By Melissa Tagg I am a big believer in listening to smart people. And as a writer, I’m a big believer in learning from smart authors and industry professionals. BUT . . . with every book I write, there always comes this point where I realize I have waaaaay too many voices in my head. I’ve discovered recently that sometimes …
Confessions of a Middle School Administrator
By C. Kevin Thompson Like many of my writing colleagues, I have two jobs. The one I had when I entered this crazy business we call “writing,” and the job of being an author, marketer, bookseller, and all the other hats we authors wear. For me, one is by day, and one is by night. The first one “pays the …
Why Does She Love Him (and Vice Versa)
By Johnnie Alexander Why did Juliet fall tragically in love with Romeo? Why did Christy Huddleston choose Dr. MacNeil over David? Why did Anne Shirley finally turn to Gilbert? Why did the Prince fall in love with Cinderella? That last question was asked by the screenwriters for Ever After as they imagined this 1998 retelling of the classic fairy tale. …
Run Your Race
By Michelle Shocklee “… let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 Writing for publication is a lot like running a race. No two runners are built exactly the same, and they all enter the race with different strengths, different training methods, and different hopes and dreams. We can say the same about writers. Each …
Happily Ever After
By Tamela Hancock Murray Some people wonder why genre readers want to read the same thing over and over. Well, they don’t read the same thing all the time, and they have expectations. A primary expectation? A Happily Ever After ending. If you enjoy perusing book reviews on Amazon, you’ll find that many readers (primarily outside of genres, though genre …
Feeding Your Readers’ Interests
By Elizabeth Ludwig My husband and I recently made a trip to Sugarcreek, Ohio, to visit the setting for my latest series of cozy mysteries from Guideposts. One of things I loved about the experience was sampling the authentic Amish cooking. I even found several Amish cookbooks to add to my treasure trove of books. Unfortunately, if you’ve ever used …
Does Social Media Sell Books?
By DiAnn Mills Whenever I speak about the value of social media, writers groan, frown, and complain. Too many writers are not willing to get past the learning curve needed to develop their brand. My response is always a focus on a writer’s life requiring flexibility to learn craft, marketing, publishing, and branding. If a new technique in the writing …
Wheat and Tares
By Rondi Bauer Olson Release day for my debut novel was officially less than 24 hours away. I hadn’t slept well the night before. When I got on my computer to work I couldn’t stay focused, and ended up checking my book status page more times than I care to admit. I was excited and a little bit frightened, but …
Men Need Romance, Too
By Glynn Young I recently reread David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, a work I had first read in high school. It was every bit as good as I remembered it. The most autobiographical of all of Dickens’s novels, it is full of intrigue, suspense, betrayal, meanness, kindness, and love. I would even go so far as to call it a …
Never Underestimate the Power of a Prayer
By Sharlene MacLaren I didn’t write my first word of fiction until age 52. I had just come through a year of clinical depression (1999-2000), and I knew I needed a purpose, something that would make me excited about getting up in the morning. “God, please reveal to me what I can do for You,” I prayed. “I long to …