Geting More Recognition For Your Talents . . . For FREE

ENTER THIS NO FEE CONTEST 

FROM TALES2INSPIRE®

Check out these value added features:

• Critiques from 3 fellow authors
• Opportunity to revise entry based on critiques and resubmit
• Each winners gets:
• Story published in a new Tales2Inspire gem anthology 
• Dedicated full page in book to tout each author’s other accomplishments 
• Full screen teaser about each author’s winning story on theTales2Inspire website 
• Story and author featured as a permanent blog article on the Tales2Inspire website 
• Story and author featured on a rotating basis in the Tales2Inspire monthly newsletter and linked to the blog posting

And did I mention that all of this is free?

So this is my invitation to you: 

If you'd like to learn more about participating in the Tales2Inspire 2026 contest, just CLICK HERE (or copy and paste https:/www.tales2inspire.com/contest-2 into your browser), for all posted details. 

Each Tales2Inspire winner gains another feather in their cap as an author of talent!

ABOUT THE CREATOR OF TALES2INSPIIRE: 

Lois W. Stern is an Associate at TheNewBookReview. She is also the creator of Tales2Inspire®, an Authors Helping Authors project/contest to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. And best of all, it’s Free. Lois has now published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured Tales2Inspire Jewel Collection anthologies and six award winning Tales2Inspire 2-in-1 Diamond Collection anthologies. She is a multi award winning author  herself, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV and in live presentations in varied venues. As TheNewBookReview review coordinator, Lois serves as an outreach to help other authors brand themselves as authors of talent. 

 Get a FREE Tales2Inspire book at: www.tales2inspire.com/gifts       

Visit her Tales2Inspire blog HERE.

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including "The Frugal Book Promoter" (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and "The Frugal Editor" both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically," and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, "Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers" (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and "Great First Impression Book Proposals" (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. "The Frugal Editor "(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is "A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques" (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at "The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor" (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

Want to Sell More Books? Check Out This Tip From TNBR Associate, Lois W. Stern

SECRETS FOR SELLING MORE BOOKS 

By Lois W. Stern

Founder, Contributor and Editor of the #Tales2Inspire Series of anthologies

Contributing #AuthorsHelpingAuthors associate here and on the #SharingwithWriters Blog

Did you ever think of selling your books from the comfort of your home? At one time I thought about it too, looked into several inernet pay options, but nixed them all as they seemed too involved.

Then I learned about ZELLE.

The name of this game is SAFE, QUICK 'n EASY and FREE. 

Zelle is a safe, flexible, no fee way to make or receive a payments - all from the comfort of your home. 

SAFE: Despite all the talk of internet scams, when used properly, Zelle is extremely safe because you are not giving out either credit card or bank account information. This bank to bank transfer of funds moves a dollar amount from the buyer’s account to the account of the seller. The buyer’s bank simply transfers that inputted amount from one account to the other, without revealing the account number of either party. If you already pay your bills online, you're good to go. Once you sign in, there will be a drop down menu for paying bills. At my bank it looks like this:

• You can set up your Zelle account using either your cell phone number or your email address. I set up my Zelle account with my email address because I knew those placing book orders would be familair with the words Tales2Inspire, but preferred to keep my cell number private.
• 
  
• QUICK: When making a Zelle payment, you simply input the amount owed, the name and identifier (either e-mail or cell number, but not both) of the person you are paying, click a button and DONE. An immediate Bank-to-Bank transfer of funds takes place.

 

EASY: I asked Siri to compare Zelle with traditional payment options and up came the chart, below.

FREE: Absolutely no charges for this service.

Most major banks now use Zelle. Many are now incorporating an additional step, such as multi-factor authentication, for first time payments to any given party. 

STILL NOT CONVINCED? If you're still not sure this is for you, do what I did: Ask a friend if you could Zelle them $1. Once it arrives, have them return the favor and Zelle $1. back to you.  

CAUTION

Only use Zelle to make payments to people you know and trust. To avoid falling victim to a scam, never use Zelle to buy goods or services from online marketplaces or strangers. 

SINCE USING ZELLE, MY BOOK SALES HAVE TRIPLED:

Since I have published all twelve of my Tales2Inspire books with Amazon KDP, I came up with a creative idea for selling more books while offering Zelle as a payment option. It all starts with a Jotform I created, and you can create one too, for free. Click here, to check it out (or copy and paste https://form.jotform.com/260094023611041 into your browser). 

COMING SOON: A whole new Sharing with Writers section, where I'll be sharing details of my project and inviting readers to post their best marketing tips as well. 

THREE FREE HOLIDAY MEMOIRS STORIES YOU WILL NEVER FORGET

Dear Sharing with Writers Visitors and Subscribers:

Today’s guest post comes to you from my #SharingwithWriters associate who offers several free services to authors through my review blog, https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, with submission instructions in the round silver icons in the right column on the home page. Feel free to explore and get ready for 2026 by taking advantage of these contest winning memoirs (each a gem of inspiring true stories!) Any book in this series of anthologies makes a beautiful last-minute holiday gift, or a gift for the special people in your life any time of year. Since each book in this series is named for a different zodiac stone whose symbolic meaning forecasts the theme of the stories in that particular edition, once you know when the recipient was born, present them with that gem collection on their birthday. What a meaningful, thoughtful gift at less than the cost of a box of chocolates!

Today’s sample stories come to you as a gift from her.  Please pass the link around and they will become (again!) a free gift to your friends. 

Hugs and Happy Holidays to You All,

Carolyn 

PS: Watch here for an invitation on this blog to contribute to Lois’s next anthology--again absolutely free plus several great value-added benefits for each and every entrant.  ~ CHJ

THE LACE TABLECLOTH

 

Retold by Lois W. Stern

When a lace tablecloth, a pastor and an old woman come together at the very same moment in time, was it destiny or coincidence? Read this story to decide for yourself. 

https://tales2inspire.com/inspiring-story-lace-tablecloth/ 

THE HANUKKAH BUNNY

by Mort Laitner

Mort captures the laugh-out-loud story of the little bunny enthralled by his backyard Chanukah lights so perfectly.

https://tales2inspire.com/hanukkah-bunny/ 

THE GIRL WHO LOVED CHRISTMAS

by Micki Peluso

A little girl, born two weeks before Christmas, leaves this Earth much too soon, but leaves family and friends with joyous memories to smile anew as each December rolls around.

https://tales2inspire.com/girl-loved-christmas/ 

MORE ABOUT TODAY’S GUESTBLOGGER AND GIFT-GIVER:

Lois W. Stern, the Book Review Coordinator for TNBR blog spot, is the creator of Tales2Inspire, an authors helping authors Free project to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. As such, she has now published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured anthologies of her contest winners' stories. Lois is a multi award winning author whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV and in live presentations in varied venues. As TheNewBookReview review coordinator, Lois serves as an outreach to help other authors brand themselves as authors of talent. 

Get a FREE Tales2Inspire Sampler book at: www.tales2inspire.com/gifts

                                    Visit her Tales2Inspire blog at: https://www.tales2inspire.com/blog

                                         Visit her Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/tales2inspire

MORE ABOUT THE  #SHARINGWITHWRITERS BLOGGER 

 Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including "The Frugal Book Promoter" (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and "The Frugal Editor" both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically," and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, "Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers" (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and "Great First Impression Book Proposals" (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. "The Frugal Editor "(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. 

 Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is "A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques" (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at "The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor" (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

Great Branding Opportunity for Authors and Aspiring Authors with this NO FEE Contest

TALES2INSPIRE® 2024-2025 CONTEST

THEME FOR 2024 - 2025: REACHING OUT

True stories of happiness given, received or observed 

by Reaching Out

DEADLINE: JANUARY 31, 2024

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Enter your story into the next Tales2Inspire contest. 

FREE TO ENTER - THIS IS AN AUTHORS HELPING AUTHORS PPROJECT.

See all details below.

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Whether you are new to Tales2Inspire or have been with us before, a quick review of our Contest Guidelines will help you succeed.

* For guidelines on writing a winning story, CLICK HERE.

* To learn how to submit a story, CLICK HERE.

* To learn about winner rewards - What's In it For You - CLICK HERE.

* To learn how stories are judged and how authors become part of that process, CLICK HERE.

* For post-judging editing support, CLICK HERE.

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We encourage Tales2Inspire newcomers to first download our FREE Tales2Inspire sampler. Not only is it a treat to read these inspiring stories, but it will give you a great idea of the type stories we like to publish.

CLICK HERE

 

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TESTIMONIALS

Estarlyn (Starling) Hiraldo

Working with Lois has been one of the most eye-opening and rewording eperiences of my life. I have learned to be grateful for human interaction and the importance of sharing stories with communities across the globe.

Claudia Domb, Smithtown, NY Anonymously critiquing the work of three of my peers sharpened my critical thinking skills. In turn, having my story judged by three other authors was helpful to me. Being open to change can make for positive results, helping to polish an already great story to near perfection. 
Rod DiGruttolo - Sarasota, Fl.
Tales2Inspire is unique in that all those entering a ‘tale’ for consideration have the opportunity to grow as authors. While there are winners in the entries, there are no losers, for Lois provides every author with the opportunity to see our work through other authors’ eyes. By inspiring us toward writing mastery, she helps us inspire others.

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Lois W. Stern

 Tales2inspire® was a kernel of an idea I initiated in 2012, growing in proportions even I didn’t dare to envision. My innate curiosity about potentially fascinating human interest stories was the spark that ignited this idea, but there was something more propelling me forward - my belief in the power of stories to shape our thinking. Famed biographer, Doris Kearns Goodwin has repeatedly written about this theme in relation to some of our greatest presidents, who recognized the power of stories and used their storytelling abilities to reach the people they were chosen to govern. Each of the non-fiction stories published in one of the Tales2inspire® books was selected similarly - not only for its artful writing, but for its skill in delivering an underlying message to inspire each of us to reach for the best within us. CLICK HERE to try us out with a Free sampler filled with six published T2I stories.

Visit Lois at these Media Marketing sites to learn more about her and her Tales2Inspire® Authors Helping Authors project/contest at: 

Website: https://www.tales2Inspire.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tales2inspire

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tales2inspire2

Watch this Tales2Inspire trailer here.

Get a FREE Tales2Inspire Sampler book at: https://www.tales2inspire.com/gifts

Visit the Tales2Inspire blog for snapshot views of our winning stories: https://www.tales2inspire/blog

How To Be Sure Your Tradeshow or Book Fair Appearance is Not a Disappointment

I often encourage my clients to reach a bit farther than one expects from a new author--regardless of their expertise or experience. For one thing, the services available to authors (like spots at in book fair booths) are often bare-bones. The alternative may be to do-it-yourself and even make a profit which can then be used to boost the author's marketing budget for the future. 

I once sponsored book fair booths at the LA TimesFestival of Books with Joyce Faulkner after we started a writers' group called Authors' Coalition.  Slowly and at considerable cost—one year at a time—I learned what works for book fairs, tradeshows, and other public events and what doesn’t. My booth partners and I used tons of value-added promotions including:

• We shared printing and postage costs of catalogs we produced ourselves that featured booth participants’ books and an invitation to the fair. With permission, we used the fair logo to give the catalog credibility. We sent our catalog to book buyers, media, and influentials like movie producers (because that fair is in the middle of Hollywood land). 
• We produced a video/trailer featuring booth participants at an additional charge. The charge made it more likely that our video stars would use it for their blogs, websites, and other promotion both before and after the fair and we ran it on a large screen in our booth.

Note:Because CDs can be produced inexpensively in large quantities, we recycled much of the content we developed for these videos and trailers onto CDs to be given away. A participating author offered our freebies to visitors saying, “A CD for your PC?” Fairgoers rarely declined our offer.

• Books (often overruns or slightly damaged) donated by other authors became gifts-with-purchase of other books from our booth.
• A drawing for a gift basket was successful because it garnered the contact information of many readers. We shared that information with all booth participants, too.
• We produced totes and bags featuring our bookcover images and our booth number. We gave them to folks to carry the books they had purchased from us. These bags then became advertisements for our booth as our customers carried them around the grounds. 
• Some of our booth participants wore T-shirts emblazoned with images of their bookcovers, their website addresses, and our booth number.
• Each participant produced posters that we used to decorate the booth.
• We had mini training sessions for our booth participants in which we urged them to talk up one another’s books, guided them through promotion possibilities and display techniques, and gave them resources for promotion materials.

Authors' Coalition eventually demanded too much of our time, but what we learned promotion possibilities has been useful ever since. We sometimes volunteer one or more of the above promotions in trade for an organization's booth fee. We sometimes consult with organizations who plan booths for their members. And, occasionally, we get permission from booth planners to let us piggyback our for-profit services on their booth plans with a percentage of the sales going back to the originating organization. That's a win-win for everyone. 

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER

Carolyn Howard-Johnson brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers and the many classes 

she taught for nearly a decade as instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program. The books in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers have won multiple awards. That series includes both the first and second editions ofThe Frugal Book Promoterand The Frugal Editorwhich won awards from USA Book News, Readers’ Views Literary Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books and others including the coveted Irwin award. How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethicallylaunched to rave reviews from Jim Cox, Editor-in-Chief of Midwest Book Reviews and others: 

“How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically[and other books in the series] could well serve as a textbook for a college Writing/Publishing curriculum.”

Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts. 

                  

The author loves to travel. She has visited eighty-nine countries and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She admits to carrying a pen and journal wherever she goes. Her website iswww.howtodoitfrugally.com

Editorial from #SharingwithWriters: Nostalgia and Freedom of the Press

Nostalgia has set in. It started earlier this year when I saw a movie about a shop in San Francisco that repaired and sold old typewriters. This week I saw the movie, The Post. I could almost smell the printer’s ink. And the longing I felt for renewed respect for what the press does for our democracy was palpable.

Then only a few days later I received a copy of a book called Stop the Press: How the Mormon Church Tried to Silence the Salt Lake Tribune by an old pal of mine in every sense of the word—James W. Ure. We both started learning our craft as “reporters” for our high school newspaper, The Thunderbolt, an apt name for a bunch of young muckraking journalism apprentices bent on making our school (the world, to us!) a better place. It happened to be nonfiction published by Prometheus about the newspaper that gave me my first professional job in journalism, The Salt Lake Tribune. Its crack marketing department had dubbed it “A Great Pulitzer Prize Winning Newspaper” for its coverage of a devastating earthquake in Alaska in the 1950s. Jim’s book is about how, in spite of the US separation of church and state, tried to silence its voice which was probably the only alternative voice in the State of Utah—a contrarian voice in a state where conservatism ruled and the newspaper they own, The Deseret News, is under their jurisdiction.

Those readers who happen to be conservative may think that is not a problem. Newspapering is a business, after all, and in a capitalist society, businesses are competitive. Some win, some lose. If they aren’t journalists or lawyers or constitutionalists they may not be familiar with the First Amendment.

However, I think they should be just as devout about protecting both power and the freedom of the press as I am, because all of us are writers. As writers, we all enjoy the protections of that amendment. We can choose to write what we want. Put our opinions in a book or on the web—from academic studies to erotica if we so choose. We can rant. Do satire (which I was once told by a British journalists Americans don’t really understand!). Say exactly what we think about anyone as long as they are public figures or can prove that what we are saying is fact and not libelous. That is why Michael Wolff’s new book, Fire and Fury, is supported by its reputable publisher, Henry Holt. They supplied editors, fact checkers, and the brouhaha hasn’t dissuaded thembeen from keeping it in print  (or from making a fortune by doing so!). And despite their distribution booboos, it sold out in its first and second days on bookstores’ shelves. According to Publishes’ Weekly, it was the “hottest book of the year.” To their credit, Holt is standing by its author in spite of the political kerfuffle and printing as many books and shipping them as fast as they can to fill their orders for one million books. If they are smart—they will print some using digital presses as well as offset so they miss as few sales as possible.

Perhaps the longing I feel for the days when Wolff’s right to report a story he feels the public should know can never be universal. But I hope writers everywhere (and readers who benefit from the choices available because of this freedom) will stand up for Michael—and my friend Jim. For their right to write, so to speak. Regardless of whether their beliefs—political, religious, or gender-related may be. Freedom has always been something that runs both upstream and downstream. When we shut freedom down, we may suffer when someone who agrees with us no longer has that right or when the tables turn and we are the ones being shut down

Happy writing, editing and promoting in 2018,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson,
http://HowToDoItFrugally.com

PS: if you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, go to http://howtodoitfrugally.com . Find the subscription window in the top left corner of most every page of the website.  Next up: CDC Worried about Affects of White House's list of Terms to Avoid.  

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER



Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors)  and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is  How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. In addition to this blog, she helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )