“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver Contests and Markets to Start 2021 New Policy: During the last
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Winter 2021 — Interviews
“Isolation isn’t an excuse to give up.” ~~Carolyn Howard Johnson “Be generous to others and it will come back to you.” ~~ B. Lynn Goodwin “Whenever I try to engineer a story too much, it ends up feeling forced and obvious.” –Eliza Jane Brazier Note: More interviews coming soon. Another Project,
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Winter 2021 ~~ Marketing in the Time of COVID
“Life is about success, not perfection…and so is marketing.” – Rob Eagar Marketing During the Time of COVID Many authors are turning to social media to boost their sales. Amazon sales are up for many books. So are Barnes and Noble. Bookshop.org will post your books and you can become a partner there. Use Goodreads
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2020 Summer Flash Fiction Contest
First Place: The Dog Dies By Katie Broyhill “Sit,” I said. No response — but he was deaf. “Buckley,” I said. “Sit.” He sat, narrating his efforts with an accomplished huff. Stiff hips, you know, he seemed to say. I raised the gun, looking down at him through the sight. He blinked slowly back
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Fall 2020 Author Interviews
“We tell stories in order to live.” ~~Joan Didion “Isolation isn’t an excuse to give up.” ~~Carolyn Howard Johnson Promotion, Promotion An inteview with Carolyn Howard-Johnson by B. Lynn Goodwin Carolyn Howard-Johnson brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her HowToDoItFrugally series
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Fall 2020 Contests and Markets
“A good [short story] would take me out of myself and then stuff me back in, outsized, now, and uneasy with the fit.” ~ David Sedaris Contests For Those Who Write Short Open at Winning Writers, co-sponsored by Duotrope WERGLE FLOMP HUMOR POETRY CONTEST – NO FEE Free to enter, $3,500 in prizes, including a
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Fall 2020 Marketing Advice
“My mom and dad were actors when they were younger and had a horrible experience of it. My dad became a literary agent and my mom a casting director.” ~~Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter Can’t find an agent? Don’t want to work with one? Try these companies found on Author’s Publish, https://www.authorspublish.com/ten-respected-publishers-that-accept-unsolicited-submissions/. Thank you
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Fall 2020 Hooked on Wonderful Books
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” ~~ Harper Lee NOTE: If you’d like to write short reviews (350-500 words) for Writer Advice, please send a query and a sample of a review you are proud of. 🙏 BEGINNING WITH CANNONBALLS: A Novel Written by Jill
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Fall 2020 Writing Advice
“Write everything in a Facebook post, or in an email, or in a tweet to the masses never sent.” ~~Leonora Desar Special thanks to Leonora Desar. I met this wonderful writer in one of Meg Pokrass’s Flash Fiction classes. The piece below originally appeared in New Flash Fiction Review in mid-September 2020. The narrator’s
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Summer 2020– Marketing News
You can find this and many other wonderful resources at https://hotsheetpub.com/book-publishing-news/. Thanks to Jane Friedman for providing so many wonderful resources. OPPORTUNITY: SHARE A MARKETING SUCCESS TIP: Are you a book marketing expert? Are you a writer who tried something that worked? Do you want to recommend a publicist who helped you out?
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