The Psychology of Hope is a phenom that has been researched by many with the goal of finding an enduring level of happiness.  We should ask ourselves some questions at this time of year as we look forward to our writing life and publishing adventures for 2009.

• What are my barriers to becoming happier with my writing and/or publishing efforts in 2009?
• How can I raise my level of happiness and be more productive in these areas in 2009?
• What factors are under my control when I visualize my success in 2009?
• Am I truly optimistic about my writing and/or my publishing future?

The BARRIERS to becoming happier in our writing and publishing goals could be in the genetic mix we have brought to our writing, both the positive stories and ideas of our life, and the negatives that make for a good story.  In all writing, we flush out what will stifle our creativity and launch what will be an experience like no other for the reader.  This is where we do our revisions over and over again until it feels like it is the best we can do and is time to move to an editor’s side.  In our heart we will know when this time is right.  It is our voice.  Do not take this part for granted and believe in your expectations!

The RAISING of the level of happiness is centered around our life’s circumstances and has so much to do with our social life, the negative emotions we choose to carry along with us (some make for good writing), the money and health issues of our time, our diversity in education, race, culture and gender and of course our religion and spiritual quest. 

• Remember, any of these areas can be the beginning of a great day of writing and the pivotal event topic for an essay, poem, movie script or a best selling book! 
• Know that what makes you happy in your writing is what you need to write, no matter what it is because it is what must get out.  
• Take an inventory of yourself, your positives and negatives, and then write. 
• Go easy on your critical eye and write with fierce abandon.  It is what you will want to publish and will publish after the editor’s eye is done.  
• Do not put it in the back of the closet with that other manuscript you wrote 10 years ago! 

The FACTORS under your control relating to your past are not to be dwelled on unless they are part of your research for a great piece of writing or for learning what you will do differently with your next publication.  Most research shows that early past events do not influence our lives much, but that recent past events can and will if we go there. 

• Go back with the idea that you are savoring the events only to learn and grow for the new year.  
• Remember that you are grateful for the experiences and the opportunities they afford. 
• Be available to yourself for forgiveness. 
• Know that we all make mistakes - that is life - there is a new year dawning.  Everyone has released something - an essay, a book, a poem, a script, a short story - that they wish they could do over again. 
• Do the work - you can revise it a little and produce it under another ISBN number. 
• Change the title in some small way and re-launch that baby and clelebrate! 
• Live in the now, look to the future, enjoy the moment! 
• Rejoice in the new year and feel liberated from the past year in any way that works for you so you are free to write and produce beautiful work.  The world is waiting.

The present is always under your control because it is your body, mind, soul and spirit that is at work to produce your work, develop your creativity and spring forth your voice to the world.  Allow yourself all the pleasures of nature and the universe.  Be mindful of the beauty that abounds so your writing is pure and free, yours and pleasurable for us. 

The OPTIMISM for your future in writing and publishing will be increased automatically with the actions taken above.  You will feel free to write your daily “to-do-list” and your monthly goals of at least three major items that you want to achieve that month.  Your annual list of 12 objectives to attain for 2009 will happen.  Practice mindfulness, that awareness of the moment at all times. 

Try contemplating the thoughts noted below and ”clear the plate” before you write any goals or objectives, remembering the strategies are the action (the how) and the objectives are the destination (the what) you want to reach with the goals or the steps. 

• Do not put unrealistic expectations on yourself. 
• Feel empathy for yourself and your situation. 
• Forgive yourself for anything that did not happen last year.
• Communicate exactly what it is you want and will do and expect. 
• Hold on to that vision for the good times and the challenging moments, they will return.
• Envison the most important thing you have to do in 2009.
• Breakdown the challenges in your way.
• Evaluate the subconscious feelings you have about goal setting.
• Determine the big “payoff” for doing this activity.

Best Wishes and Happy New Year - God bless you and keep you in 2009!

“Dance as if no one were watching, Sing as if no one were listening, and Live every day as if it were your last.”     Irish Proverb

Patricia L. Brooks

Publishing Consultant, Brooks Goldmann Publishing Company, LLC

Brooks Goldmann

Publishing Company, LLC

Thank you for all your support this past year while my husband and I built up our publishing business. 

We are pleased to be “Book Shepherds” in self-publishing consultation as we offer professional help in a team format that takes the author’s vision to fruition.

While guiding manuscripts through the self-publishing maze, we are the solid partner.  Being of service is an honor and our commitment.

Ø Ghostwriting

Ø Peer Review

Ø Editing &Proofreading

Ø Cover Design & Page Layout

Ø Compliance & Printing

Ø Distribution

Ø Marketing

We wish you a World

of Peace and Happiness.  May the Splendor of this Season be yours through any Season. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com  http://blog.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

Patricia L. Brooks, President          

Earl L. Goldmann, Manager

BROOKS GOLDMANN PUBLISHING COMPANY, LLC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:          Earl L. Goldmann, Manager

                        Brooks Goldmann Publishing Company, LLC

Address:          7970 E. Camelback Rd., 710

Scottsdale, AZ  85251

Cell                  (480-250-5556)

Email:              egoldmann@cox.net

Web Site:        www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

Blog:               http://blog.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

ARIZONA BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION and Barnes and Noble Scottsdale to feature Scottsdale Author/Publishing Consultant

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, December 15, 2008 – Published author, publishing consultant and Scottsdale business woman, Patricia L. Brooks, www.plbrooks.com will be the featured speaker on January 8^th, Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble at 90^th Street and Shea in Scottsdale. 

The Arizona Book Publishers Association, in partnership with Barnes and Noble, continue their speaker series with Patricia’s talk “The Gift that Keeps on Giving – sharing the Journey of Writing”.  Patricia takes you on the path of Writing Inspiration to your writing passion.  The journey is fresh and uplifting in its account of how she has Prepared to be an Author.  Her perspective on a Writing Plan for Organization is generous and worth noting. 

Patricia shares her inspirational portrait of the relationship you want to develop with your writing on the Road to Revision.  This author shows wit, courage and faith during these times of challenge by giving you Research Rules before the Birth of your Baby.  As well as insight into a philosophy of writing life worth emulating, she inspires you regardless of the Publishing Predicaments and challenges to Launch Live you will encounter.  Your vision for The Big Picture to success in writing is illustrated. 

Patricia L. Brooks is president/founder of the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers, a member of the AZ Authors Association, AZ Book Publishers Association and Phoenix Writers Club.

She is owner of P. L. Seminars, LLC (www.plbrooks.com), Brooks Goldmann Publishing Co., LLC, (www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com) and is associate faculty at Arizona State University – teaching Marketing, She has resided in Arizona for over 30 years and been active in the business community for all of that time. 

Patricia holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Management, the Advanced Toastmasters designation and has been named to “Who’s Who of America’s Teachers.

She can be reached at patricia@plbrooks.com or 480-250-5556.  Patricia will be signing books at this event as well for Gifts of Sisterhood, a memoir.  Free chapters available for your viewing pleasure on www.plbrooks.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:          Patricia L. Brooks

Title:                President, Founder

SCOTTSDALE SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS

Address:          7970 E. Camelback Rd., 710, Scottsdale, AZ  85251

Cell                  (480-250-5556) anytime

Email:              patricia@plbrooks.com and Web Site: www.plbrooks.com

Blog                http://blog.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

SCOTTSDALE SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS

                        Welcomes prolific author Dr. Beverly Browning

The Queen of Self-reinvention as speaker

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, December 2, 2008  Dr.Bev Browning, the bestselling author with Wiley, McGraw –Hill and Harper Collins Audio will share her guerilla survival tips for writers at the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers dinner meeting on Wednesday the 17^th of December.  Dr. Browning is scheduled to release her 26^th book in 2009, Grant Writing for Dummies – the Third Edition.

Women writers are urged to attend and take away Dr. Browning’s tips on how to diversify your revenue streams and stay visible worldwide!   Dr. Browning has ridden the self-employment cycle for nearly 23 years and is the Queen of self-reinvention.  Learn how to create staying power in any economy and build your book business. Glean tips on how to value your professional worth as a writer while considering the possibilities of a partnership for success.  Remember, it’s the artists who are “starving”, not the writers!

SSWW meets 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Café Carumba restaurant, 7303 E. Indian School Rd., Old Scottsdale.  Please RSVP if you plan to attend this special event by contacting Patricia at patricia@plbrooks.com or 480-250-5556 cell.

Dr. Browning www.grantsconsulting.com has hosted a 13 week radio talk show on the Voice America network and teaches grant-related courses online worldwide.  Bev is a Michigan native and has resided intermittently in Arizona since 1995.  She designs customized grant writing workshops and facilitates training U.S. wide.  In 2009, she is heading to 28 states with her well known two day Grant Writing Boot Camp training program.

The Scottsdale Society of Women Writers gives members access to events of interest, a format for exchanging ideas, an opportunity to network with other women authors, an alliance with businesses relating to writing and publishing and camaraderie and support found in no other group.   For more information, see www.plbrooks.com for the SSWW logo and then the Goals and Purpose page.  All guests are invited to attend two meetings before joining this impressive group of women.

Good Morning!

This week my author, Michael Lyding, Gratitude a Verb, will be featured here as we talk about the self-publishing process. The process is the 10 Steps we are going through to take his book to fruition and get him on time to the spiritual retreat he is attending in California in January!  He will be using his book at the retreat and with future speaking engagements.

STEP ONE:  Write the manuscript with fierce abandon and revise it over and over again. In the case of the author mentioned, he tags on to his book entitled Grateful not Smug.  If you are writing from a new starting point, you just jump in and get it all out.  Do not go back and look at anything the first year - yes year! You keep writing - yes, write ’till you drop.  Now you are ready to revise and revise and revise.  This is critical because that is not the proofreader’s job and certainly not the editor’s job.  The peer reviewer is not going to want to do that either, but will do some parts of it if that is what you ask of the reviewer.

STEP TWO:  Allow a peer review to bounce your ideas and information off a trusted professional friend before venturing to the editing stage.  I have done several this year and believe a work should be given out for peer review after several revisions.  I did one this year at the first writing stage and it took me 23 hours to review it when it should have taken about 10 hours!  Yes, I did it on a flat fee that was promised and learned something valuable.  The peer review is to be done after several edits to give it a chance to be of greatest value to all involved.  The author Mike noted above writes on a topic I am interested in so I am a great choice for peer review as well. 

STEP THREE: Say yes to editing and/or proofreading as it is paramount to your success and should never, I mean never be skipped or taken lightly.  This is the heart of the finished product, this is what will make your writing work for you and your readers.  This is the area that will be your professionalism shining through loud and clear.  You absolutely cannot afford to avoid this and think that you or your Aunt Madge can do this for you. 

According to my friend and special proofreader/editor, DJ Burroughs, the proof is making sure the sentences make a visual for the author and the words are correct, and correctly spelled, and that the punctuation works.  The editing is all of the above plus knowing the sentences and paragraphs are clear and the reader is getting what the writer wants and intended.  DJ is always asking himself when reviewing a work if he has questions, if he is confused over paragraphs, is there continuity.  The edit takes two times as long as the proofread.

STEP FOUR:  Value your cover design because it is the smile on the book, the sparkle in the book’s eyes and the mystery in that smile.  It is everything and the critical step.  According to our designer Heather Kirk it must be seen quickly by the author and the audience in a sea of book covers or it will not be successful.  No amount of quality and compelling writing will jump through a book without an outstanding cover that excites the reader.  Your cover’s unique appearance should not let the reader put it back on the shelf.  The back cover must be ready too to keep that reader holding on to the book with excitement and wonder.  Yes, this is a big job, but it is the dressing, the frosting and surely the sparkle with a hint of mint!.

STEP FIVE:  Honor the book design and graphics on the interior for they are paramount to the overall readability of the book.  According to Heather Kirk, who did our interior too, the cover is the gloves and the interior is the shoes that match the purse that make the complete outfit stunning.  You can do a little or you can do much in this area, but whatever you do it should match the book, the title and the personality of the author.  These parts carry the reader to the next chapter; sometimes without their knowing it.

STEP SIX:  Seek out an illustrator who is the flower or the lace, the life and the heart for the book. Some books need an illustrator and in the case of our current work, Heather our designer used several in the separation of quotes from the verbiage.  The illustrator may need to do more if it is a children’s book and heavy with characters, animals and scenes or a self-help book that has a lot of expression to go along with main points.  This is a valuable tool to “say in pictures” what you are trying to say in words that needs another level.

STEP SEVEN:  Respect the compliance required to meet the market standards.  Getting your book to market has a business side too and you need to be aware that every book has an ID, an ISBN number and a bar code so yours is a one-of-a-kind book in the marketplace and easily dealt with in bookstores and libraries.  This is handled by the publishing group and is critical at the early stages.  You should also investigate the copyright of the book and the Library of Congress, but these are not absolutely needed.  The copyright is automatic at an immediate level, but copyright is recommended by me.

STEP EIGHT:  Cherish the printing of the manuscript and all its beautiful parts for it is the glitz before the ball.  Selecting a printer who will work with you at a fair price for a quality product, honor commitments and be communicative and respectful of your work is what you need at the last turn.  Customer Care is crucial to your success at the end.  I look for a company I can depend on to take us to the ball on time.

For this project, and others, I selected again Color House Graphics.  They are located in Michigan and have proven to me in the past that they can do the job.  At this time, we have electronically sent all files and have forwarded hard copy of the manuscript, an instruction letter and 50% payment to the printer - we are on our way home!  We anticipate a turn-around of 3-4 weeks even with the holiday week.

STEP NINE:  Jump on the distribution bandwagon of Internet and on ground opportunities.  Today more than ever before, distribution is endless.  The possibilities would take pages, but let me say here that the Internet is becoming the Queen of distribution!  Yes, I am still proposing bookstores and inventory in warehouse, and distributing outlets, and book fairs and speaking engagements.  Always having books in your car is essential, but having Internet sales off your own website and a blog and links to other sites is a must.  It is the business card of the ’60’s, it is the pager of the ’70’s, it is the cell phone of the 80’s, it is the website of the ’90’s - OK you get it!  Yes, I was 12 when I had my first business!

STEP TEN:  Make Marketing Magical and work for you.  Marketing is about 40% of your costs and it is about 80% of your energy and what you will do at all times once you launch your book.  If you have never been a lover of marketing you need to start reading everything you can on the subject.  I can supply many more things to consider and books to read.  Ask me for a copy of my marketing plan to market you and your book.  Yes, you are a product too in this new book business.  You are now in the marketplace and need to be asking yourself a lot of compelling questions. 

Marketing is the wheel and you do not need to reinvent the wheel.  You just need to repair it and oil it and keep it running well so you can participate in the fast paced book industry race.  Marketing is creativity and fun and all of us can tap in to ours with the help of a marketing consultant. 

More blogs to come.  Ask me anything about marketing and I am sure I can answer it or find an answer for you.  Having read a 100 plus marketing books, taught it at the university level for 15 years and consulted in it for about 20 years - especially to small businesses - I am your girl for answers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you launching a book in 2009 like my author Mike Lyding.  I wish you all the best of luck and am available for any and all questions.  This is an exciting time for all of us.  Remember, the artists are starving not the authors.  Reading is an inexpensive way to entertain, books are a low priced item for a gift, a gift that keeps on giving.  I love to “re-gift” books.  A book gift is one that is cherished for a long time.  Economic hard times for books and authors  - bah humbug!