How Jamaican Writers from UWI with Tablets can crowdsource ePub Books

“We are hoping for at least 75 per cent penetration of tablets and e-books by September 2014, and that's the target that we are working towards”

Ronald Anderson, representing the Office of the Deputy Principal at the University of The West Indies in the Sunday Gleaner March 16^th 2013

If you’ve read my blog article entitled “Data Outsourcing comes to Jamaica via MobileWorks and Freelancer.com - Flexi-Work propelled by Crowdsourcing and MicroWorking Anaconda” you by now realize that you have no excuse to not be working. You can now sign up for a Freelancer Account or a MobileWorks Account and start making money as a freelancer doing various tasks:

1.      Website scripting or design

2.      Article rewriting or writing

3.      Graphic Design

4.      Programming

5.      Social Media Marketing

6.      SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

However, all is not a bed of roses as to even bid for jobs on Freelancer, one has to pay, a contradiction of its very name. The screenshot provides evidence of this anomaly.

MobileWorks is just as bad, being geared mainly towards persons seeking to hire Freelance workers or Virtual Workers. Thus this would seem like a dead end. But dear reader, don’t give up on the idea of Work-at-home or Telecommuting, as many a lucrative career is built on this model.  

Telecommuting Jobs – Work for unemployed in Jamaica is via Flexi-work

Some 9-to-5 Jobs have aspects of them that are Telecommuting jobs, where workers stay connected to the Office via Smartphone and the use of Webcam and microphone via Broadband Internet. Here’s a decent list for Americans compiled by Forbes Magazine as listed in the article “Top 10 Best-Paying Work-At-Home Jobs”, viewed by Lindsworth Deer on August 3 2013, Forbes:

1.      Physicians and Radiologists

2.      Computer Software Engineers

3.      Financial Managers

4.      Postsecondary Teachers

5.      Market and Survey Researchers

6.      Registered Nurses

7.      Public Relations Specialists

8.      Writers and Authors

9.      Tax Preparers

10.  Graphic Designers

In fact, if you are inclined to COMPLETELY work from home, there are options for you as well, albeit mostly restricted to Americans as compiled in “10 Great Work-at-Home Jobs”, published February 2012, viewed by Lindsworth Deer on August 3 2013, Kiplinger and “10 Online Jobs That Really Pay”, viewed by Lindsworth Deer on August 3 2013, AllYou:

1.      Affliliate Blogger

2.      Answering-Service Employee

3.      Beauty Product Seller

4.      Call-Center Employee

5.      Content Writer

6.      Culinary Consultant

7.      Data-Entry Worker

8.      Document Translator

9.      Expert

10.  Interview Transcriber

11.  Online Reseller

12.  Virtual Assistant

13.  Web Search Evaluator

Why Telecommuting is so desired – Advantages to both Employers and Employees

The above infographic should assure you’re not alone with regards to realizing the obvious benefits of Teleworking:

1.      More time with Family

2.      Save on Fuel Bill

3.      More Productive work in your own space, depending on your focus level

4.      Less Stressful as you are not under the Boss’s Watchful eye

5.      Lower Wages a benefit to the company your boss is employed

6.      Contract based work, a benefit to both Employer and Worker

The world of Crowdsourcing, Flex-Work, Telecommuting and thus Work-at-Home jobs is just beginning to open up to us Jamaicans thanks to the coming of Broadband Internet as stated in my Geezam blog article entitled “Jamaica’s 100MBps Internet Silver Lining – Tele-commuting Workplace is coming”.

If you still want to work in Jamaica, there is still the Call Center World which is some 14,000 workers strong and set to experience rapid expansion with the coming of Legislation later this year that’ll make Flex-Work Legal as stated in my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - Church opposed to Modernizing Jamaica via Flexi-Work and 4G LTE to introduce Tele-commuting is really Much Ado About Nothing”.

My blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - Job Agencies, Applications with Proposals and Reading the Sunday Gleaner for Fast and the Furious 6 Tips and Tricks” indicates how you can go about finding work in the Call Center World.

Networking vs Nepotism – Going abroad is the ultimate answer

Not everyone in Jamaica has access to family that owns a business or “links” in order to get employment, often referred to as nepotism as stated in the article “Pulling Strings! Job Hunting In Jamaica”, published Wednesday May 22, 2013 by Glenford Smith, career writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Networking still remains the best and most reliable way for the unconnected to get employed in Jamaica, albeit joining more Social Groups i.e. Church, Lions Club, Key Club, can allow you to build your own links to get that job you desire. But as employment opportunities dwindle, many seek employment abroad via various agencies in US of A and Canada such as the ICP (International Career Partners).

Especially as it dawns on many that even when you do get that coveted job, working abroad doing even menial household work at the Minimum wage in the US of A or Canada pays far more than even working as a Manager in any company in Jamaica. So be not afraid to take the plunge and get your US, Canadian or British Visa today!

UWI Tablet and E-Book Renaissance coming in September – EPub Writers needed by 2014

So if you are really someone that wants a promising at-home job, why not become a Writer? With Tablets coming to Jamaican Students by September 2013 as stated in my blog article entitled “Minister Paulwell gives Parliamentarians and 20,000 Students in 30 Schools Tablets- Future in Science and Technology now rescued Indiana Jones and the Palace of Doom” there’s a ready audience for content among children and adults that’s coming.

E-book readership has been on the rise ever since the Amazon Kindle made in debut back in Monday November 19^th 2007, e-book Piracy has arisen, driven by the popularity of this cheaper publishing format as argued in my Geezam blog article “Piracy and E-Books in a Tale of Two Cities”.  Thus as Tablet usage in Jamaica rises, e-books are on the cusp of a renaissance in Jamaica.

UWI (University of the West Indies) is catching this wave, with plans being voiced by Ronald Anderson, representing the Office of the Deputy Principal at the University of The West Indies as stated in the article “E-Books To Change Jamaican Landscape”, Published Saturday March 16, 2013, Curtis Campbell, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

His plans calls for e-books to spread to the rest of the Campus to lower the cost of books for students as Tablet usage on Mona Campus is on the rise, quote: “We are hoping for at least 75 per cent penetration of tablets and e-books by September 2014, and that's the target that we are working towards”.

Looks like UWI does indeed have a heart! It is true that most students do lean heavily on lecturer’s notes as the books as too expensive. Worse is borrowing books, many of which in the Library are just out-of-Date.

Cheaper publication via e-books would be the way to go, as appears to be the Principal of UWI’s stance, to quote Ronald Anderson: “The principal was very concerned about the cost of textbooks, because students were not purchasing textbooks and relied heavily on lecture notes. We consulted with the faculty and provided for the students 18 of the courses that would be needed. We intended for the cost of these e-books to be so ridiculously low that it would be almost impossible for them to avoid using them”.

e-Readers and Tablet needing content - How to make money as an ePub Publisher and Writer

Still, this won’t stop e-book Piracy, especially as I’ve made it so easy to do via my article on Torrenting and downloading entitled “UWI'splanning to increase all Tuition by 5.5% come the new Academic Year 2013-2014 -How to Download ANY Video, including Facebook Videos, Convert and Free VideoHosting Online” which works very well for downloading e-books.

So with that ready market in mind, here’s my DIY on how to publish a Book condensed from the articles “How To Convert Files To EPUB And Publish To Apple IBookStore”, published August 30 2012, ChrisData. First watch this Video; it’ll make it easier:

The instructions on how to publish in ePub are as follows:

1.      Write the book, preferably in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher (Like Duh-Uh), a creative process all your own which I cannot help you with.

2.      Download Calibre, an Open Source ePub Converter along with Calibre’s Online Manual.

3.      Install the Calibre software on your computer.

4.      Refer to the Calibre Video and Calibre’s Online Manual to assist you in using it to adjust and eventually convert your written work into ePub

5.      Convert your book into ePub, the format use by all Tablets and e-Readers

Calibre’s Gentle Learning Curve – Helpful Software Assistance

This software may take some tinkering, so for further help check this article “How to Convert a Word Document to EPub”, read by Lindsworth Deer on August 3 2013, Edited by Nweinham, Trunchbull, Teresa, Madison Finn, WikiHow if the Calibre Video and Calibre’s Online Manual aren’t clear enough for you.

Other types of Desktop Publishing Software can be used in my Geezam blog article entitled “Laptop makers go Chromebooks as Google Chrome’s Office Extension makes it easy to View and Edit Office Documents”. These Desktop Publishing alternatives to torrenting Microsoft Office are reproduced here for ease of access:

Installable Software Office Editors

1.      Apache OpenOffice

2.      LibreOffice

3.      NeoOffice

4.      KOffice

5.      Softmaker’s FreeOffice

6.      Kingsoft Office

Web Based Office Editors

1.      Zoho Docs

2.      Google Docs

Alternatives to Calibre – ePub Self-Publishing to get early jump on Marketing

Alternatives to Calibre are self-Publishing Websites and software as noted in “Easiest 3 ways to self-publish an ePub ebook”, published August 30, 2010 9:07 am, TeleRead, which do most of the work for you, including market the book:

1.      Smashwords, a Cloud based converter that will upload your written work to as many platforms as possible to market you book including Amazon, Apple's iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo and the Diesel eBook Store

2.      Pages ePub export via iWork, which is a plugin for Apple iWork that converts to ePub format as well as publish your work on Apple's iBookStore and Amazon. This one for the Mac users, folks!

3.      Anthologize is a cloud-based plugin for Wordpress Bloggers that converts your Blog page into an ePub

Promoting your ePub Book – Social Media give Turbo to your Fame

In a few seconds, Calibre gives you your book in the ePub format. You can then use my article on how to upload your ePub Book onto either Dropbox or Google Drive as stated in my blog article entitled “How to use Dropbox, Google Drive and Sound File Sharing Websites to Share and Promote your Content online - Sharing is Caring” to do as the title says - share and promote your content (in this case your book!) online.

The Internet, after all, is the fastest way to promote your published work. Thus, once uploaded to either Dropbox or Google Drive, promote your ePub Publication via:

1.      Social Media i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube

2.      Email

3.      Newsletters

4.      Personal Blog or Website

5.      Business Cards and Flyers

6.      Traditional Media i.e. Radio, Television Newspaper

That’s it! See how easy ePub Publishing was? So take the plunge and do the article, Blog or Book  and then “Work. Finish. Publish” as Michael Faraday would say!

Here’s the Link:

Calibre