Don't jump into self-publishing without this manual!

If you have ever felt that self-publishing is similar to jumping out of a plane without a parachute, have no fear! "The Self-Publishing Manual" is your parachute! On your way to "landing" your first published book, you will learn everything you need to know. 

I think of Dan Poynter as the ultimate "how-to self-publish" expert! He will teach you all the tricks of the publishing trade. As an author of more than 80 books, he also has a proven track record of success. He will convince you that you too can succeed. 

The strength of this encyclopedic reference is the author's experience in publishing. Dan Poynter is also on the leading edge of technology. He welcomes the new era of book publishing and prepares writers by giving a "New Book Publishing Model." 

If you are looking for a complete reference on writing, printing, publishing, promoting, marketing and distributing your new book, look no further. Whether you just have the concept for your new book or have already advanced to the promotion stage, the information you will need to make your efforts more successful is here! 

The "Your Book's Calendar" section is like a true gift for the busy author. This section is vital to keeping your goals and progress in check. It will allow you to digest volumes of information in small sections. You can start with what you have started to accomplish, check the suggested readings and then check off your goals as you reach them. 

I especially enjoyed reading the section on professional reviewers. The glossary of publishing terms was so revealing. The "resources for publishers" section was detailed and informative. 

This source book also has a companion web site. You can find information kits, great book promotion mailing lists, links to useful Web sites and hundreds of downloadable documents. 

If you are still searching for an agent, sending out manuscripts to publishers, or writing those endless query letters, it may be time to take off that seat belt which is trapping you in that airplane seat! Then, read this book and jump! There are people who want your book. There are people who need your book. Believe it! Then, free fall to success! 

~The Rebecca Review

Is Self Publishing For You?

OK, so you've got this manuscript hidden away on a shelf somewhere. Should you self-publish?

I have self-published three books and have a fourth on the way. Technology has radically changed the face of the publishing industry. Self-publishing has never been easier and it is more affordable than ever to publish your own work. And there are good / honest self-publishing houses out there such as ours, Dog Ear Publishing. All this is the good news.

The bad news is that self-published works still bear a heavy stigma. Many people consider the POD (Print On Demand) industry to be the same as Vanity Press. They are not the same, but honestly speaking, there is still a lot of "crap" out there that is self-published. Many newspapers and magazines will not even review a self-published book. We sent press releases to over 100 newspapers for our 1st wine book. Only three smaller and regional papers expressed an interest.

So, is self-publishing for you? If you are willing and able to edit your own book, or pay to have someone do it for you, then self-publishing may be for you. The biggest question you need to answer is whether you are willing to do your own marketing and order fulfillment. Marketing is hard – especially for fiction books. Order fulfillment means maintaining constant access to your books, shipping materials and your computer.

What many authors fail to realize is that publishing is a business – a tough, competitive business in an industry that increasingly faces competition from the internet and other less expensive mediums. Did you know that Borders Books may not survive the current economic crisis?

I was in a Borders book store recently and the store manager was perched on a ladder, scanning the top shelf and reading off book ISBNs to another clerk. The clerk would punch the ISBN into the register and tell him how many of the books had been sold. I watched as he raked the books off the shelf into a waiting trash can down below. Your "art" is, I'm sorry to say, someone else's product and if that product doesn't sell, well… you get the idea.

Here are some painful stats. There are 12,000 bookstores in the US. 3 out of 10 books will sell well. 4 books will break even. 3 will not make any money. Only 10% of major publishing house books will earn enough to recoup the author's advance. In today's economy some publishing houses are not even taking on new books. It is tough out there.

If, however, your goal is to have your book read, this is a much harder question. Many self-published authors find, after having gone through the process, is that what they really want is not so much to be published as to be READ. So, if you are not willing to invest a considerable amount of time marketing and publicizing your book, then think twice about self publishing.

Questions to ask yourself:
How much money / time you are willing to invest in the effort? (For a 200 to 250 page book, plan on spending $700 to $1200 with your publisher just to get the book into print.)

What are your strengths, weaknesses and limitations? (If you hate rejection, then marketing your own book is probably not going to work out to well for you. Best to figure this out ahead of time.)

Are you capable of editing your own book? (Can you spel and punktuate? That is the cwestion.)

What are your true objectives? (If you want to give copies of your favorite recipes to your grandkids, or record your family history, have a niche book that you intend to self-market, or merely want to see your name in print, by all means look into self-publishing. If, however, your plan is to be the next Tom Clancy or Dean Koontz, you better have a well developed marketing plan.)

More to follow on the ins and outs of self-publishing.

Happy Writing!

Bob

Article Source: http://writerspassage.blogspot.com

Self-Publishing - A Growing Industry

Did you know that over 40% of all book sales in the United States last year took place online, through e-retailers like Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com? More and more people are becoming comfortable with (and even accustomed to) shopping online. What’s more, consumers are more likely to purchase lesser-known and self-published books, according to Inc. Magazine.

What does this mean for the self-publishing author? With the convenience of on demand-printing and full-service self-publishing options: Good things. Selling books online is more cost-effective than selling through a typical bookstore, and that means more money in your pocket. Again, make sure your publisher lets you set your own retail price, royalty, and discount to take maximum advantage of shifting consumer trends.

Just something to keep in mind as you write and investigate the publishing options best in-line with your goals.

Have fun and keep writing!

Karl Schroeder

Community Pricing for on-demand publishing

by Steve Song

Tim O’Reilly points out some very cool publishing models being used by Logos Bible Software. The have a pre-publishing service in which clients commit to order at a discount in exchange for placing a pre-order for a specific product and Logos can guarantee that there costs are covered. Each potential pre-publish book has a meter which displays the current level of pre-orders.

Far more interesting than that though is their Community Pricing model in which they don’t preset the price for a book but lay out the pricing curve for developing an electronic version of the book and invite consumers to bid a price that they are prepared to pay for it.

Once sufficient offers are received to produce the edition are received, the price is fixed at the optimum point and everyone pays the same price. Subsequent copies are charged at a markup. More information on the community pricing model is available on their site.

I think this concept could be developed in a very interesting manner for non-profit publishing, particularly in the education sector in developing countries. Applying this model to print, as opposed to just electronic, publishing could theoretically make it even more effective in driving down costs. Because print costs vary dramatically according to quantity, you could create a sliding scale of costs arrayed against market demand. Consumers would have to bid on both quantity and price and would be able to see what quantities were needed to bring about a further drop in price. It would make it easy to aggregate demand and very transparent in terms what sorts of quantities and costs are involved. This could make for a pretty cool non-profit Lulu-style enterprise model that would help solve a critical challenge, namely getting electronic OER resources in print form into the hands of students.

Source: http://manypossibilities.net

Advice on Self-Publishing

A few people emailed me for advice on self-publishing and I decided to write a small guide. There is a huge hype now days with self-publishing and companies are making lots of money from thousands of people who want to see their books in print.
My experience with self-publishing has been an OK one. Would I advise one to self-publish? Sure, as long as your expectations are not too high. Keep in mind you will not make money out of it. It is better to see the world of POD (publish on demand) as a hobby, but nothing else. The royalties in self-publishing are so low that you actually have to sell thousands of books to make money.

I put a lot of effort into my self-published book, writing and promoting it. Writing is hard, but promoting your book is even harder. When you choose a self-publish company, make sure you read carefully what they offer you. The company I chose is iUniverse. What I like about iUniverse is that if you choose a package that includes the evaluation, they will tell you what is wrong with your book. You then get a chance to work harder on your book and re-submitted to them. If you have the budget, I will advise you to buy editing services, such as line editing. This is what I did to correct the grammar and spelling errors. Self-publishing is expensive and you will not make much money out of it. It is only a hobby.

Many self-publishing companies offer several services, depending on how much money you want to invest in your book. Keep in mind that you will not make much money out of self-publishing. If you are a very talented writer and you think you have an amazing book, I advice you to keep looking for a traditional publishing house to publish your book. I tried to publish my book with a traditional publishing house, but trust me it is really a ‘mission impossible.’

Other traps to look for in self-publishing: there really is no need to keep pouring money into your book. There are many companies out there who will do anything for your book for a large sum of money. IUniverse for example, offers expensive editing with the help of skilled people. After a few thousand dollars that you invested in your book, you can get the label ‘Editor’s choice’ and if you sell five hundred copies, you get a chance to see your book re-published by a traditional house. It sounds very promising, but trust me from my experience, to sell five hundred copies is a really hard thing to do. Many people are still very skeptical buying a self-published book.

I worked very hard at promoting my book. Here are some ways to do it: send it to reviewers, distribute printed postcards with the information on your book, tell all your friends about it and advertise it as much as you can on the internet or anywhere else you can.

I put together a list of self-publishing houses that you should look at: iUniverse, AuthorHouse, Infinity Publishing, Llumina Press, Aventine Press, etc. Of course there are some other companies out there, some more expensive then others, but those are the ones I would recommend. I do not recommend the really cheap self-publishing companies, such as LULU, because they do not check the content of your book. They will print just about anything for money. If you think your book is fantastic and needs no additional work, then you can publish very inexpensively with them.

There are a bunch of places where you can send your book for review. BookConnector site has been a great help for me in finding internet sites that do book reviews. They have a huge list with places where to send your book for review. You should not pay for a book review! Book reviews should be free of cost. I had very positive experience with most of the review sites, except for one, from where I got a bad review. Try to read other reviews first from where you choose to send your book to, see if they give decent reviews. Some places might scrutinize your book too much and you really don’t want that for publicity. In the writing business, opinions can differ so much from one person to another, so you really need feedback from a lot of people before you decide if your book is good or not. If ten people gave you good reviews and one person gave you a bad review, you might tend to forget about the later one. Otherwise, I really had a good experience with reviews, so I definitely recommend you to send an email query first to ask for a review.

If you believe you have a fantastic book, you can also try to send it to local newspapers or radio stations for interviews. But really, try to query the place first to see if they want to accept your book.

Self-publishing is a great hobby and unless you have a passion to write and promote your own book, you will not be able to succeed much. A traditional way of publishing is definitely the key to success, but it really is almost impossible to get in.

Article by: Manuela Anne-Marie Pop

Should You Self-Publish Your Books? Signs That You Should

Are you an author who has a book that you would like to see published? If so, have you received multiple rejection letters from both large and small publishing houses? If you have, your first thought may be to give up. Of course, it is your right to do so, but did you know that you do have other options? One of those options is to self-publish your own book.

Before examining if self-publishing your own book is right for you, it is first important to familiarize yourself with self-publishing, namely what it is. Self-publishing involves writing, developing, and selling a book without the assistance of a third party publishing company. Book authors are responsible for writing a book, editing a book, and finding a company to print the book, as well as selling the book. Self-published authors typically sell their books on their own websites or they approach retailers, both on and offline.

As for whether or not self-publishing a book is the right option for you, there are some signs that you will want to look for. A few signs that self-publishing may be your best option are highlighted below for your convenience.

Sign #1 – You Have Received Multiple Rejection Letters

What it is first important to understand about the publishing process is that few authors receive offers from publishers on their first, second, or even third try. In fact, some authors try as many as fifty times or more to get just one book published before they receive an offer.

As a good rule to set for yourself, be sure to send your manuscript to as many publishers as you possibly can, especially those that are looking for what you have, such as an environmental themed children’s book or a science fiction novel. When there are no more publishers left, consider self-publishing.

Sign #2 – Despite Rejection Letters You Still Believe You Have a Good Book

Self-publishing is a wise choice for many, but for others it can be a costly mistake. Before deciding to go ahead with self-publishing a book, it is important to make sure that you are fully behind your book. Do you honestly and truly believe in your heart that you have a good book on your hands? If you do, self-publishing may be for you.

Sign #3 – You Have a Book with Limited Readers

When many of us think of publishing a book, we automatically think of captivating stories. Fiction books are not the only types of books written, although they do typically tend to have the largest audiences. If you have written a how-to book or a guide on a specific area that is likely to only draw in a limited number of readers, self-publishing may be your best option. Many well-known publishers tend to stay away from books that only have small target audiences.

Sign #4 – You Want to Retain the Largest Profit

Self-published authors stand the best chance of making the biggest profit. This is because publishing fees are not taken out of their profits. With that said, it is important to remember that self-publishing is not free. You will have to pay to have your books developed in print, but that fee is typically smaller than the cut that many well-known publishers take. There are always ways that you can save money with self-publishing, like by printing on demand, as opposed to a large quantity of books on hand.

Of course, it is important to remember that just because you want to make money, it doesn’t mean that you will. If you want to make the most money with a self-published book, you have do to the proper amount of marketing.

As a reminder, it is important to remember that there are a number of pros and cons to self-publishing. With that being said, self-publishing may be the best option for you. If you truly believe that you have a book that will sell, you are encouraged to closely examine self-publishing, as you have nothing to lose by doing so.

from: taykts.blogspot.com

10 Easy Steps to Becoming a Best-Selling Christian Author

by: Scott Douglas

Step One – Degrees, degrees, and more degrees. No one can be a Christian author without having several degrees. This presents the false image that you are smart, and therefore are perfectly capable of writing a propaganda novel.

Several Christian institutes offer degrees for people who don’t actually attend college, or do any work—take full advantage of these. Stay away from institutes that offer BA’s and MA’s—go right for the PhD programs, then people will think you’re super smart.

Step Two – Start up non-profit organizations. This will give the false image that you are a good person, and therefore are perfectly capable of writing a propaganda novel. There’s really no need to spend anytime running these organizations—it’s the name that’s important, so spend all of your time coming up with a really catchy name. Keep in mind that no one is going to actually research that this is a legitimate non-profit organization, so don’t stress out when you start feeling guilty for not actually doing anything. Christian’s never actually do research, so you’re in the clear on this one.

Step Three – Research. If people are going to take you seriously, then you have to pretend you have spent researching your book. How do you research a topic that you haven’t even thought up yet? Easy, you don’t. You don’t actually research during this step—you just have to make people think you did. Spend time in the library reading comics; this will help you while trying to think up funny antidotes for your yet to be written story.

Step Four – Think up what you’re going to write about. Don’t worry about knowing anything about your topic—you can get this experience after you complete the book. Think up something controversial and catchy. Don’t worry about creating a factual story in this step—you can make truth later. Writing about a group of liberal scientist using stem cell research to create cloned homosexual monkeys, for example, would be a perfect topic—it’s timely, controversial, and catchy.

Step Five – Attend Christian writing conferences. This will give you time to relax, while making your family believe you are working on something important. Talk to agents, editors, and other writers about what you are currently working on. Make sure you emphasize your achievements running non-profit organizations, and your multiple degrees—this will really impress them.

Step Six – Write. You will learn quickly about procrastination, so set goals. Spend no more then two weeks writing your book; this time span will prevent you from being tempted into conducting research and interviews. It’s important to write whatever pops into your mind. This will give the book lots of energy.

Step Seven – Create truth. If you have written about something that doesn’t really exist, then make it exist. For example, if you were writing about liberal scientist using stem cell research to create cloned homosexual monkeys, take the time now to fund such research.

Step Eight – Give yourself creditability. This step is especially important if you have written about something you do not know about. Don’t spend time learning factual information about the topic, there really is no need, and you want to get the book publish ASAP so you can write several more just like it.

Step Nine – Publish your book. If no respectable publisher takes you seriously, then self-publish. Publishers will be begging to sign your next book once they see you racking in the dough.

Step Ten – Travel the lecture circuit. This step is important if you want people to actually buy your book. Remember that when lecturing, the angrier you sound, the more people will take you seriously and buy your book. Also, remember to spend at least ten to twenty minutes boasting about your multiple PhDs and how you single-handedly started several non-profit organizations that the world has greatly benefited from.

Visit Christianhumorist.blogspot.com for more articles from the author.

When to Self Publish Your Book

There Are Some Very Good Reasons to Self-publish Your Book

by Melanie Schwear

Self-publishing or print on demand (POD) publishing is becoming a very popular topic on the internet. Many people have the dream of becoming a published writer, and self-publishing gives them the satisfaction of holding an actual bound book with their name on it without having to go through all the submission and rejection with a traditional publisher.

With traditional publishing routes, the publisher makes sure to get your book onto store shelves and publicizes it well. After all, it is in their interest to do so. They make money off each book that is sold. With self-publishing, however, all of the promotion depends on you. Most self-published books never sell more than five hundred copies.

You Already Have a Fan-Base

If you are an already published writer, and you want to give your fans a little treat, self-publishing might be a great idea for you. You can quickly have any number of books printed that you can offer exclusively to website visitors or members of your fan club.

Having a pre-made fan-base is very helpful to a self-published author, because it is not easy to get people who do not know you to find and purchase your book otherwise.

You Write Very Specific Niche Non-Fiction

Self-publishing and print on demand publishing was made for specific niche non-fiction. You might be hard pressed to find a traditional publisher that will touch “The Effects of Symphonic Orchestral Music on Woodworm,” or “Five Hundred Things to Carve Out of Cheese.” However, if your niche has an audience, self-publishing a book is a great idea. It is much easier to market a book to a very specific segment of the population who are already interested in your topic.

You are Writing a Personal Memoir or Family History

These kinds of books are great for self-publishing, or especially print on demand books. That is because you would not intend to sell them at all. Having attractively bound books to present to your family at the next reunion is a great way of showing your familial pride. No one would want to publish these books professionally, and you probably would not want them to.

You are an Expert Marketer

If you are an expert book marketer or publicist and want to stretch your advertising muscles, self-publishing is a great idea. Many self-published authors cannot get their books into mainstream bookstores so all potential sales must be done online. And no one will market the book for you, unless you pay him or her to do it.

Your Book is Horrible

This last reason to self-publish your book is painful, yet valid. Anyone can get his or her book bound and printed by a print on demand or self-publishing company. It doesn’t matter if you can spell, use proper punctuation, or craft a decent story. Either a massive lack of confidence, or a major dose of realism can lead you to self-publish your book.

Self-publishing your fiction or non-fiction book has its drawbacks. You must market your own book and it may not be stocked in regular books stores. However, self-publishing or print on demand publishing, can be a good idea for people in several groups. If you are in one of these groups, I wish you the very best of luck.

How to Decide Between Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing

By: Bruno Somerset

In years past, the only way to get a novel published was through what we now refer to as "traditional publishers". Today, however, technology has made self-publishing a viable alternative for many authors. To properly assess traditional publishing vs. self-publishing as a means of getting your novel to readers, you must first understand the realities of each method. Both have advantages and disadvantages, and in the end, it is up to each individual writer to decide which choice's pros outweigh its cons.

Being published by a major (or even minor) "traditional" publishing house is the goal of nearly everyone who has completed a novel. We envision huge advances, even bigger royalty checks, movie deals, and no more 9 to 5 job. It rarely happens that way. Most of the time you need an agent first, because publishers usually won't accept manuscripts from anyone but agents. Agents often only accept query letters, not full manuscripts or even sample chapters, and you need to be prepared for a deluge of form rejection letters that may not even spell your name right. If you do get an agent, there is no guarantee he will be able to sell your novel to a publisher, and if he does, he will gladly take 15% of everything you earn for his trouble.

After acceptance by a publisher, it will be at least a year or more of editors changing your novel in a seemingly arbitrary way. This will be followed by more delays because it wasn't finished in time for the most current catalogue they are sending to booksellers. And while you weren't looking, they slipped a clause into your contract that requires you to pay back part of the advance if the book doesn't sell enough copies for royalties to cover it. They will handle the cover art, and you may even have some input. But be ready to do all the publicity yourself, because unless your name is Grisham or King, they're not going to do it for you.

Self-publishing has just as many difficulties, but in my opinion, the pros here do outweigh the cons. To clarify, vanity publishing and subsidy publishing are not what I consider self-publishing. More often than not, they are simply scams. True self-publishing companies include Xlibris, iUniverse, Cold Tree Press, and Lulu. Of these only Lulu (www.lulu.com) charges no fees for their service; they only make money on copies of your book that actually sell.

With self-publishing, you have to hire a freelance editor; do not trust your best friend who was an English major to do this for you. You will do most of the work yourself, or pay a hefty fee for a publishing package to do it for you: cover design, layout, reviews, and many other things. You will have to market yourself, but as mentioned earlier, this is true for traditional publishing as well.

The most difficult aspect of self-publishing is getting placement in brick-and-mortar bookstores. An ISBN will get you listed in Books in Print, which nearly always leads to listing on Amazon.com, Borders.com, and other retailer's websites. But because most self-published books are published using Print On Demand (POD)Technology, and POD companies do not accept returns, most bookstores are hesitant to carry them. Bookselling is one of the few industries left that still expect not only a huge discount from wholesalers, but the ability to return for full credit anything they don't sell.

Your best hope of getting into stores is to sell enough online that they can't ignore you. Advertise it on your website, your blog, and every other online presence you have. Utilize your e-mail distribution list, as well as those of your friends and family. But even if this doesn't make the bookstores take notice, enough books are sold online every year for you to attract a wide audience through aggressive marketing and positive word of mouth. And you don't have to give 15% to an agent in the process.

In the end, while you may want to keep sending queries in the hope that someday a publisher will actually read your manuscript, you might want to give self-publishing a try. It sure beats waiting on rejection letters.

Source: Associatedcontent.com

East Cleveland Author Successfully Self-Publishes and Empowers Writers Nationwide

M. LaVora Perry’s "Successful Self-Publishing: From Children's Author to Independent Publisher, a Simple Guide for New and Not So New Authors" is a tool for writers who want an introduction to independent publishing and published authors who need winning strategies to boost book sales.

East Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) May 27, 2005 -- “This is such an easy to read and easy to follow book….I've already learned so much.“ –Michele Rankins, Poet and Author

M. LaVora Perry’s "Successful Self-Publishing: From Children's Author to Independent Publisher, a Simple Guide for New and Not So New Authors," is a tool for writers who want an introduction to independent publishing and published authors who need winning strategies to boost book sales.

What motivated Perry to write Successful Self-Publishing? When over the course of two years her effective Internet and offline promotion of her first book—a children’s story—resulted in the author/publisher receiving scores of email and telephone inquiries from writers from around the country who wanted to know how to publish and sell their own books and achieve the impressive sales results Perry had achieved, she knew she was onto something big.

Here’s her publishing success story: In July of 2003, only seven weeks after the release of her first book, Taneesha’s Treasures of the Heart, against the odds, M. LaVora Perry was interviewed as a guest on National Public Radio (NPR) to discuss her unconventional story of two friends facing a bullying older child—one friend was urban, black, American and Buddhist, the other was white with a physical disability.

Today the long list of writers who have sought Perry’ expertise as an independent publisher includes Janis F. Kearney, the First U.S. Presidential Diarist (Clinton Administration) and the author of Essence magazine best-seller Cotton Field of Dreams—a Memoir. On Successful Self-Publishing cover are the following words of praise from Kearney:

“LaVora, thank you for the work you're doing to make it easier for new authors who seek to publish independently! So many of us have learned from your example. I for one depended on your wisdom and experience as I began to look at options in starting our own small press. Your assistance has been invaluable.”

Less than two years after her NPR appearance, Perry had sold nearly 4,000 copies of Taneesha’s Treasures of the Heart—a feat few authors accomplish. Taneesha’s Treasures and Perry’s recent titles—Wu-lung & I-lung, Pictures of My Days: An Art & Writing Workbook for Creating the Life You Want and Daily Pages for Creating the Life You Want: A Companion Workbook to Pictures of My Days—are in bookstores, schools and libraries throughout the United States as well as in Africa, Asia and beyond.

In Successful Self-Publishing writers learn about:
• the three basic ways their books can be published
• highly affordable printing options if they choose to independently publish
• practical ways to effectively promote books for children through adults that will sell theircurrent book(s) and generate new sales for their previously published and future titles

Visit www.foresthillpublishing.com for the author's event calendar and to read excerpts from Successful Self-Publishing and more titles and to learn about Perry's workshops and presentations for children through adults on creative envisioning and goal setting and on publishing and promoting books.

In 1995, Perry became the first African-American staff card writer for American Greetings (AG)—the world’s largest publicly-owned greeting card company. She twice received AG Creative Excellence awards for writing and editing before resigning from the multinational corporation in 2002 and going on to publish her first book. Building on the strategies outlined in Successful Self-Publishing, Perry founded Forest Hill Publishing, LLC (FHP) in 2004. She lives in Northern Ohio with her husband and three children. View a calendar of the author's events at http://www.foresthillpublishing.com/calendar.htm

Successful Self Publishing—From Children’s Author to Independent Publisher, A Simple Guide for New and Not So New Authors
Forest Hill Publishing, LLC
ISBN 0-9759251-7-2 104 pp. $10.00
Release Date: June 30, 2005
Available for the trade through Ingram
Available for reserve retail orders at www.foresthillpublishing.com

Successful Self-Publishing Endorsements:
“LaVora, you are an inspiration to the literary community.” –Nancy Gilliam, Contributor to Chicken Soup for the African American Soul

“LaVora certainly knows her stuff!” –Mary Dowling Daly, Author of Around the World in Cleveland and Irish Laws