No Awards Please

Blogger Award

I have thought about this for several months now. Wondering what I should do, not wanting to seem ungrateful. Because I am not. Each one of you is very precious to me in that you’ve taken the time to stop by here, and read my posts. I am thankful for you!

I have been nominated for several blogger awards over the past few months…and I am really speechless! I hope I have not offended those that have nominated me by not responding immediately. I have not forgotten your kind gesture. I just haven’t known how to proceed.

Blogging is something that at this time is secondary to my novel writing. I enjoy blogging, but admittedly am not very good at it, or as prolific as I probably should be. I just don’t have the time. I have reached so many of you through this blog, and I have met so many wonderful people. And I love that about blogging. I have been inspired, encouraged, and delighted by the sites I have encountered on here. This blogging has opened up another whole world for me. So I will continue to post when I can, because I will always have something to say, and I will always love to hear from you. But taking part in the awards is just more than I can fit in at this time. I think they are a lovely gesture, and I adore reading about those that have been nominated, but I just can’t reciprocate at this time.

The Versatile Blogger Award was one I received from a beautiful lady that I’ve come to know on here. Please check out her site at: https://rhythminlife.net/ She has written some beautiful poetry, and shared the challenges and blessings of her life in a very special way. Thank you, Susan!

https://mycountryepoque.com/ is where I received the One Lovely Blog Award. The colors and beauty on her site really drew me in, and I’m enjoying my journey there. Thank you!

Ellie Holmes at: https://ellieholmesauthor.wordpress.com/ was the first to nominate me for an award. It was very exciting! It’s been so long ago, that I don’t even remember the award, but I did tell her at the time how much I appreciated it. I just didn’t know what I was going to do about awards. She has a couple of books that are on my reading list, which is also something I don’t get much time to do. But I haven’t forgotten, Ellie!

So, a huge thank you to all of those that have nominated me! You are appreciated! Please keep stopping by and sharing your thoughts, and your life with me. I love to hear from you. And I will continue to read about your awards, and will share in your joy.

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Big Smile!

Branding and marketing are huge if you have a business, want to sell items that you have made, or if you are an author. The list probably goes on for areas where you need to brand and market, but those are just three that came to my mind. Think of brand names that you know. Whether it’s the breakfast cereal you eat before you start your day, or the shoes you put on your feet. The symbols and colors that come to mind speak of that product, and you know exactly what it is. Drive down a strip of road located in a busy city, and your brain will be boggled with all the branding. You don’t even have to read the sign of a restaurant, or fully focus on it. You know what it is. The yellow arches beckon all of us if we are in a hurry for a quick, cold drink or salty order of fries. And you can see those yellow arches from blocks away, maybe even miles away on the interstate.

Branding and marketing take up a very large amount of my time when I’m not working. My author name of, Deborah Ann Dykeman is not known in my small town, much less around the state of Kansas. Forget about the rest of the world! But in order for me to be able to retire my husband before he’s using a walker, and move to the country, my name needs to be know everywhere. And that takes a long time! I want you to see and smell roses when my name is shown to you, and know that I’m an author, and hopefully know what I write about.

So, when someone contacts me and asks to read one of my books, and they will do a review on their site…wow! There is nothing better than that. Sure, at first I thought it would be a scam, but what do I have to lose at this point in my writing career? I always check out another site to see if it’s legitimate of course. It would be crazy in this world today to not do a bit of research before you jump in with both feet. When everything looks pretty good, I proceed.

And I’m so happy I did!

Pople Backyard Farm at http://poplebackyardfarm.blogspot.com contacted me a couple weeks ago, May 17th to be exact. They requested a copy of my fourth book in the Rubyville series, A Place in My Heart. I thought it strange that they requested the fourth book, but I was just so happy they requested it at all! That put a big smile on my face! They said they would do a review and have it posted within a couple of weeks. So of course I checked them out. And boy do they review products! It’s a great site, and you should really see what’s happening over there. They were true to their word. They read my book and posted a great review here, http://poplebackyardfarm.blogspot.com/p/best-reads-for-summer-2017.html for their summer reading reviews. You may have to scroll down to read my review, but I saw some books I would like to read on my way down the list!

Thank you, Pople Backyard Farm for requesting my book, for actually reading it and then writing a review! It is very much appreciated! And I love your site! I would wish you much success, but you seem to be doing really well already! 😉 But still…much success to you!

And remember to enter my giveaways over at Goodreads. This is for the third book in the Rubyville series, A Place to Heal, https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/231878-a-place-to-heal

This is the link for the fourth book, A Place in My Heart, https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/231879-a-place-in-my-heart

If you win one of the three, signed, printed books I’m giving away for each giveaway, I’ll have it in the mail to you within a day…really! And please, please, please write a review if you read my books. You can do this where they are sold online: Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Walmart, Target and Amazon. Some of those require a purchase first, but Goodreads does not. Thank you all for your support and helping me on this writing journey! It really does put a big smile on my face! Have a great day!

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Many Thanks!

Have you heard of ‘while I was sleeping’? Well, ‘while I was working’, this blog crossed over more than 6,000 hits! I now have 80 followers. That’s a big thing to me!

I travel to other blogs, looking at their amazing numbers. Literally thousands and thousands of hits, and thousands of followers. And I think, what am I doing wrong? I’ve been at this for a year and a half now. But it’s alright…really.

I’m so very thankful for each and every person that chooses to read a post by me. I love when people comment and share their lives for a moment. It still amazes me that people have actually read my books! And a few have written lovely reviews. Reaching out to others, sharing my life and who I am is where it’s at. And I’m continually amazed that anyone cares.

So thank you to all my precious followers! Many thanks for those of you that comment. Even a few words connects me to who you are. And that’s fascinating! Have a lovely weekend!

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