See what this means below. Recently Merri and I began a joint venture to help more writers become independent publishers. This is potentially the largest and biggest expansion we have ever made. Part of the kickoff is to update our online course on how to write to sell. Here is an excerpt from Chapter One of that update.
Three Reasons to Write for Fulfillment & Profit
By Gary Scott
Morning mists of early dawn lay in sheets at meadow’s edge. Pale sunlight warms morning birds that dance on pine straw and applaud the rising sun. Their song is harmony with the creek rushing below, nature’s sweet symphony in tune with the freshness of this new day, pure and ready to enjoy.
North Carolina-deep in the mountain forest. The morning starts slowly in the Blue Ridge, I am sitting in the fresh, cool air armed with a steaming mug of coffee to ward the morning’s chill. My day’s work is nearly done.
I often start writing at five, even four in the morning. My goal? To write four hours a day. I often finish at nine or even eight. Then, dependin how the day feels, I can say my day’s work is done.
Not every day is this short. Some days I write a marathon staying at the keyboard seven, eight, even twelve hours! The morning I wrote this lesson, we felt like a walk, with our hound Mah, in the woods instead. Essentially my day’s real work was over. Yet by the end of the day, I was still be thousands of dollars richer.
For the rest of the day, I do mostly as I feel. If the kids are home, we’ll play. Other days, I just putter. Some days I take out a canvas and paint or concentrate on playing my flute. Other days, I just sit in the sun and read. Other days I grab my camera and sit at the edge of the meadow cloaked in camouflage, watching and waiting to capture photos of wildlife… deer, wild turkey, rabbits and coyotes… even bobcats. Some days I hike in the dawn mists to a writing desk that I have set in the middle of the wilderness.
Here I am at our North Carolina forest writing station.
Such is the day in the life of an independent publisher. This is a life as perfect as any I could ask for. Through publishing and writing my wife, Merri, and I have become wealthy beyond our dreams. More important we have become self-fulfilled!
This course shows how you can be a writer, publisher or an independent publisher, make millions (if you wish) and most important, be self fulfilled too.
Let me be honest. I can work four or five hours a day but normally work more. I probably work more hours than most. Often I write seven days a week plus spend even more time researching.
To be really financially successful, especially in the beginning, publishing will probably require you to work hard too… especially to begin.
What sets publishing above most businesses is that you can choose the amount and type of work you want to do. Since the work can be of your choosing, it can also be fun. With fun, work doesn’t seem like an effort.
I start my work early because I love doing so. I feel cozy sitting quietly in the sunrise creating thoughts and ideas to share with my readers. The work is not just for the money either. I write about what interests me. The task of writing is a pleasure. I look forward to this time shared with the keyboard and my thoughts.
My daily work goals are to enjoy everyday, provide services to the universe, earn enough for a wonderful life and to pay for my existence.
It is easy to reach such goals through publishing. This manual is about more than just how to write to sell. If you wish, run your own profitable independent publishing business. It does give simple step-by-step instructions on all you will need to do to enjoy and earn from writing and publishing.
Then it gives much more. This course shares a way to do something you love and make a profit in the process!
If you decide to write to fulfill… to sell or to create your own publishing business, you can have a schedule that suits you. You don’t even have to write to publish and sell! (I explain how in the next chapter.)
If all above is true, you are probably thinking that publishing is a pretty good deal. But the day described is not a total description of what I do. What I really do is even better.
The day I described is the way I used to live when I had a vacation home in North Carolina. I lived differently at my home in Florida. There after working three or four hours we would quit work and take a long walk and perhaps go fishing in the lake. Then we would choose what to do next.
Years ago in Florida we had another job to do since our offices were located there. We had to pick up the mail. This was not something we ever minded either. In the publishing business mail means money! Every day, hundreds, usually thousands and some days tens of thousands of dollars (our best days are over $20,000) arrive in the mail. As you can imagine, opening the mail was one of our favorite jobs.
Then we added a place on the beach in the Dominican Republic, life was different there as well. There, we usually ambled to the restaurant for a cup of fresh Dominican coffee, then went for my walk on the beach, a swim after our day’s work was done by eight or nine in the morning.
This was our condo in the Dominican Republic (the first on the beach) and I would write on the rooftop in the morning breeze.
Naples and our village in the Dominican Republic became crowded (my wife Merri and I are recluses).
We sold out and purchased a 252 acre farm in one of North Carolina’s most remote counties, plus a 962 acre plantation in Ecuador that is so isolated that we don’t even have electricity.
View from my North Carolina farm office at dawn.
Then in our writing research we visited and fell in love with Ecuador.
We were also able to buy a 962 acre hacienda in a cloud forest.
View above the clouds from my writing desk at our Andean hacienda, Rosaspamba.
Our writing allowed Merri and I to buy a colonial hotel in a charming Ecuador village.
Here we are writing in the courtyard of…
their Colonial Ecuador hotel.
Our writing allowed us to buy a penthouse on the beach.
The Ecuador sunset I enjoy while writing at our Pacific penthouse.
Finally as we reached our 70s… and my mom (90) an age when most people retire, we were able to buy a 16 acre home in a Florida orange grove so our family from Oregon, Florida and England can be together and we could expand our business of writing and publishing from there.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyascott/8314938546/in/photostream/
Writing in Florida
This may not be the way you want to live, but the point is that through writing and with an independent publishing business you can live anywhere, anyway you desire!
Starting without a penny… deeply in debt, writing and independent publishing have brought all of these material benefits to Merri and me, numerous homes… investment property and millions in the bank… all debt free.
We have lived in some of the most crowded cities in the world (London and Hong Kong) and now choose to live in some of the most isolated wilderness one can find. You can write and have your own writing and publishing business in almost any type of place today.
Writing and publishing brings money but it also creates freedom and much more.
Choice of home sites is not the only freedom we have gained. We travel as well…sometimes, a hundred thousand miles or more in a year. We traveled all over the world and almost always came back from each trip with more money than when we started. All because of writing and publishing.
Also because of publishing, wherever I go, there are friends and clients to meet. People that respect me, and people I respect.
To top this all off, almost every trip we take is tax deductible!
Most important through writing and publishing Merri and I feel fulfilled and that we are making a positive contribution to society and the world.
This is the lifestyle that you as a writer or independent publisher can have. You can make a fortune, gain friends, prestige, work to your own schedule and gain enormous tax benefits too.
It won’t take you a lifetime either. My wife and I started our self-publishing business from being broke. Today, we have three homes, no mortgages, money in the bank and much, much more income than outgo and a multitude of experience we have gained.
This course shares that experience with you!
But I have not touched on the two most important reasons for being a publisher. More important than the money, the freedom and the tax benefits is the satisfaction!
Sure we can work when we please and go where we wish, but more important, the fields in which we work are ones we love. Work isn’t really work. We enjoy each and every day of work. We wake in the morning excited about the projects ahead and when we go to bed, we look forward to the next day. Because we love what we do, work becomes play. Our work is so much a part of our lives, that we do not see our days as work. Our livelihood is a natural, active and rewarding part of our existence and creates a certain timelessness that most people who really work do not enjoy.
We do not sacrifice during the week to enjoy the weekend. Though we often change our schedule on weekends, we might just as well work right through because we are having fun with a project.
Though we take trips, it is not to get away from work, but to get stimulating fun, exciting, new ideas for work!
Though we often stop working at four, other times we might work 12 hours a day for a week, because we are so caught up on a project.
We have no plans for retirement. We are not patiently whiling away our life, waiting till the day we can quit working in the expectation that we will find some magic bliss. We are not living a half life waiting for the day when we have some magic amount of money in the bank feeling that these numbers on a sheet of paper will suddenly make us feel good.
We enjoy the bliss of each and every day, doing what we love and hoping we can do it forever!
Another great joy is that my wife and I get to do all of this together.
Merri and me headed to our North Carolina office.
I joyfully admit my publishing business may not have succeeded at all had Merri not been there to help me. Publishing gives us common interests many couples never have a chance to share. We never come home from work not understanding what the other has gone through. We enhance one another and this has added a greater dimension to our relationship. We have so much in common through the business. This business is perfect for us both. We make the business better by operating as a team. The business makes us better together helping us to achieve common goals. Its possible that a couple can live and work at home if they choose. They can have extremely low overheads, share the same experiences and include the family in projects and mailings.
An independent publishing business can be great for families as well.
Families that learn together stay together and have fewer problems.
“College Confidential” ranked #42 at Amazon.com, written by a college student who attended our Writer’s Camp last summer! See the story below.
Family togetherness is one of nature’s best social tools.
Being together even for meals can have a profound effect on health and balance. With this in mind we began encouraging family groups to attend our summer camps in the Blue Ridge.
We were gratified at the great results in this first attempt. We had a mother-daughter, father-son and a family of four at the camp.
One mother-daughter team reported after the camp: Hello, Merri and Gary, 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. Your 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
The son, a college student, of the father-son team wrote: Hi Merri! I just attended your Writer’s 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
Writer’s Camp delegates deep in study.
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
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. Start your college career off on the right foot with veteran advice that will help you survive and thrive during this new chapter of your life.
Doss Winter. Congrats!
College Confidential solves “How To” mysteries like: how to study effectively; how to endear yourself to a professor; how to handle an unruly roommate; how to manage in a drinking culture; how to live within a tight budget; how to avoid landlord troubles; and how to stay mentally and physically fit.
College Confidential gives you the tools you will need to handle the inevitable challenges that you will face and promises to help you to become a stronger, smarter, and more confident student, ready to take on the trials of higher education!
Order College Confidential at Amazon.com here.
Of course the couples and those who attended on their own enjoyed and gained a lot as well.
One single delegate wrote: Good Day Merri, (Queen of Scots) 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.. (tell them what you’re going to tell them)
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. (Tell them what you experienced)
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
Plus a couple who attended emailed this: Our forefathers in this land, the migratory Americans, have been credited with the origin of the phrase “walk a mile in another man’s shoes”. This is an ancient wisdom that suggests that we cannot really understand someone else unless we live their life.
Yet modern virtual technology that creates broadband virtually assures that everyone has different views. This makes it harder for families to share common interests.
The life of a writer and publisher can be absolutely wonderful.
But can writing and publishing be good for you?
You don’t have to work in the morning. You can work from ten to two in the middle of the day, from eight till midnight, or at a different time every day. You don’t have to do the business with your husband or wife. You can do it with your kids, a partner, employees or you can do it all by yourself. And you can do it part- time while you keep the job you have.
Publishing can be your sole source of income or you can use publishing to make your existing business bigger and more profitable.
You do not have to try to make millions. You don’t have to travel. You don’t have to have homes all over. You can live and operate your own independent publishing business just about anyway you want, if you follow a few simple rules I have discovered. (I’ll tell you how I think you could even operate a publishing company from a car in a later chapter!)
This course is about those rules and how if you follow them you can be a successful publisher and self fulfilled!
To begin let me share, why if you choose, a publishing business can be successful for you.
Turn Your Passion into Profit
One day my youngest daughter asked me what on the surface appeared to be a childish question. “What is the greatest problem in the world?”, she asked. I was about to give a quick childish reply but realized this was a genuine serious question. Here was a way to give my daughter an insight into life. She was waiting, totally open and innocent, ready to accept my reply. This could be important, I thought. “Wait a day”, I replied.
By the evening, I still didn’t have the answer and decided to meditate and then sleep on it. Whenever I have trouble finding answers, I use a technique learned clear back in the days when I lived in Hong Kong. I meditate and then let my sleep do the thinking. I just think about the question, without expecting or even wanting the answer before I drift off to sleep.
As usual my subconscious did its work. When I woke I knew the world’s greatest problem. I felt ready to answer my daughter.
At breakfast we shared this thought. “Stifled passion is the world’s great problem. In our civilization we are rewarded for concentrating on thinking and stifling our feelings and passion.
“Most people spend most of their times doing things they do not feel good about. Since what they are doing is not satisfying, they cannot love it, have a feel for it or let it be a full part of their lives. They cannot get into their work so it becomes boring and they don’t what to be doing what they are.
She asked for an example and I explained. “The way most of us work is a perfect example. Most people work just to make money. Most people work so that in their spare time they can enjoy their passions and eventually retire. Hopefully they will then have enough money and enough good health to enjoy their passions. These people stifle their passions most of the time and drudge off to work. They live for a paycheck and the dream that some day they will be able to do what they really want to do.
“Living this way makes many people unhappy. Imagine the problem just one unhappy person creates. People are grumpy at work. This makes their fellow workers and customers feel bad. The products and services they provide and their customers suffer. One unhappy person creates unhappiness in others and this gloom spreads. Giving shoddy service and products make everyone feel even worse! By the end of the day when everyone goes home they feel so bad that they even mean to their loved ones. This makes it hard for the kids to grow properly, so they are more likely to end up feeling bad when they grow up. One stifled passion can create hundreds, thousands, even millions more!”
At that moment I realized why I love the publishing business so much. Publishing is a business that allows you to turn your passion into profit!
Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to get into publishing just to be passionate. You can make a fortune in publishing (of course I can get passionate about that) but there is more to it than just the money.
If you love golf, then you can publish things about golf. Love travel, fishing, dolls, art? Publish about these things. This is the magic of publishing. You can immerse yourself in your passion and make money in the process.
So a day in the life of a publisher can consist mainly of being involved in your passions. Watching, doing, learning, understanding that passion better so you can in turn share that information with others who share the passion. Once perfected, your publishing business can give you an almost perfect lifestyle (one suited for you-not one dictated by others).
Your days can be like Merri’s and mine. Better still, they can be the way you want them to be.
Start when you want to start, but probably eager to get going as soon as possible. Quit when you want to quit, but chances are you’ll get so involved, the family will often have to drag you away for dinner. You can make as much money as you like, but will need less. Without needing fortunes to retire (because you’ll never want to), without needing money to get away from business and with just about everything you do creating a tax deductible business expense, your money will go further. Also when you gain bliss with every day’s work, lots of spending that used to be done for satisfaction in life won’t be needed.
In short your publishing business can do just about everything a person could ask. I could go on about this forever, but I hear Merri calling. Dinner’s ready, and I don’t want her to have to come up here and drag me away!
In the next chapter, I explain how to publish even if you don’t want to be a writer.
End of Lesson #1
There are three reasons for writing.
Usually our writing desires spring from a mixture of all three reasons… insight… lifestyle… and expansion.
Insight
Insight is the part where we have something we want to get out… something that needs to be said and we have it to say. We have the need to make our insight excite others. This is a lofty desire… that emanates from the deepest universal aspects of our being that goes beyond the mortal coil. Patanjali… a great Vedic philosopher described our knowing as being like that of a light bulb. We think that the light is ours… when it is really the universe using our form and function to speak to itself. We are light bulbs. Our nature is to spread the light we see within and one way to let it shine is by writing.
This creative creature within has an urge to communicate and with money is not much concerned.
Lifestyle
Like it or not the physical part of our being… needs food… and clothing, shelter…a computer (or a pen at least-though the job has been done with quills in the past), electricity… gas… braces for the kids… savings for the future… to pay taxes… an advertising budget and once in awhile maybe a vacation. Even the most dedicated writers sometimes need a break. So the idea of writing to earn income is a time honored and often very successful tradition. We write to sell!
Expansion
Expanding through writing puts us into the publisher’s realm. We share insights… sometimes our own… but also those of others… build a focus of consensus that expands some aspect of humanity through words… thus expanding our lives in the research and sharing process and enriching the lives of those who read what we publish.
Learn Three Ways to Gain from Writing.
#1: Publish a Positive Community Magazine. See why we believe in small positive community magazines. Order a FREE report here.
#2: Enroll in in our ONLINE course. You can use the fee later by applying toward payment to a Writer’s Camp. Learn more about the online course Self-Fulfilled – How to be a writer and Independent Publisher.
#3: Attend our Writer’s Camp March 15, 16, 17 and we’ll deduct the cost of the online course or reserve a place at our Writer’s Camp and receive the online course FREE today.
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 talking over books at last year’s summer Writer’s Camp.
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
