DISCOVER A NEW AUTHOR TODAY

Thousands of writers need your help.

These are first time authors who have crafted new novels. These authors need readers. First time book authors face a difficult time getting attention. They are ignored by the publishing industry that is itself flooded with new novels and nonfiction books. I have been told that some agents get a new email from an author looking for representation on average every ten minutes. That is a lot of book proposals to read and evaluate. Even with an army of interns to read some of the manuscripts, most new manuscripts are not read. They are lost in the shuffle.

As an author who just spent over two years on a novel that is finally ready for readers, I understand not wanting this precious baby of mine to get lost in the slush piles.

Reading new (as yet) unsold novels will cost you nothing but time. They are free; imagine the joy if a novel you read, reviewed and championed early in the process becomes a best seller, a classic or both some day.

Here are several ways you can help. Create an online book club. Join with two or three other readers to read and critique one novel a month.

Get school classes to select three new books every semester to read and review. Or you can just start reading. Where do you find these new authors and their novels?

Bookcountry.com

inkitt.com

These sites are free to join. While they were set up for new writers to post their work and share, readers are always welcome. Let’s support new authors in our community be they online or sitting across from us at the local coffee shop. Start reading today. Discover some exciting new talent.

Learning Hack of the Day: Use Playing Cards Like Flash Cards

Look for unusual items that can be turned into teaching aids and, therefore, learning aids. While it is unlikely that any deck of cards will exactly match the material for your class, playing cards do have trivia and other useful information on them.

You can use these cards like flash cards for home schooling and lifetime learning. Playing cards might have pictures and information either on their backs or fronts. Some decks show examples of great art; other decks might have pictures and trivia about U.S. Presidents, Indian Chiefs, wild west outlaws or famous pirates, One set of cards has musical notes and explanations. Another has pictures of different wines of the world and information on those wines. Some have art designs. Others have information on famous generals or battles. Some gave pictures of different flags or tourist attractions. Some have maps of places and even the night sky. Other decks of cards and swap cards have trivia, movie stars or sports stars.

See what decks of playing cards you can find in various stores and online and use them in your learning. Here are just a few examples.

Learning Hack of the Day: Read

Read. Read. Read. Smart people are readers. They engage in conversations not only with the people in their environment, but with good writers from other cultures and other times. You do not have to read classics. Read what you want. When I was a teenager, I read movie magazines, and TV tie in books. These are a step above comic books, but not a big step. The grammar in these books was very well-done, and my own grammar improved because I was looking at examples of good grammar every day. The writers may not have been the best, but they were professionals, and I was keeping professional company. I also had the reading habit. I eventually graduated to slightly more sophisticated material. Today, I enjoy Stephen King, Dean Koontz, David Rosenfelt, and Janet Evanovich. Should I be reading Shakespeare and Mark Twain? Only if I feel like it, and sometimes I do. When I read for leisure, I pick the book and the author. Read one book a week. Keep a list of the books you read. Write a one page synopsis on each after you finish. No matter what books you read, your learning will get better. As I write this I am just finishing Thomas Thompson's novel “Celebrity.” I have read this several times over the last thirty years. Thompson is a real pro. His characters are so well crafted that it is easy to believe they might be real people. His plot is full of twists and turns. He does everything a great writer should do while covering twenty-five years of the last century. Many of today's best writers are as good as any of the past masters. Each reader must find the writers he wants to claim as companions. http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=as_li_qf_br_sr_il_tl?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&node=1000&tag=leliawhki-20&linkId=3NIOVZBFGA43DJTB