Hey there friends!

When you were growing up, were you ever featured in a newspaper article or photo? One of my readers (who just happens to be my oldest, dearest friend) sent me some newspaper clippings this week that her sweet mother had collected when we were growing up. I’ll share one below for your viewing pleasure.

We had many chances to feel famous in our small town because the local newspaper featured lots of photos and stories of all sorts of ordinary events and achievements. But the publishers of the Searcy Daily Citizen were also smart marketers. I always anticipated running outside late every weekday afternoon when that day's edition was tossed on our driveway! I just might find a photo of me with my fellow Jr. High majorettes. ❤️

I wonder if your parents or grandparents were featured in their hometown newspapers? I have a couple of ways below that you can search for your ancestors in newspapers.

In my Build An Ebook system, I’m focusing today on Step 4 which is all about editing and revising your content.

Happy weekend!

Newspaper Clippings & Sweet Memories

I hope your moms collected newspaper clippings like so many of ours did. But if they didn’t, you can still find some treasured memories in the archives of newspapers from all over the United States.

If you have a specific town in mind, it’s worth taking a look at newspapers.com to see if a particular newspaper has digital editions there. It’s free to search their list of available papers and see the years that have been digitized. They offer a free 7-day trial which is plenty of time to explore newspapers from the cities where your ancestors lived. I splurged a couple of years ago and purchased the Basic Plan so that I would have more time to dig for stuff. The Basic Plan is $44.95 for 6 months or $7.94/month.

In Arkansas and I’m sure many other states, we also have public resources for state newspapers. For you folks that grew up here in the Natural State, check out the Arkansas State Archives and their connection with the wider Chronicling America Digitized Newspapers. There are a lot of great resources to be found on this website, so take a look and see what you can find. For other states, just go directly to the Chronicling America site.

Today I’m sharing Step 4 in the Build An Ebook system. It might take you weeks or maybe even months to complete the Content Creation in Step 3. But after all that writing and curating, you’ll also want to take some time to do a good job with Step 4 - Edit and Revise Your Content.

I’ve been writing, editing and publishing content for over 30 years, and I’m sharing my best tips with you. You can find tips specifically for family story content as well as business/brand content. Click the button to dig into Step 4 to help you get your content polished, clarified and ready to publish.

Available on Amazon for Kindle and as a paperback.

Things that inpsire and delight me this week ✨

I’m inspired today by the return of the school year. I see the kids in my neighborhood waiting at the bus stop and say a prayer for them as they face all the emotions of a new classroom and new class relationships. I always had both anxiety and anticpation when we went back to school. How about you? Also, I'm delighted for the moms in my neighborhood who are getting a reprieve from a long summer.

✨What is inspiring and delighting you these days?

#delightedandinspired

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