Publishing Trends - Short Topics & Resources

Are you a Journalist? Publisher?

If you’re not already using www.helpareporter.com, check it out. It’s a service much like ProfNet, but free. It used to be on Facebook, but grew too large for it. Once you subscribe, you receive about three (sometimes two, no more than four, ever) emails a day with reporter, editor, and freelance writer queries, written so you can quickly and easily scan the topics for relevance.

 

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Postal Rate Increases - USPS in the USA

Domestic:

 

flat-rate envelope, now $4.60, going to $4.80, a 4.3 percent increase

flat-rate box, now $8.95, going to $9.80, a 9.5 percent increase

 

But there is some mention of an average 3.5 percent savings for doing labels online.

 

International:

 

flat-rate envelope to Canada and Mexico, now $9, going to $9.95, a 10.6 percent increase flat-rate envelope to other countries, now $11, going to $11.95, an 8.6 percent increase

 

flat-rate box Canada and Mexico, now $23, going to $23.95, a 4.1 percent increase

flat-rate box other countries, now $37, going to $38.95, a 5.3 percent increase

 

Want to check on postal rates?  You need to know the weight of your package and its size:

 

http://ircalc.usps.gov/

 

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Need copies of your CD for your book insert?

 www.digx.com is a company that can make copies of your CD.  If you’re selling to bookstores, the CD pockets must be “tamper resistant” - in other words, you should be able to easily see if the pocket was ever opened.

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Copyright Question:

Is there a difference between printed books and movies as far as the law and enforcement of it?

There certainly is in the U.S. There’s a law called the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) which criminalized anything that removes or circumvents copy-protection software from protected media. This was passed at the behest of the powerful software and entertainment industry lobbies. The penalty is up to five years in prison.

 

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Looking for a  website that will give you currency exchange rates? Go to : http://www.xe.com/ucc/

 

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Legal Shorts-

 

1. My publisher went out of business putting my book out of print. Does this mean the rights to my book revert to me?

 

“………..Without proper legal provisions, there is no law that requires the rights in a book to revert even if it is out of print………..” IVAN HOFFMAN, B.A., J.D., Attorney at Law  http://www.ivanhoffman.com

 

Read more about this important topic,  ”Out of Print Provisions in Book Contracts” by clicking on ”Articles for Writers and Publishers.” at  http://www.ivanhoffman.com

 

 

New York State Taxing Internet Sales

Salaams

 

In a new move to get more tax money New York State government is now Taxing Internet Sales. Read a report in an article posted online at the NY Post. (4-15-08) 

 

Why is knowing this and keeping track of what happens in so far as future legal action important?

 

This impacts all publishers who also retail sell books (most Muslim publishers) online, self publishing authors who sell their books online, and authors who sell author copies they purchase from a publisher to sell to the public via the Internet. 

 

The article reports that major retailers like Amazon.com may be the primary target for collecting the tax, but anyone who sells books to anyone via Internet in New York would be subject to this new NW State tax law.

 

For now the thinking by many in the book industry is that the NY State law won’t hold up in court since the regulation of the internet is a Federal right and not a State right.

 

 

Amazon: Smart Business or Greed?

Big news in the Secular Publinging-Book Industry

In the past week subsidy publishing businesses (charge fees for services) that use print on demand (POD) printing, self publishing authors, and small traditional publishng houses like my own (MWP) that will be impacted  by Amazon’s new business policy……learned that Amazon is now requiring these businesses using POD printing to do their printing with Book Surge (owned by Amazon) or the books listed on Amazon currently will have their Buy button removed…. and future titles will not be listed unless the titles are printed by Amazon’s POD printer-Book Surge.

Subsidy publishers LuLu and AuthorHouse/iUniverse have already caved in to this Amazon demand and signed agreements with Amazon.  Will others cave in and do the same? I sincerely hope not!

What will Amazon do in the future once it has a lock on these businesses?  Demand higher discounts so it can sell books more cheaply?   Thus making it difficult for other retailers to compete?   Amazon won’t be paying for these deep discounts.. the publishers will and this directly impacts the publishers’ ability to provide fair royalty to authors.   With Amazon taking a bigger piece of the list price of a book for its discount, plus cntrolling the printing cost… this leaves the publisher and author with little flexibility.

My publishing business uses POD printing and I chose to use the printing services of Lightning Source, Inc. I get excellent service, competitive pricing, and distribution that includes Amazon….but it also includes online giants like Barnes and Nobel where a buyer can get free shipping and discounts similiar to Amazon. 

Most of my retail sales are to Muslim retailers and Islamic schools, where I offer the industry standard of 40% discount.  MWP sales are primarily publisher direct and not through a distributor/wholesaler/or big secular online retailers like Amazon.  MWP also sells to individual buyers-readers.

Amazon is NOT the only business”in town” although its latest decision for demanding POD printing with its owned and operated BookSurge division seems to have Amazon believing it is.

My business cannot afford to give Amazon a 48% share of a list price of a book or pay the $29 a year for Amazon’s Advantage program to get a listing at Amazon while also giving 55% disocunt  if using this method to get listed on Amazon.

 MWP is against giving one retailer (Amazon) an unfair advantage over and above all other retailers MWP does business with.

I encourage all my readers and customers who buy books online to consider the following  online retailers for purchasing MWP titles:

www.IslamicBookstore.com  -books are always discounted and service is excellent.

Barnes and Nobel online retail stores. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/index.asp?r=1&popup=0

Publisher Direct by contacting publisher@MuslimwritersPublishing.com or woodad@mindspring.com

If you are an author with a book and can’t seem to find a traditional publisher… you can self publish your own book….you can use the services of free-lance work-for-hire pros to do your design work and you can use POD printing services like LSI to get your book into distriution through the Ingram wholesaler and listed with Barnes and Nobel online retailer and other online retailers as well as network with Muslim retailers for listings and sales.  You can offset print with LSI or other printing companies also.

There are still choices you can make that do not place your book/s business decisions under the control of Amazon.

Choosing a subsidy publishing business that is locked into Amazon’s new terms and conditions now and in the future may not be the best you can do for commercial sales of your book.  

What do I personally think of all the recent (last couple of years) business decisions of Amazon?

 Here are a couple:

–Creating the ebook reader Kindle and allowing only ebooks that use readers owned by Amazon to be listed on the Amazon website

–buying Book Surge a subsidy (fees for services) publishing business and POD printer

–Amazon Marketplace and Amazon Advantage programs requiring 55% discounts from publishers plus the publisher paying shipping costs and dealing with Amazon’s deep discounts that undercut retail sales of the publisher’s books with other retailers… the publisher paying for Amazon’s discount programs…

Amazon looks like, acts like, and now speaks like a typical subsidy business.

Just want you all to know that MWP will not be giving in to Amazon’s requirement to have MWP titles printed with Amazon’s Book Surge POD printing service too have active buy buttons for Amazon selling MWP titles.   This will mean that eventually Amazon will not have Buy links for any listings of MWP titles Amazon leaves on its website.

I personally would like for Amazon to remove any and all listings of MWP titles from its website.  It is one retailer/subsidy business I don’t want to associate with now or in the future unless its business practices are (in my opinion) more responsible and fair.   There are too many other online and brick and mortar retailers where MWP titles can be/are listed and customers able to buy copies of MWP titles.

More information about Amazon’s lastes business actions go to: http://www.writersweekly.com/amazon.php

Another Twist for Muslim Publishing

Salaams

I am sorry not to have posted recently.  I have been very busy all of January and February getting 4 new books/authors published!  All thanks to Allah most of this has been smooth sailing …but that is is not what I am writing about today.

I received a phone call from a sister, unknown to me. She said she was visiting my website right at the same time as talking with me and she loved the book covers for the books I have published and will be publishing in the next 2-3 months.  She said she was looking for a Muslim illustrator with creativity and expert skills to work with her on a new children’s book she had written (her 4th book).   I provided her the names and email addys of my two FAV illustrators: Sis Shirley Gavin (Ireland) and Sis Corey Habbas (USA).

Having taken care of her pressing need we began to chat. I decided not to lose the opportunity to invite her to join the professional Muslim organization, Islamic Writers Alliance and explained how members helped each other with writing, promoting, pubishing, and marketing-networking for resources, too.

And then we moved on to my most favorite subject Islamic Fiction and the challenges posed for Musim writers of Islamic Fiction.   I was appalled when she told me that the publisher of her first three books demanded she give up the copyyright to her work.  She said the publisher would not publish the three books without owning the work exclusively.  And now they are profitting from the books while she is left out in the cold. Well this is what caused her to decide to do research and see if she could publish her own work.  Mind you she is not interested in making tons of money (very few published authors do!) but she said it just seemed so unfair that she was forced into such a position.. giving up ownership of her work to get published.

I mentioned that the only positive thing that could be said was beause her work is children’s illustrated Books at the  child grade/reading level…. at least a Muslim publisher wanted to publish her work.

We went on to talk about the problems Muslim writers have with finding a Muslim publisher willing to publish fiction books for youth/teen/adult reading levels.  She told me that several Muslim publishers told her that they generally never looked at IF manuscripts submitted to them with requests for publishing.

 She said she asked them why they just ignored these manuscripts and the responses were that Muslims were not interested in reading that kind of book so why waste money on publishing books no one would buy? They told her Muslims don’t usually like to read anything but Qur’an  and only some well educated Mulims will read scholarly texts.

 Muslims don’t like to read?  Strange when the first word the Angel Gabriel said to the Prophet (pbuh) was READ!  Doesn’t this give Muslims some clue about what they need to be doing with at least some of their time?  

Well I was amazed… not at the attitude…. but that she actually got not one but several Muslim publishers to respond to this question. I have been trying for years to get publishers and retailers to state why they won’t publish/list/sell/make available IF books!

She got another call so we agreed to talk again soon.

Afterwards I pondered our conversation and the “idea” that Muslim publishers and retailers are very much aware of IF books/work being written but have no interest in IF books because they are certain Muslims won’t buy the books because Muslims don’t read much.  

I wondered then and now… is it just English speaking Muslims that don’t read much?  Reverts?  Asian Muslims?  Muslims from the Middle East? Africa? World-wide?

I have previously heard that some Muslims think fiction reading is a waste of time  and also that some Muslims want their children to concentrate on Math and Science…. I think to myself… don’t they know that to be able to read well and comprehend what you read is critically important to studying science and math?

Don’t these Muslims know that reading fiction and being able to write creatively are taught in all westernized educational systems.. that students at all age/grade levels are tested in their schools, states and nationally for reading and writing skills?  That students can’t graduate from High Schol without being able to demonstarate their reading and writing schools with a passable grade?…..Hmmm.

This begs the question.. if reading and writing are not important to Muslim parents…. then how do they expect their children to succeed and be competitive in today’s work world/society?

 What do you think?  Do Muslim parents read.. setting this  example for their children? or do they not read while failing to understand reading’s importance? Is what those publishers told my new sister-friend true or just excuses to keep publishing as they always have and not bother to look at their world and see to the reading needs of Muslims?  Are they ignorant? stubborn? apathetic?  or maybe just a bit  too concerned with their own pocketbooks … and not concerned with our kids or practicing fairness in their business relations with authors?

Lots to consider… lots to ponder.. lots to research more fully.  It isn’t enough to just say this is so… one must support suppositions and such with some data. Getting data is not such an easy task when you are struggeling just to stay afloat in this wacky world of book publishing.

What do you think?

Part 3 - Muslims Don’t Buy IF/Muslim Authord Books-Grrr!

Salaams

Just yesterday in my fav writers organization’s egroup…IWA….there was quite a discussion about whether a Muslim business should in its name, website name, and marketing materials identify as Muslim or Islamic if the business wanted to also target non Muslim customers.

Being a “writers” group the discussion naturally spilled over into whether writers should write Islamic fiction stories or secular styled fiction stories  and what are the benefits of both and negatives.

Well I gotta  tell you all that the news is not good for Islamic Fiction writers! Below are some of the discussion points:

–Muslims don’t like to buy books authored by Muslims because they think the quality is inferior to secular books written and published by non Muslims. 

Hmmmm?  Stories that have content inconsistent with Muslim/Islamic teachings is preferrable to books with Islamic teachngs included in the stories?!? 

AND…. get this one…..

Muslims will buy Muslim authored books and products if they have been produced/introduced by non Muslims/secular businesses/publishers  FIRST!  

Yikes… No vote of confidence from our brothers and sisters in Islam!  Do you think this is a true statement?

 –It is hard to find Islamic Fiction books for our older children, teens and adults. 

Duh!!! well of course it is.  Why?

 Most Muslim publishers refuse to publish this age/reading level of fiction books.  Most Retailers refuse to list/sell Islamic fiction books….  and I already told ya about what Islamic Schools are doing and their hypocrisy… no need to chew my cabbage twice about this sad state of affairs!  Also All don’t want to use the word ” fiction”  Fiction!! Yikes! 

–Muslims don’t like to pay the higher prices that the Islamic Fiction books are listed at. 

Hmmm… Wonder why the prices are a bit higher than what a book published out of say India or the Middle East may cost?

 Yes… I am gonna tell ya….

 Most Muslim publishers (large and small) are family concerns and they have a very small Admin. overhead for paying salaries, health insurance, etc.  Printing is also cheaper overseas than in the USA (USA is where most IF books are publised and printed). And most pay Muslim authors a miserable royalty or try to get the author to give up a royalty for tprivilege of a Muslim publisher producing the book and making a profit from it while the author gets zip!  Grrrr.. it is true… not all Muslim publishers do this but a good many do if they can get an author to agree.

–Many Muslims believe fiction books, even Islamic fiction books are books that tell lies!!

#^%*@^!! Yikes!!!!  Muslims authors are writing lies???  No way.  Muslims are misinformed and do not understand the difference between Islamic fiction and secular fiction and they just don’t understand what fiction is.  Wonder if those that decry the word Fiction ever looked up the definition for it?

For centuries Muslims have handed down to generations folklore and ‘verbal’ stories…. no problem there.. but now-a-days if a story teller puts the story in print form (a book) … all of a sudden some Muslims claim the fiction story is lies and  deceit!   WRONG!

 They don’t seem to understand the definition of fiction… it is not an Arabic word so they distrust the word and don’t bother to learn its definition!

Almost every fiction book I have read and the number is in the thousands (I am 61 years old and have been reading a looooong time!)  states on the copyright page at the front of the book pages that the stories are the author’s  imagination and not true/factual.   Read what scholars ssy about fiction books at: www.IslamicFictionBooks.com

Fiction writers and their stories do not deceive or lie to the reader!  That is fact!

So back to the original question in Part 1- Why Can’t You Find Islamic Fiction Books?

–Because YOU… are not asking your bookstores to buy them and list them and put them on bookshelves for you to purchase.

–Because you parents are not demanding that your Islamic schools stop supporting the non Muslim authored and published books promoted in their bi-annual school book fairs and instead demand that they get Islamic Fiction books to promote to your children.

 Islamic fiction books have high standards and are Islamically sound.  Your chldren/student/selves will benefit from learning things about Islam from theses books where the content is presented in fun, engaging, interesting and beneficial ways that are not preachie or stilted as are some non fiction books.  

–Because most Muslim publishers also act as their own distributor and retailer… you need to write to these publishers and demand they begin producing Islamic fiction books that your students/children need as required reading and creative writing in their school courses (USA-westernized countries).

 They have an Islamic duty to produce books our children/ older students need.  They have been totally ignoring this fact.

The self publishing authors and small Muslim publishers of Islamic fiction (English language) are producing quality stories with excellent book cover designs and interior layout designs.  The books are profesionally edited and are quality….

The excuses and rationalizations of:

–IF books are poor quality

–IF books cost too much

 –Fiction books tell lies and deceive

All of the above is  bunk… total  cop-outs and just plain rationalizations.

Many of you watch televison, rent movies or go to theaters to see them. You buy your children/teens game boys and nintendos  and quite a few of you don’t complain when you pay for those non Muslim authored and published books I read about in egroup discussions on what Muslims are reading lately…….so don’t try and tell me Islamic Fiction books… at least close to 60 I have tracked down for you… cost too much!

Well readers.. my rant for the day is finished.  I hope I have brought some of the problems and issues to the forefront for you all to consider and pray about.

I leave you with “Buy Muslim!  Buy Quality Islamic Fiction Books!”

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Coming Soon to the IFB will be  Marketing-Writing Tips I have learned and want to share.

Part 2- Problems Selling IF to Islamic Schools

After beating my head against a brick wall I finally wised up and began asking teachers and principals what the problem was.. WHY weren’t they interested in books written by Muslims.. English language Islamic fiction books?  Why did they prefer Scholastic books?

 Some Responses:

1.  We get paid too little to spend our own time reading Islamic Fiction books to ensure they are Islamically correct.

 I thought: WHAT?  and non Muslim authored and published fiction books are Islamically correct?

2. We don’t know where to find IF books.

I thought.  Didn’t you get a lsit from me of Islamically correct IF books and authors?

3. Scholastic Books provide free teacher study guides that we can use in the classroom.

I thought. Hmmm. Finally a reason with some merit for preferring those books to the IF books I was offering

 So what did I do?

I found a teacher who is also a graphics designer to create a teacher study guide for the first book in my book series.  A Canadian Islamic school agreed to field test the teacher study guide and book in the classroom. I got student, teacher/and principal feedback.. all giving glowing recommendations!

I then embarked on a marketing campaign that included creation of very expensive color glossy flyers, forms, letters, etc. .. designed an Islamic Book fair I dubbrd JAMS. :0  I offered schools $3.00 for each book sold, prizes and more if they held a JAMS book fair.  The teacher study guide was offered free and the corresponsing book at steep discount. Other books were discounted as well and the school would get to keep copies of all books for their school library.  I wanted to test the teacher study guide reason.. see if having a teacher study guide would make the difference.

Nine schools out of 32 I contacted signed up to sponsor a Jams book fair.  I went all out sending posters, buttons, t-shirts, totebags, etc. to dress up their book displays.

By the time I had shipped all books and materials and paid for the teacher study guide and forms/flyers and all the printing I had spent about $4,000.00

 I was so excited.. I kept reporting to the writers’ egroups I was a member of on the progress. 

As each JAMS book fair day came and went.. I didn’t hear a word from any of the 9 schools.   After weeks of waiting I contacted the school principals/book fair coordinators.  I learned that 8 of the nine schools decided to have a Scholastic book fair instead!!  Each of the nine schools kept the books and materials. Not one shipped books and things back to me.  It was a total washout! One Big Fat failure!

One brother.. a teacher at a school in Florida ….wrote to me and apologized. He was very upset over the treatment I had received. He personally bought copies of my IRB series to give to grduating students.  That is the only fairness and decency I was given.

Well I felt raw… beat up emotionally, betrayed,  and just mentally drained.  I said.. no more Islamic school book fairs for me. No way Ho-sa!   That was 2007!

But hey.. those who know me… well they know I don’t give up easily…so in late December 2007 when I got a call from an Islamic School in Austin, Texas……

Yeah…. I am an old softie…. February 1st… a day away from today this school will be having its first JAMS book fair!  I called yesterday and the co-ordinator (PTO leader) and her helpers were busy setting up for a 3-hour evening of book reading and book selling with food, fun and hopefuly some notice for my IF books and the books of other IF authors who joined me in participating in this book fair!

 Now if only Muslims attending buy some books! LOL!

Part 3-  Why Muslim Publishers Don’t publish ELIF

I Can’t Find Islamic Fiction Books-Where Are they?

Salaams Visitors to the Islamic Fiction Books Website

Seven years ago when I began writing my Islamic Fiction Book series-Islamic Rose Books.. .I had no idea that I was joining a select minority of Muslim writers!  I had read fiction all my life as a non Muslim and it just hadn’t registered that there were very few Islamic fiction books written and published for Youth/Teens/Adults.

What a rude awakening when my 4 books were published and I tried to get Muslim retailers interested in stocking, listing and selling the 4 books!  Trying to find a publisher was a real nightmare, too!  At first I thought… hmmm…  maybe the problem was my writing?  But before long I had won a national award for literacy for the series and an Indonesian publisher was translating and republishing my series.  Hmmm… so why can’t I sell my books to Muslims?

After being in the ‘business’ for a couple of years I met other IF writers and Muslim writers who gave up on writing IF stories and had turned to writing more secular type fiction stories with Muslim characters but they left Islam  out of the content!   

Why?

 Well to attract a non Muslim publisher because Muslim publishers would not publish their IF stories and the few authors that managed to self publish could not interest Muslim retailers either.

 Then came the time for a rude awakening for me.  I was busy writing, publishing, and trying to sell my IF books to Islamic schools. One would think this a good marketing strategy…right?.. WRONG! …and what did I find? Almost every single Islamic school was sponsoring book fairs annually and some biannually for Scholastic Books!… Yep… believe it.. our Muslim schools were/are promoting non Muslim authored and published fiction books to students and parents!

What was/is worse… when I made my quality IF books and other Muslim authors’ quality IF books available to Islamic schools at discount.. even offering them the opportunity to earn cash for sponsoring an Islamic book fair..well .. it is not pretty what happend to me after spending $4,000 preparaing for a big marketing and promotional plan to sell Islamic Fiction books to Islamic schools.

Part 2 -Read more about this and why Muslim publishers and retailers don’t publish Islamic Fiction.. particularly Engish language Islamic Fiction

The Runaway Scarf

Muslim Writers Publishing is happy to announce the publishing of Corey Habbas’ new Islamic Fiction book titled, The Runaway Scarf, a wonderful  52 page book which includes hand drawn color illustrations by the author.

Book Details

 

In The Runaway Scarf, Ibsitu, a young slave from Habbasha  has built a friendship with her slave master’s daughter, Noora, and is accused of stealing one of her expensive, jewel-embroidered scarves.  After being attacked and violently searched, Ibsitu embarks on a journey for freedom.  The light of faith has been lit in Ibsitu’s heart and she uses it as a guide along the path to Prophet Mohammed’s (pbuh) town in Madinah.

 From the Author 

Habbas, a revert to Islam since 2000, says that she was inspired to write the children’s tale after watching the movie Hidalgo (2004), a movie that has been widely criticized by Muslims as being grossly inaccurate and responsible for upholding derogatory stereotypes.

“This movie took advantage of people’s general ignorance about Islam,” stated Habbas, who, after seeing the film, researched the concepts of equality, freedom, and human justice in Islam.

Habbas recalls having a plethora of material to choose from, including Qur’an verses and many accounts within the Hadith, which are the narrations about the life of the Prophet (saas) and what he approved.

“When I found the hadith about the African slave who fled her captors to join the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers, I was immediately inspired to create a fictional story that leveraged the same messages conveyed by the hadith in order to bring Islamic concepts to children in a way that they could easily digest,” says Habbas who worked a year to create the illustrations and story for the book.

The Runaway Scarf is a timeless story about the Islamic values of human rights and equality.

Author Bio 

Corey Habbas, a Muslim revert since 2000 and freelance writer, has had her writing published in various online and print journals, newspapers and magazines.  Her short stories and articles for children have been featured in Learning Through History Magazine and Skipping Stones. Corey has won several awards for her poetry including prizes from the Islamic Writers Alliance and Qalam.  In 2006, her poetry won the Andalusia Prize for Literature. Corey grew up in California where she studied art and also earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems from the University of Redlands.  She now lives in Minnesota with her family.  She is a member of the Islamic Writers Alliance. 

List price $11.95

Ordering

 

Contact the publisher at woodad@mindspring.com  www.MuslimWritersPublishing.com

 

Provide your Mailing name and address and specify the number of copies you want to order! You will be contacted by the publisher.

 

Shipping anywhere in the USA is $3.00 per single copy. Additional shipping fees based on the number of copies ordered and weight of the books.

 

Shipping outside the USA: The publisher will advise you of the shipping cost on reciept of your order.

 

The Runaway Scarf will be available to order from Amazon.com. and Islamic bookstores.

Sophia’s Journal: Time Warp 1857

During a bike ride with her family near Lawrence, Kansas, Sophia Ahmad falls into a river and is washed downstream. She emerges in 1857 – smack in the middle of Bleeding Kansas

Muslim Writers Publishing is happy to announce the publishing and release of  Najiyah Helwani’s new book, Sophia’s Journal: Time Warp 1857… an historical sci-fi book written especially for older youth and teens.  A good read for adults too… perfect as a supplemental book for any school’s American History course! This exciting Islamic Fition book for Teens will be released and available within the next three weeks!

Book Details

Sophia is an American Muslim teenager who’s intelligent, feisty, and determined, yet also a bit of a germophobe, among other anxieties.  A high school sophomore, Sophia is on the verge of getting her driver’s permit and embarking on a summer of mall visits and evenings at Cafй Rumi with her friends when she suddenly finds herself living in the past.

Just as Sophia is beginning to adjust to her new surroundings, she is aghast to find that slavery is being practiced in her adopted community.  She and her adopted sister Abby set about fighting for the freedom of the slaves they know.Along the way a local boy captures Sophia’s heart, but when he proposes marriage she is torn about marrying outside her faith. Sophia turns to an old Gambian slave who is still a closet Muslim.  He helps her work out her fears, and this causes an exciting, dangerous and unexpected turn of events, in which Sophia learns that the best cure for worrying about oneself is taking care of others.

Author Najiyah Diana Helwani’s love of her American roots blends beautifully with her Islamic faith, and readers will be delighted to discover that the two are not mutually exclusive.  Raised on the windswept prairies of central Kansas, Helwani’s connection to and research of frontier life manifest in an interesting and realistic setting for Sophia’s adventure.  The book includes a glossary and several unique recipes that are specific to its period in history. 

 

Author Bio: 

Najiyah Diana Helwani is a teacher and freelance writer whose published credits include poetry and magazine & newspaper articles. Sophia’s Journey: Time Warp 1857 is her first Islamic Fiction novel, and the first novel to bear the Islamic Fiction emblem.  Najiyah currently teaches English and writing in Damascus, Syria, where she lives with her husband and six children. When she is in the USA she conducts workshops on Islam and the history of United States’ relations with the Middle East.

 

List price $10.95

Ordering

 

Contact the publisher at woodad@mindspring.com

Provide your Mailing name and address and specify the number of copies you want to order!

Shipping anywhere in the USA $3.00

Shipping outside the USA: The publisher will advise you of the shipping cost on reciept of your order.

 

Sophia’s Journal: Time Warp 1857 will be available at Amazon.com and Islamic bookstores.