Deborah Hall-Branch

Author, Deborah Hall-Branch

Three more days to go and I have nothing to show.

What do you give the person that has everything?

Certainly not a house, car, or a ring.

No stockings hanging by my chimney with care,

Hoping that a stranger named “St. Nick” will be there.

As I prepare to write down all the names,

I began to sense a feeling of shame.

For it’s only three more days to go and I have nothing to show

I glanced through the newspaper for coupon seals,

television for visual ideals.

Walked right pass the book on the table,

paid no attention to the shining label.

What do you give the person that has everything?

Certainly not a house, car, or a ring.

As I lay down to take a nap

Exhausted from having on my thinking cap

The book with the shining label is still on the table.

Maybe I’ll read before I sleep,

don’t want to trouble myself with anything to deep.

I turned the page in the book to something that said, “St. John 3:16”

I sat and I read.

This is the most perfect gift to give!

Who wouldn’t want to have life and eternally live?

I wrapped it up in my heart with joy, stuck a name tag

For every man, woman, girl, or boy.

So, what do you give the person that has everything?

A life time membership with “The Son,” thank God! My list is done!

Gone are the days when just an older voice displayed the protagonist in those somewhat steamy, murder mysteries, sci-fi novels. Most of us as we read envisioned pictures of aged adults with sinister motives. With technology rapidly advancing, Gossip Girl coming on the scene our teens have developed an interesting eagerness for life’s realities, the protagonist age gender is now reflecting more the sophisticated teenage population.

They not only welcome the young adult literature, but many are aspiring themselves to one day join their peers in becoming a New York’s Best Seller. Even I fell in love with Stephanie Perry Moore’s “Payton Skky’s” series. And, now so many more authors; such as, Jacquelin Thomas who received the 2008 NAACP award for her teen novel “Divine Confidential” has geared towards reaching our teenage population. The whole Divine series is a great inspirational way of helping them understand marriage and responsibility.  These authors and so many more have accomplished a magnificent skill to capture the minds of today's teenage readers.  

Don’t think for one minute that the publishing houses have not paid attention to not only the spare revenue these teens have to buy books, but also their ingenious gifts to write. It’s definitely turned into a global phenomenon. At long last, they’ve stepped into a genre that brings a welcomed challenge!

Be the first to check out Simon & Schuster’s Teen Best Seller’s List: www.simonandschuster.com/search

When my ex-husband’s father decided he wanted to go into business for himself, he began to spend a considerable amount of time researching every aspect of what it takes to become a successful restaurant owner. He discovered success was based on several factors: quality, value, location, branding, and marketing with visibility and accessibility.

In this he learned that you can have the most beautiful ambient dining room, delectable menu items and the highest standard customer service, yet still fail if you don’t apply those several factors. Although every writer is different, becoming a successful published author is based around the same principles. Authors, who attempt to navigate the waters of the publishing world without the guidance of someone, do so at their own risk. Rejection, frustration, and disappointment are real in the publishing world. I found even in Christian publishing. Your goal could even end up being short-circuited.

You’ve spent considerable amount of time writing, developing your manuscript—doesn’t it deserve the best possible opportunity to be read? While no one will guarantee that you will hit New York’s Best Sellers list, you owe it to yourself to follow every aspect of the guidelines just as my father-in-law did towards reaching that goal. His restaurant remained in business for eighteen years. His vision succeeded far greater than what he ever imagined and he became a well-known entrepreneur in the North section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until his demise.

Check the quality of your manuscript before sending it out. Avoid bureaucratic language so that your manuscript isn’t wordy and unnecessarily complex. Here are some helpful bullets:

• What do my words mean?

• What is my intent?

• Which words will help me express my story to my readers?

• What results will my readers get?

Value your product. If you don’t, no one else will. Research, locate, and submit to agents in your writing genre. Some agents will represent more than one (ex. Fiction, nonfiction) but you need to know before sending in your query letters. Remember, your branding it with your name. “First impression is the lasting impression.” Protect your reputation by following the agents and publishing houses guidelines. Do not send in your manuscript on colored or scented paper. By visiting their website you’ll find all the information you need including what their response time is.

After your book has been published—marketing begins. Once my contract was signed, sealed, delivered back to my publisher, and I had the ISBN number I began to market Through the Eyes of Abuse introducing myself to people making sure pre-purchase was accessible by handing out signage with all the information on it.  Be prepared for the increase responsibilities that come with successful publishing.

Be a wise steward over your story. Some of you may even benefit from an author coach. Majority of authors who submit their material to publishers don’t understand what publishers are looking for. An author coach can help in that assessment. Not all author coaches are necessarily agents, but are quit knowledgeable in the area of publishing.

Find the best means for you to get your manuscript published and go for it. Anything worthwhile doing you have to apply yourself.

On Saturday, March 20, 2010 at the Fayette County Public Library in Fayetteville, Georgia I had an opportunity to share a platform with six very talented emerging writers who I now refer to as “The Fantastic Six.” Sitting there listening to each individual presentation, although some of our stories were based on similar areas under discussion, they uniquely stood interdependent.

Fayetteville resident Dorothy Dickson McLaren co-edited along with her brother “Roy Dickson: 1930s Alaska Bush Pilot.” A story based on the journals kept by their father throughout his bush-flying career. Skyy Banks an Atlanta resident first novel, “Soul on Fire” tells the story of Dana Taylor, a young Atlanta professional who must confront the demons of her past. Skyy’s story reveals sexual abuse. Rhoderick D. Cook novel, “Black Gold: Treasures from the Heart” is an inspirational memoir of the challenges he’s had to face in his life and how he has overcome them.

Dr. Leroy Frazier chronicled his own midlife Christian revolution in “Journey Into My Soul.” Next, Deborah Hall-Branch’s “Through the Eyes of Abuse.” A spiritual true guide intended to help wounded souls find forgiveness, healing, and redemption.

Bill Lightle presented his second book, “Mill Daddy: The Life and Times of Roy Davis,” a profile of an old-time mill-hand at the Flint River Cotton Mill. C. E. Walz a delightful author of several picture children books including “Alley Loo: A Spooky Swamp Tale.”

This event not only concluded with book signings and sells, but also offered opportunity to all those aspiring writers to ask their questions in reference to getting published, creating query letters, self-publishing verses traditional.

Admission was free and light refreshments served. Proceeds from the sale of books benefited Friends of the Fayette County Public Library (770) 461-8841.

1. Pray each morning. But, make sure you don’t end it until you’ve asked God’s help for those “special individuals” you’re bound to run into during your daily journey.

2. Pray again. That your child’s school doesn’t have to put another call in to you. Sometimes letting them wonder about that nervous twitch above your eye helps them see things differently.

3. Pray some more. For your marriage. Killing him for leaving the toilet seat up, dry shaving cream on the sink, remembering while you’re stuck on the highway he didn’t check the oil in your car, mail the mortgage payment, pay the trash man, etc. will only add more stress. Yes, you also probably would’ve been able to get better seats had he ordered the concert tickets ahead of time. Instead of the day before (Oh yeah, by the way, the vertigo will subside once you’re back down on level ground).

4. Pray an extended prayer. Help in the work place. Let those trips to the bathroom to keep from flinging your boss out the window work for your good. Walking is a good source of exercise, and tension release. End of the day and last trip there, start your melt down. Inhale then slowly exhale. Don’t want to start hyperventilating. This can cause irrational behavior.

5. Pray until the heaven’s open. Stopping to pick up dinner on your way home can be very helpful, relieving a lot of stress until you get home and discover they forgot to put everything in your bag. Or, the young lady who talked on her cell phone while taking your order gave you all dark meat when you asked her to mix it. And, how can five people eat one biscuit?

6. Pray for heaven to come down. The heat you feel running down your back is not hot flashes, but a sign that your blood pressure has just elevated. Those half damp mildewed clothes your pulling out of your washer machine right now is just a figment of your imagination. Of course your sweet little baby girl remembered to put them in the dryer. Don’t look now, but something faded.

7. Praying in the Holy Ghost. He will help you to abstain from all those “not so favorable” selection of words building up in your vocabulary while you’re waiting for your computer screen to unfreeze. Maybe your business partners will still get the proposal in time. One thing for sure, banging on that hard drive will only extend your stress especially after you get the repair bill. “Is that smoke coming out the back?”

8. Pray for Peace. It all starts again tomorrow.

“Rejoice …Pray …Give thanks without ceasing.” I Thessalonians 5:16-18

“First Things First, Obey Your Thirst”

Before getting published, I attended a great many literary seminars, conferences, and joined a wonderful writer’s group. This soon to be published author determined not to leave any stone unturned settled in for the long assiduous journey. What really fascinated me about being apart of a group was the different genres represented. But, soon noticed only a few wrote nonfiction, an even smaller few wrote poetry leaving the majority fiction writers. Even its fictional category off springs (paranormal, Christian, urban, suspense, etc.) geared more towards this fantastic avenue.

Who in all reality wanted to read another story on abuse?” “If God given me a gift to write He certainly wanted me to be apart of the movers and shakers.” Before long it appeared only to be those who wrote fiction. There were many autobiographies already on the book shelves. It seemed the only ones really acclaimed where written by famous people. An agent I submitted my manuscript to in her rejection wrote back and said, “She didn’t need a story on abuse to remind her of something she was fully aware of.” Didn’t take much to convince me people wanted to read make believes, pretend characters, and happily ever after. Not someone’s true hardships, true victories, true endings. Her statement definitely began to camouflage the certainty I’d worked so hard to maintain in my heart. From that I convinced myself to sit aside the true story instead generating all my time and effort in getting what I considered finished first to be published.

Learning how to write in the first, second, and third person came kind of easy, especially, when you’ve done it on the real stages of life. Becoming every character in that fiction manuscript amazed me how it flowed. As I typed, I heard the crowd cheering. This was going to be a number one best seller! It got so good, a very dear friend soon joined in. We came up with great plots, and a climatic ending that would leave you breathless. Burning the mid night oil hours on end she and I collaborating one chapter after another while pictures of movie contracts danced before our eyes. I became a pro at quickly popping dinner into the oven while reaching over to the note pad sitting atop my kitchen counter to jot down another scene. Still my thirst remained unquenched. Something was missing.

Then it happened. One evening a Seven-up commercial I’d seen a hundred times, but never paid any attention to its tag line highlighted across my television screen. It read, “First things first, obey your thirst.” A sudden light appeared in my dimmed lit literary mind. The more publishing confetti celebrations I’d attended for one of my fiction writing peer’s the more I pushed away what God had prioritized to be birthed first.

Wow, I almost blew it, but discovered a great lesson. Pay attention to your thirst and obey it, never can tell that best seller may be in a file you no longer visit. Redirecting my energy back to my autobiography a few five years later I became a published author with request from my publishing house for another two manuscripts, one fiction. Obeying the thirst also opened a door for me to be blessed with a wonderful, spirit-led agent who’d worked with some of those “well-know” movers and shakers. He refers to me as a “Unique Author” whose writings are “Sometimes Fantasy. Sometimes Reality. Always Spiritual.” No matter the genre, isn’t that what writing all about?:)

If you scroll down a little further on my blog you'll see the short article I wrote on my most recent launch party. For your viewing pleasure, a few of my pictures have been posted with still more to come. But, hid far away behind the scenes are those several or more weeks of why, who, what, when, and where. My first question, "Why do I have to have a launch party?"  I'd written the book, it started out the publishing gate with a bang. We'd already received an email from a Pastor in India who felt his women's ministry would be greatly encouraged to not only read my story, but also meet the author face-to-face.

Before we could even get online services secured mainly to www.deborahhbranch.com readers where searching the web in hopes of finding my personal email information. Also, I'd received invitations to speak from local law enforcers who headed up domestic and rape advocacies. So, why did I need to have a launch party? To me, it wasn't going to make or break the sales.

For certain, well-known celebrities were not standing in line waiting to get their Evite, and sales still had not stopped. So, for two weeks, night and day I pondered over this matter negotiating between the monies set aside growing interest in my book marketing account which would've came in handy to buy a few new fabulous outfits for India. Or, have the launch party. To be perfectly honest, buried inside of me I knew all too well how important it was for a first time author to launch their book.

After returning back to my very own reality show, immediately I inherited the most wonderful support team. They gathered in every little piece of paper I'd scribbled my ideas on and began to create the vision. Choosing a theme became the hardest part since the book is on abuse. Instead of waiting on my support team to brainstorm with me, I decided to ask my dear husband his opinion who said we should all dress up as ... well, to protect the innocent let's just say, we shredded his detailed idea later burning the small pieces of paper. Nevertheless, it all worked out.

"First Time Goers," if you're planning a book launch party, have a great support team to work with you. Use the monies (royalties, savings, etc.) wisely. Fulfill every dream you envisioned. Most of all remember it is your time to shine for all the hard work, long lonely hours, weight gain from over indulging in chocolate, forgetting the children's names (unfortunately they were somehow changed to the characters names), and those dreaded query letters. Think of it as marketing, and don't get offended if someone doesn't remember the name of your book, but instead the wonderful buffet. Give them time, you're brand new. Create a "Thank You" card with the book cover on it. It'll jar their memory. Get just as creative as you did for the party.

 Above all, enjoy yourself.  Will I do it again? Can't wait!

What makes a successful writer?

>Perseverance

> Commitment

> Vision (See your book published and in the hands of readers)

> Believe/Trust in your gift

Learn the essentials to push pass fear, and rejection. Never let refusals from a publishing house, editor, or agent cause you to abort your manuscript. When asked, do the revisions preparing yourself along the way that you may have to do them again. Turn those denied query letters into something positive by using them as a driving force to learn more about writing to succeed.

Take a class in grammar, do research, examine the market, and check off your goals as they are fulfilled. Every time you conquer one congratulate yourself. Failure only captures those who are not willing to complete the course.

Punch in on the clock every day. Make good use out of free time. Write another paragraph or chapter.

Most of all have a detonator to put out your emotions. Watch your attitude. It's easy to accuse an editor or agent of not having a clue of what you were trying to say in your manuscript. Accept the rejection without making it someone else's fault. Remember, there's no perfect project until it's been published.

Learn to write, and write to learn.

CCWF Group

A night to remember!  "Through the Eyes of Abuse" was launched on Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 5:00 pm.

As the rain dribbled outside, inside an evening absolutely full of gracefulness, style, and excellence took place.

HF Productions who once again out did themselves all the way down to their attires of "Black & Bling," superbly organized this magnificent launch party. The guests as they trickled in were met with warm-welcomes while soothing jazz played in the background weaved a pleasant aural atmosphere all throughout the night.

Vertical buffets of scrumptious desserts and appetizers just to name a few were provided. The spinach dip alone was a huge success!

One dollar from each book sold along with proceeds from the raffle went to benefit Clayton County's battered women's shelter, "Secur'Us House."

Author D. H. Branch greeted her guests as they veered over to her book signing table; a beautiful cherry wood secretary's desk aligned with her favorite painting (Footprints) on her left, and a giant signage of "Through the Eyes of Abuse" book cover on her right. Sprawled across the floor in front of her was, you got it, the "red carpet!"

Each guests left with a "thank you" party bag full of chocolate delights.  Unknowing to the author, a surprise private party followed after.  What a wonderful successful event full of music, media, poetry, and giveaways!

More Guests Pictures 

 Jackie and Brent