Artist Interview with Christi Friesen

I ran into Christi Friesen online one day when I was reading another blog. They referenced her artwork and of course, being the nosey body that I am, I had to check her out.

What I discovered was a talent in polymer clay like none I’ve ever encountered before. Her work was not only exquisite but touched a part of my soul that told me it was okay to be different, to be unique, to follow your instincts. And I was simply blown away with her “Victorian clockwork meets futuristic-nostalgia-fantasy” works because that’s just the type of art I envision creating one day. I’m always glued to sci-fi channels that host shows based on this premise.

Read the full interview on The Dabbling Mum.

Unique Valentine's Day Greeting Cards

I just uploaded some really cool Valentine's cards to my online shop, with more to be added over the course of the next week. So if you have someone special you'd like to send a card, please do check out my ever-growing line!



make custom gifts at Zazzle

Dallas, Season Ten Review

Plot
A drama that ran in hour segments from 1978 to 1991. A wealthy family owns a large, independent oil company and cattle ranch in Dallas Texas. The entire series focuses on their dysfunctional family and need for more—of everything.

Starring
Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal, Linda Gray, Barbara Bell Geddes, and more.

I Recommend Your purchase supports this site.

Review
Back in the 80s Dallas reigned as the top nighttime drama. Dallas was filled with drama, corruption, scandals, sex, greed, and so much more. I remember watching Dallas, as a young girl, and thinking, “How on earth could JR get away with so much?” And “Why can’t Cliff Barnes just get over the past and move on with his life?” And “Why doesn’t Sue Ellen leave JR? She deserves so much better, why is she allowing JR to ruin her life?” And “Why doesn’t Bobby move out of that house so that his family has a chance to survive?”

And yet, as frustrating as the characters were, I watched. And I continued to watch the series, on and off for several years; having missed seasons 8 through 12. So when season ten came out, I decided to watch it.

In season ten of Dallas, the death of Bobby Ewing—and an entire year’s worth of storyline—is dismissed as Pam awakens to find the entire year was nothing more than a horrendously bad dream. Pam and Bobby are back together and planning a wedding, Bobby’s old fling is pregnant with his child and wants nothing to do with him, the independent oil industry is in a crisis and JR is determined to save his company by hiring terrorists to blow up the Saudi oil fields, Jock Ewing supposedly returns from the dead and causes havoc on the Ewing family and Miss Ellie’s marriage to Clayton, Sue Ellen wises up and builds an empire of her own while winning back the love and affection of JR, Ray divorces his wife and appears to fall in love with Bobby’s ex-pregnant-fling, and Cliff’s wife dies leaving him suspect number one.

It’s been years since I watched Dallas so forgive me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember the earlier seasons appearing so choppy in storylines. In season ten, I found myself very frustrated with the fact that each episode jumped right into a new storyline without allowing the audience to full experience certain parts of the old storyline. Sure, there were verbal communications that told you what happened, and allowing the fast forward to take place, but it just wasn’t the same as actually seeing it happen. And yet, I found myself glued to the series the entire week-end!

I also noticed something different about the acting back then and the acting today. While Dallas was fantastic for it’s era, the acting was mediocre in comparison to the acting I’ve seen over the last ten years. More emotions are played out today than every before. In Dallas, even during the most trying of times, the characters appeared calm and sensible and their rage always under control. Even when Bobby’s little boy almost kills JR’s little boy when he decides to use his daddy’s real gun for a pretend game of cowboys, the family appears to be nonchalant in their handling of the situation.

That having been said, if you’ve never seen an episode of Dallas, I encourage you to pick up a copy and familiarize yourself with the nighttime drama that led the way for primetime dramas everywhere.

Disclosure: I was given a sample to review. This is "my opinion" of the product. I was not paid to give a positive review.

New Greeting Cards By AlyiceEdrich.net

Publishing Possibilities

Publishing Possibilities
8 Steps to Understanding Your Options & Choosing the Best Path for Your Book
by Cheryl Pickett

Every year, hundreds—if not thousands—of would-be authors, fail at getting their manuscripts published, and into the hands of readers, simply because they didn’t take the time to understand the publishing industry, but you don’t have to be one of those people.

I Recommend Your purchase supports this site.

The key to succeeding isn’t just in the writing, but in the know-how. Cheryl shares insights into the publishing world, based upon her own personal experiences, interviews with successful authors, and research. Within the pages of Cheryl’s book, you’ll discover how to:

1. set detailed goals;
   
2. assess the resources available to you;
   
3. determine your own business style;
   
4. understand your audience;
   
5. understand the terminology used in the publishing world;
   
6. determine if going with a traditional publisher or publishing your book yourself is right for you; and
   
7. how to develop an action plan.
   

Most of the sections are short—one or two page—introductions into the world of publishing with a more extensive section devoted to step six, understanding the different publishing avenues. Within each section is a set of questions designed to help you further understand your role as an author and what you truly want to do with the words you’ve written.

Cheryl has also include an inspirational/motivational section written by various authors. There’s an essay by:

• Gail Gaymer Martin – traditional publishing, print book
  
• Jill McDougall – traditional publishing, print book
  
• Alton Pryor – self-publisher, print book
  
• Carol and Phil White – self-publisher, print book
  
• Alyice Edrich – electronic downloadable books
  
• Sally Shields – P.O.D. publisher, print book
  
• Carolyn Howard-Johnson – e-book author turned P.O.D. publisher, print books
  
• Michael Volkin – self-published author turned traditional print author
  

Disclosure: I was given a sample to review. This is "my opinion" of the product. I was not paid to give a positive review.

Weight A Minute!

I love reading books about transforming one’s health. Whether it’s about losing weight, eating healthier, or slowing down long enough to actually enjoy the life we live, transformation is an ever-growing part of our lives. So when I heard about Deborah’s book, Weight A Minute! I knew I had to read it. I was sure that most of what she wrote was something I’ve read before, but I didn’t care. I wanted a refresher course and that’s just what I got.

Deborah Enos is not unlike us. There was a time that, she too, was overweight and didn’t give herself permission to take proper care of herself. There was a time that she experiences high cholesterol, insomnia, anxiety, and even mood swings. There was a time that despite all the knowledge she possessed on the subject, she allowed the busyness of her life to prevent her from maintaining her own health goals.


But that time has passed.


Today, she’s healthier than she’s ever been and she owes it all to a client who was brave enough to say to her, “You’ve helped me. Now it’s time to take care of yourself.”

Weight A Minute! was written for the average person—the person who doesn’t have a lot of time to decipher what technical jargon means, the person who doesn’t care why it works as much as how to get it to work for them, and for the very busy person who has more excuses than a pomegranate has seeds. In just a few chunks a day, you can go from making excuses for not having enough time to devote to your life, to finding the time to implement quick, simple tips that are guaranteed to transform the way you think about your health.

Here are just a few of the things you’ll learn in Deborah’s book:

• One pound of muscle burns 80 calories per day.

• One pound of fat burns only 2 calories per day.

• Gaining weight is easy. All you have to do is eat 100 more calories a day than you burn—so say good-bye to a sedentary lifestyle or you’re bound to get fat!

• When your blood sugar drops, you lose productivity, energy, and focus.

• Sometimes when you feel hungry, it’s not hunger at all—but your body begging for water.

• If you’re having a hard time falling asleep, consider wearing socks to bed. When your feet are warm, they allow your body to rest.

• Sleep deprivation causes memory loss and creates a slower metabolism which in effect contributes to weight gain. So that old saying, “going to bed at a regular time each night and waking up at the same time in the morning is good for you” is true!

• Eating an apple a day truly is good for the body. The fiber in an apple tricks the body into feeling full, thus curbing the appetite. So go ahead, have an apple before your meal.

Do I recommend Weight A Minute? Yes, I do!

I recommend it to anyone who is overweight and wants to jumpstart their weight loss efforts. I recommend it to parents who are trying to get their kids off the junk food track and into a healthier lifestyle. I recommend it to high school health teachers who want to teach their students a healthier way of eating and living—without all that health mumbo-jumbo. And I recommend it to wellness coaches who want to provide their busy clients with tips that are easy to digest and fun to read.

Disclosure: The reviewer received a complimentary copy to review.

Swing Vote

I was really excited about the opportunity to watch Swing Vote. I adore Kevin Costner, and I was really curious to see his portrayal as “the nobody who becomes the voice of everybody”. From the previews, I expected a lot of laughs and comedic antics, but those were far and few between. It was a bit more serious than I anticipated and I found the father’s lack of interest in his own daughter, heart-wrenching.

I Recommend Your purchase supports this site.

Ernest, a.k.a. Bud to his friends and town folk, is heart-broken over the fact that his wife has run off and abandoned him and his daughter. He takes to drinking which costs him his job and on several occasions, nearly costs him the custody of his daughter—who just so happens to be ten, maybe even a hundred times, smarter and more mature the Ernest, himself.

His daughter, Molly, however hasn’t taken to his laid back lifestyle and is determined to do more with her life—to change the world through politics. Serious about the role each American plays when it comes to voting for the next president of the United States, Molly pushes her father into voting. There’s just one problem—he loses his job on election day and drowns his sorrows in booze, thus missing the deadline to vote. Meanwhile, tired of waiting for her father, and determined to make their “family vote” count, she sneaks into the voting office and commences to vote for her dad.

But just as Molly begins the voting process, the power shuts off. She grabs the stub and runs out of the voting booth. The next day, the counts are in. There’s a tie between the current President of the United States and his campaigning partner. Upon further investigation, it’s determined that Ernest’s vote is the one vote that can break the tie.

Unwilling to let his daughter go down for “fraud” he agrees to recast his vote, only there’s one problem—he must wait a certain number of days before recasting his vote and during that time, the two candidates do everything in their power to WIN his vote.

This is where the story goes downhill a bit. You see, neither party stands for their convictions and instead changes their convictions every time Ernest speaks his mind, thus making each candidate look like fools and our election process like one big joke. Through a series of events, Ernest goes from a nobody to a somebody to one big laughing stock.

Disappointed in her father, Molly seeks solace in the thousands upon thousands of letters from the American people—letters asking Ernest for help, asking Ernest to be their voice during this most crucial time.

And that’s where the story picks back up—offering hope, and leaving the audience with a sense of pride in America and our electoral system.

It’s then that Ernest realizes how vitally important his vote is and what a great privilege it is to not only live in America, but have the opportunities he so gladly wasted. It’s also then that he understood how important it is to have dreams, to stand up for what’s right, and most importantly, to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. And so, he asks for a Presidential Debate in which he can ask the questions America has been wanting to know and weigh his vote accordingly.

During his speech he says, “From what I've read, I know that I've scared the hell out of America” and he had, but it’s the wake-up call he needed to turn his life around so that he could give his daughter the life she deserved.

It’s been pinned a smart comedy. It’s been said that Swing Vote is a rather hilarious look at our presidential electoral system. It’s been said that it’s a light-hearted feel good story. Personally, I didn’t find it very funny at all. The laughs were far and few between. However, the acting was good and the ending was perfect! If all you do is fast forward to the ending, as you listen to the speech made by Ernest, you’ve got your money’s worth.


Disclosure: I was given a sample to review. This is "my opinion" of the product. I was not paid to give a positive review.

Dance Body Beautiful

From the moment I saw “Dancing With The Stars” I was hooked. I have loved dancing competitions since I was a little girl. And though I’ve yet to take a class myself, I have spent hours in front of the television—via televised dance competitions on PBS and now reality t.v—marveling over the moves of dancers young and old. The talent alone is mesmerizing so when “Dancing With The Stars” came out with their own exercise/dance video, I was excited to give it a try. Sadly, it disappointed me on many levels: there were no real instructions and the moves were far too complicated for beginners.
Needless-to-say, when I heard that Lisa Rinna had come out with a video of her own, I was skeptical to say the least. First, she’s not a professional dancer and second, she’s not a professional trainer. And while you can tell both in this workout series, you won’t be disappointed.

Her videos are very well put together, they speak to true beginners, and there are three levels of workout: slow version, medium pace, fast pace—which means that as you progress in talent and speed, you can still get a decent workout with the Dance Body Beautiful series.

In Ballroom Learn & Burn, there are four dance routines to learn: the rumba, the hustle, the paso doble, and the quick step. In Jive Jump Ballroom Bump, there are also four dance routines to learn: jive, jump, ballroom bump; cha cha crazy; super sexy salsa sizzle; and fat-free disco fever.

Each workout video starts with a basic set of instructions. The instructions are broken down into very simple, easy-to-follow directions. Next, there’s a basic warm-up, then the routine(s), followed by a cool down.
I love the fact that Lisa delves deep into each routine, as though she were your private instructor. However, I do believe that if you’re already fit, this series won’t get your heart-rate up to where you need it to be. This is definitely a series designed for the beginner—both in dance and physical fitness. Most would probably agree with me that this series should be considered a dance instruction video, not an exercise video series.

On a more personal note, I didn’t care for the outfits Lisa chose to wear as they were very outdated and the music, well, let’s just say that you’re better off buying a music CD as the music in these videos don’t seem to hold a candle to the choreographed routines.
You can order Dance Body Beautiful with Lisa Rinna at Amazon.com

Disclosure: The reviewer received a complimentary copy of this DVD.





Most would probably agree with me that this series should be considered a dance instruction video, not an exercise video series. But I enjoyed it.

And just for fun... You may remember seeing her on Dancing with The Stars.










~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

This post was sponsored by The Dabbling Mum.

For more articles geared towards busy parents, check out The Dabbling Mum eMagazine.

This Side of Heaven by Karen Kingsbury

This is a guest post by Tina L. Scott (formerly Miller). Tina is a freelance photographer from Merrill, Wisconsin with a passion for writing. She can be reached at PhotographyByTina.com


Book
This Side Of Heaven

Author
Karen Kingsbury

The Review
Josh Warren is twenty-eight years old, single, and living alone in a low-income apartment complex. In constant pain from a severe back injury he sustained while working as a tow truck driver, an occupation his parents could never understand, accept, or embrace, now he is out of work, barely getting by, and fighting an addiction to the medication that just barely takes the edge off his excruciating pain. When he’s not thinking about the timeframe between doses of the drugs he relies on to get through each day, Josh is haunted by thoughts and dreams of the daughter he has never met. Savannah is already seven years old and his only real connection to her is a photograph her mother sent him in an attempt to extort money from him several years ago. With Josh in Colorado and Savannah in New York, Josh knows his only hope to see his daughter is to get a settlement from the insurance company for the accident and then hire an attorney to force a paternity test and establish his parental rights to the little girl he just knows is his child, despite the fact that she was conceived in an uncharacteristic fling he had in Las Vegas with Maria, the child’s mother—a conniving woman who thought he was wealthy and had planned to exploit him financially.

Josh’s reality is far from the life his parents, Annie and Nate Warren, had dreamed of for him, and it seems he just continues to disappoint them time and time again. He didn’t finish college, the love of his life—the woman he hoped to someday marry—has moved on without him, and they don’t believe Savannah is his daughter. Now on disability and unemployed, it seems all they can see when they look at him is a string of poor choices their son has made over the years.

Caught up in their quest to get Nate reelected to the Board of Education, social engagements occupy Annie’s time and also plague her as her peers in attendance continually ask about and seem to compare Josh to their own more successful children. Single mindedly focusing on what she wants her son to become, Annie can’t seem to see past the surface to discover the kind of man Josh really is—a man she should be proud of.

This Side of Heaven is Josh’s story, but it is also Annie’s story. It is both a sad and a joyous story at the same time. It is a story of discovery.

Josh wishes his parents could understand him better, embrace his quest to find and know his daughter, and accept him for who he really is rather than who they want him to be. Only his sister, Lindsay, accepts him as he is without trying to change him. Well, along with Cara Truman, the woman he befriended and confides in via the Internet, though he has never met her in person.

In time, Annie does discover the man Josh has become—and the faithful friends he holds dear including Carl Joseph and Daisy, a young couple with Down’s Syndrome; Cody and his wife Elle; and Ethel, his elderly upstairs neighbor. She also comes to see him through their eyes—as a hero, a friend, and a man of great faith and trust in God. But it’s not until tragedy strikes that Annie truly comes to know and love her son for all that he is instead of all that he is not.

This Side of Heaven is an emotionally wrenching novel that moved me to tears many times. Your heart will go out to Josh, his family, and his friends and to Savannah, the child who does not know her daddy, as you come to know each of them in Kingsbury’s inspirational story. Really, this is just the tip of the iceberg—a fraction of all that This Side of Heaven will reveal. I won’t spoil your own journey of discovery by telling you any more than that. Suffice it to say, though, that I could sing the praises of this novel for many reasons. In the end, the themes of unconditional love, acceptance, forgiveness, and faith bear fruit through Kingsbury’s words in a story about the joys and difficulties of life This Side of Heaven and the reassurance that God loves us and cares for us—always.

Order This Side Of Heaven Today!

Disclosure: The reviewer received a complimentary copy of the book to review.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

This post was sponsored by The Dabbling Mum.

For more articles like this, check out The Dabbling Mum eMagazine.

Artist Interview with Bridgette Mongeon

I first met Bridgette Mongeon when she asked that I pass on a request for child subjects to the readers of my magazine, The Dabbling Mum®. Just one look at her art and I was blown away. Her ability to take a still portrait and turn it into a life-like work of art is uncanny. With due-diligence, a creative spirit, and the ability to connect with her subjects, Bridgette creates stunning, magnificent sculptures that are sure to become family heirlooms for generations to come.

Read the full interview on The Dabbling Mum.

Skinny Bitch Exercise Video

Having never read the Skinny Bitch books, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I received Skinny Bitch Fitness Body and Skinny Bitch Fitness Bootcamp exercise videos. My hope, however, was that the word “bitch”—which I find very derogatory—would only be used in the title while the fitness videos themselves would take exercising to a whole new height. After all, the titles were quite “edgy”. But that wasn’t the case.

The exercise routines are mediocre at best and I found the girls’ comments throughout the workouts in poor taste and highly distracting. There were a lot of sexual innuendos being made, that made me uncomfortable—especially thinking that my children could walk into the room at any time! I especially found the comment suggesting the use of a vibrator—which I don’t even own—as dumbbell in very poor taste.

My husband assures me that the “younger” generation would have giggled at the comments made throughout these videos “as that’s how the younger generation talks and thinks these days”. But that’s not how I brought my kids up to talk and it is surely not the type of language I want to endorse.

Call me a prude, but when I’m exercising for my health, the last thing on my mind is how I’m going to get my husband into bed or how hot I’ll look the next time I’m laying next to him, naked. I want a personal trainer or exercise coach to motivate me to get to the next level; to push me through a period when I’m about ready to collapse; to remind me to breathe, to keep going, to take a sip of water, to modify.

That being said, I went ahead and did the exercise routines a few times—hoping to set aside my prejudices about the language being used, and concentrate on the quality of the videos themselves. And I did just that. But, sorry to say, it didn’t change my mind about the videos as a whole. And I found it annoying that they kept mentioning how they were sweating, yet they really weren’t.

I found the cinematography to be excellent as I was able to follow the routine easily, everyone was clear and easily viewable, and the routines were easy to follow on film but the routines themselves were lacking.

While the warm up has detailed transitional instructions and were quite fun, the routine itself does not transitional instructions and did not cause me to work up a sweat—which is definitely something I’d expect from a video labeled, “Boot Camp”—especially since I am a tad overweight and really out of shape.

The girls just jump into each movement with very little—if any—direction while they continue to make what they consider “hip, smart” comments. This makes learning the routine a little difficult—but the routines themselves aren’t difficult at all. In fact, I wouldn’t even consider the “Boot Camp” video an actual boot camp. It’s more of an aerobic work out with a few transitions that include hand weights for strength building.

That being said, if you like Paris Hilton’s BFF reality show on MTV, you’ll probably like this exercise video.

Disclosure: I was given a sample to review. This is "my opinion" of the product. I was not paid to give a positive review.


~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

This post was sponsored by The Dabbling Mum.

For more articles geared towards busy parents, check out The Dabbling Mum eMagazine.

Your Child Imortalized In Art

Sculptor Bridgette Mongeon of the God’s Word Collectible sculpture series is seeking beautiful children to be depicted in up and coming new releases to the series. Perhaps you would like your child depicted in a sculpture.

The artist says that she will, at times, use real children in her collectible series, "It makes the creations more personal and gives them life," states the artist. For example, Brandon, from Houston, Texas, was chosen as a model for the Romans 7:4-25 piece after his parents submitted a completed form and a photograph of him.

Now the artist is once again looking for a child and perhaps adults for two new collectibles. The present theme is a little boy depicted as a shepherd for Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd.” The artist will put up another call after this one is met.

Details on themes and on submitting your loved one’s photographs for consideration can be found on the God’s Word Collectible Website, located at Gods Word

Artist Interview With John Greco

John Greco began creating works of art, using wood, back in 1987 during a shop class in middle school. Originally, his shop class consisted of two media: metal and wood. The minute he got hold of a piece of wood he knew that working with wood would always be a part of his life.

Read the full interview at The Dabbling Mum.

Tell Me What To Eat If I Have Acid Reflux

Just this morning, I finished reading the book, Tell Me What To Eat If I Have Acid Reflux by Elaine Magee, M.P.H., R.D.

It’s not quite the book I expected as it doesn’t go into depth about the different types of foods that trigger acid reflux or give substitutes of what to replace an acid trigger with, but it does describe what acid reflux is and how it affects our bodies. And it talks about changing our eating habits and lifestyle, how to eat at restaurants and fast food joints, and it even gives a few recipes.

I Recommend Your purchase supports this site.

What I learned is that when you have acid reflux it’s best to:

1. Eat slower because it helps the food go down better and reduces acid.
   
   
2. Never eat until you feel full because that will just push the acid back up the esophagus. It’s better to eat until you feel slightly hungry, but content.
   
   
3. Never lie down after eating because the food will just shoot back up your throat causing a burning sensation and potentially tear the lining of your esophagus.
   
   
4. Avoid foods high in fat because they tend to linger around in your stomach for long periods of time which help build up acid.
   
   
5. Avoid beverages that irritate the esophagus, like carbonated drinks, coffee, black teas, citrus drinks, and alcohol.
   
   
6. Avoid foods, or consume less foods, that tend to increase acid reflux, like citruses, tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine, onions, etc.
   
   
7. Eat more fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains instead of reaching for the quick-fix, like simple carbohydrates and/or sugary foods. (This is definitely an issue with me!)
   
   
8. Regular exercise not only helps you get physically fit, it actually helps reduce acid reflux. But you should never exercise within the first two hours after you’ve eaten because it will cause the acid reflux to really act up.
   

All things I learned from my last doctor's visit, but hey! At least I know it's reputable.

Disclosure: I purchased this item to review. This is "my opinion" of the product. I was not paid to give a positive review.

Book Proposals That Sell

Have you dreamt of becoming a published author only to find your manuscripts rejected time and time again? Do you long to hold a bound copy of your manuscript in your hands or sign copies for adoring fans? Are you tired of feeling like a lost sheep?
Thanks to Whalin’s book, Book Proposals That Sell, you don’t have to wander around the wilderness alone. In Book Proposals That Sell, Whalin takes you by the hand and gives you an insider’s look into the world of publishing.
You’ll learn why writing the next American novel, or the next best seller, is only half the battle. You’ll discover 21 secrets guaranteed to get your book proposal looked at by the publisher of your choice; secrets that appear to be common sense, but are often overlooked by amateur writers in a hurry to see their work published. Secrets like:

1. Knowing the topic of your book so well you can write a concise overview and pitch it three different ways.

2. Understanding who your book’s audience is and why it’s reachable.

3. How to write a chapter-by-chapter summary that helps editors understand the overall flow of your book.

4. Explaining why you’re the perfect author for this book. In other words, why you have the credibility and authority to speak on your book’s topic.

5. Understanding why your book has competition, even if your idea is completely unique and untouched.

6. Determining the vision of your book: page count, forms, completion date, etc.

7. Creating a marketing plan.

8. What your sample chapter should really consist of.

9. The importance of choosing a title (and a few alternatives) that catches the attention of editors and bookstore browsers alike.

10. Getting endorsements that will actually sell your manuscript, not just your printed book.

11. The importance of the return envelope, also known as SASE.

12. Why spellchecker shouldn’t be your only editing tool.

13. Why your first draft is really your rough draft and how to make that draft more saleable.

14. Keeping track of your submissions so you don’t send the same manuscript to an editor who rejected it in the past.

15. Building relationships with editors through key events designed to bring both editors and writers together.

16. Why including hype in your proposal could actually destroy your chances of an acceptance.

17. Using your proposal to find the right agent for your manuscript.

18. Understanding why proposal can be as much work as the manuscript itself.

19. How to submit your proposal to different agents and/or publishing houses simultaneously.

20. How to not become a one-hit wonder by getting more proposals out the door during the waiting game.

But that’s not all you’ll learn!

You’ll also discover:

• What publishers really want from authors,

• How they make their final decisions, and

• How you can improve your chances of getting not one, but several book contracts.

And if that isn’t enough, Whalin also includes a sample book proposal that sold for six figures! Finally, Whalin includes resources and websites throughout the book to further your education and the understanding of the point(s) he’s trying to make.

If you’re serious about making a living as a book author or you simply want to be a one-time wonder, you can’t go wrong with Book Proposals That Sell.

Disclosure: The reviewer received a complimentary copy of this book to review.