As you might be aware, on December 14, 2020, Joe went to be with the Lord. So many of you have asked about what happened and how you can help. We certainly appreciate your love through this difficult time!
Joe suffered a stroke on December 9, 2020 and lost his battle a few days later. This was unexpected to all of us. Though dad sure loved his peanut butter, he was generally healthy and none of us anticipated such a tragedy.
All hope is not lost, though. We, Joe’s family, are comforted by your prayers, words of encouragement, and, most of all, the knowledge that he is finally reunited with his wife, our mom, Karen. While we wait to be reunited with them, we will work hard to preserve his legacy and continue what he so diligently began.
You can read the details of his obituary here. Unfortunately, due to travel restrictions and the reach our dad had, we have chosen not to do a memorial at this time. Instead, we will be celebrating his life by carrying on his legacy through is blog and books. A memorial fund has also been set up in his name to help us cover final costs.
We hope you will continue to read Wisdom From a Father, which we have aptly nick-named Wisdom 2.5. Each one of us five kids have learned a great deal growing up under Joe’s tutelage and it is our desire to continue to share, just like he would want us to. You can keep track of us here, of course, but you can also find us on Facebook and Instagram. We look forward to connecting with you all.
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Joseph Siccardi Sr Memorial Fund By Scott Siccardi ~ For Memorial expenses
Author Joe Siccardi, Sr.
It is often said we wear many hats this side of heaven. Joseph Siccardi, Sr. knew how to wear his collection well as a husband, writer, author, friend and most beloved – father.
On December 14, 2020, Joe, age 73, set down his hats to join his wife, Karen, his dear friend, Sonni, and his parents, Joseph and Dorothy, in heaven. Joe poured his life into words, both spoken and written. His greatest desire was to be a light in a dark world. He enjoyed praying for and encouraging others – anyone and everyone in his path.
He so loved to make people laugh with his dad jokes and memes and he inspired us all to live full lives with no fear, worry, or regret. While there is a hole in our hearts today, we know our dad/grandpa/friend is happily reunited with the love of his life, mom, who passed in 2008.
Joe always knew his kids would write the next words… Through them, his legacy will continue.
Most self-published authors spend the majority of their week in two ways, writing their next novel and marketing their current book.
Courtesy of Dawn Hill Publications Marketing Director
It’s no secret that we operate in a highly saturated market, with hundreds of sub-markets which are also highly saturated, take for example, the romance genre. In the era of saturated markets and heavy competition, it’s important for authors to know what makes the book buyer think ‘yes, I’m going to buy this book!’.
Word of Mouth
Word of mouth is statistically proven to be the most popular reason for book purchases. Word of mouth translates to recommendations from friends or family. It makes a lot of sense that the average book buyer trusts the opinions of their friends and family over the transnational publisher waving their promotions in their face.
Word of mouth marketing is also undoubtedly the hardest to achieve and execute because you’re essentially not in direct control of anything. Most major publishers have an army of reviewers, major newspapers and popular bloggers to spread the word about their books. As a self-published author you can still achieve word of mouth sales, you’ll just need to put in a bit of work into developing a base of reviewers and followers first, but we’ll address that in a different post.
Book Reviews:
You guessed it! Who would of thought that the main influencer of word-of-mouth marketing would be crucial in increasing your book sales?! Okay, we’ll stop with the sarcasm, you get the point. Book reviews are crucial. Firstly, they provide valuable social proof that your book is worth the reader’s time.
Readers are often inundated with a plethora of book choices on Amazon and as a result they have to make snap decisions on which book link to click on and during this snap decision, most readers take into account the number of reviews a book has. The more, the merrier. Tip: find the average amount of reviews in your genre on Amazon’s search results and make that your review target.
Favorite Author:
For the most part, book readers are a loyal bunch. When they find an author they really love, they’ll stick to them like glue, often choosing their new releases over other books which are also very enticing. Writing a fantastic book goes a long way to securing your place in the hearts of readers, but it’s not the sole factor.
Many successful authors have strong personal brands on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, where they share aspects of their personal life and communicate with their audience. They’ve cultivated relationships with their readers, and this cannot be understated enough.
Once a reader falls in love with the personality of an author, as well as their writing, it’s a wrap. They will be purchasing their books until that author decides to stop writing.
I am so excited to spotlight an amazing author, writer, and long-time friend of mine. Please, Meet Arthur Crandon.
I don’t think Arthur even knows how long we have known each other! But it will be almost 7-years now. We met through social media since we both had books published. I had learned so much from him as his website is a “must visit” for all writers. We had lost touch for a while. But he had reached out to me, and I have to apologize that I did NOT SEE HIS Email right away. (Sorry, Arthur!)
He had sent it to an email I hardly check since starting my book promoting years ago. But we are now back in touch! So I wanted to share him and has a Brand New Release coming out in March or April of 2021, with all my readers and blog visitors. You can go and pre-order it right now on Amazon. I got my copy already.
I had read his original book Deadly Election, but now he has it as a series with fresh new covers with books one and two out as a series. Now, he did a book relevant to “how to self-publish,” which is now unavailable called Publish For Free and was a great guide to self-publish through Amazon using all the free tools and learned so much from that book at the time. Well, we all know Amazon has made loads of changes since then.
So who is Arthur Crandon? Who is this man of swagger and intrigue?
Here is more about my friend and about his new release coming in the New Year…
~Author, Catherine Lyon
* * * * *
NEW RELEASE COMING…
New Release Coming 2021 March/April
About The New Release
Sam Timmins must save his wife, and his daughter, and the world, but they’re all in different places. With a spreading Pandemic, and Chinese spies chasing him, he has a lot on his plate…
Sam did not set out to be a spy, but with a distinguished military career, and a later doctor’s qualification and virus expertise, it wasn’t long before the CIA were knocking on his door. Covid 19 did much damage to the international economy, impoverishing major nations, but China, the source of the plague was hardly affected, or maybe it was prepared.
Covid was just about contained, but if it had not escaped early, if the virus released was as targeted, as deadly, and as contagious as is was supposed to be it would be a different story.
Eventually, they get it right. The new version is carefully released, and monitored, at first by the Chinese Politburo, but soon after by the CDC and the WHO – and of course the CIA are thrown in to bring the Pandemic under control, this is why Sam is on his way to Hong Kong.
What he finds there shocks and frightens him, and sends him rushing off to Afghanistan. The fragmented forces of Western countries seek to stem the scourge and find a vaccine and treatment, while the growing cohorts of agents, spies, and troops from China beat them to the chase. Whatever the outcome, the world will be changed forever. Sam may go home as a revered hero, or spend the rest of his life in a gloomy, windowless, cell learning to eat his food with chopstcks.
If you like the style of Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’ or William Forstchen’s ‘One Second After’ you will enjoy this book!
* * * * *
My Buddy Arthur Cradon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR & WRITER
Arthur Crandon has been writing for many years and has four books under his belt, with a fifth to be released in March of 2021. He has received many accolades for his writing including more than 100 five star reviews and he has been voted No. 1 by Goodreads readers in their poll – ‘Little known authors worth reading’. His debut novel, Deadly Election, also topped the Amazon Best Seller list for Murder and Political for free books.
Once a lawyer, the boring office kind, not the exciting and much better paid courtroom type. He worked as a solicitor for a while before embarking on an interesting life overseas. He has spent most of his time in recent years in South East Asia, and lived in Hong Kong. Before that, Arthur lived and worked in the Philippine Islands (particularly Luzon and Mindanao) for a number of years. During these years, his experiences of political life and the realities of doing business and living in the Philippines became all too apparent. These experiences are vividly portrayed during the course of writing his book ‘Deadly Election.’
He continues to write political crime/thrillers, suspense and intrigue novels mainly set in South-East Asia. He also writes a blog where he comments on Asian politics and social matters – and his own work. Arthur is a former lawyer who worked in the UK, Hong Kong and the Philippines specializing in visas and immigration – another great source of inspiration for his stories. His time as a warden for the British Embassy in Manila also provided insight for his writing.
In between writing and blogging, Arthur has gained an M. A. in creative writing and plans further study. In his spare time he enjoys music (he is a keyboards player) and cooking. Arthur is married with five children. He and his wife, Lynnie, divide their time between the UK and Asia.
Then, visit his blog on his website here: https://www.arthurcrandon.com/ as he is very generous with sharing advice and tips in the areas of writing, blogging, and self-publishing.
Now that I think back, we actually beens friends a wee bit longer! I was still living in So. Oregon and then moved to Arizona and at that time he was still living in Hong Hong around 2012!
We have come a long way together on different literary paths, but, again, Arthur is an amazing seasoned gripping writer of political fiction and storylines take place all around Asia and South Asia and others. He exposes gripping and thrilling murder, corruption, vigilante justice at its best!
The Key To Media Success Is Focusing On Their Needs, Not Yours. Written by Miguel Casellas-Giland Shared by Marsha Friedman
2020 has been a challenging year in so many ways for nearly everyone – and pitching the media in the middle of a pandemic is no exception.COVID-19 dominated so much of the news cycle that, seemingly for months, any pitch that didn’t include a coronavirus angle ended up in some reporter, editor or producer’s deleted file.
Fortunately, at News & Experts we found plenty of ways to tie our clients and their messages to the situation, though at times it required some exceptional brainstorming sessions! And eventually other topics began to work their way back into new reports, much to everyone’s relief.But even through these unusual times, a couple of things did not change.
One is the value of media coverage for building your brand or promoting your business. Your ROI is the credibility you gain from the implicit endorsement when the media turns to you as an expert who can provide valuable insight to their audience.
The other thing that didn’t change is that, to be successful, you need to understand the media, their needs and what they want from you.Just recently, journalists were surveyed about how the pandemic had affected their work. They were also asked for their thoughts on how those seeking PR could do a better job of pitching to them and working with them.
As a result of their responses, let me share a few ideas on what you should be doing that will ingratiate you with journalists and increase your chances of publicity success:
Pitch journalists via email. Most people in the media prefer to be pitched by email, rather than by phone or by a personal message on social media. With reduced staff and limited resources, they are often crunched for time and an email allows them to review a pitch at their leisure, without you interrupting their day. Make sure you have a succinct subject line that grabs their attention (but doesn’t promise more than you can deliver)! Try to keep the body of the pitch short and to the point.
Be willing to do video interviews. In years past, most interviews with print reports were conducted in person or by phone. As we all know, times have changed, so it’s possible print journalists will request an interview over Zoom or another similar service. Your willingness to honor their requests will help create a great relationship with them. Of course, TV interviews absolutely will happen this way, so the more comfortable you are being interviewed on camera, the better.
Keep up with local news. When you’re pitching to your local media, make sure your pitch is relevant to their readers, viewers or listeners. That’s why it’s important to follow the news so that you understand what is more likely to resonate with those editors, producers or talk show hosts you are trying to reach. One thing I always advocate when pitching the media (because it works!) is never pitch yourself, your company or your product. Instead, pitch the issue on which you’re an expert, or pitch the problem that your company, product or service solves.
Be on the lookout for fresh angles. As I mentioned earlier, this entire year has been saturated with news about COVID-19, and that’s expected to continue for a while. So, continue to look for ways to insert yourself into whatever conversation is going on in the news, especially if you can come up with angles that are different from what everyone else is doing and apply directly to your community.
At the same time, the media are certainly open to other topics beyond the pandemic, especially ones with a positive punch to them. You might have even noticed that some TV news reports always try to end their broadcast with something upbeat, leaving their viewers feeling good after what otherwise was a gloomy newscast!
And keep in mind, as you help the media and give them what they want and need, you will help yourself. Your list of media successes will grow and you will be on your way to becoming a go-to expert the media turns to again and again. Stop by our website today! https://newsandexperts.com/
Helpfully yours,
If you want professional advice on getting the most out of your publicity efforts, give us a call at 727-443-7115.
Coach Yourself: The Secrets Used by Master Coaches That Get Results by Kaden James 5-Stars * * * * *
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Kaden James is a critically acclaimed best-selling writer and author of several literary works including, ‘Coach Yourself, The Daily Playbook, and REFLEKT,’ all available on Amazon. Kaden is a Readers Favorite 5-star Book Review recipient for two of his literary works and seeks a literary agent.
Born in Hayword, California, he moved to a small town in Idaho at the age of ten. Once grown, he made his way to Los Angeles after graduating early to pursue his dreams. As a successful model, singer-songwriter, and frequently on MTV, he recorded music for MTV’s ‘The Real World’ and writing and performing the theme song to both ‘The A-List: New York and Dallas.’ While the music scene and the fame was a fun ride, Kaden was ready and maturing into a new life direction and seamlessly transitioned into writing and the literary world.
Since fitness and living a clean, healthy lifestyle are some of his passions, in 2017, he began studying with “Robbins-Madanes Training” (the official Coach Training School of Anthony Robbins). He became certified as a life & wellness coach with ‘Expert Rating.’ He began writing unique self-help motivational books and began his successful life coaching business with the gained wisdom and the thirst to help others; his coaching business took off.
His favorite authors are Gary Zukav, Brené Brown, and Marianne Williamson, to name a few. The author resides in Los Angeles, California. Keep an eye on this author as his literary star is still rising and Shining Bright.
Coach Yourself: The Secrets Used by Master Coaches That Get Results is a nonfiction self-help book written by Kaden James. James is a Certified Life Coach with Expert Rating. While most of us have heard about life coaching, the idea of hiring a life coach seems to be an option reserved for the more affluent person. People may also wonder how hiring a life coach could actually make a difference in their lives. In his book, James explains what a life coach does, and what benefits clients may receive from working with a coach.
He also describes how life coaching can help the client remove the negativity and self-sabotaging behaviors that prevent them from attaining goals and living a happy and fulfilled life. He sets out the importance of life coaching, describes how to connect with your inner self, and helps the reader plan and work toward their goals. Each section of the book is set out as an interactive text with space allotted to allow the reader to work with the material provided and make it their own. There’s also a workbook included at the end of the text.
Coach Yourself is a well-written guide that demystifies the concept of life coaching. As I began reading, I found myself responding to each question and concept Kaden James brought up and actively getting involved in the self-coaching process. While a brief text, James’ book can be a positive, life-affirming, and powerful tool for anyone who wants to change their lives for the better.
The way the author presents his subject matter makes it easy to get started and keep on going — no matter how challenging making the changes needed may seem. His knack for breaking things down into doable chunks can build one’s confidence and clarify one’s skill in seeing and seeking a future designed with purpose and intent. Coach Yourself is inspiring and could be life-changing. Highly recommended!
For immediate release:
Author’s new book receives a warm literary welcome.
Readers’ Favorite announces the review of the Non-Fiction – Self Help book “Coach Yourself” by Kaden James, currently available at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J443CJX.
Readers’ Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the Internet. They have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins, and have received the “Best Websites for Authors” and “Honoring Excellence” awards from the Association of Independent Authors. They are also fully accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest companies.
“Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite
Coach Yourself: The Secrets Used by Master Coaches That Get Results is a nonfiction self-help book written by Kaden James. James is a Certified Life Coach with Expert Rating. While most of us have heard about life coaching, the idea of hiring a life coach seems to be an option reserved for the more affluent person. People may also wonder how hiring a life coach could actually make a difference in their lives. In his book, James explains what a life coach does, and what benefits clients may receive from working with a coach.
He also describes how life coaching can help the client remove the negativity and self-sabotaging behaviors that prevent them from attaining goals and living a happy and fulfilled life. He sets out the importance of life coaching, describes how to connect with your inner self, and helps the reader plan and work toward their goals. Each section of the book is set out as an interactive text with space allotted to allow the reader to work with the material provided and make it their own. There’s also a workbook included at the end of the text.
Coach Yourself is a well-written guide that demystifies the concept of life coaching. As I began reading, I found myself responding to each question and concept Kaden James brought up and actively getting involved in the self-coaching process. While a brief text, James’ book can be a positive, life-affirming, and powerful tool for anyone who wants to change their lives for the better.
The way the author presents his subject matter makes it easy to get started and keep on going — no matter how challenging making the changes needed may seem. His knack for breaking things down into doable chunks can build one’s confidence and clarify one’s skill in seeing and seeking a future designed with purpose and intent. Coach Yourself is inspiring and could be life-changing. Highly recommended.”
You can learn more about Kaden James and “Coach Yourself” at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/coach-yourself where you can read reviews and the author’s biography, as well as connect with the author directly or through their website and social media pages.
Readers’ Favorite LLC Media Relations Louisville, KY 40202 800-RF-REVIEW support@readersfavorite.com https://readersfavorite.com
Cat just did and ordered the e-book! I’ll be sharing my review on my blog when I am done reading and on Reedsy, Amazon, and Goodreads as I know all my writer, author, visitor friends will want to grab this book too.
So, who is this amazing author and writer Dale the Self-Publishing Wiz?
Well, we just met on Reedsy Discovery where we both are listed as authors. It’s a great literary community for readers and writers alike. Dale actually has several published books under his belt to help with publishing, marketing, sales, and much more!
AND?
He is a CAT LOVER like me!
It would be wise to visit him at his fabulous website as he has a wealth of information and resources to help you with your next self-publishing project, seriously! And many Youtube videos as well. https://selfpublishingwithdale.com/
Here a little more about Dale…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dale L. Roberts is an accomplished indie author and host of Self-Publishing with Dale on YouTube. Since 2014, Dale pursued a full-time career in self-publishing books and now shares his experience on his YouTube channel devoted to building a successful self-publishing business. His specialties include book publishing, video production, public speaking, and networking.
Appearing on numerous YouTube channels and podcast interviews, Dale is always looking for ways to reach a broader audience to share the value of self-publishing books. Dale is a fitness author, video content creator, and self-publishing advocate. Voted by Feedspot among the Top 100 websites and Top 50 YouTube channels devoted to self-publishing, Dale has cemented his position as the go-to authority in the indie author community.
He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife Kelli and cat Izzie.
-Dale L. Roberts Indie Author & YouTube Video Content Creator
P.S. Check out the video and podcast interview link Book Launchers –
KEYWORD: A great guide for self-published authors who want to sell more books! (Courtesy of Reedsy (dot) Com
Although I think I went over my allotted 50 letter backend keyword slots for the one line review, Amazon Keywords for Books: How to Use Keywords for Better Discovery on Amazon – is a great all-in-one guide to help you navigate Amazon’s maze of metadata.
It sounds like weird science, because it is. But Dale takes you through it all, one step at a time, and does it in an informative, detailed way. As a self-published author, I’ve been using and studying keywords for several years now, somewhat thinking I knew most tricks of the trade, but even I picked up some great tidbits!
As you go through the book, if you are anything like me, you will have to stop in some chapters and take notes because there is a lot of significant information you don’t want to miss. Don’t worry though, the book is filled with all kinds of useful links, hints, tips and tricks, that will definitely point you in the right direction with your books.
I like how the book is organized, and how Dale weaves in anecdotes and his own experience to help explain some dryer content. It helps to clarify the message and gives the read an overall less robotic feel. But in reality, trying to understand, and decipher Amazon’s unique method of algorithm manipulation, one would have to dive into a bit of the tediousness of the ones and zeros of search engine optimization.
The best part of the book for me was the inclusion of some of the finer marketing points that seem like common sense, but ultimately, some of us so busy with the craft of creating, sadly forget. Scribbling some ideas down, I set my sights on my own books, giving them a metadata checkup and used the new techniques I learned to boost them up. Time will tell!
Whether you are looking to write a more discoverable description, or stumbling on how to populate the seven backend keyword slots, heck, even trying to create a profitable AMS ad campaign, this book is a great resource to help guide you on your way to sell more books. And let’s be honest, that is what we all want to do!
Ryan Carriere broke out in 2019 with the bestselling Eternal Stones series and is back with a new sci-fi, time-travelling, cyberpunk dystopia! Assassin Rising: The Alien Gene is the first novella in the series. Book 2 will be out shortly!
![Pandemic Resurgence: It was happening again, only worse... by [Arthur Crandon]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51EwJ7+xCbL.jpg)
"CAT'S BOOK LIBRARY 4 READERS" 