How to Use Gratitude

 

Gratitude has four elements—Journal, Affirmation, Daily Zen, and Vision Board. All are available with the free option.

Journal—You will probably use this feature the most. It’s a daily, weekly, or monthly journal for marking your thoughts.

• Click on Journal at the bottom of the page and then the plus sign.
• Type however much you want or need, pressing enter to add another line. It might start you with a prompt to get you going. Or you can press Show Prompt and get a kick-start idea for your entry. Press the X in a circle to remove the prompt.
• On the taskbar, click on the small circle to change the entry color. Each entry is given a pastel color to start.
• Click on the photo icon to add a pic from your gallery. The free version allows one picture.
• Press the screen-shaped button to close your keyboard.
• Click Letter to add more text if you close the keyboard.
• Press Save at the top when finished.
• You can repeat this process to add multiple entries for one day.

Affirmation—These are words you will say to yourself.

• On the main screen, click Affirmation from the bottom taskbar.
• This will one a series of file folders with affirmations on various topics. Mine included topics such as Boost Your Career, Embrace New Beginnings, Be Joyful at Work, Achieve your Goals, and many more. Each category has multiple prompts for affirmations.
• Click on a topic and scroll through the talks. Click on one to view the affirmation. If it’s for you, click Add to Folder. This will put the affirmation into your personal folder. You can put them in My Affirmations or create a new folder.
• Press Play All to listen to an entire category as a meditation or have the app pick ten entries to play on shuffle.
• Press the music note to choose what type of ambient sound will accompany the mediation.
• Click on your My Affirmations folder to see your personal playlist.
• Press the pencil icon to edit the entry. You can change the text of your choices in your folder to better reflect your needs. Add a recording of you or someone with a great British accent to read the affirmation. (Brit is just my choice…) You can change the color, text, picture, and recording on the page or delete it.
• Press Save at the top when done.
• Gratitude tracks which affirmations you’ve listened to and how many times.

Daily Zen contains quotes, motivation posts, a Think Better section, Practicing Gratitude, Gratitude Stories, Affirmation for you, and Spreading Gratitude.

• Click the bookmark icon on any of these entries to save them.
• Press the Share icon to add them to your social media.
• These entries change daily.

Vision Board is a tool to help you accomplish your goals.

• Press the pink arrow to start and add a name. (The app suggests a few if you are stuck). Press continue.
• Add sections to your board. You can add multiple from their suggestions or type your own. Press continue.
• Next, place your photos/images. You can use their suggestions or add from your own gallery. They suggest having at least three. But it’s a vision board, and the app allows you to place many photos together. They combine them all in a reel to watch and inspire.
• Press the scissors and camera to clip the reel to use as wallpaper or download the image of all your images.
• To edit the board, press the pencil icon to add more pictures or delete.
• Press the trash can to remove the entire board.

Next week, we’ll see how the app works with a writer’s life.

 

Gratitude

 

I’ve neglected the self-care category on the blog this year! I apologize. It’s a terrible time to skip such topics. Recently, I attended a mini-workshop about self-care and stress reduction. I would highly recommend taking such a class, even if you think you’re doing fine. Writers tend to work in a vacuum, and we don’t realize the damage we do to ourselves. Two years of isolation takes a toll. Treat yourself to some care.

Gratitude by Hapjoy is a guided journal app to focus and clarify your thinking. A fellow author in the Albany NaNoWriMo group recommended it to me. The program won’t magically fix your writing blocks, but it can help your sense of well-being.

Features on the app include a gratitude journal, positive affirmations, a daily Zen quote or thought, and creative vision boards. The app has a simple interface for creating journal entries and vision boards. In other words, it’s a self-help program that does not require a master’s degree in tech to operate.

The app is available for both Android and Apple devices. The Google play store lists the app as Gratitude Journal Affirmations. The icon above is the logo for the app. It is a mobile device-only app. It does not work in a browser.

Gratitude is a free app with an upgrade option. Premium costs $30 a year. You get a no-cost seven-day trial to test out the paid features. Features for upgrade include cloud-save on Google drive, exporting to a PDF, and additional photos for your journal. Note, the app will not transfer devices without the premium payments. If you start on your phone and want to keep it free, you need to stay on the same phone.

 

 

Book Funnel for Authors

 

 

 

 

I try to find apps for authors at any stage of their careers, any platform, and any choice of publishing. Book Funnel, though, seems most useful for Indie authors.

This app can help with many tasks Indie authors face, but it’s a yearly fee. Another subscription can be problematic. Many apps now require a monthly or yearly fee to use. I understand developers want to continue to update and improve their products. At ten subscriptions, I know where my profits are going. (Well, I’m just reinvesting in the business, right?)

Anyway…

Book Funnel can help with tasks such as ARC distribution, gifting books, newsletter promotions, newsletter subscriptions, and reader magnet delivery.

ARCs—If you have a beta team, or a critique group, Book Funnel allows you to deliver a secure copy of the title to your readers. The links are personal and not reusable. Readers can obtain their copies but cannot gift the link to anyone else. It keeps advanced copies secure and secret. No one wants their huge cliffhanger solution revealed early. You can use the same function to send things to distant critiques or before an in-person meeting.

Gifting Books—Many of us still do take-overs or run giveaways on our own pages. Gifting books can be tricky–getting emails, finding out the format the reader needs, basically—communication. With a gift link, you can send them the book without hassle. I did this for a family member, limiting the download to one. It worked perfectly.

Newsletter Development—Book Funnel is a perfect way to deliver reader magnets. You can set up links with 5000 downloads and put them in your newsletter or add it to subscription pages when you get new readers. It allows you to not only deliver the book, but the reader gets to choose what type of file to link to. You don’t have to scramble to format for various e-readers. You can attach your Book Funnel account to an email newsletter service such as Mail Chimp for an extra fee. The app also assists you in adding to your subscriber numbers through promotions with other authors. Newsletter swaps and promotions get your words in front of new readers. Then either your email provided or Book Funnel can collect those emails for you. It’s a great way to grab readers who want to read your books!

Sales—If you are completely Indie or still with booksellers, the app can help direct readers to places to buy your book. It can bridge a gap between your website and the bookseller. Or just help get readers to your webpage for purchases. Either way, you can learn to sell your books on your site! Perhaps you have autographed copies to deliver or sell. Book Funnel can direct readers and limit the links when you have limited inventory.

Print Codes—Have an in-person event and need to sell digital books? Book Funnel can help you with Print Codes. You can create codes for links to your books on the site. You choose how you charge for them. Readers use the code to download from the site once before it expires. Print these up on bookmarks or cards to give away or sell at events.

Last (for now) Book Funnel can connect you with other authors. Perhaps you get into a promotion with a newsletter swap/share. You can discover other authors in your genre to team up with. Maybe you’re in the same subgenre and can cross-promote, do a giveaway of each other books, etc. Book Funnel can generate links for giveaways and sales.

Book Funnel is a powerful site with many options. Check it out!