AARP members Andy and Bernice Tate of Bluffton, S.C.,Featured at AARP Co..

Posted: 09/04/2008

WASHINGTON, Sept 04, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- AuthorHouse http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/aarp-members-cross-publish-book/story.aspx?guid=%7BC36E7E54-1BFF-4C65-B3D0-82F5D4BBBB0C%7D&dist=hppr   http://www.authorhouse.com), the leading provider of self-publishing ( http://www.authorhouse.com/GetPublished/FAQ.aspx) and marketing services for authors around the globe, wants to help AARP members cross "publish a book" ( http://www.authorhouse.com/ContactUs/default.aspx) off their "bucket list." Keith Ogorek, published author and AuthorHouse director of marketing, will share with attendees of this year's AARP Life@50+ conference how easy and inexpensive it is to get published. Ogorek's talk will take place Saturday, Sept. 6 at 12:30 p.m. EDT at the Monument Stage in the Washington Convention Center. "This is the time in your life when you can finally start doing all those things you've put off for years, including publish a book," said Ogorek. "AuthorHouse has helped countless AARP members cross this goal off their 'bucket list,' and we're always excited to help new authors make their dream of publishing a book a reality." AARP members Andy and Bernice Tate of Bluffton, S.C., have published four books through AuthorHouse, and their passion of reaching out to children through their stories has become a rewarding second career. The Tates travel to book fairs nationwide, promoting their Storybooks-4-Kids ( http://www.storybooks4kids.com) titles, which focus on themes of multiculturalism, acceptance, bullying, and the power of diversity. "AuthorHouse has provided a publishing solution and strategic support system to facilitate our startup children's book publishing project," said Andy Tate. "We have reached a stage in life where we have a message or two to tell -- and want to share them with today's younger generation." AuthorHouse, which was established in 1997, has helped more than 40,000 authors publish nearly 60,000 titles. To learn how to publish your book today, log on to http://www.authorhouse.com or call 888-519-5121. About AuthorHouse: AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions brand, is the leading provider of self-publishing and marketing services for authors around the globe. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service in publishing, AuthorHouse assigns each author a personal publishing consultant who provides guidance throughout the process. AuthorHouse provides a broad array of tools and services to allow authors to make their own choices throughout the publishing process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Ind., AuthorHouse published one out of every 30 U.S. titles in 2007. AuthorHouse released its 50,000th title in spring 2008.

Bernice & Andy Tate- Featured In Cover Story insert- The Bluffton Packet

Posted: 07/30/2008

Bluffton couple write the book on educational entertainment By JENNY LIM Published Wednesday, July 30, 2008 If a storybook were ever to be written about children's book authors Bernice and Andy Tate, it might just be one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" novels. Like the popular juvenile series in which every page turn leads to an unexpected event, the Tates have lived a life of twists -- one that's steered them to start up a children's book publishing project from their home in Bluffton. The husband-and-wife team have produced three original, illustrated books and are working on a fourth for Storybooks-4-Kids, their 18-month-old publishing venture. Though they began composing original tales for their son long before they retired to the Lowcountry, the Tates say they've reached a stage in life where they feel they've got a message or two to tell -- and they want to share them with today's youth. They write children's books focused on four central themes: multiculturalism, acceptance, bullying and the power of diversity. "We have a generation of (young) people around the globe who are having a hard time understanding this world we have left for them," Andy said. So he and Bernice hope their parables about a family of worms, a pushy elephant and an impetuous Dalmatian will give children a little guidance. EDUCATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT If he had to tell their love story, Andy said he'd summarize it like this: "City boy meets country girl ... and releases the genius within!" Bernice grew up in Sheldon (near Beaufort) and Andy in New York City, where the pair eventually met at a Halloween party in 1968. They celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary this month. Over their years together, Andy said he worked in global finance and information technology on Wall Street, but it was his and Bernice's work creating educational entertainment for kids that brought him fulfillment. In 1972, the Tates said there was little quality television to entertain their son, Derek. So Andy started coming up with his own short stories and dramatic playtimes -- utilizing toys for props -- to amuse their child. That activity inspired the father to create an animated musical, and eventually he and Bernice teamed up to produce an arts and education home video series for children. In 1974, the couple started a traveling educational theater troupe called PWIFTOWN USA -- the first four letters referring to paper, water, imagination and flour, the key elements for crafting the life-sized puppets the performers used to entertain and teach kids in and around New York City about the cultural arts. "We've done so many things on this journey, but it's always involved the arts," Bernice said. They retired and moved to Bluffton in 2006, but Bernice hadn't let go of an idea of turning a lullaby she wrote for one of their videos into a children's book. Andy thought the notion was silly, but Bernice was persistent. And she -- and eventually her husband -- found a new calling to create books that might compel students to read. "We both have this need to educate children," Bernice said. 'IT'S OK TO BE DIFFERENT' Their self-published books contain the kinds of messages they hoped they imparted to their son, who is now a doctor. "He was a nerdy kid," Bernice said, noting he kept a lot of pencils on him in school. The mother wanted her son to know "it's OK to be smart ... it's OK to be different," she said. That lesson ended up being the message of the Tates' first book, "The Wormleys," about a family of worms (inchworms, bookworms and more) that appreciate their differences and hope others will, too. In August 2007, they held their first book signing of "The Wormleys" at the Red Piano Too gallery in Beaufort. They present a lesson about bullying in "What the Elephant Forgot" and a teaching on safety in "How the Dalmatian Got Its Spots." They are working on another book, "FunSpell," which will be focused on the power of imagination. Andy does the digital illustrations for the books, while Bernice drives story concepts. The Tates hope to produce at least two books a year and eventually use proceeds to benefit a children's cause. They are trying to recall all the original stories they used to tell their son, Derek -- in those "pre-computer days," Andy said -- to come up with more subjects for Storybooks-4-Kids. Derek wrote introductions to each of the Tates' three books, and he is likewise at the forefront of the couple's thoughts. "The Wormleys" is dedicated "To Derek, for giving our lives meaning, purpose and reason for being." They consider their son their editor, too. "He signs off on everything," Bernice said with a laugh.

Family Fun Day - Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn on Hilton Head Island

Posted: 07/26/2008

Family Fun Day  Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn  Friday, August 1st 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.   Bernice and Andy Tate a local wife and husband author/illustrator team will present their Storybooks-4-Kids independent publishing project at a  book signing event, featuring their recent children's publications  The  Wormleys, What The Elephant Forgot, and  How The Dalmatian Got Its Spots. These books in totality adeptly integrates lessons about environmental awareness, personal safety, the power of diversity, acceptance, multiculturalism, bullying, actions, choice, and consequences - all original works with a universal messages that children everywhere can understand. Storybook-4-Kids promises to be a rare and exceptional family experience.   Directions to Honey Horn After crossing the bridge to Hilton Head Island, travel 3 additional miles on Business 278 to Gum Tree Rd (Do not take Cross Island Expressway). This will be the third traffic signal. Turn right at Gum Tree Rd. and follow signs to Honey Horn 70 Honey Horn Drive 100 William Hilton Parkway Hilton Head Island, South Carolina 29925 phone (843)-689-6767

Marva Collins - International Educator	Posted: 04/30/2008
“Readers are leaders. The Tate’s  series seasons the imagination, and feeds the mind.” - Marva Collins Marva Collins  - International Educator - Founder of the Westside Preparatory School in Garfield Park, Chicago, Illinois.

Bernice and Andy Tate discuss Implementation of Global PR Campaign with Newswire Plus service

Posted: 04/25/2008

Bernice and Andy Tate are the publishers of Storybooks-4-Kids, featuring titles with themes of multiculturalism, acceptance, bullying, and the power of diversity. In the last year, the pair has utilized AuthorHouse’s Newswire Plus service to help create a professionally written press release about their books and distribute them to a wide media audience across the world. The Tates share their experience with Newswire Plus and discuss the strategy they developed to implement their highly successful international PR campaign. How did you utilize the Newswire Plus service? While we understood the Newswire Plus press release is sent to a wide audience of subscribers, it was not clear that interested parties of Storybooks-4-Kids were actually seeing our message. The challenge was to exploit market opportunities to subscribers of Newswire Plus and potential high-value targets that were not subscribers. The solution was to simply forward selected links of high-profile Newswire Plus subscribers who had picked up our press release. The idea was that the visible presence of our news release on high-profile Web sites would tacitly convey an implied endorsement and support of our storybooks. The press release suddenly began popping up in unexpected places that had no apparent connection with storybooks for children, causing a “Hey look at this!” curiosity. At first, our presence appeared to be an anomaly.  We established a presence via Newswire Plus in a few important financial news and entertainment industry magazines and organization Web sites, such as Forbes.com, Market Watch, CNBC.com, The Hollywood Reporter, and Publicity Insider.  With the content of PR Newswire banner headlines, Authors Tell Story of Diversity in New Children’s Book, the story simply seemed to pop out. We pushed the Newswire Plus service links as a part of our promotional material to our real target market: i.e. moms, teachers, grandparents, educational groups, children’s organizations, institutions, cultural groups of every description that did not subscribe to the Newswire Plus service. We asked them to get the word out. They spread the word, and we waited. At first nothing happened, then little by little and then more each day, the buzz began. Almost like magic, we got invitations from local cable TV outlets for on-air guest spots, a two-book review (our only two at that time) in an important regional magazine (November 2007) and a follow-up invitation to appear on the cover of two regional magazines, The Hilton Head and Lowcountry magazine, for a cover story in the January 2008 issues. Most recently, we were interviewed for an Indianapolis Star Sunday April 10 business feature article. Regional South Carolina schools and cultural groups around our home state invited us to come and speak on a variety of child-related issues, relevant to our book themes of diversity, acceptance, bullying, and multiculturalism. Newswire Plus had obviously helped get the attention of somebody, somewhere.  The effects continue to this day, as we are doing an Atlanta, Ga.-based  Christian radio interview talk show on Monday about “following your passion.” The Newswire Plus service product was the solution that made it possible for us to move forward and understand that we had a tool and inspired us to be our own advocate. How did the Newswire Plus service help market your book? There is no question that Newswire Plus service put us on the global media map. We were picked up on multiple international book-selling Web sites for Amazon, in Japanese, German, French, Spanish; we are carried on Australian bookseller sites, and we are popping up on educational, social service, and children’s specialty sites as well. The Newswire Plus service is a formidable tool that supports powerful search engine spidering sites, making it possible to appear on Google and Yahoo top 10 hit slots. Try it yourself, and key in: Storybooks4kids or Bernice and Andy Tate.     Newswire Plus got us noticed by serious players who are beginning to network us into other market opportunities.  For example, our third children’s book, How the Dalmatian Got its Spots, now in final stage, and due out by April 30—comes with a significant endorsement from Marva Collins, international educator and founder of the Westside Preparatory School in Garfield Park, Chicago, Illinois. What tips would you give to other authors for promoting their book? Be imaginative and creative Rule #1. (There are no rules!)  Be your own advocate Nothing is free! You need spend a few dollars on a professional promotional service product of some kind: TV spots, radio, or Newswire Plus, for example. And you absolutely need an e-commerce type Web site or page of some type. Have a sense of humor Accidentally” forget and leave a few brochures/flyers in the seat pocket of airlines. (Somebody will read it.) Stuff those annoying, junk mail return postage-paid envelopes with your brochures and cards, etc. and send them back to the credit card companies (somebody will see it) we actually got sales from  a major bank credit card mailroom clerk. Make a deal with a local newsstand or newspaper to have flyer inserted in the Sunday paper or ask the delivery person to do you a favor (for a fee). http://www.authorhouse.com/AuthorResources/BookMarketing/newswireplus.asp

Bernice and Andy Tate appear on Radio Sandy Springs' Georgia 1620 am - Netcast

Posted: 04/22/2008

Radio Sandy Springs'  Georgia 1620 am - Netcast  Following Your Passions     Host Bernard Kearse Interviews people about work, hobbies, and the things that make life worth living. Listen to Bernard Kearse as he discovers the true passions of his guests.   On Tuesday, April 22, 2008, Bernice and Andy Tate, co-authors of the meaningful and entertaining children’s books such as, The Wormleys, appeared on Following Your Passions. This self-published couple use charming stories, like the tale of a family made of very different worms that learn to accept each other as individuals in order to become a more united family to instill values in children. Hear how their passion for writing inspired them to piece together stories that will stay with their readers for years to come.

Indianapolis Star News Article Re: Author Solutions featuring Bernice & Andy Tate

Posted: 04/10/2008

Author Solutions rewrites self-publishing Acquisition of rival iUniverse, innovations fuel climb to No. 1 ASHLEY PETRY STAR CORRESPONDENT New York may be the center of the publishing universe, but Indiana is the largest player in the self-publishing industry. On March 31, Bloomington-based Author Solutions moved iUniverse from Nebraska to Indiana, completing an acquisition process begun last September. As part of the deal, Author Solutions added 30,000 of its former rival's books to its library of more than 50,000 titles, making it the world's largest self-publishing company in number of book titles published and placed in distribution. iUniverse survives as one of several brands in the Author Solutions fold. The company also owns AuthorHouse, a self-publishing and author-services company, and Wordclay, a free, Web-based self-publishing tool. In unifying the three brands, Author Solutions now has infrastructure and capital it needs to invest in new technologies, which are fueling growth in the self-publishing industry, said Kevin Weiss, president and chief executive. "No matter where you are in the services industry, you must be big enough to withstand a hip check from somebody," he said. "AuthorHouse was a successful brand, iUniverse was a successful brand . . . but we would be stronger together than apart." The company's largest U.S. competitor is Lulu, an online service that lets users publish software, music, artwork and video content, as well as books. The site has more than 1.3 million users, who have published 1.6 million titles. Another of Author Solutions' competitors is Amazon, which launched its own self-publishing division, BookSurge, last year. Wordclay, which Author Solutions launched in January, is the company's attempt to compete in that Web-focused self-publishing environment. In its first three months, Wordclay attracted 14,000 users who submitted 4,000 manuscripts via the software that can convert text documents into formatted books. In recent years, the success of Web-based self-publishing tools like Wordclay has fueled significant industry growth. "I've seen the industry sort of mushroom in the last four or five years," said Florrie Binford Kichler, president of the Independent Book Publishers Association and publisher and founder of Indianapolis-based Patria Press. "All of a sudden, everybody has access," she said. Publishing groups haven't tracked growth in the self-publishing industry, but Weiss estimates it grew 20 percent last year in number of titles issued. Author Solutions calculates growth by tracking how many ISBNs, or international standard book numbers, are issued, and whether they go to traditional or self-publishers. Each ISBN represents one new title. In 2008, Author Solutions expects to publish one of every 15 ISBNs issued in the United States, or about 20,000 titles. At Author Solutions, 45 percent of its authors are older than 55. Some self-publish to fulfill a dream of writing a book, while others hope being published will boost their opportunities for consulting work. Retirees Andy and Bernice Tate have spent about $13,000 with AuthorHouse to self-publish four illustrated children's books focusing on themes of diversity, tolerance and bullying. The Tates have sold about 500 copies but say the books help in their consulting company, which offers school presentations and cultural arts programs. "There's not much of an appetite among mainstream publishers. They deal with known people and agents," Andy Tate said. But "known" authors increasingly are shunning traditional deals in favor of self-publishing. Author Solutions has published books by Sen. Richard Lugar, Mayor Greg Ballard, comedian Rita Rudner and others. Another of the company's authors is Kathi Macias, who published her first book through a mainstream publisher in 1989. Since then, she has sold about 400,000 copies of 21 titles. Three years ago, Macias turned to AuthorHouse to self-publish a writers' workbook. "If you have the platform to sell (books), you're actually going to come out ahead financially" by self-publishing, she said. With a mainstream publishing contract, an author may earn royalties of up to 20 percent. For self-published books, royalties can be as high as 50 percent. That difference helps authors recoup up-front costs. A typical Author Solutions self-publishing package costs less than $1,000. Many authors see mainstream contracts as more lucrative and credible. "Vanity publishing does have this stigma about a cheap romance novel piled high in (the author's) garage, trying to figure out how to sell them or give them away," Weiss said. Macias even admits she once had an "attitude" about the self-publishing industry, but her experience with AuthorHouse has changed her viewpoint. "The bottom line is, do the readers care or even know? No," she said. "If it's in book form, they don't care."

'F U N S P E L L' - (new book) - Now in production - COMING SOON

Posted: 04/03/2008

COMIN SOON:  Bernice and Andy Tate have brought to print yet another imaginative  children's tale with colorful illustrations in their forth publication, FunSpell, now in production.  FunSpell, promises to be something very new, and quite different. FunSpell, explores the wisdom, wonder and the spiritual life of children via the world of imagination, the single area in which all kids seem to connect. This story follows the tremendously  successful publication of their first, second  and  third books, The Wormleys, What The Elephant Forgot, and  How The Dalmatian Got Its Spots. These books in totality adeptly integrates lessons about environmental awareness, personal safety, the power of diversity, acceptance, multiculturalism, bullying, actions, choice, and consequences - all original works with a universal messages that children everywhere can understand. FunSpell, promises to be exceptional.

About Bernice and Andy Tate	Posted: 03/30/2008
Bernice and Andy Tate a South Carolina wife and husband author/illustrator team are the creators of Storybooks-4-Kids an independent publishing project featuring themes of multiculturalism, acceptance and diversity for children.

ASI - Authors Advisory Council (round-table) Bloomington Indiana

Posted: 03/27/2008

On March 26th and 27th 2008  Bernice and Andy Tate  represented AuthorHouse's  Children's Fiction Publishing  Genre,  along with a select group of exceptional authors, illustrators from other genres, in what could be characterized as an independent self publishing industry first, of AuthorHouse's  parent company,  Author Solutions, Inc (ASI) creation of the Authors Advisory Council - "round-table". The agenda was an open forum focusing on what ASI could do to better help authors promote and sell their books, how to make the independent self publishing process better for authors and other recommendations. It was an amazing event. President and CEO of Author Solutions, Kevin Weiss who is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations and guiding strategic direction for the company along with Keith Ogorek and other senior level executives, seriously took under advisement many recommendations of the Authors Advisory Council.   The event took place at the Author Solutions, Inc World headquarters in Blooming, Indiana.  Author Solutions, is the leading company in the world focused on helping authors publish, promote, and sell their books. They offer the widest range of services to assist both first-time and previously published authors reach their publishing goals. In the U.S. this coming year, ASI expects to publish approximately 1 out of every 15 books, and anticipate the number of books we publish to increase significantly in years to come.  Since being introduced in the market four years ago, our AuthorHouse brand in the United Kingdom has been recognized as a leader and helped nearly 2,000 authors bring their books to market.  Bernice and Andy Tate will be involved, along with others going forward