July 18, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - The San Diego County Library continues its series of programs at the Alpine Library on Thursday, July 23^rd with a program titled “Author Talk – Mastering Success.” Join Dr. Dorothy Kegler as she discusses her journey to becoming a local author. Dorothy is a longtime resident of San Diego. She has been featured in two books and authored her journal, My Journey: Butterfly Wings, based on her journey to get an education. See attached.

East County News Service

July 13, 2015 (Spring Valley) -- Local award-winning author and publicist Sarka-Jonae Miller will be answering questions about writing, marketing, and publishing books at the Casa De Oro Branch Library (9805 Campo Rd., #180, Spring Valley, 91977) on Saturday, July 18th at 10 a.m. SJ will give instructions for submitting manuscripts to her publisher Booktrope as well as offer tips about self-publishing and pursuing a traditional publishing deal.

        "47th NAACP Image Award Nominee in Literature"

The Audacious Woman: Blaze Your Own Path To Prosperity, by Pamela Y. Toussaint, MBA (Courageous Women Publications, 2015, 118 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“Looking and acting like a leader depends on getting three things right, a trio we refer to as Appearance, Communication, and Gravitas. Individuals who nail each of these elements exude true executive presence.”

~ “Executive Presence” By the Center for Talent Innovation

July 8, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Pamela Y. Toussaint, MBA, the president and founder of Ultimate Image Coach, has authored with her daughter, Tamara Toussaint, JD, the quintessential book on women’s empowerment; The Audacious Woman: Blaze Your Own Path To Prosperity. A personal branding consultant, corporate trainer, author, and keynote speaker, Toussaint came from humble beginnings to write this well researched and documented book. Born and raised in a small village in Jamaica with three sisters and brother, her mother was widowed when Pamela was 10 years old. Against all odds, motivated by the values her mother instilled, Toussaint achieved success as a corporate executive and community leader in the United States. She took an audacious step to re-write her life’s story, and re-branded herself as The Ultimate Image Coach. Click to view.

July 6, 2015 (San Diego) – East County Magazine’s Bookshelf host Reina Menasche sat down for an interview with Cherie Kephart, author of A Few Minor Adjustments, A Memoir on KNSJ.

Hear a podcast online now: http://k003.kiwi6.com/hotlink/m66rohn0kn/Bookshelf-Cherie_Kephart.mp3

Cherie Kephart, the sweet girl next door who longed for adventure, traveled the world from the remote villages of Central Africa to the majestic coastlines of New Zealand until a mysterious illness thrust her to the precipice of death. Cherie spent seven frantic and comical years seeking support from both medical specialists and eccentric New Age healers to find her life saving answers. A Few Minor Adjustments will move you with its fiercely inspirational and humorous account of one woman's incredible journey to answer the age old question—is life worth living?

By Sarka-Jonae Miller

July 4, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Ask An Author welcomes guest columnist Jonny Holt of Literati Resources, a San Diego-based company offering PR and event management. I know Jonny from several events we organized together for Barnes & Noble. Learn more about Literati Resources on Facebook, Twitter @jonnyliterati, and Instagram @LiteratiGram.

By Mimi Pollack

June 25, 2015 (San Diego)--There are two camps in the world: dog lovers and cat lovers. However, there are many, who like me, love and appreciate both. The popularity of cats has grown and today more households have cats, and they have questions about their cats.

Cats can be such mysterious creatures! We wonder what they are thinking when they stare at us. To help clear up this mystery, Gary Weitzman, president of the San Diego Humane Society, and Aline Alexander Newman have co-authored an informative book  called How to Speak Cat.

By Sarka-Jonae Miller

June 18, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Author/actress/artist Vanessa A. Ryan joins us today as a guest columnist. Vanessa is the author of the cozy mystery A Palette for Murder (“Good fun” – Kirkus Reviews) as well as the Horror at the Lake series of vampire tales reminiscent of works like Dracula. Join Vanessa on Facebook and Twitter @Vanessa_A_Ryan if you have any more questions for her about her work, or if you just want to ask her what it was like being part of the cast of the original Magic Mike.

June 10, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) --How do you run a successful KDP Select giveaway? You seem to always rock them. – Jennifer Gilbert

Anyone who visits my SJ Publicity Facebook page regularly can see I'm an advocate of KDP Select giveaways. There are some authors who balk at the idea of giving away free books, but I look at a free ebook as a free sample. Don't you love free samples and the people who give them out?

Story and photos by Miriam Raftery

June 4, 2015 (Lemon Grove)—Five local living legends were honored on May 29^th at the Lemon Grove Library, where their portraits by prominent artist Mona Mills were unveiled.  Those honored reflect a diverse cross section of our community, each with stories to tell.

By Sarka-Jonae Miller

How can I get free material on formatting my manuscript for eBook conversion, and where can I find a good free eBook conversion application? Do you know any eBook retailers who pay through PayPal, since I can't receive payments through a US bank and prefer PayPal to posted checks? Also, can I find quality material on how to use Social Media to promote my books? – James Badmos

June 1, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - I recommend Draft2Digital.com for quality ebook conversion. You can upload a Word document and they will provide you with a mobi and epub file for free. Their program can create a table of contents, dedication page, copyright page, etc. so you don't have to do much formatting. In your case, you might want to allow them to do your distribution since they pay via PayPal.

May 31, 2015 (El Cajon) - Meet Linda Meckler, author of 30 books, public speaker, journalist & book publisher  will speak on June 2^nd at 6 p.m. in the Crest Library (105 Juanita Lane, El Cajon.)

East County News Service

May 28, 2015 (Alpine) – Local award-winning author Sarka-Jonae Miller recently launched “Ask the Author,” a column for East County Magazine.   You’re invited to join us as she discusses her experiences as a publicist and journalist at the Alpine Library on Saturday, June 6^th at 1 p.m.

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

May 25, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Alicia Previn’s new book, Give Bees A Chance, was written for children. Though most of the words are simple, the author also uses more sophisticated terms that she is confident younger readers will pick up by context. Her passion comes through every page, because Alicia Previn has worked closely with gardens, insects and the earth for most of her life. Gives Bees A Chance was written for children, but the message is for all of us.

By Sarka-Jonae Miller

May 23, 2015 (San Diego)--What's the best way to plan for writing the next book in a series, and secondly, what's the most efficient way to gain more readers? – M.L. Desir

Iraq: The War That Shouldn’t Be – You Decide, by M.M. Chantiloupe (Xlibris Corporation, 2010, 305 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

May 16, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Although the Iraq war is over, we are still feeling the residual effects of that controversial campaign, and it is put into perspective by San Diego resident M.M. Chantiloupe in her book; Iraq: The War That Shouldn’t Be – You Decide. Chantiloupe writes a scathing analysis and rebuke of the Bush Administration in this well-written and incisive book. She asks rhetorical questions that gets us all to think about why we actually went into that war and the harm that it has done to America and Iraq, as well as the world itself. Central in her discussion is the false pretenses of weapons of mass destruction. Chantiloupe writes in a scholarly fashion her analysis of this war and its residual effects, such as the current threat of ISIS, or the Islamic terrorist threat.