Made Moon Blog

As an author and a book reviewer I’ve been on both sides of the fence when it comes to book reviewing, and believe me I’ve seen the best and worst of attempts to review a book. It’s very important if you want to review books to follow certain criteria if you want to be successful at it and have both authors and other book reviewers respect your work. The following are some tips to keep in mind when reviewing someone’s book:

1. Remember the book you are reading or have read is someone’s baby, keep in mind how you would feel if someone denigrated your child in front of you. Be kind even when being critical.

2. Be objective. Don’t let your book review become a personal attack against the author. If you don’t like the book say why but keep your comments focused on specifics such as for example, the hero’s personality seemed in conflict with his actions.

3. Don’t just say what you don’t like, say what you do like.

4. Don’t be a spoiler, meaning don’t give away secrets from the book. Give an overview of what the book is about during your beginning paragraphs only, without giving away significant details which will be revealed later in the book.

5. Be prepared for the possibility the author of a book from a less than glowing review may contact you and be upset. People are human and while you know you’ve been objective there’s still a possibility the author may attempt to change your mind. Be firm, but be kind. You don’t want to alienate anyone, but neither do you have to change your mind.

6. Above all, have fun! As an author I enjoy reading reviews done for my books as it lets me know both where I’ve done well and where I might need some work. As a reviewer it’s fun because I get to help other authors in the same way.

If you keep these tips in mind when reviewing someone’s book you will have a better chance at both being a successful reviewer and at having fun while you do so.

Regina Paul is the author of the science fiction novel GETTING OUT ALIVE,and two novellas THE MARK OF THE GUARDIAN and DESTINY’S CHOICES. She is also the editor of the free bi-monthly writer’s e-zine Regina’s Universe. You can read the first chapter of her novel, read exerpts from her novellas, sign up for her e-zine and find many other writer’s freebies at: http://www.reginapaul.bravehost.com

Viral marketing is one of the most powerful ways that you can generate traffic to your website. The name sounds negative, but when you start a viral marketing campaign, the results will be positive.

Think about how a virus works. When one person is sick, they can get several people sick in one day. Then those people can get several people sick. After a while tons and tons of people are sick. Unless something is done, the virus will keep traveling and traveling.

The concept of a virus can be applied to Internet marketing. Think about this. You create a free ebook and you give it to three people. In the ebook you encourage them to give the ebook to others. Before you know it the ebook is spreading across the Internet like wild fire. Digital information duplicates easily and quickly. Before you know it, thousands of people could be reading your free ebook.

Make sure to let people know that they have permission to forward the ebook around the Internet. Take the time to learn about how copyright works. When you create the ebook, you have to right to give people certain rights. One of those rights could be that you allow them to give the book to other people. Let people know that this book is free to give away.

In the ebook, you can include affiliate links to products and services that you recommend. When people click on those links from your ebook to the sites that you are promoting and make a purchase, you make money. You can also include links back to your website. This will help you generate thousands of visitors.

One of the things that you have to watch out for is people stealing your affiliate commissions. People will modify your affiliate codes and steal commissions from you. I recommend that you use link-cloaking software that will protect your affiliate commissions.

Let other people spread the free ebook around. Use an auto responder to deliver your e-Book automatically. Offer it on your web site. Give it away; do not sell it because you will limit how many people want it. The more that get it, the more clicks to affiliates and the more sales you make.

You can write the e-Book yourself, you can use private label content, or you can hire a ghostwriter to prepare the content. There are many ways to create an ebook. Once you have your e-Book written, use software to create your ebook.

You have many resources to create an ebook. Once you create it start emailing it to people, post it on your website, and advertise it in classified ads. Give it away.

So do not be afraid to jump out there and become an author or a Webmaster, maybe even both. Free ebooks and information are hot commodities. When you market them virally, nature takes over and it spreads.

If you are not using viral ebook marketing, you are missing out on tons of traffic, new customers, and greater affiliate checks. Keep pressing on. God bless you. Jesus loves you.

Jeff Flow is giving away a FREE 325 page eBook - The Secrets of Making Money Online http://www.residualflow.com/dotcomology.html For a FREE 400 day email course on creating residual income send a blank email to residualflow@getresponse.com Jeff Flow’s Resources http://www.residualincometools.com

Author: Ellie Boatman

ISBN: 1598000586

It was Charles Dickens who stated in his famous novel Oliver Twist, “the law is an ass,” and perhaps in some instances we would have to agree with him. However, what is even more alarming is when judges are bigger asses when they exhibit judicial bias or they abuse their wide discretionary powers that is accorded to them within the family court system. They may even, in certain instances, look the other way when there is a question of attorney ethics. All of this leads to a violation of due process that every citizen is entitled to under our democratic legal system. Such denial of justice was experienced by Ellie Boatman Conger, principal protagonist in Ellie Boatman’s debut novel, Unbridled Injustice.

Many authors have turned to fiction to provide a beacon of enlightenment in understanding bitter struggles during dark times, and Boatman is no exception, as she uses this genre very effectively in narrating how one woman from Kentucky had been wronged by the judicial system.

Set against Lexington Kentucky’s equestrian community, the novel tells the story of Ellie, who after vacationing for a week in Florida with close friends, arrives home at the airport only to be greeted with a divorce petition from her husband Roy. This comes as quite a shock to a woman who believed that life could not be sweeter. After all, she had three great children, a successful husband, a gorgeous home and farm that included several prized ponies, and the respect of her hometown social community.

However, all is not as it appears and as Ellie asserts, “sometimes our lives are like sleepwalking. When we finally awaken we have no idea where we are and even less how we managed to get there.”

Shortly after receiving the divorce petition, Ellie finds herself embroiled in very nasty and costly judicial proceedings that could mean the loss of custody of her children to her husband. To further aggravate this frightful situation, Ellie regrettably engages a young and inexperienced attorney, who was not too swift on his feet and consequently is outmaneuvered by the unethical tactics and devious behavior of his opponent, who uses every trick in the book to make life miserable for Ellie. Adding a little more drama into the narrative is the grotesque possibility of child molestation that is ignored by a judge, who has her own agenda, and a lazy social worker assigned to the case.

For a first time author, Boatman shows a great deal of confidence in her story- telling abilities, although at times the pony show scenes wear a bit thin, slowing down the pace of the novel. Nonetheless, this hard-hitting narrative is a page turner not only because of its plot, but also the strong message it conveys. Conger gets top marks for her clarity and richness of voice, all of which contribute to the reader’s ease in empathizing with Ellie’s anger and despair, as she fights the sometimes unfairness of the judicial system in order to gain the custody of her children. In the end, does justice prevail?

Norm Goldman is editor of http://www.sketchandtravel.com and http://www.bookpleasures.com

Bookpleasures is a global internet book reviewing and author interviewing village. Reviewers come from all over the globe and review all genre.

Norm also offers his own personalized express review service where you can have a quick review within 15 business days from the receipt of your book. To learn more about this service go to bookpleasures.com

In addition, Norm and his artist wife Lily meld words with art focusing on romantic and wedding destinations, inns, and other hospitality properties. You can read Norm’s travel articles and view Lily’s art work that is always for sale at sketchandtravel.com

This is a gangster story sans the blood or fast-paced adventure of most books on this subject. Instead, the author takes an introspective look at a Mafia hetman and the family for which he works. Art, literature and religion all figure into this quick, but thought-provoking, 111-page read.

The book opens as Billy Salviati is released from prison. He goes to reside in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen where he works in a cigar store. There, he meets and forms a deep friendship with Matt who is the grandson of Mafia don John Altobene. The book focuses on this relationship rather than on the particulars of the work that Billy does for the Mafioso. Billy’s life changes further when he saves Hettie Warshaw from a pair of Hell’s Kitchen muggers. This second relationship blossoms as if the two were mother and son and lasts for five years until Hettie’s death.

By chapter 12 of 18 and after about 15 years have passed, Billy writes the letters “O-U-T” and passes the message to Matt. Matt, who has looked at Billy as a best friend and brother, is deeply saddened. At this point, Marbrook also shares the sensitivities of both men – Billy with his rooftop rose garden and Matt with his “magical celestial engine” in his bedroom. The book ends, with both men moving on with their lives, cognizant of how their friendship changed them and helped them grow.

Marbrook’s story is set in the 1950s and is based on his own real-life experiences as well as those of his stepfather. Matt’s Mafia family is based on friendships that the author’s stepfather actually had in Hell’s Kitchen. “Billy” comes from the author’s own experiences when he was selling newspapers on the corner of 46th Street and Eighth Avenue. Marbrook purposefully chose the title “Sarceno,” which is the name that John Altobene gave to Billy. Remember, the original Saracens were the descendants of Hagar – today’s Arabs. Like a nomad in the desert, Billy roamed. With an Irish mother, Billy could never be entirely accepted in the Mafia culture.

The primary pleasure of reading this book comes by delving into Billy’s relationships with Matt and Hettie. Another pleasure is the author’s extensive vocabulary and tendency to use some unusual words to tell this story. Describing the first meeting between Billy and Hettie, Marbrook begins Chapter 5: “Synchronicities, if we know their number, would scare us. As it is, they cloy. For example, just about the moment a caustic August sun slumped like a tired scout in a Parthian saddle over the Palisades Billy Salviati met Hettie Warshaw.”

I think the reader’s knowledge about Hell’s Kitchen and his stepfather’s experiences with various Mafia figures is what makes this book special. It is a book is for the serious reader interested in a short tale about relationships and change. The pace is going to be too slow for those readers looking for a story with action and adventure.

Lynn O’Connell is a reviewer for Reader Views.
http://readerviews.com

I believe this is the most important thing you could learn about starting
your own business. You can have all the information you need, you can even have
Bill Gates as your financial advisor, but if you don’t know this one concept I
am about to share with you, will never make your dreams a reality.

Let me ask you a question. What is the number one reason most people don’t
succeed in business or any other area of their life? Is it because they don’t
know what to do? Sometimes that is the case, but most of the people I interview
know exactly what to do step by step or they know where to get the information
they need to begin building their business, but they simply don’t do it, or
worse they start and then get comfortable and are satisfied with only enough
profit to pay the bills and they settle for less than what they deserve. In this
article I will share with you what I believe is the most important key for
success, and how you can apply it today, easily and start seeing your vision
become reality. You can not only apply this tool for your business, but for any
other area of your life that you have been procrastinating on or simply not
getting the results you want.

Have you ever bought a book or piece of exercise machine and not used them?
You wanted a specific result, but you didn’t follow through. Now how come you
didn’t follow through? The reason you didn’t follow through is because you were
focused on all the effort and anguish that it was going to cost you to do the
specific action. You truly wanted to, but couldn’t get yourself to follow
through, and instead you did something that was pleasurable and effortless like
watch TV. This is it, I’m sorry this is so simple and easy, but this is the only
reason why you didn’t follow through on what you really wanted to do. Your body
is wired up to want pleasure and it wants to stay away from what is
uncomfortable. So how can we use this information to get ourselves to do
whatever we want? Glad you asked.

Every day you are asking and answering thousands of questions to decide what
you should do, and most of the time its unconscious. What should I wear? What do
I want to eat? What do I have to do today? Your brain is constantly evaluating
what to do based on the amount of comfort or discomfort you relate to a certain
task or action. Another very interesting thing to point out is that you’re brain
will answer any question you ask it. If you ask yourself why can’t I make any
money? Or why do I never follow through? Your brain will search its database and
come up with the best answer it can think of. Because your lazy or because you
don’t have any experience your brain will answer. Ask your brain better
questions and you will get better answers that will empower you to take action.
What questions do you ask though? And how can I apply this immediately to my
business and life so I start feeling better and get myself to follow through
right now.

For more visit my website www.getrichwithebooks.com.