In celebration of good old summer time, I have lowered the prices of some of my eBooks on Amazon! There truly is something for everyone! FICTION If you are in the mood for some short stories I have a collection of six short stories! In these six you’ll read stories in which Karma plays a big role. There is a nasty know it all man who lets his snake handle his dirty work, a single mom who has the world by the balls until she becomes a victim in a deal with the devil, while another woman gets away with murder! What really happens in a nursing home when dementia patients are mixed in among the healthy and frail patients, Elmer deceives everyone? Fiction The Devi’s Playground is a collection of short stories which all center around murder, deception, and of course lies. There is the crazy teacher at a private school who spikes the brownies and two innocent young girls are in the mercy of a sadistic big sister and her friends. Shiner’s diner has the best sandwiches but what happens when the guys who lay the big pipes for the natural gas begin to disappear? Chloe and her 2 best friends found a way to get rid of the men in their lives long ago. On her death bed as an old woman one tells how they got away with murder for over fifty years. Fiction Cheaters never prosper is a collection of short stories of three women who were cheated on by lovers. They all get revenge in unique ways, but only one pays the ultimate price. Kindle Single Story Fiction A short story about the revenge of a nurse with an axe to grind with an ex boyfriend. http://www.amazon.com/Merry-Christmas-Darling-ebook/dp/B0069Z362O/ref=la_B004EW761G_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1340293704&sr=1-12 Kindle Single Story Fiction Paisley is a portal jumping white witch who lives in two realms. It’s fantasy with a bit of romance tossed in. GAMES Bingo Blitz is a fun game on Facebook. This eBook gives some hints and tips to new players. http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Guide-Bingo-Blitz-ebook/dp/B005NU3KLI/ref=la_B004EW761G_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1340295333&sr=1-13 True Story For the fellow heart patients out there, I offer my 3x heart Attack Survivor eBook. I describe what happened to me and how I made the changes within my life so I cold be here for my kids and grandkids. Medical When your BBF gets a diagnosis of Inflammatory Breast Cancer, you need to educate yourself about the illness so you can help her remain positive. ~~Goals do not happen as life does. You must work hard to make goals a reality!~~ http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Browne/e/B004EW761G/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 |
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Good reads at .99 USD!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Top 3 ways blogging beats content writing
Blogging beats writing content for editors who are slow to offer
upfronts. It is also more profitable and fun. When we content writers
write articles, we sometimes stifle ourselves to appease the editors in hopes
that they will give us a higher payment. When you blog for yourself you
have more fun. You search for the best key words and phrases and let the words
flow from the fingertips.
Another way blogging beats writing content is you can schedule
blog posts. With that content crap, you have to write every day to keep your
portfolio updated. If you are trying to engage a private client, sending
them to a niche blog is way better then setting them to a scattered content
writing portfolio.
Another way blogging beats content writing is the profits are only
shared two ways instead of three. Content writing at a content mill means
you are sharing profits with Goggle, the site and then you get your tiny cut. I
have seen click through rates of some of these key words and phrases trust me
with 42 views and 1 click through at the rate of .25 cents sure beats that
1 or 2 cents you’d make at a content site.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Bloomberg says Ban SODA, I say Ban added Salt
Michael Bloomberg who is the Mayor of New York City recently announced a ban of soft drinks in cups larger than a sixteen-ounce cup. He believes the citizens of New York City consume too much sugar. People across the nation are voicing their opinion and here is my opinion. I am a woman who is over the age of forty who enjoys soft drinks as much as the next person does. I have been known to walk into a fast food restaurant or convenience store and purchase the largest drink. As long as I can afford it, no one should tell me that I should not purchase it. If I was purchasing the soda with money given to me by the government then yes, I can see limiting this purchase. However, when I pay for the soda with money that I earned, no one should tell me that I should not purchase this soda. If I needed to limit my sugar for health reasons that is one thing, but I am not a diabetic and I am not morbidly obese. If I was a diabetic, who purchased these sugar-laden drinks and it increased my need for insulin, which is paid for by government money that is a different story. However, diabetics should be alert enough to limit their sugar on their own. If they do not well that is their own problem, as they will suffer the health consequences. If those diabetics are consuming excess sugar, and are living on welfare, need more insulin to keep their health in check, limit their soda by removing it from the items, which are approved for purchase with a welfare card. Those of us who do not make the laws can understand that no brainer. As a heart patient who does watch my sodium intake, I would love to see a ban put on the added salt restaurants add to food they serve. I do not eat at many places outside of my house because the foods prepared in restaurants and food that is made at convenience stores is salted before they are served or when they are prepared. Too much sodium pushes up blood pressure, and can cause a heart attack. This is what should be limited for the good of everyone, and not the soda! Heart attacks kill more people in any given year then consuming sugar does for the average person. Too much sugar does harm diabetics but for the rest of the population excess sugar makes them susceptible to other illnesses if they are predisposed to those diseases including obesity and diabetes. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention lists heart disease as the leading cause of death in the nation, while diabetes is the seventh leading cause. Almost 600,000 people die each year from heart disease while 68,000 die in that same year from diabetes. Those facts should speak loud and clear to any rational person. These statistics can be viewed on the CDC website. Mayor Bloomberg I encourage you to read those statistics yourself when you make proposals that effect the citizens in your city. If you were simply trying to create a media stir, then you have done that. I am sure there are more pressing matters you can fix within your city, than sugar consumption. ~~Goals do not happen as life does. You must work hard to make goals a reality!~~ http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Browne/e/B004EW761G/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 |
Thursday, May 31, 2012
My first self published book
Self publishing a photo book is easier than you think. I have done
it myself in the past so I know it can be done. I am not going to lie to you it
was frustrating to do. Yet, the drive to accomplish the goal kept me
pushing forward until I did it.
The photo book I wanted to create was one of photographs of a
flood that wiped out 2/3 of my hometown. It was a photographic essay of the
damage. Here is a link for it on Amazon.
I tried to compose it in MS word, but was unable to do so, so I
downloaded open office and went that route. I had to move all the images
in one directory, and saved the open office file there as well. In that
word processor, I was able to insert, resize and format the photos the way I
needed to. I wrote the text in MS word and then copied and pasted it into Open
Office.
After it was all exactly as I wanted it to be I saved it as a pfd
file and uploaded it to Createspace, I choose to use that website to handle the
self publishing of the photo book because I had created other books there. I
knew it would be a low profit margin but I wanted the book to get out there so
people could buy it. Because it was in full color, the profit margin was
low. I had to make it twenty bucks, so that I could make at least a $5
dollar profit on it. I was splitting that $5 bucks with my community.
Would I take this route of self publishing a photo book again?
Sure, I would because even with the low profit margin the book has merit.
People want this book because it is a part of local history.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Self Publishing is Easy
Self publishing is easier than you think. I have done it with
print books and eBooks. I am by no means an expert but I can do it. Trust
me if I can do this so can you. Self publishing a book is easy if you follow a
simple plan, stay on task and do the work.
First type up the book in MS Word or Open Office, both have their
benefits and downfalls. If it is a textbook stick with MS Office as a doc, but
if it has a photo book go with Open Office as a doc then a pdf.
Once you have edited, checked and rechecked the file for errors and
you consider it all done upload it to either Creatspace or Lulu.
I prefer to go the route of self publishing my books on
Creatspace, as it just seems easier and the profit margin seems more to me.
No matter which web site you use to make your dream a reality, it will
cost you in the end. Createspace does not cost you to upload files or
selling your book, instead it keeps a bigger share of the profits than the give
you.
If your dream is to write a book and agents are not biting,
perhaps the business of self publishing is for you.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Dealing with Deadbeat Clients
Dealing with deadbeat clients is an unpleasant fact as they surround us all. They simply want a free ride in life and well it is not fair. Here is how I dealt with a deadbeat client.
In early January of 2012, I won my first bid on one of those freelance writing websites. I was commissioned to create a wordpress blog for 30 dollars for a man who owns a web site that gives virtual tours of a famous place. He wanted one post and a few links to his website. He wanted a 400-word blog post, and I gave him an extra 400 words free. Now he had the two-blog posts, which came up high in the search engines. I snagged the most popular keyword phrases to help him gain rankings. I sent him the URL, and he said he approved it. I am a nice person and trusted that he would pay me. I sent him the password to the word press blog and the newly created g-mail account. I invoiced him and he ignored it. After a week, I wrote him back and I asked for my money. Life happened, and somehow in the following months I forgot about him. I wrote hundreds more articles, blog posts and even some eBooks. Winter, turned into spring and as a working freelancer I just threw myself into work. On May 17, 2012, I finally remembered the work once more. It really made me mad that a man expected to get something free from me. Perhaps he thought I was one of those rich Americans. Yes, I am a rich American, rich in family and friends but not money. So I logged in to the accounts I created for him, the blog site and the g-mail both. I changed the passwords and resumed control. I then went ahead and removed his links from the blog posts. Some people might say why not simply delete the posts from the blog, and be done with it. The answer is simple It comes up high in the search engines, and draws attention away from his web site. Some people may think this is mean spirited. Yeah some may say it is, some will say it is well-crafted revenge of a deadbeat client. I call it job satisfaction. |
Thursday, May 17, 2012
There is a good reason for self publishing my own books. In a
world where the tight economy exists, I have to make every penny count. I
do not have money to print off copies of my baby and pay to mail them to an
agent. I do not have the time to waste sending a file of my book and have
it sit in an editor’s e-box for months. I need to make money now, now five
months from now. I need to pay bills and support my children.
My reasons for self-publishing my own books may be different from
yours. Really though behind every one who goes this route, the bottom line is
we all want money sooner. I write it is my job first, sure, there are
some things I enjoy writing more than others. However, money is always the
bottom line here. I write to pay the bills and live.
My fiction books are my passion. I love to write fiction. There
are no agents banging on my door, so self publishing my books is my way of
finding them. I have been watching so indie authors and they gave up on
the agent thing. Instead, they created their own files, found the audience and
then the agents and publishers came calling.
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