Looking Back and Forward - A 2018 Yearly Planning Post

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year's Eve/Day. Today, I'm laying my blog and writing plan out there for you all to see. We'll look back over 2017 and see what can be improved upon in 2018. Ready? Let's get going!

First up: This Blog

Looking Back
This year was abysmal. Life happened, and a lot of my time was given to things around here. I'm not sorry, because my family will always come first, but since everyone is on the upswing health-wise, I'm going to do MUCH better this year. I only had 71 posts for the entire year, and that's just not okay. I clocked 158 in 2016, and nearly double that the years preceding. Time to fix it!

Looking Forward
Going forward, I've decided to go back to my five day posting schedule, but with a little something different. Sure, I'll share the occasional new release for myself or a friend, I'll share excerpts, and I'll be posting book reviews again for the first time in a LONG time, but the bulk of the blog will be news, tips and tricks for authors on writing and marketing, the occasional opinion post, and learning type posts. This will all begin next week. I have a plan for those posts, and I intend to stick to it like glue. It's not difficult to come up with a year's worth of content; I just needed to DO IT. Planning is everything (you know how I preach this--I just need to practice what I preach LOL).

As you all know if you've been around a while, if life happens and my family needs me, I'll go dark, but this year, I promise to be more open about what's going on so you're not thinking I've quit.

Next: Books and Writing

Looking Back
2017 was a pretty good publishing year for the F5, but no so much for myself. Our little group put out 30 episodes of a serial this year! Impressive, to say the least. You can see what we did on the Frayed Fairy Tales website here. That being said, I only released two books of my own: Utterances and How to be a TOTAL LOSER. That's just over 100k words. I can do better.

Looking Forward
2018 will be full of words. I already have a ton of writing done on Provocation and Intensification, and The House is written but not yet tweaked or edited. Those will be released in the first quarter of the year. Second quarter will be all about more words. I've stepped way back from other things, and I intend to put all my effort into getting stories told. I'm a writer, and I need to write. It's my happy place.

Last: Marketing, Events, and Life

Looking Back
I did a crap job on marketing this year, but sales have been okay--not nearly as good as 2016, but what did I expect? I attended five events: RAI, Utopia, Chapter.con, OIBF, and GLBB. Four of those were as an author. Myself, the F5, and IBGW also sponsored (in some way or another) four events: Chapter.con, OIBF, GLBB, and OUAB (I like to help when and where I can). I'm not positive there was a huge return on those investments, but most of them felt good/right. Life, of course, was full of ups and downs, but I feel as though I handled them with grace and dignity. There was no crying in a corner or pitching a fit like a toddler.

Looking Forward
I'll be doing more of the marketing I did in 2016 and adding on a couple of new things. I'm only attending one event this year: RAI, but there will be no others. That was a difficult decision, but it's what's best for me at this time. I have a writing/planning retreat scheduled in June of this year with the other F5 ladies (helloooooo, beach!), and that's going to be IT. My office will get an overhaul so it's more conducive to writing, too. This year is allll about the words and the wellness. Even when I'm not writing in my special place, I'll be thinking about writing and putting ideas on paper. Many plots will be had, and many hours will be logged in my home gym.

So, if you want to see me or get autographs or pics, you'll have to be in Roanoke, VA in April. Period. I'm not even sure what will happen in 2019 at this point. We'll see.

2017 had me by the balls. I fought MS, my husband fought cancer (like a beast, I might add), we buried my father-in-law in September, my eldest son did a tour in Afghanistan, and my second eldest had a serious fight with depression. I questioned decisions I made, got burned by a couple of people I thought had my best interests at heart (like I did theirs), and made mistakes.

But there was good in there, too. I connected with my husband on a deeper level than ever before and jaunted all over Europe with him, I got some great road time with my best friend (who I'm positive was my twin in a previous life), I made some amazing new friends, laughed until I couldn't breathe, saw my granddaughter turn one, lost a crapton of weight and gained a new lease on life, and KILLED NaNoWriMo (like, crushed it, seriously).

2018 is going to be my best year yet. I can feel it. BRING IT ON! Let's do this thing. Thanks for sticking with me through that post. I know it was long.

Do you make plans like this? Share some!

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

Jo

Publishing Your Blog to Kindle

Good morning, and happy Monday, everyone! Yeah, it's the beginning of a whole new week, but that means more opportunities to do all the things writerly. Today, my post is for bloggers. You're gonna find out all kinds of neat stuff about Kindle you may not have known. So grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

Welcome to Kindle Publishing for Blogs! Did any of you even know this feature existed? Well, you're about to get a crash course. Screenshots will accompany. If you want to see one live, here's my blog's page on Amazon.

Start by going here to the Kindle Publishing for Blogs homepage. Click on Create a New Account and follow the prompts to do so:

I'm gonna click sign in, and walk you through adding a blog. Click the button:

You'll be on a screen now that looks like this:

We're gonna set up your RSS feed. Go here if you're using Blogger and copy the second string. This one:

Replace the words blogname with your blog's name, and copy it again. Paste it into the form on Kindle Publishing for Blogs here:

Validate, please.

Now, fill out the next four boxes:

You need a screenshot of your blog, and you can get it by using the snipping tool. Be sure it's under 1MB in size (there is no dimension restriction). Save it as a JPEG or GIF. Upload it.

If you don't have your blog's banner, you can use the snipping tool in Windows to capture it, too. Be sure it's only 50px high by 430px wide and no more than 1MB in size. Save it as a JPEG or GIF. Upload it.

Next, enter your blog's web address, select a language, pick the categories you fit into, fill out your keywords, and select your posting frequency:

You're all done and ready to publish your blog to Kindle! Click zee button! You should be live within 48 hours. Be sure and fill out your account information so you can get paid when people subscribe.

Did you know this option was out there? Will you use it?

Come on back tomorrow for more on the Amazon Author Central page and what you can do there.

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

Jo

Your Entertainment Until 6/15

Happy Thursday, everyone! Today, I'm gonna tell you all about the entertainment you'll be enjoying on the blog over the next two weeks. I'll be out of town for a few days, but I'm putting you in the capable hands of some fellow authors for the duration. Not tomorrow! Tomorrow is all about tips and tricks for utopYA con (my official post for the month). This is basically the schedule from now until I leave for the conference. Ready? Grab that coffee and let's get going!

6/5 (tomorrow) - UtopYA Con 2015 survival tips and tricks and pre-order awesomeness - What to bring, pack, and avoid, and what I really want from those pre-order lists (and where you can find them).
6/8 - Sheena Hutchinson takes over
6/9 - Tricia Zoeller is your hostess
6/10 - Elizabeth Kirke wows you
6/11 - Stormy Smith brings the rain
6/12 - Shawn McGuire will be guest posting
6/15 - An author interview with myself - no, I asked other folks for the questions (some of them).
6/16 - Time Traveling to utopYA 2014 - A look at last year
6/17 - My Travel to the con! Yes, I'll be putting up a blog post the day I arrive in Nashville.
6/18-6/21 - Be ready for utopYA stuff! Blog posts, maybe a video or two with interviews!

So, get yourselves ready! It's coming SOON!

Are you coming to the con? Looking forward to my takeovers?

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

Jo

Types of Blog Posts for Authors and Book Bloggers

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today, I'm gonna talk about alllll those different kinds of blog posts authors and book bloggers create. If you missed the fun yesterday, be sure and check it out here. That's a Cover Reveal post; one of the post types I'll be talking about here in a second. Please, keep in mind these are general posts and not every single one on the planet. Ready? Grab that pen and notebook and let's get going!

Blog Post Types for Authors:

• Excerpt - A little snippet of your current work
• Coming Soon - Title teasers that can contain snippets or other fun things (like the general idea behind the new work)
• Opinion - Something you feel bloggy/passionate about
• How-to - All about the sharing of techniques used to write a novel
• Cover Reveal - Exactly what it says
• Tour/Info Post - Sharing information about a title (yours or another author's) either in a blog tour or not
• Giveaway - Yeah, you know this one, too
• Interview - You talking with another author and them talking back
• Research - Stuff you looked up and found interesting
• Resources - Places readers can look stuff up
• Release Day Post - Yet another one that needs no introduction

Now, that's not all the post types for authors, but it's enough to help you understand some of the options out there. Let's get into the next topic!

Blog Post Types for Book Bloggers (reviewers):

• Excerpt - A snippet of an author's work
• TBR - A reviewer's list of books to be reviewed
• Book Review - Yeah, I don't think this one needs explanation, either
• How-to - Sharing where you got your books and where others can find them or how to write a review
• Tour/Info Post - Either part of a blog tour or not, putting out information about a title
• Stacking the Shelves/Book Haul - What books you added to your shelf over a week
• Giveaway - Again, you can glean the meaning here from the title
• Cover Reveal - Revealing the cover of an author's book
• Roundup - Some bloggers you love and recommend your readers follow
• Interview - An interview with an author or other book blogger
• Vlog - A video of your book review
• Photo - A picture of your books or shelves

Again, these aren't all the post options. I'm just giving you something to brainstorm over. *grin*

If you ever find yourself stuck without an idea (you're making a schedule, right?), I hope this kicks your brain into overdrive.

Any questions?

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

Jo