First Word

Oh, you know sometimes a girl has to have time off. I'll be back in action On July 8th ready to regale you with new stories and information to succeed as an author and entrepreneur. Muah! Kisses and Aloha!

"Sometimes you have to walk into the unknown to find out the known. Risk is scary and frightening, but to settle for something "OK" in lieu of something really, really special but also scary is to live life with limitations and never fully spread your wings! I like the idea, 'A moment of something really special is way better than a lifetime of nothing remarkable.'" I posted that on Facebook yesterday. I want to say something about risk (in this case personal risk). Most people avoid change and risk. I wrote my first book Second Bloom on personal reinvention. Risk is indeed scary. You don't know the outcome. You don't know if you're going to get hurt. Pain sucks! I think we can all agree on that fact. I got asked once, "Why do you run from the pain; what are you afraid of?" My response, "I won't be able to function if I felt it." And yet despite some real hardship here I am functioning -- more than functioning ... succe...

My recent post on book promotion is one of the highest read posts on this blog right now. I figured readers must be hungry for that information. The great benefit of promoting all of our books is the side-bonus of promoting my company 3L Publishing as a "via". So, I thought I would share what's required in your author toolkit to market and promote to your target audience. Authors are required to build what is called a "platform" (a place and methodology to spread their messages). A platform enables authors to spread the word about their books, viewpoint and message, and more importantly create the critical following. A following is gold in this industry. It means multiple book sales not just of one book, but other books, too. The following addresses what should be used to build a platform. Media Kit -- industry standard media kits are required not only for the media, but also for the book sellers and associations where the author might speak. The industry ...

My favorite rebuke of 3L Publishing's editorial services comes from professional journalists, English teachers or editors who swear in stone they don't need our editorial services. This declaration always leaves me smiling like the all-knowing publisher that I am. Let me entertain you now with true confessions: I (the publisher and professional editor) NEED a proofreader ! Shock! Awe! No ... you ? Yes, me. Let me take this a step further: I don't care if you're a Pulitzer Prize winner for literature, guess what? You still need a proofreader. I have said this in the past to help laypeople understand how hard it is to proofread, so I will use the analogy again: Imagine taking a huge jar of 100,000 black jellybeans. Now take those black jellybeans and spill them on a white table. Now go look for the flawed beans. You will find you have to pick each one up, look at it, and put it back, and so on. Friends, THAT is how difficult it is to perfect a manuscript with 100,000 ...

My friend and I discuss our mutually earned lifestyle that involves a simple commute to the home office. We both love the freedom. Not everyone can work from home and be successful. I thought I would compile a list of reasons why you are or are not a candidate to work at home where too many freedoms can be too luring for some. #1 -- The TV stays off ... or don't try this at home . The TV is an unfortunate lure for those who are not disciplined to keep their fingers off the remote power button. You cannot work from your home office if you can't keep the TV off. Now those of you muttering, "But I can work and watch TV ..." I am here to whack you on the head. No, George you can't. The very distraction of the TV will make you lose productivity. Have you ever tried NOT to stare at a TV in the room. The very movement on screen catches your eye, and pretty soon you're what? Watching it! So, no TV! #2 -- No, it's not laundry time ! Not to suggest that I've...

You can count on my Monday morning reviews of True Blood to start. The 6th season got off to an interesting start in rapid-fire pacing and action. Sookie and Eric in the 5th season finale watched as vampire Bill melted and re-emerged as something else. Judging from the show's theme, we are going to find out this season what that something else is. Other story lines continuing included Alcide's initiation as pack master and Andy Balfour having to face the results of his unprotected sex with a fairy. Now we have Alan Ball out as head writer (I noticed he retained the title as executive producer) and Raelle Tucker in his place. I thought the storytelling was a little more focused. We stayed on the action longer with Sookie, Eric and the gang as they escaped a major explosion and headed for the ocean where some emotional confrontations went down. Now the big question in the air: What is Bill? Is he Bill Compton or Bill-ilth? Eric signed back Sookie's house, and a tenderness wa...

It's freaky Friday or maybe "freakin'" Friday. I was awakened to two different things -- one positive, one negative. The negative, my kitten I have renamed "Evil" who yowled so loud you would think he was about to die. The positive:  Midwest Book Review of 3L book Vengeance is Now : People find their ways to live life all along the way. "Vengeance is Now" is a novel from Scott D. Roberts as he tells the story of Tate Halloway, a man with a crumbling life and finds himsel f accused of many a life along the way. With dark humor, a vague sexiness, and plenty of thrills to keep readers glued to the page, "Vengeance is Now" is a choice addition to contemporary thriller collections.  Buy your copy on Amazon in print or Kindle or go to the 3L Publishing website and buy the printed version today: http://3lpublishing.flyingcart.com/?p=detail&pid=42&cat_id=0

It's a la, la, la day and I have to blog ... well, I try to blog daily. Why do I blog daily? I'll tell you ... No. #1 -- Daily = Attraction from those Web crawlers . The web crawlers for the search engines are out on a daily basis, searching for new keywords to lure the little spiders to your page. This act attracts more readers. No. #2 -- Daily = building an audience . People who read the blog on a daily basis want to keep reading and no new material deters repeat business. Readership goes down if you don't keep them coming back for more. No. #3 -- Daily = interested readers = prospective business . Steady readers may some day convert to customers.  Customers/clients pay the bills. Simple. Necessary. No. #4 -- Daily = interested readers = prospective business = virtual relationship building . Steady, interested readers who convert to prospective business become clients. You have to build a "relationship," which is done through the constant flow of inform...

Lots of great publicity going on for the 3L Publishing book Vengeance is Now . Author Scott D. Roberts just did a guest blog on Girls with Books , and this morning he is doing an interview on Conversations with Cyrus Webb. How are we getting good, consistent and steady exposure? Here are our promotional strategies that work. It's always who you know . Over the years of working in this industry, my company 3L Publishing has done a lot of media outreach. We have steadfast contacts in the book reviewer world, as well as mainstream media. We have also built a reputation for quality products. Many reviewers familiar with 3L products will immediately agree to look at our books. Steady, relentless pressure . We push and promote daily. We are working in tandem with the author to promote to media and book-related industry people. The author HAS to be working those front lines with us. Nothing sells a book better than the author . As the publisher, I do one thing a day to promote -- w...

I've been in business now seven years, and I'm the CEO of 3L Publishing ! Wow! Seven whole years! I've had some great years where the dump truck loaded with money pulled up and dumped away. I've had some lean years. And I've had some "so-what" years. The lessons I've learned have been tremendous. Want to know what they are? Sure you do! You're an avid reader of my blog, so naturally you're sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting with baited eagerness. Never ever focus on the NOT . What does that mean? It's really simple. If you spend all of your energy and thoughts focused on what you DON'T have, you'll have more of that. A great example is money. If you don't have enough money, don't spend all your time saying how you don't have enough money. Instead put ALL of your attention on earning enough money -- and this means marketing and selling. The old saying, "We are what we think most about" is so true. Live ...

My shitty little kitty, Bill LOL! I start to tune-out on Fridays. It's the end of the week. I've worked hard. Time to slowly unplug my busy mind and ramble about useless stuff to you on the blog. Today's useless information involves my crazy cat Bill who has taken to pouncing from under the bed at my feet. Do you know how hard it is to try and make the bed when your kitten in scratching your feet? Little shit! He also pounces on me when I get up in the morning and tries to nose his way in my face. What's up with that? Well, of course the pouncing and rolling on the floor in a plastic bag is super cute. He has the run of the house. In fact, I'M renting from him not the other way around. If I leave my office door open and go somewhere, he gets mad and pees on my bedspread! "Here Mom! Take that!" My daughter says he is Biezel from Movie 43 . I agree. I should rename him "Bill-zel" LOL. Crazy cat!

No one agrees on comma usage. Look it up. All of the grammar sites have differing opinions. The style books ( AP Style and Chicago ) don't agree. Struck and White has its own rules about commas. And then you have the "grammar police" (as I call them) who think they KNOW your comma usage is wrong -- it doesn't work with their rules. I have different authors who have differing uses. It's like this discussion that can't be won. I will say this: I cannot stand the grammar police who insist your usage is just plain wrong. If you followed AP Style and they use, say, Struck and White , yep! It's wrong. Yet it's not wrong. When it comes to commas, I allow the authors to use their preferred styles. The only rule I apply is consistency. Do it that way; always do it that way, period. Now some comma usage is, in fact, just plain wrong. You know like splitting the adjective from the noun or the noun from the verb -- that sort of thing. My favorite (and funny) ...

We are once more running an   AMAZING BLOW OUT SUMMER PUBLISHING SALE ! Invest in our full publishing package and save up to 75 percent! Yes, 75 percent on our package DEAL. Beat the heat of other publishers!!! Book Publishing Package #1 Qualifying Books: 1-150 Pages Editorial Includes: Two draft editing process Final proof reading Grammar, spelling, usage and Style check Graphics  Front and back cover design Guts/interior design Final finished book Price: $3,000 Book Publishing Package #2 Qualifying Books: 1-250 Pages Editorial Includes: Two draft editing process Final proof reading Grammar, spelling, usage and Style check Graphics  Front and back cover design Guts/interior design Final finished book Price: $4,000 Offer expires: June 30, 2013 *We will accept full payment or two easy payments. For more information, call 916-300-8012 or send email to info@3LPublishing.com. 

If you're and author, you should realize that writing is only half the job. The other half is the true business end, which involves promoting and marketing the book. In my writers' group Writers Who Mean Business , I teach writers the "business" of writing not just the writing. While some writers' groups focus on craft, I focus on making the book do more than gather dust on the bookshelf. As a publisher , I feel that is my job. We are right in the middle of promoting the new book Vengeance is Now and my book California Girl Chronicles, Brea's Big Break . I want to break apart the media campaign so if you work in this business you might get some ideas. Please note: An effective promotional and marketing campaign should run at least six months to a year. Media and Book Reviewers -- this is the most popular promotional methodology. You promote the book to the mainstream book reviewers, which these days it's mostly bloggers. (When doesn't the Inter...

I am chuckling over my headline. I was relieved when I had one splash of cream left in the half-in-half for my coffee this morning. Because "gawd" what would I do without cream in my coffee? I might have to run yelling and screaming in the streets. "Get me some crrreeeaaammmm!" All right enough of the nutty talk for the morning. Would you like to hear the most common spelling mistakes perpetrated by even the most seasoned writers? We'll call them spelling bloopers, how's that? Here we go: Altogether or all together -- if it's completely, totally, it's altogether. Problem is some writers just completely, totally get it wrong and spell it all together. Well that is altogether wrong. Every day or everyday -- if it's happening every day it's everyday (adjective). I go to the movies every day (two words). I am an everyday person (adjective). Comprise or compose -- as a verb we write or create or we compose. As a verb the work is compris...