A Book Award Adds Value to Your Book

Book awards bring exposure to books. Exposure generates sales. Sales mean more money in your pocket. Pursuing those book awards that allow publishers or authors to nominate their own titles can be a worthwhile activity for your book marketing efforts.

The literary community hosts a myriad of book awards. These awards differ as to who can nominate a book for an award. For some awards, publishers or authors can nominate their books and a committee or select group of people vote on the nominated titles. Other awards choose to have a nominating committee decide which titles should be considered for an award. Some awards have a select group of people (such as retailers, teachers, or students) nominate titles. There are a few book awards that are based on the number of copies a title has sold or lifetime achievements of an author.

Small and self-publishers can pursue those awards that allow publishers and authors to nominate books. Generally, these awards come with an entry fee. These entry fees can range from $40 to $200.

While entering a book award contest is not a guaranteed win for your entry fee, it certainly more than pays off if your book is picked for an award. Some book award programs publish the runners-up as well as the award winners. If your book falls into either of these categories, you receive a marketing gem.

Book awards, like book reviews, can be harnessed to promote your title in endless ways. One benefit of a book award over a book review is that an award warrants press coverage. Newspapers, magazines, and newsletters like to highlight authors and books that have won awards. Another benefit of a book award is that consumers tend to want to read books that have won an award. An award tells a consumer that a book is worth the money to purchase and time spent to read it. An award signals booksellers to purchase the book for their stores as book awards almost always guarantee sales.

When a book award is bestowed, the award should be used repeatedly in your marketing campaign. In addition to alerting the press about a book award, any book award received should be posted on your website, printed on all your marketing materials, used in advertisements, and added to your books cover on subsequent print runs. Also, make sure that you let your distributors know about the award and send an announcement to those publishers associations and discussion groups where you are a member.

Following is a list of a few book awards that are geared toward small and self-publishers.

Annual Writers Digest International Self-Published Book Awards
Sponsored by Writers Digest, these book awards are the only awards exclusively for self-published books.
www.writersdigest.com/contests

Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award
Sponsored by Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA), this book award honors books in three categories (fiction, nonfiction, and children's) for outstanding contribution to Christian life.
www.christianpublishers.net

Ben Franklin Awards.
Publishers must nominate titles.
www.pma-online.org/benfrank.cfm

Best Book Awards.
Best Book Awards actively promote the winning titles through their website and through the media.
www.usabooknews.com

Indie Excellence National Book Awards.
The Writers Marketing Association presents these awards for non-published manuscripts, POD books, and books by self-published or small press authors. Awards are presented in over 50 categories.
http://www.pubinsider.com/indieexcellenceawards.html

ForeWord Magazines Book of the Year Award.
ForeWords Book of the Year Award was established to bring increased attention from librarians and booksellers to the literary achievements of independent publishers and their authors. Print-on-demand titles and ebooks are accepted for nomination.
www.forewordmagazine.com/awards.asp

The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.
This award, given by The Hurston/Wright Foundation and sponsored by Borders Books, is the first national award presented to published writers of African descent by the national community of Black writers. The award is offered for four categories and nominations must be submitted by the publisher with permission from the author.
www.hurstonwright.org/legacy_award.html

Independent Publisher Book Awards.
The Independent Publisher Book Awards are sponsored by the Jenkins Group. These awards are for independent, university, small press, and self-publishers who produce books intended for the North American market. Print-on-demand titles are acceptable. The award offers 60 award categories.
www.independentpublisher.com

The Nautilus Book Awards.
These awards are sponsored jointly by Marilyn McGuire & Associates and Independent Publisher Online. Their purpose is to recognize and promote books that change peoples lives and help heal our planet. Awards are offered in 20 categories including both adult and childrens titles.
http://www.marilynmcguire.com/nautilus/nautilus.html

Writers Notes Annual Book Awards.
These awards are sponsored by Writers Notes Magazine to recognize extraordinary books by independent publishers. Awards in 11 categories are offered.
http://hopepubs.home.comcast.net/awards.html

As mentioned earlier, there are a multitude of book awards given each year. Some are specialty awards and others are more general. These are just a sampling of the more popular and well-known book awards for small and self-publishers. Go ahead and apply for some book awards. If your latest book wins an award or even if it is named a runner-up, you will have cause for celebration!

Sarah Bolme is the author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace

(http://www.marketingchristianbooks.com)

and the director of Christian Small Publishers Association

(http://www.christianpublishers.net). 2007

Red Flag Land Developments - Restrictive Covenants, Notes & Conditions

Red flag situations that you may encounter when you're preliminarily screening parcels to purchase for real estate development can be obvious, subtle or somewhere in between. The first two articles in this series touched on a range of challenges presented by the physical characteristics and surroundings of a parcel.

This article focuses on potentially big problems caused by limitations initiated or agreed to by the current or past owner of the property that could make it difficult or impossible for you to implement your desired real estate development. These restrictions have nothing to do with zoning or other municipal ordinances. One type consists of deed restrictions or covenants that would presumably be revealed through the title search you'd have done of the property once you had a purchase contract signed with the owner.

Generally, restrictive covenants are provisions recorded against a parcel and referred to in the deed that spell out some affirmative or negative requirement concerning the use or development of the property. An affirmative covenant might be one stating that any structure built on a parcel be at least 3,000 sq. ft. in size. An example of a negative covenant would be one that prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages on the property, even where that use might be permitted by the current zoning classification. You can read a more in-depth discussion of deed restrictions and their implications on land development in the article entitled "Some Controls on Developing Property".

Here's the catch: sometimes there are binding restrictions you might not find anywhere in the deed. These could be official notes on plans or written conditions agreed to by the owner where the parcel had gone through subdivision or some other municipal proceeding in the past, such as an outright change of zoning or the granting of some type of variance. If you don't do your research carefully, you might not find out about them until after you had wasted a lot of time, effort and money.

Once I came across a parcel that appeared to be very promising for development. In speaking with the seller's agent, I learned that the property (which was owned by an estate) had undergone a recent subdivision and had been split off from a smaller parcel. Inexplicably, a red flag went up in my mind. I just had this feeling there was something beneath the surface of the subdivision and I needed to investigate it more deeply. So I looked at the deeds for the two parcels but didn't find anything unusual. This surprised me, but I wasn't yet willing to conclude that my gut feeling had been wrong. I then went to the municipal building and looked at the development file and plans that were approved at the time the two-parcel subdivision was done. (This is public information.) What I found was a note on the subdivision plan specifically prohibiting the further subdivision of either parcel, resulting from one of the conditions set forth in the approval letter the estate representative had signed.

The municipal process for subdivision, development or use approval is in large part a negotiation between the property owner and the local government. Each side wants to obtain the most favorable terms. When a municipality approves a plan (or grants a variance), it typically attaches conditions to it. In the case of the estate parcel, the local government saw an opportunity to get something it wanted (i.e., no further development of the two parcels), so it conditioned its approval on the property owner's acceptance of that restriction. The estate applicant didn't understand the far-reaching implications of agreeing to the municipality's condition. All it wanted was approval of the two-parcel subdivision, which it got. What it also got was a significant decrease in the value of the two parcels.

When you're doing research, you need to tenaciously ferret out all of the facts. You must verify the accuracy of the relevant information for yourself and not just assume that it's valid or accept hearsay as truth. Occasionally, you may also have to play a hunch. Do your research carefully, but also listen to your gut.

At last, there is a resource for people interested in buying or selling land. Check out Nancy Chadwick's real estate investing and land development guides, articles and books at http://www.LandBuyingandSelling.com/

Speed Dating: What Is It, How to Does It Work?

A popular dating and matchmaking trend is upon us. It is called speed dating. Naturally, it has found a new home on the internet. But what exactly is it and how does it work?

Speed dating origins is credited to a Jewish Rabbi Yaacov Deyo, who is said to have invented it as way Jewish people meet in areas where they were outnumbered by non-Jews. I not sure the Rabbi anticipated such a huge growth in his creation. But that's a different subject.

So, what is speed dating?

Well, as the name suggests, speed dating is process or event for men and women meet in great numbers for the purpose of finding a match in the shortest possible time. Speed dating is also gaining popularity among the gay and lesbian communities.

Who sort of people participate in speed dating?

Mainly busy professionals and people who lead busy lives and don't have time for traditional dating. They are normal, attractive people who want to meet compatible prospects without wasting time.

How does speed dating work?

The event is pre-planned by an organizer. This is crucial for, as they say, "The more the merrier" and also, for safety reasons, it is important for participants to be screened and supervised. During the actual event couples meet and interact with each other one-on-one for a brief period of time, usually less than ten minutes.

Once the minutes are over you move on to the next possible prospect, no matter how much you are enjoying the present interaction or, conversely, you dread the next one. This offers participants as wide a choice as possible, therefore increasing chances of finding someone.

Also, the time limit ensures that everyone gets equal opportunity, while avoiding getting stuck with a person with whom they no longer wish to talk to.

At the end of the event participants submit a list of persons they would like to meet again. The matching process takes place after the event to ensure no one faces rejection. The organizers then look for matches and inform both parties (if two people pick each other, it's a match).

In a speed dating event, no contacts are exchanged directly, to avoid face-to-face rejection. Arguing is prohibited and an atmosphere of fun and enjoyment encouraged.

Though the process may vary with each organizer, the basics of speed dating usually remain the same.

What are the advantages of speed dating?

The most obvious advantage is- you guessed it- speed. You get to meet a variety of people, all of whom are there to for one thing, to find a mate. It allows a large number of daters to meet in one short event.

Another advantage is that it is a two-way traffic. Women don't have to just sit there and wait to be approached and men do not have to play the traditional role of aggressors while trying to guess if the woman is be interested or not.

The averting of face-to-face rejection is also a big advantage, don't you think?

What are the disadvantages of speed dating?

The biggest advantage is also the biggest disadvantage: Time. You have a very short time to make an impression. For some people the pressure may be too much. For people who can't start a conversation easily with a stranger it might also pose a challenge.

Critics of speed dating also point out that it emphasizes on first impressions, which may not necessarily be indication of future compatibility. Well, most relationships start this way anyway, so I don't see a big issue here.

Speed dating is a great way to meet prospects and, possibly, your soul-mate. Many people who have tried it say the interaction is fun, no matter the outcome. Reputable speed dating sites offer the option of meeting prospects online, at an event, or both.

David Kamau is webmaster of http://e-datecentral.com To find reputable speed dating sites go to: http://e-datecentral.com/dating_services/speed_dating.htm

Relieve Depression Naturally

Depression is a mood disorder that ranges from mild to severe. All of us have experienced a form of depression at some time in our lives. It can accompany loss, stress, unresolved anger, fear, shame, disappointment and other emotional dynamics that are a part of our life situation. Depression is experienced by children, adults, and elderly regardless of economic status, gender, or culture. Depression affects physical health, relationships, awareness, weight, memory, decision making ability, energy level, interest, and sleep. In addition to emotional experience, depression can result from diet, nutrition, and other physical biochemical origins.

In severe, special cases of depression associated with extreme mental disorder, synthetic, chemical based drugs called antidepressants are required and necessary for relief of depression. However, most of us do not fall into this category and too often these synthetic antidepressants are prescribed for us who suffer from common daily disappointments in our lives. For most common experiences of depression, antidepressants are not often necessary. Synthetic Antidepressants have been known to have some harmful side effects, prompting the FDA to recommend that manufacturers add this warning label to their products: "Antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in short-term studies in children and adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders. Anyone considering the use of {insert established name} or any other antidepressant in a child or adolescent must balance this risk with the clinical need. Patients who are started on therapy should be observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidalty, or unusual changes in behavior".

This is not to suggest that ignoring the feelings of depression will make the feelings go away. Since depression can have physical biochemical origin and depression from emotional stress can cause biochemical change in the body, it would follow that common, not severe, depression would respond to clinically proven all natural remedies as vitamins, herbs, supplements, minerals, amino acids, aromatherapy, and all natural formulas designed to relieve the pain of depression. Other treatments e.g. psychotherapy, exercise, acupuncture, yoga, meditation also aid in the natural relief of depression.

Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals can trigger depression as well as depression decreasing the availability of vitamins and minerals essential for the maintaining our body's health. These vitamins and minerals include vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin C, magnesium, calcium and trace minerals. Supplementing our bodies with these vitamins and minerals can relieve and perhaps prevent depression as well as greatly improving our health generally.

Adding amino acids to our diets can go a long way in relieving depression and promoting general health. For example, SAMe (S-Adensoyl-L-Methionine) is an amino acid that can be found in all cells of our body. It is a natural antidepressant that has additional value of protecting the liver and cardiovascular system, synthesis of natural melatonin that assists sleeping well. Phenylalanine is another amino acid that makes the neurotransmitter, i.e. substance that conducts messages to and within the brain, norepinephrine. Norepinephrine is diminished in the brains of people who are depressed. The amino acid L-Theanine naturally reduces anxiety associated with depression and is not addictive or habit forming. Another amino acid that naturally relieves depression and stimulates alertness is L-Tyrosine.

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophane) is a naturally occurs in our bodies and helps the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Adequate amounts of serotonin is vital for a feeling and sense of emotional well being. 5-HTP can cross the blood brain barrier which makes it unique in the facilitation of serotonin. 5-HTP has gained a great reputation in the natural treatment of insomnia, depression and obesity.

For many people who suffer common depression, a effectively created herbal formula is very beneficial for the natural relief of depression. St. John's wort (hypericum perforaturn), commonly referred to as "Nature's Prozac", helps naturally relieve mild or moderate depression, stress, anxiety, and tension. Gingo biloba is used as an alternative treatment for moderate depression in elderly people because depression is an early sign of cognitive decline or cerebrovascular deficiency. Valerian root has a natural calming effect for anxiety and depression. Passionflower is an efficient natural sedative for calming and sleeping well. Black Cohosh, used by early Native Americans, soothes the body and reduces spasm. These are just a few of the examples of herbs and herbal formula that treat moderate depression effectively and naturally.

Hormonal imbalance can lead to moderate depression. A common treatment is natural progesterone for women. Other natural substances help balance hormones e.g. flax oil, black cohosh, dimpro, promensil, essential fatty acids, red clover, virtex berry and many other naturally derived supplements.

Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils and other natural aromatic compounds from plants to effect emotional and physical health The oils are referred to as "essential" because they are the "essence" of the plant. Olfactory sense has a powerful effect on our emotional and physical health. Aromatherapy can be used to alter mood, inspire confidence, ease moderate depression, and increase energetic feeling. In some nations essential oils are used for their antiseptic qualities to treat infection. In France, many aromatherapy essential oils are perceived in a similar way as prescription drugs are in the United States. Aromatherapy comes in many forms, e.g. essential oil, mists, sticks, candles, infusions, massage creams and oils, mineral bath formulas, and absolutes.

One on the most popular aromatherapy aromas is lavender. Lavender essential oil has a calming scent which makes it an excellent tonic for the nerves and helps in treating migraines, headaches, anxiety, depression, nervous tension and emotional stress. Its refreshing aroma removes nervous exhaustion and restlessness and increases mental activity. Lavender essential oil induces sleep and hence it is often recommended for insomnia. Lavender essential oil is also an excellent remedy for various types of pains including those caused by sore muscles, tense muscles, muscular aches, rheumatism, sprains, backache and lumbago.

In summary, many of us suffer mild to moderate depression for a variety of reasons. Our experience of depression is not so severe or of long duration to justify the use of powerful synthetic prescription drugs or antidepressant drugs with their potential of hazardous, harmful physical and behavioral side effects. We have available to us, a vast variety of effective, efficient, all natural vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, aromatherapy, hormonal balancers, and other safe natural modalities for relieving mild to moderate depression.

Jennifer has over twenty years experience with all natural health care products. She provides the highest quality all natural health care products through http://www.sweetmedicineessentials.com