Stephanie Verni's Blog, page 36

Summer Reading Poem

[image error]Summer reading

For pool or beach

It’s right here 

Not out of reach

Stories to warm 

Your heart and soul

Reading should always 

Be a goal.

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My books got a new photo shoot today, and below is the third ad of the new book’s campaign. All available on Amazon.com and bn.com.

Have a good day!

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Creative People, Please Listen: Ignore the Noise and Carry On! A Pep Talk.

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A friend of mine, a fellow author, and I were having an email exchange about the nature of people. As the two of us are both authors, one with a publisher (my friend) and one going it alone on the independent author lane (me), we were discussing the way people sometimes behave when you decide to put something out there–when you decide to be brave and publish your work. Some people are genuinely ecstatic for you–they jump for joy and are over-the-moon (we love you.) Some people support you quietly (we love you, too). Some people pay attention to what you are doing but say nothing (we also love you, but wish you were more interactive). Some people ignore you altogether (it’s your prerogative). And some people, well, these are the tricky folks—they kind of wish your work would die a slow death, you would succumb to failure, and then you would fall off the face of the planet (we don’t get you). So, in an effort to attempt to cheer my friend up, I decided to offer in writing my thoughts and lessons I’ve learned as I’ve been on this rollercoaster.

As I have just published my fifth book (four fictional books, one academic textbook), I’ve seen all kinds of reactions at this point. And here’s what I’ve learned from my creative endeavors:

It’s made me more cognizant of my own behavior and reactions to good works, and made me even more ready to offer sincere and heartfelt congratulations to others, especially my friends.
It’s made me not want to be one of those people who is cranky and unhappy for others.
It’s made me want to high-five people and cheer people on even more when they do something they should be proud of (especially my students who GO FOR IT).
It’s helped me realize there is plenty of room for all of us to feel some success or contentment with our projects.
It’s heightened my belief that we must do what we must do, regardless of the reaction, or how difficult the climb.

And finally, it’s also made me recognize THIS!

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What I mean by sharing this particular proverb is that you just have to keep on doing what you are doing and ignore all the noise surrounding your work. Don’t let others affect your approach to your work; you are in the driver’s seat where that is concerned. So many successful writers have talked about this, from Elizabeth Gilbert to Ernest Hemingway.

Carry on. Do your thing. Create your creations. Go for your goals.

Creative people, it’s imperative that you LISTEN TO ME NOW! Be innovative and rise above all the BS you hear. The only noise you should ever pay attention to is the noise in your own head saying these words:

I must continue to create, to do what makes me happy.

There, I’ve said it.

I feel better now.

And so should you.

And so should my friend. My dear friend who deserves all the success and happiness in the world.

Now I can share with you ad #2 in the campaign for The Postcard and Other Short Stories and Poetry.

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Rolling Out An Ad Campaign for The Postcard

One of the things I didn’t do well when I launched my three prior books was to create a social media ad campaign. Nowadays, it’s imperative that we do this–to help spread the word about our work. And as my fellow writers who undertake this challenge can attest, it’s about writing, editing, producing, and then MARKETING. And this is the most difficult aspect.

As a professor at a university, I teach a course called The Advertising Campaign. In that course, students must create their own campaigns over the semester and then pitch them. As I always say about teaching—the wonder of it and the beauty of it—is that you get to teach the students things, and in turn, they teach you. Bouncing ideas off of each other in class and sharing our thoughts about campaigns, copywriting, and content is so helpful, and benefits us all as we begin to create and innovate.

In that spirit, I’ll be sharing with you here the campaign for The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry that I’ve put together, week by week. Today’s first ad is probably my favorite, and it will help set the tone of the campaign that follows.

If you’re an independent author, consider creating your own social media campaign to help spread the word about the book you labored to create. After all, it’s great to produce something, but that something needs to be read, right? These promotional ads can also be used in print, too, and I’m currently trying to decide which publications suit me—and my books—best.

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The Downside of Being A Writer

[image error]Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

While there are so many pluses to being a writer—namely that we have the privilege of passionately telling stories through our own lenses—there is a downside, at least from my perspective.

The downside has become increasingly more clear to me the older I get. It makes me pause more than I used to. It leaves me with notebooks full of scribblings.

The downside that I am talking about this morning, as this blog post came to me all at once (you know, with the lightbulb going off and all that jazz), is that when we are writers and intent on telling stories, we are also part psychologist, as we try to understand people, places, actions and things that cause us to do what we do. I ask more questions than I used to when I hear stories or want to dissect a situation, and then I ask follow-up questions to those stories. I dig in a lot, trying my best to comprehend conflict and what makes people tick.

And that’s the downside.

The reason why it differs when you are a writer is that sometimes you are not only listening to stories to lend an empathetic ear, but also to gain information. It’s difficult to turn off that “writer brain,” because it seems to always be working–and it often works overtime.

The underlying word that must be associated with writers is the word CURIOSITY. Wanting to delve deeper into personal stories, challenges, triumphs, and recovery stories requires us, as writers, to get to the heart of it. Even after watching something as simple as a movie or television show or biography about an historical figure, I find myself Googling more about those people, reading about their backgrounds, and understanding more about what makes or made them tick. It’s fascinating to uncover the driving forces behind celebrity-type folks as well as regular folk, because all of us constantly make choices and decisions for better or for worse.

I have notebooks of ideas for stories. I meet someone and hear their story and think, “This could be a novel–or at the very least–a short story.” Sometimes the stories are reinterpreted. Sometimes I am observing someone in a public place and I know nothing about them. I find myself constructing a possible backstory for him or her–what led him or her this point in his or her life? Often, I set out to write that story, guessing at the parts I need to fill in when I write fiction. And that’s where I have to be clever and let the imagination take over in order for creative work to emerge.

The truth of the matter is, we all have a story to share, and stories are all founded on something tangible. As Miles Channing, a character in my third novel Inn Significant who is a travel writer said, “Everybody has a story, Milly. Some are just told better than others.”

[image error]And as writers, the responsibility is that we have to tell them well.

My new book is called The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry; it is a collection of stories that allowed me to delve into characters and their respective situations, mindful of their hopes, dreams, and attitudes. I hope you’ll come along for the ride and see what you think, and let me know how I did in bringing their stories to life.

The Ugly Side of People

[image error]The Ugly Side of People is a short story that’s one of 22 in my new book, The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry. It’s about gossips and judgmental people, and I have never shared it here before, not even in its early stages.

We have probably all been gossiped about at some point in our lives, and as well, we have most likely gossiped about others. While some gossip can be idle and harmless (but still not nice), some is not. It can most assuredly be hurtful and intentional. Gossip can lead to bullying and worse. It’s a good reminder for all of us to heed what the Bible says in Ephesians 4:31: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

This story evolved after I witnessed something happen many years ago when I overheard gossip about a person some folks knew little about–or had any understanding of the situation the person was going through, for that matter. They say you shouldn’t judge people when you have not walked in their shoes, for how can you ever really know what goes on behind closed doors? How can you ever really know what someone is going through, especially when they keep it to himself? Watching this situation unfold as it did, and profoundly seeing the harmful effects of gossip for the first time, prompted me to write a story about a girl who has lost her husband and the town gossip has taken over.

It’s a good reminder for all of us–this writer included–to watch our tongues and be cognizant of our hearts.

It all comes down to being kind, really, and the story reminds me of Maya Angelou’s wonderful quote she said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

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Book Launch – Day Two Promo

[image error]It’s been over 24 hours since the book launch, and since then, I’ve heard words of congratulations, encouragement, and a few people who say I inspire them to tackle their own writing projects. These sentiments couldn’t make me happier. I hope I’ve inspired others to write and publish. That makes my day!

Because there are 22 stories in the collection, and because I want to showcase them each in their own way, I’m going to share each story’s promo from The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry. I’m also busy setting up my press room on the site which will contain  information about me and my books.

Here’s today’s promo. It’s from a short story included in the book—the only one about baseball as I harken back to my days working in the sport—called The Slump. I thought it was appropriate since tonight is Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. And it’s only the second baseball story I’ve written besides Baseball Girl, my second novel.

The Slump is the story of a Major League Baseball pitcher’s slump, the reporter who covers it, and the future Hall-of-Famer who acts as the middle man when things get dicey.

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A Note of Gratitude

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BIG NEWS! Book Launch Today! The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry

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THE POSTCARD AND OTHER SHORT STORIES & POETRY- available NOW!

Three years later, and today is the day.

It’s a strange feeling to let this work go, because I’ve been holding on to all of it for far too long.

[image error]At my father’s suggestion, I decided to put all of this work I’ve created over the years into one collection. I’ve included little stories to warm your heart or make you feel less alone; compiled a little book to take with you on vacation for summer reading; created something you can tackle and finish because the stories are all short, so you can read at your leisure.

It took a long time to pull this collection together because I took time to write, edit, rewrite, finesse, alter, redraft, edit, design, and finally complete each story.

I hope you like what I’ve put together for you.

The book is available on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

More to come later this afternoon.

Thanks for your support, all!

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My PR Person Is Tired

My PR person has been working really hard on and off all weekend to get my promos ready for this week as I get set to launch Book #4, The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry. She’s extremely tired and needs to go to bed, but she thought it might be a good idea to share a teaser ad from the collection of short stories. If you’ve never given short stories a try or if you often find yourself saying the phrase, “I never finish a book,” or “I don’t have time to read,” then this particular book might be up your alley. You will be able to finish it because the short stories are, well…short. They move quickly. And they will offer you some satisfaction because you’ll actually finish them quickly and you’ll say, before long, “I finished a book.” I’m saying all this because I remember what it was like when I had small children and wanted to read, but had the hardest time doing it, because by the time they went to bed, I was falling asleep next to them. Plus, we all work like dogs and like to live a little, so sometimes reading isn’t a top priority (not to mention that we’re in love with our phones, which can be a big distraction from reading.)

Honestly, I fell in love with writing by reading short stories and then reading novels. I knew when I read Rosamunde Pilcher’s novel “The Shell Seekers” that I would someday strive to write and publish a book.

If you can find some time, you may enjoy reading the short stories I’ve assembled. Twenty-two in total and a handful of poems that are my favorites.

It only took me three years to make this happen, aren’t you proud?

And my PR person? Well, that’s me.

And I’m pooped.

I’ll let you know when the book is live on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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What Matters Most: Reflecting

[image error]When you’re about to launch another book into the universe, you have to keep yourself grounded. You can’t set your expectations too high, and you can’t set them too low. You have to keep your feet firmly planted where they are and do the best that you can to spread the word about your books and your writing because it is all about choices: you have chosen this path of self-publishing.

When I begin to become frenzied and nervous, I remind myself over and over again why I do this type of challenging work on the side and why I invest so much time in it. I have to remember what matters most.

The answer comes to me clearly. I do it for love.

For the love of writing.

For the love of storytelling.

To prove to myself that I can put a good product out there.

To be an example for others who have the same dreams and aspirations.

And, quite frankly, because I’d feel incomplete if I didn’t do this work.

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Tomorrow will be a big day. It will be the day book number 4—The Postcard and Other Short Stories and Poetry—will be birthed.

It will go out and have a little life and some people will read it, and from there…

Who knows.

This journey has no guarantees.

No journeys do.

And that’s what makes them so exciting.

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