After nearly five years, yes, five, we finally have the right to the domain http://4rvpublishing.com. I don't know how long I'll need to get the company website moved over, organized, and improved -- I'm still a bit technologically challenged. In time, though, we'll have even a better website. Any suggestions?
IF authors, illustrators, editors, and other staff members will help, we will have sections in the new web site to highlight everyone. IF. I know I can't do it all by myself. Hopefully people will send me nice layouts with photos I can copy and paste. (hint, hint, hint)
Also, any suggestions as to how we can keep from losing the people who keep looking for http://4rvpublishingllc.com after we're open for business on the new website?
The new website will be through Yola, not Yahoo. I think the change will be for the better --- hope, hope, hope.
As readers move from traditional hardbound books to digital
books for the various e-readers available now and in the future, one thing hasn’t
changed over the years, the reader’s expectations. They expect a level of
quality when they spend their money to purchase a hard copy, or time
downloading a digital book.
What readers expect:
Readability
Believability
Characters they can
empathize with
Believable Dialogue
Descriptive
Good editing
Deep POV
Tight writing
Consistency
Good word choice
Proper use of nouns,
verbs, and adjectives
Proper grammar
Proper punctuation
Proper spelling
Words that don’t send the
reader to the dictionary
A book that doesn’t bore
the reader
This is only a short list, but you get the idea. Readers are
author’s best friend or their worst enemy, the author makes the difference by
the words in their story, how well the edited the manuscript is, and the author
proofreads it before it reaches the reader.
Some may think this is a lot to ask, but consider the fact, the
author’s reputation is on the line with every piece of writing they prepare for
consumption by readers. This could be a blog about the book, a viral book tour,
an author’s web site, a press release about their book or any piece of copy.
Authors need to take readers seriously. Word of mouth advertising
is still the best form of advertising. How will the reader talk about your
books, authors? Will they give it thumbs up or thumbs down because there are errors?
It’s your choice authors.
Writing success can mean different things to different writers. Some writers may simply want to get a book or article published; others may want to be on the New York Times Best Sellers List; still others may want to make a living writing; and there are those who may be seeking wealth and fame. The key here is to dig down and really know what your perception of writing success is.
Once you are certain what you are aiming for, take the necessary steps to become the writing success you dream of. Sounds easy, right? Well, we all know it’s not, if it were, there would be no struggling writers.
The first problem we seem to run into is actually realizing how we perceive success, or what we want from our writing efforts. According to Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, the number one reason for being stuck and not realizing your potential or goals is the lack of clarity.
Step One: You Must Define Your Goals and Your Perception of Success
It’s not sufficient to state you want to be a published writer; you need to proclaim the specifics. You want to be a self-help nonfiction author of published books and magazine articles earning an income of $100,000 per year. You can even get much more specific than that—the more specific your goals and intentions are the more likely you will attain them.
Step Two: Prepare a Plan
When you finally have a break through and know exactly what you want from your writing efforts, you need to prepare a detailed plan. Your plan, just like your goals, needs to be very specific. Think of a recipe: You plan on baking a cake, but you’ll need more than just the ingredients, you’ll need the exact amount of each ingredient, the proper procedure for mixing them together, the baking temperature, how long to bake it, how long to cool it before removing it from the pan . . . you get the idea.
Now you’re on your way . . . you have specific goals . . . a detailed plan . . . but . . . you’re still not achieving success.
Step Three: Take Action
Think of the first two steps as the foundation of your house. To move forward toward success, you need to build the house. This takes action; it actually takes more than just action, it takes ongoing action and perseverance to carry you through to completion.
Step Four: Projection
You have the other steps down pat, now picture yourself attaining your goals. According to motivational speakers, you will have a much greater chance of making it happen by projecting success. This step encompasses a number of strategies such as envisioning, projection, projection boards, and affirmations.
Take aim . . . shoot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ignite your writing and marketing efforts with Karen Cioffi and A Writer’s World ezine. Get weekly tips and guidance, plus updates on free webinars, and TWO FREE ebooks! Sign-up today.
As writers, we're all familiar with those oh-so-inconvenient problems with our computers. Here's a rather humorous take on some of the problems I've had!
I’ve
been having head-banging-against-the-wall computer difficulties.When my husband unplugged my daughter’s
computer (W2K Pro) to move it, he didn’t know her password was timing out and
would soon be deleted by the system, and that waiting to reconnect would result
in big time log-in problems.
But
the CPU’s insidious memory chuckled mercilessly as it counted down the hours,
then minutes, to lock out – and when it reached “zero,” it did just that.
Old
passwords no longer worked and I entered every password, and variation thereof,
I could think of.No luck.
An
epiphany:log on as “guest.”Epiphany wasted.The “guest” function was unavailable.
I
spent two days in an eye-crossing search of the internet for a solution.I’ve encountered BIOS, read not to mess with BIOS,
and learned that passwords used in restarting the computer have nothing whatsoever
to do with the Windows user names and passwords.
Furthermore,
the Windows administrator – who is God in the computer system - is missing, and
I’ve learned that she hides behind strange codes and locked doors that one must
have the correct computer key to enter.
I’ve
discovered NTFS and SCSI-controllers, SAM and EFS files, CMOS and PDC, and all
sorts of other alphabetical gobbledygook that I thought only the military had a
patent on.Additionally, I’ve been trying
to figure out what the heck the PCI bus is and if I can ride it to the solution
to my problem.
Working
on my computer, I have downloaded zipped boot disk images and SCSI-drivers in
order to create a bypass disk. But, the install failed and a window said the
.exe file needed was not on the same path.Huh?
So I
closed the window and doggone, there the .exe file was, staring at me from my
screen.Unfortunately, as I leaned
forward, my hand hit the wrong button and, just like a naughty child, the .exe
file ran away and is currently listed as “missing in action.”
My
woes didn’t end there.During the
process of downloading both programs found on the internet specifically
designed to help recover lost passwords, these rebellious programs linked to mirrors
that didn’t work or were so indecipherable in lingo that I hadn’t a clue what
to do.
I have punched the “help” button so many
times it has popped loose from my keyboard.
So what
results did all that tedious, mind-boggling reading uncover?It was very simple (as most computer answers
are – once you know them):W2K makes no
provision for recovering lost log-in administrator and user passwords in a
non-domain computer.
Since
I couldn’t get the recovery programs to work and didn’t want to pay big bucks
for non-freeware, the only option left was to do a clean install of W2K Pro,
which would erase all other programs and files.
Why
the heck couldn’t I have found this out in the first ten minutes of my search?It would have saved me the hospital expenses
incurred as a result of my head-banging concussion!
In "First Flag of New Hampshire," Aly and Miguel travel to Portsmouth, a town on the seacoast with a rich history of naval service. They visit the naval museum looking for a clue to find the first flag of New Hampshire. I've been to Portsmouth a couple of times myself, but it's been a while and my memory is a bit sketchy. I do have a strong affinity to the sea and wanting to be near water. Some of my favorite memories are going to Hampton Beach as a young girl and visiting Portsmouth with my friends in the 1990's.
Portsmouth is a town with a rich colonial history. Before the Europeans arrived, the area had been settled by the Abenaki Indians. In 1630, the town was settled by English immigrants.
The Naval Shipyard was established in 1800. Prior to that, a 32 gun frigate, The Raleigh, was commissioned by the Continental Army and constructed on Badger Island, in Kittery, Maine, just over the border. It launched on May 21, 1776. The Raleigh saw battle during the Revolutionary War, but was eventually captured and used by the British.
The Raleigh is on the state seal of New Hampshire and the state seal is on the official state flag. While the ship was built in what is considered Kittery, Maine, it is only 2/10th of a mile from Portsmouth and constructed in the seaport's annex. The state has a rich tradition of shipbuilding, and the Raleigh was one of the first ships built to serve the new nation.
Quick Facts:
New Hampshire has the smallest coastline in the United States – 9 miles.
Interestingly, NH did not adopt the current state flag until 1909. It was modified in 1931.
Prisoners of war from the Spanish-American War were housed at the Portsmouth Naval Base.
In 1905, the Treat of Portsmouth ended the Russo-Japanese War. President Theodore Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his efforts.
During World War I, the naval base began building submarines. The first one ever built by the navy was constructed there.
BLURB FOR: FIRST FLAG OF NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Alyssa has to take American Studies for college prep, and she hurries to the first class. She's paired with classmate Miguel De Soto to find the first flag of New Hampshire, but the flag has flown only four times in New Hampshire's past. Can Alyssa and Miguel track the flag through history before time is up?
BOOK TRAILER:
Hunt For the Flag Giveaway:
Answer the follow questions about the NH flag. I'll pick a winner to receive an Easter/Spring book bag (made by my talented friend, Lori Powell), full of goodies to include chocolates, a magnet and more.
Why are there 9 stars dispersed between the laurel leaves on the NH State Flag?
Once upon a time, about four and a half years ago, a young boy named Stephen and a little monster named Trockle became the first to join the 4RV family of children's books. Written by Holly Jahangiri for her son who "knew" a monster was under his bed, the story hid in a drawer for a few years before I begged the author to allow me to have it for the company. Jordan Vinyard agreed to illustrate the story, and a book to delight children from two to one hundred two was born. After all, not everyone knew that not only was the boy on the bed afraid of the monster under the bed, but the little monster under the bed was afraid of the big monster on the bed.
Aidana WillowRaven added her "magic" to the promotional illustrations and created a trailer to show off this story that makes us all feel safer about going to bed in the dark.
Due to limited space, we had to limit the 4RV titles taken. Also, we have to limit the number of boxes and weight of books taken since only two people, both elderly women, do all the loading, setting up, reloading, and unloading. However two large racks were placed on the table, filled with 4RV books. The full array of releases can be found on the 4RV Bookstore. Thirty-four titles attended the festival with us.
Vehoae gave a talk about her book during the festival, attracting many of the attendees. Everyone thought her presentation interesting. She does very well with a subject she holds important for all of us to know, history that is often changed and hidden from modern people and students.
She also has an attractive table wherever she takes her books, as shown in this photo taken by Vivian Zabel.
The location for the festival is a delight to visit, as well as being used for a book festival. I wish I had photos of the whole mansion. I've visited several times in the past, even attended a wedding there.
After the festival, once everyone hauled all books, signs, other items, and decorations, we adjourned to The Daily Grind for the festival dinner. There we enjoyed delicious food, company, and a speech by me, Vivian Zabel.
I spoke about making writing snap, how to make it interesting from the hook to all through the manuscript. Apparently, I wasn't very boring because no one fell asleep. *grin* Several people thanked me for giving information they can use. That means success to me, because I helped some writers, if not all listening.
The next book festival for 4RV books will be the Kansas Book Festival in Topeka, Kansas, September 15. Hopefully we'll be able to take a larger selection of books. We'll try. Several 4RV members are helping us have funds for a large booth. Any one willing to attend and help?
If 4RV authors and illustrators will send us photos and information about book signings, awards, presentations, or other promotions, I will spotlight you in a newsletter post.
