Welcome to yet another News Day!
Anything I find interesting or worth sharing, I post here. I try to get out there to get as much news down as possible, but I’m one tiny little person. SO! If you have a bit of news you want people to know about, please let me know. Either in the comments, or you can let me know ahead of time by contacting me by e-mail. If you do, please make “News” the topic, so I can keep track easily. My address is mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com. Anything can be a news topic, even if it’s something you’re doing.
Blog Admin
First things first, I want to remind everyone to please vote for the Paying Forward Awards this week.
Then, I have a question about the Word Master Challenge. Despite the fact that there was a significant interest in entries this month, not one has been made yet. Are you guys too busy for a competition of this nature or don’t you want to be the first entrant? (I promise you there is no first entrant disadvantage, since I read the entries three times before scoring.) Or did I give you too little time to think up something good? If that’s the case, should I move the deadline up a month? Please let me know what’s up with regards to this, because it’s really something I would love to see take off.
Blogfests and Hops
Kyra Lennon and Clare Dugmore are hosting the Bloghop of Joy on March 1.
Mina Lobo and David McCaulay are hosting The Big Reveal Bloghop where you can announce your theme for the A to Z Challenge on March 21.
Noteworthy Book Offers
Roland Yeomans is donating proceeds from his book sales this month (until February 28) to the Salvation Army, so please head over to check out his books. If something catches your eye, you might be making a difference in someone’s life.
To celebrate the release of Escapement, Ciara Knight is offering the prequel, Weighted for free. And Escapement itself is available for the low low price of $2.99. This offer is only valid until March 1.
Worth a Look
I’ve stumbled across some really interesting and useful posts. Hope you find something in your taste:
Bloomberg did a slideshow on the real cost of self-publishing.
Then there was this awesome post on how to scare readers in horror and psychological thrillers.
Finally, there’s this immensely useful list of things to look out for when revising a first chapter.
That’s it for today. Please share your thoughts on the Word Master Challenge. Any of the links catch your eye?
The Five Year Project 
I saw the Big Reveal Bloghop yesterday. Cool idea.
Sorry, Word Master Challenge is beyond what I can do right now.
Thanks for the bloghop shoutout, Misha!
Lots of good links here. I'm off to check on a few that especially caught my eye. Thanks, Misha!
You are seriously the master of paying it forward. Thanks for all the links! I have a few places that need visiting. 🙂
Great info, Misha, thanks for sharing. I'm definitely going to take a look at the self pub link.
Lots of news, Misha! I haven't looked at Word Master Challenge yet, but I'll take a peek. I've been overwhelmed this month, so have taken on few challenges. 😦
I've been crazy crazy busy recently and haven't even had a chance to look at the challenge this month. I do have an idea in mind now that I've read the prompt. Hopefully I'll be able to get a good entry together soon!
Thanks for the links, Misha. I'm off to read a couple.
Hi Misha,
I'll wander by and check out the bloghop about revealing your A-Z challenge theme. I haven't condensed my theme into an easy to describe tagline yet, but I'm working on it!
I will definitely wander over to the 'how to scare readers' post.
Thanks for sharing!
~Jen
All of them, but can't hook up right now. So much going on!!
Hi Misha, voted at the Paying Forward post. Good luck with the counting of votes. I like your news collection feature, please keep it up.
Wow, that slide show was… enlightening. As for the word master challenge, it's just been a full month of crazy, so I wouldn't worry. They'll start coming in.
Thanks for the great round-up as usual. I'm also in the “no time” category for the challenge.
I thought the real cost of self pubishing was interesting, but the cost to print the books, for example, was pretty steep for offset printing. One could do POD with several companies and the per book cost would be less, including shipping.
Oh excellent links! Thank you so much. Must read!
You keep us informed. Thanks. Misha!
Wow, love all the news, especially the horror post. Thanks for sharing.
The theme blogfest sounds like a great idea. Not that I'm participating in the main blogfest.
Thanks for the great round-up, Mischa. Sorry, I barely have enough time as it is to do what I need to do. The word master challenge isn't something I have time for. I'm not very good at them. So it would take me even more time to complete than I have. 😦
Lots going on. Thanks for all the links!
I thought so. You must be really busy at the moment.
You're welcome. 🙂
Glad you found some useful links. 🙂
Thank you!
Let me know what you think. 🙂
Hmm… it seems to me that February was just an insane month.
Hope things settle into more manageable chunks for you soon. 🙂
Sounds good to me. 😀
Enjoy. 🙂
Glad I managed to intrigue you. ^_^
Ooh you sound really busy!
Thanks, D.G. I'm probably going to start counting today so I'm not overwhelmed after the vote closes.
🙂
It seems like February was an insane month. Maybe I should postpone the deadline to end March. Hm.
Awe that's too bad.
That's an interesting idea…
Glad you like them!
I do try. 😉
You're welcome. 🙂
That's understandable. Thanks for letting me know.
You're welcome. 🙂
Thanks for the links will check out a couple later. Afraid I am not able to take on anything else at the moment. Life has been pretty full on recently and emotionally draining. My creativity is on a go slow!
I'd be afraid to donate news about the blog post I just posted as anyone would think I was canvassing for business. Which I'm not necessarily doing…
Maria
I'm curious about what people are up to for A to Z this year. I will watch from the sidelines. It burned me out.
Thanks for all the links Misha!
I haven't checked out the Wordmaster challenge yet, but not sure if I'll have time to take on any new challenges at the moment. I've already signed up for the Bloghop Of Joy and one or two others during March.
I didn;t know about the Big Reveal Blog Hop. Thanks!! I'm signed up and ready to go.
Thanks for sharing about the Big Reveal Hop – that's a great idea and I hadn't heard about it. Signed up now!
Great links, thanks for sharing as always. 🙂
HI, Misha,
Lots going on… thanks for the links. I wish I had MORE TIME! LOL.
I love your worth a look pieces. So helpful, especially what to look for when revising that first chapter. Thanks Misha!
Yet again lots of useful information here 🙂
thanks for the info! i've been slacking lately…
Thanks for the links, Misha. I love how bright and fun your new blog design is. I haven't checked out Word master, and I'll see if I have time. I already signed up for 3 other blogfests in March!
Nutschell
http://www.thewritingnut.com
Thanks for the link to Heath Sommer's post on thriller writing. (I'm his publicist.) I'm glad you liked it!
Thanks for the update.
RE: Wordmaster challenge… I am drafting right now, and so I'm limiting myself with social media. It's a fun idea. I just don't have time. 😦
I was busy w/ promotion crap, so haven't done any writing lately. Soon. 🙂
I'll have to check out some of your links.
Hey Misha! apologies for the word master deal, had another overseas trip, but am now seriously trying to think what my favourite place would be… 🙂