Category Archives: Book Notes

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The Vision I Had in My Head aka Debuting My New Book Cover Woo Hoo!!!

Hello World!

It’s official. I have gingerly stepped my big toe in the rapids that are the marketing and promotion of a book, and I’m hoping that I have enough stamina and skill to swim to the other side. There are so many ways that you can market and promote a book it’s easy to get overwhelmed with it all. But I believe I’m off to a very good start!  I have an awesome book cover that totally captures what I had in my head…

This is what I had in my head….This photo was taken circa 2000 on a trip with friends to the Bahamas. When I encountered this lovely one-room stone church, I knew I had to take a picture in front of it….I never knew that years later this would be the image that conveys why I wrote After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God. It’s amazing how God works because He is truly working all things together for our good —  even before we know it! When you become a Christian, it seems that the scariest part of the task is walking down that long, sometimes lonely aisle to the front of the church to meet the pastor at the altar (where you publicly confess your faith in Jesus Christ.) But once you’ve done that, you realize that it’s much more scary to try to live as a Christian in a world that is hell-bent on squelching all faith in our Creator…That’s why I love that I’m sitting at the doorway of the church, away from the altar although it is still in sight…

I submitted this photo to my publishing company, Nevaeh Publishing, when I was asked for cover art ideas, and I hoped that this image could translate into an appropriate book cover…Months later, I am elated at the result! Kudos to the graphic artist 🙂

What do you think? And if this is your first time encountering my blog, let me tell you about my book in case you want to buy it when it becomes available in February 2012!!! (I have my marketing and promotion hat on now…)

After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God is a fresh, real and relevant how-to manual for black women who desire to move past the “church speak” and into an intimate relationship with their Creator. What makes this book unique from other “relationship with God” books is that this book is written from a black perspective and spans a variety of issues typically not included in one book – from being thrice-married to leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

 As a seasoned journalist, I have interviewed black women from diverse backgrounds to discover what having a personal relationship with God is truly about – beyond the initial “come to Jesus” moment typically associated with the altar call experience. I give readers a rare, personal look into the lives of these women, identify the precepts these women used to develop a personal relationship with God given their life experiences, and create a plan for readers to craft their own relationship with the Father.

 The book includes interviews with 24 remarkable women with compelling stories such the “The View” co-host Sherri Shepherd,  Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the 117th elected and consecrated bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the first woman elected to Episcopal office in over 200 years of A.M.E. history; and Valorie Burton, life coach, author and co-host on the Emmy award- winning show “Aspiring Women” and the former co-host of the national daily television program “The Potter’s Touch” with Bishop T.D. Jakes.

Any thoughts?

P.S. Again, if you have any creative marketing and promotion ideas, let me know in your comments. I’m pretty much open to anything short of skywriting the name of my book on the actual release date…but then again…lol…

P.P.S. If you happen to know the name of this little church in the Bahamas, let me know. I would love to send a letter or something to the people of this church…

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2011 Faith & Fiction Retreat aka Debuting My NEW BOOK!!!

Hello World,

Obviously me and my soror and best-selling author Patricia Haley...

 

My apologies for not sticking to my usual blogging schedule, but you know how busy the summer months can get…Anywho, I’m back y’all and ready to blog it out…(corny, right? 🙂 ) 

Sooo I’m back from Ponte Verda Beach (near Jacksonville), Florida where I attended the 2011 Faith & Fiction Retreat which was held at the luxe Sawgrass Marriott Spa and Resort!  I had a wonderful time hobnobbing with authors, reconnecting with friends, making new friends and – plugging my book!

Yes, you read that right! My new book “After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God” will be published next year!!! I am being published by Nevaeh Publishing! And if you have read my blog for a while, you know I’ve been hoping, wishing, praying and working for this dream to come true for a looooooong time!

Apparently, the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa is home to one of the top the PGA golf courses...

Below is my summary of my book…

After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God is a fresh, real and relevant how-to manual for African- American Christian women who desire to move past the “church speak” and into an intimate relationship with their Creator. What makes this book unique from other “relationship with God” books is that this book is written from an African-American perspective and spans a variety of issues typically not included in one book – from being thrice-married to leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

As a seasoned journalist, Jacqueline has interviewed black women from diverse backgrounds to discover what having a personal relationship with God is truly about – beyond the initial “come to Jesus” moment typically associated with the altar call experience. She has given you a rare, personal look into the lives of these women, identified the precepts these women used to develop a personal relationship with God given their life experiences, and created a plan for you to craft your own relationship with the Father.

Y’all, I have interviewed some great women for this book! I interviewed Sherri Shepherd from “The View,” Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the first woman elected to Episcopal office in A.M.E. history; Bishop Linda Lee, the first black woman to be elected as a bishop at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church;  and Valorie Burton, a certified personal and executive coach and author.

 

I also have interviewed many notable Christian fiction authors including Dwan  Abrams,  who also founded Nevaeh Publishing LLC; Tiffany Warren, who also started the Faith & Fiction Retreat; and LaTonya Mason Summers, who is also a licensed, professional counselor and the founding executive director of LifeSkills Counseling & Consulting.

Faith & Fiction Retreat founder Tiffany Warren & her husband Brent on the beach...

 

I have also interviewed some people who are well-known to us in the A including the Rev. Stephanie Bronner, who along with her husband, the Rev. James Bronner, wrote the book, Bedroom Talk: How to Turn Your Marriage Into a Lifelong Love Affair. Her husband is the youngest son in the legendary Bronner Bros. hair care dynasty. I also interviewed Melissa Summers, who was known as “Atlanta’s Girlfriend” as the former midday personality for V-103 and former host for KISS 104.1.

And y’all, I also interviewed 15 other phenomenal women for the book. I don’t want to give it all away in one blog post, but y’all will not be disappointed…

It was very special for me to tell everyone about my book at this year’s Faith & Fiction Retreat because I actually pitched my book to several publishing companies at last year’s Faith & Fiction Retreat, which was held in the A. Thankfully, Nevaeh Publishing wanted to publish my book. I feel sooo blessed! I signed my book contract in the fall of last year, and since then, I’ve been working on my book and trying to keep it a secret…

 

But now, I’m ready to tell y’all, and I intend to tell you what’s going on each step of the way right through to publication day. Right now, I’m choosing a book cover, and once that’s done, I will post it on the blog…Also, I’m fine-tuning my marketing and promotion plan…If you want to help me or have some great marketing & promotion ideas, don’t be a stranger. Comment and let me know…

Me & my Faith & Fiction roomie and author Leslie J. Sherrod on the way to the All-White Party...

Give Him Praise!!! Because the Lord Did It!!!

Any thoughts?

P.S. Friend me on Facebook (Jackie Holness) where I will be posting more pics from the retreat soon… 🙂

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Authors Unite: Introducing A Chapter A Month!

Hello World!

Y’all pray for me! My big project is due at the end of the month! Please pray that God will continue to give me strength, and let’s face it –  I need some of His supernatural energy added to my natural energy to push on through! Now on to today’s topic…

It’s over folks…The media as we know it is ova…The music industry as we know it is ova…The book industry as we know it is ova…Any industry involving communication is being forced to innovate lest it be left at the gate…

Bloggers now have as much influence as trained journalists…Singers can upload videos on YouTube, and record deals will come to them…Due to the increasing popularity of self-publishing, authors can sell their work directly to readers over the Internet…

As Lamar Tyler of Black and Married With Kids says, the Gatekeepers Are Gone! Tyler even has a new Internet broadcast network MyCulture.TV.  If you have a creative bone in your body and an idea in your head, it’s time to get on your grind…I kid you not…This happened to me yesterday…I just happened to be surfing the Net yesterday, and I happened upon this website of this author who has written a book with the EXACT same title and premise of a book idea that I have been thinking about since 2008…I just looked blankly at my computer screen for like 10 minutes…It was like God saying to me, “Girl, what you waiting on? You better take these ideas I give to you seriously.” I’ve been working on this project that I mentioned earlier for nearly six months, and yesterday, my energy was a little low…But after seeing that  author’s website, I’m like I betta get on my grustle! (grind plus hustle)

All that being said, one of my author friends, Tiffany L. Warren, and several other authors have come up with a new idea to take their work directly to readers in a new, innovative and fresh way for the low low…Check out the details below…

You asked for us. You got us! Your favorite authors…all…the…time. No more waiting for a year to hear from your favorite author. Now you have us inside this amazing new experience where reading meets the brave new digital world. As a reader, you will enjoy fresh, exciting chapters every month as we reveal our stories to you one chapter at a time. You will travel with us on our writing journeys and watch our novels come to life on paper…and beyond.

How A Chapter A Month Works…..

A Chapter A Month will feature new material each month from 16 top-selling authors!

The length of the authors work will vary – one author is doing short-stories based on hip-hop songs, so each month, she will have a different story. Two authors are doing the first “soap operas” on paper…serials that will not end – and there will be everything in-between.

Each month, you can purchase any chapter from any author for .99 cents. Now, we’re calling it “a chapter,” but trust, these are not short chapters that are in full-length books. These chapters are far more extensive. We promise you, you will get more than your money’s worth.

There will be “Preferred Readers” packages where you will receive “benefits for membership.” For example, if you purchase 5 authors for $4.95 per month, you will have a certain level of access to the authors. If you purchase 10 authors for $9.99 per month, you will have another level of access, plus be entered into a quarterly contest where winners will receive anything from gift cards, to e-readers…and maybe even a visit from an author. Details will follow on the website.

Authors you love…all the time: ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Parry “Ebony Satin” Brown, Tinesha Davis, Virginia DeBerry, Lolita Files, Trice Hickman, Donna Hill, Travis Hunter, Candy Jackson, RM Johnson, Dwayne S. Joseph, Bernice McFadden, Stephanie Perry Moore, Victoria Christopher Murray, Pat Tucker, Tiffany L. Warren….and joining soon…Carleen Brice, Nina Foxx, Carol Mackey, Rhonda McKnight, Marissa Monteilh, and a few more….

Check them out at A Chapter A Month which will officially start tomorrow!

Any thoughts?