Lisa Crone's Secret Journey — A Bead in Time : Page 2 of 2

My ‘Secret’ Journey

continued from page 1

It was just after the winter holidays and I had received a generous check from my father-in-law for $100. Normally, this would have been deposited and not really spent in a specific manner, but I decided to take it all to the craft store with my coupon and buy everything I needed to scrapbook. I spent $97 and had so much fun doing it! Since I needed a space to truly craft and leave everything out if I needed to, I made a drastic decision to clear out a small extra bedroom of EVERYTHING in order to set up work tables. I accomplished this all in one weekend. For me, it was sort of unheard of to be that driven with no second guessing or delays.

Writing the Book Proposal

I contacted a co-worker who has successfully published novels and asked for her input. She suggested I search the internet for articles on how to write a proposal in the how-to book industry and also look at some of my favorite beading books to see who the publishers were. If any of them have websites with instructions for proposal submissions, she suggested I give them a try. That sounded so simple, I thought, "why didn't I think of that?" Asking for help was also something new for me at that time! They talk about this in so many of the law of attraction type websites I had visited and it is the basic concept of the "think and grow rich" Mastermind group. If you need to know something, ask a person who is successful in that field. Go right to the top!

After getting this advice, I searched online and found a number of great resources, but felt I hit the mother lode when I came across Tammy Powley's series of articles in the jewelry making section at About.com. Searching the internet for beading information wasn't something I did on a regular basis. There it sat, just like it was waiting for me, "Become a Jewelry Author, Tips for Writing a Jewelry Book." The way it was written made it sound so easy and possible.

My happiness soared while I read it over and over, it sounded very simple, not foreign at all. At the same time I was visualizing what it would be like to have written a beading book about this cool new concept! I went to work following Tammy's guidance and found another detailed and easy to follow article entitled, Writing a Winning Book Proposal by Michael S. Hyatt. It only took a couple of days to put the entire proposal together. I had some of those old thoughts like, "maybe that isn't very good, it didn't take long to "throw" together. I better edit it and ask other people for their opinions", BUT I DIDN'T. I actually had perfect faith that it was just as it should be. At that point I thought I had better find a company that I could submit a proposal to before I lost my momentum.

I went to Amazon.com and searched on beading books. I looked through the book covers and the first one I saw that I had enjoyed from the library I wrote down. The publisher was North Light Books. I searched quickly on North Light Books and would you believe, there they sat in my own state just a couple hours away! Their site had a perfect, easy-to-follow, step-by-step guideline on how to submit a proposal. It was very similar to the proposal I had already put together, requiring me to just move a few things around to get it into their format. My belief grew stronger at every turn that this was really going to happen.

Taking photos of the 11 projects I had completed along with their scrapbooked pages was my next endeavor. I took everything outside in the middle of a freezing cold day to get good lighting and even though I didn't feel confident the pictures were as good as they should be, I prepared a very large email, attached the documents and photos and sent it to their Craft Acquisitions Editor as instructed.

That was a Monday in January, Martin Luther King Day to be exact. The very next day I received an email that really blew my mind. The Acquisitions Editor said she liked what she saw and would like to hear more about it. She couldn't even read my attached proposal because it was in a Microsoft format they didn't have. She was basing this solely on my email and the pictures. Wow! Once I forwarded her the document saved in a different format, I was walking on a cloud. I had this tickly feeling inside that this was really going to happen, a knowing feeling.

I'm not going to focus on this part of my story, but want to share just to be clear about this. People I told about this were so happy I was doing something I felt strongly about, but they were, in fact, disbelieving. It's so interesting to note that just a few months before, I might have been one of those people too! I had a complete shift in perspective in just a little over six months. Incredible! The power of the mind and of our determination is an awesome thing!

Within the next month, I shipped the projects to the publishing company for an in-person review and they passed! Another great day! It made no difference to me at this point that the scrapbook theme was out, it was a miracle this was happening!

Just prior to the Editor proposing the book to her committee, she suggested that I have a blog or a website started so the sales/marketing staff would feel confident that I could assist with marketing and develop an online voice. Considering I was rather a recluse and liked to stay behind the scenes in life, I said, "sure, no problem," closed out of the email and all those old insecurities came flooding back. I thought, "how can I do this and put myself out there, it's not safe, oh no, what have I done!"

I opened my next email to get my mind off of it and it was from the Joel Osteen website, the inspiration of the day quote: It went something like this, you might have to break out of your comfort zone to accomplish your dreams. Seriously, I teared up and opened the Editor's email back up and followed her instructions to create a blog using Google's Blogger.com platform. I didn't even know what a blog was and I thought, "what am I going to write about that doesn't give out personal information and sound ridiculously self serving?"

Another moment of inspiration occurred, "blog about beads, just beads, you love beads and there is plenty to say about them." I thought, "A bead a day" and had it set up within the next hour. I photographed some beads and got started immediately. The energy and inspiration came out of the blue, but I could feel that this was something special and perfectly how it should be.

I received an email a couple weeks later from the acquisitions editor with the subject line that read, "Congratulations, you are a North Light Author." It makes me so happy to this day and that was almost 2 years ago. The book entitled, "A Bead in Time", was placed on Amazon.com as a pre-order item with a date of January 21, 2010. I am still blogging every day at abeadaday.blogspot.com and LOVING it! I have met so many wonderful people, I can't even express to you the extent of my gratitude about this!

Please listen and take this to heart: If I can do this, you can do this. It's something we hear all the time and pass it right off without any thought other than, "yeah sure." Yes, it takes work, but if it is something you are destined to do, it will be much easier than you thought, I promise!

I am a testament and am willing to give you encouragement if you need it. I am shocked that nobody gave it to me other than saying, that's great, good luck. It IS possible, get online and you will find a worldwide community, yes community, of wonderful, helpful, interesting, kind, encouraging people just waiting for you so they can lend a guiding hand. I mention this all the time on my blog and other people's blogs. I was initially and continue to be amazed at the generosity of time, knowledge and kindness people are willing to give if you just ask.

Anyone who has experienced success in something they thought was impossible or improbable, wants you to have that experience too. It's a great feeling! •

© 2009 Lisa Crone. All rights reserved.

Lisa Crone can be reached via email at abeadaday@sbcglobal.net or through her blog at www.abeadaday.blogspot.com. Lisa's book, A Bead in Time: 35 Jewelry Projects Inspired by Slices of Life is available on Amazon.

11/5/09