Terry M. Drake is a Licensed Social Worker, National Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Certified Trainer of Ericksonian Hypnosis and Nero-linguistic Programming (NLP). He has spent the last 15 years learning about himself and others, through his academic studies resulting in his MSW, his professional studies, as a family therapist, program director and his vast training and research into hypnosis, NLP, the law of attraction and positive psychology. Terry, also has a wealth of personal experiences related to depression and addiction, which he shares in his writings and work with others. Terry is currently a Director of mental and behavioral health programs for a non-profit agency, a Life Coach and Hypnotherapist in private practice, as well as author, speaker and consultant.
Terry is also author of the self-help book, Live Happily Ever After…Now!
Terry’s email address is tdrake@livehappilyeverafter-now.com, his website address is www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com and his blog is also on this site, as well as more information about him and his book Live Happily, Ever After… Now!
On twitter @terrymdrake or become a fan at Live Happily, Ever After Now! On facebook.
Q: Welcome to Beyond the Books, Terry. Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?
Live Happily, Ever After… Now! Is my first published work, although, I already have two more books just waiting to be put on paper. I plan to start working on my next book later this month.
Q: What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?
Live Happily, Ever After… Now! and it’s being published by Lake House Publishing.
Q: For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?
I didn’t bother submitting the manuscript for rejections, as I found in my research that rejections are common and I decided to go straight to self-publishing. I even started my own publishing company, Lake House Publishing.
Q: How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?
I avoided the rejections to my manuscript by self-publishing, but I didn’t avoid constructive criticism. My first draft needed help and looking back I’m actually embarrassed by it. My first critique was very helpful and brutally honest, it stung a bit, but I went right back at it. I used the criticism constructively and it really helped.
Q: When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?
Lake House Publishing, because I’ve heard great things about them. As previously mentioned I started my own publishing company, so I could have more control over the whole process.
Q: How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?
It felt and feels great to be published. To finally have completed the whole process and see your work for the first time, it’s awesome! However, I then began focusing on the marketing and publicity, not fully celebrating yet. I am waiting to celebrate once the whole process has unfolded a bit more and then my wife and I will do something special.
Q: What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?
I started a facebook page and contracted for a virtual book tour. Through all my research social networking and online marketing sounded like the best way for a busy professional, who is just breaking into the field to get the exposure and publicity needed to build a brand, so that’s the way I decided to go.
Q: If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?
No, it wasn’t easy, but I learned a lot of valuable information and the experience will help me with my next book, as well as depending on what direction I decide to take with my publishing company I use the information to help other new authors.
Q: Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?
I have not, as I just finished Live Happily, Ever After… Now! I do have a few ideas and am going to start working on my second book later this month.
Q: Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up? What kind of mistakes could you have avoided?
I could have paid better attention to detail. I am not a very detailed person, so the details that go into the formatting of the book and the use of technology to speed up the process were areas I needed to pay closer attention to. I learned the hard way and spent some time re-doing things and learning what I could have researched and implemented from the beginning.
Q: What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?
Getting started on my marketing and publicity of the book.
Q: If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?
I wouldn’t have chosen a different profession. I became a social worker and family therapist, which I was meant to be. Now I can share this information with others, as a writer and speaker, hopefully helping others become happier and more successful in their lives.
Q: Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?
I have combined the best of both worlds, as I have just become an author with a wealth of knowledge and experience, that I want to share with others.
Q: How do you see yourself in ten years?
Ten years, wow! Well, I see myself looking healthy and happy, enjoying my career as a speaker, consultant and author, as well as balancing it with an active and fun social and family life.
Q: Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?
A quote that I use in my book and is from the great American Inventor Thomas Edison, who by the way was a phenomenal person and understood that you can accomplish whatever you want, as long as you take steps to make it happen and enjoy the whole experience.
“Many of life’s failures are by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
You can find more quotes like this or the inspiration and formula you need to succeed in getting published, as well as being successful in everything you choose to do in Live Happily, Ever After… Now! Visit www.livehappilyeverafter-now.com and learn more.
