Addiction

The Sobe addiction must be getting worse. Last night I dreamed I was in my own version of the Alamo, but with two armies coming at us. [Cue the Lord of the Rings-like soundtrack.] And I had one Sobe left in the fridge. I reached in. [Cue the plainative flute, the heartbreaking strings.] I closed my hands around it. I savored that first, sweet swallow. The one that may be my last.


[Cue the alarm.] And then I woke up.

Kristin Billerbeck

Hop on over to www.tandjbooks.com for an interview with author Kristin Billerbeck and a book giveaway!

Traditional Publisher v. Self-Publishing

Last week someone asked me what a publisher does for you. Why go that route instead of self-publishing? My off-the-cuff answer didn't cover everything I wished I told him, so here's my second attempt. Don't you feel lucky? (Just to make things clear, I'll be talking about publishing with well-established Christian houses/imprints such as Thomas Nelson, B&H, Harvest House, etc.)

They take the risk from the author.

You don't have to put up any money. The publisher pays the cost of printing, etc. You actually get paid an advance, and if you don't sell enough books to earn it back, well, it's their loss. You don't have to pay anything back. Of course that's not the ideal, and it'll hurt your future chances of publication, but still. The risk is theirs.

They give you credibility.

They need to make money to stay in business, and, as it's their logo on the spine of the book, they need to preserve the quality of their brand. So there's a screening process. They choose projects carefully, then let it go through many stages of edits. They have an art team to design the packaging in a way they believe will most appeal to their target market.

They have a system for getting your book out there.

This is very important. You can't sell your book if no one knows about it, and you can only reach so many by yourself. They have representatives that talk to booksellers to get your book in stores and catalogs. They might place ads or pay for better displays in big bookstores. They might print up bookmarks for you to use, design book trailers, arrange interviews, post extra information on their websites.

There are some advantages when you self-publish through a reputable company, of course. If you have a speaking platform, this can be a good route to go. You have total control over the product. (But do you have the qualifications to be editor/designer/marketer?) You get to keep any profits. (But you have to pay all the costs, and most self-published books don't earn out.) You retain all rights to your story and you can reprint it whenever you want.

In most cases, however, you should opt for pursuing the traditional route. If that door closes, look at the reasons why. You may need to hone your craft, build a better story, or wait for a better time with that particular manuscript.

Bliss!

Still swamped. If you miss me, hop on over to the blog I'm doing with Tracy, at http://www.tandjbooks.com/.

Meanwhile, I wanted to pop in to say you can now order an autographed copy of Bliss here!

Meet Emily Rodmell

My Steeple Hill editor is over on Seekerville today as a guest blogger. Skip on over there to hear about what it's like being an editor, what catches her eye, and some tips for writers, both published and unpublished. Double Take also gets a mention or two, so that's always cool. :-) Check it out here.

Confession Session - Sundays

I love Christian fiction. I really do.

I love that they're clean. That words I'd rather not have as part of my vocabulary won't worm their way into my mind as I read them in the text. That the romance is focused on love, not lust. That the deeper meaning to life comes across. That there is always hope, no matter what genre I'm reading.

But one thing I don't love about Christian fiction is the Sunday sermon. I don't know why, but I always end up skimming those sections or even skipping them altogether.

In fact, I think because I don't like to read them, I don't like to write them, so most of the time I actually forget about Sundays when I'm writing. Which--considering the fact that I try to avoid conducting business on Sundays and try to work the same into my books--can make for some pretty interesting editing as I pull out a calendar and put Sundays back in.

What is one thing you love about Christian fiction? Or one thing you don't?

Big News!

Today Tracy and I launched a blog together! We're so excited about this. On October 13th, our first co-authored novel will release. We're having a booksigning on that day, and one of our editors will be hanging out with us, but more info on that later. Just wanted to let you know to go check out the blog here! You know you needed another blog to follow. :-)

It'll be a fun place to hang out. And with two of us, maybe the posts will be a little more frequent. :-) We plan to focus on chick lit for a while, so we have a fantastic group of authors lined up to interview for that spotlight. And there will be book giveaways, so you know you won't want to miss that. Later on we hope to focus on some co-author teams, and we'll do some light-hearted devotionals and whatever else.

And, of course, we'll be talking about Bliss! So stop by Mind Chocolate. You won't regret it. And if you do, well, there's not much I can do about that. :-)