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We're now ONE WEEK AWAY from the start of When Words Collide, a huge literary festival in Calgary, Alberta. I'm so excited! In case you're wondering what it is, here's a little blurb from their website: "When Words Collide is Canada's largest multi-genre, writer/reader/fan/ festival. Meet artists and publishers of commercial and literary fiction, including genre, YA, children's books, poetry, and more, from across Canada and the world. When Words Collide supports writers in the craft and business of writing, exploring all avenues of the writing process, publishing and storytelling, while building a strong literary community. We love to bring local writers (Alberta and Canada) to the attention of book lovers." I'm one of the speakers, and I'll be all over the convention doing some volunteering as well as talking on panels. Here are the panels and events where you can find me, and a little information about what each one is about:
As you can see, I'll be a busy bee next weekend. If you see me buzzing around the convention, please feel free to say hi!
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 I'm very excited to return to Radio Red's podcast on Monday! I'm looking forward to joining Ben Leman and S.E. Tschritter to speak about writing, creativity, and everything related to it. Don't miss the show on June 29th from 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. ET. You can watch the livestream on YouTube, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
And Monday will be a busy day! I'm so excited to announce I have 3 new poems coming out at Write City Ezine: "Clickbait," "An Ode to Beets," and "Daughters." I'll post the links here when they're live. Looking forward to next week! It's getting started with a bang.  June has been such a whirlwind, and I'm looking forward to speaking with Dr. Jacalyn on her Unscripted podcast on the USA Global TV & Radio network today (June 26th) at noon ET. We'll be talking about... well, here's the thing - I don't know! It will be an open conversation about all manner of topics and completely off the cuff. So, if you're looking for a freewheeling discussion about everything under the sun, then tune in and see what these two ladies can come up with.
You can listen in on USA Global TV & Radio's YouTube. Looking forward to a fun show!  Tomorrow will be a busy day! I'll be starting out the day talking to Alan R. Warren as a guest on House of Mystery Radio Show at 2:30 p.m. ET. I'm very excited to return to the show on Wednesday and have a wide-ranging conversation with Alan about new projects, writing, and everything in between.  Then for all you night owls, I'll be hopping onto The Sportcat Show at 10 p.m. ET with host Glen “Sportcat” Jackson right after he chats with fellow author Liisa Kovala at 9 p.m. Also a wide-ranging convo, but it will culminate in a particularly eerie topic - "the world of the paranormal." Stay tuned!
 June has been a busy month. In addition to the scramble with my kids taking their final exams and finishing up their school year, I'm looking forward to being a guest on a number of podcasts and radio shows to talk about books, writing, and everything else happening in the literary space right now. Here are a few places where you'll be able to find me online and on the radio in the next couple of weeks: Upcoming:
June 19 (Friday) at 11:30 a.m. ET - Sebastien De Castell, Jason Kristopher, and I will be on The Midweek Drive to talk about the fantasy books with host Alex Lewczuk. June 24 (Wednesday) at 2:30 p.m. ET - I'll be a guest on House of Mystery Radio Show and chatting with host Alan R. Warren. June 24 (Wednesday) at 10 p.m. ET - I'll be talking to Glen “Sportcat” Jackson on The Sportcat Show, where the hosts and I will "dive into the world of the paranormal." June 26 (Friday) @ noon ET - To finish out the month, I'm looking forward to speaking with Dr. Jacalyn on her Unscripted podcast on the USA Global TV & Radio network. Just released: Spotlight at She Rises Studios on my books, my recent project Author Versus AI, ghostwriting, as well as a deep dive into what AI means to creatives these days. Press release on Scribble's Worth revisiting my debut novel The Rose Queen, as well as a highlighting my recent Author Versus AI project.
 I'm thrilled to be a guest on Peppa's Conversations tonight at 7 p.m. ET. It's a live radio show out of Baltimore, Maryland with fabulous hosts Peppa and Q. Should be a lively conversation, and you can call in to the show and ask questions during the broadcast. I look forward to speaking with Peppa and Q, and I hope you enjoy listening!  I'm so excited to join the Global Girls Online Book Club as Author of the Day tomorrow, May 4th! Looking forward to sharing my story as an author and connecting with these fabulous ladies from all around the world. I'll be posting pics and videos throughout the day and talking about my writing, as well as hosting a book giveaway. The group is free to join. Hope to see you tomorrow!  Today, I had a wonderful time speaking at the Spring Writer's Conference of the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County. My panel was the first of the day and the attendees and I had a great discussion and Q&A throughout. One thing I shared with the attendees was a worksheet with some links of helpful websites for authors who are planning to market their books and looking for ways to encompass a strategy to do so. I figured I'd share those links here as well. These are just a sampling of different websites that I've found helpful over the years; there are many others out there. ~ DIY WEBSITE HOST CHOICES ~ Having an author website is key to any marketing strategy. If you're on a budget and would like to do it yourself, here are some recommended websites (and one that I'm not so keen on). Substack - Recommended. Very flexible; easy for people to follow you. Weebly - Recommended. VERY easy to use - it's just point and click. Wix - Recommended. Flexible website setup. WordPress - Based on personal experience, not recommended. I found it harder to use, and my website crashed shortly after I built it. ~ ARTICLES ~ A few helpful marketing articles, including one from yours truly. Budget-Friendly Book Marketing (Alison McBain) Marketing & Promotion (Jane Friedman) Self-Publishing 101: Marketing (Alliance of Independent Authors) ~ AWARD SUBMISSIONS ~ There are so many book awards out there. Which ones are reputable? Which ones accept indie books? Here are a few databases that can help you sort the great awards from the vanity ones. Book Award & Contest Ratings (Alliance of Independent Authors) Writing Contest, Grants & Awards (Poets & Writers) Firefly Creative Writing ~ INDIE BOOK REVIEWERS ~ Not every book reviewer out there will take a look at indie-published or small press books. These are a few databases (and one review site) that contain places that do, including a number of select book bloggers who are always interested to take a look. The Indie View Independent Book Review (free/paid) List of Indie Book Reviewers ~ MAGAZINES THAT PUBLISH BOOK EXCERPTS ~ How do you find new readers once your book is published? One way is by having excerpts of your novel published in various magazines. Here are four that will publish short excerpts from your book. Bewildering Stories Book Life Commuter Lit Embark Literary Journal ~ MARKETING PLANS FOR WRITERS ~ Marketing plans are very useful in order to help you stay on budget and organize your marketing strategy. Here are a couple of sites that explain what goes into a book marketing plan, as well as offering templates to compose your own. Book Marketing Plan: The Definitive Checklist Book Marketing Plan Template (ManuscriptReport.com) ~ PODCAST DATABASES ~ These are several databases that connect you to podcast hosts looking for writer guests. Pitch Podcasts (free) Podcast Guests (free/paid) PodMatch (paid service) ~ SHORT WRITING SUBMISSIONS ~ New/shorter writing can be helpful to sell older/longer writing - and you get paid for it too! One of the best marketing strategies I've found to stay on a reader's radar is by having your short stories, poems, and essays published regularly in magazines and journals. Below is a list of several submission databases for shorter writing.
Authors Publish The Short List The Submission Grinder Winning Writers  I'm very excited to be one of four authors who will speaking at the Spring Writer's Conference of the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County. It's taking place one week from today, on Saturday, May 2nd from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. I'll be kicking things off with a panel about the ins and outs of author marketing. Here's the full day: CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Tickets are $40 for members ($60 for non-members) and you can buy them either in advance or at the door. There will be breaks between panels, and I'll be hanging around and happy to chat with anyone who's attending and has questions about any aspect of writing - always happy to talk!
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Who the heck is Alison McBain?I am a freelance writer and poet with over two hundred short pieces published in magazines and anthologies. Check out my 2024 writing challenge to write a book a week at Author Versus AI. For more info, please check out my "About Me" page. © Alison McBain. All rights reserved
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