For those of you unable to attend the recent ACFW conference, there’s an understandable tendency to be down because you’d like to have been there. But right about now those who did attend may also be feeling a bit low. And that’s understandable, as well. One of my first writer’s conferences (before I was ever a member of ACFW) got …
God’s Plan for our Writing
Regency romance writing called me. Not the calm drawing room conversations and country walks of a Jane Austen, but the swashbuckling romance such as Sylvester or The Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer, or even better, the “Sanguinet” series by Patricia Veryan. I wanted spies and dead bodies amidst the glitter of the haut-ton. Who needed to find God’s Grace more …
Expect an Adventure
Writing is a tough profession. The competition in today’s publishing world makes the strongest writers think twice about their commitment to excellence. Those of us who are lured by the magnificence of story are committed to creating a world where our readers slip into the shoes of our characters and are whisked away to an amazing thrill filled with uncertainty. …
Start Making Your List
By Kathy Harris We unpublished writers are always looking for ways to discern how far we are in our writing journey. One of the best guides can be found at Randy Ingermanson’s website, www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/freshman.php. By answering only five questions you can determine, by Randy’s estimation, whether you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior, with publication becoming likely in the …
Don’t Imitate Others — Follow God’s Directions
By Lena Nelson Dooley In 2005, so many people were starting blogs. I had no idea what a blog was, and I didn’t know if I was supposed to do one. I asked some other writers I was connected with what they blogged about. Someone told me to blog about my journey to publication. That was something I could do, …
Do What You Are: by Tina Radcliffe
Life is a balancing act, and the words of Alex Cross, in James Patterson’s, Along Came a Spider, “Do what you are,” are a challenge when applied to our daily lives. If you were to list those things that fill your life in order of importance from least to most, how much time would you admit they occupy in your …
Blueprint for Success: Donna Rich
A blueprint works? The bad news: I can’t give you a blueprint. The good news: I can share my experience. Overcome Rejection – I’m not wanted My first rejection came in 1978. I had submitted a nonfiction book to Baker Book House. I knew it would be a success – until the nice letter came telling me otherwise. Instead of …
Calling all ACFW for extroverts…or extrovert wannabees
You know that talkative personality? The one that drives your friends and family crazy? Did you realize it is a gift? Well it is, and there’s no better place to let that gift shine than at an ACFW conference. I understand I might be talking to a tiny percentage of the writing population. Lots–okay, almost all–of writers are introverts. Most …
Polishing Your Opening Chapters
Are you headed to the ACFW conference or preparing to submit your proposal to an agent and editor? If so, you need to polish those first three chapters until they shine. The synopsis, marketing ideas, platform and bio are important, but the strength of your writing in those chapters is what makes the agent or editor keep reading and ask …
Librarians–Authors’ Best Friends
By Mary Ellis Often writers are curious to learn which marketing and publicity ideas work for other writers and which do not. I, too, am curious about the very same thing. We blog and interview on various blog-sites; we e-mail newsletters to established fans and snail-mail publicity postcards to announce upcoming books; we FaceBook and Twitter and network and wonder …