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A: I actually started the book in 2004 but didn’t get very far with it other than writing a bunch of notes on napkins and in notebooks. Then at the beginning of 2006 I was living in Albuquerque, NM while my son was finishing the school year in Kansas and my daughter hadn’t decided if she was going to come to NM or stay in Kansas. Basically, I went to work, came home and had never been lonelier in my life. I missed my kids more than anything and if I didn’t stay focused on something I cried. It was a terrible time in my life. So, I dusted off the book and made the commitment to have it published in 2006.
A. I actually took the photo in my home in Kansas. My ex-husband and I designed and built (he actually did most of the building) the house – it was our dream house. I have since sold the house but have the most wonderful memories there. The table in the photograph was picked up at an arts and crafts fair in Hillsboro, KS. I fell in love with it when I saw it and have been back to that fair several times looking for similar tables. The view is of my back yard, which was one of my favorites.
A. Even though I have better balance in my life these days, I’m a classic Type-A personality. I’m impatient and I don’t like barriers. When I decided to finish and publish the book in 2006, I immediately starting researching the publishing process. Everywhere I turned I learned it could take years for a publisher to pick up this book. When I discovered iUniverse, it was the perfect solution for me. They were fast, easy to work with and took care of making the book available through Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com as well as the major wholesale book distributors. This means all I had to do was market it (which, by the way, is no simple task).
A. I would have hired a proofreader. I am a big picture person and every time I looked through the manuscript I found typographical and spelling errors. I would not (and still have not) read the published book because I knew I would find errors and then I’d be focused on the errors instead of the fact that my book was published.
I still may hire a publicist to help with the marketing of the book.
A. I think many women have been sold a lie. We’ve been told we can have it all – the family, the big house in the country, the kids, the SUV, the education, and the list goes on. But we are giving up so much to have it. We think we are truly “super women” but we are so busy being “super” that we are not experiencing and enjoying life. We are losing sight of what is really important – for me that was my children, the sunrises, my relationships, and my God. Of course, I did all the right things. I was at the soccer games, I read my Bible, I talked to my friends but I did not slow down enough to really savor and enjoy life and the worst part is, I didn’t even know how. I wanted to help other women before they lost too much.
A. Are you kidding?? I tell everyone I know about it. I send emails to everyone (sorry about the spam). I try to keep my website fresh and interesting so people will refer others to it. I force myself to socialize (I’ve become quite the homebody). I go to local bookstores and try to convince them to stock it. I am getting ready to send out press releases nationally. I am scheduling seminars in other cities regarding training (my area of expertise) with the intent of approaching relevant stores and media organizations while I am in those cities. I’ve learned so much about advertising on Yahoo and Google! I read everything I can get my hands on regarding marketing. And I carry a book with me every where I go (the bank, the post office, restaurants, etc.) because you never know when the opportunity might arise to tell someone about it or someone might see it and become interested.
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