Updates: Novels, and Contests, and Summits, Oh My!

Well, it has been quite a few crazy months since The Purple Door District launched. Within a month, I sold about 100 copies, and I anticipate that future conventions will see even more sales. I really appreciate all of the support from the community! 

With that being said, let's get into some updates! 

The Purple Door District: Wolfpit / Patreon

The second Purple Door District book is slowly coming along. After a rough few months of writer's block, not to mention some mental health issues, I'm finally getting back into it! I'm about 50,000 words into the book, and I finally have the back cover mostly written up, which I'll share with you guys soon. 

In the meantime, I posted a short story from the world of The Purple Door District to Patreon called The Magus and the Vampire. The story is set a year before PDD and reveals how Gladus and Trish first met. If you're interested in reading it, stop by Patreon. As a patron, you'll have access to all original chapters from the first PDD and you'll get to see PDD 2 before anyone else. 

For those of you who haven't picked up the book yet, The Purple Door District is available on amazon, on my website, and through bookstores like Prairie Lights, M and M Bookstore, and The Makers' Loft. 

Contest

I'm currently in a contest for best cover through AllAuthor. If you have a chance, I'd greatly appreciate it if you went and voted here.  There are 2 days left in this round. This site is also a great way to showcase your own books and covers! It's now open for March submissions, so be sure to get your book in! 

Women in Publishing Summit!

What if I told you I could get you a free ticket to a week-long event that is all about all the tools you need to help you write, publish, and sell that book you've either been dreaming of writing, trying to write, or have written but need help with #allthethings? And even better, that you don't have to even leave your home to participate?

Good news! The Women in Publishing Summit is coming! A week-long, FREE, online event!

March is Women’s History Month. It’s an awesome time to to celebrate, honor, and learn from a line-up of amazing women in the writing and publishing world who deserve some applause.

The Women in Publishing Summit sponsored by Thinkific, runs March 4-8, 2019, covers all things related to writing, publishing, and selling a book. It's Created FOR women, BY women, for women who want to write a book, have written a book, are in the process of writing a book, or perform some kind of function related to writing, publishing, and selling a book! You are not going to want to miss it.

Register for your FREE ticket now. https://erincasey--writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/free-wip-registration/

I guess this is the part where I also mention I am one of the speakers! During the summit, I'll discus how to find the "write" community. Where can you find fellow writers? What makes a writing group right for you? And more! 

This summit is being hosted by my friend, Alexa Bigwarfe. She is an author coach and publisher and noticed that there seemed to be a real void in the female voices present in online conferences and training programs on writing and selling books. So, she set out to change that. And I thought it was a great idea too!

Here is the schedule of topics for each day:

Day 1: The Big Picture for Your Book

Day 2: Your Path to Publishing Success + Mindset

Day 3: Production, Distribution, Legal - Editing, Design, Taxes, Copyright, etc

Day 4: Book Launch Strategies, Marketing, Marketing and more Marketing

Day 5: Tools and Resources for Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Your Book

I hope you'll join us! 

Upcoming Showings and Events

March 2nd, 2019: Author Signing at M and M Bookstore
March 4th-8th, 2019: Women in Publishing Summit
April 18th, 2019 (6pm): Ottumwa Public Library Book Reading  

May 17th-19th, 2019: OWS Cycon 2019 (online event) 
June 29th-30th: Book Signing at West Valley Mall
September 7th-8th: The Writers' Rooms Presents: I.O.W.A. 

Once again, thank you for everything, and I hope to see you at my upcoming shows! I'm already signing up for ones in other parts of Iowa, and I'm hoping to do a few in Chicago since that's where PDD is set. 

Happy reading and writing!

Recent Publications

This has certainly been a fruitful week! I have a couple of publication announcements, as well as an update on Dragon Steal.

• The Mighty: I just had my fourth story published on The Mighty. I'm an advocate for mental health, and I feel it's important for us to share our stories so that people realize that they're not alone. The more we talk about mental health/illness, the less of a stigma there will be. You can read my new article "The One Word That Helps Me Combat Self-Abuse" here. You're welcome to check out my other articles here.
• 600 Second Saga: On Wednesday, February 28th, my story "Gossamer" was published on 600 Second Saga. This site creates audio versions of short stories and shares them across multiple platforms. I wrote "Gossamer" originally at Pike's Peak and edited it heavily to send to 600 Second Saga. You can listen to it here.
• Purple Door District: I've uploaded the second chapter of The Purple Door District on patreon here. I haven't had a lot of traction on patreon yet, but that's okay. I really enjoy the story, and I've heard feedback from people who say that they want to read more. It's nice to know my work is slowly getting out there. The next chapter will be released on March, 15th. It'll take about a year for the entire book to get posted on patreon. Once complete, I'll publish it and provide both e-book and paper copies for people to purchase.

I'm still waiting to hear news about Winter Tangerine. My story is currently still in process with them, so I hope that means that I've made it towards the top of the list.

As for Dragon Steal, I received feedback from two of my beta readers. I sat down and revised the history of the story. Now I just need to work on editing and adding that history in. I've decided to do Camp NaNo in April to focus on editing. Ideally, I'd like to have the second draft finished by the end of April, send it out to beta readers, and then get the query out before the end of the year. Fingers crossed I'll be able to do all that!

There are still some short stories I'd like to write and send out to magazines. I just need to have the time to do it!

On Wednesday, March 7th at 2pm (CST), I'll be presenting a live facebook discussion on a topic called, "I Wrote a Book. Now What?" This will be hosted through tribefinder. I hope you'll take a listen! If possible, I'll provide a link to the discussion once it's complete.

Happy Writing!