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