Tag: writing

It’s All In the Promotion of Your Brand

jcladyluv

promotion day

So I decided that today is promotion day.  I have quite a few projects I’m working on and I want to share the details about them with you.

Ebook Series

This ebook series (tentatively called “For the Crazy Makers) will be focusing on motivating and inspiring writers and artists who are struggling with their own fears and their insecurities when it comes to following through with your creative endeavors.  Sometimes we need an outside voice to quiet all of those inside voices that keep telling you the wrong things.  I have been working on this ebook series for quite some time now and I am excited to finally be releasing it in the next few months.  If you are interested in information on how you will be able to receive this ebook or other details in relation to the ebook simply leave a comment below with your email information or you can email me at jcladyluv@yahoo.com.     

Novel Releases

I am going to be re-releasing my debut novel, The Diary: Succession of Lies, later this year along with my second novel When Love Calls.  I will keep you posted on the progress of those works periodically but for now, below I have shared with you what each book is about.  Let me know what you think in the comments below.

The Diary: Succession of Lies

What if you discovered that the sins of your mother’s past will forever haunt your future? That finding out the secrets she took to her grave would turn your life upside down?

To the rest of the world Corynn Hayes was a brilliant writer and entrepreneur. To Karlee Jones, she was not only a mother but a best friend. Until Corynn’s unexpected death, Karlee thought that she knew everything there was to know about her mother. Then, Karlee receives her mother’s diary as a farewell gift. The depth of the secrets within those pages end up devastating Karlee, forever changing the memory of her mother.

The Diary: Succession of Lies is a novel that exposes the secret life of a mistress. It is a tale of love, lust, loss, and redemption as well as the trials of two generations of women. The Diary takes a new spin on the mistress image, a woman often vilified throughout literature as a harlot and a home wrecker. It tackles several questions. Why does a mistress stay? Is love possible in such a taboo relationship? Is love enough to endure the consequences that come later.

When Love Calls

Autumn Jennings had thought that she had finally put all of the mistakes that she had made in her past behind her.  Her heart had finally mended from heartbreak and she was able to let go and let someone else love her again with nothing hanging over head.  She never thought she would have to deal with the lies she had told so many years ago but when an old flame that she had never truly gotten over comes back into the picture she is reminded of all of the secrets she has been trying to keep buried.  Those same secrets could not only disrupt the lives of everyone around her but the new life that she is trying to create for herself and her son.  As her secrets begin to unravel so do the lives of the people she loves.  When Love Calls is a novel about a love lost, a love that heals, and a love that was meant to be and the circumstances that can either bring two people together or tear them apart.

Write 2 Be Media Services

Just finished slaving over a novel and you’re ready to begin promoting it?

Is your blog not getting the attention you feel it deserves?

Just launched your business and need to create a social media marketing platform to make everyone take notice?

Write 2 Be Media now offers Social Media Marketing services to help your project get the attention that it deserves in addition to our creative writing resources.  To read more about our services just click the “Hire Me” tab to your right.

I would also like to promote the work of a great photographer. If you are looking for a photographer for your project then please go check out Rashaad Amed McNeil’s page, R&M Photography. He does absolutely amazing work for all of his clients, one of which happens to be LaMonique Hamilton, the CEO and Editor-in-Chief at PIEhole Magazine, a new magazine on the rise. So if you are in need of a photographer and want outstanding results then head on over to his page, R&M Photography, and hit the like button and find out how you can get the best photographer for your next project!

I would also like to extend the offer for anyone who has a book coming out or already published, if you go over to the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page and hit the like button you will be allowed to promote your work on the page.

Have a blessed weekend and hustle hard!

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv

What’s My Motivation?

jcladyluv

What's my motivation

I saw a post on Facebook that asked “What motivates YOU to work hard?” and it got me to thinking about the times when I lose my motivation.  Initially the artistically correct response would be that my passion is what motivates me.  In many ways this is true because honestly unless you start off with a lot of connections in the writing world and you could breeze past the whole submit/rejection portion of rising to the top in your field of fellow writers then who would really want to struggle along this particular path if they weren’t passionate about the art of putting words to paper.

However, if I dig deep into the crevices of my brain and my heart, my motivation for being a writer goes beyond that.  Yes it is true that since I was 6 years old this is what I have wanted to do but the reasoning became different as the years went on.  It was first a fun thing to tell stories and dream up these big, sometimes, unrealistic worlds.  Then it evolved into being the only way that I could truly express how I was feeling because no one would ever listen to my words, but they never minded reading them.  Then it became my escape, where I didn’t want to really tell my story as much as I wanted to tell the story that I wished I was living in.  But once I had a child, it became the way that I could do all of that but still be the mom that my mother wasn’t for me.

My mother was cold and unfeeling, I can’t even remember hearing the words I Love You too much in my house growing up, and I’m not sure if her having to work so hard and so much (sometimes 2 jobs which felt more like I was being raised by my sister) was the reason why she felt she had to shut down emotionally from me and my sister but if that was a reason then I was going to make sure that I didn’t have that reason when it came to my child.  I wanted to be home with my daughter, there when she got out of school, there when she needed anything, said I love you for no particular reason, there to tuck her in at night, and there to play when she wanted to just play.  Writing allows me to do that, to be tuned in to my child the way that I couldn’t be if I were working the traditional job.

I tried that when she was younger, in an effort to get that stable, absolute income while still trying to make it as a writer.  Not only did that take away from the time I could have been putting into my dream but it also drained me mentally and emotionally and I couldn’t show up for my child the way that she needed me too.  Now I know there are millions of women who do it, and manage it well, and perhaps they are better suited to be that kind of parent but I just know that I’m not built that way.

Now I’ve been criticized so many times for not just jumping back into the “regular” work force and having that stable income there and been accused of not thinking about my child in that regard but I disagree.  I think that monetary things and possessions cannot provide emotional stability for a child and yes if you can do the “regular” job thing and still provide emotional support and stability for your child then that’s great.  I know that I can’t.  I’ve tried and I saw myself starting to turn into my mother which was the last thing I wanted for my child.

Going this route is difficult, true, but it also will instill in my daughter another thing my mother didn’t instill in me.  It will teach her to go after her dreams, no matter what they are, no matter how many people tell you that you’re never going to get there, no matter how many people are standing against you, go for them in spite of all of that.  In the end she will have her dream and everyone who was against her will be wishing they could have come along for the ride.  I want my daughter to believe in herself the way that I never did until I was well into my adulthood.  I want her to know that when she waivers on what she dreams up for her life that I will be there to remind her not to give up.  That my giving up will help remind her not to give up.

I want everything for my daughter that I didn’t have growing up and none of that comes with having the largest bank accounts.  Don’t get me wrong, of course there are things I want my daughter to have that money is definitely necessary for in order to give her that, but I want her to know that the important things in life cannot be bought.  Things like love, self-esteem, confidence, work-ethic, belief in oneself and their dreams, and the tenacity to go after those dreams.  Those are things that money can’t give or provide for you.  Think about motivates your hustle today.  Take that motivation and use it to fuel your drive.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv

Friday Motivation- When You Die, Die on “E” and Leave No Dream Behind!

jcladyluv

I had no intention of actually posting today because I was supposed to be working on some things for my ebook (release date coming soon).  But when I saw this video on Facebook this morning (I know, that’s not work, so sue me) I was so blown away by the powerful message and it was one that I definitely needed to hear (so much so that I’ve watched the video 3 times already) and I feel like some of my fellow writers, those struggling with their craft and even those who are not, could use it as motivation as well.  I hope that you get as much out of watching it as I did and that you carry the message into your weekend with you and even further, all through your journey.  Stay blessed and have a wonderful weekend!

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv

There’s No Box I Seem To Fit In

jcladyluv

stop trying to fit inI used to always want to be that person who fit in with everyone else.  I wanted to hide in the corner, blend in with the crowd, and make sure that I didn’t stand out in any way possible.  It never really worked because for one reason or another I always stood out.  Whether if it was for going against what everyone else’s opinion was or whether it was for looking different and having a different style from others.  Whether it was being simple when others were outside the box, or being too far outside the box when others wanted to keep things simple.

No matter what I have always gone against the grain but it was never intentional. Truly I would never choose to make myself the target for other to consider me to be difficult because that’s the last thing I want.  But at what point do you say that you’re not going to sacrifice who you are, what you think, or how you feel, just so other people can say that you’re easy going and that you’re not being the difficult one.

I’m not going to lie and try to pretend that I’m one of those people who doesn’t care if others like them or not.  I do want to be liked, what person doesn’t.  But if people are only going to like me because I agree with what they say or because I am going along with the majority opinion just to go along with it, then are they really liking me or the person that they would like to mold me into?

Now I’m not saying that if I express an opinion that everyone else has to agree with it but I certainly don’t like to be attacked personally for having an opinion that’s different from everyone else’s.  I don’t seem to fit in any one box.  I’m not really sure that I want to fit in with just one box.  I like that I am different and think differently.  I like that I don’t just repeat what other’s want to hear for the sake of being easy going.  But it does get hard to always have this label of being the difficult one just because you don’t agree.  I just wish that people who claim to accept everyone no matter what were really true to their statement.  Have a blessed day and just be who you were meant to be!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv

 

It’s All In How You Word Things

jcladyluv

I saw this video on Ms. L’s timeline on Facebook and it spoke volumes to me.  Words can be so powerful and you can say things in so many different ways that take on many different meanings to people.  Be mindful of what you say to others, not just the tone in which you say it, but the words that you choose to express yourself.  It’s also a reminder, on the business side of things, that everyone can use a good writer and if words are not your thing, if you don’t always choose the best words for the appropriate situation, then by all means please hire a writer.

Let Write 2 Be Media show you how valuable our professional writing, editing, and social media marketing services will be to you and your business. We offer various writing services such as professional blogging, portfolio creation, company newsletters, ghostwriting, typing services, research, and web content.  Take the pressure off of having to be your own marketer and let us do the work for you.  We’ll create and monitor your Facebook page, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn accounts, as well as create and maintain a blog or email newsletter for your project.

Simply leave a comment below or email us your request for services and a price quote to Write2BeFreelance@yahoo.com. Upon receiving your request, you will be contacted within 72 hours to assess the next step for your project.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv

 

I Could Pick Another Career….But I Like the One God Picked For Me

jcladyluv

WhatIDo

I will preface this post by stating with an absolute certainty that I love (love, love) being a writer.  It is what I am most passionate about.  It is what gets me through most of my bad days.  It is when I feel like I am doing the most good, in general, throughout the world.  And most importantly it is, what I feel, is the best legacy that I can leave behind for my daughter, and her children to come after.

Having said that, some days it is hard to be a writer when that is your only source of income and when the thought of doing anything else for a living makes you literally cringe.  People seem to think two polar opposite things about the life of a writer.  They either think that you are basically using a hobby as an excuse as to why you don’t have what they deem to be a “real” job or they think you have large sums of money in which you are not even close to having.  Now if you have made it like J.K. Rowling, or Stephen King, or James Patterson, or Terry McMillan, then sure, you do have large sums of money at your disposal.

However, if you have not made it to that milestone in your writing career yet, then you are just scraping by like any other average working person, it’s just not doing the traditional job.  That does not in any way diminish what you do or make it just a hobby that you are trying to get paid to do.  There is a huge difference in doing writing as a hobby and doing it as a career.  The struggle is different.  Once you make writing a career, it is not just about the sheer love of putting a fictional story, or even your story, on a piece of paper for all to see.  It then becomes a business in which you must then market yourself and your work.  You have now become a business in which you are your brand.

The business side of writing is what I sometimes dread because I have not always been the best at “selling myself” so to speak.  I can sale anyone else’s work and promote many others but for some reason when it comes to me it gets difficult.  It’s something that I have to get used to and get better at gradually but gradually does not garner me any immediate income the way that I need it to.

Writing is definitely not a career choice for the weak, or faint of heart, or for those that are looking for an easy source of financial stability.  I look unstable to those outside of the creative spectrum and I even feel that way most days but when I look at it in terms of whether my child is taken care of and if she has what she needs (plus a few things that she wants) and if the basic needs are being met, then I have to acknowledge that my modest way of living is working for now.

True I can’t do outlandish extravagant things and I can’t get every little thing that I desire but it makes it so much more worth it when I can obtain those things because I know that I worked hard for them.  Like I said in the beginning of this post, I love writing and I wouldn’t choose any other career.  There are ones that I would love to do in addition to writing like singing and counseling others but nothing I feel as passionate about as writing.

If writing is something that you love to do, then ignore all of the days that you feel like it’s just not worth it.  Ignore the feelings of you not being good enough to do this successfully.  Ignore all of the days where a regular job seems like the only option you really have to have everything that you want and desire.  Ignore the days that you feel like you’re not truly meant to be a writer because you can’t seem to promote yourself well enough.  Your days of struggling as a writer may seem like they are just beginning but in the end, if you work hard, if you fight hard for what you want out of your career, then it will all be worth it.  Work hard and struggle harder.

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv

Creating an Ebook Looks So Easy….But It’s Not

jcladyluv

Creating ebook post

Okay so my latest project (my ebook for writers who are guilty of self-sabotage) is coming along but let me just say that doing an ebook is not as easy as it seems.  Sure I guess if you have done a lot of them and have a formula down pact then it would definitely be a bit easy going.  However, since this is my first ebook that I am putting out and it is a subject that is personal to me, and one that I think so many writers, and artists in general, struggle with, I just want to make sure I give you all nothing but my very best.

It doesn’t help that I am a perfectionists and that in my mind everything has to be just right (which of course I know it’s never going to be 100% right).  I just really want to be able to provide some insight and help to those writers, and artists, that are struggling and who constantly get in their own way.  I want them to know that they’re not alone in their struggle to succeed by doing what they are most passionate about.

I know that this ebook is going to be a great one and an even better way for me to connect with all of my readers out there.  I will also be offering some really great things along with the ebook but you will have to keep reading here to get updated about those a little later.  I hope that all of you will support me in this and that I in some way will be able to help you.  Now I have to get back to work on the finishing touches of the ebook but you will be hearing more about it very soon.  Have a very blessed day!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv

I Am Not a Yes Person

jcladyluv

Let me be myself

I get so sick of people trying to force me to be inside this box.  I’m supposed to just go along with other people’s opinions and what they say.  I’m supposed to just agree on everything because a group of people as a whole agreed.

I AM NOT A YES PERSON! I used to be.  I used to go along for the sake of going along and I used to just go with whatever the majority said just to keep the peace, just to be the easy one.  Well I am not that person and I refuse to pretend to be.  I am typically the one the goes against the grain and I don’t usually follow suit because my opinion is just usually different from what someone else’s is.  I just see things in a different way than most people do and I used to apologize for that.

But I will not apologize anymore for being who I am and for having the nerve to not think like most other people.  I hate being persecuted when I express a difference of opinion or being told that I’m throwing “bitch fits” because I don’t agree with you.  It makes me just want to silence myself and not say anything.  That’s all I have to say today.  Some personal things happened and threw me off course for the day but thank you all for listening to my rant.  Just wish people would let me be me!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv

 

I’m Not Sitting Out This Quarter

jcladyluv

“Sometimes in life you have to play in pain.”

~Joel Osteen Life is not about waiting for the storm

I’ve learned (the hard way) that you can’t stop pressing forward for every scrape, every bruise, every hurt ankle.  Yes you may slow down a bit but you have to keep moving or you will never get to where it is you are going.  I hadn’t realized until recently that last year when I just stopped moving and gave up it was as if I was saying that I don’t want to play the game anymore and made myself a bench warmer.

I let all the pain I was feeling and the emotional heaviness stop me cold in my tracks.  At the time I would’ve never admitted to myself that I was doing that but now I am ready to get back in there.  I am ready to play this game whether I am hurt or not, whether I go along limping or skipping, whether I have to cry through the process or smile through it.  One thing is for sure, I am not a bench warmer.  I don’t enjoy watching as things happen right in front of me and even more so I hate when something is happening that I know I am supposed to be a part of and I’m not.

Even when you have those moments where you need to take a five minute rest and collect your thoughts, prepare your next move in your head first, you still have to have the mindset that this is just a break and not a complete stand still.  Watching other people accomplish the things that you want to achieve is what happens when you take too long of a break in your journey.  You have to keep moving, you have to press on and get off of the bench.

Don’t get me wrong, bench warmers are important.  There is always a need for the second string players and they have their purpose but if you know that you are not one, if you know that you belong in that starting position, then don’t sit on that bench and watch while someone else takes the spot that is yours.  Trust me, you will hate every second of seeing someone else live the life that should be yours.  So if you are over there sitting on that bench and you know you are supposed to be starting, then now (not tomorrow, and not a week from now) is the time to take your position back.  It was your position all along, claim it!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv

When the Focus Has Been Found

jcladyluv

Focus (spelled out)

I have in mind the plans for this year and what I wanted to get accomplished but my plans were somewhat generalized.  I hadn’t been able to be more detailed in my plans and my goals and the focus was a bit off.  Then I talked to Ms. L last night and we talked about things that had nothing to do with writing or our separate businesses, things that were personal.  Eventually we did get to the topic of our business endeavors and I expressed my frustration to her because I knew the things I wanted to do and get done but I just didn’t have a concrete plan (or even a vague one) of how to go about accomplishing them.

Within a manner of thirty minutes (probably less) Ms. L helped me to develop a comprehensive plan of action to get the things I need done, more specific details on how to get the most out of those things, and a plan to promote those projects that I have to get accomplished.  She even helped me to add some projects to the list which tie in really well with the other ideas and can do more for my business as a whole.  She helped to focus my ideas and goals so that they weren’t so all over the place in my mind.

Ms. L is a godsend and I am so thankful that God sent me a friend like her, whose mind works similar to mine, whose bones in her body also are filled with creativity.  I wrote a post about when you don’t have the right people around you it could essentially hinder your progress.  However, having the right person or people around you, who have the same ideals and whose goals are not necessarily the same, but inadvertently linked with one another.

Ms. L was definitely someone sent into my life by God and she keeps me sane and she reminds me whenever I forget (and I forget a lot) that everything that I need to make my dreams a reality is already within me so long as I have the faith that it is there.  Make sure that you know who is surrounding you but not only that, make sure that you don’t let their value in your life go to waste.  God didn’t put them there in your life for nothing.  He placed them there so they could be a vessel to use, so use them!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://twitter.com/write2bemag

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://twitter.com/jcladyluv