Write to Your Passion – Like Tennessee Williams

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What is Passion?
A great example of a writer who was successful because he wrote with passion and authenticity is Tennessee Williams. It is said that his play, The Glass Menagerie, is somewhat autobiographical. For those familiar with this play, it’s obvious that the playwright had strong feelings about his characters and the society in which they lived. Successful writers will follow Tennessee Williams’ example of identifying what they care about and writing on those subjects. It’s also important to show heartfelt emotion without going into unnecessary detail.

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What is heartfelt emotion, or passion?
A Wikipedia article explains that passion is an intense emotion, such as; enthusiasm, desire, or a positive affinity or love towards a subject. Passion also has a dark side. It can be linked to intense negative emotion, such as hate.
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Why is it Important That Our Writing be Passionate?
We need to write about that which we have strong emotions, positive or negative. Simply put, we need to write about what we care about. Why is this important? Writing is like acting. People can tell if you’re emotionally connected. The most respected actors are the actors who are not “acting” a certain role; they are “being” a certain role. For example, if we see someone like Meryl Streep in a movie, we don’t think that she’s portraying the character in a skilled manner. Instead, we feel that she has actually become the character. She is not divisible from the character. In the same way, writers want their material to flow smoothly. Writers cannot write material that flows smoothly unless they care about the subject of their writing.

• Suzanne Fetting, Confidence Coach, defines passion as energy in her blog. She says that passion fuels the fires of inspiration and that it motivates us. It’s hard to write about that which doesn’t engage us emotionally. How Do We Find Our Passion.
• Mary DeMuth, guest blogger on Michael Hyatt’s blog, says that one of the best ways to find our passion is to find where need and joy collide. A good example of this would be a job that contributes to society in a positive manner while it utilizes our unique talents. Another way that she suggests that we find our passion is to ask our friends to identify what is our main personality characteristic. For instance, our friends may define us as “artsy”, “intelligent”, “athletic”, and so on.

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How Do We Balance Our Passion in Our Writing?
It’s important not to be too emotional in our writing. When I was using some of my own life experiences while writing my first book, I spent a lot of time editing them because I was too emotional about those experiences. I edited certain passages fifteen times, and I still found that too much strong emotion came out in my words. In the end, I believe that I made my point clear with less emotion and fewer words. Readers don’t need a lot of details to understand a particular emotion that is being portrayed. In fact, too many details may be distracting. So, we want to keep details to a minimum.
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Traci Lawrence writes about her passion: communication, relationships, the value of individuals and rising above verbal bullying, or trash talk. She lives in the Northern Virginia area of the United States and teaches English, among other subjects. Please find more on her blog, and read her book: Accept No Trash Talk.

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How Your Blog Helps Your Books Taking Off

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A blog is one of the most valuable tools to show you and your work to readers. Your blog is part of your platform and your author brand. Your blog has endless benefits, such as higher “Search Engine Ranking” on Google, better visibility, and to separate you from mainstream writers. Blog reader surveys found that blogs are building trust, and are influencing buying decisions. Let’s have a look at the benefits of your blog and best practices:
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Write Regularly
Static websites don’t attract many new clients or customers. However, a regularly updated blog can
produce a constant stream of new readers from all around the world. Blogs have so much
influence on purchase decisions. When readers sign up they expect to be able to read new
content from you at least once or (even better) twice a week.
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What Shall I Blog You Ask?
Start with what you have already written: tiny snippets of your book, added by research findings you
found before writing. For example: you wrote a scene in your novel. Explain your readers more
about the place, the time, weather, landscape or history that are involved in the story. You can even
write about restaurants that the protagonist used to patronize:  FREE, Brilliant Book Marketing
You can also re-write or spin a short chapter of your book or elaborate on the people you thanked
in your acknowledgements.
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Prequels
Use your blog to write about your next book, write one or several prequels.
A prequel can be one story or a dozen. However, it should be an irresistible preview of the book itself,
short, but with a revealing scene from the draft manuscript of the novel, and a great teaser for the
upcoming work. The author’s goal should be: to make the reader want more… It is never too early
to write a prequel. You might write it even before starting to write your book, and your blog is a great
place to do just that. However, keep it to 1,500 words max. and don’t reveal too much. It should be
only a teaser for your next book.
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Create Web Content Without Writing
No time to write? No problem! There are so many ways to create content for your blog:

• Photos
• Videos
• Podcast
• Re-blogging
• Slide-Shares
• Guest posts
• Info-Graphics
• Lists
• Snippets from your book
• Polls / Surveys
• Curating other blog articles

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Your Blog is Your Inventory
Use it! When it comes to updating your blog, the more frequently you do so the better. Set a schedule for blogging, every Monday and Thursday, for example. Read other related blogs, comments on posts, forums or books to get ideas. And writing down your own experiences in writing or publishing and answers you found when looking for solutions.
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How to Promote Your Blog
Number one to spread the word about your blog are directories, here just a few:

http://blogs.botw.org/Arts/Literature/Publishing/
http://www.bloggeries.com/Writing_Publishing/
http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/entertainment/books/

See all 20 Blog Directories to submit your blog. Get a very rough estimate of a site’s traffic by checking their Alexa rank before you sign up (the lower the number, the better).

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Document Sharing Sites
Scribd, a social publishing site, where millions of people share original writings and documents.
Convert your original article to a PDF file and upload it to Scribd. Unlike article directories Scribd
allows you to incorporate links within your content. You can upload anything onto Scribd as a way to
grow your audience, just like on your personal blogs. Choose copyright settings, among many
other options, making your documents most searchable. Authors are uploading e-books for sale
on Scribd, and keep 80% of the profits.
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Social Media Sites
On Google+ you can easily post your article, if it is under 500 words – if it is longer, just add a link to
the rest of the article. There are certainly more social media sites (Google+ can be conected with
Twitter, saving you time and your post is automatically tweeted). On most Social Media sites you
can add images and a link back to your website or blog. Here is an article about Social SEO
Strategies for Start-Ups.  Read also why Google+ authorship is so important.
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Learn to Write for the Web
Web visitors are not reading, they are scanning text. Learn how to write for the web: lots of bullets,
headlines, sub headings, images and using the “inverted pyramid”, explained in this blog article.
Write interesting page titles that grab the attention, structure your text and write summaries at the end
of each chapter. Readers spend more time on pages with valuable information, structured and
easy to read content – and lots of links.
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Let Your Content Go Viral
There is so much you can do to let your articles and blogs go viral on the Internet. It takes a little bit of effort, but the results in a couple of months will be rewarding. And as longer and more often you are blogging, as easier it gets. As Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad) said: “The richest people in the world build networks. Everyone else looks for work.”
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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,070 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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How Far Would You Go in the Name of Research?

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Margaret K Johnson asks:  How far would you go in the name of research?

We have all heard about method actors who go to extreme lengths to get into character for their roles. These actors feel they need to really experience the lives of their characters.  For example, to play the character of Christy Brown in My Left Foot about a disabled man, Daniel Day-Lewis refused to leave his wheelchair for the whole duration of the filming. Robert de Niro became a taxi driver for his role in Taxi Driver, and learnt to box for Raging Bull. It’s also very common for actors to gain or lose weight for their roles – Christian Bale weighed only 122 pounds for his role in The Machinist, and Ann Hathaway lost 25 pounds and cut off all her hair for her role in Les Miserables.

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What about Writers?
These days we almost take such behavior by actors for granted.  But what about writers?  Do we need to deliberately set out to experience situations for the sake of our writing?  Surely not. After all, we are writers – we should have enough imagination without doing that, right?

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Well, actually, yes and no.  I think it depends on what you’re writing about.  Authors of detective stories are not going to kill people to find out what it feels like to be a murderer.  At least, I hope not!  But they are likely to draw on their experience of grief when writing about the victims of such crimes.

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When I was writing my novel The Dare Club, which is about a group of newly-separated people setting each other challenges in order to forget about their problems, I found that there were some things I could easily imagine – for example gate-crashing a total stranger’s 40^th birthday party.  But when one of my characters wanted to perform stand-up comedy, I knew I would have to have a go at it myself. How else would I find out how to come up with material, to prepare for a performance, or to deal with the sheer, blinding terror of actually performing?
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Stand-Up Comedy Class fto Research
So, with everyone telling me how brave I was, I duly booked myself on a weekend stand-up comedy course in London.  And then, two months later, I returned to perform a 3-minute stand-up comedy routine in a Greenwich comedy club.  Here’s a link to a clip of me performing, in case you don’t believe me!  It was a completely amazing – if terrifying – experience, and it really gave me an insight that I was able to use in my writing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc3t–LZcsc

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Now I’ve got a taste for challenging myself, in the future I might even choose to write novels that involve me doing exciting research. Though maybe not quite in the way I stated at the end of my stand-up comedy performance.

People say to me – “If you wrote murder fiction, would you actually kill someone to find out what it feels like?” I say, of course not.  But I might put an orgy in my next book…

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Margaret K Johnson Author Bio

Margaret K Johnson is the author of the women’s fiction novels the Dare Club and The Goddess Workshop as well as many books in various genres for people learning to speak English.  She has also written plays and screen plays.  Margaret has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and lives in Norwich, UK with her partner and son. Her Amazon Author Page is http://amzn.to/1j2tOov

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars  Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,010 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Show Off Your Writing Skills: Write Guest Blogs

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Hi everyone : ) For the past 36 months I have written more than 1,060 blog posts for SavvyBookWriters.com/blog – which have been read by more than 450.000 individuals at
SavvyBookWriters. These posts are submitted several times to Google+, Twitter, Pinterest,
Facebook, Tumblr, StumpleUpon, dozens of Google+ Communities, Goodreads etc.
However, this blog would benefit from a variety of voices, additional advice and different points of view. I am now inviting guest posts on this blog.

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Guest Posting
It is a great way for your blog and your books sales page to get some fantastic exposure. You certainly can add links from your guest blog via the re-blog function to your website, your own blog or the online retailer where your book is sold.  At the same time you will be helping readers of this blog by providing them with useful and relevant information.  I welcome posts from writers or bloggers and others in the publishing industry, who know from their own experience what they are writing about.
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Here are Some Guidelines for You:

• Topics should be related to writing, publishing and book marketing only. It doesn’t have to be specific to e-books. Write about victories and … in your writing career, or great tips you can give other writers or small publishers.
• Your Guest Post must be original. It should be a new, original post, written entirely by you – No articles from article directories.
• Length: Your guest blog should be at a minimum of somewhere between 500 words to 700 words.
  Longer posts are certainly welcomed.
• Exclusivity will be for 30 days. By submitting a guest post to us, you agree not to post it anywhere else online for a period of 30 days after it first appears on this blog- re-blogging on your page is fine.
• Use examples and anecdotes to clarify your points
• Offer fresh content that has not been published before
• Send us a pitch only if you are a blogger with your own blog
• Ensure that your post does not violate any copyright laws
• Have a conclusion at the end of your article
• Have a call to action for readers after the conclusion

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Important: Learn to Write for the Web & Social Media
Writing for blogs is totally differently from writing a novel. Learn how to write the “inverted pyramid” from most important on top to less further on. Is your text easy to read? Eye-tracking studies have shown that readers SCAN text (in an F-shaped pattern), rather than to READ it. And: website visitors read more slowly on the screen than in print. So, how to you use this knowledge for your writing?

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Use bullet lists, such as this one:

• Create lots of short paragraphs, and give them all a headline
• Keep sentences short, they should never be longer than one line
• Use spell check and a beta reader / software
• Readers like to interact on the Web, so give them lots of links
• Illustrate your text, use lots of images
• Don’t let your readers scroll on the screen, keep it to one page
• Except prepositions and the words “and” and “the”, all major words in a headline should be capitalized

Online content is not just about words. When you write for the Internet, think “presentation”. Print content is formally written and a passively read. Online content is informally written, interactive and dynamic.
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Don’t Query or Inquire About Topics.
Just send your entire post to 111publishing *at* gmail . com – directly in the email-body – NO
Word or other attachments will be opened!!!
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Subject: Guest Post
Please include a short “About the Author” bio of approximately 70-80 words (not including the
link to your Web site. Include your Twitter, Google+ or FB ID with the post.
The link back to your blog or author sales page should be within the author bio, NOT within the
article itself. Your bio link must link to your own author site, writing- or publishing-related web
site or book sales page. No affiliate links and no links to unrelated sites.
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Please submit a polished post that you would be proud to have published. You will be contacted within three working days. Thank you for your interest and I do look forward to hearing from you!

Doris @111Publishing

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/  to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,060 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Top 12 Blog Posts in 2013

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Approaching 400,000 readers …

We do not only use FavStar  – which shows us the most popular and most re-tweeted posts, but also a handful of other online tools e.g. Bit.ly to learn about our most popular / viral going blog articles and at what time they received the most tweets. 

Timing of posts and tweets plays a huge factor, as well as the practical value of blog posts for the reader.

Free book marketing tools and Social Media in general seem to get the most readers and responses:
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46 Top Websites to Promote Your Book for FREE

Writing is an Art – Publishing is a Business!

7 Top Reasons for Writers to Be on Goodreads

Twitter or Facebook? What’s Better For Authors?

11 Websites to Find Freelance Writing Jobs

Less than Minimum Wage for Authors?

5 Tips to Improve your Amazon Author Page & Sell More Books

Smart Authors Get Paid for Marketing Their Books!

11 Tips How to Create Web Content WITHOUT even Writing

9 Things Authors Should Never Do on Twitter

99 Top Forums/Blogs to Post Your Book for FREE

Why You Should Have a Print Book Too & POD

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We are very grateful for so many readers, subscribers and comments at our blogs 

http://SavvyBookWriters.com and http://SavvyBookWriters.wordpress.com, as well as on http://www.e-book-PR.com and http://www.international-ebooks.com

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $159 for three months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 970 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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How to Get More Readers to Your Blog

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Writing Blog Articles

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Subtitle: How to get more exposure for your articles, blogs, books …  as these tips are universal for all your writing.  Lots of visitors / readers are crucial for your success in building a following. Writing an article is just the beginning of content marketing.  If you want to reach a wide audience you have to place your work in front of many readers.
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There are several steps in promoting your writing, no matter if you are a freelance writer for magazines and newspapers or a blogger who writes for an audience of potential readers:

1. Set up plug-ins to your website or blog in order to have your articles automatically pinged to Social Media sites, as soon as you hit the “publish button”.
2. Join as many blog directories and sharing sites as possible (see link addresses)
3. Set up at least two Google+ sites and join Google+ communities in your field
4. Claim your authorship on Google’s Search Engine
5. Offer your article to newspapers and magazines, starting with local papers
6. Split your article in sentences, add the link to your site and post it on Social Media sites
7. Convert your article in a short slide show and post it for free
8. Write guest blogs and/or comment on other blogs
9. Consider to re-write your article and post it on high-traffic e-zines
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Best of the Web Blogs
There are many paths to building links, such as link baiting or blog roll-link swapping, but few are as easy to implement and cost effective as submitting to blog directories, just to name a few:
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http://blogs.botw.org/Arts/Literature/Publishing/
http://www.bloggeries.com/Writing_Publishing/
http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/entertainment/books/
See all 20 Blog Directories to submit your blog

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Document sharing sites
Scribd, a social publishing site, where millions of people share original writings and documents. Convert your original article to a PDF file and upload it to Scribd. Unlike article directories Scribd allows you to incorporate links within your content. You can upload anything onto Scribd as a way to grow your audience, just like on your personal blogs. Choose copyright settings, among many other options, making your documents most searchable. Authors are uploading e-books for sale on Scribd, and keep 80% of the profits. What’s intriguing the most about Scribd, though, is the idea of 50 million readers. Your blog certainly isn’t reaching that many people.

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Video article
Convert your article to video by making a series of slides from your content. Import the slides into Windows Movie Maker then add music. Submit your video article to YouTube and other video sharing websites. Make sure you always include your full website address in the description meta-tag and also include it in the last slide to direct visitors back to your website.

Blogger (Blogspot)
Is a public blogging platform owned by Google and therefore is rapidly indexed by the search engines. Open another blog here and post parts of your articles.  If you already use Gmail you can simply add Blogger to your account. Every time you create new content add it to this blogging platform. Be sure to include links within the content and in your resource box that link back to your main website. This will boost the rankings of the original article you added to your blog or website.

Social Media Sites
On Google+ you can easily post your article, if it is under 500 words. There are for sure more possibilities on social media sites and on most you can add images and certainly link back to your website or blog. Read also this article about Social SEO Strategies for Start-Ups.
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Google Authorship
Jeff Bullas explains: “What is eye opening is when I research things in the digital industry I am presented with a Google SERP (search engine result page) in which only a handful of results have a Google+ cover photo next to it! If we’re in the digital industry, and blogging extensively, aren’t we all supposed to be using Google+ and claiming authorship?  Read why Google+ authorship is important.
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As you can see, there is so much you can do to let your articles and blogs go viral on the Internet. It takes a little bit of effort, but the results in a couple of months will be rewarding. 

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.international-ebooks.com/book-promo to advertise your new book, specials or KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 900 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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The Soundtrack of Writing

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The Soundtrack of Writing, by author Penny White

Like any good movie, a good book requires the proper background music. Writing with a soundtrack can help boost creativity and productivity.

What type of book are you writing?
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• Murder mystery
• Science Fiction
• Western
• Romance

Each of these categories has appropriate background music. Think of the last Science Fiction or Romance movie you watched. What type of music was in the background? Was it dramatic?  Was it light-hearted? Did it enhance your movie-going experience?  Whether you paid attention to the music or not, some of it probably stayed with you.  For that reason, using background music while writing will make a book stay with a reader.
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Choose the Music for Your Writing

It stands to reason that Country Music may be best suited for writing a Western novel. But don’t rule out listening to Garth Brooks or Trisha Yearwood for Romance.  Likewise, consider Classical for Science Fiction or a Murder Mystery.

Some of the music of Phillip Glass is well-suited for stories of vampires, ghosts or the darker side of human nature. Many of his instrumentals are short and concise but have a deep sense of foreboding.

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The Book Chooses the Music

There are times when music fits perfectly with whatever you’re working on.  For instance, for a recently completed Trilogy, all I heard was Pat Benatar.
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• Invincible accompanied my protagonist as she rode her black steed, Galindore, to rescue her daughter
• Le Bel Age was background for every sword fight
• All Fired Up was instrumental in helping my protagonist face her worst fears

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The strength and the wherewithal in the Benatar tunes helped to draw out the strength in my characters. My protagonist in the Trilogy lacked self-confidence in the first installment. By the final book, she was very comfortable with herself being the Queen of a Realm.

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Song Lyric Interference

Afraid that song lyrics may interfere with your writing?  Give Classical compositions a try. Many movies utilize Classical music to set the tone. Those Classical pieces serve just as well when writing. A number of Classical pieces are available for free download at http://www.amazon.com/.  The music of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, et al, are timeless pieces and capable of evoking a myriad of emotions and visualizations.

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It’s About the Reader, Too

Using music to set the tone for writing doesn’t just benefit the writer. It also serves to enhance the reading experience.  Like music enhances a movie, the music you hear in your head while writing will enhance every aspect of your writing. It will attune you to dialogue, character development, emotions and descriptions. The stronger and more realistic the visualization, the better you will write it.

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The reader will not be able to hear what you hear. She or he may have an altogether different soundtrack in mind while reading. Or no soundtrack at all.  Regardless of what the reader hears or doesn’t hear, use your favorite tunes to create. The important thing is that you use the music to reach your best writing potential.

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Any tool a writer can use to enhance her or his writing is invaluable. Create a Playlist that will enhance your writing experience. It is sure to flow over into the reading experience as well.

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Pen’s Bio
Pen has written and published six novels in the science fiction/fantasy/adventure genre in the past three years, with more to come. She has also published a number of non-fiction titles as well. Pen still lives in the Atlanta area where she is staff to two felines.

Pen suffered a heart attack on June 18th of 2013 upon completion of the Sword of Tilk Trilogy. Surviving this experience has motivated her to plan a 600-mile walk from Atlanta to Washington, DC in 2014 as a celebration of life and to gather background information for a novel in progress.

http://www.penspen.info/

Sword of Tilk Book One: Worlds Apart
https://www.createspace.com/4326255

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Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 900 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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How to Create Your Author Platform

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Platform, a buzz word these days… “What’s Your Author’ Platform”?  THE famous question you will be asked by agents and publishers before they even consider to read your query or manuscript. As they spend almost all of their marketing dollars for bestseller authors, publishing houses nowadays expect authors to do their own book marketing. To ensure, the author brings his or her own audience and lots of potential readers and book buyers, agents and publishers want to see lots of followers and friends on Social Media sites and how an author appears on these sites. They want to see a solid number of blog subscribers/web visitors and the authors ability to present themselves to an audience.
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So, What Are the Essentials of a Platform?
In short:, platform is the visibility, the authority of the author, a proven reach, as well as a far reaching audience.

• A Quality Blog / Website with a Large Readership
• Guest blogging to successful websites, blog, magazines, and other media
• Public speaking – the bigger the better, however at least at your local library
• Smart connected social media presences (Google+, Twitter, FB, LinkedIn etc.)
• Forum memberships, starting with Goodreads, Bibliophil, Wattpad …
• Media appearances/interviews online and in print, TV, radio
• and …. more than one book!

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Building an Author Platform
is not something you can do overnight, or in a month. The best time to start working on your platform is long before you start writing your book. Even if your book is excellent, has received great reviews, a marvelous cover – if readers don’t know about it, you are stuck. And if you go with a major publisher and they would receive – within three months from your books’ launch – lots of unsold copies returned by the bookstores, they would never publish anything from you again. That’s why they ask, “how will you market your book” or “what’s your platform.”

You might think, this is the publishers job – and you might be right. But not even for famous authors they will do all the blogging or social media part, they only advertise celebrities way more than unknown writers and pay for exposed space in bookstores, or send these authors on book signing tours.
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That’s all Publishers will Do:

• editing, transforming a good manuscript to a great one
• design the book (layout) and its cover
• organize the printing process / e-book formatting
• distribute your book in stores, speciality retailers and online
• carry out all the necessary book keeping with retailers and your royalty payments

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Publishing houses laid off a huge amount of their staff within the last years. Remaining, over-worked publicists are not able to give your book’s marketing the attention it needs.
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“When is it Time to Start Building your Author Platform?”
Alan Rinzler, former editor for some of the “Big Five” explains in detail the Do’s and Don’ts “What writers need to know” and gives detailed examples – a must-read for every author.  He reminds authors: “A cardinal rule of the new author platform is never to actually ask people to buy your book (and my advise: never to motion people to like / follow you on FB or Twitter). Rather promulgate your work by making an enduring connection. Establish an authentic online personality, offer valuable information, analysis, opinion, and inspiring entertainment.”

Jane Friedman, e-media professor and former publisher of Writer’s Digest brought it to the point: “Getting a book published does not equate to readership. You must cultivate a readership every day – and start today. Audience development doesn’t happen overnight, or in six months or a year. It continues for as long as you want to have people read your books.” Read also Kristen Lamb’s blog article “When is it Time to Start Building your Author Platform?” Read the blog post about bestseller author Trey Ratcliff, mentioned in a former article.
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Without having a clear idea of which methods of promoting yourself and your work are really worth the investment of time, you might be tempted to avoid the subject entirely. But in today’s publishing world, neglecting your platform, even before you have a book deal, can be a precarious mistake. The most successful authors are those who have created ways of finding lasting fans – and of reaching out to new ones every day.
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.international-ebooks.com/book-promo to advertise your new book, specials or KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 900 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Reading Classics Can Change Humanity

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Guest Blog by Fiza Pathan
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In the wake of the present war in Syria one tends to wonder how can humans be so cruel & merciless? Is it possible that humanity has degenerated just the way old vegetables get soiled with fungus in a Tupperware can? Is there any remedy to war, terrorism, rape, homicide, genocide, suicide, murder, abuse etc., According to me there is one unique & yet unusual way of putting an end to all the evils of our world…….the reading of good classic literature!

At first on hearing my suggestion one would wonder if I was making a joke as, how can a book change humanity? Well, for most of us who are well aware of history, we have in its annals certain places where books however harmless they seemed from the outside….were heralds of change sometimes for the better & sometimes for the worse. Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ was one such book during the early phase of the 20^th century that sparked hate among the hearts of so many people against their own human brethren.

On the other hand Thomas Paine’s ‘The Rights of Man’
influenced a whole nation including America towards the overall emancipation of man & democracy. Yet another book ‘On The Origin Of Species’ by Charles Darwin changed the way we looked upon ourselves as human beings. Many such books can be quoted written by many authors who have by their efforts, molded our present. It would therefore be incorrect to state that books cannot change people…..in fact, books can change the past, present & future in ways unimaginable.

In this context, where does classic literature stand? According to me from all types of literature, classic literature should be given prime importance in every manner possible, if we have to save our future from being destroyed by our very ignorance.
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Could the reading of good classics avert many man-made disasters?
Yes, where classics are concerned, everything is possible. For if we do agree that books have acted as milestones in history ‘good & bad’……and if we do not want our children to make the same mistakes we made or their ancestors made, then I believe that the reading of classic literature must be taken up on a grand scale immediately by all parents, teachers, counselors & other educationists.

For those of you who do not comprehend what I mean by ‘classic literature’ I refer to those books that have been written so well in the past that they have been cherished by generations as wholesome books of literature, art & ethics. I’m talking about ‘Oliver Twist’, ‘The Phantom Of The Opera’, ‘David Copperfield’, ‘The Red Badge Of Courage’, ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘The Railway Children’, ‘The Odyssey’, ‘The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes’, ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’, ‘Little Women’, ‘The Invisible Man’……I’m talking about literature with morals as well as a rich story……I’m talking about ‘the classics’.

All classics written by revered authors of the past that have lasted from generation to generation according to me should be made mandatory in our modern day education system. I don’t want to sound like a Judgement Day preacher but, the gruesome happenings of the world around me does not make me quite optimistic either unless certain action is taken on the positive front at once. By making our children & students read good classics which project & promote morals like peace, tolerance, dignity of labour, honesty, justice etc., we will be cultivating the fertile ground for a much better society than what we have got now.
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How is this possible? Why by just reading, reading & READING.
In my latest book ‘Classics: Why we should encourage children to read them’ in one chapter, I’ve even analysed how my students have become better people by just molding themselves on the values they have gained by reading classics. I have seen this work & with a group effort. I know that the love for classic literature can spread not only within our own society or school…but throughout nations & cultures.

With the help of novelists like Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Alexander Dumas, Anna Sewell, Jane Austen, Jonathan Swift, J.M.Barrie, Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lew Wallace, Bernard Shaw, E.Nesbit, Jack London etc., we can promote a healthier society for the future generations to come. It is said a pepper seed cannot produce a mango fruit, thus  by allowing our children to only indulge in materialistic pleasures will only lead to negative forces plaguing our planet……as it is doing right now.

Through my experiments with classic literature I’ve only seen it benefitting my students. Infact, the 7^th graders the other day were feeling troubled with the affairs in Syria & one of them innocently stated that:  “Fiza miss, I’m already against anymore wars & so are my children even before they are born.” To which his twin sister added: “My grandchildren are seconding his children.”

For is it not true, that only ‘war begets war’…..if we sow the good seeds of enriching classics, won’t we be helping our own people to prosper?
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If anyone yet presumes that classics are old, ancient & decadent & they cannot be connected with our present…..then what does one have to say about:

1)    The terrible destruction in ‘War Of The Worlds’

2)    The racial discrimination in ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’

3)    The child labour in ‘David Copperfield’

4)    The fear in ‘The Diary Of A Young Girl’

5)    The treachery in ‘Treasure Island’

6)    The corruption in ‘The Pickwick Papers’

These may be old texts but their themes are running on ‘full house’ mode even till this day. If we allow our children to read classics, we will not only be enlightening them intellectually but, also morally. It does not take a doctor in literature to see:

1)    The love in ‘Little Dorrit’

2)    The sacrifice in ‘A Tale Of Two Cities’

3)    The charity in ‘David Copperfield’

4)    The faithfulness in ‘Greyfriars Bobby’

5)    The friendship in ‘Peter Pan’

6)    The love for animals in ‘The Call Of The Wild’

7)    The bravery in ‘The Red Badge Of Courage’

8)    The kindness in ‘The Prince & The Pauper’

One only need name a classic & one will realize that from it pours out all the good qualities that one would want to observe in all our children. In the end, all classics do not end happily but I know that our future can, so also the civil strife in Syria. May our education change to a moral humanity based one …let’s read a classic a week!

A link to my book on Amazon:
http://amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=CLASSICS+children%2CB0091BCNTU

Blog:  http://insaneowl.com

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Do You Put People You Know in Your Books?

Finding Characters

Guest Blog by Romance Writer Jan Scarbrough

“Do you put people you know in your books?”  How many times have I been asked that question by friends?

Once the ladies in accounting asked my husband (then my boyfriend) if he was the inspiration for my love scenes. He blushed and hid his face, ducking quickly out of the cubicle where they were working.

Robert McKee, author of Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting talks about this very thing in his presentation at the Chicago Romance Writers of America (RWA) convention in 1999. I recently listened again to the tape.

Writers watch people, he said. They gather material through observation, assembling characters from the bits and pieces of people around them. Sort of like Dr. Frankenstein creating his monster.
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More importantly, writers find characters in themselves, because the only person they can truly know is themselves. We understand other people the more we know ourselves, because we’re all fundamentally human. McKee points out that if we are thinking it, feeling it, others are experiencing it too. Self-knowledge is the key to all great writing.

Okay, I’ll buy all that. I don’t have one person in mind when I create a character, but I admit to putting myself into each one of my characters. McKee says we have to love our characters just as we must love writing simply because we love doing it.
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All profound stuff. All eye-opening stuff. But I want to fess up:
I put my pets into my stories too.

In Kentucky Flame, I created a white English Setter named “Major” after a dog I rescued as a puppy from the Humane Society. The real dog, “Flops”, shared my life and my children’s lives for fifteen years.  What better way to memorialize a faithful friend?

Kentucky Cowboy contains pets that have also crossed over Rainbow Bridge. “Ginger”, a tortoiseshell cat with a peculiar stripe down the bridge of her nose was the real life “Gloria”, a cat my daughter brought home from college for Thanksgiving. My husband’s cat “Jester” also stars in the book as “Joker”, the hero’s black cat. Our late Border collie, “Binky”, was my inspiration for the heroine’s pet dog.

When I wrote Santa’s Kiss, I had fun giving the heroine a traveling companion named “Little Bits”, who is the carbon copy of “Lenny”, my comical Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
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Lenny, the Welsh Corki

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Excerpt from Santa’s Kiss where a dog named “Little Bits” comforts the heroine:

That dull, nagging pain of regret hit her again, souring her stomach, making her want to throw up. Dawn reached for a Coke Zero in the console and took a drink from the half-empty bottle. It was tepid and flat. As flat as she felt. Flat and defeated. She was having trouble coping with the sudden changes in her life. Yip! Yip! Yip!  The sound of barking from the travel carrier in the back of the SUV made her smile. “Hush, Bits. We’re almost there. Yip! Yip!

Dawn heard Little Bits circling in his crate, trying to get comfortable. The trip had been hard on the small Corgi, but he had been a trooper and her only companion on her cross-country journey. Self-pity surfaced and Dawn wiped another tear from her eye. No, she wouldn’t cry. She had done enough of that. She would make the best of this, no matter what. She just needed some rest, some peace and quiet, and solitude to figure out what had gone so terribly wrong.

There’s one important lesson I learned about putting pets in books—never kill a cat in a romance. In my first book Tangled Memories I broke the rule! I must admit the gray cat “Munster” that met a sudden death in the book is really a gray domestic long-haired cat named “Bugsy”. She lived long nineteen years until old age took her across the bridge while I wrote Tangled Memories.

Jan Scarbrough
http://www.janscarbrough.com
https://www.amazon.com/author/janscarbrough

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 880+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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11 Tips How to Create Web Content Without Writing

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I get this questions so often from new writers, book marketing clients or those who start a new blog or website for the first time: “What shall I write on my blog?” It surprises me always to hear this from authors, that have written 200 or 300-page manuscripts …

Creating Content Without Writing A Word?
Is that possible? Well, a couple of words, headlines or introductions should be always there, along with links to other websites, photographers or resources. All writing – and if it is only one single sentence should contain keywords for Search Engines to find and increase the ranking of your web presence.
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Great content doesn’t only come by way of articles, it can be:

1. Photos
2. Videos
3. Podcast
4. Re-blogging
5. Slide-Shares
6. Guest posts
7. Infographics
8. Lists
9. Snippets from your book
10. Polls / Surveys
11. Research for your book

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Photos
Brainstorm what kind of photos you can shoot, that would be compelling to your readers and other prospects. These photos you take are not only useful for blogs and websites, but also for all your social media site, especially on Pinterest and Google+. Photos can certainly be free uploaded from a variety of photo sites, see a couple of URL’s on a former blog.

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Videos
Video engages your audience more than text because it includes sights and sound. Link to any
of the million videos on the internet or create your own.The content can range from quasi
power-point-presentation to an animation movie. It is a lot of fun, and if you are new to video
shooting and editing, get tips at 111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer.  Learn how to plan and
download free software, create and most important: market your video.

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Podcast
Become your own radio / TV station and post your creations on your blog. You can create what
is essentially a radio program that you can promote through iTunes or your blog. What pod
casting is, how it works, and how you can create pod casts, is shown an intro video:

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Re-blogging
Re-blogging http://en.support.wordpress.com/reblogs/ is considered legitimate
sharing when the original source is obvious and available, linking to the original source,
comparable to sharing on Facebook, where it includes the link and where only a small portion
is shown. Readers can then follow the link to read the full article on the original post. WordPress’
re-blogging also includes an excerpt of the blog post, a link to the original blog post, and it
encourages you to add your own comments or an introduction before the re-blogged post. Alice
Elliott explains in her excellent blog post step for step how it works and shows all the details via
computer screen shots.

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Slide-Shares
Slideshare.net is a site where you can host your presentations and share them with others. Your
presentations can be linked to the site itself or embedded in a web page. Use this link to your
slide show to embed it into your website, blog and all social media sites your are on. You can
also synchronize an MP3 audio file (podcast) with the slide set to create a slide cast – a more
powerful way of distributing presentations/tutorials. Slideshare is also a fantastic resource site of
presentations. See some samples from Slideshare.net website to get inspirations.
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Guest posts
Invite other writers to post on your blog. Let them add their bio and a short description and link
to their book’s sales page. And post often about this guest blog. A review for this writer’s book would also be a nice gesture. Your friendly guest blogger might even bring you some new readers. But at a later time write for them as well – it’s a two-way lane.
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Infographics
These visual stories became highly popular – the bloggers answer to cartoons in magazines
and books. Five years ago, barely anyone knew what the heck an infographic was. Search the
Internet for infographics that are free (copy and paste their code) or if you are fit with InDesign or
Photoshop and have time at your hand, you can create them yourself. Ordering them from a
designer might be a bit more than you want to spend. How to create infographics is explained here:
http://www.quicksprout.com/2013/07/25/how-to-create-a-popular-infographic/
http://readwrite.com/2013/06/10/5-tools-for-creating-your-own-infographics#awesm=~ogTr9VVEBhg3hJ

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Lists
are a very easy and friendly way to read a blog post as long as the list is not too long and is
structured correctly. Create fantastic headlines with lists: “The five best …”, “The secret of the
most successful …”, “Seven ways of telling ….”.  You get the point?

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Snippets from your book
Use these short articles as a teaser for your book, always add your books blurb and a short bio.
And certainly add the cover image of your book, and links to all online sales pages where
readers can get it.
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Polls
Get to now your audience. Why not give your readers an opportunity to get involved and give you feedback on existing books or planned product feature releases, such as book covers to choose from, or the types of content they’d like to see on your page. Use apps from Polldaddy (a WordPress subsidiary) to start polls / surveys.”How to Supercharge Your Social Media Presence with Online Surveys” is an informative guide.

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Use the research for your book
You gathered a lot of material, newspaper clips, websites, you might have been even travelling
to places. Use every bit of information you have for blog posts – and at the same time write articles, using this very material to feed your stories. Check out this blog post I wrote about Content Marketing for Writers: How Smart Authors Get Paid for Marketing their Books.

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Don’t forget:
Your blog is the basis for your Social Media partizipation, the “bread and butter” and your
inventory. Use it! When it comes to updating your blog, the more frequently you do so the better.
To reduce the likelihood that you let weeks slip by without a blog update, set a schedule for
updating your blog, committing yourself to doing so every Monday and Thursday, for instance.
Read other related blogs, comments on posts, forums or ebooks. This is how the best ideas
come to my mind. And writing down your own experiences and answers you found when
looking for solutions.
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Some useful tips about blogging and the do’s and don’ts

http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com/write-great-blog-post/
http://bloggingwithamy.com/15-basic-blogging-dos-and-donts/
http://www.probloggingsuccess.com/capturing-readers-interest/

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 880+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Freelance Writing: A Rewarding Challenge

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Guest blog by Mariana Ashley, a freelance writer and blogger.  She writes about her start as a professional writer:  “I want to tell you about how I found an intellectually stimulating challenge in freelance writing.

Not too long ago I was working as a copywriter for an advertising firm. I had studied journalism and advertising in college, and I was one of the lucky few among my graduating class that found a job almost immediately after finishing school. After the endless all-nighters, study sessions, and project deadlines that typified my college experience, I was glad to be part of the “normal” workforce. A desk job seemed like just the right fit for me.

Unfortunately I discovered very quickly that the advertising world wasn’t something that brought me any happiness personally or professionally. Worse yet, I found myself at the mercy of superiors who had me working hours even worse than those I worked in college although my official hours were 8-5. The work was neither rewarding nor inspiring, and most of the people in my office seemed jaded on a daily basis.

After over a year at the advertising firm, I decided to quit my job and start a new career as a self-employed freelance writer.

I won’t lie to you reader: those first few months out on my own were very tough. I assumed that I’d hit the ground running with my modest connections in the writing industry and my formidable copy writing skills.  I had to work hard just to get free gigs, writing assignments that I needed if just to add more content to my still small writing portfolio. Luckily I had amassed a small amount of savings just in case, so my finances were not as tight as they could have been. But those first few months of freelancing were among the most humbling and instructive periods of my life.

When I did finally start to make money from freelancing, the feeling was like none other. I was struggling to land decent writing gigs one day, and then the next I was juggling multiple clients at a time, writing copy at all hours of the night and trying to keep track of the numerous projects going on. My hard work and persistence was starting to pay off—quite literally.

Of course, in order to make ends meet I had to veer slightly from my initial plans as a freelancer. I couldn’t only sustain myself by writing copy—I also wrote as a guest blogger for a number of sites (as I am now!) to get my name out there. I also wrote on behalf of clients who wanted stronger content on their websites, regardless of the industry that they worked in. In other words, I had to diversify my approach to freelancing. I had to adapt with the market needs if I wanted to survive.

The point of my little anecdote here is to encourage you to set out to achieve your own writing ambitions, no matter how outlandish they may seem. Perhaps you want to write the next great American novel, or maybe you just want to work for yourself as a freelancer like me. Whatever the case may be, I wholeheartedly encourage you to follow your dreams and make them happen, even if it’s a scary option to consider. If I made it, you certainly can too.”

This guest post is brought to you by Mariana Ashley, a prolific blogger who provides web content to a number of blogs and websites. She’s most interested in providing guidance to prospective college students who wish to attend online colleges in Montana. Mariana welcomes your questions and comments at mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.
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See also our recent blog post about Job Banks for Freelance Writers
“11 Websites to Find Freelance Writing Jobs”
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/08/24/9-websites-to-find-freelance-writing-jobs/

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 880+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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How to Get Back into Writing after Your Vacation

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The Stale Writer
Guest post by Patricia PacJac Carroll
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You have taken an extended break from writing, a long vacation, or summer with the kids. It’s time to get back to the keyboard. You glance at the monitor. Nagging questions rip away your confidence. Do you still have it? Did your creativity expire?
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It’s been a while since I have had any kind of disciplined writing schedule, but I have a plan:

• TV is not your writing friend.
• Social Networking is not your writing friend.
• Games are not your writing friend.
• Eating is not your writing friend – not even ice cream.
• Naps are not your writing friend.

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So, what is a stale writer to do?
How can you breathe life into that smoldering ember of imagination and finish that book you have been working on for over a year? There must be a better and faster way of writing.
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Prepare

Is your work location neat? Clean up the clutter. Add an inspirational photo or an item that sparks your creativity. Set a date to start writing.
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Anticipate  

Do not let yourself write on the novel until the set date. Think about what you’re going to write. Taste it. Smell it. Feel it. But do not begin writing on that book.
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Set Boundaries 

Look at your day and pick out the times that you’re least likely to be interrupted. Determine if you’re an early morning writer or a late nighter and make plans accordingly. Have a timer handy. Most phones have one.
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Be Wise 

Before you go back to your writing, plan on turning off the Internet unless you need it for research. Keep FB, Twitter, games and whatever else you waste time with turned off. (Pinterest, ebay, Amazon, Stock Market, etc) Place your smart phone out of reach. Trust me; the free world is not dependent on your Tweet. If you are in Word and hit the space bar twice thinking a period will appear, you have become a fb and text message addict. Before you start your writing, set your rules.
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Food and Exercise  

You don’t need food to write while exercise will feed your brain with fresh blood and oxygen. Set your timer to ring every hour or two, get up, and move. If you must, walk into the kitchen and reward yourself with a quick treat – like a carrot, piece of celery, or apple.  Yeah, I know those are not exactly in the treat category. Just don’t eat anything loaded with sugar or fats so your eyes will stay open. Good things to do – walk the dog, jump on a rebounder, use weights, stretch. Then go back into your work area, set the alarm for another break, and continue writing.
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Free Writing

Pump your creative well. Before working on your book, write for five minutes, ten, or fifteen without your editor. Write nonstop about anything until the time is up. You might be surprised at what comes out. One of my friends draws a picture before she starts her day. Just do it. Feed the creative side of your brain.

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Speed Up

If you type with the speed of an arthritic ninety year old, work on your skills. Free writing on the computer will help. Keep track of how many words you write in a day. Set a goal. If you write a thousand words a day, you will have a 90,000 word novel in three months. You can do this! Get back on the keyboard and be productive!

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Author Bio:
Patricia PacJac Carroll is blessed beyond her imagination. She lives in the DFW area of Texas with her awesome husband, amazing grown son, and her wonder dog, Jacs. Currently she has one book available on Amazon, Liberty Belle.  Her second book is soon to come out as she is furiously working on her plan. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers as well as North Texas Independent Christian Authors. Patricia Carroll’s blog:  http://patriciapacjaccarroll.blogspot.com. More about her:  http://about.me/patriciapacjaccarroll

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 840+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Like to Write an Article for SavvyBookWriters?

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Guest Blogs anyone?

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For the past two years I have written more than 880 blog posts for SavvybookWriters, which have been read by over 290,000 people, and now also for the new blog. These post’s URL’s have been submitted regularly to many Social Media sites, such as Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Chime.in, Tumblr, StumpleUpon, and to dozens of Google Communities as well as Goodreads. Many other bloggers re-blogged them too.

ALEXA Traffic Rank
Our ALEXA Traffic Rank in the USA as of August 2013 was: 39,196 !!! out of of more than 500.000 sites, which means being in the top 8% in America. Our worldwide rank was 116,444 – out of almost
1 BILLION websites. If I do the math right SavvyBookWriters should be in the top 1% of the world’s websites? Have to use a calculator : )
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Guest Posts anyone?
However, this blog would benefit from time to time by a variety of voices, additional advice and different points of views. So, I am now inviting guest posts to our successful blog.
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Content Writing
You might have read an article, I wrote earlier this month, explaining how authors can get publicity for their books by writing content.  Blog guest posting is one possibility of many, and here is the best reason for it – beside the fun of writing:
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Link to your book
Guest posting is a great way for your blog and your book to get some fantastic exposure. You certainly can add links from your guest blog to your website, your own blog or the retailer where your book is sold. At the same time you’ll be helping readers (most of them are writers) of this blog, by providing them with useful and relevant information.
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We welcome guest posts from writers or bloggers and others in the publishing industry, who know from their own experience what they are writing about, and who are able to produce quality content, edited and maybe even with an image.
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Here are some guidelines for you:

• Your Guest Post must be original. It should be a new, original post, written entirely by you. No articles from article directories.
• Topics: should be relating to writing, publishing and book marketing. It doesn’t have to be specific to e-books.
• Length: somewhere between 500 words to 700 words. Longer posts if the subject requires it.
• Exclusivity: for 30 Days. By submitting a guest post to us, you agree not to post it anywhere else online for a period of 30 days after it first appears on this blog. After this time the article is yours again.
  Exemption:  You might re-blog it on your own website, as soon as it is online on SavvyBookWriters. Use the re-blog button on top of our blog.
• Don’t query. Just send your entire post to 111publishing *at* gmail  . com – copy and paste it directly into the email body – No attachments will be accepted!
• Subject line for the email: Guest Post
• Please include a short “About the Author” bio of up to 150 words (including the link to your Web site or book sales page, max. two links. Using the http://About.me function, you can pack lots of links in one, and readers can find your Social Media sites as well.
• The link back to your own website must be in the Author Bio, not within the article itself. Your bio link must link to your own author site, or to your sales book of your book. No affiliate links and no links to unrelated sites / products.
• Please submit a polished post that you would be proud to have published.
• Become familiar how to write for the web
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You will be contacted within 3 working days. Thanks a lot for your interest and I do look forward to hear from you!

Doris
http://About.me/ebookPR

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 840+ of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Strategic Self-Publishing

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Guest blog by Timothy Jay Smith

I became a full-time writer nearly fifteen years ago. It took me a couple of years to complete my first novel. By then, the publishing industry was already in an upheaval over the rapidly mounting threat of e-retailers. Buy-outs and mergers were an effort to build a cost-competitive fortress against them. In other words, the industry was hunkering down and taking no risks.

The former President of the Book of the Month Club ‘discovered’ my novel and passed me along to one of New York’s leading boutique agencies.  My new agent sent out my manuscript on a Thursday afternoon, and the first call she received on Monday morning was a leading publisher saying she loved the book.  “Let’s get together and talk numbers,” she suggested, until three days later, she called back to say that the publishing house had been acquired by an even bigger publisher, and it had fallen off the new publisher’s list.
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No other offers came in.

My agent told me not to worry, it was a good book, it would eventually sell. Just keep writing. It wasn’t a good book—not that draft—but I did keep writing.
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Fast forward to today, and I have written four novels, five screenplays, and five stage plays. Along the way, I have won a dozen Grand Prizes or First Places in writing competitions, and placed in over 70 more. I never sold a novel, despite having prominent literary agents in both London and New York.
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My novels weren’t commercial enough, the publishers said. They were too literary to be a thriller but too thriller-ish to be literary. Bookstores wouldn’t know which shelf to put them on, and customers wouldn’t buy them because their genre wasn’t clear.
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I decided to prove them wrong.
I self-published Cooper’s Promise in January 2012 with the clear intention of wanting to get noticed and picked up by a traditional publisher. That meant I had to sell books and get reviews, and getting reviews as a self-published author is extremely tough. That’s understandable. The number of books are overwhelming, and there are few gatekeepers for weaning out the bad from the good.

So I approached the challenge strategically.
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I had two novels ready to go, and chose Cooper’s Promise over my actual first novel, A Vision of Angels, precisely because it had a gay protagonist. I knew the gay community would ‘forgive me’ for being a self-published author in the sense that it might take a look at my novel—and it did. Using the internet, I reached out to the gay community worldwide, and within weeks I had reviews, book posts, and sales on four continents. Straight press picked me up, too; and Kirkus Reviews, calling Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite,” selected it as one of the Best Books of 2012.
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And I got noticed.

By spring, I had a two-book deal with Owl Canyon Press, a literary publisher out of Boulder, CO. We pulled the self-published edition of Cooper’s Promise from the market, and brought it back out as a new book six months later. A Vision of Angels was released this July.
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Self-publishing certainly changed my life as a writer. By spinning good reviews and sales, I worked my way to a place at the table. I did it by targeting an audience—in my case gay, and also human trafficking, which is part of Cooper’s story—but there are a number of large audiences that are well-organized on the internet and thus broadly accessible. Think issues. Think political causes. Think religion. Think sports. Think about anything big, and there’s a big audience for your books—if you spend nonstop hours courting them.

As to that original draft of A Vision of Angels that fell off the publisher’s list, I am sincerely glad that it was dropped. It wasn’t good. It was a sprawling 156,000-word epic filled with all the rambling back story and subplot errors of a first novel. The years in between gave me time to cut it to a fast-paced 82,000-word literary thriller (yes, it is still that). Along the way, it gave me time to learn how to write, or at least get a much better handle on the craft.
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So, sometimes rejection is not all that bad. It’s just how you spin it.

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BIO: Raised crisscrossing America pulling a small green trailer behind the family car, Timothy Jay Smith  developed a ceaseless wanderlust that has taken him around the world many times. En route, he’s found the characters that people his work.
Polish cops and Greek fishermen, mercenaries and arms dealers, child prostitutes and wannabe terrorists, Indian chiefs and Indian tailors: he hung with them all in an unparalleled international career that saw him smuggle banned plays from behind the Iron Curtain, maneuver through Occupied Territories, represent the U.S. at the highest levels of foreign governments, and stowaway aboard a ‘devil’s barge’ for a three-days crossing from Cape Verde that landed him in an African jail.

Tim brings the same energy to his writing that he brought to his distinguished career, and as a result, he’s won top honors for his screenplays, stage plays and novels in numerous international competitions; among them, contests sponsored by the American Screenwriters Association,StoryPros, WriteMovies, Houston WorldFest, and the Hollywood Screenwriting  Institute. A Vision of Angels won the 2008 Paris Prize for Fiction (now the Paris Literary Prize), and his first stage play, which went on to a successful NYC production, won the prestigious Stanley Drama Award.
A Vision of Angels on Amazon: http://amzn.to/130y0hS
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 790 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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