Two years ago, several members of the Historical Novel Society: Northern California attended the organization’s annual conference. One of the sessions was presented by members of Tall Poppies, a large, successful marketing collective to reach readers of historical fiction. Several HNS NorCal members began thinking about starting their own marketing collective. That August, a group of interested authors met at Linda Ulleseit’s house to discuss the logistics. Five of them committed to a trial year. Our website went live January 1, 2020, and Paper Lantern Writers was born!
In hindsight, 2020 wasn’t the best time to launch anything. The year was full of personal and political angst and worry about our health and that of our families. But we survived it. In fact, Paper Lantern Writers had a pretty good year.
PLW 2020 by the numbers:
1 in-person book signing
2 new book releases by members
2 free ebook releases by the group
5 virtual events (conferences, radio appearances)
7 YouTube videos
22 members Goodreads group: Paper Lantern Writers Read!
24 Twitter followers
97 Blog posts (thru 12/4)
125 Instagram followers
208 Facebook followers
The year ended with Paper Lantern Writers inviting five more authors to join us. We are very excited to welcome new members Rebecca D’Harlingue, Gini Grossenbacher, Deb McCaskey, Mari Christie, and Lynn Downey! They are all published historical novelists who are also working on new projects. All five of these talented, energetic authors are committed to continuing Paper Lantern Writers’ success in 2021.
We all wish for health and prosperity that may have eluded us in 2020. January always brings great hope for the new year, and for 2021 that’s especially true. Looking forward as an organization, we anticipate new ventures as we continue to build on what we launched a year ago. Our new Paper Lantern Writers are eager to get started. Join us this month in getting to know them. Each January blog post on Tuesdays and Fridays will feature an interview with one new member. In the meantime, read their bios and discover their books on our website paperlanternwriters.com.
Rebecca, Gini, Deb, Mari, and Lynn, we are delighted to have you among us. We would like to extend our warmest welcome and good wishes! We can’t wait to start working with you! Welcome to Paper Lantern Writers!
Ana Brazil
Kathryn Pritchett
C.V. Lee
Edie Cay
Linda Ulleseit
Linda Ulleseit writes award-winning heritage fiction set in the United States. She is a member of Historical Novel Society, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Women Writing the West as well as a founding member of Paper Lantern Writers. Get in touch with her on Instagram (lulleseit) and Facebook (Linda Ulleseit or SHINE with Paper Lantern Writers).
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