Mario Zeleny
– Lover of all things tea. Mario spent
15 years in healthcare and social services in clinical and administrative roles
that offered coaching to employees and volunteers. An artist and entrepreneur from an early age,
Mario now brings his love of writing, art, spirit, coaching and ritual together
online at his creative living site, Sancti Spiritus and also from
his transformational art site, Art Spellz.
Mario looks forward to completing his education with Mentor Coach and St.
Clement Seminary. He currently resides in Sacramento with his
husband of 8 years, their children and their domestic sovereign, a pug named
Brigit.
His latest
book is the self-help inspirational, Ritual
Tea: How the 9 Secrets of Tea Can Transform Your Life.
Can you tell us what your book is about?
My book is about the
transformational power of tea. Tea has
an incredible,
Most folks believe you
have to be a monk or a tea master to practice a tea ritual; I wanted to
confront that mistaken belief and make tea a transformational practice
approachable by anyone. My book gives
people the help to get started. For
those who drink tea, I hope this book revives their ritual.
Why did you write your book?
I was having a Mad
Hatter Tea Party on my blog in July of last year and decided I wanted to offer
something valuable to my partiers. So, I
started writing this little e-book on tea. The partiers were going to be gifted
the book because they signed up for my email list. But, they never got the book because it kept
growing and became a “real” book!
It’s been a real
learning experience and I loved every minute of it… even the hair pulling when
converting for print and Kindle. Just
the other day, I contact the people who signed up for that little e-book from
the tea party and they are getting a paperback mailed to them… 9 months later!
Have you suffered from writer’s block and what
do you do to get back on track?
I rarely suffer from “Writer’s block”. I suffer from an onslaught of too many
creative directions, which causes me to freeze, shut down or go on
overload. At that point, I make notes of
all that I am considering and then go do something else like work on my art,
take a shower, clean, or drive.
I have to keep a
notebook with me because I usually get my answers.
Which holiday is your favorite and why?
My favorite holiday is Halloween. My birthday is at the end of October. When I was 7 my mother planned a party for me
and wouldn’t tell me a thing. It was a
What do you like to do for fun?
Well, for me life is fun. There are also many kinds of fun. Art and design are my fun! Being an author, an artist and a distance
coach keeps me at home a lot, so getting out of the house to go out to dinner,
see a play or tour a town are things I really enjoy. I am also a very big movie watcher. We have 110 inch screen at home, so movies
frequent treats.
What kind of advice would you give other non-fiction authors?
Advice that I would
give authors for promotion would be NOT to invest solely in one promotional
idea. Develop multi-layered avenues of
promotion. It should all be
interconnected somehow. The second thing
I would suggest is to begin planning 6 months before the release and do your
homework to make sure that what you are investing in (time and money) is worth
it for you to reach your tribe. Take a
hard honest look at it 3 months and then again at 6 weeks by putting every step
and what each step requires on a timeline.
Be prepared to make adjustments.
To enter, click link below:
To enter click below:
1# Giveaway
I am running a month
long HUGE Giveaway package plus 3 books and tea giveaways. The grand
prize is: $100 visa, gift certificate to a free class $60 or less, a
Ritual Tea book, a beautiful tea set, a collection of teas, a canvas
gallery wrapped print, and a canvas tea inspired tote from Trader Joes!
Each week, I will add the bloggers
who are featuring me on my tour on that day to the giveaway point
entries. What that means is the bloggers featuring me that week will
also be featured on my giveaway that week on my sites to drive some
traffic to them as well.
#2 Giveaway
I am running another huge giveaway from May 1- 15.
The Prizes are: $100 visa gift card, certificate to a free class $60
or less, a Ritual Tea Book, an canvas gallery wrapped print, Numi's
Organic Tea Blending Set and a Spa Bath Package.
To enter, click below:
To enter, click below:
#3 Giveaway
This giveaway also runs from May 1-15.
Prizes are: $25 visa giftcard, butterfly teacup gallon planter,
Biscotti, lemonbar and brownie mix, a Ritual Tea book, two packages of
Sancti Spiritus Tea, a vintage tea inspired canvas tote from Trader
Joes, and a $60 gift certificate for a free class from Art Spellz... all
totalling $155!
To enter click below:
#4 Book on Sale
The KINDLE version of the book will be on sale all month long at Amazon starting on May 5th for $.99!!!
The paperback is also on sale at my shop only for $7.49 which includes FREE TEA and an exclusive Tea Coupon! www.mariozeleny.com/shop.
#5 Giveaway
There
are 2 more giveaways during the month of May-- the 12th and 22. I will
send code, pictures and links the second week in May!
Please feel free to enter all the giveaways!!!
Thank you!!!
