The Pursuit of Motherhood (Black Friday Release and Sale)

A New eBook.  A New Year.  A New Attitude

If you are pursuing being the mom God has designed you to be then you do not want to miss the release of The Pursuit of Motherhood.

Brought to you by some of your favorite blogging moms.

• June Fuentes from A Wise Woman Builds her Home
• Mary Clendenin from The Encouraging Home
• Sara Elizabeth Dunn from A Mama's Story
• Caroline Allen from The Modest Mom
• Lindsey Stomberg from Road to 31
• Jacqueline Franks from Deep Roots at Home
• Melanie Young from Raising Real Men
• Kelly Crawford from Generation Cedar
• Melinda Martin from Musings of a Minister's Wife
• Heather Kaye from Raising Mighty Arrows
• Amy Roberts from Mighty Arrows
• Melanie Moor from Only a Breath
• Jennifer Allen (contributor to The Modest Mom)
• Richele McFarlin from Under the Golden Apple Tree

The Pursuit of Motherhood offers a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, and a sister in Christ to share the joy of being a mom.  

"Do not demean your divine placement as mother to your children by trying to be someone else.  My friend, there is beauty in your brokenness."  ~Richele McFarlin, The Pursuit of Motherhood

"I looked on motherhood as the highest calling given to mankind."  ~Jasmine Mansfield, The Pursuit of Motherhood

Do you suffer from infertility?  

Are you weary?

Do you need help mothering from a biblical perspective?

Do you want to leave a Christlike legacy to your children?

Do you need encouragement on breastfeeding or raising young children?

Are you a mom suffering with health issues?

Do you have a special needs child?

Explore topics that concern real moms from real moms.

Get your copy on sale from Black Friday thru Cyber Monday for only $3.99!  

Carnival of Homeschooling

Welcome to the November 5, 2013 edition of carnival of homeschooling.



Joesette presents Early Settlements Unit– Part 1, Jamestown posted at Learning Curve.


Jamie Gaddy presents Using a Combination of Block Scheduling and Traditional Scheduling for Homeschooling posted at MomSCHOOL


Kelli Miller presents Free Homeschool Printable: Thankful Math (reader request) posted at 3 Boys And A Dog.


Henry Cate presents Transitioning to Public Schools posted at Why Homeschool.

Ann Rinkenberger presents Walter de la Mare - Poet/Poetry Study and Carl Larsson - Artist Study posted at Harvest Moon by Hand. 


That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of homeschooling using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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It's Okay, Editors and Designers are Here to Help

Writers Write.    

Let go of your ebook.  I know it is your baby.  I know you nursed it since word one.  I know you put your heart into it.  But now, my friend, it is time to let go.  Once you pen your final word, it is time to trust in those who edit and design professionally.  You did your best to prepare your ebook for these final stages.  

As a writer you simply write.  You communicate your vision, make black and white words on a one dimensional page come alive, and evoke emotion with melodic click clacks on a keyboard.  Allow your vision to pour onto the pages unrestrained.  The restraint will come through a person called;  the Editor.  

Editors Edit. 

An editor exists to aid you in communicating your vision.  She performs her job by spending hours reading your ebook and getting to know "your voice".  While deeply engaging in your text she removes comma splices, mixed metaphors, and spelling errors.  The passive voice suddenly finds its soapbox and becomes active and alive.  Her skilled pair of eyes corrects mistakes only a grammar teacher could appreciate and makes certain the ebook flows while holding true to tone.  An editor maintains the "you" but makes it better.  

The real trick is finding a solid professional. I highly recommend Melinda from Helpy Helper VA Services. After working with her a few times, I see the dedication and time she expends on her projects.  She spends hours making certain the work is as close to perfect as you will find.  I remember spending time struggling with wording in two areas of a chapter.  I finally decided it was the best it was going to get and turned it over to Melinda for editing.  I assumed she would double check all my comma uses and highlight any awkward wording.  When she returned  my work, I immediately checked for red marks and items to correct.  I didn't find any.  A true editor edits.  She didn't give me a rundown of items that should be changed.  She changed them.  Now, I know that may scare some of you.  However, I had no interest in correcting commas and verb tense.  She had no interest in calling herself an editor on a project filled with grammatical errors or awkward phrasing. As an editor, her name is also on the line and she takes that seriously.  As I kept reading, I felt tears come to my eyes.  Remember those two spots I struggled with?  She knew exactly what I was trying to say and reworked it to perfection!  My words.  My thoughts.  Only better.  That is what a good editor can do for you.  So, why not let her do it?  

Designers Design.

So you took the plunge and purchased the Royale subscription on PicMonkey.  You are now ready to create your very own ebook cover, right?  Wrong.  So wrong.  Like it or not, books are judged by their cover.  Admit it, even you judge a book by the cover.

What does a cover do?  Covers communicate to readers what the book is about.  It conveys a tone, a feeling, hopefully the feeling to buy it.  Now, let me blow your mind for a second.  A cover is NOT about your favorite color, a symbol only you will understand, or even you. A cover is more personal than simple ebook marketing but we cannot separate that from the design.  A professional designer will merge ebook marketing, design, and the message of your book.  A cover should compel a reader to click among a sea of thumbnail images on Amazon.

As a designer, I take ebook covers seriously.  I study the market, design elements, and what speaks to your target audience.  I look through hundreds of fonts, images, and design themes to come up with one that begs to be picked up.  Want to learn more?  Email me at crispapple20@gmail.com.

In the publishing world, most authors do not have authority of book cover design.  The reason for this is that designers design and writers write.  A designer is entrusted to create a cover that evokes emotion through the layers of Photoshop.  While a writer spends her time studying her art to perfection a designer does the same.  

Now understand, I am not saying that you would take a hands off approach to your cover design.  What I am saying is to have faith in a professional.  While you will be known for the words inside the book, I will be known for the cover.  I do not plan on being known for a cover that is mediocre, lacks in design quality, or looks like a pinnable image.

Moral of the Story...

Surround yourself with trusted professionals who have just as much to gain and lose in your project as you do.  Allow them to do their jobs with enough freedom to make your ebook an overall success.

When a Blog Series become an eBook

Using a Blog Series to Write an eBook

So you wrote a series on 10 Ways to Reuse Old Socks and it went viral.  You can easily think of 10 more ways and this causes you to ponder if you should write another blog post and combine your ideas into one profitable ebook.  The short answer is...yes!

Blogging is similar to writing an ebook.  At least as similar as singing in front of church to going on tour. If that happened, what differences would you make in your performance?  It isn't that you are not giving the small audience your heart but let's face it you would polish your performance.

If you had an insanely popular series or a sleeper series then consider using it as a basis for an ebook. Even if you have a series that never gained traction but the topic is relevant you may want to put it to better use and in front of a wider audience. You never know, like Napoleon Dynamite which made $100,000 opening weekend and ended up making $44 million, you may have a hit that causes people to wear t-shirts telling people to vote for you.

How do I know if I can turn my blog series into an ebook?

First of all, a blog series is already similar to ebook writing.  In order to write a blog series you had to remain on topic, focused, and organized.  You had to pick a topic broad enough to write a series on yet narrow enough to have a logical start and end.  Think of a blog series as an outline on steroids for an ebook.  

Steps to turning a blog series into an ebook:

1. Gather your series and copy and paste it to Word.  Separate each post as you would a chapter. Now read over it and see how it flows. As you read, take notes on where you can expand on your thoughts or examples or even add in resources.  
2. Consider adding in new chapters where you can expand on an idea or go beyond the series.  
3. Don't focus so much on word count or number of pages that the quality of your work suffers. However, if you cannot go beyond several blog posts then perhaps it is not a budding ebook after all. 
4. Keep your tone engaging and friendly but remove any type of text speak like "lol" (if you are one of those who adds in such things in your posts).  Your ebook will reach a wider audience so make sure any slang or local speak is removed. 
5. Blog posts often have a causal flair.  You can bring this tone to your ebook but there is a thing as too casual.  For instance, "I dropped Apple Dumpling off at soccer practice and some crazy lady walks up to me and begins yapping about joining a cult.  You know me, I don't put up with nothin' so I told her to gone on with her bad self."  Uh..yeah...you may want to edit that out.  

What other steps are necessary to creating an ebook from a blog series?

The same steps you would take if you didn't have your blog series.

• Research to make sure the topic is currently in demand.  
• Make sure the topic is not overdone.
• Clean it up and edit it right before you hand it over to a professional editor.  
• If you are creating a PDF file only then you can add in hyperlinks.  
• If you chose to format your book for a PDF file remember you can add images, bullet points, headings and subheadings.  However, you may want to hand this over to a professional as well to ensure it is industry standard. 
• Find a good designer who know show to make your book pop off the shelf into the hands of readers. 
• Decide where you will publish your ebook.  You can chose Kindle, Smashwords, Lulu, or sell the PDF directly from your blog.  Using a service like Smashwords will allow your book to be sold on many different platforms. 
• If you are selling from your blog or estore then you will need to host your book somewhere that sends download links to customers.  EJunkie and Payhip are two services to consider.  If you have a Wordpress blog you can host your ebooks free with the right plugin.  

Do you have a question?  Just ask!

What You Need to Know to Write an eBook Series

What You Need to Know to Write an eBook

Every Blogger has an eBook.  But Should They?

 

Learn about many other topics on the iHomeschool Network's Hopscotch over the next ten days! 

The Nuts and Bolts of Creating Your eBook

First Steps to Writing an eBook

So you did your research and found a topic you are passionate about and others must know about. Certainly, you will be the first to hit on the subject of hidden messages in sand dunes.  Take it, run with it, and don't look back.  You also decided the time in this project is worth giving up a Netflix binge for at least a week.  After checking off the do's and don'ts of ebook writing and deciding your voice must be heard, you have joined the ranks of bloggers who are writing an ebook. Congratulations.  Now, where do you go from here?  

Notes and Organization

The next logical step after brainstorming and research is note taking.  But hey, you are the kind of person who sees messages in sand dunes.  You aren't going to waste your time on logic.  You dive right into Word with fingers blazing.  You may even throw caution to the wind and begin a real live chapter.  Before long you have 100 pages written before noticing chapter 3 and 5 are repetitive and chapter 4 sounds so familiar because you already wrote it in chapter 1.  Don't be too hard on yourself, after all, you paid attention in blogging class and added your bullet points and subheadings.  You even noticed a common splice.  Give yourself an extra pat on the back for making your 8th grade English teacher proud.  

Before you go any further, do yourself a favor and scrap your work.  Taking notes and organizing your thoughts, quotes, resources, and research is an essential step. In middle school, a teacher once said that 70% of your grade is organization.  If you are not organized you will likely fail.  I am not sure if organization can account for such a high percentage of one's grade, but he had a point. Organization will save you headaches later on and make the next step much easier.  

Writing an Outline for Your eBook   

Think of your outline as the beginnings of your table of contents.  Use your notes to help you develop a logical progression of your ebook.  

For example, if one were to write an ebook about Big Foot, an outline may look like this:

1.  Background Big Foot

      a.  Where did Big Foot come from?  

      b.  Who were Big Foot's parents?

      c.  Names for Big Foot

2.  First sightings of Big Foot

     a.  Who was the first to see Big Foot?

     b.  Big Foot sightings around the world

     

3.  How Big is Big Foot?

     a.  Size of footprints found.

4. Scientific proof of Big Foot

    a. Who were these scientists and are we sure they weren't actually mental patients? 

5.  Where is Big Foot now?

     a. Recent Big Foot sightings

     b. Purposed habitats

     c. Why and how Big Foot is so elusive. 

This process will get your thoughts organized and focus each of your chapters.  You don't want to start meandering around the meadow because your readers may not follow.  

Writing Your eBook

Now, it is time to put fingers to the keyboard and begin.  Stay focused on your chapter's theme and centered on your goal for writing the book.  Never use two words when one will suffice and implement the right tone for the subject matter of your book.  Is your book satire, friendly, helpful, encouraging, technical, academic, etc.?  Match the tone of your book to the target audience.  Chances are you will have to maintain a serious tone when touching on such technical subjects as Big Foot, Candy Crush Addicts, or Adult Ashamed to Admit Watching My Little Pony.  Subjects such as cooking a chicken a dozen ways or how to organize your junk drawer can have a friendly and more casual tone.

Whatever the tone, your personality must shine through your words.  Readers want to connect with the author.  The more connection a reader feels the more motivation there is to continue reading.  Your personality sets you apart and could be the determining factor when a reader must chose between your book and the competition.  

The Details of Writing an eBook

Let's answer a few common questions.

What font should I use when typing up my ebook?

Times New Roman, Garamond, Ariel, or Courier.  12 pt. font for the body and 14 pt. for headings.

How long should my ebook be?

At least 25 to 200 pages.  If you are writing on a very specific subject then 20 to 30 pages would be fine. 

How long should my chapters be and how many should I have?

Chapter length and number will vary.  I know, I  hate vague answers too. 

How do I name my ebook?

• Consider how the name will impact your target audience.
• Use a title that is easy to say and remember.
• If you have a cute catchy title consider a subtitle to make your focus clear.
• You may want to consider choosing a name that has an available domain name.  
• Make sure your title communicates the focus of the book

How do I charge for my ebook and deliver it to my customers?

Pricing is tricky.  Some say to price high and some say to price low.  Do your research and see how books in your category are priced.  If you are selling a technical book or educational book then do not fear pricing higher than your average ebook.  Education is worth the added cost and most are willing to pay it.  

What file format should I use for my ebook?

Ebooks are born in Word and grow up to become a PDF file.  PDF files and DOC (Word) files are easily uploaded to sites like Kindle and Smashwords.   

How do I format my ebook?

There are many resources to aid you in the quest to publish on Kindle, Smashwords, and other places that sell and host ebooks.  You may want to keep things simple and convert your ebook into a PDF file and sell it directly from your blog or website.  Basically, you will be making it pretty, easy to read, and overall easy on the reader's eye.  If you feel uncomfortable with this process then hire a professional.  It may seem like an easy step but you would be surprised by the details a professional keeps in account. 

What should I keep in mind when publishing my ebook?

• Stay on topic.  
• Make it professional.  
• Have it professionally edited and designed.

What You Need to Know to Write an eBook Series

What You Need to Know to Write an eBook

Every Blogger has an eBook.  But Should They?

 

Learn about many other topics on the iHomeschool Network's Hopscotch over the next ten days! 

Every Blogger has an eBook. But Should They?

Should You Write an eBook?

In the first installment of this What You Need to Know to Write an eBook series, I pointed out that there are three kinds of bloggers.  

1. Bloggers who have written an ebook.
2. Bloggers who are writing an ebook.
3. Bloggers with "write an ebook" on their to-do list. 

Somewhere along the line bloggers felt a pressure to write an ebook to establish a sense of seriousness about their placement in the blogging world.  As if learning the ever changing world of social media wasn't enough we have to learn how to publish an ebook too?  

Before you sit down and bang your head against the keyboard there are a few things that must be brought to your attention.  We covered a few of these before but it is worth repeating. 

• You can blog without ever writing an ebook. 
• Blogging is NOT an extension of ebook writing. 
• Writing an ebook successfully must be done with the same professionalism as writing a book for print. 
• You will log hours of time into a project that could be time spent with family, pets, or Candy Crush. These hours will never return to you and in the end may not profit you.  Are you ready for that?
• An ebook is not a commercial for the products you sell.  Not to say that you cannot write about the products you sell but it must be done professionally. 

Let's go back to the idea that you will spend hours writing your ebook.  There is no guarantee that your hours will be rewarded financially.  Ebooks are not a get rich quick scheme.  When  it is all said and done the pimply faced teenager brewing your morning cup may make more an hour than you.  So, tell me, what topic are you so passionate about...what topic so begs your input...that the reward is simply in a finished product? You see, when it comes down it to, that is the true reward.  Sales come and go and the market is always fluctuating.  Writers write for the art of it.  Is that you?  Do you feel something so deep it must be bled onto digital pages for others to read?

I know, you may think I am taking this whole ebook writing thing too seriously.  After all, we all have seen ebooks where the words beg fall from the page to save some self respect. While we are not expecting the great American novel to be typed on Word and uploaded to Kindle for .99, all projects that bare your name should reflect it with excellence whether it is a memoir, cookbook, or unit study.  

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing an eBook

• Do I want to invest time and money into this project?
• Do I have a unique spin on a topic or a unique topic that is in current demand?
• Do I desire to write?
• Am I writing this ebook as a personal goal and not a means to make a few pennies? 

What Should My eBook be About?

Study the current market. 

So many options and yet so many topics exhausted.  Before you write a word or even an outline do your research. You need to determine if people are currently reading your subject of choice.  Is it a theme on the rise, heading into a plateau, or dead in the water?

Your view may not be unique enough, snowflake. 

Once you find a few books on the topic it is time to compare and contrast. Ask yourself if your idea covers something essential that these others books do not. The fact you are the author is not difference enough.  It is time to take an unflinching look to determine if you should be the one to write on the subject. 

So what?  I like giraffes.  

Liking a subject is not enough to be the authority on it.  As much as I life giraffes I would have to plagiarize to write more than a few pages on the subject. Find a topic where you are considered an authority. What topic or problem do people come to you to solve?  When people think of you do they think home cooking, encouragement, or pinball machines?  Where is your talent?  What have you done or can do that you can share?  

Trendy topics are not a guarantee of success. 

You may see a flood of books written on social media marketing, blog design, grammar, or Bigfoot, but that isn't a sign you need to write yet another book on panda bears and the people who love them. The trick with trendy is be ahead of the avalanche.  Once the snow comes down your ebook could be lost forever.  

Authenticity cannot be faked.  

The most important advice is to be you.  What are you passionate about?   Enthusiasm is contagious. Victory never goes out of style.  Ask yourself what you want to read about. That is what you write.  Identify the problem, the hurt, the glitch, and solve it for your reader.  Don't for a minute think you are alone in your passion for the platypus.  Somewhere, someone is waiting for that book to be written.  And that, my friend, is what you write about.  

 

Learn about many other topics on the iHomeschool Network's Hopscotch over the next ten days! 

What You Need to Know to Write an Ebook

In many ways self publishing ebooks levels the literary playing field. An ebook written by your neighbor sits next to a New York Times Bestseller on Amazon. Today's ebook writers have more potential than ever to reach a vast audience and gain their 15 minutes of fame. The market entices wannabe authors who used to sit on rooftops wishing on a star to be the author of the great American novel. 

 The ebook storm hit the blogosphere leaving three kinds of bloggers in its wake; those with an ebook published, those writing an ebook, and those with writing an ebook on their to-do list. Who can blame them? Ebook publishing is big business and bloggers didn't get into blogging to keep their opinions, knowledge, or ideas pent up inside their heads.

However the ebook boom begs several questions:

• Should I write an ebook?
• What should my ebook be about?
• How do I publish an ebook?
• How do I format an ebook?
• What about cover design?
• How do I market my ebook?
• How much will this all cost me?

All of these questions and more will be covered over the next ten days. Consider it a type of ebook boot camp. You may not like all you will read but it is all raw truth. And we all know in our hearts that raw truth is the basis of loving another person. So, allow me to throw a bit of tough love at you through this process.

Let's begin with a quick list of do's and don'ts that will be covered in more detail throughout the series.

20 Do's and Don'ts of Writing an eBook

1. Do write an ebook if you have a desire to write.
2. Do write an ebook if you understand it deserves all the respect and professionalism of a print book.
3. Do write an ebook if you plan to professionally edit, format, and design the cover. Because your name will be attached and with it the value of your work and more broadly ebooks in general.
4. Do write an ebook if you have the time to develop it properly.
5. Do write an ebook if you have thick skin that will sheild you from the impact of your critics.
6. Do write an ebook if you are passionate about a topic and have a unique spin the world needs to hear.
7. Do use a 12 point text size when typing up your ebook.
8. Don't write an ebook if your purpose is solely to make a dime. It will show through and your reputation is on the line.
9. Don't write an ebook simply to sell your products. Readers see through it and don't appreciate a 25-200 page commercial.
10. Don't write an ebook just to be part of one of those big bundle sales. That type of motivation normally results in an unprofessional product.
11. Don't write an ebook if half the book is solid and half is fluff stuffed inside to extend your page count.
12. Don't write an ebook on a topic that is oversaturated.
13. Don't write an ebook if all the information is easily obtained by a Google search.
14. Don't write an ebook on a hot topic that you are cold about for the earning potential.
15. Don't edit your own ebook.
16. Don't format your own ebook unless you are experienced. In fact, don't even add in bullet points. Strip all formatting and leave it for the pros.
17. Don't design the cover on a free online photo editing service. Yes, that means PicMonkey. Let's not confuse ebook covers with pinnable posts.
18. Don't write anything less than 25 pages and call it an ebook because, my friend, that is a pamphlet.
19. Don't use fancy, quirky, whimscial, or decorative font. There is a reason Times New Roman and Garamond are the most used fonts in ebooks and print.
20. Don't use a background that is anything but white or text that is anything but black. Okay, we may let it slide if your background is cream and your text is off black.

What You Need to Know to Write an eBook Series

Every Blogger has an eBook.  But Should They?

Learn about many other topics on the iHomeschool Network's Hopscotch over the next ten days!