Tracee Lydia Garner's Blog, page 3
March 1, 2018
Ready? Set? Plan Your Social Media Year!
It’s March! Can you believe it?
Welcome to the third month of the social media planning/blog challenge with me.
It’s been some work to keep going with this challenge, hence my late post this month AND it’s only month three. I fell a bit behind but that brings me to some very important ideas to keep in mind about your own posting schedule.
Its March and the news would have you believe that this is the official start of the decline for goals we all outlined in late December 2017 and early January 2018. It can be a little true I mean they do sit around studying this stuff all the time, when March comes, that’s more time to do other fun things that the winter cold likely kept you from.
I say, make March the new year. If you’ve fallen off the wagon or never got on it, in preparation for Quarter 2, which starts really in April, begin to think about some things that maybe these first two months of this year have already annoyed you, what can you change in your schedule, what can you STOP doing so the remaining ten months can really be spectacular? If you believe that it’s never too late to implement and start better habits, then it won’t be ever too late.
BUT, you gotta start planning to make all that good happen.
Here’s both your March calendar of ideas to generate social media posts and AND your BLANK March Calendar.
Need to know the nationally observed days of the month, there’s some really interesting ones you can find by clicking here.
Okay, March On!
February 23, 2018
Friday Features
Welcome to Friday Features peeps.
Here’s an author new to me and possibly you… Please enjoy visiting with Fantasy and Science Fiction, author
A N T H O N Y D O B R A N S K I
Anthony Dobranski writes fantasy and science-fiction novels with both big ideas and personal stakes for untraditional characters, in crisp stylish language. The son of Polish immigrants, he studied English literature at Yale. In his first career, he worked for AOL in Europe and Asia-Pacific. WordFire Press published his first novel, The Demon in Business Class, in 2016. His second novel will be published later this year.
His current title, The Demon In Business Class is an international modern-day fantasy — a demon-possessed spy, trying to start the next global war, falls in love with the psychic trying to stop it.
Demon is a modern, mature fantasy, looking at the globalizing world through the lens of our ancient desires and fears. With its corporate-thriller setting and a central romance that upends both main characters’ stories, it’s a hybrid-genre book in the tradition of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander novels or Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series.
Anthony is going to be releasing an audiobook version of The Demon In Business Class and he’s reading it himself. Thats’ pretty awesome and exciting. He’s sharing a sample passage here, be sure to check it out!
Enjoy this except and be sure to purchase your copy!
[image error]In the fake-oak-paneled conference room, Zarabeth Battrie found a dozen others standing. All looked wilted and worn, with bunched shirts and bowing ankles. The plastic tables were gone, the plastic chairs stacked in the corner. More people arrived but no one unstacked the chairs. A herd instinct, Zarabeth decided, to keep a clear path for fleeing.
A natty beige man in a crisp blue plaid suit came in, pushing a low gray plastic cart with stacks of documents. If the standing people surprised him, he didn’t show it. With practiced ease he lowered the room’s screen, plugged in his power strip. Someone passed the documents around but no one spoke. In the silence, Zarabeth felt anxieties around her, about money, status, children, groping her like fevered predictable hands. Too intimate, these people’s worries in her skin when she didn’t know their names, or want to. She shook them off, pushed through to the front so as not to stare at men’s backs all meeting.
Projector light bleached the natty man while he talked through slides of sunsets and bullet points, with the real news a seeming afterthought. Her office and two others were merging with Optimized Deployments, in Boston. A great move. Efficiency for all. The animated org-chart realigned over and over, three squares gone and Optimized’s no bigger. Reorganized like a stomach does food.
People asked tired questions, their hot worry now clammy hope. The natty man smiled no matter what he said. Yes, redundancies. Jobs would move, details to work out. All would be well and better.
He left to spread his joy. The room lights rose.
Zarabeth’s boss, Aleksei Medev, slouched in the corner like someone had whacked his head with lumber. His unshaven olive skin hung gray and limp. With all eyes on him, he straightened.
“A very challenging time,” he said. “We’re sending reports to justify—to guide the transition. Client work is secondary.”
Zarabeth was in no hurry to fill out Aleksei’s useless reports. Nothing she had done in the last two months justified keeping her employed, she knew that. She went out the broken fire exit to a stand of pine trees behind the parking lot. She lit a cigarette, paced in the shade.
Once, Zarabeth Battrie had traveled the country as an Inspiration Manager, connecting the best people at Straightforward Consulting to an in-house knowledge network. She had good instincts which managers to flatter, which to cow, which to sneak past. It surprised her how much she understood when she finally got her quarry to talk their special arcana, over morning jogs, lobster lunches, steak dinners, midnight hookahs with shots of tequila. Later, on airplanes, she’d think of those and other conversations, watching the pieces fit together in this strange unity and balloon, her world growing with a drug-like jolt. To let her do that, week in, week out—taking off, landing, on the move, on her feet—had been the greatest praise.
On Valentine’s Day, it had evaporated without explanation. Zarabeth had been reassigned to Reston, in the Virginia suburbs, to do public-relations grunt-work for industry trade groups. Aleksei Medev, still shiny then, had put his feet on her new desk and spun a great tale, core knowledge toward a turnkey marketing solution, select team deep study. At least she got an office with a door.
Zarabeth had visited Boston twice in her old job. Optimized had smart people and kept them by being greedy. They would suck the money from her division like marrow from bone. Everyone fired, no matter how they danced.
Doubt ate through her like some parasite come to lay its eggs. She pinched the cigarette’s cherry to burn it off with pain. Six years at this firm would not end this week.
[image error]
Meet Anthony by visiting his homes on the web
Twitter and
his Website
February 16, 2018
Friday Features
V A N E S S A R I L E Y
[image error]The Regency and early Victorian eras have always been a magnetizing draw for Vanessa Riley. Even as she worked to complete her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering , she made time for renaissance fairs and any novel or cinematographic work depicting these genteel societies of old.
Perhaps, the attraction arises from the kinship she feels with the period being brought up in the restrictive Southern Bible Belt with its stringent definitions of decent behavior and life expectations. Perhaps the common dominator to this appeal is her own thirty day Christian courtship or even the arranged marriages of her uncles; each is emblematic of the nuptials of those earlier times.
Vanessa holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering and a masters in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University. She also earned BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Penn State University. She has been a radio anchorwoman and church announcer. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association, Romance Writers of America, and Specialty RWA Chapters: The Beaumonde, Faith, and the Georgia Chapter.
Today, Vanessa juggles mothering a ten year old, her nineteenth wedding anniversary, engineering, writing and speaking at women’s events. She is known for her humorous delivery of poignant truths.
About The Bittersweet Bride and an Excerpt
Theodosia blinked her long silky lashes. “I’m glad you’re not dead. Maybe you can go live the life your father approves of and leave me be.”
“Well, I am,” Ewan said. “You’re in my latest play. I hope I’ve captured your appeal, your exotic heady beauty, your underhanded dealings—”
[image error]“Why must I be exotic? Because I’m not pale or white as a sheet? Mathew Cecil thought me pretty.”
“Well, you do clean up nicely in such fashionable trimmings. But what rich man’s fetish wouldn’t? I suppose you saw an opportunity and seized it. Business-minded to a fault.”
“Do you want to hear that I grieved you? I did. Your father said you were dead, before he ran me off. They… He said you were killed in honor, something a wench like me could never understand. But you are not dead. Probably not even a scratch and you are mad at me for continuing to live. You should be relieved that you didn’t have to return to these fields to wed the ignorant flower seller. Can you imagine figurin
g out how to feed mouths while still waiting for your father’s approval?”
He came alongside her, took her free palm, and flattened the fidgeting thing against his chest, sneaking it under his waistcoat to the smooth linen of his shirt, making sure her fingers covered the raised scars on his chest. “Do you feel those scratches? The physicians call them scars.”
Her hand stilled a moment and a world of emotions twirled in her eyes, across her trembling countenance. She shrank backward. “I’m sorry, Ewan.”
Her face became streaked in silent tears, and though Ewan wanted to provoke her, he didn’t want her to cry. He coughed, clearing the knot of humanity that lodged in his throat. “I didn’t come here for pity. I took a mortal wound but managed to live. Knowing you became a hot little piece for a rich man, that about killed me all over again. Didn’t know you’d chosen my cousin.”
She wiped at her face, then steadied her shoulders. “So after six years, you’ve come back to haunt me about things that can’t be changed?”
He sat on the high part of the chaise’s arm, still marveling at h
ow much she had and had not changed. Still beautiful. Still determined, but with a new sense of calm or reservation that gave him pause. He smoothed his cravat back into place. “Father was right about so many things, including the military. I was good at it. I served in the West Indies until these past three months. I came back because I am a Fitzwilliam. Part of me missed family.”
She folded her arms and turned toward the fireplace. “Family is important.”
“And I was helping my brother, the viscount, with an errand at Burlington Arcade. I had no idea I would see you today.”
She stormed to the patio door, opening it wide. “Well, now that you have, leave me alone. Go live your life, Ewan Fitzwilliam. Be that successful playwright you dreamed of becoming.”
“I intend to, but not your way. Success won’t be had by scheming, lying, or selling myself.”
Theo stopped biting her lip and pointed outside with both hands. “I may not be happy with my choices, but I own them. No one else. I did what I needed to do to survive. I have no luxury of a father to blame or surname to tarnish, for that matter. Now, leave. Don’t sneak back here. And if you see me in passing while staying at Daddy’s, call me Mrs. Cecil. That is my name. One I love.”
He stood up and walked toward her. He wasn’t in the habit of staying, if a lady requested him to leave, but Theo was no lady. She was a usurper intent to harm the Fitzwilliam family.“I will, if you stop threatening us.”
She squinted at him as if he’d said lunacy. “What are you talking about?”
“I know you are threatening our farms by cutting off the water to our plantings. Relent and I’ll do you a favor. I’ll take your name out of my latest play.”
“You’ve written a new play?” The hope in her voice suddenly dropped to nothing. “And you’ve put me in it?”
“Yes. This one centers on a woman who uses her womanly wiles to seduce and gain riches until all her schemes become announced to the world. Then, she’s left with nothing.”
Her frown deepened. She slunk backward until she clutched the doorknob, her beautiful tawny fingers pressing so hard against the brass, they almost blended. “And you’ve named this villain after me?”
“Yes, Theo the Flower Seller. I told you, I wrote you in every scene. How do you think you’ll fare when that name is circulated?”
Her chest rose, up and down, as if she struggled to breathe. “Ewan.” Her voice became airy and choppy. “My name, laughed at in London… You w-wouldn’t be so cruel.”
He rounded back, took her cold palm, and pressed his lips to them. “Ghosts are supposed to be cruel.”
Get to Know Vanessa Riley at her
Website, and Connect with her on
Facebook, Twitter and Purchase copies of all her books at her Online Store,
Or on Amazon
February 9, 2018
Friday Features
J U L I A A. R O Y S T O N
[image error]
Julia Royston is an author, publisher, speaker, teacher and songwriter residing in Southern Indiana with her husband, Brian K. Royston. Julia’s motto is “motivating you to be all that you can be, helping you get your message to the masses and turn your words into wealth.” She further states that “people hire me to publish their Book, Coach them to write their Book, Provide Ways to promote their Message to the World and Create Products and Services surrounding their Book.” Julia has written more than 45 books, published and coached 100+ authors to release 150+ books. Prior to full-time publishing and coaching, Julia spent 22 years as a certified, media specialist/technology instructor in a public and private school system. For more information about Julia and her companies visit, www.juliaroyston.net .
[image error]Her newest release Vernice, is the story of a single mother of a high school senior about to go to college on a full athletic scholarship. Vernice and her son live in windy Chicago going about their daily lives. Vernice works hard at her job striving to get ahead and be promoted. David, Jr. works hard at school wanting to make his mother proud and himself independent. They attend church and are very active on a local and national level. Vernice would love to meet a very nice, Christian man and eventually remarry. Her son’s father wasn’t a good father so a stepfather is unnecessary but with son almost grown, her only desire is for a passionate and happy love in her life. Meet Vernice.
Enjoy this Excerpt form Vernice and see how to get your copy!
Chicago had clear and sunny skies on this April day. Vernice’s goal was to get to work on time for an important meeting with an unknown client. She was walking across the Michigan Avenue Bridge headed to her office on Wacker Drive on the phone with her mom about David, Jr.’s graduation party coming up.
“Well, the cake has been ordered, his invitations are addressed, stamped and ready to send out. Just think in about five weeks, I will have a son who is a high school graduate. Yes!” said Vernice. She was focused on the conversation and not where she was walking. “Mom that sounds like a great place. Do they accept reservations? Great. Hold on so I can get a pen to write down the restaurant’s number.” Just as she was about to find paper, she bumped into another body. “Oh, excuse me!” Vernice held on to her phone, but her purse flew out of her hands and the contents on the side walk. What a mess!
“Oh I am sorry, pardon me. Let me help you,” Vernice didn’t look at the person helping her, but realized she still had her mom on the phone. “Mom let me call you back. I just dropped my purse. I promise I will call you later today. Love you, goodbye.”
Turning her attention to the stranger, “Thank you so much. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. My purse holds everything, but my house,” Vernice said as she was helping the gentleman get her belongings off of the ground.
“I don’t know anything about what goes into a woman’s purse. I didn’t have the pleasure of having a sister, just a twin brother,” he answered.
“Well, you are lucky because women need..” Vernice stopped as she stood and saw the man’s face, “Myron Randolph?”
Excerpt from Vernice of Book 2 of the Women of the Fellowship Series Copyright 2016 1
Vernice
“Vernice Washington? I didn’t realize that was you.” They gave each other a very awkward hug. Myron smelled wonderful and Vernice’s soft perfume blended right in.
“I must sound like a babbling idiot. I am just talking away about stuff and purses,” Vernice was suddenly nervous.
“That’s okay. I was walking, working and not paying attention to where I was going either. That is a bad habit of mine,” Myron said.
Vernice looked at Myron with no judgment, but Myron immediately felt guilty. He hadn’t called her in the past month and needed to apologize. “I must apologize for not calling you. I got back from the conference and dove right into work,” Myron Randolph. He suddenly remembered how her mouth felt when he kissed her a month ago. Why he hadn’t called her sooner he didn’t know. He was an idiot. “No problem. I totally understand. You have been busy,” Vernice took a look at the time on her phone. She put a quick hand to her hair, adjusted her light weight coat and started the timer in her head because she had exactly 15 minutes to make it on time. “So what brings you to Chicago?” Vernice said trying to sound natural. He stood about three inches taller since she was still wearing her sneakers. She wanted to ask why he would kiss her and not call her. A kiss was a kiss, but maybe it didn’t mean anything to him.
“As usual, I am here on business. I am meeting with clients about something I’ve been working on,” Myron knew he sounded corny. He really wanted to say how wonderful she looked and smelled, but didn’t.
Vernice chuckled nervously and asked, “So how long are you staying in town?”
“I am leaving late tomorrow evening for New York to another conference.”
Excerpt from Vernice of Book 2 of the Women of the Fellowship Series Copyright 2016 2
Vernice
“Wow that is great. You are really on the move,” Vernice replied and realized she was running out of things to say.
A little voice inside his head said, ‘go for it Myron,’ so he did. “Vernice, I don’t know what your plans are for this evening, but would you have dinner with me? I know we both have to go, but I would love to talk to you more and not eat alone on my last night in town. Are you free about 7:30?” Myron asked.
Vernice wished she could be mad and say no, but she really wanted to go out, hear his explanation and maybe enjoy herself for once.
“Yes, here is my cell number.” Vernice remembered that she gave Myron her number before, but maybe he lost it.
Myron opened his phone and he dialed the number on the card, her phone rang and then he saved it. “Great. I will call you,” Myron said as he looked directly into her eyes. He hope his eyes were saying what his mouth couldn’t.
Vernice finally said, “Well, I’ve got to go. Hope to see you later.”
“You will. I promise,” Myron replied and walked quickly in the opposite direction.
Meet Ms. Royston on her social media
Buy A Copy of Vernice here and here
February 2, 2018
Friday Features
P A M E L A D. S M I T H
[image error]Evangelist, Life Coach, Author, and Speaker Pamela D. Smith has dedicated her diverse pursuits to elevate the spiritual lives of women around the world. Born in Northern Louisiana, and now residing in Arlington, Texas-she’s affectionately known as the “Prayer Plug” to many. It is through fervent prayer that she has created a multifaceted ministry that connects with people through a plethora of platforms and projects. Such would include the release of the prayer cd, Quiet Time To Pray, and an effort called Divinely Domesticated which empowers women in four core areas: Marriage, Motherhood, Ministry, and Money. She’s also self-published inspirational devotionals entitled: E3:Encouraged, Equipped, Empowered and Life, Love, Liberty: A 21-Day Spiritual Life Coaching Journey.
About The CD
[image error]
A Quiet Time to Pray is an inspirational prayer audio that enhances listener’s quiet time with God. These prayers, along with inspirational sounds, connects listeners with God and empowers them to demonstrate their faith in God. Included are prayers for your spouse, children, business, peace, relationships, forgiveness, the world and many more. The words in these prayers will help listeners to deal with everyday life in a positive way. In addition, these prayers will help you to understand your rightful authority as a believer.
Get to Know Artist Pamela D. Smith at her
Website, and Connect with her on Facebook and
Purchase at copy of her CD’s at her Online Store
Today’s tour hosted by Write Now Literary. Get Your Own Book Tour and Author Coaching with
Write Now Literary Services
[image error]
January 26, 2018
Book Production Checklist
If there’s anything I have learned about being an Indie Author, it’s not so much about word counts and story structure but those are really important things too. However, when it comes to the actual production of a book, it’s ALL about organization.
Words cannot, I cannot, stress how important it is to be organized if you’re going to upload your book to a publishing platform and then sell and market it. You have to be organized.
Today, I’m sharing a printable checklist for your book. Some of things on my list, you won’t necessarily need but these checklist keep me sane and save my book life and over the years I’ve added and changed it to reflect the different things that I need. I’m to the point now where it’s always ready to go, and for every new book (four upcoming FYI) I use this document to make everything go smoothly. I hope it works for you, too.
What’s also important about these lists are that when someone request an interview, feature or a blog posts, they almost always want the following items:
ISBN ebook version
ISBN print book version
Author Photo
Book Cover Photo
Synopsis, and
Social Media handles (all five or ten of them that you have)… (I don’t recommend ten but as I feature authors I have received many, a good 3 to 5 of your most followed ones, are plenty) just saying.
There is much much more on the free printable list as you will see, but if a blogger or other interviewer type contacts you, imagine the stress redux and the time saved when it’s all ready to go.
When you are organized and have spent time putting in this information into ONE MS Word or other type of document, you’ll simply open your document and be able to cut and paste the items that you need.
All the items I have listed on these checklist are also the same things you will need to gather and have in order to publish your book on platforms like Amazon, Kobo, Ibooks, GooglePlay, IngramSpark and numerous others. Almost all of these booksellers require some version of the same information and now you can breeze through all those feilds cutting and pasting like a Star Wars soldier… Not only will be able to publish your book faster (by being organized) you’ll know what you need up front. Sometimes when researching any platform, being able to see the requirements and investigating what you need to have is like trying to find the White House secret tapes. So I’m essentially telling you, complete the items I’ve listed in the checklist and you WILL have all that you need.
Also keep your book cover pic and author photo on your desktop and it will be easier to find and often “drag and drop-able” to the e-mail you are creating to send to the requester. Here’s five more tips for using the Book Production Checklists.
ALWAYS take the time to Label Things PROPERLY – there is nothing worse than naming something the wrong thing or its name being similar to something else in your long list of files.
If you change the title of a book or project, go in and change your related docs to match
Be sure that an experienced graphic designer is sending you the right types of covers in the correct resolutions. Ebook resolutions for covers are different than print.
When graphic designers and other professionals you’ll work with send you items, download AND review them as soon as possible. They will send you more than one version of things like your book cover, or edits. Make sure that you look at EVERYTHING and are certain that it’s correct and get in touch with them right away.
Finally if a folder gets crowded, label a new folder FINALS of “the project name”. You will have drafts and versions of just about everything and locating the latest version could be maddening.
Finally, YOU can adapt these for any product. Photographers, filmography and numerous other professions will have checklist just like these. If you have audiobooks, add the audio book link and description to your document and remember to keep saving.
Finally, you can make the checklist -once you put in all your information- into a Google doc for your project(s) and you can access them anywhere so long as you have the Google Drive app or Dropbox app. Being away from your home and on the go should not be an issue when you need to get important information about your books and products to other uses, bloggers and potential interviewers. Get organized not only for sanity purposes but to ensure you don’t miss an opportunity to promote yourself and your works.
You want to be ready so get ready and enjoy the checklists by clicking here: Your Book Production Schedule Checklist.
Friday Features
P A T R I C I A A. S A U N D E R S
Self Published Author, Patricia A. Saunders was born and raised in Connecticut before relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area nearly 24 years ago. She received her Master’s in Management from the University of Phoenix in 2011. After the passing of her mother who had Alzheimer’s, Patricia decided that all the words that she kept to herself were to be released.
Saunders has released her fifth book an autobiography memoir infused with poetry (December 2017) with BookBaby Publishing called There Is Sunshine After The Rain : Making It Through Life’s Struggles. The book will take the reader on a journey of a young child influences that shape her decisions as an adult. It is a must read that covers being raped multiple times, a family that protects her, how she wanted to die after the passing of her mother , and the people who would not give up on her!
Her work has been featured on a Coast to Coast Book Tour at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Toronto Word On The Street, Sacramento Black Book Fair, Tucson Book Festival, Miami International Festival of Books and AARP Life@50+ Spring Convention. Also on In the Company of Poet, Women Owned Business Club Magazine, and Alysha Live! Radio Show and Coach Deb Bailey Secret of Success Talk Radio. She performs locally at spoken word events and Capital Jazz SuperCruise Open Mic with Grammy Award Winner Eric Roberson.
She is a monthly blogger of her own blog Blessed & Curvy who covers today’s hot topics.
She released her first self published book Through the Fire (March 2012) which covered emotions from situations, circumstances, and life lessons that have influenced her over her lifetime. On a mission to complete a book a year in case she inherits the ugly disease she released her second book Loving Me (2013) and third Let It Rain (2014) which is also self published and covers various topics from love, grief, self image, self esteem, bullying, and discovery of self love .Her fourth book (2016) This Too Shall Pass was released by AuthorHouse Publishing and readers have given it a five star rating.
In her spare time, Patricia enjoys writing poetry, traveling, spending time with family and wine tasting.
ABOUT After the Rain:
[image error]
Sitting there with the pieces of your life around you, there seemed to be a pattern. There was faith, love, deceit, lust, and loss—in that order. You didn’t think you were deserving of love. That is why everything was being taken from you, and you were ready to give up on life.
Through your poetry, faith, and learning from your past, you can rewrite the story. It was after coming through all the experiences and being stronger, you realized there is always a new chapter.
The book will take you on the journey of a young girl growing up in Connecticut, who had to take some stumbles along the way to come into her own and realize instead of tearing herself down for the decisions she made, there is a lesson. Love is greater than anyone can imagine and can warm you like the sunshine after the rain.
You went from the beginning, the journey, the test, and the testimony to say, “There Is Sunshine after the Rain.”
Are you wanting to have interview questions or just information for the book?
Social Media Links:
Visit to learn more about Patricia and her books at her Website,
And her social media homes below
Facebook: @ blessedpoetpat
Twitter: @ blessedpoetpat
Instagram:@blessedpoetpat
Pinterest: @blessedpoetpat
Blog: http://www.blessedpoetpat.blogspot.com
GET YOUR OWN TOUR HERE[image error]Creative Expressions Literary Services
January 24, 2018
Ready? Set? Plan Your Social Media Year!
But you need your planning calendar content ideas and as promised the links are below.
If you’re planning some social media post and graphics, that is awesome. Be sure to tag me @Teegarner or give a shout out.
Some things I’ve been doing that have seen more engagement include:
I’ve been just searching my favorite authors (living or deceased) and adding their pic, a quote and their born/death date. Obviously, MLK, Jr.’s birthday was this month but that brings about an important note, our leaders, authors, anyone you’re planning to quote, etc. have had so much to say over their lifetime, be sure to dig a little deeper into the quote history and find something of real relevance, it’s not always easy but it certainly is about more than just picking the ones that everyone knows and has heard, and Wikiquote, Google and other search engines are often generating the top three, so take a moment to find that nugget. You won’t always be able to but sometimes you will.
I got a lot of engagement with announcing that is was National Soup Month this January but I went a step further, first be CERTAIN to ask people what their favorite this or that is and while I could have shared a recipe, I didn’t want to simply grab a stock image of something I hadn’t made (soup can be a little laborious) so instead I talked about the three places to get my favorite soups and then other people could also try when they felt like it or if they had that store in their area.
My point is to not only post lots of things, random stuff, but ask questions, share your personal thoughts (nice neutral topic like soup) and INVITE others to share theirs. If you are doing that, people LOVE to share their own opinions about everything and there ya go! That’s ENGAGEMENT.
I’ve been being sure to try to cross promote, using my IG more and posting at different times of the day. You can use one graphic but post it at different times on all of your social media. Try staggering the times, e.g. post on FB at Noon, on IG at 4:00 and on Pinterest (which I am not on very much) and Twitter at 5:00 and 6:00 respectively. This is an example, choose the times that are right for you and more than once, e.g. rotate. Remember you can do this easily with Hootsuite of the Buffer App. Yes, there are suggested times for posting on each of these platforms and that’s fine if you have time to find out and then do what the “experts” say but I’ve realized that you have to do things when you can do them and morning (everyone’s checking the feeds around breakfast time and when they get up), at Noon approximately, everyone is on at lunch seeing what’s up and finally, in the evening and into the night, people are getting home from work/school, getting ready for dinner and then bed, and checking what’s going on. The reality is that everyone is really on at ALL HOURS OF THE DAY. So if you don’t want to be exhausted, find some times that are right for you and let that be enough.
And by the way, if you’re using the FREE version of Hootsuite, you’re allowed 30 posts and three platforms (or feeds), AND that is hard work, to come up with enough content for 30 posts, that means you could post something for every day of the month on three platforms. The only reason I’ve even reached 27 scheduled posts (which I don’t do often at all and that I worked really hard-for this blog post- to see if I could fill that many posts) is simply because many of them are for other months, with things going into April this year. Consistent content creation is harder than you think!
[image error]
Remember your goals? Are you meeting them? What could be improved? Are you honing your main subjects? Answer the main subjects question by asking yourself, what are you posting and what is receiving the most comments, not to mention, what do you like looking up and finding to post, what kinds of posts do you enjoy creating? It should be fun, not a chore.
The other goals, just to refresh your memory:
# 1. Plan BETTER for a Month of Content. Planning is an effort to create the content and INCREASE the number of posts throughout the month, AND to make posts relevant.
# 2. Write in between book projects by doing a free printable download each month on different topics. Freebies will be geared toward order in life in general and of course, writing, publishing and marketing.
# 3: SHARE, feel free to reblog and TAG. By sharing what others have written (with their permission) you ease the burden of some much contact – yes, it’s great and kudos to you for original images and text but that’s hard, help others reach more of an audience and build their following by sharing that great post YOU saw and enjoyed with your own circles. There is enough content to go around and around, so IF you’re not sharing (reblogging, retweeting, reposting) good stuff you’ve read and enjoyed from others, shame on you!
Here’s your BLANK Calendar AND “Content” generator Calendar for FEBRUARY, and
This Months Freebie Worksheet is about Your Book (or any Project’s) Production Schedule and/or Checklist.
See you next month!
January 5, 2018
Now Clarify Your Commitments
It’s a brand new year and I’m excited for my new blog posts, some relevant reposts and sharing all the new and exciting things I’ve learned.
One of my challenges this year is to build my worksheets. Each month, fingers crossed, I’m sharing a new worksheet that I’ve been working on. It’s mean to help you organize and tackle something, help you gain clarity and work through different things I’ve also considered and decided to write about. And, it’s #FREE.
The first post of the new year is about evaluating all that you’re committed to so you can get rid of some things that weigh you down. I did this very thing two years ago, now. My method however was just to get out as much as I could regardless of why. My main goal was to free up time to write more and I’m happy to report that the evidence of doing htis successfully happened last year as for the first time EVER, I was able to release TWO books in one year. It was awesome and while I can’t promise that will happen again this 2018, I wanted to document for my readers first how do you even go about deciding what you need to get rid of?
Let me back up one second, the VERY FIRST, FIRST goal is to decide WHY you need to do this and that is what the END goal should be. If your goal is to free up time to do something like your passion, GREAT. That was my reason too but it could also be to spend more time with family, be more present in your life, rearrange your schedule so you can focus on school or simply, build your business OR to let loose of things that no longer interest you and wipe the slate clean if you will so you can replace things with a more meaningful commitment. .
The other thing I discovered during my year of let go, which was 2015 when I left some service, was that I was in the wrong groups. I use that loosely because ALL of the service I’d done up until that point, was grooming me for being a good member in other capacities (many that I’m in now). Years of taking meeting minutes, being a secretary or Vice Chair contributed well so I don’t mess up in the groups I’m a part of now, but moving on, made me realize that I would be writing LONG TERM. When writing was at first a hobby, there’s a time when hopefully it will become “IT” and you’ll shift. That means for me, I really should have spent more time in professional writing-related groups, building both my skill and my knowledge and contacts for that matter. With that, like I said, I didn’t know that I could really make this work. So of course, there will be some mindless wandering that’s just part of the journey until you really know what you want. I’ll also say that this clarity comes about with age as well.
Now, the goal?
Take some time, list the goal. What is it? ______________________________________________
Next, what are the commitments?
The commitments could be anything that you want BUT for this purpose, I’m speaking of service to community or the greater good. That’s anything that you do, that you are not being monetarily compensated for and that usually happens in a way that takes you/your time away from your family, your “work” or passion/side hustle. So it’s not work, that is standard. This is that service and that free will that you give away to benefit another person, group or organization. Any volunteer opportunity, any, service on a board of directors, weekly lessons for free tutoring at church. There is nothing wrong with any of this, mind you. We’re simply trying to look at it ALL and get a handle on WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
The other part of outlining “What are you [REALLY] doing?” is that when you list your commitments in their totality and as separate entities, you’ll often see that you are in fact, stretched much more than you think. We have a tendency to roll up all of our service into one bag and it’s just ‘Service’. Pretend it’s a box, that when you put it all in, it starts busting at the seams, it’s overflowing and it can’t be taped shut or contained. That means all the life boxes are filling up and sorting is a mess. But doing this exercise will help you begin to tackle it. Also, if that service is with three different organizations that are not related, that’s a huge commitment. You omit how much time each item really takes because you’ve bundled it all. Not only should they NOT be bundled, often each thing is at a different location, has it’s own tasks and meeting details to attend to and then they often also have separate events that you have to go to. That means time to get to those locations and the hours you’ll put in when you get there and all the background work you do on your own time.
So what are the INDIVIDUAL commitments? List them, their time, location.
Finally, this is where the evaluation comes in. With EACH commitment – answer these questions and resist bundling them together. I’ve included a Worksheet Here that you can print PAGE 2 of as many times as you want for as many INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENTS that you have. You should use ONE sheet per Commitment.
Evaluating Each Commitment, answer:
Why are you doing it? (imagine telling someone, simply/briefly, “I am serving here because we do this….”
I have three categories that I’ve come up with for part of your why. Evaluate, what category does what you are doing fit into? Is it A. Heartfelt Category, B. For the Advancement professionally/personally Category or C. Is it obligation because you were asked/told by someone you care about/wanted to impress?
Do you like it? Why? Why Not?
Do you feel stuck? Why? How can you make an exit plan?
If you don’t want to make a full out exit, would changes/tweaking to the structure/goals/process and outcome or leadership tweaks, make your time better spent? And finally,
If change/tweaks were an option do you see that happening or is it too far gone?
Parting Thoughts
I hope if you’ve really committed to doing this exercise that the load has been clarified. It’s perfectly okay to say -at the end of doing your due diligence with this- “I like it all, I’ll keep it all.” There’s nothing wrong with that so long as your energy and your happiness match and you don’t have a goal (or family/kids/spouse) that’s suffering and dying because you’re not able to give whatever it is, the time and attention worthy to them.
At the end of the day, time is a precious commodity that’s seems to be less and less of. When I think about getting the books out and every evening, no meeting to prepare for, no major group looking for my report or my action items, it was truly liberating. I would work all day long at my regular job (still do) and think I can’t wait to get home and start writing. Was it easy to let go, no. I remember leaving one board realizing how much my self worth was wrapped into doing all these extracurricular things. It was the act of doing and contributing that made me feel good and to trade that, come home to make myself happy through writing, didn’t seem like it benefitted anyone but me (and the few readers that I have). I realized, there was still plenty to do. There were some groups I held onto and that meant that I could also focus more on one or two instead of three or five and do a better job at those fewer commitments.
Good Luck, let me know in the comments if something shared here, helps and share screen shots of your completed Clarify Your Commitments Worksheet.
See you next month with a new topic and an awesome worksheet to match.
January 3, 2018
Special Author Feature
M E I A H S H A U N
[image error]
MEIAH SHAUN pens fiction, non-fiction and plays with faith-based messages linking her personal life experiences with spiritual life lessons.
She launched A Crown of Beauty Ministries. She’s a native of Orange, Texas and currently resides in the Dallas, Texas area. She is a graduate of LeTourneau University. Her anticipated new release “Burnt Orange” is an inspirational coming-of-age story. In addition to writing, she’s an avid reader, a foodie, loves flowers and shoe shopping.
Here’s an excerpt from her latest novel, Burnt Orange –
I enjoy viewing maps and the globes at school as it makes me dream. I live in the largest state of Texas, along the muggy and swampy Gulf coast. The summers are really hot and humid here. Folks call this area of southeast Texas the Golden Triangle, where there’s a large Cajun Texan population. In our Lapland, we have gumbo cook-offs, Cajun festivals, crawfish boils, and zydeco radio. The part of the Golden Triangle that my family lives in is Orange, Texas.
The year is 1991, and majority of our small town is segregated. We have pecan and moss trees canopying the paved streets. But somehow, the town was named Orange, like the fruit. You’ll hear some black folks call our town the Fruit.
Occasionally, I see prints of burnt orange and yellow tints in the late-evening hazy skyline far above me. Black birds fly high above, embracing the sunset, while crickets chirped throughout the night. Traffic parades through our neighborhood street every evening, with homeboys blasting the latest rap music rumbling in their dashboards and trunks. Some of our neighbors are to blame for most of the congested traffic. Our neighbors keep a lot of company over at their house, but their folks never block our driveway. I think that’s ’cause most people around here think my momma is the police ’cause she works at the county jailhouse.
Around here, blacks and white folks work and go to school together, but they hardly play together outside of that. There’s racial tension, and the railroad tracks divide our town along class status and color lines. We live on the east side of the tracks.
I’ve heard black folks complaining about how mean the white people are here in Orange especially in nearby Vidor, which has a history of the Klan. My folks believe some whites are mean too. They talk about how whites work hard to keep black folks down. Daddy complains about not finding a good job ’cause of the white man.
To me, if it’s that bad, then we all need to move away from here! There are a million places on this earth where we can live. It’s just that simple to me. I see myself living a new life away from here. I dream of living in a big city with crowded streets packed with all walks of life, tall skyscrapers, and the everyday hustle and bustle. But it’s just a dream I see every day in my head.
“Erin and Erika, get up and do yo’ chores! Da dishes are dirty, and fold up my clothes!” Daddy yells at the top of his lungs.
“In a minute, I wanna finish watching my show.”
Daddy stumbles over me and then steps over Erika, who is sitting Indian style on the living room floor. He turns the television off during the last five minutes of our program. It’s our Saturday off, and we love to watch Teen Summit on
BET. He never wants us to enjoy ourselves at anything.
Erika jumps up and runs to the TV. As I’m standing up to my feet, Daddy pushes Erika, and she falls into my chest.
Get Your Copy of Burnt Orange at
[image error]
and Connect with Meiah on Twitter,
Meiah Shaun’s Blog Tour Write Now Literary Blog Tours and Author Coaching. Get your own tour here!
[image error]
