Writing and Publishing

Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

Marcia McClure, our official Romance Novelist Expert

I can’t even tell you when I first ‘noticed’ him, but I think it was during a dance our band played at in the Manwaring Center at Ricks College sometime around March of 1984. He was in charge of the sound mixing boards for the band and worked at the back of the room in the dark, which might account for my not seeing him much before that. But one night…for some reason…the lights were on in the back of the room and from where I stood on the stage, I could see the sound and tech guys standing at their stations.

I was the lead female singer with several pop/rock bands and this night I was singing one of my signature songs, which included high notes that I hit hard and loud. A confident, poised lead singer will pull the microphone back a ways from her mouth when she hits the loud notes, thus preserving the hearing of the sound guys wearing headphones to monitor the sound mix. However, know that I was terrible at remembering to pull the microphone away from my mouth when I hit these loud notes. So, this night, as I took a deep breath and hit the first high note, I watched the head sound tech, rip the headphones from his head, throwing them to the floor. I could tell he was miffed, to say the least. Brian proceeded quietly, but furiously rant and rave at the other sound guys and I knew that his ears would be ringing for hours because of my mistake. I had seen this guy helping to roll up cords and things after dances, but his reaction to having his eardrums destroyed by my voice had caught my attention. Thus, you have my first vivid memory of Brian.

Read Marcia's entire article You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover

Beauty and the Beast Vs. the Bad Boy Syndrome

Marcia McClure, our official Romance Novelist Expert

This is the "Author's Note" from Marcia Lynn McClure's romance novel, The Whispered Kiss.

Yes, truly, one of my favorite fairy tales has always been "Beauty and the Beast." To me, the tale of Beauty's beast whispers of so many aspects I love about romance, as well as life in general. The idea that patience and love see beyond the battered and broken, that the power of love brings change, compassion, sympathy, courage and triumph. It's a wonderful lesson, a beautiful romance, and I always wanted to write my own version of it.

And then, there's the fact that, to my way of thinking, "Beauty and the Beast" represents the ultimate example of the ‘bad boy' syndrome so many of we girls secretly long for and utterly understand . . . 

Read Marcia's entire article Beauty and the Beast and the Bad Boy Syndrome

Is there a book in you? Join me in Mesa, AZ in January!

Join me at Leslie Householder's The Profitable Author Seminar, Jan 7-8, 2011 in Mesa, AZ

Is there a book in you?

Learn how to effectively convey your message and get paid for what you know!

Topics covered:

• Book Publishing secrets – to have a publisher or not to have a publisher?
• How to self publish on a shoestring
• How to make your book a best seller without spending $10,000 or more
• Do-it-yourself tricks – to save money on editors, typesetters, printers
• How to build a team of volunteers who are excited to promote your book
• Top ten new-author mistakes to avoid
• How (and when) to get into the brick and mortar stores
• Choosing your distributor
• How to get your book considered for being published by Thoughts Alive Books – why you may or may not want it
• How to repurpose your materials in multiple formats for a six-figure income
• Basic internet marketing tips and tricks for authors
• How to find the time to get your book done and marketed
• Choosing your chapter titles carefully – and why that’s important
• Your cover design – do it yourself, hire it out, or what?  How?
• Finish it fast, or make it amazing?  Or both?

Leslie will teach you what she's learned over the last 10 years, going from a novice to an award winning, three-time international best seller.  And I'll be sharing some strategies from my 14 years in publishing as well. Leslie's written three books and every one of them has achieved best seller status.  I'm also a best-selling author with 20 titles in print. Together we've invested tens of thousands of dollars to learn what we'll share with you for just a fraction of what this information is worth!

One of Leslie's clients paid her $12,000 last year for some one-on-one help her with her book, and after only 20 minutes of sharing just one of the powerful shortcuts, she said, “That right there was worth the $12,000 I paid you.”

Now it’s your turn!

Register Now – two full days of intense training – Regularly $497, but through my link, you can save $100 off the ticket price! Click here.

Promoting Your Books; Easy and Fun

Susan Klopfer, our official Self Publishing expert says:

Once you write it, how do you sell it? Promoting books is easy and fun. Here's a great author success story that I learned as a journalist when living in Branson, Missouri

Read Susan's entire article Promoting Your Books; Easy and Fun