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The Six Minute Book Summary of In Cheap We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue by Lauren Weber (Part 1 of 2)

July 25, 2011 By gzgarden Leave a Comment

Executive Summary

The first half of In Cheap We Trust details the nation’s history of saving versus spending, beginning with America’s first colonists and ending with today’s society of consumers. The second half of Weber’s book ties America’s current economic problems into its effects on the environment, giving specific examples of what some people are doing to make a difference. The last chapter of the book investigates the psychology of being cheap.

The novel begins with a look into the lives of the Puritans. The Puritans were expected to uphold values of modesty and frugality, but the New World presented so much potential prosperity that it made self-denial difficult. They were constantly conflicted between their faith and the temptation to enjoy their wealth. Benjamin Franklin is often seen as the virtue of thrift personified. He believed that Americans should live within their means, saving for the future to ensure their independence and happiness. Other examples of famous savers and thrift advocates include Hetty Green, Thomas Eddy, the transcendentalists Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Booker T. Washington, and John Henry Thiry.

American housewives of the nineteenth century underwent a gradual transformation from producing everything their families needed to buying more of what was needed. This change required that women learn how to spend and save. Lydia Maria Child, Sarah Josepha Hale, and Catherine and Harriet Beecher Stowe all wrote household manuals that guided women in their new lives as consumers.

The Jews and Chinese are the two groups in America most labeled as being thrifty and cheap. The author explains that even though these stereotypes have been around for centuries, they were only strengthened when the Jews and Chinese immigrated to America.  Native-born Americans felt threatened by their success, fearing that their commercial skills and unusually low standards of living would lead to a loss of their own opportunities. As untrue as some of these stereotypes are, the Jews and Chinese did use their good understanding of money to become the most successful ethnic groups in the country. And just like other Americans, they’ve also strived for wealth and extravagance in addition to mere freedom and independence. 

During World War I and World War II, the country’s leaders called on Americans to support their soldiers by saving. They knew that the increase in production and wages during wartime would tempt American consumers to spend. To finance the war and prevent Americans from using the raw materials needed for supplies, the federal government issued war bonds. This campaign for thrift kept Americans watching their finances and resulted in a stable economy. Unfortunately, this stability did not hold between the wars. After World War I, Americans became so optimistic about the Roaring Twenties economy that when the stock market plunged on Black Thursday, no one was prepared. Nothing would really lift the country out of the Depression until World War II. By the time the second war ended, economists realized they didn’t need to worry about another post-war depression. Americans had earned more, saved more, and were more eager than ever to spend. And when experts like John Maynard Keynes theorized that consumption drives a good economy, the American value system completely changed. It was no longer wise to save; a true patriot should go shopping. The country would take this pro-consumption view all the way to the new millennium, and few would question it until the 2001-2002 recession.

Economists have since said that consumption is overstated as the engine of economic growth. Saving is also key because investment spurs production, wage growth, and jobs. Oddly enough, the nation’s savings rate continues to decline while the reasons to save are only growing. With Social Security expected to decrease and medical costs expected to increase drastically in the future, the younger generations will need savings to support themselves during retirement. But Americans continue to spend. Weber presents several reasons why this may be the case, the primary ones being that money is too accessible and that opportunities are too great.

On the whole, Americans don’t realize how much the country’s consumer-driven society is directly harming the environment. Lauren Weber envisions an “eco-cheap” economy, an economy in which people consume less, reducing resource use and waste. In a truly “green” world, consumers take advantage of thrift stores and garage sales as a way to save valuable resources. However, there are some Americans who have discovered that “low-cost, low-impact living” saves money, helps the environment, and even leads to a higher quality of life. The author has actually met some of these people and shares their stories in her novel.

After studying the work of Sigmund Freud and some of today’s top behavioral economists, Lauren Weber tries to address her own question of why some people seem innately cheap. Once she finds a close enough answer, she then provides several reasons why being a “tightwad” is not necessarily a bad thing.  Finally, Weber poses one last question: can adults learn to be frugal or is cheapness a trait that’s developed at a young age? Many writers are saying that thriftiness is completely learnable, and they’re offering tips to get people started.  

The 10 Concrete Things Practicing Managers Should Take from this Book

Are your employees charging non-business related expenses on the company card?

Have a fire-and-brimstone preacher condemn them for their materialistic ways. 

Trying to run a cost-efficient business?

Hang a scary portrait of Benjamin Franklin in the break-room.

Just because a potential hire is Jewish or Asian does not necessarily mean they will be excellent company accountants or financiers.

There’s just a high probability they’ll be excellent company accountants or financiers.

Employees still not watching costs closely enough?

Tell them there’s a war going on.

Consider going back to a traditional pension.

Nobody wants to work until the day they die.

Trying to encourage employees to keep their own personal savings?

Start a system that allows employees to have a fraction of their paychecks directly deposited into savings.

A cost-conscious business is often an eco-conscious business.

Unless you’re cutting corners in the wrong places.

Find a perfectly edible half-eaten tuna sandwich in the break room trash?

That’s just plain wasteful. Dive right in and get it.

If a potential employee admits to being cheap, there’s a chance they’re also highly organized and driven.

They might even be difficult, obstinate, and anal-retentive.

In this country, there is always at least one thing that will motivate any employee to do their job.

Whether they spend or save, Americans love money.

Full Summary of In Cheap We Trust

Ch. 1: “The Crowd Approved the Doctrine, and Immediately Practiced the Contrary”

Lauren Weber opens her first chapter with the story of how Benjamin Franklin came to write his 1758 edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack. In its preface, she notices one particular parable: a crowd of shoppers are waiting to get into a market when “Father Abraham” approaches them to give them useful advice. He asks them to pay attention to their “outgoes” as well as their incomes by saving money for the future. His final bit of advice is that everyone heed his advice, at which point “the crowd approved the doctrine, and immediately practiced the contrary, for the vendue opened, and they began to buy extravagantly.” The preface, also known as The Way to Wealth, became tremendously popular in America because everyone believed it was good, practical advice. Weber adds that Father Abraham’s best advice may have been the part about acting on it. The next portion of the chapter details the first Americans’ battles with spending. Puritanism, led by John Calvin, held deeply rooted values of modesty and frugality, which often conflicted with the Puritans’ temptation to prosper in the New World. In fact, Calvin’s followers found it almost impossible not to prosper, accumulating wealth that they were not allowed to enjoy.  While preachers like Cotton Mather “bemoaned the turn to materialism”, many were growing tired of humble living and self-denial. Even the Quakers found these same virtues difficult to uphold in America. The last bit of the chapter is dedicated to the life of Benjamin Franklin, son of a candle-maker and one of seventeen children. Ben Franklin began his printing career apprenticing for his uncle’s paper, sometimes publishing some of his own writings under a different name. Soon he was running his own printing firm in Philadelphia, producing his own almanacs and newspapers. Franklin also developed an avid interest in science and civic affairs. Once he retired, living well off of his income, “he distinguished himself as a philosopher, statesman, and diplomat.”  Throughout his life, Benjamin Franklin had always been concerned with America’s growing international trade economy, fearing that American spending on European products would steer savings away from investments at home and ultimately put their freedom at risk.  Franklin felt that the development of an American middle-class would be what separated America from tyrannical European monarchies because it would mean fewer households in the extreme upper and lower classes. Unfortunately, though many Americans liked Franklin, they enjoyed international trade because it meant cheaper, higher-quality products.   Franklin finally found the opportunity to bring Americans back to frugality when King George and the British Parliament passed the Townshend Duties, which taxed a lot of their exports. Americans responded with boycotts, and newspapers urged everyone to save their money by making their own products. To Franklin’s relief, this led to a period of American frugality: all of the much-loved European luxuries were given up. But Franklin hadn’t yet learned that Americans were never meant to be under-consumers, for as soon as the Revolutionary years ended, they began spending again. Benjamin Franklin died at age 84 in 1790.

Ch. 2: A Nation of Savers

The Guiness Book of Records credits Hetty Green with being the “World’s Greatest Miser” because she lived her life well below her means. She became interested in finance as a child, opening her own savings account when she was just eight years old. Green achieved millionaire status by multiplying her inheritance through “steel-willed dealings in railroads, real estate, and finance”. Thomas Eddy, another important figured highlighted in this chapter, was a wealthy New York insurance broker who tried to reform America’s lower classes by opening the Bank for Savings in the City of New York, one of the very first savings banks in the country. Eddy believed that his bank would not only teach the poor to save but also offer “long-lasting moral improvement”. Banks like Eddy’s were well-intentioned, but they may have been incorrectly based on the assumption that poverty was caused by a lack of personal responsibility, as opposed to a capitalist market.  While poverty emerged as a growing problem in post-revolution America, many held that same conservative theory that people were just “idle and ill of spirit”. The poor simply needed to be taught how to be thrifty. By 1820, there were ten savings banks with .1 million in funds. By 1899, there were just under a thousand in the country, with over billion. Thanks to the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, America then entered a “market revolution” that gave people all over the country access to the international economy. Consumers now had choices. Companies merged, big factories replaced small businesses, employment went up, and incomes grew. This era marked the beginning of the ideology that America was a place of opportunity and upward mobility. Americans still felt that frugality led to success, but they were no longer satisfied with mere “happiness and independence” as Franklin had been. They wanted to get rich. Due to this recent turn toward extreme materialism, the “transcendentalists” Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau wrote about self-discipline and simple living. They believed that if one led a more simple life, he or she would have more time and energy to devote to intellectual exertion and public service. The transcendentalists directed their writings toward the upper-classes, encouraging them to question their own spending. Still, most Americans only admired the transcendentalist philosophy; they didn’t actually act on it. Booker T. Washington became a guiding light for the freed slaves after the Civil War. He knew they would only be prosperous if they put their money in savings. As the principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, Washington taught his students that hard work, frugality, and honesty would lead to their prosperity. The post-Civil War American economy was booming, but the creation of a “leisure class” and consumption-driven society had not killed thrift as a virtue yet. John Henry Thiry, a Belgian immigrant and New York City book dealer, first noticed the severity of American materialism in his sons, who he felt were growing up to be pleasure-seeking spenders. Thiry believed that American children were no longer being educated on how to save their money, and so he began the Thiry System, a school savings bank movement in which children were taught how to save and deposit their spare change into a bank account. Thiry believed that his system would not only teach them about savings, but hopefully save them from the “moral dangers” and corruptions of society. Simon William Strauss held a similar belief that he could help cure the country by encouraging savings. Strauss began the American Society for Thrift in 1914.

Ch. 3: “What Use Can a Woman Have for Arithmetic?”

Whether they were pioneers, farmwives, or homesteaders, eighteenth and nineteenth century American women worked hard to produce everything for their families. Once these families started moving into cities, they joined the working class, increasing their incomes and their standards of living. At this point women didn’t have to make everything themselves; they could now buy some of it. So in a sense, women went from producing the nation’s products to consuming them. But many wondered if women were equipped to make financial decisions and handle the household’s money. Samuel Smiles, author of Thrift, said “Some may say, ‘What use can a woman have for arithmetic?’ But when men marry, they soon find this out.” Because urban women did not know how to spend, some rural women who grew up with thrift wrote housekeeping manuals and cookbooks to help guide women in their new lives as consumers. Lydia Maria Child, an abolitionist and writer, wrote the The American Frugal Housewife, a best-selling cookbook meant for those “not ashamed of economy.” Child’s book offered housewives all kinds of tips and tricks for saving money. Alongside these recipes and suggestions, Child also inserted some of her own negative feelings toward spending beyond one’s means. A critic of Child, Sarah Josepha Hale also promoted thrift, but more as a virtue than as a necessity. The Good Housekeeper was similar to Child’s, but it was instead aimed more toward middle and upper class women. Catherine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, sisters and both famous authors, co-wrote The American Woman’s Home, another home instruction manual.Their writing focused more on regaining the woman’s self-respect, since the industrial revolution had brought on a general attitude that women were no longer as useful as they once were. The Beechers presented housework as a “domestic science” that required some of the same skills (like efficiency and organization) that men used in their places of work. Catherine Beecher continued this work by opening the Hartford Female Seminary in Connecticut, a place where girls could be formally educated on cooking, cleaning, and on what later became the field of home economics. The emergence of “Home Ec” as a field led to the belief that science could solve anything. Theories like Frederick Taylor’s “scientific management” and inventions like the assembly line were soon developed. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, women handled the household money more than ever, finding that mass production had truly made buying less expensive than producing. A growing advertising industry recognized that women ran the family budget, and so they stepped in to bring women and companies’ products together. As retailers made their goods more and more accessible, buying decisions became more difficult. It was then that home economics altered into the study of making informed purchases and training women to be educated consumers.

Ch. 4: Cheap Jews and Thrifty Chinese

Of the many ethnic and national groups that have been labeled thrifty, cheap, or money-obsessed, the Jews and Chinese remain the most stereotyped. Psychologists have said that stereotypes like these usually stem from the insecurity and fear of those creating them. It is possible that this is what happened because one can easily see how these stereotypes have been strengthened by fear. When the Jews first started immigrating to America after 1825, Americans welcomed their good understanding of money and commercial skills. But it wasn’t too long before their “shrewdness” became a bad thing. Native-born Americans were threatened by the Jews ability to handle money, fearing that their success would result in the loss of their own property and job opportunities. Americans felt that Jews were “money-grubbers”, often depicted in racist dime novels as overtly poor but secretly rich. This prejudice showed that Americans were genuinely afraid of the Jews having too much control in the economy. By about 1877, many of the 250,000 German Jews that lived in America had succeeded in founding or expanding a business. As it became more obvious that this success resulted from honest hard work, Americans began labeling them as “vulgar and ostentatious” social-climbers that were trying to invade on high-society American culture.  It seemed like the Jews couldn’t win: they were miserly, but then they were ostentatious. “These elements couldn’t quite be reconciled; instead, they remained muddled together.” The Chinese posed a similar threat. During the Gold Rush, many of the Chinese immigrated to California with the intention of making a fortune and returning home.  When some of the Chinese decided to settle in America instead, businesses more than tolerated them because they would work for very few wages. But when the economy hit a downturn in 1857, the Chinese were to blame. Americans accused the Chinese of taking their jobs because they required such a low standard of living and worked for nothing. They were also accused of bringing crime and disease into the country. Many Americans worried that their altogether different culture would “undermine American traditions” and basically kill the American dream.  Much to their relief, Congress finally passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, excluding only Chinese laborers. Soon after the Act was passed, the “Jews of the East” who had already settled in America went from being known as cheap laborers to shrewd businessmen. They had gone from poor and degraded to shrewd and opportunistic, which were again contradictory stereotypes. Today these stereotypes still exist, probably because the Jews and Chinese have established themselves as the most successful ethnic groups in the country. However, the motive behind their “cheapness” was never any different from other Americans. They too wanted more than just freedom and independence: they wanted to get rich. And like other Americans, they have swung from frugality to extravagance and back.

Ch. 5: “Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, or Do Without”

Before the United States officially entered World War I on April 6, 1917, Frank Vanderlip was made chairman of the War Savings Committee. Vanderlip called on all Americans to start saving, offering war bonds, thrift stamps, and savings certificates as a way to raise money for war supplies and keep Americans from using up the raw materials needed to make those supplies. George Creel, head of the Committee for Public Information, attempted to persuade every American to buy these bonds through his illustrated advertisements and Four Minute Men. Teachers were asked to get their students involved, and National Thrift Week was created to teach children how to use their savings accounts. Herbert Hoover, the country’s wartime director, had the Food Administration begin Wheatless Mondays and Meatless Tuesdays. American housewives were asked to sign pledge cards, promising to carry out the Food Administration’s “war against waste” in their households. The National War Garden Commission promoted growing backyard vegetable gardens to save money on food. Vanderlip hoped that all of his campaigning would fund the war and bring about a new tradition of frugality. But many began to worry about the post-war economy, fearing that a sudden drop in demand for army supplies and a country of thriftier consumers would lead to a recession. Fortunately, it never took much to convince Americans to spend, and they spent. As the country moved into the Roaring Twenties, the increased production capacity of the war years released a wide variety of innovations and consumer goods that completely changed everyday life for Americans, giving them more free time than ever before. “Movies, jazz clubs, country drives, and vacations to Miami rose up to fill the leisure time made possible by labor-saving inventions.” And savings deposits and thrift were steadily declining in popularity. Everyone became more optimistic about their personal finances, businesses, and the overall economy. Consumers wanted to invest in the stock market and spend their profits on guilty pleasures. Unfortunately, good economic times could not and did not last forever. On October 24th 1929, the stock market plunged. By the following month, the industrials index had been cut in half. The unemployment rate went up to 25%. Consumer spending came to a halt. Businesses were unable to pay their bank loans, and 40% of the nation’s banks collapsed. Americans were suddenly forced to return to lives of self-denial. In hindsight, many realized that a lack of economic policies may have been the primary problem. Until then, economists had believed that recessions were “natural and self-correcting.” John Maynard Keynes, a British polymath, believed that “demand was the engine of growth.”  Keynes claimed that consumer spending was the only way companies would continue to hire workers and increase production. This was taking a completely different view from what economists had thought before: that only savings made business investment possible. The idea that saving was actually bad for the economy was deemed the “paradox of thrift”, the paradox of course being that thrift was a private virtue but a public vice. In 1932, Americans elected the Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Under his presidency, Roosevelt passed the New Deal, which created government programs designed to employ Americans. But Keynes’ economic theory and FDR’s New Deal is not what finally lifted the country out of the Great Depression. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and America finally joined World War II, employment quickly shot up with production demand. Americans had money to spend and were eager to spend it. Roosevelt knew that the only way he could get Americans to save for the war was by mandatory rationing, so he created the War Production Board to limit access to certain resources. Posters and pamphlets all over the country read “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” War bonds were used once again. Both economists and Keynes agreed that during wartime, consumers needed to save and let government spending pick up the slack. When many Americans followed suit and saved for the war, leaders and economists again worried that all the saving would cause another post-war depression. But Americans had changed: consumption had replaced thrift as a virtue, and spending was officially equated with patriotism.

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Biography

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.blogspot.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of works he has helped his students to turn into editorially-reviewed publications at the following sites:

Management Concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)

Book Reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and

Travel and International Foods (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/).                

Written by David Wyld
Professor of Management, Southeastern Louisiana University

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Demian Book

July 12, 2011 By gzgarden Leave a Comment

Herman Hesse’s novel Demian tells of a young boy named Emil Sinclair and his childhood growing up during pre-World War I. Emil struggles to find his new self-knowledge in the immoral world and is caught between good and evil, which is represented as the light and dark realms. Hesse uses much symbolic diction in his novel to give a more puissant presentation of Emil Sinclair and the conflict between right and wrong. The symbolism gives direction, foreshadow, and significance towards every aspect of the novel. Emil Sinclair’s home as a young child is a very important symbol in the novel. As Emil attends school he is shown a world immoral value.

The confusion of which is right or wrong creates the need for a safe haven for Emil. Emil refers to his home as a realm of light and states that he and his family all belong to that realm. The house itself was once a monastery, giving it a more powerful representation of the light realm. This symbolic asylum represents Emil’s innocence within himself and casts him apart from the real world. Another safe haven Emil retreats to is after he finds himself as a member of the mark of Cain. Eva’s garden symbolizes the Garden of Eden (a religious setting therefore of the light realm) and Emil separates himself there as one with the mark of Cain apart from the rest of the corrupt world. Both settings symbolize Emil’s importance in the world as well as his destiny.

The Garden of Eden presents itself as another symbolic location. The event that Emil told the story of stealing the apples from the garden was a very symbolic point of the novel in which Emil breaks away from his light realm. The garden that Emil stole the apples from represented the Garden of Eden and the apples, or forbidden fruit, symbolized Emil’s first sin. This event foreshadows what is next to come in the conflict of good and evil. Emil’s first step out of the light realm gives way to more symbolic events where he becomes more submerged into the dark realm. At the beginning of the novel, Emil notices that there is a coat of arms above his house representing the Cain religion. The coat of arms contained a sparrow hawk bird on it. Hesse uses this symbolic approach to give the sparrow hawk purpose in the rest of the story, as a symbol of the mark of Cain. Emil discovered that the bird represents the god Abraxas.

From this point, Emil is determined to find the meaning of the bird and Abraxas. After the rain washed away a painting of Beatrice that Emil painted, Emil could see Demian and himself in the canvas. Emil then painted a picture of the sparrow hawk on the same canvas. Hesse used this event to symbolize the connection between Emil, Demian, and Abraxas. After bringing these characters together as one, Hesse was able to conclude Emil’s transformation into the New World. Emil sees the bird again above the hallway of Frau Eva’s home. The bird in Eva’s hallway symbolized her home as a house of Cain. Now Emil has found himself and knows he belongs there. Emil sees the bird once again outside in the form of clouds in the raining sky. This clearly shows that the rest of the Old World is ready for the transformation into the New World.

In the last scenes of the novel, Emil is on the battlefields of World War I. One night Emil looks up into the sky and sees an image of a vast village of people being engulfed into a god-like figure which resembles Eva. The figure then crouches over and gives birth to the people that are now bright shining stars. This is the most important symbolic event in Hesse’s novel. The god-like figure symbolizes Eva, being the leader of the Cain people. The people that where engulfed by the god-like figure symbolize the people of the Old World. The god-like figure now represents the Virgin Mary and gives birth to the New World, which are the people transformed into stars.

This event concludes the passing of the Old World to the New World. Each character has now fulfilled their destiny. Hesse uses the last scene in his novel to illustrate a clearer presentation of the transformation. The hospital where Demian and Emil last speak symbolized the stable in which baby Jesus was born. Hesse creates the setting of the barn and surrounding hay to enhance his representation.

The irony of this symbolic setting helps conclude not only the characters destiny, but the Old World’s also. The symbolic elements lead Emil to find himself as an individual with the mark of Cain. Herman Hesse used many symbolic items and events throughout his novel to present Emil Sinclair’s new self-knowledge. The utilization of Hesse’s symbolic strategy shows his complexity as a writer as well as in his characters. Combining each of these symbolic elements created Emil Sinclair’s character, purpose, and destiny towards his new self-knowledge.

Written by darkvivi

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You Can Publish Your Own Book

July 12, 2011 By gzgarden Leave a Comment

Do you ever wish you could write a book? Well, my advice as one who has written a book and self-published it, is start with what you already have. That is how I eventually got my little book “Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs” published.

I am a writer, I love to write things – poems, book titles, articles, story ideas. And I love talking about things to my friends. That is how “Dig It!” moved closer to being a book. It started out as a short humorous article in a local Dog club newsletter “Schnauzer Scope” and it went from there, until it was a real book you can hold in your hand and wonder at (or read and chuckle over!).

I told my friend Allyson Hean about the article and gave her a copy when she asked to read it. Ally loves to draw things. I remember her ‘scribbling’ the most gorgeous pencil drawings in meetings at the Parent Group at Mallala Primary School we were both involved in when our kids were younger.

Allyson took the article, did some lovely drawings and we decided, what the heck, we’d self-publish a book, as simple as that. I already knew a local printer who had done some work on things I was involved in, so we had a chat and away it all went.

I expanded the original article and Ally did more drawings and put the whole thing together using Microsoft Publisher. I applied for an ISBN for the book, and a bar code, and it was ready for the printer. We took along a disc that had our book on it and gave it to the printer with an order for 100 copies.

Those 100 copies disappeared quite nicely, so I ordered another 100 copies. Those were slower to disappear, but that was OK, my costs were covered and the important thing was that I was able to connect with other people who love gardening and who love dogs.

I have sold copies of my book for up to and have also swapped copies for other people’s books. Some copies have been strategically given away for free. Once I had sold enough copies, I ordered 100 more copies, and the remnants of that print run and the copies I still have left.

I have had fun with the whole process, and I’ve learned things about self-publishing. I’ve learned it’s hard work to get distribution and you have to be ready to utilise opportunities as they arise. It is a long way from being a shy and retiring author locked away with our pen and paper, to being a bight and bubbly author promoting your book because you know it is the most fantastic Christmas present for those hard to buy for friends who love their garden and/or their dog and they don’t like anything else.

It’s also great for anyone with a sense of humour and it’s almost worth the money just for the lovely pictures Allyson has done!

If you think you would like to give this a try, there are lots of internet sites there to help you and there are also lots of self-publishing books available – visit your local library, in fact, build a stronger relationship with your local library – they may be willing to help you in many ways you haven’t even thought about. I’ve been to some great book launches at my favourite library, and I know if I had put on a book launch there I would have made more sales.

So that is my story. I am not anybody special, I’m just an ordinary person who had an idea and was prepared to take it to its logical conclusion. You too can publish your own book!

Written by carolyncordon
Creative thinking writer

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Book Reviews: Gardens of The Moon by Steven Erikson

July 6, 2011 By gzgarden Leave a Comment

Gardens of the Moon is a fantasy fiction book by the Canadian author known as Steven Erikson. This is the first book in a ten book series called The Malazan Book of the Fallen. This book came out back in 1999 and really split the critics. Some raved about it saying it was a classic piece of fantasy literature while some said it was poor at best. This is one of those books that you either love or you hate.

I have been reading fantasy fiction since I was young. I have read many different series’ of books and read lots of different authors. However I had never given Steven Erikson a try. So after reading a few write ups I thought I would give the series a try and hopefully enjoy reading a really good long series of classic books. I started reading this book nine months ago, I have only just finished it!

First of all a little about the plot. Basically the Malazan empire lies divided and there are several different factions at war with one another. The book tries to spin several different stories all at once bring them together in a dizzying way. The are warriors and wizards, dark hounds and powerful sorcerers, strange creatures and evil ones that roam the world looking to cause chaos. These may seem like a vague description of what actually happens in the book but there is a reason for this.

Gardens of the moon is simply the most complicated mind boggling book I have ever read. I’ve never been a fast reader but it usually takes me less than a month to read an eight hundred page book. However this book is so complicated that it really takes time and patience to get your head round what is going on. There are so many different characters, different plots and different locations that the whole thing just gets very confusing. Several times I had to go back and read something over to try and make sense of what was going on, often I still failed.

By the end of this book I had had enough, this is the first time I’ve read the first book in a series and then given up. This book is far to complicated and there is simply not enough action. There is plenty of political intrigue and there are various mind games going on between characters but I could never keep track of who people were and which side of the war they were fighting on. I usually enjoy book that get you thinking but this one felt like I was actually having to study it!

On the plus side this book is very well written. If you have a great mind and a talent for juggling you may well enjoy this. Erikson uses very complicated language to explain something very simple, which I didn’t enjoy but no doubt some people will. Even though there are several storylines all running in different directions the author does keep the story moving.

However if you just like to curl up with a good old fashioned story this book is not for you. If you enjoy having your mind messed with and want a real challenge, then by all means give this one a try. For me though this book was one long complicated disappointment!

Written by andyoz
Budding Young Writer

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Restaurants Covent Garden — Book Indigo Restaurant from the Internet

July 6, 2011 By gzgarden Leave a Comment

There was a time when anybody who was visiting a city for the first time asked around for the best inn and eating place in the city. So, if you are visiting London, you would ask around for the best restaurants Covent Garden. That is exactly what is being done today, in the shape of restaurant guides. If you enjoy your food and drink, you definitely would like to know more about the best eating places in your city. So, you could either subscribe to the local food and drink magazine or you can go to the Internet and look for the best places where you can get really good meals. So if you are on the Internet looking for restaurants Covent Garden, just because you want to eat out tonight, you are going to get a number of websites giving you plenty of information about the best restaurants.
There are a number of websites which are going to give you information on how to book Indigo Restaurant after you have read the Indigo Restaurant review. These restaurant guide websites are coming up really fast, and are getting to be very popular with people who are looking for information on restaurants Covent Garden. Not only do they allow you to read reviews on restaurants Covent Garden, but also you are going to get to know more about the restaurants. So, you are interested in reading the Indigo Restaurant review. You are going to get every bit of information on the ambience, the food, the quality of the service, and how costly it is to eat there. These restaurant guides reviews, for example, the Indigo Restaurant review, are going to be written by people who have been there, done that.
So that is the reason why restaurant guide websites are getting to be so popular among people who are interested in trying to locate the best fine dining places in the city. So, after you have completely read the Indigo Restaurant review, book Indigo Restaurant from that particular restaurant guide website itself. So are you waiting for? Go on to the Internet and look for places where you can get the best restaurant guides. These websites are going to give you plenty of information on the restaurants of your choice, in this case, indigo restaurant. And after you have read the Indigo Restaurant review, you can book Indigo Restaurant from these particular restaurant guide websites themselves.

Visit http://covent-garden.fluidrestaurantguide.co.uk to read honest reviews of restaurants Covent Garden and to book restaurants Covent Garden.

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Phuket Accommodations At Grove Gardens Resort; Book It Now!

July 6, 2011 By gzgarden Leave a Comment

Phuket accomodations at Grove Gardens are the perfect answer for short or long vacation plans. Grove Gardens was originally a residential estate and has since been transformed into an exquisite vacation spot. Renovated to offer all the most modern luxuries, you will enjoy the world class offerings of this estate for personal or corporate functions. You can equally appreciate the outstanding amenities which include security and resort services. It is affordable luxury at its finest. Each room is spacious and light with a fresh ambiance and is fully equipped with you and your needs in mind.

With so much to do, there wont be a problem finding something for every taste from swimming in a luxurious pool to massages on a very professional level or putting around on the green. The Phuket accommodations are most like a residence hotel. You can enjoy long term stays or short term visits if you can find a way to squeeze in everything you want to accomplish while youre there.

Your personal little slice of paradise awaits you on the East coast of Phuket, Thailand in the Cape Yamu area which is close enough to the action packed city life, but serene and secluded enough for total relaxation in a tropical atmosphere. You can enjoy the beautiful surrounding nature and wildlife while feeling and smelling the warm tropical breeze of the Phang Nga Bay. Take a leisurely visit to the local boat marina or hop on a jet ski and really get your feet wet. You certainly wont want to miss the shopping centers and crafty vendors for one-of-a kind souvenirs of your visit. Keep in mind that you can also spend time sunning on the sandy crystal beaches and emerald waters of the area or try out one of the golf greens to improve your swing. Take advantage of all the amenities offered to make your vacation everything you want it to be. Be sure and stop by the three pool complex and choose from the lap pool for exercise, scuba diving lessons or practice, or enjoy the sun while the kids take a dip in the childrens pool. The entire family will love the Phuket accommodations.

Once you are at Grove Gardens you will not want to leave. The tropical island paradise is so inviting and peaceful you may never get enough. In each unit you will find only the most modern facilities and furnished with high quality, comfortable furniture and linens that will make you feel like you are sleeping on a cloud. The gorgeous but simplistic Phuket accommodations offered at Grove Gardens are available in many different styles. Some offer rooftop terraces to give you a birds eye view of everything going on around you, while others will provide you with serene garden terraces so you can enjoy all of the tropical birds, plants and trees. No matter which you choose, you will enjoy a lovely view. The entire estate is surrounded with groves of trees that add to the serene and tropical haven paradise.

Why wait any longer for Phuket accommodations ? Go online to GroveGardensPhuket to make your reservations now. You wont regret the decision to live in the lap of luxury with Phuket accomodations .

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