The Life And Works Of Shakespeare Essays - William Shakespeare

The Life And Works Of Shakespeare Essays - William Shakespeare The Life And Works Of Shakespeare William Shakespeare is the world's most admired playwright and poet. He was born in April, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, about 100 miles northwest of London. According to the records of Stratford's Holy Trinity Church, he was baptized on April 26. As with most sixteenth century births, the actual day is not recorded but people are guessing that he was born on April 23. Shakespeare's parents were John and Mary Shakespeare, who lived in Henley Street, Stratford. John, the son of Richard Shakespeare, was a maker, worker and seller of leather goods like purses, belts and gloves and a dealer in agricultural commodities. He served in Stratford government successively as a member of the Council , constable , chamberlain , alderman and finally high bailiff which is the equivalent of town mayor. About 1577 John Shakespeare's fortunes began to decline for unknown reasons. There are records of debts. William had seven siblings. He was the third child and first born son. In the sixteenth century Stratford-upon-Avon was an important agricultural center and market town. The building in Henley street known today as the birthplace of William Shakespeare was at the time of his birth, two different buildings that John Shakespeare bought at two different times. William went to school at the Stratford Grammar School. He had to show up at six or seven A.M. depending on the season and stay there most of the day, six days a week. William studied many different authors and dramatists including Caesar, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Livy, and Ovid. Ovid was his favorite. Grammar school was the beginning of Shakespeare's career. Almost everything he mastered he learned there. After grammar school, William went to the Warwickshire Countryside. There he played parts in plays and wrote poetry. The years 1594-1599 were momentous for Shakespeare. He produced a steady stream of plays of the highest quality. He continued as a principal actor and manager in the Chamberlain's men, blessed with a stable work environment in the theater. Finally in 1599, he became part owner in the most prestigious public playhouse in London, the Globe. His first works which were heavily influenced by the classical examples he had learned as a student were The Comedy of Errors and Titus Andronicus. He invented a new genre called the history play. His early works in this genre were the three Henry VI plays, and Richard III. He got his idea for Venis and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece from his favorite author, Ovid. Over the years 1594-1599 the Chamberlain's Men had become the most popular acting company in London, being invited to perform at court far more often than any other group. Shakespeare must have done a great deal of acting. He is listed by Ben Jonson in Jonson's magnificent 1616 Folio of his Works as having acted as the chief comedian in Every Man In His Humour in 1598. The Globe Theater burned down in 1613 and many of Shakespeare's manuscripts were ruined. It was then rebuilt by a carpenter named Peter Rose. Shakespeare's last work before he retired was The Temptest. Then he died in 1616 and was then buried in the Parish Church. His death was sudden and they don't know what caused it but they think he could have lived much longer. Almost all his things went to his oldest daughter Susanne. His younger daughter Judith got 300 pounds, and his wife got all the furniture. After he died Judith married John Quiney. He cheated on her and got another girl pregnant. That baby died. Judith and John had three children together. One they named Shakespeare died as an infant. There other two, Richard and Thomas died at the ages of 21 and 19. Shakespeare was one of the greatest playwrights and poets ever. He was a big part in literature. He invented a new genre and made many plays that everybody loves. He was a great man. On his grave it says: GOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOR BEAR TO DIG THE DUST ENCLOSED HEAR BLESSED BE YE MAN WHO SPARES THESE STONES AND CURSED BE HE WHO MOVES MY BONES

READ THIS Before You Enroll in KDP Select!

READ THIS Before You Enroll in KDP Select! READ THIS Before You Enroll in KDP Select! We get it: writing a book requires a lot of your time, effort, and money. Taking a book from inception to completion is intense work, and by the time you’re ready to publish you might find yourself referring to your manuscript as â€Å"my baby.†Of all the big decisions you have to make in your journey as a self-publishing author, one of the biggest is whether or not to enroll your ebook in Amazon's KDP Select: a program which offers authors bonus incentives in exchange for granting Amazon exclusivity.But going exclusive is a big deal. Are you sure you want to let Amazon put a ring on it before your book has had a chance to test out the other options? Is Amazon's Select program the right choice for you? That’s what we’ll answer in this post, covering all the points in the table of contents (to your left).Let’s get started with the basics. The great "KDP Select or not" debate: where do you stand? What is Kindle Direct Publishing?Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is Amazon’s ebook publishing unit, which allows authors to sell their books directly to Amazon’s readers. The Kindle and KDP were launched concurrently in 2007, laying the groundwork for Amazon’s ebook empire which now holds more than 80% of the market in the United States and United Kingdom.Success stories from authors self-publishing through Amazon KDP began to roll out around 2011, with the popularity of Andy Weir’s The Martian and Wool by Hugh Howey. But they’re not without company: in 2018, Jeff Bezos revealed that over 1,000 authors had earned over $100,000 through Kindle Direct Publishing.While numbers like these are not the norm for the average writer, KDP has become the heavily preferred route for self-publishing authors - many of whom also decide to enroll in Amazon's Select program. Speaking of which...What is KDP Select?KDP Select is a program available to all authors willi ng to grant Amazon exclusive rights to sell their ebook through the Kindle store only.By agreeing not to sell the digital file of their book through any other retailers, authors are given access to a variety of promotional tools - the most significant of which is Kindle Unlimited -   and the opportunity to earn higher royalties (in some cases, more on that later).The KDP Select program lasts 90 days, after which authors can either choose to opt out of the program, or auto-renew for another 90-day commitment.While digital copies of the book must only be sold through Amazon:A 10% sample of the book can be made available outside of the Kindle Store;Print (or any other non-digital) versions can be distributed elsewhere; andCopies of the book can be emailed to reviewers for editing purposes.So, a higher percentage of sales and additional book marketing tools: sounds pretty good, right? Why would an indie author not want those things? Well, the question of whether to grant Amazon exclu sivity or to â€Å"go wide† is a constant talking point amongst self-publishing authors, as both options come with their own sets of pros and cons. The biggest and most important pro of enrolling in Amazon's Select program is undoubtedly the access to Kindle Unlimited. So before we get too far into discussing pros and cons, let's quickly cover exactly what Kindle Unlimited is.What is Kindle Unlimited?Kindle Unlimited (KU) is an â€Å"all-you-can-read† service that allows subscribers to read as many ebooks as they’d like for $9.99 a month (if you’re thinking â€Å"Netflix for books,† you’re on the money). When authors enroll in Amazon's Select program, their books are automatically made available to readers on KU. (For a comprehensive guide to KU, check out our post right here.) With all of this in mind, remember that whether you decide to go with KDP Select or open publishing, you’ll get out of it what you put into it. If you use KDP Select’s Countdown Deals or Free Promotions but don’t spend any time advertising your promotions, they won’t lead to much exposure - the whole point of these tools.If you decide to forgo the increased visibility that can come with Kindle Unlimited, make sure you spend time getting acquainted with the aggregators out there or developing various book marketing strategies - or else the benefits of going wide will end up falling flat.We hope this post has been helpful in considering the pros and cons of KDP Select vs. going wide, and that you feel more confident in leveraging the route you choose for your book’s success.Are you enrolled in KDP Select or considering it? Let us know your thoughts and questions in the comments below!