Author: Carol Wyer

Carol E Wyer is a Contributing Author for Indies Unlimited and an award-winning and best-selling author of humorous novels including MINI SKIRTS AND LAUGHTER LINES, SURFING IN STILETTOS, and HOW NOT TO MURDER YOUR GRUMPY. Carol has been featured on NBC News, BBC Radio, and in The Huffington Post. For more about Carol, go to her website or her Amazon author page.

Tutorial: Snipping Tool

A few weeks ago K.S Brooks showed you how to take and use screen captures. Today, I would like to show you how to use a very useful free tool which is a programme that is part of Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. It allows you to take specific shots of your screen. It is ideal for tutorials (ahem!) and for making your blog or website look professional. So, let’s get those scissors and get snipping.

To start the Snipping Tool follow these steps:

1. Click on the Start button to open your Start Menu.

2. Next click on the All Programs menu option.

3. Then click on the Accessories group.

4. Last, but not least, click on the Snipping Tool icon which looks like this:

If you are running Windows 8, you can just search for Snipping Tool at the Windows 8 Start Screen.

The snipping tool should now be started and you will see a screen similar to the one below. Continue reading “Tutorial: Snipping Tool”

(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)

Online launch days are huge fun but they should also result in oodles of sales and, managed properly, may even propel your book up the Amazon charts.

With careful preparation this can be successfully achieved. You’ve spent long enough writing your book, so take extra time to ensure you give it the launch it deserves.

Many people try to tempt people along to a virtual launch by offering outrageously expensive prizes like Kindles or iPads. You don’t need to spend that sort of money to attract attention. Small prizes will do the job equally well. Bookmarks, badges and key rings all go down well. Check out your followers. Many of them have Etsy shops and may be willing to gift you a prize for a mention. Mostly, it’s all about the fun element. Continue reading “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)”

Follow You, Follow Me

July 2010 I had the idea for a book. A frustrated housewife, facing 50, would write a humorous diary about her life. However, after researching it I realised the diary format was “old hat”, so, after several more glasses of Chardonnay, I had a eureka moment. The woman would write a blog and end up making hundreds of friends online. How difficult could that be? Of course, I had to set up a blog, and then I had to find friends or as I now know them, followers.

Setting up the blog was simple enough, even for an internet dunce like me, but followers?

If I tell you that after one year of blogging I had over a thousand people following the blog, then you’ll realise it is easier than you think.

First off though, you need some way of letting people follow your blog so they know when you have posted.

I originally started blogging using Blogger as my platform. It has got even easier to use over the last two years. First, make sure you are signed into your blog. Top right of your blog will show three options: NEW POST, DESIGN, LOGOUT. Click on DESIGN then on “Layout” to be found on the left hand side. When clicked, it turns orange. That should open a page similar to this: Continue reading “Follow You, Follow Me”

“I’m coming out…!”

Book launches should be fun and an important part of your marketing strategy. If you have never held one before, stop being a shrinking violet and begin preparing for your first. Treat it like a proper “coming-out” party for your book and you’ll thoroughly enjoy it.

Who?

First, you need to write a guest list. I mean, actually sit down and write a guest list out, on paper. Treat it like a wedding invite list. (Don’t invite Uncle Trevor though. He got drunk at the last wedding and dribbled down Cousin Veronica’s blouse.) Knowing the names of people and how many you expect is the key to securing a venue and for ordering the correct number of books for the event. Put the guests into one of these three categories: Continue reading ““I’m coming out…!””