NOW AVAILABLE – I AM SOUL

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF I AM SOUL

Working Toward the Vision

I AM SOUL is now available (CLICK HERE). I am dog tired but this was fun. I wanted to release this on the low but it did better than I thought it would (still holding on at #11 in its category and this week, we got down to number 7. Not number one I know but you gotta crawl before you walk! I try to always appreciate the little things). This has been one challenging year for me and working part-time now meant I had to get up early to write and then stay up late to write. This book was birthed over cups of coffee, scripture reading, and glasses of wine. Birthed while folding laundry and frying chicken. I say this to say that when it comes to having your own, nothing compares but it takes more than just passion and dreams. It takes commitment. Passion means nothing without commitment. Every day I get up hours before I have to just to write or to blog or to do something for my business and I go to bed late doing the same thing. These are the critical, personal and private moments that matter the most. Over the years I’ve learned that growth is not always what you can see. These are the moments of growth. You may need to sacrifice sleep, that favorite TV show and movie night just to meet your deadline but in the end, you will be thankful that you put in this time.

My biggest accomplishments have not been broadcasted and it is because of these personal milestones that I’ve been capable of producing these books. Here’s to the entrepreneurs who are brave enough to work for themselves regardless of what they are going through personally. Here’s to those who do the work and in the process, bring forth fruit. YOU ARE SOUL.

 

I AM SOUL - Mock

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF I AM SOUL

How to Know if You’re a Hater

Don’t laugh.  I am serious. Some of you don’t know.

Anytime you see someone doing something positive and your first thought is, “But…” This is a sign that your a hater. Now, people can hate for different reasons but if your FIRST thought is BUT, there is some hatred there. Let’s look at some examples.

An author gets over 100 reviews.

“But I know some of those fake though.”

How? How do you know their reviews are fake? Have you conducted your own private investigation of this? Have you interviewed the reviewers to find out? How do you know for sure that this author’s reviews are not authentic?

A man gets a promotion on his job.

“But they not even paying him enough.”

How do you know if what he makes is enough for him (not for you) and if it’s not? Have you spent a night at his home? Have you spoken with his family? How do you know what’s enough for his family size and circumstance?

An author makes the Amazon Best Sellers, USA Today or New York Times List.

“But that don’t mean nothing for real. Anyone can make the Best Sellers list.”

Really? Anyone? Are you sure? How do you know what this means to this author? Have you done the research to verify that this achievement means nothing? Can’t this author just have their moment?

An Author makes it to #1 on Amazon with a book priced at only 99cents.

“But yo book was $0.99 though so your “Best Seller Status” don’t mean nothing.”

Again, how do you know? There are a gazillion books out today for 99cents. If an author makes it to #1, how do you know they didn’t earn it? Surely, they had to do something different than the other million authors with sales going on around this time at the same price. Have you investigated this particular author’s niche? Did they show you their marketing strategy? Do you know for sure if they’re gaming the system (as some do which is like, weak) but did you check to see if they fit those who do? Did you meet for dinner to discuss this? Do you know their circle and level of influence? No? OK.

A woman just gave birth and can’t help but post pictures on social media.

“But you shouldn’t be posting pictures of your baby like that.”

Can this new mother have her moment? We know there are predators out there but her children are fully clothed and she’s not abusing them. I know we don’t praise this type of stuff in this world today but can we, for a moment, understand the significance of this achievement? After all, none of us were in the hospital with her when she gave birth and I am sure we would not want to share her pain. Can she at least have this moment?

A man and woman celebrate their anniversary.

“But I heard he was cheating on her tho.”

Let the record reflect that the key word is “heard”. Have you investigated this for certain? Do you actually know this man and woman or have you just heard rumors? How do you know if he’s cheating on her? Where’s your evidence and two-three people to verify? You don’t? OK.

My point is, when you see someone doing something good whether that’s a new promotion or they just had a baby or got married your first response should not be negative. If you shake your head in the negative at their success (and even if it isn’t actually success to you maybe it is to them) then you fall into the hater category. OK so that author is maybe doing it wrong, can’t you at least partake in their happiness for a moment? You can always message them privately to school them, can’t you? No, they’re not sitting on Oprah’s couch and they’re not really “doing it big” but they wrote  a book and they’re happy, is that not enough?

My point is, and I don’t care who you are, if your FIRST reaction is to shake your head in the negative when you see other people happy (because they don’t fit your definition of ‘doing it right’), you’re a hater and should probably cut it out.

Matt. 7:1-2

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

FYI: This scripture means that the same way you judge others is the same way you will be judged. If you are not compassionate on others, there will be no compassion for you when your time comes. Let’s treat others the way we would like to be treated.

Breaking: Readers Can expect a New Zora Neale Hurston Book in 2018

For those of you familiar with my latest novel, Renaissance, you know that Zora makes a guest appearance so I am excited to dig into her newest release from Harper Collins next year. It sounds like a powerful one. Here’s what’s going on:

HarperCollins will launch a never-before-published book by Zora Neale Hurston. Barracoon is a non-fiction work of anthropology, rather than a novel.

As Daniel Johnson writes for the Black Youth Project:

Barracoon tells the story of the last known person to survive the transatlantic slave trade, a man named Cudjo Lewis. Many know that Hurston was an acclaimed fiction writer, but here it is her work as an anthropologist that shines. Hurston was able to sit down in the Black community of Plateau, Alabama, which was founded by Cudjo Lewis and other ex-slaves from the ship that brought them to America, and talk with the then 95-year-old Lewis about his life in 1931.

The book’s name comes from the type of ship on which Lewis was held and brought to America. In Barracoon, Hurston captures, largely in Lewis’s own words, the horrors of his passage to America, the brutality of his time as an enslaved person in America, and the story of his life after the Civil War.

This sounds like it’s going to be a powerful read.

Click through the ORIGINAL ARTICLE here.

12 Life Lessons I Learned in 2017

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  • Growth is painful, uncomfortable, and frustrating. It reveals the raw and aching part of us and demands our masks to fall so that we may accept who we truly are and what truly is. This is unpleasant and frightening but necessary because, without this kind of mental and physical suffering, we cannot grow.

 

  • Deceit lies, and lack of proper communication can destroy any relationship. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve known a person, how many secrets you’ve shared, how many deep conversations you’ve engaged in or how many tears you’ve shed, deception is a rotten fruit that contaminates weak foundations. No matter how embarrassing or silly, be upfront with the people you say that you love.

 

  • There is, sadly, a thing as being too nice. Energy is precious and we cannot risk being vulnerable to the first smile or positive comment that is thrown in our direction. Not in this world. While we can be positive examples, we must also accept that for some people it’s too late. They have been too far corrupted and will only trample our kindness and gossip about our weaknesses. Like the saying says, “Not everyone deserves a seat at the table of your life.” Discernment is key.

 

  • Let go of people who have let go of you. Do this without feeling ashamed, embarrassed or like you’ve done something wrong. Let go courageously. Without the need to explain yourself or to apologize for being misunderstood. People who have lied and betrayed you and left you out to rot will always make it seem that you are the person who is possessed and that you are the one who has done wrong. These are lies. In the words of Najwa Zebian, “shame lies on the person who takes advantage of a good heart.”

 

  • Laugh often and cry when necessary. Scream if you have to. Do not be ashamed. This is healing. Let the tears cleanse you.

 

  • It’s OK to be hurt, we’ve all been at some point, but don’t play the victim. Self-victimization paralyzes so that we have an excuse not to take responsibility for the lives that we live. We are always looking back on childhood, on past relationships and on failed circumstances as a crutch for why we are not the people we know that we should be. In the words of Pierre Jeanty, “When are you going to stop complaining about who you are now, because of who they were to you? You speak as an activist, yet live as a slave without a voice.” The past is our lesson. It is not our cage.

 

  • Do not work so hard to prove your sincerity. It will only come across as fake. There will always be people who do not accept you and to them, it does not matter how hard you try, you will never be enough. Forcing these people to understand you will do more harm than good. Don’t overdo it. Just be you.

 

  • Stop misinterpreting silence for whatever your imagination has made up. You don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives, why they have chosen not to respond or what circumstance held them up. Sometimes silence means people aren’t interested and that they don’t care but not all the time (though our doubt would have us to believe so.) Other times, silence means they don’t know how to respond or have not gotten around to it yet. Stop stressing over made-up mental scenarios.

 

  • Do not force locked doors to open. Sometimes it is just not the right time. If you break the door down, it will never be the same again. Remember the butterfly: If you force it out of its cocoon, it will never fly. It is not that this isn’t your door, it’s just not your time.

 

  • Do your own research and try things out for yourself. Experiment so that you know intimately what works and what does not work. Take risks and see what is legit and what is fabricated for yourself. Do this and you will not bend to every new opinion that surfaces.

 

  • Follow your own advice and show yourself the same love you so desperately seek from others. Give it to yourself first and then pour into the cups of those whose hearts are worthy. You are special so not everyone can receive what you have to give. Your love is not a game. Your love is a gift. Give it that distinction.

 

  • Never sacrifice your personal integrity for the sake of being “liked”. Don’t let people censor and edit your voice. If it doesn’t feel right, it’s not right. Walk away. Turn down whatever does not feel and taste and smell, like you.

PREORDER I AM SOUL

This is just a heads up that my short poetry collection I AM SOUL is now available for preorder on Amazon. CLICK HERE or on the image below to preorder now for 99cents.

(To ARC for this book, email me.)

Visit my website to access more I AM SOUL products. CLICK HERE.

Premade Book Covers: 2 Things to Keep in Mind

There’s a quote floating around somewhere that says:

“Don’t go broke trying to prove to other broke people that you ain’t broke.”

Many authors are on budgets now more than ever and this has created an entirely new source of income for graphic designers, many of whom offer premade book covers as well as custom made. These artists have made our life a little easier by offering professional covers at lower rates than custom covers. While custom covers are preferred, not everyone can afford a new custom cover for every book (except for people who make their own covers or knows of someone who does it for them free of cost) so consider this post for those of us “balling on a budget.” I believe in investing in your best and if you can afford to pay for a custom cover and high-priced editing, go for it. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, just know you don’t have to go broke to publish your book. The same way we can find reasonable editing prices is the same way we can find reasonable book cover prices for covers that won’t look generic.

Still, Premades have a unique struggle we must consider when choosing them.

All of the factors that go into articulating your story to a designer in a way that will help them to design a good cover is internal. By internal I mean that if you are choosing the premade, you have to make these decisions for yourself. You have to understand your target audience, your genre, and identify the key features enough to know if the cover is the right fit for you. This isn’t easy.

Many people have asked me about the cover for Renaissance. The truth is that it was a premade I was blessed to find! All the artist did was edit the text. Here’s what a reader said when leaving a review for the book on Amazon:

“The first thing that drew me to this novel was its beautiful cover. A deep blue sky fading into a sunset which bakes an old country road golden brown.”

Guys, I didn’t spend a lot of money on this.

As soon as I saw the cover I knew it was the right fit for Renaissance. Though it’s a premade, there are some things that made it unique:

  • Although it was a premade, the photo is a real photo taken by Brittany Cox and then sold to designer Najla Qambers to be used for a premade book cover. It is not a stock photo.

 

  • The elements of the photo fit the context of the story, which starts off in Jacksonville, MS where the White family owns and runs a farm.

 

  • The book cover matches other books in my genre (Historical Fiction)

I looked at other covers and thought about purchasing a complete custom cover but my money wasn’t agreeing with that so I just went back to that same image, praying no one had taken it. The use of a real country road photo really sets it apart. It was also the only of its kind being sold so I was anxious to get it as it was literally just one available. When I was ready, I contacted Najla Qambers of Brick-a-Brack Photography and secured my cover.

  1. Watch Out for Overly Used Stock Photos

One of the things that made the Renaissance cover unique is the use of a real photograph. There are some great premade design covers out there but many designers use the same stock photos. All designers will have a message that says the book cover is not sold after you buy it and the cover is removed, which is true. You will often see “Sold” on the designer’s site to indicate that cover has been taken. But while the same cover cannot be sold again, the same stock photo is sometimes used in a slightly different design. The particular cover you bought may not be sold again but the same stock images can be used again. Keep this in mind when looking for your premade.

Joshua Jadon sums it up pretty well:

“You also may get less attention from a generic cover because it may be a little easier to ignore. Readers are looking for something interesting and exciting that grabs their attention, and a book that might have the same cover—or at least the same images—as several others often won’t get that kind of attention. A unique style or look can influence readers’ selection process. If your cover doesn’t reflect that … well, it may not get noticed.”

But, your premade does not have to look generic.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

It is possible to find a stunning premade that looks custom made. I got tons of compliments on this cover and requests for who designed it. People thought it was custom made.

2. Watch out for Bulk Premade Deals

Boy did I fall for this one! Book cover design is a skill. Period. Even though there are designers offering bulk book covers at discounted prices you can edit in Photoshop, it won’t do you any good without skill. I made the mistake of falling for this and while some of the bulk covers I purchased are nice (and I am competent in editing covers in Photoshop), it is not something I will do again. A clever move by designers but not such a good deal for authors. Unless you are Photoshop Savvy, have someone on your team who is Photoshop Savvy, or you are a graphic designer, it will do little to benefit you to buy twenty premade book covers you have to design yourself using the software you don’t know how to use. 

While it may start off looking professional, your lack of skill can make it look generic because graphic designers are skilled in typography, colors, blending colors, and anything else that may require a keen eye. You can mess up a nice cover not knowing what you’re doing which will lead you back to square one.

Here are some websites with some unique premade book covers. There are more, I am sure, but these are ones I’ve investigated myself. I rarely see the stock photos from their covers used by other designers.

For more posts on Indie Publishing, be sure to visit the new Indie Author Basics with EC page.

Be sure to pick up your copy of Renaissance: The Nora White Story (Book One) HERE.

New Author Tip

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Blogging has greatly impacted my writing life. The knowledge and wisdom from my fellow bloggers is amazing. I love that we build each other up and alert one another to things that may seem fishy in the publishing industry. I love that we promote each other and help advance the other’s writing life. That said, my tip for new authors is this:

This is just a suggestion, but if you are about to publish for the first time and you’ve never published a book before (and people don’t know you as a writer, maybe as other things but not as a writer) consider starting a blog at least 6 months to a year of publishing your first book. Spend that time talking about your passions, networking with other writers, readers and getting a feel for the online community. Don’t just talk about your work, talk about yourself. Post funny pictures, inspiring quotes, short story excerpts, articles and anything that appeals to your target audience and that (most of all) showcases your personality. Let people get to know you better while also getting to know the writer you. Then, when you’re ready to publish your book, you have a platform and people who are interested outside of your immediate circle.

This tip is only for those who are close to publishing. If you are still writing your book, I would say to focus on that for now. If you are publishing soon however, you may want to try blogging to test the waters. It’s a better platform for networking (in my opinion) than Facebook and Twitter.