by Michael J. Sullivan

Too many times to mention!

The fact is, being an author is a business and this is part of the business. I tell my clients all the time that they have to make time. We never say we don’t have time to do our day job. Well sometimes we do but we go and do our job anyway. Your book business is no different. You will get out of it what you put into it. You have to make time.

Let’s think about it a minute. The exposure is amazing. You are now able to reach people you were never able to reach before.

That being said, isn’t it worth it to spend a little time updating your blog?

Let your publicist know every time you update your blog. They will know how to get the word out to others and it takes a bit of the pressure off of you.

I believe that to be successful in the book business, you can’t throw money at it. Spend some time and it will grow.

Happy Writing!

Denise

Progressive Book Marketing, LLC

progressiveoa@gmail.com

Remember book publishing and marketing doesn’t have to be stressful or expensive.

GOD’S LOVE AND WONDER

Finally, a dream come true. Your book, your baby was picked up by a publisher. That’s great! Or is it? I have heard one too many horror stories and I just feel sick. Author’s with a great following. No scratch that, not great… Amazing! Authors in high demand. So much so that it’s hard to keep up with their demanding schedule. These author’s that are selling books faster than they can be printed getting no royalty checks from their publisher. I could be wrong, but I think that’s crazy! These publishers give the industry a BAD name. When I think about the poor authors out there that are pounding the pavement, shaking hands and kissing babies and not making a dime on their wonderful work. Well all I can say is WOW!

You know you don’t have to be picked up by a publisher in order to sell books. You can still have your book listed on bn.com, borders.com, amazon.com, and books a million just to name a few without having a “publisher”. There are distributors and publicists and cover designers and editors that work with authors that publish on their own.

You are not alone. Book publishing and promoting doesn’t have to be stressful or expensive. It can be fun and you can actually make money. You just have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone and take the plunge. Mark Twain did…

RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW

by Gregory L. Jantz, PhD

by Nikita Lynnette Nichols

by Beth Redman

Post a comment below for a chance to win a free copy of GOD KNOWS MY NAME!

An excerpt from God Knows My Name by Beth Redman.

©2010 Cook Communications Ministries.  Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.

“I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” (Isa. 43:1)

A name is given and considered. A name imparts meaning, value, identity, and significance. Your name was chosen specifically, and especially, for you. A name gives both humanity and dignity to a person. The Enemy would have you live a nameless existence—feeling anonymous, illegitimate, unknown, unimportant, inglorious, and unfit to be named. Nineteenth-century London was a time of such material, emotional, and spiritual poverty that “children were so utterly uncared for that some were even without names, and were known to each other by nicknames.”

In direct contrast, God says that He has a name for us. Where we feel worthless and insignificant He bestows worth and significance upon us when He calls us by name and chooses us for His glory.

Anyone expecting a child has flipped through baby-name books, looking at the meanings and origins of names and thinking about how they sound. I’ve found names I loved and then been dismayed to find out they meant something like harlot, wench, or crooked nose!

Click here to watch the God Knows My Name book trailer!

Someone recently told me of a child who had been named Jezebel Harlot! That’s a pretty negative connotation to speak over a child every time she is called. Ideally, a name needs to suit the person carrying it. When my husband suggested that we name our third child “Rocco Redman,” I thought he had gone a bit mad! Normally my husband’s track record in making decisions is spot on. There really is no point arguing with Mr. Matthew Redman because over the years I have found he is nearly always right. However, on this occasion, I wasn’t so sure.

I wanted our third child to be called Benjamin, but Matt got the older children on board—and in the end I came to peace with the fact that if he was anything like his dad and his brother and sister, he would easily live up to something as strong and bold as Rocco! The name means “rest,” and so far he has turned out to be the most relaxed, peaceful, deep-sleeping, and gentle-spirited boy… and he has the confidence and joy required to be Rocco Redman. In new environments, his name still causes a little reaction, but it is so perfect for him, and I love that every time I write or call him by his full name, Rocco Benjamin Courage, I am affirming and speaking rest, sonship, bravery, and boldness over him.

In the same way, your Father God named you as precious, chosen, and beloved. You may not be named Rocco, but when God calls you, He speaks over you His truth, freedom, and life. Your part is to make a good choice—to continually believe and live under those things He named you and never to seek to hide behind another name. Many of us each day live under other labels that the Enemy has given us from past or present experiences—unwanted, failure, doubter, ugly, unlovely, needy, drama queen, mistake, disgrace, shamed, forgotten, and many more lies.

Click here to download Beth Redman’s song

“God Knows My Name,” written exclusively for this book.

Those thoughts and feelings cannot possibly originate from God—for He is the giver of good and perfect gifts, and the God of all comfort. Those negative impressions of yourself and the words my own dad wrote in his email to me originate from the Enemy—who we know to be a dirty liar.

Perhaps you think your problems and insecurities are too great to overcome. By the kindness and mercy of God in my own life, I can assure you that this is not the case. I was abused physically, put down verbally, and rejected. I suffered humiliation many times and sadly began to act out how I felt about myself. In public I felt wretchedly insecure. I couldn’t go out with friends without feeling self-conscious and unimportant. I hated myself inside and out.

Then Jesus called my name. And everything changed. I hardly recognize the person I was back then. Our names may conjure up memories, but not always truth. I know that ultimately I am defined not by what others think of me when they hear my name, or what my earthly father says about me. Instead, the authority and compassion of the God who called my name define me. He loves, He shapes, He convicts, and He lavishes us with affirmation.

It’s time we heard His voice the loudest.

God Knows My Name: Never Forgotten, Forever Loved by Beth Redman

David C Cook/July 1, 2010/ISBN 978-0-7814-0365-8/188 pages/softcover/$14.99

www.davidccook.com

by Lex Buckley

by: Susan M. DiMickele

You’re already the perfect dad for your kids!

Still, you know you can grow. Most dads could use a little more patience, a plan for plugging in to their gifts and resources, and a few fresh fathering ideas. You may also want to dump some regrets and other baggage.

In these pages, Jay Payleitner, veteran radio producer and dad of five, offers a bounty of inspiring and unexpected insights:

• Straightforward rules: :carry photos of your kids,” “dad tucks in,” and “kiss your wife in the kitchen
  
• Candid advice that may be tough to hear: “get right with your own dad,” throw out your porn,”and “surrender control of the TV remote”
• weird topics that at first seem absurd: “buy Peeps,” “spin a bucket over your head,” and “rent a dolphin”

A great gift of men’s group resource, 52 Things Kids Need from a Dad provides a full year’s worth of ideas–one per week if you like. And NO chapter will make you feel guilty or criticize men for acting like men!

Surely, God–our heavenly Father–designed fatherhood to be a joy, a blessing, and a blast.