Showing posts with label Comment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comment. Show all posts

Sunday, May 2, 2021

A Method to Grab Branded Free eBooks of Recent Writers

The post contains two sections. Section One narrates a story. It is the style that I adopt while writing posts on my blog. I believe the regular readers may have identified it. I tend to narrate a story to tell my point of view or provide information.

Section two contains the method to acquire the Free eBooks of Recent Writers.

Now it is up to the readers that how far one is interested in reading my posts. However, I invite the visitor to read the whole post if he or she is really interested in acquiring the free books.

The present post substantiates my earlier post, which is titled "Grab a Branded Free eBook".

Section One: The Episode

I have written a book titled “A Golden Kit for Self-Publish a Book Written in Hindi (eBookWriting 1) (Hindi Edition)”.



It is time to write the next edition of the book. For me, the current edition has shown a satisfactory sale. Now, I am working on the fresh edition.

As per the norms of Kindle Direct Publishing, I have categorised it in two categories, namely, Business Industries and Professions which forms one type as per the Kindle Direct Publishing. The second category in which I have placed is Language, Linguistics and Writing.


I am following numerous Self-Publishing trainers. Among their countless free advice, they suggest that one has to ensure the book's sale regularly. The suggestion involves different dimensions. They are all related to the marketing of the product.

A regular sale is an essential factor in making one successful in the self-publishing field. I am experiencing it in the case of my portfolio. Many inside mechanisms are omitted from the present narration. The main thing was that I had concluded that I should boost the sale of the Golden Kit on Self-Publishing.

The Kindle Direct Publishing allows their authors to promote their book free of cost for five days for a slot of 6 months. As a strategy for my forthcoming edition, I decided to avail myself the option of free promotion for the Golden Kit on Self-Publishing. I did not create any advertisement for it. I placed a simple message on my Facebook page of the Golden Kit that the book would be free for three days. When the promotion was initiated by Kindle Direct Publishing, the sale of the book took place. It started reflecting in its ranking in those two categories. I had placed the book in two categories on Kindle Direct Publishing, which were the Business Industry and Professions and the language and Writing. In the case of the Business Industry, it soon found a place in the first hundred Top Best-Selling List. It remained on the spot One for a day. Such a type of good happenings related to one's life and thing gives delight. It gives occasion to know about the other titles also which are popular in that category. There I located that some highly qualified authors were also listed. The list was about the Business Industry, and therefore there were titles based on recent research. The titles of such authors and Business Industry were also available for free of cost. Some of the titles attracted my attention. In the case of a dozen of titles, their actual price was more than one thousand rupees.

 

Now, can one guess what would I have done?

Before getting an answer, I say that what I did.

I downloaded many of them. There were titles on Agricultural practices and food industry management. I am not interested in those fields. But there were many books on digital marketing and related industries. I just grabbed them.

 

Well, that is about the episode. Now, if one is interested, then read section Two.

 

Section Two: The Method

There is a method that can be adopted for acquiring Free Books on Amazon and Kindle Store.

Select any title of one's interest or search any author who interests you on the Amazon book store.

Reach the Product page of the title.

Move down the Product page of the title and locate the section on Product Details.



Under Product Details, there is an entry on “Best Sellers Rank”. Such an entry is related to the categories in which the Kindle Books are distributed.

Just adjacent to Best Seller Rank, a link for “Top 100 in Kindle Store” is shown. Click it.

The web page of the Top 100 in Best Selling books will be shown.

The Best Sellers in Kindle Store page reached as per the method suggested here, also displays Top 100 Free set. Enter that page. Then the rest one may do as per his or her own choice. 





Catalogue of books written by Sumir Sharma on Amazon 

Sunday, February 21, 2021

Grab a Branded Free eBook

 The books in the public domain are freely available on the internet.

Many sites have raised a bank of such data and share it on the internet. One of the ways is that one may frame a search phrase composed of the title of the book and add 'pdf' to it. There are sites like pdfdrive.com and archive org which will provide the desired result. In addition to that, some blogs offer pdfs of books based on a theme. Many of them ask for donations, and their existence in the virtual world remains doubtful.

 

Kindle Books on Amazon and Google Playbooks provide a large depository of such books. They put in some efforts to provide a good experience of reading. Therefore, the title of this post is termed as branded about the books offered free of cost by Amazon and Google.

 

If one is interested in a useful reading and knows the benefit of reading the books of established mind, then some methods can be used to acquire a treasure of good books free of cost. No doubt, one cannot get a recently published book by a famous author. However, if one appreciates the benefit of reading, then the established authors of bygone days can provide enough entertainment.

 

Free eBooks on Kindle Amazon

A reader who is convinced about the benefit of reading may have a list of earlier writers and titles which she may have desired to read. Such a reader may visit the Amazon site and, in the search window, type the name of the author which he or she wishes to read. The result, which may be obtained, may contain a list of titles by the desired author. Visit the product site of anyone book and check if there is an author page for that author. On the author page of the author, one can find a bonanza of free books. Rest one may guess what to do next.

 

Free eBooks on Google Play Books.

One has to perform the same exercise on books.google.com.  In the result sheet, click on the name of the author. In the resulting output, one may find the link to the preview of the books. Visit the preview section of any of the title. If the book is in the public domain, then on the left-hand side of the sheet, one may find a link to the free eBook on Google Playbooks.

 

The list of the writers and their free books on Amazon

Presently only ten names are provided. If the trick is understood well, then one may explore further.

Charles Dickens

David Hume

Jonathan Swift

William Shakespeare

Thomas Hardy

Virginia Woolf

George Eliot

Leo Tolstoy

Mark Twain

H. G. Wells

 

Attention

In the above list, one may find many titles are also priced. One may have to explore the whole bibliography of the author to locate the zero priced books.

 

The format on Google playbooks

The names in the above-given list can also be explored on books.google.com. In the search result, click the title. One may land on the page of the book, which provides two options. One can download the pdf of the book or go for an eBook on Google Playbook. One has to remember that the title is in the public domain. There also, one may find some books with a price tag. However, Google possesses a giant bank of such books, free and available in pdf format.

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Kindly Check a substantiating Post titled 

"A Method to Grab Branded Free eBooks of Recent Writers"

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Catalogue of books written by Sumir Sharma on Amazon

Catalogue of books written by Sumir Sharma on Google Playbooks




Sunday, February 7, 2021

क्या स्वयं प्रकाशन लाभदायक व्यवसाय हो सकता है? (भाग 2)

 इस लेख के शीर्षक परआधारित श्रृंखला में यह दूसरा प्रकरण है|

इस लेख में उन आँकड़ों पर चर्चा एवं व्याख्यान है जो पिछले एक साल में सामने आयें हैं|

अगर आप पूछें, “चुनीलाल पिछले एक साल में क्या किया और शीर्षक में लिखे प्रश्न पर अब क्या कहना है?”

तो उस की भी कथा है|

पिछले दस महीनों में मैंने एक नया काम किया| मैंने अपनी पुस्तकों का प्रकाशन Google Play Books पर किया है| अब मेरी पुस्तकें Amazon और Google Play Books पर भी उपलब्ध हैं|

 

पहले Google Play Books की कथा

28 मार्च, 2020 को मैंने अपनी पुस्तकें Google Play Books पर डालनी शुरू कीं| मेरे पास अपनी पुस्तकों का manuscript तो पहले से तैयार पड़ा था| वह पुस्तकें Amazon पर पहले से प्रकाशित थीं| इस लिए, मुझे Google Play Books पर अपनी पुस्तकों का Catalogue बनाने में ज्यादा समय नहीं लगा| इस में केवल एक बंदिश से निकलने में समय लगा| मेरी पहली लिखी हुई पुस्तकें Amazon पर पहले ही उपलब्ध थीं| मैंने सभी को Kindle Select Programme में डाल रखा था| उस से बहार निकलने में मुझे तीन महीने लग गए थे| परन्तु 2020 के नवम्बर तक मेरी 18 पुस्तकें Google Play Books पर उपलब्ध थीं| परन्तु जल्द ही मुझे उन में से कुछ पुस्तकें हटानी पड़ीं| अब केवल 14 पुस्तकें ही Google Play Books पर उपलब्ध हैं| (यह आंकड़ा 07/2021 07/02/2021 का है जिसका प्रमाण नीचे Snapshot में दिया गया है|) इस समय तक 1877 पुस्तकें बिक चुकी है| इन पर कुल कमाई 276 रुपए हुई है जो कि मुझे प्राप्त हो चुकी है| प्रमाण के लिए नीचे दिया गया Snapshot देखें|


1877 पर केवल 276 ही?

यह 1877 की बिक्री में उन तीन Titles की बिक्री भी है जो कि मेरे Catalogue से मुफ्त में उपलब्ध है| उन में से एक Title तो खूब download हो रहा है| यह आंकड़ा पिछले 10 महीनों का है जब कि heading में इसे 12 महीनों का बताया गया है| इस की सच्चाई नीचे दिए गए snapshot से प्रमाणित होती है|



 इस बिक्री में कुछ भारत से बहार भी हुई है| प्रमाण के लिए Google Analytics का नीचे दिया गया snapshot देखें|



 जैसा कि snapshot में देखा जा सकता है कि 276 की कमाई चार देशों से हुई है| यह कमाई भारत, साउथ अफ्रीका, मलेशिया और फिलीपींस से हुई है|

मेरे लिए यह रोमांचित करने वाली बात है कि मेरे जैसा नौसिखिया भारत में बैठे-बैठे भारत से बहार भी अपने लेखन को पहुंचा रहा है| पाठकों की जो भी राय हो, मेरे लिए तो यह हर्ष की बात और एक बड़ी सफलता है| यह सब स्वयं प्रकाशन और e-publishing के माध्यम से हुया है| हाँ, यह जरूर है कि कमाई ज्यादा नहीं हो पाई है|

Amazon पर बिक्री की एक रोमांचकारी सफलता

Amazon पर Print book की एक रोमांचकारी सफलता भी प्राप्त हुई है| मेरा एक title सिंगापुर की एक लाइब्रेरी ने Amazon से खरीदा है| प्रमाण के लिए नीचे दिए गए snapshots देखें| 




Amazon पर से यह पुस्तक 2019 में ही बिक चुकी थी| मेरी एक पुस्तक amazon की जापानी site पर बिकी थी| Amazon पर मेरे खाते में कुछ रक्म येन में भी खड़ी हुई है| परन्तु उन का भुगतान तब तक नहीं होगा जब तक 1000 येन तक की बिक्री नहीं हो जाती|

Amazon और Google Play Books पर संयुक्त बिक्री की समीक्षा

स्वयं प्रकाशन से सफल होने वाले यह बताते हैं कि अगर आप की पुस्तकों की बिक्री होती रहती है और बिक्री का आंकड़ा बढ़ता रहता है तो आप सफल लेखक माने जाओगे|

Amazon और Google Play Books पर प्रकाशन के बाद मेरे संबंध में बिक्री तो बढ़ गई है परन्तु कमाई इतनी नहीं है कि इस को में सफल व्यवसाय घोषित कर सकूँ|

 Amazon और Google Play Books पर संयुक्त बिक्री करने से कुछ और भी पहलू सामने आए हैं| Amazon पर मेरी पुस्तकों की बिक्री कम हो गई है| इस के कुछ कारण भी समझ आते हैं| एक कारण यह है कि Google Play Books पर अपनी पुस्तकें उपलब्ध करने के लिए मुझे Amazon के Kindle Programme से बाहर आना पड़ा है| दूसरा, पुस्तक की कीमत निश्चित करने में Google बहुत सहजता और नरमी दिखाता है| Amazon न्यूनतम मूल्य भी बहुत ऊँचा रखता है और मुफ्त बिक्री पर नियम लागू कर रखे हैं| परन्तु February 2021 में Amazon बिक्री की एक नई योजना भी लेकर आया है| उस का प्रभाव अभी देखना रहता है|

कुल मिला कर इस प्रकार के व्यापार में अभी पैसा नहीं दिखा है| जैसा कि मैंने अपने पिछले लेख में कहा था कि अगर आप अपने लेखन से अपनी रस्सोई का खर्चा निकालने लग जाओ तो यह एक सफल व्यवसाय कहा जा सकता है| मेरे साथ अभी ऐसा नहीं हो रहा है|



Catalogue of the books written by Sumir Sharma on Amazon




Saturday, January 4, 2020

क्या स्वयं-प्रकाशन लाभदायक व्यवसाय हो सकता है? (भाग 1)

क्या स्वयं-प्रकाशन लाभदायक व्यवसाय हो सकता है? यह प्रश्न केवल भारत में ही नहीं पुछा जाता है बल्कि पश्चिमी देशों में भी उतनी ही तीव्रता से उठाया जाता है|

मेरा विचार है कि  स्वयं-प्रकाशन पश्चिमी देशों में ज्यादा प्रचलित है| ऐसा नहीं कि भारत में इस सम्बन्ध में कोई रुचि या चेतना नहीं है| जहाँ तक मेरी जानकारी है अमिश त्रिपाठी और सावी शर्मा ने अपने लेखन का सफ़र स्वयं-प्रकाशन से किया था| उनकी लोकप्रियता के बाद ही स्थापित प्रकाशकों ने उन्हें अनुबंधित किया था|

आंकड़ों पर आधारित अगर बात करनी हो तो 2017 में Jeff Bezos ने अपने shareholders को यह अधिकारिक सूचना दी थी कि उस वर्ष उस की कम्पनी ने 1000 से ज्यादा प्रति लेखकों को एक लाख डॉलर्स के लगभग रायल्टी का भुगतान किया थाउसी वर्ष में एक अमेरिकी निकाय ने आंकड़ा जारी किया था कि अमेरिका में प्रति वर्ष 10000 नए लेखक सामने आते हैंइन आंकड़ों की चर्चा मैंने अपनी पुस्तक, हिंदी में लिखी पुस्तक को स्वयं प्रकाशित करने की सुनहरी किताब: A Golden Kit for Self-Publish a Book Written in Hindi (EBookWriting 1) (Hindi Edition)” में सन्दर्भ के अनुरूप की भी है|

जब से स्वयं-प्रकाशन के माध्यम को अपनाया है, मैंने इस माध्यम से सम्बन्धित जानकारी प्राप्त करने में लगा रहता हूँ| इस के लिए मैंने कुछ सम्बन्धित पुस्तकें पढ़ी हैं| इस माध्यम से जुड़े आलेख जब भी मिल जाते हैं, मैं उनका अध्ययन करने से नहीं चूकता और उन की प्रतिलिपि अपने पास संजोके रखने का प्रयत्न करता हूँ|

मेरे अब तक के अध्ययन से जिस स्तर तक का मुझे बोध मिला है वह कुछ बहुत असत्यवतविरोधात्मक और व्यंगात्मक निष्कर्ष के स्तर तक पहुंचा है| जो लेखक खुद को सफल स्वयं-प्रकाशक बता रहें हैं, लगभग सभी ने खुद को स्वयं-प्रकाशन की विधि सिखाने का कोच घोषित कर रखा है| लगभग सभी ने पुस्तकें लिख रखी हैं और कई तो अपनी पुस्तकें मुफ्त में उपलब्ध करते रहते हैं| इस को वह सफल प्रकाशक और लेखक बनने के लिए Marketing Strategy बताते हैं और उन पुस्तकों में बड़े मासूमियत भरी शैली में बताते हैं कि सफल लेखक बनना और उस पर स्वयं-प्रकाशन के माध्यम से सफल होना सम्भव नहीं है परन्तु अगर आप उन से coaching लेते हैं तो आप स्वयं-प्रकाशन के माध्यम से इसे सफल व्यवसाय के रूप में अपना सकते हैं| अगर आप ने उन की मुफ्त की पुस्तक Download कर के पढ़ ली तो आप को मुफ्त में subscription प्राप्त करने को कहा जाता है| आप शायद उन के newsletter को subscribe भी कर लें और ऐसा करने में कोई हर्ज़ भी नहीं है तो आप को हर दिन एक email मिलने लग जाएगा| उस में कई प्रलोभन भी होंगे और कुछ मुफ्त के सुझाव भी होंगे जिसे प्रयोग में लाना आप की विवेकशीलता पर निर्भर करता है| इसी प्रकार के एक लेखक ने यहां तक कह दिया कि आप अपने लेखन से कुछ भी न कमाए परन्तु यह आप से अवश्य कुछ कमा जाते हैं|

इस से पहले कि मैं अपनी बात को आगे लेकर चलूँ, मैं कुछ और भी स्पष्ट करना चाहता हूँ| इस लेख के प्रश्न का उत्तर जितना पाठकों के लिए आकर्षण का केंद्र होगा उतना ही मेरे लिए भी है| दूसरी बात यह कि मैं मूल रूप में Textbooks लेखक हूँ जब कि इस विश्लेषण और उस पर आधारित उत्तर का फल उन आकड़ों और case studies पर आधारित है जो मूल रूप में नावल्कारों से संबंधित है|

कुछ बातें मेरे अपने अनुभव और कुछ निरंतर अध्ययन से जो सामने आती हैं वह इस प्रकार संकलित करता हूँ|

पहला यह कि आप को छह महीने तक कोई खास सफलता हाथ नहीं लगेगी|

दूसरा केवल एक पुस्तक प्रकाशित करने से कोई बात नहीं बनने वाली| आप को निरंतर लिखते रहना पड़ेगा| इस बात पर आप को एक अच्छी खासी चर्चा विभिन्न पटलों पर और पुस्तकों में मिल जायेगी| अगर आप लगातार हर महीने कुछ राशी रायल्टी के रूप में प्राप्त करना चाहते हैं तो आप को लगभग 10 Titles प्रकाशित करने होंगे| एक पुस्तक का लेखक कोई लेखक नहीं होता है| जो लेखक सफल हैं वह 30 से 60 पुस्तकों के लेखक हैं| इसे आप एक साधारण से सर्वेक्षण से खुद ही पता कर सकते हैं| इस के लिए आप उन लेखकों की Amazon Ranking को देखें तो वह हमेशा ऊंची बनी रहती है और उन की पुस्तकें भी 200 से 400 के बीच में होती हैं| इस में मेरे सर्वेक्षण में Science Fiction और pornography के लेखक ज्यादा सफल दिखाई देते हैं| बेशक यह अवलोकन पश्चिमी देशों में बिक्री पर आधारित है|

तीसरी महत्त्वपूर्ण निष्कर्ष यह है कि आप को marketing करनी ही पड़ेगी| आप को अगर पैसे नहीं खर्च करने तो भी आप को दूसरे मुफ्त वाले तरीके अपनाते रहना पड़ेगा| एक लेखक के विचार को उठाते हुए मेरा यह कहना है कि अगर आप ने 5 से 6 titles प्रकाशित कर लिए हैं और एक साल में आप की प्रति title 10 प्रतियां भी बिक जाती हैं तो आप सफल हो| इस में आप को कोई ज्यादा कमाई तो नहीं होगी परन्तु आप को इस से यह समझना लेना चाहिए कि आप मैदान में आ गए हो|

Marketing का सब से मुफ्त तरीका है कि आप अपनी पुस्तक Kindle Select में डाल दो| वहां से कमाई कोई ज्यादा तो नहीं होती है परन्तु आप को यह जरूर पता लग जाता है कि आप की कौन सी पुस्तक पाठकों को आकर्षित कर रही है| मुझे Kindle Select की Calculation का फार्मूला आज तक समझ नहीं आया है परन्तु अपने case के आधार पर मैं यह कह सकता हूँ कि 10 pages के पीछे 1 रुपया मिल जाता है| अगर किसी महीने आप की कोई भी पुस्तक नहीं बिकती तो Kindle Select में उस के पढ़े जाने की सम्भावना बनी रहती है|

जो चर्चाएँ विभिन्न फोरुमों पर मिलती है, उस के अनुसार जब आप अपने साल के खर्चे अपने लेखन से निकालने लग जायो तब आप सफल हो| उस के लिए आप को ऊपर दी गई बातों को अपना होगा|

मैं अभी सफल लेखकों की श्रेणी में नहीं आया हूँ
इस से आगे पढ़ने के लिए नीचे दी गई कड़िया जांचें
क्या स्वयं-प्रकाशन लाभदायक व्यवसाय हो सकता है? (भाग 2)

_____________________________________

Acknowledgement:
My observations are based on my personal experiences and the writings of the following identities.
1.  Quora. Com
2. Amazon.com and Amazon.in the Kindle Store
4. KDP Community (Only for the Members of KDP)
9. Medium.com through Google syndication. (Medium.com is a paid site)
10. Bookbub.com
11. www.allianceindependentauthors.org – a moderate newsletter sender

 __________________________

कुछ मुफ्त पुस्तकें जो आप Download कर सकतें हैं| 





Catalogue of the Books written by Blogger.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Advertising and Marketing by a Self-Publishing Writer - Reposted


Prologue
It is a reposting of an article which I have written and posted on my Author Page. It is an answer to set of questions which I have come across on different platforms. It is an opinion.
______________________________________________________



There are many apprehensions and dilemmas on the saleability of books with which a self-publishing writer wrestle. They are the cause of forming such questions.

1.  Will the book sell?
2. How will one sell the book?
3. How will the writer advertise his book? How much has to be spent on such activities?

Let me begin with a display of the report of my sales which had taken place in the last thirty days up to November 23, 2019.




Allow me to present my analysis on display. I am not a statistician (I envy them, and I do not know much about statistics). I direct your attention to the arrows in the display.

The arrows are aimed at three countries, namely India, America and Germany. These were countries where my books were bought. I substantiate it by adding that I am from India and write with an Indian audience in mind.

Look at the titles which were sold. They are five.

To achieve the figure for sale for November 2019, I have adopted following means. 
1. I regularly posted on the multiple blogs on the titles. I  have published four books in the last sixty days. The posts on them provided information on the release of the titles. One of the titles is an older one. It is a well-received title by now. I keep on writing about the subject matter in that book on my blogs.
2. I have availed the services of Amazon Advertising. I have started ad-campaign in the category of sponsored items.
3. I have developed three pages on specific titles on Facebook. I posted separately on each page.
4. I post the information on my timeline on Facebook.
5. I have availed the Free download campaign of Amazon only for two days. I did not promote this campaign.
6. I have not availed the Google Advertising. I find it cumbersome. I have not developed faith in their results.

For achieving the above results, I have not made any special efforts. I have incurred a cost of nearly ₹ 200.

Apart from the above-mentioned sale, there was sale in Kindle Unlimited also. The collection from KNEP is never much. It has remained less than ₹ 100 per month for the last twenty-four months. However, I believe if the books were read in that programme, it was a result of the marketing and advertising pointed out earlier.

In brief, to promote my books, I have used the following three methods.
1. Blogging
2. Facebook
3. Amazon Advertisement

My Impression
For me, the fascinating thing is that my titles are sold across the borders. The copy sold as a paperback. Some months back, and that was in July, another paperback was bought in Japan. The books were sold in America and Canada. I do not find any possibility of a sale for reprints within India. The main reason is that the prices become too high because of the customs charges and courier expenses. In Europe and America, it is generally less than 10 Dollars or Euros. Secondly, the paperbacks are manufactured on those continents, and they have simpler customs regimes. Apart from that, the ebooks have been sold on Amazon.com, and that could include a more prominent geographical region. All this had been achieved with the help of marketing and advertising methods mentioned earlier.

I hope that this analysis may have answered the question with which this article has begun. To be specific, I state that the book sells if you adopt some substantiating marketing and advertising methods.

In the case of writing posts on the blog, it should not hold any writer for making such an effort. The writing is the actual nature of the writer. The writer may write his book. The writing of a post on a blog is also an act of writing. It compliments his actual activity. Therefore, writing a post on a blog is not a wasteful activity. If one writes, then only a reader will get a chance to read. I must bring in a recent survey from MRUC, which states that the readership of printed news media is increasing. Their readers are there.

Now the issue of selling of the books. I believe that who is bogged down by apprehensions of the possibility of finding a buyer is the victim of their thinking. They have to grow out of binding of their region. They have learned about a peculiar process of impression development in mind while living a particular society. They have to expand beyond their social limits. There may be intelligent and successful people in a social system which force you to follow a set course of success. You learn that you have developed this mindset in a particular ecosystem. You have to burst out the chains of their ecosystem and set yourself free. BREAK Free. Then only you can frame the right questions.

The evaluation based on the actual profit made is a reliable criterion. Even I want to earn a lot of money. Who does not? But, for a Self-publishing, you have to check the questions which you frame. Become aware of the process which formed that question. After that, you must learn to learn. Yes, learn to learn. Do that on your own. Therefore, the principle is to learn on your own. It requires a different type of formation process. You have first to learn, that to be scientific, it does not mean that you get the reports of the scientific associations. They are good. But, your dependency on the reports only for the results is not okay. Being scientific does not mean to collect a large quantity of data. That is one of the methods. But you must learn another way of a scientific approach, and that is experienced by doing an activity. That will change the diction and form of a question.


Catalogue of the Books written by Sumir Sharma





Sunday, March 18, 2018

Develop the Man in the Man by the Man.



This post is a review of the latest book by Martin Medows. A shorter name for the book is Self Disciplined Producer by Martin Medows

I downloaded two free books authored by Martin Medows. I downloaded the third book by Martin Medows which was suggested in the books which I had already downloaded. I have commented on two of his books on this blog. I communicated with Martin Medows through emails. I checked his YouTube Displays. I watched a person talking to his audience. Is he the real Martin Medows? Martin Medows is a pen name of the author. I had sent him a direct question and asked him about his real name. However, he skipped the straight answer. He sends newsletters. In one of the letter, he announced the launch of his new book. He wrote that the price as suggested in the email would be increased after the promotional period ends. I bought the book. The book, Self Disciplined Producer - Develop a Powerful Work Ethic, Improve Your Focus, and Produce Better Results is the topic of commentary here. Quite a long title. However, the book is not long at all. It contains 100 pages. I bought it for ₹49. However, now it is for ₹260. In short, he has made a sale by his skills.


Martin Medows has repeated it in his book that he is not much concerned by developing social media content with the motive of promoting his book. He suggests a very pragmatic, workable and practical solution and it is, that an author should come up with a new title at a regular interval. That sounds a sensible thing. That is the nature of his advice. They are not elaborate. They are the matter of fact advice. They are experientialist advice. They are the direct action advice. He preaches what he practices. That is the hallmark of the contents of his book. On the other hand, he is not adverse to aggressively market his product. He has adopted the technique of developing an email list of interested readers. He brings his work in the multiple emerging formats of publishing like Audiobooks and podcasts. In short, he makes a sale by his skills.

Now something about the book and the contents.

The book is spread over seven essays. The content includes one Prologue, five chapters and ends with an Epilogue.

The chapter 1, The Common Habits, the writer talks about the procrastination and how to deal with it. He has given his analysis of the feature of procrastination. The writer has developed his narrative according to his analysis. He has referred to some sources which are available on the Internet. He has suggested some solutions to deal with procrastination.

In Chapter 2, If you can't wait, he writes about necessary sacrifices which one has to make to achieve success.

In chapter 2, he has made an observation. He writes, "Different techniques work for different people, so try few and see what works."

Now, the observation of the writer as mentioned above is correct about all the Self Improvement literature. I have already said it in one of my posts. The writer writes the similar type of the matter of facts statements.

The writer talks about Krav Maga technique. It seems that he is a rock climber and love this sport more than any other game. In one of his other book, he has also talked about some specific feature of self-improvement methods. Therein, he had informed of a software Xmind to record progress. He writes about such features in self-disciplining and improvements in a manner as if he is sharing his own secret. The actual thing is that one should develop the ability to learn and incorporate different devices and techniques in his daily life to improve one's personality. One should drop rigidity. One should remove aversions. One should stop making the final statements. One should be open to innovation and experimentation without compromising his morality and social ethics.

Chapter 3 is titled as Does his matter. In his promotional letter, the writer has asked a question for providing a new free ebook by quizzing that which is the third letter in the book. It was used as another marketing technique.

The central theme of the chapter is that one should adopt one target approach. One should make one's task simpler. One should watch for those tasks and acts which increases the productivity and profit. It is a very pertinent suggestion. We clutter our mind by numerous rituals and practices which reduces are output. It is more accurate in case of Indians – Bhartiyas as they have an instinct to develop rituals and rites about the general course of actions. The message of the writer is that one should get melted into one's passion.

The Chapter 4, is called Go for Extreme. This chapter is primarily about the time management. It talks about learning the limits of one's endurance in case of mind and physical strength.

The Chapter 5, is about the importance of rest.

However, he makes an interesting observation. While emphasising the need of doing exercise as a part of one's personality development, he writes, "I won't bother with citing scientific research about its well-known benefits." The point for attention in the line is the phrase "bother with citing scientific research". That is the thing. He writes about his experiential observations. It is writing norm which he has adopted that when he makes his statement, he substantiate with a reference which is termed as research-based fact. The emphasis of research-based facts; quoting of research-based reports of some institution, laboratory, universities or science magazine to authenticate one claim is a fashion, a fad, a norm. A writer tells about his observations. The writer provides references from thirty to forty sources. Where should a reader go? Is the reader expected to check every text? If one goes by scientific temperament approach, then he or she is supposed to verify the claim. It is not possible in the art of reading. The writers must say his thing. However, he should do it in a manner, wherein the narrative itself remains consistent. There is no need of giving references to different sources every time.

In the Epilogue, the writer has tried to summarise his whole work. The feature of the summary was seen being appreciated by one of the reviewer and commentator in the comment section at Amazon portal.


I end the essay with an observation. All these self-improvement books can be divided into two sets. One set contains books wherein the writer talks about some gurus, religious scriptures and esoteric philosophy for personality development. The second set is of such writers who refer to scientific observations and research reports. Both the groups adopt an anchoring in a faith system – if one refers to Godly things then other suggests Scientific things. Nobody talks about the actual person. One should tell that it is YOU who have to change. Even education system is not able to resolve the purpose of its endeavours. The society needs the individuals who are trained for their perfection. For that, the individual should learn to think and experiment. For that, he does not have to visit a laboratory, or fitness studio or psychiatrist. His self is with him and within him. He has to learn how to use the arms, hands, legs and brain. A person is not a car in which a mechanic will perform the maintenance operation. A person is a mechanic for himself. He has to develop faith in himself and improve his skills of a mechanic who can correct his body and mind machine. All the gyms, doctors, laboratories and psychiatrist can be a help. However, the deciding factor is the self.

The need is to develop the man in the man by the man.