Publisher's Note
Publisher’s Note: Christmas in July
Christmas in July is taking on a whole new significance this summer because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, it’s becoming more literal for some families who now feel safe to gather because they’re fully vaccinated after skipping their usual festivities and gatherings at Christmas.
Magazines are even offering tips to host literal Christmas in July (click here to read one such article from Real Simple magazine).
Publisher’s Note: Wrapping Up the Month of Dean
We’re finishing up June (aka the Month of Dean) with the release of 12 new books!
Ten of those are hardcover editions of books you might have already read. For the first time, Dean Wesley Smith’s Cold Poker Gang series is out in hardcover!
So, if you love the series and really want a hardcover edition, your wish is granted. These books look fantastic in hardcover, and they feature new art we licensed specifically for this series so we can use the art for merchandising in the future.
To check out the series and find links to all of the hardcover editions, click here and then go to the book(s) you’re looking for.
Dean reaches another milestone on Tuesday, with the publication of the 50th issue of Smith’s Monthly. That’s right, he’s done 50 issues of that fan-favorite magazine with no sign of slowing down!
Publisher’s Note: The Fur-midable Staff of Promotion Central
Have you been following our team at Promotion Central on social media? If not, you’re missing out.
The team got its start during the early days of the pandemic, when curator (and bestselling author) Kristine Kathryn Rusch had a cat-themed StoryBundle to promote. Their probationary hires made sense at the time, given their expertise in the subject. But once we realized how incredibly skilled they were at marketing, we knew we were on to something.
They were natural hires after that.
Gavin and Cheeps have been working hard ever since that StoryBundle, promoting more bundles, workshop sales, even Kickstarters.
Publisher’s Note: The Closing of a Chapter
This is a busy couple of weeks in my household.
My daughter’s 11th birthday fell over the weekend, and to make up for the fact that we’re still in a pandemic and she can’t gather with friends inside (and we live on the rainy Oregon Coast, so gathering outside in June is not a good idea…), it was a Mommy and Nola weekend. She got to pick the menu for the whole weekend. She got to open presents early and on her birthday. We got a custom bakery cake. We had movie night and did our nails and did basically whatever she wanted all weekend.
Because she is 11, she thought this was the best birthday ever. And I’m thankful we did it this way, because in a couple of years, I doubt a weekend with her parents would count as a banner birthday celebration
Publisher’s Note: The Month of Dean
As I mentioned last week, this is a busy month for book releases. And six of those are written or edited by bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith.
Last week, we released Dean’s latest nonfiction book: How to Write a Novel in Half a Month. (Click here to read more about that.) Dean also has titles called How to Write a Novel in Ten Days, Writing a Novel in Seven Days, and Writing a Novel in Five Days While Traveling.
See a theme? Dean brooks no excuses for not writing!
He wrote those nonfiction books while writing fiction. They are often hands-on examples.
So, it’s no surprise that Dean can have so many books publishing in one month.
He’s a very busy guy!
Publisher’s Note: A Busy Month Ahead
Although our offices are closed this Memorial Day, we still have lots to talk about. June will be a busy month for releases from WMG, with 13 new books releasing along with a variety of other projects.
First up are two nonfiction books for writers: Tips about the Film/TV Industry for Novelists by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and How to Write a Novel in Half a Month by Dean Wesley Smith.
Publisher’s Note: Writing and the Future
It’s no secret that WMG is the home of great fiction. But we’re also the home of great nonfiction. And workshops to help writers create great fiction.
Well, we’re covering all three of those missions right now with two projects that give a whole host of great deals to writers and readers.
Publisher’s Note: All Kinds of Romance
My husband and I don’t consider ourselves particularly romantic, at least not in the commercial sense. We don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day in the traditional sense (one year, we got tetanus shots that day), and we don’t go in for romantic cards or dinners or gifts.
We’re really rather practical people. But that doesn’t mean we don’t demonstrate our love for each other in a whole lot of ways.
My husband doesn’t buy me roses, he grows them for me. We don’t go out for our anniversary, we spend time together at home (pandemic or no). And we don’t need Hallmark to express our love for each other, it’s obvious in all of the everyday gestures of love we extend to each other.
Romance can be a very personal choice. Sometimes we know exactly what we want. And sometimes, we need a little help.
Publisher’s Note: It’s All About Hope
As many of you know, two years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. And as May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month, I wanted to share a bit of my journey again. And because it’s about awareness, I’ll share with you what I did wrong.
Most importantly, I waited too long to seek medical advice. Looking back, I started having symptoms more than a year before my diagnosis, possibly even a couple of years. But it was the six months leading up to the diagnosis that I’m going to focus on.
Publisher’s Note: Come on Down to Cave Creek
In the fall of 2019, Dean Wesley Smith launched a one-of-a-kind online learning event on our Teachable platform called “Shared Worlds: What Are They, How to Do Them, and Why,” which teaches the ins and outs as well as the good and the bad of writing in someone’s shared world. The shared world for this event is called Cave Creek. The tagline: Where the Unexpected Meets the Real World. (You can still sign up on Teachable if you’re interested…click here.)
The shared world of Cave Creek proved so popular, in fact, that we launched a hugely successful Kickstarter in March 2020 to publish three anthologies in this world, edited by Dean, along with a novel written by Dean himself.
And tomorrow, those three anthologies—Bitter Mountain Moonlight, Open Ended Threat and Promise in the Gold—and Dean’s novel—Card Sharp Silver—will be available from all retail platforms.