From Articles & Blog

A Robust Mother’s Guide to Business

I’ve run businesses and worked from home for 20 years and I know how hard it is to juggle kids, work and the home. My goal is to enable you to benefit from my 20 years experience, to jump ahead a few years in the learning process and to avoid some of my mistakes. I’ll tell you what will save you time and money and increase your business. Some items may be relevant to you, some won’t.

Simplify woman juggling work and family

Stop enrolling your kids in so many activities. You’ll run yourself ragged and it takes you away from your business. One sport and one musical activity is enough and if you can get all your kids into one activity at the same time, like Little Athletics or Nippers, even better. One activity gives them a chance to be good at something rather than spreading themselves so thin they are ordinary at everything.

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A Woman’s Guide to Financial Security

Too many women leave management of the family finances to their husbands. As a result, when the couple separate, the woman often does not know how to access funds, how much money or assets they hold or if she has adequate superannuation, if any. Whilst no one plans to get divorced, with the Australian divorce rate currently standing at 40%, it is wise for woman to play a role in managing the family finances.
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Crossword Compiler Reveals her Secrets

Barbara Gettinby has been compiling cryptic crosswords for more than 20 years.

Frustrated when compilers would not reveal how they arrived at their answers, she decided to compile crosswords herself. Thus Finnegan’s Cryptic Crosswords was born. Finnegan’s Cryptic Crosswords solver was the first cryptic crossword book to contain all solutions fully explained. Barbara released 10 volumes in magazine format throughout newsagents in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

In 2005 Barbara released two books entitled Cryptics Made Easy, a blue and a purple edition (now out of print).
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An Introduction to Australian Book Publishing

On 3rd May 2011 I attended An Introduction to Australian Book Publishing course hosted by Australian Publishers Association and presented by Richard Smart.

The course was comprehensive covering the creation of a book from conception to editing, production to publicity and sales. There were 10 topics, each presented by a specialist from the big publishing houses.

So, what did I learn? Well, I learnt that I fair knowledge when it comes to the creation of books. I was the only attendee from a small publishing company. Most were employed by the big publishing houses and their roles were specialised, e.g. Production Assistant, Assistant Editor, sales and marketing. As a result they often knew their roles very well, but not that of the rest of the staff or the importants of each role in the book creation process. On the other hand, I had been involved in the entire process. I had:

~ Chosen a manuscriptFresh off the press.
~ Edited the manuscript, working directly with the author
~ Outsourced proofreading of the manuscript
~ Typeset and layout of text
~ Purchase of ISBN and barcode
~ Cover design (outsourcing my ideas to a graphic designer for creation)
~ PDF creation for submission to printer
~ Liasing with the printer
~ Liasing with Australian Book Group for distribution
~ Publicity
~ Sales and Marketing

I am not extraordinary. This is the role of the small publisher. We provide a different role and service to the big publishers. As a result we release (a lot) less books but each book is a joy and nothing beats the thrill of hosting a book launch or seeing your book/s on the shelf in a book store.

Trish Radge
Radge Publishing

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Travel SouthEast Asia – Places we Visited

Des Gettinby outlines the places he and his wife, Barb, travelled on their journey through SouthEast Asia. Des wrote about his adventures in his humorous travelogue, Budget Travel Secrets – SE Asia

Bangkok You must have an onward ticket before you enter Thailand. Thirty day visas are issued at no charge on arrival. Extensions are available or just cross a border and reenter Thailand to get another thirty day visa.

Most popular areas for budget travellers to stay in Bangkok are either Siam Square (close to the Sky Rail) or the even less expensive Banglamphu (Khao San Road), which is further out of the city centre.

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