Blogging with C.B. Cook

Hello! I have C. B. Cook here with us today to talk about blogging. Ah, blogging, one of my favorite forms of marketing. I get to talk a bunch and have people say things back to me! It's brilliant. And I need to get to be a bit more consistent. I mean, sometimes I'll post one post a month, other times, twenty in a day. It's ridiculous.

Anywho.

C.B.'s an awesome friend of mine, author of a fun little Superhero book called "Twinepathy." You should check that book out.

Find her on the interwebs:

Blog~Amazon~Goodreads~Pinterest

Blogging

C.B. Cook

Blogging is something that all authors should do, but many of us don’t. Or, if we do, we don’t do it regularly (*slowly raises hand*). And we really have no excuse not to! It’s free (check out Wordpress or Blogger), and it really doesn’t take that long to write a post, depending on the size. So I thought I’d go over a few of the things that are important to keep in mind when blogging as an author.

Blog About More Than Writing

While blogging about writing is a good thing, it probably shouldn’t be the only thing you blog about. With posts on writing you’ll tend to attract writers, not readers. So think about things related to your book. Is your book about old-school ninjas in the 21^st century? Write some posts about the research you’ve done on ninjas. Do you like to write fantasy and create your own story worlds? Start writing posts exploring the various countries and traditions in your worlds. Find something you enjoy writing about that relates to your book, and then run with that topic.

As a side note, though, ask you blog readers what they want to see, too. You don’t want to start writing posts that your target audience doesn’t want to read, so ask them what they think of your post ideas. Plus, they’ll feel more involved in your blog, which will help a lot, too.

Blog Regularly

Keeping a consistent blogging schedule is very important, and also very difficult. Out of these three, this is the one that I struggle with the most. To blog regularly, you don’t have to have a set out schedule of posting a different post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but you could just set a certain day of each week to post. Maybe Fridays are the days you have the most time, so you decide to post them. Whatever works best for you! If you can’t settle on a specific day, try to post at least once or twice a week. This will keep you present in your followers’ minds, but it won’t be too overwhelming for them.

Blog With Others

Ah, the blogging community. We are a crazy group, but we love to welcome newcomers. The best way to get others’ attention is to follow them and comment on their blogs. But don’t do this just to get followers. Find some blogs or people that you are truly interested in making a connection with and start up a conversation. Chances are, you’ll make a lot of new friends. Blogging is all about building new relationships.

After you’ve made friends and connections through blogging, find a few of those friends and offer to do a guest post swap, where you each write a post for each others’ blogs. Not only can this be a ton of fun, but it also helps their readers discover you and your readers discover them. Also, participating in group events, like blog tours, cover reveals, and Indie Author E-Cons can help you meet more people with similar interests, not to mention discussing your favorite things with those people.

(A/N Kendra stepping in - Just wanted to point out that participating in link-ups like Beautiful People, Character Encounters, and Top Ten Tuesdays are also great ways to network with other bloggers.)

So get out there, blog, and enjoy making new online friends!

Do you have a blog or are you planning on starting one? What’s something you love, hate, or have learned through blogging? If you’re new to blogging, what questions do you have? Comment below, and don’t forget to leave a link to your blog!

Photoshop with C.B. Cook

Hello! I have C.B. Cook here with us today to talk about PhotoShop. A nifty little program that I can't afford, so I use Gimp instead. Still, if you can afford it, it's nice to have.

Find her on the Interwebs:

Blog~Amazon~Goodreads~Facebook~Twitter

Photoshop

C.B. Cook

Hello, friends! I’m C.B. Cook, author of Twinepathy and Paralyzed Dreams. I’m a teenager/college student and a self-published author. I’m really happy to be here with you guys! I’m going to be discussing Photoshop with you today, as we talk about publishing.

Almost everyone has a cover creation software that they absolutely love, if they make their own covers. Mine is Photoshop. Now, I know Photoshop isn’t for everyone and it has its flaws, so I’d like to go over some pros and cons of Photoshop and some of my favorite aspects of the program.

Pro: Photoshop has a looooot of tools. As in, so many that I have absolutely no idea what half of them do.

Con: It’s true… Photoshop can definitely be confusing. With so many tools, it’s easy to get lost in the layout trying to find out how to just change your font size!

Pro: Since Photoshop is a program you install on your computer, you can get extra fonts, stamps, effects, and more online (some free!) to use in the program, unlike some online programs.

Con: Depending on what version of Photoshop you get, tutorials might be off for you, or they might use tools that don’t exist in your version.

Pro: Since Photoshop is a program you install on your computer, you can get extra fonts, stamps, effects, and more online (some free!) to use in the program, unlike some online programs.

Con: Installing new fonts and other extras may be hard to figure out, since they usually have to be in a specific folder.

And finally, the complaint many people have…

Con:  Photoshop is really expensive. The fancy extended version is $999. Which is a lot. The cheapest, which is Photoshop Elements (the one I have), is $79, which is still pretty expensive.

Pro: If you’re in school, whether you’re in high school, college, or even homeschooled (Yay homeschooling!), you can get student discounts. It’s still pricey, but if you’re wanting to do professional design work, it might be worth it.

A few of my favorite aspects of Photoshop

I’ve spent quite a bit of time exploring Photoshop and everything it offers, so I’ve found several things that I really like about it.

Gradients

Gradients are something I really enjoy using. They help make thinks stand out more without drawing too much attention to themselves. If you have white text you want to put on a gray background, you can put a black gradient behind the text to provide more contrast. True, you could do the same with a black rectangle, but that draws more attention to that one spot. On the cover of Paralyzed Dreams, you can see that I used a gradient behind the title to help the white text stand out more.

I also like using the gradient tool on text, as you might have seen on the cover of Twinepathy. The gradient tool can do normal gradients like the one above, but it can also do different shapes like diamonds and circles.

The Eyedropper Tool

This is a tool that’s pretty simple, but it has saved me multiple times. All this tool does is pick up a color from a picture in Photoshop so you can use it for font colors, your paint bucket, and other things. You can only have one foreground and one background color at a time, so it’s really easy to lose a color that you might need again.

Quick Selection Tool

I am terrible at changing out backgrounds. Because of that, I try to avoid it as much as possible. But when I have to change a background and can’t avoid it, the quick selection tool helps me a lot. Basically, this tool will help you outline your central object (a person, a building, anything) so that you can delete the background or copy the object. I don’t know if many other programs have this, but it’s a really handy tool.

Those are a few of the things I really like about Photoshop. Do you use Photoshop? If so, what are a few of the things you like about it? Comment below with your thoughts!

Plot Twists with C.B. Cook

Hello! I have C. B. Cook here with us to talk about writing plot twists. Plot twists are fun, and they're really my favorite part of writing. I especially love foreshadowing plot twists.

C.B. is a good friend of mine, beta read the first half of Lady dragon, Tela Du for me (Which means that she didn't get to my great plot twists). I've read her Twinepathy, and quite enjoyed it. I haven't gotten around to reviewing it yet, but I put my stamp of approval on its cover.

Follow her on the Interwebs:

Blog~Amazon~Goodreads~Pinterest

Writing a Plot Twist

C.B. Cook

Hello, friends! As a quick intro, I’m C.B. Cook, author of Twinepathy and Paralyzed Dreams. I’m a college student and indie author, and I’m super excited to be here on Kendra’s blog for the Indie Author E-Con. I’ve been asked to talk to you about plot twists, so let’s get into the post!

We can all admit that sometimes writing plot twists can be… challenging. Sure, random plot bunnies may pop into your head all the time, but how do you pick the right plot twist to go with (because you can’t do them all!)? How do you make your plot twist truly impact your reader? Picking a plot twist can be made easier if you eliminate some options by determining that they are clichés, so to begin with, I’ll go over a few of these clichés. After that, we’ll go over your characters’ reactions. If your character reacts in the right way, your reader will, too. Then I’ll wrap it all up with a few basic dos and don’ts!

Note: I will be using examples in this post, so if you don’t know about a certain plot twist in the original Star Wars trilogy ( you know the plot twist I’m talking about), there are SPOILERS in this post.

Plot Twist Clichés

The whole point of a plot twist is for something unexpected to happen in your story, taking everything in a new direction. And something that does the complete opposite of that is a cliché. The list below outlines several of these clichés, and possible ways to mix it up.

·       It was all a dream. The first time you read one like this, it’s an interesting twist. After the twentieth time, it becomes a turn-off in any book. How could you use this? What about having the main character wake up in his bed and think it was all a dream, but then find out… nope! It was all real! Or, if you don’t want it to be real, have the plot be a story the main character was telling someone else.

·       Surprise! That character didn’t actually die! (AKA Marvel Syndrome) This twist is sometimes a celebration (because who wants their favorite character to die?), but in all honesty, it dramatically cuts down on those feels readers love so much. Sometimes you have to be willing to kill off a character for real. Way to mix this one up? What if your main character thinks someone is alive again, but it turns out to be someone else pretending to be that character? Ooooh!

·       That character we trusted was actually working for the bad guys the whole time! Sometimes, when I start reading a book or watching a TV series with a team or a group of characters, I try to figure out which one is going to be evil. And whether my choice is right or wrong, any character “turning evil” simply becomes a huge annoyance to me (especially if it’s a character I like). How could this be fixed? What if the character is suspicious and thinks a member of his team is working for the bad guys, but in reality, he’s been working with the bad guys unknowingly.

·       The main character knew the antagonist. This is one I’m sooo tired of seeing. Star Wars did it great with Darth Vader being Luke’s dad, and since then, all villains seem to be related to or old friends of the main character. What about a villain the main character doesn’t know, but thinks they do? Or what about a villain they knew in second grade but don’t remember at all?

These are a few of the plot twists that have been done far too many times. The whole point of a plot twist is to be original, so don’t copy someone else’s plot twist just because theirs was successful. Plus, a cliché will pull your reader out of the story, rather than pull them in deeper, like a plot twist should. So stay away from clichés!

Characters’ reactions

After the plot twist itself, you have to think about the characters’ reactions. Different people react to different situations in different ways. Some people (or characters) are very emotional, while some hide their emotions and bury their feelings. Girls react differently than boys, and older people react differently from younger people. Extroverts will react differently from introverts, too.

If you want to show your reader how much a plot twist affects your character, show them how emotionally unstable the twist has made the character. Obviously, the situation changes the reaction as well. A really emotional character might cry if someone they know dies, but they might immediately react with fury if another character betrays them. In a good twist, someone who hides their emotions may actually smile, or in a negative twist, maybe all you see is the character’s clenched jaw or slightly slumped posture. Or say your character has a surprise parent reveal, much like in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, when Darth Vader tells Luke that he is his father. Luke has a moment where his eyes grow wide, and then he starts to say no, moving into denial. We see Luke’s POV, and we empathize with him, pulling us deeper into his emotional struggle.

Remember, the aftermath of a plot twist is important. If you wrote the twist itself successfully, your reader is already shocked. Figure out what you want to turn your reader’s emotions into—delight, sadness, sympathy for your character? Then figure out how best to get that response from your reader.

Dos and Don’ts of Plot Twists

Do surprise the reader.

Don’t do something completely random to surprise your reader.

Do study your favorite books and study how their plot twists work.

Don’t copy those plot twists!

Do test your plot twist out with your beta-readers.

Don’t forget to work out plot holes your plot twist may introduce.

And finally…

DO be creative! That’s what plot twists are all about. So get out there, brainstorm, and write that plot twist.

Q&A with C.B. Cook

I have C.B. Cook here today to answer any questions you might have about writing, her writing, her writing process, or any other questions you might have for her!

C.B.'s a lovely friend of mine, and was a beta reader of LDTD. I love and recommend her superhero novel Twinepathy.

C. B. Cook

Christian/Superhero/Contemporary

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Ask away!