Ah, happy Black Friday and Cyber Monday! Here at WWW we wanted to get into the fun, too! So, from right NOW until December 8th, you can get $20 off your Winner Circle membership! That’s 33% folks! Which means, for just $39.95 you’ll have access to resources for which you’d pay a hefty sum (or spend hundreds of hours finding yourself) for an entire year.

Want to learn more about Where Writers Win’s Winner Circle before you join?

Here are a list of frequently asked questions that address each of 14 menu items “behind the curtain” in the Winner Circle! When you’re ready to join us in the Winner Circle, use promo code VIPW20 for your $20 discount!

1. Best Book Review Sites

How many book reviewers are available to me?
We’re only bringing you the best we’ve found in each genre, and we’ll add others as they become viable in subsequent editions. Depending on the genre, right now that’s at anywhere between 45 and over 60.

How many genres are included?
32 and here they are!

What does each listing include?

• The name and home page URL of the website.
• The URL for the site’s review and submission policy. From here you’ll be able to decipher how to deliver your book to them.
• Whether the site is free or requires a fee (or both, in the case of sites that require fees for self-published work)
• 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 a value to each site. But please note – they had to be decent sites to even make the list.

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

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 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?
Quality/Quantity of reviewers – Self explanatory (if they can’t spell review, well… they’ve been left off the list!).

How often will this directory be updated?
Quarterly (May 1, August 1, November 1, February 1). For each edition we’ll both review sites listed as well as add to the list from our “wait and see” group that we’re watching for increased traffic and performance.

2. Connect with Book Clubs

What sort of information is included for each club?

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

Do they have mailing addresses?
No, nor will they ever, 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 200 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?

We’ve guaranteed these good folks that we will NOT publicly publish this list except to members. If you want access to a full list, you must email us with your member username and email address. Once we approve your email access we’ll send you a link to be able to view/download the list document.

3. Find a Bookstore Near You

Are these chain bookstores or independent booksellers?
Our interactive map lets you click on any state to show the 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!

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
• 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 a dozen to check out at any given time).

How many writer’s conferences do you have on your list?
Over 80 at present, and new ones added as they become available and/or announce new dates.

How many book festivals are on your list?
Over 100 at present, and new ones added as they become available or announce new dates.

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 is 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 isn’t this group “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.

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
• Free Facebook Apps
• Get Press
• Monitoring and Measuring (Websites and Social Media)
• Reaching Readers
• Fee Based Sites

9. Templates and Tutorials

Are these all free to download and use?
Absolutely, yes! And check back often as we’ll be adding new resource links regularly.

What will I find here?

• Useful Author Templates
• Author Marketing Tutorials
• Free Ebooks and White Papers from other experts

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 there will be to your 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 and ebook conversion services
• Discounts on classes/workshops
• Discounts on writer’s conferences and retreats

Why are these people 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 only 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. And some are just for a giggle when you need a break.

I don’t see my favorite blog listed.
Tell us where to find it and why it should make the list!

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 at the right – 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 always blog on “odd” days of the month; 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.

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…

Already a member of the Winner Circle? Share your experience with your comment below!