Pinterest Archives - Tricia Goyer

September 20, 2014 by Tricia Goyer 12 Comments

Making Pinterest-Worthy Graphics for Your Blog

I’ve been blogging for many years. I write to encourage, educate, and inspire. I love to hear from readers. I like to know my words are getting out and making a difference!

Over the last year, Pinterest has revolutionized my blogging. Blogs that used to get a few hundred readers get readers in the thousands or tens of thousands. Most of these readers come from Pinterest and Facebook.

Readers are inspired, educated, and encouraged by my words, but the first step to getting readers is creating graphics that capture their attention. Here’s how to do that easily.

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1. Create a watermark

This is my most recent watermark and matches the branding on my website. Watermarks are your blog’s branding. That simple watermark will represent you. Readers will start looking for it!

You can also make your own watermark. One easy way is to use PicMonkey.

PicMonkey is my favorite, and it’s free. (Although I did upgrade for more features. To upgrade is only $5 a month!)

Trish a Mom on Time Out explains how to create your own watermark here.

2. Find Stunning Photos

If you’re a great photographer you can take them yourself.

I use some of my own, but I also love photos from Thinkstock.com. I found a special deal where I got a 30-day trial for $99, and I was able to download 25 photos a day. I was faithful to download every day! That’s 750 photos!

Places to get FREE photos:

Pixabay: http://pixabay.com/

Pikwizard: www.pikwizard.com

Morgue File: http://morguefile.com

Compfight: http://compfight.com/

Creative Commons: Free Picture Pool

CreationSwap: http://www.creationswap.com/

Unsplash: unsplash.com

Check out Canva’s great list of websites with free photos, too!

Non-expensive options:

Dollar Photo Club: http://www.dollarphotoclub.com/ <– This is my new favorite! Click the image below to sign up!

And for non-cheesy Christian photos, Lightstock: https://www.lightstock.com

3. Use Picmonkey.com to create graphics

With Picmonkey you have four options:

Edit photos you have.
Design with their tools (no photo necessary)
Create a collage
Touch up your photos

The easy way to edit a photo

Click EDIT

Download photo

For the most attention on Pinterest, crop the photo it so it’s tall, not wide. This takes up more space on Pinterest.

Click Text to add words

Text Button

Click Effects to add drama

Effects Button

Add your watermark

Add Watermark with the button that looks like a butterfly

Then SAVE your finished graphic!

I love these tools. They making creating Pinterest-worthy graphics easy! The best part is that I’m able to connect with even more readers to inspire, educate and encourage!

What about you? Do you have any tips for great graphics?

November 14, 2013 by Tricia Goyer 3 Comments

Snap It to Win It Contest!

We all have that moment when we realize our lives are too stressful, too busy, too filled, and instead of feeling content with ourselves, our relationships, our lives, we end up disappointed, overwhelmed, and burnt out. Sometimes even the simplest reminder—whether it’s a photograph or a page of encouragement from a book—can help us de-stress and re-prioritize our lives.
My new book, The One Year® Book of Amish Peace, taps into the wisdom of the Amish in order to help us draw closer to God and hear his voice—encouraging believers to carve out more time in each day to listen to God and experience his presence. These daily devotions are a way to help us re-prioritize our lives and focus on what really matters.
In celebration of the book release, I have a challenge for you: to look at your daily lives and find peace, joy, and inspiration in them. When you find something that inspires you in your life, take a picture of it. Upload it to your computer. Make it fancy and beautiful. Then upload it to Pinterest with the hashtag #OneYearAmishPeace and #TriciaGoyer.
The contest will run from 11/14 to 11/30, and on 12/2, I’ll announce the winner (chosen at random) on my blog.The winner will receive this cool camera so you can continue to find inspiration in your life and photograph it as a reminder that peace is achievable. You can pin one photo per day to be entered into the contest.
What do you think? Can you take some time this Thanksgiving season to be thankful and to find peace with the simplest things in life? I can’t wait to see your photos!

Want to help me spread the word? Add this button to your blog!

Pin to Win Today – 11/14 – 11/30!

The One Year Book of Amish Peace Tricia Goyer Tyndale

Just past this code into your blog sidebar:

<center><b>Pin to Win Today - 11/14 - 11/30!</b><br /><a href="http://wp.me/P3k8nw-1Dp" target="_blank"><img alt="The One Year Book of Amish Peace Tricia Goyer Tyndale" height="170" src="http://bit.ly/1aFCmKT" width="170" /></a></center>

Want to win a Canon PowerShot? Snap it to win it with @TriciaGoyer! #Pinterest #Giveaway

Click To Tweet

Looking for a Christmas present to give to a reader this holiday season? Why not give a copy of The One Year® Book of Amish Peace?
Are you new here? You might want to subscribe to my email updates, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, or Instagram.

June 24, 2013 by Tricia Goyer 5 Comments

Must-Follow Pinterest Boards for Readers

When I first started writing fiction one of my mentors Robin Jones Gunn taught me how to create character notebooks for my novels. I’d bring home stacks of free magazines from the library and faithfully flip through page after page until I found models who looked like my characters. I’d cut out living rooms and settings, too. It did help me visualize my characters and story world. With Pinterest this is so much easier! As an author I can fill a story world and characters in a quarter of the time it took looking through magazines. (And not paper cuts!)

These seven boards were created by others to help them (and their readers) step into their story world.

Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors Series by Tricia Goyer. A board with the characters, setting, and scenes from my books in the Seven Brides series. It also include some video and photos from the Big Sky Series since the series are located in the same place with crossover characters. Author website
Barefoot Summer Storyboard by Denise Hunter. The Barefoot Summer storyboard is a collection of images featuring the characters, setting, and some of the scenes in Barefoot Summer. Denise put the board together as an extra for readers’ enjoyment. No spoilers! Author website
The Face of the Earth Storyboard by Deborah Raney. Deb created this as a quick reference photos of her characters, setting, and inspiration for her novel The Face of the Earth, which released May 14. Author website
Class Reunion Series by Debby Mayne. Debby’s books: Pretty Is as Pretty Does, Bless Her Heart, and Tickled Pink. Debby had images of celebrities in her head, so she created the board on Pinterest. Author website
Work-in-Progress board by R.J. Larson. An idea board by R.J. for her current fantasy series, which is yet unnamed. She’s a visual learner/writer, and she often refers to this board and others for inspiration while writing. Author website
Beloved by Robin Lee Hatcher. Robin created picture-boards for her books. While she’s working on a book, all of this information resides in the software program, Scrivener. But it’s kind fun for her to see it take shape on Pinterest. This is the board for her September 2013 release, Beloved. Author website
Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul. Donita has several boards. One is character development; three are a collection of pictures that remind her of the setting; the last one is from her picture book website and has pictures from the site. Author website

What are your favorite Pinterest author boards?