Gracious Living on Social Security – Author Interview – Valerie Kent

With today’s economy some of us can barely live on our regular income let alone even thinking about a retirement income or social security. However, Author Valerie Kent found that she must have been doing something right when so many of her friends remarked at how well she lived on a minimum income. Thus, the idea for her retirement memoir/self-help book was born Gracious Living on Social Security (Tree Farm Books).

ABOUT THE BOOKGracious Living is an easy-to-read decade-long journey that offers tips and suggestions on how senior citizens can stretch their dollar and get the most for their money. Eleven chapters cover every important aspect of living together, from the wedding preparations to where to live. Key considerations follow each chapter for quick reference: considerations like where and when to buy clothing, choosing a place to live and juggling your finances. Artist Jeff Nitzberg adds his unique touch with original drawings introducing each chapter.

ABOUT THE AUTHORAt eighty-eight, Valerie Kent is the survivor of a long lifetime spent adjusting to dramatically evolving worlds. She moved from Britain to the United States in 1933. Valerie began at the age of forty-six the drawn-out process of education – seven universities – that would generate, initially, a career as a drug and alcohol counselor for troubled women, then a decade as a celebrated college teacher and – ultimately – a final, exultant marriage. This is her story.

INTERVIEW

Hi, Valerie Kent.

Welcome to Paperback Writer.

Glad to be aboard.

Q: Would you share with us how you came up with the idea for your book?

A: The writer and publisher, Burton Hersh, a good social friend, remarked at how well we lived on a fundamentally minimum income. Out of that came Gracious Living on Social Security.

Q: How did you come up with the title?

A: The title recommended itself. So many people commented on our elegant life style and demanded to know our thousands of secrets that I embarked on Gracious Living.

Q: How did you find an agent and publisher?

A: The whole idea was a recommendation of the writer and publisher, Burton Hersh, who nurtured this project and oversaw the publication within his own enterprise, Tree Farm Books. No agent was involved.

Q: Who reads your work in progress?

A: My husband Rick and Mr. Hersh kept me on track.

Q: Who made a difference in the book’s quality?

A: Imaginative editing and design by Burton Hersh and George Pequignot kept us on course. We were impressed by the brilliant, biting, and hilarious illustrations by Jeff Nitzberg.

Q: How long did it take you to complete the first draft?

A: Perhaps a year.

Q: How long did it take from start to publication?

A: Almost two years.

Q: Do you have any advice for new authors?

A: Writing is hard work and the publication process is sometimes maddening. Sell insurance.

Thank you, Valerie Kent, for stopping by Paperback Writer on your virtual book tour. I wish you continued success through the rest of your tour.

Thanks for giving me a chance to share a few ideas. For more detail about Gracious Living and me, look at the Tree Farm Books website, www.treefarmbooks.com.

Valerie Kent’s GRACIOUS LIVING ON SOCIAL SECURITY VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘09 officially began on July 6 and will end on July 31. You can visit Valerie’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the month of July to find out more about this great book and talented author!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

First Night – A Jackie and Alex Adventure – Author Interview – Tom Weston

First Night Book Excerpt – A Jackie and Alex Adventure
“And to drink?” asked the waitress.

“I’ll have a beer, if I may?” replied Sarah.

“Can I see some ID please?” asked the waitress. “Sorry, but we have to check.”

“She’s just joking,” interrupted Alex. “She’ll have some water, like us.”

“Surely, you are not going to drink the water?” asked Sarah. This world differed so greatly from her world, but even these people must know the danger of drinking the water?

“Yes, why not?”

“Do you want to die of the colic or worms of the brain?”

“We have something called sanitation now,” sniped Alex. “If you’d had it in the seventeenth century, you might still be alive.”

“Or dead!” offered Jackie.

“Or dead, yes, absolutely,” amended Alex.

About The Book:
Alexandra O’Rourke, aged 16, is not a happy camper. It’s New Year’s Eve. She should be partying in San Diego with her friends, but instead she is stuck in Boston, with just her younger sister, Jackie, for company. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she is being haunted by Sarah, the ghost of a seventeenth century Puritan. Oh, and there is the small matter of the charge of witchcraft to be sorted out.

Armed only with big shiny buttons and a helping of Boston Cream Pie, the sisters set out to restore the Natural Order. Can Alex solve the mystery of the Devil’s Book? Can Jackie help Sarah beat the sorcery rap? And can they do it before the fireworks display at midnight? Because this is First Night – and this is an Alex and Jackie Adventure.

Interview:

It is a great pleasure to have our young adult author Tom Weston here at Paperback Writer.

Hi Tom Weston,

Welcome to Paperback Writer

Q: Will you share with us how you came up with the idea for this book?

A: I had just written a screenplay called Fission, based on the real-life story of the scientist Lise Meitner, and the race for the nuclear bomb. Now, that story began in 1906 and ended in 1968, and included two world wars and the collapse of an Empire. It was very much in the mold of the epic or mini-series genre: quite serious and dramatic and high-brow.

When that was completed, I thought that it would be fun to go in exactly the opposite direction, and see if I could come up with a story where all the action takes place in just one day, something light and whimsical. And I was in Downtown Boston on New Year’s Eve when I realized that Boston and the First Night Festival would make the perfect backdrop for the story.

First Night also began as a screenplay, but as it progressed, and the story began to take on a life of its own, I realized that it was becoming a bit darker and heavier than I originally planned. I needed to address that; so I put the screenplay on hold and turned to the novel.

Q: Do you plan your stories first with an outline or does it come to you as write it?

A: The simple answer is yes to both questions. I outline first, and then create a sketch that is about 20% of the finished work, so I can test it for continuity and pacing. But when it comes to fleshing it out, that’s when the characters take over and push the story in different directions than I expected.

So the mechanics of the plot: the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘when’ – those things are sketched before I begin writing in earnest. But once I’m deep into the text, I’m often surprised by the ‘why’. If there is a message in the story – that is not planned but evolves.

Q: Do you know the end of the story at the beginning?

A: Yes, I usually have a mental picture in my head, not of the words, but as if I was watching a movie. In the case of First Night, before I began writing we created a little five minute animation of the ending. I didn’t even have names for the characters yet, but I knew how the story would end.

So I start with the ending and then work out a route that takes me there. As I said, occasionally the characters like to take a detour, and I have to round them up and get them back on track. Sometimes, it’s like herding cats.

Q: Do you have a process for developing your characters?

A: I don’t do character profiling. I prefer to define my characters through dialogue and by what they are thinking. So although the book is written in the third person, much of what the characters are thinking is in the first person; and they will share their thoughts with the reader, but not necessarily with each other.

The interesting thing for me about the characters in First Night is the way in which the roles of Protagonist and Antagonist are interchangeable, depending on the preferences of the reader. The first protagonist was Sarah, as I wanted to tell a ghost story from the ghost’s point of view. But as the story progressed, there was quite a tug-of-war between Sarah and Alex for top billing. I’m still not quite sure who won.

But this is just how this book turned out – I can’t say that I have a consistent methodology.

Q: It is said that authors write themselves into their characters. Is there any part of you in your characters and what they would be?

A: They are all my alter-egos. The clinical term is Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), Fiction Writers are lucky that they have an outlet for this behavior.

My friends and family think that they see familiarities between the characters and other people – that is mostly imagined and coincidental. So they say, ‘ah, you are Uncle Jim’. And the answer is yes, but no more so than any other character.

If there was a character I related above all in First Night, it would be Alex. Going back to the question of character development, she was the one most changed by the experience. In this respect, she was the proxy for my own voyage of discovery.

Q: What is your most favorite part about this book?

A: The end (ha, ha). No, but really, I find the ending very moving. I did when I wrote it and still do every time I re-read it. Authors are supposed to be god-like when it comes to their characters, but I found that they had a destiny to fulfill, and that I couldn’t change or interfere with their destiny, as much as I may have wanted to.

The fun thing for me, apart from the logistics of the journey, is in presenting the readers with an ending that may surprise them, but also engages them.

Q: When in the process of writing your book did you begin to look for a publisher?

A: From my prior life as the head of a consulting company, I had written business books, and I had already gone down that road of finding an agent and a publisher, and failed miserably. It was no big deal because what I was writing was fairly niche stuff for people that were clients or potential clients, so I was able to circumvent the process and interact directly with the customer.

First Night was my first non-business book, so I repeated the hunt for an Agent/Publisher when I had the galley copies to send out, with equally miserable results. The cliché in publishing is that the first 99 rejections prepare you for the ultimate acceptance. I wasn’t prepared to wait that long. In many ways, First Night is also a niche book, being set in Boston during New Years Eve. So I knew that there was at least a local market for the book that I could tap into, even if a national market failed to materialize.

Q: What struggles have you had on the road to being published?

A: From the publisher’s perspective First Night is a difficult book to categorize. It is part ghost story and part history lesson – a History Mystery one reviewer called it. It’s a story with teenagers, but a lot of my feedback has been coming from parents. “Unique – like no other book I’ve read,” said another reviewer. So where to place it on the bookshelf is a problem that most publishers don’t want to deal with. They weren’t about to create a new category called tom weston.

So I created my own. We formed tom weston media to handle the publishing of not just the books, but also the audio and video projects that we are planning. With the new dynamics of the Internet, this isn’t necessarily a Don Quixote delusion; we already had the business acumen. And we have marketing at the local level that is aimed at Bostonians and visitors, as well as traditional book buyers.

Q: What has been the best part about being published?

A: The response from the readers has been fantastic. From people I would never otherwise meet. I had an email from an elderly lady, an octogenarian, who told me that she had been reading the novel in bed, unable to put it down, and at 2:00AM, when the ending was revealed, she ran around the bedroom, punching the air in jubilation. To realize that this little story has that kind of impact is just incredibly humbling and rewarding.

Q: What do you want readers to remember and carry with them after reading your novel?

A: The book begins with a quote: ‘Everything is connected.” At its heart, First Night is about faith and trust, and things for which we have no tangible proof, but may still influence our actions; because there is a reason for everything, even when we do not understand the reason.

I’m hoping that my readers, while reading the book, are saying, “Why did that happen? I don’t understand it.” This was intentional on my part, not to confuse or misdirect them, but because I wanted them to trust that by the end of the book, they will come to see that everything is connected and makes sense after all.

Q: Do you have plans to write another book?

A: There is an Alex and Jackie sequel, The Elf of Luxembourg, which is planned for publication before the end of the year. Structurally, it has much in common with First Night, being another tale of the supernatural and lot of history, this time about Luxembourg. This one has vampires instead of ghosts. And it’s Jackie that is scheduled to be the protagonist, but I’m sure that Alex will put up a fight before then end.

Q: Would you care to share with us how the virtual book tour experience with Pump Up Your Book Promotion has been for you?

A: Two things have taken me my surprise, albeit pleasantly:

First, I was a little surprised at the amount of effort it has taken. Before turning to writing full time, I did a lot of public speaking, and I almost never prepared my remarks beyond a punch-line or two. My style is to improvise and be spontaneous. So I sort of had this idea that I could just turn up and chat. And of course it doesn’t work that way. The written and spoken words are different mediums, and I’m fully aware that what I write may remain in the blogosphere long after the tour is over. So, I’m trying to engage my brain before I speak, and that is a fairly new experience for me, but equally satisfying.

Second, I was surprised by the diversity of questions and approaches of my hosts. Some things at first seemed trivial or surreal, but when taken in the context of the whole tour, it all turned out to be both fun and educational (from my point of view). Not only did I get to chat about the book, but I also got to resurrect the characters for a while. I’m fond of my characters, so that was nice.

The Virtual Book Tour is a reflection of what I was saying about the dynamics of the Internet. Writing is a satisfying pastime in itself, but if we are to reach beyond our own four walls, we also have to think about this as a business. Most books, even those published by the large houses, will fail to turn a profit. To cut costs, publishers are taking fewer chances and shifting the responsibility for marketing a book back onto the author. So I think the lines are starting to blur between traditional publishing and self publishing. And the author, who wants to sell books as well as write them, has to put on the business hat.

Having access to things like the Virtual Book Tour helps to level the playing field for us little guys.

Q: Where can readers find a copy of your book?

A: The book is on sale on-line at places like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, as well as from our own web site. And as Ingram is the distributor, it can be ordered at practically any bricks and mortar book store that doesn’t have a copy on the shelf. We’ve also signed up for publishing via the Espresso Book Machine (EBM), which means you can go into any library or store that has an EBM machine and get a copy printed while you wait.

It is available in Hard Copy (ISBN 978-0-981-94130-1), Paperback (ISBN 978-0-981-94131-8) and e-Book (ISBN 978-0-981-94132-5), including Amazon Kindle.

Q: Do you have a website for readers to go to?

A: www.tom-weston.com

Thank you, Tom Weston, for sharing your book and characters with us today. It has been a pleasure and I hope you have had a successful virtual book tour.

Thank you.

Tom Weston’s FIRST NIGHT VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘09 officially began on July 6th and end on July 31st. You can visit Tom’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the month of July to find out more about this great book and talented author!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

Lose the Diet:Transform Your Body By Connecting with Your Soul – Author Interview – Kathy Balland

Join Kathy Balland, author of the self-help book, Lose the Diet: Transform Your Body by Connecting with Your Soul (Blissful Publications), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in July and August on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion!

ABOUT THE AUTHORKathy Balland, an expert in the mind-body-soul connection, teaches people how to tap into their own inner power for success. Clinically certified in hypnotherapy, her publications and seminars provide deep insights into the true causes and their remedies that prevent people from achieving their goals. Balland is a graduate of the University of Phoenix and the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

She is clinically certified by the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners and certified by the American Board of Hypnotherapy. As president of Blissful Publications and author of “Lose the Diet: Transform Your Body by Connecting with Your Soul,” Balland provides information to enrich and empower people to achieve happiness and success.

ABOUT THE BOOKYou’ll discover your power to achieve and maintain a healthy weight naturally without diets. Food deprivation is uncomfortable and ultimately causes weight gain. Instead, enjoy the good health and joy that you deserve. Lose the Diet shows you how.

• Drop the diets and the weight in a healthy and natural way.
• Find out why deprivation doesn’t work.
• Learn about the mind-body-soul connection’s effect on weight.
• Discover that happiness leads to a healthy weight rather than the other way around.
• Insightful tools and information that help you to find balance — from the inside out!

Hi Kathy

Welcome to Paperback Writer.

Q: Would you share with us how you came up with the idea for your book?

A: I came up with the idea after having experienced yo-yo dieting over the years, and then subsequently studying mind-body wellness, which further helped me to understand the real answers to permanent weight management.

I then wanted to reach out to others with the information because obesity has become a crisis in the US. More than one third of US adults – over 72 million people in addition to 16% of US children are obese. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, since 1980 obesity rates for adults have doubled and rates for children have tripled. And obesity has led to other health issues. Even though we know everything there is to know about calories, carbs, fats, proteins and how much we “should” weigh, the problem keeps getting worse. I wanted to talk about why that is, and what we can do about it.

Q: Was it a light bulb moment or something that you thought about for a very long time?

A: I guess it was building for a long time, and then suddenly I realized that I needed to put all of the information together in one book.

Q: How did you come up with the title?

A: I wanted a title that people would find if they are looking for diet and weight loss books. Lose the Diet was the perfect combination, because that is part of the message: Diets do not work. (It is now my trademark.) This is a healthier, happier and more effective way to lose weight.

Q: How did you find an agent and publisher?

A: I never looked for an agent or a publisher. I wanted to maintain control of the book myself. I wanted to be able to put it out in E-Books or whatever format I choose, and at whatever cost I choose. I can actually make it more affordable by publishing it myself. That is why I formed Blissful Publications, which is from the Joseph Campbell quote: “Follow your bliss, and the world will open doors for you where there were only walls.”

Q: Who reads your work in progress?

A: My editor was Carolyn Porter.

Q: Who made a difference in the book’s quality?

A: I worked with several people on the book, and particularly enjoyed working with cover designer George Foster. He does a great job.

Q: How long did it take you to complete the first draft?

A: Nine months.

Q: How long did it take from start to publication?

A: It took approximately a year and a half.

Q: Do you have any advice for new authors?

A: Write what you are passionate about. In other words, don’t force yourself to write about something just because you think you should. Follow your “bliss” and it will flow much easier, because it is what is in your heart.

Thank you, Kathy for stopping by Paperback Writer on your virtual book tour. I wish you continued success through the rest of you tour.

Thank you very much. It’s been a pleasure.

Kathy Balland
www.LosetheDiet.com
www.DietFreeMovie.com
www.Twitter.com/LosetheDiet

Kathy Balland’s LOSE THE DIET VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘09 will officially begin on July 6th and end on August 28th. You can visit Kathy’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the months of July and August to find out more about this great book and talented author!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

Understanding Learning Disabilities – Author Interview – Etta Brown

Paperback Writer welcomes Etta K. Brown, author of the nonfiction guide, Understanding Learning Disabilities: Understanding the Problem and Managing the Challenges (Langdon Street Press), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in July on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion!

About the Author:Etta K. Brown received her undergraduate degree from the Ohio State University with a major in Dental Hygiene Education and the Masters in Education degree from South Carolina State University with a major in Special Education. The Educational Specialist Degree was conferred at Kent State University with studies in School Administration, and a major in School Psychology.

Through her graduate programs, and internships, the author acquired skills with speech and language, visual-motor training, auditory training, and the teaching of reading and handwriting.

During twenty years of professional experience in the public schools in Ohio, Iowa and California she has worked as a special education teacher, a school social worker and as a school psychologist. At no time, in either of those positions did she feel that she was able to apply any of her acquired knowledge to help children to learn.

Those were long, frustrating years watching children being placed in Special education because that was all that the School District had to offer. On the other hand were the frustrated parents who agonized over what to do about their child’s learning problems and the stigma of being placed in Special Education.

About the Book: This work, while written by an academician, is an uncomplicated resource of information addressed to parents who have been introduced to the concept of Special Education for the first time. Overall, this work is a road map of how-to activities which will be of assistance from the beginning to end of the special education process.

Part I is an introduction to the environmental influences since World War II, that are believed to be contributing to the incidence of learning disabilities that is increasing at a rate of 20% every 10 years.

Part II includes a definition and history of special education and its intended role and function in the effort to educate all children. The reader is introduced to the process of determining eligibility for Special Education, and Federal and State Legislation are explored in terms of the parent’s rights in the process.

Part III is an exploration of processing disorders as required for a designation of learning disability. Behaviors exhibited in the classroom, a rationale for the behavior, along with modifications and accommodations for the general education classroom are listed. These interventions are applied to the elementary, middle school, and high school environments as an aid in developing the individualized education plan (IEP).

Hi Etta,

Welcome to Paperback Writer.

Q: Would you share with us how you came up with the idea for your book?

A: People have been saying for years, you should write a book. After retirement I traveled, and was looking around for something else to do. One morning I got up and said I think I will write that book today. While pondering a subject, I decided to write about something that I knew well. What I knew best was learning disabilities. A friend supplied the remainder of the title.

Q: Was it a light bulb moment or something that you thought about for a very long time?

A: I had assessed hundreds of children with learning problems over the years, and had always wanted to become more involved in the remediation of the problem. I was well trained as a child advocate with a background in language, the teaching of reading, and held a degree in special education as well as school psychology.

As a school psychologist I was unable to utilize any of these skills, and remained frustrated over the years watching children being placed in special education without proper support for their problem. Being placed in a self contained program for learning disabled children was a death knell for those children. They were never to return to the general education classroom with a well rounded curriculum. Many became truant in middle school and never returned full time. On the other hand were the parents who were unprepared to understand the process of special education and IEPs. Every parent wants the best for their child, and while I could have helped, I had the wrong job title, and those activities were not included in my job description.

After one year of writing, I thought I had finished the book, and while editing for grammatical errors I realized that I had written all my frustrations and anger about the way in which the schools are failing children, and they are not getting the kind of services they need. Having healed sufficiently to realize that I was doing therapeutic writing, I began to edit out all the anger and frustration.
One day while writing, I suddenly lost control of my fingers, my vision became blurred, and I could no longer form sentences. An immediate trip to my friendly diagnostician resulted in a diagnosis of mercury toxicity, from amalgam fillings, and it was identified as the culprit that caused all my learning problems since high school. This changed my whole approach to the concept of learning disabilities. When I was in school in the early 60s, the causes of learning disabilities were unknown, and they were defined by what they were not because their true nature had not been identified. Now I found a wealth of new research about the causes of learning disabilities and the environmental factors which caused them.

I revised my whole approach to learning disabilities, and finally accepted that children arrive at school with these disabilities. Learning disabilities were not the failure of the school to teach, rather they were due to a lack of stimulation during the critical periods of neurological development during the formative years.
All this research became Part I of the book which identifies the incidence and causes of learning disabilities which is increasing in the population at the rate of 10-20% every 10 years.

The schools were not completely off the hook, because there were many discrepancies between what they were saying and what they were actually doing. The law said one thing, but it was not funded sufficiently for the schools to provide the services that they mandated. This made for some interesting misleading comments to parents and what they were being told about their children, so Part II of the book became a compilation of all the information that parents needed to know about schools, the law and what they needed to know about their rights under the law. Parents are actually empowered with an insider’s view of special education and other things that the schools would rather that outsiders did not know; especially empowered, activist parents demanding what their child needs, and now accepting less because it is the only thing available in their school.

Parents and teachers needed to know how to accommodate the special needs of these children at home and at school, so Part III of the book became a description of the ways in which learning disabilities manifest behaviorally, and techniques and strategies are presented which will be helpful in assisting the child’s learning both at home and in the classroom.

Q: How did you come up with the title?

A: That was a no brainer, learning disabilities were so obvious to me that I could not conceive of calling the book anything else. Now I am beginning to think that a catchier title would have attracted more readers. I think that the contents would be of interest to anyone who likes to read, and a spiffier title would be more attractive.

Q: How did you find an agent and publisher?

A: I found a publisher on the internet. After reading about the publishing industry, I decided that self-publishing fit best with my approach to writing. I stopped querying agents when none showed an interest in representing my work.

Q: Who reads you work in progress?

A: Who made a difference in the book’s quality?

Q: How long did it take you to complete the first draft?

A: One year at the rate that I was writing.

Q: How long did it take from start to publication?

A: As explained above, the book and its contents evolved over a three year period.

Q: Do you have any advice for new authors?

A: Yes, be sure that you don’t have any amalgam fillings slowly seeping a toxic metal into your blood stream and poisoning your nervous system. It is difficult to recall and communicate ideas when you are only functioning on minimum. After that, write something that you are passionate about and the words will flow. Somewhere in all that therapeutic ranting will be a wealth of information from which some other hurt, angry, frustrated person will benefit. Then edit out the useless, keep the ingenious and publish it.

Ms Brown may be reached at www.understanding-learning-disabilities.com

Thank you, [author name] for stopping by Paperback Writer on your virtual book tour. I wish you continued success through the rest of you tour.

Etta K. Brown’s UNDERSTANDING LEARNING DISABILITIES VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘09 officially begin on July 6th and will end on July 31st. You can visit Etta’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the month of July to find out more about this great book and talented author!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

The Pursuit of Something Better – Author Interview – Dave Esler and Myra Kruger

Paperback Writer would like to introduce our authors for today, Dave Esler and Myra Kruger, authors of the business/leadership/business ethics book, The Pursuit of Something Better: How an Underdog Company Defied the Odds, Won Customers’ Hearts, and Grew It’s Employees into Better People (Esler Kruger Associates, Inc.), as they virtually tour the blogosphere in July on their first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion!

About the Authors:
Dave Esler and Myra Kruger combined their 30 years of corporate communications, human resources, and consulting experience as Esler Kruger Associates in 1987. Their consulting firm focuses on culture change, organizational surveys, and executive counsel on effective leadership. They are based in Highland Park, Illinois and can be reached at http://www.eslerkruger.com/.

About the Book:

The Pursuit of Something Better tells the story of the transformation of U.S. Cellular from a thoroughly ordinary company—ranked eighth in its industry and in danger of extinction—into an organization that is loved by employees and customers alike, and a proven winner by every measure.

Even more impressive is how this transformation took place. U.S. Cellular focused on the “soft stuff” so often discredited by conventional business wisdom; values and heart; inspirational and empowering leadership; motivation by values, not fear; ethics and integrity and an insistence on always doing the right thing. Most of all, U.S. Cellular thrived by obsessively putting the customer, and the quality of the customer experience, first.

The Pursuit of Something Better is also the story of Jack Rooney, the unconventional CEO who had the vision to see the limitations of the traditional business model a decade before it imploded, and the courage to replace it with something much, much better.

Hi David and Myra,

Welcome to Paperback Writer.

Q: Would you share with us how you came up with the idea for your book?

A: We have consulted for corporations, government and non-profits for 30 years. In that time, we have surveyed more than a million and a half employees. We have had one-on-one interviews with thousands of leaders. In gathering all that research, the evidence became overwhelming that there really is a better way to engage employees and achieve results that the traditional model that has been in place for centuries. We occasionally sighted that rare organization or that unusual leader who understood that most of the employees in their organizations were alienated from their enterprises, and that there was tremendous untapped commitment and creativity being left on the table. We kept searching, and then we had the wonderful opportunity to engage with Jack Rooney, who shared our belief and was determined to put such a model into place.

Q: Was it a light bulb moment or something that you thought about for a very long time?

A: We discussed it and kept notes on it for about 5 years.

Q: How did you come up with the title?

A: The title, The Pursuit of Something Better, evolved very naturally from the results that U.S. Cellular has accomplished through their business model. The incredible commitment of the work force, the love employees have for the company, the pristine ethical climate in the organization all are truly something better than we have ever observed.

Q: How did you find an agent and publisher?

A: We received a referral from a U.S. Cellular employee who read the book and wanted to see the story become public.

Q: Who reads your work in progress?

A: We engaged a book editor, Catherine MacCoun, after the finished draft to help us edit it for publishing.

Q: Who made a difference in the book’s quality?

A: We owe the printing quality to a good friend who runs a printing company in Chicago.

Q: How long did it take you to complete the first draft?

A: We worked on the draft off and on for about 8 months.

Q: How long did it take from start to publication?

A: A little more than a year.

Q: Do you have any advice for new authors?

A: Believe in your story so you can tell it with conviction, specifics, example and glee.

Thank you, David and Myra, for stopping by Paperback Writer on your virtual book tour. I wish you continued success through the rest of you tour.

Dave Esler and Myra Kruger’s THE PURSUIT OF SOMETHING BETTER VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘09 will officially begin on July 6 and end on July 31. You can visit their blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the month of July to find out more about this great book and talented author!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

Beyond the Code of Conduct – author interview- K.M Daughters

Join K.M. Daughters, authors of the romantic suspense novel, Beyond the Code of Conduct  (Wild Rose Press), as they virtually tour the blogosphere in June on their first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion!

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

FBI Agency Brass and Sullivan family connections force Special Agent Bobbie Leighton into an undercover operation with inactive Homicide Detective Joe Sullivan.

Posing as a cattleman and his arm-candy wife the couple is assigned to infiltrate NY attorney Bradley Sterling’s illegal operation. Suspected of baby trafficking, Sterling maybe be connected with Joe’s brother, Jimmy Sullivan’s murder.

How do Bobbie and Joe adhere to their professional code of conduct living under the same roof? Can they forget their personal history, ignore their volatile feelings for each other and ensnare their target when they might be next on Sterling’s victims list?

 

 

 

Hi K.M. Daughters,

 

Welcome to Paperback Writer

 

 

Q: Will you share with us how you came up with the idea for this book?

A: Secondary characters in the first book in the series thought the story was about them!  We were curious about their fate.  Did they get back together?  Did Bobbie find the career fit that had eluded her in the past?  Did Joe adapt to inactive status as a former homicide detective because of his injury?  As we searched for answers the seeds of a plot took root and bloomed.

  

Q: Do you plan your stories first with an outline or does it come to you as write it? 

Because we’re a team an outline works best for us. 

 

A: Do you know the end of the story at the beginning? 

Q: Yes, we do, conceptually.  But the last sentence is written in sequence and it is the last thing we write.

 

A: Do you have a process for developing your characters? 

Q: We create life histories for our primary characters, sometimes from young adulthood, sometimes from childhood depending on their internal conflicts and baggage when the story opens.  We don’t use the majority of their back-stories in the story itself, but we have a layered, complex understanding of who they were and are before we begin developing plots.

 

Q: It is said that authors write themselves into their characters. Is there any part of you in your characters and what they would be? 

A: Very little of our personalities are written into our heroines, or heroes for that matter.  The restaurant choices they make, the settings where they live and work, and maybe their sports team allegiances might have something to do with our personal biases.

 

Q: What is your most favorite part about this book? 

A: It is so hard to pick just one!  Especially without giving away the action.  Let’s just say the ending.

 

Q: When in the process of writing your book did you begin to look for a publisher? 

A: We already had selected our intended publisher, The Wild Rose Press, since we published Book 1, Against Doctors Orders, with this wonderful company.  Our contract stipulates first right of refusal on the series, and we were hopeful they’d be interested in Book 2 as well.  Thankfully they were – as well as Book 3, Capturing Karma, which we just contracted to The Wild Rose Press. 

 

Q: What struggles have you had on the road to being published? 

A: Uncertainty in the face of difficult odds of finding the right Editor who heard our unique voice and thought it held promise. 

 

Q: What has been the best part about being published? 

A:  Every single thing.

 

Q: What do you want readers to remember and carry with them after reading your novel? 

A: We hope readers perceive our characters as “real people”, accessible, relatable.  Our writing is emotional and we hope readers experience emotions along with our characters.  We’re not happy unless we make each other cry during our read-throughs.

 

Q: Do you have plans to write another book? 

A: Book 3 is in edits now and our work in progress is book 4.  We have a rough premise for Book 5, the conclusion of The Sullivan Boys Series.  We also plan a single title, mainstream fiction.  Recently we’ve played with some ideas for a paranormal romance series, also.

 

Q: Would you care to share with us how the virtual book tour experience with Pump Up Your Book Promotion has been for you?  

A: Crazy, wonderful and full of daily delights.  Dorothy Thompson is remarkable. 

 

Q: Where can readers find a copy of your book? 

A: Online in digital with a click through to Amazon at the publisher’s site: http://tinyurl.com/qwgpsp  At Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/cbunqh or Barnes and Noble: http://tinyurl.com/dco3cn or any local bookstore can order it for you – ISBN#1-60154-544-4

 

Q: Do you have a website for readers to go to? 

A: Yes, we welcome visits often and invite readers to sign up for our mailing list, too.  http://www.kmdaughters.com

 

Thank you, K.M. Daughters for sharing your book and characters with us today. It has been a pleasure and I hope you have had a successful virtual book tour.

 

BEYOND THE CODE OF CONDUCT VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘09 will officially begin on June 1 and end on June 26. You can visit K.M. Daughters’ blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the month of June to find out more about this great book and talented authors!
As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

Living Like You Mean It: Use The Wisdom and Power of Your Emotions to Get the Life Your Really Want – Author Interview – Dr. Ronald J. Fredrick

Paperback Writer is pleased to introduce author Dr. Ronald J. Frederick, author of the nonfiction self-help book, Living Like You Mean It: Use the Wisdom and Power of Your Emotions to Get the Life You Really Want (Jossey-Bass (Wiley)), as he virtually tours the blogosphere in June on his first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion!

ABOUT THE BOOK
So many of us long to feel more alive, connected, and secure in our lives, particularly now, in these challenging and difficult times. Why is it so hard? Part of the problem, says Dr. Ronald J. Frederick, has to do with a fear of our feelings—a feelings‐phobia—and the consequences of expressing our feelings to others. It’s this fear that keeps us stuck, detached from the wisdom inside us and distanced from the people around us.

And yet positive emotional experiences can actually “rewire” our brain and free us up to experience ourselves and our lives more fully. LIVING LIKE YOU MEAN IT: Use the Wisdom and Power of Your Emotions to Get the Life You Really Want by Ronald J. Frederick, shows how we can overcome our feelings phobia in order to enjoy more satisfying lives.

Drawing on cutting edge science, many years as a psychotherapist and his own personal experiences, Dr. Frederick advocates that we understand and express the broad range of our emotions so that our feelings actually become allies in our search for fulfillment. His proven four-step process for tapping into the hidden power of our emotions includes:

*Recognizing the signs of fears in ourselves, and the defenses we unknowingly use to cut ourselves off from our potential power.
*Understanding how to tame our fear and exercise control.
*Learning how to experience our true emotions and make use of their many resources.
*Developing effective, measured ways to express and share our feelings.

A master story‐teller, Frederick interlaces therapeutic techniques with stories from people who have learned to recognize and deal constructively with the emotions that have kept them from living their best lives. The trick, Dr. Frederick shows, is in being able to navigate and diminish the fear that is so entangled with our feelings, so we can progress in a healthier, less encumbered direction, and get the life we really want.

INTERVIEW

 Hi, Dr. Ron Frederick. Welcome to Paperback Writer.

Q: Would you share with us how you came up with the idea for your book?

A; Living Like You Mean It: Use the Wisdom and Power of Your Emotions to Get the Life You Really Want is a self-help book published by Jossey-Bass, a division of Wiley. Based on cutting-edge science, it shares my proven four-step approach to overcoming fear and becoming more emotionally present in one’s life and relationships.

I was inspired to write Living Like You Mean It by my own life-changing experience. I was in my early thirties, had just finished my doctoral studies, and despite having everything going for me, I hit a wall. I was in relationship I frequently questioned and found myself filled with trepidation and fear about moving forward. I ended up in therapy and discovered, rather surprisingly, that the anxiety I was experiencing at the time had so much to do with being uncomfortable with what I really felt deep down inside. I had become so afraid of my emotions, of listening to and trusting my true feelings, that I couldn’t hear the voice of my deepest self buried somewhere inside me—the voice that knew what I wanted, knew what I longed for, knew what felt right to me and what felt wrong. I might have gone on doubting myself forever had I not gotten the help I needed to recognize what, in fact, I really was afraid of and to learn how to overcome my fears, accept and embrace my emotional self, and really connect with others. The experience changed my life. My anxiety decreased, I stopped doubting myself and felt much more confident and in touch with my personal truth. I found it much easier to be emotionally present and felt closer to the people in my life. Ultimately, I found the courage to listen to and trust my heart and move forward, to leave the relationship I was in, and to realize the kind of relationship and life I had dreamed of having.

When you have an experience like that, when your life is changed in such a dramatic way, you want to spread the good stuff around. The more people I’ve been able to help, and the more I witness the dramatic changes that can take place when we develop the ability to be with and share our feelings, the more I have felt compelled to spread the word. I guess you can say that it’s become a mission for me: to help people to wake up to their feelings and get the lives they really want. I wrote this book to help people do just that.

Q: Was it a light bulb moment or something that you thought about for a very long time?

A: While the material in the book is something I’ve thought about for a long time, the impulse to put it into a self-help book format was a bit of a “light bulb” moment. One of my trainees asked me if there was a book he could recommend to clients to help them deal with their feelings and, after considering that there wasn’t anything that quite addressed the topic in a way that would be useful, something stirred inside me and, I thought: why don’t I write one!

Q:How did you come up with the title?

A: The title was quite a challenge. I went through several before ending up with Living Like You Mean It which, in the end, I adore. I had wracked my brain, consulted friends, family, editorial and marketing professionals. On a last ditch effort to come up with something, I ran a list of all the titles I had considered by a marketing consultant and Living Like You Mean It jumped out at him. I had considered so many titles that, at that point, they’d all become a blur. I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. A fresh pair of eyes did the trick. Living Like You Mean It had actually been suggested by my sister and, in the acknowledgements section of my book, I credit her. She saved the day!

Q: How did you find an agent and publisher?

A: I solicited agent referrals from people I knew who had published books. I also did a lot of research on my own. I found the site: www.agentquery.com to be invaluable. I did three rounds of mailings to agents and, ultimately, got offers from two. The agent I chose, Dan Ambrosio at Vigiano Associates in NYC, was recommended to me by a colleague. He helped me tighten up my proposal a bit and then pitched it to several publishing houses.

Q: Who reads your work in progress?

A: Well, along the way, my partner Tim read every word I wrote. I chose to have my editor at Jossey-Bass review each chapter at a time. I preferred working in this way as I wanted and needed the feedback and guidance along the way. It helped to focus me and shape the book as I went.

Q: Who made a difference in the book’s quality?

A: My editor, Sheryl Fullerton, was amazing as well as the other folks at Jossey-Bass. I also got wonderful feedback from a few colleagues, family members, and friends that was invaluable.

Q: How long did it take you to complete the first draft?

A: The first three chapters of the book were part of my book proposal. I worked on my proposal for over two years. After I signed my contract with Jossey-Bass, I had eight months to complete the rest of the book. I got it in just a week or so before my deadline. Whew!

Q: How long did it take from start to publication?

A: Four years from start to finish. From inception to hardcover book sitting on the store shelf.

Q: Do you have any advice for new authors?

A: Getting a book published has so much to do with being tenacious. For me, it was four years from start to finish, with many road blocks along the way. I’m so glad that I persevered despite all the rejection, all the hurdles, all the down times. That I reached out to others for help and that I stuck with it as long as I did. I can hardly believe it sometimes when I’m holding the book in my hands that it’s actually come to fruition. It’s been quite a ride. So, don’t despair. Hang in there and keep at it!
And, to learn more about me and Living Like You Mean It, please visit: http://www.livinglikeyoumeanit.com/index.html

Thank you, Dr. Ron, for stopping by Paperback Writer on your virtual book tour. I wish you continued success through the rest of you tour.

LIVING LIKE YOU MEAN IT VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘09 officially begin on June 1 and will end on June 26. You can visit Dr. Ron Frederick’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the month of June to find out more about this great book and talented author!

The Pyewiz and The Amazing Mobile Phone – Author Interview – Herbert Howard Jones

Paperback Writer would like to introduce our author for today Herbert Howard Jones, author of The Pyewiz and the Amazing Mobile Phone. Herbert is on his first book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion and as part of his virtual book tour you have a chance to win prizes.

WIN PRIZES As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Journey to a frozen planet to find a long lost twin an amazing crystal phone with incredible powers and a cunning old pirate wizard who must be stopped.

Schoolboy Terry Mctrain thinks the new tenant in his parent’s guesthouse is strange. Stranger still is the reason why she is here. Then Terry learns about a twin brother he never knew he had, kidnapped by a pirate wizard years ago. Baffled by all this, Terry realizes there’s a mystery to be solved, and a secret to be uncovered. But when he discovers that the fate of the world is also in his hands, he wonders..

Could this turn into the adventure of a lifetime?

Perhaps, but unless Terry and his friend Will travel to the other side of the solar system to solve this puzzle there’s a danger that the world would be destroyed, and his twin brother lost forever.

Hi, Herbert Howard Jones,

Welcome to Paperback Writer

Q: Will you share with us how you came up with the idea for this book?
A: Thank you for asking me. But unfortunately, there was nothing profound about the stimulus for my book, which came quite unexpectedly, early one afternoon, in the form of a workman that I had employed to remove some junk. But it was his manner, the way he held himself, his appearance, his aura, which reeked of the sea and planted the thought of The Pyewiz in my head! He was the very incarnation of a fictitious character yet to be born on paper. He had two help mates with him, Terry and Will, and they too became the young protagonists in my swashbuckling adventure. I also borrowed ideas from Tolkien, but not too blatantly that you would notice. But he did invent the ultimate adventure travelogue, and I used this format in my book. I also wanted to write the book as a kind of cathartic therapy and see what I would come up with.

Q: Do you plan your stories first with an outline or does it come to you as write it?
A: I think that it is essential to have an outline, and then fill in the details as you go along. Once you know what your parameters are, you know when you are out of bounds. I believe that it keeps everything tight and under control.

Q: Do you know the end of the story at the beginning?
A: The end of the book is surely the back story, isn’t it? The book in hand is the sequel to the back story! First you work out the character’s motivations and reasons for their actions, and then you tuck this away somewhere, and start work on your novel, which deliberately leaves out these very elements. Then at the end of the book, you tack on the back story. So you really have to know the end, even before you get to work on the book itself. Well for certain types of fiction, anyway. But if you don’t keep your readers guessing, which is what this method achieves, then you may as well stick to writing letters!

Q: Do you have a process for developing your characters?
A: The J.R Rowling method is the best in my view. She kept note books, and wrote notes about them, what they looked like, what they wore, and what their general preferences were. She built up a character dossier, and got to know her characters so well that she knew how they would behave in any situation. This gave her characters consistency and believability. I use this method myself. But it also helps to draw a little picture or caricature of them too. Then there really is no going back. The character springs to life and there is nothing you can do about it, other than finish the story. Because obviously, it is the characters who are the true authors of your tale.

Q: It is said that authors write themselves into their characters. Is there any part of you in your characters and what they would be?
A: Yep, I’m Terry! I felt closer to this character than any of the others. I could never be the Pyewiz. The guy’s karma would freak me out for one thing!

Q: What is your most favorite part about this book?
A: The Pyewiz conducts mock war games to keep his crew on their toes. Terry and Will find themselves getting enmeshed in this. They manage to commandeer one of the galleons and play loud rock music over the PA system! I thought this might tickle some readers.

Q: When in the process of writing your book did you begin to look for a publisher?
A: At the end of the project, which probably isn’t the wisest thing to do. But I hate the idea of writing story proposals. I don’t think I could cope with the pressure if one of them was taken up.

Q: What struggles have you had on the road to being published?
A: The usual round of rejections, bouts of self doubt, envy of those who are published, tendency to subscribe to conspiracy theories about the industry, formation of sweat beads on forehead when opening agent’s letters, nightmares, inane looping of self-talk; was it the folder? Yes it was the folder; I knew I shouldn’t have used that yellow folder with the Homer Simpson logo on it! Rollercoaster’s have an easier time! Aside from all that, there is a feeling that the industry is oversubscribed, and that it would doing agents a big favour if people stopped writing books for a while. I also don’t think it’s healthy for authors to get too wrapped up in their brainchild. I think you have to distance yourself emotionally from it, and at an appropriate time, let it go! The mental, emotional and physical struggles of an author are truly the struggles of the damned.

Q: What has been the best part about being published?
A: The reaction of people around me. I have been invited to quite a few dinner parties since getting into print. Also, I’d say handling the book for the first time in the knowledge that the British Museum has a policy of keeping a copy in their archives. Well, they used to, and it’s a damn nice thought!

Q: What do you want readers to remember and carry with them after reading your novel?
A: I want them to say to them, ‘I can’t wait for the movie’. No, seriously, I want them to think fondly of The Pyewiz, despite his failings as a human being. And I hope this doesn’t sound big headed, but it is surely ever writers dream to have their characters creep into twenty-first century culture as mini icons of sorts. If not, my book is big enough to be used as a door stop! Either way I can’t loose!

Q: Do you have plans to write another book?
A: Well I’ve set myself a target of writing 500 pages a year, which equates to two books year. At the present time I am writing the sequel to my first book, entitled, The Pyewiz and The Sons of Terrafirma, and I’m tapping out my first occult thriller about an unusual archaeological find which has curious implications for the heroine of the story.

Q: Would you care to share with us how the virtual book tour experience with Pump up Your Book Promotion has been for you?
A: Simply thrilling! It is also a great honour to be on the same promotional pages as Barry Eisler and Jamie Ford! These guys really are the top guns, and so with any luck some of their talent will rub off on me! And by way of a quick infomercial, let me tell all authors out there to immediately down tools and sign up with Dorothy Thompson’s agency right now! Pumpupyourbookpromotion has to be the best value for money PR outfit on the internet. I’m happy because there are already there are over 18,600 listings for the word ‘Pyewiz’ on Yahoo, and it is all down to Dorothy Thompson. I even made the Chicago Times and libreria universitaria! Thank you Dorothy and partners!! Also, it really is fun to be given carte blanche to write anything you like and have it posted on all these sympathetic blogs. I’ve really indulged myself. If Dorothy will have me again, I’ll sign up with her like a shot.

Q: Where can readers find a copy of your book?
A: From Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk also Amazon.com.jp (I do actually have a Japanese character in the story), Barnesandnoble.com, Powells.com. Whsmiths.com, to name but a few.

Q: Do you have a website for readers to go to?
A: Yes indeed, www.science-fiction-fanatsy.com and www.solarsystemtales.com

Thank you, Herbert Howard Jones for sharing your book and characters with us today. It has been a pleasure and I hope you have had a successful virtual book tour.

Thank you Rebecca for taking such a kind interest in my work.

THE PYEWIZ AND THE AMAZING MOBILE PHONE VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘09 will officially begin on May 4 and end on June 26. You can visit Howard’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in May and June to find out more about this talented author!

How To Win A Pitch – Author Interview – Joey Asher

Paperback Writer is please to announce our author for today, Joey Asher, author of How to Win A Pitch.

 ABOUT THE BOOK

How to Win a Pitch will help you learn how to: Develop presentations that win contracts. Create connections to secure business relationships. Identify, discuss and fulfill client needs effectively. Veteran business coach Joey Asher has helped his clients win over five billion dollars in new business contracts. He uses his former experience as an attorney and journalist to help readers and clients rise above their competition. He has authored two previous books, Selling & Communication Skills for Lawyers and Even a Geek Can Speak: Low-Tech Presentation Skills For High-Tech People.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JOEY ASHER  is one of the country’s preeminent experts on selling skills and communication.  As President of Speechworks, an Atlanta-based communication and selling skills coaching firm that has been helping business people deliver presentations that win business for over 20 years, Asher combines his skills as an attorney and journalist to help sellers communicate a clear, simple message that connects with prospects and wins business.

 

 

 

Hi Joey.

 

Welcome to Paperback Writer.

 

Q: Would you share with us how you came up with the idea for your book? 

 

A: “How can we distinguish ourselves from the competition when what we are offering is so similar?”

 

Q: That’s the most common question my clients ask as they prepare sales presentations. My new book answers that question.

 

A: The book is “How to Win a Pitch: The Five Fundamentals that Will Distinguish You from the Competition.”  It details how to create and deliver presentations that win business.  It’s aimed at sales people. But it’s also a great book about how to persuade listeners.

 

As president of Speechworks, an Atlanta-based, nationally-known communication skills coaching firm, my colleagues and I have helped clients create and deliver presentations that have won billions of dollars in new business. We work with all industries including construction, architecture, engineering, high tech, financial services, manufacturing, real estate, accounting, law and others.

 

We have learned that the key to a great pitch is executing five fundamentals.

 

• Making the presentation solution-oriented
• Keeping it simple
• Delivering with passion
• Interacting with the prospect during the presentation
• Appearing well-rehearsed.

 

The book teaches how to execute those fundamentals. It includes recipes for success as well as success stories taken from my experiences working with clients.  The book covers everything you need to succeed including how to:

 

• Create a simple, persuasive presentation.
• Rig the pitch in your favor.
• Develop a presentation style that connects and builds relationships.
• Get lots of questions.
• Rehearse.
• Overcome stage-fright.

 

 

Q: Was it a light bulb moment or something that you thought about for a very long time?

 

A: We are a communication skills coaching firm that works with sales people in helping them learn how to create and deliver great presentations.  So I always thought it would be a good idea to do a book focusing on helping sales people. I sat down to write it when I felt I had enough ideas for sales people to really help them.

 

Q: How did you come up with the title?

 

A: The title is a simple description of what you will get from the book.

 

Q: How did you find an agent and publisher?

 

A: I’ve never had an agent. I’ve always approached publishers directly with my ideas.

 

Q: Who reads your work in progress?

 

A: No one.  I finish it and send it to the editor.

 

Q: Who made a difference in the book’s quality?

 

A: In this most recent book, Amy MacGregor, who managed the publishing and editing of the book, did a nice job of suggesting ways to make the book more user friendly.

 

Q: How long did it take you to complete the first draft?

 

A: All three of my books have taken me six months to write.

 

Q: How long did it take from start to publication?

 

A: About 18 months.

 

Q: Do you have any advice for new authors?

 

A: When I’m writing a book, I write two pages every day. If I’ve done my two pages, I stop even if I’m in the middle of a sentence. That allows me to get a running start the next day. If you do that every day, you’ll have a book in about six months.

 

Thank you, Joey for stopping by Paperback Writer on your virtual book tour. I wish you continued success through the rest of you tour.

 

The HOW TO WIN A PITCH VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘09 officially begin on June 1 and will end on June 26. You can visit Joey’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the month of June to find out more about this great book and talented author!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

The New IQ: How Integrity Intelligence Serves You, Your Relationships and Our World, – Author Interview – David Gruder, Ph.D., DCEP

Paperback Writer is pleased to announce our author for today, David Gruder, author of The New IQ: How Integrity Intelligence Serves You, Your Relationships and our World. David’s virtual book tour is brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

David Gruder, PhD, DCEP, is perhaps the world’s only clinical-organizational psychologist specializing in integrity development. Known as “The Integritizer,” he is the leader in transpartisan nondenominational strategies for solving the massive integrity deficits that have caused today’s vast social, economic, and political challenges. Dr. Gruder founded the “Integritize America Campaign,” an integrity stimulus plan for renewing personal, relationship and societal integrity so we can finally co-create sustainable solutions to today’s most challenging issues. His latest book, “THE NEW IQ: How Integrity Intelligence Serves You, Your Relationships and our World,” is the world’s first step-by-step guide to attaining personal, relationship, and career fulfillment during difficult times without sacrificing ethics and integrity. It has won five book awards in the areas of “social change,” (book of the year), “current events in politics and society” (honorable mention), “health & wellness” (book of the year), “self-help” (bronze medal) and “metapsychology” (book of the year). A professional speaker and trainer for almost three decades, Dr. Gruder speaks, trains, consults worldwide on how to “Integritize” citizens, government, communities, businesses, health care, education, religion, journalism, advocacy groups, and leadership. His clients have ranged from family-owned businesses to American Express work teams, from the Sanoviv Medical Institute to the San Diego Office of Education Management Academy, and from local politicians and executives to World Trade Organization ambassadors. His main website is www.TheNewIQ.com

ABOUT THE BOOK:
From the White House, to the board room, to the privacy of our own bedrooms, and virtually everywhere in between, integrity deficits are destroying our personal lives, our businesses, our economy, our healthcare, our society, and our planet.
Creating sustainable integrity-centered solutions to today’s vast array of major challenges requires us, as individuals and as a society, to take a fresh look at what creates life fulfillment. It requires us as citizens to develop a new integrity-centered vision of what we need to require from our leaders in government, business, advocacy groups, community organizations and the media.
The New IQ is the world’s first road-tested guide to integrity-centered living, working, loving, and serving. Hailed as a “once-in-a-generation book,” it provides the first step-by-step road map for restoring the vanishing virtue of integrity… for the sake of our loved ones, our communities, our businesses, our society, and our own personal wellbeing.
Going far beyond being a self-help book, this critically acclaimed five-award-winning action plan offers a socially responsible way to attain personal, relationship, and career fulfillment during difficult times, without sacrificing ethics and integrity. Here at last is your complete guide to “personal development that serves us all.”

INTERVIEW:

Paperback Writer
www.rebecca2007.wordpress.com

Interview Questions For Non-Fiction Authors

Hi Dr. Gruder.

Welcome to Paperback Writer.

Would you share with us how you came up with the idea for your book?

It’s no secret that we are suffering today from the devastating effects of massive integrity deficits at all levels of society. What is largely a secret, however, is the widely embraced faulty life fulfillment formula that is responsible for these integrity deficits. I wanted to write a book that exposed this faulty formula and that provided a practical nonpartisan interfaith road map for replacing it with a sustainable formula for individual life fulfillment and societal repair. My idea was therefore to write a book offering answers to what I believe are the five biggest questions of our time: 1) Why have we allowed severe integrity deficits to damage virtually all parts of our society? 2) How did so many of us adopt the insane belief that life fulfillment, wealth accumulation and a comfortable lifestyle require sacrificing integrity, people and social responsibility? 3) What do the few who succeed without making these sacrifices do to create happy fulfilling integrity-centered lives? 4) How can the rest of us easily learn to do on purpose what these rare folks do intuitively? 5) What profound improvements will we see in the world as more and more of us shift toward integrity-centered living, loving, working and serving?

Was it a light bulb moment or something that you thought about for a very long time?

It was a combination of both. The first light bulb leading to The New IQ went off forty years ago, but it took me decades to fully decipher the lessons I learned from the experience. When I was fifteen my parents naively sent me to the infamous Woodstock music festival because the summer camp for the performing arts I attended had offered it as an optional field trip. Woodstock surprisingly opened my eyes to some of the key integrity ingredients I describe in The New IQ. The second light bulb was the profound ways in which I was impacted because of being in the New York area during and immediately following the 9/11 attacks. That experience moved me so deeply that I committed the remainder of my career to helping to restore integrity in our society and around the world. The third light bulb was my own twin towers falling six months after that, when my first wife ended a marriage that I would have sworn on a stack of bibles was a marriage for life. It woke me up to hidden aspects of self-integrity and relationship integrity that I had never before understood to be crucial integrity dimensions. I write in The New IQ about all of these stories and the lessons about integrity that they taught me.

How did you come up with the title?

Many people know that there is more to intelligence than their Intelligence Quotient (IQ). There is emotional intelligence, relationship intelligence, leadership intelligence, etc. But, of the many forms of intelligence we have (or need to upgrade), it seems to me that the most central one of all is the one in which we are collectively most lacking: Integrity Intelligence. As a clinical and organizational psychologist, I am convinced that this form of intelligence is the foundational ingredient necessary for co-creating sustainable solutions to the multitude of significant problems we face today. Hence, my book title, “The New IQ: How Integrity Intelligence Serves You, Your Relationships and Our World.”

How did you find an agent and publisher?

I did not use an agent for The New IQ. I was deeply blessed that my publisher found me.

Who reads your work in progress?

My wife Laurie (who spots where I’m unnecessarily complicated and where my heart or passion aren’t shining through), my now-84-year-old mother (a published poet and incredible proofreader), some of the men in a support group I attend (they give me valuable insights about how my material will be received by average readers), a number of professional and writing colleagues (they point out my inaccuracies, blind spots and technical writing weaknesses), and of course my publisher and editor.

Who made a difference in the book’s quality?

All of the people I listed above plus everyone else I mentioned on my acknowledgments page in The New IQ.

How long did it take you to complete the first draft?

About a year.

How long did it take from start to publication?

About 1¾ years.

Do you have any advice for new authors?

Here is what I share with the helping professionals and leaders I mentor who are thinking about writing a non-fiction book. Truth told, this is the advice I wish I had been given and mentored with when I wrote my first book. Build your platform for selling your book before you finish the book. Non-fiction books are rarely ends in themselves. Before you write your book get clear about the upscale backend you want your book to generate interest in. While you write your book develop that backend so it’s ready when your book is published, including effective strategies to convert book buyers into upscale customers. Consciously write your book so that it serves your back-end. Write at the intersection of what you are truly passionate about and what your target readers most want (your target readers are those who are most likely to want to buy your back-ends). Write your book in a marketing-friendly way, rather than writing it for the sake of the content only. Allow your passion to shine through on every page. Understand each step in the book creation, production and marketing process, from soup to nuts. Invest in experts who specialize in the parts of the process you don’t have the expertise, passion, objectivity or time to do yourself. Make peace with the fact that writing a book is about 15% of the book process – and get good with the rest, which is about securing a publisher, pre-production, printing, distribution, marketing, and maximizing your back-end sales. In particular, get really, really good at and passionate about effective book marketing – don’t expect a publisher to rescue you from this responsibility. Learn to love the entire process, no matter how much of it you decide to outsource, or don’t bother writing a book. And once you start marketing your book, be prepared to persist, persist, persist, and improve, improve, improve.

Thank you, David, for stopping by Paperback Writer on your virtual book tour. I wish you continued success through the rest of your tour.