Sample Chapters: Let’s talk just a moment about Sample Chapters. Every proposal package includes sample chapters for the story you are proposing. Even if you are a multi-published author, you will have to write sample chapters for new contracts with new publishers, so it is wise to learn how to write them now. There are so many elements to writing decent sample chapters, and we’ve covered most of those topics over the past year, but I felt we needed to touch on them in order to fully cover the proposal package. When new authors read “Sample Chapters” in the submission requirements of an editor or publisher’s website, sometimes they are tempted to think… “I’ll pick my BEST chapters…chapter one, chapter eight, and chapter twenty-two.” Delete that […]
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Running out of words
The truth is, I don’t run out of words very often. Usually, I have something to say, and frankly, should probably keep my mouth shut more often. In fact, I can count the moments when my world stopped and words swept from my mind. ~Seeing my handsome groom at the end of the aisle, waiting to marry me. ~The birth of my children. ~The day, in Russia, when God spared us from attackers who would have killed us. ~Watching my eldest son take the stage, head shaved, as Daddy Warbucks and realizing he’d grown up. ~Listening to my daughter sing the national anthem. ~Watching my middle son plow through the defense the first time he ran for a touchdown. ~The day my […]
Read the RestPitch Practice (or getting ready to PITCH at the ACFW conference!)
It’s conference time! I’ll never forget the first ACFW conference I attended. About 100 of us met in Kansas City for the first ACFW event, and it felt like a family reunion. I met my editor for the first time (I’d sold a book while living overseas) and…I pitched a series. Which I sold—with Susan Downs: The Heirs of Anton. I was scared to death. I sat down opposite the editor and she, very kind but also business-like, said, “What do you have for me?” Open mouth. Wait. Is there anything in there? I think I fumbled out my first line, something lame like, “I have a Russian suspense series I think you’ll like.” Great pitch, Suz. And then I realized . . . […]
Read the RestThoughts from last year’s Storycrafter’s Retreat
[A word from Susie: About 9 months ago, I birthed a new…idea! I really wanted to help a handful of serious writers dive into their stories and mentor them through the process of writing a great book. God blessed me with an amazing and dedicated first group of women who not only loved fiction but were willing to roll up their sleeves and work hard. Nine months later, most of them have finished their novels and moved onto the next ones. A handful of them are finalists in either the Genesis or Frasier, and quite a few are planning on pitching their novel at ACFW. After the retreat, they started a support group within MBT Club Voices to encourage each other which has now spilled out into […]
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