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Goodbyes. Gripping Pain. And a Giveaway.
*** Hi there! I feel as if I’ve been away from my blog for a while, and I actually have, although it’s been entirely unintentional. Today, I wanted to explain why, especially as I wanted to write about the past week, which has been somewhat momentous for my family. My son started his freshman year at a university, and it’s not the one where I teach. The preparation, though, was all that you’d expect. The day before he left, we were frantically getting everything together, making sure he had all he needed. We washed clothes and ran to Target. We created a checklist and began ticking things off. We organized…
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How to Put A Book Campaign Together: A Writer’s Life Tackling Book Promotion
*** Below you will find the entire social media advertising campaign that I’ve been sharing bit-by-bit on Facebook and Instagram. I’m sharing the whole campaign here in one place. (I’m going to do the same with the 22 teaser ads I created–one for each short story from The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry). This […]
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Rolling Out An Ad Campaign for The Postcard
One of the things I didn’t do well when I launched my three prior books was to create a social media ad campaign. Nowadays, it’s imperative that we do this–to help spread the word about our work. And as my fellow writers who undertake this challenge can attest, it’s about writing, editing, producing, and then MARKETING. And this is the most difficult aspect. As a professor at a university, I teach a course called The Advertising Campaign. In that course, students must create their own campaigns over the semester and then pitch them. As I always say about teaching—the wonder of it and the beauty of it—is that you get…
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BIG NEWS! Book Launch Today! The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry
THE POSTCARD AND OTHER SHORT STORIES & POETRY- available NOW! Three years later, and today is the day. It’s a strange feeling to let this work go, because I’ve been holding on to all of it for far too long. At my father’s suggestion, I decided to put all of this work I’ve created over the years into one collection. I’ve included little stories to warm your heart or make you feel less alone; compiled a little book to take with you on vacation for summer reading; created something you can tackle and finish because the stories are all short, so you can read at your leisure. It took a…
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What Matters Most: Reflecting
When you’re about to launch another book into the universe, you have to keep yourself grounded. You can’t set your expectations too high, and you can’t set them too low. You have to keep your feet firmly planted where they are and do the best that you can to spread the word about your books and your writing because it is all about choices: you have chosen this path of self-publishing. When I begin to become frenzied and nervous, I remind myself over and over again why I do this type of challenging work on the side and why I invest so much time in it. I have to remember…
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Unveiling the Cover of My Newest Book! The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry
This is getting exciting! After years in the making, within hours, my latest work of fiction and poetry entitled The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry will be available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Today, I’m unveiling and telling the story of the cover. But first I have to say…I love this part of the process. The part where it all comes together. The part where you get to see your work come to fruition. When I worked at the Orioles and was the editor of Orioles Magazine, I loved going to the printer’s and watching the magazine come off the presses. My heart would pulsate as my…
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My Books Are All Influenced by Maryland: #ReadLocalDC Blog Hop
*** Magical Maryland. That’s what I like to call it. Our state has a lot to offer people who like variety—the mountains to our west, the beaches to our east, the Chesapeake Bay, nearby Baltimore and Washington, D.C., theme parks and casinos, pretty state parks and delicious Maryland crabs, the picturesque and historic capital city of Annapolis, and numerous quaint, tucked away towns and cities with charms all their own. I’ve lived in Maryland since I was five. I grew up in Bowie and Annapolis. I went to college in Towson at Towson University. Along with my husband and children, we’ve lived in Baltimore City, Ellicott City, and Severna Park.…
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A Video Interview About The Postcard & Other Short Stories & Poetry
Well, you know what Eleanor Roosevelt said, right? “Do one thing every day that scares you.” When I was a mass communication major, I realized very quickly that I like being behind the camera more than I like being in front of it, which is why I gravitated toward writing. So, here I am taking a big leap and doing a little video about my upcoming book. That’s right…I’m trying to take my book promotion to the next level. LOL. Anyway, here’s the video about the new book that’s coming in July. I really hope you like it. WHAT’S INCLUDED? There are 22 total stories as I’m a couple…
