Tuesday, May 13, 2014

How to Tap Into the Genius of Artist

We flow as artist, in part because we live on a plane where we respect what is not yet so. We appreciate what has not yet been done in a space where opportunity cries out to skill. It is a place of creation. It is magical. It is without boundaries. The magic is found on an empty page, or it may be found in the form of a song unwritten or on an empty canvas. Creative process can be seen as steps to a dance yet unperformed.

There is a particular field of awareness indigenous to but not limited to artist (writers, vocalist, dancers, poets, musicians and so on) which connects us as catalyst toward a perfectly timed universal shift. In this space, we create. Creativity involves the ability to consciously employ the inner community to serve a greater cause.  God works through creativity. So do we.

I don't claim to have a cornerstone on creativity but like you, I live in that place between manifest reality and a reality that is yet latent outside my physical world. Here, artist experiment with elements of higher consciousness. We take much joy in treating that which is not as though it were.

We are creators.

How does one tap into this resource of creativity? Simply want it. That's all. Desire it. Some people believe in focusing upon the outcome for inspiration but that can be a limiting concept. You should not know the outcome. You should only see it in bits and pieces, otherwise, you will not recognize who and what has been sent to aid you if it does not arrive in the form in which you imagined the outcome. The act of seeking an outcome is not vision. Vision happens when the outcome seeks your attention.  Creativity is about process, not outcome. Vision chooses you. We tap into it by tapping into emotions that we would rather not deal with. Actors cry in scenes because they tap into past painful moments. When the tears pour the actor will have arrived. There is little difference in the re-lived occurrence and the past event. In fact, the process of re-living an event is generally richer. In re-living an event, the reality of shock is no longer present; therefore, the capacity in which we originally experienced shock  is now a conduit for something else, something far more relevant. Former energy expressed by shock is energy now transformed to be used as capital elsewhere. Energy never dies. The key is to return to an emotional place of choice. For example, you enjoy returning to moments that made you happy. Whatever that moment is, you should re-employ it, often.

 By returning, we discover much of what was overlooked before. As we create stories and characters and music and painting and explore the emotions behind events we discover healing when we did not realize anything was wrong. We even come to explore an excavation of our own soul.

This is the way of the artist. We manipulate energy!

 We can now tap into those same old emotions and go where hurt, fear and uncertainty prevented us from traveling before and by doing so, we tap into new realities and greater dimensions and possibilities. Here are some practical things to do to put you in a firm creative disposition.

Pray.
Exercise daily.
 Eat properly.
 Do NOT oversleep.
Forgive people.

If you can sleep 4-6 hours consistently, you will find yourself connected among all dimensions. This is BIG. Take naps as they naturally occur and you will lose nothing. Energy is never lost. This is explored in detail in the upcoming book, Ascend to The Secret Place.

 Here, you will find what you were looking for or more accurately, it will find you. You will find yourself more accessible to the voice of God. In plain English, you will have combined the "you" of your dream world with the conscious you and the greater you that is known in bits and pieces during moments of genius. There, you will meet your higher self through a mysterious introduction to higher consciousness. Artist do it all the time.

There is an underlying world of infinite possibilities, coupled with all of life's nuances. We create through this vortex of conflict. The conflicts we avoid by ignoring our emotions are the conflicts  we were "given"  in order to lead us. Great leadership has never been accomplished without equally great conflict.

So, like an artist, learn to allow your emotions to flow. As explained in my upcoming book, there are no good and bad emotions, just restrictive emotions. And yes, that's a plug for my book.

There is wealth in intense conflict and artist have learned to experience it through a litany of bridges to emotional intelligence which is free of judgment; therefore, the natural spontaneity that flows from a writer's pen or a painter's brush tends to showcase life with all its brilliance, its similarities and a magnificently contrasting of that which is not yet in existence- as we know it- with that which  already exists.

This is the place of creation and everyone is welcome.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

If You Believe, Do Life Your Way: Escape to Freedom

 During tough times, here is how to remain encouraged.

Many years ago, I decided to not work for anyone, ever again. I made that decision after working for Rhodes Furniture Company that went out of business after 120 years. Some of you remember me from that company. After the business closed, I spent my 401K on living expenses over the following  years. That money represented my life's savings.

Although, I've always had some kind of business on the side, including my writing, the job was something I fell back on when things were financially difficult.  Suddenly, I realized that I could not sustain myself unless I made changes. I had to make a decision. So, with only $154.00 left from the 401K, I made the decision that corporate America could not be trusted and that it was headed to the dumps and I wasn't going down with it.[At the time, the major investment banks were in trouble in the mortgage industry as a result of ripping off the country, led by Lehman Brothers]. I don't want to think about what I lost in the stock market, pursuant to the financial crisis. That's another story.

As of that day (having made that critical decision), I never worked for anyone again.

My point is that we can have life our way but there is a definite price to pay. If one is to succeed, one must consider the risk/reward ratio and make a decision. I did. I considered my talents. Ok, I told myself, I have language skills, writing skills and I am a decent editor. So, what do I do?

I decided to tutor Spanish and edit books which, consequently, led to award winning titles, including Randy Austin's book, Wizard's Refrain, and many books by world  renown artist such as Barbara Sykes and Dr. Crespil.

After saving several thousand dollars over six months, I bought a moving truck and started a moving company. This was not something I really wanted to do at the time but life had scared me for reasons I will soon explain. Fear can be a powerful motivator if faced by faith. Fear speaks to what can go wrong. Faith speaks to what can go right, not in spite of fear but because of it. Healthy fear acts as a warning. It is not a suggestion of quitting, it is a sign that reads: Approach with Caution.

 I did. I bought the truck, I invested $200 into flyers for tutoring and bought an ad for $5.00 to solicit editing jobs. Each effort became profitable but not before the trials I am about to share with you.

I hope you will see that the things we fear most cannot happen unless we fail to act, faithfully. It is action and attitude that validates faith and that measure of faith will not only replace fear but it replaces what fear produces. Fear produces no action or non-decisive actions by way of a poor attitude. Fear has no vision and therefore one cannot plan properly based on that notion. Faith replaces this phenomenon with planned, directed action. As I mentioned in the upcoming book, Dancing with God, faith is the first step toward creativity.

When we read the 6th chapter of Hebrews we learn of all the wonderful things faith produces. In fact, Enoch, by faith, walked into a most high dimension. By faith, Abraham saved a nation but more importantly, by faith the favor of God and the entire universe was bestowed upon them. By faith, one can build a small empire with a couple hundred dollars. Its been done more times than I can count.

So, it was by faith that I stepped out with only $150.00 remaining from my 401K...and I did tremble.

I accepted the cost of my dream by breaking it down into little pieces, poco-a-poco. It does not take a lot of sophistication to pull this off. The act is simple. The brilliance of simplicity is this act of faith. For example, I accepted what was to become my new reality by writing down the tradeoffs.I had to also create a new belief to support the new tradeoff. This is a critical step to achievement and nothing of value can be accomplished if the belief is separate from the action. That's why this article is entitled: If you believe...

 So,  I would, step-by-step trade one reality for another. For instance, I realized that by taking this leap of faith into the unknown that I would not be able to buy a new car, again, for sometime. No problem!

Change your beliefs and change your reality.

My immediate new belief became: One only need reliable transportation; after all, people I know who have several kids do not buy cars until the kids grow up anyway; therefore, any reliable car with fuel economy would do. I don't have rich friends, therefore, that was my reality, my new belief.

NEW CAR                                          Used Car no problem!

Another trade off: I would not be able to buy another house soon. I had to sell the other one to prevent foreclosure; so, I rented a one bedroom apartment - a far cry from a five bedroom home on an acre of land. No problem! I had a new belief about that, also: reduce expenses and pull yourself up, financially.

Home                                                  Apartment no problem!

I would not be able to eat out as often as I liked. My new belief was that I needed to learn how to cook so that I could save money and entertain socially, without going out to spend money. I became a good cook.

Restaurant                                            Cooking no problem!

I could no longer afford my golf memberships at two different golf clubs for a couple grand per year which is cheap for good golf. I had a new belief about that: when going into business one needs to cut expenses, deeply. I should not reward myself with memberships if I don't have a home of my own. That was good motivation for making my comeback, besides, I had a notion to write about golf and teach others my hobby: building putting greens. During my spare time, I wrote a book called How to Build a Putting Green, having no idea it would take care of me financially, for the following two  years.

Golf memberships                                                    Write and play $20.00
                                                                                  county courses no problem!

It's worth repeating that behind each trade off is a new set of beliefs. As man thinketh, so is he. I once believed that my new home, cars and the trimmings equaled success. It equaled an illusion for others to view. It actually equaled misery because I was not living my dream: to write, play golf and teach Spanish. So, I began believe that success is happiness, not stuff.

 Each morning, I told myself that life had changed for the better and that one must pay a price for what one wants. Sometimes, my beliefs waned under pressure, but I prayed and thanked God until I began to believe more competently. I constantly reminded myself that fear of failure is normal. I said, daily, "the greater the fear the greater my courage develops." My mind was made up. The greater the obstacle the greater the reward. The greater the opposition the greater God demonstrates his superior presence. The battle before God is like protecting a little brother, you don't step into the fight to help until the little brother throws the first punch. If you think he will not win, then help him. I believe God actually does that.

The greater the fight the greater the victory. I can accomplish all things through Christ who strengthens me.  This exercise of auto-suggestion is imperative toward counteracting the negativity of others-of people who dare dream. If you don't do it, you will not succeed. Life MUST test your beliefs. Having accepted my trade offs and having embraced the beliefs behind them, I became subconsciously immune to negative thinking. I replaced every thought with a contrasting prayer which disputed the thought and wounded it. The thoughts were vaguely there but had grown weak by my new beliefs which were true and the truth does set you free. It is a multidimensional escape to freedom.

I believed that if God had not wanted me to manifest my dream then he would not have given me the talent to manifest that dream. Say that when you pray and look beyond yourself that someday you will be able to help others along the same path: that's why God is listening to you and not your selfish desires - that you may help others.

During the process of rebuilding I heard nearly every excuse there is as to why I should not have succeeded:
           
*You'll starve to death without a job.
*You don't have enough education. You should earn a Masters.
*You don't have enough money.
*You don't know the right people.
*You don't have a name of notoriety.
*You wife will divorce you.
*You'll become homeless.

Well, here's what I believed back then and yet believe: so what? No one I know has enough money. I'll work with what I have and concentrate on the Masters later....if at all. Contacts? Few people are born with them.

 It is not enough to believe, one must counteract the former beliefs with truth. The big name deal? I never wanted fame, just happiness. No problem! Homeless? Oops! It actually happened. It was temporary and worth it. I never stopped pushing. The greater the problem the greater the unseen blessing. I tried to believe that last statement as I said it, but it was very difficult. Under pressure, I lost my sophistication and stepped into the brilliance of simplicity. Either my beliefs about life were true or they were not. In any case, I needed to know. Either God was going to help me or he was not. I chose to believe God would.

God did.

It's that simple.

Here' the moral of the events. If you are to live your dream, you must confront the tradeoffs, speak the underlying new belief and speak to the fear so that it does not become your fear. You must develop an opposing belief to fear. When fear speaks argue by the tongue of faith. The point of words is to create something and/or to reject something.

So, you have it. Change your beliefs and change your reality as you escape to freedom.

Don't be alarmed by this challenge because you don't have to employ any of this. You have two other options: Get a job you love or die unhappy. Will you escape to freedom?














Thursday, May 8, 2014

What's the Value of a Writers blog/website?

barrywrites.blogspot.combarrywrites.blogspot.com
    Research from www.alexa.com/siteinfo/barrywrites.blogspot.com

Saturday, May 3, 2014

The Power of Change

Proper prayer and meditation eliminates stress, period. In fact, that's a major purpose of  the book, Dancing With God (c)copyright 2014hamdani: tools that eliminate stress.

We hope to highlight how the nature of individual reality transcends through growth and awareness. Transcendence is movement and movement is change. And if growth is the result of change then a more poignant reality is at play: the reality of a forever changing you.

Change and transformation, therefore, has something to do with the transcendent reality of the individual. You might call it an inner revolution that evokes change. Change is often a mystery of time. The book explores this phenomenon in detail. It further describes how we grow, spiritually, and how growth dynamics play into every changing human relationship.

 Through the spirit, we exact an ever increasing awareness of how we experience change. It is at this point that we determine and shape how we will experience stress, even before stressful  triggers (events) take place. What we believe about changing circumstances determines our behavior, as stress is often the child of change. What are your beliefs about changing circumstances?

Through the peaks and valleys, trials and tribulations, challenges, etc. of life we develop questions about what change means, relevant to those circumstances.

 Major decisions about who we think we are becomes the fuel of monumental change at this place and time, but our concept of time often distorts proper perspective. When we think of who we are and our purpose for being here, we  are likely to consider personal activities of the past, present and future to self-evaluate based on our accomplishments.  By doing so,we are consulting time. Time, as we know it, is only part of the changing dynamics of individual reality. For example, when someone asks, "What do you do?" You are likely to answer according to your profession. We talk about what we have done over time. That's how we have been taught to identify self but the self is much more. We are timeless. We can have several careers and practice several professions; therefore, what we do is simply a small reflection of who we really are, as we are constantly transcending.

Consider yourself without the element of time and begin to think more like God.

We think of time as limitation. Time is actually transcendent and beyond the understanding of human beings. Time is a servant to God, a butler to the universe and a puzzle to mankind; therefore, in absence of a relationship with God, we cannot vision anything of lasting value. To have something last is a concept that consults time, so does vision. We cannot even see, properly, except through the spirit because that which we see is an impediment to vision.

 There are always two opposing realities: what is and what shall be.

We may erroneously, see a temporary flaw as a permanent  challenge.  Such judgment can induce chronic stress, leading to depression and other diseases. Again, the question is what do we believe about what we see. We may view a temporary unpleasant event as final, creating even more stress as we begin to feel less powerful over changes confronting us. We may appear stagnant  when we are simply impatient, but  appearance is a teacher.

It is in the body of our personal cracks, in the depths of our broken valleys where genius is discovered and employed and we come to realize that which was believed stagnant simply became manifest and that which was permanent becomes one of a series of events of an overall greater impermanent reality. In the aggregate, reality includes what was, what is and what shall be.  These are components to a single, non- isolated and ever changing phenomenon. It is transcendent. All of these entities take place at once and can only be known by God, the creator.

In the face of change you will find that life is speaking to you.

Many of us, for example, have experienced exciting life changing events. The most memorable of these changes are often positive...a better job, a better business opportunity, a new baby. Those moments that really speak to us happens through peak experiences and peak performances. A fine example of this spiritual phenomenon in action is best expressed by and act of genius on our part when most needed and least expected. Some call it luck, others call it blessings but the greater blessing is the unique personality of the individual  with all one's cracks and dents included. We can, effortlessly, take these experiences with gratitude and shape our very own reality: the one we cannot see but is known to God.

How?

First, consider what you believe about God, the image of God and your thoughts toward change. The image of God is an approach, an attitude, a conviction. Are you fearful of change? Obviously, you realize you were not created by a fearful God. Change, then, is a big word, here. Today's thoughts and beliefs are the seeds of tomorrow's reality, all of which confront change.

 What do you believe about your job, for example? Before changing jobs, consider this question, diligently. What is it that you believe about your patterns with jobs? Ask what you believe about the relationships you are currently in. Notice, your beliefs will reflect the character of that relationship, today. The kingdom of God is truly within and that's the place where changes are best made - in the kingdom of the known, so know thyself. It is the only place where all can be known. It is the place that prompts the right questions and gives us confidence when we do not have answers.

 Before changing relationships, ask what is it that you believe about your role in relationships. Go even further, observe the patterns unique to you in relationship with others. This form of meditation will bring you to the helm of powers you don't know you have, but the purpose of this pursuit is not power. It is to attain a greater love and appreciation of life, inspired by new insights.

 The farther you see, the farther you can travel.

The very skin of joy and happiness is this transcendent nature. It is a never ending story. We are set free of stress and confusion when we learn to better appreciate our cracks and gaps. Thank God for them. It is what makes us different. It is the mirror of your real identity, separate of your  career. It is who you are when no one is looking.

Your perfection awaits in the valley of your flaws. Everything God made is perfectly made. Everything is also different. We, erroneously, confuse difference with imperfection. Thank God for every crack and every gap. It is the process of working through those gaps unique to you that leads to destiny. That place is your own personal classroom.  Herein lies spirit: our strengths, weaknesses, idiosyncrasies and personality. The way we view that set of dynamics is part of who we really are...at the moment. We are yet, transcending.  Reality is a light upon that transcendent self.

Meditation upon these principle, alone, eliminates stress because you are approaching life as one made in the image of God: a confident person who believes all is possible - a person who practice what s/he believes.

What is cracked, flawed or imperfect in your valley?

Look forward to reading more of Dancing With God, by S. Barry Hamdani

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Poetry Excerpted from Voices

HEARTBEATS

It beats with rapid joy when she is near, but much louder when she's away.

When she no longer speaks my heart yet listens-when she is not seen but heard, again, in silence; Her voice illuminated by the shadow of romance.

And, when alone, an appreciation of her intentions...and a sudden surrender to her exploits-a longing.

Admiration for her made perfectly clear in her absence; Her presence magnifying the moment...like music.

And the only purpose is to love her more.

S. Barry Hamdani

Sunday, February 23, 2014

5 Tips to #Writing Memorable Content

We write what we know with non-fiction.

In fiction we spin our knowledge through the eyes of a fictional character. We use suspense to hold our audience's attention. We dazzle them with cliff-hangers and transitions.  Some writers even put us on edge, make us hold our breath, ie., James Patterson, Stuart Woods and Lee Child to name a few. Others baffle us with mystery . ..but is there an equally  effective way to better engage the reader in non- fiction?

Of course, there is. I'm about to show you. Remember , I promised. I'm also going to show you how to fully engage the reader's emotions.

Ask the right question as I have done, above.

Relevant questions prevent the mind from rambling. A relevant question readily demands the attention of a niche- audience no matter who asked.

Relevance is like a bright light in the eyes of deer.

If you know your business you will recall relevant questions with little thought.

Now that you have us, tell us in a short sentence why the content is important to us based on your own related experiences.

Share related past experiences, detailed in the way that you felt during the experience. Humanize the material.

In fiction, the protagonist push the reader's emotions. In non-fiction, you, the writer, are the hero.

Now, that you have the floor, give something and promise something...to be given in a moment but it had better be good. This need not be contrived. Just give what you promise.

Now, give them the benefits of your mistake. Explain in detail how to avoid that mistake. For example, give several reasons why people should listen to/read your content.

Especially, highlight the most embarassing mistakes you can speak of, relevant to the prevailing instruction. We learn more from failure than from success. We remember our terrible mistakes, vividly. Teach your audience how you made the mistake. Which rules did you violate? How did you feel?

They may laugh or cry or even emphathize with your experience. In fiction, our hero/heroine performs the task of reeling them in. In real life (non-fiction), you are that heroine.

For example, in my Spanish book, I pointed out several embarrasing attempts to speak the language when learning Spanish in high school. I asked a particular Latina girl if I could walk her home from school and carry her books.

      "Si. Se tiene que hablar con mis Padres."

Padres-parents.      Padre-Priest.

She said, "Yes, but you need to speak with my....?"

I didn't remember the word for parents, so...I...thought...priest.

Can you imagine?

The first rule in language is listening. I violated that rule, grossly butchering a potential romance, contorting the face of her father when I explained in Spanish that his  daughter and I needed to speak to a priest.

The entire home grew silent and she kindly explained my confusion of the two words. Everyone saw the humor except her father who looked on as he rubbed his chin, considering if irony was  in my statetement. He was a bulky man who could have wrestled bears for a living.

His face alone motivated me to get it right.

When we listen, intelligence considers spoken words, tone of voice, body language, surrounding circumstances, etc. That's one reason why we can sometimes follow along and help people who speak a foreign language when we know little. We know people.

Intelligence puts the puzzle together.

Here's a working thought: share your current experiences with you readers, relevant to what you teach in your own areas of expertise.

It is especially important to express to your audience exactly how you learned. You own the experience, the subject and the copyright. You are branding your intellectual properties.

This exercise rewards both the artist and the audience with the ability to state the jist of material in a single sentence. Another ensuing reward is therefore, one of crystallized focus.

Stop and develop a few pertinent questions of your own.

You have learned to engage your reader more.

1. Ask a relevant and timely question.
2. Why is your content important?
3. Give and promise.
4. Give remaining benefits.
5. Summarize in a single sentence.

Just write it

Monday, February 10, 2014

Write Today & Capture Your Growth

Check out @BarryWrites's Tweet: https://twitter.com/BarryWrites/status/432926335271313408

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Writing Black History...Humanity Speaks

In honor of Black History, I attempted to write a piece on the civil rights movement of the 60's, but that all-knowing spirit led me here.

I have always been fascinated by the courage and comittment of the people.  

Remember the Jewish law students who lost their lives suppporting the Civil Rights Movement?

Let them not be forgotten.

Humanity often speaks through visionaries.

Those civilian soldiers shared the vision of Dr. King.  Black Americans had no choice except to march but what about the unselfish acts of others?

Humanity speaks.

The fact that we are one people is best expressed by people who unselfishly lay down their lives for others.

I don't know that I could do that.

Here's what I can do: I can take this  risk: I can appeal to you, the writer, to write about the condition of tens of thousands of isolated Ethopian Jews.

They have been abandoned.

70% of the children have no shoes and have never seen a doctor or dentist.

For more information see:
http://www.jvm.org

Jewish Voice. Ministries, Intl.

I have no affiliation with this organization.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Business of Self Publishing

You have undoubtedly heard much about self Publishing but to succeed, you must know your market, master your material, plan ahead and know thyself.

Know thyself: know what works for you. Think outside tradition. Do it your way. For example, I love to teach; therefore, six months before the pub date, I gave free classes on building greens to guest of over 96 golf courses and received free rounds of golf in exchange.

Desire happiness for the reader, relevant to your work.

Give each buyer something extra.

I welcomed my readers to write in with questions which I answered on the web site. That practice created a valuable product , leading to the sale of the company.

You must do everything possible to create useful content ...and then engage the reader to start something. Motivate them to start where they are. Remain relevant by monitoring their progress. Use the collective mind of your team to anticipate your customer's needs.

My book, How to Build a Putting Green succeeded due to the collective effort of my team, as planned.

Step 1

Build a Launch team.

You need not look far. Prospective team members are nearby. They are in your email files. They comment on your blog post. They like you on facebook and follow you on Twitter. They are all over the place.

Step 2

Use Resource Base Strategy

Map your strategy based on key resources.

Recognize individuals who are most interested in your subject and solicit questions. For example, I often asked my most passionate golf enthusiast "How will the addition of a putting green at home impact your family?"

I received a variety of publishable answers along with permission to publish their comments.

"It adds value to the home," some said.

"...great curbside appeal," said a real estate agent.

I did not think of those most compelling benefits.

"The book helps because putting accounts for 80 percent of your scoring opportunities," said a golf pro whose name I used in the quote.

I sold three thousand books that week...at $49.95

I sold them at my putting greens web page. That means I made most of the profit. I also sold the book through traditional distributuon channels-Barnes & Noble , Amazon.com -at less profit.

There is a great lesson inherent in this discipline. For example, should a writer focus on traditional (vertical markets) or try something more creative?

There is a price to pay for each method. Choose your medicine.

If you go with traditional markets, you must aim to sell lots of books within ten consecutive days for any hopes of making the traditional best sellers list. It does not matter if your book sells ten thousand copies in a month, it's that 10 day period that governs the best seller's list.

It didn't seem good business to me to give the lion's share of proeeds to the publisher and distribution and earn only a modest royalty for myself. That's a fool's game.

No, thank you. I don't care that unit sales are calculated and tracked through traditional channels. This method is used to determine sales performance over a ten day period.

It's great if the book makes the New York Times Best Seller' list, due to volume because the royalty with volume earns you a handsome sum of money but if your book does not make the Best Seller' list, you, the writer, have left up to 60 percent of your money in someone's pocket.

That 60 percent represents the up pricing policy of a carriage trade product, a product that maintains a premium. The lack of competition coupled with favorable market demographics helped support the price point but premium research drove demand and inelasticity of price, thus the $49.95

Know your business.

Step 3

Think Creatively

As business goes,we have to make the work pay. Do so by thinking for yourself. Think creatively.

I Iove writing but I wrote the golf book to make money. It is a how-to book. The how-to category, like business consultants, offers value. Get paid for your work.

It makes better sense to me to sell my art directly to my customer in conjunctuion with traditional marketing efforts.

I know my customer and his habits. He is a lot like me: loves golf, has the time and means, and purchases a garage full of gadgets priced from $19.95 to $150.00, impulsively, all to help improve his game. He even takes golf lessons at about $40.00 per hour on average.

Are you suprised that my book retails for $49 95?

What would have happened to me financially, if I had chosen less imaginative  publishing channels?

I may have missed the benefits of both the best seller's list and the elevated profit in the niche?

Here are the numbers:

$...cost full editing.
$...cost to format book.
$...cost of cover productuion
$...cost to print.
$...cost to market & distribute.

My team accomplished this work. I built putting greens at their homes in exchange for their services.

One of the team members owned a Landscape magazine which exposed the book to the point it was entered into a national diy (Do it yourself) challenge leading to a national landscape award.

The bottom line? I ended up with an out of pocket cost of about $6.00 printing cost per book, $599.99 one time cover expense plus $6.00 shipping and handling to mail the book.

Choose your srategy early on in the game. Either go for the best seller's list or own the niche market. I do not mean to imply that a book that falls short of the list is not profitable.

Think about it. I have, roughly,   $12.00 in the book.

Thanks to:
Jason & Caitlin Montoya of Noodlehead Studios, Tim Lyles of AgriGro,  Dan Poynter, author of The Self Publishing Manual, Beth Guertal, Soil Scientist of Auburn State University, The Patten Seed Company and Ampac Seed Company.

Please, forward your comments to help other writers.

Suggested reading: The Self Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter
at www.parapublishing.com

Friday, January 3, 2014

Happy New Year

There is a great expanse before us: 2014
Fear calls it danger.
The mind: opportunity
The heart weighs it.
Love says, take no precaution.