Archives for October 2021

Fun Fridays – October 29, 2021

By Steve Laubeon October 29, 2021

Collective Nouns

I have a book of collective nouns that merely proves that English is a strange language (A Compendium of Collective Nouns by Woop Studios, Chronicle Books, 2013).

For example:
A scourge of mosquitoes
A quiver of cobras
A town of prairie dogs
A skulk of foxes

Which made me wonder. Why should the animals have all the fun? So I thought of some unconventional collective nouns that don’t exist. Guaranteed to either offend or make you laugh:

A potluck of Baptists
A selection of Calvinists
A shout of Pentecostals
A sprinkle of Presbyterians
A mass of Catholics
A silence of Quakers
A buggy of Amish
An anecdote of preachers

Can you add to the above collection? Or
can you fill in the blanks below?

A __________ of writers
A __________ of literary agents (Be very careful with this one!)
A __________ of publishers
A __________ of editors
A __________ of book proposals

The Purpose of Christian Books

By Dan Balowon October 28, 2021

A number of years ago, I recall listening to a sermon when the preacher spoke about all the problems the Israelites had while traveling through the wilderness for forty years after leaving Egypt. He was semiapologetic for the simplicity of the morning’s lesson. The Israelites kept forgetting God. Next time you read the book of Exodus, think about how the Israelites could have walked from Egypt to …

Category: Inspiration, The Publishing Life, Theology

What’s the Problem?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon October 27, 2021

My office receives many submissions with the hypothesis that a protagonist thinks s/he’s living the perfect life until it falls apart. This is a great premise! What is a perfect life? Most of us have an idea of what the world thinks of as an ideal life and what seems to be the “perfect” life we can live as Christians. Therefore, the reader doesn’t need to spend much time living the protagonist’s …

Category: Craft, Get Published, Writing Craft

How to Become a Professional Freelancer with Sharon Norris Elliott

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on October 26, 2021

The saying goes, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” While some authors are able to support a full-time writing career with only their books, the reality is most authors need additional income, at least at the beginning. But does that mean you need to go out and get a job at McDonald’s in […]You can listen to this episode How to Become a Professional Freelancer with Sharon Norris Elliott on …

Category: The Writing Life

How to Become a Professional Freelancer with Sharon Norris Elliott

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on October 26, 2021

The saying goes, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” While some authors are able to support a full-time writing career with only their books, the reality is most authors need additional income, at least at the beginning. But does that mean you need to go out and get a job at McDonald’s in […]
You can listen to this episode How to Become a Professional Freelancer with Sharon Norris Elliott …

Category: The Writing Life

How to Become a Professional Freelancer with Sharon Norris Elliott

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on October 26, 2021

The saying goes, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” While some authors are able to support a full-time writing career with only their books, the reality is most authors need additional income, at least at the beginning. But does that mean you need to go out and get a job at McDonald’s in […]
You can listen to this episode How to Become a Professional Freelancer with Sharon Norris Elliott …

Category: The Writing Life

Fun Fridays – October 22, 2021

By Steve Laubeon October 22, 2021

With the basketball season starting up around the country, I couldn’t resist showing this video of inspiring sportsmanship. May we all treat one another the way we would like to be treated. (If you cannot see the embedded video in your newsletter email, please click the headline and go directly to our site to view it.)

Category: The Writing Life

How to Meet Deadlines

By Bob Hostetleron October 21, 2021

Many years ago, I had the honor of eating lunch with a big, fancy, important editor I’d been working with for a few years. I asked him to critique my work and, to make a long story short, he emphasized my strengths: good copy, delivered on time. “That’s it?” I answered. “Good copy on time?” He said, “You’d be surprised.” So, ever since, I’ve worked hard to deliver good copy on time. Every time. …

Category: The Writing LifeTag: Deadlines

Why the Hurry?

By Dan Balowon October 20, 2021

A common experience for every literary agent and publisher is having a conversation with an author who would like a book published “as soon as possible.” Frankly, it is for this purpose the author-services publishing industry was established, because of all the things that characterize traditional publishing, speed is not among them. Traditional publishers have a certain number of books they want …

Category: Career