Tutorial: Facebook Documents

I have to admit, when I first joined groups in Facebook, I had no idea what a Facebook document was, how to use it, or how to add my information to it. In fact, I still sort of dislike them (although I couldn’t tell you why) even though they are extremely useful.

Groups use Facebook documents to share information – like the Twitter handles, web sites, blogs, genres, and other kinds of data about their members. Some writers/reviewers groups use them to list books to be read or reviewed, and available reviewers and what genres they prefer.

One thing that may be confusing to some is that Facebook changed the nomenclature from “Documents” to “Files.” If you want to find the ones in your group, scroll up to the top of the page, to the right, and click “Files.” (see above, left) Continue reading “Tutorial: Facebook Documents”

But I Don’t Want a Blog: Turning WordPress into a Website

I was speaking with a pal recently who bemoaned the fact that websites are so hard to edit. “I wish I could have the sort of editing I can do in WordPress for a normal website,” he wailed. “I know how to use WP but I don’t know any html.” Yours truly waved her geeky little magic wand and opined, “Oh but you can use WordPress for a normal website if you want.”

“But I don’t want a blog on this site, it’s just for my books and stuff.”

“You shall go to the ball, young fella-me-lad, you can have your heart’s desire. We’ll make you a static website in WordPress.”

I mentioned this to a few people who agreed, “I’d love the usability of WordPress but I don’t want a blog,” and I realised that there’s a thing to know here. You can use WordPress for any sort of website. It’s not difficult and you instantly have access to the usefulness of widgets and plugins, plus the ability to edit whenever you please. The SEO is a breeze, you can add all manner of social media buttons and woofers and tweeters without ever having to pay a geek to do stuff you don’t understand.

Here’s how… Continue reading “But I Don’t Want a Blog: Turning WordPress into a Website”

Tips: Book Planning

Ever be cranking along on your work-in-progress (WIP) without a care and suddenly realize that your timeline is all discombobulated? Juggling numerous characters with a different point of view (POV) in each chapter has finally caught up with you. Don’t you hate it when that happens? I know I do.

This kind of thing is bound to occur, especially if you have characters who whisk off to far-away lands – which means you need to incorporate the gaps created by lengthy air travel as well as time zone changes. What a mess!

Here’s a handy little tip for you which costs nothing. In fact, it’s so simple that it may strike you as stupid initially, but sometimes simplifying is exactly what’s needed when a project goes out of control. Continue reading “Tips: Book Planning”

How to Convert Your Word Doc into a Mobi file Using Calibre

calibre logoSome indie authors are tech savvy and masters at formatting their completed manuscripts into the two most commonly used ebook formats, ePub and Mobi. Some hire someone to format their eBook files. However, the approach taken by many is the simple one, upload a Word document to Amazon and let KDP convert the file. If you’re only publishing through Amazon, this works great. At least until you want to send an eBook to a friend, submit your book to a reviewer who requires an eBook file for submission, or … well, you get the idea.

If your book is already published and you followed my advice to not use DRM, you might consider purchasing a copy of the book from Amazon and copying the file from your Kindle or the Kindle for PC directory to use for these purposes. (I’ll leave it to you to figure out how to do this.) But if your book has DRM or you want to send an eBook file in advance of publication to reviewers or beta readers, another approach is needed. There are many ways this might be accomplished. The approach I’m going to outline here is using a free program called Calibre. Continue reading “How to Convert Your Word Doc into a Mobi file Using Calibre”