Jim Edwards and Joe Vitale who are both well known in the Internet online industry wrote this eBook. The 2004 version of this book is 206 pages long though it should be mentioned that less than 100 pages are concentrated on the theme of the eBook whereas the rest of the eBook involves interviews with various successful eBook authors (in the eyes of Edwards and Vitale) and bonus reports.

I believe that Edwards and Vitale were wrong to follow this approach since when one tries to overkill with respect to information, the result is opposite to the one intended since the reader may be confused even more and in my opinion the eBook would have been more effective if it was shorter and did not include the interviews with these authors whose approaches were different. Perhaps Vitale and Edwards should have sold the interviews by the eBook experts as a separate eBook.

The 7-day eBook was written in an unorthodox style in that it was written in a “chatty” style rather than in a formal manner. To be fair to the authors this did help in maintaining the interest of the reader.

The content of the eBook contained some very useful aspects such as:

• Distinguishing between a successful and failure formula for an eBook.

• Tips for selecting a topic for an eBook

• How to write the eBook in 7 days - though I think this target may be ambitious in practice the methodology mentioned by the authors is worth considering.

• Various tips on how to publish the eBook.

The price of the eBook is in my opinion reasonable value considering the money that can be saved by reading this eBook and the valuable links that can be obtained from the eBook. But I felt at times that the authors over elaborated and could have been more concise in their writing.

Overall I believe that a purchase of the eBook for a price under $30 is worth buying despite its limitations.

About The Author

Andy George is a qualified chartered accountant who was born in Birmingham, England and who has had many years’ experience in public practice, industry, and commerce and as a lecturer. Since 1991 he has been based in the island of Cyprus. Andy was a financial correspondent for eight years at the Cyprus Financial Mirror where he wrote articles on business and accounting related issues to a non-technical audience.

He is the author of eBooks: How to write and Publish Your Own With a Shoestring Budget http://www.budgetebook.com

akgeorge@cytanet.com.cy

Jill 9 has a story line based around a psychologically
disturbed female serial killer. The only lead the detectives
have is the one thing all the victims have in common - all of
the victims share the name, or sudunoume, of “Jill Walker”.

Young new weather-woman, Jill Wallokowski shines on
camera stunning the television station staff and her
audience. Unfortunately, she is stalked, attacked and
targeted for death by some twisted members of her
audience.

FBI agent Ian… is obsessed with the “Jill” serial killer and
harbors a deep guilt and anger over the killings he could not
prevent in the past - especially the last one. Now, the “Jill
Killer” has targeted the new weather-woman and Ian is
driven in more ways than one to protect her. Their attraction
for each other may just drive them both mad, but Ian knows
he cannot become too close because he won’t be able to
fully protect her.

This fiction novel could be classified as an action-suspense
thriller. Involving a stalker, sexual deviant and serial killer, a
serious team of FBI agents led by Ian Hamlin and the
incomporable Jill Wallokowski.

Be prepared; this 300-page book contains some swearing
and erotic scenes between the steamy pair. In closing, I
would like to mention that I was moved by the author’s
heart-felt dedication for Jill 9 to the men and women in the
law enforcement fields who strive to keep every one of us
safe.

ISBN#: 0-9767732-9-5

Author: J.D. Tynan

Publisher: Better Be Write Publishing

Published: 2006

~ Book Reviewer: Lillian Brummet - Co-author of the book
Trash Talk, a guide for anyone concerned about his or her
impact on the environment - Author of Towards
Understanding, a collection of poetry.
(http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit)

Writing your ebook, report or information product is an exciting business that anyone can do - even if you are a non-writer.

You’ve no doubt heard that everyone has a secret desire to write their own book. While less than 5% of us ever act on that dream, and of those, less than 5% of those people ever get their product published, creating your ebook becomes a very interesting option.

Here are 5 main questions that get in the way of anyone creating their own ebook, with the answers that can overcome these roadblocks.

Create An Ebook Question #1: What Topic Do I Choose?

Start with your interests and passions, choosing your best
ebook topic opportunity based on a combination of proving demand
and seeing evidence of information selling into your market.

Use a combination of market research tools including keyword
popularity tools such as http://inventory.overture.com to
discover high demand keywords while looking for evidence of
marketability through researching Amazon.com, eBay, and offline
magazines using the techniques outlined in this article on the
topic: http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/articles/market-
research.html

Create An Ebook Question #2: Which eBook software

This is definitely a case where too much choice confuses the
issue. Your ebook minisite can be created by using standard
HTML development software such as Coffee Cup, Dreamweaver or
HotDog from Sausage.com.

Another option is to use an all-in-one, automated website
builder that focuses on both design, but more important,
structure your content to be attractive to the search engines.
You have many choices - such as XsitePro.com

The best part is that you don’t need to spend a fortune these
days. It is worth the effort to learn some basic html. You may
not always develop your own sites, but its good to know the
basics so that you can make changes and understand what is
possible.

Create An Ebook Question #3 How Many Pages Should An eBook Have?

While you can argue that an eBook can be any length as long as
you have unique information in high demand right?

Not exactly.

Problem is that we have been trained for many years to expect
non-fiction books to fall within a set range of pages -
typically between 150 and 300 pages. In most people’s minds, an
ebook is no different in terms of expectations.

Deviate too much from your customer’s expectations and you will
run into trouble. Create a 40-page ebook and you will no doubt
upset a portion of your audience who expect a certain volume of
content.

You can easily get around this requirement AND even increase
the perceived value of your product by calling it something
other than an ebook such as a special report, manual, booklet,
or course. Many of these formats can reach much higher price
points per page of content - a benefit of re-packaging.

Create An Ebook Question #4 How Do I Protect My Ebook Content?

1. Start by putting a clear, large Copyright Statement on the
2cnd page of your ebook. This won’t deter thieves obviously -
but in two of the only cases I’ve found my ebooks being pirated,
both were (I’m convinced) unaware that they were not ebooks they
had acquired licenses to and immediately removed them - funny
story - one of them was a lawyer!

Fact is, there are so many resell rights packages floating
around today that people can easily mistake your product as one
that they have licensed rights to resell, or even worse, re-
package. So - make it clear right up front that this is NOT a
resell rights product and that the material is copyright.

2. Password protect your download directory - sending the
password via automatic email. If you use a fixed password,
change it at least once a month (anymore often and you risk
increasing substantially your support burden.) If you use this
approach, you should send your customer to a page that clearly
outlines that they will receive an email in the next few minutes
with the password - email delivery what it is - this won’t
always happen and you want them to contact you asap so they are
not left waiting.

3. You can also explore eBook compilers that compile your
content into protected .EXE files - my experience has never been
great with these products though given the support problems they
tend to create (both in terms of unsupported operating systems
and in people not being able to do certain things such as fully
scroll, print out pages, etc…)

Create An Ebook Question #5 What About eBook Covers?

You may wonder what is the value of ebook covers and banners
when marketing your ebook? Does it really matter, isn’t it more
important that the content is solid?

When you market digital products, your cover is often the only
visual clue your market will have regarding your product.
Professionalism does matter - more than ever now that there is
more competition in the eBook market.

You want your product represented in a professional, high-
quality way. I still can’t figure out why many ebook writers
spend weeks or months writing their product then scrimp on
getting their cover developed. It just doesn’t make sense.

The difference between a poorly designed cover and
professionally designed ebook cover is often less than $50 -
investment you can make back on the first few sales of your
ebook. It’s not even worth considering, get a professional cover
designed. You can find some great samples over at:
http://www.infoproductcreator.com/part/killercovers

You may come up with many questions when writing your ebook, at
least you now have answers to the top 5 questions that are
likely to come up. Most of all, enjoy your writing experience -
it’s a fun, exciting and very lucrative way to make a living.

Become A Wealthy Information Product Marketer - You Call The
Shots In Your New Business. Discover The System We Used To
Build Our Information Product Marketing Empire - At The
InfoMarketersZone Right Here:
http://www.infomarketerszone.com

Debbie Lessin, a CPA, entrepreneur, speaker and author, presents 66 resourceful ideas for managing and coping with life challenges. Although the book is small, it is powerful and realistic, yet fun and entertaining. Each page gives the reader a new idea or an opportunity to remember an act that can be followed through to attain balance in life.

For example, on the page for “Expand Your Horizons” Lessin suggests to: ride a motorcycle, train for a marathon, cycle the trail. In “Arrange a Girl’s Night Out” she suggests: Laughing, sharing and telling the stories of sisterhood. Lessin suggests in “Just Say No!” to: remind yourself often that you don’t have to be a super-woman or super-mom.

Illustrations by Janet Jaffke are amusing and reflective at the same time. In the back of this little treasure Lessin provides an epilogue with items like: things to remember about balance, beat the clock activities, and, free or less than $20 activities. She also provides space for your balance inventory and balance wish list. In the end, Lessin reminds us that “there is no such thing as perfect balance!” We are encouraged to have fun, explore the mystery of life, and move on.

Debbie Lessin’s “Life is a Balancing Act” is a perfect little gift book for any woman – mother, sister, grandmother, friend, yourself. Her words of wisdom touch aspects of everyday life and give us the encouragement to strive for balance in our lives. This is not a book to taken lightly, but to delve into and reflect on the quality of life we deserve and manifest. Recommended!

Life is a Balancing Act… a fun book
Debbie Lessin
Balancing Act Productions (2004)
ISBN 0972892419
Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (4/06)

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is the best way to send immediate, targeted
traffic to your website.

Ahhhh, but do you know who your target is? Without a defined
market you are doomed to failure.

How can you define your market? How do you figure out what
questions they are asking and what their problems are?

There are actually several ways of beginning research into a
niche market. Today I’m going to discuss just one - using PPC
advertising and a flycatcher page.

We will assume two things. One - you have a topic but not a
product. Two - you have an advertising budget between $50.00 and
$100.00.

You have decided on a topic. First head over to Clickbank (a
digital affiliate program). You can search through over 10,000
different products there and become an affiliate for any of them.

Check out a product that is similar to one you’d like to
produce. Clickbank has only digital products, which are
immediately downloadable. They have a tutorial program that will
walk you through their site so you can use it to your advantage.

Second, if you can purchase the product for which you will
become an affiliate, do it! It gives you the distinct advantage
of knowing your competitor and knowing the product you are
promoting.

Let me pause here to say that if there are no products in the
market you target, there very well may not be a profitable
market. You may have a great idea but the majority of people in
that market may be looking for freebies. Stay away! Find another
niche and move on. If there is no competition there isn’t a
market.

Third, set up accounts with Google and Yahoo!/Overture for their
PPC programs. Google and Overture/Yahoo have tutorials to help
you with the process. You can begin using Google Adwords
immediately but have a waiting period to be approved with
Overture. With Google you pay as you go and with Overture there
is a significant upfront cost depending upon your monthly budget.

Fourth, set up a landing page for a Google Adwords and Overture
PPC campaign. You’ll need a landing page because of some new
rules Google wrote this past year. Basically, each advertiser
must have a unique website so that the customer doesn’t end up
at the same page after clicking on three different ads.

Your objective is to figure out if selling this product to this
market is profitable. If it is then you can move on to the next
step, which is a flycatcher page.

Fifth, using the same domain and hosting as your landing page
you can develop a flycatcher page to figure out what questions
this target market has and how you can answer them.

A flycatcher page is nothing more than a questionnaire or a way
of asking people their most burning questions about a topic. You
can do this using PPC and using forums and groups. The concept
is the same although the quality of the traffic will be
different.

Using the PPC, and writing an ad that leads people to believe
there is a product on the other end, you have people who are
ready to purchase. Going through forums and groups will get you
questions from people who may be interested in the topic but may
not be ready to purchase.

Use both techniques to get a balanced list of questions on which
to build your product.

Sixth, set up the flycatcher page and PPC campaign. As I implied
in the paragraphs above you should write your PPC ad as if the
people will be sent to a page where they can purchase something.
You are getting traffic who is interested in buying.

On the webpage ask for a name, e-mail and their most burning
question about your target. For instance, you might be
interested in producing an e-book about scrap booking for
profit. The flycatcher page would tell people you are developing
a book about this topic. You want their most burning question
about how to make a profit from scrap booking. You will also
give the people who leave their name, address and question a
fr.ee copy of the e-book.

Seventh, stop the PPC campaign when you have gotten the number
and quality of questions you want. Use that information to write
your e-book and answer their questions.

You have now used a PPC campaign to define your target market
and start your client list!

Finally a book that truly demystifies making money online, and
does it in plain English. Google
Profits by Wade M. Winger (edited by Denise Blankenship) is
an online business related ebook centered around earning money
through Google AdWords and ClickBank affiliate products.

What To Expect From Google Profits

The book is geared to those who are new to online or affiliate
marketing and can even be of great value to intermediate
affiliate marketers. Google Profits explains, in plain English,
what an affiliate program, Pay Per Click advertising, ClickBank,
and Google AdWords are and why the latter two are the focus of
the ebook.

Google
Profits continues by explaining how to select affiliate
products from ClickBank to market using the 5 step success
formula.

1. Find a product 2. Set up an advertising campaign 3. Identify
profitable campaigns 4. Start a full campaign 5. Expand (make
more money)

Each step has supporting information separated into two parts:
Information and Action. The information section gives an
overview of the step and why it’s important. The action step
outlines exactly what you need to should do using the
information provided.

Demystifying Google AdWords And Taking The Easy Route With
ClickBank

Coming from an Internet Marketing background, I must say that
most of the content provided is based on sound advice such,
especially the section on developing profitable AdWords
campaigns. However, I don’t fully agree with his suggestion to
blatantly copy other advertisers if you draw a blank for
advertisements.

It seems like a very bad habit in my opinion and doesn’t teach
creative thinking. I would suggest emulating the other
advertisers. Learn from their ad and then craft a better one.

In addition to the excellent section on developing successful
AdWords campaigns, I wish the book included at least a small
section on how to manage or keep track of the campaigns. That
was an instance that I was glad to have Rosalind Gardner’s Super Affiliate
Handbook because it has some great tips for managing and
estimating the profitability of AdWords campaigns.

The section on expanding on successful campaigns could have also
used a few more details on the additional advertisers other than
Overture and Search123 needing a landing page. A brief blurb on
why he liked the listed advertising sources, any caveats to
using them, and any other notes the reader should be aware of
before deciding to use them would definitely have enriched the
section.

But all in all, my mind was finally able to wrap itself around
some of the concepts which seemed so confusing in other articles
or ebooks. I now have a much clearer understanding of how to get
started advertising with Google AdWords. While it may not be the
definitive guide to Google AdWords, it’s certainly enough to get
someone ‘new to the game’ started right away.

When Google Profits gets into the ClickBank section, the
book states “go to ClickBank and search through the 11,000+ affiliate
programs.” That may cause some confusion to someone just
starting out because ClickBank does not have search function.
But he does clear it up when he goes into the explanation for
finding the products via the ClickBank marketplace.

Google Profits Makes For Easy Reading

Google
Profits is written for the layman, complete with a step by
step walk through and screen shots. While the language wasn’t
completely elementary, it didn’t contain an overabundance of
technical or ‘buzz’ words.

The paragraphs were of a manageable length and the size of the
font when printed made for comfortable reading. Because of this
relaxed writing style, language, and structure, I found learning
from it to be exceptionally easy and enjoyable.

However, there were an odd number of simple grammatical errors
for an ebook which has an actual editor. Though not many, it was
still slightly perturbing to see them. But not to worry, they
certainly didn’t take away from the readability or informational
integrity of the ebook itself.

This is an ideal book for those just starting out online or even
intermediate online marketers who have been shying away from
using Google’s AdWords program because it seemed too complicated
or time consuming. I actually felt pumped up and eager to get
started before I even arrived at the first ‘Action’ section, but
I wanted to read it through once for comprehension before
starting.

Final Thoughts and Helpful Advice When Getting Google
Profits

If you truly want to get started online with affiliate
marketing, it doesn’t get any easier than Google Profits, but
make sure you have at least $100 to build up momentum some
momentum. Once you’ve established yourself in the black, then
take some of that profit and reinvest in to build up a stable
monthly income.

If you wish to truly expand and build a business out of
affiliate marketing, I’d recommend purchasing Rosalind Gardner’s Super Affiliate
Handbook to expound on the Google Profits
Success Techniques.

At the end of the day, I give Google
Profits 4 out of 5 stars.

Are you thinking of starting a business online? Are you not sure
what type of product to sell or to promote? Well, I was just
reading an amazing E-book that shared some very simple concepts
that anyone can implement, and they start with having one thing,
an E-book.

Information is constantly being distributed and passed around
for free on the internet. You can read free internet articles on
how to trade stocks, or how to improve your golf swing, but
those articles don’t always give you a step by step guide to
learn all the tricks. People are now relying on information that
will help guide them in doing a highly specialized trade, like
trading stocks, repairing vintage automobiles, or losing weight.
There are many paper books available that will teach you how to
do these things, but much of the time, people are going to the
internet to find solutions and find current information on
specialized trades.

Let’s look at some reasons why an E-book can be your greatest
asset:

1. An E-book is digital, and can be kept online at your website,
not at a warehouse.

2. It can only be downloaded from your website 24/7 and as it is
totally secure, it cannot be passed around the internet as a
free un-secure article.

3. You have to buy an E-book to read it. It can only be read
after it is paid for.

4. Once you create an E-book, it is forever available.

5. You’ll never run out of inventory, as there is no inventory.

6. After writing the E-book, your work is done, and you can sit
back and let it make money for you. Of course, the more you keep
it updated, and the more E-books you write, the more profit
potential you have.

7. When you sell an E-book, the customer does not have to wait
for it. It’s delivered to them instantly, and they can
conveniently store it on their computer or laptop, so it is
available to them more easily.

8. Paper Books take about a year to get published and cost a lot
of money in printing, postage and handling. E-books have no
publishing cost, and can be delivered through the internet
saving time and money on postage and handling.

9. You can use very simple and sophisticated internet marketing
tools to drive traffic to your website for people to buy your
E-books.

10. E-books can always be revised and kept updated as fast as
you can create new content. This makes E-books more current than
a normal paperback.

11. Your E-book can be bought forever. This gives you unlimited
profit potential.

So, think about spending some extra time and compile a 30-100
page E-book, that is high quality, and gives the customer great
value. The time you spend doing this can make you money forever.
When we start thinking about moving our mindset from trading our
time for money, to having our assets work for us, we start to
shift from having to always work for our money, to letting our
E-books work for us.

Whatever you can do,
Or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

REFLECTION

Reflection IS a personal and a professional development activity.

I consider myself a “reflectologist”, a term I created during one of my reflection sessions. A reflectologist believes in the importance of reflection for growth and change. A reflectologist takes the time to build reflection into all activities. Reflectologists spread the word about the importance of taking time to reflect. Reflectologists use reflection to bring direction, peace, and understanding to life. I’m proud to consider myself a reflectologist both personally and professionally.

Effective and meaningful reflection is done deliberately. It is done with a conscious effort. You don’t accidentally reflect on something about which you are very interested. Positive change does not occur without deliberate reflection.

I have coined a phrase – RaW Stemsä - that is useful in understanding the power of reflection. A RaW Stemä refers to an open-ended statement or question that leads your mind to reflecting on the past, in the present and/or for the future. The ‘R’ stands for reflective; the ‘a’ stands for and; the ‘W’ stands for writing. A Reflection and Writing Stem is like a sentence completion or question which allows you to fill in your thoughts.

RaW Stemsä are useful. It is very important that you both reflect on something and make some written notes as well. The writing is the doing part of thinking. Writing is important because it allows the mind to continue to work on things after you have stopped deliberately thinking about them. Writing allows you to return to your train of thought picking up where you left off.

Reflection without writing can be frustrating. Many a great idea has been lost because it wasn’t recorded, in detail, when it was first conceived. Writing is the initial doing part of action based on reflection. Writing is a trigger for the subconscious mind to begin working. Writing leads to more reflection. It is a record of previous thoughts and the starting point for new considerations.

Here are some Raw Stems of a general nature to help you understand the concept. The better you become at creating your own stems for the topic you wish to pursue the better off you will be. It will focus your reflective process, generate ideas, and bring results sooner.

This turned out this way because…

If I were doing it over again I would…

I want my actions to be my best effort always so…

I truly believe…

The practicalities of this are…

When I’m done I hope that…

Others have said that…

I realize now that…

I’m really good at…

Next time, I’ll…

The learning curve this time…

I’ve learned in the past that…

I’ve always wondered…

It seems reasonable to me that…

Reflection is a skill. As a skill it can be learned. We can teach ourselves and others to make reflection time an integral part of both the personal and professional sides of our lives. Reflection should be a daily occurrence but not in a haphazard fashion.

We can teach ourselves the techniques of good reflection. We can develop our own “best practices” for effective reflection. We can allow ourselves to embrace reflection as a necessity in our lives.

Consider the concept of reflection in terms of time. There are past, present and future tenses of reflection. You can reflect ON THE PAST in terms of what has already taken place and that can’t be changed. This is past tense reflection.

You can also reflect IN THE PRESENT as you are in the process of doing something. This present tense reflection allows changes to be made as you go along.

And, of course, there is also a future tense of reflection FOR THE FUTURE .This could be called many things including dreaming, goal setting, aspiring…

Reflection time gives you total control of the past, present and future. Reflection implies doing something. Reflection without doing is a waste of time. There is doing and not doing, there is no such thing as trying. You have already done something, are currently doing something, or will be doing something.

We can set aside time specifically for reflection. Never feel guilty about physically doing nothing while you are mentally engaged.

Effective use of reflection time is made effective only if actions are taken. Ideas born out of reflection that do not lead to action render the ideas inert and of little or no value to anyone, least of all you.

The tenses of reflection are:

REFLECTION ON THE PAST

REFLECTION IN THE PRESENT

REFLECTION FOR THE FUTURE

WISDOM FROM REFLECTION

“Without reflection, experience is not cumulative.” - Unknown

Reflection plays a major role in acquiring wisdom. Wisdom comes with knowledge and experience with enough reflection to create your own personal brand of wisdom unique to you. No two people bring the same wisdom to a situation. Wisdom is unique to the individual.

Consider the following equations:

INFORMATION + EXPERIENCE = KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE + EXPERIENCE + REFLECTION = WISDOM

When learning anything for the first time you need information in terms of data, vocabulary, facts, information, skills, attitudes in order to learn to do something which then becomes your experience and yours alone. Knowledge is the result of information plus experience. You accumulate knowledge in a variety of ways and in many aspects of life. But knowledge by itself isn’t wisdom.

Wisdom comes from the knowledge you have gained through previous experiences. As you attempt more difficult tasks and activities using your acquired knowledge you gain wisdom. Wisdom requires reflection on top of experience and knowledge. It’s the reflective process that allows you to use the knowledge to solve bigger problems, to analyze and synthesize, create, imagine, explore… With wisdom born of reflection you are able to contribute more, teach others, inspire individuals, provide a new point of view or perspective, combine disparate ideas/concepts to produce new ideas, give new direction to old pathways, influence others, attract disciples, be seen as an innovator… leave a legacy.

Do yourself a favour! Set aside time for reflection. And don’t feel guilty about it!

© 2005 Paul Jackson

Paul Jackson is a retired educator with wide-ranging experience in self-help workshops for educators. His new-found passion of eBook authoring allows him to apply his reflective philosophy to the process of authoring an eBook. At http://www.ebookwritingandpublishing.com Paul uses his philosophy of “Helping people help themselves” to assist individuals in reaching his/her dream of authoring an eBook.

This book is not just another mill-of-the-kind of self-help books that are flooding the markets by the day. The author, popularly known as ‘Dr Phil’ by Oprah Winfrey fans, is a highly visible face in the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’ from where he draws his famed status. In this book, he provides practical guide to bringing changes in our life and to realize our goals. The author, a renowned professional psychologist, who was associated with some of the high profile cases in America, instructs ways and means to uncover some of the deep and basic assumptions lying within and steer towards positive life changes and achievement. He helps us to look within thoroughly and make a determined and conscious effort to bring in the needed changes towards achieving our goals. The book is replete with stories, as he discusses some of the famous cases that he has handled.

Each chapter is marked by at least one writing assignment and offers a comprehensive list of instructions for adopting the right life strategies to conscious change and fulfillment. With realistic touches and sound examples the author challenges you into making an honest self-appraisal and to adopt appropriate strategies to remake your lives towards meaningful realization. Even if the assignments prove daunting to some readers, the book will help you to review your behavior and perception and show the path to self-awareness and ultimate accomplishment.

About the Author:

Dr. Vj Mariaraj is a Mind Map enthusiast and has been using Mind Maps for the past twelve years. He has created over 5650 Mind Maps. To learn more about mind mapping send an email to freemindmap@aweber.com . He is the founder of BusinessBookMindMap.com that creates Mind Map Summaries of Business Books. To learn more visit http://BusinessBookMindMap.com/mind-map.php?eabr4

All Quiet on the Western Front is a book written by Erich Maria Remarkque. It was a book written to reflect the human cost of war. It shows us how war has a hidden face that most people do not see until it is too late. In the novel, he describes a group of young men who at first think war is glorious. But as the war drags on, the group discovers how war is not all it is set out to be. As the war went on, they saw their friends either die or be permanently wounded. Then the end comes when there was only one person left.

All Quiet on the Western Front takes place in Germany where a group of young boys are first encouraged to join the military. Thinking that it would be a great adventure, they enlisted, not knowing the fate that lies before them. At first, the group is sent to training. They aren’t in a serious mood, thinking that war conditions aren’t as bad as they really are. When the boys are sent to the front, it is only then when they start to realize how war is not great. This is when the boys are cramped into the trenches. Some of the soldiers were shell-shocked because of the constant bombardment. When one of the boys was wounded, he was taken to a hospital where there were many wounded soldiers. Some soldiers had to have parts of their bodies amputated in order to survive. When Kemmerich was in the hospital, Müller ask for his pair of boots. The boots was a visible reminder to the boys of the cost of war. Paul then has to face his own conscience when he kills one of the Frenchmen. He doesn’t see the face of an enemy but just a face of another human being. He tries to comfort himself by promising to help the fallen soldier’s family. After Paul is relieved from the front line, he decides to go on leave and return home. But when he tries to tell everyone of the horrible conditions of the trenches, everybody either laughs him off or calls him a coward. Paul returns before his leave actually ended, wishing that he had never come home. In the end, when Paul loses Kat, Paul realizes that the war has destroy his way of life. He has lost all his friends and has nothing to return to.

There were many symbols and images in All Quiet on the Western Front. Examples of this include the pair of boots and the constant urge for companionship. The pair of boots and the fact that it was passed around so often tells us that death was a very common occurrence during the war and that the soldiers wanted to use everything then could find in order to aid their chances of survival. The urge for companionship is shown when the group crosses the river to see the French girls and when the group sees the picture of the girl while having a drink. As the boys start being killed in the war, the group wished that everything could that they could be back home doing things they enjoy. The pictures serve as a reminder that war disrupts everything, from people’s lives and their dreams and ambitions.

The major theme of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front is that war must be avoided at all cost because of the severe consequences that will arise. War causes people to lose friends, makes people worried and creates a feeling of uncertainty among innocent people. War also creates hatred among people. For example, two friends of different nationalities may become bitter enemies only because their respective countries are at war.

I think the novel All Quiet on the Western Front is a well told story, mixing both fiction and non-fiction into a powerful novel which forces people to think deeply about war and all of its possible repercussions. The book makes me think of all the lost talent that was lost during the war. Even though levels of technology increases exponentially, we have to wonder what the people who died in the war could have done to help the human cause. The novel also tells us that friendship always prevails even though tough times. I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks that war can be short and glorious. Through this book, any reader can see that war brings unnecessary death to innocent people (soldiers and civilians). After reading the book, the reader will probably have a different outlook on war and all the low points that it brings.

Through this book, we, as human beings, should find attempt to find solutions through discussion and compromise instead of warfare. Countries in war may feel that they are gaining a lot through wars but what they fail to see is the losses they have suffered. In many cases, the gain is negligible when it is compared to the losses.

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