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Black Cats Tell All On Black Cat Appreciation Day

August 17, 2017 / 25 Comments
If you love cats, sharing makes us purrrr :-)

Black Cats Tell All On Black Cat Appreciation Day by Layla Morgan Wilde

It’s here finally! Our long, overdue labor of love is live. Black Cats Tell All: True Tales And Inspiring Images is available for sale today. In honor of Black Cat Appreciation Day, we are we’re donating every penny we earn today to Milo’s Sanctuary.

It’s a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit in the Los Angeles area with a focus on special needs cats. One of their Lifetime Care Program cats, Sir Thomas aka Tommy won the Award for Best NewComer at CatcCon. He has his own Instagram @sirthomastrueheart and turning his tragic acid-burned face into a swoonworthy hero cat. I adore him.

I’ve gotten know Milo’s over the last year through a volunteer turned friend, Connie and recently connected with the founder Michele Hoffman. It’s rare to meet such dedication towards cats with skill and heart. They rely solely on volunteers, sponsors and donations, so you can feel extra good about buying a copy or two today.


Buy Black Cats Tell All

Gumroad accepts the following payment methods: Discover. Visa (including Visa Electron) Mastercard. AMEX. Maestro. Diner’s Club. PayPal. To send the purchase as a gift, click on the gift icon in top right corner of the payment box. They ask for your email and promptly send the e-book. The current version is a secure PDF but I will upload an EPUB as well.

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About our book launch. Phase 1: It’s a soft launch on Gumroad, a popular platform for creatives. It’s often used for authors on Amazon as an extra distribution outlet. For me, I wanted to offer a quality e-book at a low price and donate the entire proceeds to a shelter. There is more to donate because unlike Amazon, authors earn nearly 90% of the list price. Amazon is the big monster we can’t ignore and I will be selling there in a few days, but also distributed widely elsewhere. My e-book will be priced higher and I’ll earn less but perhaps the volume will help. Then we get to do this all over again in the fall with the print release and a more official launch. Kudos again to our designer wizard Jennifer Markley who has laid out the book five times in every conceivable configuration.

 

This is our 6th year of blogging and celebrating Black Cat Appreciation Day. This time last year, the long and rocky journey to a completed book began with an idea to depicts black cats in a positive way to increase their odds of being adopted. The book shifted and changed direction a few times. It got bigger but it stayed true to its DNA on every page. Black cats are just like any other color cat, and just as deserving of love and a good home. I’m a little biased but after living and breathing and dreaming black cats for over a year, my takeaway is they are magic. They carry the essence of catness in their pantheresque form but each one is unique. There is a black cat for any taste. Long-haired Persian, smoosh-faced British shorthair, lean and muscular, cobby and squat, pencil tail, floofy tail, big ears, you name it.

Are you celebrating with a black cat today? I know I am. It’s hard to believe Clyde was not here last year. It feels like the 17 and a half years he’s lived, was with me but it’s been less than a year. He’s still a shy guy, always has been says his former mom. But has found his (very loud, Black Cats Tell All, bossy voice) and buckets of confidence. And yes, he loves to be loved on and appreciated. He one of the very lucky black cats to find a home as a senior with diabetes and kidney disease. Sure it’s more work taking care of a special needs cat but he’s worth it and so are thousands of other black cats, young and old, waiting for their lucky day.

Black Cat Appreciation Day

 

Last year, Black Cat Appreciation Day was filled with hope. This year feels hopeful but tinged with nostalgia. I got an email from a contributor moved to tears by the beautiful editing of the story and their photos cataloging their own journey. He was the first to tell me to step back and acknowledge and appreciate my accomplishment. There is work, a lot a work left to do but the mechanics of the book are done. It’s 196 pages and hundreds of photos. As much as I’d love to add “just one more” cat, it’s done. The resounding adjective from everyone who has seen the flipbook is “Beautiful” and so it is. It’s a tribute and celebration of all that is beautiful and positive about black cats.

Our good friend Chase Holiday from Furball Fables created a book trailer for us. Her cat, the fabulous Buddha is a contributor, and why say more to say when a video says it all.

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