Maybe this will interest you; maybe not. However, my daughter Stephanie posted this on her blog on December 3, 2013, and I thought it so interesting that I wanted to share it.

You might not need this tool right now, but at some point, you might. So here's her post. Hope you will find it useful!

Tuesday Tools: Word2Kindle
-By Stephanie McKibben
Upfront honesty...I have purchased ($27) this tool, but I have yet to use it.

I just thought I might pass along the info in case this is something you might be interested in.  What it is: a formatter for kindle.

Now, understand, I'm a word aficionado. Inputting my authors' Word document into Kindle doesn't scare me. I am the rare case of Word user that understands the messy language of .doc files. I have zero problem navigating my author's manuscripts and turning them into Kindle-ready files.

My technique is with ease of cutting roses. Yes, there are some thorns, and I get caught in them sometimes, but mostly, I enjoy the intricate pedals of Microsoft Word.

You? Maybe not so much.

Which is why I'm directing you to Kinstant Formatter for this Tuesday's Tools. 

Here is the lowdown directly from their site:

Here’s what you get with Kinstant Formatter: Get your books uploaded in just a few moments…

1. No software to download or understand…. this is a web-based tool that works on PCs AND Macs…

2. Future-proof all of your books… do the work ONCE and only ONLY… because KinstantFormatter is using the ONLY tool Amazon has promised will work indefinitely…

3. Publish your books in any language (We have happy users publishing in Spanish, French, and Greek so far…)

4. Upload many file types – we support doc, docx and odt.

5. Make this VERY easy for your readers. This eliminates page breaking on black and white Kindles, makes bullets look GOOD, adds links in the Kindle’s “Go to…” menu for the cover, table of contents and NCX (location map), respects left indentations in your source documents, and respects and exists bookmarks “toc” & “start” from previous attempts to use KDP.

6. Upload images with no problem. Books with a few illustrative images – that are not overlapped – look GREAT… (Though fair warning: Image-based or fixed layout books are NOT our specialty).

Images are automatically resized, optimized and compressed to ensure the lowest file size possible. (This is important as your file size can have a huge impact on royalties.)

We also add a white background to transparent images so that they look as great as possible.

7. Your readers’ first impression, the Table Of Contents, is created in a breeze…. (with up to THREE levels per T.O.C.!)

8. Create placeholder covers which can be updated at any time…

9. Receive premium support -KinstantFormatter is well known for a high level of customer service that you simply cannot get from the open source stuff out there…

10.  Keep your books a secret. As soon as you upload your file, it’s deleted by the server. We’ll never see what you create.

You might be asking me Steph...if you're a word wiz, why'd you buy it? And, I'd have to answer: Because correcting some formatting issues can be very time- consuming, and in the future I may not be the one formatting my author's books. My VA might be doing it. Good to have the tool now and learn how to use it.

Again, if $27 is too much and you want to fight the good fight with Word, no worries! It's just an option. 

ACTION ITEM: If it sounds good, go on over to http://kinstantformatter.com/ and check it out!

That's a good tip for all of us writers out there! Thanks, Stephanie!

Til next time!
Carol

Best-selling author Jonathan Gunson sent me that question this morning. He wrote:

"Think about it.  Do you write for money?  For fame?  Maybe you have something vital to say, or is your writing simply an inexplicable obsession?  

"The answer to this question, the WHY that lies beneath our writing, holds so much intrigue that I (Jonathan)  ran a poll on Facebook and Twitter asking authors the same simple question, Why do you write?”

My response: "I write because I have to. Because I love it. It is liberating and exhilarating and lets me pour out all the "stories" that have built up in me over many years. For a long time, I didn't have the luxury. Thanks to a wonderful husband and some pretty great clients who let me work from home and schedule my own time, I do have that luxury now. And, if I could pick anything else to do, I wouldn't! This is it."

There were over 100 responses to Jonathan's survey.  Many of them were highly revealing, so Jonathan listed some of them for me.  He urged me and others to share, so click here to read them!

And, while you are at it, please tell me why YOU write.  Leave me a comment. Jonathan and I are interested to know your thoughts, even if it is simply an ‘inexplicable obsession’.

Til next time!
Carol

Tom Clancy died yesterday (October 1, 2013). His complex, adrenaline-fueled military novels made him one of the world’s best-selling authors. I was a fan. From his debut novel, The Hunt for Red October, to his last published novel, Threat Vector, he invented the true espionage thrilled loaded with technical details about weaponry, submarines and intelligence agencies. And, the details about Soviet submarines, weaponry, satellites and fighter planes created questions from high-ranking members of the military wondering if he had inside knowledge. When he met Navy Secretary John Lehman in 1985, he was asked who had cleared him for access!

Clancy always insisted that no one had ever given him inside knowledge but that his insight was taken from technical manuals, books on military matters and interviews with submarine experts. Yes, he visited military leaders but never asked for classified information. This was a writer whose work was rooted in astute research. Not able to join the military as he had wished because of poor eyesight, he was self-taught.

Clancy’s books attracted Hollywood and became blockbusters. Some were turned into video games that were so realistic that the military licensed them for training purposes.

Was he an overnight sensation? No way. He sold insurance until he sold The Hunt for Red October for only $5,000 to the Naval Institute Press in Annapolis. And, his editor there had a hard time persuading her boss to read it. He was an unknown, you know. Because it had so many technical details, she had him cut it – which he did to the tune of 100 pages. In addition to his precise detail, Clancy’s storytelling ability and the sharp wit of his characters’ dialogue made everyone sit up and take notice. It became a huge best-seller. And, he was off to the races.

Did writing come easy to him? Does it come easy to anyone? He once said: “You learn to write the same way you learn to play golf. You do it, and keep doing it until you get it right. A lot of people think something mystical happens to you, that maybe the muse kisses you on the ear. But writing isn’t divinely inspired — it’s hard work.”

And there you have it, my friends. Writing is a labor of love. One that must be practiced over and over. It reminds me of working to maintain a relationship. It doesn’t just happen. It is created and nurtured.

Rest well, Mr. Clancy. You are one of the greats.

Til next time.

Carol

How Do I Begin to Write a Book?

One might consider me strange, but my ideas come to me in dreams or in messages from other people. The premise for Luke’s Tale came to me in a dream about a year after I wrote my first book. Around that time, I went for a psychic reading for my birthday. I told the psychic nothing about myself…yet; she told me that the angels around me, my guardians, were urging me to write a book about unconditional love. This freaked me out! Then, afterward, I had the original dream again. So, I really had no choice in the matter.

On top of everything, my yellow lab Luke is/was my hero. He was a therapy dog and so dedicated to me. When he was six, he was diagnosed with Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) for which there is no cure. Complete blindness was the result. Even after that, he continued to bravely go everywhere with me, gently feeling his way with his paws and sticking to me like Velcro. He continued his therapy dogging long after he went blind and brought joy to hundreds of hospital and nursing home patients. He was my inspiration. I made him the narrator of Luke’s Tale, because the book’s message is unconditional love. What other creature except a dog exemplifies unconditional love?

The book I am currently writing, entitled Snow Blood, came to me as the result of a dog named Snow that I had fostered and placed in his forever home, along with a conversation I had with my daughter about vampires. We both love vampire stories…and contrived this one together.

  How Do my Ideas for Materials Develop?

This will make readers laugh, but it’s true. William Faulkner said it best: “It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.” For me, that’s the way it works. Once I know my characters, they come alive and are a life of their own. They move through the story and fall out of my mind onto the page.

  How long does it take to write a book?

Riding Through It, my first book, took several years. My second book, Luke’s Tale, took just a little over a year. I think I should be able to finish Snow Blood, within six months. I am making progress!

Where do you find the time to write?

I am a working writer. By that, I mean I have other authors with whom I work to develop their stories as well as corporate clients for whom I write everything under the sun. So, writing for myself occurs after work and on weekends.

Do you have a desk? An Office?

I definitely have a desk and a formal office. But, the office is littered with the sleeping bodies of my two dogs, so it’s not normal by any means! All one can hear is their soft snoring and the clacking of my fingers on my computer. Wait! Does that mean I’ve bored them to death? Let’s hope not!

Here’s a final thought. We all have great stories within us, but some of us have no other choice but to write them. It’s part of breathing for us. The things that we experience, feel and think compel us to write. For me, there’s no other way.

Papa Hemingway's advice for professional writers was to put pen to paper every day. If you want to make a living from it, you need to find your niche and pursue it with a vengeance.

What does that mean? Whether you choose to be a creative author, a copywriter or a B2B professional...or anything in-between, it's imperative that you take the approach of a trained athlete. That means a daily workout and training. In the case of a writer, it means practicing and perfecting your skills on a continuous basis. Trust me, you'll never be too old to learn something new every day.

Additionally, join writing groups, communicate with other writers, and share ideas. Critique the writing of others. You'll be amazed at what you can learn from the mistakes of others...and how it will sharpen your own skills.

Don't be afraid to take non-traditional routes to get your work read. I've gone with both the traditional and self-publishing routes, and now I've signed with Troll River Publications to try my hand at ePublishing. That's something new for me, but one about which I'm truly jazzed.

Finally, always, always put your work in the hands of a talented editor. That might sound self-serving, But it doesn't matter what editor as long as he/she is honest, talented and creative. Every talented person needs a coach, a trainer, if you will.

And, write like your life depended on it...because, if you're a writer, it does.