Expanding Your Network of Resources - Tips for Authors

Recently an author asked me how to find book bloggers and podcasters because he had a book launch coming up. My advice to writers is to start this process early and not to wait until you’re about to have a book launch. You need to grow your network of resources as an ongoing process. Here are some things that have worked for me.

• Most bookbloggers, bookstagrammers, and podcasters do what they do because they love the topic and interacting with others. It’s not good form to reach out or start following someone a week or so before your launch and then contact them for a favor. A lot of these folks have a very full calendar, and they book MONTHS in advance. As you build your author platform and your network, it’s always good to interact with them, know what they feature on their sites, and know their preferences e.g. do they want a physical ARC (Advance Reader Copy) or an electronic one? You should build relationships with book influencers (e.g. like, share, and comment on their posts). Don’t just show up when you want someone to help you publicize your book.

• Always be professional. You are your brand. Make it easy for people. Follow the submission instructions, provide all the information, and have your press kit (bio, photos, book cover, book links) ready and organized.

• Start a list, spreadsheet, or other electronic file to build your contacts. A book launch is a massive event. You need to keep good notes of your contacts, what you owe them, and deadlines. I have a GIANT spreadsheet where I have tabs for each type of resource, their contact information, and notes. I also have a calendar to show deadlines and key dates before and after my book launch. When you’re a guest, you need to make sure you share the interview on your social sites.

• Find out who is out there and who is an influencer in your genre. This takes some research time.

• See where other authors in your genre advertise their books. What events or interviews do they participate in? When I see interesting services or events, I add them to my spreadsheet.

• Use hashtags on social sites to find people who like/follow a topic. You can look for topics like #bookblogger, #podcast, #bookstagrammer, #cozymystery, etc. When you find interesting people, follow them and interact.

• Join writers’ groups. All of the groups that I’m a member of have bulletin boards, Facebook groups, or Slack sites for questions and recommendations. Find your crew. Networking is easier when you know people. I like getting recommendations for people I know and trust.

• Volunteer. You meet so many people with great stories, ideas, and connections. So many writing conferences and organizations are always looking for people to help. It’s a great way to meet others.

#ThisorThatInterview with Vivian Lawry

I’d like to welcome author Vivian Lawry to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: Only a few? I love things! But here goes: jewelry, carved wooden Santas, and scarves; dictionaries and creative non-fiction books—most books, actually; gardens; birds, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, snakes–any fauna in my yard or nearby public park; reclining/swiveling chairs; dogs in the park; weekly conference calls with my daughters…(Actually, I’d prefer a video call, but given that we talk an hour or more, a conference call is more convenient for folding laundry, putting away groceries, etc.)

Things you need to throw out: at least half of my various napkin rings, vases, and scarves, and all of the clothes I’ve “outgrown.”

Things you love about writing: the background research to make sure I “get it right.” I guess it’s a remnant of my academic/scientific career. Plus, I always learn something new—e.g., that gasoline cost ten cents a gallon during the Great Depression.

Things you hate about writing: the mechanics of it! Formatting and complying with the submission guidelines for various publications are pains in the whatsis. Going over the finished product to correct all the errors introduced by autocorrect is a whole other headache.

Things you never want to run out of: books, ice, pepper and salt, fresh herbs, and comfortable shoes.

Things you wish you’d never bought: a Stealth Angel emergency and survival backpack for two people for five days. Realistically, it’s just something I’ll never need!

Favorite foods: My favorite food groups are salt, fat, carbs, and chocolate! And scotch—if that counts.

Things that make me want to gag: in foods, that would be uncooked egg white/albumen, and oysters on the half shell.

Something you’re really good at: administration. I run productive, focused meetings, manage interpersonal relationships well, and promote consensus. I can identify employees’ strengths and weaknesses, motivate them to use the former and overcome the latter.

Something you’re really bad at: trying to master the Appalachian dulcimer. I’ve never been good at practicing a musical instrument, but the dulcimer is the worst.

Something you like to do: gather family for a week at the beach! This year, we were fourteen, including four smart, independent teens who were cheerful, cooperative, got along together, and spent time with adults. Amazing but true!

Something you wish you’d never done: giving not one, not two, but three chances to a man who shall remain nameless.

The last thing you ordered online: sterling silver and abalone earrings, a birthday gift for a friend.

The last thing you regret buying: besides the Stealth Angel survival pack mentioned above, (which was actually the last), A Taste of Life, a vegetarian cookbook that has great recipes but indexes only by recipe title. For example, one can find Baked French Fries but not French Fries. Oh, sigh.

Things you always put in your books: accurate information, whether it’s the census term ”seamstress” for a prostitute’s occupation during the 19th Century or the fact that cockroaches explode in the microwave because they are so fatty. And I like to include some humor.

Things you never put in your books: gratuitous sex or foul language for the purpose of sensationalism.

Favorite places you’ve been: I love to travel! I’ve been so many places it’s tough to choose favorites: Canada, Germany, Norway, Denmark, England, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic., Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Peru… And then there are the United States (all but Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and North Dakota)… For sheer variety, I’d have to go with Peru: coastline, mountains (including Machu Picchu), and the Amazon; eating alpaca, guinea pig, and several varieties of potatoes I’d never had before; holding a sloth and a (small) anaconda; seeing floating islands, and learning about local customs. I could go on and on

Places you never want to go to again: Pittsburgh. Nothing against the city itself, but it comes with lots of emotional baggage.

Favorite things to do: reading, of course! Closely followed by writing. But also I enjoy taking nature pictures, playing mahjong and duffer bridge.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: nothing—because that’s a high bar! But I really dislike housecleaning. (Straightening and decluttering aren’t nearly so odious.)

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: going down the Olympic luge run in Lake Placid, New York. I had to sign a release concerning possible injury or death. Parasailing, zip-lining, and white water rafting on the Colorado River were calm by comparison.

Something you chickened out from doing: hang gliding. I’ve never been confident of my upper body strength.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: from an editor, “The tale has a lovely and sensitive perspective, quite evocative of my own impressions of the Tri-state area with which I had a certain sympathy. One thing I could not possibly do is offer you comments or suggestions that would ‘improve’ it.” From a reader at large: “Yours was the best story in the anthology.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you:” Did you ever consider making her a Southern Belle?” This comment was about Clara, my protagonist who is a good natured prostitute during the Civil War, specializing in men with “soft” fetishes.

Thank you, Heather, for inviting me to write this—to reflect on things that seldom come to mind.

About Vivian:

Winner of the Sandra Brown Short Fiction Award for 2004 for her story "Good Works." Formerly a waitress, percussionist, rat-runner, professor, association executive, dean, vice president for academic affairs, and research consultant. Currently a writer.

Let’s Be Social:

Website

#WriterWednesday Interview with Author Liz Boeger

I’d like to welcome Liz Boeger to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

A few of your favorite things:

My new all-in-one mom cave houses my teach-from-home office, writing nook, and quilting corner.

Things you need to throw out:

Nothing. No, don’t look in the garage or my office closet. What do you mean, “What am I going to do with all of that fabric?”

Things you need for your writing sessions:

My computer and sticky note paper for scritch-scratched thoughts. A window, preferably looking into my garden. Quiet, I prefer morning sunshine, coffee-hot, half & half, no sugar. Life’s too short for cold coffee and skim milk. After lunch I swap out to Diet Mountain Dew.

Things that hamper your writing:

Social Media distractions and television. I’m still trying to rein in the web-surfing. I have a TV wall mount in my new office, but I covered it up with a shelf-no time for TV. Besides, you can watch reruns of the Gilmore Girls only so many times, right?

Things you love about writing:

Those moments when I’m pounding out a scene, only to find that my characters have a plot point or two to insert that I was not expecting. Oh, and I love my characters like family.

Things you hate about writing:

Scavenging for my many typos. It’s a little embarrassing to have red-pen-worthy grammar and punctuations issues in a book written by a teacher.

Words that describe you:

Skeptical Optimist

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t:

Bossy—sorry, it’s an occupational hazard.

Favorite smell:

Citrus-lemons-oranges-grapefruit-kumquats—all of it!

Something that makes you hold your nose:

Fish cooking in the oven or on the stove. I don’t mind it on the grill (outside.)

Something you’re really good at:

I have a talent for making lists and crossing things off my lists. Sometimes I add things I already did to the list, just so I have one more thing to cross off. It is a trait I’ve forced on my main character.

Something you’re really bad at:

Ugh, this whole tooting your own horn and book promotion business. That’s why I’m so grateful to the writing community for taking some of the sting out of it by being so supportive.

Last best thing you ate:

My sister’s secret recipe ginger snaps are the purest form of deliciousness I’ve ever tasted.

Last thing you regret eating:

Way too many of my sister’s secret recipe ginger snaps…No, wait. No regrets there. Keep ‘em coming, Sis!

Things you always put in your books:

My pets and my favorite Florida scenery.

Things you never put in your books:

Real people I know or events that are too disturbing.  I’ve seen a lot as an educator that is just too heartbreaking to put into a cozy or traditional mystery. Yes, I write about murder, but I keep the violence mostly off page and try to balance it with kind and quirky people you care about and want to root for.

Things to say to an author:

“You’ve got some writing chops! I’ve read all your books.” 

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:

“You’ve got some writing cops, babe!” (or darlin’, or sweet cheeks, or a similarly endearing and wholly inappropriate moniker.)

Favorite places you’ve been:

The beach (any beach), my grandparents’ farm, Crystal Springs Preserve.

Places you never want to go to again:

Jammed in the crowd under the stadium at the Strawberry Festival waiting for the gates to open when the crowd behind you thinks they already have. Yeah, no way.

Things that make you happy:

Riding my recumbent tadpole trike on a sunny morning—gardening—quilting—talking with people who loved reading my books and who want to know more about the education world and the Florida setting described in the series.

Things that drive you crazy:

My poor organizational skills and my personal battle against holding onto “stuff” longer than necessary. See #1 above.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

They thought my main character was a hoot and someone they’d want to hang out with.

 The craziest thing a reader said to you:

Since my book is being released on August 30th, it’s too soon to answer this one. I’ll have to get back to you. 😊

About Liz:

Liz Boeger’s stint as a swimsuit model peaked in kindergarten. Her fallback career as a mystery author didn’t surface until she hit the mid-century mark. In between, she wrangled children, adults, and the occasional Florida panther as a teacher and school administrator. And that encounter with the U.S. Secret Service may show up in a plot someday.

Her multi-award nominated mystery series is inspired by her childhood nearby Rattlesnake, Florida. If you love your mysteries with a cozy edge, some Southern snark, and quirky characters you’d love to hang out with, this series is for you. Member of Sisters in Crime, SinC Guppies, and Florida Writers Association.

She’s a graduate of Tampa’s Robinson High School, The University of Tampa, and Saint Leo University. Her hobbies, other than plotting murder, include gardening, quilting, and cheering all things great about her hometown, Tampa!

 Let’s Be Social:

 Moccasin Cove Mysteries blog

 Twitter

 Facebook

 Amazon Buy Link

 Universal Buy Link to other Retailers

Adding Followers - Tips for Authors

Building your social media following, a key part of your author platform, is a lot of work. It takes time and a presence on these sites.

An author asked me recently how I find readers and book bloggers since he’s getting ready for a book launch. My advice is to start WAY before you have a book coming out. “Social” is the important part of social media. You will have more success building a following if you take part in conversations, share information (not just buy my book), and celebrate with others. Here are some of the things I’ve learned through the years.

• Figure out how much time you can spend on your sites. You should have a daily presence on the key ones (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). I still have a day gig, so I get up early in the morning, I check on sites at lunch, and I spend some time in the evening. I visit Pinterest, BookBub, Goodreads, and LinkedIn about once a week. Remember, you still need to write your next book and do the hundreds of other things you do each day.

• You need regular, interesting content on your sites. One day a week, I schedule the next week’s worth of Instagram and Twitter posts. I use Creator Suite (in Facebook) to schedule Instagram, and I use TweetDeck for Twitter. For whatever reason (Facebook’s algorithm gods), I’ve found that scheduled Facebook posts on my author page don’t work as well as daily posts, so I do those manually. You need to find what works for you. I typically schedule two posts a day. For Twitter, I schedule a third in the wee hours of the morning when I’m sleeping. From my analytics, I learned that I picked up different followers in other time zones.

• People want to learn things. Every post shouldn’t be buy my book or here’s where you can buy my book. Share news, pictures, adventures, and funny stories. Figure out topics that interest you (e.g. cooking, boating, traveling, etc.) and share those types of items. Pets are popular, too.

• You need to interact on these sites. That means liking, commenting, and sharing content. You also boost the exposure of a post when you respond to the comments. Tag people in posts and comments. People like to be a part of things and to be recognized.

• Don’t make someone else’s celebration about you. Be genuine. I can’t tell you how many book launch or other posts that I’ve seen authors try to hijack by posting comments like, “If you like his book, you’ll like mine, and here’s the link.”

• You don’t have to follow everyone who follows you. There are a lot of bots and lonely hearts out there. It’s tempting to accept every invitation, but be careful. While it may look like you have large numbers with all the bots and fake accounts, these aren’t real people or readers who you want to interact with.

• Make sure that you view your analytics on these sites to see what is working. The analytics page has a lot of good information. You can see what posts and what times work the best for the most interaction. For all of my sites, week day mornings and week day afternoons seem to be when the majority of my followers are online. Twitter is a little different, I see a lot of activity in the morning, early evening (my time), and after midnight. I schedule my posts for these times.

• For Facebook, you can invite your friends to follow your page. You can also click on the icon that shows who liked/reacted to your post, and a pop-up appears for you to invite these people to like your page.

• Look at writers who are similar to you. Click on who they follow and who follows them. Go down the list and add people who look interesting.

• Search hashtags of topics you’re interested in. (e.g. #books, #reading, #dogs #cooking, #blogger, #podcast, etc.) See who also follows these topics and add the interesting ones.

• About every month or so, I use tools to clean up my Twitter (Twitonomy) and Instagram (Analyzer Plus) followers. There are a lot of accounts out there that follow you and drop you when you follow them back. I go through the list and unfollow ones with no activity or that don’t follow me back.

Building a following takes time. You can’t do “hit and runs” where you post and disappear, and all your posts can’t be a sell. I spent almost a year ahead of my next series launch doing things each day to build my mailing list, blog following, and social media spread. It’s worth it. You will see steady growth. When I started, I had three Twitter followers.

#WriterWednesday Interview with Laraine Stephens

I’d like to welcome author Laraine Stephens to the blog for #WriterWedneday.

A few of your favorite things: my granddaughter, Ellie; champagne; chocolate; the Melbourne Football Club (Aussie Rules); my maladjusted red toy poodle who thinks she’s a Rottweiler.

Things you need to throw out: my golf handicap; my maladjusted red toy poodle who thinks she’s a Rottweiler; COVID lockdowns.

Things you love about writing: researching the setting and time period of my historical crime novels.

Things you hate about writing: coming up with a plot line for my next book and how to start it.

Things you never want to run out of: Epicure cheese; champagne; chocolate; re-runs of Frazier and House Hunters International.

Things you wish you’d never bought: that pair of electric blue bell-bottoms that I wore in 1966.

Favorite music or song: The Rolling Stones’ “Start me up”. I want it played at my funeral.

Music that drives you crazy: the Police’s “Canary in a coal mine”. Grrr.

Favorite beverage: champagne and tea, but not mixed together.

Something that gives you a sour face: wasabi and chilli.

Something you’re really good at: putting things in alphabetical order (former teacher-librarian). This is a talent that isn’t called on much.

Something you’re really bad at: being patient; going to the dentist (appalling gag reflex).

Things you always put in your books: authentic settings; fabulous cars.

Things you never put in your books: sex, blood and guts.

Things to say to an author: “I didn’t want it to end.”  

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “Here’s $1000 for me to be fictionally killed off in your next book.” No problem.

Favorite places you’ve been: Egypt; the Galapagos; Iceland; Machu Picchu.

Places you never want to go to again: anywhere with mosquitoes.

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Adrian McKinty (author); Mick Jagger (singer) and Jacinda Ardern (New Zealand Prime Minister).

People you’d cancel dinner on: Scott Morrison (Australian Prime Minister); Donald Trump; Prince Harry and Meghan.

Things that make you happy: Melbourne Football Club winning; playing golf; travel; restaurants; writing (of course!).

Things that drive you crazy: dust on the furniture; things not symmetrical.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I’m buying three copies of your book: one for myself, and two as birthday presents.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “Did you base your psychopath on anyone I know?” he said, looking over his shoulder.

 About Laraine:

After nearly forty years of working as a teacher-librarian and Head of Library, Laraine Stephens decided to experience life on the other side of the bookshelves and became a writer of historical crime fiction. Her debut novel, The Death Mask Murders, the first in the Reggie da Costa Mysteries, was published in June 2021. The second in the series, A Dose of Death, is due out in May 2022. When she isn’t writing, travelling or playing golf, Laraine finds inspiration from her work as a volunteer guide at the Old Melbourne Gaol. Laraine lives in Beaumaris, a bayside suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with her husband, Bob, and her maladjusted red toy poodle, Zoe.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: larainestephens.com
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Secrets for Finishing Your Book - Tips for Authors

It took me over five years to write my first novel and probably another two years of editing and revising (and revising) before it was finally published. (I do write faster these days, but it took a while to find my groove.) Here are the two things that authors need for their writing journey:

• Willingness to do the Hard Work - You need to put in the work/time if you’re going to be a writer. That means sticking to a schedule, writing regularly, honing your craft, and being open to feedback.

• Persistence - If you want to be a published author, you need to set your goal and work toward it. There are going to be roadblocks, setbacks, and disappointments. Writing is a tough business.

There is no magic pill or solution. Here are some things that have worked for me. Give them a try. If something doesn’t work for you, modify it or try something else.

• Set your writing schedule and your goals. Make sure you don’t set yourself up for failure. Be realistic. If you have a busy schedule, you may only be able to commit an hour every few days. Add in a few skip days because life is going to get in the way or you may not feel like writing one day. Try your best to stick to your schedule. I am much more prolific when I write or edit every day. I am an early bird, so I get up before the sun and write before work. I also get up at 5:00 on my days off to write.

• Keep yourself motivated. There are so many distractions and other things to do. Plus, life gets in the way. Figure out what works for you.

• Just do it. My friend, Alan Orloff, calls this BICFOK - Butt in Chair - Fingers on Keyboard. It’s work.

• Try not to get Distracted. Author Brad Parks had a great suggestion for when you need to research something. He said don’t stop and research it in the moment. Type XXX in the space and make a note. Keep writing. Then when he’s in editing mode, he goes searching for “his X’s.” It cuts down on the distractions.

• Find your crew. Writing is often a one-person sport. Find your support team to celebrate with you and to cheer you up when you hit a road block. These special people are a gift.

• When you’re writing your first draft, just write. Don’t correct, edit, proofread, or revise. Finish your first draft before you go back and edit.

• Get rid of the distractions. Turn off the TV, shut your door, and get off the internet.

• Writing/publishing is a business. You need books to sell. Seven years may be too long between books. Before the pandemic, I wanted to see if I could write more than one mystery in a year. I committed to a schedule for a year, and I produced two novels, a novella, and two short stories. Since I was working from home during the pandemic, I committed my daily commute time and lunch (3 hours on week days) to writing. I finished three novels, a novella, and two short stories.

Best wishes for your writing projects!

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with W. L. Hawkin

I’d like to welcome author, W. L. Hawkin to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite things: cobalt blue anything but especially glass bottles; waterfalls, fountains, really anything watery; cuddly dogs; deep red wine & dark chocolate

Things you need to throw out: the horrible old pens, paper clips, pencils, erasers, and other dried out paraphernalia I collected while teaching high school!

Things you love about writing: being magically transported through time and space along with my characters as a kind of shadowy voyeur

Things you hate about writing: the physical aches and pains I feel when sitting at the computer too long. Right now I’m dealing with bicep tendinitis!

Things you never want to run out of: lip gloss & Righteous Dairy Free chocolate peanut butter vegan ice cream ... Oh my! My newest addiction!

Things you wish you’d never bought: most clothing I order online as it never really works for one reason or another

Favorite music or song: Peter Gabriel’s 1994 Secret World Tour (check it out on Youtube;)

Music that drives you crazy: heavy headbanging metal

Favorite beverage: black tea with almond milk and maple syrup

Something that gives you a sour face: tempeh (yuk, I hate it!)

Something you’re really good at: savasana (lying in corpse position at the end of a yoga session and meditating)

Something you’re really bad at: the rest of the yoga session especially if it involves gymnastic poses!

Things you always put in your books: animals, especially dogs, wolves, and horses

Things you never put in your books: secret agents

Things to say to an author: “I stayed up all night reading your book! I love ... because ...” Insert a specific comment re characters, plot, or something that reveals you engaged with the writer’s work and got it.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I don’t want to read your book. I don’t read genres.” *shrug or eye roll (subtext: “I judge your book (which I refuse to try) to be beneath my intellectual, literary level.”

Favorite places you’ve been: the west coasts of Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the USA (from Alaska to Mexico; the Canadian Maritimes; Cozumel & Merida, Mexico; and Santa Fe, New Mexico

Places you never want to go to again: big cities like Chicago or Detroit (even Toronto’s a stretch and that’s where I was born)

People you’d like to invite to dinner (living): Peter Gabriel—I’d just like to soak up his energy. He doesn’t even have to talk. But I do have a piano and if he were to sing “Here Comes the Flood” I would literally melt. Peter Gabriel is one of my muses and inspired the Druid bard in my latest book. Conall Ceol has Peter’s incredible voice.

People you’d cancel dinner on: any extraverted, arrogant politician. You pick. The list is endless.

Things that make you happy: hiking in the rainforest; cowboy sunsets preferably with horse and cowboy; snuggling with my dog; family meals

Things that drive you crazy: leaf blowers. I saw a guy blowing dust from the sidewalk one day. Seriously?

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I'd love to spend a day in the mind of W.L Hawkin, just to see what it's like in there.” *I took this for the compliment it was.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “Your book’s risqué! And you, a teacher,” he said, tsking and wagging his finger.

About W. L.:

W. L. Hawkin writes “fantastical romantic adventure” from her loft near Vancouver, B.C. Her novels—To Charm a Killer, To Sleep with Stones, To Render a Raven, and To Kill a King each stand alone but form the Hollystone Mysteries series. This coven of West Coast witches and their eccentric friends, solve murders using ritual magic and a little help from the gods. Although Wendy is an introvert, in each book her characters go on a journey where she’s travelled herself.

A seeker and mystic fascinated by language, archaeology, and mythology, Wendy graduated from Trent University, Ontario, and has post-bac diplomas from SFU in British Columbia. Her background in Indigenous Studies and Humanities informs her work. Wendy is a blogger, book reviewer, and Indie author/publisher at Blue Haven Press.

 Let’s Be Social:

Website: http://bluehavenpress.com

https://www.facebook.com/wlhawkin

https://twitter.com/ladyhawke1003

https://www.instagram.com/w.l.hawkin/

https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B01N69N3DW

https://www.pinterest.ca/wlhawkin/

Little Things Matter - Tips for Giving and Sharing

Random acts of kindness can mean the world to someone, and sometimes, the giver never knows the extent of his/her/their actions. There are so many ways as writers that we can give back or encourage someone else. Here are some ideas…

Volunteer - There are so many organizations (including writers groups) that need volunteers to help with a variety of tasks. A few hours could make a difference.

Mentor/Coach - Volunteer to mentor or coach a new writer. Providing feedback and life experience is invaluable. I am so grateful for all the authors who have helped me along my writing journey.

Join a Critique Group - By partnering with others, you’re honing your craft while helping others. It means a lot to those at the beginning of their journey.

Practice Random Acts of Kindness - Every day, do something nice for someone else. You’ll never know how something small can mean so much. I was overjoyed once when the car in front of me paid for my lunch at the drive-thru. It was so unexpected. I reciprocated for the car behind me, and the clerk at the window said that it had been going on with over 25 cars paying for the one behind them.

Donate - Find organizations to take your unwanted items and books. I get so many books at conferences. I make sure to pass on the ones I don’t keep to little free libraries, Friends of the Libraries, and schools. Your local foodbank or food pantry is always in need of donations. Crafters, don’t throw out scraps and left-over supplies. Teachers and day care workers often want these types of supplies for their students. Our children’s museum has an art studio, and they are always looking for donations.

Box Tops for Education - I don’t have kids in school, but I downloaded the app and scan my weekly grocery receipt. The donation goes to my elementary school in Virginia Beach.

Keep in Touch - Find ways to keep in touch with others. We all need a team, and sometimes, we need a cheerleader. Use technology to stay connected. Celebrate other’s successes. Find ways to encourage when things aren’t going as planned.