Segilola Salami's Blog, page 68
April 14, 2016
Review of Yetunde An Ode to My Mother
As an author, the biggest compliment you can get is a term paper as a review of your book.
So you can only imagine my excitement when I read a very detailed review of Yetunde An Ode to My Mother by a blogger. I think I had a massive smile on my face for 48 hours; I just could not help myself.
Here’s the full Review of Yetunde An Ode to My Mother:
Children’s books help young readers to understand the world, and not just the world that they know. Stories teach them about different lifestyles, cultures, and customs from around the world. Author Segilola Salami has provided young readers with a tale written in both Yoruba and English to expose them to a different culture but also to teach a universal lesson about the love between mothers and children in her new book, Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother.
Yetunde is a young child from African descendants growing up in England. During the course of the story, she listens to her mother tell an African folktale which doubles as a family history. Her mother’s story is very dark, filled with death and sadness about the loss of Yetunde’s grandmother. Yetunde is as understanding a listener as she is a naïve narrator, pulling off both roles despite her young age. She is a very unique character in that she is only nine months old and not able to express herself well verbally. She is still very confused about the world with the added complication of learning both English and her mother’s African language, Yoruba.
African customs and traditions are also highlighted and explained within the story. Salami is very aware of an English-speaking audience’s ignorance towards such customs, even adult readers, and she is careful to explain unique words and practices to the reader. She also throws in more familiar references for an English audience, sidetracking to mention them specifically, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, connecting the show to the story she is telling to help make it more relevant to the reader.
There is also the fantasy element to the story within the story, featuring a water god who plays an integral part in the parable. This water element represents motherhood, the central theme running through the story and shows how far a mother will go for her child, stating: “water has no enemy. Anyone who tries to fight with water has doomed himself.” The events turn terribly dark at points, trusting the readers of all ages to be able to handle these scary elements, from kidnapping to fantasy violence to personal loss.
Salami holds nothing back in order to tell her tale, showing that mothers cannot protect their children from the world, but they will fight for their safety, and children should arm themselves with knowledge of the world so that they can be aware of danger and use their mothers’ parables as more than a simple bedtime story. I like the idea of keeping children in the loop with the ways of the world, mixing the good with the bad. The world is a scary place, and the better you are at identifying evil, the more likely you will be able to stay away from, or at least ahead of it, another central theme in the book.
This is the third book that Salami has written featuring Yetunde. Without giving too much away, this Yetunde story ends on a cliffhanger, paving the way for future books. As Yetunde learns and develops, she teeters between a traditional African heritage and a modern English lifestyle, and as she begins to be able to express herself verbally in both languages, Yetunde is constantly taking in information from both perspectives, making her well rounded and open to multiple cultures and what they can teach you.
So do you think the reviewer did my book justice? Review of Yetunde An Ode to My Mother was originally posted here.
The post Review of Yetunde An Ode to My Mother appeared first on Segilola Salami.
April 12, 2016
The Segilola Salami Show – How to succeed as an author – tips by self published authors
Today on The Segilola Salami Show, I recap tips by previous guest authors on the show on how to succeed as an author.
To summarise:
Do not be afraid to ask for reviews
Make sure your ebook is available on Amazon
Use social media to be social, have conversations with people
Make your twitter posts go viral with CoPromote
Consider making your book available in other formats, not just ebooks
Monetise your website as an additional source of passive income
Get brand representatives; build a street team
Make sure your writing style is suitable for your book and audience
Decide for yourself if listing your book exclusively on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited programme is suitable for you
Here’s the link to the podcast on YouTube
The Segilola Salami show is hosted by Segilola Salami who is also an author and a self publishing strategist. She provides one to one support to aspiring authors to help them self publish their own books and make a success of it. Her latest book is called Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother. Part of the proceeds from the sales of this book goes towards helping UK Charity Jigsaw4u.
The aim of the show is to be entertaining but educative as we see guests share their experience on self publishing in a virtual cafe.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9am GMT London. Subscribe to the show now to listen to this and other episodes.
Join my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about self published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
If you are an author and would like reviews for your books, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list. As an author, you should be willing to review other authors’ books. You have to give to receive.
If you are a blogger or book lover, please subscribe to the list, you will be helping a lot of self published authors immensely
If you would like some guidance on how to self publish your book, you can contact me for one to one consulting
Connect with me via my website
If you liked the show please like, comment, share and support it.
The post The Segilola Salami Show – How to succeed as an author – tips by self published authors appeared first on Segilola Salami.
April 11, 2016
How to write a great press release
Festival of PR – best-practice webinar series
As an author, you may not realise this but you are a brand and if you want any amount of success in your writing career, you should treat your author brand as a small business enterprise.
To succeed as a business, people need to know that you exist. One way to achieve this is to write an official statement and issue it to newspapers. This is the process of writing and distributing a press release.
Writing and distributing a press release is essential and highly beneficial in many ways. For one, it gives you coveted backlinks to your author website, an amazing SEO strategy. The ultimate benefit is that it allows your book to be discovered more. More visibility equals more sales and that can only be a good thing.
However, writing a great press release is an art and not everyone can do this well. So if you want to improve on this, then learn how to write a great press release with Cision.
Media intelligence company Cision are launching a series of monthly webinars from 20th April geared towards guiding startups and SMEs on PR and digital marketing best practice.
The first webinar, “Five easy steps to great press release writing”, will be broadcast live on Wednesday 20th April between 3pm-4pm GMT with lots of opportunity throughout for Q&As.
During the first one hour live broadcast session – insight will be given on how you can create better press releases, including:
– Creating an effective headline
– Mastering the art of the perfect quote
– Capturing the journalist’s attention by the end of the introduction
Cision also offers a media intelligence tool – Cision PR Edition – which is a fully integrated platform that provides real-time media intelligence to keep you informed, put you in control and help power your story. Relevant data and up-to-the-minute information is always at your fingertips whenever you need it most.
To be eligible for Cision PR Edition at a special price, register for Cision’s webinar using the registration code ‘CPRE’. The Cision team will then get in touch.
Register for your webinar place here: http://bit.ly/cision-webinar-1
The post How to write a great press release appeared first on Segilola Salami.
April 5, 2016
The Segilola Salami Show – Kindle Unlimited, friend or foe?
Today on The Segilola Salami Show, we discuss Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited. It is a service that gives readers the freedom to explore. Readers can try new genres, discover new authors, and dive into new adventures with unlimited access to Amazon’s wide and varied selection of books. However, is Kindle Unlimited friend or foe to authors? Listen on to hear what our guest authors think.
Kindle Unlimited
Freedom to explore over 1 million titles and thousands of audiobooks on any device
We also discuss the self published book Being the Strong Man A Woman Wants: Timeless wisdom on being a man by Elliott Katz. There are some freebies up for grabs, so listen to the end (and see below) to find out more details.
Guests on today’s show are Leo Dufresne, Linda Wattley, Elliott Katz, Jeannie Ewing
Giveaways
Elliott Katz: I would like to give away 3 copies of my book Being the Strong Man A Woman Wants: Timeless wisdom on being a man. To enter for a chance to win one of 3 copies, listeners should type 1 + 1 = 3 as a reply to the comment I will make to this video’s page on YouTube. I will choose the winner(s) at random three days after it is posted.
Jeannie Ewing: I would like to giveaway my caregiver bundle that includes my book, Navigating Deep Waters: Meditations for Caregivers and some blank notecards with the words “I grow strong again” and “Out of the darkness and into the light”. To enter for a chance to win the package, listeners should type A IS FOR APPLE as a reply to the comment I will make to this video’s page on YouTube.
Linda Wattley: I would like to giveaway Soldier with a backpack, living and dying simultaneously. To enter for a chance to win one of 2 copies, listeners should type WACKY RACES as a reply to the comment I will make to this video’s page on YouTube.
Leo Dufresne: I would like to giveaway my novel, Touched Up. To enter for a chance to win one of 10 copies, listeners should type I Love Mitch as a reply to the comment I will make to this video’s page on YouTube. I will choose the winner(s) at random on April 28th.
Here’s the link to the video on YouTube
You can also support these authors and buy a copy of:
Soldier With a Backpack: Living and Dying Simultaneously by Linda Wattley on Amazon
Being the Strong Man a Woman Wants: Timeless Wisdom on Being a Man by Elliott Katz on Amazon
Navigating Deep Waters: Meditations for Caregivers by Jeannie Ewing on Amazon
Touched Up by Leo Dufresne on Amazon
The Segilola Salami show is hosted by Segilola Salami who is also an author and a self publishing strategist. She provides one to one support to aspiring authors to help them self publish their own books and make a success of it. Her latest book is called Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother. Part of the proceeds from the sales of this book goes towards helping UK Charity Jigsaw4u.
The aim of the show is to be entertaining but educative as we see guests share their experience on self publishing in a virtual cafe.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9am GMT London. Subscribe to the show now to listen to this and other episodes.
Join my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about self published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
If you are an author and would like reviews for your books, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list. As an author, you should be willing to review other authors’ books. You have to give to receive.
If you are a blogger or book lover, please subscribe to the list, you will be helping a lot of self published authors immensely
If you would like some guidance on how to self publish your book, you can contact me for one to one consulting
Connect with me via my website
If you liked the show please like, comment, share and support it
Share this Page
The post The Segilola Salami Show – Kindle Unlimited, friend or foe? appeared first on Segilola Salami.
April 2, 2016
Sunday Snippet – My Abigail
Hello folks, thanks for checking out my blog. Today’s Sunday Snippet is from David Kummer and his book My Abigail.
From David
My name is David Duane Kummer. I’m a freshman in high school, with a published novel and a collection of short stories.
I’ve been writing since I was young, with As Trees Turned Away being my first published work and She being my first published novel. Along with writing, I am an avid reader and watcher of all things horror, and enjoy writing reviews on them for others who might want to know my opinion on them.
When I’m not writing, I enjoy talking with my hilarious friends and amazing girlfriend, spending time with my loving family, watching movies, and working out to burn all of the calories I get from binge-eating Hawaiian Rolls. Those things are really addicting, am I right? I’d rather get payed in those than money.
I would love to get to know you better, so email me at davidkummer7@gmail.com.
Snippet of My Abigail:
The movie ended later than I had anticipated. My plan was to drop Abigail off at her house, but she insisted on walking back alone.
“How come?” I asked.
“I’m not even going home tonight. I’m spending the night at a friend’s house.”
“Which friend?”
She shrugged. “Whoever will let me stay.”
I was confused, and certain that it showed on my face. “You don’t know where? You’re just gonna walk until someone invites you in?”
“More or less.” She smiled. “But don’t you worry. I do it alot.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, so I nodded. “I guess I’ll just trust you.”
“Oh, and one other thing.”
“Yeah?” I asked. What now?
“Take a different route home.”
“What do you mean?”
She smiled, but I could tell it was a serious subject. “Don’t go past my house. And don’t go down that area, either. Take a different way.”
“How come?”
She didn’t answer. Abigail just walked off mysteriously, directly towards the busy street where cars flew past.
“I don’t know any other routes!” I called.
“Find one,” she yelled.
I watched in horror as she calmly strolled into the oncoming traffic.
Still going at the same, steady pace, she passed between the cars perfectly. Horns blared as cars screeched to a halt, but she kept going unperturbed. It made me shiver, just watching. Finally, she reached the other side and carried on down the road.
As she carried on, I expected her to turn onto the street where she lived, since I assumed most of her friends lived there. Instead, she kept walking, passing it by. Never looking back, never waving. Never going faster or slower.
“Creepy,” I said, trying not to linger on it. “Now… how am I gonna get home?”
I thought about ignoring what she’d said and taking my normal route. But the way she had said it -and acted afterwards- got me pretty freaked out. I turned and walked in the opposite direction. Anything to get away.
It was nearly dark, and my uncle would be furious at me when I got home late. He would probably think we were having sex somewhere. But at least I wouldn’t face whatever consequences lay on her street.
I wish she would have told me.
If you like what you have read, you can get the rest of the book on Amazon.
My Abigail by David Kummer
You can also help spread the word by sharing this page
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The post Sunday Snippet – My Abigail appeared first on Segilola Salami.
March 28, 2016
The Segilola Salami Show – Writing styles for authors
Writing styles for authors
Today on The Segilola Salami Show, we discuss the different writing styles authors can use in writing. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? There are some freebies up for grabs, so listen to the end to find out more details. Today’s guest is Tara Turner, she’s the author of Beyond Good Manners: How to Raise a Sophisticated Child.
To summarise, writing style is a personal thing, so you have to find your voice within you. Think about the type of book you are writing too. If you were to write both fiction and non-fiction, would you use the same voice? Is it appropriate to use the same voice? You alone can make that decision.
I read somewhere that a good writer is one who reads a lot. I think this holds true as reading a lot exposes you to a lot of other writing styles, thereby helping you find your voice.
So please, do read up as much as you can before you make your book available finally.
The Segilola Salami show is hosted by Segilola Salami who is also an author and a self publishing strategist. She provides one to one support to aspiring authors to help them self publish their own books and make a success of it. Her latest book is called Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother. Part of the proceeds from the sales of this book goes towards helping UK Charity Jigsaw4u.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9am GMT London. Subscribe to the show now to listen to this and other episodes http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/subsc...
Here’s the link to the video on YouTube. Tara has left a comment on there with how to connect with her and more details on her giveaway.
Join my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about self published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
If you are an author and would like reviews for your books, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list. As an author, you should be willing to review other authors’ books. You have to give to receive.
If you are a blogger or book lover, please subscribe to the list, you will be helping a lot of self published authors immensely
Connect with me via my website
If you liked the show please like, comment, share and support it
The post The Segilola Salami Show – Writing styles for authors appeared first on Segilola Salami.
March 27, 2016
Sunday Snippet – Beyond Good Manners: How to Raise a Sophisticated Child
This Sunday’s Snippet is from Tara Turner
About the Author
Tara Woods Turner is an etiquette consultant, author and content contributor. She lives in New York City and has been featured in radio, podcast and national blog interviews. She believes strong societies are built upon strong families. She also spends way too much time analyzing James Taylor lyrics.
Excerpt, “Beyond Good Manners: How to Raise a Sophisticated Child”
Let’s imagine you’re dressing for a dinner party and your child insists on wearing a glittery, sparkling ballet tutu instead of the $80 shantung capri pants you bought for her. What should you do? Let her wear the tutu. Crushing her sense of whimsy will do nothing to cultivate a sense of style for your child. It is not necessarily a battle of wills. She is simply trying to tell you something about herself. Listen carefully and then take the lead.
Compliment her ownership of her appearance and use it as an opportunity to open the conversation about choices. Explain to her that she can wear the sparkly tutu but she should understand that it is not the most appropriate thing in her closet to consider. Tell her that in this is an occasion there is room for negotiation, but also that this will not always be the case. Then unveil some awesome ideas to add to the fun.
You can show her how to further explore the topic of ballet and ballet costumes. She can read age-appropriate books on ballet and describe her favorite parts to you; watch documentaries on or video clips about actual child ballerinas; recreate a scene from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake with her dolls or arts and crafts supplies. Introduce her to basic French ballet terms such as pas de deux or pliè and see if she can reproduce the first five positions. Kick off your shoes and do it with her! In future she will don her tutu with pride because she not only earned it but because her appreciation is now informed.
More importantly, you have quieted her frustration – not her voice – and created a platform for growth and development. With time she will find more constructive, cooperative ways to display her individuality and creativity because you wisely chose to not make her behavior the basis for your response.
Connect with Tara Woods Turner
Twitter @ohtaratara
March 24, 2016
Get a free audiobook
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So what are you waiting for? Start off your free trial with a free audiobook. What could be better?
March 22, 2016
The Segilola Salami Show – How to build a street team
How to build a street team
Today on The Segilola Salami Show, we talk about street teams – who makes an ideal street team member? How do you recruit members to your street team? When is the ideal time to recruit members? What are the disadvantages to having a street team? There are some freebies up for grabs, so listen to the end to find out more details. Guests on the show today are Alex Okoroji, Felice Cohen, Ling Zhang and Yolanda Tucker
Here’s a summary of what was said:
You can put together your street team at any time, however, it would be more beneficial to do so before you release your book. That said, promotion is an ongoing effort, so you can always start at any time, even after you have released your book.
The members of your street team are your brand representatives. Yes even as an author you are a brand. So you need to make sure that the people you recruit can represent your brand effectively. Your street team can work online or offline or both.
Initially, you may want to consider asking family and friends to join your street team. Then you can put up posts online on social media sites to try to recruit members. For online recruiting, create a form that people can enter their details in, most especially their name and email address. You can use Google forms for this. Once you have a few people in your street team, it is important for you to make them feel ‘loved’ and know that their new team if fun but organised.
The first way to do this is to have a welcome pack ready. In your welcome pack, have a welcome letter that thanks them for joining your street team, tells them about you and your books, describes what is expected of them with the Dos and Don’ts and a calendar of your upcoming events. If possible, you can consider giving them a copy of your book. I definitely do recommend you doing so. I mean, how can one represent you effectively if they haven’t read your book? Finally, make sure that who ever you recruit is one who you are happy with representing you and your brand.
If it all sounds complicated and you would like someone to talk you through what you are doing, you can contact any of the guests on today’s show or you can contact me for a one to one consultation.
That’s it for today
If you would like to be in the audience for my next show, please subscribe to my Youtube channel
If you would like to sponsor the show, please do get in touch
The Segilola Salami show is hosted by Segilola Salami who is also an author and a self publishing strategist. She provides one to one support to aspiring authors to help them self publish their own books and make a success of it. Her latest book is called Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother. Part of the proceeds from the sales of this book goes towards helping UK Charity Jigsaw4u
Connect with me
Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Yetunde3DAnimation
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7OL37UtAJ-ULNnDGB0SiTg
Website http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/contact/
If you liked the show please like, comment, share and support it
March 19, 2016
Sunday Snippet – Rethinking Women’s Health: A Guide to Wellness
This Sunday’s Snippet is from Dr. Alison Buehler’s Rethinking Women’s Health: A Guide to Wellness by Sartoris Literary Group. It is a Self-Help, Female Health book that hit number #40 earlier this week on Amazon’s Women’s Health Kindle Books.
Since switching gears to raise three children, the author began a nonprofit organization with her husband, The Homestead Education Center, that provides writing, retreats, and workshops on personal growth, health and wellness. She lives with her family in Starkville, Mississippi on a small farm where they raise children, chickens, goats, vegetables, and bees.
The Snippet:
At my first doctor’s visit after moving to a new town where my husband had taken a job as a hospital physician, I told my OB/GYN, “I have the vagina of Job.” For those of you without a Judeo-Christian background, Job is the paramount example of what a person who is suffering looks like in the Bible. If anything can go wrong in Job’s life, it does. The same went for my vagina.
Eight years later, I know my OB/GYN very well and respect him as a physician and as a community member. He delivered our third child and walked me through half a dozen women’s health disasters, but I really respect him because he kept a straight face when I announced my vaginal woes in biblical terms.
When your female parts are not right, life is pretty miserable. I am writing this book because I wish it had existed when I was in the throes of battling my own vaginal upsets alone. Okay, so to be more clinical, the area is more accurately referred to as “vulvovaginal,” and reproductive health is incredibly encompassing. This book is about women’s health or sexuality in general, not just the lady parts. Divorcing vaginas from sex, sexuality, and human and cultural health is a big part of the problem. Still, my trouble started with my vagina.
If you liked that snippet, please support the author and buy a copy on Amazon.
