John Halsted
MBA. Dip. BC
Free
Self Publishing Expert
John Halsted Quick Facts
- Main Areas
- Editing, Publishing, Printing, Book Promotions
- Career Focus
- Author, Multiple Business Owner, Publisher, Consultant
- Affiliation
- Institute of Directors, Founder Member the Interim Management Association, European Group of Public Administration, Cranfield University Performance Management Association
After completing an MBA as a mature student I found myself with time on my hands. I started researching my family history (which is Viking) and ended up with a bundle of research. Someone suggested there maybe a book somewhere in my research. And there was. But this was just the start of my journey.
After completing my book I trudged around the traditional publishing houses for 2 long years and was dismayed at the treatment received.
I then stumbled upon self-publishing and was shocked at the mediocre services offered for the exhorbitant charges asked.
I was equally dismayed at the treatment of authors intending to self-publish - as if we are the uncleanest of the unclean - and I set about using my 25 years of business expertise to correct this.
Abela Publishing went live in September 2008. We offer the full range of publishing services to aspiring authors - Editing, Publishing, Printing and above all, a comprehensive Book Promotions campaign. The first ever "Hybrid Publishing" model.
We do not "look down" on authors wanting to self-publish. Instead we offer every assistance in smoothing the way to becoming a published author, treating authors, for that is what they are, with the dignity and respect that anyone who has created a manuscript deserves.
John Halsted Books
Articles by this expert
SelfGrowth articles and saved writing connected to this expert.
Article
Ananzi Stories - Children's Trickster tales from West Africa
ANANZI or Ahnansi (Ah-nahn-see) "the trickster" is a cunning and intelligent spider and is one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore and culture. The Anansi tales are believed to have originated in the Ashanti tribe in Ghana. The word Anansi is Akan and simply means spider. They later spread to other Akan groups and then to the West Indies, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles on the back of the West African slave trade.
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The Four Ancient Books of Wales - an Anthology of Dark-age Welsh Bardic Poetry
THE dissolution of the religious houses in Wales during the reign ofr Henry VIII, and the dispersion of their libraries, led to many Welsh manuscripts passing into the hands of private individuals. Collections of Welsh manuscripts soon began to be formed by persons who took an interest in the history and literature of their country. In the early 1600's many of the manuscripts came into the possession of Robertr Vaughan which he amassed at Hengwrt, his home, preserving many unique texts which might otherwise have been lost. Later these become known as the Hengwrt-r
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Article
Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends - Raising Funds for the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
Jewish folklore overflows with vivid stories that both entertain and teach. And why shouldnt it? The Jewish culture has branches in just about every nationality in the world but despite being exposed to different cultures it has retained it's distinctiveness. In 1919, "Aunt Naomi" (Gertrude Landa) wrote Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends, a book of 27 fairy tales based on stories of the Jewish interpretations of the Bible.
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Australian Legendary Tales - The Jungle Book of Australia - Raising Funds for the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
AUSTRALIA makes an appeal to the fancy which is all its own. When the first white settlers arrived in Australia, all was novel, and, while seeming fresh, was inestimably old. The grey gum-trees did not resemble any European forest, but were antique, melancholy and featureless. In a continent of rare hills, infrequent streams and interminable deserts nothing was concealed within the wastes, yet a secret was promised. The birds and beasts--kangaroo, platypus and emu—are, like the continent and all that is within - ancient.
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INDIAN FAIRY TALES - tales from the subcontinent of India - Raising funds for the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
Soils and national characters differ, but fairy tales are often the same in plot and incidents, if not in style. Most of the 27 tales in this volume of Indian fairy tales by Joseph Jacobs and illustrated by John D Batten are known in the West in some form or other; how can we account for their simultaneous existence in both Europe and Asia?
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Article
Legends and Popular Tales of the Basque People - Raising funds for the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
This collection of Basque legends, fairy tales, ballads, and popular stories , translated by Mariana Monteiro and illustrated by Harold Copping, having their origin in the ancient traditions which formed a portion of the sacred inheritance bequeathed to the Basque people by their forefathers, and handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. These tales constitute the archives of the Basque people, the treasures of their science and of their beliefs; they are the records of the lives of their forefathers, the landmarks of the grandeur of their past history.
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Article
Old Peter's Russian Tales - Children's Tales from Old Russia - Raising funds for the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
This is a book of old Russian folklore retold for young people and the young at heart. The tales are a good sampling of Slavic märchen, or folk-tales. The stories in this book are those that Russian peasants tell their children and each other, or at least did tell their children before the October Revolution of 1917.
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Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from John Halsted
YOU ONLY LIVE - MAKE THE MOST OF IT!
A resonable person will adapt themselves to their surroundings.
An unreasonable person will adapt their surroundings to themselves.
Progress is therefore dependent on unreasonable people.
If you always do what you've always done
You'll always get what you've always got!
Contacting John Halsted
Contact: Enquiries@AbelaPublishing.com
Website: www.AbelaPublishing.com
Abela Publishing (Co. 3866324) trades under the England and Wales Companies Act 2006
How to get started
Dont wait for the right time for it to happen. Start now!
Try the internet, and of course that forgotten institution - your local library.
If you dont ask, you'll never receive.
A good book has a start, a middle and an end.
Dont try and write the first chapter on day one. Start by writing down the subject.
Then divide the subject into three sections - your start. middle and end.
make notes about what will be/should be in each section - on three separate pieces of paper.
Then divide each of the three sections into three again - just like before. By now you should have in effect nine chapters. Only this time, once you have the three sections outlined, add a bit more detail about what should be/would be/could be in each section.Its better to have more in at the start and then takesome out than to have too little to start with.
Once you have your detail, take each of the nine chapters and try and divide them into two - which will give you between 9 amd 18 chapters in all. More than enough for a book.
Dont think about chapter headings just yet, but continue to add detais and facts to each chapter.
And now you start to write, building the story line. Its OK to write the last chapter first. If you do this you know at the beginning just where you want to end. This can make writing the rest of the book easier - not EASY, but easier.
The publishing standard is to print approximately 350 words per page. Its good to aim at about 120 pages as anything less than 120 pages will cost just as much to print as 120 pages would. So a 120 page book will have approximately 42,000 words or about 2333 words per chapter. But this is not a hard and fast rule.
So what are you waiting for - GET TO IT!
Other highlights
On Monday 21 February, an earthquake measuring 6.3 struck Christchurch, New Zealand which has resulted in serious structural damage and a significant loss of life.
These two books have been republished to raise funds for the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. US$3.50 or GBP£3.00 (approx NZ$6.40) will be donated to the appeal from every copy sold via the URLs listed.
Not only will you donate to the appeal but you will end up with a sliver of Polynesian Mythology. Please be generous.