The Art of Creating: 5 Free Tools to Amazing Visual Content

By Tanya Eavenson

Remember the first time you shared a photo online?

You carefully chose a picture of you and your spouse. Granted it was a bit grainy and maybe a little blurry, but no one minded, right? All they had to do was squint. Surely everyone knew it was you last summer on your honeymoon to Alaska. And now those photos will come in handy as you prepare your final draft from your Brides in Alaska series. Won’t those memes be awesome? Perhaps, but with today’s technology, grainy pictures are a thing of the past.

According to research, we are now posting a little over 1.8 billion photos a day on the internet. That is incredible! With so much visual content out there, how can we stand out? What can we do to make our own content grab people’s attention, even using our pictures from Alaska, without the grainy and blurry effect?

The wonderful thing with today’s technology is we have many photo options at our fingertips, including photo imaging programs. Best of all, many are free and you too can create exceptional images to share on your social media sites. With a little time and imagination, your pictures can garnish a second look, a like, or even a share.

Below you’ll find five FREE image programs that I use on a weekly basis to create memes for my novels or any type of visual content that revolves around my brand as an author.

5 Free Tools to Create Amazing Visual Content

Whether you want to make new memes for your upcoming release, share quotes from a novel, edit your photos before pinning them on your Pinterest board, or clean-up your pictures from your Alaskan adventure, these sites will help to create photos that tell a story — your story.

1) PicMonkey

2) Fotor Photo Editor

3) BeFunky

4) piZap

5) Canva

I would love to hear what your favorite sites are for creating amazing visual content. Please share the links in the comments below!

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Tanya Eavenson semi-finaled in the 2011 ACFW Genesis Contest with her debut novel Unconditional and was published in January of 2013. Her second novel Restored released in February 2016. She has also written several Bible studies that have been translated and published into different languages with Christ to the World Ministries. Her work is also included in the anthology, Sweet Freedom. Tanya enjoys spending time with her husband and their three children. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Word Weavers International. Her favorite pastime is grabbing a cup of coffee, eating chocolate, and reading a good book. You can find her at her website 

http://www.tanyaeavenson.com/on 

Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google, or on Amazon.

Inspired by Locale, History, & Antebellum Plantation Homes

By B. J. Robinson 

What inspires your muse? As a lover of the outdoors and nature, I’m often inspired by spending time outside, especially around water such as lakes, rivers, or the ocean. Lately, I’ve found myself inspired by history of the antebellum era and touring old plantation homes. This is how I came to write my two latest novels River Oaks Plantation and Romance under the Oaks. Taking tours seeped in history allowed my mind to wander and wonder. Two novels were the result.

I’m also a product of the South complete with an accent that announces it, so locale plays an important part. If it’s about the South, I’ll be inspired. Due to this, other writers such as Eva Marie Everson inspire my muse. I loved her novel Unconditional and think it’s her best yet, though I also enjoyed her Cedar Key Series and Things Left Unspoken. If you’re stuck, read other authors in your genre or who write and set their books in a locale that inspires your muse.

As a teen, I loved Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind and always wanted to write a novel set on a plantation. There is something about the old homes beneath the live oaks and Spanish moss that stir me with romance of the past. I can’t help but imagine what life must have been like for young couples living during the antebellum era, ones who had to endure the Civil War. From the depths of my mind and history, I create characters that will transport you to another era.

One thing I am thankful for is that we don’t have to wear the yards of material and layers women did in those days. Gardening had to be an art. The South is too hot and humid to wear layers of clothing while gardening. I love the outdoors and working in my flowers, but I don’t know how much I would have enjoyed it back in the day.

My novels are character driven, and I’m a morning writer. I’ve always felt I did my best writing then. Once I get into a novel, the characters tell their story. In the wee hours of morning, I’m perking with the coffee.

In my latest novel, Romance under the Oaks, Celina loves the city of New Orleans, and Jacques loves the bayou country and quiet plantation life. Their differences and secrets could drive them apart. Celina hides something in the wall of the plantation and never tells Jacques about it. He keeps something from her even while he romances her under the oaks. Can their love survive differences and secrets? This family saga set on a planation fifty miles from New Orleans is more than a love story. It’s rich in New Orleans history. Learning inspired my muse as I researched and discovered things I never knew, though I was born in New Orleans.

So, what inspires my muse? Outdoors, nature, oak trees, Spanish moss, the antebellum era, old New Orleans, plantation homes, history, research, and learning, and reading other authors all enhance my creative mind and inspire me to create other worlds through characters who lived in the past and tell their own stories.

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B. J. Robinson is a multi-published, prize-winning author of Christian romantic suspense and historical romance.  River Oaks Plantation is a finalist in the Grace Awards.  She writes from Florida, blessed with her husband, children, grandchildren, pets, and faith. When she’s not writing, she’s reading and reviewing books. Visit her at http://barbarajrobinson.blogspot.com.

Historical Romance Author Page https://www.facebook.com/BJRobinsonHistoricalRomance
Romantic Suspense Page https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBJRobinson
Louisiana Southern Reads Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-BJ-Robinson/600635176683799
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/BJ-Robinson/e/B007DNJIKU

Basic Marketing Steps for the Newbie Writers & Authors

By: Tanya Eavenson

Published and unpublished writers often hear how important marketing is. So let’s start with some basic ways to market yourself. Here are a few things you should have already been doing before or while writing your book.

Attend writers’ conferences. There are many different conferences to pick from, so find one that best fits your needs. For those starting out, try to choose a conference that offers mentoring appointments. Meeting with a published author who knows the business is a wonderful opportunity, but they’re also able to point you in the right direction in your writing career. Here is a link to a list of conferences to check out. http://oaktara.com/conferences

Start a blog or join a group blog with other writers. Before starting a blog, visit other blogs to get an idea of what type of content you’d like to post and how many times a week to post. Once you’ve gotten an idea, it’s time to find a blog that will suit your needs. I would suggest a free blog from either Wordpress or Blogger. I use both, but I’ve found Blogger to be somewhat easier for first time users. If you’re more of a technical type and like bells and whistles, Wordpress might be more your speed.

When joining a group blog, make sure you find out about the details before joining. The type of content they want you to post and how many times a month you’ll be responsible for posting.

Connect with people, including family, friends, and readers, using different social media outlets.

Guest post on other blogs. Find blogs you enjoy visiting and contact the authors to see if you can be a guest blogger.Now for those who want their novels to succeed, which is all of us, here are some marketing musts and one final thought.

Start a website. There are websites to purchase and some for free. Find which type of website fits your needs. I recommend buying your own domain name. I’ve purchased several from Hostgator and they are wonderful, always answering my many questions and happy to do so. http://www.hostgator.com/

Blog tour: Set up certain days around the time your novel is set to release and invite people to those blogs to learn about you and your novel.

Ask for influencers. Find others who will be willing to help you promote your novel before the release date and then after. Ask them to post reviews, for guest appearances, to tweet, and to use other types of social media. For authors who are about to embark on their first release, here is an important tip I’m learning as my debut novel Unconditional released in January of 2013.

You can never do too much to promote yourself, and you can never do enough. So relax. Enjoy the moment, because your debut novel only comes once in a lifetime.  

What marketing steps have you taken as a writer?

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Tanya Eavenson and her husband have been in the ministry for fifteen years teaching youth, adults, and counseling. Tanya enjoys spending time with her husband, and their three children. Her favorite pastime is grabbing a cup of coffee and reading a good book. Tanya is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and writes for Christ to the World Ministries sharing the Gospel around the world. You can find her on Twitter at @Tan_eave and contact her at her website www.tanyaeavenson.com  Want to learn more about writing? Stop by her blog http://guidedgirls.blogspot.com