Ghosts, Goblins and Assorted Wierdos in Black Star Canyon

Ghost stories in Orange County, California?

The county's hardly old enough to have ghosts, much less stories about ghosts. Yet they do abound here, particularly about a strange canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains that hardly anyone ever visits.

Black Star Canyon Road has been around since the 1920's when it was built to access a mine at the top of one of the mountains between Orange and Corona. For many years this dirt road was wide open and wound up the canyon and across the peaks to a quick run down the other side near Corona.

Sometime in the 1980's the road was closed to auto traffic but was maintained by the county and was and is still open to hikers, bikers and other assorted trail mavens. Although they are not supposed to, teenagers and wilderness junkies hike up the trail all the time, during the day and well into the night.

According to one story, sometime in the 1970s a school bus crashed up the road, killing 12 children. Their ghosts are supposed to still appear from time to time, according to some canyon visitors. Others are more skeptical. The tales do add to the mystery of the place, however.

From time to time, two residents of the area will accost visitors and tell them that the road is private and that they are trespassing. According to those who know, the county holds an all access easement on the roadbed and all people who want to are welcome to use it. According to county records, the Irvine Company owns most if not all of the property in the area and claims by residents that they own the property may or may not be true.

It all adds up to an adventure for those who get up the courage to cross the closed fence and walk or bike up the road.

I know this road from personal experience. Back about 1972 or so, I drove up the road (when it was still open) all the way from Orange, across the mountains and down to Corona. On the way I took a lot of pictures of the area as it was back then, which was mostly pristine and virtually untraveled. Even then the road was and is unpaved. It was filled with potholes and washouts and was difficult to drive. Twenty miles an hour was about the top speed and that was rare.

I have to admit I saw no ghosts, crashed buses or angry residents and met only a few cars coming from the other direction.

At the time I was the editor of the News-Times Newspapers in Placentia, just to the north, and after making this trip published the photos and a story in the paper, making my early trip about the best documented one on record.

Apparently after the road was closed, a lot of squatters moved into the forests at the top of the canyon and caused problems for visitors. There were stories of gunshots and even dead bodies, none of which have been confirmed as far as I know.

Black Star Canyon is one of those fascinating places found all over the country, where mystery, legend, rumor and innuendo mix to create a volatile attraction to anyone with a sense of adventure. That it is within minutes of one of the most populated urban areas in the country adds to the mystique.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

By the way, Google "Black Star Canyon" for a bunch of sites and photos where you can spend a couple of hours reading more about this fascinating place.

The New Year's Zoo: Lessons for 2011

My wife and I spent New Year's Day at the San Diego Zoo today and, although the weather was horribly cold, had a wonderful time.

We learned a couple of good lessons from the animal kingdom that we can all apply in the upcoming year. These are all from odd critters that you would never expect to have ideas any of us could use.

First there was the tortoise from the Galapagos Islands. These creatures are huge, weighing in at 400 to 600 pounds and when they look at you that face is UGLY. But, this fellow was over 150 years old and had lived at the zoo for somewhere approaching 80 years. The keeper said that these animals were smart for reptiles, lived in herds, and learned lessons well. They had lived at the zoo so long that everything they did was by habit. If anything new happened, they wouldn't have a clue as to what to do.

The lesson is that it may be okay to be comfortable and it may help you live longer but the life you lead will be incredibly boring. Success in life is all about taking risks in order to grow and prosper. If you find yourself caged and bored, living the same basic pattern every day, take a few risks and start living an interesting life.

Second, there was a beehive and we were lucky enough to see the queen bee in the hive. A little background: the hive depends on the queen bee. If she were to die or be harmed in any way, the hive would break up. The queen looked ordinary except that she had a few different markings from the other bees. The extraordinary thing was that she was surrounded by eight or ten bees that protected her from everyone else. It was the only bit of organized activity among thousands of bees working in the hive.

The lesson? This hive and other beehives depend on just one individual for its existence. If you have just one or a few clients, or have one critical employee who your business depends on, you are setting yourself up for disaster. Diversify, get more clients, have more than one person who knows your business intimately.

Third, we saw a show that featured a couple of well-trained seals who did all kinds of tricks for the trainers. The seal was obviously having a great time but it also had a major incentive to perform. Every time it did the trick correctly, the trainer gave it a treat, a reward. Without the reward would the seal have performed? No.

The lesson: Reward your best customers with great products and services and they will keep coming back for more. The better you treat those around you, the better they will work for you.

Fourth, we went to see the polar bear exhibit just after dark to see the bears frolic in the water. It's a fun exhibit and the bears are wonderful hams, bouncing balls around, jumping into the water and making a great splash. We looked forward to seeing them. When we arrived, we searched a while and finally found one bear in a corner, sleeping. All he did was move one paw a few inches. Needless to say, we were disappointed.

The lesson? Make good on your promises. Real people are making real efforts when they use your program. Make sure that your program delivers what you say it will. There is so much hype out there today that it's hard to believe it all any more. Those who do what they say they will do and more are the ones who will win.

Fifth and last, we ended the visit with dinner at Albert's Restaurant at the zoo. It's a fancy eatery with high prices and quality to match. Now the zoo has a lot of people who come for one visit and they want you to come back. On the table we found a small note in one of those plastic displays that made an almost irresistible offer: Pay an additional $49 before you left that day and you could get a year-long membership in the zoo, unlimited visits to this and a companion zoo, and free tickets for friends.

Lesson? Always upsell. The real value of that one time customer to the zoo wasn't that they attended that day. It is that they will come back and spend more money over the next year and that as a member they will receive the magazine, learn more about the animals and maybe donate money to the conservation programs. I'm not selling zoo memberships but consider how smart it is to urge your existing customers to buy more from you. The true lifetime value of a customer is not that they bought once from you but that they will buy many times from you.

I'm sure there are a lot more lessons I could come up with but this will do for today. Just remember that everything we do as business owners, sellers, and providers of goods and services is aimed at building better customer relationships and more future sales.

These few tips from a few animals at a wonderful zoo can give your business a powerful sendoff for 2011.

Happy New Year's Eve

By Lee Pound

It's New Year's Eve and rather than write a completely fictional story or something from the past, I thought I'd reflect on the new year and what it might mean to all of us.

First, on a personal level, here in Southern California, we are not going anywhere. Today was cold but beautiful with snow-covered mountains as a backdrop. Tomorrow morning, as I predicted a few days ago, will dawn clear and cold for the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl football game, which by the way I attended in person last year with good friend and writing partner Ed Philipp. (Not this year though.)

It's not that we aren't social. We are. In fact we are hosting what is becoming a traditional New Year's Eve party at our home for a few close friends. No booze, just lots of fun. As I write, my wife Sheri Long is getting ready for it and I will join her in a few minutes.

One milestone tonight: I finished editing the Adapt or Perish book. We will have review copies out the first of next year. It's exciting. We expect it will help a lot of people cope with the new economy.

What's coming up next year? First of all, the Go For the Gold seminar with my business partner in the seminar business, Arvee Robinson. Then who knows what else. Some launches, lots of list building, and maybe speaking at and showing up at a few events.

Looks like the economy's improving so the horrors of the last few years are almost behind us. I look for an incredible year next year.

If you see a great year coming up, leave a comment on this blog.

See you in 2011.

‘Twas Christmas Eve and the Stores were a-Bustle

‘Twas Christmas Eve and the stores were a-bustle
As shoppers jockeyed to grab that last gift.
Buyers locked in a last minute tussle
As through the goods they did sift.

The registers rang with almighty strength
And all through the store the lines grew in length
The credit cards flew, the packages multiplied
Until at closing time the relieved customers sighed.

Busily that night, while the kids watched TV
Parents rushed the presents to wrap, wrap, wrap
Afraid that under the tree no packages the kids would see
and in one great frenzy unwrap.

Then Christmas Day dawned, crisp and light
The tree decorated and brightly lit
The kids eating breakfast, filled with anticipation bright
While the parents around the tree do sit.

And what of that day, with its promise so great
What of the packages, created with such sweat
What of the day’s meaning, carrying such weight
After all, this was just another calendar date.

And all through the day, packages were opened
By families with subtle messages unread
Performing a ritual on which societies depended
For their ration of daily bread.

And what of that message, which few bother to hear
Of redemption, peace, love and acceptance
A message that resonates past its two thousandth year
If the world would but give it a chance?

All the hustle and bustle, the mad rush to the stores
Makes so little sense to those people and their chores
Where the message of family and community
Still resonates with seeming immunity.

Let’s return to that message, let’s forget the commercials
Let’s take care of each other in the way we do best
Each parent and child, each uncle and aunt, draws on wells
Of love to make this Christmas the merriest!

A Christmas Wish

Tomorrow (or today, depending on when you are reading this), is Christmas Eve. It’s a time when families all over the world gather to observe the birthday of Jesus over 2000 years ago. It’s also around the time when many other religious traditions observe their winter holidays.

No matter which tradition you observe, this is a time to take stock of the past year and to look at what you anticipate for the New Year. Will you business grow, your personal life glow, your headlong rush slow, or your customers crow?

How many people have you helped accomplish one of their life’s dreams? How many will you help next year? How many people helped you accomplish your life’s dreams? How many will help you next year? How many have you given thanks to?

When we open our hearts and give our best to others, we will find that the best everyone else has will flow to us.

Many of you had a difficult time over the last year. Many had wonderful business success. Whatever your situation, whatever the future holds for you, just know that all is right in your universe and that every reverse is a lesson that will lead to future success, every success is a giant step to the results of your dreams, and every gift you receive and every gift you give is a sign of thanks for all that you have.

Take the success you have and build on it. Act is if your dream were already here. Take the actions the person you want to be would take. Take them with deliberation, planning, lack of fear, and with a focus on the person you are working with. If your clients are successful, so will you be successful.

That is my Christmas wish for you. Give to those who nurture you. Thank those who give you business. Honor those who thank you. Above all, honor your commitment to your source of inspiration, motivation, and love, whatever or whoever that source may be.

May you have a wonderful Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!

It's Good to Get a Royal Trashing from Time to Time

Back when I was working with Sol Stein (former owner of Stein & Day Publishers and one of the top New York publishers of the 20th Century) in the Chapter One writing group in the early 90s my first year was an unmitigated success. My novel A Gathering of Strangers was a hit with Sol and the rest of the group. One of its scenes even appeared in Sol’s video Stein on Writing, released in 1992.

As that season came to an end, I started thinking about my third novel. Buoyed by the reception of the first novel, it seemed that I could do nothing wrong. I came up with this great idea about an archaeologist in the Mojave Desert who has all sorts of crazy things happen to her. I thought it was fun and strange all at the same time. I wrote and edited, wrote and edited all summer and fall. Problem was I still didn’t know how to tell good writing from bad.

The next January, Sol reconvened the group in Laguna Beach with a few new faces but the same stringent teaching. At the first meeting, I proudly gave the first few chapters of my new manuscript to him and over the next couple of weeks waited for a response.

No response came.

After three weeks of silence, I asked Sol if he had read my chapters.

“Yes,” he said. “It’s not up to your usual standard.” He held up the green ink pen he usually used to edit manuscripts. “There’s so much green ink on it I didn’t want to give it back to you since I still want you to be my friend.”

He clearly didn’t like it and didn’t want to discuss it further.

I went home that night and thought deeply about that book. One key point here is to not fall in love with your work. Something critical was wrong with the book and I would have to fix it. I took another look at my main character and realized that she wasn’t strongly developed and that all the events were just happening around her. The book was written for the events and not the character.

I started from scratch and decided to have the most important characters around her tell me who she was from their perspective. I started with her grandfather, then her grade school teacher, a local newspaper reporter, her new boyfriend, and a few others. I wrote them all in the first person and then added a chapter in the first person from my main character, Angela. I had five first person characters in five chapters.

The next week, I printed them out and at the Monday night meeting handed them to Sol. I figured it would be either very good or very bad.

I waited. That Friday I got a message from Sol to bring a copy of chapter two to the next meeting. He didn’t say why, just bring it.

At the meeting he had me pass the copies out and then asked the group what was different about the chapters. They agreed it was good but had no idea why.

Sol said, “This is an example of a skill we haven’t talked about in this class, the use of voice.” He went on to discuss how the distinct voices of the characters made them real individuals, not just fictional characters. He told me later that when he read the chapters, “They were so good I almost fell off my chair.”

Okay. It was good. I finished writing the new draft and called it Satan’s Angel. It’s in print and available right here on my blog and website.

This was not the first time nor was it the last time something I spent a lot of time on got royally trashed. The experience at the time was not fun although it was easier in the sense that I never saw the actual trashing. To this day I have never seen that old marked up manuscript. Perhaps Sol thought there was nothing salvageable there and why bother to give it back.

All of the times this has happened to me, I’ve used it as a wake-up call that I was letting my skills slip and to ramp up my effort again. Each time that’s what I’ve done and each time it’s paid off handsomely.

I see so many people get a few words of criticism and quit. They are so thin skinned that they go into defensive posture and never listen to the valuable feedback they just got. Most writers, speakers, and business owners who fail have this problem. A trashing is a revelation that something is seriously wrong in your approach and that it must be cured if you are to grow.

Take it as that and you will come back to the fray better than ever. In future stories I will share some more of these incidents and how I reacted to them.

Next time you get royally criticized, don’t ignore it. Embrace it, make it your own, look at what is wrong, and fix it. You’ll be glad you did.

Secretariat - Film Story Vs Facts

We just saw the film Secretariat tonight. Yes, I know it’s been out for a while but we finally got around to watching it. It is the incredible story of the champion race horse of the same name, who won the Triple Crown in 1973. It’s also a great example of how to make a fact based event into a great story that evokes strong emotions.

It tells the story of how a housewife, Penny Chenery, took over a failing Virginia race horse stable and nursed it through very difficult financial straits while raising a young colt who would become the famous Secretariat. It shows how she stepped into the racing world as an outsider who had to win the Triple Crown of horse racing to save the farm and her star horse. It is a story of perseverance in the face of constant negativity and of the outsider who fights to win. It also features a trainer who was seen as a loser who comes back to become one of the biggest winners in history.

It has all the steps in the story formula: An attention grabber, a strong character who wants something badly, opposition, attempts to overcome the opposition, an eventual victory, climax and lesson for us all.

This story takes on much of its power by leaving out a number of important facts which would have diluted it if they had been left in.

For instance, the biggest bit of information left out of the film is that in 1972, when Secretariat was establishing himself as the greatest race horse of all time, Penny Chenery and her staff were running another race horse, Riva Ridge, who won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and almost won the Belmont, the third leg of the triple crown.

Another bit of information left out was that Roger Laurin, son of trainer Lucien Laurin, worked for the stable and that when he left, the stable brought in Lucien to train Riva Ridge and Secretariat. Since Riva Ridge is never mentioned, it is also never mentioned that Lucien had trained a near Triple Crown winner the year before Secretariat made his race.

A third bit is that Penny Chenery’s father Christopher, portrayed as being at the Virginia stables in 1970 to 1972, was in reality in a hospital in New Rochelle, New York the whole time. Penny took over the stables in 1968 and bred Secretariat’s mother twice, also not mentioned in the film.

If these items had been included in the film it would have more truthful but it also would not have been as dramatic a story. The presence of Riva Ridge in the story would have diluted the drama of Secretariat’s rise to stardom and would also have softened the story of Penny Chenery’s outsider status in the horse racing world. The movie portrayed Lucien Laurin as a stranger to Penny Chenery when in fact Lucien’s son had worked for them and he was well known to them.

A key lesson in this story of the Secretariat movie is that when you are telling a story, whether it is about yourself or about someone else, put in only the important facts, not all the facts. If you strive for complete accuracy you will dilute the story. Stories are streamlined versions of reality built for dramatic and emotional effect and should be treated as such.

Secretariat’s story was an incredible event in the horse racing world and was a dramatic experience for everyone involved. However, telling it with all the facts does not create a compelling story. When we strip out the extraneous facts, it becomes even more dramatic and includes an emotional depth not otherwise attainable.

And when we tell stories, we are aiming for that emotional depth above all. Remember that the next time you write your own story.

Secretariat - Film Story Vs Facts

We just saw the film Secretariat tonight. Yes, I know it’s been out for a while but we finally got around to watching it. It is the incredible story of the champion race horse of the same name, who won the Triple Crown in 1973. It’s also a great example of how to make a fact based event into a great story that evokes strong emotions.

It tells the story of how a housewife, Penny Chenery, took over a failing Virginia race horse stable and nursed it through very difficult financial straits while raising a young colt who would become the famous Secretariat. It shows how she stepped into the racing world as an outsider who had to win the Triple Crown of horse racing to save the farm and her star horse. It is a story of perseverance in the face of constant negativity and of the outsider who fights to win. It also features a trainer who was seen as a loser who comes back to become one of the biggest winners in history.

It has all the steps in the story formula: An attention grabber, a strong character who wants something badly, opposition, attempts to overcome the opposition, an eventual victory, climax and lesson for us all.

This story takes on much of its power by leaving out a number of important facts which would have diluted it if they had been left in.

For instance, the biggest bit of information left out of the film is that in 1972, when Secretariat was establishing himself as the greatest race horse of all time, Penny Chenery and her staff were running another race horse, Riva Ridge, who won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and almost won the Belmont, the third leg of the triple crown.

Another bit of information left out was that Roger Laurin, son of trainer Lucien Laurin, worked for the stable and that when he left, the stable brought in Lucien to train Riva Ridge and Secretariat. Since Riva Ridge is never mentioned, it is also never mentioned that Lucien had trained a near Triple Crown winner the year before Secretariat made his race.

A third bit is that Penny Chenery’s father Christopher, portrayed as being at the Virginia stables in 1970 to 1972, was in reality in a hospital in New Rochelle, New York the whole time. Penny took over the stables in 1968 and bred Secretariat’s mother twice, also not mentioned in the film.

If these items had been included in the film it would have more truthful but it also would not have been as dramatic a story. The presence of Riva Ridge in the story would have diluted the drama of Secretariat’s rise to stardom and would also have softened the story of Penny Chenery’s outsider status in the horse racing world. The movie portrayed Lucien Laurin as a stranger to Penny Chenery when in fact Lucien’s son had worked for them and he was well known to them.

A key lesson in this story of the Secretariat movie is that when you are telling a story, whether it is about yourself or about someone else, put in only the important facts, not all the facts. If you strive for complete accuracy you will dilute the story. Stories are streamlined versions of reality built for dramatic and emotional effect and should be treated as such.

Secretariat’s story was an incredible event in the horse racing world and was a dramatic experience for everyone involved. However, telling it with all the facts does not create a compelling story. When we strip out the extraneous facts, it becomes even more dramatic and includes an emotional depth not otherwise attainable.

And when we tell stories, we are aiming for that emotional depth above all. Remember that the next time you write your own story.

Everything You Know About Writing is Wrong...

This is a bold statement. However, it is true that most people in business and most people working a job have never perfected their writing skills.

This video shows you how our education system has shortchanged us in writing skills and reveals the powerful persuasive tactics you can use to make your writing far more effective.

Be sure to leave a comment on the video.

The Most Powerful Marketing Tool Ever Invented

This video will show you the secret weapon the most advanced marketers use to attract clients and customers.

Please leave any questions or comments you have below.

How Great Writing Makes Marketing Easy

I've emphasized this for quite some time in my private writing programs so it was great confirmation to see that most of the top Internet marketers use similar principles in their marketing.

What is it?

Most great marketing starts by determining the target audience long before the product is ever created. Unfortunately too many amateurs do it the other way around. They create the product then look for a market for it. This is a recipe for disaster.

Hear are the first steps you use in setting up your marketing plan and in writing your book:

• Determine your target audience. Usually the best way to do this is to set up an avatar or typical customer that you describe in detail, including age, interests, fears, frustrations, and goals.
• Find out what your target market wants to resolve these interests, fears and frustrations.
• Decide what your program or book will give them
• Create your personal story in a way that it meshes with your target market avatar's personal story. These two stories are the most important part of this preliminary process.
• Once you know all of this, create your product or write your book in a way that it meets the needs of your target market.
• Sell it to your target market.This process is so important that I've decided to make a video about it which I will share with you in the next few days. Be sure to watch for it since I'll include some secret processes which I usually only share with my clients.

This process is so important that I've decided to make a video about it which I will share with you in the next few days. Be sure to watch for it since I'll include some secret processes which I usually only share with my clients.

Book Writing Tips #1 - Getting Started

Lee Pound shows you how to overcome the inertia that stops most people from writing their book. By using these simple steps you can be on your way to publishing your book in a few short months.

For more tips, go to http://www.bookwritingtips.org

 

How to Start Writing Your Story

Learning how to write a story correctly is one of the most important skills a writer can master. Of course novels are pure story but the techniques are exactly the same as those you use in non-fiction stories.

In non-fiction, a story is usually either a personal story, a testimonial, or a case study. These are true stories about real people and are used to place your product or ideas in an emotional context that shows exactly what it does and how it affects people. You can get story writing ideas from a lot of sources,

A non-fiction story starts at exactly the same place a fictional story starts. Here are the key elements found at the beginning of a non-fiction story:

• An intriguing opening line. This is critical. The opening line has one purpose, to get you to read the next line. It must introduce the character, create a question in the reader’s mind, and give hints as to what will come in the story.
• The character’s status quo situation. This is where the character has been and what the character has done for a certain amount of time. In some stories it can be about a character who owns a business who has some success but is not satisfied.
• A strong character who wants something badly. In the personal story, this character is you. In case studies or testimonials it is the person who uses your services. It is critical that the character have a strong desire or there is no story.
• An event happens that changes the status quo. This launches the story. It can be a negative event in the character’s life such as the loss of a job or major client or a positive event like a marriage or birth of a child. The key element is that the status quo changes.
• The character takes action to deal with the new situation. The character must act or there is no story. It can be that the character goes to seminars to learn how to deal with the new situation. However, any action will do.
• The character meets opposition. This must also be present or there is no story. The opposition can be human, animal, inanimate, an idea, or a belief. The key is that it stops the character from getting what he or she wants. The opposition must be credible.

Every story you write must contain these steps. In many cases the writer will condense the opening into just a few sentences or a paragraph.

When you begin a story this way, you pique the reader’s curiosity, give them a character they can identify with and understand, and get them emotionally involved in the process.

I'm posting to a new blog

I've combined my blogs here into a new blog.

To see my recent posts, go to:

http://www.writingformarketers.com

See you there.

The two most important kinds of writing

If asked how many kinds of writing there are, most of us would create a long list. For instance, there is fiction, non-fiction, educational, sales, marketing, email, self-help, blog writing, and on and on and on.

Although you could make a case that each of these talks to a different audience and has different conventions, all of them have the same inherent weakness or strength. Every single one of them!

They are either boring or interesting.

How many of you have read a novel you couldn't put down? That's because the author made it interesting. Remember that novel you read the first two pages of and tossed? That author was boring. Same type of writing, different results.

Novels are pure stories. The same techniques that create powerful emotional involvement in a novel will create the same emotional involvement (and will to buy) in non-fiction. Jeff Walker (internet marketer, Product Launch guru) says that a good sales message is simply a story and uses all the techniques I give you below (and more).

Your job as a writer, marketer, salesperson, blogger, teacher, and every profession, is to make your products and services interesting to your customers. The words you choose and order in which you write them will either convince the reader to buy from you or turn away. And once the reader turns away, he or she is gone forever.

How do you make your writing interesting? Here are a few tips:

1. Create a memorable headline or first line. This line grabs the reader's attention in such a way that they must continue reading. You can do this with a controversial statement, an unusual fact, a question, or even a single provocative word. I learned this very early on writing newspaper headlines.

2. Put yourself into your writing. If you are absent, your writing will bore your readers. Remember, you bring experiences, biases, and insights into your subject that nobody else has. Insert your opinions, side comments, your unique style of thinking and talking, and people will eat up your prose.

3. Use vivid imagery. Your reader will relate to your material more if he or she can visualize it and relate it to their own experience. If you use a phrase that jogs a powerful memory or sense in your reader, they will stick with you longer.

4. Use dialogue even in non-fiction. Dialogue puts the reader into a scene where they can experience the events as they occur. It creates suspense, grounding, a sense of truth, and can guide the reader away from consciously thinking about whether or not to buy your product and into an emotional experience where buying what you sell is perfectly natural.

5. Use a strong call to action. If you write 500 pages and then don't tell your reader what to do with what they just learned, you have wasted your time. Every piece you write needs a call to action of some kind to tell the reader what to do with your material.

There are many other ways to make your writing interesting. However, if you apply these five, you will find yourself writing far better than most people. To get started, study writers you admire and marketers whose copy works. Look at each section and ask yourself how that writer did the things I outlined above. Then practice. Your first efforts might not work well but with practice you will improve.

If you want to learn more quickly, check out my writing protege program at www.leepound.com/protegeprogram.htm.

Now, go out and write the most INTERESTING prose you can come up with!

Have a very successful 2009

We've seen such a difficult economy in the last few months that many people are discouarge about prospects for 2009. Watch to this inspirational video and then go out and make the new year the best one you have ever had.

Warm wishes for a great 2009,

Lee Pound

The Write Coach

How to Write a Book

One of the most common questions I get is, "How do I write a book?"

I suppose one could be facetious and answer, "With a computer." Or even better, "With a pen, or pencil, or paint, or whatever."

The truth is, it isn't the writing part that's difficult, it's the starting. People have all kinds of preconceived ideas about writing that just aren't true. Like, you have to be perfect the first time, you have to know how to write, you have to have long years of training, you've enver written a word, etc.

Writing a book is like any other job you do. You start with the first word and keep adding words, preferably in some kind of order. You add stories, you add lessons, you add information, you pull it all together, you tell people what you want them to do.

Having said all that, here are the basic steps you take to write your book:

• Choose a topic
• Narrow your topic
• Divide your topic into five to 15 areas (these become your chapters)
• Decide what to cover in each area
• Choose the examples that illustrate your information
• Choose the stories to illuminate your examples
• Write an introduction that outlines what you want the reader to get
• Write each chapter, one by one, until you have a first draft

If you want to get more detailed information on the writing process, check out my Solutions Press Protege Program at www.leepound.com/protegeprogram.htm.

Meanwhile, take a stab at writing your book. Good luck!

Is My Book Good Enough?

People keep asking me whether their book is written well enough for publication.

This is a difficult question to answer. In my experience only a professional editor or publisher can tell you when your book is ready. Many details that the average writer knows nothing about will affect readiness. These include:

• Overly wordy copy
• Rhythm of the sentences
• Clarity of sentences and paragraphs
• Originality of material presented
• Presence of the author in the writing (do you get the sense that an individual actually wrote this?)
• Overuse of adjectives and adverbs
• Purple prose
• Use of powerful verbs and nouns
• Repetitiveness

These items can affect the readability of the book's content more than the facts presented. If the prose is awkward, your reader will notice the writing, not the information you present. This you don't want.

Watch here for more on these items.

I'm giving my "Write Your Book" talk at Speak Your Way to Wealth

It's become more important than ever for people in business (like professionals, coaches, consultants, etc.) to write books and articles as a way to stand out from the crowd.

Unfortunately, most people think writing a book is too hard or takes too long. So I've decided to emphasize how you can write and publish your book for a reasonable amount of money in a reasonable amount of time in speech this year at the Speak Your Way to Wealth seminar.

In case you haven't heard of it, you can get all the details on Speak Your Way to Wealth (I put it on with my business partner Arvee Robinson) at http://www.speakyourwaytowealth.com/. It's August 22-24 in Manhattan Beach, California. Check out the videos on the left side of this blog for more information.

I just published a book for one of my clients, Tom Northup, which you should check out on Amazon.com. It is called Five Hidden Mistakes CEOs Make and it is already bringing him new business.

And Now The Biggest Tip Of All

To speak effectively, you must not only read about speaking, you must practice it and you must observe great speakers in action.

You also need a basic understanding of speaking craft and the speaking business.I've worked hard over the last few years to learn my craft and expand my skills and over that time searched for a seminar that would give me both skills and marketing information targeted directly at speakers and found few that met my needs.

So I decided to create my own.

It's called Speak Your Way to Wealth and it will be held on August 18 and 19 in Newport Beach, California.I'm really excited about how this has come together. We've brought together major speakers from all over the country to present. They'll cover everything from how you can create products and make money from back of the room sales to how to use storytelling in speeches, how to create great PowerPoint presentations, how to grow your business through speaking.

Check out the lineup at http://www.speakyourwaytowealth.com/.

Check back here often because we will have updates on the seminar.