Writing Resolutions: Now (2022) and Then (2012)

January 05, 2022 by Amanda Zieba

You may or may not know, that my first paying gig as a writer was for the Yahoo Contributor Network. For three years I wrote articles for yahoo.com and was paid per click… like $1.25 for every 1,000 clicks or something like that. You think I’m joking, but I’m serious. Sometimes there would be an assignment payment (say, $4.00 an article upfront) but other times, not. The idea was that you’d make money by creating a massive pool of content. Sure, this article might have only earned you $.17 this month, but so did a dozen others. And that one featured on the yahoo.com home page was viewed 3,000 times… so yeah, small potatoes, but it added up. By the time the YCN closed down I had written nearly 200 articles. Even more valuable than the money, was the experience I got while writing. You can get pretty good at something if you do it over and over again… 200 times.

Why is this information relevant to today’s blog post? Because today, while cleaning my office, I found two binders full of those articles. Like a good little nerd, I had printed off each article and saved it. And good thing too, because when the Yahoo Contributor Network folded in 2014, it deleted allllllll of the pieces off the internet it’s writers had written. What had felt a bit silly and self-glorifying, became the saving grace for my portfolio of work.

In the name of nostalgia, I took a walk down memory lane by browsing through those binders full of my articles. I thought that perhaps there might be an article or two that I could reuse and repurpose here and now on my blog. As an authorpreneur with an overflowing to-do list, the prospect of recycling something so few of you have likely read was just too tempting to pass up. In the collection I found a lot of pieces on parenting and education, but a few random ones about Olympic Athletes and travels (such as a review of Spirit Mountain Ski Resort in Duluth and how to make the most of a three day trip to NYC). Lo and behold, I did find a few articles I could share again.

The piece I’m going to share with you today was simply titled: Writing Resolutions. If you are just starting out on our writing journey, you might find it helpful to look at the ways in which I (as a very new writer) I planned to make the most of the year ahead. Tune back in again next week, when I share my goals for this year (2022) … now that I’m a decade into the game.

Happy reading and happy writing!

Amanda

Writing Resolutions

Written by yours truly on December 30, 2012

Nine months ago, I started to play around with this whole writing for money thing. As the year closes and I reflect at my writing journey this far, I am incredibly pleased with my mild success. I am ready to stop playing and around and start being serious about my writing. With the New Year approaching I thought that I would list my writing resolutions. My hope is that they help me reach new levels of success in the print world and that maybe by reading them, they can help you too.

Writing Wednesdays

I resolve to set aside two hours every Wednesday to write. I will leave work as soon as I am able, go to my local bookstore and write and write and write until it is time to go home for dinner. I will write and edit and submit and research. I have never had a set writing schedule and while I am sure that I can’t accomplish all of my writing in this time, it is a guaranteed time slot that I hope will help me produce more finish content. On that same note, I also resolve to wait until my children are sleeping before I drag out the laptop to work.

Creating Connections

I resolve to make ten new contacts each month. Whether it is as simple as obtaining email addresses of family and friends and acquaintances to send my published online work, or something major like connecting with an editor, I want to work this year on promoting my work and propelling my writing career.

Improving my Craft

I resolve to subscribe to a writing blog or writing magazine to sharpen my writing skills and stay abreast in the latest industry trends and topics. Recently I have stumble upon Brain A. Kelms The Writer’s Dig. It is a blog that has helpful posts on everything from grammar to inspiration and is one that I plan to follow in the New Year. One resolution he suggested was to start a word count calendar to keep track of your productivity.

I hope that these resolutions increase the amount of my published work and the places where my words are seen. I hope that I can increase my writing income and also my credibility as a quality write. These are my resolutions for this year. and who knows, maybe next year my novel will even get finished.

A few quick insights from my vantage point of 2022

I did start and maintain Writing Wednesdays from 2013-2016. It was a wonderful weekly habit, and one I would highly recommend. During those Wednesday I did not pick up the boys from daycare, did not exercise, make dinner or do errands. I didn’t even answer phone calls from my mom during that time. (Don’t worry, I usually called her back on my way home and eventually, we just picked a different time for her to call me.) From 3:30-6:00 PM I wrote. It was both enjoyable and productive. My husband’s coaching schedule and a move ended my formally structured Writing Wednesdays, but I still take time each week to write.
My contacts have definitely grown. I now can boast of an email list home to ___ people, 1,600+ followers on Facebook, almost !,000 on Instagram and countless writing friends I have met through organizations like SCBWI and the Mississippi Valley Writers Guild. If you are looking for writing friends, join a group… it’s the best possible way to connect, learn and grow!
It’s been awhile since I’ve taken a class or attended a conference (thanks GOVID) but I’m hoping that 2022 will change that. For many years I consumed all sorts of content on how to become a better writer. Now, I spend more time creating than consuming… and that’s okay. There’s a season for each, and perhaps in the year ahead, the seasons will shift and it will be time for me to learn something new.

Alright, what about you? What writing resolutions do you have for the year ahead?

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I also NEVER link to products or services that I don't 100% believe in. I will never tout a company or their goods if they are disreputable or if I don't believe them to be worthy of your hard-earned money. In no way are my affiliate links a scam. (Language borrowed with permission from Kristen Kieffer on Well-Storied.com)

Sing 2: Quotes to Motivate and Inspire the Small Town Writer

December 29, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

After reading the title of this week’s blog post and considering the content of my post a few weeks about about Ted Lasso, you may be wondering if I’m altering my path and veering into the business of writing entertainment reviews. I’ll help you set that curiosity aside by saying, no, I’m not adding yet another branch to my authorpreneurship. But what I am in the business of doing, is writing about what motivates and inspires me (and potentially other writers) and Sing 2, definitely left me feeling inspired.

My family and I attended the movie as a part of our annual Christmas Crawl festivities. (Read: an afternoon and evening of surprise holiday activities around our town of La Crosse. To see the rest of our stops on this year’s trek across town, head over to this Facebook post… rhyming clues are included… written, but yours truly.)

As a life long singer, I already loved this movie’s original, an animated tale about a little koala who lived to DREAM BIG, who refused to quit, and who ultimately found success by lifting others. Plus, the characters sang… really, really well. Seriously, what’s not to love?!?! The second installment didn’t disappoint. In fact, in my opinion, it not only lived up to the hype of the first, but surpassed it. If you have kids, if you love music, if your heart is itching for a feel-good movie, you gotta go see Sing 2.

Part of what I loved about this movie is that characters kept telling Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) that because he was a little guy from a “po-dunk” town, he’d never amount to anything. They told him that his show was good, really good in fact, for his small town theater, but would never be good enough for the big stage in the Vegas-like equivalent entertainment capital in the movie. Instead of feeling defeated, Buster used these comments, critiques and challenges as fuel to propel his BIG DREAMS forward. I fricken love it. As a self-published author, who cannot sell her books at a national bookstore chain or Target, I really identify with the limitations people are putting on Buster. I also relate to his “well, forget that” attitude, refusing to let others tell him what he and his BIG DREAMS are capable of. To iterate my point and perhaps inspire you a bit too, here are a few quotes from the movie.

(No spoilers included, I promise.)

I realize that on their own and out of context, these quotes might seem trite, but I guess that just means you’ll have to go see the movie. ;) Afterward, let me know your favorite quote, part, character or song in the comments below.

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How does an Authorpreneur Make an Income?

December 22, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

I recently took a big picture look at my writing income. As I look into the year ahead, it was super helpful to look at which activities and income streams were the most profitable. I can use this information to help me structure my time, choose which future jobs to accept (and which I should likely decline), and which branches of my business tree I should cut off entirely. I can also use this information to figure out which tasks make me the most amount of money for the least amount of effort/time and do more of those.

First, I’ll show you the breakdown of the numbers and then share my thoughts.

Teaching** - $19,464

Client Work - $17,802

Book Sales - $7,431

Teachers Pay Teachers - $2,631

Misc. - $1,641

Speaking Gigs/Workshops - $1,250

Total: $50,380

** I teach part time at Western Technical College.

Additional Considerations

First of all, I am super stinking proud that I have been able to earn an income comparable to my full time teaching salary. When I resigned from K-12 teaching four years ago, I wasn’t sure what was in store for me or that I’d be able to make it. I AM MAKING IT, and the sky’s the limit for where I can go from here. But knowing my bills are paid and there is money in the bank because I am able to earn money doing what I LOVE, is a pretty darn good feeling.

There are several things I do that do not directly make money, but that build my credibility and platform. These tasks include blogging, sending email newsletters and engaging on social media. Strangely enough, these tasks take up monumental amounts of time. Likely 30 hours a month. BUT, through these activities, people get to know me and my projects. Which eventually results in sales and speaking gigs. I have considered cutting down on these activities so I have more time to write… but if a writer writes and no one knows about it… will anyone buy their book? THIS IS THE REAL QUESTION THAT HAUNTS ALL AUTHORPRENEURS. What is the appropriate amount of time to spend on each task?

Another activity that did not factor into the financial report of 2021 is the exceptional amount of time (approximately 5 hours a week) I spent making YouTube videos. My channel is close to monetization. I’m less than 1,500 hours shy of the 4,000 hour benchmark. Once I reach that, I’ll be able to earn money per view from the Google AdSense program and add this platform as a revenue stream. In 2022, these weekly hours spent making videos will result in added income. Likely $200 or so a month at the start, but then, like Teachers Pay Teachers, it will grow and run on autopilot making me money while I eat, sleep, chauffeur children, write my next novel and fold laundry.

It would be unwise to completely forget the COVID AFFECT. In 2019, speaking gigs, school visits, in person workshops and conferences made up 16% ($5,810) of my income. In 2020 and 2021, that number was down to 5% and 3% respectively. I am hopeful 2022 will bring us back to “regular life as we knew it”, but I’m not all that confident we will ever reach that point again. This is a huge reason why I put a lot of energy into YouTube this year. I needed an additional stream of income that didn’t rely on the world’s ability to get their you-know-what-together enough to allow for large group gatherings. My current 2022 calendar has a handful of in person events, including presentations at a state level conference… so we’ll see. Fingers crossed!!! But when you think about the impact this disease has had on small businesses, don’t forget to think about presenters and performers, like me. Covid wiped out my largest income stream two years in a row. Yes, restaurants and stores were hit, but it’s effect goes far further.

So what am I going to do now?

I am a HUSTLE + HEART kind of authorpreneur. So, I’ll admit, that while it might be a smart idea to cut blogging, I’m not going to. Why? Because it brings me joy. If I wanted a life with a job that didn’t bring me joy, I’d do something else… that made a lot more money. So, while this deep dive into my 2021 finances started as a way to productively and efficiently schedule my time to increase future profits, I’m not going to entirely ignore my own personal satisfaction and enjoyment. To do so, would completely negate leaving a stable 9-5 to pursue a career focusing on my passion.

Please know that I share these goals and numbers not to brag or be self-congratulating. I personally learn by studying how others succeed and my hope is that by transparently shouting out my numbers/process/goals/steps that you can make your own aspirations a reality. Know this, IT CAN BE DONE. And you can be the one to do it.

My money making plans for 2022 include:

Monetizing my YouTube Channel
Re-doing and relaunching my YA science fiction series (currently called Breaking the Surface) that you’ve likely never heard of because I don’t promote it. I don’t promote it because it’s the best I could do in 2013… and that product is embarrassing to the “2021 me”. (Another benefit to self-publishing… you get as many do-overs as you want!) Be looking for this eco-inspired teen story in February 2022! :)
Increasing my resource offerings on Teachers Pay Teachers
Writing and self-publishing Close Quarters #3

What should you do?

If you haven’t yet done a deep dive into your own business finances and time management, I’d highly recommend taking a couple hours to do so. You might stumble across some surprising revelations that can help you make this next year your best yet. If you have any questions or want to talk through some of your idea, email me! Or, let’s plan to meet up for coffee. Dreaming big and scheming with entrepreneurs is one of my favorite things to do and I’d love to chat with you.

Cheers to 2021 and bring on 2022. We’ve got this!

~ Amanda

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I Love Ted Lasso

December 15, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

I don’t watch a lot of TV. It’s not a hard and fast rule, or one I pride myself on. It’s just that I’m rarely in the same place each week at a designated time and so following a show is more difficult. I am also not very good at doing nothing. Usually if I am sitting on the couch in the evening, I am doing SOMETHING else… filling in my paper calendar, drafting a new story long hand, journaling, reading, signing books, making a list of email newsletter topics, posting on social media, checking email, making a blog graphic, grading papers… the list of items I could do, let alone have to do is long… and so, while the TV is frequently on (usually featuring a sporting event or Disney creation) I give myself a free pass to check a few more items off my list while my family is happily engaged in entertainment. I figure we all get bonus points because we are in the same room at the same time. Productivity + family time = a win-win situation in my book.

But sometimes, when my husband and I are feeling the need to spend intentional time together rather than vicariously occupying the same space, we decide to watch a show. The show must be something special, having come highly recommended by multiple sources. In addition to providing entertainment, these shows end up filtering into our daily conversations, our inside jokes, and our mindset, resulting in a rich shared experience. Thus, we only want the best of the best. (Although, our scale of measurement is our own and not open to your criticism or judgement, thank-you-very-much.)

Despite the value these hours of episode binging bring to our lives, we’ve only participated in the activity a handful of times. During our maternity and paternity leaves we spent late nights feeding infants and watching The OC (when Kam was born) and Gossip Girl (when Riley was born). (Remember I told you to keep your CW-critique voices to yourself!) Later on in life, we thoroughly enjoyed every season of Friday Night Lights. More recently, during the Stay-at-Home Order we devoured all three seasons of Newsroom and grieved when it was over. To combat the hangover of missing it we laughed our way through 6 seasons of Schitt’s Creek.

But what next? How could we adequately follow up the phenomenal cast and comedy we’d just witnessed? It took a few months, but we’ve gotten back in the saddle, and fallen head over heels in love, with Ted Lasso.

Ted met all of our requirements. It was a feel-good and funny show with memorable characters. It also gets bonus points for being about sports, a common love for both of us. This show does what, in my opinion, all great stories do. It uplifts your spirit and makes you think. It presents unique situations with universal and relatable truths, helping all viewers take away a little nugget of wisdom. Perhaps because I’m an educator and I was a coach, I enjoy watching shows in which leaders solve problems and inspire. Yes, it’s entertainment, but it’s also educational, dare I say, bordering on professional development? Last week during my lunch break (after a particularly rough class period) I sat in the cafeteria and moped. How was I going to get through to these students and make an impact on their levels of success? Then, I stopped my internal monologue and silent tirade of scathing comments to-whom-it-may-concern about accountability and behavior enablement and asked myself, “What would Ted Lasso do?”

It was then I realized the impact of our nightly TV watching. This fictional character had become a mentor. Someone I aspired to be like… cheerful, positive, inspiring. And then it hit me. Ted Lasso isn’t a real person. He was invented by someone else. In that instant I no longer wanted to be Ted Lasso. I wanted to be the writer who created him. Who I really aspired to be was Jason Sudeikis. (The fact that this show got it’s start in Chicago (#midwestisbest) and on YouTube, only further cements this show’s place in my heart.)

So in addition to our goals of finishing the season (something we’ll attain before the end of 2021) I now have the goal of writing something of Ted Lasso caliber. I want to write something that uplifts and inspires, that shouts out universal truths in a way that makes the world a better place. Through my stories I want to encourage the humans who read it to treat each other nicely. Also, swearing. There will be swearing, because it makes me happy. I’ll end by saying, if you haven’t watched Ted Lasso yet, add it to your line up. Because in the words of Ted himself, "Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing." Trust me. You can thank me later.

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Best Books of 2021 - According to the Word Nerd

December 08, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

By the time I reach the end of 2021, I’ll have read or listened to 33 books. My main genres of choice include anything for the middle grade audience (usually realistic fiction) and adult women’s fiction, with the occasional epic science fiction/fantasy thrown in to for my inner-nerd.

When I look back at the titles I’ve experienced this year, a few have risen to the top. I am often asked for reading recommendations, so today, I’m sharing that list of favorites! If you are looking for your next great read, read on! If you’d like to see the full list, click here. (I also have 2020 and 2019 list’s archived as well.)

Or if you are looking to read something to get you into the holiday spirit, click here to browse a curation of Christmas stories. —> —> —> A few years ago, my friend Christy Wopat and I made a list of all our favorite Christmas books, from picture books to adult novels, from spoofy stories featuring pop culture icons to thoughtful religious titles. Truly, there’s something for everyone!

Before we dive in, please know that you can order each of these books through my favorite indie bookseller, Alex at Birdy’s Bookstore. Each book is also linked to Amazon. No matter how you get these books in your hands, I hope you enjoy them!

Best Books of 2021

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

In addition to filling my heart with it’s messages of kindness and acceptance, this book was comprised of beautiful prose and laugh out loud moments. It you are looking for something a little off the beaten path that will convince you to believe in humanity again, read this book.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

I love books about books and books about writers; this one was both. The idea that WHO you are dictates the level of attention/success/hero worship your book attains is a dirty little secret in the publishing industry. Often times in the traditional publishing industry, men make a whole lot more money and earn quite a bit more prestige that women. They also earn many, many, many more looks from agents and deals from publishers… so they are in the lead even before the “race” official starts. Don’t believe me? Check out this article or this one, or this one. Anyway. This book is all about two college rivals, and the way they (and their work) is viewed by the public/bookstores/etc. It’s also about their romantic tension and the bet they make that they can each successfully write a book in the other’s genre. I loved it. I’m really looking forward to reading Emily’s newest release, Book Lovers, in 2022.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

A man wakes up on a spaceship knowing he has to save the world, but nothing else. He literally doesn’t even know his own name. Everyone else on the ship is dead and it’s up to him to save humanity. The scientific predicament planet earth finds itself in within Andy Weir’s newest novel is not all that far-fetched and it’s pseudo-reality increases the threat’s urgency as they reader’s follow Mr. No-Name’s attempts to learn what he needs to know and enact a complicated plan. I listened to this book for the reason I listen to all of Andy’s books (and most long, long stories books) because it is easier for me to understand and process the multitude of difficult vocabulary words and scientific content. This book has been the one I recommend most often in every day conversation because it is thrilling, touches on current events (climate change) and people love debating the whole “alien life” scenario and it plays a vital role in this book.

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat

This story, meant for middle grade readers, is something (like most middle grade and YA books) that can be read and enjoyed by a person of any age. In addition to having the most beautiful book cover of the year (in my opinion) it is a beautiful story that subtly teaches readers about the real value of a person, of a life, of a choice. It is a book that will gently open up conversations about wealth and equality, about speaking up and organizing change. “Set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world, Christina Soontornvat’s twist on Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is a dazzling, fast-paced adventure that explores the difference between law and justice — and asks whether one child can shine a light in the dark.”

Behind the Lens by Jeannée Sacken

This book stuck with me long after I finished reading it. For days (and honestly weeks) after finishing it I continued to think about the characters and what they were likely doing or where their story went next. The political and military drama of US Troop withdrawal from Afghanistan likely fueled these thoughts, but still, what power the story had! I also loved knowing that the author (a fellow Wisconsinite) used her own experiences as a travel photographer when writing the story and her real life wisdom brought the story to life.

** Front Desk, The Once and Future Witches and Cress also topped my list this year!

I guess when I look back on my these top 5 books, I realize they all have a common thread of doing what is good and right. These days I think we could all use a few reminders on those topics. I also believe in the idea that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with, a theory presented by Jim Rohn. I’m guessing that the same is likely true for the media you consume. So, why not surround yourself with books and stories that uplift, subtly teach, and shout out the good? My belief in this idea is probably why I myself write what I call FEEL GOOD FICTION and am currently obsessed with Ted Lasso (more on this to come in a future post!).

Alright, those are my top 5 from 2021… what about you? Tell me your favorite book you read this year in the comments!

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Click the image to go to the blog post. Happy reading!

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You Are Invited the the Destiny by Design Launch Party!!

December 01, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

If you read the acknowledgements at the end of a book (a true sign for me, that I loved a book and don’t want the experience to end) you’ll often see authors expound on the sentiment that writing is a lonely and solitary endeavor. As writers we spend hours alone, creating a world and characters, hoping with every sentence we write, that someone will love them as much as we do.

Even though I am (likely) a more social creature than most writers, I share these authorial hopes and dreams as I craft my stories. And while some writers shy away from the spotlight, from the shouting-out-the-news about their story, I do not. I love stories and I love people. In fact, I maybe love stories, because I love people? And the way stories bring people together? Yes, that’s definitely part of it.

We’ve reached the part in the milestone of my newest book’s life, when I finally get to share it with you and celebrate. So let me not continue to wax on poetic about the sentiments of writers and get to the point of this blog post… that being… an invitation. To a launch party. To the Champion Chocolatier: Destiny by Design Launch Party.

And oh, what a party it will be!

If you’ve ever been to one of my story shindigs, you know they are something special… mostly because all my favorite people are there, but also because my parties are really my stories, brought to life. They are more of an experience than an event. If you haven’t been to one of my book launch parties before, you’ll have to come so I can truly show you. But for now, you’ll have to take my word. Or lots of words.

Here is what I have planned this time around.

Destiny by Design is all about an interior design competition. Emmy and Eddie have plans to transform a waterfront warehouse into a boutique hotel. Along they way, their project finds it’s way into the HGTV Collegiate Design Challenge. (What’s that you say? Emmy and Eddie aren’t in college? You’re right… but you won’t have to wait long for my first delicious plot twist to discover they ways in which they become eligible.) Maybe it’s because we only got ten channels on our TV through all of COVID and I watched a LOT of home reno shows, but the idea of using my creative storytelling skills to also design room after room and building after building, was just too fun to dismiss. Subsequently, this newest book and the entire launch party will have an interior design theme.

Here’s what you can expect.

Mood Board Competition

Party attendees will get to try their own hand at design by selecting a few design elements to create a mood board. We’ll have paint swatches and wallpaper samples, hardware and fabric, countertop pieces and pictures of furniture, along with a few other little odds and ends. To play, you’ll pick out a handful of items you think would make a gorgeous/delightful/whimsical/spunky/cozy/??hotel room. Whatever mood you’re going for, pick the elements to match it. Once you have your selections set aside, we’ll take a picture and then place the entries up for voting. The mood board that earns the most votes, will win… wait for it… seriously, it’s an amazing prize… a $100 gift card to the CHARMANT HOTEL and RESTAURANT! Even if you don’t buy a book (which I hope you do), even if you don’t sample to delicious appetizers we’ve ordered or help yourself to a drink from the cash bar, this prize alone is worth trekking downtown to join us.

Ask a Designer

Okay, I keep saying “us”, and it’s not because I’ve got a personality disorder. It’s because this party, like all great things in entrepreneurship, is a collaboration! Local designer, Tina Weisensel, of Weis Design, is partnering with me to make this event super stylish and so much fun. In addition to co-hosting the party, Tina will be running an “ask the designer station”. If you are anything like me, you have TONS of project ideas for your house, but a lack of knowledge or an overwhelming amount of options hold you back. Tina to the rescue! Bring your phone full of pictures (your kitchen cabinets, that tired looking fireplace mantle, or spare bedroom that needs a facelift) and Tina will help you make a plan to make your design dreams a reality!

Become a Designer!

If you are wanting to take your designer dreams to the next level, then you absolutely have to come to this party! Western Technical College (where I teach writing courses!) has recently reinstated their interior design program and an instructor will be on hand to tell you all about it! After writing this book (and as I said before, watching my fair share of HGTV shows) I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more than a little interested in taking a few of these courses myself!

Book Sales and Reading

And it wouldn’t be a book launch party with out books! I will have all of my books for sale at the party, so if you need to catch up on earlier books in the series, or do a little holiday shopping, or you just want to get your hands on a copy of Destiny by Design, I’ve got you covered! For those of you who can’t wait until the 13th to read this newest installment of the Champion Chocolatier series, you can order it on Amazon and then bring your copy to the party to be autographed! Also, if you’d like to pre-order your book to be picked up at the party (by yourself or someone else if you can’t attend) you can do that here.

Food and Drink

And finally, last but not least, come to enjoy some of 4 Sisters delicious food and beverages. The menu items are still being selected, but we’ll have plenty! Wine, beer and a full bar of cocktails (as well as nonalcoholic choices) will also be available for your sipping pleasure!

What do you think? Want to party with me?!?!?!

I hope I’ll see you there!

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Thankful: An Acrostic Poem of Gratitude from the Word Nerd

November 24, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

If you’ve been following me on social media this week, I’ve been sharing things I’m grateful for in my stories. The items on my list range from the profound (church) to the mundane (flannel sheets)... but each item brings me joy. In these difficult and tumultuous times, I’ve come to realize that without pausing to notice these moments of happiness, I’d be lost. We’d be lost.

So today for my blog post I’m listing 8 things I’m thankful for… in true word nerd fashion, via the form of an acrostic poem. Go ahead and read my entries and then try to complete the activity on your own. Maybe my ideas and experiences will spark some reminders of the goodness in your life. (At least, that is my hope.)

For further reading on gratitude and thanksgiving, check out my past holiday posts revolving on the same topics. They are listed below.

T

Time

The times in which I have to complete the tasks of my life are VERY flexible. Sure, I likely work 50 hours a week, but other than the 12 hours I’m required to be on campus, I get to pick when things get done. For the most part I can exercise, shower, do household chores, schedule appointments and run carpool… and still uphold/progress my writing career. Yes it sometimes requires early mornings and working on the weekends, but like my momma always says, “you can if you plan”. I am grateful that I get to be in charge of my plan and have the flexibility to be available for my family, personal goals and self care. This is such a gift and one that I am thankful for on a daily basis.

H

Habits

I’m grateful for the habits I’ve built into my life. Whether it’s working out or maintaining structured work hours or tv show rituals with my husband or time for family games, these planned events in my life bring me peace and joy (and also a lot of productivity)... all of which I am grateful for.

A

Avenues

I am thankful for the multiple avenues I have in reaching people with my stories, resources, and knowledge. Really, this piece of gratitude is giving thanks for the advances in technology that allow me to connect with anyone in the world via paper and ink, an email, a video or a call. AND, gasp, this isn’t counting my favorite way of all to connect with other humans… meeting in person. I am grateful for all the ways in which I can share (and receive!) words and ideas.

N

Nerds

I am grateful for nerds. For the passion they bring to life. Sure, word nerds are my favorite, but really I’m thankful for anyone who devotes their time and energy enthusiastically to a passion project and even more grateful when they share their enthusiasm for their nerdom with the world. Nerds make the word more fun and interesting and likely better and more efficient to boot. Hooray for nerds.

K

Kids

My kids are fantastic. They have big hearts, are kind humans and still love hanging out with their parents. They love playing outside, are creative and get excited about the simple pleasures in life. Most of all, they lean into their own unique qualities that make them individuals without too much thought or care to what others think. I love all of these things about them and hope we can help them hang onto these qualities as long as possible.

F

Full Hearts

Last Christmas I bought my sister a wall decor canvas that said, “If you think our hands are full, you should see our hearts.” It is very true for them and the four children (ages 5 and under) that they are raising. It is true for me too. Outside looking in, you might think that the chaos of a full house or full calendar (for the holidays or on any random day of the week) might be overwhelming. And at times, it does feel that way. But even fuller than my planner or my car or the kitchen on Thanksgiving, is my heart.

U

Unwavering Support

My husband and parents are a rockstars. Like legit, I can ALWAYS count on them. Life has thrown us (like so many, many others) some curveballs this past year and throughout it all, they are there for me. This is especially true for my own personal authorpreneur rollercoaster and the ever shifting landscape of “what is possible”. But I know no matter what I’d need, these three humans will be by my side, offering all they have, no questions asked. I am beyond grateful for them and their support.

L

Lounging

As you may have been able to tell from the previous items on this list, my family leads a busy life. But on the weekends, we do A LOT of lounging. Especially in the winter. It isn’t uncommon to put in a solid six hours on the couch on a Saturday or Sunday… or both. Especially in the winter. I know that some people bemoan the cold temperatures and short daylight hours the Midwest has to offer this time of year, but personally, it is my time to recharge. I am thankful mother nature gives us the permission to stay home and stay inside. I am grateful for the periods of rest winter weekends provide me and my family. I truly believe it is how we are able to make it through the rest of the week. I am grateful for lounging.

Alright. These are my 8 things. What about you? What are you grateful for? Toss out an entry in the comments so we can all celebrate and give thanks together. If you’d like to begin a gratitude practice, check out these amazing journals from my fellow entrepreneur friend, Andrea.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Amanda

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Champion Chocolatier: Destiny by Design Cover Reveal

November 17, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

Drum roll, please!

Wait.

Actually, we aren’t ready for that.

Let’s back up.

Last week I asked my readers to vote on their favorite book cover design for my soon-to-be-released book, Champion Chocolatier: Destiny by Design, the fourth in the series. And, boy oh boy, did people have opinions. SUPER HELPFUL opinions! Opinions that I gratefully hoarded and then analyzed. Afterward, I went back to Canva and, using some of the feedback I received, made some tweaks to the most popular selection. I moved the location of the title and adjusted the color of the banners and putzed around with the location of some of the images. They weren’t massive changes by any means, but the collection of the changes made an impact… at least I think they did.

So before I reveal this, the newest cover of my newest book, I want to say thank you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, for investing in my final product with your time and for caring about the content I create! Without you, there would be very little purpose to writing these stories. For your readership, I am eternally grateful.

Alright. I’m ready. Are you?

Now we need the drumroll.

Bdbdbdbdbdbdbbdbdbdbdbdbbdd…

Ta-Da!

What do you think?!?!?!

Here’s the what the back says:

Emmy Edwards is a magnet for competition. If there is a contest within reach, she’s going to find it and enter! Whether it’s winning a chocolate shop, a reality TV competition or the heart of the cute guy who owns the store next door, Emmy wants a piece of the action.

She’s promised her new husband, Eddie, that the Golden Honeymoon Giveaway would be her last competition, but keeping that promise turns out to be harder than she thought. When their new business venture, renovating a vacant waterfront warehouse into a boutique hotel, has an opportunity to compete in an interior design challenge, Emmy finds herself back in the contest ring.

In this fourth installment of the Champion Chocolatier series, readers will find everything they’ve come to expect of author Amanda Zieba: a light hearted read about an idyllic contest, imaginative competition challenges, and larger than life contestant personalities. From coast to coast and pillar to post, Destiny by Design will give readers a front row seat to Emmy’s latest competitive adventure including all the delicious twists and devine turns. To read the first chapter, click here.

So when can you get your hands on this beauty?

This book will be available on Amazon any day now… so check there, or keep your eyes peeled for a social media announcement. I know it seems strange not to have a specific release date… but in the world of self publishing, exact dates are a bit of an enigma. I’ll also be having a launch party, no, launch experience, some time in mid-December, so again, stay tuned. My afternoon is booked with planning meetings for the event and I’m convinced that this launch will be my best yet. Trust me when I say you will WANT to be there (whether you already bought your copy on Amazon or are waiting to get it in person!).

If you need to get caught up on the first three books in the series, click here to grab your copies and then, get reading… fast… because a new book is in your destiny!

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If you want you haven’t made it to one of my launch parties before and want to get an idea of what to look forward to, check out this post.

Curious about my inspiration for the books in the Champion Chocolatier series, read this post!

And for more fun facts about this series, click here.

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Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover... But We All Do

November 10, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

Despite the popular phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” we all do.

A cover can make or break a book’s success, no matter the quality of the story inside. If your own book buying habits aren’t enough to convince you, Ana and Thea, over at Book Smugglers*, proved this point through a 2010 survey, in which 79% of the 600+ participants reported that book covers play a decisive role in their decision to purchase a book. (For more interesting results from their book cover survey, read the full blog post here.)

Plainly put, a book’s cover is important. Super important.

I’ve been making my own book covers for several years now. ** I know what I consider appealing and also the basic cover design standards for books in the cozy reading genre. I used these pieces of information along with my mad-Canva skills to create 3 different options. Why 3? Because sometimes what your brain creates the first time isn’t the best idea… its just the first idea. I find if I you push myself to move past the most obvious choice, I often come up with something even more magical and magnificent. (Hint, this is true for more than just book covers!) I showed these 3 options to my writing friends, to my sister and also my cousins. I was shocked when their least favorite was the cover I’d been leaning towards selecting.

I decided I needed to try again. So I went back into Canva and made a few more, five more actually. Now I had 8 designs to choose from. But I still didn’t know which one I liked best. So, I decided to let my readers help me select the best one. After all, they were the target market, right? Give the people what they want? Chances are if you let the people pick, you’ll be able to more easily deliver what the people want.

Earlier this week I shared the cover options on Facebook and asked people to complete a Google form. I’m asking you to do the same today. Then, next week… I’ll do a big cover reveal! Thank you in advance for your help!

What do you think? Which one is your favorite? I’d love your input! Please vote here.

If you’d like to learn how to design a book cover or learn more about the process, check out these resources.

Blog Post: Birthing a Book - Many people liken the process of creating a book to the experience of growing and birthing a baby. I would agree on many levels. For the most part growing a baby is a behind the scenes job. The cover of a book is easily the most visible portion of the entire writing process. Often times, if done well, the cover is more memorable than the name of the author and sometimes even the title. Today could be compared to one of those gender reveal events. Today I’m going to share with you… the book cover. (This post was the cover reveal post for my book Close Quarters.)

* The Book Smugglers is a blog dedicated to speculative and genre fiction for all ages. In addition to being an outlet for Ana and Thea’s bottomless obsession with books, reviews, and assorted popgeekery, it is also the home of original SFF short fiction and nonfiction. The Book Smugglers won the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine in 2020.

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From Screenplay to Novel and Back Again

November 03, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

I am excited for today’s guest post because it discusses topics I’ve never covered on my blog before. Fiction writing, self-publishing, authorpreneurship and spreading word nerd love are my general jam. We write what we know, right?!?!? James Churchill, possesses a wealth of writing knowledge in areas outside my expertise and in this post, he generously shares that wisdom about adapting novels and screenplays with us.

It is typical to post a writer’s bio at the end of the piece, but I think that knowing this writer’s background and experience ahead of time will lend so much credibility to his message, that I’m leading off with it, or rather, he is. James, thank you in advance for the lessons about to follow! I’m grateful our paths crossed and that you were kind enough to “visit” my blog!

Alright, James, take it away.

I've been involved in Feature Films and Television since 1994, and worked for companies such as Warner Bros, Paramount, 20th century Fox, Universal and Disney in various roles. I've also worked in the Music Industry and currently illustrate board games for clients all over the world. This meant that I got exactly what I wanted when it came time to create the cover for my book.

Over the years I got to read many film scripts and watch the shooting on set, while working alongside many well known actors, directors and producers from Jean Claude Van Damme to Billy Zane, and from David Nutter to Joel Silver.

In the late 1990's I began developing a number of full length feature film scripts of my own, and then in 2002 I came up with a bizarre idea for a 13 part television series titled "Cosmic Garage".

The premise was that Aliens had crash landed in the desert and had been rescued by an old man who ran a Gas Station on the infamous Highway 375, just outside of Rachel, Nevada. The creatures had salvaged parts from the ex-military machinery in the junkyard out back, to build themselves a hi-tech home in his garage. When his grandchildren come to stay for the school holidays, they soon discover his secret, and the fact that they are planning to transmit their TV Variety show to the Universe, hosted by the one and only Aria Supernova.

What follows is a series of crazy adventures with everything from junkyard bullies to constructing a Time Machine out of a 1971 Ranch Wagon. Visits from Men in Black and saving the world from a giant killer asteroid are just a few of the scenarios. It draws inspiration from cult classics like Red Dwarf, Banana Splits, Dr Who, My Science Project and Back to the Future, with pop culture references from the 70's and 80's, along with special guest performers from all genres.

The process of creating a novel from a script however is different from doing it the other way around. Film scripts have very little descriptive elements, as they mostly consist of cues in the form of interior or exterior, a brief block of text outlining the situation and the time of day. After that it's all dialogue, prescribed by the characters name, so you have very little of "he said, she said" going on.

Translating a book into a script is generally easier as you have so much to draw from. Lengthy visual descriptions and explanations to inform the reader of the intention or feeling that the writer is trying to convey. Take for instance Ready Player One. You can see entire blocks of descriptive text that have been deleted and replaced with a single line or visual element, as films just don't have the time to mess around. They need to get to the point quickly.

Novels however, and this is my point, require much more input.

When I sat down and decided to adapt Cosmic Garage, I was horrified. Once I had deleted all the headers and character titles, I was left with only 2500 words at most. That meant I needed to come up with at least another 25,000 words to say the same thing!

It took almost two years on and off to translate Cosmic Garage from a screenplay to a novel . One of the tricks I've learned over the years, which many of you probably already do, is the card method. I write down the arc of the plot as points on a series of cards and shuffle them around until they make sense within the story line. I then break each of those plot points down into its own chapter, and create a story arc within that chapter. That way I know that if a character needs to do a particular thing at a certain point in time which relies upon something else happening first, it needs to follow one of the golden rules of filmmaking. Continuity.

Continuity in film is vital. Everything from the length of a person's hair to the amount of dirt on their clothes is monitored and photographed, as films are rarely shot in sequence. Often the end of a film might be shot first, depending on location, availability of actors schedules, and other considerations.

The same goes with a novel or script.

Having a notebook with the overall plot, the chapter breakdown and then a description for what happens within each chapter should be a basic necessity. In that way I was able to take my mind off the daunting task of writing a whole book, and just focus on what happens in each chapter, which for me is about 8 pages, or 2000 words.

The way I write might be slightly different to how you might approach the process. I tend to create visual metaphors and lyrical phrases which are different each time. I spend a lot of time checking to see if I've repeated a statement, description or reaction.

It's important to me that the image that the reader interprets in their head is as close as possible to the intended situation. Therefore I go to great lengths to be creative in that description, using terms and words which are either complimentary or opposite, and more often than not they are either a metaphor or analogy to something they can relate to.

I also draw upon as many pop culture references as possible as it roots people into a specific genre, feeling or personal experience that can be greatly useful as a way to make them feel part of the story.

Of course in every film or book, the viewer or reader needs to identify with at least one of the characters. In that way, they can immerse themselves in the story and feel part of it. One other thing I like is surprise elements or singular statements, especially at the beginning of a chapter. Cosmic Garage begins with the statement:

Nevada. An endless sea of glistening sand, marked only by the ominous shadow of a bird of prey, circling high overhead.

In this short piece of text, we establish the location, the environment and the isolation of the location without messing around.

Lastly, be creative in the way your characters speak. Let it flow naturally, and instead of "said" there are hundreds of ways to describe their emotional state or situation with much more interesting terms. Of course, if it's obvious who's speaking, you don't need anything at all!

You can connect with James Churchill and see more of his work on ArtStation or via his author Facebook page.

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Forget Time Chunks, Write Whenever And As Often As You Can

October 27, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

Today’s guest blog post comes from my Florida writing friend, Christine Mills. Christine and I met when she interviewed me on her podcast, The Veranda Entrepreneur. Today she is sharing some tips that hit me right in the heart… how to write when life is busy. It’s the perfect advice to get you ready for NaNoWriMo (just a few days away… eeeek!). After you read it, pop in your earbuds and listen in on our conversation about book promotion.

When people see the books I have written and realize that two of the three books were written while I was raising young children, I often get asked the question, “when did I find time to write?” That has become a loaded question, because even after years of writing I still don’t think I have fully mastered consistently getting in the practice of writing. I have set reminders in my phone, put a journal beside my bed and have even made it a New Years Resolution but I find what has helped me is to write often and everywhere and to set hard deadlines, even if they are with yourself.

I find that if you walk around with your writing journal just like how us readers love to walk around with a book, you will find little bits of time to write. There were seasons in my life that the only time I had was 10 minutes at a doctor’s office or riding on the train to work. I used to feel guilty when I would hear writers talk about chunks of time that they have to write and I used to look for the chunks and couldn’t find any. I stopped feeling guilty and embraced the season I was in. I relished in the short spurts of time and made it work for me and made it as productive as any chunk of time experts recommended.

As a working mother with a passion for writing my best was 15 minutes here and ten minutes there. And gradually little fragments of time were pieced together into three published books and two unpublished books. My advice to anyone who wants to be a writer and feels that they will never have the right time is to start with where you are and what you have. If you only have 10 minutes before your kids come home from school honor that time. If you only have fifteen minutes on the train on your way to work…use it consistently. Show up for your dreams and talents in the least likely places and before long your patchwork of notes will grow into a chapter and chapters will become your book.

Christine Mills is the author of Young, Gifted and Black: Quarter-life Crisis; Young, Gifted and Black: Midlife and Dream Chasers. You can find her at www.christinemills.net .

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3 Reasons to Invest in Author Visits in Schools

October 20, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

When I was about to graduate high school I vacillated between the choice of two career paths: writing and teaching. When I mentioned the writing option I was often met with phrases like, “Writers don’t make very much money” or “That’s not a super stable job”. But when I mentioned teaching… people gushed about how good I was with kids and how teachers got great benefits. These comments made sense to the 18-year-old me. I’m a pretty practical person, so I chose teaching. **

But I think the real reason probably goes deeper than that. In hindsight I think I didn’t choose writing because I didn’t know any writers. My parents weren’t writers, not that they were teachers either, but I was surrounded by teachers on a daily basis. I knew what their lives and career work looked like… everything from their yearly calendar to daily tasks, from participating in homecoming dress up days to the necessity of learning how to pee in the three minute window of passing time. In fact, I doubt I’d ever met a writer. At least… one who openly claimed the title.

Again, in hindsight I realize that statement isn’t entirely true. I spent a lot of time with pastors, who wrote weekly sermons and coaches who wrote performance evaluations. There were probably all sorts of people in my life who wrote items for newsletters, letters to the editor and memories for the historical society. It is just as probable that I had a neighbor who journaled religiously, a boss who spent their weekends writing stand up comedy sketches or heck, maybe even another peer who filled notebooks with stories the way I did. But I don’t remember anyone talking to me about being a writer.

But eventually, I did find my way to writing, and when I do school visits as an author, that is at the heart of my message. “Hi,” I tell the students. “I’m a writer. Being a writer is a real job. People pay me to create stories. I pay my bills with this money. No, it’s not a lot, but still, can you imagine anything more magical? Me neither.”

Okay, so now you don’t have to hire me, because you know my spiel. :) But honest to goodness… seeing it, hearing it, knowing that someone else is doing what you want to do… that makes it real. That makes all the difference.

If you want to make an impact on a young writer, invite a professional one into your classroom. It could be an author, but it could also be a journalist, a historian or a copy editor. It could be a magazine editor, a website content creator or a screenwriter. It could be a blogger, a technical writer or a playwright. Show your students their options and watch for what lights them up.

This is the magic of author visits.

Here are three additional reasons to invest in author visits.

Guest Speakers Bring Clout

Let’s face it. It is easy for students to take teachers for granted. They see us every day and acquire the distinct skill of tuning us out or putting us on mental mute. We could say, “CAPITALIZE THE WORD i” a billion times, but all they hear is the Charlie Brown teacher voice. Have a guest speaker repeat your same desired directive and suddenly, BAM! The speaker is a genius and oh-so-amazing. Your students will look at you in shock and ask, “why oh why didn’t you ever teach us that, huh?” It hurts… but in the end, you no longer have to ask them to capitalize the word i. Winning? Yes indeed.

This is precisely why I tailor my author visits to teacher requests and what skill set would be beneficial to their students. We can all work on the same team… and as long as the students get “there”, we all win.

Meeting the Standards

Most teachers I know are grateful to have standards as a guideline, but disdain having their lesson plans for the third week of second quarter hinge on standard subpoints 6.2 a-e. BUT, by inviting a guest speaker, in this case, a writer, you can cross off some of those career readiness standards in a content relevant (and super fun) way. You’re Welcome. :)

Personal Goals

Okay, I know we’re all in it for the kids, but when you invite an author into your classroom, you get to talk with them yourself. If you have writing dreams of your own, this is an incredible opportunity to ask your questions too. If you are like me, authors are your Grade A Celebrities… and being able to interact with them feels akin to walking the red carpet at the Grammys. So go on, do it… for the kids, yes, but also reap your benefits too. Because if you have to do recess duty when it’s 22 degrees outside and stay late for parent teacher conferences, you sometimes also get to rub elbows with award winning authors. (Yay you!)

There are many, many other benefits to author visits, but I know your time is short, and I’m running long on my word count, so let’s move on to making these magical visits happen, shall we?

Since I know author visits can be expensive, I’ve gathered a few resources for you to help make this curriculum-crushing (in a good way!), dream-supporting, all together amazing experience come to fruition for you and your students.

Giveaway

I am giving away one free virtual author visit. Fill out this form by November 1st at midnight and be entered to win a one hour presentation + Q&A session with yours truly. To get my credentials and why I might be a valuable contribution to your classroom, click here. Also, click here to see a list of presentations I have ready to go… all of course tweak-able to meet the needs of your students and what you’d like them to learn. I’d love to do the author visit for the winning class in November, during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and inspire some young writers! In addition to virtual classroom visit, the winning class will also get a copy of two of my books (The Birthday Cache and The Orphan Train Riders: Three Historical Fiction Stories), a digital copy of Under Construction: A Young Writer’s Workbook, and a class set of bookmarks. If you don’t want to wait for the giveaway results (11/4/21) and just want to dive in and book a visit with me, click here to go to the WordNerdopolis Post Office to send me a note so we can start chatting.

2025 UPDATE!

When you join the Word Nerd Collaborative, you’ll get not one, but TEN virtual author visits! Check out our 2025-2026 School Year Line Up and then head to HERE to join the membership for this and many other amazing resources + benefits!

Curated Author Visit List

In addition to doing her own author visits, Kate Messner, one of my favorite authors on the planet, also curated this list of authors interested in doing visits. Perhaps you can connect with one who lives in your state, dually supporting a local author and increasing the reality of the experience because look, even people in your own state do this author thing!!

Free Author Interview Videos

And finally, on this playlist you can view ten author interviews with highly acclaimed and super generous MG/YA writers who agreed to chat with me on my YouTube channel. The best part isn’t that they are free, but it's a darn good bonus if I do say so myself.

Okay? Convinced? Good. Start reaching out to authors now and get them on your calendar. Then get that writer’s books in the hands of your readers, fire them up for the opportunity to talk with a real live human who makes their money by telling stories, and then watch the magic happen.

** Side note: I graduated both high school (2001) and college (2006) before Act 10 and the demolition of our Wisconsin unions, benefits, pay increases, etc. So, the people touting “good benefits” weren’t lying, those good benefits just didn’t last past my fourth year in the education field. I haven’t reached the final chapter of my career story, but I can tell you that twelve years in, I came upon a plot twist and left full time teaching, for a part time instructor position that allowed me to more fully focus on my author goals and dreams. I’d love to share my journey and knowledge with your students with the goal of showing them that a career in the creative arts is possible.**

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Champion Chocolatier #4 Sneak Peek: First Chapter Reveal!

October 13, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

Today I am thrilled to share the first chapter of the soon-to-be newest release in my Champion Chocolatier series. This book, which doesn’t have a cover and has yet to be titled, will be released in time for the holiday season. But despite all the many steps I have yet to complete for this project, I want to give you a sneak peek of the story!

If you haven’t yet caught up on the series and need to read books 1-3, click here to purchase your copies and get on it! December will be here before we know it and you’ll want to be ready for all the fun, comedic mishaps and entrepreneurial dreams Emmy and Eddie have in store.

Are you ready? I am!

For the first time, here, is chapter 1 of Champion Chocolatier #4.

Emmy took a sip of her latte and immediately spit it back into the cup.

“Ha-haaaaaaaat,” she said, fanning her mouth.

She’d been too greedy for the life-fueling caffeine. Now she’d have to suffer the consequences of her rushed actions for two days. Maybe three. She glared at the molten liquid furiously. What had once appeared as an Instagram worthy latte now looked like a wolf disguised in sheep’s clothing. So much for saving money by making fancy coffee at home. It wasn’t worth it if she managed to burn off all her tastebuds in the process. Emmy walked to the freezer and grabbed two ice cubes. She plopped one into the cup and the other into her injured mouth.

The espresso machine they’d used the bulk of their wedding gift cards to purchase still confused her. At first, she thought the dispensed liquid wasn’t hot enough, so by following instructions via a YouTube video, she had attempted to adjust the heat gauge on the milk steamer. Apparently, she had now inadvertently set the device to produce beverages with heat comparable to lava.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only wedding present eluding her control. Spread out across the living room table were dozens of inspiration photos. It looked like her Pinterest board had thrown up all the ideas she’d gathered for their future hotel. Images of lush, four poster beds lay next to sparse modern room arrangements and alongside treehouse jungle-styled huts. Photos she had taken of rooms during her time at the Biltmore for the Valentine’s Day Candy Making Competition were situated next to those she printed of the suite they stayed in during their honeymoon cruise through Halong Bay in Vietnam. They were all beautiful. Each space had its own unique and gorgeous qualities. But that wasn’t the problem.

The problem was Emmy couldn’t decide which style she wanted to choose for her hotel. Actually, it was hers and Eddie’s, but lately they’d been living like ships crossing in the night and it was hard to imagine they shared anything when they barely shared waking hours.

While winter was typically a slower season for Emmy and Sweet Shores Chocolate Store, it was super busy for Eddie. Winter sports reigned as royalty in Duluth. Skiing, both downhill and cross country, snowshoeing, ice fishing – if it was fun and could be done outside, Eddie had the clothing and equipment to make it happen, which made him and his store pretty darn popular. In addition to the busyness of the season, Eddie had been lured into an assistant coaching job for the local college hockey team. It was a ton of time for a little money, but Eddie loved it, and Emmy loved him, so they made it work.

When the Duluth Bulldog’s season officially ended last week with a loss to North Dakota State in the semi-finals of the NCAA Frozen Four tournament, Eddie was devastated, but Emmy wasn’t all that sad. She joked with a moping Eddie in an attempt to cheer him up.

“Don’t be so sad. Now that hockey is over, it’s Emmy Season!”

To which Eddie responded, “Good, time to crash you into the boards!” as he threw her onto the bed.

“Penalty,” Emmy had squealed. “Two minutes!”

“For what?” Eddie had asked, still playing the role of an enraged hockey player.

“Ummm, excessive force?”

“Wrong sport,” Eddie said and continued to attack, this time her ribs with tickling fingers.

Not only had it been great to see Eddie more, but it had also been comforting to fall back into a routine of a normalcy consistent dinner, evening TV, and weekends that did not involve thirty additional men. It was lovely. The changing of the seasons had actually been the catalyst that reminded her of the hotel in the first place. Emmy let Eddie mope for one week after their heartbreaking hockey loss before she decided that working together on the hotel would be the perfect thing to pull him out of his post season slump.

They’d owned the building for six months now and done nothing more than pay the mortgage. When they first returned from their honeymoon, the work they’d been putting off during their trip, not to mention the days leading up to the wedding, demanded their attention. Such is the life of an entrepreneur! The work doesn’t wait just because you are your own boss. Once they’d dug out of that hole, the north shore winter temperatures shut down any ideas of construction work. And then, the not thinking about it became a habit, until they’d almost forgotten about it entirely.

When they’d gone to file their taxes, their business manager Al had brought up the property, but Eddie was in season and Emmy didn’t want to do this alone. And, and, and … there always seemed to be an excuse. Emmy was ready to put an end to that, and she thought that the reintroduction of their first joint business venture would go better if she could come with a narrowed selection of options and ideas. She took another sip of her no longer boiling latte and looked at the inspiration photos.

For a brief time, she had entertained branding the hotel as a combination of their two current stores – a kitschy north shore outdoors inspired getaway. All dark wood, gigantic stone fireplaces and historic relics repurposed as décor. Emmy picked up a photo of the Spirit Mountain Ski Chalet as it appeared the day it opened in 1974. While the high ceilings and exposed beams looked grand and felt nostalgic, it wouldn’t be providing a getaway at all. It would be a cookie cutter addition to an already saturated tourist market. Emmy wanted to do something different. She set the photo of the lodge aside and picked up one from their honeymoon but shook her head dismissing the style of the ancient orient almost immediately. Before she could reach for the next photo, her phone rang. Emmy looked at the screen and then swiped the icon to accept the call.

“Morning, Mom.”

“Good morning, Emmy.”

“What are you up to so bright and early? Isn’t it like 7AM Arizona time?”

“Just getting ready to do a little shopping. I’m meeting your aunt Julie for breakfast and then we are going to this new baby boutique in Scottsdale. A niece on her other side has a shower next week and she’s hoping to find something none of the other aunties will bring.”

“That sounds like Aunt Julie,” Emmy said, leaning over the pictures on the table and continuing her examination.

“You wouldn’t, ah,” Emmy’s mother paused, and Emmy instinctively knew what was coming next. She slumped back against the couch. “Um, need me to pick up anything there for you?” The question hung between them, trapped in the static space where their mother-daughter relationship overlapped. Inside Emmy’s skull several thoughts fired simultaneously.

We’ve only been married six months. I still have things I want to do before becoming a mother. For the past three of those months, I’ve hardly seen Eddie long enough to eat a meal before he collapses into a deep sleep, let alone have a serious conversation about adding a child to our chaotic lives.

But what she said was, “Nope, I’m good, Mom.”

To her mother’s credit, she tried not to sound disappointed and to Emmy’s credit, she didn’t hold her mother’s hopes for a grandchild against her. Emmy was glad this was a good old fashioned phone call, so she didn’t have to go through the effort of arranging her facial features to match the light tone she’d been able to fake.

“Actually,” Emmy began again. “I haven’t bought my business partner Rachel anything yet. She’s due in like 2 months. Would you take a peek around for something a brand-new momma might need?”

“I’d love to,” Susan said. And then, “What are you up to today?”

At this, Emmy did sigh. “I’m closing the store tonight but have the morning off. I’m trying to narrow down the options for hotel aesthetics.”

“Where are you?” Susan asked.

“At the apartment.”

“Well, there’s your first problem,” Susan said. Emmy could hear her mother grabbing her keys and making her way to the condo’s car port. “You’ve been to that warehouse, like what, twice?”

“Actually, only once,” Emmy confirmed. “On the day of our wedding.”

“And you think that single visit is enough to make this big decision? Don’t be silly, Emmy.”

Emmy shook her head and smiled. “You’re totally right, Mom.”

“Of course, I am darling.” She was in her car now, the keys in the ignition and the dinging seatbelt reminder audible through the phone. “I have to go now. I never talk and drive. I’ll call you tomorrow and tell you about the boutique.”

“Okay, Mom,” Emmy said and was unable to resist the urge of rolling her eyes. Once her mother ended the call, Emmy checked the time. She had three hours before she needed to be at work. Plenty of time to shower, head over to the hotel property and take a look around.

Emmy swept the photos into a pile and stood with her now lukewarm latte. Already she felt better about the direction of the project. Maybe by the time she saw Eddie tonight she’d have some solid ideas to share.

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Raising Our Words: A Symposium on Literary Activism

October 06, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

I am thrilled to invite my word nerd bestie, fellow Wisconsin writer, Christy Wopat to share some exciting news on my blog today. Christy, take it away!

A few months into the Covid pandemic, I saw a message at the end of a newsletter from the Wisconsin Writers Association that said, “If you’re interested in volunteering for the WWA, please reply to this message!”

In a normal year, I would’ve felt the pang of, “This would be fun, but not right now … ” However, this was certainly NOT a normal year, and I decided to reach out. By the end of a phone call with the incredible WWA President Barry Wightman, I had become the chair of the Events Committee.

Yes. The chair.

Over the past 15 months, we have had a plethora of incredible events. Our state has incredible, generous, and brilliant writers! From hour-long workshops to entire day-long conferences, our goal has been to cover topics ranging from craft to publishing to open mic events.

Our events committee is made up of caring Wisconsin writers who want the very best for our members. We’ve spent a lot of time in meetings wondering what our members want and need, and how we can best serve our community. This is especially important as we navigate this intense world we are currently living in. As we considered the topic for our fall conference, our ideas kept returning to how our words matter. How important and necessary our words are.

We are over-the-moon excited to share our next big event, our fall conference. This year it is called “Raising Our Words: A Symposium on Literary Activism.” It will take place on Saturday, October 9th.

I want you to know that if you are a writer, I believe you are a literary activist. We tend to think of activism as being political in nature, but things don’t have to be political to make change.

My first book, Almost a Mother, is a memoir on infant loss. I didn’t write anything political at all, nothing persuasive. It isn’t a self-help book or a manual for grief, it is just my story. And yet it has made change in ways I never would have expected. I never tire of hearing about how someone has used my words to heal or to build relationships, or to just feel less alone.

This conference is for everyone, no matter what you write, no matter your goals for writing. Our keynote speaker is the FANTASTIC Reggie Jackson from Milwaukee. He is the co-founder of Nurturing Diversity Partners and will kick us off for the day with an education piece. Our other speakers will astound you as well.

From poet laureates to a man who has written over a dozen books using Morse code, here is the schedule for the day:

Our Schedule at a Glance

9:00 AM - Welcome (Barry Wightman: WWA President)

9:10 AM - Dasha Kelly Hamilton (Wisconsin Poet Laureate)

10:45 AM - Keynote Reggie Jackson (Co-Founder, Nurturing Diversity Partners)

12:30 PM - Lunch

1:00 PM - Steve Salmon (Wisconsin Author)

1:30 PM - Anne Katz (Executive Director, Arts Wisconsin)

2:45 PM - Lora Hyler (Wisconsin Author & 2021 Jade Ring Winner)

3:45 PM - Dr. Margaret Rozga (Past Wisconsin Poet Laureate & Activist)

Like I said before, you ARE an activist. Your words matter - even when you think they don’t. And I think it’s our responsibility to raise our words to make this world a better place. We’d love for you to register for our event and join us for a day of learning and community-building.

Register here.

Oh! I almost forgot -- with your registration you can also pay a nominal fee for an advanced critique with Christine DeSmet or Laurie Scheer of the UW-Madison writers community. THE Laurie and Christine. Register soon to receive a critique!

In solidarity,

Christy Wopat

www.christywopat.com

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Creating a Fall Fantasy Reading Nook

September 29, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

Today’s piece is a guest post by Claire Silverberg.

There is nothing like the changing seasons to really get me in the mood to dive into a new novel. As the weather gets cooler, I love the chance to take an adventure to impossible places with a good book.

Fall is the time when I transition from light beach reads into my preferred choice for cooler weather: the fantasy novel. To help get into the fall fantasy spirit, here are some tips for creating your own reading nook inspired by your favorite fantasy series.

Scout Your Spot

If you’re like me, there may already be a spot in your home that you stare at longingly, imagining transforming it into a reading nook. If not, take a quick walk around your home and take note of potential spaces.

My dream home feature has always been a cozy window seat for reading, thanks to many hours reading Peter Pan. For fall, a window seat is the perfect spot to settle in and watch the changing leaves.

Many homes don’t have a window seat built-in, so take this opportunity to place a storage bench by your favorite window. Get comfy with lots of cushions and your warmest blankets for when temperatures fall.

Curate Your Fantasy

For a reading nook that truly whisks you away, it’s time to think outside of the box. Transforming an attic or closet space is the ultimate opportunity to replicate the vibe of your favorite fantasy series.

For example, check out this amazing space created in a former closet, by Jordan, a Wisconsin reader!

Adding elements like a sheepskin rug can transport you right to Westeros while you dive into Game of Thrones. Are you a fan of Lord of the Rings? A wall decal map of Middle-earth can be the perfect touch! Just one or two unique trinkets are enough to give you your fall fantasy.

Here are a few other ideas.

Changing seasons always inspire me to make changes in my own life. This fall is the perfect time to act on my desire for change and finally create my fantasy reading nook. I hope these tips inspire you to make some changes too and bring your fantasy home.

Guest Post Author Bio: Claire Silverberg is a writer who loves exploring all sorts of topics in her work, such as wellness, business, and lifestyle. On her off days, you can find her honing her skills in the kitchen or reading on her patio.

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Everything I Know About Entrepreneurship I Learned from Gymnastics

September 22, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

A lot of what I need to know about entrepreneurship I learned from gymnastics. I realize that might sound strange, so let me explain.

Before I was a word nerd I was a Gymnast, with a capital G. From the time I was four, I used cartwheels as my main mode of transportation. Every curb, fence or slightly raised surface was transformed into a balance beam on which I tip-toe dip-walked, full turned and sashayed. And handstands. So many handstands. My parents actually made a rule outlawing handstands in the kitchen… because my sister and I had a habit of running into the refrigerator and clearing off all the photos, coupons and magnets in one fell swoop of our careening limbs. By the time I turned ten, I spent portions of four days in the gym. In fact, Friday nights on my middle school social calendar mainly consisted of open gym at the university, which held a larger facility than my usual practice spot at the YMCA. It beat out hanging with school friends because this gym had a foam pit, spring floor and trampolines. (Side note: All of this was by choice. My parents never pushed, only supported. Thanks Mom and Dad!) I was obsessed. Gymnastics was more than something I did, up until I was 18, it was who I was. Much like I am the word nerd today, back then being a gymnast was my identity.

So what does this have to do with entrepreneurship? I promise I have a point. I’m getting to it. I just need to set the scene.

There’s a move on the uneven parallel bars called a kip. It is the foundational move that takes a person from someone who does gymnastics to someone who is a gymnast. It is hard. It involves strength from all quadrants of your body and also a mastery of leverage and timing. Being able to do a kip is a big deal. And here’s the thing. It takes months to learn. And everyone who’s a gymnast knows this. We know it’s hard going in, but we chalk up our hands and start trying anyway. The only way to master this skill is to build up our muscles, experiment with body position, rehearse the timing and try, try, try. Show up, work hard, experiment, study the success of others, try again, fail, fail, fail and then repeat the process about a thousand times. (I’m not kidding.)

When you finally figure out how to hoist your body up on top of that bar, you feel like you’re on top of the world.

But, there’s more. Once you learn how to kip, you open your options to learn even more skills. Because you are now stronger and have better body awareness and are able to control your movement while swinging from a wooden bar, you realize you can *probably* do other cool tricks too. Many of these tricks require a firm hold on the bar, firmer than the strength humans contain in their fingers, and so you wear grips.

**Grips are a piece of leather that cover your palm, and contain a wooden dowel that allow you to keep the bar within your grasp. A piece of leather stretches up from your wrist over the top of your middle and ring fingertips to rest on the space just below your first knuckle, with the dowel just below that.**

Breaking in a pair of grips requires using sandpaper to grind down the finger holes to a shape that fits your fingertips. (A lot of raw skin and also some bleeding occur during the trial and error process, especially if you have fat fingers, like me.) Once you get the grips to fit, you attempt moves you’ve mastered with your bare hands, but now with a piece of leather altering the feel of each swing. You are essentially relearning how to hold and grasp the bar. It is a difficult and time consuming effort, but without it, you know you’ll never reach the next level. That kip you worked hours and hours to learn, you have to learn it all over. We gymnasts know this going in and yet, we choose to do it anyway because it’s the only way to move upward in our sport.

Okay, okay, Amanda. How does this relate to entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship, like gymnastics, is hard. Often when you reach a level of success, the business world asks you to develop an entirely new set of skills, or begin again from a new angle, with a new mindset so that you can level up, reach more people, sell more products, and impact more lives. Success at one level is not indicative of achievement at the next. It’s a whole new game every time you meet your goals and outgrow your current status. Being your own boss sounds amazing and looks dazzling from the outside, but like gymnastics there is a whole lot more going on that the world sees.

I realize that people could draw parallels between a wide variety of athletics and particular career fields, but gymnastics and entrepreneurship are what I know, so it's what you’re gonna get. Here are three lessons gymnastics taught me and how I’ve applied them to being an entrepreneur.

Failure is a part of the process.

I think I’m able to have the confidence to tackle entrepreneurship because as a gymnast I routinely performed in front of hundreds of people. Sometimes I failed in front of hundreds of people, but it didn’t stop me from finishing the meet or coming back to try again the next week and the next and the next. This is necessary in entrepreneurship too. Gymnastics taught me that one failure doesn’t mean I should close up shop. Rather, it taught me that I’ll have to try and fail (a whole heck of a lot) until I’ve learned how to be really good at something. In a country that fears failure, I am so grateful to have learned this valuable lesson.

The results are my responsibility.

For the most part, gymnastics is a solo sport. Yes, you are a part of a team, but only one gymnast competes at a time. And yes, as a competitive gymnast, I had the support of coaches and trainers, of my parents, friends and fans in the stands. But when all was said and done, I was the only one out there on the vault, bars, beam or floor. What happened in my routines was purely my responsibility. The same is true when you are an entrepreneur. At the end of the day, you are the one with your name on the bottom line, and you need to own up to all the good and bad that comes with that role.

Take what you need from a critique and then move on.

As a gymnast, I was used to getting feedback on my performance (and not all of it was good). Entrepreneurs are judged all the time. Their product, their branding, their services, their website, their lifestyle choices, heck, even their personalities sometimes are judged. Because I had the experience of being literally judged (down to the position of my hand, the point of my toe or the color of my sports bra), I developed tough skin. I don’t let other people’s passing opinions dictate my next move or the way I feel about my accomplishments. Just like a gymnast who is unhappy with their score, I decide if I feel good about what I have done, created, performed and shown the world. I take the critique sent my way, use it to do better next time and then, move on.

I’m on a roll, so let me add one more thing. I have a friend (a friend who took their gymnastics experiences to brighter stages than mine) who has reached incredible levels of success in their entrepreneurial lives. Here’s what she has to say about the connection between these two topics.

“Gymnastics and entrepreneurship are one in the same. They look so easy from the outside, but from the inside, there are tears, frustration and relentless determination. The biggest lesson gymnastics taught me is that when you learn to compete with only yourself, you can’t fail.”

— Andrea, of Andrea Jean Co. and former (most improved 3 times!) UWEC Gymnast

You can learn more about Andrea’s entrepreneurial journey and work here.

So, what’s the point? Sign your kids up for gymnastics. Kidding (or, maybe not!). The point is, look at your past experiences and see what you can pull from them to improve your current situation. Maybe, like me, these lessons can come from a sport. Maybe they come from a hobby, like woodworking or gardening or fostering puppies. Maybe a past relationship, your beater first car, or your place in your sibling birth lineup have taught you everything you need to take your entrepreneurship or career to the next level. Reflect, journal and then, take action. And, if you’re feeling generous, drop your lesson in the comments below, so we can vicariously learn from your experience.

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Watch my senior year floor routine at the 2001 Wisconsin State Gymnastics Meet.

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Listen Up! How to Create Another Revenue Stream with Audiobooks

September 15, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

Personally, I am a HUGE fan of audiobooks. I listen to stories while I drive, when I exercise, as I get ready in the morning, even while I clean. If I’m doing a mundane and nearly automatic task, you can bet that my audible app is open and I’m actively engaged in a story. To be perfectly honest, it’s how I ingest most of my “reading” material these days. I still LOVE handheld books, but usually if I have time to sit down, I’m writing or working on some other authorpreneur task. But audiobooks let me “read” while tackling the many tasks in my life. I just plain stinking love audiobooks. So when my friend (and fellow Wisconsin writer) Valerie Biel asked if she could share a post about audiobooks, specifically the process in recording and selling them as a profitable authorpreneur revenue stream, I was ALL EARS!

Get comfy and get ready to take some notes, because Valerie is going to give us all the word nerd goodness when it comes to audiobook creation and sales.

Take it away, Val!

First of all, thanks to Amanda for letting me visit today and talk to you about audiobook production!! I’m so excited to share this insight with you. It’s the kind of information I wish I would have had awhile ago, because the making of an audiobook was something of a mystery to me before I jumped into this market two years ago. The audiobook listening audience is growing—quickly! In 2020 listeners in the United States spent $1.5 billion on audiobook purchases. Worldwide this figure was $3.5 billion. In true authorpreneurship form, this is the perfect way authors can use content they’ve already created to gain another revenue stream.

I highly recommend it – but I know the process can be confusing! There are a lot of decisions to make, and the wrong one can be costly.

That’s why I am so pleased today to debut the online course I’ve created to help authors navigate this tricky task!

Listen Up: How to Create Another Revenue Stream with Audiobooks dives into the pros and cons of the two most popular audiobook production platforms, ACX and Findaway Voices, along with a discussion about what it takes to tackle the do-it-yourself option.

The course also:

Details the steps of production, including the cost for each method of production.
Teaches you how to prepare your audition script and choose a narrator.
Gives you tips for how to work with your narrator.
Lists the housekeeping tasks you must tend to as your audiobook becomes available.
And finally guides you to the best promotion and marketing options specific to audiobooks.

This course is presented in a 70-minute video and comes with a Resource Sheet that gives authors the most up-to-date information and links from the audiobook publishing industry in an easy-to-use format.

Intrigued? Well today is your lucky day because I’m going to share a sneak peek portion of the course with you, right here!

You may already know that the two largest and most widely used audiobook producers and distributors are ACX and Findaway Voices. But even within these two companies, there are multiple production path choices that have different price points.

At ACX you can choose Royalty Share, Royalty Share+, or Pay per Finished Hour (PFH)*.

If you’re being very budget minded, then Royalty Share or Royalty Share+ might be your best options. The Royalty Share system allows an author to work with the narrator who produces their audiobook for no upfront cost. Instead, the author and the narrator share the royalty 50/50. Royalty Share+ is the same 50/50 royalty split with the narrator, except there’s a small amount paid for each finished hour of audio when production is completed. (I pay my narrator $50/finished hour, plus we split the royalties 50/50.) This stipend is always less than the full pay for each finished hour that typically runs $250 - $450 (and up). ACX distributes to Amazon, Audible, and iTunes, and you will be in an exclusive seven-year contract with ACX if you choose either of the Royalty Share options.

*Note: To calculate how many finished hours of audio your book will be, use this formula:

Length of book in words / 9400 = finished hours of audio

I use ACX and I’ve been happy with them because those three markets (Audible/Amazon/iTunes) reach 70% of the audiobook buyers in the US.

Why ACX might be the right choice for you: If you’re looking to minimize production costs, ACX offers the most reasonable cost and the lowest financial risk for making your audiobook a reality.

BUT . . . I’d be remiss in not talking about Findaway Voices. This company is the main competitor to ACX. Typically, you will find that using this company is more expensive than ACX because they don’t have the Royalty Share option. Instead, they have something similar that’s called Voices Share, where the author pays 50% of the production costs (based on PFH) and then the narrator receives a 20% share of royalties with a 10-year contract. Findaway Voices also offers authors the ability to pay for the full project cost and the exclusive distribution contract does not apply.

Why Findaway Voices might be the right choice for you: If you’re looking to distribute your audiobook widely to many markets including libraries, Findaway Voices gives you that option.

The course will give a more in-depth look at the pros and cons and specific examples of the financial considerations with each path!

Another topic I spend a lot of time on in the course is choosing the right narrator. I remember back to when my first book was open for auditions, and I realized that there were very few narrators who could handle the many Irish accents in my series. Thank goodness for narrator/producer Paige Jensen, who saved the day. I am fascinated by the narration process, and Paige graciously agreed give us a glimpse into the production of an audiobook from a narrator’s perspective. (If you click through to that article, you can listen to Paige’s wonderful Irish narration.)

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to jump into the audiobook market, this is it – jump away!! I think you’ll be happy you did!

Valerie Biel is a public relations professional as well as the author of the award-winning Circle of Nine series, stories of magic steeped in the Celtic mythology of Ireland’s ancient stone circles. She primarily writes for the young adult and middle grade genres and is represented by Tina Schwartz of the Purcell Agency. You can learn more about her writing adventures at www.ValerieBiel.com. She holds a degree in Journalism (Public Relations/Broadcast News) and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin and has spent more than 25 years working in the public relations field. She edits manuscripts, develops marketing materials, implements publicity plans and more for other authors via her agency Lost Lake Press www.LostLakePress.com. Her popular publishing resource blog was honored as one of the top 50 Writing Blogs of 2018.

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7 Passive Revenue Streams for an Authorpreneur

September 08, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

How do I make money as an author? What is passive revenue? What are some passive revenue streams for writers?

One thing no one tells you when your first author dreams begin to form, is that you really don’t make all that much money from book sales.

After attending a conference on digital marketing (I was there on assignment for one of my side-gigs and gratefully sucking up knowledge for my own benefit as well) I learned that unless you are spending $200-400 A DAY on online advertising, you aren’t going to see a whole lot of results from your efforts. (This post is going to be about making money, not about spending money, but real quick let me tell you to quit boosting that Facebook post for $10… it ain’t doin’ you any good.)

I’m not sure about you, but it was (and still is) my goal to write books full time. But in the meantime, I’m trying to figure out how to make enough money to be afforded that luxury. My plan? Passive revenue. If I can figure out how to make money come into my bank account automatically… then I don’t have to use my working hours to trade time for it. If I can build up the amount of passive revenue I make to a certain point, I can use all of my working hours to write, which means I can write more, resulting in more books and also more time in which to promote those books, equaling more money earned. This will also mean that when I do get opportunities to speak or teach about writing, that income will just be icing on the cake. It sounds like a pretty good plan, right? Right. Now, I just need to make it happen.

“You need to depend on multiple forms of communication to reach your audience. You need to own your contacts. Facebook and Instagram could crash tomorrow.” We hear this all the time. And I think the same is true of your revenue streams. Anyone of them could disappear at any moment in time. You might be nodding your head and thinking… yes, yes, Amanda. I know that. But do you REALLY?

I make money a lot of ways, but my largest source of writing income comes from in-person speaking opportunities. And when the pandemic rolled around in the Spring of 2020, completely obliterating my event calendar, my largest source of income vanished. Because I’m all about transparency, let me tell you what I lost.

International Children’s Book Festival - $1,300 (plus an all-expenses paid trip to Dubai)
WSRA Young Author Fair - $400
Winona State University Young Author Festival - $550
Teaching at Authorquest (a summer writing camp) - $550
Blogging Workshop - $150
Community Business Blogging Workshop - $300

In addition to these missed opportunities there were a handful of free events like book clubs and library visits that would have yielded book sales. Actually, most of these events would have also included book sales. So, we’re look at a total revenue loss exceeding $3,200. Suddenly. Unexpectedly. And this was just between the months of March and June of 2020.

I re-learned the lesson very quickly that I need to spread out. Relying on one source of income as an authorpreneur/entrepreneur is foolish. So, as I move forward with my plan of creating, building and sustaining my passive revenue streams, I have kept this in mind.

Here are seven ways you can passively make money so, eventually, you have more time to write, and can legitimately make a solid living wage as a creative professional.

One more quick side note before I dive in. These income streams are not PASSIVE when you are in the process of setting them up. But once they are established, they will be. For a while, it will feel like you are doing alllll the things, because you are. This is a long road, you are playing the long game, but I think will be worth it.

Book Sales on Amazon

When you think about it, books in general are a passive revenue stream (once they are written). You write the book ONE TIME and then make money off it again and again. Yes, it takes work to market and sell your book, but it isn’t say, like a massage therapist, who after “making the sale”/booking the appointment must still DO the work.

It is free to list your books on Amazon. The only time you pay for this service is when you order author copies of your books to sell yourself. Without big marketing or multiple events to make your presence known you won’t sell many copies, but when a copy is sold, it is ZERO work on your part. Amazon prints, it, ships it and takes care of the financial pieces like collecting payment and appropriate amounts for shipping and state sales tax. Easy cheesy.

If you need help getting your books on Amazon, I have a great course that includes the step-by-step process, but more on that later.

Drop Ship

I experimented with adding different SWAG items to my line up at vendor shows but found that ordering/storing/hauling/paying for all that merchandise upfront was kind of a big ask for my small business. Now, I’m trying a drop ship option and I’m excited to see how it goes.

Through drop shipping I can design a much wider array of products and I don’t have to worry about stocking or paying for them in advance. Much like selling books on Amazon, the third party drop-shipper takes care of production, shipping and payment.

I’m going to put a twist on this strategy by ordering one of each of my products and bring them to my vendor shows, but then have a sheet with QR codes for easy ordering, fulfillment and payment. I’ll report back later with the results. For now, here are a few of the items I am currently offering through Art of Where.

Digital Downloads/Courses

To create a digital download or course all you need to do is identify an area of knowledge you possess and neatly curate and package that information in an easily digestible form. If you go to my website, WORDNERDOPOLIS, and visit the GYM for a solid writer’s workout, you’ll be able to see the “training plans” I’ve got available. I utilize a wide variety of delivery methods including PDF’s, Google Slides and video. None of these delivery methods require subscriptions, vast amounts of tech know-how or expensive equipment, making them a nearly-zero financial investment to create. (I do pay an annual fee for my website and also for the pro version of Canva, but other than that… I don’t spend any money to create these products.) All you need is time and an area of expertise.

The beauty of these sales is that once I create them and put them on my site, it requires no on-going work from me. Even better than a book sale, these price points range from $15 - $650. Some of my offerings are small and bite sized meant to just get you going. Others are larger, meant to give you the full scope and sequence of a task. Here is what I have to offer:

· Canva Cheat Sheets (learn how to create professional images online)

· Self-Publishing Mini Course

· Start a Blog (including generating content/content ideas and creating a manageable calendar)

· Write a Novel (6 weeks of targeted writing prompts, techniques and tips

· Take Action Author Plan (Learn to self-publish and market your book & level up your author career)

· And more!

Third Party Marketplaces (Teachers Pay Teachers)

This is one of my favorite revenue streams because I use a well-known, third-party site called Teachers Pay Teachers to sell items I have created. In addition to being a writer, I am an educator. Currently I teach writing at Western Technical College, but before that I was a middle school ELA and reading teacher for 12 years. I have a master’s degree in education. I know a lot about books and teaching people how to read and write. It would be silly of me NOT to use this bank of knowledge to make money. On the site I sell materials I created for use in my own classroom… novel unit studies, quizzes, PowerPoints and more. Here are a few of my resources to give you a clearer picture.

BONUS: I hardly have to promote my products to make sales, because the site is so widely known and used amongst my audience.

Chances are that if you aren’t a teacher, you’ve never heard of Teachers Pay Teachers, but that doesn’t mean that this option isn’t available. I know a doctor who also writes fiction that has a side gig writing answers for WEBMD. Do a little google searching to see if you can find an opportunity to share what you know from a previous or secondary career… and get paid for it.

YouTube

I GUARENTEE you’ve heard about YouTube. And I bet you know that people make money on it. But do you know how? The very, very basic answer is that in order to monetize on this platform you need to reach two milestones on your channel.

1. You need to have 1,000 subscribers.

2. You need to have 4,000 total watch hours accrued for the videos on your channel in one year.

Once you reach these milestones, you can begin placing ads in your videos and earning Google AdSense revenue. It’s small potatoes for each ad view, but the idea is to have a lot of videos, with a lot of views, that eventually add up to some substantial money. I have a friend who has been incredibly successful with this (read: $20,000 a month successful). To learn directly from her how to make this happen for yourself, click here.

Personally, I’ve been working on my own YouTube channel for about a year. As I write this, I’m up to 650 subscribers and just a little over 1,000 hours of watch time. I’m still a ways off from my goal of being monetized by the end of the year, but as momentum on your channel grows, the subscribers and watch time rack up faster, so I’m still hopeful. (To help my efforts, subscribe here and then watch a video, or ten!)

I will reiterate again, that it has been a lot of work to create content for this platform and for the past year I have been paid NOTHING for my efforts. BUT, the goal is to reach monetization, and then, have the money roll in while I write, sleep, eat and create new cool things.

Affiliate Programs

When you really love something, like, love, love, LOVE it, you tell all sorts of people about it. Whether it’s a certain brand of chapstick, a favorite new restaurant or the best ball point pen EVER… you shout it out. Now, imagine making money every time someone took you up on your recommendation and purchased that item as well. This is affiliate marketing. When you establish credibility and authority, people listen to you. You can use your position as an expert to make money.

For example, in addition to writing books, I read a lot of books, so people often ask me for suggestions. To capitalize on this, I keep my reading list published on my website. Each title includes several affiliate links, so that if people purchase my reading recommendation, I get a small cut at no extra cost to the customer. (From Amazon 4% and from Bookshop %10) (Read my article on the difference between these two platforms here.)

You can also see from my website, blog and social media channels that I have a LOT of LOVE for Canva, an online digital design tool/platform. I recommend this company ALL THE TIME. In fact, you’ll see at the bottom of each blog post their logos and a little message that says, “This post was made beautiful by Canva.” I recommend Canva in my workshops and via word of mouth when conversations about image creation pop up in my real life. I recommend Canva directly in my course work. So, if I’m singing Canva’s praises from my authorpreneur rooftop, why shouldn’t I be compensated? Thanks to their affiliate program, I am. Every time the word Canva appears in writing on something I have created, you better believe an affiliate link is attached. I do the same for Next Day Flyers, the company I order all of my printed materials (bookmarks, flyers, brochures, etc.) In the WordNerdopolis General Store I also have several other products linked for affiliate commissions. After I get done with this post I’m going to see if Art of Where has an affiliate program!

But you don’t have to contain this money-making strategy to your professional arena. I am also an affiliate for Grove Collaborative, a company that makes eco-friendly household products. And if I find something I love on Amazon, I’ll likely share a link to that via my email newsletter of on my personal Facebook page as well. Do a little searching. See if you can dig up some opportunities related to a niche content area of your books. Gardening, quilting, geocaching, hunting, cooking… what products can you recommend related to your characters, plot, story… and get paid for?!?!? The individual commissions may be small, but again, we are working to build up STREAMS of income… not floods of it. Don’t discount what multiple free-flowing, small deposits can add up to.

A Mobile App

One revenue stream that I have yet to try, but am very interested in creating, is a mobile app. I’d love to have a way to share daily writing prompts, motivation, and tips with subscribers via their phones. I know there are programs out there that can help me make this happen, and I love the thought of monthly recurring fees sliding into my bank account… but I just haven’t taken the plunge yet. Mostly because I’m busy doing all the other things. But someday!

What do you think? Is this a service you’d like to see from me? What specifically would you want me to deliver to you daily that could make your writing world a better place?

Stay tuned… I’ll keep you in the loop as details develop.

The benefit of having multiple revenue streams is that you don’t need each one to be a golden egg. Having five or six or seven mini streams that add up to my goal of $2,500 a month is what I’m after. So often we are coerced into thinking we need to be the ROCKSTAR of everything we do, but in this case, I will be happy if I can be moderately successful at many things. It will allow me financial success and stability in a less than predictable world. I know there are plenty who would disagree with me, saying that going an inch wide and a mile deep would be better than spreading out, and that’s fine. My blog is a space where I share my efforts, experiments and experiences. My goal, through sharing these pieces, is that you can better make a path and plan for yourself.

The 7 passive revenue streams I’ve shared above are just the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of options for you and your business. I only feel comfortable sharing on the options I have tried or researched so I can vouch for their viability or ease. But, that being said, here are a few other options. Feel free to dig into them if they sound appealing and of value to you.

Patreon
Kofi
Crowdsourcing/GoFundMe
Licensing photography and/or music
and more

If you’ve got another idea that has worked for you, please share it in the comments!

Alright, I know this post was long. Like three times longer than my usual content, but once I got started writing, there was just so much word nerd goodness to share with you that I couldn’t stop. I hope that you have found at least one passive revenue opportunity in this list that excites you. My advice is to try one and get the hang of it before you add another. If you get part way in and realize it doesn’t feel like a good fit for you, set it aside and try something else. You can always come back around to it in the future. Experimentation is half the battle, but also half the fun. Find what works for you and then, WORK IT.

All my best to you my authorpreneur and word nerd friends,

Amanda Zieba

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What is First Chapter Friday? 4 Reasons You Should Give First Chapter Fridays a Try

September 01, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

What is First Chapter Friday?

It’s a reading engagement strategy disguised as a fun weekly activity. In it’s most basic elements, First Chapter Friday is when someone reads aloud the first chapter of a book, in an effort to interest students in a particular story and/or increase enthusiasm for reading.

If you are looking have more students with books in their hands, more readers excited about the selections presented to them, and overall more enthusiasm when it comes to just plain reading, then read on, becuase this blog post is jam-packed not only with 4 reasons why you should give First Chapter Fridays a try, but also tons of ideas for implementation.

If you are more of a video or audio person, you can watch/listen to this same information, right HERE, in this video.

Ready? Set? READ ON!

1. Motivate your students with more than a title and a book cover – Despite the saying, we all judge a book by it’s cover. But is a book cover, or an author’s name or title for that matter, really enough? Sometimes we need to get into a story a little bit before we can decide if it is going to be something we’ll like. First Chapter Friday gives your students the opportunity to “try on” a book in a low stakes, low effort endeavor. All they have to do, is sit back and listen. You can also use this opportunity to “sell” a book. Some sale’s pitch points you might share could include an interesting fact about the author that students might connect with (this author is an immigrant, she grew up in the Midwest, he wanted to be a professional athlete when he was in middle school, etc.) or you can promote the book’s genre, awards, or the fact that it is the first in a series. Anything you can tell students that might pique their interest or curiosity… shout it out, and you might just hook a reader.

2. Educate yourself on the great titles available – We are living in a golden age of kid lit. As a person who has been alternating her reading selections between adult and MG/YA books for years, I can tell you, the quality of the work these authors are producing is grade A, good stuff. And if you haven’t taken the time to browse what current authors have to offer, you are missing out! A couple years ago I taught a foundations of literacy course to students in the education department who would were gearing up for their student teaching experiences. I was shocked when their practice lessons revolved around books like Caps for Sale and authors like Dr. Seuss. Now, there’s nothing wrong with the classics, but seriously… how about engaging kids with books that were written in this century, let alone decade! Especially when there are SO many good ones.

I understand that teachers are busy humans and it’s hard to do ALL the things. If reading multiple middle grade and young adult books isn’t making it to the top of your list, don’t sweat it… I’ve got you covered! I am someone who reads a lot of these books, and I taught middle school for twelve years (not to mention I happen to live with a 9- and 11-year-old). I am in the know and I can help you. All of the books I share on my channel are ones I’d recommend and if there are any triggers warnings you should be aware of before showing them in class (content, swearing, tough topics, etc.) I let you know in the description so you can make a decision about whether or not a video/book is a good fit for your students/reader. Talk to fellow teachers, walk around a bookstore, browse recent award lists… there are many ways you can find GOOD books to share with your students. And by educating yourself, you are educating your students as well.

3. You can get to know the authors – When I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer. BUT, I didn’t know any writers. To me it felt like authors lived in a magical fantasy land far, far away. These storytellers didn’t feel like real humans to me until I became a writer myself and started meeting them at conferences and attending their webinars online. Growing up as a kid in the 80’s and 90’s was great, but I envy the access kids today have to celebrities of all kinds, including authors. Knowing the creator of a story (and knowing they are a real person, and this is really their job) can open up an entirely new experience for readers (of all ages!). Through First Chapter Fridays you can highlight the author of each book and inform your students about them as a person and about their writing process. You’d be surprised how this information can pull a reader in! A quick Google search will provide you with tons of tidbits you can share with your students and YouTube offers a buffet of interviews as well. Here is a list of video interviews I’ve curated for you.

The Word Nerd’s Author Interivews

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Jennifer A. Nielsen

Margi Preus

Christina Soontorvat (coming Friday!)

Wendelin VanDraanen

Liza Wiemer

Don’t see the author you need to match your curriculum! Email me and I’ll see what I can do!

4. They make for a GREAT sub plan. Sub days are hard. And they often end up on Fridays… have you noticed that? As the primary teacher, you want to make it as easy as possible (for both your sub and your students), but also as productive as possible. If you instill the habit of First Chapter Fridays in your classroom, the students can be on autopilot for the sub, and you can leave knowing they are still getting good stuff and are likely behaving because

A) they know exactly what to do

B) they enjoy First Chapter Fridays

If you use one of my videos, you don’t even have to make the sub read aloud! And, if you pick one with an author interview, you can have an extended learning experience. Grab one of these student engagement worksheet packs and you can even check in on which kids you should follow up with if they showed interest in the week’s book.

Are you convinced? Ready to give First Chapter Fridays a try? If it feels like a big undertaking to commit to doing something once a week, for an entire school year, don’t worry. If you aren’t sure which titles to pick or where to start or maybe you are less than confident about your own read aloud abilities… again, I’ve got you covered.

I love reading aloud. Truly, it was one of my favorite parts of each school day. But there were times I wasn’t feeling well, or my voice was shot, and reading aloud to five different classes was just plain painful. Been there? Never fear.

No matter where you find yourself on the read-not ready spectrum, I’ve got almost 40 titles (and by the end of the year the list will include 52 books!) for you to choose from. If you need some initial ideas or find yourself needing a break, just check my playlist, pick one and GO. Or maybe you alternate, letting me read to some classes and you read to others. There’s no shame in taking a little help. And if it’s a book you haven’t read before, you can *cheat* by listening to me book talk it first, so then you can show up looking like a pro.

Here are a few other ideas…

As you read (or listen to the video), allow students to create mini sculptures of playdough in the shapes of symbols and objects related to the story they are listening to.
To prevent unrelated daydreaming and off task behavior, use these worksheets to increase student engagement while listening.
Allow students to submit requests for First Chapter Friday titles, or audition to be a FCF reader!
Try sketch notes. Tell students to draw and doodle while they listen to the story being read aloud. Afterward, ask them to share their results (or just talk about them if they are self-conscious about their drawing skills) as a way to review story elements introduced in the first chapter.

Alrighty, I think you have all you need to start this impactful weekly reading experience in your classroom, but if you have any other questions, drop them in the comments below and I’ll be sure to answer them. If you are already a FCF PRO and you have more implementation ideas for this book-hooking strategy, please share them in the comments as well.

Happy reading!

Amanda Zieba (Your Favorite Word Nerd)

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Ableist Language: A Lesson for All from Liza Wiemer

August 25, 2021 by Amanda Zieba

Today’s blog post comes from my friend and fellow SCBWI Wisconsin author Liza Wiemer. When I was interviewing Liza about her book The Assignment for a First Chapter Friday video an interesting topic came up. Ableist language. As a word nerd, teacher, parent and human who attempts kindness in all things, I am very aware of my words, but the way I use words in relation to abilities (or disabilities) was an area I hadn’t considered before. Thankfully, Liza changed that for me. Hopefully after you read her thoughts below with an open mind you’ll use this additional lens when considering your future word choices.

EVERY DAY I WAS USING HURTFUL LANGUAGE WITHOUT REALIZING IT. ARE YOU?

Have you heard the term, 'ableist language?' No? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. That’s why I am sharing this post. Once I learned about it, that knowledge had a huge impact on my writing and how I communicate with others.

The first time I was introduced to ‘ableist language' was in February, 2020. I saw a tweet that caught my attention. It had over a thousand likes and many, many comments. It talked about ableist language and how harmful and hurtful it is to people with disabilities. The person who wrote the tweets pleaded with people to stop using it. That was the beginning. I immediately did a Google search and found a lot of information.

Definition:
”Ableist language is language that is offensive to people with disability. It can also refer to language that is derogatory, abusive or negative about disability. Ableism is the systemic exclusion and oppression of people with disability, often expressed and reinforced through language.” - People With Disabilities (organization)

Words like lame, stupid, dumb, insane, psycho, blind are just a few that are on the ableist list. WOW! All of these words had been a part of my vocabulary and conversation.

This fantastic post helped me to discover more and there are many suggestions for alternatives that I found helpful. Once I learned about ableist language, I realized that I had to eliminate it from my novel, The Assignment. After all, The Assignment is about speaking up against injustices. Now that I was aware of ableist language and why it’s offensive, I wanted to eliminate it from the pages of my novel. Armed with information, I contacted my editor, Beverly Horowitz, and asked if I could still make changes. My novel was scheduled to go to the printers, and I wasn’t sure if the door had closed. Thankfully, I got in touch at the perfect time. I was given a short deadline. Due to previous commitments, I had about thirty-six hours to comb through my entire manuscript and submit alternatives that had to be approved. It wasn’t easy, but I have absolutely no regrets.

Language evolves. But it can’t be done in a vacuum. We need to make that happen!

One of the most common ableist language phrases that was in my novel was, “We stand with you.” Not at all surprising since The Assignment is about speaking up against hatred, bigotry, racism, antisemitism, and other forms of injustice. It’s a common phrase people use, one that I hear on a regular basis connected to social justice or when we want to give support to a cause or individual. You might be wondering why is “I stand with you” offensive? There are people who can’t stand. By using that phrase, even though it’s common in our culture, it isn’t inclusive.

I saw the following post on Facebook that really brought this message home for me.

This little boy couldn’t stop staring at a Target ad that showed a child in a wheelchair. Just like him. The mother’s response touched me deeply. It was the exclamation mark for my decision to eliminate ableist language in The Assignment.

This is how that decision altered my cover:

Screen Shot 2021-08-16 at 2.39.14 PM.png

So, I hope you’ll think about your own language. If you’re an educator like me, then you know that we have the ability to make a difference for our students. We can help language to evolve. Model for students by calling it out in the class discussions and on papers.. Discuss it in your classroom. With time, it will get easier and easier to substitute words and make those substitutes your nature, go-to language. If you’re like me, you’ll become super-aware of how often these terms are used in conversations. I’ve caught myself, corrected myself during conversations and even presentations. I’ve shared my journey with others, explaining why I’ve chosen to do better. Change is never easy. But our language must reflect our respect for our beautiful diverse world.

I hope you’ll join me in this effort.

Liza Wiemer is an award-winning educator with over twenty years of teaching experience. Her second young adult novel, The Assignment, published by Delacorte Press, Penguin Random House, has received multiple honors, including the Sydney Taylor Notable Award. In addition, Liza has published two adult nonfiction books, another young adult novel, and several short stories included in the New York Times bestselling Small Miracles series. A graduate of UW-Madison, Liza has two married sons and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband, Jim. Website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. To learn more about the book The Assignment, click here. To listen to a first chapter read aloud of it (followed by the Word Nerd’s insightful interview with her, click here.

The Holocaust Education and Resource Center (HERC) is providing free sets of The Assignment to be utilized in schools with a curriculum guide. To inquire about this, please contact Executive Director, Samantha Abramson Samanthaa@milwaukeejewish.org.

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