HOW TO GET YOUR NAME IN PRINT BEFORE YOUR BOOK SELLS by Debby Giusti

The road to publication can be long and difficult. Contest submissions fail to final. Manuscripts are rejected. Editors appear insensitive to writers who pound out page after page of prose often with little or no positive feedback. Publication seems an unattainable goal, and many wonder if they’ll ever reach the coveted destination of first sale.

If you’re nodding your head and moaning, “Oh, yeah, that’s me,” the time might be right to detour into freelance writing. Why? Because a change of scenery can be a welcome relief if the superhighway to publication seems to be leading nowhere.

Seeing our names in print boosts confidence. Working with an editor and being paid for our effort validates us as writers. Freelancing forces us to write tight, stay focused and hook the readers from the first syllable to the last line so an added benefit is that our craft improves.

“Where do I start?” you ask.

Local newspapers always need articles. Write a feature on an interesting travel spot, a person in your church who’s making a difference, perhaps a unique hobby that a friend has turned into a cottage industry. Call or email the editor to see if he’s interested in the piece. Offer to submit the completed article for his review, and be prepared with a backup story if the first idea doesn’t catch his fancy. The pay is usually minimal, but once the editor knows you can produce, he’ll be sure to contact you again.

When writing the article, remember an interesting lead—just like the hooks in our books—draws the reader into the story. Ask the basic questions during the interview, then throw in a surprise or two. Sometimes an unexpected query produces the perfect opening. Be sure to take notes (tape recording the interview is a great backup), and season the story with quotes.

Regional magazines are another excellent market for new freelancers. Most publications provide guidelines upon request, but also read back issues to determine the editorial slant, and pay attention to the ad copy. Anti-aging products signal senior readers while lip-gloss and sparkling nail polish point to a younger distribution. Send a written query with an SASE and tell the editor why her readers will enjoy this particular story. Plan ahead. Seasonal material should be submitted six to nine months in advance.

Just as with full-length fiction, a good rule of thumb is to write what you know. Draw from your daily life and family relationships. “Brat is Beautiful,” a 300-word piece about my nomadic life as a kid raised in a military family, ran as a filler in ARMY magazine.

Humor is a plus. FAMILY bought “Learning to Love Army Life in Exile,” my tongue-in-cheek piece about living in rural Missouri while my hubby was teaching ROTC.

Human interest stories attract readers and editors alike. Pick everyday topics with a unique twist. My son was due to be born on December 19, but the first contraction hit Christmas morn. “In God’s Time,” was an inspirational piece bought and published by OUR SUNDAY VISITOR.

Years later when that same son had a middle-school assignment to “parent” a stuffed animal for a weekend, I wrote, “Boys Can’t be Moms,” which sold to WOMAN’S WORLD.

Fast forward to when he was deployed to Kosovo. Worried about the children in that war-torn country, he asked me to enlist the help of our church to collect outerwear for the children. “Coats for Kosovo” told the story and ran in CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE VOLUNTEER’S SOUL.

Publish a piece, then change the slant and rework the story with a different readership in mind. “Sisterhood” focused on the common bond between Army wives and sold to a military publication. Later, I reworked the idea for Air Force wives and titled it “Legacy.” Both shorts were reprinted in calligraphy on parchment suitable for framing and have been sold to military wives around the world.

A profession or hobby can lead to articles trade journals will be eager to publish. Are you a subject matter expert? Have you tackled problems in the work place? Do you have a hobby or self-learned skill? When I went back to work part-time as a medical technologist, I noticed many of the employees had varying schedules depending on their personal and family needs. That realization led to “Flexing the Clock,” which I sold to ADVANCE FOR ADMINISTRATORS OF THE LABORATORY.

Soon thereafter, the Olympics came to Atlanta, Georgia, where I lived. “Atlanta Hospitals Go For the Glory,” was selected as ADVANCE’S cover article that June. While interviewing the city’s leading medical personnel, I learned of their concern about the diseases foreign travelers could bring to our country. “Emerging Infectious Diseases” ran in July and established the direction of future medical articles, such as “The Rash of Latex Allergies” and “What’s Bugging the United States.”

I served on ADVANCE’s editorial advisory board for twelve years and frequently covered medical conferences with their press credentials, which provided free continuing education opportunities. I rely on that experience now as I write my Magnolia Medical series for Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense, drawing on my past research to weave today’s stories.

Writing for a local ladies’ publication opened an unexpected door when the editor recommended me to the staff of a major women’s magazine for which she did ad copy. Hoping to break in with a unique story, I remembered a woman who collected antique fountain pens. “Treasured Pens from the Past,” started a long and productive relationship with SOUTHERN LADY.

Editors at ADVANCE and SOUTHERN LADY often commented on my willingness to focus my stories on their editorial needs, my acceptance of their suggestions for improvement and my timely submissions--traits fiction editors are looking for as well.

Getting my name in print before my books sold provided invaluable experience, helped me hone my craft and allowed me to appreciate the gifts of each editor with whom I’ve had the privilege of working. My writing improved, and by mentioning my credits in cover letters, New York fiction editors saw me as a professional.

Of course the downside of freelancing was the time involved that took me away from my work-in-progress. But detours lead back to the main road, and in my case, I did reach my destination. Now with three books published in one year and two additional stories under contract, I know freelancing paid off.

Ever feel like you’re spinning your wheels and going nowhere? Turn off the beaten path and head into the freelancing world. You might be surprised where it will take you.

## #

Friend and writer-extraordinaire, Sharon Yanish and I presented a workshop on this topic at the Georgia Romance Writers’ MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS conference a few years ago. I’ve asked Sharon to add her comments today. I hope the Seekers who freelance will share their expertise as well.

Characterization and Contests

Every contest scoresheet is different. But one element you will almost always see judged is "Characterization."

I think it is the most important element to a story. Because no matter how great the plot....if people don't like your main character, they may not read far enough into the book to see what a plot-genius you are. LOL!

It is difficult to give a character struggles so they're real enough for readers to identify with, yet still keep them likable. Camy touched on that in a recent post. Characters should grow and change by the end of the book. But how much imperfection is too much? It's a hard balance to hit, so let's look at how contests gauge what makes characters great.

Some questions contest scoresheets ask are:

Are the main characters likable?

Identifiable?
Sympathetic?
Endearing?
Strong?
Multi-layered?
Three-Dimensional?
Memorable?
Relatable?
Heroic?
Lovable?

There are several other words that contest feedback forms use to describe strong characters...feel free to chime in if I hadn't included something you're familiar with.

What you don't want your main protag to be is flat, unlikable, cliche, unsympathetic, illogical and irritating to the point of provoking a book wall-banging, etc. There are a gazillion words for negative characterization traits.

I'm only gonna talk about some positive qualities characters need to have to hook readers. For instance, a character can be very memorable (think Freddie Kruger) but certainly not likable. But that's okay since he was the villain. LOL!

Since this is an interactive blog...I want mega feedback. Look at the bolded words above (by far an incomplete list). What on earth do these things mean? What do they mean TO YOU?

For me, a "memorable" character is one I think about days, weeks, months, even years after reading the book or watching the movie. A character who haunts me in the sense that I connected deeply with them. To the point I felt like they could be a real person. I WANT them to be a real person so I can know them. LOL! Characters who make me wish the world had a real person like them. Think Shindler of Shindler's List.

A character who recently moved me deeply was Ben Randall (played by Kevin Costner) in The Guardian.

The character of Ben was this brave (a "heroic" trait) rescuer, willing to risk his own life to save others ("endearing" and "memorable" traits). He also had this emotional struggle (which "added layers" and deepened him as a character) with his impending divorce and facing the fact that his skills may be slipping (two things that "sympathized" us to him) as a renowned record-breaking Coast Guard swimmer (again, a "heroic, larger than life" trait) and plunging him into possible retirement from a career that has become the bane of his existence.<-- (a trait that makes him seem "real" in the sense of he's this fabulous fantasy hero yet no one can escape the dreaded thing called aging. People (viewers/readers) can "relate" to that and "identify" with this character...especially those in that season of life where their bodies can't keep up with their careers.

Aspiring writers, since each of these terms are slightly different, how would you define them?

Readers...tell me what traits have endeared you to a character lately? Name a book or movie character who has stayed in your mind for years. Why do you think that is? How can we create characters that memorable in our books?

I'd love to hear more than "this character endeared me". What about that character drew and kept you? Or sympathized you to them? Was it the tragedy they suffered in childhood that came out in dialogue? What specifically did the author do to make that character memorable to you? What technique did they use to make you care enough about the fictional person to read the rest of the story?

Authors, we're dying to hear it! :-) What do you do to create strong characters?

This is an interactive blog...so talk away! :-) What you say (even you reader-only-readers) can help us writers strengthen our characters.

Ready, set, talk... :-)

Cheryl Wyatt

Be Prepared...An Art Fact Sheet

Missy here. I'm breaking from contest stuff today. I wanted to share a post that I put on my personal blog in March 2007 after making my first sale. I remember at the time thinking that I wish I had kept track of all this info as I was writing the book, because it would have been so much easier than trying to remember from a book I had written 3 years earlier then had revised several times. I swore I would keep track of it on the next book. And did I? NO! So I'm in the midst of figuring it out all over again. I hope you'll find this info useful!

Harlequin has what's called an Art Fact Sheet that they use to help design cover art. It's amazing all they take into consideration--which is a good thing!

So here, copied and pasted, is my post from http://www.lifewithmissy.blogspot.com/ on March 18, 2007:

********

Writing for Steeple Hill (Harlequin) has been a great experience. One of the opportunities I've had is to fill out what they call an Art Fact Sheet. For any unpublished writers reading this post, I thought I would tell you what information is on the sheet so you can think about it as you're writing your book. Other publishers have something similar, so it can be helpful to keep track of this information. I believe Camy Tang blogged about this after her sale to Zondervan. So check out her site as well.

Some of the information they want you to include on the sheet includes:

*Themes of the story

*Key emotion/mood trigger

*Story synopsis--very short, maybe 4-5 paragraphs (Ack! A writer's worst nightmare. :))

*A short questionnaire that includes these questions:

1) What is this book about (beyond plot description)? How would you describe it to your friends? What is the takeaway?

2) For the key relationship in this book, what is the turning point or climax? Please describe.

3) What are the overriding themes that run throughout – the bigger message?

4) What is the significance/inspiration for your title? Is it metaphorical or literal?

5) What interesting visual elements (either object or place) have great significance in this book?

*A basic character description for the two main characters (hero and heroine) which includes physical characteristics such as hair and eye color, age; occupation; then other items such as first love, a trait, other info you want to give.

*A section on the setting that includes: location, interesting visual elements, time of year/holiday/season.

*Then a section for you to list 3 scene ideas that might make nice cover art. You'll answer some questions about a "moment in time" from your story that you might like to see illustrated on the cover of your book. These scenes can include people or not.

I hope you found this helpful. It was fun for me to fill out the fact sheet! Well, except for having to figure out that very short synopsis. :)

Oh, and another thing to consider is that they're willing to look at photos/pictures you might have collected of people that look like your characters or of the setting, etc.

Just for fun, what is the theme of your current WIP (work in progress)?

********

Back to 2008.... Okay, how about answering the question I asked above--what is the theme of the story you're working on? It might be a little harder to figure out than you think!

Missy

Glynna and Myra win 1st in Winter Rose

I just found out that my entry ("A Reason To Dance") in Yellow Rose Romance Writers' "Winter Rose Contest" received first place in the Single Title category!!!

Glynna

Yay! Congratulations, Glynna!

Update:

Yea, Glynna! I discovered a voice mail just THIS MORNING that my entry won first place in Romantic Elements!!!!!!! WE ROCK!!!!!

Myra

Hooray!!! Congratulations, Myra!

Dana Mentink

Who am I?

Hmmm. I've been trying to answer that for a long time.

I'm a mother, a wife, a teacher and a writer. I live in sunny California where the weather is gorgeous and the cheese is divine. I am one of a gaggle of sisters, all of whom make their homes in the San Francisco Bay area. I have been blessed with the opportunity to write which gives me a chance to take all those pesky daydreams and put them into story format. My greatest personal gift is a sense of humor. I am tickled by the quirks and ironies of life, and I try to put that in my writing. I figure that God put together this zany, mixed up world and He gave us humor to help us through.

I hope you find my books to be like a lovely chocolate: sweet and comforting, with a smidge of laughter and inspiration mixed in to lighten your heart. Ah the joy of it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A whole line of cozy books in this world of violent, disturbing mystery/thrillers.

It’s as comforting as…well…a cup of tea on a cold winter’s day.

I am proud to be a writer for Barbour’s Heartsong Presents Mysteries line.

As a California native, it was a natural fit for my Up Finny’s Nose Series to take place in the wacky seaside town of Finny, where the newspaper boy is pushing eighty and a few folks are a couple sandwiches short of a picnic.

Enter Ruth Budge, a widow who discovers her dead husband’s secret novel and a body in the Central Park Fountain all in the same day. Will Ruth solve the murder with her sanity intact? Of course! This is a cozy we’re talking about, after all.

When I’m not wearing my Sherlock hat, I write romantic suspense for Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense Line. Killer Cargo is coming from Love Inspired Suspense in June.

Transporting pet supplies—and the occasional bunny—is routine for pilot Maria de Silva. Discovering drugs amidst her shipments of kitty litter is not. Out of fuel in the Oregon wilderness, Maria barely escapes with her life when dealers meet her on the runway. She finds refuge at Cy Sheridan's idyllic animal sanctuary—a whole new world for this city girl. But Maria fears that her drug-smuggling client will take revenge against the man—and animals—she's come to love. Is there a wolf in sheep's clothing lurking in the woods?

Juggling the two genres keeps my busy in between girl scout meetings and my work at an elementary school. My own little girls can get enough of a good mystery either. Must be something in the water here in California!

http://www.danamentink.com/

http://www.danamentink.com/danablog.html

So let’s hear from you folks at Seekerville. What do you like in a cozy?

Or in any mystery, for that matter.

What really puts the “EEEEEE!” in your favorite mystery?

Character growth versus likeability

Camy here, chatting about something I’ve been wondering about lately.

Most contests limit you to one chapter or the first 15-20 pages of your manuscript, which is understandable because how many contests could get judges willing to read an entire book?

But a judge only getting one chapter isn’t going to see the character’s growth from shallow heroine to loving heroine, or aggressive alpha-male to pussy-whipp—er, I mean, kind alpha-male who will do anything for the woman he loves.

Contest judges only get those first pages, which introduce an entire book! Even if they get a synopsis, it’s hard to see a character growing from a handful of single-spaced pages detailing a 60K or 100K word plot.

So, as contest entrants, we get comments like, “Your heroine is unlikable” and “Your hero is full of himself” or “Your heroine is too mean” or “Your hero is a wimp.”

Well, come on, you only get fifteen pages. The character does grow. If they didn’t grow, it would be a really boring book.

But on the other hand, when I’m in a bookstore, I give an author about five pages to decide if I want to buy the book. I admit it. I don’t have time to read more, and I don’t have unlimited funds to buy everything that looks remotely interesting.

My editor told me in my edits for Sushi for One? that my heroine was too mean. In the opening chapter, she’s running late into her cousin’s baby shower banquet, and she’s harassed on every side by her sniping Grandma and rude waiters and unruly children. She doesn’t handle the situation well, to put it mildly.

But my editor said that the conflict-filled chapter didn’t show anything likable or sympathetic in my heroine’s personality, and a reader wasn’t going to care about her enough to want to keep reading.

Hmm. Good point. I didn’t really want to lose my reader at the first chapter.

So, I had to make sure some of my heroine’s good qualities came out in those first 2 pages. Otherwise, a reader would pick up the book in a bookstore, skim a page or two, and put it back.

My heroine was going to go through some major character growth, sure—otherwise, like I said before, it would be a really boring book.

But my editor said that the heroine has to prove to the reader that she’s worthy of their time to read about her.

My heroine had to prove to the reader that while she had some problems, she was still likable enough that the reader would care about the things happening to her and care to see how she grew and changed as a character.

I added a few small things in those first two pages—I showed her fun, teasing, and caring relationship with her cousin Chester, rather than having her be so late and distracted that she just traded a few quips with him and moved on.

That showed the reader in the first two pages that she’s worth their time to read about. Her other character flaws become evident in the next few pages, but those first pages show her in a conflict-filled situation, yet taking time to be kind to a favorite cousin.

The combination of conflict and likeability ensure the reader is hooked for those first few pages.

I think the key is that the likeability actions have to be OBVIOUS and DELIBERATE. Nothing small or off-hand. Don’t just show her petting a dog, show her giving some small sacrifice (time, money, possessions) in order to be kind to someone or something else.

There’s a good section in Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias that talks about things that show a likable character in the first few pages. If you haven’t yet gotten that book, but you’ve gotten comments on how unlikable your character(s) are, go out and get it from Amazon. It’s totally worth it.

TODAY'S GUEST PAMELA KAYE TRACY

I'm honored to introduce Pamela Kaye Tracy. Pamela writes for Barbour, Love Inspired Suspense and Love Inspired. BROKEN LULLABY is on the shelves now and her suspense, PURSUIT OF JUSTICE is a finalist in the 2008 RWA Rita contest. A prolific and accomplished writer, Pamela is also active in local writing groups. She's co-chaired the Desert Dreams conference for Desert Rose Chapter of RWA and is currently president of Christian Writers of the West (the local ACFW chapter). Welcome aboard, Pamela.

Hi, I’m Pamela Tracy and thanks for inviting me to your Blog! I’ve been looking over past posts and what an exciting and welcoming place. Let me tell you a bit about me. One, I’m not shy. Two, I talk (type) too much. And three, I love to write. Settle back and I’ll tell you a bit about my writing journey.

Remember Hogan’s Heroes. One of the catch phrases of that show was “I know nothing. Nooothing?” When I first started writing, that was certainly true of me. I knew nothing. I purchased my first computer compliments of my Montgomery Wards credit card. I set it up in my room, on a card table, and started typing. When it came time to save, I didn’t really know what to title my files, so I named them Pamela 1, Pamela 2, Pamela 3. It didn’t take me long to realize the key word ‘Pamela’ wasn’t going to help me remember WHAT WAS REALLY IN THE FILE.

I lucked onto AOL’s writing community. It was small, intimate, and alive. I met my best friend Cathy McDavid during a Friday night chat. I met wannabe writers like Terry Fowler, Lynn Coleman, and Cathy Marie Hake (all published now). And, I found out I wasn’t alone. I really needed to find this out because I was such a novice that even though I, on my own, figured out I needed more specific names of files, I still didn’t know that I needed to double-space or that I needed to really figure out what I was trying to write. Along the way, I found RWA, joined my local chapter, got involved, and went to every meeting, workshop (both RWA sponsored and community college provided), and event I could find.

It worked.

I sold in 1998, and my first book It Only Takes A Spark came out in 1999. Here’s the funny on that book. I was doing everything right. I was becoming an expert on writing. Happily I’m moving along, entering contests (not winning. I actually tried to enter the Golden Heart. My manuscript came back with three WCs) making charts for my hero and heroine (okay, I’d start the charts but never finish, I’m really a SOTP’s writer), keeping track of who and where I’d sent the manuscript, etc… Well, you get the idea, and one day I went to church and I mentioned to an acquaintance that I was trying to sell a book. She responded, “Oh, I just sold a book.” AND SHE WAS TELLING THE TRUTH.

She’d sold the first book she’d ever written, to a publisher I’d never heard of, and she’d sent off the manuscript without the perforated pages separated! (You remember the early printers. You had to fit the circles onto pegs and then it fed through, and then you had to tear the sheets. You got it. She was afraid to tear the sheets less a page get lost). Laugh if you will, she sold.

I started investigating her publisher. Still, me, who followed all the rules, took another year to sell. She kept selling .

Before I published, I entered two contests: the Golden Heart and the Fabulous Five. The Golden Heart labeled me as being in the wrong category (they were right, my vampire hero wasn’t even in chapters 1 – 3!) the Fab Five contest sent me a list of entries and how everyone fared. It was three pages long. I was on page two. I figured I was average.

Last year, I started entering contests again. It had probably been eight years since I’d tried. But, being a lover of catch phrases, I kept thinking about the lottery commercial (no, I don’t play the lottery.) It goes like this: You can’t win if you don’t play. I entered a 2006 novella. Let’s just say, “I was the weakest link: goodbye.”

If you’re chuckling about my beginning – files labeled by MY name, single-spaced manuscripts actually sent in an outline instead of synopsis, friend who sold first book on still connected perforated paper – also chuckle because I never gave up. It’s more than a decade later and I have two prayer books, nine novellas, and five novels.

And finally, I’m a finalist in a contest! Yup. How does it feel? Like, I'm driving to work and dodging traffic, coming to a standstill (I live in Phoenix , third largest city in the U.S.A) and suddenly I remember... I'm a RITA® finalist.

Like, I'm eating dinner, talking to my husband, trying to get my three-year-old to behave (Yes, I have an active child), and suddenly I remember... I should have ordered a salad. I have to buy a dress - hopefully in a smaller size - because I'm a RITA® finalist.

Like, I'm standing with friends, all of whom know I'm a writer but none of whom really understand the world (think church or work friends, seems all other friends ARE writers) and they ask what's new. I mention the puppet show I’m doing for Children's Bible Time, I mention the end of school, I mention our second go-round trying to get Mikey interested in Pottytraining, and I mention (and have to explain what it is) the RITA®. And, I remember... I am a RITA® finalist.

Of all my friends who entered, I think I expected it the least. Lisa Mondello mentioned to me that Tuesday morning that "Calls are going out." I promptly forgot. When my cell phone rang at 10:25, I was in my office five minutes away from teaching a comp class. When Jill St. John said, "I'm calling from RWA..." My first thought was, "Oh, the Desert Rose chapter is having a contest next weekend. They must have a question." Then, she said, "Your book, Pursuit of Justice, is a RITA® finalist."

I about fell over. I did make a lot of noise (apparently, according to my coworkers, a lot of noise). And, promptly I made three quick phone calls: best friend, editor, and agent.

Then I went off to teach a class to 24 students who'd never heard of the RITA®.

I am humbled by the nomination. I've always called Pursuit of Justice my lucky book. I started it about six years ago. And, every time I tried to work on it, I sold something (a novella, a prayer book, etc). Finally, when I got Steve Laube as my agent, he took the first three chapters and sold it, and I finally got to finish the thing!

Now you know all about my writing life! It’s the best life J

Serving up some not-so-imaginary food for thought

Hey, Seekervillites, Myra here. One of my favorite lunchtime pastimes is deciphering the cryptograms in the daily paper. Over the past couple of weeks several of the puzzle solutions have been very “writerly.” So, while Ruthy heads off to those amazing imaginary ovens of Seekerville to whip up some scones to go with your cyber-caramel macchiatos, I thought I’d share a few thought-provoking quotes with you.

The key is not the will to win . . . everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important. —Bobby Knight

Definitely words to live by for us contest junkies. We must prepare well, making full use of what we learn from study, workshops, critique groups, and previous contest results. What steps have you taken lately to help you “prepare to win”?

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter. —Denis Diderot

Okay, now does that fit your usual response to a judge’s comments or not? If we aren’t willing to look objectively at both our writing strengths and weaknesses, we have no hope of improving. What “bitter truths” have you been spitting out as you digest your manuscript critiques?

As an artist, I feel that we must try many things—but above all we must dare to fail. —John Cassavetes

The contest you don’t enter is the contest you’ll never final in. The editor you don’t contact is the editor who will never buy your manuscript. The book you don’t write is the one that will never be published. What is God calling you to dare today? What are you afraid of? What are you going to do about it?

Finally, here’s a quote I recently came across through another source. Sinclair Lewis wrote these words in a letter declining the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Arrowsmith:

All prizes, like all titles, are dangerous. The seekers for prizes tend to labor not for inherent excellence but for alien rewards; they tend to write this, or timorously to avoid writing that, in order to tickle the prejudices of a haphazard committee.

Just the other day in Seekerville (see Ruthy’s post “Pimping your prose”) several of us confessed to tweaking our first chapters to get everything in that we think the “committee” of judges will be looking for. And we’ve admitted this is often at the expense of the broader scope and more natural development of our plots. It’s a choice we make because of our hope of getting those manuscripts in front of the finals judge who just might request the full . . . and eventually . . . hopefully . . . offer us a contract.

Tweaking first chapters is one thing. But does the quest for a contest final and eventual publication cause you to either intentionally focus on or steer clear of certain issues, character types, or plot scenarios? How much does marketing and sales potential influence what you’re writing right now? Are you writing for the market? Writing your passion? Or both?

No judgment here, just something to consider. I’m all about selling these days. I just pray that throughout the process I can stay true to my personal vision, my voice, and especially God’s Word.