We CAN! promote our books

Jesus Prays for Us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grace Fox here with a thought that's been on my mind lately.

Hebrews 7:25 encourages me, especially on days when I’m frustrated, discouraged, or doubt-filled. It says, “Therefore he (Jesus) is able once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.”

The thought of Jesus praying on His followers’ behalf excites me! My hunch is that He prays a lot more than, “God, please bless So-and-So today.” My sanctified imagination tells me His requests sound like…  

Writing and the Red Sea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HI! Grace Fox here, newest member of the Monday blogging team. 

As a writer, I believe God has given me the assignment of communicating truth through the written word. Some days I feel confident of my call. Ideas flow, and fingers fly across the keyboard. An editor accepts an article. A royalty check arrives. And a reader emails, “Your book changed my life. Please keep writing.”

Other days…well, other days the computer screen stares at me in silence. My fingers hover over the keyboard awaiting a divine download. I pour a cup of coffee. A rejection hits my inbox. More coffee. I check my Amazon stats, and I entertain thoughts about getting a real job.

Sometimes I feel as though accomplishing this assignment borders on the brink of impossibility, and I think of Moses. How did he feel when he stood on the shore of the Red Sea with more than three million people depending on him for their well-being? His was a God-given assignment, too, but as waves wet his feet perhaps he questioned his ability to fulfill it.

I stand on the shore of my own Red Sea wondering how to best tackle a task fraught with challenges including…

How can I present my idea in a unique way?

How can I turn my idea into a compelling sentence or two?

How can I develop that sentence into an irresistible query or proposal?

What’s the right market for that query or proposal?

How can I ensure my work passes the slush pile and lands on the editor’s desk?

How can I overcome the pain of rejection or disappointment?

How do I find an agent?

What’s the best publishing option for my book?

How do I negotiate a contract without an agent?

What marketing and publicity strategies are most effective for my book?

How do I best utilize social media marketing?

How can I build my platform?

Writing for publication, especially considering the industry’s constant, rapid changes, is not an easy task. It’s vital that we, as writers, focus not on the Red Sea before us but on the One who’s able to part the waters and show us the way through them. Several weeks ago I discovered these verses, and I’ve found them encouraging in this context:

“When the Red Sea saw you, O God, its waters looked and trembled! The sea quaked to its very depths. The clouds poured down rain; the thunder rumbled in the sky. Your arrows of lightning flashed. Your thunder roared from the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world! The earth trembled and shook. Your road led through the sea, your pathways through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there! You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds” (Psalm 77:16-20). 

God gave Moses a seemingly impossible task and then made the way to accomplish it. He’ll do the same for us as we seek to communicate messages of hope and healing to a hurting world. Let’s be faithful to do what He’s called us to do with excellence and enthusiasm, and let’s trust Him to make a way through the publishing Red Sea for our messages to reach those who need them most.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Author's Time ~ People Time

Greetings from contemporary fiction author, Deborah Vogts. If you're reading this, chances are you are part of the writing profession, and you understand how this activity fills nearly every nook and cranny of your life in one way or another. Because of this, it's easy for our lives to become lopsided, neglecting one or more ingredients that will make them richer, and will actually enhance our ability to "write" more effectively.

This month, I want to consider the importance of spending time with other people--or more specifically, other writers.

Are Your Rocks Crying Out?

I tell you that if [they] should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”                                                                                                          Luke 19:40

 

Greetings! Elizabeth Baker coming to you from the rolling hills of East Texas with a word about praise and your part in it. What? You are not praising today? You’d better hurry up and join the band or your rocks may be waking up to do the job!

An Author's Time ~ Free Time

Greetings from contemporary fiction author, Deborah Vogts. If you're reading this, chances are you are part of the writing profession, and you understand how this activity fills nearly every nook and cranny of your life in one way or another. Because of this, it's easy for our lives to become lopsided, neglecting one or more ingredients that will make them richer, and will actually enhance our ability to "write" more effectively.

Last month, I wrote about the importance of making time for family, but today I want to concentrate on your free time or "me-time." I'm sure most of you are like me, and you're scratching your head and saying "Me-time? What's that?"

An Author's Time ~ Family

Greetings from contemporary fiction author, Deborah Vogts. If you're reading this, chances are you are part of the writing profession, and you understand how this activity fills nearly every nook and cranny of your life in one way or another. Because of this, it's easy for our lives to become lopsided, neglecting one or more ingredients that will make them richer, and will actually enhance our ability to "write" more effectively.

We all know how important family time is--sharing our lives with the ones we love, especially when we have children at home. With three daughters, family time is precious to my husband and I. But as a writer, I sometimes wish for more "me time" or "writing time." The big question becomes, how can we split our time usefully, without feeling as though we are neglecting one or the other. 

An Author's Time ~ Exercise

Greetings from contemporary fiction author, Deborah Vogts. If you're reading this, chances are you are part of the writing profession, and you understand how this activity fills nearly every nook and cranny of your life in one way or another. Because of this, it's easy for our lives to become lopsided, neglecting one or more ingredients that will make them richer, and will actually enhance our ability to "write" more effectively.

Today I'd like to concentrate on making time for exercise. We all know how important exercise is in a person's life--especially for those who lead sedentary lives like a writer. If we don't exercise, our bodies tend to fall apart! We gain weight, our muscles deteriorate, and our joints become stiff and creaky. 

So, if exercise is so good for us, why is the first thing to go when we're crunched for time? (At least, it seems that way for me.)

An Author's Time ~ Time to Work

Greetings from contemporary fiction author, Deborah Vogts. 

If you're reading this, chances are you are part of the writing profession, and you understand how this activity fills nearly every nook and cranny of your life in one way or another. Because of this, it's easy for our lives to become lopsided, neglecting one or more ingredients that will make them richer, and will actually enhance our ability to "write" more effectively.

Today I'd like to concentrate on an Author's Work Time. Seems simple, right? An author writes. But like every aspect of time, there are many things that try to get in the way. Let's go over a few of them now: 

The Other Side of Light

Elizabeth Baker here with encouragement for your Monday. I was reading Psalm 91:1 the other day when suddenly this familiar verse came alive with deeper meaning. "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High / Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Shadows are a normal experience for Christians because we dwell in the light of our God's secret place!

 Light. The warm rays provide comfort and cheer as they bathe our world with sight, direction and hope. Life on earth could not exist without light. But there 
is a phenomenon of light we don’t often consider: Light creates shadows. These shades and shifting shapes are evidence that light has come.

There are eighty-one biblical references to shadows. While nineteen of these use the word in a negative  sense—as in the “shadow of death” —the majority refers to physical shade or the author wants to express ideas of protection, comfort and shelter. To be in the shadow of something larger than ourselves is a good thing. And it’s only made possible because we are dwelling near the light.

Christians often become confused or discouraged when they sense they are walking in “shadows.” Perhaps they have prayed for God’s leading but can’t seem to find the right trail. Or, the vibrant colors they once experienced in worship have faded to muted tones. Or they feel God has set them aside. While others reap in the bright sunshine of harvest, they are forced to idle alone in the shade. Yet, there is no need to despair. Shadows are not the backside of God. Indeed, they can be evidence of His face and when we adjust our eyes to see shadows from a biblical perspective, we may welcome them rather than accusing the One who makes shadows possible.

An Author's Time ~ Devotion

Greetings from contemporary fiction author, Deborah Vogts. My previous blog posts have centered on marketing and promotion based on what I learned my first two years as a published author for Zondervan. This year, I'd like to focus on how an author spends her time.  

If you're reading this, chances are you are part of the writing profession, and you understand how this activity fills nearly every nook and cranny of your life in one way or another. If you're not actually putting words on paper, you're thinking about a scene or character, pondering a lesson you've learned, or working on promotion. Because of this, it's easy for our lives to become lopsided, neglecting one or more aspects or ingredients that will make them richer, and will actually enhance our ability to "write" more effectively.