UK Magazine Market Improving

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I am beginning to wonder if there is a slight improvement in the magazine market where publishing articles in UK magazines is concerned. A few opportunities have come my way recently and I note with interest that there seems to be a whole rash of new titles which are mostly leisure related.

On top of that I have sold a couple of articles to a specialist publication which has broken a long lean spell. Maybe the UK market is moving. As for the US market, well that is a completely different thing and doesn't seem to work the same way at all.

If you are UK based, or write for the UK market it might just be time to look at those magazines again.

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• Reader's Digest UK attracts almost 100 potential buyers (telegraph.co.uk)

Insurance is one of the most important purchases any of us will ever make and getting the right advice is vital. It's too late to find out that you aren't covered once you try to claim.

This is where good insurance marketing advice is essential and contacting experts in the field is vital to doing the job right.

Why Do I Want To Write?

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I have often stopped and wondered why it is that I have this compulsion to write all the time. Perhaps the title here is slightly misleading because sometimes I don't even want to write but I know I have to.

There's a kind of obsession in me that has been there since I was first able to hold a pencil. At the age of seven I was publishing little comic books for other children to read. I owned a set of blue stencils with three different types of lettering on them and I can still see them now. Each headline was carefully stenciled and the rest was drawn in black ink and lettered in minute perfectly formed letters. I tried many ways to make copies but the only method I had was blue carbon copy paper.

So, what is that makes a writer write? Is it the money? Ha ha! I'm almost falling off my chair laughing at that one.

Maybe, just maybe, it is a need to create something permanent. Although I may never achieve fame as a writer, long after I have gone, someone somewhere will be reading my words in a book I have written, in an old magazine, or on the internet. It's the closest to eternal life that any of us can hope to get.

Which is all very philosophical for this time of the morning!

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If you are self employed or earn your money on a commission basis, you need leads. This is particularly difficult for those in the insurance business. Quality insurance leads can be time consuming to find.

It's much easier to go to a company which will provide hot leads for you and help with the admin side of things too. You really don't want to be spending hours on paperwork either.

Progress Is Slow In Some Areas

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Unfortunately where writing my new novel, or novels is concerned (I have three in progress and another taking shape inside my head) progress is very slow.

There is a reason for for inability to get grips with my novels and at least complete another one and it is not all back. I have been working away at a few poorly paid writing jobs for a few months now and have suddenly been given a pay rise which makes one of them much more worthwhile. I also landed a permanent long term contract this week so I now have two contract jobs to add to my editor one.

It is literally exploding on me and my biggest problem is getting organised. I find that I can no longer rely on my brain to remind me of deadlines and who needs what urgently. A giant wall planner would be good but then I would forget to look at it for three days and miss something. So, I continue using the 'bits of paper organiser system' and trust that the right piece of paper will come to fore and remind me of what I am supposed to be doing that day.

I was certainly never designed to be an administrator but being self employed does kind of force me into that role. I don't want to do it; I just want to write.





Anyone who is self employed in the insurance area will know exactly what I mean by wasting precious time doing admin work. Sorting out and digging out leads can be very tedious and waste loads of time.

Time spent searching for leads which often turn out to be a waste of time is likely to drive you crazy. So, there must be a better way to do this, or all the self employed insurance agents around would have given up years ago. The solution is simple and all you have to do is ask for insurance sales leads and the job's done.

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Rude And Selfish Writers

I was quite annoyed the other day to find my comments boxes on several articles full of links to other websites. This was not the usual 'Come and see my articles on writing for a living', 'Come and find out how to write a blog, or make a million doing nothing' and 'Buy my book'(why don't you buy mine, I ask?) These are expected and are treated with the usual quick delete.

What I am talking about is rude, bad mannered and selfish writers who would never allow me to stuff their comments boxes with my links, (should I ever have the notion to do so)but seem to think they can invade my blog with theirs.

What infuriates me most is the sheer ignorance of other writers who try to broadcast their affiliate links on my blog. I had one who left a link to FACTOIDZ every time he commented. I won't name him for obvious reasons but I thought he was incredibly rude and selfish as I have an advert of my own on the top of this page pointing to Factoidz.

Another person tried offering their services via Odesk in my comments boxes. I doubt the person would have found any writing work because their English was so poor, but it was never the less, rude. I have my own link to Odesk on this page.

I leave links in comments boxes if I think they will help my readers and they do not compete with my business or my blog, but most get deleted.

There is a difference between aggressive marketing and down right ignorance and the second one never won any customers.

Finding Health Insurance Leads

Finding more business is something everyone in the insurance business wants to do and the larger the customer base, the better. Health insurance leads are really simple and easy to find if you go to ProspectZone. If you are an agent looking for work, or a broker you will still be able to benefit from this system.

Leads will soon point you to real prospective buyers who are looking for health insurance and ProspectZone and genuinely want to buy. All you have to go and get the leads you need. Help and advice is also available on the site if you have any problems, or queries.

To improve your own selling and closing skills you can easily take advantage of the free tips which are available to download. If you are going to get your hands on a batch of red hot leads, you will need really good closing skills to be able to convert them to money.

Quality leads are guaranteed, so you know that all the leads are worthy of your closest attention. You will know that the person you are speaking to is interested in what you have to say. Capturing the prospects interest is, of course, the first step towards getting them to say ‘yes’ and making yourself a sale which will convert to money.

ProspectZone runs a lead management system which deals with sales and keeps them going through the system quickly and easily. The more completed applications that get through, the more sales there will be. Amazingly enough, this is all free of charge.

You can learn from the advanced training system if you wish to and start using fresh and new ideas for marketing and sales. The better you explain to your client all about what’s on offer, the more money you will make.

Can You Really Make Money Writing On Triond

At one point I would have said yes, you can make money on Triond but I feel quite let down and a little bit as though I have been used in recent months. What used to be a fair site, well run and caring has now become one motivated entirely by greed. Anything goes on there, as long as it makes more money. It doesn't even have to be in literate English and even obscenities end up being published until someone complains and they are taken down.

I am loathe to say it directly but I do not feel that writers are being paid fairly.


How Much Money Can You Make From Triond?


This article contains full and frank details of just how much work it takes to earn so little. It even gives actual earning figures for your information which is something other writers on Triond have not revealed.

I began to wonder just how many quality articles are needed to make a living from writing on Triond. I used to think that 500 would do the trick but with the way revenue has been dropping, it seems that even a thousand will still only bring pennies.

Many established writers have seen their revenue drop from hundreds of dollars per month, to what can only be described as an insulting token gesture. While I understand that Triond gets revenue from advertising and shares it with us as writers, I have started to have my doubts about how exactly this is being done.

Read more here.........

Whether I am right, or wrong, I don't know for sure, but this whole thing leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. I feel as though I am being cheated!

Authors First Book Hits The Jackpot

‘Pigeon English’ by Stephen Kelman has amazed critics and other writers the world over. This was Stephen’s first book and it tells the story of a 5 month period in the life of a twelve year old boy who had just arrived from Ghana.

Stephen showed nobody his manuscript and asked for no opinions, he simply sent it in the old fashioned way in a brown paper envelope, to a number of publishers. Normally anything delivered by this method goes into the slush pile and may never see the light of day no matter how good it is.

The present economic situation in UK means that publishers are extra careful about what they publish. Stephen was given a £100,000 advance on his book and a contract by Conville & Walsh but what was even more remarkable is that he received offers from no less than eleven other publishers.

His book is already getting publicity and many people are waiting for it to be released. Everyone wants to know what it is about this book that makes so many publishers to give him a contract for it.

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