Contents
Windows™-based learning packages from Way Ahead

Contents

(Click on underlined text or a graphic to see the item. Scroll to see complete contents)

Quick guide to navigating this software guide

Creative Writing 2.0

The Way Ahead Creative Writing Competition

Writers’ Update

Business Acumen: Marketing

Perform!...Managing to Win

How to Save Money When Buying a Car

Great book offers from Burgundy Books

Help-IT

CV Write Away

Legacy UK Will Writer

The Blockbuster Plan and Windows Lotto

The Way Ahead Shareware Library

Services for Business

Coming soon . . .

•	Go to Order Form


Quick guide to navigiating Writers’ Update
Quick guide to navigating the Way Ahead software guide

1.	To move forwards through the main section headings, click the double forwards arrow button >> in the Button Bar near the top of the main window. Click its partner, the backwards double arrow button <<, to move backwards. NOTE: The << button is disabled when you are on the first page (the contents page) because you cannot go any further backwards! Similarly, the >> button is disabled on the last page (the subscription form).

2.	When you see a Menu screen (with green, underlined bulleted items), click one of the underlined links to go to that item.

3.	To see further items relating to the same menu, either:

•	return to the section menu by clicking the appropriate link at the end of the current text, then click another item on the menu

or:

•	click the >> or << button again to see the next or previous item in the section. NOTE: The << button is disabled when you are on the first page of the section, and the >> button is disabled on the last page of the section.

4.	Click the Contents button in the Button Bar to return to the main contents page at any time. Clicking the green, underlined Contents link at the end of each page of text has the same effect.

5.	Clicking the Back button in the Button Bar takes you to the last topic you saw. Clicking this button repeatedly will take you sequentially to each of the topics you have seen previously, in reverse order, right back to where you started.

6.	To print an item, click File in the menu bar, then choose Print Topic from the drop-down menu.

7.	To exit the Way Ahead Software Guide, click File in the menu bar and choose Exit from the drop-down menu.

8.	Links within text, in green with a continuous underscore, call another page in a scrollable window. Links within text, in green with a broken underscore, call a pop-up description. Clicking once anywhere on the screen will remove the pop-up description.

To close this window, click Close below.

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Creative Writing 2.0
Windows™-based learning packages from Way Ahead

Creative Writing 2.0

VERSION 2.0 FOR MICROSOFT WINDOWS™

DO YOU WANT TO BE A

WRITER?

IF YOU ARE one of those people who has been bitten by the writing bug, you are not alone. According to a recent survey conducted for the BBC, around 30% of the UK population secretly yearn to be a writer.

The opportunities are undoubtedly there. In Britain alone there are over 1000 newspapers, not to mention 8000 magazines, and many of their stories and features are provided by freelances. Then there are books, theatre, films, TV, radio – and, of course, the exciting new world of electronic publishing...

With such a huge potential market, there is always room for new writers. To succeed, however, you must learn the professional skills and techniques today’s publishers require. Until now, the only way of acquiring these skills has been through expensive correspondence courses of sometimes questionable quality.

But now there is a better solution. Creative Writing 2.0 from Way Ahead is a complete, interactive tutorial on computer disks: an up-to-the-minute guide to freelance writing in the 1990s, packed with hints, tips and market information. Written by experienced freelance writer and writing tutor Nick Daws, it reveals the secrets of the professionals.

Creative Writing 2.0 covers:

•	fillers and readers’ letters

•	articles

•	short stories

•	poetry

•	novels

•	non-fiction books

•	stage plays

•	TV and radio

•	films

•	writing for children

•	and more!

Other topics include Polishing your English, Writers and the Computer, and Ideas and Inspirations. Much more than just a training course, Creative Writing 2.0 is a treasure chest writers will find themselves dipping into time and time again.

The UK’s best-selling on-screen creative writing tutorial is available for Microsoft Windows 3.* (3.1, 3.11) and Windows 95. Purchasers should state which version of Windows they are running to ensure compatibility. The tutorial comprises the following:

1. The School of Creative Writing

Implemented as a Windows Help file with graphics and hypertext links, The School of Creative Writing covers all kinds of creative writing, including magazine articles, short stories, novels, non-fiction books, writing for performance (stage, TV, radio, film, video), poetry, writing for children and teenagers, and writing for the electronic medium (Internet, CD-ROM, floppy disk publishing etc). It also covers grammar, style and how writers can make the best use of a computer.

Click the underlined link below to see a sample from the Short Stories section of The School of Creative Writing.

Sample from School of Creative Writing

2. The Creative Writer’s Self-Assessment Centre

Eleven tests based on the lessons in The School of Creative Writing, to reinforce the learning and check your progress. Implemented as multiple choice, multiple response and text entry questions in a graphical, point-and-click interface, with feedback after each answer and scores given as number of points and percentage at the end.

Click the underlined link below to see a sample test from The Creative Writer’s Self-Assessment Centre. You should aim to score 85% or more in the test:

Sample from The Creative Writer’s Self-Assessment Centre

3. Ideas and Inspirations

A series of writing project suggestions and ideas, implemented as a Windows Help file with full hypertext links. There are eight ideas/suggestions for each of the main types of creative writing covered in The School of Creative Writing. Each idea has been designed to get you started on a publishable project.

Click the underlined link below to see a sample from Ideas and Inspirations:

Sample from Ideas and Inspirations

4. Useful Contacts

A Windows Cardfile database of more than 120 useful contacts for the creative writer. You can add your own contacts to this file.

5. Examples and Authors’ Comments

Examples of successful (published!) magazine articles and short stories, with comments from their authors covering conception of ideas, development and, where appropriate, interviewing and reworking. Implemented as a Windows Help file with hypertext links.

6. Write Lines – Great Quotations

Quotations from the literary greats on the subject of writing, to amuse, inspire and encourage you to produce better work

Click the underlined link below to see a sample from Write Lines – Great Quotations:

Sample of Write Lines – Great Quotations

7. A Writer’s Glossary of Terms

This glossary, implemented as a Windows Help file with full hypertext links, covers the expressions and buzzwords in the world of writing and publishing.

8. Writers’ Update

This is an interactive, hypertext, on-disk magazine which lists all the latest markets for your work including filler markets, magazines, books and the current competitions. It also contains practical features on the craft of writing, valuable information about self-publishing and FREE software. Purchasers of Creative Writing 2.0 receive their first issue of this quarterly magazine FREE. A subscription of just £14.95 secures the next four issues. Click the Writers’ Update link on the Main Menu for a more detailed description, or go directly to the Writers’ Update description by clicking the link below:

Go directly to Writers’ Update

9. Tutorial

A complete tutorial which introduces you to Creative Writing 2.0 and teaches you how to get the best from the package.

In all, Creative Writing 2.0 runs to more than 100,000 words, but because of the way it has been implemented, its size never looks like a threat! It can be run as a stand-alone guide, or on top of or alongside your word processor or DTP program. The text of Creative Writing 2.0 can be printed directly from the program, or copied to other Windows programs for reformatting/printing.

What the Magazines are Writing About Creative Writing

Click a link below to read an extract from the relevant review:

PC Home

PC Pro

Practical PC

Writers’ Forum

Raw Edge

System Requirements

Creative Writing 2.0 for Windows 3.* requires a 386 SX or better IBM or compatible PC, VGA or better graphics card, 3.5in floppy drive (for installing the software), 4Mb RAM, 4.2 Mb free hard disk space, and Windows 3.1 or 3.11. A printer is optional.

Creative Writing 2.0 for Windows 95 requires a 386 DX or better IBM or compatible PC, VGA or better graphics card, 3.5 in floppy drive (for installing the software), 4Mb (preferably 8Mb) of RAM, 4.5 Mb free hard disk space, and Windows 95. A printer is optional.

How to order

You can order by Credit/Debit card (call 01952 243153 to do so by telephone) or send your card number or cheque/postal order to Way Ahead, 27 Woodford Green, Bratton, Telford TF5 0NS. Click the Order Form link below for an order form which you can print out and return to us.

Order Form

Price is £49.99 plus £2 p&p. Our guarantee is that after studying Creative Writing 2.0, your chances of becoming a published writer will increase dramatically.

Next      Contents


Sample from School of Creative Writing
Creative Writing 2.0

Sample from School of Creative Writing

Short Stories: How to Handle Flashbacks

Short stories are best written in the order in which things actually happen. Sometimes, however, it may be better to start at or near a dramatic event in the story, and later go back in time to explain the events which led up to this moment.

Flashbacks, as they are called, are an important weapon in the writer's armoury, but they need to be used with care and moderation. If more than a third of a story is written in flashback, you may need to think hard about the story's structure. Writing large portions of a story in flashback is hazardous, because readers are normally more interested to know what happens to the characters in the here-and-now.

Another key to successful use of flashbacks is to write them in scenes. Look at the example below:

As Jill lay back in the warm sunshine, her thoughts went back to that day ten years ago when she and George first started getting to know each other. It had been a warm summer's day like today. She had been working as a hotel waitress for the summer. George was working as a cook, but she hadn't really spoken to him until the day she had an accident and scalded herself with hot coffee. George had been nearby, and had been first to come to her assistance...

As we discussed earlier, this is reportage – telling a story rather than showing it – and in large chunks it makes indigestible reading. Let's see what happens if we dramatise it instead...

As Jill lay back in the warm sunshine, her thoughts went back to that long hot summer ten years ago.

"Jill, can you take these coffees over to the couple on table sixteen, then see if that lot on table nine want dessert."  Without waiting for a reply, Kelly, the supervisor, turned to the cooks: "And put some more chips on, will you? We're almost out."

Thank God there was only half an hour to the end of her shift! Jill picked up the tray with the coffees and headed out into the restaurant. Not really looking where she was going, she tripped, and there was an almighty crash. She cried out as scalding coffee ran over her wrist.

"Quick, get it under a cold water tap," she heard a voice say. Looking up, she was surprised to see it was one of the cooks, George...

Again, this form of storytelling uses more words than reportage, but it is far more vivid and entertaining for the reader.

Another key to successful use of flashbacks is to avoid inserting them in the middle of an exciting, dramatic passage. You may think this will provide suspense and heighten the tension, but it is more likely to irritate the reader...

‘Never mind what happened ten years

ago – I want to know what happens next!’

To sum up, when using flashbacks:

•	Only use them when you have to

•	As a rule, limit them to no more than a third of the story

•	Dramatise, rather than simply recount, them

•	Don't put them right at the start of a story

•	Don't put them in the middle of a dramatic, exciting scene

Return to Creative Writing 2.0 main description      Contents


Sample from The Creative Writer’s Self-Assessment Centre
Creative Writing 2.0

Sample from The Creative Writer’s Self-Assessment Centre

When you take one of the tests in the Self-Assessment Centre, you are asked to type in your name (your first name is sufficient), which will then appear at the top of the test screen, along with your current score and other details such as how many questions you have answered so far.

Answer the questions by clicking on what you think are the right answers, or by typing your answer into the white text box, then click the OK button. Your score and feedback based on your answer will appear in the upper right corner of the screen. After reading the feedback, click the Continue button in the feedback box, and the next question will appear.

At the end of the test, you will be given your percentage score. You should aim to score 85% or more. You can finish the test before answering all the questions if you wish by clicking the button with the red dot inside it near the top left of the screen. After clicking this, you will be asked if you wish to Continue or Finish. Click Finish to leave the test, Continue to carry on with the test. When your score is displayed,, click the OK button, and you will return to this page.

Click the link below to start the test.

I’m ready to take the sample test!

Return to Creative Writing 2.0 main description      Contents


Sample from Ideas and Inspirations
Creative Writing 2.0

Sample from Ideas and Inspirations

This is the first of eight Ideas and Inspirations in the article writing section:

Articles One

•	Write an article with a seasonal slant for the publication of your choice. Here are some ideas to start you off:

SPRING

•	Valentine's Day

•	Easter

•	Spring cleaning

•	April Fools' Day

•	Gardening

•	Moving house

SUMMER

•	May Day Customs

•	Holiday hints and tips

•	Holiday destinations

•	Protecting yourself from the sun

•	Salads and summer foods

•	Days out with children

AUTUMN

•	Hallowe'en

•	Back to school

•	Starting at college/university

•	Preparing your car for the winter

•	New football season

•	Adult education

WINTER

•	Christmas

•	Diwali

•	New Year/Hogmanay

•	Burns Night

•	Winter foods

•	Keeping down your fuel bills

Hint

Return to Creative Writing 2.0 main description      Contents


Hint
•	Remember to submit your seasonal proposal or article in good time. Monthly magazines plan about six months in advance, weeklies about two months.


Sample of Write Lines – Great Quotations
Creative Writing 2.0

Sample of Write Lines – Great Quotations

Write Lines

A selection of great quotations on the subject of writing

•	A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it.

Dr Samuel Johnson

•	Concentrate on quality, not quantity – both in formulation of ideas and in the writing itself.

Lidia de Leon

•	A writer judging his own work is like a deceived husband – he is frequently the last person to appreciate the true state of affairs.

Robert Traver

•	Either write something new or write something from a unique viewpoint. The problem is, you don’t know if something is new unless you are widely read. I still get stories about characters who have exciting adventures until they wake up and find out it was all a dream.

Mary Ellen Strote

•	If there is a category of human being for whom his work ought to speak for itself, it is the writer.

Isaac Asimov

•	It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer. Those who do not remain amateurs.

Gerald Brenan

•	It is the writer’s privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart.

William Faulkner

•	A writer’s ambition should be to trade a hundred contemporary readers for ten readers in ten years’ time and one reader in a hundred years’ time.

Arthur Koestler

•	The most solid advice to a writer is this, I think: try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell, and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.

William Saroyan

•	Each writer is born with a repertory company inside his head and...as you get older, you become more skilful in casting them.

Gore Vidal

•	Every written word is a victory against death.

Michel Butor

Return to Creative Writing 2.0 main description      Contents


PC Home
PC Home:

It has immense relevance as an aid to any

form of creative writing... This really is a

very good bit of software...faultless in its

behaviour...packed with tons of really useful

information... Ideas and Inspirations alone

would prove itself worth the money to any

student struggling to get an assignment off

the ground... Advice which will steer anyone

in the right direction should they seriously

consider improving the quality of their

creative writing skills.


PC Pro
PC Pro:

Each Subject area is well covered – the

fiction section takes you through from the

basics of plot and theme to actually sitting

down and writing the book. The text is well

written and accessible, with plenty of

references to British contact points – a nice

touch, considering most self-help writing

courses originate in the US.

For Help with writing itself, take a look at

Ideas and Inspirations... There’s a good spread

of ideas here...they’re good springboards.


Practical PC
Practical PC:

There is plenty of information in Creative Writing.

There are instructions for writing all kinds of

publishable pieces... The whole of the program is

devoted to help you earn money from writing... The

most essential aspect of becoming a new writer is

the research. I don’t mean the research that is

necessary to put the facts within the article, but

the research into the readership of particular

magazines and the types of articles the editors use.

Creative Writing tells you what to look for... When

you consider that just a few letters to the editor

or tips will repay the cost in a very short time,

then it becomes a very worthwhile investment.

Robin Brooker


Writers’ Forum
Writers’ Forum:

I found it ridiculously easy to use... The

information is well presented and given in

some depth. It shows by example and offers

ideas for inspiration as well as exercises,

games and illustrations... Creative Writing

is competitively priced.

John Benton


Raw Edge
Raw Edge:

As a teach-yourself tool it very efficiently

allows you to move from section to section,

picking up ideas and information as you go...

The Creative Writing program is great fun

with a lot of useful features (the quotations

are useful, and the section on writing for

multimedia or the Internet probably won’t be

found elsewhere).


Writers’ Update
Quarterly on-disk magazine for writers from Way Ahead

Writers’ Update

A

brand new,

unique, on-disk magazine

for writers which includes news of

the latest markets for your work; free

software; practical features on writing and

traditional and electronic

publishing; and

much, much

more

The best way to discover what Writers’ Update has to offer is to read it.

You can see samples from a typical issue by

clicking the link below:

Writers’ Update sampler

Contents


Writers’ Update Sampler
Writers’ Update   Sample issue

Writers’ Update Sampler: Contents

Each sphere represents a section of Writers’ Update.

Click a sphere for more information

Return to Software Guide


Menupopup1
In this sampler of the New Markets Update section:

News of new markets for your work: magazines competitions, filler markets, books and miscellaneous

 Go to New Markets Update


Menupopup2
Features in this sampler issue reveal:

•	How to publish your work on disk for pennies

•	How to write a successful twist-ender short story

There are normally at least four major features in Writers’ Update, apart from general news, news of new markets, a commentary on the latest developments, readers’ views and, of course, pages devoted to the FREE software you get with every issue.

 Go to Features menu


Menupopup3
Newsbytes reports on the latest happenings in the world of writing and publishing, both traditional and electronic.

Click the link below to see some samples:

 Go to Newsbytes


Menupopup4
Every issue of Writers’ Update contains news and views from our highly responsive readers. They tell us about their writing and publishing achievements, comment on the last issue’s news and features, and tell us what they want to read about in the future. Your views are welcome, too, once you’ve received your first issue.


Menupopup5
Every issue of Writers’ Update contains FREE SOFTWARE carefully selected to appeal to our tightly targeted market of writers who use PCs. Three typical Windows™ programs we have included, or are about to include, are:

StoryDB: Helps you develop and generate screenplays, novels and other story formats. Create your characters, relationships, events and ideas BEFORE diving in to the actual writing. Also helps you write script scenes, handling the formatting for you.

Almanac: complete desktop manager comprising calendar, notebook, scheduler and to-do list. All four components can be viewed simultaneously via multiple windows.

Touch Type Tutor: Includes speed tests and typing tutorials – and there’s some fun in the form of a game. Now that nearly everyone uses a keyboard rather than a typewriter, there’s a tendency to forget how useful touch typing skills can be.

The programs are installed quickly and painlessly from the Writers’ Update disk.


Menupopup6
So that our readers have a good idea of what’s coming next in Writers’ Update, we reveal what we have planned so far for the next issue. Some readers write to us with useful information and personal experiences connected with our forthcoming features, which we are happy to include if they arrive before deadline (usually the start of the month preceding the first month of the relevant quarter – eg, start of December for First Quarter issue).


Menupopup7
Subscribing is the ONLY way to secure Writers’ Update regularly. Tick item two on the Way Ahead order form now if you want to be certain of receiving Writers’ Update every quarter. Subscribers receive details of generous discounts available on our other products.


Menupopup8

ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING FOR YOUR FUTURE

Writers’ Update incorporating New Markets Update is published by

Way Ahead Electronic Publishing, 27 Woodford Green, Bratton, TELFORD, TF5 0NS. Tel/fax 01952 243153. E-mail: wayahead@cix.compulink.co.uk. World Wide Web: http://www.demon.co.uk/hsc/wayahead.

Editor Richard Williams

Associate Editor Nick Daws

Production Manager Christine Williams

Copying and distribution of this publication without the permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Writers’ Update incorporating New Markets Update publishes in March, June, September and December. It is available on subscription at £14.95 for 12 months (four issues), including postage and packaging.

Subscription, advertising and editorial enquiries: 01952 243153

The copyright of the features in Writers’ Update is the property of the relevant author.

Views expressed in Writers’ Update are not necessarily those of the Editor or the publisher.

Close


Menupopup9
At Writers’ Update, we are in the privileged position of  receiving a constant stream of news about events and trends in the world of writing, publishing and software. From this wealth of information, we are able to pinpoint where the future markets will be for writers and self-publishers like you. Our regular Comment spot brings this information together in the form of advice and commentary on the trends and markets to watch, and to become involved in.

 Go to sample Comment


Menupopup10
Many of the advertisers in Writers’ Update are writers just like you. They advertise their services, their self-published work and a wide range of other items that appeal to our other readers.

To advertise in Writers’ Update, call 01952 243153, or submit your advertisement with payment to Advertising Department, Writers’ Update, 27 Woodford Green, Bratton, TELFORD, TF5 0NS.

Lineage advertisements cost £1.50 per line (approximately 15 words per line). Display advertisements (with graphic if required) are £30 for a screen 'page'. Multi-screen page advertisements, either scrollable or with hypertext links between screen pages, are £20 per page; one of the screen pages can be an order form for readers to print, fill in and return to you.


Sample Writers’ Update Comment
Writers’ Update   Sample issue

Sample Writers’ Update Comment

Welcome to the new world of publishing

There will always be printed material, but the PC boom calls for a re-examination of the ways writers and publishers deliver the goods. Are you ready for the challenge?

DO YOU always write with a view to being published on paper – ie, in traditional book, magazine or newspaper article form – or on TV or radio?

If so, you may need to change your view of publishing if you are to succeed at selling your work into the markets of the future.

While there will always be books and, most likely, various printed journals ranging  from dailies to annuals, one item of news above all others in the past few months confirms that the personal computer is set to become a major, if not THE major, publishing platform.

The news is:

•	Britain is now officially the home computer capital of the world. The level of personal computer ownership here is twice as high, per head of population, as in the United Sates, and higher than anywhere else in Europe.

•	Nearly one in three homes in the UK has a computer, and average usage is around 10 hours a week.

•	For the first time ever, television watching has been “significantly eroded” by computer usage.

•	Nearly 45 per cent of homes with schoolchildren own a personal computer, compared with 30 per cent in 1990.

•	Almost one in three children – and twice as many boys as girls – never or hardly ever read a book out of school, yet they will happily absorb the same information from their computers.

With 7.5 million personal computers (the vast majority of them, by the way, IBM or compatible PCs) now in use in 31.8 per cent of households in this country, the platform for electronic publications is already well established. Add to this the vast number of PCs in business, and many more in schools, colleges and universities and the case is even more convincing.

It doesn’t take a publishing genius to see from the facts set out above that big changes are taking place in the way people want information presented to them.

Your instinct as a writer concerned with the quality of the printed word may be that the changes are for the worse. However, it is just as likely that good writers who embrace the electronic medium now will be the standard setters of the future, ensuring the quality of material that reaches the vast and seemingly ever-growing PC-user audience.

An example of that growth is the fact that the IBM or compatible PC is now becoming the standard platform for nearly every school in Britain. The non-industry standard Acorn computers are losing ground rapidly if The Guardian education supplement is to be believed.

A generation of children who have barely read a book but can recite sections of Microsoft Encarta and list the best sites on the World Wide Web without prompt or pause seems to be the current reality.

‘The PC is about 20 years old now. The next ten years will see the start of its golden era’

As PCs become even more sophisticated, CD-ROM publishing begins to mature and accessing the Internet becomes easier (even though it is, quite literally, child’s play for many already), the trend is certain to continue.

Channel 4’s recent three part series, The Triumph of the Nerds, made the point that, generally speaking, new technologies – like the car and the television – take about 30 years to gain full acceptance. The PC is about 20 years old now. The next ten years will see that start of its golden era.

All of this is, of course, most gratifying for a business such as my own – Way Ahead Electronic Publishing – because it means our likely audience is growing daily.

But competition for that audience is already fierce, and it can only become fiercer still as the PC continues to gain ground at the partial – but probably never total – expense of other kinds of publishing.

‘Authoring tools take care of the programming for you, while you concentrate on substance, layout, interface etc.’

What does it mean for you, the writer? If you have a PC (and you must at least have access to one if you are reading this), take a look at the kind of work that is currently being published for the platform if you haven't already done so. It ranges from basic ASCII text articles which you load into a word processor, through to full multimedia which requires a powerful PC system including sound card, speakers, plenty of RAM and a fast graphics card.

Having seen what’s on offer, decide which area of this burgeoning market you could contribute to. You don’t need to be a programmer or a computer graphics genius – a good idea and an equally good understanding of what the PC is capable of when it comes to disseminating information or presenting fiction is often all you need to impress a prospective publisher.

However, it is in the area of self-publishing that the major benefits are to be found. Again, you don’t need to be a programmer. Authoring tools – some of which are available at very reasonable prices – take care of the programming for you, while you concentrate on substance, layout, interface etc.

Once your publication is finished, you can copy it ten times or several million times, and the quality will never suffer.

Writers’ Update Sampler Contents Page       Return to Software Guide


New Markets Update
New Markets Update   Sample issue

New Markets Update

 Magazines

 Competitions

 Filler Markets

 Books

 Miscellaneous

Writers’ Update Sampler Contents Page       Return to Software Guide


Magazines
New Markets Update   Sample issue

Magazines

MAGAZINES

PRECISION MARKETING is looking for freelance journalists. It is a weekly, full colour magazine aimed at people who work in marketing. Editor Roberta Cohen says: “You need to have the confidence and ability to handle a wide range of relevant news and features.” Contact Ms Cohen at Precision Marketing, Centaur Communications, St Giles House, 50 Poland Street, London, W1V 4AX.

BOOKS IRELAND, a prestigious literary quarterly, which reviews Irish-interest and Irish-author books as well as carrying interviews and articles of interest to librarians, booksellers and the general reader, is adding a New Writing section from its June 1996 issue. New work by established and lesser-known writers will be considered. The net is wide and includes stories, scripts, essays, articles, squibs or interviews (but not book reviews) of 2,500 words or less, or no more than three pieces of poetry at a time. Material should be addressed to New Writing, Books Ireland, 11 Newgrove Avenue, Dublin 4. Fees are nominal from £5 to £25. The usual submission parameters apply, but Books Ireland will adjust the fee if the material is available on IBM compatible disk in ASCII. More details available in the current issue of Books Ireland.

TRACERS. This magazine is all about tracing long lost friends and relatives. It is actively looking for freelance material, particularly features, interviews and complete short stories. Articles should be between 1500 and 3000 words, short stories 2000 words. Either ideas or complete submissions will be accepted. Contact: Peter Bracey, Editor, Tracers, Panstar House, 1315 Swakeleys Road, Twickenham, Middlesex.

THEATRE is a new magazine covering every aspect of the theatre. Profiles of local theatre companies are especially wanted. Pay is good at £150 per 1000 words, with extra for photographs. Contact: Anne Shuttleworth, Editor, Theatre, Eastwell House, Weston Street, London, SE1 4DJ. Tel. 0171 378 1055.

ALL ABOUT DOGS is another new magazine. It covers all aspects of dogs and their well-being, as well as celebrity pets. The target readership is mainly female. Articles are between 600 and 1200 words, including sidebars. The magazine welcomes freelance submissions, and pays £100 per 1000 words. Contact: Gordon Miller, All About Dogs, Gong Publishing Group Limited, Suite C, 21 Heathmans Road, London, SW6 4GP.

GUN DOGS is aimed at anyone associated with the estimated 400,000 gun dogs in Britain today, whether they be owners, breeders, trainers or dog show exhibitors. Subjects covered include anything to do with gun dogs and their breeding. Freelance material will be considered, though an outline is preferred in the first instance. Contact: Trevor Rigby, Editor, Gun Dogs, HPR Publishing Limited, Kingfisher House, Butt Gate, Grainthorpe, Lincs, LN11 7JW.

While on the subject of dogs, we should also mention DOGS TODAY. This popular magazine aimed at dog owners is always willing to consider freelance submissions. As well as the usual dog-related articles, they also publish short stories with a doggy theme. Contact: Dogs Today, Pankhurst Farm, Bagshot Road, West End, Woking, Surrey, GU24 9QR. Tel. 01276 858880.

After reading our feature on writing for computer magazines (see Grab Some Bytes of the Computer Mag Action) you may feel equipped to approach some of the many computing titles currently competing for shelf space. One magazine currently requiring material from knowledgeable mouse pushers is PC ADVISOR, which was recently been taken over by IDG and has just moved base from Birmingham to London as a consequence. Write with your idea or outline – concerning softrwware and/or hardware – in the first instance to: Dennis Jarret, Consulting Editor, PC Advisor, 99 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8UT, tel 0171-831 9252, or send an e-mail message to djarret@cix.compulink.co.uk.

PEOPLE MANAGEMENT is a new magazine aimed at professionals in the area of personnel, training and staff development. It includes news stories and in-depth features on recruitment and selection, training, pay, conditions, employee relations and health and safety. The editor prefers to receive a detailed synopsis in the first instance. Contact: Jane Pickard, Editor, People Management, Personnel Publications Limited, 17 Britton Street, London, EC1M 65NQ. Tel. 0171 880 6200, Fax 0171 336 7635.

BETWEEN THE FLAGS is a new monthly magazine. As the name suggests, it covers point-to-point racing and hunt chase. The editor will consider complete manuscripts or proposals. Contact: Brian Elliott, Poundbury Publishing Limited, Poundbury Farmhouse, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 2RT.

PARENTWISE is a Christian magazine for parents of children up to teenagers, and people who work with children. Topics covered include emotional/human interest stories, celebrity features, sex and relationships, alternative medicine, and so on, generally with a Christian slant. Payment is £50 per page, photos extra. Contact: Jill Worth, Editor, Parentwise, 37 Elm Road, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 3HB. Tel. 0181 942 9761.

Another Christian magazine is TOGETHER WITH CHILDREN. It is aimed at anyone who is involved in or concerned with the Christian education of children. Rates of pay not known. Contact: Together With Children, St John's Vicarage, Crondall Street, Hoxton, London, N1 6PT. Tel. 0171 739 9823.

THE AUTOMOBILE was recently redesigned to mark its centenary. Content includes news, events, road tests, historical pieces and maintenance tips regarding pre-1950 cars. Payment is £50 per page, photos extra. Contact: Brian Heath, Editor, The Automobile, Enthusiasts Publishing Limited, Spring Cottage, 20 High Street, Mildford-on-Sea, Lymington, SO41 0QD. Tel. 01590 645900.

RUSH is a new sports magazine aimed primarily at young men in their twenties. It covers most outdoor sports, including climbing, surfing, snowboarding and basejumping. Freelance submissions are welcomed, though it is advisable to study the magazine first to appreciate its quirky, upbeat style. Pay – £75 per 1000 words, photos extra. Contact: Paul Henderson, Editor, Rush, PO Box 104, Newquay, Cornwall, TR7 2YL.

HEALTH CLUB MANAGEMENT is a new monthly for owners, managers and staff at health clubs. Content includes news, company profiles, articles on equipment and catering, etc. Freelance contributions are welcome, with payment ‘by agreement’. Contact: Catherine Larner, Health Club Management, Portmill House, Portmill Lane, Hitchin, Leicestershire, SG5 1DJ.

YESTERDAY is a new magazine covering social and family history, mainly during the period from the 1920s to the 1950s. They already have enough material about WW2, but are willing to consider contributions about other periods. Contributor guidelines are available. Contact: John Titford, Editor, Yesterday, J. M. Armstrong, 61 Great Whyte, Ramsey, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE17 1Hl.

DEFYING GRAVITY covers the arts, culture, film, music and fiction. It is intended as a forum for new writers. As well as articles, the magazine includes two or three non-genre short stories in each issue, as well as an extract from an unpublished novel. Rates of pay not known, but likely to be modest initially. For further information send SAE to: Craig Turner, Gravity Publications, 60 Howard Close, Cambridge, CB5 8QU.

INSIDE SOAP has expanded both in size and frequency (from monthly to fortnightly). It covers popular soap operas such as Coronation Street and Brookside, as well as serial dramas such as Peak Practice and Soldier, Soldier. Writers are needed who can provide interview-based features with the stars, both at home and on location. Freelances are asked to phone with ideas initially. Contact: Victoria Ross, Features Editor, Inside Soap, Attic Futura, 1718 Berners Street, London, W1P 3DD. Tel. 0171 436 5220. Fax: 0171 436 2904.

BLAH BLAH BLAH is a new music and lifestyle magazine aimed at young people (18-25). Subjects covered include music, sports and high technology. New feature writers are always needed. Contact: Shaun Phillips, Ray Gun Publishing Limited, 1st Floor, 4749 Charlotte Road, London, EC2A 3QT.

NATIONAL COUPONS MAGAZINE, as the name suggests, is full of money-saving coupons readers can use to get money off anything from holidays to fitted kitchens. There are also articles under various headings, including health, cookery, features, travel, home, fashion and beauty. The magazine includes one 1000 word short story in every issue. Contact:: Margarette Cook, Editor, National Coupons Magazine, Mantup Publishing Limited, PO Box 44, Chard, Somerset, TA20 3YY. Tel. 01460 234771. Fax: 01460 234772.

DESCENT, the magazine for cavers, welcomes any material relating to caves, mines or anything of relevance to the world underground. Topics covered include exploration, expeditions, equipment, techniques and regional (British) news. New contributors are encouraged to discuss their ideas with the editor if they are unsure of the suitability of their subject matter or how to approach it. Contact: Chris Howes, Editor, Descent, 51 Timbers Square, Roath, Cardiff, CF2 3SH. Tel. 01222 486557. Fax: 01222 486557.

JANE'S WORLD REPORT. We have heard that publication of this new magazine, mentioned in Issue 1 of New Markets Update, has been delayed.

WRITERS WANTED FOR NEW MAGAZINE. A new national entertainment magazine is seeking freelance contributors, including restaurant reviewers, Internet addicts, bookworms, video watchers, musicians, art enthusiasts, theatre-goers, and people “bursting with feature ideas”. Those who can write “sparkling, witty and downright fantastic prose, whilst meeting deadlines” should apply with samples of work to: The Editor, Ref-P14, Virtual Universe Ltd, 22 Stephenson Way, London, NW1 2HD.

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Competitions
New Markets Update   Sample issue

Competitions

COMPETITIONS

The deadline for THE WAY AHEAD ANNUAL CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION is getting closer, so don't make the mistake of delaying till it's too late. As you may remember, this year's competition is for a short story on any subject (except stories for children), with a maximum length of 2000 words. There are prizes of £300, £150 and £50, with computer software prizes for the seven runners-up. In addition, all ten winning entries and runners-up will be included in an electronic anthology to be published on floppy disk and on the Internet. Closing date – September 30 1996, entry fee £3 per story. For full details and entry forms send SAE to Way Ahead, 27 Woodford Green, Bratton,TELFORD, TF5 0NS.

L. RON HUBBARD'S WRITERS OF THE FUTURE CONTEST is an ongoing international competition for new writers of science fiction and fantasy. There is a new competition every three months, with prizes of $1000, $750 and $500. Each year there is also a grand prize of $4000 for the best winning story over the four quarters. Entries must be short stories (under 10,000 words) or novelets (under 17,000 words). Closing dates for the next two contests are 30 June 1996 and 30 September 1996, and there is NO entry fee. Send SAE for further details and an entry form to: L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest, PO Box 218, East Grinstead, West Sussex, RH19 4GH.

•	NOTE: Don't be put off by the American origins of this competition, as they actively encourage entries from the UK and elsewhere. A writer local to us recently won third prize in a quarterly competition, and as well as the advertised prize received a handsome plaque and an invitation to attend a week-long writing workshop in America, all expenses paid!

The MISON SHORT STORY COMPETITION is for a short story of up to 2000 words in any genre. The first prize is £250, and all winning entries will be published in an anthology. Closing date – 31 August 1996. Entry form and further details are available from: The Secretary, Mison Publications, 7 Princes Works, Princes Road, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 0RU. Tel. 0181 943 5535. Fax: 0181 943 2600.

The LICHFIELD AND DISTRICT WRITERS SHORT STORY COMPETITION 1996 is also for a short story of 2000 words or less. Entry forms are not required, but all entrants must enclose a title page carrying the author's name, address and the title of the story. No identifying information must appear on the manuscript itself. For further details send a SAE to: L&DW Short Story Competition, 133 Park Road, Barton-under-Needwood, Staffs, DE13 8DD.

The DULWICH FESTIVAL POETRY COMPETITION offers a £1,000 prize for the best poem of any length or style. The closing date is August 2, and there is a £2 entry fee. For further details and entry form, send SAE to: Peter Hore, 3 Carver Road, Herne Hill, London, SE24 9LS.

The HASTINGS NATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION offers prizes of £100, £50 and £25 for poems of 50 lines or less. The closing date is 14 October, the entry fee £1. Full details are available from: Josephine Austin, Burden Cottage, 4 Burdett Place, George Street, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3ED. Tel. 01424 428855.

The third BRITISH SMALL PRESS GUILD POETRY COMPETITION is now open for poems not exceeding 60 lines. The theme is ‘Anything Goes’, i.e. all styles and subjects are acceptable. There is a £100 first prize, with a further ten awards to runners-up. In addition, all winning entries will be published in an anthology. Closing date – 31 August 1996, entry fee £1.50 per poem. For further information and entry form send SAE to: BSPG Poetry Competition (Forms), First Rung Publications, 32 Irvin Avenue, Saltburn, Cleveland, TS12 1QH.

NORTH NORFOLK WRITERS have announced an open poetry competition for poems of any length. The first prize is £100, second £50 and third £25. There is an additional £20 prize for the best poem about the sea. Closing date – 31 August 1996, entry fee £2 per poem. Send SAE for full details to: Competition Secretary, Redfriars, 1 Norwich Road, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 0AZ.

SHE Magazine's May issue includes details of a short story competition with £5,000-worth of prizes. The first prize winner receives a Compaq personal computer (value £1,500), a writing course with the Arvon Foundation, and lunch at the Ritz in London. Stories may be on any subject, but must be no more than 2500 words long. There is no entry fee, but stories must be accompanied by the entry form in the magazine. The closing date is 31 May 1996.

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Filler Markets
New Markets Update   Sample issue

Filler Markets

FILLER MARKETS

TAKE A BREAK has a wide range of filler slots. They include:

•	BARMY ARMY – Photographs of readers in humorous poses (£50)

•	TRUE LIFE – Reader's true life emotional experiences (£200)

•	HEY SHARON! – A ‘gobsmacking’ true story (£50)

•	READERS' REALITY – Reader's true experiences, with photos (£150)

•	READERS' BRAIN WAVES – Hints and tips (£15 per tip; an extra £20 if photo printed; a total of £40 if TAB also publishes the story behind the tip)

•	HEART STOPPERS – Readers' true love stories with photos (£75)

•	LETTER FROM THE HEART – A ‘touching, tender letter’ (£200)

•	KITCHEN BRAIN WAVES – Hints and tips for the kitchen (£10)

•	PET TRUE CONFESSIONS – A letter supposedly from a pet exposing the truth about a reader, with photos (£100)

•	WORRALAFF – Humorous true story (£25 or £50 if photo published as well)

•	OUR HOLS – A report on your holiday, with photos (£50)

•	LIZ WILDE – A question about beauty, or a funny story about beauty disasters (£10 plus £20 for accompanying photo)

•	READER CONFIDENTIAL – True confession-type stories (£150)

•	LETTERS – Readers' letters (£25 letter of the week; £20 all others; £25 for any photos used)

Some of the above items are article rather than filler length, but for the longer slots readers are asked to send just a brief outline initially. We recommend careful study of a few issues of the magazine to assess what exactly they require in each category. Contact: Take A Break, 2527 Camden Road, London, NW1 9LL.

INSIDE SOAP invites letters on the subject of soap operas and popular TV serials. There is a £25 prize for the star letter, with £5 for all other letters printed. Photos of readers with a soap star win £20, and letters accompanied by a photograph £15. Write to: Helen Childs, Inside Soap, 1718 Berners Street, London, W1P 3DD.

The DAILY MAIL awards a £10 book token for any topical anagram or limerick they use. Send your contribution on a postcard to: Anagrams/Limericks, Daily Mail, Derry Street, London, W8 5TT.

TV QUICK asks ‘What brightened your day or made you want to spit?’ The most interesting letters receive £25, others printed £10 each. Funny photos are also required and earn £20. Address to: Quick Line, TV QUICK, 25/27 Camden Road, London, NW1 9LL. Household tips are also required and earn £10 each. Send them to Quick Tips at the address above.

NEW STATESMAN AND SOCIETY offers a £5 book token for each reader's letter printed. Send on a postcard to: NSS Letters, Foundation House, Perseverance Works, 38 Kingsland Road, London, E22 8DQ.

BBC GOOD FOOD MAGAZINE invites readers to send in their favourite recipe. They add: “Don't forget to state where you found the recipe if it is not original.” The winner of a recent issue received a canteen of Viner's cutlery (value £179.99) for a biscuit recipe. Send to: BBC Good Food Magazine, Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London, W12 0TT.

MATURE TYMES pays £20 for the star letter each month, and another gets a mystery prize. If you've ‘news to share, an amusing story or something to get off your chest’, send to: Jill, "Tyme to Write", Mature Tymes, Sycamore House, PO Box 25, Cowbridge, South Glamorgan, CF71 7XU.

TRADITIONAL WOODWORKING magazine invites readers' letters. The writer of the star letter receives about £40 worth of tools. Write to: Readers' Letters, Traditional Woodworking, Link House, Dingwall Avenue, Croydon, CR9 2TA. Tel. 0181 686 2599.

NATURAL CHOICE magazine, which is distributed free through Holland & Barrett stores, offers a £5 voucher for published letters. Subjects might include requests for information or details of natural cures. Write to: Natural Choice, Media Partners CPR, 20 Market Place, Guisborough, Cleveland, TS14 6HF.

The RADIO TIMES offers a travelling radio/alarm clock for the most humorous, interesting or offbeat letter in each issue. Send to: Letters Editor, Radio Times, 80 Wood Lane, London, W12 0TT.

SHE magazine offers valuable prizes for readers' letters published on its SHE Mail page. The letter of the month wins a body care consultation with a Clarins specialist and three beauty products, together worth £70. Writers of all other published letters win a body care consultation and body lift, worth £30. Send to: SHE, 72 Broadwick Street, London, W1V 2BP. Fax: 0171 439 5350.

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Books
New Markets Update   Sample issue

Books

BOOKS

STAPLEGROVE PRESS are a new publishing company looking for authors. Their first book was titled Give Your Child A Head Start, and was aimed at parents of pre-school and infant school children. They are inviting ideas and proposals for books aimed at a similar readership. A 10% royalty is paid. Send your proposals to: Geoff Endacott, Staplegrove Press, 7 Beavan Close, Chippenham, Wilts, SN15 3FE. You can also phone Geoff on 01249 657283.

HOW-TO BOOKS. This popular series was mentioned in the last issue of New Markets Update. We have recently heard that they are looking to expand their range of titles in the areas of career development, training and personal development. Independent editorial adviser Laurel Alexander is seeking authors with professional qualifications and/or first-hand experience in these fields. In the first instance you are asked to submit a detailed synopsis, assessment of market need and brief CV (but not, at this stage, a sample chapter). As we noted last time, How-To books are between 30,000 and 60,000 words, and sell for less than £10. Payment is by a royalty of 7.5% of the publisher's net price. No advances are paid. Write to: Laurel Alexander, 101 Osborne Road, Brighton, Sussex, BN1 6LW (Tel. 01273 564030).

NEED2KNOW were also mentioned in Issue One. The first five books in the series have now been published, and they are again actively seeking authors. Need2Know books address the situations and problems faced by ordinary people in their lives. Areas they are particularly interested in at the moment include health, family, leisure interests, self development and children (both general childcare and getting the best out of education). The books are 20,000-25,000 words, 100-150 pages in finished form. An advance is paid on completion of the manuscript and on publication, with payment thereafter by a royalty on sales. However, no actual figures were mentioned in the letter we received. In the first instance we suggest writing (enclosing SAE) for more information to: Kerrie Pateman, Managing Editor, Need2Know, 12 Wainman Road, Woodston, Peterborough, PE2 7BU (Tel. 01733 230759).

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Miscellaneous
New Markets Update   Sample issue

Miscellaneous

MISCELLANEOUS

The GUILD OF EROTIC WRITERS is currently seeking submissions for a series of anthologies of erotic short stories. Stories must be between 2000 and 5000 words, and there is a fee of £50 for each one accepted. Deadline for the first anthology is May 24 1996, but further collections are planned. To submit work you must be a member of the Guild yourself, for which a modest annual fee is payable. For further information, contact The Guild of Erotic Writers, CTCK, PO Box 8431, London, SE8 4BP (Tel. 0973 767 086).

The BRISTOL EXPRESS THEATRE COMPANY is looking for challenging plays. They are a professional, non-subsidised, touring company, and want plays that are ‘socially, emotionally, theatrically or politically significant, analytical and challenging’. Plays must also, however, be accessible and entertaining. In the first instance send ideas and synopses to: Andy Jordan, Director, Bristol Express Theatre Company, 16 Frederick Street, Totterdown, Bristol, BS4 3AZ. Tel. 0117 971 7279.

The ALFRED BRADLEY AWARD is open to writers who live or were born in the BBC North Region. This year an award of up to £3000 is on offer, as well as the chance to develop an idea into a commission for BBC radio. In 1996 the award is focusing on verse drama. Writers need to submit between five and ten pages of a new and original work which could form the basis for a longer manuscript. The closing date is 17 June 1996. For more information, contact: Radio Drama, BBC North, New Broadcasting House, Oxford Road, Manchester, M60 1SJ. Tel. Melanie Harris, 0161 244 4251.

FOREST OF ARDEN FEATURES are looking for freelance writers who can produce the kind of true life human interest features found in many women's magazines. Writers have to unearth suitable stories themselves – perhaps following up items in local papers – but the agency assists with market information and selling the finished articles. Writers receive a fee from the agency on publication. Further information is available from Leah Fuller at Forest of Arden Features, 231 High Street, Henley-in-Arden, Solihull, Warwicks, B95 5BG. Tel: 01564 794500. Fax: 01564 794980.

Finally, bear in mind that WAY AHEAD, the publishers of Creative Writing and Writers’ Update, are always interested to receive new proposals for electronic tutorials, and pay generous royalties to writers they commission. Forthcoming products include tutorials on short story and play writing, and an interactive guide to managerial skills. No special experience of writing for the electronic media is required to write for us, but you should have a good knowledge of your proposed subject matter. In the first instance, send a one-page outline of your idea with a covering letter giving details of your writing career to date, and explaining why you feel qualified to write about the subject in question. Write to: Way Ahead, 27 Woodford Green, Bratton, Telford, Shropshire, TF5 0NS. Tel. 01952 243153.

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Features
Writers’ Update   Sample issue

Features

 Self-publish Your Work for Pennies!

You already have a PC. All you need now to start self-publishing is some relatively inexpensive software...

Note: This feature originally included a demonstration of a Windows authoring package. We aim to include at least one demo of useful software in every issue, as well as free software to you to install from the disk or our World Wide Web site.

 Putting a Twist in the Tail of the Tale

A really good twist-ender short story should find a ready market. Here’s how to ensure you don’t get yourself into a twist when you’re writing one

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Self-publish Your Work for Pennies
Writers’ Update   Sample issue

Self-publish Your Work for Pennies

Self-publish Your Work for Pennies!

You have some great ideas for publishing projects and you already own a PC. What more do you need? Just some relatively inexpensive software that will enable you to publish effectively in the cheapest way possible. RICHARD WILLIAMS explains

MANY writers planning to self-publish eventually persuade themselves that the venture would be too expensive. It’s all very well YOU knowing that your work is worthy of publication, but will the great reading public actually buy it – even after you have demonstrated your faith by spending hundreds, perhaps thousands of pounds on printing, binding, distribution, marketing and the rest?

Although most writers now use computers to produce their work, many have still not realised they already have virtually everything they need to publish in the most economic way. An average PC and a good idea can take you an exceptionally long way – and you don’t need to learn a programming language, as authoring packages keep you away from the code and let you concentrate on the words and the design.

How can you publish on the PC?

So how can you publish your work for the PC market? You will need to choose an electronic book publisher or authoring program that suits your needs, make a thorough job of learning how to use it and stock up with floppy disks ready for distribution of your work.

If you’re really ambitious and want a slice of the burgeoning CD-ROM market, you may wish to invest in a recordable CD-ROM drive to create your master disk which, when you’ve perfected your publication, can be sent off for duplication. However, this article is concerned with publishing on floppies, as that is precisely the way most of you will start, and, in marketing terms, it’s probably the best initial strategy as every PC user has a floppy disk drive, with less than half having CD-ROM drives. Also, users who buy CD-ROMs often expect full multimedia products on them, and your first publications will more than likely fall short of full multimedia.

Be prepared to put in many long hours of work. Even if the text of your electronic publication is already available, devising menus, designing screen pages, importing and formatting the text – and deciding issues like whether text should scroll or be presented on a series of linked screens – takes time. If you are including graphics, you will need a scanner (or some time on someone else’s) to get the images into your PC, and graphics software for manipulating and retouching them – or at least some graphics software to create images yourself from scratch.

‘It’s important to think long and hard about how people will navigate your publication. Buttons and hypertext links need to be placed in the right places on the right screens’

The really good news is that most disk-based publishing software comes with templates and tutorials to help you get started, and some of the better graphics packages come with up to 15,000 or more items of clipart which you can import, customise and use in your publication.

It’s important to think long and hard about how people will navigate your publication. Buttons and hypertext links need to be placed in the right places on the right screens, so that users can move around intuitively without the need to refer to a complex manual.

Most authoring programs have a compilation procedure which takes the publication you have produced in the package’s development environment, and creates a run-time version. However, this is not necessarily the end of the story as far as production is concerned.

You may find your publication, and possibly other associated files that are needed to make it run properly, take up several megabytes of disk space – more, for instance, than could be accommodated on one or even two floppy disks. The answer is to use a compression program to reduce the size of the files. PKZip is perhaps the best known.

Don’t forget that end users want an easy way of installing your publication. The usual way for a Windows publication is to run a program called SETUP.EXE or INSTALL.EXE from the first (or sole) installation floppy disk. Instructions about the installation then appear on screen for the user.

Some authoring packages – for instance, Medi8or and Illuminatus – have their own programs for creating installation disks for your publications. However, you may find they are little restrictive. What, for instance, if you wish to make several special messages pop up during installation? The answer is to purchase a fully featured software installation program, like PC-Install from 20/20 Software.

Whether you use an installation program which comes with the authoring software, or a full-blown software installer, the end result should be (in Windows, at least) a new program group on the Program Manager screen (or on the Windows 95 start-up menu), and at least one program icon within that group, for clicking on to start the program. You may also wish to include some extras, like a readme.txt file (an ASCII text file which will load automatically in Windows Notepad when clicked on) containing the latest information about you and/or your publication, or something else related to your publication, but which is not an integral part of it.

Some fundamental questions

Just because publishing on disk is much cheaper than paper-based publishing doesn’t mean that life is easy. There are one or two possible drawbacks, and a few fundamental questions that need answering before your first orders start to arrive.

Firstly, publishing on the PC may limit your potential market – unless your publication is closely connected with PCs, in which case you would expect all likely purchasers to have the means of running the program. However, ANY worthwhile material imaginatively presented will find a market among a percentage of PC users, and don’t forget that the more closely you can identify your market, the more effectively you are able to market your work. This applies to both fiction and non-fiction work.

The cost savings you will make publishing on disk – reasonable authoring programs are available for little more than £100 and floppy disks are as little as 25p each bought several hundred at a time – will offset the fact that your sale may be limited.

On the other hand, if you self-published a traditional book, how many copies could you afford to print, and how many would the bookshops actually take? You may even find a much wider market publishing for the PC!

Another major consideration is: What is a PC? Some (though they are now in the minority) run DOS only, others run various versions of Windows (3.0, 3.1, 3.11), and those who like to keep up to date – and can afford it! – are running Windows 95.

There are different classes of graphics card, and among your potential audience will be those who see their programs in mono, 16 colours, 256 colours and several million colours. If you want to cater for them all, you will need to create simple 16-colour publications which also look good in mono, or – and this is where it can get rather complex – produce several different versions of the same publication.

There are, for instance, two versions of Way Ahead’s Creative Writing 2.0 tutorial – one for Windows 3.* and another for Windows 95.

‘PC users can encounter problems...you are going to receive calls from those who have problems running your software. Be prepared to do some troubleshooting for them’

Other considerations include processor speed – anything from an old 8086 running at 8MHz and capable of running DOS programs only, to a 166MHz Pentium capable of running the most demanding multimedia.

Electronic publishing and authoring packages usually contain information about the platforms on which the end products will run, and often explain how to ensure that any graphics you use will display properly on the widest range of target machines.

Help-IT for Windows will run on ANY PC capable of running the Windows Help system, from a humble 386 machine upwards. It runs at speed on all machines in this range, and is therefore an excellent choice if you are aiming at the Windows market – a sensible idea, as the vast majority of PC owners use Windows these days.

As Help-IT uses the Windows Help (Winhelp.exe) engine to display text and graphics, you are limited to 16 colours in Windows 3.* even if the target machine can display more colours in other programs, but this is a great way of ensuring compatibility with a very wide range of machines. The new Winhelp in Windows 95 can display 256 colours or more, so you could produce a different version of a Help-IT publication for this system, or simply decide to restrict 95 users to the 16 colours.

Another serious consideration is that, unlike a book, which is a very simple device to operate, PC users can encounter problems. In my experience, most of these are due to user error (this is NOT a complaint, merely an observation!), but whether the user has made a genuine mistake or it’s just plain disk or PC failure, you are going to receive calls from those who have problems running your software. Be prepared to do some troubleshooting for them, send them replacement disks if the program fails to install, and always be polite.

That way, you will have a satisfied customer base which will be more likely to buy your future publications. If all attempts at rectifying a problem fail, you will have to decide, having regard to the nature of the problem, whether it is appropriate to give a refund, assuming that the program is already paid for.

Finally, the developers of some authoring packages insist on your paying them a royalty if you sell copies of a publication produced with their program. This is generally only a small percentage, but you need to take this into account when doing your figures.

Advantages of publishing on disk

So much for likely problems. The advantages of publishing on disk are enormous. Just a few of them are:

•	After completing your publication, you can produce as few or as many copies as are required, at any time, simply by copying some files to floppy disks, so there is no need to invest heavily in stock before you establish the demand (you do not need to have disks copied by a fast, and rather expensive, duplicator unless you find you are selling a large volume).

•	If you market your electronic publications yourself, you will receive greater financial rewards for your work than you would from a publisher, or from book shops selling your self-published printed book – but don’t forget your overheads like advertising, the cost of software, disks and postage and packaging if you plan to enter the mail order business.

•	You can change your publication and/or your marketing strategy any time you wish without the need for negotiation, consultation and long-winded reprinting. (Granted, it’s a little more difficult with CD-ROMs, but most self publishers would de better sticking to floppy disk to start with, anyway).

•	Floppy disks and CD-ROMs are easily and cheaply mailed to customers, and a stock of them will not take up a lot of valuable space in your home.

Electronic book and authoring programs

One excellent choice is Help-IT for Windows. This authoring system makes use of the Windows Help system, the software “engine” for which is already installed on every computer running windows. This means you start with a major advantage – you don’t need to include on your distribution diskettes the .exe program which makes your publication run!

You probably have some experience of Help files already, but if you’re wondering what a publication created with Help-IT looks like – you’re reading one now!

Another good value option is Medi8or for Windows, a versatile and reasonably easy to learn multimedia publisher. The program was developed by Danish company Matchware. Most commands in Medi8or are performed using a mouse, pointing-and-clicking and dragging-and-dropping. In presentations created with Medi8or, you can combine pictures, text, sounds and video/animation.

Medi8or also allows you to incorporate interactive elements into your presentations. For example, a mouse being moved or clicked over a certain area of the screen may be programmed to reveal a previously hidden text box.

Once you have created an application with Help-IT or Medi8or, you can produce any number of run-time (ie. non-editable) versions of it for other people to install and play on their computers. There is no extra charge for copies created in this way.

Medi8or is available in four different versions, ranging from the entry-level version Medi8or Entree (current price £12.50 plus VAT and postage) to the top-of-the-range Medi8or Professional which costs over £100. Further information about Medi8or is available from Springsoft, Springfield Publishing Ltd, Springfield House, Llanfynydd, Wrexham, Clwyd, LL11 5HW (01352 770049).

Way Ahead used Medi8or Professional to produce Business Acumen Marketing, and a brand new publication, How to Save Money When Buying a Car.

Two other budget-priced multimedia publishing programs worth considering are Illuminatus, priced at £129.95 excluding VAT, and available from Digital Workshop, First Floor, 8 West Bar, Banbury, Oxon, OX16 9RP (01295 258335); and Creator, £129 including VAT from Microvitec on 01274 390011. Like Medi8or and Help-IT, there is no additional charge for distributing material produced with these programs.

If you want to invest in a better-featured, and correspondingly more expensive, package, it may be well worth your while making enquiries about the following:

•	Director, £995 from Macromedia, 01344 761111

•	Multimedia Toolbook, £799, CBT Edition (a special version for developers of computer-based training) £1,199 from Asymetrix, 0171-712 9363

•	Multimedia MasterClass Professional, £995 from Independent Software Consultants, 01372 745226

•	Authorware Professional, £3,295 from Macromedia, 01344 761111

•	IconAuthor, £3,995 from Amitech, 0171 702 1575

Advice in brief:

•	Consider all the work you have done already, but which has not yet been published (and perhaps even work that HAS been published, but make sure you have right to publish it yourself in another form), and decide whether any of it could be used as the basis for an electronic publication.

•	If none of your existing work seems suitable, think of subjects you have specific knowledge of, or consider ideas like a fiction book with multiple endings, the outcome of which is determined by users clicking options you present them with.

•	Use interactive elements – like hypertext links, multiple choice quizzes and, if you’re ambitious, perhaps animation and sound – which will help distinguish your electronic publication from an ordinary book.

•	Take care that your publication does not assume ridiculously large proportions in terms of required disk space. The inclusion of a couple of large and complex graphics, for instance, can take up several times more disk space than all of the smaller graphics and the entire text put together! Smart graphics are a pleasure, but your end user will also appreciate your keeping the program lean, as disk space on most PCs is at a premium.

•	Publish on 3.5in disks to start with (the market for 5.25 in disks is dead) – CD-ROM publishing is more expensive, and if an error (or bug) is revealed after you’ve had a thousand or so CD-ROMs duplicated, you will be throwing away a great deal of plastic!.

•	Use less expensive, double-density floppies rather than high-density ones if your publication takes up less than 720K of space. Don’t forget you can use simple compression (like PKZip) to greatly reduce the size of your publication. Program installation software like PC Install has its own compression program, but still allows use of PKZip if you prefer.

•	Print labels for your disks. Don’t be tempted to save time and money by hand-writing labels – it looks decidedly unprofessional. It is permissible to use a dot-matrix printer for this job – as, for instance, some shareware libraries do – but an inkjet or laser is better.

•	Get PC users you know and trust to run your publication in its final beta stage – the one before you start marketing it – in case it contains some bugs you have not encountered.

•	Don’t waste time and money printing large guides about how to use your publication. A fairly brief – though professional-looking – installation and quick start guide is all you need. This should show how the user gets the program onto their hard disk, and the basics of navigating the publication. If more is needed, put this into an on-line guide – ie, make it a part of your publication, accessed via a button or hypertext link on the main menu. Bear in mind you should strive to make using your program as intuitive as possible, anyway.

•	Send copies of your publication to all relevant magazines for review as soon as you are certain you have an error-free product. Relevant magazines include every PC publication apart from the out-and-out games titles – unless, of course, your publication is about how to win at a popular computer game!

•	Copy your publication onto a small stock of disks to start with. See how well it sells – and if there are any come-backs – before filling a wall of your study with stock.

•	Send your publications out in clear plastic jewel cases or vinyl disk cases with a professional-looking, printed insert bearing the title of your publication and some inviting information about it. Print your insert on an inkjet or laser printer – this is NOT a job for a dot matrix printer. Try to include some colour in the insert if possible.

•	Get your customers to register the software you sell them to qualify for discounts on future publications and for telephone support should they encounter a problem. Among other benefits, this will show your customers that you care about them.

•	If you have other publications to offer, include the list with every order you send out.

•	Try to place cut-down versions of your publications in shareware libraries. They are always looking for new programs, and you may find you are flooded with registrations for the full versions if the legions of try-before-you-buy software users like what they see.

•	Take note of any feedback you get from your customers. I have found mine to be a good-hearted lot, full of ideas, and not afraid of making constructive criticism.

•	As a PC-based self-publisher, you will become a magnet (and, hopefully, a magnate) for ideas and offers of manuscripts for computerisation. Play fair with people – reply to them, encourage those who have potentially good ideas – but without building up false hopes – and write proper briefs and contracts for those you ask to supply work to you.

Writers' Update Features Menu      Writers' Update Sampler Menu      Return to Software Guide


Scanner

Optical device for scanning photographs, artwork etc, producing a copy of the image on your PC screen for editing (eg. re-colouring, image sharpening etc) and saving on disk for inclusion in a publication. Scanners come in three main varieties:

•	Flatbed – the best (and most expensive) as you can lay any size of paper on its optical surface, and you don’t have to remove pages from magazines etc in order to scan them.

•	Motorised – takes single pages only, which are drawn through a roller mechanism.

•	Hand-held – these scanners are drawn over the image by hand, making the job a little more tricky, but good results are obtainable with practice.

With special software – usually included when you buy a scanner – scanned-in text (from newspapers, magazines, reports etc) can be turned into editable text.


ASCII text file

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Files saved in this format are plain text, with no formatting. These files can be imported into virtually any word processor or DTP program.


Putting a Twist in the Tail of the Tale
Writers’ Update   Sample issue

Putting a Twist in the Tail of the Tale

Putting a Twist in the Tail of the Tale

A good twist-ender puts a sudden new complexion on a short story – one that will leave your readers stunned or spellbound in varying degrees. But it's not always easy to get it right, as NICK DAWS explains

SELLING short stories is never easy, but you will greatly improve your chances if you can write the types of story editors want to buy. Foremost among these at the moment is the one-page twist-ender.

Many popular women’s and general interest magazines publish these stories, which are usually in the region of 800-1200 words. Just a few which regularly include them are Best, Bella, Chat, Take a Break, That's Life, Woman's Weekly and TV Quick. Rates of pay are generally good – from £100 per 1000 words upwards.

All the magazines publishing these stories have slight differences in their preferred length, content, style, etc. – so, as with all writing, it is important to identify a specific target publication and study it thoroughly. It can be instructive to read some stories in your target magazine, then try to summarise them in a few sentences. To give you an example, here is my summary of Blind Date by Hazel Shaw, a recent 1200 word Bella Mini Mystery.

Gillian, a 29-year-old single woman with an interest in Egyptology, advertises for a soulmate in the personal column. She gets only one reply, from a man called Eric. They meet at a station cafe. Eric is in fact a petty thief and con man, who answers lonely hearts ads as a means of getting into his victims’ homes and stealing their possessions. Although Eric sees limited potential in Gillian at first, his ears prick up when she mentions her collection of antiques. He sees her home and wangles an invitation for coffee. He is impressed by the collection of Egyptian artefacts in Gillian’s flat, but disappointed to find that most are cheap reproductions. Then he notices a small jar with a basketwork lid. Gillian tells him it is the pride of her collection, 3000 years old, and extremely valuable. Just before he leaves, Eric manages to slip the jar unnoticed into his ‘poacher's pocket’. When, later, Gillian discovers the theft, at first she is angry and upset – but then it occurs to her that Eric will be in for a shock when he opens the lid, and discovers her bewildered and angry pet asp!

Because they are so short, one-page magazine stories must be tightly written. There is no space for lengthy descriptions, and very little for reminiscence, flashbacks or authorial narration. Most such stories are told in a small number of vividly portrayed scenes. The SHOW, DON'T TELL principle applies with a vengeance.

Bear in mind, also, that stories are generally printed in four or five quite narrow columns, so a paragraph of 150 words which would pass without comment in a book can look like an impenetrable slab in a magazine. Editors want stories to appear as inviting to readers as possible, so published stories usually have a large number of short sentences and paragraphs (which also gives them added pace). When reading and studying published work, try calculating the average paragraph and sentence lengths. You will find that the typical paragraph in many magazine stories is no more than two or three sentences; the average sentence, around 10-12 words.

One thing most one-page twist-enders have in common is a high proportion of dialogue. An obvious benefit of this is that it helps break up text on the page. Here is an extract (which some readers may recognise from Way Ahead’s Creative Writing tutorial) designed to illustrate the use of dialogue in magazine short stories.

“Are you ready yet, Jill?” David shouted up the stairs.

“Shan't be long,” came his wife’s reply.

“For heaven's sake, the show starts in half an hour.”

The bedroom door opened. “What’s the problem?” Jill asked. “Half an hour is bags of time.”

David sighed. They had had this conversation many times before. “We have to get there, park, pick up the tickets. We don’t want to be late like last time.”

The dialogue in this short scene performs a range of functions. It shows readers the different personalities of David and Jill, assisting in the process of characterisation. It gives a sense of immediacy – the reader feels as though (s)he is there in the house with the couple. The short paragraphs give the story pace and improve its readability. And, if we assume that this scene is at the beginning, it reveals the conflicts the story will be based on, and moves the plot along. As this example shows, good dialogue works hard for a living – it should never be mere ‘padding’.

It has to be said that many beginning writers have problems with dialogue: both in making it sound lifelike, and in setting it out. Perhaps the most important thing a writer can do to make dialogue lifelike is keep speeches short. As a general rule, two sentences per speech should be the limit. Remember, also, to use elisions such as can’t, won’t and shouldn’t – it's how we speak, after all. Presentation and punctuation can be learned by studying published stories (though bear in mind that magazines use a one character paragraph indent, whereas in manuscripts five characters is customary). Follow the principle that every new speech starts a new paragraph.

What other qualities should you be aiming for when targeting this market? Most popular magazine stories use ordinary domestic settings which the average reader will find it easy to identify with. The characters, similarly, have commonplace names and backgrounds. However, they need to avoid being mere stereotypes. Even in my summary above, notice how the characters of Gillian and Eric come over as much more than cardboard cut-outs.

Viewpoint is an important consideration. The great majority of these stories are written either in the first person or third person with one main viewpoint character through whose eyes the action is portrayed. An occasional variation is the story with two viewpoint characters – a mother and daughter perhaps – written in scenes alternating between one and the other. Finally, a few stories are written with one main viewpoint character, but change to another at the end to provide the twist-ending. The latter, however, is a crude device, to be used only as a last resort. As a general principle, if you aim to write all your stories for this market using a single viewpoint character from the first word to the last, you will not go far wrong.

‘The ending should, in some sense, turn the story on its head, so that readers suddenly see everything that has come before in a completely new light’

The themes and subjects covered in stories are surprisingly wide-ranging. Romance is always popular, but many twist-enders concentrate on the darker emotions. Stories in which ‘the worm turns’ are often highly saleable. In these, an apparently mild, put-upon main character turns out to have more to him or her than meets the eye. Quite often such stories culminate in acts of revenge, even murder. Even so, violence is never graphically portrayed, and even mild bad language is rare. Most such stories are tongue-in-cheek, and many are downright humorous.

Ghost stories – often with a cosy, domestic setting – appear regularly, though coming up with an original, surprising twist for one becomes ever more difficult. Detective stories also occur from time to time. Science fiction is, however, almost unheard of.

At the end – and I apologise if I seem to be stating the obvious – this type of story needs a strong twist. This should be revealed as close to the end of the story as possible – ideally in the last sentence. The best twist-endings come as a complete surprise to readers. The ending should, in some sense, turn the story on its head, so that readers suddenly see everything that has come before in a completely new light.

On the other hand, to be satisfying, an ending should be seen in retrospect to follow logically from what has preceded it. Ideally you should be able to envisage a reader clapping her hand to her brow and saying: ‘Of course! I should have seen that coming all along!’

Needless to say, coming up with an original twist-ending is not easy (many would say it is impossible). Nevertheless, it is wise to avoid endings which are in danger of being ‘done to death’. These include:

•	stories in which the viewpoint character turns out to be a family pet;

•	stories in which the main character turns out to be a ghost;

•	stories in which the main character has won the Lottery;

and, worst of all –

•	stories in which the entire action turns out to have been a dream of the narrator’s.

Finally, a personal bugbear of mine concerns stories in which the main character suddenly alters his or her personality completely, solely to provide a twist-ending. For example, I recently read a beginner’s story in which a downtrodden but loyal wife has a husband who is obsessive about never taking risks. At the end he discovers he has cancer and has just three months to live. The wife’s reaction is to say: “It's a shame you couldn't get an extended warranty!”. This callous comment was so completely at odds with everything that had come before that it spoiled what had been a promising tale. Perhaps the moral is to avoid sacrificing characterisation, plausibility and everything else, simply to achieve a ‘humorous’ twist-ending.

To sum up, if you hope to write one-page twist-enders for popular magazines:

•	Study published stories in your target magazine

•	Use a first person or third person limited viewpoint

•	Keep sentences and paragraphs short

•	Use plenty of action and dialogue

•	Keep to a minimum description, reminiscence and narration

•	Aim to create believable characters

•	Try to come up with an original, satisfying twist-ending

Writers' Update Features Menu       Writers' Update Sampler Menu       Return to Software Guide


Newsbytes
Writers’ Update   Sample issue

Newsbytes

Click an underscored item to see

it displayed. Click another item to

replace current item with a new one.

Get Blended

Multimedia answers

Cut your ’phone bill

Faster Express

Hawking’s universe on CD-ROM

Better sound and vision

It’s magic!

Writers’ Update Sampler Menu

Return to Software Guide


Get Blended

Video on – Iggy Pop gets the Blender treatment

Get Blended!

IF YOU want to see a truly excellent multimedia magazine (which runs on PC or Macintosh), get hold of a copy of Blender.

This raunchy mag, which features pop music stars, fashion, music and film reviews and samples of the latest computer games, is produced by New York-based Dennis International (closely related to London-based Dennis Publishing, which publishes Computer Shopper magazine among many others).

Blender comes on a CD-ROM and you need a program called QuickTime to run it – but as QT is included on the disk, and it takes just a few seconds to install, that doesn’t really present a problem. What could be problematic is the high level of PC you need to make it run well – ie, a 486 or Pentium with 4Mb of FREE RAM (6Mb recommended), a FAST CD-ROM drive, SoundBlaster compatible sound card and 256-colour capable monitor.

If you have it, fine – find yourself a copy of Blender and see what you’ve been missing as far truly interactive publications are concerned. The content may not be to everyone’s liking (it’s fairly noisy and brash), but it’s a worthwhile experience. As a standard to aim for when considering how to implement multimedia for a particular market, we have come across nothing better so far.

And we simply love the instructions for using it. Basically, if it moves, or if it pops up when your mouse pointer passes over it, click it and see. The video and sound is good, the graphics stunning, and we particularly like the way the film reviews are handled – click on any member of the review panel after watching an excerpt and they tell you what they thought of it (usually in no uncertain manner!).

Traditional interviews are a thing of the past as far as Blender is concerned. Although background information is provided in the form of very readable text, the quotes are in the form of video footage of the interviewee, accessed by clicking highlighted words in the text.

Blender appears every two months, and subscription is $29.95 for six issues. Further information is available by faxing 001-212-302-2635, or by e-mailing subscription@blender.com.

Blender is produced with the Macromedia Director authoring package. For details of this, see this issue’s major feature on publishing on the PC – Self-publish Your Work for Pennies.


Multimedia answers

Multimedia answers

EVER found yourself asking the question: What is multimedia? Or perhaps: How is multimedia made?

If so, Dorling Kindersley – no strangers to multimedia publishing themselves – have the answer. Their new, high quality hardback book, Multimedia, may sound pricey at £19.99, but if you want a good understanding of the new medium, it’s worth every penny.

As well as showing – in DK’s usual, highly-illustrated way – how teams create multimedia encyclopaedias, magazines and so on, there is a potted history of computing and sections on the Internet, interactive TV and virtual reality. If you’re interested in publishing for the PC yourself, you will find the section on authoring programs of particular interest.

In all, it is 192 pages of interesting facts about what is shaping up to be the major area of publishing, edited and produced to a very high standard. We wonder if they’ll make a CD-ROM of this one – or would that be verging on the incestuous?

Further information: Dorling Kindersley, 9 Henrietta Street, London WC2E 8PS, tel. 0171-836 5411.


Cut your ’phone bill

Cut your ’phone bill

MANY writers spend hours on end on the phone talking to publishers, editors, colleagues, and so on.  BT’s Friends & Family scheme could help soften the blow when bills arrive. This popular scheme is now free to join, and gives you a 10% discount on calls to five numbers of your choice.

The numbers can be local or long distance, and you are allowed to include one mobile phone and one international number. In addition to the five numbers, BT will add your own home number so that you also receive the 10% discount when phoning home using a BT Chargecard (which is also available free). For more information, or to join Friends & Family, call Freefone 0800 004 800. Your five nominated numbers can be changed at any time.

•	HINT: If you’ve recently joined up with the information superhighway, don’t forget to give your Internet access provider as one of your five numbers!


Faster Express

Faster Express

THE award-winning shareware word processor, WordExpress, has been upgraded to take into account customer feedback, the Windows 95 environment and a desire to narrow the gap between word processing and desktop publishing.

It is now available as both a 16-bit and 32-bit (Windows 95) application, with both versions offering many improvements and new features.

The suppliers, The Thompson Partnership, say general improvements include better document management from inside WordExpress, including support for file summaries, a full internal file manager service, better support for long documents with faster loading and incremental saving, new document viewing options and improved graphics manipulation while in text mode.

Ease-of-use changes include:

•	Ability to spellcheck the currently selected word

•	Keyboard shortcuts (shown in a printable, .WD2 file)

•	Character map dialog for inserting extended characters and symbols

•	Search and replace for carriage returns, line feeds and other special characters

•	New rulers

•	Text colour control allowing addition of coloured text through main control strip

Some changes narrow the gap between word processing and DTP. These include master pages, allowing you to repeat certain items on every page of your document; linked text frames; object grouping; a rotation tool; colour blends; customised colour palettes; and special text effects like pattern fills, drop shadows and text around curves.

Evaluation copies of WordExpress can be downloaded from The Thompson Partnership’s World Wide Web site, http://www.ttp.co.uk, or from The Thompson Partnership Library on CompuServe’s UK shareware forum (GO UKSHARE).

The registered version of WordExpress is £39.99 plus VAT for either version, and can be ordered direct from The Thompson Partnership, Lion Buildings, Market Place, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire ST14 8HZ, tel. 01889 564601.


Hawking’s Universe on CD-ROM

Hawking’s universe on CD-ROM

STEPHEN HAWKING’s renowned title on the origins of the universe, A Brief History of Time, has become part of Macmillan International Publishing’s interactive CD-ROM range.

MIP, which started its multimedia enterprise with the release of eight titles earlier this year, has demonstrated its confidence in the market by releasing a further four CD-ROMs, one of which is the Hawking bestseller.

A Brief History of Time – the rights to which have been bought by MIP from American publisher W. H. Freeman – sold in it millions world-wide when first released as a book. It is the definitive layman’s guide to the origin and nature of the universe.

As with many densely information-packed books, it does require a fairly high degree of dedication on the part of the reader. MIP says the CD-ROM offers a fun and colourful expansion of the title which takes its content to a new dimension.

The CD-ROM includes excerpts from the Errol Morris TV documentary of the same name; the opportunity to hear from a whole gallery of influential figures in the history of science; and journeys to distant parts of the universe in the ‘Hawking Craft’. The complete text of the book is also included.

Like all good educational CD-ROMs, it brings facts to life and provides an easy and enjoyable way of understanding some of the most complex scientific issues. The price is £39.99 from bookshops or direct from the publisher on 01256 302683.

The other three new titles released by MIP are Fuzzy and Floppy: The Adventure of the Golden Bee (£24.99), a mystery adventure for children aged 7 to 11; and RealTime French and RealTime Spanish (£29.99 each), self-teach language learning courses aimed at young adults.


Better sound and vision

Better sound and vision

COMPAQ, one of the world leaders in PC manufacturing, is to include significant graphics and sound technology enhancements in its new Presario range of PCs due out later this year.

The improvements will include what they claim is the world’s most advanced 3-D graphics technology, Power VR, along with an exclusive new JBL Pro audio system.

Power VR is claimed to be up to four times faster than today’s most powerful dedicated systems, with the ability to process up to a million different shapes per second. Compaq says this will allow home PC users to enjoy high quality, lifelike 3-D graphics with smooth animation and rich colours which will dramatically improve the multimedia experience.

Indeed, Lisa Clark, senior product marketing manager for Compaq UK’s consumer and retail business unit, was moved to comment: “This is a defining moment for the home PC.”

Compaq has entered into partnership with Harman International Industries, Inc, described as the world-wide audio leader, to co-develop the new JBL Pro audio system. The claim is that this system will provide users with PC audio performance that rivals the sound quality of today’s home hi-fi stereo systems.

Further inquiries: Call Compaq on 0181-332 3000.


It’s magic!

It’s magic!

THE LATEST CD-ROM release from IMSI (UK) Ltd forces us to ask: Is there anything you can’t publish on CD-ROM?

I Can Do Magic is an interactive, 3-D magic trick tutorial for children aged from seven upwards.

It contains classic tricks including a conjuring collection, sleight of hand tricks, dinner table dazzlers and card illusions.

The course follows a practise and perform methodology.

Each trick is shown using fully-rendered 3-D animated characters as opposed to ordinary video clips, providing a seamless, behind-the scenes look at how the tricks are done.

I Can Do Magic! is designed for both PC and Macintosh systems. It is Windows 3.1 and 95 compatible. Street price is £19.95 (recommended price £25.95 plus VAT).

With another recent release, IMSI is rocking the clip art market with the largest-ever high-quality image collection.

The Masterclips 35,000 Premium Image Collection includes vector-based colour clip art, TrueType fonts, colour photos, sound clips, animation and video clips, together with a graphics browser. Recommended retail price is £49.95.

Demand for clip art has rocketed as writers, businesses and home computer users seek to enhance their documents, presentations and publications to make them stand out from the crowd.

All of the clip art is vector based and can be edited and saved by the user in a variety of formats.

One wonders what Corel – previously the leading supplier of volume clip art, with 25,000 images included, for instance, with its Graphics Pack suite – will do now. A 40,000 clip art pack, perhaps? Or will they go straight for their competitors’ jugulars with a whacking great 100,000-item offering?

It’s a good thing for them that new CD-ROMs with even greater storage capacity than the current 650Mb are on their way . . .

Contact: IMSI (UK) Limited, 0181-581 2000; Internet – http://www.imsisoft.com.


Business Acumen: Marketing
Windows™-based learning packages from Way Ahead

Business Acumen: Marketing

Award yourself a BA in Marketing!

DO YOU RUN (or plan to start) a small business? Or does your work involve sales and marketing? Then you may be interested in Business Acumen: Marketing, an interactive tutorial from Way Ahead.

Without doubt, good marketing is the single most important requirement for success in business. Business Acumen: Marketing reveals all the secrets, under the six main headings of market research, the marketing mix, advertising, public relations, selling skills, and the use of computers in marketing.

The information is presented in an attractive, easy-to-use graphical format. As well as in-depth learning modules, Business Acumen: Marketing includes checklists, interactive quizzes, case studies, examples and glossaries. A special feature is the material provided with each topic. This consists of templates for advertisements, press releases, questionnaires, etc., ready for you to customise with your own details, then print out and use.

Click the link below for a mini step-by-step guide to using BA Marketing:

Business Acumen: Marketing step-by-step guide

Business Acumen: Marketing contains over 120,000 words of text, as well as graphics, quizzes and more. In one user-friendly package, it provides all the information and material you need to become your very own marketing expert!

Business Acumen: Marketing will operate in Windows 3.1, 3.11 or 95. The tutorial is supplied on three 3.5 inch disks. It costs just £69.99 plus £2.00 postage and packaging.

How to order

You can order by Credit/Debit card (call 01952 243153 to do so by telephone) or send your card number or cheque/postal order to Way Ahead, 27 Woodford Green, Bratton, Telford TF5 0NS. Click the Order Form link below for an order form which you can print out and return to us.

Order Form        Contents


BAM Step-by-step Guide
Windows™-based learning packages from Way Ahead

Business Acumen: Marketing – Step-by-step Guide

BUSINESS ACUMEN (BA for short) is a new concept in learning. Marketing is vital to every business, yet few people know the secrets of successful marketing. The secrets can be learned – and here is the proof.

If you want your business to succeed, or be more successful than it already is, Business Acumen Marketing is the program for you.

With an interactive tutorial to get you started, dozens of case studies, easy-to-follow text, tests, checklists, glossaries of terms and useful material to export to your word processor or DTP package, it is a complete marketing kit.

Here’s how BA Marketing works, in 10 easy steps:

1.	Load Business Acumen Marketing, go to the Main Menu and choose a Topic

•	Click to see Screenshot 1

2.	Having chosen a Topic (in this case, Market Research) choose one of several chapters.

•	Click to see Screenshot 2

3.	 Read the chapter carefully. If you wish, copy it to your word processor and print it. Click Key Points for a quick summary of the chapter.

•	Click to see Screenshot 3

4	After reading the Topic’s chapters, study the carefully researched Case Studies.

•	Click to see Screenshot 4

5.	To make sure you’ve learned the Topic properly, take the point-and-click Interactive Tests.

•	Click to see Screenshot 5

6.	To help you in your own Marketing activities, copy the material you need to your word processor or DTP package.

•	Click to see Screenshot 6

7.	To ensure you are following procedures properly in your own business, consult the appropriate Checklist.

•	Click to see Screenshot 7

For an explanation of jargon and marketing terms, run the appropriate Glossary of Terms, and for a complete guide to the program, you can run the easy-to-follow Interactive Tutorial, which provides a complete guide to using the program.

Return to Business Acumen: Marketing main description      Contents


BAM Screenshot 1
DETAILS       CLOSE


Notes 1
This is Business Acumen: Marketing’s Main Menu. Click the large button near the top right to go the the Tutorial which teaches you how to use the program for best results. To get to the main learning material, click one of the six Topic buttons. The Contacts button, just below the Topic buttons, calls up a useful database of contacts, to which you can add your own information.

The row of buttons across the bottom provide the following facilities:

•	Introduction: Provides you with a general introduction to the subject of marketing

•	Quotes: Summons a list of incisive, often humorous, quotations on the subject of marketing

•	Search for...: Allows you to enter up three words or phrases to search for in the tutorial text

•	Go to page: Provides a list of every page in the program, any of which you can then access immediately at the click of your mouse button

•	History: Shows a list of up to the last 20 pages you have accessed, allowing you to return to any of them immediately

•	Select WP: Allows you to select a word processor or DTP package to use in conjunction with Business Acumen: Marketing

•	Exit: Allows you to leave the program and return to Windows


BAM Screenshot 2
DETAILS       CLOSE


Notes 2
This Topic menu has eight chapter buttons. The two rows of buttons at the bottom are self-explanatory (as are most things in Business Acumen: Marketing), and are common to each of the six Topic menus.


BAM Screenshot 3
DETAILS       CLOSE


Notes 3
A typical chapter screen in Business Acumen: Marketing. The text of the chapter is scrollable. The buttons at the bottom are mostly self-explanatory. Some chapters are in two parts, and the Next button takes you to the second part. Load Wordprocessor loads the wordprocessor or DTP program specified in the dialog called by the Select WP button on the Main Menu. Text can be copied from the scrollable window to the wordprocessor or DTP program


BAM Screenshot 4
DETAILS       CLOSE


Notes 4
The Examples/Case Studies are in scrollable windows, and show how real firms of all sizes have created original marketing ideas and coped with particular marketing problems.


BAM Screenshot 5
DETAILS       CLOSE


Notes 5
Clicking the I’m ready to take the tests button on a Topic menu presents you with a number of tests on the subject covered by the topic. This is Test 3 in the Marketing Mix Topic. Feedback is given near the top right of the screen, and your running score is given at the top.


BAM Screenshot 6
DETAILS       CLOSE


Notes 6
This is where you choose the material you wish to view in the Advertising and Sales Promotion Topic of Business Acumen: Marketing. The material can be copied to your wordprocessor or DTP program.


BAM SCreenshot 7
DETAILS       CLOSE


Note 7
If you are wondering how you will cope with a particular area of marketing, here’s where to find out. The interactive Checklists are designed to highlight any potential weak spots, giving you the opportunity to strengthen those areas.


Perform!...Managing to Win
Windows™-based learning packages from Way Ahead

Perform!...Managing to Win

Learn highly effective managerial skills at your own pace on your PC

Having a great business idea and starting up is far from easy. However, for many, it turns out to be not so hard as fine-tuning the business to make it as successful as it can possibly be.

Perform!...Managing to Win is a brand new Windows-based tutorial which deals with every area businesses need to concentrate on in order to achieve that first-rate image and elusive 100 per cent performance.

The tutorial is split into half a dozen topics:

Topic 1 – Minding  the Store

•	Mapping the Future

•	Creating the Vision

•	Ensuring Success

Topic 2 – Communicating for Results

•	Communicating Powerfully

•	Negotiating to Win

•	Making Meetings Count

•	Presenting With Confidence

•	Writing Convincing Letters and Reports

Topic 3 – Finding and Training the Right People

•	Recruiting and Selecting

•	Interviewing with Purpose

•	Training and Developing People

•	Coaching for Improvement

Topic 4 – Creating Enthusiasm and Motivation

•	Bringing Out the Best in People

•	Setting Objectives

•	Appraising Performance

•	Managing Change Confidently

Topic 5  Dealing With Difficult People

•	Correcting Performance Problems

•	Diffusing Conflict

•	Counselling the Non-performer

•	Settling Grievances

Topic 6 – Getting the Job Done

•	Solving Problems and Making Decisions

•	Planning and Organising Resources

•	Controlling Outcomes

Perform!...Managing to Win includes glossaries which explain terminology and acronyms, interactive tests based on what you learn in each topic, and exercises that prepare you for real scenarios. Click the link below to see a sample glossary.

Sample Glossary

This invaluable learning package costs just £69.99 plus £2 postage and packaging direct from Way Ahead.

System Requirements

386 SX or better IBM or compatible PC, VGA or better graphics card, 3.5in floppy drive (for installing the software), 4Mb RAM recommended, Windows 3.1, or 3.11 or 95. A printer is optional.

Order Form      Contents


Perform!...Managing to Win – Sample Glossary
Windows™-based learning packages from Way Ahead

Perform!...Managing to Win – Sample Glossary

Communicating for Results

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Click an item to pop up its description. Click again, anywhere, to remove description. Click the scrollbar arrows or use the up and down cursor keys to scroll the list.

Active Listening

Agenda

Bargaining

Bargaining Area

Communication

Communication Barriers

Communication Skills

Crucial, Important and Desirable

Fluency

Jargon

Lower Limit

Minutes

Modulation

Most Favourable Position

Negotiation

Pausing

Style

The Gripper

The Heckler

The Know-all or Talker

The Straight Answer

The Re-direct

The Relay

The Reverse

The Whisperer

The Wrong One

Visual Aids

Win-Win

Close


Active Listening

Active listening consists of all of the verbal and non-verbal skills used together to achieve maximum rapport between two people who are communicating.


Agenda

A full and timed list of items to be discussed in a meeting; prepared and circulated in advance.


Bargaining

The process of discussion in a negotiation where the parties explain their respective cases and trade concessions.


Bargaining Area

In a negotiation, the area between one side’s most favourable position and its lower limit.


Communication

The exchange of ideas and feelings by speech, gestures and writing, leading to a sympathetic, mutual understanding with another person or group of persons.


Communication Barriers

There are many barriers to good communication. Here are some of them:

•	Noise

•	Physical disabilities such as hearing impairment and visual impairment

•	Cultural and language differences

•	Jargon

•	Physical distance

•	Lack of time

•	The belief that your way is the only right way.


Communication Skills

There are two categories of communication skills: verbal and non-verbal

Verbal Skills

•	questions, consisting of open and closed questions;

•	checking understanding, consisting of simple repetition, paraphrasing, reflecting feelings and summarising.

Non-verbal Skills

•	These consist of movements of eyes, head and body (body language) and voice tone


Crucial, Important and Desirable

Those items you must get, intend to get and would like get out of a negotiation.


Fluency

Much can be done to make a presentation fluent during the preparation, as explained earlier. It also helps to practise using different kinds of connecting words like “and, consequently, therefore, despite,” etc.


Jargon

Any kind of language not familiar to your audience.


Lower Limit
Lower Limit (LL)

The position in a negotiation beyond which the parties will not concede anything else.


Minutes

A written record of action that was agreed during a meeting.


Modulation

Modulation involves varying the pitch, the pace and the power in the voice. The different intonations which generate these variations make the voice more interesting and pleasant to listen to.


Most Favourable Position
Most Favourable Position (MFP)

An outcome of a negotiation (very rare) in which one or both side(s) get(s) all of their crucial, important and desirable items.


Negotiation

A process of discussion where two or more parties reach agreement on the precise nature of a transaction.


Pausing

In speech, the equivalent of punctuation in written communication. It can signal a change of topic, create anticipation, add emphasis and stimulate thought.


Style

The manner of expression in speech or in writing.


The Gripper

The person who has a soap-box. They try to turn every occasion into an opportunity to stand on their soap-box, especially during presentations.


The Heckler

A difficult questioner who keeps butting in during a presentation.


The Know-all or Talker

A difficult questioner who likes the sound of their own voice and always seems to know as much as a person giving a presentation.


The Re-direct

Diverting a question to a specialist.


The Relay

Referring a question to other members of the audience.


The Reverse

Asking the questioner what their own view is.


The Straight Answer

A direct answer to a question.


The Whisperer

The individual who is constantly whispering to a companion during a presentation.


The Wrong One

The confused individual during a presentation who always seems to get the wrong end of the stick.


Visual Aids

Videos, overhead projection slides, 35mm slides, flip charts, models, samples and specimens used in a presentation to add impact.


Win-Win

Where all parties come away with the feeling that they have gained something valuable in a negotiation.


How to Save Money When Buying a Car
Windows™-based learning packages from Way Ahead

How to Save Money When Buying a Car

How to save a fortune the next time you buy a car

Way Ahead’s multimedia production puts YOU in the driving seat when it comes to negotiating a car deal

How To Save Money When Buying a Car is a multimedia version of What Car? magazine and TV journalist Pat Hoy’s best selling Insider Guide to getting the best deal in the new-car showroom or on the second-hand car forecourt. Whether you are buying new or second-hand, this program reveals the secrets that will put you in the driving seat. With mini-animations, sound (optional) and hypertext links, How to Save Money When Buying a Car shows:

•	How to prepare before visiting the showroom or forecourt, so that you are never caught out by sales techniques

•	How to make sure you stay within your budget despite sales pressure

•	How to spot rehearsed sales routines

•	How to take the initiative when bargaining

•	How to analyse “special” credit deals that could cost you more than you realised

•	Why car sales staff are so keen to sell credit deals

•	How to avoid all of “the tricks of the trade”

•	What to do when things go wrong

Pat Hoy spent 10 years in the motor trade as salesman, business manager and sales manager [image] before becoming a motoring journalist. He knows everything there is to know about how dealers operate – and how you can triumph over their well-rehearsed techniques. Way Ahead offers a guarantee with this program: If you don’t save several times more than the cost of this software next time you do a car deal, we will give you your money back! The cost of How to Save Money When Buying a Car is just £24.99 plus £2 postage and packaging direct from Way Ahead.

•	Are you ready to go out and do a great deal on a new or second-hand car? To find out, click the link below to take a look at the Checklist included with the program. Instructions: Click the appropriate response button on each screen and feedback will appear. At the end of the Checklist, you are given a percentage score. We recommend that your score should be 85% or more for you to be reasonable certain of being suitably prepared for action:

How to Save Money When Buying a Car – the Checklist

System requirements: 386 DX 33MHz PC or higher (486DX2 recommended), VGA graphics, Windows 3.1 or later (including Windows 95), sound card and printer optional. Note: mini-animations do NOT require a special driver. CD-ROM drive not required – program installs from 3.5in floppy disk.

Order Form      Contents


Great book offers from Burgundy Books
Learn, make money and win with these top titles

Great book offers from Burgundy Books

•	Note: the following are printed books, not Windows™ programs. To order any of these  titles, or to receive further information, click the Order form link at the end of the text.

PILLARS OF JUSTICE

The homeowner’s guide to the law

Aimed at all homeowners, this is a guide through the many legal aspects of purchasing, owning and running a home. A working knowledge of the law, as it relates to the most important purchase of our lives, is critical.

Pillars of Justice is a practical handbook, covering key areas such as:

•	The legal aspects of property ownership.

•	The pitfalls of buying and selling.

•	Insurance.

•	Improving and extending your property.

•	Renting out your home.

•	Home security.

•	...and much much more!

Written by Duncan Callow, an authority in law and who is currently working for the Legal Protection Group, Pillars of Justice is available NOW for only £7.95 + 85p p+ p. Ref. ONL1.

ARRIVE ALIVE

The motorist’s guide to personal safety

We are living in an age when violence against car drivers and theft from cars is on the increase. Arrive Alive is aimed at all who are concerned about their own personal safety on the road and behind the wheel.

This step-by-step, easily understood book teaches the reader how to keep safe, how to recognise and escape attacks, and how to prevent car theft.

The book also looks at the ten most common reasons for breaking down, and how to put them right in emergencies, as well as explaining the latest protective devices and teaching the best defensive driving techniques. In addition, aerial view diagrams illustrate the situations and manoeuvres described.

Written by Graham Yuill (A.D.I.), a qualified Department of Transport Driving Instructor, who specialises in training other driving instructors, and was assigned as personal bodyguard to the commander of the Royal Irish Regiment for two years, Arrive Alive is available NOW for only £5.95 + 85p p+p. Ref. ONL2.

WORKING FOR JUSTICE

The employee’s guide to the law

Aimed at all employees, this is a guide through the many legal aspects of working for somebody else. Now that employment can no longer be taken for granted, a well informed knowledge of the law as it affects us is critical.

The easy to understand language makes the book very accessible and a helpful glossary of terms explains the legal jargon used.

Key areas include:

•	Unfair dismissal

•	Redundancy

•	Discrimination

•	Maternity

•	Health and safety

•	Pay

•	Disciplinary matters

Written by Murray Fairclough LL.M, a senior legal advisor with the Legal Protection Group (a subsidiary of The Sun Alliance Group), Working for Justice is available NOW for only £7.95 + 85 p p+p. Ref. ONL3.

BEHIND THE WHEEL

The learner driver’s handbook

Designed to help the learner driver pass the new theory driving test, this book is a step-by-step, highly illustrated and essential handbook.

The teaching methods used are those laid down by The Department of Transport and have been successfully tested on learner drivers. Now into its fourth edition, it has been completely updated, and is the only book of its kind to feature questions and answers aimed specifically at the new theory driving test.

Key areas include:

Twenty easy lessons to teach the reader all aspects of driving and road safety.

•	A full colour road sign section.

•	Over 800 multi-choice questions and answers.

•	A key section on dealing with emergencies.

•	The events of the driving test day with useful advice and tips.

•	Detailed computerised diagrams.

•	...and much much more!

Written by Graham Yuill (A.D.I.), a qualified Department of Transport Driving Instructor who specialises in training other driving instructors, Behind the Wheel is available NOW for only £7.95 + 85p p+p. Ref. ONL4.

HITTING THE HEADLINES!

How to get great publicity

Most people would rather run a mile than deal with the media. But what do you do if you need vital publicity to boost your club, charity or business? Could you cope?

Would you know how to ensure that all the coverage was positive and properly targeted?

Hitting the Headlines! takes the stress out of dealing with the press. This invaluable, step-by-step book offers a wealth of advice on the best way to get your news into print, and how to maximise the impact of good publicity.

Insider tips include:

•	The most effective way to approach news editors

•	How to place advertising to reach the maximum audience

•	How to ensure your press releases become headline stories

•	How to lessen the damage of bad or unwanted publicity

Written by Iain Pattison, who in his twenty years in journalism has been a reporter, feature writer, journalism teacher and managing editor, Hitting the Headlines! is available NOW for only £7.95 + 85p p+p. Ref. ONL5.

ADVERTISING FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS

How to get maximum sales for minimum cost

Sales are the lifeblood of any business. If you are self-employed, running a small business or handling the marketing for a small company, then this book is for you.

Advertising for the Small Business is a practical guide, and provides an introduction to advertising for small businesses where, in an increasingly competitive environment, budgets may be limited, but sales vital.

Key areas include:

•	The purpose of advertising

•	Classified advertisements

•	Display advertising

•	Other forms of advertising

•	Sales letters

•	Direct response advertising

•	Sales promotions and public relations

Written by Nick Daws, a professional freelance writer who writes regularly for national newspapers and magazines, and runs his own marketing consultancy, Advertising for the Small Business is available NOW for only £7.95 + 85p p+p. Ref. ONL6.

Coming soon from Burgundy Books!

S  C  R  A  B  B  L  E

      N        E

      D        A

               R

               N

Improve your chances of winning at Scrabble and become an expert in your chosen subject. Scrabble and Learn offers an extensive variety of subjects/hobbies/interests for you to choose from. Ideal for children.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU WRITE

A guide to error control in documentation

This book / multi-media PC program is a must for anyone who wants (or needs) to write quality documentation without getting bogged down in the finer points of grammar.

Designed to raise your awareness of the way errors can occur in writing, You Are What You Write will make it easier for you to find and control these errors.

Practical techniques include triage, professional editing, proof reading and probability theory. Written by Dr William Hoy, PhD.

HOW TO START AND RUN A SUCCESSFUL NURSERY SCHOOL

An ideal business opportunity

If you are thinking about starting your own business, and like working with children, you need How To Start and Run a Successful Nursery School.

Written by a couple who have built up a thriving nursery school from scratch, this book is a step-by-step guide based on a revolutionary new format, which makes it easy to learn from their experience.

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Contents


Burgundy Books Order Form

If you would like to place an order for any of the Burgundy Books titles featured, please print out the order form below by clicking File in the menu bar, then choosing Print Topic from the drop-down menu.

Introductory offer: Order more than one title, and  deduct 10% off your total order value

To Burgundy Books: Please send me the following titles as indicated (tick the relevant box(es)):

� PILLARS OF JUSTICE ONL1                                £8.80 inc. p+p

� ARRIVE ALIVE ONL2                                      £7.80 inc. p+p

� WORKING FOR JUSTICE ONL3                               £8.80 inc. p+p

� BEHIND THE WHEEL ONL4                                  £8.80 inc. p+p

� HITTING THE HEADLINES! ONL5                            £8.80 inc. p+p

� ADVERTISING FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS ONL6                £8.80 inc. p+p

Forthcoming Titles

Please send me details of the following ticked items when available:

� SCRABBLE AND LEARN (BOOK)

� YOU ARE WHAT YOU WRITE (BOOK AND MULTI-MEDIA)

� HOW TO START & RUN A SUCCESSFUL NURSERY SCHOOL (BOOK)

Total order value                                         £______._____

Less 10% discount (if applicable)                         £______._____

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� I enclose cheque (made payable to Burgundy Books) for   £______._____

� Please debit my Access/Visa/Mastercard/Switch/(other) ________________

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Exp. date __ __ / 9__     Issue number (Switch cards only)______

Please send my order to:

Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms:_____________________________________________

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Please send  (or fax with credit card details on 01256 762623 ) your completed order to: Burgundy Books, FREEPOST BZ836, Hook,  Hants RG27 9WA. Or call our 24-hour credit card order hotline on 01734  611817

Return to great book offers from Burgundy Books

Contents


Help-IT
Windows™-based learning packages from HSC Limited

Help-IT

Publish yourself in the most cost-effective way with Help-IT

Help-IT is a complete Windows Help authoring package from HSC Limited. If you thought all Help files were full of technical information and difficult to follow, your view could be about to change – the hypertext Software Guide you are currently reading is a Help file, authored with Help-IT!

We feel there is no need to give any other example of how publications produced with Help-IT can be colourful, impressive and easy to use – everything you see in this publication was produced using the tools available in Help-IT.

 What you get when you buy Help-IT

The truly great news about Help-IT is that it contains EVERYTHING you need to start authoring and publishing your own work, and there is NO ROYALTY CHARGE for distributing the publications you create with it.

One computer disk can inform, advertise, promote, explain, and involve your readers far more powerfully and much less expensively than an equivalent printed manual or brochure. Have a look at some of the areas you may want to work in:

• Publishing

• Mechanics • Decorating

• Gardening • Stamp Collecting • Advertising

• Golf • Finance • Marketing • Football • Health • Swimming

• Music • Diet • Beauty • Therapy • Transport • Cycling • Woodworking

• Education • Computing • Cooking • Business Planning • Foreign Languages

Astrology • Electronics • History • Child Care • Travel • Medicine • Law

• Voluntary Work • Agriculture • Counselling • Diving

• Geology • Building • Sociology

• Economics • Navigating

• Psychology

The list could go on and on – they are all viable possibilities for well designed Help files. The only thing all these subjects have in common is that someone, somewhere will be interested in your expertise if you are in possession of specialist information and knowledge.

Information can be extremely valuable. If you're writing about a really popular subject, don't work for free!  You can work out your own marketing strategy but consider this – it's quite feasible to circulate an introduction free of charge, but if your readers want the whole story, make them pay for access to the rest of your expertise . . .

Remember, many large businesses and government departments have already discovered the effectiveness and economy of distributing documents, results, procedures, reports, training and all manner of other information in the form of Help files. As computer use becomes ever more widespread at work and in the home, this form of easy publication will soon be accepted as the norm. Purchasing the Help-IT system will give you a head start in the fascinating (and maybe lucrative) field of expert authoring.

Save on paper and printing costs

Everything that would form part of any company report can be achieved more effectively in a Help file. Think of the savings in paper and printing costs! And if there is anything that really needs to be available as a hard copy, the topics can be printed as and when they are needed.

Schools need to communicate. They also need to save money – a great deal of many educational budgets is spent on reprographics, expensive and wasteful photocopying. It's not very effective and not likely to be very colourful. The structure of a Help-IT program lends itself to illustrating anything that needs to show clear organisation and classification – an ideal vehicle for anyone involved with schools and colleges. If you work in education, there are bound to be plenty of Help-IT projects that would make your department more effective and probably save scarce resources at the same time.

‘Everyone has at least one book in them . . .’

As the saying goes, it's certainly true that everyone has some specialist knowledge or experience that is unique to them. And in the information age there are probably many people who would value your particular information – especially if it could be distributed and accessed easily and conveniently.

You won't have long to wait – it's only a matter of time before Windows™-capable machines are as commonplace as TVs and Videos. Of course, your immediate acquaintances are an insignificant part of your real audience potential as soon as you distribute your programs and specialist information by e-mail . . .

System Requirements

Requirements for Help-IT are modest: a 386 SX PC or better, VGA graphics, 3.5 in floppy drive (for installing the software), Windows 3.1 or later (including Windows 95) and (preferably) a mouse are about all you need. A printer is useful if you wish to check printed output from the Help files you create, but by no means essential.

Help-IT costs just £92.83 including VAT and postage and packaging when ordered from Way Ahead.

Order Form       Contents


What you get when you buy Help-IT

Help-IT adds this program group to your

Windows set-up. Click any item in the group

to see a description.


Helpitpopup1
This starts Help Writers Assistant, the main component of Help-IT, which provides full topic creation, text editing, graphics importing and hypertext linking facilities. The program has a full on-line reference system. Context sensitive help is available.


Helpitpopup2
All the features of Help-IT are introduced in this on-line tutorial for a rapid start. Build and run your first program within 5 minutes of installing the application. All the source text and graphics are ready for use as they are, or can be edited and adjusted to create your own variations.


Helpitpopup3
All the features in this detailed tutorial are introduced with clear, easy-to-follow instructions. Design and create a large program file including multiple links, secondary windows, glossary, custom buttons, etc. Sources are supplied for text and graphics.


Helpitpopup4
Everything you need to know about producing great graphic effects, using only the Help-IT applications and standard Windows accessories. Tricks & Tips, Project Design and Hot Spot Linking are covered in detail (hot spots are areas of a graphic on which a user can click to call up more information, another graphic, or even another program!).


Helpitpopup5
This starts the Hot Spot Editor to mark in links on your pictures.


Helpitpopup6
The Microsoft Windows Screen Capture program is distributed with the Help-IT package. Use it to create an image of the current window, the whole screen or a rectangle marked out with the cursor.


CV Write Away
Windows™-based learning packages from HSC Limited

CV Write Away

Produce a perfect CV

every time

The ideal program for the job

A CV is the first vital step in securing a rewarding job  yet many otherwise skilled and talented people find it difficult to write a good one.  With CV Write Away, you can produce CVs for yourself, family members and friends, and offer a professional service to the public, guaranteeing a perfect CV every time.

Clicking a tab on the CV Write Away main screen reveals one of seven forms in which you enter the subject's details

CV Write Away for Windows, produced by HSC Limited, costs just £78.73 inclusive of VAT, postage and packaging, and enables you to start offering a professional CV-writing service straight away. Client information is stored in a database, and a variety of CVs to suit particular circumstances can be produced from the same set of information.

The program uses an attractive filing system metaphor. Clicking a coloured tab takes you to a form where you enter a particular kind of information about your client, including personal details, examination achievements, career to date and skills.

Once the information is entered on the forms, a variety of types and styles of CV, to suit any kind of application, can be produced at the click of a button. The database keeps all client details, so you can re-open a CV file and update and/or print a new CV any time the service is required.

When creating a CV from the information entered into the various on-screen forms, you

can choose CV type and style, and decide whether to include details such as age and

marital status.

With a useful preview facility which shows exactly how the printed CV will look, plus on-line help which explains how to use the program AND how to make the most of the marketing opportunities, CV Write Away is definitely the right program for the job!

System requirements

CV Write Away requires a 386 SX PC or better, Windows 3.1 or later, at least 2Mb of RAM and about 3Mb of free hard disk space.

Order Form       Contents


Legacy UK Will Writer
Windows™-based learning packages from HSC Limited

Legacy UK Will Writer

Legacy UK Will Writer

Earn a second income with your PC

• Supplement your income by starting a small business providing a will-writing service via your computer

• Program approved by The Society of Will Writers

In association with HSC Limited, Way Ahead is pleased to be able to offer this unique package which will enable you to provide a professional service.

Most people decide at some stage in their lives that they need to write a will. Legacy UK Will Writer for Windows provides you with a complete will-writing package.

 What you get when you buy Will Writer

Marketing Kit

A full marketing kit is provided with the program. Clients fill in their details, and you type these into the easy-to-use interface. Once the details are in, the program will format a perfect, customised will ready for printing and supply to the client. Will Writer, when bought from Way Ahead, costs just £93.00 for the complete kit. Full instructions are included.

Just as there is a growing awareness of the need for overall financial planning, so there is an increasing acknowledgement of the fact that a legally valid Last Will & Testament is essential for every family in Britain.

But even with substantial publicity from a variety of sources, very few people have taken the all important step of writing a Will. This is an opportunity that cannot be ignored.

The reasons for NOT writing a Will are quite simple. In most cases making a Will involves a deliberate effort to arrange an appointment with a solicitor. For many people there is very little need to ever see a solicitor – few people ever make use of their legal services except when buying a house .

Visiting a solicitor also means taking time off during the working week. It means being allowed a limited amount of time to discuss personal wishes. It may mean an unknown fee at the end of the process. And having consulted a solicitor, most people feel obliged to include the law firm as one of the executors of the Will – even though this can involve a substantial fee that has to be paid for out of the estate.

Sometimes a Bank to is used to draw up the Will but if this happens, once again there is the eventual cost of permitting the Bank to be named as an executor. At the present time, Banks are very reluctant to relinquish rights of executorship because of the large fees they can obtain in administering an estate.

Alternative approach

What is needed – and what is succeeding – is an alternative approach to Will writing. You should aim to provide your clients with a personal service. They should no longer have to make an appointment at an inconvenient time or at some remote office.

Whenever possible, try to discuss individual wishes in the privacy and comfort of the client's home. As soon as it is known that you are able to provide this vital service directly and conveniently, there should be no problem in finding fresh sources of well qualified prospective clients.

Your first job as a Will Writer is simply to record clients' instructions as clearly as possible. Unless you are already working in the field, you will NOT be expected to be a legal expert but you will be able to answer all the queries that arise with the vast majority of clients.

Users of Will Writer for Windows have many different objectives and backgrounds. Frequently the program is purchased simply for use with friends and family. Probably the majority of users wish to supplement earnings and maybe complement other services such as Insurance, Financial Consultancy or Estate Agency. Some users (even those entirely new to Will Writing) have found that their business has developed so successfully that it has become a full time occupation.

There is also a growing number of established professionals such as Solicitors, Accountants, and Will Writers with other companies who have found the Will Writer for Windows program the most efficient (and cost effective) option for producing Will documents.

There is no single method for building a successful business of this nature. But there are definitely two major points in your favour when you start to sell this service (click this link to find out what they are!). Don't be afraid to experiment and please let us know when you try a new scheme that works well.

Order Form      Contents


What you get when you buy Will Writer

 Legacy UK Will Writer adds this program group

to your Windows set-up. Click any item in the

group to see a description.


Wwpopup1
The icon which you double-click to load the main Will Writer program, where you fill in a series of straightforward forms with information obtained from your client.


Wwpopup2
Full Help facilities are available at the click of a mouse button. Apart from explaining how the program works, there is plenty of advice on marketing.


Wwpopup3
After entering information, all you have to do is click a button and the Format Macro automatically formats the will (with heading, font and style commands) ready for printing.


Wwpopup4
Many will-makers wish to insert special clauses. The Clause Library included with Will Writer makes the job so much easier.


Wwpopup5
The Readme file included with Will Writer provides you with the very latest news and information about the program.


Two points in your favour...
1	Most people you contact do not already have a Will – the statistics are on YOUR SIDE! People  who do have a Will may well mention your call to friends and colleagues. There is a growing awareness of the need for everyone to write a Will. Similarly, for those contacts who do not have a Will your call may come at just the right time

2	Every contact you make increases your chances of providing your service to the right person at the right time. Whatever reasons people give for not agreeing to meet you, their  wishes must be respected – they must be allowed to refuse your offer if they want to; but every NO brings you one step nearer to a YES. If you persevere you are BOUND to contact people who will be very glad you have called and will appreciate the service you offer.


The Way Ahead Shareware Library
Shareware programs from Way Ahead

The Way Ahead Shareware Library

The

Shareware Library

 Welcome to the Library

 Software for Writers

 Software for Businesses

 Software for Home and Special Interest

Shareware Order Form       Contents


Welcome to the Library
Shareware programs from Way Ahead

Welcome to the Shareware Library

Way Ahead has selected some of the very best PC Shareware titles for writers, small businesses and home and special interest users.

Most are Windows programs, but several DOS titles have been included on account of their ability to fulfil certain needs and their proven general excellence. Titles run under Microsoft Windows unless indicated with a *DOS* prefix.

Charges for the supply of titles are as follows:

•	1-3 titles:	£7.50 per title

•	4-6 titles:	£7.00 per title

•	6-8 titles:	£6.00 per title

•	8+ titles:	£5.00 per title

The above charges include postage and packaging to a UK address. Overseas customers, please add £1.50 per order.

Shareware is try-before-you-buy software. That is, if you wish to continue using it after a trial period (usually 30 days) you are expected to register the program with the author. Full details of how to do this are included on the disk(s).

PLEASE PLAY FAIR WITH SHAREWARE: The cost of registration is generally exceptionally low, and for your modest investment you usually receive the very latest version of the program, a printed manual and details of any future upgrades.

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Software for Writers
Shareware programs from Way Ahead

Software for Writers

Software for Writers

Brainstorming/Ideas Generation

*DOS* Babble! is an automatic writing program which analyses samples of text for style and content, and then generates a steady stream of nonsensical prose. Mix Shakespeare and Harold Robbins (or import your own writings); apply special effects like stutter and subliminal. Text is controlled on-the-fly using Babble!’s unique "text mixing studio" control panel, and changes appear instantly. By mixing up words and ideas, and by finding connections between things which are not obvious on a straight reading of the text, Babble! is useful both as a writer’s tool and as an ideas generator for brainstorming sessions.

Infomap Lite brings the power of "Mind Maps" (Tony Buzan’s brainstorming & ideas creation vehicle) to the graphical PC environment, and extends the utility by combining the graphical interface to produce a tool which helps you collect, visualise, organise and present information. Gives added control and visibility over writing or other projects, meetings, ideas, action plans, to do lists and much more.

Paramind for Windows is a creativity aid which works by merging words from a "Word Category" database into sentences that you enter into the program via a simple word processor interface. Your ideas are expanded by copying them and changing each copy slightly by replacing old words with new words. Word category databases are related word chains, such as colours, speeds, descriptions etc, and can be created and expanded by the user.

Desktop Publishing

*DOS* Envision Publisher runs in its own graphical environment under DOS. It is a true WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) desktop publishing program which allows you to design your documents in a visual, interactive fashion: what you see on the screen is exactly what will be printed. Features easy-to-use, mouse-controlled graphical user interface; context-sensitive help; scaleable fonts capable of displaying and printing from 4pt to 144pt; full control over text blocks and columns, line leading and justification and character kerning; drawing tools for lines, rectangles, circles, ellipses, polygons, polylines and curves in a variety of fill patterns, styles and colours; PCX bitmap file import and text file import from popular word processors; style sheets, master pages and page numbering. Will work on any graphic display and print to 9 or 24 pin dot matrix, laser, inkjet or postscript printers. During printing, output may be collated, reversed, scaled or sent to a disk file.

PagePlus Intro is a single page desktop publishing system for Windows 3.1 based on the popular retail DTP system PagePlus 2.0. Features text and graphics rotation, powerful typographical control and drawing tools, Hypergraphics Help, full frame based text flow, document templates and full support for Windows fonts including TrueType.

TrueType Fonts 1 includes TTINSTAL v2.00 font installer/previewer plus a selection of fonts. These include Amelia, Andes, Andes Bold, Antique, Ariston, Ashley, Athletic, Baskerville, Bauhaus, Becker, Beeswax, Benguiat, BlackAdder, Black Forest, Blippo, Bodacious, BoDiddly, Bodoni, Boldface and Brushscript.

Electronic Books

*DOS* Robert Carter’s Armada is an electronic version of his recent historical adventure novel set in the 16th century and follows the fortunes of Captain-General John Hawkins, John and Richard Tavistock, merchant seamen during the Anglo-Spanish conflicts of that time, together with the political intrigues of the Elizabethan era.

*DOS* Talwar is an epic historical novel by Robert Carter in the tradition of "Shogun", supplied in hypertext format; the first time a major popular novel has been offered on disk at the same time as it appears in print. A story of love and war set in mid-18th century southern India during the Anglo-French war and the conflict between the trading ports of Madras and Pondicherry. Hayden Flint and his father Stratford challenge the supremacy of the East India Company, but their own personal battles will jeopardise the whole future of the British in India.

*DOS* Shakespearean Plays covers twelve of Shakespeare’s plays and allows the use of arrow keys on a menu to select which act and scene to be viewed. Each program contains a glossary, and words in the glossary are highlighted in the main text. Disk 1 contains A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet; Disk 2 covers As You Like It and The Taming of the Shrew; Disk 3 contains Julius Caesar and King Lear; Disk 4 Othello and The Merchant of Venice; Disk 5 Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth; Disk 6 Twelfth Night and Anthony and Cleopatra. Each disk counts as one title.

*ASCII Text for use in Windows or DOS word processors* Horror Classics includes Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Supplied as plain ASCII text files which can be read by any word processor or text reader.

Genealogy/Royal Ancestry

Kith and Kin for Windows is a genealogy program featuring an easy to use graphical user interface and powerful multi level editing tools making it ideal for large or small family trees. Supports dates and places of birth, marriages and deaths as well as multiple marriages and aliases for each person. Complete user control over formatting and extent of several printed reports including tree graphic, family unit details and index to names. Supports TrueType fonts and colour printing, and features GEDCOM file support.

*DOS* Monarchs provides information about kings and queens of England from 827 AD to the present time. As well as dates of their rule the program also provides information about their major achievements and notable events during their reign such as wars and battles plus details of birth and death. Monarchs may be selected by name or year of reign Facilities are also provided to print out the information. Also includes a quiz about the monarchs and a top ten score table is saved on disk.

Graphics

Top Draw is a paint program for Windows 3.1 able to read and write Windows WMF, BMP or PCX format files. Features include user-modifiable Shape Palette, user definable pens and line endings, calligraphic and rotating pens, the ability to define both a fill and a texture style for an object, and the ability to cut and paste any drawing into virtually any program that supports WMF graphics. Complete hypertext help is provided in addition to command descriptions and selected object systems on the status line. Comprehensive multi-level undo and redo is provided.

Multimedia Authoring/Utilities

Showstopper is a Multimedia development and presentation system for Windows 3.1. Using simple templates, you can develop training applications in minutes featuring 256 colour graphics, scrollable text and WAV sound clips. Also features Q&A for training apps.

E-Media is a "book on a disk" development tool for Windows. It can display scrolling text Windows, show a BMP graphic, play a video clip, print text, run a slide show, or run an external application. This can be used to produce sales promotions, electronic resumes, software demos, corporate newsletters and more.

Win Interactive MultiMedia is a multimedia file player for Windows 3.1. It can display full motion video (AVI) files, and has optional audio CD-playing capabilities. Supports common sound and graphics files including WAV, MID, BMP, ICO, WMF, DIB and RLE. Play controls have continuous loop, automatic rewind, and auto-load control functions for files. Load feature has playlist capabilities for easy file browsing. Soundblaster compatible sound card supported. Several sample files are included.

Picture It With Sound allows creation of Multimedia Windows tutorials and presentations like the "Look and Listen" series. Simply substitute your own sound and graphics files for those supplied with the program. Features picture file Autostretch/Shrink. Up to 100 picture and sound files in one show. Needs sound board and microphone to create sound files (plays back through PC speaker), and graphics program able to produce BMP files for pictures.

Softline Brochure is an easy to use multimedia program enabling the production of talking brochures. Associate picture files with your recorded voice or music. Allows up to 100 picture and sound files in one show. Automatically accesses a Windows Write file from within the program for detailed written information (ie product catalogue, pricing, service bulletins, new product announcements etc). The end customer can print out your detailed information within Windows Write. Needs sound board and microphone to produce sound files (but plays back through PC speaker), and a graphics program capable of producing BMP files for pictures.

JASC Media Centre is a Windows program for multimedia file management and manipulation. You an organise your multimedia files into albums of thumbnails, catalogue, search, sort by keyword, comment or file properties. Files can be viewed with a powerful slideshow feature. Prints high quality contact sheets. There is support for 35 file formats, removable disks and CD-ROMs.

Preview is a Windows-based graphics file viewer, general image utility and multimedia player. It features full GIF 87a/89a support and comment viewing, and fully supports TIFF, PCX, TGA, BMP, DIB, WPG and DCX formats. Includes supports for JPEG files and raster support for EPS and Mac PICT files. Multimedia support includes AVI video, WAV audio, MIDI music and FLI/FLC animation files. It includes an AVI frame grab function to import and save AVI frames to other formats. Powerful printing support and file conversion. Images can be sharpened, smoothed, resized, flipped, rotated, dithered and converted to greyscale.

Quickshow Lite for Windows is a multimedia slideshow creator supporting images in all the static bitmapped formats. Allows you to create slideshows almost instantly. Each image can include attached WAV. MID or AVI files for special effects. Special effect transitions between slides are easily implemented.

Personal Organisers

Almanac for Windows is a complete desktop manager comprising calendar, notebook, scheduler and to-do list which can be viewed simultaneously via multiple windows. Notes can be attached to dates, to-do items or appointments. Allows user-defined holidays, birthdays and other special days. Rapid selection of year, month etc. Wide range of printing options.

Poetry

*DOS* Poetry Star uses artificial intelligence techniques to maintain an interactive dialogue with the user. In addition to "questions and answers" sessions, Poetry Star can also collaborate in free verse poetry writing, analysing users’ input to generate lines of poetry. Can be used as an interactive poetry tutorial.

*Use with Windows or DOS word processors* ASCII Touchstones is a collection of 38 poems in plain text format plus a set of 23 files giving brief notes on the life and principal works of each of the poets concerned. Poets featured include Marlowe, Shakespeare, Donne, Vaughan, Blake, Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, Keates and Browning. Also supplied paginated and margined in a single volume ready for printing. Ideal for students of English Literature or anyone interested in classic poetry.

Specialist Databases/Cataloguing Systems

Jeepers for Windows is a bibliographic database management system for writers and scientists. Takes advantage of Windows MDI and DDE features to allow multiple files open at the same time and can send formatted bibliographies to Word, Ami Pro and WordPerfect for Windows automatically. References consist of title, authors, journal or book title, pages, volume, year, type (journal, book or abstract), editor, publisher and keywords.

Librarius is a Windows 3.1 cataloguing system for printed and audio-visual material. Allows many different types of media to be catalogued using the same window; items are indexed as they are catalogued, making them instantly available for searching; searching includes word, word beginning, date and Boolean methods; statistical information presented in a wide range of graph types. Uses paradox format files for easy export to other applications. Shareware version limited to 300 titles.

On This Day (*DOS*) and On This Day for Windows (both versions included) are event database printing programs. When given a date in which the user is interested, OTD reads a group of databases then formats and prints the data for the specified date. These databases are simple text files which can changed and added to as required with a text editor or word processor. Handles dates in Gregorian, Hebrew, Islamic and Julian calendars. Can accept dates like "the last Monday in May" for holidays with a variable date. Also calculates phases of the moon, solstices and equinoxes, and flags lunar eclipses. Comes with a collection of data ready to use.

Dear Diary lets you journal your day to day thoughts and activities in Windows 3.1. You can store up to 64,000 characters of notes per day. Data is stored using MS-Access 2.0 format, enabling users to create their own ad-hoc queries and reports. Requires VBRUN300.DLL (supplied).

Word Games/Quotations

Wisdom of the Ages for Windows is an electronic book of quotes, sayings and ideas. It contains 6,561 carefully selected thoughts from over 1,000 of history’s greatest European, American and Asian minds. Features include a handy toolbar interface, colourful iconic subject menus, word searching capabilities, custom fonts and text colours, subject finder, and more. You can also add, edit and delete entries.

Men on Women/Women on Men is a database of approximately 900 quotes, quips, cracks and witticisms. 500 different authors throughout history are quoted on Men, Women, Sexes, Husbands, Wives and Love. Includes browser, filters, word search, seven indexes, twelve output formats, context sensitive help and various tools and options to customise print, disk write, and screen characteristics.

*DOS* The Last Word is a quotations based trivia game for one to four players competing against each other and their own high scores identifying the sources of quotations and completing partial quotes. Most answers are entered free form and are matched with a sophisticated pattern matching algorithm. Quotes are sourced from literature, politics, social commentary, etc. Supports Ad-lib soundboard if available. Will also run under Windows.

Windows Word Search Rampage is a word search puzzle creator and solver supplied with over 100 categorised puzzles which can be played on the computer or printed out. Option timer, hint mode, highlight mode, grid, upper/lower case and sound. Variable complexity levels of created puzzles, plus options for no diagonal words, or increasing numbers of diagonals also available.

Hangman for Windows is an excellent implementation of the classic word game, featuring a high score table, five levels of difficulty, a choice of keyboard layouts and word lengths, an option to play against the clock, and a dictionary of 3,500 words.

Word Processing

WordExpress is a fully featured Windows word processor which combines first class word processing features with a range of desktop publishing capabilities. Features a true WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) display. This program has been favourably compared with the likes of Word for Windows, WordPerfect and Ami Pro/Word Pro. Tables and pictures can be embedded into documents, there are full search and replace facilities, and you can create newspaper style columns for all or just a part of a document. Other features include headers and footers, borders and shades, user-defined tab stops, bullets, numbered lists, envelope printing, mail merge and spelling checker.

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Software for Businesses
Shareware programs from Way Ahead

Software for Businesses

Software for Businesses

Business Card Design

Rockford is a business card design and printing program for Windows 3.1 able to use TrueType and ATM fonts, BMP or PCX bitmap graphics in up to 256 colours in a WYSIWYG environment. Features text rotation, image resizing, line drawing , print single, multiple or sheets of cards, special foreign character support, colour printing and much more.

Business Simulation

Strategic Business Simulator is a Windows-based management decision-making game which can be used in conjunction with accounting, economics, finance, management, and marketing courses. Participants divide into decision teams consisting of three or more individuals who take control of a firm and make periodic high-level decisions choosing output levels, price, advertising expenditures etc. The computer then simulates the business activity of each firm and prepares reports showing the results during each quarter.

Contact Management

Contact! for Windows is a general purpose contact manager with address list, diary, to-do list and a journal for taking notes. Also features an auto-dialler, a powerful query utility, label/page printing, fast search facility, secure password protection and multiple contact files. Address data can be imported and exported in ASCII (text) and other formats.

Databases

buttonFile is a Windows based personal database manager operating on a cardfile basis. Supplied with 14 pre-defined templates including book library, business contacts, home inventory, mailing lists, music collection, personnel records, recipes, video library etc. These can be easily modified to suit your specific requirements. 100 pre-defined forms supplied for all common labels, cards, envelopes and paper sizes. Handles fields up to 256 characters, records up to 40 fields (including a free form "notes field" of up to 8192 characters).

*DOS* PC-File 7 is the latest version of Buttonware’s best-selling database program which now incorporates a new look "graphical" style interface (character mode also available), spelling checker for memo fields and much more. Makes extensive use of a mouse if you have one. Features retained from previous versions include a versatile report writer for fast and easy custom reports, graph line/pie/bar charts and more (Postscript output supported), retrieve data from multiple databases, dBase file compatibility, customise up to five data entry screens with up to 128 fields, telephone dialling and phone log.

Wyndfields Bronze is a powerful relational database system for Windows allowing up to 20 database files to be open at once. Contains all the usual database functions plus use of formulae and calculation functions to create calculated fields, multiple record updating or deleting based on search conditions, mail merge output compatible with WordStar, MS Word, Word for Windows, WordPerfect, and WordPerfect for Windows, and will import dBase files and comma or carriage return delimited ASCII files.

Envelope/Label Printer

PrintEnvelope is a complete Windows mail addressing system with facilities to print envelopes or labels of any size. Can use different fonts for addresses, note text and the return address or use a Windows BMP graphic as the return address. You can type addresses on the fly, paste from other applications, use an address book or import a mail list in Windows Cardfile or ASCII format. Supports laser, dot matrix and Postscript printers and can automatically set orientation and select paper bins.

Finance/Accounting Systems

Systematic Finance Applications is a sheet of financial templates for the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program. It provides company accounts and performance ratios analysis, lessor lease evaluation, lease vs. purchase and lease purchase analysis, a finance calculator for solving single and multiple cash flows, net present value calculations, internal rate of return, UK monthly salary statement, and UK personal income tax returns.

Money Smith is a double-entry accounting system, financial calculator and investment tracking system for Windows 3.1 with excellent graphing and reporting features. Also supports budgeting, cheque printing, account category grouping, international currency support and automatic recurring transactions.

Smart Accounts for Windows is an integrated package for managing your bank account. Features include automatic posting of regular entries (standing orders, direct debits). Check of cleared and uncleared items with running totals. Forward projection of balance is possible with a "what if?" procedure. All items can be assigned budget codes making possible a full analysis of expenditure.

Flowcharting

Treechart for Windows enables the design of presentation quality organisation charts or other hierarchy charts. Features automatic box sizing, positioning, alignment and routing of connecting lines, outlining features for chart design, print preview and auto scaling, print whole chart or sub-section. Uses TrueType or ATM fonts.

Forms Designer

Formpower is a flexible forms processor for Windows 3.x. It features a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface allowing you to create, fill out on screen and print multiple forms. Powerful drawing tools are optimised for forms design and manipulation. Includes a library of sample forms to get you started.

Job Applications/CV Manager

*DOS* Job Hunt manages your job searching by recording achievements, work history and education details, using the information to create CVs. A database of "action" words ensures you use the right words in text. CVs can be stored as small text files or in a database, allowing them to be customised for each application. Other databases record contacts, agencies, job applications, interviews and interview questions and answers. Features hypertext help, interview/CV tips, calculator, calendar. Includes mouse support.

Management Assessment

Leadership Test for Windows allows you to test yourself or prospective managers and leaders in important skill areas. Tests can contain from 20 to 100 questions and cover communications, motivation, delegation, time management, stress, human relations and more. Complete question and answer quizzes may be printed out.

Project Management

Task Planner is an easy to use project management system which graphically displays every task required to complete a project, warns you of delays or stoppages, tracks the cost, who is doing each task and when. At a glance you can look at what needs to be addressed today, this week, month etc.

Personal Organisers/Reminder Systems

Time and Chaos is a powerful integrated appointments calendar, to-do list and phone-book/dialler. Appointment calendar provides times from 6.00am to midnight, a 70+ character description line, and numerous repeating options. The to-do portion lets you assign a variety of weights to activities, links to a telephone contact, and has an auto dialler. The telephone book area includes information for both work and home, with several address lines for PO BOX numbers etc. Printed reports include phone-book, address book, to-do list and daily/weekly/monthly calendars in two different sizes.

Above and Beyond is an excellent task scheduling appointments management system for Windows. All types of recurring activities need to be entered only once. Also includes a pop-up calendar, alarms and week-at-a-glance. Generates printed schedules for use throughout the day. Can use UK format if desired. Notebook-style text editor for reminders. Also numerous multi-user LAN group productivity features.

Gorin’s Organiser for Windows complete personal information system features a "month in view" diary using smart icons to mark appointments, calculator, phone dialler, notepad and mini contacts database. More than a straight conversion of the DOS version, it was written from scratch to take advantage of the Windows environment. Includes multimedia voice notes, alarm clock, telephone logging and multi-organiser support.

Reminder System contains DOS and Windows versions of a daily reminder program which will alert you to important events before they happen. Excellent calendaring features make it easy to add, modify, view or search your events. Over 20 parameters let you set just when and how you’re notified.

Spreadsheet

As-Easy-As... is a DOS spreadsheet – virtually a full clone of Lotus 1-2-3. It features pop-up or panel menus (user configurable) and powerful charting – Bar, Stacked Bar, Line, XY, Pie, HiLo, Cumulative, Area, Radial, Semi-Log and Log-Log. Intelligent recalculation calculates only cells that are relevant, giving greater speed. More than 100 macro commands and more than 100 functions for maths, statistics, finance, logic, strings and dates, plus user-definable functions. More than 50 pages of on-line help screens.

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Software for Home and Special Interest
Shareware programs from Way Ahead

Software for Home and Special Interest

Software for Home and Special Interest

Astrology

Astro 22 Professional Astrology for Windows is an enhanced version of the popular DOS-based astrological program which accurately calculates the position of the planets, cusps and Zodiac positions to within approximately 30 seconds of arc. Designed to meet the needs of anyone interested in astrology regardless of experience. Features textual character profile which may be viewed on screen, printed or saved to a file, and powerful aspect calculating routines displayed in tabulated, graphic or grid modes. Graphic screens can be scaled, copied to the clipboard and pasted into other programs such as Paintbrush, Windows Write or a DTP package.

Astro World for Windows is an astrological program allowing the creation of personalised horoscopes. Offers three different house systems. You can include or ignore planetary aspects and there is an option to adjust the orbs for every occurrence. Interpretations incorporate a drawing of the birth chart, a legend with the symbols of the planets and signs of the Zodiac, a tabular representation of all astrological data for a particular horoscope, general astrological remarks, evaluation of the sun, moon and the ascendant, astronomical, archetypal and astrological meanings of the planets. Also provides an entire planetary aspect interpretation.

Gardening

GrowIt For Windows is a gardening program with databases of many hundreds of trees, shrubs, bulbs and plants. It includes plant attributes, requirements, maintenance and more. You can perform a search by common or botanical names and other criteria. Covers buying, planting, making compost, mulching, fertilising, pruning, transplanting, watering and dealing with pests and diseases. Features graphics screens with hints, advice and illustrations of practical tasks.

JSSI Garden is a garden management program for Windows which allows you to enter details of flowers, vegetable crops etc and produces a simple graphic display of your garden layout. Allows details to be kept of what you planted, when you planted it, when it sprouted, when it first bloomed (or bore fruit), when you first picked or cut it, and much more.

Lottery

Windows Lotto is a powerful Lottery Analysis program for Windows 3.x featuring a comprehensive set of analysis charts for handicapping lottery numbers. The Quick Pick option picks the best numbers to play. Numbers picked can be used with any of the 24 wheeling systems included. Compatible with all lotteries that pick 5, 6 or 7 numbers  inlcuding, of course, our very own National Lottery!

(*See BlockBuster Plan for details of how to purchase Windows Lotto along with a GUARANTEED plan, based on sound mathematics,  which greatly improves your chances of winning the National Lottery).

Music

Noteworthy for Windows is a music composition and notation processor allowing the creation, playback and printing of your own musical scores. You can also export your compositions to other MIDI applications. Imports and automatically notates songs contained in standard MIDI files.

A Musical Tutorial for Windows is an excellent way to encourage musical study in an easy-to-use graphical environment. Treb/Bass note and chord sight reading; associate notes to piano keys; chord dictionary; musical games; play, view and print scales, chords and broken chords; play classics; print sight reading test papers; key signatures.

Guitar Teacher incorporates a guitar tuner accurate to 1/10000th of a cycle per second with a database of 240 chord diagrams, left- or right-handed, which when selected are played through the PC’s speaker. Seven chord formulas (major, major 7, minor, minor 7, 7, suspended 4 and 7, suspended 4). There are six alternatives for each chord, with formula and voicing displayed. DOS and Windows version are included on this disk.

Windows/Typing Tutorials

Sunshine is a Windows based tutorial and reference, covering Windows, DOS and computers in general. Includes hypertext and hypergraphic glossary containing the latest buzzwords from Microsoft, PC magazine, Dr Dobbs Journal and elsewhere. Tutorial sections include "For Absolute Beginners" and "The Visible Window".

Mastermind Typing teaches touch typing in a fast and innovative manner by adapting exactly to the learner. Postpones repetition until you need it, and repeats before you forget. From the learner’s answer history, MasterMind estimates exactly when one will forget a key. Features graphic display of keyboard layout for prompting and demonstration.

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The BlockBuster Plan and Windows Lotto
How to improve your chances of winning the Lottery

The BlockBuster Plan and Windows Lotto

Increase your chances of winning The Lottery with

The BlockBuster Plan

and

Windows Lotto

WITH all due respect to Mystic Meg, Way Ahead is unconvinced by predictions when it comes to playing the National Lottery. We prefer a more scientific approach to increasing the chances of a win.

Armed with our BlockBuster Plan, which is based on sound mathematics, and the  brilliant Windows Lotto program from the Way Ahead Shareware Library, you can genuinely increase your chances of a share of the National Lottery loot.

The BlockBuster Plan comprises THREE GUARANTEED PLANS FOR WINNING THE NATIONAL LOTTERY!

What would YOU buy if you won the Lottery? A country mansion? A Rolls-Royce? A yacht? A holiday home? A round-the-world cruise? Maybe you’d splash out on all of these, and more. With the UK National Lottery, ANYONE can become a multi-millionaire with a few strokes of the pen. As the adverts say, IT COULD BE YOU!

Of course, winning the Jackpot does require a slice of good fortune. However, some luck you can make for yourself. That’s where The BlockBuster Plan comes in. It’s the key that can help unlock the door to success in the Lottery, and MAKE ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!

So what is The BlockBuster Plan? It consists of three separate plans for winning the National Lottery. Each of these plans is derived from MATHEMATICAL PRINCIPLES and have been fully verified by computer. What’s more, the results from all three plans are GUARANTEED!

PLAN ONE GUARANTEES a prize if you are able to find the six winning numbers out of a total of SIXTEEN (nearly one-third of the numbers available). You may well win multiple prizes, and perhaps even the six-number jackpot. The best news is, it requires only FIVE £1 entries.

PLAN TWO is even cheaper to operate. It costs only £4, and GUARANTEES a prize if you are able to find THREE or more winning numbers from a choice of EIGHT. Finally, PLAN THREE GUARANTEES you will win a prize if you are able to find just THREE winning numbers from a total of TEN. It requires just ten £1 entries, and is equally suitable for syndicates or individuals.

By now you are probably wondering how much we are charging for The BlockBuster Plan. Well, we have seen just ONE plan similar to the three in our plan advertised for twenty-five pounds. But because we firmly believe that EVERYONE should have the chance to benefit from this opportunity, we are selling the entire BlockBuster Plan – three lottery-busting plans in one – for the low, low cost of just £10 – AND we are including the brilliant Windows Lotto shareware program which you can use in conjunction with the plan. You could recoup your investment – and perhaps a great deal more! – with just one win.

Clearly an offer such as this cannot be extended indefinitely. So, to avoid disappointment, please do ORDER NOW while stocks remain at the special, ultra-low price.

The Trend Chart feature in Windows Lotto

Windows Lotto is a powerful lottery analysis program for Windows™ featuring a comprehensive set of analysis charts for handicapping lottery numbers. The Quick Pick option picks the best numbers to play. Numbers picked can be used with any of the 24 wheeling systems included. Compatible with all lotteries that pick 5, 6 or 7 numbers – including, of course, our very own National Lottery!

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Coming soon . . .
Future releases from Way Ahead

Coming soon . . .

APEX

Achieving Personal Excellence

THIS BRILLIANT tutorial is being designed for anyone who wants to unlock their potential, improve relationships, make the maximum contribution to their work, live a full and satisfying life and become everything they deserve to be.

Objectives of tutorial

By the end of the tutorial, users will

•	have developed a personal mission

•	understand and be able to describe how to build effective relationships at work and away from it

•	understand and be able to describe how to be confident and successful in trying situations

•	have developed an action plan to enable them to become the person they deserve to be

The tutorial will have four topics, each divided into chapters as follows:

Developing a Personal Mission

1. 	Discovering what is important to you in your life and work

2. 	Identifying your values

3. 	Determining what you want from your career

4. 	Determining what you want from your life

5. 	Setting goals to fulfil your mission

Strengthening Relationships at Work and Away from It

1. 	Achieving and maintaining mutual understanding and rapport at the deepest level

2. 	Disagreeing without damaging relationships

3. 	Seeing things through others’ eyes

Being confident and Successful in Trying Situations

1.	Turning Disaster into Triumph

2. 	Being resourceful at all times and building on your successes

Becoming the Person You Deserve to Be

1. 	Achieving your potential at work and away from it

2. 	Fulfilling your mission

APEX – Achieving Personal Excellence, is being designed to have general appeal. It doesn’t matter who, where or what you are as regards education, employment or your family and social situations. The sole aim is to help you achieve the goals that are important to you in the most effective way.

Way Ahead plans to release APEX in spring 1997. Please contact us if you would like further details in advance of release date.

How to write short stories that sell and win competitions

WRITING a successful short story is an art. It has been said that writing a brilliant short story can be more difficult than writing a novel.

Way Ahead has already proved, with its highly successful Creative Writing package, that the art of writing can be taught on computer. Now we are working on Short Story Acumen, a fully featured tutorial specifically for those who want to earn good money and win competitions with short stories.

There is a huge market for short stories – magazines, anthologies, some newspapers, and national and local radio are just some of the possibilities. There are also more and more short story competitions every year, many offering substantial cash prizes and publication of the winning stories. However, only those whose work reaches a very high standard will be successful.

We said short story writing is an art. But it is an art that can be learned by those with the will to succeed at this demanding, but eminently enjoyable and fulfilling area of writing.

How to Write Successful Short Stories, due to be released at the start of 1997, is a step-by-step, on-screen guide that you can refer to as you are writing your stories.

Topics will include:

•	Developing ideas and plotting short stories

•	Creating believable characters

•	How to handle dialogue

•	Choosing the right viewpoint (ie first person, third person)

•	How to handle flashbacks

We will also be including a number of successful short stories, with comments from the authors describing how they conceived and developed their ideas, chose their viewpoint and so on.

If you want to succeed at short story writing, this tutorial is a must. And at a proposed price of just £25.99 plus £2 postage and packaging direct from Way Ahead, it will pay for itself many times over when you find your stories being accepted by editors.

The complete guide to communicating technical information

IN AN ever more complex world, it is becoming increasingly important that people – particularly writers and those in business – should be able to communicate technical ideas effectively.

Have you ever read a user guide for a video cassette recorder or a computer program which confused you, or even left you clueless? Then you’ll know how important it is to provide information and instruction in a clear, easy-to-understand way.

People who possess this skill are usually more successful and have greater job satisfaction than those with poor communication skills.

Technical communication is NOT confined to engineering or technology. It is used to define, describe and direct activities in all types of business and industry.

Way Ahead's forthcoming CTI (Communication of Technical Information) series will be divided into seven modules, any of which can be used stand-alone, or in conjunction with any or all of the other modules:

•	CTI-1	Technical Communication Techniques (Foundation Course)

•	CTI-2	How to Write Effective Reports

•	CTI-3	How to Write Effective Specifications

•	CTI-4	How to Write Effective Manuals

•	CTI-5	How to Write Effective Sales Literature

•	CTI-6	How to Write Effective Documentation for Foreign Users

•	CTI-7	How to Control Errors in Documentation

As an example of module content, the following describes CTI-1: Technical Communication Techniques (Foundation Course):

Objectives of tutorial

After completing the tutorial, participants should:

•	Own a set of usable guidelines for communicating technical information

•	Be able to evaluate technical communication using the guidelines

•	Be able to draft technical communication using the guidelines

What you will learn

•	How to communicate effectively

•	How to identify the information you want to communicate

•	How to collect and collate data

•	How to choose the appropriate style, grammar and vocabulary

•	How to prepare and present technical ideas and information to the best advantage

•	The tools and techniques used in the preparation and presentation of technical information

The first module of the CTI series will be released during (if not before!) the Spring of 1977. Pricing information is not yet available, but our policy, as always, will be to keep prices as low as possible, and there will be considerable discounts for those who buy more than one module in the series.

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Services for Business
How Way Ahead can help YOUR business

Services for Business

Services for business

Present your products – or yourself – on disk

How would you like to present your products or services just like we have presented ours in this on-disk guide to software? It doesn’t matter what you are marketing – provided your customers or clients, or significant number of them, are PC users, we can create customised catalogues, profiles, CVs and so on to your specification. All you have to do is send us the text and any graphics you would like to include, and a basic outline of what you would like the finished job to look like and achieve for you or your business.

We also provide a similar service for those who wish to publish information on the World Wide Web (see below).

Custom Tutorials

Way Ahead offers this highly individual service to businesses of all types and sizes. Custom tutorials to run on the IBM compatible PC are written to clients’ specifications. This increasingly popular method of imparting information and training to new and existing staff is both cost-saving and highly effective.

Tutorials on any subject or aspect of a particular business display information in a user friendly manner. Features such as case studies, interactive quizzes and glossaries of terms reinforce the lessons.

Custom Testing and Assessment on Computer

For businesses wishing to test or assess job candidates and/or existing employees, Way Ahead offers a unique custom service which will cover every firm’s requirements.

The questions can be based on client companies’ own tried and tested techniques or designed from scratch by Way Ahead in consultation with companies’ recruitment/personnel staff.

The tests/assessments run on the IBM compatible PC in a simple, point and click interface suitable for use even by those who have not used a computer before. Results are automatically saved to disk and the system is totally secure with no possibility of interference with results by unauthorised parties.

Detailed reports on the performance of each “candidate” taking a test or assessment are available at the touch of a key.

World Wide Web Consultants

In association with HSC (Hypertext Software Consultants) Way Ahead offers a complete service for businesses and individuals who would benefit from a page or a complete site on the Internet’s fast-growing World Wide Web.

With 40 million people estimated to be using the Internet and thousands of others coming on-line daily, the Web is obviously of major relevance to any business or individual with a message – commercial or otherwise – for a mass audience.

Way Ahead will explain all the possibilities for gaining maximum exposure on the Web, and process the images and text which will become your vital link with this vast new international shop window.

Professional Writing Service

Businesses who want to ensure their written communications with the outside world are of the highest quality can take advantage of the professional service offered by Way Ahead.

We produce highly effective press releases, company and individual profiles, advertisement copy, mail shots, important business letters – in fact, any communication or document which needs that special professional edge to increase the chances of success.

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The Way Ahead Creative Writing Competition
Cash prizes and publication on the Internet

The Way Ahead Creative Writing Competition

The Way Ahead Annual

Creative Writing

Competition

Your chance to win great cash prizes,

computer software, and publication!

To underline our continued commitment to helping writers succeed, Way Ahead sponsors an annual Creative Writing competition. The competition is for a short story of less than 2,000 words on any subject (apart from children’s stories). Prizes will be awarded as follows:

1st – £300      2nd – £150       3rd – £50

A further seven runners-up will receive a copy of Creative Writing 2.0 for Windows, or any other Way Ahead software of their choice. All ten winning stories will be included in an electronic anthology to be published on floppy disk and on the Internet. This is a real chance to make a name for yourself and have your work read by a potential audience of 40 million plus on the information superhighway!

Rules      Entry Form       Contents


Rules
The Way Ahead Creative Writing Competition

Rules

To print the rules, click File in the menu bar and choose Print Topic from the drop-down menu

Rules

1.	The competition is for an original short story of under 2,000 words on any subject.

2.	Entries should be typed, double-spaced, and on one side of the paper only.

3.	All types of short story are welcome, apart from stories for children. Copyright in all stories will remain with the authors, but Way Ahead reserves the right to publish the winning stories in an electronic anthology without further payment to contributors.

4.	Stories should not have been published professionally, but stories which have appeared only in not-for-profit magazines and anthologies are acceptable

5.	Manuscripts cannot be returned, but a copy of the results and judges' report will be sent to all who enclose a 9" x 4" SAE (or IRC from overseas) with their entries.

6.	The entry fee is £3 per story. Competitors may submit as many stories as they wish so long as each is accompanied by the appropriate fee. Cheques should be made payable to Way Ahead.

7.	Competitors are asked NOT to put their name on their manuscripts, but to complete the attached entry form. Entry forms may be photocopied if required.

8.	The closing date is 30 September. Entries received after this date will go forward to the following year’s competition.

9.	The judges' decision will be final and there can be no correspondence concerning the result.

10.	Failure to observe any of the above rules may result in disqualification.

Creative Writing Competition main page      Entry Form       Contents


Entry Form
The Way Ahead Creative Writing Competition

Entry Form

To print the entry form, click File in the menu bar and choose Print Topic from the drop-down menu

ENTRY FORM

TO: The Competition Secretary

Way Ahead

27 Woodford Green

Bratton

Telford

Shropshire

TF5 0NS

I enclose £.......  entrance fee payable to Way Ahead for ......... entries in the Way Ahead Annual Creative Writing Competition, which I declare to be all my own work and never published professionally.

Name (block caps) ...................................................................................................................

Address......................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................Phone No

Title of work/s submitted ...........................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

Signature ...............................................................................

Do you use a computer/word processor for your writing  YES/NO

If Yes, please indicate what type it is:

�	IBM or compatible PC running MS-DOS

�	IBM or compatible PC running MS Windows

�	Apple Macintosh

�	Amstrad PCW

�	Other (please state)

This form, together with your manuscript/s and £3 for each entry, and 9" X 4" SAE if you require a copy of the results and judges’ report, should reach the Competition Secretary not later than 30 September.

---------------------------

For official use only

Entry No.................

Creative Writing Competition main page      Rules      Contents


Order Form
Windows™-based learning packages from Way Ahead

Order Form

To print this order form, click File on the left of the menu bar, then choose Print Topic... from the drop-down menu. Use this form to order any of our software other than items from the Way Ahead Shareware Library. To order Shareware, click Shareware Order Form.

Way Ahead Order Form

Please send me the following:

�	Creative Writing Version 2.0. I enclose cheque for £51.99 (£49.99 plus £2 p&p), or please debit my credit/debit card number below

�	Writers’ Update quarterly magazine for all writers. I enclose cheque for £14.95 for a one-year (four quarterly issues) subscription, or please debit my credit/debit card number below. The current quarter’s issue will be despatched to you immediately.

�	Business Acumen Marketing. I enclose cheque for £71.99 (£69.99 plus £2 p&p), or please debit my credit/debit card number below

�	Perform! . . . Managing to Win. I enclose cheque for £71.99 (£69.99 plus £2 p&p), or please debit my credit/debit card number below

�	How to Save Money When Buying a Car. I enclose cheque for £26.99 (£24.99 plus £2 p&p), or please debit my credit/debit card number below

�	Help-IT. I enclose cheque for £92.83, or please debit my credit/debit card number below

�	CV Write Away. I enclose cheque for £78.73, or please debit my credit/debit card number below

�	Will Writer. I enclose cheque for £93, or please debit my credit/debit card number below

�	The BlockBuster Plan and Windows Lotto. I enclose cheque for £10, or please debit my credit/debit card number below

•	Please send more information about services for business. I am interested in:

�	Catalogue/profile/CV on disk             �    Custom tutorials

�	Custom testing and assessment      �    Publishing on the Word Wide Web

�	Professional writing service

Name: ....................................................................................................

Address: ................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

Credit/debit card number: ...........................................................................

Expiry Date: ......./.......        Issue number (for Switch cards only): ................

Signature: ..............................................................

Return this form to: Way Ahead Electronic Publishing, 27 Woodford Green, Bratton, TELFORD  TF5 0NS

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Shareware Order Form
Shareware programs from Way Ahead

Shareware Order Form

To print this form, click File in the menu bar and choose Print Topic from the drop-down menu. Make sure your printer is switched on, and on-line.

The Way Ahead Shareware Library

Order Form

To order, simply fill in the form below with the title of the program(s) (the part in bold at the start of each program description) that you require, and the amount in the next column, then write the total in the box at the bottom. Don’t forget to include you name and address and (optionally) your telephone number. There is NO additional charge for postage and packaging.

Enter program name (in bold at start of each description) in this column	Enter amount in this column. Charges for programs are: 1-3 titles: £7.50 per title 4-6 titles: £7.00 per title 6-8 titles: £6.00 per title 8+ titles: £5.00 per title
Total:

Name:

Address:

Tel No.:

I wish to pay by:     Cheque    �                    Credit/Debit Card    �

Credit/Debit Card No.: ............................................................................ Expiry Date......../.........

Issue No.: (for Switch cards only) ........            Signature: ............................................................

Send your completed order form to:

Way Ahead Electronic Publishing,

27 Woodford Green, Bratton, Telford, Shropshire TF5 0NS.

Tel: 01952 243153

E-mail: wayahead@cix.compulink.co.uk

Internet – World Wide Web: http://www.demon.co.uk/hsc/wayahead

Shareware Library Menu       Contents