Next HSW Meeting
Saturday February 13 at 10 am via Zoom.
Our next HSW meeting will be a Zoom meeting due to the restrictions on meeting in large groups. The code for the meeting will be sent to all members in a news blast by the Thursday before the meeting.
If you have not used Zoom before, it is easy. Just click on the link that we will send and post and it will take you to the web site where you can download the application. You do not need to be on video. We hope to see you at this meeting.
Details on joining the Zoom meeting will be mailed the Thursday prior to the meeting (Feb. 11). This will include the link to the meeting and the passcode. The information will also be posted on the HSW website and on the Facebook page.
Our program for the meeting will be Creating Compelling Characters. The agenda will include any announcements, shameless self-promotion, and First Pages.
First Pages
Matt will be doing First Pages at this meeting. If you have a first page you would like feedback on, please send it by Friday February 12th to MattBayan@aol.com For easy reading, please use 12 point Times New Roman and double space. Do not include your name on the page, but indicate the genre.
From the President
COMPELLING CHARACTERS
Every novel, at its core, is about characters. No plot exists without characters. So, to write a compelling novel, we need compelling characters. How do we create them?
In our February 13 meeting, we’ll explore character “ghosts,” what characters want and what are they willing to do to achieve their wants.
Our guest will be David Corbettt, author of two definitive works on this topic: The Art of Character and the recently released The Compass of Character. David is a bestselling novelist of such classics as The Devil’s Redhead and Done For A Dime. A frequent presenter at the annual Mystery Writers Conference, David has a unique way of getting at the core of our subject this month.
Matt
Looking for Contest Committee Members
We are planning a writing contest for 2021, but the contest committee could use another volunteer or two to help organize and execute the tasks associated with it. We are also looking for anyone who might have experience in grant writing. We hope to get an art grant or two to help finance the contest and possibly some craft speakers. If you are interested, please contact Rene at RPAverett@gmail.com (mailto:RPAverett@gmail.com)
ATTENTION PLEASE!
Do you have a finished manuscript which needs just one more round of critiques before being sent off to the agent? Then contact me, Linda Enos, at lynda.r.bailey@gmail.com asap! Two other members are ready and willing to participate in a finished manuscript group.
As a reminder, in a FM group, you take a month to read/critique a story, sharing your comments and suggestions at the end. Each story gets one month.
If you have any questions, let me know! Linda
New Book Release!
High Sierra Writers has quite a few published writers in the group. We have a page featuring the various books grouped by author under genre. These are under HSW Writers link. As our authors release new books, we’ll feature them here .
This month, Jacci Turner’s new young adult book releases on February 14th. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page. This book will be available on Kindle Unlimited, Kindle, and in paperback.
Mayten, a tree singer, must use her unfinished training to face betrayal, fear, and a deadly foe. Is she a match for the ancient evil attacking her trees or will the entire kingdom fall to ruin?
Please support our High Sierra writers by reading and giving an honest review of their books or stories on the platform where you downloaded or purchased it. Your reviews help bring the the book to the attention other readers and helps the author to gain more visibility on the sales platform.
If you have a book that has just released or will be releasing in February or March, please send an email to Rene with details to be featured in the March newsletter.
New Series Listings on Amazon
This should interest those who have published series books or are planning to publish them. This past month (or at least, it appears to have started in January), Amazon is now offering a series listing option for your books. It’s free and setting it up is easy.
To begin, you go to your KDP dashboard, find the first book of your series, then where it says Promote and Advertise, click on the button with three dots next to it. Under the drop down, choose add to series.
A pop-up will allow you to Create series or Select series to add to an existing one. To start, choose Create series.
The next pop-up asks How is this title related to the series? If it is book in the main content, which is a primary title in the series, choose Main Content. For prequels, related short stories or novellas, choose Related content.
If you choose Main Content, the next pop-up allows you to enter a series description. If you choose Related Content, it has a selection book for Box Set, novella, prequel, short story or other. If you choose boxed set, it will then go to additional options to set up the grouping. I think this may be a way to offer your books in a set at a discount over single pricing, but I haven’t followed it all the way through.
Once you select content, the series is set up. Then, go to the next book and add it to series and repeat until it is fully set up.
You can also set the order of your books so readers know the sequence for them.
This goes through an approval process, then the listing goes live. When you go to a book, it will show your book listing, then below it it displays the entire series. Click on the series display trio and it goes to the series listing with your newly written blurb.
This is a great addition to the listings. In my mind I can envision some lowly intern at a publishing house trying to get all their series authors set up on this new feature. Heaven help the one working on J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series (55 and counting).