Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

If you would like to share in the magic of the season, please visit http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged to purchase one of my 30 books.

Online Book Clubs

Yesterday I had a lot of fun sending out email invitations to people to join me on some online book club sites. Some of them have already joined and it is a great way to keep in touch with people, as well as to promote my books.

I am also working on getting in touch with the Library Service of Canada so I can have my books distributed through a wider library audience. I feel really excited about this because I have wanted my books in places such as the Toronto Public Library, the Ottawa Public Library and the Montreal Public Library system for a long time. As it stands now, I have my books in Seneca College's library system and a documentary in the Ottawa Public Library.

For a writer to get their books in the libraries is a wonderful thing. Plus, these online book clubs are a terrific way to get and stay connected with some people that you normally may not contact. Things are looking good.

Have a great day!

How to Write Creative Non-fiction

How to Write Creative Non-fiction by Donna Kay Kakonge

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Excellent book. Donna Kakonge has many more that can be found at: www.donnakakonge.com.


View all my reviews.

Self-Publishing in Today's Age

I had started out trying to go the traditional route. I did not send out many manuscripts - in total I have probably sent out manuscripts to less than 10 publishing houses. I knew with my nature of wanting things done instantly, which comes from a journalism training where I have worked in a lot of newsrooms, waiting to get a book published is something beyond the patience of my current age of 36.

It was funny how I discovered Lulu.com. I actually received an email from a man (cannot even remember his name at the moment) from my old site with the same domain name: www.donnakakonge.com. What happened after that has changed the way I look at publishing for good I believe.

The man gave me the link to his site and when I went there an advertisement for Lulu.com was there too. When I clicked through to it, I was amazed that you could actually self-publish a book for free. I had been looking for something such as this for quite some time. I had considered getting my book published through Trafford Publishing, however considered it to be a vanity press - even though I have seen their finished products and they do look good.

The first book I published with Lulu.com was the book that came out of my graduate work, What Happened to the Afro? It used to be called Afro Forever, however I changed the name. Once I published that first book, that summer I worked on a project to create How to Write Creative Non-fiction. All of this happened back in 2006 and I have written now a total of 20 books, edited one, have one CD of radio documentaries and two audio story downloads, all through Lulu.com.

The fun part is getting ISBNs for them through the Library and Archive of Canada. It is a fun and easy process and the people who work there are great. One of the women who I believe still works there even called me the day before Christmas just to sort out some problem I was having with my ISBNs. So much for government workers not doing any work. I have always found them to be really hard-working and a pleasure to deal with. They will also be dilligent in making sure there is at least one copy of your book/s in their archive.

Now, I also have my books in Seneca College's library system. This also makes it available throughout the entire college library system in Ontario, Canada. My next goal is to get Centennial College where I also work to buy them (which they said they would), as well as to get them into the Toronto Public Library system, as well as other libraries across Canada and even in the States too if that works out. I believe in libraries and used to work in two of them.

So these are all of the adventures I have had in self-publishing. I recommend that if you have a story to be told - do not keep it buried away - let it see the light. Plus now, Robert Payne and I have a service where we can help you to tell your stories. Just contact me at: dkakonge@sympatico.ca if you are interested in finding out more about this service.

Book Now Published

Honest Psychic Chats is now published. You can buy this book and all of my other books at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged. Buy early and buy often.

Publishing Your School Essays

I am working on this current book called School Works - Other Essays. I have also written recently Yes, School Works and School Works. All of these books were spawned from my realization that all those essays you write in postgraduate education are publishable work.

Many terrific ideas come out of school essays. I know this from doing them, as well as reading them in the past, plus currently reviewing student work as a teacher. I would encourage everyone - from professionals to students to consider publishing the work they have done while in school. When you think about it, your teacher, instructor, professor is acting as the editor and you have the perfect opportunity to benefit from making some money out of all the money you have put into school. There are various sites you can go to that would help you to self-publish if that is an option for you. The one I use is Lulu.com and the website to buy my books is: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged. I have now written 17 books, edited one and I have a CD of radio documentaries I have done with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, plus two audio stories for download. You can make some residual income from it.

Education Issues

Many people go to Liveperson.com for advice on various matters, from fashion advice to writing advice to tarot counseling. The times I have used the service in the past were once under a screen name of "Toronto." I discovered many interesting things about the people I chatted to online that eventually lead me to writing two books called Draft: eSpirituality Chats and Draft: Part Two. These books can be bought at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged.

The main reason why I was going to the site was to find out if going back to school was the right choice for me. I teach and write in Toronto and wanted to know if going back to school would be the right career move.

The psychics I spoke to, most of them told me I would get in, however I did not get into the doctorate-level programs I was hoping to get into. Instead I got into a second master's program, yet this time in education.

Recently I have had my third offer from my first choice school and once I did accept and registered for courses, I realized that I could take doctorate-level courses, while still being a master's student. If I had understood this from the beginning, I would have accepted my first offer, however at least it is not too late. The ironic thing is that I could have had the degree finished by now.

Schools often make you wait a long time in order to find out the status of your application. My training and experience in journalism has helped me a lot, however did not help my patience. I would recommend from my experience to keep busy as you are waiting for those school offers to come in. Stick to your dreams - and when they happen be grateful for them.