WordCrafter Mother’s Day Sale: Delilah

Pink background with pink flowers and Delilah on a digital device.
Text: Moms love strong female protagonists, WordCrafter Press Mother's Day Sale, May 8 - May 14, Click on the link below to Make your mom happy for only $4.99, Deliah A Great Gift for Mother's Day

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/DelilahWIW

Moms love strong female protagonists

Delilah is a woman haunted by her past.

Her homecoming from prison quickly turns into a quest for vengeance when she is brutally raped and left for dead, and her fourteen-year-old ward is abducted. Sheer will and determination take this tough and gritty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest, Indians and outlaws to Leadville, Colorado.

Can the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado mining town work their way into Delilah’s heart, offering a chance for a future she thought she’d lost along with her innocence?

If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love

Learn more about Deliah and the Women in the West Adventure Series here: https://writingtoberead.com/wordcrafter-quality-writing-author-services/wordcrafter-press/women-in-the-west-adventure-series/


The Final Stop on the WordCrafter “Delilah” Book Blog Tour

To wrap up the WordCrafter Delilah Book Blog Tour, I thought we’d explore the Indian characters featured in Delilah. Baby Doe Tabor isn’t the only historic character featured in the book, although Old Sugar isn’t well known. In fact, most people have probably never heard of her at all. The Ute characters were intended to be representative of the Indian population in Colorado, but somehow, they worked their way into my heart and became an integral part of the story.

The Ute Indians

The Ute Indians once roamed on lands spread over the Great Basin and central and southern mountains of Colorado, but by the 1860s, they had been split up into three amalgamated bands, the Uncompahgre, the Weenuche, and the White River band. In 1881, they began relocation of the White River an Uncompahgre Utes, following the 1879 Meeker masacre at the White River Indian Agency. Delilah’s Ute friends, Eagle Feather, Old Sugar, and Dancing Falcon are from the White River band, which were all relocated to a reservation in eastern Utah by the 1890s. When Delilah meets the Ute family, it is 1882, and they are holdouts, who resisted the relocation and lived independently, near Leadville.

Old Sugar

Old Sugar was a true to life historical person, who inspired the character of the same name, but she never lived in Leadville. Old Sugar would sit outside the general store all day and she would lash out with her knife and cut any white man who got too close to her. It seems the store keeper tried to make her leave once and she came after him, so they had little choice but to let her sit there and give her a wide berth. I had to wonder why. Why was she sitting there? Why did she hate white men enough to lash out that way? Why didn’t she gety up and move to a less populated spot? I found her to be interesting, and I just had to make her a character and move her to Leadville to make the acquaintance of Delilah. She’s not really a supporting character, but her role turned out to be larger than I imagined when I created her character.

Eagle Feather

Eagle Feather, Old Sugar’s son and Dancing Falcon’s father, originally existed only in the background as a washed up brave who had turned to the bottle as he watched everything be taken from his people, but he ends up playing an important role, when Delilah finds she needs his help to save the mine payroll and rescue his son. When I wrote Eagle Feather and Old Sugar into the story, I didn’t realize what a big role either would play. They were both intended to be interesting characaters which represented the Ute presence in Colorado at the time.

Dancing Falcon

I just love the character of Dancing Falcon. I loved writing him and I enjoy going back and reading him, which is why he easily became a supporting character right from the start. Dancing Falcon is a wise old twelve year old, who knows a lot about the goings on in Leadville and about the Ute ways. His purpose in the story is to offer Delilah guidance and fill her in on what she needs to know, but he becomes an integral part of the story. It is because of Dancing Falcon that Delilah becomes Grizzly Woman and is adopted into the Ute tribe.

An Excerpt from Delilah

Final Thoughts

Well, that’s about all for the WordCrafter Delilah Book Blog Tour. Thank you all for joining in the fun. I hope you all have picked up an interesting piece of history or found my writing and researching for this series helpful in some way. I’ve certainly enjoyed writing the posts and discussing the books and the characters with you. Remember, you can enter the giveaway at each stop for more chances to win, and if you missed a stop, you can follow the links below to stop by and check it out. I’ll be closing out the contest tomorrow, 3/24, so there may still be time to get in on it. And I’ll be announcing the winner in my post for Monday 3/27.

Delilah Tour Schedule

Mon. 3/20 – Opening Day Post– Writing to be Read/ Guest post (Baby Doe Tabor/Delilah) – The Showers of Blessings

Tues. 3/21 – Interview with author Kaye Lynne Booth / Review – Robbie’s Inspiration

Wed. 3/22 – Guest post (Big Nose Kate/Sarah) – BookPlaces

Thurs. 3/23 – Guest post (“Aunt” Clara Brown/Marta) – Roberta Writes

Fri. 3/24 – Closing Post (Ute Indians of Colorado in 1880s/Delilah Excerpt) – Writing to be Read

References

Ute History and the Ute Mountain Tribe. Colorado Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/ute-history-and-ute-mountain-ute-tribe

Meeker Incident. Colorado Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/meeker-incident

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About the Author

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!


Day 3 of the WordCrafter “Delilah” Book Blog Tour

Day 3 of the WordCrafter Delilah Book Blog Tour finds us over at Kay Castenada’s Book Places with a guest post from me about the historic supporting character which will be featured in Sarah: Book 2 of the Women in the West adventure series, “Big Nose” Kate Elder, companion of the infamous Doc Holliday. Join us for the fun, and be sure to leave a comment for a chance to enter the giveaway. See you there!


Welcome to the WordCrafter “Delilah” Book Blog Tour

I’m excited to welcome you to the WordCrafter Delilah Book Blog Tour. We’ve got interesting behind the scenes posts from all three books in the Women in the West adventure series at each stop, which introduce you to some of the characters in the series, Robbie Cheadle shares an author interview, a couple of reviews, and I think there’san excerpt from Delilah in there somewhere. Maybe I should just post the schedule here. I’ll post it with links, but they won’t work until each post goes live.

Tour Schedule

Mon. 3/20 – Opening Day Post– Writing to be Read/ Guest post (Baby Doe Tabor/Delilah) – The Showers of Blessings

Tues. 3/21 – Interview/Review – Robbie’s Inspiration

Wed. 3/22 – Guest post (Big Nose Kate/Sarah)/Review – BookPlaces

Thurs. 3/23 – Guest post (“Aunt” Clara Brown/Marta)- Roberta Writes

Fri. 3/24 – Closing Post (Ute Indians of Colorado in 1880s/Delilah Excerpt) – Writing to be Read

Follow the tour and learn more about Delilah and the Women in the West adventure series, with an opportunity to enter the giveaway at every stop.

Delilah Give Away

I’m giving away two digital copies, 

and one signed print copy

of

Delilah

Leave a comment to enter. 

Multiple entries are allowed, 

so leave a comment at each stop for more chances.

The Trailer

Delilah and the Women in the West

On with the tour…

Our first stop on the tour is over at Miriam Hurdle’s The Many Showers of Blessings, with a guest post from me on the historical supporting character in Delilah, Baby Doe Tabor. So, follow the link for a behind the scenes post from Delilah.

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Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!


Writer’s Corner: My First Kickstarter

A Kickstarter campaign allows authors to find supporters who believe in thier work and want to support them, and it is a method of direct sales for authors, which allows us to cut out the middle-man distributors and their percentage and make more money from our books. But it is also a platform where readers and fans can get some really cool stuff for their supporting dollars. It’s just a “Give me… Give me… Give me…” platform, but one where it is our job to make sure our fans and readers can get a good value for their buck, providing cool rewards in exchange for monetary support of the project. It is similar to the famous artists of the past, who found patrons to support them and their works, so they would have the time to create their art. A Kickstarter campaign is a similiar type of patronage available to authors. And what’s really cool is, we’re not begging, we’re selling books and other cool stuff without the middle man. No book distributors to take their cut. Of course, Kickstarter gets a cut, but the also provide the platformand tools to run a successful Kickstarter campaign, and the analytics to measure your succcess, which, I think, is well worth it. (More on direct selling with Kickstarter here.)

In Jaunuary, I ran my first Kickstarter for Delilah and the Women in the West adventure series. The goal I set was $500 and I decided on a thirty day campaign.

This series has three books planned so far, each featuring a strong female protagonist and appearances by historic female characters. Delilah is a western, but it is also historic women’s fiction and will appeal to all three audiences. Delilah was my first novel to be published, but the publisher really didn’t get what Delilah is all about, because they billed it as western romance. Although there is a romance thread running through this story, it’s not the main thread. Western romance is not a good way to categorize this book and it did not do well. When my contract ran out, I decided to revise it, making it read closer to my original story. I guess you could say this is the “unimproved” version, that goes back to before I veered from my original plot line. As I did the rewrite, I realized that there were other characters in this story who bear to have their stories told, and the idea for the Women in the West adventure series was born. But, this post is about the Kickstarter campaign experience rather than the books, and I’m veering from the topic.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at my Kickstarter campaign, what I might have done wrong, and what I might have done right.

How a Kickstarter campaign works

Kickstarter was designed with the creative economy in mind, before it was labeled the creative economy. You start with a project. In my case, it is Delilah, which is book one of my Women in the West adventure series. I chose this project because the book is finished, and already scheduled for release on March 21, so I knew for sure that I would be able to deliver the goods.

Once the campaign launches, your readers, fans, and others who would like to support your work can pledge their support at the different reward levels you’ve set up, or pledge for any amount, just because they believe in your project. I set up three levels: $5 with an early digital copy of the book, $25 with a signed print copy, and $50 with an opportunity to name a character in book two.

You can also offer add-ons for each level so they can get even more cool stuff if they choose, because you want to offer your fans as much value as possible, since this is a method for direct sales, not digital pan handling. I offered a PDF copy of my short story, “Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”; an audio reading of my flash fiction Western story, “I Had to Do It”; and an interview with Delilah.

You set a goal for the amount you need to raise. You don’t want to set it too high, because Kickstarter is an all or nothing deal. If you don’t reach your goal by the end of the campaign, your backers don’t have to pay anything and you don’t have to deliver anything. However, if you make it and are funded then you get anything over your goal amount, minus Kickstarter’s cut, of course.

I was fortunate to be able to follow Kevin J. Anderson’s Kickstarter campaign for his book, Double Booked and his Dan Shambles Zombie P.I. series, from start to finish and it was amazing. His Kickstarter funded within the first 36 minutes, which I thought was phenomenal. His campaign was one of the things that made me decide to give Kickstarter a try.

My Kickstarter Experience

I sent out media blasts in December announcing the pre-launch page, which received a total of five folks signing up to be notified when the campaign launched, which I did not take to be a good sign, but I figured that it could be because the pre-launch page did not reveal the rewards offered for supporting the campaign.

On launch day, I published a blog post about the campaign, asking for people’s supportand sending out social media blasts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pintrest. I also sent out a newsletter dedicated to the Kickstarter on opening day to alert my readers to the campaign. And, I know of several individuals who sent out social media blasts on my behalf. I even went out on a limb with some paid advertising aimed at super backers, for a minimal amount, since it was my first time using Kickstarter. Now if my campaign didn’t fund, I’d be in the hole, but I wanted to do everything I could to make this a successful campaign.

That first day, the campaign only funded 13%, but I was thankful that I had even a few backers. I launched on January 3, which was News Year’s Day (observed), so technically, still a holiday, so people may not have been back on social media. It went up to 19% on the second day, and it stayed there through day 4, when it went up to 20%. I sent out more social media blasts to promote the campaign. Then I watched and waited… And waited… And waited… But it stayed at 20%. I really started to worry.

What if it didn’t fund? Then all my hard work would be for naught. And a Kickstarter campaign is work, make no mistake. I know I’m not Brandon Sanderson, or even Kevin J. Anderson. I didn’t expect my campaign to fund within 23 minutes. But this was ridiculous. I couldn’t even get a quarter of the way to my modest goal of $500. I tried to keep a positive outlook, but it was frustrating.

I was driving myself nuts, checking the status of the campaign several times a day, so I vowed to stop, and instead, watch for the morning and evening updates from Kickstarter in my email inbox. My constant checking couldn’t make people want to support this project. They would come on thier own, if they were going to. I had known that the possibility of not being funded existed going into this. All I could do was wait…, and see what would happen.

I sent out more media blasts. I checked my twice daily updates. There’s was still no change by Day 8. I emailed Kevin, because he’s the only author I know of who has actually done a Kickstarter, and even though he is no longer my professor, he is a really nice guy, so he sent out an additional blast and sent me suggestions of things to try.

Day 10, and still no growth. What was I doing wrong? Are the rewards I’ve chosen to offer not appealing? Am I missing the mark with my target audiences? Was I targeting the wrong audiences? Is there really only five people out there who believe in me and my work enough to support me? All these thoughts were going through my head.

Friday the 13th saw the project past the 20% mark, which made me feel a little better, even if it was only up to 23%. And on the 15th, the campaign bumped up to 34%, which was downright heartening. It was a single pledge, at the $50 level – the first pledge I’d had at that top level. That fact was exciting to me, in and of itself.

Then, on the 16th, there was no growth once more, and I bagan to forsee another stall just below the $200.00 mark. I knew I wasn’t going to fund on the first day, like better known authors might, but I had thought that I would be funded by the halfway mark, so I could relax and have fun adding stretch goals and rewards. I wasn’t expecting to still be trying to reach the origianl goal at this point in the game, so I couldn’t help but to be feel a bit disappointed. I had a total of eight backers. Was there really so few people that believe in me and this project? So again, I waited… and waited… and waited some more.

I boosted a post on Facebook, in hopes of pulling in some more backers. Although it showed that people were engaging with the post, it didn’t seem to be bringing me any new backers. Was it because I chose a western for my project? I knew my covers for these books weren’t great, but if funded, some of that money was to go for improving the cover design. The boost ran out on the 26th, with a reach of 86, an engagement of 168, thru plays of the video 162 and one click through. The numbers didn’t seem to say the boost did all that great, even if the one clickthrough decided to back the project.

Heavy Competition

On the 18th, Kevin J. Anderson launched his Kickstarter for Dragon Business & Skeleton in the Closet, and his campaign funded almost immediately. By the time I checked in around noon, he already had double the goal that he’d set. I was definitely doing something wrong. I was still stalled at 34%, which might as well have been 0%, because if mine didn’t fund and reach my $500 goal, I wouldn’t recieve anything. Of course, it could still fund, but there was only 13 days left, and I wasn’t even close to halfway there.

I took a look at KJA’s successful Kickstarter campaign. His covers are very colorful, his story is humorous medievil fantasy, and one must keep in mind that his fan base is huge and he has worked to build it for many years. The campaign Dragon Business & Skeletons in the Closet gained 200 backers in two days. Mine was 20 days in and I had a total of 12 backers.

The one that I followed from behind the scenes for Double-Booked and the Dan Shamble P.I. series also featured colorful covers for humorous tales of fantasy or speculative fiction, and Delilah and the Women in the West covers are almost montone, with a minimal amount of color, and then they are westerns. Perhaps I picked the wrong project for my Kickstarter campaign. At the very least, I wasn’t getting it in front of the correct target audience.

Heading this section “Heavy Competition” is a bit misleading. It would be a joke to compare my Kickstarter campaign to Kevin J. Anderson’s. His has multiple support levels, with a variety of rewards such as personalized messages from the author, and mugs and tee-shirts featuring the very cool artwork connected to the cover art, with a numerous variety of add-ons available. Once his campaign funded on the first day, he began adding stretch goals, which means backers get even more more cool stuff as he reaches each one, if I understand them correctly. And his video attains a level of professionalism which I can’t hope to reach with my very limited skills in this area.

My three support levels and rewards couldn’t compare in any manner. My campaign goal was $500 and I couldn’t hope to launch a campaign the caliber of his, which was earning literally thousands of dollars, well exceeding his $2000 goal. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t learn from it.

Desperate Measures

On the 20th, I sent out an email blast manually to other authors I have worked with, asking for their support. I just came out and said that I was stuck at 34% funded and asked them to help me reach my goal. I had to do something to find backers for this project. It is a good project, (I think), but I needed a little over $300 still to reach my goal. And the next morning, I woke up to find I had 2 new backers from the email of the night before, so maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. I still wasn’t fully funded, but it brought me over the $200 mark (41%), and got things moving in the right direction once more. Later that day, I gained another backer, pushing it up to 43%. It seems those $5 pledges add up. It wasn’t a lot, but I was quite happy to have made even this much progress. Yet, I also knew I still had a long way to go and the clock was ticking. There were only 10 days left in which to find enough backers.

The email blast brought out at least a few more backers. It was the best results I’d had from everything I had tried so far, so on the 22nd, I sent out another blast to folks on my other email contacts. This email was older, and had people in the contacts who I hadn’t contacted in a while and may not have made the switch to my new WordCrafter email. I knew each one of them, so even though it might be coming out of the blue, they weren’t cold calls. I got a couple of new backers out of that, bringing the project up over the half-way mark, (51%), but with only eight days left, I had my doubts that it would bring enough. It just didn’t look very promising.

I did have one recipient who recieved a message from the second blast, from my older email, who promptly notified me that I’d been hacked. Since I don’t usually send out form letters in email blasts, she was sure someone else must be behind it. She was looking out for my best interests, and I appreciated that. Even though I wasn’t asking something for nothing, and I was offering some appealing rewards, or at least I thought I was, this was beginning to feel like a I was just saying, “Hey, give me money.”

The 24th brought some excitement, with a second $50 pledge, bring the campaign to 63% funded. I was getting closer to my goal. I’d still need to find backers for another 37%, but I was closer. It was a brighter outlook than I’d had recently, as I was thinking I wouldn’t have a chance to make it. Now, it suddenly seemed more of a possibility again. This up and down Kickstarter rollercoaster was crazy. It seemed it might be easier to just send out posts and emails saying, “Buy my book!” Buy my book!”

Waiting for something to happen to raise the bar toward the goal was excruciating, and the days drug out as nothing significant happened. I knew I needed to make something happen, so I sent out one last blast on Facebook to see if I couldn’t muster some more support. I still saw no growth.

In the end, being stalled at 63% wasn’t that much better than being stalled at 34%, because neither of them can make a successful Kickstarter campaign. It’s 100% or nothing, and with only two days left, it was looking more and more like it would be nothing.

On the 30th, I put out a last ditch effort to fund this project by putting out a plea in my WordCrafter News post. And I sent out another small media blast with a ticking clock. There was only one day left in the campaign, but it could fund in that time. It’s not likely that a rush of backers would show up at the last minute and save the campaign, but it could happen, so I put it out there. At this point, things looked bleak.

At the 36 hour mark, I recieved another pledge at the top tier, which brought it up to 80% funded, leaving only $99 to go. With 36 hours left, it was possible, but not probable. But this was really close to the goal. Closer than I thought it would get as I watched of the past couple of weeks. I allowed my hopes to be raised a little, but deep down, I feared that it wasn’t enough.

Final Outcome

It came down to the final day of the campaign and the campaign was still stalled at 80%. It was close, but close doesn’t make a successful campaign. I intentionally did not check my Kickstarter pages again until we were down to the 3 hour mark. When
I finally did check in, I was pleasantly surprised to have moved up to the 90% mark. Now this was exciting.

The last needed $50 pledge came in with 2 hours left to go, and the campaign funded. I think I was in shock, at first. I’d been resigned to it not funding, and now here I was fully funded. I had an additional pledge come in My Kickstarter campaign was successful!

Acknowledgements

A successful Kickstarter doesn’t happen without the people who believe in it enough to back it. These are the external backers, which means they were not generated within the Kickstarter platform, but their support was the result from something I did to promote the campaign. I believe most of these backers were generated from the email campaigns which I sent out. In other words, I know these folks in some capacity, some in person, and others across vast distances over the internet, and that makes it more personal. These are the people which I’m lucky to have in my corner.

A big thank you to:

  • Cheryl Boyd – my best friend from junior high
  • Kevin J. Anderson – my friend and mentor
  • Robbie Cheadle – blog teammate, WordCrafter Press author, and multiple anthology contributor
  • Nancy Oswald – author friend
  • Christy Burmingham-Reyes – blog follower
  • Sara Wesley McBride – an anthology contributor and writing friend
  • Kieth Hoskins – an contributor to multiple anthologies
  • Ligia deWit – anthology contributor
  • Amy Cecil – anthology contributor and author friend
  • Mark Leslie Lefebvre – anthology contributor and author friend
  • Marie Whitaker – WordFire Press contact and author friend
  • James Richards – a WordCrafter Press author
  • Avily Jerome – anthology contributor
  • Tim & Wanda Ward – friends and neighbors
  • Miriam Hurdle – blog tour host and anthology contributor

Also, a big thanks to those who supported the campaign in non-monetary ways, such as spreading the word to garner support for the campaign. In promoting the campaign, I said repeatedly that all support was appreciated, and I meant that, including social media blasts, retweets and sharing on social media. Although I don’t have names for all of you, since these things went on behind scenes and there are probably many who I don’t even know about, but I thank you all so much for your support. I could not have done it without you.

Lessons Learned

Kickstarters are a lot of work. I knew that going into this, after watching behind the scenes for KJA’s campaign, so that was no surprise. Most of the people I know who supported the campaign are not big western fans. But enough people believed in me, and believed in this project, that it was able to fully fund in the end.

There are many things which could have affected negatively on my campaign: choosing to run a Kickstarter at the beginning of January, on the heels of the holiday season; chosing a project in the western genre; not spending more on paid advertising, etc…

But my analysis leads me to believe that I failed to reach my target audience effectively for this cross-genre series, which should appeal to lovers of westerns, and women’s fiction and even those who enjoy historical ficton, but it seems I missed the mark in the promotions. I thought I would reach a wider audience, since this series has strong female protagonists, bringing it into both the women’s fiction and historical fiction realms. Maybe, I don’t know how to find my target audience, but I will keep searching for them. An author friend of mine thinks I may be using the wrong social media channels, and suggested that I launch myself on Tik-Tok to tap into my target audience. Maybe I’ll consider it in the future, but for now, I must continue on my planned path and give things time to work out.

Kickstarter can be a successful way of direct selling. Not all campaigns will be as successful as KJA’s campaigns, but this proves that even the little, unknown, independent authors like me can have a successful campaign. Maybe my audience wasn’t big enough? Maybe I wasn’t reaching the right audience? Perhaps a different project would have done better. Maybe I’ll try again in the future with a different book, different genre and see what happens. Maybe…

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The release date for Delilah is March 21, 2023. You can preorder a digital or print copy from your book distributor of choice here: https://books2read.com/DelilahWIW

Delilah is a woman haunted by her past.

Her homecoming from prison quickly turns into a quest for vengeance when she is brutally raped and left for dead, and her fourteen-year-old ward is abducted. Sheer will and determination take this tough and gritty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest, Indians and outlaws to Leadville.

Can the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado mining town work their way into Delilah’s heart, offering a chance for a future she thought she’d lost along with her innocence?

If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love Delilah.

_________________________________________________________________

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

_____________________________________________________________________

Want exclusive content? Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. She won’t flood your inbox, she NEVER will sells her list, and you might get a freebie occasionally. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, just for joining.


WordCrafter News

New Release

Delilah releases through book dostributors on March 21, but there’s still time to pre-order your copy of Delilah here:

The later half of March will be busy, with the release of Delilah and a five day WordCrafter Book Blog Tour to get the word out, March 20 – 24.

The tour will include a fun interview where author Sara Wesley McBride chats with my character, Delilah, excerpts from the book, and posts about the historic female figures who will appear in each book in the Women in the West adventure series, and character profiles for the two characters which top-level Kickstarter backers Tim Ward and Carol Fowler have earned the privilage of naming in book 2 of the series, Sarah.

Kickstarter Progress Update

Until then, I will be busy signing and shipping the print copies of Delilah to mid- and top-level Kickstarter backers. I should be ready to continue working on Sarah in May, and I hope to have it ready to publish by the beginning of 2024. I also plan to work with a professional cover designer to smooth and improve my book covers. I want to thank everyone who supported me in this project, not only financially, but through sharing and networking it as well. All support was greatly appreciated. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Poetry Treasures 3: Passions

I’m also excited as the compilation of Poetry Treasures 3: Passions gets under way. We had some fabulous guests on “Treasuring Poetry” in 2022 and I’m looking forward to including their works in this very special collection. In addition to works by the series host, Robbie Cheadle, works by the following author/poets may be included: Penny Wilson, Judy Mastrangelo, Yvette Prior, Patty Fletcher, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Willow, Yvette M. Calliero, Chris Hall, Abbie Taylor, and Smitha Vishwanath. I can’t wait to dig in to the poetry submitted for inclusion by these wonderful poets. Robbie and I are not very far into the process. In fact, I think we might still be waiting for all the submissions to get in. We had two previous anthologies, which both turned out quite well, and I’ve no doubt that this one will rival those.

You can still get a copy of these two wonderful anthologies from your favorite book distributors.

Poetry Treasures: https://books2read.com/u/3n7BDR

Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships: https://books2read.com/u/3kP8aK

2023 Short Fiction Contest & Anthology

Submissions have begun to come in for the 2023 Short Fiction Contest, as well as stories submitted by invitation for the anthology. It’s much too soon to talk about the contest entries, but I can tell you that we have invitational submissions from Chris Barili, Joseph Carrabis, Michaele Jordan, D.L. Mullan and Stevie Turner, with promises from many others. It’s still very early in the process.

You can find submission guidelines and enter the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest here.

You can get copies of last year’s WordCrafter Press anthologies: Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Myths & Fairy Tales; Refracted Reflections: Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception; and Visions. Available through your favorite book distributors.

Once Upon an Ever After: https://books2read.com/u/mKdWGV

Refracted Reflections: https://books2read.com/u/3kPyxn

Visions: https://books2read.com/u/49Lk28

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For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Want exclusive content? Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. She won’t flood your inbox, she NEVER sells her list, and you might get a freebie occasionally. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, just for joining.


WordCrafter News

Kickstarter for Delilah

Today is the last day that you can show your support for Delilah and the Women in the West adventure series. Tomorrow is the last day of the campaign, and it doesn’t look as if it will reach my $500 funding goal. The project is currently only (63%) funded, but there’s still time for you to show your support and get some of the cool rewards and add-ons offered. With your support, we could still fund the project. So please, back my Kickstarter for Delilah, if you will.

When the campaign ends, you will still be able to pre-order the book, for a higher price, and get it on its March 21st release date, but if you support the Kickstarter campaign, you can get an early digital copy, a signed print copy, and even a chance to name a character in Sarah: Book 2. There’s also short stories, audio stories and an interview with Delilah available as add-ons. So click on the link below and drop in to see what you can get, and support me and Delilah.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kayelynnebooth-wcp/delilah-women-in-the-west-adventure-series

Thanks to those who are already backing the campaign. Thanks to all of you who maybe couldn’t back the campaign, but still shared the link around on social media in an effort to help. All support is greatly appreciated.

If you miss the Kickstarter, you can still pre-order the book from your favorite book distributor here: https://books2read.com/DelilahWIW

Open submissions call

2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest is open to submissions with an April 30 deadline. The theme is scary stuff in paranormal, dark fantasy or horror, and the winning story will have a guaranteed spot in this year’s anthology, alongside all the stories by invitation. You can find the full submission guidelines here.

Poetry Treasures 3 in 2023

The edition of Poetry Treasures 3 is currently in the works. We will be aiming for an April release date. It will feature the author/post guests from the 2022 Treasuring Poetry blog series and it will be compiled and edited by Robbie Cheadle and myself. The 2023 theme will be Passions, and I think it will turn out to be an impressive volume.

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Want exclusive content? Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. She won’t flood your inbox, she NEVER will sells her list, and you might get a freebie occasionally. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, just for joining.


Delilah and I need your support

The Kickstarter for Delilah and the Women in the West adventure series starts today and we need your support. You can show your support for as little as five dollars, and recieve a digital copy of the book in return. And there are signed print copies and other great rewards for the higher levels of support as well, including plus some pretty cool add-ons that I’m excited to share with you. I’m asking each one of you to click on the link below and check it out.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kayelynnebooth-wcp/delilah-women-in-the-west-adventure-series

Some of you may know why this book is so special to me, but I’ll briefly tell you, in case you don’t. Delilah was the first book I ever wrote. It started as an assignment meant to get me to write outside my comfort zone, and turned out to be a genre I truly enjoy writing. After I got it written, I received some feedback that caused me to make changes that affected the second half of the book.I had it in a publisher’s hands for five years, but they didn’t do a whole lotto promote it and they only sold a few copies. I tried two different covers for it, including one that I designed myself, and if I’m honest, they were both pretty awful.

When the contract was up, I got my rights back, revised the book to reflect the original story, and began developing the idea for this series. In the Women in the West adventure series, each book features a strong female protagonist and cameo appearances by bold historical female characters for a Western Women’s Historical Fiction series which may be the first of its kind. At this time, there are three books planned: Delilah the tale of a woman who overcomes all odds in the Colorado frontier as she sets out to avenge the wrongs done to her and rescue Sarah, her ward who was abducted. Sarah’s story after being traded to the Utes makes up the second book. The heroine of the third book, Marta, is a Mormon woman who we also met in Delilah, and her story tells us her fate after being abducted by the Utes and then returned to civilization.

Women in the West is going to be a great series. Delilah is scheduled for release on March 21, 2023, but Kickstarter supporters will recieve their digital copies early and for less than the 5.99 retail price. So please drop by and see what all the fuss is about. If a Kickstarter campaign doesn’t fund, or meet it’s goal, the creator doesn’t get anything, so your support will be greatly appreciated. I think Delilah is a wonderful story, which readers of westerns, historical fiction, or womens fiction will enjoy. Please come on over and join the campaign today.


WordCrafter News

Delilah‘s Kickstarter campaign

I’m gearing up for the Kickstarter for Delilah and the Women in the West adventure series which starts on January 2, and runs through the whole month. This is a special project for me, because Delilah was my first completed novel, and she helped me to discover my love of writing in historic western settings. Originally published with Dusty Saddles Publishing, this WordCrafter Press edition has been revised and reverted back to the original story as a part of this wonderful western historical women’s fiction, with each book featuring appearances of historical female characters and strong female protagonists.

You can learn what all the excitement is about by visiting my pre-launch page, which will be the campaign headquarters once we launch. It runs through the whole month, from the 2nd to the 31st, and we have some great rewards and add ons available for you for your support, including copies of the ebook, signed copies of the print book, some of my short fiction in PDF and audio forms, an interview with Delilah’s character facilitated by Sara W. McBride, and a chance to name a character in Sarah, book 2 in the series, which will be scheduled to release in 2024. Please take a look at the pre-launch page and sign up for notificaation upon launch.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kayelynnebooth-wcp/delilah-women-in-the-west-adventure-series

And of course, I hope you will also support the campaign once it goes live. This is my first Kickstarter campaign, and I really want it to go well. My goal is $500 and I think I have a good chance of funding it. Any support you are willing to give will be greatly appreciated.

Blurb

Her homecoming from prison quickly turns into a quest for vengeance when she is brutally raped and left for dead, and her fourteen-year-old ward is abducted. Sheer will and determination take this tough and gritty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest, Indians and outlaws to Leadville, Colorado.

Can the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado mining town work their way into Delilah’s heart, offering a chance for a future she thought she’d lost along with her innocence?

If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love Delilah.

2023 Contest Theme Revealed

On January 1st, the 2023 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest will be open for submissions. I grew up on Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Jonathan Kellerman, and John Saul, so for the 2023 contest, I want you to send me your scariest tales in the horror, dark fantasy and paranormal genres, with a 500 word limit. The winning story recceives a $25 Amazon gift card and and inclusion in the 2023 anthology.

Submission Guidelines

Genres: Paranormal, Dark Fantasy, Horror or any combination there of.

Length: up to 5000 words

Submission Deadline: April 30, 2023

Pay: Royalty share

Rights: First Anthology Rights and audio rights as part of the anthology; rights revert to author one month after publication; publisher retains non-exclusive right to include in the anthology as a whole. 

Open to submissions from January 1 through April 30, 2023.  

Submit: A Microsoft Word or RTF file in standard manuscript format to KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com

If you don’t know what standard manuscript format is, review, for example, https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/

Multiple and simultaneous submissions accepted.

Find some helpful tips for submitting short fiction here, but mainly just follow the guidelines.

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Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, as a sampling of her works just for joining.


Kickstarter for Delilah coming in January

Delilah

Exciting News!

The re-release of Delilah is scheduled for March 21, 2023, from WordCrafter Press. After almost a year of revisions, this isn’t just a ‘slap a new cover on and call it good’ type of release. This is the story of Delilah as it was originally intended, and it’s being launched as the first book in my new Women in the West adventure series!

It all starts with Delilah

Books 2 & 3 in the series will feature the stories of Sarah and Marta, who are introduced in Delilah, but both have stories of their own worthy of telling. They will be released in 2024 & 2025 respectively. I am truly excited about this new series, which features strong female protagonists and strong historical women in supporting roles.

Delilah is available for pre-order now: https://books2read.com/DelilahWIW

The Book

Delilah is a woman haunted by her past.

Her homecoming from prison quickly turns into a quest for vengeance when she is brutally raped and left for dead, and her fourteen-year-old ward is abducted. Sheer will and determination take this tough and gritty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest, Indians and outlaws to Leadville, Colorado, where she .

Can the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado mining town work their way into Delilah’s heart, offering a chance for a future she thought she’d lost along with her innocence?

If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love Delilah.

Upcoming Kickstarter Campaign

To bring in 2023 right, I will be running a Kickstarter campaign for Delilah January 2 – 31. It’s my very first Kickstarter, so I’m starting out small, with a goal of $500. The money raised will be used to improve covers and to fulfill the wonderful rewards which will be offered.There will be lots of great stuff offered, and I need all the support I can get, so I hope you all will drop by and show your support.

When you support my Kickstarter at any level you get an early digital copy of Delilah, which will be delivered before the March 21st release date, and there will also be opportunity to recieve a signed print copy, or even to name a character in book 2, Sarah. You might also get access to an interview by Sara W. McBride with Delilah herself, or to an audio story narrated by me, of my flash fiction western, “I Had to Do It”, or a PDF of my western paranormal short, “Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”.

You can check it out now, on my Kickstarter pre-launch page, which will take you directly to the Kickstarter once it goes live. While you’re there, sign up to be notified upon launch, so you can be there on Day 1. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kayelynnebooth-wcp/delilah-women-in-the-west-adventure-series

Kaye Lynne Booth lives, works, and plays in the mountains of Colorado. With a dual emphasis M.F.A. in Creative Writing and an M.A. in Publishing, writing is more than a passion. It’s a way of life. She’s a multi-genre author, who finds inspiration from the nature around her, and her love of the old west, and other odd and quirky things which might surprise you.

Kaye Lynne Booth lives, works, and plays in the mountains of Colorado. With a dual emphasis M.F.A. in Creative Writing and an M.A. in Publishing, writing is more than a passion. It’s a way of life. She’s a multi-genre author, who finds inspiration from the nature around her, and her love of the old west, and other odd and quirky things which might surprise you.

She has short stories featured in the following anthologies: The Collapsar Directive (“If You’re Happy and You Know It”); Relationship Add Vice (“The Devil Made Her Do It”); Nightmareland (“The Haunting in Carol’s Woods”); Whispers of the Past (“The Woman in the Water”); Spirits of the West (“Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”); and Where Spirits Linger (“The People Upstairs”). Her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, and her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, are both available in both digital and print editions at most of your favorite book distributors.

In addition, she keeps up her authors’ blog, Writing to be Read, where she posts reflections on her own writing, author interviews and book reviews, along with writing tips and inspirational posts from fellow writers. Kaye Lynne has also created her own very small publishing house in WordCrafter Press, and WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services, where she offers quality author services, such as publishing, editing, and book blog tours. She has served as a judge for the Western Writers of America and sitting on the editorial team for Western State Colorado University and WordFire Press for the Gilded Glass anthology and editing Weird Tales: The Best of the Early Years 1926-27, under Kevin J. Anderson & Jonathan Maberry.

In her spare time, she is bird watching, or gardening, or just soaking up some of that Colorado sunshine.

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Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, as a sampling of her works just for joining.