<![CDATA[Sunflower Publications]]>https://www.sunflowerpublishing.com/blogRSS for NodeSat, 10 Dec 2022 04:48:28 GMT<![CDATA['Till Death do Us Tweet ]]>https://www.sunflowerpublishing.com/post/till-death-do-us-tweet637a792124c56d6eaf10a6afSun, 20 Nov 2022 21:26:11 GMTwendy Shaw

MASTODON – All You need to Know

What is it?

A decentralized microblogging site named after an extinct type of mammoth was founded by German programmer Eugen Rochko in 2016. It currently has 4.5 m user accounts. It is a crowdfunded nonprofit site. It is still in its infancy compared to Twitter with 238m active users and 1.98b on Facebook but new registrations to Mastodon are growing with 3568 in one hour.

Why Is it Different?

· It is not one cohesive platform but a collection of different independently run and self-funded servers. Volunteer administrators run the servers and join their systems together in a federation

· *There are NO adverts

· *You post ‘twoots’ and not ‘tweets’

· *Twitter limits characters in posts to each post to 280 characters whereas on Mastodon, you can have 500

· *You can EDIT your posts!

What are the Features of Mastodon?

· *You can add links, images and videos as well as audio files

· *Polls and spoiler warnings

· *You can EDIT your Mastodon posts. People who reshare your post get a notification that it’s been edited

· *Hashtags can be used to identify relevant and trending topics

· *You can repost someone else’s toot by ‘boosting it’

· *You have more control over who can see your publications – You decide whether you want them to be fully public or only for users you mention in your post

What are the Negatives to Mastodon?

· *The interface is not as user-friendly as Twitter

· *The lingo can be rather strange and Star Trekish – the servers are called ‘instances’ and Mastodon is described as part of the Fediverse

· *Direct messages are just @username posts not private messages coming in to a DM box

· * It can be difficult for others to find you

· *Your full Mastodon handle will be in the following format once you have joined a server – yourname@servername. Bear this in mind as changing handles is not a simple process

How Can I Find Accounts I Followed on Twitter?

Free apps like Twitodon, Debirdify and Fedifinder can help you track these

How do I Join?

There is no single entrance point. You choose and sign up to a specific server.

Enter a username>email address>password

How do I pick a Server?

To sign up to Mastodon, you have to pick a server. Servers have been set up based on geographical location, subject interest, professional background or any other quirky interest. The Mastodon Servers also called ‘instances’ are individual communities, each with its own rules and culture. Mastodon has more than 7500 servers so what should you look for?

Look at things like the moderation policy, the server age or even how quickly you want to use it.

* Open Registration - Some server sign-ups are instant, requiring an email address and password while others require a manual review process before you can join.

*Think about the experience you want - It can be as general or niche as you want – it’s all about personal preference. Most current users recommend a middle-of-the-road approach ie a midsized community that focuses on a broad interest.

What are the most POPULAR Servers?

– mastodon.social and mastodon.online.

The Mastodon UK server (mastodon.me.uk) is now full but you can join the waitlist

· There are currently 5 Mastodon Europe servers. Some are now full but you can join their waitlist

Mastodon’s Server Search Tool

You can search for the language most used or words included in the server’s description, the most used hashtags in the past week, the number of users etc

Can I Communicate with Someone on A Different Server?

Yes

Can I set up my Own Server

Yes and set your own rules for discussion

Can I join More than One Server?

Yes. You can join as many as you want, follow people across servers, leave or switch at any time

What do I see when I Have an Account?

You will see:-

Home Feed – shows content from the people you follow ( whether part of your server or not)

Local Feed – shows content from the people on your server

Federated Feed – shows content from people followed by those on your server

How do I know that the Site is Welcoming and Safe?

It is the ultimate free speech platform. The technology itself allows anyone to host their independent server and do what they like with it. Law enforcement procedures could close down a server like any other site which breaks rules. However, on Mastodon, when you host your own server, you can decide on your own rules which allows communities to create safer places. Any server which is promoted by Mastodon must agree to a basic set of rules eg no hate speech, no racism, no transphobia and no homophobia. No single person or company can impose their will on the whole system or shut it down

Mastodon is more secure than most social media networks in terms of fraud, bots etc. Given its much smaller size, the platform may even be safer than its rival

What Should I do about my Twitter Account?

You can either deactivate your account or lock it so that your posts are no longer public. However, bear in mind that deleting your account will remove your data from the company’s servers so retaining the account would give you more control

If you deactivate your account – pull out a copy of your archive first. Instead of deactivating it, you could just make it invisible. Twitter Settings>Audience and Tagging>click on the box that says Protect Your Tweets. This locks your account. All new posts will be visible only to your followers but Twitter warns old ones will still be visible. You can go to Notifications and prevent future messages or notifications from Twitter.

If you have not used Twitter for a while, make sure you have multi-factor authentication turned on. Also, use a password manager to create a unique and complex password for your Twitter account. An unattended account is more likely to be hijacked.

If you decide to retain your Twitter account, leave a forwarding address. Drop a Tweet pointing followers to your new home on Mastodon and pin it to your profile

Happy twooting!!!

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<![CDATA[EDIT OR REGRET IT?]]>https://www.sunflowerpublishing.com/post/edit-or-regret-it6296316a7962ed3d17b6d317Tue, 31 May 2022 15:33:04 GMTwendy Shaw

You have written a book but what happens next? Should you hire an editor or a proofreader and can they be the same person? Or can you just edit the book yourself? If you are self-publishing, it can be a minefield if you don’t have much money to spend.

I talked to Amy Scott, founder of Scott Editorial and asked her why editing was so important. Here are some of the benefits:-

1. YOU GET A FRESH PERSPECTIVE

Amy Scott says “the majority of writers can see their story play out like a film in their head before they have put a word to the page. The role of the editor is to make sure that the reader sees it as the writer does. Because the story is so clear in the writer’s mind, it is easy for them to miss important descriptions, or how a character knows certain things. This does not only apply to the imagery, but also to the words themselves. The writer is so familiar with the text and what it should say, that as they read through, if a word is missing, their mind automatically fills in the word, without pointing out that there is an error.

2. AN EDITOR HAS A SET OF PROFESSIONAL EYES

The editor is essentially your first reader, but also a professional who can guide you through the rules of writing. Pointing out tips and tricks that have been used so well in published books which the writer has read, that they didn’t realise were there.

Anna Cale

(Article Written for Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading)

Anna says “As a freelance arts and culture writer, I think I am generally pretty good with words. But I also have to be professional. I always hit my word count, I submit my work to the agreed deadline and, importantly, I am open to feedback. Most of the time, anyway.

My experience of the editing process was a positive one. It felt like a constructive working relationship built on respect, with a balance of acceptance and compromise to reach a shared goal. We both had the same thing in mind – for me to produce the best book I possibly could.

It was about respecting each other’s knowledge. I was the subject matter expert on the topic, but my editor was the expert on how to present that idea for publication. Any spelling, punctuation, formatting or grammar changes she made were a given for me. I knew my editor would be bang on with that stuff, and I accepted those changes largely unchallenged. Anything more substantial was raised with questions or suggestions. I didn’t always accept those ideas but did explore them within the context they were given to me.

It was a long process. We navigated the journey from a rather long Word document to typeset PDF, with considered discussions over how best to present the appendices, the bibliography and filmography. The index was a pain, and I realised along the way that my grasp of the alphabet was not as hot as I had previously thought.”

3. HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU PAY?

It depends greatly on the service you want. Freelance editors generally charge on a word count basis and their rates depend on what service you want. The Chartered Institute suggest the following approximate hourly rates charged by editorial professionals with training in the core skills and some experience. Some people charge more than these rates, and some charge less.

,,https://www.ciep.uk/resources/suggested-minimum-rates/

Ultimately price is a business negotiation between the parties. Each job is different and the price is influenced by various factors, such as what needs to be done with the text, how quickly, the subject, format and publishing sector, and how experienced the editor is.

4. WHAT QUALITIES SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN AN EDITOR?

* Fast

* Efficient

* Effective

* Friendly and helpful

Someone who:-

* Works in a highly focused way and identifies small details

* Provides a good quality service

* Meets deadlines

* Concentrates on the positives, rather than the negative

Most freelance editors or editing companies will provide a sample edit of about 100-2000 words to assess the manuscript. Check out the profiles of suitable editors or choose one with the best experience in your genre and send out some samples of your manuscript.

Compare prices. Are you happy with their level of professionalism? Did they respond quickly to your emails? Once you decide on an editor, ask for a written agreement of what service you require. Are there any additional costs? What is their complaints/feedback policy? When will the work be complete? Be clear!

5. WHAT TYPE OF EDITING DO YOU NEED?

1. Developmental Editing

Looks at the content structure and presentation of the manuscript or it could occur after the first draft has been written, when a publisher may ask an editor to make substantial changes, including restructuring or rewriting part of the text.

Do you need this? Not if you are happy with your manuscript

2. Structural Editing

This also looks at the overall structure and content of the book but here the editor makes the changes for you. A structural edit considers all your objectives as an author such as your readers, how you want to promote your book and what you want the book to achieve. The editor will restructure your book to fit your vision

3. Line Editing & Copy Editing

Line editing, sometimes called stylistic editing ensures that your sentences are as effective as they can be. An editor should be mindful of the writer’s individual style. A copy editor ensures that the language follows the rules of standard English and adheres to the publishing house style guideline.

4. Proofreading

This is the final step and will identify any typos, spelling, missing punctuation issues, and contextual inconsistencies.

“Editing is like killing your book and then bringing it back to life very slowly!” HAPPY EDITING

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<![CDATA[Book Blog Tour - Everything you need to know!]]>https://www.sunflowerpublishing.com/post/book-blog-tour-everything-you-need-to-know6187bc25dd1492001721a508Sun, 07 Nov 2021 12:55:52 GMTwendy ShawWhat is it?

It’s a marketing strategy frequently used by self-published authors when launching new books. Essentially, it’s a virtual tour by an author, around a number of blogs.

What Constitutes an Online Book Tour?

Virtual tours consist of a number of different content formats, including:

· Guest blog posts

· Articles for your blog

· Interviews

· Emails

· Radio and podcast appearances

· YouTube videos

· Book reviews

· Book giveaways

· Social media contests

· Webinars

· Book excerpts

· Live chats in both video and text format (e.g., Facebook Live, Google Hangouts, Facebook Events, Twitter Chats, etc.)

The goal is to obtain as much coverage of your book release as possible while remaining relevant to both yours and your host’s audience.

When it the best time to do one?

Run a blog tour in the week before your publication date to get some online publicity ahead of the launch event. By sending your book out to bloggers in advance, you’ll get their reviews and can include some of their testimonial words on your website and author pages. However, if you’ve already published then it’s not too late. You can still arrange a blog tour for a book that was published a while ago because the bloggers’ interest will increase the visibility of your book on social media.

Can I Organise my Own?

Yes! Have a strategy, do your research and plan it well! Here is a list of ‘to do’s from the beginning of your tour to the end!

1) Identify your ideal reader. When you know precisely who you want to connect with, you will be able to narrow down which blogs to reach out to.

2) Connect with bloggers that have an active community. It won’t do you or your book any good if no one is reading the blog or taking part in conversations. See how often they post on the blog, if there are comments on their posts, and if they have shares/likes/comments on social media.

3) Create a list - find at least 10-20 bloggers to start with and compiling them into a list. Not all of them will work for you, so gather more than you’ll need.

4) Determine your resources. Bloggers might request different information and resources from you to be featured. Some might want you to write a guest blog post, others might want to review your book, and some will do a quick Q&A.

5) Create your content – you may need to write additional content, answer questions they submit, and decide what chapters you would like to use as excerpts.

6) Design a blog tour poster which includes the author bio and any other marketing material. Include an image that you can share that has the blog stops for your tour along with the URL for each stop.

7) Work out a time frame. Establish a potential start and finish date. How long a blog tour lasts really depends on how much time you can dedicate to it.

8) Contact your bloggers giving plenty of notice. The more established book bloggers are usually “booked” up at least 3 months in advance

9) Stay organised. Good organisation helps make sure that everything goes smoothly.

10) Consider giveaways. Free incentives can help get your book in front of new eyes - who doesn’t love to win something? And bloggers love to give things away to their readers.

11) Announce the tour. Once you have several blog stops confirmed, announce the blog tour on your website, newsletter, and social media. Create an image that you can share that has the blog stops for your tour along with the URL for each stop. Tag people to RT or share

12) Follow through the delivery. Be considerate of each blogger’s schedule and send your post and information at least a week ahead of time. Considering their schedule (and timeframe) is key in creating lasting relationships with these bloggers, which will help the next time you want to do a blog tour. Make sure you send an email of thanks!

Do I Pay my Bloggers?

No. No money changes hands between authors/publishers and bloggers. If you have hired an organizer, then they will be paid for the actual administration involved, but bloggers take part voluntarily.

How Long is a Book Blog Tour?

3 to 14 days? Depends on how many bloggers accept the invitation to read your book and get involved. Each blogger is given a specific date for when they’ll write a piece about your book. If your book is in a popular genre, you could have a longer two-week blog tour, where you might get two reviews hitting social media per day. The bloggers will happily share their review, although you can’t specify the time, because it has to fit around their other commitments.

Should I Hire a Book Blogger Organiser?

It’s your choice. You will have to pay for blog tours, but you’ll usually get your book in front of targeted readers for your genre. Each service is different, and a blog post, cover reveal, or author interview won’t necessarily send you shooting up Amazon’s charts, but it could get you some visibility. And considering someone has to see your book 7 to 8 times before they buy it, this is a good thing.

Where Can I Find a Book Tour Organiser?

Check out the organiser bio and packages offered.Make sure its the right package for you

Here are some examples of book blog tour organisers and prices.

Prices range from a 3-day tour (£80) with 7 hosts to a 14-day (£250) with 14 to 56 hosts. (at at Oct 2021)

Kelly ,https://lovebooksgroup.com/love-books-tours/

Anne ,http://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.com/

Suzy https://suzyapprovedbooktours.com/

Mary Anne https://www.coffeepotbookclub.com/

What will a Book Blog Tour do for me?

·* It gets the word out from the people that matter - passionate readers!

* It will drive some early sales directly, but more importantly than that, it puts a new book on people’s radar – so that when they subsequently see it in a book shop or an Amazon offer, they remember it’s something that’s already piqued their interest. In the same way, a good blog tour is an excellent brand building exercise for debut authors.

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<![CDATA[Creating an Author Platform]]>https://www.sunflowerpublishing.com/post/creating-an-author-platform603a53e0dfb8c4001757d728Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:27:43 GMTwendy ShawWhat is it?

Basically a channel for anything you do offline or online to create visablity and credability. It’s about your ability as a writer, your contacts, your expertise, your books, your personality.

Why do I need one?

An author with an established audience assures that booksellers will take notice of the book, that the book will likely get media attention (audience feeds more audience), and that there are likely fans who will immediately buy the book—all good for the publishing business. If you wish to pursue a more traditional way of publishing, then publishers and agents are more likely to take on writers with credentials and who are visible to their target audience.

How Long Does it Take to Build one?

Take it slowly and build it up, layer by layer. Think of it as a marathon and not a sprint. Even if you have not yet written or finished your first novel, start thinking about a business plan for how your author platform and your book promotion can generate income for you. Your book writing and your platform building needs to be self-sustaining.

Where Do I start?

1. Your expertise. Validate what you are about and who you are

2. Your books. An ebook, paperback and ideally an audio book but not completely necessary available to download on various online platforms or to buy.

3. Be clear about your target readers. What genre you are writing about? Who might want to read your books? What age group might they be?

4. Define your brand. How might your audience perceive you? A solid brand identity can be the critical groundwork for developing customer loyalty, customer retention, and a competitive advantage. ( I will be looking at BRANDING next week and offering advice and tips)

5. Stick to your schedule. It’s about follow-through and the ability to stick to a commitment to create content. It’s about consistency, and showing up even if it seems like no one is listening.

6. Publish some articles or blogs using one of many open source (CMS) Content Management Systems like WordPress, Medium or Tumblr. Find some local or national forums and ask if you can write some guest posts. Having your articles published exposes you to new readers and can be helpful in extending the potential reach of your next book.

7. Join organizations that share your values and can help promote your work or attend some writing conferences.

8. Don’t forget to write a business and marketing plan.

Do I Need an ONLINE PLATFORM?

YES and YES!

1.Create A Website.

You can either pay someone to do this or adopt a DIY approach. Register a domain name with a domain registration company like 123 Reg and then use a classic template website builder. The current top 5 are Wix, Weebly, Square Online, Go daddy and JIMDO. Even if you just have one page, it’s a start! All you need is a short bio, your author name and the name of your books. I tend to buy the domain name first, build the website then transfer the domain name over but most of these website builders can supply with a domain name

2. Blogging

I have already done a blog on this so please refer back to my previous blog!

3. Build an email list

Get people who look at your website to suscribe to a mailing list. These are your readers. It builds up your relationship with potential customers. When you release or market a new book, you should expect see a spike in sales. I like aweber which provides email marketing but you can choose Campaign Monitor, Active Campaign, Hubspot Marketing and many others.

3. Use social media wisely

It can be rather overwhelming so be selective. There is no definitive – you must post on twitter, you must post on instagram. It is probably better to pick to two and stick to those. Post regularly. Social media marketing is about about engaging with your readers to get shares. Shares lead to follows. Having a u-tube channel is good to promote yourself, maybe make some short promotional videos about your books.

4. Link any social media accounts to your website

Increase website traffic. Position your social media buttons at the top of your website. Having links will improve your online presence and ranking in search results, helping your audience to find you.

Please contact me with any queries or if you need any help!

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<![CDATA[To Blog or Not To Blog -that is the question!]]>https://www.sunflowerpublishing.com/post/to-blog-or-not-to-blog-that-is-the-question602a2fe2bab33a0017cdd240Mon, 15 Feb 2021 08:35:34 GMTwendy ShawHOW/WHY/WHEN/WHO

What is it:

A blog (web log) is simply an online diary or journal located on a website. Generally, you are writing about yourself so make it real, make it interesting, make it count!

What’s in it?

Anything! Your thoughts, opinions, advice, your current projects! Photos, animated GIFs, videos. Even scans from old physical offline diaries or journals and other hard copy documents.

Who might read it?

If you just want to blog for yourself and close friends, you can set your blog for private access but if you actively want to engage with your readers and general public, you can set the blog for public access

Should I have a blog on my website?

YES. Blogging plays a crucial part in reaching your audience. When a blog is made publicly accessible, anyone can find the blog through links available on your website, their social media profiles, emails and e-newsletters and online keyword search engines

Will a blog help me get more readers?

YES. A blog creates and strengthens the bond between you and your readers. They learn about you.

A blog increases website traffic and your SEO (search engine optimisation)

You can set up a blog on a dedicated website devoted to the creation, storage and sharing of blogs, such as Blogger, LiveJournal, Tumblr and WordPress

How long should it be?

* If you want more comments, then write a short almost discussion-based post.

Approx. 275 words

* If you want more shares on social media, then consider what you are writing about, the quality of your writing and the size of your readership base

Approx. 600-1250 words

* If you want a big bump in search traffic, then write a long authoritative post. You probably wont get many comments but search engines love these. Just make sure you are writing about something that people really want to read about!

Approx. 1000-1500 words

How often should I blog?

Depends!

Frequent posting is a good idea if you have a loyal and engaged audience who visits your site regularly. Having fresh new content on a daily basis will encourage them to visit your site as part of their daily routine BUT it would be too hard to sustain a daily blogging schedule, You run the risk of dreading it instead of loving it and you may lose quality of content.

Recently, bloggers have moved away from daily frequent blogs to posting once or twice a week, even once a month. Its just too much for people to read.

As long as you say something useful and valuable, your readers will appreciate your blogging schedule, no matter what it is.

10 things you didn’t know about blogging!

1) There are more female bloggers than male bloggers

2) 53.3% of the total blogging population are aged 21-35 while only 7.1% are over 50

3) The USA has 4 times as many bloggers (29.2%) than the UK ( 6.75%)

4) 71% of WordPress sites are written in English.

5) Blogs have been rated as the 5th most trustworthy source for gathering online information

6) The average blog post takes 3.5 hours to write

7) 77% of internet users read blogs

9) 77 million new blog comments are generated by readers each month

10) Titles with 6-13 words attract the highest and most consistent amount of traffic.

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