August 2004
Inspiration on careers, networking, writing and more

In this issue:
Editorial: Space clearing
Let me introduce you to: A new Print on Demand service at BookSurge
What’s on: Autumn 2004

“Where words speak louder than actions”

Firstly, apologies for the lateness of this Monthly Inspirer. I have, of course, been away. I’m sure that you too would rather be out in the garden, so I wont take up too much of your time this month with my editorial. And I’ll just send you the barest essentials.

Space clearing
About three years ago I invited a Feng Shui consultant, called Vanessa, into my home. I had always been interested in the art and as we had moved into a house that had been filled to the brim with clutter by its previous owners, I felt that some bad energy may have needed shifting. In addition, I had learned that you can inherit certain patterns of living from previous tenants. Our predecessors had always struggled financially. I did not want to take on that pattern!

When Vanessa came to visit she told me how important it was to have an empty desk at the end of each day, so that the next day you would be faced with the excitement of a clean sheet. She also said that it was bad to have your attic filled with unwanted, unsorted objects that would never serve a purpose.

In his book The Money or your Life, John Clark suggests that we make a space before we explore and make a change, so that there is room for the results of that change to grow. Ridding the house of physical and psychological clutter was all part of my own space clearing. But last weekend I went one better.

I went away for four days with my husband and without the children. We went to The Hague as that is where is currently works, and as he works there we felt no need to sight see. This was not a holiday, it was a break. If we had been at home in England we would have found a mountain of jobs to do. Out in The Hague we had no telephone, no Internet, no neighbours. Just time. And so we sat outside bars, went for a swim and wandered round galleries and streets. We did everything at half speed and could not remember a time when we had done so little, slept so much and walked everywhere. Certainly not for more than a decade.

After one day I had had an idea for a novel. On the second day I had planned it in my head. On the third I had written it down. On the fourth day I found some fabulous fabric at a quarter of the price I would have paid in England and was so excited (I never have time to wander through markets normally) that I created a brand new Find Your Passion workshop with my Australian friend, Jacinta Noonan (http://www.bigontheinside.com <http://www.bigontheinside.com/> ). Then we wrote two songs - and sang them – (I’m usually far too self-conscious to sing in public and have never dared do karaoke). The day after I came home again I found myself writing a poem for the first time in ten years.

The space I had created was just four days long, but it generated enough new ideas to keep me busy for months. Jacinta and I will be running our workshops in both England and The Netherlands in November.

So, if you are finding business a bit slow right now, or if you still have some holiday to take, consider leaving behind your business books, your watch and your laptop and take instead an open mind.

Let me introduce you to:

I have just been introduced to Chris McNeil of a company called BookSurge. They are offering a very attractive Print on Demand offer and so I’d like to share it with you.

For just US$99 set up fee they will prepare a PDF of your black and white text book for printing. Then they will link your book up with printers all over the world, put it onto all the online bookstores and you pay you a royalty of 20%-25% on every book that is sold. But the best bit is that if you want to buy back copies yourself, their deal is better than many other POD companies, in that you can buy single copies at 30% discount but 100 copies at 50% and this price goes up to 75%. Now that is attractive.

They even help you with marketing! So, if you would like to know more please take a look at them at http://www.globalbookpublisher.com <http://www.globalbookpublisher.com/> .

What’s on

SEPTEMBER
I will be in The Netherlands and available for consultancy or a course on 15th if anyone would like to book me!

Thursday 16th September
Den Haag Centraal
Motivation for Writers
A morning of feedback on work in progress and exercises
9.30 – 12.30
Cost: €25
Book on: mailto:info@summertimepublishing.com

Thursday 23rd September
London SE1
Release the Book Within
Learn how to plan and write books and get them published too.
9.30 – 3.30
£95 (if you book by 15th August); or £150 if you don’t – includes lunch and notes
Book on: mailto:info@summertimepublishing.com

OCTOBER

Wednesday 6th October
Definite Articles
Collyweston, Stamford, Lincs
Find out how to write and sell articles about what you know already.
9.30 – 3.30
£80 including lunch and notes
Book on: mailto:info@summertimepublishing.com

Thursday 7th October
A Place in the Sun
Buy the Book, Stamford, Lincs
Find out what moving abroad really means.
7.30 pm
Cost: £5
Book on 01780 756773

Wednesday 13th October
Definite Articles
Islington, London
Find out how to write and sell articles about what you know already.
9.30 – 3.30
£95 including lunch and notes
Book on: mailto:suewarner@speakingout.co.uk

NOVEMBER

Saturday 6th November
Find Your Passion
Stamford, Lincs
A workshop with Jo Parfitt and Jacinta Noonan (over from The Netherlands who runs http://www.bigontheinside.com <http://www.bigontheinside.com/> ) that will show you how to find your passion and make the break to turn your dreams into reality.
10.00 – 15.00
Cost: £65 – includes lunch and notes
Embrace magazine readers will receive a free book called Find Your Passion by Jo Parfitt.
Book on: mailto:info@summertimepublishing.com

The Netherlands
Week of 22-25 November
Find Your Passion Workshop with Jo Parfitt and Jacinta Noonan
Definite Articles Workshop with Jo Parfitt €150
Motivation for Writers morning 9.30 – 12.30 €25, Den Haag
Book on: mailto:info@summertimepublishing.com

DECEMBER

Wednesday 8th December
Collyweston, Stamford, Lincs
Release the Book Within
Learn how to plan and write books and get them published too.
9.30 – 3.30
£80 – includes lunch and notes