Jon Samsel

Ken Moss is a very smart guy. He led the search engineering team at Microsoft for five years. So why did he, of all people, launch a Twitter search engine known as CrowdEye? Yes, there is a huge demand for identifying, cataloging, monitoring, and just plain making sense of the deep web of conversations and content accessible today online. But a social search engine? Looks like Ken recognized that the social web has reached a tipping point–it’s huge, it’s still growing, and it’s impacting the way people acquire knowledge and make decisions. Social search needs tools to help people find what others are saying.

So what is Social Search anyway? Social search is all about uncovering nuggets of information from real people (like me and you) in multiple formats such as text, video, blog posts, reviews, comments, tags, tweets, pictures, audio, bookmarks, and events. These word-of-mouth exchanges are the new content that is now dominating the web. Try it yourself. Google a major brand and count how many results are company-generated versus consumer generated. One out of eight results, on average, across engines, can usually be attributed to someone other than the firm who controls the brand. This is simply amazing.

Social content tends to be deemed more authentic than prepackaged corporate propaganda–and, thanks to a plethora of easy-to-use web tools and conversation hubs such as Twitter, social participation is booming. The social web is having a MEASURABLE impact on how search works and how consumer behave.

Social content is having so much impact that it’s spawning the next generation of search tools.

Take WhosTalkin? for example. It’s a social media search tool that allows users to search for conversations around topics of interest.

Pipl is a people search engine. AT it’s core, social is about personal conversations–so it makes sense for a social engine to search through public records, social sites, and the web to uncover information about individuals.

Collecta is a real-time search engine. Instead of searching ‘old stuff’ like standard web sites, they monitor the update streams of news sites, popular blogs and social media, and Flickr, so they can show you results as they happen.

Then there is Socialmention, a site that allows visitors to search terms around specific categories of the social web such as blogs, comments, etc.

Caterina Fake recently launched Hunch, a tool for finding answers to a wide variety of questions. What makes this tool unique is that it makes decisions based on a database of responses provided by real people–and the results get better the more people use it.

OneRiot is a service that uses a person’s own social network and takes into consideration what’s currently popular within someone’s network when providing search results.

ChaCha has answered 150 million text inquiries/conversational Q&A’s over the past 18 months. ChaCha uses expert guides (in-house staff trained to use their proprietary search tools) to provide answers to any question–mostly via cellular phones.

These new social search engines approach ‘finding results’ in a way that standard search engines don’t offer. From a marketing standpoint, these new generation of social search tools are helpful, but ’social’ is not yet a fully baked channel that can be targeted and optimized. Social is evolving. There are some standards and many variations–making indexing results a real challenge.

Social search is an emerging topic. Many of the tools to find, sort and serve up results are primitive–and the various types of social conversations they do find are not easily placed into context. However, social search is hat our doorstep and it’s evolving very quickly.

So why should social search be at the forefront of of every company’s online marketing strategy?

1. Paid search can only grow and be optimized so far. At some point you reach the point of poor returns (long tail search terms are one example) and paid search cannot be expanded in a way that makes profitable business sense.
2. Natural search tends to be inward-focused, concentrating 80% of its effort and output around website optimization. Companies tend to take a web development approach to SEO by identifying a small cluster of valuable keywords and then optimize the content and code around them. This in and of itself is not a bad thing, but SEO can be so much more. Search engine optimization is about producing relevant, engaging content in multiple formats. It’s about empowering employees and customers to participate in content publishing and syndication. SEO is about about link building. It’s about harnessing feedback. But when SEO is controlled and bottlenecked by an overzealous technology department, marketers are often left with few ways to innovate, expand, and improve organic search results.
3. Social search, on the other hand, is about tapping into the deep web of conversational data exchanges to uncover jewels of knowledge in which to monitor, influence, or act upon. This hidden web presents an enormous challenge and opportunity to marketers because it’s an emerging channel, research are scattered and not easily aggregated and accessible, metrics are emerging and evolving (they are different than traditional search), and how best to join in the social dialog is a hot topic for debate within some companies due to the legal and regulatory risks some belief social media poses.

Like it or not…ready or not…social search is already here. Yes, the onus is on smart marketers to monitor and make sense of it all. But analytical search tools are arriving every day to help makes things easier.

Companies have a choice–they can dive in now and start monitoring their brand reputation, conducting competitive research, identifying opportunistic content marketing through social keyword trends, resolving problems, and even selling by providing unique offers and incentives. Or they can choose to bury their head in the sand and wait for social search to ripen as channel…sitting still as their brands are talked about, hijacked, or even transformed by consumers who are hungry for authentic opinions, insights, news or feedback.

The social web is happening with or without listening to the marketer’s side of the story. The business stage is now set. It’s your move.

If you’re an Average Joe like me, you probably search for your own name using a search engine once and a while to see what pops up in the search results. Call it curiosity or vanity, I would classify it as ’smart sleuthing’ to see how the engines display ‘who you are’ to the world.

The more common your name, however, the more likely YOU may not even appear on page one results. The more unique YOUR name is, or the more active YOU are online, there is an increased chance your name will be served up in the organic results for web, image, news, video, audio, or blog search queries.

There is good news from Google. They have created a new tool to help people JUST LIKE YOU exert greater control over their PERSONAL BRANDS.

Just type ‘me’ into the Google search bar and the first paid result will be a message to ‘create your own profile on Google.’ Having a current Google profile about YOU could help make it easier for people to find YOU versus someone with the same name that isn’t YOU.

Google Profiles is just one small piece of the larger brand-management puzzle, albeit a useful one, and I encourage you to try it.

Google software engineer Brian Stoler recently wrote in a posting at the Internet firm’s website that when searching for yourself on Google to see what others would find, results can be varied and aren’t always what you want people to see.

For example if you type in the name “Nick Lange” you’ll generate some Google search results that are quite disparate.

• Are you the Nick Lange who, according to one forum poster, “BEWARE OF SCAMMER: Nick Lange, aka Nick20, UWisconsin77…DO NOT do business with Nick Lange from Florida!******”
• Or are you the Nick Lange from the 1991 graduating class of Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, CA?
• Or perhaps you are Nick Lange, illusionist, at www.nicklange.com
• And then there is author Nick Lange who posted a very opinionated research paper for the University of Illinois titled, “Interracial Relationships and Korean American Families”

If your name (aka personal brand) was Nick Lange, would you be concerned about what was already out there live on the web? The brand of Nick Lange is not unique. In fact, there are several real (or seemingly real) people all using the same name (brand). In the Internet, real people sharing the same brand can cause headaches for you if they are not managing their brand the way you would like them to. To the unsuspecting searcher, how are they to know one Nick Lange from another?

Besides the real Nick Langes co-opting your brand, anybody could pretend to be you and easily inflict brand havoc if they wanted to. And this scenario doesn’t necessarily cover the identity thieves who are actively trying to steal your persona for financial gain. These evil-doers can also inflict much pain on your brand if you do not catch the intrusions early, and rectify them.

So now that you’ve seen how a simple vanity search can provide valuable insights into how well you’re managing your personal brand and the dangers that may already exist, what are some good pointers for improving or protecting your egosurf results and the BRAND OF YOU? Here are five:

1. Establish your online brand baseline. The brand of you starts with a simple search on Yahoo, Google and MSN. Taking a snapshot of your search results is a great first step in managing your reputation
2. Publish your personal brand. Launch a blog, a resume website, or a personal website all about you could help boost the quality of your unique vanity search results. Better yet, ensure that there are unique image labeled as you, word docs, PDF’s and .ppt files branded you and live on the web, or go so far as to create and publish podcasts, videos, press releases, and the like — as you, about you or authored by you. Search engines don’t just serve up web page results, they serve up results in multiple media formats
3. Take action against online brand fraud or mistakes. If you find that your personal brand has been misused, take action against the site that has posted it. For example, if an unflattering photo of you has been posted on Flickr.com by an old high school buddy, ask that is be taken down or moved to a web service that is login protected so as not to cause you embarrassment
4. Stake your claim on social media sites. Utilize social networks to clone your online persona to be present everywhere. I nice service is KwonEm.com, which can check the availability of your brand across 120 of the most popular social networks. For a small fee they will register your brand on all available social sites on your behalf
5. Be diligent. Check and re-check your egosurf results often to see what others may see when they search for your name or brand. If you are surprised by what you find, imagine what others are thinking! Stay on the offense and you will be much farther ahead of the next guy or gal in managing the valuable brand of you

Sample Book Publishing Contract (Courtesy of Allworth Press)

Agreement, entered into as of this ______ day of ____________, 20__,
between ________________________________________, located at
________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the
“Publisher”), and __________________________________, located at
____________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Author”).

Whereas, the Author wishes to create a book on the subject of
______________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Work”)

Whereas, the Publisher is familiar with the authorship of the Author and
wishes to distribute such a work; and

Whereas, the parties wish to have said distribution performed subject to the
mutual obligations, covenants and conditions herein.

Now, Therefore, in consideration of the foregoing premises and the mutual
covenants hereinafter set forth and other valuable considerations, the
parties hereto agree as follows:

1.  Grant of Rights.  The Author grants, conveys and transfers to the
Publisher in that unpublished Work titled __________________
_________________________________, certain limited rights as follows:

(A) To publish the Work in the form of a _______________ book;

 (B) In the territory of ________________________________;

 (C) In the _______________________language; and

 (D) For a term of ________________years.

2.  Reservation and Reversion of Rights.  All rights not specifically
granted to the Publisher are reserved to the Author, including but not
limited to electronic rights which are defined as rights in the digitized
form of works that can be encoded, stored, and retrieved from such media as
computer disks, CD-ROM, computer databases, and network servers.

3.  Delivery of Manuscript.  On or before the ________ day of ___________,
19______, the Author shall deliver to the Publisher a complete manuscript of
approximately _______ words, which shall be reasonably satisfactory in form
and content to the Publisher and in conformity with any outline or
description attached hereto and made part hereof.  The manuscript shall be
in the following form: [] double-spaced hard copy [] computer files (specify
format____________).  The manuscript shall include the additional materials
listed in Paragraph 4 (except that if an index is to be provided by the
Author, it shall be delivered to the Publisher within 30 days of Author’s
receipt of paginated galleys).  If the Author fails to deliver the complete
manuscript within 90 days after receiving notice from the Publisher of
failure to deliver on time, the Publisher shall have the right to terminate
this Agreement and receive back from the Author all monies advanced to the
Author pursuant to Paragraphs 4, 5, and 9.  If the Author delivers a
manuscript which, after being given detailed instructions for revisions by
the Publisher and _____ days to complete such revisions, is not reasonably
acceptable to the Publisher, then monies advanced to the Author pursuant to
Paragraphs 4, 5, and 9 shall be [] retained by the Author [] repaid to the
Publisher [] repaid to the Publisher only in the event the Author
subsequently signs a contract with another Publisher for the Work.

4.  Additional Materials.  The following materials shall be provided by the
Author: ____________________________________
____________________________________________________________
The cost of providing these additional materials shall be borne by the
Author, provided, however, that the Publisher at the time of signing this
Agreement shall give a nonrefundable payment of $_____________ to assist the
Author in defraying these costs, which payment shall not be deemed an
advance to the Author and shall not be recouped as such.

5.  Permissions.  The Author agrees to obtain all permissions that are
necessary for the use of materials copyrighted by others.  The cost of
providing these permissions shall be borne by the Author, provided, however,
that the Publisher at the time of signing this Agreement shall give a
nonrefundable payment of $_______ to assist the Author in defraying these
costs, which payment shall not be deemed an advance to the Author and shall
not be recouped as such.  Permissions shall be obtained in writing and
copies shall be provided to the Publisher when the manuscript is delivered.

6.  Duty to Publish.  The Publisher shall publish the Work within
____________ months of the delivery of the complete manuscript. Failure to
so publish shall give the Author the right to terminate this Agreement
ninety days after giving written notice to the Publisher of the failure to
make timely publication.  In the event of such termination, the Author shall
have no obligation to return monies received pursuant to Paragraphs 4, 5 and 9.

7.  Royalties.  The Publisher shall pay the Author the following royalties:
____ percent of the suggested retail price on the first 5,000 copies sold;
____ percent of the suggested retail price on the next 5,000 copies sold;
and ____ percent of the suggested retail price on all copies sold thereafter. 

These royalty rates shall be discounted only in the following circumstances:
____________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

All copies sold shall be cumulated for purposes of escalations in the
royalty rates, including revised editions, except for editions in a
different form (such as a paperback reprint of a hardcover original) which
shall be cumulated separately.  Copies sold shall be reduced by copies
returned in the same royalty category in which the copies were originally
reported as sold.

In the event the Publisher has the right pursuant to Paragraph 1(A) to
publish the Work in more than one form, the royalty rates specified above
shall apply to publication in the form of a ________________ book and the
royalty rates for other forms shall be specified here:
______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

8. Subsidiary Rights.  The following subsidiary rights may be licensed by
the party indicated and the proceeds divided as specified herein:

Subsidiary Right     Right to License       Division of Proceeds
Author    Publisher    Author    Publisher

________________     _____      _____       _____     _____

________________     _____      _____       _____     _____

________________     _____      _____       _____     _____

________________     _____      _____       _____     _____

________________     _____      _____       _____     _____

________________     _____      _____       _____     _____

If the division of proceeds for any subsidiary right changes after the sale
of a certain number of copies, indicate which right, the number of copies
required to be sold, and the new division of proceeds:
_______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

The right to license any subsidiary right not set forth in this Paragraph is
retained by the Author.

Licensing income shall be divided as specified herein without any reductions
for expenses of any kind.  Licensing income shall be collected by the party
authorized to license the right and the appropriate percentage remitted by
that party to the other party within ten days of receipt.  Copies of all
licenses shall be provided to both parties immediately upon receipt.

9.  Advances.  The Publisher shall, at the time of signing this Agreement,
pay to the Author a nonrefundable advance of $_________, which advance shall
be recouped by the Publisher from payments due to the Author pursuant to
Paragraph 11 of this Agreement.

10.  Accountings.  Commencing as of the date of publication, the Publisher
shall report every ____ months to the Author, showing for that period and
cumulatively to date the number of copies printed and bound, the number of
copies sold and returned for each royalty rate, the number of copies
distributed free for publicity purposes, the number of copies remaindered,
destroyed, or lost, and the royalties paid to and owed to the Author.  If
the Publisher sets up a reserve against returns of books, the reserve may
only be set up for the four accounting periods following the first
publication of the Work and shall in no event exceed 15 percent of royalties
due to the Author in any period.

11.  Payments.  The Publisher shall pay the Author all monies due Author
pursuant to Paragraph 10 within thirty days of the close of each accounting
period. 

12.  Right of Inspection.  The Author shall, upon the giving of written
notice, have the right to inspect the Publisher’s books of account to verify
the accountings.  If errors in any such accounting are found to be to the
Author’s disadvantage and represent more than 5 percent of the payment to
the Author pursuant to the said accounting, the cost of inspection shall be
paid by the Publisher.

13.  Copyright and Authorship Credit.  The Publisher shall, as an express
condition of receiving the grant of rights specified in Paragraph 1, take
the necessary steps to register the copyright on behalf of the Author and in
the Author’s name and shall place copyright notice in the Author’s name on
all copies of the Work. The Author shall receive authorship credit as
follows: _________ _____________________________.

14.  Warranty and Indemnity.  The Author warrants and represents that he or
she is the sole creator of the Work and owns all rights granted under this
Agreement, that the Work is an original creation and has not previously been
published (indicate any parts that have been previously published), that the
Work does not infringe any other person’s copyrights or rights of literary
property, nor, to his or her knowledge, does it violate the rights of
privacy of, or libel, other persons.  The Author agrees to indemnify the
Publisher against any final judgment for damages (after all appeals have
been exhausted) in any lawsuit based on an actual breach of the foregoing
warranties.  In addition, the Author shall pay the Publisher’s reasonable
costs and attorney’s fees incurred in defending such a lawsuit, unless the
Author chooses to retain his or her own attorney to defend such lawsuit.
The Author makes no warranties and shall have no obligation to indemnify the
Publisher with respect to materials inserted in the Work at the Publisher’s
request.  Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, in no event shall the
Author’s liability under this Paragraph exceed $________ or ________ percent
of sums payable to the Author under this Agreement, whichever is the lesser.
In the event a lawsuit is brought which may result in the Author having
breached his or her warranties under this Paragraph, the Publisher shall
have the right to withhold and place in an escrow account ______ percent of
sums payable to the Author pursuant to Paragraph 11, but in no event may
said withholding exceed the damages alleged in the complaint.

15.  Artistic Control.  The Author and Publisher shall consult with one
another with respect to the title of the Work, the price of the Work, the
method and means of advertising and selling the Work, the number and
destination of free copies, the number of copies to be printed, the method
of printing and other publishing processes, the exact date of publication,
the form, style, size, type, paper to be used, and like details, how long
the plates or type shall be preserved and when they shall be destroyed and
when new printings of the Work shall be made.  In the event of disagreement
after consultation, the Publisher shall have final power of decision over
all the foregoing matters except the following, which shall be controlled by
the Author:____________ ______________________________________.
No changes shall be made in the complete manuscript of the Work by persons
other than the Author, except for reasonable copyediting, unless the Author
consents to such changes. Publisher shall provide the Author with galleys
and proofs which the Author shall review and return to the Publisher within
thirty (30) days of receipt.  If the cost of the Author’s alterations (other
than for typesetting errors or unavoidable updating) exceeds _____ percent
of the cost of the typography, the Publisher shall have the right to deduct
such excess from royalties due Author hereunder.

16.  Original Materials.  Within thirty days after publication, the
Publisher shall return the original manuscript and all additional materials
to the Author.  The Publisher shall provide the Author with a copy of the
page proofs, if the Author requests them prior to the date of publication.

17.  Free Copies.  The Author shall receive ten free copies of the Work as
published, after which the Author shall have the right to purchase
additional copies at a ____ percent discount from the retail price.

18.  Revisions.  The Author agrees to revise the Work on request by the
Publisher.  If the Author cannot revise the Work or refuses to do so absent
good cause, the Publisher shall have the right to have the Work revised by a
person competent to do so and shall charge the costs of said revision
against payments due the Author under Paragraph 11 for such revised edition.

19.  Successors and Assigns.  This Agreement may not be assigned by either
party without the written consent of the other party hereto.  The Author,
however, shall retain the right to assign payments due hereunder without
obtaining the Publisher’s consent. This Agreement shall be binding on the
parties and their respective heirs, administrators, successors and assigns.

20.  Infringement.  In the event of an infringement of the rights granted
under this Agreement to the Publisher, the Publisher and the Author shall
have the right to sue jointly for the infringement and, after deducting the
expenses of bringing suit, to share equally in any recovery.  If either
party chooses not to join in the suit, the other party may proceed and,
after deducting all the expenses of bringing the suit, any recovery shall be
shared equally between the parties.

21.  Termination.  The Author shall have the right to terminate this
Agreement by written notice if: (1) the Work goes out-of-print and the
Publisher, within ninety days of receiving notice from the Author that the
Work is out-of-print, does not place the Work in print again. Out-of-print
shall mean that the work is not available for sale in normal trade
channels.; (2) if the Publisher fails to provide statements of account
pursuant to Paragraph 10; (3) if the Publisher fails to make payments
pursuant to Paragraphs 4, 5, 9, or 11; or (4) if the Publisher fails to
publish in a timely manner pursuant to Paragraph 6.  The Publisher shall
have the right to terminate this Agreement as provided in Paragraph 3.  This
Agreement shall automatically terminate in the event of the Publisher’s
insolvency, bankruptcy, or assignment of assets for the benefit of
creditors.  In the event of termination of the Agreement, the Publisher
shall grant, convey, and transfer all rights in the Work back to the Author.

22.  Production Materials and Unbound Copies.  Upon any termination, the
Author may, within sixty days of notification of such termination, purchase
the plates, offset negatives or computer drive tapes (if any) at their scrap
value and any remaining copies at the lesser of cost or remainder value.

23.  Promotion.  The Author consents to the use of his or her name,
portrait, or picture in connection with the promotion and advertising of the
Work, provided such use is dignified and consistent with the Author’s
reputation.

24.  Arbitration.  All disputes arising under this Agreement shall be
submitted to binding arbitration before _____________ _______________ in the
following location ____________________ and shall be settled in accordance
with the rules of the American Arbitration Association.  Judgment upon the
arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.

25.  Notice.  Where written notice is required hereunder, it may be given by
use of first class mail addressed to the Author or Publisher at the
addresses given at the beginning of this Agreement and shall be deemed
received 5 days after mailing.  Said addresses for notice may be changed by
giving written notice of any new address to the other party.

26.  Modifications in Writing.  All modifications of this Agreement must be
in writing and signed by both parties.

27.  Waivers and Defaults.  Any waiver of a breach or default hereunder
shall not be deemed a waiver of a subsequent breach or default of either the
same provision or any other provision of this Agreement.

28.  Governing Law.  This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of
________________ State.
____________________________  ____________________________
Author                                        Publisher

____________________________  By:__________________________
Social Security Number               Authorized Signatory, Title

A motion picture is composed of thousands of still framed images woven together in a fine tapestry of Technicolor storytelling. Each of the shots of film are arranged by an editor in a specific order and context, which, in turn, provides meaning to any given film. The meaning of a motion picture can be dramatically altered by changing the sequence of shots. Or a film’s meaning can be altering by meddling with the context of the shots–such as the juxtaposition of sound effects, music, special effects, and the like.

The impact of context and the sequence of shots cannot be underestimated. The result can often be two completely unique stories, each with it unique themes, characters, settings, plot and meaning.

Take the 1964 classic Disney film, Mary Poppins. It’s a story about a nanny who arrives like a whirlwind into the home of the Banks family and teaches them important lessons about life as only a Hollywood musical can. The original trailer for the film, which can be viewed on YouTube.com, is a compressed version of the whimsical tale I have just described.

The prevalence of simple, affordable video editing software in addition to video broadcasting portals, has ushered in a era of ‘context provocateurs,’ an virtual army of stay-at-home armchair editors who toil and toy with both the sequence and context of stories we’ve come to love, only to re-release them onto the world as frightenly good, alternative web flicks.

Scary Mary is one such context redux. It’s a re-cut of the Disney classic, Mary Poppins, made by Chris Rule and Nick Eckert, two average Joe’s with a passion for editing and a keen eye for stretching the boundaries of context. The result: A very unexpected and original version of the Mary Poppins trailer as a horror film.

If you are hungry for more, you will be delighted to know that online video portals have become havens for fake movie trailers that blend humor, effects, originality re-sequencing of shots and changes in context to provide entirely new and entertaining shorts. Some of my personal favorites are:

Harry Potter and the Brokeback Goblet

MTV Movie Awards 2003 - Matrix Reloaded Spoof

The Rain Main - RECUT Movie Trailer Spoof

Home Alone - Horror Movie Trailer Recut

Jack Black - Spiderman Spoof

Jimmy Kimmel (The Bourne Ultimatum Spoof)

With some writing experience and knowledge behind you, you might one day wish to try your hand and pen at a children’s book. Books for children are special and take special talents. You need a keen understanding of the children of this generation and some insight as to what publisher’s are looking for if you hope to become a successful children’s book author.

How does an author get started writing for children? Maurice Sendak, Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss), and Judy Blume probably wondered the same thing when they began. The way Judy Blume started was to follow in the steps of authors she admired. “Realizing I would never be another Dr. Seuss or Maurice Sendak, I turned to novels and wrote the kind of books I wanted to read when I was a kid.”

An understanding of today’s children is vital for success. Children do not like to be talked down to, and they are not often fooled. The more you know about them, the better your chances of writing a successful book.

When you feel ready to try a project, query a likely children’s book publisher with a description of your idea or an outline and chapter or two. Some publishers require a complete manuscript.

If you are not sure which publishers to contact, you can go online and study the treasure trove of resources, such as publisher sites, Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly, Writer’s Digest, Google Book Search and other trade publications. Study the newest books for children and see which publishers seem to be doing the type of book you wish to write.

A solid resource for writers interested in the children’s book genre is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books, 3rd Edition by Harold D. Underdown.

Some publishers break down their juvenile and children’s book needs into these divisions:

• Picture books for children ages three to eight or four through seven
• Fiction and nonfiction for ages eight through twelve
• Special interest books for young to older teens eleven through eighteen
• Humorous novels and science fiction for ages nine through twelve
• Readers from eight to twelve often enjoy books about faraway places and various products in use
• Young teens like books on careers, hobbies, the family, government, problems young people face, and romance
• The older teen group is much into special interest areas like military service, art, music, and theater

Many children’s book authors started young. P.L. Travers, author of the Mary Poppins books, is an example. Stories and poems she wrote as a girl were published in Australian magazines and newspapers.

While recovering from a serious illness, Travers wrote the first several Mary Poppins stories “to while away the days, but also to put down something that had been in my mind for a long time.”

Travers is very loyal to her young readers. She calls them “children hopping about with umbrellas, trying to make them fly.”

Every 34 seconds someone in America dies of a heart attack. The American Heart Association reports that more than 71 million Americans, men and women, experience cardiovascular disease.

Asantae is a company that offers healthy products, such as HeartShot and Calorad®ADVANCED, that help reduce the risk of heart disease and the profound dangers of obesity.  And, since they are a multi-level marketing company, you can get in on the action by referring their products and getting a cut of the action. Curious? Read on!

HeartShot

HeartShot is a synergistic blend of the highest quality essential nutrients that are designed to help reduce inflammation. It is the result of years of clinical experience and product development. HeartShot helps block the causes and effects of inflammation at several critical points along your body’s biological pathways. It acts on all cell membranes, the inside lining of the arteries, and in the blood. HeartShot works to fight the effects of our modern environment.

Calorad®ADVANCED

Calorad®ADVANCED is a proven weight and fat loss supplement with well over 6 million bottles sold. It  curbs the appetite, diminishes food cravings and knocks off belly fat.  And Calorad has received critical and clinical acclaim in both the traditional and non-traditional wellness and fitness communities.

Dr. Dwight Lundell

HeartShot was formulated by Dr. Dwight Lundell, a highly respected, Yale trained cardiac surgeon, who has performed over 5,000 open heart surgeries. Dr. Lundell’s mission over those 25 years was to cure his patients’ heart disease. By 2000, he began to be disillusioned.  As patients came back for second and third procedures, he realized that he hadn’t really cured them at all. He also realized that the accepted explanation for the major cause of heart disease, which was elevated cholesterol, was in fact not the cause. The low cholesterol diets that were being recommended and the drugs people were taking to lower their cholesterol were not reducing the incidence of heart disease, strokes, and heart attacks. In fact, half of his surgical patients had normal cholesterol levels. How could something be the cause of a disease, when half the time people don’t have it?  However, there was something that 100% of his patients had: low grade chronic inflammation.

What was causing this inflammation?  Dr. Lundell needed to find out.  He set out on a new mission: to find safe, effective, natural ways for people to eliminate inflammation and ultimately heart disease.  He opened a clinic where he helped hundreds of patients improve their condition without surgery.  He summarized his findings in his 2007 book, The Cure For Heart Disease, Truth Will Save a Nation.   He then formulated HeartShot, a drink rich in the exact nutrional natural supplements needed to reduce inflammation in the body.

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Imagine being at the very beginning of a company with the single BEST COMPENSATION PLAN EVER for both the Part-time marketer and the Full-time marketer.  That’s where the Asantae business plan comes to the rescue. You sign up to receive one of several Asantae product packages. You recruit a few more people to do the same. You satrt earning the benefits of being a networked distributor (details found on the Asantae website).

Follow this simple, 3 STEP PROCESS to start on your path to earning extra income!

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2. Scroll down the page and on the left side of the page, click the button labeled ‘Join the Asantae Team.’

3. Choose the product package that works best for you, agree to the terms, and complete your order. And that’s it!

You will receive an email confirmation welcoming you as an official Asantae Distributor. You’ll get a unique Distributor #, back-office extranet log-in (so you can track your earnings), and a password.

After that, it up to you to market Asantae to your network if friends, family, business associates, Twiiter followers, LinkedIn connections, and so on.  Success in in your hands. The $$ potential is what you make of it. And, you can enjoy the healthy benefits of the Asantae products as an added benefit.

Good luck!

Some of the biggest money an author can ever hope to make lies in mass-market paperbacks. Some books are destined to be published as paperbacks right from inception while other are published as paperback after successfully being published in another format first. Only time and experimentation will tell if you have what it takes to turn out this type of book.

Paperbacks cover a wide variety of subjects. One paperback, ‘When Bad Things Happen to Good People,’ has over two million copies in print.

How do you know if your idea is right for this category? There is a test you can do. First ask if enough people would be interested in the book? Mass market means appeal for millions of readers.

Ask also if it’s commercial enough for the leading paperback publishers, and you know what they want is huge mega book blockbusters. They do, however, make some big mistakes in the books they reject and then watch them soar to the heights.

Finally, in your test, ask if you as the author have enough interest in the idea to see it through to completion? You would be surprised how many manuscripts are started but never finished.

Bestselling author Clive Cussler started in mass market with his ‘Raise the Titanic’ years ago. Most of Clive’s books are published first in hardcover, but he has sold millions of paperbacks as well. One of his three book deals was reportedly a $14 million offer. But Cussler hit the big time some years ago and has been a big fiction name for a while.

One of Clive’s lead characters in his exciting novels is Dirk Pitt, who gets involved in challenging missions on the high seas of world intrigue. The first thing you quickly realize about Clive is what a truly masterful storyteller he is. For novels, that is the most important skill you can have. Cussler simply tells a fascinating story as reading his novels reveals.

When not working on a new novel, Cussler and his crew are off to some locale on a search for a new sunken ship. He is credited with having located the German U-boat that sank the LUSITANIA. They located the exact spot where the German U-boat lies beneath the sea. Cussler passed along that information to officials so that a record can now exist of where the German submarine lies.

In writing novels, Cussler believes that a novelist should make every effort to end each chapter with a hook so the reader feels, “My God, what happens next?” This is what keeps readers turning pages.

Keep in mind that mass market is also nonfiction and not just novels. Consider the following mass market paperback bestsellers:

• Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
• Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul
• Spontaneous Healing
• Habits of Highly Effective People
• How the Irish Saved Civilization
• A Whack On the Side of the Head
• All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten

The first named, ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff,’ is reportedly the fastest selling trade paperback ever. It has gone back to press many times and millions of copies have been sold.

If mass market interests you, the first thing you need to decide is whether to try a nonfiction book or novel. Study the bestselling charts to see what the public is responding to at present.

Some books cross borders and sell in every area. This fact is presenting new challenges to your publishers. But if mass market is where your goal is, think wide appeal. Get excitement, adventure, mystery, glamour, and suspense into your fiction. If your mass market effort is nonfiction, strive to come up with news the reader can put to immediate use. Above all, try to anticipate coming trends and look for sequel books, which are simply other angles on the same title or idea.

Previously I’ve blogged about the many different types of novel genres. One of them is the thriller, a popular category in the world of fiction. Before you hunker down in front of your laptop to pound out your own thriller, you should determine if you have the passion and talent to write fiction. It’s not as easy as it looks! Assuming you have what it takes to be a bestselling author, you’ll want to delve into deeper into the thriller genre.

Author Mary Higgins Clark is a master of the suspense thriller. In ‘Pretend You Don’t See Her,’ a young woman is in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets caught up in a murder investigation. In her book, ‘Where Are You Now,’ a man disappears without a note or a goodbye, yet he still calls home every Mother’s Day. What happened to him?

Sharon Kaye’s ‘Black Market Truth’ is a new thriller about ancient texts, Dionysian cults and Aristotle. It’s not hard to imagine someone paying millions for an ancient scroll with the only known version of Aristotle’s arguments, or to think that someone else would be willing to kill for it.

A novelist’s own life may yield good ideas for a thriller. Tap your memory for story ideas. The places you have been, scenes you have observed, even bits of conversation can all lead to a novel. Interesting people you have met, seen, or know about, from all walks of life, might lead to the beginning of a novel. Think well about your own life and past as well as what happens each present day.
 
In recent years, the legal thriller has been very popular both as novel and motion picture. ‘The Associate,’ ‘The Rainmaker,’ ‘Runaway Jury,’ ‘The Client’ and ‘The Firm,’ by John Grisham, have done well.
 
The variety found in the thriller category is fresh and appealing. ‘China Doll’ tells the story of a seven-year-old girl who is kidnapped from the side of her American parents while all three are visiting Vatican City in Rome. The parents enlist the help of a security person who solves such cases but can only be reached and communicated with via computer. This security person learns that eight other blond, blue-eyed children have vanished in the same way within 16 months.
 
Another exciting thriller is Michael Crichton’s ‘Airframe,’ which poses the question of why a plane on its way to America from the Far East goes through a series of sharp up-and-down movements just before crashing.

Asking intriguing questions is a key way to launch a thriller. What if Dr. Jekyll had a maid servant? This question led to ‘Mary Riley,’ which became a book and motion picture with Julia Roberts in the lead.
 
What if a young lawyer wished to be a photographer, and after killing his wife’s lover (who was one), assumes the identity and vocation of the victim? This premise by Douglas Kennedy, an Australian author, became ‘The Big Picture.’
 
An increasing number of thrillers involve computers and biotech. Stephen Cannell’s ‘Final Victim’ is about a serial killer who uses secret computer technology to trap his victims. And then there is Ken Follett’s ‘The Third Twin’ which centers around the premise of the genetic manipulation of human embryos.
 
Keep in mind that a number of thriller novels go on to become very successful blockbusters. Whether you’re a new author or veteran pro interested in breaking into the thriller category, stay alert to the fact that publishing has become more and more like Hollywood. Both publishers and Hollywood are looking for big books that have the potential to become mega blockbuster properties. Turn one of these out and place it with the right publisher and you could skyrocket to success as an author.

One of the most popular book categories is the self-help book. The range it covers is wide from a “teach yourself” series, on a variety of subjects, to books on achieving more success, money, skills, and a happier lifestyle. This category covers many subjects.
 
Millions of readers out there want help––all kinds of it. Life may have them uptight in one way or another. Or maybe they just haven’t found the help they expected from magazines, newspapers, television, their doctors, lawyers, parents, ministers, the government, or other sources.
 
The help they are seeking may be in a book on how to raise their children, how to guide them through the dangerous teen years, and how to pay the bill for their children’s college education.
 
Maybe they want to lose weight, find a better doctor, plan a more exciting vacation, learn a new skill, develop a hobby, insulate their home, prevent a possible heart attack, or plan and give a speech.

There are a lot more potential subjects for a self-help book. The point of this type of book is that it offers practical help to the reader and gives specific information.
 
How To Know If You’re Really In Love is a how-to title. But it’s also a self-help book. Some titles bridge both categories.
 
Some authors in this category build impressive lists of published titles, and you may well find your own niche with this type of book.
 
A glance at the book titles on Amazon.com shows that self-help books are selling well. Like other categories, sales of this type of book can go through cycles and peak at times yet fall off at other periods. One thing is certain. The companies selling such books would not continue to publish and promote them if sales were not good.

Why You Might Try Writing a Self-Help Book

A case can be made for writing almost any kind of book. To help you decide if ‘Self Help’ is the right category for you, you should consider the following:

1. You have a real interest in one or more self-help subjects.
2. You have special knowledge, training, or experience in some area which can be applied to a self-help book.
3. You enjoy helping others or would like to believe that a book you write might help at least a number of readers.
4. You have access to the information needed for a book of this kind.
5. The research needed for a book offering self-help seems interesting to you.
6. You have developed a plan that has proven of some help to you, and you believe others could profit from it too.
7. You already blog or tweet about a certain subject already––and writing a self-help book would be a logical next step.

If none of the above suggestions seem to strike a chord within you, it does not mean the self-help book is outside your ball park. The suggestions are meant to be a list of clues to consider as a potential self-help author.

As many of you already know, Twitter is many things to many people. There seem to be two broad categories of Twitter users: 1) Casual friend & family communicators, 2) Hard core social networkers. Twitter is useful to both groups because it’s real-time, it facilitates connections from unexpected users, it quickly enables the transfer of news & knowledge, it allows people to access a worldwide network for personal expression (the me channel), it’s a mechanism for meeting people (no more excuses for being lonely), and it’s a free exchange for leveraging the wisdom of crowds (research, popular opinion, career advice, etc).

So I was on Twitter a few months ago, just a few weeks after joining, when I noticed some of my followers communicating in a strange two-letter code: RT.

Hmm, I thought to myself. What’s an RT? Run time? Roaming tiger? Right turn?

Retweet Defined
According to several Google search results, RT stands for retweet. Retweeting is simply the act of reposting someone else’s tweet and giving them credit. The person making the retweet is a retweeter. Mystery solved. Or was it? There must be more to this RT thing, I thought. So I set off to RT for myself.

Getting Started
Before you can retweet, there are two things you need to do first: 1) Sign up for your free Twitter account, 2) Identify a tweet you like.

The Twitter sign up process is one of the easiest of all the social networking services. If you are not already on Twitter, take a few minutes to get on board.

Finding a tweet worthy of retweeting is another matter. The organic way to do this is to first start tweeting yourself. After a while, people will start to follow you. You will find their tweets in the main content well on your Twitter home page, post log in. Browse through the conversations. When something sparks your interest, this post is a good candidate for retweeting.

Another method of discovering new tweets is by using the search tool at: http://search.twitter.com/. Type in a topic of interest, such as Academy Awards, and a long list of tweets will suddenly fill your screen.

How to Post a RT
A little more research revealed just what to do next. Apparently, the syntax of your retweet needs to start with the abbreviation, RT. Alternatively, you can spell out the entire word, Retweet, followed by a space, then the user name of the person who first made the tweet, and then finish with the content of the actual tweet (or as much of the content as you can squeeze into the 140 characters allotted).

What Does a Retweet Look Like?
RT @jonsamsel Free PDF book: Writing For Interactive Media. Click the green ‘Read It Now’ button http://www.jonsamsel.com/books

Why Are So Many Retweeting?
I asked three of my Twitter followers about retweeting. Why were they using this odd code in their tweets?

@joerawlinson told me that he started seeing RT in people’s tweets so he Googled to see what it meant. Joe said he retweets when others make a great comment that stands out or when someone shares a link to an interesting article. “My RT usage is really based on what I come across as I see others messages. Maybe once every couple of days. I don’t want my tweets to be all RT’s.”

The one thing Joe dislikes about retweeting is the 140 character limit, which forces him to have to edit other’s messages since their username takes up characters their original tweet didn’t.

@ctomlin said he retweets to: a) Let his network know about something, b) Give credit to the original tweet.

Craig did mention he’d like to see one Twitter one improvement to the RT process: “It would be nice if it could be done via a single click.”

@heatherhuhman explains how and why she retweets. “My first tweet was on November 3, 2008, and my first RT was on November 26, 2008. I RT as often as necessary. It’s not about quantity—it’s about quality. I RT information I truly believe my followers will find interesting and/or beneficial. Most of my followers are internship and entry-level job seekers, many of whom are thinking about careers in public relations, so I RT information relevant to them. I enjoy being able to bring my followers information from sources other than me. I certainly don’t have all the answers, and it’s great to bring other people’s perspectives to the table.

Recently I RTed a blog post by @dmullen about the importance of building relationships with the media in order to place stories. That RT caused a flurry of activity on his blog, as well as prompted people to write about the issue on their own blogs, because it was such a controversial issue. It started an excellent dialog among public relations professionals, and I think we all learned a lot from each other.”

What It Means to Be a Retweeter
The act of retweeting is a lot like adding footnotes to a term paper, or publicly recognizing a helpful co-worker on a large team project. It’s good karma, proper manors, goodwill. Your social capital is enhanced on Twitter every time you retweet because your network sees you as someone who recognizes and acknowledges others—someone who is selfless, willing to take the spotlight off of themselves for the betterment of the community. Retweeting does have many upsides.

The Power of RT’s
In previous blog posts I have written about the Twitter Effect and the huge impact that social networking is having on WOM marketing. Retweets are a fun part of this phenomenon because they’re more powerful than your average tweet. A retweet means someone’s tweet has received a stamp of approval from another person, and that person was willing to share this with their followers. A portion of these followers will, in turn, retweet again to members of their community. And so on, and so on. As you can see, retweets have the potential of spreading fast, far and wide—to the nth degree.

Monitoring Retweets
Wonder how many folks are retweeting your tweets? It’s nice to keep tabs on who’s retweeting you and the topics that are of interest to them. Not only is this a good way to learn more about your followers, but it can help you identify the key influencers in your network.

There are several ways to monitor your retweets. First, try using the Twitter search tool again:

http://search.twitter.com

Only this time, your query should be: RT @yourtwitterusername. You can also try: RT yourtwitterusername. This result may include a wider net of retweeters infamiliar witht he proper way to RT, plus ot will inlude all the retweets you have posted for others.

Emerging RT monitoring tools include retweet radar, which helps users discover trends in the mountains of information ‘retweet’ed on Twitter, Retweetist, a service that ranks the hottest links being retweeted as well as the most retweeted people on Twitter, and re.twitd.com, a service that track the most retweeted tweets.