First Word

Today is royalty payment day. As I'm collecting information from the sales channels and most specifically Apple iTunes Connect I want to write Apple this letter: Dear iTunes Connect, Why? Sincerely, Michelle Why? is a very simple and direct question to ask about their stupid sales and tracking system. Unlike Nook or Kindle, the geniuses over at Apple seem to think they're more clever than the rest of us. They created a sales reporting system that doesn't show what was sold and when! It's strictly a total. Nothing tracks back to the actual product sold and when. The number of products (iBooks) sold is completely disconnected and you can't tell if payment has been remitted either. If I want to know the payment remittance I have to check my business account. I'm hoping my complaints somehow receive the light of day and either A. someone changes the system or B. I'm the one who just doesn't know where the "easy" reporting system is located...

Ever see someone walk across a busy intersection absorbed in texting on his/her Smart Phone? How common is that scene (and how dangerous)? When I lived in LA the scene of a guy or girl walking obliviously down a busy street texting or doing something else on his/her Smart Phone was as common as a McDonald's on every other corner. People go to restaurants to enjoy a lovely meal and instead of conversing with each other each one's head is down and each one is absorbed in something on the Smart Phone. Bored waiting for something? Just watch a movie on your Smart Phone. Don't feel like talking to your companion, play on your Smart Phone. Forget magazines in the waiting room. Download an article. Some of the conveniences are really great. Who doesn't want to watch a movie while waiting for something. The issue at hand is the disconnect and alienation. When I was married the TV was on 24 x 7. When I got divorced I swore to put an end to the major disconnect the flat screen ...

The publishing industry has been in rapid change for the last 10 years. With the advent of easier publishing methods and now the rise of eBooks, many authors (even famous ones) are bypassing the traditional publishing method that has become driven by big name celebrities and well-known authors to bother to give the new and emerging authors a shot. This is why companies like 3L Publishing have risen to open new doors and create opportunities for new authors to have a way to publish. So, what is a hybrid publisher? A hybrid publisher offers all of the services of a traditional publisher only authors pay to have their books published in exchange for higher royalties. Traditional publishers typically offer royalties that range from 10-12 percent. Here at 3L Publishing, we offer royalty rates that range from 35-70 percent. Additionally 3L Publishing selects roughly two to three titles a year to publish traditionally, which means we not only pay advances, but also we pay the entire freig...

"There is no reason not to follow your heart. Stay hungry. Stay foolish." ~ Steve Jobs I love that quote, and it mirrors a conversation we had on First Word Radio yesterday about doing what you want to do with your life. I don't believe in asking permission. If I want to do something, I figure out how to do it. I've spent a lifetime actively pursuing my passions. 3L Publishing exists because I didn't want to turn my first book over to a publisher that I didn't feel could do a better job than I could. After that book Second Bloom came out and won awards including an honorable mention from Writer's Digest , other authors started asking me to publish their books. The question wasn't "no," it was: Why not? Almost overnight I had achieved a dream without even making it a goal in the first place. I was simply following my passion. When you follow your passion the rest will follow. Now I've gone after another goal: to write a novel and here ...

I remember this perfectly. I was 21 years old at San Jose State University, and I was taking a public relations class as part of my degree program. In the class, which I don't remember the name of it, we had to create our own brochures. The instructor told us we had to design the brochures on boards, which seems insane to me today. He demonstrated how we could create headlines on this new beige box called the Mac. Of course, I had seen computers, but the Mac was new and looked different. It was this small box with a tiny screen. You could use a piece of software called PageMaker to create limited graphics using fonts. I was impressed and intimidated all at once. About three years later, I worked for a publishing company and what did I have sitting on my new desk? A little Mac SE. For the next four years, I abused my Mac SE writing hundreds of articles for the now defunct California Computer News . The Mac SE, unfortunately got replaced with a PC (groan), and I had been marched to ...

My new novel California Girl Chronicles arrived yesterday via UPS. A few comments about it. First, I love our printer, who I am not going to disclose for competitive purposes. Every single order they surprise me. What you can't see in that picture to the left is that beneath the jacket sleeve, they embossed the hard cover on front and back. It's done in gold emboss and looks really nice. The quality of the paper on all fronts is excellent. The book turned out BETTER than I anticipated. Big kudos. But that said, 3L Publishing strives for excellence on all fronts. We all work with the best of the best. Every vendor we work with we vet ahead of time to ensure what they produce on behalf of our clients will not just be satisfactory but impressive. With the edition of premiere distributor Bakers and Taylor , we are poised to move aggressively into a very successful distribution model into bookstores. Believe me when I say that it was an impressive feat for us to gain acceptance wit...