The Legend of Justice and Diamonds - Second Printing

"The Legend of Justice and Diamonds" was originally published through Xulon Press in 2010. It is now available through Create Space and Kindle (The Legend of Justice and Diamonds). (You can find my review of the first printing here.) I was (and still am!) drawn to this book because it takes its foundation from the Tarot, which has been a a part of my life "forever". The book presents the cards as both living virtues, and living human beings, fashioned by The Creator. The background is that of what author Louis F. Hemsey terms "first Earth" - the time before Earth as we know it.

The voice of the story is Acellus, The Creator's scribe. He is also the first angelic being. Through his visions, the reader moves into the past, into what is termed an alternate reality, where it is the sixth year reign of the first King - a rogue entitled the King of Clubs. The story exemplifies the eternal struggle between good and evil, and moves smoothly between three realms - (1) the Forest of Cards, (2) the earthly realm of the Kng of Clubs, and (3) the realm of the Keepers, the ones who read the Tarot cards.

As an author myself, I am imressed with the manner in which Hemsey moved his work from Xulon Press to the independent publishing venues of Create Space and Kindle. The addition of a dlightful new cover spices things up nicely!

I have it on good authority (Hemsey himself!) that a sequel is in the works - involving the son's of the Jack of Diamonds and the Ace of Spades, along with the Queen of Diamonds and Lady Arabella of Saxon.

Now is a good time to read (and savor) the first book, so that you have the background handy for reading the sequel!

(c) November 2017 Bonnie Cehovet

My Own Little World

I recently wrote about finding out that Amazon.com had discounted the price on the book that I co-authored with Brad Tesh. Neither of us were happy about that, but we were assured by Create Space that we would be paid royalties according to the price that we had set for the book. That calmed us down a bit. A few days later I saw that a newly released book that I have out from a traditional publishing company (Schiffer Publishing) had been discounted, Deja vu all over again! Prices on any and all products can change from minute to minute ... and this is not just an Amazon quirk. What is this world coming to!

Now I am in a quandary about where I want to publish (and retain maximum control over my work). I am seriously thinking doing print books with a local printer, and selling both the print books and the e-book version from my site. I don't know if an e-book version from my site is possible ... I will have to look into that. n the end, I may stay with Kindle and Create Space. But I don't feel that I have total control over my work, not do I feel that I am adequately compensated. This my world ... I am a writer. There has to be a way to make this work.

Here's a fun link on marketing testing - AB Testing. If you site is an e-commerce site, you might want to read this.

From SmashingMagazine - 50 free resources to help improve your writing - 50 Free Resources.   

(c) 2000 - 2013 Bonnie Cehovet

Use of this material in any venue prohibited without the written permission of the author.

Promoting, Promoting, Promoting

 

The past couple of weeks have been focused on promoting "Seek Joy ... Toss Confetti", the book that I co-authored with Brad Tesh. Our interview with Mary Nale of Attune Magazine Radio can be found here - Seek Joy ... Toss Confetti. We have an upcoming interview with  Jean Maurie Puhlman and Maggie Lukowski on Personal Empowerment For Your Soul, and two more radio interviews scheduled for May (I will place links here at a later date).

We offered our book as a free download on Kindle this past weekend, and had a very good response. We will do this again in a few weeks - it lets people know who we are, as well as have access to our book. While the free download is for the Kindle version only, we do have a print version through Create Space. The books can both be found here - Seek Joy ... Toss Confetti.

A work in progress for me is getting a book page up on Facebook. Then we will have to map out a plan of action to keep people talking about the book. There are many ways that we can do this - including sharing excerpts from the book, or discussing points from our "Toss the Confetti" section at the end of each chapter. This is a section that suggests ways in which people can actively place joy in their life. 

Brad and I are both very excited about this book, and feel that the first step is just to get people talking! We really don't realize the lack of joy in our lives until we start to loo for it ... and find it amongst the missing!

My next book,which will also be an e-book, addresses the subject of decision making. The ability to make decisions is where we empower ourselves. Understanding how to make informed decisions, and take decisive action, is what manifests our dreams into reality! Stay tuned!

(c) 2013 Bonnie Cehovet

 

Small Steps

 

Small steps is what it has been lately ... but small steps do get us where we want to go. I am co-authoring a book on Joy with Brad Tesh. As any writer knows, writing the book is only the first part of the process of getting it out there. We are working with Create Space, which I really like. It is a template format, and works well for me. We have the interior (text) up, the cover is done (thank you to Roxi Sim for allowing us to license one of her images!), and all of that is in to Create Space for review. We have keywords up, and will be working on how to promote the book next. We are getting there! :) (Note to self - create a page on your site for this book!)

One of the things that I am looking at is upping my presence on Goodreads. Well, more like creating a presence! I am on the site, but have really done nothing with that. It is more important now than ever, as Amazon has just purchased Goodreads. You can read more about that here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/apr/02/amazon-purchase-goodreads-stuns-book-industry, http://www.salon.com/2013/03/31/amazon_buys_goodreads_were_all_just_data_now/ , http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/its-about-time/2013/apr/1/amazon-grows-its-book-retail-empire-purchase-goodr/ .

What I am looking to accomplish over the next quarter (we are already into the second quarter of 2013!) is to firm up a social media strategy for my books, to promote the book that I co-authored, and to continue to promote my existing books. I have one more e-book to get out this summer - on decision making, and will devote the third quarter to getting my first mystery on board.

I have not been making any use of my Amazon.com Associate affiliation. I am strongly considering adding that to my pages.

A lot of work ahead of me ... but it's all good! :)

(c) 2013 Bonnie Cehovet

No reproduction allowed in any format without my written consent.