Category Archives: Books

Books do so much. They teach, inspire, motivate, educate and entertain. You can travel to other parts of the world, simply using your imagination, as you read travel books. This blog that is written largely by author Denise Turney has a wealth of material on the book industry. Whether you are an author yourself, an editor, publisher, freelance writer, content marketer or literary agent, there is something for you at this blog. Enjoy exploring the articles and learning from what is shared in the articles here.

Getting over the fear of love

Posted on by

By Denise Turney

 

Fear of love is powerful. Love arouses a host of pictures, images and emotions. Couples embracing, children laughing, a lioness bathing and caring for her cubs . . . an aging couple sauntering down the sidewalk, hands joined and fingers entwined, immediately come to mind.

What images, sounds and emotions arise in your mind when you hear the word “love”?

Do you ever feel afraid when you consider love?

You may not think that fear shows up, tagging along like a pestering cousin you wish would stop popping over unannounced and uninvited. But, consider this.

Hidden fear of love

Have you ever met someone that you were attracted to, someone you found interesting, an affectionate, active listener who you also found physically attractive? You didn’t consciously intend or set out to meet the person, but now that your paths have crossed, you find yourself thinking about him a lot.

Do you tell yourself (or other people if they ask) that you’re not attracted to the person? Do you try not to think about the person? Why?

Could it be that you’re working to stay clear of pain? It’s at this point that you’re practicing avoidance. Although you could avoid asking the person out on a date only to have them tell you that they’re dating someone else or aren’t interested in getting to know you on a romantic basis, you’re also setting yourself up to experience the pain of not even trying to get what you want.

Love does not hurt

Either way, you’re not walking into love. Instead, you’re engaging in fear of love. In your
effort to protect yourself from rejection, you could actually be setting yourself up for regret. Choose which “R” you want to roll with. Fear is going to cause one of them to show up.

It’s understandable if you’re afraid of love. Every time it even hints at an appearance, you go into self-protection mode. But, are you really happy living this way, on a constant lookout for love, so you can get on the run before love gets too close?

And yet, love is probably the very thing that you pray for, long for . . . really want.

The next time love appears, don’t run. Get observant and watch what happens. You can’t control love. It’s not a puppet. But, real love doesn’t hurt. It does take courage to let real love come close. Why not start now?

Fear of love gripped Love Pour Over Me‘s Raymond Clarke until he was well into his middle-aged years. Until he got above the gripping fear of love, he went from one emotional roller coaster event to another. Fortunately, he’d met a woman who shared enough care and acceptance with him to make a huge impact. There’s no reason why what happens to Raymond Clarke in Love Pour Over Me couldn’t happen to you too.

**Thank you for hanging out with me. Keep up with track and field, drag racing and the wonderful world of books by visiting my blog often. Grab your copy of Love Pour Over Me at https://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001582/Love-Pour-Over-Me.html or http://www.amazon.com/Love-Pour-Over-Me-ebook/dp/B007MC0Z2C or http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-pour-over-me-denise-turney/1109600654

7 way to use social media to market books

Posted on by

By Denise Turney
Authors published by traditional book publishers are learning what self-published authors have known all along. Book marketing is in the author’s hands. Fortunately, social media networks can be used to connect authors with thousands of loyal readers. Seven key steps writers can take to get the word out about their books at social media networks include:

  • Post free book excerpts at their social media accounts, being sure to include links to their book websites or book order pages.
  • Announcing dates, locations (i.e. street address, website URL) and times for upcoming author interviews at social media networks. For example, if authors are interviewing on online radio shows like Off The Shelf and Blake Radio, they can post flyers about the interviews at their social media accounts.
  • Share pictures of book covers at Pinterest. Again, to get the most out of the posts, it’s important that authors include links to their websites or book order pages with the pictures.
  • Publish links to book blog posts at social media networks.
  • Support other authors and book readers at social media networks by commenting on intriguing or interesting posts. Authors don’t even have to add their website URL to their comments. Social media networks automatically add linkable profile names or images to comments that visitors can click on.
  • Create a powerful social media profile. Book writers should do this for each social media account they have.
  • Add quotes about or made by book characters to social media network updates.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in my new book, Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

7 way to use social media to market books

Posted on by

By Denise Turney
Authors published by traditional book publishers are learning what self-published authors have known all along. Book marketing is in the author’s hands. Fortunately, social media networks can be used to connect authors with thousands of loyal readers. Seven key steps writers can take to get the word out about their books at social media networks include:

  • Post free book excerpts at their social media accounts, being sure to include links to their book websites or book order pages.
  • Announcing dates, locations (i.e. street address, website URL) and times for upcoming author interviews at social media networks. For example, if authors are interviewing on online radio shows like Off The Shelf and Blake Radio, they can post flyers about the interviews at their social media accounts.
  • Share pictures of book covers at Pinterest. Again, to get the most out of the posts, it’s important that authors include links to their websites or book order pages with the pictures.
  • Publish links to book blog posts at social media networks.
  • Support other authors and book readers at social media networks by commenting on intriguing or interesting posts. Authors don’t even have to add their website URL to their comments. Social media networks automatically add linkable profile names or images to comments that visitors can click on.
  • Create a powerful social media profile. Book writers should do this for each social media account they have.
  • Add quotes about or made by book characters to social media network updates.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in my new book, Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Readers Looking for Great Love Inspired Books

Posted on by

By Denise Turney
True. The way readers get access to great stories has changed, more readers enjoying digital and audio books then they did a decade ago. What hasn’t changed is the fact that millions of children and adults love books. It’s this passion for entertaining, engrossing and emotionally charged books that find thousands and millions of readers regularly visiting literary websites like Good Reads, the African American Literary Book Club (AALBC), Rawsistaz, Amazon.com book discussions, The Red Room, Library Thing, Shelfari and Book Crossing.

For many people who love books, necessary elements of a great story include suspense, believable characters (even if those characters are placed center stage in a sci-fi novel), thought provoking dialogue and, of course, an intriguing plot. Readers, whether they appreciate and regularly buy love inspired books, mysteries, sci-fi novels, romance or westerns, want to care about characters in stories. They also want to fall in love with an author’s style, some readers preferring the work of authors whose writing flows akin to poetry.

However, perhaps it’s the way talented authors develop characters, dialogue, plot and story scenes that pull readers into the very heart of the stories they’re telling, until readers forget their own surroundings and challenges, that readers appreciate most. Before they know it, readers find themselves trying to figure out how to solve book characters’ problems, challenges that might mirror their own. As readers come up with solutions to challenges characters in books they enjoy face, they (without conscious awareness) gain solutions to their own real-life challenges.

It’s a benefit no one can put a price tag on. Redeeming love book stories change readers’ lives. And it might be because of that benefit that readers continue to seek out remarkable fictional stories. It might be why some readers can’t load their digital and wood bookcases with enough titles. What might be lesser known is that “the chance to change people’s lives in good ways” is a major reason why some authors sit down and create stories people love in the first place.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in my new book, Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love. 

Sources:

http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/2012/02/literary-love-stories/ (Writer’s Relief:  The One Thing All Great Love Stories Have In Common—And What It Means To Your Writing)

http://www.examiner.com/article/top-five-african-american-romance-novels (Examiner: Top 5 African American Romance Novels)

Growing up Beneath a Hard Childhood

Posted on by

By Denise Turney

Childhood is supposed to be filled with laughter, playfulness, happiness, exploration and learning. It’s a time when our subconscious minds are developing. If we are surrounded by love, affection, support and care we learn to trust ourselves and others while we are children.

However, childhood isn’t always filled with fairy tale experiences. Childhood doesn’t always follow love’s plan. Sometimes our parents are too bruised to care for us. Yet, keeping to traditions and perhaps, out of a sense of obligation and guilt, they may struggle to give us what they realize children need to thrive. They may try .  . .

Childhood Gaps at Love

What we don’t receive from our parents we may spend the remainder of our physical experience searching for. We may seek love, affection and confirmation in strange faces. World travels or moving from one neighborhood to another may attract us, whispering to us that the acceptance we longed for and sought as a child is in these new places.

After awhile it may start to feel as if life is playing a mean, a very cruel, trick on us, sending us around in circles in search of love . . . the very thing we were created with . . . the very thing no one can survive without. This is Raymond Clarke’s (the main character in my new book, Love Pour Over Me) story. It’s a backdrop Raymond doesn’t want. Unbeknownst to Raymond, it’s also a backdrop his father, Malcolm, a man with untreated alcoholism, doesn’t want.

Every Child Needs Love

Reports attest that Raymond Clarke is not alone. In fact, according to Child Help as many as 6 million children are reported as suffering beneath abuse in the United States alone. Every day five of those children don’t make it. Their stories are not fictional like Raymond’s. Because they are young and physically small in stature, adult abusers may feel empowered when dealing with them. Over time these children may start to think like their abusers, that it’s always someone else who has the power over them, controlling them . . . enforcing their will upon them.

Yet, these children are not disempowered. They need a voice, support, someone to stand in the gap for them until they step into their own true power. For Raymond this person never comes. He gathers his strength from within, until he can leave home . . . striking out on his own in search of happiness, peace and, of course . . . love. He also uses his talents and gifts to make a name for himself, to start to connect to and feel his true strength. It is my hope that Raymond Clarke’s story will inspire adults (and the people who love them) who have grown up beneath a hard childhood, to tap into their true power, leave old hurts and haunts in the past and . . . thrive in love’s glory.

After all, it’s only love that will save Raymond . . . all of us.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com ($3.03 – lowest price I’ve found so far) and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Sources:

http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics (Child Help)

Report child abuse and love every child you see (young or old). We all need it!

Busting Through Writer’s Block One Word at a Time

Posted on by

By Denise Turney
There may be no greater barrier to your creative flow as a writer than lack of confidence or self-criticism. You’ll end up spending an hour writing (or trying to write) a single paragraph. It’s frustrating sitting in front of a computer, staring at a mostly blank screen, while, at the same time, you’re brimming with enough determination to write a full length novel in less than a week.

So, how do you bust through writer’s block? How do you put a stop to hours of typing, deleting, typing, deleting? For starters, you stop self-editing during the creative process.

There will be time for that later.

For now, to push past writer’s block, focus on writing, getting your ideas to paper (or a computer screen). That’s right. Start writing or typing whatever surfaces in  your mind. Not only could you leap over writer’s block, you could also unearth a great novel.

If you’re still struggling with writer’s block after taking the above steps, here are a few other steps you could take to get rid of writer’s block.

  • Re-write a passage from one of your favorite magazines
  • Write down the words to a popular song
  • Review the last book you read, writing down benefits readers could gain from reading the book
  • Describe each season in two sentences or less
  • Join a writer’s discussion group, completing group writing exercises
  • Refer to a “story ideas” book, completing writing prompts listed in the book

There is no better way to get past writer’s block than writing without critiquing your work. Remember, you can edit your work later. For now, just get your ideas on paper.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

 

Children Preparing for Life Without Their Mothers

Posted on by

By Denise Turney
Presumably when most people hear that a parent abandoned or walked out and left their child, images of a father pop into their minds. However, as odd as it may sound, mothers also walk off and leave their children. Some mothers, like Raymond Clarke’s mother, leave their children early in their childs life. Akin to fathers, these mothers might not look back after they walk away.

When a Child’s Mother Walk Away

This unfortunate event can occur suddenly, without warning. When it does happen, neighbors, friends and extended family members get to see firsthand how important a mother is to a child. Some children who lose their mothers early might struggle to feel as if they are good enough, worth loving or safe in the world. These and other symptoms of growing up without a mother may reveal themselves subconsciously, going unnoticed by abandoned children for years.

Furthermore, mothers leave their children for a variety of reasons as reported in the July 9, 2009 Marie Claire “What Kind of Mother Leaves Her Kids” article. To be clear, in the article three women are interviewed; these women didn’t abandon their children as Raymond Clarke’s mother abandons him. Instead, they leave custody of their children to their ex-husbands. One mother in the article left her children after her marriage to the children’s father fell apart so she could live the life she wanted, something most people desire to do. She also wanted the emotional and psychological space to write a book about a child she and her ex-husband lost years earlier.

Another mother turned over custody to her ex-husband after struggling to make ends meet while her children lived with her. She has since reconsidered her decision, both her ex-husband and she deciding that their two youngest daughters would fare better if they lived with her. About the change, this mother expressed appreciation, stating that she felt an emptiness while her daughters were away from her.

Children Struggling to Find Their Way Absent Their Mothers

The third mother covered in the article, relinquished custody of her child after she got accepted to a prestigious university out of town. Each of these women maintained or continues to maintain regular contact with her children while their ex-husband’s have custody of them.

Those are the good stories. They are far removed from what children like Raymond have experienced. It’s children like Raymond who might internalize questions about their self-worth well into adulthood, some never getting the answers they spend years seeking consciously or subconsciously. Their struggles might often go unnoticed as they struggle to find their way in a world that showed itself to be unusually hard and cruel right from the start.

Yet, like Ohio’s Raymond Clarke, these children make it. They are heroines and heroes of sorts, ready to take on new challenges, ever hopeful that, the next time, things, for them, will turn out right.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com ($3.03 – lowest price I’ve found so far) and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Sources:

http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/mothers-giving-up-custody (Marie Claire: What Kind of Mother Leaves Her Kids)

Measuring Book Marketing ROI

Posted on by

By Denise Turney

Staff at book marketing companies aren’t shy about telling self-published authors that they have the skills and experience to help increase, perhaps significantly, a book’s sales. In fact, if you’re a self-published author who has been publishing your own books for five years or more, you’ve probably crossed paths with book marketing staff members who tried to sell you on the idea that, by working with them, you could sell enough books to afford to write full-time.

Measuring Book Marketing Companies Work

If you believe the hype, you could end up plunking down several hundred or several thousand dollars for press releases, newsletters, brochures, websites and social media book marketing campaigns that don’t yield results. This is just one of the reasons why it’s good to do your homework (before you contract with book marketing companies) as a self-published author, to get references and check page rankings for websites and press releases book marketing companies have worked on.

To avoid throwing money away on book marketing campaigns, you can also start measuring book marketing return on investment (ROI). In fact, it’s a good practice to measure ROI on all marketing steps you take. Some tools you can use to measure book marketing ROI include:

  • Customer Surveys (be willing to accept feedback you receive from customers)
  • Statistics (i.e. website stats, email marketing stats)
  • Google Analytics (track where visitors coming into your website from, how long they are staying at your website, your website pages visitors click over to most, etc.)
  • Number of interviews you land following the publication of press releases, etc.
  • Google Feed Burner (use to monitor the impact of your blog and website feeds)

Tools to Measure Book Marketing Efforts With

Perhaps most importantly, you can measure changes in your book sales. For example, you could check your BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com book sales rankings. If you have an account with Ingram Books (a major book distributor), you could also check your monthly sales processed through Ingram.

In addition, if staff at book marketing companies run social media marketing campaigns for you, consider checking the increases in followers and social media comments and questions you receive. Dragon Search offers a free tool to measure the effectiveness of social media marketing campaigns. The tool measures factors like the cost per employee, social media marketing training employees have received and the amount of time employees spend on social media marketing.

Not only could measuring book marketing ROI save you money, it could also help you to spot opportunities for improvement and growth. It could alert you to areas of your book marketing campaigns that you should tweak, stop or focus on more. Measuring book marketing ROI could also keep you from deceiving yourself into believing that, just because you are working hard, you’re yielding good results.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Sources:

http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/marketing-sales/2012/07/09/7-tools-for-measuring-your-marketing-roi/ (Fox Business: 7 Tools for Measuring Your Marketing ROI)

http://www.smbceo.com/2010/12/16/social-media-marketing-roi/ (SMBCEO: 7 Tools for Measuring Social Media Marketing ROI)

It’s Time You Became Great, The Real You

Posted on by

By Denise Turney
Have you ever been told that you look just like another person? Not only does hearing this raise your curiosity, it may also cause you to question how unique you really are. After all, why is someone else walking around looking just like you if you’re genuinely unique?

Well. There’s another way to look at the fact that you might not be the only person who looks like you. This fact could introduce you to the thought that it’s your thoughts that help to make you unique. It’s not your eyes, nose, hands, etc., but what you think about all day that makes you unique, and this you have complete control over.

You started forming thoughts when you were a child. Some thoughts you formed came as you listened to and observed what your parents, caretakers and teachers said and did. It’s these people you more than likely tried to satisfy, gain approval from and impress. You needed these people to show you that they loved you, that you were worthy of being loved, that it was safe to give and receive love.

Because large numbers of us grew up in a dysfunctional home, there’s a good chance that all your thoughts, formed from childhood onward, about love and safety aren’t serving you well. Add to that, thoughts you have around success, receiving massive amounts of money (feel any guilt, as if receiving massive wealth is wrong or non-spiritual as soon as you read those words; no hiding from the truth – admit how you really felt the first time you read the words to yourself. It could give you clues as to why you don’t have the money you want right now). These and other thoughts are shaping your life. It’s why, if you want lasting change, you have to do it from the inside.

In addition to forming early thoughts and beliefs (a belief is a thought you’ve been thinking over and over and over and . . . until it seems true) based on experiences you had with your parents or caretakers and teachers, you also formed/form thoughts and beliefs based on what you hear on television, read in newspapers, ads you see, conversations you overhear while walking down a street, what friends tell you about men/women, their relationships, etc. These thoughts, many which may have gone into your subconscious mind, are driving your behavior, feelings, willingness to take risks, meet new people, try new things, receive wealth, etc.

Which is why it’s important to focus on YOU and start removing beliefs that are keeping you from receiving the good you want. And, you should receive the good you want. As John 16:24 records, you should, “Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

In other words, if you don’t receive (only you can do the receiving) the good you want, your joy will not be full. And you’ll probably start to believe that you’re small, limited, not great, even while the truth remains unchanged – YOU ARE GREAT!!!!

Brain games, brain sync tapes, audio and video tapes (http://www.recreateyourlife.com), books that focus on removing limiting beliefs, meditation, etc. are tools you can use to remove negative beliefs so you can start receiving the good you want. Doing the work to receive the good you want (it’s exactly what Abraham and Sarah did in the Bible) is necessary.

You don’t want to feel stuck or small. That’s not who you are. YOU ARE GREAT!!!!  Do the work to start stepping into your greatness. Love Pour Over Me‘s Raymond Clarke made this choice after he experienced a life changing injury. Although his was a troubled childhood, he knew he was great. Life supported Raymond’s belief, leading him to wonderful, rewarding relationships, even as he struggled with inner conflicts, until he got completely free. I encourage you to do the same.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

This Father’s Day Mom Is a Man: Men Who are Raising Their Children Alone

Posted on by

By Denise Turney
The United States Census Bureau’s April 21, 2009 Facts for Features press release reports that there are 64.3 million fathers in the United States.  Nearly two million of these men are single parents.

Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June.  The holiday was founded by a woman named Sonora Dodd.  The idea to create a national day to acknowledge fathers came after Dodd listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in church in her hometown of Spokane, Washington.

Dodd’s mother was deceased; it was her father, a farmer and a Civil War veteran, who exercised courage and filled the duo role of mother and father in her life as well as in the lives of her five siblings.  Initially, Sonora Dodd – after years of watching her father complete chores once deemed “women’s work” in order to care for his children – started the holiday as a way to honor her father, William Smart.  In time, the holiday spread from Spokane throughout the entire country.

Father’s Day Becomes a National Holiday

Father’s Day was first celebrated in Spokane, Washington on June 10, 1910.  President Lyndon Johnson signed the first presidential proclamation acknowledging the holiday in 1966.  The day was signed into law as a national holiday by President Richard Nixon in 1972.

While millions of men across the United States take a less than active role in the lives of their children, some disappearing from their children’s lives altogether, millions of other men do the work of both mother and father.  These men’s voices often go unheard.  They work hard on the job whether they are self-employed or work for another business; they work harder at home and this often absent support or understanding from a larger society.

Single Parenthood on the Rise

The April 21, 2009 United States Census Bureau press release also reports that the number of children growing up in a single parent home has consistently increased over the last three decades.   Of the 1.8 million single parent fathers, eight percent are raising children under the age of 18, the difficult teen and pre-teen years when children typically require the most emotional, psychological and financial support.

Over half of the single parent fathers are divorced while a quarter of them have never been married.  Widowers, the type of single parent Sorona Dodd’s father was, make up the smallest number of single men who are custodial parents.  In fact, widowers make up only five percent of the total number of single parent fathers.

Unique Challenges Single Parent Fathers Face

The National Center for Fathering reports that seeking support from other single parent custodial fathers is a leading challenge facing these men.  There is a strong likelihood that many single parent fathers, including men who are successful entrepreneurs or self-employed workers, add undue stress and anxiety to their lives because they avoid discussing and sharing fears and concerns they may have regarding disciplining, nurturing and openly communicating with their children with other single parents.

Single fathers must play a key role in the life of their sons.  By example and through taking the time to connect with and guide their sons, fathers without partners have tremendous influence when it comes to raising their sons to be responsible young men who treat themselves, their friends and the women in their lives with respect.

More Challenges Single Fathers Face

Other challenges that single parent fathers face include the art of actively listening to and nurturing their children while they provide a spirit of protection and bravery in their home.  If these men are self-employed they must also manage employees and do what it takes to increase their small business customer sales. At home, in addition to guiding their sons, single parent fathers must also help their daughters establish healthy self-esteem.

Unlike mothers who raise their children alone, single parent fathers may not know another man in the neighborhood or community who is filling the same role that they are.  This can cause single parent fathers to feel isolated.  To offset these challenges, organizations like American Coalition for Father’s and Children, The Fatherhood Coalition, Fathers and Families, National Center for Fathering and Father’s Network sponsor programs to help fathers meet the challenges of raising their children alone.

These men are heroes to their children just as William Smart was to his daughter, Sonora Dodd.  On Father’s Day and beyond, single parent fathers will have a lasting positive impact on their children, especially if they allow themselves to be vulnerable enough to afford their children the chance to truly get to know them.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond (a man who is raised by a single father), Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Sources:

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013535.html (US Census Bureau Press Release)

http://www.fathers.com (National Center for Fathering)