the Social Media Beast Eats Another Victim

The Great Blogging Wrap-Up of 2022

Lets get to some numbery-maths for the year. I’m still at the point where I genuinely have a lot of fun breaking my blogging year down in stats. If you’re interested the 2021, 2020, 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 super slow growth and also super low stress levels. (If slow is…

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The Great Blogging Wrap-Up of 2021

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 2020, 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 super slow growth and…

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Release Day! Beneath Me, SE White

It’s release day for my first indie publishing attempt. I’m unsure if the correct procedure is to scream with excitement, cower under blankets, or accost random strangers and try to get them to read my work? All of those at once? Or maybe the Carlton dance. YES. The Carlton dance is perfect for this moment. Amazon doesn’t *list* books on their website until actual release day, and I’ve heard about long delays in those books showing up on the website…

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Author Life: Creating a Cover Reveal With Canva

I’ve written posts…not complaining exactly, more…wistfully acknowledging the necessity of social media, marketing, and promotion nowadays. It’s a fact of author life. Social media is everywhere, has its squirmy little tentacles in everything, and you either learn to swim with it and truly enjoy tentacles or you get left on the beach. Yes I sound like an elder talking about whippersnappers and lawns. I admit it. This post isn’t to rehash those points. They’ve been hashed more than corned beef…

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Author Life: Setting Off on My Self Publishing Voyage

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

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

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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