Beverly Scott's Blog, page 9

Independent Bookstore Day

[image error]Where do you buy your books?  Your local independent bookstore?  Or online?

You may have heard that bookstores are going away. But that is not true. They are growing and expanding. They actually increased more than 20% between 2009 and 2014. The American Booksellers Association reports an increase of 8% a year. Among other reasons, this growth has been helped by the buy-local movement that has helped many small business owners.

Independent bookstores are more than a store that sells books. They are community centers in their neighborhoods holding and promoting events unique to their communities. They are celebrated landmarks, anchors for shopping districts, neighborhood performance spaces and quiet retreats for a rainy afternoon. They are run and staffed with passionate readers who are fonts of information to help you find the right book.

Saturday, April 29 is Independent Bookstore Day
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Independent Bookstore Day Logo

Bookstores will have parties to celebrate with authors, balloons, refreshments, games and fun activities for adults and kids. Independent bookstores are vibrant community resources and they deserve your support. This is an opportunity to celebrate and support your neighborhood bookstore.

If you live in San Francisco, here is a list of the The 12 Best Independent Bookstores in SF.  Don’t live or work in San Francisco? Here is a map to locate your an independent bookstore near you.

Support your local independent bookstore.

Launch, Crunch, Oh My! Introducing Sarah’s Secret to the World

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A Time to Celebrate

The room was bubbling with conversation, laughter and congratulations. The book cover was fabulous and everyone loved the title. I felt energized and pleased. When I read suspenseful excerpts from the story, the audience wanted to know what happens next. Many of my guests engaged me with questions about the story and my journey as an author. I had finally held my very first book launch event, in January 2017.

Despite several guest cancellations due to a winter rain storm of epic proportions, I had an overflow crowd. I autographed and sold many books which was gratifying. Thus, I looked forward to the second launch party in February. But that was not to be. On the last day of January, I tripped and fell, breaking my arm near my wrist.

 A Time to Step Back

Since I needed to have surgery on my arm, I was forced to cancel a week’s vacation in Hawaii and the second book launch party. I solicited help to complete the publication on Amazon Kindle and Ingram Spark; friends came to visit and brought me meals. I had to learn to let go and let others take care of my needs. Once I accepted this slight twist of fate, I felt deep gratitude for the supportive community that surrounded me.

Journey of Independent Publishing

I’ve experienced quite a journey of research, learning how to write historical fiction, writing many drafts and deciding how to publish. Although this was my first novel, writing and editing were familiar from my prior work in non-fiction. But I had no idea what was in store when I decided to self-publish. I joined the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA) and learned a lot from the generous and experienced members. Publishing tasks and promotion tasks piled up on my to-do list. Even so I didn’t know about the promotional advantage of scheduling the “Cover Reveal.” I missed understanding about fixing the launch date far enough in advance to have time to send out advance reader copies for review and to set up a pre-order process.

Who’s Coming to the Party? [image error]

As I planned the book launch, I was thrilled to have a friend offer a venue for a second launch party. So initially, I sent out invitations via an online event management program for guests to choose one of two dates. That turned out to be complicated and some people overlooked the need for an RSVP to get the venue address resulting in much confusion and frantic emails.

This reminded me that coordinating any sizable event, with RSVPs, is still a big undertaking despite the software and apps that supposedly “simplify” the process. I learned that many people still do not respond to or are a bit baffled by e-invite systems. I had to keep updating my “e-list” manually and respond to emails sent to me directly. I felt anxiety because my invitees were good friends, colleagues and family members. What if I inadvertently had left someone out or forgotten to follow up?

Lessons Learned

Still, despite the challenges and the weather, the first launch party was a great success. Now as we begin to re-schedule the second book party, I look back on what I learned about launching my book:[image error]

Most importantly, given my goals for the book, I don’t need to rush to meet anyone else’s expectations or schedules. Stressful deadlines are not worth it. I have enjoyed my slower pace.
It is important to plan extra time for key first time tasks that are likely to take longer than expected.
There are many ways to promote and launch a self-published book; and all of them don’t necessarily fit for my book.
Simplifying the invitation process makes it easier on both the guests and the host.
Appreciate colleagues and friends who provide support and laughter for the milestones.

Cockeyed Optimist

Become a “cockeyed optimist”!
Most of you know I broke my arm and had to have surgery at the end of January. This event upended my scheduled Hawaiian vacation, book promotion and a few other plans. I am healing but it is slow and incremental. I can easily slide into discouragement and despair.
But I learned that those negative feelings don’t help me heal, stay healthy or appreciate the many pleasures of my life. The positive benefits of my forced slow-down included visits with friends, taking naps and more time to read.
Research reported in this article shows that positive attitudes “can do far more than raise one’s spirits. They may actually improve health and extend life.”
Here’s to being a “cockeyed optimist”!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/we...

Goals and Accountability

Are you struggling to reach your goals to write, lose weight or stay within your budget? Do you know you can increase your success in reaching your goals by 95% just by being accountable? Is it really that easy?

What may be hard is allowing someone to help you reach your goals. Some of us believe we have to do it all ourselves. But we can be more successful if we get help.
This article describes research results that you have a 65% chance of completing your goals if you make a commit to someone. But you can increase that to 95% if you make an appointment with your accountability partner.

https://medium.com/the-mission/the-ac...

Women’s History Month: Sarah and Grandma’s Inspiration

“Each time a girl opens a book and reads a womanless history, she learns she is worth less.” 

Myra Pollack Sadker*

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Grandma’s Inspiration

My grandmother, Ellen Russell Scott, inspired and motivated me as I was growing up. She was in constant pain from rheumatoid arthritis, yet she seldom complained. She shared a smile with everyone she encountered. As a former teacher, Ellen valued education and encouraged me to get good grades and do the best I could.

I agree with the National Women’s History Project, (NWHP) that “We draw strength and inspiration from those who came before us.” My hope in writing a story based on Ellen’s life, “Sarah’s Secret: A Western Tale of Betrayal and Forgiveness,” was that others would find inspiration in her courage and her strength.

Sarah

The character of Sarah is devastated by the loss of her husband Sam, as I imagined Ellen must have been when my grandfather H.D. Scott died leaving her a widow with five children. Here is an excerpt from the book.

Immediately after his death, she steps outside…

”I felt myself shiver.  The wind was unusually still for New Mexico, but the air was crisp and cold. I went back inside. I wanted to feel the heat from the fire in the stove. I wanted to be warm, really warm.  I sat down in my rocking chair rocking slowly. The coldness inside moved up my back and tingled at the nape of my neck….

“’I’m, a widow.’ I said aloud. I was alone, completely responsible for the children, not just for a few weeks or the winter season until Sam returned. I felt cold, flat. I opened my Bible, hoping for solace. I began to survey the landscape of my mind, much as I had the landscape outside. My mind was a closed book with all the memories of my life with Sam shut away.  ‘I am alone’…”

But Sarah, like many women alone today, pulls herself together, finds the courage and fortitude to take her five children back to Nebraska.

Sarah Finds Strength and Confidence

The back story of Sam, a fictional character, is based only on limited information about my grandfather, a man not as Sarah experienced him nor what the reader expects. Sarah must face the betrayal of her trusted husband. Like many women who face adversity, Sarah finds through the humiliation of betrayal and her struggle to hold her family together, the strength and confidence within herself to take a position as the first woman school superintendent in the state of Nebraska.

Women’s History Overlooked

Without knowing about the women in our history or in our family stories we lose the opportunity to find role models, be inspired and dream about our future. As we know, women in our diverse American cultures are overlooked in mainstream history. Yet, as the NWHP website states, “they are part of our story, and a truly balanced and inclusive history recognizes how important women have always been in American society.”

I am grateful to the National Women’s History Project founded over 30 years ago in Santa Rosa, CA. NWHP serves as a catalyst, a leader and a resource in promoting women and their role in our American history. In 1978, they initiated a week of celebration of “Women’s History.” Congress ultimately declared March as Women’s History Month in 1987. This month is in recognition of the importance of women in our history. A balanced and inclusive history must not make the mistake of ignoring the critical role and contribution of women.

The Power of History and Inspiration

Knowing the stories of women from our own families, acknowledging the contributions of women in our cultural heritage and giving recognition to the historical achievement of the women overlooked in our history books, helps us know who we are. Then we can feel the power of inspiration and ignite our dreams.

What stories do you know about the women in your family history? What women in your life have inspired and motivated you?

*Quoted on the website of the National Women’s History Project.

The WNBA - Books, Not Basketball

Do you know the WNBA (Women’s National Book Association)? It’s about books, though its acronym is the same as the women’s basketball organization. I had the honor of being a featured member in the WNBA San Francisco Chapter newsletter. WNBA is a vibrant national organization that advocates for women’s literacy and for women’s role in the community of the book.

The Women’s National Book Association was established in 1917 and will be celebrating the organization’s centennial in 2017 with a series of literary events nationwide, a publication celebrating the history of women in the world of books, a list of 100 essential books by women authors, and a grant to a non-profit literacy organization—culminating in a gala celebration in October 2017 where the next WNBA Award winner will be honored.

The WNBA is a non-profit with 11 active chapters and over 800 members across the country, three distinguished national awards, and a history of lively events in chapter cities and elsewhere.

http://wnba-sfchapter.org/featured-me...

Calling Fans and Friends

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“Sarah” and I need your help.

Self-publishing authors like me depend on word-of-mouth and social connections to help sell books. In addition, breaking my arm and having surgery put me behind in my marketing efforts. As a friend or a fan of “Sarah,” would you be willing to help spread the word?

Team Sarah Needs Your Help

I’d love you to join “Team Sarah” to help in any of the following ways.

• Identify bookstores where I could do a reading from Sarah’s Secret. Finding out the name of the person who schedules readings would be really helpful. With the book now available at IndieBound, it’s a good time to reach out to bookstores.

• “Think outside the bookstore.” I can do a reading at a different venue, such as a private “book party” for friends, at a writing class or library.

• Order Sarah’s Secret from your favorite independent bookstore. Talk to bookstore staff who are interested in local authors and new titles.

• Publish a review on Amazon.com, I-Books, Goodreads, or any other retailer or book readers’ website. Thank you to all who have already posted a review.

• Go to Goodreads.com, add Sarah’s Secret to your “book to read list” and make me your Goodreads friend.

• Post a question for me on my Goodreads.com author profile: Ask the Author! I promise to post an answer.

More Ways to Help

• Ask your book club to read Sarah’s Secret this year. A book club reader guide is available in the book. I am willing to come for the discussion for local groups or use Skype if the groups is too far away.

• Refer me to local hi[image error]storical or genealogy groups. I would love to talk about my genealogy research journey, women in the West, homesteaders in the Great Plains, or similar topics from Sarah’s Secret.

• Connect me with blogging sites focused on history of the West, genealogy and family research, women in U.S. history or other related topics. I’d love to get your ideas and referrals.

• Post a recommendation of Sarah’s Secret on your social media sites, e.g. Facebook, Linked In, Pinterest and Twitter. Re-post announcements from my sites or use my website link to refer your friends.

• Recommend me as a presenter or speaker for special events or conferences. Let me know who to contact.

• Introduce me to print, radio or broadcast reporters covering books, lifestyle features, local interest or similar topics willing to do an interview or short feature.

• Ask your local library to order Sarah’s Secret.

• Include an announcement in your own websites, newsletters and blogs about Sarah’s Secret with a link so people can sign up for my updates: http://sarahssecret.subscribemenow.com

Send me your ideas for marketing Sarah’s Secret. Be creative.

Contact me for background info, descriptions and announcements. bev@bevscott.com

Sarah and I thank you for joining the Team!

Book Review: “Colorado Dream” (The Front Range Series) by Charlene Whitman

 

Reviewed by Bev Scott

[image error]My first book by Charlene Whitman kept me engaged through most of the story to the happy ending.  The writing is excellent and the story line is unique, a young Italian girl comes from New York to commission a violin from an exceptional violin maker in Greeley, Colorado in 1877.  Of course, Angela meets a handsome cowboy, Brett.  Although she is drawn to him she rejects him as uncouth, uncultured and dangerous.  Brett falls hard for her but believes she is too sophisticated and cultured to care for a cowboy.  He is sure she rejects him and will return with her new violin to New York.  A sweet romantic story, but I found the constant description of the physical and emotional attraction between the protagonists as way over-done.  Consequently, I lost interest toward the end.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

One Week Later

I am in shock. My head is spinning. I am sick. I am terrified! As a life-long member of the “glass-half-full” club, I keep looking for an optimistic approach to all of the damage to our democracy. There must be a small streak of light behind these enormous dark clouds.

It has been a week!! The man, who shall not be named, along with his Cabinet nominees and the Republican Congressional leadership have taken collective unprecedented action. He and they have frozen, denounced, gagged, lied, censored, defunded, threatened, arrested, discriminated against and destroyed people and programs which serve the vulnerable, defend civil rights, protect our environment, safeguard our Constitutional freedoms, conduct investigative journalism and cooperate with long-time US allies.[image error]

Then I remember last Saturday. I felt a sense of unity, respect, courtesy, camaraderie, diversity, dedication, enthusiasm. The experience was uplifting and heartwarming…a bright light shining through the clouds. The numbers of cities and towns around the country and even around the world. The latest numbers are between 3.5 and 4.5 million marchers in the U.S. alone. It was a Women’s March. But it wasn’t just women. There were a high percentage of men, and children too,…people of all ages. It wasn’t just white. There were many hues of black, brown and tan. This march suggested, organized and led by women is an expanding streak of light in those dark clouds.

The energy we felt, that we needed to lift our spirits, to focus our resistance and to encourage our actions, is beginning to move us forward. The Women’s March on Washington is encouraging ten actions for the first 100 Days, beginning with sending postcards to our senators. In an effort to mobilize and change the majority in the House, Swing Left is asking us to get involved and organize in swing districts. Senator Warren and Congressman Cummings  of Maryland led an effort to get an audit of T’s finances by requesting emails be sent to the General Accounting Office. The GAO has reportedly responded stating they have accepted the request and will “conduct the work in the same non-partisan, fact-based approach we take with all Congressional requests.” I am sure there are many other efforts underway propelled by the energy that poured into the streets across the country.[image error]

That streak of light I was looking for is much bigger than I hoped. It is not just in reaction to “him” but he has been the spark that lit the fire that has brought us together in ways we haven’t seen in decades. Winston Churchill said that, “The United States is like a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lit under it, there is no limit to the power it can generate.” The fire has been lit.  We must continue to add fuel to the flames. Let’s use the power of that fire to transform on our country to a more participatory, egalitarian democracy that provides opportunity, education, health care, choice, freedom, protects our environment and respects all of us regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age or disability.

That vision may be a long way in the future, but it is the future I hope for my grandsons and their children. I am going to follow Robert Muller’s advice when he said, “Use every letter you write; every conversation you have; every meeting you attend, to express your fundamental beliefs and dreams. Affirm to others the vision of the world you want.”

I am going to take action, speak out, write, march, stay informed and continue to look for the expanding light to drive the dark clouds away and move toward my vision. What will you do?

(Originally written the week of January 23, 2017, after the Women’s March)

Book Review: “Role Montage: A Creative New Way to Discover the Leader Within You” by Jan Schmuckler

 

Reviewed by Bev Scott

[image error]Learning how to be a leader is a challenge for newly appointed managers or supervisors and finding a mentor to help is often not possible. Jan Schmuckler has provided us with a clear and helpful process to find our own leadership style within ourselves. How I wish I had such a guide when I was a new, young manager! With an emphasis on self-awareness which is key to becoming a successful leader, the reader is guided through the steps of identifying the qualities in others both real and fiction that we admire, and creating the “montage” of the leader we would like to be.

This is a must have guidebook for every new or developing leader.

Author information: Jan Schmuckler.