Greetings to one and all. I would like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year! Here’s to a fruitful 2023!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
24 Replies
Monthly Archives: December 2022
MKTG #22 – Wrap-up
Great marketing advice for authors!
Greetings, SE’ers. It’s Jan again. Since July 2021, I have explored a variety of different avenues of book marketing opportunities, and I’ve come to the end of that journey. This is my last Story Empire post for 2022 and my last book marketing post. That’s not to say I won’t pop back in with something new if it comes to my attention, but for now, I’m leaving the subject of marketing behind.
Image courtesy CANVA
After extensive research and exploration of various book marketing avenues, what did I learn?
- Book Marketing is by far the hardest part of an author’s job
- What works for one author or one book may not work for the next
- There is no magic bullet
- You can spend a lot of money on book marketing
- Marketing can be time-consuming and exhausting
- The ROI on most book marketing is not worth the money or effort
So…
View original post 662 more words
Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair 2022 – #Shortstories Beem Weeks, #Mystery #Thriller Joy York, #Shortstories Simon Van Der Velde
I am humbly honored to be spotlighted on Smorgasbord!
Welcome to the Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair with a selection of books from personally recommended authors on my bookshelf I believe will make wonderful gifts for friends, family and for you.
The first author is Beem Weeks. I enjoyed reading his novel Jazz Baby in the summer and can highly recommend. Today I am featuring his short story collection Strange Highway.
About the collection
If you ever find yourself on the Strange Hwy—don’t turn around. Don’t panic. Just. Keep. Going. You never know what you’ll find.
You’ll see magic at the fingertips of an autistic young man,
•A teen girl’s afternoon, lifetime of loss.
•A winged man, an angel? Demon—?
•Mother’s recognition, peace to daughter.
•Danny’s death, stifled secrets.
•Black man’s music, guitar transforms boy.
•Dead brother, open confession.
•First love, supernatural?—family becomes whole!
You can exit the Strange Hwy, and come back any time you want.
See, now…
View original post 1,483 more words
Writing the End – Part II
Stellar tips on writing the end of your story!
Greetings Storytellers! Last month I introduced the topic of endings and how important they are to creating a satisfying and lasting impression of our books: Writing the End, Part One. Now, it’s time to browse through some common types of endings.
Not all types of endings are mutually exclusive, and the goal isn’t to pick one kind of ending and force your story to conform. Instead, it’s to focus on what you want to emphasize as the most important element of your book, what final experience you want to give your readers as they close the last page. It’s how you fulfill the promise you made at the story’s beginning.
There are 8 common ways to end a story.
- Resolved Ending
- Unresolved Ending
- Ambiguous Ending
- Surprise Ending
- Tie-back Ending
- Altered World Ending
- Altered Character Ending
- The Epilog
Today I’m going to chat about the first four.
1. Resolved Ending
View original post 1,127 more words
Why Write Short Stories?
My latest piece is live on Story Empire!
Greetings, SE’ers! Beem Weeks here with you again. Today, I’m sharing my thoughts on short stories.
Why write short stories? The answer is quite simple: short stories offer instant gratification for both writer and reader. A short story can be written in a day or two. It can be read in a matter of minutes. I love the work and research that goes into writing novels, but short stories are probably my favorite form of writing.
I began writing short stories when I first learned to construct a proper sentence—which goes back to about age eight. I’ve written nearly a hundred pieces over the course of my life, though some of those have been lost to time.
Anything can inspire me: An experience, a memory, an overheard comment. Our world is awash in ideas and inspiration—if only we choose to look for them. Often, I’ll be doing some mundane chore, like…
View original post 300 more words
The Indie Spot! 