First Word

By Michelle Gamble-Risley, CEO, 3L Publishing ( www.3LPublishing.com ) I get frequently asked if my company 3L Publishing is a self-publisher (we are a hybrid publisher), and what is the difference between 3L’s services and self-publishing and traditional publishing? The answer isn’t simple. I am going to give you a check sheet that shows what 3L Publishing provides as a hybrid publisher vs. the other models. Caveat : Every publishing house is different. Other publishers may provide some of the services I’m not checking off. Please don’t take any missing checkmarks as misleading information. The information is general and not specific to any one publisher. I’ve been criticized in the past for not providing a complete picture. If I’ve missed anything, please feel free to share. My intention is only to help clarify the marketplace and answer questions not mislead or misdirect. Also, you may read this and feel it’s slanted in favor of my company. Be advis...

Jesus of Nazareth lived as both the Son of God and as a mortal. As God’s servant he was charged to spread a new gospel within Judea. As a mortal, he had willingly subdued his feelings and desires until by accident he met an exceptionally kind and beautiful woman. Julia, the lovely, cultured and married daughter of a Roman Centurion, ignited a special love in Jesus from the first time they met. Through a web of fateful encounters, Jesus came to know the amazing Roman woman he would grow to cherish and to love unconditionally. Fates’ Thread is an epic story of the powerful love between Jesus, called the Son of God, and his soul mate Julia, the woman to whom he gave his heart. In this beautiful and poetic story, we see two people tempted by passion and their struggle to resist temptation, and we learn how their lives were changed forever by their love. Fates Thread: A Memory of Jesus will be formally released just in time for Easter in April 2014. It re...

Rating: ***1/2 The Other Woman was a cute comedy with heart. The set up goes like this: Carmen Diaz's character unwittingly falls in love with a married man and one night decides to surprise him at his home in Connecticut. To her shock and embarrassment her man doesn't open the front door, but (a-hem) his wife greets her. Realizing her boyfriend is married, Diaz's character leaves, but his wife Kate (played by Leslie Mann) is suspicious. She looks on her husband's phone bill and is able to track down Diaz's character, a high-powered lawyer, at work. After realizing it's true that her husband is having an extramarital affair, Kate hyperventilates and causes such a scene that Diaz's character attempts to rescue her. From there, the real mayhem gets under way as the newly bonded women discover more than one mistress. As a divorced woman who also had a relationship with a man who cheated, I felt Mann's pain. They did not gloss it over and make it cute ...

Many of my single friends have shared some horror stories about online dating and using services like Match.com. Some of my favorite stories: The woman who used online dating to get a free dinner every night of the week. The woman who asked the guy to stop and get a drink before they even got to dinner. The woman who brought her full-grown daughter to the dinner date and forced the guy to buy them both dinner. The guy who sent his penis picture before asking the girl out just to "prove" he had the goods.  Those stories are the minor ones that stand out and make me laugh or just shock me. I always wonder, who does this stuff? Apparently quite a few people. So I don't have any online dating horror stories to share, which isn't to suggest that I didn't use the online dating services; but I may not have used them as vigorously as some people. So how did I avoid the pitfalls? My advice is going to be simple and may not apply to everyone. First, I always posted...

What is the best way to market your book? A very good question that doesn't have a one-note answer. Like many products on the market, the best way to market something often depends on: 1. The buying mood of the public. 2. The way to reach the right audience. 3. Experimentation 4. Timing 5. Know when to hold or fold How do you determine the answers to those five things? The no. #3 ... experimentation. With each book (or product for that matter) you have to try different avenues to see what sparks sales. For some books TV appearances generate sales and for others nothing. Book reviews generate sales -- sometimes. Feature stories create interest -- sometimes. To create what we call in marketing "the snowball effect" you have try different things. And sometimes it's not just one thing (a book review and a TV appearance) it's several things combined to create that perfect storm to spark interest. Then there is the last problem of no. #4 -- timing. Sometimes it ...

I have recently encountered some legal discussions, and I realized some people may not understand some realities of today's digital world. For unaware businesspeople who may not know I thought I would share the following information. Texts --did you know that if a legal dispute comes up your text conversation can be used in court? Yes, the cell phone companies keep records and entire transcripts of text conversation can be pulled up and used in court. Agreements made in text are like a digital handshake and can be used to bolster your case. Email --emails are the equivalent of that same digital handshake. An email can be used to show an agreement was made. Also, employees should be aware that email sent from their employer's machinery is subject to be monitored. Yes, employers can read their employees' emails. It's company property, and employees who use for personal reason should be aware of the legalities. The best case is to always get a signed contract, but th...

Over the years I've figured out some unusual ways to do business on the cheap. Who doesn't want to save a buck, right? So, here are some cheap tricks to do business with less expense... Gmail is a great backup device . What I do is pay the annual $30 fee to buy extra storage space each year. I then have an automatic backup system for every document I send to my team, which equates to all of the documents. I don't have to buy extra storage devices. If I need to save something and back it up I send it to myself. Blogger is free . If you're not looking for links to other blog sites and just need a straight-up blog tool then Blogger works great. My only expense is the graphic design required to keep my brand consistent. This expense is recurring about once every couple of years just to update the look. You can't beat free. Pandora is mostly free . I listen to music all day long. I pay the extra $30 annual fee for Pandora for unlimited listening. I like Pandora ...

Rating: ***1/2 Transcendence was the type of thought-provoking script I would have written when I was still screenwriting (which I will return to doing in the future). The story revolves around the concept of uploading human consciousness into a mega data network that enables the invention and creation of nano technology to regenerate life. I studied nano technology back in the day, and the concept is indeed fascinating. In the movie, our professor Dr. Will Caster and his wife Evelynn are partners in life and work. After a terrorist organization shoots Will with a radiation-loaded bullet, he dies a slow terrible death. During his death "march" Evelynn figures out how to upload his consciousness into the network. The movie then turns into the government trying to stop what many believe is a bad thing that could destroy the world. I liked the movie. I thought it begged some interesting questions about technology and the human spirit. It was the type of movie in which y...

Does anyone really agree on the use of the comma? Today on HARO (Help a Reporter Out) there was a link about comma usage. Just the other day my editorial intern discussed the Oxford comma usage. Do you have any idea how many different style guides exist? Just to name a few: Strunk and White, AP Style, Chicago Style, Masters of Language Arts ... and probably others. And yes, there is the Oxford too. I always chuckle when the infamous Grammar Police go nuts about certain complaints that are style-related. It is the comma though that has the most "proper" usage rules (and naturally the rules conflict). If you're running a publication, the rule is simple: be consistent . Some publications have their own style guides. You can make up certain rules that are your editorial guidelines and the preferred style. The key is to apply the rule the SAME way every time. In that case you can easily point to your own style rules if someone says something. Believe me, the Grammar Police ...

I mentioned this on Facebook. I start each day in meditation. I recite mantras. Two days in a row I was meditating and fell back to sleep. All this means to me is that I am successfully clearing my mind. I've recently been in a bit of a down cycle. You know when things start to just not excite you anymore? My personal relationships have shifted. People have come and gone. I've lost two very close people to me (for different reasons) who had to transition their lives elsewhere. One of the people I pushed the shift out of personal necessity to move on. I thought at the time I would just deal with the losses in one full swoop. Both individuals were very close to me so you can imagine the gaping holes I am feeling. Anyway here I am facing loss and business things started going haywire. Banking problems, client payment problems ... and I started thinking, "Is this outer chaos a reflection of the inner chaos I am feeling?" I had been meditating anyway so I ratcheted up my...

These days the idea of achieving the corporate dream of getting the corner office with the view has been replaced with contentment in my home office working in my blue robe vs. blue suit. A recent bicker with an associate of mine made me think about this ... the idea of how we work these days. A suggestion of "professionalism" came up, and my so-called home office. I started thinking about how once not that long ago I had the executive suite and the HUGE office with the conference room table in the middle of it. All the employees on that floor reported to me. I had definitely achieved the executive dream. In the middle of my "deluded" concept of success, I worked long hours and came home late. I didn't get to spend enough time with my kids. I was exhausted. I always loved working from home, too, in my downsized and comfy office that was really an atrium-turned office with glass windows on all sides and a gorgeous view of our backyard. Well, in 2006 I took the ...

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Today or more like this morning I want to scream. Last week I was on my own without my trusted operations manager, who has left the company. The entire week was consumed by operations versus editorial and publishing matters, which is really my job as CEO and editor-in-chief. Now some banking issues are dogging my ability to get my own money. In a whopper-size "why-is-it-this-way" banking BS moment, I used our merchant services for one of our accounts only to discover that they were holding a large sum of money (PS, this is Phone Swipe). WTF (and yes, that deserves the "F" bomb) I called them to find out that they were holding large sums of my (MY being the operative word) money because they wanted to verify my credit because (get this) the transaction might be refunded. How? In total confusion and wonder over the concept that they can hold MY money and not pay until verifying my credit (what?) I realized I would either A. have to supply three months worth of banki...

I started watching the new HBO series Silicon Valley , and I was surprised about the great information about creating a start-up company. Young entrepreneurs will learn a lot from this show. My favorite scene was when the lead character takes his $200,000 check made out to Pied Piper (his product's name) to discover he cannot deposit it because he hasn't established the name yet. My first thought was LLC or S Corp. (not that it was mentioned in those terms). Our clueless hero is dumbstruck and doesn't know what the bank clerk is talking about. Seasoned business people were nodding. The show also covered the need for a business plan as our hapless hero is asked by the incredulous billionaire Burke, "Where's your business plan?" You then see one of the other more business-like nerds helping our guy write one and explore the facets of it. But I loved it when Burke sneers, "What's your go-to-market strategy?" Of course, I know what "go-to-mark...

Employee turnover is said to cost a business $100,000 in loss from the transition, which is one of the reasons I've always gone out of my way to treat my team with respect and loyalty. When you find an excellent team member you do not want to lose that person. Always be respectful and lead with loyalty and kindness and understanding so your team will WANT to work for you. As noted, loss on average per employee is $100,000, which for a small business is costly. Let me give you an excellent example: when I worked in corporate I worked very loyally for my employer for 14 years. Pay raises though were always a bone of contention. Existing inequities between the executives in the company for reasons I won't share existed. As a loyal and hard worker, every time it came time for a raise it was a hard-fought battle with lots of justifications to go round. At the end of the day, I often went 2-3 years without even a cost of living adjustment. Finally in the last year I asked for a ver...

Yesterday was a WHOPPER! My valuable operations manager changed jobs. My new operations manager really hasn't assumed her post yet. The last two weeks I've been juggling essentially two jobs. Yesterday I had to print up the Amazon orders and what happens? The printer breaks! Ugh! So now I have to go pick up books and stop at Kinko's to print up orders. I get to Kinko's and pull up the orders (this after picking up books) and darn it! They added a NEW order just that day. And I can't find the first order in the system. Now I don't have the right books to fill orders. Ugh! Thoroughly frazzled I do what I can and fill the second order since I can't find the first order. Oh, and my 2013 taxes have not come back in and no word from the accountant. To owe or not to owe is the question. I meet with my life coach who says I seem very "fragile" and I only laugh. Fragile because of so many personal and professional changes (some good some not so much). I...

Sometimes no matter what you do barriers just stand in the way of productivity. I started my day off with 30 minutes of meditation (I try to meditate daily). I get up. I had nonstop barriers yesterday too. Our new operations manager is gone, and I realized our Amazon orders weren't being addressed. So I have to go out to our storage unit to get books, but then realized I don't have the key. Our inventory is at my operations manager's house so I contact her and now I have to go retrieve books. Then I try to print up the invoice sheets and the printer fails. Now I'm frustrated naturally and the cat won't stay off my desk. I throw him out and go to retrieve something and come back, and he's gotten back and spilled Diet Coke on my desk and narrowly misses my new keyboard that I bought last week because he spilled water on the previous one. I throw him out again (after a few choice words). Later I go to retrieve something else and make the mistake of not closing the ...

Rate: ****1/2 The Grand Budapest Hotel was genuinely quirky, but I would expect nothing less from Wes Anderson, whose other films deliver on his unique film and storytelling style. Told from the viewpoint of the concierge on the eve of World War I, the story unfolds from the viewpoint of the author who is told the story by the hotel's current owner Zero Moustafa who recounts how he came under the tutorship of the concierge, who is played impeccably by Ralph Fiennes.  It's a complex story and woven together through the narrative provided by Moustafa to the author who is also narrating, too. I know it sounds confusing, but it's not. The basis of the story is how the concierge comes to own the hotel and how through his brotherhood and mentoring with Moustafa he comes to own the hotel. The film highlights a bygone era when the concierge and "service" meant something -- and good manners. Loaded with scandal and intrigue, the film is compelling and utterly strang...

I have learned over the years it's mission critical to "mind" your mindset. Every time I allow fear and anxiety to run my business, it shows up and manifests itself in negative results. Whenever I do small things like meditate and "mind" my mindset to positivity and success, positive results happen. Some people are skeptical about this belief system. They falsely believe that mindset doesn't matter. Business will be what business will be dependent upon the marketplace, supply and demand, and competition. I'm here to tell you the biggest factor that determines success isn't about the market at all. It all has to do with YOU as the business owner. Here's how: Like attracts like . Who is attracted to work with you is based on the Law of Attraction. Positive people attract positive people. Positive people attract more positive, successful people to your business. Positive people spend money without fear, and the net result; it's easier to wor...

We have several great self-help books in the 3L Publishing catalog, and I'm always fortunate in that I get to edit them. Right now I am working on a book titled The Power and Light that is You by Linda Lee, which is a wonderful book that is a guide to self-empowerment. I wish I could tell my story openly and without regret, but I really can't do it for privacy reasons. I don't believe in putting self-limiting beliefs on life. The book teaches us not to limit ourselves -- that we are empowered with our mindset to explore all facets of life. In 2012 when I left my marriage I did so with the intention to find true love. If there is one thing I firmly believe now is that at age 25 vs. 48 I had no idea what I really wanted or needed from a relationship. In 2011 I had met a person who would become very important to me. After I left my marriage I decided to chase the proverbial rainbow even though many, many issues (BIG issues) arose during the pursuit of my aforementioned tru...

Tip 2: Leverage social media to the extreme.  Social media is free. Any tool you can leverage free-of-charge to market your book should be used. Create on Facebook an author page for your personal outreach to other authors, agents and "fans". Next create a fan page for your individual title. A secret trick: use Rocket Likes to invite hundreds of fans to your page. Make sure you create a Twitter account and a Linked-In profile. Focus your energy on the social media outlet that provides the most opportunities. Post on that outlet at least once or twice a day. Keep it up. The more you post, the more exposure for your book. Just make your posts a part of your daily routine, but do not get sucked into spending too much time on it. Remember, social media is a marketing tool not a toy. If you want to use it for social purposes, create a separate personal page for family and friends.

At my recent writer's group meeting we began tittering about editorial tricks. One of the women sighed that between all of the style books ( AP Style, Chicago, Strunk and White ) it's hard to get it right or know what is right. I agree. As I imparted some of my tricks, the group got excited. So I thought I would share some of those tricks on the blog. Define X . Use Google and plug-in "define ___" and the proper usage and spelling comes up. This technique is especially useful for hyphenated words and idioms. Idioms . Do we all know the proper usage of certain idioms? Expressions like first come, first served is the perfect example. Is it first to come first to serve? No, it's what I wrote, but an idiom wouldn't necessarily be a common word in a dictionary, right? I always use the "define [idiom]" approach and Google. The search provides the proper expression of the idiom and the proper grammar for the idiom, too. Comma usage . Every style book ...