Kirby Howell's Blog

Book Giveaway Alert!!

Win books by (us!), our author BFF, Jennifer Brody AND from Elizabeth Briggs, Brenda Drake, Pintip Dunn and Madeline Dyer.

We’ve gotten together with some great authors for an awesome autumn book giveaways. Entries open on the 12th October and close on the 19th October. There will be one winner who will get physical copies of the books below! International entries also welcomed!

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The Stand by Stephen King

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am, by nature, a chicken.

I refuse to go on roller coasters, I will never see a horror movie, I’m scared of deep water and the dark, I will avoid the aisle in the toy store where the bin of rubber snakes is, and the only time I’ve been in a haunted house, I hid in a corner and screamed for them to ‘turn it off’.

(They didn’t.)

Like I said, chicken.



I’ve picked up Stephen King’s The Stand a dozen times without opening it. Something about the cover, with its ethereal symbolism, beckoned and terrified me: the white knight with his hidden face and the ‘dark man’ with a crow’s head sticking out of a jester-esque costume fighting each other on a barren landscape: the knight has a very long, silver sword and the ‘dark man’s’ arms are raised up over his head, ready to strike with a scythe.

My husband finally talked me in to listening to the audiobook version on my commute to work in the morning. The thought of listening to a scary story didn’t frighten me as much, when I knew I’d be multitasking between that, my morning coffee, and battling the Los Angeles freeways.

(This drastically backfired on me after a late night at work. The unfortunate timing of my departure after dark, the lonely freeways, and the main character’s encounter with the “Come-Down-Into-The-Dark-And-Eat-Chicken-With-Me Man” didn’t deter me from future listening sessions, but did make me grateful that no one could hear me scream inside my car.)

The Stand took me a solid two months to listen to. It’s 48 hours long. And I loved every minute of it. Mr. King even surprised me with a romance that twisted the plot in a new and complicated way. I was very sad to hear the recorded “Audible hopes you have enjoyed this program” that is tagged on to the end of all of their books.

I’m proud to say that I’ve read The Stand. Though, …now I’m afraid of stairwells and tunnels. And crows. And Las Vegas. “Ciabola, Ciabola, bumpty, bumpty, bump!”

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The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is a must read for any Little House lover. From the very beginning, I was chuckling at the all too familiar details Wendy McClure brought up from the depths of my Little House memories:

“I liked books that had pictures of toast in them. Well, not just toast, but, you know, cups and ladles and baskets and hats, loving rendered, all in their places in a room or even just in little vignettes, but at any rate, things, in all their thinginess.”

She goes on to correct herself that there actually aren’t any pictures of toast in the Little House books, and toast doesn’t even appear in the series until the sixth book, The Long Winter. And even then it’s “eaten plain or dipped in tea for the next five months and two hundred pages, and the flour that they make the bread from in the first place is ground from seed wheat in the coffee mill with the little iron hopper and the tiny wooden drawer.”

The scary thing is that I knew this.

We also shared the similar childhood daydream of ‘showing Laura Ingalls around’. This is how it would work: some time warp would make it possible for Laura Ingalls to appear in your backyard one summer afternoon and it’s your duty to show her indoor plumbing, McDonald’s Happy Meals, and how to play Pole Position on Atari.

I agree with Wendy that this ‘game’ allowed us to appreciate our own lives more as “we imagined her awed appreciation for the safe, cluttered lives that we led”.

I recently read an article about how dystopian novels are the new historical fiction novels. Being a huge fan of historical fiction novels (John Jakes is my hero), I couldn’t imagine how this was true. But it is.

Part of the way readers relate to a historical character is to imagine what she doesn’t have (and you do) and what she doesn’t know (and you do). As the story progresses, you come to realize that this historical gal (who lacks an iPhone, deodorant and a peppermint mocha – how does she survive?!), actually has quite a bit that you don’t have: true self reliance, a green thumb and a greater appreciation for the little things. It’s through this connection that you can begin to place yourself in her button top shoes. (This is also exactly what Wendy McClure strives to do in this book. I found her section on shopping for a real butter churn on ebay of particular interest!)

It’s the same process to relate to a dystopian character, except for one thing. This dystopian gal knows what she’s missing. She’s either witnessed its disappearance, or been told about it by someone much older. She sees the evidence all around her ruined world of what you experienced and she didn’t.

I realize now that my obsession with apocalyptic/dystopian fiction stems from my original, childhood love of historical fiction, and that it all started with my faded yellow copies of the Little House books.

I’ve read all nine Little House books start to finish at least once a year since I first read them in elementary school. It’s amazing how the story stays the same, yet the angle of the sun shifts just a bit so that I get something different out of it each time I read it.

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I love writing, but editing comes in a close second. Very close. Writing is like mining for gemstones, but editing carves them into sparkling facets.

So when my dear friends, Dana and Jessica, who make up the writing team Kirby Howell, asked me to edit their YA novels, Autumn in the City of Angels and Autumn in the Dark Meadows, I was happy to oblige. Editing their work turned out to be not only a favor to them but to myself. It helped me develop and solidify some new editing techniques, and it drew my attention to potential problems in my own work.

I want to pass on some of what I gleaned from the process to those who might not find editing the natural delight I do.

Read and edit other writers.

Read books on writing, editing, outlining, crafting a novel, finding an agent, writing query letters, etc. But also, read other writers’ work, both published and unpublished. The published will show you where you’re aiming (though don’t use “Charles Frazier did it and he won the National Book Award” as an excuse to keep around excess verbiage – I aim this at myself). The unpublished will help you hone your editing skills, because you’ll notice familiar problems you were once too close to see in your own work.

Reading other people’s stuff takes time away from writing and editing your own. But it gets you out of your writer bubble, which is a lonely echo chamber you need to escape now and then. Find a writing group locally or online, volunteer to be a beta reader for another writer, make an edit-in-trade agreement with another writer or writers. I’ve recently discovered that Twitter is a great place to find and connect with other writers. I interact with Dana and Jessica on the fancy Google+, too.

But be careful who you choose to work with. If a sample of a person’s writing indicates they are way below par, the relationship won’t help you. Make sure it’s a fairly even trade.

CTRL+F and SmartEdit. 

The CTRL+F command has become my editing best friend. I’ve always used it to find and replace the names of characters or places, and to look for inconsistencies (Ex. Wait a minute? Did I say that character’s hair was blonde earlier?) and redundancies (Ex. Wait a minute? Did I already tell that character’s back story?).

Now I also use it to make several passes through the document, looking for specific overused phrases. I started doing this with the tool SmartEdit but found it too tedious to go back and forth from SmartEdit to the document to make changes. I still often start with SmartEdit  to see which overused phrases the writer favors, then find them myself with CTRL+F.

We all have a few favored phrases that seem to flow from our keyboard and over-salt our work. My greatest culprits of overuse? “I could see” and “for a moment.” In my novel’s current incarnation, they are each present 28 times, about once every two chapters, considerably less times than were in my first draft.

A good standard list to look for:

“that” (which can often be eliminated)
“could see” (which can often be reduced to “saw” or rewritten entirely just to show rather than tell what the narrator is seeing)
“could hear” (same deal)
“could feel”(which can usually be reduced to “felt”)
any “had” construction.

Removing or simplifying those few words and phrases across the span of a novel can greatly reduce passive voice and make your novel sharper and more concise.

Rinse and repeat.

Back in my magazine editor days, I basically read through an article a few times, editing as I went. That was sufficient for a few-page article, but I need to do more for a 350-page novel.

On my first read-through, I catch the obvious problems – some typos, clunky wording, back story being explained more than once – but I often get caught up in the story and forget to pay close attention. Tracking changes in Word, I quickly fix any little things and flag larger issues with a comment.

Next, I do my several CTRL+F passes and viciously chop anything I come across that’s unnecessary. It’s easier to be strict when you’re hopping all over the document than when you’re in the story, especially if it’s your own darlings you’re sending to the killing fields.

Third, another read-through. This one is slow. Methodical. I ask myself questions like, “Could these two words be replaced with one?” and “Do we really need a dialog tag here?” I also make sure the story flows from beginning to end without leaving loose ends dangling, guns left unfired, etc.

I’m usually a bit sick of the story at this point, and that’s a good thing. It renders down my patience for shenanigans until I’m laser-focused. I want everything out that slows me down, makes me hang up and wonder “huh?” or wrinkle my nose at an awkward turn of phrase. I want the sentences to hum along one after another until they carry the readers to the end. And then make them wish they could keep reading.

When it’s someone else’s work, I stop there and send it back to the author, with the comments left in place so they can fix it. If it’s mine, there’s round four and five and so forth. My current novel is on draft seven. I named the file “final,” but I know I’ll probably get antsy as the agent search continues and edit it again.

So maybe tip number four should be “unleash your inner perfectionist.” My house isn’t perfectly clean (or even close), my hair has that slept-on-when-wet look, and my child sometimes goes to pre-school with breakfast goo on her chin. But when it comes to the written word – eek, obsessive. I want every word and comma in its proper place, and I still cringe over a tiny error I made designing my college newspaper TEN YEARS AGO.

And I think this is one place it’s okay to let that psycho perfectionist demon run rampant. When you’re querying agents or trying to entice new readers, you have precious few words to do it. Every one of them needs to count.

———————————-

For more editing advice from Kristin and updates on her novel, follow her BLOG.

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Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Set in a world where love has been outlawed, and everyone receives a lobotomy for their eighteenth birthday, Pandemonium continues exactly where Delirium left off. (Thank God!)

The book flips back and forth between ‘then’ and ‘now’, which is confusing after a particularly intense scene, but it ends up being a terrific exercise for your brain in figuring out the main character’s motives. It also serves to mix up the timeline of an otherwise straightforward plot. This way, you see some of the magician’s tricks before they’re performed and then wonder how it looks from the other side of the table.

The first person present still bugs me. I thought I might get used to it after reading The Hunger Games, Matched and now this series, but no. I find it terribly distracting and I really hope that it’s a fad that goes away soon.

Don’t let my one complaint deter you from picking up this series. Lauren Oliver’s prose is elegant and flowing. You fall into Lena’s thoughts as easily as if they were your own and then congratulate yourself on how you turn a phrase.

My copy of Requiem, the third and final installment of the series, released on March 5, has already arrived on my Kindle!

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Okay, this will hopefully be a short and sweet tutorial on how to convert your Word files into files that your friends can read on their eReaders and Tablets.  Once again, you can click on any of the images in this tutorial to make them larger.

I mentioned the other day that we do this for our Beta Readers so that they can easily read our weekly chapters and give us notes on them.  And what I’m about to show you is wonderful for that, however, if you want to convert your whole document into an eBook to sell, I don’t recommend this method.  What I’m doing is fast, and efficient, but has a few little bugs, which aren’t a problem for just getting content out there to friends and family to review, but wouldn’t be good for paying customers.  Okay, with that said, let’s get started, shall we?

The first thing you need to do is go download a program called, “Calibre.” It’s a free download online for PC, Linux and Mac.  They tout it as an “eBook Management” software, and it’s great for quick and dirty conversions.  Click here to download it.

After you’ve installed that, go ahead an open up the Word document you want to convert in MS Word.  Now, because Calibre won’t take a .doc file (the proprietary file format used by MS Word) you’re going to need to click “Save As” and then click on “Other Formats.”

Depending on which version of Word you’re using, this may look a little different.  If you have a different layout, you might have to click on “File” then “Save As.”  Despite which version of Word you’re using, you’ll probably get a box that looks like this.

Click the drop down and scroll down until you see “Rich Text Format.”  Then click Save. Remember where this file is saved. Now our file is in a format that Calibre can read.

Open up Calibre and click on “Add Books” in the upper left hand corner.

Now, if you remember where you saved your file, search for the Rich Text File we just created.  Once that’s loaded, you’ll see the file show up in the queue in the center of your screen.  Go ahead and click once, to highlight the book.  Clicking twice will open the file.  Don’t do that.  Just highlight it. Now, click the big “Convert books” button.

This is going to bring up a new window.  You’re going to have a few dialogue boxes to fill in if you want in the upper right hand side, such as the Title, Author, series number, etc… Fill those in if you wish, and if you like, choose a cover image for your book.  Now, look up into the upper right hand corner where you see the “Output Format” dropdown.  If you want a Kindle book, select “Mobi.”  If you want a Nook or iBook format, click “ePub.”  Then click “OK” on the bottom right.

Congratulations.  Your eBook file is being made.  If it’s a small one, the process will only take a few seconds.  For larger files, it’ll take a tad longer.

When the conversion is done, you can tell by clicking on your book in the queue again and looking on the right hand side of your window where the cover of your book is (or if you didn’t load a cover, it’ll just show a picture of a blank book).  Below that you’ll see the formats listed.  If you see a Mobi or ePub file listed there, it’s done.  From there, just click on “Click to open” next to path, and the folder containing your eBook file will pop up.  Go ahead and do that and identify your new file.

For most devices you can just connect them to your computer and drag the new eBook file into the documents folder of your device, and it’ll show up like any other book.  Or you can put the file in your Dropbox (you are using Dropbox by now, right?!) if you’re planning on using a tablet to read the file and open your Dropbox app on your tablet and download the file there and select the app to open the file in.  If you created a Kindle file, the Kindle App will show as an option to open the file in after you’ve downloaded it, same goes for iBook files and Nook files.

Notice that when you open the file, it’ll look pretty good, but maybe a tab isn’t there, or there’s an extra line between paragraphs.  This is what I mean when I say Calibre isn’t a good option for converting your books for sell.  But for our purposes, the content is all there, as well as a couple tiny formatting errors, but that’s acceptable for our Betas who just want to read the text and give notes on content.

Okay!  There you have it.  The quick and easy way to transfer your files to your eReaders.  You can transfer all kinds of files like this, PDF’s, etc… Basically anything you think would be easier to read on your tablets and eReaders.

Don’t forget to scroll up and enter your email in the field under “Subscribe to this Blog” and hit “Subscribe” to get updated when our new blogs drop.  We’ll be doing several more tutorials over the next few weeks that we’re hoping you’ll find helpful.  Also, while you’re subscribing, don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter as well!  And feel free to comment below with questions and comments!

Cheers!

Dana Melton

½ of Kirby Howell

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The question Jessica and I get most frequently is “How do you two write together?” It’s a question I always dread, because the answer isn’t an easy one. It’s a process that we’ve developed over thirteen years (gasp!), and it’s one that’s become so ingrained that I often wonder how people write without a partner. I’m not kidding here; I truly am in awe of people who are a one-man band. Not having that second person to bounce ideas off of, to make notes, and for general support is frightening to me.

We got the “How do you two write together?” question once while at an industry party about five years ago, and I think Jess answered it best by saying, “Well, I’ve always considered myself a left foot, and Dana’s a right foot. Without the other, we tend to just walk in circles, but together, we stand up straight and move forward rather quickly.” I’ve always thought that was the best response, and most succinct, if not somewhat vague. So that’s our usual answer. But I thought I might detail our process here for those interested in working with writing partners, or for those currently working with one and looking for advice on what we consider a successful pairing.

The first advice I give anyone looking for a partner is, be choosy, VERY choosy. You’ve got to find someone with a similar personality who you can spend endless hours with without growing tired of each other. You’ve got to find someone who compliments your writing style, who excels in areas where you’re weak and vice versa, and someone with an amazing work ethic. And most importantly, look for someone with the same goals as you. If they don’t meet each and every one of these criteria, you may be setting yourself up for disaster. Or, perhaps, you’ll only do one project together and that will be that. For Jess and I, we tend to be fairly monogamous writing partners. I occasionally take solo, paid, writing jobs, but when it comes to passion projects, we’re in it together. I often tell people that I have two partners in life, my husband, and my writing partner. And it couldn’t be truer. Most people who’ve spent time with either of us, either professionally or recreationally, have met the other one. Now, this closeness might sound daunting for some folks, and I can see how these could be draw backs, but let’s discuss the pros to having a partner.

You always have someone to discuss your ideas with. You are never alone out there. When there are successes, or failures, you get to share them with someone who is in the same boat. And, most importantly for us, with two brains on one piece of work, the product comes out stronger, as long as you have similar visions and work together well. Just remember though, the quality of the product is only as strong as the partnership. If there’s division, the work won’t feel cohesive. I know for the stuff Jess and I write, even our own husbands and parents can’t tell who’s written what, and often guess wrong.

Okay, now that we’ve talked about picking a good partner and the level of commitment it requires, and the pros and cons, let’s talk about process. Here’s what Jess and I do. Most importantly, we work on ONE project at a time. If we have an idea for a future script/short story/novel, it gets filed away in our EverNote account to look at once we’ve finished what we’re currently working on. That may sound like an obvious note, but trust me, it’s easy to get tired of the same product, like a book manuscript, that you may have been working on for years in lieu of something new and exciting. Secondly, we don’t let egos get in the way. You’ve got to trust your partner and be open to their ideas. This often takes time, and can be a little awkward at first, but if you can push through this part, and take notes with an open mind, and get used to your writing partner taking a pass on your scenes, your product will be better.

Next, you need to find a writing schedule that works for both of you. Jessica and I have met every Wednesday night after work and all day on Sunday for close to nine years now. And if we’re on a deadline for paid work, or trying to get scenes out for our Betas, we up the number of days we meet. On top of that, we assign homework after our meetings. Most of the time, it’s scenes that need either a rough draft or another pass done on them. So even though we meet twice a week, we tend to work most days on our projects.

On top of that, we stay in constant contact, in case there’s an idea or question that needs to be answered, be it email, IM, or text, I don’t think a day goes by where we don’t interact at least once. Now, life happens, so if something comes up that requires missing a few days of work, or even a week, we make concessions, and we don’t make the other party feel bad about it. That’s important. The minute you let resentment creep in, it becomes a cancer to any relationship.

Jess and I have been lucky, because whenever I get slammed with work, she takes the wheel and is the alpha partner for a while, and then when she gets busy, it’s always worked out that I’ve had more time for our stuff and take the wheel for a while. But even at our busiest, I’d say that we spend at least a few minutes to several hours every day doing something. I once heard it said that writers are the only people in the world who signed up to have homework for the rest of their lives, and it’s true. Any free time we get, there’s a little voice inside our heads saying, “Isn’t there anything you can be doing right now? Writing? Updating the website? Blogging?”

The next most important thing for writing with another person is staying VERY organized. We both have subscriptions for the premium level of Dropbox, and are diligent about maintaining all of our files and versions of every document there. We love Dropbox, not only because it keeps us both on the same page, but because it’s constantly backing up all of our files. We also use EverNote to organize all of our research. And in cases where we’re working on the same document at once, we use Google Docs. Each of these pieces of productivity software uses cloud storage, so they update on both of our computers as soon as one of us adds something new. Most importantly, they’re all free downloads, and offer free accounts to start with, should you want to try them out for yourself!

When it comes to the actual writing process for our books, we start with discussing the new idea. And we take notes anytime something good comes to us, and spend weeks developing the idea and making more notes. Then we develop a detailed outline. For our novels it’s generally at 15-20 page outline, with some pictures and character details if we know them. And when we’re done we discuss which scenes we’d like to write. We divvy them up and take the scenes that seem to be calling to us, and to this point, I don’t think we’ve ever wanted to do the same scenes. Jess and I are very similar in some ways, but when it comes to writing, we have different strengths, and usually feel drawn to different scenes. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this is a streak that continues, because it works well for us.

We actually divvy up about half of the outline, where one of us will generally start at the beginning of the manuscript and the other jumps to somewhere in the middle. For the rough draft, we will read each other as we go along and offer notes and suggestions that we’ll address then. And we always find new things that weren’t in the outline as we’re in the writing process that we have to impart to the other, so that it’s set up or resolved in the other’s part of the manuscript. When the person writing the first part catches up to the person in the middle, we stop, go back and clean up our work. For us that means a few polish passes, one to fix any notes we’ve had along the way, and another to clean up grammar, style and flow. Then we swap our scenes and re-write each other.

Now, when I say re-write, not every word is re-written. It’s just a pass that each of us do on each other’s work. Sometimes it’s nominal, sometimes it’s extensive. The important thing is to discuss this with your partner if it’s going to be a big re-write and give them a chance to agree/disagree with the big changes you have in mind and a chance to do the revision themselves if they want. At this point, we usually have about 100 to 150 pages written that we refer to as our rough draft, even though it’s had at least 5 passes on it at this point. This is where we start our beta process.

We have a handful of amazing people that we trust and whose notes and thoughts are very important to us. Some are writers themselves, or editors, proofreaders, fans of the YA genre who’ve read it all, etc… Most bring different perspectives on our work and give us a great idea of what needs to be looked at with more scrutiny. After we’ve given them a week or two heads up that pages will be coming, we generally spend a full day doing yet another polish pass on the first 20-30 pages. Whoever did the first pass on the pages is generally the one to do this, but the other will read and proof it as well, while continuing to move forward on the manuscript. Then the Beta process begins. We stay on a strict weekly schedule and send 20-30 pages out every Sunday evening, along with a questionnaire with specific questions that point out areas we have concerns over. We PDF our pages for computer readers, and we make Kindle, Nook & iPad versions for people who like eReaders, and send the questionnaire out as a Rich Text File for those who don’t have MS Word. (We’ll be posting another blog showing how to quickly turn any word doc into a readable Kindle/iPad/Nook file that your readers can use, should you want to do the same in your own Beta process.)

The reason we don’t finish the book before starting the Beta process is to give ourselves a ticking clock. We finish projects MUCH faster when we have people waiting on us, and if we were to take our time and finish the book before starting the Betas, I have no idea how much longer it would take us to finish a polished rough draft. The excitement that our Betas have shown us in the past is also a vital tool that helps us stay motivated and passionate about the project.

As the betas are getting their chapters, whomever had the first section tends to jump over the middle section and start writing ahead of that, and when the middle section person catches up to them, they tend to jump over and write through the end, all while going back and doing as many clean up passes as possible on the pages that will go out to the Betas on Sunday evenings.

Because we start with at least a one hundred page cushion, it’s easy to keep up with the Beta Train at first, but after about three weeks, it becomes a real labor of love, and… quite stressful. But because we’re both respectful of deadlines and encouraging to each other, we manage to just stay in front of the train until the last chapters go out.

Then we take a week off. Sometimes a week and a few days… just to breathe.

Each week after the Beta chapters go out, we get notes and questionnaires back. We love these. It’s exciting to see what the very first readers think, and encourages us to keep on our weekly deadline. After initially reading the questionnaires and discussing them, we put them all on file and consider their thoughts for our next pass.

From the questionnaires, and our own new notes, we compile a HUGE notes document of all the changes we plan on making, and make a plan on how to tackle the changes. The first type of note we address are all the copyediting notes by Judy Bogdanove, who is the most amazing grammarian we know, so we’re working with a clean draft. Then, we break the other notes up, and plug away at them. Now, as a general rule for us, re-writing takes two to three times longer to do than the rough draft. Not only are we applying story notes, but we do countless passes, looking for cuts to pare down the word count, changes to the flow, adjusting character arcs, and grammar fixes, etc…

Once we’ve finally put the manuscript back together with all of the notes done, we both do our own passes over the text, sometimes two or three, and finally come to a final new product. This goes off to our copyeditor, Kristin Walters… who is CRUCIAL to our process. She examines the content in every way imaginable, and catches any plot error, typographical error, you name it. Once she’s done, we get the full document back with her changes and notes, and we actually sit together and go through all of her notes, and do yet another pass to address them… we consider this version our “second draft.”

Think we’re done? Nope.

Then we Kindle-ize the book and re-read it… for any new typos or errors that may have popped up while we were addressing the last few notes. And once those are done… it goes off to get a test print, known as an Advanced Reading Copy, or ARC…. which we get to read again, to catch any last errors before it’s made public.

This basic structure of passing scenes back and forth for notes and polish passes is how we write everything, from scripts, to novel manuscripts, to short stories. It’s worked amazingly well for us through the years, and hopefully, you’ll be able to get something useful out of it as well. Just remember, through every step of writing your projects with a partner, keep the channels for communication open and don’t allow resentment to creep in, because at the end of the day, you’re in it together.

I’m sure there will eventually be a follow up to this post with the millions of little things that I’ve left out, so be sure to scroll up and enter your email in the “Subscribe to this blog” field and click subscribe, so that you’ll see our future blog posts. Also, while you’re there, click the “Like” button to follow us on Facebook, where we post daily, and “Follow” us on Twitter.

Also, feel free to comment below with your own experiences and any tips you may have! Just because this is how it works for us, doesn’t mean it’s that way for everyone. We want to know your processes as well!

Happy writing!

Dana Melton

½ of Kirby Howell

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When the sun seems a million miles away and the Christmas Tree has gone back into hibernation in the hall closet, it’s easy to sink into The Winter Blues. It’s too cold to go outside, the flu is shrinking your social calendar, and after your last minute holiday shopping excursions, the mall is the last place you want to go.

Time to sulk on the couch and eat the entire Ziploc bag of cookies your mom shipped to you for Valentine’s Day?

No. It’s time to write.

I recently read a New York Times article about the cold, dark, winter months bringing forth the creativity inside us. When we don’t have warm weather and barbeques to beckon us outside, it’s easy to stay at our desks. Rain and overcast clouds bring on feelings of sadness (also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder) and we all know that depression equals creativity. Maybe that’s why so many of the great authors lived (and live) in the northern most reaches of their countries.

I lived in Portland, Oregon from 5th grade through high school graduation and those 8 years shaped my creativity. I reveled in the wispy fog, the squeak of my windshield wipers, the growing patch of dampness on the heels of my jeans. Some hated it and longed to move south, but the true Oregonians simply went on with their day; mowing lawns, washing cars and running errands in the constant drizzle. Because if they waited until the rain stopped, well, nothing would get done.

I miss the Pacific Northwest very much. I live in Los Angeles now, and the “LA Basin” is about as far away as you can get from the lush, greenness of that majestic land. I watch the weather reports here like a hawk, and glare at the row of happy suns shining on each day of the coming week.

If my husband’s job weren’t tied to this city and my writing partner (and her husband and dog) agreed to come with me, I would move us all to the Great Northwest and let my creativity go wild.

As I’m here for the time being, I’ll make do by putting on my favorite sweater, cranking up the air conditioner, and listening to a soundtrack of rainstorms.

Use these dark, winter months to tackle a project or read that dusty pile of books on your nightstand. Because all too soon, the sun will come out, your backyard will beckon, and those beach party invitations will start arriving.

Not to sound like a Home Depot commercial, but let’s get to work!

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Happy Creating,

Jessica Kirby Alexander

1/2 of Kirby Howell

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Often times when I hear people say they “Don’t watch TV”, I have to ask… well, why?  And nearly 100% of the time, the answer I get is, “There’s just nothing good on television anymore.”  And to that I have to stare awe-stricken at them for a moment.  Nothing good on TV?  Are you joking?  Now, admittedly, I am biased, being that I’ve worked predominantly in the TV side of the entertainment industry for 10 years now, but still, there’s been a lot of really great programming in the last several years.   Let’s not be hasty and blame the writers and programmers here.  If you don’t watch TV, usually, there’s a better reason.  Maybe you’re just too busy, or have other interests, and that’s a fine and acceptable excuse, but please, how can you judge modern TV programming if you’re not watching it?

Having gone on my little rant, I’ll digress a little.  I actually believe that we are in the middle of a modern golden age of television.  Don’t believe me?  I’ll prove it and recommend a good or great TV show in every genre I can think of that I watch.  If I don’t mention your favorite show, I apologize.  Also, before you judge me on all the TV I watch (and there is a lot), remember, I work in TV, therefore it’s part of my job to keep up with it.   And let’s face it, you can marathon an entire season of Entourage on a sick day.  Also, I don’t have kids yet, so in the evenings, before I pick up my Kindle to read, we knock down a couple TV shows before bed.

Drama

Homeland – Hands down my favorite show on television right now, and as you see, I watch a lot of TV, so that’s really saying something!  Every week I think I know where it’s going, and every week, the show ends with my jaw on the floor.  The writing is brilliant, and the acting is top notch.

Breaking Bad – Another one of the best shows on television.  Complex and amazingly written.  It’s a travesty if you’re not watching this show.  Every episode I watch feels like a masters class in writing.

Downton Abbey – I’m a huge fan of British Costume Dramas, so there was no way I wasn’t going to love this show.  But the surprising thing is, my husband, who HATES this genre, loves this show, too.  That’s a testament to how good the storytelling is.

Boardwalk Empire – Again, I love period pieces, but add the brilliance of Steve Buscemi and amazing writing and production value this show has, and it’s must-watch television.

Mad Men – This show is slower paced that most of the shows on television right now, but so much happens in the quiet moments, that you can’t help but be intrigued by the characters.  The time period and the social commentary are also played for maximum interest.

Deadwood (series has ended) – This is the grittiest drama in recent history.  But, to me, the biggest standout of this show is Ian McShane’s Al Swearengen.  You should hate this bad guy, but he’s so charismatic, you can’t help but root for him.

Sopranos (series has ended) – Speaking of bad guys you can’t help but root for, Tony Soprano is perhaps the character that did it best.  The whole run of this show is utterly absorbing.  Don’t watch the cut down episodes airing on cable.  Rent the box sets.  I promise it’s worth your time.

Rome (series has ended) – This is perhaps my favorite Drama.  It’s raw and gritty and makes you feel like you know exactly what it might have been like to be living during the height of the Roman Empire.

Rescue Me (series has ended) – I’d always liked Dennis Leery, but this show made me love him.  The drama between him, his wife and the other women in his life was always great, but it was the camaraderie between the guys in the firehouse that made this show stellar.

Fantasy

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (series has ended) -  Several episodes are re-run on a few different channels every day, but the whole series is available for free on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, so really, there’s no reason to miss this brilliant series by my writing idol, Joss Whedon (you know… that guy who did The Avengers).   This is probably my favorite show of all time.

A Game of Thrones – The penultimate of currently running fantasy shows.  It’s on HBO, and it’s VERY adult, so don’t watch with your kids.  I love this series because it brings my favorite book series of all time to life, and does a good job of adapting all the major story elements from the series.

Vampire Diaries – I absolutely love this show.  The world stakes and brilliant twists will make this appointment TV, and they’ve got some pretty people to look at as you while your time away.

True Blood – I think the show peeked mid-season two, but some of the actors are so good, that I can’t not watch.  Please note, this show is DEFINITELY not for kids.

Merlin – For a fantasy show that you can watch with the whole family, I recommend Merlin.  I adore this show.   It’s a modern day spin on the King Arthur legend.

American Horror Story – If you were to think of every horror troupe you’ve ever seen, and threw them all into one big pot and swirled it around, then threw in some incredibly strong actors, you have this show.

Once Upon A Time – Another fantasy show you can watch with the whole family.  This show is adorable.  It’s premise is that all the fairytale characters you grew up hearing about are alive and well and living in Storybrooke, Maine.

The Walking Dead – This show feels a lot like “Lost” to me, but my husband loves it.  I go in and out of love with it, but it’s good enough to make my list because, even on its worst episode, it’s still fun to watch.

SciFi

This is such a niche category, and so hard to do well, that most of my picks have actually completed their runs.  For my money, there are two all time great sci-fi shows that air on a daily basis in re-runs.  “The X-Files” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”   Both shows are modern classics for a reason and inspired films that are worth picking up after you’ve completed their runs, though you might skip the second X-Files movie.

Battlestar Galactica (not currently airing) – I was absolutely obsessed with this show for years, and actually sought out their writing offices while working on the Universal Lot on a different show… but that’s a different post.

Doctor Who – My favorite currently running Scifi show, hands down.  I will admit to having re-watched the David Tennant era shows at least 3 or 4 times by now.  Though, the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, is also fantastic.  If you like Scifi, head to Netflix and catch this show from the beginning, because, like the others on this list, it’s heavily serialized and makes constant internal references.  Warning though, the first season of the modern Doctor Who (with Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor) is a bit rough-looking.  They got a lot more money to put into the subsequent seasons.  So, what I’d do is watch an episode called “Blink” in Season 3, just to see how good the show is going to get.  Then go back to Season 1, get through it (not that it’s horrible, just not as high quality) and you’re golden from there.  Be careful not to confuse the reboot of Doctor Who with the older versions from the 70s.

Defiance - I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shameless plug to Jessica’s husband’s show, “Defiance.”  It’s not out yet, but will be airing on SyFy soon, and has a video game tie-in component that’s getting amazing press.

Soaps

Friday Night Lights (series has ended) – This is my favorite modern soap, and it just finished its run a couple years ago.  It’s available on Netflix and Amazon.  The acting is out of this world, as well as the writing.  You don’t have to be a football fan to enjoy this show.  That’s just the thing that holds this town together.  The show itself is about the people in Dillon, TX and how they move through their lives.  I cannot recommend this show any higher.  Watch it!

Smash – I’m a musical theater nut.  Every time I go to NYC, I have to see at least three shows, so it’s no wonder that I get sucked up into this show.  It has its ups and downs, but you can’t beat it for the songs and stage performances.  Also, the first episode was one of my all time favorite pilots.

Dallas – I grew up watching the original show with my parents.  The opening credits that hearken back to the original instantly transport me to my parents’ living room in Birmingham, AL.  But after the opening credits, it’s still pulpy fun.  Several of the actors are from the show I used to work on, so it’s great seeing them on screen, and I’m glad younger audiences will get to see the late great, Larry Hagman in his iconic role of J.R. Ewing.

Nashville – I picked this show up because I adore Connie Britton.  But as the show goes on, I have to say the young singing duo (who remind me of The Civil Wars) has become my favorite element of the show.

Crime

Sherlock – Words cannot express how much I love the BBC version of Sherlock.  Doctor Who scribe, Steven Moffat, is at his best.  He’s taken the classic novels that we’ve all read and updated them to exist in modern-day London.  Benedict Cumberbatch  and Martin Freeman are a delight as Sherlock and Dr. Watson.  My only complaint is that each season only has three episodes and often times, it’s more than a year between seasons.  Give me more, Moffat!

Justified – I love tough guy dramas.  What can I say?  There’s something magical about this show; its backwoods setting of Harlan, KY, and the swagger of Raylan Givens, that just gets me.  I’m also fascinated with the most eloquent bad guy TV has ever seen, Boyd Crowder.

Dexter – The serial killer who only kills bad guys is a consistently entertaining show, however the first two seasons and the season with John Lithgow (season 4?), are exceptional.

Comedy

The Big Bang Theory – This show speaks to the geek in me more than any of the others.  When I saw the pilot, I thought to myself, “Well, I get all the jokes, but I’m one of the geekiest people I know.  Will anyone else other than me and my friends like this?” The answer is, of course, yes.  It took a few years, but this is now the number one comedy on TV, and with good reason.  If you’ve ever been into Scifi, Fantasy, Gaming (of any kind), comics, physics, etc… you will enjoy this show.

Modern Family – This is the most insightful comedy on TV.  The social commentary is brilliant and the acting is spot on.  I quite literally laugh out loud during almost every episode.

Episodes – Sharp and funny.  And who knew Matt LeBlanc was this brilliant?!  I’d already been a fan of the British couple, and I loved Joey from Friends.  But, seriously, it’s Matt LeBlanc that makes this show.

Cougar Town – I like to think of this as the drunken little show that could.  Jules and her friends drink wine as if it were water and yet the cul-de-sac crew couldn’t be more endearing if they tried.  Brilliant cast and consistently funny.

Entourage (series has ended) – I feel like the secret was let out of how great this show was in its second season, so I won’t go on a rant, but I will say, the tongue and cheek way that they show behind the scenes Hollywood isn’t as far off the mark as we’d like it be.

Nurse Jackie – This is always listed as a comedy, and yes, there are funny moments.  But this show is one that toes the line for me, with some episodes that will break your heart and others that leave you in stitches.

The Office – It was the early seasons that did it for me.  I still watch occasionally, and my husband consistently.  I thought the Jim and Pam romance was one of the best on screen romances of all time, and handled beautifully by the writers and actors.  And… come on… it has the world’s best boss, Michael Scott!

How I Met Your Mother – Le-Gen… wait for it… Dary! So smart.  So funny.  And brilliantly weaving years of character histories through each season.

Weeds (series has ended) – The first season, I loved Nancy Botwin… but in the subsequent seasons, it was the supporting cast that kept me laughing.

Girls – There’s something about this show that I just, “get.”  It’s not for everyone, but for me, it’s must watch television.  I love Lena Dunham, and I won’t describe her as “brave” to keep from sounding like everyone else, but dang, that girl isn’t afraid of anything, and good on her!

Friends (series has ended) – My all time favorite sitcom.  Jessica and I still quote this show on a regular basis.  I grew up with Friends, and Jessica and I both had “The Rachel” haircut at some point.  And in college, it was an unspoken rule that no one called anyone during Friends, unless it was a quick question and during the commercial break.  It recently started airing in high def on TV Land (really!?  TV Land!?  Am I that old!?) and it’s been like rediscovering an old friend (pardon the pun) every time I watch an episode.

Frasier (series has ended) – My second all time favorite sitcom, that is also re-run every day on at least one network if not more.  I know it makes me supremely uncool, if Friends didn’t do that for me, but that doesn’t bother me a bit.  My father and I watched this show together for years.  I loved the sharp wit this show offered and still re-watch episodes to this day.

Reality

The Amazing Race – Nothing gets my heart racing more than seeing who will be the last to check in on Phil’s mat.  The brilliance of this show is that it takes fairly well-adjusted people and puts them in pressure situations, and over the course of the season, you see how well, or in some cases, how poorly the couples react.  The second bonus is getting to see the amazing places they visit.

Top Chef (and Top Chef Masters) – I love cooking and watching people cook, so seeing the best of the best compete is a big draw for me.  And an added bonus is when I see a guest judge who owns a restaurant I’ve eaten at.

Masterchef – Same thing as above, except that I get to imagine myself in the role of all these amateurs competing to be a Master Chef.  Granted, most of the competitors are leagues above my skill, but it’s still fun to imagine what dish I’d make for each challenge.

Deadliest Catch – My husband had been watching this show for years, and one season, I started seeing more and more episodes.  Over time, it completely sucked me in, and I’ve been watching every since.  Seeing the conditions that these men work in and the lives they lead is mesmerizing.

Talk Shows

The Graham Norton Show – It airs on BBCA, and it’s by far my favorite talk show.  His format is a little different than the American ones, in that his guests spend the whole hour together chatting on his couch.

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Perhaps an odd choice, I know.  But I tivoed a few episodes a couple years ago, waiting to see an actor from Buffy to appear.  His show kept getting bumped, so I kept recording it, waiting to see the interview, and in that time, I grew to enjoy the show, especially when they took the show on the road to Paris and Scotland.

Game Shows

Jeopardy – The only game show I watch.  It’s a tradition in our house that we watch Jeopardy while eating dinner.  We’ve done it for years, and in that time, I still suck every time there’s an Opera category.

Guilty Pleasures

We all have our guilty pleasure shows, and I probably shouldn’t admit to mine in such a public forum, but it just feels wrong to leave them out since I’m talking about every other show on TV that I watch these days.  So here we go.

Pawn Stars – This show is like The Antique Road Show meets American Choppers.  And weirdly, the format works.  I’m a big history buff, so I love the historical items that are brought into the pawn store.  The only thing I hate is the obviously written subplots.

Food Network Challenge – I admit it, I love watching decorators make amazing cakes.  I’ve been watching this show for years, and my favorite decorators are Mike McCarey, Mary Maher, Bronwin Weber, Joshua John Russel and Karen Portaleo.

The Jersey Shore – I had never heard of this show during its infamous first season.  Then a friend came over with a big bottle of champagne and we watched every episode. I’ve never laughed harder.  I wish I could say that I quit watching after that, but alas… it would be a lie.

Ninja Warrior – I used to hate this show.  My husband would watch it, and I would get annoyed.  Then… something happened, and I started recognizing the different runners, and rooting for the All-Stars, and now, I get nervous every time Nagano or Shingo Yamamoto run and laugh at the way the announcers say Levi Meeuwenburg’s last name.

Hell’s Kitchen – Oh, Gordon Ramsey, I want to hate you for yelling at people… but I just can’t.

The Sing Off – Having grown up in competitive choir, I totally get this show.  So much so, that dear, sweet, long-suffering Jessica did her best friend duty and accompanied me to a taping of one of the episodes so I wouldn’t have to go alone.

Dual Survival – This is a show I wouldn’t have found on my own, but the husband loves it.  And over time, so did I.  Cody Lundin has some of the best one liners of all time… and some pretty impressive “mitochondria.”

Top Shot – Perhaps it’s because I’m a bit of a gamer, but I love watching real marksmen show off their stuff.  And seeing these guys use archaic weapons (such as canons and gatling guns) entertains me to no end.

And there you have it.  Every one of these shows is airing in some capacity, be it first run or re-run.  So don’t tell me there’s nothing good on TV.

Don’t forget to scroll up and find the “Subscribe to this Blog via Email” app and put your email in and hit subscribe!  Also, click “like” to like us on Facebook, just above the subscribe app and “Follow” to follow us on Twitter.

Cheers!

Dana Melton

½ of Kirby Howell

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So you want to create professional looking Newsletters to go out to friends, family and fans of your book (or whatever project you’re getting ready to unveil)? Because you’ve heard how effective email newsletters are at getting the word out and keeping everyone up to date.  Problem is, there are tons of ways to make these newsletters, and most of them are not free and or don’t look as professional as you’d like.

Well, problem solved.  Let me introduce you to Mailchimp.  It’s a free online tool that you can use to create, design, and send email newsletters. It offers wonderful tracking and analytics after your email blast has gone out, so you can see where the most successful parts of your newsletter were, and where the least successful areas were.  Let’s get started, shall we?

First thing you’ll need to do, is go to Mailchimp.com and create an account.  Be careful here.  There are several types.  For most people, the free account will be sufficient for your needs, as long as you don’t mind a little Mailchimp button at the bottom of your emails.  For me, I don’t mind it one bit.

Now I like to create my “Lists” first.  A list is basically all the emails of the people you want to send your newsletter to.  You can create as many lists as you need if you have a variety of products you want to promote, but let’s start with one, and you can play with creating others later.  First, go to Google and figure out how to export contacts from your email provider (or software for those using mail stamp or Outlook).  Most will do some kind of Excel file, or .csv file.  I prefer dealing with Excel files and .csv files (because they can be opened in Excel), so try and export your contacts in either of those formats if you can.  Just about any other export file will work though.  Mailchimp supports several.  The trick is only exporting the emails you want on your list.  Through Gmail you can select specific email lists and just export those by themselves.  Or you can export your whole contact list and then go into the Excel document (or whatever file you export to) and pare it down manually.

Open the export file in Excel.  It may give you some warnings and flags, just hit yes and okay.  It’s fine.  When I exported a set list from my Gmail, I noticed it didn’t just export names along with email addresses, it exported every other information field like birthday, address, etc… Mailchimp doesn’t need this information.  So just select the top of every column EXCEPT First Name, Last Name, and Email Address.  If the headers at the top of the columns say variations of those, go ahead and change them to “First Name, Last Name, and Email Address.”  Everything else, get rid of.   To do that, click the letter of the column at the top of the column, right click and delete.  (Note: You can click on any of my images to blow them up for easier viewing.) This should bring the columns of the names and emails side by side.  That’s what you want.  If you skip this step, you are in for a MAJOR headache later… so take a little time and clean this file up.

From there, let’s open up our web browser, and if you’re still logged into Mailchimp, find the Dashboard and click on “Lists.”

Next, click on “Create List.” 

Then another button will pop up, and you click on “Create List,” this time it’s a blue button, to confirm you want to create a new list.  Fill in the required information, List Name, who the Default “From” email should be, etc… then click “Save.”

Now, we need to populate our list with emails.  You should have been flopped back to the “Lists” page on your Dashboard after saving, if not, click on the Lists page of your Dashboard, like you did earlier.  Now, you’ll find your newly created list.  Click on the “View” button just next to your new list.  That’ll give you a dropdown menu with “Stats Overview” and “Subscribers.”  Click Subscribers.

This will bring you to a new page showing your list subscribers.  Right now, it’s empty.  Just below the list name, you’ll see O subscribers, and “Subscribe” and “Change List.”  Click on “Subscribe.”

This will bring you to a new page.  Click on “Import List.”  Then “Upload a File” then  browse for the file we exported and cleaned up earlier and upload it.  Mailchimp may take a few minutes to import all these names and emails, depending on how many emails were in your file to be uploaded.   So be patient.

Now it’s going to bring you to an overview of the file, and if you followed the instructions earlier and cleaned up your document, all you have to do here is click the big “Skip Unnamed Columns” and the “DONE” button at the bottom.  If you didn’t… well, start over and clean up that document, otherwise you’re going to be busy for an hour cleaning it up through Mailchimp (you naughty thing, you!).

Okay, now you’ve got a list ready to receive your awesome newsletter.  Congrats!  Now it’s time to start our first Campaign.  Click on “Campaign” on the Dashboard.

Now click the big “Create Campaign” Button.

That’ll bring up a dropdown menu.  For now, let’s click on “Regular Ol’ Campaign.”

Next, click the button to select the list you just created, and to tell your campaign to send all your newsletters to the people on that list, and click on “Next Step: Setup” at the bottom of the right hand side of the page.

Name your campaign and fill in all the other information.  Little hint here, on the name of who the email will be from, that doesn’t have to be you.  If I’m creating a newsletter for our books, I put in “Kirby Howell” or if it’s for a client, I will use that as a secondary subject line and fill it in like, “Don’t miss So and So Live!”  When you put in your email, it may ask you to verify it.  Go ahead and do that and you’ll get an email from Mailchimp with a link.  Click it and head back to this page and click “Next Step: Design” at the bottom right of the page.

Next, you’ll see some options for the design of your newsletter.  I like having a lot of control over the look, so I like the Drag & Drop Editor.  Select it.

You may get a pop up to try the new Beta Edtor.  Click “Try the New Editor (Beta)” if you do.

Now, here’s where it starts getting fun, at least, for me.   On the right hand side, click “Basic Templates” and take a peek through the layouts they offer until you find one that looks like something you want to use.

Whichever template you chose is now loaded into the left hand side of your browser, with some content options on the right hand side of your browser.  Now, you can start filling out the stuff in the template on the left, or you can hover over those boxes until you see a little trashcan in the top right of those boxes and get rid of them in favor of the options on the right.  I usually do that.

There are several different types of content to choose from on the right, text boxes, divider bars, image boxes, etc… so take a minute to look through them.  If you want to add one to your newsletter, just drag and drop it on the left hand side and it will go wherever you put it.  Sometimes Mailchimp is buggy, so if it doesn’t “drop” try it again until it does.  Once you’ve dropped the content type, you need to fill it in.  For a picture box, you just click the “Browse” button and browse for the picture you’d like to go there and click “upload” when you find it.  To add a link to the picture, to make it clickable in the newsletter, hover over the content box until the options appear on the top right and you’ll see one that’s a little pencil.  Click it.

On the right hand side of your screen, you’ll see a thumbnail of the image and some buttons, one of them is “link.”  Click it and paste in whatever link you want that picture to go to if it’s clicked on.  Then click on “Save & Close.”

If you’d like to have a word or two inside your text content boxes be a link, just click on the text box on the newsletter on your left and again, click the little pencil to bring up the text in the editor on the right hand side.  Now, highlight whatever word you’d like to make into a link, then click the little chain link icon in the menu over top of the text and paste in whatever link you’d like the text to point to.

After you’ve added all the text and pictures and all the links that they point to, don’t forget to add social media links.  Mailchimp offers two kinds.  The first kind, “Social Share”, allows people to share your newsletter on Facebook, Twitter, etc… and all you have to do is drag and drop it where you want it.  It’s done without any additional manipulation.  The other one is “Social Follow.”  This is where you can add links to your personal or company social media.

After you drop the Social Follow content (which I highly recommend) click the little pencil again to edit it.  You’ll see that it defaults to Facebook, Twitter and a personal website.  You can add more if you have more social media.  In the “Link Text” box under each social media service, there’s a generic link to it, like the Facebook icon right now is pointing to Facebook.com.  Well, that’s not what you want.  You want to send them to your personal or company Facebook, so overwrite that with your own URL and do the same for Twitter and your webpage, and whatever others you’ve added.  Now, sometimes Mailchimp gets really buggy and won’t keep these links for some reason, so after you’ve saved and closed this section, hover over your social media follow buttons and look at the path at the bottom left of your screen and make sure the link is still going to your site, and not the default.

Odds are, at least one of them is messed up.  So go back and physically type them in.  This usually corrects the glitch.  If not, try and try again until it’s working right. Hopefully, Mailchimp will fix this soon.

Now, drag the content boxes around and make it all look just how you want, then let’s preview and test your new fancy newsletter.  Find the “Preview & Test” button.

Enter Preview mode to look at it as it will appear in most emails and make sure you like it.  Then, send yourself a test email and click on EVERY link in that test email to make sure none of the links are broken.  Also, this is the time to proofread every word, including your subject line.  If it’s all good, go back to Mailchimp and go to the next step, “Plain-Text.”

This is for those people stuck in the early 90’s who only do text emails.  Rest assured, there aren’t too many people like this, so don’t spend all day on this step.  Type in the content you’d like for them to see and click on “Next Step: Confirm”

Scroll through the next page and make sure there are no flags.  If there are, you’ve missed something in the tutorial and need to go back and fix it.  If not, you can click “Schedule” to pick a date and time when you want your email newsletter to go out, or “Send Now.”

If you DID hit send now, you’re going to start getting some analytics.  Those are basically statistics about how well your campaign is doing.  I’d give it at least 5-10 hours before dealing with this section.  But it’s really cool if you do check on it.  You can see the percentage of people who opened your email, who they are, which links had the highest percentage of clicks, how your newsletters did based on the average newsletters in your market, etc…

To get to your analytics, just click on the Dashboard button on your dashboard.  On the left, you’ll see stats on your most recent campaigns and on the right, you’ll see if anyone unsubscribed from your newsletter and other bits of information about your campaign.

If you click on the number next to the “Open” stat, you can see who opened your newsletter.  If you click on the number next to “Clicks” you can see percentages of clicks on each of your links, but if you scroll down, you can see a Click Map Panel showing percentages on each of your links – which will give you an idea of which of your links drew in the most traffic.  I love this section, and it’s good information to know as you develop your next newsletter, so take a look at it and consider what your analytics mean.

Okay, now you know the basics for Mailchimp.  Obviously, there are more features for you to play with as you get more experienced using it, and if you have a paid account, there are even more!  But this should get you going with fully functional, professional-looking newsletters for marketing your books and other products.  

Now go and make your own newsletters!  Be sure to comment below and let me know how they came out.  And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog via email for more tutorials on how to market your books and other projects and to keep updated on when our books become available!   Just scroll up and look at the right side bar and look for the “Subscribe to this blog via email” header and type in your email and hit subscribe.  Also, follow us on Facebook by clicking the “Like” button and on Twitter by clicking the “Follow” button at the top of the right side bar.

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