Showing posts with label averagewomansj. Show all posts
Showing posts with label averagewomansj. Show all posts

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Branding Step Four

Wow! It's Thursday, good people of the blogosphere, and you made it over Hump Day. Just one more tiny day to go until the weekend will arrive! Can I hear some celebration, please? Continuing with my branding sequence of posts, today we're discussing naming. You're right, this could've been day one, but I wanted you to start thinking about the pictures related to your brand and to get excited about the possibilities before I dove headfirst into names.

IF you're a writer and you're using a pen name, one of the things you have to consider is your genre. It's only a half joke when you do the little test to determine your erotica writer name. Something like Bunnie Whipshard is a pretty telling pen name. Plus, the logo possibilities are out of this world.

Ha ha! Sorry, images of bunnies with fluffy tails and dominatrix masks just passed through my brain. Moving on...

As my example above shows, your name makes a difference. But, when thinking about your mark, you want something that's going to stand out in the crowd. If I'd wanted to take my logo in a fun direction, I probably would've used a cup of steaming coffee (Jo = Cup of Joe = Coffee). See the correlation?  My tag line could even have been something like: Jo Michaels Blog - Your Daily Cup of Joe. But I find coffee cups as logos to be way overdone; besides, I'm not a coffee shop.

When thinking about your naming, consider how it might be possible to move your logo from one thing you do to another. If you're an expert on something, consider using an image related to that expertise. Let's take a look at my friend, Sandi Tuttle, from The Average Woman in a Superwoman World blog. Here's her blog banner:


Her logo is an average female icon, used on many bathroom doors to indicate women, with a superwoman cape draped around her shoulders. It's simple and effective. Her blog is about making average women the best they can be, inside and out. It's fitting, huh?

This is a great example of branding! That logo appears on her blog, radio show site, Facebook, and products. When I got her coffee mug with the "If I have wings... Why can't I fly?" quote on it, her logo graced the other side. No matter what facet she places herself in, she'll always be the average superwoman.

It's this type of branding and naming we should all be embracing. If we use these tools to their full potential, we'll be instantly recognizable no matter where we show up.

Let me give you one more example before I let you go!

If your name is Bunnie Whipshard, and your mark is that bunny with the dominatrix mask, you could brand it like this:

Bunnie Whipshard - Author
Bunnie Whipshard - Photography
Bunnie Whipshard - S&M Techniques
Bunnie Whipshard - S&M Toy Design

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Have you thought about your name and what a mark associated with that name could do for you?

Come on back tomorrow to catch the post on look and feel!

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

Jo

Monday, January 28, 2013

Radio Show Interview

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have an interview on Ms. Sandi Tuttle's radio show. She's from the An Average Woman in a Superwoman World blog and is so much fun on the air! I invite you all to come listen, call in if you want to ask me a question, and share the lovely link with your friends.

You can listen here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sandi-tuttle/2013/01/28/authors-corner-with-jo-michaels

Don't forget to enter the rafflecopter giveaway for your chance at an interior book design or digital identity package designed by me, if you're an indie author, and for a copy of The Bird and a bunch of book swag if you're a reader!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, don't forget The Abigale Chronicles - Book Three is available for free until midnight tonight on Amazon!

Synopsis:
Abigale Fontenot is turning thirteen. Just when she thinks her birthday couldn't possibly get any worse, a new adventure takes hold. Abigale and Emmett are whisked away to a world of fantasy where knights, dragons, and princesses are the order of the day. Abigale is kidnapped by an evil prince in a nearby kingdom, and it's up to Emmett to rescue her. But Abigale finds that escape is not the most important thing; restoring the evil prince's kindness that has been locked away in a magical book by a wicked sorceress must come first. While Emmett is trying to rescue Abigale, she is trying to free the prince from his curse. Will she succeed in her quest before the evil prince kills Emmett, or will she fail and lose her new best friend? Will death matter if the whole thing is a dream, or are the adventures real and truly dangerous?




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

Jo

Monday, November 12, 2012

199 NaNoWriMo

Holy crap! Tomorrow will be my 200th blog post! I also have 191 likes on my Facebook page. That's pretty close to 200, right? Today, I'm doing my check in for NaNoWriMo and tomorrow, well, I'm going to do a prize package for all you great followers/readers of my blog and books. What will I include? Come back tomorrow and find out. I know, I know, I'm evil. But ain't it grand? *evil laugh*


NaNo check in:
As of today, Monday 11/12/2012, at 8:30am, I've written 27,915 words. I don't write on weekends so I've managed this in six days. I'm astounded at the words flying from my fingertips. But maybe it's not so much that I write fast, maybe it's that I'm inspired.

I'm going to tell you all about the novel I'm working on. The working title is The Bird. Inspiration for this story came from a good friend of mine and previous guest, Sandi Tuttle. She's a blogger over at An Average Woman in a Superwoman World and a couple of her posts brought this book to mind.

Yes, I did ask her if I could base an entire novel off two of her posts and she said, "Go for it!"

Names have been changed and my weird imagination was let loose to further two things she spoke about: An old tree and a cardinal.

In my tale, the tree gets a shot of youth at the same time my MC's mother does. Without the tree, everything is destroyed: Mom, Trogon, and nature here on Earth.

But here's where an interesting twist comes in! I LOVE fairy tales. I've devoured them my whole life. I've read fairy tales from every country. I cannot get enough of them. My daughter has recently been exposed to this love of mine and, even though many princes, dwarfs, and things die, she has really embraced the general theme. I'm working that vast knowledge of fairy tale lore into my story. It's my first fantasy novel and I'm falling in love with writing it.

I'm a pantser. I started my novel with a vague idea of where it was going to go between my definite beginning and epic ending, a seriously bad dude as the villain, and a ton of possibility. Where it's taken me, I can't even begin to tell you. I love to write this way because the story comes to life. My characters are doing things I never planned for them to do. They've taken on lives of their own and are leading me through adventure, heartbreak, and magical kingdoms galore! But I'm not forcing their hands. I'm letting them lead me.

By being a pantser, I allow my imagination to run wild with every scenario you can imagine. I accidentally killed off a character I adored. Why? It was her time to go, I guess. I didn't ask, I just wrote it as it unfolded.

My MC is named Stormy Terrebonne. She's facing some wicked challenges (and wicked witches). A parallel tale is about her mother, Valletta. We get to see this woman go back in time and get a chance to start again. How fun is that? Stormy gets to be nearly immortal, her mother gets a new shot at life, and they both get to experience love like it was the first time.

I may give you all an excerpt sometime this week. Come on back and have a looksee. You may be surprised at what NaNoWriMo can do for a writer with a vague idea and a little motivation.

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

Jo

Friday, October 19, 2012

Blog Party - Day Five

Welcome to day five, the final day of my October blog party! I know you're all sad to see it end, but you can still keep entering to win one of the great prizes until Friday, October 26, at midnight! Sadly, we all turn into pumpkins again at that time.

You all know what's up for grabs today if you read last Friday's post. If you forgot, here's a reminder:

ONE person will win: a $10 Amazon gift card, a digital copy of Mystic~Bronya, Mystic~Lily, The Abigale Chronicles Bundle Pack (books 1-3), The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book, and a printed, signed copy of Yassa in the new size and format. Rafflecopter entry form is at the bottom of the post.

If you missed day one, with my awesome interview with Ms. Tia Bach, go check it out. Day two featured Ms. Sandi Tuttle and was amazing. Day three was all about a blog called Indie Author Anonymous. And day four was quick wit and humor brought to you by Mr. Robert Chazz Chute. Go check out those posts and leave my guests some love as a thank you for their donations to this awesome giveaway!

Today, I decided to do a spotlight of an indie service that is run by an indie author. Many of you know this indie author through his Indie Review Group on Facebook. Many of you have read his novel 50 Shades of Silver Hair and Socks. That's right, it's Phil Torciva and his service for indies over at The eBook Daily Deal.

The setup over at the KDD is they will list your book on their site and do other promotions for you if you have a sale or freebie going on. They don't demand pay but they gently request you purchase the 50 Shades parody from Amazon when you sign up. There's no verification process, and they kinda go on the honor system.

If you pop over to their Contact page, you'll see the easy to follow instructions to get your book listed and ways to follow them. Like: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

If you choose not to click my nifty link above, that's fine. But you'll need to follow KDD in some way to enter the giveaway below. I know, I know, I'm sneaky!

So, without futher ado, the rafflecopter widget. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, my great frikkin blog list! Check them out. These are to die for!!

The Book Designer
On Twitter: @JFbookman

eBook Formatting
Book and Author Events Page
On Twitter: @JoHarris0n
On Facebook: Writer's Block Admin Services

Passionate Ramblings
On Twitter: @_LisaCherry
On Facebook: Lisa Cherry Author

The Hungry Freelancer
On Twitter: @bethythewriter

and

If you happen to be a designer, or just want to know more about Photoshop, check out this awesome page:

TutsPlus

Well, that's all for today, folks! Remember to come back every day and enter again until next Friday, October 26! Winners will be announced in a special Saturday post on the 27th! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Blog Party - Day Four

Welcome to day four of the blog party! I love giving things to my readers and followers. Halloween just around the corner makes it all more personal. I look forward to the knocks and screams of, "Trick-or-Treat!" that will be coming the end of this month. Candy makes us all happy (just like prizes do) and I'm glad to be able to share some 'happy' with you all.

If you missed Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, pop on back to see what great goodies were added to the giveaway and leave my lovely guests a little bit of love!

Today, I'm happy to announce my guest, Mr. Robert Chazz Chute. For the giveaway today, Mr. Chute has offered up two digital copies of Sex, Death, & Mind Control (for fun and profit) from Smashwords. Pull up a chair and get to know more about Chazz. Don't forget to enter the rafflecopter at the end of this post!

Jo: Hello, Chazz! Welcome to the blog party. I’d like to start off by thanking you for your donation to the cause and giving away two copies of your book Sex, Death, and Mind Control to a couple of lucky winners! But we can talk about that after the interview!

Instead of the usual, boring diatribe, let’s have some fun with this interview. I’m gonna start with questions about you and end with questions about your new book, Higher than Jesus.

You have two websites right now All That Chazz and Chazz Writes Do you find it difficult keeping up with both of them?
Chazz: No. I added a Tumblr account recently, too, because there was still time to sleep. Each website serves a different audience. ChazzWrites is for writers; AllThatChazz.com is my author site and the platform for my podcast; The Tumblr  is for another audience (who tend to be very creative and younger). I wouldn’t reach new audiences without spreading myself around. Add three Twitter accounts, Facebook, Google Plus, Pinterest and Triberr, and I’m way outside my inner circle. We have to shout outside our echo chambers. The key is time management. Some people find social media overwhelming, but I’m social (at a safe remove, anyway) and, except for ChazzWrites, I keep my posts short. You have to enjoy it for it to work and it must never cut into writing time. Write books first. Blog later.

Jo: What inspired you to do podcasts of Bigger Than Jesus and has it helped traffic or sales?

Chazz: If you’d asked me earlier this year, I would have said narcissism, director Kevin Smith, Joe Rogan and a wild goose chase got me podcasting. However, the podcast has caught on. I love podcasts! SF author Scott Sigler pioneered podcasting his books as a marketing tool and I followed that model. My numbers are trending up as more people discover the program (All That Chazz). Best of all, the podcast reaches people all over the world. I have a big following around Berkley, California for instance, and the original name of the podcast was Self-help for Stoners (named after my first book.) Way to hold up the brand, Berkley!

Jo: Have you taken a ton of flak for the name of the book?

Chazz: I thought I’d have more resistance. I had several rapier-sharp ripostes at the ready. However, most readers have a sense of humor (at least all of my audience does.) I heard some concerns, but even some hard core Christians told me they loved the title. I have a penchant for titles I have to explain (i.e. bad titles.) For the rest of my life I get to say each day to someone, “It’s pronounced Hay-soose,” and “Sex, Death & Mind Control isn’t porn, it’s suspense,” and “No, you don’t have to be a stoner to enjoy it. It’s all suspense!”

Jo: Your ninja monkeys are easily distracted by bananas; have you found that to be a deterrent in sending them on really important missions?

Chazz: Oh, great. You’ve exposed their weakness. If not for Dracula, no one would know how to slay vampires and if Superman had shut up about his origin, we’d never know kryptonite made him pee blood. Now you tipped over the banana cart on my ninja clone army. Way to go. Thanks a lot.

Jo: Oops! Is there a dream you have concerning publishing?

Chazz: Endless adulation would be good, and definitely more orgies. Mainly, I want to get to the point where my publishing success is an objective fact strangers point to. When people I don’t know take the time to tell me, “Hey, loved your book!” besides the dopamine high I get from writing? That’s the big pay off.

Jo: Do you think your journalism degree and background of being a proofreader, editor, and all around ninja monkey trainer give you tools other people could only dream of acquiring?

Chazz: There are lots of ways to acquire those skills. After I attended the Banff Publishing Workshop years ago, I read through The Chicago Manual of Style and it occurred to me that most of what I learned at the Banff School of Fine Arts was hidden in those pages. It is nice to have the context and background that working in traditional publishing gave me, if only to appreciate my independence more. I’m happier than I’ve ever been right now. Add an almond milk latte and I might pass out from sheer elation.

Jo: I see you promote your graphic designer, Kit, pretty often. What’s his secret formula for capturing your heart and soul (and patronage)?

Chazz: My readers at ChazzWrites.com need him, so, yes, I promote him as much as I can. Kit Foster (of KitFosterDesign.com) is a great graphic designer and author who creates all my covers, Quote Art, web art and even the image I use for my business cards. We exchange emails so much we have become friends and we agree on a lot of things. Step one to being declared a genius: hang out with people who agree with you. Actually, Kit is one of those great people who can objectively be declared a success. He’s a genius who’s also really nice. Who can resist a mold breaker like that?

Jo: Okay, enough about you, let’s talk about your books Higher Than Jesus and Bigger Than Jesus. I read the first in the series and I loved it. I found the 2nd person style to be engaging and different and the twists and turns that start from page one to be delightful. Is the second book written that way as well?

Chazz: You bet! The unusual POV is integral to the character and, as you’ll see in Higher Than Jesus when my hit man ends up in group therapy, we delve deeper into Jesus’ history, psychology and pathology. (Hint: hit men do not play well with others, particularly in psychotherapeutic settings. I think that’s my favorite chapter in the book and it’s referenced throughout.) I have a lot of fun exploring the dichotomy of the character. Jesus Diaz does bad things but, like all bad guys, he doesn’t see himself as evil. He’s a pragmatic, funny guy with an obsession for movies through which he idealizes the life he thinks he deserves. In many ways, he’s a sensitive liar who’s clever in a particular skill set. In Higher than Jesus, his pragmatism evolves to become a mission. All my books are twisty stories of Bad versus Evil, so Jesus fits.

Jo: What kind of adventures can we expect to live through Jesus’ eyes in the second book?

Chazz: Jesus has fled New York for Chicago and he accepts a job for the money. Then things get complicated when he has to solve a dispute in an arms deal for his employer. It’s a two dogs, one bone story, plus the object of his affection is his client’s daughter, Willow. I listened carefully to feedback, so expect a little less swearing, a little more sex and more jokes. For me, it’s all about the jokes and surprises that play out as revenge fantasies go awry.

Jo: I loved the surprises. I hate predictable. What kind of promotions are you doing or do you intend to do?

Chazz: I want to do a couple of especially creative things. For Higher Than Jesus, I ran the Six Words or Less Contest so a character got named after a reader. That was a lot of fun, so I’ll do that concurrently as I write the next in the series. Higher Than is also packed with movie references. For instance, all but the last two chapters are named after movie titles (mostly my tribute to film noir.) Once I release the book, anyone who counts the number of movie titles used throughout correctly and tells me that number at AllThatChazz.com will get a bonus ebook for free.

I’ll also be reading Higher Than Jesus on the podcast as soon as I’m done with Bigger Than. It’s a chapter by chapter, week by week sort of thing, so I’m sure quite a few people will want to jump ahead because they don’t want to wait to get past the next cliffhanger. I’m doing some guest posts, too.

My main focus is to have three books up before Christmas. Crack the Indie Author Code is next (my first non-fiction book on Amazon) and This Plague of Days, a dystopian thriller in which we follow the exodus of a boy with Aspergers Syndrome through a North America brought down by the plague we’re all expecting any minute. Mm. Maybe that’s just me. I have a pessimistic worldview but I sublimate the rage and terror with humor.

Jo: I see you have some issues subscriptions with bland Twitter posts. How many did you have to see before your eyeballs began to boil in your skull?

Chazz: We have to provide value to readers if they’re going to take a chance on us. There’s a little too much telling people to buy our books (I know, I’ve done it) and not enough showing them why they should be interested. There’s plenty of room for promotion and I’m not some tweet narc telling everyone how to behave. I do prefer to send people to my blog posts and podcasts instead of only sending them straight to Amazon, though. Too many tweets are generic and sound alike. It’s not spam that bothers me. I don’t label any promotion I don’t want to see “spam.” However, it is ineffective and we have to be funnier, more clever, sexier and attend more orgies to get anyone’s attention.

You can read more of Chazz’s taunting of the Twitterati here: ChazzWrites

Jo: To finish up, when is Higher than Jesus due to release?

Chazz: Mid-October. I’m just finalizing some things now because I want the paperback and the ebook to have launch dates that are close together. That will be more effective, so right now, it’s a soft launch date.

Jo: Where will we be able to procure a copy?

Chazz: I’ve debated publicly about how long to stay exclusive with Amazon. It’s not the advantage it once was. Since I’m launching so many books close together, I’m sticking with an Amazon-only policy for now. I expect that will change, but there are some variables that don’t depend on me, so I can’t say when I’ll make them available across all platforms, including skywriting. Eventually they’ll be everywhere, including the Oval Office. And yes, that’s a clue.

Jo: Oval Office...? Wow! Well, thanks for your time today, Chazz, it’s been fun! May your bananas be ever plentiful!

Chazz: I am bananas.

If you'd like to follow Robert Chazz Chute, you may do so via the links below.

AllThatChazz
ChazzWrites
On Twitter: @rchazzchute
On Facebook: Ex Parte Press

Enter to win below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now on to the great list of blogs for you to check out and follow today!

A great review website along with an author blog:

Stitch Says
Ghostnapped!
On Twitter: @AshleyHowland

Another few review websites:

Books and Beauty
On Twitter: @LazenBeauty

Kayla's Reads and Reviews

Now some indie must-read blogs:

The Bookshelf Muse
On Twitter: @AngelaAckerman AND @WriterThesaurus
On Facebook: Angela Ackerman

Catherine, Caffeinated
On Twitter: @catheryanhoward

Remember, tomorrow comes the super big prize pack! Come on back to enter again tomorrow!

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

Jo

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Blog Party - Day Three

Welcome to day three of the blog party! Today, I'm happy to be doing a blog spotlight of Indie Author Anonymous!

If you missed day one, go take a look and show the author, Ms. Tia Silverthorne Bach, some love! If you missed day two, go show Ms. Sandi Tuttle some love!

Now, on to day three! The prize: Two people have a chance to win a printed, signed copy of The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book (5 stars on Amazon). Every indie needs a copy of this book!

The feature: Indie Author Anonymous is one of those blogs that does free book reviews. But it's also so much more! Not only does the lady there write eloquent reviews, she also loves indie authors! That makes her one of my heroes!



From her What Is This Blog? page:

"This blog is dedicated to Indie or Self Published writers.
I am an AVID reader and I never knew there were so many awesome authors out there getting almost NO recognition!
I am here for YOU! I know there are many many awesome writers and I KNOW there are MANY readers who want to read your masterpieces!
Having a link to send out that has no affiliation to YOU is indispensable. Promoting yourself gets old. With a promotion on this blog YOU can link to it for YEARS to come.
Seeing how this can work to your benefit?
Awesome! Just click the “My Services” link to get your book on this blog ASAP!"

She also offers services that will feature your indie book or you, the author, on her blog for a small fee (we all have to make money somehow).

You have many ways in which you can connect with this lovely lady:
Twitter: @IndieAuthorAnon
Facebook
or on her blog: Indie Author Anonymous

Give her some love and let her know how much you appreciate all she does for Indies! Now, enter the contest below to WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On to the great blog list for today!

I found this one by venturing into the .com world and searching for some of the best blogs for writers.

Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors
On Twitter: @KMWieland

Here's one you should all already know about. You don't? FOR SHAME! Check her out for great writing tips:

The Creative Penn
On Twitter: @thecreativepenn

How about another reviewer to add to our great list?

Heather's Book Chatter
On Twitter: @WoodTop255

And for today's author:

A.M. Hargrove
On Twitter: @Amhargrove1

Well, that's all for today, folks! Come on back tomorrow and help me welcome another great author! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

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