Workshops

Hi everyone! I have a new class coming up and wanted to share the details with you. Grab a cup of coffee, if you want, and I’ll share a little about the story behind this class…

Last year, I had this bright idea that it would be so wonderful to have a steady paycheck every week or so. I started hunting for an outside job and wound up taking one with a company doing work as a word processor.The starting pay was okay, about $35K a year and the hours were good (8 to 4:30) and overtime if I ever wanted it at time and a half. $35K a year isn’t bad for this area and that type of work. Also they had okay benefits, but my hubby has those, so I didn’t care. I figured I’d still have time to write on the weekends and in the evenings I would keep up with my nonfiction and editing work. I’m used to keeping busy.

I landed the job no problems. They were thrilled to get me with my editing skills and I’m a fast enough learner that I picked things up quickly. I was always early for work and the last to leave and I felt appreciated for that. I liked my co-workers okay, although their morals were quite a shock to me at times because I’ve been living in a little bubble world. Guess how long this job lasted? About six weeks. I left, they didn’t fire me.

I truly believe that there are two types of people in the world. There are those who enjoy going to a work place and putting in X number of hours per day at the same time every day and knowing exactly what their pay check will be. Then, there are the rest of us. We loathe being confined in a little cubicle. Being put into any kind of box is like smothering us. We are creative, we like our freedom and we hate the rat race. I also believe that given the choice, most people would choose to escape the box. It took about three weeks for the newness of this job to wear off.

Things started to bother me. My boss would creep up quietly behind me and stand over my shoulder watching what I was doing. There were a couple of times when I turned to grab another book to edit and actually screamed because she scared me lurking there. This bothered me because I was working my butt off and the output and quality of the output showed it and she knew it. Also, there was nothing else I could do on that computer but work. We had no Internet access, only interoffice email and the only programs were those related to my work. What did she think I was doing?

Then there was the whole “we have to have absolute silence in our work environment” rule. Really? Have you met me? This included if you had a question for a co-worker. You were to whisper and speak in very quiet tones. Pffft! I wasn’t born quiet and I doubt I’ll ever be quiet. She would say in this very soft little mousy voice, “your voice really carries.” No kidding! It’s called talking. I should add that I am not a loud person. I was talking in normal tones. Our entire crew was also asked to not laugh because the sound was “grating”. This was a standing rule. I just have to say that I didn’t thnk any of these girls had loud or obnoxious laughs.

Work breaks were not a bit flexible. You had to take them at the same time every day. Lunch was the same. I also started to notice a strange, zombie-like, Stepford worker attitude that bothered me and which I worried was contagious. I went down to the cafeteria one day for lunch. As I walked into the area with tables, I noticed the room was filled with men, mostly engineers. No big deal. I get along well with most men. I smiled and sat at my own table. That is when I noticed that everyone else in the room was facing front. Almost like a classroom, but there was no teacher here. No two men sat at the same table, but each had his own table and faced front, eyes glued on a screen at the front of the room. I looked at the screen and it was flashing information about the company. Company history, memorial for one of the founders who had passed, company news. The same information rotated every five or ten minutes. Let me just say that this was the 30 most uncomfortable minutes of my life as I sat there waiting for even one of them to move, breathe or blink. I quickly gathered my trash, threw it away and exited the room. I had to get out before they turned me into one of those zombies!

Although it didn’t feel like it at the time, a blessing hit me when I got gravely ill. This company had people in from all over the world and my doctor thinks I picked up some strange virus. I wonder if it was Stepford-itis? I have never been this sick. I have never missed work for being ill but always worked through it, but I literally could not lift my head from the pillow to move. I wound up at Immediate Care with dehydration, fever, etc. The doctor medicated me up and insisted I take some time off work, even though I explained it was a new job and I couldn’t miss. He said, “Do you want to wind up in the hospital?”

So, I phoned my boss and explained what was going on. She was quite understanding and told me to take the week off. It was fine. After about five more days in bed, I shakily began to move around. This is about the time my brain started to work and I realized the last thing I wanted to do was to go back to “that” place. I scrambled, tried to pick up some freelance work and asked one place I was currently working for part-time writing and editing for additional work and quickly realized that I could make just as much staying home, especially if you factored in gasoline, time spent commuting and clothing costs.

This all happened in March and April of last year and I am happy to say that I am now bringing in MORE than what I was making outside of the home. I have found several different streams and even helped my two teen daughters begin bringing in an income they can make from home. This is perfect for them, because they can schedule their work around school activities and fun with friends.

I hope any of you working from home that have been thinking about going back into the workforce learn from my mistake and don’t do it. Those of you who feel you are trapped in the rat race, I hope you’ll consider this course as a possible way out. I will offer steps to get you there, so you aren’t without your income. There is a link to info on the course below, but the cost is only $9.99. This is basically to cover some of my time spent teaching the class and consulting wth each student to help them find a great solution. I wanted to offer it as cheaply as possible for several reasons. First, I want everyone to have the opportunity to take the course. Second, I really do want to help people do what I’m doing and live happier lives.

Get more info on the course here or register with the buy now button below my signature.

Thanks!

Lori

Hi folks,

Many of you probably remember the highly successful author yearbooks I put out every so often. We started out doing a scrapbook, but this yearbook model was such a hit, that we decided to move to that instead. Anyway, I try to do one every year or two and it’s time for a new version. Those who’ve been involved in the past have been happy with the results.

This is great exposure for authors and businesses. The yearbook is put out in print and in e-book format. I think you can still scrounge up some old copies of the last yearbook on Amazon. The yearbook is automatically e-mailed to my list of 30,000 + readers that I’ve gathered over the years of attending conferences and doing author promotions.

This year, I will also be sending out to my list of librarians and booksellers. In addition, many people order a paperback copy. I set the price on the paper copy at right around cost to print, so they are very reasonably priced and even more of them sell. If any real revenues come in, then I take out additional ads and we keep the ball rolling until the yearbook fizzles out. It usually takes a year or two for things to slow down. These have become collector’s editions for many readers. You may have seen them arrive with a copy to gather signatures at various functions.

In the past, we’ve had several different packages, but these can get complicated. This year, we’re going to start with just a single package and see if we can fill the yearbook up that way. The package includes:

*Listing on yearbook page (for example, if you are a romance author, your listing would go on the romance author page).
*Full page personal note from you to your readers. You can do other things with this page, such as a poem, short excerpt, short story and so on. The more creative the better!
*Full page ad of your book on opposite page of your note.
*Author Interviews

You reach 30,000 readers, 3000 librarians and booksellers and numerous other fans and readers. The cost is 3 payments of $96.99. One to reserve your space, another due in November and the final payment due in February ’09. If you prefer to pay the full amount by November 15th, you’ll receive an additional 10% off. We can lock in pricing with our printer, so early payments go toward the discount we wind up getting, which is about 10%.

I also have 10 radio spots available. I will interview 10 authors and put their interviews up on our radio show site. These interviews will also be made available to a couple of radio hosts for their use and will be uploaded as free podcasts to increase exposure. The authors will be able to download the interviews for use on their websites or however else they would like to promote themselves with the interview. These 10 spots will likely go fast, so the sooner you can reserve, the better. To reserve a spot now, see the end of this email for links. If we run out of spots, I will let those registering know in case they want to cancel registration.

We must have a minimum of 10 authors involved in the project in order to pay for minimum printing and advertising costs. The more authors involved, the further our promotional and advertising budgets go. I will also write articles, distribute press releases and conduct interviews about the project. Because I invest quite a number of hours into putting the project together, editing, and publishing and advertising, I do reserve a spot for myself in the yearbook to promote my own books and writing services.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. You are welcome to share this email with others, but you might want to reserve your spot first. Remember that I only have a limited number of the radio promotion slots available and they will be first come/first serve.

Warmly,

Lori Soard

Reserve space with first payment of $96 (please note that this is a limited two month subscription. One subsequent $96.00 payment will be taken out in November and you will be invoiced separately for the final payment in February).

Pay in full and receive 10% discount