OMG.
OMG.
OMG.
I finally, finally, finally get to tell y’all what I’ve been sitting on for weeks now. I can’t even describe how hard it is for me to have good news and not be able to share it. I am not good at keeping happy secrets. I can keep ugly secrets (I just forget them), but when something awesome happens, I want to shout it from the rooftops. I want to tell everyone I know and even some people I don’t know. I want to take out a billboard in Times Square! So, it was with extreme effort that I kept my mouth shut on this one (unless you’re a long time client, in which case I probably told you. I can only be so strong).
Ready? Here we go:
I just got signed by Hay House. My book, tentatively titled “Deliberate Receiving” (Surprise!) will be published in June 2015.
Go on. Take a moment to breathe. Or maybe that’s just me.
That’s right my puppies. You will soon be able to find me at the bookstore, and share me with all your friends and relatives. So when they ask you what this Deliberate Receiving stuff is all about, you can just hand them a full explanation all bundled up in what I assume will be a kick ass package. “Here,” you will say, “just read this.” And read it they will. And happiness and shininess shall spread to all the puppies in the land. And there will be many smooshy hugs. And yes, I get a little weird when I get excited.
Now, if that weren’t exciting enough on its own, the whole thing was made infinitely better by HOW it all manifested. Because, and I cannot stress this enough, I did NOTHING to make this happen. Not a damn thing. Except, that is, follow my intuition. Here’s how it all went down:
Why this took so long
I actually announced that I was writing a book well over a year ago. I think the first time I wrote about it, I was planning on writing a weight loss book. I thought I was done with that journey. Ah bless (I’m not done, but I’m getting there). Anyway, after that, many of you lovely puppies kept bombarding me with book related questions, notably, when the hell was I finally going to bring it out? Well, the problem was that I just wasn’t receiving the inspiration to write it. I was as baffled as you. I could feel the book coming (several actually), but I just never felt like writing it. It turns out, this was because 1.) I was trying to write the wrong book and 2.) the timing wasn’t quite right yet. There was much awesomeness which needed to unfold first. And unfold it did…
Because I know better than to push these things, I took the lack of inspiration as a type of inspiration (doing nothing is always the hardest for me), and sat on my laurels. Ok, I did a bunch of other stuff, like run my business, but I didn’t work on the book. Then, a very helpful and lovely lady called Awesome Amy (the Awesome part is not part of her legal name, but it should be) contacted me just to see if she could be of any assistance to me in terms of publishing a book. She was an editor, you see, and wasn’t asking me for anything. She just wanted to help.
Recognizing this as an opportunity, I scheduled a call with her, where she proceeded to give me tons of great info on publishing a book, including on how to self-publish it, which is what I was planning on doing.
Why wasn’t I looking for a publisher?
I’d already decided against looking for a publisher. You see, here’s the deal: when you build up a certain amount of traffic as a blogger, and once you have a bit of a platform, large publishing houses will often contact you with a book deal. The problem is that they don’t really do anything for you. They don’t help with publicity or marketing, don’t help you get your message out there. But they do take a huge chunk of your proceeds. Basically, they want to get a piece of your pie without giving much in return. There is always the prestige of having a book professionally published, but in today’s world, that’s not worth nearly as much as it used to be. The whole thing just felt off to me and I wanted no part of it. I’d decided that I could get my book out there myself.
But then, Awesome Amy casually dropped the name of her employer into the conversation: Hay House. Well, this was a bit different. Hay House, founded by the one and only Louise Hay, is a publisher dedicated to sharing the message of weirdos energy healers like me. They are the publishers of Abraham-Hicks. These people get me.
I played hard to get – but not on purpose
Now, you’d think that I just jumped on that shit like a drowning man jumps on a life raft, but, I wanted to feel my way through this, see what happened. How could I know if this was my next opportunity or just a pre-cursor? I had to follow the path a bit further. And so, I did nothing. I was, after all, NOT a drowning man looking for a raft. I know how to swim.
At the time of our first conversation, I was knee deep in tons of work. I had the book planned for months down the line. I had decided to write a book about the Law of Attraction, not weight loss, but wasn’t yet sure what format it would take, how much to include, etc. I was still in the planning stages. And so, I sat on it and waited for more to happen. For months. The ball was in the Universe’s court.
Enter my trip to London. When Awesome Amy the Awesome Editor saw that I was coming to the UK, she invited me to come to the Hay House offices and meet the team. Now, that was a clear sign for me and of course, I said yes. I want to point out, once again, that all I did was react. I did nothing proactively here, because I was never inspired to.
The meeting/love fest
So, there I was, entering the Hay House offices in posh Notting Hill in London. I wasn’t dressed posh. Would I feel out of place in a lawyer type office? Would it be all glass and steel and pin stripes and hushed conversations? Hell no. It was friendly and warm and well, everything you’d expect Hay House to be. We all crowded into the board room for a meet and greet. There was the Managing Director, the Director of Publicity, Social Media, Events, and some other people (forgive me!). I honestly wasn’t nervous. First of all, I’ve been in thousands of business meetings in my life (thank you, old, corporate days), and I KNEW that whatever was about to happen would serve me, no matter what it was.
As soon as I was about to start talking, the office dog, a huge, sweet bulldog, barged into the board room and made a beeline for yours truly. It was as though he was giving me his stamp of approval. The team apologized and assured me that he had never done anything like that before (I guess he knows a fellow happy shiny puppy when he sees one!), but for me, this was like the Universe going, “and here’s another big old sign…!”
After that, it basically turned into a love fest. I described my business and what I feel I’m here to do (watch out world, I’m coming for you, and you shall feel the power of the smooshy hug!), and they described how they supported their authors in ways the other publishing houses can’t even dream of. There’s a reason that there are tons of people out there who will buy pretty much anything Hay House brings out. No other publishing house has built that kind of relationship with their readers. At that point, it was pretty much a done deal for me. I was going to follow this path wherever it took me.
Meeting the big guy
Next up, I had to meet the big guy – the president of Hay House, Reid Tracy. Think I had to do anything to make that happen? Hell no. The Universe arranged it all. As it happened, he was going to be in London in two weeks and, oh my goodness, an hour had just opened up in his schedule (that day. Seriously)! Could I come back on those dates? I whipped out my trusty iPhone and, well, wouldn’t you know it, yes. I was able to travel that very weekend. Would I like to also attend their two day Speak, Write and Promote event as a guest of Hay House? Why yes. Yes I would.
All I had to do was book my flights and hotel.
The meeting with Reid went off without a hitch, although, I’ve got to tell you guys, that man has a poker face like none other I’ve ever seen. And I used to deal cards in Vegas. He gave nothing away. He also didn’t want to know much about me (it seems the team had already briefed him, so I had to say very little. Again, how awesome is that??). What he did want to know was, was I ready for the big time? Was I ready to brand myself and step it up? Why yes, yes I was, seeing as I’m in the middle of doing that anyway (this is also why that has been taking so long. The Universe knew there was valuable input coming my way. Shit’s moving much faster now…).
I was told the next day that I would be getting a contract, pending negotiations, of course. I never submitted a book proposal, I never contacted any publisher, I didn’t even have to set up a meeting on my end. It all came to be easily and elegantly.
What I did along the way to keep the manifestations rolling
Other than this being THE AWESOMEST MANIEFSTATION OF MY LIFE! (ok, one of them, but it’s in the top 5%), I wanted to use this as a case study, because it so perfectly illustrates how to work a larger manifestation that’s unfolding over time. Throughout the weeks and months it took for this to unfold (I had a Peru trip in the middle of it, not to mention the time it took me to process that, during which I couldn’t even think of the book), I kept doing (and not doing) some crucial things that kept me aligned with what I wanted. I want to share these steps with you:
- I never got stressed out about it. I never made Hay House or a publishing contract responsible for my future success. They were not my “one and only”. I KNEW that I would be successful with or without them and if they were the perfect partner for me, things would line up easily. If things didn’t line up, a better path was out there. I never made the HOW more important than the WHAT. This was especially important when I couldn’t read Reid’s reaction. I felt the meeting had gone well, but he’d given me nothing in body language or verbal feedback. Although I totally trust my intuition, when it comes to really important stuff, the physical feedback helps. When a bit of nervousness came up, I soothed myself by remembering that whatever happened was for the best. It worked.
- I followed my intuition, even when it said to do nothing. I will not pretend that this was easy for me; I like to take action. Not doing anything, especially for months, is not comfortable for me. But, I also KNOW that just because I’m not being called to action doesn’t mean nothing is happening. And let’s face it, I could never have orchestrated this. Any of it. Ever.
- I took advantage of opportunities that presented themselves (I said “Yes!”), but without ever assuming that this next opportunity was “the one” that would make it all happen. I just looked at it as the next thing. Whatever the outcome, it would be perfect.
- I had fun. Before every step, I said to myself “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s going to be fun.” And it was. I decided to go with the flow and have no expectations other than that I was going to have a good time. Expectations cause us to limit our definition of success to a narrow set of events. If success comes another way, we tend to be disappointed, taking us out of alignment with what we want. The key is to focus on the big picture and let steps along the way be whatever they need to be.
- I celebrated every little step along the way. Even though I made no one event responsible for the outcome I wanted (which is ultimately not to bring a book out, but to get my message out there. Even the book is a means to an end…), I did a big old happy dance every time something awesome happened. And there was much to celebrate. The only thing that kind of killed me was not being able to do so publicly, but I soothed that by happily imagining how great it was going to feel to get to write this post – to announce the contract and book to my puppies. And here I am, writing this post now! Weeeeee!
So, there you have it – the story of how I manifested a publishing contract with Hay House. Tadaaaaa!
More info on the book
Obviously, I’ll be keeping y’all in the loop on all the details from now on, but here’s what I know so far: The book is due on October 6th and will be published June 2015. It will be basic (but not shallow) explanation of how Deliberate Receiving actually works, from the ground up. That means, people who have not been studying LOA for years (muggles) will be able to understand it. Of course, you know I’m not going to hold back with practical, in depth info, so even those of you who know the deal will get a lot of out of it. This means that not only will regular readers of my blog enjoy the manuscript, but you’ll finally have that book you can hand your friends and family when you want to explain to them this stuff you’re always so excited about. Yeah, I’m kind of looking forward to having that book myself.
There you have it. I have shared my happiness. If I smoked, I’d light up a ciggie about now. I think I shall treat myself to a cookie instead. Because, well, cookies.
Is there anything specific you’d like to see included in the book? Now’s your chance to speak up! Let me know in the comments!
I know I am late, but I still wanted to congratulate you with your book! My suggestion would be to publish it as an e-book as well. (for those people like me that will probably will not be able to just buy in from the store in their tiny countries). You are amazing!
Wow, wow, wow! How freakin awesome! Congrats Melody, can’t wait to read your book! I got do excited reading this I did a big ol happy dance 🙂 thank you for sharing your process and how you stayed aligned it is right on and super helpful for me, esp right now. I got super excited reading this post and I know it’s an awesome sign for me too! Pure awesomeness!!! Congrats and lots of happy hugs xxx
yeeehhaaa to u and ur book….
Please include why it’s easy to visualize the things we want but hard to feel that we have it already.
And why is it easy to get small requests from the universe even w/o visualizing but hard to get the Big ones no matter how hard u visualize? I have experienced this so many times.
Many thanks and….ride ’em high, cowgirl…!!!
I’m a bit late, but congratulations Melody. :)) I’m looking forward to your book and I’m glad that you shared your story because it was very helpful. I’m posting comments on my tablet now so I don’t accidentally make double posts anymore lol.
Shiny, happy congrats to you, Melody! I love Lulu and Hay House! I’ve been spreading many of your posts far and wide so I will be happy to start handing out books now. Just out of curiosity, do you still get to cuss? Because we love ALL your freakin’ language, but will Hay House let you loose like that? I hope they don’t squelch that.
And as for what to include, I totally agree with everything Lisa said. Continue to use lots of real-life examples and counters to the “yeah, buts.” That is what helps me, and I would bet most people, the most.
Rock on!
Congrats! Im beyond thrilled for you and eveeyone who will get to see your work. Ideas; Energy work, lots of exercises. It would be amazing if you did a mastering loa series of books.
Oh my goodness, I’m almost late for this party — Melody, congratulations & well-done & hurrah & OMG what exciting news! This is just . . . huge news. Huge. And stupendous. I’m so happy for you, and so happy for the rest of us who get to buy this book and treasure it and read it and pretend you’re right here in our living rooms talking with us (oh, wait, I pretend that already, come to think of it). Well done! Have a cookie, girl. You earned it. Hell, I think I’ll have one myself!
Congratulations! 😀
I think a lot of women will be able to resonate with the “is it possible to have it all” idea. Especially the healers and the teachers 🙂 Of course, I envision here you also considering the current economic shifts in the world, where people feel very unbalanced for having to move around the world, even to countries where they would not have deliberately choose and unhappily stay away from their routes. Not my case here, because I am following my dreams, but I think it is a relevant topic that cover a lot of people.
Hugs! 😀
What fabulous news, Melody. Well-deserved, or should I say, well (and deliberately) received. The Universe/God/Life comes through, EVERY. FREAKING. TIME. I am learning to “get” that and to relax into it and great stuff happens. Happy dances all round.
Wowwwww congratulations!! Your teachings inspire me every day. Much love to you xx
AWESOME Congratulations! This is indeed the PERFECT example of LOA! What a great lesson AND reminder for all of us to stay positive no matter what it look likes. You’ve done a superb job of explaining how the world can work–if we let it! Thank you for your inspiration! ~Kathy
This is such a great story. It really is all about relaxing, having faith, savoring the waiting and taking action only when it feels right and when intuition is guiding you to do so. I’m in a holding pattern of my own right now but have been enjoying it and know and trust that two new unchartered career paths for me are going to start manifesting very soon. Congratulations Melody and I can’t wait to read the book!
Congratulations Melody! You are awesome. Love reading your stuff! Looking forward to the book 🙂 Thanks for all that you do!
Congrats Melody!
Just for fun, I remember you saying that you always got told you talked too much in class so I would like to write you a “new school report”
Melody Fletcher
Timekeeping – Goes with her internal flow to manifest creations of awesomeness in her everyday existence. 10/10
Communication skills – Makes the Law of Attraction accessible to a whole range of “new folks” including people who have never previously understood it.10/10
General comments – Melody’s ability to render LOA principles in fun and easy way with enough amusing comments and animal photos to ensure one does not disappear up ones’ own arse by getting too overwhelmed by it all is truly excellent. Well done Melody! 10 gold stars xxxx
Ps – I enjoyed that x
Me too! Ha!
Smooshy hugs!
Melody
I burst into tears 3 or four times whilst reading this. What’s that about? PS – well done Melody & Hay House! really excellent 🙂
Melody
Congratulations! Practical case studies like this one would be helpful to include in the book.
Have a good day.
Loved the manifestation success story! Congrats!
Congratulations Melody, you deserve it and more. I can’t wait till you become main stream! In my experience studying LOA, I personally feel you are one of the greatest teachers out here and more people should have access to your brilliant and knowledgeable style of teaching!
Sincerely, Adrianne
Melody, I love the tone of you posts — fun, irreverent, compassionate. It’s because you’re so readable that I often forward your posts to friends or clients. Congratulations!
This is the greatest news that I could have expected to find on your blog! I haven’t checked in in a while & this is just FAB. Plus, I’ve considered self-publishing with Hay House, so I’m extremely keen to hear about them from within. Keep us posted on every little thang would you? Just FYI, you’ve helped me so much since I discovered you! Thank you!
What fabulous news, Melody, you made my day not only with your book announcement but in telling how it all came about. I have been reading your posts for 8-9 months now and I know your book will be awesome beyond words — can hardly wait to share it with family & friends! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
You are AWESOME! Lovvveee this blog, Lovvveee you, and totes stoked for the book! Super duper excited!!! Congratz!! xoxoxoxox’s <3
Hi Melody, fantastic news on your book. I knew it would come to fruition. We all know that feeling good is the fundamental principle regarding the law of attraction, but a guided explanation of how to feel good regardless of not currently yet attaining your desire and being in a place not idyllic to which you’d desire, would be most helpful in your new book. Most people now get the mechanics of the law of attraction, i.e. The Secret, but have difficulty applying it. This is where your book could come in. Love and hugs, B x
Yaaayy Melody, – CONGRATS! Now this is what I call a real manifestation! Am convinced your book will sell like hot cakes (or warme Semmeln ;0) )
You rock! 🙂
Wow, great one, Melody!
What else is possible, right? 🙂
Yaaaaaaayyyyy!!!! That’s FANTASTIC news 😀 Congrats, I am so happy for you! I’ll definitely be pre-ordering more than one copy. I can’t wait to read it!
Also, why don’t all workplaces have an office dog? That’s amazing 🙂
What a brilliant bit of news!
Melody, you are the ultimate example of how giving out to the world (and look how much you have given away for free over the years) always comes back to you in the end!
The pre order will be lodged as soon as it appears on amazon 🙂
Congratulations!!! Your happiness can DEFINITIVELY be felt, and we ALL share it! 🙂
Wonderful wonderful news! Congratulations, cant wait for the book! I would have also loved to see all the blog posts in book form, maybe in chapters of Love; Health and physical body; Past/Regret; Manifestations; Self; Career; Conflict; Family; Money; Emotions and Vibrations and more. Then all the blogs related to a specific topic falls in that chapter. That is how I safe it for myself for easy reading over and over when I need some clarity about a certain matter.
Congratulations Melody
This post gives me great courage and definite inspiration to my aspirations!
As you may have guessed I am a writer and aspiring to be a best seller worldwide to get my messages out there, to inspire with stories from my soul.
Thank you so much Melody and Deliberate Receiving.
Sincerely
Dominic McKevitt
Hey Melody!!! Congrats!! It’s soooo exciting to have followed your blog since the beginning and to witness your amazing growth! Gosh, you have come such a long way. And I can’t wait to buy your book and add it to my LOA collection. 🙂
Did you ever think about including snippets of your blog to your book? Like real readers’ questions and your response to them?
Always big bear hugs back,
Sophie
Awesome, Melody! I am thrilled by your news. Congratulations and best wishes on your coming book!
Wow this is AWESOME news! So happy for you and when I read the “Why this took so long” section I thought you had spied on my life! Thanks for affirming what my intuition has been telling me all along regarding my own book….it’s not time to write it yet…more of the story needs to unfold. Congrats Melody. You rock!
CongratuFreakinLations!!!!!! Your seriously gonna change the world! I’m so so so happy for you! Smooshy puppy hugs forever!
Beautiful! Congrats! Your story is an inspiration as are all of your writings. Thank you for sharing your golden light with the world.
Wooooooooooooooooow!!!!
Congratulations Melody and thank you so much for sharing your joy with us!
I had a huge smile while reading you. This is so inspiring. And your manifestation process description was clear, straight to the point, perfect and fun to read. Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙂
O.M.G.. I knew it was coming. Just knew it!!!! And here is it! how truly wonderful!
“I soothed that by happily imagining how great it was going to feel to get to write this post – to announce the contract and book to my puppies. And here I am, writing this post now!” There it is! So, so awesome! And this is the method I am adopting myself for manifesting as well.
You can add about alignment (what it is and how to get there), pregnancy (a hot topic), money, career, family relations, friends, romantic relationships. Basically, the topics covered in the blog and the calls. I especially loved the one on how one job fell through but only to make room and pave the way for an even better one. I hope these suggestions help. they would be great in the book. I hope to see you in NY.
Woohooo!! This is great news. You sooooo are gonna rock. Many congrats. I felt so inspired reading this post. I follow you and Teal Scott and both got signed by Hay House in the same month. That is freaking awesome. Let the happy dance begin…woo hoo
Anxiously waiting for that awesome book of yours,
Vini
Looks as though LOA’s time has come! I think you explain it all in very clear and practical terms. After weeks of searching on the internet for ‘something’ like this that I could understand and follow, I finally came to your website and got ALL my answers (well almost but I’m sure you will cover the rest eventually). I bought “The Secret” but didn’t really get anything out of it, I didn’t resonate with it at all.
Congratulations!! I think you should include a Q&A section like you do on your website because like your readers, questions pop up in people’s heads while they are reading your articles or blogs as to how they can apply it in THEIR situation.
WOO congratulations Melody! Treat yourself to a whole jar of epic cookies and may you never gain a single pound ;D I can’t wait to read your book xxx
Suggestions? Well personally I’ve always found it helpful that you outline detailed steps instead of just saying ‘imagine, believe receive’, because quite often that’s not been totally helpful, no matter how truthful it may be. It’s also cool to have a structure for the more important sectors of peoples’ lives, like removing resistance to attract good health, relationships, career etc. through gratitude, visualisations etc.
Maybe even include some ‘fun how-to tips from Melody’ at the end of each chapter, like how to manifest inspiration for artistic ideas, how to attract a one-on-one celebrity encounter, how to attract compliments, how to manifest an effortless dollar every day (I don’t know, I’m just making things up now but I think these would be pretty cool to see answers to ;P)
Congratulations! It will be great to able to read Deliberate Receiving in book format. 🙂 Although I love my computer, I really love having actual books to read!
I would be interested to read about your thoughts on anxiety disorders like OCD, what the LOA take is on how they develop and tips for releasing resistance relating to them. I think you covered OCD briefly in a post once but I’d like to read more about it. 🙂 (Unless there’s already a post on the blog that I’ve missed!).
Also I’d like to read about manifesting romantic relationships and working on fears and limiting beliefs that could be holding you back, similar to what you’ve written on here. 🙂