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.

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.

One Year Anniversary of the Dream of Becoming An Author

Exactly a year ago, on memorial day weekend, I got inspired to write a book, The Only Way is Up. It is amazing taking stock and seeing how far I have come and how much I have been blessed to be a blessing.

He took me from being a mom, a wife and an MD to being all that and also an Author. For the first time in my life, I created something, a book. (I may be an MD but I didn't create that. I just studied it...)

He took me from having influence only in my immediate vicinity to being able to reach far and wide with the message in my book.

He took me from initially formatting my whole book in word and using a very basic Createspace tool for a book cover to using Book Cover Pro and Book Wizard for my second edition.

He took me from only having contact on facebook with people I know to being facebook friends with great authors, reviewers, promoters and marketers and a whole new world of great individuals as well as a facebook fan page with close to 500 fans that is still growing and getting close to 400 hits per week. I'm even getting the hang of twitter finally!!!

He took me from talking to patients one on one in exam rooms to radio interviews that reach far and wide.

He took me from dreaming of impacting the world to starting to impact the world.

He took me from not having an avenue to physically sell my books to starting to get into bookstores.

He took me from being afraid to sell and thinking I would literally suck at selling to having great sales numbers at Book Signings.

He took me from fear of public speaking to standing in front of a store at Book Signings and pitching my book effectively.

He took me from not knowing how my work would be received to getting good reviews from the Midwest Book Review, RAWSISTAZ, APEX Reviews to name a few.

Lord, I thank you for expanding my coast. Truly, The Only Way is Up. Book deal around the corner maybe? Yes, he who has done all these is able to take me from being self published to so much more. It is only a matter of time. I am not there yet but I sure am on my way.


Folake.

FREE KINDLE Reader for your PHONE and PC!

I'm guessing writers and authors should also be avid readers, right? I hope my assumption is correct. Since this is the digital age, a Kindle would be in order, correct? Well, I want a kindle but I have not been able to acquire one. It's on my list but since I thought I had to pay for it, I hadn't quite gotten to it yet on my scale of preference. I just found out this morning that there are FREE applications that can be downloaded to your phone or pc to enable you to purchase kindle books from amazon.com. That makes me want to jump for joy or scream. All these are available:

FREE Kindle App for Blackberry

FREE Kindle App for iPhone

FREE Kindle App for PC

and more...

To download any of the FREE Kindle Apps available so far, click the following link.

FREE Kindle App for iPhone, Windows PC, Mac, Blackberry and iPad

Hope this helps. This is the real FREE. If you want to carry the proper Kindle device itself around however, you still need to buy it. I can't help you there!

If you like my post, please order a copy of The Only Way is Up on kindle. It's only $2.99 for a limited time. If it still says $5.99, give it a day or two to update please. And do leave me a review as well will you? That's all I ask.


Much appreciation.


PEACE.

AE Call for Submissions...

Author Exposure has an interesting list of suggested topics for the next few months. Please visit the AE website directly for the full information.

Thank you.


Folake.