I warned you about it on Friday, and the day is finally here. You can grab your copy of The Yak Guy Project for free today. To quote pop culture, “Free, free, free, free.”

This is my attempt to ease your isolation by offering something fun to read. I suppose you could grab a copy to read this Fall, too, if you want. Anyway, here is a cover and blurb, plus a purchase link.

Imagine waking up in the desert with no idea what happened to you. You have clear memories of situations and places, but a complete loss in personal matters… like your own name. This situation is bad, and you have no idea how to get home.

When you’re rescued by a talking yak, the situation gets exponentially worse. You’ve obviously lost your mind. The immediate needs of a ride off the salt pan and searing heat, along…

Hi again, Everyone! Marcia popping in from the Land of Sunshine. Lately, I’ve been thinking about creativity, specifically, how much of it is inspiration and how much is perspiration–especially as it pertains to those of us who write.

Being a writer is hard work. We devote countless hours to our craft in hopes that the stories we tell will touch the hearts of our readers. Or make them laugh. Or teach them something new.  But what is it that stirs us to create a certain character who looks or acts in a specific way? Or urges us to show our readers exactly what autumn in the Blue Ridge Mountains looks like? And how do we find the inspiration necessary to start our tales, continue the journey with our characters, and arrive at satisfactory–or possibly even happy–endings for our novels? 

Obviously, we are each inspired by many different things, but I’d…

Everyone is self isolating, if not outright quarantined right now. It get’s boring, even for those of us who can work from home.

Add into that, a whole bunch of people who lost their jobs and are trying to file for unemployment right now, and we could all use a break.

Reading is a good way to spend a few hours, and all authors would love to have you check out their wares. I don’t want anyone to accuse me of taking advantage, so I’m going to do a free promotion. Even folks who lost their jobs can take advantage of a freeby.

Don’t freak out on me just yet, because I set it up to run on Monday. This post is just so you can line up ahead of time, while practicing your social distancing skills. I’ll run out another post when it goes live.

I try to have…

Image courtesy of bigstock.com

Hello SErs. Harmony here.  Here is the first part of the seventh installment in the post series dedicated to taking a step-by-step look at how to get your finished manuscript from your computer and on sale on Amazon in both ebook and paperback.

If you’d like to take a look back at the previous posts in this series, please click on the links below:

Outline: https://wp.me/p7OGru-29c

Part 1 (Software for Writing) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-29t

Part 2 (General Formatting Necessities) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-29J

Part 3 (Ebook Conversion) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2ah

Part 4 (Paperback Formatting) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2eS

Part 5 (Image Software for Making Book Covers) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2gi

Part 6 A (Using Amazon’s Cover Creator Tool for eBook) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2gQ

Part 6 B (Making your own ebook cover to upload to Amazon) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2hQ

To make it easy to browse back and forth, I’ve set all links to open in new tabs…

Good morning story Empire readers, PH with you today, continuing the series of posts which helps you create marketing material as you develop your book. I call this process dual usage of your meta-comment content (based on your story bible, if you will). Meta-content is basically any content use or create specifically for your book or series. Dual usage means that you’re using the meta-content for both writing your book and writing your marketing, that is, creating both at the same time. If you wish to read previous posts on this subject you can find them here at these links:

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4

To elaborate and recap a little of what I’ve written previously, the concept is that you specifically write development material so that it is also marketing materials such as blogs posts, newsletters, reader guides and whatever…

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today with the fourth in a series of posts about using the five senses in writing. Today’s post is about the sense of sound. If you missed the first three, you can read them by clicking the following links:

• Sight
• Smell
• Taste

It’s been said, “Silence is golden.” In reality, sounds are everywhere. Even if you’re in a quiet house without the noise of a television or radio, there are still noises. The humming of a refrigerator. The whir from an air conditioner. We’ve become so accustomed to these sounds, we barely notice. But if your electricity fails, you’ll discover how quiet your house is.

Like with the other senses using sound, or in some cases the absence of, can help convey a character’s emotions.

In the song, “I Think I’d Rather Be a Cowboy,” singer/songwriter John Denver wrote a line that I’m envious…

Ciao, SEers. Wow, it’s been a while since I wrote that opening. For those of you who missed me, please know I’m sorry I was away so long. I missed you. For those of you new (or new since I took a sabbatical) to the site, I’m Staci, and you’ll come to recognize my posts by me signing on this way.

Before I continue, I really need to give a shout-out to my SE partners in crime colleagues, who went above and beyond covering for me in my absence. I couldn’t ask for a better blogging family. Mae, Joan, Craig, Harmony, P.H., Marcia… many, many thanks for all the support.

Now, back to one of my favorite topics. Not my kids (though I could talk about them forever). And not my dogs (and we all know I could ramble on equally long about my furry family members). Today, third time’s…