The LAST Word

  We are coming up on the spring season. This is a wonderful season. It is as colorful as fall, but plants, trees and animals are coming alive, not dying. You will see purple, pinks, white, yellow, light green, blues, red, orange and lavender. Spring is a time of renewal on the Earth and in your soul.  But, with spring also comes the dreaded Daylight Savings Time. This is a system we do not need and should outlaw. First, the name is incorrect. We aren't "saving" daylight. We are moving it to be later in the day, but the number of hours that are bright is the same in EST or EDT. During June, it is about 12-14 hours of daylight whether that day starts at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. Second, it was started for farmers and to save energy, but most of us live at our computers inside an office instead of on the farm. I would also argue that farmers would prefer light in the morning when they have to get up to milk the cows. I would also argue that we use the same amount of energy by turnin

  I recently met with a potential book client. She asked me about query letters and what she needs to do to get published by a traditional publisher, such as Random House or Simon and Schuster, etc. I answered her honestly. Traditional publishers are difficult to reach. They are picky and get slammed with book proposals. They can't read all of them. Here are some tips for publishing. 1. Traditional Publishers -- They want best-selling authors, celebrities, great stories for fiction and a high market potential for nonfiction. They don't want memoirs, unknown authors and women's literature. These don't sell. Traditional publishers want books they know will sell because of how the book industry works. In retail, companies buy from manufacturers at wholesale and sell. They can't return the items to the manufacturer unless there are defects. In book industry, bookstores are allowed to buy at wholesale and send back whatever doesn't sell back to the publisher. So, l

  Many people like the colors of autumn. They enjoy the vivid reds, yellows and oranges. Some people also like the purple and black associated with Halloween. I am not one of those people. I don't like fall for two reasons. It means that we are at the end of the year, and the vivid colors means things are dying. I prefer the colors of spring: yellows, light purple, white, pink, light green, etc. They are the colors of new life. However, I do know that things have to die to produce new life. And, you should use this metaphor in your writing. Let it die to bring the work to life again. What do I mean? Continue reading. Characters – Sometimes, characters have to die even if you like them. To move the story and make it flow, you might have to kill a character. In my first novel, The 1776 Scroll of Secrets , no one was killed even the villain. However, in The 1776 Bed and Breakfast , the villains were killed, but I also killed Buck's (the main character) mother. She had

During this time, Americans are stuck at home. Even though many states are allowing stores and other businesses to open, people are not flocking to the gathering places. They are still afraid to catch a virus or disease. Many people are bored and trying to come up with things to do . Here are some tips for you. Home Projects Now is the perfect time to tackle those home projects. You could do spring cleaning and declutter your home. If your project involves more than cleaning, you also could order from Home Depot online or another retailer and get materials for your projects delivered to your door. If you want to put up new shelving in your closet, you could get the materials and begin hammering away. Just avoid making disasters in your home. Discover New Things So many videos are available online that you could learn almost anything while you are at home. You could learn a new language or a new skill. I want a patio for my back yard. I am not handy. Neither

Most people tend to look at the new year as a way to start fresh. They begin new diets, exercise more, plan vacations they’ve always wanted to take or invest in opportunities to be smarter with their finances. But what about your business? Have you ever thought of trying something new, but didn’t know exactly how to start? Have you ever wanted to motivate your employees, have closer relationships with your customers or learn to use social media to your advantage, but didn’t know where to begin? While I can't help with many of those issues, I could show you how to promote book events this year. Many business owners and authors believe all events should be promoted the same way, but as there are different types of events, there are different ways to promote them. Some examples of events are: online events, meetings, grand openings or book launches , seminars and workshops, conferences, book signings, book-selling opportunities and networking events. Now, how do you go

Not too long ago, getting a book published was an accomplishment that many people didn't do. It was to be congratulated and celebrated. Today, because of the explosion of self-published books, getting a book published is not celebrated as an accomplishment. However, I say that people still should congratulate new authors and celebrate their success. Even a self-published book is an accomplishment. It takes hard work to complete a book or novel. You should count it as a blessing happening right now in your life. Ways to Celebrate Your Book Throw a Party – Although it still is done sometimes, especially for best-selling authors, book launch parties are not as popular as they once were. In the past, traditional publishers would throw a party the day a book was released to the public. This did two things. First, it allowed friends and family to get a copy of the book without going to a store. Second, it began a marketing buzz. Even if you self-publish or use pr