Never Underestimate the Value of a Power Edit

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By Dianna Booher My most valuable learning experience in graduate school also happened to be my most humiliating. Having read the first hundred pages of my master’s thesis, one of my thesis directors, a literary prize-winning novelist himself, handed back my novel with downcast eyes and mumbled something about “needs to be tightened.” One line of his review of my …

Twelve Tips for Maximizing Your Appointments

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By Bonnie Doran It’s conference season! If you’re heading to a writer’s conference, you probably have appointments with editors, agents, or other professionals. Here are some tips for making the most of those fifteen minutes: 1. Arm yourself with business cards. They don’t need to be fancy. I suggest your name (duh), head shot, email address, and social media links, …

Where Do I Fit?

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By Ramona Richards A few weeks ago, I asked my Facebook followers a simple question: If you could ask an editor anything, what would be? The responses, for the most part, reminded me that editors don’t often communicate much about their side of the desk. For instance, this one from author Kellie Coates Gilbert: What is the single most critical …

40 Days of Prayer: Day 31

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Topic: Editors at the conference Verse: Psalm 141:2–May my prayer be counted as incense before You; the lifting of my hands as the evening offering.Verse: Father, Thank you for the editors attending this conference. We are so blessed to have them at ACFW. We pray for strength and wisdom for them every moment of every day of the conference. We …

ACFW REWIND: The Numbing Nature of Numbers

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(EDITOR’S NOTE: This post originally published in May 2012 on ACFW’s blog. Allen Arnold was founding publisher of Thomas Nelson Fiction, and now serves as a member of ACFW’s Executive Board.) by Allen Arnold We live in an industry with instant access to data. Numbers sorted in endless graphs, grids and pivot tables to tell if a novel, an author, …

Editorial Guilt and Other Musings

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by Ramona Richards Abingdon Press It’s clichéd but true: One of the greatest joys for an editor is to find that new voice, that special talent that leads to a long career. We love discovering new writers, which is why we slug through hundreds of proposals every year and travel to dozens of writers conferences. The old bromide about romance …

Inviting Communion Through Our Writing

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by Ami McConnell Harper Collins Christian Publishing I have a real weakness for modern poetry, especially what scholars refer to as “confessional poetry.” At the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville last month, I attended a confessional poetry reading that really blew my mind. If you’ve ever been, you know that the Festival happens in Nashville’s Legislative Plaza on the …

The Pendulum Swings…again

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by Julie Gwinn B & H Publishing Group Writing novels is an art form, a craft, much like fashion design, interior design and painting. And as such is subject to changes in consumer tastes and trends. Just as clothing styles change (think military jackets and skinny jeans), interior design trends shift (from French Country to Shabby Chic), even paint color …

In Loving Memory: Elizabeth Geiser

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by Katie Bond HarperCollins Christian Publishing Over the next two months, in Colorado, Florida, and New York, three memorial services will be held for one very special woman who passed away October 8, 2012. The Denver Post called Elizabeth Geiser an “industry legend” and a “dynamo whose life revolved around books.” It’s true: her contributions to publishing are undeniable. But …

More of Allen Arnold, Part 2

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If you enjoyed learning about former Thomas Nelson fiction editor Allen Arnold in the October issue of ACFW Journal, here is the second of two blogs that contain more information from that interview. In this segment, reporter Christa Allan and Allen Arnold look at another side of Arnold. CHRISTA: What/who entertains Allen Arnold outside of the office? ALLEN: I am …