Children of Dreams Award Winning Memoir FREE This Weekend

Click on link to download: http://bit.ly/Children_of_Dreams

Watch the video on youtube by clicking here.

Wakulla Book Review: Children of Dreams, by Lorilyn Roberts

Wakulla Book Review:  Children of Dreams, by Lorilyn Roberts.

Summary:  The story chronicles Ms. Roberts’ journey to Nepal to adopt a young girl through an agency where the father loved her [ daughter ] so much that he would sacrifice and put her up for adoption, because when he remarried nothing would become of his daughter because of the cast system and culture of his country.

Ms. Roberts is tested when her daughter becomes ill, doctors don’t have answers, and she is concerned about moving forward with the adoption that she knows in her spirit she is led to do.

When all is clear with the health of her daughter, adoption laws have changed, and this time her journey takes her to Vietnam only to find out that the child she has come for was “kidnapped.”

After a trail of lies, deception, and becoming aware of an ongoing investigation by U.S. officials of her adoption agent Anne, she adopts a child born to a single rice-farming mother.

Her faith is tested in all phases of the adoption, even when she must leave the country without her daughter depending upon Anne to bring her daughter stateside.

Purpose: The author wanted to tell her story of adopting her two daughters and show that our adoption into the Body of Christ can be better understood through what she went through and her ability to love.

Themes: Abortion, human trafficking/baby stealing/family support versus family against divorce and feeling unworthy/incomplete.

Thesis: Adoption into the Body of Christ and trusting in the ways of the Lord even when we can’t understand why in the natural and when those around us talk against instead of giving their support.

daughters in 2014

Controversy: The author is against abortion, which her views are in line with the Word of God. She is also against taking part in bribes and corruption even if it seems as though it is for a greater good for the Word tells us not to.

I enjoyed the book and the fact that the author continued to hold fast to her faith and walking in the direction she knew the Lord was leading her.

Book Review by Clyde 

WAKULLA BOOK REVIEW 

Order Children of Dreams from Amazon by clicking here.

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I want to personally thank all the men who are reviewing the books written by JOHN 3:16 AUTHORS. I am thankful that we are able to bless them and appreciate the encouragement given to us by their reviews. 

Each WEEK (usually on Tuesday), we are posting reviews from 

Wakulla Correctional inmates of John 3:16 books. 

Inmates are loving the new books from John 3:16 authors. 

Chaplain Steve Fox is adding the new books to the prison library in this initiative to "change lives to ensure a safer Florida."

After Writing A Memoir, How to Convert It to a Power Point and Movie

One of my most popular blog posts and for which I've won an award is "How to Write a Memoir in Twelve Easy Steps."  My idea to write the article came after I wrote my book, "Children of Dreams." After the book was published, I made a presentation to an adoption group. Of course, many people in the audience were either adoptive parents or those wanting to adopt. 

To make my presentation relevant to both groups, I decided to show how my audience could write their own memoir via Power Point. I then later converted the presentation into a movie so it could be watched on the web. But then I forgot about it and never uploaded it. I was looking for something else on my computer and came across the movie. 

I decided to post it here to give readers and those who are writing memoirs an idea of what they can do with their own memoir. It's another way to take your book and and present it to audiences - and hopefully entice people to buy your book after your presentation.

Below is a video I found on youtube that will tell you how to convert your Point Point Presentation into a movie that you can then post on the web, as I have done here.

I always like to find different uses for what I create and share that with readers. Of course, you can also add audio to your movie and make your video even better than I have done here. 

My audience loved this simple presentation and I sold several books afterwards.

If you would like to check out my book Children of Dreams on Amazon, click here.

Twenty Years Later - Lorilyn Roberts Returns to Nepal to Take Books To Orphans

This inspirational work of nonfiction follows a woman who turns her own shattered dreams into life-changing hope, relying on God's redemptive love to overcome impossible odds and adopt two destitute children from one of the world's most remote regions.

I (Lorilyn Roberts) will be traveling to Nepal soon to take books to orphans - children who have been rescued and adopted into Nepali homes sponsored by Child Hope International.

Please consider making a donation of $34.95 to help defray the costs. In return I will send you a signed copy of my best-selling memoir Children of Dreams.  

For the next three weeks, I will be publishing on my blog my adoption memoir, to encourage you to pray for Joy and me, for travel mercies, and for you to "taste" the country and experience what I felt when I was there before. God gave me my first of two "Children of Dreams" twenty years ago. I arrived home from Nepal on Mother's Day, May 8, 1994, with Manisha Hope.

The costs will be around $3,500 for Joy and me to travel and stay six days. Our time will be spent helping many of the kids with English and reading. About $1,500 has been donated so far. I am hoping more people will donate toward the trip so I don't have to spend the next several months paying off my credit card when I return. 

Imagine what the possibilities are with the two hundred plus Christian books we are taking (as well as two Kindles a member of the John 3:16 Marketing Network donated). These children are among the few, particularly the girls, to receive an education in Nepal. They are the future leaders, the future teachers, doctors, and nurses. Over two hundred abandoned children have been adopted in-country by Nepali families sponsored by Child Hope International. Today many are in college. One orphan sponsored by Child Hope International is now in medical school. 

I would especially appreciate your prayers. Donations can be made through Paypal.



If you would enjoy reading Children of Dreams as an ebook, in celebration of the trip, I'm offering a free coupon through Smashwords for the length of time Joy and I will be in Nepal. Joy is my younger daughter who I adopted from Vietnam. Manisha, who is 23, will be staying home and taking care of all of our animals. 

Here is the information to get your free copy of Children of Dreams in Nook or to read online. It is also available in Kindle on Amazon by clicking here.

Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: XT77R
Expires: October 29, 2014     

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/102175 

From James 1:27:  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  

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TO VISIT MORE SITES ON THE BLOG TOUR, CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW

Lorilyn Roberts	http://tinyurl.com/nfycube	Sept. 8
Michelle D. Evans	www.michelledennisevans.com	Sept. 9
Cheryl Cowell	http://CherylColwell.com	Sept. 10
Laura J. Davis	http://tinyurl.com/poprjpp	Sept. 11
Judy Lair	http://tinyurl.com/ocgn8up	Sept. 12
Krystal Kuehn	http://tinyurl.com/oxg4nat	Sept. 13
Violet James	http://tinyurl.com/oxg4nat	Sept. 14
Emma Right	http://emmaright.com/special-offer-month	Sept. 15
Pearl Nsiah-Kumi	www.pearlkumi.net	Sept. 16
Randy Kirk	http://godcalled-isaiah6.com/	Sept. 17
William Burt	http://bit.ly/15lNmKQ	Sept. 18
Kimberley Payne	http://www.kimberleypayne.com/30-days-of-savings/	Sept. 19
Cheryl Colwell	www.cherylcolwell.com	Sept. 20
D.K. Drake	www.DragonStalkers.com	Sept. 21
Jill Richardson	http://jill-theimperfectjourney.blogspot.com	Sept. 22
Dana Rongione	http://www.danarongione.com/30-days-of-savings.html	Sept. 23
Robin Johns Grant	http://robinjohnsgrant.com/30-days-savings/	Sept. 24
Elizabeth Paige	www.moldableclay.com	Sept. 25
L. Shoshana Rhodes	http://messianicpropheticintercessor.com/	Sept. 26
Michelle D. Evans	www.michelledennisevans.com	Sept. 27
Sharon A. Lavy	www.sharonalavy.com	Sept. 28
Lorilyn Roberts	http://LorilynRoberts.com/special_edition.html	Sept. 29
Dana Rongione	http://danarongione.com	Sept.30
William Burt	http://bit.ly/1pBhdyO	Oct. 1
Laura J. Davis	http://tinyurl.com/poprjpp	Oct. 2
Kimberley Payne	http://www.KimberleyPayne.com/30-days-of-savings/	Oct. 3
Emma Right	http://emmaright.com/special-offer-month	Oct. 4
Val Newton Knowles	www.valnewtonknowles.com	Oct. 5
Elizabeth Paige	www.moldableclay.com/	Oct. 6
Jilll Richardson	http://jill-theimperfectjourney.blogspot.com/	Oct. 7

What is the Second Thing You Want on an Amazon Book Launch After Hitting #1

 

 

Once you hit #1 in a subcategory on Amazon, what is the next thing you want to achieve?

 

While many authors gave good answers to this question on the private forum, no one came up with what I was looking for. Once you hit #1 or rank very high in a subcategory, assuming you also have that subcategory as one of your search words (and you better if you don’t), you want your book to appear on the first page of Amazon’s search results for your book’s subcategory. That’s how buyers find your book when they have never heard of you or your book!

For example, in three years, I have never been able to get Children of Dreams to come up in Amazon’s search engine for “adoption” books—I gave up because it was so far down in the pile, I got tired of going to the next page looking for it.

I am now on the fifth page of Amazon’s “adoption” search. My goal is to get to the first page. Who will make it to the fifth page looking for a good book to read? I still have a ways to go to reach that goal. That’s out of almost 3,000 books. If I search for “adoption books,” another one of my search words, I come up on the second page of about 600 books.

Even though I hit #1 in “adoption” and “mother” books, because Children of Dreams didn’t rank for a LONG TIME in any subcategories, I need it to rank higher for a little longer to get Amazon to list it on the first or second page of a search for “adoption” books.

Children of Dreams has been out three years and after the first year, I didn’t do anything with it. I was working on my Master of Arts in Creative Writing and building the network and writing other books. A few months ago I decided to do a more professional book cover. This was a “test” to see if I could bring back an old book. When Children of Dreams was originally published, there was no Kindle market because few people owned Kindles. There was no KDP Select – there really wasn’t anything except the print version of books. All the original book launches launched printed books.

So I decided to launch Children of Dreams – a three-year-old book. I got to #1 in “adoption” books and “mothering” books, which translated into about 350 book sales in about four days. 

That’s better than I did with print books. I have never been able to sell many print books on Amazon.

So, to summarize, what you really want after a launch is for your book to be found in Amazon’s search engines by people looking for books in your genre. Because I haven’t quite achieved that yet, I am going to market Children of Dreams heavily for one more month. It’s the time element that plays into it—how long it’s ranked high in a subcategory.

For example Seventh Dimension – The Door  has remained consistently in the top 100 books for Christian fantasy ever since my launch in April. There are over 5,000 books in Christian fantasy, For a while it was the number one listing for Christian fantasy book searches, and it wasn’t just on my computer. A friend of mine who is an I.T. specialist did a Christian fantasy search of my book on his iPhone and The Door came up #1. Now it’s #4 because the ranking has dropped a bit. I need to do some advertising to pump it back up. Of course, then you need to know where to advertise. I have some good advice I will share about that if you do a book launch.

The day Emma advertised on one particular site that I recommended, Keeper of Reign hit #2 in Christian fantasy. I would imagine she hit #1 this week because of the blog tours she is doing.

I am not talking about big bucks to have a successful launch. I spent a total of about $300 on my launch. Emma, I think, spent a bit more, but it’s not like the thousands I spent when Children of Dreams first came out and I hired a publicist, did some traveling out of state for TV appearances, and was hosted on several radio shows. With all of that time and expense, I sold practically no books. That soured me on spending a lot of money on book launches. The social networking works with Twitter, Facebook, blog tours, and Google Plus, and then placing your book on some smaller, less expensive advertising sites can really pay off. Some of those web niches have very dedicated followers.

I am hoping BookBub will feature my book next month. It’s on the pricy side, $280 for a listing – but they only take a few books and they have statistics to justify their prices. They turned Children of Dreams down for August for adoption books but told me to resubmit for September in the inspirational category. I just did that tonight. They would not accept my Seventh Dimension – The Door book with all the good reviews and awards – so it is HARD to get BookBub to list your book.

If they accept Children of Dreams for September, I expect my ranking to be high on Amazon. I also have a few other things I am doing that I didn’t have time to do in August—mainly because I still hope to get on the first page of the Amazon search engines for "adoption" books. That is the best advertising there is– people searching for books similar to what you write, and then Amazon sends buyers to your book. Amazon wants to make money, so they won’t send customers your way if you haven’t sold many books in the last few months.

Emma’s book Keeper of Reign is listed as #9 in Christian fantasy on an Amazon search. If she stays in the top 100 for a while, Amazon will send buyers to her book. Eventually you want the advertising to carry itself – without you propping it up or spending more money. It has happened with other books in the network, like Bob Saffrin’s books and The Glimpse. We have had many successful launches. 

Hopefully these ramblings on my launch this last month will be helpful. Comments and revelations on what has worked for you are welcome.

 

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…Shall We Accept Good from God, and Not Trouble

Excerpt from Children of Dreams

Guest Post by Lorilyn Roberts

…Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble…

Job 2:10

Back many years ago, my ex husband and I lived in Augusta, Georgia. He was in medical school at the Medical College of Augusta and I worked as a court reporter putting him through medical school. One morning on my way into work, there was a long line of cars backed up on Greene Street. Brown Court Reporting, Inc., the company I worked for, was at least several blocks down the road. People had turned off their engines and were meandering around on the road waiting.

I got out of my car and walked up the street to where some people were hanging out and asked, “What’s going on?”

The man said nonchalantly, “Apparently a dog got hit by a car.”

Being a dog lover, my heart welled up as I wondered how badly the dog was hurt, who he belonged to, and if he would be okay, but the man didn’t know anything more.

I waited a few more minutes, not sure what to do. When it didn’t look as though things would clear out any time in the immediate future, I turned around and went a different way to the office.

But throughout the morning, I kept thinking about the little dog that had been hit by a car. I wanted to know more. I walked downstairs and started checking around with some of the people in other offices on the street to find out if anybody knew what had happened. Someone told me they thought he had been transported to a local veterinarian. I scoured around and found the vet to which the poor little dog had been taken. I called to inquire.

“No,” said the person on the other end. “The owner hasn’t been located.” They didn’t know who she belonged to, but she needed immediate medical attention or she would die. Her leg had been badly injured and needed to be amputated.

“How much would that cost?” I asked.

“About $200,” the woman replied.

That was a lot of money back in those days, but now that I had involved myself this much, how could I hang up the phone and not help.”

“Okay,” I told her. “I will pay the $200 for the surgery if she will live.”

“Are you sure?” She asked me. “It’s not your dog.”

I was sure. My only worry was how I would explain it to my husband and what would I do with Fifi after the surgery. I knew he wouldn’t want another dog.

We already had a little dog, Shelley. She was a stray who showed up on our back porch in Atlanta one day a few months after we were married. Not that much different from my childhood dog, Gypsy, who had walked into the house one evening with my dad when he returned home from buying milk. I wasn’t sure if the two would get along. Shelley had never had to share us.”

“When can I come by and meet her?” I asked.

“Why don’t you wait till later this afternoon after the surgery?”

I spent the rest of the day imagining what the little dog looked like and how I would explain to my husband that I had rescued a dog from certain death, that the dog was an amputee, and I had paid $200 for surgery on a dog I had never met.

Finally the veterinarian’s office called and said the surgery had been successful. Fifi’s leg had been amputated without complications. I could come see her but they wanted her to remain overnight for a couple of days until she was well enough for me to take her home.

“Have you heard from anybody claiming to be her owner?” I asked hopefully?

“No,” she said. “We don’t know who she belongs to.”

Late that afternoon, I dropped by the animal hospital on the way home from work. I told them who I was, and they were glad to meet me. I gave them the check for $200 and thanked them for taking care of Fifi.

“Do you want to see her?” The tech asked me. “She is in recovery.”

“Sure,” I said.”

They took me to an adjoining room and I poked my head in the door. Before me was a scroungy looking tan and white terrier, with large floppy ears and strands of hair covering her closed eyelids. Fifi aptly described her, a hurt, orphaned dog in need of love and a home. She lay curled up in a little ball with one huge bandage where her back right leg used to be.

I left the vet’s office with mixed emotions. I was glad I was able to save her life and give her a home, but I was wondering when I got home how I would explain it to my husband.

“You did what?” He asked me, as I was about halfway through my prepared speech, when he realized I had something more important to talk about than just the weather.

I tried to justify everything I said, saying we would find a home for Fifi and I didn’t plan on keeping her. Of course, he knew me better than that, but by the time we went to bed that night, he had acquiesced and given a half hearted yes to the new addition to the family, provided that Fifi and Shelley got along okay, which I was more than willing to accept. I would make sure of that.

Two days passed and we were able to bring Fifi home. We made her a bed and slowly introduced her to Shelley, just a few minutes at a time, several times throughout the evening. At night we crated her to keep her safe. Fifi was still wearing a wrap where her leg used to be and was still hobbling around getting used to having only three legs. After a few days we settled into a routine. I was elated that things were working out. Even my husband had quit complaining about the extra work involved.

A couple of nights later, the phone rang. It was the veterinarian’s office.

“We wanted to ask you a personal question,” the woman said.

“Okay,” I said, not sure where this was going.

“We just wanted to know how things were working out with Fifi.”

“They are working out fine,” I replied. “Fifi is starting to get along well with Shelley.”

“Why do you ask?” I wondered. “Did you find the owner?” Not really wanting to know.

“Oh, no,” she said. “It’s just that we had a client in today with his sick dog that passed away. There was nothing we could do for him. It’s just a strange coincidence that Fifi looked like their dog. The old man is heartbroken,” she went on, “and we thought if things hadn’t worked out well, maybe you would be willing to let him have Fifi.”

“We could meet and talk,” I offered, “and see what happens.” After I hung up the phone, I wondered if she had told him that Fifi only had three legs. Not everybody would want a three legged animal.

The old man called me the next day and I promised to come home early from work to meet him. By this time, I wasn’t sure I could let Fifi go. She had become a part of our family.

I arrived home and waited. A short while later a car pulled up in the driveway. I walked outside to greet the old man. As I watched him exit the car, I noticed something different that forced me to do a double take. He had a cane. He put the cane out to steady himself and then dragged his bad leg behind him, pulling himself out of the car with a great deal of effort. The man was a cripple.

How could I ever doubt God’s providential hand? I was only the keeper of Fifi until her new master picked her up—someone that could understand what it was like to have three legs. Fifi’s story would live on as a testimony to God becoming a man, fully human and fully God, but one who understands our hurts and weaknesses.

For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning (Hebrews 4:15).

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Children of Dreams is being showcased by the John 3:16 Marketing Network as part of their August Book Launch Event. Be sure to visit http://bit.ly/Christian_Books for a chance to win a Kindle, a $25 gift card and a $10 Starbucks card, as well as purchase Children of Dreams.

Lorilyn Roberts is a Christian author who writes children's picture books, adult nonfiction, memoirs, and a young adult Christian fantasy series, Seventh Dimension.

Lorilyn graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama, which included international study in Israel and England. She received her Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Perelandra College and is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature.

Lorilyn is the founder of the John 316 Marketing Network, a network of Christian authors who are passionate about promoting books with a Christian worldview.

To learn more about Lorilyn, please visit her website at http://lorilynroberts.com or blog at http://lorilynroberts.blogspot.com. You can follow her on twitter at http://twitter.com/lorilynroberts