A tremendous exhilaration began rising inside of me, as I watched Ariya disappear into the treetops. All of my unanswered questions now faded into the background. The appearance of this mystical being, whatever she was, liberated me to the point that I was ready to forge ahead with reckless abandonment regardless of what I would have to face. This implausible helper being had gained my complete trust and I just knew, in my heart, that I was on the right track. Nothing mattered to me now except this elusive key, and with the help of this astonishing creature, I was certain that I would find it. I was confident that I would make my way back to a place in my heart that I had been away from far too long. The next morning, not surprisingly, Conqueror and I discovered an open trail leading out of the meadow, rescuing us from the tangled vines that we had been trapped in for weeks. And with spirits high, our journey resumed. For some reason, the kingdom and my previous decadent life were not missed at all, almost as if I had searched for this key before and knew intuitively how to do it. It was a feeling of a distant recall, that same feeling I had those many years ago before the war, when I stepped into the ring with my general. He was a good man, the General; he deliberately took an arrow that was meant for me. With unshakeable resolve, my nomadic existence continued as I wandered for weeks and months, with the months turning into years. My undying faith in the blacksmith, and now Ariya, instilled within me a most unusual courage. Nevertheless, my many unanswered questions remained. In my ragged robe, stringy hair, and long scruffy beard, I continued to roam for five long, uneventful years. If I had not been a trained warrior, I could have never persevered. I built temporary shelters with leaves and branches during the monsoon rains but never stayed in one place too long, wary of my many enemies, both from the kingdoms that I had conquered and, sadly, from my own kingdom as well. They would not rest until I was dead. I found water in streams and lakes, picked fruit and coconuts, fished, and trapped small animals, but for some inexplicable reason I became increasingly sensitive to taking animals’ lives, and eventually I could no longer kill them at all. I had to rely on only root vegetables and plants to supplement the fruits and nuts that sustained me. Something quite unfamiliar was stirring deep in my heart. But the isolation was devastating; an overwhelming remoteness, something that I had never experienced before. Without Conqueror, I could never have suffered this crushing loneliness that offered no escape. It was killing me. My body was severely weakened as well by the many fevers and illnesses that struck, and my muscles shrunk to half their normal size, but with the brave heart of a warrior, I continued. I was concerned; however, that one more fever would do me in. I was in my thirty-seventh year. One night, the mosquitoes were unusually fierce. I wrapped up tight in my torn, shabby robe but it helped little, and as the night wore on, I was attacked unmercifully. The wind then turned cold, and with no shelter from the driving north wind and freezing rain, I was soon soaked to the bone, freezing and shaking uncontrollably. Conqueror rolled in the mud next to me to break the wind, and I huddled next to the horse’s warm body. Memories of my kingdom and of my father haunted me and heavy doubt began creeping in as I longed for the things I had left behind. But that silent voice in my valiant heart whispered to me, “Go on.” Illness struck not long after this dreadful night with a fever as unrelenting as the persistent rains that drenched the forest. I was sweating, then freezing, and regardless of Conqueror dropping bananas near me, I was too weak to eat. I didn’t mind dying. I could accept that. But my heart was broken. Now I knew that I would never find my key. I was also bitterly disappointed with the cunning sorcerer who had lied to me about power, encouraging the commission of atrocities that now became a noose around my neck. I felt my helper being had let me down too, and the thought crossed my mind that perhaps I merely imagined Ariya. Maybe she was only a fanciful illusion brought on by loneliness. Only after my best efforts were exhausted would she come, she promised, and yet she was nowhere to be found. I knew now that she wasn’t coming, and my only concern was for my trusted friend; what would happen to Conqueror? It was cold and raining hard again that night, and as my good eye began to close, I began slipping away. I wasn’t sure whether I was dreaming or not, but there seemed to be a small point of light flickering through the fog and rain. Straining to see the faint green glow with my good eye, and all the remaining strength I had left, I was suddenly astonished by a blinding flash of blue-green radiance, as Ariya descended and stood before me. With her piercing eyes dancing, she entered my mind and said, “Did you doubt your helper being, my king?” Almost imperceptibly at first, I felt a mounting strength filling me. In no time, the fever was gone and my shaking stopped, and although the deluge continued, not a drop of rain fell on me. She was transferring her great power into my body; I could feel it, and she was saving my life. My heart melted. “Ariya, you didn’t forsake me; I thought perhaps you had.” “Oh my great king, your mind is filled with so many doubts. Just believe in me, and as you seek your key with all your heart, all will be well.” “I will, Ariya, I promise you. Part of me doubted you, but only for a moment. My heart never did. You promised that if I followed my heart, I would find my key and so I followed it for five lonely years, believing in you. And what I have come to realize is that until I find my key, I will always be lost, even with your help.” “Well said! You are really making progress! The five lonely years you have spent has cleared your vision a little. And this was your first test.” “My vision has cleared in many ways,” I replied, “but not completely. Although I trust you, I must tell you that I do not trust the sorcerer. He lied to me. He claimed his gold would give me power, which would lead to lasting happiness, but all it led to was suffering and death.” “Oh, the sorcerer! She replied. “Please, don’t judge him too harshly. Someday you will see him in a different light. The sorcerer is a master of masters and will always do what is in your best interests, even though you won’t understand things at the time. He knew you had an iron-strong will, which of course is required to find the key, but he knew as well that you would only believe what you discover for yourself, never believing what you are told. Would you have believed that all the gold and power in the world would not make a king happy? Of course not, so he let you see for yourself. You believed that killing had no severe repercussions, but your nature was to kill, certain that no repercussions could ever touch the greatest warrior in the land. The sorcerer could not alter your nature, only you can change that through something much stronger than the sorcerer, but he could open your eyes to the consequences of your nature. He knew that you would lose an eye because all of this, but considered it a small price to pay if it led you to a quest for the key.” She was right, of course, and as I looked back, I could see the sorcerer’s clever manipulations. This sorcerer was a very tricky individual indeed. “Ariya, five years ago you left before answering all of my questions, and now I have many more. Please, could you take a moment and satisfy this hunger that I have?” Ariya smiled, listening patiently and then began addressing the many questions she had already seen in my mind. She said that I had freewill, and that I could either return to my kingdom or continue my quest, that she would protect me either way. She said that I must be careful of this freewill; however, because I will feel the direct results of every action I consciously take, no matter how trivial. “Within your freewill,” she said, “you can search for truth; which is very difficult, or look the other way and take the easy path of least resistance. This is what most people do in the world; take a path of convenience. It seems easy, and they are not the least bit worried about their fate in the next world, thinking that they will handle whatever comes up later. Their destiny is then out of their hands. Life is impermanent; it has no unchanging subsistence and therefore becomes disappointing sooner or later. All things change. And if all things are constantly in flux, then there is no fixed “self,” or permanent soul that is unchanging. The fact that you, my king, are constantly changing gives you a chance to either expand your consciousness and escape from lifetime after lifetime of disappointments, going on to better worlds, or remain stuck in the human condition time after time which only guarantees eventual pain and death. “Everything is constantly changing, including yourself, and this can be frightening to some, even to warriors. But it is true that there is nothing we can count on. Your body will age, become ill and die, which your father has taught you, and our finest aspirations can become shattered as you discovered after conquering all of your kingdoms. Everything that has a beginning must end. When you finally find your key, you will know what it is like to have neither beginnings nor endings, and you will understand a Reality that is eternal. But for now, just remember that whatever you run from, you will eventually have to face. You can never go back to where you’ve been or who you’ve been . . . because everything changes.” I listened to Ariya with increasing interest. I probably couldn’t go back now, and it actually was no longer my intention to return to my kingdom, even though at times I felt as if I had abandoned my subjects, leaving them helpless without my leadership. But power could easily get into the wrong hands now, and if that happened, it would only be an additional hardship for my subjects. And if power was in the wrong hands, additional problems would develop for me; the new king would have to make sure that I never returned to cause complications. Just as I was thinking to myself that I was going to see this through no matter what, Conqueror‘s ears stood up. He nervously looked back into the dark forest. (To be continued) E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, .SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-nine years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit .AYearToEnlightenment.com

Ever thought of becoming a freelance writer? Do you talk to your family and friends? Well all you have to do is write in the same manner as you would speak in a conversation. That’s it, simple really. So many people today are spending an enormous amount of time and money chasing dreams of making their fortune on the internet. Unbelievably, they pass over the one way in which it is highly possible to start earning a decent amount of money, in a very short time. Businesses and the media on the internet today are desperately seeking fresh content for their websites and this is where you come in. The sheer beauty of this work is that you have no start up costs and all you need is your computer and a connection to the internet and you are up and running and earning money. Work of this nature can be carried out anywhere in the world, indoors or outside. Imagine working while sitting in your garden or even on the beach. Freelance writing suits so many people, the flexibility of being able to choose where and when you work means that this type of home working is perfect. Your earnings capability is only restricted by your commitment, once you start receiving payment checks, your personal incentive to complete more projects increases. You realise if you work just a couple more hours per week, you can earn more. How many bosses in offices reward their employees to increase their work output? And with this freedom comes the bonus of being your own boss, want to take the day off. Go. No boss to ask here. Feel guilty; you could always put in a couple of hours at the weekend. Your life will suddenly become your own, totally free to do whatever you wish to. Your assignments will cover all kinds of topics and vary in length, as mentioned earlier basic writing skills is all that is required. The only stipulation is that you must always meet your deadlines. All writers whether freelance or professional treat their profession as a business and the one important factor to remember is that you want repeat contracts. The more you write, the more you sell, the more money you make. Writing online from home is one of the quickest ways to make any money on the internet. Work in the hours and space to suit you and your commitments, enjoy the freedom it brings you and enjoy the money that follows. If you are not quite ready to commit to full time, start with just a few hours a week. I think you will find it would not be long before you fire your boss. Join Mike Lyall for further insights into writing at home and find the answers you are seeking.

Before you get all worried I’m not going to talk about politics or the up incoming election, this is not the blog for that. I ran across a quote from Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and thought it was relevant to this tattoo blog. I guess when Pete was a youngster he expressed some kind of interest in becoming the president or involved in politics like some many young children do. Well it seems that Pete’s mother has squashed his dreams of every becoming the president simply because he has too many tattoos. But Pete isn’t too worried about his tattoos he says, “I could never pursue a career in politics. I’ve been involved in far too many scandals.” But Pete did make a really good point about tattoos being in the White House. Here is what he said. “Isn’t that an irony, though, now that so many of our generation have tattoos? A tattooed person will end up in office one day, mark my words. Not necessarily at a presidential level, but there will be people with tattoos in the administration.” I hate to burst Pete’s bubble but I guarantee there is someone on the staff at the White House that indeed has a tattoo and if no one there currently has a tattoo, I’m sure there has been presidents and other personnel there that has a tattoo or two. But I think Pete was more so talking about people being covered in tattoos like him. Either way it just goes to show that tattoos are still looked down upon. Maybe if there was a president in the White House that had tattoos and was open about it the perception of tattoos would change. But who am I kidding? I think there will always be some kind of negativity attached to tattoos. Your Tattoo Friend Ashley

1. Reveal the good stuff! Instruct your readers some insider tips and trade secrets. Plain and simple, “if you do this their will be no doubt that you’ll earn the trust of your readers. I was once to a bit unsure that if I gave to much that they wouldn’t buy my ebook but it didn’t workout that way at all, and I ended up building a better relationship with my reader. But to my surprise, the amount of inquiries and genuine orders soared high after that specific article was published. “Check it out”, if you spill the beans and I mean all of them you’ll be seen as a expert and will be given the respect and trust that creates buyers. 2. No Selling. I have to say this is one of the top problems for most article writers. They chat about their products and services too much that their articles sound like sales letters. Keep in mind that your audience are reading articles because they want fact and not sales pitches. So lower the sales pitch talk and increase the value. 3. Proofread. It won’t matter how much value and knowled you give if you can’t communicate clearly to your audience, so read it over. Do you think you readers can focus on your content is it reads like this, “I cn hlp your money bisbess?” So, increase your grammar usage first (if there’s a need to do so) before you write your articles. This can be done by reading online and offline resources about proper grammar usage and through consistent practice. If you really want to take advantage of SEO traffic your article must be formatted in a way that is readable to the Search Engines. That requires articles to include keywords of relevant interest to your readers. When your on the Internet looking for information, you put in specific words in the search portion of the search engine such as Google or Yahoo. Those search words are indexed and matched on millions of servers around the world. Your website is judged on those keywords, so if you want to stand out to the search engines you must find out how you can make those keywords stand out. Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to email list building, “Your Article Marketing and Promotion Guide” Download it free here:Article Marketing ———————————————————— ———————————— Learn Directly From The ‘Top’ Article Marketer In The “World”. Mason is the founder of the Article Writing Pro’s and Lessons. Here you’ll learn about all the tools I used to create this success… Use What The Guru’s Use And Start==> Building You List ———————————————————— ———————————— “Mason’s marketing lessons and writing pro’s are hands down the best resource for any Internet Marketer” -Tami- “Visit his blog and subscribe to his article marketing lessons for free”-John-

Our physical brains quickly and easily handle mundane sequences of operations, or “processes” without question. It repeats processes like a machine: A»B»C»…»Z». Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “process” to mean “a series of actions, operations, or motions involved in the accomplishment of an end”. Heartbeat, breathing, and digestion are processes that occur without a single thought about “what comes next”. But, in many cases, our movement has become so consistent, that life itself becomes one of the mechanistic processes of the physical brain. Although, life is supposed to be dynamic, the brain only handles what it knows—what it has learned and what is sequenced. Just as life is a process of the physical brain, so is the “mind”. We can touch, feel, or see a brain, but we can’t touch a mind because it is a sequence of operations that occur to accomplish one or more tasks. The mind is our dynamic structure that takes in information, pushes it through the rules of our belief systems and stored knowledge, and devises a solution. The brain has many processes that interact with each other. The brain’s mind process has two lesser processes of interest: an ability to analyze and another to react. Where do we develop dynamic solutions if our brains are so rigid? First of all, when the brain encounters a sequence of events many times, it stores that information so that it knows how to automatically react and what to expect—a new process. It is a way that we handle those daily tasks that we know must be done and don’t have to think about it. Taking out the garbage, saying “hi” to our mates, and some tasks at work become so ingrained that they are processed quickly and easily without thought or emotion. Call it the physical body’s way of “making our lives more efficient”. Is it really an efficient method? In some ways, yes. We can simply go through life “without thinking” and allow our physical brains to issue commands to ensure that tasks are completed. “Going through life without thinking” is the key point here! We “can” set our physical brain’s mechanisms in motion to process life and then phase-out to let it run its path. In general, a consistent and repetitive motion in life, without thought, is called a “rut”. This is where we run into trouble. Is going through life without thought a positive move? It all depends on what you want out of life. We can “let it ride” or “actively participate”. It is in active participation that we begin to acquire dynamic solutions and processes in our physical brains. But, all dynamic processing and information occurs within an area known as the “virtual mind”. The thoughts and dynamic ideas in this mind are intercepted and processed by the physical mind and turned into new or altered mechanistic enhancements—call it “retooling”. However, we have to be open to the new information and understand what it is before we can truly make beneficial use of it. Some of the unique ideas that are intercepted become colored by our own mind to fit within our experiences and belief systems through “analytic overlay”. Analytic overlay, taken from remote viewing, is the mixing of signals. It is our need to take incoming information and apply our own assumptions, views, and beliefs to make it fit within our realm. With this regard, it is our taking of information arriving externally, and modifying it to fit our understanding and systems. In this way we become more comfortable with new information; however, we tend to obscure information that could provide us with new and intriguing insight. — Virtual Mind — The virtual mind is the higher self. Some call it the subconscious, other the soul. It is that part of us that exists among and communicates with the other entities across the Universe. It allows us to move about freely from our physical realm, investigate new ideas, communicate with others, and acquire information that is seen as a “flash of genius”. We have, as a society, grown to ignore the virtual mind. It has been overcome and overpowered by orthodoxy, which is the basis of the physical brain—standard processing of standard information. The orthodox methods limit us as the greatest amount of information is limited by the person with the least amount of knowledge. In this view, it is ourselves that is the person with the least knowledge because we are limiting our access to the vast amount of information available to us. Many have come to accept the idea of the virtual mind in religious terms. That which is not physically understood is taken as a “miracle” or as an understanding of “faith”. However, to truly grasp and take hold of the realities of life, one must move from the elements of faith to that of knowledge. Knowledge of ourselves, the Universe around us, and the interaction gives us the power to understand and control our lives. — The Doomsday Device — Without the virtual self, left to its own recognizance, the physical brain creates its own “dynamic structures”. But, these structures are merely replications of what is already there. When one “lives inside their own head” they tend to generate their own ideas. Such generation is a downward spiral because the physical brain is focusing and processing “itself”. In this case, we end up poking holes in our own existence because the mind is seeking resolution and solutions for itself. By creating its own structures, it defines resolutions that actually require problems or issues to create the “cause” for the “effect” or solution. As such, our brain tells us to go out and seek a problem to which it can apply its solution. This is, as grandma called it, “idle hands”. I believe it was “idle hands are the devil’s playground”. In both of these cases, self-flatulation and the search for chaos, the physical brain is seeking information and issues for those solutions that it’s created within its own realm. This occurs when we cut off the information given to use by the virtual self. It literally creates a doomsday device, or a self-destructive situation, in which we cannot move forward, cannot move back, and simply exist in a situation of pure chaos. — What’s next? — Essentially, you need to hang a sign on your brain that states “Authorized Personnel Only”. We are not smart enough to go into a closed off brain and create something forward moving. The brain, alone and cut off, can create the most tumultuous chaos out of, literally, nothing at all. However, it is in our virtual mind that we can interact and grow to acquire the information we need to move forward in our lives. The virtual mind is that part of us that gives us the power, knowledge, and ability to move forward in the physical life. The physical realm is never satisfied and is only bent on survival. It is the virtual mind, the soul that is easily fulfilled and is bent on life, love, and happiness. Let it come to the surface once in a while. Distract your conscious mind and let your brain have a piece of a “souler vacation” from time to time. Not only will it allow you to acquire the knowledge you seek, but it will also allow your virtual mind to help you resolve and move forward in your physical life. I think that I recall John Milton, in “Paradise Lost”, saying “The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell and hell of heaven.” Bravo! — About the Author — Edward B. Toupin, Ph.D. is an author, publisher, life-strategy coach, counselor, Reiki Master, and technical writer living in Las Vegas, NV. His research focus is on cognitive transformations, epistemology, and metaphysical topics. His experiences have spawned a new series of articles and a book project entitled “Dynamics of Life” that peers into the hidden recesses of our physical and spiritual interactions. For more information, and to find out about his upcoming books, e-mail publishtoupin.com or visit .make-life-great.com or .life-vision-imagineering.com! Copyright (c) 2004 Edward B. Toupin, Ph.D.

Death is inevitable, that’s a fact. And in line with this, in one way or another, we might be faced with the responsibility of writing a speech or a eulogy for someone who died. Just like death, its something we can’t escape or avoid. But if you have sample of eulogies handy, then you have nothing to fear. Sample of eulogies would be a great help especially during this time of sorrow and pain. The thought that you’re making a eulogy for someone you love and treasure at the time of his death is already hard. It would therefore be more difficult if you were an inexperienced writer or speaker. But nowadays, you have less to fear or worry about. Sample of eulogies abound the Internet. All you need to do is type in “sample of eulogies” on the search box and in an instant you’ll get results. Some can also ask people who have once experienced giving a speech during a funeral. Or better yet, speechwriting or technical writing books are also available so you can get some tips. After that you can read through the samples and then determine which one would be most applicable to the situation you’re currently at. It’s best to know that eulogies are different from each other. There are those that brief but full of emotions. Some are long and full of stories. It is up to you if you want to sound emotional, appreciative, honored, comical , etc in your manner or writing or speaking. What is most important is that you are able to convey your message in the best way you can. Aseem Gupta is a online reviewer of niche websites. To learn more about eulogy examples or eulogy samples, visit the website.

Heaping Stones, Rob Woodard, Burning Shore Press, 2005, ISBN 0976885905 Reviewed by Paul Lappen Set in present-day Long Beach, CA, this is the story of Rob, in his late thirties, and still an unpublished writer. He is having a hard time dealing with the abrupt walking-out of Maggie, his wife, several months previously. Rob seems locked into a cycle of self-hatred and drunken rages. Veronica has a free and open sexual nature which seems to make up for a self-esteem level of zero. It is as if Veronica feels that her only worth as a human being is based on what is between her legs. After a three-day binge of sex, sleeping together and more self-loathing on Rob’s part, he finally lets it all out, and physically throws Veronica out of his apartment. Rob busses tables at a local restaurant to pay the bills. A fellow employee is Rachael, a vivacious recent high school graduate with a sweet and innocent nature. They engage in some playful flirting during work hours, which gets their fellow employees to gossiping. Even better, from Rob’s point of view, is that Rachael enjoys reading Literature (she is actually familiar with Scandinavian writer Knut Hamsun), something about which Veronica is basically clueless. Rachael inspires Rob to take another look at some of his past writing attempts, stashed in a drawer. Her sweet nature begins to show Rob that there really is a light at the end of his emotional tunnel. This is a short novel, but an uncomprising one, moving from bitter to almost optimistic. It shows the big difference between “sexual” love and “real” love. There may have been a little too much emphasis on the sex scenes, but this is still a good piece of writing that is worth reading. Paul is a freelance book reviewer whose website, .deadtreesreview.com has over 600 book reviews on all subjects, with an emphasis on small press books.

Writing an essay is fun job, especially when you have to write essays about something you are familiar with. The only problem is although you know what to write about, but you don’t know where to start. This in the long run adds up to the effort you release when staying long in front of your PC and type nothing. So how will you fix this problem? Worry no more. Here are some Essay Writing Tips to improve your Writing Speed; you can always find refuge with, when you happen to be stocked on just the ideas. When you write essays, you do it for a reason. It may be because of an assignment or you’re just another writer that would like to write about anything you experience. Essay writing is easy when you focus on the title as provided by your professor or the particular occurrence that led you to grab that pen and paper. You need to start by answering the issues and concerns why you are writing and set it as your introduction. Research is a great way to improve essay writing speed. The effectiveness of your essay writing depends on how you organize it. Your introduction should be catchy enough to capture the reader’s attention and provide the necessary background information regarding the topic. A clear statement of your main idea or point of view should be there at the end of the paragraph. Help writing an essay is also a demanding exercise that calls for writers to be in appropriate mindsets in the pre-writing and writing processes of the exercise. Writers that seek to achieve the best of results in essay tasks must summon their perceptual, research and writing faculties in well balanced manner that will incontrovertibly demonstrate the maturity and the coming of age of their research, writing and critical capabilities. Custom Essay Writing demands that the writer be disciplined if he or she has to handle the multi-tasking approaches that characterize the feasible custom essay drafting and compiling strategies. Before delving into the nitty-gritty’s of gathering and putting though formulated and gathered ideas on the essay topic, writers must be sure that they have clearly understood the topic and have sufficiently construed the denotations and connotations of the key terms used in the essay topic of thesis statement. This enables writers to locate essay subject into its appropriate conceptual and philosophical framework. Many writers especially inexperienced students usually falter in the writing of essays due to an abysmal lack of understanding of the defined requirements of the essay task outlined in the thesis statement. Critical terms to watch out for include the imperatives like ‘analyze’, ‘critique’, ‘describe’, ‘discuss’, ‘explore’, etc. When writers get to understand the actual requirements of the custom essay task, they are empowered to conduct relevant and adequate researches in order to gather all relevant and related facts and opinions that will enable them to present balanced and professionally articulated arguments and standpoints in the custom essay Writing also exerts significant demands on the exploit of a writer’s polished and prolific writing acumen. The manipulation of language in inventive, incisive and non-overbearing parlance comes as the crux of the actual custom essay writing exercise. Writers who fail to pay adequate attention to the aspects of presentation run the risk of letting their research and knowledge substance waste away in the knitting of unprofessional and mediocre write ups. This again must be expected to precipitate failure. About The Author: Lisa Logan is a professional Educational Consultant and helping the students to accomplish their educational projects essay writing since many years. She got a vast experience in her field and is ready to help students with her skills and knowledge.

Why does self-publishing carry such a stigma? Because the writer feels that it proves that his work is not worthy of being picked up by a publisher and he is forced into publishing himself. He feels he is accused of vanity publishing, but just submitting your book to a mainstream publisher shows some signs of an ego which is actually necessary for a writer. This scenario is flawed and is about to be blown out of the water. Let’s accept that publishers are commercial businesses run to make the owners money. They are not in the business of promoting good writing. You, as the writer, are asking them to invest a significant amount of money in paying you an advance, editing and printing your book and ultimately marketing, advertising and distributing it. They have no guarantees of any return on their investment and are therefore loathe to take many chances. The fact that any book at all is published is a miracle. But look at the other side of the coin. Publishers only came into existence because the costs of printing and distribution were beyond the means of the average writer. If those costs were affordable the need for publishers would disappear and everyone would self publish. That day, if not quite here, is fast approaching. Let’s look at this for a possible method. A writer could create his book on a PC. He converts it into a pdf file. He creates a website to sell the book as a download. He promotes the website through Adwords or article sites. Total cost, less than