This page will be a goodie grab bag of helpful resources.
Please respect the terms of copyright stated at the bottom of this page.
Please do not copy these links onto your own website. Occasionally the target files are updated and renamed, which could break your link. Instead, post a link to this page, using this URL: https://www.LindaBonneyOlin.com/resources
Book-Related Resources
Now Sings My Soul: New Songs for the Lord
Instrumental playbacks of all the musical settings, recordings of vocal performances of selected songs, and bonus PDF music scores are posted on the Now Sings My Soul~Audio page.
Other resources for using the book will be posted here.
Were You There When They Crucified Our Lord? Meditations on Calvary
Accompaniment and rehearsal tracks for the songs in this Bible study book can be heard and downloaded on the Were You There~Audio page.
Printable handouts (click the link to open the file; right-click to download and save it).
Puppet Ministry Resources
Puppet Ministry resources now have their own page.
Other Faith & Ministry Resources
BibleGateway.com Read the Holy Bible online. Look up verses, find related scriptures, compare different translations and paraphrases, put links to Bible passages into e-books.
Veterans Day Worship Service Elements – PDF Hymns, prayers, etc., Linda used in Veterans Day worship services on November 11, 2012
Veterans Day Youth Message – PDF Message Linda delivered to a group of older kids at Veterans Day worship services on November 11, 2012
Monologue: The Apostle John, Transformed (now available in the collection Transformed: 5 Resurrection Dramas and as a single-script ebook John the Apostle, Transformed on Amazon). Linda combined scriptures and homily in this dramatic monologue at Veterans Day worship services on November 11, 2012
Hymnary.org A comprehensive resource for hymns and hymnals, furnishing free hymn texts, tunes, and sheet music for public domain hymns in a variety of arrangements and file formats. If you want to replace the text of a public domain hymn with your own words, you can download the hymn’s XML music file from Hymnary.org (the XML link will be in the media section of the tune’s page) and edit the lyrics with MuseScore or Finale (see below).
Hymnsite.com Free public domain hymn texts, tunes, and sheet music from The United Methodist Hymnal and The Faith We Sing
Copyright FAQs An excellent explanation of copyright principles from Hope Publishing Company, for creators and users of music and other intellectual property
AlphaStar Drama Another source of Bible-based drama scripts. Author Patricia Souder offers monologues and two-voice sketches.
Writing & Composing Resources
Montrose Christian Writers Conference: A week of learning, fellowship, and good food, held every July in Montrose, PA. More kindred spirits per square inch than anyplace else on earth! Home pond of the Odd Duck Society.
MuseScore Free music composing and notation software. If you want to replace the text of a public domain hymn with your own words, you can download the hymn’s XML music file from Hymnary.org (see above) and edit the lyrics with MuseScore.
Lyric Hyphenator Free online tool which automatically hyphenates a chunk of English text that you paste into an onscreen box. This is a big time-saver for lyricists (see related post).
Jodie Renner’s Resources for Crime Fiction Writers – Part One
Jodie Renner’s Resources for Crime Fiction Writers – Part Two
Karen Rigley’s Guide to Giving and Receiving Writing Critiques
Indie Book Formatting, Designing, Publishing, and Marketing Resources
The publishing world evolves daily, so check appropriate sources before acting upon any information or opinions provided on this site. I’m not an attorney, tax specialist, or licensed advisor of any sort.
(Instructional files I previously posted here for Walton Writers Workshop have been removed, because some of the technical information is obsolete.)
Designing a New E-Book Cover with Photoshop Elements 11
OR “How I Dunnit” by Linda Bonney Olin. YouTube video: 52-minute narrated slide show demonstrating my process, step by step, from a digital photo of a butterfly to my finished book cover for Songs for the Lord, using Photoshop Elements 11.
If you want a demo of how to use layers and masks to place part of a photo onto a background for a book cover or other project, check this out. My text boxes for title and author name were fairly basic, so look elsewhere for in-depth instruction about fancy text and image effects.
Creating Bookmarks and Hyperlinks – PDF Linda Bonney Olin’s handout for 2012 Montrose Christian Writers Conference focus group
Book Marketing Floozy Pat Bertram’s extensive index of articles about promoting a book on the Internet without coming across as a “marketing floozy.”
TheBookDesigner.com Joel Friedlander’s website—a mother lode of print book and e-book design instruction and all sorts of advice for indie authors.
And More Resources
Lynda.com Online training site. Their excellent WordPress Essential Training video by Morten Rand-Hendriksen walked me through the process of setting up my Faith Songs website. (They have since been taken over by LinkedIn Learning.)
Dropbox Free online storage for computer files. If you install Dropbox on multiple computers/devices, it synchronizes changes. Great for protecting work done on manuscripts, images, etc., and all your valuable files, and for sharing work.
All items written by Linda Bonney Olin and posted on this page are copyrighted material with all rights reserved. Individuals and churches are welcome to download and make a copy of the materials for their own noncommercial use. Please contact Linda Bonney Olin to request her written permission if you wish to reproduce her work for any other use.
Hi Linda,
That was kind of you to allow Jodie Renner to pass around your free e-publishing documents. I downloaded them all. That must have been time consuming for you. I’m not sure if I’ll go the self-publishing route, but it’s great information to have on hand.
I also enjoyed browsing through your website and your enthusiasm for God is refreshing! 🙂
Warmest,
Tracy
Thanks for your kind words, Tracy! You’re a peach to stop in and comment. If you’d like, please post a link to my resources page on your own site.
Yes, I wish my vacuum cleaner sucked up dirt the way e-publishing sucks up time and energy! 🙂 But that’s why I went to a little extra effort to write up my experiences, to maybe help the next guy who’s fumbling around clueless like I was. Self-pubbing on Kindle was the ideal way to get out my songbook, which is for ministry not money. But it isn’t perfect for everyone or every book. If I ever finish editing my personal puppet ministry book, I’ll first try to have it published and distributed traditionally.
I’m delighted you enjoyed my other content here on Faith Songs. I started this site from scratch less than two months ago, and it has taken over all my writing time. But the Holy Spirit has been a champ directing my efforts, as always. The response here and on Facebook to my interview with Ruth Jacobs, which was an out-of-the-blue God-appointment, has been especially exciting.
Hope you’ll subscribe to my posts or check in from time to time and join (or start) a discussion. You can never have too many kindred spirits. 🙂
Blessings,
Linda
Great work, Linda!!!! Thanks for blessing us with these links to all your hard-earned knowledge! May God continue to richly bless you as you serve Him with your many talents and gifts!
Thanks, Maureen!
I’ve benefited from information generously shared by many other people; it’s only fair to pay it forward. My little bit of experience won’t fit everyone’s situation, naturally. But it might happen to be exactly what a few people really need.
This is great Linda! Thank you so much for your generosity and so many helpful resources! Wishing you all the best !
Thanks, Barbara! You’re no stranger to volunteering time on a group effort, yourself! <3