Edie Melson's Blog, page 111

Four Important Reasons Book Sales Matter to Authors & Speakers

by Linda Gilden @LindaGilden
What a thrill it is to walk in an event or a bookstore and see your book on display for the first time. Your name on the cover makes you swell with pride and joy and thankfulness. You have waited so long for this day and can’t wait to see people crowded around the table to purchase their copy.
When asked what the greatest impact of selling your books is, many authors will look shocked at the question. “Why, to make money, of course!”
But there are other reasons to be interested in book sales.
4 Reasons Book Sales Matter1. Yes, your book sales can increase your income. And for most authors that is a big help to their finances. But if increasing your income is the primary reason for wishing for big book sales, you may be a little disappointed. 2. When you are a speaker, your book sales increase the reach of your message. Perhaps someone has attended the event at which you spoke and once she or he heard your message, he wished he had brought his brother, neighbor, or his best buddy. You only have one opportunity to speak but the audience could take a book home to give to their friends and neighbors.3. Books can change lives. Often when someone is dealing with a problem or a situation that is new to them, they search for a book that deals with the subject. Many people who write nonfiction books write about situations they have faced and how they solved their problem. A friend may have helped find the answer or perhaps God had spoken to her with the solution. Many times a book leads to an answer or at least starts the reader onto the correct path.4. Having written a book, often the greatest joy is to be able to meet someone who is dealing with a similar problem and give them a book. That doesn’t create a sale but it lets you know that God is using the book He called you to write.
Writing is such a joy and when you know it is your calling, you get a sense of fulfillment that you don’t get any other way. Enjoy your calling, thank God for it, and use it every opportunity you get to honor Him.
TWEETABLEFour Important Reasons Book Sales Matter to Authors & Speakers, insight from author @LindaGilden on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Linda Gilden has coauthored 11 books with 5 different coauthors and has #12 and #13 coming out in 2022, adding a new co-author to the list. She loves every one of her coauthors and enjoys collaborating on interesting projects with them. She also has written many books on her own and realizes what a treasure and blessing a good co-author is.

Use these Valuable Tips to Seek and Secure Endorsements for Your Manuscript

by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted
Oxford Languages defines "endorsement"as an act of giving one's public approval or support to someone or something.
Once we land that book contract and work through the editing process, a note hits our email box. Please send us a list of endorsers for your work. It's an exciting time, and then suddenly, it becomes a real challenge, especially if you are a debut author. When the time arrives to seek out these endorsements, we suddenly realize how short our reach is into the publishing industry. 
Even in seeking endorsements, there are general rules one should follow and specific things you should understand if an endorser says, "no."
Etiquette for Seeking EndorsementsAlways ask future endorsers what their endorsement policies are. Sometimes endorsement policies are set by publishers or agents. If a writer's career has been successful, it may very well be that the author's publisher will restrict what books that author may endorse. It protects their assets, for lack of better words. Judy Author is successfully turning out books. Her publisher or agent may be very particular about what she puts her seal of approval on. They do this to protect her readership. For example, my agent asked a very respected author in my genre to endorse my debut novel. She read it, loved it, but said no. She said no because her readers were "soft readers." They loved romance and not conflict. My novel was a hard read emotionally. Though she loved my novel, she knew her readers would be shocked. It made perfect sense for her to decline. Books that fall short. This is always a touchy subject, but the truth is, with more and more authors able to self-publish on their own through Amazon, book and story quality can falter. This is not a slam against self-publishing but a nod to lack of experience, knowledge of the craft, and impatience. Books roll off the press that do not meet quality standards. Authors must be particular about what they endorse. Again, it's a readership issue. If you put your signature of approval on a book that falls incredibly short on the writing craft, then your own readers begin to question your work.Sometimes busy authors just don't have time. Please be understanding to those authors who work on tight deadlines. To fairly endorse a book, the author is required to read it, make an assessment, and then write the endorsement. This takes time, and when an author is bound to a deadline, time may not be available.Remember, it's not personal. Sometimes we receive politely worded endorsements, but the reader doesn't care for the book. The endorsement is very "generic." It's nice, offers a compliment on the writing, and offers encouragement, but it's not the blow-me-over endorsement we expected. I retort with this: you can't please everyone all the time. Accept the endorsement, get feedback if you feel you need it, but be gracious and thankful to the endorser. They have, after all, taken the time to read the book and do the endorsement. It's not personal if they aren't in love with this particular book.Always send a complimentary copy of the book to the endorser. There was a time that publishers sent "real books" to endorsers. These days with the strides in electronic communication, manuscripts can be sent in pdf form. Folks can read on their devices, and it costs little to nothing for the publisher to send. Common courtesy and good manners dictate that you send them a copy of the book. The nice thing is they can donate their copy to their local library after they've read through it. Win-win.What about that person who never sends their endorsement? Well, there are always those who life just happens to, and they either let it slip past or forget. I generally send the manuscript with a deadline date and then send a reminder of the deadline at the halfway point. I let it go after that. Again, it's not personal.
Step-by-step Process for Asking for Endorsements:Network. This is where you meet folks who can endorse.Send an email and ask about their endorsement policies. Invite them to endorse.Receive acceptance to endorse.Ask how they prefer to read – on a device or the page. If they need a printed copy (and some do due to impairments or even age), print it, have it spiral bound at your local office supply store, and mail it. Otherwise, send a pdf and include a deadline with both.Mail a reminder at the halfway point of the deadline.Log endorsements in a file and forward them to your publisher.Send a complimentary copy of the book with a thank you note and permission to pass the book to their local library. Ask endorsers to add their endorsement to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Lifeway.com and CBD.com under the review section. Include a link to add if possible.Be prepared to return the favor when you are asked.
Endorsements are necessary and will make the process easier when handled professionally. Write well. Do good work. Go the extra mile, and your endorsements will shine.
TWEETABLEUse these Valuable Tips to Seek and Secure  Endorsements for Your Manuscript, insight from author @CindyDevoted on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conference teacher. She is the cofounder of Christian Devotions Ministries and the executive editor for www.christiandevotions.us and www.inspireafire.com. Cindy is the lead managing editor for SonRise Devotionals and also Straight Street Books, both imprints of LPC/Iron Stream Media Publications. She is a mentor with Write Right and the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference held each February at the Billy Graham Training Center, the Cove, Asheville, NC. Cindy is a best selling, award winning novelist. Visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com.

Using Lists to Organize Your Writing, Reduce Stress, and Bring Back the Joy of Creating

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Have To, Need To, and Want To!
I have a love/hate relationship with lists. They definitely keep me organized and on track, but they also highlight just how many commitments I have. 
To combat the downside, and keep me moving forward, I’ve found a way to categorize my writing tasks through a 3-tiered approach. 
I call it my Have To , Need To , and Want To system. It’s the definitions of the writing tasks that determine where they fit in this. Today I’m going to share those definitions with you, along with examples.
HAVE TOThese are my non-negotiable tasks. There’s really no wiggle room for these because they affect either my income, my reputation, and/or someone else’s income or reputation. For me, the usually include:Blog posts I write for money or as a regular contributor to a professional site—like Guideposts and Novel Rocket.Daily social media updates. These are the updates I schedule every morning, but they’re divided up part here, in the Have To category and part in the Need To. I tell myself I HAVE TO schedule a minimum of 5 updates a day, 5 days a week. I’ll share the Need To part later.Articles that I’ve been hired to write.Certain blog posts on my site. My Have To posts are Monday’s Social Media Monday and one post minimum for Tuesday and Wednesday.Writing that’s been contracted (like for a book) or on a proposal that needs to go out.
NEED TOThese are the things that I know I need to do, if there’s any way I can. They're also the things I let slip if something important with my life comes up.Daily social media updates beyond the HAVE TO five—I feel a NEED TO schedule 12 – 15 per day, 5 days a week.Additional blog posts on my site. I feel the NEED TO have new content 7 days a week on my blog. That means I NEED TO write a large part of that content.Contests that I feel would move my career forward.Commenting on social media and blogs.Finding new people to connect with through social media.
WANT TOThis part of the list is what fuels my joy in writing. If I’m only ever doing the HAVE TO and NEED TO, my time writing is in danger of becoming drudgery. So I try to make sure that I hit at least 1 thing that’s designated WANT TO. These include a lot of different things.Poetry—I think writers can improve by playing around with poetry.Short Fiction—again, it is part of improving my craft.Photography—I know, it’s not writing per se. But I use my photography directly in my blog and in other parts of writing.Research and brainstorming for new projects.
All right, this is how I look at my writing life. Do you have a similar system or something completely different? Do you have a system at all? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Don’t forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie
TWEETABLEUsing Lists to Organize Your Writing, Reduce Stress, and Bring Back the Joy of Creating, from @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Edie Melson is a woman of faith with ink-stained fingers observing life through the lens of her camera. No matter whether she’s talking to writers, entrepreneurs, or readers, her first advice is always “Find your voice, live your story.” As an author, blogger, and speaker she’s encouraged and challenged audiences across the country and around the world. Her numerous books reflect her passion to help others develop the strength of their God-given gifts and apply them to their lives. Connect with her on her website, through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Helping Readers Remember

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod
Helping readers remember should be one of a writer’s primary goals. 
When I asked, “Don’t you remember?” my son said, “No.” 
My son and his family hadn’t visited our home in two years. His anger over something he thought we’d done, but hadn’t, boiled, so he responded by not talking to us or coming to see us. It wasn’t the first time. We had hoed that row before, even though the strained relationship lay heavily on us. We attempted to mend the hurt, prayed for him, and bided our time. 
Finally, the ice melted. After seeing our son and his family at a few other family functions, we asked them to come over for Sunday lunch. We were giving them our bedroom suit, and since they had to get it, we thought this would be a good time to do a little fence mending. 
After lunch, we lounged in the living room and told stories. They spoke of things they had done with their boys—things we had not heard. So I thought, Why not tell him things he and I had done when he was younger? 
I asked, “Remember when?” and then told a story. He didn’t remember. I told another story, asked the same question, and got the same answer. Our daughter-in-law rolled with laughter over stories she’d never heard. Our son also laughed at the stories and the fact that he couldn’t remember the incidents. 
When I finished five or six camping and hiking stories, I remarked, “You know, I didn’t remember you going with me, your sister, and your uncle that often, but I guess you went more than I remember.” 
After several more stories, he admitted he remembered only small pieces of some of the stories. Some, he remembered nothing at all—even after I shared it. 
Amazing what telling stories can do. Doing so can bring families back together and heal hurt feelings. It can also relieve stress and help members remember that, yes, we did spend time together. 
When our son and daughter-in-law left, we hugged them and expressed our love for each other. Our lunch together began a new era in our relationship—one where past hurts, imagined and real, would slip further into the recesses of our minds to be replaced with good memories. 
According to Paul, Timothy had something to remember: “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you” (2 Timothy 1:5 NLT).
Timothy’s grandmother had passed on her faith to Timothy’s mother, and she, in turn, delivered it to Timothy. Now, Timothy lived out his faith in a way that Paul and others recognized and commended. 
I remember when my father told me of his faith and offered the same faith to me. And I recall when I did the same for my two children. Now, it’s up to them to pass it along to their children. 
We often classify ourselves as either fiction or non-fiction writers, but regardless of our specialty, we should be and do both. Aside from books, many avenues offer us opportunities to share our faith stories with friends and families. Pay isn’t essential, and that’s not what we should be about anyway. 
One of my dearest writer friends, a well-known fiction author, once said, “I’ve never been paid for writing anything. All I’ve received are my royalty checks.” But write, she does, as I do I, sharing our faith stories. The pay will come later. 
But we can also weave faith stories through the threads of our fiction works as we create memorable characters with unique backgrounds and personalities. Hopefully, our readers will learn to love and identify with them. And maybe, just maybe, imitate their faith arcs. 
Later in life, when someone asks, “Remember when . . .,” to one of our family members, friends, or readers, we want them to give a resounding, “Yes.” 
Think of ways you can share faith stories with your family and weave them into your writing.
TWEETABLEHelping Readers Remember Should be a Primary Goal for Writers, insight from author Martin Wiles, @LinesFromGod on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Martin Wiles is the founder of Love Lines from God (www.lovelinesfromgod.com) and serves as Managing Editor for Christian Devotions, Senior Editor for Inspire a Fire, and Proof Editor for Courier Publishing. He has authored six books and has been published in numerous publications. His most recent book, DON'T JUST LIVE...REALLY LIVE, debuted in October of 2021. He is a freelance editor, English teacher, author, and pastor.

Three Important Things to Consider When You Face Great Disappointment

by Beth K. Vogt @BethVogt
If you’re feeling anything like me, this year has gone by more quickly than you expected. 
You may be someone who celebrates the arrival of fall by cheerfully unpacking your sweaters and baking all things pumpkin. Even as you do, you’re marveling at the fast spin of the seasons.
October is here. In 31 short days, November will be knocking our doors, and then December will be fa-la-la-la-la-ing, which means we’ll be prepping our 2023 calendars.
As we wind down one year and start to ponder a new one, we can’t help but glance over our shoulders and think about all we’ve accomplished and all the things we wanted to accomplish but didn’t. It happens every year. 
When I look back over my shoulder, there’s something staring right back at me, unblinking.
The Great Disappointment of 2022.
I’m not going into specific details of The Great Disappointment of 2022 because, odds are, when you look over your shoulder, you’ve got your own Great Disappointment staring back at you.
It’s not the “what” that makes the difference when it comes to Great Disappointments—it’s the “what do we do about them.”
A bit of brutal honesty: There are days when The Great Disappointment of 2022 has gotten the best of me. It’s ruled the day—too many of them. And that’s why I’m writing this blog post—because I don’t want The Great Disappointment of 2022 to have the last say on this year.
How do we break the stare down with a Great Disappointment, forcing it to blink so we can claim the victory?
Consider these three things when facing disappointment:
1. Put Your Oxygen Mask on First. You’ve heard the spiel every time you travel on an airplane: In the case of an emergency, put on your oxygen mask first before assisting someone else, like your small child. Why do flight attendants tell us this? Because it’s our nature to help others first—except for the most cold-hearted person, of course, who’d probably grab everyone else’s masks and huddle in a seat, sucking everyone’s oxygen. To finish well, take care of yourself. Your Great Disappointment has worn you down, so now is the time to recharge yourself, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Rest is good. Listening to praise and worship music is good. Walking outside is good. Example: I dictated the bulk of this post while I took a walk around my neighborhood. 
2. Find things to be grateful for each day. A little gratitude can eventually outweigh a Great Disappointment. I wrote those words and I’m believing them. I choose One Word to focus on each year instead of writing a list of resolutions. The word “gratitude” was the first word I focused on back in 2006, the first year I focused on One Word. Doing so changed my glass half-empty perspective. I choose to believe seeking reasons to be thankful can conquer the Great Disappointment of 2022 by refocusing my attention away from discouragement and doubt.
3. Don’t Let the Great Disappointment have the Final Say. A good friend of mine is a counselor. I call him “Wise Guy,” because he is wise in the Word. He once challenged me, asking me if I wanted something that had occurred in my life to be the defining moment of my life or just a moment in my life. I’ve wrestled with the reality that I can’t fix the Great Disappointment. What I can do is hand the situation over to God—again and again—and ask Him for His perspective. 
One final thought: If there’s no Great Disappointment of 2022 for you, I’m so thankful. Consider sharing this post with a family member or friend who needs to read it.
TWEETABLEThree Important Things to Consider When You Face Great Disappointment, insight from author @BethVogt on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” Having authored nine contemporary romance novels and novellas, The Best We’ve Been, the final book in Beth’s Thatcher Sisters Series with Tyndale House Publishers, releasers May 2020. Other books in the women’s fiction series include Things I Never Told You, which won the 2019 AWSA Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year, and Moments We Forget. Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Learn How to Write a Novel and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. Visit Beth at bethvogt.com.
Featured Image: Photo by Jefferson Santos on Unsplash

Writing an Un-Put-Downable Character (Part 9 of 10): Observables

by A.C. Williams @ACW_Author
How important is it to know that your character is tall? Or that he has red hair? Or that she has green eyes? I am more of the opinion that your character’s other aspects are superior details to focus on, especially at the beginning of a story. Of course there are always exceptions, but generally that’s the case. 
However, knowing what your character looks like DOES matter. We need to have some sense of their features and physical presence. Though it may not be the most important detail to communicate, it’s still important for setting the stage and presenting a complete portrait of your character. 
This month we’re talking about the OBSERVABLES, which is a big lumped-together category that contains all the outside details about your character. 
We need to know if they’re tall or short. We need to know if they’re missing limbs or other parts of their bodies. We need to know if they have horns, wings, seven toes, or two heads. 
But, remember the writing rule every author hates: Show us, don’t tell us.
Physical description is the most obvious quality about your characters, which means it is the most difficult to represent effectively. 
There are times when it works to simply indicate that your character has green eyes. There are other times when the color of your character’s are important in setting the mood of a scene.
Like, a character who is staring at herself in a mirror and critiquing her appearance:
The face staring back at me is pale and thin with cheekbones too high and a chin too sharp. Murky gray eyes like a dreary autumn morning are dim beneath faded eyelashes. 
Or even in a character’s initial introduction: 
The man’s coal-colored hair clung in damp patches to his neck and ears, streaks of dirt and stone dust smeared amid the stubble along his jaw. Mismatched work gloves sprouted from the bib of his tattered coveralls.
Can you feel the difference in moods? Your character’s physical appearance can be a tool for how you establish a scene—where it’s located, what time of year it is, what your character does for a living, etc. It’s a far more effective method to help us SEE your character than just telling us she has gray eyes or he has black hair.
Physical description can also do more for our story than just show us what characters look like, though. It is also a tremendous tool for writing in a character’s perspective. You can learn a lot about someone from listening to what they notice.
Say you’re writing a character who is a fashion designer. What does she notice when she meets someone? It will be their shoes or their outfit. 
What if you’re writing a high school student? What will a teenager notice about another person differently than an adult would? 
Or a child? How would a child see a person differently than a teenager?
I just finished writing a short story that features a knight and a dragon, but the story is told from the dragon’s point of view. From that perspective, the knight is the villain. The knight is also tiny and weak and petty. What the dragon notices about the knight’s physical features is very different than if the perspectives were reversed. 
What’s important to note is that the dragon doesn’t spend time focusing on what he looks like. It’s not unusual for a dragon to have talons and sharp teeth and scales, so the dragon wouldn’t be in awe of those sorts of things. The dragon is going to notice the human, because in the dragon’s perspective the human is the oddity. 
In the grand scheme of your story, does it really matter that your male lead has bottle green eyes and freckles across the bridge of his nose? Well… maybe. It honestly does depend on the story.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer for when to describe your character. But there is one question you should ask yourself as you are deciding when to describe a character: 
Does the character have a defining physical trait that affects the story itself?
Is your character missing a limb? Or an eye? Is your character blind or hearing impaired? Is your character exceptionally tall or exceptionally short? If this quality about him or her will play a major role in the story, then we need to know about it sooner rather than later. 
There’s nothing worse than getting five chapters into a book and realizing that the main character is missing a leg. As a reader, that makes you feel like you’ve missed something or that the author is trying to pull a fast one.
Like any of the other characteristics we’ve been discussing this year, the observables are tools that you can use to bring depth and relatability to your characters. Some amount of physical description is essential, but if it’s not adding value to the story, does it really need to be there?
It’s hard to believe we only have one more entry in this 10-step process! If you want to see the whole outline, here it is:Personality Conflict Contradictions History Interests Language Internalization Dreams Observables Growth
TWEETABLEWriting an Un-Put-Downable Character (Part 9 of 10): Observables, insight from editor & author @ACW_Author on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Don't Miss the Other Posts in This Series
Part 1 Personality: Writing the Un-Put-Downable Character Part 2 Conflict: Writing the Un-Put-Downable Character  Part 3 Contradictions: Writing the Un-Put-Downable CharacterPart 4 History: Writing the Un-Put-Downable CharacterPart 5 Interests: Writing the Un-Put-Downable Character Part 6 Language: Writing the Un-Put-Downable Character Part 7 Internal Dialogue: Writing the Un-Put-Downable Character Part 8 Dreams: Writing the Un-Put-Downable Character Part 9 Observables: Writing the Un-Put-Downable Character
Award-winning author, A.C. Williams is a coffee-drinking, sushi-eating, story-telling nerd who loves cats, country living, and all things Japanese. She’d rather be barefoot, and if she isn’t, her socks won’t match. She has authored eight novels, two novellas, three devotional books, and more flash fiction than you can shake a stick at. A senior partner at the award-winning Uncommon Universes Press, she is passionate about stories and the authors who write them. Learn more about her book coaching and follow her adventures online at https://www.amycwilliams.com.

Great Freebie Ideas to Add Value to Your Author Newsletter

by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn
If you’re an author, aspiring or published, you know you need a professional website, a vibrant social media platform, and a newsletter.
You probably have a decent handle on the website and social media aspects. But your newsletter can be a daunting proposition, especially when you’re pre-published or very young in your writing career. 
How are you supposed to get strangers to sign up to receive an email from you? 
The standard advice is, first and foremost, to provide meaningful content that your readers will want access to. 
The next piece of advice is to offer something for free. This mysterious something must be interesting enough to inspire readers to sign up. 
Sure.No problem.Easy-peasy.
Yeah. Right. (Sorry, have I overdone the sarcasm here?) 
Ideally this unicorn newsletter freebie should showcase your writing style and it should be tied to the books you’re writing. For fiction authors, giving away a novella is frequently touted as a great idea.
And I’m not here to dispute that. It’s great advice. If you can do it, you should. 
But what on earth is the newbie writer supposed to do? What do you offer for free when you’ve written one book and you’re praying for a publisher? Do you carve out a portion of your precious writing time to write a novella that you’ll give away for free when you’re also being told that you need to be writing the next book in the series?
From personal experience, please allow me to empathize with you. The first time someone suggested I write a novella to give away to newsletter subscribers, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. My website was brand new. I had just published the first book in a three-book series, and I was in the middle of my first deadline induced panic attack.
I remember taking a few deep breaths and somewhat calmly telling this person that I didn’t have time to write a novella—for free or otherwise. So, we brainstormed and came up with something I did have time to do. It went with my series, and it would appeal to at least some of my readers. It was enough to tide me over until I had more to offer.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to brainstorm with another writer about what they could use as a freebie (that wasn’t a novella), and today I’m going to share some of those ideas with you. 
Before we start, a few things to keep in mind:1. Whatever you offer, it needs to be done well. Don’t offer something that’s poorly edited!2. Your freebie should be exclusive to your newsletter subscribers. Don’t offer it elsewhere.3. Your freebie doesn’t have to be long, especially not in the beginning. Focus on quality and content, not length. 
10 Freebie Ideas for Your Author Newsletter:1. Does your book have a unique setting? Create a travel guide that highlights interesting facts and places of interest. Tie it to your story where possible. Consider having the guide written from the point of view of one or more of your characters. 2. Do your characters have a skill you can share with your readers? If they’re into photography, create a pdf with a list of photography tips. Does your heroine have a green thumb? Offer planting tips for their favorite flowers. Do they cook? Share their favorite recipes. 3. Share research that didn’t make it into the book. Did you learn interesting tidbits about language, cultural norms, clothing, or food in the 1800s? Do you now know more than you ever wanted to know about a historical event? Put together a fun infographic. 4. Does music play a role in your story? Create shareable playlists for your characters or create a “listen while you read” playlist that goes with each chapter or significant scene. 5. Do your characters have life verses or favorite passages of Scripture? Write up a few brief devotions that go with them, or design printables that your readers can download. 6. Give each of your characters a motto. These could be serious or humorous. You could use quotes about everything from coffee to stargazing to F1racing. Pick something they’re passionate about and have fun with it. Or design superlatives like “Character Most Likely to Lose their Keys” or “Character Most Likely to Fall Asleep Watching Hockey.” Then compile them into a freebie for your readers.7. Share background on your characters that didn’t make it into the book. This could be brief anecdotes from their childhood—the kind of stuff that gets told around the table at family gatherings. Or you could share their resume or CV, or “random fun facts” that you know about your hero/heroine, but you weren’t able to include in the story.8. Deleted scenes are always a fan favorite. Did you have to cut a scene for length or pacing reasons? Share it with your newsletter subscribers. They’ll love it!9. Share the details of things that were only alluded to in the story. Do you have secondary characters with an interesting backstory? Give them a short story of their own. Did your characters write each other letters? Share them. 10. Don’t feel like you can only offer one thing. Start small, then add a few more small things when you can. 
Continue to surprise and delight your subscribers and watch your newsletter list grow!
Grace and peace,




TWEETABLE10 Great Freebie Ideas to Add Value to Your Author Newsletter, tips & ideas from author @LynnHBlackburn on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Lynn H. Blackburn loves writing romantic suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she's a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters and loves putting them into all kinds of terrifying situations while she's sitting at home safe and sound in her pajamas! 
Unknown Threat, the first book in her Defend and Protect series, was a 2021 Christy Award finalist and her previous titles have won the Carol Award, the Selah Award, and the Faith, Hope, and Love Reader’s Choice Award. Malicious Intent, the second book in the series, released March 2022.
She is a frequent conference speaker and has taught writers all over the country. Lynn lives in South Carolina with her true love and their three children. You can follow her real life happily ever after by signing up for her newsletter at LYNNHBLACKBURN.COM and @LynnHBlackburn on BOOKBUB, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, PINTEREST, and INSTAGRAM.

Connect with Readers by Avoiding These 9 Common Blogging Mistakes

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Blogging is a great way to connect with our online audience. And while there are a lot more people out there doing it well, I still see some common mistakes. These things affect a blog, making readers click away before they finish a post and even unsubscribe altogether. 
Today I’m going to share the top blogging mistakes I see from authors.
Blogging Mistakes
1. Lack of Interaction. When someone takes the time and effort to comment on your blog post, it’s only polite to answer them. Sure there are days when we get busy and really can’t reply, but if you’re known for taking time to answer, those times will be forgiven. After all, look how patient you all are with me!
2. Inconsistent Posting. I know I’ve said this at least one hundred times, but it bears repeating. If you expect readers to visit your blog consistently, they have the right to expect you to blog consistently.
3. Weak Blog Post Titles. I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover—or its title. But we all do it. Without compelling titles, blog posts go unread and readers unsubscribe.
4. Little or No Formatting. Reading online takes more effort than reading actual ink on paper. Bloggers can overcome that with proper formatting. This includes using a sans-serif font, block formatting, bullet points, and bold subheadings. All these make the page easier to read.
5. Too Many Grammatical Errors. I know, I really shouldn’t be the one throwing stones here. You all know I’ve allowed misspelled words, omitted words and grammatical errors into my posts. But I’m referring to numerous errors in almost every single post.
6. Lack of Focus. Variation isn’t bad, but don’t go overboard. A blog without a focus is a blog without an audience.
7. Posts that are too Long. People today are way more willing to spend time rather than money. Regularly posting things that are more than 500 - 600 words long will cost you readers.
8. No Images with Blog Posts. Just like the formatting issue, images help break up the text and provide for easier reading. They also give visual clues to the content.
9. No Click to Tweet. We all want our posts to be shared, but sometimes we're not good at providing a simple way for readers to do that. Take time to learn how to install Click to Tweet and you'll be glad you did!
These are the main mistakes I see consistently. But I'd love to know what mistakes you've encountered. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Don't forget to join the conversation!Blessings,Edie
TWEETABLEConnect with Readers by Avoiding These 9 Common Blogging Mistakes, tips from @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Edie Melson is a woman of faith with ink-stained fingers observing life through the lens of her camera. No matter whether she’s talking to writers, entrepreneurs, or readers, her first advice is always “Find your voice, live your story.” As an author, blogger, and speaker she’s encouraged and challenged audiences across the country and around the world. Her numerous books reflect her passion to help others develop the strength of their God-given gifts and apply them to their lives. Connect with her on her website, through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Learn to Write Sensational Settings and Immerse Your Readers in the Stories You Create

by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells
Stories happen in a place and that place is the setting. 
Setting is Time PlaceSurroundingsMoodCultural nuancesHistorical periodA backdrop for a story
Settings have four personality types PassiveActiveFunctions Like a CharacterIs the Story
A story can travel to encompass several or all of the types of settings. The tale can move in no particular order from a passive background to an active backdrop, from functioning like a character to being the focus of the story. In each setting your story where your story takes place, describe to your reader what is unusual. 
Passively Passive
A passive setting happens when the background is so ordinary as to be nearly invisible.
Here’s an example from my story, Is That All.
    Immediately upon giving birth to her fifth child, Nelma's arms were empty. The hospital staff whisked away the baby before she could see him.     "I want to see my son," Nelma insisted.     "You need to understand, there are problems with the baby." The doctor explained that perhaps Nelma and her husband should consider an institution for their newborn.      "I want to see my son," Nelma repeated.     So the new bundle of babe was brought and placed in his mother's arms. Nelma smelled the sweet new baby smell of him; she cooed to the little boy and cradled him to her heart. Then, ever so carefully, she unwrapped his blanket. There lay her infant, born without legs, his hands and arms not fully developed. Nelma took it all in, caressed his soft new skin, and smiled into his trusting eyes.     "Oh," she said softly, "is that all?"
In this story, the hospital is a passive setting because, typically, readers are familiar with medical facilities. From personal experience or television and film, readers know how hospitals function, look, smell. Penning Is That All, I did not need to describe what doctors, nursing staff, moms, dads, and babies look like. We are familiar with the birth process, baby blankets, and the general appearance of a newborn. 
To describe these aspects of the story would merely bog down the pace and bore the reader into a coma. Additionally, these cast members are not this story.
While readers know what babies generally look and act like, I described this baby because this child’s unique, out of the ordinary appearance is the story. There lay her infant, born without legs, his hands and arms not fully developed.
When writing the setting for your story, allow the common staging to passively blend nearly invisible into the background. Short descriptions place your reader with your characters in a familiar background that frames the story.Walking in the forestSitting in the pew, second row piano sideAboard the commercial flightSeated in the Oval OfficeSaddling the horseFrom the passenger seat of the carDuring dinnerAt her deskIn the theaterOn the beachTalking over brunchScanning the crowd
Powerful drama can happen in the most undramatic places. Passive or familiar settings require less description and provide contrast between the ordinary and the unusual. 
Trust your reader to know the common bits of the background so you can focus on the uncommon elements that create story. 
As your story unfolds, use setting to tell the reader when and where they are, and how the surroundings influence character, dialog, and plot.
TWEETABLELearn to Write Sensational Settings and Immerse Your Readers in the Stories You Create, tips from @PeggySueWells on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Tropical island votary and history buff, PeggySue Wells parasails, skydives, snorkels, scuba dives, and has taken (but not passed) pilot training. Writing from the 100-Acre Wood in Indiana, Wells is the bestselling author of thirty books including The Slave Across the Street, Slavery in the Land of the Free, Bonding With Your Child Through Boundaries, Homeless for the Holidays, Chasing Sunrise, and The Ten Best Decisions A Single Mom Can Make. Founder of SingleMomCircle.com, PeggySue is named for the Buddy Holly song with the great drumbeat. At school author visits, she teaches students the secrets to writing and speaks at events and conferences. Connect with her at www.PeggySueWells.com, on Facebook at PeggySue Wells, and LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/peggysuewells

Advice from Industry Experts on Street Teams

by Kristen Hogrefe Parnell @KHogrefeParnell
Authors depend on street teams or launch teams to help spread the word about their books, but if you’ve been on some of these teams before, you already know how different they can be in structure and expectations. 
As I’ve discovered, there is no one right or wrong way to run a street team. However, at this year’s Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference, I asked several best-selling authors if they would share their advice on street teams, and I’ve compiled some of their tips here today.
Advice from industry experts
1. How do you recruit, and what is your target size?Create a Google form and share it with your newsletter subscribers.Size recommendations ranged from 30 people to “the more, the merrier.”
2. How do you reward your team?Create an “I’m on the team” meme for them to post on social media.Send book swag to everyone on the team for appreciation. Pro tip: Choose swag that fits in an envelope you can mail from home using a regular stamp. Examples include bookmarks, stickers, and signed name plates, personalized to each team member and signed with your name. Pray for your team.Do drawings or giveaways just for your team.Gift them with an e-copy or paperback copy of your book.
3. How do you organize your tasks?Send out a list of suggested activities once a week and provide the team with everything they need, such as meme quotes from the book and hashtags.Set up a Rafflecopter for the team to “mark off” their completed tasks (using the honor system) and offer a $10 Amazon gift card incentive.
4. What tasks do you prioritize for the team?Mark your book as “to read” and review on Goodreads early.Review on BookBub early.Ask their library to pre-order the book.Post Amazon reviews on release day.Ask the team to buy the Kindle ebook or paperback on release day (for themselves or a friend).
5. How long is your launch team active for a new release?One suggestion was four weeks; others run longer.Set a specific start and end date.
Make it manageable
The bottom line, as I see it, is to create a plan that’s manageable for you. This season of life is a busy one for me, because my husband and I welcomed our baby boy in July. He’s a high-energy little fellow who likes to skip naps! I know going into this release that I can’t do it all, so my goal is to do what I can well.
For my December romantic suspense release, I created a simple Google form application for my street team. You’re welcome to use it as an example of a basic application or even apply to join the team if you’re interested. 
Have you organized a street team before or participated in one? What advice would you share for these teams? Please leave a comment so we can learn from each other.
TWEETABLEAdvice From Industry Experts on Street Teams from author @KHogrefeParnell on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Kristen Hogrefe Parnell writes suspenseful fiction from a faith perspective for women and young adults. Her own suspense story involved waiting on God into her thirties to meet her husband, and she desires to keep embracing God’s plan for her life when it’s not what she expects. She also teaches English online and is an inspirational speaker for schools, churches, and podcasts. Her young adult dystopian novels, The Revisionary and The Reactionary, both won the Selah for speculative fiction, and her first romantic suspense novel with Mountain Brook Ink releases this December. Kristen and her husband live in Florida and welcomed their baby boy in July. Connect with her at KristenHogrefeParnell.com