Who is watching the Wedding?

Well, obviously not me now. I have a job. I am also hoping to get a glance at some of it as I run past people’s rooms. Hope they have their tv sets on. Everyone likes a wedding, me included. There has been so much hype and hoopla from the media about it. All the papers and mags are full of it and it’s basically shoved in our faces. Maybe that’s why some people are sick to death of hearing about it. It’s a media frenzy. I have tried to watch all the Royal Weddings and have enjoyed each and every one of them. Why do the media have to spoilt it? It’s like someone is nagging you. You can’t get away from it. Nag Nag Nag!

I wish the Bride and Groom all the very best for their future and hope the media leaves them alone.
‘Happy is the Bride the sun shines on
Thrice Happy is the Bride the rain rains on.’ Hope it doesn’t pour but a little rain…..

Is Kate Middleton on the ‘D’ diet?

I hope not. If I were on it I would end up in hospital with a bleeding hole in my stomach from an ulcer. A bleeding Oesophagus, constipation, listlessness, probably depression and my kidneys and Pancreas wouldn’t be in very good sorts either. As to the effects of a lack of antioxidants from the fresh fruits and vegetables one is NOT to consume on this horrendous diet is terrifying to say the least.

Why do people work out these so called diets which make you scared of food? Why are people frightened of carbohydrates? They are wonderfful foods and we need them for energy and vitmains and minerals. Honestly, I am surprised anyone would even suggest Ms Middleton would consider doing something so dreadful to her young body. Weight loss has become a dark area and anyone who considers losing weight should look into the facts first before trying anything.

There is always someone coming up with a different diet and the media speculation doesn’t help. If they said someone special was on a particular diet, it sends the public into a frenzy and everyone wants it too. Why? Just because they are doing themselves harm should we as well? I am so glad I’m off that stupid treadmill of leaning to the media for my lifestyle choices. Big is not beautiful and skinny is not healthy. It would be nice for a change to hear the media promote healthy weight loss for bodies but all they are interested in is a sensational story. So all I can say is don’t listen to them. Make your own choices and don’t be swayed by the media.

http://www.marilynsplanforweightloss.com.au You will be so surprised at my Plan and how wonderful it is for weight loss.

http://www.marilynsplanforweightloss.com.au

Do you want to contact me?

I have been wondering if anyone would like to be able to contact me re; my book. It gives a website and or business a bit more credibility when there is a phone number to call so in the next few weeks I will buy another phone and add the phone number to my ‘contact me’ page on my website. It will only be for enquiries for the book and for people to feel at ease prior to purchasing and for queries.

There are so many scams online these days and it makes everyone nervous so I will bypass all that and provide a contact number. You should do it as well for your website. I won’t purchase anything online unless I am 100% positive it’s for real. Well that’s it for me for a day or so. I must get back to my book. ‘The Queen and I.’ I love reading it and am taking my time with it. Bye for now and have a great Easter break. xxx

PS. and if you eat that much chocolate over easter and worry about weight gain then go to my website and see for yourself how easy it is to lose that weight and keep it off. There is not another Plan in the world like mine. xxx

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‘The Queen and I’

I read a book years ago titled ‘The Queen and I’ by Sue Townsend. I thought I would mention it here for you if you are writing a book. It is a most beautiful little book and well written. The English slang is written beautifully and Sue has a way of writing exactly as you would imagine the Queen would speak. Eloquently. This is how you should write your book. Your style, your words. Don’t be fazed by highly intellectual words and profound phrases. These types of books I find very boring. You are probably not interested in that either.

I have been wanting to buy the book for years and I decided to go for it and search ‘amazon for it. I found it on amazon.co.uk. I’m up to the third chapter and enjoying it all over again. If you buy the book, take note of how Sue writes. Straight from the heart. Editing is important too. You don’t want to have a book full of grammatical errors etc…

Well that’s it for me for now. Have lots to do. xxx

Want to be a household name???

I couldn’t help the name of my book. I was in the office building for the registration of a business name with a handful of papers and names to call my business. I didn’t really have a clue what to call it and settled on a few very ordinary names.

While I was standing there in the line waiting to be served, I became a bit anxious and worried the name I had chosen for my book and my business would not be as great as the contents of my book so I hesitated a little when the lady behind the counter called me. I handed her my papers and she looked at them and read the names quietly. Arghhhh! There was no ring to them. Not any of them were standing out. All my hard work was sinking behind mediocrity and blandness.

Then my mobile phone rang. It was my ever patient hubby who had dropped me off in town and was driving around the city waiting for me to ring him to pick me up. He said… ‘Why don’t you call it Marilyn’s Plan.’

He also said other weight loss experts put their names on their books so why not me. I changed the name then and there and it stuck. The book and the Plan are mine and the name is becoming a household name. Mostly by word of mouth now. I don’t advertise much as I don’t need to. My book sells itself. I’m not too crazy about having my pic on the book but that in itself was a bloody nightmare. Trying to find something suitable for the cover. I didn’t want the book cover to look false or artificial or overdone so I made an appt with a photographic studio and had some pics taken. It all fit together well and I was happy. When you get the book you will be very happy with the Plan and the ease of the principal. Enjoy!

http://www.marilynsplanforweightloss.com.au

Your book! How’s it going?

If you haven’t begun writing your book yet and you’re finding it a bit difficult to begin, it’s always a good idea to decide what type of story you are going to write. Is it fiction or non fiction? Are you going to write an expose or a story about yourself?

What I suggest you do first is to get a few books based on the same genre and have a good look at them. Look at the cover, the title, the inside pages. How does it begin?

When you begin typing it’s a good idea to leave the first few pages blank so you can have a title page. You might just have a ‘working title’ page to begin with if you can’t think of a title. That will come when you are ready and have an idea of where you are going with it. It could come to you like a bolt out of the blue but it will come.

The next page will be the Publisher (you), ‘All rights reserved’ that covers the copyright of your work. The date of publishing, your ABN or business number and your ISBN which is the 13 numbers you purchase which is allocated to your book so others can find it etc… you should have an idea now what is on that page.

Does it have an about page? Does it have a dedication page? The first few pages consist of these sorts of things so get some ideas from other books first before you decide how to set it out. Once you have all these things noted then you can begin to write. It doesn’t matter what you write to begin with but write. You can aways go back and change it. How far have you planned your story? Do you have notes? Are those notes in order and do they fit into chapters?

It’s not hard to get a story going and I always found the easiest stories to write are based on fact. It’s easy to get muddled too if you don’t have your book set out in some order. The story can become confusing. There are hundreds of books available for the beginner to learn how to write. I personally love the freedom of being able to do it all myself and having the internet available is a blessing. Don’t let yourself become too intrenched in another authors ideas and style of writing. Remember it’s your book and no one else can lay claim to it. As long as it flows and is enjoyable to your readers.

Anyway, I am just trying to show you how to self publish. It’s hard work but very rewarding and I learned a lot doing it and I’m more than happy to pass it on to you. I dare say you are aware of the need for a good beginning to a story. You need to catch the attention of the reader. The middle of the story is the guts of it and the end is the clincher where you find out who done it! Unless of course it’s a how to book…..Instructions, pictures, diagrams, explanations etc…Make it clear for the reader to understand.

When I wrote my book I handed it to friends and family to read and re-read over and over again. I had to make sure they knew exactly what I was trying to get across to them. In the end it paid off because although my book is for anyone wanting to lose weight, it’s based on something no one has ever designed before. It’s unique. The concept had to be clear and easy to understand. I went from a size 16 Aus to a size 8 Aus in about 8 weeks. Writing the book took me months and months. Ha!
My poor friends and family. How patient they were.

Now while you are deciding on the set out of the first pages etc and or you are already writing, you can also begin to think about the website where you will be advertising and selling it from. It must be clean, clear and show your potential customers what you have, how much it is and why they should purchase it. Your message must be clear. Don’t make it too wordy. people want to go to your site, read what you have, decide if it’s what they want and purchase it. They don’t spend a lot of time on the site although I have had some people on my site for over 35 minutes. These people are usually from the US. maybe they are trying to decide if I am a dinky Di author and have something to sell or a scam artist. If they look at the celebrities and others on my website, they will see who they are by checking. Google comes in handy for that.
Well, it’s getting late here in Adelaide and so I must leave until next time. I have lots to tell you so keep reading and please make comments.
Marilyn xxx

How’s your English?

How did you do at school in the English class? It’s a very important lesson and one we cannot gloss over thinking ‘oh I can get by.’ You can’t. The spoken word is a lot easier than the written word. For instance when you are talking your mind is working as quickly as your mouth but when you write you have to slow down a bit to get it on paper. That’s what makes it a bit hard to keep up the flow of words. So it’s important to have a plan for each chapter you’re going to write. If your English is not so good, you will need to have someone edit it for you. Nothing worse than reading something which is unreadable.

Have you made plans for the registration of your business name yet? Have you contacted your copyright agency and received info about copyright? Have you thought about a title for your book? Have you got the design/picture/graphics for the cover of your book? Who is going to do it for you? Unless you are really artistic then you will need to pay someone to do it.

A good idea is to write a list of things to do for the book so when you are nearing completion it won’t be a rush to get it all together. Some of these things you can do now but don’t forget if there is something you will have to pay for then perhaps wait until the book is nearing completion because if you have to pay for something, chances are it will only be for a year and you will have to pay again, and if the book is not finished, you will waste your money.

Do you know what an ISBN is? It’s the number you get for your book. Have a look at the back of a book and see the long number at the bottom and the barcode which goes with it. I suggest you get a barcode with the ISBN. Saves time in the long run if you want to print it in hard copy and not just an Ebook. Anyway, an ISBN is a number given to one book which can be searched for anywhere in the world. It gives the searcher all the details of the book such as the author, publisher etc… Well, that’s it for now. More to come later….. Have fun. xxx

This is my book. Hard work but I got there.