African-American Children's Author Successfully Self-Publishes and Empowers Writers Nationwide

Tuesday, 31 May 2005

African-American Children's Author Successfully Self-Publishes and Empowers Writers Nationwide

EAST CLEVELAND, OH, (NAMC) - “This is such an easy to read and easy to follow book….I've already learned so much.“
–Michele Rankins, Poet and Author

M. LaVora Perry’s "Successful Self-Publishing: From Children's Author to Independent Publisher, a Simple Guide for New and Not So New Authors," is a tool for writers who want an introduction to independent publishing and published authors who need winning strategies to boost book sales.

What motivated Perry to write Successful Self-Publishing? When over the course of two years her effective Internet and offline promotion of her first book—a children’s story—resulted in the author/publisher receiving scores of email and telephone inquiries from writers from around the country who wanted to know how to publish and sell their own books and achieve the impressive sales results Perry had achieved, she knew she was onto something big.

Here’s her publishing success story: In July of 2003, only seven weeks after the release of her first book, Taneesha’s Treasures of the Heart, against the odds, M. LaVora Perry was interviewed as a guest on National Public Radio (NPR) to discuss her unconventional story of two friends facing a bullying older child—one friend was urban, black, American and Buddhist, the other was white with a physical disability.

Today the long list of writers who have sought Perry’ expertise as an independent publisher includes Janis F. Kearney, the First U.S. Presidential Diarist (Clinton Administration) and the author of Essence magazine best-seller Cotton Field of Dreams—a Memoir. On Successful Self-Publishing cover are the following words of praise from Kearney:

“LaVora, thank you for the work you're doing to make it easier for new authors who seek to publish independently! So many of us have learned from your example. I for one depended on your wisdom and experience as I began to look at options in starting our own small press. Your assistance has been invaluable.”

Less than two years after her NPR appearance, Perry had sold nearly 4,000 copies of Taneesha’s Treasures of the Heart—a feat few authors accomplish. Taneesha’s Treasures and Perry’s recent titles—Wu-lung & I-lung, Pictures of My Days: An Art & Writing Workbook for Creating the Life You Want and Daily Pages for Creating the Life You Want: A Companion Workbook to Pictures of My Days—are in bookstores, schools and libraries throughout the United States as well as in Africa, Asia and beyond.

In Successful Self-Publishing writers learn about:
• the three basic ways their books can be published
• highly affordable printing options if they choose to independently publish
• practical ways to effectively promote books for children through adults that will sell their current book(s) and generate new sales for their previously published and future titles

Look for Successful Self-Publishing in the FYOS book display in the African-American Pavillion at Book Expo American at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, June 2-6, 2005. Visit www.foresthillpublishing.com to read excerpts from Successful Self-Publishing and more titles by Perry and others and to learn about her workshops and presentations for children through adults on creative envisioning and goal setting and on publishing and promoting books.

In 1995, Perry became the first African-American staff card writer for American Greetings (AG)—the world’s largest publicly-owned greeting card company. She twice received AG Creative Excellence awards for writing and editing before resigning from the multinational corporation in 2002 and going on to publish her first book. Building on the strategies outlined in Successful Self-Publishing, Perry founded Forest Hill Publishing, LLC (FHP) in 2004. She lives in Northern Ohio with her husband and three children.

Successful Self Publishing—From Children’s Author to Independent Publisher, a Simple Guide for New and Not So New Authors
Forest Hill Publishing, LLC
ISBN 0-9759251-7-2 104 pp.
Release Date: June 30, 2005

Available for reserve orders at www.foresthillpublishing.com ;

Successful Self-Publishing Endorsements:
“LaVora, you are an inspiration to the literary community.” –Nancy Gilliam, Contributor to Chicken Soup for the African American Soul

“LaVora certainly knows her stuff!” –Mary Dowling Daly, Author of Around the World in Cleveland and Irish Laws

Contact:
M. Lavora Perry
FOREST HILL PUBLISHING, LLC
216-761-8316