Sonia Marsh - Gutsy Living

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Gutsy Book Buzz Update on Reviews

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Sonia , San Juan Capistrano, California

 

CLICK ON MY PODCAST

 

I have a short update on my podcast below. I shall offer a free copy of my ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) or a pdf version if you prefer, to the first 25 bloggers who agree to write a review. If you’re interested in participating, please either leave a comment below, and/or send me your e-mail address and I’ll be in touch. My e-mail is sonia@soniamarsh.com

Any comments or things you’d like to discuss?

Come visit GIP (Gutsy Indie Publishers) on Facebook if you want help deciding how to publish, how to promote, editorial help, or whatever else you’re interested in regarding writing.

Please keep voting for your favorite “My Gutsy Story” of the month of April.

Don’t forget you can always submit your own “My Gutsy Story” and learn more here.

AU REVOIR! Photos from Paris and London coming soon

 

Gutsy Book Buzz: Cover, Presentation, New Sponsor

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I am so proud of the work done by 1106 Design company on my book cover. I highly recommend them for any of your future covers. Michele De Filippo is always there to answer questions and so is the wonderful Ronda Rawlins, whom I worked with on all the details. 1106 Design is also doing the formatting of my manuscript and I picked a 6×9″ book with a nice tropical island icon for my chapters taking place in Belize, and a suburban house with a path, for the chapters taking place in Orange County, California.

It makes a huge difference when you select a professional company that focuses on book covers, manuscript formatting, logos, and ARC’s  (Advanced Reader Copies) to send out for endorsements prior to publication.

If you wish to meet Michele De Filippo, please come over to GIP (Gutsy Indie Publishers) on Facebook. She will answer your questions, and we have many topics covered about publishing your book, e-books, promotion, blog tours, ISBN’s, Library of Congress, PCIP #’s and anything else you want to learn about.

 

My First Presentation at MOAA (Military Officers Association of America) April 19th, 2012.

“I Never Thought my Son Would Become a Soldier”


Thanks to Dee Fitzgerald for inviting me to speak, and to the wonderful audience of military officers and their spouses, who gave me such a warm welcome.

During the presentation, I focused on how our year  of living a simple life in Belize, changed my family. When we returned to Orange County, my youngest son decided he wanted to attend a military school. He no longer had the same values as many of his peers in high school.

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Final piece of great news: We have a NEW SPONSOR for the winner of the monthly “My Gutsy Story” series, and that’s the  expert on e-books Jason Matthews.

Jason Matthews is an expert on e-books and he’s offering a 30-minute private consultation, as well as a copy of his biggest seller, How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free. Since the contest winners have such a compelling story, this guide will benefit them tremendously if they decide to publish their tale to an even larger audience like with Amazon Kindle. Ebooks are available in pdf, epub and mobi format.

Jason Matthews

Jason Matthews free e-book

Enter the “My Gutsy Story” contest here.

Please comment and share with your friends. Thanks and look forward to everyone’s success.

 

How Blogging Can Open Doors You Never Expected

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Be open, flexible and Gutsy, as you never know where the blogging world can take you.

Thanks to Dee Fitzgerald, “Doctor Eclectic” one of my blogger friends and followers, I am speaking at the MOAA (Military Officers Association of America)  South Coast Chapter.

You may be wondering:

Well, Dee was interested in our family’s escape from materialism and has followed me for several years on my blog. The topic of my speech is:

“I never thought my son would become a soldier.”

Our year in Belize, from 2004-2005, changed my family. Upon our return to Orange County, California, my youngest son decided he wanted to attend a military high school. I shall bring aspects of our life before, during and after our year in Belize.

Here is an excerpt from my book, when my husband and I were on our scouting trip, prior to moving our family to Belize:

“Barefoot kids walked alongside the road sucking on juicy mangos with orange flesh, dripping like ice cream cones in the heat. Some kids stopped to stare at our white faces; others started running, as if trying to beat our car to the finish line. Solitary shacks appeared, with nothing but a hammock inside them. A few chickens roamed the premises and, sometimes, a lone skinny cow or a horse remained close to a shack. I wondered whether the cow or horse represented a local status symbol—the Belizean version of a BMW on the driveway. What a different environment from ours back home. What would my boys think?“

Has blogging opened up doors for you? If so please share. Which door would you like to have open for you?

 Above Photo Credit MOAA website

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Do you have a “My Gutsy Story” you’d like to submit?

To submit your own, “My Gutsy Story” you can find all the information, and our sponsors on the “My Gutsy Story” contest page. (VIDEO) Submission guidelines here.

 

Gutsy Book Buzz

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Here’s my “Gutsy Book Buzz” what’s yours?

LISTEN TO SONIA’S PODCAST ON GUTSY BOOK BUZZ

Book Flap Cover: Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family’s Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island

What do you do when life in sunny Southern California starts to seem plastic, materialistic and just plain hellish?

For Sonia and Duke Marsh, the answer was to sell their worldly goods and move to an unspoiled, simpler life with their three sons in Belize, Central America, a third-world country without all the comforts and distractions of life in the developed world.

Sonia hopes the move will bring her shattered family back together. She feels her sons slipping away from her, and her overworked husband never has time for her or the boys.

Instead, things begin to go wrong immediately. The home they initially rented isn’t available, so the family is forced to take up residence in a primitive, bug-infested shack. Duke’s telecommuting plans prove impractical because of unreliable Internet access, and he loses his job. Middle son Alec – always a conscientious, polite, tractable child – misses his friends and has trouble adjusting. As the days turn into months, Sonia finds herself questioning the family’s decision to move on a nearly daily basis.

This is the story of one family’s search for paradise.  In this memoir, Sonia chronicles a year of defeats, fears and setbacks – and also the ultimate triumph of seeing once-frayed family ties grow back stronger from shared challenges and misfortunes. For Sonia, paradise turned out not to be a place, but an appreciation of life’s simple pleasures – a close-knit family and three well-adjusted sons with a global outlook on life.

I wish to thank my wonderful Editor: Eve Gumpel

 

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PLEASE VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE MARCH “MY GUTSY STORY”

The winner will be announced on April 12th. Winner gets to pick their prize from our 13 sponsors.

Good Luck to all of you. Your stories are amazing and inspiring. Please share these stories with friends and fellow writers and bloggers by clicking on the SHARE links below.

 

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Want to know more about building your author platform and marketing tips I’m using? Please read my guest post on Kathy Pooler’s blog.

Want to be part of the “Gutsy” Indie-Publishing Community?

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Sonia Author Photo

 

When I woke up this morning, I found this quote by Seth Godin, thanks to my blogger friend Miss Footloose.

“Guts is the willingness to lose. To be proven wrong, or to fail.”

This was the perfect quote to get me to confess.

Six years ago, I made a stupid mistake; I told everyone I was writing a book.

I started everything backwards. I took a class on how to write a book proposal and made fun of something the teacher said. “It can take six years to write your first book.”

“You’re kidding,” I said. “How can it take that long to write a book? There must be something wrong with the writer.”

Now almost seven years later, I get it; I realize how naïve I was back then.

Throughout those seven years, I’ve gone through many stages of learning the craft and business of writing, and there’s always more to learn. Here is my list.

  • Taking writing classes at my local university
  • Attending writers’ conferences
  • Volunteering at writer related events and/or associations
  • Joining critique groups
  • Blogging and joining blogger groups online
  • Working with 3 editors: story structure, copy/line editor, proofreader
  • Consulting with book shepherds, PR experts, editors
  • Pitching to agents and editors
  • Hiring a web designer/tech guys
  • Learning about social media, PR, podcasting, video
  • Reading and accumulating information
  • Networking and promoting daily
  • Submitting to online magazines and communities
  • Learning about the ever-changing publishing industry

And now, because of all the wonderful stories writers are submitting through the “My Gutsy Story” series, I’m in the process of setting up a publishing company. Once the paperwork goes through, I shall announce the name and a small online celebration.

The first “My Gutsy Story” mini-anthology with 14 authors contributing is now ready for you to download if you click on the “My Books” above, or the “My Gutsy Story” cover on the right sidebar, and yes, that’s me sitting on a palm tree trunk in Belize. (The mini-anthology is being sold for 99 cents.)

So here’s what I’d like to propose, and I’d like some feedback.

Let’s form a community of “Gutsy Writers” who want to go the indie route.

If you fit into one of the following categories, you’re in the right place.

  • You’ve submitted to agents and editors and been rejected.
  • You want to be in charge
  • You’re tired of waiting
  • You have the entrepreneurial spirit
  • You plan on speaking to groups about your brand/book
  • You’re ready to go
  • You’re Gutsy

Would you be interested in joining a FB group for indie-publishers? This would be a group for those who are starting out and want to learn more, and for others to share what they know, or are discovering along the road towards publication. We would discuss information we’ve gathered on indie-publishing: How to start your own publishing business? How to find the right people for editing, cover design, layout, marketing, PR and other helpful links from “experts” we’ve found through our research? LarryJacobson and Carla King, both contributors to the “My Gutsy Story” contest have a ton of knowledge on indie-publishing, and are both extremely successful authors.

This would be an interactive open Facebook group where we:

  • Coach and encourage one another
  • Offer tips and helpful articles and links
  • Links to contacts in the book business we recommend
  • Have discussions: the more the merrier.

What should we call our group?

Gutsy Indie Publishers?

Share your ideas in the comment section below

Finally, on a more personal note, During the filming of  The Down Home Alien Blues I was lucky enough to have two professional photographers and a make-up artist take photos for my upcoming travel memoir: Freeways to Flip-Flops: Our Year of Gutsy Living”

These are my two favorite photos. I’d like you to vote on your favorite:

#1

Sonia Marsh

Make-up artist : Coco Covarrubias

Photographer: Erik Fischer

#2

 Make-up artist : Coco Covarrubias

Photographer: Kira Robles

Let me know your thoughts on a FB group for indie publishers, and whether this would be helpful to you. I’m always open to suggestions, and please share with your friends who can join in the conversation.

Thanks for all you help.

Sonia

 

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