28 Days of Coloring Book Images on Instagram!

Happy Monday, everyone! Woohoo! I hope you're all ready to take part in something awesome in February. I'm SO looking forward to this challenge, I can't even tell you.

If you love coloring, and you have all these pictures to share, you'll enjoy this little challenge. You can use pictures you did before, ones you're doing just for this fun, or whatever, but here are the rules:

• You must have colored the image (can be an app!).
• You have to list the title of the coloring book or URL of the website where you got the image in the description of your post.
• You gotta HAVE FUN!
• Missing a day is fine. There aren't any rules about that. Just browse the awesome artworks of your fellow participants on those days.

Here's the list of photos/days:

1: Name or Word (clean) - This is for your name, the name of your pet, or whatever, as long as it's a clean word.
2: Mandala - Your favorite Mandala!
3: Insect - Anything other than butterflies, they have their own day.
4: Food - Nom, nom, nom!
5: Object - Any object.
6: Fantasy - Dragons, manticores, etc... No fantasy people (those are day 26).
7: Book Cover - The cover of your favorite coloring book.
8: Flora - All the pretty flowers!
9: Baby Animals - Seriously, show us the cute.
10: Harry Potter - For all you Potterheads out there.
11: Gardens - Mashup of flowers, trees, shrubs, etc...
12: WTF - Adult words
13: Paisley - This. Because they're pretty.
14: Butterflies - The most beautiful of bugs.
15: Owls - Only the wise ones! Kidding. All the owls, all the time.
16: Inspiring Words - Lift one another up!
17: Random Patterns - An oxymoron? You know what I mean here, right?
18: Elephants - I've seen some gorgeous ones.
19: Scenery - Landscapes, etc...
20: Ladies - All the pretty girls!
21: Cats - Meow.
22: Aquatics - Boats, fish, undersea scenes, etc...
23: Tattoos - Not the ones on skin.
24: Technology - Geometric shapes.
25: Quilts - We all love these patterns. Seriously.
26: Fantasy People - Mermaids, fairies, ogres, etc...
27: Dogs - Cats had their day. Now it's time for man's best friend!
28: Super Heroes! - Ya know?

If you'd like to play along, here's a graphic you can share on IG:

And be sure you give me a follow!

Jo Michaels on Instagram

Let's have some fun with it.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, write color on!

Jo

On Writing Scenes

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today I'm gonna talk about writing scenes. If you remember, a while back I wrote a post on Showing vs Telling, When Telling is Okay. If you haven't checked that post out, I invite you to do so now. One of the comments that popped up on that post was a question by another writer about specific examples of how to use this technique. Well, grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

A collection of scenes in a novel are what bring the story together. Image a spiderweb where each thread is heading toward a central location (your epic ending). Choose one or two of those threads and follow them inward. Now, everywhere they meet at a cross-thread is where a scene occurs. Notice how those scenes gain in number as they reach the central core.

As your characters meander toward that center, there are what I'll call sections of Getting There Prose. These sections aren't intense and the reader gets a good sense of who your character is by what they're doing between scene A and scene B. Sitting and drinking coffee, for example. In these scenes, you're giving your reader a little break from the tension and action. They're also commonly used to lead into the next rise in momentum.

Here's the key: Leave out description. Dull down the five senses ever so slightly.

If Joan is sitting and drinking coffee with her bud Lisa, Joan can look over and notice the girl appears tired without going into a long description of how she looks tired.

Example of telling:
Joan blew the steam off her coffee and looked at Lisa, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. "Girl, you look exhausted."
"I am." She nodded and slumped.

That's dialogue to cut out description and give a coasting feeling to the scene. Your reader expects light conversation to follow and friendly terms.

Let's go the other way. Say this coffee scene isn't what it appears to be. Joan is poisoning Lisa.

Example of showing:
Joan blew the steam off her coffee, inhaling the heady scent of the special Colombian beans she ordered for this encounter, hoping it was strong enough to cover the distinctive almond of the arsenic. She tilted her head up slowly, peering over the rim at her adversary, noting the dark circles under Lisa's eyes and the way she gripped her cup with both hands. "Girl, you look exhausted." It was difficult for Joan to keep her tone light because of the nervous energy radiating through her limbs. Blinking rapidly, she gave a wan smile.
"I am," Lisa croaked out, slumping in her chair and letting out a huge breath in a whoosh. She pushed her too-hot ceramic cup back and stood.

Now, you've engaged all the senses. Smell: coffee, Sight: Lisa's dark circles, Sound: light tone and whoosh, Taste: almond, Touch: too-hot and nervous energy. This is also a place where you don't want to describe the room around them. You should've already put that picture in the reader's head before the ladies ever sat down. When you use description leading up to a tense scene like this, use short sentences. It indicates something's coming.

You've pumped up the scene and the reader expects what?

Either A) For Joan to go bananas because Lisa didn't drink the poisoned coffee, or B) For Joan to pretend to be friendly and hide her anger while trying to get Lisa to drink the coffee.

Either way, it's gonna be a tense situation. We've made it so. Can you cut a lot of that description and get to the same place? Yeah, but the tension is lost.

Example:
Joan blew on her coffee, waiting for Lisa to take a sip of the arsenic-laced concoction. "Girl, you look exhausted."
"I am." Lisa slumped and let out a breath before pushing her cup away and standing.

Same outcome. You know something should happen afterward but the resulting action won't have the same punchy effect on your reader. You haven't built up the tension quite enough.

To fill your novel with scenes that show everything all the time, you're reader will either get too hyped up or they'll start skimming. Skimming is bad. It means your reader has disengaged from your story. Very few writers can pull off a book like Dean Koontz's Intensity.

Remember to vary your sentences and your word usage. Not sure how to do that? I wrote a post on Variation, too. If you missed it, check it out.

Don't forget to pay my featured author of the week a visit! N.L. Greene, author of the highly rated book Twisted, graced me with an interview. You can find that post here.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Are you familiar with this writing technique?

Next week, I'm going into how to use MS Word to rate your book's tension. Betcha didn't know you could do that, huh? So, come on back for that.

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

Jo

Showing vs. Telling - When Telling is Okay

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! I hope you're all looking forward to the weekend as much as I am. I see so much in reviews about showing vs telling. Today, I'm going to explain why telling is okay now and then, how to gauge when to do it, and when not to. So, grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

I wrote a post a while back on tension. This is the meat and potatoes of my discussion today. If you haven't read it, do that now so you understand what I mean when I say 5 or 1.

Every chapter of your book should hit at least a 2 or 3 on the tension scale. A 5 should be reserved for those special chapters where you want your reader to bite their nails. Never should you fall below a 1. So what does this have to do with showing and telling?

When you want your reader to feel what's happening on the page, show them everything about the scene: Lay of the land, emotions of the MC, action taking place, what could happen, what is happening, and actions/reactions of other characters.

But to get to that place, sometimes it's okay to tell. While you don't want long passages of filler, you may want to move things along without bogging your reader down in excessive description. I've discussed this before; here's the link: Descriptions - How Much is Too Much?

When the tension is high, launch into those descriptions in vivid detail. Every scene should be rated on the tension scale and adjusted accordingly. A reader won't tolerate scenes with a rating of 0; so, if you find such a scene, either cut it or re-write it.

But, when getting to those moments that bring your scene to the most tense point, you can tell rather than show. The ebb and flow of your story is natural, and should be allowed to happen.

Remember! You can please some of the people, some of the time; but you can't please all of the people, all of the time. In a group of ten, some will love it, others will hate it. Don't let opinions drag you down. After all, there will be people who loathe even the most popular books.

I hope this helps you in some tiny way.

What book gave you too much description or plodded along with chapters ranking 0?

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

Jo

12 Days of Christmas Day 9

Can you believe there are only four more days in the giveaway? But some of the best books are happening now! I had three comments yesterday so those three people win a copy of Yassa! No drawing needed! I love not having to tell people they didn't win! So, congratulations to bashashhazbaz, Heather, and Andrea! I'll be sending your prizes over shortly.

Andrea, I'll be buying your book The Chosen today and I can't wait to delve in! It sounds like a wonderful story! You've won a purchase by me, a read, and a full review posted everywhere your book is available and a writeup here on my blog! Congratulations!

Now, on to the fun for Tuesday, December 18 - Nine people who comment will win a Mystic bookmark and one each of the postcards below. They look like this:

Bookmark Back


 

Bookmark Front

Postcard 1

Postcard 2

Postcard 3









Here's how to enter today: Go check out my Categorized Link List. Then come back and leave a comment telling me if there's a topic you'd like to see, as a reader or writer, that isn't there.

Don't forget! If you're an author, there's still seven purchases up for grabs. Pimp your book in part two of your comment. Tell me why you wrote it, why I should read it, and leave me a link so I can go check it out.

Good luck everyone!

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

Jo

Ain't no Slang 'Round Here!

Hello, lovely people of the blogosphere!! Today I'm doing a fun post that gives definitions for common slang terms used by writers. I hope you enjoy it!

Pantser - To fly by the seat of one's pants when writing; not using an outline.
NaNoWriMo - A month of insanity where writers try to write as many words as possible; a novel in a month (the ultimate goal is 50k).
WIP - An acronym representing a writer's Work in Progress; a book that's in the process of being written.
FB - An acronym meaning Facebook; where writers spend too much time socializing and not enough time working on their WIP.
Concrit - When one reads a work and gives feedback; constructive criticism.
Flame - A bad review.
IC - Acronym for a writer who is In Character; frequently used for those who step into their character's shoes while writing in order to gain a better understanding.
OC - An acronym for the words Original Character; the original protagonist in a novel.
Pairing - Romantically connecting two characters; a love affair.
Sp? - Spelling assistance needed.
Toolbox - A list of things a writer needs to make it through a writing day, block, or launch.
SM - An acronym for Social Media.
TBR - Can be used for To Be Released or To Be Read; concerning books.
TBD - An acronym meaning To Be Determined; generally concerning release dates.
R&R - Read and Review.
Beta-reader - A person who tears a writer's plot apart, looking for holes; sometimes responsible for Flame.
Fanfic - Fiction based off a popular novel, generally not released as a book but posted in forums for fans.
Fluff - Filler often placed to up word count; commonly descriptions of worlds, clothing, or appearance.
Motor Oil - Coffee or other preferred drink to keep a writer awake and writing.

I hope you all got a kick out of this post.

Question of the day: How many of those did you know? Got any to add?

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

Jo

Who Where Why

Good Monday, people of the blogosphere! Glad to have you back. Today, I'll be talking about 3 Ws of writing: Who, Where, and Why.

I do hope you'll take a little trip with me down the road of lessons. Let's address these Ws in order. As you all must know, I'm releasing Lily tomorrow so I'll use the Mystic series when giving comparisons. Nothing like a good tie-in eh? Grab your pencil and paper and let's get going.

Who
This is usually your protagonist. There's always a who. Whether it's a person, animal, or insect. This is the person you build your story around. But let's look at it from another angle, shall we? Who is also the supporting cast, the antagonist, and any creature in the book that helps the plot along. In Mystic, the primary who is Markaza. Supporting whos are: Bronya, Lily, Shelia, Melody, Coralie, Johanna, and the monster. These aren't folks that make an appearance and go away. Those, I like to call: Whonots. In Mystic, they would be: Cecilia, Grammy, Uncle Melvin, Aunt Ivy, Wilhelm, the other models, and folks I don't build well because I don't want them to be remembered when the book is done. I've been asked why I didn't name Cecilia's boyfriend. So you would forget him. I only want you to remember the main characters; those that pull the story along throughout the entire series. Good tip: Don't name someone you want people to forget.

Where
Every character is on a journey. They must start somewhere and end somewhere. Markaza is traveling all over the U.S. but she ends up right back where she began - in New York. Every supporting who also ends up in New York. They travel from their homes to join Markaza in her quest to save the world. So, New York is our main setting. Other places are secondary but equally as important. I've been to every state I write about and it's helped me describe the landscapes and scenery. If you can't visit, look at a ton of photos and read weather reports to get the gist.

Why
This is the whole reason you're writing a book. There's some compelling reason your protagonist must begin their journey. In Markaza's case, she must round up other women to help save the world (as only women can do). Her visions are a result of something that happened to her when she was young. But it's that occurrence which drives the whole series. Without her visions, she would never have embarked upon her journey the series is written around. You must have a why and a journey to resolution.

As a reminder, Lily releases tomorrow and Bronya is still free today! If you'd like to help a fellow indie out, tweet this:

#freekindlebook through Wed! http://amzn.to/PhxwdW 4star avg rating on #Amazon #paranormal Share with friends and go get one today!

or share this on your FB wall:

Lily releases tomorrow! Preview in the back of Bronya http://amzn.to/PhxwdW Free through Wednesday on Amazon. Please like and share this great beginning to the Mystic series by Jo Michaels. 4 Star average rating!

If you want a copy for yourself, go grab one here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009015NVQ

Come on back tomorrow for news on the release of Lily!

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

Jo

lOOk at YoUr bUsiNeSS CaRd

Hello, lovely people of the blogosphere! This week will be a designer's look at what you're doing on different platforms and will be called lOOk at YoUr xXx. Follow along and learn! Today I'd like to talk to you all about your business card(s).

A business card might not seem very important. After all, it's just a tiny piece of card stock folks either file away, throw away (yikes!), or stick in a Rolodex, right? Wrong. A business card is oftentimes your one chance to make an awesome first impression. By now you know the drill, so get out your pencils and paper and follow along. Read carefully because I'm going to be giving you tips you may not have ever heard.

Get out your card (either printed or a digital version) and let's start with what you're doing now.
Observations:

1. Is your phone number prevalent?
2. Is your name or pen name easy to read?
3. How big is your card?
4. How many pieces of information are on it (name, phone number(s), url, blog, twitter, book title(s), etc...)?
5. What are your images?
6. How many colors are you using?
7. Can someone tell at a glance that your card matches your site/blog/twitter?
8. Are all elements aligned the same (left, right, center)?
9. Does your card have a die-cut?
10. Rounded corners?

Now, let's see how your answers measure up and how we can fix some common issues:

1. What can you do to fix the readability of your card?
2. Can you add your real name in addition to your pen name?
3. Does your card really need to be bigger than a standard size?
4. How many pieces of information do you need? Write down the ones you cannot live without.
5. What images can you add/change for better branding?
6. Do you really need fifty colors? Remember your branding and try to stick with one or two plus black.
7. Consider a couple of ways you can make your card fit your brand.
8. How can you make that info/image line up?
9. Do you really need a die-cut or rounded corners?

Here's some tips and tricks to building a better business card:

1. Make your phone number obvious and a good point size (I recommend 11pt or up for a phone number). After all, if you're giving someone your card, you generally want a phone call, right? Think about using . instead of - in your phone number because it takes up less room. Example: (800) 435-6817 as compared to 800.435.6817 and you can Kern those together.
2. Look at your fonts. If you branded and chose a font back from Monday's post, make sure your name appears in the one that's easiest to read.
3. I know you'll tell me I'm crazy, but a lot of people still use a standard Rolodex. They punch cards and stick them in there. If your card doesn't fit, it's going in the garbage. 3.5"x2", please.
4. While more information may seem better, sometimes it's just not and can cause a cluttered look on your card. Choose that which you cannot live without and ditch the rest. I suggest name, phone number (really just need one here), website, and Twitter @. If you can't live without your cell phone number, fax number, amazon author page, blog, and twenty other URLs, you may want to hand out posters instead. Just sayin'.
5. Is your logo or headshot on there? If not, add it. Use a black and white photo to keep printing costs down.
6. Use your brand color(s). Keep in mind you can use 50% opacity on those and get a whole new range of options for the same price!
7. If you don't need a die-cut or rounded corners (you don't), get rid of them. They invade your printable area and make your print job more expensive.
8. Think about being unique. What about a business card on the end of a bookmark (for authors) or on a magnet for the fridge? It's all in the little things you do. The bookmarks don't even have to be perforated, just have a line where folks should cut it away. BRILLIANT!

Now on to a tip not a lot of folks know about. There's an app for many smartphones that allows you to scan a QR code containing contact information and adds it right to your contacts. Might it not be a good idea to have that QR code printed somewhere on your card? Then, someone can scan your card and have all your information in their phone as well.

Check out this nifty little site: http://www.qrstuff.com/

Then, if you have the app, scan my code below to see how it works. **NOTE** phone number and address have been changed to protect the innocent!!

Now that's just cool. I don't care who you are.

Find more tips like these in my book The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book and take your future to new heights. It's just $2.99 on Amazon. Don't want to buy one? Enter my great giveaway to win one! Three are available. Today is the last day to enter.

Did you enjoy my five day's worth of lessons? Download a free PDF and keep them forever! Follow the link: Give me the PDF!!!!

No e-mail address or login required. Enjoy!

Question of the day: Have you learned anything this week?

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

Jo

lOOk at YoUr tWitTeR

Hello, lovely people of the blogosphere! This week will be a designer's look at what you're doing on different platforms and will be called lOOk at YoUr xXx. Follow along and learn! Today I'd like to talk to you all about your Twitter page. It's just as important as everything else you use.

Grab those pencils and paper and let's get going. As usual, we'll begin by looking at what you DO, then we'll get into how to FIX it. Let's begin...

Observations:

1. What is your background?
2. When you open the page, do you go, "Oooooooooh! Nice!"?
3. Do you have consistency with your blog, website, and Facebook?
4. Have you begun to use the new layout? If yes, what's your header background?
5. What's your icon?
6. What colors do your links and tweets appear in?
7. Do you do a lot of promotion for others as well as yourself?
8. What does your description say?
9. What is your @handle? 

Answer these for insight to the Q&A above:

1. How can you change your background to give that wow factor?
2. What can you do to increase consistency?
3. How might you use your logo or branding image with Twitter?
4. Can you change your icon to your branding image (logo/face/etc...)?
5. Come up with a color scheme if you haven't already.
6. Is it feasible to prowl Twitter a couple of times a day and re-tweet a couple of people?
7. Can you simplify your description and lead folks to your books at the same time?
8. Is your @handle the title of your book?

Tips on implementing some of your ideas:

1. Build your own Twitter background with image software that allows you to specify size. Be sure to include your logo or name somewhere. I've seen a few that do a collage of book covers and it looked pretty awesome. The only drawback I can see there is folks getting overwhelmed with imagery.
2. Update your icon with either your logo or your face.
3. Update your badge with a nifty background or color scheme that matches your brand.
4. Be consistent with your colors. Customize whatever you can here. You can specify what colors your tweets and links appear in.
5. Promote other people as well as yourself.
6. Rewrite your description as many times as you need to in order to say as much as you can in as few words/characters as possible.
7. Your @handle should be your pen name or business name. Not a product or book title. After all, what happens when you write another book or expand your Twitter to include something else? Worried you'll lose all your followers? If they love you, they'll appreciate a DM (direct message) telling them what name you're changing to. Those that don't heed the advice aren't worth it anyway.

Find more tips like these in my book The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book and take your future to new heights. It's just $2.99 on Amazon. Don't want to buy one? Enter my great giveaway to win one! Three are available.

Question of the day: Are you finding these tips and tricks easy to follow? Are you feeling more put-together?

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

Jo

lOOk at YoUr fAceBoOk

Hello, lovely people of the blogosphere! This week will be a designer's look at what you're doing on different platforms and will be called lOOk at YoUr xXx. Follow along and learn! Today I'd like to talk to you all about FaceBook pages. No, not your personal page that you add your best high-school buds to. Your business or fan page.

Go grab those pencils and paper and let's dive right in. You know the drill, right? First, let's see how you measure up.

Answer these questions about your FaceBook page:

1. Is your cover image all about you or your titles?
2. Are your links easy to find?
3. Do you know who you are at a glance (without clicking around)?
4. If a visitor leaves FaceBook after a glance, do they know what you're selling?
5. How many posts do you make per day?
6. Where can visitors find your promotions?
7. Does your cover image fit or is it cropped?
8. Is your FaceBook page branded to match your blog/website/twitter? 
9. Are you using Timeline?

Based on your observations, answer the following:

1. Can you rebrand your cover image and icon(s) so people know more about what you do?
2. Where can you put your links so they're easy to find?
3. How many places can your name go?
4. What kind of content could you include to let visitors know what your products are?
5. How many posts could you make per day?
6. Are your images the best quality they can be?
7. Why aren't you using Timeline?

Now, go check out this post by Liberty on how to add things like cover images for your tabs, install apps, and size requirements. Then come on back and let's implement those ideas.

A few tips on fixing the above:

1. Upgrade to Timeline. Please. It will give you a million more options.
2. Design your cover image in some kind of software (Liberty mentions Gimp and it's a good alternative) that allows you to specify size. Create a new image per the requirements and brand that puppy. On a side note, I've heard authors say their book covers are their brand and they couldn't be more correct. However, what happens when you have more than one book? I strongly suggest branding yourself with either: your face, a logo, your name in a specific font, or a font + a color scheme. If you use your face, have a professional photograph taken, please!
3. Put your links on your about page or add your url to your cover image in a way that's not annoying. For example: If you use YourName in large letters, you can add .com in smaller letters on the end.
4. Make sure your name either appears in your cover image OR your icon. Even if your icon is your face, add your name to it. Won't hurt, will help.
5. Make sure folks know what books you've written or what you're selling at a glance. You have ten seconds to make an impression. Please make one that lasts.
6. How can you add valuable content via posts to your timeline? When you see something you like while browsing with your personal page, share it on your business page as well.
7. Add apps or icons with your promotions. This can be as simple as a rafflecopter embed. Trust me, just do eet!
8. Make sure your images are at least 72dpi. No one wants to look at a blurry photograph.
9. Once you have your name, book covers, and logo or image on there, consider your branded color scheme and add elements of those as well. Remember your icon will overlap your cover image a bit on the lower, left-hand side. Design accordingly.

Remember, you can get tips like these in my book The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book. For just $2.99 I talk branding, formatting, and design for indies.

Don't forget to enter the blog party giveaway! There's three copies of The Indie Author's Guide in there just waiting for you to win!

If anyone noticed, I added ten signed Mystic/WSTW bookmarks to the giveaway! Enjoy and good luck!

Question of the day: Did you know everything above? Are you interested in learning more about branding?

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

Jo

lOOk at YoUr wEbSitE

Hello, lovely people of the blogosphere! This week will be a designer's look at what you're doing on different platforms and will be called lOOk at YoUr xXx. Follow along and learn! Today I'd like to talk to you all about your website. If you don't own yourname.com, you should. There are a lot of easy and free website building platforms out there, just Google it.

If you have a website, let's look at things that you're currently doing you might want to change. Grab that pencil and paper and let's get going! If you don't, read through anyway and take notes on what to do and what not to do when you design one.

Examine the following:

1. How long does it take your page to load?
2. Do you have obnoxious music blaring?
3. Would someone who didn't know what your site was about be able to tell in just a few seconds?
4. Is your page interactive or nicely colored?
5. Is your page easy to read?
6. Can anyone navigate easily?
7. Contact information easy to find?
8. What is your ultimate goal?
9. More than two fonts?
10. Do you know what page of your site you're on at a glance?
11. Can you get to another page without back-browsing?
12. Does your visitor have to scroll at all? 

Now answer these with your observations:

1. Can you remove clutter or downsize items so they load faster?
2. Is that Beethoven's 9th really necessary?
3. If no tagline, where can you put one to tell a visitor why they're on your page?
4. What interactivity can you add or colors can you change?
5. Do you really need a blue, purple, or red font on a black background?
6. Are visitors hitting a splash page or your main site when they click (do they have to click again to get to the actual site)?
7. Can you add dynamic links to make navigation easier? Where?
8. If someone wanted to contact you, how would they? Can you make it easier?
9. Ultimate goal is a sale or a return visit?
10. What two fonts are your favorite (one serif and one sans serif, please)?
11. Think about highlighting the page the person is on in the menu.
12. Can you resize elements to eliminate the scroll?

Try these tips to fix those common errors:

1. Resize your images to 72dpi. All of them. Use thumbnails when you can.
2. Delete the music track. A lot of people listen to music as they browse and will shut your page down quickly if it interferes with their mojo.
3. Change the title and add a tagline. If you're an author, tell folks this is your official author site and who you are or why they should poke around/buy your books.
4. Change your fonts so they are either all the same or there are only TWO. More than one in the same family looks like a mistake. So, choose either a serif and a sans serif, a script and a serif, or a script and a sans serif. But be consistent!
5. Watch your colors. Try for no more than three plus black (headline color, text color, link color, visited link color). Be consistent. If links are in blue, make them all appear in blue.
6. Highlight the page title in the menu when a person is on that page of your site. If they're on the contact page, it should be showing up a different color than the other page links.
7. You'll have page links that either take you to a splash page for additional content or directly to the first page of the additional content. Add some dynamic links here so folks can navigate easily. I'll go into the difference of static and dynamic elements and how to use them in a post next week.
8. Is your ultimate goal a book purchase? Make it easy for folks to get from point A to point B and buy your book. A follow? Give them an easy way to follow with only a click or two. 
9. Everything should show up without scrolling. Resize everything you can and leave nothing hanging off the edges of sidebars or content areas.
10. One bonus tip: Use the X and Y axis numbers so things line up. You'll be surprised how much better it makes your site look. 

Overall, your site should be clean, not need ten minutes to load your content, state clearly who you are, not blare music at your visitor, and be easy to navigate without the use of the back button. KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) your visitor every time and they'll be happy as larks and want to return often.

Find more tips like these in my book The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book and take your future to new heights. It's just $2.99 on Amazon. Don't want to buy one? Enter my great giveaway to win one! Three are available.

Question of the day: Did you find any of these common errors on your site? Did you take steps to change your content in some way?

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

Jo

lOOk at YoUr bLog

Hello, lovely people of the blogosphere! This week will be a designer's look at what you're doing on different platforms and will be called lOOk at YoUr xXx. Follow along and learn! Today I'd like to talk to you all about a scary trend I'm seeing in blogs: too much CLUTTER and not enough Legibility.

Do you visit your own blog? Do you pay attention to the clutter/continuity/legibility? If I click on your blog, do I know instantly who you are and where I am? Is your blog well organized? These are questions we're going over today so grab that pencil and paper and let's get going!

Go take a look now and write down the following:

1. Number of Ads (count them)
2. Size of Font (large, small, decent?)
3. Contrast (red on black? purple on black? yellow on white?) of both posts AND sidebar matter.
4. Legibility (how many spelling errors do you spot?)
5. Ease of Navigation (search box or link list?)
6. Recognition of Name (is your blog title and url the same?)
7. Busyness (how many elements do you see before you scroll?)
8. Ways to Follow (how many, and how far must you scroll before finding one?)
9. Easy Links (count them and where do they point?)
10. Imagery (does it match your content?)
11. How many other blogs are you linking to?
12. Can I contact you or connect with you in an obvious way?
13. Does your blog title match your URL?

Got all that? Excellent! Let's really take a look at your design and work on making it user/reader friendly. Answer these questions based on your observations:

1. What do those ads do for you?
2. Can a large number of people read your blog easily?
3. How's your contrast? Contrast is how well your type shows up on the background.
4. How can you reduce spelling errors?
5. What links or content can you ad to help your readers find what they're looking for?
6. If you didn't know who you were, would others if they found you from an outside link?
7. Do you see your name right away or a way to find/follow you? How does that impact your readers?
8. Can you improve upon letting interested readers find you elsewhere?
9. Think about your photo for a minute. Is it relevant?
10. Of those blogs you link to, how many link back?
11. Where do your contact links lead me?
12. How can you fix the consistency?

Now, take these steps to improve your blog:

1. DELETE 9/10 of the ads. I don't need to scroll longer than your post. Bottom matter does not get my attention and clutters up your blog. Keep your ads relevant. If you want to promote your book, GREAT! Make a new page and link me to it. If I find your writing interesting, I'll click it and buy.
2. If your font is small or curly or grungy, go to a larger font size and do away with the "cutesy" elements. You don't need them and it irritates readers.
3. Please, for the love of all that's good in the world, make your font black and your background white or some other color combo that's high in contrast (no purple or red on black, PLEASE). Make sure there's a background for other elements, as well. I hate it when I can't read what you've posted.
4. Give me easy to find ways to follow you on every platform you appear on. Make it easy to find. Don't hide it in a barrage of ads or other crap I'm gonna have to sift through.
5. Be consistent. If your blog doesn't match your FB, Twitter, LinkedIN, and website, change it to match, please. Your readers and fans need to be able to identify you at a glance.
6. Break your blog down into topics and give me a handy link list or go tag your posts with relevant key words and provide me with a search box.
7. If your picture is your book cover, that's great and all, but what happens when you have fifty books out there? Are you gonna use them all? No. Make a decision. Either brand with your face or a logo along with your color scheme and font choices, please.
8. Are you promoting other people more than you're promoting yourself? Yes? Well, if they don't return the favor, STOP. Work with people that work with you.
9. Change either your blog title or the URL that goes with it. They should be the same.

I hope this helps in some small way. If you look at my myriad of sites, you'll see consistency of imagery, colors, and style. You won't see a ton of ads to distract you, the urls and usernames are synonymous, and you'll have a pleasant experience overall. Check them out:
writejomichaels.com
facebook.com/writejomichaels
twitter.com/writejomichaels
https://plus.google.com/u/0/114811793830742823838
http://www.amazon.com/Jo-Michaels/e/B0088XK8JE
http://pinterest.com/writejomichaels/

Note the URLs of all are either jomichaels or writejomichaels. You'll know, by the consistency, that you have the write one when you find me.

Remember, you can get tips like these in my book The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book. For just $2.99 I talk branding, formatting, and design for indies.

Don't forget to enter the blog party giveaway! There's three copies of The Indie Author's Guide in there just waiting for you to win!

Question of the day: Did you find your blog needing a lot of changes? Did you implement them as you went?

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

Jo

Blog Party - Day Two

Welcome to day two of the blog party! Today, I welcome Sandi Tuttle from the blog An Average Woman in a Superwoman World.

If you missed day one, pop on back and take a peek. It was a great interview with Ms. Tia Silverthorne Bach, author of the book Depression Cookies. Today, we add to the giveaway some really cool prizes! A couple of coffee mugs! See the photos after the post to get an idea of what you'll be winning!

Without futher ado, may I present Ms. Sandi Tuttle, coffee lover, blogger, radio show host, and designer of fine wraps for women. Ms. Tuttle is also writing a book on finding the perfect dress. Read on to find out more...

Jo: Today, I’d like to welcome Ms. Sandi Tuttle from the Average Woman in a Superwoman World blog and radio show. We’re gonna do a giveaway in honor of Ms. Tuttle but that’ll come at the end of the post. Let’s get started!

Hi, Sandi! Nice to have you! I’m gonna lead in with questions about you, then we’ll get going on your blog, clothing, radio show, and works you may have in progress. Tell us a little about your family. Where did you meet your husband?

Sandi: It’s great to talk with you, Jo! You're one of my fav people! OK, I met my husband in Orientation when we both started a new job on the same day. I had the shortest hair of the women, and he had the longest hair of the guys. I thought he was cute. We found out we were working on the same project, for the same boss. We even had cubicles next to each other. Kind of like Karma was giving me a hand… We found out we had daughters the same age, liked the same music, and ended up liking each other a lot!

Jo: I'd say you did! You married him! Ha! What were some of the difficulties of blending your existing families together?

Sandi: Wow. OK, I'm a Catholic. I was raised a Presbyterian. He's Jewish, but converted when his daughters were born. He was raised Protestant also. We had to make sure that I didn’t do too many ‘Catholic’ things, since this upset his ex. Kind of tough when your kid is in Catholic school, but we managed. We also had to make sure that we kept up with his twins’ religious instruction. So the whole religion thing was touchy.

My ex lives in Connecticut. My family lived in Illinois. Rich’s family lived in Massachusetts. So, whenever his ex and her family had events, we were expected to give up visitation. Driving my daughter to Connecticut for visitation was a problem if it was a weekend when we had the twins. Juggling school events, etc., sometimes got challenging.

The biggest issues surrounded what I guess would be called ‘life values.' On the one side, we were considered far too strict. On the other, far too liberal. We tried to manage this by saying that the girls had to listen to their other parents when they were with them. They had to listen to us when they were with us. When they were 18, they could decide for themselves what they thought was the right way to go forward. It worked a fair amount of the time.

Jo: Your recent radio show about life happening really spawned a response with some of our mutual friends. Where did you get your outlook on life?

Sandi: Not an easy question. I used to be an angry, confused person. Everybody thinks they had a rotten childhood, so I’m not going to bother outlining mine. I just got tired of myself. Got tired of being angry. Realized that if I changed how I looked at things, dealt with things, the whole situation improved. It’s like that song by Sister Hazel: “If you want to be somebody else, if you’re tired of losing battles with yourself, if you want to be somebody else, change your mind…” I wanted to like ME. So I had to learn how to do that. Then, I had to learn how to live and not drive myself crazy. The more I read, learn and share with other people, the more I realize that life really is chaos, with occasional moments of clarity. And the only way you enjoy the ride is to just get off your own back and deal with what you CAN control. You.

Jo: Never were truer words spoken! Why do people call you homebadger?

Sandi: Ha. Evil woman. OK. I can have a temper. I don’t like that side of my personality, but it’s there. One thing that really irks me is when people give my family a hard time. When the girls were younger, they knew that if they came home and complained that there was something ‘done to them’, I would ask them what happened, and then ask them if they wanted me to get involved, or if they wanted to handle it. If they left it to me, I tended to approach things with a ‘scorched earth – take no prisoners’ attitude. Since I worked from home, they started calling me their Home Badger… The name stuck, even if I stopped going nuclear. Now we laugh about it; but they still know if the chips are down, I'll be there. Of course, if I find out they lied to me, they get the full Badger treatment.  All’s fair…

Jo: I'd hate to be on the receiving end of one of those rants! On a happier note, did you know that when you’re Googled, you dominate the first three pages of results? How did you manage to do that?

Sandi: No. I've never Googled myself until you mentioned it. I have no idea how I did that. If I did, I'd schedule a webinar and train other people. Just dumb luck, I’m afraid.

Jo: Okay, I’ll quit digging into your personal life now. It's really neat that you make wraps for women and sell them on your website via Etsy. Tell me, how did you decide on a logo for your brand and do you have it on all the labels?

Sandi: I used to have a logo of a ‘home badger’. Actually, it was a logo I came up with for doing artwork from old album covers, and it was a visual play on my initials and my husband’s initials. So, it started out as a rat. I figured I already had it, and how many people know the difference between a rat and a badger anyway?  When I got my new website, I decided I needed something to brand “Average Woman,” so I asked my good friend Julie Basello-Holt to help. She owns Creative Genius Gallery in Medford, NJ, and knows all about marketing and branding and art and stuff. I asked her to take a crack at it, sent her some things I was trying (and failing) to do, and she came up with my logo. I had my wonderful mentor, Janet Powers, take a look, and the new logo was a ‘go.' I do have labels with the new logo, and am in the process of sewing them into the products I have on hand.

Jo: You have some of the most interesting guests on your radio show. Where do you meet these people that are so full of character and how do you get them on your show?

Sandi: Thank you! I'm so incredibly lucky! I've just kind of lucked-onto so many of them. One of my favorites, Nikki Johnson-Huston, was introduced to me via email from a friend in the eWomens Network. Another super lady, Kim Harvey, was mentioned in a blog entry by Jackie Bledsoe, and I was intrigued enough to follow up. One woman I met when she came to the store I work at, Fashions by Penina in Marlton, NJ, to pick up a bunch of clothes to put in her consignment shop. Turns out, for the past 18 years, they have funded a 24/7 help line from the proceeds of this consignment shop. I just stay open to the excitement of what other people do, and I have learned not to be afraid to ask. Some people don’t get back to me, but that just means that I have time for the next fun person who comes along.

Jo: It's awesome how you can let it roll off you like that. What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?

Sandi: I would like to say I could find a way to accomplish World Peace. But, if that's a little ambitious, I would like to think that I give other people out there a way to feel good about who they are and what they see in the world. I'd like to show people how to find the fun and whimsy in even the grimmest of days, and hang onto it like a flashlight to get them through the dark times. I hope to show people they can do marvelous things, just like the people I find in my own backyard. They just have to believe it and start putting one foot in front of the other.

Jo: That's an amazing goal. Now for a topic I’m super excited about! Tell us about your upcoming book.

Sandi: As I said, I work in a dress shop. It's actually a specialty dress shop. Mother of the bride, etc. type clothes. We have some really cool casual wear, but we're primarily a specialty dress shop. Shopping stopped being fun for most women I know a long time ago. Between the whole atmosphere at the mall, never being able to find a salesperson in the big stores, and the ravages of time on our bodies, most women I meet hate shopping almost as much as getting root canal. That’s a shame when you're shopping for one of the most exciting days in your life.

So many times, I have heard women say, “I never knew that… why didn’t I know that…” when I explain some of the hints and tips for finding a perfect dress. So, one day I decided to tell them. It’s kind of that simple. I work with amazing people who have a wealth of experience to draw on, and I have a few stories that can make even the worst situation funny, if you're willing to see the humor.

So, I'm thinking of calling it Cinderella’s Closet: Tips to Finding the Perfect Dress. It won’t be quite as long as War and Peace, but sometimes being in the middle of a bridal party fight over dresses can seem as bloody. It’s my job to diffuse the situation, and help each woman look in the mirror and have that, “Ah Hah” moment when she feels beautiful. That’s what it’s all about.

Jo: Do you plan to self-publish or seek a traditional publisher?

Sandi: I don’t know. I have all the wonderful tips from the ABC participants bookmarked, but I haven’t had the time to really get down and dirty and absorb the pros and cons. I can be bought, but since I don’t think some big publisher is going to just trip over me, I'm more than happy to explore self-publishing.

Jo: If you do, let me know! Well, that’s all the time we have for today. Thank you so much, Sandi, for agreeing to talk with me. I’ll be keeping an eye on you!

Sandi: It’s been my pleasure, Jo. As you always say: “Keep Writing”!

As a recap, you may find and connect with Sandi the following ways:
An Average Woman in a Superwoman World blog
An Average Woman in a Superwoman World radio show
On Twitter: @AverageWomanSJ
On Facebook: AverageWomanSJ
Home Badger Creations

Now, enter to win these great mugs! Sandi and I both love coffee, so we decided to do these instead of the usual, hum-drum stuff. I hope you enjoy!

Sandi's mug will feature this image:

And the link to view mine is here: WSTW mug.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On to today's great blogs to follow and read!

The first two are book reviewers. You all know how much I love them!

Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
On Facebook: Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
On Twitter: @kimbacaffeinate

One More Chapter Reviews
On Facebook: One More Chapter Reviews

And today's author is:

Danielle Bannister
On Twitter: @getpulled

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

Jo