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Guest Post by Marnie Swedberg

Social Networking (SN) is no longer an optional activity for authors. The time has come for you to make friends on Facebook, tweet on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

Pick your poison, swallow that frog or tackle that tiger, but take action today!

I was never going to get caught up in this SN thing, but thanks to a business coach, I decided to do a test. Within a couple months, income from SN interactions had replaced that of my Google Ads, despite the fact that I was only spending 15 minutes a day working on it. I now maintain groups of hundreds or thousands at several SN sites and you can it, too!

Here are five time-saving tips that will help you fit SN it into your busy schedule.

1. Choose a winner. There are dozens of social networking sites, but you probably only need to join one. Think back to your previously ignored SN invitations to learn where your friends, family and associates are hanging out, and join them there.

2. Publish your profile. Each site has different requirements and options. You will be able to complete the sign-up forms at most sites easily, but some will require you to tap into the contents of a recent resume.

3. Post a current photo. As a professional author, your head shot must capture your personality and support your career. Ask yourself: “If I was a media rep from Good Morning America, would I call this person?”

Guest Post by Victor Pross

An ‘icon’ is an image, depiction, representation, pictogram or likeness that stands for an object by representing it by analogy. By extension, the word ‘icon’ is also used, as seen in popular culture, in the general sense of symbol--such as a name, face or edifice.

In the Christian religion, idolatry is considered a sin, being defined as worship of any cult image or object as opposed to the worship of God. The modern era worships gods of a different kind--celebrities. The modern cult of celebrity and popular culture is saturated with both icons and idols.

Who are the biggest worshippers? Stanch religionists, of course. I admire many of the individuals I capture in art, but I don’t worship them. There is a big difference between admiration and worship. Worship is like admiration wearing blinders. Admiration is quality-oriented, not person-oriented. 

Said Albert Einstein: “It strikes me as unfair, and even in bad taste, to select a few individuals for boundless admiration, attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to them. This has been my fate, and the contrast between the popular estimate of me and the reality is simply grotesque.” 

This culture is a culture of worship, and it is celebrity that is worshiped. It is an epoch where celebrity is a modern mythos. This is prime fodder for satire.

Critics have responded to my art as though I was sui generis, a self-created eccentric without discernable origins. Very much the opposite is the truth.

Guest Post by Kaylin McFarren

Everyone during their lifetime is faced with the possibility of losing a dear friend, family member or loved one. Each of us along with terminally-ill patients has been known to experience the same steps of grief before coming to terms with acceptance.

1 – Denial

Upon hearing a disheartening report, the recipient immediately retaliates with a conscious or unconscious refusal to accept facts, information, or the reality of the given situation. It's a defense mechanism and perfectly natural. Some people can become locked in this stage when dealing with traumatic change and simply refuse to move on.

2 – Anger

Frustration can manifest itself in different ways. People dealing with emotional upset can be angry with themselves or with others – especially anyone close to them. Some lash out at God, avoid their workplaces, and even isolate themselves.

3 - Bargaining

This stage often involves attempting to bargain with a religious deity. Some individuals are driven to convert and others offer themselves in trade to save a dying loved one.

4 - Depression

This is the dress rehearsal or the practice run for the 'aftermath' although this stage means different things depending on whom it involves. It's a sort of acceptance with emotional attachment. It's natural to feel sadness and regret, fear and uncertainty. It demonstrates that the person has begun to accept the reality or brutal truth.

5 - Acceptance

Guest Post by Gary Morgenstein

Online dating is like shopping through a catalog with the easy option to return the package. In many ways, it’s all so easy. Post a picture. Write a profile.

Send a message. All from the comfort of home. Yet there are pitfalls and rules.

1.       It’s a numbers game, the romantic equivalent of Operation Shock and Awe

2.       You must sign up for as many sites as you can afford/have time for

3.       Never get discouraged -- odds are astronomical against you

4.       Don’t check dating site messages at work -- unemployment reduces your attractiveness         

Today, I’m offering tips for guys on their online photos. Yes, we all need witty profiles and a sea of fascinating interests, but the first thing a woman does is look at your picture. If they say yuck, you’re toast, guys.

These are bad ideas for profile photos.

1.       You waking in the morning with a sinus infection

2.       Coming out of anesthesia

3.       Going under anesthesia

4.       Handcuffed, officially or unofficially

5.       Tight jeans

6.       Screaming at your kids

7.       Hoisting brews with your buds dressed like a Viking

8.       Spray-painted in your favorite football team’s colors

9.       Showing ANY private parts or parts contiguous to private parts

10.     Wheeling your mother raises questions whether you’re a Momma’s Boy

It’s often said that a bookstore is the worst place to sell books. Few people go to a bookstore for a book signing. What an author needs is a place where there are a high number of people present who came with the intent to spend money. Especially at this time of the year, one of the most effective places to sell books is at an art or craft show. 

Holiday craft shows are held in most communities ranging from bazaars in church basements to large shows in malls, gyms, arenas, and even at colleges. While I know of several church bazaars that have been good venues for authors, the bigger the venue and the more traffic, the more likelihood to sell books. To find the best shows to sell your book, ask other authors or crafters you know which shows they recommend, and be willing to commit to a full day or even a long weekend to sell your book. 

Larger craft and art shows can have substantial vendor fees ranging from $50 to several hundred dollars. However, if thousands of people are expected to attend the event, chances are you will break even at worst, and I know many authors who have made five or ten times what they paid to attend the show. You can also save money sometimes by bringing your own chair and table, purchasing a smaller booth, or not requiring electricity for your booth. It’s also recommended you pack your own lunch so you don’t have to pay for food that is usually overpriced at these events. 

Guest Post By Gale Laure 

Mr. Webster defines persistence as continuance in the face of opposition.  I have always thought of it as being stubborn and not giving up.  I suppose the opposite of persistence is procrastination.  We have all been faced with procrastination.  We become discouraged.  I have been no different.  When things get difficult for us, we, as humans, find it easier to procrastinate.  

When I decided to pursue my dream and publish my first novel, I believed nothing could stop me or even slow me down.  How wrong I was. 

This is my story. 

In August of 2007 after I had sent my novel to my publisher for publication, I received bad news.  During a routine check-up, my husband’s doctor had received some elevated lab results.  My husband had battled and beat cancer in 2004.  Was it back?  Terror filled my heart. 

In early September of 2007, my elderly mother was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy.  She kept me busy retrieving medicines.   My elderly father had a day of light chest pains.   Mid September my husband underwent a colonoscopy.  The results were negative.  I was relieved.  Later in the month came a repeat of the suspicious lab test for him.  Next came a body scan to search for the cancer.  I spent a whole day arguing with the insurance company for approval for these tests.   

Guest Post by  James Diehl

Between 1941 and 1945, tens of thousands of American men responded to the grave threat posed on the world by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. For nearly four years, these heroic men put their lives on hold to fight against evil on the battlefields of Europe, Asia and Africa.

They were selfless men who, almost to a man, felt they had a responsibility to defend the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.” They’ll tell you today that they’re not heroes, but that they were merely doing their jobs.

Those beliefs and values are a big reason why men and women of that era became known as the greatest generation in history, as Tom Brokaw so eloquently stated a few years ago. The men who survived the horrors of World War II often withstood a dozen or more close calls with death – they are heroes, as are the ones who never made it home.

It makes me shiver to think what life would be like today had the Allies not won the war. America would certainly be a very different place in the 21^st century, as would the free world.

Think about it for a second. What if the Axis had won the war and imposed their will on the United States, mandating a similar fate to the one the Allies imposed on Germany in the post-World War II era?