Quest Post: Marla Martenson: Professional Matchmaker and Author

When Marla contacted me about doing a guest post on my blog, she said three specific things that stood out for me. Marla is an eccentric reader, writer and a Gemini (Just like me!). Plus, she's a professional matchmaker! How cool is that?

Marla's writing credits are amazing. She writes for such online publications as Cougar Candy Store (www.cougarcandystore.com), Commitment (www.commitmentnow.com), Absolutely Fabulous Women (www.abfabwomen.com) and Examiner (www.examiner.com). She was named the “Over 40 Female of the Week” in February, 2010, for Over40Females.com.

The bestselling author of two books, Excuse Me, Your Soul Mate Is Waiting (Hampton Roads Publishing, 2008) and Good Date, Bad Date (Hampton Roads Publishing, 2009), her latest, Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker (Bettie Youngs Books), is now available at bookstores and on Amazon.com.

Ever since I became a professional matchmaker eight years ago people have asked me how I got into the business. I have a unique job for sure. I actually fell into it by chance. My husband had a friend who was taking over the management at a video dating service. She hired me and that job led me to an upscale Beverly Hills Matchmaking service where I became the VP of Matchmaking. A lifelong bookworm and writer at heart, I took the opportunity of everything I learned about dating, men and women’s preferences, and what works on a date etc. and started taking notes with the idea of writing a dating advice book. Meanwhile I met a woman who joined the matchmaking service who was an author of 35 books. I told her about my book idea and she introduced me to her literary agent. He loved the idea and that is how my first book Excuse Me, Your Soul Mate Is Waiting came to be. A year later, my publisher asked me to do a second book so I wrote another dating advice book called Good Date, Bad Date.

I decided that I loved writing so much that I wanted to make it my career, but I was all tapped out with dating advice. A huge fan of chick lit, I decided to try my hand at it. Following in the footsteps of Jen Lancaster and Laurie Notaro, two of my favorite authors, I decided to write a memoir about my life as a Beverly Hills Matchmaker. And voila, my latest book, Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker was just published in March. I am now hard at work on the sequel, which will be out in the spring of 2011.

I am often asked how one should go about getting a book deal. Everyone has a story and it would be a shame not to share it with the world. My best advice is to just go for it. Sit down today and start writing. If you have the idea that you’ll do it someday well, someday will never come. You might be thinking, “But Marla, I am so busy with a full time job, a husband and kids, I never get a moment to myself. "Well, if you can just get up fifteen minutes earlier or go to bed fifteen minutes later and use that time to write one page, in a year you will have more than enough material for a book."

There are two wonderful books that I highly recommend, the first one is, Putting your Passion Into Print by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. It is a complete guide to becoming a successful published author; it covers everything from writing the book, getting it published to marketing it.

The second must have book is called, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer. It is 700 pages jam packed with great advice and ideas on innovative ways to market your book.

For more information about my books you can visit my website www.marlamartenson.com or my blog, www.marlamartenson.blogspot.com

Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker is available now from Bettie Young Books. *The girl on the cover kind of looks like me, don't you think? *grin**

The inside scoop from the Cupid of Beverly Hills, who has brought together countless couples who have gone on to live happily ever after. But for every success story there are ridiculously funny dating disasters with high-maintenance, out-of-touch, impossible to please, dim-witted clients!

In Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker, Marla takes her readers for a hilarious romp through her days as an L.A. matchmaker and her daily struggles to keep her self-esteem from imploding in a town where looks are everything and money talks. From juggling the demands her out-of-touch clients to trying her best to meet the capricious demands of an insensitive boss to the ups and downs of her own marriage to a Latin husband who doesn't think that she is 'domestic' enough, Marla writes with charm and self-effacement about the universal struggles that all women face in their lives.

Readers will laugh, cringe, and cry as they journey with her through outrageous stories about the indignities of dating in Los Angeles, dealing with overblown egos, vicariously hobnobbing with celebrities, and navigating the wannabe-land of Beverly Hills. In a city where perfection is almost a prerequisite, even Marla can't help but run for the Botox every once in a while.

If you had a chance to work with a professional matchmaker, what three important things would say you are looking for in your ideal mate? Or, what would your perfect date be?