Writing for the Love

Part III  The RPLA Banquet The Royal Palm Literary Awards Banquet took place Saturday night. I had it in my mind to not think about winning, but to be grateful that I was a finalist. I could query agents and publishers with the line, "This manuscript was a finalist in the Royal Palm Literary Awards," and that would be great even if I didn't win. I had no way of knowing how many entries were in my Unpublished Fantasy Novel category. Nor did I know how many others were finalists like me. The chances of winning were completely unknown to me, and still are, in fact. I had the privilege of meeting Nicole Resciniti , an agent with the The Seymour Agency, just outside the banquet hall before the doors were opened. She and I had chatted about Sprinter at breakfast that morning, and she was willing to take a look at the manuscript. I planned to email her after the conference was over. When I spotted her waiting to get into the banquet, I realized I hadn't even ment...

Part II The sessions Before I get into the results of the RPLA banquet, I want to mention more of the amazing sessions I attended. Each and every one was so helpful with fantastic and knowledgeable speakers. My first session was on e-books led by  Robert and Sharene Martin-Brown , publishers. I've had the privilege of hearing them speak at past conferences, and they continue to impress me with their insight. I learned a lot about how the e-book industry is in a frequent state of change and improvement, and that reaching a broader audience can be capable with e-books, especially when the author utilizes online marketing tools such as social networks and blogs. The Browns shared their insights into publishing contracts with e-books, variety in the technology available and specific ways one can self-publish their e-books if desired, and they provided information about royalty pay-outs to authors, which is often higher than print books. All in all, re...

October 21-23, Orlando Marriott I’ve decided to talk about the Florida Writers Association Conference in a series of blogs rather than overload a single post with 2,000 words, or whatever it will end up being. As a writer who wants to be a published novelist someday, I’ve learned so much from the conference, and I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about their writing. This is my fourth year in a row attending, and the quality continues to impress me, along with the variety of session topics and “wow!” value of speakers, such as NY Times Bestselling author Shelley Shepard Gray . In a joint session with her agent, Mary Sue Seymour , Shelley talked about her writing journey and how the hard work never ends for authors. Even an author with several published books still faces rejection. There was a period for Shelley where three years passed while her agent attempted to place a Christian historical romance novel, and Shelley began doubting herself, even struggl...

Job 6:11~ "What strength do I have, that I should still hope?  What prospects, that I should be patient?" When the Lord wants to teach me patience, he makes me wait. My response reveals how patient I am, or perhaps how patient I am not.  And I have nothing like Job's excuse. The FWA conference is over, and it was such an affirming and refreshing time, as always. This is my third year attending, and the sessions were wonderful and helpful. I was able to pitch Sprinter to two agents and a publisher. The first agent, it turns out, doesn't take Christian fiction, but I got to practice my pitch and move on. The Christian publisher was interested in my story and took some of my chapters. The Christian agent forwarded my chapters to her new agent who wasn't at the conference, and she emailed me to confirm that she would be reading soon. I'm extremely excited that two people are considering  Sprinter . In the meantime, I am waiting. Part of me wants t...

The Conference! A lot has happened since my last entry. Namely, the FWA Conference was last weekend in Orlando. I am so grateful that I chose to attend for the second year in a row. Every workshop was excellent. The FWA consistently chooses fantastic speakers and authors to come teach the sessions. I couldn’t pick a favorite if I had to, but I’ll mention a few. The very first workshop I attended provided answers to questions about synopses that I’ve had for years. For those who wanted to bring a laptop with their current novel and its working synopsis, the speakers (Robert & Sharene Brown) went over several different types of synopses and showed us how to transform our novel into each of these. I got some one on one time with Sharene (a publisher) and she had such insight! Now, whenever the guidelines for submissions to an agent or publisher request any type of synopsis, I’ll have it ready. Another excellent workshop was on Point of View with Rebecca Melvin. She is a...