Cover Tips

Are you new to writing?  I know many new authors don't have the funds to have beautiful covers made up, and often resort to using the static covers that Createspace has to offer, or they make up their own, thinking through one theme for their book.

Here are some recommendations if you just don't have the funds to hire an Illustrator, or pay someone in the Cover Creation field.

The first thing you should do, is look up some of the covers within your genre that are selling on Amazon right now.  I came up with this idea when doing a book promotion on Instafreebie.  One of the authors mentioned that all of the books with naked men's chests on their cover were flying off the giveaway like hotcakes.  As I scrolled through the listings, I saw his comment was dead on.

You can see that the Covers with some flesh showing got a lot of downloads.  This is a real time indicator, as there is little indication on these books as to what the interior file is, until you download them.

Evidently, a good set of abs and a chiseled chin was a major draw in that genre for your book to be downloaded!  You really need to know your Genre.  Look at the Fonts used and their layout.  Every little detail you can use to make your work stand out, you should try to use it.  For example, look at the fonts used on these books:  

See the difference?  Even a shadow of a character makes readers give it a try, Military men are buff, the first cover uses the reader's imagination!  Try to see what is selling each book, through the cover for your Genre, then go for it!

Sometimes, that might not be what you WANT to do, but you can't go wrong with following trends with a little bit of your own spice mixed in.

Often, if you must create your own cover, you don't have the right tools to do them.  When I first started creating my own cover art, I ran into an immediate issue.  Where could I find royalty free art that I did not have to pay for, nor deal with a lot of restrictions for the use of the art?  Many times I would see something that looked great, then it was from a site that charged a lot for that picture, and it could not have any commercial use.

Then I found a site called 'Pixabay'.  Now, just know, I REALLY didn't want to share this website with anyone, cause I don't want someone taking my cover art.  But I realized that most of the people who read my blog don't write within my genre.  And even if they do, I can personalize my covers so they don't look the same.

The second issue was, HOW do I create cover art without a really good Illustration program?  Then I hit upon just using my Powerpoint.  At first, KDP made you jump through hoops for work that was not at a correct size for their covers.  I must admit, I don't know if I tinkered with my Powerpoint measurements or if their size just worked.  I do know ONE thing though.  You HAVE to DOWNLOAD the picture, then INSERT it into Powerpoint to keep the DPI intact.  You cannot 'Click and Drag' or do a screenshot, THEN 'Click and Drag' that photo onto your Powerpoint file.  It will come out grainy when you stretch it.

Always choose 'Word Art' rather than just use a 'Text Box', so you can stretch and enlarge your text but not have to increase the font size.  You can find Fonts that will enhance your Book Title and Author name on many free font sites.  One I use is Fontcubes.  After you download the fonts, open them by clicking on them.  Then open your Font Book and import the new fonts.  You might get some warnings, but unless they say really dire stuff, I use them.  You have to judge that yourself.

Also, you will have to make a Front AND Back cover, so decide on a theme for your series and stick with it.  That way, readers know what they are viewing and they will get used to the continuity in your series.  If you update covers as I did for my Peace series, I used the old covers with a few changes for the Back Cover, and created new covers.  I got the pictures off of Pixabay for the new covers.  I deleted the backgrounds on some, which you can do on Powerpoint, then created new covers.  Here is an example:

ORIGINAL ART:

This was the original picture

This guy JUST happened to look like what I envisioned for
my main character 'James'.  James is a Serial Killer of Child Abusers
who manage to beat the rap.

And This is the Cover that I managed to combine.  I kept the text in Fall Colors, which worked well. 
See how I got some RED in there?  You may have to work to get it to shine, but don't give up!

It takes a little time and vision to create your own covers, but you can do it.  Inspiration can come from anywhere!  Look at covers in your genre and think, "I would love that for my book, but I would do X, Y and Z."  You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to.  Go outside of your comfort zone, and just CREATE.

I used the cover that was my original on the back cover.  I tend to just make a transparent box for my back cover text and drop a picture behind it.  I stick to a theme for each book.  This first picture is from my Peace Series.

This second cover is from my Consortium Series.  I love the front and back cover of this series! Each subsequent book will have a similar theme.  Use your font's to keep things consistent.  Figure out what color fonts tend to draw your eye in.  Just remember, you won't love every cover you see, but try to find out what sells and do a close approximation with a little twist of your own.  I have read that injecting RED in any cover draws the eye of the reader.  Red stimulates people's imaginations.

 

You just import your work, drop in your fonts, then save your cover as both a Powerpoint file (in case you have to go back and make changes) AND as a JPEG file.  Make sure you save the JPEG file to your Desktop first, so you can write over the file each time you have to make changes.  You may have to make changes to incorporate a barcode (Createspace puts theirs at the bottom of the page on the back cover on the right), or to incorporate the outer fringes where the copy won't print.  

Createspace has one cover Choice, MAJESTIC, that allows you to drop in your Cover as a JPEG file.  Just remember, they only have about 30 Spline Choice colors, so if you make a cover, make sure you can match it up with the Spline covers which will be in the middle of your book cover.  If the colors are off, it will look crazy.

So, don't be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone!  You can make up a great cover, all you have to do is open up a Powerpoint file!  If you have any questions, please reach out to me!  You can do it!  Be encouraged.

Putting yourself on the line

Does your art imitate your life?  I believe there is a little part of our lives in everything we write about.  Sometimes, your readers will have to read between the lines to see you in your writing.  Other times, we can make a concerted effort to write something that is highly charged and personal to us, as a catharsis or a memorial.

I wrote a Memoir with my one of my best friend's from High School, Yoshika called "Cold War Memories", it is a compilation and History Primer of Berlin and the interactions of Military Dependants with the city and populace from 1946 until the US left Berlin in 1994.  It is so hard to know your High School still exists, but no more American Students, no Military Brats, go there.

But the Peace Series was my own story, reaching way back into childhood memories I suppressed due to fear, shame and pain.  Writing from a point of understanding, strength, and clarity, I was able to make peace with my past over the many long years of putting this series together.  It is the only one I have put out there then yanked from publication, re-editing it with a machete, because it was too graphic with too many heated situations that did not add to the story.  It was raw with rage, anger, and retribution.  But the process was necessary because it had to come out, no matter how you write if your emotion and passion is not on the pages, it's like an empty rendering of letters and spaces.  You have to open a window or door to your soul so readers can follow that light out of the dark.

It took 5 Books, but the story is now told.  A 6th book gave me the strength to take the initiative and republish the other 4 books, then finish the 5th book to complete the story.

 

 

 

Don't worry about writing in a straight line when you choose to write your story.  Just sit down and start, just write!  You can go back and arrange your work later.  You may come to find that you will work in a certain a pattern after you get started, that changes based on your mood, or what you encounter as you write.  Don't get so locked in with doing things in a linear way, that you become overwhelmed.  You can flip from the middle, to the beginning, then to the end if that works for you.  You will have time to tie things together properly when you edit your work.

Childhood abuse is a topic not spoken of, still in the shadows after thousands of years.  Light needs to invade that darkness so that people can find their peace, from the point of view of the strong adult they now are, versus the scared, hurting child they used to be.  Victims need to know it is safe to heal wounds placed on them by others, many years before.

There is a section for victims help and with an explanation of who I am, at the end of each book.  I hope you will reach out for help in your adult life for childhood trauma, knowing you are not alone, and help is there for you.  There are many agencies that can help you, if you take that step to heal today.  Don't let another day pass without you taking back your life, and dismantling what was meant for evil towards you by a monster, turning it into something good.

All of the books in the series will be available on Amazon.com by weeks end, and I will try to post an Instafreebie Link for Book One next week!  You can find all of my books on my Amazon Author pages!

Trisha A. Lindsey Author Page

Ronin Schtihl Daire Author Page

Take your peace back, you have lost enough, it is a new year!  Walk into it with a new attitude.  God bless, be encouraged.

Interracial Romance Books on Instafreebie!

Hi all!  I have joined an Instafreebie giveway once again, joining other authors of Interracial Romance who wish to give readers free access to their books.  Joining an Instafreebie Giveaway is a very good way to get your work out there, especially if you have more than one book in a series.  I placed my Josef and Blair Series Book 1 up for download, because it gives readers from the other

author's exposure to my work also.  Just click on the book cover on the Instafreebie site, at the following link:  http://bit.ly/2CB4YPX  

If you only have one book, it might not be a good idea to put it in a Giveaway, but if you have several, then go to Instafreebie and sign up.  I have another Blog post that explains the reasons you should look into Instafreebie so please refer to it if you need more information about setting up your books to make them available to new readers.

This is the header for the Giveaway, the link and further info is below it.  If you want to help spread the word, just copy the Twitter Ready blub below and post to your page, we authors and readers have to stick together!  If you already have my book, go look at some of the other great authors, and please leave them a kind review.

Amazon is very review driven, a review does not have to be long and involved, they go a long way towards helping authors receive more exposure and  success.  Get your read on, be encouraged!

Blurb for Twitter, retweet to your heart's content please:

Come get your Swirl Love on! This is a free collection of #InterracialLove! Book One in the Josef and Blair Series is here for you on this #instafreebie giveaway! http://bit.ly/2CB4YPX  #amreading #interracialdating, #multicultural, #interracialromance

Save Yourself the Formatting Time!

I love looking at EBooks with cool fonts online, don't you?  The problem is, I can spend ALL THAT TIME setting up fonts to look beautiful, then go to upload the books on Createspace and KDP, and its all just straight text.  It looks nothing like I want it to look.

That problem is solved on Createspace by saving your Word file as a PDF and then uploading it.  You will get an error message, but usually when you look at your text in the Proofer, it looks alright for the most part.  This lets me put out an EBook that has an opening page that looks like this one to the right.  I like using different fonts for my Chapter headings.


I used a font I downloaded for free online, I usually go to https://www.dafont.com/ but there are also a lot of online fonts available.  Just download the font, unzip it, open your font book, then import the font.  Some fonts are only available in uppercase, without any symbols, so plan accordingly.  This lets you change your title page, Chapter Headings, etc., so that they stand out to readers.

But, as I said, you do all that work, and then upload it, and it's all basic type, single-spaced, and a hot mess!  I want my EBooks to look the same as my print books, so I began fishing around for a solution.  There are several listed on KDP, but the best, easiest and quickest solution I found just this morning, was Kindle Textbook Creator.  I just scratched the surface of it I'm sure, I plan to go back into it to see how it handles pictures inside of text so I will post that later.

Back to Kindle Textbook Creator.  Download the program, then install it.  Then open your file by clicking 'Create New Textbook From File', then find your file and click open.  Your file should
already be saved as a PDF, you can do that in MS Word.  This way, you don't have to go through that 'Embed your fonts' thing, that NEVER works unless you're some amazing programmer.  I'm not a programmer, I'm an author.

When your book opens, if you have any links it will ask if you want those links converted, then preserved and embedded in your book.  If this is an EBook, YES

you want this done.  It won't take but a second.

Then you go over to the right-hand corner and click the on the little icon that says 'Package'.  That will publish your file as a .kpf file, and you will be able to upload it, keeping your files attributes just as you wanted them to look.  You can go to Amazon and get this Application, do yourself a favor, get it and save yourself some time, energy and frustration.  I want my books to look like what I envision them in my head, and sometimes even when you try to convert a PDF on KDP, it just does not translate.

Many times I open a book and just ooh and aah over the pictures and fonts that are used with Chapter headings, then I try to do something like it, and its 'Blah, Blah, Blah.'

Now, you can make your readers go ooh and aah, without going through a lot of trouble.

Merry Christmas, and I hope this has helped someone who is self-publishing their books and settling for the formatting that KDP shows you when you upload your book.  No more settling, make it look as happy or as scary as you wish!

Just search for 'Kindle Textbook Creator (Beta) on Amazon.com

Be encouraged!

Back up your work, right now!

So.  You've been hard at work, revisiting old writing you put aside when you suddenly can't find a file on your computer anymore.  Things happen in the digital life, so to start your New Year off right, how about you zip down to Walmart or Staples and pick up a zip drive to back up your work?  You might even want to get two of them.  Work with them sparingly, I have had two zip drives fail within days of one another, from being bumped or jostled while they were attached to the computer, getting the data on them restored is a nightmare.  Be gentle with them!

Make sure all of your books and covers are in one place and write the date you originally put them on there on the zip drive with a Sharpie.  You never know when you may have to go back to an original, it's better to know what date it is that you may have to rebuild your work forward.  Use that one as a backup in case of disaster, use the other as a day to day working copy. 

It only takes a minute to avert a potential loss of everything you are working on.  Keep the first one in a safe place, a fire safe box would be the best choice.  Carry the working copy around with you in case you need it out and about.  You've just been warned, don't wait for a zip drive to come in the mail, unless you have Amazon Prime, it's hard to get things around the Christmas Holidays!  Be encouraged!

Turn your Serial into a Novel!

I worked on a Serial named 'Match Play' back in 2015, and did not finish the last 10 chapters.  I try to go back at the end of the year and see if there is anything I have missed or skipped over that I can finish or polish.  This year, it was this short Serial.

Match Play came about from a library visit.  It taught me to be careful what you write. My daughter checked out a book from the library which we read together, and the creative juices started flowing with a 'What if?' question. Doesn't all great writing start with a question? Tucker is a Serial Killer mimics the deaths of famous people on his victims in every detail. Rory just bought his Storage Container.  Tucker wants his death catalog back. 

Rory, a College student majoring in Forensic Studies has just had the misfortune of buying Tucker's storage container at an auction. Withholding evidence from the police, he and his roommates set out to solve the puzzle left by Tucker.

What do you do when you know you're in over your head with the Monster you just discovered? Rory knows the answer to that: You find a bigger Monster! I love to overlap my series, so I borrowed a few characters from my 'Peace Series', so for you all that have not read it, James Bowie Mars is the bigger Monster. I have ONCE AGAIN removed the Peace Series for editing, so I apologize to the readers of that series. It will be re-released with Book 5 in the Spring or Summer of 2018.

Follow along with Rory, as he and his friends Will and Ben realize that whoever held the storage area that Rory bought at auction may very well know where they live and he want's his stuff back.

Rory finds out that having an uncle with a clue is much better than having an uncle who can call off the police, as his uncle James shows them how to trap someone who thinks JUST like he does...never leave a loose end breathing.

This story began as a Serial, but it needed completion. I hope you enjoy the read. The character death studies all came about after reading a book called, “How They Croaked”, by Georgia Bragg and L. J. Ganser. If you want to see how bad medicine was before the modern era, check out their book, it makes you thankful to live in a time (at least up until the recent election) where good medicine is available to most in the developed world.  Here is the Amazon link: 

http://amzn.to/2A1daU7

Don't be afraid to take some of your smaller writings and expand on them, or put them together in an anthology.  Right now, its time to go blow the leaves, yuck, its cold outside!

Revisit old work before the New Year!

With the New Year coming, this is a perfect time to go back to your unfinished projects and musings and see if it is time to bring them to fruition.  I know you are very, very busy getting ready for the Christmas Season, (I HOPE you are very busy), but pull out some of the ideas you have sketched out, and see if its time to work on them.

I usually do this in late November or early December, and I am happy to report after a few days of writing and tweaking, I just finished a Novella!  Its actually from a Serial 'Match Play' that I had previously written after watching the Storage Wars shows on television.  The main buyers on the shows are a microcosm of people you run into in your everyday life, except they actively travel to storage centers to place bids on unclaimed storage lockers.

I had 40 chapters prepared, but no end to the story, other projects came along and took time away from continuing the serial, which left me feeling unfinished also.  This serial was a way to stoke my brain to go back and begin editing the Peace Series that I wrote many years ago, but pulled from the shelves due to personal convictions.  It's very, very hard from someone as myself to get everyone inside on board with the fact that we don't have to spew everything we come up with out in a book, no matter how cathartic it can be.

It's a good idea to have several projects going at one time when you are an Author.  You should always be looking for new writing opportunities and ideas.  When you find yourself setting up that DVR to record a series, ask yourself what it is about it that draws you in?  Have you joined a Book Club?  Have you joined a new group online?  Draw upon your own life and strike out and write a small Novella about something once improbable, but now within the realm of reality in the world of change that we live in.

Another good idea is to find subjects that are also related to your writing and have your Social Media Feeds update you when news about those subjects comes over the wire.  Try to anticipate the directions those stories might go in, and write about them.  Many writers who can see trends and possibilities are often asked to provide commentary on local shows when their stories overlap with real life in the future.  Use your visionary skills by going over some of your ideas to determine if there is more to that small tidbit that you saw before.

This early part of December, you should be gearing up for new releases, giveaways and promoting current works for all of those new readers who will be getting electronic devices for the first time or as replacements.  I have joined a giveaway on Instafreebie, that has bundled books of the same Sci-Fi/Time Travel Genre together in one download.  My book from the same-named series, "Pharaoh Memnet" is listed as one of the books available for this giveaway.  It is better to bundle your books with a bunch of same minded authors, as you not only will get your works to readers on your Social Media Platforms but will also gain new readers from Authors who have readers interested in the same Genre that you write about.  Here is the link for this Giveaway which features Time Travel and Alternative History Novels:

https://www.instafreebie.com/gg/QgouQbnJtntrsQphSSnE

You can go to Instafreebie to check out groups that you might be able to join to showcase your book for free, to a wide audience of readers.  This is good when you have several books in a series, and does not include the exclusivity of a KDP giveaway for your book.  Look at how they are set up so you can get an idea of the reach you can gain to new readers.  Make sure you DO sign up for getting email addresses of those who download your book when you set up or join a giveaway, you CAN'T go back later and do so and get all of the emails from the start of the giveaway period, ONLY from the date you request to get emails.  Emails from readers are good to compile so you can notify readers of future books you will be releasing, your blog information, and all of your Social Media links.  You should ALSO be adding a contact page to the end of your EBooks and Paperbacks that lists all the ways potential readers can contact you.

The next blog post will cover some places you can list your books for free and paid links that will gain you more promotion.   I want you to have a Happy Christmas Season and increased royalties.  Be encouraged!

Forward Thinking Writing - My 1 cent...

When I started writing my Josef and Blair Series, it was 1992, I did not begin publishing until 1994.  I was projecting what I hoped the world would be like, in an America where race was nullified, from an unlikely source.  Having grown up overseas, only to be forced to spend my adult life in America where race mattered, made me want to flip the script in a major way.  I liked writing improbable love stories already, and this led to me wondering what it would be like if someone who had been let down by those closest to her, finally met someone she didn't have to pretend with, only for it to blow up in her face in an epic way?

That is how Blair, my main character in the Josef and Blair Series, was born.  Blair was an orphan, given away twice by her surviving parent, into an American Foster Care system broken beyond compare.  And like many African American's, the Military became a way out of a life full of contradictions and struggles, a place where equality was forced and instituted systemwide, as much as possible.

I knew that Blair would have to be both hard as nails as a Shadow Team Member, yet blindingly human, when it came to real love.  Not puppy love, but that 'I'll cut a bitch over you!' kind of love.  I wanted her to let her guard down personally, completely, for the first time in her life with Josef.  Knowing how to handle life in the Military with codes, directives and regulations is one thing.  But life itself does not play by military rules.  It's full of duplicity, moral judgments, bad decisions, extreme highs and extreme lows.  Blair fell victim to the same thing we all have, no matter what our age, falling in love, justifying shortcomings in our intended, then reeling from the aftermath of those bad decisions.

I had one review in which the person who read the book "Bliss" stated:

"I thought this would have been more interesting than it was, it was disappointing in it's reduction of Blair as a "top agent" to basically a woman who was allowing her man to pretty much take control of her life, it didn't give credence to her character as a strong, smart independent woman..."

And I realized, I had hit the mark with who I wanted to show Blair as.  I just don't care how together you are, women and men both do REALLY stupid things when they REALLY fall in love hard!  If you look around you, no one is immune.  We see the stories in papers, magazines, on television, on Social Media and on reality TV all day long, people making REALLY bad, 'I'm going to ride cross country, not taking bathroom breaks, wearing Depends to get you back' decisions.  That is what I wanted Blair to be portrayed as, human, and a woman making bad decisions.  I also wanted Josef's power plays to render him stupid and repentant, not willing to sacrifice his woman and children behind a rhetoric that left him cold and alone at night.  I wanted characters who were all running from God, their lives and their futures to some degree, something we all are guilty of at one time or another.

I structured Josef around what I thought at the time was an ideal Neo Nazi man, with layer upon layer of lies and hate resting on a shaky foundation that just needed the right kick at the correct juncture to bring all of his layers down around him.  Isolation, power and fear created the environment that he grew up and lived in.  He, and his brothers in arms learned early in life from Josef's father that you either used that power, or you suffered.

Frankly, it's hard to remain separated by hate today.  We interact with too many people who are different from us, which is why even though it may appear that hate is growing, it really isn't.  Its the same small microcosm of people who generationally have let hate rule their lives.  It's not the isolation that causes the hate, because the Amish are isolated in America, and even when they integrate into society, they still treat everyone they encounter with respect.

Its a lack of moral conscience, a refusal to admit that your failures are of your own doing and spiritual blindness in the worst way that causes this hate to thrive.  But it only takes one person to come along and shine that light on a cockroach, rather than squash them, that can bring about change.

This election cycle has brought out the worst in people that hate others, based on their race, religion, skin color, immigration status, etc.  The real culprit is that they hate who they are and their place in life which is mostly of their own bad decision making, generationally and today.  It makes zero sense that in this day and age they refuse to stop supporting a plan that doesn't see them as part of it, admit they have backed the wrong horse for generations and seek God to truly change their heart on a fundamental level.

That is what I had to do as a writer over time, not just with Josef, but with the huge extended family network that he was part of.  I used the underpinning of Jesus Christ to bring about that change.  It was hard for some readers to stomach, but I believe that was largely due to their own hangups about Jesus Christ and Christianity.  Some have been hurt personally by Evangelicals who follow a religion of prosperity and exclusion.  That is not the Christianity that I follow, nor that I write of with my characters.  But I truly believed, if I could bring these people around with love and logic (both of my main characters, in spite of what their past had made of their lives) I could bring any of my characters of note around in the same way.  Truly loving and caring for others, in spite of their past, how they behave and what they believe, will win the day.

You cannot legislate morality.  True morality begins in the heart of man.  I did not know back in 1994 that we would face an election cycle where our enemies helped one party to come to power, and the seedy underbelly of what was given to win at all costs is just starting to come out.  I did foresee that no matter what was found out, that we would still have an element that refused to accept they had been tricked and hoodwinked.  Because when someone else is pulling and guiding the reins of our government, it eventually will come to light.  I knew it was possible, I just did not think I would see it so glaringly brought into the spotlight in my lifetime.

So, if you are writing with future changes in history in mind, don't play it safe.  This book series may have begun with my writing about Neo Nazi's in 1992, but to have a reader post the following review in 2017, makes me glad that I projected further with my 'What if?' scenario. 




Susan Parker an Amazon Reviewer for Book 9, "Reaping the Whirlwind" in the Josef and Blair Series wrote:

"...this novel does address real-world issues. As I was reading it, White Nationalists were marching in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the removal of the statute of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. It turned violent, resulting in three fatalities and numerous injuries."

The question is, do we hate these manifestations of ignorance back, continue to pray for them or do we drag them into 2018 with a vengeance?  I believe we have to let them paint themselves into a corner that only God can get them out of, just like Josef.  I had many former friends that didn't wear a hood openly, but their hearts were either shrouded in them inwardly, or they were using them as bandana's, scarves, capes or hankies.  I still haven't decided what to do with them, so I hold them at arm's length, sadly.  I am not perfect, either.  When the rubber met the road, I backed off.  I hope I can reach a place in my heart that I can interact with them one day again, and build a new bridge of friendship based on them facing the truth of who they are, why they are that way, and how we can move forward in a better way with one another.  Nothing is impossible with God, and I believe some day, maybe not down here with them, but certainly on a heavenly plane, things will change.  Be encouraged!

Lord, help me to hold out...

The Holidays are coming.  Every year I try to figure out some way I can go to sleep on October 31st, and wake up in late February so I can skip right past all of the holidays that make me miss family and friends who are not here to celebrate the holidays with me.  So far, it has not happened.  Why have I chosen late February as my wake up date?  So I can skip Valentine's Day, too!

I know I am not alone with my "Lord, here comes the Holiday Season, help me to hold out" lament.  As the years have passed, I have found it harder to look forward to Thanksgiving, with so many places around the table no longer filled by loved ones; family, friends, and strangers to be family by the end of the day.  All of the kids are too big for a tree filled with presents, and there are no in-laws, wives or husbands or grandchildren of another generation yet.

But, once again, here come the Holidays.  If you are like me, how about we make an effort to reach out to someone whether we know their situation or not, and give them a hug, a card, a small gift or a kind word, to get them through this Holiday Season.  Many are facing the first holiday of many, when a loved one who has been here, will not be at the table, lighting a candle or crouching under a tree to hand out presents.

We are not the only ones missing our loved ones, now faced with spending the next few months thinking about our holidays in years past.  There are so many people that we pass every day, who are hurting.  A smile, a hello, a holiday greeting, or even just enough eye contact to let them know you see them, that they exist, that they are important, can make someone's day.  Don't forget the little niceties, which go a long way.

Remember to put something on your Social Media or Blog, letting your readers know they are in your thoughts and prayers as we enter into this holiday season.  It has been a rough year, touched by huge tragedies, you never know what someone is dealing with, be a light in their life during this upcoming Holiday Season.

Gearing up for Christmas Sales

Are you gearing up for Christmas Sales?  If you aren't, now is the time to consider putting your first book in your series out for free on one of the sites that will let you set up a free giveaway like Bookbub, Freebooksy, Instafreebie, etc.

You would need to have more than 2 books in that series for it to get you new readers, and then make sure you have listed your website info, so that readers can contact you, and you can keep in touch with them via email or social media.

 I say gear up for Christmas now, because you need a plan. There are going to be a HUGE number of Iphone's, IPads, Computers, Kindle Fire's, etc. sitting under the Christmas tree on December 25th, and those new swipers are going to be looking for new, FREE books to read and fall in love with!

 Make sure that you are in the pipeline. Finish up anything you have been working on for release around December 15th, 2017, so Amazon, Createspace or Amazon KDP, has enough time to list and make your book available.

November is the month to complete your research and get your ducks in a row, so that you can take advantage of Christmas day sales. This is the time to push yourself, meet those deadlines, and write out what you need for your Social Media Blitz.

Get your pictures in order, get your Tweet blurbs in order, update your website, start pushing teasers out on your Social Media sites, so that everyone is ready and waiting for your big reveal.

 As a reader incentive, offer on Amazon to one fortunate reader one of your books for free as an Amazon Giveaway! It is an excellent way to create more buzz about your book, and hopefully get you a great review.

 Don't let lack of planning for this Christmas season make you cry 'Bah Humbug', get a move on, put your book under the tree of some blessed reader! Be encouraged!

Moving Outside Of Yourself

Sometimes, we need to use our voice for something other than ourselves or our writing.  The wildfires out West have torn at our hearts these last few weeks.  To see daily that there is 0% containment on so many of these fires, makes me redouble my prayer, and reach out to my readers to ask them to pray also, for help for the Firefighters who must be exhausted by now and those many families returning to nothing. 

So, here are some things that you can do to help those who may be going through this terrible time.  This blog post is from Alison Hodgsen, a blogger who went through her own house fire, but it can be applied to any family or community going through a loss in the same way. I hope some of her suggestions will help you reach out to family, friends, and strangers when they experience devastating loss from natural disasters.  God bless, be encouraged.

10 Real Ways You Can Help After a House Fire

What a dark and dreary day.

It's such a dreary morning.  The rain from Hurricane Nate has entered the area, taking away my sunshine, and turning my balmy 78 degree overnight temperatures into a muggy, wet mess.  I don't much feel like writing this morning, but even this weather can help me.

You may not always be able to write under ideal circumstances.  That does not mean you should simply not write that day.  Variety will fire up your mind to think of new, creative ways to write your stories.  Life does not happen in a straight line, without unexpected changes, challenges or deviations from your plans, and your writing should imitate life in a way.  Being uniform, forcing your writing into a small box of 'this way, this place, every time' will hamper your writing.

My bank of 4 windows up high to let the natural light in!

I would love to be able to write every day in my banquette area with the sunshine streaming through my windows, giving me a wonderful mood lift as music plays and the TV hums in the background.

I get my news from NHK World, out of Japan, or the BBC out of London, as they are more balanced with worldwide news than US news is at this time.

Yes, that is a Menorah! A gift from my best friend!

With a cup of coffee or tea and a few slices of the Cinnamon Friendship Bread that I bake and hand out to friends, I often settle down into this setting and start to write.  However, most days its snatching time as I wait in the car to pick up one child or another from their activities, or at one of their practice sites, or late at night when the house is asleep, and I can barely keep my eyes open, so I busily write a few chapters in bed.

Writing is supposed to be fun, not a rigid movement that you simply must do a certain way or its not writing.  Take the good with the bad, and turn it into something that suits you and fits your life.  It may be raining today, but it is mid-October, and the temps are holding, day and night in the low to mid-70s.  I'll embrace Nate and let him shower me with droplets of needed rain for our area, drink my tea, and write something that reflects the beauty of change this morning.  Enjoy your day, write where you are, get in that hour of doing something writing related today!  Be encouraged!

This is my daughter's art studio!  All of her paper's, inks, pens, and pencils are here, with her desk and chair area.  It's her own Artist Loft!  She has a huge roll of paper on a holder that she uses to sketch to her heart's content!