Author: Rosemary Armel

Indie Authors (more on Smashwords)

~ Rosemary Armel ~ Leave a comment
A group of young children getting ready for an adventure.
Book cover

Here is another perk I like about Smashwords. You can offer a coupon with your book and use it to advertise it where ever you choose. The coupon was available instantly and you can pick how long the coupon is good for. I created a coupon that makes my book free from today until September 5th. Since my book is for children, I like to think of it as a back to school special.

If you would like to take advantage of the free download, you can find the book here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/348392 The coupon code is CL92G I would appreciate a review if you find the book appealing.

Indie Authors

~ Rosemary Armel ~ Leave a comment

This post may be old news for some of you, but I thought I would share my experience with Smashwords. I’m just starting my writing journey with them and found it is quite beneficial to publish with them. The first must do is to read the style guide, which they offer for free. Formatting is a big deal. Another big one is your cover. It must meet their standards, but it wasn’t expensive to do. I bought the image that you see here for just eleven dollars from http://www.Dreamstime.com

If you follow all of their guideline, your story would be eligible for inclusion in their premium catalog. The big advantage is that Smashwords will provide you with an ISBN number at no charge and your book will be distributed to 50 countries as well as being listed with Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony,Apple iBookstore,and Diesel.

I hope this will help some of you are just getting started.

Treasure Hunt Kids right pixels

Travel Writing Contest

~ Rosemary Armel ~ Leave a comment

Summer is on the horizon. Technically it is June 21st, but to me when the pools open and the kids are let out of school, summer has arrived. I found a contest that I would love to read the entries. It is about vacationing at the place you feel the most free. For me it is Ocean City, Maryland. Do you have a place you would like to share?

Here is some information about the contest: http://www.WeSaidGoTravel.com/writing-contest invites you to enter its Travel Writing Contest with $1,000usd in CASH prizes and no fee for entry. The theme for the Summer 2013 contest is “Independence: A Place You Feel Free.” We hope your article will inspire others to travel more and find freedom!  Enter from May 11, 2013 to July 4, 2013.

 

Good luck everyone.Picture 1 folder 059

A Tribute To Mom

~ Rosemary Armel ~ Leave a comment

Picture 1 folder 010Psykopaintedfield

I think one of the biggest tributes to a mother is when you realize that you have become just like her in one way or another. The way she did things are so much apart of you now, that her legacy will continue on for generation after generation. I remember the day I realized that for myself. I would like to share that with you in a short story called Stolen Food.

Using Your iPhone As A Writing Tool

~ Rosemary Armel ~ Leave a comment

youngbusinesman

Have you ever been out and about and thought of a great line to add to your story, but have no way to write it down at that particular moment?

Recently I found a free app that has helped with my writing in a few ways. The app is called Smart Voice Recorder. I can record a moment of inspiration or a quick reminder to change a scene. I also found it useful to record bits of conversation that I would other wise forget. I especially like to capture realistic dialog from other people that I might hear while walking in the mall or other public places.

Reference Tools For Writers

~ Rosemary Armel ~ Leave a comment

research

It’s  good to have a few reference tools at your fingertips when you are writing. When you include accurate details to your story, the story becomes more vivid and feels more authentic.

There is nothing more exciting to a reader than to find something they can relate to because they have experienced, saw, or remembered something similar in their own life. Below are three resources that I find useful from time to time.

Purdue OWL

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/738/
This site has links to dictionaries, manuals, handbooks, libraries, journal and online magazines.
This page contains links and short descriptions of writing resources including dictionaries, style manuals, grammar handbooks, and editing resources. It also contains a list of online reference sites, indexes for writers, online libraries, books and e-texts, as well as links to newspapers, news services, journals, and online magazines.

Refdesk
http://www.refdesk.com
This site has links from soup to nuts information. The list goes on and on. Automated news feeds, facts at a glance, dictionaries, calculators and a large list of other categories.
The American Society for Indexing

http://www.asindexing.org
This site has gathered many reference resources and list has them listed in an A to Z format.

Editing

~ Rosemary Armel ~ Leave a comment

tumbleweed explosion z

You finally finished that book and it looks perfect. You’ve reread it so many times you couldn’t change a word and now your mind is in a whirl. What can I do to make it shine? Am I missing something? I found a free online editor that helps. Their premium service is $35.00 per year which still isn’t too bad for the help you get. You can find it at http://prowritingaid.com/

Writing prompts

~ Rosemary Armel ~ Leave a comment
Little girl with wild hair
Sometimes you feel like pulling your hair out to find that next creative sentence.

Have you ever sat there staring at your monitor wondering where your writing project is going next? Should your main character just jump off a cliff and end it all.

I find stepping away from the project and writing something else helps. Here are a few places where you can get free writing prompts.

http://www.jc-schools.net/write/create.htm

http://creativewritingprompts.com

http://www.inkprovoking.com