How the heck do I get this thing published?

I get by with a little help from my friends!

Fortunately this Broke Diva has some cool friends. The book I have written is for grades K-4. I have a friend in Miami that teaches children in that age demo and had her read the manuscript. She loved it - yes! And even lent her skills in editing it for me - what a great girl. Her name is Amy and I am giving her a shout out! She told me she could not wait to read it to her class.

I also have some PR friends. Dawn, sent me a lovely and very LONG list of children's book publishers. My other home-girl, Andrea read and revised my query letter to prospective agents - because apparently you need one of those to get the publishing houses to even read your manuscript.

And lastly my long-time friend/sister and writing partner, Jamiyla sent me some pointers on query letters. I put all of our ideas together and redid the query letter ready to send. Ok so that's down.

NOW, on to money. As it is, I cannot afford to self-publish at this time. I just enrolled in school to elevate my degree status in Fashion & Retail Business (I am preparing to become CEO-Founder of one the largest children's brands in the US, so I have got to have my education in order).

So again, now...I have no money. I read about ebooks and thought that might be the perfect way to do this thing while waiting for an agent to attack this book. My husband put it in terms of the music industry with indie artists: You print and press your own CD's and sell, sell, sell until you get a deal. This way when the A&R's and label reps give you a deal - you pretty much can name your own terms because of what you have already sold and are continuing to sell. Makes you more desirable, marketable to an existing audience and profitable.

With an ebook I can sell the PDF download on the website (soon to come) for a great low price, say about $3, and sell it until I fundraise the money to get the book pressed and bound. Once I have reached the selling goal I re-direct the sales to the hardcover. The $3 deal is limited and makes folks get into it faster and more folks will want to pay the ebook price before they commit to the full price (somewhere between $10-$12 hardcover). So it's a great marketing tool. I'll even give a free hardcover to the first 1000th downloader!

Deadline to get this up: June 13th, 2010 on my brother's birthday. 

I am on linkedin, momcafe.com and a great children's fashion source site with access to thousands of viral customers. So I hope that the intro price plan will erupt and explode - all while waiting to hear back from some agent. If I do not get picked up soon after the limited ebook price - I will self-publish and get some help to distribute. So far so good? Well, I know it will be time consuming. But sounds good to me!

I am grateful for my friends and they are all long-time relationships spanning back a cool 15 years and more! They are my go-to people for EVERYTHING. And the husband is the best because he's soooo accessible.
I just turn to any side and start talkin'. Because I am the master of multi-tasking. I am still in business plan mode and wrapping that up for the summer, home-school the big kids and take care of the future Tripple Crown winner, be creative, cook dinner, clean the home, watch the sunset in rainbow colors, etc., etc., etc...

AND now I write books!

I always thought of writting a children's book. Especially after I conquered child #1 and then, child #4.
I wondered about it and thought that this is pretty simple - life with my kids is like a reality show that never ends. And it's not even scripted! You can't make up the stuff that goes on here. The friends that have stayed with me and my family can testify to that. So why not give this a shot?

I never believed in being stuck on one thing or that you can only excel in one thing. But I love to write and I love to write creatively. I am working on a website for a television series that I co-wrote with a wonderful and long-time friend of mine, that is going to be big fun (update when the site is released). But this kids book thing is so clever and so chill, I had to do it.

The series is called "Arizona Paris" and is inspired by my daughter, Leotie (you know - the one who cried for a Prada bag on Rodeo Dr). She reminds me of a little Lucille Ball. Everything she does and says is magic. And she is always acurrate in her delivery. There is not a moment that goes by that does not include me shaking my head in amazement. She is the leader of the pack here when it comes to comic relief.

However, now that we are in the boonies of Arizona, the fun does not stop. She is bringing to life everything she has absorbed in Hollywood to our rural lifestyle. It is the most interesting thing ever to me because she defines country-chic. She brought Hollywood to Cochise county and mixed it with her love of horses and big imagination. Picture a 5 year old girl helping to shovel horse poop in patent leather shoes and fancy white gloves. This is my daughter and it is hilarious!

So I wrote the first story of an ongoing series. It is about our move from LA to Arizona in what would be from her perspective. I read it to the kids and they so got it. They laughed when they were supposed to and they enjoyed the story, so at least the target audience is locked down. And I am going to do the illustrations-yay!  When I read it to my husband he immediately wanted to be down and offered his artistic skills - which I would be honored to use. He is a fantastic artist.

So now another item on the list to cross off -

• Get the kids brand of shoes/apparel and accessories off the ground in 2011.
• Get the TV show picked up.
• Win the Kentucky Derby (3 years from now).
• Launch the women's wear line (dream #1).
• Have a successful writing career!
• Curate a museum exhibit. I am such a nerd and still on the Indiana Jones fantasy.

So now the next step is to send out queries and hopefully find an agent ;) Thank goodness I've got some great friends reading this and giving some valuable feedback.

This Diva is always on the grind to create what's hot and will let you all know how things progress!

tg

Diva's use large wok!

My son, Little Paw has been begging us to eat frog. He has also requested snail and monkey brain. In fact he has requested just about every kind of animal/insect you can think of that does NOT exist on your supermarket shopping list. But who could blame him? I mean how many frozen pizza rolls, french fries and cheeses sandwiches can he eat? And I have not done such a tremendi-oso job with dinner either - it's chicken or chicken! Well, I through in a steak every now and then.

So what's a Broke Diva to do? Chinese take-out? That costs us just under $50.00 to feed the brood. Pizza? We are not residing in NYC anymore so the watered down, doughy substitutes of the franchises are cheap, yes - but not desireable. And don't get me started on why we are not eating out every night at the nearest chic, L.A. restaurant. Where we live now, we spend  more money filling the tank than to get to the nearest place with food!  So when my inquisitive and daring little 6 year old started to actually cry over it - off we went to find "new, exciting and different foods!"

The husband got the address to Lee Lee's Oriental Market in Tucson and off we went on an adventure that turned into a history lesson of sorts as well. I found that the best way to feed the family and offer them something great to eat every night was to visit Asia. We walked into the largest supermarket in all of Arizona that catered to all of Asia - including the Middle East. We bought something from every region. We bought some spices, sauces, breads, jasmine rice, cat fish, weird fruit (that tasted as weird as they looked), whole octopus, large frog legs (yes, we did), lamb, goat (for curry), a variety of other stuff and did not skimp on the curry! We even invested in a REAL hand-hammered, gianormous wok. It's a bi-otch to "season" - but worth it. We had one from Target in storage - but this was serious cooking at only $16 bucks. All in all we spent just over $200 - that's 4 nights of Chinese take-out. And while in the store I schooled the kids on the Buddhas they were seeing all over the place and even took some of those free booklets - "Heart of a Buddha."

It has been about 3 weeks and we are STILL dipping into the spices and frozen dumplings. It was a great way to keep costs down - but to also introduce new foods to the kids. We love West Indian dishes and Asian dishes so this was a treat for the husband and I too cook the dishes we enjoy that the kids don't get a chance to eat. I mean where is the nearest West Indian restaurant in Arizona? As far as I am concerned - it's on Flatbush Ave, in Brooklyn! My girl, Candice would be proud.

And that octopus did take a minute to get tender - but was AWESOME! Little Paw was so ecstatic - he still is because we have not gone through our Asiatic food stash. This was luxury for the Broke Diva all the way out here in West Bubble... And I even started using our beautiful serving dishes at our vintage dinning table (found a great one on craigslist that can seat up to 8 people). The husband bought a very nice center piece with candles (we have NOT lit them yet). Leotie thought it was a very nice piece and good for " - kissing Daddy" - too much TV. The whole experience took us out of the living room and into the kitchen and saved us tons of money as a result.

I know that this is a  hood cliche that if you don't have money and you're hungry - go to the Chinese Food Spot. However this is slightly different because you are making the dishes yourself - but pretty much the same! I remember going to the Chinese Food Spot and bringing home my $3.00 chicken wings with fried rice and egg roll and eating from one of my mother's occasion dishes than out of the Styrofoam plate it came in. Always had to be fabulous in some way. When I got older I had it with white wine. Now I use my totally official wok from Taiwan and through down like my name was, Nadira Assam.

Anyway - a great idea to brush up on your culinary Diva-ness and stay sassy and classy with no dough!

tg

A new Beginning - again...

A little over a year ago I took my oldest daughter, Leo on a Rodeo Drive stroll with some associates of mine. We walked onto the landing of the Prada mega-shop and took a look at the mannequin in the underground display case. While we proceeded to enter the shop, she stopped to look at the small cosmetic cases with flowers on them.  They had them on display like free candy. She picked up a purple one and said, "Mommy, can I have this one?" - they were the words most parents loathe to hear when they cannot get something for their child. But for real, it was a PRADA bag for crying out loud! She could have very well asked for a make-up case at Target and it would have been fine. Nonetheless, she is my daughter and for some reason she knew that this particular bag was the bag she had to have. I motioned her inside the store somehow and thought she had forgotten all about it. However once we were headed out she remembered - "But Mommy, what about the bag?" - darn it. I told her that I just could not get her the bag "today." My colleagues - vintage fashionistas - thought it was a great moment in time for them. I, on the other had, wished that I could unload my black AMEX and head straight to the cashier to purchase a multi-hundred dollar Prada bag for my 4 year old.

What took place over the course of an hour was amazing. My disappointed daughter cried her heart out at the entrance of Rodeo Drive during the middle of the afternoon. I mean nothing could stop her tears - not even candy from the sales girl at Cesare Paciotti. Folks were coming out of their shops to see the little girl in her glam shades crying along the strip. Once I told them what she was crying for - I think they wanted to break out the AMEX, too. We even saw that model, Toccara Jones at Gucci - nothing.  Finally - while waiting on line for about forever at Sprinkles...she fell asleep in my arms. She didn't even see the sprinkles!

That whole scene was crazy to me because she did not throw a tantrum. She did not sulk - she just stopped dead in her tracks and cried like she lost her kitten. It was a whole-hearted cry. She is now 5 years old and a princess in training. I wondered if she would become a Broke Diva herself one day. I am sure of it. So tomorrow I am introducing her to my 1960's vintage sewing machine. I have not sewn a stitch in years - but I bought it for her. To make dresses and whatever she wants that I can do on this machine. I also bought it to ease my sewing hand and to get back to the heart of who I am. I am a designer and frankly I am my best when working with my own hands. My OWN hands. I think that this machine and my designs will show my daughter - all of my children - that you can create what you want. I am not saying that I can create that Prada bag - but I am going to show her an outlet of creativity that money cannot buy.

I have a laundry list of things I want to make. I hope that by me getting back into the groove of designing and sewing will open up what has been put to the back for some years now. Back when I was living it up as a naive artist - I felt greatly liberated. Now that I have the education of the industry - I am so ready to get it all started again. So bit by bit, dress by dress, and getting the kids shoe line off next year, I will regain what years of working for other folks has put to the side. My goal is to walk down any street/drive/or road with my daughter and when she says "Mommy, can I have this one?" - I can say, "Yes, yes you can." And pulling out a loaded AMEX won't be too bad either. But for now I toll away and sew and write and draw my heart out until I create the life I desire. So far it is coming together daily.

It is another beginning - as all journeys are. I am looking out into the starry sky and can see shadows of our horses in the night. Another realization for the Broke Diva. Something that I always dreamed about as a little girl is right beyond my window. I am not wealthy in money - but mega rich and wealthy in the since of making the life I want.