by Marcia Gruver While teaching a creative writing class, I passed a little card around the room and instructed the students to read aloud the following sentence: Now is the time for all good men to come to the the aid of their country. One by one, the eager scholars misread it. Until I pointed out each word on a …
Should a Christian Market Themselves?
by Jordyn Redwood Over the last six months or so, I’ve been reading a lot about marketing to help support the release of my debut medical thriller, Proof. Strangely, I came across an attitude among certain circles that it is unchristian like behavior to market your novel-essentially claiming that “pushing your product” is prideful and therefore sinful. This is how …
“Technology is what existed before you were born.” (Alan Kay)
by Julie Gwinn B&H Publishing Group We had a digital summit at B&H recently to try to get our heads around the changes taking place in the publishing industry. It was two days of information and presentations with some startling statistics: In 2006, there were 296,352 books published. In 2010, that number jumped to 3,092,740. Thank goodness I am in …
Pitch Sessions: An Editor’s POV
by Ramona Richards Abingdon Press Sue Brower had some terrific advice last week about preparing for a writers conference, especially ACFW. One piece of advice she gave made me want to give her a cheer: • DON’T go to editor and agent appointments unprepared. Now…that may sound like common sense for most of you, but I thought I’d share a …
Shining God’s Light Through Our Writing
by Kathi Macias One question I am often asked is, “Why do you write about such dark topics?” My answer? “I don’t write about dark topics; I write about the Light that shines in the darkness.” Now I’ll admit that most of my novels’ subject matter isn’t exactly easy reading; it isn’t easy writing either, as topics like the persecuted …
How to Eat a Book Review
by Crystal Laine Miller The title is a rip-off from a poem I vaguely remember from grade school by Eve Merriam called “How to Eat a Poem.” It starts off like this: “Don’t be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. …” Eve alluded that reading a poem …
The Trouble with Comparison
by Keisha Gilchrist-Broomes I do not own a Kindle for one reason. I love books. I don’t merely love to read books, I love the books themselves. I love the smell of ink, paper, and binding. I like to feel the weight of the book in my hands. I want to glide my fingers over the edge of a paper …
Spring Cleaning
by Aaron McCarver Spring is here! For many people it is time for that annual foray into closets, attics, and basements…spring-cleaning. I have actually begun to attack some of those areas in my place. I am trying to follow the rule of my co-author, Diane Ashley?if I haven’t looked at it or worn it in more than a year then …
Book Review: “The Messenger”
Title: The Messenger Author: Siri Mitchell Publisher: Bethany House Date: Mar 2012 ISBN: 978-0764207969 Genre: Historical Quaker Romance Reviewed by: Holly Weiss Philadelphia, in 1778, is under British occupation. A Quaker woman weeps for her brother, suffering in a British jail. A Colonial spy courts British officers in his tavern. In The Messenger, a woman and a man from two …
Just Do It
by Daniella Ojo Last Sunday I went to a church I sometimes visit that’s closer to where I live. It’s been a particularly cold winter so far and the night before we had about 3 or 4 inches of snow. That may not be much to people living in other parts of the world, but for London that’s a lot. …