Growth is uncomfortable. It’s messy. It hurts. Sometimes it feels like everything is falling apart. We are losing grip on who we are. The ground is caving beneath us.
This is a good sign. Nothing is worse for creativity than being stagnant.
Growing pains mean that you are changing. Transformation means inspiration.
Be patient with yourself. Don’t try to run away.
Wait to see what happens and who you will become through your experience.
May the muses be with you,
—Christa
*****
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.
MARTHA GRAHAM
WHAT’S INSIDE
Crystalize your vision of what it means a successful author
Develop your own Writer Manifesto
Reverse engineer a step-by-step plan to your career as a writer
Unlock the Magical Creator Within – A Workshop for Fiction Writers with Joseph Sale
Unlock The Magical Creator Within is a workshop designed to help unleash your full creative potential using a mixture of psychological, spiritual, and most importantly practical techniques.
In this session you will explore the history of the “Muse”, the divine source of inspiration, and the first principles of establishing contact with the Muse; going back to early childhood experiences of beauty and how we can harness this in the now; practical exercises from yogic mudras (hand positions) to breathing techniques that centre the mind and open the channels of creative thought; and much much more.
Unlock The Magical Creator Within is your ticket to writing your best-ever story, one that is not only entertaining but also healing.
Your instructor: Joseph Sale
Joseph Sale is an editor and writing coach who’s published more than 30 books, including the acclaimed novel Dark Hilarity, the epic poem Virtue’s End, as well as ghost-written best-selling autobiographies and non-fiction books. As an editor, his clients have been nominated for the Bram Stoker and Splatterpunk Awards, been finalists in the National Indie Excellence and Eric Hoffer Awards, and even submitted to the Pulitzers.
Now, Joseph Sale is on a quest to manifest the beautiful and divine in the world, and wants to show other creators, editors, and writers how to do just that. This workshop is based on his new release, THE DIVINE: Unlocking the magical creator within.
Workshop Includes:
Free Paperback or eBook copy of The Divine: Unlocking the Magical Creator Within(Paperback options depend on Amazon shipping options to participant’s location. Shipping is free.)
A seat at the live Zoom Class on Monday, October 3rd, 2022
Unlimited access to replay and workshop follow-up notes
Access to instructor for private questions
Workshop Outline:
0. First Principle of the Muse
An overview of what the Muse is and why we need the Muse.
1. Early Experiences of Beauty
Why is Beauty important how does it influence us?
2. Invoking The Muse
Practical exercises to draw down the dew of inspiration.
3. The Cave of Ideas & Wonder
Journey into the hidden depths of your subconscious and find your cave of ideas and wonder.
4. The Shadow Self
Learn how to harness your Shadow Self to produce greater art.
5. Becoming Magical
Changing your creative practice will change you.
Details
Zoom link will be sent via email on day of event
Access to replays will be sent after the event
Books will be sent out upon registration. An email will be sent within 24 hours to confirm shipping details. (Shipping is free)
If paperback book cannot be delivered to participant within one week of the class, the eBook format will be sent.
As a self-published author, I am always looking for new ways to expand my readership. After being exclusively with KDP for many years, I felt like I reached a plateau. When thinking about releasing my first full-length novel series, I wondered, how can I launch bigger?
Then I heard about Kindle Vella, a serialized fiction platform. It’s always tempting to jump on the next big thing in the publishing industry, but it’s also a huge risk. Is it worth your time to publish on Kindle Vella?
I say yes, but not for the reasons I originally tried it.
What is Kindle Vella?
Kindle Vella allows you to issue your story out in 600-5,000 word “episodes.” Some authors write as they go. I uploaded a novel I’d already written one chapter at a time. Think of a literary version of Netflix. Its competitors are Radish and Wattpad.
Authors can release episodes right away (though there is a small wait for review and approval) or they can space releases daily, weekly, monthly—pretty much however they want.
Readers get to read the first three episodes for free. Then they must buy tokens on Amazon to “unlock” each new episode. Vella stories are read in your Kindle Reader, using the Kindle App for iOS and Android, or on Amazon’s website.
How to Publish to Kindle Vella
The Kindle Vella Publishing interface is super lean, and the process is streamlined. Simply add a title, write or paste your episode into the text box, and hit save, publish, or schedule.
Benefits of Kindle Vella for Authors
What’s unique about Kindle Vella is that authors can leave a note at the end of each episode for the reader. This is my favorite feature for authors. It’s a place to talk about where story ideas come from, share interesting research notes, expand on character’s perspective, and reveal relevant personal anecdotes.
Kindle Vella has also added a poll feature, where authors can post a question to their readers.
Readers may show their appreciation by giving episodes a thumbs up. At the end of the week, the are prompted to “crown” their favorite story, adding an extra element and social-media type of upvoting system.
Vella says authors earn 50% of the money readers spend on the tokens used to unlock their story episode, which is about midway between the 30% or 70% you earn with KDP. It’s possible that if readers spend more using the token system than they do for the flat rate book, it works out that you earn more.
In addition to royalties, a monthly bonus is delivered to authors based on episodes read and customer interaction.
Drawbacks of Kindle Vella for Authors
Your existing readership might not know how to or want to use Kindle Vella. I was hoping my existing readers would try Vella and give my story some initial activity so that new readers would find me, but only a few were willing to try or knew how to access Vella.
The platform is still new and the user base seems underdeveloped. The algorithms are a mystery! SEO is severely lacking, especially in categories. You can see the options in the screen shot below. For example, if you write literary fiction or horror, where do you fit in?
Also, Vella is still only open to US authors and readers. There is a loophole—I can write and publish from my home in Panama because I have a US KDP account.
On the flipside, though Vella Readers can read free episodes outside the US, they cannot purchase tokens to finish stories unless they are inside the US. So, though I have a US Amazon account, when I am in Panama, I am blocked from buying tokens and must remember to stock up whenever I am on American soil.
Note:
True: Vella authors cannot offer or have offered the same content for free on any other platform (e.g. blog) or republish previously published books.
False: Rumor had it that authors could not publish both to Vella and as an eBook or other format. This is not necessarily true. Vella authors can upload their story to KDP for eBook, paperback, and hardcover formats as long as they wait 30 days after they’ve published their last episode on Vella.
My Experience with Kindle Vella as an Author
My strategy for Kindle Vella was to use it to generate some pre-release buzz and introduce Oblivion Black to a new market.
After hitting publish and viewing the stats in the dashboard, I quickly realized that my story was not getting found. There were only a handful of readers, according to the stats, and those were existing fans from my email list who told me they were reading my story on Vella.
Keep in mind, I have not been promoting on social media. As I said, I assumed the platform itself would organically expose me to new readers. So far, it has been hugely disappointing.
Visibility is nil. The chance of moving up in the ranks organically seems low, judging by the fact that in the past 6 months, the top Kindle Vella stories on the front page have not changed.
Why I Will Keep Publishing on Vella
I love uploading to Kindle Vellaand getting the instant gratification of seeing a piece of writing go live each day. Reviewing my story in Vella’s Kindle format has helped me in my proofreading and editing process.
Adding the authors notes was time-consuming, but truly a joy. Even if few people read them, I will be able to use them as bonus content for my mailing list or future blog posts.
Virtually no one new has discovered my book on Vella yet. Still, I will continue my Kindle Vella pre-release strategy because the monthly bonuses alone are worth it. I’m using them to fund my cover design for each book.
Why Readers Will Love Kindle Vella
Readers get to try the first few chapters for free, allowing them to tell right away if the book is a good fit. As a reader, it’s nice to have bite-sized pieces to read during in-between moments. And readers will enjoy the feeling of connection with the author and knowing the story behind the story. There is an element of anticipation and suspense as you wait for the next episode, though this can also be equally annoying. If you’re a bit masochistic or appreciate the payoffs of delayed gratification, Vella is for you. If not, (again like Netflix) there are plenty of completed stories (mine included) that you can binge through as quickly as you like.
How to Read Kindle Vella Stories
You can access Kindle Vella stories in your Kindle reader of by using the Kindle app. Download the Kindle app for iOS or Android and sign into your Amazon account. The Vella stories you follow will appear on your home tab, as well as in your library. You will get notifications from the stories you follow each time a new episode is released.
It’s time for the second annual Writers’ Mastermind Read Your Story Mash-Up Challenge!
What is it?
Each attending writer will read up to 5 minutes of their work on video. It can be a published work or an excerpt of a work-in-progress. Flash fiction, short stories, chapters of novels of any genre are all welcome (please nothing extremely graphic).
Recorded readings will be done on the live Mastermind Mash-Up Zoom call or can be pre-recorded by the author and sent in to be added to the Mash-Up video.
Why do it?
Video is the best way to connect with your audience. They can both see and hear you and get to know your work on an intimate level.
Learning to read to your audience will prepare you for future publicity events (social media lives, book signings, etc.)
We know many authors feel uncomfortable putting themselves out there—not just on video, but in any form. By accepting this challenge with us, you will break through resistance when it comes to promoting and sharing your work.
The mash-up will shared on our website, social media, and mailing list. It will also be advertised, giving you and your writing free exposure and opening you up to new readers, friends, and followers.
This is a great opportunity to have some fun, maybe step out of your comfort zone, and become part of a collaborative project with all the writers in the community.
When is it?
There are two options:
Wednesday April 13th 11:00 AM EST
Saturday April 23rd 11:00 AM EST
Tips On Choosing Your Excerpt
5 minutes of reading is approximately 1,000 words
Do a practice reading beforehand to time yourself
Your excerpt can be slightly under or over 5 minutes so you can end the reading in a good spot
Since then, our members have done amazing things. We’ve witnessed the completion of novels that have been stalled far too long. We’ve seen the release of debut books by first-time novelists. We’ve celebrated the successes of our experienced authors.
Most of all, we’ve connected through these uncertain times and made friendships that will last a lifetime.
I’m going to post our story below.
Make sure you take a look at all the Writers’ Mastermind has to offer.
Hello, I’m Christa, and I’m tired of being a struggling writer.
It is a miraculous time in the writing world. Today, the dream of becoming an author is possible for everyone.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
I am a self-published author. I work as a digital marketer, but I hope to become a full-time fiction writer one day.
But I feel overwhelmed and lost. I am not selling many books. I’m not moving forward. I feel I haven’t reached my full potential as a writer.
I know I can learn how to do anything with the resources available online—writing, marketing, publishing, querying, etc.—but that’s the problem. There is too much information.
You can choose from countless courses—if you have hundreds of dollars, and if you can commit weeks or months of your life to finish them. There are webinars and downloads and blogs and podcasts and the list goes on and on. Which path to choose?
I’m suffering from information paralysis. This has prevented me from making decisions and taking action when it comes to developing my fiction writing career.
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of being a struggling writer. I’m not going to allow anything, especially myself, get in the way of writing anymore.
THE VISION: Writers’ Mastermind Group
Writers are busy. Most have day jobs and families. Many tend to drift, writing and marketing sporadically, never gaining momentum. In a world inundated with information, they need the essentials, delivered in a timely, organized manner that ensures they are learning something new every month and taking the steps that bring them closer to becoming a successful author.
The Writers’ Mastermind is a platform where fiction writers can find actionable information and resources to take them from story concept to published work.
The Writers’ Mastermind is also a support hub where members can attend critique swap meetings, Zoom pow-wows, and fun events.
Our masterminds provide encouragement and camaraderie to writers all across the world who’ve historically been isolated in their vocation. We don’t have to do it alone anymore.
Novices learn from the seasoned authors. Old schoolers learn from the trailblazers. The Mastermind provides a place where writers can network, collaborate, and make connections to extend their opportunities and reach.
Every other month, we feature an expert in a masterclass focused on writing techniques, marketing, querying, or fostering creativity. This includes a short video series with accompanying workbooks, guides, and materials on the subject for that month.
Each specialist will do a live Q&A with the members on a Zoom.
Members are able to access the classes at their convenience and learn at their own pace. Select mastermind calls are taped and available for replay. The entire bank of classes is available to paying members at all times.
The Writers’ Mastermind also holds a writing contest each year to grow our community while providing aspiring fiction writers a venue to showcase their work.
This membership site is at an extremely reasonable rate—with a 30-day FREE trial and then $19 a month, affording writers a huge value for their monthly subscription.
JOIN US!
START YOUR FREE TRIAL
Experience all the benefits of the Writers’ Mastermind for 30 days! SIGN ME UP!
BECOME A FEATURED EXPERT
Are you an expert in writing skills, book marketing, publishing, creativity, advertising or other facet of writing or publishing? LET’S COLLABORATE
WRITING CONTEST
Don’t miss the chance to win cash, prestige, free memberships, and other prizes in our open-genre short story/flash contests. ENTER YOUR STORY
