Rob Bignell's Blog, page 298

Writing Inspiration: Getting outside support

Do you dream of becoming a writer but always have an excuse for not actually writing? If you’re excuse is “There’s no one to critique my writing for me to get better,” think again. Join a writers’ group, whether it be online or one that meets locally. Share your writing with them.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like St. Louis, Missouri, or a small town like Cheesequake, New Jersey, I can provide that second eye.

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Best time to promote your book on Pinterest

When promoting your self-published book, the social media tool Pinterest ought to play an important role in the marketing strategy. Knowing when to pin, however, can maximize your efforts.

According to a number of studies, the best time to pin is 2-4 p.m. weekdays and on Saturday mornings. This is particularly true for fashion and retail businesses, and one might extrapolate from that books, since they are retail products.

As the weekend approaches, more users tend to be on Pinterest. Peak use occurs at 3 p.m. Friday.

Of course, these times are relative. If your business is national, you need to pin over a longer spread of time than 2-4 p.m. in your time zone, or you’ll miss the peak times in other parts of the country. For example, if your business is based in Chicago (Central Time), you would aim messages for the East Coast (i.e. New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh) at 1-3 p.m. Central Time and messages for the West Coast (i.e. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle) at 4-6 p.m. Central Time.

If you have limited hours to spend promoting your book, consider cutting Facebook but keeping Pinterest. Studies show that more social media users engage with retailers and brands via Pinteret than Facebook (55% vs. 48%). Note, though, that Facebook has more users than Pinterest, so in terms of raw numbers, those percentages may be irrelevant.

The absolute worst time to pin are morning work hours. Though people are on Pinterest during this time, the number of users drops considerably compared to the earlier mentioned peak hours.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like San Diego, California, or a small town like Eek, Arkansas, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Inspiration: Your writing process

What is your writing process? Think back to the stories you’ve completed and write down the general steps you used. Are those steps similar to the one described here? Are there steps in the process that you don’t follow?

Use the writing process described in the link to pen a single 5-6 sentence paragraph. How does the final version of the paragraph compare to other passage for which you didn’t use the writing process?

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Minneapolis, Minnesota, or a small town like Nothing, Arizona, I can provide that second eye.

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Flow of knowledge: Pore vs. pour

Blame a little used and almost lost meaning of pore for the confusion between these two words.

A pore is a small opening, such as a skin’s pores. That makes it a noun. Pour means for something to flow rapidly and often continually, as in Pour me a glass of milk, please.

Usually the confusion regarding these two words occurs in the verb phrases pore over and pour over. Since pore typically is a noun, pour would appear to be the correct choice when writing a sentence such as He pored over the readout.

Pore, however, can be a verb meaning to meditate on. This verb is rarely used in modern times, but it is the source of the phrase pore over meaning to study closely.

Pour over only means to allow something to flow over another item, such as He poured milk over his cereal.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like New Haven, Connecticut, or a small town like Bullfrog, Utah, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Prompt: Try something risky

Suffering from writer’s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine.

To that end, try this tip: Risk means being vulnerable. Accepting that as a writer is vital to developing your skills. So go ahead and try writing something you’ve never done before – a poem if you write prose, a novel if you’ve only written short stories, fiction if you write just nonfiction. Don’t worry about getting it “right.” Your goal is to make yourself more comfortable with taking risks as a writer.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Seattle, Washington, or a small town like Uncertain, Texas, I can provide that second eye.

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How to create bulleted lists in ebooks

One of the big problems with ereaders is that they lack the ability to translate fancy symbols used to make bulleted lists in Microsoft Word. The result is that a bullet point ends up being a letter or set of numbers, which looks unprofessional and can confuse readers.

The first rule to follow is to never use Microsoft Word’s built-in bullet list function. Most print-on-demand software such as what Kindle DP uses won’t recognize Microsoft’s coding for the bullet list. Instead, you get an indentation mess on the ereader.

Also avoid exotic fonts that won’t translate. For example, if a reader chooses to view the ereader text in an Arial font but you formatted the manuscript so that the bullet points are in Wingdings font, there’s no corresponding symbol in Arial. Instead, the bullet point ends up being a letter (In this case, often a “g” or an “n”.).

Further, avoid the poor man’s approach to bullet points, which involves not indenting the line and using a dash or an asterisk in place of a bullet point. This looks fairly unsophisticated.

The solution to creating translatable bullet points in Microsoft Word is quite simple. On a PC, hold down the ALT key and hit 7 on the keypad (Remember that you need to have NUM LOCK on to use a PC’s keypad.). On a Mac, hold down the OPTION key and hit 8 on the keypad.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Miami, Florida, or a small town like Normal, Illinois, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations about Books

“Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.” - Louis L’Amour

“The love of books is a love which requires neither justification, apology, nor defense.” - J.A. Langford

“Thus I rediscovered what writers have always known (and have told us again and again): books always speak of other books, and every story tells a story that has already been told.” - Umberto Eco

“So many books, so little time.” - Frank Zappa

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Austin, Texas, or a small town like Bald Knob, Arkansas, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Writing Inspiration: Don’t worry about mechanics

Do you dream of becoming a writer but always have an excuse for not actually writing? If you’re excuse is “I’m horrible at grammar and mechanics,” think again. For five minutes, write whatever comes to you, paying no attention to grammar, spelling, punctuation or the quality of the text. Simply write.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like San Antonio, Texas, or a small town like Toad Suck, Arkansas, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Best time to promote your book on Google+

When promoting your self-published book, the social media tool Google+ ought to play an important role in the marketing strategy. Knowing when to share, however, can help you maximize your efforts.

According to a number of studies, the best time to share on Google+ is 9-10 a.m. weekdays. This is because many people check the posts of those in their circles shortly after signing in to look at their Gmail.

Indeed, peak use occurs at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Of course, these times are relative. If your business is national, you need to pin over a longer spread of time than 9-10 a.m. in your time zone, or you’ll miss the peak times in other parts of the country. For example, if your business is based in Chicago (Central Time), you would aim messages for the East Coast (i.e. New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh) at 8-9 a.m. Central Time and messages for the West Coast (i.e. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle) at 11 a.m.-noon Central Time.

If your book is aimed at the 45-54 year old demographic, using Google+ is a good idea. That age group is the fastest growing demographic of Google+ users.

The absolute worst time to pin are early mornings and evenings. Though people are on Google+ during this time, the number of users drops considerably compared to the previously mentioned peak hours.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Detroit, Michigan, or a small town like Carefree, Arizona, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Inspiration: Were You Taught a Writing Process?

Were you taught a writing process in school? What were its steps? How did you respond to it? If you used it, what were your thoughts about how useful it would be for the rest of your writing?

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Phoenix, Arizona, or a small town like Last Chance, Idaho, I can provide that second eye.

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