All Things Writing

The Craft of Writing


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QuickBooks Online Certified ProAdvisor

Hey! I decided to attain the certification for QuickBooks Online – I’ve been certified at various times over the years I’ve been using QuickBooks. If there’s an interest, I’d be happy to do a monthly QBO column. I have an MBA in Finance, have worked as a small business consultant and trainer, worked with start-ups, etc., so I promise I won’t just make stuff up!

Please leave me a comment if that’s of interest to you!

Gina


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Publishing with KDP – First Steps

Hmmmm. Just when I get it together to launch my first title for KidWrite!, Amazon has a new POD available for use. It seems, from the video I watched and the searches I’ve made, that Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a good fit for what I want to accomplish. Continue reading


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KDP vs createspace


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17Hats

Hey! I tried 17Hats when it was first out and loved it. Then my life got beyond complicated – I’m sure you all know what I mean. So, now I’m back to 17Hats. It’s even better than it was, and I’m including a referral link so you can check it out. Seriously, you can also go there directly, but either way, do the trial. The part I like is the Workflow. It’s like I can finally delegate something and have it get done. I’m looking forward to a smoother 2018!


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Social Media Maven? Me?

I am not a person who ran to embrace social media. In fact, my very favorite social media cartoon is the one right here. Still, I know when it’s time to join the crowd in order to reach the crowd.

Social Media

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Google Ngram

Click on any word to link to a post about Google Ngram from the blog of my friend and fellow writer, Joyce Moyer Hostetter:

My work-in-progress takes place in 1917 so I want to write authentically for the time period. Which means I don’t want to use words that weren’t in use then.

Like, you know – Facebook. Ha! Okay so that’s an easy one. But there are other words that I really do have questions about.

And oh thank heaven for Google’s Ngram. Until 2 days ago I didn’t know such a thing existed but now, thanks to Facebook and my friend Eileen Heyes, I’m all over it! Ngram is a site where I can look up a word, give a time period, and search for this word in books. When I do, I’ll get a graph showing the results. 


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Tracking Freelance Work

AssignmintI’m determined to be ultra-organized this year. I re-did my office over winter break so that I have clearly defined areas for each type of work. I also did a thorough search for some sort of database for tracking queries, book proposals, and contracted work for magazines and books. I was ready to create a database in FileMaker, but really didn’t want to add that to my To Do list.

The tracking program I discovered is Assignmint. Happily, this Web-based application is doing what I need, far better than what I would have created.   Continue reading


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QuickBooks Questions

Certified-QuickBooks-Online-ProAdvisorI’ve noticed a lot of recent activity on my QuickBooks posts. Rather than write a new post that may or may not meet your needs, how about if you feel free to ask me your five most pressing QuickBooks questions? I’ll create posts that answer those questions. While I’m at it, I’ll create a FAQ.

Why ask me? I’m QuickBooks Pro Certified. I also teach a QuickBooks online class at the local woman’s business center, have an MBA in Finance, and have taught business courses at the local community college. I’m  a writer who has used QuickBooks for my own writing business for years.

Why am I suggesting this?   Continue reading


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2014 Organized or Bust

orderchaos_xlI’m determined to be more organized in 2014. I know, everyone says things at the start of a new year that they mean but don’t achieve. I think this year it is a matter of do it or give it up entirely. So here goes.

I. I broke the things requiring my attention into categories. I figure my span of control is about five categories – there’s that MBA piping in again. So far I’ve used four and they are, in no particular order:

  1. Speculative projects – Queries, Blogging, Platform, Freelance
  2. Contracted projects – Client1, Client2, Client3, Client4
  3. Continuing education – Certifications, Conferences, Reading
  4. Family/Household – Kids, Household


II. I have one marble notebook that has all the ToDos. I’ve been using it since August and it is working better than any ToDo scheme ever. Continue reading


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Must-Haves

If you’re going to go it alone – or at least try to – in establishing yourself with a blog and various other social media accoutrements, here are some things that can save you some sanity.

Podcasts: Yes. You create the audio recording. You can use GarageBand for that. It works great. You might want a different mic. All of that is discussed in this post. However, unless you bleed through your eyes, you may not discover that you need to burn a feed and submit the feed to Apple. How do you do that? My suggestion is to run to Feedburner. It works. Oh. And you’ll also need to upload your audio file somewhere. You can upload it to your WordPress site, but you have to upgrade it first. You’ll find that info when you click on Media and look closely at all the stuff you ignore when uploading images. Continue reading