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Never-ending Tightrope

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  Hello from Michigan!  Though February, it’s a high of 42F today. Ice fishermen are not impressed. As a recently self-published author, I am still finding a balance between work and home life.  I want to be writing.  I have ideas for my characters, elaborate scenes and schemes ruminating in my imagination.  I long to write the fourth book in the series, if only I could finish the third first, not to mention the prequel which only needs a final edit. But I also work as a nurse full-time and have been taking on more responsibilities there, revamping the orientation process and doing more with staff development. Then there are the kids: 2, 5, and 6 years old.  They keep me busy with a whole spectrum of things, but even the daily routine of meals, snacks, diapers, baths, laundry, dishes, and preparing for school/daycare can feel stressful.  Exercising?  Not usually, between a lack of time, motivation, and energy. I have a husband who also wants to spend time with me and have my
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Scrolly Quotes

  Hello from Michigan!   Ice and snow… means another snow day.   Cue “back in my day” stories. Not being a big post-er to social media, I had never given much thought to how to create a book quote post.  At least one that looked good. Anyone can throw some bunny ears “” around some words and post them.  I’m talking about those quote posts that have a unique background relevant to the content.  The text fades onto the screen one line at a time for effect.  Music plays in the background setting the tone and drawing in the reader.  Believe it or not, you don’t need a degree in graphic design to do it.  Just a great deal of persistence and patience.  I tried to create something within Facebook and Instagram without success, though I did use their tools to finish my posts. I use Canva .  I have mentioned it before, and haven’t tried other programs for comparison.  This is my experience.  I used Google and it was one of the top picks for beginner graphic designing.  The first quo
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Painful Backside

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  Hello from Michigan!  Is that rain or snow?  Both? My last entry talked about the cover, and now I feel the back cover should be dwelt on.  I have now written several complete novels.  To me, the stories flow out of me as I go.  I am one of those writers who has a few great ideas for scenes and creating a story out of them and bringing my characters to life is my passion. The back cover is not that. The dreaded blurb is much, much harder.  Here are some tips I absorbed from hours of YouTube videos and reading what other successful authors were doing for their Amazon listing blurb: Keep the sentences short and concise.  No one wants to read 3+ comma-spliced sentences in a row.  Make your book sound interesting without giving too much away.  Truth is optional.  No one will go back and re-read the blurb and complain that you didn’t follow it to a tee. Keep it between 150-300 words.  Too wordy and no one will want to read it all.  Too short and they won’t be convinced to buy it
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The Cover

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  Hello from Michigan!   Today we hit 49 degrees F, but somehow had a snow day. I think most authors and consumers would agree, the cover is one of the most important parts of the book.  Everyone has heard the maxim “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”  Right.  We all do it. As someone who knows how difficult it is to choose a cover design and bring that design to life, you’d think I’d cut fellow authors some slack… yet I find myself, if anything, more critical.  The book blurb/ back cover is arguably as important as the design, but I want to talk about the front in today's blog.    Being a new, self-publishing author, I didn’t have much extra cash to spend on a cover.  If you’ve done any shopping around, you know you can spend as much as you want on the cover.  $$$$.  I wanted a bargain, something great for not a lot of money. As a ration human, and someone who knows the value of time, you’d think it would occur to me that no one is going to spend time and perfect my cover
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Adult content

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  Hello from Michigan! This morning it’s 24 degrees F and grey AF. As a romance novel writer, I tailor my work to an adult audience.  It contains sex, as almost every other modern romance novel I have ever read.  It is understood by most readers that if you select a book in that genre, it’s going to get steamy at times. It seemed a no-brainer when filling out the publishing form on Amazon KDP to select yes when asked “Does this book contain adult content?”  Yes, it does. Wrong!  Don’t click that option!  Apparently Fifty Shades doesn’t even meet the criteria, which leaves me wondering what would! If you select ‘yes,’ your book won’t come up in a general search.  When a customer adds your book to their cart, Amazon greys it out for their privacy, like they are buying a salacious, naughty thing.    It seems like such a small thing, but it can affect other things as well.  I have more to add on this subject, but a little backstory is necessary.  A source I have found very use
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Choosing

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 Hello from Michigan! This morning it’s already 34 degrees F. There are so many things I’ve been thinking about discussing here, it’s hard to choose what comes first.  Logically, one should start at the beginning, but is that my writing process or publishing?  Since I’ve learned the most about self-publishing, I will start with my decision to self-publish with Amazon. Like most aspiring authors, I tried the traditional route first.  I spent hours writing queries to agents, researching which agents would be interested in my genre, and then sending off the personalized-as-possible email.  Weeks would pass and I would either hear nothing, or I would finally get the “It’s not the right fit at this time.” I received very little constructive feedback, but when you start digging into the process, that’s hardly surprising.  Some agents receive hundreds of queries a day.  How can they possibly look at all those, much less take the time to say ‘why not?’  On one site , a former agent discu
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Becoming

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  Hello from Michigan!   Today it’s a chilly 9 degrees F. As some of you may know, I recently self-published my first novel.   In many ways, it has been a dream come true!   I love telling people I’m an author.   Check out my book here!    www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKBV51XN   ;) That being said, it hasn’t been flawless.   I have learned A LOT.   The more I learn, the more I realize how much I still don’t know. For instance, how do I classify my book into cookie-cutter categories that aren’t quite right?  I write romance novels so they have some spice 😉 but do I check the “Adult Content” box when publishing? What keywords do I choose?  Why is my book not listed on the first page when I typed in the title? When I took to the internet to find answers, I ended up with conflicting advice and made some missteps by taking said advice. Then there is social media.  I am an introvert at heart, and while I like browsing social media, posting on it has never been my strongest side.  But since
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