Have you always wanted to own a signed copy of your favorite local author’s books?

Come learn of the trials and tribulations authors in our community have faced in finding the path to getting their works published and share your own stories.

The Calvert Library in Prince Frederick Maryland is offering a day of featured speakers, panels, exhibitors and book selling and signings as they celebrate The Writer’s Journey. If you are an author or a future author, you will find a panel discussion on self-publishing, as well as a lot of advice and tools on marketing your own book.

For more information on the Calvert Library’s Book Festival of Local Authors, CLICK HERE. For directions and map to this event, CLICK HERE.

One of Southern Maryland’s most recent authors is James Ward, the Author of Wealth Virtues.  In Wealth Virtues, James Ward describes how the way we perceive rules we encounter every day can either restrict us, or enable us to achieve wealth.  Simply altering your behavior and way of thinking about rules will enable you to create wealth.

Many people define “wealth” as the amount of money required to live like a king. In his book, Wealth Virtues, James Ward redefines wealth as simply the goal of “acquiring more money than you spend, and saving more money than you owe.” Ward uses the wisdom of America’s most preeminent Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, to provide the means for a realistic achievement of wealth.

Aside from writing Wealth Virtues, James Ward also designed the cover art for his own book. As the owner of Poor richard Web Press, Ward also provides free book marketing services through the website BiblioScribe.com. He will not only discuss with you the process of writing and publishing Wealth Virtues, but will also share some great ideas on marketing your book on the Internet, even before publication.

Another “new” local author of note appearing at AuthorFest is Ron Miller, author of SELLOUT: Musings from Uncle Tom’s Porch. Ron Miller of is a writer and commentator, and the executive director of Regular Folks United, a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and advancement of individual liberty and our nation’s founding principles. In his new book, Miller delivers a candid and compelling personal account on race in America. he is a regular contributor to American Thinker, and has appeared on Fox and Friends and on panel discussions sponsored by the Heritage Foundation.

Come on out to the Cavert Library in Prince Frederick to meet James Ward, Ron Miller, as well as over 40 other local talented authors for discussions as well as the opportunity to purchase signed copies of their books.

Embracing Benjamin Franklin’s virtue of Humility, James Ward will donate ten percent of his earnings from Wealth Virtues to First Book, an organization that provides new books to children in need.

Visit http://WealthVirtues.com for more information on the book, links to online bookstores, useful tools, and other recommended reading.

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If you are looking for a book that will divulge the secret to making millions of dollars in a short amount of time without working hard at it, then you have the wrong book. If you do find a book providing that information, then put it down and walk away. If that book existed, wouldn’t every reader be a millionaire? Wealth Virtues by James Ward simplifies the definition of wealth as “the ability to acquire more money than you spend, and to save more than you owe.” This ability comes from understanding both your behavior, and the cyclic nature of money. By applying the practice of the Thirteen Virtues of Benjamin Franklin with the Cycle of Positive Wealth, anyone can be wealthy regardless of their current income. It is simply a matter of applying the things you already know into practice. Wealth Virtues reveals the simple path to get you there.

The word ‘wealth’ is almost always viewed as the ability to live like a king. In my book WEALTH VIRTUES, I redefine wealth as simply the goal of ‘acquiring more money than you spend, and to save more than you owe.’ The path set forth in WEALTH VIRTUES towards this goal is embodied in the Cycle of Positive Wealth, my own repeatable methodology of eliminating debt and increasing your savings. What keeps you on the path is the practice of Dr. Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues. To help you understand why these virtues matter, I provides knowledge and insight on the impact of health, creativity, non-linear thinking, and investing to allow you to achieve your goals as well as to become wealthy as defined within WEALTH VIRTUES.Whether you measure wealth in monetary terms or as a measure of the quality and meaning of your life, WEALTH VIRTUES will change the way you live if you are willing to take action to do so, with a little help from one of America’s preeminent Founding Fathers.

Wealth Virtues

Many interpret the word “wealth” as the ability to live opulently. In Wealth Virtues, wealth is simply the goal of “acquiring more money than you spend, and to save more than you owe.” The path set forth in Wealth Virtues towards this goal is embodied in the Cycle of Positive Wealth^©, a repeatable methodology of eliminating debt and increasing your savings. What keeps you on the path is the practice of Thirteen Virtues created and used by one of America’s preeminent Founding Fathers, Dr. Benjamin Franklin.

The focus of Wealth Virtues is on the individual reader and the actions they need to take to attain wealth. However, as more of us achieve our own wealth goals by eliminating debt and increasing their savings, society, and ultimately the nation as a whole benefits, and becomes stronger in both wealth and virtue.

James Ward provides knowledge and insight on the impact of health, creativity, non-linear thinking, and investing while practicing these virtues to allow you to achieve your goals as well as to become wealthy as defined within Wealth Virtues.

Whether you measure wealth in monetary terms or as a measure of the quality and meaning of your life, Wealth Virtues will change the way you live if you are willing to follow this simple path set forth by James Ward.

Wealth Virtues by James Ward can be found online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, as well as other online outlets including the Resource Store at WealthVirtues.com.

Ten percent of the author’s earnings will be donated to First Book, an organization that provides new books to children in need.

Wealth Virtues
Written by James Ward
ISBN-13: 978-1-60844-636-0
ISBN-10: 1-60844-636-0
Category: Personal Finance
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
Paperback 160 pages
Retail Price: $11.95

Visit http://WealthVirtues.com for more information on the book, as well as useful tools and other recommended reading.

Wealth Virtues is also available for the Amazon Kindle at http://amzn.to/wealth-virtues-kindle.

About the Author:

James Ward is wealthy. Not “John D. Rockefeller wealthy”, but rather has more money flowing in than flowing out. He is or has been a successful computer scientist, Coast Guardsman, Army Officer, analyst, musician, graphic designer, skier, manager for a defense contractor, business owner, and a writer. He is also a successful investor, but lives well within his means. As the owner of Poor Richard Web Press, he helps businesses, non-profits, and individuals succeed with their Internet marketing goals.  He also helps other writers with free online marketing tools at BiblioScribe.com, and is a contributor to First Book, an organization that provides new books to children in need. Although his savings and investments continue to grow from the continual practice of Dr. Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues while following the Cycle of Positive Wealth^©, he realizes that his only true and most valuable treasure is his family and friends.

Inquiries about the book can be sent to WealthVirtues@PRWP.com.

From sales of books through various websites operated by Poor Richard Web Press, James Ward, the owner, and author of new book WEALTH VIRTUES has made this annual donation since 2005.

Continuing in that tradition, James Ward has pledged the donation to First Book of ten percent of his earnings from the sale of WEALTH VIRTUES towards the great cause of fighting illiteracy by providing books to children who are in great need.

You can help through the purchase of WEALTH VIRTUES, or by going to First Book’s Contribution Page and donating directly.

Wealth Virtues

The Thirteen Virtues are Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility. The definitions assigned to them by Franklin are here at WealthVirtues.com.

The Cycle of Positive Wealth was created by James Ward to explain a positive cyclic flow of money habits to attain wealth. The seven elements that make up this cycle are Wisdom, Intelligence, Planning, Action, Investing, Inflow, and Credit, feeding again back into Wisdom.

Cycles in life and nature are a part of our collective human history. People have found purpose in cyclic events and actions, so the way we think about the flow of wealth and money can have a positive cyclic nature as well. Maintaining the flow of the cycle through the practice of the Thirteen Virtues will allow you to eliminate debt and increase your wealth.

The following actions are “no-brainer” actions you can take right away to increase your cash flow. Some are obvious and others may take some time to complete. I present them from easiest to hardest to accomplish. They are essentially actions that you would create in the Planning portion of the Cycle of Positive Wealth, and execute in the Action portion of the cycle, however, nothing is stopping you from taking a look to see what you can do right now.

I wanted to put debt elimination as a numbered item. However, the methods mentioned below can help with that goal. Debt elimination should be an underlying priority, and you should have a goal of never carrying a balance on your credit card past 30 days.

1. Do not buy anything on impulse (Temperance)

Do you really need the candy or gossip paper at the checkout counter? Can you pay for the high-definition television with cash? Buying on impulse also removes your ability to shop around for the best price. Many impulse purchases may also lead to “buyer’s remorse” as you later see that you did not really need the purchased item. Even if you see something on sale for 20 percent off, just remember that the retail markup can be anywhere from 50 to 1000 percent – so are you really saving a lot for something you don’t actually need?

2. Eliminate the Unnecessary and Unused (Frugality, Moderation)

Because there are so many channels on basic service from your cable, satellite, or fiber optic television provider, you need to question whether the money for the extra channels you pay for, but rarely watch, is really worth the cost. Are you really using the gym membership, or will running in the morning and using a borrowed set of free weights get you better results?

3. Pack Your Lunch & Eat Out Less (Frugality, Moderation)

Taking a few fruits and vegetables as well as a sandwich to work to graze on throughout the day is both healthier as less expensive. The bulk cost (including bringing your own tap water in a bottle) for a week is probably less than a $10 lunch purchase. If you are one to take the family out a few times a week for pizza or other meals, you are probably wasting a lot of money. Cook more meals at home and learn to brew your own coffee and you will see an instant savings.

4. Stop Paying ATM Fees (Resolution, Frugality)

Try using you own bank’s ATM, or become a member of a bank that reimburses ATM fees from other financial institutions (usually with a minimum balance). Even easier, most stores will provide you money with no fees when you make a purchase using your debt card and withdrawal additional funds as cash-back.

5. Get a Library Card and Other Free Things (Frugality)

Most libraries now offer free movie and music checkout along with the obvious books. Sometimes communities offer free movie nights in parks or community centers.

6. Stop Giving Free Loans to the Government (Order, Industry, Frugality)

If you have been getting large tax refunds, you may have considered yourself lucky, but all you did was give the government a loan with your money. Work with your employer to update your W-4 to decrease your amount withheld for taxes, and use that money for number 7.

7. Maximize Your Tax Deferred Account Contributions (Order, Resolution)

Maximize (or at least increase) the amount of money you contribute to your tax deferred retirement accounts (401K or IRA). Contributing more lowers the amount of income that the government will tax so after doing this, you may need to go back and repeat number 6 again.

8. Buy Used Instead of New (Frugality, Resolution, Moderation)

This is particularly true for automobiles, especially with many dealers offering low mileage vehicles with warrantees. Consider the same principle for tools like lawn mowers. Many people will sell a broken lawn mower that only needs about $50 in repair costs. This is much better than buying a new one for $250. My wife bought one of those large plastic children’s playhouses that normally sell for $200 for only $5 at a community yard sale. Our children used it for over eight years before we resold it for $10 (A 100 percent profit!).

9. Remove all unhealthy addictions in your life (Cleanliness, Chastity, Resolution, Justice)

Smoking is the first thing that comes to mind. The average smoker can save at least $2,000 per year by eliminating cigarette purchases. That person can use this savings toward a contribution to an IRA, and they can decrease future medical costs as the ex-smoker’s health improves. Portion controlling meals helps save in food costs not to mention the increased health benefits of maintaining a healthy weight. Get help if you have problems with alcohol. Work to eliminate addictions to gambling. You have significantly better odds with the stock market than you do at blackjack or slot machines. If you do play, play for fun with a limit on your total wagers.

10. If you carry extra weight, lose it! (Temperance, Resolution, Moderation)

As mentioned in number 9, use portion control with foods. Exercise to include a regimen of weight training and cardiovascular exercise. The costs of treating diabetes and other weight related problems can destroy your savings and affect your insurance costs. The benefit along with the cost savings is a phenomenal increase in your confidence level. If you are able to control something as difficult as your body weight and muscle tone, all other actions you undertake will be easy in comparison.

Please visit the Wealth Virtues website for more information

The word “wealth” is almost always viewed as the ability to live like a king. In WEALTH VIRTUES, wealth is simply the goal of acquiring more money than you spend, and to save more than you owe.  The path set forth in WEALTH VIRTUES towards this goal is embodied in the Cycle of Positive Wealth^©, a repeatable methodology of eliminating debt and increasing your savings.  What keeps you on the path is the practice of Dr. Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues.

To help you understand why these virtues matter, James Ward provides knowledge and insight on the impact of health, creativity, non-linear thinking, and investing to allow you to achieve your goals as well as to become wealthy as defined within WEALTH VIRTUES.

Whether you measure wealth in monetary terms or as a measure of the quality and meaning of your life, WEALTH VIRTUES will change the way you live if you are willing to follow the easy path set forth by James Ward, with help from one of America’s preeminent Founding Fathers.

The focus of WEALTH VIRTUES is on each reader, and the actions required at an individual level. As more of us achieve our own wealth goals by eliminating debt and increasing our savings, society, and ultimately the nation as a whole benefits and becomes stronger in both wealth and virtue.

WEALTH VIRTUES by James Ward can be found online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, as well as other online outlets including the Resource Store at WealthVirtues.com.

Ten percent of the author’s earnings will be donated to First Book, an organization that provides new books to children in need.

WEALTH VIRTUES
Written by James Ward
ISBN-13: 978-1-60844-636-0
ISBN-10: 1-60844-636-0
Category: Personal Finance
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
Paperback 160 pages
Retail Cost: $11.95

Visit http://WealthVirtues.com for more information on the book, as well as useful tools and other recommended reading.

About the Author:

James Ward is wealthy. Not “John D. Rockefeller wealthy”, but rather has more money flowing in than flowing out. He is or has been a successful computer scientist, Coast Guardsman, Army Officer, analyst, musician, graphic designer, skier, manager for a defense contractor, business owner, and a writer. He is also a successful investor, but lives well within his means. As the owner of Poor Richard Web Press, he helps businesses, non-profits, and individuals succeed with their Internet marketing goals.  He also helps other writers with free online marketing tools at BiblioScribe.com, and is a contributor to First Book, an organization that provides new books to children in need. Although his savings and investments continue to grow from the continual practice of Dr. Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues while following the Cycle of Positive Wealth^©, he realizes that his only true and most valuable treasure is his family.

Inquiries about the book can be sent to WealthVirtues@PRWP.com

In the definition at www.Wikipedia.com, “Digg is a community-based popularity website with an emphasis on technology and science articles, recently expanding to a broader range of categories such as politics and entertainment. It combines social bookmarking, blogging, and syndication with a form of non-hierarchical, democratic editorial control.

News stories and websites are submitted by users, and then promoted to the front page through a user-based ranking system. This differs from the hierarchical editorial system that many other news sites employ.”

Key items to focus on are “community-based popularity”, and “user-based ranking system.” What this means is that depending on the topic of your article or the clever way it is written, readers can vote on your article elevating it’s popularity.

You can self-nominate your articles into Digg, but you will need to register for an account. What you end up entering is the location of your published article. This may be your own website, or your article located on other submission websites. One of the things you should look for when submitting articles to any site is the ease at which readers can nominate a your article to Digg.com. Many sites have a “Digg This” button or link. for an example, see the article here at BiblioScribe, and see the link in the top right of the article area. But like any campaign, there has to be an interest in your product. To facilitate this, you may need to write your article specifically to cater to th interests of the masses.

Writing for Digg is actually less about substance and more about how you present the content. It has got to appeal to a mass audience, and it may conflict with your writing style used to write your books. In essence, you should write like a copywriter with the focus being marketing. To look at ways folks have taken advantage of Digg, enter the term “Digg Bait” into your erch engine and see what others have done.

Dont forget to take advantage of other peer-rating and page discovery sites such as StubmbleUpon.com and del.icio.us.

To sell your book. Articles and press releases are syndicated at BiblioScribe.com to newsfeeds. Each article contains your book as well as other books in your personal profile. There are also direct links to your book at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s as well as other domestic and international book sellers. There are also links for every article you submit to Digg.com, del.icio.us, Yahoo, and StumbledUpon.com.

My question to authors is, “How’s your traffic?” Are you getting the visitors that would be interested in your books? The whole purpose of your website is to be one of, if not your primary marketing tools.

The first thing that ANY website must instill in visitors is a sense of credibility. I find it interesting the type of things people will put into their website that actually lessen the credibility. Much of it is design related, but it is also a balancing act.

Stanford University did a study on web credibility factors and came up with criteria on design that enhances the credibility and the legitimacy of a site. They are as follows:

1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site.
2. Show that there’s a real organization behind your site.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you provide.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site.
5. Make it easy to contact you.
6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your purpose).
7. Make your site easy to use — and useful.
8. Update your site’s content often (at least show it’s been reviewed recently).
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads, offers).
10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem.

For details see http://www.webcredibility.org/guidelines/. Also look a University of Kentucky study here.

As authors, do the items above really pertain? All of the criteria above, which is not in any order, should be considered in your site, but may not have great weight. In number 2 for example, you want to be able to show the availability of your work, as opposed to proving that you are a real person, which is rather obvious.

Balance this against a the Stanford study that looked at what visitors actually looked for to determine credibility:

1. Design Look – 46.1% Overall
2. Information Design/Structure – 28.5% Overall
3. Information Focus – 25.1% Overall
4. Company Motive – 15.5% Overall
5. Information Usefulness – 14.8% Overall
6. Information Accuracy – 14.3% Overall
7. Name Recognition and Reputation – 14.1% Overall
8. Advertising – 13.8% Overall
9. Information Bias – 11.6% Overall
10. Writing Tone – 9.0% Overall
11. Identity of Site Operator – 8.8% Overall
12. Site Functionality – 8.6% Overall
13. Customer Service – 6.4% Overall
14. Past Experience with Site – 4.6% Overall
15. Information Clarity – 3.7% Overall
16. Performance on Test by User – 3.6% Overall
17. Readability – 3.6% Overall
18. Affiliations – 3.4% Overall

Source: http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/dynamic/web-credibility-report-evaluate.cfm

Now this is information you can use! Visual perception has a tremendous affect on whether people stay on your site, and thus, finds out more about you and more importantly, your book.

Once you have a great looking site that meets all, or at least most of the criteria above, you have to think about how you can actually get people to your site.

How can I improve my site’s ranking?

According to Google:

Sites’ positions in our search results are determined based on a number of factors designed to provide end-users with helpful, accurate search results. These factors are explained in more detail at http://www.google.com/technology/index.html.

In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages.

As many of you are writers by trade, the recommendations that I have to help you accomplish this are quite easy. When you write on your own personal blog, or other social networking blogs, be sure to take those same articles and apply them to other networking sites. One thing you must do is to provide links back to your main marketing website in every article. For authors, I recommend sites like ArticleManager.com, Bookmarket.ning.com, and BiblioScribe.com.

BiblioScribe.com is a bit different from the other article and press release services in that we look to publish your submission with links back to your site AND to sell your book. Articles and press releases are syndicated at BiblioScribe.com to newsfeeds. Each article or press release contains your book as well as other books in your personal profile. There are also direct links to your book at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s as well as other domestic and international book sellers. BiblioScribe.com makes money from these companies by selling your book through our website and donating 10% of our earnings to First Book to provide new books to disadvantaged children.