This Mama Cooks! Reviews

Need to publish a book or cookbook? Think about self-publishing

I've heard good things about self-publishing. And I've heard horror stories about authors having a garage full of books they printed up years ago and never sold. It's all about doing your homework.

My only word of advice is check all the book publishers, compare prices, only use services that you need, and consider doing small runs.

One way how to publish your book is by going with services like Lulu or Blurb. (Blurb is especially good if you're trying to take your blog and turn it into a book.)

Another book publishing service to consider is 48hrbooks.com. Their pricing seems reasonable and they're so up front with their extra charges that they listed them right on their home page. Their website has tons of information, from pictures of sample books to an extensive FAQs section.

Since 48hrbooks.com is centrally located in Akron, Ohio, most places can be shipped to within two to three days. Very convenient if you need to get your book printed up before your next family gathering, church meeting, or fundraiser.

The only thing lacking from their website is testimonials. So, if you decide to work with them, give them a call and ask for a few references.

Blog review: iFitandHealthy.com

Here's some weight loss and diet categories that you should check out:

• Weight Loss Tips
• Diet Reviews 
• Celebrity Diets
• Fat Burner Pill Reviews

I love their logo and tag line - Open 24 Hours. After all aren't we obsessed with food, diet and weight loss around the clock? I also like the variety of topics that iFit&Healthy.com covers. Each post covers something that I'm interested in learning about, and want more information on.

More info please

Unfortunately, iFitandHealthy.com is short on information. Each post starts off very well, but when I click "Continue reading" I'm rewarded with a couple more sentences, if that, and a big Google ad.

Give me more content and let me know your view point on the topic. What has worked for you? What hasn't?

A blogger's voice

I believe the blog is run by "Eugene" because that's who requested the paid review. (You can read about my paid review policy here). But I don't know anything about him from the iFit&Healthy About page. Who runs this blog? Why is he writing about fitness and dieting? What's his background and expertise?

Maybe he's a beginning blogger. Or maybe he's a slick splogger (spam blogger) just trying to make a buck off of Google ads and trying to get people's emails through a contest. I'm hoping it's the latter since I don't think a splogger would bother with a paid review.

However, since the reader doesn't know who is running iFitandHealthy.com, why should they trust what he's saying, even if he's "just a guy" who struggled with weight loss? If so, that fact adds authority to his posts and opinions. "Eugene," please add your voice to the entries. Tell us about yourself. Get personal! Your readers want to know about you and your struggles with weight or why you're interested in this topic.

Using other's content

It's a real no-no to grab someone else's content and make it appear your own. I'm thinking this is just a beginner's mistake and not a desire to deceive iFitandHealthy.com 's readers. After all there is attribution and a link to the original interview - it's just very small and at the end of the post.

Instead, excerpt the interview and give us some of your personal opinion on what is being said. For example, in the Jennie Garth interview, do you think she's giving us a bunch of b.s.? Or do you really think that she has "the kind of body that once you start exercising, it responds"? I'd love to see your opinion as well as links to articles and studies that contradict or agree with what she claims.

Picky blog stuff

The logo is great and the navigation isn't bad. It's a clean blog that isn't too cluttered with ads even though Google ads are heavily used. However, I'd like to see a listing of posts by date so I know how long you've been blogging and how to find older posts.

"Eugene" needs to add more original content and a writer's voice to iFitandHealthy.com  to separate it from the pack of other blogs that do weight loss tips, post diet reviews, look at celebrity diets and write up fat burner pill reviews. Then iFitandHealthy.com will have the potential to be a great diet, weight loss and diet tip blog. The writer knows what topics people are interested in reading about. We just want to know more about them and about him.