Just Write Books - Nancy Randolph - Maine

Life & Culture

2012-01-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

Check out the Portland Press Herald article about our real food challenger. Life & Culture

Led by Susan Lebel Young, I am participating in a real food challenge. The challenge is part of reality checking her book: Food Fix: Ancient Nourishment for New Hungers. In 2006, she completed Lessons from a Golfer: A daughter's story of opening the heart. Both books will be a available from the publisher, Just Write Books, amazon.com and our local bookseller.

Poet~Educator~Author dies Dec 3

2011-12-11T07:24:00.001-08:00

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Herbert Randolph Coursen was passionate about Shakespeare, poetry, sports,music and politics. They enlivened his conversation and defined his life.Coursen—a talented, brilliant, witty and sometimes irascible man—died Saturdayin his sleep at his home in Brunswick, Maine.

H.R. Coursen was born in 1932 in Newark, N. J., attended Amherst College, wherehe was a member of Sphinx, the honor society, Wesleyan University, and theUniversity of Connecticut, from which he received a Ph.D. in English. He taughtat Newark Academy, the Choate School, Bowdoin College, where he was chairman ofthe English Department, Clemson University, Ohio University, The University ofLondon, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of Maine at Augustaand Southern New Hampshire University.

Afighter pilot in the USAF during the 1950s, he was an early opponent of the warin Vietnam and one of the original members of Veterans for Peace.

RobertChute of Poland Springs, noted poet and Bates Professor Emeritus of Biology,joined Coursen at local poetry readings. They were helpful to each other, asRobert explained: “I knew Herb as a fellow U.S. Air Force veteran in Veteransfor Peace — his war Korea, mine, World War II. I knew him as a fellow poet,exchanging, without offense or favor, suggestions, edits, corrections. He wasan insightful scholar and a writer of astounding diversity. His life, as areall lives, was many things, but much of it was Literature, with a capitalL.”

Coursenleaves a plethora of writing—18 critical books on Shakespeare, 36 books ofpoetry, 25 novels, an eight-book fantasy series and seven classic storiesadapted into modern verse. In 1996, a poll conducted by Penn StateUniversity named him one of the “25 Master Teachers of Shakespeare during thepast one hundred years.” His “Mythos” was a Writer’s Digest finalist in 2001.He won the Motton Award from the New England Poetry Club in 1998 for best bookof poems in the previous year and was given the Warren Award from the NewEngland Poetry Club in 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2005 for best published poemof the previous year. He won the Maine Poets Society Award for best poemseveral times. He will be missed in the literary world of Maine and beyond.

Coursenwas active in Maine’s poetry community, including the Maine Poetry Society,local poetry readings and slams and providing guidance to the Longfellow DaysCommittee. “Herb was indispensable to the Longfellow Days poetry readings atCurtis Library, and, before his death, had booked all the poets for the 2012readings. He was planning to lead poetry workshops at Thornton Oaks, TheHighlands and the Brunswick Inn at Park Row. These plans will be realized and aspecial tribute offered in his memory,” said Claudia Knox, member of theLongfellow Days Committee. Longfellow Days Chair, Maryli Tieman said that shewas overwhelmed by Coursen’s death, stating, “The entire Longfellow Dayscommittee joins me in mourning the loss of Herb. For over seven years he hasbeen OUR Longfellow poet.”

JohnAmbrose, a retired Bowdoin College professor, will miss his Sunday sportsbuddy. “Herb and I were close friends while colleagues on the BowdoinCollege faculty. The friendship extended to the tennis courts where we oftenplayed together.” During the summer of 1977, Ambrose and Coursen won the townof Brunswick doubles tournament. Ambrose still has the trophy. “Herb was anexcellent athlete; his tennis strokes were as precise as his quotations fromShakespeare.” During the fall they got together to watch the New York GiantsSunday football games, usually in Coursen's cozy TV room surrounded bysouvenirs of bullfighting: posters, glasses and figurines added to hisever increasing collection of overlapping and stacked Shakespeare, sports andtravel souvenirs.

“Herbwas an absolutely devoted and knowledgeable Giants supporter. We talked aboutplayers, coaches, strategy, as we did every game. Herb's observations wereoften more incisive than even the game announcers! I'll never be able to watcha Giants game without thinking of Herb by my side to cheer or grouch with. Ashe liked to say, ‘Grouching is part of watching football!’"

Herbwas a New York Giants fan—but larger than that—he was the ultimate sports fan.He knew the statistics for baseball, football, bull fighting and most othersports to the degree that one wonders how he found the time to write soprolifically. But he did write and his “October Saturday: 1949” headed anarticle “Seeing Daylight” in the January 10 issue of Sports Illustrated."I'm probably the only poet who has had two poems in Sports Illustrated,"he joked to a reporter in 2005.

Coursen’swriting also appeared on the editorial pages of nearly every publication in NewEngland that accepted letters to the editor, including The TimesRecord, the New York Timesand The Nation. His subjects were anti-war, social programs, educationand the vulnerability of the electric delivery grid. His essays—what some wouldsay were rants—pointed out the ever-widening gap between the rich and the rest.His clear evaluations of topics and ardent calls for action will bemissed.

Formany years, Coursen conducted a big band show for WYAR, Yarmouth, Maine, usinghis vast collection of records as the basis of the program. That ended at thebeginning of the new century. Coursen collected hundreds of vinyl records,continuing to play them for his own enjoyment, sometimes playing along on hiscornet.

Thepeople who will miss Herb Coursen the most are his family. Speaking with hispublisher in 2008, he agreed that his grandchildren brought out the best inhim. He was predeceased by his companion of twenty years, Pam Mount, who diedMarch 2011. He is survived by brothers: Franklin H. Coursen of Massachusetts and DeanCoursen of Town; daughters: Susan Leigh Coursen of Tampa, Florida, VirginiaCoursen Wyatt of Sarasota, Florida, and Elizabeth Coursen of Sarasota; andgrandchildren: Susan Randolph Wyatt, Bruce Edwin Wyatt III, Virginia KathleenCoursen and Margaret Leigh Wyatt.

For Tom Seymour, foraging is the way life should be | The Forecaster

2011-10-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

For Tom Seymour, foraging is the way life should be | The Forecaster

We had great talks and tasty treats of wild edibles.

Tom Seymour Talks Mushrooms & Wild Plants in Brunswick Sept. 30

2011-08-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

Tom Seymour, author of Wild Plants of Maine: A Useful Guide, will speak Friday, September 30 at two venues about his many years of experience in collecting plants from local fields and forests and how to store and cook the wild produce. Seymour will be at Thornton Oaks, 25 Thornton Way, Brunswick, at 2 p.m. and at Shift, the sustainable home-goods and lifestyle store, 56 Maine St., Brunswick, at 5 p.m. Shift was formerly F.W. Horch.

In addition to a talk and question-and-answer time, Seymour will prepare and offer taste testing of freshly gathered wild plants at both Thornton Oaks and Shift.

Copies of Wild Plants of Maine are on sale for $24.95 at Shift, Gulf of Maine Books or from Just Write Books, www.jstwrite.com or amazon.com. Copies of Seymour's Forager's Notebook, a hardcopy journal for the weekend hiker or woodland walker, are also available. The cost is $20.

Seymour is a columnist for The Maine Sportsman Magazine, Maine Food and Lifestyle and Fisherman's Voice. He has authored several books about hiking, fishing, and harvesting wild foods and leads nature walks in coastal Maine.

For more information contact Nancy E. Randolph at Just Write Books, 207-729-3600, jstwrite@jstwrite.com.

Write a Press Release That Gets Printed

2011-06-27T04:50:00.000-07:00

Getting your press release printed goes back to what most of us know. Know your reporter. Reporters and editors are overworked, under paid great people providing a service to our communities.

Find out what you can do for your reporter with a good press release. Make their day by easing their work. No ALL CAPS; proof, proof, and proof again; make sure it is really news; provide a photo with a full caption that they can chop, put the important things first (so they can chop from the bottom); thank them when it is printed and the finally do not get upset if there are errors (most people won't notice the errors and the ones that do, you know they have read the article).

I could stop right here, but there are a few reminders that some veteran press release writers may need to hear.

Make sure it is news. (This deserves its own blog entry. Read next week's)
Keep a consistent format for all your news releases. Provide a Headline to capture the essence of the release.Write the body of the press release. Give the 5 Ws & an H. Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Provide contact info if the reporter wants more information. I always put my cell number here.
Provide the most important information first. Place things that are good to have but unnecessary to the story at the end. This is the inverted pyramid style. The most important thing first, next important is second and so it continues. A reporter when placing a story will be able to cut from the bottom saving time. We are not attempting to be writers of literature. We want news coverage. (Remember too much to do, too little time.)
Keep it short. Too much copy and the editor/reporter is overwhelmed with the task of cutting it to fit. It may be deleted before the editor/reporter reads it.
Provide eye-popping photos with clear captions written with the 5 Ws and 1 H. There is no excuse for poor photography today with digital cameras. Take dozens to get one good shot. Clearly identify all people in photos.
Send it to the right person. Send it to an editor or reporter with whom you have an established relationship. Calendar items are different. Send those to your calendar editors at every media outlet within your area.
Thank the reporter/editor after the piece appears in print.

14 Principles help this business owner

2011-06-07T05:35:00.000-07:00

I had very little time to put together my blog post this week. Normally, I upload it on Sunday. Now on Tuesday, I’m making the time.I’m going to focus on something that most people will think is hardly business or publishing related—creating my list of unifying principles.

I first created this list in 1988. Still a young mother and bride, I decided to run for political office on the local level. Life was chaotic—running a household while my spouse worked full time and attend night classes as a full-time student. We had two daughters in elementary school and I had spent much time as a volunteer at the school and as the fundraising coordinator for the sixth grade.

Many people ask me how I live my life and how I am so very clear about what I will do, what I will not, who I choose to be around and where I live. I try to make every choice a conscious one. I developed this list to help me live my life.

I am honest. Of all my principles this is the litmus test of my actions. I must be aware (be honest with myself) of my motives and needs. I must act and speak disclosing my intentions. Although most people do not operate this way—to live happily with myself I must continue to be completely overt in my life.
I remember to see the humor In life. With honesty first, when life is difficult or I meet real challenges embodied as people, I must remember not to take life too seriously. Remembering to laugh lightens the load of tears.
I am a spiritual person. I take time to listen to my inner self. Every morning before 8:00 a.m. I will take 15 minutes to meditate. I realize that I am a spiritual but not religious person. I honor that. I seek to ensure all my actions are performed working toward goals which are for the betterment of individuals and the universe. All good goes out from and returns to me.
I live my life in concert with these unifying principles. I review my principles daily for the month of December and then weekly throughout each year. During the month of November I may rearrange or add or delete principles as I see the need.
I am a good partner in my primary relationship. I treat Peter in the way that he needs (not as I want to be treated). I work to learn more about his wants, desires and needs. I take time to say, “I love you,” in action. I give him plenty of hugs and kisses.
I am a successful parent of adult children. I take time for each of my daughters. I easily love Jessica and Stefanie. I strive to treat my daughters as competent, independent, confident adults.
I am a successful published author. I plan out my books and articles and allot time for completing each project as a priority secondary only to family.
I see lessons in each challenge I face. I am not overcome by defeat and failure. I truly learn from every setback. These become stepping stones to success.
I am an active and responsible community leader. I work in the community toward good. I maintain contact with others in the community to be aware of feelings in the community. I select issues and causes which will create a greater good in the community.
I maintain a healthy body. I exercise a minimum of four times a week, using kayaking, hiking, yoga, chi kung, bicycling and walking as my methods. I eat sensibly with restraint. I elect to consume no meat, little caffeine, little alcohol and no drugs which are unnecessary for my health. If I can achieve wellness without foreign substances; that I will do. I will continue to maintain full use of my right shoulder and right knee.
I continue to grow intellectually. I read voraciously. I maintain “to read lists” garnered from multiple sources and work on continuing to read books that make me a well-rounded, educated person.
I am an orderly person. Daily I use fifteen minutes to plan my day and organize. I work to keep my personal and working spaces orderly and controlled allowing me to be my most creative self without the distraction of mess and disorder.
I honor every person as worthy of dignity and respect. I remember to be tolerant of others’ shortcomings. In the heat of argument and discussion I remember the person with whom I am dealing not just our cause. I treat all people with dignity, respect and love.
I care for my authors and clients. In my business I care for each client and help each to be successful in his/her goals. I work with each asking them the question. What do you want to achieve? Are our actions in our business together working for that goal? What do we need to change? And what do we need to continue?”

I feel good about all of these principles and feel like I am acting on each (except number seven) on a regular basis.

The one that I have neglected is “I am a successful published author.” I have neglected that in my business as a publisher, I have neglected my own writing. Beginning today, I will write for one hour between 6-7 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

And that is the final note on these unifying principles. I make long and short term goals that are measurable. The principle about maintaining full use of my right shoulder and right knee required months of physical therapy and home exercises. I have full range of motion on my shoulder and my knee only aches after several hours of hiking. At 57, that’s not bad.

10 Ways to Help Your Author-Writer Friend

2011-05-31T04:45:00.000-07:00

1. Buy her book. Buy at least one book. Also, consider buying the book as gifts for birthdays, Christmas or other events. If you use your public library; request the book. Sometimes that's all it takes for the library to purchase a book.

2. Do not delay. The time to build up buzz is now. Buy it on Amazon.com or directly from the author. My authors make more money when you buy it directly from them. Your friend will be happy to find that people are purchasing her book.

3. Recommend the book. Write a review on Amazon.com. Share a note about it with the link to purchase on Facebook. Tweet about the book.

4. Tell you friend what you liked about the book. Did you learn something? Was it a good read? Did you read it in one night?

5. Suggest speaking engagements. Help them get an introduction to any groups with which you are connected: Rotary, Jaycees, Friends of the Library, etc.

7. Host a book party for your friend. Ask a couple of mutual friend to help with cookies and snacks and host up to 20 people. Your friend can read his book, sell and autograph copies.

8. Recommend your friend's website. If your friend does a blog post; tweet it or link to it.

9. Create a Wikipedia page for your friend. Authors cannot create their own page. The Wikipedia page should have a short bio, a bibliography, a link to the authors website.

10. Ask what else you can do. They may have ideas but did not want to bother you. Let them know that you are honored to help not bothered.

In another post, I'll give more ideas how you can help your author friend.

So you have been invited to speak.

2011-05-16T04:38:00.000-07:00

So you have been invited to speak. You are a writer not a speaker. These 10 pointers may help.
1. Introductions should be brief. Thirty seconds is a long time. Most commercials are 30 seconds. Try it. If you are introduced, skip the introduction completely.. Don’t bore your audience.
2. Use the lectern or podium. If there is a podium, lectern or table—use it to hold your materials. Put the papers down. They are a distraction from your talk. You do not want your audience to notice how you crumble, fold or mutilate the papers in your hands.
3. Use the microphone. If there's a microphone, use it. Check it out before the event. People in the back of the room will appreciate it.
4. Encourage audience interaction. When reading material, allow space in your delivery for applause if they choose to do so. Offer a Q &A period. I’ve found the people like the Question and Answer portion of every event more than the rest of the event.
5. Be organized. When giving a presentation have your notes ready to go before the presentation. If you're reading poems, excerpts from your book, have your selections planned out before you hit the stage. Photocopy your selections onto 8½x11 pages. There is nothing worse than watching a presenter find their places in a book. “Oh, not that one. Oh, here it is.”
6. Slow down. Remember to breathe and pause to look at your audience. Remember that what you feel is slow is still a comfortable listening pace for your audience.
7. Make personal connections. With small groups less than 30, I like to have everyone introduce themselves with a little bit of information about their connection to the subject of my talk..
8. Leave them wanting more. Keep to the time allotted. Ask an audience member to be a timer and give you five, three and one minute warnings with predetermined signals..
9. Don’t forget a conclusion or a call to action. Ask them to buy your book, thank the hosts or support the sponsoring organization. Remind them to do something that you explained in your talk. An alternative it to give the audience a quick three point summary of your talk.
10. Give them something free to take away. Anything you hand out——flyer, bookmark, business card should include your name and contact information with website and blog address. Don’t’ forget to tell them about your presence on Facebook, Twitter or other social media.

Mother's Day after thoughts

2011-05-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

I receive via email many lists of things to do to make my life better over the course of the year. Since I really did not work this Mother's Day weekend, I've chosen to use a compilation of these ideas for my blog this week.
When I receive these lists people use the terms, God, Jesus and other labels for a higher being. I believe that all our answers are inside of us and so I've adjusted many of these to conform to my belief system. I'm hoping that these are of some value to you.

A list of 40 things to do to make life better.

1. Meditate
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unhurried.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your health—mental, spiritual or physical.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places. Everything takes double the time expected.
9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what your inner guidance would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it or at least mentally put it on a shelf.
12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. Do something for the Kid in You every day.
16. Carry an enlightening or intertaining book with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19. Organized the spaces where you live and work so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts, ideas and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Sit in silence. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try sleep.
24. Make friends with and spend time with like-minded people.
25. Keep a folder of favorite sayings/quotations/scriptures on hand.
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most) or avoid them.
32. Sit on your ego.
33. Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36. Every night before bed, think of five things about which you can be grateful. Then fall asleep. Dreaming has a way of turning things around for you.
37. Love the person with whom you live.
38. Do not let you children go around with a hole in their hearts where you blessing should be.
39. Do a kind deed every time it occurs to you. This will bring a wealth of energy and enthusiasm into your life.
40. Be uncommon, strive for excellence (no average), be extraordinary.

Slow Food and Just Write Books

2011-05-02T05:10:00.000-07:00

I met with the Slow Food Seacoast Convivium in Exeter, NH yesterday. They had asked that I talk with them about two of our books. The Books were Tom Seymour’s Wild Plants of Maine: A Useful Guide and we are Sandra Garson’s How to Fix a Leek & other Food from your Farmer’s Market. Last year, Just Write Books released Wild Plants of Maine and we are currently awaiting the final edit of How to Fix a Leek.
Let me talk a little about the Slow Food group.

The Seacoast Convivium is a part of the national Slow Food organization. According to the national group’s website: “Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.” To put it another way, Slow Food is a reaction to “fast food.”

More than just a reaction. I was invited to speak and eat with this group. I can say with no reservations the group that met on May Day 2011 was gracious, enthusiastic and welcoming to this publisher selling her books. Blue Moon Café hosted the event. They do once a year. Kathleen Gallant was gracious in her participation in the group and provided a delightful wild salad and toped off the evening with a rhubarb mousse.

All members of the group brought foods that held to the theme of “Wild plants and flowers.” It was the first potluck that I attended with only one dessert offering. These people truly know how to eat and there was no feeling of lack.

Alison Magill brought stinging nettles plants in brown bags to share. I brought one home. She introduced the term “guerrilla gardening” to me. I had already been guilty but now I had a label to tag my actions of a couple a years ago when as a condo owner and having no garden space I put some rhubarb along a little lane near our condominium. Now, I’ll add stinging nettles to the edge of the lane.
This group could have been composed of people I had selected as friends—from the 16-year restaurant owner, to the couple in their 70s Dick and Ursula Bondi maintaining a healthy life and to Strawbery Banke’s historic landscape curator, John Forti. These people were bright, articulate and passionate about good food and its care and “feeding.”

All of us must take more time with our food—its origin, delivery and preparation—all matter if we wish to be healthy. Health in our homes, our communities and our nation depends on our working to make food local again. Find a group near your home: http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/.
A large part of my work at Just Write Books is choosing books that matter. Wild Plants of Maine and How to Fix a Leek easily fit this requirement and I shared the genesis of the books with the Slow Food group during our potluck of green things and afterwards during a heated discussion of food and politics. I would like to break bread with these folks any day.

10 steps to prepare your autobiography materials

2011-04-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

Recently I received a letter asking me: "Do you have some sort of outline for how to organize yourself when beginning the process of writing an autobiography?"
I told the questioner that I would address it in my next blog post. Well this week's post was delayed owing to my largest nonprofit event of the year (8th Annual Save Our Swinging Bridge 5K) being first canceled, then rescheduled and then rescheduled again. The change of date was caused by a fire directly abutting our 5K route on Maine Street Brunswick.
This blog answers the question, "How do I produce a first draft of my autobiography?"
1. Determine why you want to write the book. Is it for your family or do you think this book will sell to a greater circle of friends and acquaintances? On the other hand, do you think people who have no relationship with you will be interested in your story? Regardless of the answer, the same approach will be used to produce the first rough draft of your autobiography. Your answer to "why" may be used as your introduction.
2. Begin by gathering your materials. That includes photos, journals, letters to and from you, newspaper articles, clippings from magazines, baby books (if one of your parents was nice enough to do this), school writing project, souvenirs, yearbooks, email messages, blog posts and anything else that you might have written or might have been written about you. I suggest that you have a box in which to put everything.
3. Make a timeline of your life. Since it is a timeline, keep it simple and chronological. Include all important events--marriage, graduations, certificates, birth(s) of children, travel, death of loved ones, jobs, promotions, volunteer work, membership organization's events, household moves. You get the picture. A printout of the timeline could be placed in a three-ring binder.
4. Speaking of pictures. Let's talk about those.
Gather originals. Label with sticky notes on the backs of originals using a naming convention such as NER 0001, NER 0002, NER 0003. The letters NER are my initials. You should use your own. The reason for beginning with 0001 is that when the photos are scanned into the computer or original digital photos are placed in a folder/directory, the photos will stay in order that you have placed them. When you need to add a photo to the sequence use an increment such as NER 0001A, NER 0001B. This allows you to add two photos between NER 0001 and NER 0002.
Write captions for every picture. Each caption should tell a real story, not just be a label. People do not know your story. Tell the story behind the picture. Answer the question, "It is Aunt Betty Jo: so what or who cares?" The answer may be, "Aunt Betty Jo lived with my family when I was an infant and cared for me while my mother attended college, took care of the other children or worked at a job outside the home. Aunt Betty Jo went on to become a well known author about child rearing. As a screaming colicky baby, I taught her everything she knew." The captions should use the same naming convention of NER 0001 so that the photos and caption maybe put together easily.
Prepare an outline with chapters and pictures within the chapters. Don't place the pictures, just have an idea which pictures go with which chapter.
5. Look at your timeline and start writing the things that easily come to pen or keyboard. Name the incident, event and write it into your timeline showing that you have it with the filename and location.
6. Create a schedule for writing. Write for 30-60 minutes once a day, three times a week or every weekday. Whatever you schedule―stick with it and write. Just write. Continue to write your memories aided by your collected materials until it becomes difficult.
7. When it becomes difficult, connect with a friend, family member or acquaintance who may be able to fill in gaps of memory or knowledge about other family members who are dead, events that happened when you were too young to remember or enhance your memories with another view. Write those events/memories. Keep notes of the names of people who gave you more info and link it to the info given. File these new writings and keep the timeline up to date with location and filenames.
8. Put all your writings into one document in your timeline order. You now have your very rough draft.
9. Before you begin polishing your rough draft, work with someone unfamiliar to your story. Print out a hard copy for your reader. The reader will read your rough manuscript (don't have them fix the typos now--you may delete part of the story or rewrite much of this anyway). The reader's job is to write questions in the margin. Who is this? Why was this event significant? Where were you? All the questions to which you know the answer but have forgotten to write in your closeness to the story. I suggest that you have three readers using three separate clean manuscript copies. You then take all comments and put them onto one draft. Some might use a clean draft on which to write all notes and questions. On the other hand, one of your reader's drafts may have the most significant edits and questions--I would use that one and then add the other comments to that.
10. With that marked-up draft―begin filling in the blanks. Continue with your writing schedule until you have a completed rough draft of your book. Now is the time to get someone to copyedit. You need to ensure that everything is spelled correctly and the facts are as true as you know. The copyeditor will also see when transitions and missing and will either prepare suggestions or note for you what needs to fixed. Notes such as "needs transition," "you haven't introduced this person to your readers" or "time sequence seem off." Fix those and then have another round of edits.
You now have the first good draft of your autobiography. I'll talk more about what you might do from here in another blog.

10 Things to Do to Prepare for a Book Signing

2011-04-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

This morning I attended a workshop and book signing with Tom Seymour. Tom's book Wild Plants of Maine has been stirring up quite a bit of interest. I went along so that Tom could concentrate on the audience and I would sell books. I don't always get to go to every author event, so I thought I might write a list of things that might be helpful to other authors.

Prepare your clothing for the event. How do you want your readers to see you? You also never know when there will be a camera around. Put your best face forward. Business casual works for any event.
Coordinate all book signings with your publisher. Publishers send out new releases, post events on the publisher’s website and on other news and event websites.
Invite friends and family to come. Send out a postcard. The more people milling about you, the better. Note: Leave your small children or surly teenagers at home.
A week before the signing, confirm with the bookstore that sufficient supplies of your book have found their way into the store. Always bring at least six copies of your book to the signing.
Show up at the location at least 15 minutes early. Give yourself time to set up your materials.
This next seems obvious to me but it must not be or it wouldn’t be on most people’s list. Be polite and friendly. Smile.
Be prepared to give an elevator speech about your book—thirty seconds or less.
Have people print their name for your or spell it. No need to waste a book.
Prepare book signing a tote holding the following:

Several pens that you have tried out to ensure that they work and do not splotch, smear or otherwise ruin a book.
Bookmarks, flyers, postcards (related to the book) and or business cards.
A notepad for things to do later from readers or to collect email address.
A bottle of water (although the venue might supply). Be prepared.
Copies of your book and maybe a few extra visuals such as a map, artifact or pictures related to you book.

10. Have fun! People who are coming to your event are happy to meet you. Meet them with a smile and thank them for coming.

85 year old Poet starts Blogging

2011-04-06T06:07:00.000-07:00

A Poet on the Verge of Science
Robert Chute has started a blog. We all might consider his actions (at 85) when we feel like technology has overwhelmed or when we believe that things are just going to fast for us.

Hurray, for Robert M. Chute. I admire you.

Of course, I love your poetry.

Bad Press or Not?

2011-04-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

Just Write Books was the happy and willing recipient of great coverage in our local newspaper The Times Record. The article covered most of the front and back pages of the business section. That is a lot of press. Owing to its nature, question and answer, the words were essentially mine. They were mine. The thoughtful questions were the business editor’s. He had interviewed me and come up with the questions after 90 minutes of very pleasant conversation.

Now I say very pleasant conversation. The main reason for the ease of discourse was that I was comfortable. I believe that most people do the right thing—the right thing being doing the best they can do for everyone. During our conversation/interview I answered every question as fully as I could. I did not try to hide anything—in fact—I had nothing to hide.

After the piece was published, I received dozens of e-mail and phone calls congratulating me on the great article. Here are a couple of excerpts from those:

“In addition, you reminded everyone that they have a unique story to tell by describing your “Story”. Thank You for the on-going inspiration and joy you provide all who know you.” and “What a great story in yesterday’s TIMES RECORD! Congratulations.”

If you’ve taken the time to read the article, I simply answered the questions posed by the editor. What a wonderful piece of unpaid advertising for Just Write Books.

Now to the problem. On the front page of the paper that day there was a short blurb that stated, “Topsham’s Nancy Randolph makes a cottage industry out of helping self-published writers achieve their dreams.”

What’s wrong with that? There is the gray area. Most people have no idea that the business editor and I cringed when we read it. Since cottage industry implies arts and crafts the designation diminishes the professional work that is created in publishing. Self-publishing is a brush that has been used to demean the work of many writers that would not be considered by a large traditional publishers. I have consulted with self-published authors, but their books are not Just Write Books products.

So what did I do?

I first called a friend at the local paper and tried to ascertain the origin of the “What’s inside” blurb. Couldn’t find the source. So, what did I do next?

I wrote a letter of thank you to the business editor:

“I was a little overwhelmed by the size of everything. Thanks heaps. The photos, the use of the QR code and the many, many column inches—all lead to phone calls from friends and others. Thanks again. FYI I have a blog entry about qr codes. http://jstwrite.blogspot.com/2011/03/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-qr.html. BTW The little blurb on the front page seemed to be misleading mentioning self-publishing. That is not the majority of my work. I publish other books by other people. That rankled a little when I saw it. Actually, it rankled quite a bit a. I’m over it now. The Business section was glorious. Could not have asked for a better job. Thanks again. Very best regards. (my recent italics—not in original email)

So you can see that I chose to do two things. I checked for the source. I found that it was not the business editor. I sent a thank you email and still mentioned to the editor my one disappointment still finishing with a glowing thank you.

Remember you always have options. You can choose your response based on the answer to the question, “What do I want to achieve with my actions?”

Your options are:

Do nothing. Public memory is short. Not reacting allows the comments or incorrect information to disappear.
Contact the reporter or editor if you believe the story’s error or errors will surface again in dealing with the press about your company or organization. Nowadays the press frequently creates a separate article explaining the truth never referring to the incorrect article. On other occasions they use an area of the paper to show corrections. Caveat: This hardly ever happens.
Write a press release and send it out to a broad audience. Sometimes you must do something—a report or article calls into question your ethics or your company’s ethics or the report falsely shows inappropriate behavior on behalf of your company. Things that will harm must be dealt with immediately. Call the reporters/broadcasters and issue a blanket press release. Be prepared to answer questions. See if you can develop a one page bulleted information sheet to give out to any media who request more information.

Thanks for reading my blog. I’m hoping that others are able to gain information and perspective from my experiences.

Good luck in all your endeavors this week.

Nancy E. Randolph

Just Write Books made the Business Page in The Times Record

2011-03-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

Newspaper Article about Just Write Books

I was more than pleased with the column inches received. Free advertising. The writing did take some time. It was worth it.

10 Things you need to know about QR codes.

2011-03-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

1. QR stands for Quick Response. They come from Japan where they have been used for more than a decade. They can be read quickly by many cell phones.

2. They are like bar codes, but instead of determining the price of your purchase, you can encode other pieces of data in them, such as text and URLs to websites, documents or to YouTube videos. The QR code can send a person to the “buy it now” page of a website.

3. Your entire business card information can be encoded into a QR code. Place the code onto your business card. Save the recipient data entry time.

4. To read a QR code, you need to download an app for your phone…not time consuming maybe a minute. I use Savvy Shopper for Droid.

5. My favorite website to create QR codes is: http://www.qrstuff.com/

6. If you are creating a QR code for a URL, first make it into a small URL. My favorite website for that is: http://tinyurl.com/ Creating a small URL makes the QR code less complex and faster to load and less prone to smudging errors.

7. QR codes will be useful to cell phone user, if you print them on your business cards, printed advertising and publicity pieces.

Buy a Just Write Book

8. A mobile optimized website will make the user experience more worthwhile.

9. New ways to use QR that I think are neat:
a. Using WalkIN app (iPhone and Android) restaurants allow patrons to scan a QR code to save their place on a wait list.
b. For instructions the QR code contains the URL to a YouTube video recording providing a step-by-step instructional video.
c. QR codes in real estate print ads lead to a mobile optimized virtual tour of property and of course the contact information of the listing broker.
d. Museum or conference daily schedules and for more info. This gives opportunity for less printing and provides adequate information.
e. Links to websites providing information for historical walking tours.

10. There will be QR codes uses of which we have not yet dreamed.

Learn more about Just Write Books.

Author Events Schedule Updated

2011-03-03T04:56:00.000-08:00

Just Write Books has just updated the events page on our website.

Lewiston history, wild plants, wild mushrooms and Maine mystery all show up on the list. Entertaining and informative catch one of our author or poet events.

http://www.jstwrite.com/events.htm

About to Sprout

2011-02-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

How To Fix a Leek…and Other Food from Your Farmers Market is coming back this spring to bookstores and farm stands with updated health and history facts, plus superbly simple recipes for processing farm fresh food. This friendly guide to local markets first appeared 20 years ago when everyone flocked to supermarkets for canned goods and packaged meat, but nowadays continual reports of deaths and hospitalizations from tainted or poisoned supplies way too big to trail has sent many searching for foolproof food to trust. So How To Fix a Leek… is back as a culinary compass pointing toward the world’s freshest, fairest food supply. It is a low tech GPS for the New England market season, paced to the time each fruit, vegetable, dairy product or meat is harvested. It answers the questions commonly and constantly posed to farmers: What is this? How long will you have it? How long will it last? And what do I do with it? After suggestions for that, the book provides step-by-step no worries recipes for tasty treats like spicy Moroccan onions, arroz con pollo, maple syrup muffins and kale-stuffed squash, all chosen for simplicity and sparkle, the two prized ingredients of farm fresh flavor—and great eating. The opening section, America’s Vital Growth industry, points to the urgent economic, environmental and national security reasons for farmers markets and lists historic ones that still have lustre.

FMI: Author Sandra Garson, esandyg@yahoo.com or

Publisher Just Write Books, Nancy E. Randolph, proprietor, 207-729-3600, www.jstwrite.com, jstwrite@jstwrite.com

Working with Tom Seymour on another book

2010-02-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

Tom has written a book, "Wild Plants of Maine: A Useful Guide." We are going to make it into a full-color how-to guide. We've added some recipes even a couple that I created.

Doing my part for health care reform

2009-09-22T04:28:00.000-07:00

This is just part of the story.

Actually, during the last six months of my first husband's life, he was unable to care for himself. That required that I provide the 24-hour care. I closed my business to do that.

Also, some other reasons I want health care reform is to provide options for better coverage for may daughters. One has a $5,000 deductible (from her employer) and one has no coverage (she can't afford it).

2009-08-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

Just Write Books of Brunswick presents Poetry & Music in the Hall on the first floor of Fort Andross, 14 Maine Street, Brunswick on Sept. 11 from 5:15 to 7:30 p.m. Vocal and fiddle duo Hope Hoffman and Jim Tolles will perform bluegrass and folk music as well as their original songs and instrumentals.

Noted Maine poet, H.R. Coursen will open the evening’s event and Joyce Pye and Michael Macklin will perform their award-winning poetry during the duo’s 15-minute breaks. The poetry readings are as follows: Herb Coursen, from 5:15 to 5:30 p.m.; Joyce Pye, from 6 to 6:15 p.m.; and by Michael Macklin, from 6:45 to 7 p.m..

Hoffman is known for her high, pure vocals and playful fiddle stylings. Tolles performs on guitar, mandolin and banjo as well as voice. He has recorded for Capitol and Rounder during his 40-year career as a professional musician and music teacher.

H. R. Coursen holds degrees from Amherst College, Wesleyan University and the University of Connecticut. The prolific award-winning author has published 30 books of poetry. Many of his plays have been performed, one at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival. Named one of 25 “Master Teachers of Shakespeare” for the past 100 years in the U.S., Great Britain, and Canada in a poll by Penn State University.

Joyce Pye is an author and poet whose works include essays, historical articles and poetry published in both Maine and Ireland. Her book of poetry, If He Could See Me Now featuring poems of Maine and Ireland, was published by Just Write Books. Her first book, Ireland’s Musical Instrument Makers: Who They Are and How to Find Them, was released by Salmon Publishing, Galway and featured on BBC radio in Ireland. A Maine native with major ramblings abroad, Joyce Pye currently resides in Bath, Maine. Galway is the city, however, that makes her heart sing. Her poetry has appeared in two anthologies, A Sense of Place: Collected Maine Poems and Coming Home Twice.

Michael Macklin of Portland works as a carpenter, as reviews editor for the Cafe Review, and dreams of spending time at the ancient monastery of the island of Sceilig Mhichil off the west coast of Ireland. He received his MFA from Vermont College. He has published poems in the Cafe Review, The Aurorean, Animus, Rattle and other journals, and several anthologies. Michael is the Reviews Editor of The Cafe Review, an international literary journal based in Portland, Maine.

The performances are sponsored by Just Write Books, a Maine book publisher. The event will be just out in the hall from Nancy’s Maine Choice, a co-sponsor, at the east tower entrance of Fort Andross, 14 Maine St. For more information call 729-3600 or visit www.jstwrite.com.

Schedule for the evening
Nancy’s Maine Choice presents
Poetry & Music in the Hall
At Fort Andross 1st Floor 1st Tower Entrance
5:15 -5:30 H.R. Coursen
5:30-6:00 Hope Hoffman & Jim Tolles
6:00-6:15 Joyce Pye
6:15-6:45 Hope Hoffman & Jim Tolles
6:45-7:00 Michael Macklin
7:00-7:30 Hope Hoffman & Jim Tolles

John Olson by Virginia Olson

2009-01-17T15:36:00.000-08:00

Just Write Books published John Olson by Virginia Olson summer 2008. Andrew Wyeth gave permission for us to use his previously private painting at the cover art on the book. Now Andrew Wyeth dies and the book and its cover is in the news. See it here:

A new year a new plan

2009-01-14T03:12:00.000-08:00

"There is always time to do anything you really think is important. Your actions tell the world what is important to you."
I've always said the above and I must really pay attention to my own words.
I'm working with a new program to help me develop my plan and to keep me on track. I'm sharing it with you here. Bob Proctor was featured in the movie, The Secret. For decades he has helped people achieve their goals. Check it out here by clicking on the banner at the bottom of this page!
Good luck!

Is my book worth publishing?

2008-09-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

The answer to that story at one time was, "Only if one of the large publishing houses think that it is worth publishing."

Now, the answer is varied. My answer is, it depends upon what you wish to achieve. Even my answer is subjective and only correct and honest for me.

It is worth publishing:

1. If you have an audience that will pay to read the book.

2. If you can use the book as a calling card in your consulting firm to bring more clients to your business.

3. If you have a story that some organization, person or business will buy in large quantities to use for their organization or business.

4. If you have a story that you want to produce as a book for posterity.

There are other very, valid reasons to publish a book. I've given several. I'll tell you about one of the books that I published early in my publishing life.

Ren Bernier came to me. He had written many articles about WWII jeeps. (must be lower-case to prevent copyright infringement of current Jeep manufacturer--working with authors and book you learn quite a bit)

Ren even had a website with photos and information. He attended rallies, exhibitions, drove his WWII jeep in parades and had been consulted by the Smithsonian about WWII jeeps.

He asked if I thought he could put his articles into a book. I answered, yes and I told him how to do it. Recently he reminded me that I had charged him for an hour of my time.

I told him to gather all the photos and articles into a 3-ring binder and put them in some form of order.

He went home did everything I told him to do and then called and said, "I think I need you to put this together." We did and the collaborative effort allowed him to gross over $24,000. He continues to sell that book--three and four a week.

Each of his text files required a little effort to clean up and most of his photo files required a little "photoshopping" to make them better.

Ren had his book and his audience is built in with the website that he already had. http://www.wwiijeepbook.com/

On the opening page he states: Over 1,000 books sold to more that 26 countries.

That is actually pretty good. Most first time authors never make more than their $5,000 advance against royalties.

Next time I'll talk about another book and the steps to its publication.

I'm moving further into the 21st Century - To blog

2008-09-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Although I set up this blog in 2007, I'm just now taking the time to do things with it. I also convinced H. R. Coursen to start a blog (hrcoursen.blogspot.com). He writes so well and has such insight into our national and world events.

Another author, Bruce Gagnon (Come Together Right Now) has a blog and keeps it current. His posts tell of his work as coordinator for Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. His blog is: http://space4peace.blogspot.com.

I'm attempting to get Paul Betit (Phu Bai & Kagnew Station) to start a blog. He has a website: www.paulbetit.com. He's a sports writer for the Portland Press Herald and says that he does not have time for a blog. He's working on another book--a prequel to Phu Bai.

My daughters, Jessica and Stefanie both have blogs. Stefanie started hers before a hiking trip. Jessica started hers after seeing Stefanie's.

I will be interested to see what the blog creates or destroys.

Happy New Year

2008-01-06T16:21:00.000-08:00

This is a new and exciting year for Just Write Books. www.jstwrite.com

With great authors, great books, I'm working on getting both noticed by people who love to read. I'm trying several new things.

1. I'm using a marketing firm to expose radio and television programmers/hosts to my authors.
2. I'm working to upgrade my website to a e-commerce site for books published by Just Write Books. We'll also offer books written by JWB's authors but published by other publishing houses.
3.I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog. The best blogging techniques. How to get traffic to your blog. How to turn your blog into money. I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free. http://www.simpleology.com/training/blogging/index.php
4. I'll continue to work to create local events, author talks and poetry readings/slam to highlight JWB's authors/poets.
5. I'm hoping to add more sales to each book. If anyone knows of places that I might post information and links about Just Write Books' authors and books; please let me know. I'm open to ideas.

June 12, 2007 - History of a Maine Town - Lovewell's Town by Robert C. Williams

2007-06-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Working with an author who has written the history of a Maine town. Yes, we are a new country but owing to that we have very good sources for writing historical pieces.

This author has compiled a story that encompasses personal recollections, archived information, old and new photos.