Showing posts with label nonfiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nonfiction. Show all posts

Friday, May 22, 2015

Blogging for Creatives

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm gonna talk with all you bloggers about a book I think you need to have on your shelves, and give you some of the highlights. I do love non-fiction how-to books, and I've recommended a number of them here on the blog. However, I like this book on blogging above any other I've come across.

So, I figured I'd talk about it. I originally picked the title up from the library, but have gone on to purchase my own copy since. I also grabbed one to give away during the panel I'm moderating at utopYA called "So, You Wanna be a Book Blogger/Tuber?" I have a great post on panels coming up for you next week, so I'm not delving into all that too deeply.

The title of the book is Blogging for Creatives: How designers, artists, crafters, and writers can blog to make contacts, win business, and build success, and it's by Robin Houghton. You can get a copy from Amazon here for about $16.

Moving on!

Now that you know the title of the book, have seen the cover, and where you can snag a copy, let's get to yammering!

Here are a few of the section titles and what you can hope to find:
1. Get Started - this covers many things like group blogging, what a blog is, and how to find a niche.
2. Blogging Tools and Technology - She discusses how to choose a host, and recommends some widgets.
3. Step-by-Step Setup
4. Creating an Eye-Catching Blog - Color, typography, and other fun stuff.
5. Creating Great Content

Anyway, you can see where I'm going with this. Plus, Ms. Houghton gives you awesome inspiration screenshots throughout.

If you're a seasoned blogger, you may not get a lot out of this book; but there were some tips and tricks in there I didn't know, and it helped me pull a new level of creativity out of my hat.

You know my utopYA author interview series? Yeah, the idea for that came from this book.

Looking to make money with your blog? This book will guide you through the process of setting everything up.

It's awesome. Period. As a bonus, you can check it out from the library for FREE!

You're still here? What are you waiting for? Get to it!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Friday, June 13, 2014

A Single Swim

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Well, it's less than a week now until I'm at UtopYA Con. I have to admit, my nerves are starting to get frazzled. As you all know, I'm a Klutz with a capital K. At my college graduation, I was the only person to drop their name card when handing it to the announcer. *head/desk* If one can fall over a pebble, I'll be the person to do it (and probably break an ankle in the process). Needless to say, I'm worried I'll do something idiotic like that and become the buffoon of the weekend. There are 695 confirmed attendees this year. People don't scare me--I've worked in retail for many years. But we all have our own fears; even if they're unfounded or ridiculous. There's no way to express how happy I am that my dear friend, Tia Silverthorne Bach, will be joining me.

Anyway, enough about all that. Let's get to the good stuff. What I'm about to share with you may scare the heebie-jeebies out of you. Well, maybe you need that. Grab a cup of coffee and let's get going!

A Single Swim
by Kristina Circelli

On August 13th, 2011, sixteen-year-old Courtney Nash passed away after contracting Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba that lurks in warm waters. This is her story.

A Single Swim follows Courtney's life and death, while taking a closer look into an amoebic infection very few people ever hear about - until it's too late. Tracing as far back as 1960s, Naegleria fowleri and the resulting infection of this parasite have taken more than a dozen lives, with a fatality rate of nearly 100%.

Through an examination of Courtney's case along with stories of other victims across the United States, A Single Swim offers a glimpse into our waters' rare silent killer. From ecology to symptoms, hospital care to awareness, find out what can happen ... after a single swim.

Here are the buy links for the book:
Amazon Kindle $1.99
iBooks $1.99

I don't know about all of you, but this scares the bejezus out of me. One swim? Well, what you don't see here is the fact that Courtney is related to the author. So, raising awareness means a lot to Kristina.

I do hope you'll check out the book and learn more about Naegleria fowleri.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Thursday, October 3, 2013

The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! I was gonna write another review today, but I didn't get finished with the book I was reading. Since I never half-a$$ anything, I refuse to review before I'm done. Sorry! So, instead, I'm gonna talk about one of my books that's an asset for Indie authors. Why? Well, I see a ton of questions popping up all over the place about self-publishing. The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book has the answers you're looking for. Let's get going, shall we?

First, about the book:
Title: The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book
Author: Jo Michaels
Genre: Non-Fiction How-To
Length: 54 Printed pages
Links: Amazon $2.99 Smashwords $2.99 B&N $2.99

Description:
Indie author? Banging your head on your desk? You need The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book. Not just for e-books. This guide contains helpful tips and tricks to make your book look like it came from a major publisher. Guided sections walk you through how to format your book for all platforms, how to create a dynamite cover, how to brand yourself as an author, and how to build a perfect book for printing. Indie authors, let's give the big houses a real run for their money!


I'm sure you're all wondering why I wrote this book. Well, it's because, like most Indie authors, I struggled to learn all I needed to know in order to self publish. I thought: Why not help others since I've been through a lot of this stuff and save them the headache?

It's not just about building books. It's about building your brand, your e-book, and your print book.

Why is it so short? Because it's also meant to be a pocket reference. Something that won't take up a ton of space in your bag or purse. A book you can carry with you everywhere. I priced it low because Indie authors just starting out don't usually have a ton of money to play with.

But in a book that short, what can you possibly get out of it?

To tell you the truth, I cut out all the fluff. It's very straight to the point. Here's a ToC for you to look over:

Section One – Branding Yourself
  • Choosing an Identity
  • Creating a Logo (or having one created for you)
  • Color Scheme Dos and Don’ts
  • Consistency is Queen – Because Kings are controlled by Queens!
Section Two – Formatting Your Manuscript
  • Dos and Don’ts when Writing Your Book
  • Quick Tips for Better Legibility
  • Building Your Save System
  • Different Formats for Different Platforms
Section Three – Building a Digital Cover
  • Size IS Important!
  • Images
  • Font Choices – Why does it Matter?
  • Using Layers
Section Four – Final Checks
  • Uploading and Proofing
Section Five – Business Considerations
  • Choosing your distributor(s)
  • Places to Sell and Market Your Book
Section Six – If Your Book is a Print Version
  • Your Book’s Guts
  • Orphans and Widows
  • Pesky Page Numbers
  • Running Headers
  • Cover Considerations
  • Explaining Bleed and Safety
  • Conversion to CMYK for print
  • Math Involved

Why do I feel I can write such a book with this kind of information?

Here's the forward from the book:
Before we begin, let me tell you the basic things you will need to format your book by these guidelines. If you have another program you’re more familiar with, use that. This book is meant to be a guide only.

I reference Adobe Photoshop for building covers in The Indie Author’s Guide to: Building a Great Book. If you use Gimp or some other image manipulation software and know where the panels I discuss in this book are, use your program.

I reference Microsoft Word 2007 for formatting interiors in The Indie Author’s Guide to Building a Great Book. If you know how to do the things outlined in this book in another program and prefer it, use yours.
In most of this book, I’m assuming you have a basic working knowledge of your chosen program and are familiar with tabs and menus.

I’m passing on knowledge that will help your book appear more professional in the mass market. Period.
My expertise lies in the field of Graphic Design and a lot of what you’ll find here imparts knowledge I learned during my studies and things I have discovered on my own while publishing my books. I spent a year as a Graphic Design tutor and was chosen amongst the other graduates in my final year to design the commencement cover (they loved it so much they used it again the following year).

I’ve listened to common complaints people have about self-published books and tried to address those areas here as well so we all look like we went to design school and have worked at a big publishing house our whole lives (or at the very least, that we can play with the big boys – and do it well).

Section six is the longest section because consideration of a print version of your book requires a lot of work. Follow me once and keep me around for a quick reference guide.

You may ask me additional questions via Twitter @WriteJoMichaels if you feel compelled to do so.
If you indulge in banging your head on the desk or tearing out your hair while reading this book (the very thing I’m trying to help you avoid – bald authors with red foreheads make us all look nuts), I take no responsibility. Enter at your own risk and enjoy!

As a funny, I also created an awesome mousepad over on Zazzle that screams to the world how this book saved you. check it out: TIAG Mousepad.

I hope this helps some of you achieve your dreams!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Great Books and Human Nature

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! What a crazy week it's been. I've managed to get into a couple of really awesome books lately and want to share those as well as talk about a series of posts I wrote last year on Human Nature. So grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

A library card is something I'm still in awe of having. Libraries give you the ability to, not only read, but take home a multitude of books you can learn from if you simply give them your name, number, and address. It stuns me every time I go in and see all those books for the consuming just sitting there on the shelves, waiting for me to pluck them out, take them home, and read the words on the pages. As a library hound, I've run across a couple of amazing books for bloggers and authors you guys might want to consider picking up yourselves.

If you go to your library and they don't have one of these books, you can request one and should have it within a week or two. How cool is that? Plus, it's all free!

So, here's the list:
  • Blogging for Creatives: How Designers, Artists, Crafters and Writers can blog to make contacts, win business and build success. by Robin Houghton

This book was helpful in giving advice on how to blog, make social networking contacts, and attract visitors. If you want to monetize your blog, there's advice in there about that, too. I skimmed over that part, because I refuse to run ads on my blog other than my own, but it has a lot of great information in it.
  • Wired for Story: The writer's guide to using brain science to hook readers from the very first sentence. by Lisa Cron

I'm about halfway through this book and I can already tell it's a winner. It really gets into why people read and what they want, rather than telling you how to craft a novel. You can check it out when I'm done with it. Haha!
  • I love the For Dummies series and picked this one up because it looked awesome: Writing Young Adult Fiction - for Dummies. by Deborah Halverson

I've only glanced through the contents, but I'm eager to get into it this weekend.

One thing I noticed as I was reading Wired for Story, is she talks a lot about Human Nature and how it plays a big part in how people get hooked on a tale. I thought it might be a good idea to give you a few links to those posts while you're here, so you have some supplemental materials if you decide to check out the book.

Human Nature Series:
The Love Affair
Holding a Grudge
Seeking Revenge
Situation Reaction
Thought Processes

If you take the time to flip through and read those posts, you'll have a good foundation on which to build as you read Wired.

Do you have a library card? How often do you visit?

Remember, today is the last day to pick up Mystic~Bronya for free over on Amazon so get on over there and grab a copy!

If you haven't entered to win a copy of Sixty Days of Grace, today's your last chance on that one, too! Here's the Rafflecopter entry form one more time:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure and check out the guest post from Monday by M.R. Polish! Next week, we'll have a new author and you don't wanna miss this one.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo