Writer to Writer September 2005

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Hey there Writers,

Believe it or not, another month has flown by.

It’s been a rather busy one for me, with quite a few writing activities happening. One of the highlights was the RWAustralia conference where I was lucky enough to score an editor pitch. My appointment was with a senior editor from Harlequin, Mills & Boon. It was my first ever pitch, and I was incredibly nervous, but the editor made me feel right at home.

She was impressed with my credits (especially my contest wins) and even more so that I’d scored 98 out of 100 points in a fairly recent contest for the book I was pitching. By the end of my ten minutes she had requested three chapters to be sent to Harlequin Intrigue. Yes, I’m thrilled, but now have a lot of work ahead of me.

Apart from the editor appointment, the conference was wonderful. We started the weekend with a ‘Night of the Raj’ cocktail party. If you would like to take a peek at the fun and games, click here. (I’m the one in the plum coloured Salwar Kameez. Terrible photographs of me – it’s rare for them to turn out well. <sigh>)

There were two workshops that particularly interested me – writing suspense, and undercover cops. I was really sorry to see both sessions end. (But I did snag a business card from the undercover cop with a promise to answer any questions I might have in the future!)

I had a lot of technical issues with my computer this last month. Every now and then (at least ten times a day!) my keyboard would jam up. It didn’t matter what I did, I just couldn’t get it to work properly. I even changed the batteries in my cordless mouse. When I finally asked hubby to take a look – some four or five days later - as it was driving me crazy (or should that be crazier? lol) he wanted to know when I’d last changed the batteries.

"Batteries? What batteries?" I demanded. "It’s a keyboard, not a mouse."

He should be used to it by now, but hubby just sighed. "It’s a cordless keyboard, how else do you think it works?"

Hmmm… Yes, well, my keyboard is working fine now, thank you very much.

You should have received an email from me a few weeks ago with the link to the subscriber only area. I added some additional subscriber gifts and the email was sent out to notify you of the additions. If you didn't receive notification, please email and I’ll send the link to you.

As you know, I am endeavouring to constantly expand the Writer2Writer.com website. To this end, I invited Marilyn Henderson, author of over 60 novels, to write a regular mystery column for this ezine and the website. I can now happily tell you that Marilyn accepted my offer, and her column will start next month.

For this month, Marilyn has written an introductory article which I’m sure you’ll find of interest.

We also have our wonderful regulars, Cynthia VanRooy (romance column) and Beth Morrow (book reviewer), along with Dr Bob Rich, a long time friend.

This month Cynthia writes about Back Story, Beth has reviewed two books, both books by the same author, which could be used as companion books (I have both these books in my personal library). Although these books go together, I’ve split the reviews into two to make them easier to find at the website. Last, but certainly not least, Bob talks about ways to make your fiction more gripping.

My article this month is about writing articles to get free publicity for yourself. Aptly named "Writing Articles for Publicity" it was written specifically for a marketing ezine a few weeks ago. I’ve been a member of this particular ezine for a while now, and felt an article on this subject would be very helpful to the ezine’s subscribers.

Little did I know that Hilda Johnson-Slader, would love my article so much she would make a piece of software in honour of it. Not only that, she offered the software to her subscribers at no cost whatsoever. But wait, there’s more! (I feel like the steak-knife man. lol) Hilda has generously allowed her subscribers to give the software away to her subscribers, who can give it to their subscribers, who can give it to….

I’m sure you get the picture.

The fantastic thing about all this is that my name, website, and bio are all included in the piece of software. When I offered to write it, I had no idea how much publicity the article would attract.

Speaking of publicity, the next addition of the Authors Unlimited newsletter is almost ready to go out. For those who don’t know, AU is the promotional group I set up some months back. We’re about to launch our second contest, and will also be starting an interactive story where... You know what? You need to check it out yourself. Click here to view our website, or see the banner in this issue.

You probably noticed that I forgot to send out a reminder that the ebook specials were about to end. Because of this oversight, I’ve extended the finish date to the end of the month. The subscriber-only discounts will now be applicable until September 30th.If you want to save some money on these products, don’t delay. I will be removing the pages at the end of this month. Here are the links for the discounted products:

Outside the Square Fiction Writing Workshop ebook: http://www.writer2writer.com/outside_square_subs.htm

How to Create Profitable Products in a Day or Less: http://www.writer2writer.com/profitableproducts_subs.htm

Okay, I’ve rambled enough - on with the issue!

Til next month,

Cheryl

Quote of the Month:

It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.

Anthony Robbins

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Purchasing through affiliate links and advertisements in this newsletter assist in keeping it free.

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Please note: Language is set as "English - Australia" - words are not spelled incorrectly. (Not intentionally, anyway!)

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Announcements:

Writer's Digest magazine is once again putting together its list of the '101 Best Websites for Writers'! If Writer2Writer.com has helped you in any way, I’d be very appreciative if you could take a moment to write to Writer's Digest and nominate Writer2Writer.com for their 2005 list. Nominations should be emailed to mailto:writersdig@fwpubs.com with your nomination and any comments you have about the site. The subject line should be "101 Sites".

Thank you for your support!

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YOUNG WRITERS NEEDED!

Ever wished you had someone to talk to about your writing? Ever get tired of the fact that being under drinking age keeps editors from treating you with respect? Now you have a place to go. We’ve developed a stable of serious volunteer mentors who want to give back to others and help young writers with their stories, poetry, screenplays, or novels.

C. Hope Clark of FundsforWriters.com fame and Elisabeth Wilhelm, published teen writer and editor of Absynthemuse.com, have teamed up to fill a void. Their mentor program gives young people ages 13 to 22 a chance to be taken seriously. This is their way of giving back to the writing community. Using their own adult/teen combo, they set the example for what mentoring can do for young people. Currently, they have 80 willing mentors and 30 eager teens having a ball.

We need more young writers so we can put these mentors to work! Learn more at:

http://mentoring.absynthemuse.com . Direct questions to either hope@fundsforwriters.com or Elisabeth@sent.com.

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EU Writers group started

A group for European writers has been started. The aim of the group is to provide a place for discussion and getting to know each other. Writers are welcome to post news about their successes. Editors and publishers are welcome to join and/or send guidelines.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/euwriters .
Subscribe: euwriters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest now in its 22nd year: An opportunity for new and amateur writers of science fiction and/or fantasy. Eligible entries are short stories or novelettes under 17,000 words. No entry fee, entrants retain all rights, judging by professional writers only. Run on a quarterly basis with $2250 US in prizes awarded each quarter. International entrants welcome. Contact the Contest Administrator for guidelines: contests@authorservicesinc.com or PO Box 1630, Los Angeles, CA 90078. Website: www.writersofthefuture.com.

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AUTHORS SHARE THEIR BOOK MARKETING EXPERTISE WITH WEB VISITORS – FOR FREE

The book industry reports that 78% of the titles published come from small/self-publishers. With combined annual revenues of less than $50 million, these publishers have limited publicity budgets and their authors are expected to do their own promotion. Where can they turn and learn?

Now authors with books to promote may ask questions of nearly 150 author experts whose specialties run the gamut from romance to foot surgery.

Assembled from the thousands of subscribers to Book Promotion Newsletter, the experts include authors, editors, book reviewers, book coaches, ghostwriters, publicists and publishers.

This free service is hosted by Maureen McMahon at http://www.maureenmcmahon.com, author of romantic suspense novels, Return of the Gulls, Shadows In the Mists and others, and Francine Silverman, author of Book Marketing from A-Z (Infinity Publishing 2005), a compilation of the best marketing strategies of 325 authors. http://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com

The "Ask the Experts" link is on the left side of Maureen’s Moonspinners Writer’s Page, http://www.maureenmcmahon.com. Once at the Expert Side, visitors may ask a book marketing question of any of the experts. Responses will be emailed back to the inquirer within 3-5 working days.

Lemon Drops Press is also hosting a bulletin board in which visitors may ask book marketing questions at http://lemondropspress.com/phpBB2. Both registered users and anonymous guests can post questions by clicking on "Marketing with Fran" in the community forum and then on "new topic" on the new page that opens. There are fields for a username, subject, and message, as well as a selection of fonts and emoticons (expressive faces). When finished, the user simply clicks the "submit" button and his or her question is posted. After Fran posts a reply on the forum, the person who asked the question as well as all other visitors to the Lemon Drops Press website will be able to view both the question and the response. "In this way," says host Lana Jordan, "the entire community benefits from the individual questions."

Note: Cheryl is one of the 'experts' for this!

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Writing Articles for Publicity

If you’re looking for an easy but effective way to garner publicity, try writing articles.

There are gazillions of ezines and websites looking for content; good, solid, well written content. And in my experience, most of them are happy to accept reprints.

But how do you write articles, and go about getting your articles known?

Firstly, you need to write about something that people are interested in. Pick a subject (or subjects) that you are knowledgeable in, but more importantly, the subject should be related to a book you have written and are currently selling.

I generally write about techniques used in writing. The reason is that it helps to spread the word about my ebooks for writers and the Writer2Writer.com website.

This gives me a lot of scope since there are a variety of writing related subjects to write about, and most are within my areas of expertise.

I’ve recently released a new book on fiction writing, so I’ve simultaneously released articles on specific areas of fiction writing, and they’ve been snapped up. (My affiliates are always the first to be notified of the release of articles, but later they become free-for-all.)

Sure, I’m not getting paid for them, but the sales that have resulted are worth much more than the lost income from selling the articles.

So how do you go about this lucrative form of publicity?

Firstly, find a subject that you are comfortable with. Decide what the focus of your article will be; the trick to writing articles that will bring publicity is to focus on just one subject.

As the owner/editor for the Writer2Writer.com site, I receive many article submissions. The majority of them are well written and within the scope of my requirements, but many have gone off on a tangent. Instead of focusing on the subject at hand – the focal point - they suddenly change direction and start discussing a totally unrelated subject. Readers will lose interest very quickly in an article that doesn’t deliver what it originally promised.

If your article is about marketing to targeted audiences, you must write only about that subject. Don’t suddenly change direction and tell the reader how to write great sales copy (for instance). That’s not the article’s purpose and has no right whatsoever being in that article.

Your readers expect and should get an article about marketing to targeted audiences, not an article about marketing to targeted audiences and writing great sales copy. Keep the copywriting information for another time. This is actually better from your point of view, because it gives you another article to write, which in turn gives you even more publicity.

Read the full article here

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Affordable Writing Courses:

Writing Love Scenes for Romance Workshop

Learn how to craft publishable love scenes from multi-published author. Small groups and individual feedback. Limited spaces available. Take a huge leap forward with your romance writing career! Don't miss this unique opportunity. Click for details

Affordable Short Story Workshops

Change your whole mind-set when it comes to writing short stories. Conducted by multi-published award-winning Australian author Cheryl Wright, these workshops are totally interactive; each participant will receive individual feedback on their assignments. Next scheduled workshop is first week of October. Small groups. For details click for details

(This may be the last class for quite a while; I haven't worked out my schedule for next year, and may reduce the number of classes that run.)

Show, Don't Tell Mastercourse

Discover the tricks and techniques that all the best writers use. In this course, you will get one-on-one tutoring and feedback. You will learn what constitutes a professionally crafted manuscript, what makes editors contract stories, and how to follow suit. In this Master Class from Robyn Opie, author of 55 published books, you will learn the secrets you need to become a published author. If you are already published, the techniques and concepts taught will reinforce and enhance your knowledge. Full details available here.

Learn to Write Thrillers

Thrillers are in hot demand for translation, serial and resell rights. Authoring a series of thrillers can literally catapult your career and your earning potential to the stars! Not only do thrillers make authors and their publishers very rich, they also make the most money in terms of film and TV rights, generating vast revenues worldwide. To join this valuable workshop, click here.

Become a Food Writer

Love to eat? Is writing your passion? Combine the two with a career in food writing. Pamela White, author of FabJob’s Guide to Become a Food Writer, publisher of Food Writing, the online newsletter, and online food writing teacher for over five years has created an updated and more in-depth version of her popular food writing class: Eat, Drink and Make Money: All About Food Writing. Classes are filling up, so register now for the August 28, 2005 class session. All information can be found here.