Mike Buchanan – författare

Author's note: this book was updated in September 2011 to cover the issue of formatting books into ebook editions and distributing them to major e-readers: Kindle, iPad, Reader, Nook, Kobo...'Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents and everyone is writing a book.' Cicero 106-43 BC Roman orator and statesman Self-publishing can be more rewarding than being published - creatively, financially, and in other respects - if you go about it the right way. You could well be confused, as many self-publishers are, by the multiplicity of options available to you. The good news is that you can now make your books visible and available to book buyers around the world at minimal cost. This book was made available worldwide as a paperback for a one-off payment of just GBP42.00 and as an ebook (Kindle, iPad, Reader, Nook, Kobo...) for a one-off payment of GBP95.00. As a self-publisher, what are your options for new books? Should you choose an offset lithography print run, a digital print run, or maybe print-on-demand (POD)? Hardback or paperback, or other formats? Possibly an ebook too?And, crucially, how will you get your books distributed cost-effectively to buyers around the world?This book will take you through the options and explain their relative advantages and disadvantages. It provides guidance on selecting book topics with strong sales potential; writing distinctively; obtaining a professional critique of your work; writing content-rich non-fiction; writing in a number of genres; choosing between hardback and paperback and other formats; choosing the optimal printing method; book content formatting; book specifications; colour plate section options; distribution; print-on-demand ('POD'); order fulfilment; dealing with Amazon, Lightning Source, Nielsen, and Bowker; printers; copy editors and proofreaders; typesetters; cover designers; photographers; pricing; marketing your books - and a whole lot more besides. Mike Buchanan, a British writer and former business consultant, is the author of six books. He's been published internationally by a major publisher (in English and Chinese editions), and he's self-published. He much prefers self-publishing, for a variety of reasons.In January 2010, at the age of 52, he took early retirement and now writes and self-publishes full-time.He developed the model of 'professional self-publishing' outlined in this book. The model has been designed to help self-publishers enjoy their writing more, increase their output of strong titles, and maximise their profits.

A small band of radical feminists has been exercising considerable influence over the British public policy agenda for years, and the Conservative-led coalition led by David Cameron, the prime minister, is enacting The Equality Act 2010: the brainchild of a radical feminist MP from the previous left-wing administration, Harriet Harman ('Goliatha'). The author, who worked for the Conservative party over 2006-2008, employs the full force of his man logic to examine not only gender issues in the workplace - such as the 'gender pay gap' and 'gender balance in the boardroom' - but also other big issues in the modern era. What are women interested in? Why are fat women fat, and why are British taxpayers funding their celebrations of fatness? Why does Fairtrade coffee always taste like mud? And why aren't men revolting?

Women need to start recognising the implications of a simple reality: individuals are promoted to senior positions, not groups. So why are many women seeking to progress collectively through gender equality initiatives rather than through their individual merits? Talented women who reach the boardroom find such initiatives patronising. Some widely-held assertions about the genders in the workplace: - women's progression into the upper levels of organisations has long been hampered by overt and covert discrimination against women exercised by the men (and sometimes the women) already holding senior positions - the 'glass ceiling' - men aren't more likely than women to have qualities which make them fit for senior positions. Women, conversely, are more likely than men to have such qualities, including higher emotional intelligence, consensual decision-making styles...- more women would seek advancement if they felt inspired by more role models (but who will be the role models' role models?)A former business executive with over 30 years' experience in major corporations and business consultancy critiques 30 assertions about men and women generally and in the workplace - including 'the glass ceiling' - and finds them all to be variously conspiracy theories, fantasies, lies, delusions or myths. He reveals the real reasons why more women don't reach senior positions. More gender equality will result when more hardworking talented women recognise that to progress they will have to do so individually, not collectively. How hard can that be? Harder than beating the drum for gender equality initiatives, certainly, but possibly more effective too? Corporations pursuing gender equality initiatives are engaging in a social engineering experiment which could prove ruinous both for them and for society at large. Militant feminists - a small but vocal band of angry women embracing a Marxist ideology, as the book explains - are behind campaigns for gender balance among senior executives. Why are corporations trying to placate a small band of angry left-wing people?The book reviews the state of gender equality legislation in the United Kingdom where David Cameron, a Conservative prime minister and head of a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, has enacted 90% of The Equality Bill (2010).The Bill was the crowning glory of the career of Harriet Harman, a militant feminist Labour politician.