Friday John Ku – AKA TGIF

April 14, 2017April 13, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 43 Comments

Friday once again. Always glad to see it roll around. No particular reason other than it gives me an opportunity to reflect on the week and see if I’ve done anything worthwhile. Hold on let me think a moment. *crickets*

I’m back. This week was pretty productive. I finished up all the edits within my power on Circumstances of Childhood and sent it off to the editor. That was a biggie this week. I also placed My GRL on an Amazon Marketing Services promotion. I will be interested to see how that goes. This is the first time I have done it seriously. The idea is for Amazon to match your book with searches done by their customers. I managed to come up with over 200 keywords so this effort should be more telling on the program. I’ll keep you posted. Today’s John Ku talks about trying new things. Hope you have a great weekend.

Stay comfortable,

Or try something you’ve never done . . .

You may benefit.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

April 7, 2017April 6, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 31 Comments

TGIF

Friday is here (almost). I hope your week was full of the kind of activity that you enjoy. It makes the week go so well when you are doing things that get you to smile. My week was pretty much spent with more editing. I have a May 1st deadline and looks like I’m going to have to hump a bit to make it. The beautiful thing about deadlines is they tend to get you into high gear. Of course without deadlines life would be too comfortable and who wants that situation. (Okay maybe we all do.)

Today’s JohnKu is about deadlines, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

We set them ourselves,

Then tend to get serious . . .

Only at the end.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

March 17, 2017March 16, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 63 Comments

TGIF Another week has flown by. Well, at least it seems that way. I am sitting on the lower patio writing this post and I have to say the weather is perfect. Beautiful sky and temperature in the 70’s. The pups are having their sun bath and all is right with the world. I decided to post a picture of them relaxing instead of the usual Friday TGIF meme. Speaking of Friday this week’s JohnKu is all about enjoying the time we have been given. I hope you have a great weekend.

Sunny day today,

Nary a cloud in the sky. . .

What is not to love.

Friday JohnKu – AKA TGIF

February 24, 2017February 23, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 49 Comments

TGIF

It has been a very busy week. My GRL is ready to launch. She is laying in the weeds over at Amazon waiting for the announcement on Tuesday. I’m so glad I finally prevailed over the gremlins. (There were many) I do want to thank all the folks who offered to help with the launch. You are all very special people. You will be seeing their posts after next Tuesday.

Today’s JohnKu talks about those who help others and is dedicated to the special group helping with the My GRL launch.

A hand extended,

With no thought of personal gain. . .

Deserves a reward.

Thank you all.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

February 17, 2017February 16, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 48 Comments

TGIF

Looks like we made it. Well, another eight hours will tell the tale. What’re eight hours anyway? We did forty-eight before today, so this will be a snap. (Unless you are hanging by a frayed rope over the Grand Canyon)

Interesting week. I had to get another proof for My GRL. It seemed when I went to print stage there was a setting which I had not double checked. It was in the style set up under “normal.” For some reason, the default .o5 indent reestablished itself even though aI had set it a zero. Well, this is all too boring so let me say that when the proof arrived, I was stunned. I had to go back and redo the setup. I didn’t want to take a chance again, so I created a new document. Long story short I’m waiting for the new proof. If it is still messed up I will go ahead and launch the kindle version and follow with the paper edition since the turn around time is too long to make the March 1 date.

I’m telling you all this so that you will not even think of launching a paper edition without getting a proof copy first. This would have been a major embarrassment, and at this stage of life, I can’t afford much more.

Today’s JohnKu talks about checking your work. I hope you have a great weekend.

Measure twice cut once,

Advice born out of error . . .

Why then the short rope?

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

February 10, 2017February 9, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 44 Comments

TGIF

And here it is, that beautiful day of the week that we look forward to starting Monday morning. Yes, it is Friday. Only about eight hours until we hit the freedom trail. I hope you will have a restful and re-energizing weekend.

This week was pretty busy. I was able to get my paper version of My GRL up on CreateSpace and am waiting for the proof copy which is due to arrive Tuesday. (In time for Valentine’s day.) Once the proof is approved, it is off to the races. The Kindle version is ready to publish as well, so the paper and Kindle will go up at the same time. I’m not sure how much promo I’ll be doing, but there will certainly be a post with the announcement.

This week’s JohnKu talks about looking forward to spring. Although we had temps in the 80’s this week, we are not quite there yet. Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter. I hope you enjoy it. (The JohnKu not the winter)

Snow, sleet, dead of night,

Not just for the postal folks. . .

Spring needs to hurry.

Friday JohnKu -AKA- TGIF

February 3, 2017February 2, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 41 Comments

TGIF

Friday is the day of the week that brings us all together in the worship of time off. This weekend is Super Bowl weekend and a time to gather and cheer for someone else’s team. This year the Pittsburgh Steelers (My team) lost the championship to the New England Patriots and Tom (squeeze that ball) Brady. So naturally, I am a one day fan of the Atlanta Falcons who won the right to meet the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

My wife and I love the commercials so even though our team is not playing we will be watching. We have been invited to a party and will also look at the game in between mouthfuls of forbidden foods. Oh, let me correct that statement. I will be eating mouthfuls of forbidden foods. (until caught that is to say) All in all, it should be a good time, and we are looking forward to the event. The idea of rooting for a team to lose (As I am with backing the Atlanta Falcons against the New England Patriots) is the subject of today’s John Ku. Hope you like it and have a terrific weekend.

Your team didn’t win,

Subvert the victorious . . .

Sport and politics.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

January 27, 2017January 26, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 79 Comments

TGIF

It is hard to believe another Friday has arrived. I hope your week was as quick. I’m currently working on formatting My GRL for the March launch. It is amazing to me that no matter how many times I’ve worked formatting books, I still have to consult my Handy Andy format guide. You would think I would have this stuff in the brain, but no. I excuse myself in that there is so much to do to prepare a Create Space and Kindle version. I am doing the Table of Contents for Kindle right now and don’t trust Microsoft Word’s so-called automatic built-in version. So what I have to do is bookmark and then link the table. It takes a while but is solid as a rock.

If you have no idea what I was rambling about above count yourself lucky. Today’s JohnKu talks about memory. I hope you have a great weekend.

Some stuff you write down,

Some you trust to memory. . .

Guess which is retrieved.

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

January 20, 2017January 19, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 53 Comments

Funny Friday

This week was interesting. I finished up the final edit on My GRL. Now on to formatting (yay). The formatting should be complete by this time next week. I had a super promotion on Our Justice. I ran two separate media events. The EReader News Today event was far and away the most successful. The BookGoodies event produced a few sales, but the ENT success was in the scale of ten to one sales over BookGoodies. I purposely left the price of Our Justice at $0.99 for both events so I could get an accurate comparison. The cost of the events was $40 for ENT and $25.00 for BookGoodies. Regarding efficiency, there is no question ENT is the most efficient. I will say BookGoodies did produce a bump in sales which other programs have not. I’m still in the dark about what works. I will keep trying, though. Today’s JohnKu talks about trying different things until you find the best solution. Have a great weekend.

Many options there,

Pick this one now then that one. . .

One will work someday.

Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

January 13, 2017January 13, 2017 ~ John W. Howell ~ 56 Comments

Funny Friday

Happy Friday the thirteenth. Well, here we are, almost finished with the first full week in a while. Seemed like a long one for sure. I hope you can make it the last eight hours or so. The weekend is right around the corner. One of my friends refers to Friday as Saturday Eve. I suppose that is a good way to look at it.

This week had its events. I received My GRL back from the editor with the final proof. I will be spending a little while doing the formats and then reporting to the cover artist the number of pages, the price, and providing the back cover endorsement. My publisher wants me to remind them when I’m going to launch the new edition of My GRL. I still plan on March 1st. I guess I will send them a note when I get closer.

I will be pricing My GRL at $2.99 for Kindle and $14.95 for the paper edition. That will be $3.00 off the current price off the Kindle and $2.00 off the paper.

I also kicked off a price discount for Our Justice. Today EReader News Today is featuring Our Justice at $0.99. You can go there or to Amazon. Today’s John Ku talks about writing and promotion. I hope you like it.

Scribble long hours,

Craft the best book you can do. . .

Sell it like tooth paste.