 An ice cream success story. Recently, I devoured a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Actually there is nothing unusual in that. I love ice cream, especially Ben and Jerry's. My daughter, Robin, used to taste their many varieties of ice cream before they hit the open market. She lives close to their factory in Waterbury, Vermont. I still enjoy taking the tour although Ben and Jerry are no longer there. Their beginning and their follow through is a true success story. I think that most ice cream, and all of their ice cream is delicious. Ben and Jerry's is made with natural ingredients. The local family farmers who supply the milk and cream do not use hormones. The chocolate chip cookie dough, my favorite, took them 5 years to perfect. They add gobs of dough. This is a necessary indulgence. Brenda C. Hill
International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association
Books By Hills Success With Writing Where and What in the WorldFinalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, "$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book."
Life seems to be filled with difficult situations. I always say that I like to turn them into opportunities. Recently, I saw this quote by Donald Trump and it had a great connection.
“Opportunities are never lost, just found by those who clearly see the power of trends and timing.” Donald Trump
 Any one who knows me or reads these posts regularly, also is aware that I strongly believe in the positive power of humor and creativity. The Humor Project runs a conference called, "The Positive Power of Humor and Creativity." The Humor Project was founded by Joel Goodman and Margie Ingram. I first met Joel when we were attending Creative Problem Solving in Buffalo, NY in the 80s. Later, I sporadically started attending his conferences when I needed a creativity fix. Margie, Joel's wife, is the Conference Coordinator and what a great job she does. In any case, this year's line up is terrific: Jeff Zaslow, Co-author of The Last Lecture; Norman Cousins, LOL Award Legacy of Laughter; Matt Weinstein, "What Bernie Madoff Couldn't Steal from Me;" Martha Bolton, Jest-selling author & Bob Hope staff writer; and David Roth, Conference troubadour, Master of music & Mirth. I'm partial to David as one of the songs he wrote, "Don't Should on Me, and I won't Should on You," is a favorite. I mention this conference from June 11-13 because it is good, reasonable, and good for anyone. You see teachers, health care workers, clowns, FBI, CIA, business people, and just about anyone you can imagine or not imagine attending. Norm went with me two years, and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you need a jump start or restart, this is the answer. You can find out more details at www.HumorProject.com or call 518-587-8770. I have a schedule conflict this year. If any of you attend, please let me know how you enjoyed the experience. Laughter and Creativity Matter,
 Set your writing goals realistically.
Many times, someone will say, I'm going to write a book this year?
When, how long, have your started or done research, who is your market?
Consider saying, "I'm go to spend 2 hours a week working on my book."
Now you may be able to spend 10 hours a week or 40, which is great. But many who want to write a book, have not allocated time to start writing.
If time is an issue, start small. Don't wait until you have time. Schedule time. Even if you journal 10 minutes a day on the topic you want to write, it will help you pull your book together.
Brenda and I spend a long time collecting the information we want to include, and then get fired up like crazy to put it together.Do what works for you, just do it. Be sure to sign up for our posts to come e-mail or rss if you enjoy them. If you have any tips, we are always happy to receive your thoughts. Maralyn D. Hill, PresidentInternational Food Wine & Travel Writers AssociationBooks By Hills Success With Writing Where & What in the WorldFinalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards,"$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book,"
 Deadlines are often not a favorite part of the writing life. However we know that they are necessary. We try hard to not only meet our deadlines, but to finish our work early. Our writing is better and has less errors when we honor this responsibility. No one needs the stress of last minute panics. When our magazine outlets do not give us a deadline, some good stories remain unpublished. We often impose our own deadline, and usually meet it. Of course, our team is unique because we often write in tandem. This way there is a check and balance, as well as someone to take over in an emergency. Maralyn D. Hill & Brenda C. Hill International Food Wine & Travel Writers AssociationBooks By Hills Success Log Global Log
 Social media is so social, it is easy to cross boundaries.I've found that Linkedin is highly professional, Facebook is both personal and professional, and Twitter--I don't know how to classify other than it gets results.I'd suggest not assuming that because an editor or media contact has a profile available that you really know them personally. You can build a back and forth conversation. But, always, request politely if you may make a pitch to them on a certain story.They will let you know if they are interested or not. If you like our tips, be sure to sign up to have them e-mailed directly to you or the RSS feed.
 Each month I have a column in Big Blend Magazine called "Successful with Words." This month's column features "12 Steps to Blog in 2010." I hope you can pick up some ideas that help you. Click here for the column.
 It is all about the passion. Passion was one common denominator that separated the extraordinary chefs and cooks from the others when we wrote our first book, Our love Affairs with Food and Travel. We put our passion for this subject into every chapter and our title.
Passion for what you do, not the dollar sign, is one major key to success that we wrote about in our book, Success. H. Jackson Brown, Jr. put it this way: "Do your homework and know your facts, but remember it's passion that persuades."Brenda C. Hill
International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association
Books By Hills Success Log Global LogFinalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, "$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book."
 Brenda and I have stressed the importance of journaling. Recently, I read an article in "The Writer," by Edwards Cannon, that suggests six types of journals. I'm not sure I could keep up with six, but it is something some of you may find useful.
Here are Cannon's suggestions: - The free write journal
- The dream journal
- The quotation journal
- The submission journal
- The what-I-wrote-and-how-I-felt-about-it-today journal.
My own journal is a combination of 1, 3 and 5. I also have a quotation journal for special quotations that mean something to me personally. I'm not good about free writing, yet Brenda likes that type of journaling. I do a quasi free write as I put periods, and sometimes stop and think about what I'm writing. In journaling, do what is comfortable for you. The important aspect is to do it.Maralyn D. Hill, PresidentInternational Food Wine & Travel Writers AssociationBooks By Hills Success With Writing Where & What in the WorldFinalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards,"$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book,"
 When you are submitting an article or manuscript for publication, be sure to follow the publisher's guidelines. They matter.
Following guidelines can make the difference between having your material read or pitched.
You may find the following column I wrote helpful:
$uccessful with Words
Preparing Your Manuscript for the Printer or Article for Publication.
 My success tip for this new year is to keep on learning. Education, at any age is never-ending.
The Hill team is off on a cruise to the Caribbean next week.You may picture us on the deck sipping pina coladas. We look forward to those moments of refection and mingling. Yet, we appreciate them even more after a morning of inspiring speakers and courses that educate. Along with our hunger for new culinary experiences, we have a continuing thirst for learning and growing.
We are thankful for the classes offered on the IFWTWA learning adventure. As much as we enjoy having fun, we know that knowledge is power.
International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association
Books By Hills Success With Writing Where and What in the WorldFinalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, "$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book."
 Brenda and I have been writing a lot of success tips and our feedback has been positive. However, we know that we barely scratch the surface.
We would appreciate your sending any tips you've found successful in reaching your writing goals.
We'll feature them on a blog and give your name and website address (if available).
Your tips can be short or long--what works is what matters.
We all learn from each other. If we get enough tips from our readers, we'll set up a contest to see which tips our readers find the most helpful.
So, reply to the blog and let us hear from you. Or, if it is a long tip, you can e-mail, mdhill@noralyn.com.
If you like Success with Writing, you can sign up to receive our posts automatically.
Let's all have a wonderful year together.
Maralyn D. Hill & Brenda C. HillInternational Food Wine & Travel Writers AssociationBooks By Hills Success Log Global Log2009 INDIE Finalist, "Success, Your Path to a Successful Book."
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