Posted in event, News, Writing tips

Just one Author

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/publish-and-thrive/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

If you can touch one life, make a difference for one person then you have led a successful life. I am just one author who has benefited from following Sarra Cannon’s Heart Breathing YouTube channel. I fell in love with her honesty, her openness and her willingness to share the bad as well as the good parts of being a published author. As an indie author, we have to be our own boss, manage our own business, do everything from plan the stories to marketing our books and making sure all the bills get paid. It can be overwhelming. That’s why I am so glad Sarra offers her Publish and Thrive Course. As an alumni, I can take the course for free anytime she offers it. The next round begins Monday, February 7th and I’m going to be front and center. Sarra has some new things she wants to share and I am so excited.

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/publish-and-thrive/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

I understand that $399 is a huge investment. Sarra allows students to break the payments down in a couple of ways, $75 a month for 6 months or $38 a month for 12. If you can’t afford to take Publish and Thrive at this time, believe me, I understand. I’ve raised six sons and had to do some creative bookkeeping to make ends meet. Check out Sarra’s YouTube channel https://youtu.be/7vMuLBV-TIU

I have been following Sarra’s YouTube channel for several years. It wasn’t until I met her in person at a Heart of Carolina Writers’ Conference that I got brave enough to take a chance on myself. That is what this investment is, it’s about believing in yourself, your craft and doing whatever you can to be the best you can be. I am so thankful for this program and for the chance to take a refresher. There is so much I need to learn, re-learn, be reminded of, and I’ll be honest with working full time, sometimes I have to make a choice on what I’m focusing on this time. Each time I feel like I’ve gain another piece of the puzzle.

Check out her website https://sarracannon.com/

Sarra has touched so many lives, both readers who enjoy her books and authors who have learned from her courses and channel.

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/publish-and-thrive/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

Posted in Thoughts

So Long 20-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JCJFND6

Happy New Year 2021, Good-Bye 2020

This year has been filled with many ups and downs. While some of you have been forced into quarantine and sought to fill your time with delicious books, I and many others were considered essential employees. For those of us blessed or forced to remain on the job, we’ve had to deal with more regulations and responsibilities. While my job isn’t an important one like being on the frontline nursing the sick, it is still considered essential and I try to do it with respect and grace. Working with the public I filled a role that many people felt was a necessity. For me, the biggest service I felt I could give to my friends and neighbors was a kind word and a caring heart. I have to admit that this year has been exhausting. Between the politics and the virus, family tragedies and dramas, extra responsibilities and expectations at work and in the public, I have been a bit overwhelmed. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has felt the weight of this year.

While we bid good riddance to this year with its many awful moments, I want to take this time to also reflect on the things that were wonderful and special about this year. I have two new grandbabies, twin boys who are healthy and after losing a grandson in May of this year, that is extremely important. I have a new and improved relationship with two of my sons and their families.

I have never been one to put myself out there, but due to Covid19 and having to do more online, I have started volunteering. I attended the RWA (Romance Writers of America) National conference and even hosted an online chat room. I have been able to attend the Heart of Carolina RWA meetings regularly and I’ve even accepted a position of leadership with the group. Our local writers’ group, the Pamlico Writers is still struggling to stay afloat during this time. Only a small handful of members attend the monthly Zoom meetings.

This year has been a struggle for so many. I know that I and my family have been blessed. My father-in-law has been the only one to truly suffer from the virus. He spent two weeks in the hospital but is thankfully well. Most of the family has kept working in one capacity or another. There have been a few struggles, some days it seems it is two steps forward and three back but with the grace of God and the help of family and friends, we are managing.

I know for many this year has been so much worse. Many have been trapped in their homes due to health concerns and regulations. Many have lost jobs, struggled financially, lost businesses and homes. Many have buried loved ones.  Our schools and small businesses have felt the greatest burden, trying to navigate a new world with new needs. Living in rural America where we are half-quarantined already has given us a bit of freedom people in larger communities haven’t had.

This year has been stressful on many levels. I only published two of the three books I’d planned. I’m hoping 2021 will be a more productive year. I have devoted more time to marketing and learning about marketing. I’ve come to realize that there are only so many hours in a day and I can only do so much within those bounds. If you haven’t taken Sarra Cannon’s HB90 course and you are a small business owner, especially an indie author, I suggest you take it the next time she offers it. It helps you understand how much time you really have and how to use it. I would also suggest her YouTube channel Heartbreathings, and her Publish and Thrive course. Sarra’s YouTube channel helped me through much of this year. Her uplifting spirit and honest approach to problems made me feel as if I too could be a best-selling author.

I’m ending this blog with some highlights from my year on my website and will follow it soon with my 2020 book list and highlights from my Creekside Café Author interviews.

Happy New Year!

HB90 w/ Sarra Cannon

https://wordpress.com/post/sherrilhollister.com/3411

Posted in Uncategorized

I’m a Proud Affiliate of HB90

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/hb90-bootcamp/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

I’m a proud affiliate of Sarra Cannon’s HB90 course!

Many of you know how much I love Sarra Cannon’s YouTube videos. I met Sarra at a Heart of Carolina Writers’ Conference. I had heard of her from my fellow HCRW members who remembered when she lived in North Carolina and was a member. Sadly she had left the area before I became a member or at least before I began knowing my fellow members. The group talked of Sarra’s Heart Breathings channel on YouTube as well as her books, her Publish and Thrive course and her HB90 Bootcamp.

Sarra has an uplifting spirit which is a balm to many a weary and overwhelmed writer. I listen to her YouTube videos over and over because they give me courage and guidance. She sooths my worries with her insight and candor. Sarra doesn’t mind sharing her own mistakes or weaknesses, she allows us to see the real her.

Her HB90 course is a combination of things she’s learned from trial and error, as well as things she has learned from other authors, planners and other business people. She has taken everything and condensed it into an easy to learn program designed to help writers and other entrepreneurs succeed by planning.

Before you say “I’m not a planner,” you should know, I’m not either. Sarra’s HB90 course changed how I think about planning. Being able to plan in bite-sized pieces just what you can actually accomplish within 90 days had done so much to keep me from getting overwhelmed, even with battling the extra crazy year that has been Covid 19 2020.

Sarra has expanded the course from 3 days to a full 7-day course to give people more time to get through each assignment and to give more support along the way! Sarra has a Facebook group for her HB90 students and one for her alumni. Another great thing about taking Sarra’s course is being able to audit the class whenever it’s offered for a refresher. I know I need to go back and relearn a few things, as I said, I’m not a planner.

If you sign up for the HB90 course using my affiliate link I’ll get a commission and I’ll receive a free Q1 Planner designed by Sarra.

There is also a bonus for the person with the most enrollments. I’m saving up to have my books put on audio.

My Affiliate Link: https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/hb90-bootcamp/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

Course Information: Enrollment is open now, so feel free to share!

Course Dates: Sunday, December 13th-19th with one live call on the 13th via Facebook. There is no closing call for the current course.

Enrollment will close Midnight EST on December 12th.

Thank y’all for sharing my affiliate HB90 link. I believe in Sarra’s program but if you can’t afford to take her course at this time, check out her Heart Breathing channel on YouTube. She is an awesome source for writers and indie authors.

And if you just want to feel good, check out Sarra Cannon on YouTube and see what she’s been up to during quarantine. She has been reading her books and sharing her life, trying to make things a little better for us during this pandemic. It is her love and generosity that has made me so passionate.

https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/hb90-bootcamp/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

Posted in quarterly goals, Thoughts

My Pep Talk to Myself

The emotional ups and downs of being an author don’t always follow the pattern of our books’ success and failure. Too often, it is the low that comes after a super high, only to plummet back to reality.

As I look back at the month of August and what I’ve accomplished and haven’t accomplished, I find myself fighting melancholy. Why? A two-star review on Goodreads for Janie’s Secrets, not making the finals in Kindle Book Review Awards for Red Steel, feeling like I don’t have the time to do everything I need to do or want to do. I worked very hard to write a novella for the Heart of Carolina’s upcoming anthology only to realize I didn’t have time to finish it. Failure is crushing even when it is self-inflicted failure.

But I should be doing somersaults after all I have accomplished this month. Chrome Pink made it into the Amazon Top 100 Kindle Free Books. It finished #34 on Sunday, August 30th after a Free Booksy Ad. It also reached #3 in Romantic Suspense and #4 in Suspense. Over 2000 books were down loaded on Sunday and that doesn’t even count the books I sold or the ones down loaded on other sites. I should be sailing in the clouds but I allowed a bad review, not even a really bad review but a 2-star rating, crush me. Why? Because I’m human. I can tell you I’m tired, I put my heart into my stories, they’re like my children, I want people to like me/them. The truth is not everyone is going to like my stories. Not everyone is going to like me.

I’m not alone in my emotional roller coaster, many authors, especially indie authors feel the same way I do. Author Sarra Cannon, whom I follow on YouTube with her Heart Breathing Channel and whose courses, Publish and Thrive and her HB90 changed my life, speaks of mental health and well-being in her videos. We often put too much on our plates and expect to be able to perform well, but like the juggler with his chainsaws that last addition can be catastrophic.

In Sarra’s HB90 course she talks of planning quarterly, 90-day increments and even breaking those down into monthly expectations. Sitting down with a planner, thinking of what I have to do, want to do and need to do. How much time things will take and how much time I will actually have to devote to the tasks amid life, work and family. Allowing time to sleep, eat and maybe even cuddle with my husband.

I really have no reason to feel down. I know much of what I’m feeling stems from fear, exhaustion and coming off the high of other successes. For those of you who fear this might be a whining session and wish to tune out, it’s not, this is my pep talk to myself and to anyone else who is happy when they see one sale a day or are thrilled when their free book gets 100 downloads. I keep telling myself I’ve only been published three years. I have six books, seven if you count my trilogy of the first three books I just released, plus I have novellas in several anthologies. I’ve come a long way in a short time. Even though I’ve been writing for over forty years, I’ve only started writing to publish in the past fifteen years with a couple of years off after losing our house and my father. We had a couple of really rough years.

So, what do I have to whine about? Nothing. I should be celebrating. I have had over 300 new subscribers to my newsletter, that is both exciting and terrifying. I thought, how can I keep these people interested? What hoops will I have to jump through to keep them? But then I thought of the ones who have been with me all along the way. My steadfast friends who read everything I write good and bad, who offer opinions and assistance, and I realized, I just need to be real. I just need to be me. Yes, I’ll lose some people but that’s okay. Some will come for the free book, some will stay a while and go, others will be here for the duration. I just need to be the best me I can be for that is all I can be. That’s all any of us can be.

I know putting my books out into the world for other people to read means some won’t like it, but some will. Channeling Sarra Cannon again, I’m going to write from my place of joy. I’m going to write the books that I feel compelled to write and hope they will appeal to readers. It is time to get back to work on Roxy’s Secret.

For those of you who received my newsletter, I sent the first few pages of the novella I was writing for the Heart of Carolina anthology. I didn’t get to finish it and I’m starting to think it might be a full-length novel. I think I might try a stand-alone novel once Roxy is wrapped up. Maybe I can tie it into my other stories. I’ll have to think about it.

My goals for August: Promote Janie’s Secrets, I’m still working on it. Start Roxy’s Betrayal, I’ve started but I’ve not made the progress I’d hoped. Increase Newsletter subscriptions, okay this has tripled thanks to Bookfunnel. Janie is free in a Bookfunnel promo this month, https://books.bookfunnel.com/weloveromancegiveaway/ao2jdazxop.

Janie’s Secret is also in a Cover of the Month contest on All Author, https://allauthor.com/cover-of-the-month/9385/  I’d appreciate your vote.

Janie’s Secrets is also in a Book Tour on Instagram and Facebook, through September 6th. I’d appreciate your support.

I still need to learn more about Publisher’s Rocket but I’m tackling it in small bites.

One other thing I accomplished this month I’ve been wanting to do for a while was to combine the first three books of the Leeward Files into one book. It’s only on sale for a little while longer.

I haven’t even planned what I’m going to try to accomplish in September but we’re going to do some great things: #1 write Roxy’s Betrayal. I’ll figure out the rest but that’s the most important.

I hope my whine, rant, pep talk has helped someone else. The truth is some days this is my dream job and other days it’s a nightmare. Sometimes it’s all on the same day.

Posted in event

Sarra Cannon’s HB90 Bootcamp

Many of you know I recently took Sarra Cannon’s Publish and Thrive course followed by her HB90 program. I have talked a lot about how much I love Sarra’s YouTube videos but they are only a small part of what she offers in her course study.

Sarra is getting ready to offer her HB90 program again. It starts Sunday, June 14th and goes through June 20th. This started out as a three-day program but Sarra expanded it to seven days. I took the seven day course and honestly, there is so much to learn, she may have to expand the program again.

One of the great things about signing up for Sarra’s courses is being part of her family. She has not only her YouTube videos for Heart Breathings but she has started doing live programs three days a week where she reads some of her work, answers questions or just offers a respite from life. This has been especially uplifting during this time of Covid-19. Sara also has Private Facebook groups that are specific to her HB90 and her Publish and Thrive courses. These are set up to help students help each other as well as for Sarra to continue to stay connected with her former students. It has become a big family of writers who support and encourage each other. If that isn’t enough, you, as an alumni of Sarra’s courses are invited to attend each time she offers the classes allowing you to take a refresher course for free, be updated on the newest, most relevant information and have another dose of Sarra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9uO6gTjuq8

Sarra is the most uplifting and inspiring person you will meet. She shares her struggles and allows you to see inside to the person behind her stories and business. She makes you, the entrepreneur, feel that you matter and with hard work all things are possible.

Who is HB90 for? Anyone who needs to learn to take things one day at a time. Sarra teaches us to accomplish our goals in 90-day increments. She gives us tools to help us stay focused on the tasks we want to accomplish. The HB90 is a quarterly approach to goal setting that is broken down into bite-sized pieces.

My HB90 Board

If you are like me and want to do everything RIGHT NOW but know you can’t, this program will help you learn how to prioritize your goals, set the tasks to accomplish them and how to deal with it if you do not. Sarra isn’t about beating yourself up, she wants you to succeed and teaches you how to find what works best for YOU.

You can enroll using my affiliate link.

My Affiliate Link:  https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/hb90-bootcamp/?affcode=145068_lea8l-18

The course is open for enrollment now, the cost is $199.

Course Information: Enrollment is open now, so feel free to start sharing!

Course Dates This Round:

Sunday, June 14th through June 20th with only one live call on the 15th.

There is no closing call for the current course.

photoSarra Cannon
Heart Breathings, Make Money Writing What You Lovesarra@heartbreathings.comwww.heartbreathings.com
Posted in inspiration, Thoughts, writing inspiration

Preparing for NaNoWriMo As a Pantser

I have searched the web for programs, YouTube videos, blog posts, and webinars to help me get ready for NaNoWriMo. The one thing I’ve noticed is they are not geared to pantsers. I know, I know, if I’m a pantser how can I “get ready” for NaNo? Well, when I was preparing for my very first NaNoWriMo in 2015 I knew I had to have some information at my fingertips, or I’d waste precious writing time trying to figure things out.

Over the years, before publishing my first novel, I took several online classes, attended several programs and presentations and even bought books to learn how to write better, faster, how to plot, outline, use a graph, or a chart or a Ouiji board. Okay, I didn’t use the Ouiji board but I’ve tried several different methods of planning my novels in advance and I find it difficult and disheartening that I cannot do it. I often do not know what my characters will do until I’m in the middle of the action. Sometimes I add a character in the middle of the story and have to go back to the beginning and show that he was there all along. So how can someone like me prepare for NaNoWriMo?

There is no one way to write a novel. In fact, there are probably as many ways to write a novel as there are people who write them. For me, I found that by combining different techniques and ideas, I could develop my own plan. I don’t plot but I plan my novel. So, here’s what I know before I start to write.

Genre: suspense thriller with strong romantic elements, I have to have a love interest.

Main Characters:

Hero: the main male character, in this particular story he is the main POV character.

Heroine: the main female character, love interest and second POV character.

Villain or anti-hero: this is the 3rd POV character and he is sort of the bad guy but thinks he’s the hero.

Cast of secondary characters:

This is a series so some of my past characters will be in this novel. How many, and who is still undetermined, but I can assume that the hero’s sister, the owner of the café where they all hang out, the Police Chief, and the SBI agent, and more than likely, the hero’s father will all have scenes. I’m also assuming the heroine’s sister will make an appearance as she has had brief parts in prior stories and will be the heroine in the next book. I may also introduce some of her other family members. All of these are easily referenced in my Series Bible. But for easy access during NaNoWriMo I’ll be implementing another plan. If you are interested stay tuned for the second part of this story.

Major Plot Details:

I know a few major plot details, for example I know why the fires are being set, I know who is setting them. I don’t yet know what I’m planning to burn or blow up, but I’ve got a couple of ideas.

I know the love interest, I’m not sure how they’re going to get from being antagonists to being in bed together, but half the fun is figuring it out.

I know one person who is going to die. I really enjoy planning my murders, sometimes I scare myself. I just never knew I had this inside of me. I blame it on the children. After six sons you stop thinking about romance and start considering murder.

Scenes:

I don’t have a lot of scenes planned but a couple are already in my head. Some are vague and others are quite vibrant. As I am planning my novel for NaNoWriMo, I write down these scenes, but I may or may not use them.

For now, all the planning is in my head but in order to get things straight and be prepared for NaNo, I’ll need to do something with this information. The question is, what way is best for you? If you haven’t checked out some of the YouTube NaNo Prep videos, check out #HeartBreathings, #WritersLifeWednesdays, Alexa Donne’s NaNoWriMo Tips for Newbies.