Thoughts on Vanity Publishing

by Cathy Fyock @CathyFyock

It wasn’t that long ago that self-publishing was called vanity publishing. Authors who couldn’t find a publisher willing to put their books in print were thought of as vain if they stooped to paying for a publisher.

7 Tips to Deal with Writer Woes

by Sarah Sally Hamer @SarahSallyHamer

What exactly are writer woes? Each person has their own, very personal, set of things that bother, abuse, and worry us. It could be a chunk of time where we just can't write. Or when everything that hits the page looks like a gooey, ooey, screwed up mess. Or when we've gotten a critique or review that sets our hair on fire before we plunge into the depths of despair. 

Tips to Organize Your Life for Writing

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Recently, my family watched Love It or List It on HGTV. The show is about a family that is deciding whether to stay in their newly renovated home or to move into a new house. In this episode, the stars were going through the original house and were surprised to discover how clean and organized everything was. Everything was in its place.

Two Rules for Telling an Attention-Grabbing Story

by A.C. Williams @Free2BFearless

I like rules. Rules are good. They tell you where it’s safe to drive and walk and park and where you shouldn’t do any of those things. Sure, some rules get irritating, but I’d much rather know the rules than have to guess at them. Typical first-born child response, right? 

The Power of a Well-Written Writer's Bio

by Lori Hatcher @LoriHatcher2

Years ago I read an article on Crosswalk.com about parenting. It resonated with me, and I found myself nodding and smiling at the points the writer made. When I reached the end, I read the bio, eager to learn more about the woman who had written the piece.

11 Ways to Ignite Your Writing Passion

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

Maybe you thought the summer heat would light a fire to your writing, but it didn’t happen. Now it’s the end of September, and you still haven’t found the match. In fact, you’re giving serious consideration to calling it quits. Maybe writing is for someone else and not you.

Marketing from Reader Feedback

by Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting

Social media, focus groups, beta readers, and online reviews create plenty of reader feedback. Those words provide fodder for marketing.

Compilation Books—Why and How to Write Them

by Crystal Bowman

Compilations books are a collection of stories written by a variety of writers. Even though Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen struggled to get their first book published (like having 144 publishers say “no thank you”) the success of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series—with more than 500 million copies sold internationally—has proven that they have a place in the world of publishing.

When Should We Start Editing?

by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28

I can’t turn off my internal editor. Thoughts like these often zip through my mind:

• Those praise music lyrics are missing punctuation. (Does that drive you crazy, too?)
• I’m writing compound sentences in my e-mails without commas. (And feeling guilty about it.)
• I can’t send this text until it’s perfect. (Half the time I’m missing something.)

My internal editor is always on. Posting on Facebook takes five extra minutes because I’m worried I have a typo, and my voice-to-text feature frustrates me because it doesn’t capitalize properly. Doesn’t it know you have to capitalize book titles?

Watch Your Words!

by Lucinda Secrest McDowell @LucindaSMcDowel

The next six weeks in our country will be full of words. Promises. Taunts. Pledges. Boasts. Truth. Untruth. Mockery. Threats. Loyalty. Division. Hope. Despair. Fear. Faith. Unity. Encouragement. And, did I mention, Hope?

SPEAK UP WITH CONFIDENCE Guide for Authors

by Yvonne Ortega @YvonneOrtega1

I read Carol Kent’s revised and updated edition of Speak Up with Confidence from cover to cover. Her passion to speak words of eternal value and bathe every step of the process in prayer spoke to my heart. I hope it speaks to yours, too.

Be Willing to Heed the Advice of Publishing Professionals …. And Be Patient

by Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites

In less than two months, my parenting book, 365 Ways to Love Your Child: Turning Little Moments Into Lasting Memories, will celebrate a book birthday. My labor of love really is a labor of love … four labors to be exact and is a collection of many ideas and activities I carried out with my four children as they were growing up.

Learn from Other Writers

by Linda Gilden @LindaGilden

“Read widely in the genre that you want to write!” 

I have heard this over and over in the last thirty years. But until recently I didn’t fully understand what that meant.

Writing Truth in Fiction - 4 Tips

 

by Cindy K. Sproles @CindyDevoted

Thumbing through social media crushes my writing soul. These days, an innocent joke among friends leads to accusations of social injustice, racism, or politics. It makes writing a difficult thing. We now have to pour more critically over our work and that makes getting the message out, hard. Given light to highly publicized social injustices, innocent lines of dialogue are now taken as offensive and for Christian writers, the use of God or religion in anything is increasingly difficult. We can hardly allow characters to work through conflict and issues without strong social scrutiny or being tagged insensitive.

Do You Feel Like a Phony Writer?

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

When I quit my job to stay home with my son, I had to decide what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be. I needed a label. Something to give me an identity both when I met someone and had to answer that question that is always asked when you’re introduced to someone. The one right after what’s your name, what do you do? And I needed the label when I looked in the mirror in the morning. I knew I wanted to be a writer.

5 Tips Guaranteed to Make an Editor REJECT Your Story (before they even read it)

Edie here and today I'm over-the-moon excited! My good friend (author, editor, tech GENIUS) has agreed to come on board as a regular columnist for The Write Conversation. Please give Amy C. Williams (A.C.Williams) that warm TWC welcome!

5 Tips Guaranteed to Make an Editor REJECT Your Story (before they even read it)

by A. C. Williams @Free2BFearless

Got a manuscript to pitch at your next conference? Want to be remembered? Of course, you do. But will the editor remember you as a creative professional or as an unteachable, self-entitled know-it-all? 

What Does Every Writer Need?

by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells

What does every writer need?

That was the question on the test in my university writing course.

5 Tips for Finding Your Readers

Edie here. Today I'm excited to welcome an author I love to The Write Conversation. She has a new release for Christmas and I cannot wait to dive into Her Christmas Dream! Be sure to give Jo a great TWC welcome!

5 Tips for Finding Your Readers

by Jo Huddleston

Remember the scene in the movie “The Princess Diaries,” where Mia (Anne Hathaway) sits on the low stone wall outside of her high school before classes began? A boy came along looking for space to sit there also. He sat on her lap before realizing she was there. Mia told her best friend about the incident and wailed, “I’m invisible, nobody sees me,” or something like that. She didn’t fit in and felt like nobody even saw her much less paid any attention to her. I could identify with Mia when I first tested the waters as a writer.

The Power of Encouragement for Writers

By Lori Hatcher @LoriHatcher2

Theresa Silva had no idea how her words would impact me, an impressionable sixth grader. The substitute teacher had assigned the usual What I Did over Summer Vacation assignment, and I’d written about visiting my grandmother in South Carolina. I used words like tilled and harvested in my composition.

Back to School With Your Writing

by Cathy Fyock @CathyFyock

Every fall I get that “back to school” feeling as the leaves begin to show color, the air becomes crisp, and as I watch the endless TV commercials for school supplies. This time of year makes me realize that I only have a few more months to achieve my annual goals, and I have a renewed sense of urgency about getting work done.