Most of you who are college students are already in school, and many of you have purchased their textbooks for this semester. Where did you get your textbooks?
I’d love to learn where you are finding the best deals on textbooks if you care to leave a comment. Do you buy them new from the school?
Do you sometimes try to avoid buying a textbook to save money and attempt to rely on notes? With the information available on the internet, are you able to do okay without a textbook? I didn’t have the internet when I was in college, but remember attempting to do this as I lived on my own while going to college.
I’d love to hear from you if you don’t mind leaving a comment, your suggestions would be helpful to me and to others who may stop by to read.
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carbonite for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Nobody wants to think that they're computer will crash, with the potential of losing everything that you have stored on your hard drive. For authors, writers and publishers who use programs like Word to write, then save their work to their hard drive, this could be devastating and heartbreaking. With proper computer backup, you can work on your computer and sleep peacefully knowing that your hard work is safe and secure.
I am most interested in an online backup system that I've heard about on TV, and mentioned by some that use it on the radio… Carbonite.
What I like about this particular backup method is the fact that it is constantly backing up information as long as your computer is connected to the internet…as long as you are online. It works "behind the scenes", so you can focus on your work while it quietly stores your information in a safe and secure location online. If, unfortunately, your computer crashes, you can get to ALMOST EVERYTHING that you had stored on your hard drive. The items that Carbonite can back up for you include:
Documents
Pictures
Music
Email
Other similar saved items
It does not backup software, things saved on external hard drives, and programs themselves. This you would have to restore yourself. In my case I have discs that came with my laptop with all of the programs that are on my computer to use to restore my programs. But all saved information similar to the things listed above would be saved for you. It also offers apps for getting to your files from your iphone and much more….too much to list here.
You can try the service for 15 days free without giving any credit card information. The service is reasonably priced – about $59 a YEAR, plus you get 2 months free if you remember to use the code BLOGAD when signing up for Carbonite. It's worth checking out, don't you think? I do!
Book promotion online has become so much easier with social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, but you have to know how to use these tools to your best advantage.
Back in January, the Book Marketing Expert Newsletter contained a list of 50 ways to use twitter to promote yourself and your book, but in a way that it isn’t constantly “all about me”. The producers of the newsletter allow me to offer this list to you. Even if you are already quite familiar with using Twitter and Facebook, the 2 top social networking sites, you’ll find something in this list of 50 tips to help you:
“…Most of your tweets should be about helping others, but you also need to inject some personality, to put the “social” into social networking and help people get to know you. Here are 50 ideas for tweeting or promoting:
1. Teach stuff – teach a little mini-lesson on Twitter. Delve into your area of expertise or just talk about book publishing and how to get published.
2. Share sites or blogs that your followers would be interested in. Be their “filter” to new and exciting information.
3. Use SocialOomph.com to schedule tweets to your account for later posting so you don’t have to be sitting on top of Twitter every minute of the day.
4. Use Twitter as a news source: you can easily announce news both from your world (as long as it relates to your topic) and from the world of your expertise. For example, I’ve done tweets on book industry stuff, breaking news, etc.
5. Widen your network – follow other Twitter folk, this will not only give you some ideas for your own “tweets” but it’s a great way to network with other writers or professionals.
6. Offer advice: use Tweetdeck.com or Twitter Search (search.twitter.com) to see who’s asking for info on your area of expertise and then offer them some help/insight. This is a great way to build relationships.
7. It’s ok to market yourself but be careful about pimping your stuff too much.
8. Be original, useful and helpful.
9. If you’re on tour with your book or doing an event, tweet on that and invite your local followers to attend.
10. Tweet any good reviews your book gets, it’s always fun to share the good stuff!
11. Every Tweet counts (don’t tell people you’re washing your cat); don’t just tweet on useless stuff or you’ll lose followers.
12. It’s not all about you (again, back to the cat) people want to know useful stuff, I know, it’s getting repetitive but there’s a reason: it’s important.
13. Promote your Twitter account in your email signature line and on your blog.
14. Network: don’t expect your followers to grow if you’re not following other people. Network, search for others in your area and follow them.
15. Personal is ok. Even though I said not to post useless information it’s still not a bad idea to (from time to time) post a personal Tweet or two. Provide value and twitter-followers will beat a path to your door.
16. Follow everyone who follows you. You can use sites like Socialtoo.com and SocialOomph to autofollow everyone who follows you. These services can also send a nice welcome message to your new followers.
17. There is a lot of noise on Twitter, and the sooner you get comfortable with that the better. It’s like being at one massive cocktail party; you have to find ways to filter out the noise. Sites like SocialOomph can help you do that.
18. Embed a link or some other sign-up in your welcome message; this is another great way to capture emails for your newsletter (assuming you have one).
19. Use sites like SocialOomph or Twitter Search to see who’s talking about you and then follow them, too, or comment on their tweet.
20. It’s ok to repeat your tweets. With the volume of messages people get your followers will often miss some of your posts.
21. Feed your blog through Twitter using Twitterfeed.com.
22. Join Help a Reporter Out: @petershankman for tweets on media leads (it’s a great service!).
23. Don’t feel like you have to respond to every tweet, but I generally try to respond to all tweets that are replies to mine (you can find these under @replies on your Twitter home page).
24. Want to stay on top of your market and find stuff to Tweet about? Then go to Alltop.com and search for your category. There are thousands of them up there. Here are a few to consider: socialmedia.alltop.com, twitter.alltop.com and publishing.alltop.com.
25. Review a product or book on Twitter.
26. Follow big names in your market on Twitter: this will often bring in their followers too, and you want to see what the “big guys” are up to.
27. Get a good picture: don’t leave your avatar blank. Personalize your page if you can, but a good Twitter picture is a must.
28. Tweetbeep.com is a lot like Google alerts. You can plug in your keywords and you’re pinged each time they are used.
29. Are you ready to add pictures to your Tweets? Then head on over to Twitpic.com, this site will let you upload pictures and tweet to them.
30. Use YouTube to share helpful videos you think your followers will love.
31. Music on Twitter is also possible thanks to TwittyTunes (http://www.foxytunes.com/twittytunes/). This site is great for sharing music and it has a simple Firefox add-on that lets you Twitter on music you’re currently listening to!
32. Invite people to subscribe to your ezine and offer an incentive.
33. Introduce other authors or experts to each other or to your Twitter followers (they should also be on Twitter).
34. Participate in Follow Fridays #FF and Writer Wednesdays #WW. Recommend your favorite tweeters by using the #followfriday or #FF hashtag along with their user names.
35. Link to your own articles and blog posts. Shorten the URL using bit.ly so you can track the number of clicks you get.
36. Link to great videos.
37. Ask for advice or ask questions that encourage responses.
38. Comment on someone’s interesting Twitter background or clever bio.
39. Offer a free downloadable ebook or sample chapter, with no strings attached.
40. Thank others for mentioning you on Twitter.
41. Link to an interesting Wikipedia entry on your topic or specialty.
42. Link to a transcript from an interesting Twitter chat.
43. Post an inspirational quote or message.
44. Link to other blogs, helpful articles.
45. Reply to someone else’s Twitter post.
46. Run a contest.
47. Promote a special offer exclusively to your Twitter tribe.
48. Retweet (RT) someone else’s posts, it’s a great way to network!
49. Thank someone for RTing your post; it’s always great to acknowledge someone for doing that!
50. Talk about the latest trends in your industry.
(Reprinted from “The Book Marketing Expert newsletter,” a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com)
Isn’t that an excellent list of tips for promoting on Twitter? I found some new things that I should be doing more often on my Twitter account. If you aren’t following me, click here to follow me on Twitter.
This is a mother-daughter story. It is the story of a mother, Kliot, who used her ingenuity to survive as a Jew in Germany during the Holocaust in ways that were new to me. But it is also the story of the mother’s daughter, Mitsios, who in her teen years is told that she is not who or what she thought she was…how does she come to terms with this practically and emotionally?
The story is told by mother and daughter, and I cannot do better than the following video in revealing some of it’s secrets to you…the book will reveal many more. Sadly, Kliot did not live to see the release of the book, but her words go on through this book and her daughter, Mitsios.
A gathering of those who are interesting in learning more about mystery writing will be taking place in New York City on August 13, 2011. The MUA (Mystery Writers of America) New York chapter will be overseeing this event. If you are an aspiring Crime Writer or are an author in this genre already, you will want to attend. Cost is reasonable, details can be found at Mystery Writers of America – New York Chapterwebsite.
You will find information about mystery writing events throughout the US by visiting the main Mystery Writers of Americawebsite.
Which do you prefer? Looking through “pages” on the internet for the things you buy, or do you like to have a catalog in hand, so you can literally flip through the pages one by one and look at the pictures without sitting at a desk looking at a computer screen, or using a warm laptop, or looking at the little screen on your smartphone? Each has it’s advantages, but there are times when I’d just rather have a paper catalog to look at. My Mom is the “queen” of catalogs, she gets more than anyone I know. One thing about sending for one catalog is that sometimes word gets around and before you know it, you getting catalogs from companies you’ve never contacted. This can be a GOOD thing if the offers are good, and you like catalogs.
Many people, including myself, like the best of both worlds. I’m a Certified Nutritionist who is not practicing right now, but still love visiting nutrition related sites as well as catalogs in order to look for nutritious foods like high protein pretzels and other foods that are helpful to improving health and maintaining proper weight. I find that I need both the online experience as well as the “old-fashioned” catalog experience. At most sites like this, you can visit and find a place to sign up to receive a catalog mailed to your home. So which do you prefer?
Post contains both personal and sponsored information.
Dick Cavett, a talk show host of the ’70′s and ’80′s, will be talking about “….The Price of Fame” at 7 pm on Thursday, June 23, 2011. He will be signing books at 8 pm. This is a “Socrates in the City” event taking place at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street New York, NY.
Cavett, also a blogger for the New York Times and author, will be interviewed by Eric Metaxas. Eric is the Founder as well as the host of “Socrates in the City”. You can visit socratesinthecity.com to learn more about this event, as well as other monthly events.
Memorial Day is this weekend, Flag Day arrives June 14th, and Independence Day (4th of July) will be here before we know it. This will mean time off from work for some…time to rest, and hopefully time to reflect on the sacrifices made to preserve freedom, and celebrating that freedom. Generally I like to watch historical documentary type movies and read historical books from the various wars during this time of year as it inspires my thoughts and appreciation.
Hitler in the Crosshairs: A GI’s Story of Courage and Faith by John Woodbridge and the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist, Maurice Possley, is such a book….one that I have been reading and will continue to read through Memorial Day weekend. I happen to have the book, but did notice that it is available for Kindle as well. Our Veterans and Military have special meaning to our family as my father-in-law is a Veteran who went into Normandy not long after D-Day; my grandfather was a Navy man and retired USAF Captain; my Dad served in Korea. I seek out old WWII correspondence and ephemera at auctions….reading it makes me feel like I’m living in the time period for a time.
Speaking of auctions, the book I’m sharing with you involves an auction, a gun that was given by Hitler to a preacher, and the history that surrounded that moment. This is a story from WWII that has never been told before. Here are a few “bullet points” to inspire you:
What is the connection between Hitler, the gun, a Charles Woodbridge and the key person in the story, Teen Palm?
An attempt to assassinate Hitler that you probably haven’t heard about before
Gain more insight into the Germans who did not support Hitler
Learn more about the role of Christianity and faith during WWII
New, never before told facts about WWII
A young man who becomes a hero, one of those people who makes you proud to be an American
A story that was researched, documented, researched some more, and carefully documented for our reading pleasure as well as assurance that what we’re reading is factual
It all started with history professor and author, John Woodbridge, seeing a gun that he recognized that was once Hitlers…a gun that he remembered his father showing him as a boy of 6, given to him by Ira a/k/a Teen Palm.
Discover how the lives of the Woodbridge’s and Palms come together…during and after the war.
Includes letters written back and forth between Palm and his wife during the war (love these!)
There’s still time to get this book to read Memorial Day Weekend if you use Kindle or similar reading device, and if you prefer books in the “old fashioned” turn the page format, you can have your copy in time to read during this season of Patriotic holidays…also great summer reading. Have a memorable Memorial Day, 4th of July, Flag Day, etc.! Thank you to our Military from the bottom of my heart, and God Bless the USA!
During the month of April, you can download an audio book for free by one of my favorite people, Corrie Ten Boom, who survived the Nazi concentrations camps.
The book is well known to many as “The Hiding Place”, a movie was done based on the book. Corrie Ten Boom was a remarkable woman, and her book is download-able in several formats for your favorite listening device.
It will not be available after April, but each month a new free download is available, whether you purchase from the site or not…they also have reasonably priced Christian Audio Books.
I will never forget making a phone call to have a problem solved related to my mother’s computer service. While on the phone, someone from the office of her internet company asked me to enter a few things on the computer, and in doing so, I gave them access to her computer. In other words, they were miles away on a remote computer looking at their screen and seeing everything that I saw on my mother’s computer screen. Without doing a thing, I watched as they worked remotely and helped me solve the problem that we were having without me touching the keyboard or mouse. I watched them move about on the page and click links, never doing a thing from my end.
This is similar to a service offered by Proxy Networks which provides a software so that one computer can gain access to another and control it through the internet. This can be helpful for a situation like I explained above, but can also be helpful if you are trying to access files and work from another location. It’s 256-bit encryption is the best, and you can be certain that your working in a very secure environment. Best of all, you can try this remote computeraccess service for free for 30 days.
This post contains both personal and sponsored information.
. He also co-authored a book entitled simply “Cavett” in the mid-1970′s. 
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by John Woodbridge and the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist, Maurice Possley, is such a book….one that I have been reading and will continue to read through Memorial Day weekend. I happen to have the book, but did notice that it is available for 
. Our Veterans and Military have special meaning to our family as my father-in-law is a Veteran who went into Normandy not long after D-Day; my grandfather was a Navy man and retired USAF Captain; my Dad served in Korea. I seek out old WWII correspondence and ephemera at auctions….reading it makes me feel like I’m living in the time period for a time.