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WRITE TO BE READ!!




Submit Professionally!

That old dirge about first impressions really does ring true in the world of writing.

Whether your writing goals are mainstream publishing, publishing yourself via a
self-publishing outfit such as Outskirts Press or Lulu or Xlibris or the like,
absolute self-publishing by doing all the segments on your own,
or even just your blog, newsletter, or e-zine, term paper, essay, or resume -
the professionalism of your content is of paramount importance.

There is nothing worse than paying good money for a book or download, only to find it riddled with errors, chock full of misspelled words, punctuation sprinkled in all the wrong places or completely missing, run-on sentences choking their way through choppy paragraphs,
widows and orphans, dangling participles, and poor grammar.

Wait, there is something worse... 
Realizing that this book or download you just purchased, the one crawling with mistakes,
is actually a great and highly interesting story.
Only you can't enjoy it because you're completely distracted by all the mistakes.
How annoying is that?? 

The saddest thing about that is... there is a budding author with a great imagination and some super stories to tell, but he's not going to get the chance to tell them.

Why not?

Because that author's credibility just went straight down the toilet.
The natural first impression kicks in, the reader tosses a potentially great story aside,
word gets around, and that poor author won't be selling many more books, if any at all.

No reader wants to pick his way through a story that is crawling with blunders,
no matter how good, exciting, or interesting the material is meant to be.
And to be frank, no reader should have to do that.
And no reader will ever purchase a second offering from that author,
for just that reason.

That author's career is over before it even got off the ground...

Don't YOU be that author!!!
 


WRITE TO BE READ!!

I will see to it that your manuscript is proofread, edited if need be, and properly laid out and formatted to the specs of the publisher to whom you are submitting. Rest easy knowing that your manuscript is being presented in it's most professional form, and in turn, that you the author are being presented at your most professional.

I have proofed and edited manuscripts of more than 250,000 words and short stories of less than 10,000, with every size and structure in between. With all due respect to the authors I have worked with, I have taken pages of good material that looked like they were written by someone in the second grade, and turned them into sparkling masterpieces. I can do the same for you. 

Is your manuscript almost perfect? No spelling mistakes or missing periods or incorrect capitalization anywhere? You've read it over three or four times and it looks great? I'll bet it does, but I guarantee that a second set of eyes will catch at least one and likely more tiny, insignificant errors. Trust me, your paper does not have to look like it was written by a little kid to earn the scorn of a publisher. It must be perfect, "almost" doesn't count. If you are serious about your writing career and about your reputation as an author, and if you value your credibility, then please do not cut corners on this most vital part of the writing process. 

So, whether your manuscript, paper, essay, whatever kind of writing you are wanting to present; whether it is a big mess or almost perfect, you need that second set of eyes to bring it up to its full and ultimate potential. I can and will make that happen for you.

Contact me at garylay76@gmail.com or shoot a text/spout a voicemail to 386-214-5532, and let's get your material ready for the world to enjoy. Let's make good writing better; let's make your better writing great! Let's also concoct an incredibly imaginative yet relevant cover image to grab potential reader's attention!

Let's write to be read!!


An open invitation to all former Jehovah's Witnesses:


ExJWs, hey there! 

There are literally (and I know people overuse that word, they pound it to death so they do, but no matter, there really are literally) tens of thousands of you, of us, out there, dealing with the stress and strain and mental befuckery of belonging to that rare but prominent segment of society: that of the former Jehovah's Witness. Ex JWs so to speak...  

     A large group of folks that can be broken out into two distinct categories - those who were "disfellowshipped" (kicked out, for those unfamiliar with the lingo; the JWs seem to have their own goddam vocabulary...); and those who left of their own accord, for whatever reasons. Most of you (us) have been through hell, and most still carry around the mental residue of all the crap that was pounded into their heads from the podium. Our subconscious minds, what I call the undermind, remain cluttered with stuff that resonates in our daily activities, and unfortunately some don't even realize it. You may feel healed on the outside, but there are deep ragged scars on the inside that don't simply fade away over time. Many have turned to therapy to cope with the aftermath of time spent in the grip of the Watchtower organization.  Tragically, some were driven to the ultimate escapism of suicide and, believe me when I tell you, the number of exJWs who've chosen that route is not a small one.

For those who left on their own, for whatever reasons, all belong to this exclusive yet annoying club; annoying because we had to drag so much damn baggage out with us when we finally wised up and ran for our lives (and minds). Some of us left slowly, what we call "fading." Most who took a fade did so because there was family involved;  in my own case I knew that my "turning my back on Jehovah" was going to not only send my mother into a state of high holy unmitigated righteous rage ("after all I've done for you, you ungrateful little..."), it would also not just break her heart, but shatter it to shards (all I've done for you, to get everlasting life for you..."). Some were doing things they knew would eventually lead to the Big D - disfellowshipment - and decided to "walk before they make me run" if I may borrow a classic line from the Rolling Stones. The bottom line is, a great many people have left the Jehovah's Witness organization, for a multitude of personal reasons, yes, but the overall theme is that most  have discovered over time that the Watchtower Society is not the benign and mellow group of Christians with a few weird beliefs and some over-strict rules. No, rather it is a brainwashing, mind-controlling, obedience-demanding, dangerous cult! As those who managed to escape not only have a trainload of dragging baggage, they have something else, too. Every one of you, every one of us, has a story to tell. Everyone! Some of these stories are horrible with tragic events and dire endings. Some are funny, some are clean and with a happy ending. The rest are everywhere in between.

Many of you have written and published some great books on the matter, and I offer congratulations to you! That is one hell of an achievement, of which you should be highly proud! I have purchased and read no less than 20 such books by former witnesses over the past decade and a half, and I learned and experienced something new and different with each and every one. I'm also one who has written; I co-authored with my cousin Mike the story of our own childhoods and teens,  growing up as trained Watchtower slaves, and self-published it back in 2009. I have also just last year written a fictional doomsday thriller that puts forth the premise that the JWs actaully were right all along. Armageddon finally arrives in 2034, several hundred thousand faithful JWs survvive into the so-called new system, and they're expecting instant Paradise with no regard to the 8.5 billion worldly humans just slaughtered in the name of Jehovah. This all happens in a parallel universe of course...  

Some of you already journal as part of the therapy of working through the mental trauma of the aftermath. 

Some of you have gotten the notion to write a book about your unique JW experience and then decided to do nothing with the finsihed product.

Some of you have one hell of a story to share, but have neither the time, the skill, the patience, or even the equipment needed to sit down and write up a manuscript. If this is you, do not fret. 

You can write your book, and I can help you with it. 


LLP offers three levels of service to potential authors with an exJW narrative to share. If you have already written it and don't know where to go next, or almost finished it and want to get it done, or if you have a completed manuscript that needs a good proofread and maybe a bit of copyedit, we can help.

If you started one but feel like you might have run out of gas; if your manuscript needs to be enhanced with additional content or pictures and such, prior to publication, we can help.

If you have a story to tell; long, short or anywhere in between, but don't know how/where to get started, we can help. If you don't have the feel for writing, or the time, or the patience, but have a definite narrative in mind to share, we can ghostwrite the whole thing for you.

Think about it! Putting your story, your own haunting and damaging JW experience, to the printed page (or screen) to share with the rest of the world! It is great therapy, to get the whole mess off your chest and out of your system. It is also an excellent outlet for those seeking a form of harmless symbolic vengeance - to take what they did to you and use it to generate some income*.  To help make up for what they stole from you - the most precious thing you own, your time!

Clear your head, deconstipate your mind, and possibly make some money* while you're at it! Join the myriads of previous JWs who've already written and published books/memoirs about their life and times under the iron fist of the WTBTS. Put your own story out there to share with others; remember, your story could very well help any one of your fellow ex-JWs work through their own traumatic aftermath. 

     * Publishing does not guarantee book sales, and is not a guarantee of any specific amount of income.