I’m all geared up for Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, check. Sides, check. Pies, check. Heck, I even bought fresh cranberries this year to make homemade cranberry sauce.
But what I’m looking forward to most is the downtime with my family. We’re a quiet bunch (well, my husband and I are, at least), and once we’ve eaten our fill, we’ll be ready to settle in with a good story or two.
And if you love reading as much as we do (and I suspect you do because you’re reading this blog), the WMG Holiday Spectacular Calendar of Stories is the perfect way to enjoy some season’s reading.
A holiday story a day delivered right to your inbox. Holiday romances, holiday mysteries, holiday stories from different places and different genres and different perspectives! Every day from (American) Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. And it’s not too late to subscribe!
Just click here to go to the WMG Holiday Spectacular Store where you’ll find the calendars, the anthologies, and even merchandise like puzzles to help you pass the quiet time once you’ve read the story each day.
So, gear yourself up for your own holiday quiet time. Happy reading!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
I got my annual flu shot and Covid booster last week, which reminded me of how much has changed since the pandemic but also how much has settled back into its new normal.
I’ve been getting Covid vaccines since I was first eligible, and the annual booster the past couple of years. But the Covid booster experience was different this year. Gone are those vaccination cards we guarded with plastic sleeves and took with us everywhere a couple of years ago. Now, it’s just another shot in the arm.
The world is different now, but vestiges of the old world sometimes come back to life.
Like the WMG Anthology Workshop for writers, which fell victim to the pandemic (it’s an in-person workshop, so…). We brought back our smaller in-person workshops last year, but this one is much larger: 40 people. So, it took us longer to be comfortable bringing that one back.
But that time has come.
Here are the details:
Back by Popular Demand! The WMG Anthology Workshop!
The annual WMG Anthology Workshop had long been a must-attend event for writers. But it was one of the many casualties of the pandemic. Now, after years of requests to bring it back, WMG has found a way!
So, in July 2024, the WMG Anthology Workshop will return to Las Vegas—now at Resorts World! Write and submit stories to four professional editors for consideration at 6 cents/word and see them live edit the anthologies! There is no other workshop like this out there, which is why WMG worked so hard to bring it back!
For contracting reasons, we can’t finalize the exact week until February, but the workshop will NOT be held over the 4th of July holiday.
The workshop will last four days, beginning early on Monday and ending at noon on Thursday. There will also be a hospitality room for evening gatherings from Sunday to Wednesday.
Writers will write and submit their stories during late April and May.
For logistical reasons, workshop attendance will be capped at 40 people. The fee for the class is $900. Due to the high demand, you must be fully paid to hold your spot. (Workshop fees are fully refundable up to two months ahead. After that, they are transferrable.)
Don’t miss out on this one-of-a-kind workshop! Reserve your spot today by emailing Dean here [dean.wmgworkshops@gmail.com]. (If you have attended an in-person workshop before, simply send the $900 fee to PayPal using this address: dean@wmgpublishingstore.com, then email Dean that you have done so here [dean.wmgworkshops@gmail.com]. He will let you know that the payment was received and that you are on the list.
I can’t emphasize enough how game-changing this workshop is for writers. If as a writer, you want to understand what goes through an editor’s mind when evaluating a story and deciding whether to buy it, there’s no other experience like this out there. It’s such a revelatory experience!
One of the editors you’ll see in action is Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She’s a master editor and a master writer herself. And her latest Diving Universe novel hits shelves on Tuesday, Nov. 14!
If you missed the Ivory Trees Kickstarter, now’s your chance to pick up this fantastic book in ebook, trade paperback or hardcover.
Here’s the synopsis:
Ancient tech draws dangerous unwanted attention in international bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Ivory Trees, the thrilling new standalone novel in her award-winning Diving series.
When the discovery of a bunker reveals a treasure trove of ancient artifacts, interested parties throughout the Empire—from collectors to academics to researchers—want a piece of the action. But the finds draw attention from outside the Empire as well. Attention from someone willing to do whatever it takes to outmaneuver the Empire and secure the collection.
Set in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s expansive Diving Universe, Ivory Trees introduces exciting new characters and events to this powerfully written series, while also offering some tantalizing Easter eggs from previous Diving novels.
As suspense builds to a fevered intensity, this tantalizing new novel mixes the best of heist fiction and space opera and proves Rusch’s place as a master of science fiction.
We’re very cheery here at WMG headquarters this week. Not only are we all aglow at the incredible support we received from our Kickstarter backers for the 2023 WMG Holiday Spectacular, but we’re also glittering with excitement at the launch of our new WMG Holiday Spectacular online store!
And gift cards! You can buy gift cards on the WMG Holiday Spectacular store and give them as gifts to be delivered at the date you choose!
Plus, festive holiday merchandise like blankets, mugs, and puzzles, all at a 25% discount and free shipping (US only)!
Click here to go directly to the WMG Holiday Spectacular store.
And for writers (these make great gifts, too) is the 50% off sale on our WMG Teachable site. That discount also applies to the brand-new Shopify Class as well as the 2024 Advanced Craft Classes.
To learn more about the new class and to read more about the Teachable part of the grand-opening sale, click here.
What a great way to check off your holiday shopping to-do list!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
It felt only appropriate to write my blog this week from a local restaurant called the Coven Café, where I enjoyed a Black Magick mocha and a pumpkin pastie. (Well, I enjoyed those before I wrote this blog because there is no magic spell that can get pastry crumbs out of a Mac laptop keyboard.)
And unlike in the world of Harry Potter, there is no magic spell to knit bones back together. Dean Wesley Smith could have used one of those spells last weekend after he shattered his shoulder in a fall during a race (read more on his blog here), but his orthopedic surgeon worked his own form of magic to fix Dean right up. He’s now on the mend, thank heavens.
This time of year, it feels like magic is all around us. From the darker magic of Halloween to the lighter magic of Christmas.
And this week is your last chance to grab a bounty of fabulous fiction appropriate for each of those holidays.
For Halloween fans, the 2023 Halloween StoryBundle, curated by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, ends this week. It features ten ebooks (including three offerings from WMG—Halloween Harvest, FantasyLife and Other Stories, and Three Sheets to the Wind—plus four StoryBundle exclusives). You can learn more about it here.
For Christmas and other winter holiday fans, the 2023 WMG Holiday Spectacular Kickstarter is in its final days, too. We’ve hit five stretch goals so far, which means in addition to the amazing Calendar of Stories featuring a story a day for 40 days from American Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, all backers also get the following:
Stories:
BY THE CHIMNEY WITH CARE
STILLE NACHT
AND A CUP OF GOOD CHEER
THREE WISHES BEFORE A FIRE
LOSING DOLLY
Writing classes:
1… How to Write Cross-Genre Holiday Stories About Baking, Desserts, and Cookies
2… How to Write Cross-Genre Holiday Stories about Holiday Meals
3… How to Write Cross-Genre Holiday Stories About Holiday Decorations
4… How to Write Cross-Genre Holiday Stories About Family and Traditions
That’s a $600 combined value just for the workshops, and 45 total stories to read: 5 shortly after the Kickstarter ends and 40 throughout the holidays!
Plus, there’s beautiful holiday merchandise, Kickstarter-exclusive writing workshops that will be on every writer’s wish list, and so much more.
The latest issue of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, edited by Dean Wesley Smith, hit the shelves last week, and we’re thrilled with its new paperback format! Pulphouse is now an easy-to-carry 6×9 trade paperback!
Our ebook readerswon’t notice anything different, of course. Your version has been easy-to-carry from the get-go.
But you’ll all be able to benefit from our new monthly publication schedule. So, win-win for everyone!
And we have a fantastic new crop of stories to offer in this issue. Take a look at this story lineup:
“I Was a Teenage Boy-Crazy Blob” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
“The Hair Thief” by Annie Reed
“When the Wiener Dogs Come Out to Play” by David H. Hendrickson
“The Henchman Is Hurled Off the Catwalk” by Adam-Troy Castro
“The Rhythm of Dueling Oak” by O’Neil De Noux
“Shocking Tales” by Don Webb
“The Lessons Only a Jelly Bean Can Teach” by Scott Edelman
Speaking of holiday gifts, the 2023 WMG Holiday Spectacular Kickstarter is going strong! We’ve not only funded but also been named a Kickstarter “Project We Love” and hit our first stretch goal!!
With that amazing Calendar of Stories, which this year features a story a day for 40 days from American Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, as well as beautiful holiday merchandise, Kickstarer-exclusive writing workshops that will be on every writer’s wish list, and so much more, it’s a great way to check off your holiday shopping list.
Not only are we launching the Holiday Spectacular’s signature project—the amazing Calendar of Stories, which this year features a story a day for 40 days from American Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day—but we also have oodles of holiday anthologies, special holiday-themed writing workshops and brand-new Holiday Spectacular-themed merchandise!
Some of you might remember that last year, we partnered with exceptionally talented artist Bob Giordano for the book covers for our annual anthologies. Well, this year we’ve also partnered with him to create the perfect merchandise to enjoy the holiday season: mugs and coasters to enjoy a delicious cup of cocoa or tea or coffee as well as pillows and blankets to get comfy on the couch while reading the Calendar of Stories. Plus, we have puzzles, too, to while away the evening after you’ve read that day’s story.
Here’s a sneak peek at these fantastic items:
Click hereto be notified as soon as the Kickstarter launches. It runs through Nov. 2.
