"This one-day event has been celebrating authors and the books they write since 1949, when the United States Department of Commerce officially recognized November 1 as National Authors Day. Presented for the first time in Knoxville, by the Authors Guild of Tennessee, the day will recognize and honor local authors and raise awareness to our rich literary community. The Authors Guild of Tennessee is committed to facilitating opportunities for people to meet authors. By getting to know an author, people can discover more details about their books, find inspiration through the writer’s challenges or successes, and ultimately enhance the reading experience." - Knoxville Writers Guild

Author, Bethany Stahl, shared her book "Save the Ocean" and answered many questions about how to become a best-selling children's book author! The rest of the day was filled with a handful of wonderful authors answering questions, reading sections of their book and celebrating the rich literary culture we have in East Tennessee!

Stop by Union Ave Books to grab your copy of "Save the Ocean" and check out other awesome books!

Authors were given awards for being chosen from a distinguished panel of literary professionals. Their books were selected and scored in three categories, those with the highest scores being accepted to present on November 1st! Presentations took place at Union Ave Books, Knoxville's Visitors Center, and the East Tennessee History Museum all within downtown Knoxville.

The book links above are through Amazon Affiliate

On September 8th, 2019 at the UT Botanical Gardens, the second annual Art Auction took place. Local artists donate their time and talent to create a unique garden installation. At the end of the summer, the auction takes place beneath the stunning pavilion where all proceeds go towards benefiting the beautiful UT Botanical Gardens.

To read more about the auction and see all of the butterflies that were available this year, click here.

​The short answer is not really (it isn't a YES! but is still worth considering depending on your goals).

I decided to test their promotion with my most successful book, "Save the Ocean." This book is established, has been an Amazon Best-Seller, and I figured it would have the best shot at a cost-efficient advertisement. I didn't run a free promo but instead decided to promote my book at it's "bargain" price - which is $2.99 or under.

Since my ebook sells well daily - I wanted to see if this promotion would reach new readers and expand my audience and grab people I wasn't able to reach before.

With AMS I only spend about 10-20% of profits on advertising, so with the same results, a $10 promotion should result similarly. I assumed some purchasers wouldn't buy the ebook, opting for other versions, so the number of books sold will vary based on your profit margin for your books. However, I wasn't sure if the profit margin would be as good as AMS, so at the least I was hoping to break even.

The promotion went out (I saw my book in the email and on the website - both of which had working links to my book) and then the day after I went to check the results.

Nothing.
​
So what this means to be is that despite the large email list they boast there aren’t real people or people that actually care on the other end, which makes the advertisement useless. If they have a list of over 200,000 people this seems highly unlikely that not even one was interested. I would not recommend this service. Yet, I had heard other authors happy with the free ebook promotion so I decided to give it a go despite by better judgement.

As authors, we are always looking for new ways to get our books in front of a new audience! I have compiled a list of resources that will promote your free e-book for free! Some of them do offer paid promotions, but that is up to you and your relationship with the resources. I haven't tried any paid options yet, and still, see considerable numbers in downloads.

For each resource, there may be a few different rules, so before you submit your book, make sure it meets the requirements (ex. reviews, pages, subject, etc.)

I will add more as I find more over time! And of course, if you follow me on Instagram and Twitter, and let me know you are doing a promotion, I will gladly share it with my combined audience of 10k+ followers and growing.

Advertise your book in my Facebook group for FREE:
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/393440541353578/

I will keep adding to this list as I find more, so please feel free to check back and see what is new!

On November 12th, 2018, we lost Stan Lee, a great comic writer and creative.

Bethany Stahl gathers inspiration from his characters and other characters that have been developed by so many other talented writers and artists created in the universe.

A few days and about 20 hours of work, Bethany digitally painted Stan Lee and a few of his characters, a few of her favorites from the universe and others that have stemmed from the inspiration of Stan.

Author and Illustrator, Bethany Stahl, inspires children with her books, but her newest book, Caridee: The Long-Leggedy Chickadee has touched the heart of countless children!

Bethany first got the idea of Caridee, when she fell in love with the chickadees frequenting her home, overlooking the Great Smoky Mountains in Spring 2018. She loved watching the birds and knew one had to be the star of her next book.

Stahl thought back to when she was in school, and could recall children's books that were silly and fun, but wanted to capture the lighthearted quality while telling of accepting your differences, something that bullies tend to find and pick at.

While watching the little chickadees outside her home, she laughed at all their small quick hops with their tiny legs, and it hit her, what if there was a chickadee with long legs!

The first ideas of Caridee were born with concept paintings!

During March, Juice Bar Market Square will be hosting artist Bethany Stahl's Spirit of Nature collection and select pieces of her Tennessee Wildlife Collection! Find them located at 2 Market Square on the corner near Charles Krutch Park!

​"Juice Bar is overwhelmingly plant-based, gluten-free, organic when possible, and always uses 100% whole fruits and vegetables from scratch.  Nothing processed, nothing yucky.  Simply said, we are an "I want to eat healthy and feel great" type place, offering yummies like our Super Greens juice made with locally-grown wheat grass, or our superfood Kale Quinoa Salad with spinach, organic quinoa and fresh-juiced, house-made lemon dressing." Read more at www.ilovejuicebar.com/about

During February, local business, Ice Up Cryotherapy, will be hosting artist Bethany Stahl's Tennessee Wildlife Collection and select pieces of her photography! Find them located at 5103 Kingston Pike in the heart of the Beard​en District.

Ice Up Cryotherapy was established in 2015 by local Knoxville residents who fell in love with cryotherapy and were the first to bring this technology to East Tennessee, including helping the Vols recover between basketball games! ​