The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

Writing Grants, Awards, and Contests

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Grant Money

The SCBWI Book Launch Award (must be a member of SCBWI), entries submitted June 1 – July 1, 2015, http://www.scbwi.org/awards/book-launch-grant/
The SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators), offers several other grants for members. If you’re a children’s book writer, investigate membership.
If you haven’t visited FundsforWriters yet, be sure you do. It’s a Writer’s Digest 101 Best Website for Writers inner and offers links to several grants for writers among many other resources. http://www.fundsforwriters.com/grants/

Awards

American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Carol Award, open to members only, http://www.acfw.com/carol
2016 Coretta Scott King Children’s Book Award, http://www.ala.org/emiert/2016-coretta-scott-king-book-awards-submission-form

Contests

Writer’s Digest offers a variety of contests. Their 84th Annual Writing Competition is now open with an early bird entry deadline of May 4. Check out all their contests here: http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions/writing-competitions
Crab Orchard Review annual contests, http://craborchardreview.siu.edu/dyer.html

For guidelines on determining the legitimacy of contests and awards, here are two resources: The Myths of Writing Contests, http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/04/the-myths-of-writing-contests/
Writing Contests: When Winners are Losers http://www.writing-world.com/contests/scams.shtml

16+ Free Online Resources for Doing Research for your Novel

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doberman doing research on a laptopSo, your work in progress takes place in the 1800s … or maybe it’s a contemporary story, but one that is set in a region of the country you’re unfamiliar with. You know you’ve got a lot of research to do to make your story accurate and credible, but where do you begin? [Read more…] about 16+ Free Online Resources for Doing Research for your Novel

How to Make Your Book Marketing Manageable Instead of Overwhelming

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Carried by Grace by author Debra L. Butterfield
It’s launch week for Carried by Grace.

Are you in the process of writing your book?

Or do you have a publishing contract in hand?

No matter the answer, you can begin developing your marketing plan right now.

But there’s so much that goes into marketing it’s overwhelming and time consuming. How do you make it more manageable? [Read more…] about How to Make Your Book Marketing Manageable Instead of Overwhelming

Is Your Dream Still Unrealized?

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laptop 2Another year is drawing closed. Seems like only yesterday that I realized my dream of becoming a writer, yet it’s been over 12 years since the dream became reality.

In 2002 Focus on the Family hired me as a junior copywriter. And even though I was now working as a writer, I struggled to think of myself as one. I didn’t have a degree in journalism or English. I didn’t have any articles published in magazines, nor did I have a published book.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t a writer. Long before becoming a copywriter, I was writing novels in my spare time. After putting my son to bed I’d sit down at the computer with a cup of coffee (and no it wasn’t decaf) and write for hours. Often until one in the morning.

I wasn’t just writing for fun or relaxation—those were side benefits. I wrote with the intention of [Read more…] about Is Your Dream Still Unrealized?

Elaine Marie Cooper & Bethany’s Calendar

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I’m excited to have award-winning author Elaine Marie Cooper with us today, and I have a surprise for you at the end. Be sure to keep reading.

Author Elaine Marie CooperElaine is the author of 5 books. Her most recent historical fiction, Fields of the Fatherless, has won 3 awards: 2014 Selah Award, YA Fiction; 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Award, Best Religious Fiction; and 2014 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, Best YA Religious Fiction. The Promise of Deer Run, book 2 of her Deer Run saga is a Los Angeles Book Festival Winner and was a ForeWord Book of the Year Award finalist.

Elaine knows how to captivate her readers! [Read more…] about Elaine Marie Cooper & Bethany’s Calendar

How to Conquer Your Book Marketing Plan

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Marketing. Most writers dread it. Because, after all, we’d rather be writing.

But gone are the days when the publisher handled ALL the marketing of a book for their authors. And the truth of it is, even in the “old days” traditional publishers didn’t allocate equal marketing dollars to every book.

Whether you are traditionally published or self-published, marketing your book is a fact of life—unless you don’t care if anyone ever buys your book.

Marketing isn’t a one time event. Maybe that’s what makes it so overwhelming. Or maybe it’s figuring out how to execute the many elements of marketing that intimidate and overwhelm you.

As I was considering the marketing plan for my new book Carried by Grace, it suddenly struck me how I could make it manageable. [Read more…] about How to Conquer Your Book Marketing Plan

How to Review Your Story Scenes for Conflict

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horses jumping hurdles
Are the hurdles in your story growing harder?

As discussed in “6 Steps to Story Development,” a story needs conflict. In fact, without it you have no story. So let’s take a closer look and see how you can make sure you’re developing the conflict in your story.

James Scott Bell, in his book Conflict & Suspense, defines conflict this way: “a clash between at least two incompatible sides. One of those sides must be personal, that is, having the ability to exercise conscious will.”

At the heart of conflict are your character’s passion and goals. In review, here are 3 questions I posited in “Story Development”: [Read more…] about How to Review Your Story Scenes for Conflict

How to Get Radio Interviews

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Do you have a book releasing soon, or one already on the market?

Doing local radio station interviews is a good way to get the word out about your book. These local interviews also help you break into the public speaking arena on a more comfortable level. You’ll gain experience and practice that will help you tackle national interviews later on.

That’s all well and good, but how do you locate possible stations, and what do you do once you’ve found them?

To find radio stations, you can use: http://www.radio-locator.com/

In their words, this website “is the most comprehensive radio station search engine on the Internet. We have links to over 14,100 radio stations’ web pages and over 9600 stations’ audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world.”

Just as you target your manuscript submissions, you’ll want to target radio stations that are a good fit for you and your book. Study the station’s website before contacting them.

Once you’ve developed your list, the next step is to send a pitch letter.

Sarah Bolme, director of the Christian Small Publishers Association and author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace, advises that your pitch letter include

  • “the title of your book,

  • your credentials,

  • how your topic addresses current events, and

  • why it is right for the show’s audience.”

Most interviewers won’t have time to read your book, so develop a list of 10-15 questions with answers that you can provide with your pitch letter.

Bolme also says, “Don’t just rely on your press releases and pitch letters . . . You will need to phone station producers after sending your queries to verbally request a guest interview.”

Have you included radio interviews in your marketing plan? Why or why not?