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Hello all, my real name is June and I am writer from Surrey having recently published my first book. I found this site by chance searching for info on past Questing Conferences. I was a stall holder at this years one, yesterday, and very good it was too. I look forward to getting to know you all and hopefully, some interesting discussions.
June
Hello June. A few of us here were at Questcon06, personally I had a grand time. I was being good and trying not to buy anything much, but I hope your stall did well, which one was it? Also, what is your book? Perhaps you would like to say something about it; even if it isn’t questing related I’m sure no-one would mind if you want to give it a ‘plug’. As well as that, are there any questing activities/projects that you’re into at the moment?
Michael
Good morning Michael, and thanks for the welcome. I have to confess that the only Quest I am on at the momemt is the one to sell my book ! I didn’t see any rules on here re advertising and self promotion though, so here goes.
My book is called Genesis of Man and has just been published with a small POD (print on demand) publisher, Authors OnLine, using my own imprint, Pigsty Press. I chose the name Pigsty Press for two reasons, firstly because it is quite a serious book in some ways, and I wanted to inject some humour, but mostly in honour of the cottage I stay in when I visit Lundy, a small island in the Bristol Channnel. Much of the book was written here, and I find the island has given me so much I wanted to acknowledge it. The cottage has had many uses over the years, a ringing room for birds, the light house keepers latrines (how lovely) and also as a pigsty, hence the name. It becomes a pigsty all over again when I visit ……
The book though took five long years to write, and if you read it then you will understand why. Virtually ever topic is covered in here, from Atlantis to Zecharia Sitchin, with many in between.
I describe it as a book of spiritual history, for that is really the only way I can describe it. It is really though the unknown history of our planet from 35 million years ago. It is divided into four parts, the first of which covers the period from 35 million to 1 million years ago, roughly the time of Lemuria. This part talks about among other things, the Nephilim, the origins of Mesopotamian civilization, what is means to be an ascended master, the souls journey, reincarnation, plus the underlying theme – which is the game of polarity integration. This is really the age old battle between the light and dark forces and how we can use these to help us grow and evolve.
The second part of the book is about Lemuria and her various colonies – one of which was Atlantis. Others included Egypt and Mexico (the origins of the Mayan and other Mesoamerican Empires). I talk about the rise and fall of both Lemuria and Atlantis, the reasons why this happened, what the results were and how it continues to effect us today. I also have a whole chapter on the ice age, did it really happen, and what caused it, as this is closely tied to the loss of these two continents.
Part three is about various arms of the Great White Brotherhood – the earthly branch of Ascended Masters. These various branches included the Knights Templar, Cathars and Essenes as well as the so called heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten’s mystery school.
This brings me neatly to part four – my own personal favourite, where I talk about the origins of Christianity and its Gnostic roots, as well as the similarities between Gnosticism and modern spirituality, as I believe they are basically the same thing. I also talk in depth about the life and times of Jesus – was Mary really a virgin, where did the birth take place, the meaning behind the 3 wise men and their gifts, the Disciples and their role, was he married to Mary Magdelene, did he die on the cross or in India?
This book then contains an awful lot of information, collated from various sources and placed into chronological sequence in a kind of time frame. It has already had some interesting reviews and is attracting quite a stir on some of the writers forums I post on.
Shops do not as a rule stock PD titles, although I have managed to get it into two at least to begin with – my local Waterstones in Epsom, Surrey and also the Chalice Well book shop in Glastonbury. I am though working on several others. You should though be able to order it from most shops using the ISBN, which is 0755202368, or otherwise you can get it direct from the publisher http://www.authorsonline.co.uk or from http://www.amazon.co.uk or http://www.amazon.com . I also sell signed copies from my own website, where you pay by either nochex or paypal. All the links to amazon etc are also on there. The site address is listed in my profile, or otherwise just tap my name, June Austin into google.
Saturday though was an experience if nothing else. I paid £90 for the stall, and was expecting to do really well, but I found that 90 percent of people seemed ti buy their books only from Atlantis and did not even look at my stall. I was on the right hand of the hall, next to the Nexus stand. I managed to sell then just 5 copies of my own book, plus around £50 worth of second hand books that I also brought with me. I ended the day. by the time costs are taken off with a £3 loss.
I am not sure what the problem was to be honest, wrong location, unknown author, or not taking credit cards. Maybe all three. I suppose Iw would have gone to the conference anyway though, as a delegate if not a stall holder, so it did not really cost me £90, but £60 from that point of view. It is though difficult not to get disheartened. I would not do it again, for the simple fact that I did not make money. I think actually the only ones who do make money are Atlantis themselves – Sue and Andy certainly don’t. It was though an interesting day.
June
Hi June
Your book looks interesting. How did you find “authors on line” service to be, were you satisfied with their production and the way that they handled your book?
Regards
Alex
Hello June
Welcome to the forum.
I was there on the day too, selling some greeting cards. Richard did well with his second hand books; I only took a bit of money (but then, I was going to be there anyway, so selling a few things, to me, was just a litlle perk.
Its very difficult to make money from writing. You just have to keep pushing the grindstone year after year. For sure, Andy has had many highs and lows. ‘Ashes of Angels’ did well for him, ’21st century grail’ was a flop!
Just keep at it; sometimes you just need to get your name around and let the grapevine do the rest; that can take a while.
Well when I got in tonight there was a message on the answerphone from my local Borders to say that they were interested in me doing a talk at their new mind, body and spirit group, so that is very good news indeed. I will ring them tomorrow to discuss things further. This means that my book will be stocked by them for at least one day !
With regard to Authors OnLine though, I have found them excellent. Can’t really fault them at all. They have done everything they said they would do, and a lot more than some POD publishers do, from what I have heard. They have a very good publicist for works on behalf of their authors, who is contacting several people this week on my behalf to try some very exciting things.
As for Quest Con, yes I try to be philosophical about the whole thing. It is difficult to make money from writing – but I shall keep plugging away. I do not give up easily, and have always loved a challenge …
June
Talisman wrote:I didn’t see any rules on here re advertising and self promotion though, so here goes. My book is called Genesis of Man and has just been published with a small POD (print on demand) publisher, Authors OnLine, using my own imprint, Pigsty Press.Hi June. Welcome to the forums. I’m always happy to have people promote their books, seminars, conferences, whatever. In fact I wish more people did it!
Best of luck with the book. I notice that you have a sample first chapter on your website so I hope you don’t mind if I reproduce the link here:
[url:3qhklq66]http://www.juneaustin.co.uk/BonesofContention.pdf[/url]
Cheers,
Simon
Not at all Simon, and thanks for that. Loads more info on my site as well for people to look at – reviews, mock interview, plus the important bit – how to order a copy !
I have some great news in fact. I have just got off the phone from my local Borders and they have asked me to do a talk at their new mind, body and spirit group in January. They have a meeting tonight that I am going to, to discuss things further. They asked me to bring a copy of the book with me tonight that they will buy, and they are going to order loads more and make a great big display. This is brilliant news !!
June
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