Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

Image description: laptop, open notebook, mug, flowers.

I’m about to take another break from blogging for a bit—I expect to be back in this space in about a week. Meantime, since there will be a delay until you see some Friday Finds and Monday Markets again, I’ll leave you with a couple of items to tide you over:

1) Over on the Brevity blog, you’ll find sage commentary from Allison K. Williams to help recognize legitimate writing contests (and not-so-legitimate ones). A lot here on the sticker shock of the fees associated with some of these “opportunities.” (Remember, on this blog and in the monthly newsletter, you’ll always find fee-free calls and competitions listed.)

2) A discovery from the latest Goodreads Author Newsletter: some advice on how authors can engage with reviewers on the Goodreads platform. (NB: As you’ll see, the post notes that authors are permitted to review their own books on Goodreads, but I don’t endorse that practice.)

3) And a big “thank you!” to everyone who purchased copies of Quiet Americans during the first quarter of 2018. A few days ago I tallied up the recent sales and was able to offer the Blue Card a slightly higher contribution for Q1 than I could do for Q4 of last year.

Stay well and writing until we meet again!