Tag: #writingtips

Do you need to advertise your book?

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

I don’t know.

I love writing. Whether, it’s on my blog, short story, flash fiction or a children’s book, I really love writing. Marketing my books, not so much. It always makes me think of bragging. 

With the thousands of books written and published every day, how can I convince someone to read mine?

reading book

Is it because I know so little about the selling and marketing side that I don’t like it?

Could be. But one day, I may have to throw off my insecurities and learn more about how to market my books.

That’s why I was thrilled to read the latest post by . 

His experience with Bookbub’s blog plus the extensive list of links for marketing books will be one I’ll save and read many times. Congrats Nicholas for the recognition he received and thanks for passing on much-needed information.

Hop over and read what happened to Nicholas and the abundance of marketing links on his post. The link is at the bottom of this post. You will want to bookmark his blog!

Tell me are you ready to begin marketing yourself as an author?

Do you hesitate to toot your own horn?

blow horn

Is cost what stops you or the process itself?

I’d love to hear from you! Click the “write me” tab or contact me onTwitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter  peeps andFacebook fans.

 That Jaw-dropping Moment when Bookbub Mentions your Blog by . 

 

Related articles

How to say a lot with a little

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell6 Comments

Is this one of your biggest issues?

Getting just right the who, where, why and what they are doing. It’s mine.questions-1328465_640Sometimes I get carried away with descriptions. Yet often, like a good perfume, a little goes a long way. A little is divine, too much, yikes. skunk-34149_640

I’m not a visual person so describing situations or scenes is difficult for me. So I’ve invented little tricks to help myself not over think it too much. However, the downside is I end up rewriting a lot. And I do mean a lot. Sigh… I guess there really are no shortcuts.

Things that help me:

  • Look up the word. The dictionary and thesaurus really can be a great source for brainstorming.
  •  Have the character stop and look around. Describe what they see, smell or hear but not what they are doing.
  • Write the scene like a piece of Flash Fiction. This is a good discipline in brevity. It helps me see things in a different light.
  • Remind myself that my readers know what the color purple looks like. I don’t need to go crazy.
  • Reading, reading and reading.

One of the best articles I’ve read lately on this subject written by . Be sure and hop over and read it for inspiration on good descriptions. Link at bottom.

I’m also now reading:

Another good resource is:

7 WAYS TO WRITE VISUALLY (WITHOUT DESCRIBING EVERYTHING) by .

Do you have any tips that can help me with writing good descriptive scenes?

Are you a visual person? Do share!

I’d love to hear from you! Click the “write me” tab or contact me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter  peeps and Facebook fans.

 

How to select the best ebook conversion tool

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell7 Comments

Too many choices!

But fortunately, there is one that will work for you.

And thanks to  we now have a very good breakdown of several. While not an all-inclusive list, David has reviewed the top tools used by most writers.

So if you’re ready to convert and upload that best-selling book, keep reading.

Amazon KDP

KDP accepts ePub, Word doc/docx, HTML, mobi formats. Output mobi, and HTML.  In my book Tryouts for Ben, I uploaded a Word docx and had little trouble. I agree with David; it’s easy and almost fool-proof.  Don’t waste your time using fancy fonts, or formatting, because KDP will not recognize most of them. However, if you are confident with HTML, and CSS format, you can edit the converted file in HTML.

Barnes and Noble Nookbook

I’ve not converted any of my books to Nookbook. But David assures us it’s fairly straightforward. But doesn’t allow for HTML editing.

KOBO

Again, I’ve not yet used KOBO. It appears to be less than user-friendly and not sure I’ll bother with it. David didn’t appear to be impressed.

DRAFT2DIGITAL (D2D)

D2D accepts ePub, Word doc/docx, RTF files, and the output is ePub, mobi, or PDF. I did consider D2D but wasn’t happy with their conversion tool.

SMASHWORDS

Smashwords accepts files in ePub, Word doc (not docx.) Note: this means you must save your manuscript in the older version of Word.  Out put is impressive: ePub, mobi, PDF, PDB, lit, TXT, and many more. Again, this is one I considered but decided it wasn’t for me.

So which tool did I use?

computer-frogs 2

Check back tomorrow.

But in the meantime, head over and read David’s entire article.

The Convertible Cloud: Ebook Conversion Online

Click the “write me” tab or contact me onTwitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter  peeps andFacebook fans.

How to make your pictures clickable

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell12 Comments

Everyone loves pictures.

Make your pictures more interesting by making them clickable.

Tricia Pimental, Author, blogger and reader sent me a request. She wanted me to explain a little about linking information and documents to a blog post or page.

I promised to try my best and hope this information is what she needs. Maybe one or two of y’all will benefit from the tips as well.

Why would you want to add a link?

  • Definitions
  • Purchases
  • Sharing other blogs

I hope this little video will help.

It’s easy as 1-2-3!

  1. Copy the web address that you want to point your readers to. It could be a 5 Star Review, your Amazon.com page or reference other websites.
  2. Then click on the picture or sentence you want to make clickable.
  3. Next, click on the insert/edit link and paste the web address there.

Your picture, book, icon, or sentence, should now be fully clickable, sending your reader to read more information.

Tricia Pimental, I do hope this is helpful and not too elementary.

Do you think making pictures clickable adds to a website?

Do you use click here links?

I’d love to hear from you! Click the “write me” tab or contact me onTwitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter  peeps andFacebook fans.