Thursday, March 5, 2020

How To Write An E-Book And Publish It On Amazon KDP

How To Write An E-Book And Publish It On Amazon KDP Want to get more mileage out of the content youve already created?  Ever thought of writing an ebook and getting it published on Amazon? If so, youve come to the right place! In this post, I will walk you through how to write an ebook by  repurposing content  youve already written, how to fill in the blanks that you havent written yet (while also getting more content to publish on your blog), and finally how to publish your book on Amazon via Kindle Direct Publishing. How To Create An E-Book And Publish It On AmazonMake Sure You Get Your E-book Publishing Kit In order to apply the information in this post, you’ll need this free e-book publishing kit. This will make it easy to follow each step we’re about to walk through. This is your chance to get a whole e-book publishing kit that comes with a book launching checklist, a content audit form for planning your blog/book content, and a topic/angle form for you to write all your ideas on. Youll also get your  very own 3-month launch calendar. So, How Do You  Write An E-book And Get It Published On Amazon? Writing and publishing a professional e-book is split into different phases such as: writing, editing, design, and publishing it to Amazon. The exercises below will walk you through the steps to get more mileage out of your  existing content. Are you ready to write and publish your book? Want to #write an e-book and get it published on #AmazonExercise #1: What Do You Want To Write About? Maybe you already know what you want to write about, or at least have an idea of what you'd like to write, or maybe you have no idea at all. 1. Get your  notebook and pen out. Or open a word processor of your choice. 2. Set the timer for 5 minutes and get all of your ideas out.  Write down notes for what kind of a book your ideas are for. Example: Are they self-help, how-to, or something informative? 3. Pick the top four ideas that make you most excited to write  the book and keep in mind which would be most relevant to your audience. 4. If you want to know what your audience wants, do a Twitter poll.  List your book topics as the options. You'll be able to find out what your audience wants to read. Set the poll for how long you want it to run. Then press Tweet and pin your tweet to the top of your Twitter account. When #writing your book, think about what is in it for your reader. #contentmarketingExercise #2:   What Is Your Book Angle? This next exercise will help you figure out what the  angle is. Keep your pen and paper on hand. You'll want to jot down your ideas. You can also use this exercise when it comes to determining blog post angles as well. Figure out and write down your  WIIFM statement, which means "What's in it for me?"  This should be a brief paragraph explaining  the benefit a reader will receive from reading your book. You have to constantly think about what your audience wants. People want information and help with their problems. So if you have the answers they need, then you are in luck. Get inside your reader's head by asking yourself "What's in it for them?What are going to be the three main benefits for your audience when reading this book? Once you have your answer you'll have the  framework to begin. It'll help narrow your focus so your book isn't full of a bunch  of awesome ideas, but no focus. For example, our last ebook's topic was social media strategy. The angle was: Get organized as you build a regular schedule of relevant, engaging content that will build your social media following. Know where to start and how to focus your time to get the most engagement. Cut out the noise by reading one book that will help you  make the most of your time. Then just make sure that you mix what your audience wants to read about  (Topic) with the unique perspective you'll bring to that topic  (Angle).   Exercise #3: What Does Your Audience Want To Learn About That Topic? Write up a list of the things you think your audience would like to learn about the said topic and angle from above. Say my topic was: "how to blog consistently." And my angle was:  "You'll learn how to organize your ideas, write brilliant blog posts that capture your audience's attention,  and save you plenty of time." With that topic and angle in mind, I thought up a list something like this for what my audience wants to read. Here's what I came up with (in  chronological order): How to get blog ideas when you have no ideas? How to captivate your audience in the first few sentences? How to outline a blog post once you have an idea? What kinds of things you should look out for when editing? How to design graphics and images to go with your content? I could go on, but you get the point. This is the same process that we have  for our blog outlines here at . Break out each sub-point underneath your topic into chapters. If you think of each chapter in your book as a blog post, then that works perfectly. Take a look at your list. How many of the topics have you already written blog posts about? More on that in the next exercise. Exercise #4: Audit Your Existing Blog Content  And Find The Gaps First off, do a quick content audit of your blog to see what  you've already written around those topics within the angle and topic for the book. What if you've never done a content audit? No worries. Here's a simplified process to follow: Go to your blog  and look at the categorized pages. Here I am looking at the "Content" category posts on our website: Recommended Reading: How To Choose The Perfect Blog Categories To find your categories in WordPress, go to the black sidebar on the left side.  Click Posts in the black sidebar on the left and then click Categories. Which will open the Categories page. Your categories will be listed and to the far right you'll see how many blog posts are categorized under that category: If you click on the count under one of the categories like this: Then you'll be brought to a page like this with all of the blog posts under that category, which means some are published posts and others are drafts. Go through all of the blog posts and add any to your list that would fit well with the book's angle and topic. Add a star next to it on the list so you remember you already wrote it. Repurpose your blog content and turn it into an e-book. Find out how here:Is Your Book  Going To Have Chapters Or Sections? Or Both? Are you going to have sections and chapters in your book? Or, just one or the other? You could have sections to divide the book up into different chapters.  Make sure they fall under your topic and angle. Write up a list of the different sections you'd include in your book: Section  #1 Section #2 Section #3 Then under each of those sections  you could set up your chapters something like: Section #1 Chapter #1 Chapter #2 Chapter #3 Section #2 Chapter #1 Chapter #2 Chapter #3 Chapter #4This isn't a  complete outline of sections up  above but you get the idea. Try to do all of this in chronological order. Pro Tip: The great thing about writing all of this is that you'll have a lot of content. Why not use some of the new content you've written as blog posts? Kill two birds with one stone. Exercise #5: What Is Your Deadline? Start with your e-book launch date. You are going to need to know the best days to publish an e-book on the Kindle Amazon store in order to launch your e-book successfully. The best day to publish to the Kindle store is  Tuesday. It's good practice, to publish your book  it two to five days before you launch it.  Then you can do any last-minute changes. Get A Launch Team When writing and publishing a book it's a great thing to have a launch team on your side. They help you launch a successful book. Here is an example of what Jeff Goins did with his launch team. One way to keep your launch team information all together is to send out a Google Form with your "interview questions". Open Google Forms and start a new form. The great thing about writing up a launch team application is that you can write any questions you'd like. This all has to do with what is important to you when it comes to having a launch team. Once you are done with your form go to the upper right side and click on Send. From there, you'll be able to send it to anyone. Pop it in an email update to your subscribers. You can even share your Google Form  on social media. Pro Tip: Think of a way you can thank your readers for reading your book and also for leaving a review. You can have your launch team: Read through the book and give you last-minute thoughts. Share about your book on social. Keep them updated on anything around your book. Filling The Gap When you have your launch date set,  work back from there in one-week  increments. Start with your e-book launch date and work back from there!Here are some questions you'll want to figure out: How many blog posts do you write a week? How fast can you write a well put together blog post? How many weeks will it take you to finish your content writing? And while you are working on the writing, who will design your book cover? You can hire a book cover designer at 99designs, freelancer.com, or contact a cover designer online. Recommended Reading For Writing: This Is The Ultimate Blog Writing Process To Create Killer Posts How To Write More Content To Increase Your Blogging Schedule This Is What Happens When You Say Good-Bye To Writer’s Block Recommended Reading For Design: How To Work With Designers With Authentic Advice From ’s Designer The Ultimate Guide To Using Color Psychology In Marketing + Free Color Schemes How To Attract An Audience With The Best Blog Photography Tips (+128 Free Images) If you have to publish four posts a month, how many do you have to finish writing before the ship date? Exercise #6: Get Your Book Out Of Your Mind You know what you want to write about and you've also weeded through all your blog  content for blog posts that relate to the angle and topic of your book. Now you just have to fill in the gaps and write the chapters that aren't written yet. Remember, once you finish each of the chapters you can also use those for blog posts. Here are a couple of ways to brainstorm your ideas before you sit down to write: Use A Mind Map To Brainstorm This is a pretty simple brainstorming method, but it really works.  It’s a great way to get your ideas out visually in front of you. Set your timer for about 5 minutes. Write your chapter idea (problem you want to solve in that chapter) in the center of the page. Draw a bubble around it. What will solve that problem? Write the solutions to the problem and then connect the bubbles with lines. For each bubble with a solution, come up with at least 3-5 actionable bullet points to walk your readers through the solution. Here are some great mind mapping tools: Coggle MindMapple Recommended Reading: 4 Simple Brainstorming Techniques That Will Help You Write Killer Content Use Content Mapping To Keep Your Blog Moving Forward Brainstorm With A One Sheet  Brain Dump Get all of your ideas and thoughts out in front of you. After you get all your ideas out and in front of you, you can  make it into an outline. How To Do A 1-Sheet Brain Dump: Set your timer for 5 minutes. Write your ideas on a  sheet. This is a massive brain dump. Recommended Reading: The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution For The Best Blog Outline How To Plan A Blog Post In 10 Minutes So You Can Write It Better And Faster Exercise #7: Now Start Writing Your Book Writing your book is the funnest part of all of this, especially when you start to see some progress. It's super exciting when you have a stack of pages that you wrote. I recommend you start writing your book in Word format, since that is something we learned would have saved us a lot of time. Use styles to format your e-book in Word. Here is a great video to walk you through styling format: Pro Tips From Our Content Marketing Lead: Use word styles. Edit everything with the "Show all nonprinting characters"  view on. You don't want extra paragraphs. Use page breaks instead of hard returns. Make the images and graphics as big as you can. This is how to format an e-book in Word.Edit With Nonprinting Characters On And Don't Use Hard Returns? First off, when editing your book  it's going to be important to watch out for nonprinting characters. To look for those, click on the paragraph symbol:  ¶. Then you'll be able to see the nonprinting characters. Use Page Breaks You'll also want to avoid using hard returns because they'll show up as white space when you upload your book to Amazon. Use page breaks instead. In order to find these,  click on Insert and then Break. Click  Page Breaks. You'll see this Page Break symbol. Make A Clickable Table Of Contents This video will walk you through the steps to create a clickable table of contents: Biggest Takeaway: Use headings in your styles panel for your chapter titles. It will make the process easy as cake. Alternative to Word: Scrivener For my personal book writing, I use an awesome paid program called Scrivener. I love it because it makes it easy to write a long form book. You can set up each of the chapters in their own files within the main book file. If you've never heard of Scrivener, be sure to check it out. It allows you to organize and write your content all in one place. Speak Your Ideas Before You Write Them This really helps me get my ideas out and in front of me. Sometimes you need a break away from the computer screen when writing. Get your smart phone recorder or recorder. Talk  about what you want to write about in the chapter. When you’re done, listen to your recording. Type everything you said out. You’ll probably want to press pause a lot since other ideas will rush back to you when you write it down. The Different Sections That Make Up Your Book Book Copyright Page: This is a page that is normally used for writing down all the important information that helped your content get published. Your name, the publisher's name, the editor's name, designer's name, the website name, your copyright, and the year of publish. Here is a great guide on how to build a copyright page. Dedication:   This is a great place to dedicate the book to someone. It usually shows up in the first few pages. Foreword:  Once you've written your book reach out to someone you'd like to write a foreword for your book.   It helps if you've gotten to know them.  Like for us, we reached out to Jay Baer with our rough draft to see if he'd be interested in writing a foreword. When you are writing your book work on building connections with people who you might want to write the foreword. Intro:  The intro is what hooks your readers. You should incorporate some of that into your book description on Amazon. Conclusion:  Your conclusion is what rounds it all up and ties everything together. You show your readers what they learned throughout the entire book or at least a glimpse of the most important things you want them to remember. Acknowledgments/Thank You Page: This is a great place to share thank you’s with the people who helped your book become possible. Think editors, designers, and other writers. At The End Of Each Chapter:  Make sure you write a couple of sentences that will lead your readers into the next chapter. Your goal is to make your readers keep reading. Exercise #8: Final Design And Editing Touches For Your Book There are plenty of things that go into creating a professional looking book. You have to know that when you upload your book to Amazon that you are playing against millions of authors and writers. You are going to want to make sure that your book can compete against them professionally. First off, take a look at least 5-10 other books that your book is similar to. What things did they do with their book? Look at and compare these things: What is their cover like? What's the font on the cover like? What is the size of their font? Small or Big? What colors are more popular? Make sure your title and subtitle font is big enough to read. The font will look a lot smaller when you are seeing the thumbnail images in the Kindle store. A bigger font will make it easier for your readers to see what your book is about. If they have to wonder and guess about what the book is about, they probably won't click on it. You can see from this example which books stand out more than others. To find books that are comparable to your book go to the Amazon homepage: Then you'll see this page. You can check out the Kindle Best Sellers to  see  what other people have done. When you are in there you will be able to see the best sellers in the free Kindle ebooks as well. Make it easy for your readers and don't give them a reason to not click on your book. Do you know why self-publishing has gotten such a bad rap? Because people do shoddy work - both in writing and design.- Jeff Goins Make sure your book is comparable to the professionally edited and designed books put out by traditional publishers. Want  An Editor? If your team has an editor, have your editor look over your book and make changes. It's important to catch typos, grammar flops, and punctuation mishaps as well as areas that don't really make sense. Having your editor or hiring an editor to edit through your book will save you from embarrassment later. You can find editors on Freelancer.com  and Upwork  (formerly known as Elance). Need A Designer? Want to have any images, graphics, or artwork throughout your book? But don't have the time or skills to create your own? You can find a designer  on the same sites where  you can find an editor. You may also want to try Dribbble. If you'd like to design your own graphics here are some helpful blog posts you should read. Most of them have to do with designing graphics for blog posts, but they can also be used for designing graphics for your book: The Ultimate Guide To Using Color Psychology In Marketing + Free Color Schemes How To Work With Designers With Authentic Advice From 's Designer How To Attract An Audience With The Best Blog Photography Tips (+128 Free Images) 10 Stunning Examples Of Visual Content Marketing Should You Use Stock Or Free Images For Blog Posts? 5 Super Easy Ways To Create Images For Your Blog Posts How To Design The Best Blog Graphics With Free Tools And Design Theory How To Make The Best Blog Graphics (For Non-Designers) If you don't even want to have to struggle with formatting your book, you can hire someone to format the entire thing for you at one of the outsourcing sites that I listed above. Exercise #9: Uploading And Publishing Your Book On Amazon Getting into Amazon can be a bit tricky if you don't know your way around in KDP. But never fear, for I am here, and I am going to walk you through how to publish your book on Amazon. Want to publish your book in the Amazon Kindle store? Here's how:First off, you are going to want to have a KDP Amazon account. Once you sign in, you are going to want to put in all of your bank details so your money will go into your account. Once you click there you'll be brought to a page like this where you can enter your address, tax information, and also your bank details. After you are done filling all of that out, scroll to the bottom and press the yellow save button. To upload a book to Amazon click on the Bookshelf and then click on Create new title. You will be brought to this page: Remember if you click to enroll your book in KDP Select that your book must not be available anywhere else online for 90 days. That even means on your own blog or website. Amazon wants to have exclusivity with you. After those 90 days are up, you can put it elsewhere online. Scroll down and you will find: Type in your book name and your subtitle. If you have a publisher name, put it in as well. If you don't, some people just put their blog name or a made up publisher name that they use for all of their books. Your book description is your Amazon book description. It will be what encourages or discourages people from buying your book. What Goes Into Your Book Description? First off, take a look at 5 other writers who have published books that you look up to. How did they format their description? How'd they hook you to read the entire description? Here are some book description writing tips: 1. Start your book description with an intro. Ask your readers a few questions. The questions should show what problem your book is going to solve. Here is an example from the intro of our book description:  Have you been staring at a blank slate without any inspiration for your social media marketing? Do you struggle to find time and keep up with a consistent social media schedule? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, then you’ve come to the right place. 2. Show your unique solution to your readers problems. Here is our example:  This actionable book will help you get organized as you build a regular schedule of relevant, engaging content that will build your social media following. 3. Speak to the reader. Call them out by their job title or something similar. Example:  Maybe you're a marketer, a social media manager, or a blogger who wants to cut out the noise by reading one book that will show you how to make the most of your time. 4. Show your credibility. Why are you an expert and why should your audience learn this from you? Example:  As the content marketers at , we’ve personally used every piece of advice in this book. It’s helped us get around 60K followers across our social platforms- and you can experience the same success. 5. What will they find in your book? Share what they'll learn from reading your book. Example:  In this guide, you'll learn how to: - Get organized and take control of your social media strategy. - Listen to and connect with your audience’s needs to create content that’ll boost engagement. - Figure out a social media editorial calendar that will quadruple your traffic. 6. A quote from an influencer.   7. A closing question. Example:  What’s stopping you from finding more time, being more efficient, and rocking your social media content sharing strategy? What's An ISBN Number? An ISBN number  is a  13-digit number that identifies the book published internationally.  If you have an ISBN number you can fill it into your book information in KDP. For an e-book, an ISBN isn't really needed, but If you don't have one and want one, you can find out how to purchase one here. Okay, let's move onward. When you scroll down you'll see this: When you are done with that scroll to the bottom and press Save and Continue. This  will bring you to the Rights And Pricing page: If you want the book to be available everywhere click Worldwide rights. You can set your royalties to either 35% or 70%. KDP has a whole list of what the differences are between the two. If you'd like to spread the word about your book by allowing lending it will allow  your readers share the book with a friend for a certain amount of time. Why not? When you've made it to the bottom you'll see this: Click the check box at the bottom of this page and then click Save and Publish. If you have any problems in KDP, Amazon is really helpful and will call you to help solve your problems. Bonus Section: The Mistakes We Made That You'll Want To Miss There are quite a few things that we messed up on while writing, creating, and launching our e-book. Learn from the  mistakes we've made  and avoid them at all costs. It'll save you a ton of time. We didn’t take advantage of a launch team early enough. This is something I definitely recommend, especially if you want your e-book to perform well. The reviews are needed in the first few weeks that it's on Amazon. We will do this will our next book. There really isn't a FREE e-book on Amazon unless you sign up for KDP Select. But with that, Amazon wants to have exclusivity with you for 90-days. KDP Select would allow you to give your book away for free so many days of the year. We didn't sign up for KDP Select because we had the book elsewhere online. It's really up to you whether you choose KDP Select or not. Make sure your cover is comparable to the other books that your book will be competing with. The bigger the font the better and brighter colors seem to do better. This is something we will improve with our next book. The table of contents in our book  don’t link to the pages they are supposed to link to. Make the Amazon e-book into a PDF and give it away for free along with a bundle of free stuff. Gait it to get more subscribers. And then use the preview of the book in Amazon as a landing page that directs people to your other landing page where they can get the PDF e-book and the bundle. We learned a bunch, but overall the book was a success. What If It Could Be Easier? You have all the steps it takes to write and publish an e-book on Amazon's Kindle store. If you'd like to make  the entire process to easier, then  consider signing up for 's 14-day free trial. You'll be able to schedule your e-book launch calendar along with the goals you want to meet before your book publishes. Here is an example of how you could schedule out your book launch on : Ready... Set... Write... And Launch Your E-book You now have everything that you'll need to plan, write, edit, design, and launch your e-book in the Amazon store. Are you ready to become a published author?

Monday, February 17, 2020

International finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International finance - Essay Example receiving 51.5 million USD, it is forced to pay 1 million USD to the counterparty to settle the forward and this means it will only keep (51.5 million – 1 million) = 50.5 million USD. The company would have gained if the rate went against the forward rate by an equal margin of 0.02 USD/Euro. A forward contract essentially locks in the exchange rate, no matter what happens, and depending on which way the market subsequently moves it can be beneficial or detrimental. (a) Intrinsic value of a call option may be calculated as; In the case of a Call Option:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Underlying Price  - Strike Price = Intrinsic Value. Therefore, the intrinsic values of the stocks priced at $55, $50, $45 will be as follows; As can be observed from the table, the intrinsic value of the call option with a strike of $50 remains at zero until the stock starts to trade above the strike price. The call intrinsic value is greater than zero; therefore, it rises and continues rising as the stock starts to move away from the strike price to the upside. Which is; (0.06-0.05)*(90/360)*1 million = $2,500. This interest saving of 2,500 will not come until the end of the 90-day LIBOR or Loan period. Therefore, the value at settlement is calculated from the present value of these savings; If the floating rate happens to be less than the forward rate, the result will be, negative meaning the long will pay the short; this also happens when the current rate is less than the contract rate (Scott & Wellons 1995). Hence, money may be lost since borrowing could only technically take place at lower rate with the present rates than it is possible with contract rates. (a) The annual interest rate in the UK is 6.5% while that in the US is 5.2%; the interest rate in the US is lower than that in the UK by (6.5-5.2) = 1.3%. A reduction or lower interest rate will mean that the demand for US goods will be lower as compared to those of the UK goods by a percentage of 1.3%. This means a depreciation of the

Monday, February 3, 2020

Innovating Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Innovating - Essay Example However, social constructivism refutes the object obduracy and assumes that people are the only ones who can take the acting status. New technology may fail to lead to new arrangements of things and humans. They, in addition, may generate new forms and causality orders and, indeed, new forms concerned with the world. This means that technology can also generate both moral judgment and knowledge forms. A big portion of innovating part lies in inscribing the vision of the world in the content, which is technical, of the new object. The end of this work is a script or rather a scenario. This part of innovation is primarily concerned with inscription, followed by invention, the inventor, most significantly technology, scenario, script and vision. The author in page 208 till 209 argues that if one has interest in technical objects contrasted to chimera, it is difficult for them to get methodological satisfaction basing on the point of view of the user and the designer only. In conclusion, sociotechnical facts conversion into simple and pure facts depends on the technical object ability to turn into black boxes. This means that as objects become indispensable, they efface

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Influence of Mass Media on Teenagers

Influence of Mass Media on Teenagers Mass media plays a significant role in today’s world. It broadcasts informationas fast as possible as well provides entertainment to massive audiences. Mass Media comprises of press, television, radio, books and the Internet. Media is one of the most influential aspects of our lives. By creating a certain type of message, media can manipulate people’s attitude and opinions. Over the years, as technological advances have taken place this type of communication has become very easy and feasible to have. Almost every household now owns an internet connection, television or a cell phone etc. This has led to a widespread usage of mass media, especially among the teenagers. The fact that there was a time when the internet, television and cell phones were considered a necessity but now they seem to be more of a commodity teenagers seem addicted to pretty much explains that there is bound to be a downside to the influence mass media has on teens. The teenagers of today seem too engrossed in watching their favourite shows on television or using social media applications on their phones or computers that they are slowly losing touch with reality. They have become addicted. There are many consequences to this unhealthy addiction. One becomes lazy and does not feel the need to get up and do something productive. It leads to obesity and tiredness. It also leads to unhealthy consumption of junk or fast food. I say this from my personal experience, as I always feel the need to have pizza or chips along with a beverage when I’m watching a show or a movie. Teenagers also tend to spend hours over the internet interacting with strangers who could pose as a th reat as it is easy to fake an identity over the internet. They would very much prefer using Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr etc. instead of studying or doing an outdoor activity. Therefore, this addiction can be very destructive. â€Å"A cross sectional study was carried out in Spain in 2003 to define mass media use in teenagers (television, mobile phones, computers, Internet and video games) and to examine its influence on teenagers health and development. The data collected was based on a sample of 884 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 years. The sample was retrieved from high schools residing in six towns in Cantabria (Spain). The results showed that all adolescents had a television at home and 24% of the families owned four or more TV sets. The presence of mass media in teenagers’ rooms was 52.5% for TV sets, 52% for the internet, 57.8% for computers, and 38.7% for gaming consoles. The most frequently found media in their bedrooms were cassette/radio players and compac t disks with percentages of 76.8 % and 67.4 %, respectively. Furthermore, teenagers spent on average 3 hours on television on weekdays and 3.2 on weekends. They spent 0.69 hours on average on weekdays and 1.09 hours on the weekend. On internet they spent on average 0.83 hours on the weekdays and 1.15 hours on the weekend. Other results of the study showed that about 87.2 % of the teenagers owned a cell phone. The average age at which they got their first phone was 13 years old. Almost half the teenagers (46.4 %) took their mobile phones to high school and reported that they had an average of three mobile phones at home. Also most of them (82.1 %) surfed the internet but boys preferred surfing and downloading games whereas girls preferred chatting and sending e-mails. Sixty-two percent of the teenagers had been to a cybercafà © and 40.8 % had visited a pornographic website, especially boys (33.1 % of boys versus 7.7 % of girls; p Mass media is a very powerful tool to influence the minds of anyone, let alone a teenager. Teenagers are in that stage of growing up where everything around them influences them. The way they talk, dress and act depends a lot on what they are exposed to. For example, if a teenager sees his or her favourite celebrity endorsing a product which may or may not be necessary, he or she may want to buy it regardless of how useful the product is. This is a strategy many big businesses use to their advantage as they can easily sell products, even if they are of bad quality. â€Å"Advertising is a very manipulative technique to promote products. Special attention needs to be paid to advertising’s effects. Three product categories are especially important for teens’ health: cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, and food. According to the teen marketing experts, adolescents â€Å"admit that advertising is a more important trend source than DJs, VJs, movies, celebrities, or the coolest and weirdest people at school† (P, 1995). We must be alert about the effects of advertising that deliberately exploit the insecurities of adolescents and attempt to â€Å"sell† them the answers to their problems with an abundance of new products. Television is a medium people widely now have easy access to. Nowadays, there are many shows such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and Da Vinci’s Demons etc. on television that glorify sex, drugs, alcohol and violence. Online streaming and downloading has made it even more convenient to watch shows and films which means that teenagers have easier access to their favourite shows that contain obscenity. This kind of exposure poses as a threat as many teenagers find sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking and violence to be â€Å"cool†. As a result, many teenagers fall prey to problem of addiction. Drugs, alcohol, smoking and sex are all termed as things that are addictive and if one develops the problem of addiction, life becomes really hard to cope with. It’s like you are moving towards your own destruction. It must be quite a challenge for adolescents not to see portrayals of alcohol in their everyday use of the media. Alcohol appears in more than 70% of prime-time televisi on shows and in 90% of the movies† (Roberts DF, Henriksen L, Christenson PG, 1999). Greater than one third of all main characters drink alcohol, but fewer than 2% are shown as having a drinking problem (N, 1987). Advertising links alcohol with a variety of benefits that appeal to teenagers such as socializing, virility, sexual attraction, romance, escape, and adventure (Atkin CK, Strasberger VC, Comstock GA (eds), 1993), and few consequences (e.g., hangovers, accidents, violence, and embarrassment). Alcohol advertising also often represents slices of life that concentrate on the drinkers and the drinking occasions rather than on the qualities of the product itself, which may be particularly appealing to teens who are using the media for ideas about how to be in the world. Video games are vastly played by the teenagers of today. The video games are highly addictive as well contain a lot of mature content. In US about 97% of the teens play video games. The local video game industry over there brings in nearly a revenue of $12 billion a year. Many studies have shown that video games with violent content are associated with violent behavior. This concern is important because most of the popular video games contain violence. The increase in aggressive behavior is partly linked to the amount of time teens spend on playing video games. (Gentile Anderson, 2003) have stated that playing video games may increase aggressive behaviour because violent acts are frequently repeated throughout the video game. This process of repetition has long been considered as an effective teaching method in strengthening learning patterns. Another study carried out in 2008 took a nationally representative sample of 1,102 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 and their parents. From the results, it was found that 97 percent of the young respondents play video games. Further divided on the basis of gender, 99 percent of boys and 94 percent of girls played video games. Half the respondents had also played a video game the previous day. This emphasizes on how frequently they are exposed to video games. Even though most parents checked the censor’s rating before permitting their child to buy it, 50 percent of boys and 14 percent of girls preferred games with â€Å"Mature† (M) or Adult-only (AO) rating, which implies a high degree of exposure to obscenity. (Irvine, 2008) This preference is due to the impact of mass media. It is slowly becoming a norm that children are exposed to such stuff at such a tender when they are learning things that shape up their personality. This is why such exposure can be damagi ng. I know people who like go to parties, and smoke just because it is something everyone does or something that you casually see on television or in video games. Since media has the ability to manipulate people’s mind and attitudes, it also influences gender stereotypes. Advertising, news industries and entertainment, usually portray men and women with stereotypes, in which women and girls are likely to be placed in disadvantaged situations, for example passive and submissive roles. This happens a lot in third world countries e.g. Pakistan. Several TV shows and commercials show women usually playing the role of a housewife while men are shown to be more career-oriented, focusing on their occupations. As a consequence, traditional gender roles and power relations have been deeply imputed in people’s sub-consciousness through the mass media which limits the development of human personalities as well as social equality. When youngsters look at advertisements, TV shows or films, they are exposed to images of stereotypical representations. This stereotyping can be seen for all ages. For example, you can see little girls playing with Barbie Dolls and Teddy bears or having tea parties while boys are shown playing with action figures. Male teenagers are usually portrayed as sporty whereas female teenagers are shown as girls who have interest in fashion. Women are more often presented in commercials doing grocery because they are seen as responsible for making daily purchases. Men commonly advertise cigarettes, cars, business productsor investments, whilewomen are shown rather in the commercials with cosmetics, shoes, bags and clothing. Another important distinction is the face-ism phenomenon inthe advertisements, which refers to showing the entire figure in case of a woman and close-up shots in case of a man (Matthews, J.L, 2007). All of this indirectly injects the idea in the minds of the people that girls and boys should be educated differently. It is typical for girls to be tender and have concerns with being beautiful and popular, while boys are encouraged to be tough and consider more about their careers than appearance. Therefore, teenage boys and girls behave and reflect as the expectation of their society and culture instead of the way they really want. If we look at the other side of the argument which talks about mass media as a positive influence on teenagers we can see that mass media is the reason why communication is now so much easier and quicker than in the past. The internet is one of the most widely used mediums nowadays. With the help of social media apps such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp etc. one can communicate with friends and family easily, especially those who live far away at a cheaper cost in comparison to making phone calls or travelling expenses. Mass media also keeps people up-to-date on events happening around the world within a short amount of time. For example, if a famous personality passed away; you will hear this immediately. Media keeps you informed. It also helps in other things like entertainment and gaining knowledge. Also Mass media is a good way to promote positive messages to teens. Since teens are immersed in media culture, it is wise to use that platform as a means to promote information and education about a variety of things that affect teenagers such as mental illnesses, sexually transmitted diseases, drug use or even suicide. â€Å"The More You Know† is an Emmy Award-winning series of Public Service Announcements(PSAs) which broadcasts on theNBCfamily of channels in the US and other locations. Even though not all of the messages given out are geared towards teens, many of these short, 90 minute commercials give messages that educate and inform teenagers of the possible consequences of certain behaviours.â€Å"The More You Know† has dealt with smoking, driving, suicide and even safe sex. Another good example is of Doves Real Beauty Campaign. With this campaign Dove has used their advertising for a greater good. Dove’s Real Beauty Campaigntargets self-esteem and has als o been selecting real women and girls in their campaigns rather than super thin models. They’ve also have taken a multi-media approach using an interactive website and in-person education to encourage girls, particularly to feel good about their bodies and appreciate themselves the way they are (Delp). Yes, media helps us cause awareness quite easily and the â€Å"The More You Know† and Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign are wonderful campaigns to raise awareness and help people with low-self-esteem but many teenagers are still widely exposed to ideal body types which are considered attractive therefore, it is hard to change their mind-set. It is important to be aware of mass media and the impact it has on teenagers, especially for parents, because they need to be aware of how it is affecting their child. If parents are more aware, they can be more understanding and helpful towards their children. The disadvantages are rather more important than the advantages because if one does not think about them then one will also not be able to come up with solutions and there can be severe consequences. Parents firstly need to realize that it is impossible to separate a teens life from media, especially in today’s world. However, parents can take the lead in restricting usage by spending more time with their teens and consistently discussing matters that are affecting mass media and teenagers. Parents should encourage their children for more outdoor activities as well limit the time their teenagers spend on the watching television and surfing the internet. Also since advertising is a very powerful tool, it could be used in a more positive way to put better influence on teenagers. Mass media has both negative and positive influences on teenagers as it can be seen from the points mentioned above. While I do not deny nor disregard the fact that mass media has indeed made lives easier, its negative influences still outweigh the positive ones in my opinion. As the famous saying goes, that everything is good in moderation. Therefore the extensive usage of mass media is now leading to more problems than the benefits it is providing us with. Bibliography Atkin CK, Strasberger VC, Comstock GA (eds). (1993). Effects of media alcohol messages on adolescent audiences. Adolescent Medicine: State of the Art Reviews, 527-541. Delp, V. (n.d.). Mass Media and Teenagers. Retrieved from Love To Know Teens: http://teens.lovetoknow.com/Mass_Media_and_Teenagers Gentile, D. A., Anderson, C. A. (2003). Violent video games: The newest media violence hazard. D. A. Gentile (Ed.), Media violence and children. Irvine, M. (2008, September 16). Survey: 97 Percent Of Children Play Video Games. Retrieved from The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/16/survey-97-percent-of-chil_n_126948.html Mass media consumption in adolescence. (2005). An Pediatr (Barc), 63, 516-525. Matthews, J.L. (2007). Hidden sexism: Facial prominence and its connections to gender and occupational status in popular print media. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 57, 515-525. N, S. (1987). Drinking, sex, and violence on television: The cultural indicators perspective. 17, 245-260. P, Z. (1995). Wise Up to Teens: Insights into Marketing and Advertising to Teenagers. Roberts DF, Henriksen L, Christenson PG. (1999). Substance use in popular movies and music. Zeiger, S. (n.d.). The Media Affects a Teens Body Image. Retrieved from Love to know teens: http://teens.lovetoknow.com/The_Effects_Media_Has_on_Teenagers_Body_Image

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Main Themes in a Farewell to Arms

Written in 1929 by Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms has always been considered a classic piece of literature. A major source of the novel's success is how its themes tied into real life experiences during the First World War. While soldiers of the war fought for their country, they searched for love to escape total chaos and destruction. The two main themes in A Farewell to Arms are the gruesome reality of war and the relationship between love and pain. The first main theme of A Farewell to Arms is the devastation that war brings. Just as the title explains, A Farewell to Arms deals primarily with the process by which the protagonist, Frederic Henry, disconnects himself from the war and leaves it behind. While there are a few characters in the novel who actually support the effort, such as Ettore Moretti, a majority of the characters remain uncertain about the war, angry of the complete devastation it causes, and unconvinced of the splendor it supposedly brings. For example, while Henry and Passini discuss the war, Henry says, â€Å"I believe we should get the war over†¦ It would not finish if one side stopped fighting. It would only be worse if we stopped fighting† (Chapter 9, Page 49). The second main theme of the novel is the connection between love and pain. While the war takes place, Hemingway depicts the true, mysterious behavior of love. Although Catherine mourns for her dead fiance, she quickly begins to seduce Henry. Her intentions for courting Henry are obvious, that is she wants to separate herself from the pain of losing her fiance by finding a new love to fill the void. Likewise, Henry attempts to distance himself from the war as much as possible. By doing so, Henry and Catherine find comfort within each other from the dilemmas that surround them. Just like they fell in love with each other, Henry's feelings for Catherine pass just as quickly as he witnesses her death. As he gives farewell to Catherine's body, Henry says, â€Å"But after I got them to leave and shut the door and turned off the light it wasn't any good. It was like saying good-by to a statue. After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to he hotel in the rain† (Chapter 41, Page 332). Although Henry and Catherine genuinely loved each other, Henry's heart is now void without the companionship of Catherine. The tragedy of A Farewell to Arms is that their love, although authentic, can never be more than temporary. In my opinion, I enjoyed this novel for a few reasons. First, A Farewell to Arms is a semi-autobiography about Hemingway and his time fighting in the Italian campaigns during World War I. Secondly, the novel is able to give perspective of the troubles and triumphs of those soldiers that fought during the war. Finally, the mysterious love that Henry and Catherine have for each other proved to be interesting and unusual. In conclusion, A Farewell to Arms proved to be a masterpiece in my opinion. While addressing the struggles and feats of those soldiers who fought during World War I, we are able to dive into the conscious of a unique fighter who parts himself from the war as much as possible while trying to find true love, even though the reasoning behind finding love was only to help escape from the war.

Friday, January 10, 2020

The Tried and True Method for Persuasive Essay Samples with Citations in Step by Step Detail

The Tried and True Method for Persuasive Essay Samples with Citations in Step by Step Detail What the In-Crowd Won't Tell You About Persuasive Essay Samples with Citations When you revise your essay, you've got to make sure its organization is completely appropriate to your intended audience, the paper context, and the objective. Until then, you may use these superb suggestions to help you compose the ultimate persuasive essay for your next college undertaking. Students often stress about trying to find utile persuasive essay tips and searching for ideas since they feel it's an uphill job, but the important thing is to understand the essence and make an appropriate outline first by planning for it correctly. A Real Estate company unlike any other centered on the mission of constructing a network of career-minded pros who strive to cultivate their company and their future. Whenever you choose to ask us for skilled aid, don't hesitate to get in touch with our support managers. A n essay writing service can be an important teaching and learning tool for everybody involved with education. The necessity to enforce laws that were introduced into action is vital in the event the authorities would like to have the gun control policies to have a result. One of such problems involve the minimal enthusiasm of students as soon as it comes to such topic. New Step by Step Roadmap for Persuasive Essay Samples with Citations Today, it's quite apparent that effective communication is among the most crucial and valuable facets of a social relationship, no matter whether this relationship is personal, organization, or possibly a medical one. It's evident that year-round schooling isn't the very best alternative for the school calendar. Thus, persuasive essay encompasses plenty of requirements that ought to be upheld. In such situations, finding persuasive essays is actually tough. The Little-Known Secrets to Persuasive Essay Samples with Citations To begin with, le t's define the forms of argument available and strategies that you could follow. As it is simple to recognize, it all starts with a suitable argument. The major element which produces a persuasive essay in English stand out from the remainder of assignments is the use of reasoning. Start by utilizing simple words. New Step by Step Roadmap for Persuasive Essay Samples with Citations As any guide on the best way to compose a persuasive essay will inform you, your essay has to be organized in paragraphs with a logical progression from 1 paragraph to the next. When you compose a persuasive essay speech make certain that it is both factual and informative. Importantly, you ought to think about how to compose argumentative essay introduction and help it become effective. Know the aim of your essay. Anyway, appropriate citations should adhere to these quotes. There are a lot of suggestions you should follow to make certain that you compose an effective and convincing persuasive essay. There are lots of additional references you should think about when writing a persuasive essay. Providing the reader with the fundamental summary of the organization of the discussion helps to ensure that the stream of thought is understood in the entire essay body. At the conclusion of reading this kind of essay, the audience should clearly understand the matter or controversy and have sufficient info to make an educated decision about the problem. Before making your final decision, however, you ought to take a better look at the beneficial and negative aspects of both situations. For that reason, it's essential to learn how to approach any issue with a strong focus on solving it. Third, buying a persuasive model essay is great for your academic and professional future, as you're more li kely to get the outcomes you're seekinga superior grade, for instance, or the capacity to graduate earlier. There are a sizable number of such companies providing essay writers, but should you decide on this path, due diligence is important to make certain that the job will be finished right. The significance of research in persuasive writing can't be overstated. You may be struggling with a challenging project and lacking the bandwidth necessary to compose a fantastic persuasive essay.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Florida State University Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA

Florida State University is a public research university with an acceptance rate of 37%. Along with the  University of Florida, Florida State University is a flagship campus of Floridas state university system. The FSU campus lies just west of downtown Tallahassee and is a half hour drive from the Gulf of Mexico. Academically, Florida State University has wide-ranging strengths, from music and dance to the sciences, that have earned it a chapter of  Phi Beta Kappa. The Florida State Seminoles compete in the  Atlantic Coast Conference. Considering applying to FSU? Here are the admissions statistics you should know, including average SAT/SAT scores and GPAs of admitted students. Acceptance Rate During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, Florida State University had an acceptance rate of 37%. This means that for every 100 students who applied, 37 students were admitted, making FSUs admissions process competitive. Admissions Statistics (2017-18) Number of Applicants 50,314 Percent Admitted 37% Percent Admitted Who Enrolled (Yield) 34% SAT Scores and Requirements FSU requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 65% of admitted students submitted SAT scores. SAT Range (Admitted Students) Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile ERW 610 680 Math 590 670 ERW=Evidence-Based Reading and Writing This admissions data tells us that most of FSUs admitted students fall within the top 20% nationally on the SAT. For the evidence-based reading and writing section, 50% of students admitted to Florida State scored between 610 and 680, while 25% scored below 610 and 25% scored above 680. On the math section, 50% of admitted students scored between 590 and 670, while 25% scored below 590 and 25% scored above 670. Applicants with a composite SAT score of 1350 or higher will have particularly competitive chances at FSU. Requirements Florida State does not require the SAT writing section or SAT Subject tests. Note that FSU participates in the scorechoice program, which means that the admissions office will consider your highest score from each individual section across all SAT test dates. ACT Scores and Requirements Florida State requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 35% of admitted students submitted ACT scores. ACT Range (Admitted Students) Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile English 26 32 Math 24 28 Composite 26 32 This admissions data tells us that most of Florida States admitted students fall within the top 18% nationally on the ACT. The middle 50% of students admitted to FSU received a composite ACT score between 26 and 30, while 25% scored above 30 and 25% scored below 26. Requirements Florida State does not require the ACT writing section. Unlike many universities, FSU superscores ACT results; your highest subscores from multiple ACT sittings will be considered. GPA In 2018, the middle 50% of Florida State Universitys incoming class had high school GPAs between 4.1 and 4.5. 25% had a GPA above 4.5 and 25% had a GPA below 4.1. These results suggest that most successful applicants to Florida State have primarily A grade. Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph Florida State University Applicants Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph. Data courtesy of Cappex. The admissions data in the graph is self-reported by applicants to Florida State University. GPAs are unweighted. Find out how you compare to accepted students, see the real-time graph, and calculate your chances of getting in  with a free Cappex account. Admissions Chances Florida State University, which accepts just over a third of applicants, has a selective admissions process. If your SAT/ACT scores and GPA fall within the schools average ranges, you have a strong chance of being accepted. However, FSU has a holistic admissions process that takes into consideration the rigor of your high school courses, not simply your grades. The university requires a minimum of four units each in English and math, three units each in natural science and social science, and two units of a single world language. Youll be more competitive if you exceed these minimums and your academic record includes challenging AP, IB, and Honors courses. Also, an upward trend in your high school grades will be viewed much more favorably than a downward trend. While Florida State does not require an application essay, they strongly recommend that applicants complete the optional essay. Students with particularly compelling stories or achievements can still receive serious consideration even if their test scores are outside FSUs average range. Applicants who plan to major in dance, film, music, or theatre should visit the universitys admissions website to learn about audition and portfolio requirements and deadlines for their intended major. In the scattergram  above, the blue and green dots represent accepted students. You can see that the great majority of successful applicants had B or higher averages, SAT scores (ERWM)  of about 1050 or higher, and ACT composite scores of 20 or higher. About 75% of admitted students had a combined SAT score of 1100 or higher and/or an ACT composite score of 25 or better. Higher numbers clearly improve your chances of getting an acceptance letter, and few students with A averages and well above average SAT scores were rejected.   All admissions data has been sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics and Florida State Universitys Undergraduate Admissions Office.