Sitting is the new smoking. Or so the proverbial “they” are saying. The truth is that extended periods of sitting are bad for your health, especially in the long-term.

One very simple way to offset the damage is to incorporate a moment of stretching into your routine.

Why?

According to several of the sources I found (listed at the bottom), not to mention my own anecdotal experience, sitting can increase your chances of:

• blood clots
• neurological pinching or damage
• shortened leg muscles
• high blood pressure
• poor digestion
• leg cramps
• shallow breathing (lower oxygen levels)
• lower back pain
• tight muscles in the hips
• and more.

How?

• Start today. If you’re young, great! If you’re not so young anymore, even better! It’s never too soon or too late to get in touch with your body and stretch.
• Make it a habit. Stretch every time you go to the bathroom. Stretch on the toilet even. That’s a place you visit regularly, and your body is great at reminding you. If you still forget, add a little reminder to yourself on a sticky over the toilet-paper dispenser.
• Think of it as a gift to yourself. If you take regular stretch breaks, you’ll sit comfortably longer, focus better, write more, and stress less.
• Really listen to your body. Your body will tell you what areas you need to stretch. Sore shoulder? Sore wrists? Hip seizing? Ankles swollen? Your body is talking to you. Pain is a cry for help.
• Do what feels good! Do the stretches that work for your body. Those are the ones you need. This isn’t a competition. Over time, you’ll notice you feel more flexible. The effects are cumulative.
• Don’t overdo it. Sixty seconds of stretching, done several times a day, will produce noticeable results after just a few days.
• Relax. Stretching doesn’t have to involve force. Just bend, reach, and let your own body weight do the work.
• Get your head lower than your heart. If you can, bend at the waist and reach for your toes, do downward-facing dog (a yoga pose), or lie on the bed with your head hanging off the edge. When you’re sitting, blood has an uphill battle to get to your head with the vital oxygen it’s carrying.
• Get your heart lower than your legs. If you can, lie on your back with your feet up on the wall or on the arm of the couch. While you were sitting, all that blood that was having such a hard time getting to your head was pooling in your feet and legs. This pose will help release it and get it flowing more freely.
• Try yoga. If you’re interested, I recommend Yoga with Adrienne on Youtube. Adrienne has short (15-30 minute), easy yoga routines for all body types and proficiency levels. If the word “yoga” scares you, don’t let it. This yoga is literally for everyone!

Further Reading

• Healthline.com: “Breathe Deeper to Improve Health and Posture”
• Health.Harvard.edu: “The Importance of Stretching”
• StretchRelief.com: “Is Stretching Good for Mental Health?”
• Healthline.com: “Stretches for the Wrists and Hands”
• MedLinePlus.gov: “Heath Risks of an Inactive Lifestyle”

There’s never enough time in a day to do all the things we want to do. We can get help for cheap, however. Fiverr.com is a website where freelancers offer to do odd jobs for a one-time fee.

Why?

• Free up your time and eliminate stress.
• Pass on the tasks you dislike or don’t do well.
• The professionals on Fiverr may have suggestions for the job that you didn’t consider, thus raising the quality bar.

Sample Fiverr Freelancers a Dark Fiction Writer Might Hire

• Horror Podcast Cover Art
• Horror Soundtrack for Podcast, Promo Video, Website, etc.
• Audio Voiceover for Dark Projects
• Book Trailer Production
• Design Social Media Banners, Headers, Ads, etc.

How?

• Go to Fiverr.com and “Join.” It’s free to join. Fiverr takes a commission on any work you actually hire someone to do.
• Fill out all the information they request once you’re sure you want to use it. They are secure and well-established. You can use Paypal or input a credit card.
• Browse the freelancers and find one that does what you need. See the tips below for how to pick a good freelancer.
• Fiverr holds your payment in escrow while your freelancer does the job.
• The freelancer alerts you when the job is done, and you approve the payment.

Choosing a Freelancer

Be somewhat discriminating when you choose your freelancer.

• Start by mousing over the menu bar at the top of the page. You’ll get dropdowns of all the types of freelancers you can hire. Look for the type that best suits your need.
• Look under the heading “Business” for the most useful freelancers. This is where you’ll find virtual assistants, for example.
• In the list, pay attention to the number and quality of reviews a freelancer has received.

• Click on the freelancer to go to their profile. On the profile, look for the following clues:
  • How many likes/hearts do they have?
  • Do they have any orders in their queue? A lot could mean they’re overwhelmed. A few is okay. If they have any here, make sure you get an estimate on how long they think your job will take when you contact them.
  • Make sure their description of what they do matches what you need. Query if in doubt.
  • Notice the levels of service near the top/right. Basic, Standard, and Premium. Look at each of them. This will give you a better idea of how much they charge. Your project may require more than just Basic-level service.
  • Look at the general level of their English. They don’t need to be fluent, but they do need to have the ability to communicate in English. Many freelancers live in countries other than the United States. This is not a problem unless they don’t speak English well.
  • Scroll down the page to see reviews and to learn more about how this freelancer does business.
  • Remember, once you’ve decided on a freelancer, don’t book them (“Continue” button). Message them (“Contact Seller” button).

Tips & Best Practices

• You have the option to give a tip once a job is completed. Don’t feel obligated. It’s not required, but it is a nice thing to do.
• Write a review of the freelancer’s work. Bad reviews can damage a freelancer’s rating on the site, so it’s in their best interest to give you excellent service. Good reviews boost their rating and help their credibility.
• It’s important that you contact the freelancer before booking, explain your job, and ask if they’re interested. Let them send you a job proposal so you get an accurate quote for the work. If you don’t like the quote, reject the job.
• Once you find a great freelancer, you can use them again and begin to build a relationship of trust with them. They’ll learn more about your jobs, and you won’t have to micromanage them.
• You’re the boss, and this is a business relationship. Be professional, communicate your needs clearly, give feedback in a professional manner, and be grateful for a job well done.

Something to think about: What kind of person likes your books? What are they interested in? If you’ve never thought about these things, then your promotions won’t be as effective.

Your products have a “Reader Persona.” Intuitively, you know what it is, but maybe you haven’t owned it yet.

Why?

• Write more effective promotional content, including your book descriptions and cover copy, with the right audience in mind.
• Actively find the places where they hang out (both online and in the real world) and reach them directly with your promotions.
• Hone your fiction by making your books even more targeted to your ideal audience.
• Tighten the focus on your niche and achieve greater sales when you hit the bullseye. It’s the difference between using a laser and using a shotgun to reach potential readers. The laser will be far more effective and cost-efficient.
• Prove to agents and publishers that you know your profession and your intended audience.

Consider These Questions

The following questions narrow down your reader persona. Answer them to the best of your ability. It’s okay if you can’t answer all of them. There are no right or wrong answers. This isn’t about hard data. It’s based on your observations of who you want to reach and of who you think your books are attracting.

• What age group is most likely to buy your books? Break these into ranges, such as 13-17, 18-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55, etc. You can set your own ranges.
• What gender identities? The spectrum is diverse, but your books may appeal more to one subset.
• What education level? High school? Bachelor’s? Master’s? Doctorate?
• What religious affiliation? Christian? Jewish? Atheist?
• What interests? Coffee, recipes, LGBTQ, alcohol, cats, serial killers, monsters, true love, cosplay, history?
• How tech-savvy? Science nerd, computer geek, can’t figure out the TV remote, imagined technology rules?
• What sensibilities? No violence, happily-ever-after, gore is good, expects humor, technical accuracy?

The answers to these questions may seem obvious to you. They should. They grow out of your writing style, your plots, your characters, and your personal interests. In many ways, your reader mirrors you. Acknowledge that and double down.

The best example of a niche that does this well is the Cozy Mystery niche. They know their audience and keep their books within the boundaries of what their readers expect and like.

Know your reader persona. Give them a name, if that helps, and write for them. They’ll reward you with love and loyalty.

Many email providers let you create and save email templates for those emails you send over and over again.

Why?

• It saves time!
• They are excellent for query letters and interview requests, for example. Whenever you find yourself writing the same email over and over, consider creating a template.
• You can always customize it before you send it.
• It raises the professionalism of your emails by reducing the number of typos and other mistakes that sneak into them. Eliminate the need to re-read and edit every time.
• You don’t have to “rethink” what you’ll say every time. This lowers the risk that you’ll leave out a critical or clever element by mistake.

Gmail

To set up templates in Gmail, you have to first turn them on, then create and save one. Then, you can use it as often as you need.

• Gmail has done an excellent job with their template instructions, so I’m not going to repeat all that here. Plus, if they change, Google will keep it updated.

Outlook

Microsoft also does an excellent job of explaining how to create an Outlook email template and how to use an Outlook email template.

Tips & Best Practices

• You will always have the opportunity to edit your email before you send it, so don’t be afraid that it just goes. It doesn’t.
• You can save templates to create modular content and add more than one to your email (in Gmail / untested in Outlook——comment below if you know this is also possible in Outlook?). You could have a template for each of the following or whatever you can imagine:
• Salutation
• Body-ThankYou
• Body-NoThankYou
• Body-Yes
• Body-InterviewQuery
• Body-AgentQuery
• Body-ArtistQuery
• Body-PublisherQuery
• Body-MyBio
• Body-MyContactInformation
• Body-ShortStorySubmissionIntro
• Signature-Friend
• Signature-Pro
• Signature-Thanks
• Name your template well so you can recognize it immediately as the one you need.
• You can edit your template at any time and update it whenever your information changes.
• If you don’t use Gmail or Outlook, do a search on your email provider’s site for “Email Templates” to find out whether they offer them or not.
• I like to use capital letters to call out where I might want to insert a word. For example: “Dear NAME”. This makes it less likely that I will leave the placeholder in when I send it.
• You can automate sending a template using Filters.

Looking for content for your blog or social media platform? Interview an expert. This increases your credibility and reach as well as that of your interviewee. Win-win.

Who?

• Another author in your genre
• A technical expert on a topic relative to your books
• Someone who does the same job your main character does
• An expert in the craft of writing and publishing (such as your publisher, editor, audiobook narrator, or someone like JoAnna Penn)

How

• Identify someone that your ideal readers would find interesting. See our article titled “Identify Your Reader Persona” for more on this.
• Contact them via email and ask, politely and professionally, if they’d be willing to do an interview. Introduce yourself, explain why you’ve chosen them, and include the medium (email, Zoom, etc.). Even if they say no, you’ve made a new contact.
• Do the interview itself via email.
• You can send your questions and the interviewee can answer at their leisure.
• You and the interviewee get a chance to edit it before it goes live.
• This is especially helpful if the topic is technical.
• Do the interview via Zoom or Skype.
  • On Zoom, you can live stream or record it for later posting (or both).
  • Do email them the questions you plan to ask in advance. No ambushing of your interviewee.

Tips & Best Practices

• It does not have to be long. One question? Two? Ten? It’s up to you.
• If you choose to go longer, remember that you can break it up into parts and feed it out to your audience in multiple posts. Even more content!
• If you’re shy/introverted, start with someone you know. With practice, it will get easier.
• Email is more professional than a Facebook message, if you have access to an email address. If not, a social media message is your second option. Be sure to check LinkedIn, where you may find better contact information.
• Ask in advance whether the interviewee has any topics they’d like to cover. Maybe they have a new book out that they want to promote.
• Ask your interviewee for a bio, web link, and a photo that you can use.
• Be respectful of and grateful for your interviewee’s time. They are busy people.
• Let the interviewee know where you’ll be posting it, and send them the link(s) once it’s posted. They will share it too!
• Use the same questions for multiple guests. Depending on your topic, this may or may not work, but it will save time.
• Post it everywhere you have a presence: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, GoodReads, Amazon, etc.
• Friend/like your interviewee everywhere so that now you’re linked through social media.
• Use email templates so you don’t have to re-invent the wheel every time. See our article “Use Email Templates” for more on this.

Looking for tactics to get your name known? To increase your credibility with readers? Review other authors’ books. Presumably, you are already reading books in your genre, so leverage that to help get your reputation up.

When you review a book, you’re not just doing the author a favor, you’re reaching readers.

Where?

• Bookbub.com is a site for readers.
• Create an account, add a profile, add your own books to your profile, then search for and review the books you’ve read.
• Readers visit this site for ideas on what to read next. They follow genres and authors, and they can view your profile (and thus your books).
• Your review of another author’s book puts your name in front of them with the “author” label.
• You can follow other authors to be alerted when they put out a new book.
• You can offer deals on your books (if you’re self-published or if your publisher is on board) for Bookbub members. They send out newsletters to all their subscribers.
• Goodreads.com is also a site for readers.
• Similar to Bookbub in how it works, but it seems to be the top spot for readers to go who are looking for their next read.
• Your author profile on Goodreads will rank high on Google if anyone is searching for you.
• You add your books, and readers can follow you, review your books, or add you to a “To be read” list.
• When you review the books you’ve read on Goodreads, a lot of people see you.
• You can set up a blog on Goodreads to reach your readers.
• Amazon.com or Audible.com
• Amazon.com (Kindle, paperback, etc.) and Audible.com (Amazon’s audiobook arm) are search engines. Many people go there to search for their next book.
• Readers do read the reviews.
• On both these sites, you can click on the reviewer’s name to see what else they recommended.
• You achieve a reviewer rank the more you review, so if you read a lot, you can earn credibility.
• On your own social media
• Post your review on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or wherever you hang out online.
• Link to your profile on any of the above sites to get people going there and seeing your books.
• You have more freedom to discuss your own books/writing career in the context of the one you’re reviewing on these sites.
• All of the above!
• The greatest thing about reviewing is that you can write it once and post it on multiple sites. Thus, you multiply your reach and economize your time.

Tips & Best Practices

• Let the author whose book you’re reviewing know that you did. Send them a link or use an @link in Facebook or Twitter to make sure they see it. If you alert them via email, use an email template to save time. See our article “Use Email Templates” for more on this.
• If you have nothing good to say, say nothing. You’re not just a reader, you’re this author’s peer; so even if you hated the book, don’t slam it. Just don’t review it. Review only books you liked at least enough to give it 3 stars out of 5. Consider them more like recommendations than reviews. This is for your own protection. Stephen King can afford it. You? Maybe not so much.
• Don’t lie. If you didn’t like the book, don’t say you did. If you didn’t read the book, don’t review it.
• Keep it helpful. Think about what a reader would want to know. Is it slow in the beginning, but picks up and is worth the read? Is it funny? Is it sexy? How sexy?
• No spoilers! Although hinting that something really cool happens is awesome.
• Mention at least 3 things you liked about the book. Even if your review is only three sentences long, each sentence should call out one thing you liked (a character, descriptions, plot, dialogue, an interesting hook, etc.).
• Mention more things you liked than things you didn’t like. It’s okay to be somewhat critical, just don’t overburden the review with negativity.
• Don’t try to be overly erudite. Most readers won’t connect with that. Just say it like it is in regular man-on-the-street terms. [Caveat: Of course, erudition may be perfectly appropriate for a non-fiction book or classic literature.]
• Make sure your profile, wherever you’re reviewing, is kept up to date. All the sites listed above give you a profile that you can customize.
• It doesn’t matter how long ago you read it. You can still review it.
• If time is tight, consider paying someone to “polish” your reviews for you and post them. (A great odd job for your teenager!) You tell them how many stars to give it and offer a few adjectives to describe how you felt about the book, then the other person puts the review together for you and handles posting it. See our article entitled “Use Fiverr for Odd Jobs” for more on how to do this.

Images are your #1 resource for promoting your work. Here’s a little introductory tutorial to images.

Digital images are nothing more than a collection of colored pixels (tiny squares) all arranged to create the illusion of an image. This is why we measure images in pixels rather than inches. An image that is 800 x 1600 is 800 pixels wide and 1600 pixels tall. A pixel is a fairly standard unit of measure — more or less.

The image file contains all the information about where specific pixels go and how big they should be. It’s quite magical.

PNGs, JPGs, and GIFs, Oh my!

There are three primary types of image files that you need to know about. Each type has its own special properties. You can choose the type for your image in most graphic programs just by selecting a different file extension from the drop-down when you “Save As”. The program will do the translation for you.

• JPG or JPEG.
• Tend to be smaller and load faster than other types.
• You cannot make them bigger than they already are without losing clarity. You can make them smaller without worry, though this too has its limits.
• They turn transparent areas into white areas automatically. They do not do transparency.
• PNG
• Tend to be bigger and load slower than other types.
• Resize better than JPGs, but even they have their limits and will get “pixelated” if you push them.
• They retain transparency. If you have transparency in your image, then you want to save-as with the .PNG file extension.
• GIF
• Only used for animated images, usually ones that loop (start over and repeat automatically)
• These require some artistic savvy or a special program to create.
• Tend to be bigger and load slower than other types.
• If you have an image with animations, then you will probably save it as a GIF, if not an actual movie file.

Resizing Images

At the most basic, you won’t ever have to do more than resize your images.

• You can find programs that will let you resize your images.
• If you’ve never used an art program before, start here. Adobe offers a free online app called Photoshop Express that is easy to use and gives you many options for resizing, customizing, and cropping your image. It’s fantastic for beginners.
• Gimp is free and a very popular one, especially among game designers. It has many of the features that you will find in a more advanced program like Adobe Photoshop.
• Windows comes with a free program called “Paint.” Simply open your start window and search for “Paint.” It’s basic, but it works great for simple tasks.

Tips & Best Practices

• Ask your publisher for a “high resolution” copy of any cover image they make for your book. They won’t mind providing you with one. Ask for it in PNG or JPG format.
• Immediately make a copy of the original and set the original aside in a folder so you always have it. Once an image has been edited and saved, you can’t revert it. Remember, you can always make an image smaller, but you can’t always make it bigger without losing resolution.
• Mouse over your image in the file folder, wait a moment, and a box will pop up with information on the type, dimensions (in pixels, width x height), and size (in kilobytes or megabytes [FYI, there are 1000 kilobytes in a megabyte.).

• If your image is more than 800 pixels wide, then you will probably want to resize it. Most places won’t need an image that big, and you’ll be saving them time if you resize it for them.
• If the image they gave you is the entire cover, front and back, you’ll want to create a version that is only the front. To do this, use one of the programs above to crop the image and save-as to a different file.
• I usually make 4 copies of the front cover, one at 800 pixels wide, one at 600 pixels wide, one at 400 pixels wide, and one at 200 pixels wide. If you have those on hand, then you can ask what size the publisher or website needs from you. NOTE: in any graphic program, you can set it so the height adjusts in proportion to whatever you set the width. No math required.
• Use one of these online sites to create polished, professional promotional images for your book. They’re easy to use and intuitive.
• Canva
• Bookbrush

We only list professional markets (or otherwise interesting markets) because we believe you should always aim high first. Please let us know if you sell something! We can help you promote it.

We collate this list from various sources. You can visit Duotrope.com (paid), Ralan.com (free), The Submission Grinder, and Aswiebe.com (free) for more complete and up-to-the-moment listings. Also, check out Douglas Smith’s Foreign Language Markets List (free). And you can scroll through the Horror Markets Facebook group for open-call announcements.

When you help another writer, two things can happen:

1. You build equity with your fellow authors.
2. You build equity with your readers.

What is equity in this case?

It’s basically credit and reputation. You build relationships and name recognition.

With other authors, you pay it forward.

With your readers, you show them that you’re invested in what you do.

Idea List

• Review another author’s book. See the post Review Another Author’s Book.
• Promote another author’s book on your social media.
• Buy another author’s book and take photos of yourself with it. Share these photos on your social media with “Look what came in the mail!”
• Interview other authors for your blog. See the post Easy Content: Interview An Expert.
• Schedule a Wily Coffee Break with another author.
• If you see a submission call you think someone else might fit, forward it to them.

Consider how many emails you send out in a day. The signature on your email (that piece at the bottom that your email provider automatically attaches) is powerful landscape for promoting your work to people with whom you’re in contact. If just one such email connects with a potential reader, then you’ve won the day.

You set your signature in the Settings of your email program. Here are instructions for the two most common.

Outlook

1. Click File, then Options, then Mail, then Signatures.
2. Click the signature you want to edit, and make your changes in the Edit signature box.
3. When you’re done, be sure to select Save and then OK.

Gmail

1. Open Gmail.
2. At the top right, click Settings (the cog icon) and then See All Settings.
3. Scroll down to the “Signature” section and add your signature text in the box. (You can add images or format the text.)
4. Very important: when you’re done, be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes.

Critical Information to Include

(in order of importance)

1. link to your website or Facebook page (your primary public space)
2. link to wherever your latest book is being sold
3. links to your other social media accounts

Some Tips

See samples below.

• Spell out your full professional name in your signature. If you use a pseudonym, put it here. You can use “Writing as [pseudonym]” if you sign your emails with your real name.
• Put a line or other visual divider at the top of your signature to set it apart from the body of the email.
• Many email providers let you create more than one signature to use in different situations.
  • For example, Gmail will let you set which signature it uses for a new email versus a Reply email. This lets you use the long signature for first-contacts, but the short one for further conversation.
  • Gmail then also lets you choose which sig you use when you write a new email (at the bottom of the email, click on the pen icon).
• Don’t make your Reply signature too big.
• You can add images, but don’t use images that are too big. Remember that it will slow down and clog up your receiver’s inbox.
• I recommend no bigger than 200-pixels-wide for a cover image. (See the article entitled “Image Editing” for more depth on this.)
• Set the dots per inch (dpi) to 72 pixels.

Sample Signatures

Short Signature:

Medium-Length:

Long:

Members, do you have an area of expertise or a lesson learned that you’d like to share on our blog?

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