Writing

How to Set Up Your Own Book Tour

Unless you’re super famous or your publisher has big dreams for your book, you probably won’t be given your own, paid-for book tour. If you’re self-published, you don’t even have a chance of having someone pay you to tour. Not getting an all expense paid book tour isn’t a necessarily a reflection of your writing, but more if you have established yourself as a writer. If you want a book tour, what do you do, then?

You go it alone and set up your own tour. Before you decide to go on the road, though, you must decide whether the expense is worth it. Will you generate enough exposure and sales to offset the costs of the tour, or would you be better served by finding some other ways to promote your work? If you’re still set on going on tour, here are some tips for organizing your own tour.

Establish a budget

It’s important to establish a budget and to look for ways to cut costs. Figure out how much you can spend and allocate that money most effectively. You probably won’t be able to visit every city you want to visit, so choose which places will give you the most bang for your buck. Also, look into staying with friends or family to cut costs, or doing a tour of places that are within driving distance of your home to avoid expensive airfare.

Send out copies

Don’t just show up somewhere and hope they’ll let you read. Send out copies to bookstores and other places beforehand to gauge interest. If someone writes back and says, “This book isn’t for us,” you can mark that off your list and not waste money going there. If they are interested, you can follow up and add them to your list of places to visit.

Consider teaming with another writer

If you know another writer in your field or whose work is similar to yours, consider teaming up. A bookstore may be more willing to have two of you appear rather than just taking a chance on one unknown author. If your teammate has some credibility already, so much the better. If you trust and are friendly with the other writer, you may be able to share hotel rooms and rental cars, reducing the costs for you both.

Don’t limit yourself to bookstores

Bookstores aren’t the only places where you can appear. Conventions and conferences that are about your field or tied to your book’s theme are good choices. If your book is set in a certain location you might try tourism boards or similar places. There are also libraries, community centers, senior centers, book clubs, and schools/universities if your material is applicable.

Think beyond a standard reading

If you can teach a class in something or speak about your topic, pitch yourself as a speaker rather than just a reader or book signer If a store can bill your event as a learning opportunity they may be more willing to have you visit than if you simply plan to read from your book (which no one has heard of). You’re often more valuable as an educator than an author.

Consider a virtual book tour

If you don’t have the money to do a regular tour, you can consider a virtual tour. You connect with book bloggers around the country and agree to write guest posts, run some giveaways, do a podcast, and/or take questions from readers. You can also do virtual chats or readings through Skype or similar. It still requires a lot of planning and time on your part, but it costs very little.

Go where people know you

If you don’t know a soul in New York, it might not be worth going there. Think of places where you know people who can help you. Where did you go to school? Can you go back to your hometown? Do you have a lot of friends living in one city? Go places where your friends and family can help get the word out and drive people to your event.

Practice efficient scheduling

Once you figure out where you’re going, organize your schedule for efficiency. You don’t want to be flying back and forth across the country ten times. Proceed from city to city in a logical and cost effective order.

Practice your pitch

When you’re ready to start calling bookstores and other places to set up your appearance times, be prepared. Don’t wing it. Know who you’re calling (find out who handles events and ask for that person), and have prepared what you’re going to say. Be clear on who you are and what you’re offering (a reading, a class, etc.) Be professional. If you go in unprepared, or ask, “Um, what do other authors do?” the other person is likely to dismiss you. Quickly.

Alert the media

Call local newspapers and other media in the cities you’ll be visiting to see if you can wrangle any coverage of your time in their city. You may not get any interest, but then again you might so it’s worth a try.

Pay attention to the logistics

Make sure your books are shipped to each location with time to spare before you appear. Will you have to ship other promotional items, as well? Know how you will get around each city. Should you get lodgings with a kitchen to save money, or are there reasonably priced eateries nearby? Are you leaving enough time between appearances to deal with transportation or weather delays? There are plenty of details to consider besides just booking the appearance at a venue.

It is possible to organize your own book tour, even within tight budget constraints. To maximize your investment, do some advance planning and research and make sure that touring will give you the return you expect or need. Touring isn’t the end all, be all. There are lots of other ways to promote your work. Touring can be fun or it can be a nightmare. Try to prepare as much as you can in advance to prevent the nightmare scenario.

(Photo courtesy of Jonathan Clede)

What is an Average Typing Speed?

For those who are just beginning to type, they are often interested in the answer to the question, “what is an average typing speed?” The average typing speed is 36 words per minute. Typing speed is usually measured in words per minute, but as most people have noticed, words have different lengths. Depending on your profession, you may need to type longer words than in other professions. For example, if you’re a legal typist, you’re probably typing longer words than most people do. For this reason, the best way to measure typing speed is in characters per minute. The average typing speed, in this case, is about 187 characters per minute.

What’s a good typing speed?

A good typing speed for most people is 40 words per minute or over. This would give you a word count of 2400 words per hour if you could sustain the pace for sixty minutes. There are people who can type a whole lot faster than 40 words per minute. If you’re a professional typist, you can probably type 75 words per minute, and maybe even more. What’s the world record? Believe it or not, it’s 150 words per minute, and that was measured over a sustained period. When given a shorter time frame, our world-record typist could reach a speed of 212 words per minute. In other words, she can type much faster than most people can talk.

How can I improve my typing speed?

Have a good keyboard: Improving your typing speed takes practice and good equipment. If you have to hammer certain keys a few times before they registered, it’s obviously going to take you longer to type than if you have equipment which performs well. If you spend a good portion of your day on the computer, it’s worth investing in a good keyboard.

Learn how to touch type: Touch typing means that you don’t have to look at your keyboard when you’re typing words. You just monitor your screen as you type. Touch typing also means using both hands and all of your fingers. If you are someone who one or two-finger types, you’ll never be in a position to be a quick typer. Luckily, you don’t have to sign up for expensive lessons: there are plenty of free touch typing games and apps available. Simply do a search for “free online touch typing” and you should have plenty of resources from which to choose/

Posture is important: You may find that you need to alter the height of your chair to get into a correct typing posture. Experts say that you should be able to sit up straight and that your elbows should be bent at a 90-degree angle. Your wrists can rest lightly on the table, but don’t put weight on them. When your fingers hover over the ‘home row’ – the middle row of letters, they should be slightly bent.

Use your keyboard shortcuts: Copying, pasting, undoing or finding a word in your text can easily be done with a few simple keyboard shortcuts. There’s no need to use your mouse. Since your fingers are already busy on your keyboard, learning your shortcuts will help to save you time.

Practice, practice, practice: Practice, as they say, makes perfect. So the more you practice your touch typing, the faster you’ll get. Spend half an hour to an hour on practice every day, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly your typing speed can improve!

Take your time: It’s worth taking your time to learn accuracy rather than rushing to complete as many words per minute as possible before returning to correct them. Corrections take up time, so getting things right the first time around will help you to improve your overall speed. You’ll still have to check your work, but if you follow the rules of touch typing and keep your eyes on the screen, there shouldn’t be much to correct.

Improving your typing speed will make you more productive and will help you to capture your thoughts before the inspiration disappears.

(Photo courtesy of Dominique Godbout)

What Are No Content and Low Content Books?

When people talk about books, there’s usually the assumption that to have a book you need to have written content. This is why most writers focus on daily word count. They know they have to write a certain number of words each day if they hope to complete their book.

If you aren’t a good writer, you likely assume it’s impossible to make money creating and selling books. This assumption is actually not correct. In fact, there’s a thriving business with both “low content” and “no content” books these days.

What is a no content book?

A no content book usually refers to a book that has no written content in it. That doesn’t mean it only has blank pages (although it can). It simply means there aren’t any words in the book. A couple of examples of no content books would be a blank journal that only has lines for writing or an adult coloring book. If it’s a book that doesn’t have written content in it, then it can be considered a no content book even if it contains other forms of content.

What is a low content book?

A low content book is one that contains some written content, but far less than one would find in a typical book. A journal that had inspirational quotes on each page would be considered a low content book. A day planner with the days of the week and months listed would be another example. A mileage tracking book for the miles you drive your car each day of the week would be another. Even a recipe book could be considered a low content book. While low content books do have some written content, it’s a lot less than would be typically found when one imagines a book.

Can you make money with no and low content book?

Yes, it’s possible to make money with no content and low content books. These types of books are selling like hot-cakes on various sites including Amazon’s Create Space. Currently, coloring books for adults are some of the best-selling books on Amazon, no content or otherwise. Journals always sell well if they can capture the attention of the writers who need them. If you can come up with any niche where these types of books are in demand, they will sell well.

Who buys no and low content books?

While it makes sense individuals would buy these books if they meet their specific needs, it’s not only individuals. Large corporations, chain stores, and small groups may often buy these books as well. Many are used as corporate gifts or novelty items.

If you aren’t a good enough writer or have the patience to produce a novel, no and low content books may be a perfect alternative for you if you have the goal to publish a book. Now that you understand what these types of books are, you might be surprised at how many opportunities there are out there to produce them. Keep your eyes open and you will see how many of these books exist which can be produced with a minimal amount of effort (at least in comparison to writing a novel).

(Image courtesy of Maxime De Ruyck)

Alphabetical List of US States

When searching for an alphabetical list of all 50 states of the United States, these lists are often displayed in a way that makes it difficult to copy for your own use. Many times they’re displayed in two to four columns so when it’s copied, the states aren’t in alphabetical order when pasted into a new document. For that reason, we have creates a list of all 50 states in alphabetical order in a single column so it can be used by others who need it for school, business or some other project.

Alphabetical List of All 50 States

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

There may also be times when you need an alphabetical list of states, but with them numbered. This allows you to easily see what number each stated is within the 50 states. This can be more helpful for certain projects compared to a list with no numbers. You can find the numbered list below.

Alphabetical List of All 50 States Numbered

1. Alabama
2. Alaska
3. Arizona
4. Arkansas
5. California
6. Colorado
7. Connecticut
8. Delaware
9. Florida
10. Georgia
11. Hawaii
12. Idaho
13. Illinois
14. Indiana
15. Iowa
16. Kansas
17. Kentucky
18. Louisiana
19. Maine
20. Maryland
21. Massachusetts
22. Michigan
23. Minnesota
24. Mississippi
25. Missouri
26. Montana
27. Nebraska
28. Nevada
29. New Hampshire
30. New Jersey
31. New Mexico
32. New York
33. North Carolina
34. North Dakota
35. Ohio
36. Oklahoma
37. Oregon
38. Pennsylvania
39. Rhode Island
40. South Carolina
41. South Dakota
42. Tennessee
43. Texas
44. Utah
45. Vermont
46. Virginia
47. Washington
48. West Virginia
49. Wisconsin
50. Wyoming

While these are the two most common alphabetical list of states people need, you may need one presented in a different way. Fortunately, the Alphabetical Order Tool will allow you to manipulate this 50 state list in a number of different ways, and it should allow you make it exactly like you desire. Simply copy the list and then paste it into the text area of the alphabetize tool. Once done, you can add any custom text needed to the list.

Another advantage of the alphabetize tool is that inputting the 50 state list will make it printable. Having a printable alphabetized list of states can be useful for a number of projects and is something people are often seeking when they are searching for these lists.

For teachers who need a list to use for giving tests, the following may be of use:

1. Alab
2. Alas
3. Ari
4. Ark
5. Ca
6. Col
7. Con
8. D
9. F
10. G
11. H
12. Id
13. Il
14. In
15. Io
16. Ka
17. Ke
18. L
19. Mai
20. Mar
21. Mas
22. Mic
23. Min
24. Missi
25. Misso
26. M
27. Neb
28. Nev
29. New H
30. New J
31. New M
32. New Y
33. North C
34. North D
35. Oh
36. Ok
37. Or
38. P
39. R
40. South C
41. South D
42. Ten
43. Tex
44. U
45. Ve
46. Vi
47. Wa
48. We
49. Wi
50. Wy

Again, teachers can use the Alphabetize Tool to manipulate the list to fit their exact needs, then print it out for their classes.

If you’re looking for an alphabetized list of the 50 states that isn’t listed above, but you feel a lot of others would benefit from having access to, please leave a comment and we can add it to this article.

Free Online Alphabetical Order Tool

If you deal with lists, you know making changes to them can be a hassle, not to mention quite time consuming and tedious. There are many situations when it’s beneficial to put a list into alphabetical order. The problem is trying to do this by hand is simply a pain. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a tool which would instantly put any list into alphabetical order with a simple click of a button? That’s exactly what you can do with our new free online alphabetizer tool. (Click on the image above or below to begin alphabetizing your lists.)

When it comes to putting your list into alphabetical order, you may want to do so in a specific way. One of the great benefits of the above alphabetizer is it can help you put your lists into the order you want in a variety of ways. This can be extremely helpful since many projects require lists to be alphabetized in different ways. These are some of the ways you will be able to use this tool.

Alphabetical Order: You can place any list you have into the tool text area in a variety of formats and it will put it into alphabetical order with one click of your mouse. Nothing could be easier!

Categorized Lists: One function many alphabetizers can’t do is to work with categorized lists. Most of the time you must copy and paste each list under each category to get everything in the order you want. Our tool allows you to mark your categories within your list so that it will alphabetize everything under each category instead of the complete list.

Last Names: Names lists can sometimes cause difficulty, especially when the list contains both the first and last name. Many times you want the name list alphabetized by last name, but many tools will only do so using the first name. Ours has an optional function that will put name lists into alphabetical order by last names as well.

Reverse Order: There may be instances where you want your list to go from “z to a” rather than the other way around. This reverse order can also be easily done with our tool.

Random Order: Sometimes you may want a list you have put into a different random order. Our tool allows for this option.

Remove Duplicates:If you have a particularly long list that has been created over a long period of time, there is a possibility the list contains the same information more than once within it. The remove duplicates function on our tool will remove these so your list is clean and tidy.

HTML Bullet Points: If you will be placing your list on a blog or website, you may want to have bullet points in front of each point on the list. Our tool will place the HTML around the list items so that these bullet points will show up when you place it online.

Numbers and Letters: Once you have your list in the order you want, you may want to add numbers or letters in front of each item on the list. Our tool can do this with a simple click of your mouse.

Custom Text: If there is something special you want to add in front of each item on your list, there is a custom function which will allow you to do this. This can save a great amount of time and allow you to customize your list exactly the way you want without a lot of effort.

List Format: What if you have a long list that has been separated by a comma after each word, but you need that list to be changed to one where each word is on a separate line with no commas? No problem. Our tool can do that for you by easily allowing you to change from one list format to another.

If you have suggestions on how we can make our alphabetizer better, please leave a comment or use the contact link to let us know. We always strive to put the best tools out there and hope that this one can help you with your school work, business or any other situation where you need to place your lists into alphabetical order.

What Are Long Tail Keywords? A Beginners’ Guide

If you made your way to this article through a search engine, you likely did so because of long tail keywords. That is, your search was likely from something along the lines of “what are long tail keywords?” rather than simply “keywords”. For those looking to drive traffic to blogs or websites, understanding how these phrases work is an important tool to generating that traffic. For this reason, it’s important to understand what they are and how they can be of benefit for driving traffic.

What are long tail keywords?

Long tail keywords are those three or more keyword phrases which are specific to whatever you are writing about or selling. You see, whenever a customer uses a highly specific search phrase, they tend to be looking for exactly what they input into the search engine. In virtually every case, such very specific searches are far more likely to convert to sales or bring traffic to a specific page than general generic searches. That’s because general searches tend to be geared more toward the type of research that consumers typically do prior to making a buying decision or when doing general research.

Before we begin, a basic understanding of keywords is important. Think of it in terms of the following hypothetical example.

Let us assume you own a shop selling SCUBA diving equipment. Customers doing a general search would type in “SCUBA” – which would be your keyword. Their search engine will return results ranked according to the most relevant information.

However, since there are millions of references to the term “SCUBA” and with thousands of shops around the world selling SCUBA equipment and providing information about SCUBA diving, your site will be drowned out among all the noise. You would be lucky if it ranked on page 500.

When it comes to driving traffic to your site, customers are usually a lot more specific. They don’t want a million results. They may only want a few. They don’t simply make use of a single keyword. They will make use of several specific words which are referred to as long-tail keywords. For example, a customer based in San Diego is not going to go looking for a SCUBA shop in Africa.

The customer will want the shop closest to him and so “SCUBA equipment in San Diego” would be a more likely search than just “SCUBA”. The browser would return information specific to that phrase, thus eliminating all the competition that’s not in the San Diego area. Remember, you’re aiming for quality over quantity. Now your website may rank on page 30, a vast improvement but not good enough. You still need to improve your SEO ranking.

How do I improve my ranking?

Improving your ranking is what is known as search engine optimization (SEO). It makes your site more relevant and easier for the search engines to find. First you will need to be able to identify keyword phrases that are relevant to your business or website.

How to identify long tail keywords

There are various approaches to identifying these keyword phrases. A good place to begin is what phrases you would use to search for information that’s found on your webpages. Ask friend and family what words they would use and you should come up with some good long tail phrases for your particular niche.

In the URL

Now that you have your keyword phrase, you should incorporate them into the URL of your new post. It doesn’t matter if you are using WordPress, Weebly or Joomla, you’re able to edit the suggested URL. For example, let us assume your domain name is www.scuba.com. Your long tail keyword is “scuba equipment San Diego” – your URL would look something like www.scuba.com/scuba-equipment-san-diego

In the post title

Your post’s title should begin with your keyword phrase. For example, the long tail keyword for this particular article is “what are long tail keywords?” – The heading begins with this phrase, followed by a basic explanation.

So, back to your SCUBA shop – you would have a heading along the lines of “SCUBA equipment San Diego – on sale now!” You also want to keep the title of your post under 70 characters in length as titles that are too long can hurt the seo of the article or page.

Paragraph headings, body and stuffing

You should aim to include your long tail keyword in at least one paragraph heading. You should also try to include it a few times throughout the body of your text. However, you don’t want to repeat the phrase too often. If you repeat the phrase too often, you can be penalized for keyword stuffing, and this is where the keyword density tool comes in handy when you’re writing. If you read through this article you will note I have not used “What Are Long Tail Keywords?” more than 5 times in the body of the text.

SEO for Images and Meta descriptions

A final consideration is to include your keyword phrase in the alt-description of any images that may appear in your post. You should also include it somewhere in the Meta description. Some people search by image rather than by article. By doing this you will drive people to your website through image searches they do as well as the content.

It can take time for this process to work, but by focusing on phrases which apply to your website rather than single words, you will have a much better chance of ranking higher in the search engines and driving more traffic to your website.

(Photo courtesy of Tambako The Jaguar)

Elizabeth Gilbert TED Talk: Your Elusive Creative Genius

If you’re a writer or an artist of any type for that matter, this is a TED talk that you’ll want to watch. Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of “Eat, Pray, Love” talks about the impossible things society seems to expect from artists and geniuses. She then provides the radical idea that instead of some individuals “being” geniuses, instead all artists “have” a genius as part of us. Her personal anecdotes, humorous style and surprisingly insightful thoughts about being an artist will make you question how you see yourself and other artists. See for yourself:

The talk delves into the expectations of those who choose creativity as a career / life choice, and how creative people manage the emotional risks of being an artist. If you have ever had any fears about the quality of your writing or have had others instill doubt about the artistic profession you have chosen to pursue, Elizabeth Gilbert has some advice on how you may want to approach this as your career progresses.

The main focus of the talk is about fear and doubt about being a writer (or another artist) and questioning why this comes about. Society as a whole seems to have an uneasiness regarding those who decide to go into an artistic occupation. As Gilbert points out, people don’t question those who are chemical engineers about whether they have fears about their profession as they often do to writers.

After taking the time to explain how artistic ability went from being considered an outside force in ancient times to being considered solely the product of the individual in more recent times, she questions if this is a good thing. Can the average artist survive when the expectations continue to grow and grow?

The solution to the problem is elegantly simple. It’s to step back and take a hint from earlier times. Instead of everything being solely the responsibility of the individual, realize that the “artistic inspiration” isn’t something that can necessarily be willed into being. For this, you may want to give some of the power to a distinct and separate part of you. That is, you’re doing the work, and you will do the work required on a daily basis, and you have the confidence that the inspiration will come to make it complete.

While this might sound quite complicated, it isn’t. Gilbert does an excellent job explaining the artists’ inspiration through examples so even those who don’t have an artistic background can understand the conflict which needs to be resolved. Most artists will instantly understand her fears and have likely experienced similar one to some degree during their career. While greatly beneficial to all those pursuing the arts, my guess is that this video may be even more beneficial to the partners of artists who may be able to get a better glimpse of the struggles and fears they must face when doing their trade.

If you have an extra 20 minutes to spare, sit down and watch this video right now. If you don’t, bookmark the video so that you can come back when you do have 20 minutes. At the very least, it will get you thinking about how society views those in the arts, and may give you some insight on how you can help yourself stay sane while doing what you love.

Do Footnotes Count in Word Count?

When you are writing an essay for a class which has a minimum of maximum word count limit, the question of whether or not footnotes and endnotes should be counted toward this limit can come up. Those who have an essay that is under word count are hoping that their footnotes and endnotes can be counted while those who are over the limit want to make sure that these don’t count. Which one is it?

Footnotes

Do footnotes count when doing a word count? No, footnotes don’t count in the word count in most cases. When a teacher or professor gives an assignment with a minimum or maximum limit, it’s usually done with the intent of being applicable to the topic being assigned. Footnotes are auxiliary information that further clarifies certain points being made in the essay. Since this isn’t a part of the body of the essay, most teachers and professors do not count footnotes as part of the essay’s word count.

This is a general rule of thumb. There can be exceptions depending on the teacher giving the assignment, so the best policy is to ask the person assigning the essay whether or not footnotes should or shouldn’t be included. If this is not possible, it’s best to assume that they are not counted.

Do footnotes count in a page count? Yes, footnotes generally count toward page count. Footnotes are found at the bottom of the page and don’t take up much of the page space in most instances. While it’s relatively easy to exclude footnotes from a word count, it’s much more difficult to exclude them from a page count. For this reason, most professors allow them to be included as part of the overall page count.

Again, counting footnotes as part of the page count is a general rule of thumb, not a definitive answer. It’s always best to ask the person assigning the essay to confirm that this is OK. If you find yourself in a position where this isn’t possible, in most cases it should be acceptable.

Endnotes

Do endnotes count in a word count? No, endnotes don’t count as part of a word count in most cases. Much like footnotes, endnotes give further information to a point made in an essay but aren’t part of the body of the essay. For this reason, endnotes are generally not included in an essay’s word count. The best policy is to ask directly if you aren’t sure about this, but when in doubt, it’s better not to count them.

Do endnotes count in a page count? No, endnotes don’t count as part of a page count most of the time. There is one significant difference between footnotes and endnotes which is endnotes are found at the end of the essay and not at the bottom of each page. Being at the end, it’s much easier to exclude them from a page count than it is to exclude footnotes. For this reason, endnotes aren’t usually counted when doing an assignment with a specific page count.

(Image courtesy of Lohan Gunaweera)

What is the Longest Word?

Have you ever wondered what the longest word in the English language is? Did you think back to childhood days and recall Mary Poppins describing supercalifragilisticexpialidocious as a word used when you have nothing else to say? Well, bear in mind that this 34-letter word isn’t officially recognized as being a true English word. So, where does that leave us?

What is the longest word in the dictionary?

The longest non-technical word found in the dictionary is Floccinaucinihilipilification. The term is used to describe something of worthless value. This is ironic because this 29 lettered word serves little purpose, except when used as an example of a long word. It certainly isn’t used in everyday English.

Coming in at just 28 letters, and one that most people would be able to pronounce is the word antidisestablishmentarianism. The term was originally used to describe opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England. In modern times, the word is used in a more general sense and refers to opposing the withdrawal of government support from a particular church or religion.

The longest accepted technical word to appear in a Standard English dictionary is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. At 45 letters in length, this word is considered superfluous. It describes a medical condition of the lungs caused by the inhalation of fine silica dust. The term was coined by Everett M. Smith, president of the National Puzzlers’ League to capture the longest word in the English dictionary.

What is the longest word?

If you are looking for a truly long word, consider that it has 189,819 letters. It would take you more than three hours to pronounce correctly, that’s if you were able to pronounce it in its entirety without a mistake and did not have to start from the beginning again.

The abbreviation is Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl…isoleucine. Since this post has no intention of being the longest blog post ever, the full word will not be shown. If you’re truly interested in this word, you can watch it being pronounced on YouTube.

Good luck with trying to sit through the entire video or attempting to rattle it off to your friends since it takes over three hours to pronounce. It basically describes a type of protein which provides elasticity in muscles.

What is the longest place name?

The longest place name from an English speaking country is 85 letters in length. Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu is a Maori word for a particular hill in New Zealand.

What is the longest town name?

With just 58 letters, the Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the longest name of a town or city in the world. It translates as St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool of Llantysilio of the red cave. The abbreviation Llanfair PG. is usually employed and the town was so named to be the longest place name in Britain.

What is the longest word with only vowels?

The longest word to contain only vowels is euouae. Although the word only comprises six letters, it has the distinction of holding two Guinness World Records. These are for being the longest word consisting exclusively of vowels, as well as being the word with the most consecutive vowels. Although this word is not commonly used, it refers to a musical term from the medieval times.

What is the longest word with only consonants?

The longest word to contain only consonants is tsktsk. This word is used fairly frequently in modern times. It means to express disapproval or disdain. For example, if a young child is thinking about doing something bad and looks at you before doing it, you could tsktsk.

What is the longest word with alternating vowels and consonants?

The longest word consisting of alternating consonants and vowels is honorificabilitudinitatibus. Yes, you can double check that if you want to. The word means “with honorableness” and is 27 letters in length. Do not attempt to pronounce this word while under the influence of alcohol.

What is the longest palindrome?

The longest palindrome, or word which is spelled the same forward and backward, is rotavator. A rotavator is a type of soil plow and the word is made up of 9 letters. You checked that too, didn’t you?

What is the longest word to use all 5 vowels only once and in alphabetical order?

The longest word to use all 5 vowels only once and in alphabetical order is abstentious. It refers to one who does not indulge in the excessive intake of food, alcohol or narcotics. You certainly checked that.

Conclusion

There are many other really long words. Many of these are very technical or are words used to describe chemical composition. For example, a DNA strand could run into several thousand letters. However, these technical terms often contain numerals or letters from the Greek alphabet. As such they are not considered to be true English words.

Although these words all contain a stupendous amount of letters, for those who still like childhood riddles, by far the longest word of all is smiles. Why is this? Because it has a MILE between the first and last letters, silly!

(Photo courtesy of John Earl)

How Many Words Are There in a 10 Minute Speech?

For anyone who has to give a speech, one of the first questions that usually comes to mind is, “How many words is that going to be?” The problem is there is no set answer to this question. The number of words needed for a speech will depend heavily on the person giving the speech.

Some people speak slowly when giving a speech while others speak quickly. Those who speak quickly will need to write more words for each minute of their speech than those who speak at a slower pace. That being said, there are some general guidelines which can help you make an educated guess at approximately how many words will be needed for a speech.

The general rule for speech giving is 100 to 200 words per minute. With this in mind, a 10-minute speech would require 1,000 to 2,000 words. The WordCounter speaking time detail defaults 150 words per minute (an average speed which would give a result of 1,500 words, as this is the recommended speed for audiobooks to be read at for best listening), but you can use the options section to adjust to a slower or faster pace. Simply click on “Options” then the “Details” tab and then the wrench next to the “Speaking Time” button.

If want to know how many words per minute (WPM) you personally say when giving a speech, you can use a timer to time yourself, then input that number into the options section. Time yourself for one minute of your speech, then copy to where you made it into WordCounter to see how many words you speak per minute. This will give you a more accurate estimate of how many words you must write for however long the speech you need to make will be.

It’s important to remember that speech patterns can increase when a person is nervous. This means that even when determining the number of words needed for a 10-minute speech when practicing at home by yourself, you may actually need more during the actual speech if you get nervous.

While the number of words in a speech will depend heavily on how fast or slow the person giving the speech speaks, for those who are looking for a basic estimate of how many words would be in a speech, you can use the following estimates. These estimates use the average speaking pace of 150 words per minute to estimate.

How many words in a 1-minute speech? There are 150 words in a 1-minute speech.
How many words in a 2-minute speech? There are 300 words in a 2-minute speech.
How many words in a 3-minute speech? There are 450 words in a 3-minute speech.
How many words in a 4-minute speech? There are 600 words in a 4-minute speech.
How many words in a 5-minute speech? There are 750 words in a 5-minute speech.
How many words in a 6-minute speech? There are 900 words in a 6-minute speech.
How many words in a 7-minute speech? There are 1050 words in a 7-minute speech.
How many words in an 8-minute speech? There are 1,200 words in an 8-minute speech.
How many words in a 9-minute speech? There are 1,350 words in a 9-minute speech.
How many words in a 10-minute speech? There are 1,500 words in a 10-minute speech.
How many words in a 15-minute speech? There are 2,250 words in a 15-minute speech.
How many words in a 20-minute speech? There are 3,000 words in a 20-minute speech.
How many words in a 25-minute speech? There are 3,750 words in a 25-minute speech.
How many words in a 30-minute speech? There are 4,500 words in a 30-minute speech.
How many words in a 45-minute speech? There are 6,750 words in a 45-minute speech.
How many words in a 1-hour speech? There are 9,000 words in a 1-hour speech.

How minutes is 250 words? 250 words is 1.67 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 500 words? 500 words is 3.33 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 750 words? 750 words is 5 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 1,000 words? 1,000 words is 6.67 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 1,500 words? 1,500 words is 10 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 2,000 words? 2,000 words is 13.33 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 2,500 words? 2,500 words is 16.67 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 3,000 words? 3,000 words is 20 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 4,000 words? 4,000 words is 26.67 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 5,000 words? 5,000 words is 33.33 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 7,500 words? 7,500 words is 50 minutes of speaking time.
How minutes is 10,000 words? 10,000 words is 66.67 minutes of speaking time.

(Photo courtesy of Scott Schiller)