Importance Of Reading To Children

The Aramaic Language of Jesus
By Gabriel Sawma BACKGROUND The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the First Temple in 587 BC, by the forces of king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, mark the beginning of what is known as the Babylonian Exile of the Jews. Up to that time, and from the moment of its appearance in a documented written form, the Hebrew language presents, a clear evidence that it belongs to the Canaanite family of languages. This means that when the Israelite tribes settled in the land of Canaan, from the fourteenth to thirteenth centuries BC, they adopted the language of that country (Isa. 19:18). The Hebrew of the poetic sections of the Bible, as well as the oldest epigraphic material in inscriptions dating from the tenth to the sixth centuries BC, is known as Archaic Hebrew. Among the biblical passages that reflect Archaic Hebrew are the Song of Moses (Ex 15), the Song of Deborah (Jug 5), the Blessings of Jacob (Gen 49) and of Moses (Deut 33), the Oracles of Balaam (Nm 23-24), and the Poems of Moses (Deut 32), as well as Ps 68 and other early psalms. The language used in the prose sections of the Pentateuch and in the prophets and the writings before the exile, are known as Classical Biblical Hebrew, or Biblical Hebrew (BH) proper. Many Biblical scholars characterize BH as a language which does not have the full sense of the word, a merely “fragment of languageâ€�. The approximately 8,000 lexical items preserved in the books of the Bible, are not enough to meet the needs of a living language. There have also been claims by various scholars that clear traces of Aramaic can be found in the origins of Hebrew. Recently, various studies have emphasized that Aramaic May have influenced the Hebrew language very strongly, mainly in the second half of the first millennium BC up to the beginning of the Christian Era. It may also be said that other languages, Semitic and non-Semitic had their influence on the Hebrew language, especially those who had a significant cultural impact in the region such as the Sumarian, Akkadian, and Egyptian. Those languages left their mark on Canaan before the Hebrew language came into existence. Ugarit and Phoenician on one hand, and the Southern Semitic dialects on the other, have also given rise to many loanwords in Biblical Hebrew. There is also influence, to a lesser degree, from Persian and Greek. Some Hebrew words derive from Indo-European languages, such as Hittite, and even Sanskrit. In the Oracles of Balaam (Nm 23:7) we encounter, for example (Roba) ‘dust’, attested in the Akkadian inscriptions; (Surim), which means ‘mountains’; (Nehalim) ‘palm’ . Some of the roots peculiar to archaic poetry are found in other Semitic dialects. For example (P’L) ‘do, make’; (Mhs) ‘strike’, and (hardus) ‘gold’ are common in Canaanite and Ugaritic texts, wheras (Yatannu) ‘let them recount’ (Jg 5:11) and (Mahaqa) ‘destroyed’ (Jg 5:26) correspond phonologically to Aramaic. The Babylonian Exile of the Jews exposed them to an Aramaic cultural and linguistic environment. The Aramaic language before that time had been widely spread throughout the Assyrian Empire as the language of administration, commerce and diplomacy, supplanting the Akkadian as the Lingua Franca of the Assyrian Empire (1100-612 BC). The incident recorded at 2 Kings 18:26 and Isa 36:11 provide some indication of the spread of Aramaic into Palestine. During Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC, the Jewish officials request that the Assyrian Rabshakeh negotiate in the diplomatic tongue, i.e. Aramaic. In the aftermath of the destruction of Nineveh in August 612 BC by a combined force of Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II and Medes commanded by Cyaxares, a Neo-Babylonian Empire (605-538 BC) became the dominant power. And the Aramaic language remained a universal language during that period. It reached its zenith as the official language of the Persian Empire (538-330 BC). With the rise of the Empire of Alexander (336-323 BC) in the East, the Greek language became influential in the region. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament (at Alexandria), known as the Septuagint (LXX), and subsequently the writings of the New Testament, were only examples of such influence. But Greek never displaced Aramaic among the Jews of Palestine or Babylon. The succeeding Maccabean, Hasmonian, and Roman administration in Palestine did not witness fundamental changes in the linguistic situation, although, with the coming of the Romans to the East, Latin was introduced into many aspects of public life. BIBLICAL ARAMAIC Passages of the Old Testament written in the Aramaic language are called Biblical Aramaic. They occur in Ezra 4:8; 6:18 and 7:12-26. Daniel 2:4,7:28; and the gloss in Jer. 10:11 and Gen 31:47. Various scholars have tried to show that the original language of a number of books from the Persian and Hellenistic periods, were written in Aramaic, and that they were later translated into Hebrew. This view has been presented in connection with Job, Koheleth, Daniel, Esther, 1 and 2 Chronicles, proverbs, and Ezekiel In the New Testament, various Aramaic words or expressions occur, e.g. “Talitha Cumiâ€� (little girl, stand up) Mark 5:41; “Ephphataâ€� (etphtah, be opened) Mark 7:34; “Eli, Eli, Lama Shabachthaniâ€� (my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me) Matt.27:46, Mark 15:34; “Rabboniâ€� (my Lord) Mark 10:51, John 20:16; “Maran Athaâ€� (our Lord, come) Cor. 16:22. Aramaic influence is apparent in personal names such as “ Cephasâ€� John 1:42, 1 Cor 1:12 and “Tabithaâ€� Acts 9:36, 40, and in place names, including “Akeldamaâ€� (field of blood) Acts 1:19; “Gesthsemane (oil press) Matt 26:36, Mark 14:32; and “Golgothaâ€� (skull) Mark 15:22 ARAMAIC INSCRIPTIONS We possess an abundant number of inscriptions written in Aramaic. They constitute an extremely important source of information for our knowledge of Biblical Aramaic. With the earliest inscriptions dating as far back as the ninth century BC, from Zinjirli in north Syria; from Nineveh, Kouyunjik, Nimrud, Khorsabad (8th to 7th century BC; from Babylonia (6th â€"4th cent. BC); from Tello, bilingual in Aramaic and Greek (3rd cent. BC); from Egypt (fifth to beginning of third cent. BC); the so-called stele of Sakhara, bilingual (Egyptian and Aramaic) dated the fourth year of Xerxes 482 BC; from Taima, north of Hijaz; Al-Hijr; Petra and Hauran; the Palmyrene inscriptions belong to the first three centuries of the Christian Era ; from the Sinaitic Peninsula; from Pakistan (3rd. cent. BC); from the former Soviet Union (2nd cent. BC); and from Afghanistan (3rd cent. BC). THE ARAMAIC LANGUAGE OF JESUS At the beginning of the Christian era, Aramaic, in various dialects was the dominant spoken language of Syria and Mesopotamia. It developed a number of literary dialects, known as Palestinian Jewish Aramaic, Samaritan Aramaic, Syro-Palestinian Christian Aramaic, Syriac, Babylonian Talmudic Aramaic, and Mandaic Aramaic. In Galilee and Samaria, Aramaic dialects became the day-to-day means of communication. It is generally agreed that the inhabitants of Palestine, at the dawn of the first century, were acquainted in varying degrees with the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin. Differences emerge, however, regarding the geographical and chronological limits of each language. Some scholars defend the theory that Jesus spoke in Greek, among those in favor of this is Vosius, in the seventeenth century, D. Diodati In the eighteenth century and Paulus, Hug and Credner in the nineteenth century. More recently, A.W Argyle argued that Jesus spoke Greek and that his audience understood it as easily as they did in Aramaic. Some welcomed this claim, but others were in opposition. Evidence of Hellenistic influence, is attested by numerous Greek inscriptions, graffiti, and correspondence, Greek Pseudepigrapha written in Palestine, the Greek fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the Greek influence found throughout rabbinic literature. Others have stressed the role of Latin, the language of the Roman administration; they argue that Latin left its mark on a number of public inscriptions as well as in a few of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Latin influence is manifested in certain aspects of Rabbinic Hebrew. M. Wilcox, on the other hand, considers the Hebrew language of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which predominates over Aramaic, as an indication that Hebrew, in New Testament time, was not confined to rabbinical circles, but appears to be a “normal vehicle of expressionâ€�. Along this, runs a similar view of H. Birkeland, who challenged the usual view that Aramaic was the regular spoken language of the first century Palestine. According to Dr. Birkeland, Hebrew, not Aramaic, was the language of the Jews and of Jesus. No one doubts the extent to which Aramaic had spread throughout the Levant from the middle of the first millennium BC, until; Arabic supplanted it, in the seventh century. A more difficult question, which has led to a significant disagreement among scholars, has to do with differences among, and classification of the various dialects of Aramaic. The most extreme theory is that during the Exile, the Jews lost their Hebrew language for Aramaic, reserving Hebrew, already a dead language, for literature. This was Saadiah’s view, and also, in different forms, by a number of nineteenth- and-twentieth century scholars, including A. Geiger, A. Meyer, G.H. Dalman, A. Dupont-Sommer, and F. Altheim and R. Stiehl. Meyer argued that Jesus’ mother tongue was Aramaic and that most of the Testament writings were originally written in Aramaic and later translated into Greek. Dalman agrees with the fact that Aramaic was the spoken language of the Jews in New Testament time. He concluded that Jesus grew up in Aramaic environment, and that He had to use Aramaic in order to be understood by his disciples and the people. More recently too, Dupont-Sommer argued that, Aramaic was the only language current among ordinary people at the time of Jesus, and that it was the language spoken by Jesus and the Apostles. Similarly, Altheim and Stiehl argued that from the beginning of the Hellenistic era, Aramaic had completely supplanted Hebrew as a spoken language. A more sophisticated approach distinguishes Middle Aramaic (from 300 BC), and Late Aramaic dialects. In the first group, E.Y. Kutscher placed Targum Onkelos and the Aramaic translations from the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as inscriptions from around Jerusalem, and Aramaic expressions in the New Testament. The later dialects, which belong to Western Aramaic, are classified as Galilean, Samaritan, and Christian-Palestinian Aramaic. Of these, the Galilean dialect is of particular interest, because, it was used, for example, in the Aramaic sections of the Palestinian Talmud , the Palestinian Targums , numerous midrashim , and various Synagogue inscriptions. The evidence of the Aramaic language of Jesus is Impossible to explain if Aramaic was not His spoken language. The Scriptures were provided with Targum for the Aramaic-speaking masses who could no longer understand Hebrew. Nowadays, there are few scholars who would disagree that in Galilee and Samaria, the spoken language of the time was basically Aramaic. More controversial though, is the extent of the use of Aramaic in Judea to the south . The discovery of Aramaic texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as earlier evidence from, for example, names of persons and places, have demonstrated conclusively that the use of Aramaic was well established, but not completely dominant in Judea. To simplify the matter, we can say that the most widely spoken language was Galilean Aramaic in Galilee, Samaritan Aramaic in Samaria, and Rabbinic Hebrew in Judea, although, at certain times and places, more than one language may have been used. Since Jesus began his career as a Galilean rabbi, well versed in the Scripture, It is highly possible that he was able to converse in Hebrew as in Aramaic. © Copyright 2006 Gabriel Sawma ALL RIGHTS RESERVED About the autho: Gabriel Sawma is lawyer dealing with International Law, mainly the European Union Law, the Middle East and Islamic Shari'a Laws, http://www.gabrielsawma.blogspot.com. Professors of Aramaic and a recognized authority on Islam. Author of a book titled "The Qur'an: Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread. The Aramaic Language of the Qur'an", http://www.syriacaramaicquran.com. Email: gabrielsawma@yahoo.com.

Lawyer specializing in the EU Law, the Middle East and Islamic Shariaa Laws. Professor of Aramaic and author of "The Qur'an: Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread. The Aramaic Language of the Qur'an".

Seven Secrets of Writing a Book That Sells
It's one thing to write a book, it's an entirely different thing to write one that's a saleable, viable, marketable product. Ensuring the success of a book is something even the biggest publishers have never been able to guarantee. Mitigating circumstances, flash trends, and world events will all affect buyer preferences. That said, there are still ways to leverage the sales-factor in your favor and here's how you do it.

1. Know your readers. We're not just talking about whether your readers are male or female. You'll want to know myriad factors about your audience. How old are your readers (age range)? Are readers married, single, or divorced? Where do your readers live (generally)? What do your readers do for a living? What other books/publications do they read? Develop a profile that includes where they shop, what clubs they belong to, etc.

These elements will help you incorporate these aspects into your book *and* help you unearth salient marketing opportunities (i.e., publications and stores).

2. Know your market. What's the market like for your book? Is there a trend out there you're positioning yourself toward? Are you reading all the publications related to this topic/trend? Are there any "holes" out there your book could fill? What's the future for this market/topic? For example, let's say you're a fiction writer looking to publish chick lit. Go to any bookstore and you can't help but spot the cutsie, pink, cartoonish covers. Many thought this trend was dying out, but it has recently seen another surge. What do you know about trends related to your book/topic/audience?

3. Similar books. What else has been published on your topic? Have you read all ten books in your category? If you haven't, you should. You'll want to know everything you can about what's out there and how it's being perceived in the marketplace. It's never a problem having a similar topic. When I published No More Rejections - Get Published Today, I knew there were other books out there on marketing. I read them all--then angled my book differently.

4. Getting and staying current. What's going on in your industry today? What are some hot buttons? What are people looking for? What's next on the horizon for this topic/audience? If you can't seem to gather this information through traditional channels, why not survey your target audience? There are a number of places to run free surveys, Survey Monkey is one of them: http://www.surveymonkey.com

5. Follow the media. What's the media talking about these days? Keep track of media buzz--what they're paying attention to and what they're writing about. Delve beyond the front page of your paper to the second or third page and see what's filling the pages. If you can get your hands on out-of-state papers, do a comparative review. Do you see a trend in coverage? Is there something that seems to be getting more buzz even if it's on page six?

6. Talk, teach, listen. One of the best ways I've found to get in touch with my audience was to teach a class and do speaking engagements. When I was putting together my book, Get Published Today, I found that the classes I taught provided valuable information for creating a great book because they put me directly in touch with my audience!

7. Timing is everything. When do you plan to release your tome? Are you releasing around a holiday or anniversary? Could you take advantage of any upcoming event and/or holiday for your book launch?

Penny C. Sansevieri: The Cliffhanger was published in June of 2000. After a strategic marketing campaign it quickly climbed the ranks at Amazon.com to the #1 best selling book in San Diego. Her most recent book: From Book to Bestseller was released in 2005 to rave reviews and is being called the “roadmap to publishing success.” Penny is a book marketing and media relations specialist. She also coaches authors on projects, manuscripts and marketing plans and instructs a variety of coursing on publishing and promotion. To learn more about her books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com

How Not To Get Published
If someone had told me in 2000 that I'd publish four books in 2001, I'd have called him an eejit. The last time I'd been published was 1989, and that doesn't count because I paid someone to do it. I'd long since given up on getting published again. In fact, I doubted I'd ever write again. By now you may wonder how I made it from Point A to Point B. Or for that matter, why I stopped writing. The second part is simple. I was chasing money, becoming a high-powered businessman and losing myself. The first part is a little more difficult to explain. In December 1999, I flew to Hong Kong for a vacation. The first vacation in my life, really. I intended to stay for a month. Instead, I married an Australian who taught English there. I quit my job in North Carolina by email. I found myself unable to legally work in Hong Kong. So what was I to do with my time? I dusted off a childhood dream and resumed writing. I had a slush pile full of old short stories, and I ran them through the on-line writing workshops. There are two parts to writing--story and style. I wasn't changing my stories--they came from me and were what I wanted to write--but my style was pathetic. Style is also the part that can be learned. So I did. Then came something that amazed me. New stories. Mixing with the "writing culture" got my creative juices flowing again. After all those years. Better than ever, in fact. Next, I published them. Between March and December 2000, I published twenty stories in twenty different e-zines. I only made $6, but I was building my resume. I believed that I had a short story anthology in me, and I'd decided to try publishing it. I felt I needed a "track record," so I got one. I also had a novel in my slush pile. A gripping imaginative story, badly told. But I'd finally learned about the craft, the structure, and the hard work that comes after that original flash of inspiration. You see where I'm leading by now. I wrote two new novels, and signed contracts to publish all three novels plus the new short story collection in 2001. It's a common sight among new writers, and really it's a bit sad. People who have the story--the part that can't be learned--but tell it badly. They rush in on the adrenaline high that authors know so well, then get rejected and give up. What defines a great story? That depends on which reader you ask. If you're writing a story that moves you, someone somewhere with similar tastes will like it. Some stories will be more popular than others, but almost every story will be considered great by someone. But if it's badly written, the reader will simply put the book down and read something else. As a teenaged author, gathering up enough rejection slips to wallpaper the room, I didn't give up. I just got arrogant and decided "You don't understand me, ya eejit." That's no solution. Nor is paying to be published. Nope, if you want to get published, learn how to tell your story. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, pacing, dialogue... all that stuff you may have slept through in high school will become second nature with enough practice. I did quite well in high school English, by the way, but it's not like they taught pacing and dialogue and real story- telling there. To learn those, you've gotta read. But that's no problem for an author. If you don't enjoy reading, you can't write something that others will enjoy reading. Also, you must listen to the criticisms. Accept some and reject others, but always listen. I believe the Internet makes it much easier to get those criticisms. I work as an editor now, and one of my authors told me that he sees movies inside his head. It shows in his writing! I don't write that way, unfortunately, but I still know how he feels. When "the Muse" pays me a visit, I've gotta write it down as fast as it comes to me. That's the one part that can't be packaged, taught or mass-produced. That part comes from you, the author, and no one else can do it the way that you do. Kurt Vonnegut, whose works I greatly admire, writes one sentence at a time, and makes each one perfect before he begins the next. But I don't write like that, nor do most of the authors I know. We just let it fly, then go back and fix it later. But if you don't want to get published, don't go back and fix it. Pass that raw copy around to your friends and family and let them tell you how wonderful it is for fear of hurting your feelings. Then send it to the publishers and collect the rejection letters. That's what I did in my younger days, and I wasn't published. It took me twenty years to learn my lesson. It would genuinely make me feel good to hear that most writers aren't taking quite so long.

Who Moved My Rice? http://www.chinarice.org You can't eat grits with chopsticks

The Blog Factor: Everything you need to know to start blogging - today!
So what is this "blog factor"? Well, what a few thought was a novel idea some years ago has now morphed into something no one expected. There are currently nine million blogs out there with 40,000 new ones being added everyday. Some are informative and some are just downright a waste of your time. And while we hear a lot about blogging these days, what is blogging *really*? Blogging in its simplest term is like an online journal but much, much more powerful. Blogs (short for Web log) is a place where surfers can get up to the minute information on a topic or voyeur into someone's life. Some blogs are nothing more than a daily glimpse into someone's life, while others are so sophisticated, it's hard to tell them apart from an online news service.

Why Blogs Matter

Google, the #1 search engine on the net, loves blogs. So much so that if you do it right Google will spider the heck out of your site. What does it mean to "spider"? Well spidering is when Google, or the like, searches your site's content to establish ranking, and the more content you have (i.e. fresh content) the more Google will do its magic and push your site up the search engine. Another reason blogs matter is that they are interactive and, if you blog on your book's topic, it will help to further your expert status on a particular issue. When we plan "Virtual Tours" for our authors, we include as many blogs as we can into a tour. Why? Because if you can get into a good blog that's seeing a lot of traffic, you can really start to gain some exposure for your book.

What Would You Talk About?

This is the question we get asked most often. "If I start a blog, what on earth would I talk about?" Well if your book is non-fiction it's pretty easy to figure out what your topic would be, but if your book is fiction it could get a bit tricky - but not impossible. An author I work with has a series of books starring one character - a private detective. I recommended that he "blog" this character, meaning that the character (not the author) would have the blog. It could be the character's diary or adventures and stories - a glimpse into the life of a private detective. This would give the reader (and fans of this character) a reason to return to the blog for an update on this ongoing adventure or story.

In another instance, I work with an author who wrote a fiction book about right and wrong with a new age/spirituality spin. I advised him to blog on issues related to that - right and wrong in our society and his own personal "spin" on these issues. Some of his blogs might be controversial but that's okay, you want to create your own "voice," your own take on a certain issue and if that opinion is controversial, all the better for exposure and for getting people to interact on your blog. Getting readers to respond to your posts is a great way to gain interest and momentum for your blog and (more importantly) getting people to talk about it will grow your blog like nothing else!

How to Start a Blog

Starting a blog is super easy. All you have to do is register at a blog site (like http://www.blogger.com) and get started. It's that easy. The blog service will link to your site; you'll need to ask your Webmaster to add a button to your home page so people can find your blog.

How to Blog Effectively

The best bloggers know that the more you add to your blog, the more traffic you'll drive there. Some bloggers I know post daily, sometimes even multiple times a day while others post weekly. How much you post will probably depend on how much time you have to dedicate to this. The challenge will be that if you want to keep driving people to your blog, you'll want fresh content. This doesn't mean you have to create this all yourself, in fact you can invite people onto your blog and interview them, or you can just post a one paragraph "thought" on your topic. It doesn't have to be complicated or long, it just has to be fresh. Also be innovative, as we discussed earlier, be different with your blog, have fun with it. It might seem complicated at first but once you get the hang of it, you'll quickly become a blog expert!

Penny C. Sansevieri: The Cliffhanger was published in June of 2000. After a strategic marketing campaign it quickly climbed the ranks at Amazon.com to the #1 best selling book in San Diego. Her most recent book: From Book to Bestseller was released in 2005 to rave reviews and is being called the “roadmap to publishing success.” Penny is a book marketing and media relations specialist. She also coaches authors on projects, manuscripts and marketing plans and instructs a variety of coursing on publishing and promotion. To learn more about her books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com

Speed Read Faster Than Ever - 4 Brilliant Tips
Many people, particularly students, would love to be able to absorb information faster. But before retaining information, they have to go through the first stage of learning, which is reading.

For many individuals who are pressed for time, speed reading has become a necessity. However, it's not just the reading part that is important. Equally essential is for the reader to fully understand the words coming out from the book or paper.

Here are some great tips to read and comprehend faster.

1) Relax.

If you're in the stressed mode, it would be much more difficult to concentrate; hence, it would just be a lot harder for the information to sink in.

2) Know what you want.

Focus on the areas that you really need to learn. Some people read all parts of a book, when all they need to know is a specific chapter.

Know your priority. If you need to find out about a certain subject, go to the Table of Contents and search for the heading that best suits your need. If you need to learn more, then adjust accordingly. The important thing is to weed out the stuffs that you don't currently need.

3) Get rid of the structure words.

Did you know that around 60% of the words we read are structure words? Examples are the words "the, or, and." They are essential in the structure of the sentences; but when you ignore them, they basically mean the same thing. They only serve to beautify, yet you can understand what you are reading even without them. Try not to focus too much attention on structure words.

4) Practice, practice, practice.

When I started exercising with weights, I can only lift the lighter ones. As the time goes by, I slowly add more and more weights as my body tends to adjust and become more comfortable carrying heavier ones.

The same concept goes for speed reading. Set a goal. Figure out how fast you can read, then create a plan to increase your ability.

If you can read 200 words per minute, set a goal to read 250 words a minute. After accomplishing this feat, set a goal to read 300 words per minute.

This takes time and practice, but the effort is all worth it. If this is your first time to set such a goal, read first those materials you are familiar with.

Carry on with more difficult ones as you progress. This way, you're not overwhelming yourself with understanding different new words and at the same time developing your speed reading skills.

You can find out more on how to effectively double your reading speed and accelerate your learning abilities to the extreme on Rene Graeber?s website at <a href="http://www.smart-ways-to-make-money.com" title="http://www.smart-ways-to-make-money.com" target="_blank">http://www.smart-ways-to-make-money.com</a>

How Nearly Finished Got Lucky
Lying next to Richard Branson is terrific. There’s a buzz. Everyone wants to touch you. “â€�Wowâ€�, people gasp, “you and Richard Branson. Amazing. Who would have thought of the two of you together â€" you from Cape Town and Mr B, the global entrepreneurâ€�. Indeed. Before you get too excited, let me explain. I am talking about my little book, Nearly Finished â€" a guide to home renovation (Double Storey, $16) which for a few weeks, lay on the shelf (see, I told you not to get excited) next to Mr. Branson’s bestselling little book, called, Screw It, Let's Do It (Virgin Books, $5.80). Our books nestled side-by-side at my local book shop in a section where they place the ten top selling titles of the week. The list is for that store only. Sure, it is not the national hit parade or The New York Times Best Selling list, but it was a huge rush for yours truly. To bask in the afterglow of Mr Branson’s fame was lovely. Nearly Finished is based on articles I was commissioned to write for the Cape Times on the renovation of our house. South African publishers, Double Storey approached me and invited me to develop the newspaper series into a book. When Nearly Finished was released, we were on holiday. On our return, we found that the little bookie was at no 9 at the bookshop. Thrilling. It soon moved to number four. Mr B was at no 3. Major thrills. Armed with a skinny cappuccino, I sat in the coffee shop adjoining the book shop, monitoring the action and smoozing potential buyers: “Hey, why are you not buying my book?! I’ll even sign it for youâ€�. A fascinating pattern emerged. People began picking up Mr Branson’s Screw it, Let’s Do It and then reached for Nearly Finished. Or the other way round. I was chuffed. I am still a virgin with this literary gig, so when I see someone buying my book, I can’t control myself: “Omigod â€" you’re buying my bookâ€�, I squealed to a nice man. “Well, since I am with the subject of screwing, I thought I’d buy Nearly Finished as well. Aren’t they about the same thing?â€�, he answered. Hmm. Consider a review on Amazon for Screw it: “ …Screw It, Let's Do It reveals the lessons that have helped him through his business and personal life, like believing it can be done and that, if others disagree with you, try and try again until you achieve your goal or that you must love what you do.â€� Exactly. In Nearly Finished, we reveal the lessons that helped us through the renovating process and our utter belief that it could be accomplished, even when others disagreed with us; when they said that it couldn’t be done; we persevered. When they said that we would fail if we sub-contracted and worked without a project manager or fancy designer, we said, ‘screw it - let’s do it’. Our philosophy is that anyone can build or renovate. Our mission: to demystify building. Get a handful of three inch screws and pay someone else to get on with your job. Love your home. Enjoy it. With property values rocketing globally and living spaces shrinking â€" we are after the same thing. As homeowners who live in Cape Town, New York, London or Shanghai, we want to make the most of our homes, maybe buff them up a little bit or a lot. Ultimately, we all want to finish. Although Nearly Finished is a story about one family’s experience of building in Cape Town (that’s us) and is not meant to be an A-Z of building, it does contain universal reference points and tips about the building process; what can go wrong and what to look out for. It is full of lessons we can draw from wherever we are in the global village â€" to help us take our homes from “need some workâ€� to “simply stunningâ€�

Nearly Finished is based on a series of articles, the Story of My House, which Robyn Cohen was commissioned to write for the Cape Times, documenting the renovation of the family’s home, which is nearly, but not quite, finished. Cohen is a Cape Town based writer, artist and photographer. She is a columnist and regular contributor to the Cape Times and other publications and treats herself to an excellent cappuccino every day with lots of chocolate sprinkles. Her beat includes writing on books, culture, humour, food, décor/design and travel. She has derived considerable décor inspiration from staying in magnificent hotels in exotic locations with her family. It is a tough gig, but someone has to do it. She is a member of SAFREA (South African Freelancers Association). Buy her book at <a href="http://www.abillionbooks.com">aBillionbooks.com</a>

Audio Books ? What?s Hot For 2006?
2006 is already here and many ask me what we should expect of the emerging interesting market of Audio Books. Audio books have been here for over 20 years and they have become so popular in the last couple of years but yet I claim that the audio books revolution has just begun.
Find out the hot trends in the audio books market for 2006:

1. Less audio books on CD and cassettes and more downloadable audio books ? MP3 audio books and other formats of digital audio books will become cheaper and more reachable, While audio books on CD and books on tape are much less convenient and user friendly. The amount of podcast listeners who download audio books from the internet to listen on their mobile devices such as iPod will rise significantly.

2. Audio book rental services will become the most common method of listening to audio books ? Similar to the DVD market, most audio book listeners will prefer renting audio books instead of buying them. This trend will be the strongest for downloadable audio books but also true for audio books on CD and books on tape.

3. Free audio books ? More online audio book services will offer low cost and free audio books by free trials and special sales.

4. Audio books will invade Europe ? While the audio book market in the United kingdom is developed and have reached a turnover of 124$ million in 2004, The market in Germany is constantly rising and have already reached a turnover of 120$ million in 2005. The audio book market in the whole continent is expected to rise in about 20% during 2006.

Sony has also recognized the emerging market of digital audio books and has recently announced of a new audio book mobile player. The new product will let the users store and listen to digital audio books and is predicted to gain the same popularity as the ?iPod?.

Audio books will be a part of everyone?s life. Join the audio book revolution

Find out all about audio books only on <a target="_new" href=" http://www.911makemoretime.com/audio%20books%20bible.htm "> Audio books free downloads and more - The audio book bible</a>. The audio books bible: http://www.911makemoretime.com/audio%20books%20bible.htm

Writing Fiction That Sells
ACT ONE â€" The Setup

In Act One the protagonist meets all of the characters in the story. We also learn the main problem of the story. Everybody can usually plot Act One because we have to know the problem to have the idea. The trick in Act One is to keep it interesting. Don't just start rolling out story points. Start at the most interesting point, where there is conflict and excitement, and help the audience sort it out.
Act One is a preparation act for the viewer or reader. This is where they learn about the central character â€" whether they like him, whether they care about him, and whether they care about his dilemma.
The protagonist may be the hero or the villain, depending on whose story is more interesting, whose story drives the plot forward.
You should open Act One with a bang. Don't start at "Once upon a time." Open with a hook. By the end of Act One you should also have introduced the protagonist, the antagonist and set up all of the secondary character relationships.

Here are some general guidelines for the objectives of Act One.
1. Establish the status quo for the protagonist.
2. Present the initial impetus for a move or change by the protagonist.
3. Ask the central question of the book. Summarize your book in 25 words or less and you will find the central question of your book.
4. Define the wants of the major characters and their reasons for desiring these things.
5. Lay the groundwork and establish the stakes for the chase to occur in Act Two.

ACT TWO â€" The Chase

This is the most important act in the drama because you have the two most important structural moves in the story.
1. It complicates the initial problem.
2. It defeats the protagonist at its end.

The complication usually comes at the top of Act Two. The problem that we already set up in Act One, now has to become much more dangerous and difficult.
A good way to design the complication is to let it be a piece of the back-story that has remained hidden until Act Two. The protagonist must then start to try to solve this bigger, more complicated problem, while the adversaries make moves to defeat them. Your adversaries must be in motion. Adversaries should not be standing around, waiting to be caught.
The end of Act Two marks the destruction of the protagonist’s plan.
At the end of Act Two the protagonist should be almost destroyed, and at the lowest point in the drama, either physically and/or emotionally. He (or she) is flat on his back and it looks like there is no way he can succeed.

Here are some general guidelines for the objectives of Act Two.
1. The protagonist behaves differently, more assertive
2. The protagonist tries to do the right thing, but is foiled by the antagonist three times. These are called reversals. Think of any story and spot the reversals. The overall conflict has three reversals and one conclusion.
3. Use the information presented in Act One. This is the groundwork we discussed during Act One. Objects and facts that appeared in the background of Act One now take on new meanings significant to the plot.
4. Make the chase unpredictable, stimulating, engaging and unique.
5. Rely heavily on physical action.
6. Put the characters in interesting situations and locations, ensuring those situations and locations relate to the hero’s intent.

ACT THREE

This is simply the resolution of the problem. From the rubble laying around him/her, the protagonist picks up a piece of string and follows it to the eventual conclusion of the story. Some stories have downbeat endings, where the protagonist learns a lesson, but dies or is defeated.
Of course, there is no precise formula for success. It is always possible to alter this Three Act Structure, but remember, if you break these plot rules, you should at least know why you are doing it.

Here are some general guidelines for the objectives of Act Three.
1. Answer the central question of the book.
2. Fulfill all the promises made in Acts One and Two.
3. Answer all questions asked in Acts One and Two â€" no loose ends.
4. The protagonist must undergo a change to conquer a larger version of something that conquered him during Act One.

Patrick Dent, author of the new covert ops thriller, Execution of Justice, at
Action Adventure Book

The online resource to help new authors refine their writing skills.
Creative Writing, Fiction

Patrick Dent, author of the covert ops thriller, Execution of Justice at: http://www.lulu.com/EOJ Online resource for new authors: http://www.creativewritingfiction.com

Find Some Readers!
The Internet will not replace traditional promotional efforts, but it can enhance them. Before I go into the Internet, I want to talk about the old-fashioned marketing methods, because they're still your best source of readers. ===== BOOKSTORES Map out all bookstores within 20, 50, even 100 miles of where you live. Call or visit and see who has a local or regional authors section. Most do. See if they'll buy a few copies. I did this in 1994 and had a lot of fun with it. See if they'll schedule a book signing. If they do, some newspapers and radio stations will advertize them as free public service announcements. I never did this -- my mistake. http://www.bookweb.org/bd-bin/browse_bd?Country=usa&State_Name=YOURSTATE will help you find the bookstores in your state. So will the Yellow Pages in your home, and the online version at http://www.yellowpages.com/. Alternately, you can find the bookstores by doing a web search for Bookstores+YourState. This will take longer, but it can work. You can narrow down your search by using key words like Independent, Christian, wholesale... whatever you're trying to find. ===== LIBRARIES Since I've never done this myself, I'm repeating what I've heard. It contradicts itself in a few spots, but it'll give you some ideas. To find a list of libraries in your state, you can use a search engine, or you can call your local library and ask how to get a listing of all the libraries in your state. They'll usually give you the link. Many libraries have a budget to buy books and will gladly purchase from local authors. Libraries won't let you sell your book inside the building, but they will let you talk about it. Talk with the "Friends of the Library" chapter. Also, donate a book to your local library. It's good publicity, especially if you get a newspaper to pick up the story, and it's a good way to give back to your community. You can also donate an autographed copy of your book to the library in the city where your book is set. If possible, do this in person. Many times the library will set up a book signing for you at one (or more) of the book stores in the area. Again, contact the "Friends of the Library" group. ===== PRESS RELEASES Send press releases to every newspaper in your state and the state where your book is set. Also look for local radio stations who will interview you. Kidon Media (http://www.kidon.com/media-link/index.shtml) will help you find them. Stick to places that would be genuinely interested in you, as opposed to spamming everybody. If the URLs are stale, you can look up the names at Google. ===== BOOK REVIEWS Walk into any bookstore, log onto any e-publisher site, or visit Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Guess what you'll see? A whole lot of books. If one of them happens to be yours, how will people notice it? I've gone into a bookshop more than once to buy something based on a review. There are print reviews and there are electronic reviews. You want to be reviewed as much as possible. Your publisher will market your book, but you have to help. A lot. What you want is for a potential reader to walk into that shop or log onto that site with your name and title already in his or her head. Your publisher will submit your book to reviewers. I don't know about the quantity, but reviews (even negative ones) generate sales. Work with your publisher to ensure everyone on the list below is covered. Also make sure you don't both send the same book to the same place because that's just plain embarrassing. When you are marketing, don't think like a writer. Think like a reader. Of course you can think like another person... that's part of what makes you a great writer. How do you choose what to read? I go by what my friends recommend, book reviews, and author loyalty. This isn't the end-all and be-all of marketing efforts, but it's a good starting place. (Word-of-mouth is the end-all and be-all.) Here are some sources that readers use. Some will review your books, some will let you review other people's books, and some are just plain useful for getting the word out. ===== BOOK REVIEWERS/AUTHOR INTERVIEWS A Romance Review http://www.aromancereview.com/ Book Lore http://www.BookLore.co.uk Book Pleasures http://www.bookpleasures.com/ Book Remarks http://www.book-remarks.com Bookreporter http://bookreporter.com/ Book Review http://www.bookreview.com Choice Magazine http://www.ala.org/acrl/choice/index.html Contemporary Romance Writers http://www.contemporaryromancewriters.com/ The Compulsive Reader http://www.compulsivereader.com/html Green Man Review http://www.greenmanreview.com Love Romances http://www.loveromances.com/ My Shelf http://www.myshelf.com/ Reader To Reader http://www.readertoreader.com/ The Romance Reader http://www.theromancereader.com/ Scribes World http://www.scribesworld.com Scott London Book Reviews http://www.scottlondon.com/index.html Writers Write http://www.writerswrite.com/ Written Voices http://www.writtenvoices.com/ ===== AUTHOR INTERVIEWS Author Interviews http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman/writersknowhow/author_interviews.htm Author Network http://www.author-network.com/ ===== BOOK REVIEWS All About Romance http://www.likesbooks.com Asian Reporter Book Reviews http://www.asianreporter.com/book_reviews.htm Author Mania http://www.authormania.com Baryon http://www.baryon-online.com The Best Reviews http://thebestreviews.com/ Blether http://www.blether.com/ Blurb http://www.futuremuse.com/blurb/mystery/mystery_index.htm Book Connector http://www.bookconnector.com/ Book Ideas http://www.bookideas.com/ Booklist Magazine http://www.ala.org/booklist/submit.html Book Review Club http://www.bookreviewclub.com/ Curled Up With A Good Book http://www.curledup.com/ Erv's Book Reviews http://ervsbookreviews.com/ervsfreebookreviews Escape To Romance http://www.escapetoromance.com/reviews/ Huntress' Book Reviews http://www.huntressreviews.com International Gay & Lesbian Review http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/oneigla/onepress/ Kirkus Reviews http://www.kirkusreviews.com/kirkusreviews/index.jsp Know Better http://www.knowbetter.com/ Linear Reflections http://www.linearreflections.com The Literary Times http://www.tlt.com/ London Review of Books http://www.lrb.co.uk/ Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/ The McQuark Review of e-books for Kids http://www.mcquark.com/ Midwest Book Review http://www.midwestbookreview.com Mostly Fiction http://www.mostlyfiction.com/ The Mystery Reader http://www.themysteryreader.com/ The New York Review of Books http://www.nybooks.com/ The New York Times Book Review http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/index.html Notes In The Margin http://www.notesinthemargin.org/index.html PIF Magazine http://www.pifmagazine.com/ Publishers Weekly http://www.publishersweekly.com/index.asp) Three months before publication Rain Taxi http://www.raintaxi.com/ Rebecca's Reads http://www.rebeccasreads.com Rio Reviewers http://www.rio-reviewers.com/ Road to Romance http://www.roadtoromance.dhs.org/ Romance and Friends http://www.romanceandfriends.com/ Romantic Times Magazine http://www.romantictimes.com Shades of Romance Magazine http://www.sormag.com/index.html Sime-Gen http://www.simegen.com/reviews Spiritual Bookstore http://www.spiritualbookstore.com/ Subversion http://www.booksquare.com/subversion/ Want A Book Reviewed? http://www.suite101.com/myhome.cfm/sarawebbquest The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/style/books/ Word Museum http://www.wordmuseum.com Word Thunder http://www.wordthunder.com ===== BUSINESS AND ECOMONIC BOOK REVIEWS Brint Institute http://books.brint.com/ Business Nation http://www.businessnation.com/bookreviews/pages/ Digital Women http://www.digital-women.com/bookreview/ Telecom Business Books http://www.telecombookshelf.com/business-general.html ===== BOOK LISTING SITES AuthorZone http://www.authorzone.com/ BitBooks http://www.bitbooks.com/ eBook Jungle http://ebookjungle.com/index.html Once Written http://www.oncewritten.com Reviewers Choice http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ReviewersChoice Substance Books http://www.substancebooks.com/ Wild East Links Machine http://forum.hkwriterscircle.com/pages/ ===== MISCELLANEOUS · Allreaders.com http://www.allreaders.com · Am I a HACK or NOT? http://www.jjjwebdevelopment.com/306sites/hackornot/ ===== WEBSITES AND NEWSLETTERS If you're selling anything, you should have a website. If you're selling ebooks, you should consider it mandatory. How many people do you know who read ebooks but don't use the Internet? None come to my mind. The best thing about having a website is that you can do it free. Later, once you know what you're doing, you can buy a domain name and pay a hosting service if you want. You can pay someone to design a gorgeous site for you, loaded with graphics, complete with a secure server and the option to buy right there, but I didn't. My publisher does the selling. Writing a site yourself, loaded with information and a place to click to send someone to your publisher, is simple. Planning should take longer than actual execution. A bit like writing a novel. "Hi, I'm Michael LaRocca and these are my books." This approach will guarantee that anyone looking for Michael LaRocca will find my site. But when we consider that no one's heard of Michael LaRocca, how many people will seek out my site? Unsolicited "Buy my book!" messages don't work. They just piss people off. Plus, they're rude. Spam doesn't sell books. Trustworthy recommendations do. As the author, talking to a total stranger who didn't ask you to start a conversation, you can't make trustworthy recommendations. So don't even try. Here's a possible solution. Let's say you've written a book where most of the action happens on a snowmobile. Put together the best damn snowmobile website in history. Everything that anyone wants to know about snowmobiles should be on your site. Make it the kind of resource that any snowmobiler will visit again and again. Then slip a little note in there mentioning your book. People will find your site, and during one of those repeat visits they'll buy your book. Basically, fill a need. Give folks a reason to keep coming back even if they think they'll never buy your book. Being helpful is my "sales gimmick," but I just so happen to enjoy it. People don't log onto the Internet with the purpose of spending money. They log on for information or entertainment. Give them that and they'll keep coming back. If you throw in just a little soft sell, and do it right, they'll eventually make that impulse buy as a favor to you. Hopefully after they read one of your books, you'll hook them and they'll come back specifically to buy the rest. As an example, why are you reading this right this minute? To buy a book? No. To read my free advice. My site is genuinely useful. You want to bookmark it and come back. I know you do. At some point, you're supposed to think "What a nice man. Let me plop down a mere $5 and buy one of his novels." Maybe you won't do that. Maybe if I were you, I wouldn't do it either. But, I'd probably read the free samples. They're at http://www.chinarice.org/michaellarocca.html. But I bet I can sell more novels this way than by screaming "Buy me!" at the top of my lungs. And I teach in China without a microphone. I've got strong lungs. I'm not your friend because you don't know me. However, I hope you think of me as a "trusted advisor," which is the next best thing. ===== SEARCH ENGINES When you search, how many hits do you look at before you give up and change your search terms or your search engine? That's why you want to be in the top ten or twenty slots. Start by studying everything at http://www.selfpromotion.com Next, visit Search Engine Watch at http://www.searchenginewatch.com and subscribe to the free monthly newsletter. Useful, timely advice. When a search engine spiders your site, part of your score is based on incoming links and outgoing links. Incoming links from sites with a similar theme to yours are especially valuable. So naturally you'll be asking some webmasters to exchange links. But first you have to find them. For that, I use a free program called Web Ferret. I type in a keyword and it scours several search engines looking for matches. I picked up my copy at http://www.ferretsoft.com. Nope, none of these places told me to endorse them or even knows that I do. I just happen to find them useful.

Who Moved My Rice? http://www.chinarice.org You can't eat grits with chopsticks

Reading speed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reading Speed is the speed with which one can read as defined in WPM ( words per minute ) or WPH (words per hour). Obtaining your WPM. To obtain an estimated average, begin by ...