A woman came up to me after a talk I gave a while ago and asked a very good question: “Bottom line,” she said, “Are you saying anyone can succeed?” I knew exactly what she was thinking as she asked it: Even me? With all my problems?

I thought it over for a moment. No one had ever asked me that question before; I hadn’t asked myself that question before. It’s a good question. Can anybody succeed?

As a result of the extraordinary air travel restrictions due to the spreading cloud of volcanic ash from the eruption in Iceland, New World Library’s Associate Publisher, Munro Magruder, and I were unable to make it to the London Book Fair this year. We officially pulled the plug on our plans last Friday after our evening flight was cancelled and all direct flights from San Francisco to London were showing zero availability for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

For the first time in the Bay Area, the Green Festival opened its doors April 10 and 11 for a springtime show in honor of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary. Our employees from several departments work at our Green Festival booth, where we offer a large selection of our books for 50 percent off the cover price. It’s a nice way for us to get up close and personal with the people who love our books. We were excited to meet all of you and thank you for your great conversations and, as always, for your patronage. If you didn’t get a chance to see us this time, you’ll have another opportunity at the fall Green Festival on November 5, 6, and 7.

Planes are off course more than ninety percent of the time. Yet the pilots just keep correcting, over and over, and the plane arrives at its destination.

When someone first told me that, I thought, That’s the story of my life. I’ve been off course much of the time, but I keep remembering to do a bit of course correction now and then and get back on track. There are a vast number of ways to do course correction: find what works for you.

We are excited to be sponsoring a free book giveaway in celebration of our new blog. It's easy to enter. Simply leave a comment on this post and tell us about your favorite book from New World Library. You can either tell us why it is your favorite, describe how it has affected your life, or type in your favorite quote or passage from the book.

Entries must be received by Friday, April 9, 2010. On that date, we will choose three lucky winners who will receive a free New World Library title of their choice via a drawing from all those who left comments. When you fill out the comment form, please be sure to include your name and email address so we can contact you if you win.

Good luck!

The New World Library Blogging Team