Month: July 2017

God is With Us

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Have you ever felt alone and overwhelmed? Maybe you are fearful or full of despair? Rejoice, God is with us.

Today’s Bible Verse:

Zephaniah 3:17 (KJV)- “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”

What the Verse Means:

The verse tells us to not be afraid and to not despair. Why should we be afraid or despair? God is present among us. He will protect us as a strong warrior. He is happy when we turn or return to Him. When we are anxious or worried, he’ll calm us with his love. We will also find delight in his songs.

Praying Using the Verse:

  1. Lord, thank you for being in our midst.
  2. Thank you for rejoicing over us with gladness.
  3. We praise you for quieting us with your love.
  4. We rejoice that you rejoice over us with you singing.

Photo Source: Pixaby

Your Book’s “Front Matter”

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Today I’ll take a quick look at the front matter of your book. Wh there is no industry standard of front matter for your book, most books will have up to eight items. Only the title page and copyright page are found in all books.

Front Matter:

  • Endorsements / Praise for the Book
  • Title Page
  • Copyright Page
  • Dedication Page
  • Table of Contents
  • Foreword
  • Preface / Acknowledgements
  • Introduction

The Endorsements or Praise Page:

The endorsement page is where you tell the world how good you and your book is. You are letting your potential audience know not through your own words but rather by sharing the comments of other. Here is where you list lines from endorsements and pre-publication reviews for readers to view what others are saying about the book. Not everyone will have The Endorsement or Page Page.

Next is the Title Page.

Title Page:

  • Title
  • Subtitle
  • Author
  • Illustrator
  • Publisher (even if you are an indie author you let the reader know it is an independent or self-published book)
  • Publisher Location (Don’t give them your street address! There are people who may be stalking you. You can use your city or a post office box plus your city)

The title type and design elements should match your front cover. Look at how the traditionally published books do it and replicate what you see.

Next time we will look at the copyright page.

Photo Credit: Pixaby

 

God’s Grace is Enough

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Part of learning to deal with a chronic illness is learning that God’s grace is enough.

Today’s Bible Verse:

2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV), “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

What the Verse Means:

Suffering uncovers your heart’s weaknesses so that Christ is your strength.

Praying Using the Verse:

  1. Heavenly Father, help us to cry out to You in our weakness and claim Your promise the Your grace is sufficient for us, for Your power is made perfect in weakness.”  
  2. Thank you, Lord, for providing your sufficient grace.
  3. Teach us how to boast all the more gladly of our weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon us. We don’t understand how but trust in you for our power to be made perfect in weakness.
  4. We ask for strength daily. Give us the grace we need and we pray the power of Christ to rest upon us. The only boasting we will do is to acknowledge our weakness and your sufficiency.

Photo Source: Pixaby

 

Dark Voyage of the Mittie Stephens by Johnny Boggs

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A Page Turner

Dark Voyage of the Mittie Stephens is a wonderful book. Warning Spoilers follow – Master storyteller Johnny Boggs had my attention from the shootout in the New Orleans cemetery.

Great Characters

The transient amnesia professional gambler Bobby Randow and southern belle (with a past) Laura Kelley journey from New Orleans to Jefferson, Texas. A great story where Laura runs from her past and the enforcement officers after her. Bobby has ghosts from his past onboard as well. They seek the Mittie Stephens concealed gold payroll.

Engaging Story

It’s a wonderful book that kept me turning the page from my favorite western writer. If you like westerns and thrillers you’ll love Dark Voyage of the Mittie Stephens as much as I do.

7 Leadership Lessons of the American Revolution: The Founding Fathers, Liberty, and the Struggle for Independence by John Antal

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Leadership Lessons Brought to Life

John Antal’s “7 Leadership Lessons of the American Revolution: The Founding Fathers, Liberty, and the Struggle for Independence”. The author uses seven case studies to bring the lessons to life. The case studies are in narrative story form.

Excellent Story-teller

He is an excellent story-teller who paints a clear picture that brings each story alive.The stories make for great illustrations for the lessons learned. The lessons learned are as applicable to the business enterprise as to military leadership. He does a wonderful job of demonstrating liberty as a motivator demonstrating the importance of the person.

Strongly Recommend the Book

While tempted to do to a chapter by chapter summary of the book, I won’t. If you love history if you love the USA if you have a sense of patriotism and if you enjoy the study of leadership you will like the book. I strongly recommend “7 Leadership Lessons of the American Revolution: The Founding Fathers, Liberty, and the Struggle for Independence”.

God Controls How Long We Live

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We need to remember God has our days numbered. He is in control. The day I wrote today’s thought was a Monday evening, three days before my father’s ninetieth birthday. My wife, grown children, and I all had a vacation day scheduled for a big birthday bash on Thursday of that week for dad. He was looking forward to it as we were. God had different plans. That very Monday night around 7:30 PM dad calls me that he has fallen and can’t get up.  He had suffered a heart attack, In less than thirty-six hours he passed away, one day before his ninetieth birthday. God’s plans superseded our plans.

Today’s Bible Verse:

James 4:13-16 (KJV), “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.”

What the verse means:

Our future is in God’s hands and plans.

Praying using the verse:

1. Heavenly Father, we thank you for every day of life.
2. We acknowledge God as the giver of life and that He has our days numbered.
3. Lord Jesus, we trust you know what is best for us and ask that your will be done. 

How to Get Your Manuscript Ready for Publishing

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Assumptions

You must write the book to have something to prepare for publication.

I know what you are thinking. Your thoughts are everyone knows you have to first write the book. I’m assuming you have taken the time to finish your first draft. After you’ve written you can move to this step.

Today I am giving you a general overview of the parts of a manuscript and how to get the manuscript ready for publication, that is, how to really polish your work.

The Parts of a Manuscript

A manuscript has three basic parts. They are:

  • Front Matter
  • Content
  • Back or End Matter

Once the manuscript is written it is time to begin polishing it. Here are the basic steps on how to polish your manuscript. They are:

  • Using Beta Readers
  • Editing
  • Proofreading
  • Interior Layout and Design

Photo Source: Pixaby

Next time I’ll look at the parts in more detail.

Glory is Eternal

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We need to remember our troubles are temporary. In Christ, our glory is eternal.

Today’s Bible Verse:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (KJV), “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

What the verse means:

Today’s Bible passage tells us why we should never give up. We see that while our bodies are dying our spirit is renewed every day. We learn that however big our problems are in Christ they are small. The present troubles of our chronic illness will not last forever. They will actually produce a legacy for us in the glory that outweighs them and will last forever. We shouldn’t look at our present troubles but rather we should turn our eyes upon Jesus. Our Earthly troubles will pass but the things we presently cannot see will last forever.

Praying using the verse:

  1. Heavenly Father, we pray that we do not lose heart as we deal with our chronic illness.
  2. Lord Jesus, we know that while our outer body is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed by you days by day.
  3. God, we know this affliction is but for a moment in eternity’s clock and that you have greater things in store for us.
  4. Help us to not dwell on our present circumstances but to focus on the future have in Jesus Christ.
  5. Pray, we would continue to have the godly attitude that only comes from you as we face life day by day.

Photo Source: Pixaby

Use Video and Audio to Engage an Audience.

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Using audio and video on a regular basis is one great way to build an audience. Below are a few thoughts on how to do it.

Consistent Schedule

  • Published on the same day of the week
  • Published at the same time

Specific Subject or Themed – Examples are:

  • Marketing your book
  • Self-publishing helps
  • How to use a specific software like Scrivener
  • Your hobby or passion. Examples are:
    • Travel
    • Dining
    • Book reviews
    • Coffee houses

Start Your Own YouTube Channel

  • Create informational videos
  • How to videos
  • Interviews

Create a Live-stream Channel and Stream Videos Using Google Hangouts

  • Create informational videos
  • How to videos
  • Interviews
  • Create a podcast

Reminder – Three Things to Do Before You Publish Your Book:

  • Brand Your Book
  • Obtain Endorsements
  • Develop an Audience

Next, we will look at preparing your manuscript for publishing. Remember, you must write the book to have something to prepare for publication.

Photo Source: Pixaby