Showing posts with label bloghop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bloghop. Show all posts

Friday, August 23, 2013

Bravo Writing Community - Thank you! For your Enthusiasm & Guidance

Yes the end of the road is near...

Soon the eBook version of BREAKING CURSED BONDS will be released, and...

I would love to take a breather, but where one road ends - another begins!

Once the eBook is available September 1st, then promotion will be needed, as well as finishing up on the paperback formatting which will be released in November 2013.  I am a new author and self-publisher, and all this work to get the story finished has been a new experience with a wide learning curve.  Anyone who has a story to share can do it, and if your tool belt is rusty just ask for help.
 
My previous lines of work did not involve the same tools needed to write and publish.  I had a lot to learn.

I turned to fellow authors in the writing community, many who were happy to share their experiences and knowledge.

While every journey is unique, I was thankful for all the marvelous people who call themselves writers and authors.
 
In many business formats, competition rules, often cut throat competition.  One thing I have noticed in the modern world of independent publishing is that while there is still competition - it is more of a community of sharing, and collaborating.  We sponsor each other with blog hops, we promote each other's books, platforms, blogs, websites, and anything else we create.  It is a wonderful thing to be involved in a community so sharing and open.
 
There are now groups that help self-publishers like AiA (Assoc. of Independent Authors) and ALLi (the Alliance of Independent Authors).  Of course not everything is always rosy, there have been a few who chose to write bad reviews to stack the deck, but it is at a minimum.  They get called out by the community protests with their Facebook posts, tweets and blog posts.  As a writing community they will not let abuse go on without the outcry for moral and civilized actions.  The individual is still respected as an individual with a unique right to freedom of speech, we are all encouraged to act responsibly and with care.

This profession of writing is evolving to face the new challenges in the free world.

Since the wide world web has given access to so much, we are experiencing new trends.  So if anyone can give real sound advice to a newbie like me it has to be something like this -
 "Keep your eyes open, watch and learn, because it changes fast, and we need to swim with the tide." 
The bottom line is to keep writing, tell your story, share with the community and be true to yourself.

Keep reading! - Keep writing!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

I would like to give a BIG THANK YOU to Daron Henson for nominating me for Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  Please find his blog post at http://newkidintown1995.blogspot.com/
 
Daron was the first person to read and send me a response to my first blog post.  He has been very supportive and he is an active member in the Aspiring Writer's Blogs group on LinkedIn, among other groups.  Daron also writes great short stories, breathing depth into characters, with feelings instead of names.  My favorite so far is  "Not A Tear To Shed" http://newkidintown1995.blogspot.com/2012/05/not-tear-to-shed.html
 

Here are the Rules of the Award Blog:

Display the award logo on your blog post. 
  1. Link back to the person who nominated you.
  2. State 7 things about yourself.
  3. Nominate 15 bloggers to the award.
  4. Notify those bloggers of the nomination by linking to one of their specific posts so that they get notified by ping back.

Seven things about me:

  1. Favorite classical composer is Tchaikovsky.http://www.tchaikovsky-research.net/en/index.html
  2. Favorite world music composer is Yanni, went to two of his concerts.http://www.yanni.com/
  3. Favorite Finnish goth artist is H.I.M. .http://www.youtube.com/user/him
  4. I love all types of Mediterranean foods, and I make a great lental soup.  http://www.mediterranean-food.net/
  5. When I was younger I rode a motorcycle.
  6. My favorite coffee is hazelnut, no sugar.
  7. I love architecture.  http://archrecord.construction.com/
  8.  
     

Fifteen bloggers I nominated  and you should check out:

  1. Neil D. Ostroff  http://neilostroff.blogspot.com/2013/02/so-you-married-writer.html#comment-form
  2. Khanh Ha   http://authorkhanhha.blogspot.com/2013/01/oh-mr-perkins.html
  3. Beth Camp http://bethandwriting.blogspot.com/2013/02/row80-check-in-and-shades-of-gray.html
  4. Kathleen Kaska http://kathleenkaskawrites.blogspot.com/2013/01/mystery-trivia-tuesday-who-is-this-gal_29.html
  5. Jodie Renner http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/2013/02/research-and-realism.html
  6. Sarah La Polia http://glasscasesblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-year-of-self-publishing.html
  7. L K Watts http://lkwattsconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-to-become-more-efficient-writer.html
  8. Leighton Gage  http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-triple-frontier.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FWoas+%28Murder+is+Everywhere%29
  9. Tara Tyler http://taratylertalks.blogspot.com/2013/02/winter-is-on-outs.html
  10. Samantha Stacia http://samantha-stacia.blogspot.com/2012/09/helping-ghosts.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBloomingLateJournal+%28The+Blooming+Late+Journal%29
  11. Christine Henderson http://thewritechris.blogspot.com/2013/02/longing-for-romancewriting-that-is.html
  12. John Austin  http://johnaustinblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/covers-for-books-and-magazines.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FGfBgDK+%28Writers+Welcome+Blog%21...A+John+Austin+blog%29
  13. Maureen  http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2013/02/wednesday-wonder-music-from-garbage.html
  14. Dana Sitar http://danasitar.com/2013/02/04/video-book-trailer/

 I truly enjoyed these posts listed above and hope to keep reading more of these fantastic people's wonderful insights and information.  They are all truly inspiring and helpful to the community of writers. 

Best Regards All  - Elisabeth

 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

What Will You Cross Off Your Bucket List in 2013?


BUCKET LIST CHALLENGE BLOG HOP
With Dana Sitar to celebrate the launch of "A Writer's Bucket List"
http://writersbucketlist.com/challenge

   

HELLO FRIENDS - We all have our BUCKET LISTS

As writers, our lists usually involve publishing a piece of work, our ART. This is the year I plan to release my first novel,

“BREAKING CURSED BONDS”

 
It is a manuscript that has been on my writer's bucket list for a while now!
A work in progress for three years, finally I see the end of the tunnel. 
 

Now only two more items to check off my list in 2013!


#1 Sending free copies to a few choice friends and readers asking for some final feedback, and hopefully a review or two.  I have it formatted, so anyone interested, please send me an email.
 
#2 finalizing my cover design – currently there is a working option, but the final cover is not chosen, hoping for a few more choices.  I plan to use a designer to check the final file and formatting.
 

With all the steps below already checked off, and the last two soon to be done, I am confident I will be releasing the novel this year.  How do I feel about it? - SCARED!  It is difficult to let go.

My first work has been a labor of love, and I have enjoyed the process.  I have two more manuscripts in the works and hope to follow shortly with another release after “BREAKING CURSED BONDS”.  I hope you will enjoy my work in the near future.

 
THE PROCESS:

Working on my manuscript part time while working a full-time job for two years, I am now writing full time. I decided I needed to finish what I began, and give it my best effort.

I have a lot I can check off as accomplished, and that makes me feel good.

ü First Draft Finished

ü Requested Feedback & Comments from First Readers

ü Revised and Added Material

ü Printed and Made Corrections

ü Sent Copy to an Editor

ü Reviewed Editor’s Report and Revised Manuscript

ü Rewrite & Self Edit (this actually was done in a few cycles!)

ü Then it was converted to epub and mobi format to view and edit again, checking how the new material added looked.

ü Then I read it aloud and made more changes to dialogue

ü Again edited and checked for straggling mistakes not caught with built in spell and grammar checks

 
Best of luck to you and YOUR ART! Keep Writing.
 
 

Support our Blog Tour Host:

 

A message from Dana Sitar-

Thank you for your support of “A Writer’s Bucket List” throughout this journey. I’m so excited today to announce the book’s OFFICIAL RELEASE!

You can buy it here: http://e-junkie.com/danasitar

Today through February 12, the book is 30% off the list price. Get “A Writer’s Bucket List” plus a free copy of the DIY Writing “Brainstorming Workbook”, the “Bucket List Workbook”, and “Bucket List Exercises” for $6.95 -- so be sure to share the book today, so no one misses out on the discount!

Saturday, January 5, 2013

CLASSIC READS - Some Things Never Change


Today more people can communicate their thoughts into words and those words can easily end up in books.  It is a liberating time, a cycle of change and freedom.  In many ways it is times like this, with so much change, that we need our classic reads.
 
 
The past few years have been dynamic for authors. There are more writers being published via eBooks and print on demand (POD).  Exposure of existing authors is heightened with the rampant growth of social media and marketing via author platforms. 

The classics help our society remember what we are gauging our future against. 

Classics are a reference to excellence that we can use as a measure of our own success today and in the future. 


The classics prevail over time and language, with truth exposed in the characters and story.  Some basic human truths make a story appeal over centuries.  No matter the date written, the human spirit is visible in a classic, and is readily identified. 

















There are obvious classics which we have probably all read from Homer’s Iliad to Stephen King’s The Stand.  Some classic writers that quickly come to mind are listed below, trying to find at least one author per letter.  There are many more: 



 
 
 
 Agatha Christie
H.P. Lovecraft
John Steinbeck
Sidney Sheldon
 Arthur Conan Doyle
Harper Lee
Jules Verne
Stephen King
 Bram Stoker
Henry David Thoreau
Kurt Vonnegut
Thomas Hardy
 C.S. Lewis
Herman Melville
Leo Tolstoy
Truman Capote
 Charles Dickens
Homer
Mark Twain
Udall, Brady
 Dan Brown
Ian McEwan
Mary Shelly
Ursula Markus
 Dante Alighieri
Isaac Asimov
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Uzma Sadaf
 Edgar Allan Poe
J.D. Salinger
Oscar Wilde
Victor Hugo
 Emily Bronte
J.K. Rowling
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Virginia Woolf
 Emily Dickinson
J.R.R. Tolkien
Philip Pullman
William Blake
 Ernest Hemingway
Jack London
Plato
William Faulkner
 F. Scott Fitzgerald
James Joyce
Quinn, Spencer
William Shakespeare
 Franz Kafka
Jane Austen
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Xavier, Francis
 George Eliot
John Grisham
Ray Bradbury
Yann Martel
 George Orwell
John Irving
Robert Louis Stevenson
 
 H. G. Wells
John Milton
Rudyard Kipling
 


I had difficulty finding a classic author for the letter Z.  I humbly hope someday my name may be used to fill in this gap, not presuming classic status on my part. 
Please in the coming year look for my book debut…  

BREAKING CURSED BONDS by Elisabeth Zguta

Happy reading and writing to us all! 
Best of luck in your 2013 endeavors.

 
Enjoy the clip from the 2009 Wuthering Heights - one of the best versions on screen.  The rest of the clips that follow can be found on YouTube - find listed in my channel.
 
 

View CR2013Banner.jpg in slide show

 

Visit the hoppers!

Participants in the Classic Reads blog hop (#NewClassicReads).