Penny Authors: Back Story - How Penny Authors came about.

Back Story

How Penny Authors came about?

It all started in 2010. I was diagnosed with a rare disease called at the time Wegener's Granulomatosis.

Full account is available in this book: Rare disease book

So this rare disease, there was no cure and the life span was 3-4 years. So I got my medicine and went to Bangladesh to my parents, where I would receive my paternal and maternal love and care.

During my stay there - it was a very hard, traumatic time, I was fragile and vulnerable. I was emotional and was lamenting a lot.

I found myself sitting on the side of the pond and silently crying and talking out to the Universe, to God. I was asking, negotiating the extension of my life.

And what I notice? during this time - while I was cold from the distress, I had a warm glow in my upper part of the body, my chest, neck and head, a positive and light warm sensation and I can hear past "thank yous" and "bless you" for some good that I may have done to and for others in my mind.

That didn't sink in at first as I continued doing what I was doing, I fell back into lamenting when the thought of death, being here no-more, stepped in.

In my lamenting - I reached out to the Universe, to God, if I can have a second chance, I want to emulate "your love," Gods love, the universal love.

Now, I was not very affectionate person due to my growing up, so I had to search what do I have that people need that I can love through. And this is where and when Publishing came in the forefront. It is a skill set I have acquired and it was a tough journey to get, 20 years; and there are so many who were and also are like me that want to publish but not getting the opportunity or are hoping that someone will lend a hand.

Now, while all that happened I was paying attention to my health, doing my due diligence and I had regular blood testing. I was also traveling to different shrines in Bangladesh, the Patron Saint of Sylhet, Sylhet is where my family come from. My spiritual journey started from the Patron saint of Sylhet Hazrat Shah Jalal, and then travelled to 150 other locations and amassed over 250 shrines.

So both of the above was happening at the same time. My blood test for the disease came back negative. Now, to be 100% sure I returned back to United Kingdom to have blood tests here. And it was Negative!

So begun my journey to fulfil my promise. Before all I had to pay my respect to the Saints where my spiritual journey begun. I published the saints book first to learn first hand, to have the know-how, this gave me actual experience of the publishing process. And with this knowledge I started reaching.

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These are the 5 books I published first as way of my respect and appreciation and then later the 6th one that includes all the shrines I visited

This was my first book I published of my own, a collection of poems & proses that I wrote and compiled dating from 1985. This is available in paperback and ebook format.

I started off with adds like this but these were not suited to what I had to do.

It was my thinking that everyone will get paid a percentage from the book, so for me in fulfilling my promise, I pay for the cost of publishing without burdening anyone and then give money from the sales of the book to each person publishing in the anthology. And this where the name "Penny Authors" grew out of, that all poets per book will get a penny or a percentage out of it. Unfortunately this was not possible due to sales and that has been rescinded. However, poets who wish monetary gain can purchase copies at the author's rate and sell them and they retain the profit, if they wish to do so.

That format and approach became or in my mind "scammy," so as time went on I had my calling and the below came into my head, to send out a calling.