“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”… -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859) Not a bad beginning, eh? When we sit down to craft the opening line of our novel, I think almost all of us are aware of the golden opportunity before us. But do we realize we have small gems of …
Ten Tips to Help You Write More Words
By Carrie Turansky Whether you’re an aspiring author or multi-published, it’s often a challenge to meet your writing goals. Here are ten tips that will help increase your writing productivity. 1. Write with instrumental music playing in the background. I recently saw an informal survey that found those who listened to music while writing were able to write more words …
Decisions, Decisions, So Many to Make
By Margaret Daley Where do you start a story? You have a few pages (for some a few paragraphs) to catch an editor or reader’s attention. I know of some readers who will read the first page or so of a book, and if you haven’t gotten her interest, she won’t buy it. It is one of the important decisions …
Author Theology
By Cynthia Ruchti Many of us who write for God confess we’re learning more about Him on the journey than we could ever capture on paper. What do I believe about God’s role in my writing? Theologically speaking-or doctrinally speaking-do I act as if I believe He has reasons for how long it takes to get published? Or do I …
Backlinks and Blogs
As a freelancer who provides SEO work for websites and blogs, I am woefully aware that many ACFW writers treat links in blog comments as spam. Knowing how the search engines index these comments, I spend much of my time educating bloggers on the value of these links. The internet is a monster of sorts: a ‘spiderweb’ of information. The …
A Unique . . . Surprise
by Ramona Richards Senior Acquisitions Editor, Fiction Abingdon Press When asked what they look for in a manuscript, editors often answer, “A unique voice,” a frustrating answer to any writer. “A unique voice” is hard to define, hard to develop, hard to spot. It borders on trying to define what you like about a particular painting or why you prefer …
Privacy and the Digital Age
by Cheryl Wyatt Since authors have been ushered into the digital age in terms of marketing expectations, I sought advice from Frank Ahearn, renowned skip tracer, privacy expert and author of How to Disappear, a book popular among novelists. Cheryl: While most novelists prefer to remain in obscurity, the publishing trend toward digital marketing doesn’t allow for that. Have you …
Deadlines: A Writer’s Friend
by Laurie Alice Eakes Deadline. It’s an ominous word. It has dead in it. Cross that line and one is dead? Scary. Most of us get that quaky, quivery feeling in our tummies when we hear that a deadline is looming-the deadline for the Genesis contest, the deadline for the Carol Award entries, the deadline for registering for the conference. …
Finding the Reader’s Hook
by Cathy Gohlke Some of the best writing advice I’ve ever received came from the editor of a small town newspaper: “Discover what’s going on in world or national news, then find that story on a local level.” The problem was that the hottest story in world news at the time was a widespread accusation that trusted clergy had molested …
The Influencing Dilemma
by Laurie Alice Eakes Let’s start off with an explanation of “influencing”. This is the practice of putting your name and address on a list to receive a copy of the book either directly from the publisher or from the author. The idea is that you will read said book, write reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, CBD, etc., or talk about …