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DIYDay Lesson 22: Formatting Books for Print – How Not To Lose Your Everloving Mind

Hello all my fellow authors and followers! It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so I thought I would post about something that is of immediate relevance to me, as I am formatting an entire series for print. By myself. It’s going very well, though, thank you for asking. =) But it wasn’t as easy the first couple of times I’ve done it, so I thought I would share a few helpful tips and tricks on how to make the process quicker and much less painful.  So, here we go! For the purposes of this post, I will be using MS Word 2013, but these same tools are available in all versions of MS Word, just in different places. If you’re unsure, Google where to find them. 😉

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DIYDay Lesson 21: Graphics Editing – The Evolution Of A Book Cover

There are gifted individuals out there who can sit down at a brand new task and instantly excel at it. The rest of us learn by trial and error. And if we (yes, I’m mostly speaking about myself here) insist on going it alone, there is a lot of trial and error. What I’m sharing today is the evolution one of my self-made covers has gone through. It wasn’t the only one, by any means, but it was the one with the most revision. I do this to show you that sometimes stubbornness, perseverance, and versatility pay off. Most of the time, actually. Sit back, relax, and watch me screw up.

A lot. And then finally get it right. I give you…

 

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To Play Or Not To Play: Writers’ Choice

Dear readers, writers, aspiring writers,  and anyone interested in the writing world,

Brace yourself. You’re about to read a collection of personal tales of horror and deceit. This is the stuff writers don’t usually talk about. We like to pretend we exist on accomplishments and success alone, but that’s not really how it happens. What follows is my cautionary tale to others to be aware and beware. O.o

And the worst part is, it’s all true…

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Soar, Sink, Repeat: The Writing Cycle

**Open with picture of cat to put reader at ease**

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Oh, hai, you’re still with me. 😀 Most excellent! Now we can get started.

Forget about fame and fortune for a moment. Take book signings, launch parties, marketing, social media, and all that other stuff out of the equation. Let’s get down to the actual process of writing a book. Writers often talk about inspiration striking out of the blue, long stretches of writer’s block, and any number of levels in between. Of course, for each one who says this, there is another who says “real writers” don’t rely on inspiration, and you’re not a “real writer” unless you write every day. Truth is, there are as many ways to write as there are writers out there, and the trick is to just find the method that works best for you.

Here’s how I do it. The squeamish should look away.

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