Promote your book with a trailer by AuthorsBroadCast.com

**While this is a paid review, all opinions shared are honest and my own.**

A new trend in book marketing is using book trailers, similar to those used to promote movies. Book covers and other still photography are used to illustrate the story's plot and to introduce the characters to potential readers. Basically, they make the book blurb just a little bit more exciting.

If you follow any of my blogs, you will have seen many of these book trailers over various posts. Most of them consist of words going across the screen, accompanied by music. They only last a moment or two, and hope to get the point across and to entice you to purchase and read the book.

I have to say that I am impressed by the book trailers that I have previewed from AuthorsBroadCast.com. They offer basic promotional book trailers, and then so much more. But these basic promo videos are much more exciting than many that I have seen. The graphics are better and much more exciting. They also do trailers that interview authors, and longer episodes featuring multiple excerpts and titles and marketing tips. All genres, including both fiction and nonfiction, are represented on their site. Check out one of their videos that demonstrate their services:




Peruse their YouTube channel to get a better feel for the book trailers that they have created in the past, and to inspire you to have your own made. Then, visit their website at www.AuthorsBroadCast.com to view featured books and authors, read testimonials, and to see their price list. To make your book successful, it is worth the investment to have quality promotional materials to share on your social media and to embed in your own website.

#AtoZChallenge Creating characters

Creating characters is something else with which I tend to struggle. Yes, you are supposed to write what you know. Your characters almost inevitably end up being a reflection of you in some way. You are a part of them and they are a part of you. I keep finding that I put too much of myself into those characters. I get so wrapped up in their lives as my own, that I get stuck, because perhaps that situation in my life is stuck. I would love to create an alternate universe in which I can get every outcome that I want. But, I'm not sure how healthy that would be.

On occasion, I have come up with completely different characters. I have an early reader chapter book type storyline on which I have been working. Those characters speak to me in their own voices. Unfortunately, the last time that I was working on them, I wasn't at home. Someone deliberately interrupted me, thinking he was being cute. I haven't been able to find their voices again.

Again, I know that if I just keep writing and writing, I will find their voices again. That is part of the reason that I undertook this challenge on *cough* 12 *cough* blogs this year. I am hoping that by having to be more creative on these, I will better lubricate those wheels and channel those characters again.

Thanks for all of the words of support. It's helpful! :-)  

#AtoZChallenge Bunches of beginnings

Does anyone else have these laying around the house?

That is just a handful of the notebooks that I own that hold the beginnings of many stories and lists of other ideas. Every back to school season, I stock up on dozens of notebooks. Most of them end up being used by the students in my classroom. However, I always save a selection for myself. I prefer to use purple, which is my favorite color, but occasionally use a different one for variety.

I know, I know. Holy crap, woman, get busy and finish writing these!

If only it were that simple...

Beginnings are always easy for me. It's the endings with which I have a problem. I often have an outline in mind. A direction in which I want to go. And then for some reason, the characters and the story don't want to go that way. Sometimes, I end up at a crossroads and am not sure which direction is the right one. I have a hard time with that. It's a personal issue. :-P

Now that the first story is actually finished, though, I have more hope of actually getting the inspiration to finish more of these. I am spending more time this spring break week on my A to Z challenges than I had originally anticipated. (Gotta love it when life throws you curve balls that distract you from the task at hand.) I had hoped to get more original writing done. I have also come up with about a dozen new starts. One of these days...  

#AtoZChallenge: Am I an Author?

Ah, the A to Z Challenge is here, yet again. This year, I have added new blogs in order to make some new friends. I also figured this would be the perfect way for me to really kick my butt into gear with writing my own books and stories.

I have been contemplating these posts for a couple of months now, since I launched the blog back in January. I was working on several stories at the turn of the year. Unfortunately, life has regularly gotten in the way and my muse likes to come and go.

I began to question if I was really an author or merely a writer?

To me, a writer writes. It can be blogs, fiction, nonfiction, content, you name it. But an author is someone who actually creates a new world and new people, giving birth to a new creation. I haven't had a shortage of ideas, but could never get them to fruition. Was it premature to start a blog and Facebook page? Was it ever going to happen? Am I a poser for trying to call myself an author?

Finally, last night, I felt justified. I was naughty on Easter Sunday, as I was taking notes in my bulletin on new story ideas that kept jumping in my head. (Should the pastor be happy that someone was still being inspired by her words, even if not exactly in the way that she had hoped?) I had been working on numerous ideas for a couple of anthologies, whose deadlines were midnight last night. Nothing was really flowing, though, and I hated everything I was writing.

But one idea kept spinning around in my brain. Even though I was at Easter dinner with my adopted family, I still spent most of my time glued to my laptop in the living room. I lubricated the writing wheels and just kept at it.

And then, there it was. A fully completed short story. The first one I had finished that didn't require any further additions. I had some of the "family" read it, as well as a couple of friends. With their stamps of approval, I sent it off for submission. There is hope that more stories will reach fruition, especially with this week being Spring Break.

Welcome to new friends from A to Z. I look forward to getting to know more of you!

Now I feel justified as an author.

Even more ideas...

Yesterday, I talked about how I had gone hiking and took a photo that would make a great book cover. I already had a story in mind for it. See, I have a story that is based on real life, and one of the scenes that needs to be fleshed out takes place on that actual trail. Therefore, it was logical to me to make that be the cover.

I did show it to one of my friends as being the photo I wanted to use. Her comment about the picture being more like a trail than me second favorite one actually put different ideas into my head. So, now instead of that story, I have an idea for a different type of book that goes in a completely different direction.

I can't stop the overflow of ideas! The problem is, I also just can't seem to finish one of them. If I don't go with the flow with the most current idea, I will lose it. It makes me crazy, but it is the way that my brain works. I also have this problem in which I have a hard time working on anything that takes a long time. I remember taking a painting class with my dad. I was amazed at the beauty of his oil paintings, but found myself getting frustrated that I would have to wait a week or two before I could add on another layer.

Yet, it is still Winter Break, and I am determined to get something done this week. I keep toying with possibly going out again to walk, if it isn't too muddy after all of the rain we had overnight. We shall see what happens...

Have a book cover, but no book...

Another day gone without writing anything. *sigh*

At least I got some gigs posted up at Fiverr. You know, the site where "For $5 I will..." As of right now, I only have gigs up for helping to promote authors. If you're really curious, you can check them out here. Now, I have been plotting these out in my head and signed up for an account at the New Year, so you can see how far behind I am...

Today was the first actual day off for Winter Break, though. After sleeping away most of the weekend, I finally went out hiking for almost two hours. It was damn cold outside! Below 30 degrees actual temperature. With the sun shining and no clouds in the sky, it felt a little warmer than that. As soon as that sun went down, though, BRRRRRRRRRRR.

So, now I am home again, still a little cold and definitely feeling sore after climbing hills and sliding in the snow. No, I didn't write anything. BUT I took some fun pictures, and I think I found one to be a book cover. Some day. And I think I have a new, fun author pic.

I am not going to ruin the surprise, though, and jinx it by posting them here. Sorry. Just know that they exist! ;-)

Tomorrow is another day...

Such a slacker

Ugh, I feel like such a slacker. The whole point of this blog was to keep myself accountable and to keep the writing wheels lubricated. It has been three weeks since my last post.

That sounded a bit like a Catholic confession...

I guess in a way I am confessing. Yes, I suck. I haven't worked on anything in three weeks. This is the curse of my writing existence. If it is an article with a deadline, I am on it. If it is a book that needs to be reviewed, or some other type of post for a book tour, I am on it. But when it comes to my own stuff...

It has also been quite stressful at work these past few weeks. I teach Montessori for ages 3-6. I adore the kids and what I do, but it is exhausting. I also have a lot of kids with some special needs. That has meant a ton of parent meetings, CPSE meetings, evaluations, and now annual review season. All of those things suck up a lot of time after school, plus I need to keep on top of things for the kids. I come home to read a book to review and then eventually conk out.

I am now on Winter Break. This is a lovely phenomenon in Upstate NY where instead of getting a day off for President's Day, you get an entire week. I love it. I don't usually have big plans. So, I decided that this year, I would focus on my WIP (which is plural, by the way).

I had written a short story, that really needs to be fleshed out into a full-blown novella, back in late December. Two beta readers gave their comments on it. I printed out all three versions of that. I also have a few submissions to Chicken Soup for the Soul that are decent stories but need some serious editing. I have my kids' story started and numerous articles that can serve as outlines and foundations for several nonfiction ebooks. I printed out a ton of this stuff before I left work on Friday, as I have no printer and need to touch pen to paper during the creative process.

Yesterday, I even changed my FB avatar to be Snoopy typing away on his computer. I like to do that when I am writing. And then, I proceeded to take a four-hour nap.

Did I mention work has been exhausting?

It's now just after 11:30 AM. My basketball game starts in a half hour. My hockey game starts in an hour. I have eaten brunch. I have coffee. Perhaps now I shall get to work a little bit.