“Faith is the confidence
that what we hope for will actually happen;
it gives us assurance
about things we cannot see.”
Hebrews 11:1 NLT
Rejection: A Fact of the Writing Life – Yes, this really is an encouraging blog from literary agent, Steve Laube, who published my book Write His Answer – A Bible Study for Christian Writers. To add to what Steve shared, 31 years of ministry through the Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference and 18 years through the Colorado Christian Writers Conference would not have happened if I had allowed the deadly Ds (disappointment, doubt, discouragement) that often accompanied 42 rejections of my first book cause me to give up. To tie into the next item, I was ahead of the market.
Studying the Markets – Great advice from Cec Murphey, GPCWC 2014 faculty member who will keynote on “Write His Answer – Authentically” and teach the continuing session “The Power of Story.” I highly recommend Cec’s “Writer to Writer” blog.
Need more encouragement? – Best-selling author, Joel Rosenberg, says of where he was at in 2001, “Failure has a way of focusing the mind and I’d come off of ten years of political failure in Washington DC and I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m a Rosenberg, yet I am not a lawyer, a dentist, a doctor, an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, an accountant or even a stockbroker.
“I’ve got no financial genes and I can’t do anything practical. I write ‘Op-Eds’ that people don’t read. I write speeches people don’t listen to; the only thing I know how to do is write and clearly badly. But these are my loaves and fishes and I don’t want to be a failure; I want to be a blessing.
“So, I told the Lord, ‘I want to be a servant of yours, Lord Jesus, so could you take these loaves and fishes, limited though they be, and would you break them, and bless them, and somehow feed people with them.’”
Click here to read the rest of this powerful and encouraging interview. I highly recommend Joel’s books and his blog, http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/ that tracks the latest happenings in the explosive Middle East.
How to Respond to Alarming Changes – Another helpful and encouraging post from literary agent, Rachelle Gardner. Click here.
A Word Fitly Spoken or Written – Good counsel from literary agent and GPCWC 2014 faculty member, Diana Flegal. Click here.
For fiction writers – K.M. Weiland, author of historical and speculative fiction and writing mentor has a helpful blog. Click here for “Most Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 31: One-Dimensional Conflict.”
Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, July 30 – August 2
Deadline extended for paid critiques – Since manuscripts for paid critiques are now sent via email, I’ve extended the due date to July 16. Paid critiques are a great investment in your writing ministry. Your critiquer will read your manuscript before the conference (please note length parameters at http://philadelphia.writehisanswer.com/paidcritiques) and spend 30 minutes with you at the conference pointing out things you need to strengthen and answering your questions. The cost is only $30.
Book signing Thursday & Friday night – Conferees as well as faculty are welcome to participate in a book signing following the Thursday and Friday night keynote. On Thursday night Cec Murphey will keynote and authors whose last name begins with M – Z will have 1-2 minutes to talk about their latest book followed by a book signing. On Friday night Rob Cook will keynote and authors whose last names begins with A – L will share and sign their books.
Appointments – For those already registered, you have until tomorrow, July 10, to submit your appointment request form online for your appointments to be booked in the order your registered for the conference. That gives early birds a real advantage. All appointment requests need to be received by July 24. After that you can sign up for appointments when you arrive at the conference.
Bonus appointment with Rick Marschall – Because Rick is a last minute addition, we’re offering an bonus appointment with him in addition to the number of appointments you’re already entitled to receive (4 appointments for those coming all 3 days with the first 100 conferees receiving a 5th appointment, 3 appointments for those coming 2 days, and 2 appointments for those coming one day). If you’ve already submitted your appointment requests, you can add Rick by simply sending an email to mvawter@writehisanswer.com. Rick is also available for paid critiques of devotionals, picture books, nonfiction books and book proposals, historical novels, and humor. Rick has 74 books and hundreds of magazine articles to his credit. A former political cartoonist, editor of Marvel Comics, and writer for Disney, his fields as an author are as eclectic: popular culture; classical music; country music; biographies; television history; children’s books; cartoons and comics; and Christian books, where his publishers have included Thomas Nelson, Faithwords, and Tyndale House. For four years he has produced the weekly blog www.MondayMinistry.com, devotionals that feature music videos and address culture, worldview, church history, and matters of faith.
Roommate matching – You can make a new friend and lower your conference cost by requesting a roommate but please do so as soon as possible. A double room on campus is only $39 a night or $59 a night for a single. We need to let Cairn University know by July 23 how many are staying on campus.
Scholarship help and time payments – Complete the application at http://philadelphia.writehisanswer.com/scholarships and know I’ll do everything possible to help you be able to come.
Colorado Christian Writers Conference, May 13-16, 2015
Be sure to put next year’s date on your calendar. And remember, CDs of this year’s conference are available. You’ll find an order form at http://colorado.writehisanswer.com.
Keep writing His answer!
Write His Answer 
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