Here’s the book trailer (aka my shameless plug) trying to convince you that you need to buy the eBook today for only .99¢! [You will see at the end of this post it’s not a shameless plug afterall.]
I even created a video last night showing you how “flexible” the eBook is, and why it’s better than the paperback in some regards. However, of course I’d like for you to purchase the paperback too when it is released later. For now though, Christmas is in 5 days. This eBook would make the perfect gift. You can purchase it from Amazon, and they will email the recipient directly with a link to download the book to any mobile device.
So for your viewing pleasure, watch the video below to see why a handy dandy eBook is what you need. Amazon says according to the word count, the average time to read this book is about 2.5 – 3 hours. You can download and read it before Christmas or gift it to someone else. Yes, I know most people don’t have leisure time during this very busy holiday season to read a book. But I must admit, if you give me a couple of minutes, I think you’ll be hooked and may even replace watching a Hallmark Christmas Movie with my book. (LOL)
There is convenience and beauty in having an electronic book instead of the paperback, not to mention it’s only .99¢.
Click the link below to go directly to the order page on Amazon. Buy it for yourself or gift it to someone else. It really is a gripping redemption story fueled by Grace which I believe has a message we all need to hear during these challenging times.
And lastly, here’s an official book review that gives you a better idea of what the book is about.
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers’ Favorite
Betty Collier’s novel, Dear John, is the second book in The Birthday Gift series that reveals the everlasting power of God’s love and the message so aptly shared in scripture. The plot follows John’s journey to discover himself and find his way through faith. It’s a difficult journey, but one he must take. The plot is well developed, the descriptive narrative is aptly incorporated, and the dialogue is well constructed and believable. The story itself is a tapestry evolving from the heart of a seasoned storyteller. There is heartbreak, hope, and the promise of true forgiveness and love, all through the simple act of belief. The author is well versed in scripture and the choice of the main character’s name wasn’t without profound meaning and attachments. We all know the meaning of a ‘Dear John’ letter, one that will cast away the recipient, and those with faith are more than familiar with the quote from John, one of Jesus’s disciples. This compelling story will lead readers closer to their own sense of faith and acceptance. A deeply sentimental, engaging, and powerful story.
Thank you for watching the videos and listening to my shameless plugs. To be honest, obviously it’s not about the money. I can’t get rich making .30¢ per eBook. I’m plugging Dear John because I sincerely believe it was inspired by God. It is a captivating story of grace, love, forgiveness, and redemption. If you have struggled with any of these, you will find answers embedded within the digital pages of this electronic book.
I appreciate you more than you know for taking the time to visit my blog today, especially if you read all the way to the bottom.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to one and all!
Tears began flowing when I received an email that started out by saying “Exciting news! Your press release has been picked up by several national media outlets including FOX, NBC, ABC, and USA Today affiliates.”
Honestly I was kind of expecting it because the Book Excellence Award representative said it would happen, but to see it actually happen is another story. I am beyond thankful and grateful for all that the Lord is doing for me and through me as an author. Having my book, The Birthday Gift: Book 1 receive national media coverage as an award recipient opens doors for me to continue spreading the message inside the book. My 5-book series will not only be intriguing stories of heartbreak and hope, but more importantly, avenues to share the greatest gift ever given to mankind and the greatest story ever told. To continue sharing that message around the world and to have more control over the project, I am starting my own business, John316 Global Publishing. Details will unfold over the next few months. Visit my website here to learn more about the John 3:16 Global Placement Mission.
As for the Amazon bestselling, award-winning first book in this series, take a look at the national media coverage:
The Book Excellence Award Program sent out a press release announcing my book as a 2022 award finalist earlier this summer. It was distributed to a wide array of news outlets across the United States with millions of viewers! How many actually saw it? I’ll never know; however, I do know that the Lord has continued to open doors for the message inside the book to be shared across the nation and around the globe. Here’s the press release below recognizing The Birthday Gift: Book 1 as a top 2022 book award finalist in a competition that celebrates excellence in books around the world.
I’ve also been told repeatedly by numerous people this book should be turned into a movie. It has always felt like a movie to me ever since I used to dream about Mrs. Williams, Bill, and Bella when I was writing the manuscript. I’m going on record right here that I believe it will happen. Watch the book trailer video below. It feels like a movie trailer. (However, I’ll let the movie executives make the actual blockbuster movie trailer though.)
Also, while you’re here, I want to share a bit more information. Someone asked me to provide a 200-300 word excerpt from the book as part of an upcoming virtual book tour in August. How does an author take a book that’s about 30,000 words and pick only a glimpse of 200-300 words that will grab a reader’s attention? Well, I picked part of my first chapter because that is where Mrs. Williams’ original heartbreak began. You will have to read the book to see how that profound heartbreak was turned into surprising hope for the future… As the press release said, this book is a shining beacon of hope in a time of global uncertainty and unprecedented change.
Excerpt from Chapter 1: Black and Blue
The next thing I remember hearing is “Code Blue.” It was now pitch-black outside my ICU window at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. I don’t know what happened on that beautiful sunny morning after I opened my front door for the police officer. He was standing there in the last ray of sunshine I would see for quite some time. I guess I could look at the police report or medical records, but what’s the point. I really don’t want to be reminded of the single most horrific day in my entire life. What happened? Why was the police officer talking in slow motion?
Bill had been in Israel for thirty-three days. It was time for him to come back home. I had been expecting a phone call from him during his layover at Heathrow. Instead of Bill’s much anticipated call, I got that abominable knock at my front door!
Then I heard it again. “Code Blue.”
Everything went black. As I reflect on that disastrous day, everything was already black. My world had gone dark and void.
From what I’ve been told, I woke up the following morning with no recollection of the previous day. Apparently, those words my ears had refused to allow my mind to process were no less true just because I refused to hear them, let alone accept them.
My heart was broken. I was broken. Life as I once knew it no longer existed. There was no reason to go to the airport. Bill never boarded his connecting flight in London. The only thing at the airport now was his luggage, and there certainly wasn’t any reason for me to go claim that. Well, no reason that I knew of at the time.
For those who have already read the book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Positive reviews will help other potential buyers discover this book. Help me spread the message of John 3:16 (uniquely embedded in this story) around the globe by sharing this beacon of hope with others.
They say you should try to limit social media videos to 1 minute. It’s hard to keep a person’s attention beyond that due to the current state of affairs with scrolling incessantly and/or aimlessly on social media.
Or better yet, try even shorter blurbs of 15-30 seconds.
Most commercials are 30-60 seconds, and people pay millions just to have that much time on ONE Super Bowl commercial.
I’m guessing I may have lost or bored some of you already because you don’t know what point I’m trying to make. I digress often which is not a good thing these days. I also have the tendency to over tell a story, also not a good thing. So let me get to my point.
I’ve been trying to create some short videos to post on social media, but I think I am overthinking the whole process. I’m trying to find an audience and become more visible on social media. I even ventured over to TikTok and posted a couple of videos there. YES, startling to say the least if you know anything about me.
Anyway, I decided to try this out on my blog too, so I’m going to share a couple of my quickie videos here. Take this one, for example. This was my first video on TikTok… clocking in at a mere 1 minute, 25 seconds. You don’t need a TikTok account to view it. Just press the <play> arrow in the center of the video below.
At the time of this post, it had been viewed on TikTok over 1,200 times and had over 200 likes, all by complete strangers who I’ve never had any contact with. Honestly, I was very pleasantly surprised as I did not think the video would even make it to the list to even be scrolled past and ignored. It was a very impromptu thing. I didn’t plan to video anything that day, but as I was taking a walk and noticed the flags flying at half staff, I decided to stop and video it. By not overthinking that day, I posted the video (on August 28) on my personal Facebook page like I normally do because I often share my walking adventures with my Facebook friends. It was viewed a little over 100 times and got 5 likes.
I’m not sure what that means. Maybe my Facebook friends are tired of me and don’t stop scrolling long enough to see what I have posted. Meanwhile complete strangers not only stopped, but they stopped on TikTok of all places, viewed the video and even liked it. I really didn’t think there would be an audience for me on TikTok at all, so I was pleasantly surprised and glad that I had not overthought it.
What does that say about social media, attention spans, finding your niche, accidentally discovering your voice on unlikely platforms, or just trying to live in the moment without overthinking? I don’t have the answer to any of those questions, but I did find it quite interesting.
Given the first video’s success, I ventured out again and posted my second TikTok video 4 days later on September 1. Here it is, and guess what y’all! I actually told my WHOLE story in less than a minute. This one is only 59 seconds and has been viewed over 500 times and garnered 65 likes (from total strangers) as of the time I’m writing this blog post. Again, a much better reception than Facebook with 89 views and 6 likes…. (by my friends.)
Again, this was totally impromptu during my morning walk. The sun’s reflection over the lake caught my eye, but what really did it for me was the song I was listening to on my AirPods, Resurrection Power. I listen to music all the time, but had I not been walking at the time, and had I decided to overthink things too much, I never would have shared that video either.
Do I have a point? I’m still thinking about it as I am typing because I don’t know what I really want to say yet. After sitting here for a minute and pondering what I just wrote, it dawned on me (or rather I think it was the Lord enlightening me) that my point should be we are much more concerned about what people think or say about us, and even worse, more concerned with how many likes a social media post can muster up.
Yes, that’s the point in all of this. It doesn’t really matter. Life does not revolve around social media, although it seems the world would like for us to believe it does. Social media has its place, and there is a lot of good that can come from it. However, a lot of bad has also been the result of it. What should matter is fulfilling our purpose in life. We can do that without social media just as billions of people have done prior to the invention of the internet and social media.
So let me just encourage you to find your place in this world and discover your own unique purpose. Why were you put on this earth? Or better yet, why did God create you? Why did HE put you on this earth? The obvious answer is to honor and glorify HIM. But how do we do that? That’s where a concrete answer can be quite illusive. I encourage you to pray and ask God to lead, guide, and direct you. Ask him to help you discover your purpose. Trust him to show you what that is. One of my favorite scriptures reads as follows:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
If we do that, we will walk down the path God has ordained for our lives, and that most certainly includes bringing honor and glory to HIM! We may not see what that path is right now, but if we keep putting one foot in front of the other, we will get there. Let’s not get caught up with the cares of this world, but we most certainly need to be praying FOR this world. Just take a look around us. It’s hard to argue that we are not living out the Book of Revelation right now. But that’s a deeper topic for a different blogger, or better yet, for a preacher or teacher. Suffice it to say, we have more important things to worry about than overthinking a one minute video.
Well, this blog post ended up being much longer than I expected. I thought about this right before going to bed tonight and thought I would sit down “real quick” and just share my 2 TikTok videos with you. Apparently God had other plans for me tonight though, and you are reading the results of what I feel he gave me to share with you for such a time as this.
Which brings me to my final point, which I certainly had NO INTENTION of sharing with you today (or tonight as it is now 12:30 a.m. as I am typing this.
This last video is almost 30 minutes. I don’t expect you to listen to the whole thing. However, I am asking you to listen to the first 2 minutes, 21 seconds. As I was attempting to close out this blog post 2 paragraphs ago, I felt the urge to keep typing and share this video. While trying to figure out our purpose and how to walk in the destiny God has already pre-ordained for our lives, let’s not forget to share the message of the gospel with others. What better way to bring honor and glory to God?
How can you fulfill your purpose on this earth? Your REAL purpose? It starts with believing what John 3:16 says. And once you do that, share it with others! It only takes a minute (or less) to share the good news of John 3:16. That, my dear readers, really is the point in my blog today. I just didn’t know it until the very end. I guess that’s what happens when I am obedient to following that inner voice (Holy Spirit) directing my path.
