July 19, 2021

Who Knew You Could Do This With PowerPoint By Jacqui Murray / Guest Post / Laws of Nature Book Launch

 

Please help me to welcome Jacqui Murray back to Write with Fey. She has a fascinating post about what you can do with PowerPoint. She's also celebrating her newest release Laws of Nature.

Welcome back, Jacqui!



A boy blinded by fire. A woman raised by wolves. An avowed enemy offers help.

Title: Laws of Nature

Series: Book 2 in the Dawn of Humanity series

Genre: Prehistoric fiction

Editor: The extraordinary Anneli Purchase

Available (print or digital) at

Kindle US   Kindle UK   Kindle CA   Kindle AU  Kindle India


Summary 

In this second of the Dawn of Humanity trilogy, the first trilogy in the Man vs. Nature saga, Lucy and her eclectic group escape the treacherous tribe that has been hunting them and find a safe haven in the famous Wonderwerk caves in South Africa. Though they don’t know it, they will be the oldest known occupation of caves by humans. They don’t have clothing, fire, or weapons, but the caves keep them warm and food is plentiful. But they can't stay, not with the rest of the tribe enslaved by an enemy. To free them requires not only the prodigious skills of Lucy's unique group--which includes a proto-wolf and a female raised by the pack--but others who have no reason to assist her and instinct tells Lucy she shouldn't trust.

Set 1.8 million years ago in Africa, Lucy and her tribe struggle against the harsh reality of a world ruled by nature, where predators stalk them and a violent new species of man threatens to destroy their world. Only by changing can they prevail. If you ever wondered how earliest man survived but couldn’t get through the academic discussions, this book is for you. Prepare to see this violent and beautiful world in a way you never imagined. 

A perfect book for fans of Jean Auel and the Gears!



Who Knew You Could Do This With PowerPoint

By Jacqui Murray


As an Indie author, I not only write my own books but do all the marketing. For most of you, I'm not telling you anything you don't know. I'm always looking for ways to make it easier and faster. The old standby PowerPoint has come to my rescue more often than I expected. I've used PowerPoint for a score of years so am entirely comfortable with it and appreciate not having to learn new buttons and widgets. As a result, if PowerPoint can make me look like a pro, I'm using it.

Here are a few ideas on how PowerPoint can spiff up your marketing:


Trailer

Time required: Multiple Hours if you need to find the public domain images; a few hours if you have the images

Create a slideshow. Make sure to include images, text, and transitions. Add a public domain song to slide one that extends over all slides. These are easy to find with websites like Pixabay. When done, save the slideshow as an MP4. Upload to YouTube and share on a myriad of platforms (including Amazon and most blogs).

Here's mine:


You can also do this in Canva where they offer a multitude of templates, free music (for pro customers), moving backgrounds, and more.


Gif

Time required: Less than 30 minutes

Sometimes called Stop motion Animation, a GIF is a very short moving image that grabs the viewers attention. It could be someone reading your book or leaping for joy over how good your book is. Here's a video on how to create one of these:


Bookshelf

Time required: Less than 30 minutes

Create a bookshelf with all of your books linked to where to purchase. This is a colorful display that will invite users to visit your books. My favorite tech guy, Richard Byrne over at FreeTech4Teachers, created this video to show you how to make one:


Here's my digital bookshelf (hover over the book and you'll see how it links to the purchase location): 


An E-book

Time required:  varies depending upon book length but it's quick if you're simply copy-pasting and saving as a PDF

Turn a PowerPoint presentation into an ebook. Watch this video to see how:



Four great projects using PowerPoint to energize your next marketing blitz! Do you have other clever ways you use PowerPoint to share your books.


Author bio:

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also the author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Natural Selection, Winter 2022.


Social Media contacts:

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Jacqui-Murray/e/B002E78CQQ/

Blog: https://worddreams.wordpress.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquimurraywriter/

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/jacquimurray

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/askatechteacher

Twitter: http://twitter.com/worddreams

Website: https://jacquimurray.net


Thank you, Jacqui, for teaching us what we can do with PowerPoint.

Everyone, please show Jacqui some love by leaving a comment.


19 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for hosting me, Chrys. I am excited to have the opportunity to chat with your efriends.

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    1. You’re very welcome, Jacqui! I do hope you get more comments so you can chat with my followers. Summer months aren’t very active, unfortunately, but your post is amazing! Thank you for sharing your PowerPoint tips!

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    2. I am definitely slower in summer, too!

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    3. Very understandable. I’m that way in general during the summer because of the heat. lol

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  2. Both of you always have such great info that you kindly share with the rest of us.
    Chrys, Thanks for hosting Jacqui.
    Jacqui, I'm so happy for you. You've written another Keeper:) Heh.

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    1. I got that--Keeper. I do hope you also write another Keeper story. That's an interesting guy.

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  3. I would like to try this idea. Thanks for sharing.
    Sandy H.

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    1. I do my trailers in PowerPoint but haven't tried the animation. That's on my list. Thanks for visiting, Sandy!

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  4. Wow, those are great ideas. I had no idea you could create your own gifs or trailers just using PowerPoint. It's amazing how the tools we all have at our disposal can be so powerful.

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  5. It is amazing. PowerPoint is smart to spread the word about these new tools. It was becoming a presentation tool that was dated.

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  6. I liked the animation, Jacqui. I'll try it sometimes. Thank you for hosting, Chrys!

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    1. It's harder than I hoped it would be but not as hard as other options I've tried. I hope you like it if you try it.

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    2. Hi, Miriam. You’re welcome! I love to have Jacqui as a guest. Thank you for commenting!

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  7. I did not know you could do any of those things in powerpoint. That's very cool.

    Congrats on your latest release, Jacqui!

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    1. It is cool, innit? The venerable PowerPoint is renewing itself.

      Thanks for the congrats about my latest book. I am still beyond excited about it!

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  8. Thanks for the great information, Jacqui. You make it sound like something I can actually accomplish.

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  9. Hi Chrys and Jacqui - what an interesting post ... I'd love to use some of these - need to get my creative forces into gear - brilliant - excellent ... thank you - cheers Hilary

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    1. I think MS has done a great job updating PowerPoint, especially for writers. For those of us who must market as well as write, this is a wonderful tool.

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