Category: Discord

Tools!

Okay…I get recommended writing tools at least once a day…sometimes once an hour. Most of them are bloody expensive.

I can’t afford to pay out for quite a few of them. Oh believe me…I have paid for some, and for services…(Including some editors that I plan to recommend on another post)

This one is entirely about the programs I use.

We will start with the ones I was willing to pay for.

Canva – I pay for the premium features. The reason is because of the amount of use this opens up. I use it for marketing, poetry images, blog images, cover design, and quite a few other fun little things. This is not an expensive cost but it is a monthly cost. I pay $13 a month.

Master PDF – This was a one time cost. It has come down since I bought it. It was closer to 100 when I bought it. It’s now $70. I can use this to make the full covers, sign contracts, adjust a pdf in whatever way I need to. This is the most comprehensive editor I have found. There is a few features I would like it to have and I used to have a pdf compiler program that did those but I don’t have it currently…might look for one.

Google Drive – I pay for the largest google drive so I can have some file access and backup ability. This is not a need. It is a personal preference. I have lost files too often.

One Drive/One Note – okay those who have followed me for awhile know I had to switch my writing on my phone from Evernote to One Note. This was a difficult decision prompted by Evernote choosing to go with a forced AI…I was uncomfortable with it and tried to opt out. The response I got was …sad to say the least. So I pay for One drive to make One note usable. It costs me $8 monthly.

That is it. The paid list.

Now for the freeware.

LibreOffice – This program does everything Microsoft office does and then some. And it does not cost anything.

Sigil – Epubs are the filetype that publishing require. Libre office will export to epub. But you have to fix the file. It only requires a couple of minor fixes – but it needs done if you expect to use the created epub.

And Lastly – this one is a tool I use for Communication.

Discord – It allows me to easily transfer files to the authors and be able to announce upcoming events and such. It makes things easier for me. Fae Corps Publishing’s Discord even has channels for writing games and such to try and help the writers. There is places for feedback and general help, and prompts. All conveniently in one place.

This of course is not all my tools. But it is the main ones. and it gives you a start.

Passions and realities

My newest digital landscape using my Graphics Tablet

Deep thoughts end me up in a random place. I have always had a passion for poetry…Writing it, reading it, studying it. I just really love poetry. I generally don’t like following the rules of poetry because I feel like that makes it harder to express what I want to say…but I still know many of them. I can tell you the rules off of the top of my head for several differing forms. I think that is why I feel most at home on Tumblr of all of the social media…it feels like poetry.

I found this on tumblr earlier…

It feels like truth…I end up shitposting on Facebook, I don’t really do much with Insta or Deviant…though I wish I could. I just end up feeling awkward. My anxiety eats at my posting on Tiktok. Discord I use for Fae Corps…We try to be open but most don’t even know how to use discord much less see it as a viable social platform.

I find it so hard to share my passions for poetry…because it ends up being such a niche passion. So few actually like it. I feel like it is because it was explained poorly in high school and no one takes the time to learn about it past that.. so many see poetry as only for love…Poetry is pure emotion…it is the heart of the poet spilled onto the page…Many people don’t process emotion well.

I think I want to post a different poem by a different poet everyday in November…as well as trying to post my own PAD challenge Results.(Poem A Day)..However it means that I am likely not going to do my normal posts during November. I decided not to have Serena do NaNoWrimo this year as I am incredibly busy. I am prepping Fae Corps’s Children’s books…and doing the PAD Challenge. I also have day to day life.

The other Poets I can Schedule ahead, and that will help. I really want to have you all see some of the amazing poems I have read.

Imposter in the house

Photo by Josh Hild on Pexels.com

I recently joined a few writing discord channels. There was an article shared. It spoke about Vanity presses, small presses, and indie presses. It advised the author to avoid all three. I will link to the article…as it was an interesting read. It gave me a bit of an issue, however…as I run a small press. It spoke in the article about checking the education of those running the press…I am not classically educated. I could not afford college. I learned via free classes and reading everything I could get my hands on.

Soooo this article made me wonder when the writers in that discord would call me out for the imposter I know myself to be. I have been publishing for a decade…and I am still learning. I don’t do everything perfectly. No human does. I, personally, advise you to use common sense. Does the small press expect you to do everything? Are they asking for money upfront? If you have to pay to get your book published then yeah they are likely not legit.

However, not everyone can afford to go to college. Those who go do not always know what they are doing, and those who cannot sometimes do have knowledge. Sometimes you have to ask questions and make choices that are not based on how many degrees are hanging on someone’s wall.