A Fascinating Video Clip

This morning through John Kremer, I watched a fascinating video presentation from Matthew Bennett.

Self-published author Matthew Bennett has sold over 5 million books this way, mostly to Fortune 500 corporations. He'll be teaching his entire system at Steve Harrison's "Sell Books By The Truckload Training Event, November 8-10th, in Philadelphia.

For a free video previewing some of what will be taught at the training event, go here: http://www.SellBooksBythetruckload.com/video/?10887

For information on attending the training, November 8-10th, go here: http://www.SellBooksByTheTruckload.com/?10887

At the same time as this conference, I will be at the Florida Writers Association but I was intrigued with the video and found it worth watching. Hopefully you will as well.

Encouragement For Independent Bookstores

It's no secret that independent bookstores are fighting for their survival. As a writer who cares about books and bookstores for many different reasons, I was fascinated to see this story about The Poisoned Pen, an independent bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona. It appeared in our local newspaper The Arizona Republic.

Unfortunately most of the news I've been reading in recent years has been about the downsizing or closing of independent bookstores--which used to be a thriving part of the publishing world and a place publishers and writers could depend to push their books out out to the public. The people who work in independent bookstores love books, read books and constantly recommend books to their customers. In the business, we call this "hand selling" a product. If you read this article, you will see that it’s still happening but much less than in the past. I found the article encouraging and celebrate this booksellers commitment to books.

Attitude Always Counts

How do you face your writing tasks? Is it just one more thing to be done or is there an attitude of expectancy with real excitement about the opportunity to communicate? Your attitude and approach will make a difference about how you complete the task--whether it comes out as ordinary or extra-ordinary.

While I don't always achieve it, I have tried to take the attitude of an eager learner who wants to constantly grow in my craft and knowledge about publishing or writing or whatever I tackle.

Years ago I supervised a writer as a part of my responsibility. One day I asked him if he ever attended a writers' conference. "Oh, yes," he responded. "I go if they ask me to teach." That wasn't the answer that I was expecting from this person.  Almost anyone will attend a conference if asked to teach or lead a class but do you go to the conference to learn and grow from others at it? It's a different attitude and perspective to take such a learning stance.

At the recent Glorieta Conference, I blocked some time in my schedule to take a session from one of the other teachers.  After the class, I expressed my appreciation for her information and insight. From her response, I could tell she was a bit surprised that I was even there but I learned some things from that session and took notes as she taught it.

In the last few weeks, I've hosted two distinct teleseminars. Both of these teleseminars are now in "replay mode." Askterrywhalin.com is about Writing For The Christian Market and features an interview that I did with Shawn McMullen, editor at The Lookout. This publication is one of the best places for a new writer to break into writing for the Christian market and Shawn explained step-by-step what he needs from writers during the session.  You can go to the page and instead of reaching the confirmation page with the information about the teleseminar, you will reach the replay page, where you can download all or part of the teleseminar or listen to it online.  Then last week I interviewed Susan Driscoll, President and CEO of iUniverse.com at asksusandriscoll.com. Like the first teleseminar, this one is also in replay mode and has great insight about self-publishing.

Take a minute for an attitude check then recommit to learning and growing in your craft. Then practice it day in and day out. You can make a difference.

A Cynic With Hints Of Truth

Steve Weinberg is on a roll with Publishers Weekly. Over the last two months, he had held two of their Soapbox columns with his most recent one, The Reluctant Expert, Being a published author means you can help anyone publish a book…right? He writes, "Those who work for book publishers and booksellers, as well as authors like myself, understand how difficult it is to write, edit and market a compelling volume. Many other people, however, seem to assume that the process is a no-brainer, that surely their book will prove irresistible to everyone."

This article is filled with some great advice that many authors need to process. To write and publish a book is a business but it's not all about the money but about getting your message out into the market. There are many different ways to accomplish those goals as Susan Driscoll told us earlier in the week through iUniverse. At asksusandriscoll.com you can sign in and instead of reaching the page for the interview, you will reach the replay page. Then you can download part or all of the teleseminar and listen to it on your computer or iPod or you can listen to it right on the page.

I was amused with Weinberg's article and the hints of truth which are embedded with a bit of cynicism. For any book to succeed, it is as much about timing as anything. It's been proven repeatedly in these books which had great potential when they were released, yet never realized it. As I've mentioned before, the best scenario is where the author has realistic expectations of what the publisher will and will not do, then actively works to put their own promotion plans into motion. These plans give the book the best possibility and environment for success (however you measure it).

A Different Look At The Book

The most recent issue of Publishers Weekly that I received (October 15) had a Bible and the cover story words, "The Bible’s New Versions, From Manga to DVD, the Oldest Story Enjoys New Tellings." The article highlights audio and video Bible products from different publishers.

The opening sentence of the article implies these products are a new trend to help people from every persuasion to use the Bible. From my many years of writing about Bible products, I understand publishers are constantly producing new Bible product and in every category--print and audio. Like other areas of book publishing, the publishing houses are eager to meet the needs of new generations and new readers. It is nothing new. Publishers are always looking for a way for more people to read and absorb the words of Scripture. I think it's one of those stories where people in the church know they "should" be reading their Bibles but will they take the time and effort to do it? Sadly few people invest the energy in this direction toward a book which can change their daily lives. Yes, intellectually they may know it but will they carry it out with consistency.

Over 15 years ago, I wrote a little magazine article which has been reprinted in a number of different publications called "Listening Through The Bible." I wrote it in the days before CDs and referred to the Bible on tape. Here's a startling fact that I've known for years: if you listen to the Bible for 20 minutes a day, then you can make it through the entire Bible text from Genesis to Revelation in four months. I love the Bible on audio and have a number of different versions which I use from time to time. Yet for me, I continue to be committed to reading the printed Bible. This year, I've been reading through The Daily Message by Eugene Peterson and I've completed 298 days toward reading the entire text.

Let's apply this consistency to your writing life. Do you have a plan or a goal? Are you consistently writing toward that goal? Break it into bite-size chunks and continue to move toward it. You will be surprised how much can be accomplished with this consistent action.

A Democratic Way To Enter Publishing

Last night I interviewed Susan Driscoll, CEO and President of iUniverse which is one of the largest Print On Demand self-publishing companies. During our 90-minutes together, there was an honest tone to the exchange which will resonate with listeners. According to Driscoll, iUniverse publishes around 400 books a month or 4,800 new books a year. She told about the variety of reasons that people want to publish their books. iUniverse provides a democratic way for anyone to enter publishing--whether you have dreams of a bestseller or want to get a single copy of your book to give to your family member.

While obviously Driscoll has a huge interest in the success of the company she leads, I was impressed that repeatedly throughout the exchange, she presented other options for listeners. For example, she encouraged authors to try and get a traditional publisher first, then turn to iUniverse. Also if you have a high volume sales potential, then maybe you want to start with iUniverse then switch to a more traditional self-publishing route. Or if you have a full-color children's book that you want to self-publish, Driscoll said that iUniverse would not be a good place for that type of book. Apparently the POD technology doesn't handle full-color work and she had other recommendations. From her long career in publishing, Driscoll understands that iUniverse isn't for everyone and there are many options on the publishing landscape.

After our teleseminar, I cut the interview into several bite-sized sections and also added links so you can download all of it or part of it. Then listen to it on your iPod or computer. Everyone who registered will receive the replay page link later today. After I set up the replay page, if anyone signed up at asksusandriscoll.com, instead of the confirmation page, they reach the replay page. I hope you will listen to the interview. It contains valuable insight for every writer.

Learn What Your Audience Wants -- Ask

Some times the obvious path isn't the one that a writer will select when they write their book. I met a number of these people last week at the writers conference. Some situation has inspired them to write a book (whether fiction or nonfiction) and they have pursued this dream and written all or part of their book project. Now they are trying to figure out what they perceive as the next step: find a publisher or a literary agent. Yet their project isn't focused on the needs or wants of the audience (their readers). Instead their work was created from inspiration. They never thought to ask the audience what they want, then create a product to meet the need. If you want to create a bunch of material which languishes in your desk drawer or file folder, then take the inspiration method. Instead if you want to write something which will scratch the needs of the audience, then ask them.

One of the valuable results of teleseminars and ask campaigns is the creator learns what the audience wants. Later today I will be interviewing Susan Driscoll, president and CEO of iUniverse in a live teleseminar. If you happen to be reading this post after the event, please go ahead and register as you will be notified of the replay and have the ability to download it to your computer or iPod. I've notified a number of people about this event and iUniverse has used several means to notify the audience about this event. I just checked my askdatabase account which collects and sorts the information for the event and found over 300 questions. It will be impossible to answer these questions during the 90–minute seminar so I will be looking for themes of questions to attempt and answer the majority of the concerns for the audience. Yet from these questions, I know what the audience is expecting and wants from the session. Asking the question has eliminated any doubts or guesswork.

There are many new ways to learn about electronic marketing. If you'd like to see where you are in this area of the market and receive a quick, FREE evaluation, then I'd encourage you to take this Electronic Marketing Survey. It could be one of the most important things you do for your own writing life.

I'm eager to learn about self-publishing and iUniverse later today. I hope to see you there.

Build Your Audience

This past week I had dozens of one on one meetings with writers at the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference. Each of these writers wanted to pitch their book idea and try to entice me to take their project as their literary agent. A number of them had good ideas which contained merit. The majority of them had some great life experience and knowledge to pour into a book topic. Yet often they lacked any exposure in the marketplace. The majority of them had never been published or written for a magazine or newspaper. Or if they had been published, at times their book idea had no connection to their publishing experience. Everything was done on happenstance rather than a deliberate effort.

Publishers and literary agents don't have the opportunity to help you build your audience and career. Each individual writer has to take charge of that responsibility and build their own audience. It was one of the themes that I repeated to authors over and over. If they love to write about _______, what are they doing to build that audience today and right now? Can they launch a free newsletter? Can they write magazine articles for print publications and Internet magazines? Can they develop a reputation as being the go-to person for such information? The answer is yes to every one of these questions. It will not happen instantly or overnight yet with each step they can increase their attractiveness to publishers and literary agents. Then when they pitch their ideas, it will be something worth serious deliberation and consideration.

Some of those people will have to self-publish their books and demonstrate their market through the sales of that book. I hope you can join me tomorrow night for my live tele-seminar with Susan Driscoll, the president of iUniverse. Sign up and ask your question.

Fragile Dreams

For the last few days, I’ve been at the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference. As a literary agent, I’ve had a parade of would-be authors sign up to meet with me, flock to my dining room table and catch me in the halls of the conference.

Each time I attend a conference as a member of the faculty, I’m keenly aware of the fragile nature of dreams. I’ve listened to many people tell me about themselves, their work, their hopes and their dreams. The challenge is to understand the effort of the writer to tell someone else about their hopes and dreams. I know these plans are fragile because I have many of my own plans and dreams. I look for ways to build these individuals, give them hope and encouragement yet balanced with realism about the challenges of book publishing and today’s marketplace. It’s a careful walk and I hope I achieved it.

I’m on the way back home. Tuesday I’m looking forward to interviewing Susan Driscoll, the president and CEO of iUniverse.com which is one of the largest Print-On-Demand companies in the United States. I’d encourage you to ask a question and listen to the live telewebcast.

A Guide For The Overconfident

There are many different types of writers. Some writers are petrified to be rejected so they never send in their work. Years ago I was in a critique group with one of these types of writers. He had a drawer filled with full-length novels which he had written but never submitted. As we read his work, we learned the stories were well-crafted and encouraged him to get his work out into the marketplace. Thankfully most of those novels have appeared in print with traditional publishers.

Then you have writers at the other end of the spectrum who are constantly submitting (and getting rejected) yet have little craft or writing technique nor do they study the market for a particular publisher or magazine or literary agent before they send off their project. The editorial piles around the country are glutted with these types of submissions. Most writers fall somewhere between these two extremes. Their work would profit from some feedback from an editor or another pass or two to edit through it.

Now Carolyn Howard-Johnson has created The Frugal Editor, Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. In a straight-forward style, Carolyn guides writers in how to prepare their manuscript for submission. It's anything from learning how to use the tracking changes feature of Microsoft Word to grammar tips on getting rid of adverbs and passive tense sentences complete with examples. She walks writers through the entire publishing process including galleys and gives some seasoned advice. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned professional, you can get some solid insight from this new book. I recommend it.

Jenna Bush's First Book

The current issue of The New Yorker includes a short and excellent article about Jenna Bush and her first book. I always enjoy reading these entries about new authors and in particular someone who has been out touring and promoting her book. I caught a few minutes of her interview on the Today Show recently.

Reading this article, in the opening, you can see a bit of how the book came to Harper Collins from the lawyer and literary agent, Robert Barnett.

The detail that fascinated me was about whether Jenna Bush wrote her own book or not. Even Clay Aiken's first assumption was that she used a ghostwriter but she didn't (according to the article). It shows again how often high profile people will turn to someone else for writing help. Some times this writer is mentioned in the book and some times they are not. People tell me that the mention of the writer or not is often a marketing decision as much as anything. The writer can still count the book in their list of published books. Interesting to me that many writers don’t want to write other people's material even though it is a huge and ongoing need in the market. Guess it takes the right sort of person to be willing to write for the joy of writing the story--and not for any by-line.

The Unexpected Movie

Often on the weekend, my wife and I will head to the movies. This weekend, the selection seemed particularly thin and we almost selected a drama just because we wanted to go to something. Normally we select the romantic comedies or something which isn't too violent or sexual in content.

Then my wife suggested going to The Jane Austen Book Club which is a small independent film, which has been out for several weeks. I know Jane Austen has a huge fan base in the market yet I'll admit that I've not read anything from this author. The film has an unexpected delight to it. A group of people (some friends, some family and some strangers) come together to form The Jane Austen Book Club. A number of members in the group are intimately familiar with the books yet re-read them so they can participate in the book club meetings. With six novels, they tackle one a month. You don't have to know anything about Jane Austen to enjoy this movie. Unspoken yet a predominate theme of the movie is whether art (the creation of novels) imitates life or whether life imitates art (the novel creation and the life of Jane Austen).

Many contemporary novelists feel like they have to end with a lack of resolution to reflect the unresolved nature of our real lives--but this film wraps in a delightful and upbeat way. It is a terrific way to spend a few hours and I recommend it.

An Hour-Long Chat Workshop

In less than an hour, I'm going to be typing as fast as I can type in a virtual chatroom. It's part of the week-long Muse Online Conference which has been the vision of Lea Schizas and Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Last year was the first year for it and they had over 1200 people register and attend. This year over 1900 have registered to attend. They intentionally use the easiest and simple technology for participants with free tools. Many people who want to attend a writers conference can't get there either because of a physical disability or the expense or other factors.

As I looked over their teaching faculty, I didn't recognize many of the names. The conference is a worldwide reach with participants from around the globe at different times in different chat rooms. I have about 65 people who are registered to attend my workshop on Book Proposals That Sell. A short time ago, I sent each of these registrants, my two-page handout for our session. I gave them many more resources than we will be able to cover in our short time together. The format is simple. After a brief introduction, I will teach a bit of material on book proposals then answer questions from participants. The transcript from the chat isn’t stored any place but the handout is compiled into a free ebook which is sent to every registrant.

When I looked over the email addresses of today's participants, there were few names that I recognized which was a good sign to me that I'm reaching a new audience with my teaching about book proposals and publishing excellence.

My encouragement to you is to look for new avenues for your writing. It may be something online or something in print but always be looking for these opportunities. You never know where it could lead you for your writing. I have to get ready to type fast so I can cram the greatest amount of information into the hour-long workshop.

Not Worth The Panic

Last night I held another live teleseminar about Writing For The Christian Market, my new Ebook. I sent out messages to several thousand writers about the session and reminded them of it. Then several hours before the teleseminar, I received a comment on these entries from someone who wanted to register but couldn’t get on the website. Immediately I checked it out and couldn't pull up the site. I called my host server who has been doing some migration work on their equipment. Yes, they were down but would be back up soon. I asked for a definition of "soon" and they couldn't tell me but reassured me that I would be able to hold my event.

People use askterrywhalin.com to register and ask their question. On the "Thank You" page, they could download the free offer plus the same page is where they could return to listen to a live telewebcast of the seminar. If you have a high-speed computer connection, it's a way for you to listen to the event without cost. Yet my pages were down and no one could reach them. It did cause a few moments of concern but I decided it was not worth the panic.

Almost exactly an hour before the event, my host server company called and told me they were bringing their equipment live and my site should be functional in a matter of minutes. It was available about 45 minutes before the event so it worked fine.

My special guest for about 30 minutes of the call was Shawn McMullen, editor of The Lookout which is a weekly publication with a circulation of about 85,000 copies and an audience of close to 100,000. Shawn described the types of articles that he uses and how writers can best approach him and meet his editorial needs. If you are looking for a new place to get published in the magazine area, I recommend you consider The Lookout.

After the event, I downloaded the MP3 from the teleseminar, then used Sound Forge to add music to the beginning and end of the session. In addition to the full program, I divided the session into three parts and uploaded the files into my audio generator account. If you don’t know about audio generator, it's a flexible system to provide various types of sound to your website. Follow the link for a trial subscription. Then I added the files to the replay page. Later today, anyone who registered for the event will receive the link to the replay.

Last night I launched the replay page. I used Box.net to upload the files and for the first time, anyone can download the entire program to their iPod or they can download each of the three parts. Why are these links important? It allows the participant to download the files and listen to them whenever they want to listen to them--instead of forcing them to listen on the replay page. Anyone who registered for the event after I launched the replay page will be taken to the page as a confirmation of their registration.

Why should every book author care about how I've put together these details? You will see this process is modeling what you can do to launch any book or product of your own. Gather people to a teleseminar and it will stimulate your exposure in the market and sales of your book. If you want to know more about the details of a teleseminar, there will be a great opportunity starting in early December. Alex Mandossian will teach his Teleseminar Secrets course. This training is excellent for any author. It's some of what I'll be teaching next week at the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference. Hope to see you there.

Blog Flack

I’ve taken my fair share of critics about these entries on The Writing Life. You could even call it a bit of blog flack. There will always be critics in this world—no matter which way you write and work in the publishing community. As a writer, you have to decide which voices you listen to and respect. Or which voices you ignore. There are some people who when they speak to me about something, I will listen to in-depth and other people I will almost instantly discount it.

I have my own series of challenges to faithfully create the material in these entries and get it out into the marketplace. I’m continually learning about publishing. In a week, I head to the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference. In recent days, I’ve been preparing for two new workshops that I’m teaching about Ebooks and Repurposing Your Content plus meeting with a number of writers and helping them with their proposals.

Just when I was having some doubts about the merits of these entries about writing and publishing, I received an unsolicited email from Joe Wikert. We had never corresponded yet Joe has been reading my blog and in fact recommended my Straight Talk From The Editor in his well-crafted blog about publishing. If you look at Joe’s entry, you will see that he is the Vice President and Executive Publisher at John Wiley & Sons, which recently celebrated 200 years of publishing. This publishing house was founded in 1807 during the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson. From Joe’s brief email, I received some encouragement.

Most of us will never know the impact of our words whether in print or in an email. It’s something to consider in these days of rush with way too much to accomplish in the hours of our day.

I’m excited about my teleseminar tomorrow. You can register for it, ask a question at http://www.askterrywhalin.com/. I’ve been corresponding with the “mystery magazine editor” who will be joining me for part of this call. It’s one of the absolute best places for any writer to break into WRITING FOR THE CHRISTIAN MARKET. He’s going to be giving us unique information about how to meet his editorial needs. Here’s a hint for you about which publication: the magazine is a weekly publication which means it requires a high volume of excellent Christian writing. If you can’t make the live event, go ahead and register because you will receive the link for the replay. Hope to see you on this call or you can hear it on the live telewebcast.

Questions About Publishing?

Some of you may remember that I had a free live teleseminar last month to launch my new Ebook WRITING FOR THE CHRISTIAN MARKET. I included a "mystery" magazine editor at one of the best places to break into the writing for the Christian market. At the last minute, my editor had a change of plans. The Lord graciously provided another magazine editor to participate in my event. But, I scheduled a second teleseminar with the first editor and on a Thursday night which doesn't have the same schedule conflict for him. It's going to be this Thursday, October 11th. You can ask your question and learn the details at: http://www.askterry whalin.com

Also I will be hosting a second free teleseminar on Tuesday, October 23rd with Susan Driscoll, the CEO and President of iUniverse.com (one of the country's largest self-publishers for Print-On-Demand, partially owned by Barnes and Noble). Susan has been in traditional publishing over 20 years working for companies like HarperCollins so is very knowledgeable about publishing. You can register, ask Susan a question and get a FREE copy of her book, GET PUBLISHED! at: http://www.asksusan driscoll. com.

One Small Missing Step

Several weeks ago, I held my second affiliate training teleseminar. I'm committed to the on-going training of these affiliates. The principles that I taught orally as well as through my study guide are applicable to almost every affiliate program.

As expected, I recorded the call and prepared to send the replay link to my affiliates via email. To add listener interest and the professional quality of this replay, I add a few seconds of music at the beginning and the end of the replay using Sound Forge 8 Audio Studio. I purchased this software earlier this year from Mike Stewart who is known as the Internet Audio Guy. I met Mike at Mega Book Marketing University. I've used Sound Forge a number of times to edit and prepare different products.

When I worked on the audio replay of this affiliate training, I had a problem. Every time I combined the music with the training audio, the sound was off. With some combinations, the music was slowed down until it was like a dirge. In other combinations, my voice was high-pitched and talked too fast to understand it. I knew there was some small missing step but I could not figure it out--despite trying many different combinations. I watched some audio training, then tried again with the same poor result. I emailed Mike Stewart and he graciously responded but I still was not able to make it work.

The speeds of the music and the audio were different. Music was at 44 MHZ and the audio was at 22 MHZ. While I understood the problem, I didn’t understand how to fix it—until yesterday. I had to open a new file, copy my audio then adjust the MHZ from 22 to 44. Then and only then when I added the music segment to the front and back did it play properly. I was stuck for a couple of weeks until I figured out this small missing step. I knew the software was going to provide the solution but I didn’t know how to use it and make the right combination.

With this small step, I fixed my audio and took the final steps to send it to each of my affiliates. Also I used the program to remaster my audios for Editor Reveals Book Proposal Secrets and I sent those files into production and to improve this product. Now each of the three CDs will include a few seconds of music at the beginning and end. The music for all three CDs is exactly the same and it helps the branding for this particular product. After discovering this missing step, I was able to move ahead with several of my pending projects.

While I have this love/ hate relationship with computers and software, I understand that the majority of my difficulties are my own problem. They are not related to the program or the computer. These programs only execute what they are told to do. If one small step is missing, then they do not perform.

It's the same in the publishing world. Are you missing a small step that can propel you to the next level with your writing or your marketing? Is there a tool that you are missing which you need? Do you need to join a critique group to get feedback and improve your writing? Do you need to gain interview experience and add that skill? Do you need to add a newsletter to your website and begin building your audience--even before you get your book published?

Take some time to look for the solutions to the missing pieces, then add them into your skill set. It could make a huge difference in the days ahead.

Keep On Keeping On

Recently I've missed writing these entries about The Writing Life. I've certainly thought of things to write but I've been on an airplane or consumed with something else which hasn't allowed me to write these entries.

If you watch the news or read the newspapers (as I do), it's easy to grow discouraged about the events of the world and your small sphere of influence over them. As you face different roadblocks for your writing how do you handle it? Do you see those roadblocks as halting your progress or as one more thing that you don't have to try? Are these challenges obstacles or opportunities? It's a matter of perspective.

I'm as human as the next person in this area but here's what I attempt to do when I face challenges to my writing life. Instead of wallowing in self-pitting and discouragement (which is the easy route), instead I focus on what I can do and where I can write and work on that material. I've recently been reviewing some CDs from Mega Book Marketing University and heard the stories of Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield as they were trying to find a publisher for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Today there are about 150 million copies of those books in print. Yet those books were rejected 144 times.

In the face of such rejection, Jack and Mark learned to handle each rejection and say to each other, "Next." They had eliminated another publisher so what was next? Imagine what would have happened to them if they had given up with the 140th rejection?

These men had big dreams and goals for their writing and their words. When a little publisher in Florida, HCI Communications published their books, they asked their publisher about his projections for the book. The publisher gave them a small expectation for sales and they instantly responded, "Well, that's not our goal."

The publisher asked them, "What's your goal?"

Mark said, "We want to sell a million and a half books in the first year." Their publisher laughed! Have you ever had anyone laugh at your goal? In the face of such laughter, Mark and Jack continued working and promoting their Chicken Soup books. I believe it was 15 months until they met that goal but they did meet it--and have gone way beyond it.

I love what the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20 and in the contemporary Message translation, it says, "God can do anything, you know--far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."

I've got big dreams and plans for the future and some of them are wild but they do not happen if I keep the material stuck in my computer or in my desk drawer. It only happens as I’m out in the marketplace of ideas. I'd encourage you to keep on keeping on.

For your encouragement, I put together a new article about how to open new markets with affiliate marketing. I hope it will help some of you. And if you have no interest in affiliate marketing, do keep on learning your craft and submitting your materials. And when you face rejection or disappointment, instead of wallowing in the negative feelings instead speak the word, "Next!" Press on.