Kimberly Cooper

Hi, all. Happy New Year!

Thanks Sheila, for giving me the chance to chat to your followers, making a change from where I normally hang out at http://kimberleycooperblog.wordpress.com

Ok, January can be grim. If you’re in the UK like me, or elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, it’s dark and it’s dull. And I don’t know about you, but after Christmas, payday still seems a long way away. And for some people, January blues is a real and distressing thing. So, I don’t want to concentrate on any of that. Instead, this is how I celebrate what January has to offer.

Snowdrops. January is a bare month in my garden. Nothing seems to be growing, like the earth is holding its breath, waiting. And then … a snowdrop pokes its head out of the soil, and brings a smile to my face. Yes, spring WILL come.

2. The days are getting longer. After the shortest day in December, it’s noticeable that the evenings are lighter for longer. And that makes me cheerful.

3. You can take the Christmas decorations down. Is it just me, or does glitter get EVERYWHERE? Sorry, humbug moment. It’s the only one, promise.

4. The sunsets can be amazing. One of my favourite things. Cold, crisp air makes for great intensity of colour. All those brilliant oranges and reds at a time when you’re out and about, leaving work and in a great place to notice them.

5. The chance to change something in my life. Yeah, I know that I can change anything when I want to, I don’t have to do it in January. But at this time of the year I’m inclined to make that extra bit of effort. This year, it’s giving up sugar. Wish me luck.

6. The sales start! I’m not a mega-shopper, but January is normally the month that I treat the house to something new. Happy New Year, stair-carpet!

7. It might actually snow. Now, for anyone who lives in a less temperate part of the world, looking forward to snow might seem a bit weird. But for me, who’s only lost one working day through snow in her entire life, the chance to play in the white stuff is something to look forward to. And there’s a hill behind the house to sledge down. Wheeeee!

8. Frost in the morning. Yep, a pain when you need to clear the windscreen before you go to work. But how about taking a minute to admire a spider’s web rimmed with frost? Beautiful.

9. Winter warmers. Ok, that bikini body wont be seen for a few more months yet. Just as well, with those suet puddings we call winter warmers in our house. Here’s a recipe for my favourite. Umm mm. https://thepiepatch.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/bacon-and-onion-roly-poly-serves-4/

10. Clear, dark, night skies. If you’re into stargazing, like I am, there’s no better way to spend an evening. You can be awed and humbled, entranced and chilled right through, all at once!

So, that’s my personal Top Ten of how I keep positive in January. How about you?

Hello again! Thanks Sheila, for giving me at http://kimberleycooperblog.wordpress.com the chance to chat with the folks that visit your blog. Nice to meet you all. I’m based in the UK, so please excuse any spellings and expressions you might not be familiar with.

With a bit of writing under my belt now, I’m spending some time looking at different ideas to promote it. You’ve probably come across Pinterest. But you may not have thought of using it to promote your writing. There’s a lot of guidance out there on ideas to do this, so rather than re-invent the wheel, I’ve listed below a couple of sites you might find helpful.

But what I can offer is my experience of what went well, and what made me tear my hair out, in the hope that it helps you.

Converting my private Pinterest account to a business one was easy. There are new terms and conditions to accept, but I couldn’t see any problems for me, or cost involved. A business account gives you analytics, so you can see which of your Pins is getting interest, where those Pinners are from and what else they are interested in. These articles were helpful https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/set-your-business-account and http://www.thesocialcraft.com/social-media-marketing/how-to-convert-your-personal-pinterest-account-to-a-business-account/

Verifying my website on Pinterest gave me a headache. It took about a week of puzzling over this to see what I’d done wrong. One tip – if the website that you want to be verified is on WordPress.com, then the format of this to put into Pinterest is http://yourwebsitename.wordpress.com (eg don’t put www in there). There’s really useful guidance at https://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/

I created more Boards to hopefully get my work in front of a broader range of people. Eg although I have a Writing board that gets quite a lot of interest, some of my newer boards like “10 free things to do on a cruise” which showcases the pictures I’ve taken on holiday, has been reaching (probably) different people. Who knows, they may be interested in paranormal/urban fantasy or sci-fi romance too!

That’s just a quick run-down on how Pinterest is helping me. I’ve only just scratched the surface and it’s already looking promising. If you have any experience of using Pinterest to promote a business (any business), why not mention it in the comments below. And for no other reason than it’s cold and grey in the UK today, here’s a picture of a warmer day, to enjoy.