Andrew Maraniss on Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes

 Update: Audio of show can be found here.

Join Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes as we profile organizations, leaders, and volunteers who lead by example. With extraordinary acts of kindness and charitable giving that help countless lives daily, these organizations, leaders, and volunteers embody "Be the change you want to see in the world."

 

On Saturday, October 4, 2014 tune in to hear one of several interviews that will focus on the life Perry Wallace and "the Collision of Race and Sports in the South" with Andrew Maraniss who will discuss his first book, Strong Inside.  Maraniss will share about Perry Wallace's, (the first African-American to play sports in the Southeastern Conference) early childhood, his life at Pearl High School, and his historic decision to play basketball at Vanderbilt University. Unknown to Wallace at the time, his decision to attend Vanderbilt would forever change sports in the south and would become a defining moment in race relations in our country.

Maraniss will share how he first learned of one of America's unsung pioneering heroes during his sophomore year at Vanderbilt University. Maraniss wrote about Wallace for a Black Studies class. That initial paper lead to more stories on Wallace by Maraniss when he became the sports editor of Vanderbilt's student newspaper. Maraniss relationship with Perry Wallace continued even when his pen was not writing about him.

Tune in to hear the engaging conversations between the show host, Genma Holmes, and Andrew Maraniss as they  discuss Perry Wallace's great achievements in higher education and his stellar performances on the basketball court that came with isolation, constant worry about his life, and delayed satisfaction. They also discuss the contrast between many Civil Rights Era leaders who were often marching with others and trailblazing Wallace who played alone in arenas filled with taunting jeering crowds while he played basketball games as the only African-American in the SEC.

Stong Inside chronicles not only Perry Wallace's life before and after the game of basketball at Vanderbilt, but time stamps events in Nashville and around the country. The author and host believe that Strong Inside can be used to initiate healthy race relations discussion while giving us an insight into present day events.

This interview promises to empower, inspire, and motivate you to live your BEST life.Tune into 760AM in the Middle Tennessee Region, on Tune In, streaming live online at UStream.TV, and on military bases on Saturdays from 9:00-10:00am CST.

More About Andrew Maraniss

Strong Inside is the first book by Andrew Maraniss. A partner at McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations in Nashville, Andrew studied history at Vanderbilt University as a recipient of the Fred Russell – Grantland Rice sportswriting scholarship, earning the school’s Alexander Award for excellence in journalism and graduating in 1992. He then worked for five years in Vanderbilt’s athletic department as the associate director of media relations, dealing primarily with the men’s basketball team. In 1998, he served as the media relations manager for the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays during the team’s inaugural season, and then returned to Nashville to join MP&F. The son of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author David Maraniss and trailblazing environmentalist Linda Maraniss, Andrew was born in Madison, Wis., grew up in Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas and now lives in Brentwood, Tenn., with his wife Alison, and their two young children.

Follow Andrew on Twitter @trublu24 and visit his website at andrewmaraniss.com.

Photo credits:  Vanderbilt University, Andrew Maraniss, and Genma Holmes

When a Book Club Meeting Turns Into a Testament to The Goodness of God

A few weeks ago, Dinner and Discussion Book Club met to discuss the The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. Normally, we chose a restaurant that has a connection with the book. This time, we met at The Cookery, a cafe on 12th South with a unique mission to train homeless men culinary skills. It was by coincidence the owner, Brett Swayn, is from Australia, the backdrop for the book.

The book was riveting and full of twists and turns for me. The reviews from the group ranged from kinda of crazy to too confusing to I am headed home and getting ready to deal with family, I am going to give everyone a copy of this book  to it gets better the more you read it to I loved it. Our comments and thoughts about the book were better than reading the book.

Cathy came with a trinket box with questions, that was truly a Pandora box. After ordering our food, I was the first to open the box and read aloud this gem of a question:

When Cecilia finds the letter addressed to her from her husband, "To be opened only in the event of my death," she is tormented by the ethics of opening it. Do you agree with her ultimate decision? What would you have done?

Without hesitation, I answered, "I am opening any letter that is marked do not open only in event of my death on the spot!" The Pandora box filled with questions was a creative idea and kept us entertained throughout the evening. One great question after another, helped us dig deeper into the book and had several of us peeling back layers to our personalities. The atmosphere of the restaurant said "come as you are" and it spite of being in the open, the evening was intimate. There was a steady flow of entrees that we devoured from the menu as we made our way to the end of the book. I even had the chef to prepare a salad Genma's way, a version of one of the menu items that was prepared my way on my birthday.

In June, I had quietly celebrated my birthday with Joyce and the cooks at the restaurant. With the restaurant to ourselves, they went above and beyond to make the evening special for me. After being serenaded by two of the best cooks in town on my birthday, I was in love with the restaurant and learned their stories and the concept behind the restaurant. I have returned every week since my birthday. The Cookery was the perfect venue for our book club.

At our book club outing, unbeknown to us, our carefree banter was being observed by a young man in the restaurant. When he got up to leave, he stopped at a our table and said he enjoyed knowing we were "having a great time on your ladies night out." He even suggested a book for us to read. He told us he was raised by his grandmother and went on to share that his life had been interrupted by bad choices. But he was determined to do the right thing. He then laid several 20s on the table and told us to enjoy our night on him because we reminded him of his grandmother and her friends.

 

Totally stunned by his actions, the book loving mother hens began to question him about what was the next chapter for him. As he revealed more about his life, his mother and grandmother, I could not help but snap photos. I sensed something special was happening and I wanted to capture the moment. Cathy, forever a teacher, asked him about pursing an education. Joyce,Veronica, Diane, and Anassa encouraged him to stay focused and inquired about his employment.

I asked for his number to text him the photos and he asked if I would share his photos with his mother as he gave me both numbers. Cathy invited him to church and told him he was welcome to join her and her husband. While she was giving locations and times for her church, I said he was welcome to join me, we meet at one address:) The money that he gave so graciously to us was shared with the cook (my Sweet James) and the waitress.

Anassa, Genma Joyce, Diane, Quortez, Veronica, and Cathy

Our book club meeting was one I did not want to end. We stayed in the parking lot for another twenty minutes talking about any and every thing. As I drove home, I kept thinking how our time at the restaurant was preparing me spiritually and mentally for the 4th of July weekend with family in Mississippi. Our meeting at The Cookery was a glaring testament to the Goodness of God; He readily gives us what we need, when we need it, in the most unexpected way.

On Sunday morning, I got a texted photo and these words:

The Ramseys with Quortez

" Look who came to Mt. Zion today. Quortez. He found an usher to help him find me. He brought his sister. God uses us for his purposes. Can't wait to see what He wants us to do with this young man."

With tears in my eyes, I could not help but shout, "Ain't God good!"

Getting a Book Published in 2009

For several years I have promoted a few authors. I am asked often how I got into the business and to give input on how to get your book in the media. Since today is a day off for me, I thought I would share with you some success stories and give you a few pointers on how to get media attention for your book.

I started my career many moons ago as a swimwear model for Carol Wior. I learned from her the grass roots of marketing and branding. She gave me advice that I will never forget and I it took to heart. "Learned every aspect of the business, don't be a pretty face with an empty head." That advice took me from in front of the lens to PR. Not public relations, but PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS. Every contact became a source for building relationships with others. And most relationships that I have in the media today have spanned my two decade career. The girl with the southern drawl speaks often with reporters in New York, LA, and DC and every city in between. With the rise of social media, those relationships have become even more important as we recall the phone pitch and complain about the number of emails that often get deleted after reading the first sentence.

My first big dive into the world of publishing and authors was with David L. Steward, author of the Doing Business by the Good Book. Mr. Steward is a quite billionaire entrepreneur in St. Louis who is the founder of WWT. I was introduced to him by Earl Graves, Sr. in Dallas at a conference. Mr. Steward was named the number one Black owned business that year (2001) and I was impressed with his humility and compassion for others in spite of the title that was bestowed on him.

He taught a Sunday school class, every Sunday, called Doing Business by the Good Book. He taught his class to everyday business owners and showed by example how he modeled his company based on biblical principles. After meeting him, I attended his class and knew he was on to something. The book deal was brokered by a member of his class,and I was asked to help promote it. His words to me were "promote me like you do Holmes Pest Control!" He had done his research on me and knew how passionate I was about my environmental pest control business. My company was successful despite all of the odds of me not succeeding in the pest control industry.

George H. Bush was asked to write the foreword to the book. At that time, the Bush name carried much clout, and this was considered a home run in the publishing world. DBBTGB was not only promoted in the faith community but was a leadership manual for servant leadership study within many large corporations like Dell, Microsoft, and Johnson & Johnson to name a few.

DBBTGB tells Mr. Steward's story of being a 'nobody' top sales person working for FedEx and with no prior knowledge of the technology biz, to his thirteen year journey through tough economic challenges to becoming the largest Black owned business in the country. Not Oprah folks, David L. Steward. He was ranked in Forbes and Fortune magazines. I still refer to him as my gentle giant. He is soft spoken and never allowed his billionaire status to corrupt his values. I am still learning from him.

Because of his humility, he was easy to work with and did not come with a list of demands. Coordinating his schedule for promoting the book was the tricky part but the first year was a learning curve. He gave away more than he sold as the case with most first time authors. After a few book signings with George H. Bush and several bookings on local TV and radio stations, the book sales started to rise significantly. Being around such powerful individuals got me in front of many and led me to work and promote others who had similar books or was transitioning from CEO corporate leadership to faith base and marketplace ministry.

We hit our target market by booking him for speaking engagements at business conferences and several large business schools where he was the keynote speaker. He is booked six to twelve times a year for fundraisers for non-profits and business conferences and a minimum book order is required. Books are shipped two months in advance so that organization can sell the books as part of their fundraiser. Prepaid Legal ordered several thousand for one of their annual conferences one year. This helps the group cut costs and promotes his visit as well as the book. The buzz about the book is built ahead of time and it makes for good discussions if you have Q&A time set aside.

Press releases are sent eight weeks in advance as well as contacting local radio and TV stations. This doubles the sale of the books as well as builds the name of the charity. (Make sure the charity or organization is worth the work.)

As a promoter of the author and the book, follow up is essential. Most authors do not have a promoter but there are some things you can do yourself.

1. If you agree to speak for an organization, make sure they order a certain number of books up front. I often find if they are serious about you coming, they will order the books.

2. Contact local radio and TV yourself. Do not leave the promoting of you to another person. Send a signed copy of the book to the show host as well as the producer, AND the person who takes the call. The assistant to the host has the power folks!!

3. List your upcoming engagement, in every paper in the town or city. Do not expect others to do it. The difference between selling a book and a hundred books is making sure you hit the daily as well as the local weekly community papers. Community papers will often give you more detailed study so do not leave them out.

4. With the rise of blogs, bloggers are an excellent choice for book reviews. Ask fellow bloggers to mention your book on their blogs. Give the JPEG of your book to those who are willing to write about it. A picture is worth a thousand words. Do not ask someone to pay for a book that you want to have reviewed. You will not get a review, I promise you. (Ask me how I know that?)

5. Be consistent. I find it frustrating to deal with on and off authors. If you are going to write a book, 'Just do it'. Talk is cheap. I know several authors who have been writing a book for ten years. When I see them at business conferences, I try to find the nearest exit. They want to talk about their imaginary book that they want me to help them promote for free! In my office, we call them ‘Gonnas’. "I am going to" (fill in blank.)

6. If you are not journaling or blogging every day, I would make that one of my top goals in '09. My favorite journal is from www.journalsunlimited.com. Great for making sure you get all those great details out of your head. Tell them I sent you.

One of my favorite authors is Henrietta Anne Klauser. Her book Write it Down, Make it Happen should be a requirement for anyone interested in publishing a book. On my desk is my journal, my study bible and her book. Following her suggestions helped me get into the publishing business myself. Remember the advice I was given by my first boss, Carol Wior, "Learned every aspect of the business, don't be a pretty face with an empty head." After pitching Mr. Steward to countless magazines and writing for numerous publications on various subject topics, I took the plunge into the world of magazines and started a new career.

Now, if I can go from skinny swimwear model, to environmental pest control, to flying around with a billionaire to a magazine, all with a southern drawl that someone from the Philippines would immediately know I was from Mississippi, what is stopping YOU from publishing your book?

Overcoming doubt and finding the funds to publish is what I hear the most from potential authors that keep them from publishing their baby.

I think everyone has a book inside of them waiting to be birthed. Why? We all have stories that have shaped our lives and our world view that can impact others in a positive way. I am not in the business of being a dream crasher but for the thousands that have heard me speak and ask how to get their work published only a few actually follow through on getting it from thoughts to paper and from paper to book.

I challenge you to not allow circumstances deter you from achieving your dream of being a published author. It takes work and research but I do believe with forums like www.48Days.net, several authors can be birthed in 2009. Good luck and I will share more in future posting.

Book Review: Write It Down, Make It Happen

One of new favorite books is by author Henriette Anne Klauser. Write It Down, Make it Happen was a birthday gift several years ago. I tried reading it several times but with my life moving at the speed of sound, I never finished the first three chapters until last summer. It was life changing. I have implemented several practices that I have learned from reading the book in place and I can see the difference in my life. I recommend this book to anyone who have dreams that they think are unreachable, unexplainable, unfinished or have been put on hold. The book helped me to organize my thoughts and stay focused in the midst of trials and chaos. Why I did not read this book when I first received it is the million dollar question?

If you are able trying to set goals and looking to hold your self accountable, grab a journal and start writing it down and make life happen.