Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers

My Book News & Advocate for the Writing Community ©

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Writing Conference and Book Cover Creation

March 18, 2021
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It is that time of year again, I have been working with the Board members of my writing group to finalize details for our annual writing conference. As I am hosting an online session about blogging, I revised my presentation notes in readiness. The countdown is on!

I would ask any writer that is interested in gaining new skills, honing their craft or wants to expand their network to attend this remarkable conference. The Writers Foundation of Strathcona County’s Conference on 27th March – The Art of Writing is covering a wide range of writing skills. https://www.wfscsherwoodpark.com/annual-writers-conference

We will also be live on our Facebook page if you want to drop by anytime between 8:30 am – 5:00 pm MST https://www.facebook.com/wfscsherwoodpark There is the opportunity to promote your book(s) as well throughout the day so click the link to submit.

Apart from continuing to write my current WIP; book one of the The Delphic Murders trilogy, I have been thinking about the book covers. Each book needs to reflect the story within it but also tie-in to the other two books. After a conversation, an idea has been bouncing around in my head but on Tuesday a much better idea for the imagery came out of nowhere. I am now discussing the possibilities with my cover artist. This is such an exciting stage of any the book creation.

As always, working with any artist, it is paramount to have good communication and be able to describe our ‘vision’ for the illustrations. We are lucky to have the power of technology to find samples and suggested imagery. I have been lucky to have worked with several artists to create artwork that reflects my stories.

With any cover we need to ask ourselves three main questions:

Does the cover reflect the story?

Is it eye catching?

Does it reflect the genre?  

How did you decide on your book (s) cover?

Did you use your own photographs, commission or draw you own drawings or manipulate images some other way?

Interestingly, I searched best book covers for 2020 and there are several lists to look through. All of them have different covers, so it is really a matter of person preference. A cover might attract one reader but not another. It is a balancing act, for sure.

Do you have a favorite book cover? Why not share one?

Bibliophile’s Collective Tuesday – Book Event Review, Journalistic Untruths, Writing & Reading

March 16, 2021
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I attended the WinterFest event with Ethan Hawke on Sunday and was so impressed with his honesty, passion and openness to the interviewer’s questions. I count myself lucky that he answered one of my questions out of a multitude! He said that the media create illusions of celebrities and their lives. I totally agree. When you can see two magazines side by side on the rack at the check out and they have polar opposite stories of the same personality – you know it can’t be true. It is the same a click bait – they need you to pick up and buy the magazine regardless of the truthfulness of the story. It is a sad and damaging side to journalism (if you can call it that). People’s lives can be destroyed and they have no come back. Anyway, that is my rant for today. On to other things.

If you get a chance I would recommend you read this book, it is extremely good.

I took a couple of days off work last week, to do spring cleaning, relax, write, take a couple of drives out and get my paperwork together for the dreaded tax return. My current manuscript gained a sizable additional word count and revision and a surprising twist occurred.

My blog presentation received a few tweaks pending my session at the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County’s Conference on 27th March. If you or anyone you know is interested in writing, now is the time to register. The conference is covering a wide range of writing skills. https://www.wfscsherwoodpark.com/annual-writers-conference We will also be live on our Facebook page if you want to drop by anytime between 8:30 am – 5:00 pm MST https://www.facebook.com/wfscsherwoodpark

I have gone back to reading Road Tripping after reading Hawke’s novel for the book club.

What are you reading now? Care to share your thoughts on it?

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Wordbridge Writers Conference

February 18, 2021
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 I was honoured to be part of this virtual writing conference this past weekend. It was certainly jammed packed with panelists from all avenues of the writing community, and I made some great connections and learned a lot. I was also a panelist, which was such a fun thing to do. My first panel was on Friday with Mandy Michelle, Sarah Graham, and Melinda Curtis. We were discussing the romance genre and how it has transformed in line with societal changes since it’s conception, but also the expectation of the genre readers for the story format. Then on Saturday, I partnered with my publisher, Dream Write Publishing’s owner, Linda Pedley to discuss the business of getting a novel published and the extra writing required. This includes an author bio and professional photo, a blurb, a summary, a synopsis etc. etc. These ‘extra’s’ are not always considered by authors and the information proved to be useful.

Being part of such a conference is a great way to get to know other authors and their writing personalities and also to learn new techniques and skills. The participants were also given the great opportunity to have their book links added to an online bookstore. https://www.notion.so/WordBridge-2021-Online-Bookstore-2a7eb0bd5422478dbabe0cfa1f86f2b2

Next month, I will be hosting a virtual session on creating a great blog post at this writing conference, so I hope you will join me and the other great presenters on the day! There are two very special guests presenting! https://www.wfscsherwoodpark.com/annual-writers-conference

Take care and happy writing!

If you have any questions or would like me to present please let me know. My media kit lists my presentations, but I am versatile enough to host any writing subject you require.

https://mandyevebarnett.com/media-kit/

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