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Self-publishing is fun! And, you have all the power.

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What power? Every decision is yours to make – that’s powerful. But with control comes responsibility. You must be a business that produces well-written, well-crafted, edited, beta-read, designed, proofed, beautiful books (in your genre), fabulous attention-grabbing covers and unputdownable blurbs. You will create ebooks and audiobooks (if you wish). You must register, print, price and distribute to your readers. How do you find those readers? You market through your author website, newsletter, social media, book signings, publications, word-of-mouth, promotions, swag, advertising and anything else. Of course, you will need to keep business records and accounts for the tax people. Then …

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Kiss and Tell | Minnie Darke

In Creative Writing, Guest Articles by RWA Blog CoordinatorLeave a Comment

It’s such a pleasure to sink into a romance novel with lashings of humour, warmth and a heroine that’s not only business-savvy and determined but arty and vulnerable. Minnie Darke’s new novel, With Love from Wish & Co, swiftly transported me to the fictional town of Alexandria Park and I spent a week happily immersed in the lives of professional gift-buyer, Marnie Fairchild and the seemingly perfect Charlesworth family. If you’re after a sweet, clever tale about complex relationships, prickly consciences and following your heart, then wrap your hands around a copy of this novel. And if you’re keen to …

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Why Should Word Count Matter with Mel A Rowe

In Creative Writing, Guest Articles by RWA Blog CoordinatorLeave a Comment

Does word count matter? And what is the average word count for writing books? See if our research results match your book, below… We all know books are made up of words. Word count matters when novels are judged, not just by their covers, but by how they sit on the bookshelf. Bookshops count: Bookshop owners can only allocate so much space for certain genres on their specifically created bookshelves.  When a book is too big it looks messy on the shelf. If a book takes up too much spine space, they can’t get as many books to fit within …

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FABULOUS FICTION with Stella Quinn & guest Dakota Harrison

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Welcome to Fabulous Fiction, which celebrates books so good, you just want to hug them when you’re done reading. It’s August. It’s conference month. And yes… you’re getting this blog a teensy bit later than its scheduled delivery date, so sorry. Can I blame it on jetlag? (It’s a thing, right, even with a two-hour time difference?) But anyhoo, without further ado, let’s get the drums rolling for August author of the month, RWA’s own Dakota Harrison. Laugh. Cry. Love. That’s the head’s up Dakota gives us on her website of what she’s packing into her stories. There’s some interesting …

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The Number One Concept to Stop Confusion About Showing

In Creative Writing, Guest Articles, RWA Academy by RWA Blog CoordinatorLeave a Comment

‘Show don’t tell’ is one of the most worrisome writing guidelines ever created, but it’s also essential to modern authors. Finding the right balance of showing and telling in your story is like patting your head and rubbing your belly while balancing on one leg at the top of a pole in a river full of crocodiles. (And I never exaggerate.) Authors get themselves tied up in knots over showing and telling, but the good news is if you take a deep breath, let go of the minutiae that are bogging you down and remember one simple and liberating concept, …

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Writing a Romantic Book Series with Mel A Rowe

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How long should a romantic book series be? Releasing book seven of my bestselling Elsie Creek Series, I had to wonder how many books should make up a romance series? So I searched for a popular romance series with seven or more full-sized novels. The results… A random selection from each category, to give you an idea for your own romance series. POPULAR FANTASY LONG SERIES: Fantasy books are amazing places you can really dive into. Even though some of the following titles aren’t classified as romances, we all know there is an element of romance to be found between …

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Shout Out to the Ruby Nominees!

In Conference, Contests, Indie Publishing, RWA News by RWA Blog Coordinator2 Comments

It feels like forever – but on Saturday the 13th of August we can finally celebrate our nominees at our Gala Dinner – in person! Are you as excited as this little Blog Coordinator is?!? Kudos to our contest team, reader judges, organising committee and contest co-ordinator Sarma Burdeu! You can read all the nominees here. Thanks to Ebony Mckenna for setting this up for us once again. Please put your hands together for the Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year finalists for 2022! Congratulations everyone, what an amazing effort! And the finalists are… Romantic Suspense Caitlyn …

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Kiss and Tell | Stella Quinn

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Brimming with warmth and humour, Stella Quinn’s new rural romance, A Town Like Clarence, roped me in from the prologue and kept me smiling throughout. There’s so much to love about Kirsty and Joey’s story, from the town committee who spends just as much time planning a community event as they do on project ‘Find Farmer Joey A Wife’, to the restoration of a vintage aeroplane with special significance for pilot Kirsty. Sassy eight-year-old Amy, also deserves a special mention (and quite possibly her own story) and although I’m not usually a poetry fan, I was delighted by the bush …