Daily Lit gets your ad in the pages of a novel

An Idea That Even Scrooge Would Like: DailyLit's Sponsorship Model by Marissa Miley NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Book serialization has come into vogue again, 170 years after Charles Dickens popularized it with "The Pickwick Papers" and "Oliver Twist." Funny enough, it's the 19th-century author who is championing the form in 2008: His "A Christmas Carol" is one of more than 1,000 titles available through DailyLit, a digital serial book publisher that shares books with nearly 150,000 subscribers in short, customized installments via email and RSS feed. And now it's opening its virtual pages to advertisers. http://adjix.com/j533

Balance your communication skills - be your opposite

Let’s all acquire what we admire, by adopting the inner strengths of our opposite communicator type. If you’re an Instigator-type communicator, you will benefit from sensitivity training. If you’re an Empathizer-type communicator, you will benefit from insensitivity training. http://adjix.com/u3ry

20 Essential Non-fiction Books

"20 Amazing and Essential Non-fiction Books to Enrich Your Library" from the Zen Habits blog This list is of his favorites. http://adjix.com/hr3z

6 Open Letters that changed the world

Epistolary history is full of open letters, those that are written with the intent that they’ll be read by a wide audience. Here we’ve collected six of the best (or at least, most influential) open letters of all time. http://adjix.com/zq4

Pick of the Paperbacks for 2008

Captivating fiction, epic histories and science with universal appeal - Observer writers choose the year's most memorable reads http://adjix.com/vgx

The anatomy of sarcasm

: researchers reveal how the brain handls this complex communication Israeli psychologists draw conclusions from how brain-damaged people comprehend sarcasm – or not http://adjix.com/hza

Do you have a seasonal reading pattern?

As winter settles in, I feel a yearning for a fat Victorian novel. Is your book choice affected by the seasons? http://adjix.com/42w

The Inigo Montoya Guide to 27 Commonly Misused Words

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. ~Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride It may be inconceivable for you to misuse a word, but a quick look around the web reveals plenty of people doing it. And it’s all too easy when we hear or see others use words incorrectly and parrot them without knowing it’s wrong. We know by now that great copy and content often purposefully break the rules of grammar. It’s only when you break the rules by mistake that you look dumb. So let’s take a look at 27 commonly misused words. Some are common mistakes that can cost you when trying to keep a reader’s attention. Others are more obscure and just interesting to know. http://adjix.com/c3r

Lalisio Literature

http://literature.lalisio.com/oai.html""Lalisio Literature" is a search engine designed to help you find the right literature for your research, studies, teaching and leisure. For this purpose, we cooperate with major providers of international literature databases: Top booksellers such as Amazon, Abebooks and Powell's are among our partners as well as open access repositories such as arXiv and PubMed Central. Due to the integration of open access repositories our users can find and access cutting-edge articles mostly free of charge. Based on our analyses of content from numerous sources, we develop helpful search suggestions and relevance indicators for your literature search and help you quickly identify the literature you really want. "

Two Paths for the Novel

From two recent novels, a story emerges about the future for the Anglophone novel. Both are the result of long journeys. Netherland, by Joseph O'Neill, took seven years to write; Remainder, by Tom McCarthy, took seven years to find a mainstream publisher. The two novels are antipodal—indeed one is the strong refusal of the other. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22083

Book - Messages

: the Communication skills book

This is a self-help book that cuts through all the big words and psychological concepts and gets immediately into helping you change. There is something for everybody here -- parents, teens, managers, and children.

(... more)

A-Z of English words with surprising origins

There are plenty of surprises. Who knew that marmalade, for instance, while eternally associated in my mind with Paddington Bear, is in fact Portuguese? So here is an A-to-Z of some of my favourite English words that have been absorbed from and inspired by other languages. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/11/26/bowords126.xml

Knitting, the Olympics and poetry

New Poetry Society director lays out plans to grab public's attention Judith Palmer explains why knitting and the Olympics can raise poetry's profile Poetry as an Olympic sport, as a prescription service and even as a very unsual knitting pattern. These are among the eyecatching if eccentric plans of Judith Palmer, the new director of the Poetry Society, to raise the artform's profile. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/27/poetry-society-judith-palmer-scarf

Scottish writer 'to kill off' Batman after 70 years

IT IS enough to send any fans of the Caped Crusader into a flap. Batman is set to be "killed off" after almost 70 years of crimefighting. Scottish writer Grant Morrison has penned a dramatic new instalment of the Dark Knight's adventures, called Batman RIP, in which fans will see "the end of Bruce Wayne" as Batman http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/entertainment/Scottish-writer--39to-kill.4730822.jp

Are you kidding me? This is serious!

Or, what psychologists have to say about writing e-mail An old college friend and accomplished writer, John Scalzi, recently posted a list of writing tips for non-professionals, which I'd highly recommend for professionals and non-professionals alike. One of his most unusual suggestions is to "speak what you write" -- literally, to read your writing out loud before publishing, whether in a blog post or just an e-mail to friends. This, he argues, will not only help catch spelling and other errors (each of which Scalzi says decreases the writer's apparent IQ by 5 to 10 points), but also help you see whether you're conveying the meaning you intend. So what does psychology research have to say about this notion? (No, not that typos decrease your IQ, but the larger idea that reading your words out loud will help you determine if your meaning is clear.) more ...

Talking about disability

A Guide to Using Appropriate Language Times have changed for people with disabilities... but language lags behind. Life for most people with mental or physical disabilities is vastly improved over what it was twenty or thirty years ago. The Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal and state laws assure that people with disabilities have the same basic rights as people without disabilities. Some things have been slower to change; namely, attitudes and perceptions about people with disabilities. Ignorance and discrimination can be serious impediments to achieving integration, productivity, and independence for people with disabilities. The use of outdated language and words to describe people with disabilities contributes greatly to perpetuating old stereotypes. No longer should we view people with disabilities as helpless or tragic victims. Awareness is the first step toward correcting this injustice. If public opinion about people with disabilities is to be brought up to date, the public needs to hear and learn to use appropriate language. It is especially important for the media, elected officials, public speakers, and others in leadership positions to portray people with disabilities sensitively and realistically. This is a guide to using descriptive words and language when talking to or about people with disabilities. http://www.traponline.com/language.htm

How to be funny

How would YOU like to be the LIFE and SOUL of ANY social gathering? Let's be honest. We all LOVE those individuals that make us LAUGH. The funnier you are, the more people like you. Well, how funny are YOU? What if you could suddenly become EVEN FUNNIER, just by following a few simple rules? Master wit Max Matterson has worked in the comedy world for the past 20 years. He's the co-author of "Comedy Writing Secrets" and trained many of the big late night show hosts. He knows EXACTLY how to train ANYONE to become super-witty in just minutes. Matterson claims there are just a series of simple rules that ANYONE can follow to become hilariously funny! Do YOU want to discover his COMEDY SECRETS? Visit his website online and learn more: http://www.consultpivotal.com/Ahow_funny.htm Max shares EVERYTHING with you -- and GUARANTEES that your new-found funny skills will ROCKET your business and social life. In fact he'll buy back the course if you're not absolutely THRILLED! When was the last time you invested even FIVE MINUTES in developing your social skills? Especially in something as important as your HUMOR? Do it now. Click HERE and get started: http://www.consultpivotal.com/Ahow_funny.htm

The New Face of Business Meetings

Meetings used to be a way of discussing important issues. Meetings took place in our personal lives, as well as during our day of work. Seminars, conventions, conferences, or simply, gatherings and discussions -- various kinds of meetings offered people a chance to have their say. In the days gone past, people would necessarily have to assemble at a specified place. But then, that was back in the days when people with similar needs and topics of discussion lived in close proximity to each other. Those who lived far away would most likely have different attitudes and varying needs to take care of. Now, jet across to the present day. Times sure have changed. We are constantly in touch with people who live not just in different towns and cities but in different time zones, and on different continents. We can no longer claim that people who live miles apart have nothing in common. The various social networking websites that dominate our lives suggest the contrary. We share many interests with people of varied backgrounds who live across the oceans. (... more)

34 rules for better writing

Bloggers Are Terrible Writers There are so many bad writers on the Internet, especially in the blogging world, so here are some amusing rules to help you become a world-class writer.

34 Rules For Kick ass Writing

1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.

2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

3. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.

(... more)

How to Give and Take Criticism

Dealing with criticism is a skill every well-adjusted man should possess. We give and take criticism among our co-workers, our friends, and our family. Criticism is an important part of our personal self improvement, for it is other people who can point out mistakes and shortcomings that we can’t see because we lack objectivity. Unfortunately, many young men today don’t know how to offer and accept criticism like a man. Instead they handle criticism like little boys. When giving criticism, they opt only to give snide, cutting jabs that do nothing to improve the situation. When receiving criticism, they sulk, make excuses, and argue with the person criticizing them. Ask any teacher who has the nerve of giving a student a poor grade. Today’s students will cry and whine their way to a better one. Or worst of all, have their parents intervene. They simply don’t know how to respectfully accept criticism. Because we all face situations every day that require us to give or take criticism, we provide the following guidelines on how to make the process more constructive. (...more)

What are the biggest email mistakes?

Click on the picture to get to the video.

Have you done the fingers on eyelids test?

Bestselling author Michael Crichton dies

Bestselling autthor ... Michael Crichton has died from cancer. Michael Crichton, author of best-selling science fiction adventures including Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain, has died of cancer in Los Angeles, aged 66."Michael Crichton died unexpectedly in Los Angeles on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, after a courageous and private battle against cancer," a family statement posted on the author's website said.He wrote numerous blockbusters, some of which sold more than 100 million copies, translated into 30 languages worldwide.Many of his books became major Hollywood movies, including Jurassic Park, Rising Sun and Disclosure. (...more)

100 Must-Read Books

: The Essential Man’s Library

There are the books you read, and then there are the books that change your life. We can all look back on the books that have shaped our perspective on politics, religion, money, and love. Some will even become a source of inspiration for the rest of your life. From a seemingly infinite list of books of anecdotal or literal merit, we have narrowed down the top 100 books that have shaped the lives of individual men while also helping define broader cultural ideas of what it means to be a man.

Whether it be a book on adventure, war, or manners, there is so much to learn about life’s great questions from these gems.

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/05/14/100-must-read-books-the-essential-mans-library/

This week's communication-related quotation

No man has a prosperity so high or firm, but that two or three words can dishearten it; and there is no calamity which right words will not begin to redress.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

This week's Must Reads

Torn Apart

by James Patterson

Honour Thyself by Danielle Steel

The birthday present by Barbara Vine

To Love, Honour and Betray

Cathie Lette

The Persimmon Tree

by Bryce Courtenay

More about the books here

The Definitive Book of Body Language

by Barbara and Allan Pease This international bestseller reveals the secrets of nonverbal communication to give you confidence and control in any face-to-face encounter–from making a great first impression and acing a job interview to finding the right partner.

(... more)

Narrow your Focus: Why Writers Should Specialize

Want to set yourself from other freelancers? Save time pitching, researching, and writing stories? Create a lucrative niche for yourself? And best of all, make more money as a freelancer? I have one word for you: "specialize." When I started my fulltime freelance writing career seven years ago, I employed what I now call the "saturation bombing" technique. I queried every magazine I could think of with a wide variety of ideas. At one point, I had 54 queries out-- yet few were assigned. Those that were assigned covered the gamut of topics from business articles to bridal pieces to personal finance stories. Nearly every article concerned a subject new to me, so each time I wrote one, I spent hours researching and learning about the topic so I could write about it with authority. Finally, I got smart ... Read on

The Anatomy of sarcasm

researchers reveal how the brain handles this complex communication Israeli psychologists draw conclusions from how brain-damaged people comprehend sarcasm – or not

---

WASHINGTON — The ability to comprehend sarcasm depends upon a carefully orchestrated sequence of complex cognitive skills based in specific parts of the brain. Yeah, right, and I’m the Tooth Fairy. But it’s true: New research details an “anatomy of sarcasm” that explains how the mind puts sharp-tongued words into context. The findings appear in the May issue of Neuropsychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA). http://www.apa.org/releases/sarcasm.html

Study: 38 Percent Of People Not Actually Entitled To Their Opinion

In a surprising refutation of the conventional wisdom on opinion entitlement, a study conducted by the University of Chicago's School for Behavioral Science concluded that more than one-third of the U.S. population is neither entitled nor qualified to have opinions. (read on ...)

Video - Impactful Communication

Greg Gillis and Lesly Higgins, experienced corporate coaches, will discuss and demonstrate various methods to effectively communicate; whether it is delivering a yearly review to a fellow Googler, developing your group's strategic vision, or influencing others towards an idea. By learning about Advocacy and Inquiry, Appreciate Inquiry, and Effective Feedback/Feedforward, you will come away from this workshop with concrete examples and experiences to help you get your message across with impact.

Create an instant bond with anyone you meet

People form their first impression of you in the first four seconds! Maximize your natural attributes to create an instant bond with anyone you meet.

Irresistible attraction means bringing your charismatic you to all of your relationships. Whether you are moving toward intimacy or simply want to be at your best, this video takes you through the laws of attraction and charisma. You will learn how to: ...Communicate with others at the Unconscious Level. ...Use easy to learn gestures and body positions to make or break a first impression. ...See what your (or their) eyes are really saying. ...What to say when you don't know what to say! ...Create chemistry with anyone at will. ...Words and phrases that virtually guarantee they will say yes! Kevin Hogan is an author and certified instructor of hypnotherapy and a body language media expert. Beth Bednar is a well known public speaker and real estate investor. She was an ABC-TV affiliate anchorperson and now does commercials and voice-overs.

Find out more here...

Prime Minister's Literary Awards

The Prime Minister has announced the winners of the new Prime Minister's Literary Awards, an inititiative celebrating Australian literature. Chosen from over 200 entries, these titles will make great reading. Fiction The Zookeeper's Warby Steven Conte Nonfiction Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers by Philip Jones Click here for more information on the Prime Minister's Literary Awards.

The power of words - Quotation

No man has a prosperity so high or firm, but that two or three words can dishearten it; and there is no calamity which right words will not begin to redress. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Swagger

The word "swagger" conjures up images of John Wayne starring in a classic Western movie or Mohammed Ali brashly proclaiming "I am the greatest." Does such swagger fit within the skill set of a leader? (...more)

Chat slang creeps into teens' assignments

It's nothing to LOL about: Despite best efforts to keep school writing assignments formal, two-thirds of teens acknowledge in a survey that emoticons and other informal styles have crept in. The Pew Internet and American Life Project, in a study released Thursday, also found that teens who keep blogs or use social-networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace have a greater tendency to slip nonstandard elements into assignments. The results may give parents, teachers and others a big :( — a frown to the rest of us — though the study's authors see hope. (... more)

Review: Conversationally Speaking : Tested New Ways to Increase Your Personal and Social Effectiveness

More than a million people have learned the secrets of effective conversation using Conversationally Speaking. By Alan Garner ... more

Sony Reader

http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/reader-ebook The new eBook reader.

When language can hold the answer

When Language Can Hold the Answer Faced with pictures of odd clay creatures sporting prominent heads and pointy limbs, students at Carnegie Mellon were asked to identify which “aliens” were friendly and which were not. The students were not told that the aliens fell naturally into two groups, although the differences were subtle and not easy to describe. Some had somewhat lumpy, misshapen heads. Others had smoother domes. After students assigned each alien to a category, they were told whether they had guessed right or wrong, learning as they went that smooth heads were friendly and lumpy heads were not. The experimenter, Dr. Gary Lupyan, who is now doing postdoctoral research at Cornell, added a little item of information to one test group. He told the group that previous subjects had found it helpful to label the aliens, calling the friendly ones “leebish” and the unfriendly ones “grecious,” or vice versa. (more...)

The power of words

No man has a prosperity so high or firm, but that two or three words can dishearten it; and there is no calamity which right words will not begin to redress. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

This week's must-reads

More details here...

Novel Writing Made Easy

Want to write a novel? Learn the way to connect the dots from novel idea to novel sale. A published author takes you through the steps of turning your idea for a novel into a published book. Novel writing can be easy when you follow a blueprint plan.

In memory of David Foster Wallace

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Friends, acquaintances, fellow writers, and others all offered memories of author David Foster Wallace this week in articles, online treatises, weblog posts, and editorials.

Wallace, who was perhaps best known for this sprawling masterwork “Infinite Jest”, was thoroughly catholic in his interests, and his work was peppered with references to everything from Continental philosophy to the behavior of cruise line passengers.

Writing in this Tuesday’s New York Times, fellow writer Verlyn Klinkenborg commented, “His writing could subsume the DNA of any language, any form it encountered, while remaining completely his own.”

During his 46 years, Wallace was awarded the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant”, and also taught at Illinois State University and Pomona College.

While many websites offer a way to comment on Wallace’s work and life, the “In Memoriam” site created by Pomona College provides a fine glimpse into the effect he had on those he taught and influenced. One comment offered by Sean Pollack is particularly poignant: “We mourn for a humane and generous teacher and lover of the language.”

The first link will take interested parties to the New York Times’ obituary for David Foster Wallace which appeared in print this Monday. The second link will lead visitors to a remembrance of Wallace from fellow writer David Lipsky. Moving on, the third link leads to a Syracuse Post-Standard piece from this Tuesday about Wallace’s time in Syracuse in the early 1990s. The fourth link leads to the previously mentioned Pomona College “In Memoriam” site created for Wallace. The fifth link leads to a special edition of “Politics of Culture” hosted by bookworm Michael Silverblatt. Joined by book critic Anthony Miller they discuss Wallace’s impact on fiction, his generation, and American culture. In addition, a collection of interviews with Wallace culled from the archives of KCRW’s “Bookworm” program is also available. In terms of celebrating Wallace’s life and writing, the sixth link is a very welcome find indeed. It contains links to many of his non-fiction pieces, including his very observant and wonderful take on a cruise-line adventure, “Shipping Out: On the (nearly lethal) comforts of a luxury cruise”. The last and final link leads to a transcript of the honest and insightful commencement address that Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005.

David Foster Wallace, Influential Writer, Dies at 46 [Free registration may be required]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/books/15wallace.html

Wallace Invented ‘New Style, New Comedy’

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94629055

Author created ‘Jest’ in Syracusehttp://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf?/base/news-15/122155534751021.xml&coll=1

In Memoriam: David Foster Wallace [pdf]http://www.pomona.edu/ADWR/president/dfw1.shtml

Considering David Foster Wallace [iTunes]http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/pc/pc080916considering_david_fo David Foster Wallace: Harper’s Magazine [pdf]http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/09/hbc-90003557

David Foster Wallace: Commencement Speech at Kenyon Collegehttp://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html

Lincoln, Mark Twain & Lightning: Choice Words On Word Choice

by Ernest W. Nicastro "Eighty-seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation...." The Gettysburg Address Chances are your reaction to the above "quote" is something along the lines of, "No, no, no! You're wrong, wrong, wrong!" And, of course, you would be right. Because Lincoln was not only a great leader, he was a great writer. So instead of beginning his Gettysburg Address with a cold, lifeless number, he opens on a prayerful note with a turn of phrase adapted from the 90th Psalm of the King James Bible: "Four score and seven." (more ...)

TEACHING READING

Cherububble site for young readers aged 4-8. The site advocates literacy for young readers and has terrific teacher resources, parent packs, audio books and activity sheets. Excellent for home schoolers and distance ed. students. carlscorner.us.com.au [More on Teaching Reading]

10 days to faster reading

by Abby Marks-Beale and The Princeton Language Institute From the reviews Speed reading used to require months of training. Now you can rev up your reading in just a few minutes a day. With quizzes to determine your present reading level and exercises to quickly introduce new skills, this book is a must for anyone feeling pressed for time.

Read more

or buy the book from Amazon, where you can buy it for just $9.56, a saving of 20% off the list price of $11.95.

Lincoln, Mark Twain & Lightning: Choice Words On Word Choice

by Ernest W. Nicastro "Eighty-seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation...." The Gettysburg Address Chances are your reaction to the above "quote" is something along the lines of, "No, no, no! You're wrong, wrong, wrong!" And, of course, you would be right. Because Lincoln was not only a great leader, he was a great writer. So instead of beginning his Gettysburg Address with a cold, lifeless number, he opens on a prayerful note with a turn of phrase adapted from the 90th Psalm of the King James Bible: "Four score and seven." (more ...)

From humming fish to Puccini: Vocal communication evolved with ancient species

It's a long way from the dull hums of the amorous midshipman fish to the strains of a Puccini aria – or, alas, even to the simplest Celine Dion melody. But the neural circuitry that led to the human love song – not to mention birdsongs, frog thrums and mating calls of all manner of vertebrates – was likely laid down hundreds of millions of years ago with the hums and grunts of the homely piscine. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/07/17/from.humming.fish.puccini.vocal.communication.evolved.with.ancient.species

A Few Myths of Public Speaking

I took an informal poll recently among some speakers to determine what people tended to think were the hard and fast rules of public speaking – and see if any of those rules turned out to be myths.Read on ...

Does this sound like you?

Have you ever been frustrated with yourself for failing to remember even the simplest things in life? Things like birthdays, telephone numbers or even places where you left your keys? If you blame all that to having a naturally poor memory, you are about to read something that will improve the quality of your life dramatically! Click here

Marvel's "Iron Man" invincible in comic shops

Marvel Studios' Iron Man film is doing what most superhero movies never could: sell a lot of comics.

read more

Tips for mastering email overload

by Stever Robbins Being at or near the top of your organization, everyone wants a piece of you. So they send you e-mail. It makes you feel important. Don't you love it? Really? Then, please take some of mine! Over 100 real e-mails come in each day. At three minutes apiece, it will take five hours just to read and respond. Let's not even think about the messages that take six minutes of work to deal with. Shudder. I'm buried in e-mail and chances are, you're not far behind. For whatever reason, everyone feels compelled to keep you "in the loop." Fortunately, being buried alive under electronic missives forced me to develop coping strategies. Let me share some of the nonobvious ones with you. Together, maybe we can start a revolution. Read Stever’s Tips

Effective Meetings

Watch this webinar to learn the 5 Step Process for an Effective Meeting

How to Have a Great Conversation

The art of conversation takes practice, and is not as hard as you might think. It will take some knowledge, practice, and patience, and you can learn to relax and enjoy a great conversation. http://www.wikihow.com/Have-a-Great-Conversation

Quote for the week

Charm is a way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear question. — Albert Camus More quotations about communication

Reading comics

How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean by Douglas Wolk

Offers thoughtful criticism and knowledgeable historical overview in the form of a smart, conversational talk by PW contributing editor Wolk.

The volume contains two sections: Theory and History, an explanation of comics as a medium and an overview of its evolution, and Reviews and Commentary, a diverse examination of creators and works. This section spans Will Eisner's pioneering efforts as well as the groundbreaking modern comics by the Hernandez brothers, Chris Ware and Alison Bechdel.

Many of Wolk’s ideas may challenge you to consider why you have the conceptions about this artform that you have. He proves that comics aren't as simplistic as their reputation often implies, and as with any passionate critic, his enthusiasm is infectious

Three steps to better writing

Do you hate to write? Does it take you a long time to get the words on the page? Usually when people struggle to write, it’s because they are trying to edit as they go along. There is an easier way to write and be more creative! Read on ...

The Online Books Page

Listing over 25,000 free books on the Web

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

Become a best-selling author

Mark Joyner is holding a live "Prep School" for would-be best-selling authors on the 26th. Seats are limited, so please lock in yours now: http://www.simpleology.com/p/teleseminar/bronwynr Note, the above class is intended for folks who will be joining him during the Simpleology Best-Seller Blueprint training calls, so please only register if you intend to do that as well. Finally, if you haven't read The Rise of the Author yet, stop everything and do so: http://www.simpleology.com/p/riseoftheauthor/bronwynr Experts from around the net are giving that advice and I can understand why after reading it. It's *mission critical*.

Dealing with People who are “Off-Track”

Remember the last time you were in a meeting and someone said something that seemed completely off-track? What happened next? If your group is like most, someone probably said something like, “Dan, that’s off-track” or “Let’s get back on track.”, or simply ignored Dan’s comment. As a result, Dan may have checked out for the rest of the meeting or continued to press his “off-track” point. The meeting may have dragged on with members getting more frustrated with Dan or you may have lost Dan’s critical input and support without realizing it. There is a way to avoid these negative outcomes – I’ll get to that later. Read more...

The language of inflation

Watch Victor Borge as he creates a new language!

Internet Shakespeare Edition, University of Victoria, Canada

Full Text and in some cases full images of pages, Also included, “Shakespeare in Performance is a searchable database of performance materials from over 1000 film and stage productions related to Shakespeare’s works.” Much more

Leadership Style

Every person is born with the power to influence those around them. However, just as each person has a unique background and personality, everyone has a different leadership style. This personality quiz will tell you what your leadership style is according to something called the Leadership Compass. What is your leadership style?

Gesture-Based Listening

: Reality of Mixed Metaphor? Active listening proponents usually focus upon asking open-ended questions that demonstrate to the speaker that we are seeing their point of view and comprehending what they are saying.

But, what about using gestures to indicate that you are following along with the speaker's message? Wouldn't physical movements serve as effective cues that we are listening, at least to the 75% or so of tactile, kinesthetic, proprioceptive (hands-on) learners that comprise our population? But, for most teachers, gestures are only adjuncts of unconscious communication. http://classroomtoolkit.net/serendipity/archives/68-Quick-Tips.html#extended

Use Visual aids in your next presentation

Professor Albert Mehrabian did a lot of research into how we take in information during a presentation. He concluded that 55% of the information we take in is visual and only 7% is text. There are some important conclusions that we can take in from this information Read on …

espresso publishing

From ITI Newslink From Paula J. Hane's article .....New Publishing Models Brewing—Espresso to You

With all the emphasis on digitizing texts, ebooks and ejournals, and new ebook readers, you might be surprised to hear of a recent development in printing technology. Yes, a new company is hoping to brew some espresso buzz around printing a paperback book. New York City-based On Demand Books (ODB; www.ondemandbooks.com) is planning to become the first company to globally deploy a low-cost, totally automatic book machine. The Espresso Book Machine reportedly can produce 15–20 library-quality paperback books per hour, in any language, in quantities of one, without any human intervention. This technology and process will produce one each of 10 different books at the same speed and cost as it can produce 10 copies of the same book.

Are books in danger?

Barbara W. Tuchman The conventional wisdom would say yes. After all, more and more media--the Internet, cable television, satellite radio, videogames--compete for our time. And the Web in particular, with its emphasis on textual snippets, skimming and collaborative creation, seems ill-suited to nurture the sustained, authoritative transmission of complex ideas that has been the historical purview of the printed page. But surprise--the conventional wisdom is wrong. Our special report on books and the future of publishing is brim-full of reasons to be optimistic. People are reading more, not less. The Internet is fueling literacy. Giving books away online increases off-line readership. New forms of expression--wikis, networked books--are blossoming in a digital hothouse. FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/30/books-publishing-internet-tech-media_cx_mm_mn_books06_1201book_land.html

Writing success tip

Tossing characters into new, difficult worlds are methods that force characters to reveal their inner selves. Take characters from their ordinary, everyday world and place them into an extraordinary, out of their normal routine world, and watch them, if they are heroic, learn new survival skills. Readers want the main character (the protagonist) to gain knowledge, gain strength, and learn how to face whatever befalls them. As in life, those that learn are the only real winners, and they will engage readers, page after page. Those are the characters of best sellers. From Top Tips to Writing Success

Top 100 Fantasy Books

This website lists the Top 100 Fantasy Books. I find it wonderful that a book published in 1937 is sitting at Number 2 as I write this. G0 and vote for your favourite. http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/fantasy100/lists_books.html

How to Deliver Bad News

: Top 5 Ways to Soften the Blow "When delivering bad news, how do you soften the blow?" Unfortunately, most of us will be faced with the unpleasant task of delivering bad news at some point in our lives. Maybe a client's stock has tumbled. Maybe profits are down and layoffs are imminent. Maybe medical tests reveal a life threatening illness. In delicate situations like these, few of us know what to say or how to say it. Here are the top 5 communication strategies used by compassionate leaders in times of crisis: Read on ...

Do your meetings measure up to your CEO's expectations?

If the CEO of your company decided to sit in on a few of your meetings, would she be impressed or distressed?We asked Nancy Knowlton, Co-CEO of SMART Technologies Inc. and Bob Hagerty, CEO of Polycom Inc., what they expect from meetings and how important effective meetings are to the success of their companies. Find out if your meetings are effective enough to measure up to the expectations of these CEO’s.

http://www.effectivemeetings.com/meetingbasics/ceo_expectations.asp

Public Relations

“If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” Bill Gates Would you?? …