In my newsletters, I usually share a brief story and updates from my journey. The recent newsletter was special: I joined forces with other authors so we can share some goodies at the beginning of fall. If you’re interested in Self-Help books and/or an Author Tool Kit, check the links at the end (after the Back to You section)—they’re valid until September 31, 2020.
Fall Reflections
“What have you been doing for the last five years?” was a common question in 1989 during the Romanian revolution (I was still there at the time). Since everything was changing fast, people were curious!
A similar question came to my mind recently: “What have you been doing since the pandemic started?”
For me, the answer is simple: I preferred to focus on books while scary news bombarded us daily and social distancing made me stay inside for months. I’ve published five books since, three in English and two French translations.
Actually, the pandemic inspired me to bring to light some previously created work… and package it in a book format:
- Noticing people struggling to cope with this situation, I remembered two of my art exhibitions. In Metaphors: An Emotional Journey, I used my photography and poem as a medium to portray an uplifting message of hope: even a difficult situation (like the pandemic) could lead to positive outcomes! While in Spiritual Concepts: Visual Representations I drew upon my intuitive paintings and shared insights that could be helpful to navigate life in these conditions. They helped me many times! The French book titles are easy to guess. 🙂
- Publishing four books in five months made more people reach out to me to learn about self-publishing. Since time is a valuable resource, I preferred to publish the information in my recently released book: How I Launched My First Book to Top the Charts in 7 Countries. This is an updated version of the detailed 65-page report I wrote in 2017, right after my first book (Introverts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective Job Search) became an international bestseller with a promotion budget of only $119. Glad that I reviewed this report! There were valuable lessons in that experience, some of which I have completely forgotten to apply since!
Before the pandemic hit us, I didn’t think about publishing these five books. But I stayed open to see what the Universe* had in store for me this time, instead of letting the pandemic overwhelm me.
And here I am—with 16 published books—feeling a lightness (never experienced before) that they’re out there for those who’ll find them useful!
Back to You
At the beginning of fall, I invite you to reflect on the last 5-6 months:
What have you been doing since the pandemic started?
Notice if there are any lessons to learn, experiences you want to share… let go… explore deeper…
And if you’d like new books to challenge your mind in the coming months, check the links below to see the goodies available (some are free):
Self-Help Books 1 and Self-Help Books 2
Author Tool Kit
~ Gabriela Casineanu
Amazon.com/author/gabrielacasineanu
*Universe: Living in the Canadian multicultural society made me more aware of people’s different faiths and the sensitivity around this subject. I prefer to say Universe, but please replace this word with whatever you believe in that represents the powerful and all-encompassing force (God, Universal Consciousness,…).
