The Published Author

Publishing an e-zine, while it’s often thought of as a great Internet marketing tools, can also be your best internet home based business opportunity. An e-zine can make money online. While an e-zine is not necessarily the same as an electronic newsletter (the latter is generally longer) for the purposes of what each of them can do for your bottom line and your Internet networking, we’re going to assume they’re identical.

Publishing an e-zine can be a very enjoyable internet home based business. To know that you can write about yourself and your business, you can work at any hour of the day and night, and you’re imparting your wisdom to people who have actually asked for it and will benefit from it, can be a very satisfying experience.

We’re all experts at something. Take stock of what you’ve done over the years and what you’ve learned. Think about what you enjoy doing and what you do well. Surely there is something that you do better, that you know better than anybody else. That’s the focus of your new e-zine or newsletter.

As an internet home based business, your e-zine will take some patience but there are few businesses, of the thousands and thousands out there, that make any money right off. This is true despite some of the hyperbolic stuff you read on the Internet about spending a few dollars to buy someone else’s internet home based business opportunity and then all you have to do is sit back and watch the money roll in from day one.

No matter what the internet home based business oppotunity is - unless it’s some sort of scam - that’s just not going to happen.

With your e-zine you’ll spend several months building your subscriber base. Once it’s reach about 1000 you can start selling advertising, or sponsorships to relevant businesses. They’ll probably jump at the chance to tap into your highly targeted market for their products. Of course you can also sell your own products and services as well. What you want to be very careful about is not selling advertising or sponsorship to a competitor. The advertisers on the ezine should enhance, and not compete with, your internet home based business products and services.

Once you have a steady following for your e-zine you can start charging for a subscription. Or you might run two ezines, one condensed free one, and another paid one that offers more help, more advice, more resources and so forth.

Basically, the message is that if you have an expertise, if you have a product, an opportunity, an idea, an industry or a service, that you know more about than most other people, and if it’s a product or idea or service that enough people want to know more about, you can make a lucrative internet home based business out of publishing an ezine and helping others learn.

Leonard Bartholomew
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/ezine-a-fine-find-for-funds-122969.html

I have recently published a book. My publisher’s distribution range is presently only in Asia, so I have had to rely 100% on internet marketing. One of the ways I have done this is with a book trailer on YouTube.
Please have a look and let me know what you think of this marketing method.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hXtCrUNmVM
And if you have any other ideas or feedback, I would be greatful to hear them all.
Thank you in advance!

Hi ,

The video looks great.
You should now start your own blog about the book.
Give away a chapter or something related to the book and capture the leads. Then follow up on them and start selling your book.

BTW, Here is my new list building blog

If you aren’t in the publishing business, the idea of creating, writing, editing, and distributing your own publication may feel impossible. But in the electronic age, literally every business with an email account can don the role of publisher and produce a newsletter that communicates with their clients and builds repeat sales.

Email newsletters are one of the best ways to offer advice, highlight special offers, and reveal new services you bring to your business. They encourage viral marketing when they are forwarded by readers. They establish your credibility in the marketplace, and put you ahead of the competition. Most importantly, an informative, insightful newsletter will keep your business at the top of your clients’ minds and make them want to come back again and again. But there’s more to it than sending out a monthly email.

If you want your business to reap the benefits of publishing an email newsletter, consider the following tips for creating something that your clients actually want to read.

1. Consider Your Audience

Knowing your audience and understanding what information they are interested in reading is the first key to creating a successful email newsletter, or any other publication. And knowing what your audience wants to read means you need to know who they are. If you’re targeting your clientele, consider why they come to your business in the first place. What demographic are you catering to? What are they looking for when they walk through your doors? What will make their life easier?

These factors will impact not only the content of your newsletter, but also the tone and style in which your information is presented. For example, busy moms may have different interests than vacationers, so you’ll make decisions about what to include in the letter based on your readers’ needs. Give this serious thought because your whole newsletter should reflect your understanding of your readers.

At first, you may not know if your newsletter is satisfying your readers. So always encourage feedback. Put your email address or phone number in the newsletter with a note to contact you about content ideas and other suggestions. Ask your clients when they come into the business whether or not they have been reading your newsletter, and ask them what they think. Let your clients know that you are looking for ways to improve, and they’ll let you know exactly what they want to see.

2. What to Include

The fun part of creating an email newsletter is deciding what kinds of tips and information you want to include. Some typical newsletter elements include industry news, personal anecdotes from clients, useful tips, reviews of books or websites, new employees and services at your business, articles and columns from you or other contributors, question and answer sections, upcoming events, surveys, and even promotions or special offers. Your content possibilities are endless. But again, the items you decide on should reflect your readers’ interests.

The key is to present your newsletter as a resource packed with useful information, rather than a blatant advertisement for your business. So with anything you write, especially promotional copy or descriptions of new services, describe all the benefits of what you can offer your clients, rather than touting your expertise. Many companies make the mistake of detailing their experience and reputation in attempts to win repeat clients. But this approach rarely yields the greatest results. If you want to get people interested in your business, then you need to shift your message to how your services can benefit them.

Rather than describing all the wonderful things about your business, describe all the wonderful results your clients will gain from your services. For example, if you want to sell your clients on a new facial service, then explain how much better it will make them look and feel. Or, if you have twenty years of experience, then tell them how they can rest easier knowing they are in the hands of experienced professionals. To really get people interested in your business, tell them exactly how you can improve their lives.

Once you’ve determined what items work best for your newsletter, you won’t have to start from scratch every time. If you decide to include a three or four small items in each issue, you can start looking for ideas that fit within those categories long before you actually sit down to write. And before long, the newsletter will practically write itself.

3. Be Consistent

When creating a successful email newsletter, you must pay attention to the details. And consistency plays an important role in a number of ways. First, any marketing material that you create should be grammatically correct and stylistically consistent, and your email newsletter is no different. Take time to proofread your newsletter, and let someone else check it just in case you miss something.

Another element of consistency is how frequently you publish your newsletter. A regular, monthly publication date will keep your clients’ attention without pestering them. That schedule should give you enough time to put together a winning newsletter and prevent the publication process from becoming too time consuming. Your publishing timeframe also helps build readership. If your newsletter is on target, your readers will look forward to finding it in their inbox month after month.

Creating Your Newsletter in the Future

Aside from considering your audience, clean formatting, and consistency, the most important aspect of any successful email newsletter is personality. Your newsletter should be a reflection of everything you do at your business. Essentially, you’re reaching out to your clientele and communicating with them even when they’re at home or work or wherever. So hold your newsletter to the same high standards that make your business successful.

Creating, publishing, and maintaining an email newsletter that your clients will love is a challenge, especially if you’re just starting out. And it may take you some time to develop what works for you and your readers. When you use these tips for creating an email newsletter, you give the project some direction and boost your success.

Melinda Copp
http://www.articlesbase.com/networking-articles/how-to-create-email-newsletters-that-hook-clients-125189.html

SCOPE-ANNAMALAI PSYCHOLOGY JOURNAL, DECEMBER 2006, Vol.2, p:1-7.

INTRODUCTION

Electronic technology is changing our life-style to a great extent. There are many areas of electronic technology helping different sections of a common man. For instance, terms like e-commerce, e-business, e-banking, e-mails, e-organizations, e-governance, e-journals, e-books, e-medicine, internet, web-shopping, etc have become part of the current lexicon. Advances made in the fields of information and communication technology (ICT) and electronics has resulted in the emergence of e-culture. Electronic culture is enveloping the entire world, it is a global phenomenon. Today e-culture is the reality that we live in; it is no longer an option. Kanter (2001) indicates that organization will successfully meet the challenges of the ‘Internet Age’ only if they become communities of collaborative work relations with distinct ‘e-cultures.’

E-culture is also increasingly understood as a new digital media culture or digitalization of culture. Netherlands council for culture in its advisory report on digitalization of culture submitted to the state secretary of education, culture and science (2004) defines e-culture as “all about a new, digital dimension; a new and –until recently- undreamt of medium with which existing culture must seek to interact and in which new culture is being generated.” De Haan and Huysmans (2002) states the term ‘e-culture’ refers to the diffusion of new technology, its application for various purposes (especially information and communication) and shifts in related attitudes, values and norms. Patel and Rajendran (2005) have defined “electronic culture” as “increased use of electronic goods by individuals in various areas”; they have also developed an inventory to measure e-culture. In this research study e-culture was assessed based this perspective.

E-culture is both technological and a social development. There seems to be a widespread consensus that new digital and networking technologies like the World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet have the capacity to reorder the domains of everyday social and personal life by transforming work and knowledge forms, gender and body politics, health and science, domestic life and entertainment as well as transforming national economics and international relations, democracy and the distribution of power (Dona Kolar-Panov, 2003). The positive approval of the concepts of information society and e-culture are reflected in the keenness with which political decision-makers have taken them over on all levels- local, regional, national and transnational. More accessible and transparent information is an easy expression, something that is unequivocally good. It is good both from the point of view of social resources and democracy. Furthermore, the ideas of an information society and e-culture have also implied or, at least to start with, did imply expectations of economic growth and stability, opening up of new sectors of production, increased productivity and the advent of a new, fluctuation-proof economy (Mitchell, 2003). The emergence of e-culture leads to cultural homogenization and immense concentrations of financial power thereby sending the threatening message “learn English and buy a computer or you’re out” (Marsh, 2003). E-culture also makes it imperative to develop digital skill that is to possess knowledge concerning the handling of electronic products especially the use of computer and Internet (De Haan & Huysmans, 2002).

E-culture in India is not different from the international scenario. India certainly is getting transformed into an e-society. The world’s largest democracy (India) is perhaps one of the most uniquely positioned countries in the world. Although India is a developing country, its wealth of information, resources, and knowledge capacity immediately puts the country on the list of top 5 countries in the world. India is also one of the poorest countries in exposing their content on the global platform using digital media. Except TV, among all other medium India and its information assets are weakly represented. However, the scope of India’s strength in this direction is immense. The government of India as well as many NGOs are dedicated and determined to enrich and enhance the e-status of India. Osama Manzar’s (2005) book “The Best E-contents 2005” published by ‘Digital Empowerment Foundation’ (DEF) is an eye-opener regarding the e-contents in India. The Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) has a mission to make India an information-rich country and thereby enrich the world about India’s ancient knowledge, skill and its cultural diversity. DEF understands that because of the content gap, the digital divide exists and therefore its foremost mission is to narrow the content gap using information technology (IT), information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet as means.

Culture and personality are interrelated (see Culture-and-Personality studies. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2006). Psychological processes and cultural norms influence one another (Lehman et al, 2004). Recognizing the importance of culture in shaping personality, Allport (1961) was quick to point out that individuals actively select their own way of life that suits their traits, temperaments, values, and philosophy of life. Since e-culture has evolved as a dynamic new medium of information, entertainment and commerce and demands change in life-style, people exhibiting culture conforming or culture rebellious behaviour and high or low novelty seeking or sensation seeking trait may tend to be influenced by it.

Culture plays an important role in the determination of behaviour and in the development of personality is the basic assumption of the concept of cultural determination (see Chauhan, 1985). Acceptance of culture can be measured through conformity or deviant behaviour.

Sensation seeking, as described by Zuckerman (1994) is a “trait involving the seeking of varied, novel, complex and intense sensations and experiences.” Researches on sensation seeking have accumulated robust evidences for a strong link between sensation seeking and the preference for high arousal, and physical pleasure (Oishi et al, 2001). The personality trait of sensation seeking tend to influence an individual’s adjustment and reaction to socio-cultural changes, in general high sensation seekers in their urge for novel experiences will be more receptive to cultural innovations.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

E-culture though popular and prevalent, is a recent phenomenon, studies on it appear remote and negligible both at international and national levels. The scientist community has just begun to recognize the importance of e-culture and its influence. At present there are no much substantial empirical evidences available on the impact of e-culture. Even the ‘concept of e-culture’ currently is tentative and far from conclusive. Researches on e-culture now are only at the beginning of a long process. Reviews indicate that studies on e-culture are fragmented and inadequate. Scanty information is available about the effect of e-culture on social and cultural development. There are no much scientific tools and methods visible to study e-culture. Only recently, the International research community has started showing interest in exploring e-culture. In India, unfortunately, the research efforts in understanding the status of e-culture have still not gained momentum. The research and academic community are dormant regarding the influence of e-culture. An examination of related literature in Indian context indicates that e-culture has received poor attention. Hence this investigation is an attempt made to understand the relationship between e-culture and the psychological variables of cultural determination and sensation seeking behaviour.

METHOD

Sample

The sample for this study comprised of 100 students (50 females and 50 males) randomly selected from Annamalai University, Chidambaram Taluk in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu. The age range of the sample were between 18 to 24 years (Mean Age= 22.1 years).

Tools used

The research tools used in this study for data collected were the (1) e-culture inventory, (2) Brief sensation seeking behaviour scale, and (3) cultural determination scale, selected after a comprehensive review of related literature.

(1) E-culture inventory

This inventory was developed by Patel and Rajendran (2005) to measure e-culture. The inventory consists of 42 items with 2 responses, i.e., “yes” and “no” respectively for each item. The 42 items are classified into 4 areas, namely, home=16 items, office=11 items, personal=8 items and public=7 items. The score for ‘yes’ in home area is 2, in office is 1, in personal area is 3 and in public area is 1 were as the score for ‘no’ in all the areas is 0. The maximum score possible in this inventory is 74 and the minimum score is 0. High score indicates high e-culture and low score indicates low e-culture. The reliability and validity co-efficient for this inventory were found to be highly significant at 0.001 levels.

(2)Sensation seeking behaviour scale

This brief measure of the sensation seeking scale traces its origin to the sensation seeking scale (SSS Form V) developed by Zuckerman (1978). The aim of this scale is to assess the sensation seeking level, which is defined both as a personality trait as well as a need. This scale consists of 13 items; each item has two statements ‘A’ and ‘B’ pertaining to activities indicating low and high sensation seeking. The respondents are expected to choose one of the two statements which suits them more by circling either “A’ or “B”. This scale is a self-report and unidimensional. The responses of this scale are grouped into 2 categories. One category comprises of 8 items: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11 and 12, the responses of ‘A’ for these items is given a score of 1 and the ‘B’ responses are given of 0 scores. The other category comprises of 5 items: 4, 6, 9, and 13, the ‘B’ responses are given a score of 1 and the responses ‘A’ are given 0 scores. The maximum possible score that can be obtained by an individual in this scale is 13 and minimum is 0. High score in this scale indicates high sensation seeking and low score indicates low sensation seeking. Zuckerman suggested the following interpretation for this scale: 1-3 very low sensation seeking scores, 4-5 low sensation seeking scores, 6-9 average sensation seeking scores, 10-11 high sensation seeking scores and 12-13 very high sensation seeking scores.

(3) Cultural determination scale

This scale was developed and standardized by Chauhan (1985). The purpose of this scale is to assess cultural determination. This scale indicates conformity and rebellion towards culture in India. The revised version of this scale used for this investigation has 40 items pertaining to Indian culture with 7 responses each (7 point scaling technique), namely, ‘fully,’ ‘too much,’ ‘much,’ ‘average,’ ‘less,’ ‘very less,’ and ‘not at all.’ It is a unidimensional measure high score indicates cultural conformity and low score indicates cultural rebellion. The reliability and validity co-efficient values yielded for this scale were significant. The constructor of this scale has determined the reliability co-efficient by the test-retest method which was 0.74 and the validity co-efficient was determined with ratings of neighbours knowing the elements intimately which was 0.63. This scale consists of 40 statements; this is a 7 point scale. Each statement is followed by 7 responses, namely, ‘fully,’ ‘too much,’ ‘much,’ ‘average,’ ‘less’, ‘very less’ and ‘not at all’. The response category carries a weight age of 7 to 1scores from ‘fully’ to ‘not at all’. The maximum score an individual can obtain in this scale is 280 and the minimum score possible is 40. High score in this scale indicates cultural conformity and low score indicates cultural rebellion.

Procedure

The samples of this study were personally and individually contacted by the researcher and data was obtained through face-to face interview. The duration of data collection were spread over a period of one month (30 days). The obtained responses were scored and statistically analyzed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The objective of this research study is to explore the relationship of e-culture with cultural determination and sensation seeking behaviour. For this purpose Pearson’s product moment correlation were calculated, since no significant gender differences were found results for both sexes are combined and given in Table 1.

It is inferred from the results summarized in Table 1 that e-culture does not have any significant relationship with cultural determination but is positively and significantly related to sensation seeking behaviour.

The concept of cultural determination assumes that culture determines behaviour. The outcome of this research appear contrary to this assumption, the findings indicate that e-culture is not influenced by culture, culture conformity and culture rebellious behaviour are not related to the use of electronic products. E-culture appears as a Tran cultural phenomenon, it seems to influence people irrespective of their cultural background.

Table 1: Showing the Pearson’s moment correlation co-efficient for e-culture with cultural determination and sensation seeking behaviour.

Variables r

Cultural determination 0.034

Sensation seeking behaviour 0.154**

** significant at 0.001 levels

*significant at 0.005 levels

This study reveals a positive and significant relationship between e-culture and sensation seeking behaviour. The finding of this research indicate that high sensation seeking behaviour is related with high e-culture and low sensation seeking behaviour is related to low e-culture. High sensation seekers exhibit preference for high arousal, and physical pleasure and posses an urge for novel experiences (Oishi et al, 2001), since e-culture is highly interactive and is creative in presenting the traditional culture in new digital forms providing people with plethora of novel stimulation and infinite source of information, high sensation seekers tend to be more receptive to it.

CONCLUSION

The present study reveals that cultural determination is not related to e-culture but sensation seeking behaviour is positively and significantly related to e-culture.

REFERENCE

Allport, G. (1961). Patterns and growth in personality. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Chauhan, N.S. (1985). Manual for Cultural Determination Scale. Meerut: MAPA.

Culture-and-Personality Studies. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 3, 2006, from Encyclopedia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD.

De Haan, J and Huysmans, F. (2002). E-culture: An Empirical Exploration. The Hague: Social and Cultural Plan Bureau. pp. 145-155.

Dona Kolar-Panov (2003). Cautious Optimism for eCulture in Europe. In S. Dragojevic., D. Dodd., B. Cvjeticanin and C. Smithuijsen (Ed)(2005): E-Culture: The European Perspective- Cultural Policy, Creative Industries, Information Lag (From the proceeding of the round table meeting, Zagreb, 24-27 April 2003). Zagreb: Institute of International Relations. pp. 99-106.

Kanter, R. M. (2001). Evolve! Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Lehman, D. R., Chiu, C and Schaller, M. (2004). Psychology and Culture. Annual Review of Psychology. 55. pp. 689-714.

Marsh, J. B. T. (2003). Cultural Conflict in the Information Society. In S. Dragojevic., D. Dodd., B. Cvjeticanin and C. Smithuijsen (Ed) (2005): E-Culture: The European Perspective- Cultural Policy, Creative Industries, Information Lag (From the proceeding of the round table meeting, Zagreb, 24-27 April 2003). Zagreb: Institute of International Relations. pp. 21-30.

Mitchell, R. (2003). Information Society and E-culture: On the Rise and Popularity of the Concepts. In S. Dragojevic., D. Dodd., B. Cvjeticanin and C. Smithuijsen (Ed)(2005): E-Culture: The European Perspective- Cultural Policy, Creative Industries, Information Lag (From the proceeding of the round table meeting, Zagreb, 24-27 April 2003). Zagreb: Institute of International Relations. pp. 9-18.

Netherlands Council for Culture. (2004. English Edition). From ICT to E-culture: Advisory report on the digitalization of culture and the implications for cultural policy (Submitted to the Netherlands State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, June 2003). The Hague: Netherlands Council for Culture Publishing.

Oishi, S., Schimmack, U and Diener, E. (2001). Pleasures and Subjective Well-Being. European Journal of Personality. 15. pp. 153-167.

Osama Manzar (2005). “The Best of E-contents 2005.” Delhi: Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF).

Patel, J. M. A and Rajendran, K. (2005) E-culture Inventory. SCOPE- Annamalai Psychology Journal, Vol. I, pp. 1-11.

Zuckerman, C. (1978). “The Search for High Sensation.” Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, Inc.

Zuckerman, M. (1994). Behavioral expressions and biosocial bases of sensation seeking.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. www.cambridge.org/0521432006.

asgaralipatel
http://www.articlesbase.com/psychology-articles/eculture-among-university-students-140414.html

Maybe you have seen offers for them on various websites. Maybe you attended a book fair and noticed some authors selling CD-ROMs alongside paperbacks. Maybe you sat next to somebody at a coffee shop as he read a document on his laptop or personal digital assistant. You might think such things are limited to business some other type of work, but the electronic book, or eBook, is fast becoming a mainstream industry. While eBooks may never achieve the popularity or demand of the printed word, eBook readership is definitely growing and will prove a viable form of media in the future.

What is an eBook?

Before one can delve into specifics about electronic publishing, it is important to note exactly what an eBook is and what purpose an eBook serves. Simply put, the term “electronic book” is self-explanatory: an eBook can be a novel, collection of stories and/or poetry, self-help manual, a treatise, or any document of book length. eBooks may be as short as five thousand words or well over a hundred thousand. Some eBooks may have illustrations and charts embedded within the pages, and others may prove to be more interactive and feature audio and/or video capability.

Some eBooks are registered with Books in Print and made available as downloadable files or on CD-ROMs. Some ebook publishers assign ISBN numbers to their titles, while others may register the works with the US Copyright Office. Many publishers consider eBook production a subsidiary right in their contracts, and may option those rights from an author during negotiations.

The fundamental difference between an eBook and a print book, of course, is that the eBook is an electronic document devised to be read on a computer or special handheld device. eBooks are easy to produce and can be made available in a variety of formats, including but not limited to:

HTML - presented as a simple Web page

Adobe PDF - presented to look like an actual document onscreen, read with Adobe Reader

Microsoft LIT - a special format for the Microsoft Reader and Pocket PC

Mobipocket (.PRC) - a special format compatible handheld PDAs like the Palm or old Handspring devices.

EXE - popular among non-fiction eBooks, this self-extracting format presents the book in a unique form that allows the reader to “turn pages”

However an eBook is produced, special reading software may be required to read the document. While a simple HTML document needs only a web browser, others with different extension may not open in certain readers. It is best to always check with a vendor before purchasing an eBook to make sure you can open the file.

What is the purpose of an eBook?

Electronic books are used for the same purposes as print books, namely for entertainment, business, or news.

Entertainment: these are generally novels and short story/poetry collections. Such eBooks are primarily found through specific websites by top NYC publishers that offer electronic downloads, or through smaller publishers who offer books in electronic and print on demand formats. eBooks from smaller companies may be priced according to length and genre, from two dollars to as high as eight for longer works. eBooks from established publishers may cost more, priced to match their print companions. Popular genres for leisure reads in electronic format include romance, science fiction, and erotica.

Works in the public domain, including novels from the nineteenth century, may be presented in eBook format to download for free. The Gutenberg Library online houses thousands of such works for personal and educational use.

Business: Look around the Internet and you may find a number of sales websites offering eBooks that reveal “secrets to success.” Online entrepreneurs use the eBook format for its simplicity and low-cost production to market ideas and products to customers. In this realm you may find books on how to open a successful online business or how to lose weight. Books of this sort may be distributed free to attract return business or may be sold for as much as thirty dollars for a self-extracting document.

News: Companies or organizations may employ the eBook format to distribute white papers or other important documents. Government reports, business trends, and other information in the public domain may be available in this format.

How are eBooks distributed?

The most common forms of eBook distribution are through the individual publisher’s website and third-party retailers.

The Publisher: Whether it is an established NYC house, a small eBook press or a self-publishing author, chances are high there is a website created to tout the book. A quick Internet search for eBook publishers will land many leads. Such websites offer either immediate download of an eBook through a weblink, or delivery via e-mail as an attachment. Other publishers may burn eBooks to CD-ROM and ship them to customers.

The Third-Party Store: Online retailers like Amazon.com, BN.com, and Fictionwise are good examples of eBook retailers. Such sites offer eBooks for immediate download and may even keep your information on account and make recommendations on future purchases. Such retailers, like eBook publishers, will accept payment through electronic transfer to expedite the sale.

The Future of eBooks

Given the ease of production and distribution, it is likely eBooks may become an important medium in the future. As technology evolves and reading devices become more sophisticated, sales of eBook fiction may rise in the years to come. Handheld eBook readers have the advantage of being able to store several books at once, and offer backlighting for reading in dark places. Cost prohibition on devices and certain eBooks may be the only factor preventing a boom right now, but in time as prices become competitive that may change.

For authors, eBook publication represents the opportunity to polish writing skills and test readership. For entrepreneurs, eBook publication offers a new avenue to product promotion and increasing sales. Whatever your plans for the eBook are, it can be said that electronic books are here to stay.

Kathryn Lively
http://www.articlesbase.com/publishing-articles/understanding-the-ebook-evolution-85318.html

INDIAN JOURNAL OF GERONTOLOGY, VOL.20, No.4, 2006, p:405-416.

INTRODUCTION

Electronic technology is changing our life-style to a great extent. Prevalence and excessive use of electronic products found among people, cutting across cultural differences, have set in a trend for e-culture. Electronic-culture is new. It is emerging as a transnational and global phenomenon; not confined to geographical boundaries. Internet, especially, is expected to bring in sweeping and lasting cultural transformations. For instance, terms like e-commerce, e-business, e-banking, e-mails, e-organizations, e-governance, e-journals, e-books, e-medicine, internet, web-shopping, etc have become part of the current lexicon.

The advances and breakthroughs made in the fields of information and communication technology (ICT) and electronics during the present and previous centuries have resulted in the emergence of e-culture. Though the ICT revolution started in the near past its progress towards networking is achieved only recently through the impetus provided by the Internet (Uzelac, 2003). According to Mercer (2003) it is the ICT-availability and access to Internet that provides scope for production of e-culture. However, today the emergence of e-culture is taken for granted due to prevalence of the interactive digital applications of the ICT such as Internet and mobile technologies (Mitchell, 2003).

Van Dijk (2001) identified four different types of access to ICT as conditions for the emergence of e-culture, namely, motivation, possession, use and skills. Motivation concerns psychical access to ICT: the interest in it, the will to use it and the lack of fear of new technology. Possession means, in this context, the availability of equipment and an Internet connection at home or at work, school or university. The third component of access is the actual use that people make of available possibilities. The use depends in part on the fourth form of access, namely the possession of digital skills (De Haan & Huysmans, 2002).

E-culture though prevalent widely, is a recent phenomenon. The scientist community has not explored much of it now. De Haan and Huysmans (2002) cautions that the exploration of e-culture may only be the start of a long-term process of change taking place at a global level. Research on e-culture presently is at a rudimentary level and so is its concept. Scholars in this field have tried to define e-culture in various ways, but all being far from conclusive.

E-culture is increasingly perceived as a new digital media culture or digitalization of culture. Netherlands council for culture (2004) argues that, within the context of the ‘digitizing society,’ e-culture should be seen as the integration of ICT into the primary processes of productivity, distribution, presentation, preservation and (re)utilization of cultural expression. According to the view of De Haan and Huysmans (2002) the term ‘e-culture’ is stated to refer to the diffusion of new technology, its application for various avenues such as information and communication in addition to shifts effected in related attitudes, values and norms. Patel and Rajendran (2005) have defined “electronic culture” as “increased use of electronic goods by individuals in various areas like home, office, public places and those they carry personally with them, to fulfill their psycho-social needs.”

E-culture is both technological and a social development. There is a widespread consensus that new digital and networking technologies like the World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet have the capacity to reorder the domains of everyday social and personal life (Dona Kolar-Panov, 2003). Cultural habits and participation in cultural life are changing as a corollary of e-culture. Hence, it would be pertinent here to consider briefly the concept and importance of culture in the light of a psychological focus leading to the study on the impact of e-culture.

According to Brislin (2000) one of the major assumptions of cross-cultural social psychology is that culture shapes human behavior. Numerous advanced theories of social behavior indicate that cultural factors play significant role in the determination of behavior, shaping values, self, and motivation of individuals (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Lehman et al (2004) point out that culture and psychological processes influence one another and a dynamic interplay exists between them.

Culture aims to ensure a harmonious relationship between humans and their environments. Psychological well-being remains the main focus of cultural norms and practices. Myers and Diener (1995) refer to life-satisfaction as one of the three key aspects of psychological well-being, the others being positive and negative affect. Life satisfaction stands together with the affective elements to yield a relatively comprehensive picture of psychological well-being (Diener et al., 1999). Chirkov et al (2005) found ‘culture-fit’ is positively associated with life satisfaction. Adjustment to cultural demands is essential for psychological well-being and life-satisfaction. But cultures are diverse and dynamic social systems and not static monoliths (Bandura, 2002). Cultural changes are inevitable and tend to create new demands which the elderly may find difficult to fulfill. Now the dawning of e-culture emphasizes the acquiring of digital skills and demands shifts in related attitudes, values and norms. Access and usage of electronic technology will be an important determinant of life-satisfaction in this era of e-culture.

Culture also emphasize the importance of group living because from an evolutionary perspective, solitude (loneliness) is dangerous; mutually supportive collective behaviour is beneficial, both for survival and sexual reproduction. Thus, it makes sense to assume that humans have an evolved tendency toward the establishment of shared beliefs, behaviours, and normative structures that help hold social collectives together (Campbell, 1982). Loneliness is popularly viewed as a relative deficit in social relationship with others in the environment. Russell, Peplau, and Cutrona (1980) defined loneliness “as the relational deficit reflecting interpersonal and social relationships that the individual evaluates as quantitatively inadequate or too few in numbers.” It has been conceived as a problem for everyone from children to elderly, however, elderly experience more loneliness because their spouses might be deceased, their friends might have either moved away or died, their children might be in distant places/ cities or on account of physical disabilities (Peplau et al, 1982). Mullins and Mushel (1992) indicated that the elderly people desired to be part of a social network and also prefer the existence of a set of friends but not emotional commitment to a set of friends. They also pointed out that the inability to be part of a social network and lack of friends in old age results in the experience of loneliness. The rapid spread of e-culture enabling easy access to information and facilitating communication with others may help elderly reduce loneliness. Especially, the Internet provides people access to a complete new space and society known as ‘cyber society’. Anybody who enters this virtual world can expect an almost infinite number of possibilities to retrieve information, engage in social interactions and build up lasting relations. There, with the exception of the physical body, the individual can encounter almost everything which can also be found in “real society”: such as membership, role playing, emotions, work, commodities, discussions, etc. Like the conventional reality the cyber experience can also form identity (Jones, 1997). Hence the Internet is considered as an identity-based technology (Langer, 2003).But the onset of electronic culture also poses new demands which the elderly must cope with; failing may result in the experience of loneliness.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Reviews done indicate that studies on e-culture are fragmented and inadequate. Scanty information is available about the influence of e-culture, both at international and national levels. The scientist community has just begun to recognize the importance of e-culture and its influence. At present there are not much substantial empirical evidences available on the impact of e-culture. In India, unfortunately, the research efforts in understanding and investigating the status of e-culture have not yet gained momentum. The research and academic community are dormant regarding the influence of e-culture. Deplorably, many researchers belonging to various disciplines are yet to take up this issue. In particular, from a psychological perspective, e-culture still remains unexplored. India is one of the poorest countries in exposing commercial contents on the global platform using digital media. However, the scope of India’s strength in this direction is immense. The government of India as well as many NGOs stand dedicated and determined to enrich and enhance the e-status of India. Osama Manzar’s (2005) book “The Best E-contents 2005” published by ‘Digital Empowerment Foundation’ (DEF) is an eye-opener regarding the e-contents in India. India is perhaps one of the most uniquely positioned countries in the world.

The present investigation is significant because looking around one finds a number of problems in our society especially related to the elderly. The changing demographic profile of India where there is a rapid increase in the aged population, it is increasingly becoming vulnerable due to the process of urbanization and industrialization (Venkoba Rao, 1992). Chadha and Easwaramoorthy (1993) have critically evaluated the need for a comprehensive study on elderly in India.

Reviews made on psychological well-being indicate that not much is known about age-related changes in life satisfaction, most studies has focused on the role of positive and negative affect. Studies on the impact of cultural changes upon life-satisfaction among the elderly in Indian context appear negligible. Loneliness has become the subject of substantial empirical research only recently. One impetus for the new interest is the realization that loneliness is a serious and widespread problem for millions today (Weiss, 1973). Lakshminarayanan (1993) found that the elderly people feel lonelier than any other population. Research on loneliness among the elderly particularly in Indian context also appears inadequate (Patel, 1998).

Despite, a developing country, its wealth of information, resources, and knowledge capacity puts the country in the list of top 5 countries in the world. India like other nations of the world is no exception to the global process of digitization. India certainly is getting transformed into an e-society, at a faster pace (Osama Manzar, 2005). There are no substantial empirical evidences available regarding the reaction of Indian elderly to the e-cultural phenomenon. Adapting to e-culture demands the acquiring of digital skills (De Haan and Huysmans, 2002). The elderly might find this difficult which may leave them less satisfied with life and also feel lonelier. No studies relating e-culture, loneliness and life-satisfaction among the elderly were also found. Hence this investigation is a pioneering effort made to explore the relationship of e-culture with loneliness and life-satisfaction in Indian context. This investigation will enlighten the academic and research fraternity throwing light on the relationship of e-culture with loneliness and life-satisfaction among the elderly.

METHOD

Sample

The sample for this study comprised of 120 elderly individuals (60 females and 60 males respectively) from Pondicherry (a Union Territory of India). The age range of the samples were between 60 to 73 years (Mean age=64.3 years). Samples were restricted to the educated segment of the elderly population, those with a minimum of a graduate degree and above were only included in this study. Purposive sampling technique was adopted.

Tools used

The research tools used in this study for data collection were the (1) e-culture Inventory, (2) UCLA Loneliness Scale, and (3) Life-Satisfaction Scale, selected after a comprehensive review of related literature.

(1) E-culture inventory

This inventory was developed by Patel and Rajendran (2005) to measure e-culture. It evaluates e-culture based on multiple electronic products people use in different areas such as home, office, public places and those that they carry personally with them. Under each area certain electronic items used by people such as (a) Personal computer, (b) Internet, (c) digital diary, (d) mobile phone, (e) micro-oven, (d) disc-man, (e) Digital cameras, (f) lap-tops, (g) automatic washing machine, (h) DVD players, and frequent visits to (i) computerized shops/ movie halls/ theme parks/ ATMs, etc were stated and verified. The inventory consists of 42 items with 2 responses, i.e., “yes” and “no” respectively for each item. The 42 items are classified into 4 areas, namely, home=16 items, office=11 items, personal=8 items and public=7 items. The score for ‘yes’ in home area is 2, in office is 1, in personal area is 3 and in public area is 1 were as the score for ‘no’ in all the areas is 0. The maximum score possible in this inventory is 74 and the minimum score is 0. High score indicates high e-culture and low score indicates low e-culture. The reliability and validity co-efficient values for this inventory were 0.72 and 0.85 respectively found significant at 0.001 levels.

(2)Revised University of California at Los Angles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale

This scale was developed by Russell et al (1980). It is a 20 item self-report on which respondents express how often their feelings and behaviours reflect perceived isolation and dissatisfaction with social relationships. This scale consists of 10 statements dealing with satisfaction of one’s social relationships and 10 statements dealing with dissatisfaction of one’s social relationships. Respondents indicated how frequently they experience each item on a scale from 1 to 4, corresponding to ‘never,’ ‘rarely,’ ‘sometimes,’ and ‘often’ respectively. Russell et al (1980) determined high internal consistency reliability for the instrument yielding a co-efficient alpha of 0.94. They also found acceptable concurrent validity and discriminant validity. Split-half reliability in Indian context was 0.71 (Jha, 1988).

(3)Life-Satisfaction Scale

This scale was constructed by Campbell et al (1976) to measure life-satisfaction. The scale consists of 7 items based on Likert-type of scaling technique with 5 responses, namely, ‘very happy,’ ‘pretty happy,’ ‘happy,’ ‘not happy,’ and ‘not too happy,’ and the scores range from 1 to 5 respectively. The maximum score possible in this scale is 35 and the minimum score is 7. The test-retest reliability reported for this scale and the validity worked out with Psychological Well-being Scale and with Index of Domain Satisfaction was found to be significant.

Procedure

The samples of this study were personally and individually contacted and data was obtained through face-to face interview. The duration of data collection were spread over a period of two months (60 days). The obtained responses were scored and statistically analyzed.

Table I: Showing the Mean, SD, SEM and t-test for e-culture score of the groups on the basis of gender.

Gender N Mean SD SEM t-value LS

Male 60 34.80 15.46 1.09 1.35 NS

Female 60 32.37 15.96 1.44

Table II: Showing the Pearson’s moment correlation co-efficient for e-culture with

loneliness and life-satisfaction.

Variables r

Loneliness -0.171**

Life-satisfaction 0.154**

** significant at 0.001 levels

*significant at 0.005 levels

Discussion

The main aim of this research study was to explore the relationship of e-culture with loneliness and life-satisfaction among the elderly. For this purpose Pearson’s product moment correlation were calculated, since no significant gender differences were found as indicated in Table I the results for both sexes are combined and given in Table II.

It is inferred from the results summarized in Table II that e-culture has a highly significant positive relationship with life-satisfaction but is negatively and significantly related to loneliness.

In this study e-culture has been conceptualized as increased use of electronic products. The outcome of the present research indicates that more use of electronic items by the elderly results in high life-satisfaction. This outcome of the present study can defended by the view that access to electronic technology and use of electronic products by elderly has multiple implications, it connotes that the elderly posses the required digital skills, is active and productive, is mentally and physically healthy, has adequate economic support and is progressive minded. Van Dijk (2001) has already identified four different types of access to information and communication technology (ICT) as conditions for the emergence of e-culture, namely, motivation, possession, use and skills. Hence, the elderly individuals who are high in e-culture may find easy to adjust to the demands of e-environment and thereby experience more life-satisfaction.

The finding of this research that e-culture is inversely related to loneliness among elderly indicates that increased use of electronic products by elderly individuals results in low level of loneliness and vice versa. The rationale for this finding might be that the preoccupation with electronic products especially multi-media technologies by the elderly may make them feel part of a social network or be a replacement for the lack of friends. The information and communication technology (ICT) championed by Internet and mobile technology ensuing in e-culture has made access to information and communication between people simple, effortless and undemanding. Loneliness which is popularly viewed as relative deficit in adequate social relations may be compromised by increased indulgence in electronic technology making contacts and communication easy for the elderly. Further the elderly individuals possessing the motivation and skills to use electronic products may have more perceived control over their environments. Patel (1998) has empirically proved that increased perceived control results in decreased loneliness among the elderly.

CONCLUSION

The present study reveals that e-culture is positively and significantly related to life-satisfaction and loneliness is negatively and significantly related to e-culture among the elderly.

REFERENCE

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Psychology: An International Review. 51. pp. 269-290.

Brislin, R. (2000). Understanding culture’s influence on behavior (2nd Ed.). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College Publishers.

Campbell, A., Converse, P.E and Rodgers, W.L (1976). The Quality of American Life: Perceptions, Evaluations and Satisfactions. New York: Russell Sage Publications.

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Chadha, N.K and Easwaramoorthy, M (1993). Aging Issues and Rehabilitation Strategies. In N.K. Chadha and S.Nath (Eds). Issues and Trends in Rehabilitation Research. Delhi: Friends Publications.

Chirkov, V.I., Ryan, R.M. and Willness, C. (2005).Cultural context and psychological needs in Canada and Brazil: Testing a Self-Determination Approach to the Internalization of Cultural Practices, Identity, and Well-Being. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 36, pp. 423-443.

De Haan, J and Huysmans, F. (2002). E-culture: An Empirical Exploration. The Hague: Social and Cultural Plan Bureau. pp. 145-155.

Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276-302.

Dona Kolar-Panov (2003). Cautious Optimism for eCulture in Europe. In S. Dragojevic., D. Dodd., B. Cvjeticanin and C. Smithuijsen (Ed) (2005): E-Culture: The European Perspective- Cultural Policy, Creative Industries, Information Lag (From the proceeding of the round table meeting, Zagreb, 24-27 April 2003). Zagreb: Institute of International Relations. pp. 99-106.

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Langer, J. (2003). About the Cultural Texture of the Digital Divide. In S. Dragojevic., D. Dodd., B. Cvjeticanin and C. Smithuijsen (Ed)(2005): E-Culture: The European Perspective- Cultural Policy, Creative Industries, Information Lag (From the proceeding of the round table meeting, Zagreb, 24-27 April 2003). Zagreb: Institute of International Relations. pp. 65-72.

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Mercer, C. (2003). Knowing Ourselves: e-culture in the value production chain. In S. Dragojevic., D. Dodd., B. Cvjeticanin and C. Smithuijsen (Ed)(2005): E-Culture: The European Perspective- Cultural Policy, Creative Industries, Information Lag (From the proceeding of the round table meeting, Zagreb, 24-27 April 2003). Zagreb: Institute of International Relations. pp. 81-88.

Mitchell, R. (2003). Information Society and E-culture: On the Rise and Popularity of the Concepts. In S. Dragojevic., D. Dodd., B. Cvjeticanin and C. Smithuijsen (Ed)(2005): E-Culture: The European Perspective- Cultural Policy, Creative Industries, Information Lag (From the proceeding of the round table meeting, Zagreb, 24-27 April 2003). Zagreb: Institute of International Relations. pp. 9-18.

Mullins, L.C and Mushel, M. (1992). “The Existence and Emotional Closeness of Relationships with Children, Friends and Spouses: The Effects of Loneliness among Older Persons.” Research on Aging, Vol 14(4), pp. 448-470.

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Osama Manzar (2005). “The Best of E-contents 2005.” Delhi: Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF).

Patel, J.M.A. (1988). Loneliness among the elderly- The role of perceived responsibility and control. Recent researches in Education and Psychology, Vol (3) Nos I-II, pp.21-25.

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Van Dijk, J. (2001). The accessibility of ICTs and the quality of infrastructure and services. In: Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management of the Netherlands (Ed.), People in networks: A contribution to the discussion of the Ministry of Transport to the debate about the Digital Divide. The Hague: Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management.

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asgaralipatel
http://www.articlesbase.com/psychology-articles/loneliness-and-lifesatisfaction-among-the-elderly-140418.html

I am in college and I'm getting ready to graduate in May. I want to read an interesting book about marketing or something related to marketing. Any business people out there got any recommendations of a book that has helped you succeed or provided you with great insight? Thanks in advance!

Books by Paul Zan Pilzer are worth reading…. John Maxwell, Robert Kiyosaki….

The Slight Edge (Jeff Olsen) will help, Spiritual Marketing. (Dr Joe Vitale) These are just a few
~jennifer

Publishing your works is one issue that you should cope. This can enhance the results with a lot of aspects. This might be easy on some people, but this is entirely different with first-time publishers. With being very challenging tasks, we will get through some of the basic things to look out for when starting up your publishing project.

If you need results with your project, a reliable printer comes in the scene, getting them is also another task which can take time quality and ease of service is your concern. From comparing costs, it is vital that they can cater to your specifications as well as expectations. Along the web, there are several credible printing sites which solely offer book and catalog printing, their specialization can be beneficial and then can be more knowledgeable. Here are the guidelines on how to look for a good book printing site;

Let them handle your project. It is best to leave it to the professional printers. Entrusting the publication can be easy; from there you can ask for a sample to check on the quality. The company can always eliminate other cost and will practically share time off on the production phase.

Research on the details on how a publishing project works, this can also make your projects run smoothly. There are numerous guides that can be essential in making sure you get the job done, it won’t take much time to review them.

On the production phase, concentrate on the front page or cover, this will attract more attention than other books. Analyze the information on your book; get a good theme to go along with it.

Contact the printer before finalizing the design, you can always point out some minor details to be augmented, double checking and always keeping a keen eye on typo’s and every detail to be correct. Your specifications must be met from the printing site, with their professional staff; you can create the desired results on your book.

Evaluate the number of copies you need to produce. Maximize them and keep in mind your budget, but there are also advantages on bulk quantities, plan them well especially if you are still new to publishing projects.

Plan all the details well, investing on a good amount of time will pave way to successful production. Efforts are easily wasted if the publishing stage was taken for granted. A well-planned schedule of tasks and quality checking can be your ticket to a good publishing phase.

Always refer to the free rate quote tool; they can be of invaluable use for your project. It can actually be reviewed and would cost lower compared to just going for fixed deals. This can always be available on a credible website. Often, there is a free file review tool to let their professional staff check your work, enhance, and simply get the best out of the publishing phase.

A well thought-out plan can be your best arsenal to combat faulty publishing errors, since the printer can never be liable for any errors that you made making your work, you can always review them beforehand, making sure that everything is right, because once it’s on the production phase, you can never go back and replace them particularly on book printing.

Jennifer A.
http://www.articlesbase.com/printing-articles/essentials-of-book-printing-138785.html

It was quite a sight seven years ago, at the first and only Writer’s Festival held at Franciscan University of Steubenville. As the moderator of an online writer’s forum and a fledgling publisher of electronic books, I had been asked to speak on the future of eBook publication and distribution. While the concept of eBooks was still quite new at the time, my speech was blessedly short. Yet, I felt I offered an optimistic view of the industry, one that inspired the authors who came to hear me talk. Many had been writing for years, discouraged by constant rejection from the top publishers.

The most interesting part of the conference for me happened shortly afterward, when a young girl happened upon my booth. I had several eBook discs on display, along with a PDA reader and a laptop. She took one look and snorted, “I’d rather read a real book.” My explanation that these were real books fell on deaf ears, and I am ashamed to admit my growing anger during the exchange. It got so bad that I had to excuse myself and leave the building.

Since then, I have been published in print format, though I continue to work in the ebook publishing industry. I am also to say I am very mellow these days when people turn their noses up at eBooks. Perhaps it is because I have seen the industry grow exponentially since that writer’s conference, and have come into contact with authors who were able to quit their jobs and sustain themselves with eBook royalties. I know a few print-only authors who can’t claim that!

Is eBook publishing an option for all authors? That I cannot answer with certainty, as different authors have different needs. Some authors do very well by self-publishing because they also possess the marketing savvy to sell their books. A less inclined author, by comparison, may be suited more toward traditional publishing if he can get “The Call,” as it is commonly known. For others, taking the alternative route of electronic publishing may be beneficial in the long run, yet I believe the final decision should be up to the author.

To this end, I am happy to provide a list of the pros and cons related to publishing a book, be it fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, in electronic format. This article will focus on the PROS.

1) An eBook can be your springboard.

At the 2006 Romantic Times conference in Daytona Beach, Florida, I met a few editors with the top romance publishers, all of whom were seeking out romance eBook authors. As eBook sales and productions rises in the romance and erotic romance genres, these editors are aware of the great sales potential involved in bringing eBook authors with high readership into their catalogs. Go to your favorite bookstore and look up authors Sherrilyn Kenyon, Angela Knight, and Sylvia Day. What do they have in common aside from being bestselling authors? Their earliest titles were originally published in eBook format!

Depending upon the genre you write and the following you develop, your eBook success can be a springboard to commercial publishing accomplishments. Make the sales and the big players will notice, regardless of whether or not your book is on paper.

2) Faster Turnaround

Do you know how long it takes for a book to see print, from submission to release? Various factors play into a final answer. A small university press may not take as long as a well-known New York house. A book could take anywhere from several months to several years before it is made available for sale.

With eBooks, that time frame might not be as long. This is not, mind you, because eBooks go through a sloppy editing process. While some eBooks may appear to have been rushed (more on that below), there are many eBook publishers that have professional editors on staff to ensure a quality end product. eBook production may be quicker than traditional print publication due to a number of factors. Formatting does not take long to do, for one, and cover art needs are drastically reduced. You can produce a great cover that sells and not have to worry about sizing or color bleeds for print. A good number of eBook romance publishers offer a turnaround from acceptance as quick as three months!

While some authors wait for their books, an eBook author can have two or three out in the same amount of time.

3) Higher Percentage of Royalties

I once read an article by the late Southern humorist Lewis Grizzard, who wrote for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and authored more than twenty books. He wrote that despite all the books and columns under his belt, he was not a rich man. Knowing how some publishers deal with author royalties, this statement no longer surprises me!

Depending upon your status as author, and the budget of the publishing house, you could make as much as ten to twenty percent of the net sales of your book. Some houses will raise the percentage once you reach a certain benchmark, like a thousand or more copies. However, since the average book in the United States sells five hundred, it is safe to say thousands of authors may never get that raise. Unless you are the rare J.K Rowling or Stephen King (both of whom, to be fair, do profit on subsidiary sales), you may not be rolling immediately in the millions.

eBook publication, however, offers the opportunity to make some decent money, more so if you gain a strong readership. Because of the low resources involved in eBook production, there is more opportunity to pay royalties on sales. Most eBook publishers offer as much as thirty to fifty percent of net sales. An author with a strong following can make several hundred dollars a month!

4) Same good book, less waste

Next time you are at the bookstore, take a look at the bargain bin. Many hardcover books, some probably touted as bestsellers, are marked down significantly to clear away inventory. What is not sold is eventually recycled. I know of one author whose book was heavily “remaindered,” as it is called. What was not sold, he said wistfully, was turned into toilet paper!

In this respect, eBook production is very environmentally sound. Because the books are produced digitally, no trees are harmed. An eBook may be read on a computer or handheld personal digital assistant, both of which can store several books for your enjoyment. With a PDA full of eBooks, there is less to carry when you go on vacation!

5) More control

Do you have an idea for typesetting over cover art for your book? Chances are if you sign with a major publisher, you may not have much creative input. With my first novel, I was allowed some input, but my ideas were ultimately not used for the cover art. The same might be said with the marketing of your book. Publishers have budgets to meet, and may not be able to satisfy every author’s desires.

eBook publishers in recent years, however, may be very author friendly. Closer contact with staff may allow an author to have more input in production and design. Some eBook publishers may allow authors to design their own covers. Whether or not this is a good thing remains to be seen, but the fact remains that the lines of communication between authors and staff are open wide. The author is permitted to be very active throughout editing and production, and it turn it may inspire the author to be more productive.

More opportunity for money, more input, and more support are among the benefits of producing your manuscript through electronic means. As we further delve into a new age of publishing, eBooks lead the charge into a new dimension of entertainment for readers and productivity for writers.

Kathryn Lively
http://www.articlesbase.com/ebooks-articles/the-benefits-of-ebook-publishing-83975.html

I have been a published author for over seven years now and if there is one thing I can’t stand about the industry its waiting! Waiting for the book to get through production, waiting for it to hit the shelves, waiting for someone to buy it, waiting for the first paycheck, and, most importantly, waiting to find out how my book is doing.

Anyone who has written any material that is published has no doubt suffered from the same angst and frustration at how long it takes to get feedback on your precious work of art. I recall the first time I wrote an entire book myself (up ‘til that stage I had mainly contributed chapters to other peoples’ works) – I spent most of the first week after publication refreshing the book page on Amazon to see if there were any new reviews or if the sales rank had improved.

Doing this soon became quite tedious and while I was still eager to find out how my book was doing, I just couldn’t waste more and more time looking at the same page over and over and over. What made it worse is that while it was always nice to see the sales rank drop to the low thousands or high hundreds every now and then, I couldn’t really tell how it was doing… not really!

Looking around on the Internet was a bit disheartening because it seemed that a lot of people are of the opinion that the Amazon Sales Rank doesn’t tell you anything and that I had been wasting my time. This struck me as odd because it seemed that Amazon had put a lot of effort into building the Sales Rank Facility – surely they weren’t sucking thumb on the numbers?

In time for my next book’s release I began making use of RankTracer that actually provides sales estimates as well as tracking sales ranks. Setting up an account requires you perform the following 3 steps:

1. Register with RankTracer

2. Use their subscription form to enter an ASIN (A unique number assigned to each products sold on Amazon) of the product(s) you wish to track – this will add the product(s) to your subscription cart (They actually have a small form that helps you determine the ASIN of any product you want to track before you purchase a subscription).

3. Checkout and pay for your subscriptions – its only $2 per month to track a title, or $1 to receive automated review updates.

RankTracer also gives $3 to try out there service upon registration (for a limited amount of time), so it’s actually free to try it out for a month or so. They also sell credit that you can buy in order to make any further purchases quick and easy – you won’t have to reach for your credit card whenever you want to renew a subscription. Once you buy some credit you can even email any amount to other people to use on RankTracer.

I have been tracking all my books as well as a few others using this service, and instead of checking on Amazon I get RankTracer to email me notifications of reviews or when my Sales rank drops below or above a certain point.

What’s more, I get them to send me a PDF report of all the titles I am tracking every week and every month, which is useful because I have finally gotten too lazy to even visit the Internet to check how my books are doing (now that I no longer have to). They have a sample report up on their Website if you want to take a look. As you’ll see they have all the sales rank stats, weekly or monthly sales totals, as well as graphs and product review information.

What I find really interesting is the way in which the site is built to allow you to make comparisons and contrast the information you record. They have what they call a WorkStation, which is a single web page that uses AJAX to present a nice and intuitive interface for interacting with your Sales Rank info – there are a lot of options that allow you to view and group your information in a variety of different ways.

For example, I wanted to see how the new Richard Dawkins book, The God Delusion, was selling in comparison with my own titles (Not that I would expect my sales to compete in any way, but just to see the difference in sales volumes). Using RankTracer’s graph building interface, I drew this up for a week’s period using the 3-D graph option (they have several different types of graphical representation of your data):

The God Delusion is the trace in front (in yellow), with my sales rank graph in blue. NOTE: If you cannot see this image, please visit my website

Ok, so the actual image may not be too clear here, but hopefully you can make out the fact that my book is seriously lagging behind Mr Dawkins’. Notice that his graph almost appears flat because his ranking has averaged at 19 for the past week, whereas mine averaged about 19 000. Looking at the bottom of the graph you should also be able to see the sales estimates given for each title. In this case, the God Delusion sold about 510 copies during that week, but my book only sold 31.

I have been tracking my book a lot longer so to give you an example of a different way of looking at the collected data, I took a snapshot of my sales rank graph over the last month using a range format grouped on a daily basis (instead of hourly as the graph above shows):

My sales rank range grouped by day over the last month NOTE: If you cannot see this image, please visit my website

From this you can see that sales picked up for a few days in early January after a bit of a slowdown in December – each bar indicates the range between the best and worst ranking for that day. As always, the RankTracer Sales Estimation Engine provides an estimate for that month’s sales – in this case it gives an even 130 copies sold at an average rank of about 20 000.

Apart from tracking the Amazon Sales Rank for your own book I find it quite nice to track a bunch of my competitors’ titles to see how well I’m doing in the context of my little niche. Its quite useful knowing exactly how everyone else is doing because I find it helps me determine where I got things right and where I went wrong.

Most of all, because the sales rank information is collected on an hourly basis I can tell in near-real time the impact of any advertising or articles that I or my publisher have released. It’s incredible to see the dips in rankings as articles or reviews are posted to various Websites – one time my book got a great review on Slashdot and RankTracer recorded an improvement in sales for about 3 weeks after this.

It’s gotten to the stage where my publisher often asks me how my book is doing because it’s easier for me to find out than for him to go search their records. Sooner or later, I guess all publishers will have to wake up and start providing this service to their authors, but for now I am happy receiving my weekly updates to keep me up to speed with the goings on in the world of Amazon – I’ll leave the competitive analysis for the marketers, publishers and advertisers.

There’s actually quite a bit more to do and see at the RankTracer website, but hopefully you have a good idea of what is on offer in the way of Amazon Sales Rank tracking and Amazon Sales Estimates. Enjoy…

David Mercer
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/tracking-amazon-sales-rank-and-obtaining-accurate-sales-estimates-99934.html