# How to Solve your job search woes - Full Content > Learn how to find a job faster --- ## 14 Easy Ways for Authors to sell more Books URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/14-easy-ways-for-authors-to-sell-more-books/ # I came up with 14 easy ways for authors to sell more books because I think you need this article in a major way. Writing books is just half the battle. To make this hard work worth your while, you must promote your works well then make a decent amount of sales on them to get a true return on investment for the time you spent writing them.   That’s the bottom line, right? I have your back in helping you increase your writing revenue. Here are 14 easy ways for authors to sell more books.   ## Reading Books Constantly ## 14 Easy Ways for Authors to Sell More Books It’s important to read literature nearly every day. This will help teach you the proper rules for punctuation, grammar, tone and structure besides giving you ideas for things to write on.   ### Having Good Writing Skills The second most critical of my 14 easy ways for authors to sell more books is to write your books well. They must be free of spelling/grammar errors, have a good flow plus good structure and be kind to readers’ eyes. Unless you’re creating adult books, omit vulgar language from your works.   #### Continuing to write The more works you crank out, the more sales you’ll likely get, even if it’s just a few for now. First, it’s a numbers game in that some books attract more buyers than others and the more you have out there, the more natural it is to get a sale here and there. Second, each time you release literature, you regain exposure from readers, search engines and online book retailers.   #### Combining Books into a Series If you have a favorite character in mind, one you think you can run away with, consider producing multiple books on it. If you do a great job, some of your readers will likely purchase each book in this series and other works you make or have made.   #### Running Price Experiments • Consider changing the prices for your items that are getting few or no sales, as some books sell differently at different price points. • Although it’s smart to charge 99 cents to $1.99 for flash fiction and short stories, I urge you to not charge less than $2.99 for your works containing at least 5,000 words because this is arguably the most effective e-book price. • You deserve to earn a fair return on such labor as this and you don’t want to convey that these items aren’t worth much.   #### Offering Discounts Offering your works at a reduced price for a short time frame can spur action, and this has worked for me. If you enroll your works in Amazon’s DTP program, you’ll have an easy opportunity to feature each book of yours in their Kindle Countdown Deals promotions every few months.    #### Offering Multiple Formats Providing your books in the form of an e-book, a paperback, a hardback and possibly an audio book will expand your reach to those who want many ways to read what they buy. I make e-book and paperback sales as an author.   #### Making a Good First Impression Having a powerful cover, title, blurb and book preview plus starting your book with a dramatic, attention-grabbing sentence will enhance your chances of getting the sale. I learned a lot about writing fiction blurbs through this source.    #### Marketing If you don’t promote your new releases, not many people are likely to know about them. Tell your family and friends about them. List them on book promotion and advertising sites. Spread the word to your email subscribers and on your own website.   #### Having a Solid Author Website This is a potent medium for showcasing all your written creations; better yet, it’s cost-effective. I invite you to study my entire website to get a solid idea of how to write your site after you finish reading this post. I recommend creating your website with WordPress.   #### Creating an Outline for all your Works Before you begin writing any book you have in mind, make notes of what you want to do regarding your action scenes, your plot, your dialogues, etc. This should save you a lot of time from trying to write everything on the spur of the moment and thus enable you to produce more books in less time.   #### Using Proper Keywords and Categories Every time you’re in the process of self-publishing your items (assuming this is the route you want to take), make sure to set powerful, relevant keyword phrases for your books and to place them in the categories that best represent their genre. This will make it easier for readers to find your materials and for Amazon to properly categorize them.    #### Receiving Effective Author Newsletters Sign up to get helpful author newsletters. I recommend Sandra Beckwith.   #### Creating Relevant How-to Guides The last of my 14 easy ways for authors to sell more books is to write how-to or self-help manuals based on things you’re good at and you think will interest a wide audience on top of creating fiction works. This will naturally provide you more revenue opportunity; more importantly, I have made more sales on my how-to works than I have for my fiction works – 41 sales for my touch typing guide and 28 sales for my tennis lesson guide to this day.   That’s a wrap on 14 easy ways for authors to sell more books. Follow these steps to increase your sales. To visit my author tips page, click here. View my homepage here.   Learn 14 Easy Ways for Authors to sell more Books Table of Contents Toggle - I came up with 14 easy ways for authors Reading Books Constantly - 14 Easy Ways for Authors to Sell More Books Having Good Writing Skills Continuing to write - Combining Books into a Series - Running Price Experiments - Offering Discounts - Offering Multiple Formats - Making a Good First Impression - Marketing - Having a Solid Author Website - Creating an Outline for all your Works - Using Proper Keywords and Categories - Receiving Effective Author Newsletters - Creating Relevant How-to Guides --- ## 19 Easy Ways to create Author Time URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/19-easy-ways-to-create-author-time/ # Why did I opt to write a post on 19 easy ways to create author time? Being a writer is hard work and requires a lot of time and effort. The more time you make for yourself as a writer by more efficiently doing what you do on an everyday basis, the better. Here are 19 easy ways to create author time: ## Discover 19 Easy Ways to Create Author Time   ## 1. Once you lie down to nap, even for just up to half an hour, you may easily oversleep and not wake up to your alarm clock. Before lying down, sit up in bed and try to keep your sleep time between two and ten minutes.   ### 2. Try to avoid lying down for a nap after 4:00 PM local time. If you go to bed for a nap after this time, you’re likely to oversleep and sleep at least an hour and a half – this in turn can make you drowsier and more tired.   #### 3. If you have trouble fighting the tendency to keep falling back into bed for more nap time, get up and have at least 20 sips of cold water then walk around for a few minutes. If this doesn’t do the trick, sit on a chair and sleep for up to 10 minutes – that should get you up for good.   #### 4. If you think you simply can’t afford to lie down to sleep on any given afternoon or early evening, put items such as a jacket, backpack and shoe box on your pillow and in the middle of your bed, then keep them there. If you remove them, you’re giving in and asking for it in regard to lying down and over-napping.   #### 5. This component of 19 easy ways to create author time is to refuse to lie down when you start feeling drowsy before it’s time to go to bed, especially if you must go to work in the morning, in which case going to bed prematurely may rob you of too much writing time. The more sleep you have just had over the last several hours or the last few days and the more emphatically you say no to overrule your body trying to make you go to bed now, the more likely you are to be victorious.   #### 6. Stand up some during your computer sessions, especially at night when you’re more prone to doze off while sitting at your computer station. • I make sure to stand up for about five to seven minutes frequently, especially if I had an unproductive night the previous night. • Setting a timer next to your computer every 10 minutes or so can also help you in the event you fall asleep. • Snacking on something like almonds can help keep you awake while you’re on the computer.   #### 7. If you like to snack while cooking meals, limit much of that to taking a few bites in between stirs. If you must wait a few minutes to stir what’s in your pan/pot/skillet and you already have everything you planned to fix for the meal heating up, you have nothing to lose time-wise by munching on something such as nuts or shredded cheese.   #### 8. If you like to eat something such as salsa that you may freeze before preparing your meal, double check to make sure it’s not still in the freezer a few hours before you start cooking. • This may make all the difference for enabling you to avoid going to bed for the night prematurely and thus not getting all your writing and other work done before walking out the door the next day at your preferred time. • Let me clarify by stating that I once had a cooking experience in which if I had my salsa ready to eat for a few minutes before it was time to begin meal prep, I probably would have been too absorbed in what I was doing for my body to conquer me into forcing me to go to bed sooner than I planned.   #### 9. Once you’re very familiar with your recipe for a particular dish, you only need to look at it toward the end of your preparation stage to make sure you put in all necessary ingredients. Stopping to look at your recipe frequently can cost you about five minutes of time.   #### 10. If an item you’re slicing over your dish is messy such as a red beet, wipe off your knife and the hand you’re using to hold the item as you go, so you have more ease pushing off slices that hang onto your knife and so that the item you’re still cutting up doesn’t fall into your dish. If you can’t efficiently slice the beet over your pot and you’re afraid you may cut yourself on any given day, start chopping up the beet on a cutting board.   #### 11. The 11th step of 19 easy ways to create author time is to unsubscribe from emails which don’t usually provide helpful content and those which feature large popup boxes which block your view of content you want to read and don’t give you the option of closing them out or moving them out of the way.   #### 12. If you choose to lightly cook blueberries and carrot slices for your dog, separate these from what you’re cooking for yourself, so you don’t spend many minutes trying to fish out these items from your cookware.   #### 13. Take meats and any fresh vegetables you choose to freeze such as leafy greens, radishes and zucchini that’s for tonight’s dinner plus any food you have frozen for your dog out of the freezer at least a few hours before you plan to cook so you don’t waste at least 10 minutes defrosting this stuff in the microwave before preparing your meal or serving your dog supper. Double check to make sure you have taken out everything you need.   #### 14. Whenever you’re in the middle of writing a book, try to spend at least 10 minutes adding to your book at the beginning of your first computer session daily. If you spend too much time looking at email, surfing, doing paid surveys and other things during your first one or two sessions, you will likely go to bed without having done any writing, especially if you must go to work upon waking up.   #### 15. If you have a less than fully house-trained dog consistently hovering or pacing around you, let or take it outside now and wait for it to potty, which shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. This will save you time from having to constantly watch your dog to make sure he doesn’t potty in the house or having to let her urinate in the house then change her dog pee pads and clean the floor where she relieved herself with Pine-Sol.   #### 16. Stand up while you’re thinking of what to write when working on your books, letters and email submissions. You may be surprised how easily it is to fall asleep and sleep up to an hour while gathering your thoughts at your computer.   #### 17. If you plan to bake something such as a pot pie whose baking time is about an hour, immediately put this in the oven for your supper upon arriving home from work then do all you need to do while baking your item then letting it cool for up to 25 minutes. You’ll surely avoid napping to prevent a catastrophe in the event your dish was to burn and you were too sleepy to wake up to your smoke detector going off.   #### 18. Follow the 20-20 rule. Looking at objects located 20 feet away from your computer every 20 minutes can help reduce drowsiness by easing the strain on your eyes that comes from the light your computer emits.   #### 19. If you’ve been coughing or sneezing a lot or your nose has run a lot for more than a day, strongly consider buying Mucinex from a nearby Dollar General store. The more time you spend covering your mouth or nose and blowing your nose, the more time you lose to work on your books.   Heeding the instruction on 19 easy ways to create author time you received from this post should strongly help you create more author time through simpler everyday habits. Though I have a long way to go in consistently doing everything I just covered and adhering to my own advice on 19 easy ways to create author time, I have made decent inroads in giving myself more time to work on my books.   Now that you have read 19 easy ways to create author time, there’s more to learn. To view my page which covers a lot more general tips for authors, click here. To visit my home page, click here.   19 Easy Ways to create Author Time Table of Contents Toggle - Why did I opt to write a post on 19 easy Discover 19 Easy Ways to Create Author Time - 1. Once you lie down to nap, even for just 2. Try to avoid lying down for a nap after 3. If you have trouble fighting the tendency - 4. If you think you simply can’t afford to - 5. This component of 19 easy ways to - 6. Stand up some during your computer - 7. If you like to snack while cooking meals, - 8. If you like to eat something such as - 9. Once you’re very familiar with your - 10. If an item you’re slicing over your dish - 11. The 11th step of 19 easy ways to create - 12. If you choose to lightly cook blueberries - 13. Take meats and any fresh vegetables - 14. Whenever you’re in the middle of - 15. If you have a less than fully - 16. Stand up while you’re thinking of - 17. If you plan to bake something such as - 18. Follow the 20-20 rule. Looking at - 19. If you’ve been coughing or sneezing a --- ## 12 Easy Ways to gain Book Writing Time URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/12-easy-ways-to-gain-book-writing-time/ # The Importance of 12 Easy Ways to gain # Book Writing Time If you think you’re not **maximizing** the amount of time you can devote to writing your books to inform/entertain your readers, I can relate to your dilemma. Although I still have a long way to go before I’m fully time-efficient as a content producer, I have learned a lot and will share that with you. Here are 12 easy ways to gain book writing time.   ## More efficient bathing • I recommend taking **showers** instead of baths. It takes awhile for bath water to run, it’s hard to wash your hair in a bath, you must rinse out the tub afterwards and it’s a waste of water, leading to a higher water bill. Instead of taking a shower/bath every day, consider taking one every three days and just washing up your private area on the days in between. • The best thing you can do for **quicker** showers is to have a good shower head and a good bathtub valve. After I replaced the shower head I inherited upon moving into my new house four years ago, I immediately began having **warmer** shower water but the water still wasn’t fully as hot as I would have liked and my tub faucet soon began leaking nonstop. • A few years ago, I had to have a plumber replace the cartridge in my valve once I was no longer able to run any shower or bath water. This has already paid **dividends** on my time in which my faucet water is now so warm that I don’t have to waste a minute or two letting the water warm up before commencing my shower.   ### Searching for Items around your Home ### and Elsewhere less • It drives me crazy to waste vast time searching for something. Besides being **organized** regarding the placement of everything in your home, it helps to visualize or verbally tell yourself where you’re putting something you may not use immediately or often such as paint or insect spray. • Stay **aware** of what’s on your person at all times. While mowing my dad’s lawn once, I had a small book I brought along tucked inside my partially buttoned shirt. At one point, I realized the book was missing; subsequently, I spent several minutes looking for it around the front yard and back yard before finding it on the western side yard behind a hedge. If I had constantly felt my body for my book, I could have avoided this predicament.   #### Making your Socks last longer Long toenails puncture socks. By always keeping your toenails short, you should rarely have to go to the store or conduct an online search to buy new socks.   #### Consuming Organic Milk • Buy **organic milk** instead of regular milk which generally spoils or turns completely watery before the former. Refrigerate your milk immediately upon returning home and make sure it’s the first item you put away – adding a pinch of salt to it can help. In the event it comes out a little watery while pouring it into a bowl, shake it up and it should be okay for staying in good condition for at least two weeks. • Before I began buying organic milk over a year ago, the regular milk I was buying in recent times would always turn watery within a few days and stay watery, no matter how much I shook the jug and no matter its expiration date which I paid attention to before making the purchase. Now that I’m purchasing organic milk, I no longer have to waste roughly 20 minutes walking to my nearest convenience store to buy more milk then returning home.   #### Fast Internet Speed/Proper Computer #### Care • If your internet speed is always slow, your productivity can dramatically **lag** – for a fast connection, please use Spectrum or AT&T. • If you can make all your computers last close to ten years or longer, imagine how many more writings you can finish. • Refrain from eating and drinking anything at your device which is sticky or likely to get under your keys, **protect** your device from direct sunlight and turn it off if you’re likely to be away from it for at least 2 hours, as excessive heat buildup can shorten the life of your computer. • Keep your blinds, curtains and shades closed in the room you keep your computer in while you’re away from home or while you’re at home but out of your computer room while there’s sunlight coming through the windows there.   #### Having Good TV Reception • If you usually have to make too much TV or antenna adjustment upon turning on your TV set, you’re losing too much time. If you use a SOLID SIGNAL antenna for your set like me, place it against the nearest window for optimal **reception**. • Never let your SOLID SIGNAL antenna be exposed to direct sunlight. Remove it from your window once you’re done watching TV for the day.   #### Smarter Yard Work • The most important thing you can do to get the most of your lawn care is to spend at least 400 to 500 bucks on a powerful, self-propelled lawn mower which will likely last at least a few years and makes cutting your grass quicker and less strenuous upon your squeezing the third handle which shifts your mowing from manual mode to automatic mode. • Don’t mow any part of your lawn when it’s too short, muddy or saturated – wait until grass is about 2 to 3 inches tall before cutting it. • There should be times when you can skip mowing your back lawn, your side lawn or parts of your front lawn for about a week or two, easily giving you at least 20 to 30 minutes of **extra** time in your day. • Don’t fill up your mower with gasoline indoors, as this may cause carbon monoxide poisoning. • Always keep a little bit of lawn mower engine oil inside your mower and check to see that it’s lubricated before you begin mowing each day you cut grass. • Putting in too much oil can lead to smoke and an overheated mower and thus make it too hard to resume cutting grass before you can have a qualified technician fix your appliance; I found this out the hard way.  • A good way to see if you have the right amount of oil is to pull out your oil cap stick and check to make sure this stick only gathers oil for about an inch starting from the bottom of the stick. • Never make my mistake of buying an aluminum shed whose retail cost is about 300 to 400 dollars, as it will probably break down soon. • I recommend investing in an expensive, quality **shed **like the Woodbridge by Arrow shed I subsequently bought then buy a Master Lock for your shed once you’re done having someone help you assemble it – using a cordless power drill will be of major help. • Anchor down the inside corners of your shed with heavy bricks and stones so it won’t be toppled over or blown away by strong winds.   #### Reducing your Trips to Places like The #### Home Depot/Expediting your Store Visit When I go to The Home Depot to buy something I’ll have to continue using for awhile like weed killer, I buy four bottles of it so I don’t have to return to buy more of it too soon. If I have come to buy multiple items and I’m running out of time to get out of there in time to catch my bus and not have to wait an hour for the next one, I’ll settle for just getting up to half the items I came for then head to the checkout line.   #### Streamlined Grocery Shopping • Try going grocery shopping every 2 weeks instead of weekly. Besides **gaining** more spare time overall, it makes sense to do this, considering that you can often make milk and produce last two weeks. • You’ll get out of the store faster by bringing a **well-written** grocery list for which you have ample space between each item, you can easily read your handwriting and you have organized your list according to where all the items in the store are located and in what aisles. • Once you finish making the list, double check to make sure you haven’t omitted any items you usually buy and those you specifically intend to get on your upcoming trip. • As you get close to grocery shopping day, check your cupboards, shelves and food boxes to see if there’s anything you need to get now. Cross off any items on your list which you discover you don’t need to get. • Check to make sure you got all the **cold** items you need before departing the refrigerated and frozen foods section; it can be a big hassle to check your list later in your store visit then discover you must go all the way back to the other side of the store to get a cold item you neglected to get when you were just over there. • Before buying meats such as steaks and ribs, make sure they have lots of white marble – the more marble they contain, the less tough they will be to cut up and eat. • If you find it tough to **open** a clear produce bag attached to other bags on a roll in the grocery store, pull the front part of the bag to the baseline of your hand then rub the bag in a circular motion with your other hand – the closer to the center of your palm that you rub the bag, the better.   #### How to open Cans and Jars • To open cans which have a pull tab, pull the tab back fast then pull it up hard to reduce the likelihood of the tab breaking off. • When encountering tough-to-open jars, use a bottle opener to pry open their lids.   #### Reduced cooking time • Consider cooking two days a week then having leftovers throughout the week. I cook on Fridays and Saturdays then have leftovers from Friday’s meal on Sunday and Tuesday, eat leftovers from Saturday’s meal on Monday and Wednesday then generally microwave or bake a quick meal on Thursdays – this makes things so much easier on me, as I work outside my home full time.   #### Reducing the amount of flies in your home • If you’re constantly going after flies in your home, you won’t be able to do much pertaining to your writings. • Look for where flies are coming from and tape up any cracks and gaps you find. • If a mosquito enters your home but it gets away as you try to kill it, apply insect repellent which repels mosquitos all over your neck, your arms, your legs, your feet and behind your ears. Spray your pets well. • I recommend using Zevo Insect Killer. • Another effective way to get rid of flies in your home is to hang up Raid fly trap sticks.   That’s a wrap on 12 easy ways to gain book writing time. Because I have taken all these steps, I have more time to devote to my author work. You’ll be able to do the same thing once you incorporate the 12 easy ways to gain book writing time I just discussed.   To get more of my tips for authors, click here. To visit the home page, click here. ## 12 Easy Ways to Gain Book Writing Time Table of Contents Toggle - The Importance of 12 Easy Ways to gain - Book Writing Time More efficient bathing Searching for Items around your Home - and Elsewhere less Making your Socks last longer - Consuming Organic Milk - Fast Internet Speed/Proper Computer - Care - Having Good TV Reception - Smarter Yard Work - Reducing your Trips to Places like The - Home Depot/Expediting your Store Visit - Streamlined Grocery Shopping - How to open Cans and Jars - Reduced cooking time - Reducing the amount of flies in your home - 12 Easy Ways to Gain Book Writing Time --- ## 11 Key Reasons to create a Great Author Website URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/11-key-reasons-to-create-a-great-author-website/ # Want to know why you need an author website if you write books? You are about to find the answer to this question. Here are 11 key reasons to create a great author website.   ## You need it to have one of the most ## potent book marketing tools at your ## disposal. This is something you may have a hard time advancing as an author without.   ### It can help your brand and your books ### attract traffic from the search engines. If you have a website that is written well, organized, easy to read, easy to navigate and gives enough detail about yourself and perhaps your books, this in itself gives search engines the opportunity and a legitimate reason to list you in their rankings.   Make sure to create strong keywords pertinent to your site. I recommend using Word Press for your site creation. ###   ### It holds everything in one spot for you. For more effectiveness, I suggest you put the images and titles of all your books plus the links to them on one page – peruse my published books page to see how you can do this well once you finish reading this article.   ### It makes it so easy to pull in readers from ### multiple angles. • Link to your site through your social media posts addressed to your friends and relatives. • Link to it through social media groups geared toward authors. • Link to it through any online professional profiles you create. • Link to it on book promotion sites. • Link to it in emails to friends each time you publish a new book.   ### It enables you to create a personal ### connection with readers. List your email address. Link to all your social media account pages if you don’t mind showing your photo. Taking these steps helps readers follow you and ask any questions they may have.   ### It makes it easy to run a reader newsletter ### subscription list. This is the most powerful way to connect to customers – they read their email every day, more than they log into their social media accounts, and they pay attention to online ads. • Hook readers into giving you their email address and signing up by offering a free content magnet that may be hard to resist such as a free book or a free chapter from one of the books you have written. • Issue newsletter communication for each book you release and each time you welcome a new subscriber – the key is to touch base enough without being a pest.   ### It enables you to facilitate book sales. You can offer signed editions of your works plus any merchandise you wish to represent.   ### It lets you showcase your works. This is your chance to make your books  stand out through excerpts, reviews, cover images, synopses and purchase links.   ### It helps you engage with your readers. Consider offering them behind-the-scenes and backstory material for some of your best fiction works.   ### It enables you to build your author brand. You have the ideal outlet to express your unique voice, style and vision.   ### The last of the 11 key reasons to create a ### great author website is to set the stage for ### search engine visibility. Having a well-organized website enhances your visibility on search engines. Make sure to choose the best keywords, make your content engaging and employ search engine optimization best practices.   These are the 11 key reasons to create a great author website. Keeping what you just learned in mind then putting it to use could greatly enhance your book sales and author fan base.   Please visit my current books page in order to view a great model of how to insert the images and titles of your books plus the links to them on one page. To visit my home page, click here. ## 11 Key Reasons to Create a Great Author Website Table of Contents Toggle - Want to know why you need You need it to have one of the most - potent book marketing tools at your - disposal. It can help your brand and your books - attract traffic from the search engines. -   - It holds everything in one spot for you. - It makes it so easy to pull in readers from - multiple angles. - It enables you to create a personal - connection with readers. - It makes it easy to run a reader newsletter - subscription list. - It enables you to facilitate book sales. - It lets you showcase your works. - It helps you engage with your readers. - It enables you to build your author brand. - The last of the 11 key reasons to create a - great author website is to set the stage for - search engine visibility. - 11 Key Reasons to Create a Great Author Website --- ## Master 12 Steps to draw Readers Today URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/master-12-steps-to-draw-readers-today/ # There are many things you must do properly to sell your books. Let’s dig in on how to master 12 steps to draw readers today.   ## 1. Write quality content. Your content has to be free of typos and grammatical errors. Also, it must be well-structured and pleasant to read.   ### 2. Ensure clarity. Make sure readers will understand what’s happening throughout your book. A great way to do this is to have a smooth transition between every scene, particularly if you’re writing a fiction story.   #### 3. Proofread. After you finish writing the book, carefully read over everything you wrote or have someone else do it. When I proofread my works, I painstakingly look for errors, make sure I understand what I just read in each paragraph, make sure no paragraph is too long and make sure all paragraphs are double-spaced.   #### 4. Edit. Correct each error you or someone else finds during the proofreading stage.   #### 5. Have a good book cover. Your cover must look attractive. If you’re self-publishing your book and want to handle the cover yourself, please use Pixabay – they provide quality images you may use for personal or commercial use.   #### 6. Write powerful blurbs for fiction books. You can write well plus have a solid title and cover for your fiction book but it likely won’t do you any good unless you write a powerful blurb that is sure to prevent readers from bolting to the next book on sale.   Strive to have at least four to five short but powerful paragraphs that are likely to build up enough intrigue; pay attention to the back covers of traditionally published books. I have learned a lot about writing powerful  fiction blurbs through ‘Fiction Blurbs: The Best Page Forward Way’ by Phoebe J. Ravencraft and Bryan Cohen.   #### 7. Keep in mind the probability of a #### preview for your book. Amazon provides a “look inside the book” preview feature for all books. If I see the book is full of long, single-spaced paragraphs or I become confused about what’s happening in the book while reading the preview, I won’t buy the book.   #### 8. Promote your books rather than letting #### the market take care of everything for you. If you don’t promote or market what you produce, people can’t find your works. Participate in online forums and other outlets relevant to what you write – make sure not to spam your books or website. Use social media and book promotion sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Robin Reads, Fussy Librarian and Book Bongo.   #### 9. Frequently look at all your author #### website pages in their entirety. • The primary reason you need to do this is you have to test all your links to make sure they’re working properly, as broken links will persuade your visitors to go elsewhere before they get a chance to look at your books; plus, having broken links and a high bounce rate can hurt you in the search engine rankings. • The secondary reason you need to go through your site is you need to see how your site reads. It may take several visits to catch whether your paragraphs are too long, you need more bullets, your font size is too tiny or huge, you have too many H1 tags on some of your pages, etc.   #### 10. Frequently present fresh content on #### your website. Writing new information and making major or minor changes on your home page and some of your secondary pages satisfies the search engines. More importantly, it signals to visitors that you’re active and invested; therefore, they’re more likely to return and eventually make a purchase. ####   #### 11. Read the reports you get from analytics #### services you choose to use such as Monster #### Insights, Google Analytics and Rank Math #### at least once a week. Studying the analysis on your visitor site page entrances and exits, your site search engine optimization content score and more will reveal the improvements you must make to attract more visitors to your site and keep them there long enough for them to check out your written works.   #### 12. The last component of how to master #### 12 steps to draw readers today is to read #### many books. The more you read, the better of an author you should become, which should help you sell more books.   The recommendations listed above are key things to do as an author. Adhere to them to master 12 steps to draw readers today. To learn a lot more about having author success, click here. To visit the home page, click here. ## How to Master 12 Steps to Draw Readers Today Table of Contents Toggle - There are many things you must do 1. Write quality content. Your content 2. Ensure clarity. Make sure readers will 3. Proofread. After you finish writing the 4. Edit. Correct each error you or someone - 5. Have a good book cover. Your cover must - 6. Write powerful blurbs for fiction books. - 7. Keep in mind the probability of a - preview for your book. Amazon provides - 8. Promote your books rather than letting - the market take care of everything for you. - 9. Frequently look at all your author - website pages in their entirety. - 10. Frequently present fresh content on - your website. Writing new information and -   - 11. Read the reports you get from analytics - services you choose to use such as Monster - Insights, Google Analytics and Rank Math - at least once a week. Studying the analysis - 12. The last component of how to master - 12 steps to draw readers today is to read - many books. The more you read, the - How to Master 12 Steps to Draw Readers Today --- ## 3 Easy Ways to make Buyers discover Your Books URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/3-easy-ways-to-make-buyers-discover-your-books/ # Why did I create this article to help you learn 3 easy ways to make buyers discover your books? Writing is a lot of work. You put a lot of time and effort into it. You would surely hate it if nobody ever bought your book.   Creating your own literature is hard enough; you don’t need the frustration and the feeling you wasted your time added on to that. Let’s get started discussing 3 easy ways  to make buyers discover your books.   ## Hyperlinking Your Works I have news for you; some people make the mistake of posting the image and title of their item on social media but not making it possible to actually find the book and buy it. It irritates me to click on the book image then not being able to find the book and preview it before perhaps buying it.   You may only get one chance to leave a lasting impression with each potential reader. Every time you post the title, image and description of your book, be sure to hyperlink the purchase link for your book into the promotion page.   ### Participating in Social Media It’s important to promote your books through social media, Facebook writers groups, book promotion websites and more online outlets. Not promoting your works makes it too hard for people to find them.   #### Featuring Your Literature on Your Own #### Website • In my opinion, the most effective way to help people find the works you have created is to display them on an author website you design. • In addition to presenting your books directly to your target audience, you’re guaranteed of your book page never falling in the search results or disappearing altogether, which can easily happen anytime on social media and book promotion sites. • By running your own site, you have full control of your content sticking around and never falling through the cracks. • Also, you’re the captain of the ship in regard to the amount of traffic and sales you obtain for your works. • If you operate your author website effectively through your own experimentation and research, you can easily bring a ton of people to all your literature items indefinitely. • You likely won’t attract many readers through your social media posts and any listings you make on book promotion sites. • Though it’s not perfect, I recommend you create your website through WordPress.   Keep these points in mind to ensure 3 easy ways to make buyers discover your books. To visit my home page, click here.   ## 3 Easy Ways to Make Buyers Discover Your Books Table of Contents Toggle - Why did I create this article to help you Hyperlinking Your Works Participating in Social Media Featuring Your Literature on Your Own - Website - 3 Easy Ways to Make Buyers Discover Your Books --- ## 5 Easy Steps for opting to write a Fiction Book URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/5-easy-steps-for-opting-to-write-a-fiction-book/ ## Understanding the 5 Easy Steps for Opting to Write a Fiction Book # Why did I elect to write a post on 5 easy steps for opting to write a fiction book? I did this to help you determine if you’re making the right decision to begin putting a lot of time and effort into penning a piece of fiction you have your heart set on making.   It’s easier to generate sales for a nonfiction item consistently than it is for a fiction item. This is especially true if the nonfiction creation is a self-help book or another book which is likely to appeal to a lot of people in your niche market, the people who are likely to buy your item now.   Getting enough people to buy a fiction work you write is a different animal altogether. Before you commence writing it, you should take certain measures to help ensure you don’t waste weeks or months of your time writing, proofreading, editing, publishing and marketing it. Here are 5 easy steps for opting to write a fiction book:   ## 1. Become a voracious reader of fiction ## items if you haven’t already done so. Reading this genre on a regular basis can assist you in obtaining then honing the creative writing skills you need to have a great shot at making the book you have in mind a success. More importantly, it introduces you to the written works that are either doing well on the market or are on their way toward that path.   ### 2. Conduct a keyword search regarding ### what you have in mind on Amazon and ### perhaps other book outlets such as ### Barnes and Noble. This can help tell you if the market for what you’re focusing on is too saturated or if you might be able to create something that is different from and better than what’s on the market.   #### 3. Spend at least a few minutes at your #### computer pondering whether you can #### truly make the book into a piece of work #### that someone other than perhaps a #### dedicated family member of yours will #### buy. • Is it likely to have mass appeal, something that will probably make its way to much of your target market? • Do you believe you can make it very interesting and entertaining in addition to making it presentable, memorable and cohesive? If your answer to both of these questions is yes, you’re surely on the right track to start crafting the project of your dreams, which might turn out to be a bestseller.   #### 4. If you determine it’s worth it to pursue #### the project, spend considerable time #### coming up with a strong title and think #### about how you can begin the item with #### an action scene that’s likely to hook #### people into buying your story. Adding emotion and power words to your title in addition to making its font and size visually appealing will help make it a lot stronger and vastly enhance your chances of luring the readers you’re trying to target.   #### 5. Devise a solid book description you #### can put into your ‘About the book’ page #### and the blurb section of Amazon, Bookrix #### or anywhere else you choose to #### self-publish your work or submit it to a #### literary agent or publishing house for #### consideration. • Your book summary, or blurb, can be what makes or breaks you for getting your foot in the door. • It needs to be concise and effectively describe your book without giving away too much detail. Show, don’t tell. For more guidance on blurbs, check out ‘Fiction Blurbs’.   These are 5 easy steps for opting to write a  fiction book. Adhering to them may be huge  in delivering a solid return on investment for  the enormous amount of time you’ll surely spend on writing your book then doing what it takes to make it generate a lot of sales. To visit my home page, click here. ##   Table of Contents Toggle - Understanding the 5 Easy Steps for Opting to Write a Fiction Book - Why did I elect to write a post on 5 1. Become a voracious reader of fiction - items if you haven’t already done so. 2. Conduct a keyword search regarding - what you have in mind on Amazon and - perhaps other book outlets such as - Barnes and Noble. This can help tell you 3. Spend at least a few minutes at your - computer pondering whether you can - truly make the book into a piece of work - that someone other than perhaps a - dedicated family member of yours will - buy. 4. If you determine it’s worth it to pursue - the project, spend considerable time - coming up with a strong title and think - about how you can begin the item with - an action scene that’s likely to hook - people into buying your story. Adding - 5. Devise a solid book description you - can put into your ‘About the book’ page - and the blurb section of Amazon, Bookrix - or anywhere else you choose to - self-publish your work or submit it to a - literary agent or publishing house for - consideration. -   --- ## 17 Tips For Authors to master URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/17-tips-for-authors-to-master/ # Thanks for visiting this page on 17 tips # for authors to master so you can write and market # your books more successfully and uncover possible reasons why many people may not be buying your books. Following this instruction might help you increase your sales. Here are 17 tips for authors to master:   ## **General** Book Writing Tips • **Before** you get started writing a new book, outline or write down notes on what you want to do on a flash card or something else handy, especially if you have a lot of material and ideas to organize and you don’t want to omit anything important. **• Another** nifty thing you can do is write notes in bold type below the regular content for your book, and delete those notes once you write about something pertaining to those notes in your book or story. • **Finally**, it helps a lot to plan ahead how you will begin your next **fiction** novel or short story. On your first day writing this feature, prepare to devote at least ten minutes to the opening, as it can take lots of time to figure out exactly what you want to write to make a strong beginning.    **Write** your books in Microsoft Word, pay attention to prompts from the spell check feature and thoroughly **proofread** your manuscript and make the necessary edits before publishing your book if you don’t want to hire an editor. I recently passed up buying a book because it had too many **errors** in the first chapter, notably words in which the first letter of a word was separated from the other letters.   • **For** easier reading, use a 12-inch font, double-space your paragraphs and keep the paragraphs short. Using a tiny font plus writing too many long paragraphs and making them single-spaced can cost you sales and in some cases where you make a sale, it can lead to a negative review. • **I** don’t buy books which have too many long, single-spaced paragraphs and 10-inch font, and thus provide an unpleasant reader experience; the fact I find most books like this is the main reason I have only bought roughly five books online the last four years, approximately. Remember that readers can preview your book before buying it in most cases, especially on Amazon.   • Make sure your readers won’t get **confused**. For example, you shouldn’t create a scene where there’s a confrontation and someone is attacked then jump to a scene where the assailed person is hanging out with a friend or partner unless you make it clear both of these people are being held hostage by the person who made the attack in the previous scene. Any confusion in your book may lead to a missed sale, or in the event of a sale, a negative review. If you opt to write a fiction book in **first ****person**, let readers know who the main character is at the beginning of the first chapter.   • **Let** some of your dreams guide your book creation decision making. After waking up from a scary or inspirational dream, consider whether you want to write a novel or short story on it; if the answer is yes, mentally go over everything you remember about the dream immediately then do this again about five minutes later to permanently lock in what you remember. By following this step, you’ll always have ideas for your next fiction books and prevent writer’s block.   • **Once** you begin writing a book, maintain whatever pace you’re comfortable with over the next several weeks or so. • **Save** your work during and after each writing session. I save my work onto a file in my flash drive then email a copy of what I have completed to date to my email.   ### **Action**, art, blurb, research, enhanced creativity • **When** you write a fiction novel or mini-novel, it’s critical to provide action in your first chapter – the closer to the beginning of that chapter, the better.   • **Surely** you’re familiar with the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Many readers do in fact do this; if any book you self-publish doesn’t sell well and you think your cover may have something to do with this, change your book cover.   • If you don’t want or can’t afford to pay someone to design your cover, you can find artwork you can download for commercial and personal use free of charge through **Shopify**. Make sure the actions of the characters or objects you choose for your cover match the title and the story line of your book, particularly if it’s fiction.   • **Having** a great cover can help get more readers to notice your book online but they may not be persuaded to look inside your book, let alone buy it, unless you “sell” the book to them. Solid book summary copy is just as important as the cover. • Your blurb, or book description, is the place to encourage people to purchase your book. • The font for your title should be attractive and easy to read all the way through. • Make this summary exciting and highlight the strongest points of your book without giving away too much information. • Paying attention to the back covers of traditionally published books you read or browse can help you hone this crucial book copy writing skill; it’s more critical to have such a powerful blurb for fiction books than it is for nonfiction, self-help books.   • **Constantly** conduct research to find out how to have more author success. • If you’re a fiction author who loves to watch exciting movies, let them **enhance** your creativity. After Reflecting on how the latest great movie you saw began and ended and how it flowed between the beginning and the end then going over the scenes which were the most compelling, try to incorporate this into one of your fiction works without fully copying it.   #### **Promotion** • **If** you don’t do anything to promote your books you likely won’t get anywhere past a few sales at the most and will therefore have wasted your time writing the books. • A powerful way to promote your books is through your own author website. I recommend creating your site through **WordPress.org** and paying about $2.59 a month to **host** your site through **Dream Host**.   • Make sure to start an email list through your author website and make sure to offer a free content magnet such as a helpful self-help book you have written to persuade visitors to give you their email address and sign up for your newsletter. • If you opt to set aside a page to list your books, I recommend splitting this page up into multiple sections, putting each individual book under the category it belongs to so that your visitors/prospects have a better idea of what each book you have written is about and don’t neglect to make a purchase from you so easily because they’re confused; this can also help attract more visitors through Google classifying your works in its search engine rankings based on the heading/category you post your writings under.   • **Other** book promotion avenues include using book promotion websites, promoting your works to friends on social media and participating in Facebook writers groups.   #### **Where** to publish your works • **If** you wish to self-publish your work, submit each book you complete to **Bookrix** or the **Amazon DTP ** program. • **If** you wish to traditionally publish your work, please read “Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book publishers, Editors & Literary Agents” first. • **If** you want to have your work turned into a movie, acquire movie script writing software and buy a copyright for your completed manuscript through **The** **Library of ****Congress** or **US ** **Copyright Office** before submitting it to film producers.   #### **Selling** your books in multiple formats • **The** more avenues you provide readers to buy your books, the better – this includes e-book, paperback, hardback and audio book formats. • **I** sell my books as e-books through **Bookrix** and as paperbacks through **Amazon DTP** – this program now enables authors to publish hardbacks containing 75 to 550 pages. • Speaking of selling, check out my new post on 14 easy ways for authors to sell more books.   #### **Patience** • **Anytime** you self-publish a book, please make sure there is a book preview or book sampling option available to readers before linking to your book and marketing it. • **It** isn’t smart to risk losing a sale to someone who can’t preview your book.   #### **Avoiding** unforgivable errors • Some **readers** such as myself can’t let certain errors slide. • **For** example, you don’t want to get “their” and “there” mixed up and use them in the wrong context. • **An** instance of this I found while reading a book was “tears streamed down there faces”. “Their” should have been used instead. • **Use** “no more” in the proper way. For example, you shouldn’t write “I don’t have no more to give you” because that’s using a double negative, and it’s a pet peeve of mine; instead, write “I don’t have anything more to give you”.   #### Avoiding **profanity** in your books • **If** you use a cuss word, especially the F word, just once in your books, that may cause some readers to drop your book. • **You** may be thinking, “What do I care if a reader stops reading my book altogether? I got his/her money and that’s all that counts.” Well, that reader will likely buy no more of your books and may even write a negative review. • **If** I find too many instances of profanity in a book I buy online, I’ll write a review containing fewer than five stars.   This wraps up your lesson on 17 tips for authors to master. Following these steps can help you have more success as a writer.   I learn a lot as a fiction writer by reading articles from Now Novel. To visit my home page, click here.   ## **17 Tips for Authors to Master** Table of Contents Toggle - Thanks for visiting this page on 17 tips - for authors to master so you can write and market - your books more successfully and uncover possible General Book Writing Tips Action, art, blurb, research, enhanced creativity Promotion Where to publish your works Selling your books in multiple formats - Patience - Avoiding unforgivable errors - Avoiding profanity in your books - 17 Tips for Authors to Master --- ## Upcoming Books By Todd Hicks URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/my-upcoming-books/ The following book will be written then published in the near future.   Undeclared title A spy works with law enforcement agents to bust a kidnapping ring. *Author’s note: This will be the first book of a special long spy series.     --- ## 6 Books On Job Hunting and Empowerment to buy URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/6-books-on-job-hunting-and-empowerment-to-buy/ # Listen to this text:**0:000:00To make things easier for you to quickly determine what all of my books are about, I have split this page up into multiple categories that indicate the genre my written works represent, beginning with the items which are likely to be the most relevant to you.   My 6 books on job hunting and  empowerment to buy are: • my job hunt guide • my touch typing guide • my study guide • my cookbook • my travel tips guide • my tennis lessons guide ##   ## Why You Should Purchase These Items Today ## For Yourself Or Any Kids You Have I can’t guarantee improvement, but please take a few moments to imagine the possibilities of a better future that lie ahead for you. Picture yourself: • capturing the job and income you crave through my job hunting, touch typing or study guide • impressing your loved ones with fantastic meals through my cookbook • having a seamless trip through my travel tips guide • dominating more matches through my tennis instruction guide • crushing your stress and worries through my entertaining fiction works   You can make these things happen now** by ordering my items below. The more you wait, the longer you’ll likely **struggle** to find a job, reach your full career potential and improve your life in other ways. ###   ### **6 Books On Job Hunting and ** ### **Empowerment ****to buy**   My Job Hunting Guide Buy in paperback format                                    Buy in e-book format   Buy paperback edition                                     Buy e-book edition   Buy paperback edition                                   Buy e-book edition   Buy paperback edition                                   Buy e-book edition   Learn the Techniques and Strategies of Tennis Buy paperback edition                                   Buy e-book edition   Buy paperback edition                                   Buy e-book edition ####   #### **Police drama** Buy paperback, hardback or e-book edition   Bagney and Stacey: Philadelphia’s Finest Buy paperback edition                                    Buy e-book edition   Bagney and Stacey: Philadelphia’s Finest 2 Buy e-book edition Buy paperback edition ####   #### **Pure action, thriller and spooky tales ****books** Buy paperback edition Buy e-book edition   Hicks’s Spooky Tales Buy paperback edition Buy e-book edition   Hicks’s Spooky Tales 2: Final Edition Buy it here   The Todd Hicks Collection of Short Stories and Poems Buy paperback edition                                   Buy e-book edition   Buy it here Buy paperback edition                                     Buy e-book edition   Buy paperback edition                                     Buy e-book edition   Buy paperback edition                                       Buy e-book edition ####   #### **True fiction on handling the death of ****a loved one** Buy it here ####   #### **Romance action and mystery books**   Breakup and revenge: the deadly                     ire of a jilted man                     Buy paperback edition                     Buy e-book edition     Buy paperback edition  Buy e-book edition   Buy paperback edition  Buy e-book edition ####   #### **Mythology and fantasy**   Colt the Centaur and Hazel the                     Mermaid                     Buy paperback edition                     Buy e-book edition   Eyes of danger Buy paperback edition                                     Buy e-book edition    Buy paperback edition                                     Buy e-book edition   Two feuding men marooned on a deadly island Buy paperback edition                                     Buy e-book edition   #### **Fictional heroes, black magic and ****science ** #### **fiction books**   The genie clash Buy it here   Kerry the Sorcerer and Kabrina the Sorceress Buy paperback edition                                     Buy e-book edition   The alien encounter that turns deadly Buy paperback edition Buy e-book edition   Buy paperback edition                                     Buy e-book edition   Buy it here ####   #### **Comics/cartoon books**   Peoplanimalville Daily Laughs: Volume 1 Buy it here Peoplanimalville Daily Laughs: Volume 2   Buy it here Peoplanimalville Daily Laughs: Volume 3   Buy it here Peoplanimalville Daily Laughs 4   Buy it here   You have reached the end of this special page concerning 6 books on job hunting and empowerment to buy. I hope you took advantage of your opportunity to better yourself, and thank you for coming this far. If you came here from the “Get A Free Book/Contact Me” page and want to go back there, click here.   ## 6 Books on Job Hunting and Empowerment to Buy Table of Contents Toggle - Listen to this text:0:000:00To make things easier   - Why You Should Purchase These Items Today - For Yourself Or Any Kids You Have   - 6 Books On Job Hunting and - Empowerment to buy   - Police drama -   - Pure action, thriller and spooky tales books -   - True fiction on handling the death of a loved one -   - Romance action and mystery books -   - Mythology and fantasy - Fictional heroes, black magic and science - fiction books -   - Comics/cartoon books - 6 Books on Job Hunting and Empowerment to Buy --- ## 9 Great Keys to discover about Author Todd Hicks URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/9-great-keys-to-discover-about-author-todd-hicks/ # Listen to this text:**0:000:00I’m Todd Hicks, a career empowerment author. My aim is to help you find a job fast and make the most of your time in the workforce. Here are 9 great keys to discover about author Todd Hicks:   ## My Most Important Literature I have written self-help books on: • touch typing • job hunting • tennis • cooking • travel • study tips   ### How did you become a career ### empowerment author? I had to spend a lot of time doing things for the topics listed above and make major blunders to obtain the knowledge needed to write these how-to manuals. Please allow me to elaborate.   Entering The University of Missouri at St. Louis in August 1992 as a student who didn’t know how to study as well as I previously thought was a wake-up call. From the time of my college debut until the winter semester of 1996, I earned a few F’s and a lot of D’s.   I finally became familiar with the art of repetition and developed other good study habits on my own; consequently, I went from having a grade point average of about 1.5 to graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from UMSL with a 2.279 GPA in May 2000.   #### How did you learn to cook? When I first began preparing dinner on Fridays while still living at home in November 2008, I learned to make certain dishes such as Sloppy Joe’s from my parents or my brother. I have learned to fix other meals through trial and error over the years.   One key thing I have learned about food preparation is to have keen time coordination; if I’m fixing BBQ spare ribs, beans and cornbread for the meal, I’m likely to start cutting up collard greens and red cabbage then adding these items to my cornbread mixture while I’m baking the ribs at 400 degrees on the front side for about 20 minutes. After that time elapses, I’ll flip the ribs over then bake that along with the cornbread for about 20 minutes, and during this time I’ll cook canned beans which I’ll add chopped eggplant and red beet to.   Another key thing I learned is to wait until I reach the final step of my dish preparation such as chopping up a beet before turning on the oven. Running the oven longer than necessary will make your gas bill higher besides putting extra wear and tear on your stove/oven range.   My latest** cooking tip: Before adding an egg yolk to a cornbread or cake mixture, crack the egg over a separate bowl to ensure you don’t mess up your entire dish in the event your egg is bad.   #### Why did you decide to master #### touch typing? It’s a necessary skill to have if you want to type documents, letters and other correspondences quickly; but more importantly, I needed to go from coming out of college as a hunt-and-peck typist to being someone who could type at least 35 words per minute to increase my odds of finding a job or temp assignment that required good typing skills.   Years of practice gave me the typing and 10-key skills I needed to land a data entry assignment with Iron Mountain in 2005. One of the most important things I learned about keyboard typing is to keep my hands positioned where I can easily reach the Q, A, Z, W, S, O, P, L and caps lock keys with my end fingers at all times; a helpful thing I learned about using the 10-key pad exclusively is to have the first three fingers on both my hands hovering over this pad when taking 10-key tests.   Screenshots of my most recent 10-key and typing tests at the Learn 2 Type website are below. The exercise was**3074.31 / 887.71 ENTER3239.65 – 4706.61 ENTER7209.04 + 3531.18 ENTER2331.01 * 614.60 ENTER6392.45 / 5367.75 ENTER5421.36 – 6540.14 ENTER3242.91 – 9091.80 ENTER3240.08 * 5398.12 ENTER6568.45 * 5030.45 ENTER7760.27 / 8479.24 ENTER**  You typed **3074.31 / 887.71 ENTER3239.65 – 4706.61 ENTER7209.04 + 3531.18 ENTER2331.01 * 614.60 ENTER6392.45 / 5367.75 ENTER5421.36 – 6540.14 ENTER3242.91 – 9091.80 ENTER3240.08 * 5398.12 ENTER6568.45 * 5030.45 ENTER7760.27 / 8479.24 ENTER** **Your accuracy was impressive. ****Your ** **speed was 9641 Keystrokes Per Hour.**   The exercise was**Mankind’s yearning to engage in sports ** **is older than recorded history, dating ** **back to the time millions of years ago, ** **when the first primitive man picked up a ** **crude club and a round rock, tossed the ** **rock into the air, and whomped the club ** **into the sloping forehead of the first ** **primitive umpire..What inner force ** **drove this first athlete? Your guess is as ** **good as mine.**   You typed **Mankind’s yearning to engage ** **in sports ****is older than recorded history, ** **dating ****back to the time millions of years ** **ago, ****when the first primitive man picked ** **up a ****crude club and a round rock, tossed ** **the ****rock into the air, and whomped the ** **club ****into the sloping forehead of the first** **primitive umpire. What inner force ****drove ** **this first athlete? Your guess is as ****good as ** **mine. ** Your accuracy was impressive. **Your speed ** **was ****46 WPM**   #### What qualified you to write a #### job hunting and career advice #### guide? Reading a lot of materials on these subjects and making many blunders in my job search as well as on the job prepared me for this. The biggest mistake that haunted me from the early 2000s until I finally began working full time for good in May 2019 as a long-term warehousing industry temp through Randstad was arriving at a teacher assistant job interview, thinking I didn’t need to do research on a school district ahead of time.   I felt so foolish as I sat in my chair, unable to answer their question on what I knew about them. Over the following 15 years or so, I was only able to find work as a substitute teacher or a temp sporadically.   #### What made you a good tennis #### player? Receiving instruction on the proper mechanics and playing this sport regularly since 1991 took me from hitting too many balls weakly or out of bounds to consistently hitting the ball well. Until a veteran player taught me to raise my racket head over my right shoulder then lower it toward the ground then bring it to my left shoulder to properly make ball contact in the late 1990s, I couldn’t hit well enough to get many other people to play with me.   #### What made you qualified to #### write a travel tips guide? I have taken a lot of trips over the last 15 years, and I have messed up on some of them. I based this book on what I learned to do and what not to do in order to make my trip planning and execution flawless. The biggest traveling blunder I ever made was not getting back on the Greyhound bus which was heading to my final destination (Cleveland, Ohio) when I was on layover at the Indianapolis station one day in 2014.   Because the driver said our layover was to be 45 minutes long, I paid no attention to the boarding call which was announced about 30 minutes after I exited the bus; consequently, I had to wait six hours for the next bus, and thus arrive in Cleveland too late at night. This mistake cost me a grand opportunity to see my cousin before she was set to end her visit to my aunt’s house.   My **latest** travel tip: Bus drivers sometimes get distracted. If the operator starts to pass you up at a bus stop or starts to pass up the stop you indicated you want to exit the bus at, shout “Hey!”   #### Why have you written these #### books? I take pride in having written them to help you improve your life, but there is more I have to offer as a promising writer. Based on my creativity and vivid imagination, I have written many fiction books and they keep coming as though they were on a moving conveyor belt. I began creating these works in January 2012, with the goal of entertaining you greater than my desire to earn money.   What separates me from many other authors is I make reading my books pleasant to the eye with double-spaced paragraphs and I never put profanity or any other vulgar language in my books – please keep this in mind if you want to give a lesser-known author like myself a chance. I avoid buying or reading so many books I find online or in person because they contain vulgar language or are written in a single-spaced paragraph format.   That’s it in a nutshell for 9 great keys to discover about author Todd Hicks. To  return to the home page and get started learning how to find a job faster through my books, click here. ## 9 Great Keys to Discover About Author Todd Hicks Table of Contents Toggle - Listen to this text:0:000:00I’m Todd Hicks, a career My Most Important Literature How did you become a career - empowerment author? How did you learn to cook? Why did you decide to master - touch typing? What qualified you to write a - job hunting and career advice - guide? - What made you a good tennis - player? - What made you qualified to - write a travel tips guide? - Why have you written these - books? - 9 Great Keys to Discover About Author Todd Hicks --- ## Get 6 Free Self-help E-books URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/get-6-free-self-help-e-books/ # **Listen to this text:0:000:00Why** are you giving me # the opportunity to get 6 free # self-help e-books? I want to reward you for being my fan by offering you something special that can **boost** your income and help you find your dream job **fast**. This opportunity allows you to get 6 free self-help e-books that can transform your life.   I intend to grow as an author; having a lasting relationship with you and other readers is my smoothest path toward that goal. Let’s begin discussing what you need to do to get 6 free self-help e-books.   ## Easily get Free Self-help E-books Text “Your 6 how-to books” and your email address to  +31 476 07 314 314-760-7314 or send a **blank** email with “Your 6 how-to books” to Send email toddhicks865@gmail.com and I’ll email you a copy of my: 1**. ****touch** **typing guide** **2. job hunting guide** **3. Study Guide** 4**. ****travel tips** **guide ** **5. tennis lesson guide** **6. Cookbook** The main reason I linked the items above to where I sell them in Kindle format is to give you a glimpse of what you’ll get if you choose to let me send you these books without you spending a dime in the process. ###   ### What if I don’t want all 6 items? No worries; simply list the numbers for the items you want plus your email address in your text or just list these numbers on the subject line in your email.   #### What other options do I have? If you want to receive another item that’s on my “Current Books page” instead and at no cost to you, please specify that in your message – to save time, you may simply copy and paste the image for this book in your email or text; you may send me any other input or questions you have.   #### What if I don’t feel **comfortable** #### giving you access to my cell phone #### number or email address? I understand if you’re reluctant to do this in general, but your information is safe with me. To violate your trust would be a breach of my privacy policy.   #### **When** will I get my free item? Expect to receive your **gift** by tomorrow. By taking advantage of this special offer, you automatically subscribe to my newsletter which you may opt out of at any time.   Self-help books are a critical resource for enriching your life and helping you to better yourself. Besides providing how-to tips and helping you master important things that can have a monumental impact on your health, joy and income, they can enable you to provide an invaluable gift to your loved ones and friends.   My touch typing guide will equip you with an interactive lesson to help you master special techniques that can turn you into a fast, efficient typist relatively quickly. Typing with great speed and accuracy will enable you to complete documents a lot faster and land a job that pays well for those who type fast, with few errors.   If you or someone you know is about to enter the job market or has been struggling to find steady employment, you can quickly end your struggles by turning to my job hunting guide. You’ll run into instruction on how to craft a solid resume and cover letter and how to interview for a position as well as how to have lasting success in the workplace.   Are you getting poor grades in school or do you have children who are in this predicament? If so, put an end to this by letting me give you my study guide. It’s packed with pointers which can help you study well from the elementary school level to the college level.   If you have special trips in the works or you’re prone to making blunders in your trip planning, let me help you with my travel guide. It will teach you how to more effectively plan your trips then execute that plan. Allow yourself to have great adventures with less stress.   Participation in sports can enhance the quality of your life through fun, exercise, friendly competition and socialization. If you’re a tennis fanatic, explore my tennis lesson guide which covers step-by-step instruction. It may help you improve your game whether you’re a beginner or a more experienced player.   If you wish to learn to cook or you want to try something new, turn to my cookbook. It provides many recipes and it covers some of the basics of meal preparation.   **Finally…** You have learned how to get 6 free self-help e-books. Now that you know what you can do to possibly have a **deep** impact on your life or that of someone you love, take action to make it happen right now. **Don’t** blow this big opportunity to better yourself; you’ll probably have a hard time finding such a great deal elsewhere.   Join thousands of others who have taken the leap to unlock their full potential through free how-to resources now! Take advantage of your special opportunity to get 6 free self-help e-books before it runs out. If you came here from the home page and want to return, click here. ## How to Get 6 Free Self-help E-books Today Table of Contents Toggle - Listen to this text:0:000:00Why are you giving me - the opportunity to get 6 free - self-help e-books? Easily get Free Self-help E-books   - What if I don’t want all 6 items? What other options do I have? What if I don’t feel comfortable - giving you access to my cell phone - number or email address? When will I get my free item? - How to Get 6 Free Self-help E-books Today --- ## How to Solve Your Job Search Woes URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/ Listen to this text:**0:000:00• Thank you for coming to learn how to  solve your job search woes, some of which I’ve learned about through Chat and Perplexity AI searches. • I understand your pain because I’ve been in your shoes. • Here’s a brief story on how I came up with advice on how to solve your job search woes.    • I had a very good job hunting guide (linked to on this page) on hand by the time I graduated from college in 2000 but major blunders I made drastically lengthened my search for long-term, full-time work to May 2019. • I have used this experience to write ‘Don’t hang that Breaking Ball: How to not crush your Job Search, Career or Presentation’ and help answer questions you have on how to find a job. • You’ll find these books less than halfway below.   How to Solve Your Job Search Woes? Solving your job search woes requires a systematic approach across 5 key areas:  ### • Applying for Jobs Thoroughly  • Avoiding Common Interview Mistakes ### • Writing a Resume that Gets Noticed  • Overcoming Being Unemployed Too Long ### • Overcoming a Lack of Job Experience  ##   ## Applying for Jobs Thoroughly  • Your resume and cover letter must be solid. • You must interview properly. • Look for job openings almost daily. • Quickly respond to openings that interest you and match your qualifications. • Consider following up on your resume submissions. • Never neglect to immediately email or mail off a note to the interviewer that expresses your gratitude for his/her time and briefly reiterates your interest in the position and your qualifications for it. ##   Avoiding Common Interview Mistakes** Common interview mistakes include: • badmouthing former employers • not dressing professionally • lack of preparation for key questions • arriving late • being unprepared to answer the question of what you know about this company, which is the blunder I have paid for the most as a job seeker.   **Writing a Resume that Gets Noticed** Your resume must have bulleted sentences, be free of typos, have action words that convey the impact you’ve had on your employers rather than merely stating your tasks, etc.   **Overcoming Being Unemployed Too Long** • While seeking a job, do freelancing or self-employment work such as taking paid surveys, doing online tasks through the Amazon Mturk program and writing books then connect to this on your resume and at interviews. • Consider doing relevant volunteer work and starting your own business. ##   **Overcoming a Lack of Job Experience** • The best, if not one of the best ways to do this, is to join as many temp agencies in your area as you can and be flexible in accepting as many of their assignments as you can, as they’re more apt to take a chance on you than traditional employers – making myself available for Randstad’s office and production jobs then doing all the full-time warehouse jobs they offered me got my foot in the door, leading to permanent employment. • Two other ways to find a job with no experience are to look for signs saying no experience is necessary on job postings and storefronts and to try to find an internship that’s relevant to the field you wish to enter.   👉 Books on resume and job interview tips here: • Don’t hang that Breaking Ball: How to not crush your Job Search, Career or Presentation • Peterson’s The Insider’s Guide to finding The Perfect Job   Here’s a case study concerning a woman who found a job through creative networking. ##   You can **get more in-depth advice on ** **finding ****a job** **and empowering your ** **career** through 3 articles I have written on Medium: Article 1  Article 2  Article 3   Now that we’ve directly covered how to solve your job search woes, let’s move on to correlating topics. A case study reveals that touch typing is a fundamental skill that provides a big advantage in many job roles through: • higher efficiency and accuracy for administrative and data entry workers • increased productivity for those in the legal, medical transcription and software development fields • I might be able to steer you toward this path through my typing guide. ##   Another case study I read reveals that a high school junior who was working hard but didn’t have the grades to show for it solved her problem by using a planner to manage her time and organize her research while preparing for tests. • I’ve never used a planner but I overcame struggles similar to this student in college partly by learning to take great notes from my lectures and textbooks plus keep all my test papers to refer back to during the semester. • I can teach you a lot more of what I learned to do through Hicks’s Guide to Better Grades. ##   Please let me explain just a bit more about myself. Through the works I’ve produced, my goal is to: • help you find the job and salary you desire faster • help you study more effectively • help you quickly end being a hunt-and-peck typist • turn you into a good tennis player • help make all your trips smooth • teach you a few things about cooking • amuse or inspire you ##   Besides having all my works for sale, I give special readers like yourself a chance to get my self-help e-books for free. If you’d rather buy them for instant access instead of waiting up to a day for me to email them to you, visit my page where you can quickly find all my family-friendly books. ##   Besides being a prolific author who focuses on how to solve your job search woes, I’m an avid fiction reader. Here’s my personal list of book recommendations:   • Jungle Fighters: A G.I. War Correspondent’s Experiences In The New Guinea Campaign by Jules Archer • The First Book of Ore: The Foundry’s Edge by Cam Baity and Benny Zelkowicz – Micah Tanner and Phoebe Plumm head out to rescue Phoebe’s dad after The Foundry kidnaps him. • The Second Book of Ore: Waybound  by Cam Baity and Benny Zelkowicz – Phoebe and Micah remain in a struggle to stay alive. • Black Hole Sun by David MacInnis Gill – a teen mercenary who is implanted with an AI battles powerful, ruthless foes. • Mrs. Malory and Death by Water by Hazel Holt – Sheila Malory tries to determine who’s behind the death of a friend, which she deems suspicious. ##   What books have had the most impact on YOU? Please contact me with your feedback now to hopefully have it published below temporarily, as space is limited. ##   Let’s talk about **you** now. Want to know 2 key things I learned about you from my demographics reports? • The first is that 5.5 percent of you are into individual sports, running and walking. I myself am an avid tennis player and an avid walker; I get most of my fitness walking done by walking my German Shepherd mix dog, Carmela. • The second is that most of you are between the ages of 18 and 45 – I think this is vital because I omit vulgar language from all my works, and this will surely be of interest to you if you’re a parent of kids and thus want to purchase items which are suitable for them. ##   Besides providing you great how-to books, I have written many works to entertain you or help you improve your life and I have many more on the way. Also, you can become a better writer and have more author success by reading my author tips page plus the blog posts I write, so please come back frequently. ##   In conclusion to this page on how to solve your job search woes, I write to make you a reader who’s more amused and more prepared to enhance your life without using profanity. Please stick around and check out my site map below to see all I can offer you. Your visit means a lot to me. ##     ##   Table of Contents Toggle - • Applying for Jobs Thoroughly  • Avoiding Common Interview Mistakes - • Writing a Resume that Gets Noticed  • Overcoming Being Unemployed Too Long - • Overcoming a Lack of Job Experience  -   - Applying for Jobs Thoroughly  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   --- ## Privacy Policy URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/privacy-policy/ I take your privacy and personal information seriously and I take every step I can to make your visit here a fun and memorable experience. I run ads that open in a new tab upon any link click you may make on this website for the joint purpose of earning extra revenue and introducing you to products or services that may interest you. I do the best I can to make sure the ads featured here don’t annoy you. Thank you for your understanding.   Any email communications you make with me will remain confidential. I’m not going to share your personal information with anyone or sell it to third parties. I use Google Analytics to track my website performance and to learn something about you to help make my website better for you, not to exploit you.   If you have specific comments or questions related to this website, please contact me directly. I have closed and disabled comments permanently because if I were to let them accumulate any further, tens of thousands of them would build up, leading to a dramatic slowdown of my page loading and way too much time to delete all those comments manually.   Here is an excerpt from Google’s privacy policy: We collect information to provide better services to all our users — from figuring out basic stuff like which language you speak, to more complex things like which ads you’ll find most useful, the people who matter most to you online, or which YouTube videos you might like. The information Google collects, and how that information is used, depends on how you use our services and how you manage your privacy controls.   When you’re not signed in to a Google Account, we store the information we collect with unique identifiers tied to the browser, application, or device you’re using. This allows us to do things like maintain your preferences across browsing sessions, such as your preferred language or whether to show you more relevant search results or ads based on your activity. When you’re signed in, we also collect information that we store with your Google Account, which we treat as personal information.   That wraps things up for my privacy policy. If you came here from the ‘Get 6 Free Self-help E-books’ page and want to return, click the hyperlink above. To visit my homepage, click here.   --- ## Attribution URL: https://www.toddhicks.me/attribution/ This site has been created with the help of many different people and companies. In particular, a special thanks goes to the following for content running on this site: **Author**: Cathryn Lavery / Unsplash**License**: **Author**: Aaron Burden / Unsplash**License**: **Author**: Priscilla Du Preez / Unsplash**License**: In addition, this site was built on a powerful, Inspirations based web builder called BoldGrid. It is running on WordPress, the most popular content management software online today. Web hosting support is provided by DreamHost. ---