Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
Nothing really of great interest to report around here this week. I am trying to keep calm and avoid overdue excitement as there is a promised whole day of dry and sunny weather tomorrow from 5 a.m to 10 p.m – no guesses as to where I am going to be and I will be taking photographs as proof of the sunshine to pin on the wall in case it is the only summer we get!
I will be applying for a hair appointment this week as they have been open since 16th May and hopefully all the ladies who wanted their colour and streaks done have been accommodated and I can get in for a cut and blow dry. Last year I managed two appointments in the brief hiatus between full lock downs and I have been cutting my own hair now since July! David has been tidying the back with the clippers and all in all we have managed quite well.. But it looks like I have been pulled through a hedge backwards.
I will celebrate with a new profile photo when it is done… I know you can’t wait! lol
Just a reminder that Meet the Authors begins tomorrow featuring current authors in the Cafe and Bookstore through the summer..
My thanks to William Price King, Debby Gies, Daniel Kemp and Malcolm Allen for providing the music and laughter.. and to you for all your support, comments and shares during the week.
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
I hope that wherever you are certain activities are getting back to normal.. We are partially open here in Ireland and next week as the hairdressers have had a few days back I will see if I can book an appointment… definitely in need of a tidy up.
We have enjoyed thunderstorms, gale force winds and torrential rain in the last few days which resulted in a power cut on Thursday.. the joys of living in the countryside. Looking at the forecast for the week ahead it seems that there might be some sunshine between 10-11 am on Tuesday.. I have booked my sunbed!
I would like to say a big thank you to author Emiliya Ahmadova who very kindly put two of my books through a site she uses and I love all the images.. Here are just two of my favourites. There are some really helpful and entertaining marketing aids available to take advantage of..
Before we get into the posts from the week… a note to let you know that after sharing the new authors I am going to be featuring every other author in the Cafe and Bookstore and the Children’s Reading room in Meet the Authors starting on Monday May 31st.
As an author and book promoter it does help me if all that I need to prepare a post is available in a central location. Most people these days sell their books through Amazon disheartening as that may seem. Like me they have an account set up and all they have to do is click buy and it is done.
If you are on other sites, many readers will be reluctant to set up another account which means giving out their credit card details and other information. Ensure your publisher will upload both Kindle and Print versions to Amazon. If not this is something you will need to do yourself.
Not having an Amazon author page makes life harder for someone to promote you and for readers to see all your books in one place. It is your own personal book shop and is therefore very important.
If you are a new author reading this,I do have a pdf Book Marketing and Blog Set Up available free and you can email me on sally.cronin@moyhill.com
Checklist to make sure you are being seen (and to make it easier for me to promote you in the upcoming Meet the Author series.)
Is your bio on Amazon US, UK and Goodreads up to date? (if your bio is very long I will share the first paragraph or an extract..It is a good idea to do an executive summary in one paragraph at the beginning of your bio so a reader can get essential details about you and you can go into more detail after that if you wish. The average person will spend about a minute reading your bio before moving on to your books and you want to make that transition as easy and as quick as possible
If you have published quite a few books listing them all may not get your readers attention, as all they will see is lots of titles. However,your biggest selling points are your covers which are all visible on the same page and will do the marketing for you.
If you want to share more with your potential readers then add in the link to your ‘about’page on your blog where you can share as much as you wish.
Have you claimed all your books on your author pages?
Is your profile photograph carried across all your book sites? Think about what your image says to potential readers and might you get a friend to take the photo and try a few out to find one that looks welcoming but professional. A high resolution image is best so that when in a smaller size it does not look blurred. I am not sure where the recent trend to have cartoon avatars has originated but I don’t believe that they are the best way to connect with your readers.
I usually share the links for Amazon US, UK author page links (make sure your bio is up to date on both as well as your Amazon of origin), Goodreads and Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Most readers will usually only follow one or two of the most popular social media sites.
I will check for new covers when I visit your Amazon pages and change any old ones in the cafe or reading room.
I share up to 7 covers on the shelves and do alternate others in and out depending on recent reviews.
In the Meet the Authors post I will share bio and photo, a selection of book covers and a recent review with all the buying links etc.
I will send a link to all authors and tag on Facebook and Twitter and I really would appreciate it if featured authors share on their own social media and also interact with those who take the time to comment. You are your most effective book marketing asset as people buy people first. Interact and readers are more inclined to buy your books.
If I feature three authors per post and everyone shares on their social media it will put those authors and their books in front of many more potential readers and this is really a collaborative series to encourage sales and also reviews.
Just a reminder that authors in the Cafe and Bookstore are on the shelves with reviews that are from the last six months or who have a new book available within the last six months.
I will be selecting authors in no particular order and not alphabetically.
Between the Cafe and Bookstore and the Children’s Reading Room there are over 150 authors so it will take several weeks to feature everyone with three or four posts a week…but I will get around to everyone currently on the shelves I promise.
Now time to get on with the posts from the week and my thanks to William Price King (The Breakfast Show) D.G. Kaye who opened her archives of funnies to share with you and Malcolm Allen(Laughter Lines Extra) for their amazing contributions.
Thanks to you for sharing the posts on social media and taking the time to comment, it is always appreciated…
Welcome to the weekly round up with some posts you might have missed here on Smorgasbord.
I hope you are all well… I know that like us here restrictions are being lifted in many countries although In Ireland there is going to be a slow roll out depending on any upsurge in cases.
The big news here is that overnight on Thursday criminals hacked the health service which is now offline which has resulted in the cancellation of thousands of appointments and more seriously life-saving operations. The government stance is that they will not pay any ransom and so as of this moment it appears that we are at an impasse. We all know that these parasites are out there, but to do this when all countries and their populations are at their most vulnerable is heinous. All I can do is wish them everything they wish upon others!
This means that despite assurances that the vaccination programme will be unaffected, it probably will be. So no idea when I will be getting my first…
On a brighter note, and thankfully there usually is one…the sun popped out periodically during the week and took some time off for some badly needed fresh air and a Vitamin D boost.
Also as always, I am very grateful to my friends and co-conspirators this week William Price Kingco-hosting the Breakfast Show with me with some more 1960s music, D.G. Kaye with her new May relationship column exploring the impact of grief on our lives, and some funnies to keep us smiling, Carol Taylorwith The Green Kitchen… and if you love soft dinner rolls…dig in.. And last but not least Daniel Kemp who shared his special brand of humour a the Open Mic Night.
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
I hope that everyone is doing well. From Monday we will have a few restrictions lifted and we can buy clothing again in the supermarkets and other non-essential items which is useful. Not that I buy many clothes these days as I have more than I could possibly wear in a lifetime along with bags and shoes… and some of them even fit! But, I do like their t-shirts and everyday clothes and it will be pleasant to be able to browse through them again. Of course I will be looking for just the perfect bikini for the summer lol.. I have no ideas what it would do the breeding cycle of the common garden sparrow if I wore that in the back garden!!
On another note.. Tales from the Irish Garden comes to an end next weekend and because I am currently spending weekends knee deep in the sequel for later in the year, I will be sharing another of my books. You can help me out please… Let me know which of these books you would liked shared again.. I know that regulars to the blog over the years might have read them before but hopefully newcomers might enjoy reading.
Book One – What’s in a Name? Volumes one and two – 36 short stories
Our legacy is not always about money or fame, but rather in the way that people remember our name after we have gone. In these 36 short stories we discover the reasons why special men and women will stay in the hearts and minds of those who have met them. Romance, revenge and sacrifice all play their part in the lives of these characters.
Book Two – Just an Odd Job Girl
Imogen was fifty! Life is unpredictable and will often throw you a curve ball that knocks you out of the park.
For Imogen this curve ball knocked her out of a twenty five year marriage and a lovingly renovated home into a single life at age 50. She had been a very contented wife and mother of two children, who for every one of those 25 years had thought her husband had been equally as happy. It was a shock to find out that she had been delusional and replaced so easily.
Her confidence was non-existent. She had forgotten any skills she possessed and was totally unprepared to enter the modern job market. Or so she thought.
Book Three – Tales from the Garden
Fairy Stories for children of all ages, from five to ninety-five that will change the way you look at your garden, forever. Set in my garden in the mountains of central Spain, the statues tell their stories and we meet Queen Filigree and her court for the first time before they have to seek sanctuary in the Irish Garden.
With over 80 photos/illustrations, “Tales from the Garden” by Sally Cronin,reveals the secrets that are hidden beneath hedges and trees.
You will discover what really happens at night as you sleep unaware in your bed. Stone statues and those hidden worlds within the earth are about to share their stories.
The guardians who have kept the sanctuary safe for over fifty years will allow you to peek behind the scenes of this magical place. They will take you on a journey through time and expand your horizons as they transport you to the land of fairies, butterflies and lost souls who have found a home here.
All you have to do is write Book One, Two or Three in the comments section.. otherwise I will pick one out of a hat!! (you will get them all eventually over coming months)
Time to get on with the posts from the week… thanks to William Price King and Debby Gies who are the main contributors this week.. and you will be delighted to know that Debby will be back with us on May 10th with her new relationshiop post that will touch your heart.
Thank you for all your comments of encouragement and interest over the week and have a wonderful weekend.. Sally
Welcome to the round up of posts on Smorgasbord you may have missed this week.
It would be comforting to see the numbers of new Covid infections coming down as the vaccinations are rolled out, but nearly 900,000 people worldwide were reported in just one day on Friday.. taking the total to over 146 million so far and over 3 million deaths. Personally it will be a long time before I am tempted to travel despite many European countries opening up for tourists this summer, some like Spain with no requirement for masks on crammed beaches. Of course those vaccinated are not immune to catching the virus in whatever variant it is hiding in at the time, and whilst Spain and other countries may not see the fallout from these trips abroad, their home countries will.
We have restrictions still in place for non-essential travel in Ireland but public demand is likely to loosen that necessary mandate for the summer months. We personally are more than happy to remain where we are and I am afraid we do not want any visitors however much we love them, staying with us. Vaccinations are definitely part of the solution but continued safety precautions are also going to be essential for far longer than we anticipated. I hope that others will consider staying at home and enjoying what is on the doorstep and leaving more time before leaping into someone else’s backyard.
On a brighter note.. this week the sun has been shining and I have spent time in the garden catching up on my reading which was long overdue.
The reason I am including this in the round up is to encourage more authors and bloggers to add podcasts to their marketing options and reach a new audience for their writing.. and to enjoy as it is great fun too.
I was given the title, Clanmother, September 2008, when I was travelling the Scottish Highlands with an audacious collection of young people who came from all over the world to join an expedition to the misty Isle of Skye. I was the oldest woman on the tour so the title was appropriate. What was more surprising was that I liked the label – it was catchy, spirited and encompassed the next stage in my life. It was my turn to grow old. I stood at Glencoe, breathing the chilled air, memorizing, for future recall, the rugged terrain covered with proverbial heather. There was certainty in my thoughts. This was going to be my most profound and daring adventure.
I want to share this journey with other, like-minded individuals – young, old, or in-between. It is an exploration that will take many turns as life advances. Many say that wisdom comes from the aging process. I am not ready to accept that premise as I have learned from children. What I do know, is that connection is the greatest gift of all. Clanmother is about a backward look forward!
We talked about book marketing, obesity and life in general and the time flew by.. A wonderful experience and I am looking forward to sharing the interview with you in coming weeks.
I have also been catching up with previous podcasts over the week on Rebecca Soundcloud with more to enjoy, including from some of your favourites from the Cafe and Bookstore: Liz Gauffreau, Paul Andruss, Teagan Geneviene, Robbie Cheadle, Darlene Foster, Shehanne Moore and D. Wallace Peach.
You can sign up to Soundcloud with your email or by linking to Facebook etc, and it means you can share the interview and comment to your own social media.
Because of the care taking with editing the interview before broadcast (thanks to sound engineer and editor, Rebeccas’s husband Don) the resulting broadcast is top notch.
I love radio as a medium and it was wonderful to get back on the air. I know from passed conversations that many of you are reluctant to take the plunge. But you are in safe hands with Rebecca, and it is not live so you don’t have to worry if you fluff your lines. It is very relaxed and enjoyable. I do recommend that if you are an author who would like your books to reach a wider audience that you get in touch at the link above.
Meet the Authors
Over the last few weeks I have been sharing the bios and books of authors who have joined the Cafe and Bookstore over the last six months. In May I will be revisiting all the other authors in both the Cafe and the Children’s Reading Room and updating their bios for promotional posts going forward, social media links, covers and most recent reviews to share in posts throughout the summer.
I am in and out of Amazon UK and US in particular and Goodreads to check on reviews for the authors in the cafe and to check for new books. There are quite a few new books that I have to search for because they are not on the author page. So in preparation for the new series here is a checklist you might find useful in updating your online platforms.
Make sure your up to date bio is on your country of origin and also Amazon US and UK as the main English speaking sites.
Check that you claim any new books you have released in the last few weeks or months through Author central so that potential readers are not chasing all over the place to find them.. and they can see your complete portfolio in one place.
If you have a Goodread Author page please do the same.
If you don’t have a Goodreads Author page then I highly recommend that you do. This is the one place that you can showcase all your reviews from any country and worth offering this link to readers to place their reviews as well as their regional Amazon. This is also the place readers who have borrowed the book, been gifted or have read an advance copy can post their reviews by-passing Amazon’s buy to review policy. (Despite the fact Amazon owns Goodreads!)
If you have changed the cover for a book make sure that it is changed on Amazon and Goodreads.
Just a reminder that you need to update your bios on Facebook pages, Twitter and other social media platforms when you have a new book. Don’t forget to pin a tweet about your new releases.. and thanks to Hugh Roberts who recently reminded me that you need to change your pinned tweet every week or so and anyone wishing to share it can only do so once. If someone retweets a post of mine I will reciprocate by tweeting their pinned tweet… it is a marketing tool that is underrated and sometimes I see pinned tweets going back several years.. if it cannot be retweeted by your most supportive followers then it is being wasted.
Probably time to get on with the posts from the week… otherwise you will be needing a packed lunch and a bottle of wine to get through the rest…. okay perhaps you do anyway.. here you go..
As always my thanks to my friends who contribute to the blog each week William Price King and Debby Gies …. also to you for dropping in and so kindly commenting and sharing.. .
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
Weather wise it has been a lovely week so much so that after the last frost (hopefully) I stripped out all the pots in the front and back of the house two days ago. This morning I went to a cash and carry supplier locally who also happens to have a garden centre at the rear of the store. I got some potting compost and 20 geraniums and dahlias as well as three hanging baskets of pansies. This is phase one as I would like to get some of the bigger plants such as two more hydrangeas and an Irish magnolia tree. I will share some pictures when finished.
I do have a love story to share. It all began with the mystery of how this happened to my car at the beginning of the week.
We were trying to work out who was messing with my car and we surmised it was not being used as bombing practice by crows, as the design was too delicate. However, when I was emptying the flower pots along the wall of the house, I looked up and could see through the passenger window and across the car to the drivers side.
There was the culprit, a blue tit hovering in front of the wing mirror, singing and kissing the glass then retiring to perch ass outwards on the window ledge, having a poop and then back to more romancing.
I sat on my garden stool and watched as the performance repeated over and over and then he flew off to sit on the fence. At this point another tit flew up to sit beside him, clearly with love on its mind, but it was sent packing and my pooper flew back to kiss and flirt with his image in the mirror who seemed to be as excited as he was by the way this romance was going.
He had decorated both sides of the car and besmirched the two mirrors with his kisses and clearly was not going to be looking anywhere else for a mate . To save my paintwork and his sanity, we have now retracted the mirrors when parked in the drive. Unrequited love or narcissism, we hope that he will now accept that he must find love in the real world. I am sure that this charmer will find true love soon if he does not find someone elses car mirrors!
On another note…I am sure that like the other blue tits in the garden he has been availing himself of the plentiful bird feed I leave out each day…judging by the amount of poop he should cut back a little!
Image Oldiefan Pixabay.com
My thanks to William Price King, Carol Taylor, Debby Giesand Daniel Kemp for their usual amazing contributions. The blog would not be the same without them.
Also thank you for dropping and all the ongoing support during the week.. it keeps me motivated…
Welcome to the round up with posts that you might have missed during the week.
First some sad news that most of you will have already seen. Debby Gies (D.G. Kaye) has been a contributor to the blog with the Travel and Relationship Column for over three years, but has been a wonderful supporter of the blog and friend since 2014.
As many of you will know, Debby has been taking a break from her own blog and also her regular posts here as she cared for her husband in the last few weeks. George passed away earlier this week and the funeral was yesterday. The service was live-streamed and a number of us attended but we wish we could have been there to offer a more tangible support.
Debby has appreciated your kind thoughts and wishes over the last few weeks and I am sure you join me in sending our love and condolences… never has this writing community of ours been so important and needed.
On the home front there has not been a great deal happening. Allegedly 64 – 69 year olds will be able to book their vaccination from April 16th and we shall see how that goes. At least now the cold snap is over for the time being we have been able to spend some time in the garden, and for the first time this year we had the weather to do the winter clear up.
As always I am very grateful to William Price King for his contributions which go back 7 years and I have learnt so much about all genres of music from his wonderful series on musicians, singers and composers. We are having a lot of fun with the Breakfast Show and so pleased that it is bringing back memories of the 1960s for so many of you.
Thanks to a new contributor to the blog – Malcolm Allen is an author who my husband David has worked with for several years and lives in Australia.. He sends a great selection of funnies to us regularly and I am now passing them along to you. You can find out more about Malcolm’s latest book if you click on the link at the end of the posts under Laughter Lines Extra..
Thank you as well for you ongoing support and wishing you a lovely weekend.. thanks Sally
Welcome to the round up of posts my might have missed this week.
This week has been one of sadness as we said goodbye to one of the founding members of the writing community here on WordPress and social media. Certainly one of the first that I met when I began blogging nine years ago, and I had the pleasure of meeting Sue Vincentin person finally at the Bloggers Bash in 2017. It was a wonderful occasion and an opportunity to hug those we had been connected to for years online.. Here is Sue with Willow Willers, Ritu Bhathal and Noelle Granger…definitely good huggers.
A warmhearted and generous friend to all and a talented writer of novels and poetry, Sue has left behind an amazing legacy for us to enjoy, inspiring us with her determination over the last six months to leave us with more. I will continue to promote Sue’s books as part of the Cafe and Bookstore to honour that commitment. Our condolences to her family and friends and she will be very much missed. You can visit Sue Vincent Into Spirit
Sue Vincent
14th September 1958 – 29th March 2021
R.I.P
There are others in our community who are faced with their own health concerns or are caring for their family members. Our thoughts go out to them even if we cannot off more practical support. D.G. Kaye, Debby Gies is one of those who is caring for her husband at home and whilst her priority is his comfort at this time and she is not online very much, I know that she would love to hear from you.Debby’s Facebook
We will be having plenty of sunshine over the next two days before the arctic vortex hits us Monday and Tuesday with the promise of snow..I will be getting as much garden time as possible over the weekend and will refrain from putting my winter clothes away for a week or so… although to be honest I didn’t bother to put them away at all last year as our summer came and went rather rapidly.
My thanks to William Price King for continuing to share great music and we are delighted that The Breakfast Show is enjoyed. We will be heading into the more familiar territory for many of you with music of the 70s in a few weeks… a great decade.
Thanks very much for your ongoing support each week and wishing you a wonderful Easter/Spring weekend holiday.. Sally
Welcome to the round up of posts that you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord
I hope you are all well and have some decent weather. Ours is still mixed at the moment with freezing showers forecast for tonight. The sun is shining at the moment and whilst still nippy it is a welcome sight.
As you know I prefer the Classic Editor. I did a trial of the block editor and whilst I appreciate that many are very happy with it. I don’t find it helpful for me, because of the posts that I upload. For example this weekly round up which I try to update daily as even with the original classic editor it would usually take an hour. There was an update about three weeks ago which added more steps into the process. Whilst they have said they will not support the editor I had hoped they would have the decency to leave it alone.
But no..on Thursday without warning and in the middle of a post everything changed into an abomination that has removed all functionality and has added many more steps into the process.
I have approached WP who keep bombarding me with ads to upgrade and they tell me that if I go to the Business plan I can have their own classic editor plug in.. It is 300 dollars a year and the only thing that I want is the plug-in for the classic editor. I don’t want to monetise the blog as I don’t wish to sell any books or my services through it. I just want to be able to provide free book marketing for authors current and new. Post health blogs, music and funnies for people to enjoy.
Also I am not paying 300 dollars a year, if the classic editor they deliver in the plug-in, is the one that has just been dished up this week. I want the old classic editor with its functionality and customer friendly interface which was easy to use for new bloggers and those less technical alike. The person who responded to me yesterday could not answer that but still urged me to upgrade to the business plan anyway.
I have to say that I am disappointed in WordPress and their approach to this. There are (from what I can gather) five million + people using the classic editor plug-in and I would be very happy to pay 50 dollars a year for example, for a plug-in that gave me the original classic editor..From comments I have received there are great deal of others who would like to go back to it. It seems to me that WordPress are missing a business opportunity here. 5 million+ paying 50 dollars a year is 250million dollars.
I spent yesterday leaning new software offline. This is an open source platform and open to self-hosted blogs. I am too effectively now, as I can now write and format my posts offline and schedule and upload directly into my blog but without a middleman and the hassle of trying to work within this cumbersome framework.
Looking back at the beginnings of WordPress their mission statement was that this was a place where bloggers of every level could post free, creating posts their way using simple coding that was easy to follow. I am disappointed that they have moved so far from this ethos and the platform is now being run by programmers who are determined to show how creative they can be. That is blogging their way…not as promised the users way.
I am determined that until they throw me out kicking and screaming, I will continue to write my blog ‘my way’ so if you don’t see me around next week you will know what happened!!!
In the meantime.. please forgive any format issues etc as I find my way around the new offline editor.
Anyway on with the show…. and as always my thanks to William Price King,D.G. Kaye and all of you for keep coming back.. That does keep me motivated. Sally.
Welcome to Writing Through the Soul. Every writer writes through their soul and I understand. Here you can read about anything having to do with writing. I share my writing tips and prompts. Enjoy reading my poetry, short stories and what's on my mind in the Writing Through the Soul section. I have something for every reader and writer out there.
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