Sacred Wells to be Re-released

Sacred Wells: A Study in the History, Meaning, and Mythology of Holy Wells & Waters will be re-released by Algora Publishers in New York in the Fall of 2009. Originally published in 2002, Algora Publishers, an academic publishing house, will re-release the book, making it more available to the public through university and public libraries as well as through bookstore and online retailers.

Algora Publishing only publishes non-fiction works which, they say, "promote a message of enlightenment, social progress and intellectual curiosity."

Ghostwriter Review of Charles G. Leland

Charles G. Leland The Man & the Myth Journalist, Adventurer, Folklorist

Author: Gary R. Varner

Taking readers through the life of a great man, Gary R. Varner examines the life, ideals, and beliefs of Charles G. Leland. Charles Leland lived as many during those times, both seeing war and slavery. Enchanted by people outside of his social box, quickly this great storyteller brings his life to pages. Leland, a scholar in his own right, is credited as the creator of the Industrial Arts program within the American school system.

Charles Leland was a man with many sides. This book does give the reader a view at this great man both from his own words and from what has been recorded through time. Charles’ charm and humor often shine through. Varner does a great job combining the words of a grand storyteller with facts to create a solid piece of work.

Overall, this is a great read! With the exception of needing to flip pages to find a few needed answers, it was well presented. Great Job!

Controversial Biography of a Controversial Man Released

Gary R. Varner, a folklorist with numerous books to his credit concerning mythology, history, folklore and early religions, has written a new book about 19th century folklorist and journalist Charles G. Leland. Viewed by many as a controversial treatment of a man idolized by some in the Neo-Pagan community but disdained by scholars and researchers for his legendary manipulation of folklore, myth and Native American artwork, Charles G. Leland – The Man & the Myth is the most comprehensive biography written in 102 years of this fascinating and complex man.

Was he the discoverer of an ancient and lost tradition of witchcraft or was he a man driven to falsifying information to create his own romantic view of a pagan world filled with witches, woodland spirits, faeries and demons? This is an important book which provides a balanced picture of the life and works of an extremely intelligent and artistic man who created much good but also cast a dubious shadow on the nature of folklore and ethnography.

Charles G. Leland – The Man & the Myth, available from Amazon.com and soon available in paperback and hardcover everywhere. ISBN: 978-1-4357-4394-6, 200 pgs, index, bibliography, illustrated, $15.95 paperback, $28.50 hardcover. Varner's website can be found at: www.authorsden.com/garyrvarner.

Wesites Replace Bookstores

WEBSITES REPLACE BOOKSTORES

It is a totally different world today. Bookstores can no longer compete with authors. “The reason behind the change,” says Bruce Schwartz, author of the best selling novel The Twenty-First Century (www.thetwentyfirstcentury.com), is because of the many shares of the pie being split by so many different people.” Authors, he explained, are tired of spending two to seven years writing a novel and trying to sell it to a publisher. After all that time, sharing the profits makes for a losing proposition.

Most of the time, the bookstores take fifty percent so they can discount the book and attract customers. The distributor, who gets ten percent, sells it for the publisher to the many different bookstores around the country. There are the majors such as Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Waldenbooks, and then there are the independently owned smaller ones, who must compete with the majors and discount each book even more. That leaves thirty-five to forty percent for the publisher who usually pays the author anywhere from seven to fifteen percent, leaving the publisher just enough to cover his costs in producing the finished product, and sometimes not, as well as rent, salaries, printing, warehousing, and promotion, to name a few costs.

“The worse thing for an author,” says Schwartz, “is that the few dollars made on each copy sold only adds up if your book is a bestseller. If after a few weeks the book is not selling well, they take it off the shelf and return the copies to the publisher to make room for the next potential bestseller. Publisher and author lose.”

The Twenty-First Century was not being distributed well because there wasn’t a large enough advertising budget, like with the majority of books. Suddenly, it disappeared after Schwartz spent more than $100,000 in advertising and publicity. Many writers just give up.

Today we’re lucky to find one new best selling author each year. The money is reserved for publicizing the Stephen Kings, the John Grishams, the Jackie Collin’s, and the few dozen who can bring in a profit for the publisher based on large enough sales. “Even the big authors are getting tired of making so little on each book,” Schwartz adds. Unless, of course, they’re lucky enough to get a large up-front advance. If not, they can now be found opening their own worldwide bookstore on the web and selling it themselves. They hire a printer and pay the same costs as the publisher, hire a book marketer, publicists, and webmaster. Their financial rewards is more like a seventy to eighty percent profit. But, to do this, authors must believe in themselves and the commerciality of their work.

Bruce Schwartz did that with The Twenty- First Century. He spent a few hundred thousand dollars, and now his book is selling continuously here in Europe. “It’s all finances, like with everything else. It’s either pay the piper or pay yourself.” www.thetwentyfirstcentury.com

Book on Little Known Venezuelan Cult Released

Book on little known Venezuelan cult released

Sacramento, Sacramento December 05, 2007 Books

(PRLEAP.COM) Most North American’s have never heard of Maria Lionza. However she is worshipped today by as many as 8 million Venezuelans as a goddess of nature, love and prosperity. She also has heavy political clout in this predominately Catholic nation and is seen an icon of this nation.

María Lionza is at once a native girl, born in the 16th century to an Indian chief in the Venezuelan region of Yaracuy, and a goddess of nature, peace and harmony to over eight million Venezuelans in the 21st century. Her name means “Mary of the boar,” taken from her full name “Santa María de la Onza Talavera del Prato de Nivar”—a title given by the Catholic Church in the attempt to Christianize her cult. This book is María’s story, as much as can be told. Other than a few scholarly articles, the existence of María Lionza and her following is unknown in Western literature. Gabriel Ernesto Andrade of La Universidad del Zulia in Maracaibo, Venezuela wrote “If I would have to find one word to describe the María Lionza religion, it would be ‘mysterious’.” And so María, as well as her origins and how she became regarded as the goddess of the people of Venezuela, remains a mystery in many ways. And that is as it should be.

Maria Lionza: An Indigenous Goddess of Venezuela is one of a few studies of this thriving religion which is a mix of Native traditions, Santeria and Catholicism. Written by folklorist Gary R. Varner, a member of the American Folklore Society and the Foundation for Mythological Studies. Varner is the author of numerous books, including Creatures in the Mist: Little People,Wild Men and Spirit Beings Around the World and The Mythic Forest: The Green Man and the Spirit of Nature published by New York academic publisher Algora Publishing and a number of books appearing under his own OakChylde Publications imprint, including Mysteries of Native American Myth and Religion and The Gods of Man: Gods of Nature – God of War.

Maria Lionza is currently available from Lulu Press at: http://www.lulu.com/content/1329353 and will be distributed through other outlets in the next few months.

The author may be contacted via email at gary_varner@yahoo.com as well as through his website: www.authorsden.com/garyrvarner