2024 Women’s Fiction Day – June 8

Women’s Fiction Day – Member Toolkit

Overview

June 8, 2024, is Women’s Fiction Day. Help us celebrate and honor our fabulous genre. This annual day to celebrate women’s fiction writers and readers is a day to support each other, thank our readers, and raise awareness of our fabulous genre.

How to Use the Toolkit

This is intended to serve as a guide for promoting Women’s Fiction Day. You can celebrate online through social media, or in person (safely, of course!), at book signing events, on podcasts, and at Facebook Live Events. The day’s activities are unlimited using your imagination.

What Is Women's Fiction?

Women's fiction is a writing genre that includes layered stories in which the plot is driven by the main character’s emotional journey. The stories can be contemporary or historical and may have magical, mystery, thriller, romance, or other elements.

Ways to Celebrate Women’s Fiction Day

• Here’s a list of Women’s Fiction Day Giveaways. All books are Women's Fiction titles with the subgenre listed. Entries are submitted at each donor's website. If you are interested in entering one or more of the prize drawings, please visit the author's webpage and follow the directions. You must enter before June 8.
• If you are participating in the giveaways, here are the next steps:
• If you haven’t already, make sure to create a contest button on your website for contestants to easily enter
  
  

• Please be sure to select your winner on Women’s Fiction Day on June 8^th

• Announce the winner on social media using our Women’s Fiction Day logo, which can be found in the WF Day Toolkit

• Arrange to distribute your amazing prize (or prizes) to your lucky winner!

• Don’t forget to tag us in your social media posts. Find us on Twitter: @WF_Writers and Instagram: womensfictionwriters

  Here are some helpful hashtags you might like to include:

  #womensfictionday2024
  #womensfictionwriters
  #womensfictionwritersassociation
  #womensupportingwomen
  #womensfictionbooks
  #womensfiction
  #womensfictionrocks

  Thank you again for your generous donations! We look forward to celebrating Women’s Fiction Day with you!

   

• Attend one of the many book signings held nationwide on June 8.
• Subscribe to our free Read ON! Newsletter where you’ll be kept up-to-date on new women’s fiction authors and titles, and promote the newsletter to other writers.
• Visit the WFWA Goodreads bookshelf and Pinterest boards to find hundreds of titles. 
  • Use this QR code to easily find the WFWA Goodreads bookshelf. 
    
• Download the Hear Us Roar debut authors’ podcast. 
  • In honor of Women's Fiction Day, be sure to listen to this week's Hear Us Roar podcast featuring Lyn Liao Butler, Anna Collins, and Erin Litteken, the three finalists for the Star Award-General Fiction from last year’s competition. Maggie and guests will discuss their careers, how they came to join WFWA, the status of the women’s fiction genre, and how each author has staked out a particular corner with their stories with emotional resonance as well as straddling sometimes venturing into other genres as well.
• Visit your local library and/or indie bookstore to discover new women’s fiction authors and novels. Drop off the prepared flyer found in this toolkit and ask them to post in a prominent location. Check out this example of a display a local library did for a WFWA member. These displays can help bring awareness to the genre and books by WFWA members.
• Follow WFWA on Twitter: @WF_Writers or Instagram: womensfictionwriters.
• On social media, #bookstagram your favorite book and include a photo or stack with #womensfictionday.
• Promote Women’s Fiction Day and your books to your local media by using the press release template. 
• Post the Women’s Fiction Day logo on your website and social media accounts.

About the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA)

The Women's Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) was founded in 2013 as a professional, nonprofit organization for women’s fiction writers and publishing professionals. With more than 2,000 international members and growing, WFWA is the premier organization for women's fiction. WFWA fosters an online community of inclusion and opportunity, and provides resources, professional development, networking, and support for aspiring, debut, and published women’s fiction authors. Learn more at www.womensfictionwriters.org. Twitter: @WF_Writers, Instagram: womensfictionwriters.

And if you have suggestions for Women’s Fiction Day activities, we’d love to hear them! Email us at [email protected].

Click the links to jump around to various elements of the toolkit.

Logo
Social Media
Press Release
Host an Event

Logo

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JPEG

Suggested Social Posts & Hashtags

Click here for social graphics

Want to add your own logo or book cover to social posts in Canva? Watch this helpful video!

Social Post Examples:

Love books about an emotional journey? Then check out #womensfiction! This genre is broad with everything from love stories to family sagas. You’re sure to find a book you’ll love!

Happy #WomensFictionDay! Did you know this genre of books routinely tops best sellers’ lists? Check out some of our awesome members and their books!

And don’t forget to tag us on Twitter: @WF_Writers or Instagram: womensfictionwriters when you post!

Hashtags

#womensfictionday2024
#womensfictionwriters
#womensfictionwritersassociation
#womensupportingwomen
#womensfictionbooks
#womensfiction
#womensfictionrocks

Press Release

(Feel free to copy and paste it into a Word document to create your press release).

For Immediate Release

Women’s Fiction Writers Association Celebrates Annual Women’s Fiction Day on June 8

Day Promotes Authors and Genre that Consistently Tops Bestseller Charts

March 31, 2024 – The Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA), a nonprofit association of 2000 international members dedicated to supporting authors of women’s fiction, will hold its annual Women’s Fiction Day on June 8.

Women’s Fiction Day celebrates women’s fiction authors, novels, publishers, booksellers, and, most importantly, readers who appreciate women’s fiction and the power of a great story. This year for Women’s Fiction Day, members across the country will hold book signings, podcast interviews, and Live Facebook Events to engage and connect with readers.

“The driving force of women’s fiction is the protagonist’s journey to a more fulfilled self,” said WFWA President Kristi Leonard. “This genre is a wonderfully diverse kaleidoscope of stories and authors that have one thing in common: the indomitable spirit of women. And Women’s Fiction Day celebrates both readers and authors.”

For more information about Women’s Fiction Day, visit https://www.womensfictionwriters.org.

Host a Book Signing

If you’re a published author, a great way to support Women’s Fiction Day is by hosting a book signing in your community.

Tips for Hosting a Book Signing

Where to host one:

• Bookstores are a natural fit. In addition to the large chain bookstores, look for indie bookstores. They are always willing to host local authors.
• Libraries are also a natural fit and, like indie bookstores, they are eager to support local authors.
• Coffee/Tea shops because a warm beverage is the perfect companion to a great book. And, like bookstores, local coffee or tea shops are always eager to support the community.
• Wine bars or shops are also great places to have a book signing (because there’s nothing better than settling in with a great book and a glass of wine!).
• Consider art centers as well (they might even want to stock copies of your books afterward if they have a gift shop).

How to Ask for a Book Signing

Here are a few tips to make it less scary:

• First, be humble when you ask. Chances are a business has never hosted a book signing, and they may think it’s a huge to-do. Many places are still rebuilding staff, so understand that a request may feel overwhelming to them.
• That said, come armed with how it will work. Authors can be pretty self-contained. You bring your books, change, credit card reader, etc. All you might need is a table for setup.
• Tell them you’ll promote to help drive traffic to their business. Done right, this can be a win-win for you and the business.
• Offer to pay a commission. A typical book commission is 10–20%, which can be as simple as tallying at the end of the day. If the shop is a bookstore, let them know if you have the standard bookseller discount and return policy, usually from Ingram.
• A typical book signing runs 2–3 hours. Ask the business for their rush hours, but don’t overlap entirely. For example, if their rush is from 3–6, consider having your book signing from 2–4.

The More the Merrier

You don’t have to go it alone. Invite other local WFWA members to join you. Adding other authors only increases the marketing of the signing, plus it’s much more fun to support each other. Find your fellow WFWA members here.

Book Signing Survival Kit

Got your location and some WFWA members booked? Awesome! Here’s a checklist of things you might want to have with you:

• Books (silly, but it’s always good to check to make sure you’re stocked well in advance of the signing)
• Bookmarks
• Change and a credit card reader
• Newsletter sign-up list
• Pens
• Post-it notes (these will be helpful to get the correct spelling of readers’ names)
• Your book’s loglines – one or two sentence plot summary

Suggested Timeline

April or May (or before—some bookstores set their schedules weeks in advance): 

• Reach out to fellow WFWA members in your area
• Scout book signing location

Mid-May:

• Announce the book signing to your readers, friends, and through your social media channels
• Share the news of your upcoming signing with local media

Mid-May through early June:

• Promote, promote, promote!

June 8:

Happy Women’s Fiction Day!

• Be sure and take lots of photos at your book signing and share on social media using our designated hashtags.
• If you participated in a Giveaway on the website, choose a winner and announce it on your social posts using a WF Day logo.
• Post on social media using our designated hashtags

Organize a Facebook Live Event or reach out to podcasters to entice them to interview you. WFWA members have Group Facebook pages and are podcasters. They may be your best bet to promote our writers and events.

Pre-published Authors:

Are you a pre-published author? Awesome! There are some great tips below on organizing local events as well.

Women’s Fiction Day is about celebrating all women’s fiction authors, no matter where they are on their journey. Here are a few ways to connect with women’s fiction authors in your community and celebrate.

• Organize a write-in or a critique group
• Invite an expert to speak with a group of local women’s fiction authors
• Connect and have coffee, because there is nothing better than spending time with our community
• Offer to take Women’s Fiction Day signage to bookstores to introduce yourself and make a connection. This will be valuable to you in the future when you have a book to promote.

Book Store Engagement

Some markets around the country are seeing a resurgence of bookstores, especially indie or local bookstores. This is really exciting and offers an opportunity to connect with the bookstore managers or owners to share the initiative around Women’s Fiction Day.

If you’re not already reaching out to host a book signing, reach out to your local bookstores about a special Women’s Fiction display, or even just sharing the flyer below around the store.

You can download the flyer here.