HomeBizNotes.com
I’m featuring a drawing/giveaway (in conjunction with the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival) for a copy of my self-published children’s anthology,Tales of Adventure & Discovery, described in the post, Mary Emma Allen Publishes a Children’s Anthology .It contains fun stories for youngsters, ages approximately 6-10. I also illustrated the anthology.
Authors (generally considered home business owners) may find ideas in it to use for a book project they’re considering publishing. Parents and children like the stories. Teachers also use this book in their classroom, and I include it when giving author presentations and teaching writing workshops for children and adults.
The second part to …read more

HomeBizNotes.com
Writing Family Stories
The desire to write your family stories or use anecdotes as springboards for other stories often leads to books and magazine publication. For the family of Zanita Spencer Collins,  it has resulted in the formation of Spencer Family Books. So far, they’ve published four books combining their writing and illustrating talents.
These include Duck Strut, A Blink Is As Good As A Wink, Harry Wesley Spencer’s Boots, and Grandmother’s Gifts.
Starting with Zanita Spencer Collins, who began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in 1929, Spencer Family Books includes three generations and six family members with an incredible …read more

HomeBizNotes.com
The popularity of virtual blog tours for authors, instead of, or combined with, book store signings, continues to grow.  I began hosting authors 18 months ago when very few authors were taking to blogs to make appearances, answer questions, and/or have their books reviewed.
Now this has become almost expected of authors.  However, I’ve found some authors who have never blog toured and aren’t familiar with it.  I wrote a guest post for my co-author, Yvonne Russell, at her Grow Your Writing Business blog, which still contains pertinent information.
So visit Virtual Blog Tours – The Latest Innovation for Promoting Your Writing …read more

HomeBizNotes.com
When I mentioned, in a previous post, that I’ve been involved in self-publishing, Anne Wayman, of A Golden Pencil, asked me to share my experiences about MEA Productiions.
Here is a brief overview and I’ll go into detail about each in future posts.
Manuals – My first self-publishing venture consisted of manuals to accompany (or purchase separately) the writing workshops I taught at conferences and the local university. I made outline hand-outs of my 3-hour workshops (which later I turned into online classes), but soon found students wanted something more extensive and would pay for them.
So I printed …read more

HomeBizNotes.com
THURSDAY THIRTEEN
Since we’re focusing on home based writing and publishing businesses throughout July, I’ll mention 13 types you could consider.  Of course, there are others.
Sometimes you may combine a variety of them, as I have done.  Or you may do solely one type of writing if it will being in the necessary income.
Some of these businesses you’ll operate entirely from your home.  Others will involve traveling and research that can take you some distance from home.  Or you might write for a business/newspaper that involves your reporting to the office in person weekly.  Either way, you’ll be freelance, operating your …read more