Feb/110
More about the Founder of Do Life Right, Inc.
With my recent interview on Louise Wise’s “Wise Words” blog and recent exposure of having one of the “50 Best Blogs in the Unschooling Movement”, I realized that I haven’t posted much personal information on this site about who I am and why I, Lisa Cottrell-Bentley, started Do Life Right, Incorporated. Here are a few common questions I have received. If you have another, please let me know and I’ll answer as many as I can.
Who am I? I’m Lisa Cottrell-Bentley, a unschooling/homeschooling mother of two brilliant and beautiful daughters. I live in southern Arizona with my wonderful daughters, amazing husband, and five spunky cats. We love solitude and live out in the Sonoran desert on ten quiet acres. I’m originally from Iowa/Illinois, and have lived in Arizona since 1999.
What do I do with my days? Well…it depends on the day. 
My family spends a lot of time at home, yet a lot of time traveling. We love the balance. I write articles for my own sites (and I have quite a few), as well as Vegan Mainstream. I’ve been a Girl Scout Leader (of the best troop on Earth) for ten years now. I’ve been teaching Creative Writing classes to kids and teens for about a year (I *love* this passionately). I also, obviously, spend time writing fiction stories of my own, editing other authors’ work, marketing, doing interviews, taking care of finances, publishing books, and much more related to making my business run smoothly while growing.
Why did I start a publishing company? Great question! This is probably the #1 question I’m asked by interviewers. A little history: I started Do Life Right, Inc. in 2005 as a consulting company, helping people out with their personal conversions to homeschooling and/or vegan lifestyles. We incorporated in October 2007. We turned the company into a publishing company in April 2009, with an influx of capital from a private investor.
After years and years of my older daughter becoming frustrated with all the children’s books she was reading, we discussed why she didn’t like the books she was reading and what the ideal book series would be. She was frustrated with all the books that were school centric, had deceased (or at least absent) parents, had siblings and friends who hated each other, etc. Her ideal book would be a series of books where the characters had true growth, siblings loved each other, parents participated in the lives of their children, and school (and/or the hatred of school) was not the focus of the book. She wanted action and adventure, mysteries, and science fiction details.
Since nothing like that existed yet, I set out to write this “perfect” series. Once I’d written several books of the series, I took these manuscripts to publishers and agents. The only feedback I received was that while the writing was great, I needed to “get rid of the parents, make the siblings not like each other, get rid of the homeschooling aspect,” and basically make it just like every other book out there–the exact opposite of what I wanted to write.
I took this information, along with the fact that there are over 2.2 million homeschoolers in the United States of America alone, and found an investor who believed in my vision. I was able to take that funding and publish the first two books in my series (as well as do a lot of marketing, trademarking, and much more). I’ve then used the proceeds to grow the company. We’re now about to publish the fourth book in the Wright on Time series, as well as several books from other authors. We are actively seeking great manuscripts with realistic homeschoolers of today as the main characters.
Where do you work? I work from home when I’m home, and in motel rooms, friends’/family’s homes and roadside Wi-Fi locations when I’m on the road. Since nearly all of my work is done on a laptop, I can take my office with me wherever I go. I actually get quite a lot done while I wait for my younger daughter at her dance class.
When did you start writing? I’ve had stories in my head since my earliest memories. While I can’t pinpoint how old I was when I wrote my first story, I was nine when I won my first writing contest. That said, I believe anyone can begin their writing career at any age.
How do you find time for everything? Well… I do one thing at a time. My children come first, always, yet I have plenty of time to pursue my own interests, especially the older my daughters get. Yes, I have a lot going on in my life, but I thrive that way. I enjoy having a variety of activities.
More information about me, Lisa, can be found here:
- Do Life Right — my personal blog where I talk about homeschooling, unschooling, veganism, my family, my family’s adventures, and just random topics
- Wright on Time Books — my children’s chapter book series about an RV-living, homeschooling family who travels the USA; Click HERE to go straight to the media page with interviews, appearance dates and more
- Rich Author, Poor Writer — fledgling site where I discuss the pros and cons of various types of publishing, and how to pick which option is the best for each writer’s individual circumstances
Sep/100
Our KickStarter Campaign
I’m excited to announce that the Do Life Right, Inc. publishing company, which specializes in fiction about realistic homeschoolers of today (our flagship books are the Wright on Time series), has just started a crowd-sourcing KickStarter campaign. Please check it out, pledge at least $5, and tell all your friends and family! With your help, we’ll have dozens of amazing books about realistic homeschoolers out in the world! Thank you so much!
Mar/100
Marketing!
Here at Do Life Right, Inc. (DLR), we believe in the power of online marketing. Without marketing, books cannot reach their intended readers.
Our authors all receive the following marketing help (at a bare minimum):
- At least one virtual book blog tour — blogs to approach will be 1/2 up to the author and 1/2 up to DLR. Tours will consist of at least 50 blogs over a one week period (books to be printed and mailed at DLR’s expense, but author will be asked to physically do this). Author will be responsible for answering interview questions, etc. and posting the tour sites on his/her website(s).
- Promotional postcards and/or bookmarks based off of the cover art will be made up and given to the author to mail out or give away (at author’s expense). Promotional tattoos, balloons, and other items might be made, depending on the content of the book itself. Authors will always be encouraged to come up with ideas for this. DLR will pay for promotional items on a case-by-case basis.
- DLR will require all of its authors to have a website. DLR will help with set up of the website (if necessary) and will require it to be updated at least once monthly (via blog or new game or *some* sort of new material provided by the author). Further help on this will be a case-by-case basis with the author, depending on the needs of the promotion.
- DLR will help with author and book accounts on amazon, Facebook, twitter, etc. on a case-by-case basis. We feel as though online marketing provides the best bang for the buck and we’ll require each author to have a strong online presence. We realize this is new to some authors, and thus, we’ll give help as needed. Don’t let this part stress you out!
- DLR will send out press releases about each new title to: (a) author’s hometown newspaper, (b) author’s current town’s newspaper(s), (c) several radio shows. All additional press releases are up to the author to send at DLR’s encouragement.
- We’ll give author’s a 50% discount on buying their own books, so they can sell them at book signings, etc. on their own.
- DLR will have a presence at various conferences, fairs, etc., where our authors will be encouraged to share the booth to promote books about homeschoolers. Authors will make higher royalties at the events they attend.
- We’ll also be making sure that all titles are available through Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon, etc., but that is more of a distribution issue rather than a marketing one. All titles will be available in paperback and Kindle, at a minimum. Select titles will be made available in other electronic forms, as well as audio versions.
- DLR will help with the making of book trailers.