1. Drink Ice cold water. Okay I know you already know this and you probably already know ice cold water makes your body burn fat to heat the ice cold water back up to body temp, but I keep saying drink water because… A lot of people still don’t drink enough water. If you want to lose weight fast… Stop wasting your money on ugly fat-weight gainers like coffee, soda, and juices and pick up a FREE magical weight loss drink called water

2. Eat Peppered beef jerky. I can’t explain any science behind this one, but every time I eat peppered beef jerky I seem to shred a little fat and I think this is due to the spices they put in the beef jerky and some studies show that spicy foods increase your metabolism and there’s also enough protein in beef jerky to help curb your appetite

3. Kill your cravings. Eating lots of protein (nuts, jerky, fish, and chicken) raw veggies and water will kill your appetite. I promise you the sooner you get used to eating raw veggies you will stop craving for all the junk foods that made you fat in the first place.

4. Drink green tea. Hate drinking water all the time? Then sip on some green tea to increase your metabolism to burn more fat.

5. Limit carbs. This is really an emergency weight loss trick. If you stop eating carbs (or limit your carbs) you can lose 5 lbs or more real quick by burning up all the stored carbs in your body. You have about 1 pound of carbs stored in your body and each pound stored in your body has 3-4 lbs of water attached to it. So if you burn up the stored carbs in your body… The 5 lbs of water will burn up with it

6. Do something in the morning – Wake up and break a sweat for 30min in the morning. I know you hate to exercise but if you do it first thing in the morning guess what… Your body will ONLY BURN FAT because since you haven’t eaten anything yet… Your body has no choice but to feed off the stored FAT in your body for energy.

7. Walk for 10 minutes after you eat – Your body burns calories to digest the food you eat and if you walk for 10 minutes after you eat you will increase the amount of calories you burn during digestion and get his… If you eat three times a day you will easily get the 30 minutes of activity you need to lose weight (3 meals x 10 minute walks after each meal).

Is self-publishing for every writer?

No. We all have different goals and reasons for what we do. Some writers may want to go the commercial route. They know they have the talent and persistence to make it happen and feel that anything less would be selling out. Other writers may not have the interest in spending money or want to commit to the necessary time in editing, marketing and selling. Others can’t tolerate anything that hints at technology, which is a huge liability should you want to self-publish.

To independently publish is to multitask and there’s a lot to learn. It can be done, but not overnight. Creating the product can take years, then you’ve got to market and sell it, usually while you’re working on another project. This along with keeping up a home, job, family, is a monumental undertaking. Still, allow me this argument.

Inside every writer is an independent soul who sits alone for hours thinking and writing, who has a recorder next to him to take down whatever he sees and feels, who waits in a doctor’s office with a feverish child on her lap and whose mind wanders to a faraway place. A fiction writer is a person who knows no bounds, who creates, who believes that anything is possible. The independence and freedom of self-publishing plays into this nature. So I argue: If it can be done, why not do it?

Are there good reasons to self-publish?

Here’s a laundry list: to take control, to get serious, to express yourself, to hone your craft, to learn, to grow, to finish a project, to put your work out there, to test the market, to connect to readers, to get reviewed, to gain confidence, to expand your horizons, to make your dream come true.

Are there bad reasons to self-publish?

Yes, if you have unrealistic expectations, such as making gazillion dollars so you can buy an island and hobnob with old money. Yes, if you’re not totally prepared to write a manuscript worthy of publication. Yes, again, if your ego bruises easily.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of POD self-publishing?

Advantages: You maintain control of how your book is presented. Your book will be in print indefinitely thus allowing a longer time to find an audience. Buying bulk and storing large inventories are not necessary. Basic publishing packages often include distribution, ISBN numbers, and placement in online stores. Publishing is done quickly at a relatively low cost. Post production edits are easy. Selling your book directly to a reader increases profit.

Disadvantages: Your book will be difficult to place in large chain bookstores. You’ll have to do your own editing and marketing or pay someone to do it. To make a profit you must expend time and energy into selling books.

How much money will it cost?

Initially, the expense varies depending on the add-ons that are purchased. Add-ons can be editing services, cover design, marketing packages. However, to give you a ballpark figure, I’d say the average cost to publish a book runs between $400 and $700.

Nevertheless, there’s more to consider than the initial publishing cost especially if you’re not swimming in technological waters. At a minimum, you’ll need a computer, printer, CD burner, Internet access, and a word processing program. Should you do your own cover, you may also require a scanner, digital camera and some type of Photoshop program. Marketing costs can include a website. Clearly, you can be nickeled and dimed when you self-publish; however, don’t be fooled into believing that other types of publishing come free. Many books that are traditionally published have similar expenses. Due to competition and the shrinking editorial staff found in large publishing houses, an author often has to have his manuscript professionally edited before it’s even considered for publication, an expense that can run into the thousands. Toss in postage and copying costs at twenty dollars a pop as manuscripts are routed to agents and publishers, and your trip to Paris may have to be postponed.

How legitimate is it?

Self-publishing is still self-publishing and may always have a ring of illegitimacy. Still, it’s an exciting time with an unknown, unpredictable end game. We’re in the fledgling years of a technological boom where books are being published at an astounding rate, where worldwide markets are expanding, where new voices are heard. Forecasters see POD printers in local drugstores at the ready to publish any book at anytime. Authors may even rent their own POD printers. So how will this shake down? Who knows? But one truism remains: legitimacy is about readership and connecting with people who enjoy your work.

For more info: Linda’s Website

Linda is the author of Composition: A Fiction Writer’s Guide for the 21st Century  Download for $3.75

Viral Marketing sounds like something bad but it is actually something very good. It is, also, a powerful way to generate traffic to your website.

Think about how a virus spreads from on person to another. One person gets sick and just by sneezing they can give the virus to many more people… those people get sick and share their germs with everyone they know and the next thing anybody knows is that there is an epidemic. That is the very concept of viral marketing. The idea is to get everyone to spread your marketing message around because they want to.

Now let’s look at using an E-book to start your viral marketing campaign. First you create an E-book… a really good one that has links to your website, to your sales page and affiliate links to products and services that you recommend… and you give it to three people. In the book you encourage those three people to give it to their friends and family.

Before you know it the E-book is spreading across the Internet like wild fire. Digital information duplicates easily and quickly so before you know it, thousands of people could be reading your free E-book.

Make certain that you let people know that they have permission to forward the E-book around the Internet. When you create the E-book, you have the right to give people certain rights. One of those rights could be that you allow them to give the book to other people. Make it clear that this book is free to give away.

You can write the E-book yourself, use private label content or you can hire a ghostwriter to prepare the content. There are a lot of ways to create an E-book. Once you have your E-book written, use software to create your E-book.