Why Yvonne Perry Wrote a Book for Empaths

I’m celebrating the release of Yvonne Perry’s new book that I believe many people will find helpful. Whose Stuff Is This? Finding Freedom from the Thoughts, Feelings, and Energy of Those Around You (WhoseStuffIsThis.com) is a guidebook to help energy-sensitive people who exercise so much empathy toward others that they cause themselves emotional, mental, and physical distress. Whose Stuff Is This? teaches these intuitively-gifted people how to manage energy overload and recover from empathy fatigue.


Yesterday, Yvonne visited Beyond Words Radio Show on Believe in the Moment radio station where she was interviewed by Joanne Sprott. Today, she is my guest blogger as she answers some questions posed to her. You may have questions of your own to ask her. She will be coming by this blog several times today, so be sure to ask your question by using the comment feature under this blog post.

QUESTION: Why did you write this book for empaths?
YVONNE: Like most empathic people, I have always wanted to help others avoid suffering. As strange as this may sound, the one way empaths do this is by taking on the problems of others and suffering on their behalf—kind of like a surrogate for affliction. The other person feels better, but the empath feels horrible. This is done in ignorance. Empaths have no idea why they feel so bad or have such emotional mood swings so much of the time. Many are diagnosed as bipolar or having some other mental illness. Medication is often prescribed rather than dealing with the underlying cause, which is energy-related.

This is not just an isolated problem; many compassionate people, who do not understand how to set energetic boundaries, pick up energy, emotions, feelings, and illness from their environment and the collective unconscious. Over the past ten years, I’ve researched and tried all kinds of things to alleviate empathy fatigue—not really knowing the term for the kind of “backlash” I was dealing with. I knew it was spiritually related because when I prayed for others, many times they got well and I began to feel whatever discomfort they had been struggling with.

Thankfully, I found herbal remedies, as well as visualizations, meditations, prayers, etc., that brought me to a path of emotional maturity (using the gift of empathy wisely without paying a personal price). It occurred to me last summer that I needed to share what I had learned. Since writing is my forte, I started writing my blog (http://weareoneinspirit.com) about some of the spiritual practices and protection tips that I use to keep my energy field clear and balance my chakras.

It wasn’t until a psychotherapist friend of mine, Dr. Caron Goode, suggested I write a book that I decided to gather all this information into a guidebook that could be used by the millions of energy-sensitive people out there to set boundaries and manage the overload of energy they pick up. We both feel the time is right and there is a need for the material. She provided insight on the psychological aspect of empathy and I wrote about my personal journey through the empath wilderness and how I learned to psychically protect myself as I moved toward wholeness.

With more than two dozen proven and effective ways to clear your energy field of external clutter, this guide employs empowering, proactive techniques to manage your personal energy. The book contains a list of resources that includes books, classes and groups, practitioners, quizzes and tests, radio shows, videos, CDs, and DVDs to help empaths take the next step in developing their intuition.

QUESTION: How long did it take you to write this book?
YVONNE: I started gathering information and interviewing both mature and untrained empaths in July 2010. The first draft was ready by the end of December. It took another month to edit and proofread the book, garner endorsements, get the cover designed, and the interior formatted for print. The e-book version was published in Amazon’s Kindle Store on January 21, 2011. So, from idea stage to public presentation, it took about seven months.

QUESTION: What other books have you written?
YVONNE: The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children was inspired by my grandson, Sidney, who started demonstrating spiritual gifts at an early age. I was concerned that he might also be an empath, and I wanted him, and others kids like him, to avoid the needless suffering I had endured. It turns out that he is an example to me about how effortlessly this gift can flow through a person without causing turmoil. He is very intuitive. As a toddler he was clairvoyant (seeing in the spirit realm), but as he matured, he began getting psychic information through dreams. He still hears in the spirit realm. The Sid Series is a collection of stories that emerged during the adventures Sidney and had together, but they deal with topics most adults tend to avoid with children: death, afterlife, ghosts, healing, racial diversity, caring for others, meditation, and spiritual insight. The book is about entertaining children, but it also teaches parents how to open a mature dialogue with them. http://theSidSeries.com

Another book I wrote is More Than Meets the Eye, True Stories About Death, Dying, and Afterlife (http://deathdyingafterlife.com). This book is designed to provide comfort for those who are dying, as well as for the caregivers and family who are left with questions when their loved one passes. When I wrote that book, I had a lot of disembodied spirits coming to me. I didn’t know why ghosts were visiting me, but I felt I was supposed to help them. Writing that book helped me find answers not only to know what the ghosts needed, but for protecting my energy field as an empath.

QUESTION: In addition to writing your own books and carrying out your spiritual mission, you are a freelance writer, who ghostwrites and edits for clients. What is Writers in the Sky all about?
YVONNE: Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services (WITS) is a network of freelance writers, ghostwriters, and proofreaders. My team and I provide writing, editing, and proofreading for books of all genres as well as articles, bios, resumes, Web text, and business documents. I only write for clients in the metaphysical/spiritual, self-help, and health/healing genres. See writersinthesky.com for details.

QUESTION: Where can we find you online?
YVONNE: weare1inspirit.com or WhoseStuffIsThis.com are my spiritual Web sites.

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonneperry
I’m on Twitter as @WeR1NSpirit and @Writersinthesky, or you can check out my Facebook pages:
We Are One in Spirit
Kids Who See Ghosts
Writing and Editing

Come along on the virtual tour with us. Tomorrow’s blog stop will be at Positively Present. See the entire tour schedule at http://tinyurl.com/EmpathTour.

Are You Considering Writing a Book Series? Author Yvonne Perry Shares the Pros and Cons

My good friend and multi-published author Yvonne Perry has just released The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children. In this special interview with Yvonne, we’ll learn the good, bad, and the best tips about publishing a book series.

Carol Denbow: Yvonne, long time, my friend! It’s always a pleasure to have you as a guest at A Book Inside Blog. I was so happy to hear of your new release, The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children. We have many visitors to this site who are interested in writing children’s books as well as numerous seasoned authors wishing to continue their published book saga into a book series. I have several questions for you, but let me start by asking you about this book series. Please tell us a little about The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children. Such as, what are the books about, how many are there, and where do you make your books available for purchase?

Yvonne Perry: Each story in The Sid Series is a collection of 12 body-mind-spirit stories that gives insight on some mature subjects such as recycling, being who you really are, overcoming the fear of storms, helping others, listening to one’s inner guidance, caring for the body, accepting and appreciating diversity, dealing with family change, and coping with the death of a pet. See http://TheSidSeries.com

Carol Denbow: When one writes a series of books, do they write them all at once? For instance, is the entire story line written as one bundle, and then divided into several books, and how did you personally go about this?

Yvonne Perry: I began writing The Sid Series when my grandson, Sidney, was very young. The stories were inspired things we did together. I typed the stories into a Word doc, and would later read the stories to him while he sat on my lap in front of the computer. He wanted pictures to go with his stories, so I attempted to illustrate them and bring them to life with colored backgrounds.

Next, I formatted the first three stories and printed them in black and white since my printer was out of color ink (as usual). I didn’t have a stapler with an arm long enough to reach to the centerfold, so I stapled the left edges together to hold the pages tight. It looked like a kindergarten term paper! It just didn’t “feel” like a book. I wanted a better way to bind them, and the pages needed to be in color according to Sid.

I took the file to Kinko’s thinking I would have the stories printed in color on both sides. Gasp! It would cost about $15 per book to print 15 pages and a cover! I decided if I was going to go to the trouble of printing and binding the stories, I might as well go ahead and publish them. I found a commercial printer that offered to produce the books in color with a center staple for about $7 each. I printed about a dozen copies of each title thinking I would sell the ones I didn’t need. However, printing them at $7 each didn’t allow any room for profit because folks weren’t willing to pay more than $7 for a 15-page book. Since it cost me another $2 to ship them, I would actually be paying people to buy them.

But none of that mattered. I didn’t write or publish them with the intention of getting rich! I was happy that we could hold and read the books together when it was time for bed. Sidney was so proud of our books that he took them to school for his teacher to read to his kindergarten class.

As time passed, Sid and I added more stories to the collection. He would dictate a story while I typed it. Sid became interested in the computer and was able to play games and get around quite well on the Internet. Once he learned to read, I formatted some new stories into e-books that he could read to himself any time he wanted. I still offer the e-books on my Web site for $3 each.

Still, I wanted the new stories in printed format. That’s when I decided to put all twelve stories in one book and publish them as The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children. I’m glad I did. Now I have a lasting and tangible reminder of the times Sid and I spent together and we have a way to share them with other children and adults.

Carol Denbow: Is it considerably more expensive to publish a series at one time, or can it actually save you money in the long run?

Yvonne Perry: It is much more expensive to do the stories one at the time. Publishers/printers charge a setup fee and catalog fee for each book title/ISBN. Plus, if you are unable to design your own cover, you will need to pay someone to do a cover for each title rather than for one cover for a book containing all the stories. That is why I published the stories as individual e-books until I finished writing all twelve. Then, I laid out the stories as one book and self-published using Lightning Source.

Carol Denbow: If a writer is considering a book series, would you recommend they complete and publish one book at a time, or write and publish them all at once, and how did you make your own decision to publish them all at one time?

Yvonne Perry: It depends on whether you plan to self-publish or query a conventional publisher, how many pages your book will have, your budget, and whether you are going to print the books in color or black and white. Printing in color is more expensive than black and white.

I self-published through Lightning Source which gave me distribution through Ingram and the ability to offer Amazon a 25% short discount rather than the 55% discount most publish give them. The Sid Series is a 54-page picture book with color illustrations. Each story has 15-18 pages. I paid a $95 setup fee, a $12 catalog fee, and each time I order a new supply of books, I am charged a $1.50 per-book handling fee plus shipping. Now, times that amount by 12 titles and you will quickly see why I decided to publish the entire series as one book/title! However, had my book been a children’s chapter book with 150 black and white pages, I would have published each title separately.

Carol Denbow: Do you think a traditional book publisher would be as interested in publishing a complete series at one time, or publish the first of a series to test the waters before committing (assuming the first book is not labeled or written as a Part 1 book)?

Yvonne Perry: It’s hard to answer that because large publishers with large budgets might do something more risky than a small house with limited resources. Large houses seem to publish in volumes or sets. For example, Random House published the 44 books of Mary Pope Osborne’s Tree House series by issuing 4 or 5 books per year as boxed sets. The books are for sale individually as well. The same is true of Daisy Meadows’ Rainbow Magic Fairies (published by Scholastic Paperbacks) and Gertrude Chandler Warner’s Boxcar Children books (published by Albert Whitman & Company).

Carol Denbow: I hope this interview has helped our interested viewers. Yvonne Perry is the author of several other books as well. Yvonne, please tell us a little about the other books you have authored.

Yvonne Perry: Besides the books I’ve ghosted, edited, or proofread for clients, I have published the following titles. The ones with an asterisk (*) are available on Amazon.

Book Marketing in the Digital Age, Online Promotion Made Easy is an e-book designed to help authors promote their books online.
* Right to Recover ~ Winning the Political and Religious Wars Over Stem Cell Research in America is available as a printed book (Nightengale Press) and for the Kindle Reader on Amazon.
* My Mother's Bipolar, So What am I? co-authored with Angela Grett provides help for adult children dealing with the aftermath of being raised by a bipolar parent.
Email Episodes ~ A Hilariously Honest Look at Life is about a woman who is having a midlife crisis while her teenagers are raising reptiles in the basement.
Both an e-book and printed book, * More Than Meets the Eye about Death, Dying and Afterlife was written to comfort those who have lost a loved one or is caring for someone who is dying. Tips for Freelance Writing is an e-book that provides information for starting a free-lance writing business. Both of these e-books are free to those who subscribe to my free monthly newsletter.
I have published several poetry chapbooks and e-books about trips I have taken. All my books and e-books are available at http://writersinthesky.com/books-by-yvonne.html and several are free!

Carol Denbow: You also have a Web site and I’m sure more to share with us?

Yvonne Perry: I provide mentoring/consultation on writing and publishing; My team and I offer ghostwriting, editing, and proofreading services as well as marketing assistance to businesses and individuals http://writersinthesky.com.

You’ll want to check out our blog, podcast, and newsletter while you are there. All three provide more information about writing, publishing, and book marketing.

Carol Denbow: Yvonne, thank you so very much for visiting us on the Blog. Your information has been extremely helpful and is very much appreciated. Have a happy New Year everyone!

Yvonne Perry: Thank you for interviewing me for this blog. I would be happy to answer questions. I will stop by later today to see if anyone leaves a comment on this Blog posting.

Special Interview with Yvonne Perry

Yvonne Perry is a freelance writer, speaker and founder of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services as well as the author of eleven books by her own name (she is also a ghostwriter for clients). Yvonne’s newest release is an eBook titled, Book Marketing in the Digital Age Online Promotion Made Easy.

Carol Denbow: Welcome Yvonne. First may I say that I truly respect your work and appreciate you as a good friend of mine. When I was aspiring to become a “published author” I was, like many other writers, ignored by those in the book industry. But when I reached out to Yvonne Perry for guidance, she helped me get through doors otherwise closed to me. For that I thank her!

My blog viewers have been waiting patiently for weeks to read this special interview post with you Yvonne. So would you mind telling us a little about the person behind the Web? Who is Yvonne Perry? Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Yvonne Perry: The person behind the Web? Like the man behind the curtain, I am a freelance ghostwriter who works behind the scenes to create books, articles, bios, résumés, book reviews, media releases, and provide editing for authors and business people. I am a published author, writing instructor, newsletter publisher, podcast host, and a public speaker. I am a multi-tasker who switches hats like a milliner.

Who is Yvonne Perry? There’s a page about me on my new Web site http://www.writersinthesky.com/about-yvonne.html that answers that question.

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Carol Denbow: I know you are the founder of Writer’s in the Sky Creative Writing Services. What exact services does your company provide?

Yvonne Perry: Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services is a team of writers and editors based in Nashville, Tennessee, offering writing, editing, and author publicity services to people across the US. Some of our specialties include editing and ghostwriting for books, articles, marketing and Web site text, media releases, press kits, biographical sketches, résumés, newsletters, transcribing services, and blogging services. We also have a graphic designer who assists with logo creation, book interior layout, book cover design, and any design or branding needs authors may have.

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Carol Denbow: You must know by reading my blog that I have been desperately trying to convince writer’s and published authors to get out there and take advantage of the soon-to-be number one method of book selling—the Internet. I've recently even published my own e-book on virtual touring to try and encourage authors to set up their own virtual book tour and get out there and market their books. Tell us what made you decide to write this fabulous new e-book, Book Marketing in the Digital Age Online Promotion Made Easy.?

Yvonne Perry: The Internet is the greatest selling and marketing tool available to an author. I wrote the book because I was being asked the same question over and over: How do you market a book? The material in the eBook is a combination of what I teach when I do seminars, speaking engagements, and one-on-one with authors needing assistance with book publicity.

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Carol Denbow: In your opinion Yvonne, what is the biggest mistake authors make when attempting to market their books?

Yvonne Perry: Going out unprepared without having a marketing plan or the information necessary to successfully create the buzz. Many authors do not even have Web site or blog with a point of purchase that gives the reader enough information about the book to actually make an informed purchase.

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Carol Denbow: What will our viewers gain by reading your new e-book?

Yvonne Perry: Everything an author needs to know to successfully promote a book online. The eBook covers such things as:

• What a Web site must have to compete in today’s online marketplace
• Things needed on a Web site or blog in order to promote and sell a book
• How to create an online media kit
• Getting traffic to your blog or Web site
• Newsletters as a marketing funnel
• Promoting your book online via virtual book tours, networking, social media Web 2.0, tagging and social bookmarking, blogging, and video
• Getting author interviews
• Podcasting and RSS feed/syndication

The eBook is filled with live links and screenshots to show exactly how to do what is being explained. There is a resource page with tons more information about online book marketing. The eBook takes the guesswork out of the equation. The things I teach in this book are from the knowledge I have gained from real life experiences in promoting my business and my books online. I know it works because we use these same techniques with our author clientele and they are also getting positive results by simply doing what we instruct.

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Carol Denbow: Okay then. It sure sounds like a great resource. Where could I find your new e-book and for that matter, all your books?

Yvonne Perry: All my books are available on my Web site. Additionally, all my books have an individual blog to disseminate information and allow readers to interact with me. Book Marketing in the Digital Age Online Promotion Made Easy is available for $25 via PayPal purchase at http://www.onlinepromotionmadeeasy.com/ or you may contact me if you would like to pay by check.

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Carol Denbow: Yvonne Perry, thank you for joining us here today, you are an inspiration to all of us writers!

Yvonne Perry: I appreciate being able to share with you and your readers. I love networking with you and thinking of new ways to improve our strategic alliance.

These are some of the questions that came in for Yvonne so far:

Emma writes: I have a friend, Jane Kennedy Sutton, who just recently had a novel published. The release of the book was pushed back several times. When the book was finally officially slated for release, Jane didn't receive much prior notification - I think it was a few weeks at most. How can you plan your marketing ahead of time if you don't necessarily know when the release will be?

Yvonne Perry: There really should be better communication between the publisher and the author since the sales of the book are hinging upon the promotion efforts, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case. That is the draw-back of working with traditional publisher—you lose control over things like this. However, if the author had a Web site and blog

Gail Baker asks: Any advice on how to make my book a bestseller?

Yvonne Perry: Yes, lots of advice! While I cannot guarantee that any book will become a bestseller, there are some things you can do to give it a fair chance on the market.
First, make sure your book is a high-quality product with well-written and edited content so you will get positive word of mouth referrals. Next, have a Web site and a blog as a point of purchase (my e-book tells you how to do this). Then, drive traffic to your blog and Web site through social marketing, virtual tours, teleseminars, article marketing, press releases, and the other simple things I teach in my e-book.


Visitors are more than welcome and encouraged to post comments and questions for Yvonne Perry and/or regarding this interview by using the comment link below (it’s small, so look hard!). You can “Digg us” as well!

In her interview, Yvonne talks about the need for authors to have a Website. If you are an author in need of a Website but feel you can’t afford the expense at this time there are two great freebies you might want to check out. Freewebs and Weebly free Websites can be found by visiting http://www.freewebs.com and http://www.weebly.com.

Then visit Yvonnes Website and pick up her new book!