book on childcare with 10 chapters for $2,000 over a 45 day period of time. Bid out each chapter separately among 10 freelancers and allocate, say, $100 for each chapter over a 25 day period. This way you don’t have to worry about the deadline because you’ve given yourself a 20-day buffer and you stand to earn $1,000 for your efforts.

If you are going to handle a project in this manner, then you must be able to rewrite the articles to make sure the entire book “flows” seamlessly and that the same style and tone of voice is consistent throughout.

1. Cultivate a strong talent pool

In many cases, this is the most important asset you need to subcontract work to others. Here are a few additional tips to help you out in this regard:

a) Know how to hire a good coder

There are four things you should look at when hiring a coder &ndash their resume, their samples, their rating, and their client testimonials.

The last two are critical because it is easy to prepare a bogus resume and samples, especially on the Internet.

If you look at those four things and feel you have found the person you are looking for, hire them.

b) Know how to keep them happy

A happy coder always delivers better work than an unhappy one, given the same skill level. You keep your freelancers happy by dealing in a polite and professional manner, paying them on time and understanding them when they fall or falter (and believe me, they will miss a deadline now and then). Give them respect and they will give you their best.

2. Nurture your current roster of clients

Here is the main reason why quality counts &ndash it is quality, more than anything else, that will make your customers come running back to you again and again. Always put a premium on quality. First-class work is sometimes hard to find, especially given a limited budget. If you consistently deliver first-class work, you assure yourself and your freelancers of a prosperous business well into the future.

There is a popular saying in sales which says that “It is eight times easier to get new business from your current clients than it is from cold calls.” In other words, make sure you ask your clients for referrals from people they know or work with who may need the service you provide.

Some freelancers hesitate to ask for referrals because they feel it is unprofessional. They feel asking for referrals is like asking for a favor. That is not the case. If you have faith in your ability to deliver good work you are actually helping your client because of your willingness to provide quality work to their friends or business associates. That will reflect well on them too. It is a two-way street.

My publishing journey has been unusual enough that friends and publicists alike have suggested I write about it, especially the part about being a man writing love stories in a woman’s genre. But it’s not just the genre. The whole publishing and agency world I encountered was dominated by women. Sound interesting enough? Okay. There’s just one little hitch. Now that I’m sitting in front of the keyboard, I find that there’s not much to tell that’s dramatic. Most of the women editors treated me fairly, and I worked well with the ones who gave me room to turn in.

If anything, being a man may have given me a certain advantage, you know, from a novelty standpoint. Not only was I a male engineer (of all things!), with no detectable writing credentials, daring to show up with a love story, but I was touting it as a love story unlike any other, one written of love at a higher level. Well, at least it made them look up from their keyboards. Even from clear across the Internet’s vast ether, I could feel their skeptical smiles.

I did have advantages related to temperament. Women have always been my epitome of beauty, and I have long admired the feminine spirit and disposition, the nobility of her biological calling, the sophistication of her romantic instinct. As a result, I have always worked well with women. Plus I am grateful. Everything I ever learned about romantic love at a higher level I learned from a woman.

The other advantage I had was acquired: I had studied love stories for decades and I knew the intricacies and jargon of the genre. At one point, an editor who was intrigued by my sample chapters started an e-mail conversation that escalated to a phone discussion. I knew this was curiosity bringing opportunity to my door. She was a Romance novelist as well as a Romance editor, so I was nervous as I dialed her office number. I could tell that she was surprised then delighted to meet a man who could discuss nuances of love story plot and characterization ranging from risk factors in portraying heroines as less than physically perfect, to pet theories for best lead up to denouement. I knew before the conversation was over that she would offer a contract. Not only did I address some reservations she had about my characters, but I had done so in the professional jargon she knew. As a result, she knew she could work with me for the editorial portion of the project.

With all this said, let me offer an opinion based on what I experienced. To the question about whether the bar is higher for a man writing in this genre, I would say yes, at least in a certain sense. If you are a man who writes mediocre romances, then I think it will be harder for you to get published than a mediocre woman writer. But if you are a man producing material that matches the top ten percent of the genre, then the reservations that woman editors naturally have about you won’t matter. You will get the consideration you deserve. Know the audience you are targeting. That counts for a lot. And be sure you can defend the theory you have chosen for how you spun your characters and how you wove your plot.