This is a post from my old blog—www.whatifyoucouldnotfail.com. The information is dated February 2013, but it is still pertinent. I’ve edited it slightly and share it with you today. Yesterday it was all over the news that Marissa Mayer, the new CEO of Yahoo!, made a change aimed at boosting the company’s status in the ever-evolving world of e-business. Mayer called an end to the work-at-home policy of the internet company. As a Southern California resident who has never live

Several years ago I was sharing a chapter of Rules for Giving with a critique group. When copies of the manuscripts were passed back to me, one member of the group scrawled in the margin: “Conflict! Conflict! Conflict! I have always remembered that, so when guest blogger Lucy Adams offered to post about suspense, I jumped at the chance for her to share it with readers of this blog. Today I’m going to consider a very complex and elusive concept, without which, however, it’s al

A surprise in the feedback I get from readers of Rules for Giving is those that express an affinity for minor characters in the novel. One of those characters is Aaron Higbee. Aaron is the IT manager at the advertising agency owned by the protagonist. Two women in a book club that read Rules for Giving though Aaron was great. They loved him. It caught me off guard. Aaron has three appearances in the novel, one of which is a phone conversation. I don’t even give a physical des

Had I gone the route of legacy publishing, I would be facing the same issues and challenges when it comes to marketing. From what I have read and heard, if your novel does not gain immediate traction, publishers are quick to abandon you and move onto the next big thing. What happens to your novel is up to you. Otherwise, six months later your baby is on the discount table at Barnes & Noble. But I am seeing some glimmers in my marketing efforts. When I was still waiting for th

I try to carry some cash at all times. I have friends that live and die by their debit card, though. But there are times when only cash will do, and also those occasional establishments that charge you for using a debit card (something I hate to pay). Anticipating this as I was making plans for selling Rules for Giving , I shelled out the $29 so that I could use the Square. The Square is an author’s best friend at a book signing, or any other time they can make a sale, if th