I GHOSTWRITE
I Ghostwrite
I love my job!
In today's economy, how many people can say, "I love my job!" and mean it? I do! I get to meet and work with people from around the world, and I learn something new every day. I look forward to waking up every morning and I'm excited to get to work. I love my job. Do you?
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
We all have a story to tell
I'm amazed at all of the life stories I hear from clients and potential clients. We get so busy and caught up in our own worlds that we forget to look around us at the millions of lives that are being lived within our own communities, neighborhoods, and homes. Even those who share common walls with us have their own stories. We live together and experience many of the same events, but our perceptions of the events and the way they impact us emotionally and physically can be worlds apart. This is because we are all unique individuals and we view events differently.
What's amazing about this is that each and every person can share a story, whether it's a life story, a story that unfolded over a year or two, or a story that took place in a single day or hour and we can sculpt that story from our memories and create something that the world will want to hear. This is the beauty that separates us all and makes us the curious beings that we are.
What is your story? Are you ready to tell it? The world may want to hear it, or you may want to write it for the generation. I can help.
Anais Nin once said, "We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection...We write to be able to transcend our life, to reach beyond it. We write to teach ourselves to speak with others, to record the journey into the labyrinth."
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
Do you want to become a ghostwriter?
Are you looking for a job? Have you thought of becoming a ghostwriter, but you don't know where to start?
I am in the process of building a Web site that I've envisioned for the past two years. It is a site that is dedicated to launching the careers of ghost writers. Ghost writing is a highly sought after service. Many are surprised to learn this, but it's true. On an average day, I have at least one lead from someone in need of a ghost writer. Some days I get up to five leads. It comes to the point that I have to turn down jobs. It's during those times that I've wished I had a team of writers to whom I could refer the work. Now this will be possible with the creation of Ghostwriter4u. I've started building the Web site and it will be live this weekend. We already have one writer who is new to ghosting that will be on the site.
You probably want to know how much this will cost you. The initial set-up fee is $49. This will guarantee you a full page dedicated to your picture, experience, and any writing samples that you want to share. There will be a recurring monthly fee of $29 to be paid via Paypal to remain on the Web site after the first month. Clients will pay you directly, and unlike most similar sites, you will not have to share a percentage of your profits with me. Your direct contact information will be listed on your page, so all communication will take place between you and the client without going through me or the Web site. Your success in this venture will be solely up to you, and I will give no guarantee that you will find a ghosting job through me.
To help you succeed, you will receive a copy of my ghostwriting or editing contract, and regular e-mails that will guide you in getting started in which I'll share my advice from the many years I've learned from this business.
You can cancel at any time with no future obligations.
The focus of the Web site will be quality writing, not bidding for a job. (I always hated that!)
I will also refer clients directly to you.
So what do you have to lose? I am limiting the number of ghostwriters that are accepted onto the Web site, so sign up right away to ensure your spot.
If you've thought of ghostwriting and want to get started, this is the most cost effective avenue that's available on the Internet today. Plus, you will learn from a seasoned ghostwriter.
You can pay your initial set-up fee on my Web site at Ghostwriter.
E-mail me at jo@jodyortiz.com with your picture, writing experience, beliefs, favorite genres, or whatever you want on your page and at least one writing sample.
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
Planting a seed of persistence
Whether you are seeking a publisher for your book or working to obtain new business, persistence always pays off in the end.
Look at Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain. Huckleberry Finn was originally a self-published book. Samuel knew that it was a book that the world needed to see, so he published it himself. He didn't give up on his dream; he found another way to do it.
Shania Twain changed her name to sound more country after being snubbed out of Nashville for being too proper and too pretty. She didn't have the country sound or country look and Nashville did not want her. Eileen Edwards, also known as Shania Twain, persevered, and even though her first album failed, she did not give up. Bryan Adams and John Mutt took an interest in Shania's seductive look, and Mutt contributed to her career and speer headed her climb to what she is today.
Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade and was defeated in every election he entered for public office. He never stopped trying and finally made his mark at the age of 62 when he became Prime Minister.
Charles Darwin said about his childhood in his autobiography, "I was considered by all my masters and my father a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect." Did that stop him? No!
How others label you has nothing to do with who you are. People will always talk and tell stories about you, but it's not true unless you believe it to be true in your heart. If you believe that you can succeed, and you persist in your journey without allowing roadblocks to keep you from proceeding, then success will be yours. You can claim it and know that you worked to get there despite the obstacles.
When I first started in my writing career, I was close to earning my bachelor's in Accounting. I had always done well in English classes and I'm an avid reader, but my eye for detail made me an ideal candidate for working with numbers. But the closer I was to realizing my goal, the less enthusiastic I became about spending the rest of my life working with numbers.
After doing some research, I decided to write books for a living. I started out with articles and was overjoyed that someone would pay me to write. When I approached a client to write a book, I was shocked that I was chosen for the job, and I finished the book--all 250 pages--in nine days. I learned that I was as prolific in my writing as I am as a speaker, which is why I was able to make it to the top of a direct sales company. I talk a lot! 
My road to starting my current career wasn't as easy as it sounds. I applied for 80 jobs before I was selected, but I persevered. I made up my mind that I could succeed at whatever I attempted, and I went for it and I didn't allow rejection to alter my coarse.
Today, that confidence allows me to work for a large number of clients. I don't take to heart their feedback on what I deliver. Every client wants something different in their books. They all have a unique voice and I work to capture their voices in my writing. Some prefer a tone that is uplifting and spiritual, some want to motivate, and some want to bring the reader to tears of happiness or sadness. During the process of finding the author's voice--and it's a process--we work together to set just the right tone. This cannot be accomplished by someone who is not confident in his or her ability to be able to deliver. If I wasn't a persistent person who is determined to succeed at whatever task I start, I would not be able to do what I do for a living. Persistence is one of the main ingredients in my success.
With confidence and perseverance, you can achieve anything you set your mind and heart to do. It takes one seed at a time, one step at a time, and you will succeed!
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
Believe in yourself as God believes in you
This morning I'm turning to scripture for my post because something really spoke to me while watching Joyce Meyer and I believe it will also speak to you. But before I get into the scripture, I want to encourage you to pour positive words and thoughts into yourself on a daily basis. This world can at times be overwhelming and I know firsthand that the world can drain you of yourself. For this reason, I spend an hour every morning doing yoga, watching spiritual or religious television programs, and reading my Bible. Doing these things gives me a positive attitude from the start of my day and I feel like I can take on anything that comes my way. If you don't already start your day with something positive, try it!
The verse that spoke to me this morning was 1 Corinthians 1:24. "but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God."
This verse brings to mind an event in my life in which I was judged to not be good enough in someone else's eyes. I have no doubt that it happened before these events, but as my self-confidence grew and I realized that I was good enough in God's eyes and what others thought didn't matter, I was able to recognize the fact that I was being judged.
This event occurred when I was in a direct sales organization. It was after I joined this organization that I realized how superficial some people can be. I'm not sure if the judgment came from a place of jealousy or the group of women were simply critical of everyone who didn't fit into their clique, but it made me feel like I wasn't worthy to be in the place that I had declared through God as mine.
You see, I joined this organization and started to climb the rung quickly. The organization seemed like a welcoming, spiritual, and empowering group of women who lifted each other up and it was something I wanted to be a part of. Within six months I climbed to the top 2% of the company through hard work and a lot of prayer and I was proud of my accomplishment. But as I'm sure you've learned, within every good entity, there are always those who are negative and as soon as I reached my goal I learned this hard lesson. I spent several minutes in the bathroom before each meeting trying to calm my nerves and keep from hyperventilating. It was a time that was supposed to be exciting and a small group of women talked about me, snubbed me, and made me feel like I was less than. Don't get me wrong, the majority of the women I met and lead in the group were supportive, loving, and uplifting. But the small group that judged me caused me to doubt my self-worth. Those were some of the best and worst days of my life and I still cringe when I think of how I allowed what others thought of me affect who I think I am.
Today, I'm still hurt when someone judges me before knowing anything about me, but then I turn it over to God. I've realized and as the scripture tells us -- I was chosen by God to be who I am. He chose me to have the talents and skills that I have and to do the things that I do. If someone has a problem with me or who I am, it's their problem, not mine.
I want to encourage you to build up your confidence in yourself and to believe as I do that "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) The last four letters in American are ICAN and you can too!
If you don't believe in yourself, who will? You must be your proudest supporter and not to boast of the accomplishments that you have achieved, but to become more than you've possibly dreamed so that your blessings can be passed on to others. God gives to us so that we can give to others and that is a belief that I will follow no matter what comes my way.
The following joke is a bit racy, but it's befitting of the topic and maybe it will leave you with a smile.
The Pastor's Ass
by Unknown
The pastor entered his donkey in a race and
it won.
The pastor was so pleased with the donkey
that he entered it in the race again, and it won again.
The local paper read:
PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.
The Bishop was so upset with this kind of
publicity that he ordered the
pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.
The next day, the local paper headline read:
BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS.
This was too much for the bishop, so he
ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey.
The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a
nearby convent.
The local paper, hearing of the news, posted
the following headline the next day:
NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.
The bishop fainted.
He informed the nun that she would have to
get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.
The next day the paper read:
NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.
This was too much for the bishop, so he
ordered the nun to buy back the donkey
and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.
The next day the headlines read:
NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.
The bishop was buried the next day.
The moral of the story is . . being concerned about
public opinion can bring you much grief and misery . .
even shorten your life. So be yourself and enjoy life.
Stop worrying about everyone else's ass and
you'll be a lot happier and live longer!
Have a great day!
The pastor entered his donkey in a race and
it won.
The pastor was so pleased with the donkey
that he entered it in the race again, and it won again.
The local paper read:
PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.
The Bishop was so upset with this kind of
publicity that he ordered the
pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.
The next day, the local paper headline read:
BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS.
This was too much for the bishop, so he
ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey.
The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a
nearby convent.
The local paper, hearing of the news, posted
the following headline the next day:
NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.
The bishop fainted.
He informed the nun that she would have to
get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.
The next day the paper read:
NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.
This was too much for the bishop, so he
ordered the nun to buy back the donkey
and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.
The next day the headlines read:
NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.
The bishop was buried the next day.
The moral of the story is . . being concerned about
public opinion can bring you much grief and misery . .
even shorten your life. So be yourself and enjoy life.
Stop worrying about everyone else's ass and
you'll be a lot happier and live longer!
Have a great day!
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
Book publishing, my do not recommend list
A client of mine has been working with a publisher (Wingspan) for several weeks to try to get her manuscript published.
For starters, we received what we were told was the final layout so we could add the index. The final layout included a half-way completed index in it. Some terms were searched and these terms were located on up to 20 different pages, but in the index they had created, only 2 to 3 pages were listed for these terms. When the client contacted the publisher about the attempt at an index, the publisher responded with "What index? We didn't know you wanted an index."
Now the client received a message from the publisher stating that in the final layout the index doesn't line up with the page numbers. We may have to recreate the entire index!
Although the publisher seemed knowledgeable and the publishing package seemed to be what the client wanted, she's had nothing but headaches since working with them. This was a publisher I did not recommend and had not heard of before she mentioned them to me. This client came to me with a short deadline and a manuscript that was almost completed and she just needed an editor and an index and I finished my part in a timely manner but now she's facing the sometimes harsh reality of self-publishing. Whenever choosing a publisher, ask for references and ask others who have published about their experiences with different publishers, and just as with buying a car, don't be afraid to walk away!
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
God and Dog
My good friend shared this video with me and I thought I would pass it along to other dog lovers. I want to dedicate this video to Maddie, Elle, and Melly, my faithful companions, and also in the memory of Sadie May.
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
Persistence
According to theologians, there are seven virtues we must follow in our daily lives and they are:
- Chastity
- Temperance
- Charity
- Diligence
- Patience
- Kindness
- Humility
In business, the seven virtues are:
- Financial Smarts
- Responsibility (to the Earth and community)
- Charity
- Tireless
- Diligence
- Flexibility
- Persistence
Today, I want to talk about persistence. With persistence driving you forward through the rough times, you can conquer anything. "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” ~ Calvin Coolidge
To give you an example of persistence, this morning I was watching CNN and there was a preview of an upcoming series called Latino in America. On the preview was a story of a woman who is a Latino chef. When she graduated from culinary school, her plan was to work on television as a celebrity chef. Even though she had built a resume to qualify her for her desired position, she was told that she would have to lose her accent before anyone would consider hiring her.
Through her persistence to have the job of her dreams, this chef went to work on a Latino station on an early morning program that is watched by more Spanish speaking households than all three of the major morning network shows combined. This chef has become a household name and she even has a line of cookware that bares her name. She persisted through the rejections and found a way to make what had been seen as a negative quality into one of her biggest assets.
When speaking of persistence, I'm reminded of the story of the bamboo. This video tells of how a bamboo takes five years from the time it is planted to show visible signs of growth, and then the growth is at a rate that is beyond belief. That's persistence!
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
Live in the moment
This week I've been a bit pre-occupied with my dog, Sadie May. She was somewhere around 18 years old and it was time for her to go. Yesterday I had to drive her to the vet's office and have her put to sleep. It was one of the most difficult things I've had to do. We've been up during the night with her for the past two weeks when she cried and have had to leave the light on for her for a few days. On Friday night, to keep her from crying, I had to sleep on the couch next to her bed where she watched me sleep. Since the light was on, every time I woke up she was looking at me like it was comforting for her to see a familiar face.
Sadie May came into our lives in 1999 just after the May 3rd tornado. My daughter and I lived in Del City, Oklahoma at the time, which was one of the hardest hit areas. We watched out of the glass window of the only underground shelter we could find as the tornado churned by, missing us by 3/4 of a mile.
Once our lives returned to normal and our power was restored, we learned that several animals had lost their homes during the tornado so my daughter and I decided to go to the local shelter and take in one of the animals. Sadie May was being fostered by a family for the shelter because she was elderly, nervous, and didn't like being around all of the commotion of the shelter. She was house trained and sweet and protective--just what we needed. We adopted the dog at the age of 8 and thought she would live out her last few years with us and we were pleased when year after year May continued to be healthy and our faithful companion.
During the last year her weight and health declined. During the last few months we've known that her time was almost up on this earth.
Sadie May did her job and she did it well. Many of my friends can attest to that--she's bitten several of them. She was protective and sweet, and a warm companion in the winter. But most of all, she reminded us about life and to live for today. Every living creature--human, plant, and animal--has a beginning and an end. The beginning is exciting and the end is always sad. This is a lesson that needs to carry over to our lives on a daily basis so that we don't forget to live for now, to love for now, and to remember the ones who have touched our lives.
Thank you May for being a part of our family. We'll miss you!
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
Easy way to create a favicon
Several of my clients have wanted to add a favicon to their Web sites and I've downloaded two plug-ins for my Adobe CS3 program and haven't been able to get them to work because I run Vista 64-bit. I've tried different Web sites that I've found here and there and nothing has worked for me.
Today, finally, I found a Web site that was easy to use and did as it said it would without charging me anything. http://www.favicon.cc/ works.
Once you create the favicon, download it to your computer and then you can use FileZilla to transfer the favicon directly to your root or html folder, depending on how you have your Web site files listed.
I hope this helps others like me who may be lost when it comes to creating an ico file.
Below is a picture of what a favicon is for those who are new to Web design. It's the picture that's beside the Web site name or address on your browser's bar.
Thank you for reading my blog and may you have a blessed day.
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