Marketing Yourself

I had the chance to speak the other night about my Appalachian Trail hike. And of course I got the great idea, hey, why not sell some books also? While I do not as yet have a book about the trail out there, I do have plenty of my romance titles, and some that take place here in Virginia. So I went ahead and set them out. Didn't sell a whole bunch, but the editor of the local newspaper is interested in my work and really wants to help me spread the word to the community. In fact, when she interviewed me for a newspaper article, she also went ahead and interviewed me about my writing.

The point is, you don't have to talk just about writing to have an avenue for your books. You can talk about the other gifts and talents God has given and use them as an outlet for marketing your work. There are lots of writers but not too many who have done the Appalachian Trail. So I am finding it an effective way to spread the word that hey, I am also a Christian romance author!

What talents to do you possess that perhaps God wishes to use as an avenue to spread the word that you're a writer? Feel free to share. And even if you have yet to accomplish that talent, just be patient. I waited thirty years to fulfill mine. And now God is using it in ways I never dreamed.

Winner of Chocolate Rejection...

...is Joanna!

Congratulations.

Crazy, Crazy

I feel like a mass of roads going everywhere.

It is an extremely busy time of year right now and it isn't even Christmas. (!) Probably a good thing I don't have any book contracts in hand (never thought I would say that one!). I am preparing to give a talk about my Appalachian Trail hike this Thursday, so I need to arrange pictures, have hand-outs ready, bake cookies, and have books on hand for those interested in buying. I am working on details for my son's huge home school graduation (and since we are the school, we do it all, from the ceremony itself to the reception) that will take place in two and a half weeks. I have a vegetable garden that will need tending and planting. I am trying to get a mystery proposal wrapped up for an editor that expressed interest. I need to complete an article for a contest by May 1st. Plus there is the usual writer maintenance of blogs, Shout Life, and keeping track of e-mails. Busy, busy. Crazy, crazy. I am glad for lists. And my life verse at times like this. I (really) can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.

Do you have a life verse that helps you in times of need? Feel free to share it and how it has ministered to you in your life's situations.

April 23rd is Chocolate Day!

Last day to post a note about a rejection you've had to get in on a drawing for a box of chocolate covered cashews. Scroll to the last post for information and to post your comment. Maybe next time I will do a drawing for white chocolate for those that are allergic to the dark stuff!

Also, feel free to vote on a book you'd like to see written in the future. Check the left hand column.

The Cure for Rejection - A Chocolate Contest!

Hey, I thought up a really great idea for us writers facing rejection and the pain it can bring. Believe me, I have been there when I have felt my writing world has fallen apart and I have no one to confide it (save God, and I know He is certainly enough, isn't He?). But I thought it might be nice if we can share our rejection woes we have as writers. Maybe you have had a particularly brutal one (I've had that kind too). Or even that simple form rejection slip is enough to hurt.

I'd like to help soothe that hurt by giving away a box of chocolate covered cashews.

To enter the Chocolate Rejection Contest, simply leave a comment about a past rejection and I will put your name in a hat. Be sure to leave information on where you can be contacted (like an e-mail on your Blogger account or simply put it in your comment). I will draw a winner next week.

I know it can feel like the end of the world, but it really isn't. So have some chocolate on me and then go forth in your writing ministry!

Good-bye, Dear Ice Cream Cone...

Our writing. So like a flavorful ice cream cone that we want others to enjoy. But then suddenly, our beautiful, creamy creation falls flat when the editor sends us that note we dread. The rejection letter. Oh, the disappointment. It's hard to even describe. You really feel as if you, yourself, have been rejected. But of course that isn't so. It's just the words you have written, words that you have sweated over, that you have worked hard to create into an interesting and unique story everyone is sure to read. Maybe you even sunk more than the usual effort into it. You went ahead and researched it. Revised it numerous times, using study helps and other guides. Talked to other writers and had the idea critiqued. Or like once happened to me, took a three week vacation out west to research the project after an agent expressed great enthusiasm.

Only to have the the project fall flat on the ground.

I could share many, many stories of rejection over the past twelve years. Some were undoubtedly worse than others. One was a book I had written and rewritten for an editor of a major publishing house. Work on the book covered a span of two years, only to have the whole project rejected when the editor left the house That one probably stung the worse.

But every rejection hurts. So what do you do? Can't really scrape the ice cream off the floor again and put it back into the cone. It's all melted. Many times the rejection means something is wrong with the project. Maybe you need to look at the work with fresh eyes. Give it a new face lift, so to speak. Let others critique it. Or maybe even set it aside for a season and work on another idea you have.

I just heard recently of a project an author allowed her agent to market eight years ago when she was a newly signed author. It had not sold but another project did. The original story sat there while other ideas were sold. Now, suddenly, this year, the first story idea has been accepted for publication. Yes, eight years after being initially rejected by every publishing house.

So you never know.

Rejection doesn't meant the end of the world, even if it seems like it right now. So treat yourself to an ice cream cone with chocolate chunks and then get back to work. God has a way of working all things together for good, and in His perfect timing.