JUNE MEETING RECAP

What makes fantasy work?  The elements in the novel are based in the real world. 

Not only did Lillian Stewart Carl answer this question but she also shared with the group the research involved in her new novel, Lucifer's Crown(Fivestar Publishing http://www.gale.com/fivestar/index.htm).  The story contains historical and contemporary sites.  Some of the historical sites no longer exist but through research she was able to describe to the reader the way it may have looked if it still existed today.

In her research she also found several interesting things about her characters.  The hero in her book is St. Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who did not die a matyr's death but as punishment for his pride is given enternal life so he can atone for his sins.  The book takes place in the latter part of the year.  She wanted one of the characters to celebrate a brithday during this time and it just so happened that St. Thomas's birthday is December 21.  Another interesting coincidence, is that she called the villian, who happens to be a demon, Robin.  According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Robin was another name for Robert the Devil, the 1st Duke of Normandy. Robert was known for his daring and cruelty.  As a result of such behavior, the legend says that he is forced to wander the earth until Judgement Day.  An on-line version of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable can be found at http://www.bartleby.com/81/.

The second novel in this series, The Secret Portait will be available from Fivestar in April 2005.  The title refers to a portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie that is nothing more than a paint smear to the naked eye, but using a silver cylinder or a mirror, one can see the actual portrait. It was painted during a time when portaits of the Prince were outlawed.  All of the books in this series will have titles refering to some sort of historical oddity.  

Information on Lucifer's Crown and more can be found on her website, http://www.lillianstewartcarl.com/.

By JAN NORMAN, The Orange County Register

When Cynthia Stamper Graff wrote her first book, "Lean for Life," she just
intended to compile in one place all the diet information her company, Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Lindora Medical Clinics, had been giving clients for years.  She thought she would self-publish the book and distribute it through the clinics.

Since 1996, Graff has sold 250,000 copies of the book, published second and third editions, plus "BodyPride" for teenagers.

"Benefits accrued from the book that I hadn't foreseen," she said. "It had great branding potential, gave us national exposure and credibility, increased revenues at the clinics, plus sales of nutritional products."

Graff considers herself not an author, but a businesswoman running the 34-clinic company started by her father. However, like many entrepreneurs, she has discovered the business value of book authorship. The challenges are finding the time and talent to produce 40,000 to 70,000 words on one subject and getting them into book form.

Most business people won't get rich from their book sales alone, said Mahesh Grossman, president of The Authors Team in Santa Cruz, Calif., which provides ghostwriting, editing, publishing and distribution services.

The greater value is increased credibility and business revenue, he said. A survey by the Publishing Institute Experience, an industry research firm, found that book authorship boosts revenue 380 percent for consultants, 219 percent for public speakers and 194 percent for real-estate sales people.

Even Grossman launched his company with a book, "Write a Book Without Lifting a Finger."

"If you want free publicity, being a book author is the fastest ticket," he said. "I'm on television shows all the time talking about ghostwriting. Why me? I wrote the book on it."

It's not merely the written word that seemingly makes the difference in credibility and, therefore, revenue, said sales trainer Jeffrey Hansler, president of Oxford Co. in Huntington Beach, Calif., and author of "Sell, Little Red Hen, Sell."

"I have written hundreds of articles, but no matter how many I write, they're not equal to a book in credibility and impact on my clients," he said.

He has sold more than 30,000 copies of his book since 2002, and it isn't even listed on Amazon.com.

Hansler trains through corporations and associations. One client bought 12,000 copies.  Hansler wrote his own book and found a publisher, Advantage in Northern California. But half the published books involve a ghostwriter or co-author. Graff sought help writing and editing "Lean for Life," partly because of the enormous time commitment. The average book takes 700 hours to write.

"I thought I would be able to do several hours of interviews, give (the writer) boxes of content and somehow the information could be fashioned into something readable," she said. "I might not have done it if I had known the amount of time it would take. I need to do a new edition but haven't because of the time it takes."

B.J. Gallagher, owner of Peacock Productions in Los Angeles, has found that her book writing became faster and easier as she mastered the technique.  She spent a year writing her first book, "Peacock in the Land of Penguins" in 1995. Her most recent manuscript took six weeks.

The penguin book completely changed her business and her life. She wrote it as a mental-health exercise about her experiences as a training manager at a large corporation that forced every employee into the same mold. At the time, her business was consulting and leading seminars for such entities as IBM.

A friend introduced Gallagher to a literary agent who took her book to Berrett-Koehler Publishing. It has sold 400,000 copies.

"My book took over my business. I even renamed it for the book," said Gallagher, who adapted the book to an animated training video, wrote training materials to support the video and came up with Penguin T-shirts, buttons and coffee mugs. "It enabled me to raise my (speaking) fees (to $10,000 per appearance) and became my chief marketing tool."

Graff gained a similar multiplier effect from "Lean for Life."  Some employees worried that people would buy the book instead of coming to Lindora clinics, she said. Instead, people all over the country read the book, and then come to Southern California on vacation to attend clinics. Or they sign up online for cyberclinics or personal telephone coaching, or buy Lindora products including soups and protein bars.

"The other thing I hadn't anticipated," Graff adds, "is celebrity. People think they know me. They want me to sign their book. I have come to appreciate the value of having a person to relate to" when following the Lindora program.

This story appeared on Page L2 of The Standard-Times on June 2, 2004.

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