Edie Melson's Blog, page 138

From Speaker to Writer or Writer to Speaker?

by Crystal Bowman
Like peanut butter and jelly, writing and speaking just go together. Though each can stand on its own, they are better together. But what comes first—writing or speaking? Well, that depends. 
From Speaker to WriterPopular pastors, teachers, and motivational speakers who gain a sizable following often receive publishing offers because their books compliment their messages and reach an even broader audience. Because of the popularity of the speakers, their books typically sell thousands if not millions. Rick Warren, James Dobson, and Louie Giglio are prime examples. For most of these types of speakers, their speaking/teaching platforms came first, followed by a writing career to expand their reach.
From Writer to SpeakerMany writers, like myself, dreamed of being an author, but would break out in hives at the thought of speaking. I can remember many details of my high school speech class, not because it was fun or exciting, but because I was terrified every time it was my turn to speak in front of my peers. When I began writing for publication, speaking was not on my aspiration list.
Then a friend shared some wise words that changed the course of my life. Just as Mark Twain said, “Write what you know,” my friend told me, “Speak what you know.”
As a former school teacher and children’s writer, I was comfortable speaking in schools. I shared my stories and humorous poetry in author assemblies and taught writing workshops in the classroom. When a teacher asked me to speak at their church’s mother-daughter banquet, I accepted. Although I had a case of the nerves, I enjoyed being part of their program, and to my surprise I sold some books. My speaking opportunities grew rapidly as did my confidence. But just like writing is a learning experience, so is speaking. I attended conferences for speakers and read books on speaking to improve my speaking skills. 
Find Your PlaceJust like writers need to find their “sweet-spot” genre, speakers need to find their place in the world of speaking. My favorite places to speak are writers’ conferences, schools, churches, and MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) groups. It’s where I fit, and I am no longer terrified to speak because I speak what I know. Not every writer needs to be a keynote speaker or travel the globe to have a successful speaking career. 
Writing has always been my passion, but over the years, speaking has also become my passion. I have found my place and ask God to use me where He chooses to lead me. Just like writing, speaking has its highs and lows and not every event will be a mountain-top experience. We need to go through the doors God opens for us, and trust that God will bless someone with our words. 
I have come to enjoy speaking almost as much as writing and am thankful that God has given me some wonderful opportunities. However, if I am ever asked to be a key-note speaker at a national conference, I would definitely break out in hives! 
TWEETABLEFrom Speaker to Writer or Writer to Speaker? Insight from Crystal Bowman on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Crystal Bowman is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 100 books for children and four nonfiction books for women. She also writes lyrics for children’s piano music and is a monthly contributor to Clubhouse Jr. Magazine. She loves going to schools to teach kids about poetry. She also speaks at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) groups and teaches workshops at writers’ conferences. When she is not writing or speaking, she enjoys going for walks, working out at the gym, and eating ice cream. She and her husband live in Michigan and have seven huggable grandkids. 
WWW.CRYSTALBOWMAN.COMWWW.FACEBOOK.COM/CRYSTAL.BOWMANWWW.FACEBOOK.COM/CRYSTALJBOWMANWWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/CRYSTALBOWMANAUTHOR
Featured Image: Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Amazon’s A+ Content Now Available to Authors and Publishers

by Susan U. Neal RN, MBA, MHS @SusanNealYoga
Would you like to improve your book Amazon sales by up to 10 percent? There is a new technique to increase the likelihood that a reader will push the buy button when they get to your book’s Amazon sales page. You can improve your chances of closing that sale through using Amazon’s A+ Content, and it is free. 
Recently, Amazon offered small publishers and self-published authors the opportunity to improve their book’s product page with visuals and enhanced marketing to overcome a buyer’s hesitation. You can create and post rich images, charts, and additional product details to help customers choose to purchase your product. According to Amazon, the A+ Content can increase your sales by 3 to 10 percent. 
Authors should use Amazon’s A+ Content because it improves book sales, but it can also improve an author’s overall search engine optimization efforts because Google indexes the content. A+ Content improves a book’s Amazon page conversion rate too, if done correctly. If you are traditionally published, contact your publisher to see if you can send them A+ Content to upload to Kindle Direct Publishing. There is no additional cost to using A+ Content other than creating the graphic.
If you are self-published, to find the A+ premier features, sign into your Kindle
Direct Publishing (KDP) account and click on Marketing. Scroll down the page and you will find A+ Content that states, “With A+ Content, you can add images, text, and comparison tables to your product detail page to engage readers and give more information as they consider buying your book.”
Read the A+ Content guidelines, otherwise your submission may be rejected. For example: Do not include pricing, promotional details or discounts, promotion references.Do not mention time sensitive information such as now, new, latest, yet, on sale now, etc.A maximum of four quotes or endorsements is allowed. No customer reviews.No reference to Kindle Unlimited.No satisfaction guarantee claims.No links or contact information.Only awards won in the last two years can be mentioned.Supported image file types include jpg and png under 2 MB with at least 72 dpi. You can review the full guidelines at the KDP site.
Where do you start? Use images that allow the Amazon customer to scan your content, so the image is not cluttered. Add descriptive content about your book. Tie the A+ Content into your branding. Use images beyond the book cover that convey what you want the reader to experience through reading your book. Nonfiction authors could cross-promote products and upsell other books. Fiction authors can portray complex storylines. Fantasy authors might create maps. Children’s picture book authors could display their best book pages. Or you could highlight the author’s background, passion, qualifications, or awards. As you can see, A+ Content allows authors to provide more information about the content of their book. The following section provides examples of A+ Content currently used by authors.
NonfictionSample content (recipes, how-to tutorials, tips, etc.) Beekeeping for Beginners Comparison grid to cross-sell similar/related works The Lego Ideas Book Children’sReinforce brand identity and feature connected series Diary of a Wimpy Kid Expanded interiors and images that provide additional context Our Class Is a Family Comparison grid to cross-sell similar/related works Super Shark Encyclopedia I Love You to the Moon and Back FictionAuthor features and interviews The Prison Healer On the Come Up Social media style quote images highlighting select review quotes The Other Black Girl Comparison grid to cross-sell similar/related works Dune My Dear Hamilton On mobile devices, which is what most readers use, the A+ Content is shown first above the sales copy. Make sure your content is visually appealing. For those of you who are crafty and excellent copy writers—you got this. You can create gorgeous graphics on Canva or BookBrush. For those of you, like me, who need help in that area, you could use my graphic designer here . It is prudent for authors to use this new free service offered by Amazon. Think of Amazon as a store and your book’s A+ Content tells the buyer about the extra benefits of acquiring your book, just like a salesperson would do in person at a store. 
TWEETABLEAmazon’s A+ Content Now Available to Authors and Publishers - valuable info for authors from @SusanNealYoga on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Susan U. Neal, RN, MBA, MHS: Susan’s mission is to improve the health of the body of Christ. She has her RN and MBA degrees, as well as a master’s in health science. She is a CERTIFIED HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACHwith the American Association of Christian Counselors. She published five books, the Selah award winner 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, CHRISTIAN STUDY GUIDE FOR 7 STEPS TO GET OFF SUGAR AND CARBOHYDRATES, HEALTHY LIVING JOURNAL, SCRIPTURE YOGAa #1 Amazon best-selling yoga book, and YOGA FOR BEGINNERSwhich ranked #3. She published two sets of Christian Yoga Card Decks and two Christian Yoga DVDs that are available at CHRISTINAYOGA.COM. Her digital product HOW TO PREVENT, IMPROVE, AND REVERSE ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIAis a great resource. To learn more about Susan visit her website SUSANUNEAL.COM You can also connect with Susan on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and INSTAGRAM.
Featured Image: Photo by Sunrise King on Unsplash

Things to Do Before A Writer Hits Send

by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28
There’s a little voice in our writer minds that likes to nag. Usually it acts as our friend, reminding us to double check our articles for typos. But sometimes this little voice becomes obsessive, causing us to worry that an editor will find something obviously wrong with our submissions even though we have no idea what the problem might be. 
Nag, nag, nag. How do we silence the little editor voice in our heads and have confidence that our articles and manuscripts are ready for submission?
It’s a good idea to have a checklist handy every time you submit something. The checklist will vary according to which publishing house, publication, or agent you are submitting to, so be sure to print those guidelines for each submission. Take a look at the list below and make sure you’ve covered the bases before you attempt to hit a home run. This double-check will help keep your little editor voice happy and silent. The first three questions are about the “technical” aspects of a submission, and the rest are focused on the content (for nonfiction). 
8 Questions to Ask Before You Submit Your Writing 
1. Does it have my “byline”?Don’t roll your eyes, please. You would be surprised how many writers don’t put a name on their writing. You know that you wrote it, but when an editor (like me) downloads your file, along with everyone else’s, it costs time trying to figure out who wrote what if the byline is missing. Editors may not stop to investigate who wrote your submission, and put it in a slush pile.
2. Does it have the correct formatting according to the submission guidelines?Don’t let zeal override good sense. Re-read every line of the submission guidelines before hitting “send.” See if your recipient requests a cover letter and specifies what should be in it. Double check that you have used the right font, size, and spacing. Make sure you have a header if requested. Everything we can do to follow someone’s guidelines shows that we are paying attention and we care. 
3. Is my word processor flagging any spelling or grammatical errors?That red or blue squiggly line may save you from embarrassment if you find an error before you hit the send button. If I have cut and pasted a lot of sentences, I find it helpful to run the spell check one more time. 
4. Would the first three lines appeal to me if I were the editor or agent receiving the submission?Because they are so busy, editors and agents may look at just the first few lines or paragraphs of your writing to make a decision about it. Don’t give them a reason to stop reading. Use vivid nouns and verbs to craft a story, or find an intriguing quote or alarming statistic to begin your submission. Make sure no “limp” words or sentences are sabotaging your chances of being published. 
5. Does my flow of thought stay on track?A trick I’ve learned is to read the first line of every paragraph to analyze my own flow of thought. This helps me to evaluate whether each paragraph is an interesting progression of my point and needed in my writing. It also helps me to see whether the first lines of my paragraphs are captivating enough to hold the reader’s attention. 
6. Have I included enough “take away” and supporting evidence to back it up?Look over your writing one more time and make sure that your take away (what the reader will apply to his or her life) is placed throughout your writing and not saved for just the end of the article or the end of each chapter. What can the reader learn and benefit from? Then see if you have used enough stories, statistics, quotes, and so forth to prove your point. Meaningful take away makes your writing sparkle and catches the eye of editors and agents.
7. Does my writing have a strong finish? Some writers end with a summary of what has been said. Others reinforce their point with a brief story or illustration. Make sure your writing engraves a memorable take away on the reader’s mind and heart, and moves an editor or agent to say, “Yes! That’s what I was looking for.”
8. Have I incorporated the feedback from my writing group and writing friends?Someone else’s objective viewpoint has improved my writing more times than I can count. If my writing buddy has marked a printout of my writing, I double check every edit to make sure it has been included.
Do you have a system in place to check your submissions before you hit the send button? Share your tips in the comments below, and keep the conversation going!
TWEETABLEThings to Do Before a Writer Hits Send - 8 Tips from @KatyKauffman28 on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Katy Kauffman is an award-winning author, an editor of REFRESH BIBLE STUDY MAGAZINE, and a co-founder of LIGHTHOUSE BIBLE STUDIES. She loves connecting with writers and working alongside them in compilations, such as Feed Your Soul with the Word of God, Collection 1 which is a 2020 Selah Awards finalist.
In addition to online magazines, Katy’s writing can be found at CBN.COM, thoughts-about-God.com, and three blogs on writing. She loves to spend time with family and friends, talk about art and crafts in her group MY ARTSY TRIBE, and tend the garden in the morning sun. She makes her home in a cozy suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Connect with her at her blog, WINNING THE VICTORY, and on FACEBOOK and TWITTER.
Featured Image: Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Article Marketing to Sell Books and Build Your Platform

Edie here. No, you're not seeing double. I messed up. The post by Karen yesterday was the one she sent me for December. So you got it two months in a row. To fix my mistake, I unpublished the one from yesterday and below is her NEW post! Please forgive me. Mistakes happen to us all. 

Article Marketing to Sell Books and Build Your Platformby Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting
Businesses know that articles drive people to their website and inspire them to buy their products much more than paid ads. The power of article marketing also applies to selling books. It’s a great way to introduce your book’s benefits. Articles can also build your platform and followers to help you garner a book contract.
ROI for articles
Magazines include their reader numbers and online ones usually have social media sites with the number of followers listed. Others can actually tell you the number of hits per article you wrote.
For my Growing a Mother’s Heart book, I wrote articles on Enjoying Mother’s Day, Lessons from Bible Moms, and being a more observant mom. One went to a magazine with a readership of 110,000. Another was an online magazine where the editor shared that the article had more than 240,000 hits in four days. Some magazines and sites I’ve written for have millions of readers and one on of my articles was number one on a site with more than 2 million readers. Those are big audiences. An interesting article with a good bio can result in growing your followers and book sales.
That means regularly writing for large magazine audiences builds a platform. Those figures can be added to your proposal to help garner a book contract. Sometimes the articles can attract attention of media or meeting planners that extends the reach for guest spots and speaking.
Article topics
Every book is filled with article ideas. Look through your book content and research material to choose several article topics. Reader feedback also inspires article ideas. Talk to people about your book and note the questions they ask as those can also inspire article ideas. Mine those ideas and start a list of article topics. 
Once you have the list, check out magazines with readers who are interested in the topic. Then pitch the idea and use your book as proof of your authority to write on the subject. 
This can extend to a secondary readership too. For my One Year Princess Devotions, I wrote a few articles for popular Christian teen girl magazines on mentoring younger girls. These girls are too old for the book, but they are older sisters, babysitters, and influencers of young girls around them. They can use the book as a mentoring tool.
Target the Right Magazines
Check out magazines to pitch the article ideas. Use a market guide to find matches or do an online search. If the book is about beaches, search for beach publications. Study the magazine to see what they might want. One beach magazine might like to showcase activities to do while another might like to share about the local plants or sea life or the lifestyle of a vacation at the beach. Check your research and article ideas for matches that also might connect to your book’s title of contents. Then pitch the idea.
As you analyze possible magazines to write for check the bio and be sure you could include your web site of book title and link. You might add that you are available to speak.
PDFs of Article Collections
Over the years you may have written a lot for a particular audience or an evergreen topic, such as articles for parents or Christmas articles. Pull those together into a collection for the ones you still own the rights, and sell that as an article bundle or use it as a giveaway for purchasing a book. I use those with a homeschool market for the times they give out the cvs email list for anyone who contributed freebies and agreed to be on my mailing list. That has given me more than one thousand names for me email list. Those are contacts you own for newsletters and eblasts. 
I used three different pdf bundles as prize options on my launch latest team for anyone who invited a friend to join the team. One of the team members invited a friend who joined and invited 30 people and ten of those joined plus one of those new members invited a friend. Thus, my launch team grew with people I didn’t know but whom team members identified as people who would love the book, my target audience. The reviews they write will help with marketing to perspective buyers.
Many magazines offer pay as a bonus for marketing your book plus build your writing credits and expertise.
TWEETABLEArticle Marketing to Sell Books and Build Your Platform from @KarenHWhiting on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Karen Whiting (WWW.KARENWHITING.COM) is an international speaker, former television host of Puppets on Parade, certified writing and marketing coach, and award-winning author of twenty-seven books for women, children, and families. Her newest book, The Gift of Bread: Recipes for the Heart and the Table reflects her passion for bread and growing up helping at her grandparent’s restaurant. Check out her newest book Growing a Mother’s Heart: Devotions of Faith, Hope, and Love from Mothers Past, Present, and Future. It's full of heartwarming and teary-eyed stories of moms.
Karen has a heart to grow tomorrow’s wholesome families today. She has written more than eight hundred articles for more than sixty publications and loves to let creativity splash over the pages of what she writes. She writes for Crosswalk. Connect with Karen on Twitter @KarenHWhiting Pinterest KarenWhiting FB KarenHWhiting
Featured Image: Photo by Paul White on Unsplash

Networking Tips to Increase Author Marketing Ability

by Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting
Start the New Year with strategies to networking for maximum results, especially for marketing.
First list your objectives and pray about them
You’re more likely to hit the mark when you set specific goals. It’s great to meet people, but better to make the most of each connection.
1. Professional connectionsList connections you want to make and why. This may include agents, editors, producers for film, etc.. These connections can move your career forward. Be ready to pitch ideas or find out when and how to pitch to them for good matches.
2. Marketing network connectionsThese are people can help you market such as media hosts and bloggers, or people with ideas on promoting your books and brand. Some may charge fees, such as coaches. These are people to follow and learn from, as well as people to see if there’s a way to provide content in return for promotion, such as interviews.
3. People who want content you writeMagazine editors, plus website and blog owners fall in this category. They hire people (some do not pay) for content. They seek good writers or want to find people who match with their target market. 
Ask what they need and see if there’ a common link. Otherwise, you may know someone they would like to meet who fits the need. You can give a referral. They may also know someone who needs content on your brand or focus, and may give you a referral.
4. Relationships within the writing worldIt’s good to build your personal writing network. You might strike up a friendship with an influencer or even a professional like an editor. Nurture these connections for advice, and support you can offer one another. Some are more advanced who can share their expertise, some who are on about the same level as you, and others who may be starting out and need your expertise. They are all valuable as friends and people with common interests. 
5. Potential readersYou may find someone who likes to buy what you write even if they do not work in that genre. This may include spouses who accompany a writer. They may want a bookmark to remember you and your titles. Invite them to follow you and engage them in social media.
6. Potential clients. If you’re a professional you may be looking for specific people or clients if you’re an agent of coach. Be sure to hand exchange cards with likely connections.
Get networking
Once you list goals it’s easier to network. With each person you meet, ask questions to discover where they fall within your desired network connections. If so, share something about the possible intersection of your interest in what they do to start a networking conversation.
So, if you meet and editor or agent, you can ask what types of manuscripts they publish or represent. If that has matching potential, give your elevator pitch to see if that sparks interest. Listen to what they need to see if you have an idea they might to have you develop and pitch later. If you don’t match listen to what they want and file that for later, to help someone else or to reconnect if you are pulled into their genre. I’ve picked up in-house jobs this way.
If you meet someone in marketing, ask questions to see if you can fill a need, such as a topic within audience needs to be a potential interviewee or guest blogger. Ask how they built their expertise and how they help their clients. That way you’ll know if they might be someone you’d like to hire.
If you meet someone looking for content, ask about specific needs, where it is published, and the rights they want. I wrote children’s church content for a publisher I met after we discovered we shared a focus in that area. I also wrote devotional content for a media website when someone else networked with the person and referred him to me.
When you meet someone who is another writer, see what you have in common within genres, locations where you live, topics you like to write about, and level of experience. These are people who can become friends and network connections. I have developed many friendships over the years and value them all. Some of them changed positions and became editors or agents. Other formed part of my support circle of friends where we bless one another.
For people who become your audience, be grateful you met them. That has happened for me from Uber drivers interested in where I was going, to wives of professionals interested in my brand. This provides an opportunity to ask them as readers and potential followers what grabs their interest and keeps them returning to authors they like. That expands the information about your reader’s Avitar.
Follow through with Connections MadeEmail or send thank you notes to people, continue conversations started with an email to see if your pitch or idea might get somewhere, or ask if your publisher can send a review copy to possibly get booked on the person’s show or blog. Follow the people you met and invite others to follow you. Send emails to potential friends. 
I generally leave conferences with new work and new marketing opportunities, and you can too!
TWEETABLENetworking Tips to Increase Author Marketing Ability from @KarenHWhiting on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Karen Whiting (WWW.KARENWHITING.COM) is an international speaker, former television host of Puppets on Parade, certified writing and marketing coach, and award-winning author of twenty-seven books for women, children, and families. Her newest book, The Gift of Bread: Recipes for the Heart and the Table reflects her passion for bread and growing up helping at her grandparent’s restaurant. Check out her newest book Growing a Mother’s Heart: Devotions of Faith, Hope, and Love from Mothers Past, Present, and Future. It's full of heartwarming and teary eyed stories of moms.
Karen has a heart to grow tomorrow’s wholesome families today. She has written more than eight hundred articles for more than sixty publications and loves to let creativity splash over the pages of what she writes. She writes for Crosswalk. Connect with Karen on Twitter @KarenHWhiting Pinterest KarenWhiting FB KarenHWhiting

Writer—Get Ready for New

by Tammy Karasek @TickledPinkTam
Whether you are someone who begins your writing new year with the school calendar each August, or you follow the calendar that begins each January, most of us begin a new year in some fashion. 
When our daughter was at home, our plans and calendars ran with the school year. We rang in the new school year with a few new clothes and always an ice cream cone after the first day of school. Dates on the calendar would be filled in with events for that first semester. Even though we started our new year in August, we’d always have fun on December 31st as we celebrated and watched with anticipation as the ball dropped in Times Square announcing a new year with friends and family. 
As the daughter grew up and moved out, the new school year calendar became less and less important. January 1st became our marker for a new year. I’d purchase calendars that matched that system.
Since it’s January, I’ve begun a new calendar again. I’ve put important dates on the proper pages and written reminders to make appointments at the appropriate time. I’ve even decorated my pages to make me smile when I look at the work to be done. It’s worth a shot to make chores look more fun, right?
But as this year started, covid had swept through our family as it had through many of our friends’ families. This kept hubby and I quarantined until we were sure we didn’t pick up the virus ourselves. Stuck in the house, again. This allowed some dedicated thinking time—also called, total uninterrupted time with God. I’ve been thinking more intentionally about the newness that comes with the opening of a calendar to the New Year. What changes do I need to make and how? With that question on my mind, I read this verse and wondered if my answer was within those words:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away and see, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB
As I read it, I wondered how this could apply to my writing—our writing. After all, each piece we write is new to someone, right? Mulling it over, I came up with something that I hope is helpful for you as well.  
Three Things For the New Year and For Writing1) I’m a new creation—so write like one. Make the words that I write be a testimony of the One who made me new. Whether I write fiction or non-fiction, make sure my message points back to God so that others will want to know more of Him, not me. 
2) Let the things of 2021 go. HA—and 2020, for that matter. That time has passed—leave it there. Don’t keep thinking about writing pieces, pitches or the like that didn’t fair so well. Or that didn’t get done. It’s a new year and a new you, use the lessons learned from them and write from a fresh attitude. If you didn’t finish them, look on the bright side, you’re ahead for 2022 already, am I right?
3) The New Year is here—the new you has come. Sit up tall and take in a deep breath. Write with a new sense of purpose. God has called you to write His story through your life experiences, so think of a new way to share God’s love through something you write this year. 
That’s my top goal for 2022—to make the gospel shine through my words. After all, He game them to me anyway. What about you?
TWEETABLEWriter—Get Ready for New, tips from @TickledPinkTam on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
You’ll find Tammy using humor and wit to bring joy and hope to every aspect in life. She’s gone from down and defeated from a past filled with bullying and criticism from family to living a Tickled Pink life as she believes there is always a giggle wanting to come out! All because of HIM.
She’s the Social Media Coordinator for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. President of ACFW Upstate SC, Past-President and current member of Word Weavers Upstate SC and Past-President of Cross N Pens Writers Group. She’s a member of My Book Therapy/Novel Academy. A writing team member for The Write Conversation, contributor for the Learn How to Write a Novel Blog and others. Published in the Divine Moments Compilation Book—Cool-inary Moments.
She’s married to her college sweetheart Larry, a mom to their grown daughter, Kristen and excited to add a son-in-law in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, she now lives in South Carolina. Connect with Tammy at HTTPS://TAMMYKARASEK.COM.

Resurrecting The Buried Life in our Writing

by Emme Gannon @GannonEmme
When we sit to write, we’re challenged to let our minds go to that place of wonder that lies in the deep crevices of our hearts. The “Buried Life,” (a term coined in a poem by Matthew Arnold,) is waiting to be rescued from the prison of political and social correctness. The freedom to write truth in books, articles, and speak in the public forum can lose its luster through the busyness of keeping up with social media and the constant flow of disturbing news. 
The buried life was once free to explode from our psyche and burst forth in prose, its message strengthened by community and fellowship in the church. With that fellowship now limited, our soul is robbed of the nourishment of assembly with fellow believers—social interaction that is meant to infuse us with energy and meaning. We begin to look inward and are afraid of what we see. We may start to doubt ourselves and the words that have been given us. In the back of our minds, words still struggle to come forth, only to often be squashed by our fear of approval or, worse yet, disapproval. 
We need a resurrection of sorts, a transformation of what we think we know to be true to what is really true. A miracle that transports us back to the tomb, where Jesus lay, His lifeless body proof that all was over. And then it wasn’t. A miracle happened and He rose again, His sacrificial death giving new and eternal life to we who believe. Believing, adhering, and clinging to this reality causes our soul to rise and crack open the door beyond natural man’s three dimensions and five senses. We untangle the ropes that have bound us and darkness is eradicated by light that illuminates a bold new realization of just who we are through Christ. 
As writers, we are emboldened to dip our toe in the world of the impossible, where a scullery maid can be turned into a princess, beautiful enough to besot a prince. A world where our purpose can be realized against all odds, because our reality is built on Someone greater than ourselves, not the dictums of a new world order, whatever that may look like. We become who we were meant to be, write the words we were meant to write, say and do the things God ordained for us in the time and place He ordained us to be.
Entering into a world we cannot see is not the easy route. It is wrought with rapids and mountains blocking our view. The road is never straight. Loneliness, fear, and ridicule by others often beset us. As was true with Noah, so we will be mocked for who we have chosen to follow and the moral standard which rules our words and deeds. As we continue to build the arc with our words, the sun may still shine and the mocking intensify. Fear not. It will rain. Because He who created and holds the world together is in control. We don’t have to shake our finger and promise the mockers their sordid outcome. Instead, we obey Him and look up. And do the work He has called us to do. Until that day when He takes us to the eternal home He won for us on the cross.
“And there arrives a lull in the hot raceWherein he doth forever chaseThat flying and elusive shadow, rest.An air of coolness plays upon his face,And an unwonted calm pervades his breast.And then he thinks he knowsThe hills where his life rose,And the sea where it goes.”The last verses of poem, The Buried Life, by Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
TWEETABLEResurrecting the Buried Life in Our Writing - @GannonEmme on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Emme Gannon is a wife, mother, and grandmother who loves to write stories that stir the heart. Her award-winning writing has appeared in Focus on the Family magazine, several anthologies, and numerous newsletters. She just completed her first novel.

A Speaking & Writing Schedule in Uncertain Times

by Yvonne Ortega @YvonneOrtega1
You and I are not in control. Therefore, we need to be cautious in making plans in 2022. This has always been true, but it’s more obvious now. We need to be conservative and have a plan B and a plan C.
We’re Not in Charge of Everything and Everyone.
On December 30, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned the public that a cruise should be avoided regardless of the person’s vaccination status. Those on a recent cruise had been fully vaccinated, had their vaccine passport, and proof of a recent negative test. However, COVID-19 broke out, and passengers were confined to their room. Similar cases occurred in Mexico and Portugal. 
How does that apply to us in 2022?
Travel is risky, and international travel is even more risky. 
We need to consider the purchase of a travel ticket where we can obtain a paper copy. Then we need to read every word of it to find out what the fine print says. Sometimes, the website has the fine print there and sends pages of fine print with our receipt. 
Within the United States, some conference leaders hope to meet in person. Linda Evans Shepherd, founder of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, said, “The AWSA Conference and Golden Scroll Awards Banquet is going live in Lexington, KY, this August 12–14, 2022, just prior to the Christian Book Expo! If circumstances make it impossible to meet in person, we are set to go virtual.” Please note that the 2022 AWSA Conference registration and schedule are not yet up. You can look at the 2021 schedule to get an idea of what it will be like.
The publicity team for the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference June 16–18, 2022 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky announced in their December Newsletter to go ahead and register. Recordings will be available for three months after the conference for all who registered and couldn’t attend.
The board members of the Annual SpeakUp Conference in Grand Rapids, MI hope to meet in person July 7–9, 2022. Registration is now open. Should Michigan or your state of departure change its policy at the last minute, Carol Kent, founder and executive director of the SpeakUp Conference and her husband Gene Kent, chief operations officer, said the participant has the option to watch the general sessions live online and listen to the prerecorded breakout sessions, to apply the fee to 2023, or to request a refund.
Directors Edie Melson and Edwina Perkins of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference plan to have the conference in person May 29-June 2, 2022 in Black Mountain, near Asheville, NC. Registration is open. Their daily blog and podcast provide information, training, and resources.
All conferences mentioned above have a Facebook page to keep participants up to date. 
Comment on what you decide to do in 2022 and let me know how it goes.
TWEETABLEA Speaking & Writing Schedule in Uncertain Times, encouragement from @YvonneOrtega1 on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Yvonne Ortega walks with a small footprint but leaves a giant imprint in people’s lives. This power-packed package is a professional speaker and the author of the Moving from Broken to Beautiful® Series through cancer, divorce, forgiveness, and loss. Learn more at WWW.YVONNEORTEGA.COM
Yvonne speaks with honesty and humor as she shares her life and struggles through presentations that empower women to find peace, power, and purpose through God’s Word. 
Yvonne’s background as a licensed professional counselor brings a unique perspective into the heart of women. She’s a speaking and writing coach and the owner of Moving from Broken to Beautiful®, LLC. She belongs to the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, the Christian Authors Network, the National Speakers Association, and Toastmasters International.
She celebrates life at the beach, where she walks, builds sand castles, blows bubbles, and dances.
Featured Image:Photo by Natasha Hall on Unsplash

12 New Things for Writers to Try This Year!

Edie here. Today I'm super excited to announce Julie's latest book,  Children’s Bible Stories for Bedtime . I endorsed this book, I own this book, and I've already given away copies to friends. There's more info at the end of this post, but I highly recommend it!

12 New Things for Writers to Try This Year!by Julie Lavender @JLavender Writes
What’s new, writing friends? 
We’re two weeks into a brand new year, and I always love to ponder Isaiah 43:19 with the changing of the calendar.
“Behold, I will do a new thing,” God proclaims in the first part of that verse. In the next part of the verse, God promises to make pathways in the wilderness and produce streams in barren land. 
If you’re like me, you sometimes feel like the writing journey vacillates between wild and impenetrable jungles and parched deserts on most days, with mountaintop experiences sprinkled in frequently for good measure. I’m thankful that I can count on God’s presence along the way, wherever that roller coaster ride to publication (or not) takes me. 
While I anxiously await God’s “new thing” when the calendar flips, I like to spruce up my writing path with fresh ideas and attempts. I want to work with my whole being for the Lord, heartily and with passion, to sing to the Lord a new song through my written words. 
What “new thing” can you do this year on your path to publication? Let’s brainstorm a few ideas and schedule them into some of the blank spaces on the new calendar. 
Write for a newspaper. Do you have newspaper credits on your writing resume? Most newspapers accept freelance stringer articles, and it’s a great way to share God-stories with the community. Plan to write a profile article on a godly member of the community or a feature article on a recent local happening. Those “little” stories often go untold because of short-staffing in the newsroom, but those inspirational stories are typically the most well-received ones by readers. Write for a local magazine. In my hometown, MOMents Magazine shares feature stories about local women monthly and Discovering Bulloch Magazine spotlights various members and events of Bulloch County. (For the last couple of months, our Discovering Bulloch Magazine has posted an advertisement seeking writers!) Write for a national magazine. With the plethora of magazines published each month in a gargantuan gamut of genres, surely you can find numerous ones of interest to contribute to! Check out the guidelines online for your favorites, come up with an idea, and shoot off a query letter! Why not query a different magazine each month this year? Wouldn’t that be a fun goal for 2022?Write for a denominational publication. Seek out a contact for the newsletter or magazine that’s sponsored by your church affiliation. Query that person about becoming a guest or regular contributor. Contribute to your alumni magazine or newsletter. Universities and colleges love to “boast” about the accomplishments of their former students. Find out if your alumni magazine accepts freelance submissions or offer to be interviewed by a staff member about your post-college opportunities and successes. Contribute to a new blog or podcast. Bloggers and podcasters need fresh, new content on a regular basis. Query some of your favorites and offer new topics for their sites. Join new pages or groups on social media. Find groups that relate to your writing genres and engage with the members. Not in a self-serving way, of course, but in genuine conversation. You’ll learn a great deal from the participants and may even gain additional friends and followers, too.Commit to supporting fellow authors. Writing may be “lonely” at times, when sitting at a computer plucking away at the keys, but writers need each other’s support during the journey. Find ways to share fellow writers’ successes, blog posts, book releases, articles, and related links. Encourage them with kind words through emails or social media messages. Write book reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Christianbook.com, and any other place that accepts reviews. (It’s easy to write one review, and then copy and paste the same review to other sites.)Seek out a radio or television interview. What’s your expertise? Offer to share your wisdom on a radio or television interview. Look online to find sources and send out query letters accordingly. Again, shoot for a new station or two every month this year. Plan to meet new friends at the next writers’ conference. Let’s face it—one of the best parts about attending writing conferences is catching up with our best buddies that we might only see once or twice a year. Plan time for that fellowship at the next conference, but make a concerted effort to meet several new people each day, too. You’ll be so glad you did! Find a new genre to read. You just might decide to try your hand at writing in that genre, too!Enter a new writing contest. Try your hand at something you’ve never written or submit to a contest you’ve never entered. You just might add another award or recognition to your collection! Well, if you’re a numbers guy like one of my kiddos, you’ll notice that we brainstormed twelve ideas. That’s one new opportunity for each month this year. 
What “new thing” will you try this month or sometime this year? What “new thing” do you hope God will do in your writing journey? 
TWEETABLE12 New Things for Writers to Try This Year! encouragement from @JLavenderWrites on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Childrens Bible Stories for Bedtime: To Grow in Faith & Love
by Julie Lavender
Kids can wind down with inspiring childrens Bible stories and connect with God at bedtime. With this collection of childrens first Bible stories, parents and kids can calmly end the day together in the comfort of God’s presence and peace. These favorites of key biblical figures and their ancient adventures inspire young curious minds to build a relationship with God and ponder about His never-ending love.  
Whether your child reads kids Bible storybooks aloud or simply listens, the practice of reading at bedtime will remind your child that God is always with them—from morning until night, and even while they sleep.
Julie Lavender is excited that her NEW book launched just a couple of days ago. Children’s Bible Stories for Bedtime,published by Zeitgeist/Penguin Random House, shares 52 Bible stories for kids, ages 4-8. Julie is also the author of 365 Ways to Love Your Child: Turning Little Moments into Lasting Memories, published by Revell.

Featured Image: Photo by 2H Media on Unsplash

Writers & Writing in the New Year & in a New World

by Linda Gilden @LindaGilden
Last night I sat on my sister’s porch visiting with my three-year-old great nephew. He’s the cutest little boy and talks incessantly. We all sat around, properly spaced, in our masks and enjoyed getting to know each other. 
Sitting there on the brink of a new year I realized this sweet three-year-old faced 2022 just like he had every other year of his life, wearing his mask and air-hugging those he loved. To him, things had never been any different. It was perfectly fine to keep our distance, watch every breath our loved ones took by the in-and-out movement of the mask, and look forward to the day we can have him sit in our laps while we read to him.
Even though three-years-olds probably never think about the differences in our world today, those older spend time every day wondering when the pandemic will end, how it will affect our lives and family, and when can we get back to normal.
But what about you and me. 
How will this pandemic continue to make a difference in not only our families, but also in our writing?
1. Things are not changing quickly. We had hoped watching the news every night and getting reports of those who had become sick, rules for wearing masks and distancing, and why we should avoid crowds would soon end, we are learning that‘s not happening. No sooner than one strain of this pandemic seems to abate, another variant pops up. It seems we will be following new rules of health right into a new normal.
The good news is writers can do their work from home and it is more important than ever to get the message God has given us out to the world. Our world needs hope and writers can be used to point their readers to the One who can give them that hope.
2. Being without people is hard. We miss hugging our loved ones and close friends. We miss being able to gather as we used to.
However, our words can go anywhere without a mask and reach those who feel alone and isolated. Never forget what great encouragement just a few words can provide to those who are hurting.
3. Many people are struggling with loss of jobs which also creates a loss of purpose and focus. When they are ready to go back to work, they sometimes must take a different job where they feel less than productive and fulfilled.
Writers, on the other hand, are free to pursue their calling whenever and wherever they are. When God calls you to be a writer, he also calls you to be a marketer, an interviewer, and many other things. So you can do your job no matter what is going on in the world. You just have to work a little harder to find new markets.
A new year, a new opportunity. What are you going to do with 2022’s blank slate in your writing life. Do you have a plan? Perhaps today would be a good time to spend some time praying and asking God for His direction.
I’d like to invite you to join us at the Carolina Christian Writers Conference, March 11-12 in Spartanburg, SC. All the details are on our website at fbs.org/writers. Our faculty would love to encourage you and help you find direction for your 2022 writing. What a great start to the new year!
TWEETABLEWriters & Writing in the New Year & in a New World from @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.


Featured image: Photo by Nayanika Mukherjee on Unsplash