Archive for September, 2013

Adventures of a Once Reluctant Sailor

September 5, 2013

Relunctant SailorMy clients inspire me. Especially those who go with their guts, grow in the process, and share it with others.

In 2007, Michele and Wayne Sharp traveled from Bayfield, Wisconsin on Lake Superior to Punta Gorda, Florida aboard their Island Packet 445 sailboat. They chose the long route, which took them through the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Canadian Maritime provinces.

Wayne had long dreamt of such a trip, but Michele, who didn’t even feel qualified to call herself a sailor, was content to cruise Bayfield’s Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Even her longest voyage of 100 nautical miles caused her great anxiety, so making the 5,000 mile trip was out of the question . . . initially. Michele recounts how she got from “NO” to “GO” in a few short weeks, and speaks honestly and from her heart as she works through her fears and inexperience to become a real sailor.

On their voyage, Michele took photos and kept a detailed blog throughout their trip, which became the basis of the book. It includes over 170 photos. (The artistry of Michele’s photography made it easy to design a beautiful book!)

Michele said this about working with me on Adventures of a Once Reluctant Sailor:

“Today Vanessa completed her work on my book, a week before deadline, and I couldn’t be more pleased with her. Vanessa’s design work is masterful and gives me a level of professionalism that exceeds my expectations and merit.

“Formatting of my book was more complicated than most, due in part to the inclusion of over 170 color and black and white photos, but Vanessa was undaunted. I am a perfectionist with an eye for detail and had countless edits, but Vanessa was unflappable. She was always professional, always positive, and always a pleasure to work with.

“I am in Minnesota and Vanessa is in Atlanta, but distance was no impediment. We conducted our business through email and a couple of phone conversations, and not once did distance become an issue.

“Thank you, Vanessa!”

Listen to Michele’s interview on Write Here, Write Now as she talks about her journey of guts, growth, and grace — both on the Lena Bea and through publishing Adventures of a Once Reluctant Sailor.

Find out more about Michele and purchase a copy of her book at www.reluctantsailor.net.

Let me know if I can help you bring your book from concept to creation! Or, let’s talk about your marketing and graphic needs. Contact me at 678-521-8820. Find out more about me by visiting my LinkedIn profile.

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Write a Book – Change the World

September 4, 2013
l-r: Deborah Schwartz Griffin, host Dr. Tim Morrison, host Vanessa Lowry, Essie Escobedo, and Linda Zuk

l-r: Deborah Schwartz Griffin, host Dr. Tim Morrison, host Vanessa Lowry, Essie Escobedo, and Linda Zuk

I was honored to be the permanent guest host of my friend Dr. Tim Morrison’s radio show Write Here, Write Now. During the two years the show aired, we interviewed 250 people — primarily authors or business professionals — about the book they had written or hoped to write someday. Topics discussed on the show ranged from writing challenges, the benefits and joys of writing, collaboration, publishing, marketing, and the impact a published book had on the author’s business or career. We also delved in the motivation that spur authors to write, some of which included: to inform, to educate, to share family stories, to examine faith and spirituality, to deal with pain or trauma, and to inspire. WHWN cvr front web

At the end of 2011, Tim and I chose ten of our best interviews from the year and published them in Write a Book – Change the World, Volume I. In the introduction Tim says, “Think of the books you have read that have led to a change or shift in your life: how you approach your job, your belief system, relationships, etc. A change within you impacts all of your relationships — your world.”

Write a Book – Change the World can be purchased from the bookstore on this website and from Amazon.

The archives of the Write Here, Write Now shows are free to download or you can listen online at Business RadioX. Here are several interviews I hosted where guests discuss marketing and promotion for authors.

Write Here Radio

Let me know if I can help you bring your book from concept to creation! Or, let’s talk about your marketing and graphic needs. Contact me at 678-521-8820. Find out more about me by visiting my LinkedIn profile.

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CEO’s Secret to IT Success

September 2, 2013

Know your niche — I tell authors that regularly. Linda Hughes KNOWS her niche. She works with C-level executives and wrote her book to target that niche, especially the Top C of the C-Suite. Her book, CEO’s Secrets to IT Success covers everything from hiring your CIO to learning the secrets your CIO may not share with you. CEO Secrets front cvr web

Linda Hughes’ career has uniquely equipped her to author CEO Secrets to IT Success. Linda’s past roles include divisional CIO for The Coca-Cola Company and Vice President of the Technology Practice and CIO for The North Highland Company (an international management and technology consulting firm). Most recently she held the position of CIO for AIG Agency Auto. Currently she is the President and CEO of The Great Ridge Company, which provides consulting services focused on improving the operational and growth capabilities of businesses.

Knowing a busy CEO has a limited amount of time to gather information, Linda’s book uses custom icons to identify key segments as well as charts and graphics to visually illustrate the written text. Each chapter recaps the “secrets” explained at more length within that chapter. One of my favorite features of Linda’s book is the fictional short story she wrote to begin each chapter. The story sets the tone for the reader to absorb the nuts and bolts style information that follows.

In addition to my work on the cover, formatting the interior and creating print-resolution art for about half of the charts, Linda also worked with two other designers on the icons and additional charts.

It was a pleasure working with Linda and with Bonnie Daneker, CEO of Write Advisors, to publish CEO’s Secrets to IT Success. I invited Linda into the Write Here, Write Now studio to talk about her book. My other guest that day was horse farrier Sarah Hunt Engsberg. The discussion took an unusual turn comparing the similarities between working with horses and working with corporate employees.

Check out a free preview and purchase CEO’s Secrets to IT Success at www.demystifyingitforexecutives.com.

Let me know if I can help you bring your book from concept to creation! Or, let’s talk about your marketing and graphic needs. Contact me at 678-521-8820. Find out more about me by visiting my LinkedIn profile.

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The Joy Factor Recipe Book

September 2, 2013

Joy Factor book graphicIt is a joy for me to help an author bring her vision to life. And working with Wendy Watkins on her book, The Joy Factor Recipe Book, was one of the best ever! In addition to illustrating the cover art, designing the cover, and formatting the interior of Wendy’s book, I was also a contributor with both a recipe and a joy-filled doodle.

Here is what Wendy said about working with me:

“I love the cover and inside layout that Vanessa created for my book, The Joy Factor Recipe Book – A Common Sense Approach to a Delicious Life. From the beginning to the end of the project, Vanessa was an excellent guide, providing me with wonderful ideas and honest feedback on my concepts. She was very open to the adjustments that I wanted to make to her designs and did them in a timely manner. I would highly recommend her if you are looking for an innovative designer, who does what she says she will do in a timely manner. You will also have to be prepared to have fun with Vanessa. She has a wonderful way of making what could be a stressful process, quite enjoyable. Thank you Vanessa for raising my Joy Factor and creating the beautiful vision I had for my book.”

Wendy was my guest on Write Here, Write Now radio sharing ideas for raising your joy factor before you write. Hear about Wendy’s process of writing and her journey to publishing The Joy Factor Recipe Book.

Download a tasty sample of Wendy’s book here.

flip_flops_joy

You can also order flip flops featuring the Joy art that I contributed to Wendy’s book.

Let me know if I can help you bring your book from concept to creation! Or, let’s talk about your marketing and graphic needs. Contact me at 678-521-8820. Find out more about me by visiting my LinkedIn profile.

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Publishing as a Marketing Strategy

September 2, 2013

Publishing a book is becoming an increasingly popular way for business professionals to position themselves as an expert in a particular industry or niche. According to R.R. Bowker, the number of non-traditional titles published since 2002 has increased 8,460%!

Publishing as a Marketing Strategy provides the reader with a practical guide for their own publishing journey along with stories of how other business professionals have used a published book as a successful marketing tool. Publishing Marketing cover web

I love collaborating with others so after envisioning this book concept, I invited collaborators Joan Boneberg, Bonnie Daneker, Robin Hensley, Ahmad Meradji, and Anita Paul to join me in sharing their personal stories of publishing and describing business benefits they have seen as a result. I also designed and formatted the interior of the book.

Listen to the Write Here, Write Now interview where five of the co-authors talked about this book and the process of publishing in collaboration.

Here is what one of my co-authors said after being part of this book project:

Joan Boneberg said, “Vanessa Lowry is not only an incredibly talented graphic artist, writer and writing coach, she is a class person. I had the privilege of being a co-author on her recently published book, Publishing as a Marketing Strategy. Working with Vanessa was a joy because she was an excellent project manager and she set a tone that was absolutely stress free. If you have a project that she maybe able to assist you with and want to work with a talented person, contact Vanessa.”

Here is an article I wrote outlining 5 Whys and 10 How-Tos for publishing a collaborative book. If you would like to be part of a collaborative book project, contact me to see what book is in the works or to suggest a topic.

Publishing as a Marketing Strategy is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble online, and through the Connect 4 Leverage bookstore. Also available in e-reader formats for Kindle, Nook, iPad.

Let me know if I can help you bring your book from concept to creation! Or, let’s talk about your marketing and graphic needs. Contact me at 678-521-8820. Find out more about me by visiting my LinkedIn profile.

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