Joylene Nowell Butler's Blog, page 14

Ask PZM - Jan 2016 - Pinterest, BookGrabbr, KDP Direct

I've decided to go out on a limb and have a new blog created out of this old one. The new one is still in the works, but as of now Ask PZM, hosted by my guest blogger, Phyllis Zimbler Miller, will air on the 10th day of each month. A new day but still the great content marketing guru Phyllis is famous for.


Ask PZM:

Q: Do you recommend any specific paid advertising options for book marketing?
I cannot recommend any specific paid advertising options because there are so many variables for a successful ad campaign.  I will, though, share where I have recently been spending limited-budget book marketing funds.

1.   Pinterest.com ads

I’m using this option for a pin of my nonfiction book HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREP FOR COLLEGE.  This pin had gotten some repins and I wanted to increase the repins in the hopes that some repinners would then click through and actually buy the ebook (or the paperback).
There are two Pinterest ad choices for Promoted Pins: engagement campaigns and traffic campaigns.  I am using traffic campaigns although for your books perhaps engagement campaigns may make more sense.  (The difference between the two campaigns is explained at https://business.pinterest.com/en/promoted-pinsand note that I have not yet experimented with Rich Pins – see https://business.pinterest.com/en/rich-pins) 
To date I have been pleased by the number of repins and “likes” the book pin has gotten through the Promoted Pins campaigns.  On the other hand, the book has had no extra sales that I can discern.  Still, if this book pin is now on other people’s boards, there may be extra sales in the future.
To start advertising with Promoted Pins you must have a U.S.-based business account.  You can go to https://business.pinterest.com/en to join as a business account or to convert your current account to a business account.

  2.   Bookgrabbr.com

This is an innovative site I discovered for book authors and book lovers.  Book authors pay a monthly fee for each book on the site, while book lovers can download books for free and promote these books/actions via social media.  The download is in either ePub or pdf format, and you can limit the number of free downloads.
I have been experimenting with this site in this way: I uploaded a pdf of a short story prequel – THE BLOOD GUILT PRICE – that I wrote for my fantasy adventure story ROAD TO ZANZICA, which is a Kindle ebook.  I’m hoping that people who download the prequel will then go to Amazon and either read ROAD TO ZANZICA for free via Kindle Unlimited or buy the ebook.

(You can help with this experiment by signing up for a free BookGrabbr account and then downloading THE BLOOD GUILT PRICE at http://budurl.com/BloodGuiltPrice – and you don’t even have to read the four pages of the story.  The important part is downloading the pdf so that this information is spread through social media.)
SIDE NOTE: Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited monthly subscriptions may be having a tremendous impact on ebook sales of unknown authors.  I just revisited all the book pages on my author website and added for each book that it is free via Kindle Unlimited.  This is true of my ebooks because they are all KDP Select, which automatically puts those books on Kindle Unlimited. 

3.     Amazon advertising for KDP Select

I tried this advertising option several months ago with two campaigns for my women’s friendship novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and wasn’t that impressed with the results.  But I don’t remember at that time that the choice of one of two options included an opportunity to have a book advertised on Kindle.  As I have a Kindle with ads enabled, I’d love to have my books advertised that way.
As Amazon explains (the boldface is mine as this is the option I chose):
“You can choose to have your ad delivered to customers who previously browsed the Kindle Store for a particular genre (targeting by interest), or to customers interested in specific products on Amazon (targeting by product). When you target by interest, your ads will automatically be considered for placement on Kindle E-readers. When you target by product, your ads will not be eligible to appear on Kindle E-readers.”

Now I am trying one campaign each for two different books – spy thriller CIA FALL GUY and cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE.  It may be that different categories do better than others when using this advertising option.
You can learn more at https://kdp.amazon.com

In conclusion, I wish there were a magic bullet I could recommend that would make all our books bestsellers.  But in the absence of such an option, all we can do is keep experimenting and sharing our information with each other.  So do share in the comments below if you have had success with specific paid advertising opportunities.


Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books on Amazon.  She blogs on book-related topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com

IWSG: I'm Like An Old Worn-out Shoe

It's that the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thanks to our noble Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, it's time to share our fears and insecurities, or support and assistance. Doesn't matter which.

If you'd like to join us, click here. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.

Our hashtag is #IWSG

Alex's awesome co-hosts for the January 6 posting of the IWSG are L.G. Keltner, Denise Covey, Sheri Larsen, J.Q. Rose, Chemist Ken, and Michelle Wallace! 

Please stop by and thank them for their time and effort.


And don’t forget we're announcing the winners of the Anthology Contest today! 




Thanks, Alex for creating Insecure Writer's Support Group. Thanks IWSG bloggers for making it a safe place to share. Over the years, many of your posts have moved me deeply. I've grieved with you. Laughed with you. Cheered for you. You have inspired me during my best and worst moments.
For a long time, sharing the worst moments felt redundant to me, as if giving those moments relevance was useful.

I believed that -- at the same time that you were putting it out there for everyone to see.

The Writing Life is difficult, you wrote. Also wondrous, exciting. Sometimes horrible.

That you continue to share post like that is appreciated. (I'm searching for a better word) Valued.

Sometimes I stand outside myself and look at the life I've lived. To the world I am a pleasant woman, a proud grandmother. Cheerful, optimistic, kind. On occasion: wise. People often say they look at me and sense joy.

Most days I look in the mirror and see the opposite, not only insecurities but despair. I often wake joyless. Even now, the child in me is horrified to see these words jump out at me: This is who you really are, Joylene -- fearful, anxious, sad. These negative emotions fill my cup, even while I live the best times of my life.

All this might sound alarming, but you must remember I am a storyteller. A contradiction. I channel my fear and write compelling novels about strong protagonists who overcome being broken. Life isn't easy, and while I can and should choose to be happy despite everything, most days it helps to incorporate the pain into a story. Which doesn't mean I can't be happy or that I don't love life.

I'm sharing this today because I know there are many who feel this way, and I want you to understand that you're not alone. Being brave and announcing to the world that you feel consumed by feelings of rejection or irrelevance won't bring the world to an end. It won't give birth to more havoc. Revealing those fears won't break you. It's simply a declaration that you're writing from your gut to announce that this is part of who you are.

Life is a struggle. Being a writer is a struggle. In the morning, before your eyes open, tell the universe what it is you want. Then let it go. If doubts surface, which of course they will, whisper your new mantra:


"Everything will be okay--everything will be okay--
Everything will be okay--" 

Mexico to Canada to England

In my Winter in Bucerias 2014/15 post I mentioned how incredible 2015 was. I've had many great times in my life, but never an entire year that stood out as 2015 did.  I saw exotic creatures and historical sites I'd only ever seen on TV. I met wonderful people.

Bucerias


San Sebastian



After six months of blissful existence in Bucerias, Nayarit, we returned to Canada via Vancouver. Every time I see Vancouver, I'm awestruck by how stunning it is. We live 700 km north and don't visit enough.

City of Vancouver
The next day we caught a connecting flight to Prince George. Very soon the ice was gone from the lake and the loons, bears, fox, beavers, ducks, birds, and the occasionally cougar were back.


Yay, garage spread everywhere. 
Cluculz Lake, home
I am eight generation Canadian, a small-town girl from Maple Ridge with big dreams, who loves her country. I've had the honour of visiting eight out of ten provinces and one out of three territories. For the last 25 years, we've lived on quiet and beautiful Cluculz Lake in central British Columbia, 700 kms north of Vancouver.

Though I dreamed about leaving the continent, I never truly believed I would. Thanks to our youngest, who was stationed in Larkhill for one year, I flew to London in June. The United Kingdom is  ... well, there aren't adequate words to describe it.




Our son, my daughter-in-law, and my grandchildren were living in PMQ, military housing within walking distance to Stonehenge. I know! I visited STONEHENGE!


This is me in awe of where I am. Stonehenge behind me. 

Stonehenge was sacred, MASSIVE, an enigma. I stood and listened to the silence, yet I heard the distinct murmurs of every soul who'd stood there before me.


Archaeologists believe Stonehenge was constructed 4000 to 5000 years ago. The big stones are called sarsens and are as tall as 30'. There are various theories as to how they arrived from Wales. Some archaeologist believe they were moved by the advancing ice-age. But most of the truths of Stonehenge are shrouded in mystery. I'm so glad I was able to see it.




Roman Bath in SomersetWhile in England, I visited my paternal grandmother's birthplace in Bath, Somerset. Had a plate of authentic fish and chips. Saw the Roman bathhouse. Toured Jane Austen's residence. People-watched from the window of a nearby pub with my son. Stood outside Jack's and listened to a man playing the trumpet solo of The Very Thought of You.





At the Cathedra in Bath I found myself overwhelmed and had to swallow the lump in the throat. On the walls and floors are tombstones and plagues of residents who passed between the 12th century all the way to the 19th century. Among them were babies, soldiers, women who died in childbirth. 
My great-grandparents attended Sunday service here






I visited Old Wardour Castle and felt the ground move with the activity of the people who had lived and worked on the land centuries ago. For a moment, I was back there, in the midst of the bustle. My senses experienced it as once a vibrant and happy place.






There is so much I could say about England, but it would take forever. I hope the photos speak for themselves. England is truly a magnificent place.

Salisbury






Wiltshire


River Thames
London's Eye
Big Ben in the distance


Waterloo Station

If you visit England, prepare to see something new and fascinating every single day, and still only get a glimpse.

London Bridge




Buckingham Palace
If you can bare with me, next time I'd like to share photos of the Salisbury Cathedra and the Magna Carta.


Happy New Year. 

Winter in Bucerias 2014/15

2015 was an incredible year. Unique in its uniqueness. With our two cats Marbles and Shasta in hand, we flew down to Mexico after Halloween. Hubby constructed a chicken wire fence around our casa to protect our cats the tiny little geckos from harm. Later, we welcomed the New Year at a poolside fiesta in Los Arroyos Verdes, a botanic garden compound east of Bucerias.


We met wonderful people in 2015; friends for life, I suspect.












We visited the historical and enchanting village of San Sebastian Oeste deep in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Jalisco. Their beautiful church is dedicated to the town's patron, San Sebastian. It was built in the 1660 and renovated in 1868 after an earthquake.







Three of my amigas and I spent two days in Guadalajara.








Shopped 'til we dropped!



Bucerias, Nayarit, a small town north of Puerto Vallarta, is heaven on earth.

Exotic foods

Melacon twenty minutes away



Heated pool
Somebody had to. 

People say, "Must be nice," then give me that look when I tell them we spend our winters in Mexico. I know how opulent it sounds to them, but honestly, it's more economical than wintering in Canada. Especial for retirees.

That must make BC Hydro very sad.


The Mexican people are generous, kind, and welcoming. Nothing is more important than family.

Christmas Party
They have their Arts



Ocean
The view from Breakers, a beachfront restaurant/bar owned by a fellow Manitoban. 


Beach



How many of us could paint our house pink without drugs meds provocation?






Sunset over Banderas Bay
Punta Mita






Feel very blessed spending my winters in this beautiful country.



 ... ended the first 6 months of 2015 by jumping the pond and visiting our youngest and his family in the UK. More on that later ...



Feliz Navidad, mis amigos!

Living an unboring existence in Bucerias

For over a year now, I've been blogging mostly once a month. Someone in my writer's group gave me a double take when I said this the other day. His expression lead me to analysis why my blogging has slipped off the radar.

Why do I blog only once a month?

Even then I'm not really blogging. My guest host Phyllis answers questions during our Ask PZM segment for the IWSG first Wednesday of the month. And occasionally, my very funny friend, Hank Quense blogs about something hysterical.

So, technically, it's not me blogging.

After deep contemplation, I think I've discovered why I hesitate to blog. I worry that I've become boring. Not sure if it's my age, my lifestyle, or my laid back attitude.




In one of her books, Sylvia Brown said that Taurus are the most boring of the zodiac signs. Sylvia wasn't exactly an authority on signs, though she was a psychic. But since reading her comment, six years past, I've been asking people if they agree. Everyone knows a Taurus. You may even have one or more in your immediate space. Are they boring?


I'm seeking honest answers. Be kind, but not too blunt. And don't worry about me. I'm searching online this very moment to see how I can undo my boringness.

IWSG: Ask PZM - Dec 2015 - Formating, Pinterest, and Contests

It's that the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thanks to our noble Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, it's time to share our fears and insecurities, or support and assistance. Doesn't matter which.


If you'd like to join us, click here. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.

Our hashtag is #IWSG

Alex's awesome co-hosts for the December 2 posting of the IWSG will be Sandra Hoover, Mark Koopmans, Doreen McGettigan, Megan Morgan, and Melodie Campbell! 

Please stop by and thank them for their time and effort.


A S K   P Z M

Q: What is your opinion about indented or block (un-indented) paragraphs for books?

I was just sent a review copy of a nonfiction ebook that had block paragraphs and a line of space between each paragraph. I found this format much harder to read than the traditional indented paragraphs with no space between each paragraph, and I advised the author of my opinion.

In response, he quoted a source who said that the convention was indented paragraphs for fiction and block paragraphs for nonfiction although this was only a preference. (No, I’m not going to quote the source here because I don’t agree with the advice.)

BUT – my mantra always is: Make it as easy as possible for people to say yes to you.

And I personally feel indented paragraphs make it much easier for people to read both fiction and nonfiction.

To validate my opinion, I went to Amazon and checked the paragraph formatting of the very insightful book LEAN IN by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Except for the beginning of each chapter, the paragraphs are indented with no space between paragraphs.

In conclusion to this question, when considering formatting for your own books, think EASE OF READING because, after all, you wrote your books to be read.


Q: Do affiliate links work for pins on Pinterest?

No, and I learned this the hard way. A reviewer wrote a very thoughtful review of my book HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREP FOR COLLEGE, and this particular pin of mine on Pinterest gets a number of repins. But, after listening to a webinar featuring Pinterest expert Beth Hayden, I realized that the review’s link to my book on Amazon was an affiliate link. Thus anyone who clicked on the pin and read the review found a non-working buy link.

What a waste of the repins!

How did I solve this as I didn’t want to ask the reviewer to change his affiliate link on his own site?

I edited the link in the pin to not go to the review on the reviewer’s page but go instead to the book on Amazon, where (with the reviewer’s permission) his review also appears. This way there is no need for a working link from the review as the buy button is right there.

(Shoutout: I first learned from Beth Hayden on a free webinar hosted by Publicity Hound Joan Stewart. Then I signed up for Beth’s paid Pinterest course for authors as I realized I wasn’t effectively using Pinterest. Now I’m slowly working through my existing Pinterest boards and pins to make all of these more effective. You can see my work-in-progress at http://pinterest.com/zimblermiller)


Q: Any thoughts on entering writing contests?

There are contests and there are contests – entrance fee or free, completed books (or screenplays) or works-in-progress, run by small individual websites or by major organizations, major publicity exposure for winners or very little exposure.

The simple answer is that each opportunity has to be evaluated on its individual merits, your own contest-entry “budget” and whether before the deadline you can carve out the time to enter.

Now I have seen extensive lists of available writing contests. I find such lists daunting (and I ignore them). But occasionally when a contest catches my eye I will consider entering it.

The site Skrawl.com just sponsored its first screenwriting contest and I decided to enter because the requirement was only to write five pages of an original screenplay. I already had a treatment written for a screenplay complete with dialogue for the setup, so I adapted that dialogue into five pages of screenplay format.

But if I hadn’t already had something suitable, I may not have taken time away from my other writing projects to develop the premise and the first five pages of an original screenplay.

(Follow Skrawl on Twitter to keep abreast of other contests: https://twitter.com/Skrawl_It)

Bottom line, consider contests when they fit into your overall writing schedule but not to the detriment of your writing!








Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books on Amazon. She blogs on book-related topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com
and this month she is particularly proud of the World War II military service article her 91-year-old father just wrote for her site –
see http://budurl.com/wwiimilitary

IWSG: Ask PZM, repost - Providing Reviews

It's that the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thanks to our noble Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, it's time to share our fears and insecurities, or support and assistance. Doesn't matter which.

If you'd like to join us, click here. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.

Our hashtag is #IWSG 

Alex's wonderful co-hosts for November 4 posting of IWSG will be: Stephen Tremp, Karen Walker, Denise Covey, and Tyrean Martinson! 

A S K  P Z M
repost from August 2010


Q:  Should I take the time to do reviews of other people’s books on Amazon?
Absolutely! You’re a book author – and people on Amazon who are looking at other authors’ books are presumably book buyers. And the best books to review are probably ones similar to yours.

The more reviews you write the more you will be getting your name in front of book buyers. And even if your book isn’t yet published, you want book buyers to know about you.
Anyone who has ever bought anything on Amazon (and thus has an Amazon account) can post a review. The review itself doesn’t have to be very long (I personally think less is more) although it should provide helpful information rather than only saying something such as “great book.”

How does this get your name in front of readers?
First, here is Amazon’s explanation for your public name on Amazon:

“Your Public Name is the public name you associate with contributions to the Amazon Community, such as Customer Reviews, Discussion Posts or Seller Feedback.

“You're asked to pick a Public Name the very first time you participate in the community and you can always change it later on your public profile page by selecting Your Public Name & Info from the Profile page settings dropdown menu. Your Public Name appears next to any Customer Reviews, Customer Images, Seller Feedback or Customer Discussions posted by you. You have the option of using your real-world name or a pseudonym”

Thus you can choose which name to appear above your reviews. (I actually dislike that Amazon allows people to hide their identity, but this does work for authors who use pseudonyms.) Obviously you want to use your author name for reviewing books in genres related to the books you write.

Using me as an example, when I sign into my Amazon account (which I separated from my husband's account when I started self-publishing on Amazon), I see at the top lefthand side of the screen "Phyllis's Amazon.com"

I click on that and then choose "Your Profile" in the navigation links that appear below. Then I see my profile page, which has my Amazon public activities including links to all my reviews on Amazon.

Your public name automatically appears at the top of the reviews you write. You can also manually put your name and something brief such as the name of one of your books at the end of the review.

Anyone reading a review by you can click on your name at the top and go to your public profile that also includes an email address and a website link as well as a description of you in the "About" section where you can talk about being an author.

And if you have not yet published any books, you can describe your upcoming book projects in the “About” section.

Note that an Amazon public profile has nothing to do with an Amazon author page.

My Amazon public profile: www.amazon.com/gp/profile/A19STY1LAQS0X1
My Amazon fiction author page:www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
Another way to get to your public profile – go to YOUR ACCOUNT (first dropdown link under YOUR ACCOUNT at top of righthand screen under your name), scroll down to PERSONALIZATION, in the COMMUNITY section click on YOUR PUBLIC PROFILE.

And here are Amazon’s instructions for editing your profile: Go to your Profile page. Click Profile page settings on the drop-down menu. Update your personal information by making changes to the Your Public Name & Information tab. Click Save.
One final word: I usually only write a book review when I can give a positive one. As I know how hard authors work to create their books, I am loath to write a negative review. I’d rather just not write a review. On the other hand, if there were a good reason for writing a negative review, such as if I found the material particularly offensive, I might then write a negative review to warn others of the offensive content.

Bottom line: When you can write a good review about an author’s book that you have read, you should take the time to do the review to help that author as well as help get your name noticed!




Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a fiction and nonfiction author who blogs on book-related topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and her most recent Kindle ebook is a fantasy adventure story, ROAD TO ZANZICA, on Amazon at http://amzn.com/B015M48QOK/

IWSG: Ask PZM - Inside Your Book

It's that the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thanks to our noble Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, it's time to share our fears and insecurities, or support and assistance. Doesn't matter which.

If you'd like to join us, click here. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.

Our hashtag is #IWSG

Alex's wonderful co-hosts for October 7 posting of IWSG will be:

TB Markinson, Tamara Narayan, Shannon Lawrence, Stephanie Faris, and Eva E. Solar!  

Please stop by and thank them for their time and effort.

*Don't forget, you need to post for IWSG for Oct 7 to quality for the anthology contest.*

  A s k  P Z M  

Q: What additional material can be included in a book besides the text of the book?
First, let’s get a few basics out of the way:
Obviously there needs to be a copyright line and, for a work of fiction, the standard disclaimer about how this is a work of fiction, etc., etc.  And these probably need to be at the beginning of the book.
Besides this and your book’s title and author name, much of the additional material can be at the conclusion of the book rather than at the beginning.
Why?  Because of the way major bookseller Amazon displays the beginning of a book via “look inside.”  If you want to hook people on buying or borrowing your book, better to have the “meat” of the book up front to be sampled and put the additional material at the back.
Now there are exceptions to this strategy.  For example, if you have a nonfiction book in which the chapter titles are very descriptive of the information in the book, you might want to have a table of contents at the beginning. 
Or, for example, if your bio is very important to why someone should read your nonfiction book, then it makes sense to put that bio at the beginning of the book.
On the question of reviews – although I know that many publishers put laudatory quotes at the beginning of a book, I personally find this annoying.  Still, you may want to consider putting two or three short quotes at the beginning of the book.  If so, I would recommend quotes that give an idea of the book’s content rather than simply saying “great read.”
Now let’s look at some of the additional material that you can share at the end of your book:

1.   Your bio – choosing what is most relevant for that particular book and perhaps including a photo.2.   Title and brief description of your other books plus links to where these can be purchased.3.     Your author website URL. 4.     Your major social media accounts.5.     Your email if you want to be contacted.6.     Information about your availability for speaking engagements.7.     Acknowledgments.8.    Sample of one of your other books – the first chapter or so – and links to where this book can be purchased.

Other additional material depends on your book and what you’d like to share.
For example, while I wove three kosher recipes into the text of my cozy mystery CAST THE FIRST STONE, for the sequel that I’m working on now – SINK LIKE A STONE – I’m going to put the recipes at the end.  I’m doing this because including the recipes in the actual story impedes the flow of the action.
Also, I’m trying another experiment with the fantasy adventure story ROAD TO ZANZICA that I just put on Kindle.  At the end of the story I listed the titles of the future stories in the series so that readers know the further adventures I envision.  (The titles are rather explicit as to which adventures are planned.)
And with a nonfiction book, you may want to share your reference material including photos and original documents or other resources connected to the subject material.  (I am including original documents from 1970 to 1972 in my Cold War memoir TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY.)
In conclusion, if you have other recommendations for additional material to be included in a book, do share these in the comments below.



Phyllis Zimbler Miller – the author of fiction and nonfiction books – blogs on book-related topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and is active on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller

IWSG: Ask PZM and "New" IWSG Contest!

It's that the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thanks to our noble Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, it's time to share our fears and insecurities, or support and assistance. Doesn't matter which.

If you'd like to join us, click here. Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.

Our hashtag is #IWSG

Alex's wonderful co-hosts for September 2 are: Julie Flanders, Murees Dupé, Dolorah at Book Lover, Christine Rains, and Heather Gardner! 

Please stop by and thank them for their time and effort.

* * * * 

The IWSG Short Story Contest 2015
After the success of last year’s IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond, we decided to create another book. This time it’s a short story competition with the top ten stories getting published in the anthology.

Eligibility: Any member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is encouraged to enter – blogging or Facebook member. The story must be previously unpublished. Entry is free.

Word count: 5000-6000

Theme: Alternate History/Parallel Universe. That’s right, we’ve decided to go the speculative route. This theme has plenty of scope and we’re open to pretty much anything along these lines, except erotica or graphic violence.

Story deadline: November 1st 2015

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted, previously unpublished story to TheIWSG at gmail dot com before the deadline passes. Make sure to include your contact details.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges:

·    Laura Maisano - Senior editor at Anaiah Press for their YA/NA Christian fiction

·    Russell Connor - Author and owner of Dark Filament Publishing Startup

·    Candace Havens - Editorial Director for the Covet, Select, Select Otherworld, Select Historical , Embrace, Indulgence for Entangled Publishing. She is also a nationally syndicated columnist and awarded-winning and best-selling author. 

·    Dawn Frederick – Literary agent and the founder of Red Sofa Literary

·    Alice Speilburg – Founder of the Speilburg Literary Agency

·    Michelle Johnson – Bookstore owner and founder of Inklings Literary Agency

·    Kendare Blake - Author

·    Lydia Moëd - Associate agent at The Rights Factory
Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press in the IWSG anthology next year. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title. The winners will also receive an exclusive badge to display on their blog.

We’re excited to see the creativity and enthusiasm that’s such a part of this group put into action. So don your creative caps and start writing. And spread the word!
The #IWSG short story anthology contest is open! For details - http://www.insecurewriterssupportgrou... #contest #shortstory#anthology
* * * *

A s k   P Z M (repost from July 2010)
Q:  What are the most important elements for a book author website?

The most important element of all is the ability for you the author to make changes yourself at a moment’s notice.  If you have an unexpected book signing come up or a fabulous book review that you want to post ASAP, then you need to be able to do that.
(While you can do this on Facebook and other social media sites, you do not own your accounts on those sites.  If Facebook, for example, decides to take down your account, you’ve lost everything.)
I personally recommend using WordPress.org (known as just WordPress) for both a blog and a website that puts the power in your own hands. 
Once a WordPress self-hosted site is up, you can make changes as easily as you make changes in Word.  (Of course, there is a similar learning curve as there was with Word.)
First , a clarification.  I am NOT talking about WordPress.com, which is a hosted site the same way a blogger site is a hosted blog site.   (A hosted blog site rather than self-hosted has the same issue as in the Facebook example above.)
Second, it is important to understand that you really need a web person to set up your self-hosted WordPress blog/site.  And what’s more, just any WordPress website isn’t ideal. 
You need a site built by a person who understands search engine optimization, keyword pages, etc.  Otherwise your site will be way, way back in search engine results.
Once your site is set up, you are ready to take over (if you want).
Third, your website address (the URL or domain name of the site) is important.  When you use your website address on social media sites, you want it to reflect what your site is about.  If you have a book title that is not very specific, such as the imaginary “Having Fun,” you might want to get the URL “HavingFunTheBook.”  
FYI: All is not lost if you have a site now without an effective website address.  You can get a new URL and redirect that to your current site.  In the above example, you would get “HavingFunTheBook” and redirect it to “HavingFun.”  Then you would use “HavingFunTheBook” when you share the link to your author site.
Fourth, of course, you want to make it very clear where someone can buy your book – and make it very easy for people to do so. 

You do NOT want to give the link, for example, as amazon.com.  When people get to the home page of Amazon, they can get easily distracted and forget what book they are looking for or actually try unsuccessfully to find your book.

(Be very careful not to make the mistake I did on purpose in the above paragraph.  I recommend not putting a period after a URL if the URL ends a sentence.  This is because sometimes people who copy a URL pick up the period also and then can’t get the link to the site to work.  Either I just leave off the period or find a way to end the sentence with other than the URL.)
Make sure that the link to buying your book is very obvious – and have it near the top of the page and not where people have to scroll down to find it.
Fifth, make sure that people coming to your book author site know exactly what’s on offer.  Is the book fiction or nonfiction?  The first of a trilogy?  An award-winning book?  And the cover of your book should be featured prominently.
For an example of this, go to my site at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and see how I have put FICTION and NONFICTION as top nav buttons.  Then click on those buttons and note my book cover galley for each that allows site visitors to clearly choose which books to learn about.   
Also, you can include excerpts of your books on your own site or link to your excerpts on other sites such as Wattpad.  (I have utilized both of these options on my author site.)
Sixth, if at all possible, have a blog as part of your website (using WordPress for a site automatically includes the opportunity to have a blog as part of the site).  A blog is usually the best way to continually add fresh content to a website, and search engines love fresh content.  Thus fresh content on a blog can help your site rank higher in the search engine results.
(Note that at my author site I have chosen to put my blog on the home page, but this is not required.  You can have other info on your home page and have your blog elsewhere on your site.)
Also, have a sign-up on your site so that people can automatically get your new blog posts either through email notification or through an RSS feed.  This is what I have automatically at the end of each blog post:
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller – the author of fiction and nonfiction books – blogs on book-related topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and is active on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller

Virtual Journey

Come and visit me. I'm over at IWSG's webpage talking about how authors can use a tool like google map (one of many) to take a virtual trip to anywhere you need to be for your story; places you may never see in person.

Cotswolds on the Stow, England

Come back next week if you can. I've written a review on an outstanding novel (5 stars) from new author V. L. Smith call The White Spider of Savignac.