An Unexpected Opportunity to Serve by Tandy Balson

The devastation caused by the wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta is heartbreaking.  Lacking the resources to send a monetary donation, I wondered what I could do.  Was there was a way my writing could be used to support this cause?

When I prayed about this an answer came quickly.  God impressed upon me that I should donate five dollars from the sale of each of my books to the relief fund.  I thought perhaps I’d misunderstood and tried negotiating the amount. He made it clear to me that nothing else was acceptable.

A few days prior to this I’d sent out a press release to our local papers to let them know my book, Dragonflies, Snowdrifts & Spice Cake was a finalist in The Word Awards.  A call for an interview came shortly after I promised God I’d donate the amount he requested.  I told the reporter that for the next month I would be donating funds from the sale of my book to Fort McMurray relief efforts.  Now it was official.

My book is available at a local gift store and I called the owner to let her know of my plan.  She offered to match my donation for any books sold in her store.  Now the contribution to the relief fund would be ten dollars from each book sale. God was already multiplying my gift.

An hour later I checked my email to find an inquiry from a local women’s group.  They hoped to schedule me for later this month to speak about my writing journey. The coordinator and I had met once, more than two years ago, and my business card had just reappeared on her desk. I don’t believe in coincidence so knew God was behind this.  

I asked if I could bring books to sell and told her of my plan to donate to Fort McMurray relief. She not only encouraged this but offered to donate partial proceeds from the ticket sales to the same cause. Like the loaves and fishes, my little gift was to multiply even more.

Within hours of my prayer, God had set his plan in motion.  All it required from me was obedience.  I don’t know what the results will be, but he does. I am blessed to know my book has the opportunity to make a difference in the lives those who may never read a word I write.

www.timewithtandy.com

KNOW YOUR READERSHIP by Bruce Atchison

There are only two ways of working effectively, harder or smarter. I learned the hard way that the subjects I thought were interesting are obviously not of interest to others. My three memoirs are an apt example of this.

When a Man Loves a Rabbit: Learning and Living With Bunnies sold well, particularly since it was a debut book. I knew many rabbit owners and having been their friend, they bought a total of  two-hundred-and-fifty copies.

My second memoir, Deliverance from Jericho: Six Years in a Blind School, did poorly. At first, I felt astonished. The fact that most people with perfect sight have no interest in accounts of life in that sort of institution did not occur to me when I wrote my memoir. Neither did I record any sensational stories of abuse in it. Only blind people wanted the book but I lacked the money to have it in an accessible format. As a result, I barely sold fifty print copies.

I assumed my third book would do better. How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity has been out for less than a year but it also has done poorly. Though I promoted it on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Linked In, only a few copies sold.

I now realize that I should have done research on how well books on the subject of toxic churches sold. My second mistake was to assume that apologetics ministries would jump at the chance to promote my testimony of God's providential leading. Every ministry to which I sent a copy politely said "no" or failed to reply.

Though we writers find it difficult to step back from our creations and see potential pitfalls, it is possible. What we can do, and what I should have done, is enlist friends who we trust to give good suggestions on where would be the best places to plug our books or articles. Of course Googling can be of help but it does consume a lot of time. Writing groups which point the way instead of the finger are also good places for advice.

I certainly have learned my lesson. Like attracts like. My rabbit book sold well because my friends love to read about bunny antics. If I had my blind school memoir in an accessible format, I might have sold more copies to sight-impaired people. I'm now concentrating on  telling cult recovery organizations about my journey to biblical Christianity. Time will tell if I'm successful or not.

Bruce Atchison is a freelance writer and self-published author. His articles have appeared in a wide variety of magazines since the nineties. Atchison's first two books are available at Bruce Atchison's books while his latest memoir is at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual bookworm publishers.

So Many Books – Ramona Heikel

Spring and summer bring the huge used book sales, which excite me no end. As a writer, I not only love being surrounded by books, but I also find them full of inspiration and help for my own writing.

Besides, where else can I get so much pleasure for a couple of dollars?

I’ve noticed, though, that as I browse I ask myself, “With so many great works already out there that people are throwing out, why should I pen another one that might end up in the pile?”

Now, if stores were full of brand-new boring, unimaginative, ugly, useless, offensive stories, I’d see that my writing abilities were desperately needed. But this is not the case. There are so many talented writers. The children’s section—the area I’m most interested in—has shelves lined with brightly colored, engaging books that make my eyes pop open and bring a big smile to my face. “What a brilliant idea for a plot! What adorable characters, and such an uplifting message!”

So what to do? Well, I could stay away from the stores and the sales, and spend that big chunk of time writing! Sounds sensible, but no way. That’s too drastic a solution. Okay, let me think this through a bit.

I’m making an assumption that the donated books are not valuable, yet look at all the many, many (way too many) gems I’ve snatched up and cherished. One of my treasures from this summer is Children’s Stories and How to Tell Them, published in 1917 by The Home Correspondence School of Springfield, Massachusetts. Besides being lovely and practical, it is fun to think that even then there were writing classes by correspondence, which is what I am taking right now. At the sales I also try to limit myself to items I wouldn’t easily be able to find at a library or store. Pillow Problems and A Tangled Tale: The Mathematical Recreations of Lewis Carroll is one that meets that criterion.

And yes, the brilliant writers today seem to have the literary needs covered. But I’m sure glad Jane Austen didn’t stop writing when she saw that there were plenty of other excellent authors out there. Maybe one day someone will thank God that I wrote something a bit different, from the unique inspiration of my heart.

So would one of my books end up on the discard heap? Sure, it’s possible. But I believe that I am called to write and am very happily obeying that call. Yet my Boss may want me to compose stories for reasons other than publication. Whether my early reader or middle grade novel is cherished and kept, or ends up in the bottom box on the floor under a table of used books, is up to the Lord.


Posted by Ramona Heikel
Happilywriting.com