Publishers Currently Seeking Submissions

 

I have just discovered this list of publishers who are accepting submissions now. Check it out:  Authors Publish. 

Plus Camberwell Scribes are looking for short stories for a forthcoming anthology on the theme of "Summer". Please message us here if you would like to submit a story, or for more information.

 

And go here for more places to submit your short stories.  

What are your favourite places to submit short stories?  Please comment below and please share. 

Where to Submit Short Stories

If you write short stories and are looking for places to submit them, check out this article: Where to Submit Short Stories:  30 Magazines and Websites that Want Your Work.  

I think you will enjoy this great resource.  I have not vetted this list, so can't give any personal recommendations as to any of the websites or magazines listed here. 

In the comments section, readers have listed lots more resources.  

I have to declare an interest as my writing group is looking for short stories for a forthcoming anthology on the theme of "Summer".  If you would like more information and/or to submit your story, please contact us via this website.  

Have you submitted to any of these sites and publications?  If so, what was your experience?  Please comment below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  .  

This Is Why We Don't Hit Our Goals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this GREAT article on why we don't reach our goals, Heather Quisel states that there are two kinds of people:  

1. Those who set grand, lofty goals; and 
2. Those who don't set goals out of fear of embarrassment or shame when others see them fail.  

She left out the third category:  those of us who beat ourselves up when we fail to reach our targets. 

As a writer, I don't tend to set specific goals.  I fall into both categories 1 and 3.  I'll think to myself, "I need to work on my novel", or "I need to finish my novel".  Perhaps it's because of the vagueness and loftiness of my goal that it becomes unreachable.  

In college, we had a target of writing 1,000 words of our novels/day, 5,000/week.  I learned how to produce vast amounts of words, and I reached these targets every week.  However, this did not guarantee the quality of my work, and it took a long time for me to regain confidence in my ability to write well - confidence I had had before I had a word count target to meet.  Eventually, the words flowed, but I went through searing self-doubt before I reached that stage. 

This article suggests that we set an activity goal, rather than an achievement goal.  .This will definitely help with problems two and three:  self-criticism and fear of criticism from others.  

I've decided to set myself a minimum goal.  Not to finish my novel, just to work on it a little every day, five days a week.  (I'm not disclosing the specifics here, but I do have them).  

If you feel anxious about meeting your target, or you are disappointed in yourself and wish you had achieved more in 2020, give yourself a break.  Set a minimum activity goal, one that is truly achievable for you, and  stick to it.  You may surprise yourself by what you achieve! 

What are your goals for this year?  What strategies do you use to reach your goals?  Please comment below.  

Go here for my audio on How to Achieve the Results You Want.  

Please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

Podcasts for Writers, Authors and Readers

Joanna Penn

What have you been listening to under lockdown?  

If you are interested in podcasts by, for and about writers and writing, here are some that may interest you.

If your favourite is not listed here, please list it in the comments section below.  Thanks.

One of my favourites is The Creative Penn with Joanna Penn.  This is the one I listen to most frequently.  She has great guests on every podcast, including bestselling authors, as well as experts in the publishing and self-publishing industries.  Plus she talks about other relevant podcasts.  

 What better way to spend your time than listen to other writers talking about their books?  Beats writing, dunnit?  

Here are some more book podcasts.  These are mostly British.  You can get most of these on more than one platform, including Google, Itunes, Apple Podcasts, or SoundCloud, to name a few.    

Author Hour

 

The Book Riot Podcast

 

The Guardian Books Podcast 

Confessions with Giles Fraser

The Penguin Podcast

Go here for 12 Must-Hear Podcasts from Penguin Authors

You're Booked

Literary Friction

Sentimental Garbage

BBC Radio 4 Book Club

Backlisted

Simon Mayo's Books of the Year

Go here for Simon Mayo's Books of the Year 2019.  

The Slightly Foxed Podcast 

As most of the above are very white and middle-class (in the British sense), and are woefully lacking in Black authors among their guests, I was so happy to find:  

The Black Book Podcast 

Black Chick Lit

Books & Boba  

Plus individual podcast episodes:  

Ambassador of Hope:  Andre Norman.  

Armstrong:  What Black and White America Must Do Now 

From the Black Book Talk Vault: Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns  This also lists lots more podcasts with Black authors.   

Most of Oprah's selections do not appeal to me, but you might find a gem:  

21 Best Book Podcasts   

For more wisdom from Oprah, download:  Treasures of the Geniuses of Transformation.  

See also:  Top 30 Best Book Review Podcasts.  

See also:  31 Podcasts for Every Kind of Book Lover. 

If your favourite book podcast or author podcast is not listed here, please post it in the comments section below.  And please share this link.  Thanks.  

Enjoy!  

For lots more information about how to promote your book, go here to join Book Marketing and Financing.  

How to Sell Your First Book (Not Just for Newbies)

Book Marketing Genius

I've recently come across this guest blog post from Shoshi Herscu, How to Sell Your First Book.  In it, she outlines exactly which methods she uses to promote and sell her indy-published book.  It is well worth having a look, especially if you write narrative nonfiction.  It's not just for first-timers.  

This blog post also includes a link to 127+ of the Top Free and Paid Book Promotion Sites, which is a brilliant resource.  As this is on the Kindlepreneur site,  it is particulary useful for ebook authors and publishers.

For more great content about how to market your book, go here to join my online group, Book Marketing and Financing.

Plus go here to download my FREE ebook, Book Marketing Genius, which details how to build your street team, to gain feedback, reviews and help with promoting your books. 


Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below.   Thanks. 

Major Update of Secrets of Manifestation

Lately, I have been learning a lot and posting a lot about manifestation.

I am already a master manifestor and have been for many years.  As a result of having learned so much more about manifestation, I have done a major update of my ebook Secrets of Manifestation.  

I have included a new section specifically for writers, authors and indie publishers about how to attract more readers and customers.

Do you seriously want to attract more readers and customers?  Do you want to bring about positive changes in your life, your work, or your business?  Then you need to read it. 

Manifestation means attracting what we want.  It can include anything - relationships, money and finance, career, business, health - whatever we want.

Bottom line:  You can have what you want.

Secrets of Manifestation is still FREE at this time.  Go here to download it now.

Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below.  

For more great content about how to market your book, go here to join my online group, Book Marketing and Financing. 

For more great content about how to bring about positive changes in your life, go here to join my online group, The Key to Everything.

Here's to your success!

Building a Better Novel, Part 1: The Foundation

I tend to be a pantser rather than a plotter.  Pantsers fly by the seats of our pants.  There are inherent drawbacks as well as rewards for using this method.  Rewards include the joy of discovery and the freedom to change things.  

However, I am starting to explore plotting.  Plotting feels like a straitjacket to me, but Plotters tend to write a lot more books, and this definitely interests me!  

Go here for this great blog post on Building a Better Novel.  She breaks it down into logical steps.  And remember, you can always change the narrative if it's not working for you.  

Your street team can help you to write your book, and to market it afterwards.  For more about how to build your street team, go here to download Book Marketing Genius.  

Subscribe to this blog for more great tips and information.  Plus go here for my Facebook page, Writers' Secrets.

Please add your comments below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

How Long It Took 40 Writers to Finish Their Famous Novels

From a weekend to 30 years, how long did it take the authors to complete some of the best-loved novels?

For more great stuff for writers and readers, go here for my Writers' Secrets page. 

And go here for lots of marketing and funding resources for writers and self-publishers:  Book Marketing and Financing.

Tips for the Lionhearted Writer: How to Honour Your Creativity

If you are like me (and I'm not assuming you are), if you keep your creativity locked in a cupboard and rarely let it out to play, you will find this useful.

Below are some great prompts from Lucy Flint's Lionhearted Writer blog. If you have read Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, you are familiar with the artist's date. It is just one way of treating yourself with kindness, and nurturing your creativity. Here are the tips:

• What are twenty things that you love doing? 
• What hobbies did you love as a kid? 
• What were your favorite toys as a kid? What did you just love playing with? Where did you most love to go?
• What did you love to do in art class? Music class? 
• Where do you like to explore?
• What kinds of activities or places seem to release something good in you?

Go here for How to Rescue Your Creativity.

Go here for more from the Lionhearted Writer blog. 

Self-Publishing Tips: How to Become a Bestselling Author

Check out this great article by John Kremer, in which he explains how ordinary people  became bestselling authors.  Go here to read it.  

Plus go here to download my FREE ebook, Book Marketing Genius, where you can read my interview with John Kremer.

For more great self-publishing tips, see Book Marketing and Financing.

Here's to your success!

Strange Writing Habits of Male (Mostly) White Authors

Hemingway, Alexandre Dumas, Aaron Sorkin, Dan Brown - each of these eminent authors (and a few more) reveals his unique, special and - let's face it - weird writing habits. 

Do you write lying down?   Truman Capote did. 

Check it out:  Weird Writing Habits of Great Male Authors

Each of us needs to have his or her own special time, place and way of writing.  Find out what works best for you.  For more about this, check out my ebook:  Write Your Book in Two Days. 

How to Make a Quantum Leap as an Author

Want to make a quantum leap as an author? Get published by a major publishing house.

The quality of your writing will not necessarily affect whether or not you are published.

Check out this great short audio: What Most Authors Never Discover.

See also: Making a Quantum Leap.

Getting Started with Writng

Click here for the most recent recording of Successful Author Secrets - Getting Your Book out of Your Head and onto the Page.

Some people have an idea for a book for months or years before they finally start writing it and get it done.

If you have a perfectionist streak, this can undermine your efforts and plans to finish your book. This is something I talk about in Write Your Book in Two Days. This book contains lots of strategies for getting started, overcoming procrastination and tapping into your creative energy.

To listen to an audio interview about this, see Tapping into the Natural Flow of Your Creativity.

These Successful Author Secrets are being broadcast every day in August. Each one is free for 24 hours - scroll down the page to hear the next day's broadcast.

Happy writing!

Do You Feel Shy about Your Writing?

Do you ever feel shy about sharing your writing with others? Do your feelings of accomplishment give way to insecurity?

Check out this publishing blog from PPD, a Canadian company.

I wonder whether this is why many writers find it difficult to promote their work, or even to finish it.

You can overcome and transform these feelings. For more about this, see Tapping into the Natural Flow of Your Creativity.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT, also known as meridian tapping, can help you to feel confident and self-assured. For more about this, see Achieving Fabulous Success.

Tapping into the Natural Flow of Your Creativity

I am delighted to have been interviewed on Paula B’s The Writing Show about my new ebook, Write Your Book in Two Days. The focus of the show is on how to overcome procrastination.

Click here to listen.

Write Your Book in Two Days combines my two major areas of interest and expertise: writing and personal development/self-help.

There is so much we can achieve if we tap into the natural flow of our creativity, and trust that creative flow. If we stop blocking ourselves and stop blaming ourselves. If we get out of our own way.

Having produced several books and ebooks, and a constant, steady stream of blogs and articles over the past several years, writing this book was my natural next step.

Everyone procrastinates about something. We writers have elevated procrastination to the level of a high art.

In this interview, I talk about the causes of procrastination, and what we can do about it. I also touch on writer’s block, which often stems from similar causes.

Click here to listen.

Once you have eliminated a substantial number of your blocks and obstacles, you will be in the flow state. This book is designed to get you there.

Click here to download Write Your Book in Two Days.

Click here for my Amazon Author Profile.

The Truth about Article Writing

The purpose of the Writers' Secrets blog is to help you to produce, market and promote your books, articles and blogs. I will list resources for writers here.

I just read this great article on The Truth about Article Writing by Jonathan Fields. Click here to read it.

He is talking about driving traffic to your website, which is great. Article writing is also an important way to establish your reputation as an expert in your field.

To learn more, click here to read my article on Making Money through Writing Articles.

This article is for writers and particularly for ebook publishers. Click here to read my article on The Best Content for Your Ebook.

Squidoo is one of the best article sites on the internet. Squidoo pages tend to have high Google rankings. It is free to join, and there's a profit-sharing scheme. To join Squidoo, click here to post an article.

Here's to your success!