To begin let me introduce one of my less known personas. If you have known me for long… I am Gary Scott but in a tighter knit community I am “Papa Socks”. Our granddaughter, Sequoia, coined the name when she was just beginning to speak. “Papa Scott” ascended to “Papa Socks”. Either it was easier to say or she knew socks better than scots and the name stuck. It is in my roll as papa socks that these thoughts on government intrusion began.
Having a global view is wonderful… filled with personal growth, fulfilling experiences and expanded horizons. The downside is that this can be hard on the unity of the family. In my case our children are spread around the world at times on three continents separated by vast time zones. At times we have had to go years without being together.
So these last couple of months have been an extra delight for Merri and me.
We began an extended family time with our daughter, Cinda, and her husband David Cross. Then
our son, Jake and daughter Cheri and grandson, Garren, came to be with us at our Florida home.
As they departed our daughter, Francesca, arrived from London with her husband, Sam, and our newest grand baby, Leo.
Then my sister Sandra (left), and mom arrived. Here we are Sandra, mom, Merri, Leo, Fran and Papa Socks.
Finally our daughter, Eleanor, and her husband, Ben, arrived from London with our new grandaughter, Matilda.
This is when the government intrusion first hit. Mom is about to turn 90 and on her 80th she decided to quit traveling. Nothing has been able to coax her out of Oregon until two new great grandchildren brought new temptation which I played to its fullest. On her departure from Portland International, though we had been informed the rules had changed… TSA made her leave her wheel chair and gave her a thorough body search. I thought this was a bit intrusive.
Well done TSA… I am so glad you kept the world safe from my mom. She looks pretty risky.
Let me be clear. I am all for good airport safety. Our three youngest children, lived with their British mum and went to school in England. We always flew them back and forth on Pan Am. They were scheduled on Pan Am flight 103 December 22, 1988 one day after the Lockerbie disaster. That taught me such a lesson about fate and the abundance we enjoy. Had I battled to have one more day with the kids. Had the mom wanted to have a tea party or attend some event one day sooner… had their school let them out one day early… how life would have changed… as it did for so many. What blessings we have and how hard it is to understand and determine why. Sometimes I get survival guilt just thinking about this. So when it comes to good airport and airplane safety, I am all for it.
There is a great book about this by the way entitled SKYGODS. More on SKYGODS in a later chapter of this report. I recommend you read it.
Yet where does common sense come in and where does efficiency start? TSA agents busily frisking an 89 year old might miss something somewhere else of importance.
Where does government intrusion stop being a good thing and when does it outweigh the benefits?
Yet I have not reached the point that determined me to wrote this report. That point came from my new camera a V-Lux 30.
Let me hasten to add that I am not a good photographer by inclination. I take a lot of photos and have learned a little but before this website began… cameras and me… oil and water. I’ll skip the story about taking all the photos for a wedding once and when no photos turned out.
I stared clicking away (I have tens of thousands of photos at my Flickr account) with a little battered after time Sony point & shoot until I learned when floating down the Oklawaha River in a kayak it is best to keep your camera in a water tight bag.
Photo of my grandson Garren I took with the Sony before I tipped my kayak. Fortunately the memory card was not water soluble.
This incident led me to a Canon point and shoot… a bit better than the Sony but still at the bottom of the rung as far as cameras go. My cameras by the way have to be small because a photo from a not so great camera is better than no photo at all and I would never lug a big camera around.
Merri knew I needed something better and told Santa who left my Leica under the Christmas Tree. The Leica V-Lux 30 is a bit larger than the Sony or Canon I had but still small enough to stuff in my pocket and it has three advantages I have figured out use, a better lens… the ability to shoot multiple shots quickly and has a 21X telephoto lens great for getting a full moon or being sneaky with a shot.
There is one feature I had not figured out which finally leads me to the intrusion story.
While the children and grand kids were here one of our trips was to the Lakeside Inn and the Lake Dora boat cruise. This is a wonderful trip into a beautiful part of the world.
Lake Dora at Lakeside Inn.
I was busily snapping photos of Granddaughter, Matilda.
Idyllic warm sun… cool shadows… gentle breeze, surrounded by four generations… perfect… nothing could intrude… until advertisements for the Mt. Dora Trolly started appearing on the screen of my camera!
The Leica has a GPS and in fiddling with the dials I must have turned it on. Someone (via a variety of programs and algorithms) had figured out who I was and where I was and was sending me commercial advertisements though my camera!
That incident really set me thinking. Of course I could turn the GPS off. Of course this was commercial intrusion and not government. This was a small incident but huge in the realization how far we have become dependent on technology that eradicates our privacy and allows intrusion in our lives.
Since the 1970s, my books and reports have looked at how to become independent… global and how to protect assets. Yet all this is changing.
Here is why.
The basis of independence in the 1970s was being multi nations… to live in one country… bank in a second with a corporation in a third and an office in a fourth.
This would still be effective approach except governments have now learned a new tactic. They do not regulate the person… they regulate the medium.
Because governments did not like bank privacy, they did not create anti bank privacy laws that regulated the public. Instead they created “know your customer” and reporting laws on the banks.
Governments globally took control of the banking system so their intrusion could even go to national levels.
A March 2012 Reuters.com article entitled “Payments system SWIFT to expel Iranian banks Saturday” shows how this works when it says: BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The world’s biggest electronic payment system on Saturday will cut off Iranian banks blacklisted by the European Union in an attempt to further strangle Tehran’s ability to finance a nuclear program.
Belgium-based SWIFT, which facilitates the bulk of global cross-border payments, said it would disconnect designated Iranian financial firms from its messaging system on Saturday at 1600 GMT after European regulators ordered the company to do so.
“The EU decision forces SWIFT to take action,” SWIFT Chief Executive Lazaro Campos said in a statement on Thursday. “Disconnecting banks is an extraordinary and unprecedented step for SWIFT. It is a direct result of international and multilateral action to intensify financial sanctions against Iran.”
SWIFT, or Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, has been described as the glue of the global banking system, handling daily payments estimated at more than $6 trillion.
Expelling the designated Iranian banks from SWIFT will shut down a major avenue through which Tehran does business with the rest of the world. The West hopes that will pressure Iran into curbing its nuclear program.
“The joint action of the U.S. and EU sends a strong message to Iran that we are serious about imposing punishing sanctions,” said U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat who pushed to make the expulsion of banks from SWIFT part of pending U.S. sanctions legislation.
In this case the government’s intrusion has the ability to deadlock an entire nation. Please note by the way that this is NOT the US bank clearing system. This problem has long gone beyond just the USA and is global.
The way these events sneak up on us is that their first time around… they seem very logical. Had TSA body-searched my 89 year old mom in a wheel chair after an airplane bombing… this would seem to really make sense. To use the monetary clearing system to stifle Iran’s nuclear ambitions… we can understand.
Once the intrusion has been accepted in this big way… the insidious nature begins… petty… frustrating at its least, even dangerous and malevolent.
For example after I created the Pension Protection Workshop I received this letter from one of our bankers abroad.
Hi Gary, Yesterday the largest Danish Sunday paper ran a front page about how the US since 9-11 has tightened the net when it comes to money transfers.
A Dane has for years had a small company selling brandies from around the world and cigars from The Dominique Republic and Cuba. His cigar supplier closed down and he established a new relationship with a German importer of Cuban cigars. In October he bought Cigars totaling USD 24,000 from the supplier. He wire transferred the dollars to the seller but the transfer was intercepted in the US by the US bank. The US finance ministry has since then confiscated the funds and told the buyer of the cigars that his funds are confiscated. The reason is that the US has a trade embargo against Cuba and even though the trade did not involve the US or any US persons the funds were confiscated.
This may just be one of many incidents but it made it to the front page yesterday and all involved parties are naturally stunned that the US can impose its Cuba trade embargo on Sovereign states not having such an embargo and confiscate funds in a deal between a Danish and German company.
FATCA, supervision of money transfers, trade embargos, confiscation of funds not involving US entities or persons just wonder what will be next! Kind regards
This petty intrusion seems so wrong as to be unimaginable. This is so wasteful… create such ill will and leads to three questions:
Question #1: Why would the US government grab a German’s money… sent to a Dane over an embargo (Cuba) that is nearly through?
A recent New York Times article said: ALWAYS wanted to visit Cuba? Well now you can — legally.
Thanks to policy changes by President Obama earlier this year designed to encourage more contact between Americans and citizens of the Communist-ruled island, the Treasury Department is once again granting so-called “people-to-people” licenses, which greatly expand travel opportunities for Cuba-bound visitors.
An ABC News article wrote: To visit Havana. Nowadays, you can fly there by charter — that is, if you have close relatives there; if you agree to visit only once every three years; and if you cap your spending at $50 a day. Yes, the Cold War against Cuba continues.
But wait. Congress is working on a thaw — and has voted to ease restrictions for families. Some believe that’ll eventually mean the rest of us will be able to fly into José Marti International as tourists — maybe even later this year. Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., described the four-decades-old policy of isolating the communist nation as “such a failed policy [that] it deserves a burial.”
The loss of goodwill in Europe for the average American is huge and the bureaucratic fallout will far outweigh $24,000. In other words, you and I as tax payers are forced to finance a process that hurts us.
That’s terrible but is the least of the worst because the only logical conclusion I can reach is that this seizure was just a test to see how effective the Fed’s control over money really is! However, it could be that this action was political and taken due to the upcoming Presidential election in the USA.
The Cuban exiles still have a powerful political machine. Could this terrible precedent be created just to pander to that group?
Or the US government could be testing its ability to lock down the wealth of money belonging to anyone… anywhere…. anytime… in our pensions… in our bank accounts… wherever in the world.
If so this is wild. This use of the international interbank system against nationals of other nations will have angered the other growing and important economies Japan, Germany, Brazil, Russia, India, and China. They have been looking at alternative currencies and how to get around using the U.S. dollar already. This will accelerate this process and hurt the greenback in the processs.
There are more questions.
Question #2: How do they know that the money was intended for Cuban cigars?
The sad answer is that US has tracked payments through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions (SWIFT) since 9-11. In 2010 the US did a deal with the EU where the EU allowed the US to track all SWIFT payments through the European Police entity, Europol. Whenever anyone transfers money by wire they now have to explain the purpose of the transaction and this gives big brother the opportunity to watch everything. This seizure shows that the government really is watching to have out of millions of daily transfers to have picked up on this one deal.
How petty can they get? Could they for example track photos from my camera or yours and decide if they should be shared or not? That’s pretty petty but I think so and who knows what technocrat might think that you or my photos are more offensive (or politically incorrect) than Cuban cigars?
Question #3: What can we do about these intrusions?
Since the 1970s our business has focused on how to earn globally and be a multi national investor. Our Mantra has been to have a Six Point Command Posture.
Live in One Country
Bank in a Second Country
Hold Asset in a Third Country
Use an Office in a Fourth Country
With a Company in a Fifth Country
Earn in a Sixth Country
We have helped tens of thousands of our readers gain freedom and to escape the tyranny of the establishment through international investing and business and invite you to learn more about how we can help you gain such freedom in the process of doing what you love as well.
As mentioned… this is no longer enough so we have added three ways to assist you further:
#1: Our report on multi currency investing.
#2: Our online courses on how to live and earn globally as a self publisher.
#3: Our writer’s camp on how to live and earn globally.
To help you get a better feel of what we offer, I am attaching an MP3 recording of the the first session of our February 2012 International Investing & Business seminar conducted in Mt. Dora, Florida and want to make this special offer. (The file is large – to save the file you may right-click and save to your computer or if on a Mac, Ctrl-click)
The entire seminar is normally available on MP3 for $299. I want to give it to you free.
Order any of the three programs above and I’ll include the entire seminar on MP3. You save $299.
Order our pension protection workshop ($49) here.
Gary
Our July 2012 writers camp is filled. See two new dates for June and September.
Writer’s Camps
Start a one year writing project. Be cool. Attend our summer Writer’s Camp in Blue Ridge Mountains. Start with our online course Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher FREE right away. ($299 value).
Delegates at previous summer writer’s camp in the Blue Ridge.
Our Writer’s Camps help learn writing to sell… the business of writing and how to publish.
Our summer and autumn writer’s camps in North Carolina fill up quickly. Our winter writer’s camp was totally filled.
Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Single $799
Couple $999
Please indicate which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.
My wife, Merri, and I have possibly the smallest… yet one of the highest earning… self publishing company in the world.
Our high earnings come from writing, self publishing secrets we learned and refined over the past 45 years of writing to sell. These secrets have worked so well they have earned extra millions for Merri and me and we share them at our writer’s camps..
Our goal at the camps are to help you “Get Started”… but to “Start Small” and maybe like us stay that way… small… tightly focus but highly profitable.
There I said it flying in the face of society hammering us to “Think Big”. This is the era where small is beautiful in a very big way.
At the camps we dive into this idea of smallness for profit.
I am stuck with this horrible fear of being broke. You know unfilled promises… tight finances… money worries…even costly groceries and bill collector stuff. I had all that decades ago and even though 40 years have passed it’s not forgotten.
I hate this for anybody. No money. No future prospects. Worry about the kids. Not knowing how to retire… or where to turn.
45 years ago I started writing because I was broke. These problems over 40 years ago affected me for life. In fact I am so hung up on this that that Merri and I (we are so thankful that we can) give away money to help create jobs… we have now donated close to a million dollars in our quest to reduce joblessness.
Merri and I are writers and self publishers. We have earned as much as $20,000 for a single day’s work… and have earned consistently year in and year out… while we do what we love… because of a few secrets.
We want to share these secrets with you so you can make six and even seven figure income each year in a matter that suits you.
There is more good news than the money. The secrets we share make working fun. You are your own boss. You gain respect so your ideas are listened to.
Most important you can be self fulfilled as you make the world a better place by writing.
Merri and I invite you to share a writer’s camp we’ll conduct in 2013? This will be a retreat high in the Blue Ridge for a select few that can help you create you own publications for profit.
Believe me… we will be relentless about three facts… serve well… be gratified… make good profits.
The retreat will be conducted in the seclusion of a forest. We’ll meet in June or August… but we want the work on your publication to begin right away…. tomorrow even. I’ll explain how you can begin right away in a moment.
At the camp we teach super thinking as well as how to write and publish. This secret “little system” creates a crack in the creative process… so you’ll not have just one idea for a business but many. You may be flooded with ideas! In fact a big part of the workshop narrows you down to deciding what to write first.
Merri and I are living proof. We can’t open the darn paper without getting a new idea.
First, let me repeat…Start Small!
The camp by the way is called “Self Fulfilled – How to Write and Self Publishing”. I am thinking of renaming it “Start Small but Earn Millions”.
Writers who earn the most are writers, like Merri and myself, who also publish. We always make an annual six figure income but some years we net seven figures…over a million dollars. That’s because we figured out that the lion’s share of income earned from writing goes to the publisher. The publishing part of writing can be outrageously profitable.
One case study we’ll look at in the course reviews the book. “Who Moved My Cheese.” It’s so small! I love it! The publisher had to push just to make it look like a book, yet 17 million copies in the first two years of release. No one is laughing. If the normal price is $19.95 a book, that’s $339,155 million in sales. If the author received a normal 12% royalty (on the wholesale price) he made a cool $20,346,500 (and much more as the book has continued to sell for years).
Pretty good, huh?
The $20 million plus will pay for quite a few groceries. Almost anyone would love to have this much income until they realize that this leaves the publisher with the other $300 million to spread around.
The neat thing about being a small, self publisher is that virtually all this money (the other 88%) is yours! (Sometimes the 12% too.) In other words, it could be all yours.
Merri and I began publishing with no money and little background. We started small! As already mentioned, I was bust and had no background in writing. I did not finish college.
Before we share the exact schedule of this exciting camp, let me outline a few of the benefits that self publishing has brought to Merri and me.
If you accept our invitation, we will hammer, even bombard you with the absolute, vital importance of starting small. We live in the era of epublishing that makes small “big”. This plays perfectly into the hands of small businesses and copywriters as we just happened to have a perfect advantage right now in the marketplace.
Let’s begin to understand this with that old rule… follow the money. Our self publishing business has brought us millions. We own four houses, a farmhouse, six cabins and over 1,000 acres of land. Plus more money than we can spend, in the bank… safe, secure bonds and shares… no mortgages… no credit card bills and zero debt!
Now let’s get to the important stuff. Our life is less stressed (not stress free – every business has stress) but Self Publishing can be a low stress business… no commuting… choose your own hours… immersed in your own passions with like minded souls. Work at home. How refreshing!
Here I am at our Florida home… at work?
You can have fun every day doing what you love as you accomplish goals that are important… to you… and are a service to your community.
Merri and I, for example, love helping people get jobs. So we used self publishing to create a foundation (Land of the Sun Foundation) to help the indigenous learn how to get work. The foundation has donated nearly a million dollars in Ecuador to create jobs.
What do you love? Why not make the kinds of money I’ve just mentioned publishing your passion and do something good for the world at the same time?
Your passion and self publishing create…magic, wealth, happiness.
Three other things you gain.
#1: Respect. If you are not a recluse like Merri and me, you’ll find yourself the center of attention at social events and with your friends and in business because publishing is highly respected.
#2: Power. Everyone wants publishers to distribute good information about them. And everyone fears publishers a bit. The pen IS mightier than the sword!
#3: Protection. Writers are protected by the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You do not need a license to publish. There is no government watchdog nor do you have bureaucratic red tape involved in publishing. Publishers enjoy almost more freedom than any other occupation because of the Freedom of the Press. This is so powerful because the first amendment is actually a part of the Bill of Rights. Just in case you missed this in school (as most students did including me) here are the exact words of this amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
You become the press and you are set free. You cannot get more protection than that.
Shall we get back to the money and lifestyle? What can self publishing do financially for you?
Merri and I love nature so our home in Florida is set amidst and orange grove… just far enough from busy parts of the state that we enjoy wonderful peace and quiet. This makes a perfect place to study. This is a winter shot from the front yard of our Florida home looking over our orange grove and lake… that we bought with cash from our self published writing.
This is only where we live in the winter.
The Blue Ridge is our summer home. That name is a slight misnomer for a large part of the year. Correctly named in the winter, these mountains would be called “White Ridge”. The white comes from snow which begins with S as does South which is where we head around November…to Florida or Ecuador .
While it’s freezing in the North Carolina mountains, we worry about sunburn sometimes.
The Ecuador hotel, by the way, is one of the most satisfying parts of our self publishing business. We bought it from bankruptcy because a dozen wonderful people (with babies and kids and worries about education, medical bills and yes groceries) were about to lose their jobs.
Mostly right now… due to a elderly mom and many wonderful new grand kids we spend winters at our in Florida and visit family in Oregon and England. So for your convenience (and ours) the next two writers camp will be conducted near our Ashe County North Carolina farm.
Why attend this camp? Self publishing can easily fulfill all of your material needs. More importantly it throws you together with fantastically interesting people from all walks of life. You all share a common goal… to write… to sell… to earn. This create magic for all.
You can enjoy this wonderful lifestyle. Married, single, rich, poor, in good and bad health, educated and not, travelers and those who want to just stay at home. This is who self publishing works for… those who want a gradual part time improvement in life and those who want to make big enhancements now.
This workshop appeals to anyone who would like to write or publish or both. We will look at how published products can include compilations, catalogues, CDS, interviews. Plus we’ll look at how to develop treks, tours, visits, products and services.
For example, you’ll see below how one delegate who attended the workshop used her publication to sell real estate.
This course is for individuals and couples. We include those who want their own publishing system together as a family business.
Self employed, retired, professionals and those who are employed who want to add extra income or who want to change their life entirely will benefit. Previous course delegates have included investors, chiropractors, doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, other professionals and those who already own their own business and of course retirees.
This workshop is not theory. Merri and I share our real time experiences. We start at the beginning over 40 years ago but mainly look at how we earn hundreds of thousands and even millions a year in our exciting lifestyle…right now.
Let’s get our noses to the grindstone. The workshop provides a Path called the seven Ps. They provide a simple, small and easy path for starting your own publishing business.
The workshop has one focused, refined and relentless goal. To prepare you to start your first publication the day after the workshop ends!
May I add that this workshop has done a pretty good job already? Here are a few examples of small self publishing businesses that started after attending this workshop.
Barry Weinhold who attended our Writers Camp wrote: My first book sold over 200,000 copies in print. After attending your course I have published another book at Amazon.com.
Thanks for helping get the word out. The First free download of Book One had about 900 downloads and we have sold about 90 books since then. I did get some great reviews on Book One. Now book two is ready.
You can order Barry’s second book ($2.99) on Amazon.com by clicking here. “Breaking Family Patterns: How To Change Your Family Patterns!“
Nicki Goff who attended our writer’s camp wrote shortly after that she completed her first book “Easy Quinoa Recipes” with 13 quinoa recipes.
She had 10,000 downloads of the book in five days and obtained dozens of good reviews!
She wrote: Hi, Gary, Book sales are actually going well, and I’m having a lot of fun with this. I’m so grateful to you and Merri for pushing me to get some action going!
The free promos really get things going, and seem to reignite sales.
Two more in the works – both on gardening topics. Best wishes for 2013 to you and Merri. Love, Nicki
What a joy seeing how helping and connecting people helps all create their own special success. How beautiful to see friends turn their passions into profit!
You can get 13 more great quinoa recipes in Nicki Goff’s book at the links below.
You can order Nicki’s first book at Amazon.com.
Nicki learned at the camp that getting these downloads is step three in a seven step process. We (and others) have been helping Nicki and our delegates walk through these steps so they can earn income through writing and publishing again and again.
Nicki is now well on her way to wonderful self publishing success. She just completed her fourth book, “Under Cover Gardening”
The Writer’s Camp helps people of all ages from their teens to their 80s!
The father of the family of four wrote: Hi Gary and Merri: Just thought y’all would like to know that today Doss published his first book. It is called College Confidential and it is currently listed at number 42 on amazon. com. He would not have done it but for our experience this summer at your Writer’s Camp.
So, here is thanking you both very much.
Bill Winter
This book is written by a student, for students, College Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to Success written by Doss Winter is filled with practical tips and insider information addressing everything from Academics to getting your Zzzzs.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyascott/8428575086/in/photostream
Order College Confidential at Amazon.com here.
The writer’s camp refines both Merri’s and my 40 years of experience into its most essential points. All of us will have to work intensely to cram everything into three days.
This workshop is being conducted by Merri and me. We will be hosting the event near our North Carolina farm. These camps are intimate which allows us to personally work with each delegate to assure that all who attend can create their own publication.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyascott/8029808357/
On Friday, at 9 a.m. sharp, we get to work.
What will you write? Some of you know what you want to do…that’s great. We’ll work on that. Some of you just feel that you can succeed in this field…we’ll hone that and work on that. We’ll create our own niches.
Your product? Your goals? This is why we are inviting you to enroll in the camp now. This is a long term program and we’ll help you create your own product now that we can work on at the camp.
Here is where product development gets interesting. Your product will be safe.
Our camp uses three highly successful strategies… #1: personal attention from Merri and me… #2: peer review and #3: anonymity. Reasons for the personal attention is obvious. The peer review is a proven way to get extra insights into your publication. Look at the acknowledgements of any successful writer. They thank many people who helped make their book correct. The anonymity is our unique touch… so no one needs to be worried. I could say more but just believe me this makes all the difference. This is a unique part of our system that has evolved from decades of helping others write and publish products!
In the afternoon, we’ll dive into the 7 Ps of self publishing. Passion, Problem, Person, profitably priced Product, pathways to Prospects, Promise and Presentation.
Then we get down to brass tacks by placing the ideas you have fractured under the first magnifying glasses of Passion, Problem and Person. This is the beginning of your first perfect product so you can become your own perfect client.
I’ll talk about how your passions, your current knowledge bring you to your own niche create the stories. We’ll look at the all powerful “Golden Rule of Simplicity…Your Passions Represent Markets”.
Merri and I will both show you how to follow your passion to the market and use your passion to find “Prospecting Pathways” and “Presentation Templates” that are the drivers of your business.
Merri’s publishing skills and history, by the way, far exceed mine. She began her own import business selling products form Italy , Germany and Mexico through her own advertisements she wrote in the New Yorker, Sunday NY Times, Smithsonian, House & Garden, House Beautiful, and other magazines. Then with her ad agency edited and published hundreds of books, brought a bankrupt magazine to award winning status as executive editor to Gulf Shore Life (which later sold to the Robb Reports for $22+ million dollars), has edited over 1400 writers and was even offered the top editor (the only female) at the National Enquirer working directly with Generoso Pope (which she politely turned down). She lectured at Magazine Conferences throughout the South to help others bring their own publishing ventures to awarding winning and financial success.
We’ll then return to and chip away at your fractured writing and publishing ideas to refine the most valuable asset you have in your business armory… your imagination.
Finally around 5 pm, we’ll stop working as one large group. However, that is not the end of the educational, evolutionary process that will by now be whirling away. You’ll have enough momentum and information to refine your publication. That’s what you’ll be assigned to do.
We won’t want you to work too late though. We still have a lot to do on Sunday and Monday.
Saturday, I already know what will happen. You’ll all be sitting around with others buzzing over your ideas. I’ll have to force you back to group work at 9 a.m. because you’ll have such a head of steam you won’t want to stop talking. However, I hope that you have followed Merri’s and my example and had a good night’s sleep. Experience suggests that some of you in your excitement, will have worked through the night. You might not get to sleep now because today we’re going to accomplish three days work in a day!
We’ll start with a review of your assignments. No red marks or stars by the way… just feedback and a gentle coaxing toward the ways to create winning writing and self publishing ventures.
Then we’ll get into how to turn your thoughts/desires/energies into reality with:
#1: Stories with authenticity, meaning and roots.
#2: Stories true to the heart.
#3: Stories with conflict.
#4: Stories with passion.
The “why” of these four qualities is fascinating and so impossibly important, yet simple, that knowing it is worth the entire investment you make in the workshop. Here it is quick, down and dirty… knowledge worth millions.
There are three main demographic subgroups in the Western World. One is dying out. One controls everything but the third is rapidly rising… growing so fast that it can take down even a big organization like Starbucks (which it did in England) if ignored. Yet this third group (whom you will write and publish for) is at least partially ignored by every large corporation in the world. They all make the same cheesy error and this huge mistake creates fracturing opportunities for you… which will be the tiny, but immensely profitable small publisher.
We go on to our next Story Review about small niches that Merri and I have fractured. How we beat a publisher that’s 1,500 times larger in this niche.
We’ll break for lunch. Then at 2 pm it’s back to work:
In the afternoon, Merri and I look at how to match your passion to the National Psyche by studying the NY Times & USA Today best seller lists. We’ll see how new indie epublishers are creating top selling books and provide magical clues that lead to successful products, stories and marketing.
We’ll work on epublishing…how it is virtually free of expense to start/continue/succeed. Only things necessary: inspiration, desire, hard work and follow through…actual cost? Zero.
Then we’ll review how to use Twitter to develop viral marketing and… what’s next!
Getting your reports, books or simply ideas on the epublishing parade…that’s through Kindle, Book Nook, etc.
The excitement that builds by this time of the camp often interferes with the dream process. Ideas for reports, publishing ideas, businesses, stories, new lifestyles and bigger profits come rushing forth even though you are trying for sheep.
Regardless, on Sunday, – as before, we’ll start at 9 a.m. sharp and remain intensely focused until mid afternoon.
Before Merri and I wrap up the entire process, we’ll outline our how we’ll continue to assist you for the rest of the year.
Let’s end this with a summary: Merri and I will begin to help you develop your publishing, writing idea the minute you enroll. Our goal is to help you create your own product so you can fine tune it in July. The workshop will help you come up with new ideas… but we want you to start one now. Merri and I will be glad to help you with it.
Okay, how about your cash investment? The cost of the workshop.
As I said earlier, Merri and I have been self publishing for 40 years. This invitation provides access to information we share with only a very limited group.
The cost of the camp is $799 or $999 for a couple. Travel, your accommodations and other meals are your responsibility.
Registration is severely limited due to the personal attention we provide. We expect to be full.
Here is how to register immediately.
Click below:
Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Single $799
Couple $999
Please note which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.
We’ll send you an email giving you details and your preparatory assignments for the camp, travel, etc.
We’ll set up our line of communications as well as deliver our online Self Publishing course.
We’ll send you what you need to get started. We’re going to be learning from the first minute, and we want you to be ready.
Get started and work with us and the online course until the camp begins.
Best regards,
Gary
P.S. This is a chance to experience the dream life of a writer and self publisher.
We are going to work hard the entire time from now until the camp but the effects of this retreat won’t end on that Sunday. They’ll just begin.
One of the finest benefits you gain will be new like-minded friends. Our previous workshop delegates have stuck together…formed support groups and helped each other develop, grow and profit. This is called an “old boys network” in some places. Every major university and educational system has one…this invisible power because “who you know”, not just “what you know” works. We’ll encourage this so your alumni group can enhance your efforts whenever required.
May I share three final examples of how big, your little self publishing business can become from our workshop?
A long time friend, who had just retired from a 30 year career in the oil industry joined our program. His passion was to learn more about health and looking at the deep, more spiritual aspects of life since he had ended a financially successful career. He has gone on to publishing the leading healthy living magazine where he lives.
Not only does he publish 20,000 copies of a 48-64 page magazine on healthy living every month, he has been able to meet and work with leading health and spiritual leaders like Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dwyer and even the Dali Llama. What a thrill.
Michelle Toole, an at home mother, made a fateful decision… to attend our self publishing course.
Michelle was disabled when she took the “Self Fulfilled – How to be a Self Publisher” camp.
She took what she learned from our publishing courses and created her own successful global micro website.
Michelle wrote: “I have some great news, my web site http://healthy-holistic-living.com is now getting on average 2,000 visitors a day! Yup my little one man show web site now gets close to 60,000 visitors each month! The power of the internet is amazing as well as the opportunities. We have said it before but it deserves saying again the internet is truly the great equalizer.
“My web site is at a point now that it is growing without much effort and produces a nice passive income allowing me to continue working on my second site http://home-remedies-and-natural-cures.com and to get my third site up and running. I am also working on various joint ventures with other web sites focusing on helping others start their own web business. I am doing monthly webinars helping disabled individuals start their own business on the Internet and will be starting a coaching club in the new year. The opportunities are only limited by one’s imagination.
“Again I can not thank you and Merri enough, I look forward to many great adventures and new experiences in the coming years!”
Another successful self publisher who attended our workshop wrote :
“MY HEAD IS STILL SPINNING from all of the valuable input I received. Out in the boonies, 2 + hours from the airport in Charlotte , North Carolina it was not your typical setting for a business seminar.
“It was presented by a fascinating guy with an interesting career history. Gary Scott and his wife, Merri, split their time between their idyllic farm in North Carolina and their property in the mountains of Ecuador . I first heard about Gary through my interest in Ecuador .
“By his own admission, Gary is often ‘a bit ahead of the curve’ which is part of what makes his material interesting. You sense the authenticity of what he is saying but it has not caught on in the mainstream media or pop-culture.
“The input is that is already affecting my life was not just from the instructor, but from other participants. The small group, less than twenty, seemed to be intimately bonded as soon as the seminar started. People from all walks of life and all parts of the country gained insights from the information that was geared to create a ‘life of your choosing more so than just a successful business. A very simple but powerful concept. Why do we want the money in the first place?
“The lifestyle aspect of the course was taught by example. We, as a group, were temporarily inserted directly into the lifestyle led by Gary and Merri. No better way to learn than by doing.
“The course content suited my needs very nicely. It addressed issues pertinent to FilmTrips and my marketing company, MJ Media. New life has been injected into several FilmTrips projects that had been languishing on a back burner for quite some time. Gary talks about being open to ‘connect the dots’ and take advantage of distortions or discrepancies between economies and countries. I am in a very good position to do that. Telephone and Internet technology has certainly arrived to help make it happen. I will keep you posted!”
In the workshop we learn how to use the “Business Evolutionary Process.” Start with a small idea. Let the idea build enthusiasm. Let the enthusiasm lead you to an education. Let the education create action. The action will bring, deeper ideas…so you can start small and grow.
This is what so many others who have accepted Merri’s and my invitation have done and are doing now….as are we. A never ending process for all.
We hope you will join this growth process with us. If you do, this letter…the invitation and the workshop will be fateful and fun. Register today!
Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Single $799
Couple $999
Please note which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.
Delegates from our last camp wrote: My daughter and I had a fantastic time at the Writer’s Camp this past weekend. We both felt we gained a tremendous amount of knowledge on “how to make money with our writing skills”! Thank you.
Yours and Merri’s expertise on transmitting knowledge to others is phenomenal. The warm, personal feel of being with you both along with the great people in the class was great!
Thank you again for all the added information gained in all areas of life and what I consider gourmet meals served to us all.
Donna/Jeanna
Another wrote: Have just returned from the writing seminar conducted at your farm in Ashe County, North Carolina, I thought I’d give you my take on what I experienced. To suggest that the location, hosts, seminar content, and accommodations were adequate would be an understatement.
This was my introductory visit to the northwestern corner of North Carolina and it appears, from looking at the map, that this area could be considered the “foothills” of the Appalachian Mountain Range. Remote? You bet! But a beautiful place for retreating when life or weather calls for relocation.
Corresponding as we have for the past two years was simply a forerunner to our one on two meeting and I am so pleased that we found this opportunity. You are both most personable with dynamic and pleasing personalities. I was extremely comfortable the entire weekend and thank you for making that possible.
The seminar itself opened a whole new world that I hope to explore in the coming months. I drove away from your farm with a well inflated right rear tire and a wealth of information that could catapult me into a whole new profession should I opt to go that route. I still have a number of professional business ideas that I intend to pursue, however, the concepts and ideas conveyed in your seminar will serve to enhance whatever I undertake going forward.
But if there was one underlying common denominator that I recognized, it was the fact that you are both so well qualified to present in this field of communication. Probably my most prolific observation was how well read and knowledgeable you are. The breadth and depth of knowledge on so many diverse yet associated subjects kept my unswerving attention. It also opened my mind to a variety of fields that, heretofore, I would not have considered relevant to my interests. And as a presenter, Gary is prolific. I drove away knowing that not only did the seminar give me my money’s worth but I was introduced to some very valuable contacts.
The bottom line is your seminar was both eye opening and entertaining. I came, I saw, I learned, and I even ate healthy. Thanks for everything. John
The son of a father son team sent this note: Hi Merri! I just attended your writers camp with my dad this past weekend. I didn’t get to express how much I appreciated all that you and Gary did for us this weekend because we were in a hurry to get to the airport. Letting us stay in your cottage and having us for your writers camp was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life! Gary and Merri’s stories of adventure, success, your lessons, and advice are truly priceless!!
This camp has inspired me. Writing has always come naturally for me but I never was able to view it as a business opportunity.
This camp has shown me not only that writing can be profitable, but HOW to make it profitable! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with me. In my lifetime, I could only hope to see the success that you and Gary have achieved.
I not have only signed up for your newsletter, but I can’t stop spreading the word to my friends about my experience. Thanks again for your amazing hospitality, Mitchell
Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Single $799
Couple $999
Please note which camp you’ll attend in the comments section.
We share a David Cross video at the camp.
David has an unparalleled, hands-on marketing experience spanning 25 years in 22 countries for companies and charities large and small. He’s guided many companies and individuals to success in business and helped them achieve their marketing goals, both online and offline. He started working with the internet from the getgo and we have been lucky that he helped us start our website in the 1990s. He was also Senior Internet Consultant to Agora Inc. in Baltimore, MD. David worked closely with Agora’s publishers and marketers and over an 8-year period helped to propel Agora’s online revenues to over $300 Million in 2009 until he came to work with Merri and me full time.
More who have written about the Writer’s Camp.
From Sandra, a restaurant owner: “Dear Gary and Merri, Yes I did it! Without you and your wonderful writing class I would not have been able to see my potential!! I THANK YOU BOTH! You told me to write about what I know and I did. Thank you for all the encouragement. Starting today, we are taking orders and I wanted you to be the first to know! So here goes…..I have some exciting news to share! I have just written my first book and very much appreciate your help. This book would make a great gift for any bride-to-be or even the parents of the bride (especially if they’re paying the bill)! Please check it out. I genuinely appreciate you helping me spread the word! Thank you!! Sandra”
From Jerusha, an anthropologist: “Hello Gary and Merri. I am the first in the class to publish! I published a calendar on www.lulu.com!
From Todd, a wedding photographer: “Thanks, Gary and Merri name recognition is beginning. Here is my new photoletter that your program helped me develop. I’m getting more clear about my own marketing now, so I may be able to better advantage of it. I am planning now to send out an email once a week showcasing new photos and creating awareness for my products and services. By mid July, I will place my first greeting card order (with a printing company Merri recommended in Cotacachi). So, I will soon have an inexpensive product to offer along with the more expensive prints that I sell. So far, I’ve got 60 opt-on subscribers to my email list, and I am telling everyone I know about it, so it’s starting to grow nicely. My first goal is to have 1000 readers. I’ll see how quickly I can accomplish it. Take care, Todd”
From Micky, a real estate broker: “I want to say thank you for the inspiration and encouragement that I received through your publishing program. I recently published a 28 page booklet” Naples is Priceless “. This FREE booklet is being distributed through the Chamber of Commerce, banks, hotels, etc. With over 25 years as a Realtor I can now let potential real estate buyers gain knowledge and inside tidbits about this beautiful area. Again, thank you for helping me develop my potential. Micky”
Meet other successful writers.
Mike Herron who atteded our camp and is now on his second book just wrote: Hello Gary, I wanted to thank you and Merri for once again providing a wonderful and motivating experience at the Writer’s Camp last month. As with your other workshops I’ve attended, it inspired me to return home and finish my second book and get it published.
I’m pleased to announce that Appalachian Gold is now completed and available for people to purchase and read. It is available on Amazon in either e-book format or as a print-on-demand hard copy.
Unlike my first novel, Black Diamonds, the first book in the Colors of Alaska trilogy which takes place in Homer, Alaska, Appalachian Gold is set in the North Georgia Mountains. As is my style, I interweave local legends with love and bring them to contemporary life.
Susan and I both hope to attend more of your workshops at your North Carolina camps, perhaps we can manage to get up to one this summer. Maybe we can even work in a book signing at a nearby winery to help spread the word about Appalachian Gold.
Now I will turn my attention to completing the second book in my Alaskan trilogy. It will be called Blue Ice. Susan and I will be visiting Alaska in May and June doing research for the book, enjoying the majestic scenery, and visiting our son.
If any of your readers are aspiring authors who have yet to be published I would strongly encourage them to sign up for one of your writing camps at the first opportunity. I know the experience will provide them with the skills, knowledge and perhaps more importantly, the motivation, to return home and turn their dream into reality.
Best wishes always and we look forward to seeing you again soon. Mike
Our online course “Self Fulfilled - How to be a Self Publisher” is normally $299. See more here.
Save the $299 and receive this online course FREE now.
Join us Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 14, 15, 16 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday August 31- Sept 1-2 Super Thinking Writer’s Camp, Ashe County, NC.
Single $799
Couple $999
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