By Cherrilynn Bisbano @bisbanowrites Agent’s and publishers scan the Competitive Analysis section of a proposal to see if your book is similar enough to published books, yet different enough to grab those reader’s attention. It provides information on how well your book might sell. Publishers and agents love to a…

By Debb Hackett @debb_hackett The first time I met an agent, I began creating content for a future conference seminar, “How Not to Sign with an Agent.” I added points to it every time I attended a conference, and it became a topic of great hilarity between my critique partner…

By Heather Kreke @HKreke Our calendar contains 365 days, and every 4th year we get an extra day. Even with all of theses days, some of us never choose our “today.” We say things like: One day I'm going to go on a diet. Someday I'm going to write  a…

By Holland Webb @WebbHollandLyle Flannery O'Connor, one of the 20th century's great fiction writers, said she wasn't afraid her books would generate controversy. On the contrary, she was afraid they wouldn't be controversial enough. In that regard, O'Connor had nothing to worry about. Her works embarrassed her mother, shocked her…

By Amy Bright @AmyBrightwriter Marketing is the full-time job many novelists never expected to have! Marketing, in fact, can keep authors from moving forward as they fear they’ll have to spend precious time on their marketing content instead of their fiction or devotionals or other callings. Rather than looking at…

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson I began writing like most of you did—as a creative outlet—a way to process the world around me. I kept diaries, started stories and books, played around with articles. But all of these efforts had one thing in common. They were written out of my own…