Want to learn more about Where Writers Win’s Winner Circle before you join? Already joined but have a question? Start here! We’ve included info on what’s included in your Winner Circle membership, as well as a section on how to manage your membership:

What’s Behind the Curtain?

1. Best Book Review Sites

How many book reviewers are available to me?
During our research for this project we found thousands of sites identifying as book review sites. We include only the best (biggest following, most influential) we’ve found in each genre. We continually add others as they become viable. Depending on the genre, right now that’s at anywhere between 75 and over 125.

How many genres are included?
32 and here they are!
What does each listing include?

• The name and home page URL (website address).
• The URL for the site’s review and submission policy page. Follow each site’s instructions for best results!
• Whether the site is free or requires a fee (or both, in the case of sites that require fees for self-published work, or expedited reviews and packages).
• Whether the reviewer accepts self-published work and/or post-publication submissions.
• Whether the reviewer also hosts/features author interviews on their website.
• Our own WWW rating of the site

What’s a WWW Rating?

It’s our way of assigning an “influencer value” to each site. But please note – they have to be useful sites to even make our vetted list.

• W = Worthwhile: A site with good intent but not yet getting quite the traffic to be a top gun; still worth your time to get in early and get some great attention for your work.
• WW = Worthwhile and Winning: More traffic, more followers for the genres specified, has established some regular following and influence.
• WWW = Worthwhile, Winning & Wonderful: The coveted top traffic sites with lots of followers and influential reviews; the folks most quoted!

How do you rate the book review sites?

• Most important – Traffic. The site may not be as pretty, but does it have a wide following of readers/fans in the genres it reviews? We’ll forgive how it looks if it performs, meaning that your book buyers are there!
• Ease of use – Can fans find what they’re looking for? Can authors easily submit books for review? Must they send a physical copy to a foreign country, for example?
• Wide sphere of influence – Some reviewers might not have the greatest website traffic, but have thousands of YouTube or Goodreads followers. Their “tribe size” matters.

How often are reviewers updated?

We regularly scour both the review sites listed as well as add to the list new sites that show increased traffic and performance. Each quarter we go through each of the genres to eliminate those that are no longer performing well for authors and add the newest, best performing sites.

2. Connect with Book Clubs

What information is included for each club?

• Club Name and Contact Info
• Where the club is located (city or metro area in state)
• Whether the club is a live meeting, a virtual (i.e. Skype or Google Hangout) club or strictly online
• If the club is affiliated with a local bookstore or library
• The club’s preferred reading genre(s)

Do they have mailing addresses?

No, unless affiliated with a bookstore or business address. Most of these are live clubs that meet inside people’s homes; there’s an “ick” factor to us publishing anyone’s home address. Contact info is phone and/or email, and we also ask that members respect the genres each club prefers, as well as their preferred contact method. (Our Templates & Tutorials page offers a suggested Book Club Query).

How many live book clubs are on the list?

Over 400 as of January 2017 and we add more each week as we discover and screen them.

Can I just get a list of all the clubs, rather than view them state by state?

Sorry, no. We’ve guaranteed these good folks that we will NOT publicly publish this list except state-by-state to members. Special circumstances, i.e. publisher or publicist request, may be taken into consideration. It’s important to us (and you) that book clubs feel respected and honored to be on this list, not harrassed or bulk emailed (or they’ll ask to be removed).

3. Find a Bookstore Near You

Are these chain bookstores or independent booksellers?

Our interactive map lets you click on any state to show independent booksellers in that state. But we’ve also provided links to the store locators for the major bookstore chains. Together, we’re talking thousands of potential book signing opportunities… get to work!

Will they guarantee me a book signing or reading event?

No, and we remind authors that booksellers are businesses. As one recently told us, “Even Penguin Random House has to make an appointment.” So try not to “just drop in” on them; they’re indundated with authors doing just that. Instead, send a friendly email or snail mail with your author tip sheet and request five minutes to stop by and offer them a look at your book. If you can leave them a free sample, even better!

4. Competitions, Conferences and Festivals

How do I know if a writing competition is right for me?

Not all contests are created equal. We continually scour our sources for quality competitions that offer either:

• Substantial cash prizes ($500 minimum)
• Low entry fees ($75 or less)
• A guaranteed publishing contract
• Some combination of cash and prestige

Note: Many contests have short windows before their closing deadlines, so we’ll list new competitions weekly or as they become available (there are typically over 100 to check out at any given time).

How many writer’s conferences do you have on your list?

Over 100 at present, and new ones added monthly as they become available or announce new dates.

How many book festivals are on your list?

Over 85 at present, and new ones added weekly as they become available or announce new dates for the following year.

5. Indie and Hybrid Publishers

Why are only a handful of “hybrids” listed?

All hybrid publishers are not created equal, therefore we’re only adding those who we have some personal knowledge of as regards dealing with authors fairly and successfully. If you know/love a publisher and want to share, we’ll be happy to take a look.

6. Get Your Group On

Will joining these groups get me more readers?

Sometimes, and we definitely suggest you join reading groups, such as those at Goodreads, for your particular genre. They’d be too numerous for us to list, so instead our focus here was to list groups where you can connect and network with other authors and marketers. They often prove useful when looking for more avenues to your readers!

7. WWW Group Forum

Why aren’t these groups “public?”

There are already plenty of fabulous author marketing groups online; this one is just for members to ask each other questions and share information, including WWW clients who are a great resource with plenty of marketing insights to contribute. Find other authors in your genre and team up for book events; share insights and create cross promotions.

Our newest group, WWW Review Forum on Facebook, lets authors find other authors to review their books. This is NOT a review exchange, but rather a place to list your book, and find books you’d like to read and review.

8. Nifty online tools for authors

So, what exactly are these?

Glad you asked! These are websites and tools that aren’t really reviewers or social networks, groups or publishers, but rather creative problem solvers that can rev up your author marketing and publicity. Where we’ve done an article explaining more about the tool, we’ve given you a link to that as well. Categories for our tools page include:

• Content Delivery/Crowdsourcing
• Crowdfunding
• Discoverability Tools
• Free Facebook Apps
• Get Press
• Monitoring and Measuring (Websites and Social Media)
• Reaching Readers
• Fee Based Sites

Are the tools on this page free?

All the sites listed are free except those under the specific “Fee Based Sites” category.

9. Templates and Tutorials

Are these all free to download and use?

Absolutely, yes! And check back often as we’ll continue to add new templates, tutorial or ebook downloads as they become available.

What will I find here?

• Useful Author Templates
• Author Marketing Tutorials
• Free Ebooks and White Papers

10. Blog Directories and RSS Feeds

Should I list my blog on every single one of these?

No, but the more you list on, the more inbound links you’ll be building to your author website, which improves your traffic and your searchability. Some may not appeal to you; don’t list your blog there if it doesn’t seem like your “tribe” of readers would bump into your listing on that site.

11. Deals and Steals

What kind of deals can I find here?

• Discounts on website, social media, video book trailer and ebook conversion services
• Discounts on classes/workshops
• Discounts on writer’s conferences and retreats

Why are these companies offering me a discount?

Because it’s a win-win-win! Rather than charge service providers and conferences to advertise on our pages, we agree to promote them if they offer our members a discount. They win, you win, and we win because more of you will want to be members!

12. Blog-a-licious: Recommended Reading

Why do I want to read someone else’s blog?

Well, some we’ve listed are great social marketing resources, others are publishing insiders with know-how whose blogs we respect. We don’t claim to have ALL the answers, and these folks are all respected authorities in the publishing world.

I don’t see my favorite blog listed.

We can fix that. Tell us where to find it and why it should make the list! Email info@writerswin.com

13. Submit a Guest Blog Post

Can I guest blog about my book?

You can certainly mention your book (and we’ll include a cover photo and a link to your website or where the book is for sale) but the emphasis of the post must be on insights that can help fellow authors. Take a look at our blog categories – if your post fits into one of those categories, bring it on!

Can I pick a certain day for my post to release?

If we have notice (don’t tell us you need it in there tomorrow at midnight tonight) then usually yes. But keep in mind that we reserve guest posts for Tuesdays and Thursdays; let that be your guide.

14. Writing Wisdom and Winspiration

Why did you add something on “craft” when most of this site is about marketing?

Good question. You mean, besides really getting a kick out of the picture in the icon (at right)? The truth is, we were about to put this all to bed when we realized that even with all the grimy business aspects of publishing that we’re all forced to deal with, in our hearts we’re authors and artists. And once in a while THAT needs a pick-me-up, too. Because of course better writing is easier to market and sell, right?

So, when you want to shower off the virtual grime, we’ll be adding some of the stuff that lets us sit back, sigh, and remember why we fell in love with stringing words together in the first place…

Managing My Membership

I’m having trouble completing my registration.

It happens! Watch for an email with the subject title “Please Complete Your Registration.” The email will look like this:

Click on the link in that email and you’ll be brought to where you can create your own username and password.

How long am I subscribed for and will my subscription automatically renew?

A full year from the date you subscribe, and yes, based on your input we’ve included auto-renewal as part of your membership.

What if I Don’t Want to Renew?

Not a problem. You can visit subscriptions on your own Paypal account any time and click on WWW, then simply cancel. Your subscription will be active for the subscribed period but will not auto renew. When your membership expires your access will be revoked until you renew again.

Okay, I registered yesterday and already forgot my password.

Shame on you – kidding. You can click on the clever “Lost Your Password?” button on the login area (bottom left of each WWW page). And it’s okay, you’re not the only one (or it wouldn’t have its own button, eh?)

P.S. Once you’re back in the Winner Circle, you need to download the Social Media Bible from our Templates and Tutorials page so you don’t lose any more passwords, okay?

I’m Still Having Trouble

No worries, email us at info@writerswin.com and if we can’t resolve your issue by email we’ll call you to work through it. (Hey, we’ve all been there.)

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” – Leonardo da Vinci

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