Tag: kindness

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The Intentional Writer

10 Ways to Help Fellow Writers (Without Spending Money)

The intentional writer

When it comes to marketing, most of us can use all the help we can get. Savvy authors know that working together benefits everyone. So it’s a good practice to help other writers whenever possible. That way, when you need a boost you can ask for support without feeling selfish.

And besides, when we support other authors, we’re helping them spread their message to the world.

Why not start this year spreading kindness and support to other authors? Here are a few quick and easy ideas that won’t cost you a cent.

Ten simple things you can do to help other authors

Social Media

  • Aid their platform by following them on social media. Like their Facebook author page, follow their Instagram or Twitter feeds, etc.
  • Interact with other authors on social media. Comment, like, and respond to questions and surveys.
  • Share their giveaways and special news. Your friends like free books, too, so share or retweet author giveaways on your accounts.
  • Create a meme featuring a favorite quote from a book and post it on your social media. Make sure you include your fellow author’s name and the book you took the quote from. That way, others who like the quote can look into the book.

Goodreads

  • Whenever you take an action on Goodreads, all your friends and followers get a notice. This means every book you review or add to your Want to Read shelf shows up in the feed of your friends, too. We can use this feature intentionally to promote our own books, and the books of others. NOTE: Check your feed settings to make sure your actions are being shared. Go to Account Settings and find the Feeds tab. Make sure the checkboxes are checked in order for your actions to be shared with friends.
  • Add the books of fellow authors to your Want to Read shelf. (Even if you never get around to reading them, you’ve helped those authors by showing your friend the book is worth reading.)
  • Look at reviews posted for another author’s books. Find one that is both positive and informative and Like it or or comment on it. Doing this will spread that positive review to your friends.

Other actions

  • Download free e-books. When a fellow author runs a special, download their e-book even if you never plan on reading it. By downloading the book you help their sales numbers. If it’s free, you’re not “wasting” money. And who knows, you might try it and find you like it after all. (This does not apply to Kindle Unlimited books, where Amazon credits authors by number of pages read.)
  • Leave positive reviews. When you read a book by a fellow author, make the effort to leave reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, B&N, or anywhere else you buy or discover books.
  • Mention a fellow author’s book in your blog or author newsletter. If you read a book your audience might like, share that recommendation with them. It serves your audience and supports a fellow writer at the same time.

And a few Don’ts

  • Don’t post a review on a site you never use. Potential buyers are suspicious of a review when it’s the only item a reviewer has posted.
  • Don’t post a glowing review that’s full of generic praise but doesn’t say anything helpful about the book. Give potential buyers specific reasons why you liked the book.
  • Don’t post reviews that mislead potential buyers. You won’t help the author by attracting the wrong target audience, so be clear about what kind of book it is and who might enjoy it.

We’re all on the same team here. When we support other authors, we’re helping them spread their version of God’s message to the world.

Do you have other simple ways to support other writers? I’d love to hear about them.

Lisa E. Betz worked as an engineer, substitute teacher, and play director before becoming an award-winning mystery writer. She brings her analytical mind, quirky humor, and positive outlook to all she writes. She draws inspiration from thirty-five years of leading Bible studies to create entertaining mysteries set in the world of the early church, and then she fills that world with eccentric characters, independent females, and an occasional sausage-snatching cat. Her first novel, Death and a Crocodile, releases February 9.

In addition to writing novels, Lisa blogs about living with authenticity and purpose. Visit her at www.lisaebetz.com. Facebook LisaEBetzWriter Twitter @LisaEBetz and Pinterest Lisa E Betz Intentional Living.

Categories
Embrace the Wait

Survival Tips for the Waiting Part of Writing Tip #18 – Keep your social media posts social

As a writer, Christian, and citizen I have made a purposeful choice to keep my social media posts social. What does that mean? Now more than ever social media has become a hotbed for debate. Debate can be good when there is mutual sharing of ideas and opinions for the purpose of learning from each other or understanding one another better. But for that goal to be accomplished, the people involved in the discussion must be willing to listen and treat others with respect. Here are some reasons why social media may not be a great forum for that.

1) If there’s an issue we are passionate about or feel the need to stand up for–social media is the least effective place to make a difference. If we’re simply trying to vent to likeminded people and get them to hop aboard our rant train, posting a passive-aggressive meme or a long-winded post will accomplish that easily. But in the process, what do we forfeit? No one has ever changed anyone’s mind about an issue by simply posting about it. The best place to have these important discussions is face-to-face. For more information about how science backs up this theory, see the links below.

2) We don’t want to alienate the very audience we hope to impact. We all have beliefs and issues that touch our very core. Our calling, as Christian writers, compels us to express those beliefs and issues with words. But we must remain mindful of the platform we choose as a vehicle for those words. One indiscriminate post, that feeds a divisive issue, may ruin our ability to reach a lost and hurting world that needs the hope the lies within us.

3) Our brand and our calling should draw people in, not divide and conquer. We find ourselves at a time in history where we are divided in every way—physically divided because of the quarantine, politically divided, spiritually divided, divided on issues of health, education etc. Although social media has become a tool for further division, we have the potential to use it as place to bring people together. With every post, meme, video, or thought, we have the ability to strengthen the weary, shine light on truth, and provide a haven for those who need rest. May God help us do this, as we seek Him for direction and purpose during these unprecedented days.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, Proverbs 12:18, Proverbs 13:3, Proverbs 25:11,

Fun Fact or Helpful Resource:
Resources for why it’s better to leave weighty and debatable issues to face-to-face conversation:

Why You Should Never Argue with Anyone on Facebook

https://carrierclinic.org/2019/08/08/the-good-bad-and-in-between-of-social-media/

Annette Marie Griffin is a award-winning writer who speaks at local women’s group meetings and women’s retreats on the topic of biblical womanhood and finding our identity in Christ. She is the Operations and Events Coordinator at a private school for special needs students and is the editor of their quarterly newsletter. She has written custom curriculum for women’s retreats and children’s church curriculum for Gateway Church in San Antonio, Texas where she served as Children’s Ministry Director and Family Program Director for over twenty years. She and her husband John have five amazing children and two adorable grands. She’s a member of Word Weavers International, ACFW, SCBWI, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Creative Writing Institute.

Categories
The Intentional Writer

The Power of Our Words

The intentional writer

We writers understand the power of words. Words can wound or heal. Educate or mislead. Give hope or cause despair.

How are you using your words?

Everyone is stressed right now. People are frightened, lonely, and going stir crazy. Our world needs all the encouragement and hope we can give them.

Are you ready to use your words to combat fear, encourage kindness, and inspire hope?

Three ways we can use our words for good.

1 Excel at your craft.

It does not matter what genre you write, there are readers who need to read your stories and articles. The more you hone your writing skills, the more people will enjoy and respect your words, leading to more people listening to your message. Whether overtly or not, your faith and your worldview shine through your words and are lived out through your characters. Even if you write science articles or ad copy, you can still promote whatever is good, true, admirable, or praiseworthy.

2 Watch what you say.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

What message are you sending into the world? Be aware of every message you post, pin, or retweet. Are you spreading hope and encouragement or something else? Do your words build others up? Do your words benefit others in some way?

Ask yourself, “How will this benefit others?” every time you consider sharing social media content, blog posts, or comments to your friends. Be the positive change by wielding your words wisely.

3 Look for listening ears

If our focus is solely on our books, articles, and blogs we are missing out on other opportunities to serve our world through our words. Don’t neglect to use your gift of words and your heart to serve through engaging with those around you. Every text, phone call, note, or kind comment makes a difference to somebody.

Who needs a gift of life-giving words from you today?

Award-winning writer Lisa E. Betz believes that everyone has a unique story to tell the world. She loves inspiring fellow writers to be more intentional about developing their craft and courageous in sharing their words. Lisa shares her words through speaking, leading Bible studies, writing historical mysteries, and blogging about living intentionally.

You can find her on Facebook  LisaEBetzWriter Twitter @LisaEBetz and Pinterest Lisa E Betz Intentional Living.

Categories
Writer Encouragement

The Kindness of Billy Graham by Elaine Cooper

With the passing of evangelist Billy Graham this week, the man’s legacy has been much on my mind. Billy Graham has been the conduit of the Holy Spirit’s work in drawing untold numbers of believers to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. His message was powerful and clear: You must be born again.

Yet within that mighty message was the demeanor of a man filled with humility and kindness. Mr. Graham was not naïve. He wisely prevented any hint of scandals in his traveling ministry, ensuring that he was never alone with any woman other than his wife. While men in this day and age seem to be mocked for such a conservative choice, Mr. Graham held fast to that rule until the day he died. I’m sure he was met in heaven with the voice that said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

It was his attitude of servant-hood that truly stands out. This week, watching video after video of him through the years, I was struck by the man’s kindness towards all, even politicians and others who could cause my own neck hairs to bristle. His gentle spirit makes me somewhat ashamed of what my own reaction might be if I were in his shoes, greeting people with whom I strongly disagree. I suppose that’s why Billy Graham was offered these opportunities to share the Lord’s love and I was not!

While we each of us have our own platform to share the love of Jesus, I am deeply moved to try to be more like Billy Graham. I will likely never reach the numbers of readers that Mr. Graham reached in his ministry. But even in my small sphere of influence, I pray that God will instill in me a gentle and kind spirit. Not with a weak message about salvation but with a strong message of Christ’s love written with humility. A kindness that will allow others to see Jesus through my writing.

Well done, Mr. Graham.

Elaine Marie Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her latest release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She penned the three-book Deer Run Saga and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. She freely admits to being a history geek. She has recently signed a four-book contract with Burnett Young Books. The series is set in Connecticut during the American Revolution. You can visit her site at www.elainemariecooper.com

 

Categories
Writer Encouragement

Simple Acts of Kindness

Kindness is such a simple word, yet all too often it seems vacant from our speech.

Perhaps it’s the plethora of reality TV shows where everyone “speaks their mind” in aggressive, hurtful words that are meant to increase the network ratings. Perhaps it has to do with our own inadequacies; if we put someone else down, we think we are raising our own image. Wrong! Or perhaps it’s just that we are born to be self-seeking, focusing on our own needs.

This lack of kindness in our society really hit home to me on a recent out-of-state trip. I was in the restroom stall—sorry if that’s TMI—when I overhead a young woman poking fun at a person I assumed was her sister. “I hate those pants on you. They make your butt look fat.”

Nice, I thought sarcastically. Had I been outside the stall, I would have said something to the evil sister. But being trapped, all I could do was ponder these mean words. Obviously the sister being derided for some fashion faux pas had no recourse but to wear the “ugly” pants, unless she happened to have another pair in her carry on luggage, AND had time to change before her flight left.

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Regardless of Nasty Sister’s words, it would have been so much kinder to wait until they were home and said something in private. Or just keep her mouth closed, period.

 

Although I wish it were not so, I’ve seen unkindness in the Christian writer’s realm. These include mocking another author’s hairstyle at a conference and leaving a conference attendee alone at a table rather than inviting him or her to join your group. A lack of kindness can be found everywhere.

As we begin a brand new year, I pray that writers (including myself) can determine to be kinder. If you can’t review a book, kindly decline, offering well wishes for the book’s success. If you really don’t like a book by a fellow writer, don’t leave a negative review. Privately message the writer if you think that will help them, but don’t publicly deride their words.

If you are at a conference, be a help to your fellow writers, especially the new ones. Don’t just seek out the so-called “famous” authors. Someday, the writer you scorn may be on the best sellers list!

Please remember, we are all children of the King. Determine in 2016 to treat others like the royalty they are.

May your new year be blessed!

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5: 22-23) NIV

 

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Image of helping a drowning person courtesy of Kateen2528 via freedigitalphotos.net