Tag Archives: mike o’mary

The Not-So-Lavish Lifestyle and the Printers Row Lit Fest

First things first…I recently asked folks to take a one-question survey to share what they like about freelancing (see “The Lavish Lifestyle of a Freelancer” on May 18).

Here are the top five answers:

#1 answer (a tie): “I’m my own boss” and “Ability to set my own schedule”

#3: “Variety of work”

#4 (tie): “Working from home” and “Satisfies my inner entrepeneur”

The least selected answer? “The lavish lifestyle!” Go figure.

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Printers Row Lit Fest June 4-5

If you happen to be in the Chicago area this weekend, check out the Printers Row Lit Fest, formerly known as the Printers Row Book Fair. It is the largest free outdoor literary event in the Midwest. More than 125,000 book lovers are expected to attend the two-day showcase. And if you happen to be at Lit Fest on Sunday afternoon between 2:00 – 4:00, please stop by the Chicago Writers Association tent, where I will be signing copies of The Note, and talking with folks about the Note Project. (Tell me you read about Lit Fest on Freelance Zone and I’ll give you a free DVD!)

Mike O’Mary is author of The Note, a book about the power of appreciation and how a simple note can change a person’s life. He is also founder of the Note Project, and of Dream of Things, a book publisher and online bookstore.

The Lavish Lifestyle of a Freelancer

by Mike O’Mary

bentleyI’m curious… What do you like about being a freelancer?

I’ve written in the past about the pros and cons of being a freelancer. Let’s focus today on the “pros.”

Below is a simple, one-question survey. Please take a moment to select your top three choices for answers. If you have other answers not listed in the survey, please tell us about them in your comments.

I hope it won’t influence your answers if I share with you that what I like most is the lavish lifestyle. But probe a little deeper and the questions come a little harder. What do I like most about the lavish lifestyle…the buckets of caviar for breakfast…getting all spiffed up for yet another white-tie event for freelancers…or the simple act of watching my driver wax the Bentley while I’m sipping mimosas on the veranda? Tough questions with no easy answers.

But that’s a different survey. Let’s focus on the basics first. What do you like most about freelancing? You’ll be able to see the results to date as soon as you submit your answer.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

Mike O’Mary is founder of the Note Project, a campaign to write 1 million thank you notes, and of Dream of Things, a book publisher and online bookstore.

The Pay Off

by Mike O’Mary

In 2009, I started a book publishing company called Dream of Things. A month later, I started doing posts on Freelance-Zone. Since then, I’ve periodically shared thoughts and stories about publishing in this space that are different than what I share elsewhere. FZ sort of feels like home to me (or at least one of several “homes” on the Internet), so it’s nice to come here and kick off my shoes and talk about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff.

Most of the behind-the-scenes stuff is hard work done over a lot of hours. But I’m not going to rehash that today. Instead, I’m going to share some of the rewards of the hard work. What’s the payoff?

The past month was pretty good in terms of pay off, in emotional reward if not yet financially.

For example…

Dream of Things published a memoir called Everything I Never Wanted to Be by Dina Kucera. I read Dina’s manuscript in January 2010. I edited her book in the spring and released it in October 2010. Ten months is a ridiculously short amount of time from acceptance to release. It was a lot of work in a short period of time. The payoff this past month: Dina did a reading in Los Angeles in April, and several people expressed an interest in the movie rights. I’m bringing her to Chicago for book readings/signings in July. I hope we will be able to announce a movie deal between now and then.

NAUTILUS SILVER - BESTOn January 1, 2011, Dream of Things released a book about creative writing called MFA in a Boxby John Rember. John’s book didn’t require a lot of editing. It was more of an assembly job. He had the material — from craft talks given at the Pacific University MFA program over many years. We started talking about the book in 2009, then worked on it in earnest from May to December 2010. Again, a lot of hard work in a very short period of time. The payoff: Publishers got a “heads up” in April from several awards programs, many of which plan to announce official results at BookExpo America in New York the third week of May. I can’t reveal details yet, but I can tell you that MFA in a Boxwill be recognized by the judges of the Nautilus Awards, the Hoffer Awards, the Midwest Book Awards and possibly two others.  Such awards are very gratifying emotionally, and they can help garner the attention to make a book a financial success, too.

Living Now GoldThe other “payoff” good news in April was about one of my own books. The Note is a book I wrote about the power of appreciation and how a simple note can change a person’s life. It’s the book behind the Note Project, a campaign to inspire 1 million people to write notes of appreciation. The Note Project launched on April 18, and I was very pleased to learn on April 21 that The Note has been named Best Gift Book of 2011 in the Living Now Book Awards.

So all in all, April was a pretty good month. I tell you all of this not to be boastful, but to remind you and myself that hard work does, in fact, pay off. We all know that, but we all also go through times where we wonder “what’s the point?’ and “is this worth the effort?” There have been many times in the past two years when I told myself I was nuts for starting a publishing company and doing all of the related work. But having people inquire about movie rights and having peers in the publishing industry recognize your work…that’s the kind of news that will keep you going for at least a couple of more years and several more books.

Mike O’Mary is owner of Dream of Things, and founder of the Note Project.

Call for Submissions: Notes (and Stories!) of Appreciation

by Mike O’Mary

NP-Telesummit-Composite-Photo-copyTwo weeks ago, I gave you a behind-the-scenes look at the Note Project launch and all that a “launch” entails – in this case, a media tour, a blog tour, an “event,” sponsor promotions, etc.

The launch is in full swing now. In fact, the Note Project Telesummit is going on right now – April 18, 19 and 20. if you are reading this on the morning of April 20, there is still time for you to sign up and participate “live” at 2:00 p.m. central time. For more information, click HERE.

If you are reading this after April 20, it’s still not too late to sign up and get access to free replays of the Telesummit, which features ten best-selling authors and experts over three days discussing the Note Project and all aspects of appreciation in our lives.

I mentioned the Note Project and its launch two weeks ago because I believe the project holds special interest for writers. The project is about writing notes of appreciation, the launch is very similar to what authors are doing for book launches these days, and a share of proceeds from optional $1.00 Note Project Starter Kits will go to support literacy projects around the world. But there’s yet another reason for writers to check out the Note Project…

I’m inviting Note Project participants to share their notes and stories on the “Your Notes” section of the Note Project website. I believe sharing them will inspire even more people to write notes – and I plan to publish the best notes and stories in a book about the project. So by writing a note of appreciation, you can accomplish several things: you can let someone in your life know they are appreciated, you can inspire others to write notes, you will be supporting a project that is helping to promote literacy, AND you can get a publishing credit. For more information, visit the Note Project website.

Mike O’Mary is owner and publisher of Dream of Things books, and founder of the Note Project.

Anatomy of a Launch

by Mike O’Mary

NoteProject 72 dpi 200x93For much of the past year, I’ve been laying the groundwork for something called the Note Project. It officially “launches” on April 18, but for all practical purposes, it’s up and running now. If you haven’t already visited the Note Project website at http://NoteProject.com, please take a minute to do so. There are a couple of good reasons for you to take a look if you are a writer.

The first reason is that the Note Project involves writing. In this case, it’s about writing notes of appreciation. It’s a project that was inspired by a note I received from my youngest sister, thanking me for something I did years ago. My goal is to encourage and inspire other people to share notes of appreciation. There’s no cost to participate, so if you want to help the cause (and make someone in your life feel appreciated), please take a moment to pledge to send a note. Your pledge will count toward our goal of 1 million notes, which we believe will “make the world a million times better.” And if you really like the idea of the Note Project, you can support us by purchasing an optional “Note Project Starter eKit” for $1. You’ll get a lot of helpful tips and inspiration for your dollar, and a share of the proceeds will be donated to support literacy projects around the world. You can also donate directly to the literacy projects if you’re not interested in an eKit.

The second reason I recommend that writers check out the Note Project is that this project has much in common with a book launch. In fact, the person who is managing the launch of the Note Project specializes in campaigns aimed at getting new books onto Amazon bestseller lists. Continue reading Anatomy of a Launch

The Revolution Continues…

by Mike O’Mary

Crime Spree Mag coverTwo weeks ago, I talked about the revolution in the book publishing industry. No big secret, right? Everybody knows that we are in the midst of a major shift from print to digital in the publishing industry. And everybody is speculating about what that means for the “industry” – from the big publishing houses to indie publishers to agents to best-selling authors (who are now passing on six-figure advances because they don’t want to give up their digital rights!) to self-published authors (who would probably gladly give up their digital rights for a six-figure advance!).

Below are links to a couple of really great recent blog posts about changes in the publishing industry, and about the possible ramifications. Read them when you have a few minutes, but then come back because I have some really exciting news for freelancers, even if you’ve never written a book and never plan to… Continue reading The Revolution Continues…