Writers who reach for the happiness that comes from mastering their craft can do extraordinary things.
Our incredibly successful graduates are proving it. Take a look below.
If you’re a part of our school and you’ve accomplished something wonderful, please share your success story, too!
xo,
📚 Published more than one book
🏆 Prize award or nomination
💚 Teacher at Sarah Selecky Writing School
Story Course graduate
Giant
Novel
🏆 Toronto Book Award (finalist)
How do you fit in in a new country when you’re a “giant freak,” you don‘t speak the language and bizarre things are happening to your motherland as well as to your body?
“Maksimowska offers a engaging young narrator whose viewpoint is edged with ironies…. Coming of age in this book becomes a gauntlet of culture clash, dovetailed smartly with all the usual absurdities of growing up.”
— The Globe and Mail
📖 Order the book:
Amazon
Becalming
Novel
Gosia, a high school chemistry teacher, travels to her native Poland to visit her estranged father. Back in Canada, meanwhile, her father-in-law — who has been more of a dad to her than her own — is dying of cancer.
“Becalming is an exhilarating, propulsive, rollercoaster of a read, a novel so un-put-downable I devoured it in a weekend.”
— Ayelet Tsabari, author of Songs for the Brokenhearted
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Story Course Intensive graduate
Mad Cow
Novel
Told from two points of view—a mother and her daughter—Mad Cow examines farming life in small-town Alberta, a life fourteen-year-old Allyson wants only to escape.
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She Dreams in Red
Poetry
She Dreams in Red is the story of journeys – from China to Canada, to Indonesia, to Mongolia into the mysteries of the human heart and romantic relationships. Exploring the author’s unique cultural background and history, travels and encounters with love and loss, these poems attempt to make sense of the world with simple images painted in clean brushstrokes.
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13
Poetry
Poems in 13 creatively examine beauty and darkness in the workings of a bee hive, childhood depression, the personal lives of monsters and a failed relationship in a beautiful city.
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Truth, Love, Non-Violence: The story of Gurcharan Singh Bhatia
Biography
A refugee who watched as violence shattered his homeland, Gurcharan Singh Bhatia survived the partition of India, one of history’s deadliest massacres, while sixty-seven members of his family were killed.
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Amazon
Story Course graduate
Novel
🏆 Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize (shortlisted)
🏆 Cinnamon Debut Novel Award (shortlisted)
“Compulsive and beguiling as the characters themselves, One Scheme of Happiness is a deliciously dark look at kindness, envy and desire. Unpredictable and deeply satisfying, I couldn’t stop reading once I’d started.”
— Hannah Persaud, author of The Codes of Love
A compelling tale of lust and obsession, One Scheme of Happiness tells the story of a love triangle that goes very, very wrong. You know what they say...it’s always the quiet ones you have to watch.
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Amazon
Jacob’s Ladder
Unpublished Novel
🏆 Bath Novel Award (longlisted)
🏆 Cinnamon Debut novel award (longlisted)
The River Brings the Sea
Novel
🏆 Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize (3rd place)
“A haunting, lyrical novel, The River Brings the Sea offers a tense and tender portrait of community and survival when the world as we know it is washed away. This is rural gothic reimagined for a drowned future – a dystopian landscape of loss and resilience in the aftermath of climate collapse, where relationships are the only shelter left in the face of the flood.”
— Rhiannon Bull
The UK is flooded, and the world has become a global disaster zone. Order has broken down, and the systems that all society had relied on have collapsed.
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Amazon
Disfigured
Memoir
🏆 Governor General Literary Award Non-fiction (shortlist)
🏆 Aurora Awards (shortlist)
“Leduc persuasively illustrates the power of stories to affect reality in this painstakingly researched and provocative study that invites us to consider our favorite folktales from another angle.”
— Library Journal
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Story Course graduate
How To Catch a Bear Who Loves to Read
Children’s Fiction
🏆 Forest Reading Award (nomination)
“A how-to manual in which a love of reading shines.”
— Kirkus Reviews
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I just Want to Be Super!
Children’s Fiction
“Nino’s adventure . . . shows that there are many different ways to be super, like showing empathy, helping others, making new friends, and being gentle. A super story for anyone who wants to be a superhero.”
— Kirkus Reviews
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A Starlit Trip to the Library
Children’s Fiction
“To encourage a love of independent nature exploration and reading, this book is a worthy addition to any library.”
— Meaghan Thurston (Montreal Review of Books)
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Story Course Intensive graduate
Finding the Me in Time
Non-Fiction
This delightful little book features watercolour flowers alongside inspirational, self-care quotes.
With a little bit of sweet talking, a little bit of tough love, and a little bit of humour, you, too, will be able find the ‘me’ in time.
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Etsy
Story Course graduate
The Speed of Mercy
Novel
🏆 The Miramichi Reader’s Very Best Books (gold medal)
🏆 Danuta Gleed Literary Award (shortlist)
🏆 Forest of Reading Evergreen Award (shortlist)
“Christy Ann Conlin is a conjurer: of place, people, and the haunting past. I was instantly caught up in the darkly mysterious world and indelible characters she has brought to life. Gripping, suspenseful, and lyrically written, The Speed of Mercy caught me by the throat and didn’t let go.”
— Alix Ohlin (Scotiabank Giller Prize-shortlisted author of Dual Citizens)
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Story Course Intensive graduate
Took You So Long
Short Stories
“It is this decision to dwell in the weirdness of everyday life, to examine with curious interest the bizarre choices people make to carve an unusual edge out of their otherwise conventional lives, that makes Took You So Long a gratifying read.”
— Literary Review of Canada
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Amazon
Story Course graduate
Daughters of the Deer
Novel
“A beautiful book, this is urgent reading for anyone seeking to understand more about the myriad ways European colonization in the 1600s still reverberates today, to devastating effect.”
— The Globe and Mail
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The Dependent
Memoir
🏆 Louise de Kiriline Lawrence Award (shortlist)
“With candour and honesty, Danielle Daniel shares her painful journey as she discovers that marrying a soldier means also marrying the military, and that she is outranked at every turn.”
— Shannon Moroney, author
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Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox
Children’s Fiction
🏆 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award (winner)
🏆 Blue Spruce Award (shortlist)
🏆 First Nation Communities Read Award (finalist)
“The ideas inside unfurl outside the pages into readers’ own imaginative worlds.”
— The Boston Globe
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Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Walking With Walser
Novel
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Walking with Walser, entertaining as well as profound, should be essential reading for Jane Jacobs fans, city cats and country mice, past and present devotees of Queen Street, dedicated pedestrians, and anyone with a sturdy sense of humour.”
— Zsuzsi Gartner, author of Better Living Through Plastic Explosives
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Amazon
Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity
Memoir
🏆 Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize for Nonfiction (shortlist)
🏆 George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature (shortlist)
“Honestly stunning. McLeod’s clear writing lays bare his complicated ties to his family, his lovers and his country in a memoir that moved and haunted me.”
— Eden Robinson, author of Son of a Trickster
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Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age
Memoir
🏆 Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction (winner)
🏆 RBC Taylor Prize (shortlist) Louise de Kiriline Lawrence Award (shortlist)
“...lyrical and gritty, raw and vulnerable, told without pity, but with phoenix-like strength.”
— Jury, Governor-General's Literary Award
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A Season in Chezgh’un
Novel
Winner Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
🏆 Long-listed First Nation Communities READ
“Beautifully crafted, this novel is alive with dialogue that takes us into the hearts of characters too often left voiceless. Let this book sweep you away.”
— Kim Echlin, author of Speak, Silence
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Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Our Voices
Memoir
🏆 Red Ribbon Winner in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
“Adventurous in spirit, a nature lover, a city wanderer, a photographer, and a bright mind, Diana’s outlook is truly international. In these times especially, her story, her many stories, need to be written and heard.”
— Marianne Rogoff, author
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Seasons of Change
Poetry
“These are poems of singular imagination, experimentation, and discipline. Radovan consistently wows with sharp turns, wild jumps and brilliant epiphanies. Her unique voice is like a vision of ancient waterfalls, full of inner wisdom.”
— Jose Hernandez Diaz, author of Bad Mexican, Bad American andThe Parachutist
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Sory Course Intensive graduate
Breathing With Trees
Young Adult Fiction
What if your best friend kept a secret from you and your mom refused to tell you who your father was? In this coming-of-age story, Lucy, age 14, yearns to exert independence from her family in order to fit in with the crowd.
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If I Could Remember
Memoir
“This book belongs on the shelves of doctors, caregivers and family members who have walked alongside a loved one living with Alzheimer’s.”
— Nicole Breit, author
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Rag Cosmology
Poetry
🏆 Klein Prize for Poetry (winner)
“This debut explores an intimacy of ecological identities as wild, sensual and rhythmic as the cosmos.”
— The Globe and Mail
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Wet Dream
Poetry
“Erin Robinsong’s Wet Dream is a dazzling torrent of brilliance shot thru with genuinely delicious barbs of disgust, of precision.”
— Ariana Reines, author of A Sand Book
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Story Course Intensive graduate
Seeking Shade
Short Stories
🏆 Miramichi Reader Very Best! Award (winner)
🏆 Danuta Gleed Award (finalist)
🏆 ReLit Award (finalist)
“…an unsentimental yet humane collection of short fiction, written with consummate skill and restraint.”
— Danuta Gleed Award Jury
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This White Nest
Poetry
“What Frances Boyle does with This White Nest is ask us to sit quietly for a bit, to “contemplate/The life of quiet,” to notice its gifts in a more mindful and grateful way.”
— Prairie Fire
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Skin Hunger
Novel
“Skin Hunger brings the 1980s back to life, with its grotty communal houses, pogoing punks, and youthful hunger for justice--the idealism and confusion of the era not so different from now. But the beating heart of this affecting novel is a different sort of hunger, that of a mother for a child, and a motherless child adrift in the social currents of the time.”
— Caroline Adderson, author
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Story Course graduate
The Turnaway Girls
Children’s Fiction
“A gorgeous fable about the way societies cage girls’ voices and the revolutionary things that happen when those voices break free.”
— Anne Ursu, author
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The Sisters of Straygarden Place
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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I Am The Swarm
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Book Title #4
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Story Course graduate/Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Book Title #1
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #2
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Book Title #3
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #4
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Story Course graduate/Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Book Title #1
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
📖 Order the book:
Bookshop.org
Publisher
Amazon
etc.
Book Title #2
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
Amazon
etc.
Book Title #3
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #4
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Story Course graduate/Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Book Title #1
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #2
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #3
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #4
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Story Course graduate/Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Book Title #1
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #2
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #3
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #4
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Story Course graduate/Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Book Title #1
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete) change
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
Amazon
etc.
Book Title #2
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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etc.
Book Title #3
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
Amazon
etc.
Book Title #4
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
Amazon
etc.
Story Course graduate/Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Book Title #1
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
Amazon
etc.
Book Title #2
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #3
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #4
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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etc.
Story Course graduate/Story Course Intensive graduate, and SSWS Teacher
Book Title #1
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Publisher
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Book Title #2
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Book Title #3
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
🏆 Prize (if applicable, or delete)
“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Book Title #4
Genre - Novel, Poetry, Biography, Short Stories, etc
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“Praise.”
— Name of person or publication
Description - You can add a few sentences from the book jacket that describes the book. Not the whole description, just a few sentences. The link for the "order the book" will give them more information if they want.
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Sarah Selecky Writing School
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