Wow! When I Say I Recommend Writing Contests with Benefits This Is What I Mean!

My dear #SharingwithWriters subscribers and visits:

I couldn’t resist this when it landed in my email box today. It illustrates perfectly why I recommend #WinningWriters #NorthStreetBookPrize and why I support them. But this issue of their letter tells it so distinctly, so specifically, so, well...awesomely! And it is so important for writers out there to know that though there ARE spammy contests out there, there are some truly reputable ones.  I mean, frugal me hates as much as anyone to have to pay for my award labels after I’ve paid $80 to more than a $100 to enter that contest!  So, read every bullet below. Each of them is one more good reason for me to continue to love working with Winning Writers! They are so credible I can vouch for each and every one of them. In fact, you might bookmark this one to give you a precise list to compare any contest you enter against their benefits. Each is different, of course, but you could ask for a better gauge. 

Successful writing in 2024 to you all,

Hugs,

Carolyn 

PS: Please share this post with all your writing friends. I’d love to hear about it.

Here’s the link: ttps://sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com/2024/05/wow-when-i-say-i-recommend-writing.html  

A Great Contest for Your Self-Published or Hybrid-Published Book Sponsored by Winning Writers There are lots of contests for indie books. You can find them listed at the Alliance of Independent Authors and BookBub among other places. Here is what makes our North Street Book Prize one of the best: Large cash prizes: $10,000 for the grand prize, $1,000 for each category winner. Bonus awards: Winners receive additional services from Book Award Pro, BookBaby, Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Laura Duffy Design, Self-Publishing Made Simple, and Winning Writers to help market their books. Free gifts: All contestants receive five free gifts from our co-sponsors. Reasonable entry fee: $79 per book. Many other contests charge $85, $95, even $100+. No need to enter multiple categories: Choose one category for your book. If our judges feel it will do better in another category, they will reassign it. Flexible criteria: Submit books published in any year, on any self-publishing or hybrid-publishing platform. Pro-author attitude: Submit a non-qualifying book by mistake? A duplicate entry? We'll refund your fee. Transparent: We have four judges. Read about them on our guidelines page. Lasting, in-depth publicity: With some contests, it's hard to find out much about past winners beyond the author's name and the book title. At Winning Writers, we publicize our winners through our website, in our newsletter (50,000+ subscribers), and in our social media channels (including 135,000+ Twitter followers). Our North Street contest archives feature critiques of the winning entries, excerpts from the books, and bios of the winners going back to the first contest in 2015. No nickel-and-diming: Some contests charge winners for things like award seals. We provide those for free. Recommended by industry leaders: The North Street Book Prize is recommended by Reedsy and the Alliance of Independent Authors. Winning Writers itself is one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest, 2023). New this year: Everyone who enters online will receive a brief commentary from one of the judges (5-10 sentences). Submit online via Submittable or by mail. Click to learn more about our contest.   Submit by July 1

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.

Optimizing Books on Amazon Even if You Think You Don’t Need It

   Even though I have done Preston this myself, I signed up for this webinar. I trust this organization, I have a new book of my own coming out (The Frugal Editor in its 3rd edition from Modern History Press in February) so I figuratively refresher won’t hurt and Amazon is always making changes! Hope to see you there!   

Essential Amazon Optimization for Nonfiction Authors: Simple Steps to Greatly Improve Sales Results

Jan 19, 2023 10:00 AM

Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Webinar ID 883 4937 5810

There is no denying Amazon is the number one retailer for books, and this means you should put extra focus and attention on making sure your book generates the most possible sales on Amazon. In this content-rich presentation, you will learn how to: 
• Understand Amazon sales rank and the truth about bestseller campaigns. 
• Optimize your book’s sales page on Amazon to attract shoppers and turn them into buyers.
• Make the best use of your Amazon Author Central account.
• Add graphics to your book’s sales page. 
• Get more book reviews and understand why these are so important. 

Join us to discover simple and effective ways you can improve your Amazon sales strategies and boost sales results for you books. 

EVENT DETAILS
This free webinar event is hosted by the Nonfiction Authors Association. We are proud to offer educational programs that are high in value for nonfiction writers of all experience levels. 

This session is delivered LIVE on Zoom and will last around 60 minutes, possibly longer to ensure your questions are answered. 

Can’t attend live? The recording and a copy of slides will be sent to all who register!

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Stephanie Chandler is the author of several books including The Nonfiction Book Publishing Plan and The Nonfiction Book Marketing Plan. She is CEO of NonfictionAuthorsAssociation.com, a vibrant community for writers, and NonfictionWritersConference.com, a multi-day event conducted entirely online since 2010. A frequent speaker at business events and on the radio, she has been featured in Entrepreneur, BusinessWeek, and Wired magazine.

BOOK MARKETING MASTER COURSE PREVIEW
We will also offer a brief preview of the upcoming Book Marketing Master Course, a 6-week program that begins January 26th. Learn more here: http://bookmarketingmastercourse.com or https://NonfictionAuthorsAssociation.com. 

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER 

 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 of books for writers including the multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), now offered in its third edition by Modern History Press. Carolyn's latest is in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers is How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. She has two booklets in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series, both in their second editions from Modern History Press. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and The Great First Impression Book Proposal (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://bit.ly/FrugalEditor), now in its second edition, is the winningest book in the series. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps 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 (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at 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 for news on her new releases direct from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

Small Business Saturday Great Way to Promote, Sell Books

So, OK.  I'm helping writing friend and publisher Diane Wolf do some book promotion for her Dancing Lemur Press. But here's the thing. I was once a retailer. Yes I was. For nearly 30 years and that experience helps me help my clients to know how to approach retailers in ways that convince them it is worthwhile to host authors as part of their own marketing. I address that in the flagship book of my HowToDoItFrugally Series of books, The Frugal Book Promoter.  I also recommend a book I wrote for my fellow retailers, because the more authors and publishers know about retailing, the easier it is for them to see what they need and that in turn helps them offer retailers benefits they will find darn hard to resist.  Besides, authors must learn that they, too, are retailers. Books are their product and readers are their end consumers! We're all in this together!  So, here is the promotion that Diane used--one that captured the part of my heart that is a retailer!

Spunk On A Stick's Tips

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Small Business Saturday - Cyber Monday Special Posted: 25 Nov 2019 03:00 AM PST Stock up on books and gifts, save some money,  and support small business!  From Saturday, November 30 through Monday, December 2 buy any print book and get an eBook or audio book free.*  To get a free eBook or audio book:  Purchase directly from Dancing Lemur Press’ website and state in the comments your free book selection and eBook format (if required.) Dancing Lemur Press LLC Print orders placed directly will also include free swag.  Purchase from any retail site and email a copy of the receipt (sans payment information) along with your free book selection and eBook format (if required). Inquiries @ dancinglemurpressllc.com (*Multi-book eBook sets or audio book sets not available.)  Mark your calendar and visit Dancing Lemur Press LLC this Saturday through Monday!  Writing, Publishing & Promoting Tips from SpunkOnAStick

More about the Blogger 

 Howard-Johnson is the multi award-wining 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 multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter (http://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII),  now offered by Modern History Press in its third edition.

Carolyn's  latest is in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers 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 (http://bit.ly/Last-MinuteEditing) is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal (http://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) helps writers who want to be traditionally published. The Frugal Editor (http://bit.ly/FrugalEditor), now in its second edition, is the winningest book in the series.

 Carolyn also 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 (http://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn 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)

A Little Story: Or Proof that Reviews are Forever?

A Marketing Story to Inspire You to Renewed Efforts

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers

I don’t think any author—or anyone with a profession or career or business—needs to be reminded that marketing is important. I sense, though, that they need a little inspiration now and then to convince them to keep at it or to utilize its magic to make whatever they are 

passionate about work better. Maybe to make it more fun. So here is a little story that recently took my breath away, convinced me anew that the net works. That Twitter works. That reviews work. And that even when we don’t see their charms on a daily basis, they (and their marketing sisters) are out there doing what they are supposed to do and doing it without asking us to recognize them, praise them, or pat them on their backs! 

You see, I recently found a review floating around the Twitter platform at least a decade after it had been written,  a review I never knew existed. It was written by Author Anthony James Barnett (twitter moniker @ajbarnett) who is a fellow tweeter. Years ago he found me there, read my multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter (First Edition!) and then reviewed it on his blog (http://bit.ly/irpv3) --all unbeknownst to me. I found it more than a decade later and it has haunted me because it illustrates so concisely most everything I have been trying to help authors do with my consulting, coaching, teaching, and my series of books. It proves the value of reviews (and, coincidentally the need for the third book in my HowToDoItFrugally Series, How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career  which—I suspect—Author Barnett may not even know exists!)  

Every author needs to plumb reviews to launch books and to give their older books a new life—maybe make them into classics! I love that Author Barnett is still out there helping me help authors do that! I relished it. Tweeted about it and then, gasp! …. ! I realized that my marketing and blogging benefactor may no longer be alive. 

I left Barnett a comment on his blog and it is awaiting acceptance—with no luck.  I’ve surfed the web for his name and the title of his book a bit. Now it seems I need help finding him. That’s my first choice. But if that can’t be done, I can use the web and marketing tools to keep the beautiful little secret gift he gave me years ago alive. And maybe to inspire other authors! 

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER

 Howard-Johnson is the multi award-wining 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 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 (http://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). 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)