Read Between the Lines Goes to Hollywood!

Love the necklace you saw Jennifer Anniston wearing last month?  How about those amazing heels Beyonce had on at the Golden Globes?  They could be wearing SWAG for all we know.

Lots of people want to wear what A-listers wear, travel where A-listers travel, and read what A-listers read.

Just in case you don't know what SWAG is, it's basically a bag of incredible goodies that companies give away to A-listers before big events like the Academy Awards and The Grammy's.  Having a Hollywood A-lister wear or be photographed with your product is something that can boost sales and create buzz.  Before the economy melt down, it wasn't uncommon for the contents of the SWAG bag to be valued over $100,000!

And, the super exciting news about the SWAG for the Academy Awards this year, is that thanks to one of my girlfriends, (THANK YOU EMMA!!) a copy of Read Between the Lines will be one of the items in the SWAG bag!  

What does this mean?  Because RBTL was selected as SWAG for the biggest Hollywood event of the year, I've been given the golden opportunity to showcase my book directly to 200 of the famously well heeled, media, and stars of all kinds who have received the "coveted invite" to load up on these incredible freebies!

Because Read Between the Lines will be "in the bag" with high-end quality products like alligator bags and swiss watches, I've decided to add some "Hollywood Bling" to the cover, and create a “Special Edition Academy Awards 2010 Cover” which will include a special design of Swarovski Crystals on the outside jacket.

WOOO HOOO - Hollywood, here we come!

RBTL Interviews Peggy Kennedy, Author of Approaching Neverland

I’m very excited to hear Peggy Kennedy, the author of Approaching Neverland, speak  about becoming a newly published author at the upcoming San Francisco’s Writers Conference I'll be attending on February 13th.

In fact, I was so excited, I decided to interview her!


A bit about her book: With brutal honesty and surprising humor, Peggy shares the turbulence of growing up under the shadow of Barbara's illness, of being shuffled from one family member to the next, and of visiting her mother in the mental institution. As the years pass, the shadows of Barbara's challenges become a loving legacy in Peggy's quest to achieve happiness and fulfillment in her life.

A vivid, haunting portrayal of one woman's struggle to understand how the past fits in with her future, Approaching Neverland is as inspiring as it is beautifully written, and will stay with you long after the last page is turned.

Here's what Peggy had to say.

How did you get Approaching Neverland published?

Published in March 2009, Approaching Neverland got its start by winning first prize in the non-fiction category at the SF Writers Conference in 2008. From there, I went on to find a publisher, but to my surprise I still had a difficult time finding a “traditional” publisher, so I decided to use her 1st place prize from the conference and use iUniverse as my publisher.

What’s contributed to your books success?

Approaching Neverland has been both critically successful and publicly successful.  My sales are still going strong.  It’s vital to find a publicist that understands your book, your market, and how to get your message out.

What’s the most important thing you’ve done as an author to sell/promote your book?

Really, it’s been a combination of many things. Originally I started with personal contact with everyone I knew, which then went to word-of-mouth. I’ve also found it important to do as many speaking engagements as possible and I'm also sponsoring events that tie-in with the subject of my book, mental illness.

Is there anything you would do differently next time you write a book?

I would be more particular where I spend my money when it comes to Public Relations. It seems there a lot of people in the PR business, that tend to over promise and under deliver. Unfortunately, you usually don’t find out their value (or lack of) until it’s too late, and you’ve spent a lot of money. Some of the things I’ve done that I wouldn’t do next time are:

• Hire Public Relations individuals who don’t get results

• Pay to have my book at Book Fairs

• Putting an ad in RTIR – This is the Radio and Television Intel Report that I got zero results from

What advice do you have for new authors like me?

Stay focused and on track of your book sales. Social networking is a must, and look for natural tie-ins that work well with your product. For example, my books about mental health, so I target speaking opportunities that reveal my expertise, such as mental health conferences.

For more information about Approaching Neverland, please visit: http://www.approachingneverland.com/

Come listen to Peggy speak at the SF Writers Conference on February 13, 2010.
For details about the conference, go to http://www.sfwriters.org/.

Got Your Picture Yet?

Read Between the Lines needs your help!

Join RBTL Across America, and e-mail your picture(s) to campaign@rbtlguide.com.

By doing so, your helping:

• Witness the "Coming Out" of my book - which I can't possibly do without you
• Feel like I'm standing in your local store
• Document RBTL's placement in your favorite Barnes location
• Assure me I'm not dreaming, that RBTL really did make it into all the Barnes  Noble stores across the country

If you're not sure what "RBTL Across America" is, read my post from last week which explains everything you need to know.

Thanks again for all of your support - I really appreciate it!

Confessions of an Unknown Author

There's a lot of things I don't know about being an author. In fact, I know next to nothing except being an "unknown" is EXTRA hard.

What I do know is how thankful I am to all of you who have supported me along my "Read Between the Lines" journey.

Everyone from my BFF to my fellow TVIP babes who've all ventured out in the pouring rain (and usually drag their family along) to support me at my signings. To my amazing friends, co-workers and clients who just continue to surprise me because they truly believe.

It seems everyone from my oldest friends to the new people I meet every day along my "unknown author" journey... are all going the extra mile to help get RBTL into the hands of their friends, family and clients.

Even my family still comes to every single signing... just to see how it's going and if I'm making any headway. I must confess that after every event I have, my family takes bets on how many books I signed, or how many bookmarks I passed out. Nothing like a little pressure!

Take Renee Lovely who owns Avalon Spa and Salon who I only met AFTER she offered to host a book signing event at her salon - just because she loves to help others! Renee got all of her family and friends on board to partake in Saturday's amazing event.

How about Michael, the store manager of Barnes and Noble in Dublin, California? When I walked into his store today for my book signing, he had arranged for a beautiful arrangement of flowers to be displayed on my event table. Justin at Borders Rancho Mirage is one of my bookstore heroes for all of his words of wisdom and extra help he gave me for my very first event! How amazing is that for an unknown author like myself to get such fabulous treatment?

Just a few weeks ago, my mom and step father drove 7 hours to surprise me at my first signing event, only to have to turn around the next day and drive home another 7 hours. 14 hours of drive time for a two hour signing.

One things for sure, I couldn't have dreamed for anything more from anyone.

From what I know now, I must confess that I never realized that writing Read Between the Lines was just 10% of the work until yesterday. The other 90% comes after the book leaves the presses - especially for an "unknown" like myself. Too bad I haven't recently run for Vice President, successfully landed my plane on the Hudson, or found the EASY button for a successful book! :)

Every day I learn a tiny bit more about being an unknown author, but the one thing I know for sure is I couldn't do any of this without without all of you!

TYSM!

Dream A Little Dream

Have you ever had an idea to do something that could turn out to be really amazing? You know, that perfect something that's just begging to be born and become a reality?

What about a new way of doing something, or a product that is really needed but not available? It doesn't even matter what the size of your dream is, because it belongs only to you.

I know that you've had ideas in the past, and they come to you at the strangest times! They come to you in the middle of the night or while you're taking a shower. Or maybe you're just stuck in traffic and POW it hits you like a ton of bricks!

Just today, I had two of my girlfriends tell me about an idea they have, but they're not exactly sure how to go about making the idea a reality.

I say "Don't let the lack of knowing something stop you from doing anything!" Who cares if you don't know how to do something... you can always figure it out! Your smart, savvy and know people who can help you, you just have to ask.

It's definitely not comfortable to try something you know nothing about. In fact, I think that's the main reason why we don't always try. Take it from me, I've had lots of ideas that I've never acted on. Why? For me... I can honestly say I didn't try hard enough, and gave up too soon.

When things become to hard for me, I always tell myself the same thing: "If it were easy, everybody would be doing it."

In the end, I think it's about the long, windy and often difficult road that makes the journey worth traveling. Learning something new is always a process. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes it can be really hard. But, we have to at least try as hard as we can in order to make our dreams become a reality.

So go ahead, shoot for the stars and dream a little dream, then take the fabulous journey that will allow you to make your dream come true.

A Magical Night Indeed

Downtown Pleasanton hosted it's "Magical Downtown Holiday Evening" tonight, which I was lucky to be a part of, thanks to Towne Center Books who invited me in for a book signing.

Towne Center Books reminds me of "The Shop Around the Corner", which was the name of the bookstore in "You've Got Mail". It's cute, clever and Judy the owner and her staff are very passionate about their books. Thanks Judy - I just love your store!

Book signings are a lot of fun, especially because of all the new people you get to meet and talk to. And yes, signing your very own book is really great too!

The real reason tonight was so magical was due to this lady who stood out on the sidewalk passing out Read Between the Lines bookmarks for me, encouraging all those "potential" customers to come into the store. BTW, that lady was my mom who surprised me by driving 7 hours last night with her hubby, just so they could attend my first RBTL book signing.

Thanks Mom! YTB mom a girl could ever have!!

Special thanks to my family, friends, neighbors and co-workers who showed up to say "hi", and join in on the holiday and book signing festivities. I couldn't do any of this without your support.

TTFN

Text Messages DON'T Replace Phone Calls

For all of you skeptics out there, let's get down to brass tacks.

A text messages will never replace the "personal" side of a phone conversation. It's best to think of communicating by text as a supplement to, not a replacement of person-to-person connections.

There are always times when a call can't be answered for one reason or another, which sends your call straight into voice mail, requiring you to leave a message. Maybe you'll get a call back, maybe you won't.

Think of a text as a Post-it note on steroids. With a text, you can send your note instantly to your recipient, and if they're next to their cell phone and can answer it, they will. Most of the time, you'll find your text "notes" returned within minutes.

There are tons of reasons why a text works better than a call. Here's just a few of them:

Texts are private and discreet

It's too late or too early to make your call

You're in a meeting and can't call or their in a meeting and can't answer

Texts are instant, and have global reach

In an emergency when a phone call won't go through, a TM usually will

If you're reaching out to a teen and want a response, you better send a text

Text messages will never replace the importance of a personal phone call. A text will allow you to connect more often, and stay in the communication loop.

By reading Read Between the Lines, you'll discover numerous ways to assimilate text messaging into your daily life, allowing you to reach triple platinum communication success!

WOO HOO to that!

Read Between the Lines - Comments From Book Buyers

This week, I've made several deliveries of Read Between the Lines for corporate orders that were placed over the last few months. I've also dropped off books to the wonderful women in my life who have helped me through the process of getting RBTL published. TY 2 my BFF's!

Also this week, Read Between the Lines made it's first appearance to complete strangers, which means people I've never met had a chance to look at the book, pick it up, flip through the pages and comment how they really felt about it.

Kind of scary - yet exciting all at the same time!

The amazing news is I had nothing but VERY positive feedback, lots of purchases, and several large quantity orders.

Here are the two negatives I heard:

An elderly lady said she couldn't text because she had arthritis in her thumbs. Unfortunately, that was a challenge I was unable to overcome. I also I had a 17-year old and her mom stop by to take a look (the teen had already previewed the book for about 3 minutes before her mom). The teenager definitely didn't want her mom to have all the info that RBTL had to offer, but after her mom had a chance to thumb through, making squeals, giggles and comments about the content, the "too cool" teen finally gave her mom the green light to buy the book.

Here's what I've noticed so far:

The reason why people are first attracted to RBTL is the cover, the amazing illustrations, the color pallet and the polka dot theme that's continued throughout the book. They also love the idea that there's a fun book about texting that includes a text lingo dictionary that they can use to trick their kids. I also noticed that all of my book buyers knew how to text or were just learning, but still want the book because of the variety of RBTL's content.

I have to thank my lucky stars that my publisher was able to secure Margarete Gockel to illustrate my cover, as well as the 11 additional illustrations throughout Read Between the Lines.

For those of you who don't recognize Margarete's name, in the United States she's best known for her illustrations that are on the covers of the "Skinny Bitch" book series.

Margarete had the incredible ability to draw exactly what I had in mind for each illustration. She nailed the cover on her first attempt, she knew what I wanted, and was easily able to capture all the little details I asked her for. I know women (and men) easily identify with her fun and entertaining illustrations, and men just love every single detail about her work.

My thanks for helping me make my dream become a reality goes out to Margarete Gockel.

One women I met tonight said "Don't you just want to jump a plane to Germany to give her a big hug and thank her personally?" The thought had never crossed my mind until tonight...watch out Margarete! JK

Text Your Tweets to Stardom!

Twitter will ask you only one question: "What are you doing?" As long as your answer is 140 characters or less, it's possible for thousands, possibly millions of people (If you're a Twitter Rock Star) to see your answer the moment you hit "enter".

In short, Twitter is a trendy communication tool that's part micro-blog, part social network, part instant message, and part text message that allows you to share information by sending quick updates (AKA tweets) in 140-character snippets or less.

For most of us, it's NOT our goal to tweet "What we are really doing" for the entire Twitter Nation to see, every moment of the day.

There's nothing worse than having to read that someones going to the dentist or getting their tires rotated. Who cares? TMI!

One great thing Twitter offers is many benefits to businesses that shouldn't be ignored. Twitter can be an incredible tool to provide important information about your company, while at the same time showing the "real" side of your business.

With Twitter, you can build relationships with those whom you might otherwise miss out on getting to know. Here are a few things your company can do with Twitter:

Network

Provide customer support

Expand PR and marketing opportunities

Share tips, promotions and sales

Provide important industry related info

Add value to your service offerings

Make important announcements

and much more

Whether you're interested in using Twitter to further your professional career, your company's presence in the Twitter world, or just looking to spread your wings and have some fun, Twitter can be the perfect information skyway for you.

Most people I talk to know nothing (or very little) about Twitter. That's why I decided to dedicate an entire chapter within Read Between the Lines to Twitter.

The good news is You decide if it's for something you want try, or not. It's free, so even if you try it and you don't like it - you definitely don't have much to loose except for your time.

Stardom, here you come!

Text To Connect With the Under 25'sters!

Most teens keep their phones on vibrate or silent, which means they don't hear their cell phone ring when you call. If you're relying on e-mail to be the window into your favorite teen's world, or if your thinking when you call they'll pick up, you haven't been given the 411 on teen communication.

What will actually happen when you give them a ringy-dingy? You'll probably get voice mail. What about the 37 e-mails you've sent over the last 6 months to your grandson in college? They're probably still sitting in his in-box, or maybe they went into a spam folder. Bottom line: expect your voice messages NOT to be heard and e-mails not to be read.

As of Q1 2009:

Teens average 2900 text messages a month and only 231 calls a month. Some teens send as many as 15,000 texts a month, and make under ten calls during the same time frame.

If this information is brand new to you, it's time to Read Between the Lines and opt for a new communication solution.

Would you prefer to get an instant response to your nagging parental questions - or just a single response from your grandkid?

If this is sounding like a dream come true, then you need to send him or her a text. You should get a response within seconds. The unwritten code of conduct for the under 25'sters is to answer every text within seconds of receiving it.

One of the main reasons I wrote Read Between the Lines was to get more people connecting more often. I know, having a personal conversation is so much better than a text, but often a call isn't possible or isn't convenient. These are perfect examples of when you can take advantage of how easy a text message is to send, and how quickly you'll get the answer to your question - just like that!

Just text it!

Back Up the Truck - Warehouse Receives Books & RBTL Goes to Uganda

After seven days on the road all the way from the plant in Brainerd Minnesota, both shipments of Read Between the Lines finally arrived safe and sound!!

Most of the books went to the distribution warehouse in Texas. From there, they'll go to Ingram, a major book distributor used by Borders, Barnes and Nobles and other book stores around the country. JR, the driver who delivered a few cases of Read Between the Lines to my office in Pleasanton was pretty overwhelmed by my excitement, but really sweet about it. He even asked for my autograph before he left.

So, what does this really mean? It means that orders will be filled in the next few weeks, and soon books will be available in stores, ready for their new homes.

I'm in San Diego right now with my daughter Nicole, visiting USD as one of the potential colleges of her dreams. We had a great day at USD's Fall Open House, then went out to dinner at Currant, in downtown San Diego. I'm mentioning this because we met an interesting man that's here from Uganda for a National Real Estate Conference. Vincent Agaba from Uganda was sitting alone at the table next to us, so Nicole and I started chatting it up with him.

Instantly, Vincent from Uganda, Nicole and I all hit it off for a lot of reasons. Nicole has a huge passion for an organization called Invisible Children, which helps support children in Uganda who need help. Vincent helped Nicole understand the differences between the West and the North, and how the most important thing the United States can do for the children in Northern Uganda is to help educate them any way we can.

Like myself, Vincent is in the insurance business (he works in the field of insurance, real estate and mortgages) and he also publishes a real estate magazine, which is distributed throughout Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya. Additionally, Vincent has a dream to write the first real estate book in his country.

That's when Read Between the Lines came up, and after some more conversation between the three of us, he asked if he could purchase a book.

Let's just say that one of the first copies of RBTL has a new home, soon to be all the way in Africa.

As I'm writing this, Vincent is learning to Read Between the Lines, and how to text American style.

WOO HOO Vincent - and thanks for taking RBTL home with you to Africa!

Thanks Vincent Agaba from Uganda for educating us about your country, and allowing RBTL to educate you... and thanks JR, for delivering my first book into the right hands in Texas and in California.

You guys both rock!

A Magical Holiday Evening in Downtown Pleasanton November 20th 2009

Come celebrate the season by attending Pleasanton's annual "Magical Holiday Evening" where all of Pleasanton's downtown businesses will hold their annual open house on Friday Night, November the 20th between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m.

You'll be able to shop, dine, enjoy wonderful music and last but not least, stop by Towne Center Books and witness my first official book signing event.

If you've never been to Towne Center Books, you're in for a real treat. Located on Main Street, right in the heart of downtown Pleasanton, it's in the perfect spot to stop by right after you've had your dinner at your favorite restaurant, and grabbed your frosty from the drive-through dairy.

The second you walk into TCB, you'll be amazed at the large assortment of books kept in inventory, the way the books are displayed, and the overall book knowledge that Judy and her wonderful staff have to offer. If they don't have that perfect book, don't worry, they'll order it for you lickety split! It's personal at Towne Center Books - which is what makes this store so special.

I'm really excited to celebrate my first official book signing event for Read Between the Liness with my family, friends, and neighbors right in my very own hometown!

If you have just a few minutes, stop by Town Center Books on November 20th between 7:00 and 8:00 pm and help me celebrate the coming out of Read Between the Lines. I'd love to see you there!

After all, RBTL's been waiting to be exposed for months, and is definitely ready for the big event, just like I am!

It's Going to be A Magical Evening for Everyone - See You Then!!

Sex in the City of Walnut Creek with Candace Bushnell

First, I have to say that I feel naked without my book. I gave my very first copy of Read Between the Lines to Candace Bushnell tonight, the author of "Sex in the City" and "Lipstick Jungle" just to name a few.

I received my advanced copy of Read Between the Lines just last week. That one single copy that I've slept next to for the last few nights has a new home. But, I'm really excited to say that even though RBTL will be missing from my hands for just a short time (I receive several cases on Wednesday) it's worth it because Candace is looking forward to reading the book, as well as providing me her personal feedback!

WOO HOO! Feedback from Candace Bushnell... I just hope she loves it!

I met the beautiful Candace tonight at a pre-party hosted by Junior League at this amazing shoe store called Foot Candy in Walnut Creek. BTW Candace was amazing too! After I had the pleasure of spending a few minutes with her, we all moved on to The Lesher Speaker Series event to hear her speak about her career, and how she got to where she is today.

In case you were wondering, the answer is yes! Yes the shoes at Food Candy are so incredible, you'll never go anywhere else for that super special pair you HAVE to have. Manolo, Jimmy, and Christian Louboutin where all in the house!

Back to Candace. As I'm sitting in the auditorium listening to her speak, I noticed she spoke a lot about women, and how they feel they want it all, and still have to do it all, which causes us to often come up short. And when she was younger, living in NYC that her dating rituals would always come to an end (until she met her husband at age 43), but that her girl friends would always be there for her, no matter what.

Girl Power! There's absolutely no substitute for friends... But do we really want it all? And what really defines "It all"?

I also need to mention that the theater was packed with both men and women. The audience was mostly couples 50 and up, which surprised me. For some reason I thought there would be bunches of 30ish groups of women, dressed to the nines. At the pre-party, this was the case, but at the main event, not so much.

The lady sitting to my right had her eyes closed most of the time...could she really be sleeping?

When Candace first moved to NYC at the age of 19, she made $1000.00 to write a children's story for Simon and Schuster which she was thrilled with. After years of dating, she realized that not ONE guy in New York wanted to get married, and she continued to move in and out of her "guy of the moments" place, with her friends always there for her "packing up her stuff in those giant leaf bags". Those moments are what eventually inspired her to write Sex and the City.

Yes, the women next to me was definitely sleeping. All I know is if the discussion we were listening to wasn't going to keep her awake, I'm not sure what will!

Money, power, career, independence, sex, success and Manolo's - the theme of tonight, are all important things us women need to strive for and keep a hold of.

There was a Mr. Big too, and as for the character Carrie Bradshaw, that was really her pen name that she used so her mom didn't know too much about all of her "personal details" she exposed in her column.

Yep, Candace definitely brought the discussion of Sex into Walnut Creek tonight, and Read Between the Lines found a new home.

OMG - RBTL Has Arrived!!!!!

Joe the Fed Ex guy did NOT let me down today.

I was out of the office most of the day, but when I returned, Read Between the Lines was waiting for me on my desk, along with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered by my husband David. And, get this... by design, the flowers perfectly matched all of the colors of my book!

I'm going to have to say it again a few more times... OMG, OMG, OMG!

When I picked RBTL up and held it in my hands for the first time, I was really surprised how it felt. It's heavier than I ever imagined, and it feels like one of those big high quality coffee table books, just on a smaller scale.

Then, when I ran my hand across the cover, I could feel all the incredible embossing that was done by the printer. I knew there would be embossing, but not to the degree that I was feeling. (Thank you Kathryn @ my publishers office, she made all of the paper and embossing decisions) After I got past the details on the front cover, I opened it up.

WOW is all I could say. And all I could think was "Is this really my book?"

To be totally honest, it's too amazing to be MY book... The book that my mom, my publisher and I have been working on to decide all of the smallest little tiny content details for months and months and months. I never imagined Read Between the Lines could be what it is today.

I always had it planned out and designed in my mind, and I knew the information I wanted to include, and the way I wanted the words to speak to my readers. As for the packaging, I wanted it to be one of "those" books that you have to pick up the second you see it.

You could say that irresistibility inside and out was my goal.

And when my mom, my daughter and I flew to Dallas in July to meet with Jessica (the key designer at my publishers office) I knew that she was fully capable of helping me achieve my goal of irresistibility! That day, the four of us together worked for hours choosing the perfect color palette, the perfect fonts, and the perfect placement of the design elements. And just like that, RBTL came together like magic.

Read Between the Lines is irresistible to me. And since I can't put it down, I think I'm going to have to sleep with it under my pillow tonight. :)

Mission accomplished gals!

A Dark Day in Sunny California

Today was not such a amazing day after all. In fact, today was a dark disappointment for me. Read Between the Lines didn't arrive in the warehouse or in my office today as originally scheduled.

My publisher called me this morning and said "I might have mislead you when I told you we had received the books yesterday. The warehouse did NOT receive the books, and your scheduled delivery is also delayed."

Here comes the rain.

What happened was Read Between the Lines was never put on the truck for delivery last Friday, as originally scheduled AND I was never told this until today. What the publisher received yesterday was just a few advanced copies that were shipped from the plant last week.

That's it.

The rest of the books were still sitting at the plant, waiting to be shipped. When all of this came to light this morning, my publisher did do what they needed to do to get the books sent safely on their way today.

Unfortunately, what this means is that both the warehouse and myself will have to wait until next week to receive them. More importantly, what it means is my books will still have to make that long dangerous journey across the country.

Since risk is one thing I know a little bit about (insurance is my profession) I'm not too worried about RBTL's potential transportation risk. I just want them to get where they need to go... sooner rather than later.

I guess this is one of those examples of how things can't always go perfectly, and that stuff happens that I have absolutely no control over. A reality I don't like to face, but must.

The small glimmer of sun behind my dark cloud is that I'll be getting one copy of RBTL tomorrow. My publisher overnighted one of the copies they received, so I will get to see the actual book just as soon as Joe, our Fed Ex guy, makes his appearance.

I have to admit, it's very nerve racking waiting to see the first copy of my finished book. I think I've asked myself at least 200 times "What if it's terrible, and I hate it?" Then I keep telling myself "Think positive, your thoughts must be what every author goes through when their about to get that first copy of their "baby" they've worked so hard on delivered into their hands for the first time."

Tonight will be a very long night for me. I'm hoping and praying for that bright and beautiful sun to shine in sunny California. I'm also hoping that Joe shows up at 8 tomorrow morning because one things for sure, I'll be watching the door for both him and my newest labor of love, Read Between the Lines to make their appearance.

RBTL Has Arrived!

Today is a very big day, because Read Between the Lines arrived in the warehouse which is where the distribution process originates for all orders across the entire county.

This is exciting, because now any pending orders that have been on hold, waiting for the books to arrive, can now be filled.

It's also exciting because my publisher warned me of all the dangers that could happen during the delivery process, making the actual delivery questionable and definitely impossible to guarantee. Apparently, there have been "delivery obstacles" that have actually occurred in the past, that required complete disclosure.

There was the possibility of the delivery truck being stolen, a fire burning all the books, the truck over-turning, and even the possibility of a strike occurring somewhere during the delivery process.

Needless to say, I've been on pins and needles ever since the books left the plant, bound for the warehouse in that delivery truck that I had too many concerns about.

Lucky me, because none of these things happened, and Read Between the Lines is safe and sound tucked away in nice cardboard boxes waiting for their new homes.

Today is definitely a WOO HOO day for me, especially since I know that tomorrow I'm going to get a small delivery of books. Tomorrow will also be the first time that I get to lay eyes on my actual book. I've seen a draft of the Read Between the Lines, (referred to as a Galley in the book business), but I've never seen the actual hardcover book with the dust jacket that I spent so long making sure was perfect.

Tomorrow, one of the first things I'll do is Fed Ex a few copies down to my mom. She's been helping me with every single little detail of RBTL, every single step of the way. I'm positive she can't wait to see the real deal either!

It's been a long, curvy road with lots of ups and downs from when I first committed to writing RBTL! Some people might say "Wow, you've accomplished your dream of writing a book" but I have to disagree. I know that my goal won't be accomplished until I hear that Read Between The Lines has made a difference in peoples lives by helping them communicate in a new way, or taught them something useful and new that they weren't already aware of.

Aging Up but NOT Out!

If you're a parent or a grandparent, you may be thinking "Why in the heck do I need to learn how to text? Texting is just for kids" or "I'm definitely not going to learn something new at my age!"

You may also be wondering what happened to your darling little innocent children or grandchildren who used to love to stay the night and hear you read out loud to them as they helped you turn the pages. In fact, they used to love doing just about anything with you, as long as you were together. When you called them, they would talk, giggle, and laugh with you and tell you about their day.

Where did they go??

If your children or grandchildren have morphed into teenagers, you're probably finding that your phone calls don't get returned, and your emails you send or calls you make go unanswered.

If ANY of this sounds remotely familiar to you, I'd like you to please
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WHAT I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU.

For the most part, teens don't e-mail like their parents and grandparents do. If your calls are going unanswered, it's because most kids don't let their cell phone ring (it's on vibrate), and they hardly ever check voice mail for messages. The only way you're going to get their attention, or get a response is to text them.

Yep, you heard me correctly... you're going to need to learn how to text, so you can stay in touch with your favorite teenager!

When you make the decision to not let a new super-simple technology like texting hinder you or keep you out of your families "communication loop", go ahead and send your first text to your favorite youngster with a cell phone (which BTW I've heard of children as young as 8 years old now have cell phones).

If you're a texting newbie, it's a great excuse to either ask for help (and gain some new respect for wanting to learn) or refer to the Quick Start Guide that is in the very beginning of Read Between the Lines. Also, be sure to add a texting plan with your wireless provider (which there are tons of options, and are now very cost effective), so you're not over-charged. If you want to text for free, you can do so directly on your wireless providers Internet site.

Texting is a fabulous way for parents and grandparents to stay connected to Generation Text; it allows you to easily communicate across generations easily and more often. It's certainly not the same as hearing their voices on the phone, but something is better than nothing, and with texting, you'll be able to reach out more often, giving you the ability to be involved in their lives on a daily basis.

You can say a lot in 160 characters, and you can do it as often as you'd like - and you'll get a response within seconds every single time! What could be better than that? Teens almost always respond to every text within seconds of receiving them. Even if you have an older, low tech, "old school" cell phone, you can send simple texts just to let them know you're thinking about them.

Hi, how was school? or Just thinking of you...xoxoxo, or How was your game today? Even if you just send your note with just a few words, you'll get an instant response! WOO HOO to that!

Yes, we're all aging up, but that doesn't mean we have to age out of the day-to-day activities of our families! And please, don't bother with the "I'm too old, or I don't wanna learn" because there are no excuses to NOT learning how to text. It's too simple, and too important to ignore anymore.

I recommend that we all... Get With It or Get Deleted!

To Blog or Not To Blog

I'm definitely a newbie at blogging. I've been told that when authors come out with a new book, especially unknown authors like myself, a blog is an absolute necessity to attract BUZZ to the new book in question.

Just in case you didn't know, I've written a book, "Read Between the Lines: A Humorous Guide to Texting with Simplicity and Style" that's been published, and is about to be released in just a few weeks.

So, I've been spending the last week educating myself on "How in the heck does a blog really work?"

It's totally unimaginable as to the amount of "stuff" you need to be aware of to achieve blog success.

Lets start with just the basics like RSS, CSS, Back-Linking, Code-to-Text Ratios, HTML Validations, Wikipedia Edits, Google Everything, Digg, Hubspot, Ping-o-Matic, Key Words, Meta Tags, and Search Engine Optimization just to name a few.

Now don't get me wrong; I've definitely heard about most of these tools, and have used some of them over the years. But, I never really knew the internal workings of any of them, like of how to edit properly within Wikepedia, or how an RSS feed actually works. I'm more of the kind of person that just wants things to work the way they're suppose to, without actually knowing any of the nitty-gritty details.

As my eyes were turning cross-eyed today working with RBTL's website designer Torrey, (who BTW is doing a great job) I had to ask myself "is all of this really worth it or is blogging one of the necessary evils of being an unknown author that I must endure?" After all, if I was "well known" I would have "people" that would just make all of the nitty-gritty details become completely invisible and perfectly operational, leaving me only to the writing and hitting the "publish post" button.

That would be amazing, but this is not my reality.

While I realize it's probably not that difficult to learn all this cool stuff, it's still not easy to jump into the deep, dark and scary unknown of a new anything. That being said, I've decided that learning to do something new like blogging is worth it.

I'm thinking it's kind of like the day I had to show my mom how to text. I'm sure she was thinking "OMG I can't possibly learn how to text at my age of 63!" (sorry mom to mention your age). But after she learned in just a few short minutes, then put what she learned into practice, texting became second nature to her. In fact, she texts everyone she knows who will text her back! Officially, she has become a texpert. Go mom!

Maybe there's hope for me. Maybe I'll (hopefully sooner rather than later) begin to understand the technology behind what makes a blog a blog, and soon I'll be the resident expert on RSS Feeds and Back-Linking.

However, I'm positive that won't be the case for me anytime soon. I'm also pretty sure my wonderful assistant Jesse is about ready to jump off a cliff, which means he and I better get this whole "blog" thing figured out now!

So please, bare with me, I should get it right by next week. And, if you have any wonderful words of wisdom, by all means, feel free to comment, tweet, or post an update my way.

Get Ready for the Holidays - They're Almost Here!

As November nears, it's hard not to think about the Holidays that are almost upon us.

Personally, I love the Holidays! The festive decorations, the beautiful lights, school performances, the gift of giving, helping those that are less fortunate than me, and the extra time I get to spend with my family and friends really make me happy.

I really like the champagne too! :)

Doesn't it seem like all of the years parties, celebrations, and the fifty family functions seem to happen all in the month of December?

How do we keep up with everything we have yet to get done? We write lists, we get organized, we commit and sometimes we over commit. Even though its hard to get it all done, we some how find a way to do it ALL and do it WELL.

We do it all because we are women! It's what women do best. We say "yes" to everyone, and we want do to everything we can to have as much fun as possible.

When I find myself thinking of things I need to get done, as I mention in my book Read Between the Lines, I just send myself a text that lists the things I need to do that day. Then, I don't delete the text until I've completed the task(s) I've assigned myself.

Since a text is a lot like a Post-it note on steroids, this method makes me feel super organized, and accomplished at the end of each day.

Give it a try - and let me know if this little tip helps you manage your to-do lists of your "life's little reminders" over the upcoming Holiday months.

Book Signing Adventures Continue

Before Read Between the Lines gets shipped off to the various book stores across the country, I decided I had better make sure that it gets slotted into the right category. I'm thinking it's pretty important for "would be readers" to be able to find RBTL if they are looking for it, or if they're just browsing, I'd like the book to stand out in the crowd.

So, off I went to Borders to verify which category Read Between the Lines belongs to. And, while I was at my local Borders store, I figured I might as well go ahead and ask "The Question" again today which is "would you be interested in hosting a book signing?"

I must admit, I also kept hearing my mom's voice in the back of my mind saying "requesting a book signing isn't difficult Shawn, all you need to do is ask!"

As I walked into Borders this morning, along with the butterfly's in my stomach, I thought to myself... "is this what all newbie authors go through to get book signings on the schedule?" I don't even know why I asked this question, because the answer was clearly part of my reality.

In I walk, and I'm immediately offered assistance by the customer service expert. I hand her my galley, and she gets this great big smile on her face. She says she loves the cover, and then begins to flip through the book. I then let her know my mission for the morning, which was to find the right category for Read Between the Lines. She immediately tells me it belongs in "Humor".

Then she offers to ask her store manager her opinion, because she's the "resident expert".

Excellent! An expert who can solve today's question of the day.

The manager comes out, takes the galley, thumbs through the pages, and then we begin to walk around the store to look at each of the potential categories it could go in. As we did this, she explained why Read Between the Lines would or would not "get lost" in each category.

Get lost? THAT'S MY BIGGEST NIGHTMARE! Read Between the Lines needs to be found, not lost!

She was amazing and knowledgeable to say the least. It also helped that she really liked Read Between the Lines, and was excited as to it's potential.

Then, just as she finalized her decision on the "Humor" category for RBTL, she said "how would you like to do a fun event for your book here at the store? This is the perfect time for a book like this to get noticed during the Holiday season"

To say the least, her offer to host a book signing "fun event" was music to my ears! I LOVE fun, and I'm now officially a big fan of book signings.

Hmmm.....maybe, just maybe I need to start believing that requesting a book signing isn't as hard as it sounds. Or, could it be that book store managers are just awesomely wonderful lovers of books?

Maybe it's all true, and it's just the perfect combination of perfect.