 | | Bo the cloud |
Tweed Scott will speak to your group, class, club or organization. As the author of Texas In Her Own Words, he is ready to show you why Texas is so special. He can actually explain why Texans are the way they are even though they are hard pressed to explain it themselves. He's passionate about Texas. You'll be entertained and inspired by his presentation. You will learn things about Texas you never knew before. For booking details, please use the Contact Us link.
Speaking of Texas Christmas is coming!  | | Book cover |
Well, what can I tell you? time has passed this year fster than I care to remember/ It seemed like just yesterday I was anxiously anticipating my son't high school graduation and then POOF! The whole summer was gone...I was in New York city for two and a half days picking up the Ben Franklin Award & a bronze IPPY award...the following weekend I was back in New England for two weeks and then found myself in Chicago for a speaker's seminar put on by Speakermatch.com. Then it was in Corpus Christi for the 1st annual Corpus Beat Book Festival followed two weeks later back in Corpus for my birthday with my kids.
Several events later and many miles traveled, I found myself at the mall last week looking for some Texas baby shower gifts and watched as several Christmas trees were moved into place. Santa's big chair is already in place...It wasn't even halloween yet! I've taken a long time to get to ask you a favor. My friend Gene Vasconi has a children's book for sale and I'd like you to take a look at it. Gene's a quality guy and his book is really innovative. It creates a great learning experience for kids. Here's how he discribes it...
"A wonderful children's book for ages 4-8. Part of the Bo the Cloud Friendship course. Teaches valuable lessons in the making and keeping of friendships plus self esteem.
Bo encounters Nugget, a rainbow bird who has multi-colored feathers.
Together they embark on an adventure to help Nugget find his purpose and meet some enchanting characters. Contains a complete soundtrack of the story and music on CD or cassette." It's only $9.95. you can see for yourself at http://www.bothecloud.com/
| Embracing Change One of the topics I speak about in my Texas Mantra speech is change. One of the most profound things I ever heard in college came from (one of what I thought at the time was) one my most ineffective professors. The moment he spoke the words, I knew I had just heard something that was going to stick with me for the rest of my life. He said, "Everybody wants improvement but no one wants change." For me that is one of life's absolutes. If you just think about it for a moment, you know that's right. What's more, you can't have one without the other.
Life is all about change. It's how we learn, it's how we grow. Change is one of life's constants. The changes I've endured since I last made an entry into this blog have been life changing for me. The unexpected success of Texas In Her Own Words has completely changed my business model; I dare say for the good. From the beginning I knew public speaking and selling books in the 'back of the room' (BOR) was going to be a cornerstone of my marketing plan. What has surprised me is how well that has been accepted and how much it has impacted the success curve of the book.
It came as a surprise when after a speaking gig at a civic club in town someone came up and asked me how much I would charge to give a "talk" to their organization. After the deer left my headlights, I started asking questions about the group, it's size, the purpose of the talk, etc. I set a fee and got the gig without so much as a blink from the other party. At that precise moment in time, my business model changed from the author selling books in the back of the room to the speaker selling books in the back of the room. and as Robert Frost said in his poem, "...and for me that has made all the difference." Lots more to come. Talk to you soon. T | Texas Independence Day Texas Independence Day, March 2nd, is always a special day for me. It always begins by going to the memorial ceremony at the Texas State Cemetery. There state dignitaries, Texas Revolutionary Era reeactors, interested visitors and downright patriotic citizens show up for the speeches and musket fire. It is a time to honor the men & women who created Texas and those who have continued to make Texas what it is. It's always a moving ceremony and well worth your time. Mark it on your calendar for next year.
Saturday was the Texas parade put on by the Celebrate Texas organization. this is a great group of people who stage several events in the hopes of keeping the memory and spirit alive. They are to be commended in the face of so much apathy. Texas Independence Day used to be a big deal in Texas years ago. As more and more people have moved to Texas from other places, the real possibility of the dilution and the watering down of the Texas spirit and Texas traditions is a reality. Celebrate Texas tries to keep Texas in the front of our minds. Marsha Johnson, Harvey Ford and Roger Moore and a host of others work on this throughout the year. These are special people to me. Thank you for all you do to remind us of what a special place this is we call home.
These events have become traditions for me. Every Texas Independence Day you'll find me in the thick of the various Texas celebrations. I may not have been born here but I could not be any prouder of the heritage that is Texas.
L8R. Check back soon. There's lots going on... | World Wellness Speech Hi just a quick update on the World Wellness speech. I can say this. It's done. I was looking forward to the speech with a great deal of anticipation. I bet I did about 5 or 6 rewrites until I got it right where I wanted it. I didn't want to leave anything to chance so I asked Lolis Baab of News Talk 1370 to introduce me. She is the host of a radio broadcast called 'In the Ladies room with Lolis.' They were broadcasting from the event. She had asked me to appear on her radio show shortly after the conclusion of my speech.
My speech was delivered in the main ballroom of the Austin Convention Center. It would have been intimidating if I had let it. The ballroom was cavernous, huge...really big. Unless you put at least 300 people in it, it still would have looked empty. My crowd, I'm told was between 50 & 100. I've got to take their word for it. Although we encouraged people to move toward the front, they mostly chose to spread out. So the room still had that empty look to it. hey, i'm happy for the folks who came out.To be honest, it was the largest room I have ever worked and I have worked other ballrooms before.
The crowd was friendly and appeared to be into the speech. If I had one criticism of myself was that I relied on my notes too much. What's weird is that I wrote the speech and I am completely familiar with the material. I figure it is a lesson learned and something to build on. That will never happen again. Hey, if you're not learning and getting better each time out, why are you doing it? I do want to thank, Jud Schwartz, the event organizer and Tonya Hofmann with Your Local City for giving me this opportunity to practice my craft another time. It is a craft. One that is always a work in progress. I'll check back soon. Thanks for reading my blog. In the meantime, take care of your precious selves. | Short Notice This is going to be fairly short post because I am so busy right now. I'm getting ready for Saturday. Why Saturday? I merely want to tell you I will be speaking at the Austin World Wellness Fair this Saturday, February 24th at the Austin Convention Center. It's being sponsored by www.YourLocalCity.com a virtual chamber of commerce owned and operated in Austin by Tonya & Michael Hofmann. They're doing great things for small businesses by helping them compete on an equal footing with the 'big boys.' They're passionate about their work and helping small businesses grow.
At the World Wellness Fair, there are going to be dozens upon dozens of booths, displays and speakers to address virtually every aspect of life on this planet. The event is going on both Saturday and Sunday. I'll be speaking in the main ballroom on Saturday at 2 o'clock. I'd like to invite you to come on out and listen to my inspirational speech, Texas Mantra: No is NOT an Option! I'll be talking about the Texas attitude and what you can take from it to improve your life. If you'd like more information just check out www.worldwellness.org. Click on the Austin link and that's it. I'll look forward to seeing you there. Check back soon! | Short Notice This is going to be fairly short post because I am so busy right now. I'm getting ready for Saturday. Why Saturday? I merely want to tell you I will be speaking at the Austin World Wellness Fair this Saturday, February 24th at the Austin Convention Center. It's being sponsored by www.YourLocalCity.com a virtual chamber of commerce owned and operated in Austin by Tonya & Michael Hofmann. They're doing great things for small businesses by helping them compete on an equal footing with the 'big boys.' They're passionate about their work and helping small businesses grow.
At the World Wellness Fair, there are going to be dozens upon dozens of booths, displays and speakers to address virtually every aspect of life on this planet. The event is going on both Saturday and Sunday. I'll be speaking in the main ballroom on Saturday at 2 o'clock. I'd like to invite you to come on out and listen to my inspirational speech, Texas Mantra: No is NOT an Option! I'll be talking about the Texas attitude and what you can take from it to improve your life. If you'd like more information just check out www.worldwellness.org. Click on the Austin link and that's it. I'll look forward to seeing you there. Check back soon! | It Just Keeps Getting Better... Big news to share with you. Texas In Her Own Words is now on sale at the Alamo! I cannot begin to tell you how exciting that is. People from all over the world are going to get look at this book now.
The Bob Bullock Museum contacted me and asked me to host their Texas Trivia Day event in conjunction with the opening of a new exhibit in June. Stay tuned for the details of that. It looks like I'll do a book signing there too that day. The museum is also placing Texas In Her Own Words in the museum store.
The .2K for the Sims Foundation went pretty well. We sold some books there. I've started going to various civic clubs and organizations and delivering my speech, "Inventing Texas".
I just returned from Amarillo where I did a book signing event with John "JC" Eslinger, one of the people featured in the book. We had billboards, radio, TV and print coverage leading up to the signings at Hastings in Wolflin Village shopping center. We had a very nice turnout and book sales were brisk.
While I was in Amarillo, I was able to get Texas In Her Own Words in the gift shop at The Big Texan restaurant on I-40. You probably already know it but that is where they have the 72 oz. steak and if you can eat it with all the trimmin's you get the meal for free. No, I didn't even try. (Heck, it looks like a roast!)
There is more good news on the way but I want to give you a reason to come back. So come back soon. Coming up, I speak to a Sertoma Club and I'm off to Houston for two days of book signing at TLA the Texas Library Association annual meeting. Followed by another book signing at the Lockhart Eastern Star annual Taco Breakfast on Saturday, April 29th.
If you're a member of a group, club or civic organization and you need a speaker...contact me. "Inventing Texas" is a story about Texas that you likely have never heard before and every word of it is true...and it all started with a dead man. See you soon.
| Adventures of a New Author What a month this has been. It took a couple of days to come down off the high of the book signing. But as I've said before, I'm pretty much a realist and recognize it for what it is. It was fun but now the real work starts. I remember reading very early in my research of the publishing business a quote from something I read. It simply said, an author spends 6% of his or her time writing their book and 94% selling it. Well, that's where we are today.
I have made a few forays into retail land to see if some stores would carry Texas In Her Own Words on their shelves. So far, you can purchase the book in Fredricksburg at the Admiral Nimitz Museum gift shop. It is also across the street at the Main Book Shop. At this point, I have people considering it in Johnson City and here in Austin...When the book becomes available, I will have the locations listed here on the web site.
I have two book signing events coming up very quickly. I will be at the Hastings in Wolflin Village in Amarillo on Saturday, April 22, from 2 to 4. This is a really interesting promotion. It's complicated and involved but to put it on the short order menu--We currently have two billboards up promoting the event. These were the brain child of J.C. Eslinger. He is one of the people I interviewed in the book. I made the statement, "If there is a more interesting man in Texas, I haven't met him yet." He truly is an interesting man. So that is what the billboards say beside his picture--Meet the most interesting man in Texas (at Hastings in Wolflin Village) We are also scheduled for two radio interviews, a possible speaking engagment, a related newspaper story based on the people I interview from that area, and a TV interview working up to the actual book signing. It's shaping up to be a large time. I'm really looking forward to it. I'll let you know how all that works out.
I will leave directly after the event to head for home because I have another book signing event at my church--The Manchaca United Methodist Church. Sunday the 23rd is the church picnic. I'm going sell book there. My portion of the profits will go to the church. Just my way of giving back. God has been very good to me.
Then the following Wednesday, I'm off to Houston for the Texas Library Association. I'll be signing books on Thursday and Friday. So for about ten days, I figure to meet myself coming back. And I haven't even told you about the various speaking engagements I have coming up---We'll talk about that part of my marketing strategy in another post. I've taken up more of your time than I expected. I just wanted to bring you up to speed in the life of Texas In Her Own Words. I do appreciate you spending time with me. In the meantime, take care of your precious selves. | Do You Have ANY Idea What You've Just Done? As promised, I'm back to tell you about the Official Book Release Party for Texas In Her Own Words. We held it at Hills Cafe, Saturday, March 4th. First of all let me tell you I had absolutely no expectations about how the day would turnout. I just didn't want to have a big fiasco with all kinds of problems. I really didn't allow myself to think about how many books I'd sell or how many people would show up. I had been so consumed with getting the book done and to press--biting my nails to the second knuckle, praying the books would arrive in time for the party I was already promoting. Leave it to me to have a bunch of people show up and there's no books for them to buy. Believe me, I was having that vision.
As it turned out, I got to Hills at 11 o'clock and met with Cheri Fox, Hills Special Events Planner. She was superb. She had everything ready and the logistics all worked out. We set up the signing table. I had noticed a lady eating her lunch in a booth across the room. Just as I changed into my Texas Flag shirt, Zee, my wife brought this lady over and asked if I would sign four books for her. "Why, of course.", I said. That was at ten till twelve. From that moment on until 3:20, I signed books non-stop. People starting showing up and and lining up. The only time I got out of the chair was to stand up and take pictures with friends, family and people I interviewed who are in the book. It was amazing. I wasn't counting the number of books I was signing--never thought to do that--but it seemed to be a lot to me.
At one point, my book designer, Tami, leaned over and asked, "Do you have any idea what you are doing here today?" "No" was all I could muster. She then told me, "You should be very proud. First time authors don't do this. This is rare." I sensed something extraordinary was happening but I was really too busy to think about it right then. At the end of the day, we moved 125 books in three and a half hours.
Looking back and going over the receipts and records, it was an amazing day. What was the most surprising was how many people bought multiple copies. People who bought the books told me what a great gift this book was going to be. It was satisfying to hear.
As the day closed, I kept thinking about how blessed I was with friends, family, colleagues and church family. I remembered my days in radio when I told people how often I never realized how many times I touched other people's lives. It was what I did everyday. That day at Hills, I was reminded how blessed I am and how all those people touched my life. You only release your first book once. I was honored to have shared one of the biggest days of my life with so many wonderful people. If you were there, please let me thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your many kind words and best wishes have not gone unnoticed.
My family and I have entered a new phase of life. LWB--Life With Books. I had 1,000 shipped to me. At this point, I've whittled it down by about 150...wanna buy a book? I've got plenty. There are a lot of other interesting things going on as a result of having a book and coming to grips with the word 'author' attached to my name now. Trust me, I'm not about to lose my head and become something I'm not. As I have said, I've been blessed. I realize that. I consider it a gift and the result of a great deal of hard work and perseverance. I'm a realist--I see it for what it is. More adventures to share in the next post. Talk to you soon. In the meantime, take care of your precious selves. | It's Aliiivve! It's aliiivve! It's aliiivve! Yes! Texas In Her Own Words has arrived. The book is gorgeous! I cannot brag on my book designers, TLC Graphics enough! Tami Dever and Erin Stark have taken my idea for a book and turned it into not only a book but a piece of art.
The printer overnighted me two copies of the book. I got them exactly one week before our official release party. It was an emotional moment. There i was holding the finished product I had put three years of my life, effort, blood, sweat & tears into creating. It is an indescribable feeling. It was joy, relief and yes, even a touch of sadness. A part of my life was over and a new one beginning. I'd be lying if I said I didn't begin to tear up a little bit.
I've often joked lately that I've obviously never given birth to a child but this had to be close. It was painful toward the end--but look at the results. The thousand books arrived on Wednesday before the Saturday party. Only then did I allow myself to begin to focus on the party. I had previously set it up with Cheri at Hills Cafe. They were super to work with. I'd go back for another party in a heartbeat.
I hired Larry Lubenow of Shoebox PR late in January to handle the book release promotion. He set me up with an interview with Paul Brown at News8Austin. We did it in one take. It ran throughout the day Friday, the day before the party. I still have the perfect face fro radio. Several people remarked that they saw the interview. I know it brought several people to the party. I also did the Sam & Bob show on KVET and spent a half hour on the air with Jim Wagner at KLGO 99.3, Friday afternoon. The stage had been set. I'll share the incredible release party with you in the next post. Come back soon. In the meantime, take care of your precious selves.
| Texas In Her own Words Update Wow! Where do I begin? The last several weeks have been busy, writing, editing, proofreading and making final decisons about content and some of the other features you'll see in the book. Most of the Christmas holiday was spent with my head down working on the book. Let's get to it...
First of all, I got the manuscript back from Mindy Lee. she did a wonderful job of editing the book. From there I made a few changes and adjustments that gave the book more of the "feel" I was seeking. She was awesome. If you need an editor...call her first!
The next stage of the process was turning the manuscript over to TLC Graphics, my book designers, Tami & Erin. In a short time, they sent me a sample of the overall look of the book. I was absolutely blown away. Not only is this book going to have a ton of information and interesting people in it, it's going to be a fun read. The interior design is beautiful. As I have told them, you the reader, will be able to enjoy this book on several different levels--you can browse it, take a quick read or just hunker down with it. I always had high expectations for the book itself. The designers have outdone themselves.
At this point, we're close to being able to determine the retail price of the book. We actually sold 10 copies already through a special deal I'm offering. I'm selling the book for $19.95 and I will pay the tax until we announce the actual retail price. I can tell you now, it will not be less than 19.95. If you're interested, email me at Tweed@TejasCommunications.com and we'll work out the details.
I have since received the complete PDF file with all the content and layout features. It rolls in at about 257 pages but it is a thing of beauty. I have shown it to several people and everyone has been quite complimentary. Frankly, I think you'll like it too. As it all stands now, the book will be soft cover with French flaps and the interior design will be printed with brown ink. You may ask why but you will understand when you see the book.
Check back often, this story is constantly developing. We're also working on the marketing side. That is when the really hard work begins. It's a fact, you spend 6% of your time writing the book and 94% trying to sell it. I'm always trying to think of other places to sell it. Talk to you soon. You can reach me at the email above. L8r | Head of the Line Thanks for droppin’ by again. The book manuscript should be coming back any day now from the editor. I’ve taken the plunge. I’ve started taking request for autographed copies of Texas In Her Own Words. Understand this is just telling me you’d like to be notified when the book becomes available. I’d love to tell you what the cost of the book will be but I can’t. At the moment, we still don’t know a couple critical pieces of information. To determine what the book price will be, we first need to know how many pages it will be and what kind of cover it will have (Hard, Soft, Soft with French Flaps, etc.). From that, we should have a handle on what it will cost to produce. When we can determine that, then we can put a price on it.
By letting us know now you want a copy, you will be the first to be notified of its availability and cost. You’ll get the first copies available. I’m not going to activate the Paypal or shopping cart function until the book is actually available.
Requesting a copy doesn’t obligate you to buy but it will put you toward the front of the line when the book arrives. We are still working toward the official release on March 2nd. A bunch of things have to happen in sequence and we can’t drop the ball along the way. We do have some really good momentum happening now. I haven’t felt this good about the project since landing a book designer and publisher.
To request a copy, just click on the ‘I Want More Information’ Link on the top of the page and fill out the form. If there is something special, or a special sentiment you want included in the autograph, just jot it down in the Questions & Comments block and I’ll save it until we send you the books.
Again, thank you for your support. I sincerely hope, when you get your copy, you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed doing it. You will learn things about Texas you don’t know now. I promise.
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