Pinterest Tips

Hello, I’m A. F. Stewart, and I’m a Pinterest addict. Well, maybe not an addict, but I can definitely lose an hour or two on the site if I try. But it’s not all fun and games, it’s also serious marketing for my writing and books. And that’s what I’m here to discuss today on the blog.

I see many, many writers over on Pinterest, but not all of them are using the site to their full advantage. Pinterest is designed for shoppers, and their click-through-rate (which means consumers click the pins and go to the links) is high and growing. The stats for Pinterest as a viable (and still free) marketing tool are too good to ignore.

So why aren't authors and writers utilizing it properly?

I can’t say for certain, but I do hear some writers express qualms and confusion on how to use the site to their favour. So here’s a brief explanation of how the Pinterest site works, and a few of my tips specific to writers and authors.

Pinterest is a visual site; it’s for sharing graphics, photos, memes, cool geeky fan stuff, and book related stuff, like covers, trailers, blog posts, etc. You join the site, create a profile, then you create what the site calls boards. Think of them like virtual scrapbooks, or photo albums, full of pictures. Each board gets a name, a description and a category, and you’re ready to pin your pics to your boards via their bookmark extension widget thingy.  Easy, right?

But in case you’re still confused, here’s the site’s guide to getting started that explains things in better detail: https://help.pinterest.com/en/guide/all-about-pinterest

Okay, you've setup your profile, gotten somewhat familiar with the site, and you’re ready to pin.  Now what?

Here are some things you need to know:

Following/Followers:  Just like other sites you can follow users, and they can follow you.  You may press the big red follow button on a profile, and you’ll follow every board and every pin of that person, or follow individual boards (which is what I recommend for most people). Following individual boards (with pins you enjoy) as opposed to everything vastly reduces the possibility of clutter on the home page, and makes it easier to find pins you like on the site.

Repinning:  If you find a photo you like on the Pinterest site you can repin it to one of your boards, either from the Pinterest home page or the profile of a user. I recommend beginners make use of this feature as it’s a simple way to get started filling boards.

Board Covers: You can leave a board with no cover and the latest pin will show as the face of that board. Or you can pick a cover by choosing a nice pin (via the editing mode). You can also change covers when you like (by editing), but once you choose a cover you can’t return to the former mode.

Group Boards: Groups boards are just that, a group of users who are pinning on the same board. You can join them, or make your own, but like all groups be sure to read and follow the description and rules.

Comments/Messages: Comments can be left on pins, and Pinterest now has a message system, so if you need to contact a follower you can.

Now for my tips for writers:

• Post a bio (and this goes for every social media site writers use). THIS IS IMPORTANT. Tell people who you are and what you do, even if it’s just one line like: I’m a writer. Especially if you want invitations to group boards geared towards books and writers. If they don’t KNOW you’re a writer, you may not be invited to pin. Don’t make people guess.
• Create book boards. You can do an all inclusive board, such as “Books I've Written” or boards for a book series, or individual book boards or a combination of the above.
• Put your book/writer boards on the first row. You want your work front and center. Not everyone scrolls half-way down to find your hidden gems.
• Create niche boards (also see next tip). Showcase your personality and possibly other talents. Geeky boards, fan boards, craft boards, boards for quotes, are all popular and help sell you on Pinterest. There can be some overlap in board topics, but don’t overdo. Six boards on the topic of say, doilies, is too much.
• Be professional, but still fun (see above tip). You’re on Pinterest to market and sell books, but that doesn't mean you can’t display other sides of your life and personality. Just keep in mind the image you want to craft on the site.
• Do not create an empty profile. Once you've generated boards, pin something to your boards. Pin your book cover, find some pins on the site, find something to pin on Google, but put pins in your boards. You can start out slow if you like, with a few boards with a few pins each, but fill your boards. Which brings me to the next tip.
• Do not leave empty boards. They’re unsightly, they’re lonely, they scream “I don’t know what I’m doing”, “I don’t want to be here”, “help me, help me.” In other words, not the image you want to project of a capable, professional writer.
• Do not use cutesy names for boards. Again, not the image of a professional writer. Now, you can be clever with names, have some fun, but text speak with cutesy-pie hearts is not what you should be using. Leave that to the teenagers.
• Do not have all group boards. Now I’m not suggesting you restrict the amount of group boards you want, just have a balancing amount of non-group boards as well. Not everyone wishes to join group boards so if you want followers give them choices to follow. 

What To Pin:

That is up to you, but book covers are a must, book trailers are fun, images with quotes from your books are great, and representative images for places and things from your books can be cool.  You can check out my profile for what I've done to get some ideas and examples:  http://www.pinterest.com/scribe77/

And feel free to repin anything.

Remember you want to present an interesting profile on Pinterest, one that will encourage followers, and repins.  So avoid boring and annoying at all costs.

If you have any questions, or tips of your own, please leave them in the comment section.

Out of Your Comfort Zone: A Guest Post by Sarah Butland

Talented author, Sarah Butland stops by today, to chat about her recent award-winning short story, and challenging yourself as a writer...

Out of Your Comfort Zone

We all have comfort zones and are simply ok in them but if you want to succeed it's important to get out of them once in a while.

Inspirational speaker and best-selling author Jack Canfield has a simple exercise to teach this. When you put your hands together, intertwining your fingers, you automatically put them the way you're most comfortable, if you purposely put them the other way it feels weird.

Challenge Accepted

I experienced this in a huge way when I was encouraged to submit to a children's category of a local writing contest. Without much time left before deadline and an infant at home, I thought it was an impossible task but decided to just go for it.

Inspired by a message from an amazing author and motivator, it just seemed like the best opportunity for me to see what I could do. Still remembering sitting in the kitchen while my son crawled on the floor at my feet (he was well cared for and learning to entertain himself) I brought up my laptop and wrote.

The maximum word count was 10000 words and I zoned out and wrote close to 4000, exhausting what I could do in that moment of inspiration.

And then I read it...

The situation itself was out of my comfort zone and I succeeded in writing something so unusual for what I would usually that I was shocked. A little nervous because of it being just half the maximum word count I decided to submit it with determination and as an experiment.

The experiment paid off and I won the contest and the interest in many of my writing idols as well as many more in the age group it was targeted to. The only problem – the readers wanted more and I had no idea where to take the story.

Take your challenge

Read a different genre, write about a troubling topic or go for a hike when you feel you're out of shape. Challenges don't have to be feared, they need to be embraced so you can add excitement to your life and change the outcome of your life.

And then come back and tell us all about it.

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

PS: This fantasy story can be downloaded for free today for your Kindle at: http://bookShow.me/B00J5NTC5W

Blood Day : the Short Story

Writers Federation of New Brunswick award winning short story for the children/ young adult category, Blood Day was created out of a looming deadline, a bit of encouragement and dedication to writing a story.

I've always been told we all bleed red, take breaths, and die if poisoned so I often wondered why I wasn't dead yet.
In this glimpse of the life of someone who just isn't what the books say she should be, we try to understand what it means to be human, a person and fit in with the expectations that surround us.

Blood Day contains more science fiction than is to be expected from Sarah Butland, the mystery of a world we don't know is strong enough to make this a brilliant read.

Effective Editing Techniques: A Guest Post by Sandra Miller

Today we have a guest, writer Sandra Miller, who offers her tips on self-editing...

The most effective editing techniques for your writer’s toolbox

If you want to grow as a writer, you have to learn how to do thorough editing of your own work. This process includes cutting the fluff and elements that are out of focus, checking for the flow and organization of your writing, as well as proofreading and editing of the content.
Many writers hate the process of editing because they tend to express themselves on creative personal level and they don’t like technicalities. However, as Hemingway said, you should “Write drunk. Edit sober.” If you fail to edit your piece of writing properly, you will miss achieving its best potential. In the worst case, you will end up delivering chicken scratches that no one would like to read.
This article will provide you with the most effective editing tips that will instantly improve your work. You don’t have to be a beginner in order to use them, because they can turn anyone into a better writer.

1. Learn what editing is
Editing includes not only rewriting sections of the blog post, article or manuscript, but making structural changes of the big picture as well. The editing process focuses on all levels of the writing piece, including the sentences, sections, chapters, logic, style, organization and content, as well as punctuation, spelling and grammar. Everything needs to be brought near perfection if you want to achieve success with the piece.

2. Learn what proofreading is
Proofreading is all about the small changes that are difficult to be noticed during the editing process, such as spelling mistakes or typos, stylistic matters (such as underlining and italics), numbering, formatting, spacing and minor errors in punctuation that don’t need textual changes.

3. Plan your time and maintain your focus
Making a schedule and sticking to it will allow you to maintain the focus and do the work properly. It is recommended to allow yourself some time to rest after you finish writing and before you start editing. It would be great if you had few days, but allow yourself at least few hours if your schedule is too tight.
Although editing and proofreading overlap at some points, you should focus on the editing process before you start proofreading. It is recommended to finish all the rewording and rewriting before you start proofreading the small mistakes. Otherwise, you would lose your focus and make new mistakes.

4. Even if you hate outlines, the ‘five-point essay’ rule still applies
You don’t have to use an outline, but it is still very important to write an introduction that contains your main point, support it with three points and end with a summary or conclusion. Although writing styles vary a lot between different pieces and writers, almost all types of writing follow these basic rules of structure.

5. Add additional structural elements if necessary
If you consider it necessary, you can expand the five-point outline structure with additional elements and include variations such as opposing opinions, comparison with other ideas and supporting your statement with relevant background information.
Most short stories and novels include similar points to this type of essay structure. Before the rising action, an exposition has to be made. The climax, falling action and denouement follow the rising action.

6. Maintain the logical flow within the writing
It is very important to remain focused, so make sure that all your supporting points are in clear correlation with the main objective. Going off topic is a trap many writers fall into, and the reason is simple: they love writing and their minds are full of ideas. Observe your writing with a clear head and remove every part that is out of focus.

7. Check the accuracy and relevancy of the supporting points
You have to know everything about your topic, so make sure to do a thorough research and check every single fact. Urban legends, stereotypes and cultural myths are often being presented as facts, and you have to make a difference between them. If you want the writing to be convincing, it has to be accurate, clear and convincing.

8. Make clean transitions between ideas and sections
The transition between ideas and sections has to be made smoothly and logically. You can use groups of words or single words that have the aim of taking the reader smoothly from one point to the other. Some of them are: finally, even though, furthermore, however, as in the previous example, in this case, on the other hand or on top of that.

9. Cut the fuzz
Minimize the usage of unnecessary modifiers in the form of adjectives and adverbs. Your style has to be clean and influential, so you need to use precise nouns and strong verbs in order to create a more focused, sharper writing that won’t bother the reader with lengthy descriptions.

10. Get rid of all off-topics
During the process of editing, you should make sure to get rid of all parts that aren't associated to the big picture. This doesn't only include unnecessary statements and words, but entire ill-fitting parts as well. Don’t get too attached with what you have written; you will make your work much better if you get rid of everything that needs to be removed.

Sandra Miller is a writer from New York. Writes her first book and learns the art of self publishing. Uses editing services to improve her book and make it perfect. She has a PhD in English literature, NYU graduate. 

Guest Post: 8 Golden Bits Of Wisdom From Successful Authors

Today we have a guest with us,  Patrick Del Rosario, and he brings with him a little sage wisdom from  famous authors...

8 Golden Bits Of Wisdom From Successful Authors

The world of writing is unique. Those who are successful with it often times learn very valuable lessons along the way, including some bits of wisdom that are applicable to more than just authoring a book. Here are 8 quotes from successful authors to encourage you to write and live better.

1. “Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.” – This golden tip comes from Kurt Vonnegut Jr., a successful science fiction writer and short story author. Whether it is entertainment value, an escape to fantasy from reality, or factual information, the job of any author is to deliver on what the reader is expecting when they pick up your book.

2. When writing, put "a group of characters in some sort of predicament and then watch them try to work themselves free." – This comes from the well-known and widely respected author, Stephen King. In his book “On Writing”, Stephen King reveals that when he is planning a book, he does not plot out the entire storyline first. Instead, he himself engages with each character and their own struggle, and develops the plot as he writes to help them break free from the challenges they face. This method of writing gives less structure to the story and delivers more of an impact to the reader because you are just as curious as they are how it will all turn out, which transforms the way you author the piece.

3. “Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind” – From the masterful mind of Jack Kerouac, author of On The Road, this tip talks to the person behind the writing. Being an author is a very personal job. You display your most inner thoughts, and to be successful at it, you must follow this tip and put yourself on the line.

4. “Have self-confidence” – This one comes from Ian Rankin, a Scottish crime novelist. He has lived the author life of being put through the ringer, experiencing rejection, and yet he has still managed to keep his confidence alive and pick himself up, dust himself off, and keep writing. This is important for any author. Rejection is natural in the publishing industry, but knowing how to overcome it by remaining confident and true to yourself will ultimately make you a success.

5. “Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” – This quote comes from one of the world’s greatest children book authors, Shel Silverstein. It is a great piece of wisdom from one successful author to those who are striving to achieve their dreams. Push forward and do not listen to what you should not do, or what people are telling you not to do at all. Instead, follow your heart and you can achieve whatever you set out to achieve.

6. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” – This famous sentiment from Dr. Seuss shows again the true importance of being you not only in writing but in life as a whole. Do not listen to the naysayers and the people who will inevitably try to bring you down, but instead, trust who you are and you will succeed.

7. “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” Famous children’s book author Roald Dahl encourages people and authors in particular to have a fantasy and believe in the magic. Without this, creating a story and living a full life beyond what you can dream will be impossible.

8. “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Ernest Hemingway sums it up with this quote. Writing is easy but the process is never over. From revisions to new ideas, authors are constantly refining their craft and developing their skill.

What are your favorite quotes from a successful author?

About the Author: 
Patrick Del Rosario is part of the team behind Open Colleges, one of Australia’s pioneer and leading providers of management degrees and certificate iv in training and assessment. When not working, Patrick enjoys blogging about career and business. Patrick is also a photography enthusiast and is currently running a photography studio in the Philippines. If you have a blog and would like free content, you can find him on Google+.

Author Maggie Secara Talks Fantasy

Today's a blog swap for me as I guest over on Maggie Secara's blog (kicking off the Killers and Demons blog tour), and she enchants my readers here, with her insightful words about writing fantasy:

The Fantasy You Know

One of the first things you’re told when you set out to be writer of any sort is to “write what you know.” I’ve taught this maxim myself in workshops any number of times not as a mindless cliché but because really: what else is there to do? Not everyone agrees, of course. New writers especially tend to say “But I don’t know anything!”
 Of course you do. Have you ever been in love? Have you ever had parents who didn’t approve of the choices you made? Have you ever interacted with other people at all? Everything you’ve learned about people—or rainstorms, music, or car repair—from every experience you’ve had or shared with friends is part of what you know. If you listen to the way people speak, and hear the differences as well as similarities; if you notice the twist of your Aunt Mary’s hand when she makes a point, or the wheeze in your best friend’s Grandpa’s honky laugh; all those things are part of what you know. They all go into your writer’s kit, available whenever you need them.

I’ve also heard some people exclaim that it’s the worst advice they were ever given. They don’t want to be limited to what they know, they say! “I have an imagination! I can imagine more than I can ever experience!” Apparently they think they have been advised to write only about events in which they literally participated. Nonsense. They’ve invented a limit where none is intended.

My first novel, Molly September, is a pirate story, though it does have a touch of fantasy here and there. It takes place in 1672. Much of it takes place aboard the privateer, Jealous Mary. The rest is set in Port Royal, Jamaica, or on Tortuga. Right here, there’s a potential problem. It may be obvious that I’m not 350 years old, and thus have no direct experience of the 17th century. I’ve never been a pirate (other than being a Jimmy Buffet fan) or lived at sea. I’ve never even been to Jamaica! So how is that writing what I know?

Okay, I have to admit, my original inspiration for this novel was a handful of Errol Flynn movies (it began way before Johnny Depp put on the Jack Sparrow rig) and a National Geographic feature about Port Royal. I didn’t actually know a whole lot else about pirates and privateers besides what I knew from the movies. So I set out to learn. I read Capt. Johnson’s accounts, Esquemelling’s diary, and the Time-Life Seafarers series. I looked at tourist vacation photos and antique maps. Studied hurricane reports, and the diagrams of the fore-and-aft rigging. Poured over every pirate website historical and fanciful that anyone ever put on the web, found more maps, more details. And even though I hadn’t memorized all that wonderful stuff, I had learned a lot about that world and filed away a lot more. It became—along with falling in love, defying parents, and learning to sing—part of what I know.

Well, fine, you cry. That’s all very well for historical fiction. At least Drake, Morgan, and Blackbeard actually existed. What’s that got to do with writing fantasy? What is there to study? There are no histories or reliable photos. Faery isn’t a real place. (“Isn’t it?” my Oberon would say. “I’m sure you know best.”)

In the last couple of years, my principal project has been a fantasy series called The Bells of Elfland. I’ve never met a fae, that I’m aware of, or sung my way through the veils that part our worlds, any more than I’ve sailed a pirate ship. How can I write about such things, complete with my own notions of the nature and location of Faery, and still be writing what I know?

The realm of Faery exists as an element of folklore almost everywhere on Earth. Are the faeries nature spirits, or the diminished gods of various regions driven underground by a new religion? Are they the fancies of an idle brain or the delusions of ignorant country folk teased up by Victorian folklorists? Maybe. Still, Tolkien and Shakespeare wrote about them. Were they deluded, ignorant, or mad? Or were writing what they knew?

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) invented one of the most completely realized fantasy world ever imagined in print, but he didn’t do it from scratch. What fed his imagination was a long career studying the oldest forms of English literature, including the traditions of Norse and Anglo-Saxon cultures with their tales of rings, heroes, dwarves, and elves. William Shakespeare (1564–1616) put Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream drawing on the legends and beliefs of the country people he grew up among, descended from the same Anglo-Saxon folk whose languages Tolkien would study centuries later. (He apparently made Titania up, or at least invented the name, as it doesn’t appear anywhere before then.) Fantasists with attachments to other parts of the world use the folklore of those cultures, too.

Writers read. We have to read. Not just fantasy and science fiction—everything. Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Mercedes Lackey, Patricia McKillip: all of your favorite fantasists are part of the great continuum of folk tale and fairy story. That’s where the histories and maps of Faery and every other fantasy world are. No reliable pictures? Spend time with Brian Froud, Alan Lee, Charles Vess, and the classic fairy illustrators like Arthur Rakham, Edmond Dulac, Warwick Goble. Each of them has a vision. Each of them has heard the bells of Elfland. They’re in the kit, too.

The more you go to the sources, and to the folklore of other cultures as well, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you’ll have in that kit that your imagination calls on, no matter the genre. And you’ll be writing what you know.

Maggie Secara is a technical writer by trade, which just proves that you can make a living with a Masters in English. Maggie started writing poetry at the tender age of 8, but began her story-telling adventures sometime in junior high school with a Robin Hood saga she promises never to reveal. She has published a bit of poetry here and there, and her first novel, Molly September, debuted in the spring of 2011. She is also the author of A Compendium of Common Knowledge 1558-1603, a handbook of Elizabethan life for actors, writers, and re-enactors. Based on her website at elizabethan.org, it was finally released in book form in 2008. Maggie and her very understanding husband, known fondly to her Facebook fans as JimDear, live with their cats in cozy suburban splendor in North Hollywood, California.

Find Maggie at maggiros.blogspot.com or join her Facebook fan page, Maggie Secara’s Writing.

Writing Tip: Passive Voice

There is a bane of the writer, one horror that can bring down the most prolific pen. It is the dreaded...

“Passive Voice”

Passive voice feeds on all those words of “was”, “were”, “begin to”, “have been”, “had”, “almost” and the rest of their ilk that pepper through the narrative. And it kills the pace of your story, slowing the action, making your prose, gasp, boring.

Don’t despair if you fight this problem, you are not alone. I struggle with this foe myself, weeding the “was” from my prose often, sighing as the war rages on.  However, there is hope, as most instances of passive voice can be rewritten and if it creeps in to your drafts, it can be edited out.

So, take your stand against the passive voice and show your readers, do not tell.

Example:

Passive Voice:

Elwin was drawing his bow and was aiming his arrows at the Chimera as fast as he could. He was firing them, but he could see he was not having much effect on the creature. His arrows were hitting the beast and the beast was screaming in pain, but it was not falling. The Chimera was still moving forward, it was still coming.

Non-Passive Voice:

In rapid succession Elwin fired his arrows, each deadly projectile aimed at the heart of the Chimera. They hit their mark, blood drawn, but the beast still lumbered forward, screaming its pain, still coming for Elwin.


Now both examples narrate the same story, but the pace, the flow is different in each paragraph. Remember, the best way to describe a scene is not to tell it to your readers detail by detail, but to show it through well chosen descriptive words.

Good writing gives the reader what they need to form a picture, to inspire the imagination.  It does not read like a step-by-step instruction manual.