Tuesday, March 9, 2010

How To Find A Book Using Online Bookstores

Looking for improving your gaming skills by reading some of the best books on professional gaming that are around? That is a good idea, but, and as you may have already noticed, it is easier said than done. Once you go online to one of the many online bookstores such as Amazon and Barnes and Ruble and can type in a phrase you get a long list (if you are lucky) of potential books.

What do you do then? How do you know which book suits you? And if you even could figure that out, how do you know the book is worth anything? Many of the authors are pros, but, then, you can also easily land up on amateur writers who are just trying to make a buck. Exactly for this, we have compiled a list of five practical suggestions to help you.

1) Reviews and Opinions Matter.
One of the most interesting methods of screening authors and books is by reading what other readers have to say about those literary objects. Look up one of the many forums online that focus on books and either ask a direct question or read what others have said. Another option is to look up the book at different online bookstores such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon but also others such as The Literary Guild and Pickabook. (Look them at this list compiled by the World Wide Web Virtual Library: http://archive.museophile.org/bookstores) The reasons for doing this is that for every book you can read reviews from different sites. Do this and you are reducing the chances of reading only promotional material. It goes without saying that opt for those books that receive good reviews. Generally, a book will receive some bad reviews, but look at the majority viewpoint. Note that if the book you wish to buy is new, you will not find reviews. In such a case, you will just have to take a risk.

2) Be Specific.
One of the methods of searching for a book that interests you is by narrowing down the search by typing a long search term and not just one name. For instance, type down how to play Texas holdem in an online tournament instead of just Texas holdem. Such a search will result in only a few book options. First, look up reviews and views on it and then look at its size and focus of interest.

3) Check the Experience of the Author.
Buying a book is just like buying a car. Would you be willing to pay more for a Mercedes? Likewise, check the author or editor. If the author is unknown, tread very carefully. The book might be useless. But remember that its not enough that the author is well known or has years of professional expertise, they must be experienced in the exact field of the subject of the book.

4) Check the Printing History of the Author.
After checking the authors personal biography and his scope of knowledge as pertains to the issue in question, you should, then, check his style of writing. You will not want to fall asleep on the second page, do you? If their style of writing pleases you, try reading parts of their work. Read articles or portions of other books they have read. Do this to get an idea of whether they can write and whether they are capable of handling complicated issues and putting them across in easy to understand language.

5) The Price Factor.
When looking at books, the first thing (or the second) we tend to look at is the price. Yes, you should know whether you can afford to buy it or not, but do not make you decision based on whether a book is cheap or expensive. First, check whether the book is what you are looking for. Then, decided whether you can afford it and not vice versa. Likewise, do not just buy a book because its on sale. Remember that if a book is on sale it means that no one is buying it!

How To Find A Good Inexpensive Hotel

When going on vacation somewhere you have never been it can be hard to find a good quality Hotel working on a budget. So here is a guide to help you find a good place cheap, so you don’t have to worry about where you will stay.

In my life I have done a great deal of traveling, and I have many nightmare stories about the things that have happened to me in some of the cheap hotels I have stayed in. I remember once I was ok a ski trip and half the floor in my room actually dropped about 6 inches. I woke up and my head was lower then the rest of me and was confused for several seconds before I managed to come to my senses. Lucky for me the room was on the first floor. On another trip, the police raided the hotel looking for illegal immigrants, and there was noise all night long. It was probably quiet the next night, but I did not stick around to see.

Finding a good inexpensive hotel should not be a gamble. The best way to find a good hotel is to go to a place you have been before, but assuming that is not an option the next best thing is from someone who has been there.

If you know someone who has been to the same vacation spot as you are planning on going, ask them about the place they stayed, the worst that can happen is they tell you they hated it or that it was too expensive.

But what if no one you know has ever been to where you are going to be? Unless you like to gamble, you can't just make reservations anywhere, if you are looking to gamble on something play blackjack or poker in a casino, but don’t roll the dice with the place you are going to use as your home base for your vacation.

Use the internet to look for hotel reviews. There are many websites that have reviews from people who have stayed in the hotel. Now one mans hell may be another mans heaven, but at least this way you can see that 5 people stayed there and said it was fine and two said it was not good maybe these 2 people were the exception.

Or maybe the two that did not like the hotel were in town for business in an area popular with tourists. This can be an annoying situation when everyone around you is partying and you are trying to sleep, this is one of the reason why no business is conducted in Daytona Beech during Spring Break.

Talking with a travel agent is always a great way to assure your happiness with your lodgings, and helps keep the gambling in the casinos and out of your room.

A good thing to do is to make sure to ask lots of question on the phone with any hotels you are considering staying in.

How To Find Paying Telecommuting Writers Jobs Online

As a freelance writer, you probably spend hours scanning free job boards looking for telecommuting writing jobs -- in other words, freelance writing jobs you can do from home. With so many websites listing non-paying gigs amongst their paying job postings, it can take an hour or more each day to wade through the mess. Not to mention, just because a job is listed as a freelance job doesn't necessarily mean you can do the work from home. Many job posters are looking for freelance writers who will come to their place of business and do the writing work on-site. For those of us freelance writers who telecommute, this only complicates our job search.

My daily freelance writing job search on free job boards consists of the following: I pull up Indeed dot com and enter in several groups of search terms, such as "freelance writer" and "writer" "telecommute" -- there are at least a dozen keyword groups I search after these, but you get the idea. Then, I move on to the JournalismJobs dot com, WriteJobsdot com, and even Online-Writing-Jobs dot com. Then comes Craigslist, with its dreaded wade through the pools of non-paying gigs, gigs that pay in ad revenue only, and gigs that list "TBD" in the payment line. After much practice, I've honed my job searching system down to a half-hour process. Of course, this is just search time and doesn't include the time spent responding to ads, attaching resumes/writing samples, etc.

As seems to be the trend in the freelance writing world, most job posters never reply back. The few that do seem interested might ask for follow-up details and then disappear from the face of the earth, frequently because they find my rates not within their $3 per article budget. Let's face it -- the process of searching for telecommuting writing jobs on free job boards can be infuriating.

So, what are the alternatives to searching for telecommuting writing jobs on free job boards? Pay a membership fee to sites like GoFreelance dot comor JustMarkets dot com. Or, go with the job bidding sites like Elance dot com or Writerlance dot com. But, what about people who can't afford the fees? Chances are, if you're just starting out, your budget won't allow you the cost of such luxuries. Although membership sites may be considered legitimate business deductions for tax purposes (depending on where you live), the bottom line is that the money will come out of your pocket initially, even if you do deduct the cost on your taxes later.

Of course, there are the traditional methods for finding telecommuting writing jobs, like creating a website to advertise your freelance writing services, and visiting job sites that allow you to post your freelance writing resume free. Posting in freelance writing forums and networking with other writers can help you get clients. Starting a blog is another route many freelance writers take to get noticed. Paying for pay-per-click advertisements and even writing articles to submit to free directories can also help. Still, for the bulk of freelance writers, most jobs still come from taking the time to search for telecommuting writing jobs online.

Unfortunately, there is no path to finding telecommuting writing jobs that won't take some time or money. However, by getting into a regular job-search routine and using bookmarks and job feeds to your advantage, you can speed up the process and make things a little less frustrating for yourself.

How To Get Back In Shape

Before starting to work out make sure you get a full physical from your doctor and a letter stating it is ok for you to do physical activity. Many gym and aerobic centers will require this before letting you start.


Depending on how long it has been since you last did regular exercise it is recommended that you start off slow and gradually build up your workout to harder levels.


It is generally recommended to start off at the gym with just the treadmill and the lifecycle for the first week or 2. This is to wake the muscles up and to slowly get you prepared for a harder workout.

You will generally want to find a speed on the treadmill that is a pace you can keep up with little discomfort and do it for 20 minutes. After this take a 5 minute break, stretch a little and have a drink of water, then go back and increase the speed just a bit then do another 20.

Remember that pushing yourself too far is taking a gamble that you may not be able to live with. In a casino you can put everything you have on the roulette table and maybe you win and maybe you lose, but in the gym if you push too hard you can die, so take things slowly.

Many people make the mistake of getting back into an exercise program and going all gung ho an trying to get back in shape in just one hour, well let me tell you this will not work. The only thing this will do is make you very sore the next day and you will not be able to workout that day, and it will make you lose interest fast in the gym. Discomfort in ok pain is not.

Depending on how long it has been since you last worked out, I recommend working out 4 or 5 days a week. This may seem like a lot but if you were trying to win a poker tournament you would go to a casino or an online casino and poker room to practice almost every day right? So you will have to do the same with the gym.

Working out 5 days a week does not necessarily mean you have to go to the gym every day. I recommend the gym 3 times a week and the other day or 2 you can just go for a long fast paced walk around your neighborhood. Try to vary the things you do so that you do not work out the same parts of your body 2 days in a row.

Most professionals will tell you that if you work out your arms and chest on a Monday do not exercise those muscles again for at least 48 hours. This is to give the muscles time to heal and grow. It is this straining and resting of the muscle that makes it grow not just the working it out. If all you did every day was work the same muscle group in a few days the muscle would be more likely to tear in a painful experience and the only thing you will be able to do for several months will be playing in an online casino from your laptop in bed.

How To Get Noticed By Publishers and Editors

To be a successful writer and get noticed, being good often isn’t good enough. You have to shine. You have to have something that puts you above all others. Of course though, nobody is perfect. Everyone has faults and flaws. But everyone has talents and abilities too. What’s your talent?

Find your talent and focus on it. Develop it. Showcase it in your writing so it really shines through. Remember, one thing that stands out is far easier to notice than ten things that are good, but not great. Make sure your best skill stands out.

Stacey’s Story: Start With Something Special

I had my breakthrough while taking a break from writing. I was watching the movie Bring it On and decided to watch the bonus features. One of them was an interview with the director and he talked about how the screenplay got noticed because it opened with the cheer song. That stood out, that got their attention, that made them want to read the rest. I decided to take the same approach. I took chances with the start. I started with a letter, a poem, a snippet from a diary. It must have made the difference because with that one change, a manuscript that had been rejected 14 times got purchased. –Stacey, Novelist

Carmen’s Story: Use Your Strengths

I was told by my teachers and by readers that my dialogue was really strong. So I decided to stop hiding it away and I put it right out front. I made the first chapter of my novel almost all dialogue. It got the attention of an agent, who has since told me that the individuality of the first chapter told him that he had found a new writer with a clear sense of style. He took me on and is now trying to sell that sense of style to publishers. Even better for me, he’s not just trying to sell my first book, he’s trying to sell me as the next new thing, a young writer to look out for! –Carmen, Novelist

Editor Says: “Forget Modesty”

Writing is not a business where you can afford to be modest. You have to get in there and show what you’ve got. Whatever you do better than everyone else, show it off. Build your work around your best skill. Otherwise, you’re going to be lumped in with the rest of the writers that are good, but don’t stand out. –James, Editor

Editor Says: “I’m Looking for One Thing”

Many writers make the mistake of trying to show me everything they do well. Forget it. I’m glancing at hundreds of manuscripts a day. To catch my attention, you have to hit me between the eyes with one strong point that I can’t not notice. There will be time later to show me your other strengths. For the first contact, focus on making one clear point about yourself and make it a good one.
–Darryn, Editor

Susan’s Story: Is it Really a Flaw?

In the early days of Susan’s career, everyone advised her that she relied on dialogue too much. So she cut out the dialogue. She kept writing but found her work lacked energy. Years later, she decided to ignore all the advice. The novel came naturally to her and it was almost all dialogue. The book reviews praised her unique style and voice. Susan learned her lesson—never suppress what comes naturally to you. Remember, what comes naturally to you might be your greatest gift, not your greatest flaw.

Top Six Ways to Find Your Strength

1. Ask other people what stands out about your work.

2. Read some of your best work and make a list of what makes it good.

3. Read through the contents of a book about writing and ask yourself if there is an area you are good at.

4. Think about what other people have said about your work. Are there any comments that keep being repeated?
5. Ask yourself what you care about when you write.

6. What do you like about other people’s work? Often the things you notice in other people’s work are also the things that you are good at.

How To Get Online Gambling Legalized in the United States

For many people the several hors drive to the nearest casino just is not realistic because of their busy lives, in California last week a man was arrested for locking his kids in the car while he went into a casino to gamble, but he would have been able to sit at home and watch his kids if he could have logged into an online casino.

But the law is reversible. Now is the time when politicians who have been eyeing the ultimate seat of power will start declaring their intention on running in the next presidential election.

This is where the American people have the power. Now is the time to start protesting the Unlawful gambling act.

Thru protest at the candidate’s rallies you will tell them this is an issue that is not going away. The issue of online gambling managed to get the American people to put the Democrats into power in congress, and now it can do the same for the highest political office in the United States.

When ever a presidential hopeful is appearing in your area you should hold a rally outside where ever it is the candidate will be appearing. Try to locate the entrance and exit they will use and make sure t have people with signs and chanting slogans.

By making Online Gambling a hot issue the candidate will have to address it. If a candidate can not get votes they will not win so if they think they can win by getting the gambling vote they will take up your cause.

Besides protests, I also recommend

Letter writing campaigns: letter writing campaigns are a great tool it allows you to tell your leaders how you feel and gives them a good sense of how strong the American people feel about the subject.

Petitions: petitions are much the same as letter writing except that instead of thousands of letters the receiver of the petition only gets 1 letter with the names of all the signatures on it.

The internet is a great tool for protesting, it allows you to pass your letter or petition to people not only all over the country but the entire world, and can also help spread useful information about protest marches by being accessible to everyone with an internet connection


There are also several myspace pages dedicated to trying to get the laws changed thru protest. The Angryonlinegambler is one such page. He not only offers an online petition but also a message board for people to leave messages about gatherings, and rants about how the government is making the wrong decisions.

It is also important to highlight the benefits to legalized online gambling

Millions of dollars a year could go to the American Government from taxing American player’s winnings, and if American land based casinos were allowed to get into the action then the government could make hundreds of millions for schools, and to further the war on terrorism.


Legalized Online Gambling in the USA would create hundreds of thousand if not millions of much needed new jobs in the customer service industry in the United States and would there for benefit the government.

How To Get Your Husband To Cancel His Weekly Poker Game

Over the past few years it always bothered me that my husband would go play poker with his friends every Friday night. Whenever I complained that it would be nice to spend time with my husband on Friday, he just complains that this is the only time he gets to be with his friends.

I decided I had to come up with a way to make him choose me over his poker buddies so I tried many different things, at first I tried by asking him to stay home so we could have sex all night. That worked a few times but then he caught on to what I was doing.

I also tried finding different events that he may want to go to like action movies, car shows and other things of that nature but there were not always things to do, so that was another failed attempt.

But after 6 months of trying I had just about given up, finally at my wits end I decided that maybe I could get real good fast I could challenge him to a game and if I won he had to stop going to his game, and if he won I would pay for him to go to Vegas I spent every spare moment I had reading everything I could find online about Texas Holdem. Eventually I decided to go online and practice at some Video Poker.

Eventually I started playing for real cash Online, and once or twice while he was at his game I would drive to one of the local casinos and play for a few hours in their poker rooms.

Finally I felt I was good enough to make the challenge. So one night I told him that I wanted him to stop going to his Friday night games and to stay home with me, as I had expected it started a big argument. I waited until he made his speech about working hard and needing some “guy” time.

So I felt this was my time to strike, I asked him if he would at least allow me to come and watch the game, to which he replied that players only as the rule and that since I did not know how to play I could not go.

So I said if he could do it how hard can it be that really got him going, so he then asked me if I wanted to make the game a little interesting with a little bet. Now I had exactly what I wanted.

I said if he won I would pay for him to go to Las Vegas alone, he did not know I had made some good money playing poker recently, and if I won he would give up his seat in his regular Friday night game.

He looked at me suspiciously at first and I thought he was not going to risk it but he said ok. He ran to the closet and grabbed his chips we each started of with $100 in chips and agreed the first one out is the loser.

Well in the end it was me that lost, but he was so excited at how good I was that he did stop going to his Friday night game, now every Friday night we go and play together at the casino. We have been doing this for 2 years now and our relationship has never been this good.

Sometimes it really is better to try to get interested in his hobby.