Making Twitter Banners and Adverts plus a Bargain!

I've just come back from a gorgeous holiday in La Gomera and it's time to turn my attention once more to writing and also to marketing my Christmas collection, Silent Night. This is especially important as, for one week only, it's on Kindle Countdown at just 99p and if I don't tell people, no one will know about it. So here I am telling you - you can buy it here!

Since publication day in October, and without the marketing department of a publishing house to do it for me, I've had to think up new and creative ways of showing off my book. There are many tools on the internet to help you and, as I've had a few people ask me recently how I went about making my adverts - especially my Twitter banners - I thought I'd devote this post to explaining what I did.

First of all I needed a picture of my book cover but I also wanted some other pictures to use as backgrounds. I used Pixabay for this as it has a wide range of free to use illustrations and photographs - just right for what I wanted.

For example, the background of snowflakes in this Twitter banner was from the site. 

To get the picture the right size and to add text, I used Canva. Although you can use it on a PC or your phone, I found it worked best on my ipad. Canva is a basic design programme and it's very simple to use - it must be if I managed it! I used Canva to size my adverts to fit Facebook posts, Twitter banners and Instagram pictures (you name it, it can do it.)

But I also wanted to use my book cover in a different way. For this I used the free on-line photo editor LunaPic. I made the book cover graphics below using it. 

I also used LunaPic to add the frosted edge to the title picture and to add the snow effect in my Twitter banner below (you'll find it in 'animations').

I used a different program to add a filter to my pictures to give a different effect. For this I use the photo-editor App PS Express on my ipad. I love the way it changed the tone of my advert below from warm to cool.

While I was searching around for new things to use, I came across another fun site called Lumyer. Again I used it as an App on my ipad to create the heart effect on the advert below. I used this one on my Facebook author page. If you want to remove the watermark, you have to pay, otherwise it's free to use.

Not content with animations and gifs, I decided to try using a little fun App called Boomerang. It does what it says on the tin and makes a few second 'boomerang' movie of whatever you photograph. Clever eh? This is the one I made for my Facebook page and also for Instagram.

And there you have it. Lots of ways to advertise your novel without getting boring. I'm sure there are lots of other interesting Apps and websites out there that can brighten up your marketing. If you know of any, please let me know in the comments.

Which leaves me only to remind you that Silent Night is on sale for just 99p all this week. It's had some fabulous reviews which you can check out on Amazon and, if you're feeling festive and would like to take advantage of this offer, you can buy it here.

Merry (Christmas) Publication Day to Me!

At last it's here! Publication day for my Christmas short story collection, Silent Night.

Yes, I know it's only October but unless I launch my collection into the wide world now, Christmas will have been and gone in the blink of an eye and no one will have read it.

Thinking about Christmas when it's not (if you see what I mean) is nothing new to me. All thirteen stories in this collection have been published in national women's magazines (The People's Friend and Take a Break Fiction Feast) so were written in the middle of summer - some as early as June!

So, how do I go about writing something Christmassy when the thermometer is showing 27 degrees, I'm skulking in the shade and the thought of a crackling log fire might just send me over the edge? Well, imagination is the key. I don't play Christmas songs, read A Christmas Carol or stare at Christmas cards hoping for inspiration. Instead, I close my eyes and take myself back to my childhood, remembering the excitement of waking up to a stocking on the end of a bed or the smell of a turkey in the oven. Don't get me wrong, not all my stories are written from a child's point of view - in fact, the stories are seen through the eyes of many different characters: male, female, young and old. It's just that this is my way of capturing that special Christmas feeling. A feeling that can be woven through every Christmas story I write, even if I know that very soon I'll be jetting off on my summer holidays.

Putting this collection together hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be. I wanted Silent Night to be around the same size as my other two story collections, Room in Your Heart and The Last Rose, which meant thirteen stories. It was trying to choose the thirteen from the thirty published that was the problem. In the end, my husband said, 'Why don't you just pick your favourites?'

So that's what I did. 

The next few weeks will be exciting - as you read this I shall be busy writing guest posts and answering interview questions. I'm very grateful to all the people who have invited me onto their blogs and I can't wait to start visiting. I've got so used to being the blog host that it makes a lovely change to be the guest.

Let's crack open the bubbly and I'll leave you with a short extract from the story, 'On My Own'.

I wake to a weak light filtering through the curtains. Looking at my watch, I’m surprised to find that it’s nearly ten. My morning is usually dictated by Ryan’s morning routine so to lie in bed and know that the day ahead is my own, gives me a delicious thrill. As I lean across and pull open the curtains, I gasp. The sky, yesterday a battle-ship grey, is now a clear winter blue and seems to go on for ever and, in the distance, is the sea view I had been promised.

Christmas Eve. The thought fills me with excitement as it did when I was a little girl. I run down the stairs two at a time to make a cup of tea to take up to bed. As I enter the living room, I see the half empty bottle of Chablis and the tree jauntily displaying its home-made decorations: silver fir cones, golden flower heads and white cut out snowflakes shimmering with glitter. It’s a far cry from the white and pink baubles we bought in Selfridges. It wouldn’t look out of place in a primary school but I love it.

If you'd like to purchase a copy of Silent Night, it is available on Amazon HERE as an ebook or
paperback (perfect for popping into a Christmas stocking)

Merry Christmas! Writing Seasonal Stories

It's that time of year again. You know how it is - you're sitting in the garden with the sun blazing down, trying to shield your computer from the glare. You're sipping a cool drink but, on the screen, the words are all snowflakes, sleigh bells and Christmas presents.

Yes... it's the curse of the seasonal story!

Every year, since starting writing in 2012, I've had Christmas stories published in magazines (my record is three in one issue of Take a Break Fiction Feast) and, last week, I sold my first for 2016 to The People's Friend... yippee! 

It made me think it might be a good time to write a short post for anyone thinking of writing seasonal stories.

A couple of months ago, Simon Whaley interviewed me for an article in the July issue of Writing Magazine. The subject was time sensitivity when writing for magazines - something I know a lot about. Some of you might have read it but, for those who didn't, I thought I'd share my answers to the questions Simon asked me.

How far in advance do you write seasonal stories (Christmas, Easter, Halloween)? How easy or difficult do you find this?

The earlier the better. I write my Christmas stories round about June/July and try to have them submitted before August at the latest. I usually send a few stories – that way any that don’t sell can be resubmitted elsewhere. It’s also worth remembering that if your submission arrives too late, magazines such as The People’s Friend will often hold them over until the following Christmas. On several occasions I have had a Christmas story in the magazine that was written and subbed the previous year but missed the boat.

What steps do you take to get you in the seasonal mood, or to inspire you to make appropriate seasonal references? For example, I've heard some writers playing Christmas music in May as they write their festive prose! do you do anything similar, such as look at photos, or look for seasonal words or phrases to drop into your story?

None at all. Once I start writing, I get so immersed in my stories that even if it is blazing hot sun outside, in my head it is snowing!

How important is the season to stories? Can setting a story in a specific season benefit or harm it?

The thing to take into account when writing a story around a particular seasonal celebration, such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day, is that the magazines will be receiving hundreds of stories on the same subject. These stories will only be published in one or maybe two issues around that time and that reduces the number of stories that will be accepted. General seasonal ones (winter or summer) are better as you have a window of several months but non-seasonal stories will fit in anywhere and at any time and you won’t be directly competing with other writers (including the magazines’ regulars).

When do you submit seasonal stories? Does this vary between markets? And if a seasonal story is rejected (heaven forbid!) do you hold on to it to submit nearer the time to another market, or do you rewrite it completely in a different season?

I try to submit seasonal stories at least four months ahead but, having said that, I have sent last minute stories and had them accepted and published very quickly. If a seasonal story is rejected, it is resubmitted elsewhere, or saved for the next year. I have never rewritten a story in a different season but I have changed a valentine story into an anniversary one when I ran out of submission time.

Is there anything else you'd like to say on this subject?

Don’t force a seasonal story. If you don’t feel like writing Christmas stories in summer or holiday romances when it’s snowing, then don’t. Write something general that can be read at any time. Failing that, write your Christmas stories in the winter and hold on to them for a few months before submitting for the following Christmas.

I hope that's been helpful to anyone thinking of writing seasonal stories. Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas!