Hey there!

I wrote this bio for one reason. What is it? Simple: The people I really look forward to connecting with online are people who I feel I know personally.

Listen. Information alone won't help you succeed with publishing and marketing your book. Why? Well, there is far too much of it. So besides getting information, you need to be able to get that information from a reliable source.

In other words...

What I discovered is that the people that helped me the most are the ones I got to know. Otherwise, to me, they were nothing more than a name on my computer screen.

Who was that person on the other end? What did they stand for, and what were they against? Why are they in the self publishing industry? What's their story?

With that in mind let me share a little bit about myself, so I'm not just another name on your screen. I am doing this because I truly feel I have some outstanding strategies that could change your life and influence others, and I am going to do everything I can to get you to read about them, and more importantly...Act On Them!

I first got into self publishing in the fall of 2008...accidentally. I actually never intended to write a book.

Honestly, English was my worst subject through high school. I never saw myself as a writer. But, I knew that I had information that was potentially life changing for teen girls in the topics of self esteem, body image and faith... and so I was determined to make it work.

My husband is the creative writer, not me. However, he calls me a "prolific" writer because I can write a lot of information and get it done in record time. And I'm like my mom in that I have been given the gift of teaching.

The first 12 years of my career were spent in the medical profession as a Physical Therapist. I loved it because I was able to work with people helping them overcome injuries and get better. It is rewarding to see a child walk for the first time or a grandfather have tears in his eyes because for the first time he can play with his grandchildren without pain.

My husband and I even spent two years in the country of Belize as missionaries where I worked with children with disabilities. It was an amazing and life changing experience. However, due to some poor decisions on our part and the failure of a youth event we were planning, we ended up leaving Belize broke and thousands of dollars in debt.

We returned to the US where I continued to work full time as a P.T. and my husband started his speaking ministry traveling around the US speaking to teens and adults. But we were also looking for additional ways to earn money to help pay off our debts.

It was at that time that I stumbled upon Sitesell.com and began my first website in 2004. It wasn't easy, but I was determined to make it work. I didn't know anything about building websites, HTML or how to run my own business. But, through that first website, I learned a lot...and it continues to earn me $600-800/month.

Even though we were desperate to get out of debt, it seemed like we kept going deeper and deeper into the big black hole of consumer debt. We needed to buy two vehicles after returning from Belize and start back up a household. However, we had also gotten into the bad habit of spending more than we made. Not good.

Within a few years, we were in over $70,000 of consumer debt (as well as $100,000 mortgage) and saw no way out.

It was during that time that I walked through some really dark days. My parents divorced. Culture shock. Over $70,000 of debt. My faith is very important to me, but during this dark time I almost walked away from it all...my marriage, my family, my faith.

I can't explain it any other way except that there was a supernatural intervention in my life. There is no other explanation. It wasn't a "wonder woman" transformation, but slowly over time, I began to heal from deep wounds of the past. And a transformation began to take place before my eyes - I became a different person.

I was a career woman and although I supported my husband's speaking ministry, I really didn't want to be involved.

That is, until I had a life transformation. Once I came through those dark days and had healing and hope, I knew I had to share it with others. And it was in the fall of 2007 that I began joining my husband and speaking to teen girls.

And so I began to share my story to teen girls. However, I realized that speaking to them for just one hour wasn't enough. Since I already knew how to build websites, I felt prompted to start a website for teen girls.

And Teen-Beauty-Tips.com was born.

One thing led to another and before I knew it, I published my first book, "Mirror Mirror...Am I Beautiful?" from the articles on the website. That same book then turned into a PDF eBook, Kindle eBook and audio book (mp3/CD). I then went on to write a book with my husband and several other books for teen girls.

And at the same time we began paying off our loans one at a time using the "debt snowball" strategy by Dave Ramsey. By the summer of 2010, we were finally debt free!! What an amazing feeling. Wahoo!!

This enabled me to quit my P.T. in the fall of 2010 to go full time in ministry - writing and speaking.

I honestly thought I'd be a Physical Therapist for my entire career. I never planned on writing a book. I never planned on being a speaker - traveling throughout the US and internationally sharing with teens and adults. I never planned on starting an online business.

However, I'm so thankful for all the opportunities God has given me to help and encourage others.

And that's what I'm doing through Self-Publishing-Coach.com. Once again, I'm helping others by sharing my knowledge and life experience.

I believe we all have a "book" in us. And I've heard that approximately 80% of people want to write a book "someday." However, many times we face obstacles to accomplishing our goal and crossing over our "finish line."

In 2010, I accomplished two things I thought were out of my reach. I finished a half marathon (I was very slow - but I finished!) and a sprint triathalon. I'm not sure that I'll ever run a half marathon again in my life, but I learned a lot from the experience. I learned to push through the pain, to train hard and to enjoy that feeling of crossing over the finish line.

In some ways, for an author, the finish line is publishing your book. However, that's when the book marketing just begins. No matter where you are in your journey of writing, publishing or marketing your book; I encourage you to persevere and in the words of Winston Churchill..."Never, never, never give up!"

Helping you get published AND noticed,

Shelley Hitz,
Self-Publishing-Coach.com

Resources...

Get Your Kindle eBook Done!

Kindle is not only a publishing platform, but also a way to market your books. And Amazon does all the work for you...marketing, advertising, collecting payments and processing the refunds. All you need to do is get your book in the correct format.

And that's exactly what I've done for you. I've provided a template formatted specifically for Kindle publishing with a video tutorial and report to get your publishing on the Kindle today!

It's time to start selling your book on Kindle today...

Other Resources

Step-by-Step Guide to Guest Blogging

Twitter 101 for Authors

Get Your Press Release Done!

YouTube Marketing for Authors