Career
The Credibility Gap
This was a tough post to write. I felt at times that I was arguing with myself on these issues, but maybe in today’s “journey” through the topic of author credibility you will sense the struggle that Christian authors confront and maybe some truth with be revealed in the process. If you were a mathematics professor at a junior college and had a revolutionary insight related to something about …
Turn Envy Upside Down
Envy is one of the seven deadly sins and not easy to conquer. Who hasn’t felt jealous over someone else’s success, especially when it doesn’t seem deserved? Seeing an outright enemy succeed is even worse. It doesn’t have to be this way. Instead, take your feelings of envy and put them to good use. That is, make those feelings work for you so you can succeed. Here’s how: When someone in your sphere …
The Truth About Criticism
Last week I talked about limiting the amount of mean criticism you have to put up with. This week, let’s revisit that topic, only to learn from it. Yes, we can learn when someone is mean to us. We’ve all had unhappy feelings when attacked. Maybe it’s a twinge in your chest or gut, a reflexive desire to lash out, a sense of unfairness, of being misunderstood. Maybe it’s all of those. Everyone has …
You Might As Well Face It, You’re Addicted to Input
With great fear of being sued by Robert Palmer for messing with his song lyrics: You like to think that you’re immune to the stuff…oh yeah It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough You know you’re gonna have to face it You’re addicted to love INPUT. Publishing is such a subjective field of endeavor that at one point or another an author, editor or …
Deadlines: Pre-Emptive Strike
Last week I wrote about a process on how to manage deadlines. Despite our best efforts, events may put us awry. To avoid this, eliminate overconfidence. When you see a contract and the advance – one you may desperately need, you may be tempted to say, “You know what? I really don’t need to go to the beach this year. I’ll write all summer instead.” Or, “Sure, I can write 3,000 words a day, seven …
Tossed by the Ocean of Emotion
It is hard to be a writer or to work in the publishing industry. Everyone defines success differently and we strive to meet those expectations at every turn. Often we let “success” define us, especially when a writer is told “You are only as good as the sales of your last book.” Or an agent is told, “You are only worth the value of your last contract.” Henri Nouwen, in his book The Return of the …
Meet Deadlines with Simple Math
During your publishing journey you may have the delightful problem of too many deadlines. You may have to ask yourself if you can accept another contract because you’re so busy. I’ve advised many clients about this over the years, taking them from panic to peace. Simple math can help. Determine time Look at all your contracts and how much time you have to write the books. Calculate how many days …
I Hate the Church (?)
Wow. Another year ended, another new year begun. As I considered what to say about 2015, something struck me: I heard more hard words from believers in 2015 than ever before. No, not “hard words” as in hard things the Lord told people to say. Just hard words. Words spiked with negativity, frustration, even a tinge of hatred. I’m a PK. A preacher’s kid. What’s more, I’m a PGK—a preacher’s grandkid. …
Tomorrow Starts Now
1956 was an interesting year (other than the year of my birth). There were wars and rumors of wars, great music, movies, books, political campaigning, controversy involving Islamic control of various nations and trouble in the Middle East. Sound familiar? Woody Guthrie’s song “This Land is Your Land” was popular, Norman Vincent Peale’s book on The Power of Positive Thinking was still hot and …