July’s challenge did not recieve any entries, so I’m thinking maybe last month’s challenge was too specific. I decided to use a more general prompt, like the one from June, in hopes of getting at least a few submissions.
There is nothing to vote on this month, but I’d like to hear from you if you think this idea could be fun and would like to participate at some point in the future. I need to know if there is enough interest to continue this blog series.
This Month’s Prompt
Monsters of Legend
Your story must contain a legendary monster. So, pull out your shapeshifters, blood suckers, walking dead, gargoyles, goblins and ghoulies, wraiths, dragons and trolls. It can be dark. It can be funny. It can be a monster romance. Whatever the genre, there must be a monster of legend at the heart of it.
The Rules
Remember, your story can be any genre, so you can get creative. Publish the results on your blog and send the link to me by the last day of the month. Be sure to label them with #WtbRStoryChallenge. Or, if you don’t have a blog, you can send the results directly to me at kayebooth@yahoo.com, and I will publish them or the links back to your blog the following month along with the writing prompt for the next month.
Stick to the rules and after 30 minutes of writing stop. I’ll be writing right along with you. I know the prompt ahead of time, but I won’t begin writing until it has posted. Be sure to have your entry to me by the last day of the month, so I can share them all for readers to vote on.
Another good thing about this not being a live event is you will have the opportunity to edit for grammar, spelling, and punctuation before submitting, and I do want it to be the best you’ve got, of course.
How does a farm boy and son of a poor country preacher become one of the world’s greatest naval commanders, a hero to one nation, and a pirate scourge of the Spanish Main?
July 1557. One month after England’s entry into the Anglo-French war. A world where kinship and patronage are as important as national identity.
Follow the 17-year-old Francis Drake into a cutlass-slashing, cannon-blasting sea raid as he joins his cousin John Hawkins in cutting out one of the Hawkins’ ships, and rescuing its crew from French captivity.
One raid will create a legend.
Please note that Retribution is a short story. This is bridge story between two upcoming novels, Adventures of Francis Drake–Sic Parvis Magna and Adventures of Francis Drake–First Blood.
I recieved a digital copy of Retribution, by Paul Jariabek in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Retribution is a short story, (about 23 pages), which can be read in a single sitting. In fact, I read it while waiting during a dental visit.
Let me start by saying that this is not a genre that I would normally pick up, even though it is historical fiction, although I did enjoy the swashbuckling antics of Pirates of the Carribean. It is the tale of a rescue mission and subsequent battle during the Anglo-French war in 1557. Readers are privy to the reasoning and planning of the raid to retrieve a stolen ship, and the fast moving execution of the plan through the eyes of young Francis Drake, a young man trying to prove himself and find his place in the world.
A fast-paced quick read, that will make you want to read the stories it bridges. It is obvious that the author has done his research from his realistic descriptions. I give Retribution four quills.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
I am pleased to announce that the 2024 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Anthology will be released in October under the title Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow, and bearing the fantastic cover above, designed by Sonoran Dawn Studios. Midnight Garden will be joined by last year’s anthology, Midnight Roost: Weird & Creepy Stories, and next year’s anthology, Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, to make up the Midnight Anthology Series from WordCrafter Press.
Midnight Garden features 21 fabulously dark stories – the works of seventeen talented authors, including Paul Kane, El Rodman, DL Mullan, Joseph Carrabis, Robbie Cheadle, Denise Aparo, Jon Shannon, Paul Martz, Zack Elafy, Robb T. White, Abe Margel, Julie Jones, Molly Ertel, Peter McKay, Kaye Lynne Booth, Daneka Scrimshaw, and the winning story in the 2024 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest, “The Seagull Man”, by M.J. Mallon
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This post is sponsored by Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories, book 1 in the Midnight Anthology Series from WordCrafter Press.
The anthologies on WordCrafter‘s Summer Reading List are still discounted with some great summer prices through August 31. Fill your summer reading list with outstanding short fiction anthologies from WordCrafter Press for under $5 each. Add these titles to your digital library.
This is the second month for this story challenge and the going is slow. We were all supposed to vote on last months submissions, but I only had one, so there is not much to vote on. I will publish the submission here, along with the beginning of my own. It’s not really voting, but I would like to hear your thoughts on the stories posted. Would you read more if were offered? What works for you? What doesn’t?
I’d also like to hear from you if you think this idea could be fun and would like to participate at some point in the future. I need to know if there is enough interest to continue this blog series.
This Month’s Prompt
A woman walks into a bar, that isn’t a bar, and it changes her life forever.
Remember, your story can be any genre, so you can get creative. Publish the results on your blog and send the link to me by the last day of the month. Be sure to label them with #WtbRStoryChallenge. Or, if you don’t have a blog, you can send the results directly to me at kayebooth@yahoo.com, and I will publish them or the links back to your blog the following month along with the writing prompt for the next month.
Stick to the rules and after 30 minutes of writing stop. I’ll be writing right along with you. I know the prompt ahead of time, but I won’t begin writing until it has posted. Be sure to have your entry to me by the last day of the month, so I can share them all for readers to vote on.
Another good thing about this not being a live event is you will have the opportunity to edit for grammar, spelling, and punctuation before submitting, and I do want it to be the best you’ve got, of course.
June Submissions
Prompt: Write a story based on a local or popular legend.
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Thanks to Sylva Fae for submitting this month, so I have something to post besides my own story.
The Wizard of Alderley Edge
by Sylva Fae
“What’s up with you, Paul? You’ve been moping around since you got here, and you haven’t even drunk your tea.”
“I’m skint, Granddad. Molly’s nagging me to book a holiday, I’ve just bought a new car and I’ve still got my student loan to pay off.”
“Pah! You youngsters don’t know how privileged you are. I thought you were getting paid well at that fancy new job of yours – you can’t be skint.”
“How would you know, Granddad? You’ve always been rich…”
“Not always, Paul. When I was a young man, I struggled to even put food on the table.”
“Seriously? You live in the biggest house in Macclesfield? Come on, Granddad, what’s the family secret to getting obscenely rich?” Paul laughed; his grandparents were one of the richest families around, owning several businesses and properties.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Granddad replied.
“Go on, try me. Seriously, I’ll take any advice you can give me.”
“It’s not that sort of story but if you want to know, it all started with a legend…”
“A legend? Seriously, Granddad?”
“Do you wanna hear this story, or what?” Granddad grumbled.
Paul nodded, and settled back to drink his tea.
“This is the legend of the sleeping king, and not just any old king, King Arthur, no less. Several places claim to be the final resting place of King Arthur and his loyal knights, but I know he lies somewhere beneath the rocks of Alderley Edge.” Granddad took a moment to sip his tea, then continued.
“A long time ago, a farmer set off along the Ridge Road, taking his white mare to market, in Macclesfield town. He frequently made the journey through the woods and knew every twisty path, rock face and shortcut. As he approached Thieves Hole, the mare stopped in the centre of the crossroads and refused to budge. The farmer, wary of local superstitions of this being the crossing into the Otherworld, urged his mare on, but was suddenly startled by an old man appearing between the trees. A long emerald cloak covered all but his wizened face and long grey beard, and he leaned heavily on a twisted staff, as he slowly made his way down the bank to the farmer.
“Where are you going with that mare?” the old man shouted after him. “I would like to buy it.”
The farmer looked at the old man and pondered, it would save him a walk if he sold the mare here, but he’d likely get a better price at the market. “Thank you, Sir, but I’ll try my luck in the market. I need to get the best price possible.”
“Heed my warning! Nobody in town will buy your mare. I will be waiting here for your return.” The old man slammed his staff down onto the rock, as if marking the spot they would meet.
The farmer finally reached the market, but wherever he went, although people admired the mare, nobody was interested in buying her. She was a fine mare too, worth far more than he was willing to take for her. Strangely, everyone he approached turned away, with the same disinterested dismissal when he tried to sell her. Perplexed, and with the old man’s warning still rumbling round his mind, he set off back across the Edge to home, leading the white mare.
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This is my submission, and will also be my second story for the by invitation only anthology, Tales From the Hanging Tree, which will be released in September.
The Legend of Cottonwood Hallow
by Kaye Lynne Booth
[1865]
Running Fox is walking along the tree line near the riverbank, searching for the [plants] White Cloud needed to initiate him as a brave in the ceremony tonight. He hears yelling at the stage stop up ahead, but he pays it no mind. Today is an important day for him and he doesn’t have time to worry about what the white man’s troubles are. Little Dove will be there tonight, watching as he becomes a man. She is the prettiest girl he has ever known, and he plans to mate with her when he is old enough to take a squaw. He kneels down to pluck up some [plants] from the muddy bank of the river, but quickly looks up at the sound of horse’s hooves approaching fast.
“Ho, there!” a big burly man in a leather coat exclaims as he dismounts from his horse, pointing a rifle right at him. “You there, Indian! What are you doing?”
Running Fox looks up at him wide eyed. He does not speak the white man’s tongue and cannot understand his words, but he understands the rifle pointed his way. His heart beats like a war drum in his chest as three other men come riding up from behind the man with the rifle, and spread out, blocking his escape from all directions. “No, tsapea,” (Let go!) he cries as the big burly man steps forward, grabbing by the arm and jerking him to his feet.
“This the one, Charlie?” the white man asks.
A small, mousy man wearing a striped shirt and spectacles comes up behind him and squints, examining Running Fox’s features. “Well, I don’t know,” the little man says, speaking barely above a whisper. “It was an Indian, but they all sort of look alike.”
“Is this the one who robbed the stage stop, Charlie?” the big man says, shaking the arm of Running Fox to emphasize his words.
The young boy tries to pull away, repeating the words, “Tsapea!”. But the man tightens his grip, holding him hard enough to hurt.
A little man wearing a white apron and visor partially covering his balding head stutters, stumbling over his words. “Well now, uh, Zeek, I’m not sure. Th-the fella who did the robbing s-s-seemed older,” the little man says, wiping sweat from his brow. “I mean, uh, this f-f-feller seems a mite young to be r-robbing anybody. I mean… he’s just a k-kid, really.”
“One Injun’s as good as another, I say,” says a gray-haired man sporting a beard and mustache. He flashes a toothless smile and smacks his lips together as Running Fox continues to struggle, trying to pull away from the meaty grip of the big man. “Ain’t a damn one of ‘em worth a sow’s ear, if you ask me?”
“Nobody did, old man,” says the burly man, still holding the rifle in his other hand. “Was the fella did the robbin’ even an Injun, Charlie?”
“Well, now… It was d-dark, you know? I… uh… I didn’t get a very g-good look. C-c-could have been, b-but I a-ain’t too sure. S-s-seemed bigger, b-but I w-was s-scared. He had a g-g-gun on me and all. I… uh… I guess it c-c-could b-be hi—”
“Oh, fer Christ sakes, Charlie,” says another man, stepping out from the shadow of the big cottonwood tree before the man called Zeek can reply.
Running Fox can’t make out his features in the afternoon son, dappled by the shadow of the tree, but he can see the glint in his eye, and it wasn’t friendly.
The man holds a piece of rope in one hand, which he holds up in front of him as he says, “You better be sure. You wouldn’t want us to hang the wrong man, would you? You’re in charge of the stage stop. If this ain’t him, I guess you’re the one to take the responsibility. Ain’t that right, boys?”
The others mumble to the affirmative, some nodding their heads as Running Fox renewed his struggles against the grip of the gruff, burly man at the sight. “Tsapea!” he said, pulling his arm away with all his might. He doesn’t understand all the men say, but he understands the meaning of that rope. His heart races and a sweat breaks out on his forehead, running down his face. He doesn’t know the why of it, but he’s pretty sure that these men intend to hang him. “Tsapea! Tsapea!”
The burly man tightens his grip and jerks back on his arm. “Settle down now,” he says. “You think you can get away?” Then he turns his attention back to Charlie, but he doesn’t loosen his grip. “Well, Charlie? We need to know. This him, or not? I can’t hold onto this ‘un forever. He’s a wildcat.”
Charlie stares at Running Fox with frightened eyes. Then, he gives a nod of his head and casts his eyes to the ground. “Y-yes. I r-reckon th-that’s him,” he says softly.
“What’s that, Charlie?” says the man with the rope. “Speak up so we can hear.”
“Th-that’s him,” Charlie says, louder this time, but without looking up.
“All right then,” the dark man says, throwing a rope over the lowest branch of the big tree. “Let’s get this done. I haven’t had any lunch yet.”
The grey-haired old man leads a horse toward him, parting the circle of men. The noose slides down over his head. The burly man lets go of him momentarily, but places both hands around Running Fox’s waist and hoists him up into the saddle, as if he were a small child.
Everything is happening too fast. Running Fox doesn’t it even have time to protest. His heart races faster in his chest than it ever has before, faster even than when he’s run for long distances. His breathing quickens as the panic rises within him. They are going to hang him, and he doesn’t even know why. Little Dove will not see him become a brave, because he will never be one. Tears squeeze from the corner of his eyes at this thought, even though he tries to fight them back. He will never see his mother again, will never make his father proud. It isn’t fair. eHis life I just beginning. Running Fox is determined to never leave this spot until he has revenge. Nothing good will ever come from this place. Just before they slap the horse’s rump, sending it charging out from under him, he issues a vow that binds his soul to the cottonwood with his last breath. “Nitea ianna.” (Curse this place).
The first three books in the My Backyard Friends kid’s book series will be released through retailers on July 16th. Written by me, Kaye Lynne Booth and Illustrated by Robbie Cheadle this series brings kids stories with moral lessons, inspired by the birds and animals that visit my backyard. All three are available for preorder now.
Meet the Characters of the My Backyard Friends Kid’s Book Series
Join us July 15-22 for the WordCrafter My Backyard Friends Book Blog Tour to send this kid’s book series off right. We’ll have a My Backyard Friends store with exclusive offers for books and MBF merchandise you won’t want to miss. The store will go up one opening day and will be available throughout this eight-day tour. Other stops will feature character interviews, guest posts from me and one from Robbie, as well as reviews of each book.
WordCrafter Press Summer Reading List Discounts
Short fiction anthologies on the WordCrafter Press Summer Reading List are discounted through August 31. Get these fantastic anthologies at great prices while they last for some entertaining and captivating summer reads.
Now through August 31, all WordCrafter Press anthologies on our summer reading list are on sale!
Lingering Spirit Whispers
Three great WordCrafter paranormal anthologies bundled into one exceptional paranormal anthology set: Whispers of the Past, Spirits of the West, and Where Spirits Linger. Thought provoking short fiction for every lover of ghost stories and paranormal tales.
Only $4.99 during the Summer Reading List Sale June 15 – August 31
Once Upon am Ever After: Modern Fairy Tales & Folklore
This unique and imaginative collection of eleven thought provoking fantasy stories will delight readers who enjoy stories of wishes gone awry.
What happens when…
A woman desires to carry on her family’s legacy, uncovering a long-buried curse?
A not so perfect witch casts a spell to defy age and preserve her relationship with her handsome shapeshifting familiar?
A time traveler longs to be the savior of knowledge lost?
An incompetent delivery boy becomes an unlikely savior of forgotten artifacts?
A magic mirror yearns for a different question?
A tiny story witch desires to share her stories with the world?
Spells are cast, unlikely alliances made, and wishes granted, sometimes with surprising outcomes. You’ll love this anthology of modern myths, lore, and fairy tales. Once you read these twisted tales, you’ll be sure to be careful what you wish for….
If you liked Gilded Glass, you’ll enjoy Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Myths & Fairy Tales, short stories with thought provoking themes, captivating characters and diverse cultures, from humorous to horrifying, from the legendary past to possible futures and back to the here and now.
Only $2.99 during the Summer Reading List Sale June 15 – August 31.
Refracted Reflections: Twisted Tales of Duality & Deception
Reflections and Refractions…
One reveals truths, while the other bends light into varying shapes of deception.
Does a small camp mirror reveal hope… or death?
Is the warrior in the mirror a monster… or a protector?
Does a glimpse in the mirror reveal a young woman’s true self… or what someone else has shaped her into?
Does the mysterious portal to the future reflect what could be… or what must be left behind?
Are the dancers reflected in the water’s depth things of beauty… or evil?
This unique and imaginative collection of nine mind tantalizing fantasy and science fiction stories will appeal to readers who enjoy thought provoking tales with hidden meanings resting deep below the surface. These stories will keep you pondering long into the night.
If you liked Gilded Glass or Once Upon an Ever After, you’ll love Refracted Reflections.
Only $2.99 during the Summer Reading List Sale June 15 – August 31.
An author’s visions are revealed through their stories. Many authors have strange and unusual stories, indeed. Within these pages, you will find the stories of eighteen different authors, each unique and thought provoking. These are the fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, and horror stories that will keep you awake long into the night.
What happens when:
An inexplicable monster plagues a town for generations, taking people… and souvenirs?
A post-apocalyptic band of travelers finds their salvation in an archaic machine?
The prey turns out to be the predator for a band of human traffickers?
Someone chooses to be happy in a world where emotions are regulated and controlled?
A village girl is chosen to be the spider queen?
Grab your copy today and find out. Let authors such as W.T. Paterson, Joseph Carabis, Kaye Lynne Booth, Michaele Jordan, Stephanie Kraner, and others, including the author of the winning story in the WordCrafter 2022 Short Fiction Contest, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, tantalize your thoughts and share their Visions
Only $3.99 during the Summer Reading List sale June 15 – August 31.
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.
Only $4.99 during the WordCrafter Summer Readng List Sale June 15 – August 31.
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.
I want to shake things up a bit on this blog. I’d like to stir up more reader engagement. So, I thought it might be fun to run a monthly story challenge and see if I couldn’t entice some of you to play along.
I got the idea from Story Wars, a group of authors who hold live writing events twice a month in Cleveland, Ohio and are doing impromptu writing and story telling a little differently. They will be doing an live event at the Author Nation Conference in Vegas, which is what used to be the 20Booksto50k Conference, under new ownership, now hosted by Author Nation.
What they do sounded like a lot of fun, so I thought I’d try something similar here on the blog. Here’s how it will work. Each month I will provide a story prompt in my post and then you all can take that and sit down to write for 30 minutes to see what you come up with. It can be any genre, just let your voice come through and shine.
Now I know that’s not enough time to write a complete story, of course. But it is enough to give you a good start. Publish the results on your blog and send the link to me by the last day of the month. Be sure to label them with #WtbRStoryChallenge. Or, if you don’t have a blog, you can send the results directly to me, and I will publish them the following month along with the writing prompt for the next month.
Now here’s the fun part. Each reader can vote in the comments for the story beginning they like best in the comments, even if you are a participant in the challenge. You can vote for your own story, or for someone else’s that you honestly feel is best. And each month last month’s winners will be announced. The top three will receive an invitation to finish the story and submit it to WordCrafter Press for inclusion in an anthology.
And of course, if you have a good start, you can always finish the story, even if you don’t get an anthology invitation. And I hope you do.
Winners will be announced the following month, after voting and I will continue to post winners after the challenge ends.
Now this is an experiment, so I’m running the series for six months just to see how it goes. If I’m not receiving any submissions, I may not run it that long, because the idea is to garner engagement from my reader community. But I hoping there will be interest in this fun writing exercise as way to flex writing muscles you may not use in your usual writing processes. If the response is high, and I see that there’s interest, I may decide to continue it longer.
Story Wars is a live event, so its participants really must improvise. There’s no time to outline or plot. Since this challenge is not live, you all will have time to think about what you want to write. I do ask that you don’t resort to formal plotting or outlining, as testing out those improv skills is a big part of the fun. The idea is to let your voice take the reins and run with it. Your story can be silly or serious, scary or romantic, mysterious or fantastical. And remember it is not expected to be a complete story, although hopefully you’ll be able to finish it, if you are voted a top three winner. Are you ready for some word play?
June Writing Prompt
Write a story based on a local or popular legend.
This month’s prompt should bring something to mind easily. We all know local legends or have heard one which is widely known. Pick your legend and write your tale based on it. It can be a retelling using your voice, but if you do this, please write the portion of a story which sets your story apart from previous tellings.
Stick to the rules and after 30 minutes of writing stop. I’ll be writing right along with you. I know the prompt ahead of time, but I won’t begin writing until it has posted. Be sure to have your entry to me by the last day of the month, so I can share them all for readers to vote on.
Another good thing about this not being a live event is you will have the opportunity to edit for grammar, spelling, and punctuation before submitting, and I do want it to be the best you’ve got, of course.
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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. 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.
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two, being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
I’m excited to announce that the winner of the 2024 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest is M.J. Mallon, with her story, “The Seagull Man” – an exquistly dark short story. Runners-up have also been invited to be included in the anthology and a select few were asked to revise and submit for round two amd may be included, depending on how much room we have after all invitational submissions have been considered.
Runners-up included:
“The Fae Game”, by Danaeka Scrimshaw
“The Peddler”, by Peter McKay
“The Blackest Ink”, by Paul Martz
“Antepenultimate”, by Molly Ertel
We had a good number of submissions to the contest this year, and together with the stories submitted by invitation, we’re going to have a deliciously dark fiction anthology come October. I am going through the invitational submissions now.
I’ve been meeting and greeting within author communities for sixteen years. First, as the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner for six years, and then, right here, on Writing to be Read . The payoff for these wasn’t in money, but in the opportunities they offered. I’ve met so many authors and was introduced to the writing world through those two things. And then, while working for my M.F.A., I met even more authors; traditionally published authors who were making a living from their writing, and I learned from them. When I went back to get my masters in publishing, I was privilaged to study under a true master, international and national bestselling author, Kevin J. Anderson and through the masters program and KJA, I met several industry experts, including Jonathan Maberry and Mark Leslie Lefebvre, and I learned from even more who were gracious enough to speak to my cohort, either in person or on Zoom. I’ve also met authors through various WordCrafter projects, such as the two virtual writing conferences which WordCrafter hosted in 2020 and 2021; great people who answered the call when I put it out, and ran workshops and sat on discussion panels and helped me to make those two events happen.
Tribes
And I have to say, there’s something special about authors. They seem to gravitate toward these tightnit communities where you can be a member due to only a shared love of craft. Most call themselves author communities, KJA calls them his tribe. I like that. It has a feeling of kinship to it. By giving me instruction in the publishing industry, he welcomed me into his tribe, and by being a part of my blog team, or collaborating with me on an anthology or other projects, or even by participating in discussions and being a regular visitor and name I recognized, you are welcomed into my tribe.
Authors aren’t the only people who do this kind of thing. It’s human nature for people to gravitate toward others who are like minded. There are Corvette clubs and antique car clubs, bridge clubs, and fan clubs for people who enjoy the same musical artists. But the thing is, none of the people in those clubs really know each other and they aren’t likely to go out of their way to lend a hand to someone else when the only thing they have in common is a love for one particular thing. But authors do. Authors are the most generous group of people, willing to share their knowledge with one antoher, willing to donate their time and energies to projects, willing to lift one antoher up. It is amazing to me.
Networking
In Hollywood, it is said that it is all about who you know, but this is true in a sense, for writing and publishing. Networking with fellow authors can open doors that would otherwise be closed to us. Through other authors we learn of opportunities that we might not be aware of otherwise, and we meet people who are like minded, who may endorse your book, or perhaps review it. We meet folks who are interested in the craft of writing, just like we are, and many are willing to trade off services, which can make outsourcing that would be quite costly, suddenly become something that is in reach.
Collaborations
I’ve met many authors through collaborations. The virtual writing conferences mentioned above is only one type of collaboration. There are many others. I also mentioned anthologies. I 💜 anthologies. Wordcrafter Press puts out one poetry anthology, and at least one short fiction anthology per year. These are collaborations of from six to twenty different authors per book.
The great thing about anthologies is, you have a bunch of different authors who each have their own following and the potential to broadcast and promote to that following, allowing you to reach a much wider audience of potential readers, and therefore purchasers of your book. The same works for other collaborative projects, too. I have capitalized on this for the virtual writing conferences which WordCrafter Press hosted, as well.
Paying it Forward
The philosophy of paying it forward is predominate through the author communities that I find myself a part of . KJA is one of the busiest people I know, yet he didn’t balk at all when I invited him to be my first guest as I revive the “Chatting with the Pros” blog series, and he was willing to take the time to do an author interview with me. That segment will be coming up later this month.
This is only one example of the good-heartedness found in memebers of the author community. I’ve been granted review and interview requests, blurbs or endorsements of my books, and booked speakers and workshop presenters with authors willing to donate their time. And all I had to do was ask.
I have done this by doing book reviews for authors I know who haven’t requested it, by editing all anthology submissions whether I invite them to be in the anthology or not, by doing a proofread or beta read at no charge for certain authors who have requested them, by donating my time to judge the Spur awards, and by reblogging or reposting the promos and reviews of my fellow authors.
Authors are generally good people. And just as I am proud to be a member of KJA’s tribe, I’m equally as proud to call each one of you as memebers of mine.
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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. 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 D.I.Y. Author and WordCrafter Press.
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two, being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
