7 . Thousands of books are published daily, and book advertisements play a crucial role in increasing awareness about those books. But it’s too easy to be tricked into bad “advertising opportunities” and make the wrong decisions. Here are several forms of digital advertising proven to work well.

Facebook advertising: Facebook provides the perfect advertising platform for authors because it allows targeting very specific categories of people. The other advantage is that it’s easy to test. You can start with a budget as low as $5 and gradually increase your monetary (货币的) commitment if your return on investment is positive.

Amazon advertising: Amazon allows you to show ads about your book directly on other book pages and search result pages. Since their main US rollout in 2017, they’ve become the most effective advertising place for authors.

Bookbub advertising: Bookbub rolled out a self-serve ad platform in 2016, which they’ve greatly improved since. It’s a less competitive playing field than Facebook or Amazon, but it does have its features.

Discount/promotion advertising: If you’re running a discount or free promotion on one of your books, you can apply to have it advertised in the newsletters of platforms such as Freebooksy, Bargainbooksy, etc.

Other types of advertising include search advertising, Goodreads advertising, banner ads on websites, etc. These haven’t produced the same effective results for most authors yet, but they could be just as effective (or more) if you write in a certain field.

8 . Parkinson’s is a progressive brain disease which leads to shaky hands and slow movement, and there is no cure. Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese martial art that combines (结合) slow, gentle movements with deep breathing and relaxation, may be an effective means of reducing the suffering. Recently, the researchers say that those who practised the martial art twice a week had fewer complications (并发症) and better quality of life than those who didn’t. Experts say the findings back up previous studies on the benefits of exercise for those with Parkinson’s.

The study, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, monitored the health of hundreds of Parkinson’s patients for up to five years. One group of 147 people practised regular Tai Chi while another group of 187 did not. The researchers found that the disease progressed more slowly in the Tai Chi group on measurements of symptoms (症状), movement and balance. This group also saw fewer falls, less back pain and dizziness, with memory and concentration problems also lower than in the other group. At the same time, sleep and quality of life continuously improved.

Prof. Alastair Noyce, professor in neurology and neuroepidemiology at Queen Mary University of London, called it “an important study”—the positive effects on aspects of motor (运动的) and non-motor functions are impressive — but said there were limitations in its design, and more tests were needed.

“We already recommend Tai Chi, as well as other forms of exercise, but understanding which forms of exercise are most beneficial is an important goal to improve the long-term management of patients,” he said.

10 . While screen time is known to affect sleep, new research suggests that interactive (互动的) activities, such as texting friends or playing video games, put off and reduce the time spent asleep to a greater degree than passive (被动的) screen time like watching television, especially for teens.

The team studied the daytime screen-based activities of 475 teenagers using daily surveys. They asked the teens how many hours they had spent that day communicating with friends through social media and how many hours they spent playing video games, surfing the internet and watching television or videos. Finally, the researchers asked if they had joined in any of these activities in the hour before bed.

Next, the team measured their sleep time for one week. The researchers found that the teens spent an average of two hours per day communicating with friends via social media, about 1.3 hours playing video games, less than an hour surfing the internet and about 1.7 hours watching television or videos. For every hour throughout the day that they used screens to communicate with friends, they fell asleep about 11 minutes later averagely. For every hour to play video games, they fell asleep about 9 minutes later. Those who talked, texted or played games in the hour before bed lost the most sleep: about 30 minutes later.

Interestingly, David, lead author of the study, said the team found no obvious relations between passive screen-based activities and sleep. “It could be that passive activities are less mentally exciting than interactive activities,” said Anne, co-author of the study. “It’s a tricky situation,” she said. “These screen tools are really important to everyone nowadays, so it’s hard to put a limit on them, but if you’re really looking out for a teenager’s health and well-being, you might consider limiting the more interactive activities, especially in the hour before bed.”