Title: So B. It
Written by: Sarah Weeks
Ages: 10-up
Publisher: Laura Geringer Books/HarperCollins
ISBN-10: 0-06-441047-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-441047-2
Publication: April 2004
"So B. It," is a Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner and it will transport you into the life of Heidi.
Heidi has no idea where she was born, her birthday, her father, and how she finally arrived at the doorstep of Bernadette. Their new neighbor who has "angora phobia" (which is the fear of going outside) takes them in, and teaches and nurtures both mother and daughter as best she can. Discovering the truth of her background is difficult with her mother's mental disability, which has left her with a limited vocabulary of 23 words. Even though they have no means of income, their rent and utility bills are mysteriously paid each month.
Heidi's life is basically confined to the two adjoining apartments, until she gets older and is able to go to the store by herself. For quite some time Heidi accepts her life for what it is, but becomes curious when she discovers an old camera with undeveloped film inside. Heidi gets the film developed and discovers photos of her mother at a Christmas party at a place called Hilltop Home in Liberty, New York.
Heidi travels by herself to Liberty, NY, to uncover the truth of their identities. What Heidi uncovers and doesn't will be heartbreaking and spellbinding for any reader of this wonderfully written novel.
About the author: Sarah Weeks is an accomplished sing, songwriter, and children's book author. She conducts school visits throughout the U.S., presenting her books, songs, and shares the creative process of writing for children. Her publishing credits include more than thirty picture books and middle grade novels.
Visit Sarah Weeks at: http://www.sarahweeksbooks.com
Donna is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature and is a member of the SCBWI and The National Writing for Children Center. Using her children, extended family, and their friends as inspiration, she consistently studies the children's magazine markets for submittal of articles and short stories. Donna also continues to participate in children and young adult writing workshops and critique groups on an ongoing basis to sharpen her writing skills.
Visit her at: http://www.authorsden.com/donnamcdine or http://www.donna-mcdine.blogspot.com
Illinois Circuit BreakerWhen you enter into an online business, there is not doubt that you have to set aside a budget for advertising. However, not all forms of advertising are necessarily going to cost you a boat load of money just to get started. If you are seeking a new and improved method of advertising your online business, looking into effective business blogging can bring you the revenue that you would normally spend for advertising.
Statistically speaking, business blogging is the fastest growing form of online advertising, and the key is that there aren't any catchy words to toss out, no copy and paste data entry to deal with, and no fees for competing with the pay-per-click advertisers that make thousands off of your internet marketing efforts. Effective business blogging is as simple as you want to make it and often more effective than pay-per-click experiences. There are more effective business blogging campaigns out there (80,000 blogs that show up on the internet every twenty four hours and well over 50 blog enthusiasts) which means that you have a wide audience to cast a huge and authentic net.
Effective business blogging allows you the perfect opportunity to open up a dialog with your potential clients or business associates before they invest in your word. Developing trust and authentic relationships can take a little time, but once the trust had been established your business is likely to grow faster than you ever thought possible. Effective business blogging provides a forum for all parties to provide feedback and commentary to help you develop better business skills and offer the services or enhancements that will effectively help your business take off.
Effective business blogging also helps you develop a strong community of supporters. Bloggers are loyal people who tend to run toward their favorites and away from their least favorites, a simple human element that is alive and well in the blogging community. When you treat the blogging world with respect, the bloggers in return recommend your site, product, or services to others.
Effective business blogging means dropping the advertising campaigns. Blogs are the perfect backdrop to talk to potential clients or associates without selling them on your business. Give readers something of value to hold in their brains or their hearts and you will be fully aware of just how much buying power rests in the blogging community.
By combining the power of RRS feeds, keyword phrases, and effective business blogging all on one blog site, your business is placed in the most effective position to reap the benefits and financial rewards associated with the most effective business blogging. Test your blogs in several different venues and make sure that you educate yourself on the basics of effective business blogging. Unfortunately, one poor post can have a residual effect, but one good post is also likely to have a residual effect. Learn all that you can about the rules, as well as the unwritten rules, of effective business blogging in order to play on the same field as everyone else. This simple step can save you thousands in one costly error.
When you are ready to set up your own blog, follow the basic guidelines below in order to promote your business and receive the ultimate benefits of effective business blogging.
Start with interesting topics that allow you to integrate you blog design into your company. This isn't that hard, just a little forethought (perhaps a template) and some creative help on the side if you choose can bring your new blog into the limelight faster. Always make sure you cover your legal ramifications and post disclaimers that refute your liability for content and the opinions of others and any harm that could come of inappropriate posts. This is a simple step that all effective business blogging should have just to make sure they don't end up with a silly little legal hang up that can drive you under.
Always set the standard by posting your own terms of use and policies. You are permitted to set up basic limitations and offer content control. You also reserve the right to remove any offensive material.
Use your business blog as a forum, and don't work too hard on the sales end of effective business blogging. Selling to your readers is an immediate turn off, as we are all bombarded with commercialism way too fast and hard these days.
Always update your business blog on a regular basis and research your new and improved content in order to keep your business blog interesting for your audience. Avoid bland talk about products and the superiority of your business.
If you have people who work for you, encourage or even mandate that all company employees use business blogging to enhance their own sector. For large companies, this can improve business morale and function and for small companies this can effectively help the business grow. Blog the first fifteen to twenty five posts prior to sending your effective business blog out into the marketing end. This makes it look more complete and offers readers a chance to integrate their thoughts on more than just one or two posts.
An effective business blog is not a set and leave it type of element. In fact, effective business blogging requires regular updates and attention in order to make it function well. Never believe that your blog will take care of itself or you will lose the ground you have already covered.
In the mean time, Good Luck on your journey to success...
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