Writers check it out! Excellent editing tools for those self edits. Use them to edit your manuscript or blog post. But, as the article states,remember:
“An automatic editing tool doesn’t replace a human editor. Because language rules and elements of a good story can be so flexible, human eyes will always be superior to the rigidity of automatic tools.”
“Even with Facebook, Netflix and other digital distractions increasingly vying for time, Americans’ appetite for reading books — the ones you actually hold in your hands — has not slowed in recent years, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.
Sixty-five percent of adults in the United States said they had read a printed book in the past year, the same percentage that said so in 2012. When you add in ebooks and audiobooks, the number that said they had read a book in printed or electronic format in the past 12 months rose to 73 percent, compared with 74 percent in 2012.”
Fav Post Quote: ” If you can connect with one person a day, even one person a week as an author, you are doing fantastic. Being an author isn’t a race, and if you treat it like one, you’re setting yourself up for failure, because we don’t all run at the same speeds. Instead, take it slow, build real connections with real people, and they will love you as an author and be your fan for life. Hollow Facebook “likes” mean nothing over a true fan that admires you and your work, trust me.”
That’s what matters to me frfr. If I’ve reached ONE of you, I’ve done my job. Cheers. I’ll toast to that.
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So lately I have heard from a few people that they feel like they should just give up on writing because for whatever reason, they are feeling like it just isn’t worth it anymore. Whether they feel like they aren’t getting enough attention, don’t have enough fans, or whatever the case may be, they are wrong, and here’s why.
Writers and authors have a gift, and because we have that gift, we have an obligation, a responsibility to use it. We may “just” arrange words in such a fashion that people enjoy reading them, but a heart surgeon “just” transplants hearts, and astronauts “just” go to space. We need to stop treating writing like it is simply a hobby that “anyone” can do, because that’s not the case. We “just” take people to places they can’t go on their own, and give them a form of escapism…
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I don’t usually include any talking points with my EC Quotes, but I had to on this one because one of the most valuable skills that I’ve gained as a Book Reviewer within the past year is the studying of books. Not only do I simply read them, but now I am also in the habit of taking notes even if I am not reviewing. Currently, I am knee deep into Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad and Toni Morrison’s A Mercy.
Note-taking is a valuable skill and by doing so as you read your favorites, it maximizes your learning, your reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. You get to pull out key points, highlight, underline and look up the definitions of new words, jot down the names of people and places you didn’t know before, meditate on the format and language of the writer and how it is being used, and overall retain and analyze the information. Additionally, not just understanding of the story, but also of how the story is written. The most profound revelation to me of learning to write books, is that reading them is one of the first lessons, stepping stones if you will, we get in how to actually write them.
Concrete painted the color of our scars
red for the blood of every gangsta who died
believing that defending a street corner
was keeping it real
for every nigga who wears degradation
like it’s his first name
every rebellion
that hates nothing more than truth but a mirror
prissy pink for every woman
who thought her legs were the railroad tracks to femininity
purple for every woman who wore her hips like monkey bars
and her heart like a welcome mat to trample on
when the hatred is spread so generously across her breast
that she feeds this to every “no good man”
she can’t deny a place between her legs
for every tire streaking soot of alcoholic footprints
leading to 24 hour liquor stores
like “look how easy this money is”
green for all the trees whose winters are too brutal
to change from the boo-boo brown of its community
not when hope still hangs it’s strings in the crack filled streets of Harlem
where faith whispers it’s goodbyes to chains and locked doors
the ones with concrete style floors
and bronze heavens
and every prayer is polluted with “I told you so’s”
for every struggle
just remember
that the sun still has the courage to rise in the mornings
which means that the day still has the audacity
to be beautiful…
I’m all about simplicity. To me writing should be fun and all of the talk about business this and business that can be overwhelming and also suck the fun out of your writing life. So today I thought it’d be fun to discuss some not so technical things that you can do easily and go from Author to Authorpreneur.
From the EC Mental Dictionary
“An Authorpreneur (play on Entrepreneur) is a Self-Published author who has turned their work as a writer into a full blown business.
Authorpreneur is a term that is being used more and more everyday. With the explosion of the Independent Publishing Industry, authors are claiming the title to represent their work as serious business people. Below are 8 ways you can join them:
I know that sounds weird, your name is already legal! Right, but here I’m speaking of your business name. Decide on a name for your business. If you write under a pen name, register it as a business. You can file the paperwork easily through Legal-zoom under an LLC, Sole Proprietorship, or S-Corporation (please Google these terms for further understanding of what they are). Or, you can just get a DBA. A DBA is a doing business as name that gives you the opportunity to legally write and conduct business under your pen author name. You’ll be able to set up a bank account to separate your author royalties from your regular income, use a debit card under this name, and even set up a PO Box.
This means you have to first invest in purchasing a block of your own ISBN numbers. You can get them from Bowker or Publisher Services for your books and register your ISBN with your company name as publisher. This will look more professional as your business name and ISBNS are now connected and will show up on Amazon or whichever platform you use, as publisher instead of Independent Publisher.
Obviously, you probably don’t have a brick and mortar unless you’re a bookstore owner already, but you can set up a PO Box in your new business name. This will make it easier (and safer) to send and receive packages without having to give away your home address. It also looks more professional on your business cards.
Go to Vistaprint or hire a professional print company and print some business cards. On them, use your new business name and PO Box.
Set up a company email address. Gmail is the best email service provider but you can surely use others. If you have a website, your provider probably offers you a unique business email. yoursuper awesomebusinessname at gmail dot com. If possible, use a business email connected to your website such as yoursuperawesomebusinessname at yoursuperawesomewebsite dot com.
I keep saying this and maybe it’s because I’m weird but in my humble but also professional opinion, a blog is not the same thing as an author website. A blog is a blog. Your website is the yourdomainname.com place without the constant stream of posts. It’s a place that showcases your work without any other distractions as a place people can go to purchase your books. It may be wise to incorporate your blog into your site. Setting up a website means you’ll have to register a domain name. The most common sense thing is to register a domain name matching your business name.
Using a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet, keep track of your inventory of books. This can also work as a basic accounting system. You can use it as a very simple way to track and record your business finances and products. When you are ready to publish your books, calculate the cost of publishing said book and record this data to go back to. How much is editing? Cover design? Formatting? Print and distribution? Landing page or website? You can use this to save the money you will need to cover everything. Publishing doesn’t have to be expensive but it’s also not free. You will have to invest some money to get this book published even if it’s just a small amount.
Last but not least, set up an email list where you can add the contacts of those who are interested in the business of you. Most people recommend sending emails once a month. I do not think you have to follow this advice. Times have changed and sending an email once a month doesn’t work for everyone. It’s okay to send emails every two-three weeks if that’s what works for you. It also helps to build a relationship with your readers when you are in touch with them on a more consistent basis. A lot happens in a month. Send your emails whenever you have something important to say but monitor them to see if your strategy works.
Yecheilyah is an Independent Author, Blogger, and Poet. She writes Black Historical Fiction, poetry, and books that inspire. Learn more at www.yecheilyahysrayl.com.
Can I spit poison into your life just by speaking words into your skin? Or can I speak life into your life by cultivating peace into your heart? Words. So important and potent, life threatening and life creating. We must never forget the power of words, their motives and intentions, their power and potency. I marvel at how easily we curse one another. Every day there is someone trying to clean up the blood they spilled by gossiping behind someone’s back, or begging for wishful deaths to go back to its chamber of meaning. Never tell someone you wish they’d leave this earth, or that you hate their guts. You may indeed be charged with murder before the words escape your mouth. I often wonder why I have taken on the task of this kind of bravery, to become a professor of words. To become part of a community where the next murderer is just one page away from me. Perhaps I have a death wish, releasing words into the air with only the hope that they will bring back life. I publish each post with shaking hands, a trembling finger; a focused mind. Carefully crafting and considering the words I put into the air. Writers. The bravest people I know. Managers of the potent word.
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