Lenora's Book Blog

My Book is now for Sale

Friends are beginning to receive my book they ordered and are contacting me by email and phone and giving me feedback.  It does not take long to read my 100 page book....short, sweet and to the point!

Again, I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you who wished me well with this project and support me by purchasing the book.  As I said, I will not be getting rich from this book. When you order online, I get royalities of $2.50 for a soft back and $5.00 for a hard back.

When my book gets to Amazon, Borders, etc., my understanding is that I will not make any royalties at all, but if I do, it may be 10%...have to wait and see! I just received my personal bulk book orders that I will use for book signings in my hometown area (I will be charging a little more than Xlibris does)...have to try to get some of my $6,000 spent thus far on self-publishing. Any of my local friends who wish to purchase my book from me personally can simply email me and I will find a way to get the book to you.

I went to my dentist yesterday and sold a book to my 1958 high school classmate, Judy Dolobach...so now I'm riding in my SUV with my books in the back! Hey, I just went to the post office this morning and sold another book to a classmate, Nancy Willson Komacek!  "A girl has to do what she has to do."   Sam Loy, high school classmate, from Arizona mailed his book for me to autograph with a photo of the two of us pasted in it (taken at 2005 high school reunion) and I will send it back to him ASAP--Sam is a riot and I love him to death.   I am indeed blessed with so many friends and associates!

I have to enter a humorous piece here about my dear friends Barbel and Mike in Germany, who wrote me about their efforts to purchase my book on line from Xlibris.

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They tried to order a $8.50 paperback from Xlibris with the following remarks from Xlibris:  The shipping cost for a copy of the book entitled “WAC Major: Herstory” is $81.28.  This computation is based on the delivery to Hessisch Oldendorf with postal code 31840.  Thus, the total amount for 1 copy of the book in paperback is $89.78.   Is this ridiculous or what???  Have to laugh about it.  Needless to say, I am sending my German friends a book from my copies I purchased.

My Book is Finally Published!

Well,folks, after 8 months my book is finally done.  It can be purchased at the Xlibris bookstore at a discount and is "dirt cheap."  I receive 10%-15% royalties so I will not be making big bucks from by book.  It's not about the money...it is about the story!

     $8.50 for a paperback

     $18.00 for hardback

Anyone who does not read my blogs can simply go to the Xlibris website: http://www.xlibris.com, click the bookstore, go to the search box, type in my name and the book title page and description of the book appears.

It will take a month or more before my book can be found at Amazon, Border, etc. bookstores. I will also receive 10-15% royalties from these stores.

Once again I would like to thank everyone who inspired me to publish my book and I welcome your "book reviews" in this blog after you have read the book. Thanks and happy reading.   

I have 7 chapters completed for Book 2 and hope to have it completed by the end of the year.  Your Book 1 book review comments will help me a lot as I continue writing my next book.

Love ya'll.........Lenora

My book is completed

Well, it took some time but my book is in its final process towards being published by April.  Surprisingly, it is only 100 pages and not that big, so it will not take long to read it.

I will have a book web site available from Xlibris and will also use this blog for feedback from my readers and updated info about my writings.

It has been a tedious experience in self-publishing my book, but I am glad I decided to complete this story and hope to have my next book published by the end of the year.

Here's hoping my book will encourage others to "tell your story" because we all have something worthwhile to share about our individual journeys through life.

The following email was sent to me from Angie Doherty, SFC (R):

"I was going to read a little of your story on the blog, but ended up reading all of it.  It was very heartfelt and extremely interesting.  I couldn't stop reading it.  I do not read a lot, but I kept wanting to read more. I am 61 and remembered some of the things you mentioned.  I was born of Mexican parents.  I'm sorry you had to endure so much pain.  It makes me sad to remember how mean some people can be. I ended up with two children and eight grandchildren.  Everyone has their own path to follow and I made some bad decisions, but the good Lord helped me out of them.  Your memories are a real delight.  Please remember that God made us to live forever and when we die then comes the judgment. After I am judged, I will look for you in heaven.  Remember the rich man remembered after he died what happened to him when he lived on earth.  What a wonderful time we will have.  Thanks again for your writings.  You may put this on your site if you want."

Angie Doherty
sfcangie@sbcglobal.net

Thanks Angie for your comments. 

                                                                  

(Back Cover of my Book)                    

I appreciate any feedback about my book (positive or negative) and will try to post comments on this blog. I will let all know when my book is on the market.  Thanks for your inspiration and support. 

Publishing My Book!

After encouragement and inspiration from several of my high school classmates (only 1 Army comrade took the time to do such), I have decided to "go for the gusto" and have my book published. By creating my personal book blog, I discovered just how much I enjoy writing and the amount of time I have spent over the past 10 years writing "my WAC Major story."

As I reread what I wrote in Book 1 (A Black Woman in the White Man's Army) and began posting excerpts in the blog, I have a different mindset about how to tell this story. Thus, I will reedit my book that I have in manuscript form and submit it to Xlibris publishers by October 2006. I have decided to use my social security money to pay for getting this started. Heck, may as well go with one of my lessons learned during my life time: "Risk nothing, gain nothing, be nothing!"

As I see it and have preached to you often in the blog and website: "Tomorrow is not promised," and this indeed applies to me. I have posted too many obituaries in the historical class yearbooks and the passing of BHS classmates and Army comrades on the website/blog and realize that my days may also be numbered. "Arthur" is attacking my body in every limb and lower back, I smoke too much, I can't remember things, my vision is blurred and my life at 65 is stagnant. I am going to "Stop procrastinating, get off my butt, publish my book and finish Book 2 NOW!

My memoirs involve so many various experiences in the Army and civilian sector, traveling to different places, meeting so many great and not so great people, paying my dues in the work force for over 30 years, playing semi-pro softball, performing as a jazz musician, living a lifestyle that is rejected by society, raising my daughter and experiencing adulthood with her, and now performing caregiver duties for my Alzheimer mother. Since I have captured the major events in most of my 65 years of life on this earth in my journals, I may as well put it in print.

I need to finalize my Army story that ironically ended 17 years ago on Halloween day in 1989 and put the military story to bed! I had many struggling bad times in the Army that got me started writing my story, but it is now time to begin sharing my experiences after retiring from the Army. (more on this in my next Book blog entry)

So a special thanks goes out to those of you who have inspired me in taking this course of action. Guess you lurkers will have to find some other book to read now.