Simon Wood

Posts Tagged: sisters in crime

NEW BOOK: PROMOPHOBIA

Phew, at last.  This book has been a long time in the making. It has gained and lost a publisher twice before finally making it to publication.  It’s one of those publishing tales.  I contributed to this book several years ago.  Sometimes books take years before hitting the shelves.  The battle is won and onto the book.

PREMISE: Publishing a book can be scary. Figuring out how to promote it can be straight-up frightening. When the seas of book promo make you feel adrift in unfriendly tides, keeping your head above water can be difficult. Enter PROMOPHOBIA, a collection of essays that just might save the life of your book.

I’m one of the many contributors to this book.  Other contributors include: Hank Phillippi Ryan, Rhys Bowen, Lori Rader-Day, Allison Brennan and Charlaine Harris to name a few.

The book is available in paperback and digital from the usual suspects:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Apple
Kobo

If you’re budding writer or even a published writer, this is the book for you when it comes to promoting your work.  You can learn more about the book here on its official website.

Categories: new book

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COVER REVEAL!!

I am one of the contributors to this book, which has been a long time coming. This is the cover for an upcoming book I contributed to quite some time ago. Unfortunately, the book has landed and lost publishers twice before finally finding a home third time around. Tip of the hat to Diane Vallere for all her hard work & dogged determination. 

I will provide more details when we’re closer to a launch date.

Categories: new book

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More Conference News!

More conference news!

On May 14th, I’m going to be a presenter at the Killer Workshop presented by Capital Crimes & Palmetto Sisters in Crime chapters. This is a 1-day virtual & in-person conference. Yes, I will be there in person. After two years of being shut in from the world, I am emerging where I get to see real life people. I think I’ve forgotten what that feels like.

My workshop will be on short stories. If you’d like more details, go here.

Categories: shelf life

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SinC-Up!!

No, SinC-Up! isn’t an NSYNC tribute act. It’s a video series put out by Sisters in Crime. Each week a writer gives a 2-minute writing tip and I am this week’s tipper (or is it tipster)! Anyway, please enjoy this video and the others in the series.

Categories: shelf life

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2021 Writing Workshops

This one is for the writers amongst you. Over the last few years, I’ve developed a number of online writing courses for Sisters In Crime. The workshops haven’t been available outside of their membership until now. I’m planning on having a different writing workshop every month, but I’m kicking off this first phase with five classes. Here’s what’s on the docket for the first half of 2021:

The start dates for the classes are as follows (just click the links for course details):
KILLER SUSPENSE: May 3rd
PLOT THICKENERS: March 8th
MANAGING POINTS OF VIEW (POV): Feb 8th
SHORT STORIES: April 5th
AUTHOR PROFESSIONALISM: June 7th

The nitty gritty:
The format of classes is a mix of videos and handouts as part of an online classroom.
The classes run for two weeks with 6 to 7 lessons in each workshop, except for the plotting workshop, which is three weeks.
With every lesson, there’s an assignment and feedback. You aren’t obliged to do the homework or send it to me for feedback. It’s entirely up to you.
The class is conducted via groups.io. People are expected to join in and comment on everybody’s work.
Lessons will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. That is subject to change. If people need more time then I will slow the lessons down.

Workshop cost: $50 each (exception for the Plot Thickeners – that’s $65)

If you’d like to sign up, just go to my WORKSHOP page.

Categories: Uncategorized

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Looking For Writers

This one is for the writers amongst you. Over the last few years, I’ve developed a number of online writing courses for Sisters In Crime. The workshops haven’t been available outside of their membership until now. I’m planning on having a different writing workshop every month, but I’m kicking off this first phase with five classes. Here’s what’s on the docket:

The start dates for the classes are as follows (just click the links for course details):
KILLER SUSPENSE: October 5th
PLOT THICKENERS: June 8th
MANAGING POINTS OF VIEW (POV): July 6th
SHORT STORIES: August 3rd
AUTHOR PROFESSIONALISM: September 7th

The nitty gritty:
The format of classes is a mix of videos and handouts as part of an online classroom.
The classes run for two weeks with 6 to 7 lessons in each workshop, except for the plotting workshop, which is three weeks.
With every lesson, there’s an assignment and feedback. You aren’t obliged to do the homework or send it to me for feedback. It’s entirely up to you.
The class is conducted via groups.io. People are expected to join in and comment on everybody’s work.
Lessons will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. That is subject to change. If people need more time then I will slow the lessons down.

Workshop cost: $50 each (exception for the Plot Thickeners – that’s $65)

If you’d like to sign up, please send me an email.  Let me know if you have any questions.

UPDATE: The WORKSHOP page is now linked to the website store for easier online signup.

Categories: Uncategorized

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Talk To Me At CAPITAL CRIMES

If you live in the Sacramento area, I’m going to be the guest Capitol Crimes where I will be discussing Dangerous Coworkers…the story behind his novel TERMINATED, the third book in the Bay Area Quartet.  I’ll probably tell some other stories too.  It’s free to attend so bring a friend!

When: Saturday, November 16, 2019, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Where: Rancho Cordova Library, 9845 Folsom Blvd #1397, Sacramento, CA 95827

Categories: Uncategorized

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SHELF LIFE: The 21st Century Author

seminarThis Saturday I am Sisters in Crime NorCal Chapter’s guest speaker.  My topic is the 21st Century Author, essentially looking at the challenges and opportunities facing the modern day writer.  With all the changes in the publishing world, today’s author has to be a little different to his/her predecessor.  The writer has to be a little savvier than before if he/she wants to survive and thrive in this volatile industry.  For anyone who has attended one of my 21st Century Author workshops in the past, this is a new presentation that goes beyond what I’ve discussed before.  The areas I’ll be covering this time are:

  • Traditional contracts–clauses to worry and think about before signing and to go back and things to check in preexisting contracts of old.  Changes in technology can have long term impacts to the author
  • Understanding your intellectual property
  • Rights management
  • The importance secondary and foreign rights
  • What to consider when self publishing
  • What to consider when traditional publishing
  • New industry opportunities
  • The ‘Hybrid Author’—what it is and whether it works for you

Whether you’re an author with a long history in publishing or in the hunt to get your first book published, I hope you’ll come along.  I think it’ll be worth your time.  If you’d like to come along, it’s free and will be held at BookShop West Portal, San Francisco from noon-2pm, September 5th.

Categories: shelf life

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