Save Electricity – Power Off

I guess you've been reading all the "green" tips about power usage. You know the ones that tell you to plug your flat panel TVs into power strips so you can turn them off completely.

Computers use a lot of power, but you can't just flip a switch and turn them off. You have to power down correctly.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to turn your computer off automatically by using a software app called SwitchOff by Airytec, specialists in creating small or lightweight apps with minimum system requirements.

Switch Off is a lightweight easy-to-use tray-based system utility that can automatically shutdown, suspend or hibernate your system. That means it will decrease your electricity bills by lowering your PC power consumption.

The download is free, and it works with Windows systems through Win7.

Takeaway Truth

Save money on power by powering down easily and automatically.

3 Twitter Resources

Though I'm on Twitter, I haven't had a big presence there, but I plan to change that. If you're like me, and just haven't had much time to use Twitter, here are 3 Resources to help you.

1. Feed your blog to Twitter so you'll always have Tweets posting. Twitterfeed does that for you.

It's easy. You just register and fill in the necessary information to set your blog up to feed your Twitter account.

2. Twitter Account Management with ManageFlitter.

This app will help you manage who you follow by showing you who isn't following you back. You can find out which inactive accounts you follow and search inside your Twitter stream.

3. Here's a resource of Twitter Applications so you can find even more apps to help you.

Takeaway Truth

There's so much social networking sites available, but they can be a huge time suck. Take advantage of applications that ease the burden of updating your social sites.

Goal Delayed

Darn! I'm being forced to take a step back. I'd planned to have my first ebook Good Girl Conspiracy (Book 1 of The Good, The Bad, and The Girly) uploaded and ready for purchase on Friday.

Then my husband decided to take some vacation. He's going to be traveling a lot in the next few months so he wanted a few days of intensive golf before he leaves.

Of course, that means I'm taking vacation too. Having the completion of a project postponed by vacation certainly isn't a disaster. There are worse ways to have something delayed.

So we'll be traveling to our other house tomorrow, and our daughter will be guarding the hacienda. While my husband drives, I'll be composing blog posts to keep you entertained until I return next week.

Takeaway Truth

Never get so wrapped up in work that you forget how to relax and have fun.

Celebrate eBook Week

Unless you're hiding in a cave, you probably know that this is eBook Week, officially running from March 6 - 12.

You may be surprised to learn that the first ebook was published in 1971, 40 years ago, by Michael S. Hart.

Mr. Hart published the Declaration of Independence, and, as you may know, went on to create Project Gutenberg which has produced 40,000 free titles.

Visit Read an eBook

Visit the official website of Read An eBook Week to see a list of community partners offering free ebooks as well as contests where you can win free ebook readers like the Nook and Kobo.

Many authors are offering free ebooks and discounted ebooks to celebrate the week so check their websites.

You can also enter "ebook week free offers" in your favorite search engine to get a list of other websites and their offers.

I love the ease of shopping and purchasing books with my Kindle, and the ability to carry around dozens of books in the little device. I can read anytime, anywhere. An ereader isn't a way to kill books. It's an adjunct to books that makes it possible to read in a way that's more convenient than paper books a lot of the time.

Want your own Kindle? Just click here.

Takeaway Truth

With the advent of consumer friendly ebook reading devices, ebooks have really taken off. This aspect of book publishing will continue to grow so embrace it and read on!

Spammers: Any Redeeming Value?

The ever-insightful Harl Delos posted a wonderful comment on Thursday's blog.

Do you suppose there are people who, when they are young, think, "When I grow up, I want to be a spammer. I think it would be really profitable to address an apparently mostly-American audience of mostly people interested in writing, and try to convince them to buy plumbing supplies from a foreign country."

Of course, this was in response to a Comment about kitchen faucets, which was posted on the post about Art Resources for Authors, and which has now been deleted.

Because I started my weekend early and never checked the blog after that, the Spammers had free rein until I turned on the computer again. (Thanks, Blogger Spam Filters, for a job not well-done!)

Mixed Emotions

You know, in my freelance world, I see dozens of job listings every single day for people to make comments on blog posts and forums. Desperate people, out to make a few pennies, take these jobs. (Personally, I think I'd take a job cleaning out toilets at the bus stations before I'd take a spamming job.) I have compassion for them, but what they do angers me too.

I'm not angry at the spammers because I know they're struggling to eke out a living, and, in a third world country, spamming blogs and forums allows to eke on a higher level. What they do makes them the target of anger and contempt, but that anger and contempt should be directed at the idiots who hire them.

Do these people honestly think anyone will go buy a kitchen faucet because a comment about a company selling kitchen faucets was posted on a blog about writing and publishing? How stupid does that make the person who hired the spammer to post hundreds of comments across the Internet on blogs with good Google PR?

The end result when I get spammed like this is to make a note of the website so that I will NEVER buy anything from them.

Advertisers, Be Smart

Come on advertisers. Grow a brain. Stop creating jobs for spammers. Instead, create jobs for writers that require good writing and research skills.

Hire a writer to write a short, informative, entertaining article about your product - why it's superior, why you as retailer are superior, etc. Post it on your own website and/or on article sites. Give the writer a byline, adequate payment, and respect, and you'll have someone who works hard to advance you.

Takeaway Truth

Spamming doesn't advance you and your product; it makes you, and your product, despised.

3 Art Resources for Indie Authors

Today I'm giving you 3 links to help you with your cover art if you plan to indie publish a title.

Let's face it, most of us writers simply aren't blessed with an aesthetic sense. Since book covers are so important, don't cheap out on this because nothing says cheesy ebook like an unappealing cover.

Good covers make you pick up a book in a store, and good covers make you click to read the product description online.

I recommend testing your cover image on as many people as possible. Show it then ask: what's the first thing that pops into your mind when you see this?

Sure, you want a cool cover, but, more importantly, you want a cover that instantly conveys what kind of book this is. By that, I don't just mean mystery or suspense or horror or romance. The cover should promise what kind of reading experience will be had by getting that book.

If it's a humorous, sexy contemporary romance, you should know that immediately by looking at the cover. If it's grim, dark, and violent, the cover should make you feel that.

The cover should convey: genre, style, tone, and possible reading experience. That's no easy feat, and that's why professional artists do it so well. The overriding rule is: don't mislead the reader because an unhappy reader can make you regret taking their money.

Back when Chick Lit was so hot, publishers were slapping those cartoon covers on everything. A lot of unhappy readers found they couldn't pick up just any book with that kind of cover and get a lighthearted, feel good, laughing experience.

Some books were simply not chick lit, and readers spread the word. A lot of good authors fell into the dreaded death spiral, due, not to their fault, but the fault of the publisher's marketing department.

Of course, chick lit died. Publishers have a way of running a good thing into the ground. Fortunately, for those who like to read chick lit, it's alive and well online.

3 Art Resources for Indie Authors

These three links are all to blog posts I've written on the subject in Exclusively eBooks on Joan Slings Words, my other blog.

Good Book Cover Design

A discussion of what constitutes good book cover design.

Freelance Artists For Book Covers

A listing of experienced book cover artists. Print or bookmark for future use if you don't need one now.

Art Resources For DIY Indie Publishers.

Micro-stock photography sites where you can purchase rights to a photograph for your book cover.

Takeaway Truth

Indie publishing has great rewards for authors with a can-do attitude. Just make sure you deliver a professional product because discerning readers won't settle for less.

Review: Special Delivery by Elaine Raco Chase

Today, I'm reviewing Special Delivery by Elaine Raco Chase, award-winning romance author and writing teacher. Ms. Chase has a considerable backlist of romance and mystery novels as well as nonfiction books.

She's now making her backlist available to ebook readers so I think we can look forward to some "good reads."

Last November, I interviewed Ms. Chase on this blog about the writing classes she teaches.

Book Details

Title: Special Delivery
Author:Elaine Raco Chase
Format:Kindle Edition
File Size: 190 KB
Print Length:Not given
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B004M8SYAE
Average Customer Review: 5 out of 5 stars (2 reviews)

Plot Description

Roxanne Murdoch, CEO of Greetings and Salutations, is forced, due to a shortage of employees during the holidays, to deliver a "belly-gram" herself. Since her company guarantee is akin to the post office's famous motto, she can't not deliver the theatrical message to the newest executive VP Bram Tyler.

A howling blizzard forces Roxanne and Bram to ride out the winter storm in his deserted bank building. Staying warm and entertained? Not a problem for the two who are well-matched intellectually. Staying out of each other's arms? Big problem.

The biggest question of all? What happens when the storm blows itself out? Will they stay together or go their separate ways?

Praise

If you like to read the humorous banter between a man and woman that's reminiscent of the best of filmdom's romantic comedies, you'll like Special Delivery. Ms. Chase has a real gift for presenting heroines who are intelligent women and who can hold their own with any man. Roxanne can out-think and outsmart just about any guy, but the handsome and personable Bram is just as clever.

Throw in Roxanne's stories about her dear departed Aunt Mathilda, queen of the burlesque world in her youth, and you'll wish Ms. Chase had written a book devoted to Aunt Mathilda too.

In Conclusion

Special Delivery was originally published years ago by Dell's Candlelight Ecstasy Romance, but don't let that make you think this story is old hat. Roxanne and Bram's story is one that never gets old. If it did, there wouldn't be any more romance novels published. Ever.

The book will amuse and entertain you and make you want Ms. Chase's next book as soon as it's available.

Want your own Kindle? Just click here.

Takeaway Truth

A good book is a little vacation from the cares of life.