When Your Novel is Available for a Penny

We’ve all heard of “dime novels.” Now, thanks to Amazon.com, there are “penny novels” available, and one of them happens to be mine. How did I learn this?

An old friend, someone with whom I went to school, recently sent an unsolicited review of my first novel, A Line Between Friends, and I asked him to post a version of it on Amazon.com. He did. And when I went to the site to read it, I noticed there were two “new” copies of the book available from Amazon vendors for 1¢. One flippin’ cent. How can that be? Even I can’t get copies of my own books for under nine bucks!

My friend Beaver, who has a thriving Amazon business, explained that vendors make more money on some of their items from the minimum $3.99 shipping allotment Amazon provides than they do on the product itself. I get that, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. Placing the value of a story that I labored to write and edit, and on which my publisher invested printing and distribution expenses at a mere penny is, well, pretty damn degrading. It’s almost as bad as a negative review.

On a brighter note, my friend’s five-star review of A Line Between Friends was the 22nd five-star rating of the work posted on Amazon. And I know for a fact that reading it and reconnecting with his past (and with me) was worth far more than a flippin’ penny. 

In the meantime, don’t bother looking for those new copies at the bargain basement rate at the Amazon site. I snapped them up. Now you’re going to have to pay as much as four dollars (plus shipping, of course) for my award winning first novel. It’s still a good deal on what “Steve from Florida” deemed, “an awesome book that addresses the universal experiences of college life and the relationships we develop during those times, especially that special one we all experienced.”

And one last thing I'd like to convey is that from those Amazon vendors, I don't receive one red cent.

Dream Life Designs Autumn, 2009

Sable Lit Reviews Gives It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club 5/5 Sable Seals

Sable Lit Reviews is a website focusing on "all things multicultural in lit, media and history. A review of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club posted today with five of five "Sable Seals." Here is the review:

In Michele Van Ort Cozzens’ It’s Not Your Mother’s Bridge Club, we meet eight amazing women who live, love and laugh in the heart of southern Arizona over monthly games of Bunko. At first, you wonder if you’ll spend the entire read flipping back to the first chapter where Van Ort Cozzens first introduces us to these complex women, but before long the reader will recognize the distinct personalities of these women. While I didn’t have a favorite Bunko babe, I really grew to appreciate these women as a whole unit. As the book progresses, these women do become more of a unit each filling in for the short-comings and complimenting the strengths of the others—sometimes unconsciously. This story doesn’t just weave the story of a series of monthly women’s nights out and their Bunko blow-outs. We get a snapshot of each woman’s life leading up to the well-deserved Bunko nights with the girls where the strictest rules are “No men. No kids. And No drink counters”.

The author flawlessly gives Blanca—the Hispanic and African-American model, art saleswoman and single mom, Shonah—the newspaper columnist, Tara—the pottery artist, Tootsie—the former golf pro, Chloe—the former nurse and full-time mom, Amanda—the paralegal, Sylvia—the kind yet pampered lawyer’s wife, and Brandy—the physical therapist and mother of five, her own voice. These women fight, love, drink and laugh like a real group of woman friends do. Not just a chick novel, Van Ort Cozzens’ introduces great conflict and suspense-building making this woman’s fiction novel an enjoyable journey. It’s Not Your Mother’s Bridge Club earns five out of five Sable Seals.

Bunko: It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club

Michelle with Two Ls

When I give my name, Michele, over the phone and am subsequently asked, “one L or two?” I immediately know the inquirer has a Michele (or a Michelle) in his or her life. This question has come far more frequently in the last several years. The name has grown in popularity.

The rest of the world may be surprised the United States actually voted a man of color to the White House, but I’m more surprised that there’s a first lady with MY name. Well, it’s sort of my name. Mrs. Obama spells it with two Ls. (BTW: Doesn’t she look gorgeous on the cover of the March Vogue?)

I believe I was the only Michele in elementary school and remember only one other Michelle in high school as well as one in college. I’m sure there were more at the University, but they didn’t cross my path. Today, however, I bump into women who share my name at nearly every venue. And I still can’t help but ask, “one L or two?”

Now that the most famous woman in America spells it a certain way, I’m sure I’ll never see my name spelled the way my birth certificate spells it again. Coincidently, both my daughters, Willow and Camille, have names containing two Ls. I didn’t plan that. And I may fall over dead the day I see a First Lady named Willow or a President named Camille.

Then again, I’ve met both Willows and Camilles. Can’t say I ever met a Barack.

Free Advice

My first book launched seven years ago. I’m Living Your Dream Life: The Story of a Northwoods Resort Owner is a combination memoir and how-to. It’s the story of how my husband and I went from being a couple of California yuppies to a family of four operating the world’s first disc golf resort in Northern Wisconsin.

The impetus for writing this book is on the first page. One day I received what was probably my one-hundredth call from a man who wanted to know how we made it work. “What can I do to have your life?” he asked.

We not only received regular phone calls—on our toll-free number—but a substantial chunk of time at the resort was and still is dedicated to telling our life story to resort guests. When they look around at the beautiful, dreamlike setting that is Sandy Point, many want it to be a part of their life for more than just a week during the summer. I’m happy to have these conversations and even happier to point to the gift shop, saying if they want to more they should “buy the book.”


Last night I received a letter from a man named Bill, who read I’m Living Your Dream Life while researching resort ownership. I’ve lost track of the number of letters like this I’ve received, but this one stands out because it’s been a while. I’ve since had three additional books published (on different subjects) and it has shifted my focus and the types of letters I receive.

Bill asks some specific questions regarding occupancy rates and how much staff it takes to operate a small resort, but he asks other questions that take me from the “how-to” expertise category to the “memoir” portion of the story. He asks: “Exactly how stressful is it” to own a resort, and “is the job hard to figure out?”

Well Bill, here are your answers. First, the specific:

During 16 summers of operation, we’ve enjoyed ten prime weeks of summer occupancy rates at 100%. We base our entire operating budget on these ten weeks. This income pays for everything it takes to keep the place going: electricity, propane, trash collection, septic service, well and pump, building, grounds, and equipment maintenance, pest control, insurance, insurance and more insurance, real estate taxes, association fees and dues, advertising and marketing, licenses, housekeeping supplies, office supplies, telephone bills, legal and professional fees, guest amenities and staff.

During a good year all other income aside from this 10-week budget scenario is our profit. In other words what we earn from an additional four weeks of on-season rates and three months of off-season (also known as shoulder season) rates is what we use to feed our family. We have the added bonus of the disc golf course and retail operation, but that has separate budget criteria.

As far as staff, I know only one woman who operates a three-unit resort on her own. Most of the people I know in the local resort association are at least a couple or a family operation. My business partner (aka husband) and I each take on 50% of the responsibilities, bringing our particular talents to the table. At times we are required to step into one another’s arenas and we make that work. For example, I can change a ball cock on a toilet and relight a water heater if I must, and he can make hospital corners on a bed sheet and check-in guests rather well; however, we prefer to stay in our comfort zones.

Now that our daughters are old enough, they have taken on jobs as well and frankly, I don’t know how we managed without them. We also have a full time man, a caretaker, who we house on the property year-round, and he has 45-acres of work to keep him busy.


Regarding the more esoteric notions of how stressful the job may be or how hard it may be to learn, I can’t predict this for Bill. My first question was to ask if he was “handy.” By handy I mean whether or not he can fix things. Is he capable of determining what’s causing the toilet to run or the faucet to leak, or diagnosing what the smell is over in cabin #4? Can he repair a leaky roof; find out where the bats are getting in and plug the hole; rethread a pull cord on a motor when an overzealous weekend fisherman pulls it out? Can he fix a screen or replace a broken window? How many of him does it take to change a light bulb?

If he can do these things easily, he won’t be stressed when called to do them on a daily basis.

I just described the key elements of my husband’s job. Then there’s MY job. I am the CEO and bookkeeper, office manager, receptionist, booking agent, advertising executive, decorator, webmistress, hostess, housekeeping supervisor, maid, laundry room manager, concierge and Mother Superior. Most of the jobs came easily to me and those that didn’t, I bought books like If You Can Read You Can Understand Bookkeeping; Idiots Guide to Running a Bed and Breakfast and So, You Want to be an Innkeeper. Once I learned how to do everything, I was not stressed.

These days I only stress out when there’s a bad storm and I have to wake up to see the damage and wonder how much time and money it’s going to cost me. The rotten guests no longer stress me, frankly because they don’t really exist. The people who come to our resort are genuinely lovely people and we are happy to share our dream life with them.

Even if it’s only for a week.

Do You Play Bunko?

Even if you don't belong to a bunko group, you may have heard of this dice game played by MILLIONS of American women each month. It's no secret that this game is so simple that the only brain requirement is you know how to count to 21. The main physical requirement is that you know how to roll dice.

What may be a secret, however, is that women who belong to bunko groups don't go to the monthly gatherings just to play the game. The main reason they go is to connect with the women in their group. Anyone looking for a way to get through the challenges of daily life will benefit by sharing stories (and rolling dice) with friends. Learning you're not alone is the most valuable gift women can give to one another.

Join a bunko group. You won't be sorry.

Book Club Discussion Questions

This award-winning novel, A Line Between Friends, has been popular with book clubs across the country. Per your requests we have book cub topics and questions posted to help jump start your group's discussions. 

CLICK HERE.