About Book Retreat

Cindy Barascout is a multifaceted professional whose career spans journalism, yoga, and creative writing. She earned her Journalism and Communications degree from Palermo University in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she studied from 2011 to 2014.

Further honing her literary skills, Cindy pursued Creative Writing at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in 2014. Her journey into the world of yoga began with a 200-hour Yoga Alliance Vinyasa training in 2015, followed by a 100-hour Rocket Yoga certification in 2016. Deepening her spiritual and yogic practice, Cindy spent six months in 2016 living with a guru in the Himalayas of India. She continued her academic pursuits with a Master's in Editorial Production and Editing from the Universidad Internacional de Valencia in partnership with Grupo Planeta, completed in 2022.

Cindy's professional experience is as diverse as her studies. She worked as an investigative journalist with Nomada Media in Guatemala from 2015 to 2016. Following her passion for yoga, she founded Core Yoga in 2017, a yoga studio and brand that she continues to manage. Cindy has also made her mark as an author, publishing novels such as "The Book That Saved the Seas" and "The Game of Crystals," with her work, "Grid 333," currently in progress. Her other published works include "Embody Your Ego" and the "Your Free Will, Write" series.

Additionally, Cindy served as the manager of The Yoga Forest Retreat Center in Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, from 2020 to 2023. Her role blended her expertise in yoga with her management skills, creating a holistic environment for retreat participants. Since 2022, she has been working as a writer's assistant, as well as a yoga and meditation teacher with Book Retreat with Cranberry Press, where she continues to share her knowledge and passion for writing and yoga.`,

Garrett Morris is a key figure in the success of the Guatemala Writers Retreat, where he utilizes his unique talents and in-depth local knowledge to significantly enhance the retreat experience. Garrett spends six months each year in Guatemala, primarily at Lake Atitlan - the picturesque setting of our retreats -- deepening his connection to the area and its community.

His extensive network within Lake Atitlan, encompassing local retreat centers, guides, vendors, chefs, artisans, and boat taxi operators, is crucial in navigating the lake's waters and ensuring the smooth operation of our retreats. Garrett's multifaceted role includes locating and negotiating with various retreat centers to uphold our high standards, coordinating a range of activities for attendees, and managing logistics for travel to and from Guatemala City.

Garrett is on-site at the retreats for 2-3 days each week, always including Saturdays, to directly engage with participants. His expertise in sales, oration, emotional understanding, and breakthrough coaching is invaluable. Garrett's focus on safety, clarity, and the breakdown of complex information has been instrumental in the retreats' success over the past three years, particularly in areas of generational wealth and community building.

As a fervent advocate for personal growth, Garrett dedicates himself to helping individuals realize their potential. His approach is centered on empowering others to become their best selves, fostering authentic connections in the process. His contribution over the last three years has been vital in shaping and enhancing the growth and success of our retreats, aligning perfectly with our commitment to personal development and community enrichment.`,

Anthony C. Garcia is a seasoned marketing expert, residing in Albuquerque, NM. His career journey reflects a blend of creativity, strategic acumen, and a passion for storytelling across various media platforms.

Garcia's professional trajectory commenced early, igniting his passion for the airwaves as a DJ in radio at just 14 years old. By 18, he had already made a significant mark in the industry, securing the position of Music Director for KJ103 in Oklahoma City, thereby becoming the youngest Music Director in a Top 50 Market in the US.

With an innate knack for marketing and an appetite for challenges, Garcia embarked on a journey that led him to work for Roy H. Williams as a marketing guru at Williams Marketing. There, he honed his skills by managing high-profile accounts, including Leo Schachter Diamonds, and overseeing substantial media ad buys that amounted to over $20 million in revenue for the company. His strategic prowess consistently delivered impressive results, boosting client revenue by 20% year over year.

In 2004, Garcia's career trajectory took a pivotal turn as he crossed paths with Jeffrey and Bryan Eisenberg, widely recognized trailblazers in persona and conversion rate marketing. Joining forces with the Eisenbergs at Future Now Inc., Garcia played a pivotal role in the development of Persuasion Architecture, now known as Persona Architecture, a groundbreaking marketing model revolutionizing customer journey mapping and optimization strategies. His expertise was instrumental in collaborating with industry giants such as Webex, HP Blades, Universal Orlando, and Google Adwords SMB Division.

Since 2010, Garcia has been an integral part of Promote A Book, working alongside Michael Drew and collaborating with over 100 authors. Leading the Content Division, Garcia's focus lies in crafting highly relevant and persuasive content, optimizing websites for peak performance, and devising effective marketing strategies tailored to each author's unique voice and audience.

In addition to his professional pursuits, Garcia is a co-author (along with Jeffrey and Bryan Eisenberg) of the book Buyers Legends: The Executive Storytellers Guide (2015), offering insights into customer buying journeys. Outside of work, he finds delight in cooking, delving into fiction, and studying storytelling techniques in film and TV.

Garcia's journey is a testament to his unwavering commitment to excellence and consistently high levels of innovative thinking, plus a profound understanding of the intricacies of marketing in the digital age.

A Utah native, David L. Drew was born in '86 as the 6th of 8 children and was known by hismiddle name Lehi to his friends and family.

In 2007, David heard success knocking on the doors of opportunity when his brotherMichael Drew offered to hire him to work with him at Promote A Book LLC. Davidpacked his bags and moved to Austin, Texas, where he was trained by Michael and his associates.

David was tasked to manage Michael's WordPress websites, so he taught himself HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript so he could create, build, and administer WordPress websites.

A few years later, David decided it would be worth expanding his skill set elsewhere. David found himself working for a company called Interactions LLC, in Austin. Internally, the company needed a new administrator to maintain and build out their own WordPress website for employees. David’s WordPress experience at Promote A Book landed the job for him. He learned new skills, including Ruby on Rails and Java, to improve Interactions' web project.

Following a company restructuring, David was shifted into the training department. There David created an automated learning management system for training new employees. He further developed his web skills by diving deeper into PHP, JavaScript, and eventually he focused further on ReactJS and NodeJS.

David’s new skills in ReactJS were applied when he moved into an application developer position in a different department in the company. In this new position he became even more familiar with React, but he also learned Typescript, Docker, and Kubernetes.

Outside his day job, David’s hunger for tech knowledge helped him further develop other new skills while helping Michael develop bestseller data entry systems. He taught himself Python and various other APIs to assist in building out the bestseller data entry system, which also provides monitoring of progress of the bestseller campaign for Promote A Book. In addition, he has learned, implemented, and mastered the ChatGPT API to take new projects to the bleeding edge.

Along with Michael, David envisions Promote A Book as a pioneering force in the book publishing and marketing industry by reshaping bestseller strategies as we elevate Success Magazine to fill the void left by the Wall Street Journal's dissolution of its Bestseller List.

Additionally, David underscores the company's role in developing comprehensive technology solutions catering to the needs of authors, publishers, and retailers, with a focus on optimizing content creation, audience building, and distribution processes.

David and Michael’s vision for the company's future focuses strategically on leveraging technology to drive our company’s growth—as well as our author-clients’ growth—through innovative adaptation in the ever-changing book publishing and book marketing landscape.