A lofty place for authors, writers, and readers to connect

Vol. 6 Issue 2

Writers in the Sky Newsletter

February 2010

Whether you are a published author or a writer-wanna-be, this e-zine is for you. Here, you will find articles, book reviews, announcements, poetry, and information about the craft and business of writing, publishing, and book marketing written by our readers. Our goal is to connect the writing and publishing community through networking.

In This Issue

Editor's Corner
 

A word from WITS owner Yvonne Perry

The Pros and Cons of Writing a Book Series
 

by Carol Denbow and Yvonne Perry

WITS Podcast Schedule

Book Fairs: Thirteen Tips to Make Book Booths Better
 

by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Network With Us

The Savvy Book Marketer
 

by Dana Lynn Smith

Book With a View
 

Read this month's book reviews

The Secret to Selling More of What You Write

 

by Suzanne Lieurance

Poetry Corner
 

Poems from our readers

Editor's Corner

by Yvonne Perry

This year is off to a fantastic start! I've been making a conscious effort to bring more of my spiritual self into my business and things are already manifesting in wonderful ways. By meditating every day and listening to audios by trusted spiritual leaders, I have been able to remove stale energy and bring more love and light into my daily routine. After listening to Amethyst Wyldfyre’s teleclass, "Clear Your Energy & Electrify Your Business," I have sensed an energetic movement taking me to a higher level of spiritual effectiveness in my business dealings and personal relationships.

Did you know that many successful companies started or grew in economic downturns? It’s true! And, and I am of the belief that if one person can do something, then we can all do it!  Recently, I was interviewed by Schall Adams of GirlfriendMentors.net. The interview subject, “Writing as a Marketing Tool,” is very timely in our current economy. If you are like me and have decided not to participate in recession and scarcity thinking, I’m sure you will find this interview packed full of tools that you can use to drive business your way and move your business forward. 

Schall and I discussed the types of writing you could and should use in your business marketing: media releases, email, article marketing, blog writing, social media, books and e-books, marketing materials, and bios. I also shared how to specifically use each type of writing as a marketing tool. You'll also get tips and strategies for handling all the writing that must be done. As you can see, the information could significantly impact your marketing efforts.

With that in mind please accept this gift as my way of saying thanks for being a part of my business network! The interview is posted on a members-only site, but Schall is giving my WITS girlfriends a 3-day free pass (no credit card needed) to hear our mentoring session about how writing can boost credibility in your business. To access the interview, use this special link: http://tinyurl.com/GFInterview to log on whenever you choose. You’ll have three days from the first login to explore the incredible resources, access any of the mentors on the site, read articles, participate in wisdom circles, download other interviews, and ask questions.   Feel free to share this link with your girlfriends!

If you decide to become a Girlfriend Mentors member and join in the quest to create a worldwide sisterhood of highly developed women, please use this link: http://tinyurl.com/GFMentor. Men, please let your female friends know about this great opportunity. I'll try to do something special for the guys in another issue.

I was Cathi Curen's guest January 30, 2010 on Holistic Children Radio and we discussed The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children and the children's community art showcase. Learn more about why I am offering this opportunity for children to participate by creating art or telling about how they learned a significant lesson.

Lynn Serafinn will host me on February 25, 2010 for "Your Book Launch: Designing and Delivering" as part of Spirit Authors Grand Opening Webinar Week. Then, on March 6, I will be a guest on The Renee Bobb Show (Blog Talk Radio).  I love sharing with authors and writers the information I have gained from operating a writing business for the past six years. I hope you will join me on these shows. If you need a speaker for your show or event, please see my keynote speaker page.

Please welcome our new WITS columnist, Dana Lynn Smith. She and I have been networking with one another for about a year. I think we met on Twitter. Anyhow, once you've read some of her great articles on book marketing, I'm sure you'll understand why she is called The Savvy Book Marketer! Be sure to see The Savvy Book Marketer's Guide to Selling Your Book to Libraries.

Allison Maslan's book launch for Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan to Launch Your Dreams into Reality was a great success. I enjoyed working with her on the marketing campaign and helping her reach bestseller status on Amazon.com. If you missed our podcast interview, you may listen at http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com.

I've gotten some lovely support for The Sid Series this month. Penny Ehrenkranz posted an interview with me in which we discussed why I self-published the book. She also wrote a great review summarizing each of the twelve stories. Dawn and I talked about why and how I became a writer, and why I write what I write.  That interview may be read online at http://lovesbooksandmore.blogspot.com.

Please send folks a note to let them know they can read your poem, book review, or announcement on our Web site. The more we network together, the more we all win with better exposure to more markets! If you are on Twitter, here is a easy-to-use pre-made tweet: See what I had published in WITS Newsletter this month! http://ow.ly/Ieu6 .

If someone forwarded this e-zine to you or if you happened to have stumbled upon this Web page, you may get your own subscription delivered to your inbox once per month for free!

The Pros and Cons of Writing a Book Series

by Carol Denbow and Yvonne Perry

Carol Denbow is my long-time networking buddy and the owner of A Book Inside Blog (http://abookinside.blogspot.com), which caters to writers who need information about how to write a fiction/non-fiction book or find a publisher or publishing option. She gives great tips on how to market a book for free. Gotta love that, right? Well, she was so kind as to ask me to share about how I published The Sid Series, and since many of you may have missed this post on Carol's blog, I am publishing it here for the WITS community. In this special interview, you’ll learn the good, bad, and the best tips about publishing a book series.

Carol Denbow: Yvonne, long time, my friend! It’s always a pleasure to have you as a guest at A Book Inside Blog. I was so happy to hear of your new release, The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children. We have many visitors to this site who are interested in writing children’s books as well as numerous seasoned authors wishing to continue their published book saga into a book series. I have several questions for you, but let me start by asking you about this book series. Please tell us a little about The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children. Such as, what are the books about, how many are there, and where do you make your books available for purchase?

Yvonne Perry: Each story in The Sid Series a collection of 12 body-mind-spirit stories that gives insight on some mature subjects such as recycling, being who you really are, overcoming the fear of storms, helping others, listening to one’s inner guidance, caring for the body, accepting and appreciating diversity, dealing with family change, and coping with the death of a pet. See http://TheSidSeries.com

Carol: When one writes a series of books, do they write them all at once? For instance, is the entire story line written as one bundle, and then divided into several books, and how did you personally go about this?

Yvonne: I began writing The Sid Series when my grandson, Sidney, was very young. The stories were inspired things we did together. I typed the stories into a Word doc, and would later read the stories to him while he sat on my lap in front of the computer. He wanted pictures to go with his stories, so I attempted to illustrate them and bring them to life with colored backgrounds.

Next, I formatted the first three stories and printed them in black and white since my printer was out of color ink (as usual). I didn’t have a stapler with an arm long enough to reach to the centerfold, so I stapled the left edges together to hold the pages tight. It looked like a kindergarten term paper! It just didn’t “feel” like a book. I wanted a better way to bind them, and the pages needed to be in color according to Sid.

I took the file to Kinko’s thinking I would have the stories printed in color on both sides. Gasp! It would cost about $15 per book to print 15 pages and a cover! I decided if I was going to go to the trouble of printing and binding the stories, I might as well go ahead and publish them. I found a commercial printer that offered to produce the books in color with a center staple for about $7 each. I printed about a dozen copies of each title thinking I would sell the ones I didn’t need. However, printing them at $7 each didn’t allow any room for profit because folks weren’t willing to pay more than $7 for a 15-page book. Since it cost me another $2 to ship them, I would actually be paying people to buy them.

But none of that mattered. I didn’t write or publish them with the intention of getting rich! I was happy that we could hold and read the books together when it was time for bed. Sidney was so proud of our books that he took them to school for his teacher to read to his kindergarten class.

As time passed, Sid and I added more stories to the collection. He would dictate a story while I typed it. Sid became interested in the computer and was able to play games and get around quite well on the Internet. Once he learned to read, I formatted some new stories into e-books that he could read to himself any time he wanted. I still offer the e-books on my Web site for $3 each.

Still, I wanted the new stories in printed format. That’s when I decided to put all twelve stories in one book and publish them as The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children. I’m glad I did. Now I have a lasting and tangible reminder of the times Sid and I spent together and we have a way to share them with other children and adults.

Carol: Is it considerably more expensive to publish a series at one time, or can it actually save you money in the long run?

Yvonne: It is much more expensive to do the stories one at the time. Publishers/printers charge a setup fee and catalog fee for each book title/ISBN. Plus, if you are unable to design your own cover, you will need to pay someone to do a cover for each title rather than for one cover for a book containing all the stories. That is why I published the stories as individual e-books until I finished writing all twelve. Then, I laid out the stories as one book and self-published using Lightning Source.

Carol: If a writer is considering a book series, would you recommend they complete and publish one book at a time, or write and publish them all at once, and how did you make your own decision to publish them all at one time?

Yvonne: It depends on whether you plan to self-publish or query a conventional publisher, how many pages your book will have, your budget, and whether you are going to print the books in color or black and white. Printing in color is more expensive than black and white.

I self-published through Lightning Source which gave me distribution through Ingram and the ability to offer Amazon a 25% short discount rather than the 55% discount most publishers give them. The Sid Series is a 54-page picture book with color illustrations. Each story has 15-18 pages. I paid a $95 setup fee, a $12 catalog fee, and each time I order a new supply of books, I am charged a $1.50 per-book handling fee plus shipping. Now, times that amount by 12 titles and you will quickly see why I decided to publish the entire series as one book/title! However, had my book been a children’s chapter book with 150 black and white pages, I would have published each title separately.

Carol: Do you think a traditional book publisher would be as interested in publishing a complete series at one time, or publish the first of a series to test the waters before committing (assuming the first book is not labeled or written as a Part 1 book)?

Yvonne: It’s hard to answer that because large publishers with large budgets might do something more risky than a small house with limited resources. Large houses seem to publish in volumes or sets. For example, Random House published the 44 books of Mary Pope Osborne’s Tree House series by issuing 4 or 5 books per year as boxed sets. The books are for sale individually as well. The same is true of Daisy Meadows’ Rainbow Magic Fairies (published by Scholastic Paperbacks) and Gertrude Chandler Warner’s Boxcar Children books (published by Albert Whitman & Company).

Carol: I hope this interview has helped our interested viewers. Yvonne Perry is the author of several other books as well. Yvonne, please tell us a little about the other books you have authored.

Yvonne: Besides the books I’ve ghosted, edited, or proofread for clients, I have published the following titles. The ones with an asterisk (*) are available on Amazon.

* Book Marketing in the Digital Age, Online Promotion Made Easy is an e-book designed to help authors promote their books online.

* Right to Recover ~ Winning the Political and Religious Wars Over Stem Cell Research in America is available as a printed book (Nightengale Press) and for the Kindle Reader on Amazon.

* My Mother's Bipolar, So What am I? co-authored with Angela Grett provides help for adult children dealing with the aftermath of being raised by a bipolar parent.

*Email Episodes ~ A Hilariously Honest Look at Life is about a woman who is having a midlife crisis while her teenagers are raising reptiles in the basement.

Both an e-book and printed book, * More Than Meets the Eye about Death, Dying and Afterlife was written to comfort those who have lost a loved one or is caring for someone who is dying. Tips for Freelance Writing is an e-book that provides information for starting a free-lance writing business. Both of these e-books are free to those who subscribe to my free monthly newsletter.

I have published several poetry chapbooks and e-books about trips I have taken. All my books and e-books are available at http://writersinthesky.com/books-by-yvonne.html and several are free!

Carol Denbow: You also have a Web site and I’m sure more to share with us?

Yvonne: I provide mentoring/consultation on writing and publishing. My team and I offer ghostwriting, editing, and proofreading services as well as marketing assistance to businesses and authors. See http://writersinthesky.com.

You’ll want to check out our blog, podcast, and newsletter while you are there. All three provide more information about writing, publishing, and book marketing.

Carol: Yvonne, thank you so very much for visiting us on A Book Inside Blog. Your information has been extremely helpful and is very much appreciated. Have a happy New Year, everyone!

Yvonne: Thank you for interviewing me, Carol.

Podcast
 

Listening to Writers in the Sky Podcast on a computer is easy. Just click this link: http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com and go to my blog.  On the right sidebar there is a list of archived shows.  Click on the interview you would like to hear and it will open a post that has a link to open the audio file.  For information about being a guest on Writers in the Sky Podcast, see www.writersinthesky.com/writing-podcast.htm

February 5

Janet Conner will be sharing her book, Writing Down Your Soul, when podcast host Yvonne Perry interviews her about the mysterious process of tapping into the higher wisdom of your soul through writing. This is more than journaling. It's not automatic writing; it's something totally different. Learn how to find out what your soul and divine guidance is trying to share with you. Janet will share how to write from theta brain waves that support creativity rather than beta waves associated with stress (where many people live their daily lives).

February 12

Yvonne Perry welcomes Maxine Thompson, the author of Hostage of Lies to speak about her novel published by Urban Soul. The story is a vivid portrait of Reverend Godbolt's family and his forebears. The family's secrets set the stage for a profound and provocative debate about black identity and destiny in America's past and present. The novel deals with the issue of adoption which often runs counter to African American culture due to the history of children being sold away from their mothers.

February 19

Sarah Moore welcomes author Wilson Awasu as he discusses his new book Kim’s Confessions. In this novel, the title character approaches her church and her faith with a sense of entitlement. She presents a long family history and active involvement in her congregation as her defenses for not questioning the strength of her relationship with God. However, her entire belief system is changed when she reluctantly attends a seminar called “Radical Growth.” Mr. Awasu will be discussing what motivated him to write this book, how he developed a character like Kim, and what he hopes readers will take away from reading Kim’s Confessions.

February 26

Barbara Fifield will be joining the podcast for an interview about Lucifer Rising. This new release tells the story of a female reporter who profiles a local religious cult leader and ends up being drawn into a relationship with him. Even when she learns of his history of violence and adultery, she cannot seem to escape. Lucifer Rising combines aspects of a thriller, romance, and exploration of the paranormal. During the interview, Ms. Fifield will share how her previous profession contributed to the writing of her new book, why she wanted to tackle the controversial issue of cults, and what she has planned next for her readers.
 
 

Do You Want More for Your Marketing Dollars?

WITS publicity is an affordable and effective source for marketing your book or business.

A great deal for anyone needing online publicity!

Book Fair Blues? Thirteen Tips to Make Book Booths Better

by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

The spring season for book promotion will soon be upon us. I have some advice for those who are looking for tips to get the most out of your marketing dollars at the book booth.

Don't rent a booth at a book fair.  Don't host an event. Don't do anything! Not without assuring its success with a savvy public relations campaign. Here's how:

  1. Join with other authors to cross-promote.

  2. Send out invitations to readers and to the media.

  3. Produce a catalog or brochure to give to the press in attendance and attendees. Try to give your gift more substance than a mere flier. It will be less likely to get tossed.

  4. Tie sales to a charity relevant to writing or literacy.

  5. Schedule book signing times even though you will be manning the booth for the full day. It adds credibility to your appearance.

  6. Use signs, lighting and other effective display techniques.

  7. Give a gift to those who purchase your book. Go to http://redenginepress.com for a journal that can be used to increase your profits as an add-on sale or as a gift-with-purchase.

  8. Offer snacks to those who drop by.

  9. Take photos for use in post-publicity.

  10. Design a media blitz including queries, releases, and personal phone calls.

  11. Schedule a special offering or entertainment in your booth. At the 2008 LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books my booth partners and I offered mini-videos by Rey Ybarra (reach him at rybarra106@aol.com)  at a special price. Your offering could just as well be a poetry reading or a performance.

  12. If you can afford to do it, give out totes or bags with your book cover, logo, and Web site printed on them. Toss into them your bookmarks or business/postcards.

  13. Get a video of your event to post on your Web site, blogs and YouTube! That gives you after-the-fair value  (and credibility!) for the work you've gone to.

And, of course, get a copy of The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't for practical suggestions for hundreds of other ways to brand yourself and promote your book. Look up book fair related words in the index including "book fairs," "book signings," "book expos," but don't neglect related subjects like "media releases," "building a contact list," and more.

It's an awful thing to ponder, but it boils down to this. Promotions don't work unless you promote the promotions. So here's to a great spring of 2010.

Carolyn is the author of the award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. www.howtodoitfrugally.com.


Network With Us
 

Add your announcement or brag about your writing accomplishment. Tell us about your book or business.
Share information and ideas or send articles or advertorial for the next issue by contacting us on our Web site www.writersinthesky.com/contact.php . Here are some announcements from our readers this month:

Schall Adams' GirlfriendMentors.com membership site is the place for business women to connect, mentor, coach, and inspire one another. Let us help you reach your dream of becoming a writer!

The Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest is open to anyone who loves expressing innermost thoughts and feelings into the beautiful art of poetry or writing a short story that is worth telling everyone! And to all who have the ability to dream... Write a poem or short story for a chance to win cash prizes! All works must be original. http://www.dreamquestone.com.

I'm happy to announce that my novel, Hostage of Lies, was chosen as a Best Book of 2009. ~ Maxine Thompson

Book Marketing Maven is now The Savvy Book Marketer

Dana Lynn Smith's popular Book Marketing Maven blog has a new name – The Savvy Book Marketer – and a new look.

The blog offers authors and publishers free book marketing advice, from traditional promotional methods to online book marketing and social media. Weekly guest posts by leading book marketing experts add additional perspective.  Check out the new site at www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com.  While you're there, be sure to sign up for The Savvy Book Marketer e-zine and get a free copy of the Top Book Marketing Tips e-book.

Barbara Techel, award-winning children's author of Frankie the Walk 'N Roll book series has won an award for her story, “The Blessing of a Wheelchair-Bound Dachshund" in a contest sponsored by Angel Animal Network. Any contest entries, but especially those of the winners, will also be considered for possible publication in the new book Dogs and the Women Who Love Them by Allen and Linda Anderson to be published by New World Library in Fall 2010.

Have just finished writing a book and will be reading the second copy this week. I anticipate around the 25th of January that I will be able to place my new book, The Twisted Life of Julia Knight on Amazon.com and several other online sites. I want to also give many thanks to Barbara Milbourn with Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services and her very helpful evaluation of this book. Her encouragement and insight have helped to make this publication possible!

Toni Star, MSA
Blog site  
Lulu Bookstore

An autographed copy of Linda Ballou's Wai-nani, High Chiefess of Hawaii-Her Epic Journey will be awarded to one lucky person on Valentine’s Day. Go to Wai-nani’s page where you will find reviews, an excerpt and more.

Want to know more about story poems as a tool for writing memoir? Listen to this Story Circle Network podcast with Janet Riehl: http://scn.libsyn.com.  Become a Riehlife Villager at http://www.riehlife.com.  Buy our new audio book Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Music at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/janetgraceriehl. 

Download the free recording of Amethyst Wyldfyre’s teleclass. I loved it and think you will, too!

V. M. Wolter and Joseph A. Zapalac's book, Rockin Chair Cowboys and Other Short Stories will be coming out in the fall of 2010. The collection of true stories, recipes, poetry and photographs will warm your heart with special memories of childhood, love and marriage, grandparents, inspirational, family, everyday life, parents, animal lovers, care giving, and holiday.

V. M. Wolter and Joseph A Zapalac graduated together, lost track of each other, and were reunited after fifty years. Since becoming writing partners in Oct 2008, they have had two poetry books published--Reflections, Memories Past and Ribbons and Roses. They were able to do this with 1,100 miles between them.

 www.writingpartnersjova.blogspot.com

Get a free trial of Allison Maslan’s life coaching software for personal development and goal setting at http://ow.ly/KoxX

Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Two Marketing Masters Reinvent Green and Ethical Marketing

Shel Horowitz is launching his new book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet—which he co-authored with the legendary "Father of Guerrilla Marketing," Jay Conrad Levinson. Shel is not only an award-winning writer and a world-class marketer, he's also been a voice in the wilderness for ethical and green business practices. These guys do quality work, and Shel says this is the best book he's ever done.

Visit http://guerrillamarketinggoesgreen.com to purchase this book from your choice of retailer. Buying from this site raises money for charity and qualifies you for a substantial bonus package, including two free months of membership in The Clean and Green Club (Shel's eco/ethical business membership program), a 20-minute consultation with a publicist, 70 tips on creating credibility, and more. 

From the cauldron of controversy that is Hawaiian history, emerges Wai-nani, a reflection of the passionate chiefess Ka'ahumanu. Like all Islanders, she is a water baby finding pleasure, sustenance, solace, wisdom and courage in the grand and vibrant sea. She is born fifteen years prior to the landing of Captain Cook in Kealakekua in 1779, and is the favorite wife of Makaha, a fierce warrior modeled after Kamehameha the Great. Her story awaits you! http://www.lindaballouauthor.com

Get a directory of web radio resources to find shows where you can ask to be considered for a guest appearance.

Ginger Simpson recently submitted a proposal to Examiner.com, suggesting that not enough exposure has been given to e-books. She applied for a position as reporter to post reviews for the Nashville area and was accepted. Her first two articles provided information to familiarize the public with the e-book industry, and now she's posting reviews and hoping to stir interest in novels available in downloadable formats. View her column on Examiner.com.

Winter Garden, writer and publisher, Loretta Lynn Leda released her first travel guide, Paddling the Everglades National Park, by Falcon guide-books. The book introduces paddlers of all abilities to almost 50 of the park's premier paddling routes, as well as describes each of the unique natural areas along the Everglades Trail. Also included are brief accounts of the remnants of pre-colonial life along the routes and information about the parks angling and birding opportunities.

Two Free Empowering Reads

You Are More! EXTRA by You Are More! Empowerment Coach and author Joyce Shafer (made Scribd’s Hot List the first week it went live) and State of Appreciation, a free weekly newsletter with articles, free resources, and gifts that assist you to align with your desired experiences and results at http://stateofappreciation.webs.com

Become a Conscious Creative!

Reinvent Yourself: Refuse to Settle for Less in Life and Business allows you to open to and sharpen your intuitive, creative abilities and do this consistently, for any area of your life. Available as an e-book and/or an 8-week coaching program.

Need help with using Twitter? Check out Dana Lynn Smith's Twitter Guide for Authors.

Street Smarts Marketing Club is step-by-step, 52-Week training program for starting and running a successful six-figure-a-year business! Membership is only $27 per month.

The Raven's Gift: A Scientist, a Shaman, and Their Remarkable Journey Through the Siberian Wilderness

Jon Turk has kayaked around Cape Horn, traversed the Northwest Passage and paddled across the North Pacific Rim. But, the strangest trip he ever took was the journey he made as a man of science into the realm of the spiritual. In 2000, in the remote Siberian village of Vyvenka, Jon Turk met an elderly woman named Moolynaut, a Koryak shaman, and learned about her voyages to the spirit world. A year later, Moolynaut entreated the spirit of a great, black raven to help mend his pelvis, which had been previously fractured in a mountaineering accident. When the healing was complete, Turk was able to walk without pain. Turk, a scientist, could find no rational explanation for the healing and the experience changed his life, irrevocably altering his view of the connectivity between the natural and spiritual worlds. Searching for the Raven Spirit, he traversed the frozen tundra where Moolynaut was born, camping with bands of reindeer herders, and recording stories of their lives and spirituality. Framed by high adventure across the vast and forbidding Siberian landscape, The Raven's Gift is a life-altering vision of the ties between the natural and spiritual realms, informed by one man’s awakening and guided by the ancient Spirit Bird with wide black wings and the power to heal.

 St. Martins Press, January 19, 2010  www.jonturk.net

Dream Chaser's Magazine Book Division is currently collaborating with Authors/Writers on a Poetry Project for a heap of Love Poems to be published as a Magazine-Book! Just in time for Valentine's Day. If you are a Poet/Writer/Author and would like to be a part of this project. Don't miss out on the opportunity!  Illustrated poetry also welcome (send as PDF). Submission materials can be sent directly to sarah@skyedesigns.com.

Publishers...Check out the latest issue of Book Dealers World packed with dozens of innovative low-cost book marketing strategies. Plus discover how you can promote your book on a popular new online publishing platform. http://tinyurl.com/mmt7a2  Al Galasso

Kathleen Gage's Book Publishing Report is only $17. That's about the cost of one printed book. Who knows how many books you may sell as a result of having the knowledge Kathleen shares in this report.

Your announcement could be here. Check out the submission guidelines and send us your blurb.
 

Books from Yvonne Perry

Right to Recover
tells the scientific truth
about all types of stem cell
research and challenges
readers to think for
themselves rather than
accept the opinion of
political or religious leaders.

More Than
Meets the Eye
is a must-read for
anyone grieving
the loss of a loved one.

Read more!

Book Marketing in the Digital Age, Online Promotion Made Easy
Seeking useful information about how to promote a book online? This simple e-book gives examples, active links, and gets right to the subject in steps that are easy to follow.

Tips for
Freelance Writing
contains valuable information to get you started on the right foot in the business of writing.

More Books from
Yvonne Perry

The Savvy Book Marketer Column

Top 10 Book Promotion Strategies for 2010 Revealed by Survey
by Dana Lynn Smith

The Internet is rapidly changing the way books are published and promoted.

A recent survey designed to find out how authors and publishers plan to promote their books in 2010 shows that Web 2.0 techniques are a top priority. An overwhelming 94 percent of the respondents said they plan to promote their books with social networking and other social media, and 84 percent plan to use blogging.

According to the survey, here are the top 10 book promotion methods that authors and publishers plan to use this year:

  1. Social networking and social media: 94 percent

  2. Blogging: 84 percent

  3. Seeking book reviews: 75 percent

  4. Seeking testimonials and endorsements: 73 percent

  5. Press releases: 68 percent

  6. E-zines or email marketing: 62 percent

  7. Radio and television talk shows: 62 percent

  8. Speaking or teleseminars: 60 percent

  9. Article marketing: 57 percent

  10. Book signings: 56 percent

Despite the emphasis on online book promotion in 2010, more traditional activities like book reviews and radio interviews are still important. An effective book promotion plan should use a variety of online and offline tactics for the widest reach.

The book promotion strategies survey was conducted by The Savvy Book Marketer in December, 2009. Of the 136 survey respondents, 42 percent are independently or self-published authors, 25 percent are authors published by a traditional publishing house, 12 percent are aspiring authors, and 21 percent are publishers or others in the industry.

Dana Lynn Smith is a book marketing coach and author of The Savvy Book Marketer's Guide to Successful Social Marketing. and several other book promotion guides. For book promotion tips, visit The Savvy Book Marketer blog. Get a copy of the Top Book Marketing Tips e-book when you register for her free book marketing newsletter. For more book marketing tips, follow Dana on Twitter or visit TheSavvyBookMarketer.com .

Book With A View
 

Dead Game
Author: Jennifer Chase
ISBN Number: 978-1-4327-5128-9
Publisher: OutskirtsPress.com, 2010
Genre and Target Market: thriller; fiction; criminal psychology
Book Length in Pages: 370
Reviewed by Sarah Moore for WITS

As someone who is involved in the world of writing and publishing for a living, I am presented with dozens of books every month by authors whose names I did not know before their work was placed on my desk. In most instances, I enjoy the writer’s individual expression of talent and appreciate the great deal of time and effort that was required to share a story. While I am always pleased at having a new book to add to my collection, the relationship with the author normally does not extend much after my completion of the review. Occasionally, however, I am introduced to an author whose work I am compelled to share with friends and fellow book lovers. These exciting moments of discovery create one of best instances of personal satisfaction that I experience in my line of work. Jennifer Chase is one of those authors for whom I want to offer praises and publicity. With the release of her second novel, Dead Game, Chase has only solidified my opinion.

Dead Game brings the readers to the next episode in the life of Emily Stone, a protagonist who was introduced to all of us in Chase’s first book, Compulsion. Stone is a stealth vigilante who tracks down the rapists, murderers, and pedophiles that live among us and then anonymously collects the evidence needed to bring these criminals to justice. In Dead Game, Emily learns about a serial killer who also likes to work behind the protection of anonymity, but for very different reasons.

Author Jennifer Chase has decided to feature the world of online social networking for her new release, and the plot here does not involve rekindling a romance with a high school boyfriend through Facebook or sharing opinions about controversial political decisions on a MySpace blog. Instead, Chase creates a virtual world in which serial killers are able to connect and share their disturbing obsession with the torture and murder of others. One man in particular enters the radar of Emily Stone and her boyfriend and fellow investigator, Rick Lopez, when his penchant for violence reaches Lopez’s mentor. What unfolds over the next 370 pages, in both the virtual and physical worlds, will keep readers guessing and anxiously turning the pages to allow the story to unfold.

As she did with Compulsion, Jennifer Chase has created with Dead Game a novel that literally took my breath away on multiple occasions. She does a masterful job of revealing just enough details to keep you invested in the plot and characters without ever showing her hand too quickly. In several instances, I made assumptions concerning who was behind the savage kidnapping and murders of unsuspecting men and women only to have my instincts betrayed by a new piece of absolving evidence.

With her sophomore effort, author Jennifer Chase proves that she has real staying power in the world of thriller and mystery writing. Whether or not you have already met Emily Stone through Chase’s first novel, you will be able to become fully engrossed in the storyline of Dead Game. With a plotline that develops through the perspective of several characters to the authentic psychology of serial killers that Chase is able to provide from her own educational background to a heroine who is relatable in both her courage and her flaws, Dead Game is a novel that is not to be missed.

 

Voices of Sedona: A Spiritual Path to Serenity and Contentment
Author: Lewis Tagliaferre
ISBN: 0-595-39367-5
Publisher: iUniverse, 2006
Genre and Target Market: self-help; theology; spirituality
Book Length in Pages: 317
Reviewed by Sarah Moore for WITS

When Lewis Tagliaferre approached me to write a review for his book Voices of Sedona: A Spiritual Path to Serenity and Contentment, I was automatically intrigued by the tagline for the publication. Tagliaferre offers the invitation to “Feel Good Inside No Matter What Happens Outside,” and that entreaty could not have arrived in my life at a better time. After talking with the author on the phone and learning more about his journey, I became even more convinced that his work was finding its way to me for a reason. Since our initial conversations, I have twice requested more time to complete my evaluation. This delay is not due to a lack of interest in the material. Instead, the five lessons and the amazing details that accompany each principle inspired extended reflection and a desire to read certain segments time and again.

Lewis Tagliaferre shares the five principles of Theofatalism®, a philosophy that was shared with him during various trips to the beautiful part of Arizona that we all have seen captured in photographs. During each visit, the author received teachings from guides who were channeled into his subconscious through the spirit of Sedona M. Schnebly, the wife of the town’s founder and its namesake. I know that Sedona has long been known for its spiritual offerings, but I will admit to some skepticism upon hearing about the author’s claimed method for developing the principles he shares in his book. Five spirit teachers came to you at the behest of a woman who passed away a half-century earlier? However, as the material unfolded and the meaning behind each principle was explained, I became more and more convinced that Lewis Tagliaferre has an important message to share.

Voices of Sedona is beautifully written in a style that is captivating in both its emotion and logic. Tagliaferre, who began this journey of spiritual exploration following the untimely death of his wife from cancer, is a talented writer who carefully uses language to share his story without it ever becoming cumbersome or without direction. And, he finds wonderful ways to integrate relevant information from the worlds of religion, current events, history, and other fields of study in a way that makes the material engaging to as wide of an audience as possible. From the life of Mike Tyson to the distribution of wealth in our country to the proverbs offered in Buddhism, Tagliaferre ties together so many distinct points of reference into a comprehensive philosophy that makes sense for everyone.

As the book reaches its conclusion, the author encourages his readers to join together and teach the five principles he shares with others. Voices of Sedona is a reference book that is meant to be reviewed, discussed, and hopefully marked up with notes and underlining. Combined with the ongoing essays that are published on his blog, http://www.sedonavoices.blog.com/,  Tagliaferre has developed a comprehensive work of study for those who are ready to learn. Acknowledging the idea that we are right where we are meant to be and embracing the role we were given to play in the universe, just two of the concepts that are revealed in this book, has quickly become an important act of ongoing practice for me. I strongly believe that other readers will find the same significance to the text as I have and I look forward to seeing how the philosophy shared in Voices of Sedona multiplies in its effect as the book’s audience continues to grow.
 
 

Book Title: Kim’s Confessions
Author: Wilson Awasu
ISBN Number: 978-1-4327-4463-2
Publisher: OutskirtsPress.com, 2009
Genre and Target: religion; Christianity; personal reflection
Book Length in Pages: 136
Reviewed by Sarah Moore for WITS

Have you ever been in the middle of a large group and wondered what the people around you were thinking? Maybe you were at a conference for work and tried to decide how many others were hoping that it was almost time for a lunch break. Perhaps you were attending a debate between two candidates running for the same local office and you hoped to catch the eyes of your neighbors to see if you get a read on their opinion concerning each politician. In his new release, Kim’s Confessions, author Wilson Awasu offers his readers this very opportunity—to get inside the mind of one woman who is witnessing the same event as many others. When his title character reluctantly attends a seminar at her church that causes her to question the depth of her faith, an insightful inner dialogue is the resulting product.

When we meet Kim, she is operating under the belief that her faith is beyond reproach. She is a ninth-generation Presbyterian and she is the choir director at the church that her family helped to found. She believes that these credentials speak for themselves and she uses these labels as an excuse not to think about her faith and personally test its strength. When a pastor is welcomed into her church to share a series called “Radical Growth,” Kim instinctively puts up her guard and warns her friends not to fall for the brainwashing schemes of this stranger. We soon learn, as does Kim, that her defensive posturing is simply a cover to mask her own doubts and insecurities.

Awasu creates in Kim a woman to whom many readers will be able to relate. She is accomplished in many ways and carries herself with confidence, but still holds onto a nagging sense of self-doubt that she does not want others to see. Whether connected to our faith, our profession, or our personal relationships, I know that most of us have an area of our lives that we do not want to question out of fear for the answer. As the book evolves and Kim comes to accept that she still has so much to learn and embrace, perhaps you will allow Awasu’s words to provoke some personal soul searching as well.

In many ways, Kim’s Confessions reads like a Bible study. Kim takes us through each concept that is being taught in the seminar and shares direct Scripture passages that are used by the pastor to emphasize his message. When a reader comes upon an element that he or she wishes to study more beyond the pages of Kim’s Confessions, as trust or loyalty, these Biblical reference points will provide further context. For those who are not Christian and may be apprehensive concerning the focus of the book, Kim’s Confessions still offers great insight into how any belief system is developed and strengthened in our minds and spirits.

Kim’s Confessions by Wilson Awasu is a well-written, concise book that serves as a guide to one life-changing weekend for its main character. The content is well-researched and the characters, from the church elders to the pastor to Kim herself, are believable in their positive attributes as well as their flaws. Mr. Awasu has done a nice job of putting a new spin on the popular idea of Biblical guidebooks by allowing a fictional character to host the thought process, and I believe this unique perspective will lend itself to future study topics if the author so chooses. If such publications are made available, I certainly will be one of their readers.
 

Beyond the Stars: Kataria
Kelly Beltz
BookSurge (2009)
ISBN 9781439222805
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views

Even though she has most of her career working for the Space Island Group (SIG), Physicist Samantha Gerris has always managed to keep her feet on the ground. SIG has been developing a space resort for years. SIG is also secretly involved with working with aliens and studying alien technology. Samantha doesn’t discover this part until after she suffers a great loss. At this point, her children are now young adults who also become employed by SIG.

When Samantha discovers that her kids have decided to work off planet, she knows that she will desperately miss them, so she agrees to follow them up to the off-planet resort site. This is where the secrets begin to be revealed. An emergency situation lands Samantha on an alien space craft that is headed home, which happens to be across the universe. This turns out to be the trip of a lifetime for Samantha. On this ship, she learns about the alien technology, the alien’s culture, other aliens that are not so nice, and most important of all, she finds love again.

I loved reading Beyond the Stars: Kataria. The author, Kelly Beltz, has combined the perfect blend of science fiction, adventure, mystery and romance. The story is a pleasure to read. It is interesting to see how Beltz uses her imagination to create technology that actually seems like it could be plausible. She also takes you deep into the heart and soul of the main character. Through Samantha’s eyes we get to share her experiences, her fears, and her new love. The character has to transition through a variety of stages to be able to move on to a higher level of her self. In spite of the science-fiction elements, I found myself really being able to relate to this character. I highly recommend Beyond the Stars: Kataria. I also think that it would be a great selection for a reader’s group. I look forward to the next adventure in the series.
 

The Sid Series ~A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children
Author: Yvonne Perry
Published by: Write On! 2009
ISBN: 9780982572207
Reviewed by Penny Ehrenkranz

The Sid Series is a collection of twelve short stories for children written by author, Yvonne Perry. The model for Sid is Yvonne’s own grandson, Sidney. These are his stories and span about 5 years of Sid’s life. Yvonne, Von-Von in the stories, is the one who helps Sid by answering his questions. Each of the stories was written to help parents and children deal with issues children encounter in their lives.

“A Ghost in My Closet” is about communicating with angels. Sid sees something in his closet. Upon inspection, he thinks he sees something alive. It seems friendly, but was it? Von-Von comes at Sidney’s call. Read the story with your child to see what Von-Von tells Sid about his mysterious visitor.

“A Powerful Potion” is about the power of imagination. In this tale, Sid’s puppy, Blue Girl hurts her leg. Using his imagination, Sid brews up a magic potion of weeds and water. Read this magical tale to see what magic Sidney works.

“A Stormy Adventure” helps children face their fear of storms. Sid and Von-Von go on a kayaking adventure. Sid learns about manatees and their babies. He sees many different types of water birds, but then the sky gets dark. The group wants to see dolphins and they press on. There is a flash of lightning. Sidney learns about being on the water during a lightning storm and how to be safe. With Von-Von’s guidance he learns to face his fears.

“Always Be Honest” shares Sid’s story of learning to tell the truth. Sid takes his bat and ball outside to play. He accidentally breaks Von-Von’s glass gazing globe. He’s afraid Von-Von will be angry so he tries to fix the globe. Instead, he cuts his finger. When Von-Von finds out what happened, Sidney learns a lesson in honesty.

“Ask Your Body” helps children understand about their body’s needs. It’s time for lunch, but Sid isn’t hungry. Von-Von wants him to eat vegetables, but Sid wants cookies. What will his body tell him? When it’s time for bed, Sid wants one more movie, but his body is tired. What will happen when Von-Von compromises by reading Sid a story?

“Making Room for Brother” is about dealing with changes in the family. When Sid is 8 years old, his mom announces there will be a new baby. His family includes Sid in all the preparations. He goes to the doctor with Mom and learns he will have a brother. He gets to choose which room will be his and helps paint his new room. He even gets to take a class to help him be a big brother.

“My Friend’s Skin” tells a tale of accepting and appreciating diversity. Sidney goes to the beach with Von-Von. He has to put on sunscreen so he doesn’t burn. He doesn’t want to because he wants to be brown like his friend, Bree. Von-Von explains why Bree’s skin is a different color and why Sidney will never be brown like his friend. Sidney hears a mom call her child in Spanish and Von-Von explains about how interesting differences can be. When he meets a Japanese girl in the water, he learns more about languages and differences. Finally, Sid sees a woman wearing a sari. Von-Von explains about variety and how important it is.

“Old Things and New” teaches children about recycling. Sid helps Von-Von clean up trash and they take the glass and newspapers to the recycling center. A garage sale helps Sid to learn more about using recycled items both by buying other people’s and selling his own. He even learns about organ transplants and this unique form of “recycling.”

“Puppy Love” deals with the death of a pet. Von-Von and Ran-Ran’s old dog dies. Sidney helps bury the dog and learns about losing a beloved pet. Soon Von-Von and Sidney find a puppy. They try to find his owners, but when no one claims him, they decide to keep him.

“Sid’s Fairy” is a tale intended to help children learn about inner guidance. Sid and Von-Von sit in the garden in the early evening. Von-Von tells Sid if he’s quiet the fairies will come. When he relaxes and closes his eyes, he learns about meditation. As he opens his eyes, he sees twinkling colors and hears a small voice singing a silly song. Here Sid learns to listen to the tiny voice in his mind and to feel love inside of him.

“The Pirates Treasure” is about finding the treasure within. At the beach, Sid and Von-Von pretend to look for buried treasure, but all they find is sand. When the sun shines through a gazebo and leaves the shadow of an “x” on Sid’s shirt, Von-Von tells Sid the treasure is inside of him. What is the treasure? Read and find out.

“You Can Be!” The last story in this collection is about understanding destiny and making choices. Sidney goes to Von-Von and Ran-Ran’s farm for a visit. While he’s there, he gets to try many new things such as making cookies with farm-fresh ingredients, drawing pictures of Ran-Ran, planting seeds in the garden, and helping care for an injured pet. Each thing Sid does, Von-Von tells him how it relates to something he could be when he grows up.

This is a book delightfully illustrated by both Ms. Perry and others. It is a book your young reader could read by himself or you could read to your younger children. It is a collection of stories which beg to be discussed. Pick up your copy at http://TheSidSeries.com.


Writing For Children - Selling More of What You Write

by Suzanne Lieurance

If you write for children, you need to know all the elements editors look for in fiction or nonfiction for kids. But that's no secret.

You also need to be sure you choose to write about topics that are not only interesting for children, they are appropriate for them as well.

Again, that's no secret.

So just what IS the secret to selling more of what you write for children?

Well, it's this. Try to choose topics that haven't already been written about over and over again in fiction and nonfiction for children. Here's an example of what I mean.

I once submitted several manuscripts to Scholastic when they had an open call for submissions to their Rookie Reader series of beginning readers. One of the topics I wrote about was shoelaces. Specifically, I wrote about how shoelaces all work the same way, no matter what kind of laces they may be - boys' laces, girls' laces, laces with a name. When tied in a bow, they all work the same.

I figured that children who are just learning to read - and are the target audience for Rookie Readers - are also learning how to tie their shoes, so this would be an appropriate topic to write about for this age group. As I studied all the Rookie Readers I could get my hands on before writing my story, I realized that shoelaces - and learning to tie shoes - was not a topic that had been overdone. There were not dozens and dozens of other children's books out there on this subject.

When the editor called to tell me my manuscript had been accepted, she said that one of the reasons they bought my story (as opposed to over 900 other submissions they had received during this open call) was because it was the ONLY manuscript they'd received about this topic, whereas they'd received hundreds of stories about loose teeth and losing a tooth.

So there you have it. The secret to selling more of what you write for children is to look for topics that appeal to children and are appropriate for them, but haven't already been written about hundreds of times.

Get more tips to help you move from rejection to publication when you subscribe to The Morning Nudge. Your subscription includes free membership in The Morning Nudge Club, where you'll have access to recorded informational teleclasses, tips sheets, helpful checklists, and other tools for writers. Find out more about The Morning Nudge at http://www.morningnudge.com  and make this your BEST writing year YET!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzanne_Lieurance 

Poetry Corner
 

Dust Speck

It’s a fine day
And I’m talking with the sun.
"I don’t think there’s only one sun,"

I say. "There are no end of you,
And of course there are the stars:
To be means to be numberless.

"And yet, O magnificent,
I delight in your heat.
Dust speck, I adore you."

Shinkichi Takahashi poem "Sun" opens several portals that are attached to my belief structure. These portals are like the sun peeping around the clouds, and I begin to see something other than gray-white smoky configuration of my sheltered and protected fear-filled reality. I sense the presence of other aspects of my self; I feel like a new year that comes rolling out of a calendar filled with rational symbols that have not been touched by my thoughts and beliefs physically, but have already been experienced in another intensity of my consciousness.

To "be" does mean to be numberless, when I allow this self the opportunity to look at a dust speck and sense another reality filled with the ingredients of life. Remembering to delight in the heat of my own energy, I discover a new aspect of awareness that fragments into selves, which experience consciousness in a series of sequential realities that occur simultaneously.

And yet this cornucopia of selves hides from my reality and forms independent focuses that dance through the stars of other realities and express their energy in random impulses and reconfigure my beliefs and choices in obscure and subtle ways. I know them, yet these strangers from my essence intermingled with my ego consciousness like the minute life forms that automatically support my physical structure. I know these cryptic partners, yet disown them like a modern-day Judas with no cause.

The message that Takahashi sends me is a simple one; I am much more than I think I am, in fact, I’m many more than I believe I am. When I tie my religious and scientific beliefs to my metaphysical anchor of awareness and let them sink into the clear water of consciousness, I find dimensions and realities that patiently wait for my awareness. In this world of crystal clarity, a dust speck of my consciousness floats through the life of another self and forms a frequency of vibrations that repeats itself in the redundancy of a fine day.

Hal Manogue
www.shortsleeves.net
http://halmanogue.blogspot.com/

Come into Your World

I’ve been in lust before.
Well, I can handle that.
Toss out a little tease.
And see if it comes back.
Sometimes it does.

But this loving you thing,
That’s a whole other deal.
Want to touch you, taste you,
Want to see how you feel
It might be good.

If you would hold my heart,
Then I could see your soul.
We could love a long time,
And never have to go.
I want to try.

What do you like for breakfast?
What do you do late at night?
Can I come into your world?
Well, wouldn’t that just feel right?
What do you say?

Jan Bossing © 2009 Joelton, Tennessee

Looking for the Cat

It is the time of night when the blood slows
The time of cold when steel grinds in the locks
The time of moon which wakes, on street’s dark side,
The distant icy barking of the fox.

Alison Brackenbury has recently produced a chapbook of new animal poems, Shadow, available from www.happenstancepress.com.

 

Valentine’s Day

Roses of every shade
Pink, yellow, red and white
Planted on my college campus
Such a lovely sight.

Romance is all around us
as their aroma fills the air.
Students hold hands
with a care.

Birds sing their song
from branches way up high
as young lovers kiss
and sigh!

And I think of you!
The love of my life
And why I am glad
to be your wife.

©Irene Brodsky, Author of Poetry Unplugged (Outskirts Press, 2008)

 

Sir Algernon and the Poets

An Anthology of Modern Verse (pub. 1921 & reprinted 48 times to 1959).

The copy I picked up today for 50p in Cancer Research has penciled in: Diane Campkin neat above the faded ink stamp of County Grammar School, Windmill Lane, East Grinstead. The edition we used, and another.

A New Anthology of Modern Verse, 1920 – 1940, but this time i/c poets.

These (and hymns, I suspect) taught us what poetry is: metered, neat, and as the Introduction says, no danger to rectitude & respectability. Sir A. Methuen hands on the baton to C. Day Lewis and Strong, L.A.G.

No wonder in the late '50s & Shock of the New '60s it was pop we hummed. What was Diane Campkin like? Blonde, brunette, or redhead with the whitest of teeth, flashing eyes, and the risk of mascara for school, hmm?

And who nowadays recalls A.E (George Russell) or Eva Gore Booth, Austin Dobson or Helen Parry Eden (Mrs. John Lane)? Bygones they are now, just as, like Ozymandias, we shall be next century.

East Grinstead is Scientology Central, is it not? And is the Grammar there still on Windmill Lane, or bulldozed for commuter pods, desirable?

But not all of it is utterly forgettable:
Eliot, Blunden & W.H. Davies jog my forty-five-year-later brain: La Figlia che Piange;
Rain-sunken roof, grown green and thin
For sparrows’ nests and starlings’ nests;
Dishevelled eaves; unwieldy doors,
Cracked rusty pump, and oaken floors

And my favourite W.H. – What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare? Not while you have to cram for exams, you wretches. It is only, only poetry, and all of you have livings to earn. Poetry? Pah!

Copyright April 2009 C.J. Heyworth

No Excuse

I am utterly selfish with time.
Ask for my failings
My mother, sister, even
The cat left wailing.

But everything I do
Hangs on the weather.
I scan the morning cloud
A burning feather

Whose rain will blind.
I hear the quick hooves chime
Caught on the darkened road,
Where we have no more time.

The Coach Passes Chelsea

Here is the bridge they strung with lights
which blazed and wasted longer nights.
Not yet switched off, its harp unfurls
too low for stars, too warm for pearls.

The lit boats swing. You long to be
seated and served, eat greedily,
stroll moneyed dark streets, without haste,
a stranger’s arm around your waist.

But having gnawed your apple core
you watch the river fade, before
the motorway where late shifts work;
the modest door you push from dark

upon a man who goes nowhere
on cats who blink and scarcely care,
into the river of your nights
to skies like orchards, hung with lights.

Alison Brackenbury’s seventh collection is Singing in the Dark, Carcanet, 2008. “A quiet lyricism and delight,”  says The Guardian. New poems can be read at  www.alisonbrackenbury.co.uk

 

When You Fall Asleep

This one is for all those people who are far away
from the one they love the most.

Daylight slowly fades into the western skies
Putting on a show to tease my wondering eyes.
Imagination takes me to wherever you might be,
Even if it’s a million miles beyond reality.

I can hardly wait for sleep to ease my mind,
Hold you in my arms and leave the world behind.
And I whisper a silent prayer offered up on bended knees,
When you fall asleep tonight
I hope you’re dreaming of loving me.

Never wanted to be so far from your loving arms
In a place a world away from you and all your charms.
But there’s one thing I know for sure
No matter how it seems,
When I fall asleep tonight
I’ll be walking in all your dreams.

I’ll be there for you…
When you fall asleep.

I can hardly wait for sleep to ease my mind,
Hold you in my arms and leave the world behind.
And I whisper a silent prayer offered up on bended knees,
When you fall asleep tonight
I hope you’re dreaming of loving me.

Dennis S Martin
Web site: www.iwritesome.com 
Blog: www.iwritesome.blogspot.com

Disclaimer

The views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily the views held by Yvonne Perry or Writers in the Sky. While we try to inspect the validity of each entry, we may occasionally miss something, and therefore, cannot guarantee the accuracy of any announcements or opportunities.

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© 2009 Yvonne Perry