Grave Distractions Publications Blog

Rex Deus The Families of the Grail by Cyndi and Tim Wallace-Murphy

2016-03-29T03:41:00.000-06:00

Grave Distractions Publications started a relationship with prolific author Tim Wallace-Murphy last year when we reissued Tim's The Genesis of a Tragedy: A Brief History of the Palestinian People. Now we're pleased to announce that we're not representing one Wallace-Murphy, but two. Cyndi Wallace-Murphy has co-authored Rex Deus: The Families of the Grail with her husband Tim. We're happy to say that Rex Deus: The Families of the Grail was released earlier this week, just in time for Cyndi and Tim's tour of New York and New Jersey next month.

Rex Deus: The Families of the Grail Synopsis

Did Jesus found a dynasty that is still with us today? Rex Deus: The Families of the Grail describes how Rex Deus, the descendants of the Twenty-Four High Priestly families of the Biblical Temple in Jerusalem went underground throughout Europe and kept their secret teaching alive despite terrible persecution. It describes how, after careful planning, they created the Order of the Knights Templar and laid the foundations for modern European culture. How their banking skills stimulated the growth of capitalism and banking and shows why they created an atmosphere of tolerance for the Cathars and other heretical groups. Their association with the legends of the Holy Grail and the veneration of the Black Madonna give us an indication of their true belief system. These families also influenced the Rosicrucians and played a vital, formative role in the foundation of Freemasonry to pass on what they believed were the true teachings of Jesus to the wider world.

Rex Deus: The Families of the Grail is currently available in both print and ebook editions at online retailers like: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Google Books. For a full listing, visit this book's page at the Grave Distractions Publications website. Also a preview Rex Deus: The Families of the Grail, can be found here.

About the Authors

Cynthia Wallace-Murphy is a Professional Registered Nurse specialising in cardiology. She is also a graduate of Marketing and Management. She has travelled extensively throughout Europe and spent some time in the Middle East. She has been researching Western Esoteric Spirituality with an emphasis on the Cathars, Knights Templar, Hermeticim, and Christianity. She returned to France in Languedoc-Rousillon in 2013 in order to study medieval cathedrals and the Cathar strongholds. Having an empathic feeling, a strong connection with Occitania, she decided to make it her permanent home where she currently resides with her husband Tim Wallace-Murphy in the foothills of the Midi Pyrènèes. She has published several articles on her experiences through travel in several books before embarking on a collaboration with her husband in their first joint book entitled Rex Deus: The Families of the Grail.

The Irish born internationally known author and lecturer, Tim Wallace-Murphy, is the author of thirteen published books, mostly about the history of a variety of heretical forms of spirituality. He once redefined heresy as, "The use of God's gift of Freewill in matters of Religion, Faith and Dogma."

Tim has appeared in some eight or nine TV documentaries and many of his interviews can be found on YouTube. He has given talks and lectures in a wide variety of venues, to Masonic Lodges, Spiritual groups, clubs and associations across the western world such as in Seattle and Long Beach on the West Coast of the USA, in Denver Colorado, in Santa Fe New Mexico. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, in Montreal and the Eastern townships in Canada, all across England, Scotland and Ireland, in France, Italy, Spain and in Prague.

Eleven of his works describe historical aspects of spirituality and cover a variety of themes including the Knights Templar, the Cathars, Rosslyn Chapel and the Western Esoteric Tradition as well as the Grail genre. The other two, including the most recent are more modern mainstream historical works, namely What Islam did for Us a study of how Islamic scholarship laid the foundations of most of the more valued aspects of European culture, and his latest work The Genesis of a Tragedy - A Brief History of the Palestinian People. Tim was provoked to write this work as the Palestinian side of this conflict is rarely heard in either Western Europe or the United States and if this ongoing running sore in East West relations is ever to be solved, the pain on both sides needs to be understood.

He has acted as a tour guide in some of the most beautiful and inspiring sacred sites in Europe. including Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, Avebury Stone Circle in England and Stonehenge. Tim has escorted people of all faiths and some of none around such fascinating and beautiful Cathedrals as Chartres, Notre Dame de Paris, Orleans and Amiens and the jewel in the crown in Paris, Sainte Chapelle.

Tim and his wife, Cyndi, live in Esperaza in the Languedoc in South Western France a few kilometres from the famous and controversial site of Rennes-le-Chateau and is constantly discovering new and fascinating aspects of this wondrous land.

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Five Strategies to Combat Writer’s Block

2016-03-20T15:31:00.001-06:00

We’ve all been there—if a gun were held to your head, you couldn’t write another sentence. Yes, friends and neighbors, we’re talking about writer’s block. The condition so familiar to anyone who has taken pen to paper sounds so trite to those who has never written anything longer than a term paper. To the rest of the world, you’re just making stuff up and how hard can that be? For the person with writer’s block, it’s more akin to running out of gas in Death Valley. There’s a certain amount of panic tinged with desperation when our common malady hits. Those are usually followed by the what ifs? What if I can never write anything ever again? What if I can’t even write a Tweet? What if I can only write about a heroic cat who has a trusty unicorn steed? (No offense intended to those writing in the cat/unicorn fantasy buddy genre.)

Writer’s block is real to us and it sucks. Like remedies for the hiccups, there are scads of “sure-fire methods” to stymie our common foe. The trouble is nothing works for everyone and no two writer’s creative process is the same. The real first step is to jot down some notes when you’re on fire. Those days that ink flows through your veins and your fingers can’t type fast enough to get all of the thoughts out of your head. Make notes on what was unique about that day. Was it a certain time of day? Did you go for a walk that morning? Was there a news story that sparked that over productive writing day? If you make notes long enough for those good writing days, you’ll probably come up with some common denominators. Then when you have writer’s block, introduce those stimuli that have worked in the past.

If you haven’t been taking notes on behaviors that have induced creativity, here are a few things we’ve found that might knock a bout of writer’s block in the metaphorical head:

1. Do something you hate.

Clean the house, rake leaves, go visit Aunt Hattie (who always tries to give you 20-year-old hard candies that taste like Vick’s VapoRub), or do whatever else you avoid like the plague. While this step might sound counter-intuitive, there is an elegant wisdom in performing a task you loath when faced with mental constipation. The chances are that while you’re carrying out your hated task, your mind will wander to stop you from thinking about the dreaded chore you’ve chosen. So what you’ve really done by “doing something you hate” is tricking yourself into a creative state. The bonus of this strategy is that you’ve probably needed to go see Aunt Hattie and have put it off for far too long.

2. Get some rest.

There is a certain percentage of people that creatively thrive under fatigue conditions. If this applies to you, just do the exact opposite of the advice in this section. Without citing clinical studies and the age old wisdom of your mother, we all know that a good night’s sleep is a universal cure-all. Sleep gives you a chance to mentally reset, which is exactly what you need when faced with writer’s block. If you’re under a deadline or something else is preventing you from an eight-hour kip, take an hour nap. Thomas Edison supposedly took catnaps throughout the day and night just so he could clear his head and start fresh whenever the awoke. While that might be an apocryphal story, the theory is sound. A little sleep could just hit your creative reset button.

3. Step away from the blinking cursor.

The taunting cursor is as good a visual symbol for writer’s block as any. The smug little intermittent box or line on your word processor taunts you with every on/off cycle. For all we know, the blinking might actually be sucking the words out of your soul. One thing is sure, get the hell away from the blinky thing. I’ve yet to run across a writer who actually said, “Staring at the cursor for three hours actually gave me an idea.” So close out of your word processor if you value your sanity.

4. Fall in love.

“I’m writing about 18th century pirates and falling in love has nothing to do with my plotline,” you might be thinking. If you're already married or attached, falling in love again might seem like a horrid idea. Take heart, the falling in love step won’t land you in divorce court or sleeping on a friend’s couch. There’s something inexorably linked with the creative process and matters of the heart. This might possibly be because we want to impress someone with our writing. So if you’ve already fallen in love, do something for that special person in your life that reminds you of when you fell in love. If you’re single, go out there and take a risk on someone that you’ve been thinking about just a little too much. If you’re single and there are no prospects in your life, go to a coffee shop and strike up a conversation with someone you think you can make a connection with. If none of that fits your situation or your comfort zone, call up the friend in the world you love the most. You don’t talk to them enough anyway. At very least, do something nice for someone else, even if you don’t know them. The point here is that, hopefully, love stimulates creativity. In the immortal words of Kid Rock, “Now get in the pit and try to love someone.”

5. Just say no.

There is always a temptation to enhance one’s creativity with various substances. Alcohol, energy drinks, Twinkies, cat videos on YouTube, or reading someone else’s work should all be no-goes during a bout of writer’s block. Whatever your vice of choice is, you’re already feeling low because you can’t write. Heaping some other unproductive behavior on top of the writer’s block can be disastrous. You’ll end up feeling hollow from the combination of both experiences. It’s also likely that what could have been a short stint of writer’s block will turn into a pity party hamstringing your writing even longer. Not to sound too airy-fairy, but if you’re involved with positive behaviors in trying to combat writer’s block, that same positive energy will help release the boa constrictor squeezing your imagination.

As previously mentioned in this post, there is no magic bullet to cure writer’s block. The only certainty about writer’s block is that it will happen. There’s little reason to get frustrated about something that is a certainty. Writer’s block could be the price one pays for creativity. Another way to look at it is that roadblocks do make a trip more interesting. So if writer’s block didn’t exist, would writing be as rewarding? If there was no internal enemy to face when writing, could one produce quality work? The more one treats writer’s block as an old college friend that wants to crash on your couch when he’s in town, rather than an enemy between our own ear, the better off you’ll be when it strikes.

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Pre-order Micah: The Sword of Malachi by Lee DuCote

2016-03-20T12:39:00.001-06:00

Grave Distractions Publications author Lee DuCote is one of those type authors that just never quits. On the heels of releasing Across Borders, we'd like to announce that Lee's first foray into the young adult genre, Micah: The Sword of Malachi is now available for pre-order in eBook formats. Micah is a departure in subject matter from Lee's other books, but fans of DuCote's work will instantly recognize his unique style and ability to craft a story. Micah: The Sword of Malachi will be released on 3 May 2016 and is available for eBook pre-order from Amazon, Google Books, and Smashwords.

Micah: The Sword of Malachi Synopsis

When lacrosse star Micah Spearman moved to the quiet little town of Seven Springs, he never expected to become such a significant part of his lacrosse team, his group of friends, or of the battle raging just beyond human reach. With a gift to see into the spiritual dimension, Micah learns he is part of a prophecy and must lead an army of guardians against legions of demons, all while trying to live a normal teenage life.

Navigating through high school can be a daunting task. When Micah finds himself falling in love with his friend Stephanie, he must be careful not to disrupt their group of friends—or attract attention from the demons that watch his every move. But high school will not be the biggest survival challenge he faces. Micah and friends soon find their world expanding far beyond, as Micah discovers his true purpose.

As the battle rages to find the Sword of Malachi, the young freshman finds himself falling deeper into a world of unknowns. Can Micah find the sword before all is lost? Will Stephanie give into her feelings for Micah? In Micah, the Sword of Malachi, you too will fall under the charm and the mysteries of Seven Springs.

About Author Lee DuCote

Lee DuCote has traveled throughout the world, researching cultures, people, and historical accounts to create his stories. A native of Louisiana, he writes to give hope and encouragement to others, as well as to entertain and spark the imagination.

Lee lives in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas with his wife, family, and pet raccoon. Lee is also the author of Fields of Alicia, Waterproof, and Across Borders. Lee is currently working on a number of other book projects.

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Robert Eisenman's The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant,and the Blood of Christ

2016-03-11T09:24:00.001-06:00

It’s been a long time coming, but we’ve re-released Professor Robert Eisenman’s classic work, The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant,and the Blood of Christ. We’ve done something a little different with this edition that we think will enhance the reading experience for everyone. Given the overall length of the book and the depth of material covered, we wanted to make sure The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ was as accessible as possible. In print, we’ve published the main text of The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ as a standalone print book. The newly edited and complete end notes, charts, maps, and photographs have been published as a separate edition called The New Testament Code Companion. The eBook editions of The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ contains the main text and the materials in The New Testament Code Companion.

While this combination of two separate print editions and an eBook edition is unconventional, there was a logic to this reasoning. First of all, we wanted readers to have the option of a side-by-side reading experience with the main text and the end materials. Flipping back and forth between endnotes and the main text isn’t always easy in a book this rich with materials. Secondly, we wanted to keep the cost of the main text as low as possible. Not everyone is interested in end materials, and we didn’t want to penalize those readers with a far more expensive book. So for those of you interested in the print edition of The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ, we have a number of options for obtaining the material in The New Testament Code companion.

For those wishing a “side-by-side” reading experience with the end materials, we have published a print edition of The New Testament Code Companion Edition (ISBN 9781944066109). The Companion Edition is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine on-line retailers.
A PDF is available for download, free of charge, at the publisher’s website. Visit our The New Testament Code Companion page to download this document. This document is perfect to pull up on a tablet while reading the main text to explore the end materials.
For those readers who purchased this edition via Amazon, you can take advantage of their Kindle MatchBook program. A free Kindle eBook edition of this text is available to you. Due to the flexibility of eBooks, all the end material is included in the digital edition. See this book’s page on Amazon for more details. This offer is bound to Amazon’s terms and conditions of the Kindle MatchBook program and may change without notification to the publisher.

As mentioned before, the eBook editions of The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ contains the back materials. So if you’re a print or eBook reader, all the materials are available to you at the best price possible.

The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ Synopsis.

In The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ world-renowned scholar and bestselling author Robert Eisenman uncovers the Truth and unravels the real code behind New Testament allusions like “this is the Cup of the New Covenant in my blood” and connects them to “the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus” and “drinking the Cup of the Wrath of God” in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In doing so, Eisenman demonstrates the integral relationship of James the Brother of Jesus to the Righteous Teacher of the Dead Sea Scrolls, deciphers the way the picture of “Jesus” was put together in the Gospels, and clarifies the real history of Palestine in the first century and, as a consequence, what can be known about the real “Jesus.” In paring away the traces of Greco-Roman anti-Semitism—which were deliberately introduced into “this picture” thereby tainting Western history ever since—The New Testament Code shows what happened in Palestine in that time, not what the enemies of those making war against Rome wanted people to think happened.

In making these arguments and exposing these revisions, overwrites, and falsifications that were introduced into the New Testament, Eisenman also explains the esoteric meaning of many of the usages with which we are all so familiar in the Western World. In doing so, he identifies the Scrolls as the literature of ‘the Messianic Movement in Palestine’ and ‘decodes’ many well-known and beloved sayings in the Gospels such as, “Every Plant which My Heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted,” “Do not throw Holy Things to dogs,” “A man shall not be known by what goes into his mouth but, rather, by what comes out of it,” and “These are the signs that the Lord did in Cana of Galilee.” Offering a thorough and in-depth, point-by-point analysis of James’ relationship to the Dead Sea Scrolls, he illumines such subjects as the “Pella Flight,” “the Wilderness Camps,” and Paul as an “Herodian,” exposing Peter’s true historical role as “a prototypical Essene,” who was used in the Gospels and the Book of Acts as a mouthpiece for Anti-Semitism, and demonstrating how, once we have found the Historical James, we have found the Historical Jesus.

He covers new archaeological discoveries along the Dead Sea, AMS radiocarbon dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the controversial almost miraculous appearance of the “James Ossuary” (which he considers having been based on his book on James) and the reasons for its being considered a fraud. A crucial new point that emerges in The New Testament Code is the identification of the document known as the MMT as a Letter from James to someone early Church Fathers call the “Great King of the Peoples beyond the Euphrates.” Readers will not be disappointed.

The crowning point of all his arguments will be his exposition of the relationship of “the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus” in the Dead Sea Scrolls to the ritual of “the Last Supper;” and ‘the Cup’ connected to both, to be but a parody–one of the other. The final mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls as they relate to Peter, Paul and James will be elucidated. Did Paul know the meaning of the famous Damascus Document, discovered in the Cairo Genizah in 1897, “to set the Holy Things up according to their precise specifications”? Or the reverse of it, as Peter was presented as discovering it in the Books of Acts—to make “no distinctions between Holy and profane”? These and many other questions will be revealed in The New Testament Code.

The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant,and the Blood of Christ is available in print and eBook editions at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine online retailers. You can read an excerpt of this text by clicking here.

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Barnes and Noble to Drop Nook Sales and App in the UK

2016-03-04T05:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon we received an email from the Barnes and Noble Nook team announcing that as

of 15 March 2016, they will no longer be selling digital editions in the United Kingdom. Here are the relevant portions of that email:

We are writing to announce an important change to our NOOK Service that will affect NOOK Press vendors publishing content in the United Kingdom. Effective March 15, 2016, NOOK will no longer sell digital content in the United Kingdom. The NOOK Store on NOOK devices sold in the UK, on the NOOK Reading App for Android, and at www.nook.com/gb will discontinue operations.

NOOK customers in the UK will continue to have access to purchased NOOK Books until May 31, 2016. After this date, NOOK has arranged for the award‑winning Sainsbury's Entertainment on Demand to provide access to customers' purchased NOOK Books.

There is no change to NOOK Service or NOOK Press in the United States...

We'd like to thank you for continuing to be a part of the NOOK Press community and sharing our passion for books. We will try to make the transition as smooth as possible for you and our customers who have purchased your titles in the UK.

We've redacted some items that are related to publishers outside the United States and how this change will effect those publishers.

There was no indication as to why Barnes and Noble will so abruptly discontinue service to the United Kingdom or why readers will not be able to access titles they've purchased after 31 May 2016. For those in the UK who have purchased the actual Nook eReader, there's no further information as to what the functionality of your device will be.

For readers who have purchased Grave Distractions Publications titles in the UK, we apologize that Barnes and Noble has pulled the rug out from under you. We are contractually bound to the terms and service agreements of our digital vendors and other than voice our concerns, there's not much we can do about their decision. We also suggest that you contact Barnes and Noble with any questions and concerns you might have about these changes.

As for Grave Distractions Publications, we will still continue to distribute our titles in the United Kingdom via Amazon, Google Books, Gardeners, and other ancillary eBook vendors.

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New Release The Metaphysics of Spiritual Healing and the Power of Affirmative Prayer by Reverend Michael Carter

2016-02-05T07:51:00.000-06:00

Can Prayer Truly Heal Body and Soul? In The Metaphysics of Spiritual Healing and the Power of Affirmative Prayer, Reverend Carter continues to focus on the God-Power that resides in each and every one of us. Acknowledging that traditional Christianity teaches that we are indeed separate from our Creator or Source, Reverend Carter emphasizes that we can be transformed by "the renewing of our minds" using the techniques of spiritual metaphysics and affirmative prayer. When we really come to believe that we are not separate from but indeed part of the energy and Intelligence many of us refer to as "God," we become happier, more loving, and fulfilled human beings. In this way, the world we have awaited for will eventually become the world attained.

This title is now available in print and ebook editions at fine online retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. For a full listing of vendors, visit this book's page at the Grave Distractions Publications website here.

About Author Reverend Michael Carter

Reverend Michael J. Carter is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. He moved to New York City in 1980 and lived there for 25 years, working as a professional actor before moving to Asheville with his family. Michael is an ordained Interfaith minister and received his BA Degree in Letters from the College of New Rochelle where he graduated cum laude. He received his Masters In Divinity Degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City (class of 2000). While serving various Unitarian Universalist Congregations in New York, Michael was trained as an anti-racism trainer and has been recognized by President Clinton for his efforts. Michael was also a weekly columnist for the Asheville Citizen Times. Rev. Carter now serves as the minister for Unitarian Universalist Congregation of The Swananoa Valley, in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina.

Reverend Carter has written articles on UFOs and Religion for such publications as UFO Magazine, Alien Encounters(A British Publication), the MUFON UFO Journal, Contact Forum, the S.P.A.C.E. Newsletter (Support Program for Abductees Contact Encounters) a UFO support group in New York City. He has spoken at UFO Conferences such as the Contact In The Desert 2015, ARE Ancient Mysteries Conference, 2nd Philadelphia, Need To Know Conference, the Annual Long Island UFO Conference with Budd Hopkins, as well as appearing on radio and TV appearances across the nation. Reverend Carter has also appeared on Japanese television discussing the Bible and UFOs.

A long-time UFO experiencer, Carter lectures extensively on the topic of religion and UFOs. He has appeared on the Sci-Fi Channel and Steven Spielberg production of Abduction Diaries,The Real 4400, the nationally syndicated Coast to Coast AM radio show, and is a frequent guest on the History Channel’s production of Ancient Aliens.

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Tim Wallace-Murphy's The Genesis of a Tragedy: A Brief History of the Palestinian People

2016-01-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

We've been waiting to make this announcement until this title hit the streets. Tim Wallace-Murphy is the newest member of the Grave Distractions Publications family. We've reissued a previously eBook only edition of Tim's The Genesis of a Tragedy: A Brief History of the Palestinian People. Tim Wallace-Murphy is a well known author and lecturer who has written twelve previous books on a variety of historical and spiritual themes. As a young idealist of Jewish extraction, steeped in military history, he was completely taken in by the mythology surrounding the foundation of the state of Israel. It was romantic, dramatic, appealing, and so professionally and pervasively promoted that he went for it hook, line and sinker. Truth did not even begin to impinge on this fantasy until after the bombing of Beirut and the TV news broadcasts about the massacres at Sabra and Shatilla. Then he began to search for the truth.

Tim is no stranger to contentious issues and he tackles the controversial subject of Israeli/Palestinian history with deep and penetrating research and then lets the facts speak for themselves. The long catalogue of atrocities committed against the Palestinians are largely founded on official Israeli sources, government documents, Hagganah archives and the memoirs and diaries of a variety of Israeli politicians and generals. On reading the resulting narrative, the mythology that was created to describe the birth of Israel vanishes like snow on a hot shovel and the powerful and all pervasive litany of lies promulgated by successive Israel governments and their supporters are exposed as the distorted lying propaganda that it really is. Israel has become the experts at blaming the victims of the persecution it has conducted for over 70 years.

The Genesis of a Tragedy: A Brief History of the Palestinian People is now available in print and eBook formats at a number of online retailers. The previous link as a current listing of vendors. If you're interested in this title, you also might like Islamic Law in Palestine and Israel: A History of the Survival of Tanzimat and Sharia in the British Mandate and the Jewish State by Robert Eisenman as well.

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Shelfari Merges with Goodreads: What Authors Need to Know

2016-01-17T12:22:00.000-06:00

Announced in January, Amazon will be merging Shelfari and with Goodreads on 16 March 16. We do hate to see Shelfari go simply because of all the great data fields that platform had to help readers find books. However, since Amazon bought Goodreads a while back, it was inevitable that one of the platforms would have to go. Given that Goodreads is infinitely more popular than Shelfari, it wasn't a hard decision for Amazon.

So, you're an author that's spent time seeding your titles with great data about your book... where will all of this data go? On March 16th, all of your character summaries, important places, tags, and other salient data about your book will be somewhere in a cyber-warehouse never to be seen from again. Shelfari is allowing users to export all of their data in a CSV file up until March 16th. (For those not familiar with this file type, it's basically a universal version of a spreadsheet. You can open CSV files with Microsoft Excel or Open Office's spreadsheet.) To export all of your data, sign into Shelfari and go to this link. Hit the export button and Shelfari will then email you the CSV file within 24-48 hours. We're suggesting that if you've plugged data into the Shelfari system, you go through the export process. You never know when you might need that data somewhere down the road.

You can also export your library to your Goodreads account if you're not interested in saving your user inputted data. If you're not a Goodreads member, you'll have to set up an account to export your Shelfari library. You can signup for a Goodread accounts here. Now that you have a new or previously existing Goodreads account, sign into Shelfari and go to this link. Hit the export button and your Shelfari library will show up within 24-48 hours in your Goodreads account. For a full FAQ of most all things related to the merger, sign in to Shelfari and follow this link.

According to that FAQ, books with these statuses in Shelfari will be able to be found in the coorsponding statuses/sections of Goodreads:

Shelfari	Goodreads
I plan to read	to-read
I'm reading	currently-reading
I've read	read
Favorites	Shelfari-favorites
Own	At Goodreads, it will show up under "Owned books"
Wish list	Shelfari-wishlists
Tags (e.g. mystery)	Shelves will be created with the tag name and books with the tag will be placed in those shelves. If a shelf already exists in Goodreads with a tag name, tags will be prefixed with "shelfari-" (e.g. shelfari-mystery)

Here's the million dollar question that we haven't found a good answer for, will links to books in the Shelfari system redirect to Goodreads after the merger? There's nothing in Shelfari's FAQ about that, so we wouldn't count on it. We're going to keep our present Shelfari links live on our website until there's a definite answer. We also suggest that authors do the same on their websites just in case there are those out there who haven't gotten the word about the merger.

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Pre-order Lee DuCote's Across Borders

2016-01-17T11:05:00.000-06:00

Lee DuCote has followed up Fields of Alica and Waterproof with a tale of intrigue in Across Borders. In Across Borders, Lawson Caine, an eight year veteran of the Border Patrol, is stationed in Presidio Texas with legendary lawman Capt. James Garrett. Lawson, who is from a long linage of lawmen, has gained the respect and reverence from his team, Dale Chanson, Terry Bennet, and the crazy member, Alex Sweeny. Together as a team their mission is to protect the US by patrolling the borders of Mexico for illegal aliens and the never ending drug trade.

James Garrett, who goes by the name Cap, has trained many young rookies from the academy and served as a father figure before turning them over to other stations within the four states that border Mexico. Their greatest task and personal vendetta is to capture a famous smuggling lord who is barbaric and callous leaving many Mexicans to die in the rugged terrain of West Texas. Over the last few years Lawson and Sweeny have built a brotherhood and together they work through the struggle of Sweeny becoming a widower and raising his eight year old daughter all while keeping a guarded eye on the border.

Lawson never expected anything to come between his dedication with the Border Patrol and his brotherhood with Sweeny until he meets local pharmacy owner, Lia Gonzales. Against her father’s wishes and the dissension she causes with her family Lia continues to see Lawson not realizing the inevitable consequences. Love blind, Lawson leads his team into a dangerous situation with Lia’s brother, who works for the smuggling lord, and loses more than his relationship with Lia.

Will Lawson see the mistake he is making by continuing a relationship with Lia? Will Lia defy her father and keep a deep and passionate relationship with the Border Patrol Agent? In this story of protecting others on the border and the heartache of relationships you will find yourself in the lives of those who have sworn to uphold the law, no matter the cost.

The eBook edition of Across Borders will drop on 1 Feb 16 and is available for pre-order from Amazon, Google, and Smashwords.

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New Release: Pastures of Tender Grass by Charles Millson

2015-11-15T15:10:00.000-06:00

Grave Distractions Publications is happy to announce the release of Charles Millson's first novel, Pastures of Tender Grass. The Old Testament story of Mephibosheth, the grandson of King Saul, is summoned to the palace of the new king, David. What does David want with him in Jerusalem? Perhaps he is being summoned to his death as a potential rival to the throne. And what part does King Saul's former servant play in all this? Prince Jonathan, the young man's father, and king David's best friend had died in battle many years before, the same day that the young man became crippled in both legs. Living in a place of great poverty, perhaps God was about to bless the young man far beyond his wildest dreams. Author Charles Millson brings the reader into this intriguing and exciting Bible story, as Mephibosheth witnesses King David at the height of his power and as he meets the woman who would change his life forever, Bathsheba. Palace intrigue, murders, revenge, but most of all, the blessings and mercy of God are all found in these pages. And the story poses the question: Could this young man be the inspiration for one of the scripture's most beloved passages, Psalm 23? Included in the book are maps, a timeline, a genealogy, and a description of each main character, as well as the author's notes on the background of the story.

Pastures of Tender Grass is available in both print and eBook formats. Please visit the Online Bookstore tab of this blog, or the Pastures of Tender Grass book page at the Grave Distractions Publications website for a full list of vendors. If you would like to read an exerpt from Charles Millson's Pastures of Tender Grass, please visit the preview page on our website.

About Author Charles Millson

Charles Millson is a lifelong southerner. He is a teacher, minister, and advocate in a small town in middle Tennessee. After teaching in the Memphis, Tennessee area for over a decade, Millson turned his attention and talents to ministry in Romania and Costa Rica. He is also the author of More Than Rubies: Other W omen in the Old Testament, a Bible workbook that looks at the lessons we can learn from the lives of some of the lesser-known women of the Hebrew Scriptures. He has also published a book of poetry, has been published in The Old Hickory Review, and has been a contributor to People’s World. His sports writing has been featured on such blogs as Rivals.com, where he was a managing editor, and on Bleacher Report. His ministry has taken him to work in the inner-city with low income housing, and currently he heads a nonprofit food bank in his small town. He can be heard weekly on a one hour radio talk-show called Westmoreland Wednesdays on WTNK out of Hartsville, Tennessee. In addition, Millson is a minister at a church in Westmoreland, Tennessee. He is the father of one son, Shawn, and he enjoys spending time with his English bulldog, Bucky.

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Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-le-Chateau 2nd Edtion by Henry Lincoln Is Now in Print

2015-09-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

For all those who have been patiently waiting for the second edition of Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-le-Chateau to be released in print, your wait is over. The listings for Henry Lincoln's backstory to the New York Times best selling Holy Blood, Holy Grail is now available in print at Amazon. In the coming weeks, other retailers' listings will come on line and we will update those links at the Key to the Sacred Pattern book page at the Grave Distractions Publications website. You can also check the availability of the eBook version of Key to the Sacred Pattern on the same page.

Key to the Sacred Pattern Synopsis

Ten years before the publication of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Henry Lincoln began his odyssey into the mysteries of an insignificant village in the French Pyrenees. In the 1890s, Bérenger Saunière, the penniless priest of Rennes-le-Château became spectacularly wealthy after finding coded parchments hidden in his church. His largesse transformed the village. His Magdala Tower and his mysterious renovation of his church still stand as silent testament to the enduring mysteries of Rennes-le-Château.

Fifty years after Saunière’s death, Henry Lincoln picked up the trail to discover the truth behind the priest’s unexplained wealth. Lincoln’s dogged and methodical research culminated in three BBC television documentaries and the world-wide best-sellers Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Messianic Legacy, which put forward the hypothesis that perhaps the priest had stumbled upon facts known only to a secret society, the Priory of Sion. Is it possible that Jesus was married? Did he father a blood-line which still survives? Was the Priory of Sion behind the Knights Templars ? Did Saunière find some – or all – of their fabled treasure?

Clue after clue was uncovered by Lincoln and, in Key to the Sacred Pattern, he lays down the history of Lincoln’s quest. It is largely due to Lincoln’s dogged and methodical research into Bérenger Saunière, Rennes-le-Château, the Knights Templar, and the Priory of Sion that the world has seen a glimpse into one of history’s most compelling mysteries. Certainly Lincoln’s work has been generously built on by both fiction and non-fiction authors and the resulting cultural phenomena centering around Bérenger Saunière, Rennes-le-Château, the Knights Templar, and the Priory of Sion.

But to say that Key to the Sacred Pattern is the chronicle of a hunt for lost Templar gold or chasing a shadowy secret society would be a mistake. The true gem of Key to the Sacred Pattern is Lincoln’s presentation of the unarguable and astonishing facts behind this strange and gripping mystery. Far older than Jesus, it stretches back into an undreamt past. Is there a geometric pattern to the placement of holy places throughout Europe? Discover the true Rennes-le-Château and the reality which lie beyond the mountaintop village. This second edition of Key to the Sacred Pattern contains additional material as well as new and updated images.

About Author Henry Lincoln

Henry Lincoln has had a long and distinguished career as not only an author, but a television presenter, scriptwriter and actor as well. Most notably, Lincoln was a co-author of the 1982 New York Times bestseller, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. At the time the controversial The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail introduced a majority of the world to the shadowy secret society the Priory of Sion, a treasure hunt in the tiny French village of Rennes-le-Château, and the theory that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail also served as the basis for Dan Brown’s 2003 best-seller The Da Vinci Code. In the years since The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail was released, Lincoln has continued dissecting the mysteries of Rennes-le-Château in such works as Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-le-Château, The Holy Place: Discovering the Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World, The Messianic Legacy (with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh), and The Templars' Secret Island: The Knights, The Priest and The Treasure (with Erling Haagensen).

Serving as the basis for his written works, Lincoln wrote and narrated the following documentaries for BBC2’s series Chronicle: The Lost Treasure of Jerusalem...? (1972), The Priest, the Painter, and the Devil (1974), and The Shadow of the Templars (1979).

Aside from his extensive book catalog, Lincoln is also known for co-writing three Doctor Who multi-part serials starring Patrick Troughton: "The Abominable Snowmen" (1967), "The Web of Fear" (1968) and "The Dominators "(1968). Lincoln is also the creator of the recurring character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Lincoln currently lives in Rennes-les-Bains. At the moment, Lincoln is archiving research materials he has gathered in a 40-year quest to discover the truth behind the Rennes-le-Château mysteries.

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In Celebration of Pope Francis' Visit to the United States

2015-09-26T11:30:00.000-05:00

With Pope Francis’ visit to the United States this week, Grave Distractions Publications author Bruce Davis’ Huffington Post article, “Is Pope Francis, St. Francis of Assisi Living In Our Midst?”, couldn’t be more timely. As usual, Bruce’s piercing insight into religious mysticism is both enlightening and thought provoking.

In celebration of the publication of Bruce’s latest article and Pope Francis’ historic visit to the United States, we have a special offer on Bruce’s The Love Letters: Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi Meet Pope Francis and Dr. James T. Baker’s two act play, Under the Sign of the Waterbearer: A Life of Thomas Merton. Through our printing partner’s website, we’re offering a 20% discount on both of these books through 15 October 2015. Just click on the links below, or the embedded link above, to be taken to the appropriate book’s listing. Simply use discount code MHCK3EQC at checkout to receive your discount on either book.


The Love Letters: Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi Meet Pope Francis

Under the Sign of the Waterbearer: A Life of Thomas Merton

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Author Lee DuCote Book Tour

2015-09-16T10:48:00.000-05:00

In support of his work, Grave Distractions Publications author Lee DuCote is hitting the road! The author of Fields of Alica and Waterproof will be making a number of appearances to discuss his work and sign books throughout the southern United States. Below is a listing of the event dates we have on hand. Lee will be adding dates and venues as they become available. For up to the minute details on Lee's events, follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instrgram, or sign up for email alerts from Lee using the form at the bottom of this page.

Lee DuCote Book Signings and Appearances

19 September 2015, 1pm-3pm, at Pages and Palette in Fairhope, Alabama.
3 October 2015, 7pm-9pm, at the Jitterbug Coffee in Heber Springs
10 October 2015 11am-1pm at the Barnes and Noble in Shreveport, Louisiana.
15 October 2015 noon-2pm, at the Book Mart and Cafe in Starkville, Mississippi.
24 October 2015 11am-1pm, at the Nightbird Bookstore in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

For additional information about Lee DuCote, or any of our authors, you can follow Grave Distractions Publications on Twitter @GraveDistract, Facebook, Pintrest, or LinkedIn.

New Release: Under the Sign of the Waterbearer: A Life of Thomas Merton

2015-09-16T10:16:00.000-05:00

In an ongoing agreement with Green Hills Press, Grave Distractions Publications has released a second edition of Western Kentucky University history professor James T. Baker's play Under the Sign of the Waterbearer: A Life of Thomas Merton. This play was originally published in the late 1970s and this edition has new material and an afterword from the author. Under the Sign of Waterbearer is perfect for high school, college, or community theater productions.

About Under the Sign of the Waterbearer: A Life of Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton, known in religion as Father Louis, was born in France, in his words "under the sign of the waterbearer," in 1915. He studied at Cambridge in England and at Columbia in New York. As a student he lived what his friends have described as a bawdy life but turned from it to become a devout Roman Catholic. As America entered World War II he entered the abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, and for 27 years he was a Trappist monk, in the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. During his early days there he wrote an autobiography which became the third bestselling nonfiction book of the year 1949 and went on to write more than 50 more until in 1968 he at last went back into the world to meet with monastic leaders in Asia.

He had entered Gethsemani on December 10, 1941, when he was nearing his twenty-seventh birthday; and on December 10, 1968, as he was nearing his fifty-fourth birthday, he was accidentally electrocuted while attending a religious conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Many in the West consider him a saint and many in the East consider him a manifestation of the Buddha. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has been compared to the Confessions of Saint Augustine No one who reads it or any other of his books is ever the same again.

The author of this play, James Thomas Baker, knew Thomas Merton and wrote the original version of the play soon after Merton's death. This completely revised and rewritten version, done as an expression of love and admiration in 2015, is to commemorate his hundred birthday.

Under the Sign of the Waterbearer: A Life of Thomas Merton is now available in print and eBook editions at Amazon and will shortly be carried by other major online retailers.

Follow Grave Distractions Publications on Twitter @GraveDistract, Facebook, Pintrest, or LinkedIn.

New Release: Waterproof by Lee DuCote

2015-09-16T10:00:00.003-05:00

Grave Distractions Publications is happy to announce we've signed up-and-coming author, Lee DuCote. Lee has penned two books to date, Waterproof and Fields of Alicia. We have picked up both books for reissue and currently have published the second edition of Waterproof. In the coming weeks, a new edition of Fields of Alicia will be on the market. In support of his work, Lee is currently engaged in touring southern states for appearances and book signings. For up to the minute details on Lee's events, follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instrgram, or sign up for email alerts from Lee using the form at the bottom of this page.

About Waterproof

In Waterproof, Spencer LeJeune, the once-nerdy kid who grew into an attractive young man, puts it all on the line to find the Spanish Treasure Barge and to finally win over the heart of his childhood crush, Toni Benoit. After nearly twenty years apart, their reunited friendship quickly turns into a suspenseful treasure hunt, as they try to outwit a ruthless fifth-generation Spanish pirate. Will Spencer win Toni’s heart and find the treasure before it costs him the lives of those he loves, and millions in silver and gold? Can Toni trust herself to fall in love—and can she tame the treasure-hunter’s heart?

Currently, Waterproof is available in print and ebook editions at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine on line retailers.

Follow Grave Distractions Publications on Twitter @GraveDistract, Facebook, Pintrest, or LinkedIn.

Author Tips: Five Things To Do Before Your First Book Is Released

2015-08-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest questions we get from first time, and sometimes veteran, authors is, “Is there anything I need to do to prepare for the release of my book?” Of course, this is assuming your book is ready to roll and you feel like you’re sitting on your thumbs waiting for your book to drop. Here are five things any indie author can do before your release date that will help you in marketing and tracking feedback for your book.

1. Google Alerts. This lesser known functions of the all-seeing internet eye that is Google will email you alerts when certain keywords are published online. At a minimum, you should set up Google Alerts for your name and book title. When Google crawls sites that mention your name or book’s title, you’ll get an email with a short description of the page and a link to the mention. We’ve found that this service doesn’t catch 100% of keyword mentions and is limited to when Google’s algorithms crawl web pages. So don’t think that you’re getting up to the minute intelligence on when bloggers or other folks review or mention your book. However, it is a handy tool for following up on promotional opportunities and to find out what the buzz is about your book. Google Alerts is free and requires a Google account to access. You can find out more about Google Alerts at this link.

2. Secure Domain Names. Even if you’re not a web design guru, you should purchase a domain name, if available, for your name and your book’s title. (If your book title is unbearably long, consider some truncated version that anyone wanting more information about your book can easily remember.) In the best case scenario, you should design an author website and a separate website for your book. This will give you two different web platforms to promote your works which means an increased chance of potential readers finding you online. If you’re not web savvy enough to create your own website, securing these domain names will ensure no one else can should you want to create these sites in the future. There’s nothing more frustrating than deciding it’s time to make a website only to find out the domain name you want has been registered by someone else. There are plenty of drop and drag website design platforms (Yola, Wix, and Weebly all are easy to use) that make creating basic websites a simple affair. You should seriously consider spending the time to learn how create, or at very least update, sites using one of these services. One final note on websites, don’t get a free website from your hosting platform that assigns your domain name. This practice doesn’t look professional and your potential readers will think that your writing might not be professional as well.

3. Shore up your social media presence. Just like domain names, if you haven’t signed up for accounts on all the relevant social media sites, get to it. Accounts for you as an author on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and LinkedIn should be claimed for the same reasons you should be claiming domain names. Even if you never use these platforms, which you should, they will be there if you ever want to take advantage of them. One note on Facebook, you should create an author fan page that is separate from your personal Facebook account. Most of your friends don’t always want to hear about your writing and you might not want your fans knowing about your personal life. If you want to create a fan page for your book as well, that’s great. However, it might be difficult for you to maintain both pages with enough content attract readers to both fan pages.

4. Keep a list of websites or blogs that you frequent. The chances are that if you’re writing on a specific topic, you’re visiting websites or blogs that relate to that topic. Start keeping a list of these websites with links to the webmaster or relevant writers on that site. When your book comes out, send them a press release about your book. If that blog or website has piqued your interest as a writer, they might show you some love by passing along the word about your book. You might also drop the hint to bloggers that you’d be willing to post a guest blog about a topic relevant to their site.

5. Take the time to think about what’s next. Before you start getting reviews on Amazon or see sales figures, plan what you’re next project is going to be. Many first time authors are discouraged by the results of their first book. If you do not take the time to plan your next project now, sans the background noise of your first book’s release, you might be tempted to give up. Insert any platitude you like here: “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” “There is no try, there is only do and not do,” or “Winners never quit and quitters never win” should suffice. Trite as they are, these statements are also true. Having your next project planned out will minimize the chances of never taking to the keyboard again. You have more stories to tell, so get out there and tell them.

Follow Grave Distractions Publications on Twitter @GraveDistract, Facebook, Pintrest, or LinkedIn.

Author Tips: Understanding and Recording Expenses for Federal Income Tax Returns

2015-08-07T09:11:00.000-05:00

With the year over half gone, remember when you were doing your 2014 taxes and swore an oath that “next year will be different”? If you did, you’re in good company. While the accounting department at Grave Distractions Publications ban the practice of using shoeboxes for receipts sometime in the not so distant past, we took a good look at our practices over the past tax year. After this fit of introspection, we thought we’d share some of the tools and tips that are sure to help out the writers and freelancers in the coming tax year. Please keep in mind that we’re just giving friendly advice and you are strongly advised to seek the counsel of a licensed tax or accounting professional.

Most people think that you have to get complicated tax programs or amass a vast knowledge of double entry accounting to maintain good records for income tax preparation. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The key to smooth tax preparation is being disciplined about your record keeping. That’s easier said than done, but you have to carve out time on a scheduled periodic basis to keep your books. If you do not spend a little time each week or two making records, you will lose and/or forget information that could reduce your income tax bill.

The key to reducing your debt to Uncle Sam is to claim all of your legitimate business expenses. If you’re an author that hasn’t set up a company for your writing endeavors, or only write part-time and have a day job, you’re probably classified by the IRS as self-employed for your writing efforts. This means that you’re probably mingling your personal finances with your business finances. We strongly suggest opening a separate bank account that your writing income and expenses are deposited and paid from. This will make tracking your cash expenses much easier than trying to break those expenses out from your personal living expenses. If you’re not interested in opening up a separate bank account, try using a single credit card for all of your business expenses. With either method, download your statements every month to a spreadsheet and you have an easy to keep up with expense record.

Understanding what constitutes a legitimate business expense is the second key to claiming every business deduction due to you. Expenses can be classified as either cash or non-cash. Cash expenses are easy to understand. You purchase a good or service that is directly related to your business of generating income through writing. Some examples of cash expenses that could be considered a legitimate business expense are:

Communications (Skype credit purchased for overseas interviews and cell phone usage. Cell phone usage is a thorny area if you use your cell for both business and personal use. You’ll have to keep a record of how much time you spend on business calls versus personal calls to be able to ascertain what portion of your cell bill is deductible. You might consider a second cell phone for business purposes or a VoIP service that is only used for the writing business to sort business for personal cell phone use.)
Office supplies (Pens, paper, printer ink, post-it notes, software, etc.)
Postage (Sending promotional materials, review copies, and contracts.)
Professional organizations dues (These have to be directly related to the business of writing. If you belong to the Rotary Club, unless you’re writing about the Rotary Club, you couldn’t deduct your membership dues.)
Professional services (Accounting services, editing, cover design, layout, publicists, and website design / domain names.)
Promotional copies (Both print and eBook editions of your book sent to reviewers.)
Reference books and materials (Used for researching a book project. Even if you haven't finished a book in a given tax year, you may be able to claim research materials.)
Travel (Hotel room and meals for an out-of-town book festivals, book signing, interview, or research. Travel expenses can get hinky in the IRS codes, so check with your accountant on what is allowed.)

Non-cash expenses are a little more difficult to wrap your mind around. These are items that negatively impact the business of writing, but you don’t actually lay out any greenbacks for. Some of these non-cash expenses are:

Bad debts (Have you been stiffed on payment for an article you wrote or royalties owed to you?)
Depreciation (This is a whole ball of wax that needs, like everything else in this article, needs to be discussed with your tax professional. Basically, depreciation is an element of the tax code that rewards you for purchasing new durable goods like computers or printers. The mentality is that a durable good loses value over time and, therefore, the expense can be metered out over what the IRS considers the “useable life” of that good. In most cases, it’s better to depreciate out a durable good rather than taking the expense for purchase on the front end. Once again, talk to your accountant about this one...)
Home office (You can deduct a portion of your rent/mortgage, utilities, property tax, and insurance for a space in your home solely used for business purposes. This is one of those expenses that is a hybrid cash and non-cash expense. Since you’re paying for a home anyway, claiming a home office acts like a non-cash expense. Like depreciation, you need professional guidance on this one. Usually, a home office is linked to a proportion of the square footage in your home your home office takes up. So if you have a 2000 sq. ft. home and your office takes up 200 sq. ft., you can deduct 10% of your rent and utilities for that office. If you overestimate the value of your home office, you’re committing tax fraud. If you underestimate a home office, you’re paying tax dollars you shouldn’t. So be very careful with this classification of expenses.
Mileage (This has a cash component of gas and vehicle maintenance, but the IRS allows a flat rate for each mile you drive for your business. The rate can change, so check for this year’s rate. You can claim either gas and maintenance or the flat IRS rate. It’s generally better to take the IRS rate and that’s why we’ve considered it a non-cash expense. The IRS has strict record keeping guidelines for mileage, so keep your records to IRS standards. Some places you could claim mileage for is: banking, book signings, driving to meetings with those providing professional services, and post office runs could count as legitimate mileage expenses.)

Talk about all of these expense classifications with your accountant to see what you can and cannot deduct on your federal income tax. Just remember that every dollar you can claim as a legitimate business expense will reduce your gross income and, therefore, will reduce your overall tax bill. Yes, it’s a pain to keep up with all of this. However, trying to make money at writing is hard enough without leaking your hard-won profits to “the man.” Just make sure you’re claiming expenses that are within IRS guidelines, consult an accountant or tax professional, and keep good records. After all that, don’t forget to write!

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Author Tips: Generate Income from Affiliate Partnerships

2015-07-22T09:21:00.001-05:00

Anyone who has written a book knows how hard it is to make a buck on their work. One of the problems facing authors is the pervasive thought that “the only way I can make money is by selling my book.” That mindset automatically shuts down the possibility that there might be other ways to generate income from your work. Authors who are successful at generating income view any book project as a small business. If you opened up a retail store, you would tell someone that they were destined for failure if they just sold one item. The book business is no different than retail. Authors must seek out ways to generate multiple streams of income from a single project to reap any financial rewards.

One passive way we’ve found to generate extra income is through affiliate partnerships. An “affiliate partnership,” or sometimes known as an “affinity partnership”, is a term coined by a marketing guru that slightly obfuscates how and what these programs are. Basically, an affiliate partner is someone who advertises a website and is paid on a by the click or a percentage of sales basis. So you’re getting paid for advertising and promoting a specific website. Here’s how these programs generally work. After being approved as an affiliate partner by a website, you are given links, banner ads, or other online tools that are specifically linked to your account. When someone visits your website and clicks on one of those links, you are paid a percentage for anything purchased on that site while their browser is open. (Per click payments are much less common in affiliate partnerships for obvious reasons, but they do exist.) Amazon, Barnes, and Noble, and Book Depositary are all online booksellers with affiliate type partnerships.

Here’s a practical example from the perspective of an author that has an approved affiliate partnership with an online bookseller. On your blog or website you’ve posted a link for your book from a bookseller, A. Someone visits your website and is intrigued by your book and clicks on that link. After reading the description of your book, our visitor decides he / she isn’t interested but does remember he / she was going to buy a copy of Go Set a Watchman. Since that person purchases Harper Lee’s book while he / she has entered the bookseller’s website through your link, you get a percentage of that sale. You’ve made a little money for someone not buying your book. (If you didn’t notice, we inserted an Amazon link in the first reference to Go Set a Watchman. It’s really that easy...)

Of course, you don’t just have to slave affiliate partnership links to your book. Most affiliate partnerships have unique reference codes slaved to your account for any item sold on your partner’s website. So if you’re writing a blog post about a book you’ve referenced in your book, use your affiliate partner link to that book in your post. If you are tweeting about a product you’ve recently seen, use your affiliate partner link in your tweet. Does your affiliate partner have a banner ad for their digital reader? Place that ad on your website and you’ll open another potential for income after someone clicks on the banner ad.

While all of this seems too good to be true, affiliate partnerships do exist and are relatively easy to set up. As with anything in the business world, there are some things to watch out for. First, keep in mind that the percentages you’ll be making on affiliate link sales are relatively small. The going rate is anywhere between 3-6% of the final purchase price. (Commonly these percentages increase with purchase volume.) Secondly, closely review the terms of service for any affiliate partnership you are evaluating. Some of these partners stipulate that you cannot have multiple affiliate partner links on your website. This means that if you’ve signed up as an affiliate partnership with booksellers A and B, you won’t be able to post links to both. Some affiliate partners stipulate that you cannot link to products you are directly selling. This is a bit of a gray area if you have a publisher. Technically the publisher is selling your book and not you. Just be sure to clarify that fine point before entering into an agreement with a vendor who has this stipulation. Finally, you have to keep up with changes websites make in their affiliate partner programs. What was acceptable when you started your partnership will likely change over time. Don’t get caught being in violation of your ToS agreement through ignorance of changes.

More than likely you’re not going to buy that Ferrari you’ve had your eye on with income from affiliate partner links. However, you’re creating a potential stream of income for altering links you’re probably already throwing out into the internet universe. The other benefit is that affiliate partnerships are a “fire and forget” prospect. Once you’ve created and posted a link, it’s always out there with the potential to generate income. Of course the more links(and traffic to your website) you have, the greater your chances of success are.

Follow Grave Distractions Publications on Twitter @GraveDistract, Facebook, Pintrest, or LinkedIn.

Author Tips: Social Media Ideas and Tools

2015-07-13T10:01:00.002-05:00

Even though social media platforms, like Facebook, have done their darnest to limit post views for both fan pages and personal pages to stimulate “boost post” pay services, social media is still a powerful tool for any author. There are a couple of issues that our authors come to us when dealing with their own social media marketing efforts. The first and foremost is, “I just don’t have time to get on Facebook or Twitter” or “I never think about posting anything.” The sad truth is that if you’re using these excuses to duck social media, there’s probably some other reason you’re shying away from social media. Either you aren’t getting enough follows, your posts aren’t being seen by enough people, or you simply don’t feel like you know enough about social media to properly utilize it. If you fall into that category, here are a few tools and tips that are sure to help any author that is struggling with the social media monster.

1. If time or forgetfulness is truly an issue for you, try using a third party client to manage your social media. There are a number of wonderfully useful social media tools out there that allow you to manage all of your social media accounts from one platform. Hootsuite and Social Sprout are two clients that give you the ability to view and post from several different social media platforms all in one place. There are scads of third-party social media clients out there with different functionality and rates (from free to a monthly fee). Do some searching for the functions that will best fit your needs and take one out for a trial.

Many of these platforms also give you the ability to schedule posts. This is probably one of the most powerful tools that any third party client can offer the busy author. (Note, some social media platforms give you the ability to schedule posts. But if you’re looking for an all your social media in one place solution, third party clients are worth utilizing.) The best practice when utilizing scheduled posts is to set aside time each week to load up your social media accounts with posts or tweets. By doing this, you have a week’s worth of basic social media content knocked out at one time, and you don’t have to take time off during your work week scrambling for content. Also, if you have a scheduled interview on a radio show, podcast, or anywhere else you can go ahead and schedule posts / tweets when you confirm the interview. Holidays, birthdays, and anything else that’s set in stone in your world can be scheduled so you can have social media content without remembering to post something on a given day. Don’t make the mistake of thinking scheduled posts are a “fire and forget” option. Interacting with your followers is important as we’ll see in another tip down the line.

2. Unless you’re a sports, religious, or political author—lay off those topics on your author fan pages or Twitter accounts. There’s nothing that starts barroom or dinner table trouble faster than discussing these “big three” topics. Social media is no different in that respect. If you think you’re fostering a following by appealing to a segment of one of the “big three,” you’re turning off twice as many potential followers. Those potential readers or followers who don’t agree with your views on the “big three” probably don’t want to see your rants in their news feeds. They will likely drop you from their social media mix and not buy your book because of your views. If you’re unconvinced about this point, check out the social media feeds of successful companies and you'll find a lack of "big three" topics in their posts.

3. Followers are built with interactions. It’s not enough just to throw tweets or posts out into the electronic universe. You actually have to interact with the people in your social media circles. This means replying to comments, thanking people when they repost or retweet your material, commenting on other people’s posts, reposting follower's content, and generally doing everything you would do at a real life social gathering in the digital world. Keep the conversation going and others will want to take part in it.

4. Yes, you’re an author, but not every social media post as to be about your book(s). Your goal as authors is to promote your book, but no one is interested in following someone who only posts about one topic. If you’re not sure what to post since your writing life takes up a majority of your own thoughts, consider the following: pet pictures, posts about articles you found interesting, a restaurant you’ve visited and really enjoyed, comments on a book you’re currently reading, and pithy posts on trending topics. If you need some help in this area, look at some successful authors’ social media accounts and see what they’re posting about.

5. Have you ever been at a party and seen someone hugging the wall hoping someone would come talk to him/her? Having a social media account and not actively finding other people to follow is like that poor soul at the party. Freely follow other people that you think are interesting or might be interested in what you have to offer. If they don’t follow you back, the world isn’t going to end, and it’s no reflection on you. But most people are kind enough to follow you back after you’ve followed them if they like the content you’re producing.

Part of social media is a straight up numbers game. Most social media posts reach and are read 1-2% of your followers at best. So don’t get discouraged if your posts aren’t getting the likes, retweets, or shares you were hoping for. As you build your social media audience, those things will come. The key here is you have to build an audience. There will be a point if you’re producing content that resonates with your audience, where you will start attracting followers. This won’t happen overnight, and there is always work to be done. So stay positive, intelligent, and witty with your posts... and the world will catch up with you.

Follow Grave Distractions Publications on Twitter @GraveDistract, Facebook, Pintrest, or LinkedIn.

Coming Soon! God Consciousness: A 30 Day Journey to Achieve God-centered Thinking by Reverend Michael Carter

2015-07-09T12:37:00.000-05:00

We thought it was time to let everyone know that we're working on Reverend Michael Carter's latest book, God Consciousness: A 30 Day Journey to Achieve God-centered Thinking. In a departure from his previous books, best-selling author Reverend Michael Carter shares a month long course designed to reestablish your connection with your higher power. no matter what your conception of the divine. God Consciousness: A 30 Day Journey to God-centered Thinking reminds us that nothing separates us from God. It is only the habit of identifying ourselves with mental, emotional, and physical states and objective phenomena that causes and sustains the illusion of independent existence. At the core of our being, all knowledge of the infinite energy of Consciousness, sometime times referred to as God, and its processes resides within us. The daily lessons in God Consciousness: A 30 Day Journey to God-centered Thinking will clarify your awareness. Apply the recommended practices to unveil and bring forth your own essence, your own spiritual and innate knowledge.

Returning to his metaphysical spiritual roots, Rev. Carter is drawing from his own personal experience, and the wisdom he has gleaned from the ageless teachings of A Course In Miracles, Unity Christianity, Religious Science, and Eastern Religious Traditions to compile a spiritual tool kit for the lay person. Encouraging all true spiritual seekers to look within, this 30 day calendar seeks to empower the individual to really embody the teaching that the Kingdom and Queendom of “God” exists within each and everyone of us, and that this realization is the key to the deep inner transformation we are all seeking, regardless of race, religion, sexuality, political party, or any of the other illusions and delusions this world has to offer. As the old African proverb states, “ If there is no enemy within, the enemy without can do us no harm.”

If you would like to be notified when God Consciousness: A 30 Day Journey to God-centered Thinking is released, fill out the form below or email us. Also you can follow Grave Distractions Publications on Twitter @GraveDistract, Facebook, Pintrest, or LinkedIn.

Copyright Issues: The Difference Between a Copyright and a Registered Copyright

2015-07-03T10:13:00.000-05:00

So what’s the big deal about registering a copyright for my book? Don’t I have inherent copyright protection when my work is created? These are a couple of questions we commonly get when either publishing works or performing author consulting services and, unfortunately, most authors don’t understand the distinction between copyright and a registered copyright. Here’s the lowdown on the difference between an inherent copyright and a copyright registered with the United States Copyright Office. (Remember that with any copyright issues, you should consult a licensed lawyer who actually knows something about intellectual property. Not all lawyers are familiar with intellectual property, and we certainly aren’t a legal authority and this article is purely informational.)

As a creator of any intellectual property, you do have an inherent copyright for your work. According to the United States Copyright Office, a copyright is:

Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. [And] your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Here’s the rub. When you finish your book, legally it is your work. However, with this “inherent” copyright you cannot sue someone for copyright infringement. You must register your copyright to have standing in a federal court to take legal action against someone who has hijacked your work. Think of your inherent copyright as an old guard dog with no teeth. Your trusted companion will bark at a burglar all he wants, but your guard dog can’t actually do any damage to the would be sneak thief. A registered copyright gives your guard dog a set of sharp metal dentures fit to chomp copyright infringers with Cujo-esque precision.

We would also strongly suggest that you file for a copyright as soon as your manuscript is finished (and by finished we mean independently proofed, edited, and read by disinterred parties) and before you start shopping your book to agents or publishing houses. It’s uncommon, but the unscrupulous out there could steal your work. Another thing to watch out for is anyone what wants to register a copyright under their name or company’s name. Most legitimate publishing houses can register a copyright for you as your agent. This means that the publishing house is simply filing the paperwork on your behalf, and you are the holder of the copyright. Should you agree to have a third party register a copyright under their name, no matter what “they say”, you’ve lost all legal rights to your work.

Registering a copyright can be as cheap as $35, so it’s an inexpensive insurance policy to protect your work. For more information about copyright registration, visit the United States Copyright Office’s website here.

Follow Grave Distractions Publications on Twitter @GraveDistract, Facebook, Pintrest, or LinkedIn.

GDP to Reissue Henry Lincoln's Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-le-Chateau

2015-06-15T10:40:00.000-05:00

We're pleased to announce that in the coming months, Grave Distractions Publications will be reissuing Henry Lincoln's classic work Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-le-Chateau. At this point, Mr. Lincoln is planning on including new material to this text. If you would like to be informed of the book's release date, please fill out the form at the bottom of this post and we will contact you with the details.

Henry Lincoln Biography

Serving as the basis for his written works, Lincoln wrote and narrated the following documentaries for BBC2’s series Chronicle: The Lost Treasure of Jerusalem (1972), The Priest, the Painter, and the Devil (1974), and The Shadow of the Templars (1979).

Aside from his extensive book catalog, Lincoln is also known for co-writing three Doctor Who multi-part serials starring Patrick Troughton: The Abominable Snowmen (1967), The Web of Fear (1968) and The Dominators (1968) and the creation of the recurring character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Lincoln lives in Rennes-les-Bains and currently is working on achieving the all of the research materials he has gathered in his quest to discover the truth behind in the village that’s held his attention for well over 40 years.

Receive Notification when Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-le-Chateau is Re-released

Author's Questions: Why Are There Used Copies of My Brand New Book on Amazon and eBay?

2015-06-11T13:58:00.000-05:00

One of the many questions we get from both new and veteran authors is, "Why are used my brand new book showing up on places like Amazon and eBay"? It is a little disconcerting to authors that books that have been out a short period of time have listings on secondary markets as "used" or at prices two or three times higher than the publisher's suggested retail. A good example is Ce Cole Dillion's What You Don't Know About Student Loans Can Hurt You. Ce's book was released in April and has already made its way onto the secondary market. You can click on the link above to see the actual listing in a new window.

You'll notice at the time of this posting there are eight new and two used copies of her book for sale on Amazon. Clicking under the used section yields one copy here in the USA and another from a vendor in the United Kingdom. Ce's book is unique in that it deals with student loans here in America, and there's very little market for this type of book overseas because the information isn't applicable to college students in other countries. True to form, we haven't tracked any sales in the United Kingdom for her book. So what gives?

The likelihood is that the edition the United Kingdom vendor is selling isn't actually used. How can this be? Welcome to the wonderful world of the secondary book market. Our definition of a secondary book market is any vendor that's not a traditional book vendor, i.e. online seller like Amazon or a brick and mortar bookstore. One might think of the secondary book market like folks that set up booths at flea markets both physically and digitally speaking. Many of the vendors who sell books as new or used on Amazon are simply setting up shop using the Amazon website sales engine. These secondary vendors generally fulfill orders outside of Amazon's regular supply chain and in some cases traditional brick and mortar stores trying to sell excess stock. Some of these secondary market vendors have wholesale accounts with people like Ingram and Baker & Taylor. These vendors fulfill end user orders by ordering books from legitimate wholesalers then turning around and shipping the book to the end customer. While it almost sounds like a scam, there's nothing improper about doing business this way. One might think of selling books this way as "just in time" inventory control. These vendors usually list everything their particular wholesaler can supply them. Retail prices can vary (from absurdly low to high), but usually secondary market sellers are looking to undercut publisher's list price, make a reduced margin, and make money on an increased margin.

So what's the skinny on selling used books that don't seem to be really used? There is a couple of possibilities there. First, the book isn't really used at all, and it's a ploy to get you to look at the listing. Second, the book really is used, or the vendor ordered one for their operation that was damaged somehow. In either case from an author perspective, there's no real harm in any of the secondary market's practices. Unless someone has ripped off your book and is printing his or her own copies, which is very unlikely unless you're a New York Times best-selling author, these vendors are buying and reselling books through normal supply chains. That means no matter what the vendor's description or practice is, a sale through legitimate wholesalers is still putting money in your pocket.

Follow Grave Distractions Publications on Twitter @GraveDistract, Facebook, Pintrest, or LinkedIn.

Islamic Law in Palestine and Israel A History of the Survival of Tanzimat and Sharia in the British Mandate and the Jewish State

2015-06-10T09:28:00.000-05:00

Grave Distractions Publications has re-released Robert Eisenman’s classic work, Islamic Law in Palestine and Israel: A History of the Survival of Tanzimat and Sharia, examines how Islamic law, such as Sharia law, survived in Palestine and Israel in a pure form perhaps longer than in any other Ottoman successor state.

It did this for a variety of reasons, chief among which are the innate conservatism of the British and the inability of the Israelis, particularly in the country’s early days, to do much about it. Besides Lebanon and Gaza, only in Israel did those three great monuments of Islamic and Ottoman modernism: the Ottoman Law of Family Rights, the Ottoman Land Code, and the Mecelle-i Akham-i Adliye, survive simultaneously.

Author, Robert Eisenman, traces this continuity from Ottoman times in terms understandable to both specialists, lawyers, and laypersons. The anomaly of Islamic laws', such as Sharia law, survival against the backdrop of British legal concepts and renascent Jewish nationalism is delineated completely. Detailed attention is also given to the effect, or non-effect, of such Israeli reforms in Women’s Equal Rights Law on the Muslim community and on Islamic law, as well as to the creation of Israeli hybrid laws, such as the Land Law of 1969, and a new Israeli modernism.

The situation in Israel today remains more or less the same. In some areas beyond the 1967 Green Lines, where Israeli Law has been applied, it is as described in this book. In others, which have not been annexed or where it has not, Jordanian Law for the most part still obtains.

Islamic Law in Palestine and Israel: A History of the Survival of Tanzimat and Sharia available in both print and eBook editions at various online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Save Money on Overnight Freight Charges by Using UPS or FedEx's Transit Maps

2015-06-03T12:52:00.001-05:00

Do you remember the old FedEx tagline, “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight...”? I certainly do and the ability to give a package to someone at point “A” and have it magically delivered to point “B” overnight is a powerful tool for any business. Of course the “magic” part of overnight delivery quickly evaporates when you reach for your wallet to pay for the modern version of the Pony Express. There is a neat little trick to get around some of those overnight freight bills that’s easily accessible from UPS and FedEx.

The UPS or FedEx websites will generate a transit time map for any zip code in the continental United States at these links. (UPS transit map FedEx transit map) All one has to do is enter the inbound or outbound zip code and after hitting the submit button a transit time map will generate. Above we’ve posted the image of the UPS transit time map for our headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. The areas in baby puke yellow on the map are places we will get one day shipping by sending a normal ground shipment. So for us, sending packages to the major cities of Atlanta, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, and Saint Louis are one day shipping with regular ground. So if you live in Nashville and you’re paying for next day shipping to any of these cities, you might be paying too much.

There are a few caveats to relying on one day normal ground shipping. The biggest is that you don’t get the guarantee that regular ground shipments will actually get there in one day. There’s also no guarantee of a delivery time on normal ground shipments. So if you really have to have something in someone’s hands by 10:30 am, paying for the next day rates to cities in your one day shipping radius is your best bet. From what we’ve seen, the estimates on both UPS and FedEx ground shipping times are as spot on as anyone in the logistics business can promise. If you have wiggle room on delivery time and your package’s delivery isn’t hypercritical, use the regular ground option. Also, check out the inbound map in the delivery zip code. While it might take a day to get to the zip code you're shipping to, it might not be the same day the package hits your destination. This seems counter-intuitive, but not all freight hubs are equally equipped to turn around freight once your package hits the dissemination hub. This is especially true in rural areas and warrants a look at the inbound maps.

Some final warning on using this option. Find out what the no later than pickup time is for your freight carrier of choice when shipping in the one day delivery radius. Next day deliveries usually have a later "you have to get your package in our hands for next day delivery" time than regular ground shipments. Also home pickups could delay your shipment by a day, so dropping your package off at a service center is the best practice when using regular ground. Finally, during holiday times all bets are off using one day regular ground shipping.

With the extra hoops you have to jump through to get one day regular ground shipping, this option might not be worth it to you. However, if you just need a package there next day with a high certainty of delivery, don't discount the cheaper option.

Grave Distractions Publications Blog

Rex Deus The Families of the Grail by Cyndi and Tim Wallace-Murphy

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1. Do something you hate.

2. Get some rest.

3. Step away from the blinking cursor.

4. Fall in love.

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Pre-order Micah: The Sword of Malachi by Lee DuCote

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Robert Eisenman's The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant,and the Blood of Christ

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New Release The Metaphysics of Spiritual Healing and the Power of Affirmative Prayer by Reverend Michael Carter

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Tim Wallace-Murphy's The Genesis of a Tragedy: A Brief History of the Palestinian People

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New Release: Pastures of Tender Grass by Charles Millson

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Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-le-Chateau 2nd Edtion by Henry Lincoln Is Now in Print

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New Release: Under the Sign of the Waterbearer: A Life of Thomas Merton

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New Release: Waterproof by Lee DuCote

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Coming Soon! God Consciousness: A 30 Day Journey to Achieve God-centered Thinking by Reverend Michael Carter

Copyright Issues: The Difference Between a Copyright and a Registered Copyright

GDP to Reissue Henry Lincoln's Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-le-Chateau

Henry Lincoln Biography

Receive Notification when Key to the Sacred Pattern: The Untold Story of Rennes-le-Chateau is Re-released

Author's Questions: Why Are There Used Copies of My Brand New Book on Amazon and eBay?

Islamic Law in Palestine and Israel A History of the Survival of Tanzimat and Sharia in the British Mandate and the Jewish State

Save Money on Overnight Freight Charges by Using UPS or FedEx's Transit Maps