When an Author’s Backstory Sparks a Story Idea

By on September 18, 2014 in 1. Discover your story, Beth Vogt, Brainstorming Strategies and Tips, How do I get started?

At the very first My Book Therapy (MBT) Storycrafters Retreat in 2010, Susie May Warren had the attendees complete a seemingly simple – and insignificant – exercise on page nine of our workbooks.

I kept that workbook, the one with the working title of my manuscript scribbled inside the front cover: Wish You Were Here. Thanks to that weekend and how it changed my life and my writing, Wish You Were Here became a “real book” in 2012.

And I refer back to that seemingly insignificant exercise on page nine time and time again.

Share this Post...Pin on PinterestShare on Google+Share on FacebookTweet about this on TwitterEmail this to someone
Read the Rest
Continue Reading • Comments { 0 }

Subscribe / Connect

Sign up to get Susan May's 5 Secrets of a Best-selling novel, and the articles you need to help you Get Published and Stay published!

Conference Is Coming! Are You Ready To Submit?

By on September 11, 2014 in Book Therapist, Rachel Hauck

The ACFW conference is right around the corner!

And you’re ready! It’s time. Really time. You’ve been writing and rewriting this book for eons. Or at least it feels like eons. You want to submit it, get going on your stellar writing career. Time’s a wastin’!

Maybe you haven’t been working on it for eons, but you went to a conference or two, and you’ve heard an editor say she was really looking for the next great romance author to groom and you have just the story.

Or finally, one of the BIG PUBLISHERS is actively seeking speculative fiction and your space navy story is ready for the picking.

Perhaps your story has been through a critique or edit of some kind. A reader (mom, dad, sister, best friend, hubby, wifey) LOVED it. They want more! Now.

So you rush your baby off to an editor or agent. Maybe some of you rush it off to someone like me or Susie here at My Book Therapy.

Share this Post...Pin on PinterestShare on Google+Share on FacebookTweet about this on TwitterEmail this to someone
Read the Rest
Continue Reading • Comments { 0 }

Subscribe / Connect

Sign up to get Susan May's 5 Secrets of a Best-selling novel, and the articles you need to help you Get Published and Stay published!

Why Blogging Numbers Drop during the Summer

By on September 9, 2014 in Edie Melson, Learn the art of Social Networking, Social Media Primer

I’ve had a number of similar conversations this summer. They always begin the same way, with an inquiry about how he/she can improve the numbers that are dwindling at an alarming rate. These worried bloggers are certain they’ve either done—or not done—something to cause the drop in views, comments and shares. And my answer is always the same.

A drop in blogging numbers is normal during the summer.

My one-sentence assurance is rarely enough to calm a blogger’s nerves. And that’s understandable from someone who’s seen consistent growth through out the first of the year. So today, I’m going to break down the normal ebb and flow of blogging numbers throughout the calendar year, to help you evaluate the health of your own site.

Share this Post...Pin on PinterestShare on Google+Share on FacebookTweet about this on TwitterEmail this to someone
Read the Rest
Continue Reading • Comments { 0 }

Subscribe / Connect

Sign up to get Susan May's 5 Secrets of a Best-selling novel, and the articles you need to help you Get Published and Stay published!

Featured Fiction: Kristin Billerbeck

By on September 6, 2014 in Editing Basics

Today, we’re celebrating one of the authors who helped us make the Frasier Contest possible! Kristin Billerbeck is a  CBA bestselling novelist who has written over 40 novels and novellas. She lives in the Silicon Valley with my family.

Q: Kristin, can you tell us a little bit about your next book?

I’ve taken off nearly two years of writing, but I’m getting back into it now that my two sons are off to college.  My last book is the final Smitten collection, Smitten Book Club with fellow authors and friends, Colleen Coble, Denise Hunter and Diann Hunt for Harper Collins Christian. http://www.amazon.com/Smitten-Book-Club-Thomas-Nelson/dp/1401687164  Right now, I’m working on a follow-up to my most popular series, “Ashley Stockingdale” and I’ve got a new book coming out soon called, “What a Girl Needs.”  It’s about the life and times of a chaotic patent attorney and her quest toward marital bliss.

Share this Post...Pin on PinterestShare on Google+Share on FacebookTweet about this on TwitterEmail this to someone
Read the Rest
Continue Reading • Comments { 0 }

Subscribe / Connect

Sign up to get Susan May's 5 Secrets of a Best-selling novel, and the articles you need to help you Get Published and Stay published!

MBT Menu