In order to become a published author, a manuscript must make its way to a publishing company. Partnered with a query letter and a lot of hope, the manuscript’s future is now in the hands of the publishing company. The great manuscripts will earn their way to become a published work of art. The rest will be rejected.

There are a number of reasons that separate the great manuscripts from the failures. Below are five top reasons a manuscript can get rejected.

1. Bad Query Letter
Your query letter is the first thing a publishing company will see. This letter will be the deciding factor in whether or not your manuscript even gets read. It must give great detail into the plot of your story as well as the characters. It needs to be descriptive, engaging and original…and it must do all of this in one short letter. If your query letter fails to capture the publisher’s attention and interest them enough to read the manuscript, you can wave goodbye to the dream of seeing your book published.

2. Multiple Mistakes
Proofreading is extremely important. If your manuscript is full of mistakes, whether spelling, grammar or punctuation, the publishing company is going to send it right back to you with a rejection letter. It’s true that, if accepted, your manuscript will go through an editing process, but that is no reason to send one over that is full of mistakes. Having a manuscript that is error free will move your manuscript one step closer to being published.

3. Boring Plot
Publishers are looking for interesting and unique plots. If your plot is boring or if it’s too common, your manuscript will be rejected. Publishers also want events to happen quickly. If it takes three or four chapters before anything happens, publishers will turn your book away.

4. Boring Characters
Just like the way publishers want unique plots, they also want fun and entertaining characters. Characters are supposed to grow and change throughout the book. If your character is the same person in the last chapter as they were in the first chapter, the character will be easily forgotten. Boring characters do not put your book on bookstore shelves.

5. Unfinished Manuscript
A great query letter is important. Proofreading is important. And interesting plots and characters are important. You could have the best query letter ever written, a perfect manuscript and the most unusual plot with the most interesting characters, but if your manuscript is unfinished, it will not get published. It seems obvious, but make sure your manuscript has a beginning, middle and end.

Each publisher is different and is looking for different things. It’s important to research publishers before you send your query letter and manuscript to make sure you have met all of their requirements. There are plenty of reasons why a manuscript can be rejected, but the aforementioned are the five most common reasons. Don’t let your manuscript fall into one of these categories, and you’ll have a better chance at becoming a published author.

Mark Weatherford is a high school english teacher and published author. He encourages all his students to use Grammarly grammar checker so their writing meets the highest standard of syntax and grammar. He also encourages his students proof and examine their college application essays.

Proofreading a manuscript is different than proofreading an article or an essay. You need to be more thorough, you need to tackle it differently, and most importantly, you need to take your time. The following tips will help you learn how to effectively proof your manuscript.

1. Print it out, double spaced.
This is going to waste a lot of paper and a lot of ink, but it is the most important step. Read your manuscript in hard copy. This will help alleviate the tired-eye syndrome you received from staring at the computer screen for so long. With a red pen in hand, start tearing through your work, marking your corrections directly on the paper. It’s going to get sloppy, but it’s important. Make sure to mark “First Draft” on the front cover and date it. You now have a hard copy of the edits you made.

Once you have marked your edits, you can make the changes on the computer. When finished, print out another double-spaced copy, and proofread again. Make sure to mark “Second Draft” with the date. Keep repeating this step until you have a copy without any corrections.

2. Change the font size or font style.
Every time you print out a new copy, change the font size or the font style. Like with anything else you proofread, your eyes and your mind become so used to your story that you miss errors. By changing the font size or style, you are tricking your brain into thinking it is something new. This small change will help you slow down while proofreading and will help you notice mistakes you previously overlooked.

3. Take your time.
It already took you so long to write the manuscript, so it should take you just as long to effectively proofread it. Perform your first round of proofreading, make your edits and give yourself a few days (or even a week) in between before taking another crack at it. Giving your mind a rest will clear your head and allow you to proofread it again with fresh eyes.

Trying to rush through the proofreading process just to send it to a publishing company is not going to work in your favor. If your story is full of errors, or if it doesn’t make sense, publishing companies are going to decline printing it, and then you’re back to square one.

4. Read the first and last chapter.
Read the first chapter and get to know your main character. Take note of his or her personality, traits and characteristics. Then skip over the rest of your story to the last chapter. Take note of the main character’s personality, traits and characteristics. Has anything changed? If your main character is still the same person in the last chapter as they were in the first chapter, your character is missing growth. It is important for your character to change throughout the story, so you may want to re-examine the events that occur and make changes.

5. Read one chapter at a time.
Take one day to read the first chapter. Mark areas that seem confusing. By focusing solely on one chapter, you are taking an in-depth look at the events that occur during that chapter, rather than looking at the story as a whole. Doing this will help you notice a timeline or an event that doesn’t make sense and will allow you to re-work it.

6. Check your timeline.
Make a list of all the events that occur. Does the timing make sense? Is everything happening in chronological order, or did you skip something? This is important to ensure your story is accurate.

7. Check your characters.
As you are reading, make a list of every character that is mentioned. Did you add someone in during Chapter One, but remove them from the rest of the book and forgot? Check to make sure that every character mentioned has a purpose. Having a random character could confuse your readers.

Proofreading your manuscript should take a long time in order to make sure your book is ready to be viewed by a publisher. If you just pass it on without taking the necessary steps to make it perfect, it will not have the chance to be published.

Duncan Ferguson is an accomplished editor and writer working out the Albany area. Because his literary volume is so great, he needs to use Grammarly grammar checker to instantly proof his text and ensure his writing is mistake-free. He is currently working on a summary of Animal Farm.

When Should Women Have Their First Pap Smear?

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists once stated that women should receive their first Pap smear within three years of first having sexual intercourse or at the age of 21. However, the latest statement from the group states that women should have their first Pap smear at 21. What caused the shift in age? Is there a problem due to having Pap smears earlier in life?

Does Getting a Pap Smear too Early Cause Problems?

The chairman of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Thomas Herzog, stated that doing Pap smears done on women under the age of 21 caused more harm than good. Young women were being over treated and this has led to an increase in preterm births. Which leads us to another question. If too many Pap smears can harm a woman’s reproductive health, how often should she be tested?

How Often Should Young Women Be Tested?

It is recommended that women ages 21 to 29 should be screened every other year. Women age 30 and older should have an exam done every three years after having three consecutively good exams. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also stated that women who have HIV may need to be screened more often than other women. Another important piece of information is that doctors claim that young women getting biannual Pap smears is adequate in detecting cervical cancer.

Is There Any Case Where Young Women Do Need Gynecological Care?

However, it’s important to note that Pap smears are only one area of gynecological care. Young teens, and even preteens, may need pelvic exams or other care for irregular periods or extreme menstrual cramping. Another important note is that many young girls are turning to health departments at an early age to obtain birth control. Many of these clinics require pelvic exams and Pap smears before birth control can be prescribed.

While pap smears are important for screening for pre-cancerous cells, it turns out they can also be dangerous for young women. However, it’s still important that you get screened at the age of 21 and follow the schedule so that you still receive the benefits that Pap smears provide. And, just in case you’re wondering, women ages 15-19 are very unlikely to get cervical cancer, which can rule out the need for Pap smears at such an early age. However, in some cases women will need gynecological care for menstrual problems or to obtain birth control.

About the Author: Tyree Lebarge is a medical assistant in a women’s health clinic. She enjoys educating young women about common health conditions and often recommends Yeastinfection.org by Dr Eric Bakker to women who want to learn more about yeast infections and overall candida.

The marketers behind these products have done a great job as promoting these drinks as healthy, or being great for people who do sports and exercise and helping them to re-hydrate faster. I even find that in my own job as a personal trainer I see people who are looking to lose weight drinking these while working out in their gym. But what actually in these drinks, are they as good for you as the manufacturers would make us believe or are they just water and sugar.

Let us have a look at what is actually in one of these “sports drinks”.

The ingredients in a well know sports drink (American Version) for example are as follows:

Ingredients: water, high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin (glucose polymers), citric acid, salt, potassium citrate, modified food starch, potassium phosphate, natural flavors, glycerol ester of wood rosin, guar gum, niacinamide (B3), coconut oil, brominated vegetable oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), Cyanocobalamin (B12).

 As you can see the main ingredient is water but high fructose corn syrup, basically a sugar, coming in a close second with maltodextrin (another sugar) coming in  third place. High Fructose Corn Syrup in Particular has been know to contribute  to obesity and weight problems, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, as well as  non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Not something that you would expect from a healthy sports drink.

In Europe these ingredients are generally the same. For example High Fructose Corn Syrup may be called glucose as is maltodextrin. You also nee to be careful with maltodextrin in Europe if you are gluten intolerant as it tens to be derived fro wheat. If you are trying to lose weight ingesting these sugars are going to switch off any fat burning that is going on and plays havoc with you blood sugar levels.

Next up is Citric acid, which is used as a preservative which has been shown to erode the tooth enamel if consumed on a regular basis. Brominated Vegetable Oil which is another ingredient is allowed as a food additive in the United States but has been banned in Europe, India and other countries. You can draw your own conclusions to that.

So what should I be drinking if I’m plating sport and want to keep hydrated,. Well the advice we give out here is to only drink natural mineral water and you can add a squeeze of lemon to it for flavour and a tiny pinch of salt to improve absorption into the blood stream. Adding the salt will also stop you from running to the bathroom frequently.

As a foot note several companies also now do low calorie sports drinks that contain sweeteners instead of sugar. These should also be avoided at all costs as the sweeteners such as aspartame are know to be bad for our health

This article is by Liam Thompson of Northwest Personal Training Manchester and Manchester Weight Loss Bootcamp . Liam is Manchester’s leading Personal Trainer and Fat Loss Expert

Aerobie is a manufacturing company based in California, USA. They’ve been making high quality Sports Discs (as as we in the UK call them, ‘Frisbees’ for many years). As well as discs they produce a number of other things you can through with, to or at (if you so desire) another person including:

• A football (in the American football style, with added ‘wing’)
• A squash-able flying Ball which can also float in water
• A ‘High Performance’ Boomerang (in triangular shape)
• A Yo-Yo
• Golf Discs (obviously.)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has rapidly become the one of the most used medium of marketing, with large organisation investing thousands of pound/dollars to cement their place on page one of Google. Achieving first page position within the search engines can improve the amount of leads, sales or enquires generated from through online marketing and also gives you an advantage over your competitor.

Search Engines ranks websites in order of perceived importance to a search query by analysing your web pages content. Search engines checks to see if the keywords stated in the searchers query matches up to your websites page title, Meta description, Meta keywords along with your website’s content. If you are competing in a highly competitive niche search engines also takes into consideration the amount of inbound links your website has. Links counts as votes for your website as a good resource of information, the more quality and related links you have from other websites the higher you website will appear in the search results.

To many individuals and companies SEO can be daunting; this has spawned a new digital marketing arena where companies and freelancers. If you come across SEO companies who are offering “cheap”, “guaranteed” or “low cost” SEO services, you should carry out company research before making a decision. These companies tends to offer a poor service to begin with and in order to achieve good result you are then required to pay extra.

Trying to buck the trend of bad SEO services are Textmimedia. Textmimedia is a Digital Marketing Agency in Manchester, specialising in providing internet marketing including PPC Management and  SEO Services to businesses of all sizes to improve visitor numbers and increase conversion.

GRP was later introduced as a roofing system for a number of construction types. It is more commonly referred to as glass fibre or fibreglass roofing.

GRP roofing will not show much deterioration over a thirty-year period.This durability has made it a success with roofing systems installers and building owners.

GRP is often used in flat roofing and can be laid over an existing roof for better protection against weather leading to greater control over drainage. GRP laminate is usually laid at conditions greater than 5 degrees celsius using suitable coating.

The structure, or “deck” below can be made of board or wood and should be sound before the laminate is laid. It’s important that there is no water between the GRP and structure below, as this can cause severe damage. Such damage could undermine the structure which can in turn harm the roof. In this case roof repairs would be necessary to reseal the building and secure it against further damage.

Other Roofing Systems

Other flat roofing systems are often used in place of GRP and each has similar qualities.

Built-up roofing (B.U.R) is a system made up of laminated bitumen and roof felts. Built-up roofs can be used on any kind of deck and can last for a minimum of fifteen years if the structure below is insulated and well constructed with appropriate materials.

E.P.D.M. (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) rubber roofing is primarily used to seal a roof. This rubber roofing material is also used in tubing and inside many household and electronics appliances due to its usefulness as a tough housing and non-conducting material.

Single-ply roofing is another term for a roofing system and can consist of many roof sealing materials including E.P.D.M. and T.P.O. (Thermoplastic Polyolefin), a popular choice for eco-friendly constructions.

In contrast to some other roofing systems, fibreglass has a large number of other applications. The rise of GRP as a leading material was due to the need for a lighter, stronger and permeable (to microwaves) aircraft material, which has carried it well in its versatility and use in other vehicles and home building.

Uses of GRP in Vehicles

Fibreglass is commonly known for its usage in boats. As a water-tight, light, tough and versatile material, GRP is perfect as a base for boat construction. It is not only used in yachts and larger boats but also in canoes, kayaks and smaller craft. As boats often come under stress from all of mother nature’s forces, fibreglass boat repairs are sometimes necessary.

Fibreglass is still used in aircraft, including commercial airliners and gliders, and also many leisure vehicles from go-karts to sports cars.

Uses of GRP in Homes

Fibreglass piping is used in water systems for drinking, cooling water, waste (sewage) water control and others. Gas and heating pipes are often made of GRP. Storage tanks for water, sewage and other substances are often made of fibreglass as it is impermeable and safe.

As well as in fibreglass roofing systems, GRP is used in doors, windows, awnings, chimneys, sills and other areas of the home. It is a tough and hard-wearing, making it a valuable building material.

The future of GRP roofing systems looks safe due to its availability and excellent roofing qualities including durability. Its continued use as a material of choice for boat building companies, caravan manufacturers, performance and leisure vehicle manufacturers and more means its future looks very promising.

This article was produced for 1st Class Fibreglass Solutions.

There is no x in espresso - beija on Flickr

The often mis-pronounced word is a cause of frustration for those ‘sticklers’ and purists, but is there any harm in saying it incorrectly?

“There is no ‘x’ in espresso“. Such a sentence can reveal the cultured from the not, the aware from the uninformed and the “foodie” from the less-qualified consumer.

Food Culture and Language

Food culture is rich with these arguments and mild contentions. With a variety of food, beverages and accompanying items including the means of food production (pots, pans, woks and the like) and the means of consumption (knives, forks, chopsticks etc) coming from all over the globe it is perhaps no wonder there are an equal variety of pronunciations of their respective names. Ask a Mexican person how to say ‘Burrito’, or a Chinese person how to say szechuan and you will inevitably hear a response different to how you may already say the word. It is perhaps a fitting beauty of the rich tapestry of foods, flavours, smells and colours we experience.

Debate Regarding Food Origin

There is debate even regarding the origin of a number of dishes including Pasta, which was perhaps invented by the Chinese. This is not too surprising, if true, due to its composition being not too dissimilar from types of Noodle.

Historical debate relies on the argument of knowledge opinion and it is perhaps better left to that, but what about pronunciation. Is it acceptable to the Spanish if the rest of the world gives Chorizo a hard ‘Z’ when spoken? If the food is being ordered the request is usually obvious to the waiter, who may well be used to it. Whilst it may not be the waiter’s place to correct the diner’s way of speaking they may enter the kitchen and use the correct pronunciation, sounding distinctly different to how the diner spoke seconds earlier.

Social Etiquette

Social etiquette is part of any fine dining experience. Speaking correctly is quite high up in this associative thinking. To be judged for ordering food incorrectly may leave the diner a “few points down” despite the quality of the dish they’ve ordered — their obvious good taste may not carry them through the culinary social gauntlet unscathed.

Adding an ‘x’ into espresso simply links the word to its closest English neighbour. Wikipedia states the word as an “alternative spelling” of espresso, not an incorrect spelling. An Italian language teacher may be right to correct the pupil, however the translation of the word into other languages, including Spanish, and the similarity of ‘expresso’ to other words lends it an easy excuse.

So perhaps it is that the mispronunciation is enough to expose some not as aficionados but as phonemically in-aware philistines. The clash of food cultures has led to such marvels as the deep-fried mars bar, road kill recipes and carrot cake (whoever thought to put carrots in a cake?) so it is not perhaps important if a word is mispronounced.

Variety is the spice of life after all.