The Only Way Is Up By Folake Taylor

Success With Borders and Barnes & Noble…

Folake Taylor, MD. — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:59:00 +0000

YES! Finally I can say I have the major bookstore chains carrying my debut book The Only Way is Up: The Journey of an Immigrant. I can safely say I am screaming on the inside!

The journey has not been without hitches and it is far from over. You were all here with me when my first edition was published in November of 2009 in it's rawest form. Then I learnt a little more about the industry and released a revised edition in April of 2010 with some updates and improvements, this time making sure to have Ingram distribution on board. Of course the devil was at work as usual and there was nothing straightforward for me about this process. I thought everything was straight but to my amazement, it was actually Barnes and Noble that alerted me to the fact that The Only Way is Up was not live on Ingram IPage as it should have been. It took another month or so to rectify that.

Finally however, today I can say The Only Way is Up is available in at least one Borders store: BORDERS # 254, 9441 West Colonial Avenue, Ocoee, FL 34761. 407-532-2269. It has also been approved by the Barnes and Noble Small Business Department. At this point, I have no information about what stores will carry my title but will update this information as soon it is available to me. If it is not available in your local Barnes and Noble or Borders, it can be ordered quite easily since it is in their system.

I am just thankful to God that even with my full time job and without a book deal, and being a first time author self publishing, I am able to achieve much progress and it just keeps getting better and better.

Of course it does not end there. It is really just the beginning and I rely on your support as always to get the message out there about The Only Way is Up, my motivational book which targets women, African Americans & immigrants and focuses on self-esteem, self-worth, success, relationships, being single, single parenthood, teenage pregnancies, diet, health, weight, nutrition, spirituality, life outside of the United States, gender roles and so much more. It focuses on many societal issues in this age which we need to address and there is no sugar-coating here. I tell it like it is. It draws a comparison between my upbringing in the UK and Nigeria and life in the United states and offers solutions that are much needed in these times.

Please visit my website http://www.theonlywayisup.net/ for more information, how to purchase etc. If you have read the book already, please do leave an amazon.com review. The electronic version on amazon Kindle as well as in different electronic formats on Smashwords is only $2.99 at present and is part of the July site-wide sale on Smashwords as well. The print version is only $11.69 on amazon.com as well currently. Links to these may be found on the Buy page of my website if you do not wish to do a search on amazon.com.

I am work in progress but I have no doubt in my mind that truly, The Only Way is Up! To find out more about the process of getting these stores to carry your self published book, please read this exhaustive blog post on Indie Publishing on the Cheap by K L Brady, an initial self published author who in one year has gone as far as selling her book to Simon and Schuster and having a two-book deal.

Hard work pays off,
Consistency pays off,
Believing in yourself definitely pays off!

For all that have supported me and continue to show love, I say thank you and God bless you. For those who didn't and who could not bring themselves to believe in me, God bless you also. God is definitely perfecting his purpose in my life and I look forward to bigger and better things as we all strive to be better humans.

PEACE.

One Year Anniversary of the Dream of Becoming An Author

Folake Taylor, MD. — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:23:00 +0000

Exactly a year ago, on memorial day weekend, I got inspired to write a book, The Only Way is Up. It is amazing taking stock and seeing how far I have come and how much I have been blessed to be a blessing.

He took me from being a mom, a wife and an MD to being all that and also an Author. For the first time in my life, I created something, a book. (I may be an MD but I didn't create that. I just studied it...)

He took me from having influence only in my immediate vicinity to being able to reach far and wide with the message in my book.

He took me from initially formatting my whole book in word and using a very basic Createspace tool for a book cover to using Book Cover Pro and Book Wizard for my second edition.

He took me from only having contact on facebook with people I know to being facebook friends with great authors, reviewers, promoters and marketers and a whole new world of great individuals as well as a facebook fan page with close to 500 fans that is still growing and getting close to 400 hits per week. I'm even getting the hang of twitter finally!!!

He took me from talking to patients one on one in exam rooms to radio interviews that reach far and wide.

He took me from dreaming of impacting the world to starting to impact the world.

He took me from not having an avenue to physically sell my books to starting to get into bookstores.

He took me from being afraid to sell and thinking I would literally suck at selling to having great sales numbers at Book Signings.

He took me from fear of public speaking to standing in front of a store at Book Signings and pitching my book effectively.

He took me from not knowing how my work would be received to getting good reviews from the Midwest Book Review, RAWSISTAZ, APEX Reviews to name a few.

Lord, I thank you for expanding my coast. Truly, The Only Way is Up. Book deal around the corner maybe? Yes, he who has done all these is able to take me from being self published to so much more. It is only a matter of time. I am not there yet but I sure am on my way.

Folake.

Revised Edition of The Only Way is Up Now Available!

folake — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:13:09 +0000

It is finally here! The new and improved revised edition of The Only Way is Up is now in print. It is available through the createspace estore as well as this website and will populate on amazon.com shortly.

ISBN: 9780982667200 Publisher: Arrabon Publishing

I listened to you. I improved the cover and made very minor changes to the interior. If it ain’t broke…Thank you for your support.

Folake.

Thumbs Up From Author Exposure

folake — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:56:17 +0000

Earlier this week, The Only Way is Up got another great review from Author Exposure Book Club. Please click here to view this review on their website.

According to Traci:

“Thanks to the real life examples and current events, this book is relatable and some of the topics can be debatable making it ideal for any book club.”

Thank you Author Exposure!

Folake.

Another Great Review: 5 Stars from Apex Reviews!

folake — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:03:01 +0000

I am beside myself with excitement about another great review. It’s not even up on their website but it is posted on amazon.com and it’s another winner. For this, I am thankful to God…Here’s an excerpt from the review:

“…Engaging and enlightening, The Only Way is Up is an eye-opening take on the familiar peaks and valleys through which we all traverse in life – told from the unique perspective of one who has been to the extremes of both.”

–Apex Reviews, 5 stars

Please click here for the full review on amazon. A great way to start my week.

Folake.

Another Great Signing!

folake — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:14:58 +0000

Today was the best Book Signing Event yet. It was close to 60 degrees outside. I think that helped a lot. I had lots of friends show up but also a lot of sales from Borders customers. I am very thankful to God once again. For pics of today’s event, please visit my Event tab and scroll down to Archived Events.

Have a wonderful week.

Folake.

PS: There was another Author also scheduled for this afternoon at the same store. She did not show up! I can’t help thinking that worked in my favor even though I had nothing to do with it and was not even aware of the double booking.

Free Book Giveaway!

folake — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:31:53 +0000

Currently, there is a contest to win a free copy of The Only Way is Up on my Empowering You Blog. A winner will be chosen every Friday this month in honor of Black History Month based on contributions to discussions on the blog. Last week, the winner was Tiffany Eskew of GA. There was a concurent book giveaway on Goodreads last week as well to honor Black History Month and Celebrate Valentine’s day. 616 people entered to win (wow!) and the winner was Kari Lamanuzzi of PA. There will be more giveaways on Goodreads in the future.

Please visit my blog Empowering You to participate and be automatically entered to win a free book. Enjoy.

Folake.

Come Rain or High Water…

folake — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:01:08 +0000

Come rain or high water, I will show up at my Book Signing! Yes. Atlanta had 3 inches of snow in just a few hours yesterday. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it snow so much in a short space of time in the ten years I have lived here. So today was the kind of day most people would choose not to leave the house, especially with it being a Saturday. Several schools were actually closed yesterday in anticipation and some closed early. Some establishments were closed today and some for tomorrow. But I determined in my heart that as long as Borders on Cobb Parkway was open, I would be there. And so I was. And it went well yet again even though none of my friends showed up this time, probably expecting that I wouldn’t be there either! For this reason I only have pictures of me since I always had my friends organize the pics. It’s hard to sell, get someone to take pics of you selling and none of your people are around eh! But it’s all good and I’ve got nothing but love for my family and friends who have been nothing but supportive so far. Today was still a good day. To see cute pictures of a lone me at the Borders table (I managed to get the Borders people to take those ones), please see my events page and scroll down to archived events.

I am thankful yet again.

Happy Valentine’s day tomorrow. Peace.

Folake.

My Blogs

folake — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:59:15 +0000

Hey there!

I currenty have 2 active blogs outside of these updates here. Empowering You is the official interractive blog for The Only Way is Up. We discuss a lot of the issues the book focuses on. My writers blog is This ‘n’ That, which is an adjunct to the This ‘n’ That Writer Resource on this website. Please feel free to participate.

Folake.

5 Stars from Midwest Book Review!

folake — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:46:51 +0000

I was just perusing the internet as usual on a fine Monday evening (last night) while watching CSI Miami on TV with my hubby. I went to my amazon.com page and realized I had one more review. “Maybe one of my friends finally remembered to leave a review,” I thought. The lack of reviews for my book was so glaring that 2 weeks ago I started to send out text messages to remind my friends to leave a review on amazon.com and not just tell me what they thought of the book. Then I clicked on the reviews link to see who it was and what they had said. To my amazement, it was a review from Midwest Book Review giving me 5 stars. It was short, on point and clearly described my book. Needless to say I am a happy camper. My first professional review had made my night. Please click here to view this review on amazon.com and here to view the review on MBR website. I am thankful to God even as I await more of his blessings. Wow! What an honor….

Folake.