As we drove home today from dropping off my daughter it occurred to me that I am not as daring as I once was. What brought on this sudden notion? Squirrels. Yeah, I said it: squirrels.
Truth be told, I think squirrels are the ultimate thrill seekers. Think about it: How many times have you driven down the road and had a squirrel dash out in front of your car? It’s happened to all of us, right? Coincidence? I think not.
Here’s what I think:
Fluffy the Squirrel: Hey Butch?
Butch the Squirrel: ‘Sup of Fluffs?
Fluffy: You feeling like a round of danger today?
Butch: Hellz to the yeah. Whatcha got in mind?
Fluffy: Tracks?
Butch: Oh man, you must be feeling squirrely today if you wanna hit the tracks.
Fluffy: I’m feeling kinda nutty. Let’s do it.
The squirrels hang out at the train tracks, watch a few roll by, even leave a few acorns on the tracks and watch them get smashed. Butch dodges a train followed by Fluffy.
Fluffy: Enough practice. Let’s do this!
Butch gives Fluffy a smack on his fuzzy tail and shouts, “Go! Go! Go!” Fluffy waits until the absolute last moment and races across the street barely missing being obliterated by a speeding car. His little pounding heart is filled with adrenaline as he does an air fist pump and declares, “I am the ultimate thrill seeker!”
So the next time you see a little Fluffy or Butch run across the street you have to say, “Well played little extremist thrill seeker. Well played.”
Tania L Ramos, Author Giving Squirrels their Props.
Be Still is coming up on its one year anniversary in May. When I started this adventure into publishing last year, I had no clue where it would take me. I thought I was taking the road less traveled; turns out the Self-Publishing Road is a crazy, busy highway. Thank goodness most drivers are friendly and well mannered.
I’ll write a one year memoir in May, telling all the ups, downs, positives, negatives, joys, and regrets of this rocky uphill climb. Well, guess it couldn’t be all bad since I plan on publishing again this year . . . or maybe I enjoy swimming against the current more than I think.
In honor of coming up on my one year anniversary, I am doing a biweekly giveaway (that’s every two weeks, I looked it up). The entry date starts today and will end May 31st. There will be four drawings: 04/14, 05/01, 05/14 and the big giveaway on June 1st.
The first giveaway is for an ebook of Be Still on Kindle or Nook.
The second giveaway is for an ebook of Be Still and Surviving the Writing Apocalypse on Kindle or Nook.
The third giveaway is for an autographed copy of Be Still in softcover along with a softcover of When I Thought I was Tough.
The big finale is a wonderful goodie bag: softcover of Be Still, When I Thought I was Tough, Surviving the Writing Apocalypse (if softcover is not out yet it will be an ebook), bookmarks, tote bag, pen, magnets, sticky pad, and any other fun stuff we have at that time.
Entry is simple: Use Rafflecopter to be entered into the giveaways through the end of May 2013.
A bonus surprise giveaway will be held on June 1st for anyone signing up for the WritingApocalypse.com email list. We send one monthly update listing new books, offers and events and that is all. Find the email sign-up here: https://www.facebook.com/WritingApocalypse/app_115566291178
Tania L Ramos, Author Surviving the First Year
Help me out friends, family, and fellow authors by sharing this post to your blog, Facebook page, or Twitter feed. Thank you.
Over the past few years, I have read more books than I can count. I mean, I ran out of fingers and toes to count on awhile back. Many are great, some were plain awful, others were so horrible, I didn’t get past three chapters. But there have been some whose words were so flawless, whose stories were so great, I couldn’t put down the book: Imminent Danger (Michelle Proulx), Embers at Galdrilene (A.D. Trosper), Crazy About You (Randy Attwood). These authors write so well, all I could do is imagine that they sit behind some mahogany desk (well, not Michelle, I’ve seen a pic of her desk), with a small, dim, Tiffany lamp, a cup of Joe, and a wild passion in their eyes as they pluck away at the keyboard.
These new authors are talented. They are inspirational to say the least. And it is rare that I feel that way. One thing I can say about these authors is that they have succeeded. I mean, honestly, the second you type “The End,” on a manuscript and mean it, then you have succeeded and pushed passed the boundaries so many aspiring authors haven’t. Everything beyond that is icing and cream filling.
But a few months ago, I stumbled across a talented young woman whose words took my breath away. She wrote a few blogs; a few short stories about her life, and I was like, “WOW!” Then she was gone and took her blog with her. The last entry read something along the lines of, “I was told to quit dreaming. People with their heads in the cloud get nowhere.” And she was gone, and I was aghast. I hate dream stompers! Haters.
More recently, I’ve happened across another very talented writer. To say I’ve stalked this person would be an understatement. Big understatement. I think the restraining order may already be in the works, but who cares? Not me. Nope. This person writes like Dickens and Joyce (if they joined the Navy and spoke like sailors, still amazing though) without holding anything back. I’m in love with his words. With the way he makes me feel like I am right there: part of the action, part of the problem, part of the bigger picture. Yep, it is a literary affair, but again, who cares? Not me. Heck, I just want to be part of it.
And then yesterday, I received an email from the first woman I really started to follow. She vented in an email so sad, I was blubbering as if I had just read a Dear John letter from a long time love. Her dreams were being held back by a family who wanted her to be a doctor, lawyer, something–anything–other than an underprivileged author. She’s seventeen. WHAT? Of course, it was all she ever wanted, so I did my best to encourage her dreams, telling her I would be there for every question, every time of doubt, every bit of help I could give no matter what path she chose. Because quite frankly, if I can be a full-time mom, a full-time nurse, and still write then so can she (minus the kids part for her). It takes dedication, and sometimes it takes a stranger on the other end of an email, Facebook chat, or Twitter message and so help me, I plan to be there if she needs it.
So, two writers in two months, who have stolen me away with words. Two writers who have seemingly stopped writing. Really? Now, I don’t know if all you readers have ever come across an author/writer who has made you melt, but I have, and wow! I only hope that someday, I get to read a book they write, more so, I hope they write. I tend to monitor chat rooms, and in one online room several authors bullied a newbie, and that newbie left with tail tucked, and the bullies wrote in their nasty little remarks after. I was appalled.
Authors! Please be mentors, not haters or bullies. We all started somewhere, some of us are still a bit wet behind the ear. Help out the new guy. And if there is a great author out there who makes your heart bleed at his/her very words, then please encourage them to continue. I shall continue to stalk from a distance … or 50 yards at the order states, waiting in a perpetual state of anticipation.
Tania L Ramos, Author Impressed
BeStillNovel.com
Facebook.com/TaniaLRamosBooks
Some songs that keep me encouraged. Hope they help you as well:
It has struck me that I am no longer in my twenties. You’d think I would have figured that out nearly ten years ago, whilst leaving my twenties. But internally, I don’t feel like I’m hitting my forties. My brain is stuck on being 25 and in my prime. Then I look in the mirror and . . . eh! Crap, when did I age? I blame it on five years of night shifts, and now on endless future years of never-ending on call shifts that easily turn into 16+ hour days at work.
But I have discovered a fountain of youth. After a night of tossing and turning, and no one to talk to, it dawned on me that I don’t need to spend countless days doing on-call shifts. NO! All I have to do is sell 500,000 books. No biggie right? This is where my fans, friends, and those lurking from behind a url come in. All you have to do is buy two books:Be Still and Surviving the Writing Apocalypse. Then you tell two people (or more, I don’t want to limit anyone), and tell them to tell two people (or more, don’t damper your friends with boundaries), and so on. Before you know it, I’ll be 50 shades of younger in no time.
After selling 500,000 books and clearing anywhere from $500,000 to $1,200,000 depending on which version of book was purchased (paper back is nice *hint), I can leave my day job, which turns into a night job way too often, and no more sleepless nights. Whala! No more red, swollen eyes with dark circles aging me by years. No more dehydration from never getting to the water machine (a nursing hazard by the way). No bladder infections from holding my pee because I can’t get away from my patient in a urine friendly timely manner (yep, another nursing hazard).
Help me stay young
Why, if you only purchase one (or two, give one away) copies of my book, then tell two of yours friends, and two of their friends (etc) do the same, I can be a new person in no time. You’re tiny contribution can be my fountain of youth: bright eyes, hydrated skin, fully functioning kidneys. You alone can be my youthful salvation. What do you say?
Yeah, I agree. Maybe I should try and get some more sleep.
This shameless plug has been brought to you by the exhausted rantings and middle of the night epiphanies of,
Tania L Ramos, sleepy author
Be Still: available on all ereaders, paperback, and hardback
Recently, I came across an ad which promises to increase sales on Amazon. Sounded promising, so I clicked the link. I was hit by something that made complete sense, yet didn’t. One of those conundrums that begs to ask the question: is this moral?
The premise of this site was simple and mimicked that of a pyramidal type business. Pay your $19.99 along with 1,000 other authors who are on KDP and the offer then closes to this select group. Then when you have your KDP free days, all the authors download each other’s books which raises your ranking. Simple, right?
Here is where I struggle with this (and where I think self-published authors start to get a bad rap): is it legit? I can sit here and barter with hundreds of other authors and boast that my numbers are in the top 1oo, but did people actually read my book? I mean, isn’t that the point of writing? When did publishing a book become more about numbers than it did about the actual material published?
It’s everywhere, isn’t it? Buy 1,000 Facebook likes for $9.99, by 10,000 Twitter friends for $19.99, and now you can buy your Amazon rank through some pyramid scam. I realize we all want to be number one, and heck, I’d settle for staying in the top 1,000 on the regular Amazon ranking system (not KDP), but i’d like to be there because people actually read my book, not because 1,000 other authors downloaded my book. I mean, if they downloaded 1,000 books, what are the odds they actually read or will read yours? 1 in 1,000!
My other concern was that the website boasted an increase in sales, but is giving it away free an increase in sales? I posted to Facebook once, in response to a similar question, and stated, “If you give away 10,000 books on KDP and become #1 because of it, you are NOT a #1 seller, but a #1 giver-awayer.” Don’t get me wrong, I understand the reasoning behind free days, I really do. It is a great marketing strategy and wonderful way to let people know about your book, but this system is hard to judge. I met a woman who loved downloading on “free” days, and stated she downloaded over 5,000 so far, but when asked how many she actually read the number was an approximated 50. Oh, and of those 50, more than half were traditionally published authors.
This has become all too prevalent, and here I am trying to teach my kids that hard work pays off. One day they will tell me, “No mom, for $19.99, I can buy my grade or 1,000 college credits.” Here I am busting my gluts to really sell my product, and all I had to do was buy my rank? I’m concerned. Any thoughts?
