Novel Preparation 101

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

We writers have habits, some quirky, that help us get started on new writing projects. Today I’d like to share with you how I organize my thoughts and preparations before writing chapter one, line one of a new novel. I’m mostly an organic/pantster writer, but some things I have to know before I begin.

1. Idea! Oh, these come from so many different places—from a movie, a current happening in the news, overheard conversation, a what-if from everyday life, and dreams.

Read More

Ready for Middle Grade Novels?

by Ron Estrada

We’re constantly told to write what we love to read. Easier said than done, because I find that most writers read a wide range of genres. But I had a long discussion with myself late last year and was forced to admit that I love YA novels, even the contemporary, nearly romantic ones.

But it didn’t end there. I think somewhere around the time I read Moon Over Manifest, I realized the frightening truth.

I’m a middle-grade geek.

Here’s the other cold hard truth I realized: actual middle-graders who love to read are honest to the point of cruelty and don’t give second chances.

Read More

Throw Your Words into the Refiner's Fire

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

Perfectionism is a lofty goal. It’s not a bad goal, just not a very realistic one. That’s not to say we should have the attitude of: “Well, I’ll never get it perfect, so I should just give up.” Absolutely not. We should strive to do the best possible work that we can do, but not become discouraged because it falls short of perfect.

I remember taking gymnastics lessons and I would work for hours just to get the form right. We practiced in front of mirrors and I had to consciously think about how to hold my body, was my form right, were my movements smooth and graceful? And my instructor would correct, reposition—and encourage. But I never got it perfect.

And you know what I learned? Practice doesn’t make perfect.

Yep, I said it. LOL.

That’s the bad news. But, the good news is, practice does bring improvement and growth and skills we can implement. Every time we practice, we come closer to “perfection”.

The above words can be applied to anything in life, but for this purpose, let’s apply it to our writing. A lot of people think their writing has to be perfect before an agent or editor will be interested in signing or acquiring it. Guess what? It doesn’t.

That is not to say, it doesn’t have to be good, maybe even great, and that one doesn’t have to develop the skill to write in a way that capture their attention, but it doesn’t have to be perfect.

I look at it like this.

Someone is always going to know more than I do about writing. Someone has already walked where I’m getting ready to step. If I’m willing to listen and to soak in that person’s wisdom and have the attitude of: I want to learn and grow as a writer, therefore, I’m going to be teachable and follow the leading of my instructor, then growth is going to happen, my skills are going to sharpen, and eventually, someone in the publishing industry is going to sit up and take notice.

That’s my experience anyway. I had mentors, I went to writing conferences, I learned from the best in the business—and eventually, people noticed.

I say all that to say this. Be like clay in the hands of a master.

Malachi 3:3 says: He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.

Zechariah 13:9 says: “I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.”
A refiner uses a fire to heat metal to a molten state, then skims off the dreg that floats to the top. The dreg is worthless. It’s trash that needs to be discarded. But underneath is pure silver, a metal that can be made into something beautiful, something worth noticing, something valuable.

I think this is a wonderful way to look at writing. Let those who’ve gone before you be like the refiner. Be willing to immerse your words into the fire so that the dross can float to the top and be discarded leaving you with a piece of work that, while maybe not perfect, is beautiful, valuable and noticeable.

What do you think about this? Have you had someone in your writing career who has been your refiner? How did this person make a difference in your writing career or life?

Happy New Year!!


TWEETABLES

Throw Your Words into the Refiner's Fire by Lynette Eason (Click to Tweet)

Practice doesn’t make perfect~ Lynette Eason (Click to Tweet)

Be willing to immerse your words into the fire~ Lynette Eason (Click to Tweet)

Lynette is also the award-winning, bestselling author of almost forty books. She writes for Revell and Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense line. Her books have finaled or won awards in contests such as The Maggies, Inspirational Readers Choice Award, The Carol, ECPA Book of the Year, and The Selah. She is also the 2016 Daphne du Maurier Award winner in the Inspirational Romantic Mystery/Suspense category and Overall Daphne Winner this year. Her most recent achievement is placing in the top 10 out of thousands of entries in the James Patterson co-writing competition. Lynette and her husband Jack live in upstate South Carolina with their two teenagers. Lynette can often be found online at www.facebook.com/lynette.eason , @lynetteeason (Twitter) , and www.lynetteeason.com.

Lynette Eason just released her first Indie novella called Lethal Homecoming. It's a short read, but packed with suspense and romance. Feel free to check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/zs8dtcr

Six years ago, danger sent Callie Ainsworth running, and now all she wants is to go home to Tanner Hollow. She’s received word that the danger is over, so she is free to be reunited with her mother and sister. When someone tries to kill Callie before she even reaches the driveway, she realizes she's made a horrible mistake and danger still lurks. But this time she's not running away.

Nolan Tanner had loved Callie as a teenager and has never gotten over her sudden, unexplained departure. When he rescues her from a killer on her first night home, old feelings come rushing back. Still angry at her for leaving him six years ago, he soon realizes she had good reason for taking off--and that he's still holding out hope for a future with her. Can he catch the person who wants her dead and convince her she needs to stay home for good?

Read More

A New Perspective on Goal Setting

 by Susan May Warren

I woke up this morning to a layer of fresh grace on the evergreens, sparkling in the rising sun, Lamentations 2:23 in my mind. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Phew. Because with the relatives gone, the Christmas tree down, the ornaments packed away for next season, I’m sitting on my sofa looking out at the snow-laden trees and beyond, into the new year, realizing that 2016 passed with blink.

And with it, my goals. Every year I spend a few days putting together the action plans of My Book Therapy and Susan May Warren Fiction – what do I want to accomplish, how do I hope to touch lives?

Did you spend your weekend looking at last year, and figuring out what you want to do differently in 2017? Did you look at your strengths, areas of growth, of where you are in your dreams?

Maybe you picked one word for the New Year, or a verse for the year. Did you set up goals, projects and plans?

I can admit that sometimes my New Year planning feels a little I’m loading up my year with a pile of to-dos akin to Robert DeNiro’s character hauling around his load of penance weapons in The Mission. (Do you remember that 1986 movie? If not, it’s worth seeing again!)

I’ve been in the publishing industry for over a decade now, and I’ve discovered something that helps me put my sales and projects into perspective…none of it matters unless I am a better person because of my writing journey. If I turn into a frenetic, stressed-out, amazon-obsessed author, always comparing myself to others, I’ve missed out on the point. God doesn’t really care if I’m published, but he does use the journeys of our life to change us, draw us closer to Him.

And maybe that should be the point of goal-making.

So, instead of setting up objective goals about sales and NYT lists (although, yes, we all want that), I could plan from the inside out, with a different perspective:

1. What unexpected thing did I do this year that I loved? Often, our hidden strengths are found in doing something unexpected. For me, this year, it was my swimming and yoga classes. Although I wasn’t a regular, sneaking away for an hour to exercise recharged me. This year, I’ll make a better effort to invest in my “escape” time and let my mind recharge.

2. Where did I find deep contentment? Life seems to blow by faster every year, and I find I don’t have time to invest in things that leave me empty. But I’m often surprised at the things that “fill me up.” This year, my daughter had a baby, our first grandchild. I am CRAZY about being a grandmother. Sadly, two of my four amazing children live far away, so it makes me ever more committed to working hard so I can sneak away and get that quality time. It makes me determined to utilize my time well.

3. How did I expand my reach/skills this year, and what did I learn? For me, this was all about taking a look at my gifting – teaching and writing – and seeing if I could fine-tune this. I love helping people tell their story, and make an impact in their world, so I dove into teaching a series about Impactivity and designing a life that isn’t just productive but impactful. This next year I’ll be honing my skills at helping writers up their game through powerful storytelling.

I also took a look at my writing – and this year I went hybrid. I published a short ebook series (Montana Fire) designed to prep readers for my bigger series (Montana Rescue). My readers responded so well, this year I’m going to respond to a few reader requests and go back to Deep Haven and connect the Montana Fire and Deep Haven series with a few crossover book. What this taught me—listen to your reader base!!

4. Did I fall deeper in love with Jesus this year? I know that feels like a personal question, but it’s something, as a Christian, that matters to me. If not, I need to take a look at why – and is there a way I can pursue God more? This year, I picked a number of books to add to my quiet time reading. (Have you found, Jesus is Better than You Imagined yet?)

5. How did I measure success last year? This question has been the most important I consider as I look back onto 2016…and into 2017. Is success making more money? Upping my sales? Or maybe, success is something more intangible, but produced by asking the questions: Am I a better wife, friend, novelists, teacher…and most importantly lover of Jesus because of my choices this year? And, will I be with the plans and goals I’ve put together for 2017?

Not your typical planning list, I know, but perhaps, if you’re like me and a little tired of the SMART goals, and the Action Plan lists and feeling like you’ve just given yourself a load of luggage to haul around in 2017, try planning from the inside out, with the bigger picture in mind.

It just might set you free.

Have a blessed 2017!

TWEETABLES

A New Perspective on Goal Setting by Susan May Warren (Click to Tweet)

None of it matters unless I am a better person because of my writing journey~ Susan May Warren (Click to Tweet)

Not your typical planning list~ Susan May Warren (Click to Tweet)

Susan May Warren is owner of Novel Rocket and the founder of Novel.Academy. A Christy and RITA award-winning author of over fifty novels with Tyndale,Barbour, Steeple Hill, Summerside Press and Revell publishers, she's an eight-time Christy award finalist, a three-time RITA Finalist, and a multi-winner of theInspirational Readers Choice award and the ACFW Carol. A popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation, she's also the author of the popular writing method, The Story Equation. A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at: www.susanmaywarren.com. Contact her at:susan@mybooktherapy.com.

Read More

The Joy of Hindsight

By Jennifer AlLee

Here it is, December 31st, the eve of a new year. About this time we usually look back at the year with nostalgia (or with a shudder and a prayer of thanks that it's over). Often, it's a time to make resolutions. Today, I'd like to look back, but way back...all the way to Christmas of 1995 and another time-honored tradition: visiting the mall for a picture with Santa.

A wee bit of context here. My son, Billy (who prefers Bill or William now, but at the time was definitely Billy) generally loved having his picture taken and was quite photogenic. On this particular day, he was not, shall we say, agreeable to sitting on a strange man's lap and looking happy about it. I watched as Santa tried to charm him, bouncing him on his knee and never dropping his jolly facade. I, however, was far from jolly. I was mortified. I wanted to explain to Santa and anyone watching that my son really wasn't a little monster, he was just having a bad day.

When the ordeal of sitting for the picture was over, we moved down the line to pick up the proof sheets, which they printed on the spot. The result wasn't good so I had no desire to purchase a package of pics to share with family and friends. But I wasn't going to leave empty handed, so I bought the proof sheets.

It's fair to say, I considered the day a failure. My son was miserable, we had not brightened Santa's day, and there was nothing jolly about the outing. But a funny thing happened. The following year, I came across the proof sheets. When I looked at them, I felt none of the negative emotions from that day. Instead, I burst out laughing. Not a snicker or a chuckle, but a full out, fall over sideways, tears of joy kind of laughter. To this day, I cannot look at those pictures without laughing. What I saw as a disaster when it was happening has now become a great source of joy.

To wrap this up with a pretty bow and show why this should matter to all you writers, let me say this: There are times during life (in general) and writing (in particular) when it feels like everything is going wrong. Those times stink, no doubt about it. But it's just possible that, somewhere down the road, you'll look back on those times and burst out laughing. At the very least, you may smile knowingly, aware of the growth and strength that came from the perceived failure.

So, as we say, "Later, baby!" to 2016 and greet the new year, I have one simple resolution: To find joy in unlikely places. Care to join me?

TWEETABLES

The Joy of Hindsight by Jennifer AlLee (Click to Tweet)

What I saw as a disaster has now become a source of joy~ Jennifer AlLee (Click to Tweet)

Strength that came from the perceived failure~ Jennifer AlLee (Click to Tweet)

Jennifer AlLee was born in Hollywood, California, and grew up living above a mortuary one block away from the famous intersection of Hollywood & Vine. Now she lives in the grace-filled city of Las Vegas, which just goes to prove she’s been blessed with a unique life. A multi-published author, she’s worked with four different publishing houses in the genres of Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Romance, and Historical Romance. When she’s not busy spinning tales, she enjoys playing games with friends, attending live theater and movies, and singing at the top of her lungs to whatever music happens to be playing. 

Read More

10 Things I Learned About Writing From Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

I always struggle with blogging balance around the holidays. I want to join in the fun, but I get a little tired of all the non-writing posts I read everywhere. Today I want to share my version of a compromise—Top 10 Things I Learned About being a Writer From Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

I love all the Christmas specials that come around every year during the holidays, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has always been one of my favorites. I identify with his lack of self-confidence, his heart for his friends and especially his gumption when Santa called on him to step up and guide the sleigh that night. 

And it occurs to me that, as writers, there are a lot of valuable lessons in this holiday tale. 

What I learned about being a writer from Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer:

1. We’re all born with a special gift. 

2. At some point we all feel like that special gift is a curse.

3. Hiding who we really are are brings out the bullies and naysayers.

4. We all need time to mature into our gift.

5. Trying to live up to the image of who others think we should be won’t bring anything but trouble and heartache.

6. True friends will see beyond our differences and embrace the essence of who we are.

7. We’re given that special gift for a reason and a purpose.

8. Running away from who we are doesn’t ever solve anything.

9. There will come a time when you have to decide to work within your gift, not around it.

And the best lesson of all . . . 

10. Being who God meant you to be will bless others as much as you.

How about you? Care to share something you’ve learned from an unlikely source? Be sure to share your thoughts below in the comments section.

TWEETABLE

10 things I learned about #writing from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer -@EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Edie Melson—author, blogger, speaker—has written numerous books, including her most recent, fiction, Alone, and nonfiction, While My Child is Away. She’s also the military family blogger at Guideposts.org. Her popular blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands each month. She’s the director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and a member of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. She’s the the Social Media Director for Southern Writers Magazine, Social Media Mentor at My Book Therapy, and the Senior Editor for NovelRocket.com.

Read More

Write Your Own Happy Ending

by Heather FitzGerald @WriteFitz

They say to, "Write what you know." Yes, that elusive group of insider-experts (aka they) are always quick to dispense wisdom and point out where we fall short. Alas, they are unparalleled in their counsel and we must strive to meet their exacting standards.

But aren’t they also the ones that said ‘rules are made to be broken’? I think they might be confused.  

Read More

When You Don't Feel Like Writing

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason 

What do you do when you don’t feel like writing? Gasp! Not feel like writing? Is that even a real feeling?

Um…yes. Unfortunately, it happens. At least to me. Don’t get me wrong. I love what I do. I adore my job and the flexibility it affords me. Believe me, I don’t take it for granted. But I don’t wake up EVERY SINGLE day thinking, “Oh boy! I’m just so excited, I can’t wait to hit the keyboard!”

Read More

Don't Be a Scaredy-Cat Writer

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

The season of spooks is upon us, but that doesn’t mean we can give in to the fears we face as writers. We must face our writing fears and keep moving.

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine and this person confided that she was afraid she didn’t have what it takes to be a writer. “I’m just not good enough to get a book published, and I don’t know if I ever will be.”

“Welcome to the club,” I told her.

My answer wasn’t what she expected. She had forgotten something we had heard together at a conference many years ago. We’d been listening to an established author talk about his own fear and inadequacies. He told the audience that every time he sits down to write a new book, the fears resurface and he’s certain he no longer has what it takes to make it in publishing.

Hearing him confess his own fears gave me hope. Beyond that, it brought home an important fact. Being published—no matter if it’s a single book or a hundred—won’t necessarily make the fear disappear.

So what’s a writer to do?

Read More

Stupid Moments

by Yvonne Lehman

IT WAS YOU!
By Sharon Blackstock Dobbs

It was you.
You who didn’t feed the cat,
Or lock up all the doors
You who left the garbage the dog scattered on the floor.
You who left the milk to sour in the kitchen sink.
It was you.

You shrug your shoulders, raise your brows and say, “It wasn’t me.”
I know that look of innocence when you are in denial.
Finding all your hiding spots is a monumental trial.
Why can’t you leave well enough alone and let it be?

Now, where have you put my glasses? My keys, where are they?
I search high and bending low I fall down on my knees,
My glasses slip onto my nose to the jingling of the keys.
Oh, well…

Maybe it was me.

* * *

Yvonne here.

Like that first entry in the Stupid Moments book, sometimes we have to admit we may have acted… well, less intelligently than we would have liked.

But… the instant Adam and Eve bit into forbidden fruit, stupid moments became a fact of life.

Such experiences can range from laughable to lamentable, humbling to humiliating. Whether they result from brilliant ideas (that weren’t), careless actions, or unanticipated circumstance, the uncomfortable aftermath often remains fresh in our minds throughout our lives.

In this sixth book in the Moments series, 48 authors share 62 stories illustrating that no matter what brings these moments into our lives, it’s what we learn from them that matters.

Sometimes we learn something important about ourselves. Other times we learn not to take things too seriously.

Ultimately, these moments serve to remind us we’re only human, and we always need the grace and redemptive power of Christ in our lives.

Other books in this series are Divine Moments, Christmas Moments, Spoken Moments, Precious Precocious Moments, More Christmas Moments, and Additional Christmas Moments. Loving Moments is scheduled for early 2017. I am now receiving submissions for:

• Coola-nary Moments – stories of culinary mishaps, extraordinary cooking stories, and recipes
• Romantic Moments – love stories, dating, falling in love, marriage, weddings, bridesmaids, lost love, etc. etc.
• Questionable Moments – based on authors’ response to questions asked by God/Jesus in the Bible, or implied, such as: “Where are you?” “Where are you going?” “Do you love me?” “Do you believe?” etc.
• Christmas Moments Book #4 – for 2017

These stories in the series of Divine Moments books are written by multi-published and first-time-published authors who generously share their experiences without compensation, but with the joy of knowing all the royalties go to Samaritan’s Purse. Since 1970, that organization has helped victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through his son, Jesus Christ.

If you would like to share an experience, contact me at Yvonnelehman3@gmail.com

TWEETABLE

Submission opportunity for writers with @YvonneLehman on @NovelRocket (Click to Tweet)

Those writing Stupid Moments articles are: Gloria Anderson, Joye Atkinson, Karen Nolan Bell, Mason K. Brown, Roger E. Bruner, Elsie H. Brunk, Janet Campbell, Rebecca Carpenter, Joann M. Claypoole, Sharon Blackstock Dobbs, Susan Shelton Dollyhigh, Dorothy Floyd, Theresa Jenner Garrido, Tommy Scott Gilmore III, Diana Beamis Good, Nick Harrison, Sandra Merville Hart, Helen L. Hoover, Lillian Humphries, Terri Kelly, Alice Klies, Barbara Latta, David A. Lehman, Yvonne Lehman, Lynn Lilja, Diana Leagh Matthews, Andrea Merrell, Maggie Micoff, Marybeth Mitcham, Vicki H. Moss, Shelley Pierce, Deborah M. Presnell, Colleen L.Reece, Toni Armstrong Sample, Gloria Spears, Cindy Sproles, Nate Stevens, Fran Lee Strickland, Barb Suiter, Ann Tatlock, Leigh Ann Thomas, Donna Collins Tinsley, AudreyTyler, Jan Westmark, Kathy Whirity, Dr. Rhett H. Wilson Sr., Debra DuPree Williams, Jean Wilund

Yvonne Lehman is an award-winning, best-selling author of more than 3,000,000 books in print, who founded and directed the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference for 25 years, is now director of the Blue Ridge “Autumn in the Mountains” Novelist Retreat. She mentors for the Christian Writers Guild. She earned a Master’s Degree in English from Western Carolina University and has taught English and Creative Writing on the college level. Her latest releases include eight ebooks for Barbour’s Truly Yours line and a Harlequin/Heartsong series set in Savannah GA: The Caretaker’s Son, Lessons in Love, Seeking Mr. Perfect, (released in March, August, & November 2013). Her 50^th novel is Hearts that Survive – A Novel of the TITANIC

Read More

The Adventures of Writing

The life of a writer can be pretty exciting. Yes, I really believe that. As writers we often say we have a solitary life, because many of us are introverts, and our lives outside our writing world are often limited to social media, or visiting with the characters in our books. So how can a writer’s life be exciting?

Everyday is a new adventure. The adventure is up to you. Maybe you write romantic suspense and your character is on a cross-country trip—can you say research/road trip? J I recently attended the ACFW conference in Nashville and visited with an author who traveled to all the places he included in his books. He has travelled all over the world for no other reason except he is a writer.

Maybe traveling isn’t an option for you, but that’s okay. You can still travel vicariously through online research.

The fork in the road leads to all kinds of possibilities. You get to decide what your characters do next. Will you make life miserable for them, or will you show a little grace and allow a moment of relief? The world traveler I referred to above stated he likes to make his characters experience a lot of pain. So much so that he is often brought to tears as he writes. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been in tears as well when I’ve been writing. Talk about living an emotional rollercoaster—definitely not boring.

Social media. I know many authors consider social media a necessary evil, but it doesn’t have to be. Think about your interests. Perhaps you enjoy pictures, then try Instagram or Pinterest. Or maybe you don’t have a lot of time, but your publisher wants you to market—Twitter keeps things short and sweet. Plus you get to choose who you follow, so you get to see the kind of things you want to see. Maybe you like to interact with readers, friends and family, but you don’t have the time meet in person, then Facebook could be a great tool. Facebook groups are an easy way to interact with readers and keep up with family and friends. But user beware many people find Facebook to be an addicting.

Sense of satisfaction. If you create writing goals and meet them then you will receive instant gratification. There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishing ones goals. The greatest sense of satisfaction I get is when a reader enjoys one of my books and tells me. Those moments bring out the kid in me, and I’ve been known to do a little happy dance.

Let’s make the most out of our writing lives today and enjoy the process a little more than we did yesterday.

TWEETABLE

The Adventures of #Writing - via @KimberlyRoseJoh on @NovelRocket (Click to Tweet)

A Christmas Homecoming

Can the mystery of Christmas unite two hurting hearts?

Bailey Calderwood gives all she has to her job as an interior design assistant, but her best isn’t good enough for her demanding, bed-ridden boss. For some unexplained reason Mona has turned against her. At least not everyone is out to get her. A mysterious admirer is sending her cards and flowers. Could it be her boss’s son who’s recently returned home in time for the holidays?

Stephen Belafonte rushes home from France to be with his mother after her stroke, and is surprised by the rift between his mom and Bailey, her assistant. When his mom demands he fire Bailey, he’s torn between respecting his mother’s wishes and doing what’s best for the family business. Can Stephen find a way to heal the rift in his family as well his own heart, or will he be forced to let Bailey go? 

Kimberly Rose Johnson married her college sweetheart and lives in the Pacific Northwest. From a young child Kimberly has been an avid reader. That love of reading fostered a creative mind and led to her passion for writing.

She especially loves romance and writes contemporary romance that warms the heart and feeds the soul.

Kimberly holds a degree in Behavioral Science from Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers.

Connect with Kimberly through

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1UhHwa4 

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2cWDu8c

Twitter: @kimberlyrosejoh

Kimberly's Newsletter: http://kimberlyrjohnson.com/

  

Read More

How Not to Spin Your Writing Wheels: A Debut Author’s Advice

by Christa MacDonald 

@CricketMacD

Like many new authors I started off making absolutely every mistake in the book. I was all tell and no show, used more adverbs than an episode of School House Rocks, and I killed off two characters in my prologue, never mind the fact that I even had a prologue.  I had many painful lessons to learn before selling my first book so to save you from the same; I humbly submit the following insights.

1. Research! This tip starts off with plain ol’ knowing your genre. Are you Romance, Women’s Fiction, Upmarket, Literary Fiction? There are genres and sub-genres and you need to know where you book falls before you start to shop it around to agents or publishers. Best way to know? Find books similar to yours and read them. Read a lot. Then read some more. By the time you understand what genre you’re in you’ll probably have a good understand of what your sub-genre is as well. Research prospective agents. Don’t make the mistake of querying someone who will auto-reject you because they don’t represent your genre.

2. Word count matters. Now that you’ve researched your genre you’ll know what the range is for word count. If you’ve got a contemporary romance at 130,000 words you’re not gonna get a lot of agents or editors willing to look at it. The same is true if it’s 40,000. If you’re shopping around a high fantasy at 60,000 you’re not gonna get a lot of interest. Fair? No. But this is a business and as an agent, why read something you know misses an important criterion.

3. Know your audience. So you’ve written this really compelling story about a heroin addict and his long journey to sobriety. It’s gritty and real with the word choices to match.  Probably not a novel to shop to an agent who deals with young adult or middle-grade novels. As important as knowing your genre, watching your word count, is knowing who your likely readers are and what category that puts you in. You want to be sure you’re querying agents and publishers who are looking for what you’ve written.  You also want to your book to appeal to your readers. Again, read to research. Seek out comp titles.

4. Edit, revise, and refine. I can’t say this strongly enough. You cannot edit your own book unless you yourself are an editor. A good one. Get beta readers for big feedback, but for the heavy lifting you either need to hire an editor or choose skilled critique partners. A good CP is worth their weight in gold. There’s online CP forums if you need to seek one out. I found mine on Twitter and they have been incredibly helpful.  A skilled CP will point out where you’re telling and not showing, where you switch tenses, where your characters suddenly act out of character. Then you need to kill those spots with fire! Chop those adverbs and clean up that writing. Clean writing can make the difference between pages that get a full request and endless rejections.

5. Invest in your career. Don’t be afraid to pay for that workshop, that editor, or that class if you think it will improve your writing. If you’re taking this seriously, you need to invest in your talent. Don’t be afraid to take a risk on yourself. You are worth it.

TWEETABLE
How Not to Spin Your #Writing Wheels: A Debut Author's Advice - @CricketMacD on @NovelRocket (Click to Tweet)

The Broken Trail

Katherine Grant takes the job at Sweet River Christian Academy hoping a small town in the wilderness of Maine will be a vacation from her high-powered career and a break from the emotional toll of the secrets she has buried deep. With the school director on a power trip and evidence of shady dealings, there’s nothing relaxing about it. Maybe it would be easier if she wasn’t so distracted by Captain MacAlister, the local cop she can’t get along with, yet can’t get out of her head. She didn’t trek up to the middle of nowhere to lose her heart.

 

Mac doesn’t need the kind of trouble he believes Katherine will bring. He’s got enough to deal with from poachers to drug crime. Mac has rules to maintain his faith, like avoiding the pull of an attractive woman who doesn’t fit his life. But when he meets Katherine, he’s drawn in by her intelligence and strength, despite getting burned by her quick temper.

When near tragedy strikes, Katherine reveals her feelings, and Mac doesn’t hesitate to respond. If only their scars, both seen and unseen, didn’t threaten to tear them apart. Two wary hearts must soften and two steel wills bend if they have any hope of making it down the broken trail to love.

Christa MacDonald began her writing career at the age of eleven, filling a sketchbook with poems and short stories. While at Gordon College she traded the sketchbooks for floppy discs, publishing short personal narratives in the literary journal The Idiom. After graduation and traveling cross-country she settled down to focus first on her career in operations management and then her growing family. When her children reached grade school Christa returned to her love of writing, finding the time between conference calls, dance lessons, and baseball games. 

When not at her desk working or writing, Christa can be found curled up in her favorite chair reading, out and about with her husband and kids, or in the garden.  She lives with her family along the coast of Massachusetts in the converted barn they share with a dog and two formerly-feral cats.

Visit Christa: christamacdonald.com

Read More