Collaboration as Writers - Ruth L. Snyder

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the 5th Annual Book Marketing Conference, an online program put together by D'vorah Lansky, author of Book Marketing Made Easy. The theme of this year's conference was eBook Publishing Boot Camp. The sessions included in the program were:

• Four ways to write your non-fiction book or eBook to publish and sell on Amazon Kindle in 7 days or less, presented by Jim Edwards
• eBook editing for maximum profits, presented by David Perdew
• How to prepare and publish your books for Amazon's Kindle, present by Val Waldeck
• Successful eBook publishing using Barnes and Noble, Kobo, & Smashwords (for Apple), presented by David Wogahn
• The print-on-demand revolution, presented by John S. Rhodes
• Turn your eBook into a print book, presented by Kristen Eckstein
• Build buzz for your eBook, presented by Sandra Beckwith
• Leveraging influencers, presented by Susan Baroncini-Moe
• Google hangouts for authors, presented by Jason Matthews
• Create a course with Udemy & earn, presented by Alex Mozes
• Magnify your message with powerpoint, presented by Dr. Jeanette Cates
• Grow your business with teleseminars, presented by Bob Jenkins
• Become a Kindle bestseller, presented by Connie Ragen Green
• Successful book launch strategies, presented by Shelley Hitz and Heather Hart

As you can see, I received a lot of useful information. However, as I reviewed the online learning opportunity, I thought about how collaboration with other writers is both necessary and helpful. Why?

1. Our time is limited - We all have responsibilities other than writing. Quality writing takes time. Once the writing is done, we have editing, publishing, and marketing to think about. Then there's blog posts, creating and updating your website, and interacting with people on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In. Whew!
2. We can't be experts at everything - God has given each one of us different skills or gifts (see I Corinthians 12). Each of us has a unique part to play in the body of Christ. Not everyone can write non-fiction books in an orderly, clear manner. Neither can everyone write fiction that grips the reader from the first page to the last and encourages personal growth in the process. Some people are good at selling. Other people are more skilled at speaking. Some do well on social media. Others do better face to face. We all need to figure out what we are good at and what "energizes" us. Then, we need to surround ourselves with people who are good at doing the tasks that we are not so good at.
3. Working with other people gives us exposure to a broader range of people. Networking is a word we hear often these days. Working together enables us to broaden our network by getting to know people that our friends know. For example, if five people each have 100 unique contacts, by working together, they have increased their contacts to 500. 

This brings me to InScribe Christian Writers' Fellowship. There are many things we are doing well:

-FellowScript provides information and helps writers develop skills

-Satellite InSpiration groups enable writers to learn and grow together

-Members only contests provide opportunities to get feedback on writing

-InScribe Writers Online (this blog) gives members the opportunity to showcase their writing

-The InScribe website provides a venue to share information

-The InScribe professional blog is another opportunity for members to share their writing expertise and to attract new members to InScribe.

There are many other things we could be doing. However, for this to work, we need more volunteers who are willing to share their gifts. Do you have some time you could donate? What other directions do you think InScribe should pursue? 

www.trusteesnyder.blogspot.com
(Education information)
www.ruthlsnyder.com
(Ruth's writing and family life) 
www.earlyyearssuccess.com
(Information for caregivers of children ages 0-5)
Follow Ruth on Twitter:www.twitter.com/@wwjdr

These Feet Were Made For Writing - Tracy Krauss

Yesterday marked the three week mark since I broke my ankle after slipping on a wet floor. What does this have to do with the business of writing? Previous to this mishap, I would have said, "Absolutely nothing." After all, one doesn't write with one's feet.

I've since decided that writing involves the whole body, not just the brain or the hands. At first I thought I'd try to make the best of all the 'free time' I was sure to have. After all, with my new mobility issues, my husband was now doing most of the cooking and cleaning. I also had a ready made excuse to let go of many of my other outside commitments. Theoretically I would now have a lot more time for writing.The truth is, I've done less.

Beyond just trying to find a comfortable place to sit, I've been too distracted mentally to be very productive. I was actually surprised by this. Even when I have had the time, I just haven't felt like it. It reminds me of the passage in scripture when Paul talks about the body. When one part suffers, the whole person suffers. Of course, the spiritual application goes without saying.When someone is hurting in the body of Christ, the whole body suffers as well.

On the up side, sometimes an enforced season of rest can do a world of good. As the pain lessens I am beginning to feel the familiar stirrings of words waiting to get out - fresh ideas that may have been shoved to the background in favor of another more prominent project.

With four more weeks to go, I'm starting to get back into the groove. I'm back at work, and as you can see, my students have graced my cast with some lovely artwork. I can't help but be reminded of something Nancy Rue said at the fall conference. "See everything life throws at you as an opportunity for research." I'm taking this to heart. Don't be surprised if a hero or heroine appears in one of my novels with a broken ankle...

Website: tracykrauss.com
Blog: tracykraussexpressionexpress.com

God's Big Picture - by Marcia Janson

I’ve been writing since I was a child. My first self-publication was a folded and stapled booklet of very bad poetry that I printed and illustrated with crayons that were in dire need of sharpening. I was eight years old and my readership was comprised of two people – my parents. Many decades later, I have to admit that I still tend toward creating and publishing things on my own. I’ve co-published and edited local church magazines and also started a multi-denominational paper that we circulated in our town’s local churches, cafes and doctor’s offices.

I’ve learned a lot through these small ventures, not least of which is that God is more interested in my character than my mission. I tend to be a tad idealistic and wade into literary ventures with a vivid “big picture” in mind. Concerning the multi-denominational paper I mentioned, my heart’s goal was to help a very divided Body of Christ to develop a stronger sense of communion with one another. That sounds good, don’t you think? In one of his last recorded prayers, Jesus asked for unity among believers.

I don’t know if my two years at the helm of that little paper contributed much to unity among the local church bodies, but I did discover that there was a certain disharmony within my own heart that had so far escaped my awareness and which God wanted to address. It was in the crucible of some challenging and painful experiences during those years of working with others on that publication that God started to refine my attitude.

Until that time, I’d considered myself to be a peaceable and fairly easy-going person who was learning to love others. As an editor, I tried to be sensitive toward my largely inexperienced group of contributing writers. Some of their pieces were very rough around the edges and it was difficult to balance my desire to publish a paper full of clear, well-written articles with my equally strong wish to encourage and help up-and-coming writers. There was lots of e-mailing back and forth in addition to phone calls with people who hadn’t yet joined the computer age. I understood well that God cared about those people and that I must try to see them through His eyes, but a considerable chasm stretches between the knowing and the doing in such matters!

This juggling act, though difficult, was going pretty well until a challenge came along that was just a bit too large for my heart to accommodate. I’d asked a friend to help me edit the paper and we had a disagreement about something that, looking back, seems rather unimportant. At the time, I felt that the ideals underpinning the paper’s “mission” would be compromised if I allowed her to include a certain item in the paper. We ended up dissolving the partnership and she moved on to other activities. The friendship faded too.

Has that ever happened to you? Perhaps, like me, your ideals or pet viewpoints have trumped God’s call to love and exercise peaceful unity with other believers. These things tend to rise to the surface and show themselves when our passions are involved. If writing is your passion, then it’s likely this will happen at some point. Maybe an editor wants to cut precious material from your book or a fellow writer suggests improvements to an article. Bloggers have the unique opportunity to hear immediate, unsolicited criticism of their writing and/or ideas in the comments section.

The only advice I will offer is this: consider the crucible opportunity and go from there. God be with you!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beginasyouare/2302816052/