Closing Out Women’s History Month with 31 Must-Read Books

I can’t believe the month is almost over! It seems like yesterday that it started with my book release. I was supposed to post this way earlier in the month, but things have gone crazy round these parts (in a good way…more on that in a future post) so I’ve had very little time for author stuff.

I had the pleasure of being asked by my fellow author Janis Daly to participate in her 31 Titles for Women’s History Month promotion. This list is chock full of my friends and writers I admire, like Kate Quinn, Lauren Willig, Susan Vreeland, Sarah Bird, Alison Weir, Marie Benedict, Paula McClain, Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie, Tracey Chevalier, Jennifer Chiaverini, Susan Meissner, Therese Anne Folwer and more.

In fact, I’ve read 11 of these books already! I’m making it my personal challenge to read the rest by the end of the year. And to be listed among them is such a great honor! I hope you will take a look at them and find (or more!) that you like.

I’d also like to thank Janis for having me and Madame Presidentess as part of this promotion and to highlight her new release The Unlocked Path, which is about Eliza Pearson Edwards, who was one of the early graduates of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Janis is also taking suggestions for her 2024 list, so if you can think of any, please drop her a note!

Remember, women’s history isn’t just for March! It should be celebrated all year long!

Nominate Virginia Minor and/or Victoria Woodhull to be on a Quarter

Ever wanted to see a woman on a quarter? Here’s your chance to nominate her!

In January, the Treasury Department signed the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 into law. This law requires the U.S. Mint to issue quarters featuring prominent American women from January 1, 2022 through the end of 2025.

The act allows up to five coin designs per year and will feature women who have made significant contributions to U.S. history across a number of fields and categories, including suffrage.

Recommendations are now being accepted through the National Women’s History Museum in partnership with the U.S. Mint, the Smithsonian Institution American Women’s History Initiative, and the Bipartisan Women’s Caucus as consultants for the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020.

Of course, I’m pulling for Virginia Minor and Victoria Woodhull, but you can nominate any woman you want.

Want to help? Copy the following information and fill out this form to nominate Virginia, Victoria or the woman of your choice.

Name: Virginia L. Minor
Year of birth: 1824
Year of death: 1892
Fields: Suffrage, politics

Reason for inclusion: Suffragist, political strategist, and lifelong activist for gender/race race equality, Virginia was the only woman to bring women’s suffrage before the U.S. Supreme Court. She began the world’s first organization dedicated to solely to women’s suffrage two years before Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone created theirs. She also created the New Departure, the official strategy of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association from 1868-1875, which said the 14th  Amendment gave women the right to vote.

Link to supporting material: http://www.virginiaminor.com.

Name: Victoria Woodhull
Year of birth: 1838
Year of death: 1927
Fields: Suffrage, politics

Reason for inclusion: First woman in U.S. history to run for president in 1872. Suffragist, activist and speaker. First woman (along with her sister) to own and run a stock brokerage on Wall Street, first woman to speak before the House Judiciary Committee on behalf of women’s suffrage. Her run, while not successful, opened the door for dozens of women to run for the presidency.
Link to supporting material: http://www.woodhullrising.org.

Thank you to the Alice Paul Institute for making me aware of this initiative. They are, of course, nominating Alice, and I have voted for her as well.

Madame Presidentess Named “Essential Reading” for Women’s History Month!

I’m so honored that Success Magazine (of which I’m a BIG fan) has named Madame Presidentess as one of their 10 Essential Books to Read for Women’s History Month! This such a huge honor! Especially to be on a list along with Rupi Kaur and Melinda Gates!

 

Four of My Books Made Coverfly’s Year-End “Best of” List

I am so happy to report that FOUR of my books have made Coverfly’s Red List, which means they ranked as their Top Manuscripts of the Year!!

Coverfly is the industry’s largest screenwriter talent-discovery platform, connecting emerging screenwriters with literary managers, agents, producers and development executives.

Daughter of Destiny

Oh and Daughter of Destiny was also named a Top Pick by Taleflick!

Camelot’s Queen

Madame Presidentess

Been Searching for You

Your Vote Can Help Make Madame Presidentess Into a Movie!

Remember how Madame Presidentess was optioned for TV/film about a year ago? Well, that didn’t work out and I have the rights back again so Taleflick and I are working hard to get more producers interested. And you can help!

Madame Presidentess is part of a special TaleFlick Discovery contest celebrating International Women’s Day. That means it gets an extra chance to be made into a film or TV show. But only if you vote!

 

 

To vote, once you click the button above, find my book and click the Vote button that looks like an up arrow on the right.

Opens: Wed, March 11 at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT/10 a.m. PT

Ends: Fri. March 13 at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT/4 p.m. PT

Officially, you can only vote once. But you can always try again on a different device…Not that I’m advising you to or anything.

If you get a message that you’ve already voted, it means someone on the same IP address has already voted. This happens in workplaces a lot. You will need to vote from home if that occurs. If you’re still getting that message, please don’t give up! Contact Taleflick support ASAP.

Winning books need thousands of votes, so please share with all your friends. Here are some graphics you can use.

Thank you!

I’m Quoted in Publisher’s Weekly!

I’m over the moon to say I am quoted in a Publisher’s Weekly article on Taleflick, the company through which I got my TV/movie option for Madame Presidentess. It may seem silly to be excited about this, but Publisher’s Weekly is very much about the traditional publishing industry, and rarely delves into anything with independent publishing or self-published authors.

In case you don’t want to read the whole article (which you should), here’s my quote, where I talk about what Taleflick has done for me:

I highly recommend Taleflick. But I would also recommend going with the $88 package. If you’re a writer, you can write your own logline, etc. and no one knows your book better than you. I didn’t even know the $300+ package was an option. It must be new.

TaleFlick Testimonial!

I have talked with several of you about Taleflick, the company I used to get the book option for Madame Presidentess I really, really love them and now I can say it officially to the whole world. Here’s the testimonial video they filmed in my house a few weeks ago:

And how cool is this to see TWO of my books on their Top Picks list?

If you have questions about them, feel free to email me at nicole [dot] evelina [at] att [dot] net (I wish I could just link it, but I don’t want spam) or private message me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Radio Interview About Madame Presidentess

If you didn’t get the chance to listen to my radio interview about Victoria Woodhull and Madame Presidentess the other day, you’re in luck! They gave me a copy of the recording. Just click on the image below to begin listening.

 

Two Books in the Quarterfinal Round of the Cinematic Book Contest!

One of these days I swear I will start doing informational blogging again…but today I have more news!

A few months ago (prior to Madame Presidentess being optioned), I entered a contest called the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition, which looks for books that have potential to be adapted. Well, I just found out that both Madame Presidentess and Daughter of Destiny made it to the quarterfinal round! Out of 1,200 submissions, 423 books made it to this point. Here’s the list of quarterfinalists. I’m not sure when they will announce semifinalists, finalists, and winners (all they say is “soon,”) but I will let you know if either (or both) books make it!

UPDATE: I heard back from Screencraft and Madame Presidentess is disqualified from future rounds of judging because I sold the rights. Ah well, at least it made it this far!