I don’t want the class to be boring or trite, but I’d like for my students to learn and enjoy at the same time. A lot to ask, I realize!! I appreciate everyone’s assistance in advance.
- Timothy C

I’m an aspiring teenage author, and I have a serious creativity block. My friends all have some idea for stories, and their characters talk to them…((Yes, it’s strange for people to say that characters talk to them, but it can help. A lot.)) Mine don’t, or they’re just ignoring me, so..I need some ideas for getting rid of this creativity block so I can write something this weekend. Any ideas?
- School_Girl_1275

I want to be a writer and need to know how to get started…any advice would be sooooo appreciated !
- ramblingongirl

I write mostly young adult genre fiction and I’m trying to get a manuscript published. I’ve tried a lot of agents that are reputable already. I heard that agents who have just gotten into the business are eager for new authors, so I ****?t to know how can I find them? Is there a website or a newsletter I can sign up for that gets articles about new legit agents?
- shanster303

I’m planning on doing an English Literature with Creative Writing undergraduate degree course, beginning in 2010. Initially, I just wanted to study English, but recently I’ve decided I would be better suited to English Literature with Creative Writing. Are there any universities that are especially good for English and creative writing? A lot of the universities I had previously been looking at don’t offer the course, and The Times University Guide only offers an English league table. All answers appreciated! (-:
- ConcreteGirl

I have written a lot of short stories as a hobby. I am looking for ways to get them published online. Please tell me any resources you may know about. Thanks!
- JoeBlowfromIdaho

I have to do a project where I read a short story from either Hemingway or Steinbeck. In this project I have to teach a discussion to my class. What stories are enjoyable? I’ve read a lot of stories from Hemingway, including most of the Nick Adams stories and the African stories, for Steinbeck I have read “The Red Pony”.
- Jessica B

I love graphic novels, but I have a lot of ideas for a collection of graphic short stories. What are some good examples of it? I want to get an idea of the format, layout and that type of thing.
- Cornelius

The only criteria is:
-A fiction book with a historical setting
-It has to be set at least one hundred years ago
-It has to be finished by 5/1.

Any suggestions?
It is recommended for like 5th graders, and I’m in 9th grade Advanced English… please make it a lot more challenging.
- Erin*

If you considered earning money by working from home than you will probably begin by choosing a hobby that you can use for niche marketing.

However, choosing a niche isnt always as easy it we like it to be. Many of us dont know what we are interested in and some of us have too many interests to narrow it down to a specific niche. Below are some steps to help you choose a niche for your work at home business.

Before you choose a niche lets clarify what exactly a niche is, a lot of people get confused about this. Suppose you like writing, well, writing is not a niche. Poetry writing is a niche, so is fictional writing.

Think of it this way a niche is like a topic. If you were asked to write a report on World War II it would be silly to take on the entire war but you could write about a particular battle. It is small enough to digest but large enough to find and give information. You dont want your niche to be too small ie. a small island no one knows about but you dont want it to be too big ie. an entire country.

Steps to choosing a niche

1. Write a list of everything you like to do, care about or gets you excited. It can be anything: golf, knitting, baby products, the ocean or even the color blue. What ever it is write it down. Try to create a list of thirty things that interest you.

2. Look at your list and begin to cross out the ones you dont feel as passionate about. You may like sports cars but you are only slightly interested in home electronics. Narrow your list down to your top 10

3. Beside each of your top ten interests write down why you like them. Dont just say I like poetry, be specific, “I like poetry because”. If you find it hard to come up with a reason, behind your interest, cross it off your list. The niche you choose will become the one you use to niche market. This means you need to be able to talk extensively about it.

If you are struggling now you will have trouble promoting and advertising.

4. Take a look at your list and pick out the five that have the most explanations.

These are your top five. These are the one you will research to find out if there is a market for them, what the competition is like, who your target market will be, what are the products related to that niche.

5. Search Google to see how many unique ads appear on the right hand side; go through at least 5 pages for each niche. This will give you an idea of your market and whats related to each of your top five niche options. This will help you to determine what people are buying. You may also want to go to a bookstore to get even more insight on the market, competition and profit potential.

6. Which three have the largest market, the highest profit margin and least amount of competition? Its ok if you have competition, this is actually a good thing it means that there is a demand for that niche. But too much will mean that you will have trouble standing out in the crowd. Out of your top three choices which one has the above three, which one are you most passionate about?

If you like all three then choose the one that has the most appeal in terms of profit potential

Follow the above steps and you will have your niche that you can build a work at home program around.


- Jeff Casmer