September 2025 News
Contest Finalists and September Challenge
Message from the Prez
Laura Carney, our speaker for the August Wednesday evening meeting, was an inspiration as she talked about the process of writing her memoir. After the meeting, she sent an email with some further thoughts that apply to all types of writing.
“But the other reason I think it sold was the same reason I was talking to film producers even before I got a publisher: The themes in the story are universal. Book publishers want a sure thing. They knew I was coming from a magazine background and the story I'd tell, though it would have moving, emotional moments, would also mostly be wholesome and mainstream. Unless your book is about a very controversial topic (if it doesn't bleed, it doesn't lead mentality), I think what publishers want is for it to feel as universally interesting as humanly possible.”
Universality doesn’t mean that we write the same story over and over again, but it does mean that readers need to be able to relate to your story. This is why romance is a mainstay of fiction: everyone has been in love or wants to be in love at some point in their lives. How is your memoir, short story, novel, play, or article universal? While it is your story, how does it relate to other people?
We have had many excellent speakers this year, so don’t miss out! Check out the upcoming list here: https://www.southwestwriters.com/events/
Congratulations to our contest finalists listed below!
Judy
Message from VP/Contest Chair
Congratulations to the 2025 SWW Writing Contest Finalists! The contest received over 300 entries, across 18 categories. Click here, to see the list of finalists.
Upcoming SWW Events
You can find information about upcoming events on the SWW website here. Here’s what’s on tap this month.
Saturday, September 13: Meeting presentation (in-person or zoom) from 10 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. End-of-Life and Your Literary Legacy will be presented by - Gail Rubin More information here.
Saturday, September 13: Workshop (in-person or zoom) from 12:00 until 2:00 p.m. Trading Cards and Post Cards for Marketing will be presented by Michael Avery - More information here and register here.
Wednesday, September 24: Meeting presentation (zoom only) from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Marketing and Publicity for Writers will be presented by Krista Soukup - More information here.
Saturday, October 11: SWW Annual Meeting (in-person or via Zoom) from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. More information here.
Last Month’s Writing Challenge - The Results
Last month we challenged you to write about the word “charity.” Six SWW members contributed to last month’s Challenge: S. C. Poli, Dita Dow, Ed Johnson, C.L. Nemeth, R. Janet Walraven, and Lynne Zotalis. Check out their submissions here.
This Month’s Writing Challenge for SWW Members
The monthly challenge is a terrific opportunity to write and submit short pieces based on a prompt. Entries we select for publication will appear on the SouthWest Writers Sage Challenge webpage and will be eligible for inclusion in upcoming anthologies. For more information and our submission guidelines, click here. Email your entry in MS Word or TXT format to info@swwriters.com by the 20th of the month.
This month’s challenge: If Wishes were Novels...
What does “If Wishes were Novels…” bring to mind? Send up to 800 words of prose or poetry, fiction or non-fiction to info@swwriters.com by September 20 and put SAGE CHALLENGE in the subject line.
Let’s Learn From Each Other
We’re excited to share your sage perspectives about how to hone our craft, cultivate a fruitful writing life, or work with publishers and vendors.
Holiday Book Strategy
In self-publishing, one of the toughest parts is figuring out printer timing. Whether you already have books out there, or you are thinking you want to have your book done in time for that whirlwind gift-giving season coming up in December....now is the time to ensure the product will be complete and available to the public.
eBooks can be purchased and immediately downloaded to a phone or computer. It is the print versions that are tricky. Whether you use Amazon, Ingram, Bookbaby or any other printer/marketer, they will get loaded down with the orders that come during this time. So, what should you do?
If you already have published a book but want to order author copies at the lower prices, do so before October 30th, especially if you plan to get 30 copies or more. You may even want to order them in batches of 20. Why? Because self-publishing houses print in order of importance. The first ones printed every day are the ones ordered by customers at full price because they make money off those.
Author copies are printed at cost, which means the printer/marketer won’t make any money from them. Those are the last priority. I had a client who ordered 50 author copies of his book on Dec 1. It was not shipped to him until January 12th of the next year.
If you are still in the process of writing a book you want out in time, have it done and formatted by Oct 15. Get it on the shelves by October 30th and start up with the marketing immediately. Something you may not realize is that November is NaNoWriMo - Novel Writing Month around the world. Those thousands of authors finish their books by November 30th, and the next day they begin the self-publishing process. This slows the whole system down until late January – worldwide!
I recommend you look at this online article about Holiday Marketing from Bowker. It may be just the first of September, but don’t be surprised at how fast the next few months will fly!
If you’ve recently written and posted a piece on your blog, website, Facebook Page, or other social media platform that fits this section, email Lisa a link to the piece along with a two-sentence introduction to sage@swwriters.com.
Welcome to SouthWest Writers!
The following writers joined our community last month. We hope to see you at one of our events in person or online. Write on!
Brandon Caudle, Dale Mouser, Micah Nussbaum, Lonon Smith, and Ruth Wilson
If you’re not yet a member, learn more about the benefits here.
We have resources for writers across our platforms and additional content on our members-only section of the website. Visit our website, ask to join our Facebook Group, check out our blog, see what we’re saying on X (Twitter), check out the session recordings on our YouTube channel, or find our page on Goodreads.