Lorna Faith

Clean Fiction Author

Create A Story You Love Community Survey 2017

by

I’ve been blogging, having fun doing interviews via Podcast and YouTube, for a couple of years now and it’s been a big learning curve ~ but most of all it’s been a lot of fun!

Since I’ve rarely asked for your opinion on this blog before, I thought what better way to start this New Year than to ask you how I could bring you the most value.

Which areas of mindset, writing, editing, self-publishing or marketing do you feel you are struggling the most with?

This survey is open until the closing date of January 11th at 11:59pm EST(I extended it a few days for people who had missed hearing about it).

These short multiple choice questions are aimed at people who have been interacting with me at the lornafaith.com or createastoryyoulove.com website, podcast or YouTube channel for at least 3 months.

To complete the survey click on the image below, or click this link to complete it online.

If you’re part of the regular Create A Story You Love community, please take the short survey below to help me offer you more value and serve your needs better.

I’ll be sharing the results of the survey on a blogpost on January 19, 2017… so stay tuned for that.

Thank you so much for helping me understand how I can improve the posts I write for this website as well as for your insight and ideas on what would be really helpful to you in a writing and self-publishing membership site, which I’m thinking about putting together at some point.

You’re welcome to leave a comment below with any ideas on how I can improve or what you’ve been enjoying about the blogposts, podcasts or anything else 😉

Thanks so much!

032 How to Learn Scrivener Fast with Joseph Michael

by

Subscribe: iTunes | Android

I’m excited to share with you a interview I had with Joseph Michael. You might know him as the Scrivener Coach. Joe is husband and dad as well as a blogger, a creator of digital info products and a creative entrepreneur.

Joseph created the Learn Scrivener Fast online course to help writers understand better how to use Scrivener in their everyday writing.

You can connect with Joe on one of his 3 blogs, JosephMichael.net, BetterBlogImages.com or EfficientLifeSkills.com. You can also find him hanging out on Twitter or Facebook.

In the intro of the podcast, I share some books and book giveaways.

First book that I’ve been rereading is Do The Work by Steven Pressfield. This book really challenges me and takes me beyond my comfort zone as far as work ethic and thinking bigger. If you haven’t read it, you should. Level Up Your Day: How to Maximize the 6 Essential Areas of Your Daily Routine by S. J. Scott and Rebecca Livermore. Learn how to start simple and effective habits that will take you to your goals.

Click Here to Watch the Video Interview

Summary of the Interview:

*Joe tells his story of growing up in a home where his parents were entrepreneurial and his Dad was a business man, always trying new things. So he thought getting out there and trying new things was normal. He knew that he wanted to make a difference, but he wanted the results of what he did to be directly related to how hard he was going to work at it. So by the time he was in High School, after he tired of the mall jobs, he decided, along with his girlfriend(now wife) to start a snow-cone business in the summer. They worked whenever they wanted to and made twice as much as other jobs.

*A couple of years ago, Joe was able to retire from his Corporate job, because of the success he’s had in his online business. He says it feels like he’s a teenager again and able to have fun doing what he loves.

*He started looking to supplement his income on the side. Originally all he wanted to do was make an extra $300 a month. Just to have a little extra cushion and pay off some debts. He said he hated the feeling that someone else held the control over him whether he would have a job in a month or not. So he started looking for pizza delivery jobs to make extra money. But he said he got rejected because he didn’t have delivery driving experience. So he got frustrated and it was at that point he started looking for different opportunities online.

*His blog www.efficientlifeskills.com started because he had a wealth of information from listening to Zig Ziglar and Tony Robins, etc. He was inspired by Pat Flynn when he saw he was making a living online. So he started to research all he could about how to start an online business. That’s how he got his start.

*Joe says his goal is to bring all that he’s learned and break them down and see if anyone else can learn from them. His YouTube video, that was so popular, was birthed out of a real life problem he had with teaching his daughter to tie her shoes.

*He says he wouldn’t have started working on Scrivener to help writers to write faster and better, if he hadn’t originally found a pain point from scanning through people’s comments on Michael Hyatt’s blog. Joe encourages anyone who is creating products or any kind of info product, to really learn the Art of Listening to what people are struggling with and what they need help with. Then go make that product.

*Even though creating the Scrivener was totally different than what he was doing on his blog EfficientLifeSkills, he was willing to pivot. He says as creative entrepreneurs that’s an important skill to learn. Even though what you’re doing might look different than what you originally planned.

*Joe encourages people who are creating products and spend a bunch of time online to listen to the tips from InternetBusinessMastery.com. Put yourself on a information diet and focus only on the strategy you’re working on in that moment. He says you’ll find a way if there’s something you’re passionate about otherwise you’ll find an excuse. He says he sacrificed his lunch breaks to record some of the tutorials on the Scrivener course, and that’s how he found time to get the course finished. Just do the one next thing that’s right for you.

*He says he’s had a few failures, with businesses he started early on … even to the point of burning himself out. At one point Joe said he gave up, thinking he’d need to be stuck in his job until he retired. It was due to those failures, that he started learning what he could do differently. He started to see new opportunities like a science experiment instead of feeling stressed like each new thing was a do or die type of thing. One of his failures was when he wrote a ebook to giveaway on his blog and no one wanted it. His learning point was that he created what he thought his audience needed instead of asking people what they wanted.

*He encourages people to keep testing things, asking questions on their blogs and on social media to find out what people really want. Is what you’re putting out there getting shares? Is it getting likes? What do others say in the comments? What words are they using? If you do that, you won’t be frustrated with wasted time. Listening to people’s pain points is really the Art of Listening.

*Joe recommends the book by Eric Ries, The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. The author talks about creating a minimal viable product and that the quicker you can get that product out the door the better off you’ll be. He encourages people to create something that you can exchange dollars for… often something small to start with.

*Joe talks a little about his online course Learn Scrivener Fast. He originally got the idea when he read that Michael Hyatt used Scrivener for his blogging. In the comments of that blogpost, Joe listened to people talking about how hard it was to learn Scrivener. He saw a need and started to create the course. This course is very easy to listen to and very professionally done. If you’re a writer and you need a great program that shows you how to keep your blogposts in one place or a spot to write your novel where you can also learn how to put your ebook onto Amazon, this is the course for you.

Thanks Joe, for sharing your story and all the tips and inspiration you’ve given today to writers and other creative entrepreneurs.

You can connect with Joe on Facebook or Twitter.

Have you learned the art of listening to people you’re connected with? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments, that way we can all learn from each other 😉

030 How Authenticity Attracts Readers for a Successful Book Launch with Angela Ackerman

by

Subscribe: iTunes | Android

If you are thinking about marketing your book, then understanding how to reach your audience is incredibly important.

Today, I talk with bestselling co-author of the Emotion and Setting Thesaurus, Angela Ackerman. Angela shares tips on how they have attracted readers to their website – writershelpingwriters.net – as well as their bestselling Thesaurus books. You can connect with Angela and learn more tips from her on Twitter or Facebook.

In the Intro, I mention how I’ve struggled and am learning to reach my daily word count goals during NaNoWriMo. Something that’s really helped keep me motivated is reading, writing books and finding other helpful resources for writers like:

Click here to Watch the Video Interview

Angela Ackerman is the co-author of the bestselling Emotion and Setting Thesaurus. Angela and Becca blog together at writershelpingwriters.com and have started the popular membership website www.onestopforwriters.com – where writers can find all the Thesaurus books in one website.

Here are highlights of the Interview with Angela…

  • Angela shares how Becca and her met in an online critique group ten years ago and how their blog and business grew from there.
  • Angela mentions that what they did when they first started their blog, was to encourage comments, to which they would reply… encouraging authentic connection and building relationships.
  • Angela mentions going to blogs and finding authors on Facebook or Twitter who are writing similar books as you  are and begin to connect. Begin building a relationship with people who will become your reading base.
  • She encourages fiction writers to understand who your audience is. Ask yourself, what are your readers looking for? An author who writes romance that is fantasy based is going to have a different reading audience than a contemporary romance author.
  • Find out what makes your book stand out- what makes it different than other books in your genre?

Example: Indie Author Steena Holmes writes books on matters of the heart and most of her books have to do with parents losing their children. She has built up a readership about issues that are important to mothers.

  • Angela gives tips on how to be organized as an Indie author and plan ahead for your cover design, your editing and your book launch so that it’s all ready to go for you deadline.
There's something about your book that's special. Figure out what that is. @AngelaAckerman Share on X

Here’s some links to blogposts and other resources that Angela mentions in the interview:

A Free PDF of the steps they took for their successful book launch of the Rural and Setting Thesaurus

An article by Angela on how to find influencers to help promote your book

An article by Angela on How Authors can Find their Ideal Audience

How to find Data on books similar to what you’re writing in the ‘also boughts’ on Amazon by using Yasiv

Angela and Becca’s routine for a book launch:

1.Sit down and figure out what they want the theme to be – something that will resonate with the book your launching. And something that will attract readers on that topic.

2.Choose your idea and then plan what you need to put in place to carry out your plan.

3.A month or so in advance, reach out to writers and bloggers and ask for help. Make it super simple for people to help. Create a form for people to sign up if they’re interested in finding out more about their launch(find free forms in Google docs).

4.Once you have people’s emails, then break things down and ask what people would like to help with. Example:

5.Create a visual campaign that’s easy and fun. Also that’s available on different social networks. Offer people many ways they can participate.

6.Categorize what people want to help with: Instagram; blogging; Facebook, etc.

For more specific details on their book launch, get your FREE PDF here: writershelpingwriters.net/writing-tools/

Angela encourages writers who are doing their first book launch to…

Breathe and focus on the things you have control over, not on what you don’t. @AngelaAckerman Share on X
  • First, take a deep breath and focus on the things you have control over… not on the things you don’t. You do have control over creating an event that will attract people and on making it simple for people to join.
  • Educate yourself. Talk to authors who have done it – do searches on different authors and look at advertising.
  • Do something new that increases your chances that your book will be noticed.
  • Asking people for help – gather a group of people to help you – is one of the best things you can do.
  • Don’t focus on book sales. Focus on how you can position your event and your book so more people will discover it.

Most of all make your book launch, captivating and creative. Make it fun, easy and entertaining for people to join.

What are some of your tips and creative ideas for creating a successful book launch? Please add your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

027 Tips on Self-Publishing and How to Become a Lifelong Learner with Pamela Hodges

by

Subscribe: iTunes | Android

In today’s show, Pamela Hodges shares how writers and artists can give themselves permission to passionately create the art they love. I was inspired by this chat with Pamela, mostly because it has taken me a long time and writing a few books to begin to believe in myself and to give myself permission to write the stories I love.

In the intro, I share about the book I’m reading now by Alan Watt called, The 90 Day Novel. I’ve been going through the each week’s lessons and the exercises have helped me to write with more freedom and to ask the right questions to discover more of my characters & setting.

A copywriting book I’ve been reading and loving is Love-Based Copywriting by Michele PW. Honestly it was the title that drew me to this book. She shares how to attract people that resonate with what you have to say – to your website, blog, emails and everywhere else. Great book. Also, I chat about  TribeWriters  a course that was the #1 influence for me to start blogging and to write books.

Watch the Video Interview

Interview Summary:

Pamela Hodges is a blogger, author and artist who encourages others to embrace their creativity. She inspires by sharing stories about art, creativity and everyday life with cat barf and seven litter boxes.  You can see more of her blogposts at ipaintiwrite.com or visit her cat Harper’s blog at thecatwhowrites.com.

She talks about how she illustrated, formatted and designed the new book that her cat Pooh Hodges wrote called, How to Be A Cat.  This book is for guys who are tired of going to work everyday and can quit shaving and give away their car… and become a cat 😉

Pamela talks about how she was first inspired to write and create her art when she first joined TribeWriter’s course. Later, Seth Godin’s book It’s Your Turn, among other things, encouraged her to try to go to school to learn Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.

When she first started the class, she didn’t even know how to turn on her computer. But she really wanted to learn how to do this, so she asked a lot of questions and stuck with it.

Trying to be perfect can stop you from creating. Don't let that happen to you. Share on X

Color the Cats: Forty Real Cats from Around the World and Their Stories.

Pamela encourages anyone who wants to begin learning something new that they’re passionate about to…

  • Treat it like a job – even if you have to work many hours at it
  • Set a deadline of when you want to be done – it makes a big difference
  • believe passionately in what you’re doing – in what you’re creating

If as a writer you are doubting your ability, or you are hearing your inner critic tell you “you’re no good a that,” just try it anyway. Maybe it takes you a little longer to finish your project than what it would take others, but that’s okay. It only matters that you get there. That you finish it.

Pamela encourages all writers to read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, to learn how to get past resistance and make space for their creativity.

How do people make room in their busy lives for lifelong learning – to create what their passionate about?

The only way to make room for something is that you have to make a choice.

Is it more important that you find out how the TV series ends, or is it more important to finish

writing that book? Or is it more important to do something with your friends every weekend, or do you need to choose some weekends to stay and finish that project you started, but didn’t finish?

If you want something you need to decide what your priorities are.

Pamela encourages creatives that are struggling with self-doubt, to embrace what you love. You are a writer or an artist when you say you are.

Our value as creative people doesn’t come from outside validation. Rather, it comes from an internal belief that you are who you say you are. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Trying to be perfect can stop you from creating. Don’t let that happen to you.

Treat yourself how you want to be treated. The best friend you can have is yourself. Be kind to yourself. Pamela encourages everyone who has self-doubt to take a big tube of red lipstick and write on your bathroom mirror: Smile sweetheart, you’re great. OR  Hey you’ve got this, I believe in you.

New projects that Pamela is creating: A coloring book called, 31 Days to Joy: Finding Joy in Everyday Life. She will also be writing Pooh Hodges memoir, in a writing class by Marion Roach Smith.  If you want to know more about what Pamela is up to, check out her blog or connect with her on Facebook or Twitter.

Have you given yourself permission and made room in your life to create the art that you love? I’d love to hear your thoughts on that in the comments below 🙂

Malcare WordPress Security