10 Secrets You Need to Know to Become an Avid Reader

You don't need to find extra time, spend up big, lock yourself in the bathroom, or be super smart. Read on to find out 10 easy ways to incorporate more reading into your life and reap the benefits!

I never used to be much of a reader.

I mean, I loved to read, absolutely, but I just didn't make time for it.

I now read 1-4 books each month.

How do I do it?

Read on, sweet friend, and I will tell you the 10 secrets that you need to know to become an Avid Reader...

1. Use ebooks

Yes, I do have a kindle, but before that, I just had the free kindle app on my phone.

You can get free ebook readers on any device, and there are a bunch of them out there. This means that you are able to make use of every single tiny little snippet of time throughout your day, because you always have a device on you, right?

• Snuggling with your kid on the couch while they watch that show for the zillionth time. Read.

• Waiting. So much waiting. Read. Read in waiting rooms, in the car, at the playground, school pickups, waiting for the kettle to boil. You name it. Read.

• On the toilet. Yep. I said it. Pooping gets boring. Read.

There are a heap of free ebooks that you can read on your free ebook readers, or, you can pay for them and download pretty much any book in the entire universe. Okay. Cool. Moving on.

2. Read whatever interests you

I used to try to read classic literature and what I thought I should be reading.

I wanted to make my way through the 'Top 100 Books You Should Read Before You Die' lists and tried to force myself to persist with books that I did not enjoy.

Bleh. No.

READ WHATEVER YOU WANT! - It's still reading.

Epic fantasy, almanacs, magazines, self-help books, Christian fiction, novellas, poetry, erotica, graphic novels, religious texts, travel books, memoirs, biographies, choose your own adventure.

Whatever you enjoy, read that.

Now, let me get all controversial here for a minute. Are you ready...

Audiobooks count as reading, too! So much so that Imma make that my next point.

3. Use Audiobooks

Allow me to repeat myself. Listening to audiobooks counts.

That way you can read while you do all the things; dishes, ironing, vacuuming, walking, driving, painting, putting on your makeup, making the bed, and gardening. Ultimo multitasker!

Yes, you can use a paid subscription service like Audible, but you can also get them for free in places like the Libby app (discussed in the next point), Spotify, and even YouTube (and probably a gazillion other places that you can find with a quick Google search).

4. Use your library

The library is free. Free is good. You can read more if you don't have to pay for every book.

If yours is like mine, then it is connected to a network of libraries and you can go online, check out their catalogue, and request to borrow a book that is in any of the libraries in the network.

They also have ebooks, audiobooks, and online magazine subscriptions. Oh! and groups that you could join, and activities for the kids during school holidays. The list goes on.

Libraries are absolute gold.

Chat with your library, and check out the Libby app (through which you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks), to see what you can get your hands (and ears) on.

5. Join a discussion group (like a book club or a Facebook page)

I used to be a member of a book club.

We ate snacks and I made a lifelong friend (Hi, Jill!)

We talked about books... Sometimes we didn't.

I got to hear lots of different opinions and interpretations, and we had some great discussions. I also got to read a lot of different things that I wouldn't usually have chosen, and it helped keep me on track. I was given a book, and a deadline, which sometimes I didn't meet, but that was okay too.

This may not work for some, it that's you, then maybe joining some book-related Facebook pages might be more your thing.

I am a member of a whole heap of different book-related Facebook pages, like:

• Bitchy Bookworms

• Book Lovers Cafe

• Book Recommendations

• Bookaholics,

and a bunch of others. Okay, I admit, I am mostly a lurker, but I find out about A LOT of amazing books by reading what people say on these pages.

If you're less of a wallflower and like to participate, then you can get as involved as you wish - ask questions, seek/add recommendations, participate in group discussions about certain books, etc.

A Facebook group might be just the thing to help you discover new books and inspire you to read, too.

6. Set a goal and keep track

How many books do you want to read? By when?

Set a goal and start a list somewhere.

Use a reading tracker, (like my free printable reading book tracker bookmark, or another free printable. Google: printable reading tracker for adults and check out the many on offer).

I have set myself the goal of reading 50 books by the end of the year and am keeping track of my goal and my progress on Goodreads.

This leads me to my next point...

7. Use Goodreads

Goodreads is the #1 place to go to find out more about a book.

It is also a community.

You can read blurbs and reviews, check out ratings, leave your own reviews, vote for books, and keep track of your own reading by adding books to 'Want to Read', 'Currently Reading', and 'Read' lists.

You can get involved in discussions, and once you get some friends, you get to see what they are reading too!

Honestly, Goodreads rocks.

How often do you think 'I'm going to read that', only to forget all about it, then you get in a bookstore/library and are standing there staring at the overwhelming amount of choices thinking 'Where do I start?'.

Add books to your 'Want to Read' list IMMEDIATELY and never have those problems again. Voila!

8. Use pretty stationary and/or a reading journal

Handpainted bookmarks, coloured tabs and highlighters. Whatever you like. Load yourself up on all the cool notebooks and stationary and get as creative as you like. Take notes, draw pictures, whatever floats your boat.

Fun.

9. Try different things

This point goes hand in hand with #2 - Read what you want.

Do you actually know what you want? Do you know what you love to read?

Try everything out! Never read a graphic novel before? Try borrowing one from the library.

Never listened to an audiobook?

Never tried reading a young adult dystopian science fiction novel?

Never read a book that is a '𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘰𝘧-𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘰’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵' (um, just like THIS ONE)?

Try it!

You might just find your next favourite thing.

10. Make it a date!

A date with yourself.

Pour a glass of wine or make yourself a hot cocoa, get a block of chocolate, and a warm fluffy blanket, and settle in with that hunky spunky shape-shifting bad boy love interest that gets introduced in the third chapter.

Read in the bath, or in bed, or outside on the porch, or on the train. Make it special, and think of it as time for you.

Read what you love, in a way that you love, and enjoy. Reading is the best. You will find your groove, and it will probably be different from mine, or your friend's, or Jenny Powell's.

Who cares.

There is no wrong way to read and no wrong thing to read.

You do you.

Much love,

Marley x

8 Reasons Why You Must Read This Book - Sell Like Crazy book review (sorta)

There are many reasons why you should read The Silver Maid by Marley Betts.

Thanks to Sabri Suby and his book, Sell Like Crazy, today, we're going to look at 8 of these reasons (& do a semi- Sell Like Crazy review)

This is something a little bit fun that I created for marketing purposes, after reading Sell Like Crazy by Sabri Suby.

Before I go too far, I must acknowledge that this is my first blog post.

Hello there, lovely reader. Welcome.

After I sent my last newsletter, I had someone reply and ask me if I could give them a peek behind the scenes of my life:

A look into what I do as an indie author (ie. someone who self-publishes my own books), and especially as someone who does this whilst balancing work (part-time aged care worker) and parenting responsibilities (mum of 5).

This is what my blog is going to be about, and this post is my first toe-dip.

So, let's get into it.

One of the things that I feel is so important in keeping me on track, is reading and research. Relevant reading. I read just as much for self-development and knowledge aquisition, as I do for leisure. Recently, Facebook showed me an ad for Sabri Suby's book, Sell Like Crazy. he offered it for free. Just pay shipping. So, I did. And I read it in a week.

The above article/graphic thing (that I created in Canva) is a direct result of reading Sabri's book.

I attempted to incorporate many of his marketing/sales-copy-writing suggestions, such as:

• Using a High Content Value Offer (HVCO) = A free book

• Use an attention-grabbing headline. Use numbers and emotional trigger words. Create irresistible intrigue = Hence the '8' and 'Why You MUST Read This Book'

• Outline the benefits to my customers/what's in it for them? = 'Reading reduces stress and makes you happier and smarter'. You can't really do much better than that! (it's the truth)

• Keep it simple, use dot points and make every point address an important issue

• Identifying my customer's goals ('you said that you wanted to read more') and obstacles/frustrations (I don't have the time = 'it will take you less than 3 hours to read. you will be able to finish it')

• Aim marketing copy at the band of people below those who know what they want (therefore this is not aimed at the people who are self-labelled hippies who specifically like to read contemporary women's fiction books with social and environmental themes {my target audience}. It is aimed at people who would like to read, but either don't read at all, or don't read much, and those who aren't really sure what they like to read).

• Create a power guarantee ('it won't let you down'. It's a weak guarantee, but it's there).

• Explain why you're offering this HVCO for free, so people aren't suspicious ('I want you to enjoy it and read more'. It doesn't say that in order to get your free book, you need to give me your email address and that gets you on my mailing list. That's the catch. Then I hope that you will read more of the books that I write/have written.

• Stand out. Don't try to fit into what everyone else is doing ('no smut and no mythical creatures. Thought-provoking. You can talk about it in public', plus, it's just a totally different marketing type for a book than what you usually see at the moment.

Thanks, Sabri. I enjoyed your book a lot and learned a lot. Now, I just need to catch the attention of that 37% and start raking in the readers! Hah

So, this gives you a little bit of insight into me and how I do things. A toe-dip, remember?

I have a lot more to tell you. There is a lot involved in being an indie author.

My Fitbit tells me that I got up at 4:47am this morning.

I then went for a walk past the cafe where my books are stocked to see how many I have sold/have left, and then I sat down at my computer until my twin 3-year-old boys got up at around 6:20.

But expanding on all of that is for a future blog post. So, subscribe, like, comment, or whatever it is that you do with these things. Let me know if you have any hot blogging tips (oh no, so many requests in one paragraph. An unclear directive. Sabri will disapprove).

Much Love - Marley x

Download The Silver Maid by Marley Betts for free onto your phone or device. Visit https://BookHip.com/VDDJFTH to find out more.

Oh, and find Sabri Suby's free book offer here: Sell Like Crazy Book | #1 Amazon Best Seller by Sabri Suby‎