Self-Imposed Deadlines

When working with a publisher, you have set deadlines; unless the publisher runs into problems on their end, you must meet the deadlines in order to have your book published. If the publisher says they need editing changes by a certain date, do your best to meet the deadline.

If you are a self-pubbed author, using a place like createspace.com to print your books, you have to set your priorities and try to adhere to your own deadlines. What if you miss your self-imposed deadline? Is it a big deal? It may be on yourself but in the end, you know what must done in order to get your book ready to be published.

Set realistic deadlines. Sometimes this is harder than it sounds, especially if you are working with an illustrator or cover artist or graphic designer. These can be all the same person or several different people. Unless you know how to do book layouts and/or have the proper software to accomplish a professional book layout, you will need someone to do that. If you are writing a children's story that needs illustrations, you will need an illustrator, who probably should also design your cover. Make sure you are working with someone who has a good work ethic and adheres to your timeline as much as possible.

This is the tricky part because we all know life happens and sometimes deadlines have to changed, moved up to a better date for both parties or sometimes they inadvertently get missed.

What's the best way to stay on track with self-imposed deadlines? Keep a calendar (either a wall, desk pad calendar or pocket one works well) or some sort of worksheet (can be an excel spreadsheet or a google docs spreadsheet) so that you can keep track of when you want to get your book published. Along with this is the marketing planning that needs to be implemented as soon as you start writing your first draft. Does this always happen? No, again, life happens. If you are a working parent and have small children still at home, it is harder to work on the whole plan in large chunks. By time you get to spend time on writing, it is usually late night or the wee hours of the morning and your sleep hours start dwindling tremendously. If you work outside the home and don't have kids still at home, again you are under stress from your day-to-day job and social life that it is hard to actually spend as much time as you would like on your writing life.

If you fall into a different category, you have to find the right balance. For this writer, teenagers demand much of her time outside of a full-time job. I have to put forth self-imposed deadlines. I need to be more diligent about sticking to my deadlines so that I can get my books out, especially my state books. These have been neglected for the past year but that's not to say I haven't been working on my writing or publishing or marketing during that time. I just have let my self-imposed deadlines become something of the past. When I first began self-pubbing, I worked with my illustrator and we stayed pretty close to our deadlines. She then graduated high school and started college and deadlines are becoming harder and harder to meet.

I guess one could say that self-imposed deadlines are like setting goals and checking them off as they occur. Again, one has to consider everything and everyone involved in the process in order to set realistic deadlines. I had a chat session with my illustrator so that we could work on setting some deadlines. Some items have been neglected for many months and I really need them fixed before moving on to other state stories. Hopefully with exams winding down and the rest of the school stuff slacking off for a bit before summer classes start, she can dedicate the time needed to get her graphic designing business back on track.

Not all the self-imposed deadlines involve others as we have all heard that the writing profession is a lonely one. We all have to sit down and set our own deadlines for different tasks. My deadlines are to at least get several (possibly 3) state stories written within a month to six weeks (hopefully by mid June) and to my editor. Again, she is busy and may not have time to edit so I may be in search of a new editor. If I can at least get the stories written, when it is time for my illustrator to do her magic, they should be ready to go.

The other deadlines involve my short stories and getting them published as ebooks. We have deadlines for "Butterfly Halves" (a YA fantasy) to be published in May; "La Cave" (a past lives romance story) sometime in July or August and "Zombies Amuck" (a children's R.L Stine like story) to be published in October (I think having a zombies story published during October is very appropriate). The last deadline I have is to have Imogene: Innocense Lost completed by November. I hope to have my thoughts for cover to my illustrator so that even before I decide to publish I'll have something to market.

I will strive harder to at least meet most of my self-imposed deadlines and let the rest fall where it may as far as my editor and illustrator are concerned. They know what they have to do and what deadlines they need to meet. They know what their priorities are.

So I ask you, do you use self-imposed deadlines in your business? If so, leave a comment and let us know what kind of self-imposed deadlines you have set for yourself, even if you are not a writer or working on a current project. See you all in the postings - E :)

This and That

Updates for the week include no sales of any of the ebooks this past week. A teacher on my friends' list on plurk contacted me after I left a response on her posting regarding some ideas to get a student reading and setting commitments for his IEP (individualized education program). I made several suggestions including my state books; she has requested an order form, so now it is a matter of waiting to see what she does. I also sent her the file of one of the books so she can decide whether or not the class would benfit from the books or not. I hope she does as this might be incentive for me start working on the state stories again. I really need to concentrate on those for a bit, with the hopes of getting three written and whenever Heather is ready to work on them she can just do her thing and they will be ready for her. Of course, once they are written, I also have to get my editor back on track with editing as she has pretty much given up on her writing career and has been busy with other things. But it will happen.

One of my son's friends who is basically homeless but staying here for the most part (he stays at other friends' houses on the weekends and sometimes during the week but they all have school so hard to stay elsewhere) is in debt to me, so I told him he could work off his debt by doing some research for my wip - Imogene: Innocense Lost. Maybe he will have that research done by the end of May or middle of June so I can get back to writing that story as I really would like to get it published sometime the first of next year. I know, I know, we've all been told get the story written fist and then do research but there is a problem with writing this story that way. It is a dated story. By that I mean that there are key dates in the story and I have to make sure I don't write something that didn't exist or wouldn't be realistic for that time period (i.e., the story starts in June of 1980, the real story starts in 1970 and the backstory starts in June of 1945/September 1945). Obviously in 1980, I can't talk about booking flights to China via online methods (we were still typing on Selectric typewriters in 1980 and word processors were the new wave of technology then; cell phones were big and bulky and kept in cars mostly because they were too heavy to carry around, not like today's cell phones that fit in your pocket; computers existed but not in the form of laptops, netbooks, et cetera; Sony Walkmans were the thing of the day back then not iPods or MP3 players or whatever is out there today; we still listened to cassettes and even a few 8-track tapes still existed in 1980 as well as soem reel-to-reel tapes. In other words, a lot has changed from 1980 to 2012 and I want this story to have as realistic feel to it as possible.) I have several scenes or parts of scenes written as well as the first three pages. Once I have the research notes, I think I will have to sit down and do an outline and then start writing the story, which is something I've not done before with my writing simply because I write short stories. Most of time the stories were written for contests and there wasn't time to outline anything. When I wrote Finally Home, it was actually a total rewrite of a story and was written as a NaNo challenge for me (National Novel Writing Month which is from November 1 through November 30 with the object being to write 50,000 words of a novel, or a complete novel, in 30 days. These days, 50,000 words is considered a novella or a good start to a novel. Finally Home topped out at 56,000 words, and really wasn't written during the November 1 to November 30 timeframe; rather, I started about November 14 or 15 and ended December 14 or 15, so I did write it during a 30-day period and hit the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days, it didn't count for NaNo officially. I have a feeling that Immogene's story will end up being much longer than that and thus will need the outlining. I'll probably challenge myself to write it in 30 days again and shoot for about 75,000 to 90,000 words on that story, so we will see what comes of it once the research is done.

For my earth day bookworm giveaways, I sent 2 to Australia, 1 to England, 2 to Kuwait via Germany (these were purchases), and 12 out across the United States with 1 person refusing to accept her bookworm and 1 person winning 3 different times so in lieu of sending her 2 more of the same bookworms and the fact that she was purchasing 5 total, she got her choice of 3 bookworms and purchased 2 for Christmas presents (she had one a previous time for a different bookworm giveaway and had refused saying she was going to buy some anyway, so that is where the 3 of her choice came in). Overall, I think the giveaways worked because I wasn't just giving bookworms to commenters of this blog but on the Writers on the Move blog also. My birthday is coming up in just over a month and there will many giveaways during the 50 days from June 5 (my birthday) and August 2 (no giveaways on Sundays or holidays, although I may do a special one for the 4th of July but haven't decided yet since that date falls on a Wednesday this year) to include bookworms, chances for the red, white, blue afghan drawing to be held December 1, and maybe even books and other prizes. Watch for the announcement May 31 with the first giveaway occurring on June 5.

Coming up tomorrow is a posting on self-imposed deadlines (probably why I talked about writing Imogene on today's posting) and WWYWWQ. I haven't planned out Thursday's posting yet so not sure what the topic will be. See you all in the postings - E :)

Kindlegraph

A while back I stumbled upon Kindlegraph and felt it was really great. I'd kind of let that slide since there was so much on my plate. I can't tell you how exciting it is to get an email saying you have a kindlegraph request. Whodathunk it? Getting a kindlegraph request is almost as exciting as when a book comes out. I hope to be adding more titles to kindlegraph, so keep the requests coming. If you have purchased any book other than directly from me or even downloaded one of my short stories and would like an esignature, personalized or semi-personalized, come over to my kindlegraph page and click on the appropriate cover to request your free kindlegraph. See you all in the postings - E :)

School Book Fairs and School Visits

Recently I've been gathering information for the SC Author Connection to make connections with schools and do various book fairs across the state. With three authors in Charleston and able to pretty much cover the lower region of the state, it is easy to get them scheduled. I'm by myself for now in the upper part of the state and some of the counties that are pretty close to me have many schools (one county has 103 schools) to include primary/elementary, middle and high schools. I'm hoping to recruit some more folks from this area who will be able to take some of the burden off me and help out.

What are the criteria of becoming a member of the SC Author Connection?
1. You must be an author who currently resides in South Carolina.
2. You must be a children's, middle grade or young adult author.
3. You must be able to participate in the books fairs scheduled close to where you are living or that you can easily travel to.
4. You should promote all members' books at any event you participate in representing the SC Author Connection, not just your own.

While doing the book fairs, we authors can also provide a reading, a workshop or something for the students and parents at these schools. While visiting Donna McDine's posting about "Teacher's Guides" on the Writers on the Move blog the other day, one of the comments was from a lady who is in the UK. Paraphrasing her comment, authors are practically discouraged from making school visits. She mentioned the schools with their policing and what not and that visitors to schools are not welcomed. My question is this, knowing that most authors, especially if you are self-pubbed or with a small publishing house, are not going to make a lot of money from their books. So how are authors supposed to eek out a living in the UK if they aren't given the opportunity to do school visits or be brought in as a guest speaker? Here in the USA, most authors supplement their royalties by charging for school visits and other speaking engagements and schools welcome authors with open arms. Usually the media specialist or the PTA will host a guest speaker and they are glad to pay these folks for their time. Grant it, not all schools can afford authors or guest speakers, but there are ways around that.

If you are an author and making mega royalties and are happy with not doing guest speaking engagements or presenting to a body of students or you are making enough on your royalties, I would love to be you for a short bit of time. Most everything I make from sales (I really don't make royalties any more from my sales since I'm now self-pubbed) goes right back into my books, and most of the time, what I do make doesn't cover my costs for the event or whatever, not always but most of the time I end up in the hole. I've not broken even on any event yet.

So how do you compensate yourself as an author in situations like this? How do you turn the minimal royalties you make as an author from just book sales into a living or career? You need the guest speaking engagements to supplement the income and build your career.

Do you do school visits? Do you charge for your school visits? If not, are you making enough from your royalties to make a living as an author? I can't imagine living in a country or place that discourages authors from making school visits. What are you thoughts on the topic?

Guest Rena Jones

Today's guest is Rena Jones, author, mother, homeschooler. She and I met online when I first was published with 4RV. Rena's book A New Job for Dilly was her first published in the Dilly series and she has several other children's books to her credit. I asked Rena to write something about juggling being a mom, writer, and homeschooling and everything in between.

Balancing Family, Writing, and Homeschooling

When Elysabeth asked me to write an article on balancing family, writing, and homeschooling, my first inclination was to look up the word balancing. I know what it means, but I wanted the exact definition. According to The Free Dictionary balancing means …

Keep or put (something) in a steady position so that it does not fall.
Remain in a steady position without falling.

Balancing is to put something in a steady position or to keep from falling. I fall all the time, and by that, I mean I sometimes fail at doing everything I want to get done. Personally, I think juggling describes me better …

Continuously toss into the air and catch (a number of objects) so as to keep at least one in the air while handling the others.
Cope with by adroitly (skillfully) balancing.

Balancing/juggling my family isn’t as hard as it used to be. My children are older now and can do many things themselves. Long gone are the days of diaper changes, fighting with strollers, or struggling to get a wiggly child into a high chair. My kids are 22, 21, 12, and 10. They’re far from helpless, though many days I have my doubts. By the time my boys came along, my girls were old enough to fend for themselves more. They could read quietly while I got a baby down for a nap. Or they could help with one of the boys while I did something with another. It actually worked out pretty well for us. On top of that, my husband has always been very supportive. Not only has he supported our decision for me to stay home with the kids, but he’s also supported homeschooling, as well as helping with things around the house. I’m blessed … or spoiled … take your pick.

Balancing/juggling my writing isn’t that hard, either. I tend to write in spurts where I will write all the time or not at all. Summer is my writing time because that’s when we’re not busy with school. However, I have two very imaginative boys who are always giving me ideas. We can easily get distracted in school for a half hour talking about a story idea, character, or even a book title. In fact, it was my boys who came up with the idea for one of my picture books. We had just finished a week-long study on The Gingerbread Man where we read different versions of the story and compared them. Some of the titles were The Gingerbread Baby, The Gingerbread Boy, The Canjun Gingerbread Man, and so forth. My boys came up with the idea of a man made of marshmallows – and hence, The Marshmallow Man was born.

Balancing/juggling school was harder when the kids were younger. There were many days when I thought I was going insane. However, I have two things in my favor now. One, my kids are older, as I’ve said. And two, this is our 15th year homeschooling. It’s nothing new. I don’t have to think much about lesson plans, curriculum, and things of that nature. Like an old dog, we’re set in our ways and settled in a routine. I like to do each weekly schedule on Thursdays just so I don’t have to worry about it over the weekend. That doesn’t always happen, and many times I’ll be typing it Monday morning while the boys are eating breakfast or getting dressed. Again, time is on my side because after fifteen years, I could probably do it in my sleep. My problem is that I want to do so much, but there is not always enough time. Or something comes up and puts everything on hold. I’ve learned not to stress over it. We don’t have to finish every page in every book or do every single assignment I planned. We do what we can and that’s fine.

After so many years, I’ve learned to prioritize better than I did in the early days. I ask myself what needs to be done first, either by importance or deadline. I work from there. Time and experience have made this easier, although it wasn’t like that in the beginning. There were many days when I didn’t know if I was coming or going. There were many times I wondered if I was doing the right thing by choosing to stay home and homeschool my kids. My husband worked in law enforcement and often dealt with the local schools. Many times he would come home and say, “I am so thankful you’re homeschooling the kids.” That helped validate it for me.

My friends tell me that they don’t know how I do it all – raise a family, take care of the house, write stories, and homeschool my kids. Of course, some days I wonder that myself. I usually end up saying the same thing back to them. Some of their kids are involved in so many things – school, sports, scouts, music, dance – it seems all they do is take their kids from one activity to the next, as well as working and taking care of their homes. To me, that seems more exhausting than what I do, albeit just as important. One way isn’t better than the other. It’s what works for your family. As with everything, there are trade-offs. I don’t work outside the home, so I don’t socialize with other adults much. I’m home most of the time, so I don’t need to maintain a fancy wardrobe. I spend most days in work-out clothes because I like to exercise once we’re done with school. That’s my time. It’s the time I don’t have to think about the house, school, writing, or anything. I just exercise and listen to my music. I don’t spend school hours shopping or watching daytime television. And for me, that’s okay.

I have learned that in order to for me to balance or juggle everything that I want to get done, I need to simply take it one day at a time. When I first started homeschooling in 1996 someone asked, “How are you going to teach trigonometry?” There was a look of horror on her face when she said it. I replied, “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.” At that particular time I needed to concentrate on 4th and 2nd grades, not advanced math. Why worry about trigonometry when we needed to learn the basics? Again, prioritize.

But finally, the main thing to keep me focused is the ability to stay relaxed. I’m a pretty laid-back person. I can get along with just about anyone. I’m one of those stop-and-smell-the-roses type people. While many moms have a death grip on their kid’s arm walking through a parking lot, I’ll be the one to spot out a rain puddle and encourage my kids to stomp in it. While most people are racing around Disney World from ride to ride, we’re the kooky family near some obscure wall studying the colors on a lizard or taking fifty pictures of a duck. I’m lucky because family, writing, and homeschooling all work together in that respect. I’ve learned that we don’t have to do it all. We just need to make the most out of what we do.

AUTHOR'S BIO: Rena Jones is a children’s author, specializing in picture books for kids ages 4-8 years. She has also written three middle grade novels – Coffee for Collie, Bananas Don’t Dance, and Encroached.

She has seven picture books published with 4RV Publishing LLC – A New Job for Dilly, A New Friend for Dilly, Lemur Troops & Critter Groups, Stork Musters & Critter Clusters, Pony Strings & Critter Things, Rhino Crashes & Critter Classes, and The Marshmallow Man.

Rena also self-published a non-fiction picture book called MOUNTAIN GOATS are KIDS like YOU! which is available @ www.lulu.com.

Website
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Guest Deanna Klingel

Today, my guest is Deanna Klingel. I met her by way of the Highland Book Festival in 2010, which I found about on someone else's events page. I took some time to ask Deanna some questions. Let's see what she has to say:

Deanna, tell us a little bit about yourself. Your likes, dislikes,

I'm pretty ordinary. I love kids, hate peas and capers, love my husband, hate the current unshaved look for men, love America, hate what we're doing to her. I guess you might say I'm someone with strong opinions.

Tell us a little bit about what you write. What genres do you like to write? Do you only have books published or do you have other writing credits under your belt?
I mostly write for teens, though that isn't really what I started out to do. On my website you can read some award-winning short stories I had fun writing. I've written newsletters and some newspaper pieces. My book Just for the Moment: The Remarkable Gift of the Therapy Dog was written for an adult audience, but young adults are embracing it. I guess dog lovers come in all ages. Avery's Battlefield and Avery's Crossroad are both historical fiction for middle grade, though adults are also enjoying them. Bread Upon the Water, nonfiction for a teen audience, also spans ages. Cracks in the Ice and Waiting With Elmer, both Christian fiction for teens, will be out soon, and they will also span from teens to adults.

What was the process you went through to get your books published? Do you have an agent or did you just go straight to a publisher? How many rejections did you receive before getting your first acceptance?
Every book has had a unique adventure on the road to publication. The Avery Civil War series started with agents who took them to the Bologna International Children's Book Fair, two years in a row. Two major publishers in New York were interested, one was interested in film rights. But when it came down to the bottom line they asked for changes in my character's ethics to make the book "edgy." It was a deal breaker but I said no. I rejected them! I'd made every change they suggested in two years, but I would not compromise my character. He would not do the things they said were necessary to get kids to read. I attended a Christian Writers conference a short time later. Someone heard the story of Avery and Gunner and asked if she could see the manuscript. She was the acquisitions editor for Journey Forth, BJU Press in Greenville. Within months, Avery and Gunner were published and are enjoying great success. What I've discovered about rejections is this: by taking the time to really research and make sure your manuscript goes to the "right" places, even though it takes longer, the chance of being rejected is much less. Avery was perfect for Journey Forth who publish Christian fiction, especially historical, for the home school market, and a huge Christian fiction, a market I'd not known about.

Do you write in silence or with background music or other distractions?
When I'm working it is in silence. I have to hear what my characters are saying to me. I have to eavesdrop and listen to them talking to each other. I need to get into their heads and hearts to hear what they are thinking. I can't be here, I must be there.

How long have you been writing and what made you decide to become a writer? What was the turning point in your life that you said you wanted to be a writer?
I've loved writing things all my life, writing, rewriting, and rewriting, decorating pages, school newspapers, year book, plays and skits, puppet shows, stories for my kids. It wasn't until all seven kids were launched and we retired to the mountains that I decided to give my writing compulsion free rein.

When not writing, what do you do? Do you have a full-time job or do you just devote yourself to writing?
Oh dear. Now you want to see the craziness that has become my life? If I'm not writing, I'm reading, rewriting or editing. When I'm not doing that it's because I'm on the road marketing, or marketing from my computer. Marketing and writing are both full time jobs. I remember once on a blog I was asked what I did in my spare time. My answer was, "Spare time? You mean like get a hair cut, change the oil, wash the dog, clean the car, clean the toilets, do the laundry, buy the groceries, call my mom, that kind of spare time?" If you are wishing you could get your book published, be careful what you wish for.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
If I could live any where in the world, for real? Probably right here in the mountains of westeen North Carolina. I love it. For pretend? Maybe in my imaginary little town of Waitnsee in my book Waiting With Elmer.


Deanna, thank you for being my guest today and I wish you the best luck with your writing. E :)

Thank you. My pleasure. Good luck with your new blog.

ABOUT DEANNA:
Deanna K. Klingel was raised in a small town in Michigan. She left for college, married, and spent the next twenty years moving every two years with her IBM husband Dave. Their family grew with each move. They eventually settled in Atlanta with their seven children where they put down roots for nineteen years. The children grew up, left home, and Dave retired. They moved to the quiet mountains of western North Carolina. It was here, in the quiet remote setting that Deanna returned to her love of writing, and began the life of a writer.
In addition to writing, Deanna works with her therapy dog making visits in nearby communities, and travels every weekend to market her books. She enjoys golfing with her husband and working in the gardens, too, but there just isn’t time!

Her books include Beth’s Backyard Friends, and Rebecca & Heart, both eBooks on Storyrealm.com, and published award-winning short stories that can be read on her website. Other published books are Just for the Moment: The Remarkable Gift of the Therapy Dog, (Dog Ear Publishing, Oct 2010); Avery’s Battlefield, (Journey Forth BJU Press, March 2011); Avery’s Crossroad, (Journey Forth BJU Press, Sept 2011; Bread Upon the Water, (Rafka Press, spring 2011.) Cracks in the Ice, and Waiting with Elmer are expected to release within the year.

Deanna writes primarily for young adults in a Christian market.

This and That

Happy Earth Day. What are you doing to help save the earth? Part of my campaign is giving away "earth day" bookmarks (bookworms in earthy colors) which are reusable and should last a long time.

A few stats on my bookworm giveaway:

Since my original posting on April 12th through Friday, the 20th, I have given away 16 bookworms. Of those 16, all have been to women who have commented on both this blog and the Writers on the Move blog. One person has totally refused to accept her winning bookworm because she says she doesn't read books except on her Nook. Two have been sent to Australia, one to the UK, and one to Africa. The remaining bookworms have made their way across the United States (or will since there are at least 8 needing to be mailed tomorrow). One bookworm went to an AlienDog. Three of the winners are not a member of the WOTM group. One winner is an ex-member of the group. There were two postings, one on each blog, in that timeframe that had no comments so no winners for those two days. One winner one two different days from commenting on both blogs (which I didn't realize and I guess she will be surprised when she gets her second bookworm because I forgot to send her congratulatory email).

There are two more chances to try to win a bookworm - one from this posting (leave a comment, even if just to say hi or whatever; remember to leave an email in the comment so that I can contact you with your congratulatory email and get your mailing address) and/or to pop over to the Writers on the Move blog and leave a comment there from today's posting.

On the sales front, in the US, I sold 2 copies of "The Tulip Kiss" and 5 copies of "The Proposal" with no other sales.

I was in Walmart yesterday afternoon and was walking by the photography studio and the young lady tried to talk me into getting a free wall portrait done (not necessarily have it done yesterday but she tried) and we struck up a nice conversation. She is writing a murder mystery and I referred her to the Sisters in Crime group. She actually lives in the town where our meetings are held, and as soon as she emails me, I'll forward the meeting information to her and hopefully she will show up. You never know who you will run into or strike up a conversation with in Walmart.

Tomorrow's guest is Deanna Klingel, author of the historical middle grade novels Avery's Battlefield and Avery's Crossroads and others, and Wednesday's guest is Rena Jones, author of the Dilly series and the Critter series among others. Thursday I'll talk about school book fairs and school visits, comparing how the UK views author visits to schools versus how the US does. WWYWWQ will return on May 2. See you all in the postings - E :)

Writers On The Move: So You Want to be a Writer.....?

Terri offers some excellent tips for you to make the journey to becoming a writer or a published author - stop by and see what she has to say - E :)

Writers On The Move: So You Want to be a Writer.....?: So, you want to be a writer... and let me say it is a wonderful person to be. But as you dream of your writing career, don't for a minute ...

Writers On The Move: Writing for yourself

Bob says to write for yourself but as you read the article you see you are really writing to connect to the reader (hoping that the reader is just like you in your tastes when you write for yourself).  Stop by and leave a comment - E :)

Writers On The Move: Writing for yourself: The point of writing for yourself is to write the book that you want to read and hasn’t been written yet. This is easier said than done. I...

Writers On The Move: Writing to Connect

Do you write to connect or do you write for yourself?  Check out the tips Shirl has offered up for writing to connect (this is opposite of Bob's previous posting, which is reposted here too).  E :)

Writers On The Move: Writing to Connect: Ernest Hemingway is quoted as saying, "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." Isn't it...

Writers On The Move: Conflict in Your Story

How do you deal with conflict in your story?  Stop over and see what Debbie has to say about writing conflict in her children's book.  E :)

Writers On The Move: Conflict in Your Story: How do you use or deal with conflict in your story? Is it difficult for you to write about? I’m taking an online children’s writing cla...

Writers On The Move: May Workshop from Writers on the Move - Breaking t...

Have you faced writer's block yet?  Do you need to break through it and get your WIP completed?  How about stopping by and registering for the free webinar and see how you can break writer's block - E :)

Writers On The Move: May Workshop from Writers on the Move - Breaking t...: Writers on the Move has another helpful workshop geared for writers.   Here's the basic information you'll need: Title: Breaking Th...

Mystery Writing is Murder: How Much Lead-In Time do You Really Need?

Interesting post - and the comments are just as thought provoking as the questions Elizabeth asks - check it out - E :)

Mystery Writing is Murder: How Much Lead-In Time do You Really Need?: Right now I’m writing the fourth Memphis Barbeque mystery.  I’m still working on the first draft and, like all first drafts, I’m realizing I...

Group Blog Posting Tips

I'm involved in a group blog, Writers on the Move, and have accumulated a few tips over the past couple of years or so to help you be a better blogger. A lot of these are common sense and common courtesy.

The saying is that the group is only as strong as its weakest link and when you have many weak links, the chain is no good. So when working with a large group on one blog where you have scheduled days to post, some rules of thumb to follow would be:

1. Preschedule your posts as much as possible, if on a blog that allows preposting. What this means is basically prepare your articles in advance so that you aren't scrambling at the last minute to post something. Be professional.

2. If you preschedule your posts to go up on your posting date, make sure you "publish" your post. Also, make sure you go to the dashboard and edit posts (if you aren't already taken there when you post the blog posting) and check to see that your post says "scheduled" and not "draft" by it. If it says "draft", you just need to click on edit and open the post back and republish. It should read scheduled and show the date it is scheduled to go up. If it posts immediately, then you didn't schedule the post correctly. The fix for this is to edit the post, do a copy of the whole posting, then delete that posting from post listings and do a new post.

3. Once your post is up, it is a good idea to stop by the blog and leave the first comment or as close to the beginning as possible, and follow the comments by email. Basically, this allows you to know when new comments are up and if they need a response. Also, it is just polite to respond to folks who have commented on something you have written. This is traffic for you as well as visibility and hopefully more sales of what it is you have to offer. The readers obviously liked what you had to say and if you don't make an appearance on your own posting, it comes across as if you are blowing them off.

4. If you can't follow the comments or forgot on your original comment, you can go back in and leave another short comment and click on the "subscribe" button on the postings. If you can't follow the comments, then you should check the blog several times throughout your posting day to see what folks are saying so you can answer any questions or respond to your readers and fans. (See my comment above about blowing off readers.)

5. Use tags or labels so that the search engines help keep you seen.

Remember common courtesy goes a long way. See you all in the postings - E :)

Finally Home: My review

I have a review of Finally Home.  Stop over and leave a comment on what you think.  From the last comment, I may have to do a little something different for upcoming works.  Let me know if you think I should go that direction or not, especially if you have read Finally Home.  See you all in the postings - E :)


Finally Home: My review

WWYWWQ #10

Today's question comes from F.H. from Ms. Jurkowski's third grade class. F.H. asks: Why do you like to blog? How do you get your ideas? How many pages do you write?

Answer: Well, F.H., there is no right way to answer this question. I started blogging while my kids were in marching band as a way to keep my friends and family entertained and informed about what was going on with my life and the kids. Once I started entering contests and writing short stories, I needed to keep everyone apprised of what was happening with my writing, so I continued blogging. I originally attempted to post about once a month or randomly whenever I could or needed to blog. I started writing stories for publication and started blogging a little more often. Now that I've moved from a traditional publisher and am having to do all my own marketing, my own publishing and everything in between, I need to blog more often. This year I decided to move to scheduled blog postings on Mondays and Thursdays except the fourth week of the month when I would have guest bloggers on the blog, either via an interview or via an article. I added the WWYWWQ late in January to try to connect with the school side of things since I feel my books needed to be in the schools.

So to answer your question, I enjoy blogging as long as I have something to blog about. I'm starting to run out of ideas and have put several requests out there for ideas but no one has responded. I try to keep to my 2 actual blog postings and the WWYWWQ each week. I do random postings on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and try to do blog repostings of articles I like or think will benefit my readers to those days as well. Sundasy is reserved for my week in review week - keeping up with my sales and other happenings during the week and also as a way to let folks know what is coming up during the week.

Thanks for asking your question, F.H. Keep writing and keep the questions coming. Mrs. E :)

Curl up with a good book afghans

It's never too early to plan your holiday season list. As of right now, you are about 8-1/2 months away from Christmas. If you have a reader in your life, these afghans would make the perfect gift for a birthday or Christmas. Some areas are just naturally cold all the time and some folks love curling up under a warm afghan and reading a book. So delight your reader with these modified alternating V and cluster stitched afghans. Each sample below measures 18 clusters (about 1/3 of regular width) and 12 rows (1/6 the number of rows a full afghan has). The full afghans measure about 50" (cluster/V rows across) x 45" (72 rows). They sell for $60 each plus shipping and tax ($70 total when ordered from websites; if purchasing at in-person events, only tax would be charged). When ordering, please leave any special requests (if doing solid colors, please indicate the 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices of preferred colors) in the notes section. Also, please make sure your mailing address is correct so that I can send your afghan to you upon completion. Turn around time is about 3-4 weeks.


Colors available are:

Bonbon print (looks like Cotton Candy to me and my daughter keeps trying lay claim to this one)

Woodsy (looks very earth-y to me and this would make a great gift for a guy on your list)

Primary (the colors really don't look like primary colors to me but this is what the yarn is called)

Monet (sold first one but more are on the way) - (this one looks very Easter-y or springy to me)

Melonberry (again has a spring look to it - this is one of my favorites)

Marrakesh (this is the one that has that fall look to it)

Aspen (another one that is guy looking).

(SOLID 3-COLOR, 4-ROW CHANGE SAMPLE; THESE ARE NOT THE PARTICULAR COLORS BEING OFFERED AS THAT CHOICE WILL BE UP TO YOU BUT IF I CANNOT FIND YARN SIMILARLY PRICED THE PRICE WILL HAVE TO GO UP)

(SOLID 3-COLOR, 2-ROW CHANGE SAMPLE; SEE NOTE ABOVE)

(SOLID 1-COLOR SAMPLE; AGAIN SEE NOTE ABOVE)

Also available are 1-solid color afghans (this is the completed afghan in one color of your choice and if ordering solid colors, please say things like sky blue or navy blue or emerald green - something to give me an idea of the color you are looking for - I can't guarantee exact colors on some of them but I will do my best to get as close to the requested as possible); 3-solid colors, 2-row switched out (every two rows (a cluster and V row) will change; please indicate which color is 1st, 2nd and 3rd); or a 3-solid colors, 4-row changed out (this is very similar to the 2-row switched out but every four rows (there will be a cluster row, a V row, a cluster row, a V row) before switching colors. Again, please indicate 1st, 2nd and 3rd colors).

Samples are above. Remembering that the solid colored afghans are not the actual colors I would be restricted to since these are just samples using yarn I happened to have available at the time I was making the samples.

You can order these afghans from either my personal website under the gifts tab or on the JGDS series website also under the gifts tab. With each afghan, you will also receive a matching bookworm at no extra charge.

See you all in the postings - E :)

Writers On The Move: Teacher's Guide for your Children's Books

This one is getting such wonderful responses that I thought it was worth reposting and probably using some of the comments as fodder for new blog postings here on my blog.  So stay tuned for something about school visits and study (or teachers') guides coming in the near future. - (again, reposts don't count as far as the drawings go) - E :)

Writers On The Move: Teacher's Guide for your Children's Books: After I signed the book contract for The Golden Pathway I took the time out to discuss with teachers what sparks their interest in childre...

Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing: How to Brainstorm Ideas For Blog Posts

I found some ways to come up with some new ideas for this blog - yay!!!! - so maybe ya'll will see some new content on my blog.  (doesn't count as a posted blog for the bookworm drawings as it is a reposted blog) - see ya'll in the postings - E :)

Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing: How to Brainstorm Ideas For Blog Posts: How to Brainstorm Ideas For Blog Posts By Featured Writer Leslie Branch Readers love great content. But, producing too much content can le...

Writers On The Move: "How to Set Writing Goals with a Family," by Mayra...

I think a lot of these tips can be used in our busy lives even if we aren't writers.  (No this repost does not count towards my bookworm drawings unless you comment on the WOTM blog to this posting).  E :)

Writers On The Move: "How to Set Writing Goals with a Family," by Mayra...: “Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environ- ment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the paren...