The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

5 Lessons I learned from 2016 that can help you in 2017

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fireworks

In many places around the world, the New Year is celebrated by shooting off fireworks. Though I didn’t shoot off fireworks on Jan. 1, 2016, the year has been filled with fireworks.

What do I mean by fireworks? Stepping outside my comfort zone. Here’s what that looked like for me:

  • Taught workshops at 4 writer’s conferences
  • Held my first Facebook live videos
  • Held my first webinar
  • Learned new software for book design
  • Learned and instituted new technology on my website in an effort to better meet my readers needs

Has your year included some fireworks? [Read more…] about 5 Lessons I learned from 2016 that can help you in 2017

What Satan intended for evil, God will use for good.

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woman in hospital bed hooked up to IVLife can change in an instant. While we all realize that, we never really expect it.

If you follow my Facebook page, you’re vaguely aware of what has gone on in my life this month. Most of you don’t know, but no doubt noticed I didn’t post my usual Tuesday blog last week.

Saturday, Dec. 3, arrived as most Saturday mornings. I was enjoying the morning with a Christmas movie, with plans to prep the month’s blog posts that afternoon. At about 10:00 a friend called and said, “Do you want to have coffee?”

“Sure.” I stripped off my PJs, donned some clothes, and headed for Starbucks.

Thirty minutes later, my brother called with the news that our 91-year-old mother had fallen and been taken to the ER. A couple hours later, [Read more…] about What Satan intended for evil, God will use for good.

An Interview with Award-winning Author Lisa Lickel

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Today’s author interview is with Lisa J. Lickel, a Wisconsin writer who lives in a 160-year-old house built by a Great Lakes ship captain. What a great setting for book!

Lisa is a multi-published, best-selling and award-winning novelist, and also writes short stories and radio theater, is an avid book reviewer, blogger, a freelance editor, and sometimes magazine editor. To learn more about Lisa visit LisaLickel.com.

Her newest book is UnderStory.

How many books does this make for you? [Read more…] about An Interview with Award-winning Author Lisa Lickel

Writers’ Rights: Understand What You’re Selling

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Writers' RightsToday’s guest post is by author Tracy Crump.

Tracy enjoys teaching writers through her Write Life Workshops and webinars as well as at conferences, and she serves as registrar for the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference. Tracy edits The Write Life, a popular writers newsletter that includes story callouts, and her latest foray into fiction netted her a finalist spot in the Southern Writers Magazine 2016 Short Story Contest.

Writers’ Rights

by Tracy Crump

First rights, reprint rights, all rights. Rights, rights, rights! How can I keep them straight, and what if I do something wrong? [Read more…] about Writers’ Rights: Understand What You’re Selling

Ask the Editor Day 4 – Will I Ever Be Done Editing?

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Today’s our last day for Ask the Editor. I’ve enjoyed this and seems you have too. So I’ve decided to continue Ask the Editor on my Facebook author page via live FB video. Visit today and like my page so you can be sure not to miss those live events.

Ask the EditorNow for today’s questions.

I feel that editing is a process I could literally be in forever with my book. How do you reach the point where you know that the editing process is complete?

I imagine many writers feel like this. But let me bring some distinction to the question. A synonym of edit is revise. So as writers, we edit/revise our own work. And this is where we can get stuck wondering if we’ll ever get past the process. For myself, I can look at my words in an already published form, be it digital or print, and think, I should have written it this way.

When revising your manuscript, you come that point of “it’s done” when you have [Read more…] about Ask the Editor Day 4 – Will I Ever Be Done Editing?

Ask the Editor – Historical Accuracy & POV

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Ask the EditorToday continues our Ask the Editor series.

I write historical romance. How important is it that all details be historically accurate versus making it understandable to modern day readers? For instance, most people nowadays think of dinner as an evening meal. Not so in the 1800s when it was the midday meal.

The degree of historical accuracy can vary from publisher to publisher. I know this only because of the books I read from various houses. I’m not privy to their rules.

But I advise my clients to be accurate. That doesn’t mean you can’t make the verbiage more understandable or smoother. Contractions weren’t widely used until the early 1900s, but I find it very tedious to read a book that doesn’t use them. In all things, it’s finding a balance. Let your dedication to accuracy lead you. If you want to be faithful to the language of the day, then be so (and I say kudos to you). You can put other clues into your story to help people know it’s the noon meal.

Where I insist on historical accuracy is [Read more…] about Ask the Editor – Historical Accuracy & POV

Rising Above the Naysayers – an Interview with Sally Meadows

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Rising Above the Naysayers with Author Sally MeadowsI’m here today with Sally Meadows, a two-time Canadian national award-nominated inspirational singer/songwriter, author, and speaker. After three professional degrees and a diverse career path that included being an editor, children’s entertainer, and educator, Sally took the plunge to focus full-time on her music and writing ministry in 2013.

Her desire is to inspire others to explore the creative calls on their lives in the fullness God intended, no matter what their background, age, or personal challenges.

Who or what inspired you to write Beneath That Star? [Read more…] about Rising Above the Naysayers – an Interview with Sally Meadows

Ask the Editor–How do I know I have a good editor?

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Ask the EditorToday is part 2 of Ask the Editor and is a continuation of yesterday’s questions.

What clues can help authors in knowing they have a good editor?

What a great question. Many writers may wonder about this without ever really voicing the question even to themselves. Scams are everywhere in all arenas.

My take on this would be that the editor… [Read more…] about Ask the Editor–How do I know I have a good editor?