Sunday, July 31, 2011

How do you create a brand when your favorite color is rainbow?


Since I've decided to e-publish my own work, I've been reading many books on successful self-publishing, like Smart Self-Publishing: Becoming an Indie Author, and marketing, like ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income and Author 101: Bestselling Secrets from Top Agents. Nowadays it's all about platforms and branding, which are basically nice, tidy little boxes readers can put writers in, so they know what to expect when they buy one of that writer's books or check out her blog.

That's all very well and good for someone who just writes picture books, romantic ghost stories for teens, illustrated books for middle graders, epic fantasy for girls, or funny, geeky ironic-vampire Science-Fiction novels. But what do you do if you write all of that and more?

Ask me what my favorite color is, and I'll tell you it's rainbow. It's not that I'm indecisive and can't choose a favorite color. I honestly like a variety of colors at the same time. Blue is nice. Red is nice. Pink is nice. Yellow is nice. Green is nice. Purple is nice. But I wouldn't buy a painting that was all one color, and I wouldn't want to paint something that was all one color. That's a wall, not a work of art.

So how does a writer create a brand when her favorite color is rainbow? How can I help you stick me in a nice, tidy box so you can know what to expect when you visit my blog or buy one of my books? I've been puzzling over this question for the last few weeks, and it wasn't until this morning that I came up with the answer: the rainbow is my brand.

And in that rainbow you'll find a variety of colors like none you've ever seen before. Colors to entertain and inspire. Colors to make you laugh, think, dream, fall in love, and embrace your inner magic or your inner geek.

 Welcome to my new blog. Welcome to the wonderful rainbow made up of my many mixed-up worlds.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

70 best romantic comedy movies

The Princess Bride is my all-time favorite movie, but I love romantic comedies in general. Here's a list of 70 romantic comedies I've loved. Are your favorites on the list?
The Princess Bride
French Kiss
Pretty Woman
Benny and Joon
When Harry Met Sally

Moonstruck
Fever Pitch
Pitch Fever
Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Jerry Maguire
Don Juan DeMarco
The Goodby Girl
Someone Like You
Educating Rita
Green Card
IQ
Sleepless in Seattle
Runaway Bride
For Love or Money
Maid in Manhattan
The Wedding Planner
Notting Hill
He's Just Not That Into You
Keeping the Faith
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Raising Arizona
Dan in REal Life
The Holiday
The Secret of My Success
Victor/Victoria
Addicted to Love
The Addams Family
Arthur
Spanglish
About a Boy
She's Out of My League
The Ugly Truth
The Proposal
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Tootsie
Hairspray
The Truth about Cats and Dogs
Shirley Valentine
Father of the Bride
The Accidental Hero
Local Hero
When in Rome
Leap Year
Fools Rush In
Must Love Dogs
Music and Lyrics
You've Got Mail
Serendipity
Gregory's Girl
Enchanted
Definitely, Maybe
Run, Fat Boy, Run
Roxanne
Mrs. Winterbourne
While You Were Sleeping
A Fish Called Wanda
Splash
Housesitter
Seems Like Old Times
Ghost Town
Morning Glory
I'll Be There
Never Been Kissed
She's the Man

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Episode 2--"What's So Funny?"

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What's so funny? In a word: everything! Anything you can think of can be the setup for your humor. The only question is "What do you want humor to do for you?"