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Barbara Graver

Barbara Graver

Paranormal Fiction | Spiritual Warfare | Our Catholic Faith

Catholic Book And Card (Etsy Shop Update)

May 1, 2021

My Newest Listing Madonna and Child Serbian Icon + Consecration to Mary Prayer

About My Shop

Things are going well with Catholic Book And Card. Although, like most things online the shop had a slow start.

I created Catholic Book And Card in 2018 under another name and never really used it. Then rebranded it last summer as a Catholic printables shop. My idea was to sell printable prayer cards, some gift items and eventually my own ebooks.

I sold my first prayer card to a friend in July of 2020. Then I put the shop on hold while I learned more about etsy, business and designing printables. During that time I set up an LLC I called St. Joan’s Press. (St Joan’s Press is an umbrella company for my printables and ebooks.) And talked to an advisor from the SBA about my plans.

I was also writing a lot during that time and didn’t get any new prayer cards up until 2021. Since January of 2021 Catholic Book And Cards views and sales have increased each month. It is NOT a lot of activity or money but it is a steady build which I feel really good about.

What Seems to Be Working for Me

  • I committed to do one new Catholic Book And Card listing per week. I’ve found that the easiest way to do this is to start a listing early in the week. Then I work on it here and there as I have time.
  • I go back over my older listings each week and try to improve them. Sometimes I tweak the copy. Sometimes I put up new images. Last week I made and mockups for all of prayer cards. I’m also going to be taking a class in Digital Media Design in the spring to better improve my listings.
  • I thank people for purchasing from me. And I do my best to help them if they have issues with printing or downloading. I use the Etsy app so I get notified right away if there is a problem.
  • I use all the tags etsy allows. Though I have not put a lot of work into optimizing my listings for search.
  • I gave my listings a uniform look. For me this means cohesive mockups and copy. But have some variety too. Both the cards and the backgrounds in the mockups are different. I provide individualized info on the images and prayer in each listing).

Things I Want to Improve Upon

  • I want to improve my SEO. This means doing a better job of including my tags in my copy, titles and file names. I also want to make the structure of my listing copy more uniform.
  • Using Pinterest to promote my listings is also high on my list. I do have a facebook page for my shop but want to focus on Pinterest for now.
  • I’ve also been thinking of coming up with some generic images about myself and my business. I could use these to fill in a couple of the unused slots in my listings. Though I’m not quite sure how to do this without being spammy.
  • I’d like to eventually do some video posts showing creative or instructional things about my listings. One idea is how to embellish a prayer cards. Another is how to fold a prayer pamphlet).
  • I want to finish one of my ebooks and get it into the shop. Right now I’m toggling back and forth between the fiction and nonfiction. But I am beginning to think it might be easiest to get the nonfiction done first.

My Feelings About the Shop

Catholic Book And Card started out as a way to share my love of traditional Catholic art and graphic design. It still is that, of course. But it’s also become much more.

I love the idea that it is a place where my design, writing and faith meet. Because this intersection really does keep me on track as I talked about in my last podcast episode. The name of the episode is Genre Fiction and Catholicism.

In that episode I talked about the anti-Catholic or anti-Christian content of so many popular novels. I also explained how I found my own fiction going in the wrong direction. In this case by emphasizing special abilities and other conventional fantasy elements. For a while I was so far off track that I started to think that book wouldn’t really fit into a shop called Catholic Book And Card.

A couple of different things happened. I felt uncomfortable about renaming the shop. I prayed about it and talked to family. And I believe that in the end my prayer was answered. So I revised my manuscript.

It was the best move I could have made.

___________________

For more on Catholicism and genre fiction (and the role my shop played in keeping me on track) please check out my Creative Catholic Podcast Episode 7.

To get new blog posts and podcasts by email please sign up for my email list here.

in: Etsy Selling # etsy

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Our St. Joseph's table. Today after Mass. #stjosep Our St. Joseph's table. Today after Mass. #stjoseph #catholiclife
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Used my new pressure cooker for the first time tod Used my new pressure cooker for the first time today. Perfect for corner beef! #stpatricksday #stpaddys
Yesterday. Just before Benediction. . . . #tradit Yesterday. Just before Benediction.
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The Seven Sorrows Rosary is a wonderful Lenten dev The Seven Sorrows Rosary is a wonderful Lenten devotion!

The Seven Sorrows which Pierced Our Lady’s Heart.

1. The Prophecy of Saint Simeon. (Luke 2:34–35)

2. The escape and Flight into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13)

3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem (Luke 2:43–45)

4. The Meeting of Mary and Jesus on the Via Dolorosa.

5. The Crucifixion of Jesus on Mount Calvary. (John 19:25)

6. The Piercing of the Side of Jesus, and His Descent from the Cross. (Matthew 27:57–59)

7. The Burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea. (John 19:40–42)

Not only do we get to unite our sufferings and sorrows to Our Lady of Sorrows, we are also promised 7 Graces:

According to St Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), there are Seven Graces of this devotion.

1. I will grant peace to their families.

2. I will be enlightened about the Divine mysteries.

3. I will console them in their pains, and I will accompany them in their work.

4. I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my Divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.

5. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy, and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.

6. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the face of their Mother.

7. I have obtained this Grace from my Divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.

#lent #Lent2023 #catholiclife #LentenJourney #catholicfaith  #lentenseason
I wasn't able to attend last week but am looking f I wasn't able to attend last week but am looking forward to doing the Stations of the Cross with the rest of the congregation this Friday!
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#lent2023 #lent #catholiclife #catholicfaith #Catholic
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