It’s National Poetry Month and I am uploading audio videos of some of my poems to YouTube. I have taken them down from Soundcloud (as I am transitioning that page to an exclusive podcast page) and will be instead bringing them to YouTube. At this time I have five videos locked and loaded for you and will be adding more over time. So, if you would, please, welcome me back by subscribing to the channel and thanks so much for your support. (I’ve even done something I don’t usually do. I added hashtags to the headline. You see that? I’m being converted!)
I’ve also created a Facebook Group. Follow We Are Soul HERE(I am keeping this one)
Be sure to pick up your copy of I am Soul on Amazon here! A new review is in:
“The book is of discovery, healing and a slight political stance. It covers issues from simple being to issues of current affairs. It’s beautiful, soft and strong. From beginning to end the book is inspiring and reached into depths of my own inquisitive mind and soul.”
Blogging takes up a lot of time. To arrange a decent post takes at least an hour depending on how long the post is. For posts that require lots of research, it can take several days of research and gathering links before actually composing the post in the WordPress editor. Still, we are told that the best way to blog is to do it consistently. For busy bloggers, those with jobs and children and basically a life outside of the internet, blogging consistently is a real challenge.
You Don’t Have to Blog Everyday
The assumption that you have to publish a post every day is not entirely accurate. While posting every day is cool, that’s not ideal for everyone. Keeping a consistent blog is important but you don’t have to publish a post every single day in order to be successful. Be disciplined but do not obligate yourself to other people’s schedules. Just choose 2-3 days out of the week that you would like to dedicate to updating your blog.
Schedule Your Posts
Not every post has to be in real time. One of the biggest time savers for me is scheduling posts. This requires a bit of discipline since I have to get started days earlier depending on when I want the post to publish. For my Black History Fun Fact Friday posts, these are always scheduled days ahead because it requires research, fact-checking, and accuracy. To schedule your posts, here’s what you do:
Dashboard > New Post > Write out your post
Once you have written out your post, added tags and all that good stuff, scroll over to the publish section of the screen. It should be in the top right-hand corner. Next, to publish immediately, click on edit. The calendar will come up and you can choose when you would like the post to publish and the time. Keep in mind that the time will be in accordance with the timezone you have set. I am on USA Eastern Standard Time but my settings are Central Standard Time because I have moved to another state. When scheduling posts, I keep this in mind. (For those of you in the United States, it helps to choose a scheduling time that is convenient for people in other countries too. Scheduling my posts midnight my time means it will publish sometime in the morning in other countries. I have found this to work well).
Establish Segments
Publishing quality posts is important but the quality posts usually take up the most time. You may get something good every so often, but not every day. (I have not published a poem in awhile). That’s why I think establishing segments can help. A segment is something special you have going on that occurs at the same time or day every week or every month. My No Whining Wednesday and Black History Fun Fact Friday are examples. I’ve been slacking, but segments like these help to keep this blog updated and it may help you as well. It will give you something to look forward to and if you are a super busy blogger, will help you to be consistent with your posts at least once or twice a week. I find it also helps with branding. People will get used to your segments and look forward to them. They may even follow your blog specifically for that segment alone.
Choose from the most used tags
Tagging your post can be time consuming, especially if you’re OCD like me where everything has to be perfect. You don’t want to just use any tags but you also don’t have a lot of time to publish this post. Well, once you’ve been blogging a while, under the tags you will see something that says “choose from the most used tags.” These are tags you use often.
You can click on these tags quickly to tag your post with the generic tags (like, blog, wordpress, writers, etc.) and then spend the rest of your time adding authentic tags, or tags that are specific to your post. You can also blog from your phone if that saves time, which leads to my next point.
Install the WordPress App
I am not always at home when my posts publish but I am capable of responding to comments quickly and visiting other blogs because of the WordPress app. It took me a minute to actually catch on (I used to do it the long way by just checking my email) but once I did it has made blogging for me easier by cutting down on time. You can instantly see who has commented on your post and who has liked your post using the app. Am I the only one who still pays attention to post likes? Probably so but this helps me to get to know my readers more actually. I know who the active followers of this blog are and the followers who no longer participate. I am aware of those who used to comment all the time and now do not and I know who the new subscribers are who have taken on that role. I even know some of the followers who have been here since day one. This leads to my last idea.
Pay Attention
Pay attention to the posts people are really engaged in, the posts they enjoy most and interact with the most. This will cut down on a lot of time spent drafting something no one wants to read. I mean, I don’t spend a lot of time caring about what people will think of my posts, to be honest, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea to think about others from time to time. It’s your blog and you can write what you want and you should but blogging’s not fun without engagement. If you wrote a poem everyone liked, you may want to start to incorporate more poetry into your blog. After all, it’s about being of service to the people and not just in service to yourself.
You could be doing this as your post goes live, but you didn’t schedule it!
Welcome back to No Whining Wednesday, the only day of the week where you do not get to whine, complain, and criticize for an entire 24hour period. If you are new to this blog or new to this segment, visit the first post HERE.
Today’s quote:
We live in a world where people post memes and quotes every day as if putting those words into action is as easy as a click of a finger on a screen. But I’ll be the first to admit that I have been an over-explainer and that it is only now in my life that I am consciously aware of this and have decided to cut it out. No one wants to be misunderstood but I found that constantly explaining my position to people revealed some of my own baggage. There are reasons why I feel misunderstood and history behind why I’ve felt the need to lay it all out in hopes that people “got me.” Once I understood that I was subtly exposing myself with the unnecessary baggage of explanations, this is when I decided not to do it anymore.
What I love about this quote is that it doesn’t say “not” to explain yourself. Sometimes going in depth about things is necessary but you don’t have to explain yourself to everyone simply because there are some people who have already made up their minds about who you are. Explaining yourself to these people is a waste of time. Because some people have made up their minds, this also means that it depends on how deeply you know yourself. If you don’t know who you are you will always be tailoring your actions and words toward the thoughts and opinions of other people. You will always get emotional and stressed about the things they say about you and you will always feel the need to explain yourself because you don’t really know who you are. That’s the deeper aspect of this that I have had to learn.
As you understand who you are and act and think in accordance to the things that align with who you are, the less obligated you’ll feel to explain yourself to people who don’t know you at all.
They say to beware when a naked person offers you a shirt. You can’t sacrifice for others to the point that you rob yourself because you cannot give what you don’t already own. But if your well does not run dry, if your cup runs over, if you are overflowing, then you can afford to be of service, truly, to others. If you have a love for yourself then you can give love to others. If you are confident in yourself then you can inspire others, and if you are knowledgeable yourself then you can teach others. It all starts with self. To quote Iyanla Vanzant, ‘what’s outside of the cup is yours, what’s inside the cup is mine.’ In order to be of service to others, you must learn to keep yourself full.
Today I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Sean Mungin. Welcome to The PBS Blog! Let’s get started.
What is your name and where are you from?
My name is Sean Mungin and I live in Los Angeles, California.
I always wanted to visit Cali. What would your perfect writing / reading room look like?
My perfect writing/reading room would have bookshelves (filled with books, of course) covering every wall (except for the window and sitting area) from the ceiling to the floor. It would have soft music and sounds of water running in the background. It would have a comfortable sitting area next to the window.
I love that sound of water, I imagine that would be peaceful. What job do you think you’d be really good at?
I think I would probably be a pretty good counselor. I have always been the person that others would come to talk through their problems. I think the most memorable moment was when I was in high school; a married co-worker of mine came to me and began sharing issues she was having within her marriage. I do not remember what I actually said to her, but I do remember that she returned to me and thanking me because whatever I said to her worked.
That’s what’s up. Speaking of being good at things, what was your childhood dream?
My childhood dream was to be a musician. I have always had an ear for music. I once asked my mother for music lessons, but we were not in a position financially for me to ever begin them.
Cool. Do you play any instruments?
I play around with the keyboard and was teaching myself to play guitar until I broke a finger on my right hand.
Aww. Boo. Speaking of childhood, any siblings?
I have five siblings. Two older brothers, an older sister, and two younger sisters.
What’s your favorite drink?
My favorite drink is coffee. I love to try different blends from around the world. The smell is intoxicating. The taste is awesome. Dark, bold roasts…of course.
A coffee drinker, yaass. What state or country do you never want to go back to?
I never wanted to come back to California, but it is amazing how my life has come full circle and I am right back here in the Greater Los Angeles area again 20 years later.
The Thorn in the Flesh is available now on Amazon.
Lol. Let’s switch it up a bit. Does blogging help you to write?
Blogging has helped me write in a major way. I have always loved to write. It helps me to process my thoughts and life experiences. However, because becoming a successful blogger and growing a larger reading audience requires consistency, it also requires that I pay close attention to the content and the reading patterns of my audience. As we try to interpret the data from our sites, we have to tailor everything towards the things that work and make the necessary adjustments on the things that have not worked.
True. Sean, what’s your favorite food?
I am not certain that I have a favorite food. I like to try different dishes at least once.
C’mon Sean. I know you have a favorite food! If all the food in the world no longer existed and you had to eat one meal every day, what would it be?
If I were in that situation, I would have to choose an egg and cheese sandwich. I can eat breakfast any time of the day.
Nice. I love eggs. Well, except for…anyway. Let’s move on. What’s your favorite color?
I have four favorite colors: white, black, blue, and olive green. I am not certain if white and black qualifies though, but I like them anyway.
Ha! Your one of those “black and white aren’t colors” kinda guy huh? Lol. Who is your favorite writer?
I think it would be blasphemous for me to say that I do not have a favorite writer, but it is true. I like to read across different genres and I believe that my writing has been influenced by each in their own respective ways.
Nice. You said you wanted to be a musician, what kind of music do you like?
I like to listen to Christian, classical and soft instrumental music.
Let’s go back to writing, when did you publish your first book? What was that like?
I published my first book back in 2003, I think. It felt like a great accomplishment. But, as I have matured in my thinking about life, I think I would do a complete overhaul of the work to include my current perspective on things. Back then, I was really just venturing out for the first time in this capacity, so I am certain that there were a lot of errors in need of major editorial assistance.
I feel you. I felt the same way about my first work. Although my baby, I have since pulled it from shelves for that reason. What do you wish you knew more about?
I wish I knew more about public policy. I, for some reason, am in love with policy.
Interesting. What do you think of the world we live in?
I think, at some point, we all have lost our way. Everything has become focused on global competition instead of what is in the best interest of the global community.
What are your thoughts on Race?
Contrary to the beliefs of many, I believe race is still an issue. It has an undeniable presence within our society. I believe that it has become more overt within the past 14 – 15 months. Maybe that was needed to force others to acknowledge its existence. We cannot address something if others are unwilling to meet us at the table to discuss how to best remedy this problem.
What is the most thought provoking book you’ve ever read?
The Bible.
Yasss! What’s your favorite scripture or book?
I love the entire Bible. If I had to choose my favorite books, they would be everything written by Paul. My favorite verse is John 15:5. That verse keeps me grounded.
Powerful verse. What’s the most difficult thing about being a writer? The most exciting thing?
The most difficult thing about being a writer is overcoming writer’s block. One day, things may flow more fluidly than on others. At this point, you are at the mercy of the process. In a world where there is so many negative events taking place, it is sometimes difficult to be inspired.
The most exciting thing is the finished product. The sense of accomplishment is a big deal to any writer, I would imagine.
Indeed.
Thank you Sean for spending this time with us. We enjoyed you!
Sean Mungin is a public figure who has embodied the spirit of individual and corporate success. Sean graduated from Lee University in 2005 with a Bachelors in Theology. He also earned a Masters in Psychology from the University of Phoenix in 2010. He also completed the Masters in Religious Education program from the Mason Kelly Washington Religious Training in Long Island, NY.
Sean’s current positions as an administrator and minister align him with his previous positions as an individual genuinely concerned about the holistic well-being (spiritual, mental, physical, and socio-economical) of all people. His most recent accomplishment was becoming a Certified Writer/Editor for the International Association of Professional Writers and Editors. Sean is currently working on focusing on developing and implementing several entrepreneurial projects. His goal is to create multiple opportunities for a higher quality of living for all within his area of influence.
Sean’s is known for his favorite motto, “Love God…love people…love yourself”
Are you an author? Looking for more exposure? Learn more about my Introduce Yourself FeatureHERE.
After a steep decline, the number of black-owned independent bookstores is growing.
Mahogany Books opens in Washington D.C.
When Troy Johnson began tracking the number of black-owned bookstores in the U.S. in 1999, there were more than 325. By 2014, that number had dwindled to 54, a decline of 83%.
“They were closing left and right, and the major ones were struggling,” said Johnson, who runs the African American Literature Book Club, an online book database. Today, Johnson estimates, there are at least 108 black-owned independent stores, a number of which have opened in the past six months, marking a substantial reversal. “Last year was the first year I added more stores to the list than I took away,” he noted.
The surge in black-owned indie bookstores is notable at a time when both bookselling and publishing are wrestling with issues of workforce diversity.
Today we are introducing and spotlighting Dr. K.E. Garland, poetry contest sponsor! You may remember Kathy from her excellent Introduction Interview on this blog HERE. Well, she’s back and has a lot of exciting things going on! Join me as we catch up.
Dr. K.E. Garland
Katherin Garland was born and raised on Chicago’s west side. She has spent much of her adult life teaching secondary and post-secondary classes in Florida. Kathy is an amazing writer and First Place Royal Palms Literary Award-winning writer for Creative Nonfiction. Her work has been featured in the South Florida Times, Talking Soup and For Harriet. The Unhappy Wife is an anthology of 12 fictionalized stories of real women’s marriages. Her first book, Kwoted includes 100 original and inspirational quotes focused on living a conscious life. She typically writes in order to inspire social change. Other examples of her work can be found on her personal blog.
Kwoted
The quotes encompassed in this book are the result of advice and mantras that the author lives by and offers to those around her. Through this book of quotes, she hopes to broaden the range of encouragement and support for any person who seeks to live consciously, activate dreams and participate in relationships with their whole hearts.
You may remember The Unhappy Wife from my five-star review earlier this year (check it out HERE).
Twelve women share one thing in common – the quest for being happily married to the men they chose; however, each one finds herself in an unexpected marital predicament. Inspired by real events and told from each woman’s perspective, these short stories are firsthand accounts detailing the realities of marriage well after each woman said, “I do.”
Four women represent The Voiceless Wife. Although circumstances vary, these women give their power away to friends and family. The result is a loss of intuition and self. The Detached Wife symbolizes five different ways wives can be disconnected from their husbands and themselves. Sex, intimacy and self-discovery are central to understanding these women’s narratives. The Committed Wife includes three women who demonstrate the depths of devotion. These final stories show that wives sometimes need more than loyalty to be happy.
Also included is an afterword by Dating and Relationship Coach and Instructor, and founder of Relationship Architect Academy, Anita Charlot. She gives valuable insights as to how and why some women become “unhappy” wives and what we as women can do to maintain healthier relationships.
Daddy: Reflections of Father-Daughter Relationships
I am “uber” excited for this one! Daddy is Kathy’s latest anthology and is currently available for preorder. She is also doing a special feature of the writers who contributed to this piece on her blog.
A father’s presence is important in a daughter’s life. He is the first man a little girl sees and knows. He demonstrates how men relate to women. But what happens when the father-daughter relationship is dysfunctional? Daddy answers that question.
Included are fourteen memoirs that describe the impact a failed father-daughter relationship can have. These women share essays and narratives that detail various stages of breakdown. Whether an event occurred in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, each story explains how their father’s physical, emotional, or psychological abandonment has affected them.
The book is separated into two parts. Part I shows the proverbial truth in the phrase, hurt people hurt people. While some stories confirm why or how men mistreat their daughters, others show how daughters sometimes internalize neglect and continue the cycle either with the relationship they have with themselves, or others. Part II illustrates how compassion can lead towards a path of inner peace and happiness, no matter the state of the relationship.
Kathy’s NOT done! She is currently a sponsor of my 2nd Annual Poetry Contest and has generously donated six books! Six ya’ll. This means you have a chance to win a copy of both The Unhappy Wife and Daddy: Reflections of Father-Daughter Relationships when you support this contest. Details of how to enter are coming soon. In the meantime, stay tuned for more Author Spotlights for this year’s contest and be sure to go support Kathy’s work! You won’t be disappointed.
The PBS Blog 