Series promotion!! Let the countdown begin!

If I told you it's possible to purchase all five eBooks in the Jorja Matthews mystery series for less than $5, would you be interested?

It’s finally time for a whole series promotion, my first one yet. I’ve promoted books individually, but this promo will run for each eBook in the series and with dates back-to-back.

You may have already purchased some or all of the eBooks and under the opinion this promotion won’t appeal to you. However…if you purchased the earlier editions when they were originally released, there have been some changes. Obviously, all of the covers have been updated. In addition, the contents of No Mother of Mine and Best Kept Secrets were reedited so there have been some changes in that regard also.

Available on Amazon

With that in mind, you might want to obtain all the eBooks in the series while they are greatly reduced in price. And if you time it right, you could purchase all five eBooks in the series for less than $5.00!!

You read that correctly...5 eBooks for less than $5. 

All for the price of a designer cup of coffee. J

But if you’re not interested in purchasing, or repurchasing, the eBooks, maybe you know a friend or acquaintance who might like to begin a new mystery series. 

If so, feel free to pass this information along to them! 

So here’s how the series promotion will go… 

Beginning tomorrow, on June 29^th the countdown will begin as follows:

Available on Amazon

No Mother of Mine will be FREE! for 3 days during these dates and times:

• 6/29 all day (beginning 12:00 am PDT) – FREE
• 6/30 all day – FREE
• 7/1 all day (until 11:59 pm PDT) - FREE

Best Kept Secrets will vary in price over three days as follows:

• 6/29 beginning at 8:00 am PDT – eBook price will be $0.99
• 6/30 beginning at 4:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $1.99
• 7/1 beginning at 12:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $2.99
• 7/1 at 8:00 pm PDT – eBook will return to the original list price of $3.99

Available on Amazon

Ties That Bind will vary in price over three days as follows: 

• 7/1 beginning at 8:00 am PDT – eBook price will be $0.99
• 7/2 beginning at 4:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $1.99
• 7/3 beginning at 12:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $2.99
• 7/3 at 8:00 pm PDT – eBook price will return to the original list price of $3.99

Cross My Heart will vary in price over three days as follows: 

• 7/3 beginning at 8:00 am PDT – eBook price will be $0.99
• 7/4 beginning at 4:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $1.99
• 7/5 beginning at 12:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $2.99



Available on Amazon

• 7/5 at 8:00 pm PDT – eBook price will return to the original list price of $3.99

Price of Betrayal will vary in price over three days as follows: 

• 7/5 beginning at 8:00 am PDT – eBook price will be $0.99
• 7/6 beginning at 4:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $1.99
• 7/7 beginning at 12:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $2.99
• 7/7 at 8:00 pm PDT – eBook price will return to the original list price of $3.99

Available on Amazon

I hope you’ll take advantage of these promotional prices or pass this on to someone else who might be interested. As a mystery fan myself, I would adore a friend who shared with me not only a great eBook promotion but the opportunity to begin a new series that’s already five books in!

Also, by sharing this promotion with anyone you know who might be interested, it would be greatly appreciated and will assist me in making this promotion a success!

Thanks for following & sharing!

A road trip for relaxation…and inspiration

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed that I was MIA the past week or so. Or maybe not, the way Facebook shares posts these days.

Glacier National Park

Anyway, my lack of FB updates or a blog post this past weekend was due to the fact that I was on a road trip to Montana. It was a quick trip, considering what we prefer when it comes to road trips, but even just a week on the road taking in the Montana sights is enough to rejuvenate me and help me feel centered.

You might wonder how anyone can feel rejuvenated or centered after a quick road trip two states over. You definitely have to enjoy the whole process of road tripping, especially on our scale when we decide how much we want to do in whatever amount of time we have to do it. Getting to our destination lends a certain amount of excitement as we move ahead with anticipation – a natural high, so-to-speak – even making quick stops to view new sights as the mood strikes us before finally arriving at our first destination.

First destination, you ask?

Yes, first of a few in only a week. We were on the go most of the trip and we saw quite a lot…forests and fields in Washington, historical buildings and beautiful rivers in Idaho, and national parks, rivers, lakes and hot springs in Montana. But we also managed to relax, as well. We relaxed in the hot tub in the evenings after driving, exploring our surroundings and sightseeing around Glacier National Park for two days. We made time to sit by a river whenever we found a nice spot to have a snack and soak in the sights. We parked and stayed put for awhile just to watch a moose far down below us in a valley while enjoying chit chat with other park visitors who were also excited about seeing any type of wildlife. We soaked for hours over two days in the mineral-filled pools at the hot springs. I read a book with the birds chirping and the river flowing next to me while the hubby enjoyed a nice long nap. We took our time eating dinner while playing a game of dice. We visited with locals when we could and asked questions about the best places to eat or hike. We even viewed a few properties for sale! J That’s how much we love Montana.

This road trip was a perfect blend of sight-seeing and relaxation.

As we drove home last night, I began to think about what I needed to accomplish the next few days, beyond all the unpacking and laundry from our trip. Getting back to my current book, getting back on track with an author summit I had signed up for, my morning pages, cleaning out my inbox, a blog post here and on another site I began (if you like walks/hikes and dogs, check it out here), a book promotion for the series, and so many other book-related tasks. I had wanted to begin the book promotion before we left, but the way it was first set up, for about ten days, meant the promotion would run during the week I’d be gone. I knew I’d be in areas where cell service would be non-existent and that running a promotion and posting updates would have been difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, the series promotion had to wait, but it will begin soon and I’ll post again here and on Facebook when it’s up and running.

When my brain began to fill up with all the tasks and projects I needed to get back to, even the fact that my promotion was going to begin later than I had earlier hoped, I was pleased to realize the to-do list didn’t cause me to feel overwhelmed.

Not only am I ready to get back to writing and my normal day-to-day author-activities, I have new ideas and inspiration for the new book series I’m working on. I’m pumped…excited…inspired…all of the above. You get the idea. My thoughts are tumbling with details and I’m putting pen to paper (and fingers to keyboard) with fresh excitement.

While I hadn’t been too certain this was the best time for a little getaway, I now realize it was the perfect time. When road trips and relaxation breed ideas and inspiration, there’s really no doubt.

What about you? What do you do for additional inspiration? Whether it’s a road trip or a staycation, I hope you’re able to enjoy something soon!

Balancing multiple challenges with positivity – you can do this!

I was at a loss about what to blog about today and at first I thought it was because of a lack of focus and the need to just get outside. Then, I realized it’s possibly because I have too much to think about and I wasn’t sure which subject to focus on.

Jozee, balancing on a stick under water

The reason for too many subjects is that I’ve been balancing a number of challenges lately. The best way for me to work through them is to write about them so I thought I’d share some of the details here.

First, my biggest challenge was the decision to redo all of the covers on the Jorja Matthews mystery series. It’s been on my to-do list for quite some time but my ability to finally figure it out is due, I believe, to another challenge I’ve been taking part in (more on that in a minute). From that point on I was buried with multiple tasks involved with what photos to use on the books published so far, completing a re-edit on Best Kept Secrets, reformatting the paperback interiors of Ties That Bind and Cross My Heart due to margin issues, completing the covers for all of the eBooks, and pulling my hair out when the paperback covers took longer than I would have liked. And, if that weren’t enough, after believing I was finally done, I realized I should have looked at offering the paperbacks in a matte finish instead of the glossy cover that has been the go-to format since that’s what was used when the first novel in the series was originally published. I’m now waiting to receive a proof copy of one of the books in a matte finish to see how it looks and my hope is that I can switch all of the books to that finish. That should be happening this week.

Whew!

If I’d known it was going to be this difficult, would I have dealt with the hassle anyway? Yes, most definitely. This was a change that I’ve wanted to make for quite some time and while I wish I had thought of it a couple of books ago, I can now move on with the series and be happy that they all have a similar look and theme.

So what challenge may have helped me pull the cover idea from my subconscious? I’ll attribute it to finally trying my hand with morning pages. I originally learned about morning pages from a speaker at a conference I attended a year or two ago and after looking into the subject, I purchased The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, where the idea of morning pages was birthed. Now, I’ll be honest in saying that I bought the book, and I began to read it, and I began morning pages in January 2018 during my first month after leaving the day job. However, I only wrote morning pages sporadically for two months. The next time I made any attempt at morning pages wasn’t until March of this year – a whole year later!

If I knew then what I know now, I would have done better to stick with it. Julia Cameron describes morning pages as three pages of stream-of-consciousness longhand, or a brain dump. I’ve used them as a basic personal brain dump but more often I use them as a creative brain dump. If something personal is really bugging me, I’ll tend to get that out, but what I enjoy using morning pages for is to let out all of my thoughts, questions and concerns about my writing projects, marketing, branding and other topics with the business of writing, the tingles of book or character ideas, and whatever else flows freely from me when I’m in that zone. While I understand how writing about personal frustrations can free a creative to think more on the creative side of things, I’ve found that working through any creative issues in my morning pages has been the best use of them. Case in point: the new cover idea for the series. Also, new story ideas to include in my young adult novel and answers to questions I had about the backstory on my characters in the new series I’m working on. Those are just a few of the bulbs that went off in my head while taking part in morning pages. There have been more when it comes to other areas in my writing and even in my personal life.

I’ll stick with morning pages because they work for me. I may not write every day, and it’s been an uphill climb in completing them on a more regular basis, but forming new habits isn’t easy. While I only wrote morning pages four days in March, I was able to write 11 days in April, 16 days in May and so far for June I’ve written six out of nine days. That’s progress! Therefore, I no longer wish to call the morning pages a “challenge” but instead, part of my creative routine.

Speaking of forming habits, my other challenge involves just that. I’m doing my best to form better habits for a morning routine. I’ve never been a morning person. It’s a simple fact but not an excuse. I can still get a lot done in a day but I tend to begin and end later. I’ve decided I’d like to change that one simple fact about myself. I’d like to enjoy daybreak, have more daylight hours for writing and feel good about using the rest of the day as I see fit before an early bedtime. A while back I bought The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and was truly optimistic that a book could help me get my butt out of bed earlier. I tried and I failed. But I know now that my attempts were not driven by the right need; my reason “why.” I’ve since changed my mindset, I have my “why” and I’m taking baby steps to form better habits and a regular morning routine (to include morning pages) when I do finally get my butt out of bed. I’m currently using The Morning Sidekick Journal (created by Amir Atighehchi, Ari Banayan & Mikey Ahdoot) and I’ve really enjoyed using this journal. While getting up earlier is still a work in progress, I’m on the 21st day out of 66 and I’m seeing progress. The fact that I enjoy using this journal through my journey is a bonus. While getting out of bed earlier every day is a challenge, forming habits that make my days better and more productive is the bonus I’m striving for and will be well worth it in the end.

On top of all that, I’ve started a new exercise routine. And that is most definitely a challenge! But I enjoy the exercises, many of which include weight lifting and high intensity workouts with varying exercises and so far I’m enjoying them.

Are all these challenges a lot to take one? Not really, since each one helps me with a key area in life: writing, creativity, productivity and health. These are areas I should always invest in and which will benefit me greatly if I continue to focus on them.

What about you? Are you a creative who has tried morning pages? Are you a night owl trying to form an earlier morning routine? Have you tried to form new habits overall and if so, how did it go?

Whether you’re a night owl or an early bird, I hope you have a creative and productive day!

Volume #5 in the series is now available & the series has a new look!

It’s been a long time in coming, I know, but the fifth book in the Jorja Matthews mystery series is now available. Happy dance!!

Here’s the new eBook cover for Price of Betrayal and you can swing over to Amazon anytime to make your purchase. The paperback is also available but with a different cover at this point, as I’m still in the process of trying to rework that cover to match the eBook. It has been, to put it lightly, a process.

The fifth book would have been available much sooner except that I made the decision to redo all of the covers for the series. I wanted to release the new book, but decided to put it off until I could complete all the necessary changes on the other books in the series. I knew it would be a project, but I didn’t realize how long it would take and once I began the process there was just no turning back until I reached the end. While the paperbacks aren’t technically complete since I still need to update them if everything works as I hope, all the hard work is past me now.

Needless to say, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment, and I’m very pleased with the end result. I hope readers will be, as well.

When No Mother of Mine was originally released, I worked with a cover artist who gave me what I wanted at the time but it was before I realized I would leave myself stranded with a lack of ideas for future covers that would need consistency. From that point on, each new book received a cover not in harmony with the others. I’ve been unhappy with them for awhile now but wasn’t sure how to fix them.

One day it finally hit me about how I should update the covers (I’ll credit this to finally tackling morning pages – something I’ll write about later). What I decided to do with each cover for the series was to use photos from the local area – my stories are fiction but the town I’ve set them in is not. When I originally wrote No Mother of Mine, it wasn’t with the intention to write a series. That’s just how it ended up working out, as I worked through the story, learned more about the characters and realized there was more to the story than I had originally realized. A series was born by accident, if you can believe it, because that’s what the characters wanted.

And a series of books should look like they belong together. I’m thrilled now that my series does just that. More importantly, the covers will share pieces of this little town I decided to place my characters in. Even better still, I’m free from worrying about what my covers on other books in the series will look like! This gives me freedom you can’t imagine.

The local cemetery

Without further ado, here’s a look...at the new look with details about where the photos were taken:

The photo for No Mother of Mine was taken at the local cemetery. Why use the cemetery? It has history. I have family there. It's also a beautiful, quiet area that will forever be a part of this small town.

Trail at the city park

The photo for Best Kept Secrets is from a trail that's part of our city park. It's a nice little walk over the hills and through the woods, past an old foundation I have no idea would have been used for but must have had some purpose, over a small creek and through more ferns that you could count.

Old bank, recently remodeled

The cover photo on Ties That Bind is part of the historical district on the main street through town, and is of the old town bank that was recently remodeled. The inside turned out amazing and while it was a huge undertaking, it was great to see my friends tackle the idea and set forth in motion the vision that became a reality. 

Quarry rocks near the quarry pool

Cross My Heart shares a photo of some of the quarry rocks which were stacked on each other haphazardly years ago near the quarry in the city park and have been a place for kids to play ever since. I remember playing on them as a kid myself and I take Jozee there even now to climb on them for fun. It was only after I decided to use this photo for this novel that I realized there was a cross carved into the top right rock. 

The photo used for Price of Betrayal is of McIntosh, one of our local lakes as seen from the Yelm-Tenino trail. This is a lake my husband has enjoyed fishing on, especially when our boys were little and catching fish was a fun experience.

So this is what I've been working on and what I'm now thrilled to share with you. I'll share more later once I know where I stand with the look on the paperbacks.

Until then...read on and carry on!

Happy Mother’s Day!

My plan had been to write a full-blown blog post today but I decided that my mental and physical attention will be better spent outdoors, not planted in front of my computer where I'll likely find other tasks to fill my day once I've completed a blog post. 

So, for Mother’s Day I’m going to play outside and go with the flow, doing whatever activity draws my immediate interest. 

In the meantime, I thought I’d share some photos of flowers I’ve taken over the years…just because. Consider this a virtual gift from me to you.

Some of these flowers were gifts, others were in my garden or my mom's garden - I enjoy placing cut roses or other flowers from my garden in old Ball canning jars.











To all mothers out there, whether you’re a biological mother, a stepmother, or an aunt or other family member who’s like a mother, I hope you have a beautiful, wonderful day!

How I keep myself accountable as I work toward my goals

In my last post I described how I’ve been formatting my quarterly business plans in an attempt to stay on task with my projects. I thought I’d share what I do to track my progress during the month while I’m working on projects. This has been a WIP on its own as I figure out what works and what doesn’t, but the following is an example about how I try to keep myself accountable: 

Weekly

I use my weekly planner to track my word count, weekly focus, status of projects, scheduled promotions, social media and blogging content and anything else I feel I should note down.

Here’s an idea with samples of some of my recent notes:

Monday – formatting font, spacing, page breaks and chapter starts & caps – morning pages completed

Tuesday – formatted size – cover created – issues with options – changed title name again – began review and possible new cover idea for BKS

Wednesday – proofs of new book ordered – reviewing BKS with new margins and basic editing updates – will reduce by 50 pages? – unpublish & republish as vol. 2 with new cover & edits

Thursday – signed up for women’s business conference – need to schedule doggy daycare - further revisions on BKS

Friday – morning pages completed – didn’t stick with them as well this week – updated business plan to include new projects and marketing ideas – signed up for upcoming author webinar

Monthly

My calendar is set to remind me to do a monthly check in and I use a check list to answer questions, starting with how the previous month went. I add up my word count, make note of the status/next step for ongoing projects, list any events, conferences or webinars I took part in, track stats for my blog, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and whether engagements are up or down, and schedule in any blog post ideas based on the previous month.

After reviewing the previous month, I have a check list for ongoing tasks, as well. I make note of any marketing or writing books I’m reading, how I might market the series or a current project, update my series Bible if needed, list any monthly challenges I took part in, review my editorial calendar (still a WIP) and plan blog posts. I review the status of my current WIP at that time and where I’m at in the development of the project (idea, currently writing, editing, formatting, launch), and what my monthly focus will be beyond the current WIP. The monthly focus may be a new book idea, developing new ways to reach readers, planning a promotion, attending a conference or event, a monthly challenge, researching the competition or updating my business plan if it’s time.

Quarterly

My calendar is then set to remind me to check in quarterly, before I update my business plan. My quarterly review is also based on a check list and ongoing tasks so that I can track my progress after I review my notes from the previous three months. Did I promote at least one book? More? How will I promote again during the next quarter? Did I take part in any monthly challenges? How did I do? Did I attend an event, conference or webinar? How did the event go? I update the editorial calendar for my blog. I check my stats, ranking and sales. I make note of any spikes and compare them to any promotions, thereby making further note what promotions work better than others. Will I be taking part in an event or attending an upcoming conference? If so, I make note of deadlines for specific tasks related to the coming event. Are there any contests I might want to check out? I review my yearly marketing calendar and make note of any holidays or other specific date-related tasks I need to add to my quarterly plan.

And the list could just go on and on, especially when I get around to what’s involved with sending out regular newsletters.

As noted before, this has been a WIP and will likely keep changing based on what does or doesn’t work, but this process keeps me constantly on my toes because regular reviews keep me “in the know” rather than getting away with burying my head in the sand. If I’m not making progress on a project, that’s on me and I can adjust accordingly if I know where the problem lies. If I don’t know the problem, then I know I need to figure it out. I believe a regular review of my status not only keeps me accountable, but is the best way to set myself up to achieve my goals and therefore, to set myself up for success.

To end this post, here’s a quote I feel is fitting:

“Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself.” 

~Theodore T. Hunger~

Have a great week!

Quarterly check in…Making a business plan work for me

The decision to finally begin using a quarterly business plan is probably one of the best decisions I’ve made…besides making the decision to begin writing in the first place. J 

Each quarter when I review my progress and map out another quarterly plan, I can see in black and white where I’ve done well and what needs attention or tweaking.

When I reviewed my progress based on my expectations for the first quarter of this year, it was immediately apparent that my intentions had been great, but not realistic. I thoroughly expected to have the first draft of my young adult completed by March along with the final draft of the next book in the mystery series on top of an eBook for marketing purposes.

But I didn’t hit the mark.

My young adult is still in the works and the eBook didn’t see the light of day. The main reason is that I spent much of January and part of February reviewing and revising my manuscript so that it could be ready for my editor. The editing and revisions on my end took more time than I had anticipated. It happens and it is what it is. And even though I was able to work on my young adult (and a completely new series idea!) for a few weeks while my novel was being edited, final revisions have been my main focus for the past few weeks and now I need to focus on cover & formatting and publishing & marketing.

When I spent time prepping my second quarter business plan, I didn’t beat myself up about the uncompleted projects. Instead, I used the plan to appreciate the progress I’ve made and to assist me as I reworked my action list on how I might complete the remaining projects during the coming months.

It’s not an exact science – projects take longer than anticipated or unseen hurdles pop up but that’s why reviewing my projects on a quarterly basis works for me. Based on how my schedule has gone or if my personal life has affected my progress, I can assess, analyze and amend the plan as needed. Having a plan doesn’t always mean I’ll always stay on course, but it’s better than the alternative of driving by the seat of my pants. I may write that way because I don’t mind taking a fork in the road when it comes to writing, but when it comes to all the admin responsibilities and other tasks related to an author’s life, I’d prefer to have it down on paper so I can stay in my lane.

However, when it comes to business plans, there are many opinions about what to include…vision, business structure and planning, writing and publication plan, market analysis, audience research, marketing strategy, pricing strategy, sales projections, financials, platform building, growth and development, and so on.

But I wanted a plan I could look at every day and use in a relevant way. I found many ideas and played around with a few, but overall I just wanted something simple. After researching the idea more and feeling bogged down by suggestions, I was saved when I finally discovered this post by Jane Friedman about a suggested business plans for writers. I like Jane’s suggested format, so that’s what I use. It’s simple with four columns: Area of Focus, Goals, Timeline (my word; she says “Timing”) and Action List.

So I thought I might share with you what I include in my business plan.

In the focus column I include four main areas: Writing, Publishing, Marketing and Platform. These areas have their own row and for each focus area, I add projects and ideas as goals, note an expected timeline and add an action list for each particular project.

The goals column for writing and publishing would include whatever projects I’m currently working on, whether they are in first draft, final revisions or just the nugget of an idea that I want to begin researching and making notes about. I note in the timeline column when I anticipate completing each project, or I leave it open-ended if it’s still an idea that’s a WIP. Under the action list for writing, I use bullet points to list tasks still pending for each project. Those tasks might include the date the manuscript is due to the editor, how many words per day/week will result in my completing the novel within the timeframe I’ve guesstimated, what areas need further research, cover option or ideas I need to check out, and anything else to keep me focused. Under the action list for publishing, I use bullet points for tasks relating to final formatting, anything necessary to do right before publishing and also tasks I need to complete once the book is published.

My goals related to marketing are based on the projects underway and soon to be published, along with ideas on how to market previous listings and what I might do to further market myself. These might include online promotions for previous listings, a specific promotion for a newly published book, social media marketing, or live events where I can promote myself as an author. My timeline column for marketing can be all over the place for new books, since I’m hazarding a guess based on when I think I may publish. That timeline is more forgiving, but it can also help me stay on task to keep up with regular or seasonal promotions for past publications and for any upcoming events I have already scheduled. The action list for marketing will include bullet points with specific ideas on how to promote a newly published book, an event or tasks for regular and seasonal promotions, but it can also include a brain dump of random ideas that I may like to utilize during the next quarter.

Goals relating to the focus of platform building are not necessarily specific to each quarter. My goals usually include a brain dump of what I hope to begin working on soon, or what I need to focus on in order to expand and build on where I already reach an audience. These goals reflect new ideas for engagement, visibility, interaction with readers and networking. The timeline is very forgiving, and sometimes I just list a season or the first or second half of a year, since I have no idea how long each project might take me. This action list is added to regularly whenever I come across a new idea that might help me with that particular platform idea.

This is how I’ve been organizing my business plans for the past year and so far, it works for me. I’ve tweaked a thing or two but overall, I can easily manage it, refer to it and update it (i.e. scribble all over it) as I go along and at the end of each quarter.

How I keep up with it, though, is due to quarterly and monthly check-ins. However, since this post has become long-winded, I’ll have to share my thoughts on those another time.

What works for one doesn’t always work for another, but I thought I’d share what’s been working for me. If you organize your writing, or any other creative business with a business plan, I’d be interested in hearing additional idea or thoughts.

Until next time…keep planning and carry on!