What started off as a simple book blog that posted the personal reviews of the site owner has grown into a site where authors and readers can connect. Since then we’ve given away books, gift cards, reviews, tours, and free promotion to authors. Check out Sandra’s Book Blog to find out more! To celebrate all the readers and authors that have been a part …
Category: Writing and Literacy
Mastering Freelance Writing in College
Mastering Freelance Writing in College Navigating the freelance writing landscape in college offers a unique opportunity for growth and professional development. It equips students with the skills to manage their own business while still pursuing their education. Embracing this challenge can transform proactive students into successful entrepreneurs. This journey, while rewarding, requires careful strategy and dedication to overcome potential pitfalls and achieve success. Anna del …
“Emerine’s Nightmare”
Anna del C. Dye, as a YA author of High Fantasy and she makes sure her books have high standards and are fit for the whole family. One day a challenge to write a fairy story was placed and she wondered if she could write a book about fairies, since all her book were about elf. “Amerine, Fairy Princess” was the result of that thought. This story, …
The Roilden Stones of Elf Mountain – blog tour
The Roilden Stones of Ef Mountain tour is here. The Roilden Stones of Elf Mountain, is the prequel to my elf series. It is also the last book in the series of seven. In this book you will discover the Elfs, an eternal race that chooses to live in a world full of woe, away from their native motherland. You will fall in love with …
Military in writing fantasy (continuation)
kinds of warfare- 1. attrition – face to face. Last one standing wins. 2. maneuver – move your people into place before and during shooting. Moving/acting smart. 3. asymmetrical – unbalanced sides. One side is far superior to the other, but someone with more wits can overcome insurmountable odds. *Logistics is what keeps the troops moving and getting into place – it includes feeding the …
LTUE Military & Military SF / Military Strategies panel
Sherry Taylor reported on two of the LTUE presentations she attended in February. This is a summary of her report to the Oquirrh writers: Military & Military SF / Military Strategies (The presenters of these two classes were all former or current military personnel. You can easily modify this info to Fantasy.) RESEARCH *Read military guidelines from around the world. Rules can be different from …
An Award! Why thank you
Shaunna Gonzales, a great writer, has bestowed upon me what is called the “Liebster Blog Award.” What is the Liebster Blog Award? Legend has it that The Liebster Blog Award originated in Germany. Liebster means dearest or beloved, and Liebe is love. The award is meant to encourage readership of small, lovable blogs with fewer than 200 followers. In accepting the Liebster Blog Award, the …
How to interview and be interviewed.
To be interviewed is quite easy and fun. You need to follow some rules and you’ll soon see yourself everywhere.
Your kids don’t love books…help them
Usually it takes motivated parents to get a kid to read. For example, Monica has four boys and she started reading to them when they were babies.
A cover can make or break a book
If you are a well-known author your name will bring sales, but for most of us that isn’t the case. Here we’ll review some important points to make our books stand out from the rest. You need to use the right color scheme If you use pastel colors, especially pink or lilac, you are sending the message that this book is a cute book.
Positive Thinking in a writer’s life
Mental Rehearsal: At night before you got to sleep: Imagine yourself doing the things you want to be good at. Fake it until you make it. Internalize your ideas, think of how you would teach them to someone else. This will have more result than thinking about it for yourself. Soon these internal thoughts will become external. After you learn this share it with others …
How to promote your book, after you published it.
Remember that the point of business cards and bookmarks is to draw people to your website for a sale. The purpose of your website is to sell your book. Have the book covers and back blurbs easily visible. Your author picture should be nice and professional looking. No beach shots, skimpy clothes, or camping pictures. A passport type with one color background works well. Your …
16 Tips to promote your book—before and during launch
1. Send out free PDFs, or ebooks, to bloggers who have tons of followers. If your book is non-fiction, send out digital copies to influential journalists. Ask the bloggers a review it in their blogs. (Some bloggers or reviewers need a month to read the book. Always ask way beforehand. 2. Pull out excerpts of the book to use as articles. Post them on free sites. 3. Create …
16 ideas of how to promote your book before and during launch
To promote or not, that is the great dilemma. If you are an author, you have to promote your book or no one will know it is there. Besides, even if you are traditionally published you are expected to promote your book. If you ask me, promoting is the least fun thing you do as an author. After all, you want to move on into …
This is who I am…
Many authors think that it is all right to dress as they please and that is part of their charm. I have news for you. Your appearance says much more than “he/she is cool.†You may want to dress to fit in with your readership. Say that your readership is mainly teenagers and you are over forty.
How can talk, looks and attitude change a character?
If all your characters sound the same… then something is very wrong. Real people don’t sound the same, not ever. Your characters’ words show where they come from, their culture and attitudes. If you want to create an astounding character then you need to figure out where he/she is from and then have him/her show it in his/her speech and look. Example: How does he/she …
Want a successful website?
Here are some great suggestions that have served me well. 1-Â Â Â Make sure that you have the right colors in it. No wild colors, they make you look irresponsible and provide too much chaos for the eye. You will lose most serious buyers. Blue conveys trust, yellow attracts the eye. It is all right to use three to four colors throughout. If you market for …
Fantasy versus Fantastic, are they one & the same?
Once I participated on a panel about world building. I was amazed that the eight panelists were all on the same page about fantasy versus fantastic. We all preached that it doesn’t matter what world we create our characters need to have boundaries to live by. What do we mean by that?
Steps to make a Killer Character
Characters tell your tale; if they are boring, flat, or common your story will be, too. Characters need personality (thus the designation character) and a name that will cause that your readers to remember and relate to them throughout the book. a.    The way your character dresses also adds personality and can make him/her very distinctive in the reader’s mind. A personal eccentricity or oddity …
Five things to do when approaching an agent
The five things you need to know before you send your manuscript to an agent are: 1-   Don’t send all your manuscript at once. Certainly never send your only copy. 2-  Make sure you read and follow their guidelines. 3-  Make your query letter