by Edie Melson @EdieMelson The other day I was talking to a friend of mine and this person confided that she was afraid she didn’t have what it takes to be a writer. “I’m just not good enough to get a book published, and I don’t know if I ever will be.”…

By Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted As a conference director, I receive a lot of requests to serve as faculty at our conference. Selecting teachers is always a tough job, one I dread passionately. Throughout the year, I meet hundreds of writers who have fabulous “presence” but don’t have an excellent command…

By Lynette Eason @LynetteEason Hi everyone, this is Lynette Eason here with my photographer hat on. I’m so excited that I get to be the conference photographer once again this year. And let me just say, if you read this similar post last year, keep reading because things are going…

By Debb Hackett @debb_hackett We are well into January 2023 (how did that happen?) and most of the decorations are away. Not my Christmas tree. Nope. But other than that, our focus has switched to the new year. Our youngest was the only member of Team Hackett to stay up…

By Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted We work hard on our manuscripts, and when we finally turn them into our publisher, most of us imagine the work will be perfect – or pretty close to perfect. A few weeks later, reality hits. The editor has learned to practice the cookie method –…

By W. Terry Whalin @terrywhalin Some days the odds of getting published seem impossible for anyone. Literary agents and editors receive several hundred pitches for books A WEEK. The sheer volume of material makes it hard to get noticed by publishing professionals. Sometimes authors don’t get published because they don’t send…