Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays!I hope you're surrounded by loved ones, wonderful presents, and the warm holiday spirit which still hovers on top of us despite the financial crisis. I've been on slow blogging mode lately, but that's because my family and I have been busy attending parties and big family get-togethers.  By the time I'm home, I'm all pooped and ready for bed.  There's so many photos to transfer to the computer and so much food to consume or give away.  Ah, not to mention the Romanesque belly that I've to deal with after the Season's over.  And, oh, lest I forget -- I've an article to finish before January 5th! 


I'd like to thank you all, dear readers, for being a part of Today's Writer.  I've been publishing this guide blog for years now, experimented with it, nearly gave up on it.  (But I keep resurfacing, so there must be something good behind what I'm doing!) Truly I am very grateful for the repeat visits, subscriptions and email forwards.  The year 2008 has been a great year for Today's Writer in terms of content, web traffic and sponsorship. More stuff are afoot next year!


Wherever you are, whatever stuff you've been busy with, I hope you're having a great time writing!  Happy holidays from Today's Writer!

How to Create an Ebook That Can Be a Bestseller Online

by Sean R Mize

Contrary to popular beliefs, excelling in the field of ebook writing can be relatively easy. You just have to know the elements that you need to use in order to impress your readers and you must follow certain guidelines that can help you make your creations become best-sellers online.

Here's how you can excel at ebook writing:

1. Define your audience. This is one element that can bring a huge difference to your ebook writing as it can empower you to easily give your readers what they truly want as you'll know their requirements ahead of time.
Before you even start writing, get to know your target audience by talking to them directly on forums, blogs, and discussion boards. This may take a while and it may require a lot of time before you can get a clear idea about their needs and demands but I can guarantee you that it will worth it.

2. Write to inform and not to impress. By this, I simply mean avoid bragging your wide range of vocabulary and knowledge on other niches when writing your ebooks. Instead, focus on giving your readers the kind of information they need so you can give them great value for their money. Ensure that you communicate your knowledge using simple terms and that you stick to your main topic to avoid confusing your readers.

3. Think SEO. Search engine optimization can have a direct impact on your book sales. To ensure that your creations will fare well on relevant searches, you need to incorporate keywords on your book title. It is also important to use keywords on your sales letters and other content base marketing techniques so you can easily connect with your potential clients.

4. Be an expert. If you want your ebooks to sell like hotcakes online, you need to prove to your readers that you are very knowledgeable on your chosen niche and that you can offer them with the kind of information that they are looking for. It is very important that you know your chosen niche inside and out so always keep yourself posted on issues about your chosen industry.

5. Limit the number of your ads. Always remember that online users are buying ebooks mainly to get informed. They will surely not appreciate it if you present them with something that looks like yellow pages.

Ensure that your content outweighs the number of your ads to avoid annoying your readers.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing

Do you want to learn how to build a big online subscriber list fast? Click here: Secrets of List Building

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 9034 articles in print and 14 published ebooks.

Professional Writing - 5 Easy Tricks

by Angela Booth

New to professional writing? Writers learn many professional tricks over the years: use these five to boost your career.

1. Write Like You Speak: You're Communicating, Not "Writing"

Aim for simplicity and clarity. The more transparent your writing, the better. This means you should aim to write the way you speak: in a conversational tone. Even with formal writing, a conversational tone is best.

Not sure whether your tone is conversational? Read the document aloud, into a voice recorder. Replay it. The first few times you do this, you may not be certain you've achieved a real conversational tone, so read the document aloud to a friend, or send him the recording.

You should also avoid jargon, unless you're writing for an audience which expects it.

2. Just Say It: Cut the Verbiage

Say what you mean. Go through your document, and cut all adjectives and adverbs. You won't miss them.

Be alert for tautologies: saying the same thing twice. For example: "free gift" (a gift is, by definition, free), "on a daily basis" (just write "daily"), and "new innovation" (innovations are always new).

The more direct your writing, the better.

3. Spelling Counts, and So Does Your Grammar

Everyone makes the occasion typo; it's inevitable. However, in any documents which will be read by others, use spell check. Read important documents aloud; this often helps you to catch spelling and grammatical errors.

4. Build Your Vocabulary: Read More

A professional writer's trade is words, so all writers read constantly, both for their work, and for fun.

Not only does a reading habit help you to build your vocabulary, it also helps you to increase your knowledge. The more you know, the more you can apply your knowledge in your writing.

A wide knowledge helps you to get more, and more highly paid, writing jobs.

5. Use One Exclamation Mark Per 50 Pages

If there's one bad habit which screams amateur writer, it's the habit of using gratuitous exclamation marks -- "!". Please, if you're not writing a comic book, don't use exclamation marks at all.

Not only are exclamation marks rarely necessary, they distract the reader.

Here's a rule to follow: use one exclamation mark per 50 pages. Which is a veiled way of saying: never use them.

Use these five professional writing tricks to immediately increase your writing skill.

Want to make money writing? Discover how easy it is to make money as a Web writer with Angela Booth's "Sell Your Writing Online NOW" Training Program at http://sellwritingnow.com/Home/training.html The program is fun and profitable too. There's a full year of lessons and assignments:"Sell Your Writing Online NOW" helps you to earn while you learn, even as a brand new writer.

For free weekly writing information, subscribe to Angela's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine at http://www.freelancewritingezine.com/ and receive "Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report" immediately.

7 Proven Headlines Formulas That Remain Fresh

by Tracy Needham

You've got less than 10 seconds to convince someone to read your webpage or article--so your headline better be compelling. Forget clever--most people are too busy to read simply for the sake of curiosity these days. Making the "What's In It For Me?" obvious is usually the more successful (and easier!) way to go.

A Google search will turn up a myriad of headline formulas, but some have been done to death--especially in the internet marketing arena. So here are seven workhorses that can be used in almost any situation, but won't make the reader think "Have I read this before?"

How to...
"How to" is a classic headline that reels them in by promising to show the reader how to solve a problem or get a desired result. And the more specific you can be, the better.

• How to Sell to People Who Don't Want to Be Sold
• How to Start an Herb Garden on Your Window Sill

Ask a QuestionA headline that asks a question also provokes the reader's curiosity--IF you're asking a compelling question they want an answer to. Only ask a yes/no question if you're certain they'll say yes. Otherwise, you're giving them an easy reason not to read.

• Do You Make These Mistakes in English?
• Do You Struggle to Fall Asleep at Night?

# Ways to...
Essentially, this is a "how to" headline for a list of tips. "Steps" works as well if there's a sequence the reader should follow.

• 30 Ways to Get More Blog Subscribers
• 5 Steps to Improving Your Golf Swing

Testimonial
Let your clients do the talking for you! Using a testimonial from a happy client can also be an effective headline because it offers "social proof" that someone else thinks your product or service does what you promise. Put it in quotation marks to signify that it is a quote, and when possible, give the client's name in the opening paragraph.

• "At 60 Miles an Hour the Loudest Noise in This New Rolls-Royce Comes From the Electric Clock"
• "I woke up pain-free for the first time in 3 years, after my first visit to Dr. Relief"

If ...Then...
This one does double duty by identifying the target and/or the problem, and following up with the benefit. You don't always have to include "then," it can also be implied.

• If You're Stuffy and Congested Year Round, Then You Need To Ask Your Doctor About Non-Allergic Rhinitis
• If You're a Runner, You Can Run 10% Faster and Double Your Endurance By Next Week

Warning: ...
Warnings are always a big attention-getter. They work best if the copy that follows the colon mentions the mistake they may be making/about to make and conveys a sense of urgency.

• Warning: Don't Spend Another Dime on Pay-Per-Click Until You Read This
• Warning: If You're Still Using a Currency Marker to Check for Counterfeit Bills, You Could Get a Big Surprise with Your Next Deposit

Give Me... and I'll Give You...
About a year ago, I would have said this one may be overdone. But its popularity has fallen off and the tact of promising a clear benefit in a short amount of time is still quite powerful--especially when you're offering something where "I don't have time" is a common objection.

• Give Me 5 Minutes a Week and I'll Show You How to Get All the Clients You Can Handle
• Give Me 10 Minutes a Day and I'll Give You Six-Pack Abs Without Sit-Ups

Tracy Needham, founder of Compelling Communications, LLC, helps small business owners boost their business through compelling copy and marketing strategies that make the most of their time and money. Sign up for her FREE Special Report: The One Press Release You Can Write to Get Thousands of Dollars Worth of Free Publicity at http://www.compellingezine.com . (c) 2008 Tracy Needham

7 Techniques to Make Your Article More Useful to Readers

by Deepak Dutta

Whether you are writing articles for article directories or posts for your blog, your goal should be to make them useful to readers. But, most of the articles and blog posts are full of vague generalities and they contain a pile of words and sentences meant for search engine rankings only.

If you make your contents useful to readers and strategically use a few key words to make it search engine friendly, you will not only attract search engine traffic but also develop readers' loyalty who will promote your brand virally.

How do you make your article useful to readers? Use the 7 techniques discussed in this article to make an impact on your readers.

1. Use examples to elaborate your point. Without example the writing becomes an exercise in abstraction and many readers will not have a clue as to what you are trying to convey. You can either start with examples and than generalize message to an abstract concept or you can start with a general statement and elaborate it with examples.

If you are discussing several concepts, start with a simple example and build on the same example to illustrate all of your concepts. Switching to different examples for each of your concept, will leave the readers wondering how all the concepts you have discussed in your article relate to each other.

2. Use analogy, metaphor, and story. Analogies are very instructive and they provide insights to an unknown concept using a known concept. For example, you can explain back links by saying, 'a back link to your website is like a vote for your site. If you have more votes than your competitors, you win. More back links to your site means higher ranking in search engine results.'

Metaphors are also used to compare two different concepts but the words 'like' or 'as' are not used in metaphors. Our every day speech is full of metaphors, e.g. 'raining cats and dogs', 'old flame', etc. Use them to liven up your prose but be cautious. Improper use may sow confusion in the reader's mind.

If you have a personal story, use them to illustrate your point. Stories are very powerful in conveying a message. A Story resonances more in the minds of the readers than an abstract concept.

3. Enhance value by incorporating opinions. Bloggers often link to other articles and write a sentence or two to introduce a topic. While this is a good practice in letting your readers know what others are thinking in the related topics, you can enhance the value of the post by including your opinions and inviting others to post their own thoughts in the comment section.

4. Use Quotes from Authoritative Writings. You may already know about the value of using quotes from your college essay writing class. Quotes from authoritative figures help increase the value of your opinion and thoughts. You can proclaim that you are not the lonely person who has this crazy thought, but lots of respected people do agree with your insights.

5. Use illustrations and charts. You can use this technique in Squidoo lenses, Hubpages and in your own blog posts. This technique may not be possible for general article marketing sites because of the popular article directories don't allow images and videos in the article.

Some concepts are difficult to explain using words only. However, a simple illustration helps readers grasp the concept easily. Readers can also easily remember a chart than a few paragraphs of a blog post.

You don't have to be a graphic artist to create useful illustrations. Use MS PowerPoint or other free chart software to create your charts. Use screen captures when writing a 'how to article' about the use of software.

6. Write Pros and Cons. Most articles discuss only one side of a topic; either the writer is for or against it. Why no use both sides of the coin? Share your opinions about why it is good for your readers and what your readers should be cautious about while using or implementing the concept in your article.

7. Let your article sit for a day or two. Don't rush to submit your articles to all the article directories as soon as you finish writing it. Wait for a day or two and read the articles again to see if you can add or modify some thing to make it more useful to your readers.

Does your article provide any useful information to readers to make their life better? It does not always have to be materialistic gains for your readers. Even if you can share humor or inspiration with your readers using your prose, you have achieved your goal of providing value by your writing.

In the web information is cheap but valuable information is few and far between. If you do your part in making your readers happy, you will be recognized as an expert in your field and money will flow.

Post free classifieds and free ads for all your free online marketing needs using Deepak Dutta's online classified ads tools.