The Jeffrey And Tracey Info Emporium

What a lack of research could do to you. by Brian Holte
Copyright 2004 August

This article may be re-published as long as the source box
remains. Notification of use would be appreciated.

When creating an ebook how well do you research the topic before
hand?

It’s absolutely crucial that you research what problems your
target market is having and what they’re spending money on.

The time to pay attention to detail is here.

If you don’t research how will you know what problems exist in
your target market, what their recommending for products to try,
pay even closer attention to the dollars involved. Hope fully
they’re purchasing pattern will lead into 3 digit numbers.

This is why probing for the information you need you’ll be in a
better position to analyze the information to see if it’s a
worthwhile project to start, if not junk it.

Case in point, I recently had a young lad email me and explain
he was a first time author of a 30 pg ebook targeted at
teenagers.

He realized that because his target market is teenagers and
teenagers do not purchase as frequently online as adults do that
he was in a bit of a bind.

What was he to do? He’d put a bit of work into his project and
knowing what he does now, he has to decide whether to sell or
give it away. He needed some positive feedback, nothing to
devastating. Instead of targeting students he could alter the
ebook towards another target market, a market with money to
spend and a hunger for his type of info product. Just a little
copying, pasting, and editing.

Praise those accomplishments: The first thing I did was
congratulate him for being a first time author.

Good topic, wrong market for low income earners: The topic he
was covering was actually a good topic, but he realized after
the fact that he had probably created a dud for an ebook because
of the restrictions imposed on his target market…lack of
access to purchasing power.

What would you do in his position?

His question to me was what he should do with the ebook. He had
considered giving it away to people as an incentive for them to
sign up for his newsletter, or selling the ebook at $5.00 a
copy. Indication of his problems: I assumed that because he only
put a price tag of $5.00 on the book that he was either not
comfortable with the content he placed in the ebook OR that he
was selling himself short. I would assume the latter.

Summary:

The collection of data, decision time. Once you’ve collected
what you think is all the info required via surveys, it is now
time for the decision making process

Why researching the right way the first time will save you hair
loss and disappointment:

This is why doing a thorough job in the researching part of your
work is so important. If he would have put a little more thought
into who his target market was he wouldn’t have created a dud
for an info product.

Lack of researching is the number one mistake that most new
authors make, take your time researching…what’s the rush?

Planning to offer free e-books to your email subscriber list? Here are five ways to be sure that e-book gets saved to their desktop as opposed to getting tossed into the Recycle Bin.

1. Keep it simple.

Your free e-book should be a sample of what’s to come… marketing secrets revealed by a pro who knows what it takes to sell on the web! Keep it informative and entertaining, but don’t give away the whole story or there will be nothing left for the piece de resistance. What’s the climax? Why, that upcoming smoking promo that will be your seasonal cash cow, of course!

2. Keep it specific.

I can’t stress enough how much more credible you will appear if you reveal the details as opposed to “keeping it distressingly vague” like so many would-be marketers often do. Emotionally-charged copy is super, but don’t forget to answer every single Who What When Where How Why in EVERY chapter that you write!

3. Keep it clean.

ALWAYS choose a font that’s easy to read, no matter what line of business you’re in. This will be a book with lots of text. Book fonts are very different from headline fonts, and to confuse the two means an unprofessional look that means your e-book won’t make it past the SAVE AS prompt. Text should be 10-12 point, and no larger. Also avoid “busy color schemes, like bright blue text against a red table, as they do tend to vibrate.

4. Keep it organized.

I know it’s dull, but you MUST give your e-book numbered pages, a set of chapters and a Table of Contents where your reader can easily look up what he’d like to learn. Think of how much happier you feel when you can skip right to the section that you want to read most at that particular time. Your reader feels the same exact way as you do! So impress him with a little organization.

5. Keep it brief.

Again, this is supposed to be F*REE information. Please do not stress yourself out with hours of blood, sweat and tears in an effort to create what should be a simple but informative e-guide. Make it easy on yourself; outline your topic into three or four sections, sub-categorize again, divide into main points and then fill in the details. All told, you should have no more than 15 pages (and no less than 8 if you want to be considered an expert.)

That’s it, simple as pie and your e-book is packaged and ready to ship via email express. Congratulations! You’re on your way to graduating to Pro Marketer status.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Are YOU Content With Your Content? Get Top Secret Marketing Tips from the Web’s Biggest Gurus and Expert Authors on The First Annual Web Content Awareness Day on FEBRUARY 9, 2006.

Dina Giolitto is a copywriting consultant and ghostwriter with over 10 years of experience writing corporate print materials and web content. Trust her with your next e-book, article series or web project, and make a lasting impression on your audience of information-hungry prospects. Visit http://www.wordfeeder.com for more details.

The Life Empowered System as it’s called, did just what the name
says. It empowers lives! I purchased the program thinking it was
just another “how to” and was pleasantly surprised with the
depth of this program. for a measly $48 I got an excellent how
to for the business side of things, but most importantly it
deals with personal development and training. I’m understanding
now that I can achieve my goals, and how to achieve them. I’ve
never been confident like this, but I’m actually confident and
it’s not forced. My actions are better and I’m making money
doing the things I never made money at before. If you’re looking
for a system that works and gives you the power to accomplish
your dreams the Life Empowered System really does deliver!

Kudos to you Life Empowered Team!

MyNightJob

Phoenix Tales - Stories of Death and Life © 2004, ISBN 1411620356, Gregory Bernard Banks, Anthology of Fantasy/Science Fiction Stories, www.PhoenixTalesBooks.com

First, I must tell you that I am not a fan of science fiction or fantasy. However, I do like the original Star Trek, but only because Lucille Ball, as President of Desilu Studios, gave Gene Roddenberry the green light to produce the series. Do you know they never once said “Beam me up Scotty” on the show? Then again, James Cagney never said, “You dirty rat.”

But, I digress.

When I decided I would read Phoenix Tales - Stories of Death and Life by Gregory Bernard Banks, I thought for a moment that I might not be the right person to review this book, but once I started reading his anthology, I could not stop.

The book jacket says, “These dark, thought-provoking, and sometimes humorous tales masterfully blend elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror to delve into humanity’s never-ending struggle to master Death and achieve eternal Life.”

Banks’s short story, “Avatar,” which is included in the anthology is an L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Semi-finalist.

Each story is written in just the right length to allow one to escape during a lunch break or while riding on a bus or train.

While I liked all the stories in the anthology, the ones I enjoyed the most were:

“Escape Velocity,” which is about a man who lives in a nursing facility and thanks to modern science is not allowed to die. His only hope is escape, so he can finally die in peace.

“The Sacrafice,” which is about a man who must “suck the youth out of people” to stay alive.

“Touched,” which is about a genetically engineered little boy who is treated like a freak, but who with his mother finally finds happiness.

“Living with Mrs. Klase,” which is about a woman with dimentia who thinks she is Mrs. Clause and every day is Christmas.

However, my absolute favorite story was “A Cup of Time,” which tells the story of a man who is robbed of his youth and must travel with a Death Agent to recapture his youth before his time expires. This story has a great twist in the end that I will not reveal.

The stories are vivid, and the reader will stay engaged and never be bored. All of the characters come alive through Banks’s descriptions and dialogue. One will notice that all the women in the book are tall dark and handsome, and so are most of the men. Banks, through his writing, assures us that there are few if any unattractive people in the future. My guess is this is his way of giving us hope in a future where one is never allowed to die, children are programmed to know the answer to everything, and old men are allowed to steal your remaining years with a magic powder or spell.

There is only one criticism of the book. Some of the mathematics does not add up. For instance, in “Touched” the man whose genetic material was used to create the little boy died in 2052, yet later in the story, it is stated that the action takes place in 2024. For people like me, who like to add and subtract in order to figure out the ages of characters and the time span of events, this was frustrating.

If you liked the last 15 minutes of the final episode of Six Feet Under, you will love this anthology.

SelfPublisher News gives Phoenix Tales - Stories of Death and Life by Gregory Bernard Banks FOUR PENS.

Fix the mathematical errors, and it gets five pens.

SelfPublisher News, Oct. 2005, Vol. 1, Num. 3, Copyright 2005, For more information: www.selfpublishernews.com

Milton Stern is the Executive Editor of SelfPublisher News (http://www.selfpublishernews.com)

The most popular ebook formats used on the Internet are the Portable Document Format, better known as PDF, and the Hypertext Markup Language, better known as HTML.

Although both formats are highly popular, you must look at the entire picture prior to making your decision, as there are pros and cons associated with each format.

Portable Document Format (PDF)

Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF) is a universal format that will preserve all of your original formatting. Not only will it maintain your specified layout, but it will also preserve your fonts, images and links — regardless of what application was used to create it. This will enable your ebook to look exactly as you had intended.

PDF files are very compact in size and are actually smaller than their original source files. They can be easily published and distributed in a number of ways:

• In print

• Email attachments

• Internet download

• Web sites

• CD-ROM

Advantages:

• Anyone, anywhere can open your document regardless of what browser they’re using or what operating system.

• PDF is the preferred format of most publishing sites.

• PDF always prints correctly with any printing device.

In addition to the above advantages, using the Adobe Acrobat 5.0 software, documents can be viewed across multiple media. For example, tagged PDF preserves a document’s structure so that it can be viewed on Palm OS® devices as well as on the web. Tagged PDF files also contain information in regard to the content and structure, which makes them accessible to visually impaired readers — with the assistance of screen readers.

Disadvantages:

• A bit limiting on creativity.

• Software is rather expensive at $249.00.

• Users must have the free Acrobat Reader installed on their computer.

Compilers:

Adobe Acrobat 5.0 (Highly Recommended)

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/main.html

This powerful program provides Internet users with the ability to create and distribute ebooks that are viewable by everyone, regardless of what browser or operating system. Your documents will be beautifully preserved in their original layout and will appear exactly as you had intended. With the release of Acrobat 5.0, users not only have increased document security, but they also have the ability to create documents that can be easily viewed by the visually impaired and on Palm OS® devices. In addition, Acrobat compliments Microsoft Word, as it adds a toolbar shortcut directly to the program. Simply open your document in Microsoft Word, click on the Acrobat button, and your Word document will be automatically converted into a PDF document for distribution.

Cost: $249.00

Easy PDF (Recommended)

http://www.visagesoft.com/easypdf/

Easy PDF is an inexpensive alternative to the Adobe Acrobat software. It will enable you to quickly and easily create Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. It is a true WYSIWYG editor with full drag and drop support. It includes an image editor for optimizing your images, supports hypertext and bookmarks and even includes a spell checker and document security.

Cost: $30.00

Documents formatted in PDF, can not only be downloaded via a link, but they can also be viewed directly from your website, without being downloaded. They are very easily distributed and will enable you to easily deliver your ebook.

In part 3 of this series, we will continue with HTML compiled ebooks.

Copyright © Shelley Lowery

About the Author:

Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, “Web Design Mastery” (www.webdesignmastery.com) and “eBook Starter - Give Your eBooks the look and feel of a REAL book” (www.ebookstarter.com)

Visit www.Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to eTips and receive a copy of Shelley’s acclaimed ebook, “Killer Internet Marketing Strategies.”

You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook, or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included.

The Grapes of Wrath is a novel by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate conditions under which the migratory farm families of America during the 1930’s live under. The novel tells of one families migration west to California through the great economic depression of the 1930’s. The Joad family had to abandon their home and their livelihoods. They had to uproot and set adrift because tractors were rapidly industrializing their farms. The bank took possession of their land because the owners could not pay off their loan. The novel shows how the Joad family deals with moving to California. How they survive the cruelty of the land owners that take advantage of them, their poverty and willingness to work.

The Grapes of Wrath combines Steinbeck adoration of the land, his simple hatred of corruption resulting from materialism (money) and his abiding faith in the common people to overcome the hostile environment. The novel opens with a retaining picture of nature on rampage. The novel shows the men and women that are unbroken by nature. The theme is one of man verses a hostile environment. His body destroyed but his spirit is not broken. The method used to develop the theme of the novel is through the use of symbolism. There are several uses of symbols in the novel from the turtle at the beginning to the rain at the end. As each symbol is presented through the novel they show examples of the good and the bad things that exist within the novel.

Throughout the novel there are several symbols used to develop the theme man verses a hostile environment. Each symbol used in the novel show examples of both extremes. Some represent man, that struggles against the environment, others paint a clear picture of the feelings of the migrants. As each symbol is presented chronologically through the novel, they come together at the end to paint a clear picture of the conditions, treatment and feelings the people (migrants) as they make there journey through the novel to the West.

You may visit http://www.TermPaperAdvisor.com and http://www.TermPapersMadeEasy.com for instant access to over 45,000 plus term papers and essays. You may have all of these quality papers for only $19.95.

What is the best way to build an infoproduct business or expand an already successful one?

Create a physical product

The hottest selling items on the Internet today are infoproducts. Ebooks, software, how-to courses, ezines, newsletters, self-improvement guides and an endless number of digital products are in demand on every conceivable topic. And with customers’ ability to instantly download their purchases, producing and selling a quality infoproduct can be your road to success.

Although the beauty of infoproducts is the ability to instantly download, the best way to increase your profits for the same product is to burn it onto a CD and include a printed companion manual. Selling a kit that might also include an audio CD and some kind of bonus materials has several advantages.

You can charge more for a physical product. Customers are willing to pay more for something they can have in hand and keep on the shelf or at their disposal on their desk. An accompanying manual or any other printed material is great for reading on the train home from work. And who hasn’t experienced the anticipation of the package delivery man at your door.

Another great benefit is that your affiliates now can earn larger commissions. There’s no better way to attract more affiliates and encourage your existing affiliate base.

But what about all the storage, packaging and shipping? Won’t that take a lot of time?

Yes, if you did it yourself. But that’s not necessary. This is where the whole concept comes together.

Since your goal is to build your business, not to take orders, burn CDs, print booklets, and get them to the post office, you can farm out all the work to allow you to concentrate on marketing and producing more and better products. Naturally it will cost money to have a third party do the work, but, again, the time you save can be better used to build your business.

There are many resources available to help you:

Manuals and booklets

Printindustry.com is a website run by a group of professional printers set up to connect a print buyer with printing companies. When you submit your print request, let’s say 500 copies of a 40-page booklet, it is emailed to all the member printing companies that specialize in that type of printing. They then respond directly to you with price quotes. This can save you huge amounts of time from shopping different sites for competitive quotes.

CDs and DVDs

Do a search for “CD replication,” and you will find many sites that will replicate CDs and DVDs for very competitive prices. For example, nationwidecd.com and tripledisc.com, to name just two, can supply a CD in a paper sleeve for under a dollar each.

For a little extra they will supply a jewel case with inserts in black & white or color, card board or vinyl sleeves, and any kind of labels. Nationwidecd also does some printing, so you might find other sites that also do both.

Fulfillment

A fulfillment company warehouses your CDs, DVDs, manuals and booklets, puts them together and ships the orders. These companies handle every step from processing credit card payments to returns.

Fullfilmentadvisor.com is a good site to visit for resources on every aspect of fulfillment.
Here you’ll find detailed articles on exactly how fulfillment companies work, how to choose a fulfillment house, problems to expect, costs, and more. There are also hundreds of links to companies that perform every type of fulfillment service.

Your role as a business owner is to provide the best product you can to your customers. Creating a physical package in addition to your digital product, and farming out the order processing and fulfillment, will allow you more time to focus on building your business and increasing your profits.

Dave Starner is a former teacher and coach. Visit the Net’s #1 infoproduct site at http://www.ebooksnet.com to instantly download great ebooks, and sign up for free bonuses and money making information. Article reprints welcomed as long as all texts and hyperlinks remain unchanged.

Explore what goes into a company’s transformation from
mediocre to excellent. Based on hard evidence and volumes of
data, the book author (Jim Collins) and his team uncover
timeless principles on how the good-to-great companies like
Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark,
Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and
Wells Fargo produced sustained great results and achieved
enduring greatness, evolving into companies that were indeed
‘Built to Last’.

The Collins team selected 2 sets of comparison companies:

a. Direct comparisons – Companies in the same industry with the same resources and opportunities as the good-to-great group but showed no leap in performance, which were: Upjohn, Silo, Great Western, Warner-Lambert, Scott Paper, A&P, Bethlehem Steel, RJ Reynolds, Addressograph, Eckerd, and Bank of America.

b. Unsustained comparisons – Companies that made a short-term shift from good to great but failed to maintain the trajectory, namely: Burroughs, Chrysler, Harris, Hasbro, Rubbermaid, and Teledyne

Wisdom In A Nutshell:

a. Ten out of eleven good-to-great company leaders or CEOs came from the inside. They were not outsiders hired in to ‘save’ the company. They were either people who worked many years at the company or were members of the family that owned the company.

b. Strategy per se did not separate the good to great companies from the comparison groups.

c. Good-to-great companies focus on what Not to do and what they should stop doing.

d. Technology has nothing to do with the transformation from good to great. It may help accelerate it but is not the cause of it.

e. Mergers and acquisitions do not cause a transformation from good to great.

f. Good-to-great companies paid little attention to managing change or motivating people. Under the right conditions, these problems naturally go away.

g. Good-to-great transformations did not need any new name, tagline, or launch program. The leap was in the performance results, not a revolutionary process.

h. Greatness is not a function of circumstance; it is clearly a matter of conscious choice.

i. Every good-to-great company had “Level 5” leadership during pivotal transition years, where Level 1 is a Highly Capable Individual, Level 2 is a Contributing Team Member, Level 3 is the Competent Manager, Level 4 is an Effective Leader, and Level 5 is the Executive who builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

j. Level 5 leaders display a compelling modesty, are self-effacing and understated. In contrast, two thirds of the comparison companies had leaders with gargantuan personal egos that contributed to the demise or continued mediocrity of the company.

k. Level 5 leaders are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce sustained results. They are resolved to do whatever it takes to make the company great, no matter how big or hard the decisions.

l. One of the most damaging trends in recent history is the tendency (especially of boards of directors) to select dazzling, celebrity leaders and to de-select potential Level 5 leaders.

m. Potential Level 5 leaders exist all around us, we just have to know what to look for.

n. The research team was not looking for Level 5 leadership, but the data was overwhelming and convincing. The Level 5 discovery is an empirical, not ideological, finding.

o. Before answering the “what” questions of vision and strategy, ask first “who” are the right people for the team.

p. Comparison companies used layoffs much more than the good-to-great companies. Although rigorous, the good-to-great companies were never ruthless and did not rely on layoffs or restructuring to improve performance.

q. Good-to-great management teams consist of people who debate vigorously in search of the best answers, yet who unify behind decisions, regardless of parochial interests.

r. There is no link between executive compensation and the shift from good to great. The purpose of compensation is not to ‘motivate’ the right behaviors from the wrong people, but to get and keep the right people in the first place.

s. The old adage “People are your most important asset” is wrong. People are not your most important asset. The right people are.

t. Whether someone is the right person has more to do with character and innate capabilities than specific knowledge, skills or experience.

u. The Hedgehog Concept is a concept that flows from the deep understanding about the intersection of the following three circles:

1.What you can be best in the world at, realistically, and what you cannot be best in the world at

2.What drives your economic engine

3.What you are deeply passionate about

v. Discover your core values and purpose beyond simply making money and combine this with the dynamic of preserve the core values - stimulate progress, as shown for example by Disney. They have evolved from making short animated films, to feature length films, to theme parks, to cruises, but their core values of providing happiness to young and old, and not succumbing to cynicism remains strong.

w. Enduring great companies don’t exist merely to deliver returns to shareholders. In a truly great company, profits and cash flow are absolutely essential for life, but they are not the very point of life.

“IF YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING YOU CARE DEEPLY ABOUT AND IF YOU BELIEVE IN IT, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE NOT TRYING TO MAKE IT GREAT.”

By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla
http://www.bizsum.com
“A Lot Of Great Books….Too Little Time To Read”
Free Book Summaries Of Latest Bestsellers and More!

mailto:freenewsletter@bizsum.com
BusinessSummaries is a BusinessSummaries.com service.

(c) Copyright 2001-2005, BusinessSummaries.com

Regine Azurin is the President of a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

Before a child enters school, he or she learns on many levels in many ways, with all the senses. Adult learning tends to be rigid and standardized. The school may ignore the fact that each learner is unique and processes material in different ways.

Brian Walsh’s book, “Unleashing Your Brilliance,” will be of value to teachers, students, corporate management and anyone wanting to improve his or her life, because it explains that the brain works on many levels, and harnessing its full abilities can enhance creativity and foster learning. Walsh devotes some time to understanding where obstacles to learning come from–for example, hours spent studying that result in memorization instead of real learning.

Discussing the biological basis of learning, Dr. Walsh suggests that we need to integrate right-brain and left-brain in order to empower our thinking. Walsh describes how Einstein would use image-streaming (a thought-process stemming from his right-brain) then use the critical powers of the left brain to decode the right-brain process.

Walsh discusses the many forms of intelligence and goes into depth about each one. These include verbal-linguistic; logical-mathematical; spatial; musical; bodily-kinesthetic; social-interpersonal and spiritual-intra-personal. He mentions that for the person with great bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, sitting at a desk in school can be a cramping, stifling experience, and adds that many such children may have been incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). This part of the book was helpful to me, because I have two nephews diagnosed with ADHD disorder. They love sports and are physically active, and I wonder if they aren’t misdiagnosed and might benefit from a kinesthetic approach.

After discussing the many intelligences, Walsh suggests activities that an individual can use to enhance each one. For example, someone interested in improving their verbal-linguistic skills can read, play word games, do crosswords, join Toastmasters, among other activities. Schools tend to emphasize linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities, and sometimes ignore some of the other intelligences.

Walsh also discusses hypnosis, Neurolinguistic Programming, photo reading and learning a second language.

While there are tools that can help facilitate learning, there are also factors and events that can inhibit it–a crucial one is stress. The memory of a stressful event, lying quiescent for years, can be triggered and cause “negative beliefs, desires, fantasies, compulsions, obsessions, addictions or dissociation. This toxic brew can inhibit learning and memory. Even the simple stress involved in test-taking can decrease brain-function.

While discussing stress, Walsh emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence (EI), something different than the multiple intelligences already mentioned. Emotional intelligence may be more important than the traditional I.Q. in leading a satisfying life. Low EI can be devastating. “Low EI can sabotage the intellect and ruin educational endeavors, relationships and careers. Emotional Intelligence can be strengthened through training and/or therapy.” Walsh then suggests some tools that can help emotions–exposure to natural light among them.

In “Unleashing your Brilliance,” Walsh covers many topics, drawing on the most recent expertise of scientists and psychologists. His book is clear and well-organized. The writing about these difficult topics is easy to understand. He suggests a multiplicity of ways that people can use their minds more effectively. This excellent book will be useful to anyone with a goal in mind that involves using intelligence.

Featured as “Book of the Week” by Reader Views on January 16, 2006.

Linda Benninghoff is a reviewer for Reader Views, a book review service. http://www.readerviews.com

For centuries people have been intrigued by the mysterious
objects known as the Holy Grail, the Elixir of Life, and the
Philosopher’s Stone. For many of us, these three enigmatic
objects have their source in Arthurian legend, or in the curious
work of the medieval alchemists who sought to transform base
metals into gold. In the Serpent Grail, authors Gardiner and
Osborn reveal that the origin of these legendary objects dates
from a much earlier period - from the dawn of human history
itself.

The culmination of many years research, The Serpent Grail takes
the reader on a fascinating exploration of ancient myth,
archaeology, etymology, religion, science, and much more. In
keeping with true Grail tradition, the book is also a journey in
search of the enlightenment and eternal life that were the
reward for those who uncovered the secrets of the Grail, the
Elixir, or the Stone. As the authors reveal, these three objects
have their origin in the shamanic tradition and in the ’serpent
cult’ that was once a global religion. Contrary to modern
belief, the serpent was not a symbol of evil. For our distant
ancestors, it symbolized the beneficent life-force or
source-centre of the universe. It also embodied the spiritual
rebirth and enlightenment that are the birthright of us all.
Moreover, the mysterious ’serpent beings’ and ’serpent deities’
of ancient myth were real people. They were the enlightened
leaders and guides of the world’s earliest civilizations.

But for our ancestors the mythical serpent was more than just a
symbol of eternal life and enlightenment. The authors discovered
that the serpent’s physical counterpart - the snake - was
greatly valued by the ancients for its venom and its ability to
both kill and cure. Through neutralizing the natural poison in
the venom by mixing it with blood, they developed an elixir -
the Elixir of Life - that not only healed disease, it also
boosted the immune system and extended human life by many years.
This elixir and its healing properties fell into disrepute in
the nineteenth century thanks to the ’snake oil’ peddled by
charlatans. In our own time, however, modern medical science is
once again discovering the beneficial properties of snake venom
and other derivatives from the snake in the successful treatment
of human disease. The Serpent Grail is also a journey into the
world of the shaman, whose knowledge of ‘other worlds’ was
gained during his travels to the source of consciousness while
in the hypnagogic trance-state. These travels, which were
equated with entering the womb of the World Mother, gave him an
understanding of the blueprint - the underlying matrix - of life
itself. The knowledge thus gained by the shaman parallels the
discoveries of modern science. But whereas scientists express
their discoveries in scientific terms, the shaman expressed his
knowledge in the form of myths about gods and goddesses, and in
myths that eventually gave birth to the mysteries of the Grail,
the Elixir of Life, and the Philosopher’s Stone. This
groundbreaking book is illustrated with many original
photographs taken during Gardiner’s travels around the world in
search of the truth behind the Grail, the Elixir, and the Stone.
Knowing of the author’s future works I can only say that you
will need to fully grasp this book by the enlightened horns
before you will be able to proceed.

The Serpent Grail is published by Watkins on 15th September
2005, in the UK, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the
Far East. In February in the USA, South America and Canada.

Hardback priced £16.99 ISBN 1 84293 129 6

Contacts: UK Juliette Humble Duncan Baird Publishers & Watkins
Publishing 29 Jewry Street, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 8RY Tel:
01962 841 570 Fax: 01962 841 413

Alisa Morgan - Australia Publicist, Simon & Schuster Australia
Pty Ltd. Tel: 02 9983 6624 Fax: 02 9988 4232 Ani Chamichian - USA

749 Guerrero, San Francisco, CA 94110 Tel: 415-503-0181 Fax:
415-647-1656 Mobile: 415-699-8685

See also: www.serpentgrail.com, www.philipgardiner.net,
www.gardinerosborn.com.