ISSN 1545-5599
BOOK PROMOTION NEWSLETTER
Issue 28: March 17, 2004
EDITOR: FRANCINE SILVERMAN
www.nystatetravel.com
www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com
In This Issue:
1) Feature Article
2) Promotional Coups
3) Feedback
4) Classified
5) Announcements
6) Subscriber Seminar
7) Kudos
You Don't Have to be a Technical Wizard or Rich to have an Effective Writer's Website
By Ginny Stibolt
www.sky-bolt.com
For many reasons, (and I'm not going to analyze these reasons now) writers are often on their own when designing a savvy plan for their websites and other online marketing. There are some obstacles to overcome: 1) techno-phobia, 2) lack of funds and 3) limited time. What I'll try to accomplish with this article is to provide some starting points and to strip away some of the mystery.
It's not that difficult, but a website does require your attention on a regular basis if it is to be an effective marketing tool. It is a real detriment to your credibility if your website has broken links, dead graphics with red X's, and “news” that is old. So, the most important rule for a successful website is, PAY ATTENTION!! Keep it fresh and timely to give people reasons for return visits.
A. First, you need to decide on a focus for the website, the marketing plan for the site and of your writing. Search on Google or other search engines for “author websites” or “writers links” to find a variety of writers' sites. Look at these to see what you like and what you hate. Save these URLs for future reference, because there will be too many to remember which ones were good, bad or ugly. (I have a document named “writers' links” saved in My Documents for easy reference.)
There are three basic types of writers' sites:
1) An author-centric site focuses on the writer first - the books or other writing are secondary. This type of site needs to answer the question, “Why do I want to read anything by this author?” Most author sites fall into this category. This is the best type for established authors with multiple titles to push and a fan base that wants to know more about the author.
2) A book-centered site such as teases and cajoles about the content. (I found this site after I read the book - a quirky, off-centered novel.) The author may be incidental to the site, but I found the first chapter with her comments quite personal and charming. This type of site needs to answer the question, “Why do I want to read this book?”
3) An issue-oriented site such as www.chesapeakebayblues.com is mostly about the issues surrounding the politics of the Bay. This type of site needs to answer the question, “Why should I care about this issue?”
B. The next issue is: How are you going to “mount” your site?
1) Independently with your own domain. (More on this choice below.)
2) On a “free” home page site such as geocities or AOL. Why is “free” in quotes? Because if there are pop-up ads and the host will use your pages to sell its stuff, it detracts from your focus. With most of these sites, you'll be invisible to the search engines and your URL (web address) will not be easy to remember.
3) As part of a group site such as Authors' Den, your information is available, and it is visible to search engines. Plus you don't need any tools or knowledge to get started. The cost is relatively low. Even if you set up your own domain, you may wish to join one of these group-author sites to increase your exposure. Certainly, this is much better than nothing, but you will look like everyone else.
When you have your own domain, you have complete control over how it looks and what is included - the look and feel of it. But with the freedom of choice, you need to figure out what it will look like. What says “you”? This is why looking at other writers' sites is important.
C. Where to start? (You may wish to bring in someone else to help you mount the site, but make sure that you have access to update the site yourself. This means that your web person will need to keep it simple - no flash, no frames and no java. You will need to get FrontPage or some other easy-to-use software and have the webperson include enough training to get you started. If you allow the web person to retain exclusive access to your website, it will become a financial drain, and updates and changes will be made according to your web person's schedule, not yours.)
Buy your domain - Domain names should be simple - no tricky spelling or abbreviations. It should cost no more than $10 per year - at GoDaddy.com it's $8.95 per year for one year - less if you purchase more than one year. Hosting has been quite expensive, but it is getting cheaper - $3.95/ month at GoDaddy for a basic site that includes your own business or “fan” email. You may buy more than one domain and forward them to land on various pages within your site, such as www.nameofyourbook.com, which forwards to that book's page.
D. Website design and layout - On your homepage or any page where surfers will land, you have less than 10 seconds to capture their attention. You must state or imply your message instantly. Your most important information should be at the top of the screen or “above the fold” as they say in newspapers. Buttons or links should be on the left - surfers tend to ignore the right side since that's where most Internet ads are located. There should be no tricky or “mystery meat” navigation - no underlining unless it's a link and no links without underlining. It should be obvious where to click and what you'll find there.
You would think that the content would not be a problem for writers, but writing for webpages is different. Surfers need to be pulled into your content. Make it easy to see what your site is about. Entice them with “benefits” and reward your visitors with information that is NOT available anywhere else. Provide reasons for them to return.
Here's an example of the difference these rules can make in the effectiveness of a website:
&
I am not finding fault with Francine: this site is for people who already are familiar with her newsletter, plus she's really busy with the newsletter and other stuff. This is a typical situation for lots of writers, and her site made a convenient example. As a bonus for any possible embarrassment suffered, she's welcome to this new design.
What I did was to find a clip art graphic (not a cartoon, because this is not a kids' page) that said books to me. I used the brown font to coordinate, but I didn't change anything else from the default settings. I put everything in a table (including the table she had used for the archived issues) to keep control over how it is displayed, and I inserted bookmarks on the page and links to them. This way, the reader can see what the page is, and there are easy ways to get to the content without having to scroll.
Some other rules of thumb on website accessibility: You don't want to eliminate people who use a different browser or AOL for their Internet access, those with slow connections or older computers with less memory or people who may have some vision problems:
· · Colors - Make sure the printing contrasts well with the background. Almost always, dark printing on light background is preferred. Don't use plain red - many colorblind people can't see it.
· · Don't use frames or flash but do use tables to control where items are displayed and printed.
· · Not all fonts are available in all environments - use something that is easy to read and something that is in common use - my favorite for normal web text is verdana - it's open and easy to read on a screen.
· . Make sure that with any photo or graphic you include the alternate text. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but if you can't see it, it's not worth anything. The alternate text will at least tell people what was there.
· · Graphics - when you are designing the page choose the size of your graphic, then use your photo editor to resize it. If you just make it appear smaller on the screen, you'll lose resolution and the file size will be the same. Lots of people use dial up connections and if they have to wait too long, you'll lose them.
E. Marketing & PR - “Build it and they will come…” NOT when it comes to your website! Put your website address in your email signature, on bookmarks, business cards, postcards and on your books and articles. Give people maximum exposure to your URL, a reason to look at it and look at it yourself.
Add your site to any directories that are reasonable for your material, including your publisher's website. Swap links with other people who have complementary content. Make sure to look in the independent, human-run, DMOZ directory . (DMOZ is an acronym for Directory Mozilla, reflecting its loose association with Netscape's Mozilla project.) DMOZ powers the core directory services for search engines and portals, including Google, Netscape Search, AOL Search, Lycos, and more. There are many categories - add your domain(s) to the most appropriate one.
Search Engines - 85% of surfers find information through search engines: Google is the most used right now. If you are using one of those free sites or have your site hosted on some other site, search engines may not find you.
§ § Search Engines use robots or spiders (the names for the searching software programs) to snoop around the Internet to find pages. It may take months before your site and its contents are found and indexed. If you are in a hurry, you can pay for an initial listing to get started ($29 or $39 per year to get on the major lists within 72 hours), but after that, it won't be necessary.
§ § Make sure you have meta tags to supplement your content with key words or typical words people might use when searching for you - include some of the likely misspellings of your name and book titles. (Click here for some examples: www.sky-bolt.com/book/metatags.htm .)
§ § Search Engines use your site popularity (the number of links to it) as part of the ranking calculation. Do the work to be listed on directories and swap links with people. Just find one or two a day - pretty soon, you'll have a fair number of websites linked to yours.
An effective website is one of the most useful marketing tools a writer can have. The Internet has changed the marketing landscape. Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity. And you won't even need to remove your bunny slippers. If someone wants to buy a signed book, sell it to them from your website. You won't have to cool your heels in some obscure bookstore. Remember, you don't have to be a technical wizard or rich to have an effective writer's website.
Resources:
www.webstyleguide.com - comprehensive guide from Yale University
www.fixingyourwebsite.com - amusing, but thorough analysis of bad websites
- lots of simple website designs for you to use
www.godaddy.com - inexpensive, but reliable for hosting and registering domain names. Really helpful technicians are on call 24-hours a day.
- The open directory project - you need to be listed here.
www.inktomi.com/products/web_search/submit.html
- This is where you can pay for getting your site onto search engines within 72 hours.
www.authorsden.com - good group author site.
www.sky-bolt.com/more-info.htm - I've posted some other articles on websites here.
Ginny Stibolt taught technical writing before her 20 years in the computer field, starting in 1981 when she opened a computer retail store. She developed and managed her company's website in 1994 and has been involved with the business of websites since then.
Ginny has a mission to help writers and other small businesses maximize their web presence through practical design and good marketing & PR. She's been known to contact perfect strangers
with ideas for their webpages. www.sky-bolt.com gstibolt@sky-bolt.com
*****************************************************************
Promotional Coups
With all our efforts at promotion, sometimes just plain luck - or serendipity - is all we need.
Sarah Storme, author of romances and mysteries, has done several book signings at bookstores. But her “biggest surprise was the response I got from smaller libraries,” she says. “In one town, I instantly sold six copies of each book to the manager, and I hadn't really expected to sell any.” www.sarahstorme.com
-------
“Nothing I've done in promotion appeared to make much difference until one of my novels appealed to a member of a newsgroup and he recommended it to the group,” says Darrell Bain. “From there my writing career, at least as an ebook author, took off. I really had little to do with it.” www.santa-claus-lane.com
--------------
Author of five books, four of them e-books, Sam Stone loves to write but has “never been good at selling anything.” Fortunately, the retired police sergeant doesn't have to - at least so far. When his first ebook, SHADES (the first of the Sarge Trilogy), was published in 1999, “It immediately became a Best Seller, on the publisher's website and Kiplinger Consumer News interviewed me as a Best Selling Author…. Shades remained a Best Seller for nine months.”
How does he account for this? “Ebooks were new and a media interest at the time…and I guess I was in the right place at the right time…like they say timing is everything…The way I was told the story… Kiplinger Consumer News…contacted my publisher at the time and interviewed them…and they contacted me…after that I got invites for guest appearances, signings, etc…it was definitely cool…sure would like that kind of timing again…but then time will tell I guess…”
http://mysterypen.homestead.com
“My best promotional effort was not my idea,” acknowledges Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of THIS IS THE PLACE. “It accidentally fell into my lap.” This “cross-pollinate promotion” began when Kathleen Walls, author of The Last Step, asked more than two dozen authors from several countries to contribute to a book called Cooking by the Book. “Each invited author had written at least one kitchen scene…each segment begins with an excerpt from that scene, the recipe comes next and then there is a short blurb about the author. We believe that a whole new cookbook concept was born; an outstanding promotional tool was also created.”
------------
Each author was to publicize it any way she chose, and the only caveat was that it must cost nothing. “Joyce Livingston set up a page on her site promoting her book, Lucy's Quilt, as did most of the rest of us. Contributor Peggy Hazelwood promoted it in her newsletter for book lovers and writers…” Mary Emma Allen, a novelist and non-fiction writer, is also a columnist for two New Hampshire dailies in which she featured the book. David Leonhardt, author of Climb Your Stairway to Heaven, incorporated it into a Happiness Game Show speech that he'd delivered over a dozen times in Canada and elsewhere.
-----------------
“Our most startling success came from sources we had no connection to at all. It was featured in Joan Stewart's The Publicity Hound, in Writer's Weekly, on MyShelf.com, in the iUniverse newsletter and more. I had the highest rate of interest I'd ever had when I queried radio stations and that was in competition with a pitch for This is the Place just before the 2002 games in Salt Lake City and an intolerance angle on the book right after 9/11. I'm not through yet. Mothers Day is coming and in case you haven't noticed, mothers tend do lots of cooking!”
-------------
When the publicist at Ellen Jackson's publisher, Charlesbridge, first suggested that they pitch her book, TURN OF THE CENTURY, to C-Span, Ellen was skeptical - even though she's published more than 50 books. “I'm not a public speaker,” she reasoned, “and I was sure C-Span wouldn't be interested - but I was wrong….The filming took place at Hicklebees bookstore. Valerie Lewis, the owner, was incredible. She made the filming a wonderful experience. When the program finally appeared, my Amazon ratings zipped into the stratosphere for a couple of days.” www.ellenjackson.net
--------------------------
No one was more startled than Lynn Emery when she learned the female lead in the new movie, Welcome to Mooseport, starring Ray Ramano and Gene Hackman, was shown reading her novel, ALL I WANT IS FOREVER.
--------------
”My phone rang off the hook with friends in N. Carolina, Virginia, and Los Angeles calling to tell me,” she says. “I would like to think that my promotion efforts led to this wonderful free publicity around the country, but who knows? If anyone on the list can give suggestions on how I might try to find out please tell me!”
www.lynnemery.com
-----------
Here's a wonderful example of riding the coattails of a news story - which are always a surprise so be prepared.
“My most successful marketing came as a result of marketing and serendipity,” says Alina Adams, a producer for the TV soaps, As the World Turns and Guiding Light and author of mysteries and non-fiction books centered on ice skating. When she learned that Sarah Hughes, the ice skater from Great Neck, NY, was entering the 2003 Olympics (at which she won a Gold medal), Alina began planning her strategy.
During the three weeks of the Olympics she scheduled radio interviews with stations all across the country and Canada, positioning herself as a figure skating expert “based on my two non-fiction books and precious employment as a skating researcher for ABS, NBC, TNT, ESPN, etc. I had about 15 booked before the games even started, but, when the Pairs scandal erupted, booked another 20 more. While the latter was a bit of luck, I did already have all my press releases and queries in, so that when the stations needed someone to talk skating, my info was already there.
“Then, of course, when Sarah Hughes won the Olympics in such a surprise manner, I got even more radio requests, plus a few local television ones. www.AlinaAdams.com
*******************************************************************
Feedback
Responding to my quote from a New York Times article on Ann Tyler, Richard N. Cote writes:
“Here's one populist-oriented author's opinion of the statement, “Anne Tyler is that rare writer who has literary stature and a wide public, and she has earned that position without self-promotion. For many years she has declined all face-to-face interviews. She has avoided book tours and public appearances…
"What the book world does NOT need is another elitist literary snob who -- if one is to believe the New York Times article about Anne Tyler -- expects the world to acknowledge him or her without making the slightest effort to meet the people who pay her rent: those people who buy her books. I have always felt that it is an honor and a privilege to meet my readers, which is why I conduct 120-150 in-person book events each year. When people ask me "If I'd be willing to sign their copy of my book, I tell them what I've always felt: that to be asked to speak in public or sign one's own book is the highest honor an author can receive.
So many people have helped me achieve success with my books over the years that I consider doing author discussions and lectures another honor, which is why I donate my speaking fees to my local homeless shelter. Yes, I am very happy to sell books and receive money from Ingram, bookstores, and individual readers, but authors don't achieve success without the help of a lot of people who never put their hand out and asked for money. Meeting my readers, talking with them, offering my insights on my themes, listening to their advice, and giving small doses of encouragement to up-and-coming authors is what veteran authors are supposed to do. It's a rite of passage; a payback for uncounted kindnesses extended by others. To do less, after achieving high levels of success, is unpardonable, effete snobbery in my way of thinking."
-- Richard is author of Mary's World, Theodosia Burr Alston, and The Redneck Riviera, and Editor-in-Chief of Corinthian Books (www.corinthianbooks.com )
Mary N. Nyman responds to the horror story about iUniverse by publicist Karen Villaneuva www.authorcare.com , and poses her own question to Karen:
”I, too, am published through them,” writes Mary. “With the 'first printing' my experience has been entirely positive. My questions have always been answered pleasantly and promptly and my publishing service representative has been excellent. However, I have discovered typographical errors not picked up by spellchecker or my typist and I would now like to correct them, add my Library of Congress number, and include reviews of When the Leaves Fall (especially one from the Midwest Book Review because it is a national review). Also, I have sold about 450 books and feel that the book has reached many people. Marketing is certainly a challenge! I realize this isn't a lot of books, but only a third have been sold to people I know.”
Mary writes that as a novice and doing everything herself, she's been checking search engines and on-line bookstores “to see what happens to Sales Rank,” and has discovered that her book is “on sale at Amazon twice for 50% off since its appearance in November of 2002. This could account for the books that are stockpiled somewhere. Evidently, it seems that perhaps POD books are printed in lots and stored at various locations. I can see why this can cause very frustrating problems if you want to upgrade your book.
”When I wrote my representative I received an e-mail about ten days later, and the republishing process described left me really in doubt because I do not want to lose the good reviews I have on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Your FEEDBACK article suggests I could have some big problems. The POD publishing process has left me with other problems as well because I cannot get the reviews I need. Part of this is because I am inexperienced in how to time and send galley sheets before publication. Then I might have gotten the reviews I needed from big reviewers. I thought maybe a 'second printing' might take care of this but now I am afraid to do this because of the article you've included. I am very grateful to have received this information. I am grateful for that and for the Midwest Book Review article because both are so very helpful.”
--------------------------------------
In the last issue Ethel Stockton asked, “What does one do, who wants to self publish, when I've contacted printers and they all seem to want you to let them do everything, almost into writing the darn thing? In fact, most of them sound as though they print brochures and not books - but they would do it for me, this once."
Here are all the responses:
From Paul Steward:
“I self published my first book, and the printer I used was wonderful! I was very green about the entire process, and they worked with me every step of the way:
McNaughton & Gunn
Detroit, MI.
313-429-5411
Ask for Sherry Sanderson (if she is still there).
---
From Joan Bramsch, www.EmpoweredParent.com:
www.booksjustbooks.com is a competitive company in NYC to do print
books. They are print brokers and will not be undersold.
-----------------
Ron Pramschufer, the owner, is a great fellow, honest and helpful. I've done business with him in the past and will use his company to do print runs of all my other books, too. Everything is answered at the site. They even provide instant cost estimate forms which is great.
--------------
From Julie D'Arcy, Australian author, http://home.netc.net.au/~darcy:
“I have heard that Book Surge is a good company for self- publishing. I believe it in the U.S, and they are opening an office in Australia soon.”
--------------
From Patrika Vaughn, President of A Cappela Publishing, see www.acapela.com/AH.htm :
"It's tough to find a good book packager (a company that will not only turn your manuscript into a book, doing the editing, designing, and obtaining all the needed bells and whistles, such as the ISBN and Bar Code, and then help with the promotion and distribution).
"It's important to always read the fine print with companies that offer such services. Some, for instance, promise to 'make your book available to 25,000 different bookstores." But that's not the same thing as getting your book into those bookstores. This simply means that they will get your book into the major distributors, who make books available to bookstores. Now getting into the major distributors isn't easy, and a good book packager will see to it that the book produced fits their criteria for acceptance -- which is something few printers will even consider.
"It was because of all the scams out there aimed at the inexperienced self-publisher that we created Advocate House, a special imprint for self-publishers, which lets the author decide what's needed and then implements the author's wishes. That way, the author gets to keep writing and we take care of the publishing details."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In the last issue, Sigrid Macdonald asked: "How do people get their books into bookstores and libraries? I will be publishing with a company called 1st Books in Indiana. They use print on demand technology and will do extensive marketing. 1st Books says that they will make my book available to 25,000 different bookstores but that's not the same thing as getting it into the bookstore.
From Hope Irvin Marston, author of Isaac Johnson: From Slave to Stonecutter, regarding POD books:
"They simply don't seem to care about making sales and taking care of their authors. They make their money with your initial investment and then seem to have no ambition about book sales for the future. I found this to be true of 1st Books in Indiana. I'm seriously considering staying away from promoting self-published or POD books based on my experience with just a few (reluctantly, since I love to assist authors)."
She continues: “Don't be mislead. They do not market your books despite what they promise. I had them print a book of mine that had gone out of print. It had received national recognition. They were slow and difficult to work with. They did not treat me professionally and I had to fight to get them to do simple things like line up the periods in the Table of Contents. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYONE. I have heard good things about XLIBRIS, but have no personal experience with them.”
The second part of Sigrid's question was: How does one get a bookstore to buy a book? One potential problem with 1st Books is that their books are not returnable. It is possible to buy a package that will allow your book to be returnable but I do not have any more money to put into the book right now. Are there other companies that specialize in this kind of distributorship?"
“I wish I had simply taken my book to a local printer and had them make my copies. I bet it would have been cheaper,” Hope laments. “It certainly would have been less frustrating than dealing with 1st Books Library.”
From Larnette Phillips:
“I notice from your most recent newsletter that people are very frustrated with the issue of their books not being in bookstores. They need to understand and unfortunately, not many aspiring writers seem to, that a POD does exactly that - prints on demand and they not be mislead by the concept that just because it's made available to the online resources certainly does NOT mean it's in bookstores.
“One person asked how to get his/her book in the stores - simply put, they must be signed by a traditional publishing house (which means they also have a staff/force of sales/marketing reps who push with the buyers prior to the release date of the book to get it into the stores). It's not an automatic thing. Too, they must know up front that it is only a traditional publishing house (& usually the large ones) that take returns on books. Bookstores, especially the chains, require that before they will put a book on the shelves. PODs make an awful lot of $$$ on aspiring authors because they're just simply printing the book.”
http://pages.ivillage.com/katiebrewer2002
----------------
”There is NO free lunch!' proclaims Hetty Gray, Sugar Creek Publishing. “I investigated a lot of places before self-publishing. I chose PPC Books in Redington Shores, FL, headed by a man with decades of Manhattan experience.
(www.selfpublishingservices.com )
Because I am an editor by profession, I submit a completed book and
only require galley copies to make last minute changes.
Major book stores demand anywhere from 50% to 50% off the cover price to sell your book and they require YOU to pay for shipping. I have sold nearly the entire 1,000 copies of my first book (Net Prophet- The Bill Garrett Story) and I sold them all by myself. A hard cover, 12-point font, 212 page book, it has done very well. It took a ton of work, but I recovered my initial investment.
I consider that a major success for a first effort.
Many services tout their ability to 'make your book available,' but
that's NOT the same thing as actually placing it in the bookstores. I had inquiries from big stores, but it would have cost ME money to allow them to sell my books. Sadly, self-publishing is a hard row to hoe!
It boasts rewards, but they come after many hours of hard work. All in all, if a spiel sounds too good to be true, it doesn't fare too well in fiscal terms.
Contact area libraries for interest. If you have a locally-owned
bookstore, see if they will sell your book at a % that allows you to
make money. Otherwise, go the hard route and do it yourself. Often
small newspapers will focus on budding writers. Try that angle, too!
My second book (The Brown Paper Sack) is doing well, but I work every day to get it to a wider audience. With a third book due for release in November, I'm ready to continue my adventure in publishing--- this time with 3 offerings.
Good luck, girls!
www.sugarcreekpublishing.com
----------
In the February 4, 2004 issue under “Wonderful Websites,” www.blueirisjournal.com was announced by Christine Hohlbaum as welcoming “reviewers, authors, editors, publishers and others working in the publishing industry” to list forthcoming titles in all genres of fiction and non-fiction.” Toni Leland, executive editor of Next Step Writers Services, www.newconcordpress.com, offers an update: “I contacted the Blue Iris Journal about genres reviewed and just received a nice note back from the editor, Elizabeth Burton. They are closing the site except for the archives. She no longer has time to manage it. Nuts. It was a really good one, too!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Classified
Steve Manchester, screenwriter, poet and author of THE ROCKIN' CHAIR, www.jacobevans.com , is soliciting entries for a poetry anthology, WHISPERS OF INSPIRATION.
Submitted poems (up to 60 lines) should cover such topics as birth, death and all the human wonders experienced in between: Love, Faith, Grieving, Hope, Acceptance.
The ultimate goal is to gather the finest voices in one collection of modern American poetry. Send your finest poetry in the body of an e-mail (NO ATTACHMENTS) to Paula1271@comcast.net (One poem per email, please.) Also include your contact information and a brief author bio (no more than 50 words).
Upon publication with The Sun Rising Poetry Press, selected
contributions will be compensated commensurate with that deal.
We are interested in first rights, worldwide. Please do not send
previously published material or simultaneous submissions. You will be free to republish your contribution, in English, elsewhere in the future, but we will retain rights for any and all future printings and translations of the collection.
The deadline is December 31st, 2004.
*****************************************************************
Announcements
Larnette Phillips' PEN and INK newsletter, which is now quarterly, accepts submissions from aspiring writers in fiction and poetry. There are guidelines and a reading fee. For more information, contact Larnette at redlarue1@yahoo.com
Mark Shaw announces a call for entries by the Books for Life Foundation for the second annual $25,000 John T. Lupton “New Voices in Literature” Awards. “Last year we received entries from around the world and we anticipate more this year,” says Shaw, the foundation's creative director and author of 12 published books. “Christine Montross, one of our finalists from a year ago, just received a publishing deal with Penguin. She should be a great inspiration for those who consider entering this year.”
Guidelines and rules for the awards are posted at www.booksforlifefoundation.com. The deadline for entries is May 5, 2004, and the awards will be presented at the Writer's Digest Writer's Conference at the BookExpo American convention in Chicago on June 2, 2004.
The foundation is dedicated to educating aspiring authors and poets about traditional publishing alternatives and has worked with more than 1500 writers around the world from its headquarters in Aspen, Colorado. More information about the organization and the Lupton Awards can be found on the website, by calling 970-544-3398, or by writing Mark Shaw at 450 South Galena, Aspen, Colorado 81611. www.markshaw.com
--------
Beth Davis will be in Los Angeles March 19-25, conducting hand analysis sessions.
Initial and follow up sessions available. $150/session. One hour with tape recording.
Call (310) 995-0593 or email info@handanalyst.com
to schedule.
Beth is writing her first book. www.handanalyst.com
********************************************************************
Subscriber Seminars
Linda Morelli, www.lindamorelli.us , is speaking on two panels at the weekend writers' conference at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, WV, June 4-6, 2004. She'll discuss "Prewriting, Writing and Rewriting," and will be a judge in the contest for fiction writers.
The registration fee for the conference is $315, which includes a double room on campus, all meals and entertainment, and entrance to the mega-booksigning event. (there is also a one-day conference rate of $100 for Saturday).
The contest is open to any written work of genre or literary fiction - published or unpublished. The contest fee is $30 for a maximum of 20 pages of a prologue/first chapter of a manuscript. All entries must be postmarked by April 15, 2004. Published authors may enter if they have not been published since 1996 in book-length fiction in the genre being submitted.
Registration materials and complete contest rules may be obtained from the conference website: www.shepherd.edu/wcweb, or from The Office of College Advancement, Shepherd College, P.O. Box 3210, Shepherdstown, WV 25443. For any questions about the conference, contact Barbara Cummings, Director of Writing Conference, Shepherd College Department of English, P.O. Box 3210, Shepherdstown, WV 25443. Or email Professor Cummings at: bcumming@shepherd.edu.
--------------
********************************************************************
Kudos
Jennie Bev, author of three books about fashion careers, www.JennieSBev.com , will receive coverage in Reader's Digest June 2004. Interviewed by writer Ann Matturro, Jennie will be talking about smart fashion shopping based on an insider's industry knowledgebase. www.FashionIndustryToday.com .
----------------
Christine Louise Hohlbaum reports that Moms Business Magazine has featured her book, DIARY OF A MOTHER, www.diaryofamother.com , in its winter edition (Jan/Feb 2004).
---------------
The March issue of Quietpoly Writers' Magazine, www.quietpoly.com , has a featured interview with Shirley Cheng, author of DARING QUESTS OF MYSTICS.
www.shirleycheng.com
www.quietpoly.com/quietpoly/march2004/feat-author-shirleycheng.html
-----------------
Sandy Ceren, psychologist and author of SECRETS FROM THE COUCH, www.DrSandraLevyCeren.com , is interviewed in the current issue of Writers Advice by editor C. Lynn Goodwin. http://www.writeradvice.com/#Savy
******************************************************************
Francine Silverman is author of CATSKILLS ALIVE (second edition) and LONG ISLAND ALIVE, both published in 2003 by Hunter Publishing and geared to every interest. To learn more about her guidebooks and for links to hundreds of attractions on Long Island and in the Catskills, visit Fran's one-stop website at www.nystatetravel.com. Book reviews are posted at http://catskills.hvnet.com/guides.htm;
www.blether.com/blether.php?id=7268
www.bookreviewcafe.com/longislandalive.html,
http://longisland.about.com/cs/artsentertainment/gr/li_alive.htm,
www.canarsiecourier.com/news/2003/0327/Arts_Entertainment/007.html and www.bookpleasures.com/reviewdetail.php?reviewID=95.
www.blether.com/blether.php?id=7073
To subscribe to this newsletter, send an e-mail with your first name to: franalive@optonline.net, visit: http://www.nystatetravel.com, or check the archives at www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com. Mailing address: P.O. Box 1333, Riverdale, New York 10471.
PERMISSION TO REPRINT: You may reprint any items from "Book Promotion Newsletter" in your own print or electronic newsletter. But please include the following paragraph:
Reprinted from "Book Promotion Newsletter," an ezine featuring articles, tips and promotional coups for generating book publicity. franalive@optonline.net. www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com
Home