After the interview, he asked if I’d be willing to share a few  of my secrets to success with authors getting started. Of course I said yes, since that’s exactly why I began this blog.

Brian is compiling words of wisdom from several successful indy authors in his 5 Secrets of Successful Authors e-book series. The first volume includes two articles from me (yes, I’m blushing!)

You can download your copy of the first volume and sign up for future volumes in the 5 Secrets of Successful Authors HERE

While you’re there, check out the other free guides and how-to advice Brian and his staff offer.

Enjoy!

CJ

Here in the US it’s tax return time and for self-employed folks like writers it can sometimes seem overwhelming.

(Okay,  maybe not to you, but I have books to write and deadlines to meet, I don’t need tax drama on top of everything else!)

If you’re someone looking for a FREE, easy to use, totally customizable way to synch your accounts, tag them according to category, and easily download itemized end of year reports (or anytime of year report), then I have the website for you:

Yodlee.com

It’s easy to set up. You can add banking or credit card accounts, view all your transactions, add notes/memos/categories, create a budget, and more.

Plus you get more time to write with all those tax hassles out of the way!

(if you’re reading this via email, click thru to the blog to see the video)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

Enjoy!
CJ

The Guide contains:

• A Glossary of terms, right there at the beginning, and written in language that doesn’t have you hunting up a dictionary in order to understand the definition.
• How-to explanations with examples, taking you step-by-step through the e-book process, soup to nuts…or Vision to Sales (I like that second one better…).
• Solid, easily understood advice from a stellar array of experts, presented in a friendly, non-threatening way.
• Links everywhere. Not just a vague “see more online,” but “here’s the link to that page.”

You can download your pdf copy of A Comprehensive Guide to the New World of Publishing HERE

They don’t mean secret as in secret handshake or genie in the bottle. They’re talking productivity. Something I never considered as an author until I found myself juggling several deadlines from separate publishers. Which meant finding ways to streamline my work.

So here are the tricks of the trade I’ve discovered. Feel free to share your own in the comments.

I used to start a book with character sketches and folders filled with pictures and research ideas torn from magazines and stacks of hand written notes on legal pads. Now I use Scrivener which allows me to do all that virtually, organized in one magical file that I can access AS I WRITE!

Scrivener tripled my productivity! I had no idea how much time I was losing looking things up but now they’re just a click away–even better I can do a split screen and have my research directly in front of me while I’m actually writing a scene. Talk about magic!

Scrivener now allows you to export your work directly into ebook formats (as well as many others like screenplays, etc) making my life even easier. I am a fan for life.

Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn did a great post on how she uses Scrivener HERE.

So, when I’m not writing, where do I find and organize all those nebulous pieces of info that feel right for a book–just not *this* book? I know some folks use Evernote but I’ve been using Ubernote for the past few years and loving it. It lets me grab articles either by their URL or their entire content (my choice, being a paranoid thriller writer who expects essential info to vanish just when I need it the most) with the click of a button.

They host it on the cloud and you can export your files at any time. You can also tag and organize and all that jazz, but it’s way too much bother for me.

For you Kindle users, I’ve found another way to backup my research–there’s a app called Send to Reader that with one click grabs pages and emails them directly to your Kindle so you can read at your leisure.

Do I sound like someone paranoid about losing data? Yep, you betcha. I used to use Mozy but it got rather cumbersome since I work on several computers (office, home, travel) so I finally bought a TimeCapsule from Mac. Expensive, but I figured if it saves me even one lost manuscript, it’s worth it. And it’s painless–I don’t have to remember a thing.

I also use Dropbox and SugarSync for cloud backups. I love them both but they both have drawbacks. With Sugarsync you can sync folders across multiple computers, PC or Mac (I use both), but one wrinkle I just discovered is that you can’t delete files without deleting them from your hard drives as well! Yikes! Not good–and thus you end up eating up tons of storage with old or duplicate files.

Dropbox is brilliant and I use it for collaborations, synching and sharing large sized files effortlessly. My only problem with it is that you need to move the folders/files into the dropbox rather than simply tagging them to sync like with SugarSync.

I also email important files, like manuscripts, to myself and practically live out of my yahoo email account. I keep my to-do list there, calendars, folders with tasks and reports and all sorts of important stuff. Once I triple-whammy-protected my hard drives I began to search for a way to back up my email. At first I imported to a gmail account but that’s a one time thing that doesn’t update or allow for synching.

Then I found Zimbra, a free PC or Mac utility that will sync your emails to your hard drive (internal or external) with an initial backup followed by daily syncs. It  has all sorts of other fun stuff like the ability to work on your email off line, sync calendars, and a Dropbox like “briefcase” feature as well.

So, there you go, my Tricks of the Trade. What programs/apps have you found to be indispensable?

CJ

(told you she was wonderful! check out her blog HERE)

You can download the pdf of Author 2.0 Blueprint HERE

Consider it a sneak peak. Because when Novelist Academy opens its doors, the first course is one that Joanna and I are collaborating on….can’t say more right now, other than it’s gonna rock!

photo: Alexander Boden

Did you know that 49.2% of readers discover new books by personal recommendation?

You would if you read Verso’s 2011 Survey of Book-Buying Behavior!

We all know that understanding our readers is vital–to both our writing and the business of selling books. Here’s a free treasure trove of info just waiting for you, all in easy to understand graphs.

Click HERE to check out what other numbers you need!

Enjoy!

CJ

(in fact, as of now, this is the only online class I’ll be teaching in 2012–I love teaching, but am juggling too many novel deadlines, so something had to give)

Here’s the info:

Kills, Chills, and Thrills: Writing the Thriller Novel

Online class offered by Lawson Writer’s Academy

Instructor: C.J. Lyons

February 1 – 29; Fee: $30

Thrillers are hot! Look at any best-seller list and you’ll find an overwhelming number of thriller novels. What makes a thriller different from other genres?

How can you use techniques common to thrillers to make your own novels compelling, no matter the genre? And where the heck do those thriller writers come up with those ideas?

Join award winning thriller author CJ Lyons for an in depth discussion of the thriller genre. Topics covered will include: the genre in general, plotting and pacing, research, the quirks of thriller characters, and more.

Check out the BUZZ about C.J. Lyons’ novels!

A breathtakingly fast-paced thriller. ~Publishers Weekly

The characters come alive on every page. ~Jeffery Deaver

A great thriller—action packed, authentic, and intense. ~Lee Child

Harrowing, emotional, action-packed and brilliantly realized. ~Susan Wiggs

“Fantastic” is not high enough praise. ~RT Book Reviews, Top Pick

REGISTER for Kills, Chills, and Thrills: Writing the Thriller Novel HERE