The Changing Course Newsletter 

 

Issue 101 October 13th, 2004  

 

The free newsletter from http://www.ChangingCourse.com  

 

Dedicated to helping you:  

~ Live Life on Purpose 

~ Work at What You Love 

~ Follow Your Own Road 

 

OUTLOOK 2003 USERS: Restore the extra line breaks for the

best formatting by right clicking in the gray line that reads

“Extra line breaks in this message were removed” above the

From line and selecting Restore Line Breaks.

 

In this issue: 

 

Featured Article: Val’s Picks & Ponderings

Ask the Expert: Travel Writing Expert, Jen Stevens

Guest Article: Lifestyle Changes – a Conscious Choice!

 

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TODAY’S WISE WORDS 

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So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable. ~ Christopher Reeve

 

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Val’s Picks & Ponderings

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This week I have five helpful resources for writers – or those who aspire to be!

 

Not a writer? Then take a moment to support someone else’s dream by passing these resources along to any family, friends, or co-workers with a passion for writing.

 

1) The Writer's Digest 5th Annual “Short Short” Story Competition

 

Writer’s Digest is looking for fiction that’s “bold, brilliant...but brief.” Stories must be 1,500 words or less. 1st Place: $3,000. 2nd Place $1,500, 3rd Place: $500, 4th - 10th Place: $100, 11th - 25th Place: $50 gift certificate for Writer's Digest Books.

 

Deadline: Wednesday, December 01, 2004.

Learn more at http://www.WritersDigest.com/contests/short_story.asp

 

2) Do You Have a Self-Published Book?

 

You can win $3,000 in cash, gain international exposure for your book, and catch the attention of prospective editors and publishers. The 12th Annual Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards Co-sponsored by Book Marketing Works, LLC is searching for the best self-published books of the past few years.

 

Whether you’re a professional writer, part-time freelancer, or a self-starting student, here’s your chance to enter the only competition exclusively for self-published books.

 

Categories include:

 

~Mainstream/Literary Fiction

~Genre Fiction

~Nonfiction

~Inspirational (spiritual, New Age)

~Life Stories (biographies, autobiographies, family histories, memoirs)

~Children's and Young Adult books

~Reference Books (directories, encyclopedias, guide books)

~Poetry

~Cookbooks

 

Deadline is Wednesday, December 15, 2004. Learn more at http://www.WritersDigest.com/contests/self_published.asp

 

3) About.com Needs “Guides” to Write and Manage Online Topics

 

Do you have a passion for reality TV, low-fat cooking, computer animation, shoes, birds, or vintage cars? You can earn a minimum of $500 and establish yourself as an online expert by becoming an About.com Guide.

 

As a Guide you become the online leader of a community of people who share your interest. Your mission is to create an easy, intuitive and gratifying experience for people interested in their topic. Every site has a photo of the Guide and a bio. Click here for an example: http://retireplan.about.com/cs/budgeting/a/gasoline.htm

 

Each Guide is carefully screened and trained by About. Guides write original informative articles, provide the Web’s best links for their topics, and give their readers what they need to know. To be a Guide you need:

 

~ a true knowledge of and a passion for your topic

~ commitment to creating informative, “what you need to know” features

~ a dedication to building and updating a comprehensive links directory

~ the ability to bring your site to life

~ strong writing and editing skills

~ basic HTML skills

 

Guide compensation is based on page views. Each Guide is assigned a unique page view rate for each thousand page views the site gets each a month. In addition to the page view rate, there are also incentives for growing traffic. No matter what their page view rate is, Guides get paid a minimum of $500 for their first full-month on the network and are guaranteed at least $500 as long as they increase page views each month. Most Guides estimate that it takes them between 10-20 hours per week. Learn more at http://guide.about.com/

 

4) How to Get Happily Published

 

In the 20 years since it first appeared, hundreds of thousands of writers – professionals as well as beginners – have read, followed and benefited from Judith Appelbaum’s “How to Get Happily Published.” This new edition adds material on making deals with publishers (and what's important), working with small publishers (and when that's preferable), capitalizing on contacts (and where to make them), deciding whether to self-publish (and how much that costs), using new electronic media (to publish; to get information, publicity, promotion and sales; and to connect with enthusiastic readers), and making your work sell better (whoever the publisher is).

 

Plus hundreds of new resources – books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, groups, experts and internet sites covering every step of the publishing process.

 

Find it in the Changing Course Bookstore at http://www.ChangingCourse.com/bookstore.htm

 

5) Write Books for Children and Teens

 

If you have a passion for young people, and would love to make money writing for children or teenagers, read on. For over 34 years, the Institute for Children's Literature has been helping aspiring writers like you become published – and paid – writers.

 

The course materials are outstanding, plus you'll be matched with a published author who'll review each assignment and help propel you to success. The course is affordable, you can take it at your own pace, and many students sell articles before even finishing the course.

 

To learn more, read my complete review at http://www.ChangingCourse.com/children.htm

 

 

Off the beaten path career counselor, Valerie Young, abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at http://www.ChangingCourse.com, offering free resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. An expert on the Imposter Syndrome, she’s presented her How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are program to over 30,000 people. Find more articles written by Valerie at http://www.ChangingCourse.com/articles/

 

 

 

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ASK THE EXPERT

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ONLY A FEW SEATS LEFT!

What if you could get paid to visit white sand Caribbean beaches... wildlife sanctuaries in Borneo... Indian Ocean hideaways...Rome... Paris... London...?

 

Good news: You can! Listen in as Jen Stevens, writer and contributing editor for International Living and author of the Passport to Romance: The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course explains exactly what it takes to get paid to travel for a living as a freelance travel writer. Also on hand will be Lori Appling, manager of the American Writers and Artists Institute’s travel-writing training program.

 

If you love to travel, be sure to join us Thursday, October 14th from 8:00pm – 8:50pm EST for this FREE teleclass! We only have a few seats left, so click here to register: http://www.ChangingCourse.com/courses.htm

 

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INSPIRATION TO FOLLOW YOUR BLISS 

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Change is a measure of time and, in the autumn, time seems speeded up. What was is not and never again will be; what is is change. ~ Edwin Way Teale

 

The best way to predict your future is to create it. – Unknown

 

The big break for me was deciding that this is my life. ~ Jon Stewart

 

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GUEST ARTICLE

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Lifestyle Changes – a Conscious Choice!

By Ingela Berger

 

Are you ready for a change? Is it time for those plans that you've been thinking about for so long?

 

Now is a good time for making plans, for lifestyle changes, starting over, finding new directions and developing as a human being. Now is a very good time for creating your own personal lifestyle and a life that you have chosen to live.

 

Let there always be cross-roads!

 

Let me tell you what I think about cross-roads. There will always be new cross-roads. And I really hope they will be many. How boring life would be if there weren't any new directions to choose. We would just be walking straight ahead and never find out what else there is to know. We would never discover the narrow paths that lead into something new and unexplored. If we always choose the straight long road we will not develop as human beings. We will not realize all the qualities and possibilities that we all possess.

 

Some cross-roads can be tough on us. We can be forced to change directions. Something happens unexpectedly and we move into a crisis. This will happen to us all sooner or later. The changes that we choose consciously are "better" than the ones that hurt, of course. But we develop and grow as a result of both.

 

I have experienced both kinds of cross-roads. I have lost near and dear ones, and I had no choice but to see it happen. I have also made choices of my own - choices that have changed my life in many ways.

 

By making conscious choices we are able to make positive lifestyle changes. Instead of letting things happen we can take control. We have the power to make changes.

 

I would like to encourage you in your decision to build something new, something better! I want to inspire you to see the possibilities, and I am convinced that you have the power to make positive changes in your life. It’s a choice. You can build a better life! You have the possibilities and the power to make positive lifestyle changes. No one else can make the right choices for your life. But you can.

 

It's time to start feeling better! You deserve it! Reduce stress, start exercising, change career, or learn something new and different for your own personal development. Start today by taking that first step to a more fulfilling lifestyle!

 

Remember: The only ones that never fail are the ones that never try.

 

 

Ingela Berger started her own Internet business Lifestyle Plans

in 2003 out of a desire to inspire and encourage others to make

reality of their dreams of a personal, healthy and fulfilling

lifestyle. Ingela has studied theatre directing, history of art,

and leadership psychology. After some years working

 with art exhibitions and the theatre she is now back at school

to become a health and lifestyle consultant. You can find her online at http://www.lifestyleplans.com