Month: January 2021

Happy 5th Birthday to The Smart Cookie Philes!

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

It all started with a dream five years ago…just like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I was not going to let anything come between me and my dream of helping authors and artists get the right exposure for their project.

Like a fairy dust kiss from above, only one month after launching the site, I got the news that I was selected as a member of Rachel Platten’s Wildfire Tour Crew.

And I will never forget her words before she sang her anthem “Fight Song” the night of the concert. They had me tearing up and I knew without a doubt that this was what I wanted to do, where I belonged, and I wanted others to feel this way too.

So I began by building my audience. I started posting book and music reviews that nobody paid me for. And I launched both my Twitter and Facebook page so I could network with the people in my niche: other writers, musicians, and people who were just looking for a place to express themselves freely without any judgement.

I created a hashtag game to get people aware of my brand messaging without cramming it down their throat.

#ESPRESSOYOURSELF was a trending hashtag on Twitter when the game launched and it was fun for a while.

Yet, it became more of a burden than a blessing and I ended it in 2018. Yet, the site began to get offers for affiliates, brands that wanted to work with us, and even a queue filled to the brim with review requests.

I took a leap of faith the following year and launched my PR firm in hopes that I could be paid to do the work that I earned a college degree in. Turns out, authors were willing to work with me because they knew me to be a genuine supporter of all things creative and especially authors. (I am a bibliophile to my core).

Today, my first ever signed client is still with my firm!

In 2018, I wanted to begin giving back in a new way so I created a merchandise line through Teespring that is 100% cause based. Each design is created with love for a cause that I believe in. And I felt like maybe there were other people who would believe in them too. In 2021, we now have over 19 products currently available and 6 cookie based designs that 100% came from my brain, although I hired an artist to create them for me, and 7 causes that they 100% support.

In 2019, I gained the most clients I ever had at one time in my firm but sadly lost most of them at the beginning of the 2020 pandemic. Yet, do to supportive donations and an ad campaign featuring my dogs, I was able to withstand the stormy weather and I learned how freeing it is to dance in the rain.

My reviews and marketing services are sought after from traditionally published authors, independent authors, other publicists, and even independent music blogs and musicians. My clientele and brands that we’ve worked with span from small to huge but it hasn’t at all changed the reason why I began this site: if I have a dream and a vision, chances are other people like me do too so why not work together to create a community that is inclusive and welcomes art and projects from people of all walks of life.

This year I am excited to announce that my goal for 2021 was to READ MORE and Worry Less.

With that being said, I am making reading a daily priority this year because books are the world I choose to live in, and I refuse to apologize for that. Yet, this is a business that I truly care about and want to continue to see it succeed which is why I am revamping all my services this year.

First I am launching my review service for a nominal fee and you get a lot for a little chunk of change (As always). And this week only, if you request a review for your book, I will guarantee you I will get it done in 20 days or less or it’s free. For me, I want to be accountable this year and every year to come so this guarantee will allow me to do that to start. The guarantee is only good for this week only. After 1/24/21, it’s $40 regardless of how long it takes me to read your work. Sign up here today! This unfortunately means I will no longer offer free reviews so please let people know that I no longer offer those.

Second, I am re-launching my PR services. There will be two types I offer: freelance and contract.

My freelance services are perfect for artists or authors on a limited budget or local businesses looking for marketing assistance.

Lastly, I am pleased to announce that I am raising my publicist fees. Anyone who now signs with my firm will now be required to sign an annual contract and agree to the monthly retainer fee to secure me as your publicist. Big time agencies charge way more than I am but I am willing to believe the value of my work is worth every single dollar. And besides, every dollar earned is always re-invested in making my services or my brand more curated to fit the needs of any and all clientele, and with these new prices I hope to do that but I honestly also hope to attract clients that value my services 100% and want to grow together, and trust me above anything else.

Before I end this rather long personal statement, I wanted to announce that The Smart Cookie Philes is featured in a Book Promotion Directory for 2021. It includes 180 bloggers who will feature your book as well as 40 companies (mine included) who want to help you promote your work at affordable efficient rates.

As always, you can reach me by email at smartcookiepr26@gmail.com 24 hours a day!

And thank you to everyone who has allowed me the chance to work with you, given you a safe haven to belong to, and supported me and this dream for five years!

I am so glad I took a page out of Dr. King’s book and boldly declared “I HAVE A DREAM…”

To the unicorns, the outcasts, and the dreamers,

We welcome you and I just want to say thank you all so much for sticking around.

It means so very much to me!

So much love,

Chelsea DeVries

Publicist and Founder of The Smart Cookie Philes

#BookReview: You’ll Come Back To Yourself by Michaela Angemeer (Contest)

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

I happened upon Michaela’s poetry on Instagram and was immediately drawn by the way she wielded words, and how her words wielded me.

To be completely honest, I was a little somber when the collection ended as it really resonated with me.

The poems were short but exhilaratingly deep, and so perfectly poignant.

The poems discuss themes i am all too familiar with as a near-thirty writer who must have quicksand in her soul because every man I’ve ever loved fell right through and out some hidden trap door. No kidding there:

Loving someone who is meant for someone else.
Having toxic types that you are always drawn to like red flags are for fun and amusement, and how self-love is the key to true freedom, and attracting a love that loves you back.

You can win a copy of You’ll Come Back To Yourself by Michaela Angemeer. All you need to do is enter at this link and subscribe to my Youtube channel.

If you enter through the Rafflecopter and subscribe to Youtube, I will send you a paperback copy of the book.

This review is 186 words and took me 2 hours to compile. I was given no compensation in exchange for this review but you are free to Buy Me a Coffee.

#BookReview: His Green Eyes by @cheyennebluett

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Cheyenne Bluett’t bright light lit up my Instagram feed. Her content is curated to encourage and inspire just about everyone.

Opening His Green Eyes, I was taken on a poetic journey of the depths of true love, something that writers have a fondness for attempting to understand by giving it a rhyme or a reason.

Yet, poets know love is unique to its counterparts and soulmates are real. Love knows no gender, no age, or no reason.

Love just is.

Reading His Green Eyes the reader is taken deep into the heart of the love and admiration for Bluett’s real life husband Robbie.

My favorite poems in the book appear below but the loving you in every color and loving you in my favorite places were by far so outside the box and refreshing, not to mention sweetly written and heartfelt, full of personal memories and momentos with her lover.

Whether you’ve always felt unworthy of lasting love or you just became a newlywed, these poems defy space and time to share sunshine into the darkest corners of any heart who cynically considers love something only of cinema screens and novel pages.

Bluett’s poetry will make a believer out of you. She made one out of me.

This review is 207 words and took me 1 hour and 23 minutes to compile. I received no compensation for this review. You can get a review just like this for $40. Order yours here.

#BookReview I am Restored:How I Lost My Religion But Found My Faith by @lecrae

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

When I heard Lecrae was putting out a book about his struggle with trauma wounds and mental health, I knew I had to read it because I also just went through similar circumstances, and like Lecrae, dealt with a heavy season where the wounds, the trauma, the unhealthy binge behavior could no longer be swept away or shooken off.

Although there were parts of this book I strongly disagreed with or lack the understanding to totally comprehended, I’ve always admired Lecrae because from the first time I listened to After The Music Stops in 2010 until now with his recent work, he is someone who never sugar-coated hard truths.

From being a 116 clique fan and reading his first memoir, I was aware of parts of his story but just like myself, I knew several paragraphs don’t make a chapter, a story is comprised of a beginning, middle, and an end. Rising action -> Conflict–> Resolve.

In fiction, most stories can come to a place of true resolve. The character begins a happy ending with someone they love. Their long-lost parent didn’t die. The princess wears armor and fights one last battle for the crown and the kingdom. A human marries a Vampire, and they give birth to a child. You get the idea. Yet, unlike in fiction, real life is more harsh, traumatic, and sometimes the only resolve we find is in our place or season of true healing.

So is the case with Lecrae. His words reminded me of my own hard pressed journey to self-acceptance, and the beginnings of true healing.

He also talks about how the entertainment industry is filled with illusions. Later on in the book, he mentions how through counseling, he became aware of how debilitating social media can be mental health with “it’s comparison and an abyss of arguments.”

Overall, anyone who wants to grow in faith and expand your mind as a spiritual person should read the book because God’s masterpieces are unfinished products.

You are still his masterpiece even if all your pieces or parts still look and feel weak, unusable, and broken. God has a habit of using people who make mistakes.

This review is 359 words and took 1 hour and 17 minutes to produce here. I received no compensation for this review but if you enjoy this review or any content produced by The Smart Cookie Philes consider buying me a coffee.