Issue Number 17 - January 2000

Writers' and Artists' Yearbook
Now that you've finished writing that article or story - how do you go about publishing it? You need basic names and addresses - but how much better if you could get some advice at the same time. 'The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook' is a best-selling guide which does just that. It's a complete listing of publishers in the UK, the US, and other English-speaking countries - but it also has articles giving tips on everything from literary agents to libel, copyright, and prizes.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/black.htm

Pears Cyclopedia
We're going to run a series of items on dictionaries and reference books for writers - and this is the first. Pears Cyclopaedia is a one-volume compendium of information about - well, about more-or-less the whole world and its history. It's definitely the *quickest* way to find basic facts and data. If you've not seen one before, have a look at -

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/pears.htm

eBay Online Auctions
This is the latest money-making craze on the Internet! You can buy or sell goods - either old tat from your attic, or new products you are marketing direct. The whole thing works rather like a giant car boot sale. This is a guide to eBay - the biggest and most successful. Josesph Sinclair goes into amazing detail regarding the technology, the commerce, and the techniques for success. I have a friend who buys and sells antiques at eBay - and he says it works.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/sinclair.htm

Affiliate Programs
Would you like to make money without selling anything? No - it's not another scam. It's all part of new e-commerce. You direct customers towards Amazon, CD-NOW, eToys, Borders, or Fatbrain. They say thankyou by paying you a percentage of anything sold. In order to make it work, you need to understand web sites, search engines, and What Customers Want. All these are explained in Dan Gray's new guidance manual - and he makes money out of DIY garden sheds. [It's true.]

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/gray.htm

Speeding up Windows
Would you like your computer to work faster? [Who wouldn't?] There are lots of features within Windows which take up space, energy, and resources. You can probably ditch them, or at least switch them off. David Farquhar's 'Optimising Widows' takes you through the steps - from disk de-fragmentation to freeing up memory and system resources.

http://www.www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/farquhar.htm

The Writers' Handbook
'The Writer's Handbook' is the main rival to the 'Writers' & Artists' Yearbook' in manuals of advice and data for publication. How does it differ? Well, Barry Turner, the editor, puts more emphasis on 'media' as well as just writing. He covers theatre and newspapers, plus television and radio - as well as the usual listings of outlets for writing. Articles by best-selling writers have been added to recent editions. Issued annually.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/turner.htm

Most popular article
Lots and lots of hits for a recent publication on academic writing at research level - so if you missed it, have a look at the review of Rita Brause's 'Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation'

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/brause.htm

Graphic Design
There's a very cheap and attractive book from Thames and Hudson on the basics of modern graphic design. It's a potted history, taking in the developments from Europe and the USA, and spanning the period 1880-1990.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/hollis.htm

Free MP3 music
MP3 files are now the most-frequently sought items in the search engines - yes, even more than 'sex'. Software MP3 players can be downloaded free from these sites.

http://www.winamp.com
http://www.sonique.com
http://www.realjukebox.com
http://www.freeamp.org