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Dream Team


Missing my foul shots sucked! Can you imagine receiving a certificate from your middle school basketball coach that read " Worst Foul Shooter"? She meant it as a joke, but in that moment, I felt as if being placed in quick sand would be better than facing the team. I felt like I failed them. I saw things from the lens of "it is all my fault that we did not end the season with a 9-0 record". Instead, we ended the season with a 8-1 record and the one game that we lost, we lost it by one point. Unfortunately, that one game was the game in which I missed both of my foul shots. As I reflect on the events that took place the day that I missed the foul shots, I realized that had I refrained from putting so much pressure on myself, I may have avoided being rushed to emergency, hooked to electrodes and given a diagnosis of "too much anxiety and stress is what caused her to collapse on the basketball court". After all, basketball is a team sport. Had the team performed better, we could have won the game. Although I am a member of the team, I am not the team. Too often, when writing our story, we act as if we are the only members on the team. Know that in order to produce a quality book, you will need other members on your team. Some of these members include an editor and a graphic designer. You need someone to promote your book and much more. Today, I encourage you to put together your dream team.


Who will you have edit your book?

Who will design your book?

Who will format your book?

What company will you use to publish your book?

Who will be on your marketing team for your book? Nothing of value was created alone. Even God said "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness" in Genesis chapter 1 of the bible, so what makes you think that you have to do it all by yourself? It's time to identify your dream team. Seek direction from God and move expediently as you write and prepare to publish your story.


 

Speaking of dream teams, I had the honor of being interviewed by the founder of Chase Great University this past Tuesday about my chapter in our upcoming book "Coach My Life Volume 4". My chapter in the book is called "Embrace the Royal You". Check out the interview below.




The Coach My Life Volume 4 book is designed to provide you with coaching tools from six experts from multiple fields such as business, mindset, lifestyle and much more. We call this "coaching in a book".


If you have thought about acquiring a coach, but wanted to sample it first, this is a great resource for you. If you desire to gain tools to help you improve your business, relationships, overcome grief or write your story, then you need to Pre-Order your copy of this book today.


Click the link below to Pre-Order your copy of the Coach My Life Anthology Volume 4.





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A Follow Can Be Hollow


"I finally reached 10,000 followers on my LinkedIn account... YESSSSS! I am certain that I will see an increase in sales now," I thought to myself when I first noticed that I reached that number of followers on one of my social media accounts.


I soon realized that sometimes "A follow can be hollow". You are probably thinking to yourself, "What do you mean by that?"


Let me explain. The definition of the word hollow is "having a hole or empty space inside". Something that is hollow is typically very light i.e. having no real weight to it. Thus, a person may follow you on social media for various different reasons, but just because they are following you does not mean that they are supporting you yet. They could be following you for reasons such as: * to glean from you * to be encouraged by you * to determine if they want to financially support you * to be entertained by you * sheer obedience to someone they trust * or various other reasons In order to have more people purchase your books, you have to genuinely nurture the relationships that you could develop with those who decided that the information you share is worthy enough to follow you. As an introvert, I completely understand the difficulty that may develop from you choosing to be more "social" on social media and in your everyday life.


Choose one small step that you will take to develop genuine connections with those who follow you and build your email list. Post that step in the comment section below. Remember nothing is too difficult for you when God is on your side. Go in power!



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Five Golden Tickets




Do you remember watching Charlie and the Chocolate factory? I remember the excitement as the children would obtain every Wonka package possible and search for five golden tickets. These tickets would unlock treasures for them for years to come. Just like those children searched Charlie's chocolate factory and the Willy Wonka candy bar packages for five golden tickets, many authors dream of obtaining at least one of the five golden tickets in the publishing industry. These golden tickets represent the five major publishing companies known as the "Big Five". These companies are listed below: - Hachette Book Group - HarperCollins Publishers - Macmillan Publishers - Penguin Random House - Simon & Schuster You may be asking yourself "Why are aspiring authors and current authors searching for access to these golden tickets?" One reason why authors search for these golden tickets are because they do not have to pay anything to publish through these agencies. Also, their book instantly gains credibility and prestige. One of the negative aspects of publishing through these "golden ticket" i.e. traditional publishing companies are the author has no decision making power regarding book cover design and marketing. Another negative aspect of obtaining these golden tickets is the author typically earns less than 20% in royalty for the sale of their books. Last but now least, the contracts that are signed are final; thus, there isn't much room for negotiations compared to those who self-publish. One key fact that you must be aware of when trying to access any of these golden tickets is that they do not accept unsolicited manuscripts or other materials. You must go through a literary agent. You may be thinking to yourself, "Ok. Spill the beans girl! How do I find a literary agent?" "Hold on wait a minute, let me put some facts in it" is my reply to your request. LOL! Seriously, though, you must visit https://literarymarketplace.com/lmp/us/index_us.asp and register. Once registered, you can look up the different literary agents on the website. However, they will not give you contact information such as phone numbers or email addresses until you pay to subscribe to the site. Another great source to acquire a literary agent is The Writers Market. Visit www.writersdigest.com to access this market. Now that you know how to gain access to the golden tickets, let's discuss a secret back door to one of them: Archway Publishing. Archway Publishing is a self-publishing agency that has a partnership with Simon & Schuster. Through this partnership, Simon & Schuster review the titles published under Archway Publishing and consider them for publishing under their label; thus, causing your book to not be considered "unsolicited manuscripts or material" and giving you a back door method into accessing this particular golden ticket. Now that you know how to access these golden tickets, go forth into the candy factory and get what you are looking for. It's time to embrace the royal you. If this blog has helped you, please like, comment and share this blog with someone else. As you decide which publishing method is best for you, make sure you also learn about the additional streams of income that are connected to your book. Movies are an additional stream of income that can be connected to your book. During the Clarity in the Pen conference, I have experts ready to share the process of writing and releasing your book as a movie. This is a virtual conference that you do not want to miss! To register, click the link below. See you in the room! #royalclarityview #aspiringauthors #authorsofinstagram #writerscommunity #indiefilms #writeyourstory



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