By Kathleen Y’Barbo We historical authors are an interesting breed. Those of us who have answered the call can attest to the fact that there are no shortcuts in penning novels set in past eras. As with any other type of writing, plotting, planning, and research take time. If you’re a fulltime writer who has no trouble fitting your writing …
Cover Matters
by Robin Lee Hatcher It’s a bold new world for writers. No doubt about that. Not all that long ago, there was a traditional path to publishing that the vast majority of novelists followed. The digital age has changed things so much in the last two years, I hardly know where to begin. It used to be I always discouraged …
Why Do We Torture Ourselves?
By Vickie McDonough The first goal I can remember having was to grow up and marry a rancher. I loved horses, and I guess that my pre-teen mind reasoned if I married a rancher I could have all the horses I wanted. In the mean time, I read every book I could find with a horse on the cover. Years …
Bedrock Principles – Why You Should Read “The Well”
By Carrie Fancett Pagels, Ph.D. Why am I using my blog post to promote a nonfiction book by an author I’ve never met, a pastor and musician named Mark Hall? “The Well: Why Are So Many Still Thirsty” by Mark Hall, with contribution by Tim Luke, is not a writing craft book, either. But I highly recommend writers read it. …
The End of the World As We Know It
by Richard Mabry How many of you thought the world would end on December 21, 2012? Since the Mayan calendar only went that far, there were dire predictions that the world as we know it would grind to a halt on that date. But surprisingly enough (or maybe not so surprisingly), the sun came up on December 22, and things …
The Long Wait
by Dani Pettrey If nothing else, writing for publication produces patience. It takes time to learn to craft a novel, time to write the novel, and then, when you finally feel you’re finished, you often face years trying to find a home for your babies. It takes time to find an agent, time to find an editor, time to get …
Don’t Carry the Burden Alone
By Tamara D. Fickas Writing a book has been my dream for years. I’ve prayed for opportunities and submitted my work to the Lord. When an opportunity finally happened, I managed to forget one of the most important aspects of writing. After years of taking writing classes and plugging away, I am participating in my first book project. The book …
Beat Your Own Drum
By Deborah K. Anderson (Original version published in CFOM, December 2011) If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. ~Henry David Thoreau I’ve always marched to the beat of my own drum, at least I …
To Market, to Market to Buy a Fat Pig…
by Crystal Laine Miller “…Home again, home again, jiggedty-jig!” How many times did we sing that song as kids? And we caught many product commercials on our three-channel TV that we noticed from singing the interesting jingles. Well, guess what? Authors have to market their product too, in interesting ways. Here are a few tips from a well-read reader-me. First, …
ACFW Rewind: Learning by Teaching
(Editor’s Note: Today, ACFW re-runs a worthwhile post from the past, in this case June 2012, in what we call the ACFW rewind, highlighting previous posts that deserve a second look. ) by Rachel Hauck At the ACFW conference in Houston ’03, I watched the bubbly and newly published Susan May Warren dash off to teach a writing workshop one …