Book launch, promoter's block, Amazon account reinstatement, upcoming writing courses

Come to my Romanian book launch in Iași! Stay tuned for the one in Bucharest. Get ready for the course in writing a nonfiction book, and for a new short story retreat. Expansion of topics.

Almost all writers have blockages that keep them back from success. Such blockages appear at different stages of the writer’s work, for instance: actually getting your ideas out of your head and down on “paper”; going through the laborious editing / re-writing process; the aspects of publishing, such as cover, typesetting, ISBNs, etc., or - as in my case - promotion.

I really like being in contact with like-minded people (as I experienced lately in the writing camp in the Transylvanian mountains), and yet I’m still working with a blockage against reaching out beyond my writer’s cave and getting in touch with other people about my writing. It’s as if I have an unconscious belief that doing such things constitutes self-promotion, which is somehow bad.

I am aware that this belief is counterproductive and that it comes from something instilled in me at a very young age - just like almost all of us have unconscious beliefs that work against us. But I will not give in to it. So here I am writing to you, struggling with my inner demons as I go.

However, the hard grind is only one way of dealing with promoter’s block. Another way that I have found to be effective is to accept that some people are naturally good at doing what I am not that good at. In my case it is promotion and organisation - and to work with them. I saw the effectiveness of this method in the aforementioned writing camp, which was so beautifully organised by Mihaela and Barna.

This is also how the upcoming book launch in Iași has come about, organised by Mihaela Tibănescu. Please come if you are in the Iași area:

I’m very much looking forward to this event where Magda Axinte - well-known psychotherapist, podcast host and collaborator of the illustrious Prof. Dr. Dumitru Constantin Dulcan - will make a speech.

I am also looking forward to the launch in Bucharest. It is partially due to my promoter’s block that it hasn’t taken place yet. But it will.

By the way, it is exactly this topic that the book The Call from Within: Accomplishing Your Meaningful Project / Chemarea din interior. Desăvârșirea Țelului Suprem is about: Overcoming the inner obstacles and accomplishing the project that is most meaningful to you. I speak from experience because I have met and befriended the inner demons / blockages that would have prevented me from accomplishing anything as a writer and in many other areas. These blockages include but are not limited to: blockages against writing consistently enough to complete a manuscript. The frustration of having to re-write the manuscript. The blockages against continuing contact with publishers despite rejections and other frustrations, the discipline to edit and edit again. Now at this point I feel like the Promoter’s Block is the final of these inner blockages that I have to face on my writer’s journey. It’s been good training for the resistance that we all have to face from within ourselves on our journey of life.

Then there is outer resistance - which I also describe in the book. A very mild - but potentially highly disruptive - instance of this was when my Amazon account got closed. I lost access to all my published works. I was unable to view sales, publish, moderate ads or even make purchases. I spent several days trying to get in touch with a human being at Amazon that could help me. However, fortunately it turned out that a short time after I got my message across through the system, my account was reinstated. The message I received was:

Thank you for taking the time to respond and share your feedback.

After further consideration, we have decided to reinstate your Amazon.co.uk account.

So that was a relief! Though I am still not sure exactly why my account was closed in the first place or what to do to avoid it in the future. So I guess the solution is to diversify more so I don’t lose access to my works. I will also publish the anthology from the retreat on a different platform. Every step of the way is a learning experience.

Upcoming writers’ courses
The next course will be a hands-on course in writing a nonfiction book. I want it to take place from late January / early February. I first intended it to start in November, but I heard back from people who had stated their interested that they would have time starting from early next year. Please let me know if you have any interests or preferences because I take these into consideration. The essence of the course is that it will take place over three months, and that we will each write a nonfiction book in that time. There will be a retreat at the end of the course to give us the time and space to complete our manuscripts.

Another retreat will be a repeat of the retreat of short story writing, which took place to great success two months ago in the Transylvanian mountains. It will take place in March, some time after the 8th. We will have a couple of creative writing sessions per day and you will write your stories in between sessions. At the end we will publish our anthology on a variety of ebook platforms.

For both courses, you can write in whichever language you chose.

Please get in touch if any of these courses interest you, and let me know your preferences, especially with regard to dates. I will give further details as the time approaches.

Expanding this blog
On the subject of promoter’s block, I have realised that I long for writing about diverse topics that interest me. At the same time I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. So in the future I plan to write about different things, not just writing. I will figure out how to set up a questionnaire so that you can opt in and out of different topics. Some of the topics I have in mind are:

• the hemispheres of the brain,

• the poetry of William Blake

• the nature of reality

• method in psychotherapy

• C. G. Jung

• Great books I have read

I hope that some of these topics may interest you.

Have a great day and see you in Iași, Bucharest, the Transylvanian mountains and / or in the next post. Wishing you all the best.