This is Day 1 of the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships Book Blog Tour, and I want to tell you all, you are in for some real poetic treats this week. This wonderfully unique collection of poetry features works by Robbie Cheadle and her poetic guests from the 2021 “Treasuring Poetry” blog series right here on Writing to be Read, and it really is a treasure chest filled with poetic gems. We’ve got a fantastic eight day tour planned for you to learn more about this poetry anthology and I hope you will all join us through each tour stop.
Day 1: Opening Day here on Writing to be Readwith a guest post from contributing author Lauren Scott.
Day 2: Finds us at the ShiftNShakeblog with a guest post from blog series host, contributing author and editor Robbie Cheadle.
Day 3:The Showers of Blessingswill host a guest post from contributing author Lynda McKinney Lambert.
Day 4: Bay Dreamer Writes will host a guest post from contributing author Miriam Hurdle.
Day 5: Zigler’s Newswill bring us a guest post from contributing author M.J. Mallon and a review by Victoria Zigler.
Day 6: The publisher, (that’s me), will be in the interview spotlight over at This is My Truth Now.
Day 7: Robbie’s Inspirationhosts with a guest post from contributing author Colleen M. Chesebro.
Day 8: Writing to be Read will wrap things up with a guest post from contributing author Leon Stevens.
Follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop to be entered
in a random drawing for a free digital copy of
***Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships***
That all being said, I’m going to turn this post over to a wonderful author and poet, Lauren Scott. Enjoy the tour. Don’t forget to leave your comments for your chance at a free digital copy of this wonderful collection of poetry gems.
I am thrilled to announce the release of Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships, an anthology consisting of poetry from twelve authors. It is an honor to be among a group of amazing poets in this lovely collection that was compiled by Kaye Lynne Booth and Robbie Cheadle. Below is a little backstory of how Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships was born:
Kaye’s words:
In January of 2020, Robbie Cheadle introduced a new blog series on Writing to be Read called “Treasuring Poetry”, which quickly rose in popularity. Once a month, Robbie would feature one author/poet in a formatted Q&A and review their latest book on a blog platform where favorite poems could be shared and discussed. Robbie had some wonderful guests who are both talented poets and authors, and Robbie was attracting quite a bit of blog traffic.
By the end of 2020, we had a list of 12 talented poets who we felt were gems, so in 2021 we created a poetry anthology and invited Robbie’s “Treasuring Poetry” guests from the previous year to add their own contributions. The result was the first volume of Poetry Treasures, which was well received. 2021 had an equally talented line-up of guests, so we decided to do it again.
In Poetry Treasures 2: A Treasure Chest of Relationships, we’ve found some new gems. From the “Treasuring Poetry” guests of 2021, we have contributions from some very talented poets who are treasures in and of themselves: Arthur Rosch, Elizabeth Merry, D. Avery, Harmony Kent, Lauren Scott, Jules Paige, Leon Stevens, Miriam Hurdle, M.J. Mallon, Lynda McKinney Lambert, and of course, Robbie Cheadle. But unlike the pirates of olden days, we won’t bury our treasures. We want to share them with the world. I hope that you will enjoy reading these poems as much I’ve enjoyed helping to put them altogether.
I have contributed four poems, and the first, “The Fine Points” was inspired by my 33-year marriage to my husband. He is literally my best friend. The love we have shared over the years survived tough times when life threw us curveballs out of our control, but that same love thrived in more joyful moments than I can name. From the beginning when we shared our vows, when cell phones and computers were unheard of, we delivered unconditional love to each other that harbored no expectations of us to change in any way. I can’t ask for anything more.
After a couple years of marriage, our daughter was born, then our son completed our family three years later. Fast forward many years and our children are well into their adulting years.
“2020 in Digital” speaks of the chaos that raged in 2020, but how our year was brightened by our daughter and son-in-law’s unconventional yet beautiful wedding. They had been engaged for two years, together for nine, then Covid entered into the equation. A big wedding wasn’t going to happen due to restrictions, and they didn’t want to wait. So, they chose to do the next best thing.
“Something Right” was inspired when my husband and I were close to becoming empty nesters. Our daughter who is mentioned above had been out of the house for three years. Our son was about to venture into the world, paving his own path. Exciting, joyful, yet bittersweet. They both live across the country, pursuing their dreams, and we couldn’t be prouder knowing they’re making it on their own. But there are just too many states in between us, so hopefully, we can minimize that number in the near future.
Lastly, the poem entitled, “The Roses” is about my parents who have left our physical world. They used to love working in the garden, taking special pride in their roses. We miss them so much. It’s very surreal losing both parents, the family’s foundation.
If you’re a fan of poetry, I hope you’ll pick up a copy of this fabulous anthology that Kaye and Robbie worked hard in putting together. I’m sure there are poems within these pages that will resonate with you and touch your heart.
Lauren Scott resides in California with her husband of over three decades and their lovable lab, Copper. Their adult daughter and son live on the east coast. Lauren began writing poetry as a teen, but life intercepted her university plans, so as an adult she took writing classes at the local community college. Apart from these classes, her studies of poetry originated from reading the works of many great poets. Her strong connections to family and friends provide writing inspiration, as well as her love of nature and the marvelous wild world surrounding her. Backpacking trips with her husband along the California coast and Sierra Nevada mountains have stirred thoughts to pen about love, loss, family, and the many possibilities waiting to materialize.
Lauren was published in the anthology, Indra’s Net (2017). Additionally, she has been published in Woman’s World Magazine and The San Francisco Chronicle. She has authored three books: two collections of poetry – New Day, New Dreams (2013), and Finding a Balance (2015), and her recent memoir, Morethan Coffee: Memories in Verse and Prose (2021).
That’s right. The writing reference you’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Ten talented authors and industry experts have gathered together with me to share their writing tips and advice in essay and Q&A, creating a writing reference anthology like no other.
Where can you find publishing industry experts willing to share their secrets?
Ask the Authors 2022is the ultimate writer’s reference, with tips and advice on craft, publishing and marketing. Eleven experienced and successful authors share what works for them and offer their keys to success in traditional publishing, hybrid, and indie. You’ll learn industry wisdom from Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Kevin Killiany, L. Jagi Lamplighter, Bobby Nash, Paul Kane, Nancy Oswald, Chris Barili, Jeff Bowles, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Mario Acevedo and Kaye Lynne Booth.
This book offers up-to-date and tried-and-true ways to improve your craft, explores current publishing and book marketing worlds. Take a peek inside and find out what works for you.
Praise for Ask the Authors 2022
“Ask the Authors is an up-to-date and broad-based compendium of advice from today’s working writers, to help you with understanding your own writing career. Great information!” —Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of Spine of the Dragon
Ask the Authors 2022
Ask the Authors 2022 is available in both digital and print. You can get your copy from your favorite book retailer through the Books2Read universal book link (UBL) here: https://books2read.com/u/3LnK8e
Sign up for the Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Newsletter for and book event news for WordCrafter Press books, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. Get a free digital copy of Kaye Lynne Booth’s paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, just for subscribing.
Always have. I can’t seem to help it. I follow my heart instead of my head. But, once I chose a path, I am determined and stick to it. And when it comes to authoring, I bypass the easy path and stick to the rougher roads, learning as I go.
For my first novel, I chose the western genre, which isn’t exactly the fast lane to bestseller-dom. I publish poetry and anthologies. Most folks in the publishing industry will tell you these are much harder to sell than novels. And I’m a multi-genre author, who writes one-offs instead of series. Again, harder to sell, harder to build a fan base, because readers of my westerns probably won’t be interested in my paranormal stuff, or my short fiction collection, which has time travel, vampire, satire and origin stories all wrapped up between the covers.
If you have been following this blog and reading my posts, or if you subscribe to my newsletter, you may know that in the coming year my planned releases include the poetry anthology we just released, a nonfiction writing reference anthology, two science fiction/fantasy/horror/paranormal anthologies, and a fantasy fairytale anthology, and the re-release of my original western novel as a series starter. And yeah. That’s a lot. And no, not one of them will be an easy sell.
So why don’t I chose an easier path?
Well, for one thing, I enjoy working with other authors and compiling, editing and publishing poetry and short fiction anthologies allow me to do that. Also, I do it because I love a challenge. I find ways around or create solutions to help me through them, determined to make it all work even though it may be a rougher road. In fact, I’m trying to create a solution to the multi-genre author promotion thing right now.
But I think most of all, I have to write the stories that my heart wants me to tell. I’ve never tried writing to market. I like to write stories which excite me, and I’m not sure that a story written to fit into a certain genre or category would do that. And while some multi-genre authors stick to genres which are similar or sub-genres, I do things the hard way, so my genres span across the literary expanse, making my reader audience more difficult to find.
Let me tell you, it’s not easy for multi-genre authors to find and engage with all of their various audiences for the reason stated above. A reader may love your fantasy novel, but they may not care a bit about reading or learning more about your new steampunk novel. I hear there are super fans out there who fall in love with the author and will read anything they write, but as for me, I haven’t found any yet. And I’m betting that’s true for many multi-genre authors. It can be a real puzzler, figuring out ways to extend your reach in all of the genres that you write in, but I may have come up with one way to make that happen.
Cross-promotion.
More authors add up to extended reach, so I’m proposing that we create a newsletter swap group, comprised of multi-genre authors and all cross-promote each other’s books in our newsletters. We can all share new releases, and since we won’t all be releasing at once. Since all swap group members will be multi-genre authors, our audiences will already expect to hear about a variety of books and genres, so we’ll have a better chance of reaching readers who will buy our books. Every group members reach will be extended by the reach of all participating authors, and we will all have something else to say in our newsletters besides “Buy my book!” And best of all- it’s free promotion
Join us inuniting our promotion efforts for more followers and higher book sales.
I know a couple of authors who are already interested in taking advantage of this cross-promotion opportunity. If you are a multi-genre author who puts out an email newsletter at least monthly and wants to extend your reach for your books, I want to hear from you! Contact me at kayebooth@yahoo.com and put “Newsletter Swap” in the subject line. Tell me you’d like to participate, which genres you write in and tell me about any releases you have scheduled. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kaye Lynne Booth lives, works, and plays in the mountains of Colorado. With a dual emphasis M.F.A. in Creative Writing, 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”); and Spirits of the West (“Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”). Her western, Delilah, her paranormal mystery novella and her short story collection, Last Call, are all available in both digital and print editions.
In her spare time, she keeps up her author’s 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. She’s also the founder of WordCrafter. In addition to creating her own imprint in WordCrafter Press, she offers quality author services, such as editing, social media & book promotion, and online writing courses through WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services. When not writing or editing, she is bird watching, or hiking, or just soaking up some of that Colorado sunshine.
Sign up for the Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Newsletter for and book event news for WordCrafter Press books, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. Get a free digital copy of Kaye Lynne Booth’s paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, just for subscribing.
If, like me, you thoroughly enjoy Robbie Cheadle’s “Treasuring Poetry” blog series and can’t wait for her posts to come out each month, then you’ll be as excited as I am to learn that Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships is available at your favorite book distributors now!
Relationships are golden and each of
Arthur Rosch, Elizabeth Merry, D Avery, Robbie Cheadle, Harmony Kent, Lauren Scott, JulesPaige,
Leon Stevens, Colleen M. Chesebro, Miriam Hurdle,
M J Mallon, and Lynda McKinney Lambert
pay poetic tribute to their most intense
personal moments.
That’s right folks. Now you can get this wonderful collection of poetic gems by Robbie and her 2021 “Treasuring Poetry” guests all in one place. We’ll be doing a book blog tour April 25 – May 1 so you can learn more about the amazing treasures contained within, but you don’t have to wait.
Just click on the Books2Read Universal Book Link (ULB) to find your copy at your favorite book distributor now!: https://books2read.com/u/3kP8aK
The concept of 1,000 true fans was based on the theory of Wired editor, Kevin Kelly that a creator could make a descent living online with 1,000 truly invested fans, and it’s a concept that has been around for more than a decade. Today’s thinkers have revised that theory, and now it is believed that really, 100 true fans are all you need in this new “passion economy” which appears to be rising from within the new global internet communities, according to Aayushi Rachana, in her article “”100 True Fans” is All You Need in Passion Economy”, on Medium.com (March 11, 2021): https://medium.com/hapramp/all-you-need-to-know-about-100-true-fans-3fd72a35154f True fans are those who believe in you and want to support you in your creative endeavors; those fans who will buy everything that you write, just because you wrote it. And supposedly, we all have them – we just need to find them, or rather, we need to draw them to us.
That’s why I’ve decided to embark on a search for my own 100 true fans as I prepare to take my writing career to the full time level, but they aren’t going to just walk into my life and say, “Hi. I’m here to read everything you write, because I know how wonderful you are.” No, that’s not how it happens. True fans have to be earned; they have to be cultivated and grown from followers into fans, and a few will even mature into super fans, or true fans. But it doesn’t happen overnight, and it won’t happen on its own, and for me, it may be even more of a challenge as a multi-genre author who writes her heart instead of trying to write to market. So, I’ve developed a plan for drawing in followers, and hopefully, seducing them into fans, and then with luck it will turn into a long term relationship of super fans. Do I really have fans out there? We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
The first step is to offer a way for my followers to become fans by learning more about me and my books through my newsletter. I haven’t been as good as I should have been about my newsletter, I admit. In fact, I let it go to the wayside for two years and only primed it with a revival issue this past month, which gave a brief overview of upcoming releases and current projects, including a reminder of the approaching deadline for the 2022 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest (see submission guidelines here), and let my readers know that I’m still here. Newsletters also offer a way for followers to engage via email response, an opportunity for a connection to be made, which makes it more likely that they will become fans, or even superfans.
If you are reading this, then chances are good that you are at least a follower of mine. If you’d like to get to know me better or learn more about upcoming releases from myself or WordCrafter Press, you can join my newsletter and get a free digital copy of my paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, here: https://mailchi.mp/64aa2261e702/klb-wc-newsletter. Go on and subscribe. It’s free and you never know, you may even become a fan of you like what you discover in my newsletter.
Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships – Cover reveal
Above, you see the fantastic cover designed by Teagan Geneveine. I’m pleased to announce that to celebrate National Poetry Month, Poetry Treasures 2: Relationships will be scheduled for release in April. This wonderful poetry anthology features the works of guests from last year’s “Treasuring Poetry” blog series right here on Writing to be Read, hosted by Robbie Cheadle. Contributors include Arthur Rosch, Elizabeth Merry, D. Avery, M.J. Mallon, Miriam Hurdle, Colleen M. Chesebro, Lauren Scott, Harmony Kent, JulesPaige, Lynda McKinney Lambert, and Robbie Cheadle. Keep watching here, because it will be up for preorder soon.
Gilded Glass Up for Pre-order
You’ve all heard me talk about the great new anthology I am helping to put together through my publishing course at Western State Colorado University. In addition to the fabulous stories chosen from a plethora of exceptional submissions, it features stories by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Alan Dean Foster, Jonathan Maberry, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Michaelbrent Collings. I’m excited to tell you this amazing anthology is scheduled for release in July, but is now available for preorder and you can find it at your favorite retailer through books2read at the link below.
Sign up for the Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Newsletter for and book event news for WordCrafter Press books, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. Get a free digital copy of Kaye Lynne Booth’s paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, just for subscribing.
Well, we’ve all made it through another year and now have a whole new year ahead of us. I’m not into making resolutions that will just be broken, probably before the month of January has come to a close, but it seems like this time of year always brings about changes, so I thought I might share with you the changes planned for 2022, some of which are already in process.
Writing to be Read
On Writing to be Read, we have a few changes to the line-up. Jeff Bowles will only be doing one blog series, “Words to Live By”, on the first Wednesday of every month. Art Rosch will be doing “Mind Fields” and “The Many Faces of Poetry” bi-monthly, alternating every other Friday. Robbie Cheadle will still be offering all three of her monthly blog series. While “Growing Bookworms” and “Dark Origins” will keep their spots on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, but “Treasuring Poetry” will be moving from it’s Saturday spot to the third Wednesday of each month.
My new series, “Writer’s Corner” will appear once a month on Mondays, as will my reviews, including any “Review in Practice” posts. I was considering making my monthly “Chatting with the Pros” series into a podcast, but I think that will have to wait, since I have so much on my plate already for 2022. So, what I’m wondering now, is does anyone miss this series and would like to see me bring it back on the blog? If you do, or you would, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. It will help me to decide whether or not this series is worth reviving.
Author Kaye Lynne Booth
Back in May, for the 2021 WordCrafter New Beginnings Virtual Writing Conference, Anthony Dobranski, author of Business Class Tarot, did a workshop on the use of the cards he created. We didn’t have a great turn-out in 2021 and there were numerous set-backs, including my loss of internet causing me to miss out on a full day of the conference I was hosting, so when no one showed up for this wonderful workshop, Anthony was kind enough to do a reading for me. It was a lot of fun and I was surprised at how accurate to my own life his reading was. One of the things that was revealed was that I was trying to do too much and I needed to enlist others to take a part of the load on me, because I have always tried to be a one woman show and do all the various tasks involved in being an independent author and publisher. (You can see the video of the full reading here.)
Acting on the revelations from that reading, as I ramp up to transition into a full time writing career, with several releases planned for 2022, I realized I needed beta-readers and reviewers, and others to just help spread the word on social media, and so the Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Street Team group was born. It’s a great group with members who support my writing endeavors and want to be a part of the process. Members have exclusive access to behind the scenes information, opportunities to weigh in on scene and cover creation, and early access to new releases and book events, in exchange for their support as beta-readers and reviewers, or their help in spreading the word through their social media channels.
I’m also reviving my newsletter after letting it fall by the wayside for over a year. Newsletter recipients will receive early notice of new releases and book events, and sometime news of works by other authors bi-monthly. You can sign up for my newsletter here.
My first release for 2022 is scheduled for June, with the re-release of Delilah, in an edition that is the story I originally intended to tell. (You can find out more about the decision for this change here.) The current edition of Delilah will come down from the Amazon shelves sometime in April, and the new edition will be released wide, so it will be found not only on Amazon, but on Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Baker & Taylor, Bibliotheca, Borrow Box, Overdrive, Scribd, and other selected digital book outlets because WordCrafter Press publishes through D2D. (I’m a member of their affiliate program. Sign up for your own D2D account here.)
In the past, I told you about my science fantasy series, Playground for the Gods. The first book in that series was my thesis project when I was earning my M.F.A. at Western State Colorado University, back in 2016, so the it has been finished since then, yet you’ve never seen the implied promise of publication come to fruition. In 2022, I plan to release not just Book 1: The Great Primordial Battle, but also Book 2: In the Beginning, and Book 3: Inanna’s Songsometime toward the end of the year, but release dates for these haven’t been set yet.
WordCrafter Press & Author Services
WordCrafter Press has some great releases coming in 2022 as well. An updated version of the writing reference, 2022 Ask the Authors, is scheduled to be released in March. The original Ask the Authors, was taken from a Q&A blog series I ran in 2018. While the much of the advice offered from the 17 different authors who participated in that project is still valid today, this edition will address the changes in the publishing industry since the original edition was published and will feature an anthology of essays on craft and publishing in addition to the Q&A advice. This edition will feature advice from 13 authors, including Bobby Nash, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Nancy Oswald, Christopher Barili, Mario Acevedo, L. Jagi Lamplighter Wright, Kevin Killany, Paul Kane, Jeff Bowles, Enid Holden, Christa Planko, and myself, Kaye Lynne Booth.
The call for submissions for the 2022 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest posted on January 3rd. However, in 2022, WordCrafter Press will be putting out not just this one anthology, but a total of three short fiction anthologies. In addition to the Visions anthology, which contest submissions may be included in, that will be released in August, there will be two by invitation only anthologies: Slivered Reflections, which will be released in September, and Once Upon an Ever After, which will be released in November.
In 2021, we released the first edition of Poetry Treasures poetry anthology, featuring the works of Robbie Cheadle’s 2020 “Treasuring Poetry” poet guests on Writing to be Read, and we’ve decided to do it again. 2022 Poetry Treasures will feature the works of the 2021 “Treasuring Poetry” guests for a spectacularly unique poetry anthology, and will be released April to celebrate National Poetry Month.
WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services
Last, but not least, Write It Right Quality Editing Services is open to new editing clients in 2022. If you’re looking for affordable quality editing, Write It Right could be the editing service you’ve been looking for. A part of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.
I’m looking forward to 2022. I hope you’ll all join me in the coming year, as it promises to be a good one.
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The 2022 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest is now open for submissions. The submission deadline of May 31, 2022. The winner will receive a $25.00 Amazon gift card and their story will be guaranteed to be featured in Visions. All finalists will also receive an invitation to be included in the anthology, which offers a small royalty share for your story contribution. Submission guidelines are pretty simple, but as they are different from last year, I suggest you read and follow them carefully.
Submit your story with a cover letter to KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com with “Submission: [Your Title]” in the subject line and pay the $5 entry fee below.
Contest Entry
Enter the 2022 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest for a chance at an invitation to the Visions anthology and a grand prize $25 gift card.
$5.00
WordCrafter Press wants your visions.
For 2022, WordCrafter Press is looking for original short stories in the fantasy, science fiction, horror or paranormal genres. Past contests and anthologies have been limited to paranormal, and for Visions, your story can still have a ghost if you like, but it is not required. What I’ll be looking for for the 2022 WordCrafter anthology are your very best thought provoking stories, the kind of stories that will stay with readers long after they close the book.
WordCrafter Press is looking for original short stories to include a mix of fantasy, science fiction, horror, magical, and paranormal elements. Previously unpublished stories only.
Genres: Paranormal, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror or any combination there of.
Length: up to 5000 words
Submission Deadline: May 31, 2022
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, 2022.
Submit: A Microsoft Word or RTF file in standard manuscript format to KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com
After long deliberation I have come to a rather painful decision. After April 2022, Delilah will no longer be available through any book outlet. Delilah has been on the virtual shelves for five years now, and really hasn’t had many sales, even after adding forwards from authors Robert Hanlon and Paul L. Thompson, and a new cover and new back cover matter, so I’ve decided not to renew my contract with Dusty Saddle Publishing.
Originally, the story I wrote for Delilah was very different. I made major changes to the plot after the first draft was complete, based on feedback from a beta reader, which at the time I felt was valid, so I basically rewrote more than half of the story. The Delilah that I published, was not the same story that I originally conceived. Upon re-reading to see if I could determine why it might not be selling, I discovered several places where the story feels forced, where I was trying to make the events fit into the amended plot line and it was like trying to fit a round peg into a square whole. One of things authors must strive to accomplish is to write a good story that draws readers in and then provides a satisfying ending, so as not to disappoint readers, delivering on the promise. I think I’ve failed to do that with Delilah, leading to sales not being as good as I had hoped.
Delilah: A Western Adventure
The good news is, although Delilah will be disappearing from the virtual shelves for now, I’m going to go back to that original story, at least as much as I can, as I resurrect her and revise this tale into the one I originally wanted to tell. Before the end of 2022 I plan to re-release Delilah in a revised edition complete with new cover (above) and ‘blurbage’. If you already read Delilah and liked it, the revised edition will be even better. It will be a story that is true to character and creator; the story that originally should have been and almost was, will be again. So watch for this new and improved western adventure to be released in June.
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Short fiction doesn’t sell well. – That’s what I keep hearing. Anthologies are hard sells. So why would you even write short fiction, if it is so difficult to sell?
What many authors need to realize, is that while an anthology may be harder to sell than a novel, when you have work featured in an anthology, it is a project involving many authors, each with their own following which they bring to the table, creating a much bigger marketing network than you would have for a novel. Being a part of an anthology expands your marketing reach exponentially by the number of authors involved, which could actually make the marketing and promotion of the anthology easier and allow marketing to a much larger audience.
For the past few months I’ve been exploring short fiction and short fiction markets from the other side of things, as I worked to compile two separate anthologies. My solo project for my masters in publishing is The Best of Weird Tales 1926-27, which meant reading twenty-four issues of Weird Tales and selecting what I felt were the best stories to represent the publication, then compiling them into a single collection. It had to be a careful selection process, because much of what was socially acceptable in 1926 & 27, is far from acceptable in 2021.
The other project required for my degree involves being on the editorial team for the Mirror, Mirror anthology. You may have seen the call for submissions posted here on writing to be Read back in July. And there’s a chance that you even submitted to it, since we had over 600 submissions. That’s a lot of short stories to read. But I learned some valuable lessons from the experience:
It pays to get your submission in early. The early submissions get fresh eyes and open mind. But those submitted closer to the deadline, are seen by eyes that are tired by minds that have read so-o-o many stories, many of which are similar in theme or concept, if you wrote to the submission guidelines.
Follow the submission guidelines. This experience drove home to me how important this one really is. Going into this, my instructor and mentor, Kevin J. Anderson drilled in the importance of following the submission guidelines and took great care to make them clear in the call for submissions. It called for proper manuscript formatting, something every author should be familiar with, but just in case, he also included a link to a site that defined and explained what proper manuscript formatting is, and still we got manuscripts that were not formatted properly. Toward the end, I know improperly formatted manuscripts got set aside without a full read, because it hurt my tired old eyes too much, so this is really an important one, but many authors just didn’t get it. Publishers don’t want to work with authors who cannot follow simple instructions and format their manuscript properly or follow the guidelines, because this hints that they might be a pain to work with.
Only submit a story that fits what the call is looking for. I was surprised how many stories we got that didn’t have a mirror in them at all; not even a compact for the character to check their make-up. Who sends a story without mirrors to an anthology titled Mirror, Mirror that requests a mirror be central to the story. I’m told that last year someone submitted Christmas cards for the call for submissions for Unmasked, last year’s anthology, which may evoke a chuckle when you hear it, but for editors overwhelmed with submissions, reading through a story that doesn’t even come close to meeting the guidelines or match the theme, it feels like a big waste of time. Editors have feelings, too. Be kind and only submit stories that meet the theme and guidelines, instead of trying to cram your story into a frame that doesn’t really match.
In today’s market, busy editors are looking for something that is close to being publishable as is, so be sure your manuscript is polished. I feel like I shouldn’t have to state this one, but with as many seemingly unedited submissions, I guess it needs to be said. I was expecting it toward the end, when authors were rushing to meet the deadline, but even early on there were manuscripts that were riddled with misspellings and typos. Many of these may have been good stories, some even written to guidelines, but they were passed by because they would have required too much editing to ready them for publication. It would have required more time than my class of student editors would be able to give. So, I strongly urge having another set of eyes give a critical look over all stories prior to submission. Turning in a clean manuscript will strengthen the chances of your submission being accepted, or at least read clear through for a fair evaluation.
Choosing favorites is much harder than I thought it would be. We were cautioned that last year’s anthology received over 500 submissions, with more than 100 received in the last week of submissions. Mirror, Mirror received over 600 and so many of them were truly excellent stories that choosing the few that we had the budget for was really difficult, especially since not everyone had the same favorites. In the end, we ended up with a heck of a selection of stories for this anthology. I think it will be great!
Although all of my personal favorites couldn’t be included, I did find a way to make 2022 a great year for anthologies at WordCrafter Press, with two by invitation only anthologies in addition to the annual short fiction contest and anthology. I gave you a sneak preview for the submission call for the annual anthology, which will be titled Visions, here. The official call for submissions will be posted in January, so stay tuned.
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You are reading this, so chances are good that you are familiar with me and my writing, as well as WordCrafter Press and its books, because I talk about all of these things a lot. Since you are hanging out here, reading my posts and those of my wonderful blog team members, there’s also a good chance that you are interested in my work, so you will be interested in this opportunity, as well.
Being a multi-genre author creates the need to reach multiple target audiences. I write western, paranormal, science fiction, dark fantasy & vampires, and maybe even a little bit of romance. Although unpublished, I’ve even written a children’s series. That makes it more difficult to hit my target market and find readers who enjoy the kind of book I write, but I’m learning that I’m just not a write to market kind of girl. I have to write what my heart says, and it refuses to remain in a single genre.
I’ve decided to build a street team to help spread the word about new releases and release events. So, I’ve created a private Facebook group “Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Street Team” group, where you can help by becoming a beta reader and providing feedback prior to release, or reviewer, or just an enthusiastic fan, sharing new release and release event information on social media to help get the word out.. This is a group for those who want to help create, promote or just support me and my books, and find opportunities to free books, for an extra perk. As a member of the group, you will be privy to news regarding works-in-progress, new releases and upcoming book events, as well as early cover releases and sneak previews.
I hope that you will click on the link above and join us, as 2022 looks to be a exciting year, with between 7 and 12 new releases coming!
WordCrafter Press will be putting out, not just one, but three anthologies this year, including the resulting anthology from the annual short fiction contest. The call for submissions for the 2022 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest will be posted in January, this year’s anthology will also feature the stories by invitation, which will not be included in the contest, but will be included in the Visions anthology. The other two anthologies will be by invitation only, Once Upon an Ever After, and Slivered Reflections. WordCrafter Press will also be doing a new edition of the writer’s reference, Ask the Authors and a new edition of Poetry Treasures. For my own books, I will be dropping my contract with Dusty Saddle Publishing and publishing a special edition of Delilah myself, and publishing at least the first three books of my science fantasy Playground for the Gods series, and possibly the fourth.
If you join my street team group, you’ll be privy to all the latest news about all these great releases and more! Bring your enthusiasm and help me make my writing dreams come true. And don’t forget the free books and other perks. See you there!