I really slept in late this morning. By late, I mean well past 12:00–noon. But then, I was up well past 2:00am finishing two more chapters in my book. Many 2s and wells there. Synchronicity?

Once I am writing “in the zone” it’s difficult to break my concentration and stop typing.

“Leave the rest for tomorrow,” is not in my vocabulary. By mid-chapter, I am driven. Forget food and water.

I’m quite content in my self-inflicted jail cell.

This driven feeling is more than work ethic or time restraint. It is emotionally based. Painful memories must be dragged out of hibernation, (often kicking and screaming,) from behind locked mental doors, convert them into word and sew them to page before they can snap back into the dark bowels of my mind like a bungee cord. It is much like reluctantly remembering a nightmare months after having had it–a struggle on many levels.

So why would I inflict such masochism on myself?

How does that saying go? “Those who forget the past are destined to repeat it.”
Your journal can become the skeleton for your book. My notes from my first battle with breast cancer helped me live through stage 4 the second time. Those journals and memories became my emotionally packed book.

My story is unconventional, but not unique. It must be told. I won't give up.

Doctors are human. Scientific tests are only as accurate as the people who perform and read them. Life is not infallible. But Inner-guidance from dreams validated in the waking world just might be.

My second book is more than halfway complete because I have my own style of cutting out my literary pattern and sewing it together with a running stitch that can be removed to make adjustments.

I write the beginning and ending of my book–then fill in the middle. This also works for blogs and articles.

By using this technique, I always know where I am and where I’m going with a story that is filled with impassioned twists and turns. It gives me a mental edge–no floundering around in the dark while retrieving dark memories. I never feel like I have wandered off the books path. Rather than holding one tread of the story’s line in my mind, I have two. This extra balance anchors my writing so I can interject humor yet not wander away from the serious nature of the main theme.

Writing a book is much like sewing a garment. 

Somewhere between the beginning and the end product, areas no longer fit. Some seams must be let out, others taken in, and extra material trimmed.

But, I always save my scraps because they could be the collar of another adventure.

Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos is a TV/Radio Producer/Host of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod™ and Author/Lecturer of the International award winning bestseller, Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing which promotes patient advocacy and connecting with inner guidance for success in health, wealth, and love, contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dreams & Premonitions, PATHEOS Blogger and Columnist to Women Voices Magazine: SOUL and HOME, Kat taught Special Education and Psychology. She has been featured in newspapers, on CBS News, in American Express Open, and published in medical journals. Learn more @ www.AccessYourInnerGuide.com
PATHEOS http://www.patheos.com/blogs/aboveandbeyondthe5senses/
https://twitter.com/KathleenKanavos https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingCancerlandtheintuitiveaspectsofhealing

www.tinagayle.net   I believe the best way for Authors to get their books out to the world is by teaming up with other authors. That's why I like to do an Author Exchange ever so often.

Right now, I'm doing the #FallingIntoLove Author Exchange


Here's how it works:

Send me -

• over 36.8 K followers on Twitter
• I'm on Triber and my post are retweeted by others
• my blog feeds into facebook and goodread
• If you use the #in the title your post can be easily retweeted by other people involved in the author exchanged
• Also, I share your name/email address with other authors interested in doing the author exchange, giving you a chance to post on more blogs.
  
  
  
  
  Thanks for letting me share your book with the world,

Tina Gayle

www.tinagayle.net

If you work  as a freelance writer,  there are several websites and software programs that are very helpful.  These tools  allow you to collect information you find when you're researching your articles, check your writing to make sure it's not plagiarized, and make sure your writing is clear and understandable.  The tools I'll discuss in this article are Evernote, Hemingway, and Copyscape.

Evernote - This is my favorite software program for keeping track of information I find while doing research, as well as making text notes to myself.  Evernote allows you to create notes that can have text, photos, and even voice notes in them.  In addition, you can save webpages to Evernote using add-ons for Google Chrome and Internet Explorer.  You can also organize your notes into notebooks, and these notebooks can be private , or you can share them with others .  Another thing I like about Evernote is that you can not only use it on any computer, you can also download Evernote apps to your phone and tablet devices.  

To start using Evernote, go to the Evernote website and create an account.  Then choose whether you want to use the free version of Evernote or upgrade to a paid account.  I use the free version - I find that it provides more than enough space for all the information I collect and the notes I create.  However if you want more space, as well as access to additional features, you may want to take advantage of one of the paid options. 

Hemingway App - Hemingway is a website that helps improve the readability of your text.  You can copy and paste anything you're working on into Hemingway, and it will highlight sentences in different colors based on how  hard they are to read.  It also highlights words that can be replaced with simpler words, and phrases that use the passive voice.  It also shows you the word count, how many sentences, paragraphs, and characters are in your document.  It assigns a grade to your document based on how difficult it is to read. To use Hemingway, just go to the  website, delete the text that's there, and copy and paste your own text into the editor.   They are checking to see if there's a demand for a desktop version, so if you're interested in seeing a desktop version, don't forget to put in your email so you can be notified when it's ready!

Copyscape - If you write for a living,  it's important to make sure your content is 100% unique, especially if you write for the web.  Copyscape can help you do that.  Copyscape is one website that you will have to pay a small amount to use.  To check your work for plagiarism,  sign up for a Copyscape Premium account.  Go to this website and click "sign up," and go through the process.  Then you'll have to purchase credits.  The credits are good for a year - the minimum number of credits you can purchase if you're using a credit card is 100, which costs $5. However if you want to use Paypal, the minimum number you'll have to purchase is 200 credits.  After you've set up your Copyscape account and purchased credits, all you have to do is copy and paste up to 2000 words into the text box on the Copyscape website.  Copyscape will come back and show you any websites that contain any of the content you copied and pasted.  If Copyscape does find duplicate content, you can then make changes so that your writing expresses the same ideas in different words. 

These are a few tools that I feel are essential for freelance writers.  If you're interested in finding out more about working from home as a freelance writer, be sure to check out my book "Your Work at Home Journey - Three Paths You Can Take and What You Need to Know Before You Go," which is available on Amazon. 

Facebook as we all know it is a massive trafficking tool for internet users. In today's lesson, I will show you all the tricks that Facebook has to offer to published writers.

I will show you the six most important procedures of setting up your facebook's marketing platform, and the first step is 'Setting up your Fan-Page.' If you already have a Fan Page, skip to step 11 below to learn how to optimize the Fan page for better results.

"Setting up your Fan Page"

1. Log-in to Facebook.com

2. Visit this link to set-up a page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php?campaign_id=372931622610&a...

3. Choose the “Artist, Band, or Public Figure” tile—it’s in the lower-left corner

4. Select either “author” or “writer” from the drop-down menu and enter your name (see note below)

NOTE:  Other Facebook Pages that may appeal to writers include:  “book,” “book store,” “fictional character,” “library,” or “magazine” under the “Entertainment” category (the lower middle tile), and “media, news, and publishing” under the “Company, Organization, or Institution” category (upper middle tile)

5. Check the box to agree to Facebook’s Pages Terms

6. You will be greeted by the “Get Started” page, just to the right of this text, there will be a like button, click it.

7. You’ll see a numbered list of steps. Step 1: Upload a picture. People are more likely to trust a page with a picture, I think (even if it’s merely a book cover or an avatar)

8. Steps 2 and 3—invite your friends and import your contacts. When you click to invite your friends a screen will pop up with all of your existing Facebook contacts, you can search for particular friends that you think may be interested, filter your friends by the lists you’ve set up, or just go through everybody and click who you want to invite. To import your contacts, you’ll have to upload a contact list or enter your email account ID and password.

9. An alternative/supplemental approach to tap your existing fan base:  Scroll to the bottom of the left-hand column and click “share.” This will post a promo of your new site to your Facebook feed. Write a comment asking your friends to like your new page.

10. Fill in the info for your page. You’ll need to provide as much information as you can (concisely written so as not to overwhelm the page-viewer). For an author page, this will include:  name, address, affiliation, birthday, about, description, biography, awards, favorite books, gender, personal information, personal interests, email, phone, and website—obviously some of this information may be too personal to share and other categories are a bit redundant. Only fill in what you want to fill in.

"Optimizing your Fan Page"

11. Click on the “Edit Page” button located in the top right corner.

12. Go to “Apps,” it’s located on the left side-bar

13. The first app listed is “Events.” Set up an event called “Please like my author page.” Specify a longer time period like one week or one month for where list the link to your new fan page. Under the description, write something like “Won’t you please like my new author page? It will only take you a second, but it would mean the world to me. Thank you J” You may also want to write in a bit about how to like your page, step-by-step instructions—this may be required if you want your less tech-savvy friends (like your Grandma or Great Uncle Herman) to like you. Invite all of your friends to this event. This is the number one best way to get followers.

14. If you want to include discussion boards on your site, which I highly recommend for an author’s page. Go back to the “Edit Page” screen and return to the “Apps” page. Scroll down to the discussion boards and click “edit settings,” then click “add.” You can also do this to add in other standard apps like notes, videos, events, photos, and links—yes, you have to add all of that manually now, thanks to the new layout.

15. I also highly (HIGHLY) recommend adding “RSS Graffiti” to your Facebook page. I prefer this to the other, more popular “Social RSS,” because it is far more reliable. It will run your RSS feed directly to your Facebook wall. As I’ve said before, Twitter is the best way to find new followers for your blog or website; Facebook is how you’re going to keep them coming back. https://www.facebook.com/RSS.Graffiti

16. Another app for your Fan Page that gets my shining endorsement is the aptly named “Fan Appz.” You can use it to set up quizzes, polls, give-aways and much more.  https://apps.facebook.com/fanappz/

17. Link your Facebook page to your other social networks.  Add a “like me” button to the sidebar of your blog or website. Ask your Twitter family to like your page (bonus tip: if you say something like “I only need X more fans to customize my Facebook author page URL. Please “like” me. I follow back!” you are much more likely to get people to head on over to your page—don’t forget to add a link to your tweet).

18. Once you’ve secured your first 25 fans, you’ll be able to customize your page URL. To do this you need to go to https://www.facebook.com/username/Enter your desired page name, and if it’s available it’ll become yours! Make sure you choose a good name, because you won’t be able to change it once it’s set. Customizing your URL means that your link will look something like this: www.facebook.com/emlynchand

19. Add favorite pages. Go to any page you want to add as a favorite to your page. In the left column, you’ll find “add this to my page’s favorites” listed directly after the number of users who like that page. Add the page, and if you’re smart, you’ll post on its wall, saying “hey, I added your page to my page’s favorites. Any chance you’d be willing to return the favor?” Make sure to include your link with your request.

"Create Your Author-App with your Fan Page"

Perhaps one of the most crucial of all facebook apps for writers, this application will build an Amazon Buy Link for your published books with options for readers to join your mailing list or sample the book, but only after they Liked it (pressing the like button). This app is so exciting. All you will have to do is enter your ISBN numbers and the facebook app will link with your published books on Amazon.com. The step on how to set up this AuthorApp is further explained below.

1. After creating your Fan Page, go to this facebook site; http://apps.facebook.com/authorapp/ and a page will show up that says 'The Author Marketing App.' Click on the 'Let's get started-" button and the page will direct you to your established Fan Page.

2. The application will ask you to use your fan Page, and after choosing so, you will see the Author-App as an app button. It is a big red button, titled “Read My Book”. When you click it, the app takes you to a separate tabbed page. Under the Author-App tab, you can create an author profile which includes a mailing list, and an option for you to put your books for sale.

3. You can provide each book you list with the buying link URL (to Amazon or similar), price, description, cover shot image, and two fields that allow you to input an URL or upload a PDF file of your book's excerpt.  This can be entered manually, or you can add a book simply using an ISBN number.  This feature also allows you to bring in details of other books not published by you. Yes, I know, it is exciting.

Here is a Author-App page created by one of our members here at Indie Writers Support. Check it out and see what your Author-App with facebook will look like after you're finished. View the sample here; https://www.facebook.com/AuthorApp/Author-Korede-Abayomi/

We hope that you enjoy this lecture, and look forward to reading more as we continue.

"How do I invite people to like my Page via email? "

If less than 5,000 people like your Page, you can invite your email contacts to like your Page. You can upload a file containing your email contacts and Facebook will securely import them. You can also import your contacts by providing your web email address and password. You can then suggest your Page to your contacts.

To invite your email contacts:

1. Click Build Audience at the top of your Page
2. Select Invite Email Contacts...
3. Upload a contact list file or choose your email service and follow the instructions

Facebook won't store your password after importing your contacts. They may use the email addresses you upload to help people connect on Facebook. If you don't want them to store this information, you can manage your imported contacts.

Note: You can import contacts up to five times for a maximum of 7,000 contacts per day per Page. Read more about this from the facebook help center; https://www.facebook.com/help/212291088790957.

Get a list of 900,000 Facebook members in the U.S.A with profile links and email addresses at http://bit.ly/2uf42bV.

Use this tool, http://www.onlineemailextractor.net, to extract the email addresses from the 900,000 list effortlessly. Extract up to 10,000 at a time.

"Run a Facebook Contest with Fan Page"

Creating a contest hosted on your business page is a great way to create buzz about your fan page. You can run a contest through a Facebook app such as rafflecopter. You can also now run a contest directly through your business page as long as the rules and restrictions are properly outlined and that the ways to win are made clear.

"Add a Fan Gate"

What is a Fan Gate? Fan gates (also referred to as like gates) have users “Like” a page before they can see the posts, contests, or products that are offered on an application inside of your fan page. You do this by adding an app to your page. If you want to display different information to fans you can use ShortStack; if you are looking to promote a Facebook store or a daily deal you should use an app specifically for that such as ShopTab for your Facebook store or SharedDeal for your daily deal. All these apps are equipped with optional fan gates that will prompt users to like your page before they can view your deals or products.

Get a list of 900,000 Facebook members in the U.S.A with profile links and email addresses at http://bit.ly/1mixFPP

Use this tool, http://www.onlineemailextractor.net, to extract the email addresses from the 900,000 list effortlessly. Extract up to 10,000 at a time.

Download it Here $0.00 (http://bit.ly/1fqBP2K)

Tap Into The Kindle Publishing Market By Producing Your Own Amazon Kindle eBooks. Create a ready to upload Book using this software. This Kindle generator will save you time and effort as you just simply copy and paste your text into the software, add titles, chapters and then upload to Amazon DTP. This Kindle software is very easy to install.
1. Create a folder on your computer where you'd like to install the software, for example, C:\kindle.
2. Double-click the compressed file kindlebookgenerator.7z, which will open in your compression software. If the file doesn't open then you need to install file compression software on your PC. You can download 7zip free of charge from the following link: http://download.cnet.com/7-Zip/3000-2250_4-10045185.html.
3. Click the 'Extract' button to extract the files from the compressed 7Zip to the new folder you created.
4. Please make sure that all the following files are in the folder you created: KindleBookMaker.bin / KindleBookMaker.exe / KindleBookMaker.ini / KindleBookMaker.lib
5. To run the software, click the KindleBookMaker.exe file (it's the one with the magic wand/3 gold stars icon!)
For HTML & PDF file conversions (with illustrations) we recommend using this free software; 
Enjoy.

Write Your Next Book With The Media In Mind

We wish you well in your journey.

Get promoted to 500,000+ readers within a year and receive our mass emailing software with 20,000 monthly contact (email) lists; https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=C7U6Q2SLRZHCS

Quick Backlinks Builder Software

Download this Backlinks Submitter Software that automatically submit your websites to over 8,000 backlink sites. It's very easy to use, just put your website url (or your amazon page with your book title), click submit button and let the tool submit your site automatically! Backlink building is great for driving traffics back to your site, and making your website rank rank on search engines and amazon title search.
When you order, you will be taken to the download page immediately after the payment is processed.
If for any reason you did not receive the download, write to bookclub@indiwritersupport.com
Go here to get the Backlinks Submitter Software; http://ning.it/16d5Leo ($15).

Websites Article Submitting Software

Generating traffic is the hardest part of running a site and this directory submission software can dramatically increase links to your website, and should be a part of every SEO program.  This software ordinarily sells for $157.  When you get this software, you will stand the chance of enjoying the following
     5000 Directories without any dead links.

• 80% of the directories listed are free submission up to PR 7.
• Submit your sites, articles or bibliography to hundreds of SEO friendly web directories.
• Free software updates & monthly New Directory Updates for life.

Get the software here; http://ning.it/14WTgsd ($157)

Mass Emailing Software

This software can send up to a million mails daily. It also extracts mailing list from any sites in the world, and from any country. It verifies email lists to check if they valid or not. In addition to ordering this software, we will provide you with 5,000 email contact list that you can use to market your book to. Get it at; http://ning.it/14Wzw87 ($12)

Book Cover Designing Software

Easily create stunning sales inducing book graphic covers for your Amazon & Nook publications in less than 5 minutes flat. Generate more sales, better reviews and more credibility with professional eye-catching book covers that you can create in minutes. Get it at; http://ning.it/16dSLoK ($35)

Watch the tutorial video of this software here; http://www.indiewritersupport.com/video/book-cover-graphics-tutorial-design-your-ebook-cover

List of 4,000 Barnes&Noble members

Get a list of 4155 Barnes&Noble registered book reviewers; http://ning.it/14WNgQb (for $5.00)

Audiobook authors pay attention!!!

Audiobooks are becoming even more popular nowadays with the accessibility of mobile devices (iPods, iPads, smart phones, etc.).  We have done some research for you (Writers, Authors), and we will like to introduce you to some audiobook lovers who will love to know about your audiobook and possibly download it.

People listen to audiobooks when...

1. Spending hours in your car on long trips or on a daily commute to work/school.
2. Exercising.
3. Waiting in doctor’s offices, waiting to pick your kids up from school, etc.
4. Cleaning.
5. Any other time that fits into your life and schedule.

Get a contact list of 891 audiobook lovers / buyers. Must make a donation here; http://bit.ly/1gMKBOj to get the automated download site. The file will be provided to you automatically, immediately after your order is processed.

List of 15,000+ HubPages registered members.

HubPages.com is an open community of passionate people—writers, explorers, knowledge seekers, conversation starters etc. A place where people write for the joy of it. But writing is just the beginning. At HubPages you can create. You can inform. You can interact. You can converse. Publish a well-edited article, and Share and show your interests in a myriad of ways. Over 35 million people explore HubPages every month

We have extracted over 15,000+ HubPages members who show strong interest in Reading, based on these related topics; books, audiobooks, eBooks, novels, creative writing, essays, magazines, newspapers, poems, manuscript, literature etc.

15,000 HubPages members for $15.

GET THE LIST HERE; https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2CC4WG8KZJH4C

The list will be available for you immediately after your payment is processed, and if for any reason you are not redirected to the download link, leave us a note at bookclub@indiewritersupport.com and we will send you the file(s).

List of 20,000+ Read.Amazon.com & Kindle.Amazon.com registered members.

Read.Amazon.com is another site that we recently just penetrated. Chances are, if you have ever purchase a Kindle title, then your name and email address were already added to the Amazon Cloud Reader database.

On Kindle.Amazon.com, anyone can, review and remember more of what you read; follow other interesting readers to see their public notes; manage your read books, highlight your reviews, make notes, and many more.

20,000 Read.Amazon.com & Kindle.Amazon.com members for $20.

GET THE LIST HERE; https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=R5H75E5MV3SFC

The list will be available for you immediately after your payment is processed, and if for any reason you are not redirected to the download link, leave us a note at bookclub@indiewritersupport.com and we will send you the file(s).

If you order any of these lists, you can use MailChimp.com, or the TargetHero.com integrated system that allows you to send up to 5,000 emails at a time without charge. Or you may use this simple instruction given by Judd Miller here; http://bit.ly/1ekS42q

Order our mass emailing software here, that allows you to send out unlimited amount of emails a day, very quick and cheap; http://ning.it/14Wzw87

Simple and effortless, that’s what we strive on.

At Indie Writers Support, our mission is to support every writer, and always bring new materials for people to read/learn. We want to help you writers promote your published book(s) to the maximum, and with these lists and many more to come you will be able to achieve your selling dream, and become a more successful writer in the future.

Have a good day.

CrossLink just published my newest book called A to Z Devotions for Writers. It's now available on Amazon

AtoZDevotionsLargeCover.jpg!

KindleGen for Publishers 

Download Here

KindleGen is a command line tool which enables publishers to work in an automated environment with a variety of source content including HTML, XHTML or EPUB. KindleGen converts this source content to a single file which supports both KF8 and Mobi formats enabling publishers to create great-looking books that work on all Kindle devices and apps.

If you would like to convert your Microsoft Word document, we recommend using this software 

KindleGen is officially supported by Amazon to convert files to the Kindle format. We recommend you use KindleGen to create content that is compatible with all Kindle devices and apps. Files created with third-party software may not work properly on current or future Kindle devices and apps.

Highlights of KindleGen functionality

Support for all KF8 functionality
Generates a single file supporting both KF8 and Mobi format
Support for multiple source formats including HTML, XHTML and EPUB
To convert your Ms Word docs to a perfect kindle format use this application.

System Requirements
Windows XP, Vista or 7

Become a better writer today with StyleWriter, the award-winning writing and editing software that instantly transforms your writing into a plain English style that is clear, concise and readable. 

StyleWriter is an add-on to Microsoft Word to help you edit everything you write into a model of clear English. If you've used Microsoft Word's spelling and grammar checker, you'll notice MS-Word leaves behind grammar errors, style usage mistakes, and incorrect word choices. MS-Word also highlights false errors, especially with the grammar checker, making the process of writing very frustrating.

StyleWriter can help with any type of writing task; this includes technical manuals, business letters, web site copy, press releases, corporate white papers, legal documents, editorials, employee handbooks, and so forth.

Other so-called "writing enhancement programs" and English grammar checkers offer silly advice or duplicate Microsoft Word's existing spell and grammar checker. StyleWriter is different and more powerful than any editing software. StyleWriter marks up your document and shows you how to edit each sentence. You can click on any highlighted alternative to change the text in StyleWriter and Microsoft Word. Alternatively, with one click you can go to Microsoft Word to redraft the word, phrase or sentence. 

StyleWriter is the best word processing writing aid on the market. It teaches you to write in the style of top authors and journalists by checking every document for thousands of style and English usage faults. Many times more powerful than any other writing and editing software, StyleWriter improves your writing style instantly.

StyleWriter mimics an expert editor checking, cutting and rearranging your words to produce a clear and readable style. Even professional journalists and novelists use the program to polish their writing style. 

Download the Free Trial here; http://www.editorsoftware.com/

What you will be downloading is only a 14-days trial version of this software. It will expire after the trial time. You will need to purchase the site-key password (registration code) in order to activate the full version of the product, which can be done here; http://www.editorsoftware.com/