The Christmas Word Search Book - A New Release

In the October 10th, 2021 article "What to Write in a Birthday Card," I mentioned a new expansion into another area of activity books - Yep, it's Word Search Books.

Since October 2019, my journey into the self-publishing world has been, shall we say, intense. I'm not going to pretend that self-publishing is easy; however, the more research you do and the more books you publish, the easier it gets.

Why Word Search Books?

I've been writing riddles and publishing them in books since 2019 and recently decided that it's time to expand out into another type of activity book. 

The reason for expanding my self-publishing horizons is to have enough topics to reach the initial goal of 100 books published. There's a long way to go! The Christmas Word Search book puts my current publishing total at 11 books.

Another reason for expanding into word search books is that I was looking for fun, activity-driven books. Given the world's never-ending problems, I want to continue contributing to the "light, love, and learning" side of life.

What's The Christmas Word Search Book About?

It's precisely what it states; word search puzzles about Christmas. It's been written with the entire family in mind and is good clean fun for adults and kids. I would say kids over eight years old could tackle some of these puzzles. 

• Features one puzzle per page
• Each puzzle covers a separate Christmas related topic
• The puzzles are large and easy to read
• Moderately easy for both kids and adults
• The answers are included at the back
• There are 60 puzzles in the book
• There are over 1800 words to find
• It's available on Amazon

Here's a look at the interior:

More on The Christmas Word Search Book here - Note that it's a gift under $5(us)

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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The Christmas Riddles Book - Stumped Riddles Book Seven

Christmas Riddles - #Stumped Volume 7

When I write a new riddle book, I'm always excited when it's completed! "Christmas Riddles" is the seventh book in the StumpedRiddles Book series and is officially completed, published, and available on Amazon.

What is the Stumped Riddles Book Series?

I've always had this crazy ability to write riddles. Since learning how to self-publish books, I took the leap from publishing a poetry book to writing riddle books. To date, I've written and self-published seven riddle books, with Christmas Riddles being the seventh.

Christmas Riddles - The Book's Details

Like the other riddle books in the Stumped Riddle Book series, Christmas Riddles features eight chapters with ten original riddles per chapter. This book's chapters are broken down into riddle topics as follows:

1. Santa Claus
2. Christmas Trees
3. Holiday Lights
4. Winter Season
5. Holiday Foods
6. Festive Things
7. Family Time
8. The Meaning of Christmas

Here's a Sample of a Riddle in the Book:

Riddles for the Whole Family

The StumpedRiddle Book series is written for teens, adults, and bright kids. Ages 8 and up should be able to solve at least some of the riddles. The riddles featured range from easy to slightly difficult, thus giving everyone a chance at solving one or more.

These riddle books can also be played as a game. The game rules are simple:

Game 1

. Use a timer

. Decide on the amount of time to allow for a riddle to be solved

. Choose a person to read the riddle out loud

. The first person to shout the answer out correctly gets the point

Game 2

. Choose a person to read the riddle out loud

. Everyone writes down their guess of the riddle answer

. Put all the answers in the middle of the table

. Each person who guesses the correct answer gets the point

Additional Ways to Use The Stumped Riddle Books:

• Teachers can use them to challenge students
• Gifts for teens or teachers
• A family hostess gift
• Stocking Stuffers
• Contest Gifts
• Party Prizes
• Personal Challenge
• Distraction

Amazon eBook Preview Below - If you're unable to see the preview below, here it is directly. 

Stumped Riddles Social Media:

• Facebook StumpedRiddles
• Twitter StumpedRiddles
• Instagram StumpedRiddles
• Author Central

Coming Soon...

I'm excited to announce my expansion into another series of activity books - keep your eyes peeled for these ones!

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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12 Step Summary of Preparation Tips for Creating a Niche Book Series

Preparation Tips for Creating a Book Series

In October of 2019, I decided it was time to tackle one item on my bucket list: To publish a book featuring a collection of my personally written poems.

I've written several articles on my experience as a newbie self-publisher. Here's my most recent article that talks about Glossy versus Matte Finish Book Covers.

In the beginning, self-publishing wasn't easy! In fact, it took perseverance, patience, and a bit of holy water followed by soap to wash my mouth out with!

Creating My Series of Riddle Books

Once the poetry book was under my belt, I decided to create a series of Riddle Books. I have this crazy knack for writing riddles, so I decided to use this quirky ability for books.

My driving force for writing riddle books is to create something light, fun, and distracting. It turns out 2020 needs a lot of that!

I started with one book, then decided to create a series under the same topic. I'll keep adding to this series until my mind runs out of ideas.

To date, I've written and self-published four riddle books. I've just completed the content for Riddle Book number five, Halloween Riddles, which is scheduled to be published in August 2020. I also have a sixth riddle book halfway completed but don't have a date planned for that release yet.

Although I'm not a guru-self-publisher, I'd like to share my own process for creating a series of books for a niche. Note that as of this date, I've self-published via Amazon's Self-Publishing platform; however, I plan to expand to other writing platforms in a few months. I'll write about that learning process later.

Note: These are summary tips. I didn't delve into the detail of each. The tips are meant to give you a mental picture of the entire thought process before you dive into the process. In other words, things to consider if you're truly serious about your endeavor.

My Personal Twelve-Step Summary Guide to Creating Your Own Niche Series of Self-Published Books:

1. Choose a topic for your series of books.
2. Write and self-publish your book in both eBook and Paperback format. 
3. Don't rush, take it one book at a time and don't limit yourself to a specific number of books.
4. Decide if the format for each book will be the same: For example number of chapters, introductions, closing pages, and structure.
5. Be willing to change your covers several times in the beginning if needed - I did this a lot.
6. Create a website that reflects your book's topic.
7. Design and decide upon a Logo for your series.
8. Create a business Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter page for your book's topic.
9. Create engaging posts about your book's topic on these social media business accounts.
10. Create a video that speaks about who you are and put that video on your website and your social media accounts.
11. Include your social media links and website links at the back of your ebooks and paperback books. Be sure to follow Amazon's rules on links in eBooks.
12. Create and set-up your Amazon Author page - be sure to link to your website's RSS feed to your Author Page so that the new posts on your websites are updated automatically to your author page. 

Here's a Four eBook Series of My Riddle Books

Amazon automatically created an eBook Series for me. In other words, I didn't have to create the amazon page that offered my eBooks as a series. They put two and two together and created the page. However, for a paperback series, I'll have to assemble that offer to the public myself. I'll let you know how that goes - I still have to learn how to do it!

My About Me Video

Here's the video I created for my Website and Social Media Websites. It's intentionally not 'guru-professional.' My goal was to introduce myself to my followers - to be real - to be who I am, nothing more. There are several video services you can use online, I used Animoto.

Again, these tips are meant as an overview to help you consider the big picture before you start writing your book series.

Happy Creating!

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Matte or Glossy Covers on a Self Published Book? Which One To Choose?

That is the question, matte or glossy?

Let me start off by admitting that I'm not a self-publishing guru! The entire self-publishing process has been self taught.

In 2019 I made a decision to tackle a bucket list item; publish my personally written life's collection of poetry. Since then, and to this date, via Amazon Self-Publishing (KDP), I've self-published a total of seven books, and am in the middle of writing my eighth and ninth book.

I've written multiple times about the learning curve to self-publishing. I have to admit it wasn't easy. However, now that I have a few books under my belt, I'm learning more about the nuanced details that make a difference in a book's appearance and presentation.

As an example, I learned how to create professional-looking book covers, and have changed my covers multiple times to what they are as of this date. I actually made another slight modification to one of them again today! I'm planning on stopping these changes soon - Nah, probably not lol - but hopefully I'll get the covers to a place where I'm completely satisfied! Building book covers from scratch is tough at first, but after you get the hang of it, it's a ton of fun and very addictive!

A Matte or Glossy Finish on the Cover of Your Self-Published Book - Which Should You Choose?

I googled the crap out of this. Watched videos - you know, the usual stuff we do when we have questions. However, I didn't get a suitable answer. So, when I published the first editions of each book, I decided to go with a matte finish for the covers.

Guess what? For my books, a glossy finish is much nicer and more practical. So, I'm in the process of changing them all to glossy. I'll do all future books in a glossy cover format from now forward.

Why a Glossy Cover Works for This Genre of Books

I write riddle books, books about sayings for cards, and of course, a poetry book. I haven't written, nor plan to write novels. Novel covers may be better in a matte finish, but honestly, I can't give you advice on that.

For Activity Books (Like My Riddle Books & Saying Books and Poetry Books), Here's Why I Believe a Glossy Cover is Best

1. These types of books are picked up and put down often, and a glossy cover is more durable. The matte cover actually ended up with smudged fingerprints on it from too much handling. 
2. They look way more professional with glossy covers! My husband put it this way - he said, 'the matte finish made it look like it was purchased at the dollar store, and a glossy finish gives it a bookstore feel' - Yikes!
3. A glossy cover feels nicer to hold in your hands (a personal thing)
4. The shiny cover helps the colors to pop more. With fun activity books, the colors are essential, so yah ... glossy all the way for that reason alone.
5. The matte finish looks more like a school book, the glossy finish gives it an 'author feel.'

The Cellphone Photos of the Books Below Don't Really Capture the Difference Between Matte and Glossy However There is A Big Difference:

Both of These Riddle Books Have a GLOSSY COVER
 #STUMPED - A Party Game

The Book on the Left is a MATTE Finish
The Book on the Right is a GLOSSY Finish
Boredom Buster Riddles - #Stumped Volume 4

The final vote of approval came from my adult kids and my husband, they all agreed that the glossy covers were superior to the matte covers. Sorry matte.

My Non-Guru Self-Publishing Journey in Articles:
1. How to get started on that eBook you've been meaning to do for decades
2. Confessions of a Newbie Self-Publisher
3. 5 Helpful Tools from a Newbie Self-Publisher
4. 3 More Tips from a Newbie Self-Publisher

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Color Outside the Lines – Reviewing Summer Color and Activity Books for Kids or Adults

Collage created on FotoJet

Summertime brings us wonderful weather for favorite outdoor activities. But sometimes it is too hot to play outside or rainy days force us inside. That's when some indoor activities are needed. 

Television programs and noisy games are fun, but sometimes 'quiet times' are welcome. Having a variety of coloring and activity books can be a perfect fit for such times. 

Coloring Books

Coloring books for both kids and adults are always fun. Here are a couple new ones to try.

Dr. Seuss Coloring Book

Available on Amazon

The Dr. Seuss Coloring Book is filled with playful patterns and intricate images based on everyone's favorite Dr. Seuss characters, this 80-page coloring book will occupy children from age 7 and up all the way to parents and grandparents who remember the lovable Dr. Seuss books. 

The illustrations come from such Dr. Seuss titles as The Cat in the Hat, Oh, the Places You'll Go, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Horton Hears a Who and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, to name a few. 

Now you can color Dr. Seuss any way you want!

The World of Debbie Macomber: Come Home to Color: An Adult Coloring Book

Available on Amazon

While the kids are coloring Dr. Seuss, mom or grandma fans of Debbie Macomber can enjoy their own coloring book. Based on the Blossom Street and Rose Harbor series, this special adult coloring book has 45 original illustrations that depict scenes from the series. Revisit favorite locales and relive the themes from these favorite Debbie Macomber stories. 

Summertime Activities

See on Amazon

Keep the kids entertained when inclement weather spoils vacation fun or the 'kids' start their “I'm Bored” routines with this fun DIY activity book called The Dad Lab.  The book contains 50 projects in the interesting realm of science and technology. The projects are simple and use materials found around the house.  I can already see that the project “make slime with only two ingredients” is one my young grandsons would enjoy. 

A fun way for mom & dad and grandparents to spend quality time with the kids in a way the kids would also enjoy.

Summary

Image from Bev Owens Article
Reviewing Fine Art Colored Pencils
on ReviewThisReviews

Add in some colorful crayons for the kids, and special pens and pencils for the intricate designs for adults and you'll be creating beautiful pages. 

So don't let weather spoil your summer vacation. These coloring and activity books will give everyone hours of fun and enjoyment. 

Check out a variety of fun reviews of other coloring books and coloring pencils on ReviewThisReviews: Coloring Books

(c) Wednesday Elf 6/23/2019

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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