Conversative Political Candidates? Where are they?

The political climate in America has swung to the left. No candidate in the mix lights a fire for the Conservative agenda. Is it time for a third political party.

OH YES, IT IS TIME TO PREPARE A PROPOSAL

As an unpublished fiction novelist, we get to learn the art of proposal writing. It is harder than writing a novel. Oh, the pains of trying to condense 300 plus pages of exciting story into a two line “Hook”. And yet, it makes perfect sense to be able to grab your reader quickly. And for a proposal, your reader is either the agent or editor you are hoping to engage in a long and profitable relationship.

I have spent the better part of an afternoon writing and rewriting my two sentence hook. Now I will run it by my friends and family to see if they agree that I have finally caught the essence of my story. Yes, I smell success just around the corner.

Now that the hook is approved, it is time to work on the rest of the proposal. There are many parts of the proposal that must be considered and included. A page on the author is required to hopefully gather interest in learning more about me. Will I really have the background to be successful? Do I have any special connections or training to help me market my book? Can I write more than one book? How will I sell myself and not sound like you are a one man show. Not easy.

Speaking of marketing. A proposal requires a marketing plan. How do I plan on marketing my book? What ideas do I have that will help the publisher find success if he elects to put my novel into print. I am finding that a Marketing Plan
Must include an in depth study of my competition, identify my market segment (who will read my book), and then what am I able to do to put the word out?

Finally come sthe character sketches and a chapter by chapter summary of the entire book. At this point, I am completing this phase. With this proposal and the first three chapters of my novel, I will submit my proposal to an agent. Stay tuned for the results.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

As a fiction novelist trying to move from unpublished to PUBLISHED, attending the American Christian Fiction Writers conference proved to be a great way to go. Along with over 500 attendees, we spent 3 plus wonderful days interacting with editors, agents, and gifted authors in Dallas last month.

The workshops began each day by 9 AM and went until 5 PM. Then for the strong at heart, the late night chats began. What a positive way to learn the craft, meet fiction writers, and see how much there is to learn.

We attended workshops on marketing your work, developing a pitch with the hook, and many other challenging and useful topics. Each workshop was taught by an editor, agent, or published author. They shared their knowledge with ease and care. The content of the workshops was priceless and will be used by us going forward. Did you know that "black moments" work best after a victory" Or that you must then intersect your plot with your "black moments" in order to pull the reader along the story? Well, try it, it really does put depth into your novel.

The best part of the conference is to be surrounded by Christians who all have a heart for God. Each day was begun with song and prayer. It was so up lifting and what a gift to be a member of such wonderfully gifted group of people.

Just to keep you in suspense, I have to tell you that two editors and two agents ask for my proposal and three chapters, but I won't tell you who yet. I pumped. At the same time, it's scary. It means more critique and work. But I've got quality novels waiting to be published. So hard work here I come. Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted.

Time to go hunting....where is my Agent?

We are off to Dallas and the best writing conference in all of the mid west. How to begin! First we must develop a check list. Attending a writers conference is a lot of work and very scary. First, we need a schedule of all the workshops, right? Yes, of course. Then we need to research all of the agents and editors coming. Which ones do we want to Pitch to? What publishing house do the represent? Will they want my work?

Next comes the development of the pitch, the resume, a marketing plan, a two page summary of the book I have written and then we practice, practice, practice. What will I say? I want the agent and editor to love my book. It is so timely with the story set in the middle of the presidential election. How different to have a third party candidate with a strong platform and an even stronger wife to support him. Will he win the election? Will the assassin succeed in killing the candidate and his wife? What will happen to the United States if Bill Porter does not win?

As well as pitching, there are many great workshops to attend. Gifted authors give of their time to help teach us newcomers all the tricks of the trade. There is so much information and so little time to process it all. Once home I'll spend days going over my notes with Pam, my wife, and we try to remember everything we learned.

I have one week left to prepare. Wish me luck.

Getting started .....

I'd written four novels before I ever sat down to hone the craft. I discovered that getting published is a marketing adventure. Yes, you have to be good, but you also have to have a story that captures the attention of avid readers. So I'm working on a political suspense and learning my craft.

Picture America in fifteen years with none of our major problems solved. Picture Social Security bankrupt, foreign countries owning our businesses and our land, and drugs, gangs, and lawless on our streets. Enter a third political party, and a man with a plan to save America from collapse. That is the setting of The Independent.

Bill Porter went to Congress as a Republican thinking he could make a difference for America. He discovered things didn't work that way in Washington. A decade later, he's running for president as the nominee of a third political party, the ITP. Can a conservative Christian backed by a new political base become President of the United States?

What a rich ride it is to create my first fiction novel!