I'm an Official Judge! / IWSG

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2021 IWSG Anthology Contest Details

 

Guidelines and rules:

Word count: 5000-6000 

Genre: Sweet Romance

Theme: First Love

Submissions Accepted: May 7 - September 1, 2020

 

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your full contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group. You must belong to at least one aspect of the IWSG to enter.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.

 

Our Official Judges:

Author Nancy Gideon

https://nancygideon.blogspot.com/

Nancy Gideon is the award-winning bestseller of over 70 romances ranging from historical, Regency, and series contemporary suspense to dark paranormal and horror, with a couple of produced screenplays and non-fiction writing books tossed into the mix. She’s also written under the pseudonyms Dana Ransom, Rosalyn West, and Lauren Giddings.

 

Agent Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates

https://www.lizadawsonassociates.com/

Caitlin Blasdell has been a literary agent with Liza Dawson Associates since 2002 with a focus on commercial fiction. Before becoming an agent, she was a senior editor at HarperCollins Publishers.

 

Author Susan Gourley

http://susangourley.blogspot.com/

Susan Gourley is traditionally published in fantasy and science fiction romance using the name Susan Kelley. She is currently serving as the President of the Pennwriters writing group renowned for the annual conference.

 

Agent Melissa Gaines, Victress Literary

https://www.victressliterary.com/

 

Author Jennifer Lane

https://jenniferlanebooks.com/

Jennifer Lane writes sports romance and romantic suspense with a psychological twist. She has published nine novels and two short stories, including Behind the Catcher’s Mask as part of the IWSG Masquerade Anthology.

 

Agent Rachel Beck, Liza Dawson Associates

https://www.lizadawsonassociates.com/

Rachel Beck joined Liza Dawson Associates in January 2020 after working at a boutique literary agency for four years. She has been in the publishing industry since 2009 and worked at Harlequin editing romance novels for nearly six years before transitioning her skills to the agent world in order to be an advocate and champion for authors.

Author Chrys Fey

https://www.writewithfey.com/

Chrys Fey is the author of the Disaster Crimes series, a unique concept blending romance, crimes, and disasters. Hurricane Crimes, Book One, is an award-winning romantic-suspense novella.

 

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Dancing Lemur Press' imprint Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. (Please see their site for general submission guidelines.) Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

This is our seventh anthology contest! In addition to Dark Matter: Artificial, previous titles include Voyagers: The Third Ghost, Masquerade: Oddly Suited, Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime, Hero Lost” The Mysteries of Death and Life, and Parallels: Felix Was Here.

 

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERS!

 

I am excited to read and judge the shortlist, and I am honored to be a judge among such amazing authors and agents.

HAPPY IWSG DAY!

#WritersontheMoon / Bad Fairy Strikes Again / IWSG

 

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is a safe place for insecure writers of all kinds.

Sign up here: Insecure Writer’s Support Group

First, I want to announce my mom's next middle grade book, BAD FAIRY STRIKES AGAIN, is coming out May 5th! Would you like to sign up for her blog tour (May 10-May 31)? I am doing it through Silver Dagger Tours, so you will get emails from Maia, the organizer, instead of me. 

SIGN UP HERE

Thank you in advance! And always remember me for your blog tours. 💗

99 CENTS SALE:

Book Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks

***

Logo created by Susan Kaye Quinn

I am a part of a project with 124 other authors (including my mom, Elaine Kaye, and a few other IWSG members: Jemi Fraser, Gwen Gardner, Deniz Bevan, and Damyanti Biswas...I think that's all of us...) called Writers on the Moon. Late 2021 we will be launching a digital data card in a lunar time capsule to the Moon. There will be stories on it, art, and so much more. This lunar time capsule project is organized by Susan Kaye Quinn, Speculative Fiction Author.

Check out my website for my answers to frequently asked questions, my full payload, the stories behind my payload, and a section devoted to my stowaways.

My mom also has a page on her website about this project, revealing her payload and shouting out her stowaways.

Writers on the Moon Website: https://www.writersonthemoon.com/ 

Writers on the Moon Blog: https://www.writersonthemoon.com/blog 

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/401157097809015

 

From the Official Website (written by Susan Kaye Quinn):

THE IDEA: Writers on the Moon is a lunar time capsule project. We'll send a rag-tag fleet of stories to the Moon aboard a digital data card. We hope this snapshot of indie fiction from around the world in 2021 will reveal the humanity of today to the readers of tomorrow. 

HOW WE'LL GET THERE: Astrobotic and DHL have partnered to deliver "MoonBoxes" aboard Astrobotic's lunar landers. Our payload will ride on the first Astrobotic lander to reach the Moon, the Peregrine Lander. It will remain there permanently, a time capsule for the future.

SPOTLIGHT:

The real purpose of this blog post is to lavish love on a few of our stowaways. When my mom and I realized how much space we could fill and that, after adding everything we could possibly think of, we still had a bunch of megabytes left, we decided to get as many authors as we could on our payloads so we could send up even more books and characters to the moon. And most of them are IWSG members! (We wish we could've included SO many more books and authors as we hate leaving people out, but alas the space did get filled.)

Chrys's Stowaways:

Loni Townsend – Avrianna Heavenborn Digital Illustration

Tyrean Martinson – Lift Off

Patricia Josephine – Abducted Life

We Know the Truth, Do You? Anthology (25 authors)

Pieces of the Heart Anthology (15 authors)

*This is NOT a complete list.

**Visit my website to read about their books and their personal messages.

Elaine Kaye's Stowaways: 

Toi Thomas – Joe and Chip in Quarantine

Sherry Ellis – Bubba and Squirt’s Big Dig to China

Tonja Drecker – Music Boxes

C. Lee McKenzie – Some Very Messy Medieval Magic

*This is NOT a complete list.

**Visit Elaine's website to read about their books and their personal messages.

Stories Behind Chrys' Stowaways:

A digital illustration of Avrianna designed by the talented artist and author Loni Townsend.

Lift Off by Tyrean Martinson – Liftoff is a great YA story about a girl who learns she’s more than what she ever thought she was and would be. She goes on an amazing adventure that takes her to other planets, and she meets many different kinds of aliens. I had the honor of editing Lift Off and working with Tyrean Martinson, and it is my honor to be able to offer this story to future readers, human and alien alike.

Abducted Life by Patricia Josephine – Abducted Life is a NA story about two friends who were abducted by aliens, and their lives were forever changed by it. It’s a love story that proves nothing can stop two people who love each other from being together. It was my pleasure to be able to edit Abducted Life and work with Patricia Josephine on it. For a capsule going to the Moon, I couldn’t pass up the chance to include this story, and I hope that if alien life forms find this and read it, that they get a kick out of Patricia’s imagination and laugh at the idea of abducting humans.

Stories Behind Elaine's Stowaways:

Joe and Chip in Quarantine by Toi Thomas – The Writers on the Moon project was created by Susan Kaye Quinn in response to the 2020 pandemic, when there was a need for positivity and hope and creativity. Joe and Chip in Quarantine is also about the 2020 pandemic. It’s a picture book written and illustrated by Toi Thomas that teaches kids in a gentle way about what is happening and why they have to wear masks, etc.

Bubba and Squirt’s Big Dig to China by Sherry Ellis – Bubba and Squirt dig a hole that opens up a portal to China. When thinking about sending books to the Moon, I immediately thought of sending Bubba and Squirt on a new adventure to outer space, and it’s my belief that the portal in their backyard could probably get them to the Moon.

Music Boxes by Tonja Drecker – I love ballet, and Music Boxes by Tonja Drecker is a great story about a young ballerina named Lindsey, but…it takes a turn with wickedness and a mystery when students in her ballet class begin to disappear. I can’t help but wonder what ballet would look like on the Moon and couldn’t resist sending up this fun story for future ballerinas to read and enjoy.

Some Very Messy Medieval Magic by C. Lee McKenzie – Going to the Moon sounds like magic, doesn’t it? In Some Very Messy Medieval Magic by C. Lee McKenzie, her characters don’t go to the Moon. They go to 1173 England and have an adventure. Maybe next time they’ll go to 3020 and wind up on the Moon. Hey, anything is possible when you’re dealing with some very messy magic.

I will share updates on this project as I get them. To receive these updates, it's best to subscribe to my newsletter or join my Facebook group.

HAPPY IWSG DAY!

What Happened When I Had a Free (Companion) eBook During My Blog Tour? / IWSG

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Sign up here: Insecure Writer’s Support Group

This is a follow-up post to my February IWSG post in which I talked about my new release marketing efforts, specifically blog tours. In this post, I am discussing what happened with my free (for a limited time) eBook.

FREE EBOOK DILEMMAS: Along with the release of A FIGHTING CHANCE, I also released THE DISASTER CURSE, a short story that follows A Fighting Chance.

Planning out how to release that eBook was tricky, because I wanted it go be free during the blog tour. Except, you can't mark a pre-order as free and I had set up my blog tour to start on the exact release day for AFC. I also didn't want to publish TDC on release day because it would take time for it to show up on all the retailers' sites. I needed to be sure that it would be available online AND that it'd be free in time, so I set it up as a pre-order and had it published 6 days before AFC.

Scene Spotlight for Cupid's Beau by Alicia Dean / Guest Post

Please help me to welcome Alicia Dean to Write with Fey. She's sharing a scene spotlight for Cupid's Beau, perfect for the month of February and to follow Valentine's Day.

How Did I Get the Idea for The Window? / The Window by Dave Cole / Guest Post

I had the pleasure of editing The Window by Dave Cole (a Dancing Lemur Press title). When I chose a guest post and needed to come up with a topic, there was one thing I was curious about...how did Dave come up with the idea for "the window" in the story?

Keep reading for Dave's answer...

New Release Marketing Conclussions / IWSG

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is a safe place for insecure writers of all kinds.

Sign up here: Insecure Writer’s Support Group

New Release Marketing Conclusions:

Last month, I had a new release: A FIGHTING CHANCE. I did a lot for this release. And I mean A LOT. Rather than hash out my marketing plan here, you can visit my guest post at Victoria Marie Lee's blog.

What I want to share here are the results of my marketing. This post is long. If you want, you can skip to the conclusion.

10 Reasons Why Readers Quit a Book / Guest Post by Jacqui Murray

Today I have Jacqui Murray on my blog talking about why readers quit books, an important topic for us all. Please help me to welcome her!

10 Reasons Why Readers Quit a Book

by Jacqui Murray

It used to be I almost always finished any book I started. I'd think about all the work the author put into writing it, figure it was my personal lens not their skill, and continue in the hope I'd learn a different way of thinking. Over the years, I've changed. With Kindle Unlimited, I can borrow a book, read a few chapters, and then return it with no muss or fuss. Now, I quit about 10% of the books I start even after spending the time to preview, read the blurbs, and explore reader comments.