This is my first attempt, on writing, about actually writing a book! I would not called myself an expert but I did fumble my way through self publishing and have a few tips to share! 1. Promote your book before it's published! This one seems a bit scary and even perhaps counterintuitive. When I wrote my first short story, 'Seeking Vegas' I didn't advertise it at all. I didn't say one word about it on Twitter, Facebook or my blog. Big mistake. I published and the basic reaction was, "You wrote a book?" I knew I had made a mistake, so when I decided to publish my first book of essays I decided I needed to get the word out early. I created a Smahwords account and setup a pre order for my book. I designed a cover with one of my favorite photographs as the backdrop. Once I had the cover set up I started to promote the book on Facebook, Twitter and my blog. This was really scary for me because I hadn't even written the book yet! But announcing my book before it's release did two great things for me. The first was it got the word out and hopefully got people excited about my book. The second thing was that it held my feet to the fire so to speak. There was no chance to turn back or second guess my project. I had to deliver the book now. It also gave me a deadline to complete this project. This motivated me to finish my book on time! So go ahead and promote your book! Even though it's a scary thing to do while you are still working on it, think about how many weeks or months movies promote themselves before the release? It will help spread the word about your project! 2. Hire a editor to proofread your book. The first time I released 'Seeking Vegas' I didn't have anyone proofread or edit it until it was already published. I had a fellow writer take a look at him and he found numerous errors that he said made it difficult to read. I was really disappointed to hear this. I realized that I had made a mistake and in the excitement of publishing my story, I hadn't taken the proper steps to edit my writing. So for my book of essays I hired an editor to proofread my book. You don't have to spend a ton of money to do this. You may be able to find an English teacher or another writer to review your work. This is well worth every penny! Your book will improve greatly from someone's corrections or input. I know my book improved greatly from being edited! 3. Seek input from other writers and friends. I personally don't believe in writing in a vacuum. I like to seek out input from my friends and other writers on my essays and storylines. Sometimes it gives me an idea to write another essays. Also, not every essay I write is great and included in my books. I like to see which ones are well received and include them in my book. Having other people read these essays before I decide what to include is a great way to figure out what should be included. 4. Keep Writing! As soon as I publish one book, I start working on the next! One great analogy I've heard about writing is that, 'a homerun is rarely hit on the first at-bat'. That can be very for writing. Many authors struggle for years before becoming well known. While as a self-publishing author you will need to promote your book, don't lose sight of your writing, which is your main purpose. Also, the best way to build up an audience is to produce more writing!
Hopefully these few tips help while you are writing your book. Don't be afraid to make mistakes! I know that I have made plenty of them myself and continue to learn as I go! What about you? What have you learned along the way?
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'Don't Forget to Write' giveaway on Goodreads
Between September 20th and October 20th I'll be giving away three signed copies of my book, 'Don't Forget to Write' on Goodreads! To enter the contest click on the image below. The giveaway is free to enter but you must have a Goodreads account!
Goodreads Book GiveawayDon't Forget to Writeby Sarah WarmanGiveaway ends October 20, 2016. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Greetings! It's with great excitement that I announce the release of my second book of essays entitled, "Don't Forget Me"! This book continues where "Don't Forget to Write" left off and follows my journey through relationships, growing up and loss. My first book was released last December on my birthday! Some may wonder if September 6th has significant meaning. It does not, but September has not been a particularly easy month for me. Seven years ago I lost my job in September and two years ago I lost my first pregnancy in September. These two anniversaries often bring back a lot of painful memories for me. With that said, I'm really hoping to turn the page on September and have a great month! My book will be available at the following distributors! Amazon (also available in paperback!) Smashwords Barnes & Noble iBooks Overdrive ........ and one last thing before you go! If you enjoy my book please leave a review at your favorite retailer! It is the best way to let me know that you enjoyed my work and help me promote my writing! Thank you! Sarah 'Don't Forget Me - Essays of Reflection' is the sequel to Sarah's first book of essays, 'Don't Forget to Write'. Sarah shares more of her essays as she weaves and winds her way through adulthood. She examines the complexity of her relationships, the losses she's faced and why life may not be taking the path she expected as she enters her thirties.
Greetings!
I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday and staying cool during this summer heat! I have a special announcement today! I've decided to do an early release of my new book only on Amazon. It is priced for $1.49. Although I would really like to offer my book for free for a limited time on Amazon they will only allow me to do so if I exclusively sell through them. Since most of my downloads come via Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and iBooks I'm simply not willing to do that! My book will still be available on September 6th for free via other distributors, but. if you would like an easy read to finish out your summer please click below! I hope you enjoy the book and the best way to help me is to leave a review at your favorite retailer! Thank you! Sarah I am very excited to announce that in September I'll be releasing my second book of essays entitled, 'Don't Forget Me.' This book is the sequel to my first book of essays, 'Don't Forget to Write'. Unlike my first book which was written between the ages of 15 and 32, my essays in 'Don't Forget Me' were written from last December until now.
All the essays were written upon my personal reflections of life changes, losses and my personal experiences; hence the subtle of 'Essays of Reflection'. The past two years have probably been the most difficult of my life and I found writing the essays to be very therapeutic and also a way of healing. I've also included some lighthearted stories that will bring a smile to your face. I'll be running a special price upon release of my book so stay tuned for details! Click on the image below to visit the website for my book! I look forward to sharing with you in September! -Sarah This is the second part of our visit to Zion National Park. In a previous blog, I wrote about our hiking in Zion. After visiting Bryce Canyon we headed back to Vegas via Zion National Park. Our trip went like this: Drive from Las Vegas to Zion Drive from Zion to Cedar City (spent the night) Drive to Bryce Canyon in the morning. Drive to Zion in the afternoon Head back to Las Vegas Below is a map of our trip. We entered the park on the Eastern entrance. There are size restrictions on larger vehicles as the highway passes through two tunnels. If you don't care much for hiking or taking a shuttle, the Zion-Mt Carmel highway is a great way to see the park. Be ready to pull over and have your camera ready to take photos of the amazing canyons! The larger of the two tunnels is over one mile long! There are no lights in the tunnel so it's extremely dark except the small windows cut out in the rock! The Mt. Carmel - Zion Highway was placed on the National Register of Places in 1987. Anyone who drives this highway will easily see why!
"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson This is one of my favorite quotes since high school. For the past two years my trail has been broken by two pregnancy losses. I often imagine that people wonder if I wish that it never happened to me. The truth is I would never take it back. As difficult as those past two years have been, I've learned more about myself physically, mentally and emotionally than the previous thirty-one years. They taught me to never give up on yourself no matter how dire things may seem. They taught me to seek your own truth, when others don't think it's worth seeking. They taught me to follow your own path when others think it's the wrong way to go. My path did not lead me astray. It lead me to the person I was always meant to be.
Author Biography Dan Buri's first collection of short fiction, Pieces Like Pottery, is an exploration of heartbreak and has spent time at #1 on multiple bestseller lists, including for inspirational short stories and inspirational fiction. The writing is uniquely heartfelt and explores the depths of the human struggle and the human search for meaning in life. Mr. Buri's non-fiction works have been distributed online and in print, including publications in Pundit Press, Tree, Summit Avenue Review, and TC Huddle. The defunct and very well regarded Buris On The Couch, was a He-Says/She-Says blog musing on the ups and downs of marriage with his wife. Mr. Buri is an active attorney in the Pacific Northwest and has been recognized by Intellectual Asset Magazine as one of the World's Top 300 Intellectual Property Strategists every year since 2010. He lives in Oregon with his wife and two-year-old daughter. and TC Huddle. The defunct and very well regarded Buris On The Couch, was a He-Says/She-Says blog musing on the ups and downs of marriage with his wife. Mr. Buri is an active attorney in the Pacific Northwest and has been recognized by Intellectual Asset Magazine as one of the World's Top 300 Intellectual Property Strategists every year since 2010. He lives in Oregon with his wife and two-year-old daughter. AMAZON #1 BESTSELLER. The first collection of short fiction from Dan Buri, Pieces Like Pottery, announces the arrival of a new American author. In this distinct selection of stories marked by struggle and compassion, Pieces Like Pottery is a powerful examination of the sorrows of life, the strength of character, the steadfast of courage, and the resiliency of love requisite to find redemption. Filled with graceful insight into the human condition, each linked story presents a tale of loss and love mirroring themes from each of the five Sorrowful Mysteries. In Expect Dragons, James Hinri learns that his old high school teacher is dying. Wanting to tell Mr. Smith one last time how much his teaching impacted him, James drives across the country revisiting past encounters with his father's rejection and the pain of his youth. Disillusioned and losing hope, little did James know that Mr. Smith had one final lesson for him. In The Gravesite, Lisa and Mike's marriage hangs in the balance after the disappearance of their only son while backpacking in Thailand. Mike thinks the authorities are right—that Chris fell to his death in a hiking accident—but Lisa has her doubts. Her son was too strong to die this young, and no one can explain to her why new posts continue to appear on her son's blog. Twenty-Two looks in on the lives of a dock worker suffering from the guilt of a life not lived and a bartender making the best of each day, even though he can see clearly how his life should have been different. The two find their worlds collide when a past tragedy shockingly connects them. A collection of nine stories, each exquisitely written and charged with merciful insight into the trials of life, Pieces Like Pottery reminds us of the sorrows we all encounter in life and the kindness we receive, oftentimes from the unlikeliest of places. FOLLOW DAN HERE! AMAZON LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Like-Pottery-Stories-Redemption-ebook/dp/B0163NLWDQ?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dan%20Buri&qid=1464703164&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1 TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DanBuri777 GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26878042-pieces-like-pottery?ac=1&from_search=true FACEDBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDanBuri?fref=ts INSTAGRAM: danburi777 TUMBLR: nothinganygood EMAIL: [email protected] Dan Buri is the son of an indie author. His father has two published books and countless article credits to his name. Dan’s first collection of short fiction, Pieces Like Pottery, is an exploration of heartbreak and redemption. His writing is uniquely heartfelt and explores the depths of the human struggle and the search for meaning in life. Pictured here with his wife and daughter! Dan Buri's blog tour is sponsored by:
The Owl Branch Book Promotions www.theowlbranch2015.net [email protected] If there's one word I would use to describe how I felt while visiting Zion National Park it would be 'small'. Actually 'small' might not even be the right word. A tiny speck on the earth might be a better way to describe how I felt while visiting these massive canyons in the park. On Wednesday, May 11th we left Las Vegas and headed north. From Las Vegas it's about a two and half hour drive to Zion. We headed north on Interstate 15 and drove through an amazing part of Arizona! When we arrived we parked in Springdale, The town of Springdale is right next to Zion National Park. It's a beautiful town with a few hotels, shops and restaurants. If we ever get to return to Zion I would love to spend a few days here. We found parking along the street and there is a shuttle that will take you to the park entrance since the parking lot was already full when we arrived. We thought this shuttle would take us into the park but instead it dropped us off at a bridge where we walked to the pedestrian entrance of the park. We paid our admission and then headed to another shuttle stop that would take us into the park. There are nine shuttle stops in Zion and we decided to get off the last stop to hike along the river. Part of the hike can actually be completed in the Virgin River. The day we visited, there was a warning for a flash flood so hiking in the river was not permitted, This hike was pretty easy and there wasn't much elevation change along the way. It was a bit crowded at times. The canyons on this trail are so tall that you feel like you're standing next to a sky scraper. Once we reached the end of the trail we turned around and headed back to the shuttle stop. The shuttles in Zion arrive every 15 minutes and they are really efficient! We never had to wait very long. Our next stop was the hike to Angel's Landing. Before even starting this hike I was nervous about it because I could see the cutout in the canyon from the road. Could I really hike up there? We figured we would hike a far as we could and then turn around when we felt like it. As we hiked upwards the narrow path and heights didn't seem to bother me much, but the elevation did! I was huffing and puffing the whole way as we made the climb! Only being a week and a half removed from running the Pittsburgh half marathon this kind of surprised me but we really don't have elevation changes like this in Southwestern Pennsylvania. After climbing the steep front face of the canyon, the trail leveled off and went back into a wooded area. This was a nice flat walk compared to the steep trail we just climbed. I was also glad that we did this hike in late afternoon. The entire trail was shaded, which was really nice. If the sun would have been shining on us, I think it would have made things much more difficult. Bringing water and a little bit of food is a must for this hike, as well as being in decent shape. It was a pretty strenuous hike. After making it up the front portion of the canyon I thought the steep climbs were over. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. After this nice long path in a 'wooded' area we found another steep climb of switchbacks. At this point I felt really annoyed with this hike and the climb in elevation. I was starting to think that I really wasn't cut out for hiking but figured I had made it this far and I didn't want to turn around now. Eventually we made it to the top of the switchback's to a portion of the trail called 'Scout's Lookout'. It was here that I started to realize just how far we had climbed. I also looked in front of me at the remaining portion of the trail where I saw people climbing down rocks or scooting on their butts down the rocks, while holding a chain. There was also a sign posted on this portion of the trail that said six people had died from falling while trying to climb it since 2004. Um. No, thanks, The heights were already starting to bother me just being at Scout's Lookout. I was afraid I would 'freeze' going up the Angel's Landing. Plus I really wanted to go home from vacation and I can always just look at photos of Angel's Landing on Instagram. We decided to head back down and call it a day for hiking. Going down was certainly easier than going up. We found that it was actually easier to run down the switchbacks than to walk. When we walked we had to hold ourselves back and it just made things harder. Running back down was actually kind of fun! As soon as we got back to the shuttle stop a bus showed up to pick us up. My feet felt like they were on fire, my calves were super tight and my knees ached, but I felt very accomplished after that hike. After these two hikes we were super hungry! When we made it back to Springdale we immediately starting looking for food. Fortunately there is a grocery store right outside of the park. We bought some turkey wraps and had an impromptu picnic outside. Even just having a picnic in Zion is extraordinary! After our picnic, we took the Springdale Shuttle back to our rental car and headed to Cedar City where we were staying for the night. The next day, we came back to Zion after visiting Bryce and drove the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway on our way back to Las Vegas. I will include that ride in another blog post. Zion is just too big for one post!
Last week my husband and I vacationed in Las Vegas but we also decided to venture around the Southwest to see something new. Neither of us remember exactly how we decided but we picked Utah. We decided to visit two parks: Zion and Bryce. We actually ended up visiting Zion twice - blog post coming on that park. Following our first day at Zion we stayed overnight in Cedar City, Utah. From Las Vegas, Cedar City is about two and a half hours north on Route 15. Most of the people staying at our hotel were also visiting the parks and we compared notes with them. To get to Bryce from Cedar City we drove through the Dixie National Forest which had some amazing sight-seeing in itself! As we drove up the mountain we were surprised to see snow! The temperature near the top of the mountain was around forty degrees. Once we arrived at Bryce Canyon we parked near Sunrise Point. You could spend many days at the park but since we only had one day we picked the Navajo Trail which is one of the shortest but still a very impressive trail. When we got out of the car and started walking uphill I immediately noticed I was breathing heavier than usual. I'm no stranger to hills, but once I saw an elevation sign for 8,000 feet I knew why this felt harder than it should. Bryce is a little bit cooler than you would expect in May. On average it seems that Bryce is 15 degrees cooler than Zion. When we started our hike it was in the high 50's with a light breeze at the top of the canyon. I wore a light jacket, long pants and my running shoes. I also took my camelback full of water which was much needed on this hike. The hike was breathtaking! I think this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Although we were there for only a short visit, I would love to return and see what else Bryce has to offer.
After the hike we made our way back to Las Vegas via Zion National Park. All that hiking made us extremely hungry and we knew we wanted to visit In and Out Burger. We plugged it into our GPS and hightailed it to North Las Vegas. There is also an In and Out Burger in St. George, Utah if you need one sooner! |
Author: Sarah WarmanI like to run, take pictures and write. I've combined all three in this blog. Archives
June 2019
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