Vicki V. Lucas's Blog, page 9

Small Steps for Big Dreams

I may be a little fixated on shoes, but this past week I realized that while it’s important to watch how we walk, it is also extremely essential that we pay attention to where we walk. Since each step takes us forward, my question is: Where are my steps taking me?

One step is approximately two and a half feet long. It doesn’t take me very far, but little things add up over time. I knew someone who threw away pennies because she said they weren’t worth anything. I rescued each one from the garbage until I had enough to buy a soda. One penny doesn’t do us much good anymore, but a hundred of them might get you something. When you need to lose twenty pounds, one pound isn’t all that exciting. If you’re ten points from winning your game, one more point doesn’t help too much. Need to go five thousand miles? One step doesn’t help much. Selling one book doesn’t bring home the big bucks.

But small things add up.

One step. Two and a half feet of progress. I’m sure Dave Kunst was very aware of his steps when he decided to walk around the world in 1970. I wonder if he knew that it would take about twenty million steps to complete his dream. Whether he did or not, he set out from Minnesota in pursuit of his dream. He completed his goal in 1974. He achieved his big dream one small step at a time.

Could you walk around the world? I don’t think I have what it takes. However, the average person takes about 10,000 steps a day. Translated into miles, that’s about five miles. I bet you never thought all those trips up and down the stairs added into miles! In fact, in a lifetime, an average person walks about 115,000 miles which is more than four times the circumference of the globe.

You will walk enough to go around the world four times! What are you doing with those steps? Where are you going?

I personally believe that God has given each and every one of us a big dream. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Perhaps you haven’t found yours yet, or maybe you forgot it in the shuffle of life. Some people just give up – discouraged and overwhelmed. It’s easy to look at that great big dream inside of you and think that you’ll never obtain it. It’s too big. Too hard. But if you watch where you are going and take small steps towards your goal, you might surprise yourself.

Dave Kunst, the globewalker, started his journey with his brother John. In Afghanistan, some bandits shot Dave in the chest and killed his brother. But he didn’t let that stop him. He healed and continued on pursuing his dream. One step at a time.

We know that, despite the pain and hardship, God is with us. Joshua 1:9 says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

It may be difficult, and there may be pain on the journey, but God is faithful, and He will be with you every small step of the way.

Where are you going? Are you wasting your steps by walking aimlessly? Or are you using them to obtain your dreams? What is one small step you can take today toward your dreams?

Am I Treading Carefully?

I’m not really a shoe person. To me, shoes are functional, and if they’re not comfortable, I don’t want to have much to do with them. I’m not going to wear six inch heels if my feet are screaming in agony. In fact, I find my old cowboy boots rank in my top 10 favorite shoes, even though they’ve tracked through mud and manure. They’re not fancy or cute, but they’ve taken me on some great adventures.

However, I had been thinking of buying a pair of Converse shoes, and when I saw these (pictured left), I had to buy them. And, let me just say this, I think they are awfully amazing!

I like them so much that when I wear them, I am continually aware of what I am doing and where I’m going. I don’t like to go through dirt or mud puddles – something I don’t worry too much about with my icky old tennis shoes. With my Converse shoes, I will go the long way around the grass because I don’t want them to get stained. I watch how close other people’s feet and shoes come to mine so that they don’t get scuffed. When I walk, I monitor where my steps are going to avoid gum or any other nasty thing that might dirty my shoes.

As I was monitoring my steps on my way out to the car the other day, I was hit with a sobering thought. What if I pay this much attention to my actions, my thoughts, and my words the way I watch my steps in these shoes?

What would I do? What would I not do? What would I say? What would I not say? If I took such care with my life as I do these shoes, how would my life change? How would the life of my family, friends, and those around me change? How would my actions edify others? What would I avoid so as to not hurt others?

And, finally, why is it so easier to watch my steps than my life?

Advice from My Teenage Self

Lately there have been a string of blogs giving advice to the writer’s teenage self. I pursued a number of them and had a chuckle thinking of things I would say to myself if possible.

Yet it doesn’t help me now. No matter how much I wish I had invested in Apple, I can’t go back and buy stock. So let’s flip the question.

What would my teenage self say to my adult self? If I, as a teenager, saw me now, what would I say? (And, yes, I realize that it a very awkward question to read. That took me several minutes to figure out how to write it, too!) I’m not saying that as a teenager, I had it all figured out. I thought I did. I thought I was going to change the world.

However, there are aspects of youth that we adults could benefit from if we just remembered them. Somewhere in the real world, we have lost that passion, the drive, the excitement of youth. Paul says in I Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” And don’t forget David was young when chosen to be king and young when he took those stones and God’s promises to kill Goliath, something seasoned adult warriors were too scared to do. In the New Testament, it was a boy who gave Jesus the five small barley loaves and two small fish to feed a multitude.

So just maybe Adult Vicki can learn something from Teenage Vicki. Let’s give it a go.

(On a side note: I’d love to post a picture of me as a teenager, but unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of that time. Shucks. Just imagine me with large bangs, long hair that’s windblown from riding my horse, and nerdy glasses.)

Do what you enjoy more often. Stop constantly working and worrying about work. If you’re not doing what you love, stop it and make a change. Why suffer at a job that you don’t like and doesn’t pay?
Let your hair down, roll down the car windows and belt out the loudest tune that first comes to your head (even if it is from the ‘80s).
Don’t miss out on a chance of fun and adventure. Forget your bed time and responsibilities of the next day. You’ll be tired, but it will go away. The memories of the adventure will stay for a lifetime.
Buy a boombox, so you can listen to music anywhere. The bigger, the better. Then carry it on your shoulder.
Stop worrying and start dreaming. Remember when you thought you could climb the highest mountains and solve the world’s biggest problems? Get back to that.
Read the Bible more.
At least once a week, go cruising with your best friend. This gives you time to clear your head, listen to music your parents don’t like, talk about things you don’t want anyone else to hear, and check out the other people your age. Besides, it’s cheap. Gas is only .89 cents a gallon.
Play piano more.
Laugh more. Not the polite kind. The kind that comes from your whole being, is uncontrollable, and makes you cry. If you can’t remember how, watch movies that make you laugh like the original The Pink Panthers, The Gods Must Be Crazy 1 & 2, and The Princess Bride.
Spend more time with friends.
Be yourself. Throw away the masks. Nothing is worse than a fake.
You finally got to buy a car, and you chose THAT? How embarrassing! Just what were you thinking? Please don’t tell me that you actually like driving it!
 Boredom is a fact of life. You will always be bored. To combat it, try bugging someone who is not bored.
This is just a stage of life. Wait a bit and everything will change.
Loosen up. It’s just a floor that got dirty. It can be cleaned. Most of the major problems you think you have aren’t that huge.
Seize the day. Remember when “Carpe diem” was your battle cry?
Do something great. You have the ability and freedom to do what I can never do. Use it and stop sitting around wasting it.
Give me some money. I’m broke. And hungry.

What do you think your teenage self would say to you now? Is there anything s/he could teach you now? And are you interested to know what I’d say to my teenage self if I could?

Satisfied or Disgruntled?

If you’ve been following my blog, then you know that I chose Createspace, a division of Amazon, to publish my book. I did this after months of research. If you want to know why I chose to self-publish, please read through the previous posts. The complete answer is fairly lengthy, but I’ll just say here that I believe self-publishing can turn a bigger profit, and I didn’t want to lose control of my work. Marketing is a fact of life on either side of the coin. Why not work for yourself with what you love and make a little more cash?

The reasons I chose Createspace is as follows:

1. Highest Royalties – (Note: When you self-publish, they are not considered royalties. You will see the word “earnings” more enough. However, the term “royalties” has become the standard when discussing payments for authors.)

2. Great Customer Service – Whether I called or emailed, I always received a quick response. If the person on the other end didn’t know the answer to a question I asked, they would follow through and find the answer. For me, sometimes this meant waiting on hold while they checked or waiting to get an email with the answer. Every one of my questions was answered promptly and thoroughly. They never tried to hide prices or tried to confuse cost with perplexing jargon.

3. Price of Books When I Order – Createspace had the lowest price for books when I order them. This was extremely important to me because I want to keep costs down for my customers. I can’t do that if the book is expensive for me to buy. The low price Createspace gives me means that I can pass the savings down to my readers. With this economy, I believe this is huge for success.

4. Their Web Page and Free Service – First of all, their web page is easy to use and understand. No rocket science there. Second, you don’t have to pay them money to get a book. They have a free service where you can use their templates and photos, or you can upload your own cover.

5. Their Package Deal – This is what sealed the deal for me. They offered for a time a package deal. For $800, I got front and back cover design, interior design, barcode and ISBN, and 20 free books. Keep in mind: all of this is with a 100% refund within sixty days of delivery. If I sold those free books for $15.00 each, that equals $300, bringing the package deal down to $500.00. Now, a graphic designer will probably charge around $75 an hour to do a book cover. Let’s say you are lucky, and the cover can be designed, made, and approved in three hours (which is basically impossible), that’s $225.

Was this a good decision?

While I know the value of e-books and am glad to offer my novel, Toxic, in electronic print, I know that having the physical book is equally important. Many people don’t have e-readers or want them. Some people want to give the book as a gift. Some want an autograph. Knowing this, I chose Createspace to get my book into print form. I chose to purchase a package with them that formatted the cover and the interior. But the question remains: If I knew now what I knew then, would I still make the same choice?

Yes.

I have only one problem with Createspace. Every little change takes 5-7 business days for them to complete. It’s understandable. They are a big company, and there are other authors as eager as I am to finish their book. Once you request a change, it’s placed into a queue. They are great at hitting this deadline. I don’t think I ever waited past 7 business days to receive the changes back. However, one letter, either a misprint of yours or theirs, takes a whopping 5-7 business days. It can be a long time to wait. It feels like forever when it’s your book.

Their customer service was great. They always tried to please and offered solutions to problems that made me quite happy. I never felt like I was treated differently once they received my money. I was always able to reach someone who knew my file, was able to do get what I needed, and answer my questions.

However, with my second book, I plan to use their free services. This means I’ll have to find a different way to get my cover done, but I feel like their free service will give me what I need. I’ll let you know how it goes once I know myself!

Have you used Createspace? What was your experience? Do you recommend another company?

My Choice of a Self-Publishing Company

If you start to self-publish, you will be swamped with decisions. Sometimes I think I’m going to scream if one more choice pops up. Does that sound incredibly whiny? Probably. I know this is the path I chose, and I know that options are one of the benefits of self-publishing. We all know traditional publishing doesn’t let us authors have much say on the final product. My dream becomes my reality through my efforts. The flip side of it all is that it’s a lot of work, and it’s a bit scary when you think these decisions can have a long-term effect or may hinder or help your books sales.

One of the biggest choices is which company to use to print my book. When you get to this point, you are selecting a company. In fact, when I made my choice, I had three different companies on the line, telling me why theirs is best. I felt courted by their seductive emails, aimed at bringing me into their company. How much better is that from begging a publishing house just to look at my manuscript? The flip side? There are a lot of companies out there that want my money…I mean, my business.

I just made up a word count that I thought my manuscript would end up to be and then choose a random trim size. I can change this down the line, but this lets me compare apples to apples. I was now able to compare each company to the other fairly. I chose a 100,000 word count, approximately 300 pages, and a 5×8 trim size. The prices below run off of these numbers. Here are the companies I looked at…

***NOTE: Remember this is dated material! I did this research during the summer of 2011. Prices, packages, rules, etc may have changed, so take the time to research for yourself!***

1. Lulu, Xulon, and AuthorHouse. Great websites and probably great companies. However, I felt like the packages are really expensive, and the royalties are way too low. I read through their free e-books and publishing guides and then quickly moved on. 

2. Xlibris. I’ve heard good things about this company, so I researched them well. And then I fled as quickly as I could. Why? Four main reasons.

First, they require a certain retail price. When I told them that my book was 100,000 words, they said that the lowest price that I could sell it at was $20.00. I’m a firm believer that cheap sells the best. There’s no way I’m selling my book for $20.00. Then they said that the lowest for an eBook was $11.99. Really? But get this – If you want to sell your books cheaper, you can buy a “Set Your Own Price” package for $250. That makes me laugh even now. So, I pay $250, but there’s still a limit. The lowest is $16.00 for a 300 page book, and the eBook goes to $10.00. Oh, yeah, PLEASE sign me up for this. (Note the sarcasm pouring through the words.)

Next, royalties are set at 25% if someone buys from their web page. If someone goes to Amazon and buys it, it’s down to 10%. Yikes. That’s down with traditional publishers. And just where do most people buy their books? Let me give you a hint…It’s usually not at Xlibris’ web page.

Third, reordering costs. If I bought 1-9 for me to sell, they charge $13.99 per book. If I order 500 copies, it’s down to $8.00. So, to get the cheapest price, I must have $4,000 lying around. And I must have the space to hold 500 books. I have neither of those.

Finally, my experience with their customer service was not good. After I emailed them, they replied… eventually …and had my name wrong. They called me Ms. Luca instead of Lucas. I can be gracious. Mistakes happen. I replied and corrected it. They continued to email me back with the wrong name. I continued to reply back with firmer comments about my name. It never changed. Also, the lady who called me on the phone obviously was reading script from the computer and would take about a minute to answer any question. Most often, she didn’t know and would have to call me back with answers. I got called back. But it was never with the answers. It was just another push to buy their package.

Result? Xlibris may have been great a few years ago, but they haven’t updated to the glories of self-publishing today. An author should be able to set their own price, the royalties should be at least in the 30-40% range at the lowest, and you should be able to reorder as many as you want for cheap. In the words of Tom Petty, “It’s time to move on.”

3. Innovo.This company caused me a world of headaches because I liked them. A lot. I really wanted to work with them. The customer service was amazing in that it was both quick and informative. I enjoyed talking to them and liked what they had to offer. I didn’t choose them because of one reason. Printing costs. They charge $7.00 for me to reorder a book. However, after investigating for quite a while, I found that they charge $15.00 for any order under 50 books. That would cost about $350 or pay extra, which means my customers will have to pay more. Hold on to this for a moment while I explain the last company.

4. Createspace. At first, I wasn’t interested in them. I don’t really know why. Then they offered free books when you buy a package, and I took a look. I have since made the decision to partner with them. Here’s why. For $800, I got front and back cover design, interior design, barcode and ISBN, and a few other goodies. They offer a 100% refund within 60 days of delivery. So that means when I got my first box of books, I have 60 days to say that I don’t like them. I’m sure there would be some negotiation of a refund, but that eliminates some risk. But the things that really got me are that…

I set the retail. Period. The cost for printing is around $5.00. That gives me plenty of room to sell the book cheap and yet make a bit of a profit.


Great customer service. I have enjoyed the talks I have had with various people.


Royalties are great. It depends on where the book sells, but they take 20%-60%. That means I’m getting royalties from 40-80%. You can’t beat that.


The final and biggest reason. I can re-order books for roughly $5.00, and there is no limit to how many I have to order. I noticed that shipping costs reduce if you order more. For example, if I bought one, I would be charged $4.45 for the book and $3.59 for shipping. If I order 20, it comes to about $1.53 per book for shipping.

One final word of why Createspace won out over Innovo. Remember how I said that Innovo charges $7.00 for printing a book and Createspace charges $5.00? (It’s actually cheaper than that, but I’m a firm believer in easy math.) Not a big difference, right? But watch for those small details. If you order 10,000 books over a long period of time, at Innovo, you will pay at least $70,000. At Createspace, you pay $50,000.  $20,000 is a big difference. And don’t sit there and say “Well, I’m not going to sell 10,000 copies.” With that attitude, you won’t. Plan for success.

What’s holding you back from selecting a self-publishing company?

Real Suffering

A story in the church bulletin caught my eye this week. In Gabon, West Africa, three Christian men were set afire by demon worshiping villagers. They were taken to a hospital where they received skin grafts. After a month there, they walked into their village and were greeted by believers. They sang and danced in praise to the Lord for miraculously saving the three men. Anyone would completely understand if those three men didn’t want to go back to that village. Yet they did, and they were shining examples what God can do.

The story made me think of a few questions:

What is the worst suffering I’ve ever done for Christ? (And my list doesn’t contain being burned.)
Did I let God work through my suffering?
Am I truly willing to let God work in my life the way He knows is best?

As I continue to ponder this story, I am grateful for living where there is religious freedom and am reminded to pray for those in places where they are persecuted for their faith. I’m still mulling over these questions, but let me challenge you to think about the suffering for Christ you have done, are doing or are willing to do.

Picture supplied by dreamstime.com

Abracadabra!

English is a funny language. I know. I used to teach people who spoke other languages how to write and speak English. Here are some examples.

There’s no ham in hamburger.
No apple or pine in pineapples.
Your nose runs and your feet smell. (Maybe. I can’t actually smell them from here. Thank God!)
Most bathrooms don’t have any baths in them, and a dog can go to the bathroom under a tree – no bath, no room. Sometimes we go to the bathroom to go to the bathroom. Try to explain that to someone. Maybe you shouldn’t. It can get awfully embarrassing.
Ever want a hot cup of coffee. Nope. You want a cup of hot coffee. Who cares if the cup is hot?
Doughnut holes are really doughnut balls? The hole is in the middle of the doughnut. And why are doughnuts called nuts?
Your alarm clock goes off by going on.
If you live in the woods, you chop a tree down and then chop it up!

English is the most widely spoken language in the history of our planet with over 380 million native speakers and over 700 million foreign language speakers. It has the largest vocabulary of all the world’s languages…perhaps as many as two million words, and we create words all the time. When I was growing up, we never heard of Google, chatrooms, an emoticon, or a widget. I’m not that old, either!

Perhaps the thing that fascinates me the most is how words change in meaning. Apple is both a computer company and a fruit. But when you say “Let’s go to the Apple store”, most people are not picturing the fruit. (I did and was greatly disappointed when all I saw was electronics!) Cool is both a temperature and an attitude. Green is a color and a verb that means to be environmentally friendly. Hot is another temperature and can describe a good-looking person. Sweet is a taste, but now it is also an expression when we are excited or impressed.

But there is one word that wins the prize for the most changes. Know what it is? Magic! For instance…

To describe a special time or event that happened. “Last night was magical!” I think this usage is beginning to fade, being taken over by “Sweet!”
When something works perfectly. “I caught the ball, jumped, and shot. It flew into the basket like magic.” I hear my husband using this one when the car breaks down, and he fixes it easily.
Work my magic. This usage replaces “charm” with “magic”. Let’s say you really want something, so you go to the person who has it, and you are as nice and sweet as you can be. The person gives it to you. Your friends ask “How did you do that?” Your response… “I worked my magic.”
To describe tricks. When you go see a magician, you know it’s not magic. You know there’s a compartment in the hat that hides the rabbit. (Sorry if you didn’t, but now you do.) In fact, the most fun is to try to figure out how the “magician” is tricking you. In my experience, the knowledge is not as much fun as the astonishment of the trick.

However, the definition in the dictionary and the real meaning of magic is…

a. the use of charms or spells believed to have supernatural power over natural forces

b. the art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature.

  A few of its synonyms are bewitchment, black art, charm, curse, demon worship, devilry, enchantment, incantation, occult, Satanism, sorcery, spell, witchcraft, witchery, and wizardry. Not the happy Disney image we normally get, is it?

“But wait”, you cry! “You’re talking about BLACK magic. There’s good magic.” Good wizards or sorcerers use magic for good. Evil wizards use magic for evil. Look at The Princess and the Frog, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Harry Potter. These stories, and many more, feature a good wizard or two battling the evil. Makes for a decent story line, but it’s impossible.

Magic is immoral. Period.

But what about J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis? They had magic in their books! Did they? Or was it just one more different meaning to the word? Read through the definition of magic again, and we’ll deal with Tolkien and Lewis later. Right now I want to know about your opinions.

What do you think? Can magic be good AND evil? Or is it always evil?

 

 

 

How to Help

A lot of people have been asking me how they can help spread the word, so I thought I would give you a list of ideas of some things you could do. Of course, this is voluntary, but if you do any of the following, you will earn my undying gratitude. And isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?

1. Buy It. This is a pretty obvious one, but it needs to be said. Encourage other people to buy the book like coworkers, family members, friends, enemies, strangers, etc. Don’t wait for the holidays to buy the book as a gift. By the way, it makes a great gift because there’s a great chance the person hasn’t read it yet! The quicker books go out the door, the more confidence and excitement I have. Also, media and other decision makers pick up on a book based on the momentum the book inspires. The more sales at the beginning of the book’s life, the more attention it will get from key decision makers, the media, and consumers.

2. Recommend It. If you like the book, review it on Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads, and other reader social networks. Tweet a review. Share a note on Facebook. Any one of these ideas gives other people more information while they are making a decision to purchase. This doesn’t mean you have to write something wonderful. Just share what you like about it.

4. Write a review on Amazon. There’s evidence that ratings and reviews factor into the Amazon algorithms that decide which books are promoted on the site. If reviewing isn’t your thing, just pen a few sentences with a couple of specifics about why you liked the book.

5. Tag it with genre-appropriate labels (Christian Young Adult Fantasy) on Amazon. All you need is an account at Amazon. A combination of the right tags and a good sales ranking can make a book come up when customers search for things on Amazon.

6. Give it a thumbs up on Amazon. This takes less than a second and probably doesn’t do much, but it’s fun to give a thumbs up, and it will generate activity on Toxic’s page.

 7. If you have a Kindle, highlight some of the book. Find some quotations from the book and share them. If enough people share their highlights, they’ll show up at the bottom of a book’s page.

 8. Recommend it. Link to it from your website, blog, Facebook page, etc. Tweet about it. Feel free to link to a blog post, or share it on Facebook. If you have your own blog, blog once or twice about the book. Make sure you tell me because I can repay the favor by mentioning your blog if you like.

9. Give Advice. I’ve already gotten some great ideas on marketing from some of you, but I can take all that you have. You may have some talent, connection, specialized knowledge, etc. that might be just the thing I need. Shoot me an email, call me, or message me on Facebook if you have a great…or good…idea!

10. Forget it. Accidently leave your copy somewhere like the doctor’s office. Leave it for a few weeks until you pick it up again. If at doctor’s office, make sure to carefully wipe off with hand sanitizer. Seriously, if you can afford to buy a few extra copies, start leaving them around. Donate a copy to the library. Each additional book out there helps get contact. You never know who will pick it up.

11. Connect. Share it with your book club, or suggest to someone you know who is in a book club. Hook up with your church’s youth group. The best way would be to approach the leaders about it and explain why you think it’s a good book for the teens to read. Some people have already bought an extra copy to give to their youth pastor in hopes that he will recommend it to his youth group.

12. Request it. Go into your local bookstore and ask for it. If they say they don’t have it, look extremely disappointed. If they offer to have it shipped in, say sadly, “No, thanks. I’ll just get it off of Amazon.” Then leave. If enough people continue to do this over a period of time, the manager will probably get desperate and buy a few copies.

 13. Charge it. If you have a credit card, buy as many as your limit will allow. Forget Dave Ramsey in this gesture of kindness. (Just kidding. I’m a huge Dave Ramsey fan, and I hope he’ll forgive me for this joke.)

14. Promote it. My book can be brought into any bookstore or library. If you are motivated enough, show to it your local librarian, the person in charge of your church’s library, or any bookstore.

15. Pray for It. Prayer always helps. Pray for me and his book. Pray that I’ll get this mountain of work done, pray that the book reaches someone who needs to be strengthened in his/her walk with God, pray that it brings someone to personal relationship with Christ.

 

Take the Heat

I went camping a few weeks ago as a last of the summer fling. It was one of those times where the sun is still warm, but the nights are crisp, making you want to huddle around a fire with lots of marshmallows. It was a great time, as long as I forget the four times it rained and the bear I know, and our dog knows, was stalking our tent. My husband is still doubtful, but good thing I had him around to send out and see where the bear was. Good thing for him that the bear took one look at him, got too scared, and vanished into the night. The poor thing was so frightened that it even took its footprints and left no trace behind!

However, I digress. What’s the best thing of camping? Getting eaten by insects? Getting poison ivy? Sleeping on the hard ground? Getting absolutely filthy? Nope. It’s fire. Without it, there would be no marshmallows roasted. No stories told. Face it, the campfire at night is always the best time of camping.

But is fire always good? Not really. Ever seen a house burnt to the   ground? Ever seen a forest after a raging blaze has gone through? All that’s left is blackened trees and ash. In the campfire ring, it is fascinating. Out of control, it’s extremely dangerous. Did you know that the temperature of a candle is 1,800 degrees °F. A blowtorch at 2,400 °F. Forest fires can move up to speeds of 14 miles an hour. How about this one? In five minutes, given the right things to burn, a room temperature can reach 1100 °F, making it hot enough to ignite every combustible object in the room at the same time!

How the world around us is like fire! It’s filled with wonderful things to do, to see, and to explore. And so the world should be explored! God’s creation is amazing, and He has given us the ability to do astounding feats. Music, dancing, art, discoveries, movie, science. The list goes on. But beware. Just like fire, the world can blaze out of control. But instead of burning our bodies, it will burn our souls until there’s nothing left. It can reduce our joy, our freedom, to ash. It can take all that is good and reduce it to a useless, ugly black lump.

Only a few brave people fight fire. Most of us grab what it precious to us and run. But some will enter the inferno willing to either beat it back or rescue someone. They’re willing to die in their fight for that what is right. Only a few brave people fight the flames of our culture. Bold enough to question what is accepted as right and normal, they search through the smoke and flame for God’s path.

Can you walk through the fire? Fight the flames back? Breathe in the smoke and not choke? Some can find God’s path through the blaze and make it to safety, relaying on His love and grace. Can you take the heat?

Selecting a Self-Publishing Company

I get a lot of questions on how I got my book self-published. It can be overwhelmed as you begin to look through what needs to happen with covers, interior, and all the other little details you never even knew went into a book. There are hundreds of self-publishing companies out there. If you go this route, it is up to you to choose what is best for your style and pocketbook. However, dealing with all these companies can be overwhelming, and it’s good to have a guide. I picked a word count and a trim size of the book so that I could compare between companies. I decided on 100,000 words and a trim size of 5 x 7 inches. You don’t have to stay to this, but it helps you evaluate the companies. Then I created an Excel spreadsheet with these questions to judge the companies easily and quickly. Once I gathered all the necessary information, it was simple to make a decision - one that I don’t regret. Yet.
1.  Ask for the total cost to get your book on the market. If the company does not state the total costs to get your book published and distributed, be careful. It’s a good idea to think through everything you want for your book. ISBN? Barcode? Do you want editing in your package? Want it on Amazon? Make sure there are no hidden fees and ask as much as necessary to get the information you need. This is your book and your money. You are hiring a company to work for you. Know what you want, know what they offer, and know how much they will charge. Oh, and if they don’t tell you what you need to know, move on.
2.  Ask how the retail price is set. Some companies require your retail be set within a certain range. For example, they may say that a 100,000 word book be set at the lowest at $20.00. I firmly believe that new authors need to sell low to encourage readers to take a risk on them. Make sure that you can set the price where you want. Make sure that the prices they give you are competitive. On the example above, you will find that many books of that word count sell for about $15.00. Also, ask them why you can’t set the price lower. Most times it’s because they want a fairly large cut.
3.  Ask what the wholesale price is. Often times you can’t change this. But check and see what it is because you have to set the retail price higher than the wholesale price.
4.  Ask what the printing, handling, and shipping costs are. You will be surprised at how this changes between companies. Ask about different quantities as well. The company I use charges less shipping if I order more. They will try to dodge this question because you haven’t set a specific trim size or page count, so I would suggest you choose one just for comparison. Feel free to tell them that. It makes them nervous about not getting your business, and they should treat you a bit better. Finally, remember that with the current print-on-demand technology, it takes them about one minute to print and bind a 500 page book. These prices should not be very high.
5.  Ask what percentage your royalties will be and how they are calculated. This is the money you are getting for each sale. Know this! Know how much if they sell off their webpage, how much off Amazon, and anywhere else. Some companies don’t call it royalties since they aren’t. This is VITAL information you must know and use to compare companies.
6. Ask yourself about their customer service. I walked away from one company because the woman I was in contact with never once got my name right, had an extremely thick accent, didn’t know a lot of the answers to these questions, said she would call me back with answers and never did, talked down to me, and then when I said I wasn’t using them, she hung up on me! (In the next blog, I’ll tell you who it was!) If they don’t treat you wonderfully now when they want to get your money, they won’t treat you well after you pay them either.
My final piece of advice is that if the information they give you is complicated or required a Ph.D to understand, then walk away. This doesn’t have to be complex, and if it is, then they may be trying to hide costs or expensive services. 
So that’s what I did. There are many avenues for you to choose from, but I hope this gives you a bit of a map to follow. Can you think of anything I missed? Anything you wish you had asked before you gave a company money? Anything you’ve heard is a great question to ask?