No friendly moon was there to light this unfamiliar path; only a pitch-black night, so dark and foreboding that I could not see my hand in front of my face. Even Conqueror’s sharp eyes soon lost the trail, forcing me to dismount and wrestle through heavy, wet vines, and walk on tangled roots and rocks in my bare feet; but I fought on. My life was shattered. I turned my back on the only world I knew when I relinquished my sword and took on the garb of a common beggar. My father was gone, I had given up my kingdom and all of my possessions, and I found myself lost and alone. I could have gone back, it wasn’t too late. But soon it would be when the power-vacuum that I created began to flood with ambitious men, then I would become a threat to whomever had an eye on my throne. But “going back,” and “retreat” were not words that this warrior had ever understood. At least in battle I had control, but that control now slipped away, as I really faced myself for the first time. I had no idea where to go or what would be my fate; all I knew was that something was telling me to live in the forest and look inward for the key, but I was uncertain how to do either. My father’s death impacted me much greater than I had expected, to such a degree that an irreversible transformation was taking place deep inside of me, and it was quickly deepening. Perhaps it took that kind of a shock; a father’s death, to shatter youthful illusions of life’s exuberance and excitement. And now, because of that shock, troubling and seemingly unanswerable questions plagued me, questions that only a few days ago seemed irrelevant; a few days ago when I was still able to escape into my fantasies. When I was a child growing up, I knew well the secretive high priests of the court. They indoctrinated my young, impressionable mind with ideas from their books, and they assured me that if I would only believe what they said and follow their guarded instructions; I would someday live with my creator in heaven forever. But I always wondered, behind their backs, what or who my creator was, and speculated that perhaps the priest’s ideas were more in the realm of children’s fairy tales, tiptoeing around serious answers with a secretiveness that only enhanced their power and relevance in the court. Why not come face to face with my creator right now, before I died? They never taught me how to do that! And anyway, what would a king do in heaven for eternity? I was determined to find some real answers to my many questions. If heaven was merely a tool in the clever hands of these manipulative priests to control my behavior and enhance their power, and there really was no after-life, then I suppose when I was gone . . . I was gone! But there remained a problem; where I was before I was born? What was I before I was born? Was I a “nothing,” something that materialized by accident to experience a very brief existence, before again returning to “nothing” for eternity? I could not even imagine eternity! Would I then spend forever in a deep sleep that would pass like a dreamless night; quickly and without consciousness where I would close my eyes one moment and greet the dawn the next? That idea was comforting, except for the fact, of course, that dawn would never come! Perhaps the discontentment that incessantly crept into my mind required consciousness and memory. I would not have to worry about those two things in a deep sleep; and who could devise a hell so perfect without them? Would I ever truly understand? Would my sincerest questions ever be answered? I had been on the earth for thirty-two years now, and for some reason found myself thirsting for knowledge. We fought through the snarled undergrowth for weeks, lost in an endless forest and barely surviving on an occasional mango or banana and the little water we could find in puddles here and there. One evening, just as the forest was in the midst of its nocturnal serenade, I settled down amongst the uneven bed of twisted vines to get some rest, trusting that the soothing, rhythmic cadence of the locusts and sounds of the creatures hunting and hiding in the tanglements would soon lull me to sleep. It was barely past dusk; that time of day when the forest slowly surrenders its colors and the outlines of the trees become blurred in the fading light, when Conqueror whinnied and stared up at the sky. I followed the horse’s eyes and was surprised to see an intense point of light darting back and forth in the upper branches of the trees as if signaling us to follow. This strange, intelligent, firefly-like light was so mesmerizing and enchanting that I fought through the underbrush to see what it was and where it was leading us. Its brilliance slowly increased, taking on a powerful green hue as we broke out of the underbrush and found ourselves in a beautiful meadow, the first open area we had encountered since entering the forest. Like a huge, glowing lantern, the light slowly descended, while I just stood there gawking with my mouth wide open. Suddenly, the ball of light flitted toward us and landed on a rock next to where we were standing, growing increasingly brighter until I was forced to shield my one good eye for a moment. What happened next was unbelievable; the brilliant light transformed itself into a stunning, small female being with an extremely luminescent, transparent quality about her. She was only three feet tall, a nymph, with delicate hands and feet, and wearing a stunning blue robe that was emitting powerful, bluish-green streams of light. Her eyes were large, twice normal size, and were mysteriously dark and piercing. I felt as if they were looking straight into my heart. This illogical, apparent apparition understandably entranced me, and the intrigue only intensified when she began talking without moving her lips, with her voice mystically appearing in my mind. “Do not be frightened,” her words flashed in my head. “I have always been with you. I was at your side when you mother died. Later, we played together many times. You could see me then because your mind was unobstructed, not yet smothered by worldly illusions. When you were older, daring yourself to walk the thin ledge at the top of the castle, I was the one that kept you from falling. And when you grew into a young man, I was with you on the battlefields protecting you from mortal wounds. “You can see me now because your mind is once again open, like that of a small child, a result of your forsaking the pleasures of the world in order to seek the key. Only when your mind is clear, as it is now, will I be visible. Whether or not you see me, however, I will always be with you. But remember; do not rely on me. My assistance will come when your best efforts are exhausted and you are forsaken; only then will I be there. I am your helper being, my name is Ariya.” Unexpectedly, I had a flashback of walking the high ledge of the castle and something telling me to be careful just as I almost stepped on a loose section of the wall, which would have most certainly been my early demise. Then she stopped “talking” and just stood there, staring at me with those incredibly piercing eyes. “Am I dreaming,” I asked. “No, my king, you are starting to come out of your dream. The great warrior you have been is nothing compared to the warrior that you must become if you truly seek the key. This is a new and completely different battle that must be fought, and it must be fought wisely as a tree bends with the wind. The weapons you have relied upon in the past, your swords and knives; they are now useless. The key is deep inside, guarded by a great dragon, the terrifying Dragon of Atta. This fearsome being keeps the key hidden securely in his den, laughing at the power of the world, for the world and all its weapons cannot touch him.” Now I was truly lost. The only weapons I could count on were my mighty sword and crossbow. What other weapons could be powerful enough to slay a dragon? “I guess I will need some help,” I said, “I am confused. All I know is that something is driving me.” “Yes,” she replied, “something beyond yourself is pushing you to develop The Three Great Weapons of the Spirit. If you ever expect to face this ferocious dragon someday, you must become skilled with these weapons. Exceptional masters will train you in proficiency with each weapon, but you must follow their teachings precisely, mastering one weapon at a time before going on to the next. Dreadful results will be your fate if you take short cuts.” What in the world was she talking about . . . spirit and masters? This made no sense at all. “I’m sorry, you have lost me,” I said, shaking my head. Her expression turned serious, “I want you to remember one thing; there will be intuitive urges that nudge you in directions that your logical mind will laugh at. You must learn how to detect these intuitive urges so that you can follow them, for they will take you to silent, powerful areas in your heart, areas that you must reach if you ever hope to fight this most powerful of all dragons. These subtle urges will be heard as small, silent voices, so quiet and unassuming in many ways, but emotionally commanding in others. And they must be pursued regardless of risk. They are very delicate, these tiny voices, and can be easily overruled by your strong logic and common sense, so be very discerning when deciding which voice to obey. I can only encourage you to always follow the subtle urges in your heart, for everything worthwhile comes from there.” I was confused. “You don’t explain things very well,” I said, “I agree that it must have been that small voice that led me into the forest, and it certainly would have to be powerful to do that, but I don’t know what to do now. I know nothing about the forest.” She smiled, with those stunning and irresistible eyes, so piercing that they pained my heart, and said, “You need no knowledge for this unusual quest, and soon you will discover that knowledge and learning will actually hinder you. Simply allow your heart to lead, not your head, and then let everything else fall away. Never fear the consequences. “Keep these things that I have just said in mind for the long journey ahead, for if you follow your heart, you will surely find the key.” Suddenly, her form began shrinking back into a point of light. “Wait,” I cried out, “Wait,” but it was too late; the point of light was rising into the treetops. I stared after her in amazement unsure of what I had just witnessed, but one thing I was certain of; I wasn’t dreaming, because Conqueror watched her large eyes as intently as I did during the entire encounter. ( To be continued) E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, .SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-nine years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit .AYearToEnlightenment.com

July 17, 2008

One way of making money online is through promoting a product through writing an article about it. 1) Choose a product to promote and research it There are many people writing blog, reviews online and they promote all these through article marketing. At first, it is difficult to write articles most especially, the beginners. But experience makes them perfect, faster and more proficient. It takes time to learn product research and write about it. Choose a topic or product to write that you really know, this will be easier on your part, and take note, that results depends on the popularity of the product and competition. There are many people that might promote same product and the more popular the product is, the better. However, for a good start, try to look for a less popular product and learn to get it traffic faster. Tip: Brainstorm keywords

To most of the people, resume objective is just part of the resume. However, it is actually very critical as it helps to provide the employer with a good brief glimpse of the candidate’s working experiences and qualification, with his/her previous achievements and promotions, as compared to the new desired position. It has been advised by professional job seekers to keep one’s resume objective as clear and concise as possible. Here are some resume objective tips which need to be highlighted. As the objective is in the first paragraph, having mention the candidate’s key talent and potential is essential to increase his/her chances to get short-listed. Therefore the candidate should always remember to include his capabilities, accomplishments, work history, job promotions and job goal if he/she wants to get the necessary attention and increase the opportunity to be called for an interview. Don’t let your resume hanging there with general statement, such as: ‘to seek for new opportunities’, ‘to get more exposure’ and others. The Human Resources personnel would have received hundreds of resume per week with such general objective being written. A savvy job seeker should be good in expressing his skills, and the relation of these skills with the new role. For example, if you have been in a customer service position for 5 years, then getting the position as a customer service manager will be easier than getting a job as a production manager as your previous and current expertise relates well with the new job. Make sure the resume key objective has some added values to the new company. This is not the same as providing a reason as why you want the job, because it is a new challenge or opportunity to you, but rather on how you can sell your skills to benefit the new employer instead. This document is to help the employer to assess whether you would be the right candidate for the position they are highly seeking for. Last but not least, it is important to include an objective statement when you are targeting for a specific job, so that you can relevantly relate your strengths directly to what the company needs. At the end of this article, I’d like to share cool websites with more tips on topics like resume objective tips and how to write a resume . Visit for more information.

My son’s been taking karate for 4 years, and every time he tests for the next rank (he’s up to his brown now), fewer kids who started with him as white belts test alongside him. It’s not that Matt’s necessarily a better athlete than they are, but karate is more important to him. He likes learning the forms, and he enjoys surviving a two hour, physically grueling test knowing that most of his friends would have been flattened in the first 20 minutes. When aspiring writers start identifying themselves as authors, just as Matt sees himself as a martial artist, they’ve taken that first big step toward success. But there’s a difference between wanting to see your name on a book, and wanting a career as a children’s book author. Anyone with a few bucks can publish their own story, and many books are perfectly suited to be self-published titles given to family and friends. The career mentality, however, is more complex. Check out some common characteristics below and see how you measure up: Humility: When I get emails from people saying, “I’m going to be the next Dr. Seuss,” I cringe. Confidence is fine, but don’t compare yourself to someone like Dr. Seuss right out of the gate. In fact, don’t compare yourself to anyone. Work on finding your own style and voice. And know that you don’t have to become a literary institution to be a success. Learning to write well is a lifelong process, and the writers who get published understand that each manuscript, whether it sells or not, teaches them something. They’re not afraid to be critiqued or edited. They’ve put their heart into a book or article, and then removed their ego. They understand that if their critique group or editor says a plot is too predictable, it’s far better to chuck the storyline and start over than to fight to preserve a mediocre manuscript. And they’re grateful for the input that saved them from dozens of rejection letters. Will Work for Resumé: Successful authors know that their query letters are more impressive if they can list some publishing credits. They’re willing to write for little or no money at first, because the experience of meeting a deadline and working with an editor is invaluable. They may decide to sell one story to a magazine that buys all rights so their next story can be sold to a bigger publication that purchases first rights only. They’ll submit to local magazines, regional publishers and small presses as they perfect their manuscripts intended for larger, national publishers. Well-published authors don’t overlook any market that might be right for a particular work. And when you’re just starting out, seeing your byline in a local parenting publication is just as satisfying as appearing in Highlights for Children. ‘Tensity: Matt’s karate teacher urges him to be intense about his practice, and Matt’s dubbed this mindset “‘tensity.” The prolific writers I know think the same way. Though most have families and jobs, they live, eat and breathe writing. Any spare moment is devoted to working on a manuscript. Free weekends are spent at conferences and workshops. When they’re not writing, they’re reading children’s books. As soon as they get one manuscript in the mail, they start the next one. In fact, super successful authors work on several manuscripts at once. If they’re uninspired to revise a scene from their novel, they’ll write a query for an article idea or do research for a picture book biography. You don’t have to maintain this level of activity to become published. Most writers don’t. But if you want to make a living as a children’s book author, if you want your web site to list 50 or more books in print, then it’s practically required. Plays the Field: Well-published authors don’t limit themselves to one genre. They’ll write picture books, novels, short stories for magazines, poetry, nonfiction, and material for adult markets such as parenting magazines or writing newsletters. After one book comes out they don’t wait for their editor to ask for another manuscript; they create what inspires them and if it’s not right for their current editor, they market it someplace else. In fact, it’s more difficult to get widely-published if you only write one type of book. A publisher carries a limited number of titles per season, and the editor of your middle grade novel might not appreciate your having another novel for the same age group come out with a different publisher simultaneously. But a magazine article or nonfiction picture book won’t compete with a book for older kids, and still gets your name in front of reviewers and book buyers. Successful authors don’t dabble in writing now and then, they embrace it and do whatever it takes to get published because it’s what they want more than anything else. So dive in, work with ‘tensity, and send us a quote for our web site when you hit the jackpot. For more writing tips visit cbiclubhouse.com

Selecting a gift for an infant is probably the most difficult job one can be assigned. In the first place, infants are too small to judge a gift on its appropriateness or utility, and secondly, you can never be sure of what an infant would like. Unique personalized baby gifts are the way to go. If you know the infant well, and are familiar with its traits, you can personalize your gift in a manner such that the infant just adores it. You can add the baby’s name and draw cartoons or pictures of animals, fruits and buildings to soothe the child’s sense of sight. This might also turn out to be educational for the young brain. Once the child likes what he sees, there is no way that he would not accept the gift, so make sure your gift looks good. Apart from good looks, the gift should feel great. Plush toys are a great example of this kind. Remember, the softer the toy, more are the baby’s chances of loving it. Most of us would know that babies carry their teddies and soft toys along with them to every place they go. From the dinner table to the bathroom, the teddy is a companion everywhere. Therefore, it becomes all the more important that the plush toy is such that the baby simple adores it at the first sight. You can also design some cool baby gifts of your own. For example, you can add retro to the baby’s t-shirts or cotton clothes, and give him the hippy look. You can also add some iron-on graphics to the clothes to make the baby look cool. Again, it is not advisable to play too much with the baby’s hair or skin, so it is better that tattooing and hair-styling are avoided, especially when the baby is too small. Name plates, with a funky edge are also cool. You can carve out a name plate in the shape of a guitar or a nose ring or even in the shape of a famous tattoo. Gifts, around rock music theme and rock stars can also be designed, you just need some ingenuity of yours, and you can create a great and unique personalized baby gift. Twins baby gifts can be a little hard to come by. Most people opt for the simpler option of keeping a pair of every item in their gift baskets when it comes to gifting twins. You can add some personalization even when the gifts are meant to be for the twins. Most of this can be done when your gift refers to the uniqueness in identity of each child, as in the case of name plates. Both the name plates can be designed for each child with their names and birth times added on each plate. You can also design a single plate with slots for two names and birth timings corresponding to each name. There are a lot many ideas when it comes to gifting, make sure that you don’t get carried away with the number of options available in the market, and rather stick to your budget and priority preferences. This author lives in Hampton, NJ with her husband and 5 month old daughter and is an expert contributing author for a luxury baby baskets boutique offering variety of baby gift baskets, wholesale baby gifts, handprint footprint kits and more.

When we go to the book store, we see hundreds of books. Behind each of these books is an author who put lots of time, hard work, and dedication into writing their book. While there are hundreds of authors published, there are many more wannabe authors who either write a book and dream of getting it published, or dream of getting a book published that they have yet to write. How do you get a book published if you aren’t already an accomplished author? There are two main ways to get a book published: 1. Get a literary agent and publish through a traditional author. This is how we most often think of getting a book published. How do you get a literary agent? First, you write a book, short stories, or whatever it is you want to get published and start your career with. Then, you send out query letters to literary agents that you are interested in. A query letter is just a letter asking an agent to consider your piece. It is similar to a sales piece. Be very brief but try to catch their attention. Don’t include an excerpt. If they are interested, they will contact you. Once you’ve landed an agent that truly believes in your writing, talent, and book, they will help you find a publisher that feels the same way. When you are ready to get published, your agent and publisher will help you with marketing and all that good book publishing stuff. You could go directly to the publisher, but very few, if not no publishers will accept your work this way. The best way is to go through an agent because they are more trusted and will help you out a lot as well. 2..Self-publish your book. The second way to get a book published is to self-publish it. This way, you could either use a print-on-demand method where you don’t have to pay up front costs or only small costs, or you can use a self-publisher where you purchase a certain amount of books ahead of time. The latter option is often of better quality. The down-side to self-publishing is that you have to do all the marketing. There are no well-known agents or publishers that will get you noticed. Your best bet if you go this way is to study up and really learn about how to market a book before-hand. There are endless ways you can do it especially today with the internet. You need to learn about pre-selling the book before it’s even out and how to really get the word out. Also, with self-publishing, you are in charge of proofreading and making sure it’s perfect. There are no professional editors that are perfecting your piece that has years of experience with best-sellers, unless you are able to hire one. For some, this is a welcome challenge just like the marketing. For others, they aren’t even sure of their own talent and they want to let the editors and publishers decide if what they have is really all that good. You could choose either way. Some people try and try with traditional publishers and get turned down time after time. They believe their book has great potential and decide to self-publish. Sometimes they are a success, sometimes they fall flat on their face. I suggest you have trusted friends and family read your book before you go any route. Make sure they won’t just tell you what you want to hear but will be use constructive criticism on your book. Do you want to learn more about how to get a book published and writing? Don’t let your writing dreams wither away. Go to ExpressitinWords.com to learn more.

Headlines are the key to get attention of your visitors. They make first impressions and are responsible for as much as 90% of the site effectiveness. Headlines are responsible for starting the emotional triggers which culminate into sales. When your headline is strong and hard hitting, it motivates the readers to read more. Moreover headlines make readers at ease. They do not have to focus hard to find if the things you say or sell interests them. The headlines have to pull the customer into the copy. To be effective a headline must attract attention, communicate a strong benefit, appeal to emotion of the reader and tell reader what is in for him. Headline also sets the tone of your copy and help to chunk your writing, therefore making it easy to scan. How To Approach To Writing A Headline? Identify What To Write First of all identify benefits of your product or service. Now phrase them in a way that they are laced with emotional triggers and would appeal to emotions of your visitors Remember! People act due to their emotions. Then they justify their decisions by using logic. Write, Sieve, Select Now select the most meaningful benefits which you would think most users would look for.For each headline, you must write 7-10 headlines before you pickup one that you are going to use. Hit The Emotion Appeal to an emotion. Fear, loss,poverty, attraction, love, security are examples few strong emotions. Target Desires Think and focus basic human needs and desires. Family security, financial security, secure futures, health etc are few examples. This would motivate the reader to continue the reading. Write It Well The headline must stand on its own. This helps your visitor to understand it, and foresee where the conversation is likely heading. Remember you cannot convert everybody. Therefore do not worry about what non-targeted visitors. You are not writing for them you are writing for other type. Use Title case for writing a headline. Do not write in all capitals. Do not use multiple colors and fonts. That looks very unprofessional. You need to use strong active verbs to create powerful headlines with emotional impact. Arun Pal Singh is an internet marketing consultant and web author who runs website .homeforprofits.com to help online entrepreneurs with information and ready made products. Visit .homeforprofits.com to find how his information can provide the leverage that your business needs to grow and expand.

Term paper writing is one of most common requirements for an upper-division course such as one for which this book was probably assigned. Such term papers usually count for a significant part of their final grade. Up till now many, maybe most, students have never received formal instruction about how to write a good term paper. The following pages are meant to help students write an “A” paper by giving students some guidelines about how to go about their Term paper writing. To write a term paper students must first do some term, that is, investigate their topic by reading about it in many different sources, including books, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet. In some cases students may also conduct interviews. The information students gather from these sources is then used to support the points students make in their paper. Term paper writing also involves documenting their sources of information in footnotes or endnotes. This way the reader knows where students got their information and can judge whether it is reliable. Why do teachers give papers? Answering this question is a good place to start thinking about term papers because if students know why papers are such a common assignment, then perhaps students can approach task with added enthusiasm and dedication. When talking about term papers, students don’t ask, how to. What students must ask is what to. A term paper is a semester task. Some teachers prefer it as a summary work to show whether materials studied in class were first of all noted down carefully, second of all

Many publishers will no longer accept a proposal unless it comes from an agent. While agents don’t guarantee your book will be published, they can ensure that it gets a reading and advocate for you all along the process. You can find the right agent for you if you know where to look. Why use an agent An agent … * will critique your book proposal before it is submitted and make suggestions or edits to help you improve it. * knows which publishers are likely to be interested in your proposal. * can garner attention for your proposal and sell it faster than you can. * is your business representative and, as such, protects your best interests, secures advances, settles contract disputes, collects money, reviews royalty statements, ensures that publishers meet their contractual obligations, and host of other activities. * is your support system, guide, and cheerleader, which every author needs. * can bring a new editor up to date on you and your book if that becomes necessary. * only earns money when he or she sells your book proposal, which is a great motivator. * is your closest ally in the publishing process. How to Find an Agent * Start online by looking up The Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR), a not-for-profit organization of qualified literary agents. AAR provides resources to its members and protects the best interests of their clients. AAR agents are obligated to uphold integrity and the highest professional standards in all of their business dealings. Do not consider an agent who does not meet the rigorous standards of the AAR and the National Writers Union (NWU). * Check out on line and print directories. Jeff Herman’s book, Writer’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents, is invaluable. His online directory also lists agents’ e-mail addresses and websites. Writer’s Digest Books Guide to Literary Agents and Literary Market Place (LMP): The Directory of the American Book Publishing Industry are excellent sources and may be all you need. * Hardcover and trade paperback publishers produce catalogs to send to booksellers, libraries, and sales reps, which often include agents’ names and contact information. Browse bookstores shelves in the sections where your book might be. Check the dedication and acknowledgment pages of competitive books to see if the authors have thanked their editors and agents. * Let agents find you by getting your book published or publishing it yourself, then making sure the media knows about it. * And, of course, network, network, network. Go where writers and agents are likely to be, such as writing classes, readings, lectures, seminars, book signings, conferences, and book festivals. Join writers’ organizations, and attend meetings. Talk to people who have been published. Ask if they have used an agent, and don’t hesitate to request referrals. In my experience, writers are generous folks who are more than willing to share such information and support each other. What do agents want from you? Agents have different policies about what they want from potential authors. Most agents prefer the initial contact be made in writing. They may want anything from a one-page query letter to an entire manuscript. Check the agent’s policy before making any submission. Obviously, whatever you send should be neat, organized, accurate, and well written. This is your first impression; make it a positive one. A query letter is a one-page document that must entice the recipient to want to know more about your book. It is by definition concise, so every word must count. Its job, like that of a good resume, is to get you in the door. To do that, it must be informative and inviting — both steak and sizzle. In essence, a query letter is a mini-proposal, an encapsulation of your most salient points on a single piece of paper. A solid query letter is not something you dash off. It takes a great deal of thought and often many revisions. The agent not only wants to know what your book is about and why you are qualified as the author, but also how well you write. This letter may be the single most important piece of marketing you will do. How to deal with an agent, once you have one According to Lori Perkins, author of The Insider’s Guide to Getting an Agent (Writers’ Digest Books), there are ways to treat an agent and ways not to. On the plus side of the ledger are simple courtesies like saying thank you; keeping them posted on developments as they occur; educating yourself about the publishing industry; and, though it should seem obvious, always being completely honest. On the other hand … * Don’t expect miracles or the impossible. It’s in everyone’s best interest to sell your book. * Don’t second-guess their decisions. Agents will do everything possible to make you feel special and to get you a good deal. * When the deal doesn’t meet your expectations, don’t shoot the messenger. * Don’t be pushy about money or contracts. Pressure doesn’t speed up the process. * Don’t expect your agent to teach you to write, advance you money, or act as your attorney, therapist, or publicist. * Finally, if your agent thinks you need to do more work on your book or proposal, don’t be a prima donna. Ridley Pearson, the best-selling mystery writer, tells a story about a writer he referred to his agent. When the agent suggested some changes, the writer took offense and said no. He never got his book published, by the way. In this age of specialization, literary agents are no exception. Like doctors, they have specific niches. When you do research, begin with your particular genre. There’s no sense sending a query letter or proposal to someone who is not an expert in that area of nonfiction. Narrowing your search will increase your odds of success. Bobbi Linkemer is a ghostwriter, book-writing coach, and editor. She is also the author of 14 books. Bobbi has been a professional writer for 40 years, a magazine editor and journalist, and a book-writing teacher. Her clients range from Fortune 100 companies to entrepreneurs who want to enhance their credibility and build their businesses. Visit her Website at: .WriteANonfictionBook.com