Hello Everyone, and so it is true that Xanga is about to tank unless we shell out some money, and so I did, because Xanga has proven itself to be a place to come when I feel like placing something of my heart out there.  On it I created the book, “Pinkhoneysuckle,” and after doing a book this way I can advise many of you about self publishing, and you do not have to pay me a dime.  The thing is that if you call up a good self publisher such as Amazon who does not have law suits pending, you are not signing any agreement with them, which in the fine print gives them multiple years of rights to your book, such as a particular company which I cannot name, though I believe it had a publishing sector in the state of Maryland;  Then summed up; you do not need to purchase how to books or all of the dozens of how to services from anyone, because you have chosen a reliable company, and you have a lawyer look at your contract before you give your thousands of dollars a way to make certain that you are not getting your work stolen from you, and were you not a Xanga Blogger, you would not have heard this from yours truly, me — but a good publisher with whom you are going to self publish can be your guide.  I cannot advise you to buy their packet which allows you to have them send out press releases for you, for that particular service adds up to recycled toilet tissue.  I, personally, think you need to find your own editor and soft reader, for you will pay for a lot of nothing in that regard as well.  Whether you succeed or fail, you be the person in control of your product, and I mean that from having learned the hard way.  I have two lawyer sons who could not see some of the things which I should have contracted privately, but we had an old saying long ago and it was thus, “We learn to do by doing.”

How has my book done.  My book, “Pinkhoneysuckle,” by Barbara Everett Heintz has achieved the following in its life since it came out in 2011.  I won two awards through JM Northern of Los Angeles, California:  In their 2012 book festivals, I won Honorable Mention in San Francisco, California, and in their Hollywood Festival of 2012, I won a first place in their Wildcard division of mixed genre’.  I next participated in charitable book shows in Santa Rosa, California as well as in San Francisco, and I had been told by a successful author that one rarely makes any money at these shows, and this is something else I learned–Unless you are already an author star, then you are apt to sell a few books, but you will not make your fee which you paid to enter back in book sales, otherwise; so just call it charity and make yourself a business, and mark it off of your income tax.  I have been on a television show recently with the gracious, Kathryn Kraaker, with her Time Warner production, B4 64, which is on Telos, You Tube, and you can watch me for free, and after all of this time realize that I am who I say I am, an overweight grandmother who hopes to live many more years inspite of the fact that I almost died twice after writing this book.  She also very kindly had me on her radio show which airs in Cincinnati, but it also goes to many other markets across the country and outside of this continent just like the television show.  This woman is the kindest, best interviewer imaginable and should have gone the route of Oprah, though had she, I would not have got to meet her.

It has not changed the level of my book sales yet, though it is hard to quantify, because, I am revising my book having hired a professional reader, so you will not be getting a book with punctuation which is doubled or where words are misspelled in a couple of spots, and that was another Amazon service which was long and arduous, but they do not, as of yet, have people who will do that particular service for you, and it is hell, because the manuscript and the page number of your books do not match, so you are looking for Easter eggs on a ten acre field.  I did get all of the corrections in, so, “Pinkhoneysuckle,” which I would love for you to look at on Amazon, Create Space, or Joseph Beth Book Stores here in Cincinnati and the Louisville, Lexington area, which now carries my book.  I had a signing with these good people, and a book signing these days, again unless you are a rich and famous person, or you are a local celebrity, or you are doing a tell all from The White House is amazingly difficult to get.  I thank Joseph Beth and Michael Link, their book buyer for having faith in me and for putting my books out in their shelves for people to purchase.  My signing night was my launch night, so I gave my friends who came a party from their Bistro.  I love my friends, and I bless every soul who has realized that this Grandma has written a book which will shake up most people’s opinion about Appalachian jokes, the raw lives, the incest, the relationship with farm animals, and all of those things you like to read jokes about.  I then show you what it was like to then have to become city people, a city woman with no money and so little support that all I could think of was to, “Lean on Jesus,” all the days, but I sold the number of books which they expect you to sell at a signing, and again; God Bless all of my friends.  I feel such shame to have my friends purchasing things from me!

So my book has sold on each side of the Rockies, and I still have not made one cent.  I am told by the book buyer that most people, if they are going to write a book, need to write it out of a sense of love for writing, and to be satisfied that they have made some joy or alleviated some sorrow with their book.  Let me repeat this in words you can understand.  You should not write a book expecting to make money as an ordinary human being like most of us who were willing to shell out something to help save Xanga.  I am so sorry to tell you that with as much love, help, and press that I have had, the only thing which will ever make money for me with this book is for all of you to go out and to buy it tomorrow.  It receives only good reviews, so why, especially since it is Kindle ready, would you not want to buy, “Pinkhoneysuckle,” by Barbara Everett Heintz?”

Miracles keep happening for me, and the only miracle which can ever even pay for what I have in the book is film.  So, I am calling on you again, “Gracious Lord,”  I would love for this book to go to film, for everyone who reads it finally understands that everything and anything they ever believed was going on in the middle of the 20th century is hiding shame, the shame of the diaspora of the thousands of families of the lower third of Appalachia whose story is even worse than The Oklahomans, for our story is an American story where the United States of America used its own people, good hearted, church going, farm people, and suckered them in to coming north to do the grunge work in factories and to still be the laughing stock of the nation.  I act as a one woman narrator, and I am good at it, for one is good at what they know, and having every inch of my body abused, used, and broken.  Oh my God, I was able to tell you the story, to take you from country to city–From the cotton fields to marching for civil rights, not even knowing that the poor white folks were supposed to be part of those marches too.  It is a good book, so what is not to like?

I do not know if I will write another article for Xanga, but I wanted to make certain that I left some truth where it belonged, with all of you wonderful folks who might benefit from my journey as a writer.  Everyone can publish a book now, so just having a hard life is not news, but that thousands and thousands of families were living on dirt farms and treated like the sod under their feet, and that child labor and servitude in America was very common among the Appalachians, along with wife abuse, church intolerance, broken hearted women who were left with less than when husband’s went to war; Now this all really happened.  What do you have to write about may open a door, for life is hard across the board for a whole lot of people..  We all have secrets, and we all have dreams, so remember that anyone can publish a novel now, so how is yours going to be the one in a million.  That is your first question.

If you want to write a lovely book, sell it in your own gift shop, or make it as a present for all of your family and friends, then that is about the best attitude which you can take.  I did not know that I should probably rewrite my book as a screen play, but since every other house in the LA basin has a couple of screen plays already written, then how can I get noticed?  I am no longer gorgeous, and beauty will help you make a sale sometimes.  I will not suck up to anyone, because my life trained me to love people who show they care for me.  I am not a great user, but if you’re really good at using people, you might have a chance.  I want to tell you that writing a book is very hard work, and it is an accomplishment to finish one, and if you are satisfied that you can spare the money, then go ahead.  Rare people will find a real publisher anymore willing to take them, for they are busy enough with the rich and famous to keep their doors open.

I do not want so many of you kids to break your hearts and your banks without understanding what I have written as a free guide as to, “Why you should or should not write a book.”  If your life is incomplete without trying for such an effort, and you know you are a good writer, then; just go for it, but I want you to copy out this page before Xanga implodes on itself, So this is my one lesson which I can leave for so many.  Any of you who are closer friends know how to get in touch with me, so I will be around.  “Pinkhoneysuckle,” is not dead yet, and every time a door closes, then another seems to open.  “Oh please, God Bless all of these people who have helped, I beg of you dear Lord.”  Bless the young people who dream, the older people who are lonely, and those of us somewhere in between.”  To those who wrote me; “Thanks.”

I would like to chastise Xanga for not making the giving categories from five to one hundred dollars, for I believe a lot of people would have pitched in,  and we should have access to free advertising as the levels move up.  If this Xanga can be on life support by our dollars, then I highly suggest you get your brains together and offer something, for you will be going out with a lot of our points, plus dollars we have given; so why did you not figure out awards?  Your staff wishing to keep a people’s blog service, could have offered anything from blog contests with entry fees;  Where is your ingenuity children?

But for this night, this is about all that I can add.  It seems impossible to believe this, but to the people whom I never met who sent some kindness my way, “I loved you all,” and that is as spiritual as it possibly ever could be–and as truthful.

“I loved you all.”

Barbara Everett Heintz, Author of Pinkhoneysuckle, the blog and, “Pinkhoneysuckle” on Amazon, Kindle, Create Space, and through Joseph Beth Bookstores…….