How to Never Miss a Great Writing Idea Again

I don’t know about you, but my biggest problem is that my best ideas come when I’m doing things other than writing.

Sometimes, when I’m driving my car, a brilliant  idea will occur to me for an article or for the next chapter in my book.

So I’ll pull over, whip out my pad and pen and start writing. And when I’m in a creative window like this, the ideas just keep on flowing.

One day, I drove to the library for some distraction-free writing time. I parked in the car park under a tree. The library is on the edge of a park which makes the car park really shady.

And as I turned off the engine I had a brilliant idea for a short ebook I’d been wanting to write.

I got out of the car and opened the back door to get my writing bag off the back seat, but the idea was so clear in my mind that I didn’t want to lose it and waste time going into the library and setting up my stuff.

So I got into the back seat of the car, propped myself up with my back against one door and my feet against the other, and started writing.

I outlined my brilliant idea and then started writing the ebook. I just sat there for a couple of hours, writing and writing.

I vaguely heard other cars coming and going but I ignored them because I was so focused on what I was doing.

It was a really great window of inspiration and by the time I’d finished, I’d not only completed the first draft of my ebook, but I’d also outlined a few brilliant marketing articles to help promote it.

And I never actually went into the library at all.

But I know that if I hadn’t stopped right there and then, my window of opportunity would have been missed.

That’s the problem with getting a great idea when you’re out. By the time you get home to your computer, the inspiration is gone and the idea is lost.

So when the idea is there, and the opportunity to write it is there, just do it.

And if you have enough time to write a whole chapter of your book or write a whole short report then grab that opportunity too.

Ideas are a gift. You don’t expect them. You don’t pay for them. They’re given to you.

And the best thing you can do is use them straight away, because the gift is only offered once, and if you don’t seize it, it’s gone.

Grabbing every gift and using every window of inspiration can lead you to writing your next great book.

But only if you grab the opportunity when it’s there.

How to Publish Your Book Quickly, Affordably and Make It Available Worldwide.

As a writer, you probably already know how easy it is to make money writing and publishing “How-To” ebooks.

But did you also know that every time you write an ebook, you’re missing out on making many more potential sales?

If you have a great idea for an ebook and you know that there is already a hungry market out there, eagerly looking for the information you’re providing, then there is no doubt at all that, with the right marketing, you WILL make sales.

But why stop at just one ebook at a time?

The real “secret” of maximising your ebook income is to turn your one ebook into several different products.

Doing this will not only save you time (because you’re doing everything at once), but can also dramatically increase sales.

So how can you do this?

~ Publish a print book and an ebook which is instantly 2 products instead of one.

~ Expand each chapter and turn them into individual short reports

~ Read your ebook aloud and record it as an audio book

~ Bundle your ebook and audio book together as a package deal

~ Bundle your print book and audio book as a package deal

~ Bundle your short reports and sell them as a package deal

~ Add your short reports as bonus products for your ebook to increase the price

And because it’s easy, and free, to publish both print books and ebooks it won’t cost you anything.

And if you have a recording device, you can record your audio books for free too.

Creating all these products at once will really increase your productivity too.

So if you have an idea for an ebook, don’t just write one book, turn it into several different products that you can bundle together AND sell separately.

If you don’t, you could be leaving a lot of money of the proverbial table.

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If you’ve never self published a book or ebook before and feel that you’ll get lost in all the technical aspects as well as the jargon, there is an ebook that can help you.

But be warned, it is a huge ebook, but it contains everything you need to know about self publishing ebooks and print books, including a long list of jargon words and what they mean.

So don’t struggle through the self publishing maze. Download this incredible ebook (and all the bonus products that come with it) and it will guide you effortlessly through the self publishing process and explain everything in plain language along the way, so you’ll see how easy it is.

Don’t go on thinking you can’t self publish your book or that it will be too hard.

This huge tome contains everything you need to know and makes it all so simple.

It’s been a best seller for years and is still helping thousands of authors all over the world to get their books and ebooks published.

And there really is no other book like it.

http://selfpublishworldwide.com

Want to Do More Writing? Get Lost!

I find that one of the hardest things about working from home is distractions.

So far today, it’s only 1pm but I’ve already had 3 phone calls, one visitor, several frantic emails to answer plus I have to call someone later who insists on speaking with me.

See?

Distractions.

This is why it’s good to get lost if I want to write.

But I don’t get literally lost.

I’m just lost from other people.

I go out to a park or to the library and ignore everyone.

Sometimes I go and sit at the back of my garden because it’s far enough away so that no one can be bothered to disturb me (I have quite a big garden).

I don’t have an internet connection on my computer when I’m ‘lost’ and I don’t answer my phone.

I write without looking up and I have my earbuds in and I listen to audios so that no one will stop to speak to me.

The audios are not only entrainment audios that help me stay focused and creative, but also help to block out all other sounds so I can get ‘lost’ in my own little world for a few hours, get amazingly creative and astound myself with how much writing I can get done when I’m left in peace to do it.

So if you want to get more writing done, first of all you need to get lost.

Looking for some brain entrainment audios to help you focus too? 

Download a free demo from Brain Salon. http://writeaholics.net/links/brainsalondemo.html.  

It’s the audios I use all the time.

Using The Write Tools For the Job

Writing fast is important, but so is writing well.

I don’t feel creative writing straight to the computer.

I’m much more comfortable sitting and writing with a pad and pen.

And it’s not just any old pen. It has to be a fountain pen because I find it so much easier to write with. The ink flows easily onto the page with no pressure required.

Of course the only problem is that I then have to sit and type up my work.

That’s usually not a big deal because I can type fast.

But my chair needs to be at the right height so that my arms are comfortable.

Working this way may be slower than writing straight to the computer but it works for me because it keeps me writing.

Writing straight to the keyboard makes me not want to write and the creative process in my brain is slower.

So I write the way I want to because that makes me want to write.

Write the way you want to and find the product you need to help you achieve your writing and publishing dreams at http://cheritonhousepublishing.com

Finding Writing Markets and Finding Ideas

Freelance writing for magazines can be a great way to earn money if you do it consistently.

$200 for an article plus $100 for a tip and $50 for a joke can soon all add up to a decent income.

But first of all you have to find enough markets.

This is all part of the process and can be even more helpful than you realise because looking for freelance markets can also trigger great ideas for other writing projects whether it’s an idea for an article for a magazine or an online article for your own website or for your next ebook.

Once you start looking you'll start having idea overload, or at least that’s how it always works for me.

Whenever I start looking, the ideas never stop coming.

So if you’re stuck for a few new writing ideas, try searching through some magazines for writing opportunities and see what great ideas they can spark.

---

Don’t suffer from writer’s block ever again.

Download Goodbye Writer’s Block today.

http://cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/WB.html

How to Start Writing When You Don't Know How

What if you want to be a writer but you don't know how?

What can you do if you want o be a novelist or a copywriter or blogger but you've never done it before and you don't know what to write?

Or perhaps you're already a writer, but you're not selling  many books and your marketing lets you down. How can you improve things?

There are two things you need to do.

Firstly, be sure of the type of writer you want to be because it's no good writing  mediocre blog posts if you'd really rather be a romance novelist, but you think that blogging brings in faster money. So be sure of what it is you want to write.

Next, get a few copies of great writing in the field you want to work in.

If you want to write comedy, find a few great comedy scripts. If you want to be a copywriter, find a few great sales letters. And if  you want to be a horror wrier, find a few great short stores or novels.

By "great" I mean things that inspire you. The type of writing you aspire to do. And make sure you collect work by several different authors.

And then simply start copying it out by hand. Grab a pad and pencil and start writing.

DO NOT underestimate how powerful this is in improving your writing. It gives you a real feeling for structure, words, phrases, and the pace of that kind of writing.

Not only that, but it will also help you to know for sure if it's the kind of writing you want to do.

It can also assist in sparking ideas of your own and help you to create your own writing style.

So find what you need, get quiet for a day or two and start writing.

It really is eye-opening and definitely worthwhile.

And most importantly, it makes you start writing.

Where to Find Ideas For Blog Posts and Online Articles

If you've got a blog or website, you'll know how difficult if can sometimes be to keep coming up with ideas for blog posts and articles.

What you need to do is stop trying to invent the wheel because no matter what your subject or niche is, there are thousands of people who've already written about it.

There are literally tens of thousands of pieces of information out there already.

And if you've got a keen eye (or ear) you can find all the ideas you need.

Just listen to an audio or watch a video which is based on your subject area and take notes.

I'm not suggesting that you copy their words exactly, but allow it to spark ideas of your own.

For example, they may briefly mention something that you think worthy of expanding into an article, or a series of articles.

Or you could take a few notes from something that you're listening to or watching, and organise your notes into a full article with a few added ideas of your own.

My only caveat, is to be sure that what you're hearing is the truth and is accurate so that you're not rehashing incorrect information. But if you know your subject really well, you'll know good information when you hear it.

So when it comes to ideas, just remember that there are already speakers out there, addressing the pains and frustrations of your audience, so tap into what they're saying to help you come up with ideas of your own.

There really is an unlimited supply of ideas already available for both fiction and non-fiction writing. You just need to know where to look.

Goodbye Writer's Block

How To Be A Creative Genius 

And Have An Abundance Of Ideas 

Plus The Inspiration 

And Motivation To Write

Gain An Extra Month Of Writing in 2016

Now is the time of year when we all start looking ahead to the New Year and start planning all the things we'll be doing during those 12 shiny, new months.

But why have 12 months when you can have 13?

Do you know how much more writing you could do if you had an extra month? A lot. In November every year, thousands of writers complete a whole novel manuscript during the 30 days of  NaNoWriMo.

But how can you gain an extra month in a year? That's not possible is it?

It is if you start now.

Don't wait until January to start working your yearly writing plan.

Start now in December, and by January you'll be a month ahead.

Of course, this will only work if you're serious about your writing.

If you aren't, you'll wait till January (as usual), begin with good intentions, and then repeat the year before with all its lack of focus, never-ending stream of excuses, and no writing done.

Don't waste another minute (or another month).

Start your New Years writing plan today.

Writers Are Readers - And For Good Reason

It's a well known and unarguable fact that writers are readers. Or should I more correctly say that good writers are voracious readers.

I don't know of any writer who hasn't been an avid reader all their life. I've always loved books and can still happily spend hours in the local library.

And if you're a good writer, you'll be the same, and will have had a love of reading all your life.

But it's not just books about writing that you should be reading. Read everything you can.

Read something every day, even if it's just for 15 minutes while you have coffee.

Read trash magazines. Get a feel for what people are interested in and it will help you generate ideas for your writing. It will also keep you up to date with latest feelings and trends which is extremely helpful because you can't write for the people if you don't know what the people are interested in.

Self help books and articles about being focused and creative can also be extremely useful if you're struggling to write.

Also keep up with reading about the latest technology because these days, being a writer is all about being online and using the latest devices to speed up your writing, or make it easier and more organised.

Or use what you read about to get great ideas for discussions on social media, especially if it's something considered controversial or that is currently trending.

Just remember that you never know where your next idea will come from. Sometimes I've had ideas spark just from hearing other people talking about something they read in a magazine.

And whenever I visit my local library and start browsing the hundreds of magazines there, I come up with an almost limitless supply of writing ideas.

Just remember that your writing income depends on keeping up with trends and knowing that the interests of the masses are.

This will go a long way to helping you.

You just need to keep reading.

But if you're a good writer, that won't be hard.

----------------------------

See all my ebooks for writers at

http://cheritonhousepublishing.com

or

http://author.to/RuthBarringham

How To Earn A High Income Writing Ebooks

If you want to earn a high income writing ebooks, then you have to know how to do it consistently.

Being an ebook writer and publisher is a real work from home or work from anywhere career.

Ebooks are a great way to earn passive income because they are fast to write, effortless to format and quick to publish.

You can write a short report or small ebook in just one 2 hour sitting, if you have a system for writing.

Ebooks are also effortless to format because you only have to do it once, if you have your ebook writing and publishing process set up correctly.

I use Pages on my Mac Book Pro and I've set up styles for my articles and ebooks. That means that I set them up once, saved them as templates, and now I only have to click on the template I want to use (article or ebook) and the formatting is already taken care of.

Ebooks are also quick to publish because all you need to do is upload them in just one click.

But if you want to earn all your income from your ebooks then you also need to look at the math.

Most writers and authors want to earn a six-figure income from their ebooks, which is a minimum of $100K a year. This equate to $400 a day, 5 days a week (so you get the weekends off).

So if you write and publish a $20 ebook, then you need to sell 20 copies a day to earn $400.

And if you sell your ebook on Kindle and only earn $2 in royalties for each copy sold, you'd need 200 daily sales.

Now while that may seem like a lot of ebook sales, it's not all bad.

You see, it's easier to sell less copies per day of more books, than more copies per day of just one ebook.

So achieving 20 or 200 sales a day IS difficult if you only have one ebook written and published.

But what if you were selling 20 ebooks? That would mean you only have to sell one copy of each ebook per day (at $20 each) to earn $400. That's just one copy.

And if you were only earning $2 then you'd only need to sell 10 copies of each per day.

And if you're a focused and prolific writer, there's now reason why you couldn't write and publish 50 ebooks a year, if you can write and publish one ebook a week. Or you could still write and publish as many as 25 ebooks a year, if you write and publish one every 2 weeks.

That would mean that in just 1 year you'd have 50 ebooks selling all over the world. So that would mean, that you'd still only need 20 daily sales (at $20 each) to earn $400 a day, so you don't even need to sell one copy of every ebook a day. Just one copy of less than half of your ebooks.

And if  you were selling them and only receiving $2 in royalties, you only need 4 daily sales of each ebook to earn $400.

So if writing and selling ebooks is something you've always wanted to do, this would be the week to start writing your first-of-many manuscripts.

All you need is a good 7 day ebook writing and publishing system.

This will quickly build into a great daily writing habit, and your new process plus the focus and determination to make it work will give you the writing career you've always dreamed of.


Just choose a way that works for you and get started.

It's All Systems Go to Earn More Money Writing

I've been busy over the past week sorting out my working systems (which also explains my lack of blog posts).

You see, although I've been working online for years now, I haven't had great systems in place which has slowed me down somewhat.

What I mean by this is that in order to do something fast and efficiently, you need to have all your systems in order.

For example, when I do mundane tasks at home like washing my clothes, I know exactly the steps I need to take to get it done quickly and efficiently.

First I go through everything in the hamper and sort it out into piles of light colours, dark colours, whites and delicates. Then I take the piles to the laundry room one at a time, put them into the washing machine, add the powder and fabric softener, turn it on and leave it for the specified time on the digital display.

Simple.

I don't even have to think about the washing. I just go into the bathroom, take the lid off the hamper and start sorting.

And it's the same with writing.

You need your systems in place.

No matter what you're doing, whether it's writing an ebook, writing an article or researching. You need to know the steps you need to take to get it done, and in what order.

So if you're writing an ebook, you need to know what to do first, which (for me) would be to summarise what the book will be about then list the chapters. From there I expand it using my own ebook writing methods.

But if I didn't know how to start writing an ebook, then I'd probably sit staring at a blank page wondering what to do, or worse, not start at all.

So over the past weeks I've been putting things in order so that I have my systems in place for everything I need to do, which included sorting through all my files (physical and digital) and putting things where they need to go to make it easier for me to find everything. It was surprising what a mess I had things in.

And now I think I'm ready.

I've been doing this all in preparation for next year because I have a lot of plans for my writing and publishing so I need to be organised and have all my systems in place which includes all my processes of how I do things.

I've also bought a few extra products (both digital and physical) that I need to streamline my writing processes even more.

I simplified everything by imagining what it would be like if I had to explain how I work to someone else, and it made me realise how messy my processes for working are, and how messy my files were. I knew where everything was, but they were all over the place and sometimes I had to search to find things which is a big time waster.

And if I want to get more done then I can't afford to waste time.

How about you?

Do you have all your writing processes organised?

Are all your systems ready to go?

If not, now is a good time (end of year) to get organised and start thinking about what you want to achieve with your writing.

Which should be more than you've achieved so far.

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Why This is THE Most Important Time of Year For Writers

It's now November.

Boy has this year flown.

As far as writing goes I haven't achieved everything I hoped this year, but I came pretty darn close.

And since it's now less than 2 months to the end of the year, this is the most important time to plan what I'll be doing next year.

Starting my plan early will give me plenty of time to think things through.

It also is a brilliant time to look at everything I want to finish by the end of this year too.

If you never map out a writing and publishing plan for the following year, I can highly recommend doing so.

I find that I work much more efficiently if I have a plan and a timeline for everything I need to do. It frees up my thinking time so that I can concentrate more on my writing.

I don't have a set plan for  2016 yet, but I do know at least one thing that I'll be doing for the rest of 2015 and that's promoting my book, How to Quit Smoking - Without Giving Up Cigarettes, because thanks to New Years resolutions, this book is always an end of year best seller.

And it's available as a paperback book, as well as a Kindle and PDF, so it also makes a great Christmas gift too.

Another good reason to start promoting it early.

What will you be doing next year?

What My Hospital Stay Taught Me About Being a Writer

Last weekend wasn't one of my best.

It began normally but ended up with me screaming in agony and being admitted to hospital.

Turns out, I have a large gall stone (1.9cm in diameter no less) that got stuck and hence the screaming and pain-killing injections that followed.

In the not too distant future, I'll need an operation, but last weekend I had to stay in hospital overnight until Monday afternoon (yesterday).

Naturally, like most hospital patients, I didn't get much sleep because of all the noise all night with buzzers going off, staff shouting and sounds of snoring coming from everywhere.

And by Monday morning I was bored.

So I had a lot of time to think.

And do you know what I thought about the whole time?

Writing.

I sat around (and laid around) making plans for my writing.

I couldn't seem to stop.

I laid in bed staring out the window and thought about writing.

I sat in the chair next to my bed and thought about writing.

I also sat outside on the back verandah to drink my black coffee (clear fluids only for 24 hours so I was really hungry the whole time - and I lost 1kg) and thought about writing.

And this taught me 2 things.

Firstly, I'm completely obsessed with writing. I don't think I realised it until now.

Secondly, as a writer, there's no such thing as not working.

I often think about writing and make plans of what I'll write next but I didn't realise how much I do it.

And now I know that even when I have absolutely nothing to do, I'm still working. Still thinking. Still planning.

So if you have a lot of waiting around to do, don't waste it.

It's a great brain storming opportunity.


P.S. Before I went to the hospital, I was having a day out with my family, which was sadly cut short. We were at Chenrezig Institute which is a Buddhist monastery and retreat on top of a mountain. It's a beautiful and tranquil place to visit if you're ever in the area. It's set over 100 acres of bushland and accepts day visitors who are free to explore the property.

No Time To Write? Liar!

"I have so much going on in my life right now that I don't have time to even think about writing."

That's what someone said to me recently. Can you believe that?

It's a ridiculous statement.

And a lie.

We all have time to write.

And there's nothing more annoying to those of us who are writing and making a living out of it, than to hear someone who never writes at all claiming that they would write, but they just don't have the time.

Every successful writer began as a busy person who made a habit of prioritising their writing instead of putting it off with excuse after excuse.

An excuse isn't a reason for not writing, it's a way of trying to say that it's not your fault that you're not writing.

But it is your fault.

Just take a look at this article by successful and prolific writer, Emma Darwin, who explains quite succinctly how to get some writing done every day AND get your novel written, even if you believe you don't have time.

http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2015/01/ring-fencing-writing-time.html

Or how about the article called "Just Write the Damned Book Already" by Joseph Finder who also gets annoyed with people who claim they don't have time to write and counters it with "And if only I had the time to run for President, I’d be in the White House."

http://www.josephfinder.com/writers/tips/just-write-the-damned-book-already/

Or if you want to be truly inspired by seeing just how much another author does write every day, take a look at Dean Wesley Smith's blog post series called "Writing in Public" where he publicly details how many words he writes every day.

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/category/challenge-2/page/4/

And he doesn't just tell you how much he writes, but tells you what he does all day so you can see his day unfolding from start to finish.  His blog posts can really give you motivation.

So if you tell people that you don't have time to write, stop talking, apply backside to chair and get writing.

You'll be surprised at just how much you can write in a short time.

I can do half a page of writing in just 5 minutes which means by doing that every day, I could write a novel in a year.

How about you?

My Recent Income From Book Sales

I get asked a lot about how much money I earn from my writing, but it's not something I like to talk about.

I always think that if I had a regular 9 to 5 job no one would ask me how much I earn but writers get asked about this often.

In a way I can understand why people want to know.

There's much talk about how it's possible to earn a really good income as a writer and apart from asking successful writers, there's no way to find out.

For regular careers there's a minimum wage and average income that anyone can look up. But writers are different because we're not paid by the hour. It's the same for musicians and artists. None of them earn a 'standard' income because there is no standard income for creative careers.

But having said all that, just to show that it is possible to earn a good income as a writer, I'll tell you about part of a conversation I had with my bookkeeper just a few days ago.

He rang to ask me a few questions about my most recent income. I'd sent him all the paperwork but he still had a couple of questions.

Then he asked me another question.

He said, "Do you know who much money you've earned from your book sales in the last 2 weeks?"

I admitted that I had no idea. Math has never interested me much so although I know I'm making sales, I don't really track them all the time (that's what bookkeepers are for aren't they?).

So he told me.

"$5,000."

I was pleased. That's pretty good earnings from my books. I don't even have as many published as some authors.

I also make money online from affiliate sales and from advertising on my websites, so earning 5K from just my books was great.

And I'm telling your this not to brag (although some will think 5k is nothing compared to what they earn) but to show you that there is money to be made from self publishing.

And that's another thing...he was only talking about the books I self published and so that figure doesn't include my two books that I didn't publish myself, one of which is The Wealthy Writer.

So if you've ever wanted to start taking your writing seriously and earn enough money so that you can work as a writer like I do, I hope this blog post helps to inspire you to start writing, publishing and marketing more.

And I include publishing and marketing, because without these two things, you won't make any money from your writing at all.

The really good news for me though, is that I'm about to start writing many more books (they're on my schedule of work for the next few months).

So my income can only increase.

:)

The Most Difficult Thing I Deal With As A Writer

You'd think that sitting down and writing is easy for me because I've been doing it for years.

But it really isn't.

Some days (like today) I'm motivated to sit and write because I'm working on an interesting project and getting a lot of writing done.

Other days (like the last 4 weeks) I've been unmotivated and found it hard to sit down and get to work. But recently that was because I was designing my new Cheriton House Publishing Website and website work isn't my favourite thing to do, but it is a necessary evil.

And being able to sit down and work every day (without a boss looking over my shoulder forcing me to work) is one of the hardest things that I've had to overcome.

There are days when I just simply don't feel like doing anything. On these days I sit down but get very little done because I find myself easily distracted.

There are other days when I just can't seem to sit down and get to work at all and everything and anything looks more interesting than writing.

I've read plenty of books about this problem because it seems that many writers suffer from it, even those who we think of as prolific and successful writers. One of my favourite books on this subject is The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield.

Anyway, I just thought I'd bring up this subject that Pressfield calls Resistance (always spelt with a capital R) that all writers suffer from in one degree or another.

The good news is that it's not impossible to overcome.

I've overcome it by reading books about it, using "to do" lists to keep me on track, and listening to audios for creativity and focus while I work.

I also allot certain hours every day to when I work. At the set time I sit down and write. And like the late, great copywriter, Eugene Schwartz, I don't allow myself to do anything but work on my current project. I can't get up and I can't do anything else, so eventually I start working and once I start it's easier to keep going.

So if you often suffer from Resistance to writing, try some of the techniques I've used or (if it helps) take a look at my writer's resource page and try out a few things and see if they help. You can even download a free demo of the  "Razor Sharp Focus" audio from Brain Salon.

Or take a trip to your local library and borrow a book or two that can help.

Then keep writing.

I Can't Believe I've Actually Done It

This has been a long time in the making.

But I've finally done it.

Yay!

What have I done?

I've finished my new website design for my publishing company.

I've been working on it for 4 weeks.

At first I tried to use a website template.

But it kept going all wrong.

Then I came down with bronchitis for a couple of weeks. I tried to soldier on, but it was hard, especially with so much coughing.

Finally I gave up on the template and created my own. A responsive design, of course (don't want to get on the wrong side of the almighty Google).

You see, Cheriton House Publishing was the only website of mine that I hadn't updated with a responsive web design.

Why?

Because I knew it would be hard to do. There was a lot that needed changing.

But I finally I had to give in, grit my teeth, and get it done.

So I've been sat in front of the computer for days, working a lot more hours than I usually do. That's because I'm not really "tech" minded so web page design takes me ages to do.

Then this week, my portable hard drive broke down so I couldn't back up my work every day. It took a couple of trips to the local Apple store to figure out the problem which turned out to be partly the fault of my computer as well (I really AM going to have to upgrade soon).

But finally HERE I AM. FINISHED!

I removed several books from the website because I'm no longer selling them so there is now only a meagre amount left, but I intend to now rectify that now that I have time to write once more.

In the meantime, you can check out my handy work at http://cheritonhousepublishing.com.

If you find any errors or broken links, please PLEASE let me know and I'll put it right.

But you may be deafened by the sobbing.

Enjoy yourself and keep writing.

You Might Get a Kick Out of This - Or Learn Something

I recently was talking to a group of people and explaining how I make money from writing.

I told them about my blog and a couple of my websites, my books and my ebooks.

They were full of questions about how much money I make and how much money it's possible to make, what brings me the most income, etc.

I was a bit put off that the questions were all about money and not about writing.

Not once was I asked about what I wrote or how I write.

Then one person said something that made me realise that I was wasting my time and that he was wasting his life.

What he said was, "What's the point of earning a lot of money anyway when you have to pay nearly half of it to the government?"

He was right about high tax percentages. The more you earn here in good ol' Australia, the more you pay in taxes and it does indeed increase up to nearly 50%.

But this question (and all the others) were being asked by people who were not making ANY money at all. That's why they wanted to know how to make money as a writer.

And yet, despite their only income coming from welfare payments, they were worried that if they earned around $200K or more, they'd have to start paying high taxes.

Seriously? That was the big issue for them?

I told them that until they were earning those high amounts of income that they didn't have anything to worry about.

Then it turned into a tirade about what a rip off taxes were (yep, those taxes that they NEVER paid and that provided their welfare money) and how could I possibly even WANT to earn a high income if I had to give half of it to the government...and on...and on... it went.

Sheesh!

They'd asked me to come and talk to them but they weren't really interest in writing at all. They just wanted easy money - and tax-free at that.

They were so concerned about how much they'd lose.

It was at that point that I made an excuse and left.

So what should you do if you live in a country with high taxes and you want to earn your living as a writer?

That's easy.

Just write.

If, like the people I was speaking to, you're focused on money (or the lack of it) and not focused on writing, you'll never get anywhere.

And as I walked home that day I thought to myself, "They should be so lucky to EVER earn so much money."

But they never will.

They're not writers at all.

Are you?

The Easy Way to Deal With Email and Keep Your Inbox Empty

It's surprising (to me, anyway) how many people suffer from over-stuffed inboxes and don't know what to do about it.

So I thought it's about time I shared with you what you can do. So here is an easy solution.

First of all, open your inbox and view the messages as "from" instead of "date" which is the default way messages are displayed in your inbox. This will group together all the messages from each sender.

Then go through them all and delete all the messages you don't need. This is easy because you can simply highlight all the messages from each sender and deleted them all at once.

Next go through the messages you chose not to delete and do one of the following four things with each one:

• Deal with it
• File it
• Pass it on
• Trash

Deal with it: If you have an email that requires a response from you, deal with it. It will probably only take you a couple of minutes.

File it: You probably have several different email folders where you store messages. I have a different one for each hosting company, friends, companies I deal with, etc. So if it's a message you want to keep, move it to the appropriate email folder or a folder on your hard drive.

Pass it on: If it's an email that someone else needs to deal with, forward it on to them and then move the email to trash. For example, I pass on emails that my book keeper or accountant needs to deal with.

Trash: This is where you place all the emails you don't need. Even if at first you thought you needed to keep it and if, on reflection, you don't need it, then move it to the trash folder.

One caveat I will mention is that once you've dealt with everything in your inbox, keep the emails you sent to trash for at least a month or two before you empty your trash folder, just in case you've trashed something by mistake.

And then every day when you check your emails, make the four choices immediately of how to deal with them.

I have my email set for manual checking and I don't check emails on my phone. That way I'm not distracted my unexpected emails popping up all the time. I dedicate certain times of the day for checking email and deal with them at that time.

I currently only have 4 email in my inbox and they're only there because the time to deal with them hasn't arrived yet, but it will soon and then I can delete them for good.

And my inbox will be empty once more.

Happy sigh...

How's That For Fast Writing?

So often I've talked (wrote?) about how important it is to write quickly.

I'm not saying that you have to write as fast as you can, but if you write daily, your writing speed will increase with practice without you even knowing it.

And when you get quicker at writing, you'll also find you can write more in less time, or write more than ever in the usual time that you write every day.

And how much my writing speed has increased was brought home to me recently.

The other day I was pottering around doing a few chores before I sat down to write.

One of the things I did was to set up my bread machine to make some dough because I wanted to make bread rolls for dinner to go with the soup that I'd made.

The bread machine takes one hour and 30 minutes to mix the dough, warm it, let it prove (rise) and knock it back ready for me to take it out and shape it into bread rolls. And all I have to do first is put in the ingredients (gotta love bread making machines).

I'd put the bread machine out on the deck because it was a hot day and I didn't want it to heat up the kitchen.

It was right beside the outside table where I sat down to write. So as soon as I sat down I looked at the timer on the bread machine to see how much longer it had left. 35 minutes.

Just before I sat down I'd had a cup of coffee while I outlined a marketing article and a blog post.

So I took out my scribbled outlines and set to work writing the marketing article,  proof read it and submitted it to EzineArticles.com.

Then I wrote the blog post, proof read it and published it to this blog.

Just before I finished I looked down at the bread machine timer. 4 minutes remaining.

How good was that?

So I quickly added a category to the blog post, previewed it and hit 'publish' just as the beeper sounded on the timer.

I thought to myself "That was pretty amazing."

I'd written and uploaded 2 articles in exactly 35 minutes.

And that's what I mean about writing daily improving your writing speed.

I've always said that it's possible to write an article in 15 minutes.

And you can write and publish two of them in just 35 minutes.

I just proved it can be done.

Current Writing Competitions

Today I have a list of writing competitions for you. All of them are free to enter but some of the closing dates are soon.

Announcing the Halloween Sitcom Trials - scripts wanted
We want sitcom scripts that we can perform in the tried and tested Trials format (a 10 minute sitcom ending in a cliffhanger with a 3 minute payoff scene, to be performed by no more than 4 actors, you'll see details in the files). And this time, though you can write your sitcom on any subject, we're particularly looking for scripts with a Halloween or horror theme.
The deadline for script entries is midnight Saturday October 10th
http://sitcomtrials.co.uk

Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2016 Short Story Competition
We're offering you the chance to win £500, plus a place on an Arvon writing course of your choice! All you have to do is enter a short story (for adults) of no more than 2,000 words, on the theme of 'ageing'.
The closing date is midnight on Monday 15th February 2016.
https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/competitions

Gatehouse Press New Fiction Prize 2015
Gatehouse Press is excited to announce the opening of submissions for the 2015 New Fiction series. With a word limit of between 10,000 and 13,000 words, the open submission process seeks to encourage new writers to explore the possibilities of length within the short fiction genre. The winning stories will be published as part of Gatehouse Press’ ongoing New Fictions series in 2016.
UK submissions only.
Deadline: 10 October 2015
http://www.gatehousepress.com/2015/07/1553/

The 2016 Times / Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition
What Chicken House are looking for:
Original ideas, a fresh voice and a story that children will love! To enter, you must have written a completed full-length novel suitable for children/young adults aged somewhere between 7 and 18 years. By full-length we suggest a minimum of 30,000 words and ask that manuscripts entered do not exceed 80,000 words in length.
First prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000, plus representation from a top children’s literary agent.* All longlisted entrants will receive a reader’s report of their work.
The competition will close on Friday 18th December 2015.
http://www.doublecluck.com/submissions/

Short Story Writing Competition
Enter up to two short stories each month.
This month's theme is: Gothic
400-1500 Words
Fainting heroines, dark mysterious castles, and supernatural beings. Send us stories of spooky happenings and things that go bump in the night in time for Halloween.
We're looking for short stories from all genres, so it doesn't matter if you have a touch of comic flair or enjoy writing thrillers full of suspense, this is the competition for you.
Winners who have their story published in the Anthology will receive a monthly prize of an equal share of the sales profits!
The deadline for this month's entries is the 28th October 2015.
http://thewritersnotebookgroup.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

How Much Writing Is Too Much?

How much writing do you do every day? Have you ever thought of what your daily writing output is?

I recently received an email from a subscriber telling me that they had downloaded my 12 Month Writing Challenge but felt that the first month of sending out 30 submissions in 30 days was "beyond" them.

And that got me to wondering how much do writers write every day?

I know that horror author Stephen King only writes for one and a half hours a day. Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov averaged one huge novel a month during his writing life. And novelist Dean Wesley Smith writes over 100,000 words every single month - and blogs about it daily.

So is submitting 30 pieces of work in 30 days too much to achieve?

I don't think so.

Magazines usually only want to see an article outline to begin with although if it's fiction, they want to see the whole story.

But even if you had to write the article first, is writing one article a day too much to do?

Are you actually writing less than that?

If you're not writing enough (meaning you know you're capable of much more than you're doing) or you're not writing at all, then maybe it's time you upped your writing output.

And if you're writing every day but not earning as much money from your writing as you'd like to, then you need to start writing more too.

If you're a writer, then there really is no excuse not to be writing.

And if you're not sure what to write or where to start, then perhaps you need to do The 12 Month Writing Challenge too.

:)

5 Rituals and Routines That Changed My Writing Life

I recently read an online article called "5 Rituals and Routines That Changed My Writing Life" and it was fascinating and thought-provoking, so I thought I'd share it with you.

The reason why this article was inspiring for me is because I've spent the last couple of weeks working on a new responsive layout for my Cheriton House Publishing website. And because I'm not really up to date with webpage design (it's incredibly complicated these days) the whole process is taking me a lot longer than I thought. It's also been holding me back from getting my writing done.

I keep telling myself that this is only a temporary set back and once the website is finished, I can get back to my usual writing.

And I think that's why this article struck a cord with me, because I've been letting my writing slide quite a bit lately and that doesn't make me happy at all. But this article prompted me to start writing again every day AND gave me a way to do it.

One of the first things it said is that it's no good wanting to make money from your writing and then deciding that you can only write when you "feel inspired" (or in my case, have the time to write). That will just keep you doing nothing and being broke.

Instead it said "Finding success as a writer requires you to be intentional about your writing. To do things with purpose."

What this means is that you need to get serious about being a writer and use rituals and routines that get you writing every day and taking your writing seriously instead of treating it like a hobby.

And that entails acting "as if" which means acting as though you already have a best selling book.

What would you do every day if you were already a best selling author? Would you spend your time on social media or playing computer games all day, or would you be busy promoting your book?

See the difference in those two mindsets?

My two best takes from this article were:

Write before you do anything else every day

and

Write 5 days a week.

So even if I only sit and write for an hour and then get on with other things, no matter what else I do, my writing is done.

And if I do this every day (5 days a week) then that's a lot of writing. Although I usually only write for 4 days a week and have a long weekend. But even 4 days of writing can create a huge output.

So that is what I'm going to do from now on.

No matter what other projects I have to do (book cover design, webpage design, formatting, editing, etc) I won't do it until I've done my writing. Even if it means only spending an hour or two writing every morning.

How about you?

What are you going to do to write more every day?

--------------

Writing Rituals

Write faster and make
more money by learning the productivity skills
of professional writers.
How much of your "writing time"
is lost to writer's block and procrastination?

How many hours do you lose simply
because you are not staying tightly
focused on your writing?

And how much more would you earn if
your writing productivity increased by
25%, 50% or even 100%?

Focus & Self-Disipline; The Hardest Things About Being A Writer

I've been a writer for many years now.

I began writing part-time and working part-time and gradually transitioned to quitting my part-time job and writing for a living.

One of the things I love about writing is the actual writing.

What I find the most difficult is actually saying no to doing other things so that I can sit down and write.

Working alone every day isn't easy, especially at first.

It's different when you're at work and you have a boss looking over your shoulder making sure you get all your work done.

But when you're at home and it's a nice sunny day, and you live near the beach like I do, it's sometimes hard to sit down and write.

What I found that helped in the beginning was to download writing courses and work my way through them. That kept me on track without my having to think of what to do or what to write.

I began with an easy course called Quick Cash Writing that helped me earn money while also helping me to develop a daily writing habit.

I also studied ebooks, courses and audios about concentration, focus and creativity. These products were invaluable and helped me in more ways than I probably realise.

And right now, if you want to increase your writing output, have more ideas for writing than you ever had before AND improve your concentration, focus and creativity, Writer's Digest have put together a huge writing and creative package of digital and physical products that also comes at a huge discounted price. This package would normally sell for well over $200 but is currently discounted to less than $50.

In this package you'll find the following:

A Writer's Guide to Persistence
PAPERBACK
Persistence is often the key ingredient - the dividing line - between authors who successfully publish and those who don't. A Writer's Guide to Persistence teaches authors how to overcome writer's block, weather rejection, avoid discouragement and embrace the writing journey. You'll want to turn to this easy-to-read manual for writing tips and encouragement time and time again. With this guide, you'll be able to develop a lifelong, fulfilling writing habit and attain your writing goals, whatever they may be.

A Year of Writing Prompts
DOWNLOAD
With a year's worth of creative writing prompts, you'll have one of the most productive writing years of your life! Overcome writer's block and create and sustain an effective writing practice that endures through all of life's hurdles.

Building Your Writing Life
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Let's get practical and figure out how to build the writing life you want. In this tutorial, you'll find instruction on how to make the time to write, how to push through your excuses and build a writing routine, and how to develop a support system to make sure your writing plans succeed.

Mastering the Craft of Writing
DOWNLOAD
Are you ready to write better and finally master the craft of writing? More than a simple primer on writing style, Mastering the Craft of Writing presents over 50 sharply focused strategies to help writers craft stronger, more effective works, no matter what their genre or medium. Stephen Wilbers presents a series of proven methods for writing with greater emphasis, style, and personality.

5 Easy Ways to Avoid Burnout
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Revive your love of writing and overcome the sometimes demoralizing life of an aspiring author! In this tutorial, you'll learn the easiest ways to make sure you sustain an effective writing practice and see your dream through to publication.

Writer with a Day Job
PAPERBACK
You can work full time and have a productive writing life. Many writers waste time waiting for the day they can finally quit their day jobs and live the so-called writing dream. Don't wait. You can do both – and your writing will be the better for it. Learn how to balance your full-time job and the productive writing life you want with exercises, inspiration and techniques.

The Writer's Workout
PAPERBACK
Get the daily jolt of energy your writing life needs from The Writer's Workout. Inside you'll learn manageable, no-nonsense techniques for every aspect of your writing career from getting organized to connecting with your audience to relationship building.

The Daily Writer eBook
DOWNLOAD
This devotional for all writers emphasizes the importance of deep thinking in the context of writing and cultivating a meaningful writing life. Action-oriented entries prompt you to integrate practice into your daily life and dedicate meaningful thought to your writing pursuits. From getting in a creative frame of mind to maintaining good writing habits to breaking through writer's block, this helpful guide is every writer's key to developing the discipline, focus, and dedication needed to become successful.

10 Practical Tips for More Consistent, Productive Writing
DOWNLOAD
As a writer, you know that nothing is more important (and satisfying) than seeing your writing projects go from start to finish. But that isn't always easy when you're on your own – isolation, resistance, unstructured time, and distractions all get in the way. Learn how to develop a consistent, productive, and professional writing habit to see your writing through to "Done!"

This is a HUGE collection and has everything you need to help you kickstart your writing career.

So if you're serious about wanting to work as a writer and earn your income from your writing, but you struggle with coming up with ideas, knowing what to write or simply find it hard to apply butt to chair, then this package will definitely help you.

And don't forget it comes with a whole year's worth of writing prompts.

Use the link below to see more of what you'll be getting.


Create a Lasting & Productive Writing Practice Bundle Only $49.99 at Writer's Digest Shop

You can download most of the products straight away and start writing today.

This is a discount that won't last long.

Happy writing.

No I Won't Personally Tutor You And Here Are The Reasons Why

Okay...As you must already know by now I've been doing a run of local talks about setting up websites/blogs and making money online.

I called these talks The Laptop Lifestyle, after my best selling ebook of the same name.

Since then (as well as during my run of talks) I've had quite a few emails from people asking if I do private group lessons on how to do it all.

Now, while I can understand everyone wanting to know more about this, I'll give my reasons for not doing private group lessons:

1. It takes up too much of my time.
2. I'd rather be doing the work myself than teaching others how to do it. 
3. Most people don't want to know how to do it, they want me to do it for them.

All three of these reasons are valid on their own.

I'm far too busy doing my own work to take time out to teach others.

And the reason I work online is because I enjoy working alone. As nice as it was to get out and meet lots of new people, at heart I'm a working alone kind of person.

I love to sit here every day, learn more about working online, write ebooks and courses and earn money from what I do.

And there are many people who also want to do the same. I know this because many of them were at my talks.

But the difference, is that I found that many of them don't really want to work like I do. They want someone else to do the work while they reap the benefit.

I kept pointing everyone to my Laptop Lifestyle ebook that provides everything they need to get started. I told them that working online involves getting going and learning as you go along.

Yet still I keep hearing from people saying they couldn't set up a free blog because they'd learned all about how to do it but were confused (without even starting), weren't sure how blogging software works, weren't sure how many blog posts to write to get started, wanted to know what to do if they didn't make money...and on and on the list went.

I've been repeating myself over and over about this to so many different people lately, and I'll say it again.

You don' have to get it right. You just have to get it going.

It's impossible to know everything there is to know about something before you start.

Look at learning to drive. Did you know how to do it before you started or did you get in the car and learn as you went along?

At school, did you learn your math lessons by the teacher explaining everything about math without you having to lift a finger, or did you learn by actually doing the math yourself?

And as for knowing how something works to be able to use it (like blogging software), I use electricity every day but I have no clue how it works or how to fix it when it breaks. I also don't know how computers work either, but that doesn't stop me from earning all my income from one.

So if you want to make money online from writing, blogging, affiliate marketing, advertising or any other of the hundreds of ways to do it, stop making excuses and just get it going. (This advice also applies to everything you want to do that you've never done before).

And if you don't know where to start, you can start by clicking the image below for more information.

But please don't ask me to tutor you personally.

I'm far too busy writing and living my own Laptop Lifestyle.

Money Likes Speed

“There are no speed limits on the road to excellence. We can’t be fined for speeding.” ~ David W. Johnson

Money Likes Speed is a saying I've heard over and over for the last few years.

But it's not just money that likes speed. Success (in all areas of life) likes speed too.

If you think, ponder, question, doubt, plan, meet, discuss, worry, etc, before you act, you'll never make enough money.

And it's the same with writing. Money likes writing speed too.

When you get an idea of something you want to write about, don't sit around and think about it.

Act.

If you procrastinate you'll not only lose your initial enthusiasm, you'll also think of all the reasons you shouldn't write it, plus you'll lose all your ideas.

I've heard it said that ideas are gifts. You didn't ask for them, you didn't pay for them, you don't owe anyone anything for them. They are given to you.

So don't throw away these gifts. Use them straight away before they disappear, because ideas can be lost really quickly and so easily.

People who earn a lot of money from their writing are those who act on every great idea they have.

If they get an idea for an ebook or a great article, they don't sit around and think about it for a few days or weeks. They sit down, map out an outline of what they want to write and then they get down to work.

Some of the writers who have been successful through their speed of writing are Joe Vitale (who prides himself on how fast he moves from idea to finish product), Sylvester Stallone who wrote the script for the movie Rocky in just 3 days and Isaac Asimov who wrote over 400 books in his writing life which equated to around one book a month.

What would have happened to these writers and their work if they hadn't acted fast and sat down to write every time they had a great idea? They'd be broke nobodies.

There are those who believe that because writing creates a passive income, it means you can sit around, do nothing and earn money.

On the contrary. Successful writers are always writing and they act fast when ideas come to them.

That's the secret of earning money through speed.

The money you make may come long after you've finished your writing, but the speed of writing is what makes the money come.

And what writer doesn't want to earn money?

I've been working as a writer for almost 20 years now and I always find that the more I write and publish, the more money I make.

So next time an idea hits you, act on it. Make the most of your gift (idea) and when you get another one do it all over again, and see the difference it makes to your writing income.

FYI (just in case you're invested, this article went from idea to published in 20 minutes.

Goodbye Writer's Block - How to Be A Creative Genius and Have an Abundance of Ideas PLUS the Inspiration and Motivation to Write

How To Easily Make Money Online, Even If You Don't Know How

One thing I've really enjoyed doing over the past 15+ years, is working as an online writer.

And as you know, I've recently been touring around teaching what I do.

What struck me the most was that nearly everyone who attended my classes had absolutely no clue - zilch, nada, none - about what to do or where to start.

So I helped them as much as I could in the short time I had.

And to help them even more I gave everyone a handout with an outline of what I'd be talking about plus links to useful websites to help them get started.

I also put the handout online so that I could show it on a projector screen as I worked my way through it.

The talks that I was giving are now over but I thought that because there were so many people that I met who had no idea about even the basics of making money online, there are probably even more who I haven't met who have the same problem.

So if you're someone who wants to make money online but you have nothing to sell and you don't know where to start, here is a link to my handout from my talk which was called The Laptop Lifestyle.

I hope this information helps.

http://writeaholics.net/handout.html