I follow a number of blogs for writers, and, recently, several people have posted articles about rejection. Instead of sharing my thoughts on the subject, I’ll point you to theirs.

• Dr. Dennis Hensley’s new blog, Doc Hensley on Writing.
• Nine-part “rejection” series, Cecil Murphey’s Writer to Writer.
• Alton Gansky’s “Cowboy Up: Dealing with Rejection.”
• “Handling Rejection,” Henry McLaughlin, Christian Writers Guild blog.

I’ve posted about rejection on Blog4Writers previously. Check it out here.

Learning. When I was setting up this blog as a self-hosted WordPress site, I found a number of WordPress tutorials on YouTube that were easier to follow than the written instructions in the help sections of hosting company and WordPress sites. Sometimes, I had to try several different combinations of search words to find what I needed. For writing resources, I searched “writing” and found a number of entries. Changing the search a bit helps you find more. For example, I searched “Christian writing,” “American Christian Writers,” and others to find the following.

• Writer’s Digest Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/WritersDigest
• American Christian Writers faculty panel: http://youtu.be/K37yD6tfuzw
• Dr. Dennis Hensley on “Honing Your Writing”: http://youtu.be/gEyYv4AB0GY
• Steve Laube on having an agent: http://youtu.be/Gg_MrToKtVE
• Cecil Murphey, several posts: see search results here.

Marketing. Search “marketing for writers,” and you’ll find a number of posts that might help you. Also, many publishing companies are putting book trailers on YouTube now. If you’re writing a book, perhaps you should browse the book trailers for marketing ideas. I searched the names of a couple of my favorite authors and found more than just trailers.

• Marketing for writers search results here.
• Because You Care by Cecil Murphey and Twila Belk: http://youtu.be/6opXG0luNmk
• Dangerous Reunion by Sandra Robbins: http://youtu.be/n9EqqrpO31E

Inspiration and/or Humor. Sometimes you need inspiration for your writing. Other times, you just need to take a break and have a laugh or two. Youtube might have just what you need. Be creative in choosing your search words. If you know of a Christian speaker, search his or her name. You’ll probably find some clips. Look what I found for my favorites.

• Billy Graham search results here.
• Chonda Pierce search results here.
• Atheists Don’t Have No Songs, Steve Martin (I had bookmarked this one).
• Search results for “Christian humor” here.

Subscribers, if you know of other sites like Youtube that you can recommend, please comment on this post and provide a link.

I wish I had more time to write.

I can’t get my writing done because my life is just too chaotic right now.

Could these be your words? I know I’ve had these thoughts myself. We think we must have large blocks of time totally dedicated to writing. All the conditions must be perfect. The truth is, all of us have some time to write. We just haven’t learned to order our time to fit it in. Julie-Allyson Ieron is a writer-publisher and mentor for Christian Writers Guild. Her book, Conquering the Time Factor: Twelve Myths That Steal Life’s Precious Moments, will change your thinking about your time and how you use it.

The twelve myths she examines are common “reasons” people give for not getting things done. In the first chapter, she addresses my number one problem, “I can’t say No.” Julie analyzes why we might feel that way, referring to the Bible to examine how Jesus dealt with this myth. A theme that runs through the entire book is that God has something specific for each of us to do. He has provided the time for us to accomplish it. We are responsible for ordering our time so that we can get it done. Often, it’s not a time problem, it’s a priority problem.

Another myth that I struggle with is “I just need a week without interruption.” In fact, I have experienced most of the twelve myths in my writing journey. Julie has accomplished a great deal using the techniques outlined in the book. She worked in a publishing house while writing in her “spare” time. She appears on radio and television, speaks at writers conferences and women’s retreats, and runs her own publishing business while serving as caregiver for family members. The tips she provides are truly proven in her own life.

The original edition of Conquering the Time Factor came out in 2003 and is still available on Julie’s website here. The e-book has been updated with a Bible study guide for a 12-week study of the material in the original book’s chapters. If you purchase the e-book, you have permission to print copies of certain portions for use in a study group. Purchase the e-book on Julie’s site here. You can also examine the table of contents and a portion of the first chapter on Amazon at this link.

And, don’t forget to enter the drawing for the free print copy according to the guidelines at the beginning of this post.

Selling your writing is not exactly like selling chickens, but there are some parallels.  Bear with me! You may be trying to sell chickens when your readers would prefer the eggs. Of course, to get the eggs, you have to raise the chickens, gather the eggs, and package them for transport before you can sell them to your customers. To sell your writing, you need to know the answer to three questions.

1. Who needs your information? In other words, “Who is your customer?” Have you already written a book on home-schooling? Do you have an idea for an article or series of articles on Internet safety? Get your market guide and look for publishers who cater to readers interested in your topic. Be specific. “Home-schooling mothers” is a specific target. “All adults” is not. If you have a group of devotions written, you can tweak them for a specific age group like grandparents or teens.

2. How will you package it? Book or articles? Most beginning writers think they must write a book. But, I’ve heard editors say that most “first” books would be better presented as a series of articles. If you are an unpublished writer, it’s not likely that you will land a book contract. If you are truly motivated to get your work published, you’ll be willing to package your message in a format that sells. More people will read your work if it is published in a magazine. Devotional magazines and Sunday School papers are good starting places. You might find a devotional magazine at your church that is open to freelance submissions. The Christian Writers Market Guide contains information on such publications and where to find writers’ guidelines (see below). Your final decision on packaging your message will depend on the specifics in the publisher’s guidelines.

3. Who will publish it? Make a list of potential publishers based on the guidelines you’ve collected. Most publications have websites where you can download the guidelines or find out how to get them. For example, the guidelines for The Secret Place devotional magazine are found online here. Some magazines require query letters. Book publishers usually want a written proposal rather than your book manuscript. Here’s an earlier Blog4Writers post containing general information on how to write query letters and book proposals (and a wealth of other information on writing and publishing).

Then, send it in! Whether you’ve decided to try to sell your chicken (book) or you’ve opted to re-work your material and sell the eggs (articles), the next step is: start submitting!

Market Guides:

• Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide
• Writers’ Market Online: http://www.writersmarket.com/

On Blog4Writers:

• Query Letters, Bio, Book Proposal How- to
• Marketing: Developing Your Brand

Other Online Resources:

• http://www.right-writing.com/
• http://www.marketingforwriters.com/
• http://www.absolutewrite.com/

Good writers are in the business of leaving signposts saying, “Tour my world, see and feel it through my eyes; I am your guide.”

The good writer, the great writer, has what I have called the three S’s: the power to see, to sense, and to say. That is, he is perceptive, he is feeling, and he has the power to express in language what he observes and reacts to. -Lawrence Clark Powell

As a writer, I often sit around and marvel at the things that give me inspiration. It’s almost like a special power or gift that allows you to take note of an ordinary, run-of-the-mill incident and be able to discern the deeper meaning behind it.

Example #1: One Saturday morning as I lounged on my bed multi-tasking (watching TV, reading, napping, browsing the net, returning phone calls), I looked over at the wall in my bedroom. Right above the base board were a few unsightly black marks that commonly occur when you haven’t repainted a new home and something brushes against it. I was so irritated by that and just kept staring at it. As I stared, I identified the marks as being a line and two small dots. One dot was above the line and the other was below the line and both were centered. It was at that point that I realized that some random object had inadvertently rubbed against the wall to form a division sign.

As I lay on the bed staring at it, I thought about all the division that we encounter everyday and I decided that I was going to write an article emphasizing division in the homes, workplace, and in other various places in our society. The more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that at that particular time there was some serious division going on in my own house. Talk about the writing on the wall! Then I thought to myself, who thinks about these things????

Example #2: It is required for us to wear a name tag for work. Instead of using the standard lanyard issued, I often had some fancier, more professional looking ones to wear. The one that I had been wearing for the weeks before was cute and stylish, but had one major flaw. I could never get the thing to stay on the side that showed my picture and name. People would often come and compliment me on it while positioning it in the right direction. It was quite annoying. When I got home from work one day, I sat by the computer trying to figure out what I would work on. I glanced to my right and saw the lanyard containing the ID badge. I looked at it and said to myself, “What’s the point of wearing the fancy thing if it doesn’t really show who I am?” It was then I thought about writing a piece about how our behavior, our actions, and how we carry ourselves as individuals often contradict who we really are on the inside. No matter how fancy we are on the outside, if it doesn’t truly reflect who we really are, what’s the point? Then I thought about the lanyard symbolizing our lives: All glamour, but not functioning correctly. The possibilities went on, and on, and on. Who does that?

Well, writers do. Writing is a gift. My superpower. It helps me to find meaning in almost anything, and of course, it can also make me overly analytical. If you find a positive message to convey to the world from a different angle, it is worth it.

All rights reserved.
Shakera Reid was born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Miramar, Florida. Her passion in life is counseling and educating youth. Hobbies include traveling, writing and watching movies. Her hope is to encourage others through her writing and to help them in their Christian walk.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com CHRISTIAN WRITER – MAKE YOUR OWN WEBSITE.

Previously on Blog4Writers:

Why Do You Write?

Writer to Writer: Quotes from the Pros

One person asked for time management resources. There’s some time management content on Blog4Writers already. I’ve added Time Management to the categories menu to make them easy to find. Click here for a list of existing posts on the topic. And, I do have some recommendations to make

Book: My favorite resource on time management is The Time of Your Life: How to Accomplish All That God Wants You to Do by Mark Porter. It’s out of print but still available on used book sites. Here’s my review of the book. There’s a list of chapters on this site. I have not ordered books from this site, but I am in the process of checking them out.

Article: Also, it happens that my article on time management was published in The Lookout a few years back. It is still online here.

I’ll be searching out time management resources over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, if you still want to participate in the survey, click here.

Freebie

For a limited time, click here to download my free e-brochure, “Time Management: Handle with Prayer.” It’s a re-write of the article that appeared in The Lookout.

First a little guidance. All posts on Blog4writers fit into one of the categories shown in the survey. Before you respond to the survey, please visit the website and browse the categories.

• First, go to the site and try the top menu. The main categories have sub-categories that “drop down” when you hover your mouse over a main category. Try Writers’ Resources, and you’ll see that there are three sub-categories.
• Click on either a main category or sub-category, and you’ll get a list of all previous posts on that subject. Example: clicking on Marketing gives you this.
• Then, try the Categories drop-down menu in the sidebar. Click on the arrow on the right side of the Categories bar, and the entire category list will show. Clicking on Freebies brings up this.
• Is there a subject not included in the categories that you would like to see on Blog4Writers? Be sure to enter that in the “other” box on the survey.

Note: If the survey box does not appear in your e-mail or on your RSS reader, click here to go the survey on my site.

Next time I do a survey, I’ll let you rank the topics. This time, I just wanted to know what category you’re most interested in. You’ll can see the results after you do the survey, but I’ll update next week on the final result.

Image source: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

#1 – Custom Look: My website is a self-hosted WordPress site. I pay for hosting, but I wanted to stick with a  free theme (design). On the other hand, the premium themes are really good-looking and offer many great features. Finally,  “free” won out. I chose Weaver II because I liked the look of the WriteLife Workshops site. As it happens, Weaver II (updated version) claims to be the most customizable free WordPress theme available. Compare my customized Blog4Writers page to WriteLife. Most people would not know that we use the same theme, would they?

#2 – Color Scheme: There are a number of Weaver II sub-themes. I chose the one called “The Grays” because I wanted subdued colors and graphics that did not compete with the content on my site.I added a free header photo that I got from Freepixels.com. See the list of Weaver II sub-themes here and browse them if you have time.

#3 – Navigation: I wanted a design that included the usual main menu with drop-down feature and an additional categories menu across the top. I also wanted a sitemap/archives page. Weaver II has all that. The only thing I’m disappointed in is the Sitemap layout. Take a look here. I would prefer to have two columns on the page so that it’s easier for readers to browse without scrolling so much. I’d prefer that the Categories be listed first, but I have no choice about that.

Overall, I’m satisfied with my results. You can’t have everything, especially if you’re not willing to pay. The good news is that Weaver II can be upgraded to the Pro version which offers many options not included in the free version. Maybe I’ll pay someday!

Readers, what do you think? I welcome your comments or questions on my new look.

More Info on WordPress Websites:

Three Ways to Have a WordPress Website

 Free Site with WordPress

ACW regularly presents one- or two-day conferences around the country and a Caribbean Cruise conference in the late fall. As with most conferences, ACW offers workshops and private appointments with faculty. The mentoring conference has traditionally been offered once a year in Nashville. Each attendee is assigned a mentor based on the writing genre he or she is interested in. Mentors include publishing “giants” like Cecil Murphey, Holly Miller, and Dennis Hensley. The next one is April 13-14, 2012. See details here. Call 1-800-21-WRITE or email ACWriters@aol.com for more information or to get on their mailing list.

If you can’t manage it this year, don’t despair. ACW is cutting down on the number of teaching conferences and increasing mentoring events for 2013. The list of venues for mentoring conferences includes Dallas, TX; Nashville, TN; Fort Wayne, IN; Charlotte, NC; Grand Rapids, MI; Atlanta, GA; Minneapolis, MN; Spokane, WA; and Orlando, FL. See the full list on their site.

Disclaimer: I have no vested interest in recommending ACW conferences. I have always wanted to attend a mentoring conference and have had scheduling conflicts. I am excited that they are offering more mentoring events, and I wanted to help get the word out.

Photo credit: Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1152

It’s time. You finally have your work ready to submit. You’ve written, edited, and re-written. You’ve formatted according to the publisher’s guidelines. Now, before you send it off, what rights are you selling if this publisher should want to buy it?

Somewhere on your document or in your cover letter, you should state what rights you offer for the manuscript. The most common rights purchased for articles are:

• First rights. This work has never appeared in print or online. The publisher will be “first” to publish it. Sometimes, the publisher who buys first rights will require that you not sell the material as a reprint for a specified period of time after first rights publication.
• Reprint rights. The work has been published before. When submitting a reprint, it’s helpful to state when and where the work was published previously. It’s also advisable to mention if this is a simultaneous submission (you are submitting to multiple publishers).
• Non-exclusive rights. The publisher will have the right to re-publish the work at any time. You will have the right to sell it as a reprint also. Often a publisher will buy first and non-exclusive rights. In that case, you will have to wait until the piece is published on first rights before you can use it as a reprint.
• Work for hire: I include this term because you should be aware that, if you do work for hire, you have no rights to the material ever again once it’s sold to the publisher. Work for hire is usually assigned, and the publisher provides a written agreement before the work is written.

Some publishers will ask you to sign a contract or writer’s agreement stating exactly what rights the publisher is buying and what the conditions are under which the rights revert to the writer. Others include rights information in the guidelines. Sample Guidelines: Light & Life Magazine.

You definitely need to know what you’re selling when you submit your work.

If you still have questions about copyright, the best place to learn more is the government website, www.copyright.gov.

More Information:

FAQ page on Copyright.gov

First Rights Means First Rights by Roger Palms

Know Your Copyrights, published in Writers’ Digest

Image source: jscreationzs/FreeDigitalPhotos.net