How did it happen so fast? Just last night (I swear) we were toasting to 2014 and planning resolutions… and a month has gone by?

We have some tidbits of news to share with writers and winners before January comes to a blustery close and we kick off February 2014 with some fabulous articles (a lot of them answering questions you’ve so graciously contributed!)

And the Winners Are!

On January 7, we posed a question: Give Us Your Top Three Author Marketing Questions. And we promised you that for every ten responses we got, we’d randomly award one respondent with a free full year’s subscription to the Winner Circle. We had nearly 30 (excellent) responses and so thrilled to award three full year subscriptions!

We’re happy to announce the winners, selected by blind drawing from those responding:

• Myka Reed
• Candice James Selander
• Peni Jo Renner

For ALL the rest of you, our very sincerest thanks for your participation, and stay tuned for your answers!

Speaking of the Winners Circle

We’re thrilled to announce that, based on your wonderful feedback to our Winner Circle portals, there’s change a ‘comin! We’re taking our Best Book Review Sites to a new, all-online format.

While the directory was a fun way to launch this unprecedented collection of vetted and rated book influencers (and fun to produce), we know you need to be ever more responsive to your marketing. And, with so many new sites making tracks as influencers, and others changing policies or discontinuing services, we need to be able to update you with changes as they happen.

So, instead of the current interactive online publication that we’ve updated quarterly, each of our vetted 32 genres will now have its own link to a page chock full of review sites.

Naturally we’re still rating them for traffic and following, and including their review policy page links, whether they publish indie authors, self-published authors, etc. But the new format will make it faster for us to get you new info, and easier for you to quickly act on the intel!

We’ll also have a new template in our Templates & Tutorials portal that will allow you to keep track of your review submissions and track your success.

Both new features release on February 5. If you’re not yet a member of our Winner Circle, we invite you to join us. and take charge of your author marketing. You’ll love the vetted reviews, swoon over the hundreds of book club contacts, and be able to plan with our interactive calendars for contests, speaking and signing potential at hundreds of upcoming conferences and festivals.

PubSmart Early Bird Discounts End Tomorrow

And one more reminder about this April’s PubSmart in Charleston, SC. That early-bird deadline is tomorrow. If you’re planning to join this remarkable team of sponsors, exhibitors, over 50 faculty, do it before February 1st to save $50. Here are links to recent articles from PubSmartCon:

• PubSmart Pop-Up! Brunch Bonus: Porter Anderson Interviews Keynote Hugh Howey
• Faculty member C. Hope Clark on Funding the Early Years of Your Writing Career
• Kobo’s Indie for Indies: Authors and Bookstores Working Together Towards Success
• PubSmart Conference Faculty at a Glance: Featuring World’s Thought Leaders in Publishing!
• PUBSMART CONFERENCE DEALS AND DISCOUNTS: Early Bird $50 Discount Ends Feb. 1

Here’s to a productive, successful, and warmer February for all you writers and winners! Questions, comments, insights? Stay in touch with your comment below!