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Grand Prize

One Sweet Holiday by Lucy Day

Contemporary Fiction

First Place

Toxic Sphere: Volume 3: Enemy Apparent by C.N. Sky

Honorable Mentions

• Losing My Breath by J. Rose Black
• Releasing the Reins by Catherine Matthews
• She Taught Me Everything by Amy Smith Linton
• The Writer, The Hairdresser, and The Nurse by Zara Ellen

Fantasy

First Place

Children of Madness by Jarrett Brandon Early

Honorable Mentions

• Feathers Sharp as Knives by Kristina Atkins
• The Dark Maiden by Adrianna J. Tetnowski
• The Forgotten Oath by Samantha Hickey

Mystery/Thriller

First Place

Phantom Cove: A Port Stirling Mystery by Kay Jennings

Honorable Mentions

• Pierce the Darkness by Nannette Potter
• The Blackstone by James T. Malone 
• The Last Luau by Guy McCullough
• Trash: The Rubbishman’s Ball by Clements
• Unethical by Marla L. Anderson

Narrative Nonfiction

First Place

EXODAI: A Shockingly Honest Memoir of Love, Obsession and Torture by Elizabeth Hendrick

Honorable Mentions

• Here, Where Death Delights by Mary Jumbelic 
• Lost Roots: Family, Identity, and Abandoned Ancestry by Karl von Loewe
• Monster Child by Kristal M. Johnson
• The Descendants of John Grant and Mary Sabean: Associated Families of Southwestern Nova Scotia and New England by Allen Grant 

Prescriptive/Informative Nonfiction

First Place

Finding Your Path to Publication: A Step-by-Step Guide by Judy Penz Sheluk

Honorable Mentions

• Queen of the Side Hustle: Unleashing Your Potential for Extra Income by Christine Schaub
• The One Week Writing Workshop: 7 Days to Spark, Boost or Revive Your Novel by Karin Adams
• The Truth About Melasma by Janett Juwien

Romance

First Place

Love Notes by Blue Saffire 

Honorable Mention

• Stand in for Love by Michele Ashman Bell

Science Fiction

First Place

Miss Universe by David M. Jones

Honorable Mentions

• After the Fall: The Engineer and the Apocalypse by Gerry Gainford
• Saving Harry Truman by Steven R. Burt

Young Adult

First Place

Splinter: A Novel in Verse by Betsy O’Neill-Sheehan

Honorable Mentions

• Corporeal by Mike Gwyther
• Over the Top Secret: A Funny Spy Adventure by Alexa Tuttle
• What I Would Wish to Be (Wonders of Childhood & Beyond) by Michele L Sayre 

Check out the upcoming Writer’s Digest Competitions!

The post Announcing the Winners of the 12th Annual Self-Published E-book Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

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Grand Prize

Walks With the Wind by Steve Physioc, StevePhysioc.com

Contemporary Fiction

First Place

Driftless by Ardys Brevig Richards, AardysBrevigRichards.blogspot.com

Honorable Mentions

Backstory: Behind the Scenes of a Famous Film-Thriller by Pat Dunlap Evans ($5.99 Kindle; $12.99 Paperback, A.M. Chai Literary), PatDunlapEvans.com

Safelight by Casey Lown ($2.99 Kindle; $11.99 Paperback, Casey Lown), CaseyLown.com

Going Home by Win and Meredith Blevins ($0.99 Kindle; $8.99 Paperback, WordWorx Publishing)

A Legacy of One by Kevin G. Chapman ($3.99 Kindle; $12.99 Paperback, CreateSpace Publishing), KevingChapman.com

Fantasy

First Place

Choose the Sun by Kent Safford, KentSafford.com

Honorable Mention

Guardian of Chaos by Michelle Manus ($4.99 Kindle; $14.99 Paperback, Seclusion Publishing), MichelleManus.com

Mystery/Thriller

First Place

Dark Cure by Cameron K. Moore 

Honorable Mentions

Dead Tree Tales by Rush Leaming ($4.99 Kindle; $16.88 Paperback, Bridgewood), LeamingRush.wixsite.com/nightfall

Where Loyalty Lies by Edward Belton ($2.99 Kindle; $21.66 Paperback, Booklocker.com, Inc.)

The Quisling Factor by J. L. Oakley ($4.99 Kindle; $18.95 Paperback, Fairchance Press), JLOakleyAuthor.com

AESOP by Michele Packard ($2.99 Kindle; $9.99 Paperback, Michele Packard), MichelePackard.com

Narrative Nonfiction

First Place

Memoirs of a Counselor: My Life in South Africa by Chloe Timothy, ChloeTimothy.com

Honorable Mentions

Still Laughin’ by Dara Kalima ($8.99 Kindle; $20.99 Paperback, Dara Kalima), DaraKalima.com

My View from the Back of the Bus by Merritt Long ($9.99 Kindle; $23 Paperback, My View LLC)

OiseauxWords: Grew-Some Man-i-festations by Bernadette “Bird” Bowen ($9.99 Kindle, Bernadette “Bird” Bowen)

Prescriptive/Informative Nonfiction

First Place

The Ever-Fixed Mark: Shakespeare on Love, Women, and Human Nature by Thomas Brackshaw

Honorable Mentions

Food, Body and Love: But the Greatest of These is Love by Kari Anderson ($4.99 Kindle; $19.95 Paperback, Kari Anderson), MyEatingDoctor.com

Braving the World: Adventures in Travel and Retirement by Pam Saylor ($4.99 Kindle; $15.99 Paperback, KDP), PamSaylor.com

Holy Smoke: How Christianity Smothered the True American Dream by Rick Snedeker ($6.99 Kindle; $11 Paperback, Station Square Media), RickSnedekerAuthor.com

Romance

First Place

Charming and the Cherry Blossom by LJ Evans, LJEvansbooks.com

Honorable Mention

Siren’s Song by Michelle Manus ($2.99 Kindle; $14.99 Paperback, Seclusion Publishing), MichelleManus.com

Science Fiction

First Place

In the Garden of Mistress Bloom by Clé Curbo

Honorable Mention

I, Cassandra by E. A. Carter ($6.99 Kindle; $12.99 Paperback, Arundel House Press), AuthorEACarter.net

Young Adult

First Place

Facing Off by Tanya Ross, TanyaRossAuthor.com

Honorable Mention

Max and the Spice Thieves by John Peragine ($2.99 Kindle; $14.74 Paperbook, Crumblebee Books), JohnPeragineBooks.com

The post Announcing the 9th Annual Self-Published E-book Awards Winners appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Carina is an outsider in the Viking-based matriarchal community of the Daughters of Hel—a society that appeases the goddess Hel by raiding towns and killing their people. When Carina is kidnapped, she must choose between proving her worth by killing her captors or forging her own path.

Menard’s winnings include $5,000 and a trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference in New York City. She sat down with WD to talk about Steel Hand, Cold Heart.

See a complete winner list for the 7th Annual Self-Published E-Book Awards

How did you get the idea for this book?

I wrote Carina into a novel before. She was in this enemies-to-lovers revenge story and made the hand for herself to replace the hand she lost in a sword fight. I shelved that book, but I really liked the character. So I rewrote her into this story, a different situation. I gave her the supporting cast, which helped reveal her more.

What drew you to Carina?

I like anti-heroines. I don’t know if I’d call her likable, but she has redeeming qualities.

How many novels have you written?

I have 10 shelved. There’s one I really liked the world I created, so I’m changing the scenario and making it more of an urban fantasy than fantasy. There’s another fantasy I’m turning into a thriller. So I’m taking pieces of things I liked and putting them together, since it worked for Steel Hand.

What draws you to YA?

Your teens are such a transition time with many firsts—like first love, first heartbreak—and it makes good drama.

How do you develop characters?

I write, rewrite, and let characters reveal themselves, doing the old adage of “put them in the situation, and how would your character react to that situation?”

What challenges did you have writing Carina?

The biggest challenge is making an anti-heroine likable. You have to do something in the beginning to make that character someone you understand. From the beginning, Carina questioned herself and had a bully. As the reader, you have an association with her, feel for her because she doesn’t think she’s good enough and she’s got other people telling her that. That helps ease later on if she does something terrible, you don’t hate her.

What was the world-building like?

I wanted to do something Viking based. I got books on Viking history and wanted to see a feminist story. I read passages about [the goddess] Hel; I thought it would make sense that women Vikings would worship a goddess. I also read about Viking life and took notes on the food they ate, what their houses looked like, where they raided. The Viking age was over hundreds of years, so I took what I wanted from those years and created my world from that.

What led to this book?

I’d published a couple of short stories, but I’ve been writing for a while. Mostly YA sci-fi and fantasy. I’ve had agents but no sales. I felt like this book was the one and I decided to take it as far as possible and not give up on myself.

Why did you feel this book was the one?

I just really liked it. All my beta readers really liked it. It felt different. I was at a writing conference and one of the speakers said, “Don’t reject yourself.” I have a lot of shelved books because I’ve rejected myself in the past. I thought if this doesn’t succeed, I don’t want it to be because of me.

Is that why you decided to self-publish?

Pretty much. I passed on going to small publishers because I have a marketing background, and I don’t expect to make money off this. I’m just using it as a tool to practice book marketing and build a community. Doing my own book marketing, I can see if it works on getting sales or Goodreads adds and I know what works and what doesn’t.

What was your timeframe?

It was 18 months from when I started making Viking notes to when I published it. There was a year of writing, and I had a lot of the character work done from that previous novel that I was able to copy.

What was the biggest surprise you had writing and publishing this book?

I feared people would hear self-published and run the other way, so I wrote arguments about why it’s a good book. Then I found I didn’t have to—it didn’t seem to bother book bloggers that it was self-published. They just were like, “I like the synopsis, I wanna read this, send it to me.” The hardest thing about self-publishing is you put it out with only yourself saying it’s good. If I hadn’t set my goal to take it to the end, I might have shelved it like the other ones.

Do you have any projects up next?

I signed with an agent since Steel Hand. It’s another YA fantasy. It has character that is worse than Carina, but I feel I get away with it because it is a multi-POV. I have two nice characters and this wicked one. I like showing a villain origin story or trying to humanize the villainess. The villain is the hero in their own stories. So I like to look at that and see why a person is acting the way they are.

Can you tell me about your writing and publishing process? Did you have help?

I used a cover designer. It was important to me to have an eye-catching cover. She did the art, but I did the layout with the text. Then I did my own interior layout work. I didn’t get an editor, but I had a lot of beta readers and some professional editors gave me notes and I incorporated those changes. So it was in good shape. Of course, after my first version, I found typos. But with Amazon KDP, you can upload a new version if you find mistakes.

How do you find beta readers?

Mostly on Twitter, with #writingcommunity. I’ve met a lot of good writing friends through there.

How do you know if a beta reader is a good match?

I don’t until I have them read a few pages. A lot of people do one chapter so you can see their feedback. I’m also pretty good at picking out what I want to use from someone’s critique and what I don’t want to use.

The post Meet Rachel Menard, Winner of the WD Self-Published E-Book Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Grand Prize

Steel Hand, Cold Heart by Rachel Menard (rachelmenard.com)

Fantasy

First Place

Willow of Ashes by Ellie Raine (ellieraine.com)

Honorable Mentions

Fog & Mist: The Canens Chronicles, Book 1 by Kelsie Engen (kelsieengen.com/publications)

The Devil’s Own: Murphy’s Law, Book One by K.A. Fox (imkafox.com)

Science Fiction

First Place

In the Slip by F.D. Lee (fdlee.co.uk)

Honorable Mentions

Falcon’s Call by Mike Waller (mikewallerauthor.com/falconscall)

Andre’s Reboot: Striving to Save Humanity by Steve Coleman (andretherobot.com)

Romance

First Place

Moti on the Water by Leylah Attar (leylahattar.com)

Honorable Mentions

Fire Trucks, Garter Belts, & My Perfect Ex by Heather Novak (heathernovak.net)

Love, Chocolate, and a Dog Named Al Capone by Wende Dikec

Contemporary Fiction

First Place

The Chocolate Shop by J.J Spring (jjspringbooks.com)

Honorable Mentions

The Trial of Connor Padget by Carl Roberts (authorcarlroberts.com)

The Devil’s Fortune by Amy Schisler (amyschislerauthor.com)

Young Adult

First Place

Finn’s Clock by Dean Whitlock (deanwhitlock.com)

Honorable Mentions

Ember Burning: Trinity Forest Book 1 by Jennifer Alsever (trinityforestseries.com)

F’lorna of Rodesh by Alisa Hope Wagner (alisahopewagner.com)

Memoir

First Place

Don’t Come Back by Adam Fletcher (adam-fletcher.co.uk)

Honorable Mentions

Private Lucky by Melissa Guzzetta (privatelucky.com)

Don’t Mind Me, I’m Just Having a Bad Life: A Memoir by Lewis Kempfer (lewiskempfer.com)

Mystery/Thriller

First Place

The Loggerhead Murders by Georgia Ann Mullen (georgiamullen.com)

Honorable Mentions

CELTIC KNOT: A Clara Swift Tale by Ann Shortell (annshortell.com)

The Green Ribbon Murder by Sharon Cowen

Ship Bottom Blues by Daniel J. Waters (bandagemanpress.com)

Nonfiction

First Place

Dark Nights of the Soul: Reflections on Faith and the Depressed Brain by David Anderson (davidandersontheauthor.com)

Honorable Mentions

Retail: The Second-Oldest Profession, 7 Timeless Principles to WIN in Retail Today by Flora Delaney (floradelaney.com)

Re-learning the ABC With Mamma by Cynthia Rodrigues (cynthology.blogspot.com/2019/03/re-learning-abc-with-mamma-now.html)

The Mystery Shopper Training Program by Bethany Mooradian (workathomefaq.com)

The post Announcing the 7th Annual Self-Published E-Book Awards Winners appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 5th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards. For complete coverage of the awards, see the May/June 2018 issue of Writer’s Digest. For an extended interview with grand-prize winner Emily James, click here. For a list of all winners, click here. For a selection of advice and inspiration from our winners, click here.

A Sticky Inheritance by Emily James

Chapter One

When we got the call about my Uncle Stan’s death and I decided to make the ten-hour drive to arrange his funeral since my parents refused, I hadn’t counted on two things.

How much colder Lower Michigan was even in October than Northern Virginia, where I grew up.

And the tractors.

If it weren’t for the freakish number of tractors using the roads up here, I wouldn’t have been speeding, an hour behind schedule, and I certainly wouldn’t have ended up stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire and a car that now sounded like it was trying to digest a stomach full of rocks. When the tractor had been coming toward me, taking up my half of the road as well as his, the logical thing to do seemed to be to swerve out of the way.

I hadn’t realized at the time that the driver would move over at the last minute to let me safely by. I hadn’t even known if he could see my little Acura from his perch. And who could have predicted that the gravel shoulder would be so soft, dragging me sideways into the edge of some farmer’s field?

I squatted as well as I could in my pencil skirt and peered under the back end of my car, next to the flat tire. Rusty wire fencing wrapped around the other back wheel, and a wooden post had jammed itself up into the metal that connected the wheel to the rest of my car.

My car wasn’t going anywhere. Not on its own, anyway.

I picked my way back to the more solid ground near the edge of the road and pulled my cell phone from my purse.

Before I could dial, a charcoal-gray pickup truck eased to a stop in front of me. The passenger-side window rolled down, and the man behind the wheel leaned toward it.

From what I could see, he looked to be a little older than me—maybe early to mid-thirties. His dark hair and vivid blue eyes reminded me a bit of a young Patrick Dempsey.

He smiled, revealing a dimple. “Need some help?”

I glanced back at my car. I did, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. “Unless you’re carrying some spare parts and an industrial-size car jack in there, I think this is one for the tow truck.”

A tell-tale heavy click signaled him unlocking the doors. “I can give you a lift into Fair Haven if you like. You’ll be able to hire a tow truck from there.”

I’m a regular at the women’s self-defense classes at my gym—they’re a great workout, not to mention that every woman should know how to protect herself—but even with that, climbing into a vehicle with a stranger in the middle of the boonies would be stupid. My mother raised me better than that.

Besides, what kind of person even offered anymore? I took a tiny step back and slid my right hand into my pocket where I’d shoved my keys. I wove them between my fingers just in case. “For all you know, I could be a serial killer.”

His dimple grew. “Are you?”

“No.” I couldn’t keep from smiling back. He was charming. I’d give him that. But wasn’t that what they said about all good psychopaths? “I could be lying in saying that, too, though.”

He chuckled this time. “You’re only about five minutes away by car, but it’ll take you a lot longer to walk. Sure you don’t want a lift?”

“That’s what cell phones are for,” I said, holding mine up. “I’ll call Triple-A. But thanks anyway.”

“It’s hit and miss to get a signal out here.” He shifted position and held up a wallet. “Would it make you feel better if I showed you my ID?”

I glanced at my phone. Two bars. It would be a crap shoot whether I could hold a signal long enough to call for help. Thunder growled in the distance, and a few drops of rain spattered my face. No way I was walking. My arms were already covered in goosebumps inside my coat. I’d probably freeze to death before I made it to town.

Still, I’d rather take a gamble on the cell signal than on the truthfulness of a man crazy enough to stop for a hitchhiker. “I’ll be fine.”

I backed one more step toward my car just in case he wouldn’t take no for an answer and I had to hop inside. Not that I could drive away, but at least I could lock the doors.

He shrugged. “If you insist. Is it alright with you if I call a tow for you when I get back to town? Just in case.”

A little worm of guilt wriggled around in my stomach. He probably was simply a Good Samaritan, but I was a criminal attorney, the daughter of two criminal attorneys. I knew too much about the evil in the world to risk it.

“I’d appreciate that.” I reached for my door handle, then paused. “And thanks again for stopping.”

He tipped his head, rolled up the window, and drove away.

I shivered and slid back into my car. The empty stretch of road suddenly felt a lot emptier.

For the next hour, I tried unsuccessfully to reach AAA or anyone who might be able to call a tow truck for that matter. Just when I was about to admit defeat, dig out a better pair of walking shoes, and brave the cold, a tow truck stopped next to my car.

If I ever saw my Good Samaritan again, I probably owed him a thank you—and an apology.

***

Fair Haven apparently had two options for car repairs—Quantum Mechanics and Fix-A-Dent. Since I had no idea how to choose between the two, I took the tow truck driver’s advice and went with Quantum Mechanics. They were a little pricier, but better at fixing the “guts” of a car, as the driver put it. If I’d learned anything from my dad, it was that you get what you pay for, and given the sound my car was making, chances were good that post had punctured more than my tire.

I handed the signed papers across the counter. The bald man on the other side wore the greasy powder-blue jumpsuit that seemed to be the uniform for this place. His nametag read TONY.

Tony scooped up the papers and turned away. He smelled more like gasoline than a gas station did.

I worked on breathing through my mouth. I’m sensitive to almost every chemical imaginable. A headache was already blossoming behind my eyes, and I didn’t need fumes adding to it. “Where do I get the keys for my loaner?”

He turned back from the filing cabinet. “We don’t have loaners. Most people have a ride, or they just walk home.”

Guess I’d be walking to my B&B … after the funeral home. I might need to dig better walking shoes out of my bag after all. “Could you tell me how to find Cavanaugh Funeral Home?”

“I wondered.” The briskness had drained from his voice and he finally met my gaze instead of glancing nervously around like he’d rather be under a car than dealing with a person. There was a kindness there I hadn’t expected. “It’s off-season for tourists. Who are you here for?”

It was the longest string of words he’d spoken to me, and a lump formed in my throat. “Stan Dawes. My uncle. I’m here to make arrangements.”

He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “We’re planning on closing the shop for the funeral so everyone can go. Make sure you put an announcement in the paper once you have the time set.”

“I will.”

He cleared his throat and I could tell the touchy-feely part of the conversation was officially over. That was okay with me. If I was going to manage all of this on my own, I had to stay focused on the practical details and not on what I’d lost.

I readjusted my laptop bag, which was already cutting into my shoulder. “How did you say I get there?”

He pointed to the right. “Go that way when you leave here …”

His directions contained at least five streets named after trees. Directions had never been my strength, and it figured that my GPS system was integrated into my car.

I repeated the names over in order as I hauled my large, wheeled suitcase out the door.

The town screamed tourist destination. Not only were the streets unnaturally clean, but most of the clearly visible walls had been painted in such a a way to be discussion pieces. Some of them made the buildings look like they’d been cracked open, giving you a peek inside at some upside down world, a jungle environment, or the inside of a pharaoh’s tomb. Others sported mountain vistas that belonged in an art gallery.

By the time I passed Maple, Chestnut, and Pine Streets, I was lost. If Tony had given me directions based on the names of the stores, finding the funeral parlor would have been simple. Each store front carried a sign with a quirky name—Burnt Toast Café, The Sweet Tooth, Sew What Clothing and Shoes, A Salt and Battery (which from a glance in the window looked to be a restaurant specializing in fried fish), and Indiana Bones: Temple of Groom (with a giant smiling schnauzer face painted on the front window). The tourist board must have helped each business out with a name because there was no way everyone in this town could be that creative.

Cavanaugh Funeral Home should stand out from the normalcy of the name alone. Thankfully. If I’d gotten a call from a Deepest Holes Funeral Home, I would have drained my savings to fly Uncle Stan back to Virginia.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see it anywhere. I dragged my bag into the nearest store, a hair salon called The Chop Shop.

The inside had 50s-style décor, right down to the checkerboard floor, alternating aqua and red chairs, and polka-dot dresses on the hair stylists. I could definitely see the appeal this town would have for vacationers, but it must be a little odd to live and work here.

I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help catching snatches of the local gossip. A brewer was in some kind of trouble with the law. Again. John Somebody’s granddaughter was pregnant at sixteen. But that was no surprise since her mom was only a year older when she had the girl. And apparently there was an ongoing feud because Norma’s neighbor’s dog kept pooping on her lawn.

That was something else you didn’t see in the city. Not the dog poop. We had plenty of that, even in an urban area. The gossip and sense of closeness. I barely knew my neighbors. I could be impregnated by an alien and no one would be the wise.

“You’re new,” a little voice said.

I swiveled around. A seven-year-old boy sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by trucks. For a second, all I could see was myself at his age. My parents always seemed to have to work late, and so Uncle Stan’s receptionist would pick me up at school and I’d play in a corner of his office until he finished with his last patient or my parents finished with their case preparation. I guess they figured I was safer around heart patients than I was around accused criminals.

The little boy flew a truck through the air like it was a plane. “You must be lost. We never get new people this time of year. The beaches are too cold, and the snow hasn’t fallen yet.”

I leaned my bag against one side of the loveseat in the waiting area and perched on the edge nearest where he played. “I am new. And I’m lost. I don’t suppose you’d know how to find Cavanaugh Funeral Home, would you?”

He made a swooshing vroom noise. “My mom probably does. She knows everything. She even knows how to make Rice Krispy squares.” Awe filled his voice.

I covered my mouth to hide a smile and glanced over my shoulder at the full seats. Four women filled the salon’s chairs. Three of them were clearly the come in every week for a wash and set crowd. The fourth was a teenage girl with her hair covered in highlights foil. None of them looked like the right age for the boy’s mother. “Does your mom work here?”

He nodded this time and crashed a plastic dump truck into the side of the sofa, complete with crashing sound effects.

“Can I help you?” a woman’s voice asked.

From her dark hair and eyes that matched the little boy’s, this must be his mother.

The woman held out a hand. “I’m Liz. Were you looking for a walk-in spot? We should be able to take you if you’re willing to wait five minutes.”

I accepted her handshake, but motioned toward my suitcase. “Not today. I just got into town and I’m late for a meeting at the funeral home.”

Liz gave me directions, using landmarks this time, and I backtracked two streets. Once I turned down the right road, the funeral home was easy to spot. The sign was clean and simple. The stone was a muted gray.

Walking backward, I dragged my suitcase up the stairs and inside, kicking myself that I’d never been good at packing light.

I smashed straight into a solid mass.

A man’s voice grunted an oomph. Warm hands grabbed my upper arms and stopped me from toppling over and making a complete fool of myself.

Heat burned up my neck, and I righted myself. A lawyer must always be poised and professional, Nicole. My mother’s familiar lecture played in my head even though she wasn’t here to see me make a clumsy mess of something this time.

I smoothed my skirt and looked up at the man I’d nearly plowed down.

It was my Good Samaritan.

The post Excerpt: Opening Chapter of WD’s Self-Published e-Book Awards Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

A Sticky Inheritance by Emily James is the grand-prize winning entry in the 5th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards. It bested more than It bested more than 575 entries to take home a prize package that includes $5,000 and trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City. For complete coverage of the awards, see the May/June 2018 issue of Writer’s Digest. For an extended interview with grand-prize winner Emily James, click here. For a list of all winners, click here. For a selection of advice and inspiration from our winners, click here. To read the opening chapter of A Sticky Inheritance, click here.

Emily James is a 36-year-old, full-time writer who lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and houseful of pets. Emily grew up watching TV shows like Matlock, Monk, and Murder She Wrote. (It’s pure coincidence that they all begin with an M.) It was no surprise to anyone when she turned into a mystery writer. She writes books with twisty plots, quirky, loveable characters, and a touch of romance. She keeps them clean because she wants her books to be the kind you could share with anyone. If you’d like to know more about Emily or send her an email, check out her website: authoremilyjames.com.

What is your A Sticky Inheritance about?

When struggling criminal defense attorney Nicole Fitzhenry-Dawes inherits her uncle’s maple syrup farm, she thinks it might be time for a career change—one that allows her to stay far away from murderers and liars. She couldn’t have been more wrong. Her uncle’s suicide quickly begins to look like it wasn’t a suicide at all, but the police chief is reluctant to investigate and soil the reputation of his serene tourist town. Murder’s bad for business. Nicole has no choice but to search for the killer on her own, with a little help from the handsome county medical examiner—who’s exactly her type and all wrong for her. And as she closes in, she not only risks becoming the murderer’s next victim, but also starts to wonder if knowing the truth is ever worse than believing the lie…

Where did you get the idea for this book? What was the writing process like?

I like cozy mysteries, I’ve done a lot of reading in the genre, I live in Canada—maple syrup is very popular around here and in Michigan, and so I hadn’t seen any sleuth in the cozy genre who worked on a maple syrup farm, so I thought that would be fun. My husband is from Washington, D.C., and I knew how much of a culture shock it was for him to come from the big city to more of a small town setting, so that was where I got the idea of my sleuth coming from a metropolitan area and having to adapt to life in a small town.

I’d wanted to write fiction—I’d known that I wanted that to be the focus of my career for a long time—and I got to the point where I was like, “Do or die, I need to do this now or never.” I plotted the book in about a week and wrote it in about six weeks, working from who I knew the murderer was going to be and plotting backwards from there to plant clues along the way.

Did you always know that the book was going to turn into a series?

It was always going to be a series, and it was always going to be nine books. I’m actually working on the final book now. But when I started, I knew the character arcs that I wanted for the course of the series, but I didn’t know what was going to happen in each individual book. I would finish one and pull up the next one and start working on it right away.

Why did you choose self-publishing? Why did you choose to self-publish as an e-book?

Self-publishing came down to two things that drove my choice. The first was that I wanted creative control; I didn’t want to put anything in someone else’s hands. I wanted to either succeed or fail based on my decisions, not a decision someone else had made for me, even down to pricing, promotions, all the things I knew I could do to make the book successful. The second thing was I wanted to do this full time, and I didn’t think I could do that based on the percentage of the royalty I would get from a traditional publisher. I knew that the chance of making a full-time income was better as an independently published author.

Do you have a day job? If so, what is it?

This is it. At this point, they earn me a very comfortable, full-time living.

[Previously,] I worked within the writing industry. I was a freelance developmental editor [working with self-published authors], and I taught some online classes on writing.

How long did it take to go from published with a day job to full-time author?

About 3–4 months. Once I got the third book in the series out, that’s when it took off enough. I feel very blessed that it worked out that way because I know it could have gone the other way and I could have made pennies.

What was the publishing process for this book?

The first thing I do when I finish any of them is I send it out to a few beta readers to make sure they don’t find any holes in the plot or strange issues with the characters. I did hire a copy editor, so when it was off to my copy editor that’s when I was having the covers designed professionally. I do not have those skills—I don’t think most writers have the skills to do a cover on their own, so I definitely hired that out. I did the formatting on my own. I already knew how to code books—I taught myself how to code because I had done a couple of nonfiction books prior to this, and then I decided to do Amazon exclusive, which made it a lot easier because I only had the one site to upload to.

With the overall arc of the story, I was pretty confident in my abilities that if I used beta readers they would point out anything I’d missed with the story and the characters, but when it comes to copyediting, with the grammar and the punctuation … I’m not bad—I do have a masters, so I knew I had the basics—but I didn’t want to risk having too many errors. I wanted it to be as clean as possible for the readers, and have nothing distracting for them. Even when you have a solid grasp of grammar and punctuation, your brain fills things in. I knew there would be too much that I would miss.

[For formatting,] there’s a lot of tools out now. I currently use Vellum [Mac only], which I love because it does both [e-book and print formatting] at once. It’s a lot easier than what I was doing before—with A Sticky Inheritance, I was doing the e-book coding by hand, and then I was using book design templates. But now I use Vellum and it’s so simple, and it helps me get both the e-book and the print book ready at the same time.

Do you sell more hard-copy or e-books?

E-books. I sell an OK amount of print books, but definitely e-books make up the majority of the sales. It’s cheaper and easier to get an e-book than it is to get a print book. One click and it’s downloaded to your device, and nowadays that could be your phone, your iPad, your computer, a dedicated e-reader, it could be anything. There are a lot of advantages to reading electronically.

What do you think are the biggest benefits and challenges of writing for your intended audience?

I mostly write for people who—women generally, women who want a story where there’s a good, twisty, interesting plot, interesting characters, and they don’t have to worry about being uncomfortable with other parts of the content. They want that great riveting story, but they don’t want to think, “That’s too much profanity for me,” or, “I really wish they would have kept that open-doors sex scene out of the book.” They want that great book, but without some of the stuff that would make them squirm. Especially if they’re thinking, “I’d love to recommend this book to so-and-so, but I know they’re not going to like that content.” So I really wanted to make that accessible in that way.

The biggest challenge would be sometimes, especially with a murder mystery, you have to walk that fine line between making the murder clear and not making the murder too graphic. That’s been a real challenge—knowing where that line is, knowing where there’s too much violence for my readers. How can I make it enough, make it alive, make them feel like they could solve the mystery, but not make them feel like, “ugh, that was really more than I needed to know.” Toeing that line has been really challenging. The benefit is these are books that my readers could share with pretty much anybody. They’re not going to have to worry about anyone seeing them read the book, about their kids coming in and finding it on their bedside table.

Why does your audience enjoy e-books?

A lot of them would like print books too, but I think they like the e-books because a lot of them are avid readers. They read a lot of books. And you really only have so much space in your house, and you only have so much discretionary income. And eb-ooks solve both of those problems. You don’t have more books piling up, and you can buy more e-books for the same cost as one print book. And you don’t have to wait for it to ship to you. A lot of cozy series are longer, and so when you’re following these longer series and you want to see what comes next with the characters, you don’t always want to wait even a few days for that book to ship to your house—you want it now.

Do you write in any other categories or genres?

I’m definitely going to continue with mystery, but I’m also going to be publishing a fantasy series under a different name.

How—and why—did you choose your pen name?

I chose it because the last name is my husband’s middle name, and the first name is the name that my mom was going to name me [originally]. I wanted to write for the joy of writing again. And I’d gotten so tied up in the fact that I was a developmental editor, and everyone was going to look at the books thinking, “Well, they need to be perfect, because she’s a developmental editor.” I almost got tied up in this knot of self-doubt, and the only way I could see to get out of that was to recreate myself as someone else. I wanted the freedom to write for fun again.

I also really wanted to see how important different marketing is. We hear about how important social media is, and about developing the social media platform, and yet so many authors are driving themselves into the ground and burning out trying to maintain all this. So I wanted to see if it was possible to do this with basically no social media platform. So I created her and she had no following from the start: She has no Twitter, she has a Facebook that she almost never uses … I post new releases there, that’s about it. She doesn’t have an active blog. She doesn’t do pretty much anything except she has a newsletter, and she always answers her readers’ emails. I’m talking about myself in the third person. When I created the pen name, I thought of her as my own alter ego—it’s what I did, but I think of her as a separate someone, almost. My life was not conducive to having to feed the constant social media.

What do you think characterizes your writing style?

I can only tell you what my readers tell me. The most common comments that I get are they love the characters, and they find that the plots always keep them guessing until the end, but I never cheat them. When they reach the end, they didn’t know who the murderer was until they got there, but when they looked back, all the clues were there. Those are the things that they mention as really keeping them going on the series.

Who and what has inspired you—in your writing and otherwise?

My mom and my grandma are the kind of people who never give up, and they’re very giving people. They always see the needs of others, and they’re always thinking, “Yes, this person may be struggling, but that doesn’t necessarily mean …” They see people where they are, and they give them grace. They try to help them rather than judging them. That’s one of the things I like to include in my writing—showing little bits of someone else’s life, so maybe you think, “There’s more going on in the people’s lives around me than maybe I know.” So the way I watched them live their lives really inspired what I wanted to do with my books. I wanted to encourage compassion and grace and giving, being very generous with your time and yourself. That drives the type of character I created for the series.

[In writing] I like J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series, but that’s very different than cozy mysteries. She took a look at different people and their motivations, and that was definitely something I find inspiring from a writer’s perspective. And also Jane Austen, I like her quirky sense of humor, that very tongue-in-cheek, offbeat look at the world.

How long have you been writing? How did you start?

I’ve been writing since I was a kid. When I graduated from my masters I wrote magazine articles for a couple of years, and I was working on a fantasy series at the same time. As I shifted over into editing, I set my own writing aside for a long time and came back to it just with this series. I realized I was spending all of my time and creative energy on other people’s projects, and that made me sad because my dream had been to write my own books. As much as I loved helping those other people, it had gotten to the point where it was unfulfilling because I knew what I really wanted to be doing was creating my own projects. I wasn’t able to find that balance. And I do still want to help other people, I still have a series of nonfiction works that I do, and I do still teach, so I am still doing things to give back to the writing community. I just had to cut back.

What advice has had the biggest impact on your success in life and as an author?

Make use of every little minute. My husband and I had some health issues, so we spent a lot of time in hospitals, and instead of bringing a book to read, I brought along a laptop and just started working in those minutes. You’re not usually going to be able to cut something big out of your life and carve out a huge chunk of time, so the only way you’re going to be able to get back into it is using those little tiny minutes.

[Also,] always keep learning, and stay humble. There’s always room to grow, as long as you’re still open to the fact that you still need to grow. Writing is not one of those careers where you reach a point that you know it all, and that’s true as a person too. As soon as we stop pushing ourselves to be better, we backslide, and we actually become worse versions of ourselves.

What’s the one thing you can’t live without in your writing life?

My computer. I went away on vacation and I was writing by hand to take notes on a couple of lectures we attended, and my hand ached for a week after. And I was thinking, “Wow, I am so grateful for my computer.” If I had to write by hand, it would be one book a year.

Describe your typical writing routine.

I don’t have typical days based on our life. I still spend quite a bit of time at doctors appointments, so I guess it’s a typical day when I don’t have a bunch of appointments eating my time. I get up, exercise, and I break the rule—I answer emails first. They always say don’t do that, but my brain doesn’t want to write first thing in the morning. My best writing time is the afternoon. So I get up and do a lot of email answering, I read blogs, I study or do business stuff in the morning. And then right after lunch I write. I like to do writing sprints, so I’ll shut down everything else and just write for a certain time period. I find 45 minutes to an hour works really well for me, and I can usually get probably 1500 words in that time. So by doing two or three of those sprints in the afternoon I hit my quota for the day.

Why do you write?

I think fiction can help people, sometimes in ways that nonfiction can’t. Even if all your fiction does is entertain, you’re still helping people have that relaxing break that they might need. Life right now is very scary and stressful at times, let’s be honest. So giving people a safe place to relax, and have fun for a minute, and de-stress is really important. But I also think … people don’t expect to find deep messages in what we would call lighter fiction—like cozy mysteries—but they still can. They can make us think about other peoples’ situations. They can show compassion. Probably helping people to find joy and think—that’s probably why I do it.

What do you feel are your strengths as a writer? How have you developed these qualities?

My characters would be my strengths. I’m naturally someone who likes to think about why other people do something and not jump to conclusions. People are like a puzzle. I like to know their motivations, I like to listen to them, I like to find ways to be interested in what they’re doing, and I think that probably helps me as a writer because my characters feel real to me. I always start with them as people and go from there. And I like the puzzle of creating an interesting plot. Plotting is not easy, but I think it’s something that I do fairly well.

What are some aspects of writing you’ve struggled with? How have you worked to strengthen yourself in these areas?

Description. I don’t like to write description. I really have to focus on making sure that I describe people and the world enough that readers can see it. I tend to lean more towards the action/internal dialogue/dialogue part of writing, and having those first readers who can say to me, “I have no idea where this is taking place, I can’t see this, I need you to describe this more,”—having people to point out where I’m weak really helps. It’s just not something that I think of.

What is your proudest moment as a writer?

The reader emails, where they write and they say how much they love the book. Those personal moments when someone actually took the time to reach out and email me, those are the most special—because that’s another person reaching out and connecting with me, and that means something I wrote touched their life. So that’s really the big moment for me.

What did you do right in self-publishing?

I’m really glad I didn’t fall down the social media rabbit hole. I’m glad I didn’t make accounts everywhere and actively start blogging, and take my time away from writing. For nonfiction books, you have to have that platform. And some [fiction] authors do make the platform work for them, and that’s how they connect with their readers. But that’s not the only way to connect with readers, and as long as you have some way to connect with readers, that’s all you really need. It just doesn’t always have to be through social media.

If readers like your writing, if they like you, they’ll tell their friends.

How do you market your books?

I purchase ads—Facebook ads, Amazon ads, newsletter ads, BookBub ads. I run ads, and I talk to my readers.

What are your goals as a writer?

I want to continue to grow this business to make it more stable. Right now I just have the one series as Emily James, and she is the primary earner between the two of us. I have this one main fiction series, and that limits some of the things that I can do. And I am less stable financially than I will be when I have multiple series and have built up a backlist. So my main goal is to make sure that this is going to be a lifelong career rather than a few years at a particular career.

What are the most important benefits of self-publishing?

Timeline. I was able to get this whole series out in just over a year, which I don’t think is something I could have done if I had gone traditional. So definitely the ability to produce at your own speed, and the flexibility to work around your own life, too. So if something came up and I couldn’t hit my deadline for whatever reason, that’s ok. I’m not hurting anyone else by doing that. So the flexibility is huge, and the creative control is huge. I can write the kind of stories that I want to write, and content-wise, plot-wise, that gives me the ability to be creative in the ways I want to be creative or stick to the genre in the ways I want to stick to the genre.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced self-publishing?

Distribution for print books and audiobooks. I’m in discussions with an audiobook publisher to license the rights to produce audiobooks of the series. I don’t feel that I can devote the time and attention it would take to put out a good product. And print distribution—you can get your books into bookstores as an indie, but it’s a lot harder. And it’s really time intensive. So your main focus is going to be e-books. I think quality control—making sure you’re putting out a good quality product—is a lot harder as an independent publisher. You have to find the contractors you’re going to work with, you have to make sure they’re doing their job well, and you have to know your own writing well enough—to be honest with yourself about whether your book is really ready to go out into the world. And that can be really hard if you don’t have a group around you to say, “No. Stop. Go back.” You can end up putting out something that you wish you hadn’t, and it won’t do well.

What are the biggest misconceptions about self-publishing? As an e-book?

The biggest misconception held generally is still about quality. Self-publishers can put out books that are just as good as books put out by traditional publishers now. We have the resources, we have the abilities. From a writing perspective, the biggest is that it’s quick and easy. It’s not. You have to be a business person as much as you have to be a writer. So if you don’t have that business mindset, and you can’t independently motivate, you would probably be better going with a traditional publisher.

What’s your advice to other self-publishing authors? Other e-book authors?

Make sure your writing is ready. Go hire someone who can tell you where your areas of weakness are, where your areas of strengths are, if you writing is ready. This is not a plug, because I don’t edit anymore, but there are really good developmental editors out there. There are workshops you can, there are critique groups you can join (make sure there is someone in there who is publishing successfully already), but get that feedback. Not everyone’s going to be able to earn a full-time living. But if you don’t earn something, even if it’s just some nice pocket money, the book probably wasn’t quite ready. And that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been ready, it just meant you needed to learn a little bit more first.

What’s the worst mistake that self-publishing authors can make? E-book authors?

A really bad cover. That’s why I don’t do my own covers and trust a professional. If your cover is really bad, you might still be able to gain momentum, but the fact is, that saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” is there because we do judge books by their covers. I worked with a cover designer that made it really easy.

Any final thoughts or advice?

Don’t give up. Don’t let somebody tell you that this is impossible and stupid and that it will never work. WE hear a lot of discouragement, but if you really love it, even if you never make money from it, it’s worth it.

We’re now accepting entries for the Self-Published Ebook Awards! Enter today to earn cash, acclaim, and a trip to the WD annual conference!

The post Extended Interview with Emily James, WD’s 2017 Self-Published e-Book Awards Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

“>Enter the 2018 Self-Published Ebook Awards today! Deadline Sept. 24, 2018.

Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 5th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards. For complete coverage of the awards, see the May/June 2018 issue of Writer’s Digest. For an extended interview with grand-prize winner Emily James, click here. For a list of all winners, click here. To read the opening chapter of A Sticky Inheritance, click here.

What is your favorite line or short passage from your book?

“But Grandpa, what I really, really want to see is more good friends like you and me.” —William P. Bahlke, Grandpa! Grandpa! What Will I See?

“There’s no balance of good and evil in this world.”—Joseph Mujwit, A Special Breed of Warrior

“To create generational food memories, serve a harvest for the soul.” —A.K. Williams, How to Say Cheese

“I had always assumed that Patricia considered our children to be an afterthought: something that comes to mind on nights when you can’t seem to sleep, or when you’ve had a little too much to drink. I suppose no matter how hard we try to forget, there are some things that will haunt us forever. —M. Stringfield, The Forgotten

“A star-filled canvas pulsated with myriad hues. Proximity lights from the Ciri-4 and Ciri-5 space stations were visible to the starboard. The radiant crescent of the impending sunrise awakened the landscape causing wave crests of the South Pacific to flicker like enkindled embers.” —Timothy Bryant Spear, String

“Please tell me where you are so I know where to meet you.” —Nahla Summers, 44 Rays of Sunshine

“[M]y social life consisted of my fish and my cat. The fish were good listeners, but didn’t have much to add to a conversation. The cat was the opposite. A horrible listener with a lot to say, namely, ‘Hurry up and put food in my bowl.’” —Ronan Takagi, Fifty Fares

“I wake the next day. Waking is the hardest thing after a wretched night filled with wretched happenings. Waking confirms it happened. It wasn’t a dream. The wretchedness is real.” —Samantha Wren Anderson, Salsa with the Pope

“I wanted to share these messages with others so that they would know that darkness, in whatever form it comes, can’t hold us hostage, can’t stop us from being happy, or from finding love again. We have the strength to find our inner light and to cast the darkness away.” —Susan Redmond, Finding the Light Inside You

“How much dust can a body make? Little specks of death. Measuring life in millimeters.” —Ryan Galloway, Biome

“I was alone.” His voice was a whisper. “We all are.”

The wind kicked up as the words left his mouth. A gust caused Lady to shift her feet as the chill air ruffled her fur. The moonlight fell in slanted beams. —Ann Swann, Stevie-girl and the Phantom Pilot

Why did you decide to self-publish and to create an e-book?

The process is inexpensive, quick, and relatively easy to navigate. I wanted the book ready to give as a gift to my granddaughter on her third birthday. I published it as an e-book to have a less expensive option for my buyers. —William P. Bahlke, Grandpa! Grandpa! What Will I See?

I heard the horror stories about authors spending a lot of time submitting queries to publishers and getting rejected over and over. Since this collection of articles is a service to my column readers, I decided that the self-publishing route would be economical and fast. —Lisa Turner, House Keys: Tips and Tricks from a Female Home Inspector

Personally, I truly love e-books. They’re quick and easy, and I don’t have to wait for a book that excites me to get shipped to my house. It’s a good format for impatient people like me! —M. Stringfield, The Forgotten

What are the biggest misconceptions about self-publishing?

After conferring with other self-published authors, a prominent misconception exists that after your book lists on the Internet, it will sell on its own yielding great monitory returns. An author must continue to invest in the finished product within their financial and employment constraints. —Timothy Bryant Spear, String

One of the biggest misconceptions about self-publishing is that the self-published authors have lower standards than traditionally published authors. —Ann Swann, Stevie-girl and the Phantom Pilot

A big misconception is that self-published writers are not as good as traditionally published ones. Publishing is a business, and agents pick up what they think they can sell. This isn’t necessarily a commentary on the quality of the work so much as what is needed at that particular moment in time. In a circumstance where a story or genre is a tough sell by an agent, e-books and self-publishing in general allow a good channel for people to experience a story they might not have been able to otherwise. —M. Stringfield, The Forgotten

What advice would you give others considering self-publishing?

If you’ve dreamed of being a writer … go for it! If I can do it, anyone can. —William P. Bahlke, Grandpa! Grandpa! What Will I See?

Be patient and realistic with your expectations regarding your work. An author must accept positive and negative criticism and continue to refine their individual story. —Timothy Bryant Spear, String

A word to anyone, young or old, who is thinking about writing, or is just starting to write: as soon as you can, get over the worry about ‘being a writer’. If a thought pops into your head, ‘Am I a writer’, or ‘Can I write?’ or, ‘Do I have what it takes to be a writer?’, do your best to ignore it and just write. The untold number of articles I see that agonize over this basic question break my heart, because I suffered the same self-doubt. Don’t waste a single minute questioning yourself in this way. If you sit down and write, you are a writer, period. Nothing else defines a writer – not fame or fortune, not publication or acclaim. If you write, you are a writer. Q.E.D. —Craig Allen Heath, The End of an Ordinary Life

The thing to worry about is not the process of producing the e-book, or the print book, it’s the process of making sure that every single detail in the book is top notch and exactly what you want before submitting it. Anyone can do the formatting, but the time you put in to editing and presentation (the cover) is critical. Take the time and spend the money required to make the book as good as it possibly can be! —Lisa Turner, House Keys: Tips and Tricks from a Female Home Inspector

Every single day is precious. We must live and write in the moment, appreciating every second we have to make a difference in the lives of our readers. —Lisa Turner, House Keys: Tips and Tricks from a Female Home Inspector

Don’t give up. Becoming a writer is a loooooong process full of ups and downs. Try not to get too high or too low. Take it day by day. —Ronan Takagi, Fifty Fares

Writing is a wonderful motivator, not only for your own life, but for others. Do it because you love it and share it with the world! —Samantha Wren Anderson, Salsa with the Pope

My advice is to make certain you give the work a breathing space. After you think you are finished, put it aside for a few weeks and then come back to it with fresh eyes. Mistakes will leap off the page. —Ann Swann, Stevie-girl and the Phantom Pilot

My advice would be to always hire an editor before you publish. Those ‘little darlings’ have to go, no matter how hard they cling to the paper! —Susan Redmond, Finding the Light Inside You

Don’t compare yourself to someone else. Stay focused on who you are and the message you want to deliver as a writer. —Nahla Summers, 44 Rays of Sunshine

It’s not a race. I wish someone would’ve told me that sooner. There are actually a lot of people saying the opposite—that to make a livable income, authors should be cranking out four to five books per year. This just isn’t true. Hammering out books leads to saturation in the market overall, and more importantly, it leads to poor storytelling. If you want to write something you’re proud of, or even just “hit it big,” slow down. Have your book beta read. Find a critique partner or two, and hire an editor after that. Doing things fast usually means doing them sloppy. —Ryan Galloway, Biome

Be unapologetically yourself in everything that you do. Don’t worry about where anyone else might be in their lives, or in their writing. The only person you need to compete with is yourself. —M. Stringfield, The Forgotten

Edit, edit, edit. Find yourself a good editor who can act as a partner in the process. One that understands nuance and can make solid plot enhancing suggestions. —Joseph Mujwit, A Special Breed of Warrior

Make sure you have a multi talented publisher and designer. Organization is key, and having a production timeline. —A.K. Williams, How to Say Cheese

If you put yourself into your books honestly, some people will love you for it—and also, some will hate you. An artist can’t create work with edges and expect no one to get jabbed. So, don’t write just for the audience. And don’t write just for yourself. Write because words have power, and when you speak the truth, that power can change the world. —Ryan Galloway, Biome

Take your time and make sure the book—your baby—is perfect before putting it out there for sale. Don’t think the book will sell its self. You have to do your own promoting. Know your limitations. Hire professional help if you need it. —William P. Bahlke, Grandpa! Grandpa! What Will I See?

Get inspired reading other authors’ bios. It’s always good to know success isn’t someone sprinkling magic fairy dust on you but the product of a lot of hard work and perseverance in the face of setbacks. Knowing what other authors went through helps keep everything in perspective. —Ronan Takagi, Fifty Fares

What is the worst mistake a self-publishing author can make?

The worst mistake for any author who self-publishes is to put out a book that is not polished. —William P. Bahlke, Grandpa! Grandpa! What Will I See?

Self-publishing makes it easy to get a story on the Internet, but if the author ignores a serious approach regarding the writing process, the story will lack quality and professionalism. Readers will quickly identify such deficiencies and the story will join a long list of junk that’s out there polluting the waters of hard-working writers. —Timothy Bryant Spear, String

The worst mistake in self-publishing, eBooks included, is trying to do everything. There may be a few people who can write well, edit well, proofread well, design beautiful pages, create brilliant cover designs and develop crisp, compelling marketing material, but I don’t know any. Do what you’re good at but hire the rest out. It can be costly, but you want your self-published work to stand with what is traditionally published, books with an entire staff devoted to success. Don’t try to do it all. —Craig Allen Heath, The End of an Ordinary Life

Not paying a professional copy editor to review content and not paying a professional graphic designer to do the cover. —Lisa Turner, House Keys: Tips and Tricks from a Female Home Inspector

Publishing the book then not doing anything to promote it. Being on your own is a double-edged sword. You have freedom to publish the book how you want it to be, but you’re also not getting the support of a large entity to market and promote the book. It took a lot of time to figure out a marketing strategy and how to launch my book. —Ronan Takagi, Fifty Fares

One of the worst mistakes is to race through and have your eye on just getting it finished instead of on the quality of your work. You want your book to be able to stand-up against any commercially published book. So be sure to rewrite and get it edited, get a decent cover and price it competitively. —Samantha Wren Anderson, Salsa with the Pope

The worst mistake would be rushing to publication and not double checking your editor. —Ann Swann, Stevie-girl and the Phantom Pilot

The worst mistake a self-publishing author can make, E-book or softback, is not having your work professionally edited. There are those “little darlings” we love to hold on to, but they need to go. —Susan Redmond, Finding the Light Inside You

Making a bad cover and not getting someone to check the book over for any mistakes. —Nahla Summers, 44 Rays of Sunshine

Not worrying about spelling or grammar mistakes. Not having a separate pair of eyes (or ten) looking at your work for any errors, or anything that doesn’t fit or make sense. Don’t rush into publishing it because you’re excited to have it out there. —M. Stringfield, The Forgotten

Don’t rush. It’s not a race. Take your time and make sure that you have developed the best product you can. It’s your name on the book and all the typos and grammatical errors are on you. —Joseph Mujwit, A Special Breed of Warrior

Not having enough funds and dedication to promoting the final product, after the time it takes to finish the project you run out of steam when you really have to push it. —A.K. Williams, How to Say Cheese

The worst mistake self-publishing authors can make is to create their own cover and logo. I call this buried treasure being covered by a turd. When potential readers/buyers are scrolling an online store they’re making a quick visual decision based on a one-inch cover. Keep visuals and text to minimum. I’ve seen the kitchen sink approach where an author tries to re-create a scene within the book, however this ends up looking very unprofessional and confusing to a potential reader. —B. Kapitan, How to Say Cheese

The worst mistake a self-publisher can make is to write a book they don’t know how to pitch. Being able to sum up your story in a single sentence means that it’s marketable—but it really proves you understand the concept of your book. It’s a point I feel strongly about because I’ve gotten it wrong so many times in my earlier novels. It’s not that books need an agenda. It’s that an author needs to grasp that a premise is asking a question. When we leave that question unanswered, we leave our audience unsatisfied. —Ryan Galloway, Biome

What can you not live without in your writing life?

Personal satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. No matter what the future holds regarding my writing career, if I’m not satisfied with my efforts, then little else truly matters. —Timothy Bryant Spear, String

If only one thing, a thesaurus. My vocabulary is fair, but that cross reference is the single best sharpening stone for writing that exists. —Craig Allen Heath, The End of an Ordinary Life

Reading. I’m a voracious reader of everything from how-to and poetry to fiction, to newspaper and magazine articles. Reading actually competes with my writing time. It’s a balancing act. —Lisa Turner, House Keys: Tips and Tricks from a Female Home Inspector

My thesaurus! Sometimes I get stuck for a word and I need to pull out my trusty little book. —Samantha Wren Anderson, Salsa with the Pope

I can’t live without my journal. And, I have three books on my desk, always: The Emotion Thesaurus; The Negative Trait Thesaurus; The Positive Trait Thesaurus authored by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. I also have Donald Maass’ books, The Breakout Novelist and workbook. —Susan Redmond, Finding the Light Inside You

My laptop and a new place to visit. —Nahla Summers, 44 Rays of Sunshine

Suspense! Oh, and my laptop. —M. Stringfield, The Forgotten

A comfortable chair. —Joseph Mujwit, A Special Breed of Warrior

Spellcheck. —B. Kapitan, How to Say Cheese

Coffee and whiskey. Sometimes together! —Ryan Galloway, Biome

Self-Published eBook Awards

The post 58 Gems of Writing Advice and Inspiration from Self-Published e-Book Authors appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 5th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards. For complete coverage of the awards, see the May/June 2018 issue of Writer’s Digest. For an extended interview with grand-prize winner Emily James, click here. For a selection of advice and inspiration from our winners, click here. To read the opening chapter of A Sticky Inheritance, click here.

Grand Prize

A Sticky Inheritance by Emily James ($2.99, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited; $9.99, paperback), Stronghold Books, authoremilyjames.com.

Children’s Picture Books

First Place

Grandpa! Grandpa! What Will I See? by William P. Bahlke ($1.99, Kindle; Kindle Unlimited; $12.95, paperback; $17.95, hardcover), WPB Publishing, williampbahlke.com.

Genre Fiction

First Place

A Special Breed of Warrior by Joseph Mujwit ($2.99, Kindle; Kindle Unlimited; $8.99, paperback), CreateSpace.

Honorable Mentions

Salsa with the Pope by Samantha Wren Anderson ($2.99, Kindle; Kindle Unlimited; $12.99, paperback), Anderson, samanthawrenanderson.com.

String by Timothy Bryant Spear ($2.99, Kindle; Kindle Unlimited; $14.95, paperback), Synergy Books Publishing.

The Forgotten by M. Stringfield ($2.99, Kindle; Kindle Unlimited; $14.99, paperback), Coverless Books, mstringfield.com.

Inspirational 

First Place

Finding the Light Inside You by Susan Redmond ($4.49, Kindle; $26, paperback), CreateSpace.

Honorable Mention

44 Rays of Sunshine by Nahla Summers ($5.70, Kindle; $9.44, paperback), Summers, nahlasummers.com.

Life Stories

First Place

Fifty Fares by Ronan Takagi ($0.99, Kindle; $3.99, paperback), CreateSpace.

Literary Fiction/Mainstream 

First Place

Three Empty Frames by Margaret Sorick ($2.99, Kindle; $10.99, paperback), CreateSpace, megsorick.com.

Honorable Mentions

Guns and White Faces by Jay Claiborne ($2.99, Kindle), Claiborne.

The Watchman’s Children by T.A. Barnes ($3.99, Kindle; Kindle Unlimited; $9.85 Paperback), Barnes.

Middle-Grade/Young Adult Fiction

First Place

Biome by Ryan Galloway ($0.99, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited; $13.99, paperback), Stranger Fiction, ryan-galloway.com.

Honorable Mention

Stevie-girl and the Phantom Pilot by Ann Swann, CreateSpace.

Nonfiction

First Place

Beautiful Hero: How We Survived the Khmer Rouge by Jennifer H. Lau ($9.99, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited; $14.99, paperback), Lotus Book Group, jenniferlau.net.

Honorable Mentions

House Keys: Tips and Tricks from a Female Home Inspector by Lisa Turner ($4.99, Kindle; Kindle Unlimited; $15.99, paperback), CreateSpace, housekeysbylisaturner.com.

How to Say Cheese by A.K. Williams ($9.99, iBook), Interactive Bee Mediahowtosaycheese.com.

Poetry 

First Place

The End of an Ordinary Life by Craig Allen Heath ($4.99, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited; $7.99, paperback), CreateSpace, craigallenheath.com.

The post Announcing the 5th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards Winners appeared first on Writer's Digest.

In this bonus online exclusive, LeBel candidly shares his experiences as a first-time, self-published author, and all the ups and downs that come with trying to market and sell your book.

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in Muskegon, Michigan. Armed with degrees in Psychology and Counseling from both Michigan State and University of Michigan, I set out to counsel and save the world. After several years of counseling, I spent 17 years as president of a psychiatric hospital. I changed careers, starting an Internet company, which I sold after 11 years. Marge, my wife of 44 years (and counting), and I returned to Muskegon to retire. I wanted to start another business, and Marge said fine – so long as I agreed not hire anyone. So I decided to write. Two years ago, I met a great group of writers, and we formed a publishing co-op called Argon Press, through which we publish our work.

Tell us about your book.

My book is a humorous scifi / fantasy about a young god who just graduated from God School. Bernie lands his dream job as a Universe Builder. Unfortunately, the god working in the next cubicle is a school rival doing all he can to destroy Bernie’s world and get him fired. Bernie is the ultimate underdog, even though he has the powers of a god. It is a good vs. evil and coming of age story in a unique setting.

Describe your writing process for this book.

Having never done creative writing before, I read a lot of writing about writing. I drafted complex outlines about the story. My writing was continually interrupted as I discovered new skill deficits, sending me back to a new book or article. Several times, a future chapter begged to be written, which helped focus the rest of the work. At one point, I had 120 chapter descriptions on strips of paper laid out on the kitchen table.

Marge was not happy.

Fortunately, 14 beta readers gave me excellent feedback, while dozens more helped by voting on titles, book covers, and book trailers. Finally, two great editors helped me put the book into final form.

Can you describe the publishing process?

A year and a half ago, I organized a group of five writers, none of whom had published before. We met weekly, sharing ideas and expertise in areas ranging from website design, professional writing, the retail book industry, graphic design skills, and more. We struggled through formatting, platform development, ISBN and LOC, marketing strategies, and blurbs. As a result of our collaboration, each of us published our first book in 2014 in both ebook and print and finished the year with a book signing at Barnes & Noble’s in December.

Did you publish exclusively to Kindle? Through what platform did you do this?

Yes, the e-book is currently exclusive to Kindle, although I plan to offer it elsewhere by May. After writing the book in Microsoft Word, I stripped out all non-standard formatting elements. Then Calibre was used to convert the .docx files to Kindle’s .mobi format. Then I uploaded the .mobi file to Kindle Direct Publishing.

Did you decide to publish in paperback and then e-book? Or did you do both simultaneously? In which format have you seen the most success?

The e-book was published on June 1, 2014; the paperback was published August 1st. The e-book has been far more successful (online) than the paperback. The paperback has seen several hundred sales through book signings, local sales events, and people who contacted me for signed copies which I send to them.

How did you arrange for such a cool cover design?

The image is a stock photo I found online through Google Images. I used TinEye.com to find out how to license it. With slight alterations, it was perfect for the book. I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.

In what ways did you promote and market the book? How did you find your audience, particularly since you have so many strong reviews on Amazon (100+ overall, over 100 5 stars)?

My initial marketing effort focused on reviews from bloggers, offering them a free copy of the e-book in exchange for an honest review. Most were swamped with similar requests, but, over time, many followed through. Through social media, if I found people who read the book, I asked them to leave reviews. People are also reminded to leave a review in the book, on the website, in emails, in handouts, etc. So far, it has been successful.

Why did you choose self-publishing? Why did you choose to self-publish as an e-book?

I chose to self-publish an e-book because I wanted to get the book out. The writing is the fun part for me, and everything I heard about finding an agent and a traditional publisher seemed like a big delay and a distraction from my goal.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced self-publishing? 

Our publishing group had to master all the skills normally handled by a publisher (formatting, cover design, blurbs, etc.). Fortunately, we had five books to work on, so once we learned a skill, it was used again for the next book.

What are the most important benefits of self-publishing? 

I like the control and the accountability. If something doesn’t happen, I know it is my responsibility to fix it. No finger pointing. No waiting for some other guy. And, of course, there is the financial benefit. Agents and traditional publishers do a lot of work, and they need to be paid, which means less for the author. In this model, we do more, so we get more.

What surprised you about the self-publishing process? 

My biggest surprise was finding how hard it is to break out of the pack. There are a lot of great self-published e-books out there. How do you make yours stand out? The answer is marketing. But it’s not easy. A lot of great books will never get the recognition or readership they deserve because they aren’t marketed successfully.

What are the biggest misconceptions about self-publishing?

Many authors believe as soon as they get their e-book published, the money starts rolling in. In my experience, this is not true. Looking at book rankings and other indicators, it’s pretty clear most authors are not making a lot of money. I’m sure most of us hoped to do better when we began our books.

What’s your advice to other self-publishing authors? 

Answer these questions: Why are you are writing? What do you want out of it? What can you do to promote your book? The answers will help focus your effort on the key tasks. You can’t do everything. Build a plan that works for you. I know people who do this. One writer loves talking with people about his book; he has no interest in ebooks or selling online, so he doesn’t waste time there. Another is introverted, so he spends time online with e-book marketing rather than direct sales. You get the idea.

What’s the worst mistake that self-publishing authors can make?

The worst mistake is not having your book professionally edited. No matter how hard we try, we don’t see all our mistakes and neither does our word processor. It takes fresh eyes. Lots of self-published stories are excellent, but grammar and punctuation errors undermine them. If you can’t afford an editor, find someone with strong skills and barter with them. It’s critical.

If you were to self-publish again, what is one thing you’d do differently? The one thing you’d do the same?

I would try not to be in such a hurry. There is value in advance promotion, cover reveals, book launch parties, and more. Many book reviewers want pre-publication copies of your work to review. Advance notices to friends and fans can produce big sales on opening day. The media has no interest in a book published a long time ago.

I will continue seeking input from others during the writing and publication process. This means beta readers, advance review copies, bloggers, and online voting for book covers and titles. Their feedback, although often conflicting, is invaluable. It is up to me to make the best decision I can.

Who and what has inspired you—in your writing and otherwise?

I have always loved science fiction and fantasy. For each management book I read, I used to reward myself with a book of scifi / fantasy. My bookshelf ranges from Isaac Azimov to Roger Zelazny (and everything in between), and not at all limited to this genre. I try to emulate the whimsical feel of a Terry Pratchett, Robert Aspirin, Piers Anthony or Terry Brooks. They are amazing.

How long have you been writing? How did you start?

Although business writing was integral to my business careers, creative writing is new to me. Three years ago, I wrote a short story about a funny incident concerning sky lanterns and the perverse wind that sent them in the direction of the Coast Guard Station. Fortunately, no arrests ensued. People got a kick out of reading it and encouraged me to join a writers group, which I did. Several of us formed a new group for books. As our books neared completion, we realized – if we were going to be serious – we needed to focus on the business of writing. Five of us formed a group we called Argon Press. All five of us published our first books in 2014.

What are the challenges of writing fiction, particularly for middle-grade/young adults (as this was categorized in the competition)?

Actually, I wrote my book for adults. Short simple sentences and careful vocabulary made the book easy to read. I hadn’t considered it for young adults until I found my focus groups divided on whether the book was for adults or young adults, often having spirited exchanges about it.

The teen angst faced by my young hero as he struggles with bullies, new responsibilities, budding relationships, self-doubts, and other life changes hit a chord with youth as well. Interestingly, I have not found an age group that does not enjoy it. One of my neighbors read it twice and bought five copies to give as Christmas gifts; he just turned 90.

Do you write in any other categories or genres?

No. At this point, I’m so full of ideas for more adventures of The Universe Builders, I don’t feel drawn to any other areas. After all, my main characters are gods with the power to create unique universes, planets, and species. I can do this forever.

What elements do you think make a successful novel for middle-grade/young adults?

Several reviewers said there are “layers and layers to the story.” I know that’s true. I’m sure many MG/YA readers will not understand every layer, but others do. I think this adds something special. Several readers told me they reread it, finding deeper meaning each time.

The book also has over a dozen plot lines which seems to guarantee readers will find something they like. For some, it is the loveable little creatures who follow Bernie in the woods. Others enjoy the growing relationship between Bernie and Suzie. Some laugh at Bernie’s best friend experimenting with cosmic talismans to help him get a girlfriend. The main thread, of course, is about Bernie’s struggle to overcome impossible odds, protect his world, and save his job.

What advice has had the biggest impact on your success in life and as an author?

One of the first books I read had a breakdown of how much money the average traditionally published author makes from his/her book. The numbers could never justify the time or effort. This realization caused me to do some soul-searching about why I wanted to write. I finally realized I wanted to do it because I enjoy it. That mind-set has been a huge benefit to me.

What’s the one thing you can’t live without in your writing life?

Since this is my first book, the single most important thing to me is feedback. I want to know if I met people’s expectations and if they enjoyed it. With good feedback, it’s easy for me to improve my writing so more people will enjoy it.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Things changed two years ago when I broke my leg and a complicated recovery kept me homebound. Before that, we did a lot of traveling. Now my day is filled with writing or marketing tasks. When not writing, I do volunteer work (S.C.O.R.E.), help friends with technology problems, and, of course, work with my writers group, which includes a growing number of writing-related activities (book-signings, etc.).

Describe your typical writing routine.

I’ve never been a morning person – I go to bed late and get up around 8:30, later on weekends. I have a nice home office with two computers. Computer #1 is dedicated to social media activities. Computer #2 is dedicated to writing and email. My first hour is spent catching up on overnight social media, followed by another hour reading and drinking coffee. After breakfast, a session on computer #2 follows. My day consists of trying to spend as much time on computer #2 as I can while occasionally jumping back to computer #1 to reciprocate with other authors sharing and tweeting my work. The day is broken up by two cats who poke and pester me until I play with them. This routine is maintained until around 6:00 pm, when I wind down for the day. Then around midnight, I catch up on the social media again before heading to bed.

What are the keys that have made your novel a success?

People seem to relate strongly with the main character, Bernie. It surprised me when readers (both men and women) started writing, telling me, “I am Bernie.” I even got this from people in other countries, which suggests Bernie’s experience is cross-cultural. He is an underdog in every sense, except he is a god. He isn’t the smartest, he lacks self-confidence, and he even has a pesky ever-present chaotic cloud that embarrasses him and compromises his work. He is different from other gods, because he believes life has value. Challenged by a bully determined to torpedo his career, Bernie is forced to make decisions about what is important in life.

People enjoy the whimsical way the story is told, the humor, the world building logic behind the god world, including their creation science. I think, most of all, they enjoy the ending, where everyone gets what they deserve.

What do you think are the biggest benefits and challenges of writing for your intended audience?

Several reviewers said they wished they could share the story with young adults enduring the difficulties of adolescence. They felt the tale could give youngsters a fresh perspective – they are not alone in the trials they face or the anxieties they feel. This motivated me to donate copies of my book to area schools and libraries.

It would be easy to underestimate the middle grade and young adult readers. Because my story was written for adults in an easy-to-understand way, younger people seem able to find as much as they want in the story. They don’t feel talked down to.

Why do you write?

I write because it’s fun. I love the challenge of producing something that people enjoy. I like to play with ideas in ways that tease or surprise or delight people. I like to make them laugh.

What do you do for a day job?

If you ask my wife, she will tell you my day job consists of getting the mail and making sure the garbage gets put out on Monday morning. I’m sure I do more than that, but I can’t seem to remember at the moment.

Have you published any other books? Won any other competitions?

No, this is my first book. I entered three other book contests, but only Writer’s Digest has announced results so far. One other contest, the Stargazer Awards, declared me as a finalist in the category of Metaphysical and Visionary work, but they do not announce results until late 2015.

What do you feel are your strengths as a writer? How have you developed these qualities?

I have a very strong imagination. I haven’t done anything to develop it. To the contrary, I’ve learned to limit it, lest everything become so complex that the story could never be finished.

In fantasy and science fiction, the world we create has to be logical and rational. And yet it must contain and challenge the protagonist. This is a unique problem when your hero is a god. So in this case, although the gods have awesome creative powers, in their home town they are quite “ordinary.” This lets me challenge them and show their humanity in ways that would otherwise be impossible.

Perhaps another strength comes from my counseling background. It helped me understand the feelings of people in desperate life situations and their hunger for acceptance and approval. Bernie, fresh out of school, still naïve and immature, trying to do his best yet full of doubt and uncertainties, is the perfect canvas for me.

What are some aspects of writing you’ve struggled with? How have you worked to strengthen yourself in these areas?

Before starting to write, I read books on writing. As I began writing, I encountered problems, which led me to other books and more research. My biggest challenges were point of view (POV), descriptions, and backstory. I wrote half the book with a POV that shifted from one character to another and back again as often as I changed paragraphs. When I learned the problem, it required a lot of re-writing. Descriptions were also difficult – how do you describe a god? Initially, I didn’t want to commit to what they looked like, but it was impossible to avoid. Even issues of time and measurements were difficult. How do you describe something that happened a month ago? Do the gods even have a moon? How often does it revolve around their planet? How long is their day? You get the idea. The final challenge was being overwhelmed with all the wonderful writing techniques. Every time I found a new article with new ideas, I would try that technique, often forgetting it by the time I reached the next chapter or the next technique. Fortunately, some of them stuck.

What’s your proudest moment as a writer?

A week ago, I would have said my book signings. All my friends came to my first book signing in August, which was a wonderful affirmation. The last book signing was at Barnes & Noble in December 2014, which was a fantastic way to end a year that had begun with an incomplete manuscript.

Today, I would have to say winning the Grand Prize from Writer’s Digest has edged out even my amazing book signing experiences.

What are your goals as a writer?

I want to write more stories about the gods and their world of universe building. That’s what I enjoy the most. At least six strong plot ideas have been clamoring for attention since before I finished the first book. Others have since joined them. I have some skills in marketing, but I’m better at the writing. My goal is to free up time I’m spending on marketing so I have more time to write.

Any final thoughts or advice?

There is an awesome resource available to the self-published author as we write and market our work. I am talking about other authors. The sharing and collaboration I’ve experienced is fantastic. And I have done my best to reciprocate. When I post their books on my Facebook page, it does not detract from my own. When they reciprocate by sharing my book with their friends, I benefit from exposure to a new group of potential readers. The same is true with Twitter and Pinterest and others. As we collaborate, friendships evolve, and new opportunities emerge. I encourage you to make friends with the authors out there. We have a lot to gain by working together.

The post Online Exclusive: Q&A with Steve LeBel appeared first on Writer's Digest.

GRAND PRIZE
Steve LeBel, The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Putty, Argon Press, theuniversebuilders.com

(Also be sure to check out our extended interview with Steve.)

Children’s Picture Books
First Place:
Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, Good Night Captain Mama, Gracefully Global Group, LLC, captainmama.com

Genre Fiction
First Place:
Karey Brown, Shadows of the Keeper, Amazon Digital Services, http://kareybrown.wix.com/kareybrownauthor

Honorable Mentions:
Robert Chute, This Plague of Days, Ex Parte Press, allthatchazz.com

Sherry L. Jesberger, Aislin of Arianrhod, Amazon Digital Services, sherryjesberger.com

Jay Klages, Measure of Danger, Amazon Digital Services, jayklages.com

Inspirational
First Place:
Salamanca, Wiccan Trees: Our Guardians Speak, Amazon Kindle, amazon.com/author/salamanca

Life Stories

First Place:
Yolande Brenner, Holy Candy: Why I Joined a Cult and Married a Stranger, Holy Crack Publishing, yolandebrenner.com

Mainstream/Literary Fiction

First Place:
J. Boyce Gleason, Anvil of God, iUniverse, jboycegleason.com

Honorable Mentions:
T.A. Barnes, Crazy Old Horses, Amazon Digital Services

John D. Beatty, Crop Duster: A Novel of World War II, Booklocker/JDB Communications, LLC,

Joseph L. Richardson, Fire Angels, CreateSpace, sites.google.com/site/jrichbooks/home

Middle-Grade/Young Adult Fiction
First Place:
Sherry Peters, Mabel the Lovelorn Dwarf, DwarvenAmazon.com, dwarvenamazon.com

Nonfiction
First Place:
Dr. Stan Beecham, Elite Minds, BookLogix, drstanbeecham.com

Honorable Mentions:
Linda Donovan and Denise P. Kalm, Tech Grief: Survive and Thrive Through Career Losses, CreateSpace

Kate March,No Witnesses: The Story of Robbery and Murder at the Cabinet Supreme Savings and Loan, Alan March, acmarch.wix.com/alanmarch

Philip Stover, Religion and Revolution in Mexico’s North, Rio Vista Press, riovistagroup.com/religion-and-revolution

Poetry
First Place:
Sharon Patricia Burtner, Afterimage, CreateSpace, sharonburtner.com

The post Second Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards appeared first on Writer's Digest.