Did your machine slow down lately, especially when you’re using the MS Word?
It may be that you’ve got thousands of temp files just sitting there, clogging your machine. It may be time for some serious house cleaning.
Each time you open a Word document, MS Word creates a temporary file about that document. There are other Windows applications like FrameMaker for example that do the same.
These temporary files are in theory supposed to be deleted when you close down the document. But in my experience, they just keep accumulating in your Temp directory and create a resource drag.
There are two ways to clean your temp files. In both cases close down all your Window applications before you begin because you cannot delete the temp files associated with any open documents.
The HARD way:
1) Open your C:temp directory. Select all temp files and delete them manually.
WARNING: Do NOT delete a System File if you get any warnings to that effect.
The EASY way:
1) Select Start > Search > For Files or Folders to launch the Search Results screen.
2) In the Search for Files field, type the following search criteria (include every character):
.tmp;~*.do?;~*.wbk
3) Click the Search Now button.
4) Delete the files listed in the Search Results pane.
5) Windows will prompt before deleting System Files. I recommend you do NOT delete anything that can be a System File.
REMEMBER: If you think you’ve deleted any files by mistake, you can always retrieve them from the RECYCLE BIN. The temporary files you have “deleted” will NOT be really deleted from your system until you also clean up your RECYCLE BIN.
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Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases. movie reviews and hi-tech documentation.
He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 companies for the last 7 years.
You can reach him at writer111@gmail.com for a FREE consultation on all your copywriting needs or visit his official web site http://www.writer111.com.
Introduction – Ebook Publishing
There has never been a better time to earn money as an ebook publisher publishing online, despite the growing number of people entering the field. There are millions of people coming online every year and an almost insatiable demand for information about everything from acne to zulus.
If you are interested in joining the ranks of those of us who sell “information”, it’s fairly inexpensive to get started and can be very rewarding. There is a rich harvest of information on the Internet about how to research, write and publish ebooks for profit. This short article attempts to summarise the process and show you where you can find useful resources to help you on your way.
My Experience
I began publishing ebooks in 1998. I had always been interested in writing and while surfing the Internet found Ken Silver’s excellent ebook, “How to Make $100,000 A Year In Your Spare Time Creating Profitable How-To Manuals” which got me started. I figured that if Ken (and others, some of whom probably had less ability than me) could make money selling ebooks, so could I.
Today my original title, How To Write Winning Training Proposals still sells weekly and I’m making strong returns on my packaged titles, Winning That Government Job and Writing Responses to Selection Criteria. My most recent title, Guide to Letter Formatting and Writing is making me a small, but increasing amount of income each month as I fine tune the advertising campaign and it becomes more visible to buyers.
My ebook income arrives 24 hours per day, seven days per week and costs very little to generate. When I get up in the morning I check my email and there are usually several emails from my credit card transactions provider indicating sales. Even after all these years, it still gives me a buzz to see them.
What You Need to Be an Ebook Publisher
What you need are:
It’s really very straightforward. You don’t need to be a techno-whizz kid to do it.
Finding a Suitable Topic
There are numerous ways to identify suitable topics. These include identifying search terms that are commonly searched and comparing the number of searches with the supply volume. Other sources of useful information are such places as Ebay where you can research popularly purchased products or services.
Word Processing Software
Almost everyone with a computer has a capacity to create text files. Programs such as Notebook that comes with Microsoft Windows etc will do the job nicely.
There are also numerous shareware programs available for text editing.
Text to PDF File Converters
Some PDF creation programs are free and several are available on payment, including Adobe’s own program, Adobe Professional. Any of these can be downloaded online which means you can get them working within 15 minutes or so. HTML compilers are popular among some quarters, but are more problematical than PDF, so I don’t recommend them.
An Internet Presence
It’s getting cheaper to get a domain name that is perhaps, also your site’s keyword eg, www.computer-spares.com. And hosting for Internet sites is also very cheap. You get yourself a domain name and then a site host and, with the assistance of one of the free HTML software programs, you can create your sales site literally within hours.
An E-commerce Provider
Sign up with an e-commerce provider that allows you to sell information products and receive cheques or credit cards and you are in business. This also is relatively inexpensive with a once only setup cost and continuing costs directly related to sales. Some of these are far better options than local banks and financial providers who charge monthly fees for merchant accounts, especially when you are starting out and don’t have a lot of monthly sales.
Summary
While it takes some time to write an ebook, when you have one, you can get it online and ready to sell within three or four hours. Once on line you can then focus on the separate topic of attracting traffic to your site and making your book visible to those who will buy it.
So, what are you waiting for? More information? My “So You Want to Be an Ebook Publisher” has more info
here.
Copyright 2006 Robin Henry | First published May, 2006
Robin Henry is an educator, human resources specialist and Internet entrepreneur. He helps home-based businesses and individuals improve performance by applying smart technology and processes and developing personally. He runs his business Desert Wave Enterprises from his home base at Alice Springs in Central Australia, although at present he is on temporary assignment in the United Arab Emirates.
This is a much longer “story” entitled, “Our Enchanted Anniversary Evening”, is loosely based on a wedding anniversary celebration I wanted my wife and I to have. We couldn’t because I was in Spain and she was in Colombia at the time. It came out a lengthy TEFL piece employing more than 100 regular verbs spread over three paragraphs. On occasions when I’ve used it with my EFL students in Colombia and Mexico, I broke it up using only one or two paragraphs of the story at a clip. As mentioned before, this is definitely not completely authentic language, but I’ve found that it works.
OUR ENCHANTED ANNIVERSARY EVENING
It happened to be our anniversary when we traveled to Barcelona, so my wife Doris and I planned a special evening out. I purchased a beautiful bouquet of red roses that smelled wonderful and a black pearl necklace that sparkled in the moonlight. I beamed as I presented them to Doris. She pinned a rose to her sequined lapel. Her auburn hair shimmered in the sunset’s bronzed glow. I called a checkered taxi and we passed many highlighted sights before we arrived in front of the restaurant. The waiter seated us as soon as we walked into the neon-signed restaurant. I noticed a secluded table.
(22 verbs in this paragraph)
We positioned ourselves near an opened window and prepared to eat. My wife Doris looked at the selections listed on the menu and decided to have an appetizer. I picked the mushroom soup. A few minutes later the waiter returned. “What would you like to have?”, he asked. Doris ordered some steamed shrimp and broiled trout. I requested a tossed Cesar salad with a grilled steak and a baked potato. While we dined, we chatted and sipped a glass of white wine. Doris wolfed down her food but I savored the meal and chewed my steak slowly. When she finished, she munched on some pretzels. She soon gobbled up all the pretzels in the small bowl placed on the table. Later, we nibbled on a slice of decorated cheesecake as we talked. I wanted some coffee with my dessert. Doris preferred to drink iced tea. After the salted pretzels, Doris needed to drink some water. The waiter finally handed me the bill and I offered him a tip. We tipped him 15% of the totaled charges. He thanked us and smiled as we exited the restaurant.
(40 verbs in this paragraph)
Outside the now closed restaurant, we strolled along the cobble-stoned street, stopped and laughed when we spotted a trained puppy that jumped and played with its owner. We then relaxed and watched the sunset from a padded park bench as the boats in the harbor rocked, pitched and bobbed on the water. Next, we watched a romantic movie at a new cinema that interested us. The aged couple in the movie argued and chased each other as they sailed down an unnamed river that tumbled and surged through rapids which boiled around jagged rocks. Frequently they were trapped and scared. When the colorized movie ended the two discovered that they really loved each other. Finally, at the disco, we danced, swayed to the music and hugged each other often. Whenever I kissed Doris she blushed and giggled. Both of us enjoyed our enchanted evening out together. We hope you liked our story.
(41 verbs in this paragraph)
If you’re successful and want to try even more of my “stories”, just e-mail me for more. Better yet you (or your TEFL students) could try your hand at writing some of your own. Either way, I’d be happy to hear how these worked for you and your EFL / ESL English learners. So, feel free to let me know how well you made out.
Good Luck
Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an ELT Teacher Trainer, English language learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. He has published more than 350 articles and academic papers and presented at numerous EFL teacher training and TEFL conferences throughout North America, South America and Europe. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com
