Are You Thinking About Writing a Book... Someday?

Cheryl Benton, CEO, The Three Tomatoes

Like some of you, I “thought” about writing a book for many years. Well two summers ago, I not only wrote my first novel, but it became a reality when I self-published “ Can You See Us Now? ” four months later. The book has exceeded my expectations in terms of how it has been received in the marketplace. Six months later, that book was followed with Martini Wisdom , which I co-created with my daughter Roni Jenkins, and quickly became #1 on Amazon’s hot new releases. Both books were published under The Three Tomatoes Publishing imprint. And now we want to help other authors realize their dream.

I am the founder and publisher of The Three Tomatoes, a lifestyle guide for women over 40, and I launched The Three Tomatoes Publishing Services as a separate entity to help authors get their books published and marketed.

I have been writing my entire professional career. I started out as an English teacher, and then went into advertising. I owned an advertising and PR agency for ten years that specialized in technology clients.

My ad agency was acquired by Bozell, one of the top ad agencies in the U.S. at that time. I was Executive VP and General Manager of the business to business agency and was responsible for creative and account management. I later joined Jordan McGrath, a well-respected ad agency specializing in consumer products for clients like Procter and Gamble, as president of JMCP Touch, the agency’s digital agency which I built from the ground up.

When I left the ad agency business, I started The Three Tomatoes as a just for the fun of it newsletter which I sent to 60 friends. We now have several newsletters a week, a major web site, a weekly podcast and events. With 15,000 subscribers and over 40,000 visitors each month to the web site, this is also an excellent vehicle for promoting books.

In early 2019, I launched The Three Tomatoes Publishing to help other authors publish and market their books. This exciting new venture combines my skills as a professional writer, an avid reader, and a professional marketer.

Listen in to Cheryl Benton's interview with Debbie Nigro, on the Debbie Nigro show.