REFRESHED, RENEWED, REJUVANATED

That is how I feel when I spend time with other authors. 

In the past few weeks, different writer and fan conferences concluded.

MDC3Con (Creatures, Crimes and Creativity) and BoucherCon are two of my favorites. Thrillerfest is another.

This is the time of year for the three R's. 

Refreshing your desire to write. Renewing your goals and rejuvenating that manuscript that has been in your desk for months without seeing the light of day. 

This is also the time of year for the fourth R.

Reflection.

Reflect on what you have done for the last 10 months. Reflect on how your writing has improved. Reflect on what it is to be an author. 

This is the time that the leaves change, your wardrobe gets warmer and your writing should become easier as the day passes. 

This is also the time of year that authors gather to talk and share ideas. They share what they have learned with each other. They share their ups and downs. They share their successes and their failures. 

They also share what they plan on doing differently in the coming year. 

If you don't have a support group to talk to; you really need to join one. 

Better yet....create one. 

Create what you need. After all; writing is a solitary thing. But the benefits of being an author is that you get to meet some amazing people to reflect, refresh, renew and be rejuvenated with.

Are you ready for your new season? 

I am.

IT'S NOVEMBER ALREADY?

Where has the time gone?

Before you know it; it will be December and the Christmas rush will begin. So before it does here is what you need to be doing as an author to prepare for the upcoming year.

1. Look up conferences to attend.
Here are a few that I attend: Creatures, Crimes and Creativity   Malice Domestic   BoucherCon2016 LIM Con   

2. Get your tax papers ready. I hope you kept those receipts for conferences you paid for. Did you write down the mileage every time you did a book event? What about the hotel stay you had to pay for? All of those things are tax deductions that can be used.

You do remember that you are a small business, right?

3. Have you separated your personal bank accounts from your book/business accounts. Yes, this is something that you should have done the very first time you made a sale.

4. Have you inventoried your books? You need to keep an accurate record of what you have on hand. Have you filed away the receipts when you purchased books?

5. Have you created a spreadsheet with your royalties? What! Gasp! I think I'm about to faint if you say no.

6. Make a budget for the coming year and what you want to spend for the following: Attending conferences, purchasing books to have, marketing materials and travel expenses. This should be done BEFORE doing Item Number 1 on this list.

7. Make sure that if you have purchased clothing for your book appearances that you write that off to. Yes, they are business expenses.

8. Make a commercial for the Christmas holiday. Remember; the day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday, what better way than to be among the many commercials that people will see. Put it on YouTube, your website; your blog, your Facebook page and your Twitter account. You may need to do multiple ones but remember; short and sweet make = book sales

9. Post those pictures to your Pinterest page! If you attended conferences people want to see what you did! Remember people are visual; we have to see you in order to know you

10. Get ready because January will be here before you know it!

Now, remember, these are ONLY SUGGESTIONS!  You do not have to do them all but using this as a guide will help you navigate the upcoming holiday and New Year!

Until next time Keep Reading and Keep Writing.

SUMMER IS HERE!

Well, technically its not actually here but it's close enough that I am ready.

What do you plan on doing. Well for me, its vacation time! But that doesn't mean I'm resting. That means that I am taking a break from my show on +WLVS Radio and dedicating it to my writing and my new twin grandchildren. 

So if you missed my show yesterday, you missed to great +RomanceBooks ForUs +Ayesha Shoulders and +Doris Dancy sat down for some laughs, knowledge and lessons learned. 

Check out the show and tell me what you think. I'll be back in the fall because just like the hit show +Empire I have to keep you guessing! 

Enjoy

WHAT WILL I DO IN 2015

I plan on doing the same thing; only more of it.

That's the simple answer.

The real answer is: Work harder to sell more novels; Work harder to get more people to read; Work harder to make my radio show better and Work harder in my personal and professional life.

That is why I will now begin posting my show  here as well as on YouTube. Most people don't like YouTube but for me; I've learned that you have to step out of your comfort zone and tackle the things that scare us the most.

You will now begin to see my show, The We B Swangin Show every Friday.

Consider it a rerun of my Wednesday show. So what I want you to do...yes, I'm talking to you. Don't look around, I'm talking to you, the one reading this.

I want you to share it on your Google pages, Share it on your Facebook pages, Share it on your Twitter pages and you never know..you may earn a spot on my show with me. Showing off your shoes, your writing skills or just hanging out at the coolest station ever!

So now that you know what I will be doing in 2015; what will YOU be doing?

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

I ask myself this question all the time when the day ends and I'm still left with to many things on my "to do" list.

But...the salvation is: Time to roll those clocks back! Yippee I love this time of year..that means I get one more hour to get that to do list done.

I get one more hour to work outside getting those fall shrubs ready for the winter and one more hour to get that garage cleaned out.

That also means I have one more hour to stay up and catch that TV show that I always missed but can watch on the DVR.  That means that I have one more hour to relax before the sleep fairy invades my brain and takes hold of me and one more hour to play with the grandson who is the joy in my life.

Wait..but that means I also have one more hour to get some writing done, do some editing and create the next year's marketing budget and plan. I can also plan more time for the radio show and finish up novels three and four.

What..wait..what just happened. How is it 10 pm already? All of this time and I didn't get half of the things done, even with the extra hour.

So again; I'm left asking the question:

Where did the time go?