Category Archives: Cecelia Dowdy’s Books

Rejected! :-(

I’ve been going fishing with this project off an on for about a couple of years now. Although the project was not completed initially, I searched for an agent, anyway. I completed it last November and I continued my agent search. I’ve also been able to submit to a few publishing houses (The publishers took agented submissions only, I was able to submit because I’d met the editors at a writers conference). Anyway, I received the rejection from one of the publishers today! Bummer! They said (I’m paraphrasing):
We haven’t had success in presenting stories that have a main character who is blind, so I don’t think we’ll be pursuing this.

But, there’s still hope! I do have it elsewhere, so I just need to wait and hear what they say about the project!

On a lighter note, I did manage to go to the Walmart in Laurel, Maryland and I saw my book on the shelf!


There were two copies! I “sold” both of them. One lady started browsing in the book section shortly before I took my pics. I told her about my book and she said she would purchase it for her sister! She also said she was an aspiring author and she wanted advice about how to seek publication. We talked books, authors, writers organizations, etc. for close to a half hour!
Another woman came into the book section and I boldly told her about my book, presenting it to her from the shelf. She said, “Did you really write this book?”
I said, “Yes!” I flipped to my bio page. “See, that’s my picture right there.”
She said, “That is you!” She asked me to sign the book and she said she would send it to her preacher sister in South Africa.

Am I kooky or what? I think the exhileration of having a book in stores and in Walmart is going to my head! If I have time and energy, I’ll continue to visit stores when possible and take pictures of my book on the shelf! Also, if you have time, and if you’re in Walmart, Barnes And Noble, Family Christian, Borders, or any other bookstore and happen to see my book shelved, I’d appreciate your taking a picture with your camera and e-mailing it to me so that I can share with other blog readers!

One of my Facebook friends took this pic at the Woodland Texas Walmart:

As I promised in an earlier post, I’ll be back to blogging about regular stuff soon. I recently finished Mom’s The Word by Marilynn Griffith, and I’m almost finished with Plain Perfect by Beth Wiseman. I also have The Manual by Sherryle Kiser Jackson in my TBR pile, and I just received This Fine Life by Eva Marie Everson in the mail today (this book has a very appealing cover!).

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Chesapeake Weddings


I’m getting kind of anxious since my book is about to be released. I still haven’t received my author copies, but I’ve been visiting bookstores, trying to determine when my book will be released. I’d thought it was April 2010, but discovered that Borders shows a date of March 15…that’s only four days away!! I did visit Books A Million during my lunch break and they said they show a date of April 1, 2010. I just want to see my book on a shelf! If you happen to visit a bookstore and see my release, Chesapeake Weddings, be sure to take a picture and email it to me so that I can share it with other blog readers!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Where Are My Books?

I had a blog reader to contact me recently with the following question:
I was wondering how I can get a hold of all of your books published? I went to Barnes and Nobles this past weekend and they say they are all out of print. Is that true?

I also went to Amazon.com and I did see some there. I was hoping Walmart in my area had some but no such luck.

I’d love to read all of them and it would be a pleasure.

My response:
Thanks for offering to buy my books!! John’s Quest, Milk Money and Bittersweet Memories, my individual Heartsong titles, will be re-released on April 1, 2010 in an anthology called Chesapeake Weddings! This three-book collection will be available in most bookstores, including Walmart, around April 1, 2010! If you go to a bookstore to find the book, be sure to ask for Chesapeake Weddings – don’t ask for the individual Heartsong titles, or better yet you can always print the page from Amazon and take it to the bookstore with you. That might help locate the title. Here’s the link that features my book from Amazon.

Did you know that if you order at least $25.00 worth of books from Amazon, you get free shipping? You could always order a few copies of my title to give as gifts to friends and family members in order to fulfill the $25.00 requirement for free shipping. OR you could order other books in the Romancing America series. The Romancing America Series from Barbour Publishing are 3-in-1 titles that are re-released Heartsong Presents novels. They’re clean, wholesome reading suitable for people of all ages.

Here’s the link from Barnes and Noble. Your email prompted me to call Barnes and Noble yesterday, just to see what their system said about my next release. The store clerk told me that Chesapeake Weddings shows as “not published yet.” He did say that it shows a publication date of April 1, 2010. I’m hoping that if others go to Barnes and Noble, the clerks won’t tell them that all of my books are out-of-print when I have one coming out in April, 2010! He assured me that most clerks would say that the book has not yet been published, but, you never know what a clerk will say when they’re researching an item for a customer.

I would also like to add that you can purchase Chesapeake Weddings on Christianbook.com and the price is about $2.00 cheaper on Christianbook.com than on other websites.

So, you won’t find it in the stores yet because it hasn’t been released! My first two titles that I had out are out of print, though. Also, the individual Heartsongs aren’t always in bookstores.

Let me know if you still have trouble finding it after April 1!

I still need to post my March Book Giveaway! I haven’t found time to do that yet! Hopefully I will find time to do that soon!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Facebook

If you haven’t done so already, come join me on my new Author Page on Facebook! Here’s the link. Just click the Become A Fan Button.

I read the galley for Chesapeake Weddings about a month ago because I was told that the book had gone to press! It must have, because on Amazon, you can now search inside the book. I even see the Dear Reader Letter that I wrote last month! It’s cool to see inside the book, but, I want to see my real book! I hope my author copies arrive soon! I’m getting anxious!

~Cecelia Dowdy~