Move over, Jodi Picoult, Barbara Delinsky, et al. There's a new women's fiction author in town, and her name is Barbara Taylor Sissel!

I've had a copy of The Ninth Step since it first came out. I read it quickly because I couldn't put it down, but I didn't get a review posted until recently.

Fate intervened, much as it does in this book, and my time was swallowed up by other issues. Finally, I have time to tell you about this book. If you like fiction that hits all the right notes of heartbreak and redemption, while never sinking into melodrama or maudlin sentimentality, this book is for you.

Livie, the heroine, is authentic in her heartbreak, her emotional confusion, and her desperate quest for connection--for closeness--for surcease of pain. I suspect every woman has a bit of Livie hiding inside. Just as Livie thinks she has her life in order, at least her life as viewed by the outside world, the man who deserted her returns, bringing with him a world of trouble.

This is an emotional journey fueled by problems too many people face in real life. If you've ever struggled with an addiction, then you know to what the title refers. This is not a romance novel with the guaranteed happy ending. This is women's fiction where there are always consequences for foolish choices and where character growth is required in order to deliver a satisfying ending.

Barbara Taylor Sissel weaves a gut-wrenching, emotion-drenched tale about a woman to whom you'll probably feel a certain kinship. You'll find the story sticks in your mind long after the book ends. Well done, Ms. Sissel!

Takeaway Truth

A good book is the least expensive form of entertainment. For a few dollars, you can be whisked away to another world.

Are press releases still effective? I think so.

Get a media directory or do online research to find newspapers, radio stations, and television stations, if you aim high, in your target area. Many take email press releases now. Some still take only hard copy, but those are easy to write too.

Install a form on your website or blog where people can sign up to receive emails regarding your new product or book releases or events.

If you do ‟meet and greets” or book signings, take along a guest book where people can sign up to receive emails from you.

If you want to send email press releases, either to print or online media or as an exciting announcement to friends, business associates, and family, follow these rules so your announcement won’t be deleted, filtered to spam, or judged rude by the recipient.

1. Don’t send the email to anyone who (a) has not signed up to receive promotional emails, (b) does not accept press releases by email (check media directory, or (c) isn’t a close enough relative or friend who will think your news is exciting and be glad that you notified them.

2. Follow the KISS rule - keep it short, sweetheart. People are busy. Give the pertinent information, you know, the old who, what, when, where, why, and how. For a book also give the publishing info: title, genre, ISBN, publisher, release date, price, & how to get a copy. Keep it to a couple of paragraphs so the reader doesn’t have to scroll and scroll again.

3. Address the emails individually. Don't send them en masse. What’s worse than BCC’ing everyone though is putting all of them in as recipients where everyone can see everyone else’s email addresses. I can’t tell you how much annoying mail I’ve received from total strangers who click a mass email Reply To All. Don’t be guilty of this. If you send each one individually, the recipient will think you actually thought of them especially for this, and it will make them feel special.

4. Personalize where possible. Put a little note at the top of the email with a personal message. The few seconds you spend doing this will make the recipient regard you warmly rather than with irritation.

5. Send your email announcements in a timely fashion - not so far in advance of the product's release, anniversary celebration date, or whatever you're wanting remembered that, by the date, the recipient has forgotten. Also, don't send so far after the event, like a book release, that the book is no longer available. Timing, as funny man Steve Martin said, is everything.

6. Make sure your news is not only of interest but is presented in an interesting or entertaining manner. If mailing to media for inclusion in local newspapers, remember to find a hook that makes it local newsworthy.

7. Narrow your focus so that your press release is important to your target group. Instead of sending an announcement about a book with a plot set in a small Texas town to newspapers in Houston, send it to the towns that surround your setting area. If you have something involving a landscaper who grafts a special rose, don’t send it to just any garden society, target the rose growers. The more you narrow your focus, the better results you’ll have in garnering interest.

8. Always, be a professional. Proofread your email. Don’t treat it as if it’s a hurriedly scribbled Post It Note. It’s professional correspondence so make sure it looks like that.

9. Keep a log of the press releases you send so you’ll know if you’re getting any publicity as a result, and so you won't send others and be remembered as a nuisance.

10. If someone objects to what you send, be polite and assure them you will remove their name from your list. Then do it.

That's it. Pretty simple and mostly common sense. Just give some thought to the result you want to achieve and then plan your publicity campaign carefully.

Takeaway Truth

Email Press Releases and old-school hard copy press releases all make low-cost, excellent promotion if used correctly.

Note: If Joan Reeves aka SlingWords helps you get ahead, please consider buying one of my books (Written Wisdom is perfect for writers--readers too!), subscribing (only $.99 per month) to the Kindle Edition of SlingWords,or making a donation of any amount by clicking the button below. Thank you for your moral support and any monetary support you see fit to contribute.

For all of you who are trying to carve out a career as a writer, here's a little advice that might smooth the way and remove some of the stress.

1. Don't kill the messenger.

When someone offers a report or just negative comments about a publisher or about self-publishing authors or about any of the writer mills for which you may be working in order to get your foot in the door, don't feel compelled to launch an offensive on the person making the report or comments.

2. Do feel compelled to discover your own truths.

If you wish to be an indie author, but your writing friends disdain that path, then grow a thick skin and prepare to prove them wrong. Or get a new set of friends who support your efforts.

Take all comments in stride and do your own research to discover whether they are valid or not. If you’re writing for a publisher that is roundly criticized, then do your own fact checking to see if your experience is unique or the report is false. Search engines make it easy to discover the truth or falseness of a claim.

3. Don't fail to read the Terms of Service.

No exceptions. For any business for whom you intend to write or any website with which you plan to self-publish or for anything that requires you to agree to Terms of Service, ALWAYS read the TofS so you know exactly to what you are agreeing, how your content will be used, how and when you will be compensated, what rights if any you are selling, and how your private information will be used.

4. Do know what remedies are available to you if things go badly.

In a writing career, as in life, things often go badly. Always know what you can do if that happens. In advance, think about the worst thing that can happen and have a plan to deal with that. Try to find a positive in every negative situation. Always have a plan B. And C, D, E, etc. Whatever it takes.

5. Don't accept rudeness from anyone.

Rudeness should not be tolerated in professional writing relationships whether it’s writer to writer, reader to writer, writer to publisher, or vice versa on all these. A true professional knows how to critique in a way that helps the writer produce better copy. A pro editor or agent should want to build a solid relationship with writers where respect is given on both sides of the desk.

Every person, editors and agents, have someone to whom they answer. Find out who that someone is and file a complaint if you feel you must, but be sure you are prepared to deal with the fallout and also be sure you can back up your complaint with evidence, not hearsay. Keep a paper trail of correspondence and be ready to produce it.

6. Do meet rudeness, if you get it, with calm professionalism.

A writer should never engage in a dialogue with anyone who has posted a bad review. Nothing good ever comes of it. Shrug it off, ignore the stings, and do what you do best–write. Live Coco Chanel’s creed: ‟The best revenge is living well.”

7. Don't let others make your decisions.

Read, research, and reflect. Draw your own conclusions. If Ima Writer says the company you write for sucks, don't feel bad even if you personally agree. You have your own reasons for staying with them. If she says a company is wonderful, but you don't think so, don't feel as if you have to persuade her to avoid them. She has her reasons just as you have yours.

8. Do make conscious choices about what you write and for whom you write and for what compensation.

If you are a freelance writer or a struggling novelist trying to get your foot in the door, and you choose to write for low pay, then acknowledge that it's low pay and that you have valid reasons for doing it. Don't try to convince others that it's not low pay or a bum deal. Don't deny the facts of the situation. Suck it up, do the best work you can, and look for better freelance clients, better publishing contracts.

Occasionally, there are times when all writers knowingly write for less than they should. They do this for many reasons from economic necessity to hoping it paves the way to a bigger job.

If you are self-publishing, and you price your work low just to generate sales, don’t hang your head in shame. Don’t let anyone denigrate your work or your decision because the bottom line is that if your spouse is out of work, and you're scrambling to just create some income, then you may do anything that generates sales. Why? Because your ability to earn bucks supercedes the value of your time, the opinion of others, and just about anything and anyone who is not in your situation.

You may write for low pay, but do so because it’s a conscious decision, not because of lack of knowledge of the business.

9. Don't take it personally.

Life is too short to get bent out of shape over what other people say. Sticks and stones. When you read something that questions the integrity of a website or client for whom you're writing or of self-publishing, don't take it as a personal insult to you and a negative judgment about your decision to follow a particular career path. Again, your decisions are your own. The writing business is hard and competitive, and it can grind your soul to dust if you let it. Don't let it.

10. Do strive for excellence in your writing.

Self-publishing authors compete with book authors from all over the world. Learn how to produce the best book you can with solid production values. Be resolved that your book can measure up to anything produced by the big print publishers. That should always be your goal.

On the Internet, freelance writers in North America compete with writers from India and the Philippines where a buck an article for 100 articles is considered good pay. That writing though may sometimes not be very good because idiomatic English is a skill not usually possessed by those who learn English as a second language.

For us in the U. S., compensation like that is not something we can live on, and I don't truly believe anyone can turn out 100 well-written, researched articles in a week or less. If you’re aiming at freelance writing, you must know from the get-go that you're going to lose a lot of jobs to writers whose first language is not English because they'll work for pennies an hour.

The answer is not for you to attempt to do the same, but for you to polish your skills and become a consummate professional. You'll get the higher paying jobs from clients who want excellent writing and who will respect your ability.

Takeaway Truth

Be resolved to be the consummate professional in your writing career, and be further resolved to use every writing project as a stepping stone to something better.

Note: If Joan Reeves aka SlingWords helps you get ahead, please consider buying one of my books (Written Wisdom is perfect for writers--readers too!), subscribing (only $.99 per month) to the Kindle Edition of SlingWords,or making a donation of any amount by clicking the button below. Thank you for your moral support and any monetary support you see fit to contribute.

Since it's the last day of January, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about goals for the New Year.

(This article previously appeared on Writing Hacks, my subscription newsletter for writers. Subscribe today if you'd like articles like this as soon as they are published.)

Do you set goals? I do, but this year, I decided to make my number one goal a bit different.

#1 Goal: Work less; enjoy more.

I worked so hard last year that I nearly burned out. This happened because I forgot a very important aspect of goal setting. The reward. Oh, I'll work just as hard, but by "work less," I mean I want to work more effectively. The "enjoy more" is a reminder not to forget about the reward.

You see, I set goals, and I give it everything I've got. I do whatever it takes to achieve my goal. Does that describe you? Yes? Then good for you. So let's talk about how you reward yourself when you've achieved that milestone?

Uh oh. Too many just shrug and look blank. I was like that last year. I thought just achieving the goal was reward enough. I was too busy to stop and smell the coffee or treat myself to something as a reward. This is just a blueprint for burnout.

Self-Employment Requires Self-Motivation

In any self-employment endeavor, from writing to art to a home bookkeeping service, the work is often solitary, arduous, and, on many days, unrewarding in itself. The payoff for all you do may be on down the line. This is true for any entrepreneur, but for those in the arts, the reward may be so far out into the future that you can't see a glimmer of it. Sometimes, you may work faithfully on a project that never pays off.

It's only human nature, after a lot of this goal seeking and goal achieving-- with no reward--to lose the fire of your ambition. Too many times, you may find yourself subject to apathy which is just a symptom of burnout.

For Writers

Goal setting usually means: get the damn book written. Okay, you get it from your brain to the computer. Now what? You try to sell it to a traditional publisher or you epub it and try to market and promote it, hoping it will find an audience.

With traditional publishing, you may get turned down flatly by everyone. Next step? Write another book. Full speed ahead. It's finished. It fails to find a contract. No reward again. Okay, now what?

With digital publishing, you may put it out there, but in today's ever-increasing competitive market, it just won't move--no matter what you do. Okay, now what? You must write another and hope it catches fire with readers.

You find yourself hesitant to try again, reluctant to start the process all over. Yet you do. Only this time, you're not so pumped. You aren't dedicated to the goal of getting that book contract or selling X number of ebooks. The evil voice of rationalization jumps in. Why bother? It won't get a contract either. It won't attract readers who will buy either. Just go watch Justified on TV.

This is where I'd yell like a Hollywood director. "You've got the scene wrong. Cut." Some flunky would come out and slap a black and white clapboard together.

What's Wrong With This Picture

First, you're working hard to achieve a goal without allowing yourself a reward. Now, don't tell me the reward will be getting it published or selling 1,000 ebooks this month because that's something you have NO control over.

Second, if you're setting a goal of getting a book contract or selling 1,000 ebooks this month, you've totally got it wrong.

Always remember: the goal you set must be something you can control.

You control the writing.

You control the submission process.

You control the epublishing process.

You will NEVER control the acquisition process. You will NEVER control the reader purchasing process. All the positive thinking and positive imaging in the world won't change that.

Lots of good books don't get published. Lots of questionable books do. Lots of good ebooks don't sell. Lots of bad ones do. In other words, book publishing and selling is a bit like a crap shoot that you can't predict. So if you're writing manuscripts and waiting for publication or sales as the reward, you're doomed to lose your fire. Worse, your motivation to write will erode like a sand dune in a hurricane.

What YOU Control

YOU set the goal. YOU achieve the goal. YOU reward yourself. And a corollary to that is: reward yourself every step of the way from little achievements to large.

Goal: write 4 pages a day. Result: you did it for 1 week. Great. What reward did you set? The purchase of that book you've been wanting to read? A banana split from Sonic?

Goal: finish a chapter in a specified amount of time. Result: you did it. Reward: anything you previously decided was appropriate. That's right. When you set goals, set up a reward system for every step of the journey toward goal achievement.

Goal: finish the book. Result: yes! Reward: dinner and dancing or a weekend at a B&B or anything that makes you feel rewarded for all your hard work.

So that's the deal. If you're a writer - or any other kind of entrepreneur who must be your own motivator - design a system of rewards for every step of your journey. I won't have to tell you how to celebrate and reward yourself if the outside world smiles on you, i.e. a publishing contract with a big, fat advance or making an Amazon Bestseller List. We all have our own ways to howl at the moon.

Takeaway Truth

Whether it's a smiley-face sticker or a sports car, make sure you celebrate the milestones from the seemingly insignificant to the magnificent.

Earl Wilson said: "A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking."

In a way, that quotation describes my last two weeks. I had to take a vacation because I could no longer taken what I'd been taking, i.e., working through injuries.

Hand injuries and the severely cut fingertip two weeks ago really put a crimp in my writing plans. Even though I can finally type with all fingers and thumbs, the cut finger is still unbelievably sensitive. Every time I come to a letter that requires that finger, I've learned to gingerly press the key which works to get me back in the game.

Plan B

So I've had an enforced vacation from writing. However, that doesn't mean I've been sitting around an eating bon bons and watching soaps--well, substitute Butterfinger miniatures for bon bons and DVR'd programs for soaps, and I'll confess to a bit of those two activities.

For the most part though, I've been putting my house in order--literally. We helped our daughter move into her new town home, taking all the furniture and household items we'd stored for her. All that means that we got out house back so we're trying to put it back into pre-adult-daughter-move-in status.

Something else I've been doing as I've cleaned, de-cluttered, and sorted is what I call book-dreaming. I've got a couple of stories bouncing around in my head so I've let them simmer as I've gone through this week of playing domestic goddess.

Takeaway Truth

A writer may be working at other things and may be taking a vacation, planned or unplanned, but a writer is hardly ever not working at her craft.

My Guest Star today is Laura Sherman who wrote Chess Is Child’s Play with Bill Kilpatrick.

This book teaches any parent, of any skill level, to teach any child, of any age, to play chess. That's rather amazing. You parents out there, make a note to get this book when it's released in April.

In Her Own Words

Why Chess Should Be a Part of Every Child’s Education
By Laura Sherman

Imagine a world where people all have excellent problem solving skills, where they are patient and respectful of each other on a daily basis. A society where citizens live for the future and plan long term, thinking of where their children’s children will be, following through, seeing each goal to its conclusion with ease. Now add to that an indefinable quality of artistic imagination, dreaming for more than can be reasonably expected, reaching beyond the status quo.

Chess can teach our next generation all these skills and more!

I learned the game when I was young and to this day I see the world as a giant chess game where any barrier can be conquered and any victory can be achieved. No goal is impossible and when I have a target in sight there is no stopping me. The same glint I had in my eye when I faced an opponent at a chess tournament still exists today when I face a challenge, along with the insouciant grin that comes from the pure joy of the experience.

Intuitively most would agree that chess improves a student’s grades and ability to study. Numerous studies have been done over the years throughout the world that show this to be the case. IQ increases, reading test results improve as do math and science scores. However there are so many other skills children pick up naturally from learning and becoming good at chess.

Imagination is a must in chess. You cannot form strategies and tactical plans without being able to envision your goals. It is impossible to win a game without first imagining the victory. You are the one to make the pieces dance to the rhythm you choose. Without the player the pieces just sit dormant on a dusty board.

A child’s self confidence soars as the victories pile up, especially when that child can routinely trounce adults. Allow that child to teach other children or perhaps even the adults and he or she will master the game quickly. Nothing helps someone learn faster than teaching others and nothing does more for one’s pride than to see someone improve under one’s tutelage.

In order to achieve a victory one must consistently play well throughout the game. You can make forty excellent moves and one thoughtless blunder and lose the game instantly. As a result you quickly learn to be thorough in your analysis and patient with your moves. Imagine if we all applied this little lesson to our daily lives. Thoughtless comments, heat of the moment bursts of anger, crimes of passion might just become things of the past to be studied as a part of a history lesson.

If every parent initiated regular family chess nights and if every school taught chess as part of their daily lesson plan imagine where our country could be. Children naturally are drawn to chess. If you don’t believe me try an easy experiment. Go to an area populated with children, put out a chess set and see what happens. I promise you they will flock to the board and become immersed in a game. We all have the power to fuel our children’s existing passion for learning and help our next generation soar. Let’s make a difference!

A Note From Joan

I did a little research about this and discovered that many research studies have been conducted about the effects of teaching Chess to a child. The results are all strikingly similar. In comparison to the control group, the test group showed: significant advancement in spatial, numerical and administrative-directional abilities, along with verbal aptitudes. The noted improvements held true regardless of the final chess skill level attained.

Takeaway Truth

Parents, get this book. You might even consider reading it yourself if you never had the opportunity to learn the game!

(This article previously appeared on Writing Hacks, my subscription newsletter for writers. Subscribe today if you'd like articles like this as soon as they are published.)

Apple Bookstore

To search for your books in the Apple Bookstore: http://itunes.apple.com/us/genre/books/id38?mt=11

Once there, click the genre of your choice and any sub-genres that may apply. The books that appear on the main page are the Top 100 Sellers. To find your book, click the letter of the alphabet that begins the first word of the title.

Kindle Digital Publishing Links

To understand Amazon Kindle Pricing Options: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A29FL26OKE7R7B

To understand Amazon Kindle List Price Requirements: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A301WJ6XCJ8KW0

Understanding Book Page URLs

Here's help for those long Book Page URLs on Amazon and Nook.

When you do a search for an author or a Book Page, for example, my book NOBODY'S CINDERELLA, you get a URL that looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Nobodys-Cinderella-Antone-Two-Step-ebook/dp/B006LXJ7Q8/ref=sr_1_10?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1324612597&sr=1-10

Don't copy that and give it out as the URL. Everything beyond the B006LXJ7Q8/ is part of the search parameters--delete all that. Give out the URL as:

http://www.amazon.com/Nobodys-Cinderella-Antone-Two-Step-ebook/dp/B006LXJ7Q8/

This is true for Amazon and Nook. The Nook link is

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nobodys-cinderella-joan-reeves/1107994098?ean=2940013860155&itm=2&usri=joan+reeves

Cut everything past the B&N Product Number and you're left with:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nobodys-cinderella-joan-reeves/1107994098

Shorten All Links If Possible

Shorten all long links to the tiniest bit possible. Open an account with http://bitly.com/ which is free. Or use http://tinyurl.com which is also free. Paste the Amazon and B&N URLs which you reduced into bit.ly or Tiny URL in order to make really tiny.

The Amazon shortened link above now becomes: http://amzn.to/tDcMnt

The Nook shortened link above now becomes: http://bit.ly/uCMCCa

Takeaway Truth

Learn the technical basics that will help you as an author.