Tools and Tidbits for Writers: Autoresponders and Growing Email Lists #toolsandtidbitsforwriters #growyourlist

 

Tools and Tidbits for Writers
#toolsandtidbitsforwriters
by JQ Rose

Hello and welcome! 

Today on Tools and Tidbits for Writers, we're talking about building an email list filled with folks who are interested in you as a writer. But why bother? How do you find people wanting to be on your email list? Once you have the list, how do you send a large number of emails without getting in trouble?

Well, let's dive in. Feel free to ask questions and/or share your experience with email lists in the comments section below.

Why do you need an email list?

I thought having an email list was not necessary until many experts explained that the connections I have on Facebook or Youtube and my free blog could easily be broken because I don't have any real estate on those sites. What if FB or YouTube went out of business? Just this summer, Blogger which is the home of this blog, decided to abandon using RSS feeds to let my subscribers know when a new blog post was published. That hurt. I have installed follow.it hoping subscribers will come back and follow me again.

About 2 years ago, I signed up with mailerlite to be my email responder, also known as an autoresponder. I send my monthly newsletters through mailerlite thanks to a heads-up from my author friend, Juneta. There are so many companies that offer this service with a free membership up to a designated amount of emails. Once the list hits their maximum, such as 1000 emails, they will charge for the service.

Constant Contact, Aweber, Mailchimp, sendinblue and more are some of the most recognized names for emailing, landing page creations, promotions, etc. Autoresponders could be another blog post topic!

Once you decide you do want to offer a monthly or weekly contact with friends, family, readers, you can join the autoresponder company, and they will compile the addresses. This connection is usually in the form of a newsletter. 

The Rose Courier

I suggest you not refer to it as a newsletter. Another newsletter filling up the inbox will erase the idea of subscribing to another one. The title of my surreptitious newsletter is The Rose Courier. Think of something catchy to get their attention and curiosity stirred up, and not a reminder it is actually a newsletter e.g. Jan's Newsletter or Newsletter from Jan.

Newsletters can be fun to put together and an entertaining piece that is fun for readers to enjoy photos, articles, jokes, quizzes, polls. It doesn't have to be a dry old letter shouting "buy my book." 

HOW DO YOU GET READERS' EMAIL ADDRESSES?

I know, it was a puzzle to me too as to how to direct people to join the list. Don't worry about that. The autoresponder directs you through the setup. Then gives you a link so when people click on the link they subscribe to your list. This does take some study and watching tutorials, but I believe having the ability to connect to readers whenever you wish is worth the effort (and even the hair-pulling!)

TIP: You probably have friends' and acquaintances' email addresses. Do not add people to your list without their permission.

HOW DO YOU GROW AN EMAIL LIST?

Once you have your friends and family on the email list, how do you grow that list? That is the question! 

1. Many experts in the field suggest giveaways, also referred to as freebies, lead magnets, reader magnets (or bribes) to connect with readers. A giveaway can be about anything pertaining to your writing, teaching, speaking, business. Just don't make it something you spend hours and days on creating. It can be a checklist, an article, an excerpt or a chapter of an eBook (such as the first in a series of books). When sending the freebie, a note will accompany the gift inviting the person to join your newsletter. So, in exchange for the gift, the person gives up his/her email address.

A lot of testing is needed to discover what giveaway works in getting readers' attention. So, create more than one. You can have several giveaways going at once.

I must admit I have not done this giveaway idea because experts explain that a lot of the email addresses are just there to get a freebie. They will probably not be active, so if you are paying the autoresponder to send an email, you are wasting your money. What is your experience with giveaways?

2. Authors XP offers a paid program for growing email lists. Click here to find out all the ways they can help you build your list.

3. Use a sign-up sheet at events such as author talks, book signings, festivals, any in-person events, but be sure the person knows they are subscribing to your newsletter with the ability to unsubscribe after receiving it.

4. Include the link to the newsletter in your email signature.

5. Spread the word on social media.

6. Make it easy to sign-up on your blog.

7. Be a guest on a blog, podcast and YouTube shows.

8. Swap newsletters with an author who writes in your genre or field.

9. The old-fashioned way of getting the word out--word-of-mouth. Ask friends to tell their friends about your newsletter.

And yes, reaching out to people to sign up for your newsletter is similar to marketing a book. Use all the resources you have.

Thank you for stopping in. 

I just happen to have the link to sign up for the Rose Courier below. I'd appreciate a chance to deliver it to your inbox once a month. In fact, this Friday is delivery day. You can unsubscribe if it is not for you.  Thank you for your consideration.

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Click here to sign up to receive 

updates, articles, freebies, photos and fun in the Rose Courier. 

UPDATE:

Girls Succeed! Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women
by J.Q. Rose

UPDATE: Girls Succeed! The paperback edition is now available in COLOR!  And it is gorgeous. 

Thank you, Amazon, for offering authors the opportunity to easily publish paperbacks and hardcovers in color. 

The inspiring book is for middle-school girls. I know they will appreciate the colorful photos of the amazing women within the pages.

The paperback is available in black and white or in color. Click here to order a copy this Christmas for the girl in your life. 

Enjoyed this post? 

Click here so you never miss out on future Focused on Story blog posts.

Thank you.

Tools and Tidbits for Writers: How to Create Videos for the Non-Professional Video-maker, Hocus-Pick It Trick or Treat Contest #HocusPickIt #Toolsforwriters

Tools and Tidbits for Writers
#toolsandtidbitsforwriters
by JQ Rose

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Hello and welcome! 

Today on Tools and Tidbits for Writers, we're talking about creating videos. 

Getting into the spirit of Halloween, I have no tricks, but I do have a reading treat for you after the info on videos. Terrific! (Okay, enough with the T words already...)

Coffee Time Romance Hocus Pick-It Trick or Treat Contest
October 12- October 31

Enter to win an eCopy of my terrifying, paranormal novel, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard or one of the other eBooks in the contest. Read an excerpt following the blog post and discover how to win a gift certificate when you take part in the Hocus Pick-It contest sponsored by Coffee Time Romance and More magazine. Plus you will discover new authors and eBooks for entertaining reads this fall.

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How to Create Videos for the Non-Professional Video-maker (like me) by J.Q.Rose

I am no expert at making videos, but I am learning because the people-in-the-know tell us videos keep visitors on a page longer than just text or photos. Look how popular Reels on IG, FB Live and YouTube are. Even Canva.com has added video-making for their paying customers. Authors need to embrace videos in order to gain more exposure for their books.

I love re-purposing my videos. I can add them to my blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, newsletter because those are the places I go to find my audience.

If you are camera-shy, you can make videos using slides/pictures without showing your face. I would advise you have a photo of you on one of the slides so people will see you. Viewers like to feel connected to you.

Here are a few of the tools I use for making videos:

*Facebook Live

*YouTube

*Streamyard

*ZOOM

*Powerpoint

Facebook Live--I have become more comfortable with this program. I hate to admit I use it most often inside my FB group, Telling Your Life Story and Memoirs Circle. See how cleverly I mentioned that group?? I am more comfortable there and my members are forgiving. If I like the video, I will download it and then upload the video to Youtube and other places. From what I have read, Facebook likes to have "native" videos and plays them more often than videos uploaded from YouTube.

YouTube--Speaking of Youtube...According to the article at Forbes.com, it is the "second-largest search engine on the Internet." Click here to read the article. Now that reach means we should all make an effort to use YouTube consistently for book marketing. It also has an easy-to-use editing program and free music to add to your videos. I am in the process of creating new channel art for my channel using canva.com. They have templates if you choose to use them. And guess what? There are lots of videos on YouTube on how to create that cover for your channel.

Streamyard--The bottom third of the video is valuable. Streamyard provides the banner to use to add the link your website, links to books, links to FB groups, etc as you talk. When doing a tutorial, you can put the talking points on the banner. It takes a bit to get the hang of talking and remembering to actually get the correct banner on the bottom third though. !!

ZOOM-- I imagine you have some experience with ZOOM as an attendee for a class or meeting or family get-togethers during this time of COVID. I have taught workshops on ZOOM, but I have not personally recorded on ZOOM to use as a video, but I plan to. I like the idea of the easy screen-share and seeing the presenter at the same time. This can be done on Streamyard also, but they suggest using two monitors. I finally have two monitors, a second-hand one from my nerdy grandson. (He won't mind if I call him a nerd. He's happy to be one and so am I.) So I may experiment with that and will update you when I do.

Powerpoint--I must admit, this is my go-to program. Probably because I have been using it for a long time. I use it for teaching and for travel videos. There are all kinds of tutorials for PowerPoint, so I won't try and teach it to you. (I'm still learning too!) On Office 365, design ideas for your slides are provided for you. That really helps to make eye-catching slides. I also like to add music and narration to add a more professional feel to the show.

The easiest way to make a video is to turn on the camera on your phone and just talk. Then upload the video to Youtube or other places like FB Live.

Please consider using video. Yes, it's a learning curve and kind of scary. But once you try it, and delete it if you wish, keep going. You will feel more comfortable the more you do. Remember "practice, practice, practice."

Do you make videos? Drop your Youtube channel link in the comments so we can visit you there.

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Coffee Time Romance Hocus Pick-It Trick or Treat Contest
October 12- October 31

Want to get into the "spirit" of Halloween? Good spirits that is--friendly and fun during the Coffee Time Romance and More Hocus Pick-It Contest. You can win a gift certificate!

Click here to learn more about the contest!!

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose

Paranormal Suspense

Excerpt: Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by JQ Rose

A few nights later, Mr. Tweeble woke up with a start when his dog Jingles began barking loud enough to wake him even if he wasn’t wearing his hearing aids.

“Jingles! Jingles! Hush up, will you? It’s three o’clock in the morning. You’re going to wake the neighborhood with your barking.”

He remembered Jingles barking and whining like that when he drove his electric scooter near George McConnell’s house that afternoon. He had to finally pick up the feisty terrier and put him on his lap to join the other curiosity seekers near the house. The dog jumped off and raced the other way until he was brought up short on his leash. He howled until his master turned the cart around and left the area.

Jingles’ pitiful yowling broke into Mr. Tweeble’s memory.

Fearing his dog was sick, Mr. Tweeble rolled himself out of bed, fumbled putting on his glasses, and shuffled into the kitchen. Using the night light in the hood vent over the old stove to see the dog, he discovered the animal scampering back and forth near the back door.

“Jingles, come ‘ere, boy. Are you sick?” Mr. Tweeble picked him up and gently held the dog close to his chest. He switched on the ceiling light and studied the precious face he dearly loved. He checked Jingles’ brown ears and his brown and white furry body for any injuries and then cradled him to his rotund belly.

“It’s all right, little guy. Come on. Come on to bed with me. You must want to go out to chase a rabbit, eh?” As he slowly shuffled his way back to his bedroom with the dog, he wondered what was wrong. Mr. Tweeble made a mental note to check behind the couch for an “accident” in the morning.

He lay down on the rumpled bed and enfolded the trembling dog in his arms. Suddenly, Jingles wriggled free and sprang up barking non-stop. He leaped from the bed and raced out of the room. A flash of searing yellow light filled the room blinding Mr. Tweeble. The smell of his own scorched flesh burned his nostrils.

Meet Jingles

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Still time to sign up for the October edition of the Rose Courier to be delivered to your inbox this Friday, October 15. Contests and photos and news! Oh my!
Click here to get your copy.

Tools and Tidbits for Writers: How to Add Photos to Instagram from Your PC #Writerstips #Socialmediatips

Tools and Tidbits for Writers
#toolsandtidbitsforwriters
by JQ Rose

How to Add Photos to Instagram from Your PC 

by JQ Rose

 Do you use Instagram on your phone? Yes, I do too, but I was disappointed I could not access photos on my PC and post them on Instagram, especially since I wanted to share old photos from the '70s. They make fun posts about my memoir, Arranging a Dream.

So I looked into finding a way to easily place the photos from my computer into my IG feed. And I found this one! You will save the time spent on uploading your photos to your cell phone.

Read on to discover how to post to IG from your computer using the Chrome browser: (instructions for Safari available below)

1. Bring up Instagram.com on your computer.

2. Click the three dots in the Chrome browser located in the top right corner of your screen.

3. Scroll down on the drop-down menu to "More tools" then click "Developer tools" at the bottom of that second menu.

The red arrows point to the More tools area and Developer tools area

4. A page with a lot of gibberish on it will cover the right side of your screen. Look at the top left side of that page. Hover over the second icon to find the "Toggle device tool." Click it. The left side of your screen brings up the mobile view--or I say cell phone view. If it does not come up after the click, refresh your page.

Locate the toggle device tool

5. Now you add a post to your IG page just as you do on your phone by clicking the + sign.

As you know, the Internet and technology are always evolving, so your screens may look different from mine. At this writing on July 12, 2021, this information is correct using my PC. 

If you use the Safari browser, Click here to check out the directions to add photos to IG from your PC at this link. Thank you to Hubspot for this information as well as how to add videos to IG from your PC.

Do you ever wish you could add photos from your PC files to IG? Please leave a comment below. You are welcome to add more information to this post. 

Update on adding computer photo files to IG: Since penning this blog post, I discovered this morning an easier way to add the photos. I must have had an update on my computer screen for IG because now I see the + at the top of the screen near the home icon. . Really? I just opened up instagram.com and this screen appeared. You too? Click the + to add your photo to IG! EZ-PZ. 

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UPDATES:

At the Newaygo Library presenting my Life Storytelling Workshop on July 10, 2021

**I had a blast with the ladies at the workshop on Saturday. Such a gorgeous July morning in Michigan, and yet, these committed ladies still showed up to learn about writing their life stories and memoirs. Lots of sharing and laughter. The oddest moment of the day was when I gave away a copy of my journal, My Life Writing Journal. The person with a Fourth of July birthday would be the winner. But no one's birthday was July 4, no one in July, nor in August, nor in September until February!! And that person had already won the prize, Your Words, Your Life Story: a Journal for Sharing Memories. Graciously, she allowed someone else to receive the prize--the person who had come the shortest distance to the library. The winner just lived across the street! 

Thank you to Kelly Tinkham, Newaygo Library Director, and to the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs for hosting this workshop!

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Mysteries and Memoir from JQ Rose

Half-Price Sale at Smashwords

** BWL Publishing is celebrating summer with a half-price book sale at Smashwords through July 31! Click here to find my mysteries and memoir as well as the authors at BWL Publishing to add to your summertime enjoyment! Thank you!!

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The Rose Courier

Click Here to receive updates from J.Q. Rose, articles, 

newsworthy events, giveaways in the Rose Courier. 

The Courier will be delivered to your inbox this Friday, July 16.   

Thank you!!

Tiny tidbits post use instagram on the pc

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/post-to-instagram-from-computer

Tools and Tidbits for Writers: A Baker's Dozen of Websites for Writers

 

Tools and Tidbits for Writers

Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story Blog.

Sometimes we need a break from writing to re-charge and think. Today I listed a baker's dozen of websites to inspire you, teach you, and to make you think about your writing. They are in no particular order and I didn't explain each one because I want you to go and find out what they have to offer. Curious? I hope so.

Click on each site and group to discover what they offer. Have fun! Let me know which ones you found helpful.

A Baker's Dozen of Helpful Websites for Writers by J.Q. Rose

The Creative Penn

Joel Friedlander's The Book Designer Sadly, Joel passed away in May 2021. He left writers a treasure of knowledge in his articles available on his site.

Women on Writing  

K.M.Weiland- Helping Writers Become Authors 

Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) 

WritersDigest 

Joan Y. Edwards 

Funds forWriters-- for freelance writers

Carolyn Howard Johnson’s Sharing with Writers 

Crime Scene Writer 

Long and Short Reviews 

Marketing for Romance Writers 

Keith Wheeler Books--Produce, Publish and Profit  Youtube

What are some of your go-to websites for inspiration or knowledge on writing? Please leave a comment below. Thank you.

30% Off at Smashwords' Spring into Summer Sale

My books, released by BWL Publishing, are 30% off with the code RK43L during the Spring into Summer Smashwords event during the entire month of June!! 

Click here to download them now!

The Rose Courier

Click here to sign up to receive the updates, articles, freebies, photos and fun in the Rose Courier. The June edition of the Courier will arrive in your inbox this Friday morning. It's not too late to sign up now. Thanks.

Tools and Tidbits for Writers: Working with Images and Videos for Social Media

Hello and welcome to the inaugural edition of 

Tools and Tidbits for Writers 

 scheduled the 2nd Wednesday of every month! 

I participated in Raimey Gallant's Author ToolBox monthly event for several years. Bloggers shared resources and suggestions for new things they found helpful in their careers.  I really enjoyed picking up new "tools" to use in my writing, publishing and marketing career, so I am filling in the gap in my blog schedule with Tools and Tidbits for Writers until Raimey returns with the Author Toolbox Blog Hop.  

This is not a blog hop, but if you have a tool you would like to share with us, leave it in a comment below or please contact me to schedule a guest spot to discuss how you use the tool. 

Thank you!

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Working with Images and Videos for Social Media by J.Q.Rose

I didn't know how much I loved playing with images and designing book covers, social media images,  blog posts and newsletter content until I found canva.com to create them. Canva is like a playground for me. Plus, the program I use is free!

Lots of tutorials on how to use the site are available. Templates to fill in with your info makes it easy to make designs. Emily at bizzbiff.com offers a Free Crash Course on Canva. Click here to access this energetic lady's course. 

PLUS! Please know, you need to experiment with canva to learn about all the goodies they offer. But, just like your coach or piano teacher told you, practice, practice, practice.

The badge for Tools and Tidbits for Writers above was created from the template below, already animated. (I'm not sure I like animation in a blog post because flashing and moving may be too annoying. What do you think?)

The original canva template

FREE IMAGES: Canva offers free images on their site, but sometimes you can't find exactly what you need or you may have photos you snapped that can be included in an image. My go-to for free images is pixabay.com. They have a lot to choose from. Here are a few more places for free images. 

Make sure they are available to use, not copyrighted. "Royalty-free" does not mean the photos are free to use. Never copy a photo from the internet. I don't know the chances you could be sued for copyright infringement, but I would not try it.

Pixabay

Freepik

Unsplash

Pexels

Picjumbo

Free Stock Images  an image curator with many sites suggested

Photofunia.com  so much fun to use their template and add your photo or text

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Movie projector

Image by AzamKamolov from Pixabay 

VIDEOS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA: You do not have to have a channel on YouTube to share videos on blogs or social media. Make a video with your camera. It is in the mp4 format. That is the format you use to add to your social media. Hey, you don't have to do FB Live to make a video. Record it on your phone and re-purpose that video for other places too!

Canva has a new video editor so you can make videos within canva. I have not tried it, but when I do, I'll share that with you. Have you used canva for video editing?

If you do not want to appear in your video, then make a slide video with PowerPoint. It takes a LOT of practice to figure that out, but watch some Youtube videos that will help you learn.

Below is a video I created about sparking memories for life storytelling. I made it with PowerPoint and posted it on my FB group, Telling Your Life Story and Memoirs Circle. 

I really like the latest version of PPT with design help. Just type the text for your slide in the text box, hit design ideas and ta-dah, you have what looks like a slide created by a professional. 

VIDEO:

Why tell your life story?

Please share in the comments below your favorite site for free images, how you make videos, and/or tools writers can add to their collection of goodies. Thank you.

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PLEASE NOTE: Beginning in July, Blogger will no longer be sending emails from blog subscribers to notify them when a new article has been posted. I post every Wednesday on this blog, so if you don't get a notification from me, it's not because I have not posted. Please check in on Wednesdays. I will also use Instagram and Facebook to announce new posts. 

The Rose Courier

Stay in touch with updates from JQ--packed with articles, freebies and photos in the Rose Courier!

Click here to sign-up for delivery once a month.

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Are you curious about starting to tell your life story? Yes, you do have a story that matters. 

Click here to join our Facebook FB group, Telling Your Life Story and Memoirs Circle

Plus, the topic on the 4th Wednesday of the month on this blog is all about memoirs: Tips on writing them, guest memoir authors and reviews of memoirs and books on writing life stories and memoirs. Please join us on Wednesday, May 26 for Making Memoirs from Memories.