| Monthly Newsletter |
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| December 2019 |
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Hi there
It's the final day of the year today. 2019 is almost over, and I'll bet you're running around, busy planning your great big parties tonight, promising yourself you won't over-indulge, and thinking carefully about your goals for the new year.
Or maybe you're planning on spending a quiet night in. For us, we'll probably go to my parents' house and chill there. We'll have a braai and some drinks, and pop a bottle of champagne as midnight chimes in, then go stand outside and watch some fireworks.
I also know some people who will no doubt be ringing in 2020 at their annual Watch Night service at church.
Whatever you're planning, I hope you have a safe evening, and that you wake up tomorrow full of excitement, positivity, and inspiration for the new year.
I do have some things to share this month, though, so without further ado, here we go.
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It's the Cover Reveal You've Been Waiting For!
Last month, I told you all bout the new cover I was having done for my High School bullying story, Stingers.
Well, if you haven't seen this yet, I can now share that the cover is done. Isn't it gorgeous?
By the time you read this, the new cover should be live for the ebook on all stores (click the image to find out where you can buy it), but the print version will take a bit longer, because I plan to use this opportunity to release a brand new edition of it, with all the typos and other issues fixed that I've been correcting in the ebook over the years.
I honestly can't tell you how happy I am with this cover. I think Michelle Argyle from Melissa Williams Design did a fantastic job, and the moment I saw it, I just knew, that boy is James. To a tee.
Have you read the book? If so, would you agree? Is that how you pictured James? Could it be how you picture James?
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Missed it on Facebook?
By the way, if you're a member of my super-secret Facebook group, you would've seen the new cover two weeks ago. That's part of my plan in 2020 to put renewed focus into the group. You would've seen a mail to that effect last week (if you're signed up to receive Occasional Extra Emails from me), but for a reminder, see the blog post below.
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Blog Posts
Here are all the blog posts I've written since the last newsletter. Click on a title or image to view it in your browser.
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Featured Author
This month's author is Johannesburg native, Kathy Mann. She is a writer and speaker with a focus on stress and happiness. She wrote her first book, Avoiding Burnout about her personal experience with developing a stress-induced illness and how to avoid it. Her second book, Harnessing Stress covers stress as experienced by other people as well as advice from international experts on how to manage stress and build a happy life.
She now lives a life of joy, guiding others towards their best possible life. She offers workshops and consultations to those wanting to create a better life.
She still lives in Johannesburg with her husband and two daughters.
Click on Kathy's photo to visit her website and find out more about her.
When Kathy first told me about her books, Avoiding Burnout and Harnessing Stress, my first thought was, "What perfect books to feature in a December newsletter!" After all, now is the time when we're de-stressing and unwinding, but it's also the time when we're looking forward to the new year, and making plans for all the wonderful things we want to achieve. And that's fantastic, but as we make these plans, there's always the danger of biting off more than we can chew, and burnout becomes a real problem. Take a look at this book, and don't let that happen to you.
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| K.A. Mann |
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| Avoiding Burnout: The Seven Principles of Self-Preservation |
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K.A. Mann had it all. She was a mother and wife, an ultra-marathon runner and a business owner. But the stress of doing the wrong work in an unpleasant environment landed her with a lifelong autoimmune illness. Without work and income, she took stock of how it happened and how she could have prevented her burnout. Kathy developed the seven principles of self-preservation.
The principles cover relationship issues such as the importance of boundaries; knowing yourself and injecting creativity into your life – all in order to create a richer, more rewarding life and to connect with what matters most to you.
In this heartfelt and personal account, she provides great insight into the factors affecting our stress levels. Accompanied by personal stories and backed up by research, Kathy provides opportunities for us to evaluate our lives and to design a life more aligned to our authentic selves.
If you’re suffering from stress, this book could help you avoid burnout and change the trajectory of your life.
“This is a book of triumph and grace that follows when one has suffered deeply and endured crises of such magnitude that our hearts and minds are literally cracked open and we recognise a power beyond ourselves that is always present.”
Meryl Abrahams, Professional Specialised Kinesiologist
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| K.A. Mann |
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| Harnessing Stress: Blending the wisdom of everyday people with expert advice |
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Stress is not something that can be dominated, squashed down or avoided. It is possible to learn how to harness it. In understanding the way our brains and bodies react to support us in stressful situations, we can learn to embrace stress and use it to our advantage. Learning to appreciate the responses of our bodies to stressful situations and figuring out how to embrace stress, leads to higher resilience. Stress can help us to forge deeper relationships, achieve our dreams and learn from our mistakes. Research shows that having positive beliefs about stress affects our productivity, happiness and longevity. This book will show you how to shift your beliefs in a positive way around stress and adversity.
The stories of everyday people, advice from world-renowned experts as well as the author’s personal anecdotes are woven together masterfully in this compelling and powerful read. By learning about these strategies, it’s possible to apply lessons into your life that work for you. It’s often in making small improvements, incrementally, that we experience the biggest impacts of lifestyle change.
This book could be the catalyst you’ve been waiting for to learn how to harness stress and to thrive in today’s world. Harnessing Stress is for working mothers, entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to learn how to embrace the stress in their lives.
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Finances: November 2019
I had a good month in November. A great month, in fact! I sold another paperback of A Petition to Magic. Then I sold an ebook copy of that book on Google Play, and an ebook copy of Billy's Zombie on Amazon Australia.
I made a couple of Rand in advertising revenue from people clicking ads on my website and blog, and that MailerLite income is still there... but what really pushed me over the edge is when someone clicked a link on my website to one of my books on Loot, and then proceeded to create an account and apparently do all their Christmas shopping in that session (curiously, they don't seem to have bought my book). I'm an affiliate at Loot, so I earned 5% of their initial purchase. Which was a really nice surprise, let me tell you!
Anyway, here are my figures for November. As always, they've been converted to South African Rands, using the exchange range at the time of this writing.
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- Income: R 319.09
- Expense: R 60.99
- Profit: R 258.10
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Want to Help?
If you'd like to help support me and my business, there are plenty of ways.
First, buy and read my books. It sounds obvious, but so many people open this email religiously every month, click on my links, even reply to tell me how happy or proud they are of me... and haven't read any of my books.
Second, if you've read one of my books and enjoyed it, tell a friend. Although authors like me put a lot of effort, and spend a lot of money, on marketing, the very best marketing remains word of mouth. Nobody's going to know about us unless people tell them.
And if you're really passionate about the book, don't stop at just telling your friend about it. Why not buy it for them as a gift? Plenty of ebook stores allow gifting, and if they don't, you'll surely be able to buy them a voucher or gift card, and gently suggest that they use it to buy my book.
Third, write a review. Reviews are word-of-mouth marketing meant to reach people you've never met. It takes very little time to pop onto Goodreads and rate and review one of my books. In fact, my personal philosophy is, "If there's no review, it never happened!"
Finally, if you're really dedicated and want to make a living out of it, have you considered becoming an affiliate marketer? Most stores have this option: sign up for their affiliate programs, then advertise their products (which hopefully includes my books), and earn commission when people buy them. It's a lot of fun, and many people make respectable livings on affiliate marketing alone.
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50% off Memoirs of a Guardian Angel
You have a little bit of time left to get Memoirs of a Guardian Angel at 50% off, in Smashwords' annual End of Year Sale.
Click below for more information:
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| 50% off |
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| Memoirs of a Guardian Angel |
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Do you believe in Guardian Angels?
Have you thanked your Guardian Angel today?
I never did... now I wish I had.
Now I understand the hard work and difficult situations they face every day. That car that veered off course, the knife that slipped or even the close call when you nearly tumbled from a tree.
It wasn't good luck that saved you, it was me.
My name is Adam and I'm a guardian angel.
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| $0.99 |
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$1.99 |
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You can download it in either epub or mobi formats, depending on whether you use a Kindle, or a different ereading device or app.
If you've already read it, then you could always buy it as a gift for someone you think might enjoy it. ;)
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But wait. There's more!
It's the annual Smashwords End of Year sale, so between now and the end of tomorrow, thousands of books are discounted anywhere from 25% to 100% off. Click here to see them all:
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In case you missed it, time is running out! I'll be sending out the shortlist next week, so make sure you click on the image above and get your nomination in, as soon as possible.
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Month in Books
It's been a busy month, so I only managed to read three books since last newsletter. And none of them were particularly Christmassy, either.
For what it's worth, here they are. Click on a cover to see my review on Goodreads, along with links to where you can get your hands on the ebooks.
Have you read any of these? If so, do you agree with my impressions of them?
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| Eliza Green |
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| Genesis War |
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| J.F. Penn |
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| Destroyer of Worlds |
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| Daniel H. Wilson |
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| Robopocalypse |
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Affiliate Marketing Notice
Many of the links shared in this newsletter are affiliate links. If you click on any of those links, and make a purchase from the site in question, I stand to earn a small commission from them.
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