Tranquility
London
Rural Autumn – painting
Two photographs and one painting for today.
WRITERS’ CONFERENCE & BOOK EXPO, 2017! ~ #RRBC
9 Manuscript Editing Software Programs Reviewed…
by Carla King 
on BookBaby Blog:
While a good, professional (human) editor is invaluable to your book – the purchase of manuscript editing software can be another prudent investment.
Manuscript editing software programs do much more than the built-in spelling and grammar checkers in your word processor.
Some offer “first-pass” or “last-pass” editing to clean up mistakes in spelling, grammar, and punctuation; others make suggestions for improving your language.
These programs can alert you to overuse of adverbs, clichés, redundancies, overlong sentences, sticky sentences, glue words, vague and abstract words, diction, and the misuse of dialog tags, to name just a few.
Some of these tools will even connect you with a human editor with a click of a button.
In alphabetical order, here are some of my favorites (this is by no means an exhaustive list).
See all the programs reviewed at:
Manuscript Editing Programs Reviewed
TSRA NOTE:
I recommend that these…
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How to Embed Tweets in Your Blog Post
Tweets aren’t just for Twitter anymore.
Here’s a neat thing you can do with those tweets right here on your WordPress blog. It’s wicked cool. And easy. 3 steps…done.
All of you lovely bloggers know I’m not a techie but I wanted to share this fun find with you.
I have visuals, too, which is awesome. Admittedly, I went a bit bonkers with the arrows but…you get the point. (I know. I’m hilarious.)
First we’re going old school with a “cut and paste” URL option, then we’ll embed an html code like we know what we’re doing.
No need to hurt your eyes squinting at the screenshots—you can click to enlarge them. Let’s get tweeting on our blogs.
Copy Link Option:
STEP ONE:
Choose the tweet you want. Click on the cute, little grey v-shaped thingy in the top, right corner.
Click to enlarge
STEP TWO:
You’ll see a drop-down…
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That Is How Things Are by Mrs. D
That Is How Things Are by Mrs. D.
I was given this book by the author, and having read it, review follows the author’s book blurb found on Amazon.
“That Is How Things Are contains two connected stories: “The Autumn Wind”—A moving story about the powerful wind and the peaceful garden, and how things change quickly when the callous autumn wind unleashes his power.
“The Kitten and the Sparrow”—A heartwarming story about friendship between a kitten and a sparrow, and how the little kitten learns about the power of nature.”
This book contains two stories, ‘The Autumn Wind’ and ‘The Kitten and the Sparrow’ which the author has woven so that books complement each other. In ‘The Autumn Wind‘, children learn about autumn and the weather’s effects on the trees, the changing colors of the leaves, and how ferocious the cold winds can be like, depending on where one lives this time of year.
‘The Kitten and the Sparrow’ is the second book and it ties in with the first book nicely. The reader views autumn from the view of a kitten and her sparrow friend. Children learn not only the nature of autumn, but also the way that birds migrate to find food and shelter away from the strong cold winds and weather. It was a positive touch to add that the characters come back each spring.
The illustrations are lovely and tied in with both stories; the trees have faces, the wind cloud has a face and the cloud swirls around showing children how clouds from above affect the trees and life on the ground. Five stars!
27 Years Ago Today
27
27 years…
27 long years…
A lifetime…
How can this be? It seems like yesterday (April 6, 1985) and you were born. Such a sweet little boy… then cancer invaded you body at age four years…you fought with courage – a real trouper… then you died in my arms… 27 years ago today – 11:35 pm. Time heals but time never forgets… such an angelic child you were and are to this day, Sam.
35
35 years…
35 long years…
A lifetime…
You would have been 35 years old had you lived beyond my womb, Shane… now both of you reside in heaven… brothers. My candles are lit just like you shine in heaven and the brilliance of God. Mama misses both of you so much… when angels truly fly.
CreateSpace Stops Selling Books
An excellent and succinct article for all writers!
I’m sure many of you will have received the email from CreateSpace (CS) that announces how their own eStore will cease to serve customers on October 31st. Instead, customers will be redirected to Amazon.
CreateSpace explains that the move was made because of requests that their eStore is redeveloped to include the ability to search across the site, an improved checkout process, better shipping options including Amazon Prime, order tracking notifications, and a familiar user interface.
What Does This Mean For You?
My usual source for all things Amazon, Chris McMullen, has compiled bulleted lists of pros and cons which you can read to see how this will affect you.
Royalties
The simple fact remains that CreateSpace currently offers a 20% higher royalty than Amazon. To ease the transition, it will adjust your Amazon royalty rates for six months effective November 1, 2017 through April 30, 2018, to…
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IAN Book of the Year Finalist
We are proud to announce that The Big Cheese Festival has won yet another award for 2017, as listed below.
We are pleased to announce that your book, The Big Cheese Festival, is a winner in the 2017 IAN Book of the Year Awards!
When judging completed, The Big Cheese Festival, was selected as a finalist in one category: “Children’s Fiction Illustrated.”
A “Finalist” badge is attached in a PNG file.
Congratulations! Thank you for your participation in this year’s competition.
Sincerely,
William
William Potter
Book of the Year Awards
$6,000 in Cash Prizes
The Best Times to Post on Social Media
Social media is one of the most revolutionary inventions of the 21st century. For better or worse, it affects our relationships with each other, our relationships with businesses and brands, and even how governments operate.
Naturally, researchers have studied social media and its impact over the years. But perhaps, none more so than marketing and public relations specialists, who use social media to boost visibility and sales for their clients.
Along the way, one of the biggest secrets social media gurus have tried to unravel is the absolute best time to post on social media for maximum reach and engagement. Here are some of the findings “social media scientists” have made so far.
Remember that your audience, location, and business type will affect whether or not these hold true for your brand. Make the necessary adjustments with those differences in mind.
There is conflicting information about the best time…
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Blast from the Past: Building Relationships with Fans
A text-only version of this article appeared in my GoodReads blog on March 25, 2011. The lessons still apply today — despite changes to Facebook’s algorithms and Operation eBook Drop coming to an end.
If I had a subtitle, it would be: Or, Some Things I Learned Along the Way
The other day, I dropped someone from my personal Facebook page. She’s a professional author whom I knew casually from another website, and she sent me a friend request — which I accepted.
Given the way that authors tend to network, I’m sure you’re wondering why I dropped her.
One hundred percent of her posts were billboarding about where to buy her books, sent via Tweetdeck. I started to feel as though the only reason she’d invited me to be her Facebook friend was so that she would make a sale!
There are lots of ways to rock on Facebook…
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When Angels Fly 