Stephen Burckhardt's Blog: My Blog Ramblings, page 76

What to Write, What to Write . . .

I was reading advice about blogging for authors yesterday. It stated that an author should use their blog to talk about their books. I know, duh, right? But they suggested that is all you should talk about in your author blog, not your process, not your life, just your books. But does this make sense?My life and process is so wrapped up with my books that, for me at least, it is all part of the same thing. My books are extension of me and my imagination. These characters are alive and running around my head all the time. It is very difficult to separate it all. I think that is part of the reason I love using my friends' and family member's names for my characters. It just blends it all together for me that much more. I visualize my characters better, not actually as the people I named them for, but it does help be imagine them as more real. I came up with the idea of the Into the West Saga Serial story a long time ago when I met a woman who's mother had come to Kansas on the orphan train. The family who took her in treated her more as a hired hand for their farm and not as a member of their family. When the parents died, they left everything to their son and nothing to her. The son thought of her as his sister and did give her a little money but not much. It was such a sad story I wanted to go to The Orphan Train museum in Kansas to learn about these children. I did make it there about seven years ago. I learned many stories like this there and while researching the orphan train. The idea for this serial just never went away. When I got married and changed jobs, I thought the time was right to try my hand at being an author and had to start with this story. Some of the bits from the orphanage scenes in Into the West: The Orphan Train comes from stories my dad and his sisters told me while I was growing up about the years they spent living in children's homes in Oklahoma. Specifically, the scene where Elizabeth gets caned comes from a story my dad told me about the children's' home.Every novella is peppered with stories from my own family history and from things I learned while studying communications and forensic criminology. There will be more such stories to come rest in the rest of the series as well. So, keep reading and see if you can spot actual events that are taken from real life experiences. Thanks for following my work,Stephen

I Fought Gravity and Gravity Won!

I had been on a good work track and was just chugging along at a good pace but last Friday I got derailed yet again. This train analogy will be amusing when you hear what I did. So . . . last Friday, P.R. and I were going to a doctor's appointment for me. We were early and didn't need to rush. Things have been great here lately and we were both in a good mood. As we started to get closer to the train stop in our neighborhood, I saw an early train pulling into the station. I looked at P.R. and said, "Let's run for it."Now, with the neurological condition I have, I'm not supposed to run. Even when I walk, I tend to have trouble picking my toes up sometimes and I tend to trip a lot. I'm sure some of you can guess where this is going. P.R. and I take off jogging toward the train station. We aren't running hard because if we miss this train it's no big deal. It was't even time for the train we really needed, we were just having fun. We needed to cross a street to reach the train platform, and since there were no cars coming, I took off and crossed against the light, something I never do. P.R., who is used to me always waiting for the crosswalk light to change before I will cross, stayed put. After I get safely across the street, I jog toward the platform, then it happens. I drag my toes on my right foot and start to go down. Now, I was holding my coffee tumbler in one hand and a messenger bag with paperwork and a few odds and ends in the other hand. In my mind I start to do a slow motion collapse to the ground. I had time to think, How am I going to catch myself? and, This is gonna hurt! Then I hit, face first, into the cement train platform. I would say it knocked me senseless but when you considered I was already running for "fun," I was obviously already senseless before the fall. Luckily, this was very early on a Friday morning and there was only one other person on the train platform besides us to see me do this. Poor P.R. was still on the other side of the street and was only able to watch it happen. I am dazed, and honestly, can't see very well. I get up sit up and realize someone is talking to me but they are just a dark blurry figure. A few things had flown out of my bag on impact and the very kind young man who was the other person at the station with us had come over and was picking everything up for me while I tried to remember where I was and what I was doing there. I thanked him and assured him that I was fine as I stood up and just started to walk to the bench on the platform. Halfway to the bench I remembered that P.R. was with me. I looked back to a very unhappy P.R. still standing on the other side of traffic from me. I just waved and pointed toward the bench then trudged on over there. When P.R. was able to finally cross the street and get to me, I just had to laugh. I looked at P.R. and said, "At least if I'm ever going to do something this stupid, I picked a day I was already going to see my neurosurgeon. The timing was actually pretty perfect." P.R. was not nearly as amused as I was. So, long story short, I ended up with a mild concussion and now I have to go back to the neurosurgeon for another checkup. I'm black and blue and very sore but I will be okay. I've had a headache and been nauseated and dizzy all weekend but I will be okay. Just another day in the life of a colossal klutz. Now, people might think I'm joking about that but there is actually a medical supply memorial collection I left at my parents house. There is a big bag filled with Ace Bandages, air casts, slings, and braces from OTC neoprene braces to heavy duty doctor prescribed braces, If there is a way to twist, strain, or sprain it, it's a safe bet I've done it at least once and probably more than once. So this is nothing new for me. Luckily, writing is something I can do with very little physical effort. So, I will get back on track today starting with this blog. I'm going to get a few more short video ads ready to post then I will get back to work on the books for the rest of the day. Thanks for sticking with me. I figure if nothing else, my life should be entertaining for you all or, at the very least, will serve as a cautionary tale. Thanks for following my crazy life and work!Stephen

Just a Brief Update

I wanted to let you all know I have made a change on my website. I had a page that was News & Reviews but that has changed. It is now Reviews and Ads. I took the "News" off that page because most of the time now when I have news I either make a quick video ad about it or I post a blog. The little blurbs I had on the "News" page really were redundant. So from now on, I will keep posting "News" in these blogs, like I'm doing right now, and keep things a bit more concise.That is all for now. I return you to your internet surfing.

Just a Quick Note

I wanted to let you all know I have made a change on my website. I had a page that was News & Reviews but that has changed. It is now Reviews and Ads. I took the "News" off that page because most of the time now when I have news I either make a quick video ad about it or I post a blog. The little blurbs I had on the "News" page really were redundant. So from now on, I will keep posting "News" in these blogs, like I'm doing right now, and keep things a bit more concise.That is all for now. I return you to your internet surfing.

Technology is a Blessing and a Curse

[image error]Today has been very frustrating. My computer was acting up and I had to contact my tech support guys to get things working again. They did that in a few hours but it killed my writing momentum. When technology works, it can really make your life simpler. Sad thing is, it seems like it screws up more than it works some days. Then there is also the internet connection. We paid to have high speed internet put in the house and when it stays connected, the speed is great, the problem is it keeps losing the dang connection! It doesn't matter how high your high speed connection is if it can't keep connected! It's days like today I wish I could just go back to a typewriter! But if we were back in those days, I wouldn't have this website to connect to all of you or be able to self-publish my books. It is definitely a trade off. Occasional convenience traded for a slightly higher blood-pressure when it doesn't work.

The New Cover Art is LIVE!

I checked online a few hours ago and all the new cover art is finally live on all the sales pages. *sigh of relief*I had no idea it was going to take as long as it did for all the art work to show up in the websites after I clicked to have them published on the production pages. It was supposed to take from 24-72 hours but there was a notice that I needed to clarify something about my keywords (which I had not changed from the first printing) before they could process my cover change request.I missed this because I thought it had to be a mistake as I had not changed any of the keywords since the first publishing of any of the books. After I got that straightened out things were processed without a problem but it cause more of a delay that was anticipated. But none of that matters now as everything is live and the redesign is basically finished with just a few minor tweaks here and there to make sure I have everything updated across all of the social media platforms I have. But that is something for tomorrow. Now, I'm going to go play with my advertising app and make another short video to post online. The advertising is obviously working because I have had visitors from all over the world checking out my website. It's pretty cool when you see people from the other side of the planet checking out your work. Even if my sales don't go up right now I'm still getting attention. I'm pretty happy about that.

The New Cover Art is Slowly Showing Up

It looks like the new cover art is slowly starting to filter through the websites. All but one is showing up on my author page on Amazon and I'm still just waiting for the paperbacks to change on Barnes and Noble's website. The cover art for Into the West: Sharon Springs is almost finished, I'm learning more and more about using my video clip ad software, and I've got my weekend cleared for writing. Things are moving in the right direction . . . finally . . . again.I'm really liking this advertising app. It's Ripl. It is so easy to use and has so many options. You can even make several ads at one time and then schedule when you want them to be posted to your social media. I plan on making several different ads this weekend and set them up to post throughout the next week to try out the schedule function. So far its worked great. I hope to be able to give a few spoilers on Monday for those who are interested in such things. So keep watching the blogs.

Not all Self-Publishing Sites are the Same.

I had been toying idea of taking my books off of nook and just going with Amazon so I could enroll in their exclusive deal and earn a higher percentage rate when I sell a book. But after trying to change the cover art on the books, I realize the Barnes & Noble self publisher is so much easier to work with and I actually seem to earn more money on their site. Who knew?If they only had their own exclusive deal to earn a higher percentage rate on there, I'd consider dumping Amazon and just going with B&N. When I went to change all the cover art for the books that are currently on sale, it took me just a few minutes per book to change the covers on B&N's site. It was changed on their website a day later. When I went to Amazon and Create Space to change them, it took me several minutes to and an hour to get everything changed on those sites and the new images haven't shown up online at the time of this writing. Who knows how long it will take to for it to finally upload. At least going forward I know which site I will work with first. It actually does my heart good to have my books available with B&N. I worked for them for thirteen and a half years. I loved that job! I hope one day I get to walk into a brick and mortar store and find my books on their shelves. That will be the day I know I have really made my dream of being a writer come true.

Pretty Pleased with Myself Right Now

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty happy with all the changes we have been making with my website and the book covers. For a few years now, I knew in my head where I wanted to take this all but I wasn't quite sure how to get everything lined up the way I wanted it. Plus, life kept getting in my way. I feel like I'm getting on a roll now of where I want to be with my western serial. I'm excited to write again and can't wait to share with you all the rest of Elizabeth and Conner's story. There are some surprises yet to come for these two and I can't wait to share them with you. I have so many other character and story lines running in my head that I really need to get out. I hope you will all enjoy them as much as I enjoy coming up with them. It looks like it's going to take a few days for all the changes to show up across the different platforms I have been using for my books. While that is processing I'm going to start making some videos to advertise the serials and maybe even work up an ad or two to put out when book three is ready to go. Of course, if we do a live video sort of thing, it will be Dianne doing it. I have no interest in that sort of thing. I have never liked public speaking and never will. I will stick to writing and let Dianne to all the talking.So thanks for hanging in there with me, folks. With any luck things are going to start progressing quicker from now on. Time to enjoy the progress. Cheers!

New Designs are Here!

Dianne has been busy working on a complete redesign for me. We have a new look for the website and for all the books covers. Everything follows a similar color scheme and design. The book covers finally achieve the continuity we had been searching for so they all have an individual appeal that goes with the story but also has a similar basic design so you know they are all part of the same serial. So far she has all of the changes made on the website, Amazon, and Create Space but as it is 4 am where she is, she had to give up working for the night but will get the changes made on Barnes and Noble's sites tomorrow. We will also be looking at if it is financially better to take the books off of B&N.com and just go with the exclusive deal with Amazon. If we do that, I will make a higher percentage of profit off of each of my books sold but I have sold more books on B&N recently than on Amazon. I'm not sure it will really make much of a difference at this point. We are really only talking a difference of a few dollars but if I should start selling more copies, it could end up making a difference. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the new cover art and worry about the rest tomorrow. Check out the new website design and cover art and let us know what you think.