Getting Back to My Creative Groove

It's been quite a while since I've put pen to paper, or better said, fingers to keyboard with the goal of writing a really good story.  Something's been wrong with my creative juice mechanism. It simply has been on the fritz. Bone dry. Down for repair. Out of gas. So what's an author to do when her author brain is down for the count? Work on other things, of course!

Reading - I've read several GREAT works on my writing hiatus. Adrienne Thompson, Chicki Brown, Daniel Black just to name a few. Excellent authors. Check out their titles. 

Publishing - I focused a lot of my effort in bringing new writing talent to light, and launched four writing careers. It's been such an honor to be an integral part of helping another person's dream come true. 

Studying - I'm always looking for ways to perfect my craft and grow my skill. I've taken so many online and in-person courses. Too many  courses to list them all, bit I will mention Cas Sigers-Beedles Script Writing Master Class. That's right, I'm working on some big screen stuff. 

Consulting - Every author knows that marketing is a huge part of selling books after the publishing button has been pushed. With 20 years of publishing experience, I've seen the ups, downs, ins and outs of the industry.  I can't help but share my knowledge with others who express the desire to know. Knowledge is power and growth is great! 

I do miss writing though... and it's time for me to get back to it. I just hope my creative thinking thingy is ready to work now. If not, I certainly have plenty to do. 

All Eyes On You - Increase Your Blog Traffic with Triberr

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REPOST:
Up until  March of 2011, I averaged about 150 visitors per month to my blog at http://www.kimberlytmatthews.com,  and had a total of about 1400 visitors from May 2009 to March 2011. My site today gets about 300-500 visitors a day, averages about 5,000 visitors per month, and has had over 60,000 visitors . . . all in the last year.  That's a lot of eyes on my work! :-)

Yes, I do blog more frequently than I did a year ago, but even with that said, I do not publish a new post everyday. I may publish a new post once a week, yet I am still able to get a BUNCH of eyes on my site and my work everyday.  

My current visitor stats . . . 

I attribute this consistent visibility to Triberr, a twitter app designed by Dino Dugan and Dan Cristo.  The concept is simple.  When you join a tribe at Triberr, you see the most recent blog posts of everyone in the tribe, and you have the opportunity to approve them with a click of a button or ignore them.  The posts that you approve are tweeted to all your Twitter followers one at a time in twenty minute increments (or you can select something slower if that is too much content for your followers - I currently have mine set to share every thirty minutes).  I’m the chief of the Fantastic Female Authors/Writers (And Males Too) tribe.  At the time of this blog post  the tribe has 18 members, with a combined total of over 21,000 followers.  Every time I post a blog, I have 17 other people (in this tribe, as I belong to a few others) who collectively share my blog post across their twitter feeds, giving my blog AMAZING reach and visibility, even on the days I don't post anything new.  

Triberr also allows me to share other writer's quality content without having to search Twitter for something to retweet. It takes me only minutes a day to review and approve posts, then I know my Twitter feed is set to go with topics my followers are interested in.  

If you are committed to blogging, and you’d like to join the Fantastic Female Authors/Writers (And Males Too) Tribe at Triberr, email me at kimberly@kimberlytmatthews.com or inbox me on Facebook.  with your email address and your blog URL, and I will send you an invite.  There is no charge to join Triberr, and I am limiting the number of members to this tribe, so that each member will get maximum exposure without spending hours reading and approving posts.

Teamwork makes the dream work!

Bubblin Brown Sugar - an anthology of love stories and poems. Available at Amazon.com

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D is for Deadlines (A-Z Challenge)

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This is my 4th post as a participant in the A-Z Blogging Challenge, and brings me current! Yippee!

Anyway. . . D is for Deadlines. I have a love/hate relationship with deadlines, or better said I have a hate/love relationship.  I hate them, but I so love them! While some people strive to get things done far before the deadline, when it comes to writing, I find my less to be less motivated the further the due date. It's only when the deadline puts me in panic mode that something kicks in and allows me to be at my most creative point.

Wait . . . it's not just with writing, it's in other areas too. Hmm.  That almost makes me a procrastinator doesn't it. I don't like that word being linked to my name. I shouldn't be faulted though, if a deadline is my inspiration should I? I mean as long as the job gets done . . . that's what really counts. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

So, now that I am 30 days away from having to turn in my the manuscript for my next novel, I suppose I should   get started.

30 days and counting!

Click below to read my other A-Z Posts
A is for Author Advertising
B is for Bye Belly and Booty
C is for Creative Catch Up

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C is for Creative Catch Up! (A-Z Challenge)

Today is day 4 of the A-Z blogging challenge and I should be blogging on the letter D, however I am a day behind, so C is Catch Up, which I am desperately trying to do.  Well maybe not desperately . . . actually, I've been kind of chillin', so C is for Chillin' too. Which I need to stop doing and move on to D is Desperate. 

 I've been on chill mode because my creative flow has been a little stagnant lately. I just haven't been able to thinking of anything funny, witty, interesting, crazy, intriguing, engaging to write about. Not just for my blog - but also for my next novel . . . which is due in 30 days. 

Yeah, C is definitely for Creative Catch up, and yes, I'm getting pretty desperate. But I'm going to get it together. Maybe you can help - please share your strategies on how you get your creative juices flowing when you get stuck.


A is for Author Advertising
B is for Bye Belly and Booty

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You Never Forget Your First . . .

I try not to toot my own horn too much, but at the same time, let people know what it is I do . . . which is write books. I'm an author . . .  with 14 published titles to date. Being an author, I always have to be on my marketing game, looking for and taking advantage of opportunities to increase my exposure and sales. That pretty much means tooting my own horn constantly but . . . (go back to the top of this post and start over).

Catch 22 right?  Even so, I strive hard not to bombard people with constant self-promotion, and balance my blog posts and social network statuses with other stuff too. Maybe a point to ponder, something to generate a laugh, a promotion of someone else's work, or a post of complete and utter silliness.  For an example - I posted yesterday:

If my name was Gretel, that witch would have been homeless (thoughts of a sugar addict).

One of the responses I got was:

[She'd be] sitting in the wood on a cardboard box holding fast to her last pack of Reese's Pieces.  

That cracked me up for about an hour!


But back to my point . . . what I found is - when I take a break from saying "look at me and buy my stuff" and then return to it - someone always pops up and asks me something like:

• Are you an author?
• When does your first book come out
• Is this your first book?
• I just bought your first book. When does the next one come out?
• I didn't know you had that many books out! I thought (book number x) was your only one!

Which always leads me back to . . . okay start reading this post from the top again!

Yesterday via Facebook, someone posted on my wall (paraphrased edition):

I saw your first book for sale in Citi Trends yesterday. I would have bought it but I already have your first book. 

My response was:
Citi Trends??? (a fashion store for the younger generation)
Which book? (since I know my "first" book is currently out of print and pending its upcoming e-release).

Her response:
Your first one. It was $3.99

Hmmm . . . Now my first book - Promise You Won't Tell Nobody - is retail priced at $11.95 - not to say that a retailer didn't find a case of them somewhere and mark them all down. But since that title was self published, there's no way they could be at a store like Citi Trends and I don't know about it.  This led me to believe that she was referencing one of my six traditionally published mass market titles, which are priced at $6.99 retail, and could very well be discounted at $3.99. That's what makes sense to me . . . except by the time my first mass market title came along - I was already published three times.

So what "first book" was she talking about?? I have no idea because she didn't respond when I asked for more information.

So today's lesson is - it doesn't matter how many books you publish, readers always think that the first one they purchase was your first. I'm not complaining though. First, last, whatever. I appreciate anyone who purchases my work and they are welcomed to chronicle them in the order of their choosing.

And I guess I will be stopping by the two Citi Trends in my area to see which one of my first books they are selling . . . I am soooo excited about that! :-)

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The Best Place to Write!

Working at Barnes and Noble

You've seen my random pictures - Have Laptop Will Work,  so you know that I am all about being able to work from anywhere at any given moment.  When I first began packing up the laptop for a day of writing at the Barnes and Noble, the park or other "authory" location of choice, I thought it would be cool and...well..."authory." I imagined myself sitting at a secluded table with a paper cup filled with some kind of gourmet coffee, dressed in a pair of jeans and a cozy turtleneck with super-long sleeves, black framed glasses adorning my face, looking quite creative and busy as I tapped next novel onto my keyboard and screen . . . ahhhhh!

Well! That's not exactly what my experience has been . . . not quite.

First of all, there's almost no such thing as seclusion in my local Barnes and Noble. Don't even mention available outlets to plug in my laptop. The seats near the outlets are almost always taken by other computer users, and sometimes by this ONE lady who ONLY reads books - taking up valuable outlet seating space (insert twisted face here). If you're gonna sit there, at least have the decency to have something to plug into the wall!

Working at Panera Bread

Secondly - I'm not a big coffee drinker, but again, trying to be like the "me" I saw in my imagination, a grande  Caramel Machiatto, stirred with whipped cream soon became a daily must have. I mean why sit in the cafe as a writer if you're not going to look the part, right? HOWEVER... that mess is expensive!!!  $4.37 for eight ounces of coffee???  Was I crazy?? Let's not even talk about if I was a bit hungry (or just undisciplined) and wanted one of their scrumptious sugar cookies, or spinach quiche thingies.  We're talking ten bucks a day! (Yes, there were lots of cookie and quiche days). That's a whopping $300 a month!  Geez Loo-weeze!

And finally - I've concluded that Barnes and Noble has a gas heating system, but they refuse to pay the bill (back before summer arrived). They only pay the electric bill for the lights and to keep the cafe going, but as for heat (when it was colder) no such thing. It would be FREEZING in the cafe - cozy sweater or not. And with the limited amount of hair on my head, I just couldn't take it.

Working at Chick Fil-A

So . . . I packed up my laptop and tried another location - Panera Bread. Just as expensive (I LOVE their quiches and Cobblestone pastry and if it's lunch time, that Turkey Artichoke Panini  is sooooo good!) and they will make you get off their wi-fi if you've been on it too long.

Alright how about Chick-Fil-a?  We have a great CFA here - it's always clean, the staff is super-friendly and they have free wi-fi. Now you know what my downfall is there . . . the food.  Ain't no way I can walk in there and not get a Chick Fil-a Biscuit with American cheese and a large sweet tea, or their signature sandwich with provolone if it's afternoon.  Money and calories (fried chicken first thing in the morning? Tsk-tsk!) Plus y'all know Chick Fil-a STAYS packed. People everywhere! The lobby, the drive-thru, the kiddie park - people all over the place.

Working at Newport News Park

Next location - the park, which doesn't have Wi-Fi by the way, or expensive food to purchase. Sounds good right? That's until you factor in the dirt from just being outside, the sun making my screen harder to see, the ants crawling up on the laptop to try to read what I'm typing, and the wasps who feel like you are invading their space - and they ain't having that. And oh yeah . . . the bathrooms...or lack thereof. Enough said.

Working in my vehicle

Okay well how about the freaking car??? Strangely this has been one of my most productive work locations. No distractions, no coffee, no chicken, cheese, quiches or calories, as a matter of fact, I get to bring my own food.  I have a constant internet connection (via my own aircard) even if I decide to go somewhere, I have a portable outlet so I always have power, and it's perfectly climate controlled. I get to choose and adjust the music, no one asks me to put on headphones if I need to "run audio" or watch a video tutorial, and I don't have to go find a quiet or discreet corner to take a phone call. It's almost perfect! Space is a challenge of course, and there are definitely no bathroom facilities, but I can always run into somewhere like Barnes and Noble, Panera or Chick-Fil-a for that right?  :-)

Where is your favorite place to write?  Leave your comments, maybe you can help me find another place that works well for me!

Writers: Do You Have a Daily Rate?

Writing for a living can have it's financial challenges. While you're between royalty checks, signing events, or other sources of writing income, the "ends" that are supposed to meet sometimes act like they are not interested in knowing each other at all. To compensate lulls between checks, you may want to consider taking on a freelancing projects. If you do, be proactive about your writing income by determining your daily rate.

Importance of a Daily Rate
Having a daily rate is vital when you’re trying to decide whether or not to accept a job or if you’re asked for a ball park figure on rates.

• Decide how much you have to make this year and break it down.
• Realize how much time it will take to do the job.
• Ask your client what their budget is.
• Offer to do one or two small tasks cheaply, then re-negotiate.

Now that you know why you should care about your daily rate, here’s how to do it. Say your goal is to earn $100,000 from freelance writing this year.

There are 365 days in the year, but 104 of those days are weekends. There are also roughly 10 holidays a year where it’s virtually impossible to get much work done — Christmas, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, etc. Family members will likely expect you to shut off your computer and pay attention to them on these occasions.

Let’s hope you’re not working weekends or major holidays, and that you also plan to take at least two weeks off a year (an important time to regroup). That leaves around 240 real, viable work days in the year.

Divide $100,000 by 240 and you get roughly $417 a day. That’s your daily rate. Want to earn $50,000 a year? That’s around $209 per working day.

Break out those calculators!

Click on like!

Found at: http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com

What in the World?

See the girl in the picture? If she were a bit more brown, (well maybe a lot more brown) and her hair was much shorter, she could be me.

See that big stack of papers right beside her monitor? In my case, those would be submissions I received for the Bubblin' Brown Sugar Anthology.  Yeah, I got quite a few.

So why the frustrated expression? Well I am confused as to why so many writers refused to follow the submission guidelines. They were simple enough so I thought.  But maybe somewhere I tangled up my words and wasn't as clear as I'd meant to be.  Can you help me?

Must be a Word Document - Help me understand why I received submissions as pdf files.  Or maybe you can explain to me why some sent their work in the body of an email when it was clearly noted that the submission would be disregarded. I don't get it. Was I wrong for hitting the delete key on submissions like those?

Send your bio with a photo - Doesn't that sound easy? Apparently not easy enough. If you are going to be showcased in a publication, wouldn't you want people to know that you are YOU and not me? Wouldn't you want to be credited for your work?   I received several submissions with no photo . . . or no bio . . . or neither. Sigh. Am I being mean if I trash those submissions?

Double spaced, Times New Roman, size 12 font - Maybe I should do a YouTube video on how to double space a document. Judging from some of the submissions I received I'd probably get like a million hits. Obviously, lots of people don't know how to do this. Either that or they just decided "Nope; I'm going to send it the way I want to send it! With blue boxes to frame things and pretty columns so it looks good on the page. And oh yeah!  Times New Roman is blah and bland but this Curlz MT font is so cool and really expresses my poem like I want it to! Forget the guidelines, I'll do it MY way."

I'm shaking my head right now. You don't know how many times I have heard an aspiring author say "I really want to get published but it's so hard! I don''t know what to do!"  Well here is a quick and easy tip; start by following the submission guidelines.

Seeking Contributing Authors for Anthology - Bubblin' Brown Sugar

In search of 10-12 authors to contribute to an anthology of love short stories.
Selected works will portray wholesome and healthy love and relationships, and must be tastefully and sensually written.

Complete the form below to receive full details.

I'd like details for contributing to Bubblin' Brown Sugar. Send it to this email address:


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