The First Draft: One Trick to Get There

by Mary E. Martin

It’s a marvelous “high” seeing those three hundred pages stacked up on your desk—the first draft! How long did it take? Three months, a year, a decade? I remember when the last page chugged out of my, by then, wheezing printer that I gazed at that first draft in awe for at least ten minutes. It was the first glimpse of my new-born.

But how did it get there? It’s important to give that some thought, especially now that the real work of revising lies ahead. What did I learn from completing it?

I vividly remember the steps along the way. After I had completed the first fifty pages of Conduct in Question, the first in The Osgoode Trilogy, I came to a screeching halt. I had absolutely no idea where to go next. I racked my brain for plot ideas and called upon my muse, who remained sullen and stubbornly silent.

Yes, I had created lawyer, Harry Jenkins, the protagonist, who would eventually grow big enough and complex enough to fill three books. I had created the beautiful Natasha, Harry’s beloved. I had burdened him with his churlish secretary, Miss Giveny. But I did not know what they would do next.

And then, the light went on. I did not know nearly enough about these people. Harry, his secretary, Natasha and the other cast members were on stage. Harry’s elderly client, Miss Deighton, and her strange family members, Katharine, Suzannah and Gerry, were waiting in the wings. Worse yet—although I had created the “bad guy,” who was eventually to become the

florist, I didn’t really know what made him tick.

At last, the answer came to me. I spent about a month [I was doing other things, such as practicing law] making notes on a yellow, legal pad. I can see it now. I listed each character and wrote down as much as I could think of for each one of them.

Physical appearance to the last detail, mannerisms, modes of speech and thought filled the pages for each character. Where did he or she live? What sorts of relationships did they have to the other characters and to themselves? What motivated each of them? Was his or her temperament extraverted or introverted? Honest, deceitful, violent or peace-loving? I could go on, but you get the idea. By the time I was finished, I had a file half an inch thick.

That’s fine, but you may ask how could such an exercise help? After all, I wasn’t planning on writing a novel of description only. I needed plot ideas. Here’s the interesting part. Once I had written all I could imagine about these characters, they—like dolls from the toy chest at night—climbed out and began to play. They started telling me what they were going to do. Some were quite adamant. But this is not really so surprising. After all, if you are creating real characters, real people, sooner or later they will speak up for themselves. And so they did.

After that, I raced on for the next fifty pages, until I came again to a halt. Convinced I was onto a good trick, I began the process again. I got out my file of characters and wrote down everything I could possibly imagine about each of them. And it worked. I was able to see my way through quite a few more chapters.

Now this process works for me, but it may not for other writers. Perhaps it works for me, simply because no character can come alive on the page unless I really know him or her well. If you do get this intimately involved in your characters lives, perhaps they will tell you the story—but only when you listen carefully when the toys come out to play late at night.

Mary E. Martin grew up in Toronto where she began practicing law in a small estates firm. In 1999, she became a full time writer and photographer. Her own writing The Osgoode Trilogy, in the legal suspense genre, was greatly inspired by her law practice of twenty-eight years, which she says gave her a window on the world and humanity. Visit Mary at www.theosgoodetrilogy.com and www.authorsden.com/maryemartin

Book Promotion.. Are You Ready?

By Mary "Lynn" Lewis

Congratulations! Your book is in print. That's a major accomplishment, so go ahead and pat yourself on the back, sing from the rooftops, or just do a happy dance in your kitchen.

Now what?

If you're very fortunate, your publisher will do everything it can to promote your book – for a limited time only. If you self-published, it's all up to you. Either way, if you want your book to sell, you'll have to handle some portion of the marketing and promotion yourself.
Some statistics to consider:

· somewhere around 120,000 books are published in the U.S. every year
· according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll, one in four adults read no books at all in the past year
· a successful fiction book sells 5000 copies
· a successful nonfiction book sells 7500 copies
· 70 percent of books do not make a profit

If you Google book statistics, you can find more information. The numbers can be daunting and discouraging to a hopeful author, but there are ways to get the word out about your book. The internet has become an invaluable tool with the advent of social/business networking sites and blogs.

I asked a couple of authors about their experiences regarding the marketing and promotion of their books. Their answers are below.

"These days, publishers rarely send authors out on tour, as it's simply not a cost-effective way to sell books. Neither is advertising. Further, fewer and fewer newspapers run reviews of novels. So what's left? Not a lot, I'm afraid.

The good news is that the Internet an invaluable tool that lets you spread word about your book far and wide. I use it pretty aggressively, and do a ton of work on my own with it, in addition to my publisher's efforts. I think many authors would agree with me that Internet marketing can make or break book sales, especially for a debut author." -Ellen Meister, author of Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA

"My publisher does a huge amount for the book in the initial phases–getting it into stores, getting good placement in stores, buying ads in the major publications, sending newsletters, supporting authors at conferences with give-a-ways. They really do what they can. But what they can do is limited, so that's where I come in. I spend about an hour a day doing marketing chores; more when the book is about to release. That includes blogging, maintaining lists and newsletters, maintaining my website, writing articles, speaking at conferences, signing books, etc. I was surprised how much work it was–and how much money it could be if you let it. That would be my number one piece of advice to authors: don't spend your money. Figure out what you can do free and go with that." - Diana Holquist, author of Sexiest Man Alive

Many of the authors of books I've reviewed at Virtual Wordsmith have MySpace pages, websites and blogs of their own. Connecting with the reader is paramount to book sales. If the reader feels a connection to the author, their curiosity will lead them to reading the book. Raised awareness is an important promotional tool. If the average book buyer has seen a picture of your book cover online, it will jump at them when they see it on the bookstore shelf.

So, use the new resources available to you. It's all here at your finger tips! http://blogstopbooktours.wordpress.com and http://virtualwordsmith.blogspot.com

Mary Evelyn Lewis is the woman behind Blog Stop Book Tours. Blog book tours are a new, and cost effective, way to promote books and their authors. It's a form of viral AND word-of-mouth marketing. People talk. Don't you want your book to be what they're talking about? Mary is also a writer, a mother, a wife and an avid reader. If you'd like to know more, see her website at www.maryevelynlewis.com.

Confessions of an Energy Price Forecaster

Natural gas and electricity...
Petroleum...
Food...
Drugs...

Everything costs more, but WHY?

John Tobin's new book, Confessions of an Energy Price Forecaster - A 12-Step Program to Enlightenment (Outskirts Press 2008) gives answers and helps you understand why these prices are rising. WITS show host, Barbara Milbourn, will be interviewing John on Friday, May 1 and you may access it on this blog.

John Tobin is the Executive Director of the Energy LITERACY Project, Inc. This program is attempting to address the public perception of the energy industry by promoting balanced educational and informational programs that are based on the irreversible, interlocking nature of Energy in all of its forms, including conservation and energy efficiency, the role energy plays in fueling the Economy and the impact our choices of energy has on the Environment.

His 43 years of experience includes in addition to the above activities positions with ARCO, Scientific Software Corp., Martin Marietta and Eastman Kodak. He has BS (1964) and MS (1966) degrees from the University of Rochester in Mechanical and Aerospace Sciences. He is a recovering engineer and believes that he is eminently qualified as an energy economist in that he has no academic biases to screw up his views.

Writers In The Sky Takes It Up Another Notch With New Team Member Sarah Moore

NASHVILLE, TN, APRIL 25, 2008—Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services adds a new member to the writing and editing team to expand business scope.

Bios, books, ad copy, brochures, business documents, media releases, newsletters, book proposals, query letters, book reviews, Web text and now resumes—Writers in the Sky (WITS) Creative Writing Service
s has an expert for every type of writing or editing!

Many writers would like to hold a pen in this stable of writers and editors, but positions on this team do not open up very often. There is a waiting list of at least a dozen qualified writers hoping to be part of the Nashville team of writers and editors. The newest member to earn her wings as part of Writers in the Sky’s team is Sarah Moore of Donelson, Tennessee.

As a former public high school teacher and academic advisor for campus students at University of Maryland and Boston University as well as the Regents Online Degree Program at Middle Tennessee State University, Ms. Moore is an excellent proofreader and able to give comprehensive manuscript evaluations and book reviews. Sarah is an experienced résumé and cover letter writer also having the ability to write articles, media releases, and business proposals.

“Our team is composed of highly skilled writers and editors with specialized backgrounds and expertise that allow us to offer multiple styles of writing,” says WITS company owner, Yvonne Perry. “Ms. Moore’s experience with helping college students put their career plans together made her the perfect fit as the team’s résumé writer.”

Additionally, Ms. Perry wanted someone who could do transcribing and Ms. Moore fit that criterion as well. If you have audio files, mp3 files, or cassette tapes that need transcribing or hard copies that need to be typed into Word, Sarah can help you.

In her work on Congressional, gubernatorial, and local council campaigns (including her own run for the District 14 seat on Nashville Metro Council), some of Ms. Moore’s primary responsibilities included writing Web content for the candidates, writing editorials and policy papers on behalf of the candidates, and doing policy and opinion research (Internet, newspapers, blogs, etc). Naturally, Sarah enjoys writing political pieces and penning editorials on current event topics. However, she is also an avid sports fan clients can call on when they need a sports writer.

Writers in the Sky was started by Yvonne Perry in 2003, and quickly grew to include several team members. Today, the well-rounded group has a fiction specialist, a graphic designer, a copywriter, and four members who serve as both ghostwriters and editors. The company produces a daily blog, weekly podcast, and monthly newsletter as educational tools for people who want to learn more about the craft and business of writing, publishing, and book publicity.

For more information, visit www.writersinthesky.com.

April Book with a View

Stories at the Edge of Time
Author: Alan Robbins
Publisher: iUniverse (2007)
ISBN: 9780595471072
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (1/08)

I’ll be the first to admit that short stories usually cannot hold my attention for very long. More often than not I’ll read one or two in a collection; then decide that they are all the same anyhow and I’ll give up. Well, this was not the case with Alan Robbins’ collection of science-fiction short stories Stories at the Edge of Time. The nineteen stories held my attention throughout the entire collection and I enjoyed them immensely.

The stories are diverse and extremely engaging. Most of them seem to deal with time, be it the passage of time, the relativity of it or some other aspect of it. They are all fresh and very different from each other, yet linked by superb writing and boundless imagination. It would be a tough call to decide which of the stories could be my favorite. Part of me would be in favor of “Sudden Insight,” the story of a mathematician on the brink of a huge discovery – which never happens. Or maybe it could be “The Dead Got It Good,” of the “suave detective and hard-nosed dame” genre that I’ve always enjoyed so much in the vintage detective novels. But wait, we cannot forget “The Time Phone!” Would it not be nice to be able to telephone into the future? Or would it be? Then we have “Uncle Jack Eats a Mummy,” a very insightful story about immortality. If this one does not make you stop and think, you are probably beyond help. While all of those stories I’ve just named, as well as all the rest of them, enchanted me, amused me and made me wonder, I would probably pick “The Edge of Time” if I truly had to pick one only. As an avid reader I love the premise of stories and reading being able to change our fate – and that’s exactly what happens in “The Edge of Time.”

So – pick Stories at the Edge of Time and immerse yourself in it – I am pretty certain that your universe will experience a little shift as well.

Where Do I Begin...

By Marcella Kampman © 2003

Let’s start at the very beginning. A good story starts with an idea, a flash of inspiration, that will take your readers on a journey you hope they’ll never forget. That flash, if developed fully, is your premise. But a premise on its own is nothing, you must build up that premise, enhance it until it becomes an exciting, gripping, awe-inspiring tale of… whatever it is you long to tell.
As a writer, a storyteller, that’s exactly what you must do. Nurture that spark and build up your premise.

But let’s back up a bit before you charge off and start enhancing your basic premise. What you need to understand is why you are writing this particular story in the first place. The first and foremost question you must answer is not what but who is this story about?

If people want to read about cataclysmic events and jaw-dropping catastrophes and daring, action-packed escapades, they’ll read the news. But unless the news is about people, more specifically about a person with whom they can identify, the event or catastrophe or escapade isn’t going to hold their attention for very long. People enjoy reading about people.

Let’s use an example to show you what a premise is and how to build it into something else, something better. I’m going to use “The Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum because it’s a classic fairytale that most people know. If you don’t know this story, then I strongly recommend you either read the book or watch the movie because this story has all the elements of great fiction: a sympathetic heroine, a great cast of supporting characters, exciting events, a menacing adversary, a particularly dark moment, clear character growth, and a satisfactory resolution to an unexpected ending (which, by the way, are all the elements for a great plot).

The basic premise of “The Wizard of Oz” is this – a teenage girl gets lost in a storm and wants to find her way home. Sounds pretty simple, boring actually, doesn’t it? At least it gives us the who of the story, what happens to her, and what she’s going to try to achieve by the end of it.
Now let’s build up the premise – an angst ridden teenage girl gets blown far away from home in a tornado to a strange new land where she must overcome several obstacles before she learns the true value of family in order to return home. Much more interesting now, isn’t it?

Take your own story. Write down who it’s about and what’s going to happen to your protagonist before s/he can achieve whatever it is s/he needs to resolve by the story’s end. Keep this initial premise simple. Think of your premise as an image or feeling that gives you enough meaning to take your hero/heroine to the goal and where the resolution of that goal will be so necessary that every step of the journey strives to be undertaken. Now, using strong verbs and nouns, enhance your premise.

Remember that your reader wants to become involved in the protagonist’s struggle to achieve a specific goal, and she wants to ‘worry’ about whether or not the hero/heroine can actually achieve that goal.

Now let’s enhance the premise even more – Dorothy, an angst ridden teenage girl, who feels out-of-place in her ordinary world, gets blown far away from her aunt and uncle’s farm in a tornado to a magical, strange new land. There she undergoes exciting events where she meets with several characters, who use their various talents to aid her in fighting a wicked witch. She finally meets up with a wizard, but he leaves before he’s able to send her back home. Only when she realizes that she has the power to save herself can she finally get home.

Stories are about people, people undergoing tremendous struggles. “What happens to the characters in the course of the story should be unusual, dramatic, and meaningful. This doesn’t mean that you have to write stories about epic wars; it’s just that you have to write about events that have impact.”[1] Impact upon the characters. Impact that propels your characters into action. Impact that produces change. Dorothy must change, that is, she must grow up, she must learn the importance of family, she must learn that even though she’s an orphan she still has an aunt and uncle who love her dearly and want her to come back home. All the unusual, dramatic, and meaningful events in the story steer her in that direction.

How can I build my own premise to that level of impact, you may very well ask? By asking yourself these questions:

1. What if? Use that what if question to start your premise, then to escalate the stakes, then to add layers to the plot and characters. What if a young girl didn’t feel like she belonged? What if a tornado blew her away from home? What if she realized that she wanted to go back? What if a wicked witch stood in her way? What if she met some interesting characters who wanted to help her but didn’t know how? What if, at the end of all her harrowing adventures, the wizard turns out to be a fraud?

2. “What’s at stake? Ask yourself this question: “If your hero/heroine wants a particular goal, and if s/he is not successful, then what?” Well, then what? That is the essence of defining what is at stake. What would be lost?” Will Dorothy ever get back home again? If she doesn’t, what happens? Why doesn’t she just live happily ever after with the munchkins? If she doesn’t go back, what happens to Auntie Em? How would her uncle and the farmhands feel? How would Dorothy feel if she never saw any of them ever again?

Take your starting premise and build it up. Question yourself as you write your new and improved premise in order to give the enhanced version more detail. Writing a premise may sound a little like making magic, but it isn’t. The magic comes not from having a flash of inspiration, but in knowing how to develop that spark into a solid story premise that will make your readers sigh with satisfaction long after they’ve put your book down.

Bibliography & Recommended Reading List:

1. Dixon, Debra. Goal, Motivation & Conflict. Gryphon Books, 1997
2. Maass, Donald. Writing the Breakout Novel. Writer’s Digest Books, 2001
3. Marshall, Evan. The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing. Writer’s Digest Books, 1998
4. Rasley, Alicia. The Story Within. Midsummer Books, 1999
5. Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey. Michael Wiese Productions, 1998

Marcella Kampman has been writing for several years. Under her own name she has had several articles and a short, non-fiction story published. Later this year, Bayeux Arts will be publishing her young adult collection of Ancient Sumerian Myths and Legends. Marcella is a published romance author under the name of Vanessa deHart. Her first two romance novels, Promise Me, and Out of Darkness, are published by Lachesis Publishing and are available at Amazon and Fictionwise. Her third romance book, No More Lies, will be made available soon. To find out more about Marcella (aka Vanessa) check out her web page at: www.vanessadehart.com

[1] Maass, p.38

Nightengale's Nuggets: Publishing a Book Is Like Giving Birth to a Child

Remember as a parent the way you felt when you first held your baby in your arms? Kisses, cuddles, smiles that were really burps? All the planning: setting up the nursery, doctor visits, the sonograms, the baby showers with family and friends cheering you on as a new parent.

But, when all the fuss and frenzy dies down, the reality of parenthood sets in. It seems like it is all about the late nights and diapers. Then as the child grows, there are the skinned knees, and the first day of school, the school plays, or sports events, and all the after school activit

ies, vacations and then college. Kids absorb so much of your time, energy and money --- all well spent of course! --- but isn’t parenthood much harder than you ever thought it would be? The challenges are enormous to raise a human being (or two or three or four or more) from diapers to adulthood.

Now compare that image to the way PROMOTING A BOOK IS LIKE RAISING A CHILD!

Remember as a first-time author the way you felt when you first held your book in you hands? Pride of accomplishment, hopes for getting on Oprah’s show, “knowing” you had a best seller? All the planning: writing it, finding a publisher, setting up the first booksignings, calls to the publisher getting enough books, getting an article in the newspaper, appearing on a radio show, entering awards contests, friends and family lining up to buy your book and cheering you on as a new published author. You felt like you were flying.

And THEN reality sets in. When the frenzy has died down, your arms grew tired, your successes seemed small, and the fact that the work of making your book sell began to wear you down. The challenges are enormous to promote a book from idea to bestseller, or at least a book that keeps on selling.

Now, maybe you feel like you’re just hanging in there with the fingers getting tired of clinging to the branch, ready to fall.

Raising a book ― promoting it to its full maturity takes time, energy, money, love, nurture, education, a willingness to try new things and “abiding persistence” to make a book succeed. You should not give up. Your book talks to you all the time, nagging at you to do more, needing you to provide opportunities and visibility. Your book needs to run races, roller blade for fitness, ride in the back of your car wherever you go. Your book needs to be out there, visible to buyers before anyone will pick it up buy it and read it.

“HOW?” you ask. Well, one thing is to put it in the right places ― yes, advertise it. Show it off! Get in into the publications librarians and booksellers use to find new books to put on their shelves. Get into community driven websites, Social Networking is becoming the biggest way to promote anything, books included. Another thing is to budget for the constant demand your book will make of you to let it out of your house. You MUST let your books breathe the fresh air of the market place. If you keep them cloistered and shut in, they will grow yellow, become brittle and soon be forgotten.

Your questions are many.

Question #1: What IS a best seller?

A bestseller is really whatever the author thinks it is. But in the marketplace, on Amazon, a bestseller sells 1,000 books in one day and then keeps on selling everyday. On B&N a best seller is a book that sells 250 books or more in one day, and keeps on selling for a while after that. See the discrepancy? But if you reach that bestseller status even in a genre category, you can put that fact on the cover of your book, and no one can take it away from you.

The Amazon Blast is an email campaign that accomplishes this, but you need to have thousands of contacts who are interested in your success to sell 1000 books on one day…and there is the little known fact that Amazon counts one order (no matter how many copies of one title are in that order) as one book sold. So, if you sell 50 copies to a friend, it counts as one book.

Conversely, on B&N, if you sell 50 to a friend on one order, it counts as 50 books sold. So, to sell 250+ books on one day is a much easier hurdle to leap, and it opens the doors to in-store booksignings if you poise your marketing plan to include notifying the B&N stores in your area when you reach that magic number on your blast day.

A New York Times Best Seller has gotten rave reviews, lots of expensive PR driven promotion and trade support, and usually sells 10,000 copies or more through normal trade outlets, not including internet sales. This kind of effort costs a lot of money to accomplish, and even with the rapid sales, these can disappear once the promos end. Every book has its lifespan, and for some it is a few weeks. For others it is a few months, and for very few it is a matter of years, decades or centuries.

However, in the real world of most books, a best seller is a book that the author can continue to sell for years after publication. Speakers, lecturers, teachers, business trainers and coaches, and authors with the hutzpah to get out and talk about their books can be very successful. This requires making your book your full time job. It requires planning ahead of publication to whom and how you are going to sell your books.

Question #2: How can you reach your readers when you don’t know where they are?

I would counter that question with, “Why don’t you know who your readers are?” A book written without a fore-knowledge of who would want to read it, is a book doomed to sit on a shelf, alone and dusty. Fiction is divided into genre so people who like fantasy don’t accidentally pick up a romance novel. Or those who prefer political suspense can find books other than detective mysteries. Children’s books have so many iterations, it is nearly impossible to categorize them. Then, of course, there are all the non-fiction books and all the how-to books that fill the shelves of bookstores to overflowing.

An author needs to recognize the job belongs to him/her and no one else. You can hire a publicist for the outreach to publications and radio shows you might need help with, but in the end, you will need to do the talking and provide the copy for the articles. You will need to establish your data-base and keep it growing. Take those emails, addresses and phone numbers, and then USE them to keep in touch with your clients about your talks, signings, events and new books. Which leads to the next question:

Question #3: What can you do to keep your book in the limelight?

Write a second book and market it to your client base. Do a blast for online sales. Give talks locally (in libraries) and regionally. Join a speaker’s organization. Write lots of articles and post them online at the many online article sites (http://www.ezinearticles.com/ and http://www.authorsden.com/ are excellent) and of course, start a blog, and get involved in at least one social networking site. Keep up the flow of information about your book.

There are as many ways to market a book as there are ideas you can generate about your book. Think outside the lines, and reach out to businesses in your area whose mission may connect with your book. Children’s boutiques and educational stores are a place where children’s authors can start right in their own areas.

Question #4: How does the size of a book affect it in the marketplace?

The nutshell answer goes like this: books that are smaller in size 4x6” mass market publications, and 5x8" or 5.5x8.5" trade paper publications are usually fiction, though some self-help books are small in size. Larger books (6x9 and up) are usually non-fiction or color children's books which can come in all shapes and sizes. Observation of books in the stores will hold true to this, in most instances. There are many varieties of size for all kinds of specialty books. Mostly, I believe size and page count are a matter of what's best for the subject matter, layout and cover design.
If your manuscript is 75,000 words, your book will be about 250 pages at the 8.5x8.5 format.
It will be more like 300 pages in the smaller mass market format of 4x6” normally reserved for high end runs of well-known authors.

If you have lots of photos or drawings, the larger formats of 6x9 and up are better, because they allow for more page space to make the images easily visible.

If you send a manuscript to a publisher and you have 180,000+ words, the publisher is going to suggest two books, volume one and two, since a 700 page book is very hard to market for a first time author. If you develop a marketplace for your writing, then you can increase the length of the book.

Well, there are so many more questions I could attempt to answer, but authors need to realize that they are responsible for the marketing successes of their books, and the effort and money varies widely from book to book. Some authors spend a lot and get nothing for it. Some spend very little and get a lot. It is all about the author’s ability to persist in the drive to sell his story, and to work at it diligently as a day job.

TGIF April 18th, 2008! Ron Firmin!

TGI Friday! I have uploaded a new show to my podcast this week! Ron Firmin will be joining us today on Writer's in the Sky Podcast to discuss his latest book titled Fire Your Financial Planner.

Would you like your money to work harder for you?

Ron Firmin’s new book, Fire Your Financial Planner, was written with Baby Boomers in mind, but regardless of our age, we should manage our resources, assets and money more wisely. How do we do that? The information that Ron Firmin will share on Writers in the Sky Podcast April 18th cost him over $3 million, but it will only cost you $20 for the book that will teach you his lessons.

Here are some of the questions that will be discussed during Ron’s interview with Yvonne Perry:

1) Why do you recommend working with a financial planner but yet your book is titled, Fire Your Financial Planner?
2) What can I do to enhance or grow my personal retirement account?
3) When should I fire my financial planner?
4) What is OPS? (this is the gold nugget - the diamond in the rough)

Click here to listen to Part 1...

We all have a responsibility to be personally involved in the management of our own Personal Retirement Account (PRA). Sometimes, we have to "fire" ourselves. Learn more in Ron’s book on our podcast.

Click here to listen to Part 2...

Fire Your Financial Planner
ISBN 9781605852874

Find Ron Firmin online at http://www.ronfirmin.com/.

********************************************
Listening to Writers in the Sky Podcast on a computer is easy. Just click this link: http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com/ and go to my blog. On the right sidebar there is a list of archived shows. Click on the interview you would like to hear and it will open a post that has a link to the audio file.

Anthologies

Writing for an anthology is a great way to break into publication and provides a viable clip for your portfolio. This market offers a host of possible topics in fiction, non-fiction and even poetry. An anthology is a collection of writings which can be written by various authors or can include selected writings by one author. Stories included in an anthology usually have a common theme or subject. Anthologies can also work as stepping stones to establish relationships with publishers and to eventually get published by a larger press. These relationships can open doors later when you are ready to submit a longer manuscript. Check Anthology News and Reviews for current markets.

Donna Sundblad is a full time freelance writer and published author. Check out her blog Pumping Your Muse Writing Prompts for inspiration.

April Poetry Corner

A Moment In Time
By Gail Livesay

Surrounded by trees, wind chimes
sparkling in branches like fairies dancing,

I sit on the swing the soft mummer of your
voices as you talk and laugh on the deck.

The moon peeks through the
clouds and gently questions me.

I whisper, if only time
could stand still.

The moon whispers back, time must go on,
but you will always have this moment in time.

Gail Livesay is 57 years old and lives in Berea, Kentucky with her husband, Wayne. They have two children, Michael and Lisa and have been blessed with two granddaughters, Marina and Hannah. Gail writes poetry, fiction, plays and is currently revising her autobiography about growing up with bipolar disorder which was neither recognized and/or diagnosed.

Air – Earth – Fire – Water

Earth revolves, evolves, resolves
Her issues with the universe,
Spawning her own children by
The million billion trillions.
Unafraid and unashamed,
Unabashed by circumstances,
She creates and recreates then
Reinvents herself.

Air to breathe the gift of life,
Air to bathe in sunlight’s glow,
Feeding, breeding, never needing,
Always yielding with the flow.

Fire raging unafraid,
Bold and brave its hunger feeds
Until its taming offers warmth
To satisfy the basic needs.

Water, water everywhere,
Giver, taker, miracle-maker,
Mystery of mysteries
Riding high upon her seas.

And all are tied and intertwined,
All dependant one on one,
Ever-vigil,
All inclusive,
Always reaching for the sun.

Dennis Martin began writing plays and submitting them to the local playwright’s festival when he turned 40 years old. He has written 13 plays –several of which have been presented as staged readings in the Baltimore Playwright’s Festival. Dennis has written over 800 poems and self-published a book of poems titled “Love and Passions” available at www.iuniverse.com and major online bookstores as well as 6 other poetry collections and 3 novels available at www.lulu.com/dsmartin. Read more at http://www.iwritesome.com or blog with Dennis at http://iwritesome.blogspot.com.

Epistemology


Chocolate Roses
Drip With The Fragrance Of Love
Mint laced Thoughts
Melt Into A Creamy Reality
Spicy Melodies Float On Clouds
Of Freedom
Bubbling Friendships Unite
In The Bottle Of Time
Tender Memories Swim
In The Waters Of Now
Delicious Dreams
Sizzle In The Drizzle
Of Polarity
Future Rides
On The Back
Of Present’s


EpistemologyHoward (Hal) Thomas Manogue, was born in Philadelphia, and is a forerunner to the Indigo children, a now age term for misfit with an intuitive nature, a desire to know his truth with a gift of giving and sharing. Hal retired from the shoe industry after 35 years of sole searching, and discovered his real soul. His poems have been published by: Mystic Pop Magazine, Children Of The New Earth Magazine, New Age Tribune, Seasons Of The Soul Newsletters, Lightship News and Writers In The Sky Newsletters. His essays can be found on www.ezinearticles.com and www.selfgrowth.com. Hal’s Blog http://halmanogue.blogspot.com and Website www.shortsleeves.net.

The Language of Love

Writers espouse a world of words and wrap them around a vibrant idea to embrace the emotion therein. Innovative themes capture poetic form and substance to be shared with willing readers who appreciate every syllable. The reader experiences the most profound of life’s adventures through outlandish characters, heroes and heroines.

Language is a gift from the gods and meant to be celebrated by a myriad of educated, literate and curious participants. Precious phrases are presented on the pages of books, articles, manuscripts and even scribbled post its.

Creative endeavors are headlined in festive categories. A literary genius wins an award. An audience of bookworms gathers at a black tie affair to hoot and holler in admiration of an acclaimed prose.

Witty words attract great wealth. Writers are revered. From greeting cards to novels, the human spirit embraces the language of love.

Pamela Harper is best known as the “Queen of Visualization” and internationally renowned speaker on the subject of “Health, Wealth and Life Purpose.” She is a number one best-selling author, media personality, registered nurse, success coach and hypnotherapist. Pamela is the CEO of University of Masters.com, a virtual university for the world’s 63 million seekers of quality education and support. www.universityofmasters.com (free membership) and www.pamelaharper.com.

Network with Us April 2008

Add your announcement or brag about your writing accomplishment. Tell us about your book or business. Share information and ideas or send articles or advertorial for the next issue to writer at yvonneperry dot net. Here are some announcements from our readers this month:

Yvonne Perry will be leading a workshop for the Tennessee Writers Alliance 3rd annual writer's conference. She will present two, 1.5-hour workshops on Book Promotion in the Digital Age: Online Book Marketing. The 2008 conference will be held at Battleground Academy in Franklin, TN June 6th (1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) and June 7th (9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) Other experts include: Jimmy Carl Harris (Write Risky Fiction), Gloria Ballard (Creative Non-Fiction), Lantz Powell (What Agents Want).

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Book Promo 101 – Learn the Basics of Book Promotion by Nikki Leigh is available in Print at http://www.amazon.com/Book-Promo-101-basics-Promotion/dp/1594314691
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Dayna Steele has just completed her book, Rock to the Top: What I Learned about Success from the World's Greatest Rock Stars (Brown Books). She is also the creator of Smart Girls Rock and Operation National Anthem. For those of you that are in the New York City area on April 9, please do yourself a favor and visit her at her book signing and pick up her book. I promise it will be a fabulous and interesting read. Tell her Taryn Simpson sent ya! For more info about Dayna’s book, check out her website: http://www.rocktothetopbook.com/.
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Self Publishers Place is now expanding our absolutely free book promotion site to include Independent Publishers. If you check out our young site and our international Forum, I am sure you will join the more than 500 authors who have listed their books in the last few months. Contact Mark Landsberg at mr770@fea.net or visit his website http://www.selfpublishersplace.com/
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Ever wonder what the phrase “quantum leap” really means? What is the difference between the scientific definition of the word “dimension” and the metaphysical interpretation? Why is there a connection between quantum physics and mysticism? These are the very questions author MaAnna Stephenson began to ask early on as a seeker and student of New Age thought. The Sage Age demystifies the jargon and harmonizes the concepts toward a wholistic understanding. Read more about this book.
Sign up for the email list and receive the latest news on upcoming events and book topic discussions. Read the latest Sage Age Newsletter.
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Book Reviews on Request, Query First. Carol Denbow (CarolDenbow@gmail.com) is the author of A Book Inside (http://abookinside.blogspot.com/). She is offereing a free monthly e-zine A Book Inside containing articles on writing, publishing, and selling books. Learn to write a book, publish it, and sell your story. Carol’s Website is http://www.booksbydenbow.weebly.com/ .
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Hal Manogue’s new book Short Sleeves Insights: Live A Ordinary Life In An Non-Ordinary Way will be in print in April. Visit any book store or Hal’s website to get a copy. Hal’s third Collection of poetry: Short Sleeves A Book For Friends will also be in print in April.
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$1000 for the First Chapter of a Novel? Now That's a Writing Contest! The third annual Writing Show First-Chapter-of-a-Novel Contest is awarding $1000 for the best first chapter of an unpublished novel. We're also offering four other cash prizes and ten 750-word critiques. Early deadline May 20, 2008; late deadline June 20, 2008. Winners announced on October 1, 2008. Full rules, instructions for entering, and more detail can be found on The Writing Show Web site at http://writingshow.com/contests/2008/2008callforentries.html.
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Carol Burge is pleased to announce that her Historical Western Romance Novel, Dangerous Desires, has been accepted for publication by Lyrical Press. Dangerous Desires is due to be released in ebook format on September 1, 2008 and then in print December 1, 2008, just in time for the Christmas holidays. This is Carol's first sale, and she's very excited, to say the least. For further details, visit Carol's blog, Romance Writer Woes at http://www.romancewriterwoes.com/.
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Dr. Joe Capista's book, What Can a Dentist Teach You about Business, Life and Success? made it to #1 for hot new releases in both Entrepreneur and Motivation categories on Amazon.com on March 2, 2008. The book also made it in the top 10 in three categories. Your blog postings contributed to the success of the book. The page acknowledging all the bloggers involved in the tour is located at http://www.joecapista.com/blogs.htm
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The Mango Tree Cafe, Loi Kroh Road co-authored by Taryn Simpson and Alan Solomon has been nominated for two categories in The 2008 Indie Book Awards: Best Fiction Novel and Best online Marketing of Novel. Winners to be announced May 15, 2008.

The Mango Tree Cafe, Loi Kroh Road is also competing for a Pulitzer Prize for Best Fiction Novel. Winners to be announced April 7, 2008. Taryn and Alan are collaborating again to write another fictional novel. The name of the book is He Played the Game. To read a bit more about the book and to follow the progress, click here: http://heplayedthegame.blogspot.com/
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WITS team member Taryn Simpson was recently chosen as staff writer for the following online magazines:
http://www.ideasgoalsanddreams.com/ (Ideas, Goals and Dreams) Be sure to sign up for membership and tell them "Taryn" sent ya!
http://www.myparkinsonsinfo.com/ (My Parkinson's Info). Be sure to check out the latest and greatest info regarding living and dealing with Parkinson's Disease.
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Thanks for the invite to write a piece for your newsletter. Just dropping by with a "crazy marketing idea" that I hope is of interest to your readers. I came up with this idea for the launch for my book, The Goddess Guide to Chakra Vitality a couple of years ago. It is based on the cover of the book . Women just love, love, LOVE this image; they love the freedom that it represents for their inner wild woman, and that her body is "real" rather than an unrealistic size zero.

When they see the book they pick it up and gush, "Oooooh that is what a REAL woman looks like!" They'll call their husband over and say "see, big butts are SEXY!” They'll hold the book in the air and yell out to their friends, "I wish I looked this good running naked through a field of tulips!" They get very excited that someone is being REAL about women's bodies. THEN they open it up to flick through the contents.

Here is where the crazy marketing idea comes in. The cover image is sooooo popular and strikes such a chord with the hearts of women, that I produced a limited edition print of the original artwork. The prints are numbered and signed by the artist (me), and made available for sale only to anyone who purchases a copy (or who has already purchased a copy) of the book. Crazy, but good. I've got letters from women all around the world describing how they framed their print and where they are hanging it in their homes for inspiration. One lady has it in her office, and her colleagues now see her in an all new (wonderful) light!

I can't say for sure how many books the marketing idea sold, but it sure created some fabulous hype at my site!

Love and delight,
Anita Revel http://www.goddess.com.au/
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Some years ago (1990s), I (Bill Hoke near Seattle) corresponded with an author who had MS. We shared some common stories because we had both adopted children with disabilities. We've lost touch amid child raising, but I THINK her name is Nancy Meyers. She wrote a book titled Parts of Speech but I can't find her on the Internet. I may have her name wrong. Anyway, I thought I would see if anyone in your network could reconnect us. hoke@sbmarketingpartners.com.
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Check out our NEW FEATURED BOOKS and learn more about the upcoming literary event -- Romantic Times Booklovers' Convention! Click on the Featured Books section to find out more details about this event and to see our latest featured books. Also, showcase your literary work; advertise your book on http://www.author-promotion.com/. ~ Nadia
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Yvonne, I wanted you to know about this special post and guest on my blog Riehl Life: Village Wisdom for the 21st Century: Hal Zina Bennett, long time publishing professional...who disusses "Shifting the Publishing Paradigm: On the Cusp." Hope you have a chance to come to http://www.riehlife.com/ to read my conversation with Hal. I think you're gonna like it. ~ Janet
Visit Janet's blog "Riehl Life: Village Wisdom for the 21st Century" at http://www.riehlife.com/ for connections through the arts, across cultures and generations.
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James Ross' new Website is up and functioning. Please feel free to mark it as a favorite, visit periodically and pass along to friends. http://www.authorjamesross.com/. If you're interested in the intro photo as desktop wallpaper (golfers!) I can pass along the link.

Finish Line should be out in late May 2008. I'm working on Tuey's Course for late 2008 or first quarter of 2009. Am weaving tales out of the fictitious setting of Prairie Winds Golf Course on the east side of St. Louis.
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Virtual Book Tours with Nikki Leigh in April
Money and Manifesting by Dyan Garris

Did you read The Secret, but you’re just not sure what all the fuss was about? That could be because the information in The Secret doesn’t work for everyone. Many people may use the information that is in The Secret and wonder what they are doing wrong. That means, you need to find out about “the truth”. This additional information is available from Dyan Garris is her latest book Money and Manifesting. She gives you the added details to make “the secret” more effective for YOU. Spend the month with Dyan as she tours cyber space and visits a wide variety of blogs. Many blog owners asked her about The Secret and she provides a lot of insightful information for people who want to find their way to a happier and more fulfilling life. For full details about her tour, visit http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Dyan+Garris. Her tour schedule is at http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/dyan-garris-april-tour-schedule.

The Ethnic Presidency by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Everyone who is keeping an eye on the presidential primaries has heard the media talk about the part that race is playing in the election process this year. But, race has played an important part in the election process for decades. This book shows you how the various politicians and political parties have used and will continue to court the various ethnic groups during upcoming elections. We’re doing a five day blog blitz to promote The Ethnic Presidency – during the second week of April. Would you like to be involved? We will be working with a large number of blogs to circulate information about Earl Hutchinson and The Ethnic Presidency. It’s as easy as posting an excerpt or two from his book during that week. If you would like too generate some additional exposure for your blog and to participate in the blog blitz, feel free to email nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com as soon as possible. For information, visit - http://www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Ethnic+Presidency+Blog+Blitz and the full schedule will be posted at http://www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Ethnic+Presidency+Blitz+Schedule.
I’m always interested in finding new blog owners that would be interested in being a blog host for a future tour. Contact me at nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com to be added to the mailing list.
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Wordclay is a new offering from Author Solutions, Inc., the world’s largest self-publishing company. On our new self-publishing Website, in as little as one hour, anyone can self-publish a book with Wordclay. Wordclay’s team has over 100 years of collective book publishing experience – which they’ve “baked” into the web site. This means you don’t need to be concerned about the details of publishing, such as calculating spine width and gutter size. Simply save your writing in a Word document, upload it to Wordclay’s web site at http://www.wordclay.com/ and follow the step-by-step instructions on the screen to publish your professional-looking book. The publishing tool is completely free (printing costs are obviously separate.) Books can even be sold online at Wordclay’s web site.

Fire Your Financial Planner

Would you like your money to work harder for you?

Ron Firmin’s new book, Fire Your Financial Planner, was written with Baby Boomers in mind, but regardless of our age, we should manage our resources, assets and money more wisely. How do we do that? The information that Ron Firmin will share on Writers in the Sky Podcast April 18th cost him over $3 million, but it will only cost you $20 for the book that will teach you his lessons.

Here are some of the questions that will be discussed during Ron’s interview with Yvonne Perry:

1) Why do you recommend working with a financial planner but yet your book is titled, Fire Your Financial Planner?
2) What can I do to enhance or grow my personal retirement account?
3) When should I fire my financial planner?
4) What is OPS? (this is the gold nugget - the diamond in the rough)

We all have a responsibility to be personally involved in the management of our own Personal Retirement Account (PRA). Sometimes, we have to "fire" ourselves. Learn more in Ron’s book on our podcast.

Fire Your Financial Planner
ISBN 9781605852874

Find Ron Firmin online at http://www.ronfirmin.com/.

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Listening to Writers in the Sky Podcast on a computer is easy. Just click this link: http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com/ and go to my blog. On the right sidebar there is a list of archived shows. Click on the interview you would like to hear and it will open a post that has a link to the audio file.

For information about being a guest on Writers in the Sky Podcast, see http://www.yvonneperry.net/Writing_Packages.htm#Publicity_Packages

Writer's Block in the Energy Field

by Dyan Garris

We’ve all heard of and perhaps have experienced that mysterious, frustrating, and inexplicable phenomenon of writer’s block. What is this exactly and how do we get beyond it?

All writing takes place first in the higher dimensions of the heart, soul, and mind of the author and then gets translated to the two dimensional piece of paper. So when one is experiencing writer’s block, whether you are fully aware of it or not, it means that somewhere along those points of energy, or energy meridians, exists energy blockage.

One of the keys to unlocking the doors to creativity lies in the ability to clear and rebalance the energy field and/or chakras. When the energy field is balanced, one discovers with joy that the hinge on the door of the creative mind once again swings open as easily as a newly oiled gate.

The first step in clearing the field is as simple as identifying what is really bothering you or affecting you on a very physical level. We start with this because this is the energy that resides in the first or root chakra. Issues and challenges regarding money, time, family, and relationships can have quite a negative effect upon creative flow.

The second chakra is the seat of creativity. If we are writing and creating something that we have no audience for or have challenges in bringing to market, then we may find the creative flow being stifled or staunched. It is akin to being in a constant state of pregnancy and never giving birth.

The third chakra is the resting place of the soul. If you aren’t able to express, communicate, and impart what is in your very core, you will perhaps experience a wedge of stagnation and frustration.

Most writers write from the heart, from their imaginations and upper chakras. When experiencing writer’s block it isn’t that the heart and mind are closed. It’s that the flow to these is temporarily blocked. If the flow is blocked by the static energy being generated from the lower chakras, nothing brilliant or inspirational can get through or get translated to paper. It’s similar to a clogged pipe. It is necessary to eliminate the obstruction in the system.

Clearing the energy field and balancing the chakras is not a difficult task if one understands that one must start at the base and work up from there. I used to teach a class on how to do it, and then in 2005 I developed a music and meditation series for vibrational attunement of mind, body and soul. One can incorporate this concept of vibrational attunement into everything they do. I incorporated it my new cookbook, Voice of the Angels – Talk To Your Food! Intuitive Cooking. Cooking and preparing food is a basic root chakra function; however the creative procedure of doing so is an upper chakra operation. When you tie those together, you’re opening and balancing all of your chakras easily and effortlessly.

One of the most important goals of my body of work is to make chakra balancing and energy clearing into a completely natural and enjoyable process for everyone. In learning to do this we can become our best selves and our whole selves. Here’s to no more blocks! Let the creativity flow!

Dyan Garris is the author of “Money and Manifesting,” “Voice of the Angels – A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards,” an intuitive cookbook and “Fish Tale of Woe – Lost at Sea.” Free angel card readings are available on her website. She created a series of music and meditation CDs for Automatic Chakra Balance,™ relaxation, help in sleeping, stress release, and vibrational attunement of mind, body, and spirit. Her “Daily Channeled Message” and more information are available at her main website www.voiceoftheangels.com. For much more information about Dyan Garris and her latest book Money and Manifesting – feel free to visit her virtual tour home page on http://www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Dyan+Garris. The tour schedule is posted at http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/dyan-garris-april-tour-schedule.

TGIF April 11, 2008! Meri Lee Testa talks about depression

Meri Lee Testa will be joining us on Writer’s in the Sky Podcast April 11th, 2008!

Ever since she was a little girl, Meri Lee Testa felt different from other children—like a misfit who didn’t belong. It wasn’t until her Dad's passing in 1983 that she discovered that she had been adopted from the St. Vincent's Foundling Home for Children in 1954.

As an adult, she and her husband wished to start a family. But after three years of trying in vain to have a child, they resorted to fertility specialists. After spending much of their savings trying to get pregnant using fertility drugs, it was determined that the only way they were going to become parents was thru adoption. Even amidst the joy of raising her newly adopted son, Meri Lee dealt with the symptoms of depression that had plagued her all her life.



In 2001, her aging mother began declining from Alzheimer’s and a substance abuse problem. As an only daughter, it was very difficult for Meri Lee to see only a shell of the Mom she once knew.

Meri Lee found it more and more difficult to pick him her son at school in the afternoon. It was a struggle for her to be in public and to do the normal everyday tasks of being a Mom and wife. To simply do the grocery shopping or cleaning the house was nearly impossible. The next thing she knew, she was drowning in the turbulent waters of severe depression. No longer able to deal with her life, Meri Lee attempted suicide three times. Thankfully, she was rescued each time.

As a result of her turmoil, she believes she is a better and stronger woman, mother, and wife. Through her ordeal, she developed a renewed sense of God in her life as she wrote and published her book Choosing the Color.

On April 11, Meri Lee will discuss her life’s journey and her book Choosing the Color on Writers in the Sky Podcast.

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Listening to Writers in the Sky Podcast on a computer is easy. Just click this link: http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com and go to my blog. On the right sidebar there is a list of archived shows. Click on the interview you would like to hear and it will open a post that has a link to the audio file.

For information about being a guest on Writers in the Sky Podcast, see http://www.yvonneperry.net/Writing_Packages.htm#Publicity_Packages_

The Writing Life: Organic Notes as a Writing Tool

By JJ Murphy

Sometimes it is easier to make a picture with words than it is to write words in a line. Some writers call this process organic notes or brainstorming.

Here are the steps.

1. Use single words or short phrases and write using capital letters. Some researchers believe that your eyes and brain remember capital letters more easily.

Use a separate page for each subject.

2. Write your subject in the center of a blank page. You can put a circle around it if you like.

3. Draw a line from the subject to each main idea.

4. Draw a line from each main idea to each detail that supports the main idea.

5. Use colors or shapes to connect each train of thought.

6. Draw arrows to connect related ideas.

Use the pictures and images you are creating as a jumping off point for writing. What you begin with may not be where you end, but it may allow you to see your topic from a new perspective.
Use this technique as a writing exercise when you are staring at a blank page or screen. Peter Elbow’s open ended writing technique in WRITING WITH POWER suggests you begin with a ten minute freewrite.

Read what you’ve written, select the main theme and use it for another ten minute freewrite. If you choose this technique, how did your thoughts and associations compare with your organic notes?

Organic notes can help you see where you may need to fill in gaps in knowledge or anecdotal example. They can help you see a bias; they can also help you form new associations. This is a simple, yet reliable tool to strengthen both fiction and nonfiction writing.

Writer and naturalist JJ Murphy, http://www.WriterByNature.com, offers creative nature curriculum, wild food recipes, fiction, poetry, articles and writing services for individuals, entrepreneurs, small businesses and ecologically aware companies.

Book Length - Where Do I Go From Here?

By Carol Denbow

Some writers plan ahead as to how many pages their complete book will be. Others simply start writing and end when they feel their work is completed. Either way, before publishing, the number of pages will need to be decided.

The Averages:

Most commonly, the length of your manuscript determines what type of publication you have.

• Short story – under 15,000 words
• Novella – 15,000 to 29,999 words
• Short novel – 30,000 to 44,999 words
• Novel – 45,000 to 69,999 words
• Plus or super novel – over 70,000 words

There are some exceptions to these numbers. If you are writing a children’s book, you may have as little as 500 words, but many more illustrations, which might add to the total number of pages in the finished work. If your manuscript is less than 8 pages, it may not be worthwhile to publish as a book. In most cases, a minimum of 32 pages is needed for a hard cover book to have a solid “backbone.”

How length may affect printing cost:

If you self publish and have your book printed, your layout and printing costs may vary depending on the books length. Many printers prefer a book to be set up with a particular amount of pages. Most books are printed on large sheets of paper which are folded into sections containing 8, 16, or 32 pages. Since printers generally set up the pages in segments of 8 at a time, keeping your book at an even number devisable by 8 can save you some money on printing costs. For instance, if your book is 144 pages in length, the printer may use 18 sheets to copy it (144 divided by 8 = 18). Printers may vary on the number of pages per sheet so it is important to discuss this with your specific printer.

When calculating the total number of pages in your finished book, don’t forget to add up the extra pages needed for components such as, your table of contents, introduction, index, etc. And by all means, don’t forget that book pages are two-sided.

Suggested Reading: Modern Matriarch, The Ideal Length for Your Book, McGraw-Hill, Book Length

Carol Denbow is the author of Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss? (2006 Plain & Simple Books, LLC). She has two new books coming in the summer of 2008: Stress Relief for the Working Stiff (Publish America), and A Book Inside, Writing, Publishing, and Selling Your Story (Plain & Simple Books, LLC). Please visit Carol’s new website at: http://www.BooksByDenbow@weebly.com/ or blog with her at http://abookinside.blogspot.com/.

Money and Manifesting with Dyan Garris

Money and Manifesting is not just another manual about the laws of attraction and the power of positive thinking, Dyan Garris teaches what stands in our way of manifesting, how to unblock the energy flow of money, and how to actually transform energy to get what you desire. Parts of the book are fictionalized so that your left brain and right brain processes begin to integrate. So, when you get done with the book you've already begun the first steps toward manifesting. Automatically.

Today we welcome Dyan Garris to our writing blog in a Q&A interview format where she is discussing her book Money and Manifesting as well as how she published it and is marketing it.

YVONNE PERRY: Tell me something about yourself and your writing background.
DYAN GARRIS: I’m a clairvoyant counselor. I’ve written several books and produced a deck of angel cards. I also created a series of music and meditation CDs. All of these tools work together as integrative tools for self-empowerment.

YVONNE: What is the title of your book? Give us the basic overview so we’ll know what it’s about.
DYAN: My new book is Money and Manifesting. It’s about why the laws of attraction in and of themselves are not enough to manifest our desires. Parts of it are fictionalized so that the reader can identify with the things that block their own attempts at manifesting. My work is about automatic energy shift, spiritual growth, and transformation. When you get done reading the book, you’ve automatically taken the first steps in the manifesting process. You should feel the shift immediately.

YVONNE: What inspired you to write this book?
DYAN: Since late 2005, I’ve been creating a toolbox of spiritual tools for people to use for growth and transformation. Each tool vibrates higher and higher as you go along. “Money and Manifesting” was the next step in that progression. I’m almost done building. I’m working on a DVD and there will be one more CD vibrating to the eighth chakra.

YVONNE: Is this the first book you have written?
DYAN: No. It’s probably the last. I started with a deck of angel cards. I hand illustrated them and developed them in 1993/94. They each have a channeled message in quatrain verse from the angels. There is an instruction booklet that comes with the cards and a journal is available separately. Originally, I had that guidebook and the journal integrated together as one book. That was the first step in the “healing journey.” Then when I developed my CD series of music and meditation for chakra balance and vibrational attunement, I wrote a meditation journal so that one could journal about their meditation experiences. Last year I wrote an intuitive cookbook. That was such great fun! It’s about taking raw ingredients and transforming them into what truly nourishes you on all levels, not just the physical level. And I also wrote “The Book of Daily Channeled Messages.” Then came “Fish Tale of Woe – Lost at Sea.” It’s a small story with a big message about “saving,” victim mode, entitlement and more.

YVONNE: How long did it take to write this book? Any interesting tidbits about your writing method or how the book developed?
DYAN: I’ve had the book in my head for a long time. So it didn’t take long to actually write it. I knew I’d be writing it. I counsel a lot of people for whom The Secret wasn’t working. They wanted to know why. The book is very different than what’s already out there. Since my work is about automatic energy shift, this book had to be written in such a way as to produce that result. I knew it was going to have characters in it. I knew I would be wrapping a story around my information. But, I’d never written a character in my life. I was told by guidance to start by just writing the characters. And then, of course, I had no idea what they were going to do, how they all fit together, or how exactly they were going to interact. So, I just trusted and went with that. It worked. The characters really surprised me, especially at the end. Writing the book was an amazing experience.

YVONNE: How did you publish your book? Tell me about your publishing experience and what you learned from it. Please go into detail if you wish.
DYAN: The traditional publishing field is a slow moving vehicle. I had a lot of work to get out in a short amount of time. I self-published because I needed a little faster train. Because I’m a musician, I have a good idea of what we expect from our books and music. If you’re going to publish in this way, it has to be the very best you can produce.

YVONNE: Did you work with an agent? If so, how did you find the agent? Was it beneficial to you?
DYAN: I’m working with an agent right now for my “Voice of the Angels – A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards.” I found the agent through an author’s group I belong to. It’s been a pleasant, professional experience.

YVONNE: Where is your book(s) available? Do you have a Website or blog where we can learn more about you or your book?
DYAN: Money and Manifesting is available at Amazon.com and can be ordered at bookstores as well. It is also available on its dedicated website www.moneyandmanifesting.com. My main webstie is www.voiceoftheangels.com and the book is available there, as well as at www.dyangarris.com. There is a lot of information and activity going on at the main website. I write the Daily Channeled Message there and there are four free angel card readings too. My music can be heard on my main website or www.myspace.com/voiceoftheangels. My song “Illusions" was recently #1 on Soundscapes cable TV music station. That was so exciting! My blog is http://blog.voiceoftheangels.com. I write about spiritual topics there.

YVONNE: As far as marketing, do you do more online publicity or print/radio/TV promotion? Tell me some ways you have promoted your book. Give examples and links to any sites you feel might help other authors.
DYAN: One of the best tools I have found for marketing is the Virtual Book Tour. I recommend either Nikki Leigh or Dorothy Thompson. They’re both very dynamic. Nikki puts a lot of effort into matching up your subject matter with the right blogs. She’s a pleasure to work with. The VBT is an amazing experience. You meet a lot of fascinating people and you get a lot of exposure. I do a lot of ongoing print promotion and radio promotion for the cards, the books, and the CDs. I’ve also done a little TV as well. In December, Living In Style TV featured my Meditation and Relaxation Baskets on their holiday show.

YVONNE: Have you hired a publicist to help promote this book? If so, what was your experience like?
DYAN: I’m just now in the process of hiring a publicist. So, I can’t really relate my experiences yet.

YVONNE: Any other comments or things you would like for us to know?
DYAN: Manifesting is a process. We cannot do it with just our minds. We can attract with our minds, but that is not manifesting. We have to learn to open a pathway for energy to flow, and that includes the energy of money. Applying the principles of the Law of Attraction is just one part of the process of manifesting anything.

YVONNE: Thank you for giving us the opportunity to get to know you and learn about your book. I wish you well.
DYAN: Thank you, Yvonne. I appreciate the opportunity as well.

Dyan's additional biographical information is posted at http://www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Dyan+Garris

Choosing the Color

Meri Lee Testa will be joining us on Writer’s in the Sky Podcast April 11th, 2008!

Ever since she was a little girl, Meri Lee Testa felt different from other children—like a misfit who didn’t belong. It wasn’t until her Dad's passing in 1983 that she discovered that she had been adopted from the St. Vincent's Foundling Home for Children in 1954.

As an adult, she and her husband wished to start a family. But after three years of trying in vain to have a child, they resorted to fertility specialists. After spending much of their savings trying to get pregnant using fertility drugs, it was determined that the only way they were going to become parents was thru adoption. Even amidst the joy of raising her newly adopted son, Meri Lee dealt with the symptoms of depression that had plagued her all her life.

In 2001, her aging mother began declining from Alzheimer’s and a substance abuse problem. As an only daughter, it was very difficult for Meri Lee to see only a shell of the Mom she once knew.
Meri Lee found it more and more difficult to pick him her son at school in the afternoon. It was a struggle for her to be in public and to do the normal everyday tasks of being a Mom and wife. To simply do the grocery shopping or cleaning the house was nearly impossible. The next thing she knew, she was drowning in the turbulent waters of severe depression. No longer able to deal with her life, Meri Lee attempted suicide three times. Thankfully, she was rescued each time.

As a result of her turmoil, she believes she is a better and stronger woman, mother, and wife. Through her ordeal, she developed a renewed sense of God in her life as she wrote and published her book Choosing the Color.

She opened a tall woman's clothing store in Monroe, Georgia to allow tall women (like Meri Lee) the opportunity to find clothes that they love, that are reasonably priced. She uses this avenue to help women realize that God made them exactly the way He wanted them to be, and to help them feel wonderful about themselves inside and out.

On April 11, Meri Lee will discuss her life’s journey and her book Choosing the Color on Writers in the Sky Podcast.

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Listening to Writers in the Sky Podcast on a computer is easy. Just click this link: http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com and go to my blog. On the right sidebar there is a list of archived shows. Click on the interview you would like to hear and it will open a post that has a link to the audio file.

For information about being a guest on Writers in the Sky Podcast, see http://www.yvonneperry.net/Writing_Packages.htm#Publicity_Packages_

Amazon and Booksurge Force Authors out of POD Options

Have you heard about Amazon forcing authors to print with Booksurge in order to be listed on Amazon.com website?

Amazon.com was built on books and authors. Unfortunately, it appears authors may ultimately be the innocent pawns in a power struggle.

Reports from the POD underground reveal that Amazon/BookSurge representatives have been approaching some Lightning Source customers and basically telling them they can either have BookSurge start printing their books or the "buy" button on their Amazon.com book pages will be "turned off."

I couldn't believe what I was reading when I found an article written by Angela Hoy, the co-owner of POD services company BookLocker.com and publisher of WritersWeekly.com. Read Angela Hoy's entire article here: http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html.

Will traditional publishers will be next? Will Amazon eventually require all books sold through Amazon.com to be printed by BookSurge?

The comments from people are pouring in on Hoy's site and you can read them here: http://www.writersweekly.com/amazon.php.

She encourages folks to let Amazon know what they think about this Amazon/BookSurge monopoly by contacting their Officers and Directors . Amazon's Investor Relations Team email addresses are listed at http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-faq. Or you may write a letter to them at this address:

Amazon.com, Inc.
P.O. Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226

TGIF April 4th, 2008! Anne Da Vigo

TGI Friday! I have uploaded a new show to my podcast this week! Anne Da Vigo will be our guest today on Writers in the Sky Podcast!

Anne Da Vigo is a freelance writer, public relations professional and award-winning former journalist. She lives with her husband in Sacramento, California. Her fiction has appeared in literary magazines, and she has presented her work on Public Radio’s Valley Writers Read program. She has been a winner in the Sacramento Friends of the Library short story contest. For over a decade she has been a member of the Monday Night Writers Group, which has nourished and sustained her writing life. Anne edited and co-authored the group’s book, Coffee and Ink: How a Writers Group Can Nourish Your Creativity, which won a gold award in the Northern California Publishers and Authors annual competition.

Click here to listen to this interview...

Do you long to write but find a thousand reasons to delay? Is it difficult to sustain your creative energy? Do you want to improve your writing skills? Here's a book with a solution. Coffee and Ink: How a Writers Group Can Nourish Your Creativity shows you how to use a group to kick start your writing and keep going. The authors, veteran members of Northern California’s the Monday Night Writers Group, have over the years won awards for their short stories, poetry, and creative non-fiction. To help other writers, they’ve packed Coffee and Ink with plenty of tips and entertaining examples that will make your fingers itch to phone your writer friends and pick up a pen.

For more information, inspiration, and links, go to www.coffeeandink.net

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Listening to Writers in the Sky Podcast on a computer is easy. Just click this link: http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com and go to my blog.On the right sidebar there is a list of archived shows. Click on the interview you would like to hear and it will open a post that has a link to the audio file.

For information about being a guest on Writers in the Sky Podcast, see http://www.yvonneperry.net/Writing_Packages.htm#Publicity_Packages_

Author's Corner by Yvonne Perry

What a busy first quarter. Our team has edited, proofread, formatted or ghosted twelve books since January 1. That’s not to mention the smaller projects such as bios, articles, book reviews, web text and book evaluations. But, there’s always room for more, so let us know if your book needs proofreading, editing, evaluating, or a tear sheet review.

Congratulations to Writers in the Sky editor, Barbara Sharp Milbourn, who has been selected as exclusive editor for southern Californian travel writer, novelist, and nature photographer Linda Ballou. Learn more about Linda at www.lindaballouauthor.com and watch for her soon-to-be-released historical fiction work Wai-nani, High Chiefess of Hawai’i.

I wish to thank all those who participated in Irene Watson’s Reader Views Literary Award for 2007. Congratulations to all the winners and runners up. Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services is pleased to present to Alan B. Robbins the $100 cash prize for Best Creative Writing of the Year Award. Contests like these allow the public to become familiar with many talented self-published authors. I hope many more of you will participate in the 2008 contest.

Download the submission guidelines on Reader Views’ website: http://www.readerviews.com/Awards.html.

Yvonne Perry
Web site: http://www.yvonneperry.net