Thursday, October 11, 2007

Two Very Special, Meaningful Events while Promoting "Having Nasal Surgery?"

Since the book has been published on August 30th, there have been two very special occurrences that have happened. These two happenings that have meant more to me than anything else with respect to the book are:

1) Midwest Book Review
2) A Blessed Friendship

Midwest Book Review (http://www.midwestbookreview.org/) is considered a reliable source for reviewing books. This company tends to review books for small publishers. Publicist Karen Villanueva (http://www.authorcare.com/) did a one-hour phone consult with me and I must say she is the BEST publicist around. If you need a publicist to help you promote your book, you should seriously consider her. While I know there are many fine publicists, she is the most professional and personable one I have yet encountered. She has taken her time with me, corresponded with me considerably by email, and she seems to really care about my book. So during our one-hour phone consult, Karen informed me of just how prestigious and valuable Midwest Book Review is for its authors. Apparently, after a Midwest review is done, the review appears in a cd-rom (Thomson-Gale) and in book review databases (Lexus-Nexus and Goliath), which are published for academic, corporate and public library systems in various parts of the country. So having a book review done by Midwest, who do not charge the authors a penny to have the review done, you can have a review that is placed in libraries across the country. This book review therefore was quite meaningful for me because I know it will be in databases in libraries across the country. I want people to read the book for free, and libraries are a place they can get the book for free. Unfortunately, many libraries are on tight budgets, though, so please support your local library. And, if you think about it, tell them about my book. Getting Having Nasal Surgery? Don't You Become An Empty Nose Victim! in libraries is the most important and meaningful goal I have for my book. And what's the best part of having it reviewed by Midwest? Midwest receives around 1,500 books per month and review only about 1/3 of them. There is a current roster of 81 reviewers at Midwest Book Review, a company in business since 1976. And guess who did my review?? The Editor-in-Chief, Jim Cox, himself!!!! In an email to me today, he remarked, "Thank you for your very kind words. They are much appreciated. Since I was the one who wrote the review...." He wrote the review!!! This made my day. If you haven't already, please read the review by Midwest Book Review (i.e., done by Jim Cox himself) below in the blog. And, if you are an author who has been published by a small press, submit your book for review to Midwest Book Review. It's been one of the best decisions I have done for my book.

The other very special happening occurred during the process of book promotion is a friendship that has been richly blessed already. One evening last month I received an email, out of the blue I might add, with the subject line that read "ENS Advocate!" Below in the email he remarked, "God bless" and left his phone number. The following day, I called him up by phone and we talked for more than an hour, and I prayed with him and he prayed for me. (This was the same day I received the 'proof' of my book in the mail.) We have been corresponding by phone and email for the past month and we always just have a great time talking and sharing our experiences - ENS and otherwise. And we have a lot in common. He has a great sense of humor and one thing we both have in common is our faith in Christ. And another thing we both have in common, is he also plans to write a book about his experiences with ENS in the coming years. In fact, he told me reading my book was like reading his own story. This friend informed me that, since our friendship began, he has not felt alone anymore and his health (and spirit) has improved considerably. I must say ditto, especially for the latter part - the improved spirit - for me. And another "coincidence" is that he lives 777 miles away. "7" is a number associated with perfection in the Bible. You know, I'm not quite sure these are coincidences! He and his wife plan to come visit my family and I sometime in the future. I can't wait for this day to happen. You see, I have received many very encouraging words on my book, some moving and really uplifting, and these are all really wonderful, but his friendship is far and away one of the most blessed happenings since I began writing the book. I cherish his friendship.

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