Angela Dawson Reports on Promotional Activities

Author of Red, Angela Dawson reports on her recent promotional activities and opportunities:

ABC Radio MelbourneAngela Dawson publishes her novel Red - ABC 

Plus, as well as Readings bookstores, I managed to get books into Dymocks, Camberwell after being part of a panel of authors presenting to a packed audience at Rivoli Cinemas, Camberwell, for their 'First Tuesday Book Club'.  Catherine Deveny was one of them!  Fun, but quite nerve racking!  I got to speak for 15 mins, and afterwards we all sat in the foyer for book signings, like real authors!

 I've entered lots of competitions, and so far have managed to get short listed in the Santa Fe Writers Project 2022 Literary Awards (27 selected out of 2000!)  

This was their feedback:

Thank you for participating in the 2022 Literary Awards Program and, again, congrats on making it into the finalist lists! You beat out nearly 2000 manuscripts to get where you are. 
While you did not make the winners' circle, your manuscript showed strong promise and shined through a rigorous judging process. Congratulations!

I'm still waiting for a few more comp results, some of which come out at the end of the year. 

I have a few things I want to pursue - I've joined this FB page, which might help with getting some online traffic:

I even wrote a short blog today, after a massive hiatus!

There are definitely some great opportunities out there for writers to get their work critiqued. I found a few legitimate sites, including an American one which frequently has competitions with no entry fees - usually for short essays, poems.  I'm on their monthly list for the newsletter.  Their site states they are, 'One of the Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers'.

Contact Us - Winning Writers

Winning Writers, Inc.

351 Pleasant Street Suite B PMB 222
Northampton, MA 01060-3998
USA

Her website can be found here.

Independent author Maria Stefanides Interviewed

An excellent overview of Maria’s writing philosophy and background can be found here. Her book “The Invisible Thread” is available on Amazon.

“her writing story was carved by her immigration story. Her Cypriot heritage has been an integral part of her writing journey. Maria writes with the ink that drops from her heart.”

Jenny Wellington on ABC Radio

Jenny Wellington, author of the very entertaining novel Damengin, was interviewed on ABC Sunshine Coast — audio below.

“Damengin is a country town in Queensland weighed down by the worst drought in living memory and its inhabitants are all desperately waiting for government drought relief.

The bad news is that the funds have been sent and spent by Council's Shire Clerk Shifty Grey and his corrupt cohorts.

This is a rollicking fast-moving story about political skulduggery, greed, love and lust. It features outrageous characters, blossoming romances, pathos and importantly, has an incredibly happy ending.”

A lovely Aussie story that everyone can relate to. Loved reading the book right from the start. I could hear the author reading the story to me at the start and as I got further into the book, wrapped into the characters of the story, I couldn’t put the book down as I sat in on the edge of my chair wondering what was going to happen next.
— Christine, Queensland

An Amazon Tale: He Fought for His Royalties, and (Eventually) Won ....

A very dogged author relates his trying experiences with Amazon KDP and organising the payment of royalties. He does arrive at a solution, but only through sheer persistence:

“Amazon is probably the best outlet for Indie authors, but manage your expectations when dealing with their customer service.

Their help/assistance/advice to me was either inconsistent, vague, given in Amazon’s internal technical speak, incomplete, or simply wrong.

I put my latest novel up on Amazon as I did with my previous two, only this time, I put both eBook and paperback on all markets, not just Australia.

When sales started occurring, I followed those on my KDP account site.  I found their reports informative and helpful.  They gave me statistics for each marketplace and the estimated royalties.

When my Australian royalties started arriving in my Australian bank account by EFT, I thought I would find out why my sales in the other markets were not reaching me.

I then discovered those royalties could not be paid by EFT into my Australian bank account, only by cheque or wire.  Then I found that not only could an EFT transfer not happen, but that Amazon had a withdrawal threshold of 100 units for each market, e.g. US$100, CA$100, €100, or £100.

None of my book royalties in any market outside Australia is ever likely to break these thresholds, e.g. Canada royalties were CA$2.88, Eurozone (Germany)  €7.80.  So, I put the question to Amazon – how do I ever get paid these royalties?

Amazon suggested I open an account with Payoneer for each marketplace, which I did.  So, Amazon from each marketplace could now transfer my royalties to those Payoneer accounts.  However, my problem then became twofold:

  1. Payoneer does not have a banking arrangement with UK or Canadian banks. So these royalties could not be transferred to my Payoneer accounts.

  2. Then I discovered that Payoneer also has a withdrawal threshold of US$50 per transfer.

Finally, a solution:

  1.  In your KDP account go to the Getting paid tab.

  2. In your non-US/non-Australian accounts, change your payment method to your US$ account and transfer any outstanding royalties in those other non-US accounts to the US$ account.

  3. Under your Amazon US account, click and highlight every tag except Amazon.com.au.

  4. All royalties from sales in all those other marketplaces will now be currency converted into your US$ account.

  5. If or when your US$ account balance reaches above US$100 you can transfer to your Australian bank account.

  6. In my case, I have my Amazon US$ account balance transferred to my Payoneer US$ account (lower withdrawal threshold). Amazon’s US$100 withdrawal threshold does not apply here.”

Barbara Canin Stirs the Pot

Feisty independent author Barbara Canin decided to make her aged care home the focus of her latest book. The resultant book is trenchant, witty and somewhat controversial.

I’m trying to show the funny side of living in an old age home. There’s a funny side too. It’s hilarious, you have no idea how hilarious it is, Canin said with a smile.
— Barbara Canin


Plantea in Posterum exhibition by Ellen Hansa

Ellen Hansa, author of the excellent Dante’s Trunk is holding an exhibition of her botanically-themed ceramic art. She writes that the “opening of my exhibition was quite amazing filled with stories, poetry and song.”

‘Plantea in Posterum’, plants of the future, was a challenge which kept me busy for almost 12 months. Usually I make my work to be put into a garden, threading the pieces onto star pickets which are securely hammered into the ground. I had to devise a way to be able to display my work in a gallery as well as in a garden or on a patio. On top of that everything had to fit into my car and I had to be able to lift the pieces. The sculptures can be dissembled for easy transportation.

My ceramic career started over 50 years ago, when I fell in love with clay and its possibility to mould it into all kinds of shapes. Pots, tiles and sculptures, I made it all. All these items I start by drawing the shapes and working out the colours. Only then I begin with the modelling, the firing and the glazing. For this exhibition my inspiration came from my garden.

The exhibition will continue until December 11. Edge Galleries are open weekends 11am-3pm