"The Invaluable Experience" Reaches as High as No. 3 in Kindle Store

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The Invaluable Experience Hits as High as No. 3 on Amazon

 

Former College Player Lao Among Greats of Tennis in Kindle Downloads

 

Two-time USC All-American Tennis Player Says College Sports are the Experience of a Lifetime

 

ATLANTA, Georgia, (January 2, 2014) Following a successful college tennis career, Danielle Lao, a two-time All-American at USC had something to say.

 
Less than a year ago, Lao started putting her thoughts about college, tennis, and life down in an online Tumblr blog that started attracting more and more readers. Basically, Lao answered questions many student-athletes might have.

Lao decided to turn her writings into a Kindle book, “The Invaluable Experience” with the help of tennis and sports technology writer Rick Limpert.

Many internet surfers read blogs because they are short bursts of information and for the most part, they are free.

The question was, would anyone buy a book based on Lao’s Tumblr posts?

Lao said it didn’t matter.

“Turning my blog posts in a book was a great way to organize my scattered thoughts that I was slowly collecting since the end of my collegiate career,” explained Lao. “College tennis was such a pivotal part in my development as a player as well as a person and my hope is to share with as many people as I can, how college is such an invaluable experience.”

While Lao’s college stories and advice make for a great fodder, an equally good story is how well the book has done after just 30 days.

In its first week, “The Invaluable Experience” was the No. 3 Kindle tennis book on Amazon.com; ahead of such titles as Rafa", by Rafael Nadal,  “Serve to Win” by Novak Djokovic, Brad Gilbert's "Winning Ugly", "Facing Federer", and other books written by tennis heavyweights like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.

“I was ecstatic (with) the news. I am so humbled to be in such great company. A lot of these authors have decorated profiles and some are grand slam champions.”

Lao’s nickname is “The Little Giant” and while you have to read the book to find out how she secured that unique moniker, the it has proven to be prophetic as even after 30 days the book still regularly makes the top-10 in the Kindle Store ahead of books by Peter Bodo, Monica Seles, and Allen Fox.

“The Invaluable Experience” is loaded with great advice for current and future student athletes, parents, and fans of college sports.  It is available as a Kindle download on Amazon.com and through the book’s website at http://laod38.wix.com/thelittlegiant

"Danielle is what college sports are all about,” added Limpert. “This book is bigger than just the sport of tennis, as it has crossover appeal for anyone looking to play sports in college."

About Danielle Lao:

Danielle Lao was a member of the USC Women's Tennis Team (2009-2013). During her time there, she lead the Trojans to back to back PAC 12 Team championships and was team captain her senior year. She wraps up her collegiate career as a two time singles All-American, 3 time ITA title holder, and a recipient of both the Southwest Region Rookie and Senior of the Year. Danielle is currently pursuing a professional career.

About Rick Limpert:

Rick Limpert is an Atlanta-based freelance writer who covers tennis and sports technology for the likes of Yahoo, Examiner.com, TennisRecruiting.net, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and others. He hosts the popular “Tech Tuesday” gadget segment on Sirius/XM PGA Tour Radio and he is the 2013 USTA Georgia “Tennis Writer of the Year” and won the 2013 USTA Southern Section Marc Kaplan Media Excellence Award.

Social Media:

Danielle Lao Twitter:  @TheLittleGiant

Rick Limpert Twitter: @RickRoswell

Get your copy now:

'The Invaluable Experience' Hits No. 4 on Amazon

This morning in the tennis catagory of the Kindle Store.

Right behind Agassi's "Open" and ahead of Brad Gilbert's "Winning Ugly," "Facing Federer" and even "Rafa" by Rafa.   Not too shabby.

Order your download:

The Invaluable Experience with Danielle Lao

After weeks of work, my book with former USC All American tennis player Danielle Lao is live in the Kindle Store on Amazon.com

For anyone that is thinking about playing college sports, this is a great read with great advice offered up by Danielle.

The book is made up of exerpts from Danielle's blog and more.

I love this book and loved helping on this project, but it is all Danielle and what a great writer she is.

For me, working on this book with Danielle was an Invaluable Experience for me.

Get it for $3.99 in the Kindle Store.

Update on Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 10:39PM by Rick C.Limpert

Update:

The Invaluable Experience hit No. 3 on Amazon's Kindle Store on Friday and has been holding steady at No. 4 under tennis.

Anna Tatishvili Takes ButlerCars.com Tennis Classic of Macon Title

MACON, Georgia, (October 13, 2013) After a week of great weather, outstanding support shown by the Macon tennis community and world class women’s tennis, we arrived at “Finals Sunday” at the 2013 ButlerCars.com Tennis Classic of Macon presented by the W.L. Amos Foundation held at Stratford Academy’s Jaime Kaplan Tennis Center.

 The best two players all week have been Anna Tatishvili and Ajla Tomljanovic, so Macon tennis fans were treated to a match that could happen in any grand slam tournament around the world.

Let me give away the result saying Tatishvili took the match 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, but both competitors earned the respect of all the spectators.

The points were long and it was high calibre tennis.

Tatishvili got off to a 4-1 start in the first set, but she said it may have been too good of a start.

“Ajla stepped it up in the second set meanwhile I was having a hard time keeping up,” explained the 23-year old from Georgia. The third set was much closer, I was down 1-4, but felt I could’ve been up 4-1.”

Tomljanovic did up the ante in the second set with a blistering array of serves setting up her forehand.

Tomljanovic continued that hot play until 5-3 in the third and that is when Tatishvili started thinking her way around the court and moving Tomljanovic around.

“I never try to quit, “summed up Tatishvili. “Whenever I go on a court, it’s two to three hours of my work.”

Tatishvili took the third set 7-5 and the inaugural ButlerCars.com Tennis Classic of Macon.

In the doubles final, the American duo of Emily Harman and Elizabeth Lumpkin won a first set filled with service breaks 6-3 and got up 5-3 in the second before former University of Mississippi players Kristi

Boxx and Abigail Guthrie caught fire.

Boxx and Guthrie took the second set in a tiebreaker and then went on to close out the match in the Match Tiebreak 10-4 to claim the 25K title.

After the match, Boxx said she had predicted a three-set win all along.

“I woke up this morning and talked to my mom and said don’t do what Ole Miss did (in football) last night.  Take care of business. I texted her back and said we are going to win this one in three sets.”

 Which they did.

 Great weather and great fan support for professional women’s tennis in Macon all week.

Tatishvili, Tomljanovic into ButlerCars.com Tennis Finals

ButlerCars.com Tennis Classic of Macon

Presented By The W.L. Amos Foundation

STRATFORD ACADEMY - JAIME KAPLAN TENNIS CENTER * OCTOBER 6-13, 2013

Tatishvili, Tomljanovic Reach ButlerCars.com Tennis Classic of Macon Finals

MACON, Georgia, (October 12, 2013) Saturday is usually a day reserved for college football in the South, but don’t tell that to the tennis fans of Macon, Georgia.

Saturday means the semifinals at the ButlerCars.com Tennis Classic of Macon held at the Jaime Kaplan Tennis Center at Stratford Academy.

It also meant a time for the favorites to step up their game and shine.

Saturday’s first semifinal featured former top-50 pro Anna Tatishvili of the Republic of Georgia and Ulrikke Eikeri, the No. 1 player from Norway.

Tatishvili jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead over Eikeri, but she said it was no time to relax.

“Obviously you try to win every game, but a fast start sure helps.”

Eikeri fought back to even the first set at 4-4, but Tatishvili broke and then held to get the one set advantage.

When a reporter said this may have been her best match of the tournament so far, Tatishvili agreed.

“I played pretty solid today, I was in good position for my shots.”

The second set was more of the same with Tatishvili staying ahead the entire way to close out the win.

Tatishvili broke Eikeri six times during the match.

There wasn’t much suspense in the second semifinal as top seeded and world No. 86 Ajla Tomljanovic took the first four games of the match with a dominating array of serves and forehands keeping her opponent, Madison Brengle off balance, looking for answers, and questioning line calls.

It’s possibly the first match all week where Tomljanovic, who didn’t face any break points, was pleased with her play.
“Today, not much to complain about, I played as well as I could and didn’t make any mistakes, but credit to her, she fought to the end,” explained the 5’11” righty from Zagreb, Croatia.

The 6-2, 6-1 match only lasted 61 minutes, but Tomljanovic said that was a good thing.

“It was kind of tough, she’s (Brengle) the type of player that doesn’t give you much time in between points. so my heart rate was always up.”

Tomljanovic and Tatishvili have played once before with Tomljanovic taking a three set win in 2009 at the USTA Pro Circuit event in Albuquerque.

The action on Sunday begins at 1 pm with the doubles final and the singles final will follow.

Saturday’s Results (Winners Listed First)

Anna TATISHVILI (GEO) [4]Ulrikke EIKERI (NOR) WS6-4 6-3
Ajla TOMLJANOVIC (CRO) [1]Madison BRENGLE (USA) [3] WS6-1 6-2