I have lived in Phoenix for 40 years. Winter has beautiful weather and brings visitors from the frozen north. But, as this weatherman discovered, sometimes it can get a little toasty in the desert. His reaction is priceless:
HT: Vicki Crumpton
Blog
Should an Author Query by Phone?
Recently I was asked by an author (not a client) if I could spend “ten minutes” talking on the phone about a book before I see the submission. I prefer to see the work first. Some questions may enter the author’s mind in response to that. Here are my answers. What’s the matter, are you too “busy” or snobby to talk to authors? No, I am not. In fact, I believe most people find time to do what they …
Finding Great Book Ideas
The beginning of a whole new year seems like a good time to think about new ideas. Specifically, new ideas for stories to write. We all have our favorite sources for new ideas. Some pull story ideas from breaking news stories, some from their own personal experiences or struggles, some from the lives of those they know, some from all of the above and more. Next week I’ll share some ways to spark …
Guaranteed Time-Saving Tips for Social Media
Written with tongue firmly planted in cheek… Managing your social media is a meaningless treadmill of work with no real purpose. While it seems to be one of the most efficient and effective ways to promote books and authors, really, who needs it? Sure, every publisher wants authors with strong social media numbers and self-published authors find it critical to their success, but other than …
Will Your Author Website Disappear from Google Searches?
Last month we moved our website to a new host server. As part of the move we discovered that we needed to change the security for the site. If you look carefully at the URL when visiting the site you’ll notice that it now has “https” at the beginning instead of “http”. The “s” at the end indicates there is a level of security on the site that was not …
Fun Fridays – January 6, 2017
A perfect picture of how we should celebrate the new year! from the forthcoming book Great Dane Chronicles by Andy Seliverstoff. (Follow this link to see more photos from the book.)
2016: The Year of Travel
Conferences The year 2016 was a year of travel for me. I was privileged to be on faculty at many conferences. I appreciate the warmth and kindness of conference staff and volunteers, as well as all the hardworking and generous conference directors. Everywhere I went, I felt welcomed and at home. For me, reconnecting with editors and other publishing professionals is always a conference highlight. …
Best Selling Books Fifty Years Ago
Twice each year, somewhere around the beginning and middle of the calendar, I like to take a look back at books published long ago. This is not simply a nostalgic exercise. If you never consider what came before, authors and publishers can delude themselves into believing they are first ever to explore some new literary territory. But when you look at the past, you discover creativity has always …
2016: A Year in Review
It is time to take a look at our past year and reflect on all the things that have happened. It is a recitation of good things and not so good things. But all were under the sovereignty of God and as such we give all glory to Him. (If you’d like to look at previous annual reports they can be found here: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2009.) The Agency Continues to Have Success We (the four of us) …
2017 Christian Writers Market Guide Now Online!
The 2017 edition of The Christian Writers Market Guide is officially available in print and ebook (paperback $22.99, ebook $9.99). Check your favorite bookstore or online retailer for a copy. Make sure you have a copy of this book in your arsenal! We are also very excited to announce that all the content of the guide is now available online via a subscription service (click here to see for …