The Black Screen of Death

Last month I wrote a post about how my Mac Book Pro hadn't been working properly and had to go to the Apple store for repairs, so I was offline for a few days while it was done. You can re-read the post at https://writeaholic-inspiration.blogspot.com/2019/01/off-line-and-not-writing.html.

Anyway, my computer hasn't really been the same since, despite the guys at the store telling me that my operating system was corrupted and they had to reinstall it, which they assured me would solve the problem.

But my computer was still acting up intermitently with freezing, not being able to connect to the internet, and then, eventually, yesterday, I got the Black Screen of Death.

What happened was that I was happily using my computer and it was actually behaving well. Then I closed it, had some lunch, opened it again and the keyboard immediately lit up but the screen stayed black.

Nothing to see but a big, black screen.

I Googled the hell out of it (using my iPhone) and followed all the instructions of how to cure it, but nothing happened.

So eventually I had to give in and take it to the computer store where it still lies.

I was also super annoyed because yesterday was an extremely hot and sunny day (36 degrees, or for those not on the metric system, 96.8 degrees) plus it was SO humid that I could feel the sweat trickling down my back as I walked the 15 minute journey and when I got to the shop and took my computer out of my bag, it felt really hot too.

At the moment I'm using my writing computer which is a Mac Book Air. I keep this one separate and it has no automatic logins to my accounts and I don't use email on it either. It's just a plain old computer that I use for typing.

I usually keep it so plain and boring for two reasons. One is so that I'm not distracted by anything on it like emails, and two, because it's the computer I use when I'm away from home, at the park or in the library, and if it ever got stolen, there's nothing personal or private on it. Whenever I write, I save the documents to a flash drive and delete them from this computer.

But sadly, I've had to log in to my blog account to write this post (plus others I'm getting ready to go), but once I've finished, I'll sign out and go back to using it as a glorified Word Processor like I usually do.

And hopefully my main computer will be back again soon.

Thankfully, I'd just done a complete back up of it the day before so at least I know I haven't lost any files.

I back my computer up every few days (or every day if I'm writing a book) and I hope you do too because your hard work can never be replaced once it's lost.

Unlike a computer.

I'm just hoping that my computer's Black Screen of Death isn't as fatal as it sounds.

Email Bitcoin Hacker

Last week I received an email from a supposed hacker who wanted me to send him/her money in Bitcoin... or else!

The "or else" was that if I didn't send them thousands in Bitcoin within 48 hours they would expose my online viewing habits.

They said that they had hacked my online accounts and had recorded me watching hours of online p*rn and if I didn't pay them the money they wanted then they would send the recordings of my online activities to all my contacts and my family.

So I've written about it over at my website and included the whole threatening email in the hopes that it will help anyone else who might receive (or has received) an email like this.

I could tell it was fake straight away because I never watch online p*orn or any other type. That sort of thing does not float my boat at all.

Go over now and read all about it and see the whole sorry email in its entirety.
https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2019/email-hacker.html

Dishonesty Sucks

If there’s one thing that you really need in your writing, it’s honesty.

It’s important to be honest about who you are.

It’s also equally important to be honest about the subject you write about.

I saw a writing course last week about how to write novels quickly. But a fast Google search showed me that the person who wrote the course only had one romance novel (self) published and it didn’t look popular. So she was being dishonest about knowing how to write lots of novels and make lots of money as she was claiming to have done.

It reminded me of an incident that happened a couple of years ago when a driver stopped their car on a blind bend, which caused my daughter to run into the back of them.

The woman whose car she hit was claiming that there was thousands of dollars worth of damage to her car, even though the bump was only a bit of a tow-bar tap and her car looked fine.

She said her rear door was damaged, her bumper bar was split, and that there was interior damage to her car as well, and she went on to provided quotes for all the replacement parts.

We refused to give her any money so she took all three of us to court (my husband and I owned the car our daughter was driving so we got dragged into it too) but because the woman only had quotes for replacement parts and no proof of damage, her case was dismissed. And she was livid. It had cost her a lot of time and hundreds of dollars to bring the case to court. She was so angry that the security guard had to keep her there while we exited the courthouse first and they made sure we were out of sight before she was allowed out.

But her financial loss and humiliation was her own fault for being dishonest.

In life and in business it’s better to be honest because people aren’t stupid, and if they are then you don’t want them as customers.

Just be yourself, be honest in all you so and all you write, and it will help you to write better and earn more money.

http://ruthiswriting.com/books/7day.html

Not Your Mum. Not Your Milk

Last week, after going to the cinema, I was looking around for a good place to eat, and I stumbled across a place called No Moo Burgers.

It was a completely vegan cafe that had a huge range of burgers, so I went in for a healthy meal.

While I was sitting and enjoying my food (which was really delicious) I was looking around the place and noted that they really had a strong brand which was evident in everything around me.

For a start, the place was called No Moo Burgers which immediately told me that their burgers contained nothing from a cow.

The staff were wearing T-shirts which loudly proclaimed, Not Your Mum. Not Your Milk.

And every bit of writing on the menus, the walls and the front of the counter, was all about plant-based food, healthy diets and saving the planet.

They really had a strong brand and knew exactly what they stood for.

And as I ate I thought about how so many writers fail because they don’t know what their brand is.

They ‘wander' aimlessly not knowing what kind of a writer they want to be, so end up not doing much writing.

So what should they do?

The answer is to try a bit of every kind of writing to see what ‘floats their boat.’

If this is you, try it too. Try everything including freelancing, blogging, client work, books, ebooks, fiction, and non-fiction. 

One of them is bound to create a “Hell yeah!” moment.

And once you know what you want to write, just like No Moo Burgers, build your business around your best writing.

https://ruthiswriting.com/links/quickcash.html

Read my latest article about building a strong work ethic at 

https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2019/freddy-mercury.html

Why I've Been So Slack At Writing

It's now January 2019.

Last year (and the year before that if I'm completely honest) I didn't do much writing at all. At least not compared to how much I usually do.

There were multiple reasons including being continually harassed and threatened with legal action for months on end by Loren Piel, my father being ill for a year and then passing away, the deaths of two other family members, my daughter and her fiance moving and needing our help with setting up their first house, dealing with builders and the huge renovations being done at our house that has been going on for the last 2 years (that only finished less than two weeks ago and we're really not satisfied with their work so they'll have to come back) and my husband taking early retirement two years ago which completely threw my daily/weekly routine into chaos for a while as he settled into his new life at home and as we both tried to deal with builders, electricians, painters, plumbers, architects, engineers and building certifiers.

So, all in all, it's been pretty chaotic around here.

Oh, and another thing, we have a family that has come to rent our apartment/granny-flat downstairs for a couple of months, so we have been preparing that too as it had no furniture or kitchen equipment or anything so we've had to go and buy and organise that at the same time, including making curtains because the windows are odd sizes so we couldn't buy them off-the-shelf.

Anyhoo...as you can imagine, it's all been taking a toll on my time and attention.

Although, through it all, I did manage to publish my latest romance novel, Two Weeks In Corfu, which is now available online and can also be ordered through any bookshop/library because it is sold and distributed by Ingram, which is one of the world's biggest book distribution companies.

But now I feel like I'm finally back in the driver's seat of my time and attention.

And I've been looking at my website stats and it seems that even though I cancelled my email account last year and haven't been sending out any email updates or offers, the number of my website visitors has increased, which is really surprising - and pleasing.

So I've been busy making plans for what I'm going to be working on this year and my plans include several new books that will be available in paperback as well as being ebooks.

Plus I'll be updating my websites regularly and having many more great offers to help you write more and earn more.

I may even restart my email updates to really revamp my writing and publishing efforts.

So watch this space.

And if you don't have plans for this year yet and you don't know how to earn more money from your writing, start with my all-time favourite, Quick Cash Writing, that gets you writing and earning money straight away. I started with this writing course myself.


https://ruthiswriting.com/links/quickcash.html

My Website For Writers is More Popular Than Ever

I've been running a website for writers for well over a decade now.

At first, I had a site that was a bit of a hit and miss with design and content because I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, but it was still popular.

Then I created a better site for writers that was really popular and I received thousands of signups for my newsletter.

Then I sold that website but kept my email list and began a new website for writers which I still have at https://ruthiswriting.com.

But a few months ago I retired my email list to concentrate on my writing more, but as it turned out, I've spent more time working on our house renovations.

It's been a really busy time here with so much to do including buying new furniture and fittings, small renovations jobs we've had to do ourselves, making curtains, and having so many builders here, all with questions when building things don't go according to plan, which it turns out, happens often.

So I've been sucked away with dealing with everything going on here including having a family member in hospital for a few weeks and my husband having shingles.

But through it all I've still been writing (but not as much as I've wanted to), sorting out a new distribution channel for my books, and also keeping an eye on my websites.

And what I found that was surprising is that my RuthIsWriting.com website has become more popular than ever with far more page views than ever before.

I had thought about retiring that website but now I'm having second thoughts.

So what I'm going to do is revive it in the New Year and write regular writing articles and also allow guest articles from other great writers.

I may even start another email list so that everyone can follow what I'm doing and learn even more ways to earn money from writing.

So watch this space.

I'm also going to be revamping and improving all my books and ebooks for writers which means they will be bigger and more expensive than they are now. So if you want to take advantage of their current low prices, you'd better act now.

And if you do, you can use them to help you earn more money from your writing than ever before.


http://ruthiswriting.com/make-money.html

Book Review: Abundance Now: Amplify Your life and Achieve Prosperity Today

I recently read the book "Abundance Now: Amplify Your life and Achieve Prosperity Today" by Lisa Nichols & Janet Switzer

Did I like it?

Not one bit.

Usually, I don't write a negative review of a book. If I don't like it I  just don't say anything.

But this time I thought it was worth giving my opinion of it to warn others because I felt like this book wasn't what it was supposed to be.

I've heard the author, Lisa Nichols, on 'The Secret' (I have the audio version) several years ago so I was intrigued to read a book of hers when I saw it.

Sadly, I wish I hadn't bothered.

This is how my review starts:

"I borrowed this book from my local library and all I can say is, thank goodness I didn't buy it because it would have been a complete waste of money."

You can read the rest at https://ruthiswriting.com/reviews/abundance.html.

I read a lot of books but this one was one of the most disappointing.

I hope you have better luck with whatever book you're currently reading.

I've just started reading Psyco Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. I'm only a few pages into it but already it's got me intrigued and I can't wait to read more.

How I Listen to Ebooks and Articles

Sometimes I come across long articles and ebooks that I want to read but I don't have time.

So I listen to them instead when I'm doing other things like cleaning or weeding (both of which are dull and tedious) or cleaning the car.

If it's an ebook, I open it on my Kindle App on my iPhone. Then I swipe two fingers down the screen from the top and SIRI starts reading it to me. The pages also turn automatically too.

If it's an online article, I open it on my iPhone browser, choose "reader" mode from the URL from the menu (the little horizontal lines that appear in front of the URL when you hover over it) to get rid of all the clutter on the page, like ads and banners, and then I do the two-finger downward swipe from the top of the screen and SIRI's voice kicks in again.

If I'm on my Mac Book Pro computer, I use the speech option from the top menu which is in the drop-down list under "Edit."

I learn a lot from listening to ebooks and articles plus, being engrossed in what I'm listening to always helps me glide through boring chores. Not only that but sometimes I do extra chores just so that I can finish what I'm listening to.

If I like what I hear I often go back and read it later and take notes when I get time.

And it always ends up as a win-win situation because chores get done while I'm entertained and I learn something all at the same time.

---------------

Grammarly. The free writing app.
http://ruthiswriting.com/links/grammarly.html

I'm a Slacker Not a Writer

You may have noticed recently that I've not published anything online.

Nada. Nothing.

Not even social media posts.

Not only have I not published anything in over a week, but I haven't written anything either.

I feel like such a slacker.

But next week will be different.

Next week I'll get my butt back in my chair and do some work.

The reason I've been so slack about writing and publishing lately is that my beautiful friend and constant companion died last Friday.

My beloved 12-year-old greyhound, Banjo, had to be euthanised after the painful injuries from his previous racing days became so great that even his strong medications weren't helping anymore and they were also starting to make him really ill.

So it was a painful decision to put an end to his suffering, but it had to be done.

My husband and I then immediately booked a hotel and took off to the city for a couple of days.

But then we had to return on Monday morning and face our empty house and remove all Banjo's belongings, including his six big dog beds (how did he ever get so many beds?).

Banjo was a 'velcro' dog because he was always by my side and never wanted to be left alone. Wherever I was, Banjo was right there with me, even laying so close to my desk chair that his head touched the wheels so I always had to look down before I moved it even an inch.

I've cried a river and an ocean recently and I'm hoping that time will work its healing on me.

I kept telling myself that if I got lost in some writing, it would make me feel better. But with the absence of a greyhound head on my chair wheels, it feels too lonely.

Today, however, I'm back at my computer, albeit, that I'm sitting at my dining table in the main part of the house and not in my office in the back annexe room (yet).

But progress is progress.

And I've found that writing is somewhat therapeutic after all.

So next week I'll get back in my usual chair and write.

I've already been going over a few things today and I have some really great writing and publishing resources I want to share with you.

So keep an eye out in your inbox because I'm going to tell you about how you earn a substantial income and keep 100% of the profits from selling ebooks and digital training courses.

And how you can have your own ebooks to sell even if you don't feel like writing.

In the meantime, here are some recent photos.

Banjo "cockroaching" in the warm winter sun.

Dean sharing food with Banjo
and our daughter's little dog, Marcy.

The flowers received from the vets, currently
sitting where Banjo used to.
(in a cereal box because I don't have a vase)

And if you want a laugh, here's a photo of our hotel room door with a sign next to it that clearly should have been on the other side of the door. :)

The Lesson I Learned About Lost Ideas

A couple of days ago I came across a great idea about writing.

The information was pure gold so I decided there and then to turn it into a blog post so that I could share the joy with my new knowledge.

In my head I planned out exactly what I was going to write and I even had a brilliant idea for an intriguing heading.

Yep, it was going to be great.

But I wasn't at my desk so I made a solid mental plan.

Then later, when I eagerly sat down at my desk, my mind was blank.

What was that great thing I was going to blog about?

I sat and thought for a few minutes, but nothing came.

So I replayed in my mind what I was doing when I had the idea and where it had come from.

I remembered that I was in the garden pulling up loads of big weeds and thinking about how much better it looked without them.

And I was listening to an audio as I worked and it was a podcast about...

Damn! I'd totally forgot what I was listening to.

I thought some more and remembered what it was but I still couldn't remember that golden piece of information was that I wanted to share.

Gone was every thought about it, even my brilliant headline.

I thought some more, but nope...it was gone.

So frustrating.

Even more so because I have a golden rule about writing ideas down as soon as I think of them because I know that no matter how much I tell myself that I'll remember them, I never do.

So this is the advice I'm going to pass onto you instead of whatever that piece of other gold was that I've forgotten.

And that is to never EVER fail to write down a great idea.

Get yourself an ideas book, keep it handy and write down every single idea you ever have in as much detail as you can at the time. Even if the only thing handy to write on is a napkin. Write it down!

And who knows, even if you don't use it straight away, you may find yourself without any ideas in the future and you can look at all your previous ideas for instant inspiration and motivation and most importantly, for great ideas that you DIDN'T forget.


--------------------------

Goodbye Writer's Block
How to Be a Creative Genius and Have an Abundance of Ideas Plus the Inspiration and Motivation to Write
http://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/WB.html

Have You Seen My New Website Design?

Yesterday I uploaded my new website design for Cheriton House Publishing.

I've had someone working on it over the last couple of weeks after my ebook cover designer, Buddy, over at http://www.coverscorp.com created the new look for it, and then someone else updated all the pages.

If you haven't seen the new design yet you can take a quick peek at http://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com.

Or stay on the site a while and download and read a free ebook or two.

The reasons for the new design are because the site needed updating and also because I have a lot of new books (free and paid) to be added soon.

I'll let you know more as it becomes available.

My next site to be updated will be https://ruthiswriting.com.

That site is really out of date and needs a fresh, modern, new look.

I've already picked out the design I want and once it's updated I'll start adding more content, writing resources and special offers.

How long it will take to get the new design done, I have no idea. But hopefully it will be completed this month.

That's the problem with getting others to do the work for me, is that I don't have as much control over it as I'd like.

Unlike my writing which I have complete control over.

Isn't that one of the great things about being a writer?

-----------------

How to Write a Nonfiction eBook in 21 Days - That Readers LOVE!
https://viewbook.at/21dayebook

Bad Times Turning Out Good

As you know, I've had a lot of trouble over the past few months with a very strange man who bought the domain name of my old site two years ago and somehow seemed to think that he owned me and that he had the right to tell me what I could and could not publish on my new website.

He bought my old domain name, Writeaholics and I started my new site Ruthiswriting.com.

He's sent me several threatening letters recently AND issued a false DMCA takedown notice, claiming that he owned the copyright of all my old articles, a few of which I published on my new website, and other articles on my site written by other authors.

He doesn't own the copyright of any of my articles (although I did give him the legal right to republish them) and he definitely doesn't own the copyright of other authors' articles yet he still lied about it in the legal DMCA notice, but I removed the articles anyway just to shut him up and to try and get him to leave me alone.

At the time it seemed like a bad thing was happening, but as it turns out, it's all for the good.

I was looking over everything lately, mainly because of my new website design that is happening soon, and decided that it's actually better if I don't have any of my old articles on my new site because otherwise it would be duplicate content, and the search engines don't like indexing sites that have the same content.

So what I've started doing is completely rewriting my old articles and it will be better for several reasons:

1. Duplicate content. As I already said, it's better to have freshly written content on my site rather than use the old outdated articles like he's doing.

2. Updating. Many of the articles need to have the information they contain updated, so while he still has the outdated stuff on his site, mine will all be freshly written and updated content.

3. Some need removing. There are a few articles that are so out of date it's better to remove them altogether. These articles are not only of no use to anyone, but could also be of harm to others if they try and follow the outdated advice. So he can continue to publish outdated advice on my old domain,  name, with my old outdated website design, but I won't do it on my website.

So as it turns out, he actually did me a favour because I now have plenty of content to add to my website. In fact, there are several years of fresh and updated content that I'll be adding.

And no one can lie and say I'm infringing their copyright because it will all be brand new content.

Well, actually there is one person who can lie, and I know he can because he's already done it - on a legal document no less. But surely he's not stupid enough to do it again.

Is he...?

------------------------

How To Write an Article in 15 Minutes
Find out how I made $4,000 writing articles in just one day.
http://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/15.html

My Website Was Hacked

I had a bit of trouble last week after someone hacked my website, added content to every page (probably malware) and sent out spam from my email address.

My hosting company took the action of taking my website offline immediately and contacted me about the spam issue which I put a stop to straight away.

This all came about at a most inconvenient time because my daughter has just bought her first house and my husband and I spent several days last week helping her to get the house cleaned and ready and buy necessary furniture and appliances.

I also spent an entire day measuring, pinning and taking up curtains.

And then at the weekend we hired a van and helped her to move.

And while all this was going on, and I was physically exhausted, someone hacked one of my websites, RuthIsWriting.

So then I had to spend hours on the phone talking to the staff at my hosting company trying to figure out what to do about the spam and how to do it.

Then I had to remove whatever had been added to my site.

Luckily I use Adobe Dreamweaver so it was easy to get the software to check if any of the online website files were different from the backup files stored on my computer.

It checked, and apparently every single file had been altered. Also, a file I didn't recognise had been added as well.

So I deleted the rogue file and all the other files and did a complete upload of all the backup files stored on my computer.

Then to make sure it didn't happen again, I bought and added a security certificate to my site so that now instead of starting with the usual http:// it now begins with https:// to show that the site is secure.

I've been thinking for a while about adding security to all my sites because I've been reading recently how it's getting easier and easier for hackers to get into unsecured websites and that soon Google won't index sites that don't have a security certificate.

I had no idea how to buy a certificate or how to attach it to my site, so it took me most of the day to research it and find out. It seems that there are different levels of security but I only needed a simpler one because I don't take credit card payments on my site. I use eJunkie, Amazon and PayPal to process all my website payments.

So if you've noticed recently that my website was offline for 3 days, that is why.

But now it's not only sorted out, but it's secure and can't be hacked again.

And all the while I was dealing with this whole issue, I smiled to myself and thought how being a writer used to mean just writing, but now it seems I have to be a bit of a technical wizard as well.

I guess times really do change.

But if you have a website and something like this happens to you, the simplest way I found to get a security certificate was to purchase it from my hosting company and then I used the SSL/security app in my control panel of the website to add the certificate, which was straight forward and easy to do.

So if you want to visit my extremely secure website you can do so at https://ruthiswriting.com.

And I've currently got someone working on the redesign of the whole site so soon it will look all modern because at the moment it's looking a bit dated.

I'm looking forward to the new design and the added peace of mind from the security update.

Does a Writer Need a Virtual Office Address?

The subject of virtual office addresses came up in some correspondence last week.

A virtual office is simply an address that makes it look like you actually have an office that you work from. These addresses can be usually be rented on a monthly or yearly basis.

You just pay the fee and you can use the virtual office address which would be something like "Suite 100, Impressive Road. UpMarket Town." The company that provides the address also passes on all your mail to you, plus can provide other services too like answering the phone and taking messages.

I know that there are some writers who do actually have an office that they work from but most of us work from home.

And as a writer, it's not really necessary to have a "pretend" office address because we don't have any clients that we need to see in person.

But it is necessary to protect your private address online so you can (if you want) rent a virtual office address or use a PO BOX address. I use a PO BOX address as well as use my accountant's address for my business. That way, even though I mostly work from home, I never have to divulge my private address to anyone.

On the other hand, if you're a lawyer or an accountant, or anyone else who has to meet with clients face to face, then having a virtual office address will make you look cheap or make it look like your business is failing because clearly, you can't be meeting with clients at your office if you don't have one. And it's easy to find out if an office address is real or not.

But for writers, having a virtual office address is fine if you want to have one, but IMHO, somewhat unnecessary as a simple PO BOX address will suffice AND it's much cheaper.

Unlike lawyers and accountants, we have no need to pretend that we have an office when we don't.

It doesn't matter where you do your writing, as long as you do it.


Write Your Next Ebook in 10 Days
AND Earn $1,000 a Month
Guaranteed or your money back.
http://ruthiswriting.com/links/10dayebook.html

What to do if an article editor buys your article but doesn't publish it.

This was an interesting question asked by a freelance writer: “Someone wants to buy reprint rights to my article…but the first buyer hasn’t yet published it!”

And it is such a legitimate dilemma but I'd never thought about it before.

What happened was that the writer had written an article and sold it to a magazine.

Months later, another magazine asked if they could buy the reprint rights to publish the article, but because the first magazine hadn't yet published it, she couldn't sell the reprint rights to anyone.

This is something I've never thought of before because I've sold a lot of articles and stories to magazines and they always tell me when they plan to publish it and they do.  But I have never stressed in a contract that they must publish it by a certain date. It's an open option I've always given them and trusted them to publish it when they said the would.

But this poor author did the same thing but because the magazine had bought the first publishing rights to her article, she couldn't use it again until they publish it.

I read about this at http://writersweekly.com/ask-the-expert/reprint-rights.

You can read about it there too and the solution, which is a warning to every writer who wants to get published in a magazine that they've never worked with before.

It's definitely food for thought.

Should You Write on Public Holidays?

Today is Good Friday, and I'm religious at all (not one bit), but it is a public holiday, for whatever reason.

And public holidays do come up a lot.

To the "normal" working population, these are days to not work.

But as a writer, it isn't so much a day off work, but a day to decide whether or not you should write, whether you need to write, or maybe (like many of us) you feel guilty for taking a day off from writing.

We get paid by how much we write, so the more we write the more we can earn.

So the question is, should you write on public holidays?

Well, the answer depends on many factors and I've listed 3 of them below.

1. Are you behind schedule or do you have a big workload? There are many writers who work jobs and use public holidays as extra time to get their writing done. There are also writers who use these days as 'catch-up' time. And naturally, if you're way behind with your writing, or you've taken on a lot of work, a quiet day like a public holiday, is the perfect time to really get stuck into what you need to do to lighten your load.

2. Do you have small children or other family commitments? If you have young children who are at home with you on the holidays, then it's impossible to get extra writing done, except that perhaps you can write later at night because you don't have to get up as early in the morning to get them to school. Or maybe you're obligated to spend time with other family members so your days off have to be spent doing other things.

3. Do you just want to take a day off for a change? You may have set up your writing business so that you can relax and do nothing on public holidays. Or maybe you haven't but you just want a day off without feeling guilty about all the writing you 'should' be doing. I know how that feels because I go there often. In fact, it's Good Friday and I'm writing this blog post. So there you go. But after I've finished I'm taking the rest of the day off - without guilt.

So if you're thinking about taking the day off or about writing on public holidays, it's entirely up to you whether you do it or not depending on things like your other commitments, how much writing you have to do, or whether you simply want to use it as a chill-out day, which is also fine because we all need to take some downtime now and again, and what better time than when everyone has the same day off.

It all depends on what you're currently writing and how you structure your time.

You might even want to take a big leap and make a start on writing your next book.

And why not? You've got 3 more days to spare to get it done this Easter weekend.

Just make sure you have a good one.


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Write Any Book in 28 Days or Less
Laid out in an easy to follow style and suitable for writing fiction and non-fiction. Just follow the advice as you go through the course, just one hour a day, and by the end, you’ll have your manuscript written.

http://ruthiswriting.com/links/writequickly.html

Which Books Sell More, Fiction or Non-Fiction?

Last time we looked at which is easiest to write, fiction or non-fiction.

And today I we'll look at which books sell more, fiction or non-fiction?

And as previously, I can only speak from my own experience.

My fiction novels have been selling for years, both my horror novel, Playing for Real (http://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/PFR.html) and my romance book, Stand By Me http://www.cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/SBM.html). My third novel, Two Weeks in Corfu, is still in draft mode and going through the editing stage.

Of my two published novels, they both sell a few dozen copies each week. I'm not sure of the exact amount because I rarely, if ever, check my online accounts (I have a bookkeeper for that).

As to my non-fiction books, I make fewer sales, maybe even half the amount of my fiction book sales. In the beginning, my non-fiction books start with high sales but soon settle down after a few weeks/months into regular lower sales.

The reason for the high sales in the beginning is probably because I find it easier to market them and often my marketing begins long before the books are published so that by the time each one is available for sale, I have people waiting to buy copies. I also sell them at an early discount for my subscribers which also helps to boost sales.

But even though I sell more fiction books than non-fiction books, it doesn't necessarily mean that I make less money from non-fiction sales. Far from it.

This is because my non-fiction books sell for much higher prices than my fiction books. Sometimes over 10-times more. The reason for this is because the non-fiction subjects are worth more because the reader can use the information to make money, so the book is really an investment.

So in my experience, I currently make more sales from my fiction books, but more money from my non-fiction books. Perhaps it would be different if I'd written many more fiction books.

What I do know is that to be able to write a lot of fiction, you must be an avid reader of fiction.

I myself read more non-fiction books than fiction, which probably explains why I prefer to write non-fiction.

So write whichever you prefer.

Just write a lot of books.

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Fiction or Non-Fiction: Which is Easiest to Write?

As you know, I've recently finished writing a first draft manuscript of my latest novel.

It's only my third attempt at writing fiction as I'm usually a non-fiction writer.  And I have to say that writing fiction is a lot different to writing non-fiction and in so many ways.

So I was thinking; which is the easiest to write? Fiction or non-fiction?

And these are my thoughts from my own experience:

To write fiction isn't as easy as most people think.

Before I even attempt to begin writing, I first have to plan out my characters, including their backgrounds, their appearance (including the way they dress and present themselves), their fears and their wants. The main character usually has to have a flaw or two that they have to overcome in some way.

As well and the main characters, I also have to plan out all the minor characters who have small, but significant parts to play in the story. So I need to know them well including their looks and personalities.

And then I have to figure out the main plot and the subplots which all has to lead to a satisfactory ending. To begin with, I don't need to know exactly how it will all lead to the end, only that it will.

I then have to pull it all together in a timeline of events, making sure that it all runs smoothly and avoid things like characters knowing about something before they should, and figuring out how they get to know things and when. Creating a good outline and blueprint is where my imagination really kicks in to help the story unfold.

For non-fiction, most of what I write is what I already know about, but it still takes quite a bit of figuring out because knowing something, and explaining it in writing, are two completely different things.

I also need to do some research to make sure of my facts, and to find out anything I don't already know, and to find other people's view on the subject just to make sure I'm not missing something.

Then I plan out the chapters I need to include and the correct order to write them in plus break them down into different topics within those chapters too.

So, for me, writing non-fiction is easier, but mainly because I'm writing about subjects I already know a lot about. No doubt it would be different if I had to write about a completely new subject, although I'd still handle it in the same way except that I'd need to do much more research.

Which means that whether fiction or non-fiction is easier to write, depends on the author.

And we all know what kind of books we like to write.

It's really down to having to discipline to sit down and do it.

The next question is which books sell more, fiction or non-fiction?

Which is what we'll look at next.

----------

Write Any Book in 28 Days or Less. 
Laid out in an easy to follow style and suitable for writing fiction and non-fiction. Just follow the advice as you go through the course and by the end, you’ll have your manuscript written.

http://ruthiswriting.com/links/writequickly.html

Give Yourself Time To Write

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” ~ E.Nightingale

We all have dreams. And the ones that are worthwhile take a long time to happen.

For instance, if someone wants to be a top-class barrister, it takes years of study and even longer to practice law and prepare to become a barrister.

Athletes take years to train and be the best. They have to get up early every day and spend hours training and perfecting their bodies and their abilities.

Doctors spend years studying, working as interns and work long hours to get to the top of their profession.

For some, this type of dedication comes easy. The work is tough, but the mental attitude is strong.

Yet for others, they start out wanting to be the best, but when they realise that they'll have to get up early every day, work long hours and really push themselves, they quickly change their mind and think that it seems too much like hard work.

And many writers have this same defeatist attitude when they realise that writing isn't as easy as they first thought it was going to be. That there's a lot to learn, that part of it will be about building a blog or website and that getting their work published isn't easy either. And self-publishing is something else they need to know about.

I hear from so many writers who have no patience when it comes to long writing projects like books.

I tell them that the more they write, the easy and faster they'll get, but they still don't want to do it and they soon give up trying, if they ever actually start in the first place.

They give up and say that they really don't have the time to write.

But what they don't realise is that the time is there.

There is always time.

The only difference is what you do with it.

You can use the time to write your next book or go back to drinking coffee in cafes, eating in restaurants, and sitting on the couch watching TV and saying that you don't have the time to write.

It's your time.

Choose wisely how you use it.


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Writing Resolutions for 2018

I was trying to find my resolutions from last year and I don’t seem to be able to find them anywhere.

Did I actually make some?

I don’t know.

But the reason I was wanting to look back at last year was to see if I’d achieved what I set out to do.

I do remember though, that one of the things I was wanting this time last year, was to rent an office so that I had somewhere to go and work every day.

But I never ended up not doing that because my daughter moved out and so I took over her room as my office, which is an annexe room (or sleep out, as some people call it). 

It’s a completely separate room from the rest of the house and is about 26 feet long and about 14 feet wide. Plus it’s fully carpeted which feels like a bit of luxury.

So now I work in my separate office which works out really well for me. 

So what are my plans for next year?

I’m not sure yet.

But I am sure that I want to achieve far more than I did this year because, over the last 12 months, I’ve done far less writing than I usually do. But that was mostly due to emergency family matters and house renovations, which are still on-going but most of my work here is done.

But it has also been a year of learning because I’ve been studying a lot about marketing and so far it’s been quite useful. But it also has taken up a lot of my time as well. And I’m in the middle of rewriting the sales pages for all my books.

I am also in the middle of updating all my ebooks and today I just finished uploading the updated and expanded (by over 10 pages) edition of Living The Laptop Lifestyle at http://cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/LLS.html.

It’s a huge PDF ebook that has 118 full pages of information to help you start and grow your own online business.

I earn all my income from my online writing and self publishing, and in this ebook, I explain how I do it and how anyone can do it to. It takes you all the way through from idea (even finding one if you don’t have one) to online business.

And if you already have a website/blog but aren’t happy with your income, Living The Laptop Lifestyle shows you how easy it is to quickly turn it into a profitable online business.

I know that this ebook can help anyone who wants to work as an online writer the same way I do.

I’ve also update The 7 Day Ebook Writing and Publishing System, and as I was going through it, I realised that I’d forgotten what a great ebook it is. 

Plus the bonus ebook about how to write short reports in 2 hours, really turns it into must-have item for anyone who wants to write and publish books for a living, because when you can do it this quickly AND make sales within a week, what more do you need to get your writing and self publishing business up and running?

http://cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/7day.html 

I’ll let you know when I do more updates.

And in the meantime, I’ll also make a plan of what I want to be working on next year.

I hope you have plenty of big writing plans for next year. And I hope they’re so big, that if you achieved them, it would blow your mind. Or should I say, WHEN you achieve them it WILL blow your mind? 

That is much more positive.