According to This Day in History, today is the anniversary of the publication of Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. The classic about Captain Ahab and his obsession with killing a great white whale was published in 1851. Melville never got to appreciate the success of his book as it didn’t become popular until after his death.
When I was a young girl, my family went to few movies, but I do remember going to see (bold links are “clickable”) Moby Dick with Gregory Peck at a drive-in, and in more recent years, we’ve enjoyed Moby Dick with Patrick Stewart in the role of Captain Ahab.
I’m having some medical tests done, all should be fine, but need to make sure, but look forward to being back soon.
I still owe Norma Budden (see 2 posts before this one) a more complete review of her wonderful book and have lots more to share, very soon. I’ll be back before you know it!
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Net10 for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
When you are a new author or in any kind of business, you are looking for ways to save money…and very conscious of your business expenses…as well as your personal-life expenses. Many authors and people in business are constantly on the run promoting their book or business…so having an inexpensive way to keep in touch is important.
There is a real big trend toward affordable cell phone service without contracts. I love this idea because when companies compete with one another, the natural outcome is lower prices. Take a look at this Cute NET10 commercial to learn about one such company. I don’t know too many services that offer unlimited text, minutes and data for $50, or for those who don’t use the cell phone that much, just $15 for 200 minutes.
And those nice phones with all the fancy features…or for those who prefer simpler phones, you can get them here….phones are available for under $60. Here’s a Real NET10 customer to tell you even more.
Personally, I’m using one of those lower priced no contract services and haven’t regretted the change one bit. I do want to check NET10′s service to see if it’s available in my area, because I really do like that unlimited offer for $50.
That’s what I’m in the middle of finding out. I’m exactly half way through reading a book by Norma Budden that I downloaded for Kindle.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t like a book unless it grabs me right from the start. If I am not interested in the first few pages, there’s a good chance that I won’t read on…I’m sure I miss out on a lot of good stories that way, and try to press on, but haven’t had to do this with this intriguing novel.
I’m not sure where the story is going to go at this point, and can’t wait to find time to finish it. The title, “An Affair to Remember“sounds like a book for a woman, but if you were to take the book and make it into a movie, I know it would be a story that would interest both men and women.
So, I’m going to run off now and finish reading the book, and I’ll be back to share more in the next day or two. I feel an interesting plot twist coming on, and do want to know what happens with the couples involved…what lessons will be learned from the romantic experiences. I’ll be back to update you soon!
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of UPromise for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Sending a child to college can be one of the most costly things that a parent does. In todays economy it is hard to save money for your child’s tuition,not to mention college fees and textbooks, and so parents as well as students often have to rely on student loans. This is exactly what we did for our son. At first, he went to a community college and worked at the same time. He paid for much of his tuition up front because tuition in a community college is so much less. He also commuted. This gave him time to decide what his interests were.
He then went to a school more focused on his interests, and we have a portion of his student loan to pay off. This is where Upromise comes in. You can join and then enter qualifying store loyalty cards so that when you shop a percentage of certain products is added to your account, which will eventually be paid toward the balance on the student loan…which you also link up to the account. You also save by logging into your Upromise account and shopping at online stores you probably already use through links at the Upromise site, and a percentage of you total shopping bill is added to the account to go toward the student loan balance. There is much more to it than this, so be sure to check it out if you haven’t already.
Now the fun part…Upromise is celebrating their 10th anniversary with a contest. You go to www.upromisetodream.com and share a story of how Upromise has helped you achieve your son or daughter’s dream. 10 winners get $1000 and the grand prize is $10,000 – you’ll find all that you need to know at dream wall official rules.
YouTube has become not only a source for book reviews, but also a way to promote your book. Occasionally I’m contacted to review a book on this blog, and with it am provided with a link to a video on YouTube with information about the book. Video reviews or book introductions can be done in a number of ways.
If you tend to be more of a writer and visual person than one who likes to be in front of a camera, you can use programs like the one that came already loaded into my laptop when I purchased it, Movie Maker. I can make movies with it in a number of ways. It can be a collection of pictures with music added to the background, and text typed either on the picture or between screen shots. I’ve been able to figure out how to do this without help, it’s really quite easy…but you can follow this link to view…on YouTube of course,Movie Maker tutorials.
Obviously, you can make short videos using a video camera, a phone with video capabilities or a webcam. Then you open an account with YouTube if you don’t already have one and upload your video book promotion or review. And don’t forget to let me know through a comment (moderated) here so I can share your book on this blog.
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dollar General for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
It's that time of the year again! In some parts of the country school has already started, for others, it's right around the corner. Where we live, school starts during the week after Labor Day Weekend. You have probably already been doing some school shopping for yourself if you're in high school or college, or for your child. For some, things are going smoothly and your already done. For most, I dare say, it's more challenging this year than in previous years to find the things you need for prices that are reasonable, especially during difficult economic times, and if you are a college student.
Unless you are in college, you don't have to worry about textbooks, something we've already discussed here, but there is still plenty to buy. College students who are just starting out, you can "Get more of your Back to School needs for less at Dollar General" – all kinds of things for your dorm room or apartment at super low prices.
When my children were so young that I did most of the shopping for them, I remember that we would go out and get what we thought we needed, but when they went to school the first day, they came home with a list of things that they REALLY needed. Often several of the things that I had purchased in advance were not needed, so it's probably a good idea to only purchase the things you KNOW you'll need, and wait on the rest. This could include types of pencils and pens, types of notebooks and more. Every teacher is different in what they require.
Dollar General Back to School offers are quite good, I'd check out the link and see what on your list can be purchased from Dollar General so that you can save on your purchases.
Most of you who are college students are already in school, and many of you have purchased their textbooks for this semester. Where did you get your textbooks?
I’d love to learn where you are finding the best deals on textbooks if you care to leave a comment. Do you buy them new from the school?
Do you sometimes try to avoid buying a textbook to save money and attempt to rely on notes? With the information available on the internet, are you able to do okay without a textbook? I didn’t have the internet when I was in college, but remember attempting to do this as I lived on my own while going to college.
I’d love to hear from you if you don’t mind leaving a comment, your suggestions would be helpful to me and to others who may stop by to read.
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carbonite for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Nobody wants to think that they're computer will crash, with the potential of losing everything that you have stored on your hard drive. For authors, writers and publishers who use programs like Word to write, then save their work to their hard drive, this could be devastating and heartbreaking. With proper computer backup, you can work on your computer and sleep peacefully knowing that your hard work is safe and secure.
I am most interested in an online backup system that I've heard about on TV, and mentioned by some that use it on the radio… Carbonite.
What I like about this particular backup method is the fact that it is constantly backing up information as long as your computer is connected to the internet…as long as you are online. It works "behind the scenes", so you can focus on your work while it quietly stores your information in a safe and secure location online. If, unfortunately, your computer crashes, you can get to ALMOST EVERYTHING that you had stored on your hard drive. The items that Carbonite can back up for you include:
Documents
Pictures
Music
Email
Other similar saved items
It does not backup software, things saved on external hard drives, and programs themselves. This you would have to restore yourself. In my case I have discs that came with my laptop with all of the programs that are on my computer to use to restore my programs. But all saved information similar to the things listed above would be saved for you. It also offers apps for getting to your files from your iphone and much more….too much to list here.
You can try the service for 15 days free without giving any credit card information. The service is reasonably priced – about $59 a YEAR, plus you get 2 months free if you remember to use the code BLOGAD when signing up for Carbonite. It's worth checking out, don't you think? I do!
Book promotion online has become so much easier with social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, but you have to know how to use these tools to your best advantage.
Back in January, the Book Marketing Expert Newsletter contained a list of 50 ways to use twitter to promote yourself and your book, but in a way that it isn’t constantly “all about me”. The producers of the newsletter allow me to offer this list to you. Even if you are already quite familiar with using Twitter and Facebook, the 2 top social networking sites, you’ll find something in this list of 50 tips to help you:
“…Most of your tweets should be about helping others, but you also need to inject some personality, to put the “social” into social networking and help people get to know you. Here are 50 ideas for tweeting or promoting:
1. Teach stuff – teach a little mini-lesson on Twitter. Delve into your area of expertise or just talk about book publishing and how to get published.
2. Share sites or blogs that your followers would be interested in. Be their “filter” to new and exciting information.
3. Use SocialOomph.com to schedule tweets to your account for later posting so you don’t have to be sitting on top of Twitter every minute of the day.
4. Use Twitter as a news source: you can easily announce news both from your world (as long as it relates to your topic) and from the world of your expertise. For example, I’ve done tweets on book industry stuff, breaking news, etc.
5. Widen your network – follow other Twitter folk, this will not only give you some ideas for your own “tweets” but it’s a great way to network with other writers or professionals.
6. Offer advice: use Tweetdeck.com or Twitter Search (search.twitter.com) to see who’s asking for info on your area of expertise and then offer them some help/insight. This is a great way to build relationships.
7. It’s ok to market yourself but be careful about pimping your stuff too much.
8. Be original, useful and helpful.
9. If you’re on tour with your book or doing an event, tweet on that and invite your local followers to attend.
10. Tweet any good reviews your book gets, it’s always fun to share the good stuff!
11. Every Tweet counts (don’t tell people you’re washing your cat); don’t just tweet on useless stuff or you’ll lose followers.
12. It’s not all about you (again, back to the cat) people want to know useful stuff, I know, it’s getting repetitive but there’s a reason: it’s important.
13. Promote your Twitter account in your email signature line and on your blog.
14. Network: don’t expect your followers to grow if you’re not following other people. Network, search for others in your area and follow them.
15. Personal is ok. Even though I said not to post useless information it’s still not a bad idea to (from time to time) post a personal Tweet or two. Provide value and twitter-followers will beat a path to your door.
16. Follow everyone who follows you. You can use sites like Socialtoo.com and SocialOomph to autofollow everyone who follows you. These services can also send a nice welcome message to your new followers.
17. There is a lot of noise on Twitter, and the sooner you get comfortable with that the better. It’s like being at one massive cocktail party; you have to find ways to filter out the noise. Sites like SocialOomph can help you do that.
18. Embed a link or some other sign-up in your welcome message; this is another great way to capture emails for your newsletter (assuming you have one).
19. Use sites like SocialOomph or Twitter Search to see who’s talking about you and then follow them, too, or comment on their tweet.
20. It’s ok to repeat your tweets. With the volume of messages people get your followers will often miss some of your posts.
21. Feed your blog through Twitter using Twitterfeed.com.
22. Join Help a Reporter Out: @petershankman for tweets on media leads (it’s a great service!).
23. Don’t feel like you have to respond to every tweet, but I generally try to respond to all tweets that are replies to mine (you can find these under @replies on your Twitter home page).
24. Want to stay on top of your market and find stuff to Tweet about? Then go to Alltop.com and search for your category. There are thousands of them up there. Here are a few to consider: socialmedia.alltop.com, twitter.alltop.com and publishing.alltop.com.
25. Review a product or book on Twitter.
26. Follow big names in your market on Twitter: this will often bring in their followers too, and you want to see what the “big guys” are up to.
27. Get a good picture: don’t leave your avatar blank. Personalize your page if you can, but a good Twitter picture is a must.
28. Tweetbeep.com is a lot like Google alerts. You can plug in your keywords and you’re pinged each time they are used.
29. Are you ready to add pictures to your Tweets? Then head on over to Twitpic.com, this site will let you upload pictures and tweet to them.
30. Use YouTube to share helpful videos you think your followers will love.
31. Music on Twitter is also possible thanks to TwittyTunes (http://www.foxytunes.com/twittytunes/). This site is great for sharing music and it has a simple Firefox add-on that lets you Twitter on music you’re currently listening to!
32. Invite people to subscribe to your ezine and offer an incentive.
33. Introduce other authors or experts to each other or to your Twitter followers (they should also be on Twitter).
34. Participate in Follow Fridays #FF and Writer Wednesdays #WW. Recommend your favorite tweeters by using the #followfriday or #FF hashtag along with their user names.
35. Link to your own articles and blog posts. Shorten the URL using bit.ly so you can track the number of clicks you get.
36. Link to great videos.
37. Ask for advice or ask questions that encourage responses.
38. Comment on someone’s interesting Twitter background or clever bio.
39. Offer a free downloadable ebook or sample chapter, with no strings attached.
40. Thank others for mentioning you on Twitter.
41. Link to an interesting Wikipedia entry on your topic or specialty.
42. Link to a transcript from an interesting Twitter chat.
43. Post an inspirational quote or message.
44. Link to other blogs, helpful articles.
45. Reply to someone else’s Twitter post.
46. Run a contest.
47. Promote a special offer exclusively to your Twitter tribe.
48. Retweet (RT) someone else’s posts, it’s a great way to network!
49. Thank someone for RTing your post; it’s always great to acknowledge someone for doing that!
50. Talk about the latest trends in your industry.
(Reprinted from “The Book Marketing Expert newsletter,” a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com)
Isn’t that an excellent list of tips for promoting on Twitter? I found some new things that I should be doing more often on my Twitter account. If you aren’t following me, click here to follow me on Twitter.
