Most readers of this blog dream of becoming a published author. Those of you who don’t probably already are, but many look to take your book writing and marketing success to the next level.
It seemed only fitting that, as the dream party approaches, we share our dreams about our writing–who we reach, what our books do for our readers and the world, and how our books affect our own lives and work.
At the Dream Party on October 2, we’ll be sharing our dreams as if they’ve already happened. Imagine yourself five years from now. Your dream has come true. What’s that look like?
Here’s the contest. In the comments section of this blog post, share your dream and your vision for your book. Give us some juicy details about a day in your life 5 years from now. On September 29, Tara and I will choose the dreams that most inspire us. One lucky local winner will win a free ticket to the dream party. And we have a prize for the long-distance winner, too–a copy of Tara’s book and my book and workbook.
Contest rules: 3 paragraph maximum. Have fun. Write your entry below as a comment.
Winners: Local winner receives one free ticket to The Dream Party. The long-distance winner will receive a copy of Tara Sage Steeves’ (founder of the Dream Party) book Are You Pregnant with a Dream and the e-kit (by me and Jen Senecal), The Insider’s Guide to Writing Your Best Book in 60 Days.
Share your entry as a comment below and buy your tickets now if you plan to join us–the first 50 tickets get VIP tickets and get to come early for a special event and meeting with the dream team. See the Dream Party website for details.
The vision of my book is to share the story of my mother, living three months of her life with cancer, with families going through a similar experience in order to empower these families with knowledge and resources so they can live their lives with dignity, respect, and love.
In five years, my book is in its second publication. I am eligible to retire from my teaching job and enjoy the free time I have to work on my second book on mild brain injuries. My personal trainer visits my new waterfront property, located in my home town, to work on my technique for Sun Salutation and other more advanced Yoga poses. Of course, a new wardrobe occupies my oversized, separate closet due to my new reduced physique, twenty-five pounds lighter since I was first published. I’ve become accustomed to speaking engagements and media lights; anxiety is less of an issue than my first Good Morning America appearance.
My greatest accomplishment is the time that I spend with my dog, King. With my extra time, we have successfully completed therapy dog training. Being a German Shepherd helped me; they are intelligent dogs. Every week we visit North Shore Hospice and Boston Children’s Hospital. The patient’s faces light up when they see King enter their room. King is so gentle with everyone, and because he is so tall, he is easy to pet for those who are bed ridden or in a chair. It is a humbling experience to see the power of our four legged friends and the healing they can do.
I have so many idea’s for books. I have been researching and reading and will someday be published. I am working on a tween (8 to 13/14 really)series with a cat named Mia. There is such a need for writings in this age group and even more so for boy’s. My vision is to have this series up and running full speed with not only books but merchandise. I hope to winner and beable to become even more knowledged in the world of writing/publishing.
thank you,
Jane
Jane, in the spirit of the dream party, describe to me one morning, 5 years from now. You wake up and what’s your day like? What happens as a result of being a published author? What do you see, hear and feel?
The meat of my book is to share my excitement and love of nature and children with my readers. I want to inspire the least outdoorsy mama to take her little ones to the park and turn over rocks to look for bugs and the most A-type mama to take a break between power meetings to wade in a creek and look for minnows and empower a school teacher to plant a garden or lead a mini outdoor yoga class at the beginning of the school day- barefoot on the school lawn. I want to share games and songs and riddles to beaming children with ear to ear smiles as they catch butterflies or dance with the ocean surf.
In five years, I will wake up to the chirping of the morning birds to meditate and practice yoga before anyone in the house has moved. I will eat fresh fruits granola and yogurt with my children as they ready themselves for school. We will ride our bikes to school. I will teach yoga in the afternoon and workshops on children and nature on the weekend. I will be the director of a nature based preschool or will serve on the board and volunteer in the classrooms. My youngest will attend the preschool and those days I will have some time for writing. I will be working on my second book about children and spirituality (or perhaps it will be published?) This would leave time for a third- a story about my ancestors. Oh this is fun!
I’m loving these dreams! Keep them coming everyone.
I’m so inspired! Thank you for dreaming out loud!
September 27. 2014
I awaken early to take a few meditative breaths and drink in the autumn breeze from my balcony in my upper west side NYC penthouse. My calendar is brimming and I am filled with anticipating excitement. With such a world wind schedule, I take the time to eat a robust healthy breakfast, workout at the gym and play with my dogs in the park.
My publicist arrives at 10AM to go over the itinerary. 11AM reading excerpts from “Go Ask Mama-common sense answers to life’s most complicating questions” at the Barnes and Noble at 5th avenue 12-3 PM book signing and meet & greets with fans. 4PM late lunch and meeting with NBC executive producers about slated “Ask Mama” show for the next years Fall season. 8PM performance of “Ask Mama” to a sold out audience at the “Eugene O’Neill Theater’ on 49th.
The show was a sensation!-again-I am so blessed to be living my dream and to work with so many incredible people. I sign autographs after the show and get new ideas for upcoming shows-I love entertaining and “teaching” people and they truly seem grateful for “my” words. I meet up with my family and friends for a wonderful dinner back at my apartment and end the evening with a blessing to those I love and that my success will give me further opportunities to help others achieve their fullest potential and greatest dreams
I love the details! Isn’t this fun? The big challenge will be picking a winner from all these great responses. So much so that I decided to send a prize to everyone who enters the contest–a beautiful bookmark handmade by Dawn Warnock. So, if you posted a comment or will post a comment, please e-mail me privately your home address (you can do that from the contact form that you can get to from my home page). I will send a bookmark…and soon we’ll announce the winners.
Deb Scott’s Extreme Author Dream:
“Your New York Best Selling book; The Sky is Green and the Grass is Blue – turning your upside down world right side up,” has become a household name. Can you explain why you think the book has remained so many weeks on the best seller list?” The interviewer waits for a response.
“I think it’s because everyone wants to be happy, but sometimes people just don’t believe it is possible for them. They see obstacles of bad experiences in their life as brick walls, instead of hidden diamonds. There is a misconception that happiness is exempt of any tragedy, or suffering, instead of believing these events are the very experiences which they can transform into exactly what they want. Even better than what they imagined.” Now I pause.
“What then, do you see for the future of your book, and career as a new best selling author.”
“My dream is to reach everyone with a message of hope. Unrepeatable, unique people, of any age, race, or color, can transform their life into something good, right now. Focused to expand my speaking tour around the world, to people who want to learn about these new tools to be happy, to be the best they were created to be. My life purpose, is to passionately help them achieve theirs….”
Deb e-mailed me a gorgeous picture to go with this. Deb–any way you can send the link to this picture online?
lisa
C:\Documents and Settings\deb scott\Desktop\Beautiful Dream
hi lisa-
i THINK it is in here if you copy and paste into browser line and hit go…
i am not tech queen for sure!
it is fabulous – isn’t it – makes me happy!
blessed day,
deb
I’ll tell you a secret…in the past I would say I was a lot shyer than I am today. While I had friends, I would rarely initiate friendships. But through the years I taught and challenged myself to move past my shyness and connect to others. After moving to RI, I also had an experience that was a wake-up call showing me that I needed to expand my network and deepen my relationships. In order to help others expand their social and business network (and so I could continue to do the same) I eventually created WCSWANS (www.wcswans.com – a social club and networking group for women). My experience of realizing I needed a better network made me wonder… are other people satisfied with their network? And would they admit it if they aren’t? If they are satisfied with their network, what have they done or are they doing? If people aren’t satisfied, what are they doing or not doing to create that experience?
In an effort to answer these and other questions, my goal is to survey 100 women, interview 100 women (both in private conversations and blog talk radio), find and read books on building your network and improving your relationships and finally then write a book about my findings! I know this experience would be an immeasurable learning experience and hope sharing the results would benefit many others.
So what happens in 5 years?
I am sleeping in the bedroom I decorated to inspire and relax me into a rejuvenating sleep. I can then feel rested and creative each morning to write and paint! After a long night of inspired writing, I am sleeping in but am awakened by a call from my publisher. We have records sales from my book! After our chat, I sit at the kitchen table to relish a cup of tea and my success. I then get another call, this time from a friend (who was one of the amazing women I interviewed.) who wants to share about something exciting in her life. I share about my good news too. I am smiling as I gently hang up the phone, cherishing the warmth of shared successes. I feel like I am walking on air as I go to my mail box. In it I find a handwritten letter addressed to me. It’s from someone who read my book and was inspired to expand her network. She writes about what parts of the book she connected with, how she improved her relationships and how her life “opened up” as a result. This letter feels like even more of a success than the book sales. I sit down and think about my life many moons ago when I was too shy to initiate friendships and how I had the courage to move past my fears and help others do the same. Now that is success.