Blog Archives

Hans Zimmer and John Williams

1/29/2015

These composers are so amazing!

Hans Zimmer's music is like rich dark chocolate, the kind that you can pour over everything to make it taste better.

On the other hand, John Williams is like this wonderful ray of sunshine that falls from the very heavens to infuse you and your skin with energizing vitamin D or whatever vitamin it is that you get from the sun...

Anywayz this video is all about how different their styles are and yet, they're both inspiring.

No real point here, just talking. If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments!

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What Not to Do When You Self-Publish

1/22/2015

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About 3 years ago, I self-published a book and it was a fun process but I did so many things wrong that technically it was a failure. Even though it was a failure in that I didn't garner many readers, I'm really glad I did it because IT WAS FUN : )

Writing the stories, shooting the book trailer, and even advertising was crazy fun. But still, you do kind of want people to actually read your work.

So, in the video below I'll tell you what I did wrong and hopefully you can avoid making my mistakes. And if you want to skip my rather long-winded video, here are some of the tips really quickly:

1. Instead of thinking, "But I don't need critique partners (CP's) or an editor, I got this!" realize that you don't got it.

Search for CP's to read your work and then hire an editor if you can afford to.

Turning up one's nose at CP's and Editors is a very bad idea. Every self-published book needs an editor & CP's are great to have on hand too!

2. Instead of budgeting for just one week of book promotion, think long-term advertising/promoting.

Save for long-term book promo. You'll want to actively promote your book for at least 6 months.

3. Instead of pricing your book at $50, price it at say $5.99 or maybe even $2.99...

Price your book expensively & this may win you a feature in Goop, but Gwyneth will be the only person on the planet who can afford to purchase it.

4. Instead of rushing through each step of the sometimes messy self publishing process, enjoy it!

During the self-publishing process you may find yourself an ABSOLUTE MESS. But just like this baby loves chocolate & doesn't mind being covered in it, we love writing, right? If writing is our mess, we deserve to at least enjoy the adventure of being temporarily consumed by it : )

That's all! And if you have any other tips on self-publishing, please leave them below because I'm sure they'll come in handy not only to me but to anyone else who happens to stumble on this post.

Thanks for stopping by! : )

-Paula

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How to Dork!

1/15/2015

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Being a dork is an exciting and wondrous lifestyle! Okay...maybe not "wondrous" but it is fairly entertaining : )
If you've never been a dork, here are 6 simple ways that you can give it a try!

1. Have bad hearing and refuse to ask people to repeat themselves, just laugh at whatever they say!

2. Engage in excessive eye contact, especially with your Lady Doctor and especially if he's a guy!

3. Embrace your tendency to forget that your mouth is not where your nose and/or eyes are located and eat like no one is watching!

4. Fall down and/or walk into a door at least once a day!

5. Challengingly declare to everyone you meet that you consider Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of weird!

6. Make awkward YouTube videos of yourself rambling about subjects that have no real point and then share them on your Facebook Page!

In the video below, a life of extreme awkwardness is discussed in rambling detail.

Well, that's all I've got for today.

Hope you have a great week!!!

And if I missed another way in which one can successfully "dork" please let me know in a comment below ; )

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Confidence: Fake it Until You Make It?

1/8/2015

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When it comes to confidence, I've heard a lot of people say you should pretend to be confident even if you aren't and then eventually you'll become confident. I don't know if that's true so I made this video with a slightly differnt view on the subject. Anyways, what do YOU think?

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We're All the Same

1/7/2015

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We have a lot in common with cats and dogs and also I can't draw...

We both like to give loved ones gifts of dead things we've killed

We both strive to make our mark on this world before we go.

We both have trouble deciding things

What this made me think about...

I spend a lot of time, probably too much time, thinking about the way we perceive each other.
Living here in Louisiana, I've noticed that a lot of times when I'm at the store or whatever people who are the same skin color as I am will acknowledge me with a friendly smile. I like being acknowledged, it makes me feel accepted. On the other hand, a lot of these same individuals will ignore those who are not the same color as the two of us. That makes me very sad and kind of ashamed of humanity.

It also forces me to consider my own view of people. Whose my "tribe"? When I'm out and about and I see someone who shares my ethnicity, I don't automatically consider them a part of my "tribe". If, however, I see someone accidentally walk into a glass door or say, trip and fall for no apparent reason my eyes light up and I see a new friend. I'm not even joking, I'm completely serious. Awkwardness is my tribe, it's what I relate to.

This being said, I also feel that cat and dogs with all of their weird eccentricities are a part of my tribe. The way cat's beg you to open the door for them and then once it's opened they can't decide if they're going to go out or stay in. I'm completely like that with the refrigerator. Also, dogs with peeing on everything- I don't actually pee on stuff but I like to mark my territory in the world. Like, in high school I used to write random poems on sticky notes and drop them in the halls, post them on the bathroom stall walls, slip them in random people's lockers just cuz.

I'm getting a little off topic here, but really my point was that if we can share traits in common with cats and dogs then I think we should be able to look beyond the color of someone's skin to see what we have in common with them and realize that we're all a part of one giant tribe.

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Hans Zimmer and John Williams

What Not to Do When You Self-Publish

1. Instead of thinking, "But I don't need critique partners (CP's) or an editor, I got this!" realize that you don't got it.

Search for CP's to read your work and then hire an editor if you can afford to.

2. Instead of budgeting for just one week of book promotion, think long-term advertising/promoting.

3. Instead of pricing your book at $50, price it at say $5.99 or maybe even $2.99...

4. Instead of rushing through each step of the sometimes messy self publishing process, enjoy it!

How to Dork!

Confidence: Fake it Until You Make It?

We're All the Same

What this made me think about...

Paula L. Harvey

Paula's Fav Books

Archives

Categories

Hans Zimmer and John Williams

What Not to Do When You Self-Publish

1. Instead of thinking, "But I don't need critique partners (CP's) or an editor, I got this!" realize that you don't got it. Search for CP's to read your work and then hire an editor if you can afford to.

2. Instead of budgeting for just one week of book promotion, think long-term advertising/promoting.

3. Instead of pricing your book at $50, price it at say $5.99 or maybe even $2.99...

4. Instead of rushing through each step of the sometimes messy self publishing process, enjoy it!

How to Dork!

Confidence: Fake it Until You Make It?

We're All the Same

What this made me think about...

Paula L. Harvey

Paula's Fav Books

Archives

Categories

1. Instead of thinking, "But I don't need critique partners (CP's) or an editor, I got this!" realize that you don't got it.

Search for CP's to read your work and then hire an editor if you can afford to.