Last week I went to BEA in Los Angeles with Author Marketing Experts, Inc. (otherwise known as “Team AME”). As Penny’s virtual assistant (well, maybe not so virtual this past weekend), my job was to keep her on schedule with meetings, as well as provide some general support. It was a greuling couple days (I have 3 blisters on my feet to prove it!) but it was also very exciting. Everyone who is anyone in publishing was there: distributors, publishers, publicists, etc. Many authors also attended. Some celebrity ones I saw were William Shatner, Alec Baldwin, Josie Bisset, and Dr. Ruth. I got tons of books, mostly ARCs (advance review copies), or uncorrected proofs, and my shoulders were sore from lugging so many books in tote bags. I was like a kid in a candy store. I have enough reading material for probably about the next 6 months at least!

Team AME is remarkable, and I enjoyed spending time with Penny, Alex, Paula, and Susan–Paula and Susan I met for the first time this trip. We got to meet lots of people and many VIPS in the book world. It was great! On the fun side, I got to see Hollywood, parts of Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, had a fabulous dinner at a Mexican restaurant, had some great pizza at California Pizza Kitchen, and got to see lots of palm trees.

But perhaps the highlight of my trip was my return flight. I flew from Los Angeles to Chicago to Harrisburg. In Chicago I had a 3-hour layover. I checked the gate number, got some dinner, and went to the gate. There was a buzz that an actor was waiting in our gate area–”you know, the guy from Office Space.” I said, “I don’t think so, he was on my flight from LA and sitting a few rows in front of me.” Someone confirmed that it was indeed Ron Livingston, and people were getting his autograph, asking for pictures, etc. They said, oddly enough, that he was going to Harrisburg. Now, although Office Space is my favorite movie and I love Ron Livingston in it, I couldn’t bring myself to go pester him when he was trying to read a book. So I didn’t. Fast forward a few hours, and another plane takes off from our gate. Our flight was supposed to leave at 7 PM and at this point it was after 6:30 and there was nothing on the gate marquis about Harrisburg, they weren’t loading etc. I go and check the departures and sure enough, the gate had changed and it wasn’t announced. So I go back to Ron and say, “You’re going to Harrisburg, right?” and told him the gate had changed and we needed to go down a few gates because they were now boarding. So we chatted as we walked to the gate about Los Angeles, Harrisburg, the weather, Harrisburg airport, that Office Space was my favorite movie (my only dorky fan comment). He was very personable, not to mention handsome. He asked me what my name was, thanked me profusely for “looking out for him” and we got on the flight. When we landed I saw him again and told him to have a good week, and he referred to me as his lifesaver, told me to drive safe, etc. And he said “Goodbye Lauren.”

So no, I didn’t get his autograph, or his picture, or even give him a business card. Unlike the people who were mobbing him, I felt inspired to just be helpful. But hey, Ron Livingston, if you ever need an editor, or a virtual assistant, or a book marketing company recommendation, send me an email.

I think I need to watch Office Space Again. Everytime I watch it, I’m even more glad I’m in business for myself!!

Lauren

If you go to her site, you’ll see my testimonial. Since editing her book, I’ve lost 14 lbs. (The testimonial says 11, but I’m continuing to lose.)

Becky is a chiropractor, and successfully learned how to keep off the extra weight that crept up on her over the years. Her book really spoke to me about why I eat for emotional satisfaction and what I can do to break that cycle. There is all sorts of other great info in there too, but that is what really made it click for me.

I have a long way to go. I have another 40 lbs. to lose to reach my pre-pregnancy weight I had before baby #2 (who will turn 6 in May!), and would like to lose more on top of that, but in the meantime, I’m just happy with my downward trend. I’m also happy I can forgive myself when the scale goes up a pound or two, because I know that it’s a learning process and I can make adjustments so the scale starts going down again.

If you have struggled with your weight and want to break the cycle of overeating, I highly suggest reading this book, then let me know if it worked for you!

What about learning-by-doing? What if you packed up all your needs in an old VW van and drove across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, learning history, culture, and life lessons on the road? Sound like a crazy idea? It wasn’t for Ryan and Mary Lois. It was an exercise in patience at times as they blended the real-life experiences with the academic requirements to get credit for the year.

Mary’s style of storytelling is very engaging and honest. There’s ups and downs, fights and tender moments, and triumphs and failures. If you’ve ever wondered if traditional education is REALLY the solution for educating your child, or fantasized about bucking the establishment and experiencing new adventures, or even if you love to travel and get a glimpse into how life is like outside your hometown, you’ll enjoy this book. Have you read it? Then please post your comments below!

I thought it was a really nice gesture to host a party for the freelancers they have. How many companies actually do that? And next year, now that I know a few people, it will be easier. Oh, and though I didn’t place in the Olympics, I did get a company shirt and a cup full of candy… Nice!

A few updates:

I am now the Secretary of the Central Pennsylvania Association for Female Executives, CPAFE. My term expires on December 31st. I’m very happy to be on the Executive Board of this great group of professional women.

I continue to be the IVAA Summit PR Committee Co-Chair, looking forward to visiting Charlotte in April 2008. We have some great speakers and events lined up. I was just in Charlotte over Christmas vacation (my brother lives there), so it’ll be nice to visit again so soon.

As we move into 2008, the Hidden Helpers will continue to provide ghostwriting and book editing. I’ve taken a special enjoyment lately in writing web copy, so if your website copy needs freshening up, call me!

Speaking of freshening up websites, my website designer (husband Ed Hidden), promises me my new website will be up and running soon.

Happy 2008!

Lauren

It just sounds too wishy-washy. You need to instill confidence in your reader. If you’re writing a book on your non-fiction topic, you are the expert. So, when you’re self-editing your book, get rid of these phrases. If you don’t catch yourself doing it, then do a “find” command for these phrases in your Word document.

You are the expert. Before you can write a good book, you have to believe it. Then you have to write so your readers believe it too.

We spoke briefly at the conference, he asked me what I did, and gave me some great, unsolicited advice for marketing a service I provide. He’s obviously got great business sense and knows a great deal about many topics. (I guess you’d have to as a columnist!) I started reading his book, The Dog of My Nightmares. It’s a collection of his newspaper columns that are insightful and entertaining. Look for a full review when I’m finished reading.

Head over to his website to check out at least the introductory video. I usually don’t like video on websites because it takes (gasp) a few seconds to load. But his is worth the wait. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of his book while you’re there. It’s easily read in short bursts because each story is only a few pages long.

Thanks Dave, for your presentation and your advice.

From last Thursday through yesterday, I attended the Infinity Publishing’s Express Yourself conference in Valley Forge, PA. I spoke at Writer’s Day on Thursday on how to self-edit and how to hire and use a professional editor. I had a PowerPoint and Klickerz interactive presentation planned, but as luck would have it, the projector was giving us fits and I had to change midstream. Mental note: Always have a plan B and don’t be too dependant on technology! I think it went okay though.

On Friday, I participated in an editing panel along with Beth Mansbridge, Melanie Rigney, LinDee Rochelle, Caryn Search and Emily Lawless. What was interesting was that we had a variety of different specialties amongst us, sometimes had different definitions of the varieties of editing, and all had different pricing structures.

And of course, we had some great presentations from presenters I will profile over the next week or so. I also have some pictures but with my new camera and picture software, I’m having issues trying to get them from the photo software to regular picture files and then online. So stay tuned until I talk to my photo tech support (Ed).

It’s always great to reconnect with colleagues and friends. And my thanks goes out to Infinity Publishing for allowing me to be a part of this great event.

Thank you to VANA for awarding me the “VAccolade business entrepreneur of the week”. A special thanks goes out to Taryn Merrick of Merrick Management And Media Services for nominating me.

I encourage all VAs to add VAnetworking.com to their arsenal of helpful resources. They have almost 8,000 VA members, a variety of educational and networking opportunities, and a basic membership is free!

I responded that yesterday was just a value-add to the editing we’re doing for him, and I certainly would have told him beforehand if I was going to charge my consulting fee, but if the consulting got more in-depth and he needed a lot of my time, we would address it at that time.

My fellow VAs—don’t you just want to clone clients that pay immediately, are EAGER to compensate you for any “extra” time (I don’t bill hourly for most editing projects), and are just so darn easy to work with?? I’m fortunate that he is not the only client I consider myself lucky to have!