Book Reviews, Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week, Uncategorized, weekly self published book review

Saturday Book Review: “When Pain Has Stained a Peaceful Heart”

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if he or she doesn’t know it exists? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.

When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review, courtesy of Literary Litter:

When Pain Has Stained a Peaceful Heart: A woman's poetic voice tells of heartbreaking mistreatment in our mental health system

When Pain Has Stained a Peaceful Heart: A woman’s poetic voice tells of heartbreaking mistreatment in our mental health system

by Ann Henry

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN: 978-1478766957

Synopsis:

Ann Henry had a close-knit family, a normal childhood, and a strong sense of identity. Although she had been healthy for most of her life, at the age of 27, she was stunned to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder. And so began a fifteen-year journey regaining her mental health, despite the many pitfalls of our mental healthcare system. When Pain Has Stained a Peaceful Heart is based on the true story of Ann’s devastating loss-the loss of her sanity, her voice, and her dignity-and how she fought to regain control over her life with courage and faith. In poetic form, Ann shares the trauma of her experiences in the mental health system through the rhythm of her words and the depth of her emotion. This is an important book not only for those in the mental health profession but also for those who suffer from mental illness and their families by providing an insider’s view of the often chilling reality of treatment facilities. When Pain Has Stained a Peaceful Heart is honest, hard-hitting, and beautifully expressed.

“Ann Henry leaves me questioning our mental health system and the further damage done to individuals in an attempt to ‘help’ them and their families.”

-Cynthia Barrios-Woodward, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Ann Henry wrote When Pain Has Stained a Peaceful Heart in an effort to help shine some light on the realities of the mental health system. As an artist, writer, and now author and poet, Ann opens up and shares some of her deepest wounds in an effort to help educate the general public about atrocities within a system meant for care.

Critique:

This is a first-person accounting of what it’s like to be a mentally ill person that has been put into ‘they system.’

Ann gave nearly a year of her life in an attempt to regain her sanity, though most of that time wasn’t freely given. Ann was institutionalized. As her confusion and fear grew, she began to lash out, causing her to be moved from place to place.

Having seen the caregiver side of this equation, it was fascinating and heart-wrenching to see Ann’s side. When someone with mental issues is in your care, your number one priority is their physical safety. Your second priority is their mental safety. I’ve gone through the stages of having to force unwanted medication and restrain. However, Ann’s perspective doesn’t see the necessity. Not only is she battling her mind and hallucinations, but she’s also having to battle against a horde of people that she just doesn’t understand. They cause her mental distress and physical pain, all in the name of trying to keep her safe.

This short book has been written in the form of poetry, because that’s the easiest way for Ann to talk about the trauma she endured as a mental patient. Talking about trauma and attempting to get past it is incredibly difficult and I applaud Ann in her efforts.

What she has accomplished here is the necessity for empathy in the caregiver system. I’ve seen several nurses and doctors that have it in spades, but I’ve also seen the opposite. In a career where you’re dealing with violent and loud, confused people on a day to day basis, it’s important that you find healthy ways of coping. Too often it leads to an immunity and we no longer see what we’re doing from the other person’s point of view.

This is a quick and important read. If mental illness has touched your or anyone you know, or if you deal in any way with the care of someone with mental illness, you’ll find a fresh new look at things that can be integral in your relationships.

Keep in mind, because this is a first-person accounting, we only see one side of the story, Ann’s. This is not an attempt to discredit mental institutions or cast blame, but rather an attempt to get people to take a closer look at what’s going on. It’s also Ann’s way to try to make sense of this period in her life and heal and grow.

[ reviewed by Shawn Remfrey of Literary Litter ]

Here’s what other reviewers are saying:

Ann Henry is indeed a talented writer and poet. Her words will capture readers’ attention from the first page. The words envelope around the readers and drag them through the journey that Ann Henry has brilliantly written. The emotional experiences, from reading When Pain Has Stained A Peaceful Heart, is phenomenal. Inside this beautiful read, readers will find one woman’s voice using poetry to tell her heartbreaking story. One that involves mistreatment within our mental health system.

This book is not a fictional piece but a real woman’s journey through a difficult time in her life. Ann Henry’s poetry flows in a way that lures readers further into her tale. Can you image having your normal life suddenly taken from you at the age of 27? Well, Ann Henry did. Her mental health took a nose dive and the treatment she received only plunged her down further. Fifteen years of working on regaining her life again…is a sad, yet remarkable read. Ann Henry suffered but made her way through the hardships life dealt her. A strong independent woman who serves as a reminder and inspiration to readers everywhere. I can’t remember a time when a piece of poetry grabbed my attention the way this book has…When Pain Has Stained A Peaceful Heart is definitely a must read for all. I highly recommend reading this woman’s story.

– Amazon Reviewer Danielle Urban

I have relatives that have been in mental institutions as patients and one that was a nurse and worked for a time in a mental hospital. When I was full-time at a local college with a nursing program I was friends with one of the nursing instructors whose specialty was psychiatric nursing. She used to discuss some of her experiences in dealing with mental patients and how difficult it can be. A major concern is their unpredictability, some can become violent in an instant and be a danger, most often to themselves rather than others.

Therefore, given this background, I must confess that I read this book with a skeptical mind. The author uses prose to describe her experiences in a mental hospital and how she was forcibly held down while she received injections of her medications. Henry also mentions that she refused to take her meds and that she punched one of the hospital staff.

I certainly understand that all is not sweet and light in mental hospitals and that abuse of the patients occurs. Her account of the events may be true and the staff was rougher with her than they should have been. Yet, it is also very possible that she was a problem patient and the amount of force that was used was not out of bounds. This book must be read with both of these ideas firmly in mind.

The text has a solid rhythm and tells a sad story of triumph, from the sudden descent into a loss of sanity (her words) to a slow recovery over the course of fifteen years. Her experiences of being forcibly restrained and drugged and her battles to regain control are both wrenching and revealing. Fortunately, it seems clear that Henry has recovered, as there is an order and structure to her writings about her experiences. Many people that suffer from such illnesses never recover to the point where they can write about their experiences in a quality manner.

– Goodreads Reviewer Charles

saturday self-published book review

Thanks for reading!  Keep up with the latest in the world of indie and self-published books by watching this space every Saturday!

Self Publishing Advisor

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Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, poetry, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 4/29/2016

THE MUSIC OF WORDS part FIVE

Well, here we are—at the point where you’ve decided I will not talk about the REAL elements of poetry: forms, genre and techniques. I’m not a fan of suggesting that poets lock themselves into specific formulas. However, I do see the value of practicing these forms (within their accepted genres) to increase an individual’s personal writing voice and form. Here are brief definitions of some of the forms utilized today:

poetry

  • Ghazal: common in poetry from Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Persian, Turkish and Urdu cultures this form has from 5-15 rhyming couplets that share a refrain at the end of the second line. Each line is identical in meter.

 

  • Haiku: a very popular form of unrhymed verse containing three sections in a structured 5-7-5 pattern. This form originated in Japanese poetry and often contains a “cutting or seasoned word” at the end of the poem.
  • Ode: This form comes from ancient Greek culture, having three parts: a strophe, an antistrophe and an epode. The strophe and antistrophe often offer conflicting perspectives and the epode looks at both intending to offer a clearer perspective. Odes were often sung as creative minds attempted to influence peoples of their time.
  • Shi: the main type of classical Chinese poetry with variations of folk song, old style, and modern style each with rhyming elements. They are most often considered folk ballad poetry and delivered in song.
  • Sonnet: This is the most commonly known form of poetry in modern times. It is a “set-rhyme” containing exactly fourteen lines with a logical structure. The first four lines introduce the topic, the second four elaborates and the third puts forth a perceived problem (usually a couplet or two lines) giving a twist to the logic-lines. The very distinct rhyme pattern is: a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-gg.
  • Tanka: widely used in today’s Japanese poetry, this form is unrhymed with five sections totaling 31 “units” structured in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern with a shift in tone and subject between the first three lines and the last two.
  • Villanelle: This form of poetry could almost be called an American/English form because of its popularity with poets such as Dylan Thomas. It contains nineteen lines made up of five triplets with a closing quatrain. There are two refrains (attractive as a musical form), concluding with two refrains.

 

 

It is my hope that reading these short definitions will not discourage “the poet within” you. If you’re just entering the world of poetry, remember that these forms can be bent a little by the author to be useful in multiple genres that look for the unusual. These genres include: Elegy, Epic and Dramatic poetry; Light verse and Lyric verse; Narrative, Fable and Satirical poetry; Prose and Speculative poetry.

Each of these forms and genres will also contain the basic elements of writing skills such as: rhythm, meter, metrical patters, alliteration, rhyme and rhyming schemes—and—the visual form of lines and stanzas. It is up to the poet/author to intrigue reader/editors and leave them demanding MORE of your work. Let your light shine and poetry fans will snap up all your published works! ⚓︎

RoyaleneABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.  

Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.
ebooks, elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : Debunking the Myth of Multiedition Self-Sabotage

It’s not a new idea–that adding a new edition of your book can boost your overall book sales.  But while many self-publishing authors choose to begin with an ebook edition for a variety of reasons (it’s cheaper to produce, is findable using a keyword search, and is easy to distribute and download) and are only too happy to expand into print editions when their ebooks take off … well, suffice it to say the reverse is not quite as common.  Why?

I have a one-word answer for you: stigma.  Many authors who choose to begin their self-publishing experience by going straight to print and eschewing all other options do so because they themselves have a personal preference for the printed book.  Which is lovely.  I too adore the weight of a physical copy in my hand, the almost unidentifiable smell combining paper and industrial toner!  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with preference.  However–and you knew there would be a however in here somewhere!–when authors enforce their own preferences on their readers, there’s a grave danger that they will also enforce a stigma.

And let’s face it, the stigma against ebooks is doing just fine without any help.  A seachange may be starting, but the fact remains that major news outlets like The Guardian and Publisher’s Weekly and the Wall Street Journal have all at one time or another bemoaned the “death of print” instead of lauding the ingenuity of authors who found new ways to reach their readers. And authors themselves have contributed to the stigma–Stephen King, Maurice Sendak, Sherman Alexie, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Ray Bradbury have all spoken out at one time or another against ebooks.

But here are the facts:

Releasing an ebook edition of your novel does not lead inevitably to the “death of literature.”  In fact, it helps to complement your print editions.  You as an author will be able to reach a wider audience by offering both print and ebook editions–and more importantly, your willingness to do so demonstrates a profound respect for your readers and their various needs for accessibility.

An ebook edition is a smart, affordable, effective, efficient, and respectful addition to your work.  Just as an audiobook version of your book (more on that in the future!) can help render your work accessible to a hearing-impaired reader, an ebook renders your work accessible to the visually-impaired reader, the mobile reader, the traveler, and the international reader who maybe doesn’t have access to Amazon shipping or a physical bookstore.  And maybe, just maybe, your book can reach a person who would otherwise feel alone in this world, just as I am here each week to remind you that:

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
Book Marketing, Book Reviews, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

Marketing Missteps Episode 6 : Taking it Personally

We all make mistakes.  They’re unavoidable!  And this holds true for the self-publishing author’s first (or second, or third, or nth) foray into marketing: You will not do everything perfectly on the first (or second, or third, or nth) attempt, and living in fear or working under the shadow of this truth can lead to paralysis.  So how to move on into the next step of authorship without getting lost or discouraged along the way?  I always recommend an innovative–and informed–approach.  Knowing what others have done to kill their marketing campaigns can be of help.  To that end, I have been writing this series of “marketing missteps.”  To ruthlessly paraphrase Animal Farm: All mistakes are created equal, but some mistakes are more equal than others.  In other words, these mistakes are guaranteed to set you on the wrong path:

This week, I’ll be taking on perhaps the most challenging misstep of all, and its one that I myself fall prey to … regularly.

Taking it Personally

I’m not going to lie: there are times when we need to take things personally in order to keep plugging away at the writing thing, when a compliment or a piece of sound constructive criticism is exactly the right thing to move us from stasis back into action.  But knowing whose compliments and whose advice is worth listening to?  That’s the hard part.

Running your own self-publishing marketing campaign requires us to grow thick skin.  This isn’t optional–it’s mandatory.  If we want to craft successful strategies for selling our books, we have to rise above being affected by the hazy emotional mess that is the average Amazon or Goodreads book review.  And being detached?  Well, it takes practice to remain sensitive to the facts and not dip into dispassionate waters while taking the heat out of our responses to everything else.

taking it personally

My advice is this:

Save your heart and your soul for writing, and treat your marketing campaign like a business.  It might be useful to think of the aforementioned Amazon and Goodreads reviews as the literary equivalent of Yelp for restaurants: some people might “get” it, some people might not, and everyone’s writing these things from highly subjective points of view.  This is not tosay reviews aren’t important–but you should be looking at the overall metrics and working always to boost your positive review base, no matter what individual reviews say.  And yes, I’m referring to the positive reviews every bit as much as the negative ones!  There’s nothing that will sap your writing momentum as fast as an afternoon spent basking in complimentary but fundamentally useless reviews (in terms of improving your writing).  And reviews aren’t the only thing you need to approach with bloodless detachment.  You will face all kinds of rejections and snubs–just as any businessperson must.  And you will learn from them, and rise above them.  You will turn those negatives into positives with regular and conscious effort … if you remember to keep your head in the game, and your heart out of it.

Write for your life–and market for profit.  This has to be our operational principle.

 

Thank you for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com.  And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

KellyABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com. 10:00 AM
Advocacy in Self-Publishing, from the archives, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

From the Archives: Self-publishing vs. Independent Publishing

Welcome back to our Tuesday segment, where we’ll be revisiting some of our most popular posts from the last few years.  What’s stayed the same?  And what’s changed?  We’ll be updating you on the facts, and taking a new (and hopefully refreshing) angle on a few timeless classics of Self Publishing Advisor.

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[ Originally posted: July 28th, 2010 ]

Guest Post: The Book Doctor on Self-Publishing vs. Independent Publishing

Q: When you spoke at a conference recently, I heard you refer to self-publishing. Isn’t “independent publishing” the correct term now?

A: Yes and no. An independent publisher is a small publisher that may or may not publish the works of the owner, but it always publishes the works of other authors, as well. When you publish only your own books, you are self-publishing. I know the distinction is vague; in either case you have to set up a company and be a publisher, but an independent publishing house accepts the works of others, as well as the works of the owner.

Also, when you use a firm that helps you publish, so that you don’t have to set up your own company, you are a self-published author, as opposed to a traditionally published author.

In the end, we are simply talking semantics. If you spend any money at all toward the printing of your book, you are self-published. Being self-published used to carry a stigma, and perhaps that’s why some people don’t want to use the term, but the market has changed over the years, and people’s attitudes have changed with it. At a time when selling a book to a traditional publisher is almost impossible, yet printing your own book has become easier than ever, self-publishing has taken on a whole new character and lost much of its prior poor image. Nowadays the only stigma comes from a poorly written or unedited self-published book. If the book looks good, reads well, is thoroughly edited, and sells well, who cares who paid for the printing?

While the words of the Book Doctor remain as true in 2016 as they were in 2010, I’d like to play devil’s advocate for a moment and argue that no, we’re not just “talking semantics” when we talk about the distinction between “independent publishing” and “self-publishing”–and in part I’m inspired by yesterday’s news compendium, or more specifically, Alex Palmer’s “Indie Authors Business Guide” for Publisher’s Weekly.  A self-publishing author who does not run an indie press may or may not choose to pursue becoming a limited liability corporation (LLC), but an independent publisher has no choice in whether or not to run his or her work as a business.  (Besides, passions run hot when it comes to these distinctions, as Judith Briles of AuthorU explains at length.)

And there’s an additional wrench in the works: “independent publishing” is not the same thing as being an “indie author.”  As Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn writes, “The term ‘indie author’ has been increasingly claimed by authors who want a new label, one that does justice to the work involved.”  This isn’t a matter of semantics, but of self-identification and empowerment.

As Penn goes on to point out, the proliferation of publishing platforms and models means that there’s a lot more confusion between the clear-cut definitions that we have relied on in the past, as we did in our 2010 Book Doctor post.  “Indie” could mean someone who publishes online and cuts out the middleman entirely, someone who publishes through an indie press, someone who partners up with other self-publishing authors to create a micro-business, someone who publishes through unpaid digital platforms and relies on sponsorships and donations, and so on and so forth.

One of the things I like best about using the term “indie” is that it takes the heat out of the situation.  There’s a tendency to consider self-publishing the opposing binary or even “enemy” of traditional publishing, but the savvy author knows that it’s less about the inherent components of the model than it is about the people working within that model and how well they serve the author.  Self-publishing may be “friendlier” on the whole to its authors by design, but that does not mean every traditional publishing option is inherently evil or that every hybrid or self-publishing company treats its authors well.  Indie authors take control of their publishing experience by finding the right option and team of professionals for them, without pitching publishing models against each other in some kind of Game of Thrones death match.  Indie authors are entrepreneurs as well as consummate businessfolk, and I respect them so much!

Close up of innovate definition

Thanks for reading.  If you have any other ideas, I’d love to hear them.  Drop me a line in the comments section below and I’ll respond as quickly as I can.  ♠

KellyABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.