4 Signs You Are Ready to Add Author to Your Resume

4 Signs You Are Ready to Add Author to Your Resume4 Signs You Are Ready to Add Author to Your Resume These days its easier than ever to publish a book. With the advent of self-publishing, almost anyone with the dedication to commit fifty-thousand words to paper can add Published Author to their list of credentials, and theres no denying the impact that a book can have on your career. When was the last time you saw an expert interviewed on TV whose name wasnt listed alongside their book title?The book is often one of the final steps in establishing your position as an expert in your field , as a place where youve compiled your knowledge and research into one package that will hopefully help others. But with mora books in the market than ever before, its important to make sure that youre not writing the book for the sake of writing a book.A clear understanding of your goals for writing the book, as well as a strong author platform, will increase your chances of the b ook positively impacting your career. Think youre ready to take the leap? Read on to be sure.1. Youre already contributing content. If you arent already speaking regularly or writing articles on a given topic, its going to be an uphill battle to find the content to fill an entire book. More importantly, the demand for your content remains untested. Whether youre recording a podcast, writing blog posts, or building a social media following, its important to pay attention to the kind of content that your followers respond positively to before putting pen to paper. Which topics get the most shares, the most listens, the most downloads, etc.? Without that knowledge, youre taking a bigger gamble on your book than you need to.2. You understand your audience. Knowing your audience goes hand-in-hand with the testing of your content. Take advantage of whatever analytics you have access to. Pull demographic information from your social media accounts or through Google Analytics on your websit e to get a general idea of who is consuming your content.Take it a step further by surveying attendees at speaking events, responding to comments, or A/B testing content. What are the pain points your audience is experiencing? How are you helping them?A book is a large investment of time, and without really understanding what makes your audience tick, you cant guarantee theyll make the jump from short-form posts to buying and reading your book.3. You can answer 3 critical questions. Before you start writing, take some time to reflect. Thoughtful answers to these questions will not only motivate you to schliff the book but will also make the outlining and writing process much easier, as you can always refer back to them.4. You have a clear goal for the book. With all of these building blocks in place, the last step is to objectively identify your goal for writing a book. Yes, its nice to have a book on your resume, but how specifically will you leverage it?Are you hoping to charge mo re for speaking engagements? Do you want to get those coveted television interviews? Are you an entrepreneur, hoping the book will grow your business? Do you want to make an impact on peoples lives?Writing the book is only half the battle. Publishing and promoting your book well require time, dedication, and research. Clearly identifying your goal for the book should inform all your choices going forward, and there are going to be a lot of them. From which publisher to work with to your launch strategy, keep this goal front of mind to ensure everything ties back to supporting it.As CEO of Greenleaf Book Group, Tanya Hall drives the companys growth efforts and fosters a culture built around serving authors. Learn more about Greenleaf Book Group at www.greenleafbookgroup.com and connect on Twitter ( GreenleafBookGr & TanyaHall ) and facebook inc .

The comma that paid workers $10 million

The comma that paid workers $10 millionThe comma that paid workers $10 millionIn a world of texting, email and casual sign-offs, good language still counts. Observe this high-stakes grammar lesson A U.S. appellate court decisionbetween a Maine dairy company and its delivery drivers came down to a punctuation mark. One missing Oxford comma in Maines state law could cost Oakhurst Dairy about $10 million in overtime pay.For those who arent familiar, the Oxford or serial comma is one of the most controversial punctuation marks among language lovers. Its the last comma in a series, but some people think it shouldnt exist. As language blog Grammarly notes, its the difference between, I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty, and I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty. Those two sentences mean very different things.In 2014, three truck drivers filed a class-action lawsuit againstOakhurst Dairy for missing overtime pay. In its decision on March 13, the court reversed a lower c ourt decision and sided with the truck drivers, arguingthat Maines overtime rules were written too ambiguously. Maines state law says that overtime does not apply in the following situationsThe canning, processing, preserving,freezing, drying, marketing, storing,packing for shipment or distribution of(1) Agricultural produce(2) Meat and fish products and(3) Perishable foods.Grammar warsThe entire case hinged on the missing Oxford comma in the law between for shipping and distribution. The Associated Press, which is widely used in many newsrooms, argues against using the Oxford comma in its guidelines.Proponents say it adds clarity. Between saying myfriend, a clown and a congresswoman, or my friend, a clown, and a congresswoman, some, like these drivers, would say that the former situation means that my friend is a congresswoman.Without an Oxford comma, the drivers contended that packing for shipment of distribution of was defining the single activity of packing- ergo, not them. Deli very drivers distributed food but they didnt pack them.They argued that they were exempt from the overtime exemption.Oakhurst Dairy argued that distribution was written to be a separate activity, so it did include the scope of the drivers work.Maines own legal style guide says not to use Oxford commas. But these guidelines also emphasized clarity above all commas are the most misused and misunderstood punctuation marks in legal drafting and, perhaps, the English language. The style guide says commas should be used thoughtfully and sparingly.In the end,the judges sided with clarity and agreed that there was enough ambiguity in the drivers favor. The Oxford comma, we can now safely say, has been vindicated.

Choosing a Career Path

Choosing a Career Path Choosing a Career Path For others choosing a career path is a much mora difficult and time consuming process that can feel overwhelming or even downright frightening. There could be a number of people offering what might seem like good advice about which career is best for you, but when you are finding the right career path, youve got to consider personal attributes and values even more than the advice of friends and relatives.To choose the right career for you, take a long look at your individual skill set and how each of those skills might better prepare you for a specific type of career. Truly following your natural abilities and ensuring that you focus on careers that involve elements that you enjoy and that you are good at makes finding the right career path a much easier process.Students who excel in mathematics and thoroughly enjoy working with numbers may find a career in accounting or engineering to be both exciting and rewarding. Those who are more adept in one on one communication or that enjoy focusing on and solving problems may be more suited to a career in human resources or marketing.Once youve clearly defined what you feel are your strongest attributes, consider consulting with a career advisor to discuss different career paths. Career advisors or counselors have the ability to help you examine your personal skill set even further in order to provide more or better options for you when it comes to selecting the most suitable career.A career advisor can also set up an aptitude test or career path testthat could help to match your individual personality with a particular career path. For people who are truly unsure about the next step to take in their hunt for a satisfying career, a career path test may be the perfect option. The right test could possibly even direct you toward a career that you may not have even considered on your own, but that your skill set and personality would make you a very strong fit for. Choosing a career path can be a daunting task, but focusing on finding the right career for your strengths can ensure that youll have the best chance of success on all fronts.Choosing a Career Path That said, the first thing to do when choosing a career path is figure out what things in life are important to you. Meaning, ask yourself some questions that will help lead you to the right career path. Some questions to ask might be what hobbies do I enjoy doing? or what goals do I have for the future? Dont forget to include thoughts of financial goals like retirement goals or goals toward purchasing a home.Knowing such things like what you enjoy doing will help you pick a job that you love doing, (or at the very least one that you can stand) because, lets face it, no one likes showing up day after day to a job that they hate. In addition, knowing what you like to do with your time helps identify which skills that you possess and knowing this is important because most jobs require applicants t o retain certain skills specific to that job.As for knowing future goals, they are important to think about when embarking on a new career path because future goals often depend upon finances and just as certain goals require more money, certain jobs pay more money. Obviously, the amount of salary that your chosen career provides directly effects the kind of lifestyle you can live.However, it is important not to get blinded by the potential amount of money any given career path might provide because choosing a career path is more than the money you can make. After all, if you do not enjoy what you are doing, at least on some level, you will not give it your all and giving it your best is the kind of attitude that will lead to promotions that subsequently lead to more money through promotions. Therefore, when choosing your career, first consider the things you like to do then consider how much money a particular career path might provide.