Blogs, Social Venues ... Do the Twain Meet?

I read an article this morning on blogs and social media venues.The gist of it was that your blog needs to be your hub, and that social media sites serve as spokes coming off of that hub. The general tone of the article was that too much time is being spent on Face Book, Google + and Twitter, and that they should serve to promote the blog, and not take on an entity of their own.

Struggling to deal with time issues myself (I work a 9-5, as well as writing and reviewing), I can see the need to prioritize. We can all see that. I have two blogs and a professional site. One blog is (supposed to be) an author's blog, while the other blog site has to do with Tarot, flash fiction, review, interviews, and a music site that I work with. I say blog site, because on that site I maintain separate blogs for the music site, my Tarot work, and my flash fiction. My professional site serves both my writing and my Tarot interests. Content is always being added to my blogs, then shared on Twitter, Face Book, and Google +. (At time, if appropriate, I will share a music blog on my My Space page, because for me that site is all music and musicians, not personal friends.) Lately I have been getting a fair amount of LinkedIn requests, and Branched Out is starting to have a life of its own.

My feeling is this - decide what is important to you personally, and to your work. On all of the social media venues (Twitter, Face Book, and Google +) I chat. I share what is going on in my life, and comment on others posts. To me, this is the best part of networking - getting to know people. Then when I post a request for help, that help appears. There are people that I network with that know more than I do about almost everything. If we know a bit about each other, and have interacted before, they will be there to head me over to the information that I need to have.

While our blogs (and our sites) arfe where our content goes, and that is where we want to drive traffic to, I think we need to take the time to socialize a bit ... at least, I do!

(c) September 2011 Bonnie Cehovet

Fading Into Autumn

I am so glad that the cooler weather is here - not that we had a hot summer, but because I like the cooler weather, and I love autumn! I am in the final rounds of cutting back in the yard for this year, which is also a good thing. I do NOT like yard work. I put one of my table top fans back in storage, but kept the other one out, along with the floor fan in the living room. Probably another two weeks, and I can put the other fans into storage too.

I was pleased to receive my latest order from Schiffer Publications - of course, the books are already accounted for! One to a gentleman that I did a radio interview with, one to a friend of my sister's and mine that I admire greatly, the other two will go out in contests.

I still have to make a list of local bookstores, and send my laminated book covers, along with a cover letter, to their buyers.

I have two webinars this week, and I hope that man of you will join me at one or the other - or both! My webinar with Linda Marson on September 21st is a general over-view of my book, "Tarot, Birth Cards, and You". My webinar with Mary Nale on September 24th will be covering Birth Cards and Affirmations.

October looks to be a pivotal month for me. May the Gods and Goddeses be in a very good mood, and my path be well lit and well traveled!

(c) September 2011 Bonnie Cehovet

The Beat Goes On

I am still trying to catch my breath over the release of my new book, "Tarot, Birth Cards, and You". Life does not happen a vacuum - I still have to work the "9-5", I am still doing reviews of other peoples work, attending incredible webinars of other peoples work, and getting ready to do a basic webinar on my book (with Linda Marson), and a focused webinar on my book (the affirmations aspect) with Mary Nale.

In a drawer in the kitchen I have the laminated copies of my cover that my publisher (Schiffer Publishing) sent me. I need to start making some calls to local bookstores and getting the name of their purchasing agent, so I have a "real name" to address the query letter that will accompany my lovely cover. "To Whom It May Concern" does not seem to get it when I want to gently encourage these people to carry my book in their store.

I am running a contest for the month of September, giving away a signed copy of my book. The contest is a simple one, but I have had no response to date. I am trying to see how I can present this in a better way, rather than taking things too personally. ;-)

To balance things out, I have the honor of reviewing the new deck out from Christine Payne-Towler and Michael Dowers (The Tarot of the Holy light). It is outstanding for so many reasons - its place as a Continental deck, the incredible artwork, the in-depth (but not overwhelming) esoteric symbolism, the beautiful, intense colors ... the list goes on!

Life is good ... may it remain so!

(c) September 2011 Bonnie Cehovet

My Journey As An Author

My book, "Tarot, Birth Cards, and You" is out. Each step of the way I think I am fine, then when I get there I am nervous! It is incredible to have it in my hands, it is incredible to be able to actually sign copies and send them to friends! It is incredible that my friends are doing reviews of my book - which they do not have to do. I would have sent them the book anyway!

It is very strange to be on the other side of the interview table - answering the questions, rather than asking them. The questions have been very good ones, too! Including the one ab out whether I had another Tarot book in process, which I do. Subject dwelling in the mists, for now. Proposal is out to my editor, I will have to see what she thinks. If it is accepted, I am sure that she knows she won't be seeing the panicked little person that she saw the first time around. I know what questions to ask, this time, and I know a bit about the process.

Interesting things have been happening - did you realize that a package will get to Sweden before it gets to Western Canada? (They were sent on the same day.) I think I also have it down that I have to fill out customs paperwork to send anything out of country. (I grabbed a fistful the last time I was at the post office - it beats filling them out at the post office!)

I have to ask my editor about books from brick and mortar publishers going into e-book format. I am not sure how they handle that. I do suggest that people click the "Do You Want To See This On Kindle" button on Amazon.com - that might help.

Speaking of clicking buttons - many of us are now using Google +1. When you see this on someone's site, blog, or article - please take the time to click on it. Unless you don't like the site, blog, or article - then just be polite and move on.

Focus for this coming week - edit my Power Point for my webinar with Linda Marson. Thank you Linda for setting the files up for me - I would not have had a clue!

(c) September Bonnie Cehovet

The Art of Promoting

What a weekend I had! On Saturday I did my first webinar with Mary Nale - and it went very well! Deep sigh of relief here! Many thanks to the wonderful people that attended this webinar - I appreciate each and every one of you taking the time to be there! I also appreciate the fact that Mary took the time to go over the "room" with me beforehand, so that I could bring up pages and move my little cursor around with some semblance of knowing what I was doing! I think that Mary chose an excellent site to work with, and wish her much success with future webinars. Two of those webinars will be mine - one will focus on Tarot, Birth Cards, and Affirmations, while the other will focus on Tarot, Birth Cards, and Journeying.

On Sunday morning I joined Dax Carlisle, Mark Reed, and Mary Nale on Tarot Today. I am listening to the show in archives as I write this blog, hoping that I don't sound too bad. I want to thank all of the people in the chat room - I appreciate your dropping by to listen! I also appreciate all of the people that will be listening to the show in the archives! The chat about my book was wonderful, I chatted with the people in the room a bit, and had a wonderful chat with Colin, who called in from the UK! Many thanks to Colin for calling in. He is a marvelous individual, and just an incredible artist!

Following Tarot Today I attended a two-hour seminar with Stephanie Arwen Lynch (Tarot By Arwen). The seminar was for writers, and addressed character definition and plot development. If you want to work with Tarot and writing, please check out the services/seminars that Arwen offers. She is an incredible reader, author, and teacher/mentor.

I have a webinar coming up on the 21st of Sepember with Linda Marson of Global Spiritual Studies. I highly recommend working with Linda if you want to do a webinar. Like Mary Nale, Linda works with her presenters to get the Power Point pages set up (note: Mary's pages are not Power Point), and to make sure that the presenter knows how to work witht he pages, and work with the pointer. I will be chatting with Linda this Wednesday night to get a better idea of my next step. I have my pages together, and my graphics for the cards ... and I thought this was "good to go". Not! The first thing that Linda told me when she saw my pages was that I needed to add visuals to retain the interest of my audience. I dragged my feet on that one. However, when I did my webinar with Mary, the same thing came up when I beat people over the head for feedback. So, I am taking the work that Linda did re my pages, and looking for good visuals to go with them. I have to redo the text that I gave Linda into bullet points (Linda did this for me, but I want to change them a bit). I consider myself incredibly lucky that I connected with two very professional ladies that are making my presentations look very good! :)

I have one more thing that I need to do on promotions, and that is to send the laminated book covers that Schiffer Publishing sent me to local bookstores. I have to write a quick promotional letter to go with them, and they will be off!

I am learning the art of promotion slowly but surely. It is very much easier for me to promote other people through my reviews and interviews. Promoting myself ... that is a whole other ballgame!

(c) August 2011 Bonnie Cehovet

Multiple Streams Of Income

Multiple streams of income - not only a "nice thought", but in this time of uncertainty, perhaps a necessary one. As a writer, what are my multiple streams of income going to be? My first brick and mortar book came out this year (hopefully it is shipping by the time that I publish this post!). I am at work on writing the proposal for my second one, and there will be one more in this field.

I am working on a mystery novel, hopefully the first in a series. Looking closely at both Create Space and Smashwords to publish this book, as I have a strong feeling that I would be getting close to leaving this lifetime by the time a brick and mortar publisher picked it up. Goal is to get this one out by the end of the year.

Under consideration are self-help books. At this point in time I am not sure if they will be self-published or brick and mortar. Or if they will be full length books, or shorter material that might be best published in e-format. The thing that I like about e-format is that it can be updated with ease.

In a totally unrelated thought, I am thinking about entering writing contests - specifically for mysteries. Not doing the NaNoWriMo again - too much stress, and it takes place in the lead up to the holidays, neither of which is in its favor. While it works well for some people, I am going to take a pass.

I love that there are options, and that we are not limited in any way as to how many options we accept. My one thought is that once I accept an option, I do my best to follow through, and don't opt out half-way, unless that looks like the high road!

(c) August 2011 Bonnie Cehovet

Software For Writer's

Today I thought that I would talk a bit about software for writer's. There is one program that I keep hearing about, and that I am seriously considering - that is the Scrivener software. I was very surprised to read that it originated as a Mac program, and was developed "after the fact" for Windows. More information, and a free download, can be accessed here - Scrivener. One little phrase struck me - that the main focus of the program is structuring writing! The beta download is now on my laptop! Woo hoo! Okay, I read the fine print. The beta version expires after 30 days of use, or on September 30th, whichever comes first. ;-) I will have to test drive this one quickly and soon!

WriteWayPro is another writer's program that looks good to me. It takes a writer from concept to character development, to completed manuscript! The little phrase that caught my eye here made my heart stop - this puppy will format for Kindle and Nook! Yes! WriteWayPro can be accessed here. There is a video tour on this site also, but I was not able to access it.

Under story development software, I found StoryCraftPro (there is an online demo at this link) and Power Structure (which also has an online demo). To tell you the truth, I don't know that I would put out money for something like this. I may be naive, but should I not be able to get my own story going, once I have a plot and characters? I mean - what am I here for, if not to write the story! Not being a published author yet with fiction work, I may be eating those words!

Now, StyleWriter does seem like a great idea, and well worth it's cost! What this software does is check language style and usage. The most difficult thing for me is to recognise my own grammatical errors, so some type of software like this will undoubtedly find its way into my life.

I also came across Life Journal For Writer's - journaling software that helps organise and keep track of daily writing and writing activities. This one will be on a back burner for me, but I am thinking about it.

So much software out there - so little time! ;-)

(c) August 2011 Bonnie Cehovet