People who are growing in God all share one common trait; they attract criticism. Criticism is a compliment when you are doing what you know you are supposed to do right. I was reading a cover story on Billy Graham in Time Magazine and was not surprised to find out several criticisms of him from fellow ministers. Then I was reminded of the fact: all great people get great criticism. Learn to accept and expect that you will experience unjust and just critisms for your God-given goals and accomplishments.

If you are doing anything and you are not criticized check yourself, something is wrong somewhere. No matter how you do good, help people, relate in love, preach or work tirelessly in your company you must be criticized. Everybody can’t be happy with you and if you don’t know how to handle criticisms you will miss the mark. If you know…

There is so much writing advice out there from people who claim to be experts. As writers, it’s sometimes hard to wade through the information and decide what’s important and what’s not.  Despite the endless pool of writing advice offered by everyone under the sun, one fact remains. Your ultimate goal is to become a better writer.

I’m sure you’ve read and heard a lot of advice about writing. Some advice is useful. Some, not so much. Over the years, I’ve taken all the advice I’ve accumulated and compiled a list that encompasses the six main things that seem to be consistent no matter who is offering advice.

1. Invest in some reference books. Get a dictionary, thesaurus, and a book on basic grammar. Have them handy and use them.
2. Expand your vocabulary. I’m not talking fancy, flowery words here. This is more about using the vocabulary you already…

…I’m appalled to learn from news snippets on the Web recently that the pernicious practice of false reviews being purchased on Amazon is rife… as a scribbler myself, I consider each and every review that any of my WURKS attract is a a precious commodity…

…since first dipping my authorly toe into the swirling maelstrom that is the Auntie Amazon Kindle universe ten years ago, my wee literary babies have been honoured with in excess of 500 reviews… the majority of these have been 4-star and 5-star offerings, for which, of course, I am indebted to the reviewers  for taking the time and trouble to record their opinions… but I never lose sight of the fact that they are simply that… opinions… if sumb’dy buys one of my books, then I firmly accept they are at liberty to say whatever they want, positive or negative about it…

…I recall…

As you know, comments on an Amazon page can make or break a product. That’s why the company says that more than 99 percent of its reviews are legitimate because they are written by real shoppers who aren’t paid for them.

But a Washington Post examination by Elizabeth Dwoskin and Craig Timberg found a majority of reviews in certain categories with certain characteristics such as repetitive wording that people probably cut and paste in. In other words, fake reviews.

Amazingly enough, many of these fraudulent reviews originate on Facebook, where sellers seek shoppers on dozens of networks, including Amazon Review Club and Amazon Reviewers Group. Shoppers are asked to give glowing feedback in exchange for money or other compensation.

The Law Of Unintended Consequences

As I’ve been reporting (Amazon Steps Up Its Antifraud Efforts, and Amazon Rewrites Review Policy), Amazon has banned paying for reviews

Once again, the question of the difference between beta reading and editing has arisen in one the many forums I frequent on Facebook. So, I feel the need to revisit a post from 2015, Beta Reading VS. Editing. If you’ve already seen this post, nothing has changed in the world of editing and beta reading since this first appeared. But thank you for stopping by!

Indies rely heavily on what we refer to as beta readers to help shape their work and make it ready for editing. But in many online forums, authors use the term used interchangeably with editing, and the two are completely different.

And unfortunately, some indie published works are clear examples of work by authors who don’t realize the importance of working with an editor, although it is apparent that they have had assistance from beta-readers.

What is quite disappointing to me, is the many traditionally published works that seem to fall…

I believe we Indie Authors have to stick together people and that is why I am sharing some of my top email list building mistakes. Before I jump to the conclusion that email lists don’t work, I am going to identify some of the things I am doing or have done wrong. Before finding solutions, we must identify the problem. Sometimes it is not that something is not working, we are just doing it wrong.

Problem#1 – Randomly Asking People to Sign-Up

When I started focusing on building my list, I didn’t pay attention to who was signing up. I just wanted the numbers up. I had heard the hype about getting email list subscribers and how helpful it was to authors. By just asking people to sign-up, people subscribed who were not part of my target audience. This means that when I came out with a book, they weren’t…

Step 1: Read a book!

Step 2: Decide to Write a Review.

How often do you pick up a book without a recommendation or perusing reviews online? I still occasionally judge books by their cover at the local library but mostly I rely on recommendations from friends or via reviews online, and I bet you do too.
All of us readers love reviews!
Love a book, want to support an author? The best way is to write an honest review. Reviews are hugely important to us (largely because, like I mentioned, nobody picks up books without looking at reviews).
Love a book and want to support an illustrator? Ditto!
So, if you love readers, authors, illustrators or anyone else in the book industry, support them all and write a review!

Step 3: Don’t Panic!

Maybe you’ve never written a review before, maybe you don’t know where to start.
It’s okay…