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Labor Day Holiday Week

by Linda O. Johnston

I mentioned this on another blog this week, but Happy Labor Day Week, everyone. I used to pay a lot of attention to this and other holidays when I was a working attorney. Now that I’m a full time writer, though, I’m generally aware of holidays but don’t give them much thought except in interest of what they celebrate. But days off? Hah!

I work every day, and I’m sure every one of you who’s also a writer does the same even if you have another job. Of course those of you in retail and other professions might not get the holiday off anyway, which may be a shame depending on your situation. At least writers choose to work constantly. Sort of. Our minds tell us what to do, every waking moment of the day and often during sleeping moments, too.

Me? I’m either writing (including coming up with ideas and plotting), editing or promoting, and often it’s a combo of two or three–all the time. Before I became a full time writer I could say the same, but I often cherished those days off to work on writing-related stuff, so those holidays weren’t days off for me then either.

One of the fun things about OCC is being in touch with people at many stages of their writing. Many do have full time jobs and work their writing in the way I used to. Others are like me, and writing is their life. Professional life, that is. Families always come first–including pets.

Unsurprisingly, I’m looking forward to Saturday’s meeting at the end of this holiday week. In fact, I was asked to participate on a panel then but fortunately there was some flexibility as to when that panel was to occur, so I raised my hand to choose the other date.

Enjoy the rest of your week–and hope to see you at the meeting!

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12 TITLES IN 12 MONTHS CHALLENGE UPDATE

September 5, 2016 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as 12 Titles in 12 months, Edgy Christian Fiction, Tracy Reed

Iâ€™m very grateful to John Bucholtz for filling in for me last month. I hope you enjoyed reading his post.

Itâ€™s been a little while since I last updated you on my project. Iâ€™m a little tired, so Iâ€™ll try and make this a short post.

In July, I attended my first RWA National Conference and had an amazingly, insightful learning experience. Not only did I learn quite a bit, that Iâ€™ve started to implement. I also met some really nice people, like the two Tracys. At one of the breakfasts, I walked in and sat at the first table I saw and was greeted by a table of fun ladies. Two of which were named â€œTracy.â€ That was a great ice breaker. We spent the rest of breakfast with some rather racy conversation.
No one really prepared me for the conference. It reminded me of one of my trade shows. For the record, when I attend trade shows for my business, Iâ€™m going non-stop for approximately eight to nine hours at the venue. Then I go back to my hotel to review another couple of hours over dinner and then sleep. Thatâ€™s the routine when there isnâ€™t an evening event. When I attend shows, I pack snacks and water and wear comfortable shoes.

Iâ€™ve been to writers conferences before, but not like RWA National. My feet got tired. I got hungryâ€¦thank God for protein bars, fruit, and veggies drinks.

I learned so much that Iâ€™m still processing. Of the endless list of things I learned, I really enjoyed the workshops on marketing and the business of writing. Hereâ€™s a short list of the things I learned at conference and have put into practice:

Soliciting readers for my street team
A formal newsletter
My first newsletter giveaway
Increasing my mailing list. [Iâ€™m extremely proud of this one. At the writing of this post, my mailing list is now at 2300 plus.]
Added the KOBO Promotion button to my dashboard and participating in my first KOBO promo event
Started a writers support and encouragement group with a couple of friends
Iâ€™m doing Facebook Ads for new releases instead of blog tours
Going wideâ€¦as of this post, I have only one book in KDP Select. The others are available everywhere.

So far, the changes have made a difference. Iâ€™m starting to see sales in all the outlets, and Iâ€™m having fun trying new marketing tactics.

_____________________________

Itâ€™s hard to believe itâ€™s September and I just released my eighth title in this challenge last week, MISS MATCH.

First, let me back up to July. I had a different book scheduled for July, however, prepping for the RWA conference and decompressing afterward, made me rethink my July release. I was feeling a little rushed and felt a repeat of my January release rush and pressure on the horizon.

While I was at the conference, I made a decision. I had seen Beth Yarnallâ€™s Romance Sampler and thought it was a great idea. I emailed her and asked if she was fine with me copying her. She said yes, and I went to work on my â€œSamplerâ€ for release in July.

TEASE, my perma-free romance sampler. It was easy to put together. When I returned from the conference, I went to work creating my little sampler. This marketing tool and title seven took a few days to assemble. The majority of that time was spent researching covers. Originally, I selected a woman but learned at conference that covers with shirtless, muscular men were a big attention grabber. I found a new image and went to work creating a little perma-free book.

TEASE, is filled with excerpts from most of my books, plus sneak peeks into future releases. Itâ€™s doing well and has been in the top 100 of one of my categories for a few weeks.

To some people, this may seem like I got lazy or cheated in my challenge, but remember, itâ€™s 12 TITLES.

So my September Release is a novella. It started out as a stand alone, but when I got to the end, I realized the story wasnâ€™t done, so I wrote a cliffhanger. So far, itâ€™s been received well. Iâ€™m excited about the follow up which will be out next year.

MISS MATCH
Summary:
Charlotte “Charlie” Griggs is a skilled matchmaker. Her client list reads like the pages of the most prestigious business publications. However, when it comes to her own love life, she needs help.

Her new client Noah Lancaster has presented her with a unique situation, finding a wife for his younger brother Joshua. Joshua’s been nursing a broken heart since the sudden death of his wife a few years ago and has become a work-a-holic. Now he’s finally ready to give love another try and agrees to Noah’s idea of using a professional matchmaker. However, Joshua may not be the only one to get matched.
What happens when the matchmaker inadvertently gets matched while matching someone else?

Now Iâ€™m work prepping Septemberâ€™s Release. Unless something happens, that title is book two in The Alex Chronicles series, WHAT MY FRIENDS NEED TO KNOW.

This continues the story of Alex Miller and her best girlfriends. I think readers will be surprised at some of the things that happen in this story.
I signed up for Book In a Year and forgot, I had completely re-written this book. When I finished the re-write, I eliminated thirty thousand words. Thatâ€™s not an exaggeration. This book is completely different from what the first beta readers read. This re-write made me eligible for BIAY.

That brings us to the fourth quarter which is a little up in the air. All three books are near completion. Octoberâ€™s release is about three thousand words away from the end. Novemberâ€™s release is a toss up between two titles. Both are approximately fifty percent completed. And Decemberâ€™s release is missing about forty thousand words from an HEA.
Thatâ€™s my brief post. Enjoy Labor day and happy writing.

Tracy Reed
www.readtracyreed.com

Fiction for Women Who Love God, Couture and Cute Guys

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It’s easy to criticize

August 24, 2016 by A Slice of Orange in category Columns tagged as Isabel Swift

…but I wish there were rulesâ€”at least with any public criticismâ€”that required the critic to present a viable alternative (and “viable” is a key word here!). A sort of Thumper-like commitment that if you are going to say something negative, you have to provide a reasonable positive alternative. That would certainly shut a lot of people up (yours truly among others!).

Is there a better way of doing it? Is there a better choice? Think about it. Actually think.

If you do, you may determine that the results you are complaining about (sub-optimal as they may indeed be) are the really the best alternative.

Every day we all experience the complex algorithms we work with in daily life to get something accomplished. It could be the choices we make in getting our kids up, dressed, fed and out the door to school or it could be a business merger. We balance encouragement, threats, incentives (bribery), etc. to get the job done as well, as quickly, as effortlessly, as humanely (or not), as possible to motivate behavior and get the results we want or need.

That can make for a lot of complex juggling of timing, personalities, personal values, choices, priorities, mood, costs, external pressures etc. The end result often may not be ideal or what we had hoped for. But that’s part of being an imperfect person in an imperfect world. Life doesn’t usually give us “do-overs.”

The situations we and others face are rarely black and white. But especially with technology, we can make a judgment without any knowledge or context and we actually expect to be taken seriously.

Complaintsâ€”especially now about politicians and the political processâ€”display a startling naÃ¯vetÃ©, absence of thought and a shocking lack of awareness of history.

I have to admit to being Kinseyan in my assessment of human behaviorâ€”if most people have been doing something for centuries, it is unlikely that any person, belief-system or rhetoric will be able to airbrush that behavior out.

It’s not that change can’t happen, it can. But it’s a slow and hard fought battle and all the incremental gains can be easily lost. There needs to be a realignment of incentives (and there’s usually no incentive to realign them) so it takes real thought and effective politics to get something done. If you can’t read actual history, watch Lincoln or All the Way for an understanding of what it actually takes to get something done.

As a female, the history of women’s suffrage is depressingâ€”it’s been less than century (19th Amendment was August 18, 1920) in the USA, something to remember as Americans finger-point other countries’ lack of gender equality. That’s about 150 years into our nationhood, and there are still a fair number of Americans who are feeling a bit sad about it & would like to turn back the clock. Change takes time.

â€¨Yes, it’s easy to criticize. But it’s far less appealing to be criticized, so before dishing it out, consider if there is a viable alternative (and “viable” is a key word here!) before excoriating the stupidity of others.

Judge something on its own merits/demerits: don’t blame the peacock for its tail or wish it were a chicken and provided eggs.

Isabel Swift

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Shades of the Blue and the Gray: Love Me Forever is on sale for $1.99 by Jina Bacarr

August 11, 2016 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat tagged as 1862, Antietam, Civil War, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, novel, re-enactor, romance, Tennessee, time travel, Virginia

I love film noir.

The tough heroes with the beautiful, wisecracking dolls glammed up with dark lipstick and tight suits. Not to mention high-heeled pumps that showed off a great pair of legs.

There’s something about black and white photography that puts you on edge, waiting for something to happen. Maybe it’s the subtle play of shadows that hides dark secrets . . . and the slow reveal when the camera pulls back to uncover the villain ready to take out the hero.

Until he gets the drop on him first.

Writing is like film noir. The shades of gray slowly reveal the story, the romance, the thrills.

There there’s the blue and the gray.

A time in our history that will never be forgotten. Civil War re-enactments are more popular than ever. What if you dressed up as a Confederate officer and–

Found yourself whisked back to 1862?

That’s what happens to my heroine in LOVE ME FOREVER.

To celebrate LOVE ME FOREVER being on sale for the month of August, I thought it would be fun to take some b&w RF stock and pair them with colorful backgrounds. I’ve included two of them here.

LOVE ME FOREVER takes place in 1862 during the Civil War when my heroine, Liberty Jordan, a beautiful time traveler from the future, tries to warn Union Army Major surgeon Flynt Stephens that more soldiers from the both the North and the South will die of disease than battle wounds.

Does he believe her? And fall in love with her?

Till next time…

Jina

”

Love Me on Forever on Sale for $1.99 for August 2016 from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

Website: www.jinabacarr.com
Blog: www.jinabacarr.wordpress.com
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Two Classes For Writers – Self-Publishing and Book Promotion by Kitty Bucholtz

August 9, 2016 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing Classes tagged as Author promotion, E-book marketing, Kitty Bucholtz, Marketing, OCC/RWA Online Class, OCCRWA Online Class, Online Class, Online Classes, promotion, self publishing, self-publishing

This month I’m teaching a brand new online class for OCC – “7 Ways to Market and Promote Your Book Without Breaking the Bank.” I’m excited to share the things I’ve learned about inexpensive promotions – including having an author newsletter – with my writer friends!

The 4-week class starts next Monday, August 15, 2016, and costs $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members. You don’t have to be a member of RWA to enroll in the class. You can read more about it and sign up for the class here. I hope to see you there! [Note: Signing up is a 2-step process. You must hit the purple “Yahoo Groups Join Now” button AND then come back to the page and pay via PayPal. If you only do one step or the other, you won’t be in the class until you complete both steps.]

This week I also re-opened my full-sized online course, “Your How-to Guide to Self-Publishing.” I’m so excited about everything I’m doing on the new website! There are five modules covering every step you need to take to get from finished manuscript to published book. I’ve spread it out over eight weeks, which should be plenty of time to learn what you need to do in the lessons and then go apply it. And you’ll have lifetime access so you can come back to the lessons as often as you like.

I’ve included videos, audio downloads, text-based lectures, and worksheets to help you through the entire process. There’s also a private Facebook group where students can ask questions and share their experiences. Two of the three tiers give students access to weekly/monthly live video-based Q&A calls, and those in the upper tier also get a private coaching call with me.

There are payment plans for all three tiers, and bonuses for anyone who signs up by August 15. You can learn more about it all at WriteNowWorkshop.com. If you have any questions, please email me at kitty AT writenowworkshop.com.

I’m looking forward to helping more writers self-publish their books and find new ways to promote them. I hope to see you in one of my classes!

Kitty Bucholtz

Kitty Bucholtz decided to combine her undergraduate degree in business, her years of experience in accounting and finance, and her graduate degree in creative writing to become a writer-turned-independent-publisher. Her novels, Little Miss Lovesick, A Very Merry Superhero Wedding, and Unexpected Superhero are currently available on Amazon . The free short story Superhero in Disguise and the new short story Welcome to Loon Lake are available wherever ebooks are sold. You can find out about her courses on self-publishing, marketing, and time management for writers at her website Writer Entrepreneur Guides.