Writer Benefits at SquidLog

SquidLog.net is a new social network that offers a customizable platform for writers of all genres. Authors can promote their books and increase their online presence by customizing and accessing all their online work in one platform.
On SquidLog.net, writers will be able to promote their books and other work, produce new content, personalize their profile, interact with other members, participate in groups, plug their Squidoo lenses, and import outside blogs. It’s an all-in-one place to gain readership, share writer resources, and generate content.
SquidLog attracts both experienced and new lensmasters, who want to utilize Squidoo lenses, or websites, as a promotional tool. As a central place to share all types of online-related topics, SquidLog members will find solutions to their questions about Squidoo and other topics. Experienced lensmasters participate and freely share their knowledge.
Writer Benefits at SquidLog include:

• Free Membership – A short registration and free membership provides access to your profile and the site’s tools.
• Start a Blog – Writers can start a blog on marketing, their books, or writing resources. Blog topics are limited only by members' imagination and passion.
• Import an Existing Blog – Writers can import a blog from another site and then continue the blog right from SquidLog.
• Join or Start a Group – SquidLog offers group tools for anyone who wants to mentor a group. Writers can start a group on their interests or join one of the existing groups, like WordPress Tips and Tricks or Publishing Project Collaborations.
• Featured Content Shows Latest News – Content is user-driven. Activity on all members' blogs, groups, comments, and posts become the featured content on the landing page.
• Gain New Readers – With featured content, readers can scan new activity and follow a writer's work across their blogs, sites, or lenses.
• Interact In One Site – By following the featured content, members can stay on top of everyone’s content and activities. Members can interact with each other in one place, on SquidLog, rather than jumping from site to site to read their favorite blogs.

In March 2009, power Squidoo lensmasters (also known as Giant Squids) Anne Corcino and Achim Thiemermann co-founded SquidLog.com. Within its first three months, SquidLog was ranked second, behind Squidoo itself, for highest traffic of Squidoo-themed sites. Corcino and Thiemermann wanted it to grow dynamically from a resource site to a central place for everyone to interact and share a variety of topics. With the power of SquidLog's high ranking, authors can promote their newest books and introduce readers to their blogs or sites.

SquidLog.net began in October 2009 and offers free membership, a marketing platform, and a social network to all Squidoo lensmasters, authors, and writers.
Jennfer Akers, a freelance writer and Squidoo lensmaster, writes on a variety of topics, including social networking, writing resources, and online business. Join Jennifer and other writers on her SquidLog profile: http://squidlog.net/members/jennifer-akers/profile/

Children's Writer Dawn Menge Returns to WITS Podcast

Author Dawn Menge will be joining author's assistant Sarah Moore to discuss her new release Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains this Friday. This will be Dawn's second visit to the WITS podcast, her first being last year to mark the release of Queen Vernita's Visitors. That initial book in the Queen Vernita series earned Dawn First Place in the Children's category of the 2009 EVVY Awards and an Honorable Mention in the Readers Views Awards.

Dawn Menge continues her efforts to teach calendar skills to children with Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Mountains. This time around, she also includes an emphasis on the environment as Queen Vernita and her friends explore a different point of natural beauty each month. As the week of each month proceeds, they observe or actively experience some aspect of flora or fauna. Each page of text is accompanied by beautiful illustrations that will promote the curious nature of children.

Please visit the Amazon website to purchase Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains.


Title of Document: Book Review
Book Title: Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains
Author: Dawn Menge
ISBN: 978-1-4327-1169-6
Publisher: OutskirtsPress.com
Genre and Target Market: children; fiction
Publication Date: 2009

Book Review by: Sarah Moore


In my capacity as someone who enjoys a profession in the writing and publishing world, I am always excited when an author whose work I have enjoyed in the past comes back with another book for me to review. As the mom of a three-year-old girl who loves her bedtime stories, I am particularly thrilled that author Dawn Menge has gifted all of us with another wonderful tale of Queen Vernita and her friends, who teach young readers through their daily adventures. In her first book, Queen Vernita’s Visitors, Dawn Menge introduced us to her title character and the decision she makes to have a different friend visit every month of the year. Menge continues this concept in her new release, Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains, and improves on a first book that itself is worthy of much praise.

Queen Vernita invites her friends back for another year of fun, but this time the destination is the Blue Ice Mountains. Queen Vernita and her guests use this beautiful location to learn interesting details about science and nature. As a former school teacher, I am a strong advocate of any learning tool that gets kids thinking about the world around them. Every page offers fun facts about a specific animal or place that I am sure will be educational to both parents and their children alike. On Tuesday in March, Christopher is there to learn that when ice melts and breaks away from glaciers, it is called calving. On Saturday in July, Queen Vernita and Susanna learn that brown bears can weigh up to 900 pounds. And, on Thursday in November, the two friends discover that sponges in the ocean are sessile invertebrates. Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains is well-researched and packed with information that will fascinate young readers.

Every aspect of Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains is expertly designed to be engaging and educational for children. The colors on each page capture a child’s imagination, with the dominant use of bold, primary tones in the detailed illustrations and the text for each month printed on a different muted color. We all know that if the pictures grab a child’s attention, interest in the words that surround them will more likely follow. Menge also effectively uses the important learning tool of repetition to teach children the days of the week, with each month featuring a different fact for Monday through Sunday. By the time you reach December, you may find that your child is calling out the months before you have a chance to read them. The fact that the author is currently working towards her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction is evident throughout the book’s format, word choice, and graphics.

Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains is a beautiful book that I am excited to add to my daughter’s collection. Even the youngest child will learn details about plants and animals that she will be proud to share with others while improving her calendar skills along the way. Perhaps even more importantly, readers will be presented with the idea that friendship is to be valued and openly appreciated. Queen Vernita is genuinely excited for each visitor to arrive and enjoys every moment of every month with a dear friend. What could be a better lesson to learn? Whether or not you have already had the pleasure of reading Queen Vernita’s Visitors, I strongly recommend that you discover the joy within Dawn Menge’s second offering. I only hope that Queen Vernita has more plans for her guests and, therefore, more books to come!

Discussing Writing, Publishing, and Marketing of Children's Book

Thank you, Suzanne Lieurance of the National Writing for Children Center, for having me on your show Book Bites for Kids. I enjoyed discussing the aspects of writing, publishing, and marketing The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children.

Purchase The Sid Series book on Amazon!or learn more at http://TheSidSeries.com

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If you are enjoying this tour, please invite your friends to come along with you each day. You may give this this short link to find the list of stops on this tour: http://tinyurl.com/SidTour. Or you may share this interview on a social network by clicking the share button below.

Feel free to leave a comment or ask questions about anything you heard in the interview, or if you have questions about The Sid Series.

Today's Podcast Will Give You Tools for Successful Work with the Government

Tune into our podcast today as author's assistant Sarah Moore sits down with Ed Benjamin to discuss his new book Cash in on Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan. Mr. Benjamin has years of experience securing government contracts for clients and is now sharing his expertise with this publication. In the book, Ed Benjamin includes information on how to write successful proposals for contracts and grants with the government. This book is created for everyone, as no previous experience in proposal writing or government contracts is required to earn your part of the Obama stimulus money.

During the interview, Ed Benjamin will be discussing why the current administration offers such a great opportunity to work with the government, how his professional background prepared him to write this book, and how he hopes readers will use the information in Cash in on the Obama's $3 Trillion Spending Plan.


Click here to listen... to the entire interview!

Please visit the Amazon website to purchase Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan.

The Grammar Girl is Coming to WITS Podcast!

The Grammar Girl, Mignon Fogarty, is coming to Writers in the Sky Podcast on this very blog in January! Mark your calendars or subscribe to this blog so you don't miss it.



Purchase Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing on Amazon.com.

I love listening to Grammar Girl's podcast at http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/. Every writer and editor needs a helpful and easy-to-remember tip every now and then. Besides, it's fun to learn with Mignon's sense of humor and well-researched advice on grammar, style choices, and word usage.

Follow Grammar Girl on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GrammarGirl

Click the share button below to let your writing friends know about this upcoming show.

December Issue of Writers in the Sky E-zine is Now Available!

The December issue of Writers in the Sky E-zine is now available at http://writersinthesky.com/ezine/news-dec09.html. Enjoy articles about writing, publishing, and book marketing, find networking opportunities, read poetry and book reviews, and find out who will be the guests on our podcast.


Archived issues for the past four years may be read at http://writersinthesky.com/writing-newsletter.html.

If you would like to contribute an article, announcement, poem, or other material to our free monthly e-zine, please see the submission guidelines at http://writersinthesky.com/writing-newsletter.html#guidelines

Yvonne Perry,
Owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services
http://writersinthesky.com/

December Podcasts Offer Interviews to Take Listeners through the Holiday Season

Writers in the Sky December Podcasts to Feature New Works of Fiction as Well as Books that Offer Advice for Greater Professional Success

Nashville, TN, November 24, 2009—The Writers in the Sky podcast will close out 2009 with four author interviews that offer a variety of topics for the listening audience. The month begins with a discussion about how the public can take advantage of the government’s spending plan through submitting their own proposals and grant requests. The next week brings a return guest to the podcast series, as an award-winning children’s author shares details about her new release. The month continues with a conversation that focuses on a plan for personal transformation and professional success. Finally, Christmas Day brings an interview with an author who will discuss the release of his first novel in what will be a suspense series.

One December 4, WITS author’s assistant Sarah Moore will sit down with Ed Benjamin to discuss his new book, Cash in on Obama’s $3 Trillion Spending Plan! The book details the many ways in which members of the general public can submit proposals for contracts and requests for grant money with the federal government. Mr. Benjamin has decades of proven success in writing contracts for the government and now shares his detailed advice with readers. In this interview, Ed Benajmin will be discussing his professional background, how he hopes readers will use the book, and the various possibilities for making money from the government. Click here to purchase Cash in on Obama’s $3 Trillion Spending Plan!

Writers in the Sky welcomes back Dawn Menge to the podcast on December 11. She will be discussing her second children’s book, Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains. This new release is the second in a series that features Queen Vernita. The first book, Queen Vernita’s Visitors, earned Dawn Menge First Place in the Children’s category of the 2009 EVVY Awards. In the follow-up release, Queen Vernita takes her friends to various locations at which they learn about the beauty of nature while continuing to teach young readers important calendar skills. During the interview, Dawn will be sharing how she did the research for her book, what she hopes children will take away from the book, and what is in store for Queen Vernita next. Click here to purchase Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains.

The podcast series continues on December 18 when WITS owner Yvonne Perry has a conversation with Allison Maslan, a leading life and career coach. They will be discussing Ms. Maslan’s new book Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan to Launch Your Dreams into Reality. In this book, readers will find the encouragement and skills they need to realize their professional and personal goals. Allison Maslan brings her twenty-five years of experience as an entrepreneur and a life coach to the plan she developed in Blast Off! Allison will be sharing how her own successes and failures contributed to the concepts in the book, how readers can use the material to improve their own lives, and how she is marketing her work. Click here to purchase Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan to Launch Your Dreams into Reality.

Christmas Day, December 25, brings the last podcast interview of the year for our listeners, when Writers in the Sky welcomes Michael Thompson to discuss his new novel Blood Betrayal. This suspense novel focuses on the character Dimitri Magnussen and the possibility that he murdered his own young son during a hunting trip. During an investigation that involves Dimtri’s family and former commanding officer in the Special Forces, the psychology behind this man proves to be more complicated than it first appears. Michael Thompson brings his own background as a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and experienced hunter to his first novel. He will be discussing what sparked his interest in writing, how his military experience contributed to the development of the novel, and what is in store next for this series of books. Click here to purchase Blood Betrayal.

“I believe that we are bringing this year of podcasts to a close with a wonderful series of interviews,” shares Yvonne Perry, owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services, which produces the podcast. “All of the team members at Writers in the Sky wish our listeners a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to introducing you to even more great new writers in 2010.”

About Writers in the Sky: Writers in the Sky blog, podcast, and newsletter is a three-fold production filled with information about writing, publishing, and book publicity created by Yvonne Perry as part of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services (http://writersinthesky.com/).

Listening to Writers in the Sky Podcast on a computer is easy. Go to http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com/. On the right sidebar there is a list of archived shows. Click on the interview you would like to hear and it will open a post that has a link to the audio file.

Yvonne's Interview on Creative Writing Help

Creative Writing Help is a great source for inspiration and information on writing. Tracey has posted a written question and answer interview with me, Yvonne Perry.

Here are the questions Tracey asked me. You will find my answers at http://www.creative-writing-help.com

1. How did you get into writing? At what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

2. What was your first book or story that you completed? Did you ever get it published?

3. How did you get published? How were you able to write full time? What is your success story?

4. How do you stay motivated to finish a novel?

5. How do you get your ideas?

6. What would you tell people who are interested in writing creatively? Where can people start?
7. How do you get over writer's block?

This Week's Podcast Will Feature Book That Teaches Readers How to Do Business with the Government

Please plan to join us this Friday as we welcome Ed Benjamin to the Writers in the Sky podcast. Mr. Benjamin will be discussing his new book Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan!, which provides detailed information about how to offer your goods or services or receive a grant from the government.

Ed Benjamin, a retired Air Force Colonel, has spent years helping clients win over $12 billion in contract awards. Now, he has decided to share his successful approach to proposal writing with everyone. This book is for everyone, from the experienced entrepreneur to the novice who has never before pitched an idea.

Please visit the Amazon website to purchase Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan!

Title of Document: Book Review
Book Title: Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan!
Author: Ed Benjamin, Colonel, USAF (retired)
ISBN Number: 978-1-4327-4428-1
Publisher: OutskirtsPress.com
Genre and Target Market: government, business
Publication Date: 2009
Book Length in Pages: 186

Reviewed by: Sarah Moore

I am not revealing any great secret by sharing that our country is struggling through difficult economic conditions. The unemployment rate has risen above ten percent for the first time in more than twenty-five years and home foreclosures continue to be a regular feature on the real estate market. When President Obama took office nearly a year ago, one way that he determined to improve the situation was through a stimulus package that was part of a $3 trillion budget. For many people, all of the activity in Washington, which also funnels down to the state and local governments, seems to be a bureaucratic endeavor removed from their everyday lives. However, a new book by Ed Benjamin explains how any one of us can make money from the spending decisions of our government.

Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan! is written by a man whose expertise on the subject is undeniable. Ed Benjamin, a retired Air Force Colonel, spent years involved in weapons system procurement for the military and since then has used this knowledge to help clients win over $12 billion in contracts. Whether or not you agree with the policies of President Obama, Benjamin shows you why there is no reason that you cannot benefit from the administration’s decisions.

This book is designed for everyone, from the experienced entrepreneur who is ready to extend his business into the public sector to the person who has never before considered proposing an idea to the government. Benjamin covers every aspect of the proposal process, from explaining how the government buys goods and services and what the basic qualifications are for being a part of this business to how to read a solicitation and write a proposal that gives you the best chance for success. The book even includes a great section listing helpful resources for every state. Once the readers take even a quick look through the contents of Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan!, I believe they will be convinced that dealing with the government is not such an intimidating prospect after all.

Even though Ed Benjamin is clearly an expert in his field, he does not forget to include the most basic of concepts. The table of contents delineates every paragraph and the topic it features. In fact, the book is written much like a proposal—a proposal that encourages readers to get involved! Website links are shared through the book so that readers are able to retrieve more details about specific programs. There is not a single page in Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan! that does not help its readers towards their final goal.

Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan! probably is not a book that you will curl up with for a lazy afternoon at the beach. It’s not even meant to read from beginning to end. Instead, it is a manual that was created to get marked, creased, and well-worn as its owner takes the steps necessary to earn his or her piece of the $3 trillion pie. Ed Benjamin has written an accessible and content-rich tool that is based in experience and an obvious ability to teach. If you are ready to learn a new way to create your own success, get a copy of Cash in on the Obama $3 Trillion Spending Plan! today!

Getting Ahead in Your Corporate Career

Joe Lavelle was my podcast guest on June 19. He has some wonderful ideas to share about getting ahead in your corporate career. Not everyone has time to listen to a half-hour podcast, so for those who would rather read, I am posting the basic questions and answers he and I (Yvonne Perry) covered during the interview.

Accelerate Your Career Success The Employee Handbook That Your Employer Hasn’t Given You is for career-oriented professionals who want to accelerate their career growth and find strategies, knowledge, and tools to get promotions and raises faster.

Joseph R Lavelle (Joe) is an accomplished management consulting executive and business coach assisting with the technology challenges of diverse organizations including health delivery networks, health plans, healthcare software vendors, and several Fortune 500 companies. Joe has dedicated his career as a strategic business advisor to ensure that his clients achieve maximum performance. You will find Joe and his book at www.ActAsIfBlog.com.

1. In our current economy, what motivated you to write a book on career acceleration?
Actually I completed writing most of the book before the economy started to collapse, but the strategies and principles that I present in the book are independent of the economic climate, as it is always appropriate to seek to be the best you can be.

I was motivated to write the book because I want to help accelerate the careers of more than the people that I know and manage or coach personally. I want to impact a much bigger and broader audience.

2. Tell us a little bit about your book and what might we learn from it?
Quite simply, the book describes the best strategies for accelerating your career growth including getting promoted faster and getting bigger raises. I have developed and refined the strategies over the past 20 years and have used them personally. I have also mentored their use in hundreds of my direct reports and coaching clients.

3. Who will benefit most by reading Accelerate Your Career Success, The Employee Handbook that Your Employer Hasn’t Given You?
The strategies presented are intended to benefit all professionals who want to accelerate their career growth and who are working at companies where career advancement is possible. The strategies are equally effective in large companies with mature human resources and performance management systems and in small companies with little career development infrastructure.

4. What is so unique about the Act As If approach?
Great question! I used to ask the same question of those that worked for me and those that I coached because I thought everyone would have a similar approach to accelerating their careers. But my network convinced me that the Act As If approach is unique and that I should write a book and start speaking about it.

First, the strategies are proven and have been refined over my 20 year career. I continue to have a “day job” because I really love to help people grow faster and I really love that my team helps me to continue to innovate and adapt the strategies.

Second, since my very first management position (of which I was a total failure by the way), I became passionate about learning the inner workings of performance management at my companies. To be honest, I wanted to earn more money and have more responsibility and I learned that mastering the performance management processes of my companies gave me a competitive advantage. Since that time, I have been integrally involved in creating and maintaining the performance management systems not only for my companies but for my clients as well.

Third, I learned early on that I would get promoted faster if my team was the most (measurably) productive team. So I have put tremendous energy and time in coaching my team to help them be more productive and to show them how to measure that productivity.


5. How do you differentiate a successful person relative to someone is unsuccessful? What is your definition of success?
I believe that success is defined in individual terms, though most people I know define success by how much money the make and how fast they get promoted, at least in the early part of their career. I believe that success is simply achieving the goals that one sets forth.

I get great pleasure from helping people identify their goals and achieve them and I get even greater pleasure from “raising the bar” and watching people exceed their goals in ways they could never imagine.

6. Can you summarize what it takes for a professional to be successful in the world today?

Sure, first I believe that anyone can be successful and those people that are not are probably their own worst enemy.

Successful people do the following:

• They set goals and measure their progress toward that goal
• They seek and get real and honest feedback about their progress, especially the things they are doing wrong or need to improve
• They are generally optimistic and have a contagious positive attitude (the Act As If It Were Impossible to Fail attitude)
• They are voracious readers and learners And
• Most implement many of the strategies in my book!

7. Are there common characteristics of those that do not succeed?
I think so. As I mentioned a minute ago, many people are their own worst enemies. Negative attitudes, entitlement, and laziness will all lead to someone falling short of their goals.

8. Is it possible for everyone to achieve their dream of success?
I believe so. Because of my passion and success in career acceleration, I have often been assigned to manage underperformers. A great percentage of those people are very successful today as a result of implementing the Act As If approach.

9. What are your suggestions for career development during a recession?
My suggestions are not much different than in great economic times. The most successful people find unique and better ways to serve their clients or customers met or unmet needs.

Recessions can create more opportunities because of the financial pressures on clients or customers require them to do more with less. If you can help a client do that , you will be successful. If you can help MANY clients do that, you will be wildly successful.

10. What impact has technology (instant messaging, social networking, blogging, etc) had on the ability to accelerate success?
People can network like never before. They can access people and information that they would have never been able to before. Those that take maximum advantage of existing technologies with leapfrog their peers.

I would also say to be careful in the area of social networking. As anything else, it must be done within the context of a greater plan or you could spend a lot of time connecting and interacting and not enough time getting your job done.

11. What have you learned from writing your book?
Quite a bit actually. In my research and marketing efforts, I have connected with an incredible number of brilliant people that are as passionate as me about helping people succeed. My ideas and the book have benefited a great deal from these new influencers in my life and in my thinking.

Additionally, I was initially terrified about writing because I believed that I was not a very good writer. To overcome my fear, I focused on “what I had to say” instead of how effective a writer I was and that really helped me.

Finally, I learned that it also “takes a village” to get a book to the market, and though I have been deeply involved in every step of the process, I have worked with some phenomenally talented people to create the final product. So I now believe that I understand each step of the book business and I have access to a network that I will tap more thoroughly in the future.
12. Will you be writing more books? If so, what will they be about?
Yes , I have several concepts in mind that will build upon the Act As If brand and its strengths.


Let’s switch gears and talk about how your book was published and what you are doing to market it.

1. Who published your book and how has your experience with them been?
I decided to work with Booksurge because their process seemed pretty structured. Additionally, I liked the fact that they were an Amazon company and had tight integration with www.Amazon.com. Because I am a rookie and Booksurge’s processes are a little impersonal, my experience has been a little rocky.

2. Tell us ways you are promoting your book? Have they been successful?
I am starting to get really busy on the marketing and since the book has not been released I am not sure what will be successful. I have done an incredible amount of social networking the past year so that I am increasingly becoming known in the career strategist market. I am working with Writers In The Sky on a marketing program and I am advertising in key places that professionals “congregate”. Additionally, I have started to blog at http://www.ActAsIfBlog.com

3. Can you give aspiring authors words of advice towards getting published?
Getting published is really easy. You can do it yourself for under $1,000 these days. So my advice is to get busy, start writing your first book. And then self-publish it.

You will learn so much along the way that will be important to future efforts. Additionally, you will hopefully build a tremendous following that will help you “sell “ your future books to well known publishers if that is what you want.

4. What future projects do you have in the works?
I just joined a start-up Healthcare Management and IT Consulting firm which is keeping me very busy as I continue to oversee my Coaching and Recruiting business, Results First Consulting.

So, right now I am putting 100% of my additional energy into marketing Act As If It Were Impossible to Fail and I hope to learn a great deal about how to effectively market a career advancement book.
5. Where is your book available?
It will be available at http://www.ActAsIfBlog.com and http://www.Amazon.com