Happy New Year!

 Here's Wishing You and Your's A Safe and Happy 2011!

FREE eBooks Today and in January at A WRITERS WORK

FREE eBooks December 26 and in January at A WRITERS WORK

A Writers Work is a co-op run by many multi-published authors. A variety of genres are available. Most of the books are their back list books, which have not been available for years. There are also some new works.
From the December-January A Writers Work Newsletter:

On December 26, you can download ONE free eBook from A Writers Work from each of the nineteen member authors.

And in January, each author will give away one book per day. More info below, and at their website, http://awriterswork.com/. You can sign up for their newsletter at their website (on the right side).

From Authors You Love, Directly to You

Shari Anton / Fran Baker / Becky Barker / Nicole Byrd / Ken Casper / Phoebe Conn/Diane Chamberlain / Ginger Chambers /Jasmine Cresswell / Kathy Lynn Emerson/Barbara Freethy / Lori Handeland / Holly Jacobs / Elizabeth Kary / Cait London/Patricia McLinn / Patricia Rice / Leigh Riker / Karen van der Zee

Here are the details:

-- No more than 1 book per author will be free to any individual/household.
-- If you order more than 1 book by an author, the most expensive book will be free to you. (Doesn't it always bug you when the lowest priced item is the free one? Us, too. So we aren't treating you that way.) You will be charged the regular price for any additional books by that author.
-- E-xtravaganza runs from 12:01 a.m.-11:59 p.m. EST Dec. 26, as time-stamped by PayPal.
-- Initially, you will be charged for your book(s), then you will receive a refund via PayPal for the full purchase price, making it free. (But remember, if you order more than 1 book per author, only 1 will be free. The others will be charged at regular price.)
-- We will issue that refund via PayPal by Dec. 29 (earlier if technical issues, weather in the US Midwest, PayPal, weather in the US Southwest and other potential gremlins cooperate.)

E-Xtravaganza on Dec. 26 is a great opportunity to try out e-books, AWritersWork, and authors you'll love!

And there's more ...

BOOK-UP IN JANUARY!

A FREE BOOK A DAY FROM AWRITERSWORK.COM

AWritersWork.com will offer a different book for free each day of January. Thirty-one days, thirty-one books from authors you know and love.

Here are the details:

-- No more than 1 copy of the day's free book to any individual/household.
-- Each day's free book is available 12:01 a.m.-11:59 p.m. EST, as time-stamped by PayPal.
-- Initially, you will be charged for your book(s) then you will receive a refund via PayPal for the purchase price, making it free.
-- Books from Jan. 1-15 will be refunded via PayPal by Jan. 18. Books from Jan. 16-31 will be refunded via PayPal by Feb. 3.

So mark your calendar for each day of January: (Schedule also available at AWritersWork.com and www.Facebook.com/AWritersWork. And follow AWritersWork.com on Twitter for updates!)

Find more info here:
http://lindabanche.blogspot.com/2010/12/more-free-ebooks-december-26-at-writers.html

Sign up for A Writer's Work Newsletter: newsletter@awriterswork.com

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas

A Dessert Recipe - Sweet Cheese Delights

With the holidays right around the corner, I've been searching for new and different dessert recipes. Here's one I came across that is absolutely yummy. It's quick and easy (my favorite kind of recipe) and delicious, so I wanted to share.

Enjoy!

SWEET CHEESE DELIGHTS

Prep Time: 10 Min

• Total Time: 30 Min
• Makes: 15

Ingredients:

•  2  packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
•  1 cup sugar 
•  1 egg yolk
•  1 teaspoon vanilla
•  2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
•  1 cup chopped pecans
•  1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
•  2 tablespoons butter, melted
•  2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
•  Powdered sugar, if desired

Directions:

• In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla; beat on low speed until blended.

  

• Unroll 1 can of dough into 1 large rectangle; press seams and perforations to seal. Press onto bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Spread with cream cheese mixture.

• In small bowl, mix pecans, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Sprinkle half the pecan mixture over the cream cheese layer. On lightly floured surface, press or roll out remaining dough into 13x9-inch rectangle. Place over filling. Sprinkle remaining pecan mixture over top.

• Bake at 375°F 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly on cooling rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cover and refrigerate leftovers.

Free Workshop: Create a Personalized Author Marketing Plan

***Permission for forward and share granted and encouraged***

Free Workshop: Create a Personalized Author Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is a goal-oriented concept that describes what commercial processes you will involve in promoting, selling, or distributing a product or service. That's a broad definition and encompasses many aspects.

This forum-style workshop will share ideas, ask questions, use lists, hunt down URLs, and learn new ways to create a personalized plan. Workshop led by Kayelle Allen, fueled by participant input.

Cost: Time spent learning.
Time: Forum style class without set hours. Come/go as your schedule dictates.
Dates: M-F, Jan 3-28, 2011
Where: Marketing for Romance Authors Yahoo! Group.

Marketing for Romance Writers is a group for authors (published and unpublished), literary agents, editors, author promotion services, publishers, and artists. Its goal, as it relates to marketing books, is to seek, teach, learn, share, and succeed. We accomplish this by sharing promotional opportunities, asking and answering questions, and serving one another in a spirit of cooperation. Founder: Kayelle Allen. Group Owners: Kayelle Allen, Marty Rayne, Jeanne Barrack. Newsletter Editor: Rochelle Weber. Bulletin Editor: Marty Rayne.

Author Kayelle Allen
Marketing For Writer's Yahoo Group Page

The Knight Agency/Deidre Knight Super Big Mega Contest Announcement!

Shopping around for an agent? If so, here's a GREAT opportunity to get your work in front of Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency! Deidre is running a contest to find a fresh new voice to add to her client list.

Snipped from the website:

Knight Agency president and founder Deidre Knight is on the hunt for a fresh, unique voice to add to her personal client roster. Are you the one she's looking for? Find out by joining us here on The Knight Agency blog for "Speed Dating with Deidre." Beginning Tuesday, November 30th, Deidre will whittle down the first 125 entries to one lucky winner.* The contest opens at 8:00am ET right here on the blog, so set your alarms!

Oh, and there’s a special bonus, one randomly drawn winner will receive a first chapter critique from Deidre – drawn from all entries.**

Contest is for completed manuscripts only. For more info, rules and guidelines go to: http://knightagency.blogspot.com/
Good Luck!

Ellora's Cave Blush Line Call For Submissions

I snipped the following from the Ellora's Cave Website:

Ellora's cave will begin accepting submissions for its Blush line of non-erotic romances in January. Here's some info:

Blush ~ Mainstream Romance
Blush is our line of non-erotic romances, of any genre. (Formerly known as Cerridwen Press.) We will be accepting submissions starting in January 2011.

Story length is 7,000 to 125,000 words. Sensuality level can be anything from sweet (kisses only) to sensual-but-not-quite-erotic. We do not publish inspirational/religious romances or category-style romances. (No secret baby, Big Misunderstanding, amnesiac in the storm, ex-SEAL-turned-sheriff, billionaire's secretary/mistress, or TSTL heroines.)

Cotillion is our line of sweet Traditional Regency romances. Story length is 7,000 to 75,000 words.

We do not publish non-fiction, poetry, children's literature.

Ellora's Cave
Ellora's Cave Author Submission/Information Packet

Wild Rose Press Romantic Suspense Call For Submissions

Crimson Rose (mystery, romantic suspense), of The Wild Rose Press, has issued a call for Christmas manuscript submissions under the series title:

Red Christmas
Someone's ready to kill the holiday...

They have space for six Christmas releases for 2011 so get your story in early. The spaces will be filled in the order they are contracted.

Each story will need to contain Santa Claus - either the hero or the villain needs to be using a costume as a part of the story.

Submissions should be between 7,500 and 60,000 words.  Deadline is March 1st

For rules & guidelines see this Behind the Garden Gate blog post at:
http://behindthegardengate.blogspot.com/2010/11/submission-call.html

Wild Rose Press

Good Luck!

My New Blog Award

I opened my inbox yesterday to find the following message from Polka Dot Banner:

Congratulations Carol Burge!

You have just been awarded the "2010 Web Supporter" at http://www.polkadotbanner.com/

Best regards,

PolkaDotBanner.com Staff

And this was posted on my profile page, along with the award graphic:

Thanks for spreading good words about the PDB out on the web. Links you posted have been reported in our site analytics. (Cool!) This icon award on your profile is the PDB's way of thanking you for support of PolkaDotBanner.com. Huzzah!

Nice, huh? I've proudly added the award to my side bar.

Thanks PDB!

Polka Dot Banner
An Author's Gathering Place

The History Channel Magazine American Hero Contest

Here's a fun little contest for all of you history buffs out there.

The folks at the History Channel are currently putting together the next issue of The History Channel Magazine and they need your help! They're looking for one of their Living History readers to write a 500 to 800 word article about their favorite American history hero and why he/she's important to you. This can be anyone: Abe Lincoln, Ben Franklin, Rosa Parks, Mickey Mantle ... anyone. It's up to you. The most well-written submission will be published in the History Alive section of an upcoming issue under the Heroes department. This contest is open to anyone interested in American history, so let your friends and family know.

Please e-mail all submissions—along with a digital image of yourself to: editorial@thehistorychannelclub.com

Good Luck!

*NOTE: For the record, I got this info from the History Channel's Living History Newsletter. I tried to verify the guidelines and the deadline, etc., but I couldn't find anything about the contest on the website. If you want to try and check it out yourself, links to the website are below. Hopefully you'll have better luck then I did. :)

History Channel
History Channel Magazine

Call For Submissions For Aspen Mountain Press New Regency Romance Line

-----------------------------------
On October 15, 2010, Aspen Mountain Press launched its new Aurora Regency imprint, a line devoted to Regency romance.

Traditional Regency romances, as exemplified by Georgette Heyer's work, is historical fiction that takes place during a very specific (and short) era (1811-1820).

Aurora is looking for well-researched Regency romances between 35,000 and 70,000 words, although they will bend on the upper word limit if the story merits it.

Aspen Mountain Press is a royalty-paying e-publishing company, and they do not charge set-up or editing fees. Their contract requests rights to the contracted work, including digital and print formats, as they will provide some titles in print later this year. 

For complete guidelines visit the Aspen Mountain Press Submission Page:  http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/submissions/info_6.html

Aspen Mountain Press: http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/

Cleopatra Literary Contest for Young Women

This literary contest is named after the inspirational Cleopatra VII of Egypt, who was an author of works about cosmetics, pharmacology and weights & measures. Established and sponsored by author Stephanie Dray, the competition is aimed at discovering and mentoring aspiring young female writers. In particular, the award seeks to foster new voices with an appreciation for women’s history. Deadline March 1, 2011. Entries are limited in length to 2,000 words. Short stories, essays, poems, and excerpts from novels and novellas are welcome, in any genre, as long as they focus on one of the themes.

Teen Category Winner: Choice of $100 cash or a brand new E-reader, in addition to an award certificate, a month-long writing mentorship with Ms. Dray, a feature article in her blog and newsletter, and a critique from NY literary agent, Jennifer Schober of Spencerhill Associates.

Young Women Category Winner: Choice of $100 cash or a brand new E-reader, in addition to an award certificate, a month-long writing mentorship with Ms. Dray, a feature article in her blog and newsletter, and a critique from NY literary agent, Jennifer Schober of Spencerhill Associates.

Finalists: Constructive feedback from publishing professionals, mention on Ms. Dray’s blog and newsletter, an award certificate, and a free book courtesy of contest sponsors.

Females ages 13-18 for the teen category.

Females ages 19-22 for the young women’s category.

This is an international contest, so writers outside of the US are eligible.

Before she wrote novels, Stephanie Dray was a lawyer, a game designer, and a teacher. Now she uses the transformative power of magic realism to illuminate the stories of women in history and inspire the young women of today. She remains fascinated by all things Roman or Egyptian. Her book Lily of the Nile, comes out in January 2011, about the daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.

Read more at Stephanie’s website.

NOTE: I snipped this contest info from Hope Clark’s blog. C. Hope Clark is editor and founder of FundsforWriters.com . Her newsletters reach over 37,000 writers. Writer's Digest selected FundsforWriters one of its 101 Best Websites for Writers every year since 2001. www.fundsforwriters.com

You can sign up for Hope’s newsletter(s) on her blog. I recommend you subscribe to at least one of them, if you haven’t already. They’re chock FULL of information.

NEWSFLASH! - Deb Werksman of Sourcebooks is Taking Pitches & Answering Questions on the Casablanca Authors Blog!

Deb Werksman, Editorial Manager of Sourcebooks Casablanca is taking pitches and answering any questions on the Casablanca Authors Blog right now!

Deb from the blog:

What do YOU want to know? You can ask me about:

*the book marketplace
*the publishing or editorial process
*your specific project (yes! I'm taking pitches today too!)
*anything else you want to know!

Stop by, pitch, and ask away!

Casablanca Aurthors Blog

The Marshall Plan Contest For Aspiring Authors

Get a Fiction Makeover for National Novel Writing Month!

A Contest Sponsored by The Marshall Plan®

In celebration of National Novel Writing Month (November 2010), Evan Marshall and Martha Jewett, leading literary agents and authors of The Marshall Plan® Novel Writing Software and The Marshall Plan® for Novel Writing ebook, are sponsoring a contest for aspiring novelists. Send them a proposal for your novel for a chance at winning a free copy of the software and a free Fiction Makeover—professional advice on revising your material for better chances of a sale!

Contest rules:

Entrants must not have published a novel with a major commercial publisher. Submit the first 25 (no more!) double-spaced pages of your novel, any genre, along with a synopsis no longer than 1 single-spaced page. Send your material in one .doc file as an email attachment to: evanmarshall@optonline.net.

Submission deadline:

November 15, 2010. Winners will be announced on November 30, 2010, on writeanovelfast.com as well as Facebook and Twitter. Entrants who do not follow rules exactly will be disqualified.

Become a fan on Facebook and follow on Twitter for contest updates and writing tips.

Prizes:

2 Grand Prizes:

•The Marshall Plan® Novel Writing Software ($149 value)
• A copy of The Marshall Plan® for Novel Writing Ebook ($10 value)
• A Free Fiction Makeover for your novel proposal: top literary agents Evan Marshall and Martha Jewett will tell you what you need to do to get your novel published faster in today’s competitive publishing climate. 3 Runner-Ups:
•A copy of The Marshall Plan® for Novel Writing Ebook ($10 value)

About Evan Marshall & Martha Jewett

Evan Marshall is an internationally recognized expert on fiction writing and author of the “Hidden Manhattan” and “Jane Stuart and Winky” mystery series. A former book editor, for 27 years he has been a leading literary agent specializing in fiction. His Marshall Plan® Novel Writing Software, written with Martha Jewett, is an adaptation of his bestselling Marshall Plan® series.

Martha Jewett is an internationally recognized expert on business books. A former award-winning business book editor at McGraw-Hill, John Wiley & Sons, and HarperBusiness, she is currently a literary agent and editorial consultant specializing in business books. An avid memoirist, she blogs at http://www.writeyourmemoir.com/. She co-created with Evan Marshall The Marshall Plan® Novel Writing Software, an adaptation of the bestselling Marshall Plan® series.