Oddities, Profundities, Profanities and Dad Stuff

Category: writing (Page 15 of 23)

My review of How To Build An e-Book!

Hello folks!  Today I am going to review a fabulous book that I had the opportunity to pre-read for clarity. (ie I got a free copy to read through and evaluate.  assume all links are affiliate links.).  That book is called  How To Build An E-Book.  It was written by Aaron Pogue over at Unstressed Syllables.com.

This book was launched a couple of weeks ago and I didn’t put up this post then because I thought there would be so much promotion that mine would get lost in the stream.  So I am here today to review this fine book and bring some new life to it.  Aaron’s sales page is here:Click here to visit Aaron Pogue.

Hello Aaron.  Ok here is a list of things that I noticed while reading your book.  They are in no particular order so take them as you will.

First, this book is very well written.  It is easy to read and in a very conversational style that flows very quickly.  It really goes in depth on how to convert blog posts to a useful ebook.  Aaron is a technical writer (as well as novelist) by trade and his attention to detail is fantastic.  The book is easy to understand and it really lays out the right way to put your ebook together.

I mainly write fiction but the information Aaron presents can be modified to even make a fiction ebook look good.  I actually used some of the techniques to tweak my first fiction ebook: Death With A Vengeance.  It is also instrumental in the planning of my non-fiction ebook about my daughters kidney disease and dialysis.  The chapter on Outlining brought back horrible memories of both high school and college English classes but gave me a great reminder on how to do it.  I haven’t needed to outline anything in years but for this book I am writing it was essential.

Aaron also gets into some simple points of Microsoft Word (or other word processors) and talk about styles for chapter headings and how to bookmark and link in between pages in the ebook.  There were several points that I didn’t know about and now use quite often.  I have been using Word since the old Wordperfect went belly up and there were several things that I still didn’t know.

This ebook has a really good flow to it.  The headers and footers are very clear so you always know where you are.  It is littered with practical examples of how to put the concepts into practice, from pictures to links, to info boxes that show what is exclusive content to your ebook and what has been published on your blog.

He even includes a checklist that you can use to follow the concepts exactly as they appear in the book.  Most of these things I had thought about but I didn’t know how to put them together in a coherent and cohesive manner.  This checklist solved that problem.

At the end, he also discusses how to publish your ebook and get it out to the masses.  From formats to publish in to using distributors like e-junkie it is all here. Click here to visit Aaron’s Sales Page!

All in all, this is a great book for learning to make an ebook.  You can tell that Aaron really loves his work and is good at it.  He has easy descriptions of the hard stuff like outlining (I hate outlining but it must be done!) and publishing.

If you want to publish your own e-book from your blog posts, go get this book.  It is well worth the $49.97 that he is charging.  He also has the book split into three modules that run $19.99 each if you would rather go that way.

Bottom line: Want to write a successful ebook from your vast collection of blog posts?  Get Aaron’s ebook today and get started!

Prioritizing and following through.

Image Copyright Futuristic FunkaHunk from Flickr

I have been sitting here all morning reading blog posts and crap from around the net.  I am having a hard time focusing on writing.  I need more sleep.   Jefferson Airplane is good tunes to write to.

Today, I have several things that I simply must get done.  I have been running around to various functions, doctors appointments and Transplant Clinics since Saturday.  As a result, my house is falling apart!  You may have read my stay at home dad stuff before, so that is why it is my responsibility to get it back together.  I am home to do it.

And then the Hooters come on.  And We Danced is one of my all time favorite songs.  See that is what today has been.  distraction after distraction.  Music is off.

Back to my point.  I don’t know if I ever made it but, Prioritizing must be important because there are over 2,480,000 entries on google about it.  I am not good at prioritizing but maybe I should be.

I have the proverbial planner that barely gets looked at.  I have a notecard in my pocket right now with all of the great and fabulous things that I need to do today.  I was conservative and not including making dinner, there were 8 things on my list.

I have done 2 things off of this list.  I guess I should have added Bath 3 year old, play dough with 3 year old, potty training sessions and my list would have been longer with more crossed off.

I look at this list and think all of the things on it should be Steven Covey’s number 1 priority.  I however, do not have 12 arms or 2 bodies to accomplish all of these things at once.  So I disregard priorities and  go for sequence.  What sequence can I be most efficient.  I guess dishes come before laundry because they stink.

I should hire a maid but that would mean I need to sell a hell of a lot more articles than I am right now.  So I am going to call this post finished.  For now.  I think I will revisit this topic at a later time.

I am working on the challenge put out on Zemalf’s Microblog to write 2 weeks worth of posts to keep in reserve for days like this.  That means 10 posts and not the three I have been working towards.  I am putting it out here and in writing so I will have some accountability and hopefully, will complete this soon.

I am going to write more tonight.  I hope to at least be 1 day ahead at all times.  If I can write tonight what will post in the morning then I can post at the same time each day and that can’t be bad right?

Join the fun and write lots of extra posts!  If all else fails you can be like James at the Infopreneur and post 2-3 per day until your supply runs out!

Until later, Cheers

Justin

Writing for Writings Sake

Just have to keep it up I say to myself.  Just do it.  How do you ever expect to make anything as a writer if you don’t write?  That is where I am today.  I did get some great Christmas shopping done and a few other things that I needed to do, but it took me quite  the long time to get around to writing.

See I have this problem, I like to procratinate and talk alot.  I am full of …..well knowledge among other things.  I have spent way too much time reading or “researching” how to do things instead of just doing them.

I started kettlebell training last February.  I read a bit then got some small kettlebells.  Then I read.  and Read.  And Read.  Trained a little, and read a lot.  If knowledge of the kettlebell were worth anything tangible, I would be rich.  As it is I am somewhat stronger and do like to use them, but I spend way too much time reading about them and complaining about Jillian Michaels doing it wrong.  Bah.

I am getting the same way about my writing.  I am finally getting off of my duff to write a book that I hope can be published within a year.  I have read tons  of blogs on writing and blogs just to read.  I have written very little.  I have ideas, I have well researched dates to be somewhat historically accurate.  I have barely 1000 words written.

I started this blog to write.  To force myself to write something without consequences.  To write something where the only deadline is midnight.  To force myself to craft, to craft sentences that are coherent and a cohesive message each day.  I can do it.  I have always been able to write fairly well, at least that is smoke that has been blown at me since elementary school.

Hopefully I will accomplish a decent blog.  I am going to work on it.  I will at least write for me whether or not anyone else reads it.  I owe ME that much.  Maybe I will find something of myself in all of these pixels and HTML codes.

Write on,

Justin

Fiction Saturday 3: The Man in the Hazy Suit Part 9

**Hey folks this is a reprint of part 9 of The Man With the Hazy Suit that originally ran on August 14, 2010.  I have been few and far between regular posts this summer, and that is the same thing that has killed some of my favorite TV shows, like Alias.  So I am going to rerun the whole story and finish it strong!  Thanks for reading for the first time or rereading if you have been here before.  The Choose your own adventure aspect is not available anymore.**

*******Next week is new!!!!**********

** sorry about the earlier confusion, the story got jumbled and tied up in word.  fixed now!**

Hey folks Here is the next chapter in the story!  I hope you are still entertained and interested!

Previously in the Man in the Hazy Suit:

Police detective Thompson was wrapping up a crime scene when he found a scrap of paper in the dead man’s posessions. The paper led him to the bus station and a locker that was filled with legal pads, all written by the deceased man.  Sergeant Thompson is currently reading the legal pads which are spelling out a strange narrative and a chronicle of a serial killers murders, that somehow the man writing the story knows before they happen, if only by moments.  So far our writer has witnessed several deaths with apparently more to come.  Strange coincidences surround the narrator having to do with the Man in the Hazy Suit, leading to paranoia and a wonder as to the outcome of his sanity.  Currently, he thinks he may have the drop on the Man in the Hazy Suit.

When we left our story last time:

There was basically a tent in the middle of the library.  All lined with dark silk and flashing neon lights.  People moved in a stupor inside the tent, all in various states of undress.  An orgy in the library, and, as I circled the large bed, I saw a gas can on the floor beside it.

The man was here somewhere.  I wasn’t going to let him burn anything down today.  I grabbed the gas can and ran to the other end of the floor trying to get away.  I nearly made it too, but as I rounded the corner to the elevator, The Man in the Hazy Suit stood there.

And today we join our story With Sergeant Tomson, already in progress:

My cell phone rang, frightening me to the point of dropping the notepad that I was reading from.  “Sergeant Tomson.” I answered recovering.  “Tomson!” It was the Chief.  “What in the Hell do you think you are doing not getting that gas can guy in the crematorium as soon as possible?” He was mad and I guess he had a right to be.

I was supposed to have made the arrangements for his cremation before I left yesterday.  Instead I had found this essay.  I had been reading for hours.  “Chief, “ I said.  “I have a new lead on that case.”  “Why do we need a new lead on that?  We solved it, we are finished!” He yelled at me.

“Just listen Chief.” I said and proceeded to tell him about the clue in the killers pocket, the trip to the bus station, the notebooks, the disturbing revelations within.  By the time I had described all of the murders and arsons committed, the Chief was impressed.  “Hmmm.” He started, “ok then, see how many of these things you can get solved.  Call me back.”  “Sure thing Chief.” I said.  “It seems to be winding down now.”  I hung up the phone and picked up the notepad that I had dropped.

There was only one notepad left after the one I was on.  I was eager to get back to the revelations but basic hygiene was needed.  I had been sitting in that chair for 2 days now, reading, eating and sleeping.  And I smelled like it.

Later, after I was presentable again, I started back with the notepad and its dark tales.

The man was here somewhere.  I wasn’t going to let him burn anything down today.  I grabbed the gas can and ran to the other end of the floor trying to get away.  I nearly made it too, but as I rounded the corner to the elevator, The Man in the Hazy Suit stood there.

He was looking downward, leaning one hand against the wall as I approached.  He turned his head slightly up and looked askance at me.  He smiled a small, knowing smile as he looked at me; his eyes boring holes into my soul.

He straightened, never losing his smile.  As he stood there, I was drawn to him, pulled by some unseen force, unbidden by me, yet unstoppable.  I was floating towards the Man in the Hazy Suit, and as I got closer, he became…clearer.

The haziness lessened and cleared as I got nearer.  As I realized this, my head began to spin and suddenly I could not see the man any more.  Yet I felt…different.  I looked down my body at the Hazy Suit that was now on me.

I looked at the gas can in my hand and twitched as I began to pour the pungent fluid on the floor.  Memories flooded in.  Realization hit me like a .45 slug in the forehead.  I was the man in the Hazy Suit.  I was the one responsible for all of that unpleasantness.

That was why I could not stop the man.  That is why he would not listen to me.  He is me.  I could feel him then, inside my head with me, crowding me into one of the dark recesses there.   He took great pleasure lighting a match that he produced from his suit and tossing it to the pool of gasoline on the floor of the library.

He turned us calmly and pushed the elevator button.  The car came and the door opened.  We stepped inside and began the descent to the ground floor as the 5th floor burned and those who had been in throes of ecstasy only moments before now screamed in horror and pain.

I tried to gain some sort of control over my body.  I tried to scream at the other entity in my head but this body was committed only to him.   Things made sense, but now, instead of the dream state, I was trapped.  Trapped and no one could do anything about it.

Join us again next week for more of The Man in the Hazy Suit!

-Justin

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