Social Media is the place to be when you need to showcase your work. Whatever kind of work it may be there’s all sorts of platforms out there that you are able to use. My two personal favorites are Facebook, and Instagram. With Facebook, I have a few pages that I must keep up with and its fun coming up with interesting images or quotes. I also post about my business, obviously. I have a graphics page that pays more attention to that and then two book related ones. And then the account that I can post whatever I think is good, whether about my book or graphics. Or even some funnies throughout the week. It is also a way to join groups and find other people that are like you and your situation. It has been a lifeline of sorts for me throughout the years where I wanted to push things aside or not come back and then I had friends that would pull me back in. Instagram is a different sort of situation. I don’t have those that I talk to regularly or comment on regularly, but it is enjoyable seeing other people’s books that they’ve been writing on have finally concluded and they are putting them out there. I try to keep up with everyone’s stories as they pop up. That part is fun. And of course, working on new hashtags. Those are my favorite when it comes to posting. I’m still working on doing the live stuff, but that’s my resolution coming up in 2020. To be more live and involved as best I can be. There’s a large community out there of writers and readers that are banded together that I’m slowly stepping myself into and I can’t wait to dive even further into that as well as into what I can do for my book and business. Any collaborations I can come up with and join into. I’m always looking for new possibilities and social media is the way to go. I’d love to hear what you use, what you’re favorite social media pages are to use, and any fun little tactics that you enjoy using as you join into the large world of tags, hashtags, posts, likes, and follows. Be sure to comment!
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Finding time is one of the hardest things to do it seems. I work so much, 50+ hours with my job, trying to help run a section of the company. Then on top of that be the best mom I can be. And then on top of that keep my website fresh, come up with new covers. Plus get a blog out every week and write, write, write. It’s a lot on one person’s plate. How do I do it? I’m still trying to figure that out. I organize and prioritize. Figure out what works best for me. I seem to write better at night, so I know when I should be focusing my writing time. Working goes better in the day, with the sun shining. It continues like that and to figure out my schedule to get everything done in the short number of hours that we do have. I’ve realized that I have put a lot on my plate, but of course it’s all things I love so I must fit them in somewhere. I work and love my job. I write and love that job. I do graphics, which is relaxing, and I love it. And then of course above all else, I’m a mother and absolutely love it. There isn’t anything I want to put aside and hold off on, so I must put in a schedule for it. You can ask my PA, I’m not the best with it, which is why my post is coming a few days late. However, with that and realizing that I’m trying to take on the world- I need to prioritize better and make time for everything better. So I’m setting up a daily routine for me, which may work for you, everyone is different. But I want to put aside work at certain times to write, and then put writing aside at certain times to do graphics. Of course, after school until bedtime is dedicated time to my sweet boy. So, this is something I’ll be implementing in my life the next week to see how it goes. I’d even like to throw in some working out because I have been needing to add some workout in my schedule as well. Can I do it all? I’m sure as heck going to try. I’m a MomBoss, I can do it. When will I sleep and rest? I’ll find time for that as well. You can do it all, have it all, and still manage to find time for everything and everyone else. I see it as a matter of realizing that you don’t have to give all your time but give your all in that time frame. I’m planning on trying this out this week and next week I’ll let you know how it goes. If you try it too or have already started this process- please give me your notes, ideas, or how it’s going for you. A month has been picked and the year has finally come that my first novel is going to be truly released. It has been a long back and forth journey since 2011 and I can’t wait to get this going. A few people know the story behind this novel… It all literally started with a dream. I’m being truly serious about this. I had a dream about Rena, and vampires. It was an intense dream. Even to this day I can picture it all. The colors and smells were so distinct that I felt as if I was there. Starting at a school, there was fighting, death, love, happiness, confusion, and anger all rolled into this dream. It was amazing and I couldn’t wait to write it all down. There was no hesitation. When I woke up, I jotted all details down. In 2011, I started writing it, and within six months; a full manuscript was complete. However I did a horrible thing after that… This is a piece of advice I would offer to anyone writing a novel, or anything for that matter: Don’t rush your work, don’t run with something like this, take caution. All P’s and Q’s need to be taken care of. I rushed it, and although the novel did receive quite a few downloads, it also received quite a few negative reviews. There were so many things missing, but I couldn’t wait to get it all out there. Even the first handful of covers were horrendous…this was what also got me into making covers and into graphics design in general. I knew I could do better. The reasoning behind a great book cover…there are so many reasons. I know the saying is “don’t judge a book by its cover.” However, so many people do. When they are searching on websites or even in stores, it’s what grabs the interest first. You want the cover to speak a thousand words to the possible reader and to draw them in telling a story. You want the cover to tell your story. Money must be put into this, unless you have the graphics design skills, please don’t do something basic. Let someone help you, or work on it over and over as I did. I started with graphics design because I wanted to do my own book cover. It took A LOT of time and tries, and years to where I finally was able to create one that was good enough. Remember that this is important, not something to put aside. Put the money toward the editing and cover. When the book is put out on display whether on websites or on shelves, the cover is the first thing anyone will notice. So make it stand out, make it Pop, and let it show your fans what they are about to dive into. However, I didn’t realize what I had done until I wrote the second book and realized I was still missing so much, that I pulled everything from production. It needed to be redone from the beginning. Jen, a very close friend of mine, said words that stuck… “You tell a great story, there’s so much potential.” That made me feel good, and the thought that she would take on a mess was incredible, but as the publishing option diminished; I continued to take her words with me and finished the rewrite. And finally, on February 10th, 2020, Book 1 of the Blood Origins Series: Yearn for Blood will be Published by Willow Moon Publishing. The cover is gorgeous and I can’t wait for the book to be out there. It definitely took some lessons learned, but it was all worth the wait. Finding Motivation… how does one do this? With a deadline looming down on you, and expectations to get it all done, what pushes you to that point to get it all done? My motivation strikes at different times, and usually very inopportune moments that my character’s want me to write their story. I mentioned making sure to have tools on you at all times in a previous blog, for this purpose. But what if you need to write and you just aren’t feeling anything? I have heard multiple different options that people try to get this going. I’m going to list the different ideas and go through them as to why I think they would work.
These are all possibilities of how to get back on track and not lose sight of the goal or feel as if you won’t ever get it done. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself, and let the words flow. |
AuthorTiffany Heiser Archives
February 2020
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