Create an Infographic

Infographics are a fun way to promote yourself and your brand. They come in various shapes and sizes and if you're confident in using presentation software like PowerPoint or Open Office, they are quite easy to make.

How to Create your Infographic


To create an infographic in PowerPoint, first select the size of slide on which you wish to work.

From the Design tab, click on Page Setup, first icon on the left of the toolbar and in the drop-down menu presented, choose your size. It can be slide size or as I have chosen for this example, an A4 page size, with portrait orientation.

Back on the Home tab, choose New Slide. You can use a layout with the title or as I have, select a blank slide.

The insert tab allows you to insert pictures, clip art, graphs, text which you can move by right clicking with your mouse to drag wherever you like on the slide.
I like playing with the rotation options –find rotate on the formatting tab. Choose options and you can watch your chosen picture or shape rotating as you increase or decrease the degrees in the selection box.

For this infographic, I inserted a bar chart--simply done by clicking on the chart option and filling in the figures you want to show, lots of book cover pictures from my computer, a logo, and a post-it note made from one of the shapes in the shape option--just love those curled edges. I then used the fill option to color the shape yellow.

Insert a text box into the shape and hey presto, you have a notelet. Again these can be expanded to fill the whole space if required.

Mini warning. Best rotate your shape into position before adding text. I had loads of upside down and sideways text before it dawned on me what I was doing wrong!

When happy, save your file as a jpeg and you can insert it into your website and promo material.

The finished slide.





 Anne Duguid is a senior content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and   her New Year's Resolution is to pass on helpful writing,editing and publishing tips at Slow and Steady Writers far more regularly than she managed in 2012.




What Are You Doing on Your Summer Vacation?

I recently returned from an out of town vacation and am trying to catch up. It’s been a busy month.

While on my trip, I conducted some research at a library and at an archive, studying local history.  I looked for inspiration while shopping too. I love going to antique stores. There are all kinds of interesting items that can spark a story idea. I took alot of notes throughout my visit, as I walked, ate and shopped. Site seeing also provided some ideas as I studied museum exhibits and marveled at the beauty of nature. I wish I could have stayed longer. I’m sure I would have found more inspiration. It all went by so fast and then it was time to return home.

I wanted to do more during the summer months so I found some additional writing opportunities.

In May, I signed up to do the “100 Days of Summer Writing Prompt Challenge” by Shannon Abercrombie, www.shannonabercrombie.com. Each day, I receive an email with a writing prompt to complete. Some are more challenging for me than others and it can take awhile to put my thoughts together. As a whole, the exercises have been helpful. I was not able to keep up with it while on vacation (I don’t always use the internet when away from home), but I’m working on what I missed.

I also signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo, http://campnanowrimo.org. I haven’t been to camp since I was a child. As a 4-H’er, I attended camp for a week one long-ago summer. (I got homesick.)  For NaNoWriMo I will be in a “cabin” but I don’t know yet who I am “sharing” it with. Camp takes place during the month of July. I’ve got the hot dogs and the s’mores ready to go!

What are your writing plans for the summer? Will you be doing anything new or different? Will you finish a book or start a new one? The possibilities . . . .


Debbie A. Byrne has a B.S. in Mass Communication with a minor in History. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is working on her first children’s book

Increase Your Productivity with a Writing Challenge: WOW - Week of Writing Non-Fiction Picture Books

My critique group keeps me motivated.  We meet every other week and are expected to submit something (no matter how short) for review.  As summer rolls around, we're all ready for a break and take July and August off. 

This year, I feel the need to keep working.  I’m most productive when I have external structures built in to help push me along, so I’ve decided to participate in WOW.  From July 1st to July 7th WOW (Week of Writing) participants are challenged to write a new picture book manuscript every day.  Kristin Fulton, author and organizer of WOW challenges writers to spend one week in which they “perfect, hone and produce great Non-Fiction Picture Books. This includes True Non-Fiction (Biographies and Historical events as well as How-To books and information or reference books), Faction (Facts presented in a fictitious way), and of course Historical Fiction (totally fictitious story based on real people, real events or real places).”  The challenge has daily check-ins to help keep you writing.

I'm spending this week brainstorming, so I’ll be ready to roll…or write on July 1st. How about you?  Are you up for the challenge?  For more information about this challenge check out  http://www.kristenfulton.org/wow-nonficpic.html .   Let's WOW!


Mary Jo Guglielmo is writer and intuitive life coach. For more information check out  www.donorth.biz   or folllow her at:

http://facebook.com/DoNorth.biz  



Positioning Mom

Over the past three months my geographically-challenged mind has received a fresh set of eyes. Actually three sets.

It is a family joke that Mom can get lost anywhere.

Only a couple of months ago, I wasted over an hour trying to negotiate my way between the slacks section of an average-sized clothing store and the fitting room. Each time I arrived at one point, I lost my bearings to return to the other.

When my family learned of my pending book tour, as well as an increasing number of speaking appointments, they decided the time had come to address the problem.

The first phase came the day after a major car accident. We were at our eldest son's home about four hours from our own. He set up a GPS on my cell phone. I learned the initials GPS stand for Global Positioning System. Satelites in outer space would track where I was in the grand scheme of things. He showed me how to insert my desired destination into the gadget and explained that it would not only tell me how to get there, it would also show me the way home. This, he felt, was becoming increasingly necessary.

I hasten to explain I do not, as far as I know, suffer from senile dementia or Alzheimer's. I simply switch off and don't pay attention to my surroundings. I have a husband who never gets lost—so why do I need to pay attention? Unfortunately, he isn't always with me.

The following day, my husband and I set out for our home town of Port Elizabeth. Eager to experiment with our new toy, we set the cell phone to tell us how to find our home address. Sure enough, a pleasant sounding lady spoke out from my phone, telling us to turn left at the next corner. From then on, she gave us clear directions.

Once we got over the spooky feeling of being tracked by 24 satellites, we enjoyed knowing that "someone" knew where we were along the lonely South African highway.

The first hitch came when we turned off the national road to take a short bathroom break and drink some coffee. Our cell phone lady took it in her stride, however, telling us that she was "Recalculating . . ." A few seconds later she said, "Turn left and then turn left." That would get us back on track.

When we arrived in Port Elizabeth, we made a slight detour via the police station to sign forms in connection with the accident. I shoved my cell phone into my purse and we walked into the offices. As a tall policeman came up to greet us at the counter, his eyes widened as a bored-sounding voice announced, "Make a U-turn—now!"

One of the problems with using a GPS on a cell phone!

As writers, do we really need a GPS?

  • As writers we often get asked to speak or to attend a book signing in an unknown location. If you're like me, it doesn't even help if you live in the town. If it's a few miles from home, you've had it. 
  • As writers, we're regarded as professionals. The last thing we want to do is arrive at our location an hour late because we got lost along the way—even if the host's directions were faulty, as once happened to me. (No, I wasn't an hour late, but that was no thanks to her wrong directions that had me touring the suburb before getting directions from a passerby at a shopping mall.)
  • If you come across road works and need to take a detour, you can end up completely lost. The beauty of having the GPS on your phone is that even when you didn't anticipate needing satellite navigation, you're likely to have your cell phone with you. If you're on your own, pull over and enter your destination into your phone system. Then get instructions before you get even more lost. (I know you wouldn't use your cell phone while driving.)
  • If you're traveling alone, you can't drive as well as juggle maps and possibly a flashlight. Then again, if you're travelling alone you don't want to rely on a GPS on a cell phone. Maybe investigate other options, and read next month's thoughts on the topic.

How about a GPS for our writing?

  • Always carry a small notebook. You never know when you're going to want to jot down phrases, descriptions, words or even ideas before they get lost in your ever-busy mind. The notebook, plus a pen or pencil, needs to be small enough to slip into a purse or pocket. Unlike the cell phone GPS, you need to transfer the information to whatever form of storage you prefer (journal, notebook, computer file, etc) as soon as you get home.
  • Every publication, genre, or publishing house has its own GPS: its very own guidelines. Follow the instructions closely if you want to be sure of arriving at your publishing destination. Otherwise your prize-winning article won't even reach the slush pile.
  • You may be in familiar territory and think you can manage without the guidelines. Keep them available, and check in from time to time. The beauty of a GPS is if you go off track, it will help you find your way back onto the correct route. The guidelines do the same. But you can waste a lot of time by driving / writing blindly without following instructions.
  • There will be other occasions when you'll need to use your own initiative and intuition. In The Office, Michael Scott drives his car into a lake, because he's determined to follow instructions. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIakZtDmMgo) That's taking guidelines way too far.
I am grateful I now have a GPS on my cell phone. I haven't yet had to use it to find my way home from some obscure location, but I'm sure that's just a matter of time. Meanwhile, if you know of one I can use inside a department store, I sure would be grateful.

Please come back same time, same place, next month, and read Phase #2 in the GPS saga:"Driving Mom Right."

OVER TO YOU: Do you have a GPS on your cell phone? If so, do you love it, hate it, use it? If not, do you think it might be a good idea?

SHIRLEY CORDER lives a short walk from the seaside in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with her husband Rob. She is author of Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer. Shirley is also contributing author to ten other books and has published hundreds of devotions and articles internationally. 

Visit Shirley on her website to inspire and encourage writers, or on Rise and Soar, her website for encouraging those on the cancer journey. Follow her on Twitter or "like" her Author's page on Facebook, and now that she has a GPS, she may even follow you back.

All Those Little Ideas


This last week I made the decision to "spring clean" my office, even though, in Arizona we are well into the summer already. Clutter be gone, I'd decided. Which meant it was an opportunity to review and organize everything. I always think this effort will take a few hours and then I open one drawer in my desk. We'll call it my idea drawer. It's where I keep the short stories I've written, but never rewritten, the snippets of conversations I've overheard at the store, the coffee shop or the park I've jotted down on receipts, napkins and envelopes. And suddenly, the moments turn to hours as I realize the wealth of  wonderful material I've squirreled away.

As a beginner, I remember experienced writers telling me not to throw any of my writing away. They told me to carry a notebook and pen and write down the ideas. Even after decades of writing stuff, I still have challenges remembering to write the thoughts down. I'm not always consistent. In fact, just the other day I came across an article in a journal. I read it in between some work I needed to get done. Now sitting here, I can't for the life of me remember what it was I'd read, and worse yet, what my amazing idea for a novel was.

Here are some tips to keeping and organizing your ideas:

1. Carry paper and pens, use the recorder in your phone, or find a really great electronic notebook to use to put your thoughts down.

2. Organize your thoughts into folders. Your files might be titled conversations, metaphors, and ideas for pieces.

3. Keep these files at your fingertips for ease of retrieval, whether it be in electronic format or paper.

4. Review whenever you find yourself stuck. You might not find what you are looking for, but you just might realize how creative you are and that might push you through.

______________________________________

D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction and a co-author of a Young Adult Science Fiction Series. Her latest book, Flight from the Water Planet, Book 1 of The Exodus Series was written with coauthor, Austine Etcheverry.

D. Jean loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is also the author of the novels: Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole and, Perception. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City.  

She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com

You can also follower her at www.djeanquarles.blogspot.com or on Facebook



What is a Sidebar?

by Suzanne Lieurance

Many new freelance writers are confused or intimated by sidebars. But that’s usually because they just don’t understand what a sidebar is and what its purpose is.


What Is a Sidebar?

A sidebar is nothing more than a separate companion piece to a main article in a magazine or newspaper. Usually, a sidebar is set in different typeface from the main article, to set it apart. It may be boxed off and appear at the beginning of the article, within the article, or at the end of the article. A lengthy main article can even include several sidebars, if necessary.

What Is the Purpose of a Sidebar?

A sidebar can be used for several reasons. First, a sidebar can be used to encourage the reader to read the more detailed main article. For example, a sidebar can be made that lists the major points of the main article or asks questions about information that will be given in the main article as a way to entice readers to read the entire main article.

A sidebar can also be used to provide additional information that relates to the main article but doesn’t quite “fit” in the article itself. For example, if you write an article about healthy eating, and the article includes recipes for a week’s worth of healthy meals, a sidebar could be created from a list of ingredients needed to make these meals. The sidebar would be, basically, a shopping list for the reader.

Other Reasons for Sidebars

A sidebar also serves to make the information in the main article easier and faster for the reader to read. To keep a main article from being too lengthy or too complicated, the writer might include one or more sidebars that give additional information without overwhelming the reader. Since the sidebars should make sense on their own, readers can learn a lot from reading ONLY the sidebars to an article. In fact, many readers do read just the sidebars.

Here are some tips for creating a sidebar.

• List additional resources that relate to your main article in a sidebar.

• Create a sidebar with quotes from experts on the topic or main idea of your featured article.

• Create a sidebar to explain procedures mentioned in your main article. An article about quick & easy foods to serve at parties might include a sidebar with the recipe for a quick & easy party dip, for example.

• Create a quiz. An article about healthy eating might include a sidebar quiz called How Healthy Do You Eat.

Editors LOVE sidebars because they can make featured articles more interesting, more detailed, and more helpful to readers.

Now that you know all about sidebars, be sure to include a sidebar idea with your next magazine query.

Suzanne Lieurance is a full time freelance writer, author, speaker, and writing coach. Get your free subscription to her Morning Nudge for writers now at www.morningnudge.com.




A 'Not to Miss' JV Opportunity: List Building


This is a special Joint Venture (JV) opportunity for those who want to build their health and wellness lists, and have the opportunity for prizes and more. I joined for my site Health Tips to a Healthier You list and already started getting new subscribers.

Here are the basic details:

Stephanie Mulac, Carolyn Hansen, and Joe Rubino just unleashed the flood gate on their Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Gifts 3 list building launch and it’s really worth joining.

Last year this FREE list building event averaged hundreds of new subscribers for their JV Partners... and it attracted a record 27,000 members!

For full detail and to join FREE: CLICK HERE

This is a no-brainer that has NO risk. This is one list building opportunity you shouldn't pass on if you have a health and wellness site.

TO JOIN NOW: CLICK HERE

Here's To Your Summer of Success!

Karen

P.S. I do NOT get an affiliate commission for sharing this with you or if you sign up. It's just a great opportunity and worth sharing.

~~~~~
If you haven't yet, please sign up for The Writing World newsletter (top right sidebar).

~~~~~

10 Common Challenges Many New Novelists Face

by Suzanne Lieurance New novelists often encounter a range of challenges as they begin writing their book.  Here are 10 of the most common p...