Courtney Wendleton's Blog, page 24
October 27, 2016
4 Ways to Increase Your Chances of a Book Sale
by Kelly D. Smith
When you publish your book and you want to make an income off your writing, it’s important that you get your work out there and find ways to increase your chances of sales. So I wanted to offer a few quick tips on how to get more sales, and coming up in the next couple of weeks I will be offering a list of more (less detailed) ideas to increase chances of getting your work out there and that should help increase sales.
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Guest Post by Rob Hayes: It’s Not Steampunk. It’s Alchemypunk
Hailing from all over England; north, south, and everything in between, Rob J. Hayes is the author of the dark fantasy series The Ties that Bind and also the steampunk caper series It Takes a Thief… He’s also an avid card gamer, reader of books, watcher of things, and player of video games.
The second book in the It Takes a Thief… series, It Takes a Thief to Start a Fire, is available October 25th from Amazon. You can find out more at http://www.robjhayes.co.uk.
It’s Not Steampunk. It’s Alchemypunk
I’ve now written 2 books in my It Takes a Thief… series and I’ve noticed something. They invariably get lumped into the Steampunk genre. Why? Because they have airships and folk who talk fancy and wear nice clothes. That’s actually about where the similarities end.
A brief search for the definition of Steampunk comes up with this:
Steampunk is a subgenre…
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How to Write Male POV Stories
by Teagan Berry
Writing is difficult. The carefully crafted plot, the perfect climactic moment, the creation of three-dimensional characters. All of these and more are required to make a believable and plausible novel. And then there’s the point of view (P.O.V.). I’ve already written here about the different points of views out there for authors, along with their benefits and drawbacks, but then the gender of the character speaking plays a role as well.
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13 Reasons Authors are Mistaken for Serial Killers
Today’s post is a repeat because I am scrambling to get ready to fly to L.A. for the Writers’ Digest Conference, but I think this is a truly fun post that is perfect for Halloween and also get get you guys fired up for NaNoWriMo. Writers really are a strange breed and just so y’all know? The normal ship sailed without you a long time ago so relax. Your family or friends might not “get” you but we do.
I love being a writer. It’s a world like no other and it’s interesting how non-writers are simultaneously fascinated and terrified of us. While on the surface, people seem to think that what we do is easy, deep down? There is a part that knows they’re wrong. That being a writer, a good writer, is a very dark place most fear to tread.
In fact, I think somewhere at the BAU…
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October 22, 2016
Happy National Color Day!!! – What colors mean to us? What is your favorite color?
National Color Day is observed annually on October 22 . This day was created as a day to learn how colors influence our mood, productivity and behavior in our everyday lives.
Color has long been used to create feelings of coziness or spaciousness. However, how people are affected by different color stimuli varies from person to person.
Color can carry specific meaning.
Different colors are perceived to mean different things. Following is one rendition of perceived meaning of different colors in the United States.
Red: Excitement – Love – Strength
Yellow: Competence – Happiness
Green: Good Taste – Envy – Relaxation
Blue: Corporate – High Quality
Pink: Sophistication – Sincerity
Violet/Purple: Authority – Power
Brown: Ruggedness
Black: Grief – Fear
White: Happiness – Purity.
AMAZING SPRAY PAINTING !!! (BARCELONA 2015) “La Rambla”
Survival of the Fittest: How the Color of your room affects your Mood?
The colors of the rooms within your home need to bring out your personality. While most of us may not spend a lot of time thinking about room color, it affects every day of our lives. Room color can influence our mood and our thoughts. Colors affect people in many ways, depending upon one’s age, gender, ethnic background or local climate. Certain colors or groups of colors tend to get a similar reaction from most people – the overall difference being in the shade or tones used. So when it comes to decorating, it is important to choose wisely.
In order to have a beautiful home, you do not have to worry about trends. Color trends will come and go. The people who live in a home make it beautiful by choosing colors that reflect their likes and their personalities. The trick is to blend those colors you…
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3 Simple Ways to Win the Argument With Your Inner Critic
by Lauren Sapala
If you’re an artist or a writer—or both—then you know what I’m talking about when I say “inner critic.” It’s not just a way of describing a tendency toward self-judgment. For us, the inner critic is a loud, nasty, disgusting creature who invades our thoughts, whips us mercilessly, and sometimes decides to chain us up in the dungeon.
That might sound extreme, but if you’re an artist or a writer, you know how accurate that description is.
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October 19, 2016
What Social Media Sites Should an Author Have?
by Hope Ann
There are so many social media sites, but does an author really need to be on all of them? Is one or more of them indispensable to the serious author or do they just clutter and waste time? And the answer is… *draws deep breath* everyone has different views. What a surprise.
From what I’ve seen, focused work on most platforms can bring in revenue if you know what you’re doing. At least there are courses on how to grow and make money on Twitter, or using Pinterest, or with Facebook ads, from people who have used these sites themselves. That being said, an author only has so much time, so you want to spend it on what works and not just throw out information and hope it draws some people in. This involves trial and error (or buying a course), analytics, figuring out where your target…
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Can an Attitude Adjustment Make Your Story Better?
by Jean M. Cogdell
Well, maybe. Sometimes just like kids, our characters need an attitude adjustment.
A change in attitude at our house could save my kids a world of grief. And me a lot of aggravation. Parents reading this know exactly what I’m talking about.
The mood in our house could go from calm and peaceful to stormy in zero to sixty seconds if someone couldn’t find their shoes or if one of their siblings “stole” a favorite toy.
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What it Takes to Be a “Real” Writer
Since we are only a couple weeks away from NaNoWriMo, I thought this would be a great topic to discuss. If you don’t know what NaNoWriMo is? You aren’t a real writer. Kidding! Calm down
