Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Rhodia Mouse Pad Notepad

I love the Rhodia mouse pad for taking notes. I write with a fountain pen and the paper is superb as you might expect from Rhodia. My mouse works perfectly on the pad too so I'm not sure why some reviewers are having problems. I use a Logitech Performance MX mouse without problems. Love the paper and the convenience of my mouse pad doubling as a note pad.

via www.amazon.com

Disclosure: I have no connection to the company, nor do I get anything at all out of this blog post...

OK, with that out of the way. I've been looking for a new mouse pad for a while. I've been using a ratty old one that was a promotional gift a decade ago.

Although I was looking for something different, and USEFUL, I didn't hold out all that much hope for this Rhodia item. But I love their paper products, so I thought I'd try it.

Anyway: the mouse pad is a GEM! I can scrawl reminders and to do lists all over it, and in addition, it works exactly as a mouse pad should. A real find. I've managed to clear my desk of other notepads and sticky notes, so there's less clutter on my desk.

I'm a happy little mousing notetaker now. :-)

Writing Successful Ebooks: The Formula

via www.youtube.com

You want your ebooks to be a success. You can ensure that they are, when you sell your ebooks before you write them. Why spend weeks or months writing without knowing that you have buyers?

Creativity: Get Great Ideas

[1] Gather the raw material

[2] Digest the material

[3] Don’t think

[4] Wait for the ‘Ah ha!’ moment to appear (and be ready when it does. Keep a notebook by your bed)

[5] Expose your idea to the light of day and see if it stands up to the glare

via www.brainpickings.org

My favorite mantra, DDT (Do, Don't Think), is step 3.

Stop thinking. Keep writing. All writing is discovery. You can't know what you're thinking until you write it down.

So write, and keep writing. :-)

Keep Your Writing Forever: Use Plain Text

Although modern word processing programs can do some amazing things—adding charts, tables, and images, applying sophisticated formatting—there’s one thing they can’t do: Guarantee that the words I write today will be readable ten years from now.

via www.macworld.com

I've been rummaging through my archives again, and I'm shocked at the amount of material I can't access.

Here's why: the applications I used to create the material are long gone from my workflow. They no longer exist.

The above article resonated strongly with me, and I've made a personal commitment to save everything I can as plain text as often as I can. At least I'll be able to access it in years to come.

Write AND Sell Your Ebooks With Angela's No-Fail Ebook Sales Formula

Can you profitably write and sell ebooks?

The self-publishing frenzy says that you can. However, you need to know what you're doing, so that you're as sure as you can be that your new ebook will SELL before you start writing it.

It took me five years of writing and selling information products before I stumbled over the formula I've been using ever since.

Now I'm sharing the formula with you. Once you start the right way, ensuring that you have readers who are ready and eager to BUY before you start writing, it's easy to make sales.

via www.infoproductmaestro.com

Take advantage of the Weekend Special Offering, and write ebooks which SELL.

Blog Roundup: Get Paid to Write, Creativity, Write Kindle Ebooks

Here’s what we discussed on the blogs this week…

Get Paid to Write: “Standard” Rates? Heh…

I’ve had several queries this week about “standard” rates for writing projects.

I cover this in detail in Devilish Writer: How to Charge What YOU Want, and Get PAID, so here’s an excerpt…

Stop Stuttering: Get Creative

I’ve been thinking about creativity this past week, and I’ll be discussing it in this week’s issue of the ezine. As freelancers, we tend to pay lip service to creativity, rather than doing it.

Writing Jobs: How Much Can You Make as a Social Media Writer? (Guide)

We’re freelancers. We don’t want to get hired full-time, do we?

Just in case you do want that, here’s a useful infographic on how much social media marketing jobs pay: the Social Media Jobs and Salaries Guide.

Kindle Ebooks: Get Together with Other Authors

Publishing can be a lonely business. Self-publishing even more so. If you’re writing for the Kindle platform, going it alone is stressful. How do you promote your ebooks so that they’re found?

Writing Kindle Ebooks: Competing With Crap

There’s a lot of junk in the Amazon Kindle ebook store. This tends to upset folks…

My reaction to junk anywhere, has always been… “and your point is…??”

The Web’s packed with junk. So what?

End Kindle Formatting Chaos

Having trouble formatting your new Kindle ebook? You’re not alone. Help is at hand, however. Discover a brilliant new formatting tool.

Write a Lot: The Best Writing Advice

Writing a lot scares new writers. The blog post gives you some tips to help you to write more.

Writing for Content Mills? How to Stop

I thought the content mills had faded away, what with Google’s Panda updates.

It seems not. Sadly. They’re still around.

Here’s how to escape from these writers’ ghettos.

Ebooks: Sell Your Ebooks BEFORE You Write Them

Many writers write and sell ebooks. Here’s why: with billions of people online, those people want information, and they’re willing to pay for it. Discover how to sell your ebooks BEFORE you write them.

Poll: Need Help Writing Kindle Fiction?

Fiction's hot on the Kindle platform; it outsells nonfiction 6 to 1.

I'd love to know whether you want help writing and selling fiction, specifically for the Kindle platform.

If you need help writing short stories and novels (or even if you don't), please vote in this poll. Many thanks. :-)

 

Ebooks: Sell Your Ebooks BEFORE You Write Them

Many writers write and sell ebooks. Here’s why: with billions of people online, those people want information, and they’re willing to pay for it.

Some writers dip their toes into this pool of eager buyers slowly, via Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.

One writer said:

“Recently, my daughter and I decided to try publishing fiction for the Kindle. Our stories are approximately 20 pages and sell for $2.99 through Amazon.com exclusively. We started on April 5th, and in 12 days published four stories and made just over $130 in sales.”

That’s one end of the scale. At the other end, you have blockbusters like Mike Geary, who makes a million dollars a MONTH selling his Six Pack Abs product.

Sadly, some writers make little or nothing from their ebooks.

Here’s why: they’re doomed from the outset. The end is always in the beginning, so if you start wrong, failure is inevitable.

Here’s what I strongly suggest if you’re writing an ebook: write your sales material FIRST. Selling isn’t an afterthought. You need to know that your ebook will sell, so you sell before you write.

This is part of my No-Fail Ebook Sales Formula program.

Weekend Special Offering

This program is hugely popular for ONE reason only: I’m sharing what works for me. I’ve refined my process over a decade.

I’ve had many requests for a special offering on this program; writers want it NOW, and at $97 it’s out of their budget.

So I’m happy to do that. For 5 days, until May 2, it’s yours for $27.

Video Update Coming

Showing a process or a strategy makes it simpler to understand. So later this year, you’ll receive video updates to the “No-Fail Ebook Sales Formula.” All purchasers of Version 1 receive Version 2 of this program free.

I wish you much success. We’re living in a new golden age for writers. I just wish I were starting out today, knowing what I know now, of course… ;-)

 

You Can Make MORE Money Writing Than You Can At Any Day Job

Tired of struggling? Here's some inspiration for you... An ebook called "Fat Loss 4 Idiots" made 21 million dollars in 2009. Last year, Amanda Hocking wrote several short ebooks, and made 2 million dollars. Publishing has changed. You're in charge, if you want to be.

Can you profitably write and sell ebooks? The self-publishing frenzy says that you can. However, you need to know what you're doing, so that you're as sure as you can be that your new ebook will SELL before you start writing it.

It took me five years of writing and selling information products before I stumbled over the formula I've been using ever since.

Now I'm sharing the formula with you. Once you start the right way, ensuring that you have readers who are ready and eager to BUY before you start writing, it's easy to make sales.

Write a Lot: The Best Writing Advice

I’ve been browsing the archives.

From November, 2004, “Tip #4: How to thrive as a freelance writer - write a lot”:

Peter Mayle, the author of A Year in Provence, says “The best advice on writing I’ve ever received is from Henry Miller’s On Writing: You have to write a million words before you find your voice as a writer.”

In that post, I commented on why writing a lot scares new writers. As I said, it shouldn’t. You write because you love it, yes?

How much are you writing?

Set a daily word count goal.

If you’re writing a book, you set a word count goal for that project, as well as an overall word count goal. Yes, you can count the words you write in emails, as well as Facebook and forums.

If you take care of the quantity you write, sooner or later the quality will show up. If you don’t write a lot, you’ll never get quality writing.

Stop thinking, start writing…

How much have YOU written today?

Want ways to write more?

Tips:

* Set an overall word count goal for each day;

* Write wherever you are. You don't need a "special" place to write. Just get comfortable using words. Write on your phone;

* Create a blog. If you already have a blog, blog daily;

* Think on paper. Writers write their thoughts: what's in their head. Words appear in your mind, you write them down -- hey presto, you're a WRITER;

* Write what scares you, and delights you;

* The words you write are NEVER the right words. You always have trouble putting it into words. That's OK. You'll get better at it.

Blog Roundup: Kindle, Creativity, Ebooks

Here’s what we discussed on the blogs this week…

A Clever Kindle Publishing Strategy, But…

I’ve come across a VERY clever Kindle publishing strategy. It may not be for me. Perhaps it’s for you…

“Creativity is not a talent” (John Cleese)

Want to be more creative? Start by watching the video. It will give you a complete method for creativity, explained in John Cleese’s inimitable style.

Ebook Pricing: The Floor’s Going Up

If you’re writing and selling ebooks, you’re confused about pricing. Who isn’t? If the big publishers don’t know how to do it, we can’t either.

Following Through with Your Own Projects: Get Them DONE!

Over past few weeks, I’ve received several messages from writers who have trouble following through on their ebook projects.

KISS: Keep it Simple

The biggest challenge for new freelance writers, and for established ones too, is keeping it simple.

Create Your Kindle Ebook Empire FAST

Fiction is HOT on the Kindle; it out-sells nonfiction 6 to 1.

You don’t have to sell novels, you can just sell short stories. An online forum member posted that she’d started publishing her short stories on the Kindle platform. In 12 days, she published four stories at $2.99 each, and made $130. Of course, that’s just the start for her. As she creates more, she’ll sell more.

Let’s say you want to stick with NONFICTION however. You need a way of coming up with Kindle ebook ideas which SELL.

Blog Roundup: Business, Writing Ebooks, Writing

Here’s what we discussed on the blogs this week…

Business Disaster: Choosing a Trademarked Name — OUCH

If you own an online business — especially if you own an info products business — you think about names. You choose names for products, services, and campaigns; it’s so common that you do it without thinking.

Your New Ebook: Create Masterful Titles Which Sell Your Ebook

There are two components to your ebook titles — and again, I’m talking non-fiction. Fiction titles need to be evocative and genre-appropriate, that’s all, and it’s a topic for another blog post.

Headlines Rule, But…

Broken a Reader’s Trust in Your Headline? You’re Dead

Beck in the heyday of newspaper publishing, misleading headlines were common, especially in the tabloid press. Anything to sell papers.

When Things Go Wrong

Keep Writing: Productivity is Income for Writers

That grinding noise you can hear is my teeth…

My brand new (less than a month old) iPad is on the fritz. Ho hum. It just won’t turn on. It’s an expensive sheet of aluminum and glass.

Good Writing is Not a Natural Gift

If I had a dollar for every person who’s ever asked me whether they had writing “talent” I’d be able to retire and spend the rest of my life lazing on a beach.

Happy Easter, Dear Writer

Wishing you and yours a safe and happy holiday break. Have fun, and don't forget to write. :-)

 

Blog Roundup: Instant Ebooks, To Do List Chaos

Here’s what we discussed on the blogs this week…

Why Not Create “Instant” Ebooks for Fast Cash?

It’s no secret that the big new area for writers is ebook creation and sales.

The Minimalist’s Guide to Writing an Ebook and Selling It

Writing and selling ebooks is profitable. It’s an on-going bonanza for many writers.

If you find it a challenge, here’s a minimalist’s guide to writing and selling your first ebook.

Plan Your Way Out of To Do List Chaos

I have fond memories of my ultimate To Do list manager, long-defunct Lotus Agenda. (Now available as freeware, if you have an old MS DOS machine lying around…)

 

The Minimalist's Guide to Writing an Ebook and Selling It

Writing and selling ebooks is profitable. It's an on-going bonanza for many writers.

If you find it a challenge, here's a minimalist's guide to writing and selling your first ebook.

1. Find something you know how to do (or someone you know knows how to do)

Here's a secret: the "something" doesn't need to be earth-shattering, nor does it need to be something everyone wants to do.

Maybe you or someone else has a magic touch with dogs, or babies, or throwing a party.

Maybe you've figured out how to do something on your smartphone, or how to turn others' junk into eBay cash.

Everyone knows how to do something so well that's it's an unconscious process: you do whatever it is automatically.

Make a list of stuff you know how to do.

Choose one thing.

2. Teach others how to do it -- fast

Make a list of steps involved in doing your one thing.

If possible, take photographs. Use your phone to take them.

Describe each step, and the end result.

Write an introduction to your ebook. Think about your audience. Who would like to learn what you're teaching? Why? What benefits are there to knowing how to do whatever it is?

Close your ebook with tips -- things readers need to be aware of, and things they should avoid.

3. You've just written an ebook: now turn it into a product

There you go: you've just written a short ebook.

Next, turn your MS Word or other word processor file into a PDF. The latest versions of Word do this for you. Alternatively, you can use a free PDF creator like PrimoPDF.

Ta da -- you now have a product ready to sell.

The simplest way to pass your material on to the people who want it is by using PayPal and email. If you don't have a PayPal account, get one. People send money to your PayPal address, and you send them your ebook as an email attachment.

4. Sell your new ebook

You don't even need a website to sell.

Sell your ebook on Twitter, or on forums.

Here's the biggest benefit of getting your ebook written: it gives you confidence that you can do it.

Have fun. :-)

Blog Roundup: Writing Rates, SEO, Write a Novel, Writing Jobs

Here’s what we discussed on the blogs this week…

Writing Rates: How Much to Charge (Chart)

I get “how much do I charge?” queries from writers regularly. The chart above is from the Editorial Freelancers Association. If you’re completely new to freelance writing, it gives you a rough guide.

Writing for Big Companies: Offer Content Curation Services

Way back in January (this year is zooming past) I talked about opportunities for writers in 2012, and mentioned content creation services.

Value: The New Baseline for Web Content and SEO

Ah happy days, way back in 2004, when you could just grab a few keywords, write some so-so content (or even slap up some junk content), and get traffic and sales.

Writing Your First Novel: 9 Secrets (Ezine)

Newsflash — Novelists Make Money (Finally.)

In this week’s ezine, our theme is your FIRST novel.

Fiction — 9 Secrets to Help You to Write Your First Novel

When I got serious about selling a novel, I got a multi-book contract six months after I made a decision — I decided that if I didn’t sell my first novel within a decade, I’d give up. (This was in the early 1980s.)

Week Three PLR Genius Update: Making Sales, Investing in Staff, Building Up My Auto-responder

Jessie is working with the PLR Genius product. Here’s another update from her case study of using this program.

Interview: Freelance Writer Jessie Fitzgerald

Jessie’s writing a series of blog posts on her work with the PLR Genius program for us. I decided to interview her, so that you could get to know her.

Sell More of Your Books: Explore the Author Tools at Goodreads

I enjoy Goodreads. It’s a wonderful site to check out books I’m considering reading. Reading others’ reviews of a book is immensely helpful.

If you’re an author, especially if you’re writing for the Kindle, you may not know that Goodreads has a collection of wonderful tools you can use to get the word out about yourself and your books.

Can’t Keep up? 7 Ways to Simplify Your Hunt for Writing Jobs

Are you tired of hunting for writing jobs?

Each week, writers contact me asking how to find great writing jobs. Some writers contact me to let me know that no one wants to PAY writers…