WordCrafter News: Midnight Oil Release & NaNoWriMo

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Midnight Oil Release & Tour

Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares releases tomorrow, October 28, and the tour starts today and runs through Friday.

Michelle Ayon Navajas starts us off hosting the opening day in a triple stop over on Poetry by Mich, Hotel by Masticadores & Masticadores Phillipines with guest posts from me about my story, “Sangoma, Zombie Elephants, and Tokoloshe, Oh, My!”, and Christa Planko about her story, “Such a Time as This”.

Tomorrow, will find us here, on Writing to be Read, with a reading by Joseph Carrabis from his story, “Jeremiah”, and Wednesday we’ll be over at Book Places, where Kay Castenada will bring us a short post and promos from Roberta Eaton Cheadle about her story, “Just Deserts”. Thursday will find us on Carla Loves to Read where Carla Johnson-Hicks shares a guest post by Paul Kane on his story, “The Whistling” and then, we will wrap things up right back here on Writing to be Read with a reading of “The Initiation”, by DL Mullan and I’ll be interviewing Denise Aparo, author of the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest, “The Vanishing”.

It’s a great anthology and it’s going to be a great tour, with five chances to win a digital copy of Midnight Oil, if you follow along and visit each stop. It’s available for pre-order all day today, and then, of course it will be available for purchase after the release tomorrow at the purchase link below.

About Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares

Book Cover: Midnight Oil A candle lit lantern sitting in a garden at night with an owl perched on a branch. Text: Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, A WordCrafter Midnight Anthology, Edited by Kaye Lynne Booth

14 authors bring you 16 dark tales that explore your deepest fears. These are the stories which nightmares are made of. Tales of monsters, mayhem, and madness which will make you shiver in the dark. Read them while you burn the Midnight Oil… if you dare.

Contributing authors include Mario Acevedo, Joseph Carrabis, Jon Shannon, Rebecca M. Senesse, DL Mullan, Zack Ellafy, Christa Planko, C.R. Johansson, Kaye Lynne Booth, Robert White, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Chris Barili, Paul Kane, and author of the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, Denise Aparo.

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/Midnight-Oil

November is National Novel Writing Month

Every year at this time, I like to use the NaNoWriMo challenge to get at least 50,000 words down toward my next book. This year, I had planned to put that 50,000 words toward my trunk series Playground for the Gods, because I still hold ideas about getting that series off the ground. However, being without a computer for several months last spring set my production schedule behind, and so, this November will find me working on the long overdue book 3 of my Women in the West Adventure Series, Marta. I have the completed outline in hand and I’m ready to begin writing my way to that first 50,000 words during the month of November.

Western town background. Books in foreground: (L to R) Sarah, Delilah, Marta
Text: Women in the West Adventure Series

This third book is the story of Marta Olmstead, a Mormon woman who we meet in the first book, Delilah, who is captured in an Indian raid and taken to live among the Utes, but she ends up in Leadville, Colorado. This is her story.

Marta is a strong heroine in a different way from our first two heroines. She is not driven, like Delilah, or sassy, like Sarah. Marta has a strong sense of right and wrong and is determined to walk the straight and narrow. Her journey takes her out of Colorado, all the way to El Paso, Texas, which in 1889, was a rough and rowdy border town and she meets some very colorful characters along the way.

WordCrafter Halloween Hauntings Sale

Don’t forget that all through October we’re running the WordCrafter Halloween Hauntings Sale, so you can get all paranormal and dark fiction anthologies from the WordCrafter Press backlist at hugely discounted prices. But hurry. At Midnight on October 31st, these prices will all turn into pumpkins. 🎃

Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology Series

Narrating the Paranormal Series

Stand Alone Anthologies

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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.

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This post sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.

Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.

Stop by and see what we have to offer today: https://writingtoberead.com/readings-for-writers/wordcrafter-quality-writing-author-services/


Writer’s Corner: Doing the NaNoWriMo Thing

Caricature of a woman typing on a computer at a very messy desk.
Text: Writer's Corner with Kaye Lynne Booth

This was my third year participating in NaNoWriMo. The first year I gained confidence when I learned that I was more than capable of making the daily word count goal, something I was unsure of when starting out. At that time, 1,667 sounded like an awfully lot of words, but I did it most of the days in November, and when I didn’t do it, I made up for it on the days I wrote two thousand or more, and by the end of the month of November, I had exceeded the overall word count goal of 50,000. (For the sake of transparency, I started with a partial manuscript, so although technically I was successful, I did not write enough new material to make the goal.)

Last year, 2023, I was well on my way to being successful, this time for real, and it was coming down to the last week, when my computer crashed and I was digitally down, making it impossible to complete the challenge. From this, I learned that it isn;t the end of the world to not finish, and I still feel that if my computer hadn’t crashed, I would have successfully met the challenge. I was making or exceeding the daily word counts each day and was on schedule to finish early, before the end of the month.

This year I went into NaNoWriMo with a very positive attitude. I knew I could make the daily word count, so I didn’t stress about it, but I did paln for it. I approached with a plan to implement strategies which had been successful in the past, and a good working plot outline, so I would be clear on where the story was going. Last year, I had abandoned the time blocking strategy which I’d implemented the first year, for an “ass-in-chair, write-the-book” strategy which I’d learned from one of my graduate school professors. (Don’t get me wrong, time blocking is a valid strategy for some people. It just wasn’t effective for me.)

At first, things seemed to go pretty smoothly, until life got in the way during the first week out, when where I live received almost four feet of snow and I was snowbound for four straight days. I didn’t think it would ever stop. It just kept coming. But even with all the shoveling I had to do, and the firewood I had to split to stay warm, I was able to meet my daily word count goal in the evenings. It started snowing on Wednesday, and when I was finally able to get out, on Monday, the 11th, I had to go to work at my day job. I was so tired, that I wasn’t able to make my word count for the first time. I fell asleep in front of my computer at 8:30 p.m. that night with only 634 words for the day.

But, I found that it wasn’t the end of the world that I didn’t get the badge for making the word count goal every day. And I made up the words I’d missed getting down the very next day, with a total word count for the day of 2624. It’s amazing what a decent night’s sleep will do for you. I really do write better if I take care of myself properly, and that proved it. It is also important to take time out for yourself, even though you may be pushing to make a word count goal or a deadline on a writing project. I’ve been looking forward to each new episode of Tulsa King, with Sylvester Stallone, each Sunday, after my shift at work, and I’ve learned that I can watch an hour or two of television and still get my word count done. This is something I had to teach myself. For the first two years I took the challenge, I took every moment I had to write, like a driven person, and now I’m finding that I’m more productive when I block out time for other things, too.

In the end, I didn’t make it. My Internet went down on the last day, so I didn’t get to log my last days totals anyway. (That is also why this Monday blog segment isn’t coming out on Monday. I just got my Internet back up and running this evening.) My total on November 30th was around 43,000 words. Not quite making the goal, but you know what?

It’s okay, because I’m still working on it everyday and I currently have 45,630 words of my story. I started out from a blank page this year. That’s not bad for a month’s time. And it’s a fantastic start toward the completion of the novel.

What I Learned

  • I learned that if I just keep at it, the book will take shape
  • I learned that my style of edit as you go is okay. It’s a part of my writing process and it works for me and I end up with a much cleaner first draft. It’s necessary for me in order to obtain the proper foreshadowing and also when planting the little easter eggs which helps connect the books for series readers.
  • I learned that thinking about time travel sometimes makes my head hurt. It’sa lot to wrap your head around, and it’s easy to get your plot lines twisted when writing about it. Also another reason to edit as I go. With time travel, changing one thing may change several others, jumping from chapter to chapter for revisions became common place for me with this book.
  • I learned to use multiple P.O.V.s to make the plot flow smoothly. This was the most P.O.V.s I’ve ever used in a story.
  • I learned how to write in multiple subplots – again, the most I have ever tried to use – and multiple time periods.

About the Book

There is not a lot I can tell you about the second Time Travel Adventure Series book without throwing out huge spoilers to those who haven’t read book 1, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Although each book can be read as a stand alone, book 2 has references to events in the first book and they are complimentary to one another. Book 2 picks up where the first book leaves off, which is why I can’t explain further without giving away the ending of the first book.

I’m having a lot of fun writing this book, maybe even moreso than I did with the first. Like the first, this one has musical inspiration, with song titles for chapter titles and a playlist in the front of the book. By having mutlple P.O.V.s, it opened this one up to even more music artists and songs. And by dealing with temporal loops, it allowed me the opportunity to change events which occured in the first book, creating a whole new story stemming from the same events. It is a crazy, wild ride and you never know where the characters will end up.

I can’t say too much about the new book, but I can share the book trailer for book 1, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, which is also a wild ride through time, for those who haven’t read it yet.

The Rock Star & The Outlaw

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This post is sponsored by WordCrafter Press


WordCrafter News: NaNoWriMo Update, the 2024 Novel Writing Bundle & Planning for the Coming Year

Newsprint background. WordCrafter quill logo Text: WordCrafter News

2024 NaNoWriMo

I crossed the 10,000 word mark on November 5, well ahead of schedule. What a great feeling. And I only missed making the daily word count goal once. Unfortunately, life got in my way, as it usually does. This time, it was a huge snowstorm that dumped about 42″ of snow on my front steps. The snow made even the daily chores more difficult, and then there was all that snow to shovel! But even with moving all that snow I managed to make the word count on most days. That is until it all caught up with me and at the end of the day, I was so tired I couldn’t think straight, and then, my word count started to fall.

I have managed to at least write something to log into the updates daily, and I’m sitting at around 34,500 words to date. That means I just have a little over 15,000 words to reach my goal and six days to do it in. I think I can do it. What do you think? Wish me luck. 😉

2024 Novel Writing Story Bundle

There’s still time to get in on the 2024 Novel Writing Story Bundle, but grab it while you can. It only runs through the end of November. After December 1st, it will no longer be available.

This year’s Writing Tools StoryBundle, curated by bestselling author and publisher Kevin J. Anderson, is another treasure chest of vital handbooks covering aspects of the writer’s craft, business, and way of life. We have thirteen titles on a range of subjects, plus a 12-month subscription to Indie Author Magazine, your best source to stay up-to-date on the industry.

On writing craft, there’s The Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing, Vol. 1—Wulf Moon’s award-winning system on how to write stories and does so with creativity, fun, and humor. Tara Grace Ericson presents Romance Character Tropes—far more than your average trope list; this is an encyclopedia packed with info to help you use and leverage each trope successfully.

Freelance editor Joshua Essoe teaches about Mood and Atmosphere in his series of special-edition writing guides, each examining the most-common issues he encounters from writers he works with. Word by Word by award-winning author Kerrie Flanagan, shows you how to unlock your creativity and transform your writing. This is an essential guide for writers that offers inspiration, genre-specific strategies, and practical tips.

Jana S. Brown gives you Steps to Self-Editing. You’ve finished your novel! Now learn the self-editing steps to smooth off the rough edges and really make it shine!

And in the new revised edition of On Being a Dictator: Revised Edition, by Kevin J. Anderson, Martin Shoemaker, and Greg Vose—available exclusively in this StoryBundle,—you’ll learn how to use dictation to increase your productivity. One of the foundational books on a popular writing method, On Being a Dictator will help you think outside the box and up your game in the fast-paced ever-changing world of publishing.

Now, on to the writing businessDollar by Dollar by Kerrie Flanagan is a comprehensive guide packed with proven strategies to help writers boost book sales, increase income from writing, and succeed in both traditional and self-publishing. Mark Leslie’s Author’s Guide to Branding for Success shows you how to make your Author Brand into one of your best long-term Intellectual Property assets!

Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn provide guidance and inspiration to share your message with the world from the stage in Page to Platform: How to Succeed as an Author Speaker.

And Booking the Libraries by Jessica Brawner is tailored for authors, speakers, storytellers, musicians, puppeteers, and all living-wage entertainers. This guide is your key to unlocking fresh markets, cultivating a dedicated fanbase, and revolutionizing your livelihood.

And finally, on the writing life, these titles will help you stay inspired and remain strong as a creative.

The D.I.Y. Author by Kaye Lynne Booth shows you the ropes in the business of being an author.

Wit and Wisdom by Craig Martelle—exclusive first release in this StoryBundle—is chock full of quips and snippets to help authors stay focused on the right things to accelerate their business.

And Falling to Fly by Todd Fahnestock is a deeply personal exploration into the creative process and the publishing industry. This is truly the book to read before you give up on your writing dreams.

In addition in this StoryBundle, you will receive full year’s subscription to Indie Author Magazineyour go-to resource for news, tips, and advice on self-publishing. Stay up-to-date on the latest trends in the industry.

A note on the designated charity for this StoryBundle, the Neil Peart Brain Cancer Research Fund from Cedars Sinai. In 2020 we lost Neil Peart, legendary drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush, to glioblastoma. He was my mentor, friend, and collaborator on numerous books, and his loss affected me deeply. Neil’s friends and colleagues and fans worldwide have contributed to this glioblastoma research fund in Neil’s name, and we are proud to add our efforts on this Writing Tools StoryBundle as well. Kevin J. Anderson

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For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you’re feeling generous), you’ll get the basic bundle of four books in .epub format—WORLDWIDE.

  • Romance Character Tropes by Tara Grace Ericson and Jessica Barber
  • Dollar by Dollar by Kerrie Flanagan
  • Essoe’s Guides to Writing: Mood and Atmosphere by Joshua Essoe
  • Booking the Library by Jessica Brawner

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $20, you get all four of the regular books, plus 9 more books, for a total of 13 (with 5 StoryBundle Exclusives), plus a year’s subscription to Indie Author Magazine!

  • Super Secrets: Illustrated by Wulf Moon
  • Falling to Fly by Todd Fahnestock
  • From Page to Platform: How to Succeed as an Author Speaker by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn
  • A Writer’s Guide to Branding for Success by Mark Leslie Lefebvre (StoryBundle Exclusive)
  • On Being a Dictator by Kevin J. Anderson (StoryBundle Exclusive)
  • Word by Word by Kerrie Flanagan
  • The D.I.Y. Author by Kaye Lynne Booth
  • Steps to Self-Editing by Jana S. Brown
  • Wit and Wisdom by Craig Martelle (StoryBundle Exclusive)
  • Indie Author Magazine: One Year Subscription by Indie Author Magazine

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get a DRM-free .epub for all books!

It’s also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Find out how you can get your book into a Story Bundle of even how you can curate your own on “Writer’s Corner” in my interview with Story Bundle founder, Jason Chen.

Planning for 2025

Story Bundles: Let’s Sell Some Books

I’m planning to currate a few Story Bundles of my own next year. I’m looking for authors with books in the women’s fiction, dark fiction, science fiction/fantasy, or paranormal genres. I already have a few authors interested from the paranormal genre. So, if you have a book in the above mentioned genres, I want to hear from you.Mention it in the comments or drop me a line at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com and let’s see if your book would be a good fit.

2025 WordCrafter Press Releases

With NaNoWriMo, I’ve got a good start on the second book in my Time-Travel Adventure Series, and I’ll be working hard to complete it throughout the months of December and January, with a hopeful March release. Of course, Book 3 in the Women in the West Adventure Series, Marta is also planned for release in 2025, and a short fiction collection of my own, titled “Little Ditties” to be released in time for Christmas.

With the creation of the Midnight Anthology Series, next year’s anthology is set to be dark fiction again, for volume 3, Midnight Oil. (I recently had a great story idea for this anthology. It’s very dark and scary, and I’m excited to see if I can meet the challenge of writing in a speculative fiction genre I’ve never attempted to write in before.) Submissions will be open in January and the call will post at the beginning of the year.

2025 Writing to be Read

Also, I believe Robbie may already be working on the next volume of Poetry Treasures, with a theme of Simple Pleasures. Guests on this past year’s “Treasuring Poetry” series should be getting their invites soon, if they haven’t already. I look forward to bringing forth another volume of this wonderful series of poetry books.

On Writing to be Read, plan to see more of Robbie’s new blog series, “Read and Cook with Robbie Cheadle”, which received a good reception so far this year. Catch “Read and Cook” on the second Wednesday of every month. I plan to continue my “Chatting with the Pros” and “Chatting with New Blood” series on the second and forth Saturdays, as well, and of course first or second Monday will see a “Writer’s Corner” post. Monday’s will also see segments of “Review in Practice” and my latest movie review series, “Everyone is a Critic”. And you can catch Robbie’s “Treasuring Poetry on the third Wednesday, and “In Touch with Nature” on the fourth Wednesday, as always. Art Rosch’s monthly “Mind Fields will also appear wherever I can fit them in, as he doesn’t have a set day right now.

I’m also hoping to get some new sponsors in the coming year. Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press. Please consider sponsoring a blog series, or even a single post and help me to keep Writing to be Read up and running.

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About Kaye Lynne Booth

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; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource. 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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This post is sponsored by The Rock Star & The Outlaw and WordCrafter Press.

Digital and Print Copies of The Rock Star & The Outlaw Book Cover: Sundial and planet in the background. Black leather clad woman and Man dressed in western garbstand beind giant electric guitar in foreground. Text: The Rock Star & The Outlaw, When a women with a guitar meets a cowboy with a gun, it's time to travel, Kaye Lynne Booth

A time-traveler oversteps his boundaries in 1887. Things get out of hand quickly, and he is hanged, setting in motion a series of events from which there’s no turning back.

In 1887, LeRoy McAllister is a reluctant outlaw running from a posse with nowhere to go except to the future.

In 2025, Amaryllis Sanchez is a thrill-seeking rock star on the fast track, who killed her dealing boyfriend to save herself. Now, she’s running from the law and his drug stealing flunkies, and nowhere is safe.

LeRoy falls hard for the rock star, thinking he can save her by taking her back with him. But when they arrive in 1887, things turn crazy fast, and soon they’re running from both the outlaws and the posse, in peril once more.

They can’t go back to the future, so it looks like they’re stuck in the past. But either when, they must face forces that would either lock them up or see them dead.

Purchase your copy today: https://books2read.com/RockStarOutlaw


WordCrafter News: Gearing up for NaNoWriMo & the 2024 Novel Writing Story Bundle

Newsprint background. WordCrafter quill logo Text: WordCrafter News

2024 NaNoWriMo

One of the methods I use of becoming more prolific in my writing is to use NaNoWriMo each November as a sort of spring board to get a good start on a novel, and hopefully, complete and publish it the following year. I’ve found it to be an effective way to help meet my writing goals. I have my own method of time blocking, which is more like grab every minute you can to write because I have a busy life, but even when I don’t reach my daily wordcount goals, I get on writing streaks where I more than make them up. And even in situations like last year, when my computer crashed with a week and a half left to go, so I was unable to make the 50,000 word goal, I come out with a healthy start to my novel, offering me a descent foundation to build on. (You can learn more about my NaNoWriMo strategies in my writing reference, The D.I.Y Author.)

This year is no exception and I’ve been busily outlining the sequel to The Rock Star & the Oulaw in preparation for next month’s NaNoWriMo challege to pound out at least 50,000 words of a new novel. Come next Monday, I will be up to my elbows in the writing of book 2, and I can already tell you, it’s going to be a wild ride. The ending of the first book was such that there has to be a second. My readers will be expecting and anticipating it. In this book, Amarylis will be expanding her horizons as she changes and grows, and my inspiration will expand beyond the music of The Pretty Reckless, which served as inspiration for her character in the first book.

I have most of my November blog posts written and scheduled, so my writing efforts can be focused on the book. The dark anthologies are launched in time for the Halloween season and their initial promotions have come to an end. In order to meet those daily wordcounts, I will be doing a minimal amount of promoting, so I won’t be as visible on social media as I usually am, and it may take me a bit longer to respond to email correspondence. The only promotions I will be making are my normal promotions of blog posts on Writing to be Read, and the 2024 Novel Writing Story Bundle, which includes The D.I.Y. Author and runs through the end of November.

The 2024 Novel Writing Story Bundle – Currated by Kevin J. Anderson

This year’s Writing Tools StoryBundle, curated by bestselling author and publisher Kevin J. Anderson, is another treasure chest of vital handbooks covering aspects of the writer’s craft, business, and way of life. We have thirteen titles on a range of subjects, plus a 12-month subscription to Indie Author Magazine, your best source to stay up-to-date on the industry.

On writing craft, there’s The Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing, Vol. 1—Wulf Moon’s award-winning system on how to write stories and does so with creativity, fun, and humor. Tara Grace Ericson presents Romance Character Tropes—far more than your average trope list; this is an encyclopedia packed with info to help you use and leverage each trope successfully.

Freelance editor Joshua Essoe teaches about Mood and Atmosphere in his series of special-edition writing guides, each examining the most-common issues he encounters from writers he works with. Word by Word by award-winning author Kerrie Flanagan, shows you how to unlock your creativity and transform your writing. This is an essential guide for writers that offers inspiration, genre-specific strategies, and practical tips.

Jana S. Brown gives you Steps to Self-Editing. You’ve finished your novel! Now learn the self-editing steps to smooth off the rough edges and really make it shine!

And in the new revised edition of On Being a Dictator: Revised Edition, by Kevin J. Anderson, Martin Shoemaker, and Greg Vose—available exclusively in this StoryBundle,—you’ll learn how to use dictation to increase your productivity. One of the foundational books on a popular writing method, On Being a Dictator will help you think outside the box and up your game in the fast-paced ever-changing world of publishing.

Now, on to the writing businessDollar by Dollar by Kerrie Flanagan is a comprehensive guide packed with proven strategies to help writers boost book sales, increase income from writing, and succeed in both traditional and self-publishing. Mark Leslie’s Author’s Guide to Branding for Success shows you how to make your Author Brand into one of your best long-term Intellectual Property assets!

Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn provide guidance and inspiration to share your message with the world from the stage in Page to Platform: How to Succeed as an Author Speaker.

And Booking the Libraries by Jessica Brawner is tailored for authors, speakers, storytellers, musicians, puppeteers, and all living-wage entertainers. This guide is your key to unlocking fresh markets, cultivating a dedicated fanbase, and revolutionizing your livelihood.

And finally, on the writing life, these titles will help you stay inspired and remain strong as a creative.

The D.I.Y. Author by Kaye Lynne Booth shows you the ropes in the business of being an author.

Wit and Wisdom by Craig Martelle—exclusive first release in this StoryBundle—is chock full of quips and snippets to help authors stay focused on the right things to accelerate their business.

And Falling to Fly by Todd Fahnestock is a deeply personal exploration into the creative process and the publishing industry. This is truly the book to read before you give up on your writing dreams.

In addition in this StoryBundle, you will receive full year’s subscription to Indie Author Magazineyour go-to resource for news, tips, and advice on self-publishing. Stay up-to-date on the latest trends in the industry.

A note on the designated charity for this StoryBundle, the Neil Peart Brain Cancer Research Fund from Cedars Sinai. In 2020 we lost Neil Peart, legendary drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush, to glioblastoma. He was my mentor, friend, and collaborator on numerous books, and his loss affected me deeply. Neil’s friends and colleagues and fans worldwide have contributed to this glioblastoma research fund in Neil’s name, and we are proud to add our efforts on this Writing Tools StoryBundle as well. Kevin J. Anderson

* * *

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you’re feeling generous), you’ll get the basic bundle of four books in .epub format—WORLDWIDE.

  • Romance Character Tropes by Tara Grace Ericson and Jessica Barber
  • Dollar by Dollar by Kerrie Flanagan
  • Essoe’s Guides to Writing: Mood and Atmosphere by Joshua Essoe
  • Booking the Library by Jessica Brawner

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $20, you get all four of the regular books, plus 9 more books, for a total of 13 (with 3 StoryBundle Exclusives), plus a year’s subscription to Indie Author Magazine!

  • Super Secrets: Illustrated by Wulf Moon
  • Falling to Fly by Todd Fahnestock
  • From Page to Platform: How to Succeed as an Author Speaker by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn
  • A Writer’s Guide to Branding for Success by Mark Leslie Lefebvre (StoryBundle Exclusive)
  • On Being a Dictator by Kevin J. Anderson (StoryBundle Exclusive)
  • Word by Word by Kerrie Flanagan
  • The D.I.Y. Author by Kaye Lynne Booth
  • Steps to Self-Editing by Jana S. Brown
  • Wit and Wisdom by Craig Martelle (StoryBundle Exclusive)
  • Indie Author Magazine: One Year Subscription by Indie Author Magazine

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get a DRM-free .epub for all books!

It’s also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

__________________________________________

You can learn more about Story Bundle on “Writer’s Corner” in my interview with Story Bundle founder, Jason Chen.

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About Kaye Lynne Booth

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; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource. 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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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.

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This post is sponsored by The Rock Star & The Outlaw and WordCrafter Press.

Digital and Print Copies of The Rock Star & The Outlaw Book Cover: Sundial and planet in the background. Black leather clad woman and Man dressed in western garbstand beind giant electric guitar in foreground. Text: The Rock Star & The Outlaw, When a women with a guitar meets a cowboy with a gun, it's time to travel, Kaye Lynne Booth

A time-traveler oversteps his boundaries in 1887. Things get out of hand quickly, and he is hanged, setting in motion a series of events from which there’s no turning back.

In 1887, LeRoy McAllister is a reluctant outlaw running from a posse with nowhere to go except to the future.

In 2025, Amaryllis Sanchez is a thrill-seeking rock star on the fast track, who killed her dealing boyfriend to save herself. Now, she’s running from the law and his drug stealing flunkies, and nowhere is safe.

LeRoy falls hard for the rock star, thinking he can save her by taking her back with him. But when they arrive in 1887, things turn crazy fast, and soon they’re running from both the outlaws and the posse, in peril once more.

They can’t go back to the future, so it looks like they’re stuck in the past. But either when, they must face forces that would either lock them up or see them dead.

Purchase your copy today: https://books2read.com/RockStarOutlaw


WordCrafter News: Spend the Holidays with WordCrafter

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WordCrafter quill logo
Text: WordCrafter News

NoNoWriMo 2023

Bookcover. Monochrome Indian tepees in background. Young girl wrapped in Indian blanket in foreground. Text: Sarah, Women in the West adventure series, Kaye Lynne Booth

All through the month of November, I was busily working on Sarah, the second book in my Women in the West adventure series. I have a Kickstarter campaign planned for this book in January, and it will be released through distributors in March. I have to say that I was on a roll during the first three weeks, only missing the daily goal of 1667 words on all but three of those days. On the 21st, I registered over 35,000 words, with nine days left to reach the overall goal of 50,000.

Then, my computer screen gave up the ghost, and I had no image to work with, bringing me to a grinding halt. I couldn’t retrieve or back up my document, let alone write more.

Fortunately, I have a guardian angel and life long friend, who values my writing and may very well be my biggest fan. She made sure I had a new laptop coming as soon as she heard about my dilemma, in the hopes of saving the day. She is my oldest and dearest friend, and I always seem to hear from her just when I need her. This Thanksgiving session I made sure to offer up special thanks for her friendship.

WordCrafter Holiday Book Extravaganza

You won’t want to miss the WordCrafter Book Extravaganza when you’re looking for those perfect holiday gifts. December 1st – 22nd all books on the WordCrafter Press backlist will be available for under $3 each. The perfect prices for the perfect gifts, because we all know that books make wonderful gifts! Or, you can pick up those titles that have been sitting on your tbr list for yourself, so you’ll have plenty of stories to entertain you during the holiday season.

Books included in the Extravaganza:

Doubling Down on Book Reviews

Box of Books Text: Book Reviews

Starting in November, I’ve posted extra Saturday Book Reviews to get in all the reviews I’ve committed to done before the end of the year. But I discovered that I had so many reviews that I was behind on, that one extra review a week wasn’t enough. So, in December I will also be posting Sunday Book Reviews as well. And I may even post some random extras, if I get all the way caught up. That’s right. All through December you can catch at least three book reviews per week, and just in time for the holiday season, because we all know books are the best gifts for friends and loved ones, or even just to treat yourself.


WordCrafter News: Giveaway Winners, A Halloween Book Event, NaNoWriMo and a New Blog Series

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Wrapping up the WordCrafter Midnight Roost Book Blog Tour

We had a great tour for Midnight Roost and many of you visited one or more tour stops and commented, for a chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost. We were giving away three copies for this tour, and all that’s left to do now is to give you the winners. So, without further ado…

(Drumroll please.)

And the winners are…

  • BeetleyPete
  • Vera Day
  • Lauren Scott

If your name appears on the above list, please contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com to claim your free digital copy of Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories.

In Case You Missed the Tour

Midnight Roost is a truly creepy anthology from 20 talented authors that you won’t want to miss. But, if you missed the tour, you can still get a copy here: https://books2read.com/u/318L0l

About Midnight Roost

Book Cover Dark and scary graveyard background Text: Midnight Roost, Weird and Creepy Stories, A WordCrafterr Anthology, Edited by Kaye Lynne Booth

20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon, and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.

Halloween Book Event

Tomorrow is Halloween. My favorite holiday. To celebrate, WordCrafter is cohosting the author takeover during Sonoran Dawn’s Black Cauldron All Hallow’s Eve Book Event all Halloween day. Join us for promos, games, and giveaways, Halloween music and a whole lot more. Sign up and join in at the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/events/876710947358939/

Author takeover spots are available. If interested in promoting your books, artwork, or other creative projects, contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com and put Author Takeover in the subject line.

November NaNoWriMo

I’m so excited about participating in National Novel Writing Month this year because I’m itching to delve into Sarah. I’m still not prolific enough to think I’ll write the whole novel in a month, but I know from last year, with The Rock Star & The Outlaw, that participating in NaNoWriMo can offer one heck of a start.

For those who don’t know, Sarah is book 2 in the Women in the West Adventure series. Last January I ran a Kickstarter campaign for book 1, Delilah. I plan to run another Kickstarter campaign for Sarah this coming January, so it is time to write the book. In preparation, I’ve done my research and have a working outline ready. I’ve already had a lot of fun fleshing out the two supporting characters that backers got to name from Delilah’s campaign, Lillian Alura Bennett, and Owoz Crebo. One historical female character which will make an appearance in Sarah, which is a trademark of the series, is Kate Elder, a.k.a. Big Nose Kate, Doc Holiday’s infamous companion. So, I have everything I need at the starting gate, and I’m just waiting for the starting gate to open on November 1st.

New Blog Series Starting in November

I’m so pleased to be able to make this particular announcement. The first Wednesday in November, Jeff Bowles will be returning to the blog with a new blog series about pop culture, “Pop with Jeff Bowles”. He’ll be talking about the many areas of pop culture: comics and comic hero movies, video games, television, music, and more. Drop by Writing to be Read the first Wednesday of each month and check it out.

Note: Also in November and December, you may notice some extra reviews coming out on Saturdays as I try and get in all of my 2023 reads, so I can start fresh in 2024. For requested reviews, I like to post in a timely manner, and I don’t want to wait into the new year to post, as I’ve probably already passed their release date due to my back log. So, if you have requested a review and sent me an ARC copy this year, be watching, because they all should be coming up.

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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.