Coast to Coast Networking
by Susan Haley for Fox and Quill

Does anyone remember the Infinity Authors – Infinite Talent team? I think many of us still carry the pages on our websites. I remember being so thrilled when Chris Master even designed the special Infinity logo just for us after the group voted to use the name I’d suggested. It made me feel I contributed at least, some small thing in comparison to the huge task taken on by the others.

It all got started in 2006 when Lois Stern started following through on an idea to keep all of us who’d attended Infinity’s Conference in Valley Forge that year in touch. Donna Jaske jumped in and helped Lois compile the list. Somewhere along the way, I got involved. I don’t remember now exactly how. I do remember how thrilled I was at seeing the first list of authors, replete with pictures, book covers, bios and a synopsis. This magical feat to me, novice at networking that I was then, had been created by John Wolf and Michael Kleiner. I’m not sure to this day if they collaborated, or each took on the project individually at Lois’ request.

I’d already had my own website and my first published book, Fibers in the Web, at the time, but I hadn’t personally done the techs on Sucarha.com. I knew nothing much about networking beyond my local boundaries and the Sarasota chapter of The Florida Writers Association which I had previously ventured out and agreed to facilitate. Rainy Day People, Infinity, the people I’d met at Valley Forge, and our John “Wolfman Jack” Wolf changed all that.

Through the Infinity Authors – Infinite Talent pages, I met what I now call my West Coast ‘Infinity Family’. In these pages, I met Pauline Hager, Shirley Parker, Linda Meckler, and of course, the Wolfman! Since then, we’ve all become and remained friends. We’ve bought and reviewed each other’s books, encouraged and been there for each other through weather disasters, travels, illnesses, successes and failures.

These cyberworld meetings have snowballed into meeting yet more people, more support, more websites and more experiences. We’ve developed relationships and support groups with other Infinity Authors, Infinity staff, celebrity presenters, and more publications. It seems, now, I have as much work coming in and out of California and other states as I do Florida. Each of us continues to open up more avenues to explore. Lois and Jack are becoming expert at audio and visual and share what they learn with us. Jack is even into broadcasting and Internet Television productions. What a blessing, this thing called networking.

I’ve since authored an entire workshop on “The Power of Networking – Four Principles” that I’ve presented at Writers Conferences and for other Writers Groups. The written version has been published in several publications including Jerry Simmons’ Newsletter, The Florida Writer Magazine, and Infinity’s marketing book by John Harnish and Jane Martin, Jane, who has also become a cherished port in my occasional storms, “My Book’s Published! Now What?” An abbreviated version is also on my website if anyone is interested in reading it:

http://www.sucarha.com/the_power_of_networking.html

Today, I was mailing a book to Jack Wolf. As I wrote the San Diego address on the package, I was thinking of the dear friends, the personal growth, experiences and inspirations so freely given by so many. Jack and I have become ‘email buddies’ and share all our dreams and aspirations. I thought to myself that one of the greatest joys in publishing a book reaches beyond our own personal achievements. It reaches into the heart and embraces the blessings of meeting so many wonderful people and truly making dear friends that otherwise you’d maybe never have met. If anyone doubts the pure power of reaching out and networking with a sincere heart, I’d have to say, “Maybe you aren’t doing it right. Maybe you are expecting too much and not giving enough."

If anyone doubts that you can develop a true and sincere friendship without ever having had a face to face meeting, I’d have to disagree. I’d guess that by now, I’ve probably had those face to face meetings with eighty percent of the networking friends I’ve made without first benefit of the physical meeting. I’ve been the visitor and the visited. One girl came all the way from England and stayed two weeks with me. I’ve been welcomed into others’ homes like a family member. I’ve never once been disappointed or surprised. I’ll meet the rest, too, Powers That Be willing. You better watch out, Jack!

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Reflections if you will indulge me... John Wolf

Wow, thanks for the flashback memories. This issue seems to be full of those. But the way, how Lois and I met was through our good friend John Harnish at Infinity. I was at the "little" conference on the Left Coast and asked John if I might speak to the group. My elevator pitch went like this, "Look, you all have a website, but that's like being on a spur off a major railroad line. No one will notice you are there unless we crosslink to one another." Harnish suggested I contact Lois and bring our ideas together so both coasts could benefit. At the time, I had no idea who Lois was.

I built the common structure webpage that we all started filling in. Michael is an ambitious web meister in his own right and had the jump on us by building his own version. Susan's web maker took all this in and create a snappier version. But the bottom line is many of us took advantage of networking together to make our presence on the Internet much more meaningful in many ways, none more important than getting to know each other better.

The charter behind this newsletter was to provide a place for this group we're talking about to come once a month and keep the fires burning. I gladly churn out these pages and marvel at the slowly, but ever expanding influence we have.

We have people in India, Britain, and now Slovakia reading the Fox&Quill. If you are reading this and are from some other country, please let me know. As you know, I don't have a log-in for the site, because I find that rather unfriendly, but it does prevent me from gather statistics on who we are and how many.

Susan's influence in Florida has provided us people like Russ Heitz and Richard Ide, and now Bart Stamper to joins us. I have to reflect on John Miller—what a great American voice to reminds us of our Southern roots. Now we have San Diego Writers, Ink talking to the Florida Writers Association. All of this is more as friends than marketers.

I consider Lois Stern and Susan Haley among my dearest friends and we've never met face to face. Out in this cold, hard digital floundering, social networking allows us this modern wonder, and I can't help believe it keeps freedom alive in the world. God bless you all.

Thanks for sharing, Susan... J. Wolf

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