Archives
Self-editing: What are your options?
by Katie McCoach
You’ve finished the first draft of your novel, now it’s time for revisions. We know that you’ll need a professional editor soon, but before that, what can you do on your own? Revisions need to start somewhere, so here are a few options for editing your own work:
View original post 541 more words
Quotations on Writing by Ray Bradbury
“Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.”
“You fail only if you stop writing.”
“You must write every single day of your life.”
Guest author: G. Michael Vasey – Ghosts of the Living and Being in Two Places at Once
I love the premise of all the concepts in this blog post!
A recent call with my mother resulted in my latest book. Knowing my interests, my mother surprised me by telling me how on three separate occasions, she had seen her sister. The first time, she was in the kitchen and turned around to see the apparition oh her sister. It slowly faded away. The second time, she saw her outside the front door but by the time she got to the door, no one was there. A third instance shook her up quite a bit. Why? Well seeing a ghost is a scary thing but especially if the person whose ghost you see is still alive!
I was hooked – ghosts of the living.
Just recently, I came up with the idea to try a series of short Kindles. Each would be a short read on a particular paranormal topic under the series heading of ‘Paranormal Eyewitness’. Each book would…
View original post 789 more words
7 Common Sense Reasons You Should Build an Email List
- Direct Communication
Many Indie Authors don’t see the immediate need for an email list until after a book is born. That’s because after a book is published we come to see the pertinent role emails play in driving traffic to our blogs, websites, and increasing revenue. According to The Direct Marketing Association, email marketing on average sees a 4300 percent return on investment (ROI) for businesses in the USA and according to The WordPress Beginner Guide, in our business, email lists get 10 times higher conversions than social media campaigns. One reason is because of direct communication. Also known as Electronic Mail, e-mail has been around forever as a way to directly communicate over the web.
While it’s unrealistic to think all (place number of subscribers here) of your blog followers are going to be reading your content and providing feedback, the hope is that at least half…
View original post 2,619 more words
7 Things I Learned about Email List Building
I’ve learned so far that there’s a lot more to building an email list than getting people signed up. I’ve had an email list for years but I feel that only now am I starting to really understand how it works. A little. OK so maybe I just have an inkling of an idea. Who knows but it’s a start.
While having one is great, building an email list and the upkeep is not easy! OK, well, it’s not hair-pulling difficult but it does take some tending to. I don’t want to scare anyone away. It’s not brain surgery or anything like that but I guess that’s why they call it “building”. You don’t build anything over night. There are lots of steps and parts to keeping an email list updated and valuable.
(Click Here to read 7 Common Sense Reasons You Should Build an Email List)
Here are some…
View original post 1,690 more words
The importance of creativity for children
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Review: Stranded at Romson’s Lodge
Stranded at Romson’s Lodge by J. L. Callison
My review follows the authors blurb found on Amazon. “Kidnapped and flown to a remote lodge in upstate Maine, high school seniors, Jed Romson and Elizabeth Sitton are stranded when their kidnapper crashes on takeoff. With thirty-five miles between them and the nearest hunting lodge, Jed knows it is up to him to care for a homesick city girl until someone finds them. Is he up to the task? “Call me if you need anything.” Jed shook his head. This was going to be interesting. Not only did he have to babysit a tenderfoot, he had to listen to her, too.
Elizabeth, a city girl, has never been away from home, especially out in the wilderness with no amenities. Can she learn to cook on a wood stove or over an open fire? And what about wild animals? Wolves? Bears? Coyotes? Lizzie dropped into a deerskin-bound chair and buried her face in her hands. “I don’t think I can do this, Jed. I’m not cut out to be a Swiss Family Robinson character. I’m not an outdoorsy type of girl. This is all well and good for you, but you grew up with this stuff. I don’t have any idea what I’m doing.”
Left with no clues, what will Detective Sarah Summers do to find the missing teens?”
I was gifted this book and this is my honest review. This book is well-written, fast paced, and well-edited which is always plus for any book. The two stranded kidnapped teenagers, Jed Romson and Elizabeth Sitton, must figure out how to survive in a remote lodge in upstate Maine. Coupling their viewpoints with those of the people trying to find them, a great mix was obtained, and Callison wove this together in a professional manner. Warning to book lovers – you won’t want to put this book down! I was surprised to know the villain from the start of the narrative. Not all teenage girls are weak, and Callison made Sitton very weak from the start, which was a disservice to women in my opinion. However, setting this novel in the 1980s was interesting with living the life of the time, without smart phones and computers to aid them in their search. All young adults could benefit from reading this novel. I found the perfect touch of morals and God perfect for this work. Five stars from me!
For I am weak…
I don’t love like he commands
I don’t trust like I should
I fail again and again
ForIamweakandHeisstrong!
Only through Him I live
Only through Him I am free
Only through Him can I stand
Only by Him can I believe
Only by Him can I love
ForIamweakandHeisstrong!
3 huge things you need to know to not f*ck up your book launch
Pardon my asterisked French, but this post is going to be about as subtle as a slap in the face, OK? If you’re squeamish, Bail out now.
I mean, it’s still funny because it’s me, but I think a lot of people have been deluding themselves about certain things and it’s time for them to wake up.
Do you know why we call the release of the new book “a launch”?
Because it is very similar to launching a rocket.
Oh yeah? You mean like in the ’60s when the mercury program rockets exploded on the launch pad and killed everybody?
Well…
Hopefully not.
But maybe.
Let’s start with something only slightly less dangerous: bottle rockets that you might have played with as a kid on Fourth of July.
Sadly, most book launches are not like a bottle rocket launch. You light fuse and stand back for 10 seconds and…
View original post 1,998 more words
When Angels Fly 