I write some articles, nothing too long, nothing too short. and i would like to get some feedback becuz friends dont always say the truth if you know what i mean
I’m in college, i dont study english and i live in egypt so it’s kinda hard to get good advice
Total_Praise I tried to contact you but ur email is not verified, or so it says here. I’d love for you to help me so could you please contact me

Hi there. You should visit The Readers Retreat at www.thereadersretreat.com. They allow new authors to submit work, share ideas, get feedback and even get paid for short stories that are accepted for sale on the website. Check it out. And good luck with your writing!

Jon Baxley
FiveStarAuthor@aol.com

THE BLACKGLOOM BOUNTY
A new medieval fantasy epic from Five Star and Thomson Gale.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594144…

www.thereadersretreat.com

The Real Pirates of the Caribbean – Heroes of Justice and Democracy

by Cherie Pugh

Cherie Pugh discovered the true story of the Nassau pirates when sailing through the Caribbean on a traditional wooden ship. She found the court records of their trial in London, and spent years researching and writing her novel

“Mary Read – Sailor, Soldier, Pirate”.

This ultimate pirate yarn is now available as an ebook or paperback from www.womanpirate.com

The real pirates of the Caribbean were mostly desperate British sailors, abandoned by their government after they had fought and won Queen Anne’s war. From 1702 to 1713, England, Holland and Germany challenged the might of Catholic France, in a terrible war waged in Flanders and Spain. This war, fought nominally over the succession to the Spanish throne, raised England to a super power, won her entrance to the immensely profitable slave trade, and ended the centuries old dominance of France. Yet England now required no more than skeleton crews to sail her ships back, and her well-trained sailors were left begging for bread in all her scattered colonies. Other European powers also abandoned soldiers and sailors, and there were many Dutchmen, Frenchmen and Spaniards who had deserted their posts, and were now without a home.

Many of the sailors stranded in the Caribbean were forced to cut logwood in the jungles, the desperate life uniting them into tight-knit brotherhoods, sworn to protect each other through malaria, Indian attack and starvation. When the captain of a trading ship tried to cheat Charles Vane’s Company, Vane killed him, and commandeered the ship. And all over the Caribbean, the brethren followed suit, and returned to the sea as pirates.

At the same time, a massive fleet sailed from Cartagena on the Spanish Main, carrying the treasure stripped from South America during the years of the war. Now that peace had been declared, the Spaniards decided to take the immense risk of getting it home. Yet they had barely set sail when a terrible cyclone smashed into them, leaving corpses and gold littering the beaches of Florida.

The pirates heard about the treasure when Captain Henry Jennings rescued a drowning Spanish sailor. When the gallant Welshman refused to throw him back overboard, despite the mutterings of his crew, the grateful Spaniard revealed the fate of the treasure fleet. Jennings then united the pirates, and led them in an overwhelming attack on the Spanish salvage camp. They sailed off together with a fortune.

Jennings then led them to Captain Mission’s old pirate base – the port of Nassau on the island of Providence in the Bahamas. Because of the trade winds, the Bahamas stand directly in the line of sail from Europe to the New World colonies, and every merchant ship would have to run the pirate gauntlet. Nassau harbour, with its reefs and shallows and extreme tides was also too dangerous for a large, square-rigged Navy ship to enter.

Urged by Jennings, the pirates united under Captain Mission’s code, which insisted on the honour of the Brethren of the Sea. The pirates claimed they were true gentlemen, and those well-born were but a pack of wolves that gorged on the helpless and weak. Mostly poor sailors, most had been shanghaied by their own government, that required hundreds of men for each ship in their navy, yet in never managing to feed them properly, due to the corruption of the Navy commanders, killed thousands of their own men every year, many times more than were ever killed in battle.

It is within a cultural disdain for the life of the ordinary man or woman, that the pirates evolved. These men came from the 80% of Britain that lived in desperate poverty and lawlessness, and having all suffered from injustice, they chose not to tolerate it, or perpetuate it. If they captured a ship captained by a tyrant, the pirates would encourage the crew to ‘tickle’ him, before dropping him into his ship’s boat, keeping his ship for his crew to share. To them, this was justice. The pirates also released slaves from the ships they captured, for they abhorred slavery as much as any Quaker.

The Caribbean pirates lived by strict rules, chosen by themselves, and clearly expressed in their Company Articles. Marcus Rediker, in “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea – A History of Anglo-American Seafaring…” examines six surviving sets of signed Articles which all insist on one man, one vote. Their officers were openly elected, and could be challenged by any of the crew. The quartermaster’s role was to defend the rights of the crew against the captain, who could only give orders when they were ‘chasing or being chased’. Every man had an equal share in the plunder, except the captains and quartermasters, who had a share and a half.

They expelled any man who stole from the Company, even to the value of a piece of eight; any who took an open flame below deck near the gunpowder; any who raped a “prudent” woman found aboard a prize; or who bought boy or bawd aboard for amusement.

I have found the court records of two women aboard pirate ships, Mary Read and Anne Bonny, and they are the exceptions that prove the rule. Mary Read masqueraded as a man for most of her life, including her time with captain Jack Rackam. Anne stole two sloops for Rackam’s crew, dressed in trousers when attacking, and though living openly as a woman pirate, and Rackam’s wife, was manifestly good for business. Even so, it is probable that the two women contributed to Rackam’s downfall.

[For more information on these fascinating women, see my coming article

“Mary Read and Anne Bonny - Pirate Women of the Caribbean”]

As they had sworn binding oaths not to spill each other’s blood, the pirates marooned any who broke their rules. A man could be made the ‘Prince of an island’ that was no more than a strip of sand in a blinding sea. With no water, food or shade, he would die in agony within three days. Or he might be left on a verdant isle with all he needed, and the likelihood of another ship dropping in for water.

Perhaps the lasting achievement of the Nassau pirates was the introduction of the bird-wing sail to Europe. John Haman built the pirates’ small fast ships at Harbour Island, basing his designs on the sloops of the Malacca pirates, ‘fast to attack, faster to run’. The pirates easily outran the square-sailed Navy ships, and their agile sloops could easily negotiate the dangerous reefs and shallows of the Caribbean on much lighter breezes. It was not until the Navy adopted these sloops, that they threatened the pirates at all.

[For more information on Nassau, see my next article

“Nassau – Pirate Haven in the Caribbean]

By 1715, pirate fleets of small, quick sloops dominated the trade between England, Africa and the Caribbean. They kept themselves well-armed, making their own powder and grenades, and stealing all the large and small armament they needed. Sailing up to a merchantman, King Death flying from the mainmast, drums and trumpets blaring, their sloops crowded with hundreds of armed men with blackened faces cursing like the Devil, and promising mercy only upon instant surrender, they must have seemed truly terrifying. The small, under-paid, starving crew would indeed surrender instantly, knowing the pirates’ reputation for fairness to the ordinary sailor, whose sea-chests they never touched.

When their holds were full, the pirates sold their stolen goods openly at auction on the docks of the corrupt colonial governors, who disliked buying expensive, highly-taxed goods from Europe.

At its height, the Brethren of the Sea was a close-knit organisation of thousands of well-trained sailors, in companies of hundreds of men, in large fleets of fast sloops. Openly devoted to the ethics of justice and democracy, they committed a great deal of theft, but little murder. That they have been slandered as psychopaths is an ongoing injustice.

[For more information on the British Government's slaughter of these pirates,

see my coming article “The End of the Pirates of the Caribbean”]

The ultimate pirate yarn is now available as an ebook or paperback from

www.womanpirate.com

Cherie Pugh
http://www.articlesbase.com/history-articles/the-real-pirates-of-the-caribbean-heroes-of-justice-and-democracy-755244.html

If you’re starting out or moving up in the entertainment industry, knowing what pay rate to ask for is particularly hard, so here are some guidelines to go by.

In general, it’s very important not to sell yourself too short OR price yourself too high. What determines this is not just the “market rate” for the services you’re delivering. When you’re setting your fee for a job, take the following into consideration – every time:

RATE “CALCULATOR”

1) What the market rate range is for the gig;

2) What experience you’ll gain;

3) What contacts you bring;

4) What contacts you’ll gain;

5) What relationship(s) you’ll form with whom;

6) What credit you’ll receive;

7) Who is issuing that credit (it matters!);

What experience you bring to the table;

9) When you will be paid.

Seems like a lot! Believe it or not, ALL of these are monetized in the entertainment industry. So do that 9-point checklist on every offer and adjust accordingly. Let me quickly break down how to use the list:

1) Market Rate. This is your opening number. You can always start with Guild tables; for screenwriting and teleplays, for example, the Writers Guild posts a Schedule of Minimums for payments. If you AND your potential employers are novices, this quote will probably be too high for you, for the reasons on the rest of the list. So beyond the various guilds and unions for your industry, a great way to research the market rate is to ask someone who recently was promoted past the position you’re considering. They’ll be happier to quote their former rate than reveal their current one! How to find them? Get online on the industry Forums and boards! Join a Yahoo! Group in your field and post away.

2) Potential Experience (“-”). If you’ll get important professional experience from the gig, this is worth lowering a quote in negotiations with someone who cannot pay much. The new work experience will help you get better jobs (and pay) as you rise. If the employer is a complete newcomer, however, be realistic about what kind of training you’ll actually receive. The key question to ask is, “What are the credits and background of the most experienced person I’ll actually be working with?” That will let you know how much you’ll learn in the process of doing the job.

3) Your Contacts (“+”). If you are bringing key industry names to the project, and that is part of what you are expected to contribute, that’s a bump for your fee.

4) Potential Contacts (“-”). There’s nothing worth more money in this business than personal contacts. If you’ll walk away with a great database of vendors, staff, crew and other industry contacts you connected with, take that into consideration as you set your price.

5) Potential Relationships (“-”). Beyond contacts, if the gig has you working closely with major players in your field, it’s worth flexibility on your fee. This isn’t just who will be on set with you. Which legitimate agents, managers, designers, network execs, bookers, casting agents, etc. will be part of the project and seeing you shine? Relationships are worth MORE than money in Hollywood.

6) Your Credit (“-”). If you have to choose between money and a better credit, in the beginning, go for the credit – as long as it is an accurate one! In other words, don’t trade a writing credit for a “co-producer” (meaningless) or “producer” credit if you only wrote the script. Your producer credit will be vetted and tossed out in any credit dispute if the project goes anywhere. But if you’re working on a TV pilot and they can’t pay well, but you can get an Associate Producer rather than a Production Assistant title, that is worth money in the bank on your next job. So work with them on your fee.

7) The Credit Source (“-”). A credit only means as much as the person who gives it to you. If a major company offers you a lesser credit, don’t dismiss it outright. That company’s good reputation and position in the industry might give you more heat when you go to your next gig – and it certainly can open that next door a lot faster.

Your Experience (“-”). If you’re new in the game, this is where you’ll potentially shave quite a bit off of your quote, and that’s a wide open range. If you’ll be working for an established company, there still are minimum expectations for rates (again, check with outside people at the level above where you’re being hired). Established companies are offsetting the lower rate with a list of career and future financial benefits. Newcomers are not. So if you are providing a real product or service to a fellow industry newbie, you must be paid for it. And not on the “back-end” (where unicorns and Bigfoot and other myths live)!

A producer who can’t shoot a film without your script…can’t shoot a film WITH your script – because they don’t have money. It costs money to make a movie, and part of that should go to compensating the writer, especially since, unlike the crew, you are getting no other tangible experience in the process, and your writing credit will be skeptically received on an indie film that never saw the light of day. But if you’ve never had a script produced or done a modeling shoot or been in a play, and a newcomer wants to hire you, don’t even think about holding fast to union minimums. Work with them on a fee or some tradeoffs, per the list above and the tip that follows.

9) The Pay Date (“+”). The later someone is going to pay you for your work, the more you can bump (slightly increase) your fee. Almost everyone reading this has been approached by someone who wants them to do work for free (on “spec”), with promises of payment “on the back end.” That’s meaningless because you’re pretty much never going to see a back-end payment (it’s possible; just not likely!). So here’s a rule. If you are doing physical work for someone (writing a script, walking a runway, doing a photo shoot), you must arrange to get physical “payment,” of some sort, when you do the work.

If the employer is an established company and you are a working professional, do not do spec work for them. Once you do it for free, you will always be expected to do it for free – or at least for too little. Thank them for the offer of employment, let them know you don’t work for spec but are excited to work with them, then work out a deal memo through your lawyer, offering them an introductory fee for this first project and establishing a minimum “floor” for any projects that follow. Established companies are never shocked to talk to lawyers (that’s how we do things in Hollywood), and they are more than used to paying for people’s work.

Newbie employers can offer you “deferred payment” – but also request a guaranteed in-kind benefit you can leave that gig with (and sign that in a deal memo, too). If you’re doing a fashion show for someone, ask them if they will at least hire a professional digital photographer (or let you bring one) so you can get shots (free clothes aren’t enough – those won’t get you your next gig!). Ask the designer to alert the photographer that you’ll be bringing a laptop or memory stick to download your images before you leave, and bring a thank you note and truffle for the photographer. If you’re writing the script for someone’s film, ask them to buy a copy of professional screenwriting software and turn over one of their access codes to you. Work with strapped newbie employers to see what they can offer you in exchange for your labor – since they’re not offering you entrée to the contacts, relationships and respected credits that would otherwise make a lower rate worth it.

ONE LAST WORD. As you work more steadily in this industry, your “rate” transforms into your “quote.” Your “”quote” is what you were paid on your most recent gig(s), and it’s the magic number everyone expects to pay you on your next gig. So once you begin working more steadily, you must be very protective of your quote, regardless of the additional benefits a certain gig would offer. Be particularly wary of being asked to accept a lower rate in exchange for a higher credit because that sets a ridiculously low quote for your new credit level. Sounds pretty sticky and uncomfortable? That’s why people have agents.

DMA/Donna Michelle Anderson
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/breaking-into-hollywood-how-much-should-i-ask-people-to-pay-me-118572.html

I am looking for some websites i can post and write on, do you know any besides writers cafe?

It can depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking to just post your work andyou like to network then try Triond.com, Bukisa.com, or Helium.com. If you want to write articles then go to eHow.com. If you want a true opinion of your work and want to grow as a writer then go to http://www.thewriterscage.com.

I was hoping to find somewhere I could post my writing privately, that I can share with select people. I currently have stuff up on a public site, but the idea of that makes me uneasy. Although my writing isn’t great, it’s my own personal stuff, but I’m not just thinking journal like writing, like actual stories and poetry. Any ideas?

you can do it in a blog and make it private so only your friends can see it.
I know that myspace blogs work that way.

also in Quizzal, you can have your story set on password and only give your password out to a few ppl.

Many for us have heard that affiliate programs are one of the best ways to earn money online, or to learn and apply internet marketing especially for those us who are new to doing business online. Intrigued by the hype, some of us scramble to pay or sign up for the first affiliate program they see being advertised on the top and side of Google search result pages.

This is a big step in ensuring failure in our first online venture, if it ever gets to take off at all. With the hype, comes along the scams, and it would be folly if we do not do our homework and research on the opportunities first. Here are some of the ways to make sure the affiliate program you choose is going to be worth your time, money and effort.

Make sure you can get your money back

This is a very important point which needs little explanation. Cheaters do not return the money once they get hold of it. Once you are at the landing page of an affiliate program, ignore all the big flashy dollar signs, scroll all the way to the bottom of the sales copy and see if they offer a money back guarantee. If they do not, most likely the program is not good enough for you.

However, if you harbor hopes that the program is legitimate and effective, you can look for the contact page and email them enquiries on any money back guarantees. It’s also a good way to check out the next point on the check list.

Email them questions!

An old, but rather effective way to check if the program is good enough is to simply send them a mail containing questions which you may have.

Email them, maybe just to say hi and ask for more details on the products being sold, or is there any money-back guarantees and what kind of support would be given. If they reply with good information, it proves, more likely, that they are serious about doing business with you as an affiliate and are legitimate companies who would give you support and your commissions when you earn them.

Forums

Good, well-frequented forums are a great way to find unbiased reports and reviews on the numerous affiliate programs out there. Good Forums would make sure that ads are not allowed in the posts so that the statements are free from any biased statements.

Infamous affiliate programs will quickly be pointed out in forums and come along with a lengthy thread of people basically criticizing it or filled with counter-arguments. Please take a closer look through these kinds of threads though. Some of these threads are posted by some who are just not satisfied with a particular program due to personal reasons and simply ranting about it, with other forum members attempting to help him or her, and so not necessarily meaning that the affiliate program in question is fraud.

However, if page after page of that thread is just criticizing a particular program, you should just avoid the latter.

Google it!

Another way to check an affiliate program is simply to type the name of the program, then add “scam” or “review” after it. From here, you can probably find some info to help you decide whether the program you are fancy is legitimate or not.

Please be wary though. Quite a number of reviews are nothing more that a technique used by affiliates to market the product. Some reviews are written to impress readers that the product is worth their money, and links are provided at the end of the review for them to pay for it, earning the reviewer (or affiliate) commissions. These reviews are basically skewed towards making more money for the affiliate writing the review, and should be taken with pinches of salt.

Your best bet with reviews is to keep an eye out whether the review written is in-depth and well-balanced with pros and cons of the reviewed affiliate program. If the review is littered with just praises and you find an affiliate link at the bottom to buy that product from the reviewer, you can safely conclude that the review is not good. Another way would be to compare with all the good reviews out there and decide if the program is good enough overall, though this method can be quite laborious.

Conclusion

Affiliate programs can be excellent ways to start earning money online, and for beginners to learn about internet marketing. However, if you do not choose your choices carefully, chances are you will be wasting your time and money into scams, offering nothing but frustration and disappointment in the end.

Just be careful as you choose your first or next affiliate business. Find the right program and work your way to success!

Thien Kai Wei
http://www.articlesbase.com/ecommerce-articles/why-some-of-us-lose-in-affiliate-programs-before-even-starting-90368.html

Those who want to use affiliate marketing to make money online but are strapped financially there are several no cost ways to start earning commissions. The methods are free but do require an investment of time to be successful. They generally are not as fast at generating commissions as paid advertising such as Google ad words but are more of a gradual way of building income online.

Blogs are the most effective tool to earn affiliate commissions without incurring any expenses. Writing niche blogs around a specific topic that is keyword rich tend to get ranked well in search engine results. It’s important for a blog to be updated often and provide a feed to draw in traffic. Posts to update a blog should be done everyday. Anyone who runs out of ideas for updating his or her blog can find free articles on just about any topic in article directories. These free articles can be used as blog posts. Feeds from other blogs can also be included in a blog to provide updated information. Having an interesting and frequently updated blog will receive links from other sites and will get noticed by the search engines.

Writing articles and publishing them online is another no cost affiliate marketing technique. The articles can have a link to an affiliate site in them. A good strategy I recommend though is a link to a blog or site with information related to or reviews of the affiliate site itself. Once an article is published it is often reprinted on many websites, for more details visit to www.boost-website-traffic.com blogs and rezones all across the internet. This alone will produce some targeted traffic. Oftentimes the articles will rank well in search engine results and also the links the articles generate help the affiliate site rank well.

Traffic exchanges are another free affiliate marketing method. With traffic exchanges one views other websites to gain credits which can be redeemed for traffic to their own site. Traffic exchanges are much less effective than blogs or for more details visit to www.greatpromotionsite.com articles. There are two reasons for this. First of all exchange traffic is not targeted. Secondly traffic from exchanges is from people who are mainly interested in generating hits to their own websites. Even so commissions can be made from traffic exchanges. The time spent on traffic exchanges should be much less than on blogs and articles though.

Placing advertising on free classified sites and rezones is another affiliate marketing tool. Since there is usually a lot of others placing these free classifieds, an ad should really stand out from the others and compel someone seeing the ad to click on it. Using free affiliate marketing methods to make money online isn’t a way to “get rich quick”. It takes a lot of time writing and placing ads. If one works at it consistently especially Blogging and writing articles they should be able to build a nice income over a period of several months and not have to spend any money doing it.

harwinder singh
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/affiliate-marketing-to-make-money-online-678398.html

READ FIRST

Ok,this is Sarah, sharing her sister’s story, it’s quite sad (boo hoo cry cry sad, not THAT IS SOOO LAME sad!)but I am planning a surprise ending!

this is my first vid do please plz be nice!!!

EDIT:
also can people PLEASE stop commenting on the writing i KNOW its too small, i KNOW its hard to read…i just had a little trouble with WMM(windows movie maker) and yotube blurred it a bit. i tried to fix it with all of my follow-ons from it. srry…i might put the writing in the description box IF I HAVE THE TIME!!!!

i do not own pokemon or songs or pics or ANYTHING used in this vid really! but copyright stuff means i have had to change the music…sorry…

EDIT:
okay okay i will post the writing soon so SHUT UP ABOUT IT!!!! its really annoying ur just posting comments that have already been posted and some NICE coments would be very much appreciated (hitn hint)??????

Duration : 0:7:25

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Technorati Tags: eevee, one, part, pokemon, sad, story

A trailer for a fanfiction my friend will be writing. If any of you guys are interested in reading it, I’ll post the link to the story as soon as she posts it up.

Cast:
Harry Potter – Daniel Radcliffe
Older Harry – Rodrigo Santoro
Ginny Weasley – Bonnie Wright
Older Ginny – Laura Linney
Hermione Granger – Emma Watson
Older Hermione – Chulpan Khamatova
Ron Weasley – Rupert Grint
Older Ron – Daniel Bruhl
Draco Malfoy – Tom Felton
Older Draco – David Anders
James Potter – Justin Chatwin
Lily Potter – Rachel Hurd-Wood
Albus Potter – Gregory Smith
Rose Weasley – Alexz Johnson
Hugo Weasley – Jamie Bell
Scorpius Malfoy – Toby Hemingway
Damian – Tom Sturridge
Diana – Alexis Bledel

It was hard for me to choose the actors for the older characters and of course for the kids. I know most of them don’t look like what you had in mind, but it was the best I could do. I hope you enjoy it and maybe you would even want to read the story.

Music: Nara – ES Posthumus

Pairings : James/Diana, Damian/Lily, and Scorpius/Rose

Update:
I know a lot of people have been asking for a link to the story but I never got to give it because my friend was actually really busy and had writers block but she just finished the first chapter and will post it up soon. Once she finished doing that I’ll post the link here. Thanks so much for all the comments guys.

Duration : 0:1:46

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Technorati Tags: daniel, emma, fanfic, generation, granger, grint, harry, hermione, next, potter, radcliffe, ron, rupert, trailer, watson, weasley

If you post parts of your novels on here, (plots, charcters, blurbs etc) aren’t you in danger of your words being stolen? Or is there some kind of copyright thingo? Anyone ever had something (an idea or some writing or anthing) that they posted here, then saw somewhere else because someone copied them? Anyone, any thoughts?

Actually, people who post their writing on sites like this ARE in danger of having their ideas stolen – and the thing about the internet is that, once your writing is out, it’s impossible to get it back. Even though all original writing is automatically protected by copyright, there is no way to enforce that protection if the writer is dumb enough to share their stories online.

Fortunately, most of the original writing on here is such deplorably awful fanfiction, no one has any interest in stealing it.