On Saturday I had the privilege of conducting a workshop for the Arizona Authors Association in the majestic surroundings of Sedona, AZ.
My thanks to the very attentive, appreciative and talented Authors in attendance!

IF one can get beyond the awe-inspiring wonder of Mother Nature’s artistry (no easy task),  there is a chance you will feel something more when spending time in Sedona. 
Scientists will tell you it is just the magnetic pull of the iron rich red rocks that surround you.  Some Locals will tell you it is the power of “Energy Springs” or “Vortexes”
drawing you out of yourself or supercharging your inner most being.  Other Locals will tell you it is the influence of Extra Terrestrials and supernatural beings who frequent the area.
Native Americans simply recognize that sacred Mother Earth is protected by “Spirit Keepers” and she has placed many in this region. 

Regardless of explanation, there is no denying that my trips to Sedona have ALWAYS presented ME with a renewed sense of clarity about some aspect of my life. 
Occasionally, as was the case Saturday evening, I returned to my world, to find some things that I would consider mystical but the skeptical might find merely coinicidental.

Incident 1: 
During my workshop “Moving Words: How to Market YOUR Work Online”, I was asked “Does Amazon offer us any tools to support this?” 
My basic answer was “Yes, but they are not very profitable”.   When I got home this email came to me from Amazon titled “New 70% Royalty Option”:

Dear Authors and Publishers,
We are excited to have launched the 70 percent royalty option for books published through DTP on the Amazon Kindle and Kindle Applications for PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, and Android phones. You can now earn 70 percent of list price in royalty, net of delivery costs, for each sale to U.S. customers. Average delivery costs are $0.06 per unit sold.
To participate in the 70 percent royalty program,
1.  Log onto http://dtp.amazon.com
2.  Select 70 percent royalty option for each of your eligible titles
(see details at http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=437)
We are also excited to bring you improvements in the DTP UI such as a more intuitive “Bookshelf” feature and a simplified two-step process for publishing.
These features make it more convenient for you to publish using DTP. For more details, please see the updated DTP terms and conditions
(http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=2)
and press release (http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1443030).
As you know, DTP is a free, fast, and easy self-publishing tool. If you need help using DTP,
please visit our Community homepage (http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums).
If you don't find your answers there, reply to dtp-support@amazon.com and we'll be glad to answer your questions.
Sincerely,
Amazon Digital Text Platform Team

 Hmm, the Amazons are are Native South Americans…

Other Incidents will be reported here later…but I had to get this one out to my Author friends ASAP!