We’ve been learning lots of new things in my house during this stay-at-home order: how to hold meetings virtually, how to go to school virtually, how to stay sane while all three of us are trying to do different things in a house where sound carries everywhere…
We’ve also been learning Spanish thanks to the Duolingo app. Well, Nola is learning Spanish. I’m refreshing my vocabulary and grammar.
That’s been a super fun thing to do together. Technology is truly an amazing thing.
If you don’t believe me, just think about all the learning we have access to these days thanks to ebooks. Especially now, ebooks are a safe haven for reading enjoyment. They require no in-person interaction. Everything can be handled electronically (as opposed to paper books, which require humans to print, pack, ship, and deliver them.) I have always preferred reading paper books myself, but given what’s going on in the world today, I’m very, very grateful ebooks were invented.
That’s especially true when it comes to learning. Thanks to ebooks, we can package a lot more learning into a lower price point.
Which brings me to the Writing Bundles Kickstarter we have going right now. We’ll be bundling together our extremely popular WMG Writer’s Guides by topic and make them available in ebook for $10 each. We’ll have bundles on craft, productivity, marketing, business, and the industry. And the more bundles you buy, the more you save. There are online workshop bundles, as well. And paper options if you want them. Click here to learn all about these great rewards!
Learning takes on many forms, so if you’re looking for a bundle of compelling fiction to expand your mind, you’ll want to check out the Mysterious Women StoryBundle, curated by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
Here’s what Kris has to say about this bundle:
Our entire lives have been thrown into chaos this past month—worldwide, which is something new. As far as history shows us, the world has never before done the same thing at the same time. Yay, us, I guess. Although I kinda hoped that if we were going to unite, it would be for world peace.
Anyway, what’s getting me through the tough days is fiction. And more than that, it seems, stories about crime are getting me through. Which makes sense when you think about it. The entire mystery genre is about putting order on chaos.
Because I’m doing that, I figure you might want to as well. So I put some of my favorite female authors together into this StoryBundle. All of us write about crime, but we do it in different ways.
WMG has two books in this bundle: Protectors by Kris Nelscott and Fiction River Presents: Mysterious Women, edited by Gwyneth Gibby (a StoryBundle exclusive). And like all regular StoryBundles, you can name your price or get all ten books for just $15. And you can donate a portion of the proceeds to AbleGamers, which helps disabled folks participate in online games by providing equipment tailored toward their needs. Click here to learn more about this bundle.
I also have a second StoryBundle to tell you about this week, but this one is a very special project, curated by Anthea Sharp, called The Young Adult Charity MegaBundle. Unlike the regular StoryBundles like the one I just mentioned, this one has a minimum of $1 and no bonus, plus 50 percent of the proceeds are going to Mighty Writers, a nonprofit organization benefiting children’s literacy. Kristine Grayson’s novella Tiffany Tumbles: Book One of the Daughters of Zeus Trilogy is included in this amazing bundle, along with 27 other books! Check it out here.
It feels great to be able to do something to help provide much-needed distractions during these tumultuous times. It makes the isolation feel, well, not so isolating.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.