Here are some free Facebook page banners. I’ve created the banner with photomanipulation from various free commercial stock resources so you may use them as you like. They are at full size for Facebook so just right-click and save as to your computer then upload to your Facebook page.
I have Grammarly installed on my computer. It calculates how many words I write per week. Since I use this on my work computer (not my writing computer – the two are separate), it’s basically calculating how many words I’m emailing, as that’s the only writing I do on that computer.
Every week, I’m astonished at how many email words I’m producing. And yet, I fail to turn out a single article or blog post. Like. Ever.
Want the stats for the last few weeks?
- 20,970
- 14,091
- 15,119
- 23,489
- And a whopping 32,362
Now, I’m struggling to produce even 7.5K words writing for an hour straight every single day on my work-in-progress, and yet, here I am popping out up to 32,362 words per week just EMAILING PEOPLE!
If you have a desk job, you might be shocked to see your numbers, too. You can download Grammarly. If you do a lot of word processing, don’t enable it for a month and just check your email averages.
In any case, I thought, how can I benefit from this? I know that I reactively respond to emails. I’ve tried setting limits for when I actually check emails. Even with a check system for the day, I still end up with a hefty word count at the end of the week.
Then I realized, I could be capturing some of those words as an article or blog post first draft. How? I thought about the logistics. I checked my email (I’m on GoDaddy), and sure enough, there’s a scheduling function.
My plan became clear. Outline my article’s points, turn those points into questions, email each question at a specific time each day, and once all emails were answered, I’d have a first draft without setting aside any extra time. I’d just answer each email as if it were an email from another person. It would fit into my day seamlessly.
But could it really work?
I set out to try and came up with this system:
Prepping the Subject: (set aside two 10-15 minute time slots to complete this step)
- Choose the Topic you’re writing about (Time slot 1)
- Make a list of sections (an outline) for the post. (Time slot 1)
- Turn each section topic into a question. (ex: if your section is Benefits of Emailing Your Blog Post, write: What are the benefits of emailing my blog post.) Why? Because questions are easy to answer. You’ll get this in your email and your brain immediately processes it into answers, which equals fast and easy writing for you. (Time slot 1)
- Set up emails for each question and schedule them to go out to you twice a day, or once a day. Whatever you KNOW you can handle. (Time slot 2)
It’s time to move on to compiling and completing. This is where the magic happens. If you’re anything like me, answering emails will be compulsive.
Answers:
- As your question emails come in, go ahead and reply to them, writing as if you’re writing to another person. If you need to check on specifics or fact check, just mark with an XX and catch them in the edit.
- Move the replies into an “Articles” folder that you’ve created on your email software
- Make sure you have the title of the article in each subject line for easy compilation later.
Polish:
- Compile the article and edit. Voila! Compiling should just be basic cut and paste. Then read through to connect the dots. Edit and you’re ready to post!
I followed the above steps for the article I had in mind, making sure I set up an end date in my calendar to compile my emails into a completed article.
Did it work? Flawlessly. You can see the end result of my first “emailed article” here.
You can even use this process to edit your work. Just compile your drafted emails into one email and schedule it to go out to yourself at a specific time. Reply with your edit, mark in your subject, edited, and voila – you’re ready to upload it to your site.
Comment below to let me know if you tried it, and how it worked. Or, do you have any little tricks for getting your posts completed? Don’t be shy, share in the comments.
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There’s a secret step, one that you might have skipped, one that no one told you about, that is essential for achieving success in writing. It’s going to sound overly simple but bear with me.
The number one step you must take in order to complete any writing goal is:
Believe you can do it.
Download the above Quote as a Free 8×10 Wall Art Printable: print it. Hang it. Remind yourself every day. Click here to download.
Yes. That’s it. So many times, we set goals for ourselves—say, to write an article a week, or a blog post a week, or finish a novel, and man-oh-freaking-man, we want to achieve that goal, but wanting is not believing.
Somewhere in the back of our minds, lurking around in that naughty subconscious of ours, we whisper, you fool. Who do you think you are? You can’t write. You can’t write a paragraph a day, let alone a whole article. You’ve been trying for years to finish a book and haven’t. What makes you think you’re going to achieve that now? Oh, yeah? Write an article a week? And write a novel? And market your books? And make a living? And pay your mortgage? You. Are. Cray. Cray.
Yeah. We don’t believe it. And it’s the lack of belief that drives our habits. Our daily choices.
Download the above Quote as a Free 8×10 Wall Art Printable: print it. Hang it. Remind yourself every day. Click here to download.
Don’t believe me?
Research has show people “are likely to base their behavior on their own inner beliefs and values—they let their inner thoughts and feelings guide their actions—and they may be particularly likely to strive to succeed on dimensions that allow them to demonstrate their own personal accomplishments (Lalwani et al., 2009).”
So what’s the solution?
It’s easy to say, hey, believe in yourself, buddy. But that’s easier said than done.
That’s why I like to break it down.
First, with myself. I break down the unconscious naysayers.
I pay attention to what I’m thinking and challenge it. If I’m procrastinating on writing that blog post…I ask myself why. Maybe the answer to that is I don’t have the time.
So, I break that down. Is that true? How long does a blog post to my fiction readers need to be? What’s the average word count of a blog post? A quick Google search shows that, for a regular SEO traffic strategy, we’re talking regularly hitting 1000 words a post. However, if you’re just talking about a quick communication to give fans more insight to your writing, regularly posting 500-600 words could suffice.
So, now, I need to ask myself, how long would it take me to write 600 words? I’ve already done the research on that, too. A five-minute email is usually around 300 words. So, in TEN FREAKING MINUTES I could POTENTIALLY write 600 words? Is that true?
OMG. That’s true! So, going back to my NO TIME subconscious mind-f#ck…I feed that information in. Well, mind, I could potentially write 600 words in ten minutes. Stick that down your blah blah blah.
Now, of course, your mind might shout right back: Yeah, but what about GOOD words? What about interesting words? What about entertaining words?
Now, you tackle that untruth. Follow those down the rabbit hole until you can unequivocally say:
I believe I can write a novel.
I believe I can write an article a week.
I believe I can write a 600-word blog post a week.
I believe I can fly…oh, off-topic.
Anyway, in order to succeed at any goal you set, you must first know, without a doubt, without your subconscious mind chiming in with a load of crap, that you can do exactly what you will set out to do.
And the rest is just taking action.
PRO TIP:
Prove it to yourself in increments. If your goal is to write a 600-word blog post a week, then sit down, choose a topic, and write 600 words. How long did that take you? Don’t overthink it. Don’t perfect it. Just see how long it took. Did you complete it? Do you have the time to do that every week? The point is to prove to yourself that you can do it. To really sink into the belief that you have what it takes to complete the goal at hand. Doing it and having success at doing it will build your confidence and belief.
What if you don’t accomplish the task? Then break it down. Ask yourself, what CAN I do instead? Maybe that’s a 250-word blog post. Maybe it’s drawing a cartoon instead of a blog post. Maybe it’s whatever. The point is to break that task into something you can achieve, and by doing that, you’ll be feeding your belief that you can accomplish things. Maybe it didn’t look like what you thought it was going to be when you first conceptualized the goal (I’m going to write a ten-book series!). Instead, you choose to write a novella, or heck, a short story. Choose what you can accomplish and you will build your belief system and confidence in yourself to tackle the bigger goals later.
There’s no shame in choosing what you can achieve. I know there’s that old saying, shoot for the stars, but in this case, you really want to shoot for completion. Shoot for feeling good about doing it, and finishing it, with whatever limitation you’re up against at the moment. Because there’s always that other saying…better done than perfect.
What are your musts for writing success? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
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Have you heard? Our all-new Etsy shop lets you shop for premade covers, lock in your cover art, and download your cover art instantly with a 24-48 hour titles turn around (M-F).
Shop now and get 15% off your premade! Just enter 15OFF at checkout to receive your discount.
Now you can buy our premades on Etsy and get an instant download of art files with a 24-48 hour (M-F) titles turn around. No waiting. Lock in your cover. If it’s available on Etsy, it’s available right now. No emailing back and forth. Shop here.
* Only one coupon per purchase. Good through March 30th, 2019.
Now you can buy our premades on Etsy and get an instant download of art files with a 24-48 hour (M-F) titles turn around. No waiting. Lock in your cover. If it’s available on Etsy, it’s available right now. No emailing back and forth. Shop here.
Another all-in-one bundle:
Your All-In-One includes:
- An Ebook Cover (distribution size)
- Web display size
- Print book (full wrap, back, spine to your printer specifications)
- 3D cover
- Facebook banner (blank, based on your cover design)
$129, REF: 18020 Premade Book Cover Package for Sci Fi, Urban Fantasy, Dystopian
Contact amatthews@amdesignstudios.net to purchase.
This is an all-in-one premade bundle at an amazing price.
Your All-In-One includes:
- An Ebook Cover (distribution size)
- Web display size
- Print book (full wrap, back, spine to your printer specifications)
- 3D cover
- Facebook banner (blank, based on your cover design)
$129, REF: 18019 Premade Book Cover Package for Sci Fi, Urban Fantasy, Dystopian
Contact amatthews@amdesignstudios.net to purchase.
The following premades are all-in-one bundle packages for super savings.
Your All-In-One includes:
- An Ebook Cover (distribution size)
- Web display size
- Print book (full wrap, back, spine to your printer specifications)
- 3D cover
- Facebook banner (blank, based on your cover design)
Contact amatthews@amdesignstudios.net to purchase.
Contact amatthews@amdesignstudios.net to purchase.
Free Holiday Card Preview – scroll down to download the printable PDF.
Once you click subscribe, check your email to confirm your subscription.
Download this illustrated cutie holiday card for free.
No strings attached. Just download and use for your personal use. If you’d like to be notified for more freebies like this, sign up above, but you don’t have to.
As a nod to a new service, coming in 2019, the below card is a children’s style cutie illustration by A. Matthews, the AM in AM Design. I will be offering limited children’s book illustration for clients. More to come, soon, so stay tuned to find out about this new AMD service.
Now, without further ado, here’s the Free Holiday Card!
The PDF download is fitted to 8.5×11 paper with the card sized to 5×7 folded to fit nicely in a standard card envelope. Just print the PDF and cut and fold accordingly, and voila! Instant holiday greetings!
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE HOLIDAY CARD
PLEASE NOTE:
Personal use only. You may print this holiday card as many times as you like and send to friends, family, business colleagues, clients, whoever you like. You may not, however, redistribute, sell, or give away for commercial purposes.
Enjoy! And have a wonderful Holiday Season!
$79 REF:18001 Beautiful Woman in a Poppy Field, Romance Book Covers, Chick Lit, Women’s Fiction, Country Girl Romance, Bohemian Girl Romance Premade Book Cover Bundle
Your All-In-One includes:
- An Ebook Cover (two distribution sizes)
- Web display sizes (two sizes: large and thumbnail)
- Print book (full wrap, back, spine to your printer specifications)
- 3D cover
- Facebook banner (blank, based on your cover design)
Contact amatthews@amdesignstudios.net to purchase.