by Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes, Ed.D. @khutch0767 Don’t Fall Apart “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17 NIV). I recently received a string of rejection letters in rapid succession. Usually, they discourage me and can sometimes derail me for days as I experience crushing feelings of…

By W. Terry Whalin @terrywhalin In 2007, America’s Publicist Rick Frishman invited me to participate on the faculty of MegaBook Marketing University in Los Angeles, California. At that time, I was running a small literary agency and representing authors in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of Chicken Soup for the…

by Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes, Ed.D. @khutch0767 Jamaica is a beautiful exotic island. I was blessed to grow up being able to visit my family there regularly. But since we stayed with family, we enjoyed the experience of living like a local, not a tourist. Some of these experiences meant it was unlikely…

by Alycia W. Morales @AlyciaMorales Have you taken yourself back to school with your self-editing methods? I often work with new writers who want to take their manuscripts to the next level, hoping to ace that query for an agent or catch that editor’s eye at the publishing house. And…

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 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…