Category Archives: Miscellaneous

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I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 1…

“Yo, I’m strictly about skills and dope lyrical coastin’
Relying on talent, not marketing and promotion.” KRS -One from “Step Into A World” 

Hello World,

As hip-hop aficionados know, KRS-One is one the dopest emcees ever but anyone who wants to be successful particularly in a creative field knows marketing and promotion is a must…

Sooo it’s been a whirlwind of month of developing a marketing and promotion plan and getting started on what’s shaping up to be an exhausting but rewarding six to seven months before my book comes out in February 2012. (It still makes me smile inside when I say or even type those words.)

Although according to the Myers-Briggs personality test I am classified as introvert (meaning I get my energy from spending a lot of time alone) a lot of marketing and promotion begins by networking with other people and supporting the success of others in your chosen industry. I have been attending events like crazy this month and on “school nights” too which is typically against my policy.

I started off by attending a book release party at Justin’s Restaurant & Bar for author Curtis Bunn on July 5. His latest book is “A Cold Piece of Work.” Bunn is also the founder of the National Book Club Conference, the event for black “literati.” Dwan Abrams, president of Nevaeh Publishing LLC (the company that is publishing my book) and I hung out at the party together.

Dwan Abrams winning a prize at Curtis Bunn's book release party...

That Saturday, July 9, I attended a meeting of TalkBLACK Atlanta, a black discussion group that meets monthly to talk about issues in the black community. The topic for this month was the black woman which was right up my alley. Although I’m an introvert, I love to talk about controversial topics! Our conversation was heated, but I really enjoyed myself. The crowd was small enough for me not to feel overwhelmed and large enough to have diverse opinions. Also, the meeting was held at Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint, which might become one of my spots in the future…

On July 16, I attended a book signing at the Camp Creek Market Place location of Barnes & Noble for ReShonda Tate Billingsley. She discussed her latest work “Say Amen, Again” and signed copies of the book. I am so inspired by her career path as she started out as a journalist before venturing into the book publishing industry. To date, she is the author of 21 books, and she also is  a co-host for “From Cover to Cover” literary talk radio show. In addition, she is venturing into acting, and her book “Let the Church Say Amen” is being made into a movie of which she is executive producer and actress Regina King is the director. And I’m not even listing all of her accomplishments! She’s bad!

Me & ReShonda at her book signing...

On July 21,  a friend and I went to a diversity mixer with the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and the local chapters of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Asian American Journalists Association at 5 Season Brewery on Marietta Street. I liked this spot as well! People were exchanging their twitter addressess as much as they were handing out business cards…I felt so old although I do have a twitter account….Follow me at @jackiehwrites…

That Saturday, July 23, I went to my first meeting of the Faith-Based Fiction Writers of Atlanta which met at Sammiches ‘N Stuff Breakfast and Sandwiches in the Dec. (I also liked this place.) I was invited to another writers meeting earlier in the week, but I was unable to attend because I teach at the gym on that night.  And no, I don’t write fiction yet, but they welcomed me into the group anyway…

This past Thursday, I attended the Black Pearls Magazine Chocolate Social at the Westin Peachtree Plaza where I was able to meet various book authors and others in the black book publishing industry from around the country. I enjoyed meeting many of the new authors like Lakia Brandenburg who wrote “He’s Not Perfect. I’m Not Perfect. But Together We’re Picture Perfect.”  And I also reconnected with “ESSENCE” best-selling author Victoria Christopher Murray and my soror.

And Friday, I went to TechUptownATL at the Hyatt Regency Hotel where I was able to meet social media superstars Yalanda Lattimore of DryerBuzz.com and Lamar Tyler of BlackAndMarriedWithKids.com. I feel like I already knew them from their online presence, but it was nice to finally meet them in person…

Deon Gordon, Lamar Tyler & Cortne Howard

Also on Friday, I was also featured on the Shades of Romance Magazine blog!!! Thanks LaShaunda Hoffman!!!

And behind the scenes, I was still grinding on marketing and promotion…more will be revealed…stay tuned…

Any thoughts?

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Random Ramblings Quatre

Hello World,

When I showed my mother a picture of Amy Winehouse, she said she looked like a modern Barbra Streisand...what y'all think?

When I cannot find anything in particular I want to dedicate a post to, I find myself collecting my random ramblings as I have done in three previous posts Random Ramblings aka I didn’t have a topic so bear with me and Random Ramblings part deaux… So read on if you must…

1. As many of us are, I am incensed about this debt ceiling thing for the obvious reasons…But aside from the obvious, the older I get the more I realize that many of us choose to ignore the lessons that we learned (hopefully) in childhood. One of those lessons is compromise is typically better for all parties involved (pun intended)…Why can’t these politicians come up with something that can benefit the two schools of thought around this issue…Neither will get all that they want, but compromise already!

2. Another childhood lesson gone awry: Dominique Strass-Kahn’s accuser Nafissatou Diallo may be telling the truth about his allegedly sexual assaulting her, but the woman has admitted she has lied a LOT before…For instance, Diallo admitted she lied about “making mistakes in lying to prosecutors about an earlier rape in Guinea, filing false tax returns, and lying on an asylum application,” according to “Newsweek.” Clearly, someone needs to buy Diallo a copy of  “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” a children’s book. You know what they say…if someone lies about one thing, they will usually lie about another…

Amy Winehouse did look something like her...at least from this photo...

3. Amy Winehouse…Two words come to mind…Wasted Talent…Remember these words from “A Bronx Tale?” This artist was crazy talented. RIP.

4. Divorces anywhere are a threat to marriages everywhere…Okay, Okay, I know I’m totally messing up Dr. King’s quote (“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”), but I think my retooled quote is also true…The J. Lo & Marc Anthony divorce…After all of her failed relationships, I thought she had finally found her “happily ever after,” particularly since she had children…I’ve been hearing about a lot of divorces lately, and every time I hear of a new one, I really do ponder why some marriages last while other marriages just disintegrate….

5. In other talented singer news….Lauryn Hill & Rohan Marley…Six children later, and there is still drama…Apparently, according to ABC News, Marley could be allegedly seeing another woman and is not exactly claiming to be the father of Hill’s sixth child…And Hill has responded to these news reports here…Obviously, since I’m not in the relationship, I don’t know what is the truth, but I think we can all agree that her onstage behavior hasn’t been right for years…If this is an indicator of what goes on in her private life, I cannot say but….

6. I haven’t thought too much about the Norway shooting although I probably should have…But my friend, fellow blogger and the web designer of my blog Tess Gadwa wrote an interesting post about it here….Check her out…Let her know that I sent you…

7. I’m a sucker for an interesting relationship article…I wanted to post about this article last month, but life got in the way…“Economy of Sex: It’s Cheap These Days.”

Any thoughts?

My favorite Amy Winehouse song…

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You Can Be Cute Or…(aka Happy Independence Day!!!)

You Can Get It Done….

Hello World,

I chose to get it done…It wasn’t pretty, but I just completed the Peachtree Road Race in 1 hour, 11  minutes and 53 seconds, my personal best 🙂

A Georgia Peach (by way of Jamaica) eating a Georgia Peach!

On this Independence Day, I thank God for my country and those in the government, armed forces, etc. who make it safe for us to enjoy ourselves at the Peachtree Road Race (a hallowed tradition in the A) every year. As my father, the pastor of Central Christian Church, reminded us yesterday, those who are in the government are actually God’s ministers to us…
 
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God… For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. ” Romans 13: 1-5
 
Have a blessed day 🙂 and don’t each too much!
 
Any thoughts?