71 – Writer Extraordinaire: Tom interviews Judith Briles

Episode 071 – Judith Briles
[00:00:09] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey everybody it's Tom here with episode 71 of screw the commute podcast we've got a prolific author and book writing and publishing consultant here with us Judith Briles I'll tell you about her in a minute. Hope you don't miss episode 70 which is all about chat bots. I mean this is the wave of the future. You can check out my little chat bot Screwy by going to Facebook.com/antionandassociates and click Send message and you'll see how an automated chat bot can really take care of your customers and prospects without you being there. All right our podcast app is now in the app store and you can do lots of cool stuff conveniently right from your mobile device. And we have training on how to use it to use all the cool features. So check that out at screwthecommute.com. Our sponsor for today is the internet marketing training center of Virginia distance learning school which teaches legitimate techniques to make a great living either working for someone else or starting your own online business. So check it out at IMTCVA.org and also why you're at when you stop over it screwthecommute.com I do not want you to get robbed in you and your family's higher education quest. So be sure to watch the Higher Education webinar we have there screwthecommute.com just click on free webinars. But be prepared to be mad to see what a lot of these colleges and universities are doing to you and your children.

[00:02:08] All right let's get to the main event. Dr. Judith Briles is an award winning and bestselling author of Thirty six books including author you creating and building your author and book platforms. And here's a cool one snappy sassy salty wise words for authors and publishers. The crowdfunding guide for authors and writers that's a great way to finance your writing and how to avoid book publishing blunders bloopers and boo boos. Now her latest book How to create a million dollar speech was just released. Today her books have been translated into 16 languages with over one million copies sold. Very few people can say say that they've sold that many books. Her books and work have been featured in over a thousand radio and television shows including repeat appearances on CNN CNBC and Oprah print publications include Newsweek people time the Wall Street Journal working woman and surviving the National Enquirer. Based in Colorado she is the founding partner in the Book Shepherd a book and publishing consulting and project management firm that works with authors at all stages of their book to create a book they will never regret. Judith are you ready to screw. The commute.

[00:03:36] No one's asked me that. That's a great way to start the day.

[00:03:46] Tell us what you've been up to. I know you for 2 300 years and I've always heard great things about you. Tell us what you're what you've been up to.

[00:03:58] Holy moly two or three hundred years. Only doing 36 books. That's lightweight, Tom. Well I'm you know getting ready for my annual publishing at sea. Cruise I do. This year we have 37 authors going with us.

[00:04:15] When's that coming up.

[00:04:17] It's coming up in mid-January. I guess January is a good time to get away after the first of the year and depending about what part of the country you're in. If you're on the East Coast there's these you know during in December you're thinking I want out of here. If you're from what my neck of the woods of Denver which is it's 50 degrees in the middle of the day it's crazy. So but January is a great time to just get away. We go to the Caribbean I have on on at sea days I own you. I will work with you. We do workshops but at Port days I don't want to see you I just want to have to go out and have good time.

[00:05:01] Oh that sounds like a lot of fun. How long is it for.

[00:05:04] Just a week. And then I stay over. It's called a back to back. I stay on another week. My husband and I and last year what I did is I wrote how to create a million dollar speech Tom. I did the entire book in one week.

[00:05:23] Wow. And I'm sure you've got a method to help people do that kind of stuff because nobody could believe me. And first of all there is a lot of people out there folks that are claiming to teach you how to do stuff in a week or couple hours and you're turning out garbage though that's the big difference here. Yes you burn out a book in a week but it's going to be quality if you want it to be credible for you and in the long run not some little piece of junk that'll be a better coaster than it would be.

[00:05:55] Well yeah I mean Tom I always say that 90 percent of books that are published shouldn't have been out when I say I wrote the book the week I had all my prep work done. I had it there and I did highly myopic focus. You know I literally start at 4 and 5 in the morning no later than 5:00. And I had a routine that literally I would hunt around and I'd get a hot cup of tea I'm a tea drinker.

[00:06:25] You're still on the boat doing this.

[00:06:28] Oh yeah yeah yeah I'm on the boat the whole time I my cabin I have a balcony cabin I'm ready to rock and roll I'm set up and I just start plowing through cause I've got it all organized ready to go I know what I'm writing about I know where I'm going with it I know what stories I'm bringing involved in it and I just fly and that noontime I get to take a break and I go out you know looking for a salad or sandwich I get 15 minutes off I'm back and I work till 7:00 so I'm working basically 13 14 hours a day seven intensive days and on that last day I remember calling my editors saying okay I'm emailing everything here it comes start your first run through.

[00:07:14] Wow. Well now you're a machine. No. I doubt if everybody on earth could keep up that kind of schedule even if they were prepared. Right. So I'm sure you have other ways for people.

[00:07:25] I'm hard Tom. I think that that one of the problems is that there's there's always a squirrel factor and I'm guilty of that too that it's easy to get distracted. But I'm talking about your myopically focused literally. I have you know the crime scene barrier tape my have author barrier tape and it says all you know keep out author at work. I put it. If I'm working in my office in my home base it goes across my French doors and everyone who works with me knows you. The only thing you can do is bring me something to drink or put food under it. You see no one is allowed into my space. And when I'm on a cruise ship I put it on the outside of my door. So you know the porters and the room people they know that I'm working do not come in.

[00:08:17] You wouldn't have squirrel problems on a ship. They'd be more like porpoise or whales or buffets. That would be my downfall I think I'd be the worst place on earth for me to write they'd have to put the crime scene around the Buffet to stop me.

[00:08:40] You know you can have room service brought to you.

[00:08:44] Well yeah except that I could smell a buffet anytime it the Buffet within a mile of me I could smell.

[00:08:51] Well you know I I I think that you do you really go back to my whole thing you got to be myopically focus if your game plan is to create this sucker. That's what you're. That's what you're gonna do.

[00:09:02] Yeah but. But back to my original point. Everybody doesn't write a book in a week. With lots of clients. Yeah but. It has to develop and Brew and a good quality book.

[00:09:14] Yeah absolutely. No it takes a lot of time as you know I do. I pick my brain session in my home once a month and it was this past Saturday that we had 24 authors at every stage from I think I'm going to write a book to people who are out running and that one of the questions came up from the one I think I'm gonna write a book is What do you do to get started. And I here's what I tell him. Get an expandable 30 day file. That's where I'd start. Get a bunch of sticky notes. That's what I mean I put stuff up on a wall remember one time I was on a cruise ship and the entire sliding door had sticky notes because I had outlined the next book on it. And that and you start and I know you all use computers and that you have all these amazing things but here's my problem Tom. That that if if it's Tuesday the Tuesday brain doesn't tell the Thursday brain where it put stuff. And that. So I'm so visual and hands on that I found that when I have the folder that I use as my first start point I may gather stuff on the computer and start stockpiling it. But I actually print it out and I slot it in. And when I went when one of those slots starts filling up with a lot of different components or ideas or articles I've found or notes I've made or fill in the blank. Guess what. I know that's a frickin chapter.

[00:10:46] Exactly. Yeah. Now I happen to use a an audio so I keep my phone handy so that I can make quick notes to myself. You know if I'm driving or something because you know I can have the best idea in my whole life and pull up in my driveway and forget it before I hit the front door.

[00:11:05] See the car in the car brain didn't tell you where the house brain is.

[00:11:10] I just I just make a little note to myself. On an audio but I mean whatever it takes to get the stuff collected and then get it down. But tell people I'm sure you don't just work with pure quote authors you work with business people using a book for all purposes to. So what are some of the benefits you've seen from people writing books that aren't just authors.

[00:11:33] Well I think that a business leader should think of a book as a lead generator. And the lead generator is to develop that could be developing their business it could be promoting their business it could be creating that visibility factor. It's a it's far beyond a business card. At times when you're leading nuggets behind in something people usually don't throw away books although I'm going to go back to what you said in the beginning that if you're going to create garbage they're going to get thrown away. And so you can create something it doesn't have to be big. One of my philosophies has been for the last several years. Short is the new black and that you can create a mini book of some sort. I you know I was looking at Seth Godin's latest book on marketing that it's he's going with five by seven which is what I've been going with for the last few years with my author you mini Guide series. They're all five by seven. And so they're easy to slip into something and move with it and people want you know it fits in a hand and they can take it away. But for a business person you could push it out you could drop it in you could you know you could print these things for under a buck depending upon the size that you could put it out as a promo piece or a swag piece for a conference a meeting a convention fill in the blank and really blast it and people don't throw that away. They keep it.

[00:13:08] And you have a better chance of getting probably in airport stores too because people like to pick up quick reads that on a flight you know so. So that's another outlet form.

[00:13:20] Airport stores are a whole ‘nother deal. There's two two entities that control that market and a lot of authors don't realize that you have to pony up the bucks to front in it and they have a philosophy of something like Costco which is called You Gotta to sell to the table. You've got to sell through the rack and you have so you have a couple of weeks to do it and by God if you don't guess what you are adios.

[00:13:46] Yep yep you get it back. So the big celebrities could probably circumvent that system because they know that the book is going to move quite a bit but but at any rate you put out good quality and some of those little skinny books so they do have value because if you have a table leg that's a little off you could put it underneath to level your table.

[00:14:08] Yes. And by the way I have done that.

[00:14:11] Yeah so did you ever have a job.

[00:14:15] You know what I did and I think when you and I were talking one day I am I am not a corporate fit anymore. I was I was you know I did a variety of jobs but I guess my first real career would have been as a as a stockbroker. I was one of the first women stockbrokers with EF Hutton and company and I was with them for seven years and I did extraordinarily well and I left them and started my own firm and eventually sold that and decided. And you know. The entrepreneurial me was always there. I was always doing things differently from the rest of the gang and which always ruffled feathers and I'm sure that our listeners who are you know have that entrepreneur streak. Is there something unique something different. There are there tweaks that they come in with it starts setting them apart and I was different. And I remember the only comments I had when Hutton hired me as is as the token and this was in Palo Alto California. And the first year I mean I made one hundred thousand dollars we're talking 1972. All right. And that was a lot of money back then.

[00:15:27] And and I can remember some snide remarks from the guys well we know how she's going to make money. Bullshit. I made it because I worked my ass off and really worked long hours put it in I connected I understand it the whole power of a building connections and relationships and listening listening listening listening to clients and what their concerns in are where they want to go. So they would you know work with them and and and then it evolved and developed. I remember going to Hutton because I had this idea I was teaching a course. This was before I wrote my first book which was called the Woman's Guide to Financial savvy that I went to Hutton and I said you know I have a you know I had this idea that where I first started with them men were my clients. But as it evolved and people found out that there's a woman who's smart who understands us and can communicate with us and all of a sudden it really flipped. Couples became my my forte and women women on their own. And I went to Hutton and I said you know what we ought to do is create and develop a whole new venue to really cater to the female market.

[00:16:44] Well that got shut down and I decided you know screw this I'm going to leave and start my own company. And that's what I did. And then I survive longer than Hutton. But that you know I was way ahead a couple of times and I think this is one thing's for all our entrepreneurs need to understand. Sometimes you're ahead of the mark that sometimes they're not ready really to hear what you're about where you're ready to go and as an author I had that with you know two of my books my very first book that woman's guide to financial savvy had three printings in three weeks. Tom that is hot. Three huge printings I was with St. Martin's Press at the time and they didn't know what to do with me. And that when I went to Hutton then I could have been Susie Orman but this was back in 1970. You know four and five way ahead of the mark and I know when I came out with another book with dealt with toxic people in the workplace and sabotage and betrayal again primarily about women corporate America was scared to death of me. And I realized I had to work within a female dominated workplace health care discovered me. And I created multimillions from speaking fees and book sales because of the health care market and the nursing market. So sometimes you're ahead of the mark you need or you need to find your right tunnel to go down.

[00:18:08] Beautiful yeah. Now I want to go back to that but you even before Hutton. Was that your first job out of school.

[00:18:17] So all right. So now you're really want to know I got married Tom when I was 16 years old. I had nothing better and I had three kids by the time I was 20.

[00:18:27] It's good to get it over with. You could live the rest of your life and not worry about it.

[00:18:32] I had a fourth child. And when I was 25 and he died and I did a reassessment of my life and it it was like that Peggy Lee song Is That All There Is. And I decided that all there is was that all there was. And I filed for divorce went through a horrible horrible time I was working as a broker's assistant at that time I was registered but I was always the backup help. And Tom I got fired

[00:19:04] For what.

[00:19:05] For going through a divorce

[00:19:07] Wow. So that was that stigma. Those days.

[00:19:12] 1972. Here's what happened here was the leap that happened several of the clients in the firm I worked for a company called Bateman Eichler Hill Richards. Several of the clients in the firm were so angry that I got fired for going through a divorce. And these were men all men from that were other clients of other brokers. Couple the brokers I got a call the following week after this fire and just saying we'd like to take you to lunch and thank you for all you've done to help us. And what I did for I worked for the head honcho the biggest producer in the company who never took me to lunch and I did all his research and I did all the handholding with the clients and I and I always helped the other brokers because the reality was I was smarter than a lot of them. And one of them said to me this is making me so angry you should be a broker here you are better than most of these people in this office. Well they took me to lunch and they gave me an envelope Tom and inside the envelope was two thousand dollars in cash inside the envelope was a round trip ticket to San Francisco and inside the envelope was 10 appointments. They had set up for jobs. And that's how I went to E.F. Hutton.

[00:20:34] Wow. That doesn't happen the most important fired up today that the severance package you didn't see coming.

[00:20:41] No no no no I got it. I got a check. You know I got a week's check when they said goodbye to me. And you know then I start I started all over from scratch. I mean there's there's always more to the story but it was just I worked hard. I was really focused. I had kids that I was going to have to support. And and you know it went well. And it was it was a good move. And as I decided Southern California was too small for my ex and myself.

[00:21:19] Hey do you still play the market at all.

[00:21:23] A little bit.

[00:21:23] Okay. So I want to take you back to that moment when you left EF Hutton. And did you plan and make sure you had money saved up or what was the transition period there from working for someone else to start your own firm.

[00:21:41] When I left EF Hutton. Yes I had I had really planned it. Well you have to do it stealthily when you're in the financial business if they get one iota that someone's going to jump ship you're locked out you are locked out and that. So and I actually took one of the full time employees with me. So we had late night meetings and we planned it and I had to find a place I had to lease it. I had I don't know how much money I had saved but I had saved it. I had mentioned it to a few clients but you have to ensure everything has to be really QT when you start that transition and we you know all the everything was ordered all the cards were ordered. Everything was set up.

[00:22:31] I had the office a couple of weeks beforehand so the decorated you know it was all done so that when I officially walked out that we were ready to go into business and we handled that and in and we did well. Did I make mistakes. Absolutely one of the mistakes I made Tom huge mistake is I brought in a partner and I loaned her the money to buy the stock. I did all the things wrong absolutely everything wrong and I ended up terminating that. I mean we're friends now but I just had to make a decision it was wrong fit because she was bringing in people for us to work with. That became huge liabilities and I was spending my a lot of my time cleaning up crap. And I didn't need that. I just didn't need that and I just said I've got to get out there. She went on to become very successful in the venture capital field and I was left over. You know I had to clean up stuff to to move on from that.

[00:23:40] So what you like best about working for yourself. Well what's the worst part about working.

[00:23:44] Oh no commute. So we have we have snow days here. I have snow days here so I don't have to put on mittens and snow shoes and all that as I walk down my five foot wide stairway into my offices.

[00:24:01] Isn't that nice.

[00:24:03] Yeah. And I don't have to deal with traffic. I mean one thing I have to admit. I mean I grew up in Los Angeles. I lived on the freeways. I mean it's one great big freeway. And so I know I was really tuned into that but that I don't like driving. I don't like it. I'm not a bad driver. It's just that is the the stress of the other people I just don't want it and I don't like it and I frankly like it Tom that people come to my offices.

[00:24:37] Or buy stuff online or listen to your webinars and all that stuff.

[00:24:41] So what's the worst part

[00:24:45] I think that probably we entrepreneurs work longer hours than any 9 to five person.

[00:24:54] Yeah they say that the entrepreneur will work 18 hours a day to get out of work in eight hours for somebody else.

[00:25:00] Well I think that there's a lot of truism that and I know that you know I'm an early bird. I've always been an early bird and I've always been gifted that when I wake up I'm an instant wakeup. You know it's not like Oh my God you have to have a zillion cups of coffee. I'm instant I'm instant. Yeah I don't drink coffee. I'm a tea girl. Dublin breakfast. Love it. So I you know I get into that and what I love is the quiet time before people start calling me and the other thing is with my kind of business I'm working with people all over the world. So that being an early bird gives me an advantage where if someone needs to talk to me at 5:00 in the morning I am totally coherent.

[00:25:53] Right yeah. That's the time zones can get you.

[00:25:58] Yeah I think that's a challenge. We do live in a remote type world is that when you do create and expand your customer base that crosses multiple time zones. I think one of the things that's really important I think for all of our entrepreneurs listening is that you need to set and I didn't do this in the beginning because you know of course I'll be available to you anytime you need to set some boundaries of when you're not available.

[00:26:30] Yeah I'm a little bit crazy with that because I'm such a fanatic. I do evenings weekends and holidays. I love it so much I can't help it. I'd rather help somebody improve themselves on Thanksgiving Day than watching a bunch of parades get drunk with Uncle Joe.

[00:26:54] Since you know I don't drink with Uncle Joe I don't drink but I guess Uncle Joe could I have to tell you I have a vice on Thanksgiving and I watch the National Dog Show. And so you know I love doing this kind of fun and what I also find there are some things when I am I'm really drained. Like when I do some of my intensives I get you know I get drained and I really need to do a veg out so that's when I love Netflix or Amazon Prime. And I end up and I'll do you know a blitz through a whole series. Yes I'm a binge. I'll do a binge. But see I write is that I'm a binge writer.

[00:27:41] I'm actually while binge watching on Roku The Equalizer from the 80s. You know that Robert McCall they have a new movie out with Denzel Washington where he always sticks up for the little guy and I'm such an advocate for the underdog I just go crazy over that and they all the episodes are available now to me so binge watching that.

[00:28:03] I've watched and I've seen the latest Denzel Washington equalizers.

[00:28:10] Yeah I haven't seen the equalizer two yet.

[00:28:14] So tell people how they can work with you. What if somebody is out there saying you know I could write a book but I just don't know what to do. Well what kind of services do you have for them.

[00:28:28] Well I have there is there's a variety of services. I mean we do have a course on how to write your book in four weeks. But you and that's I'm going to go back to what you've said as we opened. These people say that you know come and write your book in a weekend what hogwash you're going to get hogwash let me tell you but you got to do what we can do it and get your draft done and if you're thinking you're going to have a completed polished spiffy book in four weeks you're in for a rude awakening.

[00:28:56] There is a good there's a lot of mistakes there's a lot of things you have to go along and changes but you can get a draft done and that's what I'd be after and doing that and that's just working with you know if someone you know for hours once a week and then you have homework you go away with and then you keep coming back. I have the most my clients are either in the process of writing Tom where I am working with them and developing their book as we go along and a content editing type of thing. I bring in the whole team the cover designers the interior designers if we need to get illustrators we go after those animals and the printers and everything else and start developing the marketing plan. And I'm not so marketing oriented that I always insist on writing the back cover copy for all my clients because most of those I think suck wrote I sold out there. So I try to take a book but my philosophy is when I work with people I want them to create a book. They don't have to apologize for. They don't regret it.

[00:29:59] And I can tell you of the of the 36 books I've done now 18 were with New York houses of those 18. There's only two I didn't feel like I had to apologize for. I hated the covers. I hated the way the interiors laid out. I would never have done the back cover copies the way they do it. I just you know I just didn't like what they did. And I think one of the great things about you know being this entrepreneur side to me is that as an entrepreneur there's four things I really look at. One is I want to see some quality I want to have control and I think that most of us entrepreneurs want control that's why we're doing what we do. I want to be able to produce stuff in a timely basis if I see an idea by God I need to get it executed and out and and and I and I. Once you figure this out and recognize that entrepreneurism is business you know through and through you can make more money. So those things are guiding for me the quality the control the time and the money.

[00:31:09] Absolutely. And I want to just emphasize again that you're talking about writing quality serious books that you can be proud of. I just want people to know that there is another faction that you can be proud of on very short e-books. I've made fortunes on I had a four hour layover at McCarran Airport knocked together a 30 page ebook on a very tightly niched topic and it's brought in three and a half million dollars over the years. So that's a different type of writing a different type of entity. Absolutely. I'm never going to show that to a CEO and get a big consulting contract like that but yeah. So you have to know what kind of writing and what kind of reputation you want to. I have some I don't know if you know but I have some. My pen name is Lisa Roberts for my feminine side books. I have dieting and things like that. So. So there's all kinds of different types of writing what Judith is talking about is some serious thing that can you could really be proud of. And I have a couple of those too. But they they didn't happen like four hours. Let me tell you that I mean it was four hours just to figure out a contract on it.

[00:32:28] Exactly and for and for our listeners who want to create a lead generator they don't want to apologize for that. They really do want to have something that looks like it's got some thought behind it and this is marketing this. This is marketing marketing 101 and putting something down and getting something visible and that people and has that has nuggets and tips and one of the things Tom I always say is it's not money that makes the world go around its problems. And business people entrepreneurs are problem solvers.

[00:33:03] That's for sure. Now we've got to take a brief break for a sponsor but when we come back we're going to ask Judith what's a typical day look like it when she's not cruising around the world and how she stays motivated. Now look everybody down on my knees right now begging you to check out a particular webinar or pass it on to someone who could use it. See I'm so far down on my knees I think that the dogs are thinking I'm trying to play with them. It has to do with higher education. If you're considering getting retrained because you hate what you're doing or you've been displaced or you want a better life for yourself and your family. Or maybe you have kids nephews and nieces or neighbors who are wondering if they should burn up hundreds of thousands of dollars and then end up broke and mountains of debt. And you know competing with an MBA for jobs at Starbucks. All right you just got to watch this webinar. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain from taking a little time out and visiting Screwthecommute.com and click on free webinars and watch the one on higher education. It could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars it could save you and your kids from massive debt. And I got to tell you you're going to be mad when you watch it when you see some of these things. Colleges and universities are doing to you and your children. So check it out. Screwthecommute.com Click on free webinars and watch the one on higher education.

[00:34:39] All right. Let's get back to our super-duper prolific writer guest Judith Briles she's the consultant to many many many people on book publishing and writing. And Judith. So when you're not cruising the ocean blue What's a typical day look like for you at the office.

[00:35:01] My office is a 2000 square foot office. And I do have staff I have staff who is internal that comes in and one of the things I set up a policy this is called boundaries again that I don't let any clients come in on Monday physically into the office or staff.

[00:35:26] Well that's because rainy days and Mondays always get you down.

[00:35:30] Well I don't know. And it's you know tom it's hard to get me down. But that I just need kind of that mental setup time I need that quiet time I may be listening a little music I sometimes I'll pick up the morning news real quick on the TV but that's you know that's it's just kind of a setup planning it that the one person I do interact with staff all the time is I have someone who works for me overseas and so we are on them in from 5:00 in the morning till 10:00 every morning we're live together.

[00:36:05] What kind of tasks do you do with them.

[00:36:08] Well I it could be I may have her searching for a certain people and links that I am going to pitch out to for speaking in that kind of thing it could be that she she does all my posters I'm a big fan of using Camva and that I have over a thousand quotes that I've created that we make them pretty. And she does all that we're doing. We put about a lot on social media. We put them on Pinterest. We put him on Instagram we put him. We roll Twitter all the time between my two channels I've got sixty seven thousand or sixty eight thousand followers on Twitter. We'll put them out on Facebook. I have a series of 365 plus of for goofy holidays whether it's potato chip Day or you know I always love one of the days in January is get rid of your fruitcake day. So you know we make we made all those and I make comments on those. So they're fillers. So I've always had those kind of things going on so Leah does all that and that we have I have an ezine that goes out every Wednesday. So I'm already you know I'm planning on that I'm doing the finished finishing I do the finishing touches on that on Tuesday so she gets it and she does all the layout that goes out. I have two blogs that go out every week. I do a podcast. Author You your guide to book publishing on on on Thursdays and that Leah of I whenever I have my guests on there I create all the social media that we aggressively push out all our radio shows our podcasts for two months after we have the podcast and we push those out and I create all the social media for that.

[00:38:01] And then she's involved in scheduling. She takes care of all that scheduling so I don't have to think about it and truth be told I actually hate Facebook. I think it's such a negative it's an energy suck and I think that what all this is this is now talking to the entrepreneur you have to be really careful what channels you go down that can really make a rabbit hole for you. And when I see the amount of time that people spend on Facebook that's kiss off time to me and I don't have a lot of kiss off time. I don't know about you Tom. I don't have a lot of it.

[00:38:40] I call it throw away time. I'll write an ebook and make three million dollars than sit around and play games on Facebook.

[00:38:49] Yeah. You're my hero. And so Leah one of her responsibilities is monitor all social media. If anything needs my attention she alerts me right. And she says someone wanted some help on about adult coloring books and so she shall send it over to me I will dictate it quickly back and she takes it and posts it. I don't do that.

[00:39:15] We got to explain that term because some people might think there's x rated coloring books.

[00:39:22] I haven't seen any x rated coloring books.

[00:39:25] Yeah well that's adult coloring books is the term in the industry now.

[00:39:30] So you know is that like the erotica dinosaur books.

[00:39:38] It could be.

[00:39:41] Ok. So and anyways when you ask early you know I've worked on from kids books to we have a book we call the naughty book That we did last year and it was a Las Vegas madam that did the book. Well you know I learned a lot. But you know so you know I'm able to do work with a variety of things.

[00:40:04] Well I was just speaking at an education conference and I don't have kids so I'm not really into all this stuff the kids are into. There was I thought the the in the trade show that some of the books were jokes but they weren't. It was like we fart was the book that apparently sold hundreds of thousands of copies. I thought someone was being a funny about it at the at the Adult Education convention but it was it was a kid's book.

[00:40:35] Oh yes. Well there's a whole fart series you know.

[00:40:38] Different types of farts. Wet ones dry ones.

[00:40:42] Oh yeah. Yep fart competition.

[00:40:46] Oh I know some people who could win those. Oh we're going downhill fast.

[00:40:52] So we are going down. But anyway there's my typical day is you know I start off early. Quiet. You see our phones I mean these last three weeks I've been on the phone from 6:00 in the morning until 9:00 in the morning with a client on the West Coast as we finished up her book Going line by line changes line by line by line. And it was the only way to do it. And it's like you that that's what her time was. And it and it worked with me the working with someone at 10:00 at night isn't going to work with me and working in a once I get past that seven o'clock night because I've been up since 4 o'clock that I'm not you know I'm not the sharpest stick at that time and the creative juices are fatigued. And the reality is that you know that I want to find something I can binge on at that time I need to go brain dead for a while.

[00:41:50] Now what do you do to stay motivated.

[00:41:52] Yes. And that's why. And you know one of the one of my pet peeves time is when people say well I don't watch television. We don't have a television. There are some really good stuff on TV. And but the other thing is because I'm the speaker and what I call the cash cow two step that I've made my money with my words writing and with my mouth speaking. And that when you're speaking when you're interacting and this is I think all entrepreneurs need to be tuned into this is that when you're dealing with the public in any way you better know what that public is viewing and watching and listening to because you need to listen to that too. You need to understand the jargon what's going on what's in the air. I got some of the greatest ideas to support key points and themes in my presentations from television shows that my audiences routinely watched.

[00:42:53] So what do you do to stay motivated.

[00:42:58] I cook. I'm a cook. I'm not a chef but I'm a good cook. I'm someone who reads Cookbooks. I haven't written any. People have said when are you going to do it. I had 44 people for dinner here sit down dinner in my home on Friday. Yeah it's a sit down dinner. Yeah I put it is a buffet out. But I do all the cooking and I've done it twice so far during the holiday season. And this is the way I you know I catch up. So motivated is relaxing doing that when I love to. There are certain things that inspire me. This is crazy sometimes when I'm doing editing for clients and listening I listen to opera. I don't know what they're saying but that passion in the music you know is soaring. And I'm going to soar with it. And and I do. I loved. I love movies. And so that keeps me going. And sometimes just some great books. I mean I just finished reading the Alice network amazing story about the women spies and World War 1 and 2. Amazing story.

[00:44:12] So it's the perfect example. To each his own I could imagine people out there listening that have a home and they would be freaking out to the nth degree that serve forty four people. Oh it's relaxing. So what kind of parting thoughts would you have for anybody out there we call them our screwballs Listening to this that they want to get in their own business.

[00:44:42] See being around screwballs would motivate me.

[00:44:44] OK. Well you're around them on this show that's for sure.

[00:44:47] Ok so being around people who are different and unique always works for me being around people who are blasé and mimic other people and are not willing to stick their neck out and open their mouth and take a risk. You know I'm ready to go click and I turn off. So I think what's really important is for all of us to remember that curiosity is so important. Being curious about stuff finding out something new what makes it tick what makes it work go to something that that you wouldn't expect to to go to. That could be a surprise. Not too long ago I didn't know what the movie Bohemian Rhapsody was about at all Tom but we went to it. I loved it. But you know what. Ding dong me I didn't know who Queen was I mean I was pregnant and having babies during their time. You know I spent a decade pregnant. What can I say. I was raising a family and doing that and I was trying to start a business at the same time and I encountered cancer and then I went through we didn't get through the pitfalls I went through an embezzlement with another partner and I lost a million dollars and ended up homeless. So how do you recover from that. You know. How do you how do you find the pony underneath all that shit. How do you do that.

[00:46:28] Well if you had stock in Queen 1972 you'd probably be pretty all right.

[00:46:36] But but I we went there and I was so thrilled with the. I mean I loved the colors I love though go I mean I loved the music. It was just a delightful surprise. And so those kind the creativity that comes out and how people present things that that motivates me. And just in hearing about people really overcoming unbelievable obstacles and we all have obstacles every one of us is going to have not one not two but dozens of obstacles and I think one of the things that I learned early on from my upbringing when I had a crappy family I mean that's you know I left home at 16. That tells you a lot that that that there's you get empathy and understanding that there is something better out there but you've got to go find it and do it and if you're not happy with what you're doing there is something out there that will give you the juju and the juice that will reinvigorate you and get you going. And I think the other thing Tom is that it's really important if there are people who are you know energy suckers in your life. Dump them get rid of them.

[00:47:57] That is great advice sometimes hard to do when they're stuck to you like like those things that stick on the bottom of a boat sometimes you to scrape them off and move on. So. So. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. Judith how did people get in touch with you or how did they sign up for the cruise. What's all that. We'll put on the show notes.

[00:48:21] You know I have. I have a speaking intensive workshops publishing workshops that I do. A couple of times a year all of it's on my Website TheBookShepherd.com.

[00:48:32] We'll have that in our show notes for everybody.

[00:48:35] Yeah you can click on it on events going on. I would encourage people that you know go on the Web site and sign up for my little opt in piece where has the eight essentials of publishing. That means that you join my preferred list and you now are going to become my email pen pal. And and and you will get you know like Tom sends out a gazillion things during the day that you get my blogs a couple of times a week and yes they're snappy sassy and sometimes salty and the ezine that we go out with every Wednesday. So that's the best way just to follow me and connect in and do that way and if you have a quick question for God's sakes pick up the phone and call me 3 0 3 8 8 5 2 2 0 7 and guess what if I am here and not talking to a client I pick up the phone and I talk to you.

[00:49:29] I love that because I do. I do too. And so thanks again Judith and Judith will help you listen to this. Avoid book publishing blunders bloopers and booboos. So hey everybody if you like this episode and all of our episodes on Mondays we do in-depth trainings on Wednesdays and Fridays. We do interviews with great entrepreneurs not anybody as great as Judith Briles but close. And leave us a review over at iTunes if you can download our app. You can do all kinds of stuff you can save your favorite episodes and all that. So I'll catch y'all on the next episode.

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