Category Archives: writing

for people who want to write a book, tips, ideas, inspiration and methods to make their journey to published author easier, faster and more successful

WRITING YOUR OWN BOOK IS THE EASY PART

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I hope that title took a few of you by surprise. Yes, writing your own book is the easy part, selling it? That’s when it starts to get interesting. According to Just Publishing Advice, there are about 1.5 million new books published each year on Kindle alone.

So, one might wonder, just how the hell do you get noticed? Someone could write the best book ever written and no one would ever know. I wish that I could say that I have somehow discovered the secret to selling thousands of books, but I haven’t. There seems to be a plethora of experts out there promising to help me do that if I just send them a few hundred dollars, etc.

OK, so I’ve written a few – like the one above among many others. Actually, if you are interested in what else I’ve written, there is a page on this site called BOOKS BY BOB, give it a shot. It doesn’t cost anything to look.

Anyway, I’ve written, published and rewritten 7 books in the past few months and now must move on to something called “marketing.” I spent most of my working life in some sort of sales or client relations position, so you would think I’d know how to sell something by now. Unfortunately, I am going back to school to get me some edumication (sic), and will attempt to make my books more visible on Amazon. A 5-day course starts tomorrow, thanks to the folks at Publisher Rocket.

As some readers of this corner might know, I have completed a 6-book series dedicated to seniors and retirees that offers some ideas about creating additional retirement income. To be more accurate, it offers hundreds of possibilities with all the information needed to put them into practice. I’m pretty excited about that and will most likely continue writing more for this “close-to-home” niche. At least, I will continue writing until golf season starts.

And, just to warn you in advance, I have been thinking and outlining something in the fiction area. No details to share with you yet, but…

WRITE A FRICKIN’ BOOK ALREADY

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Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

I haven’t been around this neck of the woods in a long while. I had plans when I retired to spend much more time on my website with all sorts of interesting and vital information for the world. Yep, the best laid plans…

I have accomplished a couple of things though. Since last August, we have moved back to Calgary – that’s in Alberta not Panama, Costa Rica or Spain, Portugal, Italy or Croatia – maybe next time. Survived Covid, so far. Bought all new furniture and furnishings – please God, never again! Spent 2 weeks in Scottsdale, walking and swimming each day and made time to visit the Grand Canyon and Sedona.

I’ve also written and published 9 new books. This is what I want to preach to you about today. You should write a book, too. Everyone who reads this corner (and I know each of you) has an important reason to create your own book. No excuses. I am going to create a new post in the next few days about all the reasons to write a book of your own, and I will actually turn it into a book.

Many of you are excellent writers but are not clear on how to turn that WORD document into an actual book. It has never been easier and if you are reluctant to use Kindle/Amazon, I have recently been publishing e-books to a new site called SQRIBBLE. If you want to see how easy and fast, you can create your own book for fun and profit – take a look here. It costs a couple of bucks to get set up but there’s a nice discount available at the moment.

More about that later but I just wanted to say hi and give you some food for thought. I read somewhere recently that in order to have a successful following; you need to be confrontational or controversial and have an opinion, thus the title.

WHY SHOULD I JOURNAL

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Relaxing Day, Relax, Tea, Pen, Cup, Mug

This whole Corona Virus thing has many of us nervous and on edge. In some cases, we have decided to self quarantine and now have too much time on our hands. Anxiety about getting sick, or one of our loved ones contracting this disease, has created total panic around the world (toilet paper anyone?). This might be an excellent time to explore the idea of writing in a journal.

We all know people who write in their journals and sometimes wonder why. I have just published a short Kindle book that explores some of the benefits of frequent journaling. Take a look at the preview or send it to someone who might be able to benefit from the habit of keeping track of their dreams and goals. Perhaps it is as simple as tracking our eating or exercise or something deeper – exploring our meditations and mindfulness exercises. Whatever we do in our lives can be improved when we put pen to paper and and express our thoughts, challenges and gratitude.