Christian Publishing Show: Recent Episodes

Thomas Umstattd Jr.

The Christian Publishing Show is a podcast to help Christian authors change the world. We talk about how to improve in the craft of writing, how to get published, and how to market effectively. Get expert advice from industry insiders. Hosted by Thomas Umstattd Jr.

Have you ever finished a book you loved, handed it to a friend, and heard back, "It was fine"?

That disconnect has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. It has everything to do with a principle C.S. Lewis understood well enough to write classics that have endured for decades.

In this week's episode, I sat down with bestselling novelist Angela Hunt to break down the four ancient loves that drive all fiction, and how mastering them can help you produce a bestseller and a classic.

You’ll learn

The type of love almost every genre needs more of, and why the most violent stories need it most.
How the loneliness epidemic is creating a massive hunger in readers, and which type of love lonely readers are yearning for.
The type of love that makes for a classic but is hardest to write and easiest to botch. Get it wrong and your climax feels cheesy. Get it right and readers won't shut up about your book.

We also explore the dark side of each love and how to use that tension to propel your plot forward.

If the stakes in your story aren’t working or you’re sick of cheap, salacious storylines, listen in or read the blog version to learn how to incorporate these four types of love into your story. This one might change how you outline your next book or build your characters.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/the-four-loves-that-drive-fiction/

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About a year ago I launched a new podcast and YouTube show called Author Update. It is primarily a news show but recently we covered a news story I wanted to share with you here on the Christian Publishing Show.

Pope Leo XIV recently published an encyclical titled MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS. It the the best theological breakdown I’ve seen on AI, and that means a lot coming from me because I’m not Catholic. I’m not aware of any authoritative stances on AI from either the Orthodox or Protestant churches, which means, if and when those do come out, they will be responding to and echoing the Pope’s Encyclical.

If you have ever been curious about how, when, and why Christians can use AI I think you will find this breakdown helpful. But I want to share one other news story first that will help give some context. This story is about the Anti AI Butalrian Jihad that my cohost Jonathan Surger and I break down.

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Steve Laube and Thomas Umstattd, Jr. answer questions from authors about publishing and discuss Steve's new book for writers called Sacred Margins.

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A kid in my fifth-grade Sunday school class recently asked, "What's social media?"

She had no idea. And she wasn't the only one.

Gen Alpha grew up with less screen time, more parental guardrails, and completely different expectations for the stories they want to read. That means, middle-grade books are going through a shift right now, and the rest of publishing will feel it soon.

On this week's episode of the Christian Publishing Show, you’ll hear from award-winning middle grade author J.J. Johnson, who shares how to write books that reluctant readers actually want to pick up.

You'll learn:

What word count and chapter length are best for this new generation of readers.
Which protagonists are resonating with them (Hint: think Minecraft, not Diary of a Wimpy Kid.)
How to title and write books that interest kids (and are willingly purchased by their parents!)

If you want to write for middle-grade readers, who will soon become YA and adult readers, you need to know how they are different from previous generations of readers. Listen in or read the blog version to get the inside scoop.

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To say yes to something good, you often have to say no to other things. In the past, we’ve discussed that sometimes quitting writing is the right move for your career and life.

But what about when you know you can't quit?

What do you do when you feel called to write but the work is hard, success is nowhere in sight, and you're dragging your feet? What if you need the income from writing to feed your family?

In this episode of the Christian Publishing Show, Brian Hicks joins me to talk about how writers can keep going. Brian has spent decades studying what separates people who push through from people who give up.

You’ll learn:

The ultimate motivation hack for Christian writers that has nothing to do with bestseller lists or sales
The daily choice that will change your writing life
The best (and worst) way to start your writing career

Listen in or read the blog version to find out how you can keep writing when you're broke, rejected, and exhausted.

Blog Link: https://www.christianpublishingshow.com/how-to-stay-motivated-when-writing-gets-hard/

Author Media.social Link: https://authormedia.social/c/christian-publishing-show/how-to-stay-motivated-when-writing-gets-hard

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Have you ever watched a medical show and thought, “Is that how CPR really works”?

Your readers are thinking the same thing about your book.

In the Google era, writing sloppy medical details was risky for your writing career. In the AI era, they’re deadly to your credibility and career. Readers now carry little AI tools in their pockets that can pass medical exams. If your character survives a car crash and goes boxing in the next chapter, someone will notice.

In this month’s episode, I interview physician and award-winning novelist Ronda Wells of NovelMalpractice.com about how to write medically accurate fiction, even if you have zero medical background.

You’ll learn

How concussions and amnesia can be related (but aren’t always!)
How to use medical events (and their consequences) to increase tension in your story
Why the “sip and die” trope rarely makes sense
How historical context changes everything from treatments to fatality

Medical accuracy does not kill drama. It intensifies it.

If you want deeper tension, stronger verisimilitude, and stories that honor your readers’ trust, listen in or read the blog version.

Blog Link: https://www.christianpublishingshow.com/how-to-keep-bad-medicine-from-killing-your-novels-credibility/

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Have you decided to write a book but feel overwhelmed by everything there is to learn? Wondering where to start, what to write first, or how to know if your writing is any good?

In this episode, I talk with New York Times bestselling author Jerry B. Jenkins (215 books, 73+ million copies sold) about how new and beginning authors can start the right way.

In this interview, you’ll discover:

What your first project should be a book and how it can help you grow quickly as a writer.
A mindset shift that will change how you think about feedback
How to find your writing voice

If you want practical advice from a seasoned writer that will save you years of frustration, listen in or read the blog version.

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Mystery isn't just a genre. It's a storytelling skill that every author can use to keep readers turning pages, no matter what they write.

In this month’s episode, USA Today bestselling mystery author Sara Rosett reveals how writers of any genre can use elements from the mystery genre to keep readers hooked.

Whether you write mystery, fantasy, romance, or nonfiction, this conversation will change the way you think about story structure and reader engagement.

You’ll discover:

Which genres benefit from using elements of mystery writing
How to hide clues and red herrings in a way that feels natural but surprising
Common mistakes new mystery writers make and how to avoid them

If you want to build stories that feel more immersive, compelling, and satisfying, listen in or read the blog version and make your next story un-put-down-able.

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You’ve heard it said that a great beginning will sell your book, but a great ending will sell your next book.

Every bestseller becomes a bestseller because word spreads from reader to reader, and what creates that good word of mouth? Satisfying endings.

In this week’s episode, you’ll learn:

What makes an ending satisfying (hint: it doesn’t have to be happy!)
How endings must vary from genre to genre
What advantage Christian authors have over secular authors when writing endings

Listen in or read the blog version if you want to write an ending that your readers can’t stop talking about.

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Many authors have received that dreaded rejection letter from a traditional Christian publisher siting platform size as the reason for the rejection.

Is there a platform size that makes you a shoo-in for a traditional Christian publisher? What if even millions of followers can’t get you a contract with a traditional Christian publisher? Is there something else going on?

In this episode, Chase Replogle and I discuss trends in Christian publishing that we’ve observed from the inside.

We’ll discuss

What makes a Christian publisher “Christian”
Questions we ought to be asking of the Christian publishing industry
How Christian authors can navigate the current publishing landscape

Listen in or read the blog version to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how Christian publishing has changed over the years.

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If social media leaves you drained and you’re unsure what to do with AI, this week’s episode is for you. I recently appeared on the Writing off Social podcast to unpack how authors can step off the social treadmill and put AI to work without losing their voice.

In our conversation you’ll learn:

What boundaries you can set around your use of AI
Where to start using AI in your work
My prediction for the future of nonfiction (and how to make sure you control your brand of expertise)

Listen in or read the blog version and get practical steps for using AI to increase your productivity and relieve you of the writing and publishing tasks you don’t enjoy.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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Last week brought heartbreaking news. Charlie Kirk, a Christian author and speaker, was shot and killed while addressing his audience.

In this special episode of the Christian Publishing Show, we share an Author Update conversation about what Charlie’s life, work, and death mean for Christian authors today.

You’ll discover:

How Charlie built his platform through books, speaking, and social media without compromising his convictions.
Why listening well to your audience can make you a stronger communicator and writer.
What authors should (and shouldn’t) say during emotionally charged cultural moments.

This is a sobering episode, but also an inspiring one for anyone called to write, speak, and share truth with courage. Listen in, read the blog version, or watch on YouTube.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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Is using AI sinful, helpful, or just complicated?

In this thought-provoking episode, bestselling author Kate Angelo joins us to discuss the ethical, practical, and spiritual implications of AI for Christian writers.

From biblical analogies to real-world tools, this conversation explores some pressing questions for Christians about AI, creativity, and ethics, without the hype or fear-mongering.

In this episode, you'll discover:

How AI is similar to and different from other technologies that became mainstream
How good and evil impact or result from the use of AI
How Christians can leverage AI for good

Whether you're AI-curious or AI-cautious, listen in or read the blog version to discover how Christian authors are thinking about AI and how it can be leveraged for good in your marketing, productivity, and writing.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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The cultural ground beneath us is shifting fast. The kinds of books that impacted your faith a decade ago, and possibly inspired you to write, likely won’t have the same effect on readers in this cultural moment.

How do you write books that resonate with readers without compromising biblical truth?

In this week’s episode, I speak with pastor and author Chase Replogle to talk about 21st-century apologetics and why Christian authors must rethink what it means to “engage culture.”

You’ll discover

What current readers value more (fact or feelings?)
How your book can rise above the noise without creating more noise
What Jordan Peterson and other influential voices teach writers about relevance

If you want to impact people for Christ by answering the questions they’re asking without compromising truth or sounding cliché, this conversation is for you.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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Why do some books keep readers up all night while others fall flat?

If you've ever wondered whether your novel is gripping enough, you're not alone. One of the biggest challenges writers face is keeping readers hooked to the end.

In this week’s episode, we dive deep into what truly drives great storytelling. Whether you're writing legal thrillers, Amish fiction, or epic fantasy, tension is your secret weapon, and knowing how to dial it up or down can make or break your story.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why reading current bestsellers (without judgment!) is key to leveling up your writing
How different genres handle tension differently
What every author needs to understand about their reader’s motive for reading

Listen in or read the blog version to discover the many types of tension and how to weave it into your novel to keep readers reading to the end.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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Did you know the Apostle Paul didn’t write the book of Romans by hand? He dictated it to a someone else who wrote it down, and he’s not the only famous author to do so.

In this week’s episode, we explore how authors from Cicero to Agatha Christie to USA Today bestselling author Misty M. Beller have used dictation to write faster, better, and with more freedom.

In this interview with Misty, you’ll learn:

✅ How to overcome the intimidation of hearing your own voice
✅ Which dictation tools are most accurate and beginner-friendly
✅ How to spur creativity and increase your output without burning out

Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, dictation can save you time and unlock your most natural storytelling voice. Misty shares how she writes up to six books a year using this technique and how you can too.

Write faster. Write smarter. Write like the Apostle Paul. Listen in or read the blog version to learn more.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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Most authors start writing from the beginning. But what if the beginning is the wrong place to start?

In our most recent episode, I talk with bestselling author and writing teacher James Scott Bell about one of his most powerful ideas: the mirror moment.

You’ll learn

✅ Why the midpoint is more than just the halfway mark
✅ How to turn a sagging middle into your novel’s strongest moment
✅ What Casablanca, Goodnight Moon, and The Cat in the Hat have in common
✅ How one scene can help you fix your beginning, your ending, and everything in between

Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser, listen in or read the blog version of this episode. It will change how you approach your next novel.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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The term "pantser" has been used to describe writing a book without an outline. At writers conferences, outlining and "pantsing" (also known as discovery writing) are often framed as rivals. However, most writers fall between the two extremes.

I've seen successful authors across that spectrum. What truly matters is finding the method that works best for you.

While there are countless books on outlining, there are very few on discovery writing. So how do you learn to "write by the seat of your pants"?

In this month's episode, I interviewed bestselling author Steven James, who shared his secrets for discovery writing—the art of writing "by the seat of your pants" while creating gripping stories.

He shared

✔️ Four questions that can solve any plot problem

✔️ What truly drives a great story to a satisfying ending

✔️ How to use pivots to surprise and satisfy your readers

If you've ever struggled with outlining or wondered if "pantsing" could work for you, this episode will give you the guidance and courage to give it a try. Listen in or read the blog version to learn more.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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Have you ever started a book but struggled to get past the first few chapters? Or maybe you finished one, only to feel let down by the ending? The truth is, beginnings and endings can make or break a novel.
In this week’s episode, I sit down with Christy Award-winning author Angela Hunt to unpack what makes a strong opening that hooks readers and a satisfying ending that keeps them talking.
We’ll cover:
How to craft an opening that keeps readers turning pages
The secret to endings that spark word-of-mouth recommendations
Common mistakes that weaken your novel’s impact
If you want to grab your reader’s attention from page one and leave them with an unforgettable conclusion, listen in or read the blog version.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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Have you ever dreamed of writing a novel but don’t know where to start? Maybe you've tried before, but the story just didn’t come together—or you’re staring at a blank page, unsure of what to do next.
In our latest episode, we’re talking to Steve Laube, seasoned literary agent and co-author of Write Your First Novel. Steve shares actionable advice on:

Creating characters your readers will love.
Crafting a plot that keeps readers hooked.
Overcoming fear and embracing the writing process.

You’ll also learn the key to writing boldly and how to avoid common pitfalls that hold writers back.
If you’re ready to finally start your novel (and finish it!), listen in or read the blog version.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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Imposter syndrome sometimes tells you the truth.Sometimes, you really do need to get better at the task in front of you to succeed. Many gurus will tell you that you already have everything you need. You just need to pay them money so you can be successful. But in the real world, success requires the hard work of improving your craft. Now, it's true, sometimes imposter syndrome lies, but deep down, you know you can improve.But how do you know where you need to improve? And once you find out, how do you get better?In this week's episode, you'll hear from Brad Pauquette about structuring a novel and improving your craft. He's a 15-year industry veteran who's helped hundreds of authors write and publish their best work, hit bestseller lists, and win awards. He's also the author of The Novel Matrix: The Complete Novel Writing Guide.You'll learn
· Three phases of improving your craft
· What feedback to implement or ignore
· How to ensure your writing is accurate and believableListen in or read the blog and discover insights on balancing creativity with structure, interpreting feedback wisely, and staying true to your Christian values by continually inviting the Holy Spirit into your work.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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In college, I took a class on entrepreneurship, where our big project was to write a business plan. That same semester, I was also working on a book proposal, and I realized that book proposals are business plans.
Fundamentally, they serve the same purpose. A business plan helps you convince investors to invest in your business, and a book proposal helps you convince publishing companies to invest in your book.
To be traditionally published, you need to think like an entrepreneur and to be independently published, you need to be an entrepreneur.
In this week's episode, we'll hear from Kara Swanson. She's a successful fantasy author, entrepreneur, and the co-founder of The Author Conservatory, an online college alternative for aspiring writers.
You'll learn how to
· Build a financially sustainable writing career
· Build your skillset for marketing your book
· Build a schedule that balances creativity and business
Listen in or check out the blog and learn how to become an author entrepreneur by leveraging transferrable business skills to build a sustainable writing career.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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I'm excited to announce that tickets are now for sale for the 2025 Novel Marketing Conference. The conference will be held in Austin, Texas, on January 17th and 18th. This event is not a typical writer's conference where you learn how to write and publish a book. Our conference is focused on book marketing, and our goal is to help you make 2025 the best year of your author career so far!
In this episode, you'll find out
· Three special ingredients that make the Novel Marketing Conference unique
· How this year's conference will differ from last year's
· Why we've made certain deliberate choices for this year's conference
Listen in or check out the blog version of this episode to get details about the 2025 Novel Marketing Conference.

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

https://novelmarketingconference.com/

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You've likely heard the advice that writers should show instead of tell. Sometimes, it's good advice and can make your scenes better and your story more compelling. But it can also be terrible advice that will make your book unbelievably long and hard to get through.
If you show every single thing in the room or on the journey where your story takes place, then the plot, characters, and even the dialogue get crowded out.
But how do you know when you should and shouldn't show?
In this month's episode, Angela Hunt lays out some guidelines on when showing improves your story and when it doesn't. You'll learn:

When showing has the most impact
When telling is actually useful
Where writers are often tempted to tell when they should show

Listen in or check out the blog version of this episode to find out when you can break the rule of "Show, don't tell."

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Stories communicate truth in ways that facts and statistics cannot. They touch places in our souls that sermons cannot reach. When you open your Bible, the very first thing you find is not the Ten Commandments but a story. Even biblical instruction is often couched in a story because a story is a powerful tool for communicating truth.
God knows that. He created in us a desire for story.
Christian authors can leverage story to communicate truth, but sometimes, whether by mistake or on purpose, we communicate lies.
In this month’s episode, author and podcaster Zackary Russell and I discuss the four laws of Christian storytelling. You’ll discover:

What makes a story glorifying to God
How we may inadvertently communicate lies in our stories
Whether Christian storytelling is evangelism or not

The gift of storytelling must be stewarded and taken seriously. Listen in or check out the blog version of this episode to discover four laws to govern your Christian storytelling that will ensure you glorify God and communicate truth and love to your readers.

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Discover what makes a romance novel appeal to a Christian readership and how you can write Christian romance books your readers will love.

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Some authors just want to get their book "out there." They don't plan on writing additional books or becoming professionals. But others want to make writing a career and maybe pay the bills with income earned from their writing.
If you want to have a career as a professional writer, you have to do at least two things.
First, you must become an amazing writer. Second, you need to start acting like a business owner. Regardless of whether you're independently or traditionally published, you'll need to keep track of finances, payments, taxes, marketing, and a lot more.
You must be willing to wear their business hats to be considered professionals.
If that sounds overwhelming, this week's episode will provide some relief and direction. In my interview with Angela Hunt, you'll learn:

What upfront and ongoing costs an author should plan for
A bare-bones method for tracking your business income and expenses
A Thomas-approved method for getting free feedback
And much more

If you want to make a career out of your writing and pay bills with the income you earn, listen in or check out the blog post version of this episode to learn how.

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If you've ever transcribed a conversation between two people, you know the resulting text is a bunch of incomprehensible, run-on sentences and fragments. Natural conversation does not translate well onto the written page.
When we write novels, we need to realize that good, written dialogue does not imitate the way real people talk. We also don't want our written dialogue to sound contrived and awkward.
How do you write good dialogue?
In this episode, Angela Hunt teaches us

How to handle dialects or accents
How to use dialogue to reveal character
How to imply what's being said without saying it

Listen in or check out the blog post to find out how to write good dialogue that keeps readers turning pages and learn what dialogue mistakes to avoid.

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Most humans try to avoid conflict as much as possible, but novelists love conflict.

Without conflict, a novelist has no story. Conflict keeps your novel moving forward and your readers turning pages.

As Vladimir Nabokov once said, "The writer's job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them."

But how do you get your protagonist up a tree? What kind of rocks should you throw?

In this week's episode, I interview professional fictional rock-thrower, Angela Hunt, to discuss the six classic conflicts. In this episode, you'll discover Biblical and modern examples of classic conflicts

How to mix the conflicts to make your story more interesting
Which conflicts resonate with most readers today

If you want to up the tension in your book or make your next novel more riveting, listen in or check out the blog post to find out how to add and layer the six classic conflicts to keep your readers reading.

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You’re probably tired of hearing that you need a large platform to be a successful author.
Some industry professionals believe having a large platform is equivalent to having a large social media following.
If you’ve been listening to the Christian Publishing Show or Novel Marketing, you know that having a social media following doesn’t necessarily mean you have a platform. Nor does it mean you’ll sell more books than someone not on social media.
In fact, sometimes people sell more books by spending less time on social media.
Authors hear me say, “Your social media following isn’t very important.” But when they talk to a literary agent or publisher, those people care about social media numbers.
How do you navigate this platform predicament?
I asked Mary DeMuth, literary agent and author of more than 50 books. She’s been in the Christian publishing industry for 20 years and recently wrote about how author platform is broken.
In this episode, you’ll learn

The history behind the prominence of author platform
How the author-platform landscape is changing
Your biggest advantage in a digital world

Listen in or read the blog version to learn how to navigate the author platform predicament and what you can do to help change the status quo in the publishing industry. Be sure to add your comments and questions at AuthorMedia.social.

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When authors attend writers conferences, they often have big expectations but make common mistakes that squash their goals and diminish the return on their investment in the conference.
In this episode, you’ll learn

11 common mistakes authors often make and how to avoid them
How to avoid missing opportunities
The right time to attend your first conference

Listen in or read the blog version to find out how to make the most of your first (or next) writers conference.

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The stories we ingest shape the morality we develop, but only to a point.
If a story’s morality strays from reality or gets too twisted, the story fails to resonate with readers. Moral confusion is why movies and TV shows are less entertaining than they used to be.
But what is morality?
Why is it so important for good stories?
How do you put a message into your book without being preachy?
In this month’s episode, you’ll learn:

Why you must carefully consider your own moral system before writing a story
How to keep your book from being boring
How to write a story that resonates for decades

Fiction can be a powerful tool to demonstrate the consequences of actions. It allows us to learn from the mistakes and triumphs of others. Listen in and discover why establishing a clear moral system is critical in writing a timeless story that conveys a memorable message. Check out the blog version of this episode here.

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God often calls authors into periods of waiting. Learn how to improve your writing and your chances of success by making the most of the wait.

https://www.christianpublishingshow.com/how-to-prepare-for-success-as-a-new-author-with-laura-richmond/

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If you don't test your book ideas, you may write a book no one wants to buy. Learn how a podcast can help you test your ideas so you can write a commercially viable book.

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Professional authors often struggle to find health insurance coverage, but healthcare for Christian authors is readily available.

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Public speaking is historically one of the best ways to sell books. Find out how you can turn your book into an engaging and memorable talk.

You can listen to this episode From Page to Stage: How To Adapt Your Writing Into a Captivating Speech With Kirsten Holmberg on Christian Publishing Show.

Award-winning author Angela Hunt shares her reproducible revision process that has helped her write, revise, and publish more than 150 books.

You can listen to this episode Beyond First Drafts: How to Master the Art of Revision With Angela Hunt on Christian Publishing Show.

The following is an AI-Generated transcript of today’s podcast episode. Let the typos give you hope for humanity. The path to publishing success is not always smooth and easy. In fact, let’s be honest, it’s never smooth and easy for anyone ever. There are bumps and bruises along the way. Writing requires hard work. It […]

You can listen to this episode Finding Peace in the Plot: How to Trust God’ in Your Writing Journey with Liz Curtis Higgs on Christian Publishing Show.

Find out why attending a local church in person can benefit your physical and spiritual health as well as your book sales.

You can listen to this episode The Secret to Becoming a Successful Christian Author: Church on Christian Publishing Show.

Some people would have us believe that boys and girls are the same. They assert that the differences between genders are merely social constructs imposed upon us. Even physical differences are considered “flexible.”

The Bible teaches that God created us male and female. Common sense tells us that boys and girls are different. Science tells us that males and females differ, right down to the number of chromosomes in every cell.

So what does this mildly controversial statement of the basic facts of life have to do with writing a book? A lot, actually.

To write a book readers want to read, you need to know what kind of book they want to read. Don’t assume all readers are the same because they are not.

You can improve your book without excluding readers outside your target audience by focusing on a certain kind of reader.

One of the hardest audiences to write for is young boys between the ages of 8 and 14. If you can thrill them, you can thrill anyone. If you don’t believe me, just ask J.K. Rowling.

By writing her books to thrill 12-year-old boys, she was able to write books for boys that thrilled millions of people of all ages.

If you are writing for young boys, you’ve likely heard Christian publishers and agents say they don’t know how to sell books to that demographic.

But don’t let that statement convince you that boys don’t like to read. Boys will read if they have a book they love. S.D. Smith’s books thrill 12-year-old boys, and he has sold over a million copies.

It can be done. Don’t listen to anyone who says it’s impossible.

When I was a 12-year-old, I bought and read dozens of books every year.

How do you write books boys will love? I asked Tim Shoemaker, who is an expert on writing books for boys.

He is an award-winning author of twenty books and is a popular speaker at conferences and schools around the country. Over twenty-five years of working with youth has helped him relate to his reading and listening audience in a unique way.

Thomas Umstattd, Jr.: Why do many Christian writers find it challenging to write for young boys?

Tim Shoemaker: Writers tend to lump boys in with “kids” in general. They write to a group, which is a nonentity. Boys and girls are different; and if we don’t consider that, we’ll miss that whole market segment.

Thomas: Shooting between two targets is not the same as shooting at both targets.

You have to first shoot at one and then the other. Any duck hunter knows you can shoot multiple ducks, but you have to shoot each one individually.

If you want to reach boys, you must specifically focus on boys.

How would you aim your writing directly at boys as your target readers?Thomas: If you’re starting a new project targeting 12-year-old boys, how would you craft that book to thrill them?

Tim: First, remind yourself of the differences. If we only think of “kids,” we’ll get ourselves in trouble.

For example, consider the difference between how boys and girls communicate. Boys will address love, fear, anger, and friendship differently than girls do.

How do you accurately portray a boy’s emotions?AggressionAggression is a broad wavelength for boys. They like to communicate through aggression, whereas girls might use their words.

AngerA boy might punch somebody.

Fear

They won’t walk cautiously through a dark alley. They’ll run full speed, screaming their heads off to make a potential attacker think they’re crazy or perhaps simply to startle a would-be assailant. It’s not a great strategy, but boys have a different way of approaching things.

FriendshipThey don’t want to talk to their friend on the phone. A boy might wrestle their friend, slug him in the arm, or trash-talk him in a game; but all those approaches to friendship are different from a girl’s.

LoveBoys won’t say they love somebody, but they may give a hug.

That targeting principle is also true with marketing.

Boys are hammers. Hammers break things, but they also fix things. Girls are more sophisticated. Girls are like smartphones, and boys are like pencils. That doesn’t mean boys aren’t smart, but they’re a little simpler. They’re used to smaller and fewer words. When we remind ourselves of these differences, they will be reflected in our writing.

Why do you need to portray the differences between the genders?Thomas: You’re saying that one element is to accurately portray boys. If a boy is reading a character who isn’t believable, it will affect the boy’s interpretation of that character.

If your worldview says that boys and girls are the same and all your characters are generic copies of each other, the young men reading your book won’t feel like they’re expressed on the page. At the same time, the young women reading the female characters won’t feel like they’re expressed on the page either.

Say what you want about J.K. Rowling and her politics, but she strongly believes in the differences between the sexes. She portrays that on the page in a way that resonates with young people. Readers can relate to specific characters in her book because they’re based on observations of real people who are distinguished from each other.

Tim: I picked up this book called Up to No Good by Kitty Harmon, which describes boys. She quoted a 13-year-old who had written a memory:

When we were 13 or so, my friends and I had this game.

We’d go down to the basement, where it was completely dark, and each of us would find a hiding place. Then someone would start the game by turning out the lights, and we’d try to hit each other with darts. You’d think you’d hear someone make a noise, and you’d come out of your hiding place throwing darts but cringing because you were fair game too. There’d be complete silence. Then you’d hear somebody yell, “Ow!”

One time we turned on the light, and the guy had a dart dangling from his cheek just below his eye. After that, we wore goggles.

Up to No Good by Kitty Harmon

I love that story because it demonstrates the difference. No one said, “Hey, this is stupid. We should stop.” They’re asking, “What do we need to do to keep doing this? Let’s wear goggles, and go back to playing this game.”

How do you write dialogue in a book aimed at boys?If the story you’re writing has a boy sitting at a table talking with somebody for a while, it won’t feel right. The boy won’t identify with the character because it doesn’t feel like him.

Everything you do to ratchet up the tension or conflict will fall flat because the boy doesn’t relate to the character.

The boy may also wonder if there’s something weird about himself since he never sits at a table talking for long periods of time. If you show somebody in a conversation standing there, rather than doing something boys like to do, it won’t feel right.

But if you put that character in a car, he could look out the window. He doesn’t have to look at his mom when they’re talking. That’s a more realistic conversation. You’ll want to include his interior thoughts too. What is he thinking, and what is he saying?

If that conversation occurs at night when he’s in bed and it’s dark, then when Mom or Dad comes in to talk to him, they can have a better conversation. The face-to-face stuff for any length of time doesn’t feel real.

Thomas: Beware of the long pages of dialogue. A book targeted at girls might include an intense discussion, but boys need dialogue interspersed with action.

What purpose does the action serve in a book for boys?Tim: Keep your characters active and not just sitting in chairs, talking to each other. If you want to write a conversation between two people, make sure there’s some sort of activity going on. That boy needs to be moving.

Thomas: Realize that action isn’t a break in the conversation. When a boy reads a book, the action is an extension of the conversation. If the characters start punching, that is also communication.

Some films don’t get this right. They force a meaningless action scene just because they know the movie requires one. The scene doesn’t resonate with viewers, and the movie doesn’t do well.

When the action scene is an extension of a conversation, it works better. A perfect example of this is in Captain America: Civil War, where Captain America and Ironman are fighting. Their fight isn’t about who’s stronger. The action is an extension of the argument they’ve had throughout the movie, but they’re arguing with their deeds as well as their words.

How do you design a book cover for boys?Tim: A boy will look at the book’s cover first; and if it doesn’t grab him, he won’t get past it.

If you’re writing and self-publishing a book for boys, you must carefully consider the cover design. If it looks too juvenile, the book is dead to him.

Thomas: Marketers sell products to young men by targeting them with advertising that features slightly older young men. If you want to sell a Nerf gun to an 8-year-old boy, put 12-year-old boys in your ads. The younger boys think, “Ooh, the big kids are playing with this Nerf gun! I want to do what the big kids are doing.”

No 12-year-old boy wants to buy a product advertised by 8-year-olds. A juvenile cover is a huge red flag to boys.

In fact, I was drawn to G.A. Henty when I was young. Henty was a Victorian author popular with young men. In the 90s, the book was presented to us as a book for adults that we were allowed to read. It covered adult concepts through historical fiction, and it was violent.

In the Victorian era, they were YA books; but they felt like books for grown men. It was a book my dad could read and not be embarrassed by.

Tim: Boys want to appear older than they are. If you want to target a 12-year-old, you’ll probably want your protagonist to be 14 because your readers will want to be like that person.

Everything starts with the cover. It can’t look girly or feminine. Pay attention to the typeface and style.

How do you design the interior of a book for boys?Tim: Give them plenty of white space. If they get past the cover and open it up, they’ll want to see if the page looks friendly. You have to break up the text with interior thoughts and dialogue.

What kind of opening paragraphs do you need to hook boys?Tim: You only have a few seconds to grab them. They’ll read that first line and then the first paragraph. If you don’t grab them with the opening, it’s completely over.

Your strong opening needs to do several or all of the following:

Draw the boy in
Create a question in his mind
Ask a question
Intrigue him
Hint at danger or trouble
Invoke mystery

Avoid these mistakes in your opening:

Don’t set anything up.
Don’t worry about showing the setting.
Don’t give background with some kind of zoom-in start.

You have to jump right into it. I think that’s one of the most fun things about writing for boys. Why wouldn’t a strong opener work for girls as well?

How has writing books for boys changed over the years?Thomas: How have you seen writing for boys change over the years? The boys you wrote to 15 years ago now have boys of their own. What has changed during your time in the industry?

Tim: There’s a polarization of some of the writing. The good writing is getting better, and the writing that wasn’t as good is dropping off. We’ve talked in a previous episode about showing instead of telling.

Books written 15 years ago had less showing and less deep point of view. They had fewer solid interior thoughts. While those books were good, they could have been better. Today the writing must be better, or boys will not pick up the book.

In the old Hardy Boys books, readers never got inside the characters’ heads. The stories have so much telling instead of showing that they lack the power they could have had.

Thomas: I had a hard time connecting with the Hardy Boys. My mom pushed me to read those books, but the Hardy Boys didn’t resonate with me.

However, Ender’s Game did resonate with me. It’s a great example of a book with strong interior dialogue. The book was hard to adapt for film because the whole story takes place in Ender’s head. His conflicts are internal.

Boys are less expressive than girls, but that doesn’t mean they think fewer thoughts. They’re just thinking those thoughts to themselves, which is where fiction writing has an advantage over film.

It’s hard to get inside someone’s head on film, but it’s easier in a book. You can show that interior dialogue in a strong way.

Ender’s Game has done very well. It has stood the test of time, and it’s a book that gets inside the head of a 12-year-old boy.

Tim: I remember reading that book, and you’re exactly right. Very few words are spoken by the character, but he is thinking. That’s what’s so delicious for the reader. The reader identifies with the character because his thoughts and actions feel like something the reader would think or do.

What point of view works best when you’re writing books for boys?Thomas: Good stories combine action with dialogue and interior thoughts. The interior thoughts give readers an entirely different perspective. In Dune, you get interior thoughts from all the characters. The author head-hops around, which is a big no-no in Christian publishing. Christian editors like the third-person, limited point of view.

But Dune is a magical book because you get to see when a character is being duplicitous. You get to observe a character’s integrity (or lack thereof) because you know the motivation behind their words. It’s fascinating. The best scene in the book had to be left out of the movie because all the tension happens inside the characters’ heads.

I’m not saying you have to use the omniscient point of view, but it does allow you to show duplicity and the thoughts that motivate action.

Don’t be afraid to get into the characters’ heads, but remember that it requires a higher level of writing. Head hopping must be done carefully. It forces you to write three-dimensional and fully fleshed-out characters.

Tim: I don’t use the omniscient point of view, but I tell the story from four or five points of view. Characters get their own chapters.

When I’m writing, I list all my chapters and record whose point of view is represented in that chapter. If I’m targeting boys, I write about 70% of my chapters from the male point of view and the rest from a female point of view.

Boys can only handle a limited amount of the girls’ chapters, but the girls love reading about the boys, so it works.

Thomas: If you write the deep point of view well, boys will want to read what’s happening inside the girl’s head. The superficial point of view isn’t intriguing, but boys are intrigued if you show what’s motivating the female thinking. That was the appeal for boys who read Twilight. They wanted to know what those teenage girls were thinking.

Tim: I agree. They want to know to a certain extent, but they can only take it in smaller doses. You can write the deep point of view, but don’t make that a long chapter because boys can only handle so much at a time.

Why are anime and manga so popular with kids right now?Thomas: Anime is popular with young people right now. The best-selling type of comic book is manga, the comic-book version of anime. It outsold all American comic books combined in the United States. American young people are choosing manga and anime over American comic books.

One of the big differences between Eastern Japanese storytelling and Western storytelling is that anime and manga acknowledge the differences between men and women. The boys and girls in the comics are very different. The women are very feminine, and the men are very masculine. There’s variety in anime, but a lot of manga features that strong difference.

I heard one young man complaining that American writers don’t know how to write good female characters. He said, “They’re just the male characters, but female, and I find that very boring.”

Kids are gravitating to Japanese storytelling. Interestingly, when Americans adapt those incredibly popular anime stories for Netflix, they use Western storytelling; and the whole thing falls apart. American writers ignore the differences between men and women, which is what made it interesting and popular in the first place.

Hollywood is doing the same thing. They’ll take a popular male character and just swap out the gender and make the character a female. They change nothing else about the character because their worldview tells them that males and females are exactly the same.

But those swapped-out characters don’t resonate with audiences. They don’t resonate with males or females, and Hollywood wonders why they’re having trouble selling theatre tickets.

If I look at the situation as a businessperson, I can see Hollywood is dropping the ball; and this is the moment for authors to shine.

Movies used to be the biggest challenge for writers because kids preferred movies over books. Now kids are desperate for something that resonates with real life.

Hollywood has gotten so far from real life that it’s failing to resonate with a lot of young people.

Tim: That is a good observation. I love showing those misunderstandings between boys and girls in my books. They go back and forth, and it adds so much tension. It’s much more fun to write.

Thomas: It’s useful too. As a young man, I wanted to understand young women. A book that portrays women and men well is appealing because it helps us understand one another.

Tim: When you can get into the characters’ heads and show their interior thoughts, it’s so revealing. A reader can see that a character thought one thing but said something different. Of course, if the character had just said exactly what he was thinking, they might have avoided the tension; but that’s not as true to life.

Thomas: As the author, you can portray a scene from the male character’s point of view in one chapter and the female point of view in the next. Since you have the objective view, the reader gets three different perspectives on the scene.

That approach tells readers a lot about each character and how they interpret the same events. It makes the characters and the book more interesting.

What are your “must-haves” if you want your book to resonate with boys?Tim: I keep the chapters short and always end with a cliffhanger. If they can turn the pages fast, they’ll enjoy the book more and have a sense of accomplishment.

Why do I need to write short chapters in a book for boys?Thomas: It’s not about attention span. People complain that boys have short attention spans, but that’s a myth. A 12-year-old plays Minecraft for four hours without taking a bathroom break. That’s a long attention span.

Instead of questioning a boy’s attention span, we should be asking what will hold his attention for four hours.

If authors simply complain that boys don’t have the attention span, it takes the pressure off the author to write a great book. It becomes the boy’s fault that he doesn’t like your writing, and suddenly you’re absolved of all responsibility.

Authors must take responsibility for their writing and learn to hold their readers’ attention.

Thomas Umstattd, Jr.

You write short chapters because it gives the boy a sense of accomplishment, not because he has a short attention span. Boys feel like they’re winning at reading if they can accomplish a chapter.

Tim: If their mom says, “You’ve got 15 minutes to read before lights out. You should be able to finish a chapter in that time,” If he can’t finish a chapter, he feels frustrated.

As the author, I want to finish the chapter on a cliffhanger, so the boy wants to return to it the next day. I don’t want them to forget where the character was and then have to reread. That’s annoying to boys.

How much description and detail do boys want?Tim: We writers love to describe something or set a scene with so much description, but we must avoid that when writing books for boys. For the most part, boys don’t care what somebody’s wearing unless it’s a soldier.

Boys rarely care about clothing or food descriptions. Don’t describe the kitchen. They don’t care, and it annoys them.

Describe the Right DetailsIf a character drives up in a pickup truck, you better say what kind it was. Was it an F-150? What was it?

Thomas: Typically, women are more oriented around people, and men are more oriented around things. If you want a book to resonate with a young man, you must describe the physical things your character touches. Boys don’t care what the character is wearing; but if that character is holding a gun, you better describe it in detail.

Was the sword covered in blood? How was the scabbard attached? How has that person used the weapon in the past? I’m curious about those details, but I don’t care about his uniform or mustache.

Tim: Choose to describe the right things. Please don’t write a character who pulls out a “handgun.” That’s ridiculous. Boys want to know the caliber, brand, and model.

In the Hardy Boys books, a character would drive up in a “sedan” or “coop.” I mean, come on! Boys want the details.

Authors should aim to describe the right things and not belabor the details that boys find uninteresting.

Thomas: Work interesting objects into your story that are worth describing.

Talk about the tricorders, lightsabers, and blasters. Pretend your story will become a movie, and you’ll need to sell some toys and merch. What will you sell? Work the merch into your story.

Maybe you’ll never sell the merch, but it’s worth considering because millions of people have bought Harry Potter’s wizard staff.

If you’re a woman writing books for boys, you’ll need to consciously work some of those physical items into your story.

How do you make your story believable for boys?Tim: A character who takes actions that your reader can’t believe is the kiss of death. It will pull them out of the story experience and remind them they’re reading.

Thomas: Believability doesn’t mean you can use spaceships and magic. It means that you set up the rules of your story, and then you have to follow the rules.

If you say the forest in your story is split into light and dark sides, but you add a character who’s neither dark nor light but still uses the force, you’re breaking the rules of your own story. That’s what makes it not believable.

How do you write a main character a boy will love?Tim: You must write a character the boy identifies with.

Your character needs to be someone who

the boy would like
has a clear goal
the reader will care about right away

If you don’t have those elements, nothing you do to ratchet up the tension will work.

How do you write a satisfying ending in a book for boys?Tim: A satisfying ending allows the boy to feel good about reading and finishing the book.

If it’s a mystery, they want justice. They want the killer to get caught or to get what’s coming to them.

They want the hero to win. Boys want to see the character face their deepest fears or weaknesses and become stronger and better. Create a character who takes what little they have and conquers their fear of the enemy.

How do you write characters a boy will like?Thomas: We’ve been talking about the difference between boys and girls, but this is one area where there’s a difference between boys and men.

Avoid Writing Complex CharactersBoys aren’t ready for a complex antihero. They don’t want a lot of nuance, texture, and complexity. As readers age, their reading preferences mature; and they like more complex and nuanced characters.

As a young reader, I wanted a hero who suffered and overcame suffering but was still a good person. I rooted for Luke Skywalker, who was always a good person despite suffering through trials and failure.

The new Luke Skywalker is a coward, and I wouldn’t like him or root for him. I wouldn’t care that he was a powerful antihero because he wouldn’t resonate with me. Honestly, I don’t like the modern Luke Skywalker.

A boy’s ability to think abstractly grows over time. He sees the world as very cut and dried. There are good guys and bad guys.

As an author, you might get frustrated with that 12-year-old boy because you want him to know there’s no such thing as a good guy because we all struggle with sin, and I want to show you the sins of your hero.

A 12-year-old doesn’t want that. He wants a good guy he can root for.

Avoid Giving Your Characters Too Much HelpTim: Great characters always have to make choices. Your hero should have the option of taking the coward’s way out and doing the wrong thing. Make the stakes and consequences high, but let your character make the hard, right choices. Boys can love a character like that.

Boys don’t want their problems solved by others. They want to solve the problems themselves. Your characters might get help or input, but they don’t want people doing things for them.

Avoid Stereotypes of BoysNot all boys like sports. Not all boys communicate as well as we wish they would.

If a writer thinks boys are stupid because they do dumb things, that belief will come out in their writing. Even if the author wouldn’t articulate that belief out loud, their writing will give off a parental tone. Boys will know there was something they didn’t like about the story, even if they can’t pinpoint the problem.

Thomas: It’s inaccurate to say that boys are stupider than girls. Boys simply weigh risk differently.

Similarly, alcohol doesn’t make you stupid. It just causes you to weigh risks differently. Drunk people know they’re doing stupid things, but they don’t feel the risk like a sober person does.

For example, a drunk person knows that drinking and driving is risky. They give intellectual ascent to it but don’t feel the risk.

Young boys know that throwing darts in a dark room is dangerous, but that danger is part of the fun; and they judge it differently.

If you write as though you’re an outsider saying, “You’re an idiot for doing that,” your voice is unattractive to that young man. He won’t want to read a book written in that voice.

Tim: Your true beliefs will bleed through your writing. Before you write your book, you must realize that boys are smart. They lack experience, can be impulsive, and will make bad choices; but they’re not dumb.

Through our stories, we can present our characters with choices; and our readers can gain from the experience of our characters. We can help protect our readers from traps and dangers by putting those things in our books and seeing how our characters grapple with them.

Avoid “Telling” About Danger Thomas: We must show boys why something is dangerous. You can’t tell them, “Throwing darts is dangerous.” You just show the kid with a dart in his face, bleeding. They’ll realize it’s not a good idea.

Tim: You’ve got to trust the reader to pick up on that and not try to add a highlighter to the text.

Avoid PreachingOur writing can’t be preachy. Sometimes we’ll write a character and make him remember part of the pastor’s sermon with points we’re trying to drive home. It’s preachy and ineffective.

Beware of writing to an agenda. Do not write to an agenda. It’s okay to start writing without knowing what deep theme you’ll hit. Let the Lord clarify that as you write.

Sometimes I’ll be halfway through writing a book when I finally realize what point the Lord wants me to make. At that point, I can go back and rewrite to set it up better.

I would rather start writing without an agenda than look like I’m writing to make an agenda work.

Avoid RomanceTim: Kisses are the kiss of death. Lose the romance. If you’re writing to middle-grade boys, leave it out.

Thomas: I want to illustrate why that’s a mistake. Even if you don’t include kissing, you need to know the difference between eros and phileo love.

In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis discusses the different kinds of love.

He describes eros love as romantic and provides the image of two people looking at each other. Eros love is self-reflective. People demonstrating eros discuss their relationship, write poetry, sing songs, and discuss their feelings.

Phileo love is brotherly love, and Lewis gives the image of two people side-by-side. Two guys who have been friends for 20 years aren’t going to say, “I really like you.” Phileo love isn’t self-reflective. You show love by remaining friends throughout the years.

Young men aren’t ready for eros love.

I realize I’m saying some controversial things, but they weren’t controversial a generation ago.

Tim: The romance often makes that boy uncomfortable because he’s not ready for it. If they’re uncomfortable, they will never recommend your book to anyone. Writing romance in a book for boys isn’t worth the risk of having them dislike your book.

If a boy feels uncomfortable reading your book, he will never recommend it to anyone.

TIM shoemaker

Some authors argue that they need to add a little romance to get the girls into the story, but I would not recommend it. Don’t do it. The girls will find romance by reading between the lines. Even if it’s not there, they’ll find enough to satisfy them.

Avoid Cheap ShotsTim: Avoid cheap shots like making parents dumb, stupid, or irrelevant. Be careful how you portray authority figures. You can include some bad authority figures, but don’t make all of them bad.

To portray all adults as bad is such lazy writing.

We want our kids to find adults they can trust, confide in, and consult. Don’t put your characters in a situation where they only get advice from their friends.

Thomas: Baby boomers are prone to write that way. The boomers had a lot of conflict with their parents and authority figures. These days, kids are sometimes too submissive to their authorities in that they believe everything their teachers tell them.

The dumb-authority-figure story may have resonated with somebody born in the 1960s, but it won’t resonate with somebody born in the 2000s. Young people aren’t rebellious in that same way. They’re seeking leaders they can feel good about following.

Tim: I sometimes create controlling, manipulative, and abusive characters. I want readers to see what that looks like so they can recognize it and avoid it.

Sometimes, parents say, “I want my son to be a good leader.”

That’s understandable and good, but God has wired us to be followers. I want my kids to know who to follow. In my stories, I want kids to see which character gives the best advice and counsel. We must show them who’s worth following and who they should avoid.

Thomas: You can’t lead others until you can lead yourself.

That’s challenging for boys, especially as they’re entering puberty. They’re being flooded with testosterone, which makes self-control more difficult. Today self-control isn’t a popular virtue, but it’s a key to success in life.

Self-control isn’t a uniquely masculine virtue, but it is a uniquely masculine challenge in that if you’re not getting flooded with testosterone, you’re not being tempted to the same degree. Your impulses aren’t as strong.

The classic conflict “man against himself” would resonate with young men.

A boy often fights to do what he knows is right, even when he doesn’t want to.

Star Wars becomes more interesting when Han Solo comes back and fights, even though he wants to run away with his money.

Avoid Unfamiliar Words and PhrasesTim: Don’t make your writing too hard to read. I’m not trying to give my readers a vocabulary lesson. I want to tell the story in the most compelling, exciting way possible.

Avoid FlawlessnessI want to make sure I’m not creating characters who have flawless looks or abilities. I want to portray the average kid.

If I show the average boy or girl succeeding or fighting their way through, I’ve given my reader, who likely feels very average, some hope.

Thomas: “Mary Sue” is a fictional stereotype representing a flawless and perfect character. Mary Sue tends to be unlikable, but you can handle that character in a couple of ways.

First, you could make her the villain. Think of Mary Poppins. She’s the antagonist who keeps Mr. Banks from getting what he wants. Mary Sue makes a great villain.

Your second option is to make her suffer. The more perfect she is, the more she needs to suffer if you still want her character to be likable. Think of Wesley in The Princess Bride. He’s perfect. He’s smarter than the smart guy, stronger than the strong guy, and better with a sword than the sword-fighting guy. But he also suffers more than all the other characters combined.

If he didn’t suffer in the pit of despair, we would hate him as a character. But because he suffered so much, we root for him.

If you add a flawless character, you’ll have to torture that poor character to make it work in the story.

Avoid Cliché AttitudesTim: Moms can write excellent stories because they’re so observant, but they must be aware of their own opinions and inner beliefs.

For example, if you secretly believe that boys have it easier than girls, that will come out in your writing; and it will not resonate with boys.

In reality, each gender has its own unique set of very difficult hardships. The sooner we understand that, the better.

Thomas: We all have a cognitive bias where we tend to overweight our own challenges and underweight the challenges other people face. We always feel like we’ve got it hard, and others have it easy. Young people have that bias as well.

If you want to write a book that will resonate with boys, you’ll have to overcome that cognitive bias and realize that other people have struggles too.

Tim: We’re talking about targeting boys, but we want girls and boys to love our stories. But it’s important that we get the books boys will want to read.

Boys need to be shown what it means to mature. We need to give them books that show what it means to make the right choices, to persevere in hardship, to be warned about traps, and to grow in their faith.

Our stories can show what it means to become a man by God’s definition. What does a godly man look like? I want my female readers to know what a godly man looks like so they can recognize it. I want my male readers to aspire to become godly men.

This is probably a general statement that may get me in trouble, but many of the sins that plague our world lay at the feet of men: human trafficking, prostitution, and pornography.

If men lived as they should, much of this would go away.

If we want to change the men of tomorrow,
we need stories that reach the boys of today.

Tim shoemaker

We can help change the men of tomorrow by working to write compelling stories that show them what it means to be a good man. There’s plenty of fiction written for broken men, but this is our chance to write to boys before they’re broken.

Our future and their futures will be impacted by it. Writing books for boys is a noble, worthy task.

If a writer wants to do that, I’d advise them to keep working at it. Pray and ask God to help you. Get some boy readers to review a scene and ask, “Is this the way you’d do that?” Listen to their feedback.

Thomas: Imagine the impact on the world if we had a generation of young men who believe that self-control is real and that it’s possible to control themselves. What if we had a generation of young men who were not slaves to their desires?

That change can start with your stories.

If the fictional characters can’t master themselves and become self-disciplined, how on earth can readers do it in real life?

Show your readers how to overcome the struggle of self-mastery. It’s so powerful, and that’s just one element you can include in a transformative work for young men.

What about boys who don’t read?Tim: Even though people tell you, “Boys don’t read,” I don’t know a boy who doesn’t love a good story. So even if they don’t read, you can read to them.

I’m always encouraging parents to read to their kids. I just got a letter from a mom who ended up reading to her 17-year-old, and it was so powerful. When you read to them, you can drop them into a story world, and they’ll start to love the story if it’s done well.

Connect with Tim and find out more about his books at TimShoemaker.com

Featured PatronBernadette Botz, author of Liar (Affiliate Link)

Written for Christian teens struggling with their faith, Liar is an allegory of the battle of good vs. evil.

You can listen to this episode How to Write Books Boys Will Love With Tim Shoemaker on Christian Publishing Show.

It’s 2023, and we are finally seeing the comeback of in-person writers conferences! Some beginning writers are new to the writing community. If you began your writing journey during the pandemic, you might never have had the opportunity to take part in a real, live, in-person writers conference. That’s right, in ye olden precovid days, writers attended conferences in person.

In-person writers conferences are not cheap, so you want to be sure to get the most out of your time. You may be feeling nervous about attending your first conference. Perhaps you’re wondering what to expect, how to prepare, and how you’ll benefit.

Literary agent Dan Balow knows all about writers conferences. He’s an agent with The Steve Laube Agency, as well as the director of the Write to Publish Conference in Wheaton, Illinois.

Why bother attending an in-person conference?Thomas: For writers who are relatively new to publishing and writing, explain why they should even bother attending an in-person conference when so many online summits are free or cheap. Why spend all that money to breathe the same air as a literary agent?

Various LevelsDan: All writers conferences have beginning, intermediate, and advanced classes, so no matter where you are on the experience spectrum, you can get a good foundation at a writers conference. You can also learn about the many different skills that are necessary to be a successful writer.

SerendipitiesAttending only online conferences prevents you from experiencing those serendipities that happen whenever you get together with a group of people. You never know who you’ll sit with at lunch. Those unplanned meetings often have a greater impact on your life than the planned sessions. Without those incidental meetings between the sessions, writers miss out on a major benefit of conferences.

The interaction with other people at a writers conference is invaluable.

Thomas: As with many industries, it’s not just what you know but who you know, particularly in traditional publishing.

If you want to publish, you can learn everything you need to know about marketing, writing, and publishing from books and online courses. After that, it’s just a matter of connecting with your readers. Indie authors don’t necessarily need to know anyone in the traditional publishing industry. I keep meeting indie authors who are quietly making $250,000 selling a book no one’s heard of simply because they have a group of readers who love the author.

Traditional publishing is different because dozens of people work on the traditionally published book, so the human connection with those people is key.

Relationships With Successful AuthorsMaking relationships in the publishing industry has been critically important for my business. I met Steve Laube and Mary DeMuth at a writers conference early in my career. In-person writers conferences allow you to build relationships with the faculty you sit with at lunch and also the fellow newbie authors you meet.

When you sign up for the newbie track, you might not realize you’re on the same track as other future bestselling authors. Famous people are always a little suspicious of new friends because they don’t know for sure if those people care about them or their fame and money, so be friendly before they become famous.

Meeting fellow beginning writers is a golden opportunity to connect with the bestselling authors of tomorrow.

Dan: The downside of an in-person conference is that there may be some spiritual warfare or ego that gets in the way. It’s a good time to network, but there’s a risk of turning every potential relationship into a business transaction.

Christian writers know that when you make connections with people, God moves in mysterious ways. He puts people together at the water cooler who have the same interests, and that’s how God does things sometimes. Be open to those divine appointments.

Thomas: Nearly all writers are introverts. At a conference, you’ll meet introverts, who pretend to be extroverts for a few days, and then go home and crash. I have met extroverts who write books, but most people at conferences are intimidated and get overwhelmed easily, especially at their first conference.

Beginners WelcomeI recommend attending your first writers conference early in your career. Some people wait to attend their first conference until they’re ready to pitch their book. At that point, they are trying to connect with agents, editors, and publishers; and they’re just too nervous to make those connections well.

Dan: Attending a conference early in your career gives you plenty of time to work on the necessary aspects of publishing.

I’ve taught a conference workshop called “Are You Writing Out of Order?” When writers put off certain tasks until the end of the process, they end up needing to pause everything they’ve done up to that point and then wait for two years to let it play out. Why not do the things that take the most time at the front of your career?

Thomas: That’s classic operations management. If you need 20 components to build a widget and one takes 20 hours to manufacture, you need at least 20 hours to build the widget.

If you can build that 20-hour piece as you simultaneously build the other pieces, you’ll be much more efficient.

In-Person Access to FacultyIn addition to agents and editors, successful authors also attend conferences to teach workshops. They aren’t selling courses, and they may not have a book about writing. The only way you can learn from them is by hunting down one of their podcast interviews or coming to their live event at a conference.

Faculty at live conferences typically offer question-and-answer sessions at the end of their presentations.

When I first started speaking at writers conferences, I was teaching technology and marketing. I had a super successful bestselling author sitting in the front row of my class, taking notes on what I was teaching.

Bestselling authors are successful in part because they’re teachable. They may know almost everything I teach, but they strive to learn one new thing that will give them an edge and fuel their continued success.

Dan: In any profession, or even in the Christian life, long-term teachability is super important.

Jerry Jenkins gives a talk called “Can You Still be Moved?” It’s for mature Christians who can hear the story of someone coming to Christ and experience very little emotion. If you don’t get a tear in your eye after hearing someone’s conversion story, you may need to evaluate what’s going on in your heart.

If you ever feel like you’ve reached the point where you’ve “made it” and have nothing left to learn, sirens should be blaring in your ears. You may need to take a sabbatical to get your passion back.

If learning new things about your Christian walk, operational logistics, and writing craft are not constants in your life, it’s a dangerous sign.

Camaraderie Thomas: At a Christian writers conference, you get the sense that all the writers are on the same team. I’ve seen a similar phenomenon at indie conferences because those authors are collectively opposed to “evil” traditional publishing. There is a revolutionary spirit, and you get the sense people are on the same team.

But you definitely don’t get that team feeling at secular, traditional publishing conferences. There’s more jealousy between writers in the same genre. There’s a temptation to see other writers as competition. Writers at secular conferences want agents to sign a nondisclosure agreement before they share their ideas.

At Christian conferences, there’s an understanding that we’re on the same team. You’ll often see people praying for one another and encouraging each other. It can be very spiritually uplifting.

Dan: A Christian writers conference is a place where believers gather. We see the fruit of the Spirit demonstrated as people show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control.

Obviously, Christians aren’t perfect; but it’s always a great experience, no matter what Christian conference you attend.

You really do not get the same experience at a secular, general-market conference.

In fact, I don’t believe there is such a thing as a crossover book where you write in a way that appeals to an unbeliever, but you leave out the Christian stuff. When writers do that, the book ceases to be a Christian book.

At general-market conferences, the themes people are writing about and the pages they read aren’t even close to anything a Christ follower would ponder in their heart to write. The chasm is wide between the Christian and general markets.

Thomas: Jesus said that people hated him so much that they’d hate his followers too. Nothing has changed. You can take out the religious stuff, but you’re taking Jesus out. You can include all the religious talk and remove the name of Jesus, but there’s something special and different about Jesus that makes people uncomfortable with their sins. Jesus causes people to realize that they need to change.

What can writers expect to experience at the Write to Publish conference?Thomas: Dan, you direct the Write to Publish Conference. What should attendees look for at that conference?

Dan: The Write to Publish Conference is a full immersion experience. It’s more than just a couple of hours of courses here and there.

You’ll have breakfast with fellow writers and faculty in the morning. You’ll be sitting with other authors and talking with professionals throughout the day, and you’ll be having evening snacks with other publishing professionals and writers. Expect to put in a 16-hour day.

Thomas: It’s much different than a conference at your church where you’re home by dinner time.

Writers conferences tend to be on location. Whether it’s being held at a hotel, conference center, or university campus, everything happens at the same location. Breakfast and dinner are part of the conference.

Still, it’s important to remember that some things are optional. You’re not required to show up at every event for 16 hours every day of the conference. You don’t have to attend the bonus night owl session if you’re a morning person.

However, if you’re a high-energy person and can do a 16-hour day, great. If you’re not, skip a few things and take a nap.

Many of the sessions and workshops are come-and-go because people have one-on-one appointments with editors and agents throughout the entire conference.

If someone stands up to leave during a session, no one is offended because everyone understands that person has an appointment. The speaker won’t automatically assume it’s because their presentation is boring.

How do you prepare for the conference before you arrive?Dan: You need to carefully review the conference schedule and start building an initial calendar and schedule for yourself.

Most conferences have a theme type of course that’s taught Wednesday through Friday. Sometimes the sessions build on the previous day’s session. Before you arrive, decide which of those continuing sessions would be most beneficial for you.

Figure out when it would be best to schedule your one-on-one appointments. Choose the workshops that you want to take in the afternoon.

For my entire career, I’ve made a practice of spending 30 minutes in the evening organizing my work, schedule, and priorities for the following day.

If you don’t have a plan for your day at a writers conference, you may find yourself standing by the proverbial water cooler, milling around the bookstore, or visiting with people at lunch. By the end of the conference, you may realize you paid $700 to attend group lunches and browse a bookstore.

By creating a tentative plan, you will get so much more out of the conference.

Thomas: It’s harder to make decisions when you don’t have a plan. If you’ve been chatting with people for two days and feel really tired, it may be hard to decide which of two interesting workshops you should attend.

On the other hand, if you make that decision the night before, you will likely still attend, even if you feel tired.

How do you decide which workshops to attend?Thomas: Writers often have trouble deciding which workshop to choose when two interesting workshops are offered during the same time block. To help you decide which would be better for you, ask yourself this question: In which workshop would I be more likely to want to ask a question?

The advantage of a live conference is that you have access to the teacher. Make it your goal to ask one question in every workshop. That simple practice will help you build your courage and make you a memorable student. It’s a way for the teacher and the other workshop attendees to get to know you.

You may sit next to someone at lunch who recognizes you as the person who asked a good question. It also builds goodwill with the teacher, especially if you are the first one to ask a question and break that awkward silence.

Dan: The faculty members are just waiting for someone to ask a question. I have no problem opening the question-and-answer session by saying, “Ask me anything.” It breaks the question-asking ice.

Thomas: In one of my professional speaking classes, we were trained to write the first question. The speaker opens the question-and-answer session by saying, “One question a lot of people ask …,” and they go on to answer that question. No one in the room has to go first because the next question is the second question. It puts everyone at ease.

What happens during the Write to Publish conference?Dan: Keep your head up as opposed to looking down. If most writers are introverts, they won’t be the social gadflies that pop in to talk to everyone in the room. But even introverts need to make a decision to talk to one new person each day. A lot of relational skills come into play at writers conferences.

Remember that these nice people want to help you. You don’t have to over-share personal details immediately, but you can have great conversations with people by keeping your head up. Don’t give the impression that you were forced to attend.

Thomas: Bringing even one friend with you to the conference can help you feel more confident and make it easier to connect with others.

Another tip is to contact the conference organizer to see if they need help picking up faculty from the airport. It’s a great opportunity to spend one-on-one drive time with a faculty member. I’ve met many bestselling authors that way, and some of them have been guests on my podcast.

Dan: We have a travel coordinator who organizes rides, and there are half a dozen people who could be picked up at the airport. It would be nice if they could sit in the front instead of the back seat as they would with an Uber driver. But if you get the opportunity, don’t make them regret that you picked them up.

Thomas: As a faculty member, who’s been picked up by many authors, I can say I’ve never regretted the fun conversations I’ve had.

Dan: Because of the times we’re living in, we do have a required statement where we ask people to act decently toward one another. As with any gathering of people, you want to make sure you’re treating people well, exercising the fruit of the Spirit, and acting in ways that make for good interpersonal relationships.

Thomas: And make sure you’re following the Christian sexual ethic. The expectation at secular conferences is that people are sleeping with each other, and some of them come specifically to hook up.

The expectation at a Christian conference is that attendees will follow the Christian sexual ethic. However, attendees aren’t screened. Your pastor doesn’t have to vouch for you to attend. Anyone can come to a Christian writers conference and say that they’re a Christian, so keep that in mind.

Dan: All Christian writers conferences have a prayer team. The prayer team backs up the directors, speakers, and logistics. We are aware that spiritual warfare may be at play. When you’re flying over the target, that’s when the heavy flak hits you. Satan does not want Christian writers conferences to go off without a hitch. He does not want writers to be encouraged, so he will attempt to thwart the efforts. Every Christian writers conference is undergirded by a strong prayer team.

Thomas: Jesus warned that there would be wolves in sheep’s clothing who would sneak in and deceive. That’s why we need to judge people by the fruit they demonstrate. This is not unique to writers conferences, but I think a Christian writers conference is uniquely vulnerable because it’s typically a group of strangers.

Some writers conferences emerge out of a pre-existing writers community. Those conferences are perhaps less vulnerable because people know one another. It’s harder for someone to sneak in.

It’s the same at a church. At my church, if you want to serve in the children’s ministry, you need to have a history of being in the church community for a while. You can’t just join the church and work with kids the next week. We still do a police background check and observe whether the person is attending a small group as a member of the community.

What is a one-sheet, and why would a writer need one?Thomas: Many writers come to a conference hoping an editor will give them a $50,000 advance and a publishing contract. Sometimes, authors use a one-sheet to pitch their books. What are they, and why would a writer bring one to a conference?

Dan: A one-sheet is a sheet of paper with information about you and your book. It might include:

Author photo
Author’s background
Summary of the author’s platform
Title of the book
Short pitch for the book
Number of words
Expected completion time
Summary of the table of contents

It does not include any text from your book.

It’s a summary of the author and the book they’re pitching. Keep your one-sheet simple. Writers typically want to reduce the font size and make it too dense. Strive to keep the font readable. An agent or editor should be able to look at your one-sheet and know what your book is about, who you are, what your marketing platform is, and how long it will take you to write the book.

Thomas: A one-sheet is like a query letter with a fancier design. Even though you should memorize your pitch, you can have that little paragraph in front of you to help you remember; and you can also slide the paper to the agent or editor, so they can see it.

Agents typically don’t want to receive manuscripts at conferences because it makes their carry-on luggage heavy. But they might be willing to accept a single piece of paper. The one-sheet is something they can take home with them.

Creating a one-sheet also helps the author put together a concise pitch. Even if they never give the sheet away, the act of putting it together forces them to think through their pitch. It gives them more confidence when they arrive at the conference.

Dan: Please include your picture on the one-sheet because five minutes after the conference is over, that editor or agent will not remember you if they don’t have a point of reference with a photo. They’re probably meeting with 75 other writers throughout the conference.

What else should I bring to the conference?Thomas: You may want to bring a business card to make follow-up easier.

Most authors never follow up with the business cards they receive. But writing a short thank-you note to a speaker or another author you met can have a great impact. Even following them on social media can be beneficial, and it doesn’t take much work.

I recommend writing follow-up emails every evening of the conference while you still remember the person you met that day. That way, you don’t come home with a stack of business cards of people you don’t remember.

If you wait to follow up until you get home, be sure and schedule time to do. I recommend scheduling a whole day to debrief and recover. Don’t expect to be highly productive on the Monday after a conference because you essentially worked a 40-hour week in three days.

When you follow up, send an email or write a note saying, “It was great to meet you at the conference. Let me know when your book comes out. I can’t wait to buy it.” Imagine how encouraging it would be to receive that kind of email.

Dan: You may also want to buy a hardcover journal and take notes and jot reminders the whole weekend. Put a little star by the things that you need to do when you get home. If you don’t, you’ll forget everything.

Thomas: If you plan to have a booth at a conference and hand out swag, I recommend offering a bottle of Purell with your book cover on it. No one did it before the pandemic, but now they go like hotcakes. Not only are you getting your book in front of people, but you’re also doing the world a service because conferences have always been super-spreader events.

You could also give away pens. People are always looking for something to write with.

Some authors make the mistake of trying to promote their novels at a writers conference, but your target readers are not likely at the conference. If you’ve written a book for writers, that would be a different story. Writers at the conference want to know about books on writing, software for writers, and websites for authors. If you write Amish romance, go to an Amish romance conference to sell your book. Don’t spend money for a booth at ACFW to promote your military sci-fi. It’s not an effective use of your money.

Dan: A writers conference is a professional conference. If you view it as a quick way to sell 100 copies of your book, you’ll be disappointed.

What final tips or encouragement do you have for writers who want to attend the Write to Publish conference?Dan: Go into it with your eyes wide open. You most likely won’t be getting a book contract and an advance. Manage your expectations and strive to meet long-term goals, rather than only short-term goals.

What makes the Write to Publish conference in Wheaton, Illinois, special?Dan: We really love the community. In the Chicago area, we have Tyndale House Publishers, University Press, Crossway, and Moody Publishers. Staff from each publishing house will attend the conference. We also have a good community of writers in the area. Wheaton College is an excellent Christian liberal arts college. On campus, you’ll find the Billy Graham Museum and the Wade Center, which houses a large collection of C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Dorothy Sayers’ books. You’ll actually see C.S. Lewis’s desk with a wardrobe in that museum. You can sit there and study or read.

We’re surrounded by Christian communications and literature. It’s a great place for the event.

Thomas: And it’s surprisingly affordable. Attendees have the option to stay on campus in a dorm room. You can also choose to have roommates, which makes it even more affordable, and ensures you’ll get to know at least a few people.

There are also hotels nearby if you want to use your points and stay at your preferred hotel.

If you’re feeling lonely in your writing and publishing journey, one of the best solutions is to meet other writers in real life at a conference.

Check out the list of faculty members on the Write to Publish website. Novel Marketing listeners can receive a discount of $50 on registration with the code TU2023.

You can listen to this episode What to Expect at the Write to Publish Writers Conference on Christian Publishing Show.

Thirty days. That’s all you’ve got.

Do it wrong, and you’re toast. Do it right, and it’s crème brûlée that will last for months, maybe even years.

What 30 days are we talking about? The first 30 days after you make your book available to the world.

During the first 30-60 days after your release, bookstores decide whether to keep your book on the shelves. If you have a strong launch, bookstores will continue to stock your book and order more copies. If you have a bad launch, even the books you think you sold will be returned unsold.

Only during the first 30 days post-release can you earn the #1 New Release badge on Amazon. For those first 30 days, readers won’t judge you for not having reviews.

As you can see, your book’s first 30 days will determine its success. So how can you set yourself set you up for success? You conduct a strong book launch.

Are book launches still important in 2023? Let me answer with a metaphor. An airplane uses half its fuel climbing to cruising altitude and the other half flying to its destination. Planes ascend to 30,000 feet using half the fuel in ten minutes. It uses the remaining half of the fuel over the next five hours. If you don’t get to cruising altitude quickly, your trip does not end well.

An author’s ten-minute ascent, which requires a lot of fuel and work, is the first 30 days after a book is released. That first month is when bookstores decide whether to order more books. It’s when readers see whether anyone has reviewed your book. It’s when radio shows, TV shows, podcasts, and blogs are willing to interview you about your book. It’s when the word-of-mouth buzz spreads fast.

Even if you’re traditionally published, you’re expected to know how to launch a book and play a significant role in executing your publisher’s marketing plan.

If you’re publishing as an indie, knowing how to launch a book is an absolute necessity. It’s not optional. If you want to sell more than 15 copies of your book, you must learn how to attract attention to yourself and your book and get yourself to cruising altitude.

In this overview, we’ll hit the highlights of our annual course, the Book Launch Blueprint. Even if you don’t take the course (we’d love to have you!), you’ll learn principles and ideas you can apply to give your book the best chance for success.

Book Launch Blueprint 6.0We’ve hosted the Book Launch Blueprint for six years, and each year we’ve updated the course and made improvements. We’ve also learned several main reasons authors love the course.

What has made the course so popular?Cohort ModelUnlike my other courses, which are self-paced, the Book Launch Blueprint takes students through each day’s content together. All students are in a community where they encourage each other and give feedback on that day’s homework.

Daily HomeworkEach day you are building your own book launch plan. At the end of the 28-day course, you’ll have a customized plan for how to launch a book. We provide cooking classes and the pantry so you can develop the perfect launch recipe for your book.

Mix of Polished Training and Live Q&A Each morning, you’ll get a pre-recorded video and a homework assignment. Later in the day, either Thomas or Jim will host live office hours to answer your questions. By the end of the day, you’ll know the material and how to apply it to your book.

The Course Works! Authors who complete the Book Launch Blueprint and put it into practice have significantly better launches than those who don’t. The course often pays for itself in boosted book sales. It is fun to hear students report on which bestseller statuses they hit in the subsequent months. Check out past student testimonials at Book Launch Blueprint.

It’s Inspiring, Encouraging, and Rich with MaterialStudents commonly go through the course again in the following years because they enjoyed it so much the first time. Course graduates who take the course for a second or third time often share insights and examples of what worked and what didn’t. You can tap into their experiences and learn from them. In a sense, you’ll get instruction from Jim and me, as well as our alumni.

CommunityIn our private online community, you can brainstorm with other former and current students. After the course concludes, you’ll still have access to the community with all its past and recent threads and conversations.

Buy Once, Keep Forever. Once you purchase this course, you have it forever. As an alumnus, you’ll automatically receive access to all future upgrades, updates, and improvements. Every session is recorded, so you can return to specific topics at any time. Our alumni sometimes even join us for our live office hours.

Encouragement, Encouragement, EncouragementWriting, publishing, and launching a book is not easy, but our students have been highly supportive of each other. While we can’t guarantee that, the odds are good that your fellow students will also be supportive.

The Downside You Need to Know AboutThe reality is that this course isn’t for everyone. It’s not for hobbyists. The Book Launch Blueprint is for serious authors. It requires a serious commitment of time and emotional energy.

Time CommitmentWe encourage students to set aside at least two hours per day to watch the core lesson video, do the homework, and interact with fellow students in our private community and on the live office hours call.

Live office hours last for a couple of hours each day. While attendance is optional, you’ll find tremendous value in having your specific questions answered. You don’t have to stay for the entire time, but Jim and I tend to stick around until every question has been answered.

The more time you can devote to applying the course material and interacting with the community, the more value you will get from the course.

Course OverviewEach module of the four-week course is based on a weekly theme.

Week 1: Ready
Week 2: Set
Week 3: Go
Week 4: Run

We provide videos that present the material clearly, and then we follow up with interactive office hours when you can get your questions answered.

You’ll get a video lesson and homework assignment on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Office hours will be held each day at various times to accommodate students in other time zones.

On Wednesdays, you’ll have a catch-up day, and Jim and I will host office hours together. You’ll have no new assignments or videos on Wednesdays.

You may also notice that the sessions below are offered in pairs. The first session in the couplet offers big-picture instruction on a topic, while the second session digs into the nitty-gritty details.

Week 1: ReadyMonday: Session #1 How to Sell YourselfIf you feel guilty promoting your book, your book launch will fail. All the book promotion techniques in the world won’t help you if, deep down, you feel like a bad person for promoting your book. You must believe your book will improve your readers’ lives through entertainment, education, or escape. Everything else in your book launch plan depends on your mindset about promotion.

Tuesday: Session #2 Branding If you don’t know who you are as a writer, your reader won’t be able to tell either. Your brand must be apparent in your writing, website, and books. We will help you discover your brand.

The term brand can put people off, but it’s really just a modern word for the ancient concept of reputation or “having a name.” You’ve already been building a reputation, and now it’s time to do it with purpose and intention. (Fair warning: there is a lot of homework for the branding session.)

Wednesday: Break and Catch-UpWednesdays will always be a day to catch up on homework or videos. During regular daily office hours, we limit questions to the day’s topic. But on Wednesdays, you can ask any launch-related question.

Thursday: Session #3 From Tech Timid to Tech Savvy: How to Master Any Technology You’ll have to interact with some new technologies during your book launch. If you see yourself as “non-techy,” you’ll limit yourself. Our technology module will help you tackle those technologies and make every step of your launch easier.

Friday: Session #4 How to Maximize the Impact of Your Website After we’ve taken the terror out of technology on Thursday, we’ll tackle building your own website. Many of our students who have never built a website find that by the end of this week, their own website is live on the internet!

Week 2: SetMonday: Session #5 How to Build a Rabid Tribe of FansYou’re passionate about your topic and probably love talking about your book and spreading the word. But you’re just one person. What if you could clone yourself 50 or 500 times so that people all over the country and the world were talking about your book? A rabid tribe of fans will do that for you if you begin by serving them well.

The better you serve your email subscribers, blog readers, or podcast listeners, the more they will love you. The more they love you, the more wildly supportive they will be.

Tuesday: Session #6 How to Create a Launch TeamOnce you have a rabid tribe of fans, you can organize them and help them spread the word about your book through a launch team. I give away most of my content for free, but learning how to launch a book with the Novel Marketing method is something you can only get by taking this course.

Typical launch teams are inefficient and ineffective. They’re better than doing nothing, but the Novel Marketing Book Launch Method offers a more effective approach. The good news is that it does not involve sending free books to launch team members or managing Facebook groups. And it works incredibly well.

Wednesday: Break and Catch-UpThursday: Session #7 How to Write Bestselling Marketing Copy

Marketing copy is everything you write about your book. It’s the back cover blurb, blogs, and even podcasts. Good marketing helps you talk succinctly about your book in a way that makes a stranger want to buy it.

Learning to write good marketing copy is a skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Jim teaches this session, and as someone who’s written over 1,000 radio and TV ads and web copy, he knows how to help you write copy that sells.

Friday: Session #8 How to Use Email to Launch Your BookThis session focuses on how to leverage the email list you already have. If you have fewer than 500 subscribers, I encourage you to sign up for my other course, Obscure No More, which is about platform-building.

Our email session gives you specific instructions about what to write in your emails. The quality of the emails you send at the beginning of your launch will dictate the number of book sales you have in the first week.

Week 3: GoMonday: Session #9 How to Use Goodreads to Find Your Readers and Sell More BooksGoodreads is a great way to connect with hordes of raving fans. It is a tool to help readers find new books. By serving readers, you can grow your readership.

You can start using Goodreads as a reader right away so you can learn how it works before you start using it as an author.

Tuesday: Session #10 Amazon Optimization for AuthorsPresenting your book professionally on Amazon is imperative for good book sales. You might write a great email that causes someone to click on your Amazon page, but if your cover or description is confusing or poorly done, you’ll lose the sale. You’ll learn how to optimize your Amazon page so that it converts well.

Wednesday: Break and Catch-UpThursday: Session #11 How to Use Marketing Psychology to Create a Frenzy for Your Book (New for 2023!)Understanding the psychology of a launch helps you to generate tactics that no one else is using. Once you understand why people take action and the reasons behind a sales frenzy, you can customize your book launch plan accordingly.

Friday: Session #12 How to Have a Wildly Successful Launch DayThis is your book baby’s birthday! Your launch day is the first of those all-important 30 days. We’ll teach you how to launch your book with effective launch day fun. Since our method doesn’t rely solely on online tactics, we offer ideas you can implement in the real world that generate real money.

Many authors host an in-person launch party to thank their supporters, connect with local readers, and sell books.

Week 4: RunMonday: Session #13 How to Create a Media Editorial CalendarProfessional authors need an editorial calendar. If your launch is like a parade to celebrate and announce your book, you need all the floats lined up at once. If they’re not lined up in order, it’s just normal traffic, not a parade.

An editorial calendar allows you to schedule pieces of content in a strategic and structured way. Very few authors take the time to create an editorial calendar for their launches, but those who do have a major advantage over the others. Create a written plan for your guest posts, articles, and blog posts.

Tuesday: Session #14 How to Write Winning Content for Guest Posts and ArticlesWhether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, you need to know how to write a blog post because people read blogs differently than books. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, you’ll learn how to create a blog post that people want to read.

Wednesday: Break and Catch-UpThursday: Session #15 How to Go on a Media Tour (Updated for 2023)

We’ll focus on tips for looking and sounding professional on podcasts, radio shows, video calls, and TV.

You’ll learn how to pitch the media, nail the interview, and thrill the audience. You’ll need to pitch months before your release, so it’s best to start scheduling these early in your process.

Most indie authors launch their books the day it’s ready. But launching too soon is a major blunder that robs you of opportunities. Authors who launch too soon don’t have the parade set up. They don’t have the frenzy activated, and they don’t have the media interviews scheduled.

You often need your finished book in hand to secure media interviews. Journalists, podcasters, and radio hosts want to see or read your book before interviewing you. If you launch it right away, you’ve missed your chance to give them early access.

Friday: Session #16 How to Grow Momentum During the Next 30 Days (Updated for 2023)

If you learn how to launch a book and have a good launch, your book will continue to sell. In those first 30 days, many books sell more than half their total sales. For some books, it’s even more. A stronger launch begets increased word-of-mouth marketing, which leads to more ongoing sales. We’ll talk about how to maintain that momentum in the months following your launch.

During the office hours of this final session, we’ll host an online graduation party!

How much does the course cost?The Book Launch Blueprint is not for hobbyist writers or dabblers. We built this course for professional authors who view effective book promotion as an investment. This course will require an investment of your time and money, but it is a wise investment.

Most authors botch the first book launch, learning everything the hard way. They have to write a second book to get a second shot to launch well, which is an expensive way to learn! You’ll spend less time and money if you learn to do it correctly the first time.

Our previous students have seen incredible results. By investing time in the course, they learn how to avoid wasting time on marketing tactics that don’t help sell books (like social media). They typically sell so many extra books the course ends up making them money.

Hiring a PR firm to launch your book will cost between $3,000 and $10,000, and PR firms tend to focus on getting you booked on radio shows. Even if you have $10,000 to hire a PR firm, I’d still recommend doing it yourself. You could use a portion of that budget to hire an assistant to help you schedule. You’ll be able to schedule your own interviews on radio, TV, and podcasts.

The Book Launch Blueprint is not $10,000 or $3,000, or even $1,200, where similar courses are priced. The Book Launch Blueprint is an investment of just $899.

Bonuses: Additional Courses Bundled with the Book Launch Blueprint How to Get Booked as a Podcast GuestCourse.* ($249) * Marketing Psychology Course ($299) * Art of Persuasion Course ($49) * The Ultimate Crowdfunding Course for Authors ($99) * Jim’s talk on how to go deeper in your writing to give readers an emotional experience (which is what they really want). ($49) * Over $700 in bonuses!

When does it start?Registration closes on April 14, 2023. We’ll also host a class orientation on April 14, which will be open to the public. It will be your last chance to ask questions about signing up before registration ends.

The first day of the course is Monday, April 17. It concludes on May 12, but you still have lifetime access to the videos and the community after the last day of the course.

If you’ve taken the course in the past, you don’t need to do anything to sign up again. You’ll automatically receive the same emails new students are receiving.

Where can I sign up?AuthorMedia.com/courses or at Book Launch Blueprint.

FAQsQ: You say we need to block out two hours a day. What does that look like? A: Each morning, you’ll receive an email with the day’s video and homework. Typically, you’ll spend about 30 minutes watching the teaching, 30 minutes doing the homework, and an hour on the live office hours call. Some videos are longer, and others are shorter. Certain days have a lot of homework, while others have none. In the past, some students have spent far more than two hours per day, and others have spent less.

Q: Is it too soon (or too late) for me to take the course?A: The Book Launch Blueprint is most useful if you have a book launching within the next two years. If you’re farther out than that, I encourage you to sign up for Obscure No More instead. It’s cheaper and more focused on building your platform.

If you’ve already launched your book and you’re hoping to relaunch, this course is probably not for you. The magic of a book launch is lost once a book is older than 30 days. The best thing you can do to boost your backlist sales is write a new book. Your new book re-energizes people’s interest in your previous books. We do not cover those strategies in this course.

Q: What time zone is the course in?A: With students from around the world, we like to vary the times of our live office hours. Most often, we’ll host them at 4:00 PM Central time. Occasionally, we’ll schedule office hours at 10:00 AM Central and 7:00 PM Central to accommodate people in other time zones.

Q: Do I have to pay in US currency?A: This year we’re trying to accommodate you with currency conversion. The dollar is strong right now, which makes the course more expensive for folks in other countries. If you’re outside the United States, email me before you sign up. We may have a coupon code to help with the exchange rate.

You can listen to this episode The 2023 Book Launch Blueprint on Christian Publishing Show.

The Christian Publishing Show is the podcast for writers who want to advance Christ’s kingdom through excellent writing. Whether you’re writing Bible studies, dragon fantasies, devotionals, or cozy mysteries, you can advance Christ’s kingdom through your writing.

But what does it mean to advance the kingdom through writing? How can authors do it?

When we abide in Jesus and meditate on his word, the natural result is that the life of Christ will overflow from our hearts into our writing. The more we read and study the Bible, the more it reflects in our writing. If you read the Bible enough, it will start to leak into your writing.

But be careful! If we misunderstand the Bible, our misunderstandings get amplified through our writing. We could even unintentionally lead others into error.

A better understanding of scripture will improve our writing. But how do we learn to understand it better?

I interviewed Christian author Carolyn Rice. She hosts the Abide in Jesus podcast and has written five books, her latest being Healing the Father Wound: A Women’s Bible Study Through the Gospel of Mark.

What does it mean to “correctly handle the word of truth,” and why is it important?Thomas: What does it mean to “correctly handle the word of truth,” and why is it important?

Carolyn: Correctly handling the word of truth means reading the Bible in context and realizing that it was written to a specific audience at a certain point in history. The Bible cannot mean to us what it couldn’t have meant to the original audience.

Thomas: We can’t read into it and make it say what we want. Is Christianity a buffet where you pick and choose what you want and customize it to your preferences? Or is it a standard to which you submit yourself?

Is God in control, or are you in control?

People in the New Age movement pick and choose the elements they like. Many Christians have adopted that thinking and are picking and choosing as well. When they come across a passage they don’t like, they say, “Well, it doesn’t really mean that,” and they wave it away.

But Christian orthodoxy means we submit to God and obey his word whether we like it or not. We follow what the Bible instructs us to do and to believe.

What advice do you have for an author who wants to study the Bible better?Carolyn: I suggest gathering some Bible study tools. I love BlueLetterBible.org (supported by donations) and Bible Gateway Plus ($4.99 monthly subscription). I prefer using Blue Letter Bible because it’s simpler and less distracting.

How are online Bible study tools different from a regular Bible?

Thomas: How is BlueLetterBible.org different than a regular Bible?

Carolyn: Beside any scripture you look up, you’ll see a blue “Tools” button, which gives you a menu of Bible study tools. The first one is the Interlinear Bible tool, where you can find the Greek and Hebrew meanings of words in a particular verse. You’ll also find a Cross Reference tool, a Bible dictionary, and various commentaries.

Thomas: Commentaries are important because they give you access to the doctrinal knowledge of Bible scholars who’ve gone before us.

Christian doctrine is settled. We’ve had 2,000 years to read the Bible and learn to interpret it. If you discover a “new” doctrine, I’d caution you to be very suspicious of it. If you disagree with all the saints who’ve gone before, that’s a big red flag.

Every once in a while, someone like Martin Luther helps Christians see where they’d gone astray. But rather than starting over with a doctrine, he just rewound and drew from Saint Augustine. Luther was an Augustinian monk and relied heavily on Augustine’s interpretation of the scriptures.

When you read the saints who’ve gone before us, you may be surprised how little Bible commentary has changed over the centuries.

A friend of mine used to listen to podcasts of ancient sermons. He got translated versions of sermons that were 1,000 years old or older. He told me, “They’re not that different from the sermons we have today.”

Christianity doesn’t change much. Commentaries help you determine whether you have an orthodox understanding of a passage.

Carolyn: In Bible college, we learned commentaries help you check your work. You study the passage on your own first but then consult commentaries to check your work. Commentaries also give you additional ideas of what angle to take with your writing.

Case Study: Proverbs 18:22Thomas: I remember using a similar Bible study tool when I was a single man.

I was wrestling with Proverbs 18:22, which says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and gains favor from the Lord.”

My friend and I were curious about the Hebrew meaning of the word “find.” In English, “find” has several meanings. You may “find” or discover a $5.00 bill as you’re walking along the road. But you can also actively search for something and “find” it.

My friend and I were wondering which meaning Proverbs 18:22 employed as it related to finding a wife. I was wondering if I should be actively searching or just living my life hoping I’d find a wife along the way.

If I remember correctly, about half the occurrences used the discover meaning while the other half used the search meaning. I remember he closed his Bible and said, “The results are inconclusive.”

I realize this is a terrible example because we didn’t ultimately find the answer, but it caused us to get into the scriptures. It also gave me the confidence to know I wasn’t sinning against God by searching for a wife. I was trying to “find a wife and find a good thing.”

Carolyn: When you use the Blue Letter Bible’s Interlinear tool, you can scroll down to find every occurrence in the Bible where that Greek or Hebrew word is used and its various meanings.

Why do I need to use the Interlinear tool?There aren’t enough English words to directly translate all the Greek and Hebrew words. Blue Letter Bible will show you where the words are different and how it’s used in English.

Thomas: Sometimes, you’ll have multiple Greek words that translate into one English word. You’ve probably heard that there are four Greek words for the English word “love.” In Greek, the four words are used in various contexts and give more detailed meaning to the passage. But in English, we always translate those words as “love.”

Another issue is that English doesn’t allow for the plural “you.” Here in Texas, we’ve solved the problem with the very useful “y’all,” but you won’t find that distinction in the English Bible. That means that when the scriptures say “you,” we don’t know immediately whether the writer was talking to an individual or a group.

The classic example is Revelation 3:20, which says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in.”

That passage uses the plural form of “you.” It’s the church. It’s not an individual opening the door of their heart. Understanding the Greek usage helps shape our understanding of the passage.

Carolyn: Yes, and I love checking cross references as well. In college, we were taught to let the Bible interpret the Bible. When we look at cross references, we can see how words were translated in different passages and translations. Every Bible translation starts with the Greek and Hebrew.

How do I use the Bible to interpret the Bible?Thomas: Allowing the Bible to interpret the Bible is even better than asking what the saints of old said about a passage. It’s better to ask what the Bible has to say about that passage. How would I find that out with a tool like the Blue Letter Bible?

Carolyn: Under the Cross Reference tool, you’ll find a list of words it’s cross-referencing. If you are studying John 3:16, “God so loved the world,” you would find the word “God” and “gave” and all the cross references to those words. They’re all grouped together.

Thomas: If I was looking for the Bible to interpret a specific verse, I’d want to know Jesus’s interpretation of that verse. Is there an easy way to find that on Blue Letter Bible?

Carolyn: I’m not sure about that. I do know that the Naves Topical Bible would take you to certain high-level topics like prophecy.

What are some different methods of Bible study writers can use?Thomas: When we’re reading the Bible and applying study methods, what are your thoughts on different study methods like chronological reading, topical book studies, or reading the Bible in a year?

Carolyn: I think all the methods are amazing, and every one of them shows me a new angle of the passage I’m studying.

If I did a biographical study, I could find everything I wanted to know about Joseph, the son of Jacob. As you read through the scripture, you’d get general first impressions about Joseph. After that, you’d make an outline of his life. You won’t find every single detail of his life, but you’ll learn what he did that illustrated biblical truth in his life. You’ll also be able to see what he did wrong and how his decisions impacted his life.

You could also study character qualities like peace, integrity, or patience. You’d start by studying each occurrence of that character quality. You’d find that list of occurrences in a Bible concordance like Strong’s Bible Concordance, which is another important study tool. Then you’d study each of those verses.

What is Strong’s Bible Concordance, and how would I use it?Thomas: What is Strong’s Concordance, and how would I use it?

Carolyn: A Bible concordance is like a dictionary in that you can look up a topic, character, or word, but instead of finding a definition, you’ll find a list of every scripture where that word, character, or topic appears.

Strong’s Concordance is one of the most comprehensive. It’s available in print, and it’s a large book, but it’s also available on Blue Letter Bible. Strong’s Concordance also provides a reference number for each Greek and Hebrew word, and you can look up the meaning of that word in the back.

How do you combine your Bible research and study with writing your book?Thomas: You’ve written five books now. What is your approach to combining research, writing, and Bible study to inform the writing of the book?

Carolyn: I view writing a book like building a house. A house is built on a foundation, and a book’s foundation and frame is the Bible. Everything else in my book can be filled in with my own experiences, research, and interviews.

How do you give your book a good foundation?Thomas: How do you give your book a good foundation?

Carolyn: I start by studying the Bible.

A Bible study teacher who wrote Bible studies once told me, “When I studied the Bible to write, I used about 20% of what I learned to put into the book. The rest of the study was for me.”

That was so helpful to hear because, at the time, I was struggling with wanting to include all my accumulated research into one book. For my last book, Healing the Father Wound, I studied the book of Mark, and I loved it. I had piles of notes I wanted to include in the book. When I realized I couldn’t include it all, I had to choose a theme for the book. That’s where a tool like Publisher Rocket helped me find the angle I wanted to write the book from.

Thomas: Publisher Rocket (Affiliate Link) helps you find out what’s currently popular with readers. It would help you determine what parts of the book of Mark would resonate with the pain readers are experiencing currently. When you align people’s needs with scripture through your book, people will want to buy your book.

If you want your book to impact people’s lives, you must work to make it a book they want to buy and read by addressing a need that resonates.

The foundation of a house isn’t supposed to be seen. It functions to keep the house from falling apart. Your research lays a strong foundation for the 20% that readers will see in your book. If your research is faulty or incomplete, the foundation of your book will be weak and less effective.

How did you approach Bible study for your book?Carolyn: When I wrote my book on forgiveness, I started with a topical study. I looked up every verse on forgiveness. Then I found synonyms for forgiveness in a thesaurus and looked up verses on those synonyms as well.

I studied and meditated on each verse.
I used BlueLetterBible.org to look up cross references.
I defined keywords and looked at commentaries.

I had pages and pages of notes about forgiveness, so when I read back through them, I could see several themes that kept emerging. I numbered each theme so that when I went through my notes, I could put the corresponding number by the information that correlated to a theme.

My themes were:

What will happen if we don’t forgive?
What happens when we do forgive?
How do we forgive?
Blessing our enemies.
Praying for those who persecute us.

Then I used the story of Joseph to illustrate those themes. I did a biographical study of Joseph as an example of what forgiveness looks like in a Bible character.

Each theme became a chapter. I outlined it according to the Word of God, and then I researched. I read other books. I talked to people, and then I filled in my outline with that other research, but it was all based on scripture.

Thomas: You explored each theme in a chapter of your book. Did you have personal examples to help illustrate those points and connect them with your life and people you know?

Carolyn: Yes. When I write books, I apply the same method I learned in Bible college for writing a sermon:

Start with a story.
Determine your main point.
Include other supporting points you can elaborate on.
Give a call to action.

Thomas: I love that as a method for a topical book, but some books are more topical than others. Your book is a study of Mark, but it also has a topical theme.

Did you approach your Bible study for that book differently, or did you use the same approach?

Carolyn: I approached that one differently. I read the book of Mark several times and pulled out the themes. Then I studied each chapter of Mark individually. My book was based on John 14:9, where Jesus says, “When you see me, you see the Father,” so that was the theme of my book.

Mark is known as the action book, so when I studied each chapter, I noted how Jesus’s actions reflected who our Heavenly Father is.

What other methods have you used for writing books?Carolyn: I wrote a devotional called Lord Heal My Heart. It was kind of a topical study because it focused on verses about love and how God loves us, but I also pulled out points and wrote a devotional on each of the verses. Instead of building a frame, each verse stood by itself as the subject of a single devotional reading.

What kind of Bible study methods do you suggest for fiction writers?Thomas: What would you suggest for a fiction writer? They’re not necessarily starting with the Bible, but forgiveness may be a theme in their novel. Fictional characters sometimes have to forgive other fictional characters, and sometimes they don’t.

One of your themes was, “What happens if we don’t forgive?” You can show that in a story about one fictional character who chooses not to forgive another, and as a result, they both experience the real-world ramifications of that decision. That’s one way a novel can reflect real life.

In some ways, the Bible is a glimpse into understanding real life. It helps us cut through the enemy’s lies and the lies we tell ourselves about how the world works. The Bible helps us understand how the world really works and makes our novels believable.

Carolyn: Yes. I talked to a novelist at a writer’s conference, and he said every story in the Bible is a story about a character who experiences a change. He encouraged me to study that character in the story. The character who underwent the change provides a great picture of how people can change. And fiction writing is always about a character with a problem who experiences a change.

You can use biblical examples of how that happens in your writing.

If you outlined your novel, you might outline it according to what happens to a Bible character. You wouldn’t even have to mention that the character or conflict comes from the Bible, but you can still paint a picture of a Bible character.

Thomas: Case in point, Lord of the Rings is not an allegory. Tolkien was very passionate about that. He was also a very devout Christian who studied the scriptures. That’s why you see elements of the Bible in the characters he created. He couldn’t help but be a Christian as he was writing.

The most classic example is the way Jesus is portrayed in the Bible and how it influenced Tolkien’s characters. In the Bible, Jesus is described as a suffering servant, a returning king, and a powerful miracle worker.

Those are different but true portrayals of Jesus that capture different aspects of his personality. In Tolkien’s book, he has a returning king named Aragorn, a miracle-working Gandalf, and Frodo, the suffering servant.

As you read, you can see how the Bible influences the characters he created. I think it made his characters better because that Christian influence didn’t turn off secular readers. Regular secular readers love Gandalf, Frodo, and Aragorn even though they’re inspired by specific aspects of Christ.

Tolkien’s story becomes a gateway to explain Jesus to someone who doesn’t know him. You can say, “He’s like Frodo in how he suffers. He’s like Gandalf in power, and he’s kind of like Aragorn too.” You can actually present the gospel through the Lord of the Rings if you want. It’s not a one-to-one allegory like Lewis used, where Aslan is Jesus. Lord of the Rings is more subtle, and the Christian worldview still shines through.

What advice do you have for a writer who knows they need to study the Bible more?Thomas: What advice do you have for somebody who knows they need to study the Bible more but is struggling to do it?

Carolyn: I would say start small. Start with 15 or 20 minutes. Don’t expect to get everything at once because the Lord gives us nuggets. He meets us where we are.

I also recommend trying different methods. You might like one method more than another. You might get more out of a topical study than a background study.

Thomas: Different methods may work differently for different books too. If your book is topical, or you are researching themes for your novel, you would study the Bible differently than if you were writing a Bible study on the book of James.

I struggle with this too. I know I need to be in the scriptures more, but it’s tough with three small children. I know that’s not a good excuse, but one thing that has helped me in the past is listening to the Bible as a podcast.

There are many Bible podcasts where somebody reads the Bible in a year. If you listen to the podcast for a year, by December, you’ll have read through the whole Bible. Some podcasts are more focused, and others include teaching at the end.

I’ve listened to the Daily Audio Bible, but there are many others. If you like listening to podcasts, a Bible podcast could be a great way to get the Bible in you. It’s not the same as studying, but it’s a great way to get an overview.

Many of us are tempted to read our favorite passages repeatedly. If we’re not careful, we will ignore large portions of the Bible that are also inspired.

Reading or listening to the whole Bible in a year is also a great way of forcing yourself to read Leviticus. There is incredible wisdom in Leviticus, but you’ll never find it if you never read it.

Carolyn: It’s a great practice to read the Bible as a whole, so you get the big idea of what the whole Bible says. That way, when you study more deeply, you’ll be less likely to take something out of context.

What’s the difference between studying the Bible and reading devotionals?Thomas: What’s the difference between Bible reading, devotional reading, and studying the Bible? I’m asking as somebody who’s never really read a devotional. I read My Utmost for His Highest when I was in college, but I’ve never been much of a devotional reader.

Carolyn: Devotional reading is a great place to start. It’s a great encouragement, and it helps you in your walk with God by giving you a different way of looking at things. Studying the Bible for yourself allows you to think for yourself instead of just reading what someone else got out of it.

They both have benefits, provide encouragement, and help you live for Christ.

Thomas: My biggest challenge with devotionals is that they typically only reference one or two verses, and I suspect those verses are often taken out of context. I like to read the whole chapter to find out if that verse works in that context.

Some verses stand alone, but for others, you need the context of the chapter or book to properly understand what it’s saying.

For example, I’ve never understood how to interpret Jeremiah 29:11. If you read the book of Jeremiah, you don’t want most of the verses to apply to you because they’re about God’s judgment for bad deeds. But everybody loves Jeremiah 29:11 because we want to believe God will prosper us.

But does that apply to Christians? If it does, do all the other passages about God’s judgment and anger also apply to us? How do you negotiate that to figure out what applies to the specific audience and what applies to us?

Most books of the Bible are written to specific audiences, and yet they have general applications as well.

Carolyn: When you’re reading a book of the Bible, you need to remember who it was written to, and you can find that in the introduction. If your Bible doesn’t include introductions, you can find an introduction to each book of the Bible on BlueLetterBible.org. The introduction will tell you who it was written to, who it was written by, and usually when it was written.

Read with those details in mind. Some parts of the Bible were written only to Israel, and some were written for all of us. For example, Paul wrote the book of Ephesians to certain people in Ephesus in the first century, but we can apply his instruction to our own lives as well.

Thomas: A book like Song of Solomon may have several applications. It can be read as a how-to guide for husbands and wives to love each other because it describes the romance between a husband and wife.

Jewish scholars also see it as the romance between Israel and God. Christian scholars sometimes see it as Christ and the Church. It’s possible that it was intended for all three audiences. We can understand Christ’s love for his church through the Song of Solomon’s description of the relationship between a husband and wife. That’s not a stretch. Jesus used marriage as a metaphor for Christ and the Church.

How do we know we’re reading it correctly? Carolyn: Again, I would go to the commentaries and check your work. As you develop applications or points, make sure you check your work, especially if it’s content you’ll share publicly. Check Bible commentaries, dictionaries, and all the different tools. The Bible doesn’t change, so find tools that will help you check your work.

Thomas: As you check your work, you’ll probably discover that 300 years ago or more, another Bible scholar had that same brilliant flash of insight you just had.

You may realize a saint or scholar had the same idea. Or you may realize you’ve believed a heresy that has already been addressed in a historical council.

I want Christian books to have good, sound doctrine because I’m a Christian. But as a marketer, I also want books to be doctrinally sound because heretical books don’t sell. They just don’t resonate with a Christian audience.

If you call your book a Christian book, readers expect it to conform to Christian orthodoxy.

You can sell a heretical book, but you can’t sell it as a Christian book to Christian readers because Christian readers won’t want to buy it. Christians don’t want to buy or read a book on how to be a better gnostic. Some authors sneak it in, but the more mysticism or New Age ideology that sneaks into the book, the less it will resonate with Christians and the less likely they will be to recommend it. That means, there is also a financial incentive to be orthodox with your writing.

What mistakes do authors make when studying the Bible?Carolyn: One mistake is to study only one passage without studying the passages around it. Always keep the passage in its context.

Remember that you are reading a letter from a person to an audience. A podcast listener wouldn’t take one sentence out of this interview and make it mean something we didn’t mean when we were talking. That’s what people do when they take verses out of context.

Thomas: That’s right. It’s not good for marketing. It’s not good theology, and it’s not good for your soul either.

Connect with Carolyn Rice and learn more about her books at CarolynsBooks.com.

You can listen to this episode How to Advance Christ’s Kingdom Through Your Writing on Christian Publishing Show.

On the memorial stone of C.S. Lewis in Westminster Abbey, this quote is engraved:

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I see everything else.”

For Lewis, Christianity was the lens through which he saw the world and wrote his books. Lewis had much to say in his various books, and as an author his Christian worldview influenced everything in his fiction.

Many authors’ understanding of theology doesn’t go much beyond the sinner’s prayer, and their stories reflect that shallow understanding. They end up writing the same simplified message over and over.

We all have a worldview. We all have a lens through which we see the world; and it will impact our writing, whether we know it or not. Fiction is a great place to explore a worldview, especially speculative fiction.

Communicating an intentional message in your novel requires you to know what you believe and why.

Christian fiction writers often struggle to maintain a balance between boldly weaving faith and biblical themes into their writing and sounding preachy or didactic. Few authors can do it well.

Because many Christian authors don’t want to offend anyone, they err on the side of avoiding deep theological issues. On the other end of the spectrum, some authors use clichéd ideas and shallow characterization to make their books sound “Christian.”

How do Christian fiction writers address important issues of theology and apologetics in their stories without writing them like a Sunday school lesson? How does your Christian worldview impact your writing as an author?

One author who knows her way around worldview is L.G. (Laura) McCary, who does not shy away from discussing deep theological issues in her novels. She is the author of That Pale Host, a psychological suspense novel with a supernatural twist, and she’s the social-media manager and staff writer for Lorehaven.com.

What does worldview mean?Thomas Umstattd, Jr.: What do worldview and apologetics mean to you?

Laura (L.G.) McCary: Worldview and apologetics refer to knowing what you believe and why you believe it, so you can communicate it appropriately. I love knowing why I believe a doctrine and where it originated.

Thomas: A Christian worldview affects an authors politics and every interaction you have.

Worldview is a relatively new subject that Christian students learn about. I received worldview training in high school, but my parents did not. When my parents were going to school, there was an assumption that everyone had the same worldview.

But we don’t.

There are many worldviews, such as Communism and cosmic humanism (also called New Age), which are complete worldviews.

Sadly, some Christians have a New Age worldview. They’ll talk about “looking to Christ in you” and “being true to yourself.” These New Age concepts have Christian language attached to them, so they’re sometimes hard to discern.

Laura: You’ll also hear them talk about “Christ consciousness.” Some of the language sounds right, but it’s off. When you poke it, you can see it’s coming from a completely different worldview. It’s not from Scripture at all.

Thomas: That’s right. The same is true with Communism.

In Acts chapter two, you’ll read that the early Christians were sharing what they had, and some people take that to be a plug for Communism. But there’s a big difference between me choosing to share what I have and you using the threat of force from the state to take what I have and give it to somebody else.

If you don’t have a sophisticated understanding of worldview, Acts might sound like Communism.

But it is not the same.

How do authors incorporate Christian worldview into fiction?Thomas: What does it look like to write a novel that expresses your worldview?

Laura: It starts with being confident about what you believe, so you can express it through storytelling. If you are not confident in your faith and the doctrines you believe, your uncertainty will show up in your fiction.

I read a well-known, young-adult series where I could tell that the author had questions in her mind while writing about the nature of humanity and nature versus nurture.

She did not resolve those issues in her mind by the end of the series. It was frustrating to read. I have a psychology degree and have thoroughly thought through those issues. When I reached the end of the series, I thought, She didn’t know what she thought the whole time she was writing.

If you don’t know what you think about a particular topic, you won’t be able to communicate well through your fiction because it will come out muddled. It’s easier for Christians to see examples of that muddled thinking in secular fiction than in our own fiction because we agree with ourselves.

Thomas: In many ways, we’re currently seeing a caricature of ourselves in secular fiction. For decades, the big critique of Christian fiction was that it was too preachy and it was the same message over and over.

If you’ve watched movies or shows written in the last several years, you know they’re all touting the same message of diversity, inclusion, and equality. In fact, the critics are even mocking the repetition, and it’s turning away audiences. Ratings and sales are down across the board.

Today a number-one hit movie only requires $20 million in sales. Two years ago, $20 million wouldn’t have ranked in the top ten. There’s been a complete collapse in the connection with the audience.

I heard someone explain the phenomenon to a Christian audience. He asked who had seen the movie X-Men 2, and many people raised their hands.

Then he asked who had seen Broke Back Mountain. Almost no one raised their hands. Both movies had the same message; but in X-Men 2, the message and worldview were incorporated organically into the story.

X-Men 2 was entertaining, while Broke Back Mountain felt like a sermon.

People don’t want to buy tickets to a sermon, but they do want to watch a fun movie. X-Men 2 was effective partly because it was speculative, which meant that the mutants were a metaphor. The message becomes less preachy if you work it in organically.

What tips do you have for a Christian trying to organically incorporate their worldview into a great story?Laura: Speculative writing has the unique capability of disarming readers and getting them interested in something they might not otherwise accept.

Books like 1984, Brave New World, and Animal Farm are excellent dystopian books, which aren’t Christian; but they’re written from a clear point of view.

Those authors, Huxley and Orwell, had specific purposes for writing those stories. But the stories disarm your initial argument because they are set in a different world. Animal Farm is about animals; and because the characters aren’t human, the message gets past your internal gatekeeper.

I’ve noticed this a lot with my children. For example, the Kung Fu Panda TV show series had several issues I had to carefully point out to my kids. I stopped the show to point out that the characters were subscribing to Eastern philosophy, which is neither true nor compatible with our Christian beliefs.

Since the show is a cool story with pandas and snakes doing karate, kids get excited about i;, and their internal gatekeepers can be caught off guard.

As a Christian, you must know that incorporating your worldview is powerful; but only if you deliberately try not to be preachy.

Thomas: The key is to be specific. The more specific you are, the less preachy you sound.

For example, I’ve wanted somebody to address the fallacy of “Well, we just need to do something.” Characters and real people commonly say it, as if it doesn’t matter whether what we’re doing works. We just need to do something.

The problem is so big and terrible that we just need to “do something.” But the truth is, if what you’re doing isn’t working, then it’s harmful because it’s keeping people from looking for the actual solution.

Doing “something” isn’t enough. We need to solve the problem. There’s a big difference between just doing something and actually fixing the problem. That fallacy could be easily explored in fiction in a thousand specific settings.

Specificity keeps it from feeling preachy because you can write about real life and people’s real problems. It’s not a vague sermon with Christianese platitudes.

Laura: Certain movies use vague platitudes like “be yourself” or “believe in your dreams.”

I’d rather see Tony Stark at the end of Endgame, knowing he will sacrifice himself for the entire world even though he’ll lose everything he cares about.

The idea of sacrifice and growth is a Christian concept. Tony Stark’s character arc moves from selfishness to selflessness, from arrogant jerk to hero who saves everybody to his own hurt. That’s a Christian idea.

I get frustrated when I see movies or cartoons that could be so good; but in the end, the writers just slap on a platitude like “everything will be fine.”

They begin with a specific message about loving your family or respecting your parents, but then it becomes a vague “everything’s fine” message. Specificity is important.

Thomas: Tony Stark was specifically flawed. He was arrogant, selfish, and prideful. Throughout the story, he learns to repent of those flaws, make amends, and suffer the consequences of his flaws.

Compare that to the recent remake of Pinocchio.

The original story of Pinocchio was a moral story. Most Disney stories have awful worldviews, and I got my initial worldview education by discussing the worldview problems of Disney films that most people loved.

In the Pinocchio remake with Tom Hanks, Pinocchio is a victim. He’s not choosing to do evil. The children aren’t drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. They’re drinking root beer and smashing clocks.

By diminishing the evil, the writers actually ruin the whole message. There was no point.

That’s why it went straight to Disney Plus. They did the market research and knew they had a stinker on their hands, but they didn’t know why it wouldn’t do well.

The problem was that they lost the powerful, ethical core of the story, where you were encouraged to do more.

In contrast, the most recent Spider-Man movie had a powerful moral message about being compassionate to the poor. One character really represents compassion to the poor and suffers for it.

Many writers are afraid to let their characters suffer.

If you don’t let your characters suffer, you’re subscribing to the Disney version of a Christian worldview, where suffering is something to be avoided.

Christians often see God as the one who takes our suffering away, and sometimes he does. But he also brings suffering. In the Old Testament, God is the source of suffering as much as he is the alleviator.

To explore that theme in our fiction, we must let our characters suffer without putting a Disney gloss on it.

How do we explore suffering in fiction?Laura: We must have a proper understanding of the theology of pain.

Atheists often say, “Good people suffer, and bad people win; and that proves God doesn’t exist.”

But the problem of pain doesn’t disprove God. It actually proves that our God is with us through our suffering and pain.

In my novel That Pale Host, the main character, Charlotte, struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. She’s struggling to be a decent mom, to take care of her kids, and to do all the normal things. She’s also a strong, dedicated Christian who attends church every Sunday.

I wrote her character partially out of my own experience. I’d been through what I call my kintsugi story.

There’s this concept in Japanese pottery called kintsugi, where broken ceramic is mended with gold lacquer so that it becomes more valuable because it has been broken. All those beautiful cracks are gold.

When I was writing my story, I wanted to convey that God takes our most painful circumstances and uses them for his glory and our good, even though it may not make sense when you’re going through it.

The characters in my novel don’t get every circumstance perfectly resolved. But I am coming at my story from a deep abiding trust that God is with me in my pain, that he loves me and never abandons me. He is always doing something for his glory and my good.

Thomas: God doesn’t keep you from going into the valley of the shadow of death; but when you’re in the valley, he’s with you always.

Allowing your characters to go into that dark valley, into the dark night of the soul, makes them interesting.

Laura: A lot of Christian fiction irritates many of us because nothing bad happens to the characters, or they don’t do anything bad. Authors who like that aren’t subscribing to a Christian worldview.

Thomas: That’s true. The cause of PTSD for most people, especially military folks, isn’t witnessing evil. It’s participating in evil. After a war, people have to figure out how to live with themselves after doing an evil they never thought they’d do.

Interestingly, C.S. Lewis allows his characters to do evil things.

For example, Edmond is a terrible person. He betrays his siblings to the White Witch and is terrible the whole time.

As I was rereading the series, I began to think Edmund was a hopeless sociopath. I had just read The Sociopath Next Door, which posits that sociopathy is an illness, rather than a choice, and there’s no cure.

But as I read the Narnia books, I realized that although Edmund was a sociopath, he had an encounter with Aslan; and after that, he was no longer a sociopath. I was reminded that God is more powerful than sociopathy.

The secular worldview says there’s no cure for a sociopath. There’s no fixing it.

But the Christian worldview says all of us, even authors, are sociopaths to one degree or another, and we all need Jesus to change our worldview and how we approach the world.

Lewis allows Edmund to be a vindictive sociopath who is a cruel bully to his little sister so that his transformation makes him a super compelling character.

Each of Lewis’s children has their own moral journey of choosing to do right and struggling with the temptation to do evil.

Laura: Same thing with Eustace. I deeply identified with Eustace, especially as I went through some hard things as an adult. In the story, Eustace has become a dragon. He’s miserable and doesn’t want to be a dragon anymore.

As he’s crying big dragon tears, Aslan comes and says, “You need to be cleaned.” Eustace tries to take off his dragon scales but can’t. Aslan finally says, “No, I have to do it for you.” Having his dragon skin removed is painful for Eustace; but when it’s off, he’s himself again.

I felt that way about some sin and pride I dealt with when my husband was a pastor. God used some hard circumstances to scour away my sin, and it hurt. But I kept thinking, “When this comes away, when it’s finally gone, I’ll be who God wants me to be. I’ll be myself again. The self that God made.”

Those images are only possible if you deeply understand who God is, why he made you, what he expects of you, and what Scripture tells you about yourself. Lewis is unique because he’s an amazing apologist, theologian, and storyteller. The scene is so powerful because he deeply understood those things.

Thomas: In your story of struggling with pride, God was the antagonist. You didn’t want the suffering. He was opposing you and your pride.

That’s what we see in Lewis’s stories. Aslan is often the antagonist getting in the way of what the children want more often than he’s helping them. I think that’s why Aslan works.

Christian authors often fear putting God in their stories because they don’t know how to do it without having God solve all their characters’ problems. If that’s where your story is headed, your theology is not well developed.

Putting God in your story will add problems for your characters because God has his own ways. He’s not there to simply help us do what we want. He’s doing his own thing and working to get us on his team. It’s not as if you have superpowers when God is on your team. It’s God who has the power, so go with him.

During the Civil War, one of Abraham Lincoln’s advisors mentioned that God was on the Union’s side. Lincoln replied, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

That worldview shift is important. Even in the Bible, we see Joshua asking the commander of the Lord’s army whether he was with Joshua or the enemy. The angel basically says, “Neither. I’m on God’s side.”

Even though Joshua was God’s servant, and God helped him defeat Jericho, God also fought against Joshua in the next battle of Ai.

Novelists need to be familiar with the story of Ai and how God opposes people as much as he helps them. In reality, his opposition helps us to obey him.

I’ve noticed several prominent, secular worldview themes in novels, movies, and TV shows; and one of them is a theme of “no redemption.” Once a character is evil, they’re always evil. They can’t be saved or forgiven. You never see a victim forgive a perpetrator.

In our current culture, once you’ve done evil, you’re canceled. There’s no redemption or forgiveness.

Laura: That is such a dangerous, evil idea to put into the culture.

I have not watched The Handmaid’s Tale because I am not interested in slogging through that. However, I saw a clip where one of the main characters, June, forces a young girl to kill someone. And June’s expression says, “Good girl.”

It was the most chilling clip I’d ever seen because, in The Handmaid’s Tale, no redemption or repentance is allowed. It’s all vengeance.

I’m frustrated with that whole message. It’s a dangerous narrative, especially since that whole story is intended to portray Christians as awful people who should be destroyed. It’s deeply disturbing, and the fact that it’s such a popular show scares me.

It’s important to analyze messages and themes in the shows we watch.

For example, I would’ve never watched Game of Thrones, not mainly because of the porn, but because it is nihilistic. There are no good people and no good endings. Every single character in that story is dark, gross, and awful. George R. R. Martin is doing that on purpose. Nihilism is his worldview. The dragons might be cool, but there’s a heavy dose of dangerous lies being handed to you along with those dragons. Not to mention the porn.

Thomas: Plus, he can’t end the story because nihilism doesn’t lead to emotionally satisfying conclusions.

Laura: Nobody will be happy with that ending. Someone else will have to finish it for him.

Thomas: If I were his marketing person, I might recommend not ending it. Sometimes ending a story can torpedo the sales of all the earlier stories.

Pop culture doesn’t know how to stick the ending because they don’t have a worldview that leads to a satisfying ending.

Christians have an advantage in that our worldview leads to really satisfying endings. It’s not the destruction of evil people. It’s that evil people can be transformed through the power of the gospel.

A Christian worldview teaches that we’re all evil from the beginning. Being a part of a marginalized community doesn’t make you good. Being oppressed or poor doesn’t make you good. None of those is the path to redemption.

The path to redemption is through the cross of Jesus; and it’s open to everyone, even the oppressors.

The fascinating thing about the gospel and the early church was that it included Greeks and Jews. Oppressors and oppressed, masters and slaves, men and women all received forgiveness and redemption. It wasn’t a gospel only for slaves, women, or Jews. The gospel is for everyone.

The gospel is powerful and appealing.

As people spend time in the darkness of the woke worldview that lacks redemption and forgiveness and become acquainted with how they don’t live up to their own worldview, they’re going to become increasingly desperate for true redemption and forgiveness, which their woke religion cannot provide.

Wokeness is emerging as a new religion, and people will thirst for the living water. We need to be there to offer it to them. That means being friendly. Mocking somebody in their sorrow is not the path to reaching them with the gospel.

Laura: That goes along with your Ten Commandments of Book Marketing, including “Love thy reader.”

If you want to write stories that make a difference in people’s lives, you must take them seriously. You must know what they think and why, and then you must respect it enough to represent it properly in your fiction so that when your character changes their mind, it’s a convincing transformation.

I read a book a few years ago for Lorehaven that attacked sexualism and woke ideology in a dystopian world. I could tell that the author knew what he believed but could not understand the worldview of the people he was talking about. As a result, his characters came off as cookie-cutter.

He desperately wanted to show his opponents that their beliefs were dangerous and harmful. The author wanted to invite them to the Christian worldview, where there is healing and love. But no one on the other side of that debate would have read his book because of how it was written and how it treated the other side.

Thomas: Your opponents can easily dismiss the argument by honestly saying, “That’s not what I really believe.” At that point, they’re no longer listening.

I recently read The Abolition of Man by Lewis. It’s a nonfiction book, and Lewis really tries to steelman his opponents in the book.

It’s easy to put together a straw man and beat him up, but there’s no victory in that. Lewis was not looking to beat up a straw man, and he didn’t need to.

If you’re a Christian who is rooted in the Bible, you have a strong worldview. You don’t need to straw-man your opponents because you have the truth on your side. If you feel like you need to straw-man your opponents, maybe you don’t understand your worldview well enough. Perhaps you need to learn to understand your opposition to find out what they’re saying. If that feels threatening, you need to understand your own worldview better.

Christians are fond of the myth that bank tellers only handle real, legitimate money, so they’ll know immediately when they feel or see a counterfeit bill. But that’s not true. Bank tellers are trained by feeling a real dollar and feeling the counterfeit. They study real and false currency.

But be careful as you study your opposition’s worldview. You don’t want to go down the path of Saruman, who got so deep into studying the origins of Sauron that he ended up corrupting himself.

Laura: I am interested in what I’d call Christian-adjacent sects like Jehovah’s Witnesses, the LDS church, and some Christian science. Those sects fascinate me because they twist Christian language from the Bible.

If you want to talk to a Jehovah’s Witness about what you believe, it helps to understand their terminology and where they’re coming from.

In my novel, one character is a hyperconservative fundamentalist. As the story progresses, he gets increasingly picky about points of doctrine and issues that are clearly openhanded issues in Scripture.

In my opinion, I know people in real life who are extremely conservative and who have taken things too far. I did not write that character well the first time; and several readers told me, “That came off fake and paper doll.”

I had to sit down and think about why someone would find those picky issues so important. Why would he care about those things so much? What attracted him to it? When I did that, I felt compassion for the character instead of just assuming he was stupid.

It’s easy to get frustrated with people. Our Internet culture yells at each other most of the time. If you get most of your understanding about your opposition from the Internet, you’ll think everybody’s always angry.

Most people, whether Christian or not, are softer; and their beliefs may be less cut-and-dried than you’re being led to believe.

We need to recognize that almost everybody is trying to learn and grow.

World-BuildingWhen I start world-building for my stories, I want to make sure each character feels real. If I were to sit by them in church, I’d recognize them. I base my characters on real people.

Thomas: Each human believes they’re the hero of their own story. Our own actions make sense to us. No one sees themselves as the villain. Even actual villains don’t see themselves as villains.

In Hitler’s worldview, there was an evil conspiracy of Jews taking over the world. And he was the one person with the courage to stand up and save the world from evil Judaism. He was deadly and terribly wrong; but in his own mind, he was the hero with the courage to fight the “evil.”

Your characters’ actions need to make sense to them, which means they need to make sense to you when you’re viewing them from their perspective. It doesn’t mean their actions are right; but in that character’s mind, their action must make sense.

Portray Evil AccuratelyThere’s a difference between speaking the truth in love and speaking an incomplete truth. For example, in the New Testament, the demons only speak the truth about Jesus. And yet Jesus often silences them.

They proclaim Jesus as the Son of God, and he tells them to shut up.

Why?

The most poisonous lie is an incomplete truth or a truth spoken out of malice.

The demons weren’t declaring him the Son of God to support him. They were proclaiming it so the crowds would stone Jesus.

It’s possible to wield truth, or part of it, as a weapon against others. Demons wielded a sliver of truth as a weapon against Jesus to undermine him. He silences them because “his time had not come.”

We tend to forget that Satan is an “angel of light.” He’s beautiful. Most of what he said was true when he spoke to Eve in the garden of Eden. It was just slightly twisted.

It’s those slightly twisted truths that are most dangerous. Eve did learn the knowledge of good and evil and became like God in that way, but she also died. She didn’t die right away; but she still died, and death came into the world.

If you want to portray evil correctly in your novel, you must be willing to let evil be an “angel of light” who proclaims a slightly twisted truth.

Write a Convincing VillainLaura: I thought about that while listening to Eichmann in Jerusalem, which is about the trial of Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Final Solution to kill Jews during the Holocaust.

He was convinced he did nothing wrong. He said shocking things while he was being interrogated. He said, “I didn’t kill anybody. I just made sure the cars ran on time. I made sure the trains were available. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just a functionary. I didn’t do anything at all.”

It was infuriating. I had to take it in small chunks because I kept getting angry. But the thing is, it was logical to him. In his mind, he didn’t kill anyone. He sat at a desk during the entire war and made phone calls.

Thomas: Everybody has somebody else they could blame.

Laura: Just like Eve blamed the serpent and Adam blamed Eve. We all can point to something else and explain away our actions.

When writing villains, it’s important to delve into your sinful heart.

I could make my character and story work because I delved into my pride problem. I allowed myself to explore what I would have done apart from Christ. How would I have behaved? How would I have treated people?

If God had not rooted pride out of me, what would I look like? Without Christ, I can be a vindictive and vengeful person. I was willing to pull out the corpse of my old self and put it into the character. You know the depths of your own depravity better than anyone else.

You may not be Hitler, but you know all the impulses in your own heart. When you put those into a villain, he becomes real, honest, and scary.

Thomas: I don’t think we actually believe that we’re evil. Some of us know that some of the time; but most of the time, we feel like our actions and thoughts are justified. We deceive ourselves by saying, “I’m not as bad as the next guy.”

Laura: I agree, but you need to recognize that you are the evilest person you know. When I’m writing, I get honest with myself and God about the ugly things because he already sees them.

Thomas: Remember those motivational posters of the 90s that featured a word like “Teamwork” and a photo of people working together?

There was a reaction to that in a series of demotivation posters. I had one in my office. It was a picture of a raindrop pouring off a leaf, and it said, “Irresponsibility: No single raindrop feels responsible for the flood.”

It pointed out that we don’t acknowledge being part of the problem. When you’re sitting in traffic complaining about the traffic, you don’t usually consider that your car is part of the traffic problem.

Creating characters is an opportunity for us as authors to hold up the mirror of the law so that people can see the sin inside their own hearts. It’s easy to point to the villain and call him evil, but it’s more powerful and redeeming when we recognize “I am Edmund. I am Eustace.”

The more three-dimensional the character is, the more our readers can see themselves, not just in the hero but also in the villain.

There’s power in a tragedy, and tragic stories help us change our ways.

Laura: Movies like A Quiet Place portray an awful world where everything is terrible. But then there is a beautiful moment of sacrifice and love at the end.

Those dark and scary stories illustrate our sinful nature and God’s incredible grace better than fluffy bunny stories. I need an occasional fluffy bunny story, but I know that God works through the darkness and hard things.

Thomas: Character is developed in the suffering. Understanding the lies helps us better understand the truth we study. We must study them both.

Power for Good or EvilThomas: The difference between Hitler and most of us is power. The only thing keeping us from doing more evil is that we’re not more powerful.

Many of us believe that we could do more good if we only had more power. But what if more power would only enable us to do more evil?

Laura: That reminds me of Sam in Lord of the Rings. When Sam was holding the ring, he thought he could be the best gardener that ever was. He would fill the whole of Middle Earth with a garden.

But then he says, “No. That’s not true. That’s a lie.”

It’s the most beautiful moment.

I recently discovered something Tolkien said in a letter to his friend Fr. Robert Murray. He said, “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously at first but consciously in the revision.”

The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously at first but consciously in the revision.

J.R.R. Tolkien

I suspect some of the frustration people have with new versions, like Rings of Power, is that they don’t understand it’s fundamentally a Christian story. It’s fundamentally Catholic as well. And when you see moments like that, Tolkien is referring to the total depravity of man and the brokenness of our world.

Those concepts are placed in his story unconsciously at first and consciously during the edit.

That’s what Christian writers should do. Pour out your first draft, and your beliefs about Jesus and Scripture will emerge regardless. When you go back to edit, you consciously refine it so that you know it will be edifying to your readers.

Thomas: It reminds me of Proverbs 16:9, which I’ve meditated on for a long time. “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

That feels backward to us. We want to seek God for the big picture and then handle the little picture ourselves. But Proverbs 16:9 says the opposite. You write the first draft, but then you partner with the Holy Spirit in the detailed revisions.

Where can authors get apologetics and worldview training that teaches the difference between secular humanism, cosmic humanism, and biblical Christianity?Laura:

WomenInApologetics.com
Stand To Reason
Reasonable Faith with William Lane Craig

I’m creating an apologetics and theology course for Christian speculative authors. Our theology shapes our worldview, which shapes our world-building, so we need to know what we believe.

Thomas: I’d also recommend WORLD magazine. They have a fantastic daily news podcast called The World and Everything in It. They present news from a biblical worldview. It’s illuminating when you compare it to the secular, humanistic worldview or the cosmic, humanistic worldview you hear on the secular news.

I also get news from the Wall Street Journal and NPR. Those sources have helped me understand my worldview better. I get different perspectives on the same news story.

The Daily Wire is not biblical but comes from a secular, conservative worldview.

Getting your news from various sources will help you understand your own worldview. If you don’t study your own worldview, you’ll end up copying and pasting what you consume. FOX and CNN offer a twisted worldview, and they will really mess you up if they’re your only sources of news.

Laura: Your worldview matters. Whether you recognize it or not, it will leak into your stories; and somebody else will notice and ask you about it.

When marketing yourself to agents and editors, they’ll want to know what to expect from you and your worldview. If you don’t know what you believe or why, you cannot effectively market yourself or explain what you care about.

Thomas: It’s true.

My last advice is to make friends with people who disagree with you and spend time listening to them.

One of my best friends is an agnostic/atheist. We disagree quite a bit, but we go to breakfast regularly and discuss philosophy, worldview, and religion. He asks hard questions. As we try to understand each other, we each understand our own worldviews better.

If your worldview can’t stand up to critique, it’s not a strong one. This emerging woke religion does not handle critique well. Instead of responding to a critique, it destroys those who critique it. It’s not fully fleshed out as a religion.

If you want to have a stronger worldview, you must be willing to withstand critique. Critique forces us to return to the Bible and ask our pastors hard questions, both of which are good.

Laura: If you avoid talking to people you disagree with or fail to make friends with people who think differently, I think that’s evidence that you have a tame faith. Christians worship the Lion of Judah. We should not be afraid of hard questions.

Don’t be afraid of being challenged and making proper adjustments in your worldview.

I’ve created a handout with three world-building questions that you might not find in other places, that specifically relate to important concepts in Scripture. You can find it at www.LGMcCary.com/christianpublishingshow.

You can download the handout and receive updates when my worldview course for authors is available.

Connect with L.G (Laura) McCary at LGMcCary.com.

You can listen to this episode World-Building and Worldview: How Good Theology Can Make Your Book More Interesting With L.G. (Laura) McCary on Christian Publishing Show.

Eichmann in Jerusalem

As the old chestnut goes, those who fail to plan can plan to fail. But in order to create a plan, you first need a goal. And authors need to set writing goals.

How do you set a motivating goal that’s realistic but not overwhelming and still challenges you to accomplish more?

One of the most prolific goal-setters I know is Mary DeMuth. She’s a bestselling author who has written more than 40 books. She’s a literary agent and a nationally acclaimed speaker.

I’ve asked her to share her reasons and methods for goal setting.

Why do authors need to set writing goals?Thomas: Why do authors need to set goals? Can’t they just sit down and write?

Mary: No. Writing easily falls to the margins of your life if you don’t make it a priority. If you want writing to be a priority, you must schedule a time to do it. What’s scheduled gets done.

I have a rigorous schedule that allows me to produce about three books each year. I’ve been able to write so many books because I have set writing goals, established deadlines, and developed a work ethic before I was even published.

In the 1990s, before I was published, I would set goals for myself. I aimed to meet my deadlines early. That practice built a habit muscle. I have trained myself to start producing from the moment my fingers hit the keyboard, regardless of what is happening around me.

That ability came from planning, goal setting, and a volume of writing. Great writing doesn’t happen by sitting and thinking. Great writing comes through writing and having something to edit.

Thomas: That seems so secular and businessy. Setting goals that aren’t spiritual might sound secular to some Christian authors. Do Christian authors need to set writing goals?

Do Christian authors need to set goals?Mary: I always think about when I’m on the other side of eternity. Hopefully, the Lord says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That’s what drives me.

If the Lord has given me a talent and equipped me to write, then my job is to write like the wind and to write in a way that brings Him honor.

If I squander that gift, I’ll feel sad, but not in a legalistic way. I’m writing out of my joy because I’ve been rescued by grace. It’s such a joy to put words on the page when I know I’m equipped and called. When I fulfill that calling, I feel joy knowing I’m doing exactly what the Lord has asked me to do. I’m not squandering the gift he’s given me.

Thomas: Jesus talked about planning in Luke 14. He basically says that before you join His Kingdom, you need to put together a plan. You need to count the costs to see if you really want to be a disciple. (See Luke 14:28-32.)

Jesus uses money and time as a metaphor for spiritual things, but the metaphor is instructive for authors. Authors don’t often count the cost of how much time is needed to write a book. Authors tend to run out of time and fail to finish their books because they didn’t make the necessary sacrifices.

Writing is typically the first thing that gets cut when life gets hard or circumstances change. Some authors say they’ll begin writing when “things get better.” I love that optimism, but that isn’t real life. Bad things and disruptions are always happening.

As soon as you get through your current “bad thing,” a different inconvenient circumstance will crop up.

Mary: Agreed. We need to view goal-keeping as a normative part of our writing careers, and we should exercise it like a muscle. I just returned from overseas and rejoined my Camp Gladiator gym. My muscles are sore today because even though I was running while I was gone, I wasn’t doing calisthenics.

Writing is similar. It’s like a muscle. When you’re away from it for a while, you need time and repetition to redevelop that muscle. Forming a consistent writing habit over the long haul will serve you well.

By the same token, once you have a writing habit, you can reverse engineer the writing goal you set and work backward toward it. You can tell an editor how long it will take you to write a book because you already know how many words you can write a day. If I have to write a book in two weeks, I can do it because I know how many words I can write in a day.

Part of this process is learning to treat writing like a business. You can’t squeeze your job into the margins. It’s your job, so you must dedicate time to writing and develop a habit.

Thomas: In business school, we learned about SMART Goals. SMART goals are surprisingly helpful for authors.

SMART is an acronym: Specific * Measurable * Ambitious * Realistic * T*ime-based

When all those elements are included in your stated goal, you’ll have a clearly defined destination and know where you’re headed. A SMART goal is a good goal.

The A (ambitious) and the R (realistic) can pull against each other. Your goal needs to be challenging, but it can’t be so ambitious that you automatically write it off. If your ambitious goal is to sell a million copies of your book this year, you’ll need a plan for selling about 100,000 copies per month. That may not be realistic if you only sold 20 copies in 2022. You’ll probably feel demotivated when you can’t sell 20 copies in your first month.

By the same token, you can’t just paint a red dot around where the arrow lands and describe what you’re doing now. That’s not goal-setting. That’s just describing the status quo.

The most useful aspects of a SMART goal are making it measurable and time-bound. Time-bound measurement separates a goal from a vague desire. When people say, “I want to write a book” or “I want to be published,” they’re stating a vague desire.

On the other hand, when someone says, “I want to write 5,000 words a day and finish my rough draft by October 10th,” they’re stating a measurable, time-bound goal.

Measurability allows you to keep score. A measurable goal is like a scoreboard in a game. If you glance at the scoreboard during a basketball game and see you’re down by two points, the scoreboard tells you the team needs to score more baskets. If you don’t have a scoreboard, the game becomes very demotivating.

Even in children’s sports where they don’t keep score, the kids keep score in their heads because it’s more fun and motivating to know how you’re doing.

Write Out Your SMART GoalThomas: Consider the five elements of a SMART goal, then write down several goals to set for your writing.

If you have a writer friend, you can each write down a goal and hold one another accountable. You’ll find that your next year will be more productive, and you’ll accomplish so much more, especially if you check in with one another.

Mary: I once read a book about writing things down. Their data showed that people who wrote down their goals were more apt to achieve them than those who have goals floating in their heads.

I was skeptical, so I did my own experiment. I always wanted a tattoo, so I wrote down, “Get a tattoo,” and within a week, I had a tattoo. I remember thinking, “It worked!” It’s a little tattoo that says “Jesus.” But still, I wrote it down, and it happened.

There’s something powerful about writing down your goals.

Thomas: Writing down the goals you set keeps you from inadvertently changing the goal down the road to make it easier to attain.

You may have begun with a goal of writing 1,000 words per day, but if you don’t write that down, you may remember it as 1,000 words per week. When you keep adjusting your goal to make it easier, it’s no longer ambitious. It’s no longer challenging you.

Besides a word-count goal, what other goals should writers consider setting for this next year?Mary: I rely on the word-count goal every weekday. When I’m writing a nonfiction book, I aim for 2,000 words per day. That means in five weeks, I will have that nonfiction book written. It’s a daily goal as well as a weekly goal.

I like measuring by word count, but people prefer different methods of measurement. Some writers may want to produce one beautiful page of writing per day. That’s about 350 words that you’ll probably self-edit.

If your chapters are long, you might aim for one chapter per week over ten weeks. Novelists might consider two shorter chapters per week. Or you might say, “By August 24th, I will write a detailed book outline.”

You can state your writing goals in different ways; but when I’m on deadline, my go-to measurement is the word count.

I’ve created a tool that helps me track my progress. I insert a table grid into a Microsoft Word document where each cell in the table represents 1,000 words.

For example, if I’m writing a 50,000-word book, I create a table with 50 squares; and every time I write 1,000 words, I color in one square. I keep it on my desk, and I can see my progress.

It’s like magic.

Thomas: If you’ve ever written an item on your to-do list just so you could scratch it off, you know how motivating it is to physically mark your progress.

For most of human history, the evidence of work was very clear. You can see the difference when you work in the garden for a day. If you work on building a house for a day, you can see your progress. If you make shoes, you can count the pairs you make every day.

Historically, humans have seen physical evidence of the work they complete; and that’s very rewarding. We get deep satisfaction from a job well done.

But if you spend a day editing your book, it doesn’t look any different. Maybe you corrected 1,000 typos, but you don’t really see that. You can’t necessarily see the evidence of your work. You can start to feel like you’re not making any progress.

It may be that you didn’t do anything. Perhaps you thought you were writing all day, but you started researching on Wikipedia and then ended up on Facebook and Instagram. Suddenly you’re out of time and didn’t really do anything.

On the other hand, perhaps you made a lot of progress that you just can’t see.

Physically coloring the box or scratching something off your to-do list makes a difference in your sense of accomplishment. It sounds silly, but it works. And if it works, why not use it?

Mary: Sometimes it’s the simple things that we poo-poo that actually really work.

What marketing goals should authors set?Thomas: In terms of marketing and money, what are some other goals writers should consider?

Mary: If you consider yourself a professional writer, then setting a financial goal is important. It’s not easy if you’re just beginning, but it helps you to work toward something.

For example, if you want to make $12,000 this year from your writing, you need to think through how you’ll meet that goal. Understand that entrepreneurs rarely earn exactly $1,000 in a month. Sometimes they make $200 in one month and $1,800 the next. You just never know, and you can’t control it.

But you can control what kind of questions you ask.

If you write books, have an agent, and are likely to get a contract this year, you can figure out whether you’ll hit your $12,000-per-year goal.

If you’re self-publishing and know you can earn $300 per month from book sales, you can start chipping away at that goal of $1,000 per month.

You can meet that financial goal in other ways too:

Research ways you can be paid to advertise for others on your own website. Learn How to Diversify Your Income As an Author.
Seek public speaking opportunities. Learn how to get more speaking engagements and How to Use Public Speaking to Change Lives and Build Your Platform.
Create online courses to sell. Learn How to Adapt Your Book into an Online Course.
Start a Patreon account, and build a membership to generate recurring income.
Monetize your podcast with sponsorships or advertising. Learn How to Advertise Books on a Podcast.

Mary: Sometimes marketing gurus tell me I ought to do one thing and one thing alone. Unfortunately, I cannot make a living doing one thing because those single income streams often depend on gatekeepers.

I have to diversify if I want to have a creative business. I don’t want to rely on one source of income to make that $1,000 every month.

Thomas: I often quote Ecclesiastes 11:6, which says, “Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.”

For authors, writing a book is like working the fields. If the harvest is good, it can be really good; but if there’s a drought, all your work may come to nothing.

You may have done a great job planting (or writing); but if it doesn’t rain, the crop won’t grow.

That’s why you also do your afternoon activity. You don’t plow the fields in the afternoon. In the heat of the afternoon, you work in the shade doing something with your hands. It won’t make you rich, but it will help pay the bills.

How do goals trigger creativity?Setting goals can trigger creativity. When you know your goal is to make $1,000 per month, you’ll figure out how to make it happen. It’s a specific goal, not a vague desire like “I want to be a professional author.” You know how much you need to make to be a professional author, and you can create a plan to accomplish that goal.

Maybe you need to write your books in the morning and do editing for other people in the afternoon. Editing allows you to earn money while honing your skill.

Building a website for another author helps you improve your own website. Editing for another author helps you see how to improve your own writing. Both jobs help put food on the table regularly and reliably. You’re not just waiting for money to fall from the heavens someday.

God will give you the strength to work. He will partner with you, and you get to co-labor with Christ if you’re in the Kingdom. It’s an amazing blessing to co-labor with Christ, as Allen Arnold shared in his interview on this show; but you still have to labor.

Some authors rebel against hustle culture, and some of that attitude is good. It’s wrong to glorify work, rather than glorifying God in our work; but that rebellion can go too far.

The sixth commandment doesn’t say to rest on Sundays. It says we should work six days per week and rest on Saturday. We are expected to work. Adam and Eve were in the garden in perfection without sin, and they were working.

Work is righteous. Focusing too much on work is bad, but that doesn’t mean work itself is bad.

Mary: I agree. I love to work. When you’re in your sweet spot of doing what God has called you to do, you’ll get so much joy that work doesn’t feel like work.

If your work feels like stress and doom, maybe you need to pray about whether you’re in the right place. Maybe you’re a writer; but you realize you only like to write short form, and you’ve been forcing yourself to write a long-form book.

Perhaps it’s the opposite. Maybe you’re writing Instagram posts, but you get no joy from it, and you know you could write a whole book with joy.

Exegete that a little bit. Listen to yourself, your regrets, and your dread. Those things might be telling you something that would be a sweet course correction for you.

Input Goals vs. Output GoalsThomas: Output goals are more stressful than input goals. For example, getting published with Zondervan is an output goal because Zondervan ultimately decides whether to publish you. That’s stressful because you have so little control over it.

An input goal might be having a goal of pitching Zondervan. Better yet, aim to pitch five publishers each week for the next three weeks. You can control that goal because you can input the work and scratch it off your list. Then you can leave the results up to God.

Output goals can be very demotivating because you feel like you’re not in control of your life. Set goals over what you can control. You can control the inputs. You can’t control the outputs.

So set a goal to plant your fields. You may have a goal for the yield of the harvest, but you must hold that harvest goal lightly. If it doesn’t rain, you have some consolation in knowing that you did your part and sowed the seed.

Evaluate what you can control and what you just need to pray about.

Mary: Those output goals are also called blocked goals because they can be blocked by somebody else. I call input goals production goals because you can choose to do a certain number of weekly tasks.

In the early stages of your writing career, you’ll want to query five or ten agents each week. You can control that. You might decide to research ten agents who represent your genre.

Why should writers set relationship goals?Another production goal, or input goal, might be relational. I’ve had so many positive things happen to me as a result of pursuing relationships and connecting with people.

Attending a face-to-face conference would be a relationship goal. You’ll make relationships with people. When I was writing for online and print magazines, I made a relationship with one of the editors. One day she needed a quick turnaround on an article. Because we had a relationship and work history, she knew I could write that article quickly; and I got to do that for her.

Now that I’m a literary agent, my publishing relationships are paying off in a relational capital way.

You will never regret a relationship goal to make friends with other writers. We need that support group. We need to know other weirdos like us, but we also need to know other people in the industry.

You’d be surprised at how small the Christian publishing industry is. Most of my publishing opportunities have come almost exclusively from my relationships.

Thomas: Relationships are always worthwhile. Even if you don’t end up working together in the industry, you still have a friendship.

Beautiful things come from working relationships and friendships, and both are rewarding.

As a parent, I’m starting to help my children learn how to make friends. They’re much happier when they have friends, and that doesn’t change as they grow. Even adults need professional and personal friends.

Mary: When I was launching my book called Jesus Every Day, which is a devotional where you pray to Jesus based on Scripture, I was in a mastermind group with Thomas. I asked the mastermind group what I could do to promote the book, and they came up with the Pray Every Day Show, which is a podcast that has had wild success. I did not come up with that idea on my own.

Community is so important. I need author friends to see what I can’t. I have a lot of blind spots. Having good relationships has helped me to grow and start better marketing initiatives for my books.

Thomas: We can’t see the spinach in our own teeth, but we also rarely see our own strengths. We need good friends who want to see us succeed and can suggest ideas based on our strengths.

How can authors meet a big publishing deadline?Thomas: Your publisher’s manuscript deadline can be scary. Perhaps your manuscript is due June 1st. If you’re not careful, you may end up cramming all the work into May because you were goofing off in January.

Professional authors break that June 1st goal into daily goals. They figure out how many days it will take to write those 50,000 words. Then they schedule those days on their calendars.

If you can write 2,000 words per day, you’ll need 25 writing days. Schedule those days around your vacations, family weddings, and busy weekends. You may not have as many days to write as you think, so you need to make the most of the days you have. Don’t cram it in at the last minute.

Mary: Exactly, and that’s where that reverse engineering comes in.

If I have a deadline, I complete the manuscript at least a month before and preferably two months before my deadline.

I reverse engineer it and write the book in about two months. Then, I let it sit for a while because I’m not a good editor when I’m too close to my manuscript. I come back to edit before I hand it in.

I used to have my critique group look at every manuscript I turned in. Now that I’m further along, I can self-edit. I’m not the kind of person who will cram for something. I would rather plan it and not have that last-minute stress.

Thomas: Adhering to your plan and allowing some margin before your deadline allows you to produce a higher-quality book.

The longer your work, the more mentally tired you become. If you’re cramming at the last minute, you’re essentially chopping with a dull ax. Your work becomes less efficient and less accurate.

Working with a sharp ax early in the process allows you to produce better work.

I’ve recently moved from using a to-do list to scheduling tasks on my calendar.

When I used to run a web company, we had a lot of tasks without hard deadlines. But now that I’m a podcaster, I have weekly hard deadlines. I have to fit all my tasks around my podcasting deadlines.

Many of my tasks, like this interview, are scheduled; and I have to show up at a specific time. The rest of my tasks must fit around this event on my calendar.

Even if I’m the only person working on a task, I still put it on my calendar. That way, I know when I’m busy and available. I don’t schedule meetings during that time.

Scheduling tasks helps you know whether you’re really working toward a real goal. If you can’t find room on your calendar to work on your goal, it’s better to find that out sooner rather than later.

Don’t be like that man that Jesus was talking about who started building the tower and ran out of money after he started the foundation.

If failure is inevitable because you truly don’t have the time to finish your book, then you could spend those hours doing something that may be much more edifying. You could spend those hours with your grandchildren or volunteering at church.

Count the costs. Be honest about what you’re willing to sacrifice and invest.

What professional goals should authors set?Mary: Give yourself permission to have a professional goal:

Work with a writing mentor.
Complete a webinar class.
Attend a writers conference.

Authors often treat their writing as a low priority and aren’t willing to pay for professional development. But professional development has a great return on investment. I still use techniques I learned from mentors and teachers 15 years ago. I don’t regret paying for those educational opportunities.

Thomas: Investing in your education continues to pay for itself year after year. You’ll live with yourself for the rest of your life. If you invest in a car or a house, you may eventually get a different one; but you’ll always live with your own mind. You’ll always have your education.

What final tips or encouragement do you have for authors setting writing goals?Mary: I would encourage authors to finish something. Having that win will cause you to strive for another win.

People ask me, “How do you learn to write a novel?”

I answer, “You learn to write a novel by writing a novel, and it’s usually bad. Then you write another novel because you learned from the first one.”

You could read all the books in the world about how to write a novel; but if you never write one, you will never know how to write one.

You have to be okay with being a learner and doing something poorly at first.

Don’t be afraid. It won’t be perfect. It won’t be God’s gift to the literary world. But if you finish it, you have something to look at. If you don’t finish it, you have nothing to edit.

Thomas: There’s nothing quite like that feeling of completing a book.

When you return to it, you’ll realize it needs more work, but be sure to pause and give yourself a couple of weeks to enjoy the feeling of finishing. You’ll learn from every book you finish. As I’ve said before, the carpenter doesn’t just build the house. The house builds the carpenter.

Finishing a book helps you grow as a person and think clearly. You’ll develop your appreciation for other fiction and start to read books differently. Your taste for literature will improve.

Depending on the topic of your book, finishing it might have been a spiritual journey where you grew closer to God in the process of writing the book. For authors who are writing about trauma, the act of writing can be its own healing reward.

I’ve seen many authors whom God has called to write a book, not because He wants them to publish it but because He wants to do a work in their hearts as they write.

Connect with Mary DeMuth* Literary agent website: MaryDeMuthLiterary.com * Author website: MaryDeMuth.com

Related Episodes* How to Find Time to Write As a Busy Mom With Asheritah Ciuciu * Productivity Tips for Authors With Joanna Penn * How to Diversify Your Income As an Author * How to Write More Productively

You can listen to this episode New Year Goal Planning With Mary DeMuth on Christian Publishing Show.

Do you know the feeling of arriving home after a party only to look in the mirror and discover you’ve had food on your face the whole night, and nobody told you?

Everybody saw it, but you didn’t.

Writing can be like that. We often lack the perspective to see where our writing needs to be.

You can hire an editor, and eventually you should. But if you’re still working to improve your craft, you’re not quite ready for an editor. Instead, you need a critique group.

I have been recommending critique groups for years. I hear the same excuses when I ask authors why they’re not in a critique group.

There’s no critique group in my area.
I live in the middle of nowhere.
I live in the suburbs.
I live in the city.
All the critique groups are different.

The simple solution to all those problems is to start your own critique group.

How do you start your own critique group? How do you start the kind of critique group other talented authors want to join?

I asked Sharon Tedford. She’s an international singer and songwriter, a multi-published author, and host of the award-winning God in the Ordinary Podcast.

She’s a member of the Live Wright Texas writers tribe that encourages writers to grow the kingdom of God through their craft. The group recently released its first anthology, The Write Calling.

What are some benefits of being in a writers group?Thomas Umstttd, Jr: What are some benefits of being part of a writer’s group?

Sharon Tedford: I am in a writer’s group because I thought my writing and punctuation were great. But I’m a Brit, and American punctuation is a little different. Since I live in Dallas, I needed to learn American punctuation.

When you get together with writers who love Jesus, who know more than you do, and who see things differently, you end up with some absolute gems and encouragement as well. When you feel your writing is good, one of your fellow writers might be able to see the food on your face and tell you it’s rubbish.

On the other hand, when you feel like giving up, your writer friends might say, “We can help you improve upon that, but your writing’s really good. I love this bit.” Being in a group of people with the same goal, who love Jesus, and who want to improve is a win for everybody.

Thomas: There’s an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The writing journey, especially the journey to commercial success and making a living, is a long journey. It doesn’t happen overnight. Commercial success often takes years or decades.

The journey is too long to go alone.

You need critiques as well as encouragement. And it’s fun to be around other authors.

A writer’s conference is an expensive way to experience a community of writers. When you talk about a film or book with other authors, you can use a more sophisticated vocabulary and talk in-depth about protagonists, antagonists, and motivations. It’s great fun to go to writers group.

Sharon: When our group gets together, we spark ideas for each other because we have the same interests. We enjoy texting each other to share helpful articles or prayer requests. We love each other, and we are friends. That friendship has grown because we have the same goal in mind.

How did your writers group come together?Sharon: My husband introduced me to his friend’s wife, who was also a writer. We started talking, and she persuaded me to attend a writers conference with her, which I did with much trepidation.

As a not-yet-published author, I listened to all the conference speakers and discussions. It was all wonderful and terrifying. We met many people, and it was fun to remember we were all there for the same reason.

At this conference, Deb DeArmand, one of our Living Write Texas founders, was chatting with two other proteges who were living in the Dallas Fort Worth area. They were all bemoaning the fact that there was no writers group here.

One of them finally said, “Why don’t we just start one? There’s three of us.”

They hosted the first meeting, and each of them invited a few other writers. I was invited to that meeting.

When people ask me how to start a writers group, I tell them to network. It’s such an ugly term, but you don’t have to network just get a business card. You can meet people to begin a relationship.

Now, when I go to a conference, I always write “Dallas Fort Worth” under my name on my name tag so people can see where I’m from. When you’re visiting with someone at a conference, they might see where you’re from and discover they live three miles down the road. You might decide to meet in town to talk about writing.

Thomas: You only need two or three people to form a group. In fact, I recommend starting a writer’s group with a few people and then growing it from there. Starting with 40 writers who’ve never been in a group before will be unwieldy.

Sharon: We have eight to ten people, and never more than ten. Membership in our group is by invitation only. If someone wants to join, we encourage them to start their own group, and we help them. A group of 40 is too big for this kind of group. It’s impossible to maintain close friendships with 40 people.

Thomas: There is a place for a group meeting of that size. For instance, you could host a meeting and invite presenters to speak to your group.

I’ve presented at those writers groups. There’s nothing wrong with that many people, but it doesn’t replace the smaller critique group. In a small group, you can actually read each other’s writing.

You can’t read 40 people’s manuscripts, but you might be able to read five and give feedback.

Sharon: We call ourselves a tribe because we’re more than a critique group.

We must be fully engaged with each other, and you can’t do that with 40 people.

How often do you meet, and what do you do in your meeting?Sharon: We meet three times each year as a group, and for our fourth meeting, we attend a conference together. We typically share a room at the conference because it’s cheaper.

Every time we meet, we go away for a weekend. We meet on a Friday evening after work for those who still have a day job. We begin with worship on Friday night, meet all day Saturday, and then up until lunch on Sunday. Some of us have further to drive and need to go to work the next day.

Between our in-person meetings, we have Zoom calls and text threads.

How often do you meet via Zoom?Sharon: If we haven’t seen each other for a while, particularly during the summer, we’ll meet with a specific goal in mind.

A group member may have questions for the rest of us. Someone may want to read a passage and get feedback. Another person may have a tricky sentence they want help with. We also might kick around ideas for the next in-person meeting agenda or simply pray together.

Zoom calls are a great addition to our face-to-face meetings.

Three Ingredients for a Successful Writers GroupThomas: Successful writers groups have three main ingredients. Every group has a combination of online meetings, in-person meetings, and asynchronous communication, like your texts. It’s asynchronous in the sense that you’re not live at the same time.

The in-person meeting is probably the most important because that’s where friendships are developed. In-person meetings give meaning and context to your text threads.

Some groups, like yours, meet infrequently, but when you get together, you take an entire weekend. Other groups meet more frequently and have shorter meetings. For example, a group might meet weekly on Thursdays at 7:00 for an hour.

Some groups will combine their quarterly meeting with a writers conference. If the conference starts on Thursday, the group members may arrive on a Tuesday and rent an Airbnb for a couple of days. Then they’ll all go to the conference together. They’re able to use their travel twice, which makes the flights effectively less expensive.

When you meet in person, what is your schedule for the weekend?Thomas: When you meet on Friday, I imagine you have some chit-chat, but when do you pull out the books?

WorshipSharon: We do love to chit-chat, but every single time we begin by worshiping together. I gradually get our group members to come into the lounge area. We sit in the living room and worship. I’m a worship leader, so I come with songs prepared, and we sing together. Worship has always been our first step.

It gives us a foundation for how to start. Worship reminds us who we’re writing for and who we’re living for.

Perhaps you’re not a worship leader, but you’d still like to begin your meeting with worship. You can go to YouTube and grab a few songs to start your session together. It’s a great way to focus your thoughts, ideas, and intentions on Christ.

We start by worshipping together with singing on Friday night, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning.

CommunionWe’ll usually take communion together at some point to ensure we’re all in the same place, worshiping God first.

PrayerAfter we sing, we pray and thank God for bringing us together. We thank him for the gift of creativity and what he will do. We pray in expectation for each other.

Sometimes people arrive after a terrible day at work or a difficult family situation. It’s hard to switch gears. We pray about those things and ask the Lord to look after them so we can focus on what he’s called us to for the weekend.

Writing PromptsAbout three weeks before we go on our retreat, one of our members sends out ten writing prompts. We can choose one prompt and mustn’t write more than 350 words. We have three weeks to write 350 words.

It was incredible the first time we did that because we were effectively introduced to one another’s voices. As we read our writing prompts, suddenly, we could see, “You’re a mystery writer,” or “You are a poet, and I’m a songwriter.”

Some of those writing prompts have turned into articles or devotionals that have been published.

We don’t merely read our 350 words. We also discuss them. We don’t critique, but we do say what we enjoyed about it.

I loved the way you did this.
That was really helpful.
I’m going to learn from the way that you wrote that sentence.

We take turns creating the list of prompts and setting an agenda for the weekend.

The agenda usually includes something that will keep us focused and intentional.

For example, suppose at the previous retreat someone was wondering how to write educational articles for elementary schools. In that case, I would teach about that topic at the next retreat since I’m familiar with it. If no one knows about it, one person will volunteer to research it, and we’ll learn about it together.

At the next retreat, that topic will be on the agenda, and the person teaching will present using PowerPoint or Notes.

LunchThen we have lunch together.

Afternoon SessionIn the afternoon, someone might say, “I’ve given you my chapter. Would you all read my chapter? Let’s have a mastermind on that. This character doesn’t seem to be developing enough for me. How do you see him?”

We can mastermind tricky chapters together. We all learn from that. Even if I don’t write characters, I can learn from someone who does.

That kind of teaching is powerful because we know and trust each other. It’s a great way to share our knowledge and expertise without having to pay for a conference where somebody will teach something similar.

Thomas: Spending time together in worship, prayer, chit-chat, and sharing meals builds trust so that when you get a critique, you know it comes from a place of love and not a place of envy.

Envy can kill a writers group. If one author has some success and other authors become envious, it poisons the group.

Sharon: Relationship is foundational. Our relationship with God is first, and our relationship with each other is second. It’s important to have honest and real relationships with God and the people in your group.

We’ve had sticky moments, difficult conversations, and disagreements, but because we love each other, we work through it. We’ll stand next to each other for eternity, so we should probably figure the disagreements out now.

Four Stages of Team Development Thomas: In business school, we studied the team development process.

The four steps of team development are forming, storming, norming, and performing.

FormingIn the first phase, the group comes together. Everyone is on their best behavior. It’s the honeymoon phase.

StormingDuring the second phase, group members often fight to figure out who is the alpha, who has the expertise, who plays which role, and where each member fits. There’s often conflict during this phase, especially in a professional context, because the stakes are high.

Conflict in your writers group will exist, but it probably won’t be as intense.

NormingAfter the conflict, norms and expectations are formed. Each group member understands their role. Everyone knows who answers the phone and who fixes the website.

PerformingIn the performing stage, everyone has a spot on the team. They know what they’re doing and can trust other team members to do their various jobs.

Your writers group will pass through these stages. If you have conflict in stage two, it’s not because you’re not good Christians. It’s because the group is developing.

Remember that the 12 disciples had so much conflict that Jesus nicknamed a couple of them the Sons of Thunder. There was some intense competition among them. They were competing over who was going to be the greatest. And Jesus told them, “Being the greatest isn’t a bad aim, but you’re going about it wrong. To be the greatest, you have to serve.”

FunIn the evening, we generally do something fun, like play a game together, do an icebreaker, or just share what’s on our hearts.

We always vow we’ll go to bed at a good time, and then we stay up for hours and hours talking.

Individual Bible TimeSharon: The next morning, we each have our own Bible time separately. It’s important that we each maintain our personal relationships with Jesus. After we reassemble, we start again with worship and do whatever’s next on the agenda.

Thomas: With a smaller group, you have more flexibility. Each meeting can be different. Each quarter the topics can be varied. The structure can adapt to the needs of the members that quarter.

If everyone is publishing an anthology together, the meeting will be different than if everyone is publishing their own book. After you publish the book, you’ll start over again by brainstorming your next book idea.

Sharon: We include brainstorming on the agenda. Members who have an idea for the agenda must submit it two or three weeks before the retreat so that we can get it in.

When we hand out the writing prompts three weeks before the retreat, we ask each member if they have anything to add to the agenda.

Thomas: The rule of thumb for mastermind meetings is that the more frequently you meet, the shorter your meetings can be. The less frequently you meet, the longer your meetings tend to be. There’s just so much to squeeze in.

When we planned for our meeting, we created a broad-stroke outline in a Google Doc six weeks before the meeting. Each member would sign up to teach one session and cook one meal.

There are many ways to make your writers group work. If you can’t afford an Airbnb, you could host it at your home. If you don’t have time to cook, you could order pizza.

Make it as simple or complicated as you like. Remember that certain people in your group may have more cash than time or more time than cash. Each group will develop its own little culture.

What is the best group size?Groups work best when they have between three and 12 members. The group’s success will depend on each member’s commitment and availability. Each person you add to the group brings another level of expertise, perspective, and complexity.

Sharon: We’ve limited our group to ten because we sleep away and stay overnight. When you have more than ten people, the cost of the overnight facility is much greater. If you have too few people, the cost per person will be high. We’ve found that ten is a good number.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a writers group?PraySharon: First, pray about it. Our group fell into place because Deb, our fearless leader, prayed about it and the group organically formed.

Don’t RushSpend time connecting with people before committing to a group with them. You wouldn’t go away for a weekend with someone you’ve known for five minutes.

Consider the Importance of FaithAsk each member about their faith journey.

Decide on GenreDecide whether you want members who write in the same genre. Do you all need to be fiction writers?

Our group has writers of different genres, which works because our common goal is Jesus. You do need a shared goal. If your shared goal is Jesus, make sure that that’s a real shared goal you can be intentional about.

Invite-OnlyThomas: Another advantage of a small group is that it’s easier to make it invite-only. If you meet at the public library at 7:00 on Tuesdays, people will just walk in, and it will be a different kind of group dynamic. You won’t be as comfortable sharing your fears or vulnerabilities in a room full of strangers.

But you’ll feel safer in a small group where you’ve carefully invited people.

If your group’s goal is to critique each other’s writing, you’ll want to invite writers who are closely aligned with you. Be careful when getting critiques from writers of a different genre who write for a different audience.

For example, if you’re writing military science fiction and a romance writer gives you feedback, be careful about what you choose to implement. Your military science fiction can’t be too lovey-dovey. If it is, you’ll lose your audience.

Start SmallDon’t be afraid to start with three people. You don’t have to suddenly jump to ten, but if the Lord brings you ten, don’t be afraid of that either. If he’s gathering the group, he has a purpose for it and will provide for it. Everything will fall into place.

Pray and be brave.

Connect with Sharon at the following places:

Facebook: Living Write Texas on Facebook
Instagram: Living Write Texas on Instagram
Book: The Write Calling: Encouragement for the Writer’s Heart (an anthology)
Sharon’s Website: 61-Things.com
Sharon’s Podcast: God in the Ordinary

SponsorHow to Start a Writers Group

This course takes you step-by-step through the whole process, from how to choose a meeting format to where to meet. We even cover how to deal with difficult situations.

The course doesn’t take long to complete, and many authors have used it to start a writer’s group. The advantage of starting your own writers group is that you can choose what kind of group you want to start.

If you feel lonely, stressed, or tired of writing, you may need a group of authors around you. So go ahead and start that group.

Related Episodes* How to Start a Local Writers Group * How to Find a Good Critique Group with Eva Marie Everson * Why Mastermind Groups Give Bestselling Authors an Edge and How to Start One * How to Work With Fellow Authors To Sell More Books

You can listen to this episode How to Start a Writers Group with Sharon Tedford on Christian Publishing Show.

Writing and marketing your book is a hard job. Find out how authors can avoid book marketing burnout.

You can listen to this episode How to Manage Book Marketing Burnout With Nika Maples on Christian Publishing Show.

Writing and marketing your book is a hard job. Find out how authors can avoid book marketing burnout.

You can listen to this episode How to Manage Book Marketing Burnout With Nika Maples on Christian Publishing Show.

What would you do with two extra hours every day? Have lunch with a friend? Pick up a 10-hour-per-week, part-time job? Exercise? Read? Pray? Begin learning a new language? Write a book? Today, I’m sharing an episode from another podcast because it is relevant and important for authors. We recently had a long discussion about Leaving […]

You can listen to this episode What would you do with two extra hours every day? on Christian Publishing Show.

What would you do with two extra hours every day? Have lunch with a friend? Pick up a 10-hour-per-week, part-time job? Exercise? Read? Pray? Begin learning a new language? Write a book? Today, I’m sharing an episode from another podcast because it is relevant and important for authors. We recently had a long discussion about Leaving […]

You can listen to this episode What would you do with two extra hours every day? on Christian Publishing Show.

In this interview Allen Arnold shares a framework for creatives who want to create their art with God rather than as a performance for him.

You can listen to this episode Creatively Cowriting With God With Allen Arnold on Christian Publishing Show.

Learn how and why you need to choose a genre, and find out what to do if your book doesn't conform to one specific genre.

You can listen to this episode How to Choose a Genre for Your Novel with Karin Beery on Christian Publishing Show.

Author and writing coach Becca Puglisi shares tips and tools to help you write believable characters that your readers will love.

You can listen to this episode How to Write Realistic Characters with Becca Puglisi on Christian Publishing Show.

Tips from busy mom and author Asheritah Ciuciu on setting boundaries and upholding your calling to parenting and writing.

You can listen to this episode How to Find Time to Write As a Busy Mom With Asheritah Ciuciu on Christian Publishing Show.

Book Proposal Tips and Tricks with Ann Kroeker If you want to be traditionally published, you need to attract an agent and a publisher. To get an agent and publisher, you need an amazing book proposal. For an author, a book proposal is like a business plan and resume all in one. It communicates all […]

You can listen to this episode Book Proposal Tips and Tricks with Ann Kroeker on Christian Publishing Show.

Learn how to further engage your readers and earn income from your expertise by creating an online course that complements your book.

You can listen to this episode How to Adapt Your Book Idea Into an Online Course with Becky Kopitzke on Christian Publishing Show.

Write better sentences using fewer words. Angela Hunt teaches authors how to identify needless words and ruthlessly cut or replace them.

You can listen to this episode How to Tighten Your Writing with Angela Hunt on Christian Publishing Show.

One author shares what he learned from eleven publishing mistakes. Find out how to avoid these common mistakes so you don't have to learn the hard way.

You can listen to this episode Publishing Mistakes You Don’t Want to Learn the Hard Way on Christian Publishing Show.

The Book Thief

Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story

5,000 Words Per Hour: Write Faster, Write Smarter

The Songkiller's Symphony

Monster Hunter Guardian (Monster Hunters International Book 7)

Is your book launch budget filled with expenses or investments? Learn how and where to spend your time and money to get the greatest return.

You can listen to this episode How to Launch Your Book on a Budget on Christian Publishing Show.

Bridges

Learn how you, as a Christian writer, can impact the world for Christ without having to publish a book first.

You can listen to this episode How to Expand Your Role as a Writer by Writing Sunday School Curriculum on Christian Publishing Show.

God Moments in My Publishing Life: The Making of a Writer and Publisher

Big changes are ahead for The Christian Publishing show. Find out how you can join us to get your publishing questions answered.

You can listen to this episode How to Save the Christian Publishing Show on Christian Publishing Show.

Christian Writers Market Guide - 2022 Edition: Your Comprehensive Resource For Getting Published

I have a couple of big announcements. If you have been wondering why there hasn’t been a new episode in a few weeks I have a good reason. Announcement #1: New Baby! We just had a baby! Jack Umstattd was born on December 23rd weighing 9 pounds 10 ounces. Both he and my wife are […]

You can listen to this episode Big News! on Christian Publishing Show.

If you want your readers to connect with your writing, you need to immerse them deeply into the mind of your characters. Your readers need to hear, see, and experience everything that your character experiences. But how do you do this? The answer is deep point of view. We have a guest on the show […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write Deep Point of View with Karen Witemeyer on Christian Publishing Show.

More Than Words Can Say (A Patchwork Family Novel Book #2)

We have had episodes about protagonists, the characters who want something that drives the plot forward, and antagonists who get in their way. But stories do not live on protagonists alone. Side characters, or supporting characters, play a vital role in your novel. But how do you craft characters that are believable and compelling? How […]

You can listen to this episode How to Create Compelling Secondary Characters for Your Novel with Angela Hunt on Christian Publishing Show.

Christian Writers Market Guide - 2022 Edition: Your Comprehensive Resource For Getting Published

Uncharted

You have a creative idea. You feel inspired to pursue it. But your head is filled with doubt. “What if I can’t make it work? What if I can’t provide for my family? What if my work isn’t good enough? What if people think my creation is stupid?” We have a guest on the show […]

You can listen to this episode How to Keep Fear from Blocking Your Creativity with David Lee Martin on Christian Publishing Show.

The saying goes, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” While some authors are able to support a full-time writing career with only their books, the reality is most authors need additional income, at least at the beginning. But does that mean you need to go out and get a job at McDonald’s in […]

You can listen to this episode How to Become a Professional Freelancer with Sharon Norris Elliott on Christian Publishing Show.

It’s no question that we live in a “cancel” culture. It may be tempting to bury our heads in the sand and be sure we never do anything to offend anyone. But that’s not how the Bible calls us to live. Countless times throughout the Bible, men and women of God took a stand for […]

You can listen to this episode How to Fight Cancel Culture As a Christian Author with Laura Lynn Hughes on Christian Publishing Show.

Christian Writers Market Guide - 2020 Edition

Have you ever wondered where Christian publishing came from? I sure have. In the olden days, there were only publishers. But then Christian publishers started to emerge. Why did that happen? What caused it? To find out, we have a special guest who has worked in the publishing industry for 65 years. He is the […]

You can listen to this episode Where Christian Publishing Came From with Leslie Stobbe on Christian Publishing Show.

God Moments in My Publishing Life: The Making of a Writer and Publisher

Do you feel discouraged or burnt out by your writing journey? Do you want to connect with other writers who understand your goals and pain? Do you need some time to get away from life, refocus on your goals, and connect with God? Perhaps what you need is a writing retreat. We have a special […]

You can listen to this episode Why You Need a Writing Retreat with Kathy Ide on Christian Publishing Show.

Writing a book doesn’t need to be hard for many writers. All you need to do to write faster is learn how to get out of your own way. Our guest today is co-founder of Girl Defined Ministries and author of several books for young girls, including Girl Defined and Love Defined. Kristen Clark, welcome […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write a Book in 90 Days with Kristen Clark on Christian Publishing Show.

How do I write a novel? This is one of the most common questions writers ask. They ask it as they get started, they ask it after they finish their first book, and sometimes they ask it after writing half a dozen books. When writing a novel, there are four essential pieces you need to […]

You can listen to this episode The Four Essential Pillars of Novel Construction with C.S. Lakin on Christian Publishing Show.

There are two ways to get better at writing. One is to practice writing, so your first drafts are better. The second is to learn how to edit your first drafts into better second drafts. It is common for some beginning authors to feel like the second draft is different, rather than better. This doesn’t […]

You can listen to this episode How to Edit and Proofread Your Own Manuscript with Denise Loock on Christian Publishing Show.

Many times Christian writers think that once their book is published, then they can minister to people. But they have it all backwards. You can and should start ministering to and blessing people right now, and your book will be an overflow of that ministry. We have a guest here today to talk to us […]

You can listen to this episode How to Use Books to Complement Your Ministry & Increase Revenue with Crystal Daye on Christian Publishing Show.

Are you tired of getting distracted every time you log in to one of your Facebook author groups? Are you sick of feeling discouraged by the spammers and trolls who lurk in the depths of the group? Are you hesitant to trust the information shared in Facebook groups because you don’t know if it’s reliable? […]

You can listen to this episode A New Social Network for Authors on Christian Publishing Show.

“The first page of a book sells that book. The last page sells your next book.” –– American crime novelist Mickey Spillane When you write a novel, you want your readers to be so thrilled by the ending of your story that they immediately buy your next book. And then they tell all their friends […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write the Last 50 Pages of Your Book with James Scott Bell on Christian Publishing Show.

Perhaps you’ve considered writing Bible studies for your local church, or maybe you’re interested in writing Bible studies for publication. How do you write Bible studies that people want to read? We have a special guest with us today who is going to share her experience in writing Bible studies. She is co-founder of Flourish […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write a Bible Study with Mindy Kiker on Christian Publishing Show.

If you want to be traditionally published in today’s book market, you are going to need a literary agent. But you don’t just “hire” a literary agent like you would a plumber. Agents have a vetting process in which they decide if you and your book are a good fit for their agency. They want […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write a Query Letter with Mary DeMuth on Christian Publishing Show.

Many first-time authors think that all they need to do is write a book, upload it to Amazon, and voilà Readers will come flocking. This is not the case. The reality is that the journey of writing and publishing a book is a long and arduous one. For most authors it takes 5 to 15 […]

You can listen to this episode How to Develop Patience and Endurance in Publishing with Chase Replogle on Christian Publishing Show.

This episode comes with a trigger warning. We are going to talk about social media, politics, culture, and what to do as a Christian author in a world that is growing more hostile to Christian authors. If you don’t want to hear about that today, I can recommend a great podcast called Compelled, hosted by […]

You can listen to this episode How to Navigate the Fragmenting of Social Media As a Christian Author with Scott Minor on Christian Publishing Show.

It is hard to read the label when you are standing inside the bottle. This is why almost all successful authors are in a writers group. Whether it was J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis sitting in an English pub talking about fantasy stories or a socially distant mastermind group meeting on Zoom, writers write better […]

You can listen to this episode How to Find a Good Critique Group with Eva Marie Everson on Christian Publishing Show.

A couple of weeks ago, Thomas Umstattd Jr. and Steve Laube hosted a Book Launch Secrets webinar. More than 500 authors registered for the webinar from five different continents. This episode of the Christian Publishing Show is the audio of that webinar. If you prefer to watch the webinar with slides, you can watch the replay […]

You can listen to this episode Book Launch Secrets Webinar Replay on Christian Publishing Show.

This is the 100th episode of the Christian Publishing Show. Over the last two years, we have had downloads from 92 different countries. I want to thank all of you who have shared the show with a friend or left us a review at Apple Podcasts. To celebrate 100 episodes, we have a very special […]

You can listen to this episode 100th Episode Celebration with Jerry B. Jenkins on Christian Publishing Show.

Sometimes using the right tool for the job makes all the difference. If you are still using Microsoft Word to write your book, I have some good news: Much better tools exist. The challenge with writing is that each writer is different. This means different writers will do better with different tools. To help us […]

You can listen to this episode Writing App Roundup with Dave Chesson, Kindlepreneur on Christian Publishing Show.

Children’s books are a hot genre right now. With libraries closed, more parents are purchasing children’s books; and more authors are trying their hand at writing a children’s book. These books are so short, how hard could they be to write? Actually, very hard. Or, at least, it is hard to write a book parents […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write for Children with Jennifer Grant on Christian Publishing Show.

It’s very common these days for books, especially nonfiction, to come with additional workbooks, study guides, and video courses. These extra materials are also a great way to connect with your readers on a deeper level, while at the same time creating additional income and incentives. Paper and digital don’t need to be at war; […]

You can listen to this episode How to Create Companion Products for your Book with D’vorah Lansky on Christian Publishing Show.

Devotionals are almost unique to Christian publishing. While some non-Christian publishers dabble with devotionals of different kinds, Christians have been writing and reading devotionals for centuries. So how do you write a devotional? Well, that is what we are going to talk about today. Our guest today is the author of 16 Ways to Create […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write Devotionals with David Sluka on Christian Publishing Show.

One of the big differences between Christian and non-Christian books is that Christian books have an absolute standard of truth they are compared to. Or, put another way, Christian books are all a derivative of the Bible in one way or another. We are a people of the Book, and so biblical accuracy is important. […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write a Biblically Accurate Book with Catherine DeVries on Christian Publishing Show.

As a kid, peanut butter was always paired with only one thing: jelly. The big discussion between the other kids was if your mom used grape or strawberry jelly. Then one day, one of my friends told me about a new candy that combined peanut butter with chocolate. How on earth could that be good? […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write Better & Faster With Plottr and the Snowflake Method on Christian Publishing Show.

For everything, there is a season. A time to gather stones and a time to scatter stones. A time to merge companies and a time to spin off new companies. Right now, it is a time for merging companies. The “Big Five” are now the “Big Four.” You may have heard about the recent […]

You can listen to this episode Simon & Schuster Bought by Penguin Random House Discussion With Steve Laube on Christian Publishing Show.

Children’s books are the fastest-growing segment of publishing in 2020. There was a time a few months ago when The Very Hungry Caterpillar was in the top 10 of all products on Amazon–not only books but all products in the everything store. The pandemic has caused many parents to spend more time with their children, […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write for Children with Linda Howard on Christian Publishing Show.

How do trees turn into books and get into people’s hands? At first glance, you may think they appear on bookshelves and in the mail as if by magic. But it is not magic. Behind the scenes thousands of people are working hard to make sure books get from the printer and into readers’ hands. […]

You can listen to this episode Behind the Publishing Curtain: Fulfillment & Distribution with Tracy Higley on Christian Publishing Show.

One popular genre in Christian publishing right now is split-time fiction. Split-time fiction is when you tell two stories separated by time that are connected in some way, sometimes by a theme or an item. Some popular split-time books include The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck in the Christian market and The Nightingale by Kristin […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write Split-Time Fiction with Melanie Dobson on Christian Publishing Show.

You would like to think that as soon as you are done with your proposal and send it off to an agent that he or she is sitting there by the inbox ready to read it as soon as it comes in. If only. Before email became the submission method, agents and acquisitions editors threw […]

You can listen to this episode How to Get Out of the Slush Pile – With Deborah Raney on Christian Publishing Show.

Writing is hard. Writing during difficult times is even harder. And yet, it is persistence through adversity that separates successful writers from those that don’t make it. So, how do you write when the going gets tough? How do you do it with joy? We have a special guest to help us answer those questions. […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write with Joy in Hard Times with Mary DeMuth on Christian Publishing Show.

Recently, I heard a publishing “guru” talk about his approach to writing and marketing books. He publishes dozens of books each year with nothing more than quick proofread, which he does himself. He then promotes them using various Amazon hacks. This guy was breaking most of the book marketing commandments! While cranking out lots of […]

You can listen to this episode The 10 Commandments of Book Marketing on Christian Publishing Show.

In the general market, young-adult books are one of the most popular genres. While these books are written for readers ages 12-18, readers of all ages enjoy series books like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. At the same time, in Christian publishing, many YA authors have struggled to connect with young readers. So […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write YA with Jill Williamson on Christian Publishing Show.

Writing is hard. But using the right tools can make it easier. One popular tool many authors rely on is Scrivener. But others find it impenetrable. This is why I am excited to introduce our guest today. He is an ordained pastor, church planter, author, and creative Christian coach who has as much passion for […]

You can listen to this episode How to Use Scrivener with David Martin on Christian Publishing Show.

If readers don’t care about your characters, they won’t care about your book. If your characters are wooden, generic, or forgettable, readers won’t buy, read, finish, or recommend your book. If you want to write a book people not only finish but recommend to friends, you must craft compelling characters. So how do you do […]

You can listen to this episode How to Craft Unforgettable Characters with James Scott Bell on Christian Publishing Show.

The Christian Author’s Guide to Cancel Culture This post first appeared here and is shared with permission. Last month tens of thousands of Twitter accounts attacked J. K. Rowling. They tried to get her books pulled from publication. Her books were burned, and people promised to never read one of her books again. This was […]

You can listen to this episode How to Survive Cancel Culture As a Writer on Christian Publishing Show.

Episode Notes Audiobooks are one of the fastest-growing segments of the book business. So how do you turn your book into an audiobook? Our guest today is an indie author of the popular Fall of Man Series. He writes epic, imaginative, biblical fiction with heart-pounding plots and lyrical prose for readers who like to think […]

You can listen to this episode Audiobook Production and Promotion with Brennan McPherson on Christian Publishing Show.

A lot of writers think, If I could just have more time, I could do more writing. Well, 2020 gave most writers a lot more time; and, yet, most of them are writing about the same as they were before. What keeps us from being more productive as writers? Is it writer’s block? If so, […]

You can listen to this episode How to Overcome Writer’s Block With Robin Lee Hatcher on Christian Publishing Show.

In this episode, Steve Laube and Thomas Umstattd Jr. talk about the 2021 Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference Kickstarter Campaign. If you have any questions about the conference or about the Kickstarter campaign, this is not an episode you will want to miss. You can see the progress of the Kickstarter campaign here:

You can listen to this episode Everything You Need to Know About the 2021 Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference on Christian Publishing Show.

Readers in other countries read American books. American readers also read books by authors from other countries. For American authors, the most important country to think about and write for is Canada. Our guest today is the author of multiple books, including The Herringford and Watts Mysteries, and is a senior associate agent at the […]

You can listen to this episode Writing for a Canadian Market on Christian Publishing Show.

If there is one guiding light in excellent writing, the one thing almost everyone agrees on, is “show, don’t tell.” Telling is one of the most-common mistakes new authors make and one of the biggest reasons their manuscripts get rejected. It is also one of the biggest reasons readers give up on a book. If […]

You can listen to this episode Show, Don’t Tell With Tim Shoemaker on Christian Publishing Show.

Some novelists see themselves as character-first writers. Others start with the plot. Which is better? Does it depend on the genre? Could you be making a mistake that is crippling your writing? Our guest today will help us answer these questions and more. She is a bestselling author who has won two Christy Awards and […]

You can listen to this episode Character vs. Plot With DiAnn Mills on Christian Publishing Show.

It is possible to make a full-time living as a writer. One way to do so is to write one book that sells like crazy. Another way is to write a bunch of books. Our guest today makes a full-time living with her writing. She has written over 70 books. Whether offering a critique of […]

You can listen to this episode How to Overcome Book Marketing & Money Challenges With Chautona Havig on Christian Publishing Show.

Fear can be crippling. If we let it, it will become our master and sit on the throne in our hearts. And here is the crazy thing: We can’t make fear go away. And we wouldn’t want to even if we could. Sometimes fear is helpful to keep us from doing something stupid. But it […]

You can listen to this episode How to Overcome Fear and Comparison on Christian Publishing Show.

Our guest today is an award-winning screenwriter; his first feature film was To End All Wars. He is also the best-selling author of the Chronicles of the Nephilim series and a new series, Chronicles of the Watchers. Links: https://godawa.com/ Sponsor: Book Launch Blueprint Learn how to launch a book in this special course only offered […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write Compelling Villains with Brian Godawa on Christian Publishing Show.

Crowdfunding is a powerful and underused tool in the author’s tool kit. Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo allow you to see if there is an audience for your book while simultaneously raising funds to help make it happen. How they work: You set a goal of how much money you need to publish your […]

You can listen to this episode How to Crowdfund a Novel on Kickstarter on Christian Publishing Show.

One goal of Christian books is to convey a powerful Christian message through literature. But readers won’t get that message if they are turned off by the writing. One thing that turns potential readers away is heavy-handed preachiness. So how can Christian writers convey a powerful Christian message without being preachy? Our guest to help […]

You can listen to this episode Writing Fiction With a Powerful Christian Message Without Getting Preachy on Christian Publishing Show.

Our guest today won the 2019 AWSA Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year; she has also won a Christy Award and a Carol Award. Beth Vogt, welcome to the Christian Publishing Show! Links: Website/blog Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest Goodreads Amazon Author Page Things I Never Told You (Affiliate Link) The Best We’ve Been (Affiliate […]

You can listen to this episode How Beth Vogt Went from Unpublished to Award-Winning Author on Christian Publishing Show.

Book Launch Branding and How to Launch a Book With a Small Email List with Randy Ingermanson

You can listen to this episode Author Branding & Book Launching with Randy Ingermanson on Christian Publishing Show.

This episode originally aired on the Novel Marketing Podcast. This is effectively a short audiobook on how to start a podcast. If you have ever thought about starting your own podcast, this is not an episode you will want to miss. You can find a blog version here. Sponsor: Christian Writers Institute The Lockdown Learn […]

You can listen to this episode How to Start an Author Podcast on Christian Publishing Show.

Our guest today is a New York Times bestselling author whose novel Once Upon a Prince (affiliate link), was made into an original Hallmark movie. She writes from a quarantined location in sunny, central Florida. Links: Website: RachelHauck.com Instagram: @RachelHauck Twitter: @RachelHauck Facebook @RachelHauck Sponsor: Christian Writers Institute With the extension of the tax day, […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write Split Time With Rachel Hauck on Christian Publishing Show.

Our guest today is an award-winning screenwriter, his first feature film was To End All Wars. He is also the best-selling author of the Chronicles of the Nephilim and his new series, Chronicles of the Watchers.

You can listen to this episode How to Write Fiction with a Christian Worldview with Brian Godawa on Christian Publishing Show.

To walk us through this process, we have a special guest. She is a USA Today bestselling author, has published seventy-five books in both fiction and nonfiction, and is a two-time Carol Award winner. And if that wasn’t enough, she’s also a wife and mother of 10 children. Tricia Goyer, welcome to the Christian Publishing […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write Faster with Tricia Goyer on Christian Publishing Show.

Writers’ conferences are a key step in your publishing journey. Especially if you hope to be traditionally published. They are also very expensive and time-consuming. The key to getting the most out of your next writers conference is preparation. And a key tool to prepare ahead of time is a one-sheet.

You can listen to this episode How to Prepare Your Next Writers Conference on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Write Cinematic with Deborah Raney

You can listen to this episode How to Write Cinematically with Deborah Raney on Christian Publishing Show.

Every year, millions of people set out to write a memoir; and every year, most of them fail. Memoirs are hard to write and even harder to sell to publishers and readers. And yet, every year, millions of readers buy and read memoirs. So how do you write a memoir worth reading? To help answer […]

You can listen to this episode How to Write a Memoir with Susy Flory on Christian Publishing Show.

Learn about Ebook Publishing with Mark Coker.

You can listen to this episode Ebook Publishing Tips, Tricks, and Traps on Christian Publishing Show.

Back in Episode 51 I gave an overview of the Homeschool Market. This episode is the next in that series, where I go into some of the mistakes authors make when trying to sell to homeschoolers. I also cover how to avoid those mistakes. If you are curious why homeschoolers are not interested in your […]

You can listen to this episode What Authors Must Know About Homeschoolers Before Trying to Sell Them Books on Christian Publishing Show.

We join guest James L. Rubart as we discuss what success looks like for Christian authors.

You can listen to this episode What does success look like for Christian authors? on Christian Publishing Show.

Do you feel like a charlatan and that everyone might find out you have no idea what you are talking about? Here is the crazy thing: There is a chance it’s true. You may be an impostor. It may also be a lie. Dunning–Kruger Effect This effect is often described with a story about McArthur Wheeler, […]

You can listen to this episode How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome on Christian Publishing Show.

Learn how to write a believable fight scene with guest Carla Hoch

You can listen to this episode 058 How to Write Believable Fight Scenes with Carla Hoch on Christian Publishing Show.

The following is the outline I used to record this episode. It is not the episode itself! I encourage you to listen to the episode if you can. Why Publishers Care About Platform: Michael Hyatt popularized the term when he started blogging about it about 10 years ago. He also wrote a book about it […]

You can listen to this episode 057 Why Platform is Not Important Like You Think on Christian Publishing Show.

For the next few weeks, we will be releasing some “best of” episodes while I spend time with our new baby Thomas Gregory Umstattd, III. Episode Notes This episode originally aired in 2018. We live in a world that is cursed. Because of our sin, God cursed the soil to have thorns and weeds. That […]

You can listen to this episode 056 How to Find Your Hustle on Christian Publishing Show.

For the next few weeks, we will be releasing some “best of” episodes while I spend time with our new baby Thomas Gregory Umstattd, III. “Tommy” was born weighing 8 pounds, 14 ounces and he and my wife are both home and doing well. Episode Notes This episode originally aired in 2018. Today I would […]

You can listen to this episode 055 How to Find Your Courage as an Author on Christian Publishing Show.

Finding an Agent using the Christian Writers Market Guide 2020 Edition

You can listen to this episode 054 – How to Find an Agent With The Christian Writers Market Guide 2020 Edition on Christian Publishing Show.

Do you ever feel alone in the writing journey? Or perhaps you are not sure what to do next. You don’t need to! In this episode, Thomas talks about 10 different places to find mentorship and the pros and cons of each.

You can listen to this episode 053 Where to Find Mentorship for Your Publishing Career on Christian Publishing Show.

Learn how to become an organized writer featuring Susan May Warren

You can listen to this episode 052 The Joyfully Organized Writer with Susan May Warren on Christian Publishing Show.

Learn how to market to homeschoolers

You can listen to this episode 051 A Christian Author’s Guide to the Homeschool Market on Christian Publishing Show.

Between Contract and Launch - What it is like to have a book under contract

You can listen to this episode 050 Between Contract and Launch – What it is like to have a book under contract on Christian Publishing Show.

Business Mistakes Authors Make (and how to avoid them) With Steve Lubae

You can listen to this episode 049 Business Mistakes Authors Make (and how to avoid them) with Steve Laube on Christian Publishing Show.

The Pros & Cons of Small Publishing Houses

You can listen to this episode 048 The Pros & Cons of Small Publishing Houses on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Start Your Own Podcast

You can listen to this episode 047 How to Start Your Own Podcast on Christian Publishing Show.

A Christian Author’s Guide to Getting an Agent with Bob Hostetler

You can listen to this episode 046 A Christian Author’s Guide to Getting an Agent with Bob Hostetler on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Avoid the #1 Cause of Bad Book Covers: Design by Committee

You can listen to this episode 045 How to Avoid the #1 Cause of Bad Book Covers: Design by Committee on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Become a Better Writer with Jeff Goins

You can listen to this episode 044 How to Become a Better Writer with Jeff Goins on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Use Public Speaking to Change Lives and Build Your Platform With Aurora Gregory

You can listen to this episode 043 How to Use Public Speaking to Change Lives and Build Your Platform With Aurora Gregory on Christian Publishing Show.

Today we are going to talk about promotional tours for your book and which works better, a blog tour or a podcast tour. We’ll also talk about why podcast tours are replacing blog tours and what to do about it. What is a blog tour? A blog tour is when you (or your marketing/PR person) […]

You can listen to this episode 042 Why Podcast Tours are Replacing Blog Tours and What to do About it on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Sell Christian Books in a Mainstream World

You can listen to this episode 041 How to Sell Christian Books in a Mainstream World on Christian Publishing Show.

Sometimes in publishing it’s not what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you don’t know you don’t know. One thing a lot of authors don’t know to even ask about is metadata. Hold on to your horses, ladies and gentlemen, because today we are going to nerd out about metadata with […]

You can listen to this episode 040 What Authors Need to Know About Book Metadata on Christian Publishing Show.

Book Proposals Tips & Tricks With Chad Allen

You can listen to this episode 039 – Book Proposals Tips & Tricks With Chad Allen on Christian Publishing Show.

Note: This outline was used to record the episode. Its included here to help search engines categorize the audio. Esther’s Story: Esther Had a Tough Marketing Position Not in favor with the King. He hadn’t asked for her in 30 days. Had a big ask. His law could not be overturned. Even approaching the king […]

You can listen to this episode 038 – What Queen Esther Can Teach Authors About Platform Building on Christian Publishing Show.

From Drained to Energetic How to Maximize Your Energy as an Author With Susan Stewart

You can listen to this episode 037 From Drained to Energetic How to Maximize Your Energy as an Author With Susan Stewart on Christian Publishing Show.

Is your platform at risk of being destroyed by big tech companies? In this episode, find out what is happening and what to do about it. What is happening Big tech companies are censoring, shadow banning, and suspending accounts of Christian authors. There is a chance you may already be algorithmically shadowbanned and not know […]

You can listen to this episode 036 How to Protect Your Author Platform from Big Tech Censorship on Christian Publishing Show.

How Renae Brumbaugh Green Went from Unpublished to Bestselling Author

You can listen to this episode 035 How Renae Brumbaugh Green Went from Unpublished to Bestselling Author on Christian Publishing Show.

Screen Writing 101 with Hollywood Screenwriter Bob Saenz

You can listen to this episode 034 Screen Writing 101 with Hollywood Screenwriter Bob Saenz on Christian Publishing Show.

International Publishing with Tyndale House Publishers Jim Elwell

You can listen to this episode 033 International Publishing with Tyndale House Publishers Jim Elwell on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Craft Compelling Characters with Zena Dell Lowe

You can listen to this episode 032 How to Craft Compelling Characters with Zena Dell Lowe on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Pitch Your Book at a Writers Conference with Bob Hostetler

You can listen to this episode 031 How to Pitch Your Book at a Writers’ Conference with Bob Hostetler on Christian Publishing Show.

Pros and Cons of Indie Publishing

You can listen to this episode 030 Pros and Cons of Indie Publishing on Christian Publishing Show.

Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing

You can listen to this episode 029 Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing on Christian Publishing Show.

2019 Trends in Christian Publishing With Michial Miller of the NPD BookScan

You can listen to this episode 028 2019 Trends in Christian Publishing With Michial Miller of the NPD BookScan on Christian Publishing Show.

Advertising for Authors Who Don’t Like Math with Chris Fox

You can listen to this episode 027 Advertising for Authors Who Don’t Like Math– with Chris Fox on Christian Publishing Show.

What Makes a Book a Christian Book?

You can listen to this episode 026 What Makes a Book a Christian Book on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Write & Narrate Better Audiobooks with Tom Parks

You can listen to this episode 025 How to Write & Narrate Better Audiobooks with Tom Parks on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Transform Your Sermons into a Book

You can listen to this episode 024 How to Transform Your Sermons into a Book on Christian Publishing Show.

In this episode of the Christian Publishing Show, Thomas Umstattd shares a special podcast version of the talk he gave at the 2019 ECPA Leadership Summit, an industry event where the leaders of Christian publishing houses gather to talk about trends and the future of the industry. Thomas was asked to talk about the trends […]

You can listen to this episode 023 – The Future of Audiobooks and Podcasting on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Transition from Author to Author Entrepreneur

You can listen to this episode 022 How to Transition from Author to Author Entrepreneur on Christian Publishing Show.

How To Podcast Your Way to Publishing Success

You can listen to this episode 021 How To Podcast Your Way to Publishing Success on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Get Unstuck With Your Writing Career

You can listen to this episode 020 How to Get Unstuck With Your Writing Career on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Build a Tribe

You can listen to this episode 019 How to Build a Tribe on Christian Publishing Show.

Tribe Building and Trends in Publishing

You can listen to this episode 018 Tribe Building and Trends in Publishing on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Find Agents and Editors with the Christian Writers Market Guide

You can listen to this episode 017 How to Find Agents and Editors with the Christian Writers Market Guide on Christian Publishing Show.

Time Management & How to Become More Creative as an Author

You can listen to this episode 016 Time Management & How to Become More Creative as an Author on Christian Publishing Show.

Publishing is a mysterious process for a lot of writers, even authors who have been at this for a long time. So from time to time, we bring in publishing professionals to tell us about what they do. Today we are going behind the curtain on the role of Director of Operations. Joining us today […]

You can listen to this episode 015 Behind the Publishing Curtain: Director of Operations on Christian Publishing Show.

How to overcome burnout, and discouragement with Erin Young and Karen Ball

You can listen to this episode 014 How to overcome burnout, and discouragement with Erin Young and Karen Ball on Christian Publishing Show.

Is email still relevant in the world of social media? If so how do you grow an email list and use it effectively? These questions and more we will be discussing with Evan Gow. Evan Gow is the founder of StoryOrigin, a community where you can meet other authors and set up cross-promotions to sell […]

You can listen to this episode 013 How to Grow Your Email List with Evan Gow on Christian Publishing Show.

Is book promotion a sin? How should Christian authors handle success? An interview with Shelly Hitz

You can listen to this episode 012 – Is book promotion a sin? How should Christian authors handle success? An interview with Shelly Hitz on Christian Publishing Show.

How to Get Started Writing Young a Conversation with Brett Harris Interview

You can listen to this episode 011 How to Get Started Writing Young a Conversation with Brett Harris Interview on Christian Publishing Show.

What Christian Editors Look for in Book Proposals

You can listen to this episode 010 – What Christian Editors Look for in Book Proposals on Christian Publishing Show.

In this episode of the Christian Publishing Show, we talk about how to launch a book.

You can listen to this episode 009 – How to Launch a Book (an overview) on Christian Publishing Show.

The following is the outline I used to record this episode. It is not the episode itself! I encourage you to listen to the episode if you can. Introduction This is the third and final episode in a series about What I am Looking for as an Agent. Previously we talked about courage (episode 002) […]

You can listen to this episode 008 – Resonance and Why Platform is Not Important Like You Think on Christian Publishing Show.

Today we are going to talk about one of my favorite topics, data! Alex Newton, the CEO and Founder of K-Lytics.com a leading market research resource for authors and publishers or put in terms we care about his company and expertise helps authors sell more books, face less competition, and get a bigger return on the […]

You can listen to this episode 007 – The State of The Christian Fiction Kindle Market with Alex Newton on Christian Publishing Show.

Facebook is overrated for building an author platform the following 8 reasons.

You can listen to this episode 006 – Why Facebook is Overrated for Book Promotion on Christian Publishing Show.

How James L. Rubart Went From Rejected and Unpublished to Bestselling Author

You can listen to this episode 005 How James L. Rubart Went From Rejected and Unpublished to Bestselling Author on Christian Publishing Show.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and Publishing Trends with Stan Jantz

You can listen to this episode 004 – The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and Publishing Trends with Stan Jantz on Christian Publishing Show.

We live in a world cursed. Because of our sin, God cursed the soil to have thorns and weeds. That curse is pervasive and continues to this day. If you want to have success in farming, you have to put in the work to remove the weeds. If you want to see success in publishing […]

You can listen to this episode 003 – How to Find Your Hustle on Christian Publishing Show.

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about what I am looking for in authors I want to represent as an agent. Today I would like to talk about one of the things I am looking for: courage. Fear is the biggest enemy of authors. It can ruin their writing. It can ruin […]

You can listen to this episode 002 – How to Find Your Courage as an Author on Christian Publishing Show.

About Steve Laube Steve Laube, president and founder of The Steve Laube Agency, a veteran of the bookselling industry with nearly 40 years of experience. In the 80s he was a bookstore manager. He then spent over a decade with Bethany House Publishers as an editor. Fifteen years ago he became an agent where he […]

You can listen to this episode 001 – Book Proposals 101 with Steve Laube on Christian Publishing Show.

Welcome to the first episode of the Christian Publishing Show brought to you by the Steve Laube Agency! I’m your host, Thomas Umstattd Jr. This episode is a teaser for the show to come.

You can listen to this episode 000 – Teaser & What is a Podcast? on Christian Publishing Show.