A New Season of Writing

By Michael Ehret

Last month in my Novel Rocket post “You’re Invited!,” I began telling the story of my participation in Allen Arnold’s ACFW Conference class, “The Wildness of Writing with God.” You can click back and read the previous post or this snippet from it will set the stage:

You're invited into The Story!

Last September at the … workshop … Allen Arnold announced that he had prayed for all of us and had asked God to give him the words each of us needed to hear about our creative lives. Then, he said, he had written those words into a notebook that he would present to us.

I felt that familiar tummy turmoil as he walked around the room randomly handing out notebooks. Questions raced through my mind as anticipation and fear warred.

Then Allen set a notebook in front of me. My notebook. And I knew it was not a message from him—he was just the conduit. It was a message—an invitation—from God.

And I feared to open it.

Why did I fear?

Why do we fear anything? The unknown. Failure. Lack of confidence in our abilities. There are a plethora of reasons why we fear hearing from God. For me it was all of those—and more.

For me the fear stemmed from knowing. I knew God had called me to write and I had purposefully been avoiding it since 2007, when an appointment with an agent at a conference took a dark, unexpected (to me), turn.

"You'll never be a writer."

It’s hard for me to talk about my own work, and the experience always leaves me trembling (I know many of you can relate). But I screwed up my courage and got a 15-minute appointment with my dream agent. I gave my horrible pitch and handed the agent my first chapter.

The agent, one of the most respected in the field, read several pages. Enough that I was feeling a little confident. After all, the agent didn’t toss it right away, right?

“This is not publishable,” the agent said, with no softening preamble. “You’ll never be a writer.”

Truthfully, the agent definitely said the first part of that quote. Without a doubt.

I remain unsure about the second part. It certainly seems like it was said. In my head I still hear the agent saying it. But from what I know about agents and editors, particularly in the Christian market, I have doubts that it was verbally said.

But regardless, I heard it. And I believed it. And I let it cripple me.

My notebook inscription

God's messages are all around us.

So when I received the notebook from Allen, I opened it in fear and trembling.

“I’m inviting you into a new season of writing. Aslan is on the move! Have fun!” —God

See what God did there?

The agent was correct. My manuscript was not publishable at that time. But that isn’t what God addressed in His affirmation. He addressed what my heart heard and took inside, “You’ll never be a writer.” He poked my wound—to bring healing. And reminded me that His will for me should bring me joy, not fear.

And He didn't scold me for running from my calling. Before the conference, I asked God for a clear sign. Something that could not be mistaken. "Is this still something You have for me? I need to know."

And now I know. Will I ever be published? Well, first of all, I already am. Have been many times. Will my fiction be published? I don’t know. It’s in my hands, and it’s not. But I know this: I am a writer. I’ve made my living as a writer (and editor) since 1986 and I expect that to continue in this “new season.” God told me so.

Are you willing to ask God for a clear sign? And when (not if) He answers, are you willing to listen to what He says? What is He writing in your notebook? Don’t be afraid to open the cover.

Read the story I wrote for ACFW about Allen Arnold's workshop.

____________________________________

Michael Ehret has accepted God's invitation and is a freelance editor at WritingOnTheFineLine.com. In addition, he's worked as editor-in-chief of the ACFW Journal at American Christian Fiction Writers. He pays the bills as a marketing communications writer and sharpened his writing and editing skills as a reporter for The Indianapolis News and The Indianapolis Star.

Read More

Counting the Costs of Writing

By Rachel Hauck

We spend a lot of time here at Novel Rocket and in the writing industry talking about craft, networking, marketing, promoting, and the general way to write a book.

And lately, a lot of people talk about the cost of giving your life to writing. Especially to writing fiction.

There’s a price tag, and while I love what I do, there are days I “feel” the price I’ve paid.

I have no co-workers. I sit in my lovely "tower," which I adore, alone every single day.

Sometimes the phone never rings for me. 

I may not get a personal email or friend phone call for days. Thought Facebook has changed friend interaction over the past few years.

Isn't that the crux of social media? There's like, ten different ways for people to contact you now! 

Back to writing...

My family lives out of my state. I don’t have children. My life is created perfectly to crank out two, maybe three books a year. But I gotta tell ya, it can get lonely.

I’m so grateful for the friends the Lord has given me because there IS community in writing.

I can’t write a book without calling my craft partner, Susie Warren, though I am getting better and figuring things out for myself!

But practically speaking, she lives in Minnesota. I live in Florida. We can't just "meet for lunch." 

One of my favorite things from days-gone-by was my corporate job relationships. We had some sure laughs and some grand lunches, and great success on the job. 

I loved solving a problem and celebrating with my co-workers. The day-job provided immediate feedback.

Sure, there were the tough, drag-my-butt-into-the-office days. And I had a very interesting boss. But overall, I enjoyed my office job.

I read about writing being a solitary life. I’m good with solitary. But to be successful, it is a really solitary life.

Writers have to say, “No,” to extra curricular activities. We can’t be running around town shopping, or lunching, or sadly, volunteering.

We have to shut off the TV, the radio, the internet and just “be” with our stories and characters. 

We must face the pain of making people who only live in our heads and hearts come to life on the page. All the while saying "No," to our living family and friends. 

Good writing days are followed by hard writing days. We wrestle with our insecurities and doubt. 

There might be days or weeks where we hear from no one in our profession: not a reader, an editor or agent.

The only way we go forward with any confidence is by sheer discipline and will. And it’s a fight!

The other day I was driving to morning prayer at church, wrestling with my lack of close, local friendships. 

No don’t go feeling sorry for me, I do have friends. I do! I’m not a hermit or miser. But, the friendships I used to have at work, or when in college, are gone. At my age, many of my friends are busy with children or even grandchildren! (Yikes!)

As I mused over this, I finally thought, “Maybe it’s not that I lack friends but I lack the right perspective.”

I’ve chosen the writer life and with it comes certain handicaps. It’s not 9-5. I’m not surrounded by people all day. To do the job, I have to retreat sometimes.

The challenge for us is to be content exactly where God has us. As I mused over my situation, I heard Jesus say, “I’m Your friend.”

I teared up. If anyone knew the loneliness of His calling, of being alone in the hour He needed friends the most, it was Jesus.

See, it’s about perspective. What a true and dear friend we have in Jesus. And the friends I do have in my town, are lovely and always ready for a lunch when I can break free!

But, back to the writer’s life. Are you ready to pay the cost? I’m not the only writer who struggles with friendship time and heart-connections within the local community.

I’ve heard other writers share similar things. 

Take stock of yourself. Are you too busy being a friend to write? 

Do you let family get in the way? I'm not talking neglecting your spouse or children, but when you set aside writing time, they can't come barging in! 

Especially for writing moms, at some point, you have to close out the hubbub and noise of the family and write. 

Are there things in your life cluttering out writing?

Count. The. Cost.

The life of a novelist will cost you precious things. But it is worth it. So very worth it.

Here's a few tips:

1. Get with the Lord. Spend time with Him, praying over your schedule, asking Him to release your heart as an author.

2. Counsel with your spouse or close friends, parents or other family. Is this the time to devote to writing and say no to other things? Or will that season come later. It is RIGHT and PERFECT to wait until the “write” season.

3. Find a place that’s yours to write. Make sure no one else invades. It’s yours. Even if it’s a table at Panera or Starbucks, make it your writing spot.

4. Schedule time to be with friends and family. Be purposeful. If you do ministry at your church or volunteer in the community, keep to a schedule. Don’t pick up extra jobs just because you feel bad for someone. Do ONLY what the Lord has called YOU to do.

5. Write on the hard days. Sometimes those words are better than the ones who come on the good days. If you only have an hour to write on busy days, take it!

Writing is purposeful. So is the writer’s life. Be purposeful. Tune out the noise. Still your heart and mind.

If you feel writing is something God has called you to do, why put it off with distractions and the noise of others, for entertainment. Don't let the "good" be the enemy of "the best."

Happy writing!

**** 

Rachel Hauck is an award-winning, best selling author of critically acclaimed novels such as The Wedding Dress, Love Starts with Elle, and Once Upon A Prince.

She also penned the Songbird Novels with multi-platinum recording artist, Sara Evans. Booklist named their novel, Softly and Tenderly, one of 2011 Top Ten Inspirationals.

A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, Rachel worked in the corporate software world before planting her backside in an uncomfortable chair to write full-time in 2004.

She serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers and leads worship at their annual conference. In 2013, she was named Mentor of the Year.

She is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, and conference speaker.

Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and pets, and writes from her two-story tower in an exceedingly more comfy chair. She is a huge Buckeyes football fan.

Read More

Career Planning in the Wild, Wild West

Sandra Bishop was invited in 2009 to join MacGregor Literary, an agency consistently listed among the top five dealmakers on Publishers Marketplace and was named ACFW's Agent of the Year in 2010. Prior to agenting, Sandra worked in the marketing department of a major CBA publishing company, and made a living as a freelance writer for nearly a decade.

Career Planning in the Wild, Wild West

While on an agent’s panel at ACFW in September, I sat next to Lee Hough, one of the smartest and hardest working agents in the business. While we all fielded the typical questions we get as panelists, someone asked a question about the current state of affairs in publishing, and how agents are faring.

I tend to take a positive, entrepreneurial, and philosophical approach when answering questions about the challenges of publishing.

Lee, however, hit the mark when he said “It’s like the wild, wild west out there right now.” His summation about the new landscape of publishing has really stuck with me. In fact, it’s a new constant on the landscape of my daily work life these days — right alongside MacGregor Literary’s long-standing company philosophy that “good is always better than fast.”

As positive as I try to remain, I’ll admit, it’s felt exceptionally difficult to place books and find homes for authors these past few months. Even with the successes I’ve enjoyed this year in spite of it all, it feels like I’m on more uneven ground than ever. And I know agents aren’t the only ones who feel this way.

Marketers are constantly scrambling to orient themselves to what it takes to get readers to buy in a noisy online environment. Sales teams are faced with succeeding in spite of the literal crumbling of their brick & mortar customer base. Publicists are being asked to do more with less. Editors are overworked. Authors are no longer just invited by publishers to help market their books, but are expected to do so. In fact more and more, the strength of an author’s proposal is weighed as much for the type and number of readers they bring to the table as it is for the quality of their writing. Maybe more.

Top that off with the consideration that authors are not only competing with other authors for shelf space, but with the reality that booklovers are so easily lured away from the rewards of leisure reading by endorphin fixes that pummeling pigs with birds, or outrunning evil demon monkeys can deliver far more instantly.

If I think about it too hard, it can start to feel fruitless to spend time and energy building a serious novelist’s career in a time when e-books have flooded the market and caused so much confusion over what is good and what resembles cow dung. But, I have faith in my ability to help sort out the good from the bad for publishers and authors, and I figure that’s worth something. A lot, actually.

Still, I’m sure I’m not the only agent who feels like it’s us in the hot seat these days. We’re constantly having to urge our authors who want to go the traditional publishing route to be patient and wait for the right timing. It’s not always easy to encourage authors to continue to wait for decisions from acquisition boards – decisions that seem to be taking so much longer than ever – when the seemingly instant brass ring of self-publishing is flashing in the corner of our collective eye.

E-publishers have an edge, of course, when it comes to delivering content at rapid speed. But I believe it’s the new frontier for them as well. In the end – finding readers and making the grade still comes down to effective marketing, word of mouth, and content.

The good news on this front is that where we’ve tended to take an either/or approach, I do think the two are starting to merge. I’m excited to be talking with publishers about how authors can do both successfully. We’re talking more and more about how market savvy, and marketing savvy, authors can help publishers lead the way.

While I continue to take the long view and keep my eye on the horizon, as we always try to do here at MacGregor Literary, I’ll admit, Lee’s perspective gave me a huge pick-me-up when I needed it, and actually has me riding a little higher in the saddle these days.

Go ahead. Call me an optimist. (Or, I suppose you could call me a cowgirl. Wouldn’t hurt my feelings — I’ve got a hand tooled leather belt with my name on it, a silver buckle, pointy black boots, and everything.)

I’m excited about authors who are in this for the long haul and are willing to ride on rough ground. This new territory – Lee’s “wild, wild west” is most definitely not for the faint of heart – and, honestly, that suits me just fine.

NR: From Lee's CaringBridge site, he wrote on Nov 4^th, "Two weeks ago, however, my latest MRI showed a new cancer spot." He goes on to report the cancer is only in one spot and along the scar line where he was operated on before – meaning that it’s accessible again, and they’re catching it early. Lee's journey is one of strong faith and a powerful testimony. I encourage you to go to his CaringBridge site and read it for yourself. And please, keep Lee in your prayers.

Read More