Monthly Archives: March 2013

Unconditional love

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Early this morning I was lounging on the livingroom couch sipping java and intent on the weather forecast when our cat, Fonzi, jumped up on my lap and rubbed his cheeks against my somewhat whiskered chin. Then he settled down calmly on my chest, closed his eyes and started purring. For our furry friends, unconditional love comes easy. They care for us in spite of our numerous failures and even our occasional tirades.

With people, however, this doesn’t come quite as naturally. Not only are we quick to get our feelings hurt and our fur rubbed the wrong way, but even malicious tales which are spread by others, sometimes with no actual intent to harm, will tend to affect the feelings of one human for another.

Holding grudges is easy. Forgiveness and unconditional love, however, are the healers of humanity. Today, try forgiveness and love…you may be surprised at the result.

When ‘Thank you’ is not enough

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I have such a talented and dedicated staff and so many loyal readers and contributors to my material that a simple ‘Thanks’ is far from enough. Each of my associates is willing to ‘go the extra mile’ to help me make certain that our books, covers, and services are completed in anticipated time frames or earlier. The only factor I can’t predict accurately is the delivery of the physical products to the consumers–hard copies. That is in the hands of folks like the postal services, UPS and DHL. And even then, in most cases we are able to tell with fair accuracy when they will arrive. When they are drop-shipped from various locations by the printers, they usually give us a notification and a tracking number.

My wife, Rhonda, has been a constant inspiration and helpmate in the area of proofing. My son, John has also been excellent, even with some major edits, though he has now moved to another state far away, and is not able to be as closely tied to the books.

Kent Hesselbein has been so effective on so many levels that it is hard to begin. He did the setup for our blogs, web site and You Tube channel, He designs 90% of all the book covers we put out, and they are superb quality. He also does conversions to mobi format for Kindle. As if that were not enough, he is also the author of two excellent published books and is currently working on others. All of this while handling another full-time work envolvement in graphic design.

MIchele Doucette, a Canadian teacher, who has more books published with St. Clair Publications than I, also does mobi Kindle conversions and editing. She was our first author, after myself, to come onboard, and has been here ever since. She has been a true friend and helper in building our company to what it is today.

Steve St. Clair with Ion Leap has provided invaluable services in content management and promotion. He is also much appreciated.

And our many authors have made it all possible. Each one is important to me.

Niven Sinclair, a well-known entrepreneur, my British contributor, has been actively involved in promotions since 2009. This cannot be overlooked.

A number of persons in the US, Canada, the UK and Europe have shown outstanding support, and constantly ordered and read our books. Even some celebrities have given our authors plugs.

Where would we be without our friends?  Saying ‘Thank you’ is not nearly enough. I appreciate you all more than words can say.

To care or not to care, that is the question

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Today has been a very busy one for me, as I awoke at 3:00 AM and arose at almost 4:00. I had several online tasks to perform beforehand, then was off to a legislative breakfast at the University of Tennessee Nursery Research Center here in my hometown. The meeting following our meal consisted of talks and a question-answer session with our three state representitives,.Senator Janice Bowling, and Representatives Charlie Curtiss and Judd Matheny. I was able to spend time talking with each of them. What impressed me the most was how well these fine folk work together and care about the people of our state, putting aside party lines, in spite of the fact that one of them is a Democrat and the other two are Republicans. Our elected officials in Washington, some of which I have also met and consider caring friends, would do well to take a lesson from their playbook.

I founded St. Clair Publications with caring as the first priority. I retired from a long, enjoyable career as an insurance agent and manager, at the last over several states. Meeting and greeting is not new to me. But through the years the integrity and caring have gone out of service for many people in public positions. I often wondered how these people keep their positions if they do not have genuine care.

If you need someone to listen to your need to get your message out via the printed word in book form, let me know! You may leave a response following this entry. Have a great day and show care for others.  Meanwhile, we have lots of good books on line. Search for us at St. Clair Publications.

On one Amazon.com search we’re number one

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I know that when an author searches online for one of his or her books, it will likely show in a favorable position. That’s why I asked someone else to do this search. Now, you may try and see if you get the same result. Search Amazon.com books using the topic cliche origins. Guess what! My three books on the subject are all in the top ten. Something no other author on this subject can claim (even though I have retired one of them). And my first one, On the Origin of the Cliches and Evolution of Idioms comes in at number one! I’m quite sure that’s because it has sold so well consistantly. The new book just hasn’t been properly discovered yet, and should be the standard bearer for this genre for a number of years.  

Most Comprehensive Origins of Cliches, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions comes in number 6. It is a 730 page, small print, wide margin volume with a virtual library of common phrases, old sayings and metaphors, with most likely origins; most with early citations and all with definitions. The work includes all of the information in the first two, and more additional ones than the other two combined. For the serious student of the history of the English Language, this book is a must library reference. Order it today at http://stclairpublications.com or on any Amazon site in the US, Europe or India.

Country music loses another legend

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By now you know that Jack Greene, known humorously as “The Jolly Greene Giant” because of his height and deep voice, died this Thursday, March 14, at his home in Nashville from complications of Altzheimers. Jack was born January 30, 1930 in Maryville,Tennessee, and began his dream very early in life. He became best known ion the late 1960s for such chart-topping hits as Statue of a Fool and There Goes My Everything. 

Jack was already a regular at the Grand Ole Opry before I met him.  He was the CMAs very first Male Vocalist of the Year, but he was just an average guy, not too good to meet and greet his fans. Strange that I was posting a blog entry about famous people being just people on the day that his death was announced. Jack, you’ll be missed by those of us who are old enough to have known you when you were a ‘giant’ in the business.

Famous people are still just people

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In my lifetime I have been very fortunate to meet and have conversations with numerous persons whom most may see as important: sports stars, well-known authors, of course, entertainers of note, a war hero, a television host, etc. A good number of polititions are included here. Governors, a ‘Speaker of the House’ in another country, British nobles, US Senators, Lt. Governors and State Officials. Even one future US President. But you know what? They are all just people, like you and I. And many of them never achieve peace of mind. 

We live in a world where too much emphasis is placed on social statis. But inner peace is much more important than how many people know our name. I would rather help one person to achieve peace and reach his or her goals that to be a household name.

I formed St. Clair Publications to do just that. We help people all the time to reach out to their world and beyond with the power of the printed word. Our books express something unique to their authors–the depth of their emotions and their desire to also reach others. They are marketed around the globe. If you are a reader, you can do yourself a favor by checking out our books at http://stclairpublications.com, and on Amazon and Kindle. If you are a writer you may contact me directly at stan@stclair.net to get started on your journey of achieving personal satisfaction and the peace of mind that comes with reaching out to the world with your very own story. And we don’t charge you a fortune either. Basic servies are very inexpensive and actual publishing is free. Our writers know what I mean.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Own it now!

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The new Oz flick, Oz the Great and Terrible, is making waves at the box office. The original 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, was among the most successful children’s films of all time. But now take a step back even further in time with me. At the close of the nineteenth century, two very creative young men collaborated to publish a book of Nursery Rhymes. Those two men were writer L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Wenslow. The next year, in 1900, they would introduce the world to Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman (as he was first called), the Cowardly Lion, the Wicked WItch of the West, the ‘humbug’ Wizard and a host of other brilliantly imagined characters which would change the face of children’s litterature forever. There would be 13 sequals. I have two of these first edition books in my library.

Now, own the book that started it all! St. Clair Publications has just released an affordable version of that very first book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Get your copy today at www.amazon.com.

But not only are we publishing the classics, but we are making our own Emma Lynn Children’s Books. Maybe some day folks will look back and say, “I have an original of that classic in my library!.”

Promoting your book

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I attended a webinar last evening with two very influential bestselling authors, Mark Anestasi and Australian, Cydney O’Sullivan. Cydney conducted the lion’s share of the webinar, and put out a lot of great ideas. I was very pleased to find that I am already using most of them…at least the ones pertaining to actually promoting books.

The premise of the presentation was developing a ‘platform.’ This refers to a base of followers and customers with whom to communicate via email, social networking and events. Accounts with various social networks are imperative to an author’s success.

One interesting fact was that the average book sells less that 250 books simply because authors fail to do their homework before writing and publishing. Another tidbit involved the fact which I have stated many times: NO BOOK WILL SELL UNLESS IT IS PROMOTED.

Then there is the part about why traditional publishers don’t have the funds to promote books like they used to. Cost of major media advertising is now so expensive that it is prohibitive. Amazon and the social media are taking over the marketplace. That’s where we shine, because that’s how we market. She also expressed the importance of author pages and web sites. Got it there, too. We provide each author with their own page on our site and they may also set up an Amazon author page with which to link their other sites. Come on board. We’ve got your back when it comes to promoting your book at St, Clair Publications!

New virtual library of cliche origins finally released!

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The long wait is over! Most Comprehensive Origins of Cliches, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions is finally available!

Here is the description found on Amazon:

In what may just be the most detailed, accurate and comprehensive book of its type ever published, Stanley J. St. Clair, author of On the Origin of the Clichés and Evolution of Idioms, delves deep into the history of phrases and common English expressions, exposing numerous misconceptions and previously published origins.  

By enlarging the page size, using smaller print, and removing the illustrations and humorous antidotes, St. Clair is able to include all of the entries in his two previous volumes and double the combined number in this remarkable work.

Many of our common catchphrases are actually misquotes, often even attributed wrongly. Did you know that “Me Tarzan, you Jane” was never used in any Tarzan book or movie? Are you aware of the fact that “Elementary, my dear Watson” never appeared in any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels? Then from where did these quotes originate?   

Did you know that “umpteenth time” was in use almost 100 years before top printed sources claim? Did you know that “The good Lord willing and the Creeks don’t rise” had nothing to do with streams of water? Did you know that “How do you like them apples?” was not referring to the fruit, and that the date of its first appearance is often misquoted?

Unlike most phrase dictionaries, in many cases this work not only gives the definition and most likely origin, but early citations as well. With entries as ancient as “By the skin of my teeth” to as new as “Kicking the can down the road,” this comprehensive work is sure to appeal to seekers of truth everywhere. The author welcomes your comments.  

Be among the first to order your copy today at: 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1935786415

Reviews encouraged!

Self Publish Your Book – Caring about the author

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I recently got an email from an author wanting to get her book published. She had never published before and said that I would have to ‘hold her hand’ through the entire process. Well, that’s what we do. Figuratively, of course. We understand the uncertainties and anxiety which a new author experiences going down an unfamiliar road. But to myself and my associates, this is not a new road. We gently guide every new author along the path to publication. To us, you’re much more than a number or a way to make money. In fact, the actual publication of your book is free, and author services are likely the lowest in the industry when we are helping you to self publish your book. And you have a respected publisher and logo behind you. That’s because we don’t have to maintain huge revenues to survive, and our books are printed on demand.

So why not contact me at stan@stclair.net for full details on how we can get you published? Self publish your book within 30 days if it is ready to format. And if you have a complete Microsoft Word Doc and get someone else to a cover to our specs, it will cost you nothing to do the publication. Of course we do have all services, even promotions, available at budget prices.