Strap in for an enlightening conversation with the inspiring LaQuita Parks, a trailblazing indie author, and publisher who has successfully navigated the choppy waters of the publishing world. Through her own journey, LaQuita paints a vivid picture of her first book's impact, demonstrating that no goal is out of reach if you dare to dream. Simultaneously, she lends her voice to the power of faith and the extraordinary privilege of being a blessing to others.
As the narrative unfolds, we take a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of the publishing industry, exploring the challenges and joys of working with first-time authors, and the delicacy of choosing the right genre for publishing. We shed light on the vast disparities between traditional and indie publishing, and the importance of maintaining professionalism in an industry often fraught with blurred lines. Quality over quantity is emphasized as we stress staying true to one's values and producing well-crafted and meaningful stories.
Our conversation doesn't just stop at publishing. We venture into the role of social media in marketing, the significance of open conversations in parenting, and the necessity of smart investments. We also explore the creation of affordable, high-quality book publishing services, ensuring the books maintain a professional and polished look. As we wrap up, we impart our gratitude for the unwavering support from our listeners, ensuring this is not just a podcast, but a thriving community of book lovers and dream chasers. Whether you're an aspiring author, a seasoned publisher, or simply a lover of good stories, this episode promises to arm you with invaluable insights and experiences.
Strap in for an enlightening conversation with the inspiring LaQuita Parks, a trailblazing indie author, and publisher who has successfully navigated the choppy waters of the publishing world. Through her own journey, LaQuita paints a vivid picture of her first book's impact, demonstrating that no goal is out of reach if you dare to dream. Simultaneously, she lends her voice to the power of faith and the extraordinary privilege of being a blessing to others.
As the narrative unfolds, we take a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of the publishing industry, exploring the challenges and joys of working with first-time authors, and the delicacy of choosing the right genre for publishing. We shed light on the vast disparities between traditional and indie publishing, and the importance of maintaining professionalism in an industry often fraught with blurred lines. Quality over quantity is emphasized as we stress staying true to one's values and producing well-crafted and meaningful stories.
Our conversation doesn't just stop at publishing. We venture into the role of social media in marketing, the significance of open conversations in parenting, and the necessity of smart investments. We also explore the creation of affordable, high-quality book publishing services, ensuring the books maintain a professional and polished look. As we wrap up, we impart our gratitude for the unwavering support from our listeners, ensuring this is not just a podcast, but a thriving community of book lovers and dream chasers. Whether you're an aspiring author, a seasoned publisher, or simply a lover of good stories, this episode promises to arm you with invaluable insights and experiences.
Hello everyone. This is Carolyn Coleman. Welcome to Gentry Journey, and our honored guest today is Laquita Parks, and she is a phenomenal publisher. That's how I know her. She loves reading, she loves books, she loves telling your story, and that is a beautiful thing. But Laquita is going to open up with us today with something inspirational that she posted this morning that really touched my heart, and then we're going to go into the interview. So kick back and relax and enjoy the interview.
Speaker 1:God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than our mere minds could ever imagine. When things get tough as they oftentimes will, rest assured in knowing that God has already provided a way of escape. He sent His only Son, jesus, to take away the sins of the world. So when you think you have taken all you can take, look to the heels. When your burdens seem too much to bear, look to the heels. When your friends forsake you and your enemies come for you, look to the heels, for your help is already there, just waiting for you to reach out. Take some time to be a blessing to someone else today. The power to do so lies within you, loving you out loud, on purpose, with purpose, amen. And like I said when I read that this morning I was like this is just a bless my soul, this is bless me this morning. So I thank you for that. I thank you for your willingness to share.
Speaker 1:Now we will get started. I know you are a busy woman and the more I hear and read about you, the more I learn about you. I'm like, where does she find the time? But we're going to start out with just a couple of questions and you can elaborate as much as you like, because I don't think you will still capture all of who makes more creative parts of it. Now, can you tell me about your journey as an indie author and being an indie publisher? What inspired you to pursue this path? Absolutely? First of all, carolyn, thank you so much for inviting me to be on your show. I feel like I'm dusting off my little rusty gears because it's been a minute since I did an interview and so I am so glad to resurface on your show. So I'm so glad about that and I say that. Thank you so much. You're more than welcome. I say that I look forward to our conversation.
Speaker 1:So, for your listeners, my name is Laquita Parks and I am the CEO and founder of PayProV, publishing. And PayProV means pain, progress, victory, because I believe without pain there is no progress and without progress there can be no victory. So I help people take their stories from a thought to a realization, and my journey to storytelling began a very long time ago. I wrote my first wrote and published my first book, had no clue what I was doing, didn't have any help. You know how you kind of ask people questions and they kind of shoo you away. They shoo you away nicely, but they don't really want to help you. So it's not about being self-talked. You know what I'm saying? True, so I published a book myself, by myself, had never done it before and I had never set out to really publish a book. That was not my story. I was never wanted to say, oh, I'm a writer book, that was not my story. But I did a mentoring and I do mentoring with young people and I was always saying you can do anything you set your mind to, and that was one of the things I set my mind to do it because I wanted to show young people whatever you want to do, as long as you set your mind to it, stay focused in it, you can achieve it, and so that's why I did it. But little did I know at the time that that journey would take me to where I am now with Paypro v Publishing.
Speaker 1:My first book was a true story called Walking Limitations, about my life and my childhood, medical childhood trauma and what I went through at the hands of a nurse. It crippled me for life, and when I say life I mean life, and I know there are people who are listening and saying what God can do. God can heal you, and I've been there, I've been through that and I am a firm believer of God. I am a worshiping, bible-believing, god-fearing person and I believe what the Bible says and I try and do what it says. And so I know that healing thing. I know. But also what some people don't realize is that God also said my grace is sufficient, and so we don't know what it is. And so my thorn in the flesh is my walking limitations. So with it I have not known a day without pain in over 50 years, and it has. But it has not stopped me from doing those things that God laid on my heart. I believe God laid on my heart to do, and so I pushed through and so Paypro v Publishing came up after four trips to the Mayo Clinic.
Speaker 1:For those who need to go to the Mayo Clinic and Carolyn as a nurse, you know this the Mayo Clinic was very good medical attention. If I had to get all these tests, if I had to do it all over again, I would go back to the Mayo Clinic. They treated me well with kid gloves and when you're going through a medical crisis you need kid gloves. They treated me with kid gloves from the people in the parking lot to the nurses and everybody taking tests and the doctors. They were A1 in my book. But on that last visit, that last visit four months later, that last visit, the doctor told me after all of the tests came back and all of the things were there and I was wheeled into the room.
Speaker 1:The doctor looked at me and said I was not expecting to see you and I was like what he said. I was not expecting to see you. He said on paper you look a mess. But in person he said you don't look like you look on paper. He said so. After he was giving me the results. He said while you're not dying, you are suffering. And I was like what he said while you're not dying, you are suffering. And I didn't hear the rest of the diagnosis because all I heard was you're not dying, but you are suffering.
Speaker 1:And I had to process that. I had to take time to process that because, although I'd gone through so much, I've had 15 surgeries on my right leg and foot. My right leg and foot is deformed, I have a bone missing. One leg is bigger than the other, one foot is bigger than the other. While I wear size nine and a half on one foot, on the other foot I wear six and a half. Where I've had surgeries where I have bone taken out of my hip, put it in my pelvis, my ankle is fused, I have no range of motion, I can't do the tippy toe, I have lymphedema. I mean, I can go on and on about this medical tsunami. That is my life, but God, so I have been able to do all those things.
Speaker 1:And so while I was at the Mayo Clinic, I was getting calls because I had published my first book in 2016. And I started getting calls at the Mayo Clinic with people saying, hey, can you tell me how you publish your book or can you help me? And I'm thinking I'm at the Mayo Clinic. Y'all need to be asking me, can y'all help me? But I said that to myself, because when people say stuff, sometimes we talk to ourselves instead of talking to the people. And I'm no different I talk to the people, I talk to myself instead of the people. But I did, I helped them.
Speaker 1:But what I found out was that it gave me a reprieve from what I was going through. Sometimes, carol and I would have nine appointments in one day Because the Mayo when you find yourself at the Mayo Center, that means that your regular doctors can't figure out what's going on with you. So they have to accelerate you and escalate you to some different specialists. And so I went down that path. So my appointments were, they were all piled in because they had to figure out what's going on. So they had me on a track and I had disappointment, disappointment. So sometimes nine appointments they were very thorough in one day, and so Sister was tired. But it gave me a reprieve from all that, and so I came back home. I said you know what? And I actually published people's books while I was at the Mayo Clinic and I was like you know what it did help me, it gave me a reprieve, and it took my mind off of what was going on with me and allowed me to focus on somebody else's story. And so I published some books.
Speaker 1:And then I thought, hey, you know what, maybe I can start this publishing company. So I said I was looking for a name. I said I have a name. And so one of my friends said well, aquiti, you do so much, you do mentoring, you do job readiness training program, you have a women's group. Maybe you should just add it to the umbrella with everything else you do. And I was like, ok, but then I kept saying, hmm, I want to separate it. You know what I'm saying, I want to call it out. So I was like, ok, well, let me think of a name. And so my good friend, who I've published six books for him since that time, he said what about Pay Pro-V? And I shut him down quick and I was like uh-uh, because Pay Pro-V didn't flow off the lips. So about two minutes later I looked. I said well, what does Pay Pro-V mean? And he said pain, progress, victory. And then it was bing, bing, bing, bing, bing. I said that's the story of my life. So Pay Pro-V Publishing was born, helping people take their stories from a thought to a realization.
Speaker 1:And when I tell you, the flood gates opened and they remain open and I have been able since 2020, I have been able to publish over 100 books for people, including I'm working on my eighth anthology. I didn't write the anthology, but I've published eight anthologies and books of all genres, except for I don't do the naughty books. I think they call them I forget what they call them Erotica. Is it erotica? Right, I don't do the erotica books, but I do and I do the different genres. I tell your story. I do the books that tell your story, and poetry books and memoirs and all kinds of books, and I do books for children and children's books, and I've written and published 15 of my own titles. I think.
Speaker 1:I think I've got to go back and write it down. My son said, mama, you need to write it down and I used to have them on the wall but it got a little too big. So I said, ok, but I'm proud because my grandma says the poor dog that won't wag its own tail. And sometimes, carolyn, I don't wag my own tail. So that's just a little bit about paper being how we got started. Well, that's great, and I am guilty of not being a tail wagger as well.
Speaker 1:When people ask me, what do you do, I just say, well, I'm a nurse. And they're like, what else do you do? I said, well, I'm a clinical instructor. But there are so many other things that I do that I enjoy. It's not that I don't enjoy it. I just don't put that banner out there, I don't put on that super warm a cape and put it all out there. But I said I was going to write them all down, like you said, so I won't miss anything. I won't miss anything, but I am proud of the work that I do as a nurse.
Speaker 1:I'm proud of the work that I do as an author, and you and I met on the bookslang and the Rees were just so powerful to me, no matter if it was drama, whether it was comedy, whether it was romance, everyone has their own story, their inner story that they want to tell. And just to hear you read fascinates me. And I know that might sound a little quirky, I love it. You guys need to hear her read. She reads with so much passion. So, you know, and it just, it was just good. And yeah, that's how I met LaCrucia Because, like she said earlier, a lot of people don't want to share, they don't want to return, will not return your call.
Speaker 1:It's funny, but you have to have a sense of humor when you're stepping into unknown territories and unknown waters. You have to have a sense of humor or you know it will be very discouraging. So with that, we'll go on to the next question. But you never know when you're going to meet someone who is able to help you and willing to help you. And that's the thing, and it's genuine. It is genuine. It's not a money grab, it's not somebody hustling for a dollar, Because the fruits of your labor really will provide to you yes.
Speaker 1:Now how do you go about finding and selecting your manuscripts that you choose to publish or work on as an author, as a publisher? Well, honestly, they find me that's great. They find me. I 90%, I would say, of my business. It's word of mouth. So somebody has published for and they referred me, or somebody who has heard of me, or somebody I've published for, a friend, and they refer me to them or them to me.
Speaker 1:I do make it clear when I meet people, I do make sure that I ask the genre and I do that because I want the platform that I want my platform, the people who I've published for. I want them to be proud of the platform that they're a part of. I don't want my 88 year old client who's writing her first book, I don't want her to feel like she's on the platform with genres like erotica. That's not my thing and I'm not knocking it because somebody does publish it, because there are so many out there and everybody has a right to express themselves however they choose. But for Paypro v Publishing, I'm very, very particular about the type of books that I publish. So once I talk to, I do a conversation and I wanna know what's your book about? I'm all about the story, I'm all about you telling your story, and so if it is one of those types, I will let them know that it isn't something that I can do, but I'm sure and I know other people who may, so I don't have a problem referring them to somebody else who may be okay with that.
Speaker 1:I do a lot of Christian literature. Although I am a Christian, my publishing company is not for just Christians. It is for people who want to tell their stories, because I believe that our stories are healing, and so when people find me, I'm always very humbled, always very honored. I am not everybody's cup of tea. There are some people who I'm not everybody's cup of tea, and that's okay, because it takes all types to make the world go round.
Speaker 1:Now, in the beginning of Paypro v Publishing, honestly I was very afraid of what should I charge? Or afraid to turn anybody down, because I didn't want anybody to not do business with me. I wanted everybody to like me, I wanted everybody to know Paypro v Publishing, and that just isn't real. That's just not real. There are people in this it's the world there are people who don't like it's very funny. There are people, there are people who like to control processes they don't understand, and so it's not a good match.
Speaker 1:When I first started, carolyn, I had a friend that said well, I met somebody who was like who's a coach and he said who's your idea client? I said, well, everybody got stories, so everybody's my idea client. I don't think I know that that was not the case, and so I started to learn who my ideal clients were and I started to read more into when I'm talking to a person and get a good feel for them. And sometimes, when I'm talking to a person, say this person is gonna be a difficult person to work with, and so when I see that, I try to not get entangled with that and be okay with when they say no. So I have learned to be okay with other people's. No, I really have. And so now I'm at the point where now I get to choose who I work with.
Speaker 1:At first it was like okay if people didn't choose me. I'm like, oh, what am I gonna do? But now I've grown a lot and I have a lot of great work under my belt and I've published several best sellers, including the one we just finished, and I'm working on another one right now which I know will be a best seller. Just the quality. I'm more. You know me, carolyn, I'm not about the best seller, I'm about the quality. The quality is what matters, because you can do a best seller and it's okay and I'm not against it. But at the end of the day, I want you to read the story, I want people to read your story, I want people to read Jack O'Connor's story, I want people to read Laquita Park's story, because then, only then, will you really know me. That's only then will you really know me. I agree, I agree and you know it's funny you say that.
Speaker 1:But during this journey and even prior to, if you've been to college, if you've had to write research paper, term paper in high school, whatever you know you have got to submit a quality product and that's my big thing. When I got into this, I wasn't thinking about no number one best seller. I was just like I just want my book out there. I just want people to hear about Gentry and I want them to feel what I feel about Gentry because I believe in her. But as you learn and grow, you know that you can tweak anything and so you need I need that tweakability and it's still not for everyone. Just like you know, you have a certain genre that you don't care to write, that you don't care to publish or read, and that's fine. And I know she's not for everybody because she's a rock-con. Don't too many men, don't go run get my book. Oh yeah, let me get into this. You know it is just a life-hearted romantic comedy, but you know it fakes life. It's not for everyone, but it's still mine and I want to be a quality product and, yeah, it's just rough around the edges. You know that's my first step into doing into writing. You know, for pleasure. You know, whenever I wrote, I wrote because it was out of necessity, it was mandated. So I've always wanted to write because I was always a reader. I was always a reader and I read.
Speaker 1:Someone asked me when I finished nursing school what are you going to do? I'm going to go back and read something that's full of crap. I don't want to read another article. I don't want to read another article. I don't want to read any crap. I want to read something that's going to just just wet my whistle and I'm going to sit back and enjoy it and drink me some tea and read it.
Speaker 1:It can be so mindless, but it's what I call mindless activities. It breaks up the monotony that's me All day long. Let me pull up this little game and just play. What are you doing? You work and know I'm just playing a game. What kind of game is? Just mindless? Just so that I don't have to think. I don't have to think, I don't have to process it, I don't have to put it into action, I don't have to put it into play, but it's mine. I read across all genres and that has been really a help, but I always have.
Speaker 1:But if it, when it came to me and nursing school, I wanted to be as empty as it can be. I don't want to learn how to put that together. I'm a pretty good diagnostician. I can basically, in fact, that's what I do now. I stand out in myelia fields, just west of the industry. You work for a nursing regret. You'm talking about career talent and feeling like, first of all, being particularly independent, and thenes don't always think highly of me, right? Okay, mikayla? Hey, am I talking to you about physical work in an analyze read that you're finding asByemy?
Speaker 1:That's hard to say what is more critical to take. You want to do the one where you have been hurt, where you have been abused, where you have been mistreated. We all have those and if that's what you care to write, please do so. I'm never going to tell someone what not to write, what not to do. That's your story and you tell your story the way that you want your story told Exactly. And you know and I have to I'm very clear and I'll say and it might turn some people off when I say well, that's not a genre that I publish and so I can only speak for me and what I do. It does not by any means mean that you can't do your stuff the way you want to do it. I'm just not the one to be at the clue that part. So that's OK, because, just like, when I drive, you know they building, building, building.
Speaker 1:When I drive up my street, when I'm coming out the main highway, I buy pass of Wendy's, I buy pass of Chick-fil-A, I buy pass of Burger King, I buy pass of McDonald's, I buy pass of 1, 2. And they're within walking distance, they're on that same strip and it's just everybody getting in. Cars are always in every parking lot, every single one. So and in my household, some days when I was like, ok, what y'all eat, I want Burger King, I want McDonald's, I want Wendy's and that day, if it was a Friday, you got McDonald's, you got Burger King, you got Wendy's. We all eat burgers.
Speaker 1:So with publishing, there are so many different publishers and everybody has their own genre, their own way of doing things. So by all means, what Carolyn just said write your story. Don't let anybody stop you and tell you your story isn't good enough or you can't do your story. You write your story. I always say but make sure the person you work with, the person you're getting to help you write that story whether it's a publisher, indie publisher, whether you do it yourself make sure that you have the support, the genuine support, that you need, and it's not going to be somebody that's going to, yes, nail you into a mess. I agree, I agree, I went to DC, for I guess it was a library convention, that is what it was, and it was, I'm going to say, national.
Speaker 1:That was my first trip to the library convention and one of the justices, justice Sotomayor. She had done a children's book and she spoke and her takeaway was write, write your book, tell your story, tell it the way you want it to help. And they had this young man who was an author from Chicago and he basically echoed the same thing. Well, a copy was there as well and her fiance. She wrote her book and he read it and he was like you didn't really talk about yourself. People want to hear from you, they want to hear your story. And she did have a great story because of her personal journey regarding a health issue, and she rewrote it or added it in, and her takeaway before she left write your story, tell your story, you can encourage someone else.
Speaker 1:Even in your fictional writing you can encourage someone else. It doesn't have to be that you had to hide in the woods and were three days before somebody came and found you and write your story, absolutely so. I will just echo that and it gave me great pleasure to hear the three totally different people say the same thing Write your story. It's your story to tell. And when Hoda was finished with her book, she said she was more pleased with the outcome of her book because she listened to him to tell her story, because she wanted her personal journey to be her personal journey.
Speaker 1:And I get that. I don't think you owe the world the entire ball of wax when it comes to you, but tell enough where they can say she understands what I'm going through. Because if you're a survivor of this, that and the other, then you can. Another survivor or someone who's attempting to become a survivor is more inclined to listen to what you have to say. And you don't have to be someone famous, you don't have to be a celebrity to tell the story. And I believe that my whole thing is. I believe that there is somebody waiting on the other side of your story so they can get healing from their story. I believe that I agree with you. I believe that as well. Honestly, I believe that as well.
Speaker 1:Now, what are some unique challenges that you face as author or publisher, and how do you overcome them? Well, people are people. Oh, really, really. Yes, people are people. People are people. Yes, people are people. One of the biggest challenge for me is again I think I mentioned it where people trying to control a process they don't understand and so they have an idea, especially if you've never published before. If you're a first time author and you've never published before, you have an idea of what you think it should be. And it isn't that way. So sometimes I've had people to come to me. They've already set the date that they're going to launch. All of that stuff is already done and we haven't even started working. And it isn't necessarily realistic because there are a lot of variables that go into it.
Speaker 1:And for me, I love working with people who have not. I love working with people who haven't published before because of the experience, but I also love listening to people who are OK, being guided, and I have repeat customers who I've published two, three, five books for. I'm working with a young lady now. I'm working on her second book and we work. It's a children's book and it's a sequel. And she was like, ok, I want you to do my second book, I want you to do this book. And I'm like, ok, and she's very patient. And I appreciate that you, carolyn, are very patient Because life happens. But one of the challenges is when I have someone who says OK, they come with the thinking that here we are on the 12th of December and they've already told everybody their book was going to be out on Christmas. That's not realistic and that's not gonna happen.
Speaker 1:And a couple when I first started Payprobe Publishing, I was still very fresh and new in the game and I had somebody who was referred. He was just screaming on Facebook and somebody tagged me in a post and said here's a publisher. And so I reached out and I was like I'm a publisher. So he was like every time I are you gonna take how much? You gonna charge me? You gonna take my money. And I'm like, okay, I'll say, well, let me take a look at your story. And so I stopped what I was doing. I put the project I was working on on whole.
Speaker 1:He was told that his book would be out the year earlier that year, and every time the publisher and I didn't need to know who it was, I didn't want to know. Every time the publisher would say something was missing. She or he would say that he needed to send more money. And I was like that isn't right. And so every time it would be something different, something different. So I sent it to my publisher I mean, I'm the publisher I sent it to my editor and I asked her she was working on a project too and I said can you read through this and give me some ideas? And I read it first and it's like chunks of his story were deleted. So whoever had his story they were deleting, they were messing up his book to get more money, and I thought that was horrible. So I said I was very honest with him. I said, okay, here's my cost, this is what it's gonna cost.
Speaker 1:And I was able to finish his, to do his book in two weeks. And he was like oh, and he started shouting against the rooftop and I had to call him in and I had to say, listen, please don't tell anybody else that Because I did your book in two weeks, that's not ideal. I did it because of the situation and so back then I was still new. There is no way I can do somebody's book in two weeks now. It's not possible, because I have clients and everybody has a time their books are coming out and so wanting people, having people to understand. That's why I spent a lot of time in the beginning explaining my process and everybody has a different process and I'll get people who have published before and they'll say, well, my publisher did this, this, this, and it's like, okay, this is my process.
Speaker 1:I had a person who had gotten their. They came to me, they were referred to me and I looked through their book and gave them some different ideas and sent them the publishing packet and I didn't hear from them again. And then fast forward, about six months later, I saw that they had published their book with someone else, which was great. But then they referred their aunt to me and I thought how strange, because so they refer and it was a beautiful, beautiful, just a beautiful person. So I published her aunt's book. It was a book of poetry and what was so unique is that she had taken Bible scriptures and she had made them into poems and she had taken it and written her poems based on those scriptures and it was beautiful.
Speaker 1:But during that process the person, her niece, who referred her, sent me a message and you know she listening, oh well, oh well, oh well. She sent me a message and wanted to know if I could publish, if I could, if she could publish, if she could put her book on my page, if I would post her book on my page. And I told her no and I said I don't. And Carolyn, you've not seen that on my page. And I told her no, I said I can only. I can only, I only post the books that I've published on my page. As the publisher, on my paper V page, I only published the books that I've published, I only post them.
Speaker 1:And she said well, I just figured, since, since I referred my aunt to you, that you could do this for me as a thank you, and I said wow. I said wow, my thank you comes in the form of a of a signature blend of paper V oil. My thank you comes in that way. I said but I can't post your book that was published by somebody else on my page. That would be like public posting Kroger's ad on their page. I can't do that because my commitment and my loyalty for pay pro v publishing are to my clients. Now that doesn't mean that I can't go on your page and endorse your book after I read it. But but, and and she wasn't she. She, she said okay, but I never heard from her again. I did send her a bottle of thank you, but I found that to be very interesting and so people, people have to understand and respect that, because Random House is not going to endorse somebody else's book on their page. You know what I'm saying. Oh, I agree. I mean to me that's not hard math, that's not hard math at all. And some people and that's difficult for some people to understand, you know, you know the Cox family.
Speaker 1:How I met Jacqueline Cox she sent me through messenger and she asked if I would, if I would do a, give her a, read her book and do a review on her book. And I said, sure, where do you want me to post it? And she said can you post it on your page? I said I cannot. I said I only post books that I've published. And she understood that. I said now I can go and do a review on Amazon, I can do that all day long after I read your book, and so she understood that and that's how. That's how we met.
Speaker 1:But you know, I get a lot of people who come and the funny part is they go to they come to me, I'm not quite there, their cup of tea, and then they go and get their work published by somebody else and they're not satisfied and then they come back to me with questions that I've had. I've had that happen a lot. I've had that happen a lot. Isn't that a little disingenuous? Yes, it is. It's kind of hedging on a little bit of plagiarism, because it gives people the appearance that you published this work and when they go out and research the work or go purchase the book, they're not going to see your name anywhere on it, your company's name anywhere on it, and so where whoever published it, why can't they post your work Exactly? I'm like they didn't market you. You know I don't really have a marketing package per se, but I connect people with people who do that. Where you can get your book out where you can and I've grown, of course, in that area since I started Payproby Publishing.
Speaker 1:But that isn't fair, it isn't right, and so my whole thing is be careful when you set out to publish, when you have an indie publishing. I see all the time where there are people who are posting it's a scam. If you're paying somebody to publish your book first, it's a scam, and that's really. That's always very interesting to me, carolyn, because people really people usually talk without knowing what they're speaking about, because there's a difference between traditional publishing and indie publishing. There is Traditional publishing. They have to accept your manuscript and they will. If they accept it, they will publish it without charging you anything, but you don't get paid until you have recouped the expense. So if you're royalties, if you're getting royalties, you won't get those royalties. You will get a percentage of those royalties and that's once they recoup what they invested in you. But they have invested them.
Speaker 1:And I had a guy who wanted me to republish a book that he did. He went with a publisher of and we couldn't do it because he was under contract with them and so his rights did not belong to him, they belong to the publishing company and he was getting his book sold for eight. It was a textbook. His book sold for $85. Do you know how much he got off of each book and he had sold when I talked to him in a month I think, because it was a textbook he had sold, I think, about a thousand copies. Do you know how much money he gets off a book that sells for $80? No, please tell me 75 cent. He was getting 75 cent and so, because he didn't realize that he had to, he won't get royalties. He won't get full royalties until they have recouped.
Speaker 1:So if they paid $1,500 or $5,000 to publish you, to publish you, whether it was, you know, to do your book, your editing, if they, whatever expenses that they did on your behalf, they're gonna recoup those expenses from your royalties until they get their money and then you'll see some decent royalties. And so that's the difference. And indie publishers like me, we get paid for, I get paid for doing the work to publish your book and once your book is published, 100% of the royalties belong to you. So if you sell a thousand copies or two copies, those royalties belong to you. But one of the things I do is I help. I help you devise a strategy to recoup the money that you spend. So it's an investment. You're investing in yourself so that you get your money back that you spent out and it works. It works because many of my authors who are interested in doing something with their book, they have made thousands of dollars. They have made what they paid me and doubled and tripled that. So I know that it works. I know that it works.
Speaker 1:You know, laquita, someone asked me how much did you make on your book? I went is that a thing? And I mean, really, is that a thing? Are you supposed to make money off the book? I mean, I just stepped out the gate. I'm not a part of one of those large publishing companies. Nobody's ridden me of control. I'm just saying that to say I don't have all the knowledge. But I had that much knowledge. I said you know, if you're not doing it for pleasure, so to speak, or your enjoyment, your downtime, that's where your reward comes. When someone comes up to you and say, hey, I enjoyed your story, this was funny to me.
Speaker 1:Where do you get your ideas, things of that nature. But in this field it's going to be slow and I have read from, like I said, across all genres and I have read where people say I had a commitment. I had committed to these people that I was going to do three books and two years in order to get my couple of million dollars. Well, yeah, they have invested in you and you have got to sit down If you're not going to break that contract. You've got to give them what the contract says and that's what's going to be in me. And I wasn't investigating this. This is just stuff I've read over the years, I mean even as a teenager.
Speaker 1:So I just don't understand where people just feel as though you make a cup, you sell a cup and you're instantly in the Forbes. You know, trying to it just gets me how people think. And then, are you that mad? Are you that mad? Are you that calm? Are you that afraid that I'm going to move out of the neighborhood and go somewhere else? You know, I'm just another community and when the people make money, there are some people who now I say passive income. So research what passive income means Passive income where you have some money to do a little something, something You're not building a house.
Speaker 1:There are people who make money and I know this for fact Linda Carnegie when she published her book Daddy Tears and so these are people also who have their books and they know that they want to sell their books and they have a little bit of a hustle mentality too. When her book came out Father's Day weekend and she made, I know, within the first two months she made over because I did the calculations for her she made over $8,000. From her book. Now I don't know what she's making and if she continues to sell, but she does, she does things. She called me. I was on the phone with her one day and she was in Walmart and in 10 minutes in Walmart she sold six books. She's talking to people, anthony Wallace, you met Anthony Wallace. He has probably sold his children's book to everyday care in this area and he's made thousands of dollars on his book and he carries his books everywhere he goes and he'll tell people hey, have you ever thought about writing a book? I'm an author. Let me show you and I would say 60, maybe, let's say 50, half of the time somebody's purchasing those books. It can be at a restaurant, in the parking lot, so he's constantly making money, but he's constantly talking about his books.
Speaker 1:When you go to an idea and I'm very when I say passive, I don't push my books like I probably should. I didn't even on last Saturday and I didn't push the books. I just set up a table and I had books there, the people who were speaking. I said, hey, you can put your books out, let the people know your authors, and every single person that had books there sold books. That's great. And so that was passive income, because I wasn't expecting to make $100 off a couple of books. That was money that I. That was like, hey, they recoup the lunch now, recoup the money that I spent for lunch. But, and so that passive income, when you put it to the side, it does add up.
Speaker 1:But you got to want to do something with your book. If the momentum dies, then there are ways that you can rebuild it. You have to. You can determine and everybody has a reason for what they do why they write their book. Some people just want to leave a legacy, you know, because when they come in I'm in my office right now and if my children would have come in now, they would not see all these stacks of papers and notes and they'll see books. I have a bookcase to my right, I have a bookcase to my left, I have a bookcase on the side of me. When they see the books now, will they take these books and keep them or will they donate them out? No, will they take these pieces of paper that are that mean something to me and their notes, because I'm a note taker Are they going to end up in the trash? They're going to end up in the trash. I know that they will, because it doesn't mean anything to them, they're just cleaning it out. And but if they, if the books, the books will most likely probably be donated and somebody will find them. And if they find them, the books are electronic On Amazon. The books are researchable.
Speaker 1:So that's my legacy, and so a lot of people write your story to leave a legacy, especially people who look like us. There is not a lot of history. So the one thing I wish I had done if I knew then what I know now, I would have had more conversations with my grandmother and my aunt about where they came from. They're all gone now. Sure, they're all gone, and so now I want to spend time with my children and my grandchildren.
Speaker 1:I'm like hey, ask me questions. Y'all want to know something about my life. If I haven't shared it, ask me. I want to know that I used to be a thug. I'm joking, I did not ever use to be a thug. But I said let me, you want to know, I can tell y'all about my thug days, my thug days before I got saved, because we all got a past. You know what I'm saying. Oh, yeah, and that's what I used to be. Thank God for you, I ate what I used to be. Praise God, praise God. You know all.
Speaker 1:It is hilarious, it is very, very hilarious. You know, like you say, we all have a past. You know, mine's not criminal written, you know. But you don't want none of this smoke. That's all I'm gonna say. You don't want none of this smoke, you don't want none of this smoke. I'm gonna be as nice as I can for as long as I can and that's just gonna be it.
Speaker 1:But when I say, don't bother me, when I said no, when I said back off, you know, please do those things. But you know, just, please do those things. You know, and we were taught to be cordial, we were taught to be polite. So that's why sometimes it's hard for us to and when I say us, I'm talking about my brothers for us to, you know, get with you, so to speak. But there are some things some people would just would not rather for anyone to know about their pets, and that's their story to tell or not to tell.
Speaker 1:But yes, and some things, yes, I'm more of an open book and someone tried to bring up something I had done. I was like, where were you? Where were you when that happened? Oh, I heard in stress with Waboo, if you weren't there, you don't know it to be true. So just keep it in, just keep it in, you know, because you don't know, and that's a 10, I don't remember, but it's okay, you know, it's okay. But it's so funny how people pretend as though they do not have a past and you're looking at them like, well, I kind of was with you when that went down and no, no, no, you know that halo wasn't on your head at that point in time. But you know, thank God for Jesus, you know, thank God for Jesus, you know.
Speaker 1:But it is hilarious and some things people don't want their children to know. Like you say, you're going to have a meeting with your kids and say, hey, what is it you want to know? It's anything that I haven't already told you, and I think when you are credible enough and when you are open enough, I think your children will receive that Absolutely Better. Absolutely, because guess what they? I would rather them hear it from me Exactly Than someone else, because you're going to get the proof from me if you ask. You know, and it depends on how old the children are, you know, some five year old. You're not going. You know Right, you're not going to say, hey, mama used to hang out at the club. And they're going to say the club, what's the club? You know? So you've got to do a whole new thing. Yeah, we're the club man, we're the club. Can I go? Can I go to the club? Would you let them send you go? You know? So you have to filter it. But at the same time, you know, we raise our children as one.
Speaker 1:I heard this position put it so eloquently so many, many years ago. I guess his wife had had enough of their son for that day and she called him and he led him happy. He said my goal is to make you a good, solid citizen, and that's it. I don't owe you a college education. I don't owe you a car. I don't owe you new clothes. In fact, when we go shopping, we're going to the Salvation Army and we went off. In fact, it went off so hard. You felt like that was your parent talking to you. All the nurses were just kind of like, stop breathing, real hard. We weren't taking deep breaths, we were just barely breathing. And when he finished he slammed the phone down. I'm going downstairs to the emergency room. And so we were like, yeah, because he need to go, walk that off because he might be trying to come for us. Okay, I know, that's right, they're going to make you go there, they will make you go away, they will you have to.
Speaker 1:I remember with one of my youngest. She was a handboy. She has Gabby, that's Gabby's mama, okay. And I remember walking down the hall and the rule was she couldn't have a cell phone. And I saw, you know jump, and I was like, okay, what was that? And so I was like what do you have? So she had a cell phone and you know, her thing was she got a job. It's her money and I don't care. I said no cell phone. So I told her to go and take. I took the phone, told her to go and wash the dishes, and so she had the phone locked. And so I went into the kitchen and I said I handed her the phone and I said unlock this phone. And she took the phone and dropped it in the dish water Wow. And I told her to get out.
Speaker 1:And so my son was in his room asleep. So I told her to get out and it was quite nippy outside. She didn't have any shoes on. I told her to get out, so she went out and door slammed and I slammed the door and my son woke up Like what's going on. And so he looked outside and sister was crying. So he went and got a blanket and some shoes and told her to go and sit in his car. Don't go anywhere, just sit in my car.
Speaker 1:So I let her stay out there for about an hour and then I told him to tell his sister to come in. Then she didn't want to come in. Mama put me out. She put me out, and so I went to the door and I said get in here. So she came in and she was here. She's here. You know, she can't even breathe. She cried you put me out. Let me tell you why I put you out. I said you took that phone and you dropped it in that dish water. You disrespected me and I saw my hand going around your throat, true, yeah? And to keep me from going to jail and you from dying, I put you out my house to save your life. Yeah, it was saving grace Ever. It was saving grace. You would better never disrespect me in that way ever again. So my children will say quit it, don't play that. I didn't have to put my hands on her, but she went out the door and was like you what? And she still couldn't have no phone. So she destroyed a phone and she bought Old Whale. Yeah, what did you say? Lesson learned, lesson learned, lesson learned, you know.
Speaker 1:And in that vein of thinking, I just want to encourage the audience Do your research, you know. Do your research. You want to invest your money wisely. And one of my cousins had asked and we're on group text and she was like what do you mean wisely? I said you don't want to get scammed. People are always honest. She was like, ooh, I didn't think about that part.
Speaker 1:I said in just about any profession, you're going to find someone. I don't care if they're an attorney, I mean, and I'm not putting anyone down, it's just that I, working as a nurse for as long as I have, I've heard and seen a lot and you know, some of it's comical, some of it's shake your head moments, but the thing is someone is always out there, maybe not leading a very stellar life. You know, no matter what credentials they have on them, it's a manipulative ploy and once people have your money, a lot of times they think they have one. But in my mind and I say it out of my mouth, see, time and harvest come to us all. So be careful on how you research, get some opinions if you have to, get some recommendations if you have to. And even if you spend some money and you lose it, don't lose sleep over it, just pray about it. Pray for them. You know, because they're going to meet that struggle somewhere. They're going to meet it because you know God's word is true. That's right. I might even go around hey, go around, and you know what. And life happens. I love you know. You said earlier I'm all about the story. I love helping people tell their stories. I absolutely love it because there's breakthrough in that. It's breakthrough in it for me, it's breakthrough in it for them and I love it. And it gives me. It's just a constant reprieve because it's difficult. You know, life for me ain't been no crystal stair, but it's difficult.
Speaker 1:I heard Tabitha Brown. It's a Tamar Brown, tabitha Brown, I think it's Tabitha. Tabitha, I heard her. I think you're right.
Speaker 1:I heard her call something she said the other day. You know, she said people often say thank God I don't look like what I've been through. She said sometimes that's the blessing, thank God, I look like what I've been through. And I thought you know what? And I can see it both ways, because on paper I look a mess and I can look at paper because I have my own medical records. I can look at paper and say, wow, who is this lady? And I'm surprised she even walking. But thank God that he has gifted me with the ability to do everything that he wants me to do and all I have to do is just follow the course.
Speaker 1:And again, when you're doing things, there are gonna be those scammers, there are gonna be those haters, there are gonna be those wolves and sheep clothing. You and I've both been there and it's like man, you know, and I'm still trying to get over the shock of the wolf that you and I both had some association with and it's like what? And it's difficult to believe. But that just goes to show that you just have to. You can't control who people are, what they do, and so, for your listeners, one of the things that I want them to know is don't allow people to take you out of who you are because of who they are. You know, sometimes people will do you wrong, just like the quote today.
Speaker 1:I meant that look to the heels, because sometimes I can sit in here and I can throw me a nice little pity party just based on people and their behavior, and I have to regroup myself and say you know what, look to the heels. Look to the heels because they can't do nothing that I wanna allow them to do. And I agree with that. And my dad used to tell me you can be butt so stubborn. And I was like, okay, what you mean, you, dad? And my thing was because I would just shut down, I would just stop talking, because you know one thing you couldn't go back and forth with your parents anyway, so I would just stop talking, I wouldn't talk to my brothers, I just wouldn't talk, and I guess it would just ride. And I'm that way today.
Speaker 1:You know, when I stopped talking to him, you know, look, you know you ain't gotta look around. You ain't gotta look over your shoulder. Just know that I'm done. Just know that I'm done and you know. And. But if you need something, I'm still here for you. I'm still here for you. If something goes down and I don't want anything to go down, you know, in your life, I don't want you, I don't wish any harm on you, but if I see a need, I'm going to help supply that need, you know. So it's okay, it's okay, but be okay with yourself. That's who you need to be okay with is yourself. And quick. I'm going to ask you a couple more questions. Then we're going to close out Because I know you are busy and I do appreciate your time. Honestly, I love you. I love you, thank you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Now, what role does social media play in marketing? We tapped on marketing just a little bit in connecting readers with, but whatever is out there, I think it plays an important role. But I think that a part of me it's so blown up because that's the way of the future, that's the way of the now. We also have to remember, not to forget our audience. And as we, you know, and as we grow, there are a lot of like a lot of my audience. They're not tech savvy. Sure, they are. They're readers, they purchase. They're not tech savvy. So you want to be able to, you want to be able to social media for that genre, that social media you want to be. My thing is you want to be able to meet your audience wherever they are.
Speaker 1:So sometimes we put all of our eggs into the social media basket and we have to be very careful with that, because I know some people, especially with Facebook. I know some people who have lost their lost pages, that they build in thousands and thousands of contacts. And because social media I mean Facebook owns Facebook's content, so they can take it down and you can lose everything. They can shut you out, delete your page and you lose everything. So social media they run that. So you know, don't put all of your eggs into that social media basket. Make sure you got a plan B. You know what I'm saying. So I have.
Speaker 1:So, like when I do, when I do events, I want to make sure that I'm sending to those people who are not on social media, those people who are, who are the. You know, they may do email, they may just do telephone, they may do text messages. They may be phone calls, and some of them you know you got to send them something in the mail. So the social media I like the fact. Now don't get me wrong.
Speaker 1:I love social media because you're able to reach a multitude of people at the same time, and so one of the things that I always tell my clients is that if you think you're gonna post, if you think you're gonna publish a book and you don't have social media following and you think your family gonna be the only one to buy your book, think again, because if you are gonna push your book, your sales are not gonna come from your family. I have people in my family who have not bought the first book for me yet and I don't even expect I mean you expect them to support because I support, but at some point they're like dog, look what you got 10 books. Well, it's 10 different books. You know what I'm saying. But they not, so that your supporters are gonna be people you don't know. They're gonna be people who are listening to your broadcast. They're gonna be people who've connected with your voice and they wanna know more about you. So they're gonna support and then they're gonna tell their friend hey, there's this woman named Carolyn. She has a show tune in and listen to her and then they're gonna tell somebody else and it's gonna be strangers. And the people who I've published for they've been a connection of a connection, of a connection, and it's been a great connection and I've made some really, really great relationships. And some people that I may not I've talked to and haven't published yet, or some who might not be ready, but come back two years. I met two years ago and they're ready to publish now. So you wanna keep those open.
Speaker 1:But with social media, you wanna make sure that you know who's following you and who you're following, and don't do what everybody else is doing. There are some people who like, okay, so and so is offering this or so and so is doing this. I'm gonna jump over here and I'm gonna do what they doing. And so and so is doing this. I'm gonna jump over here and do what they doing. You won't see Laquita doing that. You won't see Payton doing that, because just because somebody is doing something, it has to rest well with my spirit. If it does rest well with my spirit, I'm not gonna do it.
Speaker 1:You won't even see me. You won't see me shout now. You won't see me doing some posting or some emotional posting. You won't see me saying nothing. When you say you get quiet, I fade to black. And it's not for Laquita. What happened to you? What happened to Laquita?
Speaker 1:I'm still here, I'm still doing my thing, but I'm not on this bandwagon because it's not for me, it's not for who I am and what I represent. And that's not saying that there's anything wrong with the way you do it. It's just not for me. So I don't knock it. I have a lot of good friends who are doing, a lot of good friends that I've met on social media who are doing a lot of amazing things, and I love to see it. I love to see it, but I have to do what feels right for me. I agree, because if it doesn't feel right, you're not comfortable with it. And if you're not comfortable with it, don't do it. Don't do it, and the competition is here, it is out there, but do what is comfortable for you. That's just my take on it. Sometimes I have to see the process in my head and sometimes I have to walk the process. Oh yeah, it depends on what it is. But don't be so hungry because someone else appears to be doing very, very well, congratulate them and go on, because you still have to walk your walk.
Speaker 1:I have one more question, lacueira as an indie publisher, how do you ensure that your books meet professional quality standards in terms of cover design, formatting and overall presentation? Okay, that's a really good question. So if you visit PayProV Publishing page, I would say 85% of the book covers, you see, I designed them myself. I do have illustrators, I do have content creators, and so those people work well with me. But when I'm working with somebody and it's not so much the money, even though it's a lot of work I want the story to get out.
Speaker 1:So I wanna make sure that my services are affordable, and when I say affordable, I don't mean cheap. Okay, I wanna make it. There's a difference. There's a difference. There's a difference Because I don't want the work that I do to look cheap. And there are some people who want affordable prices, but they want the Mercedes being or the Lamborghini results, but they wanna pay the Bologna prices. You know what I'm saying, yeah, and so their expectation is higher than their pocketbook, and so that's also like okay, this is what this gets, but it's still quality. I'm very particular about that. That's why, when you see a book this is a book for the little Jalen Every book that you see that I do, and there's only one or two times that it hasn't happened. It's been a rushed job and I wasn't really happy about it being a rushed job, but it turned out all right because I have to see this. This not for sale.
Speaker 1:This book comes to me and it goes to the author and it gives me an opportunity to look through the book and make sure that everything is okay. So this book would have went out before I had a chance to see it. See, you can't see these white lines on a PDF, sure, and so this was like this. Let me know. Okay, you know what this needs to come to the edge. So I need to add some more spacing or some more to the margin, and so I have to get this. It gives me a chance to read it, because I'm looking at this 5,000 times. It's 5,000, but you know what I'm saying. Okay, yeah, many times, because I'm looking at it. My eyes will tell my brain what it wants to see, sure, so when I get this, I'm able to look through it and see, you know this is a.
Speaker 1:I just have to say this is a beautiful book. It is gorgeous and I love the story. Yeah, I read it, I love the story. Yeah, it's beautiful, and I'm very, very proud of the work we do. So I wanna make sure that it looks good before your audience purchases, and if it doesn't, if it does not, it bothers me. Now there are some that they want more. I was gonna show this book. It looks beautiful, but the author wanted more, and it was sometimes.
Speaker 1:Sometimes one of the challenges is that sometimes people want unreasonable requests because they don't understand. They don't understand the process. But making sure, making sure that the books look good, making sure that they're satisfied this is one of my anthologies yes, yes, and I designed the cover, so making sure that they're done beautifully and making sure that the inside is appealing, and so I also keep in mind with my audience. I try to make sure that the words are not so tiny and that the spacing is not on top of each other, and also that spacing is not so spaced out where it's creating, where it's creating too much. So, depending on what it is, I like to make sure that it's well read, it's well received and that you can understand what's going on, and that is quality.
Speaker 1:Now, these are published through Amazon and Amazon is printing and sometimes the printing can be off a little bit, but that's only. That has happened, and it has only happened, I think. On one hand. How many times has happened in four years? Amazon will correct whatever they mess up. So if you receive books in, the page might be wrinkled up or whatever, that isn't the publisher, y'all, that's the printer. Okay, get it straight, let's be clear. But with all the genres, making sure, making sure that the books look good, this is a, this is my okay. But making sure that the books look nice, that it's. It's relaying what the audience or what the what's the author wants it to relay. This was done by one of my designers.
Speaker 1:I didn't do this cover, okay, and so making sure that whatever it is the author wants that they understand. Now I do have, I have had some, some authors where I've had to make some suggestions because sometimes and I'm having, I'm having a private moment, a hot one of my summers, one of my private summer job, we good. I have had some, some situations where, especially the cover, you want to make sure your cover is appealing, and I have had some situations where I've had some people to Submit their cover, you know, and they've come and say, hey, I want this book done, and then the cover is it's not appealing or it has some derogatory language on the phone, and so again, you get to do however you want to do it, but I can't do that. I can't sure, I'm not, I'm not able to publish, I'm not going to publish your book where you have the female dog on the front and and and that's your expression that's fine for somebody else, it's not for me. And so what I do? But? But I? But I use that opportunity as a teaching message to ask them when they do that.
Speaker 1:I do want my audience to my office and my my office to think. So. I asked three questions, carolyn what's the purpose of your book? Uh-huh, what are you? Who's your audience and what do you anticipate the outcome? What's your and what's your anticipated outcome after you published the book? And so I also want them to know when you're writing your book today, you're not just writing your book for today, you're writing your book.
Speaker 1:So in 20 years, if you have children, your children are gonna see this in 20 years. Sure, how do you want them to see you? Do you want your female children to see you in a certain way? Do you want your male children? Those are questions that are important. So, if you consider yourself to be a child of God and You're a Christian and you're, you're preaching and you're writing a book and it has the derogatory language on there, are you sending a mixed message? You know what I'm saying. So those are things. Those are things that I.
Speaker 1:I just asked those questions and these are things that you think about and some come back with you know what I didn't think about. That that makes sense. And some don't come back at all. That's okay. It's okay because I like to be honest about it, because my book that I published in 2016 I'm still people are reading it now and that's not been a long time ago but Angela wrote I know why the cage bird sings when I was a child and it was just redone where Oprah did the poor Work for it. Okay.
Speaker 1:So she grew you have to grow and so when my when my author, who wrote the book that I told you about, when I did it in two weeks, he wrote about his experience in jail and he used all of the language. And I, and I told him, I said you know, I don't. You know the light. It's not something that I like, the language, but it's his story. And so I simply asked him. I said think about it, you know, think about your audience. And so he came back and he said you know what? My grandmother can't read this book. I want my grandmother read my story. She can't Read this book. And he said but how do I change it? And I said I can't tell him how to change his book. I said you can't change it because when you, when you're in prison, you're using that colorful language in prison. So you're talking about who you were in prison. This is your life story, I said you.
Speaker 1:But now it's been about three years since he published that book, so he Claim her now, and so there are genres where he can't be a. He can't be a speaker on the genre. There are he. We did something where he was going to present and he. We were on there together because I was going to support him. And when they were doing a read and he messaged me, he said I can't read it. I said you certainly cannot. So you have to know that. So you have to know all those things. You have to make sure that you're in your, in your, your genre is in the right audience. So you don't want to offend your audience. So you get a get on the stage and you're in a you you're, you're in a church and you have your book and you're reading your book. You're gonna read that at church. You're gonna read that in front of an audience of Christian people with that colorful language. That's not changing who you are, it's just being mindful of how you mark it.
Speaker 1:So, with with that, I make sure I do coaching and development. With with with with paper, be publishing. We talk about the cover. If you don't want me to design your cover, that's fine. If you have a cover that that's already designed, you know, we, we talk about that. I do pre-design covers all the time. Most people have me to design them because when they come already designed, the specifications are not together and it is. It becomes a whole headache. Yeah, knowing, knowing all those, and that's just a, that's just a little tidbit. They're so much. And if you are serious about writing your story, coaching, developing, coaching, development, editing is highly, highly important. It is, it is, and so that's how I that's how I try and Do do everything I can to maintain the quality and and, of course, I am not where I was when I started.
Speaker 1:So, as I've, in four years, I've grown a lot, mm-hmm. I know how to do a little bit more and a little bit more, and I can add a little more pizzazz. And you know I'm I'm putting out more, my publish, my, my published work, my more of my authors, more my authors are becoming best sellers, they're becoming top sellers, they're invested in their books and and, as a publisher, so am I. I'm invested in their books and I support them, and that's great. Now, do you have any upcoming projects that you care to share? Any new releases? Um, I do. I am working right now. I'm a part of a project. You've probably seen it. It's called addicted to bliss. Excuse me, the visionary for the book is is mr Lee Winston. I was asked to write the forward, okay, and I am also On the publishing team for the book. I'm excited about that.
Speaker 1:I have another person who has a book coming out. Her book is called Chocolate I mean ice cream for my coffee. Her name is Sam Marie Thomas. Her book is coming out and hers is a companion book because we're doing a. We're also doing a journal to go. I also have a young man who has a book coming out early in 2024. It's a book of poetry. This young man isn't has been incarcerated, so I've been working with him for a long time. Okay, so he's coming up. I have an 89 year old client who has just written her first book Also a pitch of putting that together. I also have gonna finish my books for my grandchildren. I've written books for all of my grandchildren Christians, busy day, a mere loves, the zoo Finds her toes and Gabby numbers Gabby likes to. Those books are coming out. 2024. Jackal and Cox just released her Amazon best-selling book.
Speaker 1:Mountains can't rise without earthquake. It's good. I'm the publisher on that project and I'm working on my third veterans anthology. There is no cost for veterans to submit their stories. That book is good. I'm out for I always do veterans day, but I'm doing Memorial Day this year. Okay. So if there are, if you have Listeners who are veterans and you are interested in submitting your story it's called the war within and I am I am accepting veterans to tell their stories. There is no cost to submit your story and I'll be working on upcoming in another anthology, publishing another anthology in 2024.
Speaker 1:Paypro v is busy and I'm looking to to do Television. I'm looking to expand into into television in 2024. So I have a few irons in the fire, okay, part two of walking limitations, the, the pain, the progress, the victory, part two. Okay, that, hopefully I'll have that one finished by the spring. So all of that sounds so exciting. It sounds so exciting. So that's great, yes, and oh, wait, wait, we have some things coming out for Miss Carolyn. We have a Reset of Gentry coming soon.
Speaker 1:Okay, some other things from Miss Carolyn Coleman. Y'all listen, I'm doing something, I'm doing me, I'm doing something a lot, yeah, and I'm thankful for it, you know. So, hey, we shall see, we shall see. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that is good. So I appreciate it. Look, we don't. I think we're going to end, unless you have something else that you want to share with the audience.
Speaker 1:Well, I just want to say thank you, carolyn, for not only for inviting me to speak, but for always been a supporter. From day one, ever since I've known you, since we met on the books lamb, you have been a supporter. I've seen you everywhere. Everything that I'm doing, I see you. I see your comments not just for pay-per-view but for for as a friend personally. Thank you. Thank you for your time For as a friend personally. Thank you Thank you for for helping me through some of my you know, some of my Confusions and being being that stern conversation that I needed to get my act right together where my health is concerned. I appreciate that and I don't take that lightly. So thank you so much Again.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna take that train ride. I haven't taken yet but I'm gonna take it and you know I will be back in Atlanta. I just don't know when I'm back in Atlanta. You know, sometimes you just have to listen to your body and just kind of sit it down a little bit or slow it down some, slow it down some. But when I Did I was in Atlanta on business. But when I ever I do business people, I'm going to do some pleasure as well.
Speaker 1:So it was gracious enough To meet. We had lunch. We had lunch with some fellow co-opers as well as a coach and and my cousin, my cousin and my daughter were there. So it was a great time to be and it's good to always, even though we see each other on social media, but to see people in person it really count on, you know really brings you together. And I got to meet one of her grandbabies and she was so comfortable she was, she was so comfortable with my daughter, she went right on to sleep. Yeah, no, so that that's a good thing. So, look, we did, does great work when it comes to publishing, like you said, with coaching, with teaching, with telling.
Speaker 1:We're just listening, so, um, and, and I think I'm a pretty good student, I think I am, I try to be. I don't want to be difficult Dog on sale. Now, you know, I try, I try, I try, I try to put my life's work wherever it needs to go. If people will listen, if they will receive, and and it's, that's fine. If they don't listen, as a spine, that don't that they don't receive. But when people receive, you know you feel better about that, you know you're like, okay, this journey was not in vain.
Speaker 1:So we're gonna go ahead and just close out with a quick word of prayer and we just thank God for being God, we're just thanking for Jesus. Oh God, you're over, you are the great, I am. But we just ask you for traveling, grace and arriving, mercies For people who will be traveling, traveling with their family, taking some needed respite. Lord God, we just thank you for encouraging us to give us the mind of Christ to do the things that you would have us to do and to represent you. The more, lord, these and other things we ask in your son Jesus name. Amen, amen, amen. Thank you so much, carol Dhi. Five, let me given.