I have two announcements to make, so I'll move on quickly.

First up, I'm holding a contest.  Yes, it's the first contest in around two years, but I think you'll like it.

The prize will be the winner's choice of any one of the following books:

The Wealthy Writer

Quick Cash Writing

Best-Seller Secrets

If you win and already have each of these books, I will do my best to secure a replacement.  (But only if you have all three books.)

There are two sections - one for published writers, and one for unpublished writers.

The contest starts today and ends November 30. For full details - including rules - please click here.

Here's the second announcement:

If you were with me last year you may remember a cookbook giveaway site I mentioned.

You may already know that I’m very much into free publicity, so what I'm about to tell you will be no surprise.

It’s very rare for me to pay for advertising - especially when it comes to my books, but also for my websites.  Instead I try to find creative – and free - ways to get publicity.

Each year I get an invite to join a cookbook giveaway, and each year I join.  You may not be aware, but I also own a Christmas website – I make income from that site, as well as from the three Christmas books I wrote last year.

An internet marketer named Willie Crawford runs The Great Cookbook Giveaway - it will open on November 16 and end December 16.  The last time I joined this giveaway I picked up 190 subscribers - and I didn’t join until late – I nearly missed it!

The criteria is simple:  add a cookbook (preferably your own) and give it away.  The best way to utilize this is to have a list where people can sign up; if you're actively promoting already, you probably have a newsletter list already.

If you don't have a list, it's no big deal - this can still work for you.

This giveaway is promoted to homemakers and cooks; this is Willie’s niche, and he’s well-known in that area.  The majority of those who join will likely be readers too. 

Don’t worry if you don’t already have a cookbook – just throw some of your recipes together and turn it into a pdf.  I have around 12 recipes in the cookbook I’ve added, and some people have less. 

The one thing you really need to do is have a link back to your website.  I always put this on the ‘title page’ of the cookbook where it’s clearly visible.  ("Brought to you Compliments of....")

It is totally free to join, but you are expected to send out a note to your subscribers (or loops) to tell them about the giveaway, but that’s it. This is a great way to pick up subscribers and readers, and potentially sell more books.

You can ‘upgrade’ for more exposure, which is what I did, but it’s not mandatory. 

Here’s the link you need to sign up:
http://greatcookbookgiveaway.com/partners/id/9

If you have any questions, or join up and need some assistance, don’t hesitate to contact me. ( writercheryl(at)gmail.com )

Okay, this next one is not an announcement, but rather a possible way for you to earn income as a writer. 

You've probably heard about Suite 101 - it's been around for literally years.

I recently saw an advert that Suite 101 was looking for writers, so I applied.  Now before you get too excited, keep in mind this is 'revenue sharing'.  You add articles, people come to your pages, and when they click on the Adsense adverts, you get a share of the revenue.  Some people are only making $5-$10 per month, but there are some writers making several hundreds per month, and some are reporting earnings in the thousands.  The latter writers have 30+ articles on their pages. (The theory is that the more articles you have, the more chance people will come to your pages and click on your Adsense ads.)

Personally, I've joined to get more traffic to my sites, and to help with my site rankings.  (It's complicated, but Google gives every site a rank.  The higher your rank, the higher up in the search engines your sites are listed.)  Suite 101 will help me to achieve that.  So for me, it's not about the money, although that will be an added bonus.

Right now I only have one article up, but intend to add at least one more in the next few days, and hopefully two or more.

You can also read this issue online here:

World building is a time-consuming task, especially for fantasy/paranormal fiction, but there is a way to make it less daunting and even entertaining. It’s all about the imagination, and that’s what we fiction writers use best.

Before you step outside the bounds of reality to build this world, though, allow me to point you in the direction of one of the absolute best references for worldbuilding that you can find on the Internet. Write it down, make it one of your favorites, and visit it often. The information provided at this site will challenge you to build a world that simply cannot be questioned. T

Written by American Fantasy Author Patricia Wrede, (Star Wars, Episode III-Revenge of the Sith, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and Lyra), the guidelines are as detailed as any I’ve seen, and you can’t go wrong using them.  

That said, I know you’re not reading this article just for a link. You want to do more than build a world, you want to entice your readers to return time and again, make them yearn for the ability to visit the world themselves. Your mission can be accomplished by the five senses. Wait a second. Did you read that correctly? What do the five senses have to do with building a world? Take a look, and, hopefully, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. 

Imagine you’re an investigative journalist who has been sent by World Magazine to explore a newly discovered territory. No one has ever seen this planet or city, and it’s up to you to describe it to the public. Yes, you’ve brought your video camera along, but you really want to pull your readers into the world. After all, not everyone gets to travel like you do. So you’re going to have to give them a virtual tour. For safety’s sake, let’s just say oxygen is utilized on this planet. Now, where do you start? 

Let’s begin with sight. From the very first moment you set foot on the planet or in the city, what do you see? Is the land lush and green or desolate and barren? Is the world illuminated with artificial light or does the planet/city have its own source of light? Describe each and everything you see as vividly and eloquently as possible. This could be your chance at winning a Pulitzer for your journalistic endeavor so you want to be as thorough as you can. Oh, and don’t forget that not everyone has the imagination you do. So you have to give them vivid imagery to spark theirs.  

Read the entire article here