GoodReads – Page 2 – Write on the World

Digital Marketing, eBooks, Novel Writing, Valley of the Bees

Book description, Book 2 of Valley of the Bees #VotB

July 31, 2016 Mandy Webster

I am currently working my way through the process of finalizing my manuscript for With Envy Stung: Valley of the Bees #1 so I can upload the file to my retailers. It is an arduous process. My latest task was to convert my manuscript to an ePub file so I could read through it on my phone. You wouldn’t believe the errors I caught just by looking at the book in a different file format on a different device!

Valley of the Bees Logo by Jendy at https://jendy.threadless.com/.

Anyway, this afternoon I am working on a description of Book 2 so I can add some marketing copy to the end of Book 1. This is the description I am working on for marketing book two in my Valley of the Bees series:

Would you read this book?

Continue reading “Book description, Book 2 of Valley of the Bees #VotB” →

Digital Marketing, Valley of the Bees

Who here has a #blog?

April 8, 2016April 8, 2016 Mandy Webster

None - This image is in the public domain and ... — (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hello, readers! I am in the process of planning out a marketing campaign for my upcoming novel, With Envy Stung: Valley of the Bees #1, and I was wondering if any of you who have blogs would be interested in helping out.

My goal is to set up a pre-order of the book and then plan one promotional activity per week for several weeks in order to build some buzz around my novel. One such activity that I would like to engage in – if I can find bloggers who would be interested in helping out – is a blog tour.

The blog stops on my tour could consist of an author interview or Q&A, or you could read my novel in advance of the launch and write a book review: whatever works best for you! Continue reading “Who here has a #blog?” →

Creative Nonfiction, Digital Marketing

Book release & #GIVEAWAY: As Good as a Feast

March 24, 2016March 24, 2016 Mandy Webster

As Good as a Feast is now available on Kindle and in print! — As Good as a Feast: Essays on Enough is now available on Kindle and in print!

I am pleased to announce the release of my latest project, As Good as a Feast: Essays on Enough, which is now available on Kindle and in print! To kick things off, I am hosting a couple of book giveaways that I hope you will all enter.

The first giveaway, which is going on right now, is through Amazon. You can enter here. Please feel free to share this giveaway with all of your reading and writing friends!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. This giveaway started March 22, 2016 7:44 PM PDT and ends the earlier of March 29, 2016 11:59 PM PDT or when all prizes have been awarded.

The second giveaway will be through GoodReads, and I will announce that one officially when it becomes available.

I am currently accepting short stories and creative nonfiction essays for my next two anthology projects. For submission guidelines and additional information, please visit the Elderfly Press Submissions page.

Book Giveaways: A How-to

This is the first time that I have done giveaways of actual print edition books, so it has been a learning process. As always, I want to bring my writing readers along with me on this process and share a bit of what I am learning. Continue reading “Book release & #GIVEAWAY: As Good as a Feast “ →

Book Reviews, Uncategorized

8 best books of 2015

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 Mandy Webster

It’s that time of year again! Time to make our “top however many of whatever of the year” lists and post them on our blogs. As a writer, I am of course obligated to post my top books of 2015. I read a lot of books this year, but only eight of them really stood out for me.

Continue reading “8 best books of 2015” →

Book Reviews, Social Media

Are you on GoodReads?

February 28, 2015 Mandy Webster

To give you an idea of what I like to read (It’s an oldie but a goodie!): The Mists of Avalon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for friends to add on GoodReads so you can help me figure out what books I want to read next. That sounds completely self-serving, right? OK, so friend me on GoodReads so I can help you figure out what you want to read next! Either way works for me!

I like fantasy that’s not too science fiction-y (that makes total sense, right?) If you have some suggestions for me, please add me on GoodReads and recommend away! Continue reading “Are you on GoodReads?” →

Novel Writing, Reading

How to ensure your novel is what’s read next

October 17, 2013 Mandy Webster

Determining what to read next can be far more complicated than simply grabbing a book off the shelf. | Goodreads Avatar (Photo credit: minifig)

I have a complicated system for deciding what book I want to read next. First, I constantly keep my eyes peeled for books I might want to read. For example, this morning I read a blog post interview with self-publishing author Aimee Kuzinski. She caught my attention when she mentioned that the hardest part of writing her latest novel, Eye of the Storm, was realizing during the editing phase that she had a major plot hole that needed to be fixed. The fact that she took the time to go ahead and plug that hole rather than rushing her book to publication made me want to read her book.

I should probably mention that the premise of Kuzinski’s novel sounded promising as well. Seriously, what is wrong with me that the writer’s effort to produce a quality product is more likely to catch my attention than her story telling? Maybe I need to work on that. But I digress. Continue reading “How to ensure your novel is what’s read next” →

Reading, Social Media

Why is young adult dystopia classified as “Romance?”

September 20, 2013 Mandy Webster

Do you consider The Hunger Games a romance novel? | The Hunger Games (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been a member of GoodReads for two years but have only recently started using the app on my phone. A few weeks ago, I began adding books I have read to my profile. A lot of them have been dystopian novels, as I have been reading a lot of that genre as part of my research for my own novel projects. When I went to check out my recommendations to determine what to read next, I was surprised to find that GoodReads was mostly recommending that I read romance novels.

I don’t get it. It’s been a while since I have read any romance novels, and I hadn’t added any to my “read” shelf. Why would this app suggest I mostly read romance novels if I hadn’t indicated that I had any interest in them?

It’s not that I never read romance. Don’t tell anyone, but I have a secret stash of Harlequins in my bedroom closet. I pull one out whenever I am in need of a quick escape that requires little to no thinking. I suppose the fact that I haven’t read one recently says good things about my current life. At my worst, I would lay in bed and read an entire romance novel in one night. But I won’t get into my dysfunctional ex-marriage here today. Continue reading “Why is young adult dystopia classified as “Romance?”” →

Random Rants, Random Writing Rants

We all have the same amount of time, just different priorities

September 14, 2013September 15, 2013 Mandy Webster

a stack of library books — I have a lot more time for reading since graduation and go to the library at least once a week now.

One of my students started out this semester complaining about how much work she has to do in my class. I cannot even tell you how many times she said, “I don’t have time for this” on the first day of class. She was oblivious to her classmates glaring at her as if they wanted to ask if she truly believes she is the only person who has a life outside of school.

As the semester progresses, this same student keeps asking me if she really has to do all of the practice lessons or if she can only turn in the graded assessments and skip everything else. I am honestly sick to death of hearing it.

This week, I finally told her, “Look. It’s your choice. You do what you have to do. If you fail your assessments because you chose not to complete the practice lessons, then you will have to suffer the consequences.”

“I don’t have time for this.” Continue reading “We all have the same amount of time, just different priorities” →

Novel Writing

What is the difference between science fiction and fantasy?

April 11, 2013 Mandy Webster

Science Fiction League (March 1958) ... The Re... — Is this science fiction or fantasy? Or perhaps it’s speculative fiction? | Science Fiction League (March 1958) … The Real You (July 6, 2011 / 4 Tammuz 5771) … (Photo credit: marsmet541)

My thesis* efforts this week, while I am awaiting feedback on my first draft, are focused on wrapping up all of the loose ends: annotated bibliography, synopsis, cover letter, etc., that must be included in my final portfolio. I finally completed my bibliography, but I am struggling a bit with my synopsis. One of the biggest problems I am having with my synopsis is deciding what genre my novel fits into.

*Thesis Countdown: The final draft of my creative master’s thesis is due in 11 days!

I’ve been referring to my WIP as a “fantasy novel” for a long time, but I’m not completely sure that’s where it fits. Is it fantasy, or is it science fiction? Or is it this other thing I’ve heard of, speculative fiction, which I have no clue exactly what it is but for some reason have an inkling that my novel may fit into it? So, this afternoon, I am on a quest to determine which pigeonhole I should attempt to stick my novel in.

Continue reading “What is the difference between science fiction and fantasy?” →