Are YOU Sabotaging Yourself?

I am ALWAYS in my best professional behavior when writing articles. But today I am going to take off my professional writer hat and tell it like it is. I may even take off my gloves because I am so angry right now…

I get so frustrated when I hear people moan about having been “ripped off” and “scammed” when they themselves asked for nothing but to be taken advantage of.

What would you expect to get from going down to the bad side of town at 2:00 in the morning to buy something? Whether you wanted a watch, a “designer” purse or a diploma…you would expect two things: 1) the real possibility of getting robbed and 2) the fact that what you were buying would not be of very good quality. And as an additional expectation, you would know that if you were scammed, there would be no recourse.

Dealing with legitimate professionals and companies, on the other hand, would reap an entirely different scenario: You would expect to get the highest quality wares – not knock-offs. You would expect not to be held up at knifepoint. And you would know that if something was wrong with your new watch, you would be able to bring it back and be handed a new one – no questions asked.

Why, then...why, oh why are there so many people bent on seeking out NON-professional people to work on their books? Why, oh why do some people, even after having been taken for a ride, ripped off and scammed one or two times, STILL come right back and continue down the same “low-priced” path in seeking book writers, book editors, proofreaders and the like?

Today is no different than any other day…. I spoke to yet another bloke who had been, as he put it, “scammed.” Realize that he had been “scammed” twice…that’s two times, on two different occasions. But on this day, this same individual was right back at the exact same place – one of those damn on-line venues where anyone with $99 bucks can respond to job postings, no matter what qualifications they lack. And this person was all the while complaining that no one had better respond to his posting if they want to charge more than $500 for something that should have been $6000….

This is just the most foolish behavior that flies beyond my capability to comprehend with any form of logic! Even a dog knows not to enter the point in the street where he was hit before! He may continue to chase cars, but NOT at the place of injury. So why, would someone of the humanoid species called Man be so ignorant as to venture right back into the lion’s den just before dinnertime?

Money is no excuse. If you don’t have the money to do something right, then don’t do it until you save up enough. Would you live in a house that was built by morons with no skill or capacity for building houses? I should hope not. So why INSIST ON hiring someone who is willing to accept one-tenth of professional rates? What could one possibly expect but a shambles? No one would ever expect to get a real Rolex watch for $50. So why, then, would anyone expect quality work from “low-cost” services?

How to Get a Book Published

Whether you've got a completed manuscript, a wonderful idea for a book or haven't a clue as to where to start in getting your book published, it is imperative that you know your book publishing options. This will give you direction, confidence and momentum for getting your book published, and published the right way!

"How to publish a book" is a common quandary imposed upon thousands of aspiring authors on a daily basis. Not knowing how to publish a book stops many from pursuing their book dream. Not knowing that you have many publishing options available to you today can make the difference between great success or miserable failure with your book. Whether you have a completed manuscript or just a great book idea, this article will start you heading in the right direction to choosing the BEST route for publishing your book.

Less than ten years ago book authors had but a single route for getting their books published. A handful of giant publishing houses, and a few mid-size ones, existed that would buy certain book rights of authors in order to possess the right to reproduce and profit from the authors' works. This was known as "traditional publishing."

If they were lucky enough to even get an offer, quite often the offers were less than desirable due to the high level of risk publishers took on new, unknown authors with unproven track records. Most of the time, if only due to the sheer number of manuscripts submitted in relation to finite number of books that the publishers could produce in a year's time, enthusiastic authors with good books were turned down cold.

The only other option was the infamous vanity presses that disguised themselves as bona fide publishers, unjustly requesting payment from unwary authors while, at the same time, took royalties, and ultimately destroyed the dreams of the majority (about 98%) of authors they dealt with. They are awarded a 2% success rate only because they sometimes stumbled upon a book that was so good, it made their way up the best-seller charts on their own or their authors solely worked their butts off to create the success - with no help from their so called "publisher."

Traditional publishing (involving true publishers) still exists today. They are less in number as far as the larger and mid-size ones are concerned - the ones worth pursuing. The large companies have become larger by buying up many of the mid-size companies. On the dark side, vanity presses still exist under new guises, with the same distasteful business practices.

Today's literary climate paints a much different playing field for authors than that of only ten years ago; one that DOES offer realistic and quite palatable options. Often, going the traditional route is not to one's best interest. Still, just as often it is. But one thing can be asserted as being certain: THERE IS AN IDEAL PUBLISHING CHOICE FOR EACH AND EVERY BOOK AUTHOR based on their goals with their books.

The point of this article is not to list all publishing options - this would require a book or at least a chapter of one. The point is to make it known that THERE ARE PUBLISHING OPTIONS. Things have changed immensely in the publishing arena from the way they were only a decade ago to the point that failure is actually no longer an option as far as getting a book published is concerned. The answer to how to publish a book CAN be answered intelligently, and with confidence that the best publishing decision has been made. And you can learn to avoid "options" that are out there that shouldn't be. You can avoid the many pitfalls of publishing a book.

There is quite a bit of information on the Internet - some excellent, some existing only to sell only ONE publishing option. Once I write a book for someone, I want my clients to successfully get their books published in high quality, and I don't want them, or anyone for that matter, to get burned or taken advantage of. This is why I put together a very informative e-book on how to get a book published. If you're interested, you can find out more about it at the urls below. Otherwise, now that you know you have options, do your due diligence and find out what they are. Don't get caught into a web that you can't get yourself out of later. Now you can know how to get your book published with confidence that you've chosen the best option for you.

How to Write a Book

Do you have a great book idea but haven't the time or know-how to get it done? Here's a great solution that will allow you to achieve your dream.

It's astonishing just how many people I speak to on a daily basis who know, with certainty, that they have the next bestseller - if only they knew how to write a book. For some, time never seems to allow them the right to hit the keys and pour out the visions in their minds onto the computer screen. Others haven't a clue on how to get started. Whatever the reason, the $64,000 question still remains: How do you write a book when there's not enough time, know-how...?

What most people don't realize is that getting a book written is NOT as daunting as it seems at first glance. The solution to this dilemma of "How do I write my book," begins to unravel when we refine this approach to, "How do I get my book written?"

Though this is subtle, the differences between the two perspectives are vast. The first stands from how you, yourself, are going to personally type out every word on the page; the second looks at how your book can be written otherwise.

From my own personal experience, at best, one in a thousand people ever see the fruition of their book ideas. This problem is so common solely because of the "first person" perspective; which is very limiting, by the way.

If you think about it for a minute, in the real world of book publishing, a book is a product, something produced that other people will want to buy and use. For all you purists out there, this in no way takes away from the creative aspect and beauty of what a well-written book is - it is art first and foremost. But just as beautiful paintings are bought and sold every day, so too must books be viewed as products just like anything else. That is, if you ever want anyone to actually find and read yours.

That said, where have you ever seen a single individual develop, produce, market, promote, sell… a product all on their own? It doesn't happen, at least not by anyone who is successful. The expert knowledge and abilities of others are always brought in to get the job done while the inventor/creator oversees everything from above.
The point here is that if you have a desire to write a book but can't get it written for whatever reasons, take a fresh, new, realistic perspective and find someone who can write it for you under your guidance.

To achieve this dream is an incredible experience. There is such personal satisfaction, a feeling of self accomplishment and, often, great therapeutic relief from the creative process. And this can all be yours simply by taking on the slightly different viewpoint from "how to write your book" to "how to get your book written."

High quality professional book writers can be found. Keyword searches with "ghost writer for hire" or "writer needed" or "writer services" will pull up plenty to consider for your project.