Writing from the Heart or To the Market

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By Rondi Bauer Olson My first writer’s conference was with ACFW in 2009. I was so proud of my manuscript. Dystopians were hot, HUNGER GAMES had come out the year before, and it’s what I’d written! Agents and editors were eager to see what I had, and I received a number of full and partial requests. Did I mention this …

One True Fan

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By Sara Ella Target audience. That’s a phrase we hear a lot in this biz, isn’t it? We’re supposed to find our target readers. Gain them as followers. Get their emails so we can add them to the list. Check, check, and check. As if writing a novel wasn’t work enough. I’ve spent hours building platform, ready to pull my …

Facing Your Fear

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By Tamara D. Fickas I was a shy child. The one who wouldn’t talk in first grade. A high school student no one remembered because I couldn’t carry on a conversation with anyone. In college, I wasn’t chose during Sorority Rush because I was so quiet. I was quite forgotten, unremarkable. The one thing I thought I did well was …

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 …

When No Becomes Yes

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by Davalynn Spencer During my first fiction-writer’s conference, I didn’t know what I was doing and I’m sure it showed. Hoo boy, but I did not want to be a rookie in a new field-a freshman-especially as a seasoned journalist with a master’s degree in my back pocket, two grown children, and the ability to parallel park and back up …

2011 ACFW Genesis Finalists

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ACFW is proud to announce our 2011 Finalists in the Genesis Contest for unpublished writers. Congratulations to you all. We’ll announce the winners during our annual conference in September in St. Louis. Please go to our website at: https://www.acfw.com/genesis/Genesis_Finalists_2011 to see the list of this year’s finalists.