Sally Ember's Blog, page 76
March 23, 2015
This Changes Everything Title-Sharing: Thanks, Naomi Klein! Your Best-Seller is Boosting my Sales!
This Changes Everything Title-Sharing: Thanks, Naomi Klein! Your Best-Seller is Boosting my Sales!
A book can have similar titles or the same title as numerous other books, since titles can’t be copy-protected or trademarked, usually. Has any of you had the experience of having a book’s success (or failure…) influence your book’s visibility and/or sales/downloads due to its having a similar or the same title?
Well-known researcher, feminist and author, Naomi Klein, released her best-selling book on climate change about one year after I released my first ebook, using This Changes Everything as her book’s title, which is identical to MY Volume I of The Spanners Series‘ title.
Look what is happening on Amazon (this is a screenshot of what follows my book’s reviews section on my TCE’s Amazon book page. Click to see a larger image):
Here is her book’s cover:
BORING, right? But, hey, it’s nonfiction, so what does anyone expect?
Here is mine (from the great artist/illustrator, Aidana Willowraven) http://willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/:
Which one would YOU rather read? Sci-fi/aliens, right?
Plus, hers costs money and MY Volume I is PERMAFREE!
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HFELTG8
Smashwords link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197 all ebook formats, here.
The Spanners Series‘ Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, is only $3.99 and also available everywhere ebooks are sold.
Well, thanks, Naomi! I appreciate the blow-back!
Best of luck to you and me for our book sales!
Filed under: Gratitude, Marketing, Science Fiction and Fantasy, The Spanners, This Changes Everything Tagged: Amazon, Amazon book sales, Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything
March 22, 2015
Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, June Carter
A #video of early #countrymusic stars for your enjoyment today! Thanks for posting, Roy Hamric!
Originally posted on the roy hamric journal:
“How High’s The Water, Mama?”
Here is a stunning early video of a Pete Seeger program featuring Johnny Cash and June Carter singing songs back and forth to each other, including “How High’s The Water, Mama?” and other gems. Cash is in his early phase. His voice and control are fresh, natural, and of course uniquely Cash. Cash and Carter come on the program about 8 minutes into the 1-hour show. Listen to all of it…brilliant banjo picking by Seeger and a chilling song about coyotes. The program is here.
Filed under: Writing
March 21, 2015
Linguistics 101: Appreciate Our Languages on World Language Day
“World Language Day”? Who knew? Great maps! #linguistics
Originally posted on Publishing Insights:
World Language Day is an event held by some universities in the U.S. to popularize knowledge of world cultures and languages among general public, particularly high school students (e.g. MSU,UNCO, etc). Being linguistics student myself, I couldn not help but join this endeavour. So this post is, in a sense, not specifically for writers/publishers, but for language users — which is all of us!
We all speak at least one language — in fact, more than half of the world’s population speak two or more languages (Tucker, 1999). Language is so ubiquitous that we can easily take it for granted, but it is also said to be one of the most central characteristics that set us off from other species on this planet. What is so special about human language? Why does it differ greatly from animal “languages”? Three properties make our language distinct from any other animal communication…
View original 634 more words
Filed under: Writing
#AUTHOR RESOURCES CENTRAL UPDATE…
Visit “The Story Reading Ape”‘s site and get cranking on improving your #writing gigs! #authors #resources
BTW: Chris is one of my online husbands, now. I claim him.
Originally posted on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog:
In an ever evolving effort to make this blog a better resource to Authors, Writers, poets and fellow bloggers, I have created and updated the following pages to index various external sites and in-blog articles that I HOPE will be useful to Authors – Newbie or Seasoned:
Click HERE to access the individual links.
Author Promotion and Support Organisations
Book Reviewers
Design Services (Book Covers, Logos, Buttons, Posters, etc)
Guest Author Promoting Blogs
Information about CreateSpace, Smashwords and Kindle
Information about Business, using MS Word, Media and MORE
Marketing Yourself and Your Work
Professional Book Editors
Professional Editors Tips
Proofreaders
Publishers
TSRA Affordable Custom made Book Covers
TSRA Affordable Trailers
Virtual Assistants
WordPress BLOG BACKUP TIPS
This index and associated pages will be added to over time :D
Filed under: Writing
Blog Advice 1: Increasing Your Traffic
Great ideas and #blogging #tips from Suzie! WORD!
Originally posted on Suzie81 Speaks:
One of the most common questions I am asked by fellow bloggers is, in my opinion, one of the most difficult to provide a definitive answer to:
How do I increase the traffic that I receive to my blog?
Before I begin, I think that it is important to note two important points:
Building a following and, consequently increasing your traffic, takes lots of time and effort. You are extremely unlikely to receive thousands, or even hundreds of views simply by pressing the publish button.
Content is key. Well-written posts will draw new people in, and encourage them to visit again. Posting page after page of inspirational quotes looks pretty, but will leave your audience bored after a while. Be yourself, make no apologies and believe in what you are creating.
I know very little about SEO, so I don’t feel experienced enough to comment it. However, in my experience…
View original 1,487 more words
Filed under: Writing
March 17, 2015
I am NOT Irish and/or Catholic and I do NOT wear green: don’t you dare pinch me today!
I am NOT Irish and/or Catholic and I do NOT wear green: don’t you dare pinch me today!
The tyranny of those who go around pinching those who don’t enjoy the “wearing of the green” or celebrating St. Patrick’s Day has got to stop.
Most of us couldn’t care less that some people have a random holiday today and aren’t drinking anything (green or otherwise). We resent being touched, much less hurt, by drunk and/or celebrating strangers.
By the way, in case you care, here is a bit of history about this so-called “holiday”:
1) The actual person who was beatified after his death into sainthood by the Catholic Church wasn’t even Irish, but Ireland made “St. Patrick” into its “patron saint.”
2) It’s mostly become an excuse to drink alcohol, especially for those who had been observing Lent by abstaining from alcohol, because on THIS day, they are absolved from Lent obligations.
3) The “wearing of the green” was a prime form of protest against the British governance of Ireland during rebellion centuries/decades. Green has little to do with St. Patrick, since the color originally associated with that saint was blue, but political and union protesters adopted the color green in the 1790s to represent Irish unity and then tacked it on to St. Patrick’s Day later.
4) St. Patrick’s “Day” is now celebrated for almost an entire week in Ireland, with parades, drinking, concerts, fireworks, sales and general rowdiness. It’s become an alcohol and tourist festival with few or no references to Irish Unity, Independence, Catholicism or Saint Patrick.
5) Somehow, dying things green, especially liquids, has become part of the way people, businesses, entire cities and nations “celebrate” this day. Check this out. It’s absurd, in my opinion:
The White House, USA, fountain, 3/17/11
Want to know more? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day
SO: Do whatever you want on this day or any days around it. Just leave me out of it. I’m a Buddhist/Jewish USA midwesterner who doesn’t drink.
Filed under: Opinions Tagged: alcohol, Catholics, green, Irish, St. Patrick's Day
March 16, 2015
A Little Improv Can Go a Long Way with Dementia
Excellent advice for anyone dealing with those with memory loss, dementia and other related problems. Best to laugh privately, though! Thanks for posting! Sharing!
Originally posted on Long Distance Daughter:
Credit: Tom Magliery
Most days, dad sleeps a lot. But today, he’s wide awake. He’s on the phone, yelling at me. He’s so angry, but there’s sadness in his voice, too. “I don’t have any money, I don’t have a car. I don’t even have any shoes,” he tells me. “And I’ve got to go down and see mom and dad.”
Now, my dad is 92 and his parents have been gone for decades. He has money in bank accounts that he doesn’t remember how to access, and he has a car he’s no longer able to drive. These days, his shoes mostly stay in the closet. He wears his slippers when he has the energy to walk down to the dining room to eat with his friends Leo and John, or when he gets the urge to bust out of the skilled nursing wing where he lives. He heads…
View original 766 more words
Filed under: Writing
Clean Indie Reads #MarchMadness #Sale starts TODAY, March 16 – 20, 2015
Clean Indie Reads (CIR) March Madness Sale, 2015
It’s March Madness time with a mega book sale by Clean Indie Reads (CIR) authors from March 16 through March 20, 2015.
CIR, the home of “flinch-free fiction,” connects readers with authors who write “clean” fiction encompassing all genres, including books for children, middle-grades kids and young adults as well as books for adults in mystery, romance, paranormal, fantasy (which includes sci-fi), contemporary and historical fiction.
“Clean” doesn’t mean all books featured are squeaky-clean, Disney-Princess pure, but the CIR imprimatur does mean that CIR books contain no erotica, no sexually explicit scenes, no offensive language, graphic violence or gore.
With the March Madness sale, you can load up on CIR books at bargain prices! Happy Reading!
There is also an excellent BLOG HOP going on throughout the sale, so you can visit many great sites and read more about these authors’ books: http://sweetbloghops.blogspot.com/2015/03/clean-indie-reads-march-madness.html
Yippie! THE SPANNERS SERIES ebooks are included in this great Sale!
—-Vol I, This Changes Everything, is PERMAFREE.
—-Vol II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, is 60% off this week only (down to $1.99) via coupon on the CIR sale page and Smashwords book link (which offers all ereader formats).
http://www.cleanindiereadsale.com/
Filed under: Indie or Self-Publishing, Marketing, The Spanners, This Changes Everything, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Volume I of The Spanners, Volume II of The Spanners Tagged: Book sale, CIR, Clean Indie Reads, discounted books, free books
March 15, 2015
The Sunday Show – Defining Moments – Mary Ann Pérez – Author, Blogger and Survivor
Thanks for featuring me last week on “Defining Moments.” Let’s check out this week’s author, Mary Ann Perez!
Originally posted on Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life:
My guest today has recently published the story of her early life. It is one that would make of us immediately feel incredibly sad for the young child that suffered so much and then fell into a disastrous and violent teenage marriage. But, Mary Ann Pérez has written her story from a different perspective and does not come across as a victim but as someone amazingly strong and courageous who has turned the past into an inspiring story of hope.
Mary is Puerto Rican born in the Bronx, raised in Miami and then moved to Houston. She has been happily married for the second time to a ‘phenomenal’ man for the last twenty years and has four grown children and two grandchildren. She has been writing her memoirs for some time but has only recently felt comfortable sharing her story. As she says she needed first to confront her past…
View original 2,006 more words
Filed under: Writing
March 14, 2015
NEIGHBORHOOD STONEHENGE
More whimsy needed in your life? Get to know Jnana even better this Wed. on *CHANGES* conversations between authors! Sally Ember, Ed.D. hosts Jnana Hodson, novelist/ poet/ genealogist/ blogger/singer, LIVE on March 18, 10 – 11 AM EDaylightT USA, on Google+ http://goo.gl/sGeWS9 or Youtube: http://goo.gl/O0w9kU
Originally posted on Jnana's Red Barn:
It’s sited on the wrong side of the house to record either the solstices or the equinoxes, but it’s a whimsical reminder all the same.
Filed under: Writing
