Amy Denim's Blog, page 4

The Coffee Break Way to Use Pics on Social Media

It’s Social Media Saturday!

Today’s Coffee Break Tips and Tricks is all about using pics on social media.

Why would you want to do that? Because posts, updates, blogs etc get more engagement that posts that are just text.

Who has time to go around taking pictures all the time to post them? Photographers. Ha ha. Kidding. You want to spend your time writing, not taking and making pictures.

Her are two quick and easy ways to get those great, original images for your social media platforms.

One of my  favorite resources is PicMonkey.

You upload your own pictures and then can add filters, text, frames, stickers and all kinds of other stuff. It’s free to use, but they have some premium features that you’d have to upgrade to use. (I still use the free version all the time.)

They even have some designs specifically for creating a Facebook header. Very cool.

You should also check out Canva. They have all kinds of images you can use and then easily do all kinds of fancy things to, like, ad words. They just happen to have templates that are the perfect size to post on social media. Yay! A bunch of their images are free, but beware, they have premium images that cost $1 each. You can also upload your own pictures to use here too.

Both offer the advantage to post directly to Facebook right from the app.

I made this on Picmonkey.

 

Have you ever posted a picture on Facebook only to have most of it cut off and all your left with is a weird photo of a torso? I totally have.

Not knowing what size pictures to use drives me batty.

Luckily, I discovered a great infographic to help resolve that exact problem.

It’s called The Ridiculously Exhaustive Social Media Design Blueprint.

Not only will you show you exactly how many pixels wide and high you need for all the various places to post pictures on Facebook, but also Twitter, LinkedIn, Google , Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube. It was created by the team over at Tent Social, which is a Social Content Marketing Agency.

Click on over to Marketing Strategy HQ to see it.

http://marketingstrategyhq.com/social-media-design-blueprint-infographic/#.VCCPZLMpnDY.twitter â¦

And, if you like social media infographics as much as I do, check out this post that shows you everything that’s every happened on the Internet EVAH in picture form.

http://marketingstrategyhq.com/social-media-infographics/

 

Have fun adding some more pictures to your social media platforms.

Amy Denim.

 

The post The Coffee Break Way to Use Pics on Social Media appeared first on Coffee Break Publishing.

How to Have More Time to Write

 

There’s a lot of work to being a writer besides, you know, writing. You’ve got to market, promo, be on social media, file your taxes, (find all the receipts you’ve been saving to file your taxes), send something to your critique partner or beta readers, go to writers group meetings, take craft classes and don’t forget to READ. Ack! Itcan be really overwhelming.

How in the world are we supposed to get all that done and pump out a kick-buns manuscript?

Coffee Breaks.

Yep, you read that right. The key to getting taking control of your writing career is – no, not more caffeine, but taking ten to fifteen minute breaks in your writing flurry to let your brain have a break and get your ‘work’ done at the same time.

My first few years of writing I flailed around quite a bit. (Don’t we all.) One year, I’m pretty sure I wrote more words on social media than I did in my current WIP. Woops. Another year, I finished half of four different manuscripts. Not good. I always felt like I didn’t have enough time to write, and there were so many other things I needed to learn or get done if I wanted to have a successful writing career. Ugh.

I knew if I wanted to really make a go of being a full-time writer I needed to focus, stay motivated and get a whole lot more words on the page. My struggles led me to develop a completely new strategy.

I didn’t develop this idea overnight. In fact, it took me two years to really embrace the idea that I really could take care of the business side of being a writer and actually write. But once I started talking with some of my other author friends about what I was thinking and doing they were all very interested in trying it out too. Their enthusiasm inspired me to put all my ideas into business books for writers, and the Coffee Break Guides for Writers were born.

Now, I’m living the dream, getting to write and talk about writing with other writers. So as you continue to read on, hear my voice in your head in a very excited (and slightly nerdy) tone.

Amy’s top five tips to taking control of your writing career

Take Career Coffee Breaks

When you sit down to write, it’s a good idea to take a brain break, get up from your desk, grab a drink and stretch at least once an hour. When you do that, take a few minutes of your break to check in on your favorite social media platform, write a section of your business plan or you know, actually read for enjoyment. By the time you’ve finished your coffee (or Mountain Dew or Earl Grey) fifteen minutes or so later, you’ve done a great job on your task it’s time to get back to writing.

Pick one thing to be a rock star at today

If you know you need to build your online platform choose one social media platform to be on today and be good at it. If you haven’t written your business plan yet, and it’s looming over you making growling noises, pick one little section, like say, your marketing plan for the next book, and write it. Then tomorrow you can tick something else off your list of to dos. One step on a journey of thousand miles and all that.

Focus by having a plan

It’s so easy to scroll through your Facebook newsfeed, get lost in research or spend hours tracking your daily sales, author rank and royalties on that pretty spreadsheet that has become your life (that’s not just me, right?) and the next thing you know it’s two o’clock in the morning and you’ve only written twelve words today because you got lost in a time space continuum (called the internet) for the last five hours Phew!

Well, you’re going to whittle that down to fifteen minutes, set a timer if you have to. Know what you want to work on during your coffee breaks before you open your WIP. If you’re having a social media coffee break use the power of three. Three scrolls through to see what’s going on with your friends/followers/fans, three replies/comments and three posts or shares, and make three friends.

Do what you like to do and outsource the rest

If you don’t like doing a certain aspect of the writer biz, like say, promo or taxes, don’t force yourself to do those things. I’m not saying ignore and don’t take care of your career, but focus on what you’re good at or like to do and find someone to help you with what you can’t stand doing.

For example, I hear from writers all the time that they hate Facebook or Goodreads or Twitter or some other social media network. If you throw up a little bit in your mouth at the thought of tweeting then don’t. Find what you like and do that. You like to write, maybe blogging is your thing. Same goes for all the aspects of the biz. If you hate it, you won’t do it anyway and then you’ll just feel guilty.

Use your resources wisely

This goes along really well with number four. None of us know how or like to do everything to do with having a writing career, so find somebody who does and make friends. I only know the basics of building a website, but my good friend Diane over at Novel Website Designs does. But Diane, oh, she struggles with social media. So we trade. Every once in a while we get together for coffee and she helps me with my websites and I train her on how to enjoy being on social media and build her platform.

We all develop different skill sets in this line of business. I’ll bet you’re good at something. Yes, you are. If you’re a writer, you’re a reader. So offer to trade beta reading with someone in your local writers that is awesomesauce at promo for some marketing tips.

 

Start with these ideas and if you want more, check out The Coffee Break Guide to Social Media for Writers: How To Be Successful on Social Media and Still Have Time to Write and The Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans for Writers: The Step-By-Step Guide to Taking Control of Your Career.

Do you have questions about the Coffee Break Mentality? I’m happy to answer questions on social media or business plans too! One lucky commenter will win a copy (your choice of Kindle or paperback) of both the Coffee Break Guides!

 

Available now in ebook and in print on Amazon and coming in June to other retailers 

 

Available now in ebook and print at Amazon, and in ebook at Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords and more!

Good luck!

Amy Denim

 

The post How to Have More Time to Write appeared first on Coffee Break Social Media.

5 Reasons you need an author’s business plan

I love talking the business of being a writer, which is, of course, why I write books about it!

The second book in my series of business books for writers, Coffee Break Guides, just released on Christmas day. The Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans for Writers: The Step-By-Step Guide to Taking Control of Your Writing Career came about when I started out to write my own business plan.

Why would an author need a business plan? I’m glad you asked. *wink*

You are a business. No, really.

The second you made the decision to get your work published you became a business. Unless you truly are just writing for yourself, your grandma, and your dog and don’t plan to ever sell your work, than welcome to the publishing industry. It’s big business. We may write for years and years before getting published, and it could be years after that before you actually make any money from your efforts, but every business has a start-up phase. No, we aren’t a traditional business that goes to the bank to get an SBA loan that required a spreadsheet-filled tome. But applying for funding is only one small part of why you might want a plan. What that means is that you, writer, don’t need a boring traditional business plan. Because you’re in a creative industry, you get to create a right-brain business plan. Yay!

 

Keep the taxman happy.

Okay, you’re on board with the whole “I’m a business” thing now, right? Right. And what do businesses do? They file business taxes. *cue scary slasher movie music*

The IRS has a really “interesting” page on their website with questions to help you determine if your writing is classified as a hobby or a business. Having a business plan can help you answer “yes, I’m a business” to five out of the eight questions. Here’s an example:

The IRS: Does the time and effort put into the activity indicate an intention to make a profit?

Your Business Plan:Why, yes. Just look at my word count/time tracker, my detailed ten-year goals plan, my budget, my marketing plan, and my competitive analysis.

(All the resources listed in that answer are available as templates you can download at www.coffeebreaksocialmedia.com/books/resources.)

 

I really, really, really recommend you get yourself an accountant to help you file your taxes, especially if it’s the first year you’re going to file for your business. It will cost a little bit more than say, buying TurboTax, but not too much. And in the end, it’s totally worth it when you avoid (or win) the audit game.

 

Keep yourself accountable.

I have manuscript ADD. A shiny new idea for a book easily steals my attention from my current work in progress. Instead of Ritalin, I have a business plan to keep me on task. And if I use that plan to hold me accountable, at the end of the year I’ll have three beautiful manuscripts completed instead of twelve half –finished, semi-plotted, next best-sellers waiting for me to find the time and dedication to write them. An important part of any business plan is a production schedule. If you’re traditionally published you already know that publishing waits for no (wo)man. If you don’t turn your next book in on time, you’re book’s release day could get pushed anywhere from a month to two years! If you haven’t sold or published a book yet, it’s a great idea to get into the habit of creating deadlines for yourself and keeping to them to practice up. You won’t need Jiminy Cricket to keep you on task. Always let your business plan be your guide.

 

Increase your productivity.

Accountability and productivity are totally BFFs. I know when I first started writing seriously I had grand goals (and they were all over the place – see the previous comment about ADD.) But did I achieve them? Not even close. Why? Because I hadn’t written them down and didn’t really keep track of what I had to do, or what I had actually gotten done. When you create a business plan those things you need to be successful become much more real (and easier to keep track of.). If you laminate that sucker and put it up on your wall/mirror in your bathroom/mobile above your bed you’ll be able to check items off as you complete them. How great would it feel at the end of the year to know you actually accomplished your career goals? Yeah, that’s right. It feels party on, excellent.

 

Measure your success.

Have you ever told someone you’re a writer and have him or her ask you how it’s going? What was your answer? Anything like, “Umm. It’s good.” But did you really know? I didn’t used to. How do you measure your success? I know a great way. Create a business plan and at the end of the year evaluate how you did. (You knew I was going to say that, didn’t you?) The great thing about creating your own goals, budgets, and evaluations is you get to decide what success means to you. The Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans for Writers can help you make those decisions and even has a whole section on evaluating yourself at the end of the year. The next time someone asks you how your writing career is going you can answer with a resounding “amazeballs!”

 

What do these reasons for having a business plan mean when you put them all together? It’s about you taking control of your writing career. Really successful businesses have really strong business plans. Really successful authors do too. I encourage you to become the writer you really want to be, to realize your dreams this year, be it to publish your first book or become a NYT best-selling author. And let a business plan help you do it. Make your 2014 ROCK!

 

I do love to hear from you and I also love to spread the Coffee Break love. Three lucky commenters or link-backers in May will win an e-book copy of The Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans. I’ll draw a winner at the end of the month and announce here on the blog on June 1st. Be sure to check back to see if you won!

If you can’t wait and just neeeeeed to get a copy of this handy dandy book now, it’s available on Amazon, and will be available at other retailers in June 2014.

 

Good luck!

Amy Denim

The post 5 Reasons you need an author’s business plan appeared first on Coffee Break Publishing.

5 Reasons you need an author’s business plan

I love talking the business of being a writer, which is, of course, why I write books about it!

The second book in my series of business books for writers, Coffee Break Guides, just released on Christmas day. The Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans for Writers: The Step-By-Step Guide to Taking Control of Your Writing Career came about when I started out to write my own business plan.

Why would an author need a business plan? I’m glad you asked. *wink*

You are a business. No, really.

The second you made the decision to get your work published you became a business. Unless you truly are just writing for yourself, your grandma, and your dog and don’t plan to ever sell your work, than welcome to the publishing industry. It’s big business. We may write for years and years before getting published, and it could be years after that before you actually make any money from your efforts, but every business has a start-up phase. No, we aren’t a traditional business that goes to the bank to get an SBA loan that required a spreadsheet-filled tome. But applying for funding is only one small part of why you might want a plan. What that means is that you, writer, don’t need a boring traditional business plan. Because you’re in a creative industry, you get to create a right-brain business plan. Yay!

 

Keep the taxman happy.

Okay, you’re on board with the whole “I’m a business” thing now, right? Right. And what do businesses do? They file business taxes. *cue scary slasher movie music*

The IRS has a really “interesting” page on their website with questions to help you determine if your writing is classified as a hobby or a business. Having a business plan can help you answer “yes, I’m a business” to five out of the eight questions. Here’s an example:

The IRS: Does the time and effort put into the activity indicate an intention to make a profit?

Your Business Plan:Why, yes. Just look at my word count/time tracker, my detailed ten-year goals plan, my budget, my marketing plan, and my competitive analysis.

(All the resources listed in that answer are available as templates you can download at www.coffeebreaksocialmedia.com/books/resources.)

 

I really, really, really recommend you get yourself an accountant to help you file your taxes, especially if it’s the first year you’re going to file for your business. It will cost a little bit more than say, buying TurboTax, but not too much. And in the end, it’s totally worth it when you avoid (or win) the audit game.

 

Keep yourself accountable.

I have manuscript ADD. A shiny new idea for a book easily steals my attention from my current work in progress. Instead of Ritalin, I have a business plan to keep me on task. And if I use that plan to hold me accountable, at the end of the year I’ll have three beautiful manuscripts completed instead of twelve half –finished, semi-plotted, next best-sellers waiting for me to find the time and dedication to write them. An important part of any business plan is a production schedule. If you’re traditionally published you already know that publishing waits for no (wo)man. If you don’t turn your next book in on time, you’re book’s release day could get pushed anywhere from a month to two years! If you haven’t sold or published a book yet, it’s a great idea to get into the habit of creating deadlines for yourself and keeping to them to practice up. You won’t need Jiminy Cricket to keep you on task. Always let your business plan be your guide.

 

Increase your productivity.

Accountability and productivity are totally BFFs. I know when I first started writing seriously I had grand goals (and they were all over the place – see the previous comment about ADD.) But did I achieve them? Not even close. Why? Because I hadn’t written them down and didn’t really keep track of what I had to do, or what I had actually gotten done. When you create a business plan those things you need to be successful become much more real (and easier to keep track of.). If you laminate that sucker and put it up on your wall/mirror in your bathroom/mobile above your bed you’ll be able to check items off as you complete them. How great would it feel at the end of the year to know you actually accomplished your career goals? Yeah, that’s right. It feels party on, excellent.

 

Measure your success.

Have you ever told someone you’re a writer and have him or her ask you how it’s going? What was your answer? Anything like, “Umm. It’s good.” But did you really know? I didn’t used to. How do you measure your success? I know a great way. Create a business plan and at the end of the year evaluate how you did. (You knew I was going to say that, didn’t you?) The great thing about creating your own goals, budgets, and evaluations is you get to decide what success means to you. The Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans for Writers can help you make those decisions and even has a whole section on evaluating yourself at the end of the year. The next time someone asks you how your writing career is going you can answer with a resounding “amazeballs!”

 

What do these reasons for having a business plan mean when you put them all together? It’s about you taking control of your writing career. Really successful businesses have really strong business plans. Really successful authors do too. I encourage you to become the writer you really want to be, to realize your dreams this year, be it to publish your first book or become a NYT best-selling author. And let a business plan help you do it. Make your 2014 ROCK!

 

I do love to hear from you and I also love to spread the Coffee Break love. Three lucky commenters or link-backers in May will win an e-book copy of The Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans. I’ll draw a winner at the end of the month and announce here on the blog on June 1st. Be sure to check back to see if you won!

If you can’t wait and just neeeeeed to get a copy of this handy dandy book now, it’s available on Amazon, and will be available at other retailers in June 2014.

 

Good luck!

Amy Denim

The post 5 Reasons you need an author’s business plan appeared first on Coffee Break Social Media.

Is it lunchtime already? My social media uh-ohs

I love Some E-cards because of the true, but snarky insight into the world, especially when it comes to social media.

My own biggest social media fail? The space-time vortex of Facebook, Twitter, etc known as The Timesuck. (Dun dun duhhhhhhhhhhn)

Uh-oh. How many times has this happened to you?

Last year I’m pretty sure I wrote more words on social media than I did on my WIPs. Woops.

But I had to build my platform, right? Ugh. How to combine writing and being on social media…

Coffee Breaks.

Yep, you read that right. The key to getting both done was – no, not more caffeine, but taking ten to fifteen minute breaks in my writing flurry to let my brain have a break and get my online socializing done at the same time.

Here’s what I came up with.

The Coffee Break Mentality

1. Pick one social media site and be really good at it. Only after you’re comfortable using that one (and doing it well, not being a spammer) pick a couple more to pop onto every once in a while.

2. Take Social Media Coffee Breaks. When you sit down to write, it’s a good idea to take a brain break, get up from your desk, grab a drink and stretch at least once an hour. When you do that take a few minutes of your break to check in on your favorite social media platform. Say hi to a few people, post a funny Some e-card and by the time you’ve finished your coffee (or Mountain Dew or Earl Grey) you’ve done a great job on social media and it’s time to get back to writing.

Don’t be a Some E-card meme. If you’re wasting time ‘phaffing’ about on social media try my Coffee Break Mentality. Start with those two ideas and if you want more, check out The Coffee Break Guide to Social Media for Writers: How To Be Successful on Social Media and Still Have Time to Write.

***Comments and Contests***

I do love to hear from you and I also love to spread the Coffee Break love. Three lucky commenters or link-backers in January will win an e-book copy of The Coffee Break Guide to Social Media which was released November 15th, 2013. I’ll draw a winner at the end of the month and announce here on the blog on February 1st. Be sure to check back to see if you won!

Good luck!

Amy Denim

Coffee Break Guide to Social Media Goodreads Giveaway ends Jan 3

Want to win a copy of the Coffee Break Guide to Social Media for Writers: How to Succeed on Social Media and Still Have Time to Write?

There are three copies available over at Goodreads, but the giveaway ends in just a few days.

Enter quick before it’s over.

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway


The Coffee Break Guide to Social Media for Writers
by Amy Denim

Giveaway ends January 03, 2014.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

Need help creating your author business plan for the new year? Here’s a workshop that will help!

It’s New Year’s resolution time again.

[image error]CRW website

Hope to see you there!

Best Wishes,

Amy Denim

The Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans for Writers release day!

Hurray! It’s release day for the newest book in the Coffee Break Guides series today.

 

Say hello to the Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans for Writers: The Step-By-Step Guide to Taking Control of Your Writing Career.

 

 

 

“After reading this book I was ready to start writing my author business plan. The steps Denim gives are exactly what I needed.” ~ Heather Lire, author of the Holiday, Vermont series. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you first started writing all you thought you needed was a good story, the right words and the time to write. But there’s so much more to a writing career than putting words on the page. Having a business plan is a big part of moving your writing from being a hobby to a profession. But who has the time to sit down and write a report style tome filled with scary numbers and boring mission statements. The Coffee Break Guide to Business Plans breaks the ideas you need for your plan into manageable parts that you can work on during your coffee breaks and takes the traditional business plan sections and transforms them into ideas for your creative brain.

You’ll learn:

- How to create SMART goals

- How to track your query letters, book sales, rankings and more

- How to create a budget for your income and expenses

- How to evaluate your plan

- What you need to do to become an author entrepreneur!

Buy this book and take control of your writing career today!

 

 

***To celebrate the release of this book,
it will be on sale for 99 cents until Jan 1, 2014.***

When you grab your copy, feel free to stop back by the blog and leave a comment. Can’t wait to hear how you all like the book.

Best Wishes,

Amy Denim

 

 

What’s your writing view? I Need some inspiration!

 

Here’s a quick Coffee Break Blogs idea for you. You can copy and paste any of the information below to use in your own posts.

Every couple of days or so one of my favorite writers, Jill Shalvis, shares a picture of her view while writing. They’re usually photos of a shining lake, picturesque pine trees and sometimes a painting-like snow-covered landscape. And I’m always insanely jealous. See, I write in the basement where my outside view is of the window well, which is usually covered in fly corpses caught in the spiderwebs.

To counteract the less than inspiring landscape I often find pictures of places I’ve been or want to go and post those in my office. They’re great inspiration for setting in my novels.

Here’s my latest inspiration.

 

Fantastic possibilities are down this road

I also try to hit a couple of writing retreats a year and always take snapshots of those writing views. This year I got to spend a week in Paradise Valley, Montana. Inspiration, coming up.

That little bench is calling my name

Here’s an idea for a quick Coffee Break Blog that you can do using inspirational writing view pictures, too.

Blog Title: This view today has got me inspired! #amwriting

Blog post content:

The walls of my office seemed a little uninspiring today so I’ve found this picture of (describe your ideal view). Wouldn’t this make a a great setting in my current WIP – (Working Title)?

Add Media: Use Flickr or a few of your own pictures to find a great view picture. Then paste it anywhere in the blog post. It might also be fun to post a photo of your actual office for comparison.

Question: I love hearing from my readers, so tell me, what are some of your favorite views? You can post pictures to my Facebook page (now list the link to your page – example www.facebook.com/AuthorAmyDenim) Use the hashtag #GreatViews and tell me why you like this scenery. I’ll chose a few of your favorite pictures and post them on the blog.

Follow up blog: When you get a few responses to your post you can do a follow up post, just like this one, but thank the fan/follower for some new inspirational writing views.

 

***Comments and Contests***

We do love to hear from you and we also love to spread the Coffee Break love. Three lucky commenters in December will win an e-book copy of The Coffee Break Guide to Social Media which was released November 15th, 2013. We’ll draw a winner at the end of the month and announce here on the blog on January 1st. Be sure to check back to see if you won!

Can’t wait to see if you get a free copy of the book? You can buy it now on Amazon:

The Coffee Break Guide to Social Media: How to Succeed on Social Media and Still Have Time to Write

 

Tell us, writers, what’s your favorite writing view?

How in the world do you add custom tabs to a Facebook Fan page?

You know those little boxes that are under your landing page picture on your fan page?

How the heck do you get those to do anything besides show photos, videos and likes?

I’ve been researching exactly that!

And all I can say is oi. Could Facebook have made it any harder? Probably.

But, never fear!

Here are two quick and easy ways to add some custom tabs to your page to help readers and fans get to know you and your books a little better.

FreeBoosky has a very easy to use app that allows Facebookers to read an excerpt from your book. Readers will get a glimpse of your bio, with options to join your mailing list and/or share you with their friends. They’ll see your books with a buy link and the option to download a free chapter. You can even list any signing or books talks you’re doing so fans can come see you in real life.

The best part of this app is it’s ease of use. It’s very user friendly and if you have any trouble using it FreeBoosky has a page on their website to talk you through it. Click on the FreeBooksy logo to go straight to their app page.

 

 

You’ve listed your book on Goodreads and claimed your author page, right? Right.

Next step is to add the Goodreads tab to your Facebook page. This one is a piece of Easy Bake Oven cake.

First make sure you’re logged into Facebook on your fan page. Now go to your author dashboard on Goodreads. (The link to your dashboard should be right there on the top right handside when you login to Goodreads.)

Scroll down to the bottom of the dashboard to the section that says Facebook Page Tab. Now, just follow their directions. Voila!

When fans click on this tab they’ll see your bio, books by you, reviews of your books and other fun stuff from Goodreads like books you’re reading.

 

***Comments and Contests***

We do love to hear from you and we also love to spread the Coffee Break love. Three lucky commenters in December will win an e-book copy of The Coffee Break Guide to Social Media which was released November 15th, 2013. We’ll draw a winner at the end of the month and announce here on the blog on January 1st. Be sure to check back to see if you won!

Can’t wait to see if you get a free copy of the book? You can buy it now on Amazon:

The Coffee Break Guide to Social Media: How to Succeed on Social Media and Still Have Time to Write

Tell us, dear readers and writers: Have you discovered any other quick and easy Facebook tabs? Or have you used a service to create customized tabs for your Facebook page? Let us know what worked and what didn’t!

***

 

Happy socializing,

Amy Denim