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WPNews, November 2022
The Is It Thanksgiving Already? Issue
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From Sandra Murphy, Editor
In mid-October, Jay Hartman, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Untreed Reads Publishing and I hosted two panels at the Cat Writers Association virtual conference. In the first hour Jay spoke about self-publishing vs. traditional, what is hybrid publishing, Amazon is not the only or even best place to sell books, and what is a vanity press. Later in the second session, he spoke about distribution—if you want worldwide distribution, put your books on all the platforms you can, not just Amazon. Many writers worry about how to get their books into independent and local bookstores or the chains. He advises that you get your friends, family, and readers/followers to request it at their local library. Some libraries wait until at least four people ask for a book before buying it. Main libraries can be the ones that order for all the branches in a system. Get a library card if you don’t have one, and get busy requesting. Jay wrote an article on how to do it for WPN at
https://writersandpublishersnetwork.com/the-publisher-perspective-october-2021/
Jay will also be speaking at the 805 Writers Conference if you have direct questions to ask him and will be there both days.
I was Jay’s wingwoman aka sidekick, the one who fed him questions from the Q&A section and the chat. Our panels were well-attended and well-received. We also had a virtual book table in the virtual bookstore where we could display books.
Want to sell more books? Join organizations that have similar tastes to yours or where you can share your expertise. Membership fees are not high and it will give you exposure to potential readers and sometimes bragging rights.
For those of you who celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving. Whether you do or not, be thankful for what you have and imagine achieving your dreams.
Sandy, Editor, editor@writersandpublishersnetwork.com
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Ask the Book Doctor: About Plurals and Possessives by Bobbie Christmas
Q: Is The Chicago Manual of Style the standard for editing nonfiction book manuscripts? What do you say about the comments below made by two editors I’ve used?
Original line of text from the manuscript:
In the late 80’s, I was living in Dallas, Texas running a company that I had founded.
Here’s the ensuing discussion over it:
Editor 2: 80s (no apostrophe because there is no possession—and you might want to use 1980s to make it even clearer)
Editor 1: This is a question of style. Each publisher will have its own style. This is one style.
A: Chicago Style is preferred by most book publishers, so it is safest to use it for any book-length manuscript, whether fiction or nonfiction. Let me address one point at a time.
Editor number two was correct: In the late 80s, without the apostrophe, is acceptable and complies with Chicago style. Without the apostrophe 80s is plural and refers to many years. With an apostrophe it would be possessive, meaning something that belonged to the 1980s. The editor is also correct that for clarity it’s better to write the full number: In the late 1980s.
Read 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 Zebra Communications blog at https://www.zebraeditor.com/blog/.
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NY Times bestselling mystery author William Bernhardt is our guest for two episodes of TBP and Afterhours
Today marks the last episode of our 805 Writers Conference highlight series. Our guest is a New York Times
multi-bestselling author, creator of the Red Sneaker Writing Center, and organizer of WriterCon, William Bernhardt. Kathleen and William discuss his career as an author. From hundreds of rejections to becoming a bestseller, William career has spanned three decades as an author, adjusting to the times along the way.
William’s mystery series have been a massive success for him. But recognizing his industry struggles over the years led him to create the Red Sneaker Writing Center, because he couldn’t find books he liked that help teach process and development. Each book is subject-specific, short, but chock-full of info every writer needs.
William will be at the 805 Writers Conference on November 5 & 6, 2022, as a keynote speaker, member of the mystery panel, and teaching an intensive workshop on characters. Once you hear his voice on the podcast, you’ll want to listen to more of him.
“Keep writing and remember you cannot fail if you refuse to quit.” William Bernhardt
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William’s mystery series have been a massive success for him. But recognizing his industry struggles over the years led him to create the Red Sneaker Writing Center, because he couldn’t find books he liked that help teach process and development. Each book is subject-specific, short, but chock-full of info every writer needs.
William will be at the 805 Writers Conference on November 5 & 6, 2022, as a keynote speaker, member of the mystery panel, and teaching an intensive workshop on characters. Once you hear his voice on the podcast, you’ll want to listen to more of him.
“Keep writing and remember you cannot fail if you refuse to quit.” William Bernhardt
Following Kathleen’s segment with NY Times bestselling author William Bernhardt, Adanna Moriarty, our producer, takes up the host mantel, jumping into the conversation. Adanna and William get into process, how to create a dedicated practice, and what William thinks helps aspiring authors to be successful. Writing is hard, and getting to pick a successful author’s brain, let alone one who has been writing as a career for thirty years, is a happy place for Adanna.
The pair also discuss pitching a series vs. a stand-alone book to the bigger publishing houses and what they look for when a new author comes to them.
William is very supportive of aspiring authors, and you can feel that through this after-hours conversation. Join us for both segments and get to know William before he joins us as a speaker and workshop leader at the 805 Writers Conference.
William will be speaking and attending the 805 Writers Conference, November 5 & 6 in Ventura, California. Here is a sample of his books, both fiction and from the Red Sneaker series on writing.
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William Bernhardt is the bestselling author of more than forty books, including the blockbuster Ben Kincaid series of novels; the historical novel Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness, currently being adapted into an NBC miniseries; a book of poetry, The White Bird; and a series of books on fiction writing. In addition, Bernhardt founded the Red Sneaker Writing Center, hosting writing workshops and small-group seminars and becoming one of the most in-demand writing instructors in the nation. His monthly eBlast, The Red Sneaker Writers Newsletter, reaches more than twenty thousand people.
Bernhardt is the only writer to have received the Southern Writers Guild’s Gold Medal Award, the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award (University of Pennsylvania), and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award (Oklahoma State), which is given “in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large.” In addition to his novels, he has written plays, a musical (book and music), humor, nonfiction, children’s books, biography, poetry, and puzzles.
A former trial attorney, Bernhardt has received several awards for his pro bono work and public service. In 1994, Barrister Magazine named him one of the top 25 young lawyers in America. In his spare time, he has enjoyed surfing, digging for dinosaurs, trekking through the Himalayas, zip-lining over the canopy of the Costa Rican rain forest, and in 2013, becoming a “Jeopardy” champion. OSU named him “Oklahoma’s Renaissance Man.” He lives in Oklahoma with his wife Lara and their children.
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“Even Climate Change Can't Stop Love and Murder” is a romance/thriller and uniquely American vision of love and murder, trauma and healing around 2026. Alby, accompanied by Ginger, is being relocated by government agents from New Jersey to Sedona, AZ; a dark episode in Iraq has him permanently in hiding. America’s social seams strain against climate chaos, insurrectionists, and white supremacists; deadly threats find them as they search to define their love for each other.
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The opening guitar chords of "Take It Easy" captured America's attention in June 1972, and Eagles’ debut single became that summer's rock and roll national anthem. Blending musical and commercial excellence, the band became a rock phenomenon with few peers during the seventies. Eagles: Up Ahead in the Distance
is an expansive book with 500-plus pages of detailed stories, in-the-moment photographs from rock’s greatest photographers, exclusive interviews, comprehensive informational graphics, and “forensic rock research” that uncovers specifics in the band’s history that offers the most thorough retelling of the Eagles’ story ever published.
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Susanne Reyto narrates the story of her childhood under an oppressive Nazi regime in Hungary, followed by traumatic years under Communism, finally reaching her ultimate destination: freedom in the United States. Freedom is precious and youngsters need to know that, as well as protect and cherish it. As documented in Destination Freedom, knowledge of history provides the most effective means of combating hatred, bigotry and rising anti-Semitism. We must learn from the past to strengthen our ability to withstand negative forces. Destination Freedom is a beacon for truth, education, free speech and expression. We must defend these principles, lest we lose them forever.
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Hi, everyone! As you read this, I’m likely at the 805 Writers Conference meeting many of you in person. I’m taking this month off from my column, but I’ll be back next month with a recap of the conference and my thoughts and feelings on attending my first in-person event since the pandemic began. Are you back to attending conventions and other events live, or is your comfort level still at the Zoom level? Let me know in the comments!
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Jay A. Hartman, editor-in-chief at Untreed Reads Publishing, founded Untreed Reads to promote ebooks with an emphasis on independent authors and publishers. He’s written about the ebook industry for fifteen years and previously served as content editor for KnowBetter.com, one of the internet’s oldest sites reporting on ebooks and epublishing.
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IBPA Unveils First Update to its Hybrid Publisher Criteria reprinted with permission
2022 revision improves on the 2018 original and provides greater clarity on what’s expected of reputable hybrid publishers.
To promote greater clarity of understanding and encourage a common
set of standards within the book-publishing industry, the Independent
Book Publishers Association (IBPA)–the largest book-publishers
association in the United States–released the Hybrid Publisher Criteria
in 2018. Today, more than four years after its initial publication, IBPA
is pleased to announce the first revision to this seminal document.
Like its predecessor, the new 11-point Hybrid Publisher Criteria
attempts to bring uniformity to the task of defining reputable hybrid
publishers, distinct from being traditional publishers or
self-publishing services providers. IBPA welcomes all three publishing
models in its membership.
Read More...
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Marketing and Book Sales: How Closely Are They Linked? by Penny Sansevieri
Marketing and book sales are definitely entwined, but how closely?
How much marketing do you have to do to create significant sales opportunities?
Let me tell you this, an author came to us recently and said, “If the
book sells on its own, I may not need to do a lot of marketing.”
And what was our response?
There are 4,500+ books published every single day. No book
sells on its own. No author becomes a success without a lot of hard
work.
So what should you do to improve both marketing and book sales?
Think of marketing and book sales as a single concept.
Read 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 was named one of the top
influencers of 2019 by New York Metropolitan Magazine. Her
company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has
developed some of the most innovative Amazon Optimization programs as
well as social-media/internet book-marketing campaigns. She is the
author of 18 books, including How to Sell Books by the Truckload on
Amazon: 2021 Amazon Ads Powerhouse Edition, Revise and Re-Release Your
Book, 5-Minute Book Marketing, and Red Hot Internet Publicity,
which has been called the "leading guide to everything internet." www.amarketingexpert.com.
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Bits and Pieces – News You Might Have Missed |
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Stuck in the middle of your story? Here are twenty-five plot-twist ideas and prompts to get you through the muddled middle. https://tinyurl.com/2p878her
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Frankfurt Book Fair attracts 180,000 attendees, about 55% of pre-pandemic levels, with 93,000 trade visitors and 87,000 members of the public attending. In 2019 there were more than 300,000 people total. The fair featured 4,000 exhibitors from 95 countries.
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Best sellers for the week of October 24, 2022
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Call for Entries for the Nautilus Book Awards
Better Books for a Better World
$2,500 Grand Award
Now in their 24th
year, Nautilus Book Awards continues to recognize and honor transformative books from across the entire spectrum of the publishing world. They love to find beautifully written and produced books that engender greater connectedness and transcend the perceived barriers and social constructs that divide us. They welcome books that promote more conscious living, wellness, environmental awareness, spiritual growth, and social change. They especially appreciate books that have the ability to bring together individuals and communities for the greater benefit of all humankind and the planet that sustains us. For all the benefits and details
go to www.NautilusBookAwards.com to submit your book with their online form.
September 21, 2022 - February 10, 2023
Books published in 2021 and 2022 are eligible for submission.
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Eunice Williams Nonfiction Prize
https://herstryblg.com/herstry-contest
$9-$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 16, 2022. There is no theme to adhere to for this contest, simply nonfiction written by you, about you. All essays must be true and about you and previously unpublished. Essays must stay under 5,000 words. HerStry centers the experiences of women identifying persons. We’re looking for work from bigender/polygender persons, cisgender women, intergender persons/intersex persons, non-binary persons/gender non-conforming persons, transgender women/transfeminine persons, two-spirit. First place $400. Second place $250. Third place $100.
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St. Martin’s Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition
https://mysterywriters.org/about-mwa/st-martins/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 17, 2022. The competition is open to any writer, regardless of nationality, age 18 or older, who has never been the author of any published novel (in any genre) (except that authors of self-published works only may enter, as long as the manuscript submitted is not the self-published work) and is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a novel. If a winner is selected, Minotaur Books will offer to enter into its standard-form author’s agreement with the entrant for publication of the winning Manuscript. After execution of the standard form author’s agreement by both parties, the winner will receive an advance against future royalties of $10,000.
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https://checkout.square.site/buy/MY6KEEAZNTNJDNKRQYX23UN7 $50.00
This one-day event is ideal for crime-fiction readers, writers, and
publishing pros. With a single track of panels and keynote
conversations, the Midwest Mystery Conference is a great opportunity to
connect with your favorite authors and meet a few new ones!
The conference will take place at Roosevelt University at 430 N.
Michigan in Chicago. The venue is fully accessible and registration
includes a tote bag full of books and goodies!
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Annual California Creative Writers Conference March 2023
Creative-writing programs for fiction and nonfiction plus genre. Presented by 40+ literary agents, editors, scouts, veteran educators, publishers, bestselling authors, and industry professionals. Free one-on-one pitch meetings. Discounts and financing available. All in-person health and safety protocols will be implemented. www.wcwriters.com/ccwc or 310-379-2650
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29th
Annual Poetry and Prose Getaway January 13-16, 2023
Seaview Hotel, Atlantic City area, New Jersey Scholarships availablewww.stockton.edu/wintergetaway/
Info@wintergetaway.com 609-626-3594
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Key West Writers Workshop Program January 10-14, 2023
$675 Scholarships and fellowships available. www.kwls.org/writers_workshops/
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