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A NEW OUTLOOK ON LIFE
by: Liana Metal
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be at the start of a new era? It’s a thrilling feeling of achievement, and a great confidence –booster as well. As a mom of two, I’ve had to share my life between my family and my job in a school. I’ve spent long days and nights caring for the others, until, one day after years, I came upon my son’s newly purchased computer. Since then I’ve been a computer addict -(mind you, I didn’t even know how to turn it on at first!)- and I finally got started in my new online career: Book Reviewing! It had never occurred to me that I could get all that information from the web; after all, my son and daughter used it only for playing games for hours on end. But it proved to be a very useful tool to me, and to my kids in the long run. At first , everyone in the family teased me watching me try to learn all the nuts and bolts of this device. ‘It’s for the kids,’ my husband would say. ‘You will only get frustrated and tired. It’s not for you, at your age!’ However, I was not discouraged! ‘What’s wrong with my age? Being in my forties is not a problem . I can still learn a lot !’ I would reply. And I was right. After a couple of months of perseverance , I started feeling confident enough to handle it , and now, my kids started asking me to explain to them a couple of tech things! Imagine that! I still can’t believe it I’ve learned so many things all on my own. Of course , I was always trying to find some spare time –and that was the hardest part of it – but in the end I followed a specific timetable that proved to be a very good idea. I had also to buy a book about the Internet , a mini guide , but the rest of the information was available online. Apart from getting educated in this field, I’ve also made some great new friends all over the world. Book reviewing was an unexpected activity I came across while reading a newsletter online. Since I’m an avid reader , I took to it at once. Now, I review print books, e-books, I maintain my own site online and I send articles to various sites all over the world. Freelancing online is a great way to reach people and places everywhere on the planet. Coming back to book reviewing, I find it great as I get a lot of free copies from authors and companies from all over the world, and I add them to my bookshelf. Reviewing other people’s books has also helped me to learn how to write my own book . I have even learnt how to make a PDF book, an electronic book . I would like to share some information with you in case you are interested in becoming a book reviewer. But you may wish to ask : Why become a reviewer? There are several reasons for that choice. First, because you love books. If you are also an avid reader, you just can’t miss this chance ! Second, you love writing. This is imperative. If you don’t love writing, forget all about it. Next, you want to get free copies and add them to your shelf. By all means , go ahead. Moreover, you can have the latest releases. If this sounds exciting to you, then this activity it’s the ideal one for you. If you take to all of the above, you just can’t afford to miss the opportunity to become a reviewer. Yet, there may be another problem: you doubt your abilities to write a good review. You feel you need some guidance on how to write a critique. There is an easy solution: Read other people’s reviews. I’ve done that and it worked! So, you can do it too. I learnt all about reviewing online , all on my own. You only have to be patient and study as many different reviews as possible. Here comes another question: But where can I find reviews to read? Practically, everywhere. But if you would like to find some specific sites that display reviews online you can visit my site at http://lianametal.tripod.com and click on the Reviews section. There you will find a lot of URLs of sites that I send my work to. Click on each one of them and read the reviews. You can read my reviews, and other people’s reviews. Watch the style and the language . See what comes first and what is next. The more you read , the more you learn. If you visit my site , you will see an e books link on the home page. If you click on it, you will find another site dedicated to e books. There you will find my e book titled Writing Basics, which includes a lot of information on reviewing. To sum up, if I’ve done it, you can do it too! And it’s never too late to learn something new and exciting that will help you change your outlook on life! I am always searching the net for something new that will add some spice to my life. After all, I have nothing to lose, only to gain! What about you? If you feel like I do, start now. Don’t miss the thrill and fun of it! And Good Luck! Liana Metal Reviewer/writer http://lianametal.tripod.com About the Author Liana Metal is a reviewer and writer based in Europe. Visit her at http://lianametal.tripod.com , read her articles, and contribute. Her new books are at www.ebookad.com

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