Cec Murphey Clinic

August 6th seven writers from around the country will gather in Tulsa to attend a Mentoring Clinic with Cec Murphey. I’ve agreed to host the clinic at my house. We have ample room. Cec devotes 100% of his attention on aspiring writers at these clinics, and I grew as an author from the one I attended with him last January.

For two full days, the eight of us will work while Cec critics. It’s up close and personal. You send five page to him a month before the clinic. He critics and sends them back. You may do this up to three times. Then at the clinic, you work with a computer and a flash drive, writing, being critiqued, revising, and so on. On Friday night, we’ll do and overview and end. The time will go by in a flash.

See his official web site at www.themanbehindthewords.com

Be Open To Critique!

Well, I've finished a romantic suspense. They say men have a difficult time writing romantic suspenses, but it was fun for me. Now I have two completed novels to enter in the Genesis Contest. I pondered whether to go to the ACFW this year. It's in Minneapolis, and that's a long way to drive. But Pam and I have decided to go.

I was asked at the WIN meeting how I found the time to write. I force myself to make the time. The more I write the more I learn, so it's critical to keep working the craft. Every agent and editor I talked to at last year's conference wanted to know if I had finished the novel. So I'm going to be sure I have both these novels ready to deliver within two weeks if requested. Time does not make an agent's heart grow fonder. That mean substantive edit and line-by-line done.

Since my former critique group has disbanded, I'm looking for another. Every writer needs to expose their work to critique. Cec Murphey will be doing a mentoring clinic in my home August 7th and 8th. This is my second clinic with Cec. He's tough, but I learn.

The Long Road To Publishing

Unpublished authors need to fight the urge to quit. And believe me; it crosses my mind a lot. Attend conferences, join critique groups, and work on the craft diligently. Editors and agents give of themselves during workshops and interviews, even when they aren’t interested in your work. My writer’s organization of choice is the American Christian Fiction Writers, and I learn, learn, learn, at every conference that I attend.

Another must for unpublished authors is to read and glean from books like Characters and Viewpoint , by Orson Scott Card and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne and King. Before you submit your work to an editor or an agent, you should have critiqued it alone and with others until it is the absolute best it can be. Since I’m an unpublished author of fiction, I opted to have a professional substantive edit done. Yes, it will cost you. But it will also show you are serious about the craft.

I devote uninterrupted time to writing. That’s hard to do, and I think it’s particularly hard with fiction because of the added element of inventing storylines and plots. I’m working on three different storylines, and only one, a futuristic political suspense, is at the point where I’m presenting it to agents and editors who requested seeing a proposal and sample chapters at the conference. I’m researching others to send query letters to who I did not have a chance to meet. Wish me luck, and I’ll do the same for you.

Finally, let God guide your hand and mind.

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.