Start Where You Are
I always love this time of year because people start reflecting back on their year. For me, I like to see progress. In order to see progress, I have to have a benchmark to see how far I’ve come. January 1 to December 31 is traditional but certainly even...
Your Book Would Go Great With My Workout
We went from wildfires to storms and flooding. This can make it challenging for me to get my evening walks in with the dog. Although, she doesn’t seem to mind it as much as I do when she tracks mud all over the house. There are presently dirty towels all over...
The Things I Didn’t Buy on Cyber Monday
I always buy a lot on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. I do it all online. Mostly, I try to take care of stuff that’s been dangling out there for a while and it’s a good enough reason to get the thing for a discount. Last year I...
Sometimes You Need a Coach to Find Your Getup and Go
It’s been dark in the mornings. Really dark. The fires have been ravaging California and smoke clouds our landscape. It’s been tough to get up the last few mornings. I knew I needed something extra–more than just a gallon of coffee (although that...
Crank The Twelve Week Year For Writers and Bullet Journal Enthusiasts
I remember last year when I kicked off 2017 with a publishing calendar for the year. It was ambitious and I failed to hit a number of those dates. However, in failing, I also succeeded on so many of them that I count it as an overall win. I know that without that...
Nail Your Opening Line With Tips From The Great Masters
It’s hard to write that first hook. You want to grab your reader, drag them right into your story…but how? I struggled to do this so I just started pulling books off the shelf. Some of these opening paragraphs (or even just the first sentence) really...
Techology + Teamwork = Magic
When Writers Get Together and Use Instafreebie I wanted to start building a newsletter mailing list of science fiction fans for the launch of Cold War. So I started from zero. After Ken formatted our book on Draft2Digital, I put it up on Instafreebie. The first few...
I Gained 10x More Readers Standing On The Shoulders of Giants
I’m active in a few writer groups on Facebook. The other day a video by an author who had hit the NYT and USA Today bestseller list 33 times was making the rounds. This video was of her presentation entitled “Capturing the Golden Goose: How to Sell a Bazillion...
Using Data Science To Pick Your Reading List
Who are your favorite authors? What are your favorite books? If you have a voracious reading appetite and have finished up the stack on your desk, or the purchases on your Kindle, what do you do next? Amazon has figured you out. They serve you up the “also...
DIY Package Templates from Creative Indie Saved My Sanity
It’s not going to be a surprise when I say, I like to write. But these days, being a writer also means that you need to tackle a host of other areas, such as marketing your books. I’m learning the ropes of book marketing, but mostly just concentrating on...