Sunday, July 25, 2010

Writing Competitions!

Well my fellow writers, Writer's Digest still has 4 writing competitions open so what are you waiting on? Pick up your pen and notepad or your laptop or whatever and write. In my case, it's most often my blackberry which is what I have on me all the time to make notes. It doesn't matter what your preferred style is. Just write something.

Please click here for the Writer's Digest writing competitions and the rules for each one. And yes, the 79th annual contest is closed. Same as the self-published contest but there is no need crying over spilt milk! Let's just go with the ones that are still open.

PEACE.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Success With Borders and Barnes & Noble...

YES! Finally I can say I have the major bookstore chains carrying my debut book The Only Way is Up: The Journey of an Immigrant. I can safely say I am screaming on the inside!

The journey has not been without hitches and it is far from over. You were all here with me when my first edition was published in November of 2009 in it's rawest form. Then I learnt a little more about the industry and released a revised edition in April of 2010 with some updates and improvements, this time making sure to have Ingram distribution on board. Of course the devil was at work as usual and there was nothing straightforward for me about this process. I thought everything was straight but to my amazement, it was actually Barnes and Noble that alerted me to the fact that The Only Way is Up was not live on Ingram IPage as it should have been. It took another month or so to rectify that.

Finally however, today I can say The Only Way is Up is available in at least one Borders store: BORDERS # 254, 9441 West Colonial Avenue, Ocoee, FL 34761. 407-532-2269. It has also been approved by the Barnes and Noble Small Business Department. At this point, I have no information about what stores will carry my title but will update this information as soon it is available to me. If it is not available in your local Barnes and Noble or Borders, it can be ordered quite easily since it is in their system.

I am just thankful to God that even with my full time job and without a book deal, and being a first time author self publishing, I am able to achieve much progress and it just keeps getting better and better.

Of course it does not end there. It is really just the beginning and I rely on your support as always to get the message out there about The Only Way is Up, my motivational book which targets women, African Americans & immigrants and focuses on self-esteem, self-worth, success, relationships, being single, single parenthood, teenage pregnancies, diet, health, weight, nutrition, spirituality, life outside of the United States, gender roles and so much more. It focuses on many societal issues in this age which we need to address and there is no sugar-coating here. I tell it like it is. It draws a comparison between my upbringing in the UK and Nigeria and life in the United states and offers solutions that are much needed in these times.

Please visit my website http://www.theonlywayisup.net/ for more information, how to purchase etc. If you have read the book already, please do leave an amazon.com review. The electronic version on amazon Kindle as well as in different electronic formats on Smashwords is only $2.99 at present and is part of the July site-wide sale on Smashwords as well. The print version is only $11.69 on amazon.com as well currently. Links to these may be found on the Buy page of my website if you do not wish to do a search on amazon.com.

I am work in progress but I have no doubt in my mind that truly, The Only Way is Up! To find out more about the process of getting these stores to carry your self published book, please read this exhaustive blog post on Indie Publishing on the Cheap by K L Brady, an initial self published author who in one year has gone as far as selling her book to Simon and Schuster and having a two-book deal.

Hard work pays off,
Consistency pays off,
Believing in yourself definitely pays off!

For all that have supported me and continue to show love, I say thank you and God bless you. For those who didn't and who could not bring themselves to believe in me, God bless you also. God is definitely perfecting his purpose in my life and I look forward to bigger and better things as we all strive to be better humans.

PEACE.