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Wordsowers Monthly Meeting

Goodby party for Jeanie and Shannon
Thursday June 22, 2023, 7:00-8:30 pm CST


No Zoom this month.

Instead of our planned write-in, we’re having a goodbye celebration party for leadership team members Jeanie Jacobson and Shannon Christmas. Jeanie has been involved in Wordsowers since 2013, most of those years on the leadership team. As many of you know, Jeanie has been dealing with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for the last two years. She’s improving, but her husband feels she needs to step back and focus more on her health.

Shannon Christmas has spent several years working for Wordsowers in various capacities, some behind-the-scenes, and most recently on the leadership team. Unfortunately, due to work, school, and other obligations, Shannon needs to step back from her current leadership role.
We hope everyone can attend this in-person meeting to say their thank you’s and good-byes to Jeanie and Shannon.
And of course we’ll have snacks and drinks, cause that’s how we roll at Wordsowers!

This month, please join us at
Bible Truth Ministries Church
2402 Franklin St.
Bellevue, NE 68005

Please note: there are stairs to negotiate in the building to get to the meeting area.

Please join our private FB group if you would like to be more involved.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/261653995038722/

We meet the 4th Thursday of the month from 7:00-8:30 pm.

We welcome you to explore our Facebook page.

2015 Wordsowers Monthly Meetings
We meet the LAST Thursday of the month from 6:00-7:45 PM at the Swanson library, 9101 W. Dodge Rd., Omaha, NE
 

Ready to enhance your writing career, or get it started? Join us for the Wordsowers monthly meetings.  

 
May 28th: Breaking into Chicken Soup, author Jeanie Jacobson. Chicken Soup for the Soul is a wildly popular franchise. Six-time “Souper” Jeanie reveals the elements necessary to help your submission stand out against thousands of others.  jeaniejacobson.com
 
June 25th: Platform Building, author Jennifer Slattery. Jennifer shares strategies gleaned from her work as a freelance editor and publicist. From old-school to online to connecting with readers, Jennifer outlines steps geared toward building your writing career. JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com
July 30th: Setting the scene: Bringing your fictional world to life, author Kim Stokely. Utilizing fiction elements makes writing shine, regardless of genre. Kim, prolific in both the fiction and non-fiction arenas, dishes out advice useful for any writer seeking to enliven their work. kimstokely.com

 
August 27th: Introduction to WordPress.org, photographer Pasquale Mingarelli. Top bloggers insist on WordPress.org. Visual Verse of the Day creator, Pasquale, created his site without technical know-how and quickly gained over 7000 visitors. Learn how to use this powerful tool as a blogging platform or content management system to increase your reach. visualverse.thecreationspeaks.com
September 24th: The value of your testimony, author Karen Watson. Writing impacts the lives of readers. Author and speaker Karen Watson focusesthis session on helping others see value in your ministry. Learn to use your writing so that lives are changed and people become eager to cash-in all for a relationship with God. theamplifiedlife.com
 Oct. 29th: How to get and conduct radio and TV interviews, author Brooke Williams.Authors, do you want local publicity? Tune in to Brooke’s presentation. This former radio announcer, producer and script writer’s expertise might be just what you need to get into the limelight. authorbrookewilliams.com
 
Nov 19th: Wordsowers Q & A.
(Usual date shifted due to the Thanksgiving holiday)
Have questions? We just may have answers you need. Whether it’s information on the craft, industry terms, or how to get started, bring your questions to this informal open forum. wordsowers.com
December-No meeting. Take time to enjoy the holidays with your loved ones.

We meet the LAST Thursday of the month from 6:00-7:45 PM at the Swanson library, 9101 W. Dodge Rd., Omaha, NE 

After-Glo session directly following. 

Are you struggling with what to write about on your blog? If you’re anything like me, these are some of the thoughts going through your head:

Why would anyone listen to what I have to say?
There are already so many bloggers out there.
I’m not an expert in anything.

Let’s catch up with our resident beginner (fast becoming experienced) and ask her a few questions about blogging content.
Jeanie is a fellow Wordsower and newly published author with a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles Happen.

Here on Jeanie’s Perspective, she shares the process of building her platform. Connect with Jeanie on her website or on Facebook.

What do you blog about? Do you have an area you stick with or do you blog about whatever is on your mind at the moment?
Recently I started blogging about the oddest or most challenging event of my week. I format it like this:
1) Share a true, usually quirky, event. Like when I hid from the nativity scene in my front yard, or cooked a possum.
2) Apply a nugget of truth, lay my soul bare, and ask who else might be struggling in that area.
3) Give encouragement through a related scripture.
Do you have a tag line/mission statement?
I thought “Truth Through Fiction” would be an awesome tag line. So did about a thousand other people who are already using it. My blog’s focus is hope, humor, and encouragement. I want people to know God’s crazy in love with them, ala John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Do you ever doubt your choice for your blog topic? 
Pretty much every time I sit down to write it. The rule of thumb is “narrow your focus to broaden your audience.” I know it, but haven’t accomplished it yet. Last week I learned of an author who writes Amish science-fiction. Seriously. Now that’snarrowing your focus.
In order to determine what to blog about,
it helps to know 4 things.
Know your mission/purpose. Some people like to write a mission statement. If you don’t want something long and involved, try a tag line. Can you put in one sentence what the purpose is behind your writing?
For me, my tagline is “stories of surrender, transformation, and hope”. In other words, through each story I write (and each blog post) I want to encourage women in their faith walk. I think this tag line expresses that. Here are some questions to ask as you think about what your purpose is.
Where do you want to be in 10 years?
Is there a pattern of what God is doing in your life?
What is your personal life message?
What is your personal life verse?
 
Know your audience. Its common to want to include everyone. But the funny thing is, the more specific you get, the broader appeal your message actually has. When you have a very specific audience in mind, it is easier to get personal with them. Ask yourself:
What is their age range?
What is their gender?
What are their interest?
What are their talents /abilities?
What life issue/problem are you going to help them solve/answer?
What is their life circumstance (married, single, kids or no, working, retired, etc)?
What is it about their life that gets them interested in what you write?
Is your reader fellow writers or just readers?
 
 
Know yourself. You are the heartbeat of your writing. It’s how you shine through and stand out from everyone else. People are attracted to YOU, not just the WHAT you write.
What is your personality?
What is your passion?
What do you enjoy writing about?
What do you like to do?
What appeals to you to learn about?
What is your writing style? Don’t try to be someone else.
You are the heartbeat of your writing. 
 
Know what you know. People like to know you’re for real. And whether you outright state it or not, when you know something, it comes through. Your expert status shows. Ask yourself a few questions to shine some light on these areas.
What do you do in your spare time?
What are your talents and abilities?
When do people listen best to you?
What do people ask for your help with?
What is your degree in if you have one?
What are your experiences?
What topics “flow” out of you?
Do you see any common themes in these 4 areas? Take a minute and make some notes.
If you’re still struggling, ask those who love you to share their perspective. Write a few sample blog posts and run them by fellow writers. Then, if you’re still not sure, just START. As you blog, your spot-on-topic will rise to the surface. Don’t be paralyzed by fear or indecision.
Are you ready to get started? Did you get any aha moments as you went through these questions? 
If you have already started your blog, tell me what you blog about. 
Last week, we had a great Hangout. You can still catch it here. We talked about building your platform starting with the basics: your website or blog. Today, you’ll find tips to make that website or blog look professional.
But first, let’s hear from Jeanie Jacobson about her progress building her platform from the ground up.

Jeanie is a fellow Wordsower and newly published author with a story appearing in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles Happen. Released February 4, 2014.

You can find at:

What are you working on this week? I’m learning how to put email sign up buttons on my blog and website. According to the video  tutorials, it’s a quick and easy task.

How is it going? Well…you’ll get a good idea from this piece of my last blog post: I started this blog last September by admitting I felt like Little Red Riding Hood wandering cyberspace with the Big Bad Blogging Wolf hot on my trail. I’ll be honest even though it’s embarrassing. That wolf is still breathing down my neck.
I need to set up an email sign-up form so nice people like you have access to my newsletters and fun insider stuff. It should be so easy to create, but I keep getting arrested by the techno-police.
At this moment I’m lost in cyber space on Planet MailChimp.
Danger Jeanie Jacobson! Danger!
MailChimp is owned by a conglomerate of out-of-work flying monkeys, bitter because the Wizard Of Oz was their last gig. To me their tutorials read something like:
“Link the snarfbladt with the poofathon utilizing the source code. However, if you plan to use a RSS feed, copy the 1st line of HTML into your rebakalator before dancing a jig in your pajamas. If that doesn’t work paste the last 3478 lines of code into the fizzmutter after pulling the flying giraffes from your doughnut maker.” Read Jeanie’s full post here.
What would you tell our readers who are reluctant to get started? Don’t let fear hold you back. Pursue the dreams God planted in your heart, no matter what your starting point is. I’m sharing my computer ineptitude publicly to encourage you. I’ll get better as I push forward. And so will you.
You’ll be hearing more from Jeanie as she shares her adventures in platform building.

As you build your platform, you want it all to look professional, starting with your blog/website. Remember, little things can add up to a great website experience. Here are 10 tips to keep you going in the right direction.
  1. Develop your tag line.This will help guide the direction of your website or blog. It’s that short sentence that tells the purpose of your content.
  2. Offer quality content. Be consistent, whether you post once a week or more. Start with what you know you can handle. You can always add extra posts.
  3. Make sure any links on your website open in new page, especially if these links are to another site away from your own. Check to make sure no links are broken.
  4. Add a picture to each post. Get permission to share and provide appropriate attribution when required. You don’t want people to randomly share your content that you worked so hard on, don’t share someone else’s even if it’s not the written word. There are lots of great places to find quality photos for free that are legal to use.
  5. If you have several pages, make sure tabs are easy to find so people can make their way around your website without frustration.
  6. Once you are on other social media sites, provide easy links to connect with you there.
  7. Have a professional photo to use for your publicity picture. The high resolution is important. What you start showing up on other places, they will ask for one. And you want to look professional.
  8. When you have books for sale, make it easy for people to find them for purchase. Also make a page about your writing, so people can decide whether they like your book right in the moment, before they leave your site and get distracted.
  9. Create an about/bio page. Readers want to know about you. Be authentic.
  10. Make your newsletter sign up easy to find. Best place, top right corner under your header.
Here are some great go-to websites with great information on building your online platform.
 Jeff Goines
Author Media
Michael Hyatt
Blogging Bistro
Next week, we’ll talk specifically about your newsletter. If you have a question you would like addressed leave a comment below.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it….make a goal of one  thing you can do to build your platform. And DO IT!
Now, do tell, what is your goal for the week?

If you want to connect with Jeanie, visit her website http://www.jeaniejacobson.com

Continued notes from Kat from the Q and A panel:
When our Q and A panel received questions from those attending WordSowers meeting in November, most people didn’t put their name on them. Jeanie added her name, and even if she didn’t, we know about her contract with “Chicken Soup” and applaud her tenacity—
The sign on my desk says,
If you don’t submit, you can’t sell.
Jeanie’note-question:
 “My story will be in an upcoming Chicken Soup book.
Is there a protocol for promoting that without being pushy?
I currently have a (new) website, (new) blog, (new) author’s
facebook page, and (new) twitter account.”
We need to do more than applaud Jeanie’s sale—she’s moved ahead in building the blog, getting her facebook up and going and is on twitter. Yahoo, Jeanie. Great job.
Is there a non-pushy way to promote your book? Any book?
With “Chicken Soup books” you are paid for the manuscript and given 10 free books. What you do with the book from there is up to you. Of course, the publisher hopes that every author will sell books for them, but how?
In my case, I waited years to be accepted by “Chicken Soup Finding Your Faith.” I might not have promoted the book, but when I spoke in the northwest this summer, offering books after my presentation worked well.
How would I share a compilation if I didn’t speak? In the beginning—maybe 2005, I held book events at Parables, Divine Truth, Borders and Barnes and Nobles. Did I make any more money? No, but I connected with managers in each bookstore. When I did self-publish my book, those same managers allowed me to hold more book events and even carried my book in their stores.
When I sold any compilation in a church setting or to family and friends, I bought the books at half price—sold them for list price.
I didn’t quit my day job. This isn’t a huge money maker, but you begin to build your platform and your portfolio.
Angela Meyer held a book launch party when her book “Hope Starts Here” published. Why not hold a book launch party with “Chicken Soup?” Yes, it’s lots of work, but if your book is published in January or February, everyone needs a reason to celebrate and you will start building your audience for the future. Invite family, friends and ask them to invite more people. Most of them want to celebrate a new publication—get the word out, Jeanie Jacobsen, you are an author.