FOLLOWUP FROM FACEBOOK PARTIES

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Hello, it’s Darlene Franklin (http://darlenefranklinwrites.com/) again! I enter the marketing arena with some fear and trembling, since I sit at the knees of people are masters of the craft, such as my publisher, Cindy Hickey. But I also know that I do more social media marketing than many other indie published authors. So . . .I share what I’ve learned by trial and error. Something is working right. A popular and fun use of Facebook is a “party.” I’m not discussing how to hold the party today, but what next? How can you utilize the momentum from the party?

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Stories, Parables & Movie Scripts Basic screenplay writing excerpted from HOW TO SUCCEED IN HOLLYWOOD (WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SOUL) Part II

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Communication is an important part of the uniqueness of humankind. The human drive to communicate through a variety of forms, formats and media is remarkable. In the garden of Eden, God tasked Adam with naming all the animals. That desire to name, to create, and to communicate is still one of the most essential human traits, lasting from infancy through adulthood. Christians and Jews have long been known as people of “The Book.” Since the Bible is full of stories and Christians are called by Jesus to communicate the Good news, which He did through Parables, Christians are a storytelling…

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Why waste time with a book proposal?

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My current nonfiction project is a book on writing that was solicited by a publisher. Since I have already been given a contract for the book, and I have a tight deadline, you may be surprised to hear that one of my earliest steps in the process is writing a proposal. What?

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Speaking Engagements – Developing Your Outline or Talking Points

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Hi.  Winnie Griggs here, with the next installment in my posts about speaking engagements. To read previous installments, see the links at the bottom of this post. Today we’re going to discuss creating an outline for your presentation. And remember, as I’ve mentioned in some of my previous posts, I’m a very strong type A personality so I tend to plan everything out to the nth degree. You can take this to whatever level of detail works for you.

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Speaking Engagements – Understanding Expectations

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Hi.  Winnie Griggs here, with the next installment in my posts about speaking engagements.  So far we’ve covered why book speaking engagements, dealing with butterflies  selecting a topic, creating a speaker resume, finding speaking venues and pitching your program.  Today we’re going to talk about understanding and meeting expectations. Understanding the expectations surrounding you and your presentation is a key factor in pulling off a successful speaking engagement.  There are two kinds of expectations you need to understand and manage – facilitator expectations and audience expectations. Let’s look at them one at a time  

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Speaking Engagements – Selecting A Topic

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Hi.  Winnie Griggs here again with the next installment on my posts about speaking engagements.  So far we’ve covered why you might want to book speaking engagements and dealing with those butterflies.  Today we’re going to focus on selecting a topic, in other words, what do you talk about. For those just testing the waters of speaking engagements, I would suggest you take stock of your personal skills and interests, and choose something you feel comfortable discussing.

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Marketing Lessons from the World of Retail

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  Tracy (T.L.) Higley here, posting another marketing lesson I’ve learned from my years in online retail sales. As I’ve mentioned in previous months, I’m currently in the midst of an experimental year, applying principles from my retail business to the marketing of my fiction. If you’ve missed earlier posts, and would like a better explanation of my background and what these posts are about, please see Principles #1-#11 here. So, on to Principle #12… The bottom line is that successful marketing is largely a mystery, and the very best marketing effort is to create a great product. OK, that’s…

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Story Part II: Where To Begin

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 Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailmartin@aol.com While you read this, I am in Germany on tour singing with a Christian chorale. I love Germany so this is a special treat for me. And though I’m there, I didn’t want to leave out the next  part of the Story Series which I’m providing for writers and readers alike. Story is taking an idea and bringing it to life by transporting the reader from one world to another through the experiences of a character on a mission striving to reach a goal with a purpose. It captures the reader along with the characters so…

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