So how does a USA Today Bestselling Author celebrate?

BY BECOMING A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR!!!

I kid you not...I found out yesterday that the "Loving the CEO" box set hit the NY Times Bestseller List at #23!!  OH.  MY.  GOSH!!!  I was at work - my last day there - and came back from lunch and there was the email telling me that we made it.  I screamed, my co-workers screamed and then basically the rest of the day was a complete blur because really, who wants to work when you should be celebrating the culmination of a life-long dream???

So for now I am sort-of unemployed; I will be working 10 hours a week at the office until the end of the month and then I am a full-time author.  Never in a million years did I think that this was possible.  A year ago, I never would have thought that I would be sitting here today celebrating this success.  

To all of the fans who have purchased my books, I thank you.  You are the ONLY reason that I get to celebrate today.  You have brought me so much joy and I love interacting with all of you on Facebook on through the website!  I appreciate all of the reminders when there are mistakes in my books and all I can say is that I will strive to do better and have taken on a new proofreader.

And just because..

 
 Then in other news, sort of, the new book, "Stay With Me" is climbing up the Amazon charts!  It's been the best first week for one of my books ever!  This week has just been amazing.  Amazon had it up pretty fast and after some impatience on my part for it to be released on Amazon UK and Barnes and Noble, it's finally available on all three sites. Right now the rankings are:

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252 Paid in Kindle Store 
  
  • #34 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Contemporary Women
  • #35 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction
  • #54 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction  

• Amazon UK Bestsellers Rank: #591 Paid in Kindle Store 
  • #64 in Books > Fiction > Women Writers & Fiction
  • #77 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Romance > Contemporary  

What makes a best seller on Amazon?

This whole indie publishing thing is a daily learning process.  Just when you think you've got it worked out, your formula doesn't work.  When I wrote "The Christmas Cottage", I did not set out to write a best seller.  It just happened.  Only I didn't realize that until about two months after its release.  

What does that mean?  Well, here I was thinking that I was doing something phenomenal with my cheap and free marketing.  The truth was that I released a romantic holiday novella at Christmas time and people enjoy a holiday themed book.  It was priced at .99 cents as an ebook and so basically, the planets lined up on that one and I had a best seller.  

When I wrote the follow-up, "Ever After", there was no hook; there was no holiday that it was tied into and so I was just hoping to ride the coattails of the success of "The Christmas Cottage".  I marketed the same way; utilized a lot of the same websites that offered free or low cost promotions.  And I got two VERY different results.  "The Christmas Cottage" went into the top 100 Best Seller List in the Kindle Store in eight days.  "Ever After"?  It has never gotten that high on the list.

Well, that's not totally true; let me clarify.  The Kindle Store is the listing of ALL Kindle books.  Then it gets broken down into genres.  So while "Ever After" has (just recently) been on the best seller list, it was in sub-sub-SUB genre categories.

I did the free promo option on "Ever After" and STILL didn't break the top 100 in the Kindle Store.  And I did not get the bounce-back sales that I've heard people talk about, either, after their free days.  

I have blogged, tweeted, Tumblr'd, Facebooked...everything I could to spread the word about BOTH books and lightning did NOT strike twice.  I've come to learn through multiple indie authors that what happened with "The Christmas Cottage" sales-wise, was not the norm.  What I am experiencing with "Ever After" is.  A month after it's release, some random romance web-site promoted it on their bargain e-book day and I sold almost 800 books on that day alone!  That was more than I had sold in the month!  That was pure luck.

I'm learning to not obsess about the numbers and to not rely on this income.  I thought that I was going to be a bit more on easy-street when I was seeing the sales from "The Christmas Cottage" but have quickly learned that that was a seemingly one-time deal and I was lucky to experience it.  

So what makes a best seller on Amazon?  There seemingly is no direct answer.  They took away the like button so there goes that.  You need to get reviews.  THAT is a biggie.  The more reviews the better (and even more so when they are GOOD reviews).  But I've seen well-known authors having to essentially beg for reviews so imagine how hard it is for little ol' unknown me to get them!  

I'm going to keep writing.  I'm going to keep marketing the way that I do and maybe someday I'll luck out and get noticed by a big review site or by someone who just likes my work and I'll be able to get on and stay on the best seller list again.
 

Social Media Marketing Part 2: Fighting for Exposure

It's not even possible to put a number on the ways that there are to utilize Social Networks or the internet to market whatever it is that you do.  Basically, any time you put your name or product out there, isn't that considered marketing?

The problem is that with an infinite number of places and ways to get your name out there, which ones are the most helpful and will yield you the biggest response?  This is something I am currently trying to work through and let me tell you, there aren't enough hours in a day to figure it out any time soon.

I blog.  Obviously you know that because you are here and reading it.  I never did the paid posts thing.  For a while there was a site called "Entrecard" that was sort of like an "I'll stop by your site if you stop by mine" and it drew traffic to your site and somehow made your site more relevant in search engines.

They went away.

I have followers here but to be honest, I follow a lot of sites that I just don't get around to visiting on a daily basis.  Or weekly.  Or monthly.  Heck, I think I follow some sites that I was only on a couple of times and never went back to again.  It wasn't that they were bad sites, but I just don't have the time that I used to.

I tweet.  I have almost 600 followers on Twitter.  Apparently this is a good number.  My son was highly impressed.  So I tweet.  I put out news about my books, promotions, when I need help and people to go to a site and click LIKE for me (curse you Amazon!) but basically, I'm certainly not getting results from each of those nearly 600 people.  

I'm on Facebook.  I'm on there as both me and my alter-ego.  I have over 800 friends on there.  My alter ego has almost 300 likes on the page.  Does that amount to anything?  Not really.  I post all the live-long day about where I need a little help from my friends and you know what I notice?  People will click like all day long on a cartoon or a picture of Grumpy Cat but I can't get nearly the same amount to click on a link for me.

I did Facebook advertising.  I spent a lot of money and got little to no return.  Sure, people looked at my page but that did not equal book sales or likes on the page.  They liked my AD, just not my page.  Awesome.

The funny thing with Facebook is that in order for a page to be a somewhat successful marketing/promotional tool, you have to have a lot of followers from all over the country/world.  If your group is just people who are local to you and you are not getting any help from the locals, don't waste your time promoting anything to these people!  WASTE O TIME!  I don't have time to waste on sites, pages or whatever that aren't going to support of promote me.

I heard of this thing called laddering.  I'm not sure I understand it but it's sort of like the whole Entrecard thing - you like my Facebook page, I'll like yours.  Great, your Likes go up but again, if you aren't promoting me or my product and vice-versa, where is the benefit?  Stats only mean something if it's helping you to promote your business!  You can have 5,000 likes on your products page.  That doesn't mean that 5,000 people have purchased your product.

I'm on Goodreads, Google +, Shelfari, YouTube and more.  And you know what?  I'm spending 3 hours a DAY on getting my name and my book out there and for all of that time and energy (and in some cases, money), it is not equaling book sales.

What am I doing wrong?  We're told that getting the word out, getting your Google rank up, getting your Facebook likes up is all what we should aspire to.  But what good is that high number when nothing is happening for you?

So here's my thought...why am I killing myself on this?  Why am I missing out on family time?  There are over 1,000,000 books on Amazon that I am fighting against.  I'm in the 20,000's.  Not a bad stat after less than a week, right?  But when will Amazon fix it's issues to help their author's who are using them exclusively and put the Like button back?  

In the case of Amazon, that's a stat that I am interested in!  That stupid Like button and the ranking are a very coveted thing!  Why won't they fix it?  Why won't they help the authors whose money they are benefiting from?  Help an indie author out.  Please go to Amazon and click on the link for Ever After and leave me a comment on whether or not your see a like button.  I would love to present them with some stats.

And while you're there, get your copy of "Ever After".

 

 

How to Take a Successful Writing Retreat

I have said it before and I'll say it again, I have some amazing friends in my life.  Right now I am sitting in a cozy cottage in the woods for a weekend to total writing abandon.  I have the place to myself; no tv, no radio, no phone, no family, no laundry, no...anything.

Except I have a cell phone, a laptop, a kitchen, my iPod,  my Kindle and enough food to feel a small family of four for a weekend.  

I like to be prepared.

This is my third retreat and each time I come away feeling accomplished and refreshed and more than blessed for the time I was given.  The first two retreats I did were during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) times so I had a definite writing goal in mind.  This time around it is all about working on SEVERAL writing projects.

To prepare for the weekend I had to gather all of my files that I would need from my desktop and move them to the laptop.  I had to pack clothes (primarily pajamas because I intended to be VERY lazy and casual), pack up enough food for the weekend so that there would be no middle-of-the-night Taco Bell runs (I don't do it at home but for some reason it becomes HIGHLY appealing during a retreat!) and all of the tools I will need to get my projects done over the course of a weekend.

I left for work on Friday morning and loaded my car.  During my lunch break I ran to Target and got some last minute items.  After work I ran to the grocery store to get the last-LAST minute items I couldn't find at the Target and then grabbed some Chinese take-out and I was off.

It was pouring raining and after four trips to the car, all of my belongings were in the cabin and I was ready to retreat.  I sat down, opened my dinner and pulled up something to watch on the laptop.  Really, who needs a TV these days?  Then I got serious.  I put on my jammies and got comfortable and at 6:40 I began to tackle the first of six projects I had outlined for the weekend.  By 11:45 I had completed two of them and was ready to crash.  It was sweet to have the whole bed to myself and no alarm to set.

Saturday dawned - still raining.  There's something soothing about writing with nothing but the sound of the rain.  I set up again, had something to eat while playing some Scrabble on Facebook and then started to write. 

To my son.

Back and forth.

On Facebook.

Sigh.

This was so NOT going as planned.  Don't get me wrong, I had accomplished two huge projects the night before and yet I couldn't get into the groove.  I played more Scrabble with a friend, played some Solitaire, talked to my husband on the phone, ate some lunch and then said, THAT'S IT!  I'm getting serious now.  So I took out the papers that my agent sent back to me (I LOVE saying "my agent") and pulled up the file I had loaded on to the laptop and got ready to edit and...

I had uploaded the wrong file.

DAMMIT!

Okay, now I call my husband because I need to vent and we end up arguing about something completely different.  Why am I even at this retreat???  I mean, I am getting NOTHING done!  Like ever!  I finally get off the phone with him and hide the phone so that I am NOT tempted to call anyone and then cross that one project off of the list and move on to tackle another one.  "Write Three Blogs".  This is number two so hey, I'm making progress.  

I have a full-length novel that is completed to edit and I am writing another novella so that will give me plenty to do for the rest of the night.  I don't plan on leaving here until the late afternoon tomorrow so I think by the time I am ready to go I should be almost 100% finished with my list.

The most important thing to keep in mind when doing a retreat like this?  Don't sweat the small stuff.  I grabbed the wrong file, I had to move on.  There were plenty of other projects to work on and it's just a matter of being flexible and getting my brain wrapped around a different one while not eating all of the food that I brought with me.

Still in my jammies...

Still loving it...

Countdown to "Ever After"

So we have less than five days to go until the release of my newest book, "Ever After".  I am learning so much about publishing and marketing and promotion and I'm hoping that it will get easier with each book because right now it is still exhausting!

I feel like we are all over the web and very easy to find and follow.  That is truly the best way to market your book.  I am still feeling no love whatsoever from the local community - bookstores, newspapers, etc.  It was kind of depressing at first but then I realized that I want a much bigger audience than they have to offer and so, really, they are doing me a favor.  Plus, they are missing out BIG TIME!  LOL

I was blessed this week by two great websites.  Riley Banks did a wonderful interview with my alter-ego and published it two days ago.  It's titled "Samantha Chase gets her happily 'Ever After'".  Pretty clever right?  You can read it HERE.

Then the wonderful blog, Book Addict Mumma not only is promoting me as the author but is doing a giveaway for the set (The Christmas Cottage AND Ever After)!  You can go to the site HERE and enter for your chance to win the ebook set.

Both of these sites are amazing and it would be greatly appreciated if you shared the links with your friends, too.

So if you're thinking about doing any book marketing and promotion, where should you go?  Well here's the list of where to find me on the web (besides here at All Stace - lol):

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SamanthaChaseFanClub 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SamanthaChase3
Tumblr:  http://samanthachasewriter.tumblr.com/ 
Website:  http://samanthachaseauthor.com
Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Samantha-Chase/e/B006CZWRGC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

I'll be honest with you, there is about another half dozen sites to go to but these are the main ones.  Check them out, like the pages and mark your calendars for Monday, February 25th, for the release of "Ever After".

Free Book Marketing With Ask David...

So in my constant quest to be an Indie author with a successful book, the main thing that I have to keep at (besides writing!) is the marketing.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, this is exhausting.  It's time consuming at after working a full day at a full-time job, I hardly have time to come home and spend time with my family before I have to be back in front of the computer writing and marketing to keep the book out there.

We are closing in at the five week mark since "The Christmas Cottage" was released and the sales have been impressive.  I'm not ready to quit my day job or anything but I have been thrilled with the response to the book.  So while I was searching for ways to promote the book on my limited budget, I came across askDavid.com.  What's askDavid.com?  Here's a blurb from their site:

About this site
This site promotes books and publishes reviews submitted by the community. In order to ensure high quality, all reviews are manually checked before they are published. Only reviews are accepted which can not be found elsewhere on the web. So far there are 3994 reviews published.  

Basically, I submitted the required information on "The Christmas Cottage" and askDavid.com will promote it through their Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and the like to get the word out to more people than I possibly could.  Sweet, right?

Here's a listing of what benefits askDavid guarantees:

- We will create a book promotion page for each of your books

- We will link to your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest sites

- If there is a video on YouTube related to the book, we will display it

- We will display your profile picture if you want

- Users will write reviews of your book – you can quote them on your website

- You get automatic notifications of new reviews of your book

- Social Marketing:  visitors promote your book on Facebook, Google+, Twitter & Pinterest

- We will send a tweet about your book to our 8400 followers on Twitter

- This all will create awareness about your books which leads to more sales

- We link to you book’s Amazon page so visitors can easily buy your book

I am just signing up and getting started but I am very excited to see what kind of results we get for "The Christmas Cottage".  I am getting ready to start on the follow up book and won't have as much time to do marketing myself so I am looking forward to having more help.

I'll keep you posted on my progress! 

Amazon Suggestions

So as you might have guessed, I haven't been too thrilled with Amazon since learning of their return policy.  As an independent writer who is paying for all of the marketing and promotional stuff for "The Christmas Cottage" on my own, any loss of sales is a big deal to me.  Then there's the fact that I don't really SEE Amazon doing anything to promote me and my book even though they are taking a whole lot of my money.

So imagine my surprise today and when at 7:20 this morning a very dear friend calls me to tell me that she was going through her emails and there in her inbox was one from Amazon.  If you subscribe to them you can get daily emails from them where they make suggestions for items for you to purchase based upon some of your shopping history.  Well, under Literature and Fiction, guess what book was at the top of the list???

THE CHRISTMAS COTTAGE BY SAMANTHA CHASE!!!

That's right!  OMG!  Who can believe it?  But there it was!  In full color on the page in the email in her inbox from Amazon...they were promoting ME!  How freakin cool is that???

 I am not going to lie to you, it was a pretty darn incredible feeling.  I'm beginning to feel like a REAL author!  The funny thing is, Amazon does not tell me when they are going to do something like this; I guess it's just the luck of the draw but I am feeling beyond blessed that they chose me.  A little nobody Indie author from North Carolina!

Who is still waiting for either Oprah or Good Morning America to call... and perhaps the Hallmark Channel to call with an offer to make my book in to a movie.

Just a suggestion...

Actually, I'd be equally thrilled to hit the Top 10 in Women's Fiction and be in the Top 100 in Kindle by Christmas Eve.  Please share the link with your friends; like the book on Amazon, check out our Facebook page.  Everyone has been so amazing and supportive but I've got a long way to go and can use all of the help I can get!

Check your Amazon emails...I may be in there!  LOL!
 

Advertising on Facebook

In my quest for more social media marketing, I am coming up against some weird options and some that are a little, shall we say, less than forthcoming with their prices and then the ever so popular "Free" advertising that is not anything even remotely resembling free.

I have paid some money for advertising and it's all been relatively small - $5 on one site for 24 hours worth of exposure, $8 on one and $10 on another.  I believe they are working because we're doing well on the Amazon charts and that's where I am focusing the most right now because while Barnes and Noble is awesome, I truly believe that Amazon is going to generate more overall sales.

Tonight, I did something that I was kind of confident that I wouldn't do.  I created an ad on Facebook.  They aren't free, it's $10 a day but with the target audience that I generated the ad toward, I have the possibility of reaching over 30 million people.  We'll see.  To me, that seems like a lot and really, I'm pretty sure that out of that target number, about 75% of them aren't on Facebook all that much.  I'm doing the ad for only two days to see what kind of sales/interest it generates.

The ad is simple; it simply headlines "Samantha Chase Fan Club" and then mentions that the Kindle download is only .99 cents and then the link to the Amazon page.  Next time I may do it just to get the likes, I'm not sure.  There was a spot for me to enter a coupon code toward the advertising but I could not find any such code.  So I'm going to search the web over the next two days and see what I can find because if I can find that elusive $50 in advertising credit code, that would give me more time to keep the ad out there.

We were in the top 30 on the Amazon Best Seller list today and that is always exciting.  My goal is to hit the top 25 by next weekend.  I'm hoping this little campaign will help me achieve that goal.  This is just all so new and confusing to me.  Add to that the fact that Amazon hasn't released any of my sales info yet, it would be nice to know that I am actually MAKING some money and not just spending it.

This is why writers need assistants.  We cannot possibly write the next best seller when we are continually having to market and promote.  Although, from what I understand, the days of the publisher helping with that is almost gone forever so really, whether you are an Indie author or with a publishing house, you have your work cut out for you and you would be wise to have someone helping you.  Thank you, Dot, for helping me!  Soon, you'll be making more money than me on this endeavor.  LOL!
 
Our final stats for the day aren't great but we'll take them!
# 41 in Contemporary Women's Fiction
# 68 in Contemporary Fiction and # 538 in Kindle Downloads.  

If you see the ad on Facebook, give it a click!  And if you haven't had the opportunity yet, please click HERE and go to Amazon and "Like" the book - and download for only .99 cents!  Help the starving Indie Author! 

Christmas Shopping on Facebook?

I know I may be in the minority here, but I truly wish I had more time to just sit down at my computer just for fun.  I sit at a computer all day at work but I don't have the luxury of doing anything "fun" on it during the hours of 8 and 5.  Sad but true.  With so much to see on the web I am limited as to how much I can see and and with working full time, I am limited in the time I have to actually go OUT and Christmas shop.  The solution?  

Shop on Facebook.

No, I'm serious.  Think about it.  I am a fan of all kinds of products that I love.  I follow Target, Walmart, Amazon...all of the big stores so when there's something BIG going on, they share it on Facebook.  Then, with the invention of Pinterest, you get people sharing things that they like to see, do and make and then it gives you ideas of what you can, well...see, do and make for the holidays.

I find out about new books from authors that I love, I find out about contests to enter to win stuff for the holidays; really, for me?  Facebook has almost become a one-stop shopping endeavor.  I get to catch up with friends, see what's new in their lives and find out what they are buying and doing for Christmas.  Why?  Because we share EVERYTHING on Facebook!  Even stuff we shouldn't (and you know who you are!).

I found a deal where I can get $5.00 off on Amazon through a link on Facebook.  I found a giveaway that Target was doing, heck, most of my book sales on "The Christmas Cottage" have been generated from posts that I've put out on Facebook!  It's really a great social media resource.

And I wanted to add an addendum from Thursday's post:  "Social Media Marketing".  Another great way to get the word out besides blogging, Facebook, Twitter and the like is Digg.com.  This site allows you to post links to articles that you want to share with the masses.  I think they are primarily looking for news worthy articles but I post the link to my blogs there and it's generating some traffic so THANK YOU, Digg.com.  I greatly appreciate the opportunity to post my ramblings on your site.

So do you find Facebook informative or just a place to go to kill time?  What social media sites do you find to be most helpful?  I'd love to hear about them!

Daily book update!  We have made some MAJOR headway on the lists and I am THRILLED!!!  As of 9:00 this morning the stats are as follows on Amazon:
#42 in Contemporary Women's Fiction
#80 in Contemporary Fiction
#11 in Hot New Releases in Contemporary Women's Fiction
#16 in Hot New Releases in Contemporary Fiction
AND.... Drumroll please...# 627 in Kindle downloads!!!

I am beyond blessed by this endeavor and I am so thankful for all of the support I have received!!!

A Social Experiment - Read With Caution

Okay, so yesterday I made the announcement of releasing my second book, "The Christmas Cottage".  I self-published again and I am responsible for all of my own marketing and promotion (with the help of my friend Dot).  So part of the whole process is essentially asking friends and family to go and go to Amazon.com and click "LIKE" to get some traffic tracked on the page and then, hopefully, for them to buy the book.

Early in the day I sent out an email to about 10-12 people - close family and friends.  Well, let me backtrack for a moment.  My first book, "Jordan's Return" was released a year ago.  Twelve months.  Fifty-two weeks.  Basically, a LONG time ago.  Over this last weekend I've come to find out that there are people who are supposed to love and support me that have NOT told ANYONE that I have written a book.  I mean, I know it's not all about me but...come on!  You can't mention to your friends or extended family that I did this - or buy the damn book???

Deep, cleansing breaths...

So last night I went on to Facebook to conduct a social experiment.  I sent out three private messages to three groups.  The first group was family, the second group was friends and the third was acquaintances.  None of the people in these groups were included in my early morning email - this was a totally separate thing.  Each group message was sent to a group of 12-15 people. 

Now, in a normal world, it would be your family members supporting you the most, right?  (Insert loud, obnoxious buzzing sound here).  Clearly, not in my world.  Out of the three groups, the acquaintances (women that I have never met face-to-face but have become friends with through mutual on-line interests) have supported me the most.  Almost EVERYONE in that group email has commented and either downloaded the book or bought the paperback (now available for $6.99 through Amazon) and all have clicked "LIKE" as I asked.

Next was the friend group.  Out of the 12-15 in that group, TWO responded and they were friends from high school that I have not seen in over 25 years.  And the family group?  ONE.  Yes, one.  And it was a second cousin of mine that I have not seen in over 32 years.

Seriously!  You cannot make this stuff up!  

So in the social experiment department, I've learned where my support truly comes from and while I am thrilled for the support of these wonderful people, the results of it all make me sad.  I remember a time when family supported one another, cared for one another and wanted to see others succeed.

What happened to that time?

Uniquely Organized and Utilized

Remember how a long while ago I was looking for a virtual assistant?  Well, I have been blessed with a friend who is starting up her own business and that is one of her skills!  Who knew!

Uniquely Organized and Utilized is the brain child of my friend Dot and is described like this:

 "Offering wide range of consultation and coaching with passion and dedication to assist YOU with YOUR goals, plans and projects to improve your organization of your home, work and play. I am able to identify and understand health and learning challenges, difference of styles within the family, and lack of support and resources. Success and achieving goals of organization and utilization is possible with challenges, it just takes adjustments, accommodations and support. We will talk and write out a plan to get your goals achieved, resources found and fun and enjoyment for all. To achieve the goals we layout I can assist you with the work necessary and offer entrance into an understanding and supportive community of Unique, organizing and Utilizing people."

With her skills, we are finding ways to help market my book (yes, it's still out there!) and see what works and what doesn't.  Besides being my marketing guru, she offers services such as organizing your home, office, business and pretty much being a well rounded virtual assistant - meaning, you do not have to live near one another to utilize her services!  How cool is that?

You can learn more about her using the link above or by following her on Facebook.  So if you are in need of some organizational help or an assistant, look up Dot and Uniquely Organized and Utilized.  You won't be sorry! 

Facebook Personality Test

Out of boredom the other night, I was clicking around on Facebook and found this personality test.  You know, sometimes these things are way off but his time it was pretty much dead on!

The Provider:
In general, ESFJs are helpful people who place a high value on harmony. Paying close attention to people's needs and wants, they work well with others to complete tasks in a timely and accurate way. ESFJs follow through on their commitments. They like closure and prefer structured, organized situations in which warmth and compassion are shown. They contribute to others by anticipating their day-to-day concerns and handling them with warmth and efficiency. ESFJs are at their best in organizing people to get a job done.

The Extrovert:
You scored 63% in the direction of Extraversion, which means you are clearly an Extrovert. People who are clearly Extroverts are naturally active and social people. They spend lots of time outwardly expressing themselves through conversation, collaboration, or recreation. They draw energy from this sort of interaction and quickly grow restless if they have to spend too much time alone or not engaged in some sort of activity.

The Sensor:

You scored 67% in the direction of Sensing, which means you are clearly a Sensor. People who are clearly Sensors are down to earth and sensible. They trust facts and experience over ideas and imagination, and have a knack for noticing and remembering details. They focus on the present and living life as it is, holding tradition in high regard. 

The Feeler:
You scored 58% in the direction of Feeling, which means you are clearly a Feeler. People who are clearly Feelers are very supportive and appreciative of others, making those around them feel comfortable and welcome at all times. They prefer to avoid conflict and instead focus on the positive. They are very people-oriented and can quickly read a person's emotional state before a word is exchanged.

The Judger:

You scored 94% in the direction of Judging, which means you are clearly a Judger. People who are clearly Judgers love to make decisions. Organized and thorough in their work, they make and stick to plans. One of life's small pleasures for them is checking off items on their to-do lists. Every thing in their lives has its place, and they are diligent about putting it there.

I think I have a problem...

It started out as mild curiosity. I just wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. But one glance wasn't enough. I found myself unable to look away. I didn't see this as a problem because I had clicked on other sites before - sites that showed things that I enjoy doing (and some things that I was curious about trying) but I was able to turn away and move on with my life. Unfortunately, this little secret hobby has started to take over my life.

I knew I had a problem when I stopped to talk to some friends after church and upon getting in my car, I looked at the clock and nearly screamed. I quickly grabbed my cell phone and made the call. I was cutting it too close and now I needed to drag someone in to my dark world to help me out.

Frank picked up the phone and I asked him what he was doing. He was tuning his drums. Thank God he wasn't taking up space where I needed him. I told him , "Listen very carefully. I need you to do something very important. It will require your full concentration. Are you ready?"

I needed him to get on to my Facebook account and update my Cafe World cafe because I was about to have food ready to serve!!!

How pathetic am I??? I mean, I don't get this upset about feeding my own family and yet here I am, a grown woman, freaking out in the car because my IMAGINARY cafe is getting ready to have fake food go bad on the FAKE stove!!

Clearly, I need help. But I can't get it right now because my jumbo shrimp cocktail is about ready to be served...

I have no idea what I'm making my real, three-dimensional family for dinner. Is that wrong?

Today's Examiner.com article is on Homeschooling on a single income. Click HERE to check it out! Thanks!

Facebook = Divorce?

Seriously, this was the topic on one of the early morning radio talk shows this morning while I was driving Michael to school. There apparently is a study out that claims that something like 90% of all couples in councelling say that Facebook and My Space are large contributors to their marital problems.

Really?

I don't know, I guess I can see that as an issue but it just seems funny. The morning crew were giving their input and were saying that anyone over the age of 30 who played around on either of those sites was stupid.

I strongly disagree.

You know, these sites are not without their problems. I had an acquaintance who was on Facebook and she had looked up an ex-boyfriend and every time they talked (and she tried to talk to him a LOT), she seemed to want to talk about their previous relationship. Then she'd flirt and hint at all kinds of "if only" scenarios. Eventually, he had to delete her as a friend because he was uncomfortable with the whole thing and felt like he would be really ticked off if HIS wife were talking to an ex-boyfriend that way. I was impressed with his morals on that one. So I guess things can get out of hand but I find it bizarre that so many people are having these issues.

I have 400 friends on Facebook (a fact that I like to tease Nick about). I really maybe only talk regularly to around 50 of them. The rest are old friends that it was fun to catch up with, but we don't sit around all day talking about "the good ol' days", you know? I have an ex or two on my friend list but we were friends before we dated and we were friends when we broke up. We had our "what have you been doing for the last 20 years" messaging, and we were done. But I guess some people can't leave it at that.

Personally, I LOVE going on to Facebook. Mostly I play games on it now. I love playing Scrabble, I'm number one on Pathwords, and I am getting my butt kicked on Bejeweled Blitz. It's kind of nice to sit down sometimes and just let my mind go numb on these things.

So don't be hating the Facebook or My Space. Don't blame them for crappy marriages. Chances are, the marriage was in trouble already. If Frank asked me to delete someone I would. Why? Because he is my husband and I respect him. So for those of you out there looking to relive the past, DON'T DO IT! Some things end for a reason and looking them up on line is not going to help anything! Go on there and look up old friends or long lost relatives. I have found plenty of them and it's a fun way to keep in touch.

Keep it clean, people. Keep it clean.

All of a Sudden, I'm 16 (and not in a good way!)...

I woke up this morning and got ready for work. I made sure that everyone had what they needed for the day and packed up lunches (Michael was coming to work with me today). As we were getting in to the car, I turned to Nick and told him that I needed him to do me a favor today. He's like "What?" I needed him to go to the post office for me and drop off some Mother's Day cards that I had to get out plus a book for Paperback Swap. The cards were stamped, the book had to be weighed. I told him that I would treat him and Beckah to McDonald's for doing me the favor. He's like "No, problem and you don't have to get us lunch."

Cool.

When it was time for them to go, I explain all that needs to happen, give him money for postage for the book and as he's walking out the door I'm like "You gonna pick up lunch?" to which he replies "You already HAVE lunch" and walks out the door. Um, excuse me...I KNOW I have lunch but maybe, just maybe, I didn't WANT that lunch and was thinking that perhaps he had changed his mind about my buying lunch to thank them for running this errand for me. So okay, no McDonald's (stupid Healthy Choice lunch was okay) but I have to admit, his attitude miffed me a bit.

Enter 16 year old Stace...

So I go on Facebook (my cyber home away from home) and make my status: Stace if very annoyed that her son would NOT (refused to) get her lunch. I thought it was funny. I got some sympathy from my friends, I had a good laugh. Well, then a little later on, his girlfriend puts her status as "She is tired of being taken advantage of".

???

Now I am CONVINCED this is about me. I start to freak. Because clearly, EVERYTHING is about me, right? So I call Frank and make him talk me down from the ledge. "What if she's really mad at me?" God love my husband, he just sighed patiently and let me vent and then very calmly told me to call Nick and straighten it out.

Do I do that?

No.

First, I go BACK on to Facebook and apologize to her for making her go to the Post Office for me, tell her I love her, and apologize again. THEN I call Nick - who is of NO help - and still a little snippy! He claims that she is NOT mad at me, she sends me a note on Facebook and everything calmed down.

I think I need an intervention...