4 Secrets To Becoming A Guest On Top Tv Talk Shows

The phone rings. You hear an authoritative voice say, *Hello, I'm the producer of...Good Morning America or Oprah, or Larry King Live* or any other top talk show, you name it. This is your big moment, the break you've been waiting for. After you catch your breath what do you do? 

Producers make an instant assessment of you in thirty seconds--or less. When you get that coveted call from a producer, you aren't just *talking* to him: you're auditioning. You are being screened to be accepted or eliminated as a guest on their show. How can you pass the audition? 

Secret #1: Ask Before You Speak 

Before you even open your mouth to start pitching yourself and your story to the producer, ask them a simple question: *Can you tell me a little bit about the kind of show you envision?* In other words, ask the producer the angle he is planning to take. 

Doing so has two advantages. First, it gives you a moment to overcome the shock and to collect your thoughts. 

Second, once you hear the producer's reply, you can gear your pitch to the type of information he's seeking. Listen closely to the angle that he's interested in and tailor your points to it. Publicists often use this technique to get their clients booked on shows. They *get* before they *give* - so they are in a good position to tell only the most pertinent information about their client. 

Secret #2: Wow the Producers with Brevity 

Follow the advice of jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie: *It's not how much you play. It's how much you leave out.* Keep your list of talking points by the phone when you call a producer (or a producer calls you), so you'll be succinct. You will already have rehearsed your points so that they'll sound natural and inviting. Be prepared with several different angles or pitches, different ways to slant your information. *Nobody gets on these shows without a pre- interview,* says publicist Leslie Rossman. *Be a great interview but don't worry about the product you want to sell them because if you're a great guest and you make great TV, they'll want you.* 

And keep in mind the words of Robert Frost: *Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.* 

Secret #3: Prove You're Not a Nutcase 

If you area nutcase on the air, the producer will lose their job. What constitutes a nutcase? You may think it's a positive trait to be enthusiastic (and it is), but anyone who is overly zealous about his passion is considered a nut. Best-selling author and screenwriter Richard Price talks about this phenomenon as *The dangerous thrill of goodness.* He says, *What happens is you can get very excited by your own power to do good.* Don't get carried away by this thrill.

One way to tell if you're being too zealous is that you're hammering your point at top speed with the energy of a locomotive pulling that toot lever non-stop. I remember a man calling me up about how he was single-handedly taking on Starbucks - who, he felt, had done him wrong. He wanted me to promote his cause. While this could have been a great David versus Goliath type story, he was long on emotion and short on facts. Some statistics or figures would have tempered his mania. 

But he also never checked in with me to see if he had my interest. By talking loudly and barely pausing for a breath, he appeared to be a man who wouldn't take direction well. His single-mindedness was off- putting, not engaging. 

When you're talking to a producer speak for 30 seconds or so and then check in by asking, *Is this the kind of information you're looking for?* Listen for other verbal cues, such as encouraging grunts, or *uh huhs.* 

Secret #4: Can You Mark *The Big Point?* 

Contributors to the popular radio show *This American Life,* hosted by Ira Glass, have taken to calling the wrap-up epiphany at the end of a story, *The Big Point.* This is the moment that the narrator gives his perspective on the story in an attempt to elevate it from the mundane to the universal. 

Another radio personality, Garrison Keillor, is a master at it. He tells long, rambling stories (not good advice for you), then ties up all the story strands in a coherent and satisfying way. As a great guest, you want to illuminate your story with a big standout point that helps the audience see the significance of your story in their world and the world at large. Rather than hitting them over the head with a two-by-four, you want to share your insights with a feather-like touch. By framing your story you alert the producer to the fact that you're a thinker and can contribute great insights and clarity to a story thus increasing its appeal. 

The Four Golden Rules Of Personal Finance

Many successful people have mentors to guide them in learning the skills that lead to achievement, and I'll do my best to offer you some critical personal finance perspectives. They say that life is a school where you learn the lesson after the test. The same thing applies to money, but you can't go back in time to fix catastrophic financial mistakes that you have made over time. As long as you are alive, you are a player on the field of the money-game, and you need to know the basic rules before you get tagged by the experienced players. 

Rule #1: To earn money from money. The only way to escape becoming a wage slave for the rest of your life is to set aside savings. The profit on your savings can be used to increase your lifestyle spending, reduce the number of years until you retire, or allow you to actually have any retirement at all. How are you doing so far toward saving and getting it to earn money for you?

Every dollar that you spend eliminates its ability to earn money for you in the future. I am not recommending that you stop eating at restaurants and going to movies, I am recommending that you use some common sense, like looking at your four biggest expenses over the last few months and aggressively finding a way to reduce them.

The biggest obstacle for the first rule is personal debt of any kind (other than a mortgage for your home) or a lease of any kind. Every personal debt that you incur reduces your net worth which could have been working for you over your life time. Acquiring personal debt is exactly like putting a large hole in your wallet. In the money-game, a huge transfer of wealth occurs between the 'Haves' and the 'Have-Nots' over the words, "I can afford that monthly payment." Here is a hint: the "Have-Nots" are the ones who make that statement. So please don't ever look at whether you can afford a monthly payment to make a purchase; pay in cash after you've saved for the item. [Everything that you buy with a 0%-interest payment plan must be over-priced. Behind the scenes, your payment contract is sold to a lender with an interest rate, and retailers don't do this without building-in an acceptable profit for themselves. Ask retailers how much the item will cost if you pay in full, and you could get a lower price.]

Rule #2 Always keep your finances under control. The first step in losing financial control and spiraling into debt and money problems is simply not dealing with personal finances. Prepare for catastrophic financial accidents with health, life, disability, and auto insurance. Plan and save before you buy something. Create a balance sheet for yourself at least once a year to see how you are progressing. Pay every bill on time, or contact the creditor to tell them what is going on and make a partial payment. If you are temporarily unable to handle any of this, ask for some help immediately and find someone trustworthy who will do this for you. 

The most common source of financial trouble is a trauma in your life. This can be a health problem (large expenses or unable to work), an emotional problem (divorce or loss of loved one), or a financial problem (losing a job, cut in pay, relocation, unexpected expenses). Whichever the source may be, it leads to three emotional problems: the first is denial, the second is being overwhelmed, and the third is hopelessness. Denial causes people to not open their mail and continue spending as usual, and being overwhelmed paralyzes people from getting assistance and dealing with the situation. For example, if you just lost a loved one, balancing your checkbook and paying bills is not high in your priorities. Unfortunately, tiny amounts of debt grow with interest and penalties into seemingly insurmountable mountains of debt; leaving you with loathsome options such as bankruptcy, poor credit, declining lifestyle spending, and added stress that you bring to relationships and work.

Rule #3 Pay attention to the finances of the people with whom you spend the most time. Whether they are relatives, friends, or co-workers, these people have the most impact on your financial life. Do they consistently follow the first two rules of the money game? Do they earn about the same money as you? If the answer to either of those is "no", then I recommend that you start spending a little less time with them; and this is why. If they don't consistently follow the first two rules, it is unlikely that you will either. You unconsciously model the people around you, and the more people you are exposed to that don't follow the first two rules, the more likely that you will unwittingly follow them. No one thinks they are 'trying to keep up with the Joneses', but we all do it to some extent, and this is the mechanism. On the other hand, if they earn a lot more money than you, you may rack up a lot of debt trying to keep up with them (meeting them at their favorite expensive restaurant, joining them for another expensive vacation, buying a new car because yours is the junker among all of your friends, etc.) On the other hand, if most of your friends earn a lot less than you, you will turn into the group's banker. For example, you'll find yourself in the pattern of putting your credit card down to pay for dinner and they'll all say they'll pay you back later, but 50% of them never do; and they don't mind taking advantage of you because, after all, you earn a lot more than they do. Or, you and your friends need to pay a deposit for renting a house and they expect you to write the checks because you have the money available and they do not. 

The neighborhood that you live in also creates financial pressure to violate the first two financial goals. Your neighbors are likely to become friends (and I've already gone over this), but they also influence the size of your home, extent of your landscaping, price of furniture, and the size of your TV. So pay very close attention to the finances of your neighbors – if you don't like how they are measuring up for first two rules, move somewhere more in alignment with your financial goals. If your family and friends, don't measure up financially, find some additional people to spend time with that have financial habits that you'd like to emulate and learn from. I have friends with a wide range of income, but it is much more difficult to follow the first two money rules when I am with the extremes from my own income. You'll just find it easier to reach the next rule when the peer group that you hang out with aligns closer to your economic level.

Rule #4 Accelerate the other three rules:
Add to your savings by increasing your income through advancing your career. It doesn't matter whether you enjoy it; it is a means to an end – with the end being progress toward the fulfillment of rule #1. Increase the amount that you save by aggressively lowering four of your highest expenses. Start spending time with people that talk about investing money and are systematically building their wealth the fastest. The combination of all four of these rules will hopefully offer a next-step for you to take today to start getting more 'wins' in the money-game. 

How To Leverage Your Mindset For Success!

Business is about influence, or "leverage." Your book that you will author is a tool to leverage your credibility. And the first step in preparing your mind for success is to see yourself as an expert. Another way of looking at this is that you must sell yourself first to your dream of the possibility of becoming a best selling author. 

So there are really two sales that must take place: the first sale is the one you make to yourself. The second sale is the one that actually produces money for you when members of your target audience complete the transaction with you. 

To master the sale to yourself it is imperative that you write your own book. No ghost writer. You want your voice to come out strong and clear. One of the concepts we will discuss is your UPP which stands for your Unique Personal Proposition-which means your unique story. There is nobody better to get your message out then you! No one else has your story. Remember that the main reason people come to the Internet is to solve problems. 

The purchasers of your book want your guidance. So you are paid to provide solutions to the problems that keep people up at night. 

Creating Ideas 

Here is how you create ideas: Complete a five minute exercise where you put your core concept in the center of a piece of paper and list as many ideas that are related to what you want to do. The key is to write everything down and do not pre-judge anything. This is the creative phase. You want to write as quickly as you can. Do not reflect at all on your ideas. The personal reflection comes in the next phase. 

The key to brainstorming is recording all your ideas. This allows your subconscious to find relationships among them. There are three relationships that your mind will look at when analyzing your ideas. The great philosopher Socrates first espoused this concept 300 years before the time of Christ. 

This process involves analyzing a) the similarity of your ideas (What is this concept like?); and b) The contiguity of your ideas (How are the ideas related to each other); and then c) the contrast of your ideas (How the ideas are different). 

The ideas you create should all be involved in solving your target market's problems. To bring this home on how this should guide the writing of your book, the late and great G.K. Chesterton summarized the importance of analyzing problems first when he stated that the focus should not be on your book, but on understanding and magnifying your target market's problems first. <

Your focus is not on you or what you think people need, but on the people-your target audience-and what they tell you they need. 

This begins with understanding the difference between empathy versus sympathy. As an author, you must empathize with your target market. Empathy goes one step further than sympathy. Though the difference is essentially one of focus. Sympathy is the ability of showing how sorry you are that one person is going thru a painful situation. Empathy focuses on providing solutions for your target market. And the solutions that you provide should communicate the desired attitudes (what should I think) and the specific skills that are required to move to the desired end point (How do I get what I want and why should I do it a certain way and how do I implement an overall strategy in my life to make it happen). 

Implementation is a key reason why information is the enemy to ultimate success. Information alone is passive as it fails to contextualize content. There is no implementation or ACTION if all you have is information. It is all content and no context. 

The Author's Mindset 

The first principle is preparation. Authoring your best seller is no different than preparing to participate in an athletic event. You don't just show up on game day without putting your body through immense preparations. The key to authoring a best selling book is to prepare before you start writing. 

Here are the steps in preparation as we see it: there must be order in your life. Order begins in your mind, and then it must be channeled with a concrete game plan. Your success must acknowledge the need for patience, endurance and the ability to act in the face of fear and failure. Success does not come easily. You pay the price every step of the way. 

The first step in preparation is to acknowledge your dream. 

But what good is a dream if it stays in your head? You must give your dream legs. Thus, the second step is to take action on your dream of authoring your book. Don't wait for life to slow down, because you know it won't. Start making your dream of authoring a book a reality today. 

How to Promote Your Keynote Speaker

Here are some tips from the National Speakers Association (NSA) on how to promote your keynote speaker:

• Tantalizing Titles
  
  Get off to a strong start by assuring the session has a catchy title, advises Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) Chris Clarke-Epstein. "Start with a short, spiffy and clever title followed by a subtitle that explains the benefit of the session."
  
  
  Successful brochures contain titles that capture attention but also immediately answer the question, "so what?" The subtitle should contain phrases such as "how to," "10 tips," "master five steps," etc.
  
  
  Most importantly, make sure the session matches the description. "Hold speakers responsible for delivering what they promise," says Clarke-Epstein.
• Work Your Web Site and Create a Buzz with E-Mail
  
  Familiarity breeds attendance, and your association's Web site is a great tool to introduce your professional speaker to your potential audience. NSA member Jeff Blackman, JD, CSP, offers the following tips to help you make the most your association's technologies.
  
  
  Post a detailed description of the session and the professional speaker on your site. Photos of the speaker in action are a good addition. You can also ask your keynote speaker to provide you with audio or video excerpts from a previous presentation to promote the program before the event. Be sure to provide your members with a link from your site to the keynote speaker's Web site. "Members can learn more about the speaker or obtain additional content before and after the program."
  
  
  When your event is over, Blackman also suggests posting audio or video excerpts from the session to reinforce the program's key points and educate members who were unable to attend.
  
  
  If your association has an online book or tape store, feature your keynote speaker's materials prior to the presentation. If you have a chat room or bulletin board, consider slating some time for your members to chat with your presenter. A professional speaker will use this opportunity to get to know your member's concerns and questions and will customize his or her speech accordingly. Your members will appreciate the opportunity to learn and participate.
  
  
  E-mail is another easy and inexpensive way to promote your event and your keynote speaker. Use it to remind your members to register. Send them links to information and online registration forms. Generate a pre-program buzz by sending an e-mail questionnaire to your members. The responses should go to the keynote speaker, who can reveal the findings during the presentation. Add a personal touch by having the presenter send a "welcome" message to each of your attendees.
• Word of Mouth
  
  One of the best ways to promote your keynote speaker is to get other members talking about them, according to professional speaker and former Olympian Vincent Poscente. Find out where your keynote speaker is going to be presenting between the time when you hire them and when they will be presenting for your group. Invite members of your board of directors or event committee to see the presentation when your speaker is in their city.
  
  
  Consider having the keynote speaker address your chapters. Often, a professional speaker will negotiate fees when you book them for a number of presentations. Chapter newsletter editors often need additional material for their newsletters, so look into submitting an article on or from your presenter. Send them flyers to distribute at local meetings. Chapters are often the heart of an association, so don't overlook their potential to spread the word about your presenter.
• The Write Stuff 
  
  Chances are your presenter has written many articles on the subject at hand. You can also ask the keynote speaker to craft a customized article for your group or have a member of your staff conduct an interview. Not only do these articles make a great addition to your association's publication; they might also be a good fit for the publications of other industry-related associations you are building relationships with. Provide links to the articles on your Web site as well. This builds the keynote speaker's credibility and offers value-added information for your members.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  If your keynote speaker is published, use the professional speaker's book to build excitement for the presentation. You can give attendees the book when they register. For added panache, have a book waiting to greet members in their hotel room along with a welcome letter from your president. "Books can even be personalized…depending on the size of the group," says Blackman.
• The Media: Get Ready
  
  Gather everything you need to promote your keynote speaker to the media. Request that the speaker provide you with photos. They can be black & white or color, either head shots or action shots. Have the photo scanned and saved as a TIFF file. For Web publishing, 72 dots per inch will be fine. For print, save the image at 300 DPI.
  The keynote speaker should also provide you with a short biography and a brief write-up on the program including key points, what the attendees will learn and why the he or she is qualified to speak on the topic.
  
  
  Prior to the event, send a short news release to the calendar editors at local daily newspapers and industry-related publications. Invite key editors to attend the event and make sure they get a copy of the program and other promotional materials. Contact local print and broadcast media to arrange interviews for your speaker and your key association leaders.
• The Media: Get Set
  
  Find out when your keynote speaker is going to arrive and when they are available for interviews. Keep a close eye on the news the week of your event. Is there a way to tie your speaker's expertise into a current news peg? For instance, if your keynote speaker's area of expertise is technology, perhaps they can talk about the latest hacking scandal. If you want local media to cover the speech, you must determine the news angle and pitch it hard. Think about what events would generate good photos or visuals for television cameras. Make follow-up calls to make sure the journalists have the information you sent them. Find out if the speaker has a publicist or PR firm and if so, partner with them on generating publicity. You want to get exposure for your association as well as the event, so give your speaker some short key messages to prepare them to discuss your group.
• The Media: Go!
  
  On the day of the event, messenger packages to key media. Write a media alert telling them who, what, when, where and, most importantly, why their audience needs to know about your event and your keynote speaker. Add some goodies such as the keynote speaker's book, a video, a program and your association's press kit and stuff it all in an attractive portfolio, preferably one with your association's logo.
  
  
  Finally, be prepared for the media when they arrive on site. Have one of your staff or a trusted volunteer free to squire them around. Introduce them to the subjects they need for interviews. Have a good place in mind to conduct the interviews and take photos--try to get your association's name or logo in the background.
• The Party's Over
  
  Professional speakers know that a program is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process. They will often offer to send an e-mail to attendees with some value-added links to additional information. Your members should be able to benefit from the presentation long after it is over, and your association should continue to gain exposure as well. Look for anecdotes from your members about how they were touched or motivated by the session. How do they plan to implement what they have learned? Select the best photos and combine them with after-the-event news releases for ongoing exposure.

"Redemption"is key motive- Big Brother All-stars Candidates Released

CBS has announced and posted all 20 potential Big Brother Candidates. The names have been floating around chat forums, blogs, myspace, and fan sites all over the web since the announcement of the show earlier this year. The key for the most of the houseguests? Redemption! Most of the chosen ones made big mistakes somewhere in the game, were stabbed in the back by another player, or just simply played the game wrong.

George
This guy seems to be the type who always tried to fit in by standing out- His nickname, Chicken, came from his duty to guard the household chicken.

Bunky
Bunky is the housguest who is known for his crying. He played the "nice guy" card, and we all know nice guys finish last! Bunky spent most of his time in the house crying, while the people around him tried to manipulate him. His best friend in the house, Kent,who first judged him, still remains a close friend to him outside the house. Bunky wants to come back and play the game completely different- and as he says he won't cry too!

Will
"You think its easy being good-looking?" Many fans love this guy- why? Because he knows that bad boys are sexy! He called his game playing ruthless and that he planned to lie from day one. He also claims he pioneered the strategy of being evil. He believes people should vote for him because he has a big ego and he would like to try to mix things up a bit.

Mike
"I am the type of guy you want to hang with instead of buying insurance from." Mike boogie was part of the chill town alliance and he states he liked hanging with the 'Bratt pack.' He said his biggest mistake was falling in love with Christa whom he asked to marry on the show, got engaged, and then broke up after the show. He thinks that being 'in love' clouded his judgment and wants to show America how strategic he can be. Good friends with Evil Dr. Will, he is wanting to step from beyond his friends shadow and take the lead.

Monica
"It's on" this girl is strong and a true force of female power. She claims she wants to continue to keep it real and for anyone who tries to get in her way to watch out. She even scares me! A true competitor!

Marcellas
Marcellas was always seen looking at himself in admiration and was quoted saying " I love looking at myself." Marcellas is a fan favorite, as since he was evicted he has worked on "House Calls" making comments on all Big Brother houses since his time. Him and Amy were two outcasts that were used to being popular until they entered the big brother house, only to be shunned by all. Marcellas made the mistake of giving up his veto to keep his only friend in the house, in what he refers to as, "a crazy greek tragedy". Marcellas wants to come back into the house to correct his big mistakes. 

Lisa
Lisa- known for her infamous peanut butter bikini- and her quote " I keep my eyes shut and my mouth open," was one loud mouth in Big Brother. She is one of the few winners that will attempt to get back into the Big Brother House. This time she wants to come back and play the game although she won the last won she was in. She is ready to dodge bullets, as a past winner, she has nothing to loose.

Danielle
People either love to hate me, or hate to love me" a controversial player that will try to return to the show. In tonight's show she reflected in what she called " real and raw" dairy room sessions where she counted down to her victory. She also created a secret alliance with Jason that never uncovered landing them both in the top three. She was so close to winning that the only thing on her mind is "redemption".

Erika
Erika was really pumped to enter the house in BB4 until she saw her X boyfriend in the shows ex-factor twist. She would like to enter the house and try to win as one of the "good" guys. In BB4 she created a strong alliance with jack, but that alliance was not good enough. She is ready for anything this time and especially ready to redeem herself.

Dana
"I'm soooo pissed off" Dana was known for calling it like it is. She claims her personality is "spicy." She made her biggest mistake early when she switched sides and voted against her alliance only to get voted out in the next round. 

Alison
"A Girls got to do what a girls got to do"- Alison, the houseguest everybody hated. She started off the show seducing all the boys, and in know time she was hated. She said that manipulating men was a part of her strategy as well as telling people exactly what they wanted to hear. She managed to squeak by and win second place, only to be brutally defeated with a 1: 6 vote loss. She believes that the first looser crap is not good enough for her and is coming back strong with vengeance.
Jase
"That was not from Jesus" Full of antics he labeled his BB5 crew, the "Four idiot horseman." Jase was thrown off guard when he was caught calling out other housguests. He was a rat on a sinking ship pretty fast! Jase believes all-stars would not be the same without him. He wants to be back, wearing head-gear... a Born again houseguest.

Michael
Michael "cowboy" - The only cowboy on big brother wants to return. He began his reign in the house acting wild but that was suddenly halted when he found out he had a sister and a father, and his sister was in the house with him! His sob story drove him to the end where he just missed the money. He thinks that when you get that close to the money its the hardest to loose it. People stated he rode the coattails to the finals, and he is ready to prove he deserves to be the winner.


Nakomis
Nakomis--Jennifer found out that Michael was her brother on the show. She had her own crafty personality, with new hair styles and poetry. Her passionate tirade against the producers, the series and reality shows in general, made her a memorable player in big brother. She states that her relationship with Michael is on and off again today, and that the most painful memory of her eviction was having the single vote that casted her out come from her brother. She wants to be the snake in the grass in the all stars competition

Diane
"When I want something, I get it." Diane is another one who fell in love on Big brother. She became winner Drew's girlfriend where later Drew chose to take cowboy Michael over her to the voting round. She stated that being with him costed her the game, and that nobody will break her down. She is also wants to come back in the name of "redemption!"

Howie
Howie made himself known quickly as BUSTO- a man who loves boobies. He was also always trying to be a JEDI and could be seen with his light sabers on several episodes. He had a secret partner Janelle. Howie has made the biggest online appearance creating his own games, starting online chats and promoting his own products. Howie believes "Big brother without Howie is like a day without sunshine." He also believes he was the best looking guy on the show.

Kaysar
Kaysar was the first Muslim on Big Brother, and although an extremely nice guy he was also an outcast. According to him, people thought they could take advantage of him, and that he was evicted way too early. Kasyar, although unpopular on the show has become extremely popular in reality. He appeared on the soap opera "the young and the restless" as well as an appearance in the new show "half and half." He is know for his quote " No, I sealed your partners fate." Kaysar is a hot pick in several big brother fan forums.

Ivette
"Im going to get Cuban on your ass" She believes that her biggest mistake on the show was choosing the wrong friends and alliances. Often seen on the show as loud and part of the "nerd herd" she wants to ditch those stereotypes and play a different game.

James
"Veto King" James was not well liked on the show. He claims no one was as feared and as hated as him. He survived because of his ability to capture the most veto's in big brother history. James promises that he will return with the same tenacity as before. James is also a favorite in forums all over the web.

Janelle
"Bye Bye Bitches!"The most highly quoted, fun loving, big brother candidate. Most houseguests would also love to see her return. Although a Tall foxy blonde, Janelle is know dummy and a strong competitor. She states she will do anything to win...ANYTHING!...

Well what are you waiting for? Vote for your favorites now! Join us at http;//www.morebigbrother.com 

A Strategy For Coming Up With A Great Book Title

Go into a bookstore and browse through the titles in the bestseller section. Book publishing companies hire high-priced people to come up with a title or "headline," because book publishing is a big business; therefore a lot of contemplation goes into making their titles as commercially-viable as possible. Many well-known and highly successful books started out with other titles. According to Dan Poynter, the father of self-publishing:

• Tomorrow is Another Day became Gone With The Wind. 
• Blossom and the Flower became Peyton Place. 
• The Rainbow Book became Free Stuff For Kids.
• The Squash Book became the Zucchini Book. 
• John Thomas and Lady Jane became Lady Chatterly's Lover.
• Trimalchio in West Egg became Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
• Something that Happened became Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
• Catch 18 became Catch 22

While you are at the store, notice how the other browsers pick up a book, scan the front and back cover, and then put it down again before going on to another book. The whole process takes about two seconds each. That's all of the time you have to make an impression on a potential reader. In those two seconds, you must appeal literally to three of the five senses that human beings have, sight, speech, and hearing, and figuratively to the last two, touch and smell. 

1) Sight: When someone first comes in contact with your book's title, it is usually by seeing it on the front cover. So your title must be aesthetically appealing.

2) Speech: If a person stumbles over the words, it will add to the difficult in marketing your book. Even if you are writing only for family members and friends, and you are giving away your book for free, there is still an element of marketing. 

3) Sound: Business philosopher Jim Rhone says in order to have effective communication, you must "Have something good to say, say it well and say it often." Your title will be heard often, but will it be good and will it be said well?

4) Touch: Touch also means to "relate to" or "to have an influence on." Figuratively, your title must allow itself to touch or be touched by being able to relate to your readers or have some type of influence on them. 

5) Smell: Your title should figuratively give off an aroma. In other words it should project "a distinctive quality or atmosphere." If the aroma the title gives off suggests that very little thought or concern was given to it, people will assume that the rest of the book is the same way.

On a recent Publisher's Weekly Bestseller list, out of 20 books, one had a one-word title; five had two-word titles; four had three-word titles; five had four-word titles; three had five-word titles; one had a seven-word title and one had an eight-word title. The point is, most honchos at major publishing companies believe that the simpler/shorter the title, the better. None of the titles were complex. 

Last minute travel - options

Together with last minute flights, last minute hotels are big business nowadays. The idea is that you take a room that would otherwise be empty (often because of cancellations), and in return you get a steep discount. However, as ever, it's a case of buyer beware.

It can be a very common experience to arrive in a hotel and find that there's actually no-one in it who didn't come on a last-minute travel deal. This is either because the prices the hotel is trying to charge normal customers are too high, or because it's a terrible hotel. To avoid these places, check whether the hotel you find a last-minute deal on is otherwise fully-booked or at least busy – if not, you should probably stay away.

Even in good hotels, though, you might find yourself stuck with the one bad room that they haven't been able to shift – the one that smells funny, or has a view of a brick wall outside the window. While this isn't generally so terrible, you should at least prepare yourself for this possibility.

It's also quite likely – though not inevitable – that the cheaper hotels will be nowhere near the city centre, leaving you to commute by public transport each day if you want to see the sights, or else hang around in the suburbs. You should consider the costs of transport before you book, as a slightly more expensive hotel that is more central can often save you more than it costs.

A final thing to be aware of is that you can often get a good discount by booking a last minute flight and hotel as a package deal through the various agency websites. If you are doing this, though, make sure that you don't let the savings pressure you into taking a bad flight or a bad hotel just because the other half of the deal seems so good.