The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

Debra

3 Simple Steps to Create Unforgettable Characters Workshop

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This live interactive workshop happens Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at 1:00 Central time.

3 Simple Steps to Create Unforgettable Characters

Characters that captivate the reader are essential to all good novels. This workshop discusses a 3-step method to build your characters as well as utilizing elements outside the norm such as cultural communication differences and temperament devices like Myers-Briggs and Keirsey. Then putting it all together into a character profile as a guiding document while writing.

Invest in yourself and grow your writing skills.

Register today.

6 Steps to Prepare for Holiday Shopping

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6 steps to prepare for holiday shoppers

Early last month I talked about a selling mindset. I encourage you to read that post again (or for the first time, if you missed it) since today’s post discusses preparing for holiday shopping.

We are approaching a big buying season, and now is the time to prepare. But if you dread marketing and selling, then this season is going to pass you by and your sales will continue to be dismal. Instead, learn what’s behind your dread and learn to overcome it.

Let’s take a brief look at some definitions.

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Budgeting for Publishing Expenses

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Budgeting your money for publishing expenses.

Budgeting—not a task that many like. And I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve always struggled to make a budget work.

The most important part of budgeting is establishing what things cost. We do it in our personal lives by knowing how much the rent, the utilities, groceries, car payment, etc. is each month. Those numbers tell us how much money we need to bring in each month.

And we need to do the same for our author business. Yes, your writing is a business. If you’re just starting out, it’s likely that money you spend toward getting your book ready for publishing is going to come out of your own pocket. That’s exactly how I started.

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What Is Your Selling Mindset?

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Are you excited about selling your books or afraid?

Most writers are thrilled to see their books earn big sales on Amazon. But I can count on one hand the number of writers who’ve said to me, “I enjoy marketing.” For many writers, marketing, aka asking people to buy your book, makes them cringe. Why? This is a question on which you want to spend some serious time to discover the answer.

This dread (or excitement) is what I term your selling-mindset.

Possible Reasons of a Negative Selling-Mindset

Reason number 1: Selling often means getting in front of people in some way, and you’d rather not be seen.

Why not? Are you afraid of something? If so, what? It might be you’d feel rejected if they say no. I want you to dig deep for an answer. If you don’t, that fear is going to continue to control you, and you’ll always struggle with selling your books.

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Amazon Ads and Publisher Rocket

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Amazon ads is one of many ways we can get our books in front of readers. I’ve talked about Publisher Rocket before and how it helps me find the right keywords for listing on KDP and in Amazon ads.

Well, Dave Chesson, the creator Kindlepreneur and Publisher Rocket, has made some amazing changes to this tool along with updating his free Amazon ads course.

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Watch Out for Anachronisms

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Anachronisms are element chronologically out of place.

What are anachronisms? Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online Dictionary defines anachronism as: “a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place especially : one from a former age that is incongruous in the present.”

Anachronisms tend to occur primarily in historical fiction. It happens for various reasons, one of which is the writer failed to do the proper research needed.

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How NOT to Write a Book

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In writing book 3 of my Her Inheritance trilogy, I learned how NOT to write a book…at least for me. Hat’s off to pantsers because I think my recent experience comes pretty close to writing by the seat of my pants.

How NOT to Write a Book

  • DO NOT change your plot after you’ve already written 20,000 to 30,000 words.
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Why are you procrastinating?

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Procrastination costs you more than you think it does.

Procrastination.

We all do it at some point in our lives for one reason or another. For me, it’s usually because I’m faced with doing something I don’t like. I think that’s the reason for many people.

When I stop to think about why I don’t like doing something, there’s often an underlying fear of making a mistake that will impact others.

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