P.H. Solomon's Blog, page 297

Announcement! The Bow of Destiny Sample Chapter Now Available!

There’s a few more pieces of news regarding The Bow of Destiny this week. As mentioned two weeks ago, the book is now available for pre-release reservations via Barnes & Noble, & iBooks (via the iTunes app). Last week, I followed up with information about how you can be part of the book as an Insider – to which there have been some responses.

This week there are two writing developments:

1. A sample of The Bow of Destiny is now available in my e-book short story, The Black Bag which is available at all major retailers including Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Kobo & iBooks. Anyone signing up on the Insiders mailing list by 7/18 will receive a coupon to download The Black Bag and the sample chapter for free via Smashwords in any e-book format they choose.

2. If you are looking for a bit more of what I’m working on I’ve posted an unofficial version of the prequel short story, What Is Needed, on Wattpad. Browse on over there when you have time and read the story – comments are welcome. The official version will be available after between 8/15 & 9/1/15 for free on all major retail sites. I hope to post another prequel short story entitled, Trading Knives, within a few weeks or so also beginning on Wattpad.

I’ll announce the official releases of these short stories when the time comes. Until then, I’ll share more about The Bow of Destiny in the coming weeks.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Sign up for my Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list to receive the forthcoming edition of my newsletter with announcements about upcoming releases and events (and there’s some big news this month). Want to be listed in The Bow of Destiny credits? Join the Street Team to share upcoming links. Either way, you’ll be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. You’ll also receive a free coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!

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Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.

I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).

 

Filed under: Amazon, An Arrow Against the Wind, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Planning, Pre-order, Rave Review Book Club, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Announcement, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Coverart, creativity, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Launch, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Rave Reviews Book Club, Self-publishing, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Twitter, What is Needed, writing

What’s Your Favorite Part of Scrivener?

Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page.

Scrivener is chocked full of helpful features – so many, in fact, new users can easily be dumbstruck. But after using this software for a short time specific features begin to shine. Users become attached to a handy tool or two and continually make use of them.

For me, the binder was so revolutionary in my work. I could easily find pieces of a project and jump to them. But since I imported several projects when I first started using Scrivener it wasn’t until I started developing a brand new project that I truly appreciated the Binder’s usefulness. I could play around with the order of a story and add or move chapters and scenes around so that they made sense.

When I did a structural edit of The Bow of Destiny, I was really able to quickly overhaul the big-picture and then begin adjusting content to fit my new organization. I did work in minutes that used to take days to assess and complete. I had the benefit of seeing the book like a blueprint using the Binder.

The Binder showing my Newsletter Template

The same was true with An Arrow Against the Wind. Even though I haven’t done a full structural edit, I was able to identify the holes so I could fill-in with missing content. Likewise, I could see how to order different point-of-view scenes and chapters so that these were in an order that made sense.

There are other main features in Scrivener to which writers gravitate based on their writing style and needs. The Corkboard is extremely useful for getting an up-close look of folder organization as well as that of documents in folders. It brings a subtle nuance to structural development. With the use of meta-data you can easily determine the status of folders and documents.

The Outliner is especially effective for large non-fiction books and papers as well as fiction. Once again, Scrivener’s flexiblility shines by showing that important outline as the scaffold of a project. Without this feature many writers would be lost.

But there are many other Scrivener features that assist writers. Collections, layouts, project templates and document templates are just a few tools that make writing simpler and more efficient. It’s hard to choose what my favorite is – and I may change my mind later – but mine is the Binder. I’ve included a poll so you can vote on your favorite feature in Scrivener. It you choose “Other”, be sure to leave a comment about it yours is.

Take Our Poll

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Sign up for my Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list to receive the forthcoming edition of my newsletter with announcements about upcoming releases and events (and there’s some big news this month). Want to be listed in The Bow of Destiny credits? Join the Insider Team to share pre-sale links. Either way, you’ll be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. You’ll also receive a free coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!

Just as a note: I am not affiliated with Scrivener in any official capacity. For support questions, pricing and other concerns please contact the vendor.

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Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.

I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).

Filed under: An Arrow Against the Wind, Archer's Aim Digest, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Creativity, Editing, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Planning, Pre-order, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Smashwords, Social Media, Tech Tips, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Tips, Twitter, Writing Tagged: Barnes and Noble, blogging, creativity, Editing, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Planning, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Smashwords, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Tips, Twitter, writing

Read All About It! More News For The Bow of Destiny!

My first fantasy novel, The Bow of Destiny, has gone to pre-sale status while I put the finishing touches on the book. It’s available to reserve at these select retailers: Barnes & Noble, & iBooks (via the iTunes app).

In my announcement last week, I mentioned a reward for being a member of my “insider team”. Well here are the details:

1. Share my book links over any social channel 5 times between now and 8/15/15 and I’ll include you in the book credits.

2. Join the Insider Mailing List so I know who you are and can send you updates easily. After joining, I’ll send you book links to use when posting on social media. I’ll also make some social media cards available for those who want to use colorful content. Need some ideas about how to post? Just let me know and I’ll send you some samples.

3. Email me screen-shots of your 5 social media posts so I can track them (another reason to join the mailing list as I’ll share everyone’s status and you want to make sure your status is accurate).

That’s it! Five social media shares will get you in the list of credits in The Bow of Destiny. While you’re at it, reserve your copy today for the pre-sale price of $2.99 (the price goes up to $5.99 the day after release).

There are more announcements coming over the next 12 weeks regarding more offers and special events in the near future such as available sample chapters, thunderclaps, rafflecopter giveaways and related free stories.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Sign up for my Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list to receive the forthcoming edition of my newsletter with announcements about upcoming releases and events. By joining a mailing list you’ll also receive a free coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.

I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).

 

Filed under: Archer's Aim Digest, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Planning, Pre-order, Rave Review Book Club, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Announcement, Archer's Aim Digest, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Coverart, creativity, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Planning, pre-sale, Self-publishing, Smashwords, Social Media, Street Team, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Twitter, writing

Help Others, Help Yourself – On Being a Book Club Member

I wrote about being a member of an author’s book club as part of my series covering beginning and building an author platform. I wanted to go back to the subject to discuss my own membership in more detail. What I’m working on here is to help both new and prospective members with how to get the most out of membership through involvement.

I’ve been a VIP member of Rave Reviews Book Club since late last year. This club is based mainly on supporting independent authors from a group perspective – strength in numbers provides greater reach for everyone. As such involvement through a minimum of four reviews of member books per year – which is quite reasonable – is a requirement to having books listed in the club catalog. Other involvement is highly encouraged.

So at it’s most basic level, RRBC is about reviews for authors. But there are expectations for the whole process as indicated in the club rules. Reviews for new authors are hard to obtain so getting honest ones is very important. Being in the club catalog is a member’s gateway to getting reviews from other club members.

It’s very important to note that membership means you are part of a group of authors promoting each other. Involvement brings returns from other members in a variety of ways – retweets, tweets, reblogs, reviews, etc.

Here’s how I approach being a member. I’m actively working on my main requirement of reviewing four other member books this year to remain an active member with my book on the member catalog. Otherwise, I can’t do everything so I do what I can. I participate in the PushTuesday events and recruiting days. I also retweet other members via our Twitter hashtags. I participate in chats whenever my schedule allows. Lastly, I host blog tours for other members whenever I can.

In return, I’ve received a number of gracious reviews that were invaluable for promotion and gaining insights about my writing. I’ve received lots of tweet support for my blog and my book. I’ve also encountered a number of interesting, talented authors from whom I’ve learned various writing-related tips. Overall, the club does more for me than I can do for myself. I look forward to adding a few more books to the catalog as well as reading more books from my fellow members.

But wait! There’s more available for club members! RRBC has just started an internet radio network to further promote members. This is incredible for all of us since we have the opportunity to gain professional experience doing live interviews. Likewise, the network increases the club’s reach and thus the exposure of every member.

And speaking of professional opportunity, involvement in club activities teaches us about professionalism. Being kind, gracious, patient and thankful are all traits authors need to successfully work with the public. This means that involvement with various activities where the prize is some sort of special spotlight is a treat for the winner. I’ve had the humble opportunity to be the winner of a PushTuesday and Member of the Week. These aren’t just handed out for being a member but rather for involvement. If others are chosen, then I congratulate them or retweet those sentiments. Learning professionalism teaches you to interact with readers and the club is a great place to learn this trait.

So why is all this involvement important? In the digital age it’s hard to promote by yourself. What makes it harder is that books don’t sell from advertising but rather from word of mouth. In the world of social media, self-promotion is quickly ignored – though must do this regardless. However, promoting others gets you promoted. This is important since books mainly sell by word of mouth. When you promote others, that’s word of mouth. With a club like RRBC you get a lot of word of mouth. The more involved you are the more the club of more than five hundred members is behind you.

I hope this helps any new or prospective members. These are just my views on being a helpful member and gaining the most benefit you can from membership. I encourage other members to relate their views of what it means to be involved and how it benefits them. The main idea is to think of yourself second and others first and you will receive more club support. I’ll share more in the near future about my own expectations and what I’ve received.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Sign up for my Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list to receive the forthcoming edition of my newsletter with announcements about upcoming releases and events (and there’s some big news this month). Want to be listed in The Bow of Destiny credits? Join the Street Team to share upcoming links. Either way, you’ll be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. You’ll also receive a free coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!

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Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.

I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).

 

Filed under: Amazon, Author Platform, Barnes & Noble, Blog Tour, Blogging, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Nonnie Jules, Pinterest, Planning, Rave Review Book Club, Reblogs, Reviews, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Tips, Twitter, Writing, Writing Groups Tagged: Amazon, blogging, creativity, Facebook, Goals, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Marketing, Nonnie Jules, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Planning, Rave Reviews Book Club, Reviews, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Tips, Twitter, writing

Fantasy Authors Unplugged Featuring Jenny S. Burke

This is continuing feature on Archer’s Aim – Fantasy Authors Unplugged. I hope to frequently share an interview with a fantasy author. If you have authors to suggest and/or questions you’d like to see answered then leave a comment or send me an email. If you are a fantasy author and would like an interview please let me know and we’ll plan one that fits your schedule. Today I welcome Jenny S. Burke to Fantasy Authors Unplugged. Jenny has a unique background for her writing that I’m sure you’ll find interesting!

Q: Hi Jenny, let’s start with the name and plot of your latest book. How are the sales?

A: Thank you for inviting me! The Dragon Dreamer by J.S. Burke is a science fantasy adventure. There are dragons, an undersea world, an improbable friendship, and a dangerous quest. It’s layered for ages nine to 99.

Arak is tormented for his un-dragonly talents. Determined to prove himself he leaves the clan, is caught in a fierce sea-storm and seriously wounded. A fearless, undersea shape-shifter named Scree heals him, and an unlikely friendship begins. When an undersea volcano erupts it triggers a towering tsunami and a deadly chain of events. Can Arak use his secret talents to save the dragons?

Sales are fine; many books have found homes.

Q: Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others?

A: I write whatever is needed. Science research papers require clear, concise writing, which is useful training. Novels release the vivid, creative side; all those words I’ve squirreled away in my mind finally have a place! I really love writing scenes with action and danger. For some reason, a deadly storm or a nice tsunami just rolls off my fingertips!

Q: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

A: When I learned to read and write, I was a writer. I wrote poems for fun, savoring the words and imagery. I published poems in the third grade with the help of an awesome teacher. As a marine biologist, I published research papers in science journals. Books use a different knowledge base, but this is still writing . . . and re-writing, and re-writing. I use lots of feedback from readers when I write books!

Q: How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Do you have any name choosing resources you recommend?

A: My dragon names sound dragony, and names of my undersea characters have the sounds of the sea. Science fantasy books need names that aren’t too common. I used a system to name my dragon-lords, dragon-ladies, and shape-shifters. Arak, Driana, Scree, and Orm are characters in The Dragon Dreamer.

Q: What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?

A: I greatly appreciate all the readers who have taken the time to write and post a review of my book. A sentence or two is all it takes. This is so helpful to a writer.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Book two is currently called Black Lightning. Some fans check in periodically to see how my sequel is coming along, which is rather nice. There are new dangers and adventures, the original characters and new ones. Drakor is a brash young ice dragon and a real thorn between his leader’s scales.

Q: What did you learn from writing your book?

A: The Dragon Dreamer is my first novel, so I learned how to write a novel: point of view, pacing, story arc, character arc, character types, setting the scene, and much more. Learning all this must be good for my brain.

Q: What books have influenced your life most?

A: I love Dune’s mysticism, the characters and quest in Lord of the Rings, Anne McCaffrey’s dragons, Alan Dean Foster’s detailed sci-fi worlds, and the friendships in Harry Potter. These books and many more influenced my inner worlds. I mixed my own experiences as a marine biologist with fantasy details to write The Dragon Dreamer.

SALES LINKS:

Amazon US: The Dragon Dreamer　

Amazon UK

NOOK

ITUNES

KOBO

SOCIAL LINKS:

Jenny S. Burke (website)  Facebook  Twitter  Google+

BIO:

J. S. Burke has worked as an author, artist, chemist, teacher, and as a marine biologist, studying creatures of the dark abyss and diving on coral reefs. She lives in Georgia with her family and rescue pets.

The Dragon Dreamer is a young adult science fantasy novel with flying dragons and an undersea world. Fantasy Snowflakes has original pen-and-ink snowflakes made of animals and plants; her dragons grow these in the clouds to learn energy control. Crystal Geometry has hands-on activities that use the angles of beautiful crystals to explore chemistry and geometry. Crystal Colors answers the question “What makes the colors of rocks and shells?” with cartoons and activities. She has five published marine research papers.

Jenny was manager of a marine research program for the Florida Department of Natural Resources. She has degrees in math and science, marine science, and education.

Thanks to Jenny for the interview! Please take a look at her book and support this interesting fantasy author. If you’re a fantasy author and would like to be interviewed for “Fantasy Authors Unplugged” just contact me via email or one of my social media channels and we’ll set one up.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Sign up for my Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list to receive the forthcoming edition of my newsletter with announcements about upcoming releases and events (and there’s some big news this month). Want to be listed in The Bow of Destiny credits? Join the Street Team to share upcoming links. Either way, you’ll be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. You’ll also receive a free coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!

Follow Blog via Email

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Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.

I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).

 

Filed under: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Editing, Fantasy, Fantasy Authors Unplugged, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Jenny S. Burke, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Planning, Pre-order, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Dragon Dreamer, Tips, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Coverart, creativity, Facebook, Fantasy Authors Unplugged, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Jenny S. Burke, Kindle, Kobo, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Dragon Dreamer, Tips, Twitter, writing

What is Scrivener?

PHS:

A very comprehensive post about Scrivener – reblogging on Archer’s Aim!

Originally posted on Writers in the Grove:

Scrivener by Literature and Latte is software for writers. It’s tagline is “Outline. Edit. Storyboard. Write.”

Some of the members of Writers in the Grove recently purchased it based upon my advice, and they’ve asked me to present a workshop on Scrivener basics soon. In the meantime, to help people get started, this is an introductory series on how writers can, and should, use Scrivener.

What is Scrivener?

Scrivener is software for Windows and Mac. It is designed for professional writers to ease the process of researching and writing. It is used by professional (and not) writers, authors, script writers, poets, teachers, researchers, and anyone with a writing project.

Microsoft Word or its equivalent is used by most people to “write.” It is a word processor. It processes words. You can style and format them, making them pretty, and even write great papers and novels, setting up table of contents…

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Fantasy Mapping Re-Visited

Last month, I wrote about converting my decades old, hand-drawn fantasy map to digital version. Today, I’m sharing the follow-up on the process and how it turned out. For those who may have a similar situation, I’ll include some technical details that may make this process less painful.

I originally had a map that was hand-drawn but had water spots which discolored the paper enough to render it useless for scanning which would have been an easy resolution. So I had to resort to tracing the map by hand using tracing paper purchased at a local craft/art supply store. This process was easy to complete if a little time consuming.

I did have to go over the pencil tracing with a pen and finding the right type to use for tracing paper can be tricky. I found the Paper-Mate Profile worked best. Be careful of smudges though mine seemed to add a bit of character to the map – after all, what’s an old, hand-drawn map without smudges?

Next, since the paper is an odd size I needed to use a special scanner. That meant a trip to Fed-Ex/Kinko’s so I found on in the area. Since I was scanning only to electronic version I needed my own thumb-drive which I usually carry with me everywhere – so make sure to take one if you are doing something like this. Also, scanning paper can be tricky feeding through the particular scanner used – and no, there wasn’t a flat-bed that would accommodate the paper size. However, in this case the scanner had been recently serviced with new rollers so the tracing paper fed without a hitch. The cost was minimal so I easily had a digital version of the map. However I could only get a .tiff of the file instead of .jpg or .png (I didn’t want a .pdf until I had the final version).

At this point, I had a file of the map. I intentionally left the new version without place & geographic names so I could add them via my computer. For this I used a copy of Microsoft Publisher. I added the file as a picture to a blank, custom size and then added text labels for every name on the map. In adding these, I had to adjust size and font to get the necessary result. Also, with publisher it worked best to scroll using the mouse or the scroll-bars in the application since moving the picture threw of the text box alignments. But this same caveat with text boxes proved useful later. Additionally, some places needed to be pointed out in detail so I used the shapes function to select an arrow to indicate specific location details.

Once I finished labeling the map, I could zoom in closer to make screen-shots of specific areas so they would be large enough to see. If I need to enlarge them I’ll use Gimp for the adjustment. However, when zooming I found that larger labels might be partially cut-off the view. I simply moved the text box and re-sized it to fit the area I needed.

Now I have custom maps of various locations that I can use in The Bow of Destiny and An Arrow Against the Wind as well as free, related short-fiction such as What Is Needed . These maps will be added to the final copy for formatting. I’ve included a few screen-shots as final results.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Sign up for my Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list to receive the forthcoming edition of my newsletter with announcements about upcoming releases and events (and there’s some big news this month). Want to be listed in The Bow of Destiny credits? Join the Street Team to share upcoming links. Either way, you’ll be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. You’ll also receive a free coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.

I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).

 

Filed under: An Arrow Against the Wind, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Editing, Fantasy, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Planning, Pre-order, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, Tech Tips, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Tips, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: An Arrow Against the Wind, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Coverart, creativity, Editing, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Cartography, Fantasy Fiction, Fantasy Map, Formatting, Goodreads, iBooks, Kobo, Launch, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, What is Needed, writing

Sketch of the day no 657 in my moleskine art journal: Iconic Penang ferry

PHS:

Nice slice of life! Reblogging on Archer’s Aim…

Originally posted on The Crazy Bag Lady @BulanLifestyle.com:

Sketch of the day in my moleskine art journal is a drawing of the iconic Penang ferry. This ferry is named Pulau Undan and it has been in service since 1975. I have great memories of using the ferry service as a child. It would be a highlight to go on it. The ferry was the only way out of Penang island. Today we have 2 bridges that connect the island to the mainland. The ferry is still in service because it takes passengers as well as vehicles across to the mainland which is called Butterworth (seberang prai). The crossing is short. It takes about 10 mins. This ferry has vehicles on the lower deck and passengers in the upper deck.

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Raise the Curve: Why Writers Should Surround themselves With Passionate People

PHS:

I totally agree with this – reblogging on Archer’s Aim

Originally posted on Drew Chial:

I have lived with my share of slackers; people who couldn’t be bothered to clean their hair dye out of the sink, to sweep up all their broken glass, or close the door on their way out of the apartment. These were people who used scuffed CDs as coasters for the beer bottles they were using as ashtrays. They stacked towers of dirty dishes in the sink, too high to soak.

One night, at the old place, a girl was too drunk to figure out how to get the toilet to flush. She lifted the lid, found it was too heavy and dropped it into the tank. It fell straight through the bottom, shattering it. The toilet gushed its gallons across the hall and into my room. Later that day she tried to superglue the porcelain pieces back together. When that didn’t work she left an envelope full of cash…

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Quick Tip: Turbo-Charge Your Scrivener Searches

Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page.

When editing, searches are very important. Scrivener uses several ways to search. I recently received a search tip from a fellow author over Facebook and I thought I’d share it here in more detail.

Use the following wild-cards to improve your searches for combinations of words: the symbol | for “or” as well as & for “and”. For instance, if I wanted to search for two words such as Scrivener and wild-card I might use this to see reveal either since both may not be present: Scrivener | wild-card. If I want to find all instances of both I would search: Scrivener & wild-card.

However, in using these you will have to make a few changes with the Scrivener search tool. The search is located in the upper right of the main software window. Click the down arrow at the spyglass icon to reveal search options. I found that in searching for words as described above, it’s best to select “Text” and “Whole Word”. The options below these are chosen depending on the the extent of your search.

Using this and similar searches can help identify words and changes that are needed in your projects. With these tips you can improve the effectiveness of you editing as well as the speed.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Sign up for my Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list to receive the forthcoming edition of my newsletter with announcements about upcoming releases and events (and there’s some big news this month). Want to be listed in The Bow of Destiny credits? Join the Street Team to share upcoming links. Either way, you’ll be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. You’ll also receive a free coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!

Just as a note: I am not affiliated with Scrivener in any official capacity. For support questions, pricing and other concerns please contact the vendor.

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