Write Now Literary is pleased to be organizing a two-week book tour for A Beginners Guide to Wealth Building by R. LaMont. W. The book tour will run August 10-21, 2020.
Genre: Non-Fiction
Book Title: A Beginners Guide to Wealth Building
Genre: Financial Literacy
Meet R. LaMont W.
Retired: Partner at the Institute for Fiduciary Education (www.ifecorp.com). Event planner: International investment education seminars for large institutional pension and endowment funds.
Retired: State of California for 28 years (16 years at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, Investment Officer II).
13 years — Trustee for the Sacramento County Employees Retirement System (SCERS) Retirement Board...6 years — President, African and African American Alumni Association (5A)...3 years — Trustee, Cal Aggie Alumni Association, University of California, Davis...3 years — Trustee for the Cosumnes River College Foundation...3 years — Mortgage Broker, Summit Funding, Currently — Board Member and Financial Education Consultant, Greater Sacramento Financial Literacy Group.
Adjunct Professor, “Essentials of Personal Finance” — University of Phoenix, Sacramento Valley Campus, Teacher of the Year).
Passion: To share his knowledge of financially literacy through the Art of Storytelling.
About The Book
“A Beginners Guide to Wealth Building ” is a book on the Fundamentals of Money Management.
It is written in simple English to demystify the cryptic world of investments including, the importance of income tax deductions, the importance of budgeting, how to construct a stock, bond and mutual fund investment portfolio. You will learn to do a Spending Personality Assessment Review, a technique used successfully for more than 20 years to teach you how to better manage your money.
This book is transformational. It will empower you to be your own champion and master of your financial universe. You will find this book informative, at times funny and very rewarding.
Guest Post
10 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer
1. Read, Read and Read some more.
I have found too become a better writer you have to become an avid reader. I’ve always been a reader. I used to read 50+ books a year. Now, because of writing I am down to 10-12. I have become a more selective reader. I want to read books in the fiction and self-help genre to look at writing styles, word usage and the entire book set up.
2. Research Everything
When I attended UC Davis, I learned how to do research. This practice is drilled into my brain and I question everything and research what I don’t know. I know there are a lot of things that are out of my expertise. I research things I write about and I bounce my thesis and conclusions off of experts in their field. They keep accuracy in my writing. It really helps when talking about police procedures, weapons, the military, medical and legal practices.
3. Taking Writing Classes
After my first book went to editing, I realized I could write well but I wasn’t a writer. I came to understand writing a resource guide is different than writing a story. The two are worlds apart.
My current book is written in the first person (a resource guide). My second book is written in both first and third person (a novel). I’ve taken many writing courses from, “Writing Great Sentences” to “How to Write Great Fiction Novels”. My writing an evolving, work in progress. One thing I know for sure: I’m getting better.
4. Join a Writer’s Guild
I took an on-line writing class and discovered the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. I picked his guild because of his track record. Jerry has written 198 books. He got to book number 75 before it hit the New York Times best seller list. He has since produced 21 New York Times best sellers.
I’ve learned more about writing in his first class than I have in all of the other DVD’s and books I’ve read. I’ve learned how to set up the story, better use of grammar and writing dialogue. I learned the difference between writing a book from an outline versus writing from the seat of my pants.
I’m in the process of learning the marathon of writing and to keep my reader engaged.
5. Learn to Self Edit
I’m learning to self edit relative to the writing process. I actually write one day and edit the next day. I read books by other great writers to analyze their writing techniques. Using what I learn I go through my book to see where I can improve my the story.
One thing I’ve heard, agent’s can read the first few lines or the first paragraph of a book and will decide right then if it’s worth their time or the garbage can. Good self editing will help you write a better book.
Even thought your book is well edited the publisher will still send your writing to their Chief Editor. However, the less editing the publisher has to do, the more likely they’ll be willing to publish and promote your book.
6. Join ToastMasters
I was in a conversation with my wife when she said, “you should join ToastMasters.” I asked why? She said, “writing is a form of public speaking. If you become a better speaker you will become a better writer.”
I joined ToastMasters. Everything she said was true. In becoming a better speaker I’ve become a better writer (I think). I learned about wasted words like “so”, “because” and the dreaded “ah” and many other words. ToastMasters has helped reduce my wasted word vocabulary. The two go hand in hand. One side helps the other.
7. Find a mentor.
I’m finding this is the hard part. I would love to find a mentor to review my writing but I have some concerns on how to proceed. I’ve learned to only give copyrighted material to someone for review.
I’ve been taught finding an established writer can help you along the way but I only know a few that live close. I am in uncharted waters on this endeavor but I think I’m getting close.
I tried to get a university English professor to read my book and give me feedback. She never returned my correspondence. I still have a few ideas and people in mind but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Everyone wants to get paid. My budget is limited. I’ve spent a lot of money on editors and others but some don’t have the same perfectionist philosophy I have regarding my work. I’m not giving up. I know a good mentor will be very important in my growth and development.
8. Develop a thick skin
I wrote my first novel and handed it out to family and a few friends. Out of 11 people, one came back and gave it two stars for Good Reads. They suggested I break the book up into three different books. One came back and said , “it was okay.” Another person said, “the off character should have been the main character.”
No one else finished the book or has made a comment about it. The only thing I can thought about was to get a better editor. After my first Writers Guild Class, I looked at my book and saw all the flaws. Some things I did right and some things I did wrong in terms of writing techniques.
At first I felt bad. I realized it was my fault. I loaded the book with to much stuff. It became boring and difficult to read. I am learning to write with the reader in mind.
I asked the writers guild should I re-edit and re-publish. The answer came back “No”. Learn from your experience and move on. Develop a thick skin. You are going to get critics as well as lovers.
I read a quote from Harlan Coben. “Most writer don’t think their work is good. Only the bad writers think their work is good. It comes with the territory. Get use to it.”
That’s what I’m gonna do!
9. Build a publishing team
Build a good publishing team. This is not a team of your friends and relatives. It’s not a team of people who will praise your work and tell you your writing is great. Build a team to look at your work from a professional perspective.
Most importantly build a team who will put a critical, but a helpful eye on your writing. Make it the best it can be. This is everything from the book design, the fonts, punctuation, grammar checking, formatting and size. This includes whether it is a hard or soft cover and/or ebook.
I know, I know it is a painstaking process that makes you want to pull your hair out and run screaming into the night. No book is ever perfect but with a good team, the pursuit of excellence is within reach.
10. Plan to Write, Write to Plan...then write some more
I wrote a one page business plan. In my plan I have 14 book titles. I have one paragraph to one page for many of the stories that pop into my head. I never stop writing.
You can set aside to specific times to write (early in the morning, mid-day or you can write on an ad hoc basis (whenever).
For me I like to write between 8:00 p.m. until I get tired or lose my concentration. Sometimes a good movie will break my habit but I’d rather read then watch TV.
I have a book called Courageous Money Conversations. My Spiritual Advisor gave it to me. It requires me to write when I first wake up in the morning and at sunset thoughts bedtime.
Keep a diary, a notebook or voice record things you want to remember.
I am a dreamer. I get up and record dreams I can remember.
Make writing a habit. I have found myself writing when I am watching the evening news.
Stay focused and write, write and write some more.
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