Archive | May 2018

How to prepare for a successful book signing?

Jean M. Cogdell's avatarJean's Writing

What does your signature look like?

Have you practiced signing books? Practiced your autograph?

Remember Practice makes perfect.

Don't practice until you get it right... Unknown at Jean's Writing

I recently read a good article by Judith Briles on how to prepare for a book signing/author event.

Here’s what I learned from Ms. Briles about preparing for that big event.

Things to Remember for a book event - Jean's Writing

Click the link below and read her entire article for more in-depth tips on a successful author book signing event.

Author Essential Tips How to Autograph Books by Judith Briles 

Watch for Part 2 on autographing and selling your book.

So…

Have you had a book signing yet? How did it go?

Do you have one scheduled for this year?

Are you ready for a signing event?

Do you have any good tips to add? I’d love to hear them.

YOU CAN FIND ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW.
AND DO STOP BY JEAN’S WRITING ANYTIME, I’LL LEAVE…

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The Plan

ThePlanCover

The Plan by Raven H. Price

I just finished reading this amazing book and my review follows the book blurb found on Amazon.  

“As a young child, Rachel Parody has a very special relationship with Jesus. By his side, she explores a magical place, is comforted, and encouraged to not live in fear. Over time, Rachel and Jesus lose contact and evil demons use their time of separation to steer her into the ways of the world. Not until her heart is completely broken and her mind is convinced she is headed for hell will she seek a face-to-face encounter again with her Savior. At the age of thirty-four, Rachel learns to rely and depend on her childhood friend once again. He teaches her the truth and then introduces her to the love of her life.

Because of her horrific past, many years later, Rachel’s need to be a good example for young women in her church drives her to worry over their romantic influences. When she notices a series of books and movies enslaving them with lustful desires, her interest gets piqued. After investigating the books, these stories don’t repulse her but become a catalysis for Rachel to share the love of Jesus with these girls. But the fantasy appeal of the characters enthralls the girls more than helping them see there is a true immortal named, Jesus. She tried many ways to share how this love story between a mortal and a vampire was written from references out of the Bible’s ‘Song of Solomon.’ but no one would listen.

Once Rachel realizes her efforts were futile, she asks Jesus to calm her obsession and send someone who could reach the younger generation with His loving nature. Instead of sending Rachel help, Jesus convinces her to write her own story. Exposing her past was not in Rachel’s plan, but giving her life away as an example was His. 

Will Rachel tell everything?”

Above I wrote that this book was amazing and I’m writing it again! Each person has their own story in life as we know it, yet most people don’t see or understand the struggles that others hide behind a facade of sorts. Life is real, and I’ve been there, done that, doing that a little more. Life can be a huge struggle, and one can feel absolutely horrible about things in their past, and possibly in their present. “The Plan” takes a reader on a true struggle through life, all the while keeping the Lord in the narrative. Everyone makes mistakes, but no one needs to suffer from them. Evil is always nearby, and that is seen in this amazing book. Life wasn’t easy for Rachel, and it took time for her hand over her life struggles and herself to the Lord. We all need to focus more on the positives in life and our Lord. Five stars for such a wonderful book!

 

The TOP 10 Best Writing Tips EVER

Dan Alatorre AUTHOR's avatarDAN ALATORRE

img_2351-11 your humble host

There are a lot of things you need to know to be an author

but these are the tips I tell new writers to remember, and these are the tips I come back to time and time again.

See if you agree.

Here are my top 10 writing tips ever.


  1. The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree, and once they are up there, throw rocks at them.

Vladimir Nabokov

A story without challenges is just plain dull. Nobody wants to read that. Readers want an escape, and it’s your job to give them that.

  1. There is only one plot – things are not what they seem.

Jim Thompson

This kinda made my head explode (in a good way). My eyes were opened. I realized that we want – as readers – a roller coaster ride, twists, turns… and as a writer, we…

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This entry was posted on May 12, 2018. 6 Comments

Blogging: How to Increase Comments

D. Wallace Peach's avatarMyths of the Mirror

All images Pixabay

I struggled with the title of this post because getting comments isn’t about stats; it’s about building relationships.

Some visitors to this blog might have noticed the number of comments here. It wasn’t and isn’t a goal, honestly. And there really isn’t any magic to it either. Comments grow out of a desire to genuinely connect with other bloggers, and a commitment to put in the time to do so.

Here’s how it happens:

I leave lots of comments on other blogs. These are my invitations to engage, my knock on a blogger’s door. They say, “Want to come out and play?”

Because blogging-time is precious, if a blogger doesn’t bother to reply to my knock, even with a simple “thank you,” I’m less inclined to knock again. On some level, they’ve declined my offer to engage.

At the very least, say “thank you” to someone who…

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This entry was posted on May 12, 2018. 1 Comment

How Creative Writing Can Boost Your Intelligence

Nicholas C. Rossis's avatarNicholas C. Rossis

This is a guest post by Sally Keys. You may remember her from her guest post, Creating The Time And Space You Need To Write Your Best Work. Sally is a professional freelance writer with many years experience across many different areas. She made the move to freelancing from a stressful corporate job and loves the work-life balance it offers her. When not at work, she enjoys reading, hiking, spending time with her family, and traveling as much as possible.

How Creative Writing Can Boost Your Intelligence

How Creative Writing Can Boost Your Intelligence | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's book Photo by Dustin Lee on Unsplash

Globally, the average IQ has increased by 20 points over the last 100 years. Many reasons are given for this and all, no doubt, play a part. The fact is that we live in a very different world to the one of 100 years ago. By examining these differences and comparing them to research into…

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This entry was posted on May 11, 2018. 2 Comments

Four Tips On How To Become A Better Writer – Guest Post by Rebekkah Ford…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Licence to use Image, obtained – Copyrightdenis83 123RF Stock Photo

I’ve been writing stories and articles since I was a kid and one of the things I love about it is, my craft is constantly evolving.

I’m evolving.

There’salwaysroom for growth, but it’s up to you, the author, on whether you desire to apply yourself to your craft.

If you want to become a better writer, here are four tips you can use to attain your goal.

  • Read. Yes, read. Every writer must read books. Why? Because writing is an art, and you can learn it from other authors. Also, say you write or want to write a romance novel. What better way to learn how to do it than to read stories in that genre? Reading also helps you get a grasp on the English language and teaches you what to do and not do. It…

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This entry was posted on May 11, 2018. 2 Comments

Three Types of Writers Have Trouble Finishing Things. Which One Are You?

theryanlanz's avatarRyan Lanz

by Lauren Sapala

I don’t know if it’s that time of year or what, but I’ve been getting a lot of emails from writers lately about finishing things. This is also a topic that comes up frequently in my coaching sessions with writers. Lots and lots of writers out there are terrified that they will never be successful—or even halfway decent—because they have a lot of trouble finishing things.

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7 WAYS AUTHORS CAN SELL MORE BOOKS IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

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7 WAYS AUTHORS CAN SELL MORE BOOKS IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

If you’ve never considered trying to sell more books internationally, maybe you should. English is the primary language spoken lots of places, with around 20% of the world speaking and reading it. That translates to 1.5 billion people. If that number doesn’t sway you, consider this: Germany has 51.5 million English speakers and has 7 billion in sales for English language books alone. The third largest market in English is India, behind the US and UK. So an international sales strategy is smart book marketing!

Some authors, wanting to dig into international markets and sell more books there, will work with foreign rights or translators. Both of these options can get quite pricey. And while this is still a good thing to consider, often the cost of a book translator (which can exceed $30,000), doesn’t always make sense or…

Read the rest here

This entry was posted on May 10, 2018. 2 Comments

Who Should You Listen to – Reviewers, Peers or Readers?

Nicholas C. Rossis's avatarNicholas C. Rossis

Lily Kaligian | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's bookThis is a guest post by Lily Kaligian. Lily is an editor at Businesscheck.co.nz and Canadabiz.net. She creates a variety of articles about careers, entrepreneurship, technology, business, education, as well as travel and personal development.

Who Should You Listen to – Reviewers, Peers or Readers?

Having your writing work read and appraised by others can be a very emotional experience. When you’ve poured your heart and soul into creating a novel, a short story, a poem or even just a blog post, you need to know that it’s not just you who sees your creation as valuable.

But writing and reading are incredibly subjective. One person’s prize winner could be another’s trashy holiday read. It can be hard working out who to trust when it comes to feedback and critique. Whose opinion should you take into account when reviewers, peers, and readers all have something to say?

Reviewers

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This entry was posted on May 9, 2018. 2 Comments