Learn how to market to homeschoolers
You can listen to this episode 051 A Christian Author’s Guide to the Homeschool Market on Christian Publishing Show.
Archives for 2019
A Personal Thanks
Since this is the week when those of us in the United State celebrate Thanksgiving, I thought I’d take a moment to say a few words of gratitude. To Tamela and Bob Tamela Hancock Murray and Bob Hostetler are two of the finest literary agents in the business. It is fun to work alongside you both. There is a reason you were both nominated for the Agent-of-the-Year award by ACFW this year. [Now, get …
Fun Fridays – November 22, 2019
I totally would have done this to my daughters if I had thought of it. It is also a bit of a metaphor for clarity in our writing. If the reader misunderstands it whose fault is it? The reader? The writer? Or simply blame the editor, that nameless person who labors in the shadows. Even better, blame the literary agent!!! Thanks for the link: Trissina Kear (my daughter)
What Were They Reading?
In attempting to declutter, I am culling my book collection. Parting with beloved tomes is one of the hardest parts of decluttering for me since I enjoy books so much! I’m keeping copies of all the books I’ve written and the many I have had the honor of representing. Because I tend to buy nearly every book that interests me, I have a massive stack to review. Re-reading bestsellers from the past …
Stop. Just Stop (Doing These Things)
All editors and agents have a few pet peeves. Some of us have more than a few. In my case, it’s a virtual menagerie. So, while you may want to keep my OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), ODD (oppositional defiant disorder), and OCC (overly cantankerous condition) in mind as you read, please consider the following list of “things you should stop doing immediately and forever” if you’re writing for …
What Caught My Eye
Last week we talked about the hook, the sound bite, or the ability to "say it in a sentence." One reader asked for examples so I thought I'd give you a few.
Below are the short pitches of proposals that have caught my eye over the years from debut authors. Please realize that the sound bite is only one of many factors that goes into a great proposal. Ultimately it is the execution of the …
Fun Fridays – November 15, 2019
This video gives mind-blowing facts about linguistics. In particular, how pronunciation has changed over time. Thus, if you are writing a historical novel, be careful in assuming the words you use meant the same in your era and that they they were pronounced like they are today. Made me think of older poetry or song lyrics and some rhyming couplets. No wonder they sometimes don’t rhyme when …
To Romance or Not to Romance
According to St. Teresa of Avila’s biography, the battle over romance novels has been going on at least since the 1500s:
Teresa's father was rigidly honest and pious, but he may have carried his strictness to extremes. Teresa's mother loved romance novels but because her husband objected to these fanciful books, she hid the books from him. This put Teresa in the middle -- especially since she …
Write Like Paul
Somerset Maugham wrote, “There is an impression abroad that everyone has it in him to write one book; but if by this is implied a good book the impression is false” (The Summing Up). Far be it from me to add to Maugham’s words, but I’m going to. So I guess it be not far from me, after all. I would say that many people (maybe not everyone) have a book in them, but relatively few have a marketable …
050 Between Contract and Launch – What it is like to have a book under contract
This is episode 50 of the Christian Publishing Show! And we have a special treat for you today. We’ve talked with a lot of bestselling authors on this show, but we’ve never talked much about what their first year is like. It is easy to get so focused on getting a book contract that you don’t realize what comes next. So that is what we are going to talk about today. Our guest today lives in …