Welcome to the February edition of Songdove Books Newsletter!

First off, let me welcome all the new faces since January!  Songdove Books held an impromptu Valentine's Week Giveaway February 7th to the 14th, with one special name picked randomly on the 14th to win an ePub version of "Dressed for Eternity".  Any entrants that granted me their email address, were added to the monthly newsletter.  As usual, if you don't wish to receive this newsletter, you are free to unsubscribe at the bottom of the newsletter.  New subscribers are given the opportunity to receive my ebook, "Practical Thoughts on Becoming an Author" for free as a thankyou for signing up for this newsletter.  The coupon code for Smashwords is in the welcome email itself.

Second, let me say a HUGE THANKYOU to everyone praying for my financial situation!!!  January and February have seen more income come in than I've had for most of the past 6 months!  The prayer now is to have that continue into the coming year and beyond.  The great thing about the current income is that it only takes a few hours to meet my desired daily minimum or more, and I can call my own hours.  So needless to say, I'm feeling very blessed and filled with thankfulness and gratitude for how God is providing right now!


Love Month Promotion

As mentioned above, we held an impromptu Valentine's Week Giveaway for an ePub copy of "Dressed for Eternity".

Each day for 7 days, excerpts, a video and a slideshare presentation were shared.  You can find the slideshare presentation in the blog post link here (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/2015/02/13/welcome-to-the-valentines-week-giveaway-for-dressed-for-eternity-day-seven/).  Clicking that blog post will show you more of the week's postings as well in the lefthand sidebar of the site.

The paperback version of the book generally sells for anywhere from $49 - $68 at online retailers.  However, if you order directly from me (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/store/) or New Christian Books (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/new-christian-books/), you get the paperback for $36.00, roughly $20 off the regular retail price.  The ebook sells for $9.99 at the various online retailers carrying it.


Make a New Habit for Lent and Beyond!

If you're looking for a new way to spend your quiet time this year, let me suggest picking up your own copy of "A Year in Prayer With Jesus" whether in paperback, PDF, mobi or epub formats.

This is an undated book so that Day One can begin literally on any calendar date of the year!

Check out this video (http://youtu.be/q2DhnE5f7QU?list=PLsfmoQFz615pJIdjL-3_429_cSbSNQkXA) to get a feel for how to engage with The Lord's Prayer at a deeper level this year.

 
Grad Season is Approaching!

In just three month's time, another big milestone is going to be upon us!  Graduation season!!!  Why not consider beating the rush, and getting one or more copies of "Mom's Little Black Book: Godly Advice for the High School Graduate" now instead of later?  It goes for roughly $12.00 at most online retailers.  Eight graduates received it as gifts last year.

BECOME A SONGDOVE BOOKS AFFILIATE!!!

Had to share this with my newsletter readers!  I just had a student recently take the course through their own JVZoo affiliate link.  When I paid them their commission, they were surprised, and sent me this gorgeous handmade bookmark!  This student is an author as well, and she makes these bookmarks to sell on her website.  Her husband recently made her raise the price from $3.00 to $4.50!  If you want one, let me know and I'll get you in touch with her!

The Songdove Books Affiliate Program, which is aimed at getting word out about the two e-coourses that are offered through the website, now includes both the Click2Sell affiliate network, and the JVZoo Affiliate Network.  Earn $3.50 per sale of either course sold through your own affiliate-tracked link.  I've begun a separate newsletter for Songdove Books Affiliates and waiting for those currently signed on, to add their names to this newsletter (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/sign-up-for-the-sap-newsletter/) so I can start keeping them in touch every month just as I keep you in touch with all that goes on in the world of Songdove Books.  So if you want to get in on the act and help me promote these two e-courses, go to the affiliate program page here (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/become-a-songdove-books-affiliate/), pick your preferred network, then grab the related links and media to help you get started.

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Wrap-up

We've reached the end of "the love month", and now we look forward to St. Patrick's Day in March, and on to Resurrection Sunday in April.  We are on our way, entering the month leading up to Christ's betrothal of the Church, otherwise known as The Last Supper.

Did you tell Christ you love Him this month?  Did He get a valentine's gift from you?  How did you go about showing Him that more than anyone or anything else around you, He has your heart?

For myself, I decided to make an adjustment to how I go about my days.  Due to my health being what it is, I endeavour to ensure that I get in 8hrs of sleep every night.  This generally means starting my day by 8:30am or 9am depending on how well I slept the night before and how many times my sleep was interrupted either by washroom stops, or the kids getting up and around to begin their day.  My son begins his day around 5am and my daughter begins her day 45 minutes later.  She wakes me up to drive her to work, and then I come home to return to bed for another hour or two so that I can add up 8 actual hours of sleep.  Nights when I'm dead to the world will see me begin my day by 8am, but those night's don't come often enough.

So the adjustment I chose to make, was that when I turn my computer on and take my morning natural antihistamine, instead of opening my browser and checking messages and such right away, I will also open e-Sword, and engage in morning quiet time with just me and the Lover of my soul, Jesus Christ.  I'll spend some quiet time in gratitude and prayer and just "being" in His presence, then turn to e-Sword to ready the next chapter as I go through the Bible again from beginning to end.  I read Exodus chapter 31 today.

The danger of making my devotional time first thing in the morning, is that if I journal/blog about what I read, it can be an hour or more before I get to my work for the day. . . and that includes making time for breakfast too.  It's a good thing I can work in my PJ's, because I can push off "washing up" till I have to go out, allowing me to be more productive right after my devotional/breakfast time than I otherwise might be.

I began this change when I realized that for now, that time of day is relatively unchanging for me.  It is a time of day that I can set aside and engage with God on a more regular basis than if I waited for a more ideal time later on.  I believe in giving God a portion of the most productive part of my day, unfortunately, that equals times of day when everyone else wants a piece of me too!

Mornings  honestly aren't the best time mentally or physically, and sometimes that translates into emotionally either, but mornings are currently the only regular time of day I can offer.  God appears to be honouring this sacrifice too, and doesn't seem to mind holding me as I wake up in His presence.  Usually by the time clients begin calling me, at least my devotional time is largely wrapped up, whether or not I've had breakfast yet.

So I'm doing what I can regarding the needed rest my body requires, engaging in the newfound time frame for deliberately setting time aside with God rather than fitting it in whereever I can, and engaging in techsupport for my day job's clientelle as well!  God is bringing in the work, and whether that is a result of all of your prayers on my behalf, or whether God is honouring my desire to spend time with Him regardless of my mental/emotional/physical state at the time, either way, work is coming in and I am incredibly grateful!

We show God we love Him by choosing to spend time with Him, by following Christ's example to set ourselves apart every day to be just with Him alone, and by our obedience to His commands as He directs in John 14.

Have you made changes to show God your love for Him?  Care to share?

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Today is February 7th! Do you know what that means??? It means a very special day is fast approaching! This is perhaps, more than any other date on the calendar, the most polarizing observance in the western world! Couples love it! Singles hate it! But whether attached or unattached, Christians have a reason to celebrate the idea of this observance all year 'round! Yes, I know that last statement sounds a lot like what we hear at Christmastime, but no, clearly we are beyond the Christmas celebrations.

I am speaking of Valentine's Day! This day was set aside in honour of a man who legend says was the first person to ever send a card to a lover. The catholic church sainted him and at some point in history, this day was set aside to honour his memory by sending cards and gifts to those we love.

The reason I suggest that Christians, whether attached to someone else or not, can engage in this celebration, is because we have an eternal Bridegroom waiting for the Father's signal to return for His Bride, which is made up of those in the Church who have both watched and prepared themselves for His coming.

"Dressed for Eternity" introduces the reader to an ancient ritual in the Jewish marriage custom that God patterns Christ's behaviour after with regards to the Church. Following this introduction, the book takes the reader on a trip through history, archeology, Scripture, and scientific observation to delve more deeply into how God adorns His Bride in the Scriptures.

Why did God choose the stones He did? What purpose or meaning could be behind His choice of garments, footwear and jewelry? Is there significance in how He stated the Levitical priests should dress and do the precious stones of the New Jerusalem's foundation have anything to contribute?

This year, why not find out for yourself?

Beginning today, February 7th, there will be a week-long rafflecopter giveaway for one free epub copy of "Dressed for Eternity". Each day this week there will be presentations from the book, beginning with a small one year celebration of the launch of this book a year ago on February 8th 2014. We'll wrap up with a slideshow presentation the day before the draw takes place on the 14th. During this week, "Dressed for Eternity" will be available from select online retailers either in paperback or in e-book formats, all at discounted prices.

Stay tuned for today's inaugural post and be ready to enter the giveaway! You'll have multiple ways to enter, and you may engage in each them once per day to increase your chances of winning this book. I look forward to celebrating with you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a bonus link for you! Do you like to coordinate your life? Check out Dressed for Eternity at Cafepress.com!

Well look at that!

We've already made one major success this year!  We completed the month of January 2015!  You read that right, the first month of the brand new year, 2015, is now OVER!  How does it feel?  What goals had you set for this month?  Did you reach them?  Did you get half way?  Did they get written down? Did they peak into your thoughts on New Year's and then dash off as fast as they could run?

Reaching the end of January 2015 has been a mixed bag for me.  Prayer cards for "A Year in Prayer With  Jesus" had some glitches to start out the year, ironed out those glitches and then ran into hard drive space problems resulting in only getting scheduled to February 19th.  If all goes as offered, that storage issue might get resolved by the end of the February, perhaps early March, and then the prayer cards can resume.  So there might be a few weeks when nothing gets shared at 7am every morning via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The hard drive issues really reared their ugly heads when I began recording the audio sessions for "Becoming the Bride of Christ: A Personal Journey", in earnest!  I got to the end of Chapter Three of Volume One, when space suddenly reached premium status!  So that project is on hold now as well until we approach the month of March.

Praying about paying down my debt load resulted in interest-dodging taking the form of a new van consolidating a number of my debts into a single payment taking place every two weeks.  Now the prayers for regular income need to step up, because that bi-weekly payment is the equivalent of my previous car payment, plus one of the major debt's monthly payments cut in half!  Don't worry about the math, I'm not giving you any figures anyway.  

However, income for the month of January picked up to the point where I've now had more work this month, than at any time this past Fall!  Pray this continues going forward so that I can maintain my financial obligations.  If this all works out, I'll have the vast majority of my debt-load paid off in 8 years.  A separate debt will be paid off in just under 3yrs now.  Yes, you can guess by now that my New Year's goal was to get more work, finish the prayer cards, and finally get my series into audio format! Oh! And lower my debt load!  That lowering so far has taken shape in the form of lower interest rates!

As if that wasn't surprising enough, being able to engage in interest-dodging via a 2014 Dodge Minivan, (ha ha, get it? interest-dodging, dodge. . . ) a client call related to my "day job" as a computer repair tech, ended up with me coming home with a Blackberry Playbook!  Thanks to learning about a Chrome playbook management extension, I now have it set up to read my own ebooks!  I finally get to see what YOU see when you purchase my ebooks and put them on your ereader!  Up to this point, I could only use emulators such as Adobe Digital Editions or Calibre to view my ebooks on my computer.  While that let me know the books worked as designed and looked reasonably how I wanted them to, emulators still are not the real thing.  I also observed that my latest paperback, "A Year in Prayer With Jesus", reads fine as an epub on the computer, but on my ereader app at least, the center portion that contains the actual daily prayer sessions, is blank.  It won't load. . . too big a section I'm guessing as the book is over 700 pages in printed format.  The PDF on my Playbook for this particular book reads just fine.  So it might be an ereader thing, or limitations of the hardware.

So this geeky author got just a little more geeky this past week!

If you're looking for a new way to spend your quiet time this year, let me suggest picking up your own copy of "A Year in Prayer With Jesus" whether in paperback, PDF, mobi or epub formats.

This is an undated book so that Day One can begin literally on any calendar date of the year!

Check out this video to get a feel for how to engage with The Lord's Prayer at a deeper level this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2DhnE5f7QU&feature=youtu.be&list=PLsfmoQFz615pJIdjL-3_429_cSbSNQkXA

As February is also considered "the love month", learning about the Church's role as the Bride of Christ and how God chooses to clothe her in the Scriptures may be just the right read.  Perhaps you have a loved one interested in the ancient world, or a friend interested in scents or a sibling who just LOVES clothes.  This book would make a great Valentine's Day gift for any one of them!  If you order directly from me or New Christian Books, you get the paperback at roughly $20 off the regular retail price of other online retailers.  The ebook sells for $9.99 at the various online retailers carrying it

In just three month's time, another big milestone is going to be upon us!  Graduation season!!!  Why not consider beating the rush, and getting one or more copies of "Mom's Little Black Book: Godly Advice for the High School Graduate" now instead of later?  It goes for roughly $12.00 at most online retailers.  Eight graduates received it as gifts last year.

BECOME A SONGDOVE BOOKS AFFILIATE!!!

The Songdove Books Affiliate Program, which is aimed at getting word out about the two e-coourses that are offered through the website, now includes both the Click2Sell affiliate network, and the JVZoo Affiliate Network.  Earn $3.50 per sale of either course sold through your own affiliate-tracked link.  I've begun a separate newsletter for Songdove Books Affiliates and waiting for those currently signed on, to add their names to this newsletter so I can start keeping them in touch every month just as I keep you in touch with all that goes on in the world of Songdove Books.  So if you want to get in on the act and help me promote these two e-courses, go to the affiliate program page here, pick your preferred network, then grab the related links and media to help you get started.

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Wrap-up

I think that's all the news available for this month.

Take a moment to check out the blog post entry below entitled "Praise and Peace".  If I were to leave you with one particular thought going into 2015, it would be that particular blog post.  As the days get darker on the world stage, the concepts discussed in this blog post will hold true.
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Latest Content on the Songdove Musings Blog:
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Songdove Books - Isaiah 40:28-31
Praise and Peace

It's a sad way to come home from choir practice tonight, but news reached my email inbox that Listia has changed their rules for digital goods. 

Songdove Books has been offering PDF or epub versions of each book for free via this site for at least a year or more.  This was deemed a legitimate way for people who could not afford to buy my books, to earn points and "buy" my books that way, without cash.

Over the next 10 days, one by one my books will cease to be offered free on this site and eventually, no more PDF or epub books will be given away in this manner. 

If you want any of my books for free, please check this link to see when auctions are ending over the next 10 days.The first auction to end is Volume One of my series, "Becoming the Bride of Christ: A Personal Journey".  That ends in roughly 18 hours from the time stamp of this post.  (EDIT: Auto-renewal is keeping some listings live longer than others, but once auto-renewal ends for a given listing, it will not be relisted due to the new rules) Needless to say, time is of the essence now!

Thanks to those who have followed me on Listia.  My auction list will go dormant after 10 days.  You can continue to follow me here and on Facebook as well.

Yes, I did just put October and Thanksgiving in the same heading.  The reason for that, is due to continuing to run into people across the US that I meet online, who don't know that Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October.

Thanksgiving was a very lean affair for us this year.  Even moreso than in some years in the past, due to how lean work has also been this Fall.  I thought we could try an o'dourve-style meal this year, with our usual spinach salad, a couple dipping sauces, and some apple-cinnamon store-bought cake for dessert.  My body told me that was too little in the way of nutrition.  I don't think we'll be doing that again in the future.  The lack of carbohydrates and proteins totally did me in that evening.

But the celebration of Thanksgiving is about so much more than food. . . isn't it?  Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving later in November, so I wanted to spend a little time in this newsletter just sharing some of the things I'm thankful for.

Paul says in Philippians 4:11-12  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Learning to find the blessings in the midst of want goes a long way to helping my kids and I understand that we have been blessed by so much more than material goods.  Over the years God has brought surprising blessings our way, from boxes of gifts at Christmastime when the kids were smaller, to homes within walking distance of the lakefront.  We've sorted through bags of clothing and purchased very few coats as a result.  God has led us to surprising deals while grocery shopping, and we're positive He's gone ahead of us to the Salvation Army Thrift Store on more than one occasion.  I've watched the gas tank needle occasionally travel much farther up the gauge than what I knew I'd just paid for at the pump.

This Thanksgiving season, I am thankful for understanding landlords as I've struggled to pay the rent.  I am thankful for their prayers and their encouragement in the Lord.  I am thankful for two grown kids with jobs who are paying room and board.  Without them, I'd be really bad off!  One's room and board helps ensure rent is covered while the other's room and board ensures we have groceries through the month.  I call her my walking wallet now.  I am thankful for the ability to walk to most locations where I need to do business.  This gives me the exercise I need so badly, as well as saving gas in the tank.  I'm thankful for the work that has come in, although I am desparately praying for more.  I'm thankful for the strides in my health, and praying that the setback I experienced this fall won't last.  I'm thankful for a community gospel choir to sing in, and for the outreach opportunities we've landed for the upcoming Christmas season.

Is life perfect?  Do we live in material or financial abundance? No to both those questions.  But as Paul said above, the key to being thankful is not in how fat your bank account is or how many possessions you have to look after (there is another verse that talks about being a slave to your possessions), the key to being thankful is found in your ability to look around you and see all the ways God has blessed you that money can't buy.

Why not reply to this newsletter and share what you are thankful for this season?  I may share your comments either in a blog post, or on my social media feeds with just your initials to keep you anonymous.  It would be great to hear from you!


Photos for Sale!

Sometimes I like to play around with a camera.  I rarely if ever take pictures of people, which might be one reason why I'm so bad at capturing moments with the family, but I love landscape or cityscape photography.  I realized earlier this Fall, that one of the features people can create on places such as cafepress.com or zazzle, are greeting cards and prints.

Thanks to a website plugin called Fotomoto, I am now able to offer some of my photos in the four seasonal categories, for sale in the form of either 5x7 prints, greeting cards, postcards/invitation cards, downloads for use in screensavers or desktop wallpaper, and even for use in sending free e-cards to your friends.

When you click this link here, choose the season you wish to browse.  When you see an interesting thumbnail, click on it and give the page a moment to load.  Once the page has finished loading, you'll see the fotomoto bar under the image with options to purchase or send an e-card.  The fotomoto purchase screen has a "more sizes" button that will let you see all sizes currently available.

Photos For Sale Part TWO!

 While I was promoting my little recipe ebook, "Pumpkin Pie From the Ground Up! (Well, sort of!)", I realized I could have some fun and make household or office-related items that featured the pumpkin theme!  Then as I was preparing my fotomoto area of the website, I realized I could turn those photos into products too.  Not all photos looked good on all potential products, so some photos have more of a representation than others.  I haven't done the summer photos yet either.  So this is still a work in progress.  But some of the photos honestly did surprise me with how well they took to being applied to various household items.  It was the same level of surprise I got when adding artwork related to "Dressed for Eternity" and "A Year in Prayer With Jesus".  If I could afford it, I'd have my entire bathroom and maybe even my bedroom, done up in "Dressed for Eternity" while having my kitchen and office done up in Fall photos!  I also discovered that the Thermos brand products are at par or cheaper than two stores I shop at in town here in Canada.  So that was encouraging.  Check them out and if you see something worth sharing with others, go ahead.  If you see something worth buying for yourself or as a gift for someone else, jump in!  Cafepress has a 60 day return policy if you are ever unsatisfied, so I don't get paid till almost 3 months after you make your purchase, just to be sure you like what you bought.

Website Updates

Photos and cafepress were not the only updates and discoveries happening this month.  When you visit my blog next, you'll notice the right-hand sidebar has expanded and some things have been moved around.  This is due to the discovery that many of the places where my books are sold online, have affiliate programs.  I've done my best to give equal representation where possible down that right-hand sidebar.  If an outlet that you normally shop at is present in that sidebar, feel free to throw me a few pennies by clicking through that link before doing your shopping next time.  Perhaps Canada got rid of the penny, but it only takes 5 fictitious pennies (only paid by debit/credit/online transaction) to make a very real, physical nickle, and nickles add up.

While I was in the process of discovering these various affiliate programs, I also discovered a few more places where my books are being sold online.  As a result, the Where to Buy Around the World page has been updated with a few more locations not just on the North American Continent, but in Australia and other places as well.  So if you haven't checked out that list in awhile, you might want to do so in case your favourite retailer is now carrying my books.
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Wrap-up

So it was a quiet front as far as any book promotions, book sales, etc were concerned.  It was a quiet front as far as work went as well.  I managed to get three weeks worth of the "A Year in Prayer With Jesus" prayer cards.  This is a tedious task copying and pasting.  I'm creating a tweet list while I'm at it, as the book is quite tweetable.

I am grateful for a couple book sales this month, two of my ebook "Practical Thoughts on Becoming an Author", one of "Pumpkin Pie From the Ground Up! (Well, sort of!)", and a paperback copy of "Becoming the Bride of Christ: A Personal Journey Volume One".  If you were one of those buyers, I want to offer you a HUGE  THANK YOU!  I'd love to hear what you thought of the book you purchased.  The "Where to Buy Around the World" page also has a list of places where you can leave reviews about the book you purchased.  This not only serves to encourage me as an author, but also lets others know what you thought of the book.  Your words may encourage someone else to pick up a copy.

To all my Canadian readers, a happy post-Thanksgiving!  To all my American readers, a happy early-Thanksgiving!  Tell me what you're thankful for!
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