It’s time to check in with the international members of American Christian Fiction Writers … We find out what they’ve achieved over the last few months, and get to know them a little better by asking a seasonal question. Question time The FIFA World Cup has just started, so our question (or questions) for our …
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We tend to think of writing a book as a solitary task, but in reality, we all need a team. Here are some of the teammates you’re going to need. Beta readers Once a full draft is complete, it is time to allow other people to read the manuscript. However, for each stage you need …
I have just had my end-of-year performance review at work (because it’s the end of our financial year). Last July, I sat down with my manager and we agreed my goals for the year. Yesterday, I prepared for my review by reviewing my year at work against those goals: what I’ve achieved, what I am …
Young Christian Writers as Esthers: The Power of Brazen Audacity It was Stephen King who said in his memoir, On Writing, “You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” Reading On Writing some years ago, sat in my warm, humid West-African home, a cup of cold soda drink in one …
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I was standing in a bookshop last week. Two books in my hands. One had everything going for it—strong reviews, a compelling blurb, the kind of reputation that whispers this is worth your time. It’s even been adapted into a film. And yet… I turned to the first page. I read a paragraph. Then another. …
Continue reading “Writers Life | Books in the Age of Distraction”
Young Christian Writers as Pauls: The Power of Retaining One’s Voice. When I first started to write, I had a number of authors I aspired to be like. I loved their books so I subconsciously strove to sound like them. I even wanted to write in similar genres as they did. But I soon realised, …
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Remember the fun Hillsong we used to sing in the mid-2000s? Or, if you’re old enough, the ’70s Jesus Movement hand signal and the big floppy Bible that went with it? Spanning the time between those tropes came a definite mindset of teaching. ‘This is the way, walk ye in it’ (Isaiah 30:21 KJV) gets …
Publishing is not for the faint-hearted. There are significant up-front costs. Below, I will list the ones I spent, but also give suggestions for how to avoid various costs. First, let’s differentiate between self-publishing/independent publishing and pay-to-play publishing (known as vanity publishing and now calling itself ‘hybrid’ publishing). Self-publishing is more like project-managing. You will …
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In today’s blog, Dienece would like to share her experience with launching a second book. Launching your second book might not go like the first one did. It might do better, or it might be worse. I ended up making more money off my second book, but I didn’t sell as many books. The lack …
(and five contests for unpublished fiction writers, plus a short story contest for Australian writers) There are any number of writing contests around for both published and unpublished writers. It’s easy to see why a published author would enter a writing contest: to get recognition for their writing, in the same way as actors enter …
