Firefighters Are Heroes

Wildfire Out (Click map to enlarge.)

Although the danger is still there, the fire that has threatened us in the Hill Country since Sunday is now out. Emergency Management announced late last night that the fire was 100% contained. Now they're just on guard for hot spots rekindling.

Danger Exists

Everything is so dry that the danger still exists. The thousands of dead trees in the forests pose a constant threat of similar incidents. A falling dead tree that hit a power pole, creating sparks, caused the fire that burned more than 5,000 acres, several homes, and a church.

Wildfire Today has the map you see on the blog and a lot of information about the fires in Texas.

This morning the air is crisp and holds only a faint smell of smoke.

Takeaway Truth

Thank you to the firefighters, the brush crews, and all the volunteers who supplied food, water, iced cloths, eye drops, Chapstick, and other supplies to support those on the front lines.

How Bad Do You Want It?

We're at our home in the Hill Country. We've been looking forward to a week of vacation up here. I was going to spend the week finishing my work in progress OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER. Larry was going to play golf every day.

Guess what I'm doing instead of writing. Packing up photographs, albums, and other mementos which we'd brought up here because the family gathers here for special weekends.

A wildfire is burning less than 4 miles from us. It started late Sunday when a dead tree limb (victim of the drought along with thousands of other trees in the state) fell on a power pole and knocked it to the ground. Sparks from it started a fire.

We heard about it from a friend up here when we arrived last night. We sat on the porch and couldn't smell smoke or anything. This morning we got up to not just smell smoke but see it everywhere. My heart is heavy at the thought we might lose all this, but I guess that's why we have insurance.

Minor Consideration

It's a minor consideration that I'm beginning to think that this book will never get finished. Every time I'm on a roll with it, something happens. It's been this way since May when I went to Louisiana because of flood waters threatening my brother's farm.

Thousands of acres had burned at last report yesterday. Fifteen homes have been lost so far. People have been evacuated. We're waiting to hear if we have to go. No lives have been lost yet, and I hope it stays that way.

However, I know that's just the way it is sometimes. Almost as if it's the universe's way of asking how strong is your will to persist. How deep is your determination?

How bad do you want it?

At this moment, all I want is for that fire to be suppressed--no more homes lost, no lives lost.

Takeaway Truth

As everyone up here has been saying for month: "Pray for rain."

Labor Day: Celebrated By Barbeque

In 1894, Congress declared Labor Day a federal holiday. Then they recessed and everyone went out for barbeque.



No, not really.



When I was a kid, I didn't understand why a day, on which everyone didn't work, was called Labor Day. I thought they should have named it No-Labor Day or Labor-Free Day. Later, in History class, I learned the holiday was establish as a way to honor the laboring masses.



Since 1882, the first Monday in September has been observed as Labor Day. That was the day when the Central Labor Union of New York City established the holiday.



Over the decades, the day changed from a big public celebration of parades and speeches about the contributions of the working men and women to a more personal celebration involving family and friends that marked the symbolic end to summer, characterized by bargain sales, backyard barbeques, and kids going back-to-school the next day.



Takeaway Truth



Honor the contributions of hardworking people in whatever way you choose. Have a happy Labor Day. Don't eat too much barbeque and potato salad. Remember, if you drink, don't drive. The life, career, and family you save may be your own. Get a designated driver.

Guests

On this fine Sunday morning, I have two quotations for you. Today's theme? Guests.



If you'll recall from my post yesterday, I have house guests through the Labor Day weekend. Lots of house guests--and they're all fun people. We're having a great time, and I hope you are too for this holiday weekend in the U.S.



"The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it." So said some anonymous sage. This is true. My house is beautifully ornamented now.



The second quotation is from Ralph Waldo Emerson. "We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream."



Totally true. Today's ice cream is Blue Bell Cookies and Cream. Just to make sure I make my house pleasant, I also stocked Blue Bell Tin Roof. Yumalicious times two! Just writing this makes me want a bowl of ice cream, but it's breakfast time.



Takeaway Truth



Once in a blue moon, ice cream is a perfectly acceptable breakfast.

Real Life & Retail Therapy

Real life intrudes--thank goodness because I needed a break.



I spent Friday cleaning house. Here's a true confession--as opposed to a false one, I guess: I normally pick up clutter on a daily basis and clean the floors in the rooms we use.



However, I don't clean the whole house, as my mother defined cleaning, unless I finish a book or company comes. I hate to say I haven't finished this latest ebook yet, but I had company arriving Friday. So I cleaned.



This morning all the menfolk departed in a manly pickup truck to take plants to our house in the Hill Country. We womenfolk are going shopping, lunching, and all around goofing off.



Hurray, I need some company and some retail therapy. Hope y'all have a happy Saturday too!



Takeaway Truth



Sometimes you have to replenish the creative well with real life experiences and socializing with people.

The Literary Machine

Software is part of a writer's toolkit. One thing I've discovered over the years is that there is no one software that has equal appeal to all writers.

I "grew up" using Word Perfect, and I still think it is a superior product to any other word processing software out there. However, with my ebook biz, I'm forced to use MS Word. There are people who adore Word. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. To me, it seems clunky and redundant in so many functions.

In Word Perfect, you setup a format once, and it's done. In Word, you have to go to 2 or 3 places and make sure the setting is the same in all those places. Woe be to you if you forget to check Paragraph after modifying a style. But you can't fight city hall, or, in this case, the business world that embraced Word as the standard for all communications.

Freeware

I love freeware because it's, well, free. All joking aside, there is good freeware to be had for just about any task you may confront. In fact, there's a lot of writing software in the freeware treasure chest. Here's one that may help those writers who think more spatially. This will help you organize your thoughts and channel your creativity more effectively--or so it claims. It's free so why not give it a try.

Literary Machine

The Literary Machine is for any writer who must think critically and creatively and who composes and produces documents as well as anyone who sorts and analyzes information. Of course, this means just about anyone from researchers to novelists to teachers, scientists, lawyers, and more.

This software uses a textual concept-mapping matrix. (Anybody want to define that?) Let's just say it helps you brainstorm story and create characterization and a lot more. It's supposed to work the way your brain works. (It probably hasn't seen MY brain.) All kidding aside, if you have trouble getting your story thoughts organized because you're just not a linear thinking, you might try The Literary Machine. There's a learning curve so be prepared to learn it before you use it.

Takeaway Truth

Bottom line: it's free. It might be great for you. If you like it, make a donation to the development team.

The Story Behind the Story

Today I welcome Cheryl Bolen, author of It Had To Be You, a sweeping love story set against the backdrop of a world going to war.



Here's Cheryl!



Joan has asked me to blog about the story of how my World War II love story, It Had to be You, came to be offered as an ebook.



I started writing the book in the 1980s and became so passionate about it that I spent about three years doing research. Since this was before the internet, the research involved two trips to Los Angeles (the city where I grew up) and searching microfilm of the city's newspapers from the 1930s and 1940s.



The story is set mostly in Los Angeles, beginning in 1937 when a girl from Texas arrives there with a burning ambition to be news reporter. She lands a job on Hearst's Los Angeles Examiner (which is the newspaper shown on the book's cover). She also falls hopelessly in love with Johnny Honda, the powerful owner of the city's most popular nightclub. That Johnny is Japanese-American propels the story.



That's enough about that story because I'm sure you readers are intelligent enough to know what kind of hardships await my characters.



This guest blog post is about what happened to my story, originally titled Nisei. [Editor's Note: nisei is a Japanese language term used in countries in North America, South America and Australia to mean the children born to Japanese people in the new country.]



Now, this wasn't the first novel I'd written. Armed with degrees in English and journalism, I'd completed my first novel at age 25. I continued writing romantic suspense novels that never got published.



By the time I was writing It Had to Be You (Book 5), I had finally wised up enough to network. I began joining writers' organizations and entering contests. My World War II love story started kicking butt in contests. "This is The One," I thought.



But as I began to meet industry professionals, I learned that World War II fiction – as opposed to non-fiction – does not sell well; therefore, publishers will not invest in these books. Not just one editor or one agent told me this. They all told me this.



In one contest in which it placed, the senior editor of Harlequin Historical told the contest coordinator she liked my writing and that if I wrote something that took place before 1900, she would like to see it.



I wrote a Regency-set historical, A Duke Deceived, because I loved reading them. I sent it to her, and five months later, she bought it, paying me a $5,000 advance. That was in 1997. I had been a novelist for a quarter of century before earning a dime. I have since published about a dozen books.



In 2000, a small epublisher in the fledgling days of ebooks published my World War II romance. Even with generous royalties, I made less than $30 on the book.



The current ereader explosion has changed the face of the publishing industry. Since I had the rights back on many of my earlier now out-of-print books, at the end of May I started offering them as ebooks.



In June – at the urging of Joan and others – I decided to bring out It Had to Be You. It was so much fun designing a cover to fit the book, and I think my husband and I were able to capture the essence of the book in our cover.



I'm glad that people are reading about Dianne and Johnny's plight. I'm glad my book will be available in cyberspace after I'm gone from this earth – unlike my print books which got one quick shelf placement before vanishing into oblivion.



Now that I'm wearing a publisher's hat, though, I realize the wisdom of all those industry professionals who told me the World War II genre was not marketable. I now have six Regency historical books available as ebooks, and they sell substantially better than It Had to be You because they already have a built-in niche. Even my poorest selling Regency significantly outsells the World War II book.



But it's It Had to Be You which netted me a recent email which said, "This is the best book ever." Readers really DO like something different.



Takeaway Truth



For all of you who proclaim that you want a different kind of romance, here it is! Let's show Cheryl the power of the ebook reading audience. Buy It Had To Be You today.

Ebook Success: Rule #8, Market & Promote

Welcome! Today is the last day of this series. We're covering Rule #8: Market & Promote.



Ebook Success: Joan Sells & Tells All



In a few weeks, I'll publish Ebook Success: Joan Sells & Tells All, the ebook that will be a compilation of this series on SlingWords and many more blog posts about this subject posted on this blog and my old blog that I've terminated. (Just call me The Terminator.) Then you can have all the information in one place.



In the meantime, here's my book list for those of you who are new to the blog. If you've seen it before, just scroll down.



Just One Look



Still The One



JANE (I'm-Still-Single) JONES



The Trouble With Love



Romeo and Judy Anne



Written Wisdom



Parts Of This Series Previously Published



Ebook Success: Get Educated



Ebook Success: Write Business Plan



Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 1



Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 2



Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 3



Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 4



Ebook Success: Working With Cover Artists (addendum published the next day)



Ebook Success: Ad Copy, Part 1, Keywords



Ebook Success: Ad Copy, Part 2, Categories



Ebook Success: Ad Copy, Part 3, Bio & Book Description



Ebook Success: Rule #5, Price



Ebook Success: Rule #6 & 7, Your Sample; Your Book



Joan's Golden Rules



Here's my list of golden rules--called golden because I hope they will help you earn heaps of gold from your ebook sales.



1. Get educated.



2. Write a business plan.



3. Choose cover art wisely.



4. Write professional ad copy.



5. Choose price wisely.



6. Give a smart sample.



7. Write a good book.



8. Customize Marketing and Promotion.



I haven't written everything I have to say on any one of these rules because each post would be so long--even broken into parts as I tried to do. I'll elaborate in the book I'm bringing out since I can more easily break that into chapters.



Rule #8: Customize Marketing and Promotion



First, let's get on the same page when it comes to understanding some underlying basics about promoting your work/yourself. Here are 5 elements you need to know: public relations, promotion, publicity, marketing, and branding.



By know, I mean you need to know the true definitions--not what you may think these words/phrases mean. I blogged about this a while back in 3 Ps of Internet Marketing. I'll be quoting from that blog for part of this article.



Publicity, promotion, and public relations are often incorrectly used as if they were interchangeable. They're not. Promotion is built upon the foundation of publicity and public relations.



Do you know the difference between publicity and public relations? If you are an author with a book to sell, then you darn well need to know the difference because then you’ll know how to drive traffic to your book and to your website. Traffic is what you want because the bigger the traffic, as in number of visitors, the better your chance for sales success.



Publicity



Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject whether that subject is a book, an author, a website, or whatever. Publicists, that would be you if you wear all the hats in your Indie Author business, try to create news rather than sit around waiting for opportunities to present themselves.



Publicity in large part means free advertising. Publicity is gaining free exposure by using the services of others. For example, those who write articles for article content sites do so because they get a byline and have the opportunity to include their own URL in the article. They may be writing for free, but they hope to gain exposure for their own website and their name (their brand) in the byline. They also get a chance to post a bio which will increase the name recognition factor. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif(I've blogged about the benefits of contributing to article content sites.)



Publicity is getting your book mentioned as one of the 5 Great Indie Romance Books. That's what I discovered this morning when Amy Edelman of IndieReader was kind enough to notify me that JANE (I'm-Still-Single) JONES was one of those 5 books.



I did nothing to make that happen. As I said, publicity is in large part free. I'm making the most of it by talking about it here, telling friends about it, posting it on lists, etc. That's publicity. I'm also giving back publicity to Amy Edelman and to Romantic Love Books by publishing their links here.



If you comment on my blog, I just about always repeat your "name" and comment back to you. I'm offering you publicity twice: once when your name shows up and once again when I repeat your name. According to marketing professionals, a name must be seen at least 9 times by someone in order for that name to be remembered. I'm trying to do my part to help you with that.



When an opportunity presents itself, always take advantage of free publicity, and always pay it back to the person who gave you the opp.



Public Relations



Public relations is promoting a product, i.e. your book, your name, or your brand in order to create favorable reactions or positive impressions on the minds of the public.



You can do this with an effective website. (When I say website, I mean either a domain website or a blog. Blogs are websites though most differentiate between the two.)An effective website is one that pulls in visitors and directs their attention to areas you want them to view.



You can ask any online marketing pro, and they’ll all tell you that the answer to pulling in visitors to a website is content. You must have something interesting on your website that visitors need to know or want to read--preferably both.



The least successful websites and blogs are those that authors view as a promotion vehicle for their books. You know the ones I mean. There's nothing but pictures of the authors' book covers, and all the content is about me, me, me. Readers aren't interested in that. They can see your book covers on Amazon.



However, if you show a cover and talk about how the book came into being or tell a funny story about writing a particular scene or something interesting that is entertaining, then readers will be interested.



Radio Station WII FM



When you're thinking about websites, you have to always remember that visitors are tuned to their favorite radio station: WII FM (What's In It For Me). So make sure your content always answers that question.



Promotion



Remember, promotion is built upon the foundation of publicity and public relations. Promotion itself is one of four elements of marketing: product, price, promotion, place. A Wikipedia definition is that it is "the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision."



Ah, that's right. You have publicity like my book JANE being listed as one of 5 Great Romance Books. I'm taking that publicity and using the element of public relations and promoting that book in hopes of influencing the opinions of romance readers in the audience to buy that book. That's the end result you want to achieve by promotion: influencing someone's purchasing decision.



Two Types of Promotion



Briefly, I'll touch on the 2 types of promotion: above the line promotion and below the line promotion.



For most Indie Authors, above the line promotion is out of reach. That's promotion in mass media like TV, radio, print periodicals, internet, mobile phones, etc. We just don't have pockets deep enough to do this.



Below the line promotion is our gig because that covers all other promotion, and we can manage some of that. A lot of below the line promotion is subtle where the consumer might not really be aware that any promotion is occurring. These still include big ticket items that usually only big dogs get: product placement, direct mail, sponsorship, merchandising, trade shows, etc.



Anything else you can think of is below the line, and Indie Authors usually can accomplish only very minor promotions compared to what professional marketers and clients with big bucks can do.



I think the answer is to not sweat it. Be aware of what's out there, and do what is in the realm of your power. That's usually writing the best damn book you can. Remember, all the high-priced promotion in the world won't make a bad book a success.



Marketing



As stated above, all this goes into what marketing is. Easy definition: It's everything you do to get your book (product or service) in front of potential customers.



Branding



Branding was a word created about fifteen years ago by marketers. There's a lot of confusion about what it means. I like to think of it as your product's personality. It's you = what? Margaret Mitchell =sweeping Civil War saga. If she wrote in today's world, that would be her brand.



I am a writer. Romance novels are my product. The personality of my books? Sexy and funny with a chick lit attitude. I brand my books that way, and I brand me, as the author, as a romance author of funny, sexy books with a sassy (chick lit) attitude.



What Does This Have To Do With You



I think you need an understanding of the basic elements of marketing so that you'll see why all your Facebook updates and Tweets probably don't result in the sale of very many books. You can have 20,000 followers, but I bet that doesn't result in more than a few sales unless maybe you're Nora Roberts.



This also explains why ads you purchase that may get 15,000 pageviews result in no appreciable increase in sales.



Many people who first publish an ebook are told to hang out on the Kindleboards and Amazon reader discussion forums, and Goodreads, etc. Good luck with that. Most of those venues do not allow self-promotion and will tar and feather you if you are so foolhardy as to say you wrote a book.



In a way, I can't blame them because readers aren't there to listen to a few thousand authors chant a chorus of "buy my wonderful book."



The only reason, as I see it, to go to these websites is because you like hanging out with other writers on the Kindleboards--maybe you'll learn something from them. Or you like hanging out with readers because you too love reading.



What's An Indie Author To Do



1. Customize your efforts as much as possible. Waht works for me may not work for you, and vice versa.



2. If you've got a website, use it intelligently. That's about the best medium for promotion I know.



3. If you want to pay for advertising, check out the venue with other authors you know to see if they have had any quantitative results from advertising there.



4. Don't get so caught up in social media that you lose track of the writing.



5. Don't mistake being busy with promoting on FB, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. as being effective with promotions.



6. Pay it backwards and forwards any time someone shines a spotlight on you.



7. Think outside the box and see if you can come up with something that's organic to you and your books, and that's a joy to do, not a chore.



8. Don't obsess about reviews. Some think that good reviews will sell scads of books. Reviews seem to mean something only to authors and the readers who post them. Seventy-five 5-star reviews won't sell your book any more than no reviews will hinder its sale.



9. Focus on what you can control.



10. Work hard on writing the next book and making it the best it can be. Unless you're Margaret Mitchell, careers are not built on just one book.



11. Learn more about the process of marketing with every book you write.



12. Take a deep breath and realize that you're either in this for the long haul or you should get out now because it won't ever get easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is.



Coming Soon



Thanks for joining me. This concludes my series Ebook Success. In a couple of weeks, I'll publish the ebook containing all these blog posts plus a lot more including advice from successful ebook authors. I'll continue to blog about ebooks and continue to give tips, tricks of the trade, and advice because I like sharing; I like helping others.



Like I've said, that's just the way I'm made. I know how hard it is to make a living as a writer. I'm not an expert. I'm just a working writer who has had some success, and I hope I can help you avoid my mistakes and maybe help shortcut the process for you. I want you to achieve your own brand of success and have fun doing it.



Takeaway Truth



A rising tide floats all boats. I wish you magnificent ebook sales. If my advice helps, please let me know.



Note: If SlingWords helps you get ahead, please consider buying one of my books (Written Wisdom is perfect for writers--readers too!) or making a donation by clicking the button below or, perhaps subscribe, for only $.99 per month to the Kindle Edition of SlingWords. Thank you for your moral support and any monetary support you see fit to contribute.

Ravenous Romance Wants You!

One of my online acquaintances is Tabitha Dulla, an Editor at Ravenous Romance, a respected publisher of erotic romance.



This publishing company is owned by publishing veterans Holly Schmidt, Allan Penn (co-owners of Hollan Publishing) and Lori Perkins, a well-known New York-based literary agent.



Tabitha asked me if I'd let my reading audience know that she is actively looking to acquire books! Wow! Now that's the kind of news writers love to read, isn't it?



If you haven't bought books from this publisher before, be sure and study their website to familiarize yourself with their books and the various lines they publish.



Here's The Scoop



Ravenous Romance is currently looking to acquire erotic romance novels and short stories in all sub-genres including contemporary, paranormal, gay, lesbian, and menage. Of course, every book must be a compelling romance, with a great love story and passionate, explicit sex.



Tabitha will consider completed novels between 50,000-60,000 words and short fiction between 2,500 and 5,000 words.



If you are interested in submitting your work, please contact Tabitha Dulla at this email:



tabitha dot dulla @ gmail dot com



In the body of your email, please include (1) a brief 1 paragraph description of the work, (2) the sub-genre, and (3) the Ravenous Romance line for which it is best suited in your opinion.



If asked to submit the work itself, you will need to also include a longer (1-2 page) synopsis of the work.



For those who are previously published, please include your publishing history.



If you submit, feel free to tell Tabitha that Joan Reeves who writes SlingWords sent you.



Takeaway Truth



If you write in these genres, this is a great opportunity for you to get your work directly in front of an editor who wants to buy. Good luck!

Are You Happy

August is National Admit Your Happy Month. No kidding. It's true. Now, if I were European, I could understand this since that's the month many Europeans simply take off.



I think we should do that here in Texas. After all, it's the hottest month of the year. There are so many automotive meltdowns and tire failures on the freeways here in Houston in this terrible heat, that they ought to just tell everybody to stay home. Of course, that would have a grave impact on the tow truck drivers' incomes.



However, I digress. Back to this business of it being National Admit Your Happy Month. Since the month is almost over, I'll take a stand. I, Joan Reeves, herein admit that I am happy. Why the heck not? I might as well be happy as to be sad.



Everyone always says that the Constitution guarantees our right to be happy, but that's not true. It guarantees the American people only the right to pursue happiness. As Benjamin Franklin is purported to have said: "You have to catch it yourself."



The catching it yourself is a problem for a lot of people because they have a tendency to think that all things must be perfect in order for them to be happy. That's simply not true. Happiness is a decision one makes to maintain that mind state called happy.



Tolstoy said: "If you want to be happy, be."



Don't try to be happy. That sage Yoda nailed it when he said: "Do or do not. There is no try."



I'm reminded of a story I read years ago. I think it was in one of the first Chicken Soup for the Soul books. The writer said you might as well be happy regardless of what is going on. Say you have a wrecked car. You can be depressed and have a wrecked car or you can be happy and have a wrecked car. Either way, your car is still going to be wrecked. Will moping make the car whole again? No way. Will happiness? No. But which will make you whole again? Being depressed or being happy?



Quit obsessing about whether you're happy or not. Just be. I think Edith Wharton was dead on when she said: "If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time."



Takeaway Truth



Learn to roll with the punches, and be happy where you are planted, whether that's in a fragrant meadow or in deep excrement. The choice is always yours. Choose wisely.