Plug in for Writers Part 2

Saturday Immersion 3

Proposal Overview

Proposal Overview

with

Jo Ann Deck, Publishing Consultant

joannpdeck@gmail.com

Today we’ll take a deeper look at the proposal process, including looking at

some real overviews and proposals that became published books.

Please note: these proposal samples have been generously shared by the

authors and agents and are NOT to be shared outside Plug In for Writers.

The executive summary or overview is typically the third page of a proposal

1. proposal cover page listing author, agent, word count, etc.

2. proposal TOC—this is the TOC of the proposal NOT the TOC of the

book itself

3. executive summary or overview

Author Title Publisher Sold Pub Date

Janet Conner The Lotus and The Lily Conari Press 2011 10-2012

Janet Conner

Soul Vows Conari Press 2013 4-2015

Christine Wheeler Tapping for Girls Hay House 2014 3-2016

Ellen Debenport Hell in the Hallway

Balboa Press 2015 10-2015

Neala Shane

Inspired Baby Names New World Library 2013 1-2015

Claire Conner Wrapped in the Flag Beacon Press 2013 7-2014

The Lotus and The Lily

Access the Wisdom of Buddha and Jesus To Build Your Abundant Life

A 30 Day Program

Approximate word count 65,000 Manuscript completion January 4, 2012

Book proposal

Author Janet Conner

Writing Down Your Soul (Conari Press 2009) My Soul Pages (Conari Press 2011)

www.writingdownyoursoul.com janetconner@tampabay.rr.com PO 277 Ozona FL 34660 727-772-1118 Agent Nancy Barton Nancy Owen Barton Agency, LLC 28 Formosa Dr.

Charleston, SC 29407 843-810-0481 nowenb@aol.com

Proposal Table of Contents

Overview 3 Author 7 Your Soul Wants Five Things series 8 Endorsements 9 Competitive Analysis 11 Marketing Plan 13 Chapter Outline 19 Chapter Summaries 20 Related Products 35 Sample 37

Overview

Janet Conner is masterful at creating, writing about, and teaching accessible spiritual practices

that change people’s lives. A dynamic speaker, she has addressed a wide range of spiritual and

educational organizations with audiences from forty to four hundred. In her first book, the

increasingly popular Writing Down Your Soul, she transmutes journaling from useful tool to

divine dialogue. In her new book, The Lotus and The Lily, Conner cracks the code to the Great

Paradox of Prosperity, guiding readers to a fresh new understanding of how to create a bountiful

life, not by asking, but by implementing the profound parallel teachings of Buddha and Jesus on

creating conditions of receptivity.

The Lotus and The Lily is grounded in a unique blend of ancient truth and modern science. Over

thirty days, readers will experience a range of diverse practices to help them activate their innate

spiritual intelligence, uncover the gifts they’ve overlooked in their own story, release the old to

create space for the new, and identify the real desires of their soul. Then, on a deeply personal

Soul Day, in partnership with their divine voice, readers will create a highly-charged Intention

Mandala that captures both their conditions and desires, and begin to work with it daily to create

the life they want.

"The Lotus and the Lily is a healthy corrective for the ego-driven, materialistic interpretation of

spirituality that is epidemic in our culture. Spirituality is not about getting your stuff. It is about

developing a closer relationship with the Transcendent, however named, as Janet Conner makes

clear." —Larry Dossey MD

Three years after publication, Writing Down Your Soul continues to attract media attention,

including a recent “Bestseller” review on Beliefnet and a request from the DailyOm to develop an

exclusive soul writing course. Writing Down Your Soul enjoys a 5-star rating and, along with its

companion journal My Soul Pages, maintains a consistent bestselling position in its Amazon

category. On October 3, 2011, for example:

Janet Conner discovered The Lotus and The Lily the same way she discovered Writing Down

Your Soul—on her knees. She stumbled onto deep soul writing trying to navigate a dangerous

divorce. In November 2009, she faced another potential disaster—bankruptcy. Practicing what

she preaches, she picked up a pen and demanded help from the “extraordinary voice within.”

Following her guidance, she announced to her Facebook, Twitter, and newsletter audiences that

she would blog every day in December, inviting them to participate directly into her spiritual

process.

As the month unfolded, Janet was surprised to find two parallel teachings of Buddha and Jesus.

When she implemented them, she discovered not only how to create an abundant life, but that the

process isn’t difficult or mysterious at all. It is, as the masters taught, the natural order. The

Buddha did not teach his followers to ask. He said, “When conditions are sufficient, there is a

manifestation.” (You are Here, Thich Nhat Hanh, Shambhala 2009) And Jesus? In English we

read “Seek first the kingdom…,” but in his native Aramaic he is much more thrilling and clear:

“…when we pursue a right relationship with the Universal One and allow this relationship to

realign our lives, we produce a condition of receptivity in which anything we need to help us

complete our purpose in life will be supplied by the universe.” (Neil Douglas-Klotz, Blessings of

the Cosmos, Sounds True 2006)

Janet realized the masters long ago handed us the key that unlocks The Great Paradox of

Prosperity. Put in plain Janet-speak the masters said, “You can have anything you want—why,

you can have things you don’t even know you want—but not by focusing on them. Oh no.

Instead, put your attention, your undivided attention, on your connection with the vibrant

presence of the divine within, the Voice by any other name. Do that and your life will change. It

has to. It is the natural order.”

The Lotus and The Lily has all the ingredients that made Writing Down Your Soul a hit:

� Janet’s honesty and humor about her own spiritual struggles

� a clear process anyone can follow

� deep soul writing prompts that activate the reader’s internal knowing

� wisdom from multiple sacred traditions with a sprinkling of modern surprises

� scientific insights into the efficacy of spiritual practice

� stories from others who have implemented The Lotus and The Lily

� exquisite mystical poetry—Daniel Ladinsky has granted permission to quote his poems in

The Lotus and The Lily and its companion journal My Life Pages

The Lotus and The Lily and its companion journal offer the modern soul a fresh way to bring the

ancient teachings of the masters to life in a world hungry for real, sustainable abundance and joy.

Author Janet Conner is the walking-talking embodiment of the power of deep soul writing to transform

your world. When people read Janet’s story in Writing Down Your Soul, they sense instinctively

that her story is their story and her results can be their results. That’s why when Janet speaks,

people are magnetically attracted to her radiant confidence in the power of deep soul writing and

The Lotus and The Lily to change lives.

Janet Conner is the author of Writing Down Your Soul (Conari Press 2009), now in its third

printing with over thirteen thousand copies sold, and its companion journal My Soul Pages

(Conari Press 2011). Previously, she created Spiritual Geography, the soul writing system that

heals the broken heart. When Larry Moffitt, the editorial VP for UPI, visited the Spiritual

Geography website, he invited Janet to write a weekly column for what was at the time the most

visited site for religion and spirituality news. Brenda Knight, then the associate publisher at

Conari Press, read those columns, realized Janet had a fresh message, and invited her to write

Writing Down Your Soul.

Today Janet is a popular writer, speaker, and teacher exploring the vibrant life of the soul. In

earlier careers she taught deaf children, studied acting, and created the video journalist hiring

program at CNN. After moving to Florida in 1984, she ran a division of an international search

firm and became an independent human resource consultant.

Janet lives in Ozona, Florida, where she is developing all five books, journals, and courses in the

Your Soul Wants Five Things series.

Your Soul Wants Five Things

Your Soul Wants Five Things is a complete learning series addressing the five essential desires of

the soul. Writing Down Your Soul is the cornerstone volume. The Lotus and The Lily is

forthcoming; the next three are listed below. Each book has a companion journal with quotes

from masters, mystics, and the Voice itself, designed to support readers as they explore the

powerful ideas and deep soul writing prompts in the book.

Your soul wants Book and Companion Journal

1. To connect with Source

Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the

Extraordinary Voice Within (Conari Press, 2009)

My Soul Pages: A Companion to Writing Down Your Soul

(Conari Press, 2011)

2. To create life The Lotus and The Lily: Access the Wisdom of Buddha and

Jesus to Build Your Abundant Life

My Life Pages: A Companion to The Lotus and The Lily

3. To commit to values

Soul Vows: How to Write Your Unshakable, Unbreakable

Covenant with Spirit

My Values Pages: A Companion to Soul Vows

4. To serve a purpose

Check The Box: How to Discover Your Soul’s Divine Purpose

My Purpose Pages: A Companion to Check the Box

5. To express itself Plug In: How to Create in The Intersection between Craft and

Spiritual Practice

My Creation Pages: A Companion to Plug In

Endorsements for Janet Conner and The Lotus and The Lily

“The Lotus and The Lily is simply divine. Janet Conner takes us beyond the Law of Attraction

through her deeply transformative practice where we learn to create the conditions for

manifestation. After participating in Janet’s program, I have experienced a shift in focus—from

wants, needs and worries—to creating the conditions in my life for manifestation to appear. This

shift has made all the difference.”

~Laura Harvey, Editor of Daily Word Daily Word is an inspirational booklet read by over 800,000. Laura Harvey invited Janet to write the feature article, “How to have a conversation with God” for the March/April 2010 edition.

"The Lotus and the Lily is a healthy corrective for the ego-driven, materialistic interpretation of

spirituality that is epidemic in our culture. Spirituality is not about getting your stuff. It is about

developing a closer relationship with the Transcendent, however named, as Janet Conner makes

clear."

~ Larry Dossey, MD Healing Words and The Power of Premonitions

“I know a star when I see one and Janet Conner has bestselling author written all over her. The

first time we hosted Janet, she attracted a standing room crowd that hung on every word and

bought over sixty books. I was so impressed I invited her to come back—three times. I want to go

on the record saying that Janet Conner is the best speaker-teacher-author I've heard. She's funny,

charismatic, and truly inspiring. Her work touches my customers at a very deep level.”

~ Cherry Lea, owner Dancing Moon Books and Gifts, Raleigh NC

"Janet Conner has emerged as a vibrant and innovative spiritual teacher. In her new book, The

Lotus and the Lily, Janet unlocks vital secrets to manifestation. She has created a process that helps

people create their relationship to the divine and set the stage to receive what we desire in alignment

with our highest good. She teaches a myriad of techniques, including an unusual way to use the

mandala. A born teacher, Janet's fascination for spiritual connection and learning guides her to take

complex spiritual principles and turn them into step-by-step practices and processes that transform

your relationship to giving and receiving. Her wisdom is vast and she will be a beacon in the field

for years to come. My mandala reminds me daily of staying connected to my trusted source and

keeps me centered on the importance of creating a receptive context. Janet has a key piece of the

spiritual puzzle—this book will move you way ahead on your spiritual journey."

~ Gail McMeekin The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women

“The principles that Janet Conner guides the reader to discover become the essential elements of a

dynamic spiritual practice. These principles transcend denomination and dogma. They are practical,

universal and impacting.”

~ Mary Anne Radmacher, artist and author Live with Intention, Lean Forward into Your Life

Competitive Analysis

Books on prosperity sell well, but they are often more philosophical than prescriptive, leaving

readers hungry to implement them. The Lotus and The Lily takes a unique hands-on approach

grounded in a fresh understanding of ancient truths supported by new science. It guides readers to

embrace their own inner knowing, offers daily soul writing explorations, shifts their focus from

asking to creating the conditions that support abundance, and culminates in the creation of a Soul

Day and Intention Mandala. No other book in this category contains that full mixture.

1. Ask and It is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires, Esther and Jerry Hicks Hay House $14.95 Paperback Pub Date Oct 2004 ISBN 978-1401904593 $24.95 Hardcover Pub Date Oct 2005 ISBN 978-1401907990 The thousands of seekers who love Abraham and this series will appreciate Janet Conner’s thirty-day practical yet profound program. Instead of hearing from a channeled entity, readers will read the words of the great masters and mystics for themselves, then use reflection and deep soul writing to digest that wisdom and determine how to apply it to their own lives. Readers of Ask

and It is Given have mastered the art of asking; in The Lotus and The Lily they will master the next step, the art of living.

2. Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams, Mike Dooley

Atria Books/Beyond Words $25.00 Hardcover Pub Date Sept 2009 ISBN 978-1582702261 $15.00 Paperback Pub Date Sept 2010 ISBN 978-1582702322 Mike Dooley is a great student of the power of thought to manifest. He encourages readers to

focus on the big picture—for example, a love relationship—not the detail such as a relationship

with a particular person. To ensure that readers create the life they truly want, The Lotus and The

Lily fills in two critical pre-declaration steps—steps that are missing or glossed over in most

books on manifestation. First, The Lotus and The Lily walks readers through how to look back at

the life they’ve already created and extract all its gifts and blessings, and second, it helps them

identify the conditions going forward that will align their life with their soul’s purpose. Readers

who enjoy Infinite Possibilities will love The Lotus and The Lily as a practical application of

Dooley’s principles.

3. Spiritual Economics: The Principles and Process of True Prosperity, Eric Butterworth Unity 3rd Edition $13.95 Paperback Pub Date Feb 2001 ISBN 978-0871592699

For the New Thought community, Butterworth is the prosperity standard. The Lotus and The Lily

encourages readers to move beyond thinking about the concept of prosperity to actually creating

their own personal prosperity practices. Janet Conner has a strong following in the New Thought

movement. In addition to speaking at dozens of Unity and Religious Science centers, Writing

Down Your Soul was excerpted in Unity Magazine and she wrote a feature article “How to Have a

Conversation with God” for the Daily Word which was enthusiastically received by the editorial

staff and readers around the world. The New Thought community will welcome this practical

application of principles they already know and love.

Marketing Plan

Who is the Audience?

The audience for The Lotus and The Lily includes all those who read prosperity literature from

the classic Napoleon Hill to the modern channeled material such as Abraham-Hicks.

The demographic for The Lotus and The Lily parallels that for Writing Down Your Soul: spiritual

seeker, primarily female, 35-75 years old, largely New Thought or SBNR (Spiritual But Not

Religious) but can be in a range of religions as well, interested in the soul, wants a deeper

connection with Spirit, excited by deep soul writing, avid consumer of spiritual materials,

intrigued by research on spiritual practice, culturally and racially diverse, LGBT friendly, active

online.

Where is the Audience?

The audience for The Lotus and The Lily includes every woman (and man) who wants a more

abundant and prosperous life and is willing to explore spiritual concepts to get there. Readers

currently find Janet and her books at New Thought centers across the country; spiritual

bookstores from Agape in L.A. to A.R.E in Virginia Beach; on inspirational radio shows; on

educational webinars such as Friends’ Health Connection; on blogs discussing creativity, writing,

or spirituality; through the recommendation of clergy, psychologists, life coaches, and other

professionals; on trusted spiritual websites such as DailyOm.com and

SpiritualityandPractice.com; through writing organizations such as Story Circle Network; through

online searches; and from word-of-mouth recommendations from friends both online and off.

Writing Down Your Soul is a bestseller (200+ copies) at spiritually-oriented independent

bookstores across the country from New Renaissance in Portland OR, to Wings Bookstore in St

Petersburg FL, to Dancing Moon in Raleigh NC.

Social Media

Janet actively communicates with 3,000+ newsletter subscribers, 1400+ Facebook friends, 1700+

twitter followers, and over 9,000 blog visitors. Those numbers will double in 2012.

Market Penetration

Janet has appeared at 50+ spiritual centers and bookstores across the country. She will promote

The Lotus and The Lily in markets where she has a strong following: cities across Florida and

California, Raleigh, Austin, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, and Portland. She is currently

pursuing new relationships in Boulder, St Louis, Tucson, Chicago, Atlanta, and Seattle. Thanks to

the internet, social media, and her popular tele-courses, Janet is building an international audience

in Europe and the Pacific Rim.

Speaking

Janet Conner has addressed audiences from forty to four hundred at diverse venues. She’s been

the guest speaker at over 30 New Thought churches. In addition, she has spoken to professional

development organizations such as The Inside Edge in Southern California—a key organization

in the development of the human potential movement, the Hypnosis Education Association

national conference in Orlando, and Story Circle Network in Austin TX. She makes herself

available for private book group meetings via Skype and speakerphone. She has given pro bono

workshops to homeless, twelve step, and other programs. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s

Department asked her to develop a special “How to have a conversation with your soul”

workshop for women in recovery.

Teaching Centers

Janet taught Writing Down Your Soul to a full house at the Open Center in New York City. She

has presented weekend intensives at spiritual centers in Portland, Raleigh, and St Petersburg.

Writing Down Your Soul and The Lotus and The Lily lend themselves perfectly to events and

retreats at centers such as Kripalu, Omega Institute, Unity Village, the Sophia Institute, and

Esalen, as well as smaller regional centers. Janet is applying to teach at these centers and more in

2012.

Media

RADIO: Dozens of shows had Janet as a guest for Writing Down Your Soul. She will pursue the

shows that already love her, such as Steve Maraboli’s Empowered Living and Linda Cassell’s

The Art of Joyful Living, and will develop relationships with many new ones interested in

prosperity.

ONLINE: The DailyOm featured Writing Down Your Soul repeatedly. Janet is currently

developing an online soul writing course for the Daily Om. Important spiritual sites such as

Beliefnet, New Consciousness Review, and Spirituality and Practice reviewed Writing Down

Your Soul enthusiastically and will be interested in The Lotus and The Lily. Janet will write

articles for the DailyOm, Beliefnet and other online media. Some of the titles in the list of

proposed magazine articles may fit online media.

PRINT: Writing Down Your Soul was reviewed or excerpted in Foreword, Unity Magazine,

Sacred Journeys, Venture Inward and more. Janet wrote the feature article for the March/April

2010 Daily Word. Laura Harvey, the editor, is a fan of Janet’s work and will welcome an article

based on The Lotus and The Lily. Janet is quoted in the November 2011 Whole Living in an

article on writing as a healing tool. Print media with an interest in prosperity will be deeply

interested in The Lotus and The Lily. Janet is developing magazine articles for:

� O: The Oprah Magazine “You Can Have an Abundant Life in 30 days,”

� Spirituality and Health “This is Your Brain on Prayer”

� Unity Magazine “The Great Paradox of Prosperity”

� Whole Living “The Secret to an Abundant Life”

� Women’s Day “Stop Asking and Start Getting More”

� More “Your Perfect Year Begins with Your Soul Day”

� Yoga Journal “Intention Mandala—Your Engine for Change” and “The Yoga of Writing”

� “Do You Know Your SQ?” (SQ=Spiritual Intelligence)

� “The Miracle Mantra”

� “Bankrupt to Bank-full in 30 Days”

� “Can One Sentence Change Your Life?”

VIDEO: Janet is a vibrant presence on stage and on video. She will produce a series of YouTube

videos for The Lotus and The Lily and post vlogs on her blog.

WEBSITE: www.writingdownyoursoul.com is an information-packed website filled with videos,

course descriptions, tools and more. It comes up organically in searches for soul and writing.

Now that she is developing all five books and courses in the Your Soul Wants Five Things series,

Janet is developing www.janetconner.com.

Book Launch

ONLINE CAMPAIGN: Janet has partnered with authors such as Victoria Moran (Living a

Charmed Life) and Guy Finley (The Seeker, The Search, The Sacred—reaching #5 in all books on

Amazon). For The Lotus and The Lily, she will work with her publisher to design a book launch

campaign that leads readers to bookstores as well as to Amazon.

GLOBAL WEBINAR: Janet will create a special The Lotus and The Lily webinar culminating on

January 1, 2013 with a world-wide Soul Day and Intention Mandala—the key elements that

complete The Lotus and The Lily program and create the conditions for an abundant life. As she

does for all her courses, Conner will set up a Facebook discussion group for members of the

webinar to share their experiences and post their mandalas. The webinar will become an on-

demand course and discussion group so readers always have a community with whom to share

their The Lotus and The Lily adventures.

BLOG TOUR: Janet has been a guest blogger/Q&A respondent on several blogs. Blog Tours

were new when Writing Down Your Soul came out; now they are more prominent in successful

book launches. Janet will work with the publisher to design a blog tour or any other appropriate

publicity/marketing program that maximizes the message of The Lotus and The Lily.

Travel

Janet led groups on soul explorations to Oaxaca Mexico in 2010 and Costa Rica in 2011. In 2012,

she is taking groups to Mexico to see the return of the Monarch butterflies and to Blacktail Ranch

in Montana. The success of these trips is an indication of the depth of her following and the

commitment of her readers.

Chapter Outline

Table of Contents

Foreword by____________

1. Why This Book and Why It Matters Now

2. Story behind The Lotus and The Lily

3. How to Get the Most Benefit from This Book

4. Will This Work? New Science on the Impact of Spiritual Practice

5. Week 1 (Days 1-7): PREPARE—step into your innate spiritual power, set your intention,

create your rituals, write your own prayers

6. Week 2 (Days 8-14): LOOK BACK—uncover the gifts in the life you’ve created

7. Week 3 (Days 15-21): CREATE SPACE—to create space for the new, release and forgive

yourself and others

8. Week 4: (Days 22-28) YOUR CART—identify what you really want in alignment with

your soul’s desires and your relationship with your divine partner

9. What Is a Soul Day and Why Make a Mandala?

10. SOUL DAY and INTENTION MANDALA (Day 29-30)—prepare your personal Soul

Day mini-retreat, identify your conditions, clarify your desires, create the Intention

Mandala that articulates and captures your whole abundant life

11. Keep It Alive—work with your mandala consciously and subconsciously to bring it to life

12. What Happens Next?

13. Resources and Bibliography

Chapter Summaries

1. Why This Book and Why It Matters Now

a. Now, more than ever, we want to—no, need to—know how to create a whole

abundant life, but many of us are frustrated with the popular explanation of

attraction. Either it doesn’t work or something is missing. We’ve all tried asking

and found it lacking on two fronts. Either it works entirely too well, delivering

something we realize later we don’t want and wish we could return, or nothing

happens. These results, or lack thereof, leave us wondering if we’re doing

something wrong, or worse, feeling we may not be worthy.

b. Many seekers have begun to sense that what is presented as attraction or

manifestation is more materialistic than spiritual. Surely our souls didn’t come

here just to ask for and acquire things. There is a palpable hunger for a more

spiritual approach to creating.

c. Your soul wants to create life, not be consumed by it. And it has the power to do

so; we just haven’t given it full reign. We’ve restricted our ability to create our

world by limiting ourselves to the common (mis)understanding of attraction.

Working with our divine partner, we are so much more powerful than that.

d. Introduction to The Great Paradox of Prosperity: you can have anything you want,

but not by wanting it.

2. Story behind The Lotus and The Lily

a. How Janet Conner faced bankruptcy, spoke to her Voice, demanded help, got clear

instructions on what to do—and to be naked in her spiritual practice and share it

open and raw as it happened. How she blogged every day for the month of

December 2009 with as many as 1300 people a day observing and commenting on

her spiritual life.

b. What happened when she stumbled upon two remarkably similar teachings of

Buddha and Jesus to focus on creating conditions not on asking. The moment that

Janet realized everything she thought she knew about the Law of Attraction was

180° off.

c. How she created her first Intention Mandala on January 1 2010 with her conditions

clearly identified in the center, worked with it everyday for the month of January,

and went from bankrupt to bank-full in just 31 days. Story of the bankruptcy

attorney tossing her out of his office in February because she’d earned too much

and was no longer bankrupt.

d. High points from stories of others who have used the The Lotus and The Lily

process to create a life of purpose and joy.

3. How to Get the Most Benefit from This Book

a. Janet’s foundational premise: I am not your teacher. You are. Why? Because the

divine dwells within you. I do not have your answers. But you do. What I have and

am delighted to share with you is a comprehensive, step-by-step spiritual

exploration that worked for me and many others.

b. How through this book, Janet will be right beside you every day as you search for

your own answers. The Lotus and The Lily will help you awaken those answers,

hear them, and begin to put them to use in your own life.

c. How the book and the month is organized and how to work your way through it all

at once or stretched out over time. Explanation of the four-week, four-theme

structure. Each day has something to read, ideas to ponder, further research to

investigate, and suggested deep soul writing prompts to spark a soul level

conversation with your divine Voice on the topic. Reminder to use the activities as

a starting point, not a to-do list.

d. The importance of self care during this rich soul exploration. Specific suggestions

on how to support yourself including monitoring your media consumption,

creating quiet and solitude, why you need more sleep, why you need more water,

and more.

e. What you can expect to experience and learn by the time you complete The Lotus

and The Lily

4. Will This Work? The New Science on the Impact of Spiritual Practice

a. Discussion of the exciting new research that explores what happens in your brain

when you engage in meditation, prayer, and other spiritual practices. Sources will

include Dr Richard Davidson neuroscientist and Director of the University of

Wisconsin Madison Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior

(recommended by Larry Dossey as the expert to interview on this topic) and

Andrew Newberg MD, Director of Research at the Myra Brind Center for

Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Medical Center

and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the

University of Pennsylvania, author of How God Changes Your Brain and

Principles of Neurotheology.

b. The importance of the theta brain wave state to access break-through thinking and

real creativity, known to many as divine mind.

c. Review of the seven steps to get into theta while writing to ensure readers

experience soul-level writing not journaling, how to access theta and guidance

throughout the day, and how to extract the greatest benefit from the theta-rich first

moments in the morning.

5. Week One: PREPARE

a. Intro to the Week—All spiritual traditions set aside a period of preparation before

any powerful ceremony that marks and induces a significant change. Examples are

four weeks of Advent, forty days of Lent, the week before Yom Kippur, the month

of Ramadan, etc. In this opening week, you will embrace this concept of

preparation and design it according to your own unique spiritual style and

guidance.

b. Day 1 Begin with Intention—Why intention matters, how to set your intention

c. Day 2 Don’t Try This Alone—Introduction to working with your guides and

angels

d. Day 3 You Are Your Own Shaman—What it means to be your own priest-

priestess-rabbi-imam-shaman and why now is the perfect time to step into that role

for yourself.

e. Day 4 Create Your Ritual—Why the ancient practice of ritual is so important

today, how to create your own deeply personal Lotus and Lily ritual, write your

personal prayer, and incorporate your ritual into your life.

f. Day 5 Write Your Own Prayer—How to write a deeply personal prayer to speak

every day throughout The Lotus and The Lily.

g. Day 6 Uh Oh, Here Comes the Opposite—Explanation of why the moment you

declare you want something, the exact opposite seems to show up as if the

universe were testing you.

h. Day 7 What This Whole Experience Looks Like—Explanation of the image that

illustrates this entire process and shows how each of the four steps builds on the

next, culminating in the creation of an Intention Mandala. (Janet was awakened in

the night on February 21 and shown this sphere. The masters and teachers of the

Akashic Record explained its meaning and she will engage a graphic artist to

illustrate it.)

6. Week Two: LOOK BACK

a. Intro to the Week—Before you can begin to create the life you want, it is wise to

look back at the life you’ve already created—and yes, you created it. This week, as

you review the past, you will be surprised by the many gifts and blessings you

never recognized or acknowledged before.

b. Day 8 Over Your Shoulder—Look back at the past year to extract all the wisdom

and learning buried in plain sight in the experiences and recurring patterns.

c. Day 9 Your Movie—Name your past year as if it were a movie, see yourself as the

main character, identify the theme of your movie.

d. Day 10 Spirit Winks—Identify all the ways your divine partner sends you little

messages of encouragement, perhaps in the form of synchronicity, animal

messengers, pennies from heaven….

e. Day 11 Thought Worms—Hear the negative tapes running in your head that block

you from believing you can have the life you want, identify their origin, and

release them using a short simple prayer from the Akashic Record.

f. Day 12 Don’t Go Back To Sleep—Jumping off Rumi’s poem “Don’t go back to

sleep” look at how and when you go back to sleep rather than live the life you’re

here to live, make a commitment to stay fully awake.

g. Day 13 Your GrandSelf—Acknowledge the ongoing presence and wisdom of your

wise self, your “GrandSelf,” invite your GrandSelf to be in charge for the rest of

this adventure.

h. Day 14 Say Thank You—Recognize the many gifts you have already received and

be grateful.

7. Week Three: CREATE SPACE

a. Intro to the Week—Before you can bring in the new, you must release the old. Old

wounds, old ideas, old beliefs take up physical, not just psychic space. In the rich

experiences of this week of releasing and forgiving, you will literally create room

for your new life to come flooding in.

b. Day 15 Universe Cash—Based on Hafiz’s poem, “Forgiveness is the cash you

need” (The Gift), investigation of the power and necessity of forgiveness,

introduction to a week of forgiveness, what to expect in your body and spirit, how

to care for yourself as you move through the rich—but for many, difficult—

spiritual practice of forgiveness.

c. Day 16 Call in the Vultures—Janet’s story about the arrival of 13 vultures on the

morning she began a week of forgiveness, and the vulture in Costa Rica who

walked around her and then flew off the moment she said aloud that she was sorry,

exploration of vulture in Ted Andrew’s Animal Speak, and how you can work with

vulture grace to help you release and forgive.

d. Day 17 The One You Must Forgive—The often shocking discovery that the

person you must forgive and the one who’s hardest to forgive is not the other guy,

it’s you.

e. Day 18 Enough—The core issue is that we don’t think we are good enough,

investigation of why we feel this way and why it’s universal. Through a prayer

that Janet wrote, experience what it feels like to be enough.

f. Day 19 Who’s in Your Dungeon—Introduction to your soul’s dungeon as

described by St. Theresa of Avila, experience the dungeon clearing exercise that

Janet designed based on Caroline Myss’s Entering the Castle. (This is an

experience Janet has shared with thousands in her talk, “Prayer that Works.”)

g. Day 20 Finally Forgive—Profound experience of forgiving another. This is the

miracle prayer Janet wrote in 2001 that set the stage for the jaw-dropping life

insurance miracle described in Writing Down Your Soul.

h. Day 21—Finally Forgive Yourself—Take the miracle prayer and apply it to

yourself.

8. Week Four: YOUR CART

a. Intro to the Week—At first blush we think we know what we want. But we’ve all

had the experience of wanting something and manifesting it and then wishing we

could give it back. Janet’s story about asking for someone “58 and spiritually

awake” and having him walk on the plane and sit down next to her an hour later,

proving anyone can, as Theresa of Avila said, “Play with the universe the way a

child can a ball” (Love Poems from God), but perhaps it would be wiser to get

clear about what you really want before you ask the universe to provide it. In this

week, you’ll put your desires through several divine filters until you are confident

about what you will put on your Intention Mandala.

b. Day 22 Your Connection to Power—Using Dorothy’s red shoes, test how

comfortable you are with six essential spiritual truths that have the power to

transport you, not back to Kansas, but to the life of divine purpose and joy you

want to create.

c. Day 23 Your Soul’s Purpose—Until you know why you’re here, how can you

choose what you want? Step aside and allow your soul’s purpose to make itself

known in three simple writing and reflection experiences.

d. Day 24 Ellen and Your Life Around the Corner—Ellen DeGeneres’ story about

her “Dear God” letter that led to her vision of herself as the first woman on the

couch across from Johnny Carson, explanation of how to have your own “life

around the corner” vision experience using imagination and deep soul writing, and

how to recognize that your vision is true.

e. Day 25 The Trust Thermometer—THE essential spiritual practice is letting go.

But it’s so hard. On this day, you will investigate your relationship with and

experience of trust and measure how trusting you are on a trust thermometer.

Then, learn how to make the jump into deep trust. It’s not as hard or complex as

we think.

f. Day 26 Wouldn’t It Be Nice—Starting with the Beach Boy’s lyric in “Wouldn’t It

Be Nice,” put your desires through a four-filter experience from possibility

(wouldn’t it be nice) all the way to reality (won’t it be divine when) until you have

identified the items for your Intention Mandala.

g. Day 27 Name Your Year—Why it’s important to name your coming year and how

to find the perfect name, plus a gentle reminder that you actually won’t know the

full power of your year’s name until 12 months later. Stories about how people’s

year’s names have manifested in ways the namer never imagined.

h. Day 28 Focus Only On What’s Coming In—Janet’s story about the angels’

heavenly instructions on why she was the cause of her own deep state of fear over

money, why it was essential to shift her focus from worrying about what’s going

out to seeing only what’s coming in.

9. What Is a Soul Day and Why Do We Make a Mandala?

a. Why a Soul Day?—How Janet stumbled upon her first Soul Day, what is a Soul

Day, the value of setting aside a mini-retreat in a full day or partial days to access

your inner wisdom, communicate with your divine partner, and create a new life of

divine purpose and joy.

b. Why a Mandala?—Introduction to the mandala, why the mandala is the ideal form

for manifestation, how it is used in multiple traditions as the illustration of the

union of the human and the divine, how Jose Arguelles (Mandala) explains the

mandala as an “engine of change,” examples of how the mandala appears

throughout history in sacred space and art, the circle in sacred geometry as the

symbol of wholeness, Jung’s extensive experience with the mandala both

personally and with his patients, and Janet’s experiences with her own Intention

Mandalas.

c. What Are Conditions?—Explanation of the critical concept of conditions to bring

the Buddha’s and Jesus’s instructions to life, examples of conditions, and how you

will discover your own conditions during your Soul Day.

d. Why a Lily?—Story of how Janet was guided to put a lily at the center of her

mandala as the symbol of her conditions, the lily’s role in spiritual traditions

including Jesus’s famous quote “Consider the lilies,” the sacred geometric

meaning of the six petals and 3-6-9 formations, the meaning of its biology, and the

lily’s high vibration as your divine antenna above your seventh chakra.

e. Your Symbol—How you will identify the perfect symbol at the center of your

mandala representing your conditions.

10. Soul Day and Intention Mandala

a. Day 29 Soul Day Preparation—How to prepare yourself, your space, your

materials, and the people around you in the days leading up to your Soul Day; the

importance of setting your intention the night before and how to do that.

b. Day 30 Soul Day—In-depth outline of how to have a rich soul day

i. Lie still when you wake, capture your dreams and messages while you’re

still in the theta brain wave state.

ii. Open your day including reading suggestions from You are Here, Thich

Nhat Hanh, various sacred texts that are important in The Lotus and The

Lily, mystical love poetry, etc.

iii. Suggested writing prompts for the three major deep soul writing

conversations pulling together everything you learned and experienced

during the past month.

iv. Discover your conditions, the ways you will live to create the “condition of

receptivity” that naturally and automatically generates the life you want.

v. The perfect symbol for your conditions.

vi. The name of your year.

vii. Create your Intention Mandala.

1. The format—two circles, one larger, one smaller at the center with

several examples.

2. What you want—how to put images, drawings, or pictures of what

you want in the outer rim where clock numerals would be with

many examples.

3. Draw or paste your conditions symbol at the center with a line

drawing to copy for those who want to use a lotus or a lily and

several examples of people’s condition symbols.

4. Record your conditions on the image.

5. Record the name of your year.

6. Seal your Intention Mandala with an oracular reading using angel

or other favorite cards, a sacred text, or any other tool you feel

guided to use.

c. How to create a personal ritual around your Intention Mandala to co-create a life

of divine purpose and joy. The mandala has power when you use it everyday.

i. Post your Mandala where it can feed your subconscious.

ii. Infuse your Intention Mandala with power by writing a personal prayer or

blessing that you will say each day as instructed by the Buddha with

“100% of your being.”

iii. Commit to working with your Mandala so that it can become the engine of

change it is designed to be.

d. Celebrate your Soul Day.

e. Conclude your day by asking for final guidance during the night, then pay

attention to your dreams and first morning messages while still in theta.

11. Keep It Alive

a. Incorporate your Intention Mandala into your daily life.

i. Why your first thought in the morning is of the utmost importance, “One

cannot create one’s next moment out of frustration with the moment that

is.”

ii. How to wake so that you wake in joy regardless of what is happening

around you by seeing your conditions image in your room or in your mind,

focusing only on what is coming in (not what’s going out), staying in bed

until you see and feel what’s coming, getting out of bed when your

vibration is high and joyful, speaking a loving uplifting prayer the moment

you get out of bed such as “This is the day the Lord has made, I am

grateful and rejoice in it” (Psalm 118:24-25) or choose from several others

or create your own.

iii. How to incorporate your Intention Mandala and ritual into your daily life.

1. How it works subliminally stimulating your subconscious mind.

2. How Janet incorporates her Intention Mandala into her daily

spiritual practice.

3. Suggestions for various ways to include your Intention Mandala in

your prayer and meditation practices.

4. Stories from people who have been through the The Lotus and The

Lily course on how they work with their Intention Mandalas every

day.

b. Evidence that your Intention Mandala is working.

i. How to recognize Evidence.

ii. How to track and collect Evidence.

iii. How to celebrate your Evidence.

iv. How to make a second blank mandala to capture the gifts of the next

twelve months.

12. What Happens Next—Stories of Results

a. Janet’s stories about what has happened as a result of her daily renewal of her

Intention Mandala.

b. Members of The Lotus and The Lily courses tell their own stories about what

happened as a result of going through the process and creating an Intention

Mandala.

13. Resources

a. Extensive bibliography.

b. People and organizations readers can contact for further information.

Related Products

My Life Pages Companion Journal

Each day of the The Lotus and The Lily process has questions to ponder and a suggested deep

soul writing prompt. Because the core spiritual practice that supports the reader throughout The

Lotus and The Lily is deep soul writing, it would be lovely and wise to offer a matching journal.

The journal is more than a place to write. Like the companion journal for Writing Down Your

Soul, My Life Pages, the companion journal for The Lotus and The Lily will be populated by

related and important quotes from spiritual masters and mystics on the deeper meaning of the

principles and ideas in the book. The companion journal can be published alongside the book or

the following season. Ideally publication of the journal will be timed to fit the needs of catalogs

and specialty markets interested in selling the book and journal as a paired set.

Recordings

For those who prefer to, or need to, hear books, Janet will record The Lotus and The Lily. Janet is

a stunning reader. Everyone who has ever heard her read from Writing Down Your Soul has

begged her to record it.

Students in The Lotus and The Lily classes want Janet to record her poems and prayers in The

Lotus and The Lily so future readers have the same rich experience as those in her live classes.

There could be an accompanying CD or Janet could record them on her website and provide links

in the book so readers can hear her read them.

Intention Mandala Coloring Book

Janet will work with a graphic artist to design proprietary artwork for the 3-D sphere that

illustrates the whole process, and templates for Intention Mandalas and conditions symbols.

These could be in a Lotus and Lily workbook that resembles a coloring book. This would be a

very helpful (and fun) tool for those who feel they can’t make their own mandala or need some

inspiration to get started.

Facilitator’s Guide

The Lotus and The Lily is designed with daily activities so readers can go through the process

independently, but it also fits small group sessions perfectly. Using the model of how Janet

teaches live classes that meet weekly, the Facilitator’s Guide will have group preparation and

discussion materials and questions. Janet will propose that Unity churches use The Lotus and The

Lily and the accompanying Facilitators Guide in their “Spirit Expressing” annual community-

wide study groups. She will work with a Licensed Unity Teacher and education expert to tailor

the Facilitator’s Guide for that audience.

Readers’ Guide

Janet will develop the readers’ guide for The Lotus and The Lily.

Writing Sample Note: Each day has four components: Read, Reflect, Write, Do. Sometimes there is a fifth section, Want More?, with books to read or other resources to check out. In this sample, the box for reflection is blue and the box containing the suggested writing prompt is green. In the published book, these sections will be separated by a black/white border or other design features.

Week Two LOOK BACK

Day 8—Over Your Shoulder

READ

Your focus for the next seven days is on looking back to uncover the gifts — all the gifts — of

the past. At first this may seem counterintuitive. After all, our desire in The Lotus and The Lily is

to create a beautiful life going forward. But before you can jump ahead to the joy of calling in a

beautiful new life, it’s important to take a moment and look back at the road you’ve already

traveled. Why? Because you can’t call in something new, something better, something more

joyful, if you don’t understand what you’ve already created.

The Buddha described this phenomenon perfectly. He said, “This is because that is.” Does this

sentence have you scratching your head? The first time I read it in You Are Here, it didn’t register

for me at all. Luckily, Thich Nhat Hanh knows that non-Buddhists often miss the depth of this

teaching, so he spends a few pages explaining it. This is an essential Buddhist teaching. “This is

because that is” means that everything is connected. Everything. Whatever you are experiencing

now is connected to, generated by, or in some way a response to all that you have already created.

Furthermore, the life you want to create has to flow from the place you are right now. It can’t

flow from anywhere else.

Here’s something to help you understand this concept. Visualize a plant. You can see that a

plant’s growth is determined by the nutrients in the soil, the amount of sunlight penetrating its

leaves, and the quality and quantity of water and rain. Well, you are your own field of flowers.

And that field, as far as Hafiz is concerned, is holy ground. “The place where you are right now

God circled on a map for you.” (Ladinsky, The Subject Tonight is Love)

So stand where you are right now, plant your feet firmly in your field, and look back over your

shoulder at your recent past. Perhaps you want to squint even further into the distance. What do

you see? What experiences come to your attention? What relationships? Jobs? Emotions?

Blowups? Sorrows? Joys? Do you see any patterns?

Consider for a moment that none of those experiences are accidents. They are not some bad luck

that happened to you. The Tao Te Ching says it oh so simply and clearly, “Everything is a

movement toward your wholeness.” That “everything” means the good stuff and the bad stuff.

The icky situations and upsetting people may be just as important—perhaps more important—to

your soul’s evolution. The good news is all of your experiences are moving you forward into your

wholeness.

So consider the possibility that nothing is happening to you. But many, many things are

happening for you. For your wholeness. For your perfection. For your soul’s evolution. Consider

the possibility that on the soul level—if not the human conscious level—your soul called every

one of these experiences forth. Why? Because each one helped you move in some way toward

your wholeness.

It’s natural to look back at what happened and want to scream, “I did not call this in! I did not

want this, and believe me, I did not ask for it!” Well, maybe you didn’t consciously ask for it, but

you still called it in. That’s the thing with human consciousness, or perhaps we should say human

un-consciousness. We are magically creative creatures. We are endlessly and always connected

with the creative force of the universe. Every thought has magnetic power. Every feeling

percolates out of us to find its match. But here’s the problem. It’s not just the pretty thoughts and

feelings that have power. All thoughts have power. And feelings are even more powerful. Your

heart, did you know, is hundreds of times more magnetically powerful than your brain.

Worry, which is an emotion-drenched thought if ever there was one, is particularly powerful.

Unfortunately, it magnetically attracts more of what you’re already worried about. (I agree this is

a rotten deal, but you can’t have the magical creative quality of the joyful, uplifting thoughts and

emotions without the magical creative quality of the negative ones. Sorry!)

There is a scientific explanation for Buddha’s teaching. Every feeling, word, and action leaves a

trace on the field of energy that surrounds and connects us all. You can read Ervin Laszlo’s

Science and the Akashic Field for a better understanding of the science behind that statement. It

was Lauralyn Bunn, the great Akashic Record reader and trainer, who introduced me to Laszlo. I

spent a weekend with Lauralyn learning about the Akashic Records or, as it’s called in Genesis,

“The Book of Life.” The Records are not some woo-woo concept; they are, according to science,

the energetic traces of all that is or has been. They are, so to speak, the giant field of “This is

because that is.”

But you don’t have to have an Akashic Record reading to uncover the creative power of your

thoughts, words, and actions. You can do it yourself. Just look back over your shoulder or back

through your calendar. Sit down and have a nice long conversation with your Divine Voice about

your history to date. Look back over the pages of your calendar together. Talk over what

happened. But not just what happened. Be sure to talk about how you felt. And what you learned.

And then, the big question: Why do you think your soul called this forth? Ask to understand the

blessings buried below the surface. The nuggets of knowing, of learning, of moving deeper into

connection with Source. Look at and honor the steps that were taken toward a fuller expression of

your soul’s purpose.

In other words, find the gifts—all the gifts that brought you to this divine moment when you are

ready to shift into a new and sweeter life. And you can have that new and sweeter life. I

absolutely believe that. But not until you extract all the gifts of your soul’s story to date.

REFLECT

When I look back over my shoulder what do I see? Are there any recurring patterns?

Am I willing to consider that my soul actually called all this forth, wanted these

experiences, maybe even needed them?

How do I feel about “everything is a movement toward my wholeness?” Do I buy that?

Does it feel right? Possible?

How would my perception of my life be impacted if I really believed that?

WRITE

Dear Voice,

You know I’d really rather focus on the future, but I get that it’s important to look back

first. So let’s do it. Let’s go over the last 12 months. There were some rough spots. I’m

willing to look at them with you, but this whole thing about my soul calling them forth.

Ouch. I sure don’t like the idea that I called forth ___________ or ___________. So, let’s

talk about this. Maybe I did call it in on some level I don’t understand. If my soul

somehow needed this situation to help it evolve, well then, I’m willing to dive in and

dissect it, because you know what, I don’t want any more of it. I really do want to extract

all the gifts—the good, the bad, and the ugly—so I can move on. So, let’s talk. I’m ready.

Let’s really, really talk.

DO

• This is a tough step for a lot of people, so be honest with yourself but gentle at the same

time. I’m not saying gloss over what happened. Do quite the opposite. Bring your

experiences to the surface and really look at them like a stone you turn over in your hand.

But don’t beat yourself up for your choices. If indeed everything is a movement to your

wholeness, the experiences that you label “bad” or “negative” or “painful,” might be the

jewels life has provided to help your soul expand and grow. So take the gift. Study it.

Learn from it. Honor it as a step on your journey to wholeness.

• Soul write about life’s gifts to fully understand them—to squeeze out all the juice, so to

speak. This is not a one-time writing experience. Keep the channel open. More and more

gifts will emerge throughout this week.

• Don’t forget to take care of yourself. You are doing big work. Rest, drink lots of water,

pray, walk or go to a movement class, meditate, sit by yourself…do whatever feels right

to support yourself.

• Do not fall into the trap of telling your old story to your old friends. It’s too easy for them

to slip into their old role of “ain’t it awful” or “wasn’t he dreadful.” That won’t help you

extract the gifts in the experience.

• You’ll know you’ve uncovered the gifts when you find yourself looking differently at

what happened and feeling at peace about it or at least less emotional. (You’ll experience

the deep release of forgiveness next week. Right now it’s enough to extract the gifts.)

• Call on your Guides and Angels to support you. You do not have to do this alone.

• If you ask for insights at night, you may have complex and even disturbing dreams. Lie

still in the morning and remember them. Write down your soul about them. If you dream

about a house or building, know that that’s the symbol for your self, your soul. Pay close

attention to the details in any dreams with houses, rooms, hotels, or other buildings.

• If you’re struggling with recognizing the gifts in some of your experiences, do a special

card reading with a favorite card set, or perhaps a new one, and ask what you need to

know about an experience or what’s the gift within it.

• When insights come, say thank you. A big thank you.

WANT MORE?

Science and the Akashic Field by Ervin Laszlo

Lauralyn Bunn and the Akashic Records www.akashicpathways.com

HeartMath articles on the magnetic energy of the heart http://www.heartmath.org

Soul Vows

subtitle suggestions

Your Personal Covenant with Your Self, Your Soul, and Your God

Gather the Presence of the Divine In You, As You, and Through You

Approximate word count 65,000

Manuscript completion December 31, 2013

Book proposal

Author Janet Conner www.janetconner.com janetconner@tampabay.rr.com PO 277 Ozona FL 34660

727-772-1118

Agent Nancy Barton Nancy Owen Barton Agency, LLC 28 Formosa Dr.

Charleston, SC 29407 843-810-0481 nowenb@aol.com

Proposal Table of Contents

Overview

3

The Soul-Directed Life radio show

5

Author

7

Your Soul Wants Five Things series 9

Endorsements

10

Competitive Analysis

11

Marketing Plan

13

Chapter Outline

16

Chapter Summaries

17

Related Products 46

Overview

Janet Conner is a unique voice in the spiritual world. In her hands, the ordinary becomes

extraordinary; the mystical, accessible. Each of her books breaks new ground in old fields.

Writing Down Your Soul transmuted the age-old practice of journaling from useful tool to divine

dialogue. Four years after publication, it’s still the #1 book in Amazon’s journal-writing

category. Her second book The Lotus and The Lily flipped our understanding of prosperity from

asking for things to creating conditions of receptivity.

Now in Soul Vows, the third book in the Your Soul Wants Five Things series, Janet explodes the

familiar concept of core values into a mystical covenant with your self, your soul, and your

Source. Because your covenant clearly defines how you choose to live, it becomes your personal

path to the four peak experiences seekers want most: authenticity, integrity, wholeness, and the

vibrant presence of the Divine. But no two paths look the same. Your soul vows are a

customdesigned, uniquely tailored invitation to your authentic life, your integrity, your

experience of wholeness, and your intimate relationship with the Divine.

Your soul vows are also a prayer—a prayer of mystical proportion. As you speak and live your

soul vows, the Divine becomes present in you, through you, and as you. That’s the real power of

your soul vows and the real power that alters your experiences here on earth. Soul vows are a

living construction of a whole and holy divine in you that builds collectively into the expression

of the divine in us, through us, and as us. Surely this is how we create the kingdom of heaven on

earth.

Exciting new concepts in Soul Vows:

The “new I”

The chakras are the seven step process to your soul vows

“False vows” are the lies you tell yourself about yourself

You, the “2.0” version

Soul Vows continues in the vein of Janet’s other successful books with:

Janet’s open and often funny stories about her own spiritual (mis)adventures a

clear, well-articulated process anyone can follow deep soul writing and other

exercises to activate the reader’s internal knowing a tapestry of wisdom from

multiple traditions brain science insights into the efficacy of prayer and

spiritual practice occasional paradox puzzles to deepen the process amazing

stories from people who are living their soul vows

For Soul Vows, Janet will interview:

Mary Anne Radmacher on the power of making a list

Matthew Fox and Richard Rohr on the individual and collective divine

Deborah King on the chakra system

Andrew Newburg on brain science and the reticular activating system

Larry Dossey on “One Mind” and the efficacy of prayer

Kabir Helminski on “living presence” and spiritual perception through the heart

Mark Nepo on releasing your “snake skin”

Tapping for Girls, by Christine Wheeler

Overview

(First quote deleted per author request)

“Chris is an excellent author and a magnificent heart-felt practitioner. Both her readers

and her clients gain self-understanding and remarkable pain release through her aptly

chosen words and techniques.”

~Meryl Hershey Beck, M.A., M.Ed., LPCC

Bestselling author of the tapping book, Stop Eating Your Heart Out: The 21-Day Program to Free Yourself from Emotional Eating (Conari Press)

With new and edgy emotional issues that threaten today’s teenage generation, and an

antidepressant usage rate of 5 percent, and 36 percent of twelfth graders self-medicating with

marijuana, Tapping for Teenage Girls: Getting Rid of Stress with Emotional Freedom

Techniques (EFT) seeks to restore emotional balance to what is now a fragile demographic.

Written by EFT expert Christine Wheeler, a co-author of two Wiley Dummies series books, who

wrote and edited for Gary Craig, the Stanford engineer, performance coach and ordained

minister who developed this modality, Tapping for Teenage Girls offers self-reliance and hope.

EFT is known as emotional acupuncture without needles, a simple but effective self-help tool

that was initially developed in 1995 to reduce the conventional therapy process from months and

years down to weeks, days and even hours. Users follow a simple formula using one’s own

fingertips to tap on specific acupuncture points while focusing mental attention on specific

emotions, thoughts, feelings, or physical discomfort. EFT tapping seems to calm the mind and

body’s stress that results when the fight or flight response is launched by real or perceived dangers.

Three current bestsellers, The Tapping Solution: A Revolutionary System for Stress-Free Living,

Tapping into Wealth: How Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Can Help You Clear the Path

to Making More Money, and The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss & Body Confidence: A

Woman's Guide to Stressing Less, Weighing Less, and Loving More are building on Gary

Craig’s original work.

With significant inspirational speakers and authors such as Wayne Dyer, Joe Vitale, Cheryl

Richardson, and Louise Hay discussing EFT, the audience familiar with Tapping has grown

significantly and includes many parents looking for the right tools to help their children.

To increase the comfort level among today’s teens, Wheeler has chosen to work with teenage

coauthor Cassidy Wheatcroft, to show that tapping is easy and effective in reducing teen anxiety. Her intention is that Tapping for Teenage Girls help this demographic heal the hurts and

challenges associated with being a teenager. Whether the young readers have strong adult

support systems, or find themselves struggling through personal adversity, Tapping for Teenage

Girls will have extensive and easy to implement EFT tapping exercises to follow, giving the teenage reader a sense of relief and self-actualization.

Tapping for Teenage Girls includes introductions from both Wheeler and Wheatcroft, and six chapters: “Tapping for Upsetting Thoughts and Feelings,” “Tapping for Your Health,” “Tapping for Stuff that Happens at Home,” “Tapping for Stuff that Happens at School,” “Tapping for Feeling Better about Your Activity,” and “Tapping for Feeling Better about Your Relationship with People.”

Wheeler will also provide a comprehensive online resource where teens can download EFT

tapping information and work sheets to guide them through tapping on specific issues as well as

videos and audios of Wheeler tapping with the viewer on a number of issues. The website would

also feature updates on tapping for reader questions and concerns.

With the current teenage population in such distress, Tapping for Teenage Girls is ready to

become an important resource for both parents and teens. Its time is now.

Hell in the Hallway

Light at the Door

How to Move Gracefully Through Change

When Life Will Never Be the Same

by

Ellen Debenport

When one door closes, another one opens, but it can be hell in the hallway.

(51,000 words)

Author: Agent:

Ellen Debenport Nancy Barton

The Five Principles (Unity Books 2009) Nancy Owen Barton Agency, LLC

EllenDebenport.com 28 Formosa Dr.

Ellen@EllenDebenport.com Charleston, SC 29407

PO 412 Wimberley TX 78676 nowenb@aol.com

214-797-1468 843-810-0481

Proposal Table of Contents

Overview 3

Author Bio 5

Endorsements 7

Competitive Books 10

Marketing Plan 13

Table of Contents 20

Chapter Summaries 22

Samples from Completed Draft:

Introduction 43

A Word about Hell 47

1 The Hallway 52

“Ellen Debenport probes the edges of faith . . . and points the way into the future.”

—Bishop John Shelby Spong

One of Debenport’s fans, author of The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic

(HarperOne 2013), Reclaiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World (HarperOne

2011), whose many titles have sold more than a million copies.

Overview

When one door closes, another one opens, but it can be hell in the hallway.

—Common saying

Every day, someone, somewhere enters a hallway.

She hears a frightening diagnosis from a doctor.

He receives a phone call with devastating news.

A couple finally admits their marriage is on the rocks.

Parents discover their child is in trouble.

Whole groups are notified they will lose their jobs.

Their first responses may be desperate: Oh, no! What do I do now? How do I get on with my

life? God, help me!

Life as they knew it has changed for good, and the future is uncertain.

One might assume their next steps would depend on the circumstances – that is, recovering from

the death of a spouse would differ from divorce or bankruptcy – but the underlying spiritual

work is the same for everyone in periods of transition.

Hell in the Hallway, Light at the Door explores acceptance, surrender, forgiveness and prayer as

aspects of the hallway, then moves through the internal shifts necessary to open the door to a

new life. Included in each chapter are the compelling, sometimes heart-breaking, stories of real

people who not only survived loss and change but experienced personal transformation as a

result.

Ellen Debenport is a former journalist who navigated her own difficult transition to become a

highly respected speaker, minister and author of The Five Principles (Unity Books, 2009). For

years, her vivid descriptions of the hallway, and the hope of opening a new door, have comforted

and inspired audiences eager for spiritual guidance through dark days.

This new book reassures readers that life’s painful transitions have meaning at the deepest soul

levels and that navigating toward the light at the door can lead to unimagined good and growth.

Inspired Baby Names from Around the World: 6,000 International

Names and the Meanings Behind Them

The Best Little Book of

Inspired Baby Names

6,000 Favorite Worldwide Names

&

The Meanings Behind Them

Your name reflects your nature and is a key to who you are.

by

Neala Shane

Book Proposal

Author Neala Shane

408 W. 29th St. Vancouver, WA 98660 209-386-3631 nealashane@yahoo.com

Agent Nancy Barton Nancy Owen Barton Agency, LLC 28 Formosa Dr., Charleston, SC 29407 mobile: 843-810-0481 office & fax: 843-763-9337 nowenb@aol.com

Proposal Table of Contents

Overview …………………………………………………………………………… 3

Author ……………………………………………………………………………… 8

Endorsements ……………………………………………………………………… 9

Competitive Analysis ……………………………………………………………….. 10

Marketing …… …………………………………………………………………….. 15

The Audience ………………………………………………………………. 15

Author Campaign …………………………………………………………... 19

Best Baby Names for Today - Writing Samples

Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………. 22

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………... 23

Your Family Tree …………………………………………………………... 30

Naming Customs …………………………………………………………... 33

Meditations ………………………………………………………………… 41

Name Change ……………………………………………………………… 47

Scripture and Pronunciation Keys …………………………………………. 49

Sample of Female Names .…………………………………………………………. 50

Sample of Male Names ……………………………………………………………. 58

Most Popular Names by Decade ………………………………………………….. 66

Sample of Names by Ethnic Usage Glossary ……………………………………… 67

Sample of Names by Meaning Glossary …………………………………………… 68

Grandparent Names ………………………………………………………………. 70

Just for Fun! Most Popular Pet Names …………………………………………… 71

Sample of Biographical Notes of Authors (sources of quotations) ………………… 72

Overview

Your name is a key to who you are. It is the link that connects the inner self with the outer

world, the first contact point that ties you to family and the community in which you live. Your

name contributes to your character and can affect the outcome of events for decades to come.

Gifting a name to a child lays a foundation for life.

With nearly four million babies born in 2013, and millions more on the way to new parents

each year, baby names books are always in demand. Best Baby Names for Today offers over 6,000

familiar and multicultural favorite names and includes a comprehensive list of features not found in

any other baby name book. Easy to revise for forthcoming editions, it is perfect for the new

generation of millennials with a growing number of multi-ethnic friends and families.

Best Baby Names for Today offers a unique focus for parents interested in conscious parenting

and those seeking a name that will bless, inspire and spiritually nurture their child. Impeccably

researched by the author, who holds a degree in Religious Studies, each name is carefully and closely

matched with an affirmation intended to enrich and bless your baby’s name, as well as your own.

Each quote is connected with the name’s meaning and original culture. The affirmations are drawn

from thousands of inspirational writings and sacred texts from around the world, offering parents

and readers a rich and deeper awareness of the importance of names, while creating a bridge of

understanding regarding names prevalent in various cultures and religions. Pronunciations and

etymologic roots are also provided. No other baby name book has all of these components or offers

such an expansive spiritual and inspirational foundation for over 6,000 worldwide names.

Best Baby Names for Today provides affirmations from a vast array of sources: 22 versions of

the Bible; two versions of the Hebrew Tanakh and other Jewish religious texts and authors; three

versions of the Koran, as well as Muslim and Persian spiritual authors; Buddhist sutras and texts;

Sanskrit Upanishads and a variety of Hindu authors. American Indian quotations are included, along

with excerpts from the Tao Te Ching and various Chinese authors. Proverbs from Africa, Japan and

Hawaii add to the rich variety. Best Baby Names for Today also includes thousands of inspirational

quotes from great authors and historical figures such as Shakespeare, Emerson, Thoreau, Gandhi,

Mother Teresa, Hafiz, Rumi, Nelson Mandela, Alice Walker, Plato, Einstein, Helen Keller, Basho,

Black Elk, Meister Eckhart, Goethe, Cervantes, Pearl S. Buck, and Mohammad Ali.

Affirmations are matched with the meaning of the name, typically using the most dominant

spiritual expression of the culture. African and American Indian quotations use sayings that match

with their respective tribe or nation. Alternative versions of names, such as shortened forms and

nicknames, each have their unique affirmations. Beth, for example, will have a different affirmation

from Betsy, Bethan or Lisa, although all three names are a form of Elizabeth and share the same

meaning. If a name with the same meaning has an alternative spelling in a different country, it is also

given its own inspiring quote, offering parents more closely-connected choices. Chris, Carl, and Eric

are used in English-speaking countries, whereas Kris, Karl, and Erik are predominantly used in

German and Scandinavian countries. All affirmations are included as suggested blessings only. If the

given one doesn’t feel appropriate, the reader is encouraged to find another one that s/he likes

better.

Other features assist readers to find the perfect name for a child and to better understand

their own names. Cultural naming customs, current baby naming trends, and a family tree template

are included. Four guided meditations are designed to help a reader quiet, and intuitively approach

finding the perfect baby name, or to discover a deeper awareness of one’s own name. If the book is

being used to find a new name, steps on how to legally change one’s name are included. Additionally

helpful glossaries of name meanings and names by country usage are included, as well as

international grandparent names, the most popular names by decade, a fun section on favorite pet

names. Also included, are brief biographical notes of authors from whom the quotes are derived,

and an extensive bibliography of sources.

While many baby name books on the market may overlap with some of the standard baby

name components, none offer the comprehensive and unique features and inspirational depth and

breadth of Best Baby Names for Everyone. These encompass:

• Spiritual Affirmations: These include excerpts from almost 3,400 religious scriptures and texts,

440 proverbs and sayings, and nearly 1,200 author quotations. Neala Shane has received

permission from authors and publishers for over 2,300 quotes and consulted with a permissions

professional regarding appropriate use of others.

• The Family Tree: Discovering the meaning of one’s name is helpful in identifying an underlying

purpose in life. Knowing the meanings of generations of a family’s first names can provide the

same insight. The example I give in the book describes the names and meanings of the women

on my mother’s side. I provide a family tree template for the readers’ use.

• Current trends: Best Baby Names for Today offers up-to-date trends on baby naming. Many of

these names are inspired by film stars and characters, while some names are so controversial they

have evolved into lawsuits.

• Cultural Naming Rituals: This section provides naming rituals for American Indian, Hawaiian,

African, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Christian (both Catholic and Protestant), Hindu, Jewish, and

Muslim names.

• Meditations: There are many articles on the web that speak of the growing angst parents have in

their struggle to find just the right name for their baby. Best Baby Names for Everyone provides four

guided meditations that may help in this process. These meditations are for expectant parents as

well as for adults who just want to know more about their names.

• The Most Popular Names by Decade: This is an often-included addition in name books for

parents to see the general trend of popular baby names in the United States over the past 100

years.

• Names for Grandparents: As far as Neala Shane knows, she has yet to see any baby name book

with a list of names for prospective grandparents. She wishes she had something like this when

becoming a grandmother!

• Just for Fun! 2013 Most Popular Pet Names: Many people in the U.S. have pets and search for

the perfect name for those family members. Included in Best Baby Names for Today are the most

popular names for puppies and kittens for 2013 … just for fun!

• How to Legally Change One’s Name: There are a number of reasons why one may want to

change a name. Author Neala Shane changed her first name several years ago and is aware of the

steps necessary to make a new name legal. The steps may vary from state to state, but the reader

gets the general idea of the process.

• Selected Glossary of Names by Ethnic Usage: This list includes names used within each country,

other than English names (which makes up almost a third of the book). This glossary is helpful

for parents seeking a Spanish name, for example, or a Muslim name.

• Glossary of Name Meanings: This is a selective glossary of meanings by category. If a parent

wants a name for a child with the characteristic of light, for example, this glossary provides all

the names in the book with those meanings. This is a convenient and easy resource for readers

so they do not have to read the entire book, singling out specific meanings.

• Biographies of Quoted Authors: Neala provides brief biographical notes in this section for each

of the quoted authors.

• Bibliography – Very few name books provide a bibliography, as is the case with top-selling name

books The Baby Name Wizard, 100,000+ Baby Names, Beyond Ava & Aiden: The Enlightened Guide to

Naming Your Baby, and Complete Book of Baby Names. Similarly, neither do quotation nor anthology

books, such as Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations and the award-winning Wisdom of the Soul by Larry

Chang. Best Baby Names for Today, however, provides an extensive bibliography, which offers a

rich array of quotation sources for its readers.

Best Baby Names for Today contains over 6,000 names and is currently 530 pages long. The

manuscript is complete and formatted in 12-sized Garamond font. Easily updated with the

possibility of regular revisions, Best Baby Names for Today is poised to become a baby name book

classic.

Wrapped in the Flag

What I Learned Growing Up in America’s Radical Right

and Why It Matters Now

70,000 words

Author Claire Conner

cmork@tampabay.rr.com

www.claireconner.com

2178 Santa Paula Dr.

Dunedin FL 34698

office: 727-786-4587

cell: 727-698-3041

Agent Jo Ann Deck

joannpdeck@gmail.com

Jo Ann Deck Literary Agency

P.O. Box 519

Branford CT 06405

Office: 203-208-1326

Cell: 203-909-767

Proposal Table of Contents

Overview 3

Author 6

Life Magazine Photo 8

Official Listing of John Birch Society Members 9

Including author’s father, Mr. S. J. Conner and

and Mr. Fred C. Koch

Competitive Analysis 11

Endorsements 15

Marketing Plan 18

Chapter Outline 21

Chapter Summaries 23

Samples 34

Intro: I Know What Extremism Looks Like 34

Prologue: November 1963 40

Chapter 1: Rally Cry 45

Chapter 5: Hard Right 52

Chapter 6: Sign on the Line 59

Chapter 21: The End of the World 62

Chapter 23: A Big Texas Howdy 71

Overview “Wrapped in the Flag should have been published yesterday. Claire Conner’s personal

journey through the paranoia, repression and small-mindedness of the John Birch Society

is a much needed primer on the techniques and conspiracy theories dominating the cable

networks and right-wing zealots of today….This is a well-told and gripping story no one can afford not to know, and we need to know it before it is too late.”

Judy Huge, educator, Goucher College professor, and workshop direction of the

International Women’s Writer’s Guild (IWWG) Summer Conferences at Skidmore,

Brown and Yale.

Claire Conner’s memoir, Wrapped in the Flag: What I Learned Growing Up in

America’s Radical Right and Why It Matters Now, uses intimate personal experiences

intertwined with the history of the era to chronicle her parents’ descent into the world of

paranoid politics, a world dominated by the John Birch Society, a anti-Communist,

populist movement dedicated to “taking back the country.

Claire’s father, Stillwell J. (Jay) Conner, was the first and most visible member of the

Birch Society in Chicago. He served on the National Council of the organization for 32

years with men like Fred C. Koch (father of today’s infamous Koch brothers) and a host

of other wealthy, powerful and radical men. After the Birch Society labeled President

Dwight Eisenhower a dedicated Communist, Claire’s father garnered significant media

attention. The scandal that ensued made “Bircher” a term of derision. As a child of

“Birchers,” Claire was shunned in school and isolated from friends and neighbors.

Over twenty-five years, Claire evolved from a compliant 13-year-old Birch member to an

outspoken progressive; a change that provoked harsh attacks from her parents. Several

years ago, Claire recognized the lurch to the far right in the Republican Party for what it

is: the John Birch Society reborn with political muscle, huge money and media support.

With its compelling, easy-to-read stories, Wrapped in the Flag moves seamlessly

between memoir and history, humor and pain, past and present serving up keen insight

into the impact of extremism on one woman, her family and, if unchecked, on the entire

country.

Wrapped in the Flag includes an introduction: I Know What Extremism Looks Like, a

stunning prologue set in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963 and 38 true stories/ of six

to eight pages each organized into four sections: Rally Cry, The Difficult Years, Lament

and Breaking the Mold. The book closes with an epilogue, I Believe: Why I Am a

Progressive.

Claire includes meticulous notes and over 300 sources that verify the political details of

every story.

The introduction: I Know What Extremism Looks Like paints the broad outlines of the book, leading the reader from the early extremists of the 1950s to today’s extreme right wing.

The prologue sets the stage for the upcoming push-pull between what Claire experiences and what her parents preach. Claire wonders if her father and his extremist friends played some role in the assassination of President Kennedy.

Section 1: Rally Cry moves from her father’s experiences as an officer in India during World War II to his absorption into the John Birch Society. Claire’s parents make her their surrogate; forcing her to “correct” the errors in her textbooks. She is expelled from one school and pressured to become a full-fledged Birch member at age 13. Claire’s father moves into Birch leadership where he meets and befriends a holocaust denier, a pedophile priest, a Serbian radical, anti-union activists, segregationists and libertarians.

Section 2: The Difficult Years depicts Claire’s home as the hub for Birch activities. She meets Birch leaders and is privy to their conversations. Her parents preach against the civil rights movement, provoking Claire’s first rebellion. Claire’s father is at the center of the Birch Society “President Eisenhower is a Communist” scandal which ultimately leads to a LIFE magazine photo—a photo destined to become an iconic image of American political extremism. Claire, age 14, is the youngest person in the photograph. While the Birch Society focuses on making John Kennedy a one term president, Republicans like William Buckley focus on making the Birch Society irrelevant in the 1964 election.

Section 3: Lament details Claire tumultuous high school years as her parents oppose John Kennedy at every turn and demand Claire follow suit. Claire strays from the strict views of her parents, meets her first boyfriend and applies for a scholarship to a public university, provoking her parents to harsh discipline. Her parents insist she attend a small conservative college in Dallas, even though they refuse to give her any financial support. In Dallas she encounters southern racial segregation, deals with the aftermath of Kennedy’s assassination and discovers that even right-wing Conservatives detest her parents and the John Birch Society.

Section 4: Breaking the Mold follows the Conner family to a small town in Wisconsin after the brutal defeat of Senator Barry Goldwater in November 1964. Claire’s parents add right-wing Catholicism to their agenda, founding The Wanderer Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota. Claire agrees to work for John Schmitz, a John Birch council member and congressman who runs for president in 1972. After the election, Claire refuses to participate in any more Birch projects. After the Roe v. Wade decision, Claire organizes the first pro-life organization in her town and remains active for years until she determines that the movement is pro-fetus, not pro-life. Claire works as a teacher in Wisconsin and in northern China; her two gay sons bring her new awareness and she embraces a more and more progressive world view.

Epilogue: I Believe: Why I Am a Progressive outlines Claire’s beliefs, why she’s so passionate about them and how other concerned progressives can move their friends and neighbors to understand and embrace progressive ideas.

Wrapped in the Flag takes readers on a ride through the dark side of American political

extremism. It is a warning to anyone who dismisses the current stampede to the right as

harmless. Claire knows, from experience, what the radical right believes and the kind of

America they want. Claire, an accomplished speaker who has had experience with

audiences of up to 500 people, is rallying Americans to say “No” to this new, radical

agenda before we all wake up in a country controlled by the Tea Party, no-government

libertarians, fundamentalist-evangelical Christians, the John Birch Society and their

bigmoney corporate bosses.

Also available, if the publisher prefers, are black and white photographs of the Conner

family and John Birch Society members, and charts showing the links between those

original members, the radical right today and the right-wingers dominating today’s

political conversation. Claire Conner has also received written permission from the

Society for use of various photos, letters, reports and other material that may be relevant

to the publisher.