Briana Vedsted's Blog, page 13

Blogger Spotlight…Patti Hall

The blogger I’m spotlighting this week is Patti Hall from http://1writeplace.com/

Patti is such a sweet, kind person and she’s always eager to help out her wordpress friends, even if she’s only just met them, as I recently found out. I want to extend a very heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to Patti for talking with me the other day, and for speaking from her heart to mine. She really did make my day so much better.

 

Please go visit this splendid lady on her lovely blog!

http://1writeplace.com/2013/08/07/juicing-with-jon-a-pause-for-health/

http://1writeplace.com/all-about-me/

http://1writeplace.com/memoir/

The day she’s happy

She doesn’t know why.

Laughing, leaping, out of her mind.

A feeling she thought in her heart had died.

 

Dancing, spinning ’round the room.

Beautiful, glowing, filled with joy

She is finally rid of the gloom

 

A happy girl once more

Loving, giving, not a worry one.

Her soul is now free to soar

The new author on the block!

Hi everyone! I wanted to tell you about the newest author on wordpress. His name is Tony, and he recently published his first book, Abielia. Would you please do me a favor and stop by his blog,  http://writinginmontana.wordpress.com/, and say “Hi” to him for me? And I’m sure he’d welcome any hints you other self-published authors have to offer. Maybe you can give him editing or marketing tips.

Or you can even buy his book. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind that!   It is about a half angel / half demon who gets thrown out of heaven and must live here on earth until she can find a way back home. I’ve only just started it, but it looks like a very interesting book!

Memory Works

Here is my Customer Review regarding my Memory Works order experience.

 

I love to make cards and scrapbooks, but the only place I have to buy the materials I need locally is Wal-Mart, and they are rather limited. Always on the lookout for a new scrapbooking project to try, I found a blog that gave some very good suggestions for making scrapbooks. After searching the pages for a few minutes, I discovered the owner of the blog was a consultant for Memory Works!!! I was thrilled! She emailed me a catalog and I spent the rest of the evening going through it. It was really a dream magazine for the newbie scrapbooker. My consultant advised that I get a bottle of the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. (How did she know I loved sparkly stuff?) And I chose ‘Sun Sisters’, a beautiful golden orange glitter spray. I also got several theme sets for scrapbook pages. And of course, I couldn’t help but get the cute little Mint Julep cards and envelopes! Another thing that surprised me was the very economical cost of Memory Works products. They were much more inexpensive than Hobby Lobby, where I love to go, but rarely can afford to get everything I want. I mailed a check to my consultant, and as soon as she got it, she placed the order. It seemed like only days later when I got my package. I felt like a little kid at Christmas time. The theme sets are gorgeous! I almost don’t want to cover them up with pictures! And the glimmer mist! It is awesome! I tried it out right away! I love how subtle the glitter is. (I put this stuff on everything! Any blank piece of paper on my desk is now covered with gold glitter spray.) My consultant was friendly and patient with me and explained what the theme sets were, how many I’d need for a project, what other supplies I might be interested in, etc. She also gave me lots of new ideas how to set up scrapbook pages and cards.

I will most certainly order from Memory Works again! And I give my consultant five stars!

Check out my consultant’s blog, and ask her for a Memory Work’s catalog. If you love scrapbooking, you’re going to love this!

Ionia

I dream

Of floating away on the wings of a butterfly.

Nothing in the world can get to me.

I am so happy and free and at peace.

Always and forever, I am safe.

 

Ionia, we all love you and are thinking about you. You are in our thoughts and prayers! You are going to make it through this! Have Faith!

The Last Enchantress

I just finished reading The Last Enchantress by Scott and Judith Powell. It is excellent! I love this book! I have the older version, so I’m not sure how the new one ends, but this one is fantastic! I read it just as fast as I could! I didn’t want to put it down! But sadly, I have to sleep sometimes! LOL         I loved both the main characters, Eva and Louis. I cannot wait for the next book!!!

Here is my Amazon review:

5 STARS

I must say, I fell in love with this book the first time I saw the cover. It was just gorgeous. But the book itself is way better than the cover. It is excellent!

The main character, Eva, is a strong young woman, but not in the way that she seems invincible. She is smart and careful, but finds herself hopelessly falling for the dangerously handsome Louis.

I loved the way the authors wrote the book from both Eva’s and Louis’s point of view. I could visualize everything perfectly and felt like I was watching a movie instead of reading a book. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a new fantasy novel.

In Review: A Girl Named Cord

Of the many things I am, I am a reader. I write, certainly. I’m a mom too. And a reckless gardener. I have conversations with a time-traveling Pict Druid in my head and on this blog, but really, I’m a reader. I love to escape all that and just read.

I loved reading Briana Vedsted's A Girl Named Cord.

This is so awesome! Thank you so much Katie and D! You two are the best! :)

Self-publishing is still a mystery

I figured that after the first time, self-publishing a book would be a piece of cake. I was wrong. It is just as stressful, still just as time-consuming and nerve-wracking, and most of all, it is just as frustrating.

I had no idea what I was doing when I self-published my first two novellas. I just did it. And when one of them got to number #25 on the Western List, I was thrilled. (And I was dumbfounded as to why that certain book made the list when it only had one review and not many sales, opposed to the other, more popular book.) Also, I had no idea about marketing. I didn’t have custom cover art, beta readers/editors, or even a following for my blog yet. As a result, I didn’t get many sales.

So, I had a plan for my next book. I’d do more marketing. I’d do Twitter. I’d do Goodreads. I’d do Pinterest and Facebook (my personal page and the other two pages I manage). I got beta readers. I even got a cover artist. I posted a release date. I posted excerpts. I revealed the cover art (several times!).  And then, to my joy, I had four book sales the first day (on Amazon.com). I was so happy! I thought I’d figured out the system. I ranked at #88,970 in paid sales. But that was the only List I made it to. Since then, the ranking has steadily declined, and now I’m to #393,082 (it was #220,546 day before yesterday). I’ve sold one eBook on Smashwords and two paperbacks through CreateSpace. And that’s it.

I’m not sure how/why that happened. I thought I’d done everything correctly, and surly, this time, I’d have made it on to the Hot New release List or back onto the Western List. And I had no doubts that the book sales would have been better.

Where did I mess up? Do you ever really figure out the self-publishing system, or are you just throwing your book out to the wolves and hoping for the best? I welcome any and all advice. Though, I will warn you. I’m cheap. Marketing sites have to have options under $10 ($5 would be better, but I know I’m pushing my luck).

Or maybe it is just me. Maybe it is the genre I’m writing. After all, I don’t know if there is a big demand for YA Western books.

Pretty Pink Pixie Plate

Reblogged from Fall'N Love Crafts:

'Mommy! Mommy! They are real! I saw a fairy!'

Spark the imagination in your child with this one of a kind plate. Like a window into Wonderland, your little one can gaze at the petit pixie with the shining rhinestones and the soft, gauzy, yellow flower to her left. The fine strands of golden thread leads down to two stylish beads, who knows; they could be fairy toys!

Read more… 34 more words

Lovely! For any of you folks who have daughters, you should look into this pretty pink room décor item!

Blogger spotlight, lucky #7

The blogger I’m spotlighting this week is the charming Katie Sullivan from http://dadialogues.wordpress.com/

Katie and her character “D” always make me laugh, and they treat me like I’m part of their wonderful family. “D” and my character, “Billy the Kid”, get along splendidly and Katie and I are planning a ‘play date’ for the two of them really soon.

 Katie is an all-around talented and sweet person, and one of my best friends here on WordPress. You should stop by her blog and check out her upcoming book! Don’t forget to say “Hi!” to D, and I’m sure Katie would welcome all new followers!

Here are a few of Katie’s awesome posts:

http://dadialogues.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/running-amuck/

http://dadialogues.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/hope/

http://dadialogues.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/i-wanna-rock/

http://dadialogues.wordpress.com/books/defining-the-dialogue/