Amazon’s “Biggest Event Ever” is coming up tomorrow (Prime Day on Tuesday). We hope to reach lots of new potential Steemit users. Just in time for this event, we have updated the Steemit 101 e-book!
Here is a link to the Steemit 101 e-book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HC47NLU
If you downloaded it once, they may not let you do it again. So if you are one of the 1200+ people who already have an e-copy of Steemit 101, then you are entitled to a FREE SUPPLEMENT (in this post) that includes any updated information.
For everyone else, awwww, what the heck, you get it, too!!! As long as we keep this supplement to a minimum size, then Amazon considers it a “free preview” of the book’s contents. (In a few weeks, once our initial contract is up, we will be able to release the whole book on other sites also, making it available beyond the 13 countries where Amazon’s e-books are distributed.)
Highlights in the short life of the Steemit 101 e-book:
• Written by a great team of Steemit writers, who gave away 1,000+ free copies of the e-book last month. Thanks to Steemit’s community members, who helped take it viral!
• Even now, the book is priced at Amazon’s minimum of 99 cents. And it's free for Amazon Prime members. Authors keep no royalties. 100% of the royalties go back into promoting the book and promoting Steemit. For example, a new ad is scheduled to hit early this week, paid for by the author royalties.
• Last week, Amazon listed Steemit 101 as its # 1 Hot New Release in the Blogging & Blogs category, just ahead of Blogging for Dummies.
• The e-book is published in the US and 12 other countries. Its editions have received 45+ reviews (thanks, Steemians!), including this one from Steemit CEO Ned Scott: “I couldn’t be more proud to see these talented authors come together, adopt the technology and begin using it to empower others so quickly. The Steemit e-book is a testament to the community building nature of the Steem technology. Anyone looking for an entry point into cryptocurrency or a supportive online community will get a head start by reading this book.”
• On July 4, I (Tom 
• Since 
Summary of Updates to the Revised Edition (just re-published)
1.) Added new material on Using your STEEM, STEEM Dollars, and Cashing Out
INCLUDED BELOW IN THIS FREE SUPPLEMENT
2.) Revised material on Formatting Your Posts (included the new style editor and streamlined the markdown section)
INCLUDED BELOW IN THIS FREE SUPPLEMENT
3.) Revised Voting chapter + Added new material on Voting Curation Rewards
INCLUDED BELOW IN THIS FREE SUPPLEMENT
4.) Revised the “How to Introduce Yourself Nicely” chapter to explicitly suggest that all introductory posts include a self-picture holding a sign with Steemit and today’s date. This helps prevent abuse and has quickly become a Steemit community expectation.
5.) Made other minor changes, but did not get to everything yet. Screenshots have not been updated to show the recent website improvements. However, all screenshots in the book were reviewed to make sure they remain accurate. Updated screenshots and other changes will be included in the next revision.
HERE IS YOUR FREE SUPPLEMENT (includes the most significant revisions to the previous edition of the Steemit 101 Kindle e-book, primarily affecting Chapters 4, 5, and 7)
Chapter 4: Please add this to the “Wallet” subsection, just after the “Powering Up” paragraph. Please note that this is not the whole chapter, just a supplement to it.
Cashing Out
After you have been paid in Steem Dollars, you may want to transfer these to another account or convert them to STEEM. As the platform’s liquid currency, STEEM is the easiest to convert using external bridges and exchanges. Some of these also accept Steem Dollars directly, including the Blocktrades bridge and the Bittrex exchange.
When you want to cash out, you will need to use one of these third party services to exchange your STEEM or Steem Dollars into Bitcoin or another currency. To convert into fiat currency (such as Dollars, Euros, or Yen) that you can spend or deposit into your bank, you will need a gateway as well, such as Coinbase or CCEDK.
Tom
Powering Up, BitShares, and OpenLedger: https://steemit.com/steemit/@donkeypong/ready-to-power-up-or-cash-out-part-1-your-july-4-guide-to-steem-power-bitshares-assets-and-openledger
Cashing Out Using Blocktrades or Bittrex: https://steemit.com/steem/@infovore/ready-to-power-up-or-cash-out-part-2-your-july-4-guide-to-using-blocktrades-and-bittrex
Also, here is a good list of cryptocurrency-to-fiat gateways: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/List_of_payment_systems
This page also lists eWallets and sites for Bitcoin banking; scroll down until you find the list: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade
Chapter 5: The following material replaces the “Formatting Your Post” subsection. Please note that this is not the whole chapter, just a supplement to it.
Formatting Your Post
As you enter the post information in the submission form, a full preview of your post will appear on the screen below (just scroll down to see it). To make the post as reader-friendly as possible, it is best to add some simple formatting. Pay attention to paragraph breaks and try to use sub-headings for each section. Use bold or italicized text where appropriate. The style editor allows you to utilize any of these as well as add links and images, etc. You can upload images to http://imgsafe.org, which is a reliable host that embeds well on Steemit posts.
You no longer need to use Markdown format, since the style editor is included now on the submission form. But you can use Markdown if you wish. Markdown is a method for formatting your posts. It allows you to make headlines, turn text into bold or italics, and embed images and links into your post.
For example, if I want to write this in italics, then I could do so by adding an asterisk at the beginning and end of the part that I wanted to emphasize. That would look something like * write this in italics * (I had to add spaces before and after, otherwise it automatically would appear as italics here). On Steemit, when you enter Markdown code into a post, it automatically will trigger the formatting.
For other examples and more advanced formatting possibilities, please click here to see this Github Markdown guide. It includes the above syntax guide and much more. Again, when you put any of these markdown codes into the text of your post on Steemit, they take effect. From the submission form, as you type them in before submitting, you can see what the post will look like from the preview shown.
Writing your post in another software program and then moving it to Steemit
Steemit’s post submission form is very user-friendly. Perhaps you will feel comfortable enough to use it for everything. Some people prefer to write long posts elsewhere first and then copy them into Steemit’s submission form.
If you choose to use another program to write your posts first, there are some various options. You could write using a Word processor such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs. If you like to use Markdown format, then another really good method is to use the online editor StackEdit (click here to access it). That will allow you to use markdown and check how it looks before submitting.
The Steemit submission form usually saves anything you have typed in. So if your computer suddenly freezes up or you lose your Internet connection while you are submitting, do not lose hope. Your text and edits should be there when you open the submission form again.
However, it’s always wise to keep a backup copy just in case. Even if you do not use another program to write your post, consider making an outside copy of it before submitting. From the submission form on Steemit, you can just copy and paste it into a file (such as Microsoft Word or your e-mail program) that you can save to your computer, send to yourself, or store on the cloud. Or you could take a screenshot image, which is better than nothing. That way, if anything goes wrong with the submission process, you’ll have a backup copy.
Chapter 7: Please add the following text. While other portions of this chapter (on voting) have been re-written, this material represents the biggest change. Please note that this is not the whole chapter, just a supplement to it.
Reverse Auction Curation System for the first 30 Minutes
When Steemit first launched and when this e-book was first published, this system did not exist yet. Once it was implemented, Richard
As you probably know, Steemit pays users to post and to curate. In the past, “curation” meant “voting”, and the most profitable strategy was to vote as EARLY as possible on any post that seemed likely to become popular. This is a good system, because it rewards people for discovering good posts and bringing them to the community’s attention.
However, under Steemit’s old rules, voting bots could jump to the front of the line, casting the most profitable early votes on a promising post. (A bot is a simple software program that runs automated tasks, like voting faster than you can on something that a popular Steemit writer has just posted.) While we are not passing judgment on bots, which do fulfill a certain purpose, the people using bots certainly have held an advantage so far.
We can compare this to buying a FastPass at Disneyworld or another amusement park; many such parks offer an advantage pass for those who buy a membership or pay extra. While average people have to wait in lines for popular rides and attractions, FastPass holders can jump to the front of the line because they paid extra for that privilege.
When Steemit first launched, users were highly incentivized to vote early on soon-to-be popular posts. The logic behind that was very simple. If you were the first user to upvote something that becomes popular later on, you would get a larger payout in comparison to the rest of the upvoters.
But now there is a new system in place, and while it’s still true that voters get paid a big chunk of the money from each post, there is another variable added to the equation. From now on, all curation rewards earned by voting in the first 30 minutes are to be shared with the author. If you vote right away after the post is submitted, then the author gets most of your reward, but if you wait longer you get more. Of course, others can jump in during that time, so if you wait longer to vote, the consequences can be both positive and negative. On the one hand, you make a higher percentage of the payout by waiting as long as possible within that 30 minute period. But then again, other people may vote ahead of you, reducing your payout.
This is a reverse auction system, inviting everyone to jump in any time with your vote during the first 30 minutes following a post’s submission. You will get a different share of the reward depending on when you vote. And you need to decide when is the most profitable time to vote, since others may jump into line ahead of you!
Since it would violate our contract with Amazon to provide any more free material than this, I will direct you to the great article written by
https://steemit.com/steem/@steemship/how-to-vote-smart-and-profit-from-steemit-s-new-curation-rewards
And here is a link to the Steemit 101 e-book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HC47NLU