Author: Jeanne Burrows-Johnson

Author, narrator, and speaker Jeanne Burrows-Johnson embraces years in the performing arts, education, and marketing. She was art director, indexer, and a co-author of Under Sonoran Skies, Prose and Poetry from the High Desert (a 2012 Southwest Books of the Year top pick). In 2017, Prospect for Murder won a first place for art and was a finalist in mystery/suspense at the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards. Jeanne has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Hawai`i, where during graduate studies and a teaching assistantship, she became a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Alpha Theta. She’s also a member of the National Writers Union, Sisters in Crime, Arizona Mystery Writers, and the British Association of Teachers of Dancing, Highland Division. Her Hawaiian mystery series features lush Island environs, puzzling deaths, snippets of pan-Pacific history, and her heroine’s haunting visions. Project descriptions, Island recipes, and a link to her writing and marketing blog are at JeanneBurrows-Johnson.com.

ACKNOWLEDGING MENTORS

Acknowledging our mentors is a key authoring strategy!

There are so many aspects to the art and science of writing that it is easy to lose focus of mechanical details while completing a project. Empowering your words fully means having access to our mentors and technical experts for fiction as well as non-fiction. Sometimes when we think of the people who’ve advised us about our work—or regarding life in general—it’s difficult to remember them all. But the demands of book publishing eventually require authors to compose an acknowledgments section. Beyond being a gracious act, it can be a key authoring strategy in gaining the respect of those who help you, as well as your readership.

In my own experience, I have learned that it is not good to wait until the end to begin documenting everyone who has contributed to your final product. The simplest solution to this aspect of the editorial process is to keep notes on the people and organizations that are of assistance to us as a project develops. As I have moved from Prospect for Murder to Murder on Mokulua Drive, and from Murders of Conveyance to Yen For Murder, I have copied the Notes and Acknowledgment portion from one manuscript into the next. After removing references that are not pertinent to the current work, I continue to make quick notes as I progress through each book. By the end of a project, I may not have beautifully composed text, but I have complete references that will allow me to polish the section.

The easiest citations to track are for people connected to a library, institution, or government agency. Of course, such organizations often have considerable turnover in staff. That means you’ll need to verify whether a person remains in the job you’ve cited. Strategically inserting a phrase like “at the time” allows you to recognize a person’s help, even if you cannot verify their position as you go to press.

During a professional writer’s research, some individuals will provide meaningful counsel for several years. In my case, this category of advisers includes both generalists and specialists. Having described my protagonist Natalie Seachrist as the widow of a naval officer, I’m fortunate to have a husband who is a retired Lieutenant Commander. When unexpected questions about ships and naval protocols have arisen, he’s been able to answer them quickly at unusual times.

There are also people whose contributions move beyond their specific area of expertise. For example, the late Kevin C. Horstman, PhD (who specialized in geological sciences and digital image enhancement) has shared concise knowledge of the realm of geology. In addition, he’s provided understanding of geographical features and general scientific terminology. This invaluable input strengthens my ability to write descriptively, and has inspired writing of passages I had not foreseen.

Through appendices and footnotes, an author can reference the contributions of such technical, scientific, or artistic professionals in non-fiction pieces. Unfortunately, this is not appropriate to most works of fiction. However, fictional wordsmithing can utilize prefatory remarks, or dedication of a book or other major work to recognize such people. For even if you do not realize it, a reader’s expectations usually includes a desire to gain insight into how you have researched and shaped the work you are presenting to them. This is particularly true in the case of a series in which you will hope to gain a following from one book to the next.

Audio books require additional levels of attention to enhance the sensory experience of listeners. As I prepared to produce the audio recording of Prospect For Murder, I remained alert to aspects of production that could fulfill a listener’s expectations. A major consideration was providing precise chapter breaks, so that listeners know where they are within an audio book. It was also important to provide a distinct voice for each character. As someone trained in the theatre arts, I know it is easy for a solo performer to become confused in presentation of multiple characters.

Fortunately, I work with Jim Waters of Waterworks Recording. His experience in audio production positioned him to serve effectively as my director, as well as my recording producer and engineer. One of the best formatting tips he shared with me for preparing recording scripts was ensuring each page concluded with the end of a paragraph and/or an individual character’s voice. In addition I utilized various formatting to indicate how each passage was to be read.

As this first book in the Natalie Seachrist series reached its release date at the end of July 2016, I prepared Internet announcements through Https://www.ImaginingsWordpower.com, plus a new author website, Https://www.JeanneBurrows-Johnson.com and a Facebook page designed as a simple billboard for announcements. For these and other purposes, I’ve needed a professional photograph to accompany cover art and promotional text. This task seemed straight forward. However, on the day of the shoot, the weather was muggy, the activity took place in a space using evaporative cooling rather than air conditioning, and I was definitely having a bad hair day.

Perhaps I should have paid a cancellation fee and rescheduled the event. But with deadlines looming, I proceeded. At the end of the shoot I learned that the digital photographic firm could make image enhancements…at $35 for each element they adjusted. By the time I would have had them amend several parts of the picture I’d selected, I could have spent as much as for the shoot itself. Fortunately, a friend’s daughter, provided graphic art fixes. While this valuable service does not fall within a normal range of publishing credit, in the future she may become one of my advance readers, and I’ll be able to acknowledge her professional services in my notes section.

In summation, there are varied means by which you can thank and give credit to those who help you present your thoughts to the public!

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

To learn more about the award-winning Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian Mysteries, including Murders of Conveyance [Winner, Fiction Adventure-Drama, 2019 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards] and other projects, please drop in at my author’s website JeanneBurrows-Johnson.com . You’ll even find Island Recipes that might inspire your culinary creativity.

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

Interview and Oral History Projects, 3

PRODUCING TRUE FACSIMILES OF INTERVIEWS

Few people willingly give up control of their personhood to allow a stranger to delve into their inner thoughts. But those private thoughts are what an effective writer must access to produce a true facsimile of each interview they conduct. For as a professional or even an amateur writer, your goal is to meet your listeners or readers expectations that they are sharing your sensory experience while gleaning the particulars of why the highlighted individual is worthy of their attention.

There are four statements I can make about my perspective on the interviewing process:

~ The interviewer has one chance to make a good first impression
~ The interviewer may not get another opportunity to interview their subject
~ Despite a subject’s agenda, the interview must be a record of fact
~ Regardless of the premise for an interview, the subject may become reluctant to speak about topics previously authorized for discussion

THE IMPORTANCE OF PREPARATION
In several blogs, I’ve stressed the importance of preparation to conduct both general and oral history interviews. In contrast, there are some writers who feel that research and other preparation is unnecessary, or even unwarranted. I strongly disagree. I believe research is vital to empowering your words in the interview process. It will also help establish your credibility as a wordsmith who has mastered the art and science of writing. In short, it’s one of the best ways of demonstrating your skill at the art of communication and making your subject trust you.

Contrary to the theory that “winging it” in an interview demonstrates you are a “common man,” and therefore likely to establish a connection with your interviewee, I’ve observed the results of people who conduct interviews without appropriate research. For when an interviewer demonstrates little knowledge of their subject, their interviewee may judge them inconsequential. If that is the case, responses to the interviewer’s questions may be superficial. In fact, the subject may be thinking, “If you don’t care enough to do your homework, why should I care about your project?” So I’ll just keep the kernels of my truth to myself until the right interviewer comes along.”

SUMMARIZING YOUR RESEARCH
By the time you’re ready to conduct a cogent interview, you should have completed a great deal of fact checking in several areas of your subject’s life, including:

~ The historical era of their life and the category of work they’ve performed
~ Their biography and career…as reported by them, and as available in public sources
~ Materials they’ve published, and speeches and interviews they’ve given previously
~ Comments their colleagues and other contemporaries have expressed about them

SHAPING YOUR QUESTIONS
The bulk of your questions will be determined by the purpose of your project. In some cases you’ll need to conduct interviews with multiple persons. By asking parallel questions of each, you can compare and contrast their views of the primary subject, as well as one another.

Regardless of whether there’s any obvious controversy you must address, beginning your interview with general questions about the unfolding of the subject’s life, can assist in putting them at ease…if their mental processes are fully functioning and there are no hidden elements in their early life.

ASK QUESTIONS CHRONOLOGICALLY
By delivering the early portion of your questions chronologically, your interviewee can mentally relive moments with which they should be comfortable. Additionally, taking them through the recognizable patterns of the decades of their life may trigger remembrance of small details. This will not only enhance the interview itself, but also add color to your subsequent reporting of the event. This can, of course, lead to some sidetracking, but you should be able to steer the conversation back to the key points you need to cover.

Prior to, or during the interview, you may uncover facts about your subject’s life and work that are at odds with information the person has released in the past. In this case, you’ll have to decide whether to directly question these inconsistencies. Of course, you’ll want to keep in mind that true or false, the opinions of others may have colored the public record. Also, the perspectives of most people change with time and life experience. And, whether we like to admit it or not, everyone has gaps in their memory, without necessarily being conscious of it.

APPROACHING THE INTERVIEW
It’s nearly show time. That’s right. I said show time. While serious scholars and journalists may dislike hearing me say it, an interview is usually a semi-public performance. Unlike a play, the dialogue is not set in stone; unlike an evening at an improv theatre, it’s not without direction and form—for that’s your job. But like a play on Broadway, it will be frozen in time, even if you conduct subsequent interviews.

LOCATION OF THE INTERVIEW
It’s been my experience that interviewees often set and control the location of the interviews they grant. This may not be the case for broadcast media and bloggers with sets in which the subject is expected to appear, but you are probably not working in these situations. Admittedly, it’s best to conduct an interview at a site to which you’re both agreeable, but sometimes you must accept interviewing your subject in their office, home or other location of their choice. Nevertheless, there are things you can do to balance the situation so that you’re able to subtly declare your professional standing, while still putting the person at ease.

There are many authoring strategies that can help to distinguish your work as an interviewer. Establishing a good rapport can be the key to making the interviewee trust you with the information they’re imparting. To do this, you might bring something with you to enhance the experience. This could be an edible item, or, if you know they are fond of a particular author, you might obtain a copy of that writer’s work to share with your subject. Please note that I’m not suggesting you spend a significant sum of money to buy your subject’s cooperation. But small acts of kindness can help warm the atmosphere, demonstrate the thoroughness of your preparation, and make the entire experience positively memorable for both of you.

INTERVIEWER ANXIETIES
Anxiety will undoubtedly arise, regardless of your preparation. Despite previous contact you may have had with a subject, being in their presence (even by video conferencing or telephone) changes the balance of your relationship. There is another factor that may detract from your rapport with your interviewee: If there’s an aspect of their lives that makes them suspect in the eyes of the public, they may be hesitant about granting you an interview. They may be apprehensive about information you may have uncovered already…or what they might reveal in conversation with you.

ATMOSPHERE OF THE INTERVIEW
Even when you have secured the location for holding the event, you cannot be certain of being able to completely control the environment.

~ Despite previous agreement, additional people may be present during the event
~ As recording devices can fail, carry a back-up unit, cordage and microphones with you
~ Regardless of their response, your subject may be distracted by ringing telephones and other interruptions

As you set up your equipment, be aware that recognition of the permanency of the record of their interview may be upsetting to your subject. Even if you have provided them with a copy of your primary questions, they may dislike seeing the list set out before them. They may also have negative feelings about seeing any reference notes you’ve brought. But since such materials should be in easily read styles and sizes of fonts, you’ll be able to quickly reference pertinent facts, while maintaining eye contact and keeping the dialogue between you as natural as possible.

EBB AND FLOW OF THE INTERVIEW
Establishing and maintaining a smooth flow of conversation is a primary goal in the interviewing process. Regardless of whether your personal views are in accord with those of your interviewee, it’s important to approach what they have to say with a calm, if not fully open mind. This does not mean that you have to forfeit your role as the honest broker of truth. However, you can adjust your personal style of behavior and other elements to maximize a positive atmosphere. After all, as in any natural conversation, your subject will periodically lead the discussion. That’s fine as long as they do not deviate greatly from the purpose of your dialogue, or delve into personal details of your life.

SHIFTS DURING THE INTERVIEW
After opening pleasantries, you can help direct the flow of the interview by verifying the amount of time you’ll have with your subject. This establishes a guideline for both parties and should make your periodic redirection of topic easier to explain.

Although you’re guiding the overall direction of the conversation, information will arise that may surprise you, or at least call for cursory examination. This may occur because the man or woman to whom you are speaking may have talking points of their own that they wish addressed. If that’s so, let them express their concerns, and then try to deftly redirect them to the specific information you need in order to complete your project.

THE EDITORIAL PROCESS
Sometimes an author feels stressed about the relationship between the creative process and editing. As you review an interview, you will not only want to envision how you will shape an accurate account of the event that reflects truly inspired writing as well. One thing that can help you achieve this dual pronged goal is to remember that the way in which you report your findings may be wholly different than the substance and sequence of the questions you posed.

For example, if you’re part of an oral history project, there may be a specific format for you to follow. This generates a record that harmonizes with the results of other interviewers within the larger body of work. Typically you’ll prepare a transcript of the actual dialogue between you and the subject—often with punctuation or other markings to indicate accents, pauses, stresses, and other notable features of your conversation. You may also write an introductory passage explaining your methods of preparation and your evaluation of the results you’ve achieved.

If you’re working on assignment for a media outlet, you might have the opportunity to write a personable article containing both dialogue and narrative prose. In this case, you may be allowed to offer your candid view of the person you’ve studied. Be aware, if you’re working as a freelance researcher and writer, you may need to prepare multiple versions of your report in order to secure one or more appropriate outlets for its broadcast or publication. I should note that there are situations when an interview will be available to only a select audience, or may be held in private for release at a future time.

As you finalize your work on an interview, you’ll want to remember that in this day of permanency in data recording and retrieval, the words you shape after the interview will live as long as the event itself.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

For further information on interviews and oral histories see:
Overview of Interview and Oral History Projects, June 2015
Researching for Interviews, July 2015
Conducting Interviews, May 2016
After the Interview, August 2017

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me On:
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Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub,
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Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
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TAMING CLUTTER

THINNING THE FOREST OF FILES

You may have stumbled into this blog without an apparent need to address the topic. You may not be part of a group planning to generate an anthology. And, regardless of whether you are an amateur or professional writer, you may not think you would ever wish to publish a collection of your individual pieces. Yet over time, a number of works, large and small, may have accumulated in your electronic as well as hardcopy files. It’s simply part of the life of a wordsmith. And whether you realize it or not, handling your files is part of the editorial process!

REVIEWING PREVIOUSLY COMPOSED WORKS
It might be relatively simple to assemble a publishable collection of your various works, if you find a repeating theme. Sadly, it’s more likely that you’ll find disparate pieces lacking a common unifying thread. In such cases, cobbling together a publishable piece may seem a remote idea. However, periodic and systematic review and notation of your existing materials may reveal something of publishing value. You’ll never know unless you take the time and energy to explore the possibility. Projects like this demonstrate the technical side of the art and science of effective writing and should be one element in your authoring strategies.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF YOUR FILES
Having a comprehensible writer’s filing system can prove to be invaluable. As a wordsmith, there are many good reasons to revisit your electronic and hardcopy folders and files on a regular basis. The first benefit is controlling clutter. When you no longer recognize what a folder or file contains, it’s time to consider deleting it, or combining its contents with another. Of course, it is not advisable to delete material, until you’ve looked at it closely to see if there are any hidden gems. For if you discover something that generates an unexpected revenue stream, the entire process is justified, even if it means using creativity in your file naming. After all facilitating communication should include you!

Another reason for looking over your work is to review your journey as a professional writer. Like an artist moving through various media and periods in the body of their work, you may find definitive patterns in your creations. And, the process may impress you with the distance you have traveled and the progress that you’ve made. You may also find there are topics, choices in voice, vocabulary, and sensory detail that you would like to employ in the work you are currently generating…

FACILITATING FILE REVIEW
In order to examine your work effectively, you need a filing system that facilitates easy access. Regardless of whether you’re dealing with hardcopy or electronic form, you’ll want to organize folders and files in a way that will make sense to you in the remote future. That means ensuring that each one is both recognizable and trackable.

FORMATTING TIPS FOR HARDCOPY FOLDERS
Being a visually oriented person, I use color coding, abbreviated naming, and alphabetical sorting for hardcopy materials—of course, that’s after designating separate file drawers by category. For all reference materials I use the color yellow. These folders include:

~ Historical Reference
~ Geographical Reference
~ Organizational Reference
~ Miscellaneous Reference

For easy separation, I use Burgundy colored filing materials to designate Imaginings’ operational information and records. This section includes topics such as: accounting; computer hardware and software reference information; current and past marketing materials; handouts for clients; public speaking information and tools; and, current and completed writing projects.

Current clients are differentiated by teal colored folders and files. For ongoing organizational volunteer projects, I use blue filing materials. The great thing about a hardcopy folder is that its name can be changed whenever necessary by simply changing removable labels. And once I’ve completed a project, (or am no longer working for a client), I transform most files into categorical records stored in the Burgundy color I use for my own files.

For example, when I was no longer writing historical pieces for Realtor X, I removed materials I deemed irrelevant to any future work with them, and placed samples of the work I’d performed for them into a general topic folder [in this example, Real Estate]. This allows quick examination of all materials I’ve written about land and real estate. And, by retaining electronic files regarding individual companies, I can revisit the particulars of my association with them when necessary.

ELECTRONIC FOLDERS AND FILES
I find that creating and naming Folders is easy…since I base the process on titles composed of descriptive words and folder placement on alphabetical sequencing. To prevent having excessive numbers of folders for related topics, I use subset folders. For example, within a Chinese reference folder, I have subsets for Chinese art, funeral customs, history, jewelry, language and dialects, names, philosophy, and Shànghăi, And within each of these categories, there are further folders for specific topics such as dynastic history, types of jade, elements of Shànghăi deco artwork, and male and female names.

When I began the Natalie Seachrist series, I had one unnamed book and a nameless protagonist. After a while, the original file named “Book” became “Prospect For Murder.” By then, the protagonist was Natalie Seachrist, so some files in the PFM Folder bear her name in their titling. Many other files begin with the abbreviation “PFM,” followed by descriptive words, and finally, a date—if the material is NOT reference information. And, as with hardcopy files, reference data for the three books I’ve completed have been migrated to a generic Folder labeled “NS Research.”

Aside from logical alphabetical abbreviations, I urge you to date electronic files that are not reference information. This is because one of the most difficult aspects of being a writer is the number of re-writes required. I fought dating my files for many years, but after repeated difficulty in locating the files I sought, I have followed the example of more scientifically-oriented authors. The dating format I use is two digits each for the current year, the month, and day. For today’s Blog, I might title the file, I_Blog_Taming_Clutter_Pt_1_160421.

Other issues in naming electronic files are the use of capital letters and underscores between words or other elements. In the past, techies insisted on never using capital letters and always using dashes or underscores—or simply cramming alpha-numeric elements together without spaces. I haven’t noticed such definitive instructions recently. So, I use cap letters for readability, with underscores between the elements of a file name, as in one I created for recording the audio version of Prospect for Murder, PFM_Chapt_1_Vision.

DETERMINING WHICH FILES TO DELETE
I offer one cautionary note to all authors when it comes to the potential deletion of files: Author know thyself! This is crucial for all of us to internalize in many areas of our work. It is particularly important for writers noted for being too quick to delete something they may later need…as well as those tending to hoard every word they write, as if each were presented in a vision from a higher authority.

In general, I de-clutter files by removing as many as I can in both hardcopy and electronic formats. However, I have mechanisms for saving favorite material: I maintain two hardcopy sample portfolios. One is a master with published examples from my best work. The second one is smaller, with basic promotional materials focused on me and the general scope of Imaginings WordPower and Design Consultation. In the smaller binder, I’ve allowed space for inserting material from the master portfolio that might be appropriate to meeting with a specific person or organization.

For each major writing project, I create a file named “Unused Verbiage.” It is the destination for words, phrases and passages that I decide are inappropriate to my current endeavors, but which might prove useful later or in another piece of writing. These favored words can also facilitate your re-editing of a piece, such as when your editor or publisher requests insertion of some element you had deemed irrelevant.

Through such files, I track snippets of my writing, without needing to save a large or duplicative file. Also, I rename files with similar material, such as RMS_EmpressofBrit_Orig_Description or Pearl_Wong_Orig_Shanghai_Story. Both of these files reside beside the completed manuscript of Prospect for Murder. I don’t know how they might help me achieve goals and objectives in the unpredictable future. Perhaps I might revisit those passages as I complete Pearl Wong’s story within the series’ fourth book, Yen for Murder.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Operational tips to help writers are available in the following blogs:
Fear of Losing Files, July 2015
The Value of an Index, August 2015
Taming Clutter, April 2016

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

QUALITY BOOK PRODUCTION

IS YOUR BOOK A THING OF BEAUTY?

The art of communication is as varied as its practitioners. Success in your creative process usually rests on the degree of your inspiration. For any professional, it also reflects perception of the desires of your target market. And, if you are an author, success also depends on the writing skills to which you have been introduced…and have mastered. There are many comprehensive sources of writers’ guidelines available online and in print. I will sometimes mention issues in the writing process, but in most of these blogs, I am attempting to share snippets of authoring strategies as they arise in my own wordsmithing.

Many publishing houses restrict the amount of input an author may have in the printing process. But as a writer, you should be able to express concerns you have about the production of a work that will carry your name. As someone who has assisted in the process for other amateur and professional writers, and served as the art director on a collaborative effort, I am somewhat familiar with aspects of producing a high quality book.

When I was a debut author of fiction, I entered a new phase of professional experience. While the following areas of concern may not be presented in the sequencing of a publisher or art director, they represent my thought process while preparing for the publication of Prospect For Murder, the first book in the new Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian mystery series…AS I REVIEW THIS BLOG POST, I FEEL I SHOULD MENTION THAT I’M THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE THAT BOTH PROSPECT FOR MURDER AND MURDER ON MOKULUA DRIVE WERE AWARDED FIRST PLACE FOR BOOK JACKET ART IN THEIR RESPECTIVE YEARS OF COMPETITION IN THE NEW MEXICO/ARIZONA BOOK AWARDS.
branding program
UNIFIED APPEARANCE IN A SERIES
Career longevity for a writer often rests on their successful book branding and advertising. These issues bring us to the appearance of one’s product; in this case, books. There are many design dilemmas facing authors and the people who will introduce their work to the world. Personally, I enjoy reading a classic hardbound book, so my contemplation of quality book printing rests on my perceptions of what constitutes a fine hardcover edition.

THE READER’S EXPERIENCE
While the design elements of a print or on-line artistic project may vary in several ways (sometimes because of the genre), some issues are common. In general, the test of a book’s initial appeal is its cover. Does it draw the eye of the potential reader? I say the reader, rather than the buyer, because with the constant rise in the cost of hardcopy books, library patrons represent a large segment of the public that may read your book. Of course, to reach that readership, you will first have to appeal to the buyers of books that line library shelves.

DYNAMIC BOOK JACKET DESIGN
Book jacket design is one of the most important elements that concerns marketers. Therefore, I encourage you to seek an artist whose skills in fine and graphic art (as well as typography) will meet the needs of myriad projects. Fortunately, I have found this breadth of talent in collaborating with Yasamine June.

I do not claim to be a specialist in color theory, but generally, bold colors and print in product packaging are believed to help maximize sales. In book publishing, successful cover design does not rest solely on these elements, or even on the overall quality of the artwork. In publishing, the book’s genre is also vital. Prospect for Murder is clearly a mystery. In this genre, the coloration employed in book art often features dark colors, sometimes enhanced with the use of chiaroscuro [the effective contrasting of shadow and light].

To facilitate communication with my readers, my artistic vision embraces continuing historical and cultural features within the content and artistic accents that unify the appearance of the books. Because my stories center on Hawai`i, I am using Island-themed framing based on Hawaiian heirloom jewelry for each book’s cover. This repeating image, plus ones that are pertinent to each story, will serve to meet potential readers’ expectations by unifying my branding, thereby increasing the public’s recognition of each new addition to the series.

In classic format, I have included a cast of characters, chapter aphorisms, and a notes and acknowledgments section. In addition, because of the inclusion of considerable foreign language and historical references, I offer a guide for pronouncing Hawaiian words and a glossary of non-English and specialized vocabulary. For emphasis, the aphorisms are presented in italic fonts and a distinctive hibiscus-based image frames each page number.
formatting tips
Empowering Your Words Through Readable Text
The next concern I have is readability. Given the length of my books [PFM is 92,000 words], concerns about the cost of printing could lead to printing decisions based on saving paper: Margin size can be reduced; spacing after periods can be decreased from two spaces to one, blank pages between chapters can be eliminated, and the weight of the paper reduced. Such choices might reduce the overall size of a book and conserve paper; but they would not enhance the sensory experience of the people reading the book.

Beyond these general considerations, my target market is older, well-educated women and men who are as interested in character relationships as they are intriguing plotlines. Many readers within my target market may wear eye glasses or contact lenses. Nevertheless, I am told that with the lack of certain vocabulary and situational elements, the inclusion of historical references and multiculturalism, my series may be appropriate to students in advanced placement courses in secondary school. These students may not be as concerned with the layout preferences of older readers, but they too will benefit from easy-to-read text.

Regarding my recently published book, I have agreed to a layout that includes single spacing following the end of sentences, despite the continuing use of two spaces by many publishers both here and abroad. To compensate for this, my publisher has used a larger font that enhances the readability of the text of the hardcopy.

Audio Books and Public Readings
With a trilogy of books already completed in the Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian Mystery series, I have already completed an audio edition of the first volume. In general, I knew I had to employ a believable voice for each of the characters. As the series is written in the first person, the most important voice is that of the protagonist, who is roughly my age. For Natalie’s inner narrative, I use a measured and calm voice; for her interaction with other characters, I employ tones and rhythms appropriate to each scene. Other characters are presented to showcase their unique profiles.

In preparation for reading portions of Prospect for Murder, I recorded descriptions and samples of each cast member. The text for each was printed in a distinctive color. In addition, I utilized a 14 point font and 1.5 line spacing. I also used varying spacing and marks to indicate pauses and emphasis.

For instance, I use: upward and downward arrows for changes in tone; ellipses for the trailing off of my voice; and long dashes for abrupt breaks. For vocabulary or phrases about which I was concerned with correct pronunciation, I inserted underscoring and added hyphens between syllables.

In future blogs, I’ll report on the response to the decisions I have made in this phase of my practice of the art and science of writing!

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Further discussion of art is available at the following blog posts:
Authors Design Dilemmas 1, April 2015
Confronted by a Fantasia of Fonts, May 2015
Rainbows of Color, May 2015
Winning Logos & Slogans, October 2015
Quality Book Production, February 2016
Harmonizing Branding Elements, August 2016
Book Promotion and Evolving Art, January 2017
Balancing Text and Space, February 2018
Successful Cover Art, December 2018

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

AUTHOR APPEARANCES

Writers’ Guidelines

MAKE YOUR AUTHOR APPEARANCES MEMORABLE!

Regardless of whether you write fiction or non-fiction, you will need to consider elements of successful advertising and branding for authors. The skills you have developed as a wordsmith will help you facilitate communication and networking with individuals and organizations that can help you increase your public visibility.

AUTHOR APPEARANCES & READINGS
You’ve completed a large project in fiction or non-fiction and it’s been published. You’ve made great progress toward achieving your goals as a writer. And if you’ve written an award-winning book, you’ve reached a major milestone in successfully practicing the art and science of writing.

Thinking the heavy work is over? You’re wrong. Seriously wrong. You’ve simply turned the corner from building a product to marketing it in tandem with your publisher…That is, unless you’re entering the world of independent publishing. In that case, you’ll be responsible for self-marketing, and need to maximize a branding program that relies on dynamic but cost-effective authoring strategies and advertising messages.

Regardless of how your work is being published, you’ll need to make promotional appearances. That process should include opportunities for your readers to hear your words, as well as to ask you impromptu questions about yourself and your work. Even if you do not have a strong voice or dynamic style of presentation, the public will want to get to know the mind and personality that has generated the material in which they are interested.

VENUES FOR APPEARANCES
In preparation for your work to the public personally, you can refine your oral reading skills by practicing with a voice recording device in front of a mirror. You can also hone your skills at a writers’ group, where you could work on timing selected readings. If you find yourself uncomfortable reading aloud, appearances at a small book club meeting may be ideal for warming up for larger audiences.

Once you’re ready for general audiences, you’ll find there are many venues at which you might share your writing. Some are directly related to publishing, such as book fairs and literary and artistic festivals. Depending on your reputation as a writer, your local radio or television station may have programming featuring local writers. This is especially true of public broadcasting in radio and television.

Since your goal is to sell books in every form you are published—hard- or softcover print, Ebooks, audio books, or online websites and blog sites—libraries and bookstores [local and national chains] are ideal for promoting current work and for attracting potential long-term followers. Again, your personal reputation and the involvement of your publisher may determine the ease with which such appearances can be booked.
Media Relations Dos and Don’ts
EXPANDING MEDIA RELATIONS
In previous blogs—and at https://www.ImaginingsWordpower.com—I’ve discussed the importance of connectivity with the media. With each public performance opportunity, I suggest you prepare an advertising message that can be adapted to public service announcement [PSA] messages. These can be utilized promoting the non-profit organizations (i.e. schools and libraries) at which you might appear. For while you may have expectations of selling copies of the work you’re promoting, your authoring events may be deemed worthy of mention in the calendar of non-profit community activities within your local media outlets and platforms, as well as virtual communities. They may also be of interest to followers of social media and blogs featuring interviews.
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COST-EFFECTIVE MEDIA RELATIONS
As you expand your community relations and get to know your media, you may be surprised by the amount of free media coverage you can obtain. It all depends on your practice of the art of communication, and I don’t simply mean effective wordsmithing. Hopefully your writer’s inspiration will aid you in establishing strategic media relations. Much of this will rely on pithy PSAs prepared as broadcast, print, and On-line media releases [you can find samples at my marketing website, Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation. You should also be prepared to attend business, social and community activities that will introduce you to members of the media, whose own work you may have been enjoying for years.
Empowering Your Words
ENHANCING THE LISTENER’S EXPERIENCE
Let me again state that You have one opportunity to make a good first impression. Remember that each time you appear in public, you’re making a statement about yourself and your work. And although your written work may be inspired and employ a rich palette of words, you must now present it to people who will be judging you on their sensory experience!

THE VENUE DIRECTS YOUR PREPARATION
Will you be speaking in a large or small room? Will you be standing or seated? How much of your body will be visible to the audience? Will you have a microphone? Will you be introducing yourself? Will someone be monitoring the time you’ve been allotted for speaking? Are you the featured speaker at the event, or one of a group of presenters? And how will you handle stage fright? I encourage you to remember that stage fright is not a phenomena experienced solely by actors.

~ The quality of your voice. Once you know the size of the room and whether you will be utilizing a microphone, consider how well your vocal quality matches the venue. Remember that unless you are providing your own Audio Visual equipment, there’s no way you can be assured that the equipment provided will work as desired. Therefore, think about whether you have the vocal strength to project your voice throughout the designated space if you end up without a sound system.

Although no one wants to give a reading on a day when they are not feeling well, you may not be able to cancel an appearance. If you are unable to read your material, you may need to take a friend or colleague to actually present your work, but it would still be good for you to show up (as long as you’re not contagious). When in doubt about your condition, check with your healthcare provider. If you just have a tickle in your throat, you can always try drinking warm tea or munching your favorite fruit to produce a clearer sounding voice.

~ Your appearance. Many artists and writers feel there’s no need to be concerned about their appearance or their behavior. But if you want to be taken seriously, I believe you should demonstrate respect for yourself, your work, and for the public who awaits you. What you wear may be dictated by where you’ll be speaking. If you’re standing on a raised platform, consider how your legs and shoes will look from the audience. Women may want to wear a longer skirt length than they normally do, or even a pantsuit to ensure they aren’t sending the wrong message. And don’t forget that use of makeup is not limited to women. Men, (especially those who are bald), are just as susceptible to having a glowing face that detracts whether they are on stage or on video. Also, the eyes are key to projecting a performer’s personality. A touch of eye liner below the lower eye lashes gives your audience a sense of being closer to you.

As to style, the casualness of ragged denim, faded hoodies and unshaven portions of one’s anatomy may seem representative of the artistic world. But ask yourself whether they best represent the work you are introducing. If you’re beyond the first two decades of life, consider more sophisticated choices in attire and overall self-presentation. Personally, I usually top skirts and dresses I wear to public events with a vivid Asian style silk jacket. Not only is this in keeping with my normal wardrobe, but since the Natalie Seachrist mysteries features references to Asian culture, this choice sets the stage for the stories that I will be addressing.

INTRODUCING YOURSELF
You should have several empowering bios by the time you’re launching a book. [You’ll find a summary for writing one on my website at https://www.ImaginingsWordpower.com/bios-to-empower-you.html] You should have brief versions in one or two paragraphs in both first and second person voices. If you’re lucky, there’ll be an MC or other person to introduce you, and hopefully they’ll read your bio without inappropriate ad-libs. However, regardless of your advance planning, there will be times when you must introduce yourself. And while it is important to have a well-written bio, it is useful to be able to speak off-the-cuff without any notes.

YOUR PERFORMANCE
That’s right. I said Performance. That’s what an author’s appearance is. You must present yourself so that you are memorable and believable as the author of the work you have produced. And just as there are many styles of writing, there are many ways in which you can present your work. In my opinion, the top rung of professionalism holds those rare authors who memorize portions of their work and perform it like a play…that is, sans script.

One of the most likely venues in which you’ll see this type of performance is Cowboy Poetry. One of my favorite entertainers in this genre is Bill Black, whose warm vocal tones are accented with more than a hint of North Carolina. From the moment he steps onto a stage with his cowboy shirt, hat and bolo tie, the audience is wooed by both the stories he relates and his personage as their author.

At the next level are presenters who place text within a folder. This is where I fall in terms of performance. I try to avoid treating my audiences to the rustling and flopping of loose pages that can separate easily and cause the reader confusion.

ONE OF MANY PERFORMANCES…
At some time, you may be charged with scheduling a group of authors to read. At a recent gathering of writers, I found that despite instructions to “read for about five minutes,” there was great variety in the lengths of the readings. Even when a presenter has timed their work in advance, the pressure of public performance can produce variations in the actual length of a reading. I believe that setting a measurable standard (i.e. three to four pages, double spaced). While some will read faster or slower, the overall time of the readings should even out.

DOES AN EVENT WARRANT A MEDIA RELEASE?
Event organizers will normally generate media releases. That’s wonderful, especially if they follow the details of a bio you submit. But there’s nothing wrong with sending out your own media releases if you’re a featured participant. You should include general information about the occasion, your role in it, and other newsworthy persons who are involved, so that your effort does not appear wholly self-serving. In fact, the sponsors should welcome your boosting the likelihood of media coverage. For information on this topic, see earlier blogs, as well as sample releases on my website at imaginingswordpower.com/media-release-samples.html.

In addition, you can send our post cards, letters, fliers or other announcements. Recipients should include people you expect to attend, as well as those who may not be able to participate but should be aware of your involvement. If event is open to the general public, distribution of your promo information via mail, email, and social media may add to the number of attendees.

No matter how well you think you have prepared for an event, something can happen to derail a public appearance. Once it is over, hold your own private event autopsy, if the event organizers do not have one. And don’t forget to send out a post-event media release. Again, make a point of mentioning any noteworthy persons or historical context who are of general interest in your community. Finally, upload a sample of the reading you gave at the event on your website or social media, even if you have to record it anew.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Suggestions for Dynamic Public Appearances are available at following blog posts:
Author Appearances, December 2015
Promo Materials for Public Speaking, July 2018
All the World’s a Stage, August 2018
Final Preparations for Public Speaking, September 2018

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

Author Media Relations, 2

DEVELOPING DYNAMIC MEDIA RELATIONS

Applying the art and science of writing is only part of the equation for achieving professional goals and objectives as an author. Successful branding rests on myriad authoring strategies…including positive media relations. Like most aspects of your work, you will need to invest time, effort, and occasional infusions of money into researching, establishing, and maintaining good relations with the media. As you think about preparing your outreach to the media, remember that you are moving into the realm of commercial writing, which requires you to employ concise verbiage that directly addresses the needs and interests of a specific audience. The bottom line is to follow the rules set down by each media outlet…

KNOW YOUR MEDIA OUTLETS
A key element in any branding program is determining which media outlets [ranging across print, broadcast, and On-line platforms] are appropriate for shining a spotlight on your current project. Once you’ve completed compiling notes of interest about each—including the demographics of their patrons—you will need to establish relationships with their journalists and perhaps one or more of their department heads. Regardless of whether you’re going to contact staff or management, a personal salutation is always good. After all, looking to the future, there’s no telling what a person’s next job may be…or how you might reconnect with them to your mutual benefit.

NETWORKING WITH MEDIA CONTACTS
With your background work complete, you’re ready to launch regular rounds of communication with media contacts. Despite interaction you may have had in the past, you will need to follow up on any leads you’ve just uncovered. Is there a department or individual journalist for whom your current or future work will be of particular interest? Is there a community event for which your work fits well? Can you make a donation…or otherwise interact with a newsworthy non-profit or organization which may be participating in the event? Can you send out a tasteful PSA focusing on the group while increasing your public visibility?

As an author, it’s easy to rely heavily on your effective writing rather than speaking skills when examining how to broaden your community involvement. But when an opportunity arises to visit with a media specialist personally, you can broaden your talent in the genteel art of verbal communication. Through such contact, you should be able to affirm the media’s awareness of you and glean new facts about their individual needs and desires.

Even if you haven’t had an opportunity to meet media representatives you plan to contact, you can send out press releases highlighting your noteworthy work. What constitutes a newsworthy announcement? Chiefly, the topic must be appropriate to the specific media outlet and their concrete as well as virtual community. For example, you wouldn’t send a notice about a program for elementary school children to a magazine for Seniors—unless that demographic is notably involved in the activity.

TIMELY MEDIA RELEASES
If there is an element of time involved (such as a holiday event), it’s more likely the media outlet will grant you attention IF you’ve contacted them with sufficient lead time. There are two simple ways to determine each media outlet’s deadlines: Pay for a subscription to a detailed media list; or, build your own record for each of your preferred media outlets. Even if you have an annual subscription to one or more media contact data bases, the information can quickly become outdated, so unless the provider of a list sends out updates, you’ll have to check with each media organization periodically.

If you’re creating a media list yourself, you’ll need to gather the following information: The names of each organization and their key personnel; a street address for drop-offs; a mailing address if it differs from the physical address; phone and fax numbers and email addresses for pertinent departments. As you become acquainted with individuals within each organization, they may provide you with additional contact information.

The creative process an author uses to facilitate communication with their audience must be dynamic. Consider the following scenarios that can motivate you to communicate with local, regional, national, Internet, and even international media outlets:

WIN A CONTEST, AWARD OR SCHOLARSHIP?
Media outlets are always interested in stories of success, especially if they address a segment of their niche market. Make sure you indicate the importance of the organization recognizing you with an award.

SPECIAL EVENTS
Even if the organizers of an event are sending out media releases, you can submit your own in a distinctive format that highlights your particular contribution.
political campaigns
AWARDED A NOTEWORTHY POSITION, CONTRACT, OR COMMISSION?
Send out a media release, including copy that demonstrates the stature of an individual, business or organization that grants you a noteworthy position, contract or commission. granting it to you. You can also provide periodic releases reporting on significant stages of progress in your work. Be sure to mention newsworthy persons who may have become involved in the project. This could include a high profile woman or man whose image will be associated with your final product, be slated to read your text in an audio publication, or perform as the MC at an event you are managing personally. By the way, this includes political, religious or volunteer activities in which you may be involved.

You may be wondering if there’s any way of ensuring your media release will receive positive attention and be acted upon as you desire. The simple answer is no. Admittedly, it helps to get your information released if you’re prominent in your field. Your main concern should be avoiding being perceived as wasting a media professional’s time. If your material and its content doesn’t appear relevant, not only will it minimize the possibility of coverage of your current plea for attention, but it also decreases the likelihood that your next outreach will be greeted with joy.

When selecting between two or more potential news items to promote, you should remember that the most popular topics for garnering media attention are connected to children, elders, or non-profit organizations. That’s why it is beneficial to team up with such groups within your community on appropriate projects. Not only will such associations gain media attention, but they will bring loyal followers to your future projects.… And word of mouth promotion is the most beneficial form of advertising!

MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION
Regardless of how important you view your message, you must consider how a media outlet will judge its potential value to their customers. As a promotional consultant, I’ve often worked with writers and artists who view their work as being of the utmost significance. They begin nearly every communication by speaking of themselves and their status. This is in direct conflict with the media’s need to serve their patrons. Rather than opening your plea for coverage with “I” (or even your name if the piece is written in the third person), begin with something that will appeal to your reader and encourage their interest in learning more about you.

SHAPING STRONG MEDIA RELEASES
Most of the media releases I see are one or two pages of single-spaced paragraphs headed, “For immediate release.” These releases have no sectioning, no titling, and no use of bold or underscored text. You need to remember that if the opening of a long document is not auspicious, the recipient probably won’t finish reading it, especially when other materials are more appealing!

If you bore the recipient, how have you benefited from the effort…and cost, if you’ve mailed hardcopy? Even if the release is read, there’s no guarantee that the recipient will act upon the information. If you’re lucky the bare bones of your information will be published. However, unless there’s a very slow news day (with a large “ news hole),” the full text of a long release is unlikely to be included. If only part of your text is published, there’s no assurance that the details you deem pertinent will be included in the news piece.

One way to short-circuit these problems is the use of the classic inverted pyramid for news writing. This means that the most important facts must be placed at the beginning of the release. With each succeeding paragraph, the importance and relevance of the information contained decreases. Many editors are grateful to receive material they can merely drop into their layout.

SENDING OUT MEDIA RELEASES
You must, of course, follow the instructions a media outlet provides for sending press releases. However, some organizations allow some flexibility in their instructions. To increase the number of people who see my releases, I place a note at the end of emails stating that a FAX or even hardcopy will follow. Since so few people bother with anything but emails today, there’s a good chance several people will read your copy when its sent in more than one form. Of course, you cannot control how the media will respond. Even if they decide to publish your message, you can’t be certain of how they will treat your copy, so keep in mind that providing less text gives an editor less to delete or re-sequence. If they’re interested in learning more they’ll contact you.

And don’t forget to send out another media release when you’ve completed your current project. Highlight the event’s outcome, mentioning any noteworthy person or historical context which will distinguish the activity as being of general interest in your community. You can even send out subsequent releases to announce the results or consequences of your work.

POLISH YOUR WRITING SKILLS
With careful research and repeated practice in writing media releases, you’ll enhance your ability to work efficiently with the media. A successful program of media blitzing rests on gathering facts and then presenting them in a way that builds interest in your topic. Many times your challenge is in establishing a rhythm to the words you use to present the facts you have carefully laid out.

~ As __________’s youth face another summer seeking entertainment …
~ The enclosed image shows television personality _____ donating her time at…
~ Jane Smith, winner of the 2015 _____ award has been named presiding judge in the forthcoming spelling bee for elementary school children in the _____ School District.

Remember that if you are involved in an event benefiting your community, you might be the ideal guest for an early morning drive time radio talk show—one of the best ways of getting a large number of people to become aware of via free media coverage.

Despite your best efforts to enhance your connectivity with the media, at some point you may be forced to invest in advertising. To maximize the results, your branded message must be positively memorable. From the words you use to the colors and shapes that accompany and frame them, you must strike an accord with your target market. In today’s tough marketplace, you will need to look beyond traditional ads and commercials. Appropriate saturation of social media outlets, YouTube videos, and even infomercials have all been used effectively by authors seeking improved community relations. As you contemplate your options, you will have to evaluate whether you have the skill set to design and implement a branding program without the assistance of advertising professionals.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Media Relations for Authors may be found at:
Know your Media, June 2015
Media Relations Dos and Don’ts, November 2015

For examples of concise print and broadcast media releases, please see
Media Release samples at Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

To learn more about the Conversations with Auntie Carol, the Natalie Seachrist Mysteries, including Murders of Conveyance [Winner, Fiction Adventure-Drama, 2019 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards], Island recipes and other projects, please visit my author website at JeanneBurrows-Johnson.com.

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

WINNING LOGOS & SLOGANS…

emmas for AuthorsRich Palettes of Words & Images for Authors & Artists!

While logos and slogans are usually associated with corporations, they can facilitate communication with the public and be key branding elements for any business endeavor, regardless of size or tax status. And, yes, that includes professional writers wishing to facilitate communication with their readers, listeners, and/or viewers. The memorable branding messages of successful authors truly echo the rich palette of words and images used by Fortune 500 companies!

PICTURE A SUCCESSFUL LOGO OR SLOGAN
What comes to mind when you think of a successful logo or slogan? Perhaps the first is the iconic image of a cola company that has been in business for over one hundred and twenty-five years. There have been many artists who have brought their own creative process to the company. But while its logo has changed in minor ways, the bright color palette, signature font, and swirls of one type or another have remained ever present.

In contrast, its slogans and other commercial text for their signature product have been altered periodically. This is not surprising since marketing styles and considerable linguistic evolution have occurred within the same decades. But with each change, the artistic vision of the company has been consistent—to provide a pleasurable sensory experience to the product’s target market.
Tips
ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL LOGO OR SLOGAN
In addition to any artistic icon, the choice of color and fonts utilized in shaping the outward image of a viable brand must be memorable. They must also be appropriate to the product or service, as well as the demographics of the target market. However, since a business can select a specific slice of their market to target, the style of two businesses within a particular industry can vary considerably.

Consider snack foods intended for children. Generally, bright, happy colors, images, and simple easy-to-read—or even cartoonish—text fonts are appealing to that market. But when the ingredients are organic, the use of colors associated with nature is the norm. In addition, with growing concerns for the environment, recycled and/or recyclable packaging is becoming preferable…at least to parents.

When you know the demographics of your target market, your first decision in establishing your brand may be deciding whether to use your personal or business name without an accompanying image. This may be appropriate if your name distinguishes your business from others that offer parallel products and/or services. However, the use of an artistic design element not only clarifies what you do, but demonstrates the style in which you operate. Thus, a black, profiled outline of a woman with luxurious hair, standing in high heels against a deep plum color may convey an ideal image for an upscale salon or spa. If the figure of a man in a tuxedo were added, an iconic image for a ballroom dancing studio would emerge.

DYNAMIC TEXT IN LOGO DESIGN
Let’s now consider how we might design a logo for a company we’ll call Inner City Painting. Beyond the simple use of text, one could use an upturned paint brush with a splash of paint for each of the i’s in the text. At the next level of complexity, a simple line drawing of a home or a string of commercial buildings could declare the firm’s niche market.

Aside from clean, non-seraphed text, three primary colors might convey a no-frills provider of basic painting services. Conversely, sweeping art strokes, an elegant font, and an exotic color palette would suggest a more artistic enterprise. [See DESIGN DILEMMAS FOR AUTHORS, Part 3: COLOR, May 30, 2015, regarding the use of standardized colors to ensure uniform coloration in both print and electronic publishing.]

Several years ago, I was working with a local printer whose family had been in the industry in a large city for several decades. Although the familial entity no longer existed, the branding artwork remained. It depicted a happy cartoon character inviting the public through their doors. The style of the figure, his attire and shoes all pointed to another era, but the idea of a friendly chap greeting customers was still a viable concept—especially in this age of impersonal mega-corporations. With the help of a graphic artist, the image of your friendly neighborhood printer was updated and served to introduce the firm to a new generation of clients seeking full-service printing design and production.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LOGOS IN BRANDING
Equally important to an effective branding program is the choice of a slogan, for both individuals and organizations. Notice that I am using the single noun, S L O G A N. Too often I find promotional decision makers attracted to complex images and multiple descriptive phrases. This simply muddies the waters and presents a jumbled NON-MEMORABLE image to the public.

Consider artist John Smith. He might present himself as: John James Smith, portraitist. In this case, his middle name separates the artist from other men named John Smith and the word portraitist specifies his specialty. Additional, qualifying words and phrases can offer further information that will attract appropriate clients to him. The following is a simple representation of Mr. Smith and his classic painting:

Portraits in Oil Offered by
John James Smith, M.F.A.

Another issue to consider in textual aspects of branding is punctuation. Instead of shifting font or using italics, some promotional decision makers complicate a design by ending slogans with punctuation. I suggest saving punctuation for actual sentences and paragraphs of descriptive text. I find that the shortest path to memorability lies in simplifying your words and design elements.

ENSURE SIMPLICITY
Designing branding elements in popular dimensions you are most likely to see in print ensures simplicity and that means ease in utilization in multiple projects. That means that although your graphic artist may be thrilled to present you with an 8.5 x 11 inch design, have them offer you samples in the sizes of dimes, nickels, quarters and silver dollars. When you do this, you will quickly see that extraneous strokes and other details are lost in such dimensions and can even prove distracting to the message you are trying to convey with a business card or advertisement. The size of fonts used for your name and any slogan will naturally have to be proportional to the size of the icon being presented.

With the publication of Prospect For Murder, the first Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian Mystery set in Honolulu, I have been sorting through old files. In examining the progression of my own branding, I see that for over a decade, I simply used my name and a few bulleted words to describe my work. In 1995, I launched use of the word Imaginings in my business name while completing edits for an article I co-authored for Broker World Magazine. Since I was moving from Honolulu to Tucson, it was part of an authoring strategy for introducing myself to a new locale for my physical business, as well as potential regional, national or even international audiences. [You might find it interesting to note that at that time I was sometimes told that there was no such word as imaginings.]

Through the years, I have offered clients several products and services to enhance their physical environs, as well as their promotional representations. While previously using merely a textual presentation of myself, a couple of years ago I decided to design an iconic image that would represent several elements of my career: Commercial writing, design consultation, and floral art. I knew that utilizing a pen would clearly represent the largest area of my work. As I sometimes provided faux painting of accent walls to commercial clients, it seemed natural to also include an artist’s brush. Finally, as I have offered floral designs to both friends and clients, some form of floral image was indicated.

My logo has evolved over time is used in myriad ways. Some variations have been necessitated by hardcopy printing vs. electronic presentations: Boldness and detail; portrait and landscape formats; framed and unframed; isolated or with text. Despite these differences, the use of gold, blue and plum colors have been consistent–except when a solid gold background is required. I’m glad to say that my icon is becoming recognized…

With my writing shifting from commercial writing to fiction, my personal name may become more recognizable. Nevertheless, I like the elements of this image that sums up my work to date. However, I think it’s time for the hand of a graphics professional to finalize my signature icon, so that I can empower my image as well as my words as an author.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Discussion of art is available at the following blog posts:
Authors Design Dilemmas 1, April 2015
Confronted by a Fantasia of Fonts, May 2015
Rainbows of Color, May 2015
Winning Logos & Slogans, October 2015
Quality Book Production, February 2016
Harmonizing Branding Elements, August 2016
Book Promotion and Evolving Art, January 2017
Balancing Text and Space, February 2018
Successful Cover Art, December 2018

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me On:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books,
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub,
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

ENERGIZING NARRATIVE PASSAGES

Are you an effective teller of tales?

Professional or amateur, the most challenging part of a day of wordsmithing may be facing a blank piece of paper, or an empty page on your monitor’s screen…especially if you’re writing what feels like a dull narrative.
Writing Tips
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF WRITING
It may be surprising to you, but despite our electronic age, there are still writers who begin each project with hardcopy composition. If this authoring strategy produces effective prose, it’s hard to argue with their writing process. It’s all a question of the results that come from one’s practice of the art of communication. In both fiction and non-fiction, when the writer’s inspiration produces a rich palette of words that maximizes their reader’s experience, their methods have been successful!

Regardless of your wordsmithing process, on days when you feel lacking in creativity and even editorial direction, I suggest you begin by capturing the images that first come to your mind as you contemplate the scope and goals of your project. Work without concern for the structure of language, correct grammar, or the sequence in which the words emerge. Within a short while, you should find yourself producing an unstoppable stream of verbiage.

As your pace slows, you can pause to write a brief outline of your work to that point. Confident that you will not lose direction, glance over your creative output for patterns within the images, dialogue, and activity that you have produced. You can then begin empowering your words by strengthening the connectivity of fragmented text.

You should then be able to move back and forth between the creative and editorial processes fairly easily. I stress the first category—creativity—because writers often lose images they have glimpsed by becoming too absorbed in initial self-editing. Remember, editing can always be accomplished at a future time. But if you lose your inspired thoughts, they may never be retrieved…or built upon as you initially envisioned.

Experienced authors often have an established writer’s voice on which they can draw. This is true whether they are writing the fourth book in a series, or constructing a non-fiction piece reflecting their true voice and personality. Whether you are in this position, or creating a wholly new voice, you may wish to take a few moments and reflect on the tone, sophistication of vocabulary, structure of language that is most appropriate to the current work, and images that will enhance the sensory experience of your audience. [Please note that I am referring to your voice as the teller of facts or a story, not the voices of any characters you may be creating.]

With these elements in mind, you can enter the realm of refining the vocabulary and organization of your piece. As usual, I suggest you begin with the most obvious edits. Personally, I have a tendency to employ overly complex sentence structure that begs immediate trimming. Another pattern that many of us face is the need to flip first and last clauses, sentences, and even paragraphs. Like everything else, practice makes better, if not perfect, form. By the time you’ve reached the end of a couple of sections, your structure should have tightened with increasing clarity.
Writer’s Guidelines
MY EDITORIAL PROCESS
Sometimes in the midst of mundane edits, I have a sense of the truly impactful changes I wish to make. If working in hardcopy (often late at night in the midst of classic films or predictable episodes of television mystery shows), I’ll make marginal notes regarding a character’s appearance, vocabulary, motivations, or inner thoughts regarding other characters. [This has proven especially important when working on books subsequent to Prospect for Murder in the continuing Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian Mystery series.] And when at the computer, I may utilize small sticky notes to record my ideas.

With obvious adjustments to structure complete, I move within the piece to maximize its overall flow and tone. I usually begin by modifying nouns and adjectives. In a previous blog on color theory [see Design Dilemmas for Authors, Part 3: Color, May 30, 2015], I discussed various words that might be used in place of the word blue to enhance your color palette.

FACILITATING COMMUNICATION
Likewise, consider how you might embellish a scene referring to a red sofa. While inappropriate for a children’s picture book (and most contemporary fiction), the author of a dramatic historical novel might say, “The heroine entered the study nervously and perched on the garnet colored velvet chaise lounge.” Here I wish the reader to feel wooed by the distinctive color, texture and shape of a piece of furniture.

In my own writing, I frequently draw on the breadth of my writer’s palette to concisely depict the ambiance of a scene. For example, “She heard the sharp sound of a gunshot” became “She was startled by the sharp report of a bullet slicing the air.” Here I turned a matter-of-fact incident report to a description of my character’s response, which allows the reader to join in the heroine’s frightening experience which will enable your reader to feel they are present at the scene…and who knows how that may prove useful if your piece were to be converted to a script for a movie or television show.
Impactful Advertising Messages
ALTERING PUNCTUATION
Consider the following examples of shifting vocabulary, word sequence, and punctuation that can alter a reader’s interpretation of a passage within commercial as well as fictional text:

~ Experience the unique luxury of a journey to the Orient aboard the majestic RMS Empress of Britain. [Advertising copy similar to posters for the ship’s 1932 world cruise]

~ I journeyed from Hong Kong to Honolulu aboard the RMS Empress of Britain. [A matter of fact statement appropriate for any type of writing]

~ Truly…I did enjoy my trip aboard the RMS Empress of Britain. [A plea to be believed; perhaps for the dénouement of a murder mystery]

~ I immensely enjoyed my sojourn from Hong Kong to Honolulu aboard the luxurious RMS Empress of Britain. [An elegant, almost fussy statement, appropriate to a romance novel]

There are many ways to strengthen your writer’s voice for each project you undertake. Reading other works in the same genre by authors you like and dislike will provide examples to emulate, as well as to reject in your own work. There are also reference materials that will broaden your ability to describe people and occurrences in an articulate manner appropriate to your genre. You might begin by perusing your own reference library to ensure you have: A couple of grammar-cramming style books such as The Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook, which are standards. You will also want to have a thesaurus or two, and a few dictionaries, including ones for foreign words or phrases you might use.

A RICH PALETTE OF IMAGES
Beyond these basics, consider how you can use Internet search engines and other materials. One of the most interesting sources I’ve found is obituaries [see Shopping for Characters, May 12, 2015]. This is a great place to find physical descriptions of people, and to discover comprehensive biographic images and sometimes even the settings through which men and women of past generations walked.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Tips to enhancing your writing may be found in the following posts:
Empowering Your Words, February 2015
Creating Fictional Characters, March 2015
Sidestepping Writer’s Block, April 2015
Communicating with Every Sense, May 2015
Energizing Narrative Passages, September 2015
The Author Recycles, July 2017
Balancing Text & Space, February 2017
Book Series Adventures, April 2018
Drawing on Sense Memories, July 2018

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me On:
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Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub,
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Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

The Value of an Index

Indexing Makes Non-Fiction Text User Friendly

ing Your Words
During the publication of the anthology Under Sonoran Skies, Prose and Poetry of the High Desert, I was pleased to receive positive mention in an review for my comprehensive index. As the artistic director for the project, part of my authoring strategies was to ensure that future as well as current readers would find the work user-friendly, as well as an enjoyable read. Despite my vision, some of my five co-authors have been less than enthusiastic about the value of indexing. In fact, one of them was involved in another anthology for which an index was deemed irrelevant since including one would have reduced the number of pieces from one of the book’s prolific authors.
Significance of The Lack of an Index
When I examined that book’s table of contents, I realized the work had frequent references to historical events and high-profile people. Unfortunately, the lack of an index precluded a reader’s ability to analyze the work fully. This was especially true if a reader wanted to compare text provided by multiple authors on a particular subject. And, with the passage of time, even someone who has read the book and is familiar with its topics would find it difficult to re-access specific references—at least in hardcopy. And it is true that reference searches in material in electronic format can be facilitated by utilizing a find or search command. But to accomplish a comparison of various authors’ views, the reader would have to create a separate listing of those citations that pertained to their interests.

Since one can never know how a work will be used at a future time, I believe there is one simple argument for indices in non-fiction: If it is logical that some reader may wish to locate a specific reference, there is a need for an index. Even when a book’s contents are directed to a specific audience, future developments within the field under discussion—let alone the unfolding of history—may yield an unexpected group of readers for whom an index will be invaluable.

Structuring an index usually begins by listing proper nouns contained in the work—meaning all people, geographic locations, and events of sufficient worth to have been named. Most word processing programs can help you gather and list such terms, even if they lack an actual indexing feature. Another tactic for refining an index is analyzing terms included by other authors addressing a parallel subject.

As you delve into your indexing project, you may find topics requiring in-depth analysis. In looking at the nouns you have initially listed, consider related names and topics that can be grouped under a general category. For example, a discussion of lions, dogs and parrots suggests that a general topic of animals would be appropriate. Of course, some words may not have such an obvious association. One area of complexity is persons of varied professional accreditation. If you lacked sufficient numbers of therapists, physicians and dentists to provide these individual categories, you might use a comprehensive term such as healthcare professionals. Consider the terms highways, access ways, and trains. While they do not all relate to forms of roadways, they might be listed under a general heading of transportation.

If you tire during the indexing process, consider returning to your analysis of the work of colleagues. For although you may have accessed the works of many authors during preliminary research, you may not have closely examined their indices. This semi-final exercise may not only reveal an approach to indexing you have not considered, but it may also reveal gaps in topics or subtopics within the body of your own work. Even if you decline to broaden the scope of your piece, you may wish to consider some additions to your afterword or bibliography.

Before I leave the topic of indexing, I should offer one cautionary note for avoiding a mammoth appendage to your actual composition: When in doubt about including a general category, consider whether you have a minimum of three words to list within it…

The art of communicating with readers requires diligence in refining your skills. It is as demanding an element in non-fiction as in a fine work of fiction. So, beyond indexing, what other tools of wordsmithing could enhance your reader’s experience?

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Operational tips to help writers are available in the following blogs:
Fear of Losing Files, July 2015
The Value of an Index, August 2015
Taming Clutter, April 2016

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me On:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books,
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub,
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

Interview and Oral History Projects, 2

EFFECTIVE INTERVIEW PREPARATION

The Art and Science of Writing
Today’s post is a recipe to help you prepare for any general or oral history interview you may conduct. While the ingredients may prove dry for some of my readers, my intent is to simplify the process for those of you seeking to broaden your skills as a researcher, interviewer and writer. For, like a piece of fine art, the strong interview provides a complex layering of elements that leads to a deeper understanding of the interviewee’s life, their place within world events, and the experiences that have made them who they are.

Relying on their charm and a heavy dose of luck, some interviewers claim that establishing a good rapport with one’s subject is all that is required for a strong interview. But although creating a personal connection with your subject is definitely required, I urge you to consider that doing a bit of research will strengthen your credibility with the interviewee and boost your skills as a professional interviewer worthy of respect.

Although the following example falls under the category of art, it demonstrates how the lack of professional training can interfere with one’s work. Many years ago, I met a gifted painter who employed the tiniest makeup brushes to create delicate lace, fine hairs on African wildlife, and complex patterns on silken fabrics. Noticing flaws in the placement of shadows, proportion of objects, and the musculature of human bodies, I gently suggested she take classes in the foundations of art.

When she responded that an art teacher had previously crushed her spirit, I suggested she study privately with an artist she could carefully select for compatibility. Over the years she has achieved a measure of success, but the flaws I first noticed continue throughout the body of her work. I can only imagine what the knowledge of an authoritative artist could have added to the depth of her art.

Where should you begin your research as an interviewer? Like the ideal scientist, you will want to thoroughly research your interview subject, confirming basic facts you may have assumed were correct. To establish a reliable foundation for the facts to be revealed in the interview (as well as to offer a concise expression of the interviewee’s viewpoint), you will need to conduct research that goes beyond the details of their résumé. This work should be completed before formulating the questions you will ask in the interview.

As you move through the process of gathering information, consider the following questions. What is the purpose of the interview project? What are the demographics of your target audience who will be accessing your work? Also, what direction is suggested by the format and themes of the media outlet with which you are working?

Regardless of the proposed thrust of an interview, information that the public may seek about the subject should be addressed. In addition, if you wish to separate your interview from others the subject may have granted, I believe it is good to have at least one surprising fact revealed.

Now comes what some will consider the boring work. There’s no way around it, unless you want to rely on your great charm. To organize the facts you have discovered effectively, I suggest you consider using several tools.

Create a double-spaced copy of the interviewee’s résumé or curriculum vitae [CV]. Highlight each piece of information you need to verify. Place a check mark beside each one you confirm.

Working from either a list provided by the subject (or revealed in your research), examine the interviewee’s articles, books, previous interviews, and other expressions of their thoughts that may exist.

As you proceed with your research, write out potential topics for your forthcoming dialogue.

Create a timeline of the subject’s life. Although you may be focused on their career and public persona, list highlights in both their professional and personal living as a guideline to help you respond to unexpected turns your dialogue may take. Depending on what has made the person newsworthy, you may wish to look at a graph of historical events that intersect with their life.

How will such timelines be useful? If, for example, the interviewee was involved in the labor movement of the post-World War II era, the strikes of labor unions on the West Coast and in Hawai`i greatly impacted the general public as well as union members. Consider also the arts. If your subject is a composer of music or lyrics, you may find that their noteworthy pieces were created at times of considerable importance in history. Sometimes their work will actually be named for such an occurrence or an entire era. This was true of a symphony named for, and embodying the discordant notes of, the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Depending on the flow of your interview, reference to an intersection of general history and your subject’s life may yield surprising insights about their career or personal living. This can help you communicate with your subject, as well as with your readers or listeners.

Prepare an interviewee survey. Sequence your questions from the information they have provided to you. You can simplify the process for your subject by filling in information you have been able to confirm through your research. This could include: Dates and descriptions of their degrees, certifications, accreditations, and other qualifications; institutions of affiliation; professional positions they have held; published works, community volunteerism and other involvement; names, ages, careers of spouse, partners, or children. Remember that if you put in data you have not confirmed, you may be inviting errors—should their memory be flawed, or they actually wish to perpetuate dissemination of erroneous information.

To further your acquaintanceship—and to trigger your subject’s memories—you may want to offer blank space for them to fill in items such as: Their nicknames; mentors and public figures who have impacted their life; programs and schools of thought that have shaped their perspective; adjunct and social organizations with which they may be associated; and, hobbies and interests. Whether or not you wish to pursue topics such as political, philosophical or religious associations may depend on both what you have learned about your interviewee and the orientation of the media outlet with which you are working.

Despite the details I am suggesting you consider, keep the resulting survey as short and simple as possible. I also recommend using a five-point Likert Scale for any questions you wish answered with a measurement of the subject’s agreement. Hopefully, your subject will be able to provide you with a completed survey prior to the interview. This will allow you to fold their responses into questions you are preparing for conducting the interview.

If you do not receive a response to your survey, have a pleasant conversation with your interviewee about your preparation, so that they will want to participate fully in the process. If necessary, try to reschedule the survey by a day or two to ensure you are fully prepared. If you must conduct the interview without seeing your subject’s survey responses, you may want to take a few moments to try to write notes in the margins of your interview questions about issues you now feel you need to explore.

By the time you are nearing completion of your research, you should know whether or not the facts you have uncovered demonstrate your subject’s ability and desire to answer your questions fully and honestly. In addition, you will have determined whether the facts revealed are in accord with the original goals of your project. It is also important to determine whether the direction of the interview indeed fits within the thrust of the media outlet with which you may be working.

It is possible that you will find there are fundamental conflicts within the facts revealed in your research, your initial perspective on the interviewee, and the boundaries of the planned interview. If you are able to control publication of the information resulting from your interview, you are fortunate. But if you are restricted by the media outlet’s direction, I sincerely hope you will discuss your concerns with their management team prior to conducting an interview that does not honor you or your interviewee.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

For further information on interviews and oral histories, see:
Overview of Interview and Oral History Projects, June 2015
Researching for Interviews, July 2015
Conducting Interviews, May 2016
After the Interview, August 2017

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me On:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books,
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub,
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Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
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FEAR OF LOSING FILES

Files: A Never-Ending Dilemma

Authoring strategies include more than conceptualizing, writing, publishing, and promoting your creative ideas. Being an effective writer demands honed organizational skills as well as superb wordsmithing! If you’ve ever lost a file, you may question the promises of the computer revolution.

Are you old enough to remember life before computers? I actually know some people who have only discovered the wonderful world of electronics in the last five years. In each case, the revelation of Life Electronic was triggered by a pressing need to communicate with a person or organization that could not be accessed regularly by telephone or postal service.

Once you have joined the electronic age, there are many challenges to be faced. Some parallel those prior to the microcomputer. The issue I’m addressing today is preventing the loss of files. Electronic files that is. If you have never encountered this dilemma, please let me know how you’ve been so fortunate. Each time I think I’ve solved the problem, a couple of years pass in relative peace. Then I commit some new error and again face the potential loss of valuable information.

NAMING FILES
Let’s begin today’s discussion with a basic question: To avoid losing information, how many files should I keep? Unfortunately, there’s no single answer that will meet the needs of every person in every situation. Some authors I know keep every electronic file they have ever created, as well as their hardcopy edits. I cringe to think of the complex file naming they must employ. Unfortunately, such people have been known to compare my past editorial remarks regarding the same text. What they fail to realize is that just as their writing has evolved, so too have my knowledge and sense of style—as well as my awareness of developing trends in the world of publishing.

UNIQUE FILES
Another trigger for keeping multiple versions of copy is the fear of losing pleasing verbiage that has proven impractical for a project at hand. When I find a need to remove favored words and phrases from a major writing project, I simply create files of unused verbiage named to pinpoint the topic and source. One example is a narrative passage from Prospect For Murder that I converted to dialogue. The single archived file is named, WongP_orig_speech_re_family.

Knowing I might forget a particular name, I convert both electronic and printed files named for past clients and projects to topical files. This does NOT mean I keep everything I’ve ever created. My concern is to prevent unnecessary research and writing in the future. If I’ve addressed a topic three times, I may save only the last piece, if the layout and text are the most interesting. This way I do not have to remember the client’s name, yet I can quickly access text by topic, such as the insurance industry, movies of the 1930s, or ocean liners plying the waters between Hawai`i and Asia. If I need to decrease file size in electronic file archives and/or hardcopy printouts, I remove artwork (after verifying the images are stored elsewhere) and insert a text box with the name of the image.

STORAGE OF ELECTRONIC FILES
The forms of electronic file storage and backup is constantly changing and you will have to decide when to shift from one form to the next. I must confess I’ve still got floppy disks [diskettes] and zip disks. These disks are large enough to label with client or project names, yet small enough to store alphabetically in clear plastic containers for rapid access…another positive aspect to this old technology is the longevity of the disks, despite innumerable formats. I also have CDs, DVDs [more fragile], and Universal Serial Bus [USB] flash, pen and thumb drives, which I use for large folders and art files. Unfortunately, these drives are so small that they preclude easy labeling, but you can use colored markers to color code your choices of media to remember the general category of their contents…

In addition to being concerned about where you save your files, be cautious about how you save them. While compiling Under Sonoran Skies, Prose and Poetry from the High Desert, my co-authors and I encountered problems with disappearing edits during manuscript preparation until we learned the difference between the file commands, Save and Save As. When you specify “Save as,” you are creating a wholly new file, which usually precludes the possibility of multiple edits leading to a corrupted file. So, unless I am writing a single-use document, I now use Save As for every file I re-edit—art, data or text. [To maintain high resolution, technical experts suggest editing art images in Tagged Image File Format [TIFF] prior to saving them in whatever format you require for publication.]

Regardless of the number of electronic files you keep, you will need to create a file naming system that is consistent and memorable. Even though today’s technology allows long file names, minimizing the characters used simplifies future reference. Since Imaginings WordPower is a lot of characters, I simply use an “I” for the start of operational file names. Thereafter, I may abbreviate the minimal words used in a title, underscoring between words. I conclude the titling of files by dating them, with two-digits for the year, the month, and the day a file was created.

The resulting name for an author’s business card might be “I_bus_card_150708.” To differentiate between files with similar names, I may insert “merged,” to note merged layers, “New” for a recent edit, or the name of the company that last printed it. Sometimes I also insert a Header in a document to mimic the source file’s name when I am setting up topical folders of samples of my work. That way I don’t have to wonder about the electronic file name for hard copies I’ve printed for my personal records. The only thing to remember is that you may need to temporarily delete the header if you are printing the document for public viewing or distribution….

I hope these measures—and your own modifications—will help you avoid corrupting or losing files. But what happens if you prematurely delete a file from a recycle bin? The problem is easily resolved if you have not emptied the bin. In such a situation, you can simply double click the bin, mark the file you wish to un-delete, and choose Restore to return it to its former location on the hard drive.

RESTORING FILES
Unfortunately, restoring files that have been deleted from a recycle bin is not a simple or perfect a process. Again, you can choose to leave the bin overflowing with files; but if you need to restore one, you may find that recognizing the correct file is difficult if you do not have a recognizable file naming system. In the midst of short projects, I try to avoid emptying the recycle bin. But once I have completed a section or the entire project, I complete my housekeeping of files, emptying the recycle bin when I am confident that I have properly backed up every relevant file.

Recently I triggered the loss of a file for a potential sci-fi novel. I was lacking material for my writers’ salon, and had decided to share part of this story, which is a departure from recent work in the genre of mystery and suspense. I recall isolating the passage I wanted to use, and reformatting it to double line spacing to facilitate editing by my fellow authors. But when I returned to input the suggestions I had received, I could not find the file.

Knowing files can be mistakenly dragged into an incorrect folder, I systematically checked every sub-folder within my creative writing folder. After that, I used the Search programs and files feature offered by MS Windows when you click on the Start button [usually in the lower left hand corner of your monitor screen]. When my inputting of several combinations of words failed to uncover the missing file, I downloaded a free program for recovery of files deleted from the Recycle Bin.

In retrospect, I probably should have paid for a more sophisticated program with additional features, because what I recovered was a mass of undated and unnamed files of multiple edits that had to be individually examined. This was a time consuming and frustrating activity. However, I not only retrieved the file I was seeking, but in reviewing other files, I gained ideas for blog posts and other writing projects. In short, the experience was the proverbial blessing in disguise…but this is not an activity I wish to repeat.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Operational tips to help writers are available in the following blogs:
Fear of Losing Files, July 2015
The Value of an Index, August 2015
Taming Clutter, April 2016

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me On:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books,
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub,
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

Tips From a Newbie Blogger

TALES FROM A NEWBIE BLOGGER

What can a newbie blogger tell you? Are you expanding your practice of the Art & Science of Writing? Perhaps you’re thinking of beginning your own blog. Recently I’ve received requests for tips on setting up a blog. Before launching into how I’ve created and maintain this site, I must clarify that I’m not a techie and do not possess the mental acumen to write the code required to build any website from scratch.

If you are a professional writer, having a blog can be a key feature of your authoring strategies. Regardless of whether you are an author, you may be thinking your greatest concern is what you’ll write about. I suggest that if you feel the need to have a blog, the contents of it are already floating in your mind. The quality of your output will, of course, depend on your skill set.

Setting up a blog demands many things beyond the writing of text. Therefore, today I’ll focus on the mechanics of creating a blog. The first and recurring requirement for doing this is having the patience to accomplish the task. Next on my list of requirements, is my favorite pairing of ingredients in most things I do: Art and Science. I place the issue of art at the fore, because without an artist’s inspiration, you’re less likely to create an appealing space that will capture and keep your readers’ attention. Please note that I’m not suggesting that all of us are worthy of assuming the title of artist. However, we can reach for the artist’s balance of mind and spirit in exploring color, shape, and overall composition—regardless of the style in which we create our memorable statements.

As to the element of science, whether or not you are a techie, there are sources to help you determine the appropriate building blocks for bringing your vision to fruition. Your research can begin with querying your favorite search engines. This will provide the technical terminology you need to be able to ask intelligent questions during online searches and efficient analysis of tech manuals.

Even if you decide you’re not qualified to build a blog site, this preparation will help you communicate effectively with specialists in building websites. For by the time you’re ready to launch the building of a blog, you should have established a connection with a reliable techie or tech support company—online, if not in person.

Parallel to my June 2015 blog on Media Relations, I suggest you make the most of every contact you can develop. How do you go about making friends with techies? If you are able to move from online communication to meeting in person, take a page from your personal life. Coffee, lunch, or drinks (not necessarily alcoholic) moves you into a social atmosphere in which you can explore commonalities and a potential working relationship with the person. Regardless of how you connect, when it’s time to formalize a professional relationship, be specific about your needs and desires. Ask the individual or company to clarify the services they will be performing for you and the fees you will pay. Depending on the parameters of the work involved, a contract may be called for. If that is so, you may want to consult colleagues as well as an attorney prior to signing a contract or making any payment.

Personally, although I’ve designed my own websites several times, I am now using website and blog templates provided by the company that hosts my online presence. Regardless of the tools used, the design of a website or blog is a major commitment of energy and time. This is especially true since search engines now expect a level of optimization that meets the standards of the latest electronic devices—and those standards never stop changing. Fortunately, an international company providing templates should ensure that the products they offer their clients are state of the art. They may also help you with a program of search engine optimization.

Before you feel I have failed to help you in your hour of need, let me tell you how I’ve modified the template for this blog. Fortunately the templates provided by such a company usually offer varied features and levels of adaptability. There are some limitations I’ve had to accept, since I chose to accept the parameters of a free template. For example, while current posts offer my bio at the bottom, it does not appear in posts that have been archived. Also, without utilizing an add-on menu, I cannot customize items in the contents list to the left of the page—nor can I modify their appearance. And, although I’ve can choose the text colors of my posts, I am unable to do so for their titles.

Design features in the blog were drawn from my website. Harmonious in appearance, both feature:

~ My artwork includes a banner with my logo at the top of each page
~ Ivory colored backgrounds
~ Dark blue and plum colored fonts
~ Favicons with my logo to the left of the URLs

Color is a very important element in any visual project. While there are many blues and golds to choose from, I selected colors for my logo that print well in gray scale. The blue is deep enough to print as nearly black when printed in gray scale. Conversely, the gold I work with is light enough that it prints as a light gray, allowing the lettering in the blue to be readable. I should point out that the colors I tend to use are close to, but not exactly web safe colors. This means that I provide subtleties that most visitors to my website or blog will view; but should a visitor’s monitor and software limit the range of visible colors, their default settings will be close to my design.

The operation and maintenance for a website or blog may rest on trial and error…at least initially. When I first uploaded posts, I was not aware of choices I could make in visibility. There were also instances where I failed to notice a typo or changed my mind about the wording of a section of text. Eventually I recognized the value of choosing the preview option after inputting text. This allows you to make sure that both the content and its appearance are pleasing. As a final test, I read the text out loud, prior to hitting the publish button.

Determining the topics I explore in posts is purely personal and often a spur-of-the-moment decision. In my weekly authors’ salon, areas of concern and new discoveries arise as we share materials we are reading and writing. My commentary is also motivated by edits of text that reveal recurring flaws in my own work. This particular post is in response to repeated questions from readers of this blog and visitors to my website.

When launching this blog, I was reviewing the first three books in a trilogy of murder mysteries set in Honolulu, where I lived for over two decades. With the launch of Prospect For Murder, I am moving forward with seeking publication of the next two books in the Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian Mystery Series. I’m sure that my personal issues with writing and editing will continue to encourage me to examine questions of authorship that may be occurring in your own work.

Finally, I want to thank a couple of readers who sent suggestions for improving the coding used within this blog, and for heightening its search engine optimization. I’m just beginning to act upon your welcome response by changing the formatting of images for some online locales from JPEGs or GIFS to PNGs…

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me On:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books,
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub,
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

AUTHOR MEDIA RELATIONS, 1

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR MEDIA…

With today’s changing media, it’s nearly impossible to write a comprehensive and durable directive on the Dos and Don’ts of Media Relations for writers, or anyone. But with the intense competition for acquiring visibility in the public arena, becoming a pro at interacting with the media is a vital element of successful authoring strategies.

If you’re an effective wordsmith, you know the importance of both the written and spoken word. Of course, in today’s electronically-driven world, a word is not necessarily a word. With shortened forms of communication being perceived as ideal, varieties of abbreviations abound. Unfortunately, these shortcuts can lead to confusion. Not even acronyms can be relied on to carry identical meanings when used within the same language. Consider AMA. While it is used for both the American Medical Association and the Arizona Medical Association, it also stands for Ask Me Anything. Then there’s also COD, which in commerce means Cash on Delivery; in another context, it means Call of Duty. So, when dealing with acronyms, you have to be clear about which meaning you are attributing to the abbreviation.

Regardless of whether you are writing fiction, non-fiction, or commercial text like ads and commercials, the key to effective communication can be found in determining the demographics of your target market. Luckily, when we consider the demographics of media outlets, most are designed to appeal to a specific segment of the population. This can save considerable time, energy, and money when you wish to gain the attention of a media outlet’s readers, viewers, and/or listeners.

In the twentieth century, media generally referred to newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and signage. Today there are expanded versions of these media, as well as the Internet which has exploded across the globe with constantly evolving permutations. Just examining today’s political campaigns demonstrates that effectively utilizing static, electronic and mobile vehicles of communication provides unlimited choices for embedding a branded message—as long as someone is willing to pay for message preparation, if not actual placement of the resulting advertisement or infomercial.

But what alternatives are available to those who cannot afford to pay for research, graphic design, or advertising slots? Fortunately, even an individual with limited resources can find opportunities for communicating with the public that are cost-effective, if not actually free of charge. Today’s hottest communication outlets are in the realm of social media. Like other media platforms, you must be savvy about your use of them…but we’ll leave that topic for another post.…

One of the simplest means of getting free media coverage lies in earning their attention. After analyzing a media outlet’s format and demographics, you can shape text that will help meet their need to generate timely and noteworthy coverage of relevant persons and events. Keep in mind that short and concise presentations of the facts and even articles receive preferential treatment. If you capture their interest, a journalist can always request quotes and additional facts, but they will not want to edit material you send regarding a topic they may feel has little media value.

When you’re not facing a promotional deadline, you can explore aspects of developing long-term relationships with your media contacts. In short, you need to develop friendships that will prove beneficial to your marketing programs. While this may seem simplistic, building bonds with the people who regularly communicate with the public continues to be a cost effective ways for writers and artists [as well as non-profit organizations] to stimulate awareness of their work.

If you meet someone in passing, you’ll want to make the most of the opportunity to get acquainted. But when you have the time, you should perform at least cursory research of the person you desire to meet. Whether they’re a columnist, commentator, or a department head within a media outlet, a brief Internet search should reveal details about where they attended school, organizations to which they belong, and personal interests you may share. To maximize the results of your effort, you may wish to utilize more than one search engine. Next, you can then strengthen your avenues of connectivity by researching their professional output: Their articles, columns, or books; programs; videos, etc.

What is the current focus of their work? What are their clients expecting? Can you find a gap, current or recurring, in what they offer the public? In newspapers, this is called the news hole. If you’re lucky there will be a gap just waiting to be filled with your data. If that is the case, your media contact will be truly grateful for your input and will welcome hearing from you in the future.

Once you have completed your background research, you can strategize meeting or expanding your relationships within the media outlets you are targeting. If you’ll be attending the same function, consider sending notes or emails expressing your desire to see them. Or, if you have just attended an event at which they spoke, you can send congratulatory messages commenting on your appreciation of their work.

The bottom line is that communicating directly with members of the media yields invaluable results: Personal connectivity with people who may be able to quickly act upon information you share with them; opportunities for networking with outstanding members of your virtual or real community; potential for entering into partnerships that can help you achieve your goals and objectives. And, by making the effort to demonstrate genuine care about their concerns regarding appropriate topics and meeting deadlines, you will not only attain increased public visibility, but you will end up participating in new and sometimes exciting events.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Media Relations for Authors may be found at:
Know your Media, June 2015
Media Relations Dos and Don’ts, November 2015

For examples of concise print and broadcast media releases, visit: http://www.imaginingswordpower.com/media/media_release_samples.html

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

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Interview and Oral History Projects, 1

nce of WritingnThe Art & Scie

RESEARCH YIELDS SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEWS!

The Anxieties of Conducting Interviews
While many writers enter a new project by addressing its individual parts consecutively, I tend to begin by considering how it parallels other work I have undertaken. That is why my discussion of business plans and grant proposals is offered in a single page on my website. Likewise, I view preparing for both journalistic and oral history interviews as generally the same. Before examining specific aspects of preparing for an interview, I should clarify that there are limits to this simplistic summation, for the research is for the research required for anything dealing with an historical topic is usually greater than that for a biographical feature in a newspaper or magazine.

However, in both instances, you need to learn as much as you can about your subject. For while time or resources may preclude your conducting in-depth research, there are two essential reasons for doing as much as you can. The most obvious one is to verify facts that have purported to make the man or woman sufficiently noteworthy for you to undertake your project. This fact checking ensures that even if the subject’s memory of specific elements in their personal or professional history is flawed, your reporting will be accurate.

The second reason to perform research is to find commonalities to help you establish an effective rapport with your interviewee. This can be especially important if your interview is being done by telephone rather than in person. Even with today’s connectivity via computer camera, the nuances of a personal meeting can be lost in electronic communication: The brightness of your smile upon entering the presence of your interviewee; the warmth of a firm but nonthreatening handshake; the liveliness of your natural voice; the fragrance of memorabilia assembled for your meeting; the shared experience of a flavorful cup of tea or coffee.

Honing your skills in the art of communication is vital in conducting any kind of interview. In the end, the results of failing to prepare properly for any interview are the same: Poor quality dialogue between you and your interviewee AND poor quality of your authorship.

Good writing reflects a combination of science and art. Empowering your words means investing the same amount of energy in your mental preparation as in performing your research, organizing the results, and outlining the questions you will ask during the interview. What do I mean by encouraging your mental preparation? There is little you can do to be certain of the attitude of your subject. But, despite anything that may occur prior to the interview, you can adjust your own thinking to be as positive as possible. In short, you need to be artful in your interaction with your interviewee in order to have a winning result for both of you.

That last note is very important, so allow me to repeat it: In order for your project to be a true success, both you and your interviewee must feel a sense of accomplishment when the conversation ends. The interviewer is supposed to be in the driver’s seat. To reach your goal of creating an interaction that will result in mutual satisfaction, you have to anticipate myriad issues that might arise in the interview.

I will admit that once you have completed your transcription, there may be points on which you and the subject will disagree…usually because the interviewee has doubts about the material they have disclosed, or they have misgivings about the manner in which they answered your questions. In these situations, there is little that you can do about any disappointments your subject may feel—although you can offer to interview them again, or to make note of their after-thoughts in a way that honors both your work and their concerns. However, as long as you have a signed informed consent and legal release form granting you use of the interview and its contents, you should be safe from future legal issues.

If you are a professional writer, you may have encountered circumstances in which you have turned to an attorney for counsel. For as laws vary from state to state, and accepted interview practices may change over time, you must be careful to research the legal issues involved in the use of information obtained in interviews you conduct. Also, you may wish to consider taking courses in journalism and oral history…at least have access to a respected journalist or historian who can advise you about interview standards.

Should you find the thought of embarking on a round of higher education daunting, please know that you should be able to find a school that will allow you to audit a course. This means that unlike a student taking the course for college credit, you should not have to take exams or write course papers. However, as a sign of respect, even if the professor’s permission is not required, I recommend that you speak to them in advance of registering to audit their course[s].

How one handles the discomfort of an interviewee can be a difficult issue for anyone. Following an interview with an elderly woman in Hawai`i, I was careful to recreate the full essence of our conversation. I did this by indicating the subject’s cadence and pronunciation in the transcription. At the time we were contemplating writing a partial family history, for which little of our dialogue would have appeared in the prose I would have composed for the book. Unfortunately, that fact did not mitigate her displeasure at what she perceived as flaws in her use of the English language.

In another instance, during research for a master’s degree in modern American history, I conducted an oral history interview with a man who participated in the Allied Occupation of Japan following World War II. As I had been trained in oral history courses, I had performed considerable research in advance. The interviewee and I were the ideal combination of being opposite in gender and age, and we did strike a good rapport at the onset of our meeting. In addition to this interview, I conducted subsequent interviews with former colleagues of the man, which also unfolded in equally harmonious ways. Unfortunately, when I interviewed his wife after his death, I learned that the work of my subject had been undermined by the rise of McCarthyism and the prolonged witch hunt for anyone suspected of being a communist—or even, as in this case, being a supporter of freedom of speech in open dialogues between persons of varied political leanings.

I offer these examples of challenges faced by the interviewer to encourage you to conduct in-depth research prior to your interview AND to suggest that despite whatever due diligence you have performed, something unforeseen can arise. I’m glad to say that in the aftermath of both of these challenges, I was able to retain positive relationships with my interviewees, although the projects did not come to fruition as I had planned. In the long run, I recognized there is little I could have handled differently in the interview process itself, and I have certainly benefited from the experiences I had as a young writer.

This brings me to one of the most important points I wish to make on this topic: All of your work as a researcher and writer adds to your credibility as an author. And, without a few challenges along your path, you will lack the breadth of life experience that brings depth to the verbiage you shape into material that both a targeted and general readership will find of interest.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Here are further comments on interviews and oral histories.
Overview of Interview and Oral History Projects, June 2015
Researching for Interviews, July 2015
Conducting Interviews, May 2016
After the Interview, August 2017

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

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Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
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Author Design Dilemmas 3, Color

An Author’s Inspiring Rainbows of Color

How many colors are in the rainbows you paint? There are many perspectives on the use of color in the art and science of writing. But even if I were an expert, this short space wouldn’t allow a comprehensive discussion of color theory [the traditional theory for mixing three primary colors to derive all other colors] or colorimetry [analysis of human color perception].

Variables in Color Perception. Most people can see three distinct ranges of color. Due to genetics, some women [called tetrachromats] are able to see four ranges of color. Sometimes a temporary inability to see some or all color is caused by illness, allergies, medication, or hormone replacement therapy. Even sufferers of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] may notice a decrease in perception of color. And, did you know that one out of twelve men and one out of two hundred women have color vision deficiencies?

Choosing Color Palettes For Artwork to Accompany Text. As discussed in my blog on engaging a reader’s senses, I believe that analysis of one’s genre provides the answer to many publishing questions and can help solidify authoring strategies. Empowering your words as an author can take many forms. One author I know brings a minimalist approach to her creative process in selecting art for a children’s book. She believes that faint sketches without full form, shape, or color will encourage children listening to or reading her prose to bring images from their own minds to their reading experience. This minimalist approach may be ideal for poetry and historical fiction. However, it would be at odds with the hard-nosed writer’s voice usually employed in a police procedural and would lack clarity for many non-fiction projects.
Art and Science of Writing
While minimalism is a specific art movement, the term may be used generically to describe the overall expression of modern art in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Beyond an escape from classic realism, modern art focuses on the artist’s desire to interact with the minds and life experiences of his or her audience members.

Consider More Than Personal Preferences When Selecting Color. If you are new to wordsmithing, you may not be thinking about branding. But you might want to consider establishing the foundations of the brand for which your writing will be noted someday. And just as an effective editorial process dictates that writers carefully select modifiers to create a scene rich in sensory images, a distinctive color palette can be one element in a design aesthetic that harmonizes with and even intensifies the impact of text.
Writers’ Guidelines
Beyond technical research you conduct regarding coloration, there are several issues to consider. Does the style of your writing reflect your taste in art? Do you like the detail of classism or the sharp clean lines of modern art? Are you drawn to bright primary colors or muted subtle tones? Do the peach and aqua tones of a sunset in the Southwest reflect your taste and your work?

Regional Coloration. Differences in regional color can be indicated by the dialect[s] of your characters, as well as the scenes you describe. Growing up in Oregon, I was accustomed to the dark green of Douglas fir trees and the mosses that grow on them. The palm trees in Hawai`i are pale in comparison. In Arizona the array of green is mixed, depending on topography, season, and the amount of rainfall. So which green would be most appropriate to your project?

The Juncture Of Style And Color. In children’s books, hard-edged cartoon-like solid color images (like those a child might create) may be ideal. But regardless of the style of art you select, the bright saturated colors associated with modern art are popular with and stimulating for young children. Conversely, the sometimes dark tones of animè lend a sophisticated note to projects for both adults and older children. For most genres, classic realism is appropriate. To present images realistically, considerable detail and subtleties of color are usually required.

Articulating Your Artistic Vision is vital. Since it is unlikely that you will be the artist shaping the images that will highlight your writing, you must be able to describe your desires to whoever is in charge of publication. I suggest writing a paragraph outlining the specific elements you are seeking. As with a journalistic endeavor, an inverted pyramid structure is useful. Begin with an overview of the style you desire and then move on to specific issues like color. If possible, use technical terms an artist or printer will understand. For instance, consider specifying the tones and shades of colors you prefer.

When viewed under varied lighting, a color’s tone [intensity of color] or shade [how bright a color is] will be perceived differently. Personally, I have found it challenging to use what I have termed a plum color in artwork for Prospect For Murder [the first book in the Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian Mystery series]. While my artist Yasamine June [view her work at www.yasaminejune.com] generated a wonderful color for the book jacket, subsequent applications for the audio book and some promotional materials have deviated from the color and/or tones she utilized.

Samples Of Your Preferred Palette and style will greatly aid the person executing your artistic vision. These can be drawn from many sources: websites; books and other printed material; fabric and clothing; pieces of art. Consider offering the images of famous paintings. Simply naming a type of art or an easily referenced artist will communicate your wishes. Personally, I am drawn to the delicate images of classical Asian paintings, as well as the neo-classism of Maxfield Parish who was known for his use of saturated color. Unfortunately, since his work ended mid-twentieth century, a young artist may be wholly unaware of his work.

You can also provide numerical descriptions of colors. Paint Stores offer samples of colors, with numerical coding as well as alphabetical names. Printers can provide numbers for the Pantone^® colors of ink used in most hardcopy printing. And remember that you do not have to access a graphic art program to provide the color model numeration of computer font colors. Simply mark a section of text within a word processing program and examine the ranges of colors available under the drop-down arrow for font color.

I should caution you that identifying a color is no guarantee of how a printed product will arrive at your doorstep. Have you ever seen two editions of the same book, printed by the same company following the same instructions? Even in hardcopy printing, variations in color can occur because of differences in batches of ink or toner, the moisture content of the paper used, and production executed on innumerable types and conditions of equipment.

A final consideration in our discussion of color printing is publication via downloading from the Internet. If this is how your work will be published, you should consider using colors designated as “web safe.” Again, there will be varied results in what is viewed by your readers. If nothing else, variations in monitor settings can prevent uniformity in how myriad viewers will experience a color on your website or in your book.

Before we leave the topic of color, let’s consider the historical and classical interpretations of color. Some colors, like the royal purple from Tyre, Lebanon, were originally drawn from rare and precious sources. To produce even small amounts of the Tyrian colorant, thousands of Mediterranean Sea mollusks [scientific name, murex brandaris] were needed for the dyes with which luxurious garments for ancient royals were fashioned. Another historically rare color was the crimson worn by Roman legionnaires and wealthy matrons. Traditionally associated with power and wealth, this color was obtained from the kermes vermilio planchon, an insect that grows on the kermes oak tree [quercus coccifera] of southern Europe. Although the means for obtaining and utilizing dyes and paints have changed dramatically through history, their inner meanings have remained linked to aspects of nature.

Yellow and Orange – Associated with the sun and gold, these happy and bright colors are used for many attention-getting purposes. Depending on their tone, they may be linked to base and deeply discounted items, or conversely, to the richest and most valued products.

Red – Traditionally linked to sunsets, fire, blood, Mars the planet and Mars the Roman god of war. Red is now often associated with signature holidays like New Year’s, Christmas, and St. Valentine’s Day and certain nations like China. This vibrant color calls attention to anything depicted in it. It is sometimes associated with licentiousness and the concept of Satan.

Purple – Blending blue and red, this rich color is remains linked to the concepts and value of royalty, power and wealth.

Blue – In its deepest shades, blue speaks of clear waters and skies. In many religious expressions, it is associated with holiness and purity. This color is often utilized by financial and insurance institutions, as well as myriad industries dealing with healthcare that wish to be considered honest and dedicated to be well-being of their clients.

Green – Representative of health in nature, it is often used for health and environmental topics, products, and services.

White – Reflects light and embodies the presence of all colors of light. While many substances in nature are white, animals having pure white fur are rare, and therefore their pelts were historically associated with the power and wealth of royalty. Once difficult to achieve in pure form, white colored clothing was often valuable regardless of the type of fabric. The color is historically linked to purity, cleanliness, goodness, and perfection.

Black – Absorbing all colors of light, it is actually the absence of color. Obtained by the mixing of all primary colors, black is sometimes associated with darkness and evil in historical religious written materials. It is an excellent background for both vibrant and subtle colors.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

For examples of sample color palettes, please also visit: https://www.ImaginingsWordpower.com/color/plays_on_color.html

Additional discussion of the nature of color is provided at: https://www.imaginingswordpower.com/wearing/wearing_your_brand.html.

Discussion of art is available at the following blogs:
Authors Design Dilemmas 1, April 2015
Confronted by a Fantasia of Fonts, May 2015
Rainbows of Color, May 2015
Winning Logos & Slogans, October 2015
Quality Book Production, February 2016
Harmonizing Branding Elements, August 2016
Book Promotion and Evolving Art, January 2017
Balancing Text and Space, February 2018
Successful Cover Art, December 2018

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

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Communicating with The Senses

Sense Memory: Words For The Eye and Palette

Are you communicating with all of your senses? The art of communication largely relies on visual and aural stimulation.
~ An author communicates with the written word.
~ A dancer creates a visual message with his or her body.
~ Actors and public speakers communicate with the spoken word and their bodies.

In the past, the sense of touch helped to share the message of written words, as finely tooled leather-bound tomes invited the reader’s fingers to trace the lettering on a book cover. Even the sense of smell may be involved, as the carved leather fostered anticipation of the remarkable thoughts within.

Today, all five of the senses of the writer’s audience may be involved through the communication tools of our multi-media civilization. Beyond the realm of streaming radio and audio books, there are audio messages being sent into space that may not be heard for thousands or even millions of years. We are also at the brink of attempts at smell- or taste-athon forms of entertainment.

The goal of any communicator is to ensure that their readers, listeners, and/or viewers will respond positively to their message. Sometimes the process for achieving this is straightforward, even mechanical. At other times, the gathering of ingredients for connecting with one’s audience seems happenstance if not magical.

A successful advertising campaign is an example of how this process can work. Most of us are accustomed to extending our minds beyond a limited promotional image and message to the full experience enjoyed when actually partaking of the featured product or activity. Whether viewed in a full-page magazine ad or television commercial, the sight of a glistening golden turkey on a platter is expected to invoke memories of holiday feasts shared with our loved ones…rather than the reality of a studio of near-strangers focused on taking pictures of an artificial bird glued to a platter and painted with an oily brown glaze.

Sadly, the perception of truth can be more important than truth itself. For example, I recall being instructed about the art of opening doors, shaking hands and kissing on stage. I quickly learned that the natural ways of performing these tasks were irrelevant. The actors had to adjust their movements to make the audience feel comfortable with the actions necessary to theatrical performance.

To ensure our audience will be accepting of the images we have created, the artful wordsmith must do more than employ accurate vocabulary. This is one reason that translation of text from one language to another is so difficult. In fact, in addition to being an editorial process, it is a fine art. Merely selecting a word that correctly describes something does not make it a successful choice: The descriptive word you eventually choose must evoke the most appropriate image to both your genre and your audience.

Consider how you might employ the following words and phrases: Azure, blue, and sapphire; highlighted, revealed, and shone down upon; bright, luminescent, and sunny; juicy, moist, and succulent; boar, ham, and pig. Depending on the scene being described AND your audience, the text you compose from these words will differ. While the word blue may be appropriate for an advertisement, a children’s book and a romance novel, the same cannot be said for luminescent, azure, and succulent.

As adults with sophisticated English vocabularies, we may envision immediately the magical sparkle of a luminescent sky and the moist deliciousness of a pork loin described as succulent. However, these word choices would be inappropriate for a children’s book intended for a beginning reader. Our creative process may draw on a rich palette of images within our mind’s eye, but it must be tempered by the realities of the genre in which we are working.

Refining our writer’s palette is one of the most important authoring strategies we can employ, regardless of whether we are working on fiction or non-fiction projects. In my work as a practitioner of the art and science of writing, I seek to create a juncture between language and the sensory organs. I do this by striving to balance carefully chosen nouns and modifiers within an appropriate structure to provide my targeted audience with a rich sensory experience that they will accept within the current genre.

There is, of course, no right or wrong decision in the scenarios you create as a writer. The options are many. The choices are yours. But as you work on any project, consider the demographics, as well as the expressed responses of members of your audience. In the end, your word selections should be guided by determining the effect you wish to create in each passage…

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

For examples of sample color palettes, please visit: https://www.ImaginingsWordpower.com/color/plays_on_color.html

Further discussion of the nature and impact of color is provided at:
https://www.imaginingswordpower.com/wearing/wearing_your_brand.html

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me On:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books,
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub,
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave

Design Dilemmas 2, Fonts

Confronted By a Fantasia of Fonts?

You’ve completed your research for a writing project. You’re through composing and editing the text. What a relief! But if you’re in control of printing and/or publishing the finished work, you’re probably facing several decisions about its appearance. While there are clear differences in design for hardcopy and electronic publishing, you may find that layout is not an issue—if your text is being dropped into a predetermined format, as in an existing website or magazine.

Whether or not this is the case, you may need to select and apply the fonts that will present your message to the world. If you have written a piece of fiction, you may be facing fewer considerations. In this scenario, the sections of your piece may not exceed a title page, table of contents, preface, prologue, chapters, epilogue, and acknowledgements. If so, a single font family may be ideal for the entire work—with variations in italics, all-caps and bold face.

But if your piece is non-fiction, you may have additional elements, such as: An Introduction, Afterword, and Appendices; Glossary and Index; Graphs and Charts; and, Photographs, Pictures, and Illustrations. While simplicity in visual elements is ideal in any reading material, you will want to ensure your presentation has a positive impact on the reader. And this may require the use of more than one font family.

Your first consideration in font families is the choice between serif typefaces [historically referred to as Roman typefaces by typographers] and sans-serif [Gothic] typefaces. Unfamiliar with the term serif? You’re not alone. A serif is a small tic or line placed on the ends of letter strokes. To compare these two categories of typefaces, let’s examine the differences between the classic Times New Roman and Arial font families. While the former looks fancier with its little tics, the latter is straighter and bolder.

But before you declare the cleaner look of Arial ideal for all purposes in our modern world, consider the issue of eye fatigue. When we stare at the same kind of image [i.e. a uniformly straight font] for very long, our eyes become tired…and when that happens, your audience may lose interest in the message you have worked so hard to produce. Therefore, consider using a mix of two or three font families that will make the various parts of your work pop. Not only will this lessen the chance of your reader becoming tired, it may increase the likelihood that he or she will remember your key points.

In general, for both print and electronic purposes, sans-serif font families are ideal for section titling, and sub-categories or menu labels. This bold lettering says, “Stop and Pay Attention to Me.” Although you may not be able to lessen the number of words used in a title, if you limit menu labels for website and other electronic publishing to one to three words, they will be memorable. Conversely, for the body of your text, you may want a serifed typeface, that allows the letters and words to flow from one to the next, while minimizing eye strain.

Before moving on, let me clarify that I am NOT suggesting you go wild, using a wide mixture of font styles and treatments in hopes of looking artistic. While I have suggested using three font families, in most cases, two of those would be non-serifed fonts for titling and menu labels. Titling might be in classic Arial [in bold], while the labels of menus might feature a smaller and tighter font such as Arial Narrow. For wide, easy-to-read text, I prefer Palatino Linotype rather than the Times New Roman that most computers will default to, if the specified font is not loaded.

There are many details to the history of the design and use of fonts that reach beyond the scope of this discussion. One is the mathematics of font spacing, which you may find mentioned in your own research of the topic of fonts. Simply stated, a monospaced, fixed-pitch-or fixed-width font is non-proportional, meaning that each letter and character occupies the same amount of horizontal space. This is in contrast to a variable-width font, in which the space between letters and characters depends on the actual space a letter requires. Since an “I” requires less space than an “E,” a variable width font may be helpful if you have a limited amount of width.

Let me also make a few comments on the judicious use of italics. While some design specialists are allergic to any use of them, I think italics are appropriate in some cases: Differentiating a slogan from the name and contact information of an individual or corporate entity; emphasizing a word or phrase within a large body of text; replacing quotation marks to indicate dialogue or a character’s inner thoughts. For me, I base my decision on using fonts on one key issue, How effective will this form of highlighting be? The answer often rests in examining the length of verbiage surrounding the text you propose to italicize. The overuse of any element reduces its effectiveness.

A similar evaluation should help you in determining when to use a bold font. Consider business cards that offer every letter and character in bold…Without a variety of shapes, color and emphasis, the reader is likely to be indifferent rather than impressed.

In closing the book on fonts for today, let me say that your ultimate choices will depend on your individual taste and style. To help you refine the process of choosing fonts, I recommend you collect a number of business cards (and maybe a couple of brochures) and consider the elements that appeal to you. Spread the printing samples out on a neutral background and ask yourself, “What does the text style say about the featured person or business?”

~ Is the presentation organized and easy to read?
~ Do I relate to the person or business? Do I trust their message?
~ Does the message reflect current standards for the industry or genre?

If you find yourself responding negatively to the sample materials, envision how you might improve both the message AND its delivery. As to your own work, ask yourself two questions. “Is my proposed use of fonts going to accomplish my goal of impressing the reader with my message?” And, “What will my choices in fonts and other design elements tell readers about me?”

My signature font family is Peignot. For titling and limited amounts of text, I often use a mix of the Peignot and Arial Narrow fonts [see the logo at the top of this post]. By embellishing these non-serifed fonts with varied treatments of sizing, texture, and color, I hope to announce that I’m progressive in perspective yet respectful of elements of classic design. Do you think I have accomplished my goal?

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

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Sidestepping Writer’s Block

**How do YOU Sidestep Writer’s Block?**

Unfortunately, regardless of whether you’re an amateur or professional, any author can face Writer’s Block. The term often conjures the image of a twentieth century writer of the great novel—rumpled, frazzled, and hazy from exhaustion abetted by alcohol or other drugs. Seldom do we picture an elegantly clad person poised before a blank computer screen in a well-appointed office.

Surprisingly, today’s writer is more often focused on commercial or academic composition than fiction. Stymied by the inability to produce the required verbiage, the valiant wordsmith in this scenario may continue to drill down in a repeating exercise of seeming activity…with the hope that it will produce a new dynamism. But an episode of slugging away at wordsmithing without inspiration often yields the same result: N o t h i n g o f V a l u e.

Is there an easy solution to the dilemma of low motivation and poor productivity? Sometimes the answer is no. At least for the time being, leaving the project alone may be the best answer. But what options are available as an alternative to abdicating your role as a writer and hitting your head with the hammer of guilt?

In the Southwestern desert, simply drinking water can restore one’s ability to concentrate, if not one’s creativity. Another option is exercise. Going for a run or walking in a garden will remove you from an atmosphere of defeat and inhaling fresh air re-oxygenates your bloodstream and enhances your brain function. Recent biochemical research has shown the benefit of eating brain-stimulating foods. But if preparing a meal of nut-encrusted fish with broccoli and tomatoes is not doable, you could consider taking a power nap, perhaps serenaded by Mozart or Vivaldi.

Beyond tangible physical benefits, these strategies provide Attention Distraction. Wait a moment, you say? Attention distraction is usually associated with magicians misdirecting audiences…or mystery writers dropping false leads into their text to confuse readers about the true direction of their plotline.

Regarding the quandary of writer’s block, consider that scientists exploring attentional focus and problem solving have discovered that too much mental focus can reduce one’s creativity, as well as the ability to solve problems. Therefore any strategy that redirects your energies is indeed useful for refreshing your body and your mind.

For me, the key to increasing my productivity is my frame of mind. For even if I’m poised to bring form to a fully visualized project, extraneous noise like ringing phones, talk or even music can stall my work. Sadly, I’ve found that food and water, or a change of scenery with heart stimulating activity, can only help to a limited degree.

Attentional distraction via the dovetailing of the creative and editorial processes I mentioned in my first blog is my best method for sidestepping writer’s block. If all else fails, cleaning house or playing a few games of solitaire allows me to return to productive writing for hours! All of the techniques I’ve mentioned in this blog helped me through the myriad phases of writing, working with my publisher, and promoting Prospect For Murder, the first book in the Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian Mystery series.

Here is a commandment I recommended to serious writers: Thou shalt set and maintain a schedule for daily composition—or other work related to the art and science of wordsmithing.

Remember, the Universe will provide the answer…when you’re ready to receive it!

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

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Author Design Dilemmas, 1

TIPS FOR BALANCING TEXT AND VISUAL ELEMENTS

While most authors are familiar with writer’s block, some may be less aware of other stalemates they may face in presenting their words effectively to a world of readers, listeners, and/or viewers in advertising and other commercial messages. There is, however, one category of wordsmith that regularly addresses the dilemma of matching their words to the mechanism delivering their message: Authors of commercial text.

Artists and authors of commercial text regularly have to balance text with visual elements in order to deliver a dynamic and holistic message. How we do this may depend on the degree to which we are involved in the technical process of producing the completed message. If, for example, someone else is charged with the layout of print or electronic publishing, the author’s only challenge may be in editing the length of the words within the passage of text. But when the writer’s responsibility encompasses the appearance of the final product is greater, the degree of their involvement in technical production is increased.
authoring strategies
My own work has presented me with project challenges spanning the full range of production, despite my not being a graphic artist. In working as a promotional consultant for one non-profit organization, I faced a board of directors determined to launch a branding program without a logo to represent them visually. Knowing they’d quickly realize the folly of this choice—and blame me for the decision—I pulled out a pencil and sketched a rising sun with slanting rays to represent nature and growth. I knew my simple doodle would not meet their needs, but I did obtain permission to have a graphic design company produce a logo prototype and sample postcard for which I had composed text.

Unfortunately, the island of O`ahu experienced a power outage during the week in which this took place. Not knowing what else might occur, I quickly rescheduled my meeting with the directors for Friday. When I checked in with the design firm mid-week, I was assured their timetable had not been compromised. With confidence, I arrived at their office on Thursday afternoon. Whoops, I was told: The artist was off that day and the work had not been completed.

Since it was too late to find another artist, I was left to my own devices. At the time, I worked with a simple word processing program and calligraphic pen. With some copy-paste magic, I cobbled together a rather good sample and made a humorous presentation that netted smiles and authorization to proceed with my work. A few days later, I found an independent graphic artist who grasped the spirit of the organization and completed each task she was assigned in a timely fashion.

Today I possess a computer that is fully loaded with graphic art software programs. However, I know my limitations in design integration and continue to rely on professional artists for high resolution images. Nonetheless, working with creative software during the early phases of a project allows me to rough out ideas that facilitate communication with both clients and artists to smooth the editorial process. The result is that I’m able provide artists with conceptual springboards that allow them to surpass my humble starting points, as well as the initial expectations of clients.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

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Creating Fictional Characters

HOW DO YOU SHOP FOR CHARACTERS?

If you’re a writer—fledgling amateur or seasoned professional—you should not be surprised to spend a lot of time in research. While much of this work can be performed on a computer, tablet or smart phone, some reference materials must be accessed in person. If you’re lucky, the information you’re seeking can be found at a nearby library or university.

Otherwise, you may need to travel to complete your research in another city, region, or country to visit libraries, museums or archival collections. Unfortunately, the cost of travel and time spent away from home may be higher than you wish to invest in a project. Another option is hiring a research assistant. While this scenario may save time and out-of-pocket expenses, be prepared for unforeseen complexities in working with someone you may never have met. Even when you speak the same language, the manner in which each of you approaches research may be wholly different.

Whether you are an author seeking fictional characters (or a business executive writing descriptions of your target clientele), you may need to present snapshots of people that truly grab a reader’s attention. Writing succinct portrayals of people can be challenging to the most creative writer. Fortunately, the answer to this research dilemma may be close at hand.

In addition to your visionary skills, consider people you already know and can easily depict. While you may not want to author a description of someone likely to read your work, you can combine the attributes of several individuals so that no single person can take offense.

In the weekly writers’ salon I founded a few years ago, one member has shared a unique research technique. Like her, you might consider using newspaper obituaries as a source for biographic images. Available online or in hardcopy, this resource is readily available at little or no cost. Often accompanied by photos of the deceased in their prime, these simple paragraphs offer highlights of individuals from every variety of background, education, profession and economic level.

Due to the cost, writers of obituaries usually limit the number of words they use, often omitting physical descriptions of the departed if photos are included. Despite the brevity, you will find a rich palette of words from which you can shape a dynamic biographic image. To enhance the available descriptive text for your own project, you might want to draw on information from more than one entry.

Keep in mind that rules of plagiarism apply to any writer’s work, including obituaries. This fact should not detract from your ability to draw inspiration from an obituary to develop biographical sketches for your work. The effort you invest in this activity should minimize any assistance you may require from a professional editor.

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

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Empowering Your Words

POWERFULLY TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE!

For decades, I have striven to shape effective written materials for clients and myself. At the end of many assignments, clients often ask if there’s a definitive method for generating quality writing. Unfortunately, while some aspects of the pieces I write can serve as virtual templates, I have to report there’s no magic potion for guaranteeing effective wordsmithing. For anyone.

Amateur or pro, the key to quality writing is blending creativity with exhaustive editing!

LAUNCHING YOUR PROJECT. Feeling nervous to launch your writing project? Ask yourself one simple question: Am I so focused on the final product that I’m inhibiting my ability to write? Your honest answer might be a reluctant yes. If so, merely facing a pen or keyboard can be traumatic. In response, consider performing a visualization exercise. Without committing yourself to serious meditative practices, you should be able to picture your target audience reacting positively to a large screen presentation of your message. Armed with this optimistic image, you should feel better prepared to set your verbal vehicle on the path to success.

THE VALUE OF AN OUTLINE. How will you reach your goal? Regardless of the type of text you are composing, I’ve found that outlining is an invaluable tool. I believe there are three essential steps to shaping a focused outline:

~ Write a mission statement summarizing your project’s purpose
~ List key points in a progressive sequence that validates your summary
~ Craft a closing statement summarizing how you’ve met the goals of your mission

You now have a recipe for determining the content and sequencing of the elements of your composition. The exact position of the various components will vary, depending on the product you’re fabricating. The key points on your list may yield paragraphs in an essay, article or speech. They may also become individual pages in a website. If you are seeking financial backing for a new business, they could become categories within your business plan. And fiction? Well, your list may be the plotline that yields the chapters of a prize winning novel.

DOVETAILING CREATIVITY AND TECHNICALITY. Despite my assertion that such organization will aid every writing endeavor, do not suppose that good writers never experience confusion, indecision, or misdirection. The writing process is a dovetailing of creative and technical activity. As you plunge into the construction process of your project, you will need to alternate between capturing the essence of what you want to say and coldly editing what you have written. The beauty of this double pronged approach is that you can let your thoughts flow freely, knowing that the structure of your work will evolve as you edit your way toward a harmonious conclusion. I certainly found this approach to wordsmithing invaluable in writing the first Natalie Seachrist Hawaiian mystery, Prospect For Murder. This approach facilitates your remaining productive, even when experiencing writer’s block.

STAGNATION. If you feel your creativity as a writer has stagnated, turn to another aspect of the project. Is there supporting material that requires your attention? Perhaps you need to shape a bibliography or glossary, or a preface, afterword, or acknowledgement section. If you’re responsible for printing, broadcasting, or uploading the final product, you may also need to work on color, form, texture, and artwork to present your thoughts with dynamism to your readers or viewers. And, of course, you can always revisit your personal bio or corporate mission statement…

Wishing you the best in your creative endeavors,
Jeanne Burrows-Johnson, author, consultant, and motivational speaker

Tips to enhancing your writing may be found in:
Empowering Your Words, February 2015
Creating Fictional Characters, March 2015
Sidestepping Writer’s Block, April 2015
Communicating with Every Sense, May 2015
Energizing Narrative Passages, September 2015
The Author Recycles, July 2017
Balancing Text & Space, February 2017
Book Series Adventures, April 2018
Drawing on Sense Memories, July 2018

For more ideas to strengthen your Wordpower^© and branding, please visit: Imaginings Wordpower and Design Consultation.

Follow Me On:
Amazon, Arizona Authors Association, Apple Books,
Audible, Authors Den, Barnes and Noble, Blogarama, Book Bub,
Cozy Mysteries-Unlimited, Facebook, Good Reads, Hometown Reads

Book sellers may contact book distributors such as:
Baker & Taylor, Follett, IPG, Ingram, Mackin, Midpoint, TitleWave