This is reposting of my previous review of this book but it is worth mentioning again. Radium Halos is an excellent read. Shelley has added a study guide that is available for free here. Shelley will be my guest on March 28th, so stay tuned for more from Shelley.
Rating: 5 stars
Radium Halos is a very lightly written, full of humor and sadness and other aspects of life novel that has the potential to be a made-for-TV movie. The characters are really brought to life by Ms. Stout's descriptions and often humorous flashbacks of all the people who had passed through her main character's, Helen Waterman, life over the span of fifty years.
Helen worked at the Radium Dial Factory in Illinois one brief summer and only did that through her older sister's urging. The journey takes us from the early 1920s to the mid 1970s (although the latter date is not really known, it is elluded to through a description of Helen's niece's hairdo and that she is out of the times). The flashbacks are woven in quite nicely and don't really take away from the story at all. I felt like I was listening to my grandmother (in a sense) recollecting her time during certain periods of her life. I found myself cheering for Helen, crying with her, crying for her and hoping that just once she would stand up for herself and let it be known.
I really hope this novel does get made into a movie as it would be very eye opening to folks who know nothing of this time period. I had never heard of the radium dial factory info until I met the author at a writer's conference a couple of years ago. I'm sure in its heyday, the factories did get a lot of attention but there are folks who are still around today that possibly have some connection or other to these terrible conditions and should definitely be shown the dangers of radium and how it has affected or impacted the lives of those exposed to the harsh working conditions.
I have already recommended this book to several folks and will continue recommending and will keep my eyes open for the movie to come out - E :)
Product Details
Paperback: 226 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (October 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1448696224
ISBN-13: 978-1448696222
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
Radium Halos is available for kindle for the low price of only 99 cents.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Writing conferences, book festivals and workshops, oh my!
After I linked back to the YAAYNHO posting about Young Writers Conferences, I got to thinking about writing conferences in general. Even though it's January, now is the time to start thinking about which conferences you would like to attend or try to do a presentation. I would love to be invited to be a presenter at a conference geared specifically for young writers - just think, an opportunity to shape young writers and play a part in their possible future success. I'm not a big name (yet) but maybe one of these days.
On the other hand, it is nice to think about workshops and conferences to enhance your writing career. If you have the means and opportunity to attend them, then by all means, you definitely should. If you are like me and really tight on your budget and can only think about attending one a year, then you need to find just the right one to attend.
Where does one start looking for such conferences? A really good place to start is your local area - maybe some of the colleges offer 1-day writing workshops through their creative writing program or English department; maybe some of the local writing groups offer them throughout the year. If you don't have any local writing groups, then a search on the web will get closer to finding the conferences that are fairly close to you, but the best guide out there is the Shaw Guides. They list by state and outside the United States and there is usually something for everyone.
Why do you want to start thinking about conferences now? This is prep work, allowing you to make a list of what the conferences have to offer or could offer based on past years' offerings, helps you keep track of dates (when registration opens, ends, early bird specials on lodging, et cetera), and also gives you some comparisons to see which is the best fit for you. There may be several that will fit your needs but based on cost, locale and time (when the conference is held, how much time you would have to take away from your full-time job if you have one, travel time, et cetera), this will help you make a more informed decision.
Book festivals are the same. If you are looking for a place to be an exhibitor or presenter, many book festivals give you that opportunity. Most book festivals are free to the public and also offer things like panel discussions and presentations by the authors who are invited to participate in such a way. The SC Book Festival (where I was an exhibitor in 2010, representing 4RV Publishing and split a booth with Shelley Stout, author of Radium Halos) is one such book festival that has guest authors, presenters, panel discussion and a large exhibit space. Book festivals are everywhere but the list I had a few years apparently doesn't exist any more. Here is a site that will get you to a listing of book festivals by state and even internationally, if that is what you are interested in.
Writing workshops tend to be 1-day events that are offered by either local colleges or authors and seem to be more intense, concentring on one topic. These can occur at writing conferences as well and are usually offered as special courses, master classes, or intense workshops. Usually the cost of these workshops is separate from the cost of the conference. When I attended the SCBWI conference in 2010, I signed up for the intense workshop for PAL members (PAL = published and listed) and it was definitely worth the money.
Non-writing people say that writing is a lonely profession but if you look at all these opportunities, writing is far from a lonely profession. These are opportunities to network with like-minded people or professionals who can help your writing career continue on the right track. Writing groups or critique groups are also another network writers should be involved in. These are the folks who usually do know when and where conferences are as well as who can offer sound advice; after all, their goals are similar to yours as far as writing goes - to get published, but also to publish the best stories you can publish.
Do a little searching now and make a list of places you can see your books doing well (exhibitor/vendor wise) or where you have an opportunity to present your wisdom to the upcoming writers; it's never too early to start. Wishing you all wonderful writing adventures - E :)
On the other hand, it is nice to think about workshops and conferences to enhance your writing career. If you have the means and opportunity to attend them, then by all means, you definitely should. If you are like me and really tight on your budget and can only think about attending one a year, then you need to find just the right one to attend.
Where does one start looking for such conferences? A really good place to start is your local area - maybe some of the colleges offer 1-day writing workshops through their creative writing program or English department; maybe some of the local writing groups offer them throughout the year. If you don't have any local writing groups, then a search on the web will get closer to finding the conferences that are fairly close to you, but the best guide out there is the Shaw Guides. They list by state and outside the United States and there is usually something for everyone.
Why do you want to start thinking about conferences now? This is prep work, allowing you to make a list of what the conferences have to offer or could offer based on past years' offerings, helps you keep track of dates (when registration opens, ends, early bird specials on lodging, et cetera), and also gives you some comparisons to see which is the best fit for you. There may be several that will fit your needs but based on cost, locale and time (when the conference is held, how much time you would have to take away from your full-time job if you have one, travel time, et cetera), this will help you make a more informed decision.
Book festivals are the same. If you are looking for a place to be an exhibitor or presenter, many book festivals give you that opportunity. Most book festivals are free to the public and also offer things like panel discussions and presentations by the authors who are invited to participate in such a way. The SC Book Festival (where I was an exhibitor in 2010, representing 4RV Publishing and split a booth with Shelley Stout, author of Radium Halos) is one such book festival that has guest authors, presenters, panel discussion and a large exhibit space. Book festivals are everywhere but the list I had a few years apparently doesn't exist any more. Here is a site that will get you to a listing of book festivals by state and even internationally, if that is what you are interested in.
Writing workshops tend to be 1-day events that are offered by either local colleges or authors and seem to be more intense, concentring on one topic. These can occur at writing conferences as well and are usually offered as special courses, master classes, or intense workshops. Usually the cost of these workshops is separate from the cost of the conference. When I attended the SCBWI conference in 2010, I signed up for the intense workshop for PAL members (PAL = published and listed) and it was definitely worth the money.
Non-writing people say that writing is a lonely profession but if you look at all these opportunities, writing is far from a lonely profession. These are opportunities to network with like-minded people or professionals who can help your writing career continue on the right track. Writing groups or critique groups are also another network writers should be involved in. These are the folks who usually do know when and where conferences are as well as who can offer sound advice; after all, their goals are similar to yours as far as writing goes - to get published, but also to publish the best stories you can publish.
Do a little searching now and make a list of places you can see your books doing well (exhibitor/vendor wise) or where you have an opportunity to present your wisdom to the upcoming writers; it's never too early to start. Wishing you all wonderful writing adventures - E :)
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Createspace announcement
No, they are not going belly up. No they are not changing names.
I received an email today regarding the Pro Advantage plan on createspace. For those of you who are published with createspace already, you probably received the same announcement. For those of you considering publishing with createspace, some good news for everyone. The Pro Advantage plan has been discontinued, but not to fret you still have the ability to get your books listed in the expanded distribution.
What this means for authors publishing using createspace is what we were paying for books under the pro advantage plan is now the same for every one, which in turn means higher royalties on our sales. The pro advantage allowed us to list our books with Ingrams (bookstores), Baker & Taylor (schools and libraries) and Createspace direct distribution. It would cost us $39 each for the titles we listed with the pro advantage, with a renewal of $5 per year to keep the title active. Now, the expanded distribution is only $25 and from what I'm reading, this is a 1-time payment on each title to get the same distribution as what the pro advantage gave us.
This makes me a happy camper because I have a short book that I just wasn't too thrilled with ordering too many copies at once because it wasn't cost effective and realistically for the cost to print the book and what I'm retailing it for, I wasn't making very much royalty wise. Now that the pro advantage is gone, the book will cost me the same as my state books to print and I can leave it listed through amazon and my createspace store and not have to worry about paying that $39 to have expanded distribution. I won't feel so bad about ordering copies of that book to have on hand now. Doing a happy dance over here for this new announcement - :)
Keep on writing, see you in the postings - E :)
I received an email today regarding the Pro Advantage plan on createspace. For those of you who are published with createspace already, you probably received the same announcement. For those of you considering publishing with createspace, some good news for everyone. The Pro Advantage plan has been discontinued, but not to fret you still have the ability to get your books listed in the expanded distribution.
What this means for authors publishing using createspace is what we were paying for books under the pro advantage plan is now the same for every one, which in turn means higher royalties on our sales. The pro advantage allowed us to list our books with Ingrams (bookstores), Baker & Taylor (schools and libraries) and Createspace direct distribution. It would cost us $39 each for the titles we listed with the pro advantage, with a renewal of $5 per year to keep the title active. Now, the expanded distribution is only $25 and from what I'm reading, this is a 1-time payment on each title to get the same distribution as what the pro advantage gave us.
This makes me a happy camper because I have a short book that I just wasn't too thrilled with ordering too many copies at once because it wasn't cost effective and realistically for the cost to print the book and what I'm retailing it for, I wasn't making very much royalty wise. Now that the pro advantage is gone, the book will cost me the same as my state books to print and I can leave it listed through amazon and my createspace store and not have to worry about paying that $39 to have expanded distribution. I won't feel so bad about ordering copies of that book to have on hand now. Doing a happy dance over here for this new announcement - :)
Keep on writing, see you in the postings - E :)
WWYWWQ #1
This question is from R., a student in Ms. Jurkowski's writing club: We need to know what a writer does when you are writing a story and your train of thought just stops.
MY ANSWER: Usually walk away for a few minutes - go for a walk, or write another scene or something unrelated - give him a random word and have him incorporate into what he's writing now or have him just write something totally unrelated to what he is working on - for like 5 minutes - maybe that will spark his thinking back to what he's working on now.
Teacher's reply: Thank you so much for answering R. right away! He was near tears and ready to quit Writer's Club because he was stuck in that story. He had written a page and a half already and I hated the thought of him quitting. Your advice was great and he tried it. He was just wandering around the room but at least he didn't quit. He was so excited that you responded right away and I left him with the phone so that as soon as you answered he would be the one to read it. He thought that was wonderful!
My reply to teacher about quitting: Cool. Glad he is sticking with it. Sometimes we do start stories that we just have to put away for a long time and just move on to something else. Please tell him not to quit (although every author has been there), but to keep plugging away. The stories will come as they need to come, like the story I'm working on right now - it is really speaking to me and causing me not to work on my state stories.
I'm sure every writer at some point in time has come upon that proverbial brick wall and felt like quitting, but if you quit, you leave so many what ifs out there, that you may feel lost for a while. Quitting isn't the answer, but sometimes a story may fizzle and will have served its purpose of only getting you started on something major. Thanks for the great question, R., and I hope you keep up the writing. Mrs. E :)
MY ANSWER: Usually walk away for a few minutes - go for a walk, or write another scene or something unrelated - give him a random word and have him incorporate into what he's writing now or have him just write something totally unrelated to what he is working on - for like 5 minutes - maybe that will spark his thinking back to what he's working on now.
Teacher's reply: Thank you so much for answering R. right away! He was near tears and ready to quit Writer's Club because he was stuck in that story. He had written a page and a half already and I hated the thought of him quitting. Your advice was great and he tried it. He was just wandering around the room but at least he didn't quit. He was so excited that you responded right away and I left him with the phone so that as soon as you answered he would be the one to read it. He thought that was wonderful!
My reply to teacher about quitting: Cool. Glad he is sticking with it. Sometimes we do start stories that we just have to put away for a long time and just move on to something else. Please tell him not to quit (although every author has been there), but to keep plugging away. The stories will come as they need to come, like the story I'm working on right now - it is really speaking to me and causing me not to work on my state stories.
I'm sure every writer at some point in time has come upon that proverbial brick wall and felt like quitting, but if you quit, you leave so many what ifs out there, that you may feel lost for a while. Quitting isn't the answer, but sometimes a story may fizzle and will have served its purpose of only getting you started on something major. Thanks for the great question, R., and I hope you keep up the writing. Mrs. E :)
Monday, January 16, 2012
MLK Day
Today is Martin Luther King Day and technically a holiday. I don't have much to offer in way of a post for the holiday. Perhaps you all can reflect on MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech and journal your reflections of what that speech means to you. If you would like to share any of your thoughts here, that would be great. Keep writing - E :)
Sunday, January 15, 2012
JA Konrath's take on success
I was reading through Kristi Bernard's blog, The Neophyte Writer, (see blog posting from yesterday for direct link to her review), which led me to a posting she did about JA Konrath's posting of $100,000 in 3-weeks, which led me to another posting about that article, which led me to yet another article and finally to JA Konrath's blog. I read his latest posting first and then read his $100,000 posting.
For those of you who think that self-pubbing and overnight success go hand-in-hand, here is JA Konrath's take on his success; this on the heels of showing his $100,000 earnings in a 3-week period.
Remember, he first self-pubbed on Kindle in April of 2009; all of these sales are only on his Kindle published books/stories, not anything else; he also has been working hard for 24 years.
I agree with a lot of what he said about self-oublishing either in print or ebook format not being a get-rich-quick thing or success happens overnight. It does take a lot of hard work and persistence as well as just lucking up on the right combination of everything. According to his blog, he only has 2066 followers, so why is he earning $100,000 in a 3-week period (that is the last week of December and the first two weeks of January)? He is reaching folks he wouldn't have with his traditional publisher and he's continually putting out stories.
That is my objective, to reach folks I normally wouldn't with a traditional publisher, although my state stories really are limited to reaching power because of them being a United States specific topic. My other stories, ebook only I'm publishing everywhere that Amazon (and Barnes & Noble) lets me, worldwide.
I'm thinking "The Tulip Kiss" should do well in Holland due to the fact that my husband's family has roots there and at one time there actually used to be Eldering Tulips. I sent the story to my father-in-law along with "The Proposal" and Finally Home as ebook versions. I'm hoping he will spread the word to other people, especially family in Holland and that I should start seeing sales.
I know this writer will keep plugging away, doing events, publishing new stories as much as possible and hope that my success comes quicker than 24 years. E :)
For those of you who think that self-pubbing and overnight success go hand-in-hand, here is JA Konrath's take on his success; this on the heels of showing his $100,000 earnings in a 3-week period.
Remember, he first self-pubbed on Kindle in April of 2009; all of these sales are only on his Kindle published books/stories, not anything else; he also has been working hard for 24 years.
I agree with a lot of what he said about self-oublishing either in print or ebook format not being a get-rich-quick thing or success happens overnight. It does take a lot of hard work and persistence as well as just lucking up on the right combination of everything. According to his blog, he only has 2066 followers, so why is he earning $100,000 in a 3-week period (that is the last week of December and the first two weeks of January)? He is reaching folks he wouldn't have with his traditional publisher and he's continually putting out stories.
That is my objective, to reach folks I normally wouldn't with a traditional publisher, although my state stories really are limited to reaching power because of them being a United States specific topic. My other stories, ebook only I'm publishing everywhere that Amazon (and Barnes & Noble) lets me, worldwide.
I'm thinking "The Tulip Kiss" should do well in Holland due to the fact that my husband's family has roots there and at one time there actually used to be Eldering Tulips. I sent the story to my father-in-law along with "The Proposal" and Finally Home as ebook versions. I'm hoping he will spread the word to other people, especially family in Holland and that I should start seeing sales.
I know this writer will keep plugging away, doing events, publishing new stories as much as possible and hope that my success comes quicker than 24 years. E :)
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Proposal Review
My second review on this short story. The first was posted on smashwords when it first came out. Check out Kristi's site and you never know what you mind find interesting over there - E :)
This and That - end of week
So, I've a campaign to give away all my titles as PDF files for free in exchange for reviews. To date, I've had one actual request (have sent three files to the one person) and two who said they were interested in reviewing the books but haven't made the request yet. I've been posting on my plurk which goes to my FB page and twitter page and the one person who has requested my books actually retweeted a post last week. He lives in England so the state books wouldn't do him much good, but if he wanted them, I would've been happy to send to him.
Sales this week have been very minimal - Finally Home - ebook = 0, print = 0; "The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story) = 1 on smashwords; "The Tulip Kiss" = 1 on kindle. No sales on Nook this week. I hope those folks who purchased the copies will write reviews for the stories. I'm getting views on smashwords; unfortunately, I can't gage how many people view my books on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Smashwords is the only one that shows how many views and so far "The Proposal" has had 46 views; Finally Home 25 views and "The Tulip Kiss" 15 views. I can only hope I'm getting similar views on the other two places or more but that isn't showing up as sales, so need to do something to help generate sales.
I decided to do something with "Bride-and-Seek" when it is published (hoping within the next couple of days or at least by the end of week next week). I'm going to list it exclusively on kindle for the quarter and put out my five free ads during that time and see if that will boost sales. I've been following the Sisters in Crime yahoo forum and there is one lady there who has been reporting her progress throughout her time with one of her books listed this way (what this exclusive listing does is alows prime members to get the ebook version for free (borrow) and the author has to not put that title up for sale on any other ebook sales place (no Nook, no smashwords, no fictionwise (if they are still in existence), no sales on your website in ebook format) but you can keep the title in print format everywhere, if it is available in print). Anyway, we are pretty close to having a completed cover for "Bride-and-Seek" and once that is approved, I will be putting the story up on Kindle only. The ads hopefully will lead to folks checking out my other titles and hopefully purchasing them.
The other thing I'm considering is FB ads. Another author friend of mine has just started using the FB ads (middle of December) and saw a dramatic increase in her sales - something like 48 books over a 2-week time period - now that's the kind of sales I'd love to have since my goal is only 15 to 25 a month of each title this would be great to see sales like this.
Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and my posting will be a short one about the holiday. Wednesday's posting will be a question from a 3rd grader Lunchtime Writer's Club member in Indiana. Thursday will be about book festivals and other things, and look for a review on Shelley Stout's book Radium Halos on book review Friday.
So signing off on another dismal sales week - until next week, - E :)
UPDATE: 01/16/2012 - I haven't really been checking my sales on createspace, so I've kind of neglected my state stories a bit but I just checked it today and apparently I had an order for State of Wilderness last Friday through the expanded distribution (could have been to a bookstore, a library or school or through createspace directly). - So sorry for neglecting my state stories - lol.
Sales this week have been very minimal - Finally Home - ebook = 0, print = 0; "The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story) = 1 on smashwords; "The Tulip Kiss" = 1 on kindle. No sales on Nook this week. I hope those folks who purchased the copies will write reviews for the stories. I'm getting views on smashwords; unfortunately, I can't gage how many people view my books on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Smashwords is the only one that shows how many views and so far "The Proposal" has had 46 views; Finally Home 25 views and "The Tulip Kiss" 15 views. I can only hope I'm getting similar views on the other two places or more but that isn't showing up as sales, so need to do something to help generate sales.
I decided to do something with "Bride-and-Seek" when it is published (hoping within the next couple of days or at least by the end of week next week). I'm going to list it exclusively on kindle for the quarter and put out my five free ads during that time and see if that will boost sales. I've been following the Sisters in Crime yahoo forum and there is one lady there who has been reporting her progress throughout her time with one of her books listed this way (what this exclusive listing does is alows prime members to get the ebook version for free (borrow) and the author has to not put that title up for sale on any other ebook sales place (no Nook, no smashwords, no fictionwise (if they are still in existence), no sales on your website in ebook format) but you can keep the title in print format everywhere, if it is available in print). Anyway, we are pretty close to having a completed cover for "Bride-and-Seek" and once that is approved, I will be putting the story up on Kindle only. The ads hopefully will lead to folks checking out my other titles and hopefully purchasing them.
The other thing I'm considering is FB ads. Another author friend of mine has just started using the FB ads (middle of December) and saw a dramatic increase in her sales - something like 48 books over a 2-week time period - now that's the kind of sales I'd love to have since my goal is only 15 to 25 a month of each title this would be great to see sales like this.
Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and my posting will be a short one about the holiday. Wednesday's posting will be a question from a 3rd grader Lunchtime Writer's Club member in Indiana. Thursday will be about book festivals and other things, and look for a review on Shelley Stout's book Radium Halos on book review Friday.
So signing off on another dismal sales week - until next week, - E :)
UPDATE: 01/16/2012 - I haven't really been checking my sales on createspace, so I've kind of neglected my state stories a bit but I just checked it today and apparently I had an order for State of Wilderness last Friday through the expanded distribution (could have been to a bookstore, a library or school or through createspace directly). - So sorry for neglecting my state stories - lol.
Challenge Your Reading: Ebook Challenge
Now this is a reading challenge I think I can participate in since I've been reading ebooks more than print books now that I have a kindle. I could use an ipod touch for next to nothing (if someone knows where I might get one please let me know). Anyway - check out the different reading challenges on the page - E :)
Challenge Your Reading: Ebook Challenge: Host: Workaday Reads Goal: read ebooks Minimum Requirement: 5 ebooks Restrictons: none 2012 sign up
Challenge Your Reading: Ebook Challenge: Host: Workaday Reads Goal: read ebooks Minimum Requirement: 5 ebooks Restrictons: none 2012 sign up
Friday, January 13, 2012
Book Review Friday - Haunted Destiny: A Midnight Dragonfly by Ellie James
amazon's description: Teenage mystic Rachelle Dugas knows to expect the unexpected when she fills in for a friend leading a Haunted New Orleans tour. But when she decides to check out a haunted house on her own, nothing prepares her for the secrets lurking in the shadows—or the twist of destiny about to unfold.
Anything related to butterflies or dragonflies, I'll give a chance. I also got this as a free download, so even better. Doesn't hurt to get something for $0.00, and something as well-written as "Haunted Destiny". I loved the setting of this story - New Orleans. I've not been to New Orleans but I felt like I was right there exploring with Rachelle or guiding the tour right beside her. Rachelle takes over the tour for one night due to her friend being injured. It also has been raining all day and some of the tourists felt that the tour would be cancelled. Rachelle knows all the places to highlight and does so with the expertise gifted to her. Of course, her mystic powers show her things she's not sure she wants to see or that she doesn't understand the meaning of until she gets caught in a bit of a downpour and all the tourists have left. When she enters the one house, not by the usual means of front door being opened, she finds that her dreams were more foretelling of her destiny than of anyone else's.
This is a very short story but a very delightful read. I recommend "Haunted Destiny" to everyone unless you don't like tales of fate or ghost stories (only kidding). I rate it a 4.5 stars.
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 194 KB
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (November 23, 2011)
Sold by: Macmillan
Language: English
ASIN: B005T54NWC
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Find more on Ellie James here.
Anything related to butterflies or dragonflies, I'll give a chance. I also got this as a free download, so even better. Doesn't hurt to get something for $0.00, and something as well-written as "Haunted Destiny". I loved the setting of this story - New Orleans. I've not been to New Orleans but I felt like I was right there exploring with Rachelle or guiding the tour right beside her. Rachelle takes over the tour for one night due to her friend being injured. It also has been raining all day and some of the tourists felt that the tour would be cancelled. Rachelle knows all the places to highlight and does so with the expertise gifted to her. Of course, her mystic powers show her things she's not sure she wants to see or that she doesn't understand the meaning of until she gets caught in a bit of a downpour and all the tourists have left. When she enters the one house, not by the usual means of front door being opened, she finds that her dreams were more foretelling of her destiny than of anyone else's.
This is a very short story but a very delightful read. I recommend "Haunted Destiny" to everyone unless you don't like tales of fate or ghost stories (only kidding). I rate it a 4.5 stars.
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 194 KB
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (November 23, 2011)
Sold by: Macmillan
Language: English
ASIN: B005T54NWC
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Find more on Ellie James here.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Writers On The Move: Self-Publishing: A Three Step Primer
A simplistic view of self-publishing - E :)
Writers On The Move: Self-Publishing: A Three Step Primer: The world of publishing is changing dramatically. Every day it seems, there are new options on how to publish your book, and many of thes...
Writers On The Move: Self-Publishing: A Three Step Primer: The world of publishing is changing dramatically. Every day it seems, there are new options on how to publish your book, and many of thes...
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Priscilla the Great's book giveaway
My friend, Sybil Nelson, one-third of the SC Author Connection and author of the Priscilla the Great series, is giving away 100 ebook copies of her book, just for following her blog. Check it out and if you like what you see, how about following her. I told her since I already have copies of the first three books, I would let someone else have my copy, so really that is 101 followers that she needs. She is up to 74 right now, so she is very close. See ya'll over there - E :)
WEDNESDAY WEEKLY YOUNG WRITERS WRITING QUESTION (WWYWWQ)
From a student in Mr. Hughes' sixth grade class - How do you write onomatopoeia?
While working with Mr. Hughes' sixth grade class during writing time today, one of the students asked how she would write onomatopoeia - like the sound of a doorbell or things like that. Being the resident author for the class, Mr. Hughes threw the question my way. I've seen it written several ways, ALL CAPS or italicized usually with an exclamation mark following. I answered the young lady by saying that italics were frowned upon or using them extensively, so told her to put them in all caps. While they were working on their writing projects, I decided to do a little research. This is what I found, specifically the section about italics, number 5.
I did share this with Mr. Hughes and while I was reading it, I tried to think of an example of when I had used onomatopoeia in my writing. It came to me - in my short story "The Proposal". I start out with frogs ribbitting. Italicized and an exclamation point following. Ribbit! Ribbit!
Now you know the answer to the question. If it is at the beginning of the sentence, it would be capitalized or if it stands alone like I did and italicized. If it is within a sentence structure, you would italicize the "sound". An example they gave was like machine gun firing - you would write it as rat-a-tat-tat.
So how do you write onomatopoeia in your stories? Mrs. E :)
If you teach a writing class or have a writing club and would like your students' questions answered, please forward them to me at eeldering (at) gmail (dot) com. It's okay to send several questions at a time as I will be doing a "Wednesday Weekly Young Writers Writing Question" posting every week. I will not use students' names, but if you give me their initials, I can do that as well as the teacher's name (example E.E. in Mr. Hughes' class ask: ...) that is how my postings will go.
Keep checking my blog weekly for a new question and response. E :)
While working with Mr. Hughes' sixth grade class during writing time today, one of the students asked how she would write onomatopoeia - like the sound of a doorbell or things like that. Being the resident author for the class, Mr. Hughes threw the question my way. I've seen it written several ways, ALL CAPS or italicized usually with an exclamation mark following. I answered the young lady by saying that italics were frowned upon or using them extensively, so told her to put them in all caps. While they were working on their writing projects, I decided to do a little research. This is what I found, specifically the section about italics, number 5.
I did share this with Mr. Hughes and while I was reading it, I tried to think of an example of when I had used onomatopoeia in my writing. It came to me - in my short story "The Proposal". I start out with frogs ribbitting. Italicized and an exclamation point following. Ribbit! Ribbit!
Now you know the answer to the question. If it is at the beginning of the sentence, it would be capitalized or if it stands alone like I did and italicized. If it is within a sentence structure, you would italicize the "sound". An example they gave was like machine gun firing - you would write it as rat-a-tat-tat.
So how do you write onomatopoeia in your stories? Mrs. E :)
If you teach a writing class or have a writing club and would like your students' questions answered, please forward them to me at eeldering (at) gmail (dot) com. It's okay to send several questions at a time as I will be doing a "Wednesday Weekly Young Writers Writing Question" posting every week. I will not use students' names, but if you give me their initials, I can do that as well as the teacher's name (example E.E. in Mr. Hughes' class ask: ...) that is how my postings will go.
Keep checking my blog weekly for a new question and response. E :)
Followers = Readers?
Does this statement ring true for every author's blog you follow?
Do you follow blogs because you actually read them or the author's works? Do you follow blogs just to follow blogs?
Part of the strategy of having blogs is to build a web presence and to gain readers for your books. Authors should have blogs which are constantly changing as well as a website, which doesn't need to be updated as often but still needs to be updated, especially if you have new books, works in progress, and things that aren't going anywhere for the rest of your life.
In my social networks - FB, twitter, plurk and my two blogs/websites (one is for my JGDS series only and the other is for all my other writing plus family and life in general) - I have over 1000 followers combined (may be even closer to 2000 but this was my closest guestimate). By all accounts, I should have some pretty consistent page visits on my blogs. I don't. My book sales are next to nothing for everything I have published, but I'm at a loss. How do you increase sales? How do you get more followers to be readers of your books? This is a dilemma that has me perplexed.
This year I'm making some changes to my blogging schedule and hopefully will pick up more followers, which hopefully will mean more readers of my books/stories. I will do a Book Review Friday, every Friday throughout the year except for the month of July and probably the month of December. The last week of the month on Monday and Wednesday, I will have guest bloggers (and the schedule is still open as I've put a call out to librarians, teachers and authors but have had no responses yet, other than the two for February) and then will post announcements and writing related information on Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be open for reposting things of interest to my readers from other blogs, so there may be several postings on one day if I feel there are postings from several other blogs I follow and read consistently that may be of interest to my readers. Hopefully by being a more consistent and almost daily blogger, I will draw in more followers and thereby more readers of my stories.
So I ask you the reader, why are you following my blogs and other blogs that you follow? Do you actually buy or borrow the author's books and read them? What is it that has attracted you to that person's blog? Feedback encouraged and welcomed. - E :)
Tomorrow, find out what book reviews have to do with readers and followers over on the Writers on the Move blog. They are all connected and shouldn't be exclusive of one another since writers need reviews as well as readers. E :)
Do you follow blogs because you actually read them or the author's works? Do you follow blogs just to follow blogs?
Part of the strategy of having blogs is to build a web presence and to gain readers for your books. Authors should have blogs which are constantly changing as well as a website, which doesn't need to be updated as often but still needs to be updated, especially if you have new books, works in progress, and things that aren't going anywhere for the rest of your life.
In my social networks - FB, twitter, plurk and my two blogs/websites (one is for my JGDS series only and the other is for all my other writing plus family and life in general) - I have over 1000 followers combined (may be even closer to 2000 but this was my closest guestimate). By all accounts, I should have some pretty consistent page visits on my blogs. I don't. My book sales are next to nothing for everything I have published, but I'm at a loss. How do you increase sales? How do you get more followers to be readers of your books? This is a dilemma that has me perplexed.
This year I'm making some changes to my blogging schedule and hopefully will pick up more followers, which hopefully will mean more readers of my books/stories. I will do a Book Review Friday, every Friday throughout the year except for the month of July and probably the month of December. The last week of the month on Monday and Wednesday, I will have guest bloggers (and the schedule is still open as I've put a call out to librarians, teachers and authors but have had no responses yet, other than the two for February) and then will post announcements and writing related information on Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be open for reposting things of interest to my readers from other blogs, so there may be several postings on one day if I feel there are postings from several other blogs I follow and read consistently that may be of interest to my readers. Hopefully by being a more consistent and almost daily blogger, I will draw in more followers and thereby more readers of my stories.
So I ask you the reader, why are you following my blogs and other blogs that you follow? Do you actually buy or borrow the author's books and read them? What is it that has attracted you to that person's blog? Feedback encouraged and welcomed. - E :)
Tomorrow, find out what book reviews have to do with readers and followers over on the Writers on the Move blog. They are all connected and shouldn't be exclusive of one another since writers need reviews as well as readers. E :)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Heather Paye
In case some of you aren't following my illustrator, Heather Paye, here is her newest posting and it's chock full of some great things going on. She is offering an e-course on creating in-depth characters for the low price of only $5. What's better than that low price is her "free" advantage. If you are one of the first ten persons to register for the course (using her code as specified in her post), you can get in for free. I hope you all take advantage of this and will support my illustrator, such an ambitious young person. - E :)
Cluster Map/Visits/Comments
Since putting up my cluster map Saturday and it is still early in the day Tuesday, I've had 42 visitors from varying places. As you can see from the totals below, visitors from the United States marginally win (so far), but I ask you - why are people from Russia, Malaysia, and some other countries I've never heard of visiting my page? If I have so many visitors in just three short days, why do I not have more followers on my blogs? It would seem if people are visiting, the least they could do is leave a comment and let me know they like certain posts or they have something to say about something I've posted (I like to think I have something of interest to offer and that's why I have a few followers).
Current Country Totals From 7 Jan 2012 to 10 Jan 2012.
United States (US) 22
(California (CA) - 6, Minnesota (MN) - 4, Massachusetts (MA) - 2, Illinois (IL) - 1, Michigan (MI) - 1, Washington (WA) - 1, New York (NY) - 1, Colorado (CO) - 1, Texas (TX) - 1, Georgia (GA) - 1, South Carolina (SC) - 1, North Carolina (NC) - 1, Florida (FL) - 1)
Germany (DE) 3
Sachsen 1
Thuringen 1
Baden-Wurttemberg 1
France (FR) 2
Ile-de-France 2
United Kingdom (GB) 2
Cambridgeshire 1
Hampshire 1
Russian Federation (RU) 2
Murmansk 1
Saint Petersburg City 1
Canada (CA) 2
Ontario (ON) 2
Spain (ES) 2
Madrid 2
Denmark (DK) 1
Syddanmark 1
Colombia (CO) 1
Valle del Cauca 1
Cambodia (KH) 1
Phnum Penh 1
Philippines (PH) 1
Manila 1
Brazil (BR) 1
Rio de Janeiro 1
Taiwan (TW) 1
T'ai-pei 1
Malaysia (MY) 1
So how do visitors to my blogs and comments translate into sales? Stop by tomorrow for a posting about "Followers = Readers?" which will segue way to my posting on the Writers on the Move blog Thursday.
As always, I encourage my readers/followers to leave comments and if you come by the blog accidentally, then please follow my blog. I really need followers. Thanks - see you all in the postings - E :)
Current Country Totals From 7 Jan 2012 to 10 Jan 2012.
United States (US) 22
(California (CA) - 6, Minnesota (MN) - 4, Massachusetts (MA) - 2, Illinois (IL) - 1, Michigan (MI) - 1, Washington (WA) - 1, New York (NY) - 1, Colorado (CO) - 1, Texas (TX) - 1, Georgia (GA) - 1, South Carolina (SC) - 1, North Carolina (NC) - 1, Florida (FL) - 1)
Germany (DE) 3
Sachsen 1
Thuringen 1
Baden-Wurttemberg 1
France (FR) 2
Ile-de-France 2
United Kingdom (GB) 2
Cambridgeshire 1
Hampshire 1
Russian Federation (RU) 2
Murmansk 1
Saint Petersburg City 1
Canada (CA) 2
Ontario (ON) 2
Spain (ES) 2
Madrid 2
Denmark (DK) 1
Syddanmark 1
Colombia (CO) 1
Valle del Cauca 1
Cambodia (KH) 1
Phnum Penh 1
Philippines (PH) 1
Manila 1
Brazil (BR) 1
Rio de Janeiro 1
Taiwan (TW) 1
T'ai-pei 1
Malaysia (MY) 1
So how do visitors to my blogs and comments translate into sales? Stop by tomorrow for a posting about "Followers = Readers?" which will segue way to my posting on the Writers on the Move blog Thursday.
As always, I encourage my readers/followers to leave comments and if you come by the blog accidentally, then please follow my blog. I really need followers. Thanks - see you all in the postings - E :)
Monday, January 09, 2012
Book Covers
I have a new cover! Psych! - lol. I guess that dates me. Back when I was in high school, we would say "Psych" when we faked out someone. I was really hoping to have a new cover for "Bride-and-Seek" by now to share with you all but I don't. I'm patiently waiting, trying not to push Heather too much since I know I'm not her only client and that she is getting ready to start back to school soon. I have a really clear vision of what I want the cover to look like but whether or not I've conveyed that to Heather is another question. I do know that once she gives me a first cover, if it isn't exactly what I had in mind, she will take my suggestions and go back to the drawing board and rework it until my vision comes to fruition.
Finally Home - mock up full cover first version
Finally Home - full cover final version
Case in point, Finally Home was originally the attic scene with the mirror and Kelly sort of looking to the mirror. I loved the mirror, wasn't too crazy about the attic, sent Heaher some pictures and a bit more description of what I pictured in my mind and she sent me back what is now gracing my book.
"The Proposal" - front cover - only and final version
"The Proposal" actually came to me almost perfect. I don't recall making any changes or asking that something be changed because it was just right for the story. I did have to change one little section in the story to fit the cover but it was a minor change; sometimes that does happen too.
"The Tulip Kiss" - front cover final version
"The Tulip Kiss" is another case in that the first one she sent me I loved everything about it save for the way the wording was getting washed out and the tulip was overpowering color wise. On the fourth attempt, she sent me now what is displayed on all the sites where the ebook is available.
So I have no doubt that when Heather sends me "Bride-and-Seek" it will either be almost perfect (there is always room for some improvement in everything) and what I pictured or it may need tweaking, so as soon as I've got a cover, I can then turn around and share with you all as well as get the story published on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords. Having the "just right cover" for your story is very important. I'm very thankful to have a talented young lady like Heather who is willing to work with me and create some very exquisite and eye-catching covers. Keep up the good work, Heather. See you all in the postings - E :)
Case in point, Finally Home was originally the attic scene with the mirror and Kelly sort of looking to the mirror. I loved the mirror, wasn't too crazy about the attic, sent Heaher some pictures and a bit more description of what I pictured in my mind and she sent me back what is now gracing my book.
"The Proposal" actually came to me almost perfect. I don't recall making any changes or asking that something be changed because it was just right for the story. I did have to change one little section in the story to fit the cover but it was a minor change; sometimes that does happen too.
"The Tulip Kiss" is another case in that the first one she sent me I loved everything about it save for the way the wording was getting washed out and the tulip was overpowering color wise. On the fourth attempt, she sent me now what is displayed on all the sites where the ebook is available.
So I have no doubt that when Heather sends me "Bride-and-Seek" it will either be almost perfect (there is always room for some improvement in everything) and what I pictured or it may need tweaking, so as soon as I've got a cover, I can then turn around and share with you all as well as get the story published on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords. Having the "just right cover" for your story is very important. I'm very thankful to have a talented young lady like Heather who is willing to work with me and create some very exquisite and eye-catching covers. Keep up the good work, Heather. See you all in the postings - E :)
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Writers On The Move: Got Rhythm?
This is a great article by Heidi Thomas and something I could have used a couple of months ago when I did my writing session for the teachers, but I did touch on this a bit. Hopefully more teachers can use this advice when teaching writing to their students - E :)
Writers On The Move: Got Rhythm?: What does writing have to do with music? When you are in the revision and self-editing mode with your Work In Progress (WIP), it is helpful...
Writers On The Move: Got Rhythm?: What does writing have to do with music? When you are in the revision and self-editing mode with your Work In Progress (WIP), it is helpful...
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Writers On The Move: Forget Resolutions Go For Real SolutionsH- have ...
A different way to look at "resolutions" - using acrosting poems to come up with your goals and these are goals for all writers - in every aspect - E :)
Writers On The Move: Forget Resolutions Go For Real Solutions
H- have ...: Forget Resolutions Go For Real Solutions H- have faith in your abilities A- advertise and market P-post positive, handwritten no...
Writers On The Move: Forget Resolutions Go For Real Solutions
H- have ...: Forget Resolutions Go For Real Solutions H- have faith in your abilities A- advertise and market P-post positive, handwritten no...
YA Authors You've Never Heard Of: Young Writers Conferences
I hope some of the young writers will take advantage of this and check out some of the conferences geared specifically for you. I'm going to look into them and see about being a presenter - E :)
YA Authors You've Never Heard Of: Young Writers Conferences: I've mentioned the sessions on writing nonhumans and aliens I present at young writers conferences before ( here ), but, since I'm writing t...
YA Authors You've Never Heard Of: Young Writers Conferences: I've mentioned the sessions on writing nonhumans and aliens I present at young writers conferences before ( here ), but, since I'm writing t...
Friday, January 06, 2012
Book Review Friday - To Tell The Truth by Faye M. Tollison
My first book review of the new year. All books reviewed the first few months will be what I've read since receiving my Kindle last March. I have a list of books that will probably take me through at least nine months, plus all the books I'm reading this year all in my different collections. I'm reading mysteries, YA and thrillers and a little bit of everything in between. Hope you enjoy the Book Review Fridays, and hope it brings you a new list of things to read.
(SNEAK PREVIEW: In February, I will be reviewing Leslie Dubois' books and she will be a guest blogger the last Monday in February. She and one other author will be sharing a vendor booth with me at the SCASL conference in March and so I want to feature many of her books leading up to the event. She is a phenomenal writer and amazes me how diversified she is. Stay tuned for more on her.)
TO TELL THE TRUTH by Faye M. Tollison
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: 4-1/2 stars
SYNOPSIS: Anna Kacey had faced many difficulties in her life and had carried some heavy responsibilities. When she met Senator Kenneth Levall, her world soared. At least until it collapsed. Until that fateful day when the gun she held fired, and the senator fell on the floor at her feet and died. Undercover cop, Detective John Mentz, came into her life and fell deeply in love with Anna. He gave her reason to question her relationship with the senator, whom he was investigating for drug trafficking. But as strong a woman as Anna was, she had to dig deep to find the strength to endure what followed: the murder of her sister, the destruction of her life, and lastly facing a courtroom full of people, a judge, and a jury in an effort to save the man she really loved. He had confessed to the murder of the senator in order to protect Anna from being charged with murder. It was now time for her to stand up and To Tell the Truth.
My Review: I saw this story from beginning to end. I even had a hand in editing it. This story had at one time been submitted to Harlequin Mystery or Suspense line (I've forgotten the exact name of the line) and Faye was told the story needed to be longer or that it wasn't a good fit. I really was hoping someone would pick the story up because it is a good story. The suspense is going through the trials and tribulation with Anna and John and really coming to root for them. Anna is a strong character and I believe this is because Faye really did know her well, like a real person whom she had known all her life.
The romance that starts between John and Anna is distant and is still in the budding stages, but that is okay, the romantic feelings do get rekindled in the next story in the series. If you like hot and steamy romance, this is not the book for you. If you like finding out what's going to happen next and a book that keeps you turning the pages to do just that, then this is the book for you.
To Tell The Truth is available in print and on the Kindle. It is part of the KDP Select program so is available to Prime members for free as part of the lending program.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Faye M. Tollison is a member of Sisters In Crime and has published a short story in Petigru Review, the anthology published by the South Carolina Writers Workshop, as well as numerous critiques in Printed Matters, the newletter published by the Greenville Chapter of the SCWW. She has been writing for many years and has now become serious enough to publish her first book. She has loved writing this book and is now working on her second book, The Bible Murders.
(SNEAK PREVIEW: In February, I will be reviewing Leslie Dubois' books and she will be a guest blogger the last Monday in February. She and one other author will be sharing a vendor booth with me at the SCASL conference in March and so I want to feature many of her books leading up to the event. She is a phenomenal writer and amazes me how diversified she is. Stay tuned for more on her.)
TO TELL THE TRUTH by Faye M. Tollison
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: 4-1/2 stars
SYNOPSIS: Anna Kacey had faced many difficulties in her life and had carried some heavy responsibilities. When she met Senator Kenneth Levall, her world soared. At least until it collapsed. Until that fateful day when the gun she held fired, and the senator fell on the floor at her feet and died. Undercover cop, Detective John Mentz, came into her life and fell deeply in love with Anna. He gave her reason to question her relationship with the senator, whom he was investigating for drug trafficking. But as strong a woman as Anna was, she had to dig deep to find the strength to endure what followed: the murder of her sister, the destruction of her life, and lastly facing a courtroom full of people, a judge, and a jury in an effort to save the man she really loved. He had confessed to the murder of the senator in order to protect Anna from being charged with murder. It was now time for her to stand up and To Tell the Truth.
My Review: I saw this story from beginning to end. I even had a hand in editing it. This story had at one time been submitted to Harlequin Mystery or Suspense line (I've forgotten the exact name of the line) and Faye was told the story needed to be longer or that it wasn't a good fit. I really was hoping someone would pick the story up because it is a good story. The suspense is going through the trials and tribulation with Anna and John and really coming to root for them. Anna is a strong character and I believe this is because Faye really did know her well, like a real person whom she had known all her life.
The romance that starts between John and Anna is distant and is still in the budding stages, but that is okay, the romantic feelings do get rekindled in the next story in the series. If you like hot and steamy romance, this is not the book for you. If you like finding out what's going to happen next and a book that keeps you turning the pages to do just that, then this is the book for you.
To Tell The Truth is available in print and on the Kindle. It is part of the KDP Select program so is available to Prime members for free as part of the lending program.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Faye M. Tollison is a member of Sisters In Crime and has published a short story in Petigru Review, the anthology published by the South Carolina Writers Workshop, as well as numerous critiques in Printed Matters, the newletter published by the Greenville Chapter of the SCWW. She has been writing for many years and has now become serious enough to publish her first book. She has loved writing this book and is now working on her second book, The Bible Murders.
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Book Clubs
Sunday night or Monday morning of this week, I thought about adding some discussion questions to my website for Finally Home. Why, you ask? So hopefully a book club will pick up my book and add to their calendar. My friend and author, Faye Tollison, was recently invited to come speak at a local book club in her neighborhood to discuss her book To Tell The Truth. Coming up with the discussion questions is a bit harder than expected. With my state books, it was easy to come up with the discussion questions and include them at the back of the book because everything is based on clues in the books - the study guide uses this technique to take some of the clues a bit further as deeper discussion questions or research projects. With my generalized fiction and this being my only other print book, discussion questions are really needed if the book is being used for a book club reading.
I'm looking at a new way to make folks aware of my stories and I hope that book clubs will be one of the ways. If you are interested in having Finally Home as a book club read, please let me know and I will offer a discount on books ordered directly from me and they will be signed copies. Drop me an email at eeldering@gmail.com with the subject "Finally Home book club" and how many books you need, when you need them by and if you would like me to visit your book club.
I've started a new story, tentatively titled Imogene - Innocense Lost and this one will have discussion questions because I just feel that there is a place for this story in a book club at some time in the future. I will keep you updated on the progress of that story as it happens. The main goal the first two weeks of January is to get as many of the four state stories to be published this year written. Then I will work on Imogene and keep you updated to her progress. If you would like more information on the state stories, please stop by the JGDS blog or the JGDS website and see what's available and what's coming up.
I'm looking at a new way to make folks aware of my stories and I hope that book clubs will be one of the ways. If you are interested in having Finally Home as a book club read, please let me know and I will offer a discount on books ordered directly from me and they will be signed copies. Drop me an email at eeldering@gmail.com with the subject "Finally Home book club" and how many books you need, when you need them by and if you would like me to visit your book club.
I've started a new story, tentatively titled Imogene - Innocense Lost and this one will have discussion questions because I just feel that there is a place for this story in a book club at some time in the future. I will keep you updated on the progress of that story as it happens. The main goal the first two weeks of January is to get as many of the four state stories to be published this year written. Then I will work on Imogene and keep you updated to her progress. If you would like more information on the state stories, please stop by the JGDS blog or the JGDS website and see what's available and what's coming up.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Workaday Reads: 2012 Self-Published Reading Challenge Sign-up
Here is another reading challenge and this is a good one - too bad I didn't know about this one last year - I would have read at least 25 and probably more by indie authors; oh well, hindsight is 20/20. This came to by way of Priscilla over at Prissy Fit. Stop by and see what it's about - E :)
Workaday Reads: 2012 Self-Published Reading Challenge Sign-up: I'm jumping right into challenge hosting next year, and adding a second challenge to my blog, that way there is a challenge to match each...
Workaday Reads: 2012 Self-Published Reading Challenge Sign-up: I'm jumping right into challenge hosting next year, and adding a second challenge to my blog, that way there is a challenge to match each...
YA Historical Fiction Challenge
Here's a challenge for all of you out there who read historical fiction, specifically YA historical fiction. This came in my email this morning from Ren over at All By Myshelf.
This is a 3-level challenge of 5, 10 or 15 books. So easy enough since most of us voracious readers are reading at least a book a week - so shouldn't be a problem meeting the low level of books required to meet this challenge. Good luck to all who participate. Make sure you stop by the YA Bliss blog and sign up for the challenge (click the title of this posting to be taken directly to challenge blog).
This is a 3-level challenge of 5, 10 or 15 books. So easy enough since most of us voracious readers are reading at least a book a week - so shouldn't be a problem meeting the low level of books required to meet this challenge. Good luck to all who participate. Make sure you stop by the YA Bliss blog and sign up for the challenge (click the title of this posting to be taken directly to challenge blog).
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Karen Cioffi's Writing and Marketing ebook Extravaganza
If you are a writer, a published author or just starting on your journey and are thinking about writing, here are some ebooks available to help you on your way. Karen Cioffi, the creator of the Writers on the Move blog and group is offering a plethora of information. Please stop by her sites and check out what she has to offer. - E :)
2012 Writing and Marketing eBook Extravaganza
by Karen Cioffi
To start the New Year with a BANG, from January 1st through February 28, 2012, Karen Cioffi is offering all her writing and marketing e-books (purchased directly from her site(s) using the Paypal SHOPPING CART) for $1.19 each. This will also include any new titles added within that time period.
Yes, that’s right, only $1.19 for each of these titles:
How to Write Books for Children: Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Children’s Books (nominated in the 2011 Global eBooks Awards – over 100 pages)
Editing Books Like a Pro: Self-Editing for Books and Articles
How to Create an eBook and Its Many Uses
Writing, Publishing, and Marketing – You Can Do It!
How to Start a Freelance Writing Business
How to Attract Customers With Informational Marketing
Learn How to Create and Sell Information Products From Your Own Site
New titles to be coming some time in 2012 include:
Webinar Marketing: Create and Present Your Own Webinars
Book Marketing: DIY Virtual Book Tours From Start to Finish
Book Marketing: Soup to Nuts
Marketing Information Products
If you’re reading this you’re probably an author or writer, and it’s no doubt you know how important it is to stay on top of your writing and marketing game, and the above e-books will help you do just that.
For only $1.19 each, get all seven titles for under $10.
Click on the links above to review what each book has to offer – each landing page will have a shopping cart on January 1st, for your convenience. Be sure to use the Shopping Cart Paypal Buy Button, otherwise you’ll pay full price.
For a complete ONE page list (with brief descriptions of each ebook) go here.
-------------
About the author: Karen Cioffi:
Learn about writing and marketing with Karen Cioffi at here. Sign up for her free newsletter, A Writer’s World, and get TWO free site-related e-books for subscribing, and ONE more just for stopping by.
2012 Writing and Marketing eBook Extravaganza
by Karen Cioffi
To start the New Year with a BANG, from January 1st through February 28, 2012, Karen Cioffi is offering all her writing and marketing e-books (purchased directly from her site(s) using the Paypal SHOPPING CART) for $1.19 each. This will also include any new titles added within that time period.
Yes, that’s right, only $1.19 for each of these titles:
How to Write Books for Children: Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Children’s Books (nominated in the 2011 Global eBooks Awards – over 100 pages)
Editing Books Like a Pro: Self-Editing for Books and Articles
How to Create an eBook and Its Many Uses
Writing, Publishing, and Marketing – You Can Do It!
How to Start a Freelance Writing Business
How to Attract Customers With Informational Marketing
Learn How to Create and Sell Information Products From Your Own Site
New titles to be coming some time in 2012 include:
Webinar Marketing: Create and Present Your Own Webinars
Book Marketing: DIY Virtual Book Tours From Start to Finish
Book Marketing: Soup to Nuts
Marketing Information Products
If you’re reading this you’re probably an author or writer, and it’s no doubt you know how important it is to stay on top of your writing and marketing game, and the above e-books will help you do just that.
For only $1.19 each, get all seven titles for under $10.
Click on the links above to review what each book has to offer – each landing page will have a shopping cart on January 1st, for your convenience. Be sure to use the Shopping Cart Paypal Buy Button, otherwise you’ll pay full price.
For a complete ONE page list (with brief descriptions of each ebook) go here.
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About the author: Karen Cioffi:
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Monday, January 02, 2012
Babies, Books, and Signs: A-Z Challenge 2012
Here's another reading challenge. I'll keep posting them as I get them but that doesn't mean I'm participating in all of them. Pick and choose which ones you would like to participate in. This one seems easy enough but it will be difficult finding books starting with X, Y and Z - good luck if you decide to take this challenge - E :)
Babies, Books, and Signs: A-Z Challenge 2012: Attn: I apologize to all of those who already signed up in the previous linky, but it was deleted. I didn't realize that linkytools is now a...
Babies, Books, and Signs: A-Z Challenge 2012: Attn: I apologize to all of those who already signed up in the previous linky, but it was deleted. I didn't realize that linkytools is now a...
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Writers On The Move: Book Marketing: 20 Strategies to Broaden Your Reac...
For all you authors out there looking for some new marketing strategies - how about stopping by and see what Karen Cioffi has to offer and stop by Tuesday for a special offer that Karen is running through the end of February. See you in the postings - E :)
Writers On The Move: Book Marketing: 20 Strategies to Broaden Your Reac...: It's here! January 1st, 2012, and along with wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous New Year , I have 20 book marketing tips you can use ...
Writers On The Move: Book Marketing: 20 Strategies to Broaden Your Reac...: It's here! January 1st, 2012, and along with wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous New Year , I have 20 book marketing tips you can use ...
Writing, Blogging and Sales Goals
With the new year upon us, I have come up with some goals for writing, blogging and sales. I have decided to forego the usual resolutions this year and set goals. My long-term goal is to be able to only work part-time or not at all on my now full-time job by the year 2015. That goal had originally been set for June of 2013, at the time my youngest would graduate but I don't feel at this time that this is an attainable goal. In other words, I need to have books supporting me instead of me supporting them in order to quit my job or cut back to part-time hours. So I have set the following goals for both my JGDS series (you can check out the JGDS blot here or the JGDS website here for more information) as well as my other writings:
1. Blog at least twice a week. (CORRECTED SCHEDULE)
(Blogging schedule will be something like this:
Mondays and Thursdays - Writing announcements and other info.
Tuesdays - open or repostings or linking back to other's blog postings of interest
Wednesdays - special postings from students (Wednesday Weekly Young Writers Writing Questions (WWYWWQ) - I will try to answer students' questions about the writing process or problems they encounter during their writing class, writing club or just in general to their personal writing.
Fourth Monday and Wednesday of month - Guest posts
Fridays - Book reviews
2. Have guest bloggers at least twice a month as well as appear on other's blogs throughout the year - (I'm scheduled to be on Barbara Ehrentreu's blog on the 26th of this month; will have a promotional post for Karen Cioffi up on the 3rd of January and am trying to have Leslie Dubois author of Ain't No Sunshine guest in February, who will also be an exhibitor with me at the SCASL conference in March. I'm trying to schedule the other who will be at the SCASL with Leslie (aka Sybil Nelson author of the Priscilla the Great series) author, Sarah Renee for February as well. This will be a bit trickier since I'm late on schedulding guests for January but hopefully starting in February I will have at least two guests a month.) Schedule will be guests the last week of the month, Monday and Wednesday, and I'll have librarians, teachers, YA and children's authors (hopefully).
3. Hold more contests to hopefully draw in readers and boost sales.
4. Write the next four state stories in the first three weeks of January (clear the table of what will be coming out for the year)
5. Write something every day - whether it be 15 minutes or an hour, but I will write every day. (I started a new story on Friday, December 30th, that I'm anxious to see where it goes, so that may be something I'll work through and possibly publish later this year).
6. Do whatever it takes to have consistent monthly sales of 15 of each title available. (This number seems low but considering my sales goals last year for the 10 titles available were extremely low, this is jumping point. I'd really like to see 25 of each title sell each month but I don't want to be disappointed too much when I don't meet my sales goal. The biggest problem with my numbers is that I can't accurately gauge my total sales since two of my books are still under 4RV Publishing and won't come out of contract until May of this year and June of next year, so the only sales I can depend on right now with those two titles are actual in-person/email/paypal sales directly through me. I'm hoping by having my QR codes available at live events for instant availability of the stories will help boost the sales some as well as offering a giveaway related to the book if purchase is made from the QR code at the event.)
I was shooting for five goals but ended up with six. This will be a start to the year and in six months, I can always re-evaluate and see where I need to make changes or adjustments.
What are some of your writing goals/challenges this year? Leave a comment and be entered for an ebook version of one of my non-state books - "The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), "The Tulip Kiss", "Bride-and-Seek" (available soon), or "Butterfly Halves" (available soon). Comments made through the middle of January will go in the random drawing. The more individuals who comment, the more drawings I'll do - up to 4 total. See you in the postings - E :)
1. Blog at least twice a week. (CORRECTED SCHEDULE)
(Blogging schedule will be something like this:
Mondays and Thursdays - Writing announcements and other info.
Tuesdays - open or repostings or linking back to other's blog postings of interest
Wednesdays - special postings from students (Wednesday Weekly Young Writers Writing Questions (WWYWWQ) - I will try to answer students' questions about the writing process or problems they encounter during their writing class, writing club or just in general to their personal writing.
Fourth Monday and Wednesday of month - Guest posts
Fridays - Book reviews
2. Have guest bloggers at least twice a month as well as appear on other's blogs throughout the year - (I'm scheduled to be on Barbara Ehrentreu's blog on the 26th of this month; will have a promotional post for Karen Cioffi up on the 3rd of January and am trying to have Leslie Dubois author of Ain't No Sunshine guest in February, who will also be an exhibitor with me at the SCASL conference in March. I'm trying to schedule the other who will be at the SCASL with Leslie (aka Sybil Nelson author of the Priscilla the Great series) author, Sarah Renee for February as well. This will be a bit trickier since I'm late on schedulding guests for January but hopefully starting in February I will have at least two guests a month.) Schedule will be guests the last week of the month, Monday and Wednesday, and I'll have librarians, teachers, YA and children's authors (hopefully).
3. Hold more contests to hopefully draw in readers and boost sales.
4. Write the next four state stories in the first three weeks of January (clear the table of what will be coming out for the year)
5. Write something every day - whether it be 15 minutes or an hour, but I will write every day. (I started a new story on Friday, December 30th, that I'm anxious to see where it goes, so that may be something I'll work through and possibly publish later this year).
6. Do whatever it takes to have consistent monthly sales of 15 of each title available. (This number seems low but considering my sales goals last year for the 10 titles available were extremely low, this is jumping point. I'd really like to see 25 of each title sell each month but I don't want to be disappointed too much when I don't meet my sales goal. The biggest problem with my numbers is that I can't accurately gauge my total sales since two of my books are still under 4RV Publishing and won't come out of contract until May of this year and June of next year, so the only sales I can depend on right now with those two titles are actual in-person/email/paypal sales directly through me. I'm hoping by having my QR codes available at live events for instant availability of the stories will help boost the sales some as well as offering a giveaway related to the book if purchase is made from the QR code at the event.)
I was shooting for five goals but ended up with six. This will be a start to the year and in six months, I can always re-evaluate and see where I need to make changes or adjustments.
What are some of your writing goals/challenges this year? Leave a comment and be entered for an ebook version of one of my non-state books - "The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), "The Tulip Kiss", "Bride-and-Seek" (available soon), or "Butterfly Halves" (available soon). Comments made through the middle of January will go in the random drawing. The more individuals who comment, the more drawings I'll do - up to 4 total. See you in the postings - E :)
Friday, December 30, 2011
I Write Like ...
According to the site, I write like
. I've never heard of him. This was analyzed on a story I just started today, but I'm going to throw a couple more pieces in there to analyze and see who I really write like.
The first two chapters of Finally Home gave me this result:
and this is funny in that I've never read anything written by the man. I wonder what it will say for my other stories or my state stories - lol.
For "The Proposal", I write like
now that is really interesting; would have never thought this was similar to Alice in Wonderland writing style.
"The Tulip Kiss" is written like
- another writer I've not heard of or read so couldn't really say I write like him or not. His most notable work is The Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy which I have heard of but not read.
Okay for a state story: State of Successes has me writing like - Douglas Adams again - guess I should take that as a compliment. Someone I can relate some of my writing to. Guess I should read the Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide ... to see if my writing really is like his. Enough playing around, must return to work. Thanks to one of my plurk buddies for sharing this site. - E :)
. I've never heard of him. This was analyzed on a story I just started today, but I'm going to throw a couple more pieces in there to analyze and see who I really write like.
The first two chapters of Finally Home gave me this result:
and this is funny in that I've never read anything written by the man. I wonder what it will say for my other stories or my state stories - lol.
For "The Proposal", I write like
now that is really interesting; would have never thought this was similar to Alice in Wonderland writing style.
"The Tulip Kiss" is written like
- another writer I've not heard of or read so couldn't really say I write like him or not. His most notable work is The Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy which I have heard of but not read.
Okay for a state story: State of Successes has me writing like - Douglas Adams again - guess I should take that as a compliment. Someone I can relate some of my writing to. Guess I should read the Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide ... to see if my writing really is like his. Enough playing around, must return to work. Thanks to one of my plurk buddies for sharing this site. - E :)
January giveaways in exchange for reviews
I was going to post this on LibraryThing but it wouldn't let me post, so I'm going to post as a blog on both my blogs. I will start taking requests January 2. I hope that all the librarians and teachers out there will take advantage of this. This is the same message on both blogs, sorry but the message needs to be out there so that I can hopefully get some reviews and some sales.
JANUARY GIVEAWAY POST
I have six titles in my state series available for review as well as three other titles available. I will offer 100 copies of each title in exchange for reviews.
The state series is geared for 3rd through 5th grade level, would make a great supplement to a US History social studies curriculum or an individual state social studies. Each book comes with its own study guide which supplements the book and should not be used without first reading the book or it makes no sense. The books are written like a handheld game that gives the kids clues (facts and trivia) about a state and the readers and characters have to guess the state being described. Each book is one state and all the clues will pertain to that specific state. There are bonus clues highlighting one of five US territories (Washington DC, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and US Samoan Islands) as well as discussion questions. The study guide takes some of the clues in the book and turns them into deeper discussion questions or research projects, either a science project or map/math skills project or social studies project or ELA project, and then there are bonus things like secret message puzzles (state motto is the secret message), a craft idea (based on clues but not in every study guide - only as the clues are fitting), and a trivia game that is designed to show that the students or child read the book.
Titles available are State of Wilderness (ID), State of Quarries (AR), State of Reservations (OK), State of Successes (SC), State of Heights (CO), and State of Nature (WY). I will send a PDF file to the 100 persons requesting any of the titles available. You can request more than one.
My other titles include Finally Home (a YA paranormal mystery), The Proposal (an April Fools Day Story, a humorous romance ebook), and The Tulip Kiss (a paranormal romance). Available in January will be Bride-and-Seek (a paranormal romance ebook) and Butterfly Halves (a YA fantasy ebook). Again, I will take 100 requests for the three titles available in exchange for reviews.
Please email me at eeldering (at) gmail (dot) com and put "free books in exchange for review" in the subject line. In the body of the email please list the titles you would like to review or if you want all of them, just say All books.
This promotion will be valid for the month of January only. Once the 100 requests per title have been met, no other requests will be taken. I may offer this later in the year, but it will depend on the success of the first "free books in exchange for reviews" campaign. - E :)
Elysabeth Eldering
Author of Finally Home, a YA paranormal mystery
"The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), a humorous romance ebook
"The Tulip Kiss", a paranormal mystery ebook
"Bride-and-Seek", a paranormal mystery ebook (coming in Janaury)
"Butterfly Halves", a YA fantasy ebook (coming in January)
Elysabeth's other blog
Elysabeth's non-JGDS writing website
Ma America, The Travelin' Maven
Author of the JGDS, 50-state, mystery, trivia series and "Train of Clues" (a mystery destination story and predecessor to the JGDS, state series)
Where will the adventure take you next?
JGDS blog
JGDS website
JANUARY GIVEAWAY POST
I have six titles in my state series available for review as well as three other titles available. I will offer 100 copies of each title in exchange for reviews.
The state series is geared for 3rd through 5th grade level, would make a great supplement to a US History social studies curriculum or an individual state social studies. Each book comes with its own study guide which supplements the book and should not be used without first reading the book or it makes no sense. The books are written like a handheld game that gives the kids clues (facts and trivia) about a state and the readers and characters have to guess the state being described. Each book is one state and all the clues will pertain to that specific state. There are bonus clues highlighting one of five US territories (Washington DC, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and US Samoan Islands) as well as discussion questions. The study guide takes some of the clues in the book and turns them into deeper discussion questions or research projects, either a science project or map/math skills project or social studies project or ELA project, and then there are bonus things like secret message puzzles (state motto is the secret message), a craft idea (based on clues but not in every study guide - only as the clues are fitting), and a trivia game that is designed to show that the students or child read the book.
Titles available are State of Wilderness (ID), State of Quarries (AR), State of Reservations (OK), State of Successes (SC), State of Heights (CO), and State of Nature (WY). I will send a PDF file to the 100 persons requesting any of the titles available. You can request more than one.
My other titles include Finally Home (a YA paranormal mystery), The Proposal (an April Fools Day Story, a humorous romance ebook), and The Tulip Kiss (a paranormal romance). Available in January will be Bride-and-Seek (a paranormal romance ebook) and Butterfly Halves (a YA fantasy ebook). Again, I will take 100 requests for the three titles available in exchange for reviews.
Please email me at eeldering (at) gmail (dot) com and put "free books in exchange for review" in the subject line. In the body of the email please list the titles you would like to review or if you want all of them, just say All books.
This promotion will be valid for the month of January only. Once the 100 requests per title have been met, no other requests will be taken. I may offer this later in the year, but it will depend on the success of the first "free books in exchange for reviews" campaign. - E :)
Elysabeth Eldering
Author of Finally Home, a YA paranormal mystery
"The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), a humorous romance ebook
"The Tulip Kiss", a paranormal mystery ebook
"Bride-and-Seek", a paranormal mystery ebook (coming in Janaury)
"Butterfly Halves", a YA fantasy ebook (coming in January)
Elysabeth's other blog
Elysabeth's non-JGDS writing website
Ma America, The Travelin' Maven
Author of the JGDS, 50-state, mystery, trivia series and "Train of Clues" (a mystery destination story and predecessor to the JGDS, state series)
Where will the adventure take you next?
JGDS blog
JGDS website
Thursday, December 29, 2011
6 Degrees Reading Challenge
I found out about this challenge from Priscilla the Great's blog who found it on Ren's All By Myshelf blog. The challenge sounds pretty cool. I've signed up but haven't picked out my books yet. Getting books connected is the biggest challenge. For the complete challenge and rules, please drop by Ren's blog and see if this is something you would be interested in. If so, I'd appreciate it if you would link back to my blog as well as Ren's blog (like I did with how I found the challenge - first on Priscilla the Great's blog, taking me to Ren's blog). Happy reading - let the challenge begin - E :)
(Example of connected books from Ren's blog):
Make a list of at least 6 books, connected by similar themes, covers, characters, etc. Just make sure the books have unique connections. In other words, you can't just read 6 books that have similar covers, or all have a character named Amy. Here's an example (part of my 2011 list):
{based in a prison}
Incarceron
{arranged marriage}
Matched
{scheduled deaths}
The Giver
{drowning victim}
Generation Dead
{undead character}
Once Dead, Twice Shy
You get the picture.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER: Upcoming 2012 Education Wants to Be Free Classes
A few writing courses my fellow authors may be interested - stop on by and check out the deals comings up - E :)
PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER: Upcoming 2012 Education Wants to Be Free Classes: Four new courses are being offered at Education Wants to Be Free in February 2012. They are: Write Your Novel YOUR Way in 100 Days. ...
PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER: Upcoming 2012 Education Wants to Be Free Classes: Four new courses are being offered at Education Wants to Be Free in February 2012. They are: Write Your Novel YOUR Way in 100 Days. ...
Monday, December 26, 2011
Writers On The Move: RESUSCITATING YOUR CHARACTER
Interesting article about bringing your characters to life by my friend and author, Faye Tollison, author of To Tell The Truth. Stop by and check it out - E :)
Writers On The Move: RESUSCITATING YOUR CHARACTER: To Tell the Truth , my first novel, started with a character, and from that character a story began to develop. I wrote the whole story diss...
Writers On The Move: RESUSCITATING YOUR CHARACTER: To Tell the Truth , my first novel, started with a character, and from that character a story began to develop. I wrote the whole story diss...
Friday, December 23, 2011
Romancing the Genres: FAIR SALES--FOR THE BIRDS?
A little insight in doing a Holiday Fair where books are not the main component of the fair or festival - posted by our local Sisters in Crime chapter president, Linda Lovely. The other two people mentioned are also members of the local Sisters in Crime chapter - and all the books are great reads, although I haven't read Ellis's yet but I have read a book by her. Come have a peek and see if this rings true for you - E :)
Romancing the Genres: FAIR SALES--FOR THE BIRDS?: Fair Selling—For the Birds? The three-day Holiday Fair in Greenville, SC, attracts substantial crowds, people who buy all manner of Chris...
Romancing the Genres: FAIR SALES--FOR THE BIRDS?: Fair Selling—For the Birds? The three-day Holiday Fair in Greenville, SC, attracts substantial crowds, people who buy all manner of Chris...
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
Wishing you and your family a blessed, joyous, Merry Christmas and happy holidays whichever you celebrate. As you travel this holiday season, stay safe and return here in the new year for some special deals and possibly some contests. Also, please don't forget to follow the JGDS blog for new releases and contests. See you in the new year - E :)
24 hours left
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I hope you all have your Christmas shopping done. There are only 24 hours left in the Finally Home half-price Christmas sale with it ending at noon tomorrow. Get your copy today or buy a copy and gift it to someone you know who would enjoy a story written in the Nancy Drew mysteries style. Here are the QR codes to get your copy today.
Finally Home QR code Kindle edition:
Finally Home QR code Nook edition:
Finally Home QR code Kindle edition:
Finally Home QR code Nook edition:
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
3 Days left!!!
Only 3 days left in the Finally Home half-price Christmas Sale for Kindle and Nook. Don't forget to pick up your copy today or give a copy as a gift. Both Nook and Kindle now allow you to gift ebooks to someone else. Here are the QR codes to the direct buy links for Finally Home:
Finally Home Kindle edition:
Finally Home Nook edition:
Monday, December 19, 2011
QR codes
What is a QR code? Defined it is a quick response (QR) 2-D code for instant access to an indefinite amount of information. They can be used for anything from a way to enter contests to direct links to buy merchandise and everything in between. I've created QR codes for my ebooks' direct buying links, which I'll be placing on the back of my printed covers for my display when I'm doing events. I'll also print up some business cards to hand out for each of the covers that are available as ebooks. I'm hoping this will boost my sales. I would love to see more folks requesting kindlegraphs for ebooks they purchase or books they brought from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble or even my createspace pages, but I guess that will come in due time.
To make your own QR codes, there are many places to generate them from but this is the one I used. I also created a business card QR code with this website. You can create a number of different links. Try it out for yourself.
The business card didn't work so I will work on how to get that to work and post at a later date.
Here are the QR codes for the three books available as ebooks:
Finally Home QR for Kindle:
Finally Home QR for Nook:
"The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story) QR for Kindle:
"The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story) QR for Nook:
"The Tulip Kiss", a paranormal romance QR for Kindle:
"The Tulip Kiss", a paranormal romance QR for Nook:
If they don't work for you all, please let me know. See you all in the postings - E :)
To make your own QR codes, there are many places to generate them from but this is the one I used. I also created a business card QR code with this website. You can create a number of different links. Try it out for yourself.
The business card didn't work so I will work on how to get that to work and post at a later date.
Here are the QR codes for the three books available as ebooks:
Finally Home QR for Kindle:
Finally Home QR for Nook:
"The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story) QR for Kindle:
"The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story) QR for Nook:
"The Tulip Kiss", a paranormal romance QR for Kindle:
"The Tulip Kiss", a paranormal romance QR for Nook:
If they don't work for you all, please let me know. See you all in the postings - E :)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Writers On The Move: Setting Writing Goals for 2012...How are Your Goal...
Writers On The Move: Setting Writing Goals for 2012...How are Your Goal...: Writing takes planning and implementing, reviewing and revising. In nursing we learn to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate for a patien...
Terri has some very informative information here. I will probably post my 2012 goals on this blog (Elysabeth's Emerald City) next week, once I've had a chance to sit down and really think about what it is I want to or need to accomplish next year. Please stop by and comment if you are a writer and need some guidance on goal setting. - See you all in the postings - E :)
Terri has some very informative information here. I will probably post my 2012 goals on this blog (Elysabeth's Emerald City) next week, once I've had a chance to sit down and really think about what it is I want to or need to accomplish next year. Please stop by and comment if you are a writer and need some guidance on goal setting. - See you all in the postings - E :)
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Finally Home Kindle and Nook half-price sale is on
Finally Home is now half price on Kindle and Nook (regular price $3.99; now $1.99). Download your copy soon because this price won't stay up for long. I will return the Kindle and Nook to regular price about noon on December 24. Nook now has egifting so you can purchase a copy and give as a gift to a friend's Nook; Kindle has already had the option of making your purchases gifts. So give a book to someone you know who likes reading something written like a Nancy Drew mystery.
If you do get either a Kindle or Nook copy or you gift a copy to someone and you would like me to send them a personalized message and e-signature, make sure you stop by kindlegraph and request your free kindlegraph or have the person receiving the gift request a kindlegraph.
Also, remember print copies are on sale for $10 with free shipping anywhere in the United States and shipping to be calculated for sales outside the United States at the time of purchase. Print copies can only be ordered via email (eeldering @ gmail . com - no spaces) with the subject of "Finally Home sale". I sign all my print books that I send out, so if you are ordering this as a belated gift, please indicate in the body of the email to whom to make the book and where to send (if outside the United States so shipping can be calculated). I will send you an email directing you on payment. Books will be sent out after Christmas so they should arrive to you or the person you are giving to before Januar 1st but no later than the following week.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Writers On The Move: The Writer’s Block – tips for smashing through you...
Writers On The Move: The Writer’s Block – tips for smashing through you...: Writers are writers because they write. Sounds simple enough, but the reality is they write because they can’t not write. It begins in ma...
Some interesting points to help writers - E :)
Some interesting points to help writers - E :)
Writers On The Move: Have You Considered Writing Greeting Card or Fille...
Writers On The Move: Have You Considered Writing Greeting Card or Fille...: As authors, we struggle to balance writing time, marketing time, and family life with paying the bills and bringing in adequate income. Have...
For all you poets out there - this might be an avenue for you to explore - E :)
For all you poets out there - this might be an avenue for you to explore - E :)
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Following blogs versus Subscribing by email and following comments
I have both a follow this blog (for blogger users) and a subscribe by email on both my blogs. I have very few folks who have signed up to receive emails of my blog postings. I have even fewer folks who comment on my blogs.
My questions to you are this: Why does one follow a blog? When you do just a follow, how often do you actually read what is posted on that blog? If you subscribe to follow via email, why? When you get the emails, do you make a note and come over and comment occasionally? When you do leave a comment on a blog, even if you are not following the blog at the moment but just got there by way of a forum or other means, do you subscribe to receive the followup comments via email? If not, why not? Are you not interested in learning what other folks have to say on the topic you have commented on? Do you not want to be involved in conversations that may arise from those comments?
What are your reasons for clicking on the "follow this blog" or subscribe via email? What are reasons you leave comments on a blog posting and do you continue to follow the comments? When you leave a comment, do you also include a signature line? If you are a published author and don't include one, why not? Isn't visibility the reason for being on blogs and leaving comments? Don't you want to drive potential new readers to your sites?
Here are some of my thoughts on the topic: When I follow a blog because there is no email subscription, I am less likely to read the blog very often. I try to follow blogs that are of interest to me, my writing/marketing/et cetera or of folks that are in groups or forums I belong to. If I subscribe by email or the RSS feed (which I don't too many of those because that means I still have to go an extra step to find out what's new with that person), I get the notifications and I can see what's new. I check my email first thing every morning and do what I call "slogging" before going to work. This process includes scanning the email notifications, filing them in their respective folders and if warranted, leaving a comment on the blog. Sometimes the topic is of interest but I don't have time to leave a comment that particular day but I mark those emails and will go back to them and go to the blog to comment when I have a few minutes. (My slogging also includes checking out all my sites (websites and book sites) for how many page views or visits I've had or how many sales I may have had (not as many as I would like) and doing my socializing. I belong to plurk and post the TDIH (This Day In History) plurks as well as the daily birthday (most of my friends on that network are teachers or librarians and from there I have participated now in several Skype visits with various grades during a writing time or lunch time for a writers' club). I've set my plurk to go to my FB page and my twitter account so I'm actually posting on three accounts by plurking every day. I like plurk but sometimes get caught spending too much time answering plurks, posting new plurks, et cetera.) When I leave a comment, I try to make sure I click the box that says "be notified of followup comments via email" or click the subscribe by email link or whatever is available; some blogs don't offer this option. My feeling on this is that I've taken time to comment on the blog and am interested in the topic and therefore, am interested in knowing what others feel or have to say on the topic. I also have a signature line I put at the end of all my comments. I use the following signature line, and depending on the blog I'm commenting on, will reverse the order my two different personas are listed.
Elysabeth Eldering
Author of Finally Homea, a YA paranormal mystery
"The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), a humorous romance ebook
"The Tulip Kiss", a paranormal romance ebook
"Bride-and-Seek", a paranormal romance ebook (coming soon)
"Butterfly Halves", a YA fantasy ebook (coming soon)
http://elysabethsstories.blogspot.com
http://eeldering.weebly.com
Ma America, The Travelin' Maven
Author of the JGDS, 50-state, mystery, trivia series and "Train of Clues" (a mystery destination story, predecessor to the 50-state series)
Where will the adventure take you next?
http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com
http://jgdsseries.weebly.com
Of late I've left off the JGDS part of the signature and I've not included the two ebooks that aren't published yet in the first part, but I do try to make sure I put my website and blog so that I can hopefully gain a few more readers. I've found many a new, interesting blogs from following the comments or checking out some of the other persons' profiles from the comments. Obviously when responding to comments on my own blog, I leave the signature line off because the person who commented has already found my blog - lol.
If I'm promoting my state series, I may leave off the generic writing information and just do the JGDS info on my signature, but either way, I leave a signature with the hopes of driving traffic either to my websites or my blogs or both.
Now it's your turn to weigh in. Why do you follow blogs? Do you subscribe to follow via email? Do you get the followup comments via email? If not, why do you even leave a comment? What drives you to check out other people's blogs from comments?
Leave a comment and be entered in the drawing for a free ebook of one of my published short stories. Remember to at least leave your email addy in the comment so that I can contact you if you have won. I will run this until the end of December (December 30th) with the random drawing to be done on December 31st. If more than 25 persons comment, I will do two drawings - your choice of one of the ebook published short stories (by the end of December the other two should be published unless Bride-and-Seek wins the contest it is currently in). See you all in the postings - E :)
My questions to you are this: Why does one follow a blog? When you do just a follow, how often do you actually read what is posted on that blog? If you subscribe to follow via email, why? When you get the emails, do you make a note and come over and comment occasionally? When you do leave a comment on a blog, even if you are not following the blog at the moment but just got there by way of a forum or other means, do you subscribe to receive the followup comments via email? If not, why not? Are you not interested in learning what other folks have to say on the topic you have commented on? Do you not want to be involved in conversations that may arise from those comments?
What are your reasons for clicking on the "follow this blog" or subscribe via email? What are reasons you leave comments on a blog posting and do you continue to follow the comments? When you leave a comment, do you also include a signature line? If you are a published author and don't include one, why not? Isn't visibility the reason for being on blogs and leaving comments? Don't you want to drive potential new readers to your sites?
Here are some of my thoughts on the topic: When I follow a blog because there is no email subscription, I am less likely to read the blog very often. I try to follow blogs that are of interest to me, my writing/marketing/et cetera or of folks that are in groups or forums I belong to. If I subscribe by email or the RSS feed (which I don't too many of those because that means I still have to go an extra step to find out what's new with that person), I get the notifications and I can see what's new. I check my email first thing every morning and do what I call "slogging" before going to work. This process includes scanning the email notifications, filing them in their respective folders and if warranted, leaving a comment on the blog. Sometimes the topic is of interest but I don't have time to leave a comment that particular day but I mark those emails and will go back to them and go to the blog to comment when I have a few minutes. (My slogging also includes checking out all my sites (websites and book sites) for how many page views or visits I've had or how many sales I may have had (not as many as I would like) and doing my socializing. I belong to plurk and post the TDIH (This Day In History) plurks as well as the daily birthday (most of my friends on that network are teachers or librarians and from there I have participated now in several Skype visits with various grades during a writing time or lunch time for a writers' club). I've set my plurk to go to my FB page and my twitter account so I'm actually posting on three accounts by plurking every day. I like plurk but sometimes get caught spending too much time answering plurks, posting new plurks, et cetera.) When I leave a comment, I try to make sure I click the box that says "be notified of followup comments via email" or click the subscribe by email link or whatever is available; some blogs don't offer this option. My feeling on this is that I've taken time to comment on the blog and am interested in the topic and therefore, am interested in knowing what others feel or have to say on the topic. I also have a signature line I put at the end of all my comments. I use the following signature line, and depending on the blog I'm commenting on, will reverse the order my two different personas are listed.
Elysabeth Eldering
Author of Finally Homea, a YA paranormal mystery
"The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), a humorous romance ebook
"The Tulip Kiss", a paranormal romance ebook
"Bride-and-Seek", a paranormal romance ebook (coming soon)
"Butterfly Halves", a YA fantasy ebook (coming soon)
http://elysabethsstories.blogspot.com
http://eeldering.weebly.com
Ma America, The Travelin' Maven
Author of the JGDS, 50-state, mystery, trivia series and "Train of Clues" (a mystery destination story, predecessor to the 50-state series)
Where will the adventure take you next?
http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com
http://jgdsseries.weebly.com
Of late I've left off the JGDS part of the signature and I've not included the two ebooks that aren't published yet in the first part, but I do try to make sure I put my website and blog so that I can hopefully gain a few more readers. I've found many a new, interesting blogs from following the comments or checking out some of the other persons' profiles from the comments. Obviously when responding to comments on my own blog, I leave the signature line off because the person who commented has already found my blog - lol.
If I'm promoting my state series, I may leave off the generic writing information and just do the JGDS info on my signature, but either way, I leave a signature with the hopes of driving traffic either to my websites or my blogs or both.
Now it's your turn to weigh in. Why do you follow blogs? Do you subscribe to follow via email? Do you get the followup comments via email? If not, why do you even leave a comment? What drives you to check out other people's blogs from comments?
Leave a comment and be entered in the drawing for a free ebook of one of my published short stories. Remember to at least leave your email addy in the comment so that I can contact you if you have won. I will run this until the end of December (December 30th) with the random drawing to be done on December 31st. If more than 25 persons comment, I will do two drawings - your choice of one of the ebook published short stories (by the end of December the other two should be published unless Bride-and-Seek wins the contest it is currently in). See you all in the postings - E :)
The Chick Friends Rules - Freshman Year by Vici Howard
The Chick Friends Rules - Freshman Year by Vici Howard
Stop by and find out about this new series by another blogger friend of mine, Vici Howard. Enter for a chance to win a copy on the website - See you all in the postings - E :)
Stop by and find out about this new series by another blogger friend of mine, Vici Howard. Enter for a chance to win a copy on the website - See you all in the postings - E :)
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
A Holiday Gift from Writers on the Move
As our appreciation gift to our readers and followers and those who are just now finding Writers on the Move, we have put together a holiday gift ebook for you. The contributers to the Writers on the Move blog have collected some writing and marketing tips to present to you in this ebook. We really do appreciate your continued support and we hope you will follow us in the new year. If you would like more on what the group has to offer, you can stop by the Writers on the Move blog and follow the postings via email. Please also check back often for new workshops/webinars that we will be presenting. We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year. May all your wishes come true.
The Tulip Kiss is up
I shared the cover with you all last week. I've posted the story on Kindle and Smashwords with the Nook version to come as soon as I have the cover sized for the Nook (apparently has to be different pixels compared to the smashwords and kindle version. It is only 99 cents.
Don't forget to stop by my kindlegraph page and request your free kindlegraph. E :)
Monday, December 12, 2011
CHRISTMAS SALE - one week only!
My Christmas present to all my faithful followers and readers is that for the week starting December 17 and ending December 24, Finally Home will be half price for Kindle and Nook readers (regularly priced at $3.99, now $1.99). Ebook copies can be e-signed via kindlegraph. Merry Christmas and enjoy.
For print copies of "Finally Home", through email orders (eeldering at gmail dot com) only, copies will be priced at $10 and that will include shipping, this is a $3 savings plus the cost of shipping saved. Print copies will be autographed and sent anywhere in the United States. Merry Christmas and hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday season. - E :)
For print copies of "Finally Home", through email orders (eeldering at gmail dot com) only, copies will be priced at $10 and that will include shipping, this is a $3 savings plus the cost of shipping saved. Print copies will be autographed and sent anywhere in the United States. Merry Christmas and hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday season. - E :)
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Writers On The Move: Revision – What Works for Me
Writers On The Move: Revision – What Works for Me: Whoever said revision is what makes your book is, in my view, correct. I like to write the book quickly. I do plan the plot first, but I ...
I posted a revision posting last month - so come check out the differences between the two writers - E :)
I posted a revision posting last month - so come check out the differences between the two writers - E :)
Writers On The Move: To Splice or Not to Splice
Writers On The Move: To Splice or Not to Splice: I recently edited a manuscript that was rife with sentences combined with the word “then.” Like this one: She pulled the lever, allowing the...
This is great advice, especiallys for teachers teaching writing to students. In Mr. Hughes' class, we basically tell the students not to use the word "then" because their story tends to become a grocery list of events instead of showing the reader what the story is really about - hope you stop by and leave Heidi a comment - E :)
This is great advice, especiallys for teachers teaching writing to students. In Mr. Hughes' class, we basically tell the students not to use the word "then" because their story tends to become a grocery list of events instead of showing the reader what the story is really about - hope you stop by and leave Heidi a comment - E :)
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Writers On The Move: Find your passion.
Writers On The Move: Find your passion.: It seems that, as humans, we can’t help but compare ourselves to others. His plots are so well constructed Her character development i...
Stop by for a few words of encouragement and leave a comment - happy posting - E ;)
Stop by for a few words of encouragement and leave a comment - happy posting - E ;)
Monday, December 05, 2011
Writers On The Move: Is your Novel Attractive to Reading Groups/Clubs?
Writers On The Move: Is your Novel Attractive to Reading Groups/Clubs?: There are as many types of book clubs as there are people to belong to them. When setting up a book club, one should keep in mind one's tar...
This has me now thinking about book clubs for my newest release, Finally Home. What do you all think about this? Leave a comment - E :)
This has me now thinking about book clubs for my newest release, Finally Home. What do you all think about this? Leave a comment - E :)
Sunday, December 04, 2011
The Tulip Kiss - new cover
Some of you may remember when this story was first published as it was the first place winner in Echelon Press's Fast and Frigid contest in January of 2007 as an ebook only. Since the story was unpublished about June of 2007, I've just been letting it sit for a bit, not really thinking of republishing myself. These past few months, I took on revisions/rewrites of Finally Home and decided it was time to put out a few of my old stories as well (hopefully boosting sales for all my stories out there). I've already republished "The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story) as an ebook and now with a new cover for "The Tulip Kiss" will be putting this out in the next few days.
Below are the two covers of "The Tulip Kiss" for comparison (the new cover first, the previously published cover which was done by Karen at Echelon Press) and the cover for "The Proposal". All my covers done from June of 2010 through the present (to include State of Wilderness (the reprint version), State of Successes, State of Heights, State of Nature, "Train of Clues", State of Acceleration (to be published the first part of 2012), Finally Home, "The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), and "The Tulip Kiss") are by Heather C. Paye and her work can be found here. Check her out if you are in need of a cover or any type of graphic design work. She is young and aspires to one day work for Disney/Pixar and with her talents and the portfolio she is building I believe she will end up with them. I can't say enough good things about Heather's work because she is such a wonderful young lady to work with that words can't do everything she does justice. I will let my covers speak for themselves.
The Tulip Kiss - 2011 version
The Tulip Kiss - 2007 version
The Proposal - released 2011 as an ebook - available on kindle, nook and smashwords
For the State of ... covers, please visit the JGDS website and click the "books in the series" tab.
Be on the lookout for a special sale the week before Christmas; details will be posted next week. E :)
Below are the two covers of "The Tulip Kiss" for comparison (the new cover first, the previously published cover which was done by Karen at Echelon Press) and the cover for "The Proposal". All my covers done from June of 2010 through the present (to include State of Wilderness (the reprint version), State of Successes, State of Heights, State of Nature, "Train of Clues", State of Acceleration (to be published the first part of 2012), Finally Home, "The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), and "The Tulip Kiss") are by Heather C. Paye and her work can be found here. Check her out if you are in need of a cover or any type of graphic design work. She is young and aspires to one day work for Disney/Pixar and with her talents and the portfolio she is building I believe she will end up with them. I can't say enough good things about Heather's work because she is such a wonderful young lady to work with that words can't do everything she does justice. I will let my covers speak for themselves.
For the State of ... covers, please visit the JGDS website and click the "books in the series" tab.
Be on the lookout for a special sale the week before Christmas; details will be posted next week. E :)
Finally Home review
My first review for Finally Home - check it out here. Thank you Ms. Faye for the great review. Anyone else who has done a review and would like me to share, please let me know. Thanks - E :)
Friday, December 02, 2011
Finally Home - 1 week stats
Finally Home was officially released last Thursday (Thanksgiving day) morning as both a print and ebook. It is available on smashwords, kindle and nook as well as on amazon.com and createspace in print. As of 12/01/2011 the following stats are what I've seen: Smashwords' views = 24, sales = 0; Nook views = ?, sales = 2; ranking = 247,000 (not exact but I don't remember what the number was); kindle views = ?, sales = 0; no ranking on amazon as I've not had any sales and no sales from any source showing on my createspace account. This is disheartening to say the least since I've been posting for quite a while now that Finally Home would be released soon and I've spent the last two months (maybe a few more than that) talking about this book.
So I'm thinking I need to follow suit with Sybil Nelson (aka Leslie Dubois, author of YA novels with a dark edge to them), Author of the Priscilla the Great series, in her posting from either 11/30 or 12/01 and that is "take the McDonald's approach" to marketing. Sybil states in her posting (you can view the full article here), and I'm paraphrasing here, that everywhere you go you can see McDonald's ads, billboards or even McDonald's themselves. So why not as an author take the same approach? Obviously McDonald's is a billion or trillion dollar company and can afford to place ads everywhere (and those 30-second spots aren't cheap nor are the billboard placements) to make sure their name is out there, so some of the marketing approach for authors wouldn't be cost-effective or even feesible since we are in general poor and need other jobs to supplement our writing, but why not do some marketing that gets your name out there.
It isn't enough to just blog every once in a while or update a website every once in a while but we as authors have to stay in the limelight so to speak; we need to place "ads" everywhere to get known.
Within the next 2 weeks or so, I will be re-releasing three more stories that have been previously published and have placed in various contests, winning small monetary awards and other prizes. I've decided that after the first of the year, once I can get back on track with my state series (for more on the JGDS series, please visit the JGDS blog or the JGDS website) that I'm going to do a major marketing campaign.
I've done a few Skype visits with classes other than Mr. Hughes' to help with some writing aspects (one in Indiana for the Lunchtime Writers' Club and one in Washington state during NaNoWriMo) but that isn't enough. Hopefully, my marketing campaign will help some other writers as well.
I need to start seeing my books taking a turn because my job is getting frustrating and I would love to start traveling to all the states within the next couple of years or so (before I get too old to really enjoy the travels). I had set a goal to have my state stories supporting me by 2013 but that doesn't look like it is going to happen. I may have to move that goal to 2015 and by then I should have at least half of the states published along with my five other stories, oops - six (forgot about a children's story I will probably ebook publish too).
I'd like to know what some other authors out there are doing marketing wise. I also would like to see half the followings of some of my fellow authors (I still only have less than 100 folks following this blog with only a handful, less than a dozen, actually subscribing to receive the blog notices in their emails. I have half the number of followers on my JGDS site as I do on this site, which means I'm not reaching the audiences like I need to, so any suggestions from my fellow friends and authors on how to reach more people would be greatly appreciated.
I follow over 1000 blogs but don't read all of them on a daily basis and I comment on blogs that I've signed up for the email postings a good bit of time; I leave my links in my signatures on most places (some of them won't accept the comment with hyperlinks so I have to just hope that folks are stopping by my websites on those blogs) and yet I hardly see any traffic on my blogs or websites. I wonder how many of those 1000 blogs I follow actually take time to read their comments and respond back to the commenters or even check out the blogs or websites of the persons who leave comments on their blogs. I wonder how many folks who comment on blogs take the time to actually look at other commenters' blogs and websites. The answer is probably less than a dozen or so.
Vici Howard is running her 1-year marketing plan here. Of course, you can always follow Sybil's postings here. If you know of any other authors who have a marketing campaign going on and would like to share, please leave a comment with the link to that person's blog or website.
I definitely would love to hear from you all and hope you will spread the word to your friends. Let them know about some upcoming authors who are trying to get their name out there. E :)
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