The Let’s Talk Books Issue
WPNews July 2021
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From Kathleen Kaiser, President
WPN’s 805 Writers Conference returns LIVE, November 6 & 7, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Ventura Beach. I have lined up some dynamic speakers, including Jane Friedman, who will keynote the opening session. Very excited about having a publishing authority like Jane at the conference.
We are finalizing an exceptional famous guest whose memoir came out last year and lives in the 805 area code. Plus, Penny Sansevieri will deliver another dynamic talk on ways to sell more books. Her talks are consistently among the highlights of the conference.
More speakers and sessions will be announced later in July when the website goes live. Look for an email.
Enjoy the summer!
Kathleen, Kathleen@kathleenkaiser.com
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From Sandra Murphy, Editor
What a full issue this month! Patricia Fry talks about her new cat and her new book series, Molly MacRae talks to her characters, the Book Doctor talks about royalties, Penny Sansevieri talks about holiday book selling (already!), we have five PR tools to promote our work, success stories, and great information in the Bits and Pieces section. Take note: graphic novels are huge now and encourage kids to read. What could be better than more readers?
Next month, look for Jay Hartman, Editor-in-Chief at Untreed Reads, to return with a Q&A column about publishing, diversity in characters, and promotion; suggestions are welcome. Send your questions to editor@writersandpublishersnetwork.com. If you missed his column on diversity for the June issue, it’s archived on our website www.writersandpublishers.com.
Enjoy July, stay safe, take notes, write later.
Sandy, Editor, editor@writersandpublishersnetwork.com
For contributions to the newsletter and Letters to the Editor, please e-mail editor@writersandpublishersnetwork.com.
If you are not a member, join now at www.writersandpublishers.com
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Ask the Book Doctor About Royalties by Bobbie Christmas |
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Q: I received a letter from the publisher I’d submitted my novel to. She says if I’m selected, her prices or advance is competitive. I don’t have a clue as to what a fledgling writer gets for a novel. Any answers?
A: An average offer is around five to six percent of sales—and be sure your
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contract stipulates that royalties are based on the retail
price, not the wholesale price, of the book.
Learn More...
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Bobbie Christmas is a book editor, author of Write In Style: How to Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing, and owner of Zebra Communications. She will answer your questions too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or BZebra@aol.com. Read Bobbie’s blog at https://www.zebraeditor.com/blog/.
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Jingle Bell July: 5 Start-Now Strategies for Sure-Fire Holiday Book Sales by Penny C. Sansevieri |
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Have you started planning your holiday book sales yet? If you
haven’t, you should be, because Cyber Monday and Black Friday are right
around the corner.
While I know we all like to put off thinking about book marketing
during the hazy, crazy, lazy days of summer, the truth is that if you
don’t start soon, you could miss out on a lion’s share of book sales.
There’s a reason that Amazon does their big Amazon Prime day in July,
so if you want to grab big holiday sales, you’d better start early.
Let’s begin with a few questions to ask yourself when planning your
approach.
Learn More...
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Penny C. Sansevieri, founder and CEO of Author Marketing Experts,
Inc., is a bestselling author and internationally recognized
book-marketing and media-relations expert. She is an adjunct professor
teaching self-publishing for NYU. She was named one of the top
influencers of 2019 by New York Metropolitan Magazine. To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, visit www.amarketingexpert.com.
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Five PR Tools Every Writer Should Know About reprinted with permission from The Authors Guild and author, Sandi Sonnenfeld.
As the COVID-19 pandemic winds down and we start to resume our usual activities, now may be the ideal time to review your current book-publicity capabilities and look for new opportunities to keep both your book and role as an author and thought leader front and center. Here are six free or low-cost tools to help you.
Sandi Sonnenfeld is a PR and communications consultant with The Authors Guild and has more than 20 years of experience in the public relations sector. She’s also a published fiction and creative nonfiction writer and currently is working on a historical novel.
Learn More...
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Dear Character, I hope this finds you . . . by Molly MacRae
First published on May 2, 2021 in Writers Who Kill, reprinted with permission
Interruptions happen. To anyone, in any job. There you are, at home or at work, engrossed, productive, in the zone, when something happens to interrupt you. A cat or co-worker (sometimes the same thing) has a question. An important call or customer requires your attention. A machine blinks twice and dies.
Speaking as a writer, that break in concentration can snuff the glimmer of an idea that just sparked or frighten away the perfect word the moment before I swoop it into my word net.
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Molly MacRae writes the Highland Bookshop Mysteries, about four women who reinvent their lives when they buy a bookshop in Inversgail on the west coast of Scotland, and the award-winning Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, about a textile preservation specialist in Blue Plum, Tennessee, who ends up with a depressed ghost on her hands.
Learn More...
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Finding Success in a Cozy Mystery by Patricia Fry
Writing about animals is nothing new to me. Throughout my forty-year career as a freelance article writer, I often wrote about two of my favorite animals: cats and horses. My first book was Hints for the Backyard Rider, and I wrote numerous articles on the behavior, care, and wonderment of the cat. I had no inkling that my writing path would lead me to the world of cats in fiction. Here are ten tips I’ve found that keep my on track and inspired,
Learn More...
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Foreword Indie Awards
Honorable Mention Historical
The Road to Delano
by John DeSimone
AND
My Swan Lake Life: An Interactive Historical 80,000 B.C.–May 31, 1965 A.D. by Louise Blocker, L&L Publishers
“The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published titles produced each year, and reward those who exhibit courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing.”
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My new novel, Despite the Buzz, is now in print via local independent publisher, Blue Jay Ink, and Ingram Spark.
Despite the Buzz is a colorful cautionary tale concerning
tech’s toll. A new teacher raises awareness inside her Reflective
Writing class, but she doesn't realize the danger lurking. When an
intimate act is shared over social media, the resulting incident
demonstrates that the potential in our pockets could be lethal.
For further details about the adult fiction and for links to purchase
the artful paperback, please refer to despitethebuzz.com. Tamara Miller
Davis is a Coast Guard veteran, fireman's wife, mother of two, dance
enthusiast, educator, and writer who has performed in USA Today’s Storytellers Project.
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Two WPN members, Ivor Davis and Michael Goddart, received silver IPPY awards for their books. MANSON EXPOSED: A Reporter’s 50-Year Journey into Madness and Murder by Ivor Davis took Silver in the True Crime Category, and A NEW NOW: Your Guide to Mastering Wisdom Daily, Achieving Equilibrium, and Empowering Your Nobler Self by Michael Goddart won Silver in the New Age/Mind-Body-Spirit category.
Congratulations to both!
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News You Might Have Missed |
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Bologna Children's Book Fair: “From Page to Screen” Producers seek authentic characters, surprising twists. https://tinyurl.com/2wec8u5m
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Dynamite, Curiosity Ink Collaborate on Children's Books, Graphic Novels https://tinyurl.com/n9h6rzj4
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Coming Together: Libraries Find Success in Peer Collaboration https://tinyurl.com/44td5y3y
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HC Inks Deal with MLK Jr. Archives: Harper Collins has acquired world publishing rights in all formats—children’s books, ebooks, audiobooks, journals, and graphic novels in all languages. https://tinyurl.com/42ak969j
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“How to Develop a Marketing and Promotion Plan as an Indie Author” by Emma Lombard
Posted at JaneFriedman.com June 23, 2021 https://tinyurl.com/xnnh8feb
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Four ways to instantly tighten your fiction—editor-proof your stories with these tips. The Writer, June 18, 2021 https://tinyurl.com/ysr95wcu
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Binc Gives $1.1 Million to Bookstores, Comic Shops (The Book Industry Charitable Foundation) The Survive to Thrive grant program will award a total of $1.1 million to 115 bookstores and comic shops: 99 stores will receive $10,000 and 16 will receive $7,500. Donors include Bookshop.org, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster plus a dozen authors. More details at: https://tinyurl.com/2dd6f724.
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