Tamela Hancock Murray

What does success look like for Christian authors?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 11, 2020

As authors, it is easy to get destination fever, where we are so focused on the destination that we fail to enjoy the journey. What does it mean to be a success as a Christian author? Should we measure ourselves the same way secular authors measure themselves?

To help us answer this question, we will be talking with the bestselling and Christy hall-of-fame author James L. Rubart.

Links:

Sponsor: Christian Writers Institute

The Course of the Week: I Don’t Write for the Money

As a Christian author, what motivates you to write for publication? Is it money? Or something greater? Novelist Jack Cavanaugh explores the motive beyond financial gain and offers insight into true success.
Normally I would say use coupon code “podcast” to save 10%, but this course is 100% free!

The post What does success look like for Christian authors? appeared first on Christian Publishing Show.

Where Is My Money?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 10, 2020

Before I became a literary agent I had no idea how much energy this profession spent being a “collections agent.” Recently someone asked us the following questions (use the green button to the right to ask your question!):
What do you do, as an agent, when a publisher does not pay advances on royalties on time as per their legal contract?
What if a publisher is consistently late (months) saying …

Category: Agency, Book Business, Contracts, MoneyTag: Agents, Money, Returns

Fun Fridays – February 7, 2020

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 7, 2020

Be prepared for a jaw-dropping video. This is someone who follows their passion. I did think of a comparison to all writers. If each matchstick were a word, then 7.5 million words in 40 years is quite a few books. I suspect some of you have written that many. But are they masterpieces like in this video? Enjoy.

Category: Fun Fridays

Letter to a College Senior

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 6, 2020

A senior in college wrote to me asking for career advice in publishing. Perhaps a few thoughts I shared then might be of help to you. __________ As your letter indicates, publishing offers many options. The ones you are focused on, rightly, are finding employment with a traditional publishing house, preferably one of the Big Five, and writing books. Many publishing professionals pursue this path …

Category: Career

What Will You Read Today?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 30, 2020

Reading at least a few chapters of a book is a worthy goal for each day. One app I have recommends a half hour of reading. Seems doable to me! Since I have at least a thousand books in my collection begging to be read, I’m attempting to be discerning as to where I spend my reading time. To wit, I went to a public library book sale over the weekend and confess I was tempted by Kitty Kelley’s old …

Category: Personal, Reading

The Editorial Process

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 27, 2020

It is important to understand the process through which a book takes under the umbrella called “The Edit.” I meet many first timers who think it is just a one-time pass over their words and that is all that will ever happen. And many who self-publish think that hiring a high school English teacher to check for grammar is enough of an edit.

There are four major stages to the Editorial Process. …

Category: Editing, Get Published, Publishing A-Z, Self-Publishing, The Writing Life, Writing CraftTag: Agents, Editors, Grammar, Proposals, Writing Craft

Fun Fridays – January 24, 2020 – Puns for Lexophiles

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 24, 2020

No. These are not original. But they are delightful to read again!
Do you have any you can add?

A Little Bit of Fun for Lexophiles (Lover of Words)
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off?
He's all right now.
The roundest knight …

Category: Fun FridaysTag: Humor

Floating … Floating … Gone …

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 23, 2020

Writers conferences and blogs talk about this topic often so I don't pretend to be breaking new ground with this post. Yet I still see some floating body parts and cliches creep into otherwise great stories. No, I don't mean murder mysteries depicting a stray arm floating in a river. I mean much gentler fare.

Yes, floating body parts offer the reader -- and writer -- shortcuts. But relying on …

Category: Craft, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Grammar, Tamela, Writing Craft

A Writer’s Double Portion (A Prayer)

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 22, 2020

Gracious God, who inspired faulty and feeble people in times past to write for the purpose of changing lives, please let some of that spirit–a double portion, even, as I am faultier and feebler than they were—rest on me as a writer. Grant me the productivity of Moses, who though he lived in an age before paper or press is credited with “the books of Moses,” revered as Torah by …

Category: Personal, The Writing Life, Theology

057 Why Platform is Not Important Like You Think

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 21, 2020

The following is the outline I used to record this episode. It is not the episode itself! I encourage you to listen to the episode if you can. Why Publishers Care About Platform: Michael Hyatt popularized the term when he started blogging about it about 10 years ago. He also wrote a book about it (Affiliate Link) in 2012. Platform is seen as an indication that books will sell. Authors without …

Category: The Writing Life