interview: Author Alison Silbert

Today I would like to welcome Alison Silbert, author of Boost Your Revenues by Turning People Away for an interview about her book. The book has a very great insights to raise your income apart of other difficulties. Without further ado, I welcome you Alison Silbert. Don't forget to leave some love ;p

D: What inspired you to write the book?

AS: A colleague had suggested I put commonly asked questions into a book that I could hand out to prospective clients. It seemed like a good idea, so I went ahead and wrote the outline, then found potential book publishers (two of which showed interest in the outline). I completed the copy of the book, resubmitted the full manuscript to the same two publishers outlining the pre-qualifying process I had already completed, and signed a deal.

D: How do you determine your ideal client?

AS: “I” determine my ideal client by asking myself “who do I want to help?”, “what characteristics are included in my definition of an ideal client?”, and “what are the top 3 problems my ideal client has that I can solve quickly and easily for him/her?”

D: How important is choosing the right business?

AS: Imperative. If you are marketing to the wrong business you are wasting time, energy and money.

DS: What advice can you give other entrepreneurs feeling overwhelmed by the business, especially when a lot of things are going wrong at the same time?

AS: Have faith. Regardless of your beliefs, things have a way of working themselves out. There are numerous experts available, at various different price points, who are more than willing to assist you in generating the results you want.

D: What other advice can you give women entrepreneurs?

AS: Keep doing what you love.

D: The title of your book, what does it mean?

AS: Simply this: in spite of what most people use a website for (a glorified brochure available for everyone to see), it is possible to write website copy that builds ideal prospects’ trust in you and your business, and leads them to take some step towards starting the sales cycle for you.

D: Tell us about “Boost Your Revenues by Turning People Away”.

AS: “Boost Your Revenues by Turning People Away” is a compilation of all kinds of experiences I have had with clients over the past 10 years woven between many useful tidbits of information about how to get a website created and optimized so that it speaks only to your ideal client, rolled into one small book you can reference at a moment’s notice. Jam packed with useful tips on how to clarify the definition of your ideal client,three easy ways to put a website together and where to get the tools, and simple things you can do to increase your search engine ranking, this book is a must-have for any entrepreneur – seasoned or brand new. This book is also ideal for college/university graduates who want a leading-edge in a competitive job market.

D: How does this book benefit the reader?

AS: This book walks the reader through three distinct phases of creating a website. Phase 1: Clarifying who you want the website to speak to (i.e. clarifying who your ideal client is) and what message you want to convey through the website (i.e., what do you want your readers to know? What do you want your ideal prospects to do from your website?). Phase 2: Three simple ways to construct the website (choosing a professional, using a content manager and using a template). And Phase 3: Simple things that an average business person can do to increase the likelihood that the website will be seen by its ideal visitors (the business’s ideal clients).

D: Who is your intended audience?

AS: Anyone interested in learning for himself/herself how to put together an effective website that starts the sales cycle for them.

About the Author

Alison Silbert is the author of “Winning Websites” published in 2007, and “Boost Your Revenues by Turning People Away” published in January 2011. Alison's company Passionate Web Creations and Ideal Visitor Inc provides clients with a wide variety of business building, marketing services and web development services. She has helped clients of all sizes, including entrepreneurs, just starting businesses and fully operational corporate structures. Her clients have included such Canadian Universities as University of Toronto and University of Calgary.

Alison Silbert is among the prestigious ranks of Stanford Who's Who as a result of her exceptional professional career. Stanford Who's Who empowers executives, professionals and entrepreneurs around the world. During her collegiate career, she earned a Bachelor's degree in Computer Programming from Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology. She has also studied Business Management and Marketing.

When not running her business, she is a mentor, coach, and teacher, supporting individuals in living their dream of having a successful online business. She has taught database courses at the University of Toronto. She lives in Mississauga with her husband, 2 children and a loyal sheltie named Cocoa.

Buy the book at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Website

muslim women reformers:inspiring voices against oppression by ida lichter

Title: Muslim Women Reformers : Inspiring Voices Against Oppression
Author: Ida Lichter
Pages: 513
Series: Non-fiction
Published: May 26th, 2009
Rating: 4.5/5
Source: Receive for review
Buy at: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Summary :

In a world where the strident demands of Islamic extremists capture the media’s attention, the courageous protests of Muslim reformers barely receive any notice. These include a surprising number of women who are prepared to challenge institutionalized persecution, risking derision, arrest, physical harm, and even death.

In this inspiring compilation of Muslim women’s stories from around the world, the voices of these long-oppressed women ring loud and clear as they question ideology and culture, patriarchal and religious beliefs, and demand the social and political rights women lack in many Muslim countries. The reformers speak out with passion, humanity, and sometimes humor in these compact and often poignant biographies, bringing alive the harsh realities for women in many parts of the world.

By surveying a wide range of Muslim reformers, not only in the Middle East but also in Europe and North America, Lichter uncovers some significant emerging trends. For example, she notes that the majority of Muslim feminists would like to see reform contained within Islam. Many criticize their patriarchal culture for suppressing egalitarian views that they believe the Koran expresses and so they advocate a reinterpretation of the holy text. Some demand changes to discriminatory Sharia-based laws. Others campaign openly for political and educational reforms.

Complete with a glossary and a list of helpful Web sites, this vibrant anthology makes use of reliable translations from original languages to demonstrate the groundswell of grassroots change that promises eventually to bring even the most conservative sectors of Islam into the twenty-first century.

My Opinion:

As a Muslim woman, the book really opened my eyes about loads of thing that happening around across the globe of Muslim country, focusing on women. Most of the researches were collected from past, likely since e few decades before, till present. I must say Muslim women at this moment achieved so many things, likely equal to men (well, almost), they struggles a lot sometimes quite horrific to me. The book was sectioned and organized by country, start up with a little introduction of issues they were going through, then introducing the women reformers behind it. The women activists struggled with a lot of different issues like human rights, justice, education, healthcare, discrimination etc. Each of them showed great courage to stand up and fight even though facing death and severe discrimination. Even though I thought Malaysia is a very overwhelming Muslim country, it's shocking to see we're included in this. But when I read it, I think that is not really a big issues since I know who the reformers were, and for me, when it comes to religion there's some part that you can't turn against it. Personally, the book were focusing on why they were reformed; because of gender, and not because of religion. I strongly believe women in different country are facing the exact same thing towards this kind of discrimination; education, jobs, healthcare, human rights, justice, etc regardless of religion. However, it's very interesting to know when there's a book focusing Muslin women on this. Lichter only compiling what she has researched and stating the facts with a lot of references, in case the readers want to check on it in details of what is going on from it. The book is easy to understand, very brief, while it is not an introduction about Muslim and Islam. I really recommend the book to Muslim readers, for us to know is the women reformers and activists that committed their lives to escape from the struggle we were facing.

About the Author:

Ida Lichter, is a clinical and research psychiatrist and contributor to The Huffington Post. Living in London for over 12 years focused her interest on the large Muslim populations in the UK and Europe and brought her closer to the eye of the storm in the Middle East. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from Lisa Roe from Online Publicist for an exchange of fair review. Receiving a copy in no way will ever reflected my review and these are my honest review.

the imperfect enjoyment by dewan w.gibson

Title: The Imperfect Enjoyment
Author: Dewan W.Gibson
Pages: 176 (pdf)
Series: No
Published: December 16th, 2008
Rating: 4/5
Source: Provided by the publisher
Get your copy: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Indiebound

Summary (Goodreads):

When college instructor Dewan Gibson leaves the Midwest for California, he expects to find a world of breast implants, beer and beaches. Instead he enters a secret and ill-fated romance with a Middle Eastern undergraduate. In this vivid and humorous memoir, Gibson describes his attempts to overcome his forbidden love affair by jumping into an office fling gone wrong (Tijuana Mornings), traveling across the world to Denmark in hopes of meeting "Ms. Booty Mama" (Arhus Ain't for Lovers) and musing over the interracial relationships between his African-American uncles and "rural white women that wore 1980's big bangs and resembled Guns N' Roses groupies" (Too Much Tupac). Toeing the line between stable adulthood and post-college debauchery, Gibson presents a comically honest look at the frailty of modern relationships. Poignant, witty and at times downright hilarious--The Imperfect Enjoyment is a story of toxic relationships and the search for a second chance at love that enlightens and amuses as very few books do.

My Two Cents:

This is totally an entertaining read, aside of very much of sex talk and stuff, and totally different from what I've ever read. The author was likely in a quest to find the perfect enjoyment in a relationship when at some point he thought that some imperfection in relationship will turn out okay and enjoyable just good. But what I'm quite off is that, he was like finding more sex than love, well, I don't know. So, maybe it was because he was finding the relation perfection. The fact that the book is interesting is actually enough to get my attention to finish reading it. I think the author nailed it and not trying too much to tell his story. Even though I like the book enough to recommend to everyone to read this, I'm kind of really don't like his attitude, because when he already in a relationship with a woman, despite all the prejudice he have from her family, he find enjoyment in something else that you can guess what a normalman would do. So typical yet so true. The book has a lot of dirty side of a man, how fragile a man could be when it's about love and also loads of funny moments that happened to him. It's fun, regardless of age and sex issues.

About the Author:

Dewan Gibson is a humorist and author of The Imperfect Enjoyment. His work has appeared in Defenestration Magazine, the International Journal of Intercultural Relations and Hobo Pancakes, among other publications. Prior to pursuing a writing career he earned a master’s degree in intercultural communication and taught at San Diego State University. Dewan is currently conducting health disparities research and writing a nonfiction humor book about working in a community clinic.

Visit him at: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher for an exchange of fair review. Receiving a copy in no way will ever reflected my review and these are my honest review.

three sisters by helen smith

Title: Three Sisters
Author: Helen Smith
Pages: 54 (pdf)
Series: The Emily Castles Mystery #1
Published: February 2, 201
Rating: 3.5/5
Source: Provided by the author
Get your copy: Amazon

Summary (Goodreads):

It's bonfire night in London. Emily has been invited to a party in the big house at the end of her street by the new owners, whom she has never met. Emily's dog Jessie has recently died so Emily is feeling a little raw and emtional. How could she know, as she left her house that evening, that she was making an appointment with death?

My Two Cents:

Even though the first book of the series is quite short, the story begin quite fast right from the start. When her dog died, she was very sad and decided to go to a party but it turned out so chaotic when there was a murder. She took part in it to solve the mystery, and she was reminded by her dog, which it kind of helping her to solve the mystery. The story is cute yet very interesting with twist and turns. While the author created some of the characters to be dolled up, refusing to talk about the mystery until it was over. I really enjoy reading the the novella and would be happy to recommend to all cozy mystery fans.

p/s: this is my first time to read a cozy mystery, it's totally fun and suitable to youngsters. =)

About the Author:

Helen Smith is a member of the Society of Authors and the Writers Guild. She travelled the world when her daughter was small, doing all sorts of strange jobs to support them both - from cleaning motels to working as a magician's assistant - before returning to live in London where she wrote her first novel which was published by Gollancz in 1999. She writes novels, poetry, plays and screenplays and is the recipient of an Arts Council of England Award. She's a long-term supporter of the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture and mentors members of an exiled writers group to help them tell their stories.

Visit her at: Website | Blog

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from Author Helen Smith for an exchange of fair review. Receiving a copy in no way will ever reflected my review and these are my honest review.

no he can't: how barack obama is dismantling hope and change by kevin mccullough

Title: No He Can't: How Barack Obama Is Dismantling Hope and Change

Author: Kevin McCulllough

Pages: 256
Published: April 19th, 2011
Rating: 3/5
Buy at: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Book Description:

Nationally syndicated radio talk show host and columnist Kevin McCullough tackles the thorny issue of why the audacity of hope is not found in the current path that President Barack Obama has laid. As the first pundit in the world to predict that President Barack Obama would become president of the United States (verified on-air by Rush Limbaugh), Kevin McCullough was not surprised when Mr. Obama was elected to that office. Yet even McCullough admits he’s surprised by President Obama’s actions since the election. Surprised by the overt falsehoods already carried out by this administration. Surprised by our country’s sudden deficit of clarity and common sense. Surprised by a blatant lack of accountability. In No He Can’t, McCullough stands as the loyal but outraged loyal opposition to the current state of affairs.

My Two Cents:

I don't think I picked up this book in the first place because I want to know anything bad about Obama. Either way, I picked up this book because I thought it would be very interesting to know about one of the biggest influenced person in the world. Reading the book, I caught that McCullough is not a fan of Obama, he's stating a lot of what Obama had promised are not and will not coming. Since I don't really know a lot of what is going on in US so, I guess the author gave quite bad impression of Obama. I'm not really interested to know about the political views of this but the book is actually tell us what is going on if not more, a little about what is happening in the country under Obama. I found the book very interesting, even though you are not very knowledgeable about politics. But here's the thing, I don't think I'll judge Obama base on the book, yes, the book gave great insights about him but, we can't really trust it 100%. This is my opinion about it. Maybe if you are American, then you'll know the difference of what is right or wrong. I thought the book will be good to anyone who has great interest in politics in US.

Disclaimer: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. These are my honest review and receiving a copy in no way will ever reflected my review.

interview: Author R.L. Stine

Author RL Stine is the 2011 Thrillermaster for this year Thriller Fest. Stine’s thrillers and horror tales have proven to be great reading motivation for young people. The YA series, Fear Street, started in 1989 and was followed in 1992 by Goosebumps, which quickly took off around the world. Goosebumps has been translated into 35 languages. These days, Stine continues to add books to the Goosebumps series, scaring a new generation of kids.

I grew up reading his books and totally adore all of of it. When I have the opportunity to interview him, I jump at the chance. Thanks to Sarah at Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. make this happens. Please welcome RL Stine!

D: As the author of over 330 books for children, and three thrillers for adults, there is no doubt that you are a ThrillerMaster! What does this title entail for this year’s ThrillerFest VI?

RS: I'm very honored to be singled out for this award. It means a lot to me to be recognized by other thriller writers, especially since I admire and read so many of them.

D: What is your involvement with the ThrillerFest sponsors, International Thriller Writers?

RS: I've been a member of ITW almost since the beginning of the organization. It's given me a chance to meet and make friends with many authors. And it allows me to talk and give advice to beginning authors who wish to write for young people—and to appear in panel discussions on all kinds of topics of interest to authors and readers.

D: Had you always assumed you’d become a writer?

RS: Yes. I started writing when I was nine. Not sure why I thought it was so interesting. I was a weird kid, just stayed in my room typing stories and joke books. I think I knew when I was nine that I wanted to be a writer.

D: You’ve been drawn to both horror fiction and humor – penning numerous joke books and humor magazines – is there a correlation between the two genres?

RS: I think there's a very close connection. When I go to a scary movie or read a scary book, I never get frightened. They always make me laugh. I write horror the same way you write jokes—a series of punchlines. And of course I use humor a lot in Goosebumps to keep the books from getting too intense for kids.

D: Some authors are very habitual in the way that they write – do you have any idiosyncrasies you’d like to share?

RS: I'm pretty much a writing machine. I can write anywhere. I treat it as a job. I'm usually at my computer by 9 or 10 in the morning, and I don't get up until I've written ten pages. If I write ten pages a day, I can do a Goosebumps book in two weeks. But of course you have to count all the planning—and then lots of revising.

About the Author

R. L. Stine is the author of over 330 books for children. His Goosebumps, Fear Street, and other book series have sold nearly 400 million copies around the world, making him one of the best-selling children’s authors in history. Stine is a three-time winner of the Nickelodeon Children’s Choice Award and a recipient of the American Library Association Award.

Find him at: Website | ThrillerFest

guest post: Author Alison Silbert

Today I would like to welcome Author Alison Silbert, to join her virtual book tour of "Boost Your Revenues By Turn People Away: How to Sell More to Your Ideal Client Online " release. It's a non-fiction book, and I'm very confident the book will be great to all. We are very pleased to have her today.

How It All Begin

As a child, I wrote lots of stories in school and did loads of journaling in my teen years. In 2004, I received certification in technical writing at George Brown College.

I started to write simple articles in the second year I was running my internet marketing business as a way to generate prospects’ interest, exposure and credibility. I found that I tremendously enjoyed writing as a way of expressing my unique abilities to teach others about online marketing and constructing websites, that I ended up continuing to write articles.

Boost your Revenues by Turning People Away is a compilation of all kinds of experiences I have had with clients over the last 10 years woven between many useful tidbits of information I had begun to hear and included brief instruction-sets about how to use some simple website template styles, how to use some common content management systems (e.g. Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal) and some common questions that someone seeking a website company should ask any representative. I also included thought-provoking marketing topics such as “how to refine your ideal client definition” and “how to make your website compel your ideal client to start sales cycles for you”, and a full section dedicated to simple ways the non-technical business-person can promote a website and boost their search engine rank via article writing and social media postings.

About the Author

Alison Silbert is the author of Boost Your Revenues by Turning People Away. When not running her business Passionate Web Creations, she is a mentor, coach, and teacher, supporting individuals in living their dream of having a successful online business.

Visit her at: Website | Facebook | Twitter

About the Book

What’s the best way to increase your business? Boost Your Revenues by Turning People Away: How to Sell More to Your Ideal Client Online provides the answer in a nutshell. This informative guide that’s backed up by real-life situations is chock-full of business advice that makes success as easy as ABC, with C standing for Computer! Just how can you achieve your business goals? In three simple steps, you will learn to identify your ideal client, see how to design a website, and publicize properly so your ideal client can find your site!

Buy at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Website

guest post: Author Majanka Verstraete

Please welcome Majanka guys! She just have published a novella entitled The Blood That Defines Us and you can read my review here. Please help me welcome her with a warm wishes. Her guest post today is very entertaining and hope you will like it as much as I do.

Haunted Houses: Why they’re still scary, even after being done a million times.

I’m pretty sure that everyone who enjoys reading horror novels is a fan of haunted houses as well. I mean, they’re just fun right? Fun and really, really scary. Because they’re a bit closer to home than the old ax-murderer tale or the story about the old woman who enjoyed snacking on young children’s bones or the one about a hundred year old grandmother actually sucking her grandchild’s soul right out of his body because he happened to yawn in front of her as she was dying – that is an old superstition where I come from, and I’m pretty sure it could actually happen. Some old ladies are just plain mean.

So what is it about haunted houses that they manage to scare us approximately ten times more than the local serial killer legend or the thought that your ex-best friend who is acting all weird and anti-social right now is in fact a zombie? I mean, serial killers are nasty business, and it’s not nice when your friends turn into zombies, but on the scare-level, that’s all pretty low level. Trust me that neither of those are going to freak me out while I’m curled up on my couch reading about them in the latest horror book I got my hands on. But if it mentions ghosts, eerie occurrences, things going missing without any rational explanation, voices that came out of nowhere, footsteps that walk to the walls…Then I’ll probably start looking around wondering where the heck I left my Holy Bible to perform a banishing ritual, totally freak out when I can’t find it, and eventually blame its disappearance on my own personal poltergeist. I’ll probably find it the next day on some place I least expected, and because I will probably have forgotten all about how I chose to hide it in a safe-spot so I could easily access it in case of emergency – you know, the weekly demon-possession stuff, the occasional cleaning a house from evil spirits business, or maybe just trying to avoid the apocalypse - I will totally go berserk over the fact that it’s all of the sudden under my bed instead of in the drawer I usually put it in.

No, but seriously, haunted houses have managed to scare thousands of people ever since the day some brilliant fellow had the most amazing idea to write a frightening tale and make it all happen in one house. A haunted house. I don’t know if I have Dickens to blame for it (after all, he wrote the book “The Haunted House”, with a most original title), The Castle of Otranto (supposedly the first gothic novel ever, but not all that well known) or the creators of that marvelous movie “Poltergeist”. Now don’t me wrong, “Poltergeist” doesn’t scare me. A lot. It’s a bit over the top, with the entire graveyard beneath the house business (corpses coming up from the floor, that’s more funny than scary on the big screen, take my word for it). Or maybe I should just blame H.P. Lovecraft. “The Rats in the Walls” still keeps me up at night. But then again, so does Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lost” (Part one, mind you, the vampire business kind of took the fun out of it) and “Rose Red”. A dude actually loses an arm in that movie, which by the waysolves the question once and for all: ghosts can indeed make you lose limbs. Ghastly.

Haunted houses are really frightening. Every small town in the entire world has a local haunted house legend, and they’re all equally terrifying. I should know. I’m the one who came up with our own local haunted house legend. True, I had the perfect location. An old, abandoned and reportedly haunted house. But that’s quite boring, isn’t it? You have to spice things up a little, think outside of the box. Add murdered virgins, shallow graves in the backyard, some zombies in the basement, a mad doctor and a soul-sucking grandmother. Because trust me, those are scary as well.

But no matter how much a haunted house scares me – and it does scare me a lot, with the awkward screeching sound from doors opening in the middle of the night, the persistent voices apparently coming out of the walls and the idea of dead people still walking around and well, haunting, the house – I absolutely love to write about them. I loved it when I write something and manage to scare myself by doing so, if I have to glance behind me occasionally just to make sure no ghostly apparition is standing behind me, whispering in my ear.
I’m not exactly sure why I love to write about haunted houses, ghosts and the likes, but I have some morbid fascination for them.

So, what about you? Do you enjoy reading books about haunted houses, ghosts, etc.? Did “Poltergeist” scare you to death, or did you find it funny? Do you have any local haunted house legends – if so, I would love to hear them? And the most important question: what is it about haunted houses that you find appealing, or not appealing at all?

Visit her at: I Heart Reading Blog