Commentary (And A Shameless Plug): Part Of How To Promote Your Books, With An Example

1. Definitely state why you write books (and write in general) and why you want to continue to write books (as well as in general), especially if you want to become or continue to be a full-time author.
2. Suggest for what people should buy your books: e.g., for leisure reading, as belated holiday gifts, to support you as an author
3. Appreciate when someone does buy a book of yours, and even give him or her a shoutout.
4. Be persistent and timely in promoting your books, and "be persistent" does not mean "be harassing" or otherwise "be annoying". If others can and want to buy your books, they will. Likewise, "be timely" does not mean "be badgering" or "promote your books for every occasion and at every interval possible". In fact, being badgering and/or exploitative of every occasion will only be wasting your time and your potential audience's time.

Example:

PS Promoting the books four times on Facebook within five days was enough for now, especially with promoting them once today. 

Just A Quick Note And Reminder

Thank you to everyone whom has bought my books! Part of my goal especially with my books that concern my family history and genealogy research, as I've said in my most recent book, is to help me help others as well for others to help me in my research. For example, as I state in my newest book: 

"I hope that at least one reader of this book will help me warm and thaw the gone-cold trail of Rochla[, the missing relative about whom I wrote the book].... Specifically, I hope that he or she will use the information that I provided and that others provided to me to trace what happened to her. I also hope that anyone else whom is researching what happened to Rochla...will be helped in being given this information, and that any reader who helps me would also help them." 

For any author, by the way, that (that is, to help others in some way) should be a goal (whether it's, for instance, to help a reader in his or her research, give him or her food for thought re a current-events issue, or just help him or her de-stress after a long and di-stressing day).

Now I Can Announce the Following

After quite a few months, I've finished and published my most-recent book with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. It should be available on Amazon soon. PS Part of the reason that writing the book took so long: Depression, ADD, and OCD/Anxiety flareups got in the way. This is also part of why I haven't been as active on any social media (e.g., responding to messages) as much as I could be. I acknowledge thar mental illnesses can definitely affect the quantity and quality of my work (e.g., how much I write and publish and how quickly I write and publish as well as how well I write).

PPS I'll admit that I'm checking constantly to see when the Kindle edition will go live.

PPS:

Mostly Offbeat: Part Of Why "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" Took So Long To Compile the Card Collection

Even Reilly's and Camille's sweetness and supportiveness haven't helped "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" during her latest OCD/Anxiety flareup, with one incident in which (albe understandably, though exacerbated by OCD/Anxiety) "Momma" screamed quite loudly because Reilly (about whom she worries frequently) could've gotten a dropped salad leaf with vinegar. Imagine, then, how it prevented her from even getting the card compilation made and published. Remember also how making cards has been hard for her in the first place.

Incidentally, "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole" tried again this morning to explain OCD/Anxiety to Reilly and Camille. How much they understood she doesn't quite know, though they've probably sensed that she's anxious for some reason—which is why she tried to explain it to them. Of course, not that they've always behaved in ways that haven't contributed the recent flareup, not to mention OCD/Anxiety flareups in general—when they bark inappropriately, for example, they affect "Momma"/"Auntie Nicole"'s stress level to exacerbate OCD/Anxiety flareups!

I'm Not Exactly Happy To Have To Make The Following Request, As...

I don't want to come off as desperate. Nonetheless, the request is this: please look into at least buying one of my books, as that would be a real belated Hanukkah, current Christmas, and/or early birthday gift for me. I did the following for a reason, after all:

1. Take the opportunity to publish at least one with Hadassa WordPress when Elena Djima unexpectedly reached out to me to offer that pleasantly-surprisingly opportunity, since I'd been a "Times Of Israel" blogger.
2. Published books via Kindle Direct Publishing
3. Used part of my SSI benefits to set up giveaways and Amazon ads for my books
4. Begin working on new books on which I'm still working.

If you think that I'm thrilled that I still have to be on SSI benefits (which I actually even protested having to be on in the first place) and have God-sent opportunities seeming to go ultimately nowhere for me, you have got to be kidding me (and almost 11 years later, I still call my having to be on SSI benefits "socialist", and this is despite my Cerebral Palsy, mental illnesses, and IBS—and I was hoping that the opportunity to be an author to partly get me off of the SSI benefits would materialize more quickly, not to mention that I haven't had the royalty check from Amazon cashed yet partly because of having to deal with the Social Security office on that. Besides, slightly under $112 over eight months is paltry.).

By the way, I'm giving away another copy of one of my books and may begin working on another book soon. As I said, I'm serious about wanting to become a full-time author partly to get off of SSI benefits—and as I've said, not to ultimately end up in a menial job because all that I'm viewed as is my disabilities, thank you very much—and thank you for considering my request.

PS Happy Belated Hanukkah, Merry Chistmas, and Happy New Year.

My New Book And The Controversy That Is—Or At Least That Will Be—Behind It

In fact, I include the following in the introduction to both the Kindle edition and the regular one:

"On my blog and in other forums, I’ve written about this—and so, it’s nothing new. That is, I’ve discussed what my father’s maternal grandmother—Marysia Elizabeth “Mary” Rusnak Gaydos—and her father—András “Andrew Rusnak” Rusznak—did during the Sho’ah to family members back in Košice, Slovakia—which was still Kassa, Magyarország even in the 1930s and 1940s.

"I certainly did not wake up one day and think, “Oh; I’m going to accuse my great-grandmother of sending relatives to Auschwitz and make up a story around it.” That’s not even the kind of incident that I thought would’ve even happened in my family (which already had—and has—our own issues), though I shouldn’t have been (as my dad’s sister stated that she wasn’t) surprised—after all, a few red flags should’ve come up."

I also include part of the reason that I wrote the book in the final chapter:

"[H]istory repeats itself, and the bad parts of history really repeat themselves because of those whom:"1.     ignore or deny history
"2.     go out of their ways to defend what evils happen in history
and/or
"3.     even actively repeat it, or go out of their way to do worse than what happened the first time
 "I guarantee that some of these same relatives whom voted for Trump may also plan to leave the United States if the going gets tough and they don’t want to live with their choices—despite that they know that Trump illegitimately won by, for example, having Vladimir Putin and Julian Assange help him—and quite a few of them might even blame those of us whom weren’t able to get out."

I thus fully anticipate that some of my family will be angry and even ready to sue me—and those who'd consider suing would've had that idea before; so, I'm not giving them the idea to consider doing what they might consider doing, anyway—the higher good of learning from and teaching others to learn from history carries the risk of ligitational backlash.  

Nonetheless, I have a duty to remind my family and others of the following for the higher good:

That what was happening 80 years ago—when the Nuremburg Laws were enacted against Jews and almost every gentile group in Germany, and when my grandparents were born—is happening today is scary and not funny—and I don't think that my grandmother anticipated making it to 80 years old just to see Donald Trump become a Neo ****** and be at the kind of risk at which her family in Europe was, and the risk that all of us are at now.

Besides What "Momma" Mentioned Re Naming Reilly Before...

"Momma" wanted a cat.

"No..."

"Momma" then wanted a Golden (really, a Labrador) Retriever named "Bernie".

"No...a small dog..."

Then "Momma" wanted a French bulldog.

"No...". "Mom-Mom" wanted "Momma" to get a mixed-breed dog.

Momma still wanted a boy dog named "Bernie".

"No...a girl dog..."

After researching and considering breeds, "Momma" decided on a Maltipoo; and "Momma" and "Mom-Mom" reached an agreement on naming the puppy "Reilly Rosalita" for a friend's recently-deceased "Reilly" and Rosalita McCoy Reilly, and Rosa's daughter Alice Reilly Allen.

The rest is history—as "Momma" wrote down thanks to one particular person and other people whom inspired "Momma" to write about Reilly and other subjects.

Still A Difficult Time For Reilly—And "Momma"

Reilly continues to be very patient as "Momma" endures a difficult time, and "Momma" nonetheless suspects that some of Reilly's compulsive behaviors are due to her. For example, Reilly seems to clean her paws frequently—just like "Momma" washes her hands frequently, since she has OCD/Anxiety—and perhaps even Reilly's eating of mulch is part of her compulsive behavior.

"Momma" can't even finish one project that might get her foot in the door, let alone work on the book about Reilly which she's planning. As she's written:

"Especially as "Momma" has gone through heartbreaks such as losing touch with the main person whom inspired her to write about Reilly, Reilly has been "Momma"'s biggest fan—or at least her biggest canine fan—while "Momma" can't always be her biggest fan."

She's also written:

"[T]hat person inspired her to begin becoming a full-time author. In fact, as 'Momma' recalls, she wrote and sent Reilly's first real full biography to the particular person—whom she thinks about every day, and about whom she's told Reilly...
"Incidentally, 'Momma" hopes and prays to reconnect with that person—whom had and still has a huge impact on 'Momma''s life, and whom will hopefully meet Reilly—someday."

To not have the main person whom inspired "Momma" to write about Reilly—and become an author overall—in her life for now only serves to partly flare up her mental illnesses—she even had two OCD/Anxiety episodes this morning, which confused and worried Reilly.

Needlessly to say, Reilly is definitely impacted as "Momma" struggles with mental-illness flareups—which also has affected "Momma"'s and Reilly's sleep at night, and "Momma"'s getting through the day.

Offbeat: On One Person Whom Particularly Inspired "Momma" To Write About Reilly—And Whom Is Anonymous For Right Now

Out of the people whom inspired "Momma" to write about Reilly, one in particular will always stand out to "Momma" and have a special place in her heart—no matter what, since especially that person inspired her to begin becoming a full-time author. In fact, as "Momma" recalls, she wrote and sent Reilly's first real full biography to the particular person—whom she thinks about every day, and about whom she's told Reilly.

When Reilly first came home, "Momma" wrote a biography on Reilly—though that biography was nothing like this biography:

Part One of A Short Biography Of My Puppy, Reilly Rosalita

I own a very-unique Maltipoo puppy—"Reilly Rosalita" by name, and "Reilly" by nickname (along with other nicknames). Born on March 25, 2014, Reilly was fittingly named after my Irish-American great-grandmother—she was, after all, born only a week and a day after a favorite holiday of my great-grandmother, Alice Allen nee Reilly. She was, meanwhile, given the first name of Nana Allen's mother—Rosalita "Rosa" Reilly—as her middle name.

With Reilly's unique name comes her unique personality—a sweet, firey, JIrish personality (with the "JIrish" part coming from her Jewish-Irish "Momma"—me—and perhaps from her "Momma"'s great-great-grandmother Rosalita, who may have been a Patrilineal Portuguese Jew. Incidentally, this reminds me that I jokingly call Reilly a "Malti-Jew" and a "Matrilineal Poo".).

As for Reilly's looks, they come very much from her sire—a four-year-old Maltese named "Oobie-Wone"—and from whomever Reilly's dame—six-year-old Apple—inherited her recessive genes, which she passed down to Reilly. Much of Reilly's personality also comes from "Oobie-Wone"—a quiet one—and Apple—a, as Reilly puts it, "reclusive", "sweet", "good mother". Oddly enough, by the way, Apple reminds me of, with her coloring and demeanor, Nana Allen (of whom I've seen pictures and about whom I've heard quite a bit) and Nana Reilly (from whom, as I understand, Nana Allen inherited her own looks and demeanor. Perhaps like Apple, as a canine, doesn't and does, Nana Reilly, as a person, "didn't like children, and she kept her girls to herself"—after all, Apple keeps to herself and keeps her offspring close to her).

Incidentally, "Momma" hopes and prays to reconnect with that person—whom had and still has a huge impact on "Momma"'s life, and whom will hopefully meet Reilly—someday.

Working On Becoming An Official Author

Please see my previous posts that involve this subject, by the way (Within the one post is another post, which is a disclaimer.). Meanwhile, here's my author bio on my recently-set-up Author Central Amazon Page:

"Born on January 23, 1990—almost three months early!—Nicole Czarnecki was not expected to live—let alone walk, talk, or write if she did live. Overcoming many odds—including surviving a Category-Three brainbleed which effected her to have Cerebral Palsy—Czarnecki lived to walk, talk, and write (despite that she didn't walk until May 26, 1994—which God must've scheduled in order for her to walk on her maternal grandmother's 67th birthday, thus giving her grandmother a wonderful birthday gift!).

"Czarnecki was expected to be able to only type and not write, and she ironically ended up writing with her left hand and typing with only her pointer finger on each of her hands! She uses the computer—including the Internet—quite prolifically, thus typing quite well in spite of what limitations she has. In fact, she was discovered by Hadassa WordPress when she had blogged for the "Times Of Israel", on which she typed quite a few blog entries!

"Her blog entries consisted of information such as how she found out that she is Jewish—which took her 18.5 years and two days to find out!—and how her father and paternal grandparents, particularly her paternal grandfather, were unamused that she had found out her real birth heritage (So much for being born a Polish-Lithuanian and Czechoslovakian American, since Ashkenazi-and-Sefardi-Jewish-descended American is much more accurate!). Eventually, nonetheless, the "Times of Israel" told her that the TOI blogosphere was moving in another direction and ended her blog, although archives of the blog are available—which is why she was surprised when Hadassa WordPress' Elena Djima offered her the opportunity to publish a book with Hadassa WordPress.

"Czarnecki took the opportunity, since she had been praying for an opportunity to—for example—find a career and pay off her student loans by doing something that she loved to do. Besides, being on SSI benefits and almost $25K in student-loan debt made (and at the time of this writing, makes) her feel like a burden on the taxpayer and like she had (and has) wasted her time going to UMBC—since what was (and is) worth having a degree if all she was (and is) worth was (and is) a burden, waste, and stigma because of her disability and her mental illnesses?

"Meanwhile, her disability and mental illnesses are part of what inspired her to become an author and otherwise a writer—she wanted to use all that she had endured (including her disability and mental illnesses, and having her heritage from her) to write down—as she puts it—the real stories (from which her first book gets its title). She also wanted to use her creativity to write stories for which her life provided much fodder—as she wrote in her first book, "Because of the creativity that my father possesses and has often misused, I have said that my father could be a wonderful author of fiction. Little did I know that his misuse of his creativity stems from his feeling that he needed to hide the very things that he wished (and, I assume, still wishes) that God had not created to be in his life...In contrast to my father, I view my inheritance of yetziratiyut Yehudit as a way to both relay real stories and create stories that are inspired and/or informed by the stories which I can't and didn't make up". 

"Besides writing, Czarnecki participates in activities such as spending time with her fur daughter—a two-year-old Maltipoo named Reilly Rosalita, whom'll always remain the puppy of her "Momma"—and dogsitting her sister's Maltipoo, one-year-old Camille Dominique (whom is Reilly's twice-removed cousin through their common Poodle ancestors, the parents of Apple and great-grandparents of Apple's grandniece Tootsie—and the story of Apple, Reilly's mother, being the grandaunt of Tootsie, Camille's mother, are among the stories which she can't and didn't make up!).

"(Czarnecki is also in the process of getting her second book published.)"

"Forgiving Maximo Rothman"...

I quietly wondered (and not-so-quietly wonder) if Forgiving Maximo Rothman has anything about Pepi and Zoli in it (and maybe, if I'm blessed, other family members--besides other Rusznaks, not to mention Miklos and Sandor). For example, look what I recently copied and saved from JewishGen (with my own note at the end):


USCHYNSKIJ, Michail 05-May-1921
Russian
In Longwy
11176
Forced Labor A3355/2/2
A3355/90/TELI-VAA
9573

USZYNSKI, Franz
Polish
In Leonberg
12720
Political A3355/3/6
A3355/90/TELI-VAA
11193

Possible relatives


Who knows? After all, Great-Granddad was Michael ("We're Russian!"), his younger brother Francis, and his mom Katarina Szuanna Uszinskyova Gadjoszova. That reminds me, meanwhile, that I have to get back to writing down my family story (though can I really, as I'm learning new-to-me facts, etc. every or almost every day?).