Monthly Archives: April 2015

Lesson 52

29 Wednesday Apr 2015

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Today, we’re looking at lesson 52. Do you know what that means, guys? One full year of lessons!

Today, we’re looking at marketing. I know, I’m probably the last person you want to hear about marketing from because I’m inexperienced and hired someone to do that for me. Hey now, she approached me. Quit rolling your eyes.

We’ll go through this journey together. I mean, my publicist surely can’t reach everyone, so I have to do some of that marketing myself. Right? Of course right.

Okay, so, where was I?

Oh, yeah, marketing.

Marketing is an evil word to all writers. We should spend time writing instead of marketing our books…right? Do you want them to sell? We have to market.

I’ve seen a lot of authors on Twitter being…noisy, let’s say. They’re screaming, “BUY MY BOOK!” and putting a link. Um…yeah. Don’t do that. I unfollow those people because they’re annoying.

Instead of just screaming and posting a link on social media, make relationships. That’s what I do. Well, let’s be honest, I tend to talk to the same people over and over again, but on some social media sites, I’ve actually talked to people who are actually excited to see Days of the Kill come out, and I already have a few buyers.

So, are you using social media to market? Are you being noisy, or are you forming relationships? Think about that next time you get on any social media.

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The Trouble With Writing

27 Monday Apr 2015

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We all have our challenges with writing. I know I do. But as frustrating as these challenges can be, I know it’s not near as frustrating as the person I was talking with this weekend. I never caught his name. I wish I had.

I was talking to him, and he said one of his hands is actually paralyzed, so he was forced to type with just one hand.

I don’t know about you, but that would frustrate me so much.

I will be talking about this on my other website today (My Life According To Courtney), and actually attempt to type with just one hand. I’m excited yet dreading the process. Oh, and I’ll be typing with my right hand. I’m left-handed, so that’s a pretty big deal.

I feel sorry for this writer. He said he’s gotten used to it, and I have no doubt he has, but I still can’t imagine going through something like that. He said he used to type with both hands before he became paralyzed.

I just…wow. I’m going to figure out what a challenge learning about it is when I start working on the other post.

Like I said, though, we all have our challenges. Some challenges are bigger than others. My biggest challenge seems to be repetitiveness. I go on and on and on…you get the picture.

So, what is your biggest writing challenge? Let me know in the comments!

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Prompt 30

24 Friday Apr 2015

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The world must be ending. The prompts are becoming a regular thing again.

Alright, today’s prompt is a fun one. I think today’s prompt is my favorite one so far. Here it is:

What is your source of inspiration? Does it just come to you out of nowhere? Does it come from nature? Or conversations? What really gets your creativity going?

I probably won’t do this one… If I did, I would never stop! And I really need to get to working on my manuscripts. Otherwise, I so would! If you do this one, feel free to send it to me.

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Lesson 51

22 Wednesday Apr 2015

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Back to the regularly scheduled Wednesday posts. Yay for lessons! This week, we’re talking about fundraising.

I know, off the bat, you’re thinking, “What the heck does fundraising have to do with writing?” Oh, so much more than a lot of people would think.

We all know what it’s like to carry on with life. Life has a bunch of…oh, you know, money-spending involved. Yeah, I said it. Money-spending.

When you’re writing, you have a lot of professionals involved in your work, and those professionals expect to be paid.

Oh, you didn’t know that? Some people really don’t… It bothers me.

I know, money is an issue for a lot of people. Heck, it’s an issue for me. I’m a broke college student for goodness sake! So, that’s where fundraising comes in.

Fundraising isn’t easy. Sometimes, even just the beginning can be beyond frustrating. I would know.

I decided to make friendship bracelets to try to fund raise. Seems to be reasonable. It’s something that’s becoming a little more popular, and I’m going to be around quite a few people. Hopefully this will be more of a success than the other bracelets I tried to make that one time.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, the frustrations. So I tried to start yesterday. You know, get the thread on those things that you wrap it around on. Can you picture it? Sure you can.

So I was wrapping it around and…it was getting all knotted up. So. Frustrating.

But don’t let those frustrations stop you. If you really want your book to be good, and you’re not independently wealthy, you should definitely consider fundraising. Once you get past the frustrations, it may actually be fun. Pick what works for you. You may surprise yourself!

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The Trouble With Writing

20 Monday Apr 2015

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It’s another Monday, so it’s time to look at what the trouble with writing is once again. This week, we’re looking at unexpected expenses.

I know I’ve talked about money a lot recently, but that’s where I’m at right now with Days of the Kill. Can you tell? Anyway…

A lot of unexpected expenses can seem to come up when all we want to do is save up enough money to hire someone to edit our work, format it, do the cover art… You get the picture.

Recently, I had an unexpected expense of $500. You can imagine how much of a dent that put in my plan to be able to save for an editor. At least I get paid on Friday… Hurry up payday, right?

I guess that’s the problem with not only writing, but adulthood. These expenses can really get the best of us if we let them. Unfortunately, a lot of times, we let them.

I recently spoke with someone about not getting an editor because she didn’t have the funds for it. So what? I don’t have the funds for it either, yet I’m trying to save up for an editor. Do you want your book to do well? Get an editor. Save up for one. That’s what I’m having to do.

The stupidity of some people kill me.

Look, I get it. There’s a lot of unexpected expenses out there that come up. I know it happens. But here’s the thing: You can look for fundraising ideas and put that money aside. Just don’t dip into that money. Just…don’t. That’s a bad idea.

I guess I’m done ranting about it for this week. Wednesday is back to the regular lessons!

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Prompt 29

17 Friday Apr 2015

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Two weeks in a row!

Today’s prompt is similar to last week, but I’m in a little bit of a hurry and I couldn’t think of anything else. So, in honor of my niece’s second birthday party being tomorrow, here is today’s prompt:

What was your favorite birthday? Were you little? Were you an adult? Or were you a teenager? What made that birthday so special for you?

I hope you all have fun with this one. I know I’m going to!

I will see you all when I get back in town!

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One Year Later

15 Wednesday Apr 2015

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I know, you’re all expecting a lesson today. Sorry, that’s not happening. Instead, I’m going to share some news: It’s been exactly one year since I started this website! Wow. Who would’ve thought I could keep something up for that long?

It’s crazy to think how long I’ve kept this up. I know, one year isn’t really a big deal but keep something in mind: I started a website a while back. I kept it up for…about two months. If that long. I guess this time I was serious about it so I actually kept it up.

One year ago, I had no idea what blogging was all about, and I really had no idea how I was supposed to get the word out about it. I admit, I’m still not that great… I guess I’ve just gotten better at it.

I used to not have my posts connected to Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, and for the longest time I was stuck on 13 views. That’s not really a lot, is it? No, it’s not. I was devastated. Where was the famous level I was supposed to be at? (I was naive, I know)

Then, I discovered connected it to all the social media sites, so they were automatically posted for me. I loved that. I was so happy to have them all posted! And wouldn’t you know it? My views exploded.

I’m happy to report that now, my posts are seen almost every day. I’ve been seen in over 70 countries, and over 1,100 times!

Thank you to everyone who has followed me for any length of time, and thank you to those who just take the time to read what I write. And thank you to anyone that comments on my posts or even likes them. Without all of you, I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now.

On Friday, it’s back to the regular schedule. I just had to take a moment to say thank you to all of you.

Until then, keep on writing.

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The Trouble With Writing

13 Monday Apr 2015

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It’s another Monday, so it’s time to take another look at what the trouble with writing is. This week, we’re talking about professionals.

I know, we talked about professionals not too long ago, but we’re looking at a different angle. What do you do when the professional is booked out until who knows when?

Well, I guess all you can do then is wait. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll have enough money to use their services by then.

If you can’t already tell, this happened to me recently.

I recently got in contact with a second editor like my first editor wanted me to. This editor did an amazing job with the sample edit she did for me, so I really want to use her services. There’s a problem, though: she’s really expensive, and she’s booked out until mid-May. The struggle is real.

So, all I can do is wait. The good thing is, I have another paycheck coming in before she wants me to contact her again, so I can save up just a little more money by then. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to pay her half of it, since that’s about what she wants me to pay to do the whole thing anyway.

I guess that’s really a struggle we all deal with. We find these professionals we really like, but they’re expensive and they’re busy. Really, though, I guess that’s a good problem to have. I’m looking forward to seeing what this editor can do!

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Prompt 28

10 Friday Apr 2015

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Guys. The world must be ending. This is not a drill!

Okay, now that I’ve got your attention… Prompts are making a return! Yes, I do mean really. I finally figured out that, duh, I can do them just past midnight. It’s not like I have to get up incredibly early on a Friday. Why did I not think about this before?

Let’s just hope I can keep this up.

Today’s prompt is in honor of my nephew being two months old as of yesterday and my niece turning two years old in just eleven days. I can’t believe how fast time has gone by! Here is today’s prompt:

What was your favorite celebration growing up? Was it a birthday? Christmas? Some other holiday that you thought was amazing? What made that celebration so special?

I hope you all have fun with this prompt! I know I’m going to.

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Lesson 50

08 Wednesday Apr 2015

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It’s a major milestone, you guys… I’ve finally hit lesson 50 on my website! It’s crazy how I’ve been at this for nearly a year. I’ve made so much more progress with this site than I could have ever dreamed this past year.

Today, I want to talk about knowing when to step back. We authors like to be proactive and put ourselves out there so people know about our book in any way possible. I know, believe me. Why do you think I started this website? And another one, and another one… You get the picture.

As you may know, I also recently started an author vlog on YouTube. Well, the other day I actually ended up taking all seven episodes down. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I decided to quit doing them.

Why did I decide to let go of another marketing tool? Well, the answer is simple: I was starting to view it as something that I had to do, instead of something that I got to do. I didn’t like that feeling, so I decided to let go of it. Sometimes, you have to do that, and sometimes, you have to be okay with it.

I’m actually relieved that I let go of the vlogs. It wasn’t my thing. The few comments I got were negative, and it was really uncomfortable with having my face in front of a camera all the time.

Don’t be afraid to let go of something, even if it means letting go of a marketing tool. If you’re better in front of the camera than I was, then great, go for it. If you’re not, don’t try to put yourself. Letting go of a marketing tool may not be the easiest decision in the world, but if you do let go of something you can’t handle or don’t like, then your marketing experience will be a much happier one in the long run.

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