by Julie Zine Coleman @JulieZColeman My little cousin Betsy was three years old one September when a family friend took her into downtown Chicago on the train. Wanting to further the youngster's education, the woman pointed out the many trees seeming to fly by their windows. "Do you see all…

by Maggie Wallem Rowe “Write from your scars, not your wounds.” You may have heard this advice at writing conferences, and perhaps even offered it yourself. I have. Sometimes we are simply too close to loss or a traumatic situation in our past to have the perspective needed to share…

by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea I’m a die-hard gift card gal. I love to get them. I love to give them. Try not to dis the almost unreasonable joy I find in the card. If you hate giving and receiving gift cards and feel they’re impersonal, I hope you’ll still be my…

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills The holiday season means new ways to market and promote you and your book while seeking to meet reader needs. We look around us and the excitement for the upcoming events can be overwhelming, but let it not be so! The following tips to launch your…

by Blythe Daniel @ByltheDaniel I was in journalism class in college and remember my professor saying in red ink, “What’s the hook to draw in your reader”? Headlines were the prize I was aiming for. Sadly it felt like that was harder to nail down than the story. Today, I…

by Maureen Miller Creds—(n.) an abbreviation meaning credibility; also referring to authenticity. I’m a collector. There. I said it. Whether seashells that hold special meaning or unique stones I find and set in my garden, I enjoy collecting. But unlike the accumulation of this-or-that, much for one’s own pleasure, for…