Next phase, conceptual editing. Tate Publishing and my editor are going to want me to make decisions. They don’t know that I am not making decisions right now. Not making big decisions and not making little decisions. I think that I won’t be able to make any decisions until at least Halloween when I know the Texas temperatures have cooled and my children and I are all safely settled into our new homes. No decision making is going to be possible until the leaves are turning up north and the weather permits me to drive with the lid down on my car. No decisions will be made until cool and stiff breezes have cleared my head of the consequences of all the decisions I have had to make over the last 18 years. 18 years, exactly. I have decision making exhaustion.
As a small business owner and single Mom, decision making demands have been a constant and almost unbearable part of my world. In order to survive, I had to make large and small decisions. I made terrible decisions and I made great decisions. Some were made after extensive deliberation and some were made on the spot. I have been held accountable for every single decision I was forced to make. Many carry huge regret while others are still heralded as the best decisions I ever made. Some will affect me for the rest of my life and I can hardly bare to think about them and their far reaching effects. Others were but a moment on my big screen.
In the beginning, I made all my decisions on my own. I didn’t trust very many people at all and was, frankly, running exhausted and scared. Business growing, small children, mortgage, expensive divorce(s), you get the picture. I just did what I felt I had to do because at that moment in time I didn’t trust anyone. I find this interesting now because looking back, that was during a time when I trusted myself least of all. Yet, I still forced myself to make all my own decisions without counsel. What terrible decisions I made and what an ugly person I was to be around as I was making some of them.
My business grew and my children grew and the dynamics of my life changed. Instead of needing to be so hands on with both my business and my children, I noticed that I was able to use my brain power a little bit more often than my physical power. I was learning from my mistakes. I was training employees to do the tasks that in the past only I had completed. Consequently, I was able to concentrate on the cerebral side of my company. I learned the hard way that in order to really see progress and success, I needed to empower people around me. I needed to learn how to trust and depend on my employees and business associates. That meant giving some control to my banker, CPA, web man and insurance man. That meant giving some power and even a key to the employees working in the evenings.
That meant realizing that my company could grow even bigger and stronger if I didn’t need to do everything myself. That meant that I didn’t have to make ALL the decisions. Could I pick up the pieces if a bad decision was made when I wasn’t on watch? Absolutely. I learned what an amazing feeling it is to give some power away and watch it flourish and blossom. How great it felt to watch an employee stand taller and sound more decisive and strong when they were given the ability to come up with a plan without asking any questions.
I am realizing now all these years later and as the book is getting closer and closer to release date, that I want to give the decisions away again. I want small business owners all over the globe to know that they don’t need to make all of their decisions all by themselves. That they may not be the experts in every single area of their business and they just might need to place trust and power in others. In order to make the right decisions, they might not need to be the decision maker. They might need to empower those around them to take charge.
In order to make the right decisions right now, I need to not be my decision maker. In exhaustion, I want to give my decisions away to someone else. Tell me where to be, when to be there and even what I should be wearing. It’s too hot outside for me to decide.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
12 Days of Silence-Yes, 12!
Two years ago right now I was submitting my application to attend a silent retreat in an Ashram in Northeast Texas. Twelve days with zero talking, very light vegan food and lots of sitting in the lotus position. No phones, no hairdryers, no makeup, no radio, no TV, no electrical anything. No reading. Nothing but you and your soul. Nothing but space, time and quiet to dig really deep. Painfully and necessarily deep. Everyone in my world thought I was bonkers to have committed myself to such a ‘holiday’. The thought that someone as out-spoken and seemingly extroverted as I could never go away for almost two weeks and not say a word was unthinkable.
To me, the idea of silence was a dreamy.
I don’t think a lot of the people in my world know me very well. Extroverts get their stimulation from the people around them. They energize themselves by feeding off of the people, personalities and events in their circle. Introverts are energized by their internal being. I am an introvert. I know how to, can and prefer to energize myself. I am happy to keep myself company. While I just adore being around others, I don’t need to be surrounded in order to be peaceful and content. I don’t have to jump up to answer the phone each time it rings in case I might be missing something going on outside my space. Most of the time I would prefer my phone not ring at all.
My favorite dinner party is the small group of 4 or 6 around a round table where meaningful conversation including all guests can take place. I am not comfortable in the large party where the room needs to be worked and everyone greeted. To an introvert like me, the large party where I might not already know everyone requires me to ‘put my personality on’. To an extrovert, a large party is stimulating and exciting. It takes me days to gear myself up for a large event and hours after to calm down. To an extravert, a large event can unfold on the spur of the moment and they are thrilled.
Have my circumstances forced me to be an extrovert? Absolutely. Does this exhaust me? Absolutely. Am I exhausted by life right now? Yes. Am I anxious to get to my authentic self? Yes. I am anxious to slow down. Settle in. Eliminate drama. Have meaningful conversations with people who matter to me.
Tate has asked me to be quiet. Specifically, ‘the month of July will be a quiet month’, while we work on your manuscript. The universe is unfolding before me and it is making itself known through Tate. I know they are working on the book and they have asked me to be quiet.
I have been begging to be quiet for a long, long time.
Once final manuscripts are submitted to production, Tate makes it very clear that no changes should be made. Apparently, most people tend to want to tweak and revise what they have written and unfortunately, if they make changes they are not usually for the better. This was a relief to hear. I thought, my manuscript is out of my hands after working, fretting and praying on it for so long. I could leave it be and know that the process had begun. I will admit that I am fretting a little bit now. I’ve made a few omissions in my writing and I am worried.
I have not instructed my small business owners to take any quiet time. While I ask them to work hard to define their ‘time’ and the ‘time’ they will take to do specific things for their business, I have not asked them to take any time for themselves. I have not asked them to be silent. If we do not get silent, how can we evaluate our actions?
We spend so much time on Plan A, enacting Plan A, throwing ourselves into Plan A, fighting to make Plan A ‘the’ plan. What if we don’t take any quiet time and come up with a Plan B? If Plan A just isn’t what the universe has ordered, there has got to be a calmly calculated Plan B waiting in the wings. How are we going to see the whole picture if we don’t take any quiet time? How are we going to be successful if we don’t get silent?
How can we honor ourselves and the position we have in the world if we don’t take time to be introspective?
I didn’t make it to my retreat. Lia had just gone off to college and I couldn’t bring myself to be away from Casey or away from the phone in case Lia needed me during her first critical weeks away. Not going was the right decision and I didn’t have any trouble making it. As a very blessed and happy Momma it would have been selfish of me to leave during that time of transition. But I just haven’t been able to get the idea of 12 days of silence in that remote location out of my mind. I think about it, dream about it and crave it, constantly.
Silent Retreat-Plan B. Plan A has run its course.
To me, the idea of silence was a dreamy.
I don’t think a lot of the people in my world know me very well. Extroverts get their stimulation from the people around them. They energize themselves by feeding off of the people, personalities and events in their circle. Introverts are energized by their internal being. I am an introvert. I know how to, can and prefer to energize myself. I am happy to keep myself company. While I just adore being around others, I don’t need to be surrounded in order to be peaceful and content. I don’t have to jump up to answer the phone each time it rings in case I might be missing something going on outside my space. Most of the time I would prefer my phone not ring at all.
My favorite dinner party is the small group of 4 or 6 around a round table where meaningful conversation including all guests can take place. I am not comfortable in the large party where the room needs to be worked and everyone greeted. To an introvert like me, the large party where I might not already know everyone requires me to ‘put my personality on’. To an extrovert, a large party is stimulating and exciting. It takes me days to gear myself up for a large event and hours after to calm down. To an extravert, a large event can unfold on the spur of the moment and they are thrilled.
Have my circumstances forced me to be an extrovert? Absolutely. Does this exhaust me? Absolutely. Am I exhausted by life right now? Yes. Am I anxious to get to my authentic self? Yes. I am anxious to slow down. Settle in. Eliminate drama. Have meaningful conversations with people who matter to me.
Tate has asked me to be quiet. Specifically, ‘the month of July will be a quiet month’, while we work on your manuscript. The universe is unfolding before me and it is making itself known through Tate. I know they are working on the book and they have asked me to be quiet.
I have been begging to be quiet for a long, long time.
Once final manuscripts are submitted to production, Tate makes it very clear that no changes should be made. Apparently, most people tend to want to tweak and revise what they have written and unfortunately, if they make changes they are not usually for the better. This was a relief to hear. I thought, my manuscript is out of my hands after working, fretting and praying on it for so long. I could leave it be and know that the process had begun. I will admit that I am fretting a little bit now. I’ve made a few omissions in my writing and I am worried.
I have not instructed my small business owners to take any quiet time. While I ask them to work hard to define their ‘time’ and the ‘time’ they will take to do specific things for their business, I have not asked them to take any time for themselves. I have not asked them to be silent. If we do not get silent, how can we evaluate our actions?
We spend so much time on Plan A, enacting Plan A, throwing ourselves into Plan A, fighting to make Plan A ‘the’ plan. What if we don’t take any quiet time and come up with a Plan B? If Plan A just isn’t what the universe has ordered, there has got to be a calmly calculated Plan B waiting in the wings. How are we going to see the whole picture if we don’t take any quiet time? How are we going to be successful if we don’t get silent?
How can we honor ourselves and the position we have in the world if we don’t take time to be introspective?
I didn’t make it to my retreat. Lia had just gone off to college and I couldn’t bring myself to be away from Casey or away from the phone in case Lia needed me during her first critical weeks away. Not going was the right decision and I didn’t have any trouble making it. As a very blessed and happy Momma it would have been selfish of me to leave during that time of transition. But I just haven’t been able to get the idea of 12 days of silence in that remote location out of my mind. I think about it, dream about it and crave it, constantly.
Silent Retreat-Plan B. Plan A has run its course.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Hot Momma on the Edge
I am hot. I am tired. I am cranky and I am so done with the whole anticipation, it’s Christmas Eve in June idea. What in the world was I thinking? Ugh. Casey has graduated. My ‘other-one’ Momma, Frances, has been safely put to rest. I’ve put 1620 more miles on my car. It has been in the 90’s+ every day for as long as I can remember and I’m done with it. Time for Tate to help me get the show on the road. I need a new plan, some new direction and an AC that will work for me reliably.
Last Thursday was a particularly horrendous day. I don’t do this Texas heat very well at all. (read: UNDERSTATEMENT) Unfortunately, I had to drive 4 hours for a work function that was a disaster. A team of us ended up cooking and showing food to a customer in an UN air-conditioned warehouse because one of the team members is an idiot. (Yes, I did say that.) After over 2 ½ hours in the UN air-conditioned warehouse, not only was I feeling extremely ill, my patience was worn completely out, my smile totally melted off of my face and my demeanor that of a woman in terminal menopause. The icing on the cake was when we were finally finished, the customer hugged me and he was as sweaty as I. Delightful. Yes, sweaty. Sweat running down my back, soaking my drawers and traveling down to my knees was not ladylike ‘glistening’. It was downright unladylike disgusting.
Took me all Thursday night to calm down and get my core temperature cool again, laying crossways over my hotel room bed, naked, before I would undertake the drive back south on Friday. At this time, I would really like Mr. Hotel Chain Man Owner to explain to me why and how all hotels seem to have this new gimmick of turning OFF the AC in their guest rooms in the middle of the night? All of them seem to do it. Do they really, I mean really, think none of their guests are going to wake up in the middle of the night and notice that the AC in their room has magically turned off so the hotel could save a few pennies? Seriously.
Sorry, I digressed. Friday morning I am up at 4:, in the car by 5: and on the way south to the office to work for 7 hours, give or take, depending on who has a personality in the office and who doesn’t. Three hour dive to the office. AC on full blast. 90 degrees outside already but my car is good and I can do this. Besides, I am totally excited because my Lia is bringing 22 of her Aggie Fish Camp friends to my house for dinner and I GET TO COOK for all of them AND they are all going to hug my neck and call me MOMMA!! I am beyond excited. Get to work. Work, work, meet, work, meet, work, run, run, run, out the door and another hour in the car and home! I am finally here!!!
And my AC is broken and it is 88 degrees inside. Felt like 2 million degrees and I had walked into hell. The butter I had left out on the counter to soften to make my famous Garlic Cheese Bread with is totally MELTED. Not just soft, melted liquid. Which would lead me to believe that the AC had been broken for all the days that I had been away. It is 4:pm and I have 22+ people that I have never met, who are going to hug me and call me Momma, coming for dinner in just under 3 hours. This makes the nightmare of the dinner party I had with no silverware seem like a distant chuckle at this time. (I didn’t mind my cardinal rule and set the table the night before. I left it to last forgetting that I had taken all the silverware from home to the big kitchen to use with an event so when I went to set the table, after some of my guests had started to arrive, I had zero silverware. It really was hilarious now that I think of it. We like shared large serving pieces to eat with. Big huge knives. Toothpicks. Now I am laughing! It WAS funny!)
Call the office. Please fix the AC now. Unfortunately, this is not the first time my AC has gone out in the last month or so. You would have thought they would have fixed it the first, second or even third time, but no, why bother finding out what the real problem is. I’m cooking, baking, sweating and trying to come up with a plan B. We are having dinner here because of the pool. There is a beautiful clubhouse by the pool but it closes at 7: and they will not let me use it. Even though the broken AC is their fault and they are not fixing it, the office has no intention of helping me come up with a plan B. They are not nice people. They are supposed to be giving me a Wonderful Living Experience. Kiss my a__.
6:30 pm. Supposedly the AC is fixed. It’s down to 84 degrees and yes, it will take a couple of hours to cool further.
7:00 pm. Food is ready and I am a wreak. Big wreak. 89 degrees and I am calling the office, again, for one last time. The Big AC fix it man is on the way. I get in the shower praying for cold water. Hah. Who am I kidding? Throw on the little dress with No bra and No drawers because I am crying now I am so hot. I want to just die.
No AC man.
7:30 Kids start showing up! Every single one of them hugging me, calling me Momma and thanking me for having them. 88 degrees and No bra and NO drawers and I am hugging, hugging, hugging. Praise God for Lou showing up with the Vodka and Tonic and fresh Limes!
No AC man.
8:30 pm. Kids are in and out, eating, laughing, talking. We have the doors open to let the cool 85 degree nighttime air in to cool the place off.
Still no AC man.
10:20 pm. AC man is supposedly on the way. Again. Kitchen is clean and I have an opportunity to go shower again and sleep elsewhere but no, I am instructed to wait for the AC man.
11:45 pm. No AC man. I make one final phone call. I wasn’t nice.
Bottom line, I am done with the whole anticipation gig. I am ready for the show to hit the road. I am ready to put the next set of plans in place. I am ready to revisit my goals and challenges. Ummmm, I am ready to rewrite the business plan! I am done with being hot and cranky. I am done with people who say they are going to show and they don’t. I am ready to plan the book signing road tour. I am ready….
Dear Tate Publishing:
Please call me, now. It’s time to get the show on the road. All these small business owners out there who are dying to get out of the heat need to hear from me!
Sincerely,
Annmarie!
Aka: AMCQ (Annmare the Cooking Queen)
2:00 pm Saturday afternoon. THE NEXT DAY! AC man showed up.
Last Thursday was a particularly horrendous day. I don’t do this Texas heat very well at all. (read: UNDERSTATEMENT) Unfortunately, I had to drive 4 hours for a work function that was a disaster. A team of us ended up cooking and showing food to a customer in an UN air-conditioned warehouse because one of the team members is an idiot. (Yes, I did say that.) After over 2 ½ hours in the UN air-conditioned warehouse, not only was I feeling extremely ill, my patience was worn completely out, my smile totally melted off of my face and my demeanor that of a woman in terminal menopause. The icing on the cake was when we were finally finished, the customer hugged me and he was as sweaty as I. Delightful. Yes, sweaty. Sweat running down my back, soaking my drawers and traveling down to my knees was not ladylike ‘glistening’. It was downright unladylike disgusting.
Took me all Thursday night to calm down and get my core temperature cool again, laying crossways over my hotel room bed, naked, before I would undertake the drive back south on Friday. At this time, I would really like Mr. Hotel Chain Man Owner to explain to me why and how all hotels seem to have this new gimmick of turning OFF the AC in their guest rooms in the middle of the night? All of them seem to do it. Do they really, I mean really, think none of their guests are going to wake up in the middle of the night and notice that the AC in their room has magically turned off so the hotel could save a few pennies? Seriously.
Sorry, I digressed. Friday morning I am up at 4:, in the car by 5: and on the way south to the office to work for 7 hours, give or take, depending on who has a personality in the office and who doesn’t. Three hour dive to the office. AC on full blast. 90 degrees outside already but my car is good and I can do this. Besides, I am totally excited because my Lia is bringing 22 of her Aggie Fish Camp friends to my house for dinner and I GET TO COOK for all of them AND they are all going to hug my neck and call me MOMMA!! I am beyond excited. Get to work. Work, work, meet, work, meet, work, run, run, run, out the door and another hour in the car and home! I am finally here!!!
And my AC is broken and it is 88 degrees inside. Felt like 2 million degrees and I had walked into hell. The butter I had left out on the counter to soften to make my famous Garlic Cheese Bread with is totally MELTED. Not just soft, melted liquid. Which would lead me to believe that the AC had been broken for all the days that I had been away. It is 4:pm and I have 22+ people that I have never met, who are going to hug me and call me Momma, coming for dinner in just under 3 hours. This makes the nightmare of the dinner party I had with no silverware seem like a distant chuckle at this time. (I didn’t mind my cardinal rule and set the table the night before. I left it to last forgetting that I had taken all the silverware from home to the big kitchen to use with an event so when I went to set the table, after some of my guests had started to arrive, I had zero silverware. It really was hilarious now that I think of it. We like shared large serving pieces to eat with. Big huge knives. Toothpicks. Now I am laughing! It WAS funny!)
Call the office. Please fix the AC now. Unfortunately, this is not the first time my AC has gone out in the last month or so. You would have thought they would have fixed it the first, second or even third time, but no, why bother finding out what the real problem is. I’m cooking, baking, sweating and trying to come up with a plan B. We are having dinner here because of the pool. There is a beautiful clubhouse by the pool but it closes at 7: and they will not let me use it. Even though the broken AC is their fault and they are not fixing it, the office has no intention of helping me come up with a plan B. They are not nice people. They are supposed to be giving me a Wonderful Living Experience. Kiss my a__.
6:30 pm. Supposedly the AC is fixed. It’s down to 84 degrees and yes, it will take a couple of hours to cool further.
7:00 pm. Food is ready and I am a wreak. Big wreak. 89 degrees and I am calling the office, again, for one last time. The Big AC fix it man is on the way. I get in the shower praying for cold water. Hah. Who am I kidding? Throw on the little dress with No bra and No drawers because I am crying now I am so hot. I want to just die.
No AC man.
7:30 Kids start showing up! Every single one of them hugging me, calling me Momma and thanking me for having them. 88 degrees and No bra and NO drawers and I am hugging, hugging, hugging. Praise God for Lou showing up with the Vodka and Tonic and fresh Limes!
No AC man.
8:30 pm. Kids are in and out, eating, laughing, talking. We have the doors open to let the cool 85 degree nighttime air in to cool the place off.
Still no AC man.
10:20 pm. AC man is supposedly on the way. Again. Kitchen is clean and I have an opportunity to go shower again and sleep elsewhere but no, I am instructed to wait for the AC man.
11:45 pm. No AC man. I make one final phone call. I wasn’t nice.
Bottom line, I am done with the whole anticipation gig. I am ready for the show to hit the road. I am ready to put the next set of plans in place. I am ready to revisit my goals and challenges. Ummmm, I am ready to rewrite the business plan! I am done with being hot and cranky. I am done with people who say they are going to show and they don’t. I am ready to plan the book signing road tour. I am ready….
Dear Tate Publishing:
Please call me, now. It’s time to get the show on the road. All these small business owners out there who are dying to get out of the heat need to hear from me!
Sincerely,
Annmarie!
Aka: AMCQ (Annmare the Cooking Queen)
2:00 pm Saturday afternoon. THE NEXT DAY! AC man showed up.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Thank God I Was A Single Parent
Lou and I were settled in the other night quietly playing a game of Backgammon when Casey and his energy burst in the door carrying sacks of groceries. He was preparing French Toast breakfast for ‘the couples’ (himself, girlfriend Jordan and another couple, their best friends) the following morning. No, I was not allowed to help. No, I could not put out the pretty plates and linen napkins. Yes, he would be using paper towels and yes, that was okay. No, I could not set the table and put the coffee in the pot. No, I didn’t even need to be there.
Unintentionally, I laid my ground work very well. My children were 4 and 6 when I became a single parent and because of the nature of my business and my personality they were forced to be very responsible immediately. Lia and Casey have done their own laundry for as long as I can remember. They know how to load, turn on and even empty the dishwasher. They know how to make their beds and what a hospital corner is. I never had to wake them up in the morning and get them ready for school. They have always gotten themselves up, had breakfast and dressed in the clothes they laid out the night before so that they were ready when I arrived home to drive them to school. They knew how to get themselves fed when there was ABSOLTELY NOTHING to eat in the house.
The three of us have had repeated conversations about how in many ways they were blessed to have been raised in a single parent home. How they had no choice but to have initiative. The power of this foundation is more and more apparent as they move into adulthood and it’s all good. How fabulous to see Casey not only cooking for his guests but cleaning up after. Just recently, Lia had to teach one of her new 20 year old roommates how to do their laundry and what a laundry bag for delicates was!
Just as we lay groundwork for grownup success in our children, as small business owners we absolutely must lay a solid foundation for our business enterprises or we will not enjoy success and reward. I am saddened and shocked both at how many entrepreneurs will sink their life savings into marketing, selling or producing a product without doing any due diligence. They don’t understand the power of managing their time in a manner that is indigenous to their habits. They don’t understand the power of their business relationships. They don’t take the time to manage their employees so that they will have a vested interest in their business. They don’t even take the time to study their potential competition!
Lou and I resumed our Backgammon game talking about my children. How blessed I am to have been able to raise them in an atmosphere that forced a strong foundation for their future. How blessed that I was rewarded with a business that had huge failure and major success. How blessed am I that I will be able to share tools for laying solid ground work with small business owners all over the world. How blessed Lou was that my thoughts were full of my blessings. He won every game of Backgammon we played that night!
Unintentionally, I laid my ground work very well. My children were 4 and 6 when I became a single parent and because of the nature of my business and my personality they were forced to be very responsible immediately. Lia and Casey have done their own laundry for as long as I can remember. They know how to load, turn on and even empty the dishwasher. They know how to make their beds and what a hospital corner is. I never had to wake them up in the morning and get them ready for school. They have always gotten themselves up, had breakfast and dressed in the clothes they laid out the night before so that they were ready when I arrived home to drive them to school. They knew how to get themselves fed when there was ABSOLTELY NOTHING to eat in the house.
The three of us have had repeated conversations about how in many ways they were blessed to have been raised in a single parent home. How they had no choice but to have initiative. The power of this foundation is more and more apparent as they move into adulthood and it’s all good. How fabulous to see Casey not only cooking for his guests but cleaning up after. Just recently, Lia had to teach one of her new 20 year old roommates how to do their laundry and what a laundry bag for delicates was!
Just as we lay groundwork for grownup success in our children, as small business owners we absolutely must lay a solid foundation for our business enterprises or we will not enjoy success and reward. I am saddened and shocked both at how many entrepreneurs will sink their life savings into marketing, selling or producing a product without doing any due diligence. They don’t understand the power of managing their time in a manner that is indigenous to their habits. They don’t understand the power of their business relationships. They don’t take the time to manage their employees so that they will have a vested interest in their business. They don’t even take the time to study their potential competition!
Lou and I resumed our Backgammon game talking about my children. How blessed I am to have been able to raise them in an atmosphere that forced a strong foundation for their future. How blessed that I was rewarded with a business that had huge failure and major success. How blessed am I that I will be able to share tools for laying solid ground work with small business owners all over the world. How blessed Lou was that my thoughts were full of my blessings. He won every game of Backgammon we played that night!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Firm Timeline? Yeah, Right
Yes, I am a kid and it IS Christmas Eve! Sadly, I’d forgotten the Christmas Eve feeling of anticipation a long, long time ago. Now, it’s back and it is the best feeling ever, ever, ever. Kind of like a feeling of young love and lust and… This is most yummy! I know this is quite good and I relish living in this moment. How did I capture Christmas Eve in June? All it took was communication from Tate regarding what to expect from my conceptual editing process. It is here! My time is just around the corner and I can’t wait.
Here is an excerpt: Your Conceptual Editor will be a highly trained professional who works every day with the elements of literature—things like logic, flow, and engagement in nonfiction. He/she is an objective reader who will be both your toughest critic and your closest ally.
You can expect Conceptual Editing to be the most difficult and most rewarding part of the publishing process. It will take time, patience, and hard work from both author and editor.
My toughest critic and my closest ally! Most difficult and most rewarding! Time, patience and hard work! Yes, this is my holiday. I am ready to learn! I am ready for adventure! I am going to keep this feeling of Christmas in my bones for a long, long time. I am going to be rewarded for waiting patiently. For breathing deeply and managing my day to day while waiting. Besides, my new friend Ruth was reading my palm recently and she told me that I was in a time of transition, that I had power in my patience and that in the end, my book was going to be amazing and that I was going to reap success because I was going to empower so many others to thier own success.
I have chosen to believe and envision every single thing that my palm had to tell me!
Meantime, I have been working on my own PR campaign and taping notes all over my vision board. Front and center are my road trip locations! I have been talking about taking a road trip forever and now have the power to finally begin visualizing it. My goal is to get in the car and circle this country visiting all the people I adore and who I call my ‘other one’ families. I’ve now decided that yes, my road trip IS going to be a reality and I am going to be signing books in every single location! I am going to be cooking amazing food in everyone’s kitchens and we are going to visit and talk and share. (drinking really great wine!) This makes me very, very happy!
Along with my little PR campaign, I allowed my friend Gerald to prod me into finally starting a Twitter account. I did it! I’ve told Casey that I am going to be the queen of social networking and of course, he thought that was a hilarious joke. Don’t notice that he has a Twitter account… http://twitter.com/RecipesFrmALife
In closing, Tate tells me that my editing timeline is firm. A firm timeline? Doesn’t get any better than a firm time line! My palm tells me so! Merry Christmas in June!
Here is an excerpt: Your Conceptual Editor will be a highly trained professional who works every day with the elements of literature—things like logic, flow, and engagement in nonfiction. He/she is an objective reader who will be both your toughest critic and your closest ally.
You can expect Conceptual Editing to be the most difficult and most rewarding part of the publishing process. It will take time, patience, and hard work from both author and editor.
My toughest critic and my closest ally! Most difficult and most rewarding! Time, patience and hard work! Yes, this is my holiday. I am ready to learn! I am ready for adventure! I am going to keep this feeling of Christmas in my bones for a long, long time. I am going to be rewarded for waiting patiently. For breathing deeply and managing my day to day while waiting. Besides, my new friend Ruth was reading my palm recently and she told me that I was in a time of transition, that I had power in my patience and that in the end, my book was going to be amazing and that I was going to reap success because I was going to empower so many others to thier own success.
I have chosen to believe and envision every single thing that my palm had to tell me!
Meantime, I have been working on my own PR campaign and taping notes all over my vision board. Front and center are my road trip locations! I have been talking about taking a road trip forever and now have the power to finally begin visualizing it. My goal is to get in the car and circle this country visiting all the people I adore and who I call my ‘other one’ families. I’ve now decided that yes, my road trip IS going to be a reality and I am going to be signing books in every single location! I am going to be cooking amazing food in everyone’s kitchens and we are going to visit and talk and share. (drinking really great wine!) This makes me very, very happy!
Along with my little PR campaign, I allowed my friend Gerald to prod me into finally starting a Twitter account. I did it! I’ve told Casey that I am going to be the queen of social networking and of course, he thought that was a hilarious joke. Don’t notice that he has a Twitter account… http://twitter.com/RecipesFrmALife
In closing, Tate tells me that my editing timeline is firm. A firm timeline? Doesn’t get any better than a firm time line! My palm tells me so! Merry Christmas in June!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Hurricane Brownies
Those who know me know that I am absolutely not a procrastinator but boy, oh, boy, I have been procrastinating finishing the Author Outline pages that the Dolphin had asked me to complete. Don’t know what pushed me off the edge, but I finally finished and submitted them today. All questions answered including where I think my book should be displayed in a bookstore. I wanted to say right inside the front door, duh. But I was respectful and realistic and didn’t! I did say that I could see it in every airport terminal bookstore in the whole wide world though! I also answered who my audience was going to be and what I wanted people to take away from my book and more and more.
I’ve also now read the Tate Marketing guidelines. Now, that was exciting! All these directions on book-signings and paraphernalia like bookmarks and post cards and posters and t-shirts. On and on! They suggest that I have my first book signing in the town that I live in and have a minimum of 30 of my own guests in attendance. I am going to have to bribe everyone with Hurricane Brownies!
I still have the message from the keynote speaker from Tyler’s graduation running around in my head. One of his points was to do more than average people do. He talked about how average people just survive not necessarily succeeding. In order to succeed in life one must exceed expectation. I promise that I am going to do more than average with this book. I am going to exceed expectation by doing everything that I need to do going above and beyond with each task that Tate gives me. No more procrastination!
I’ve also now read the Tate Marketing guidelines. Now, that was exciting! All these directions on book-signings and paraphernalia like bookmarks and post cards and posters and t-shirts. On and on! They suggest that I have my first book signing in the town that I live in and have a minimum of 30 of my own guests in attendance. I am going to have to bribe everyone with Hurricane Brownies!
I still have the message from the keynote speaker from Tyler’s graduation running around in my head. One of his points was to do more than average people do. He talked about how average people just survive not necessarily succeeding. In order to succeed in life one must exceed expectation. I promise that I am going to do more than average with this book. I am going to exceed expectation by doing everything that I need to do going above and beyond with each task that Tate gives me. No more procrastination!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
News From The Dolphin!
The email begins…’Just to prepare you now, the book business is not known for its ‘quickness’. My lesson in patience has officially begun!
While I was at Tate, Rachel, the formatting goddess, let me know that I would be hearing from Dave Dolphin on Friday regarding my production schedule. As anticipated, I heard from the Dolphin on Friday. How I love how these people follow-up! They have done everything they have committed to doing. They do business the way I do business. An ideal match.
I feel like I have just opened the door to a learning curve like no-other I have experienced before. From the day I allowed myself to be managed when I visited Tate to the Dolphin email warning me that the publishing industry is not known for its ‘quickness’. I have always been the one to make things happen and to make them happen NOW. Now, I am going to sit back, do what I am told and let the process unfold before me. The Dolphin even says, “Many authors have commented that God used this time in their lives to teach them patience. But remember good things some to those who wait and this can be a very exciting time in your life.” Understatement!
I feel pregnant! The book is there and I need to just let it incubate. I am just going to have faith that it IS going to come out! Production will officially begin in July and apparently at this time I will be assigned a team consisting of many players including an editor, cover designer and layout artist. Apparently the first month will be copyediting and I already feel sorry for whoever will be assigned this task! They will be dealing with technical/grammatical issues and obviously, spending quite a bit of time deciding which of my exclamation points to save and which to discard.
Of course, the Dolphin gave me homework. I need to complete two Author Outline pages. Lots of questions such as, ‘What is the goal of your book’ and ‘Who do you see as your target audience’ and ‘where does your book fit in a bookstore’. I look forward to stopping and taking the time to answer these questions. The more time I spend on them in answering, the better idea they will have of placing me with the best conceptual editor match. This editor, I cannot wait to meet! They will be the person who will take my words and make them real!
I was lucky enough to be in Nashville last weekend for my Florida Nephew’s college graduation. It was a fabulous weekend with the actual graduation being one of the highlights. The commencement speaker was talking straight to me like my pastor at home normally does. He talked about his Seven Steps to Success with the first being to Dream Big. (Yes, I took notes!) I have been dreaming big about how I am going to help so many small business owners all over the whole wide world to be successful in spite of themselves! Teaching them from my experiences how to manage themselves within their businesses. With my news from the Dolphin, I really think I can begin my lesson in patience and realize that my dreaming big is paying off!
(On an off note, my personal goal is to have 500 followers to this blog by the time I am in print. Have you clicked follow? Who do you know would like to be following…)
While I was at Tate, Rachel, the formatting goddess, let me know that I would be hearing from Dave Dolphin on Friday regarding my production schedule. As anticipated, I heard from the Dolphin on Friday. How I love how these people follow-up! They have done everything they have committed to doing. They do business the way I do business. An ideal match.
I feel like I have just opened the door to a learning curve like no-other I have experienced before. From the day I allowed myself to be managed when I visited Tate to the Dolphin email warning me that the publishing industry is not known for its ‘quickness’. I have always been the one to make things happen and to make them happen NOW. Now, I am going to sit back, do what I am told and let the process unfold before me. The Dolphin even says, “Many authors have commented that God used this time in their lives to teach them patience. But remember good things some to those who wait and this can be a very exciting time in your life.” Understatement!
I feel pregnant! The book is there and I need to just let it incubate. I am just going to have faith that it IS going to come out! Production will officially begin in July and apparently at this time I will be assigned a team consisting of many players including an editor, cover designer and layout artist. Apparently the first month will be copyediting and I already feel sorry for whoever will be assigned this task! They will be dealing with technical/grammatical issues and obviously, spending quite a bit of time deciding which of my exclamation points to save and which to discard.
Of course, the Dolphin gave me homework. I need to complete two Author Outline pages. Lots of questions such as, ‘What is the goal of your book’ and ‘Who do you see as your target audience’ and ‘where does your book fit in a bookstore’. I look forward to stopping and taking the time to answer these questions. The more time I spend on them in answering, the better idea they will have of placing me with the best conceptual editor match. This editor, I cannot wait to meet! They will be the person who will take my words and make them real!
I was lucky enough to be in Nashville last weekend for my Florida Nephew’s college graduation. It was a fabulous weekend with the actual graduation being one of the highlights. The commencement speaker was talking straight to me like my pastor at home normally does. He talked about his Seven Steps to Success with the first being to Dream Big. (Yes, I took notes!) I have been dreaming big about how I am going to help so many small business owners all over the whole wide world to be successful in spite of themselves! Teaching them from my experiences how to manage themselves within their businesses. With my news from the Dolphin, I really think I can begin my lesson in patience and realize that my dreaming big is paying off!
(On an off note, my personal goal is to have 500 followers to this blog by the time I am in print. Have you clicked follow? Who do you know would like to be following…)
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