Under The Skin

 

In Publishing News this week,

Many writers muttered Hallelujah when Ingram Spark announced they were making print file uploads of Print On Demand books free along with free revisions for the first 60 days. There was general joy all around the publishing socials. They wouldn’t have changed their policy because every other print POD service is free would it?

 

Business Insider reports that Tiktok has registered a publishing press trademark. I wonder how they are going to advertise their books to readers or reviewers or even how they will go about getting books to publish? Now all they need is a buy button…

 

The Writers Guild of America called their TV writer members out on strike. This last happened about 16 years ago… and suddenly there was lots of Reality TV popping up. The writers have been screwed by streaming. The New Yorker lays out the case.

 

The arrest of a Taiwan publisher visiting relatives in China is making the Asian book industry nervous. The disappearance of the writer and publisher is being highlighted by news agencies around the world, reports The Guardian.

 

The UK Publishing Association reports that they had a bumper year last year with physical book sales up. Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard points out that their reported numbers have huge million dollar holes. What happened to their digital book industry?

Mark also points out the double standard over Storytel Norway being accused of favouring their own brand on their own platform. Who knew that was unethical? *coughAmazoncough*

 

Kris Rusch writes this week on the gradual breakdown of favourable terms for writers from Amazon. She has been an advocate of going wide for years. This is her last heads up blog post on the danger of putting all your sales eggs into one basket. All the signs are warning of an iceberg ahead.

 

Ruth Harris has an interesting post on Outlines, AI, and Stormy Daniels. Ruth tries her hand at using AI to write a blog post and concludes that the prose is very boring. Then she thought about a biography of Stormy Daniels….

 

Lit Reactor has a great article on books with a lack of character development and concludes it is not a problem. Do we really need to see the characters grow and change? Sometimes the fact that they don’t is comforting. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Assuaging the pain of punctuation- Tiffany Yates Martin - Bookmark

5 things to know about writing for teens- Jennifer De Leon

The difference between character archetypes and tropes- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

What is a psycological thriller- Cailean Steed- Bookmark

What we can learn from reading bad fiction- Richard Thomas

 

In The Marketing Section,

7 tips for strategic pricing- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Critique sites- Kathy Steinemann

Should you pay an influencer- Sandra Beckwith

What goes on the copyright page- Darcy Pattison- Bookmark

Readerscout- new free tech from Kindlepreneur- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

The 122 page book, Death Of An Author has been making small waves after it was recently published by Seth Godin’s press Pushkin Industries. 95% of this murder mystery is written by AI. The New York Times reviews it fairly. Some will like it. Some will hate it. 

Creativity is not under threat- yet. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

 It’s time for my monthly newsletter? If you want the best of my bookmarked links and other extras why not subscribe and join our merry band.

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

https://claudeai.uk/ai-blog/

Figuring Out What’s Important

 

 

In Publishing News This Week,

 

The news everywhere in publishing was the smackdown given by the judge in the Internet Archive vs The Publishers court case. The centre of which was Internet Archive claiming a controlled digital lending policy of printing a PDF from an Ebook for their patrons was fair use.

There were comments on all sides, Libraries, Publishers, Writers, Lawyers all had opinions often conflicting. In the middle was copyright and who loses out. Libraries have been stung by publishers license demands. Publishers argue that a PDF is just the same as an Ebook and if printed out a paperback. This will be an ongoing wrangle.

 

Meanwhile, the American Library Association has released a report stating the numbers of books banned in the USA in 2022 broke all previous limits. It is sobering reading. If you live in a country that doesn’t have book banning public drives, don’t take this privilege for granted. Libraries closing is another way to ban books from the community. 

 

Also in the news was a Wired article that was little better than a hatchet job on Brandon Sanderson. Brandon graciously defended the writer… but the outrage from other writers and his fans was loud and public. Apparently all Brandon does is write in a very scheduled way. If the writer had problems with Sanderson- how come he owns 17 books written by Brandon?

Esquire writing at the same time as Wired detailed the organisation Brandon has had to put in place since that Kickstarter. 

 

AI was back in the news (surprise) today when many influential tech founders published an open letter asking tech companies to pause their AI training citing the risk to humanity. A media commentator looked at how publishers could license content to AI’s and the potential prices they could charge. 

Kris Rusch has an interesting blog post on AI content being the mediocre level of work instead of purposefully crafted writing, or speaking.

 

Jez Walters has an article on how Bonnier Publishing company has restructured based around enthusiast communities. This is a result of the covid lockdown where their publishing company went to Zoom and now they are staying that way. It’s an interesting article. Bonnier CEO likens it to taking the company back to start up mode. Ground yourself in who you are and be pragmatic.

 

Publishing Trends looks at what makes an audiobook original. That is a book that is published in audio first. This is a different publishing model from the norm but audio companies are seeking out titles they can have exclusively.

Lisa Tener has a great article on protecting yourself from accidental plagiarism. Don’t forget to attribute your notes to who said what. Lisa has some recommended plagiarism trackers to keep on hand.

 

Jane Friedman has a guest post by Carly Watters on What Is Upmarket Fiction. This is a deep dive into that sweet spot between commercial and literary, which everyone wants to inhabit.

In The Craft Section,

No Swords No flowers- Anatomy and sex scenes- Molly Rookwood- Bookmark

How to write a memoir- Reedsy

5 mistakes to avoid if you want to finish your book- Colleen Story

How archetypes changed my life- K M Weiland- Bookmark

6 terror tactics for really scary villains- Sacha Black

 

In The Marketing Section,

How soon should you think about marketing your book? K M Weiland

9 proven strategies to increase book sales- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to build your reader audience- Written Word Media- Bookmark

Social Media for writers- Ellie Diamond

Your books press release- Sandra Beckwith

 

To Finish,

It’s the end of March, for many it’s the end of the tax year or the end of the first quarter. If you need to review your goals, get some, or just identify one goal to focus on check out this Goal Setting post for writers.

Along with goal setting you might need to run your eye down this list of things that might be holding you back from achieving your goals.

See you in the next quarter (next week.)

Maureen

@craicer

 

It nearly time for my monthly newsletter so if you want the best of my bookmarked links you can subscribe here. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate all virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

 

 

Getting The Office Ready

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The US Copyright office has been thinking about AI copyright and has now stuck a stake in the ground. Copyright applicants must disclose when their work contains AI created material. Previously, AI created work could not be copyrighted, however now the office wants to know how much AI was used before allowing you to copyright something. Will other countries follow suit?

 

Ethical AI Publishing has an article on how AI is disrupting white collar jobs, fueling the anti AI debate. Where were they when it was blue collar jobs on the line? AI is a classism debate. 

 

Jane Friedman has an interesting article on how Wattpad kickstarted some older authors careers. Before everyone leaps into Wattpad the news out is that Wattpad is laying off staff due to the changing economic environment.

 

Netflix is changing their streaming model. The lowest tier will be ad supported. First off the block with their ads is Cornerstone Publishing advertising … books!

 

Have you enjoyed any web comics lately? Which way did you read them? If you shook your head and thought aren’t they formatted left to right, then you might be surprised to find that the comic publishers in Europe are looking seriously at vertical formatting for smartphones.

 

Draft2Digital eBook aggregator recently moved into providing print books to a limited range of countries as a trial. This week they announced they were opening up to authors everywhere with free conversions eBook to print, free wraparound covers and lots more goodies. This will shake up the Print On Demand model. 

 

Reedsy has collected together a list of writing communities that authors can join to find like minded writing buddies. You also might be interested in time blocking tips from K M Allen.

 

Anne R Allen has a great guest blog from lawyer Joseph Perry about negotiating a literary agent agreement. Some literary agents are happy with a verbal agreement but you shouldn’t be. This is a great list of tips and things to think about.

 

If you have been getting up from your writing desk in some pain you might want to check out this article from Colleen Story on the 5 types of writing related pain. Colleen offers some solutions.

 

Are you staring at your characters and wondering why they are so flat? Lynette Burrows has the answer. Making flat character genuine in 8 easy steps.

 

In The Craft Section,

Character arcs making a long story short- Jami Gold – Bookmark

Chekov’s gun and the writer- Anne R Allen

How to craft interesting minor characters- J D Harlock- Bookmark

Using the But Therefore method of plotting- Literary Architect- Bookmark

The most common writing mistakes agents see- Mary Kole

 

 

In The Marketing Section,

2 interesting posts from Jane Friedman Author websites and  Authors who launched careers on Tiktok- Bookmark Both

How authors can engage on Instagram- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Book advertising- The Alliance of Independent Authors- Bookmark

Category Data- Kindlepreneur- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Writer Unboxed has a great article by Kelsey Allagood on spring cleaning your brain. Of course down under we are heading into Autumn so perhaps we could call it preparing to hunker down for your writing brain.

K M Weiland has a great article on the best places to write. Have you tried different places to write? Changed your office? Changed where you are most creative? Katie offers some tips to keep everything fresh and productive.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Pull Out Your Toys

  

In Publishing News This Week...

In the continuing saga of being a HarperCollins employee- you strike for 3 months, you get told that HC is settling but reducing their workforce and now you hear that severance is all voluntary for a limited time. Publishers Weekly takes the time to remind readers that this was predicted early this year. (See Februarys blog) If you want a more personal story about why it’s so hard to work in publishing, Electric Literature has an essay on how a living wage has never been a priority in publishing.

 

After last weeks news and then backtrack on cleaning up Roald Dahl to this week examining the role of sensitivity readers. Do we really need them? Canadian reporters explore why the publishing industry is feeling alarmed. Meanwhile, well-known Canadian writer Margaret Atwood has decided that she will write her memoir after all. That’s 80 years well lived.

Anne R Allen has a great post on whether you should fictionalise your life. It’s called Autofiction if you are thinking about it.

 

It’s Bookfair time and on everyone’s lips is AI. The Author’s Guild is being proactive and having their lawyers write clauses for writers and publishers to insert into writing contracts limiting the use of AI and Machine Learning on new work. 

 

Mark Williams highlights a little snippet from Animation Magazine – They are embracing AI and using it to make short animations. This new tech promises fun times ahead. Publishers have you thought about your own IP?

 

Kris Rusch continues to look into AI audio and whether its suitable in the first instance to make their print books accessible. She delves into the contracts and hidden fees and concludes that Google is probably the best player at the moment in this space.

 

Bologna Children’s Book Fair celebrates its 60^th year and everyone is happy to be back. The big sellers at the fair…children’s mental health books. The legacy of the covid years.

 

Mattel toy company is moving into books which will be based off their IP. So if you have a hankering to ghost write Barbie fiction or Hot Wheels road trips there is a place for you in the Mattel story world.

 

Earlier in the year I linked to a news article about Adelaide books and the problems they were having. Jane Friedman has a guest post this week from a writer caught up in the mess. How Bad Publishers Hurt Authors. Yes, she checked and she checked it was not a scam… it looked legit. Even the most savvy of writers can be sucked in. 

 

Do you wake up itching to be back at the manuscript or has it become the dreaded homework. Naomi Rose writes about how you can find ways to be pulled by love not pushed by force into your writing.

 

 

In The Craft Section,

Will readers find your protagonist worthy?- Angela Ackerman

Comedic writing- Now Novel- Bookmark

Novel and script editing tips- Novel Factory

Gender neutral replacements- Kathy Steinemann- Bookmark

Writing onomatopoeia- Joe Bunting- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Best Fonts for Print- Kindlepreneur

Selling books on your website- Penny Sansevieri

The formula for more book sales – Sandra Beckwith- Boomark

To give it away or not- Kim Catanzarite-Bookmark

Unique ways to engage readers with live streaming- Shailee Shah- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

How often do you reward yourself with something creative after writing your novel. P A Cornell builds Lego sets. Then she got thinking, Lego is really like story building. Take those Lego bricks and find out the 10 things that Lego can teach you about writing.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Photo by Xavi Cabrera on Unsplash

 

 

Mind How You Go

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

If you are a children’s writer, you may have been asked your opinion of PRH imprint Puffin ‘cleaning up’ the language in the new reprints of Roald Dahl’s work. Everybody seems to have an opinion. Here in NZ, a respected writer and festival organizer, gave her parental take on Roald Dahl and the modern child. It is a thoughtful essay on the problems of updating writing and why we are so sensitive about Dahl and not for instance, David Walliams. The Dahl Literary estate has just been sold for multi millions to Netflix, so maybe it’s all about the money.

 

Meanwhile that other staple for children’s publishing houses Manga and Comics, which showed great publishing sales in the last few years, are looking sadly at a downturn.

But that doesn’t seem to be impacting bookshops. The Bookseller writes that there are a record number of independent bookshops up for awards in the UK this year. I’m just fascinated by the picture of one of them from the article. A bookshop that is a bar. That’s a new one for me.

 

Publishers Weekly reports that the trial is still grinding on between the big publishers and The Internet Archive. It has just passed two years. The court have finally got to oral arguments. The Internet Archive wanted to scan all their books and make them available for $ and the publishers said – That is piracy. 

The courts will decide… maybe in the next year. It’s going to have big implications either way.

 

Reuters reports that there are AI books on Amazon. Who Knew? However, comments around this range from – gosh they are dull, to they will have to compete against other AI books, to let’s have a rule about disclosure. Everyone is waiting to see what Amazon will do about it. Then the other sellers will get into line. Kris Rusch has a super blog post on what is happening in the magazine slushpile with AI submissions. (The same is probably happening with publishers.)

 

Every Now and Then Mike Shatzkin drops what he is doing and writes a post about the Publishing Industry. He is a longtime pundit and looks at the big picture. This month he wrote about publishing being not as much fun as it used to be. Depending on your mindset it could be exciting or depressing.

 

Sue Coletta has a brilliant article on How to adopt a writing mindset. Sometimes we forget that the mindset we have when we tackle something creative can sabotage how we feel about the work. (And how we talk about it to others.) Is writing an escape or a chore?

Over at The Dream Team’s website Sue has a guest article on the unbreakable promise to the reader that a writer makes. It is excellent food for thought.

 

When I need to get into a story in a hurry- I use writing sprints. This stops the tyranny of the blank page. I have something to edit which then gets my brain thinking around the scene which then leads into better words. Becca Puglisi (half of the Dream Team) has a useful article on this.

 

In The Craft Section,

What’s the best choice for Point of View?- Jami Gold- Bookmark

Show don’t tell and breaking writing rules- September Fawkes

Two fantastic posts from C S Lakin-The intersection of premise and protagonist and Developing a scene outline- Bookmark Both

Backstory is essential to a story except when it’s not- Tiffany Yates Martin- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

5 Amazon ad tips to improve book sales- Written Word Media – Bookmark

Start locally with book marketing- Sandra Beckwith

3 essential editing tips for Beta readers- Beth Barany

Easy Mindset change for marketing books- Colleen Story- Bookmark

Book marketing mindset ideas  Joanna Penn's interview with Honoree Corder- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

While we are sorting out our New Year’s plans, getting into quarter goals, forming those To Do lists. Being busy and productive writers is our goal. But what about those Not To Do Lists?

Colleen Story has 7 important Not To Do things that writers should take note of.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for the bumper first newsletter of the year. If you want the best of my bookmarked links you can subscribe here. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate virtual coffee love.

Thanks.

 

Pic: Photo by Franciele da Silva on Unsplash

 

Title courtesy of Terry Pratchett (GNU)

Finding The Words

 In Publishing News,

Remember that court case? Simon and Schuster is still up for sale. Publishers Weekly looks at the corporates who might be tempted.

 

Mark Williams has been doing a bit of sleuthing and he has uncovered some big plans by Storytel for expansion into Africa. Audiobooks could be on the menu before print…or even bookshops.

 

Yesterday I had to admit to my teen that books get banned. She was disbelieving. How can anyone ban a book? It was hard to answer. I was left remembering a local author’s comment when his book was banned in the US. “It did wonders for my sales.” So here are the most banned picture books in the last 2 years. In other banned book news, Tanzania has banned Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

 

There is lots of chat around AI and its use or misuse. Writer Beware has an article on the Findaway Apple clause which is very interesting. There is some confusion about what happens to your book if you ask Findaway to tell Apple you don’t want your book to be part of its machine learning programme. (Narrators rights, see last weeks blog.) Some authors are waiting to see if their books will be pulled from Apple as emails indicate that this is a possibility. 

Chat around the author water cooler (Twitter) indicates that AI is a tool – You get into problems when you outsource your creativity to AI. Don’t fall into the trap of asking AI to generate a book everyone has seen before. Check out the list of overused tropes here. 

Here are a few articles that will get you up to speed on current thinking about AI and creative writing.

AI reveals the most human part of writing- A PHD researcher looks at the tools out there.

How AI can help or hurt your writing- Rachel Thompson has an interesting list of things that AI can help with written by AI. A great breakdown of AI as a tool.

Joanna Penn has a step by step article on how she has used AI when writing and publishing a short story. She has screen shots on all the different steps she used. This goes from ideas to editing to titles to art to using AI’s that we all use in editing. 

If you haven’t noticed, even your email uses AI to generate words or phrases for you so it’s here to stay.

 

Kris Rusch has added another post to her series why writers fail. This one is about learning and taking risks. Sometimes the very thing stopping you from succeeding is the fear of taking the next step. 

If you are wondering what rules there are for writers to bend a little- Check out this article from senior editor, Robert Lee Brewer at Writers Digest.

 

It’s been a rotten old week down here in New Zealand. A cyclone ripped through the North Island and caused immense damage. Devastation and trauma are almost instant creativity killers. If you are struggling to find emotional calm or space to let creativity flow, you are not alone. Take time out or change your focus to learning or improving your writing craft. As Melinda Szymanik says in her excellent article, “Sometimes the good thing you wrote will get its moment at some point down the track. Or maybe it is a step you needed to take to get to the thing that will fit with the publisher's aims. Whatever you do, don't throw it out. And keep going.”

Barbara Linn Probst has a great article on Writer Unboxed – What Actually Makes You A Better Writer?

 

In The Craft Section,

Tips for how to slay your bloated wordcount- Suzy Vadori- Bookmark

41 Character prompts- Kindlepreneur

5 similarities between your hero and your villain-Sue Coletta- Bookmark

Do’s and Don’ts of writing a series- Kassandra Lamb

Kurt Vonnegut’s rules for writers- Terry Odell- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

5 important reasons for using YouTube for Marketing- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

How author platform connects to Author Brand- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

How to talk about your book- Karen DeBonis-Bookmark

Top 10 ways to market your book in a month- Rachel Thompson

6 tips for choosing the right book marketing service.- Penny Sansevieri

 

To Finish,

Wherever a disaster happens there are acts of heroism. There are many acts of kindness unnoticed, unsung, and often under the radar. The shine of the human spirit in the darkness can be the glimmer that leads another out of a very dark place. We have seen a lot of heroism in the last week both here in NZ and overseas. As writers we need to write and celebrate the little acts of heroism as well as the big ones. Donald Mass has a checklist of other ways to write a hero. 

My thoughts are with the families of the heroes. While their loved one is helping others, their family is backing them up by getting on with their own acts of bravery, coping in a natural disaster without them. Two of our first responders gave their lives. 

Sometimes there are no words.

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate virtual coffee love.

Thanks.

 

Pic: Pete Thomson/NZStuff

Data is The Answer

 

In Publishing News this week…

A slow week on the publishing front unless your last name starts with T and ends in P.

Publishers Weekly reports on a lawsuit to stop Simon and Schuster from publishing a memoir from a criminal prosecutor who believes a criminal lawsuit has to happen against the former president. As PW reports anytime Trump throws lawyers at a book… it ends up a bestseller.

 

Techcrunch reports on the Shutterstock and Open AI deal. This is an ongoing story to keep one eye on. How the artist community picks their way through the minefield of AI assistance will inform how the writing community can do the same, notably around plagiarism. Interestingly, after Gizmodo outed CNET (see last weeks blog) the policy of using AI to write articles quickly changed. Gizmodo tries out the AI tool on Shutterstock with mixed results. Meanwhile a content writer for Buffer has conflicted feelings about using the AI tool for her job.

 

If you are battling against book pirates or other plagiarists, Knight in Shining Armor, Nate Hoffelder has a great post which you should bookmark on how to file a DMCA takedown notice. He’s done the hard work for you as this article is chock full of links and advice. 

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has an interesting post on the uncounted book industry which is worth half a billion dollars last year from KDP alone. So exactly how many books are being published out there?

While Mark is looking at the big picture Draft2Digital has an interesting blog post on how to track all your own sales.

 

Joanna Penn is launching her latest book on Kickstarter. In this interesting post she talks about using Kickstarter like a book launch pad and how she approached her first time Kickstarter project. Her Kickstarter was for a modest amount that has already exceeded expectations.

 

Kathy Steinmann has a post on going down the KDP rabbit hole when your book is unexpectedly pulled from the site and what you can do about it. 

 

Over the last few years the word on author websites is that at the very least you have to have a landing page that you own somewhere. 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive post on how to get people coming back to your website again and again.

Nate Hoffelder writes in a guest post on Anne R Allen’s blog about the 10 website mistakes new authors make and how to fix them.

Penny Sansevieri has a great post on how to sell books from your website. Penny breaks down the various partners you can use and what is involved.

 

Colleen Story has a great post on permission and how you have to give it to yourself.

 

Kris Rusch has the last in her 2022 in review series and this week she muses about estate planning- something our wider family has been focused on since halfway through 2022. When a near relative has an extensive literary estate and their health is not good… you realise the importance of a literary executor and what life of copyright really means.

 

In The Craft Section

7 ways to decide what story idea should come next- K M Weiland

How to use ProWriting Aid- Sue Coletta

Build suspense with secrets- Christina Delay- Bookmark

Character sketch template – Shayla Raquel

6 lessons learned from 4 years of writers block- K M Weiland- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

No one wants to hear you breathe- Tips on narration – Gabbi Coatsworth

Tips to get people to your book signing- Michael Gallant- Bookmark

How to write a blog post people read- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Infographic on marketing to different generations- Barb Drozowich

What do literary agents want you to know- Amy Collins with Sandra Beckwith

 

To Finish

Last week I was preparing to go to the first author conference in a very very long time. I had a great day and met some great people. Among them was Nat Connors, a data scientist who runs Kindletrends- a deep dive weekly newsletter of analysis in any of your chosen categories. Everywhere I went people kept telling me I had to talk to Nat. He was an interesting chap and his service is praised by lots of writers- a great endorsement. 

One of the guest speakers was another lover of data and analysis, Deb Potter. She has a great book on Amazon Ads for writers trying to figure out how to do them. Here she is being interviewed by the Spa Girls podcast. These were just two of the many awesome writers who came from around the country and overseas for a one day conference. 

It is always beneficial to your writing soul to meet up with others in this crazy industry. You never know what you may learn.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate virtual coffee love.

Thanks.

 

Pic:  Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash