More Faith, Less Fluff

by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

I accidentally put one of my favorite “lay flat to dry” sweaters in the dryer. Somewhere in the last fluff cycle, somebody must’ve slipped in and traded it for some kind of little teddy bear sweater. What am I supposed to do with this? I guess now I have to buy a little teddy bear.

Planning Your Virtual Book Launch Event

by Cathy Fyock @CathyFyock

Your book is completed, and now it’s time to plan your launch. If you’re not considering a virtual launch event, you’ll be missing out on an easy and powerful strategy to ensure that more of your prospects learn about your book and your content. Additionally, planning a launch event will also help you in preparing content that you’ll use to share your book’s message when you speak for conferences and programs.

3 Surprising Benefits of a Nonfiction Book Proposal Rejection

by Lori Hatcher @LoriHatcher2

Let’s be honest. Writers, like most human beings, hate rejection. Especially when we’ve put so much work into a project. We refine our purpose, target our audience, and select our best chapters. We agonize over our hook and drive everyone around us crazy by testing alternate book titles on them. Anyone who’s ever written a book proposal will agree—completing one is like birthing a porcupine—with no epidural. 

It’s no surprise, then, that we experience disappointment and sadness when our proposal is rejected. Once we put some distance between the rejection and the project, however, we can usually learn from it. If we apply the lessons to our next proposal, we’ll increase our chances of receiving a yes instead of another heartbreaking no.

12 Things to Let Go of to Find Writing Success

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

Successful writers sacrifice a lot to get where they are. Often we forget this and just see the end result. The dream of becoming an overnight success is just that, a dream. This post isn’t meant to discourage anyone. Rather, I want you to focus on the fact that, if you’re willing to put in the effort, you can find writing success. To that end, I’m sharing 12 things you need to give up to become a successful writer.

6 Tips for Submitting to a Compilation

by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28

The anticipation of submitting an article, the adventure of writing it, and the hope that it will be accepted—writing for compilations can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. 

5 Tips for the Discouraged Writer

by Lucinda Secrest McDowell @LucindaSMcDowel

You got excited. Inspired to write. Motivated to minister. Challenged to pursue dreams.

And, for a while there—surrounded by kindred spirits cheering you on—you could almost taste the success. A book published. A conference keynote scheduled. A popular blog.

Why Tags and Labels are Important to Blogging & How to Use Them Correctly

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

I get the opportunity to evaluate a lot of blogs, from writers I meet with at conferences to clients. And they all have many of the same questions. One of the most common is what are some tips to help their blogs get found.

There’s one easy answer—proper tagging/labeling with each post.

When I give this answer, I get a lot of blank looks. This is one critical step a lot of blogger miss when posting a blog. Today, I’m going to give you the tools that make labeling/tagging a breeze and immediately help your blog come up in the search engine rankings.