I have a confession to make. I went to Allume hoping to hear a particular message, hoping that all the sessions I attended and conversations I had would whisper the same theme and that it would be very apparent that God was speaking to me. The message I wanted to hear? That it was time…
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This is NOT an Announcement {As much as it sounds like one}
I was stressed, people. My life is full of things that I love, that give me energy, that excite me. But sometimes they all converge to get me really stressed out. I love travel. I love our crazy, gypsy, life this year, splitting our time between our home in the Fingerlakes of Upstate NY and…
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Setting the Stage {A Flashback to Last Year’s Allume}
(Read part first of this story here) First we must set the stage. You must at least have a snap shot of where we have come from. I have this really great group of friends. We call ourselves the Ladder Bloggers. And before you think that’s all cute, try switching the first sounds of each…
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Shaking in my Boots Obedience
I’m afraid to write about Allume. Afraid I won’t get the words right. Afraid the right words won’t come out. I need to listen to my friend Kristina’s Allume session RIGHT NOW. I heard her practice it, I know it’s about writers block, and I know she would tell me in perhaps the only voice…
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I {Heart} Ebooks…{and this Bundle is the Bomb!}
If you’ve hung around here at all this summer, you know I’m passionate about eBooks. I loved creating one: publishing an ebook has taught me so much, and my book continues to be a steady source of residual income for our family. I love encouraging others to write them–in fact I wrote a whole series…
Continue ReadingPain Redeemed {An eBook Review!}
In keeping with my passion to encourage other ebook authors and continuing my ebook how-to series, today I’m featuring my friend Natasha’s new book, I hope her book and a little bit of her publishing story that she shared with me will encourage you in your own dreams and the effort to ePublish. Description from…
Continue ReadingRun, Mamma, Run
She slips out the screen door–scheeee-bang! Already in the lead, having managed to escape the house The 6 year old The 4 year old And, most importantly, The toddler They’re all sleeping, under Daddy’s care, So Momma can run. She stretches as a friend taught her–ouch! And remembers a 10 year old’s straddle split That…
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EBook Success {Redefined}
FYI: This post was written 2 months ago, and scheduled last week–all before my book suddenly got a lot of attention from the real food community this week! Even as the Lord is suddenly blessing sales of my book, I still believe that His definition of success has nothing to do with numbers, so this…
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Marketing, Part 2 {Pratical tips for smaller platforms}
I’m no expert on marketing and I didn’t have a big enough platform for my book to go viral. But my book has enjoyed a measure of success and continues to sell 1 1/2 years after its first release. Here are my 3 best marketing strategies… Friends As I said in my post on timing…
Continue ReadingMarketing Theories {And what’s worked for me} Part One
The upside to self publishing is that you retain all rights to your book and the majority of the profits. You have the final word in every decision and maintain complete control of your content at every stage. You may ask, is there even a downside? Well, once you publish, the work’s not done. Now…
Continue ReadingA Time to Launch {Is My Platform Too Small?}
Timing is a very important factor to consider when self-publishing and marketing a book. All the experts say that you should wait to launch a book until you have a well-established platform. If you don’t have a large and loyal readership who will be excited to spread the word about your book, then you should…
Continue Reading7 Steps to DIY eBook Cover Design {The Art of First Impressions}
(My apologies if you’re getting a little tired of me posting nothing but ebook advice–I haven’t had a lot of time to blog much else this month! For those of you missing my traditional content, don’t miss my newsletter this month! I’m just wrapping it up and it’s gonna be delish. Sign up for the…
Continue ReadingDon’t DIY by Yourself {It takes a community to publish an eBook}
My whole goal in writing this series is to encourage you that even if you have a {smaller} platform or are a novice marketer, you CAN make your self-publishing dreams a reality. But doing it yourself does not mean you should do it alone. I could never have written much less published my eBook with…
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Editing and Formatting an Ebook {What NOT to Do}
Once you’ve written your book, you need to edit and format it. This was where I think we made the most mistakes with my book. We fixed the mistakes so you don’t see them, but doing it right the first time would have saved us a lot of headaches. Here’s 4 things I’d suggest to…
Continue ReadingA Night on the Bus {& a Question on Voice}
I did something stupid last night. As we drove through town (ironically, on our way to check out the local farmer’s market in search of good, whole foods) I saw a sign at Sonic, “Shakes half price after 8”. I thought how long it had been since I’d indulged in a milkshake. And how I…
Continue ReadingDo You Have an eBook in You? {Psst! I think so!}
The whole reason I’m writing this series is because I’m certain there are a lot of books not being written or stories not being told because their authors: are intimidated by the publishing process feel like their story doesn’t matter ‘enough’, or, they don’t think they have the time I was a poster child for…
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