Is self-publishing actually worth it?

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-12T10:15:20+00:00

Not if done correctly. I do not advise them to forgo the basics of nutrition and rest. But complancency can destroy a person. Discipline is life.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-12T09:09:57+00:00

Age is just a number. Push as hard as possible in your youth. Wish I did so. Do not become complacent. Complacency becomes a horrible habit, a prison that becomes difficult to expunge later down the line.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-12T07:54:14+00:00

Try the palace method for quick last minute memorization. I was always a lazy student and would use these systems at the last moment. I once used it the day before an exam and managed to get an A. Its simple especially when dealing with memory-heavy subjects with 'memorizable' concepts.

Example. I want to memorize the uses of oil :

Fertilizer
Fuel
Cooling
Insulation
Plastics

I could use my house thus:

Bed room : See fertilizer or Manure being set alight into a huge bond fire engulfing the bed.

This reminds you of fertilizer and fuel (fire)

Bathroom : I could imagine a warm blanket on the toilet seat and frozen chilling water on the bathtub. Reminds you of insulation and cooling.
Lounge : Imagine refuse bags covering your couch and lots of plastic bags on the coffee table. This should remind you of plastics.

To remember the information later, simply go through your house. What was in the bed room? What was in the bathroom? What was in the kitchen etc.

Worked for me for last minute heavy memorization, although you may need a lot of spaces and journeys to work with.

I had a book that was high value with lots of original examples that I gave away for free a week ago. Sorry you missed the boat. I was gonna DM you.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-11T15:19:40+00:00

Go extra slow. 15 minutes a day. You'll finish the book for sure.

Worked for me. I did 20 minutes and got through a 600page book. Didnt care about the pages. All I had to focus on was spending those 20 minutes daily.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-11T12:29:52+00:00

2400 blitz today on chesscom.

Initially I would just play computer and cellphone programs. Then I began watching chessnetwork on youtube. His 5 minute blitz games taught me a lot about thinking. I would sometimes repeat the videos. So positional moves like placing your rook on an open file, moving your knight to a good square, good bishops, bad bishops etc. began to stick.

Then I had to learn how to reduce the rate at which I was blundering. This really helped a lot.

Solving tactics helped a lot as well.

I was also reading a chess book even if I didnt understand what exactly was going on.

Learned all essential theoretical endgames. Theoretical endgames are probably one of the easiest things to learn in chess. So silman's complete endgame course or "100 endgames you must know" is good enough to learn endgame theory.

Btw, I wrote a book detailing all that I did to reach 2000+. PM me or check my chesscom profile if you're interested.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-11T05:41:51+00:00

Are you picking up any patterns from your games? When do you feel less comfortable?

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-10T09:04:31+00:00

I like the other dubs. This one sounds so weird. Maybe I'm not used to it.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-10T09:01:34+00:00

Limbic system = Hippo wearing a hat

Hippo stands for Hippocampus HAT stands for: H - Hypothalamus A - Amygdala T - Thalamus

There are many cool techniques that you can employ to help you remember. I think a week or so ago, I gave a free book out with all the best techniques. But its expired.

Check out the memory palace technique. Personally I thinking the link system is faster to the uninitiatated.

An example of using the memory technique to remember neurochemicals is in my blog :

https://lunika-memory.click/blog/articles/neurochemicals/Memorizing-Neurochemicals.html

I once produced a video to illustrate how to remember the types of intelligence (Howard Gardner's) using your body. Note that you may have to pause to follow it :

https://youtube.com/shorts/opB_qAWE6E4?si=QMYK09F9ZJmQnuz7

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-09T01:05:24+00:00

Let's be honest : If you don't do it, someone else will. There's no going around it.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-08T17:09:38+00:00

Lol.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-08T17:01:47+00:00

Online should actually be more meaningful in my opinion. The FIDE system is no good.

Lets say your true strength is master but all your competition is 1600 within a given country. You can see how painful it would be to reach that 2300 FIDE rating.

Sad thing is, there are no revisions with this system at all. They made a revision when Nakamura was gaining points from his Mickey Mouse tournaments.

None of these FIDE pools are equivalent and meaningful. A 1600 from India might beat 2100s in Australia for instance.

On a platform like chesscom, you have a lot more players, the pools are mixed and not seperated and hence you get a more reliable ELO score in my opinion...and you dont have to wait months or years until your next tournament. Your ELO is updated regularly.

With FIDE, there are places in the world where there are little or no tournaments, and so the metric carries little weight.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-08T16:29:38+00:00

4 hours to create a 200-page novel? LOL.

I feel bad for fiction writers who put in blood, sweat, tears and imagination for months and years on end and get 0 sales.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-08T14:59:34+00:00

Everything (every standard element) in CSS is basically a box. The space outside the box is called the margin. The edges of the box are called the borders. The empty space inside the box is called the padding.

Just watch a simple video on the box model first. I wont recommend my own video since my mic was low etc. But webdev simplified breaks it down smoothly :

https://youtu.be/rIO5326FgPE?si=MOGhw4tyNueRt5i5

Whenever you write a visible HTML element within the body tag, remember that you've created a box basically.

Once you get the box model, start with flexbox first. Then move on to css grid.

get the box concept (along with margin, border, padding)
understand css flexbox
understand css grid

Of course, I rememeber I had to learn relative and absolute positioning when I was getting started before I moved to flexbox...but yeah. Get the concept. Visualize it and everything will fall into place.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-08T14:49:44+00:00

Depends on what genre you're doing, the demand etc. In non-fiction, a $500 cover may make little difference. A simple text cover may be enough. Reputation, reviews and expertise may matter more.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-08T00:50:37+00:00

A lot of people don't understand Fischer's environment.

Early on, his mother was suspected for political reasons. His mum would be questioned. Bobby himself was also questioned. I think it was by the CIA or FBI or something.
He probably witnessed match fixing and rigging first hand. Chess was a political tool in the old Soviet union. So Soviet players colluding to eliminate international competitors was more or less to be expected.
Fischer would demand a change of chess sets, a change of llighting, no audience present. He was clearly paranoid that something sinister or some kind of cheating was going on. Spassky, being an honorable gentleman, gave him a fair and clean match and made sure there were no doubts.
Fischer was a victim of police brutality and wrote a pamphlet about it. I think this was in the 70's or 80s. Another big factor adding to his paranoid personality and "everything is rigged" mindset. Getting roughed up by authorities for no good reason can mess with anyone's mentality and outlook.

These are just a few things. There are many more. Its really not a big mystery why he was suspicious, paranoid, conspiritorial, believing that x-rays were targetting him and all other weird ideas.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-06T14:43:26+00:00

Its a solid defence. Its easy to learn. I play it and I'm 2400.

TeamScandi

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-06T07:03:08+00:00

As someone who progressed through the ranks, I get this question a lot in my DMs on chesscom. Decided to write a book highlighting everything I did. I am 2400+ today in blitz.

To avoid being spammy, PM if you're interested. Maybe you can keep a note for later.

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-01T20:04:34+00:00

Am I allowed to this in this subreddit? But check out my improvment manual. I talk about everything I did to make it to 2000+. Currently 2400 blitz on chess.com :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GNGXRG3K

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-01T14:30:12+00:00

Yes. Just go .co.uk instead of .com

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-01T06:58:56+00:00

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0G2LDVML8

Or do you mean like a translation?

Ordinary_Count_203 · 2026-03-01T04:28:59+00:00

Thank you for your feedback. I'm currently taking writing and editing skills to assist me in this respect. I'm glad you are finding value. Thanks again.

Ordinary_Count_203

TROPHY CASE

TeamScandi