Goals and Hopes

Author Life: Setting Off on My Self Publishing Voyage

2021-04-28
SE White
Blogging, Goals and Hopes, My Books, Plotters vs. Pantsers, Silliness, Writing Process

Agent querying has been what I would humbly term an “Epic Fail”. A solid year of querying the latest finished manuscript has netted exactly zero interested replies. And each publisher accepting un-agented manuscripts replied to my submission with an email which basically said “not for us, but if you do write something else—something, y’know, better—we would love to see it. Take care. Bye.” I’m still not willing to give up, though. This manuscript made it to the finals of an…

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So You Need a Book Cover: 16 Romance Cover Designers

2021-04-21
SE White
Goals and Hopes, My Books, Recommendations, Writing Process

It turns out, finding a ‘book cover’ design is pretty simple. There are options. LOTS of options. But when it comes to a romance book? Suddenly those choices are whittling down from Covered Log Bridge With Fancy Carved Bits to Number 2 Pencil size. Turns out creating a steamy book cover is kind of a niche thing. Rendering eye-catching mystery covers does not translate automatically to lush romance covers. It takes skill and experience with the genre to create a…

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Takes Risks

2021-04-06
SE White
Blogging, Goals and Hopes, Insecure Writer's Support Group Post, My Books, Writing Process

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group meets online on the first Wednesday of every month for the purpose of sharing expertise, discussing struggles and triumphs, and most especially propping supports underneath other struggling writers. Come, come join us and offer your own insecurities to the fresh air and sunshine. Fresh air kills insecurities, they’re exactly like viruses. Just trust me on this. To sign up for the group yourself, click here. You can also find the group on social media by…

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When I Said I Wanted Critique: Feel That Author Pain

2021-01-20
SE White
Author Toolbox Blog Hop Post, Critique, Goals and Hopes, My Books, Recommendations, Silliness, Writing Process

The stages of accepting constructive criticism, as told through gifs. We all can agree that beta reading is crucial to the success of a story. Having other eyeballs touch your story, pre-publication, is one of the necessary steps a book goes through. Whether it’s a kind friend who volunteers, a writing group, or a professional editor — the link goes to a good post by author D.E. Haggerty on why she uses editors vs. beta readers — you will be…

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Blog Problems: Oh Joy

2021-01-18
SE White
Blogging, Goals and Hopes

It took me a long time to figure it out, but it appears that comments have stopped working on the blog. If you’ve left a comment on the last three posts for me I apologize! It’s not that I’m ignoring you, it’s a technical problem. Of course I figured out what was happening on a holiday weekend, which means my support request to WordPress is going to take longer. And I’m definitely not smart enough to fix the issue myself.…

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A Happy Holiday Post From Me to You

2020-12-23
SE White
Goals and Hopes, Holiday Wishes

No matter where you are or what you celebrate, if you’re reading this we’ve made it through 2020 and we collectively as human beings celebrate that. We’re still here, regardless of everything the last twelve months threw at us, and we will keep going. Whatever nasty things 2021 throws at us will at least be part of a new year and that’s (very slightly) comforting. Know that I genuinely wish you and your loved ones a happy, joyful, peace-filled winter…

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The Great Blogging Wrap-Up of 2020

2020-12-16
SE White
Blogging, Goals and Hopes, Holiday Wishes, Top 10 Lists

Alright, friends. Let’s get to some numbery maths for the year. I’m still at the point where I genuinely enjoy blogging (LET IT NEVER END) and I have a lot of fun breaking my year down in stats. If you’re interested the 2019, 2018, and 2017 breakdowns are linked. Just as a note: I’ve spent zero pennies on marketing of any kind since I started this blog in November 2016. Instead, I’ve focused on blog-hops and building relationships. That means…

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