Quick Bytes: Current Writing News

There’s a lot going on, there’s no denying! And from a variety of sources, the writers and readers among us may enjoy reading about these “publishing industry” tidbits! Feel free to share with others if you’d like!!

Don’t Miss Opportunities:

Sept 2, 7 PM, “Ask Ben Hale Anything” is presented virtually by Rik Feeney and the Orlando Florida Writers Association group. Ben is indie published and sells hundreds of thousands of books. Want to ask him how he does it? What’s important? How he writes so many books? Then don’t miss this fun event, right from the comfort of your own home! To make this online event a success, Rik requests you email him any questions you have for Ben to usabookcoach@gmail.com. He’ll collect and organize them so Ben can address each of your concerns.

SELF-PUBLISHED EBOOK AWARDS
https://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/self-published-ebook-awards
$99 ENTRY FEE. Early bird deadline August 17, 2020. 
$125 ENTRY FEE. Regular deadline September 21, 2020. 
Writer’s Digest’s 8th Annual Self-Published E-book Awards honors the best self-published e-book(s) in eight of the most popular categories with $5,000 in cash, a featured interview in Writer’s Digest magazine, and a paid trip to the ever-popular Writer’s Digest Annual Conference in New York City. In addition to $13,000 in total cash prizes, all entrants will receive a brief commentary on their work from one of Writer’s Digest’s judges.

LORIAN HEMINGWAY SHORT STORY COMPETITION
https://shortstorycompetition.com/
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 1, 2020. The first-place winner will receive $1,500 and publication of his or her winning story in Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts. The second- and third-place winners will receive $500 each. Honorable mentions will also be awarded to entrants whose work demonstrates promise. Stories must be original unpublished fiction, typed and double-spaced, and may not exceed 3,500 words in length. There are no theme or genre restrictions. The literary competition is open to all U.S. and international writers whose fiction has not appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more. 

News Bytes:

[From Publishers Weekly]

AUGUST KICKS OFF WITH BIG GAIN IN PRINT SALES – Is everything REALLY doom and gloom? Maybe not exactly – and this is a repeat of the steady growth in book sales since April.

[From Serious Writer]

One of several excellent tips – this is an outfit that may be just what a writer needs – look for them on Facebook and signup at their website for their free email support!

“Read: If you want to write good books, you need to read them. This means reading books inside and outside of your genre, especially ones that were published within the last five years.”

HAVE A TERRIFIC WEEK!! KEEP READING, WRITING, AND SUBMITTING!!!!

Nancy Q.

MARKETING SECRETS 101

This post will be quick as I’m chasing yet another deadline! I hope this finds you well and taking good care of yourself as well as your tribe!! Oh – and have a safe and Happy 4th of July! 

Here we go!

• KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. What TV shows do they watch? Movies? What music do they enjoy? What do they do on weekends for enjoyment? How do you do this, you ask? Join reader groups online and get to know those readers. Do you write in a specific genre? Just Google that genre and/or sub-genre and you’ll find many places you can visit to learn about YOUR potential readers. Have people emailed you about one of your books or a talk you gave? What was important to them? Make up a character sketch of that “ideal reader” and keep those points in mind when writing your book and your marketing copy!
• REACH YOUR READERS where they hang out. Where do your friends go on Social Media? Google for the stats if you have the demographic information for your reader and find out where they are. This way you can focus on paid advertising or even promotional offers in those places.
• BE A CONSISTANT MEMBER OF THE TRIBE. Join groups before you launch your book. Read, contribute, listen, and learn from the group. Sure, it’s okay to mention your book, writing challenges, etc in some contexts, but those tribes don’t exist for our promotions. They exist to be in relationship with one another, so get known as a useful and healthy member of the tribe and that tribe will be eager to support you when that book comes out! If you are a writer, you’d better be a pretty active reader, too – so relate to reader groups as a reader!
• BE RELIABLE with your blog posts, your newsletters, your Facebook updates, or any other Social Media information. Industry statistics show that Social Media work is only effective when done on a regular schedule and those posts provide value for the reader.
• DO THE THING YOU ENJOY and that enjoyment will shine through. Do you love blogging and hate Facebook? Well, do the blog and then just tell the blog where your Facebook page is – you don’t have to go to FB at all! Do you love Instagram and find that fun and exciting for you? Then do Instagram – which is owned by Facebook by the way. Love those short tweets? Then Twitter is your game. Whatever your love, use it and provide quality content, consistently! You’ll be building fans steadily.
• WRITE THE NEXT BOOK! Writing the next book for your fans is the best thing you can do to build your writing career. Don’t cut corners – put out that same quality that they’ve learned to rely on you for, and plan to do it as often as you can!
• BE FLEXIBLE and willing to try new things. Learn from reader input and learn from writer input. Have a colorful and wacky idea for a reader event on Facebook Live or Google Teams? Go for it! It might be the perfect thing. Have you gotten a terrific offer to advertise in a cool magazine like Redbook or Woman’s World? If you can do it with your budget and you feel strongly about doing it – go ahead!

Keep reading and writing – we’ll see you next week!!

Nancy Q.

FALLING FOR ZOE – 99 cents till Jan 15

Celebrating the first month in the first year of a new decade, Belle Bridge Books has put the first in all their series on sale from the 1st to the 15th. A great opportunity to enjoy this romantic gem by Skye Taylor.

Falling for Zoe – 99¢   Jan 1-15, 2020

Jake wanted friendship . . . Zoe wanted the fairy tale.

Pregnant, alone and determined to make a good life for herself and her baby, Zoe Callahan didn’t plan on falling in love with her best friend, but Jake Cameron is everything her baby’s father wasn’t.

Jake has been burned once, and he’s not about to ruin a great friendship by giving in to his desire to be so much more than just friends. Zoe wants the fairy tale he’s not sure he’s ready for.

Chapter 1 Excerpt:

Something about Ms. Zoe Callahan grabbed Jake’s attention the moment she slid from the battered green truck. She wasn’t knock-out beautiful, nor did she appear to be a siren who would be all over his return to bachelorhood. Maybe it was the way her lips turned up as if she found life amusing and dared everyone else to join her. Or perhaps it was the challenge in her peaked brows.  Jake had the sudden, uneasy conviction that Zoe Callahan’s arrival in his life was going to turn out to be even more unsettling than the arrival of the divorce decree.

What others are saying:

“Falling for Zoe is a romantic gem.”

—Cheryl Reavis, Best selling author, and 4 time RWA RITA award winner.

“With a deft hand and engaging style, Skye Taylor creates a realistic story with heart that captivates. Ms. Taylor proves that while real families are messy if you keep your heart open, love heals the deepest wounds. Don’t miss this book.”

—Vicki Hinze, USA Today bestselling author.

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1ODahfY

B&N: http://bit.ly/1SD2PRd

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/falling-for-zoe

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Skye_Taylor_Falling_for_Zoe?id=caxiBAAAQBAJ&hl=en

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/falling-for-zoe/id913907323?mt=11