My Blog Archives - Page 7 of 11

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

It was a combination of bad timing and perhaps my own naivety that caused me to originally abandon my first novel before it finally made it to print last year. (The Nestries, A Fairytale for All Ages) After being rejected repeatedly, I took a short sabbatical, visiting with my brother at our beloved childhood home. We often discussed issues he dealt with every day in caring for his mother-in-law who was suffering from dementia. She was now having hallucinations, he said. Although they were disturbing to her, my [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:23:51+00:00Case Studies, My Blog|0 Comments

Writing 250 words at a time

For most of us, writing can't always be our top priority in terms of time management. We have jobs, school, family, social obligations, grocery shopping, errands, and a ton of other stuff that has to be done, but that chips away at the time we'd rather spend writing. It's hard to find time to think about stories, let alone write them, in the swirl of daily life. One of the most frequent questions I've gotten since the publication of my novel, The Life and Death (but mostly the [...]

Radu Balas2016-11-18T12:56:56+00:00Book Editing, Book Marketing, Book Publishing, Case Studies, Email Marketing, Marketing, My Blog|0 Comments

Self-Publishing – It’s Not As Easy As It Looks

It may not be easy but it is worth it. Before the advent of the e-book, self-publishing was for the author who wanted a few copies for friends and family members, vanity publishing. Then along comes the e-book and publishing was changed forever. Now, anyone with a computer and a manuscript can publish their book for FREE. Just push a button and your story is out there on Amazon or B&N or Kobo or any of the others. And, you can even publish a paperback version for free. [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:23:52+00:00Book Covers Design, Book Editing, Book Marketing, Book Publishing, My Blog|0 Comments

Essay For Character Development

An iceberg is a stunning sight, rising high above the water, gleaming boldly in the sunlight. However, there is often much, much more ice below the surface of the water, supporting that which is easily seen. The iceberg above the surface, visible to those who search, could never exist to the naked eye without that hidden, deeper, often much larger part. The hidden, secret ice is an integral part of the entire iceberg, as important to the whole as the smaller part which is visible. So it is [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:23:53+00:00Book Marketing, Book Publishing, Case Studies, Email Marketing, Marketing, My Blog|0 Comments

Self-Publishing – Reflections of a rookie

Nearly a year ago, around the middle of February, I sat out to write down a few memories. For years, my husband and I have joked about the things we've done, the experiences we've shared and the characters that have floated in and out of our lives. Many of whom became family, and others only a phone call away. We've worn many hats, lived in several states, owned biker bars, ran stock cars, driven eighteen wheelers OTR and surrounded ourselves with a plethora of unique individuals. Mostly bikers, [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:23:54+00:00Author Website, Book Editing, Book Marketing, Book Publishing, Case Studies, My Blog|0 Comments

My Book – A Case Study | Age is not a limitation

I am 78 years old, and my love of writing began over 30 years ago, as I sat quietly each morning, asking God to teach me what He wanted me to learn from His Word – the Bible. Day by day He began to highlight a certain verse, or a passage or a chapter from His word, and impressed on my mind a thought about it. I began by writing down those thoughts, and as this continued I began to get the impression that others could learn from [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:23:55+00:00Book Editing, Book Publishing, Case Studies, My Blog|0 Comments

Case Study: Beautiful Toronto

For those who don’t know me, and I realize that’s probably most of you, I am a middle aged mother of three teenage boys, who also happens to be a singer-songwriter. Some might think that being the mother of three teenage boys would provide plenty of fodder for songwriting, but that would not be accurate in my case. I don’t write about my sons, or my location, or my dog, or anything about my day to day life. I write love songs. I write heart wrenching, gut punching, [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:23:56+00:00Book Editing, Book Publishing, Case Studies, My Blog|0 Comments

Let’s Submit

For this blog I wanted share some lessons I have learned as a wildlife photographer and applied to my writing submissions. You may wonder how can submitting images and submitting your baby that you worked on for months and months be the same. When I submit my images I submit them to book publishers, contests, and magazine editors. When I submit my writing I submit to book publishers, contests, and magazine editors, but not always the same ones. There are several important steps to submitting your work graphic [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:23:56+00:00Book Marketing, Email Marketing, Marketing, My Blog|0 Comments

A message to aspiring writers: Your pen carries the burden of truth

Of course, there is a difference between fact and fiction. It is the job of the writer to selectively disregard facts, to reimagine and rework them into stories fantastic, but I believe Mark Twain got it wrong when he said: “Never let the truth get in in the way of a good story.” He should have said, “Always make the truth the way of your story.” As you learned in your high school English classes, the mark of an enduring work of fiction is that it explores and [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:23:58+00:00Book Publishing, Case Studies, My Blog|1 Comment

How I Wrote my Debut Novel

Hi everyone! Welcome to my journey to writing my debut novel, Winter’s Captive, The Georgia Series, Book 1. First, I must thank Taylor for inviting me to write this piece. I would love to share my writing journey with all of you. Writing has always been a part of my life, but not in a professional capacity. This is something that has come late in my life. Writing a novel was a dream of mine for my whole adult life, only life got in the way. My life’s [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:24:00+00:00Book Marketing, Book Publishing, Case Studies, Email Marketing, Marketing, My Blog, Social Media|0 Comments