What are You Reading? (A Seriously Write Blog Post)

This isn’t an article to suggest which writer’s handbook you should have on your shelf. Nor is it about who’s come out with the next best book on writing.

This is an article to ask you this question: Are you paying attention to what you are reading? To put it another way, when you read, do you analyze the writing? Do you notice the good, the bad and the…not-so-good?

I’m presently reading a novel which promised “suspense” and a “dabbling into the supernatural.” Unfortunately, thus far, what I have witnessed is unrealistic dialogue, and situations that leave me questioning if that would really happen in real life or a supernatural occurrence. I’m 30 pages in and wondering if I should continue.

Before I started reading the aforementioned book, I read another one written many, many years ago. The language was British, and the setting was the 1800s, which would have made this novel “contemporary” fiction at the time, so, I just overlooked the literary strategies that would never work with today’s reader (How sad!) and moved on. However, what I did glean from this book was the attention to detail and the careful use of words. I also noticed how the book jumped from first person in one chapter to third person in another and back again. And we thought that was something new… (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

I’m reading two more books right now. Both are non-fiction works on how to write screenplays. (“Hi. My name is Kevin, and I’m ADHD when it comes to reading.” I try to have at last one fiction and one non-fiction going at the same time.) What I appreciate from these books is the step-by-step progression. One of them builds off from a previous title in a collection of three, and illustrates the first book’s points in a “real-world” style so the reader can witness what was talked about (in the first book) and see it come to life on the big screen.

The other screenwriter’s book I’m reading is more of “Screenwriter’s 101” kind of book. Much of what I’ve read so far is material I already knew from attending screenwriting workshops at writers’ conferences. But what I love about this book is the methodical method used by the author without being laborious or making the reader feel like a dolt.

The point is, whatever you’re reading, whether fiction or non-fiction, there is something on the pages from which you can glean expertise. That proficiency may come in the form of reading a book that’s not very well written, so you learn from the mistakes. It may arise from a great novel, where before you realize it, you were swept away by the writing. Go back and digest how that writer did it. Ask the tough questions, like “What is this author doing that I’m not?” and “How can I take that style, that turn of a phrase, that imagery, those word choices, and apply it to my writing while, at the same time, make it my own and not just duplicate what would amount to being literary theft?” How can I learn from non-fiction, although being a fiction author, and vice-versa? What makes this such a great non-fiction book? Is it the stories told by the author to illuminate a point? Is it the insider information you never knew before? It is the turn of a phrase? The word choices?

You’ve heard it said, “We learn by doing.” But if you’re not teachable, then not much will be learned. We become great by listening. We become even better by being observant with both our ears and eyes. We become the best when we are pliable enough to be molded by those great things we see in others’ writings. If you don’t believe me, read Proverbs 1 and notice how many times you are urged to listen and make wise choices. It applies to the literary world, too.

None of us have arrived yet. No one writer knows it all. So, don’t try to start that club. You’ll be its only, lonely, sad, little member.

To see this article on the Seriously Write website, click on the following link:  What Are You Reading?

An Interview with Author Dan Walsh

One of the things I love about writing is meeting great people. In this interview, my friend, Dan Walsh, gives us some real advice about the world of Christian publishing. 

Dan, Welcome! Let's get started!

Give us a short bio (Who are you, hobbies, where do you live, etc.; whatever you feel comfortable telling).

Let’s see…I’m in my late 50s; I’ve been married for 38 years. We live in the Daytona Beach area and have lived in the same home for thirty years. We have two grown children; one is married the other is getting married this summer. We have two grandchildren who, thankfully, live less than ten minutes away. Since I began writing full-time in 2010, I don’t really have any discernible hobbies except for hanging out with my wife and getting with my kids and grandkids. We do like to take walks with our dogs, or on the beach which is only a ten minute drive away.

           

How did you become a fiction author?

Back in high school, I thought that’s what I’d be doing for my career. Life took me in a different direction after experiencing a call to pastoral ministry at nineteen. I became a full-time pastor at twenty-eight and served full-time in the same church for the next twenty-five years. I never lost my desire to write fiction, just didn’t have the time to pursue it. In 2007, with my kids now grown I had some free time on my hands. My wife suggested I take up writing fiction again. I finished a Christmas novel that year, rewrote and polished it up in 2008. I submitted it to a few A-list agents and, to my surprise, two of them loved what I sent. I signed with one and she had a book deal with a major publisher (Revell) within 2 months. My first novel, The Unfinished Gift, did very well. It sold over 50,000 copies, won 2 Carol awards and still sells well every Christmas. That began a fairly long-term relationship with my agent and Revell. My 12^th and final novel with them comes out in September, another Christmas novel called Keeping Christmas.

           

What are you working on now?

In 2014, I could see that a major shift in publishing was underway. Many of my author friends were no longer being re-signed by their publishers, some of whom went out of business and others began a major downsizing due to all these changes. I decided I should prepare myself to become an indie publisher. Sure enough, at the end of last summer my publisher chose not to re-sign me, but I was ready. Since then, I released my first two indie books. A suspense novel called, When Night Comes, which has done very well since its release in November (sold over 6,000 copies). And I just released a new 31-Day Devotional called Perfect Peace a few weeks ago. I’m currently writing the first novel in a new trilogy. It’s called Rescuing Finley. I hope to have it ready to release by the end of June.

What are some of the challenges of being a fiction author?

I could take a long time on this one. Let me see…I guess the biggest challenge is learning how to write well enough, and tell stories with enough suspense, that people don’t want to put them down once they start. No amount of marketing skill or social media expertise can make up for a poorly written story. But once a writer hones the craft well enough, I suppose the greater challenges they will face is learning how to market and promote your own books. Writers by nature are more artistic and creative, not typically gifted in the business side of things.

           

Piggybacking on the question above, what was your greatest marketing obstacle, and how did you overcome it?

I’m something of an oddball. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial bent. I started a business from scratch when I was nineteen, then became a church planter at age 28. Until the church had grown to a certain size, I pretty much had to wear all the business hats. But I liked it and found the challenges stimulating. The problem was, I couldn’t do both things at the same time (the administrative/business things and the creative/artistic things). After leaving fulltime ministry in 2010 to write full-time, I’ve been a “kept man” being with the major publisher. They handled most of the marketing activity themselves, leaving me free to mostly just write. In the last 6-8 months, since going indie, I’ve had to learn to do both things at the same time. It’s still quite challenging, but I’m finally through the rapids and into calmer waters.

           

Besides the usual things authors face, has there been an unusual event that changed your perspective about being an author?

I’m not sure I can pinpoint any singular event, but I can definitely say my expectations of what it means to be a published author have dramatically changed. Before being published, I used to share the perspective I think many people outside the publishing world still have. That is, that published authors become wealthy and famous. The truth is, 95% of published authors don’t even make enough off their writing to be full-time, and only 1% actually enjoy the kind of success typically depicted on movies and TV shows (like Castle).

What marketing tips have you learned from your experiences as an author which may help our readers?  

In some ways, my answer to this question would be very different depending on whether an author is under contract with a traditional publishing house (like I was for my first 12 novels), or is an indie like I am now. Most of the tips I would share would better help an indie author because, as I’ve said, when I was with Revell most of the marketing was done by their marketing or publicity departments (I just did what they asked me to).

Most of the things I’ve learned as an indie only work because I have complete control of the process behind the scenes. For example, I recently did a promotion for When Night Comes that required me to make all my e-books exclusively available through Amazon. But I was able to promote the book on a large email service that reaches tens of thousands of readers in a single day. I priced the book for 5 days at 99 cents. During the promo, Amazon let me keep 70% of the royalties. It cost me $420 to do the promo but I sold over 2,500 copies of the book in 5 days and made back over 4 times the cost of the ad in royalties. I wouldn’t have the freedom to do that before and if my publisher did something like that, I would only receive a small fraction of the sales.

In your “past lives” (think jobs you’ve had in the past you no longer have – not trying to get “new-agey” here), are there any “Do’s and Don’ts” you can list for writers when it comes to marketing? (Think Ten Commandment-style here, but you don’t have to use the Thou Shalts J)

1.      Be creative and courageous but not foolish.

2.      Map everything out as best you can to minimize surprises. Trust God for the results.

3.      Learn from what others have done, pay attention to what has worked for them. But don’t just do the same thing. Be willing to make adjustments, as needed, in areas where your situation is not the same.

4.      Don’t major on minors. I’ve found there are certain marketing activities I enjoy but they don’t do very much to help book sales. Other things I don’t enjoy very much turn out to be very effective. The goal of writing is to write a great book; the goal of marketing is sales (a very different goal). In marketing, you need to major on the things that are the most effective.

We know readers are leaders, and leaders are readers. Is there a book you’ve read in the past five years or so that has helped you become a better marketer? If so, which one was it, and how did it affect your life as a writer?

           

I’m sure there are some excellent books out there, but I’ve actually learned way more from interacting with other indie authors on Facebook than I have from any books I’ve read. There’s one group called Christian Indie Authors (CIA) that’s been especially helpful. I’ve asked many questions in this group and often receive exactly the help I need within an hour or two. It’s better than Google.

If you were asked to be on an editorial board for a publishing company, responsible for picking and choosing which books get published that year and which ones don’t, what advice would you give an author, based on your prior experiences?

I wouldn’t pay attention to trends, unless the publishing company was some radical new venture that could have a book on the shelves within two months of its completion (which indies can do). Most publishing houses require a year. There’s no way to know if what is trending now will still be trendy in a year. I would suggest they write a book that completely hooks the reader from the first few pages and doesn’t let up until the end. I would help them remove all the parts of their manuscript readers would probably skip. To me, the best asset for a book’s success is still the book itself. A great book is much easier to market.

           

What Bible scripture has impacted your life the most, and why?

Having walked with the Lord fairly closely for 40 years, it’s hard to pick just one Scripture above all others. Lately, it might be Isaiah 26:3, which says, “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You. Because he trusts in You.” This is a verse that anchors my soul and serves as the key verse for my new devotional, Perfect Peace.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about you, your writing, or anything we didn’t mention?

Maybe just a way they can connect with me online if they’d like. Probably the best thing is to simply go to my website www.danwalshbooks.com. There are buttons there to connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or send me an email. You can also preview all my books by clicking on the Books button, then click on any of the covers to get a preview.

Thanks, Dan! May God bless your future endeavors!

C. KEVIN THOMPSON is an ordained minister with a B.A. In Bible (Houghton College, Houghton, NY), an M.A. in Christian Studies (Wesley Biblical Seminary, Jackson, MS), and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (National-Louis University, Wheeling, IL). He presently works as an assistant principal in a middle school. He also has several years experience as an administrator at the high school level.

A former Language Arts teacher, Kevin decided to put his money where his mouth was and write, fiction mostly. Now, years later, he is a member of the Christian Authors Network (CAN), American Christian Fictions Writers (ACFW), and Word Weavers International. He is the Chapter President of Word Weavers-Lake County (FL), and his published works include two award-winning novels, The Serpent’s Grasp (Winner of the 2013 Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference Selah Award for First Fiction) and 30 Days Hath Revenge - A Blake Meyer Thriller: Book 1, as well as articles in The Wesleyan Advocate, The Preacher, Vista, The Des Moines Register and The Ocala Star-Banner.

Kevin is a huge fan of the TV series 24 , The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, and Criminal Minds, loves anything to do with Star Trek, and is a Sherlock Holmes fanatic, too.

Website:           www.ckevinthompson.com

Blogs:               www.clevinthompson.blogspot.com

http://www.thehelpfuleducator.blogspot.com

Facebook:          C. Kevin Thompson – Author Page

Twitter:            @CKevinThompson

Goodreads:        C. Kevin Thompson

            

Keeping It All in Perspective (An ACFW Blog Post)

Among the many hats I wear, I am a Gospel for Asia Blogger. Started by K. P. Yohannon years ago, Gospel For Asia has been a stalwart missionary agency for Asia, bringing the gospel to a region of the world many of us just wouldn’t understand. When Dalits (otherwise known as “Untouchables”) rummage through garbage, looking for food amongst dire, disease-ridden areas, it breaks my heart to think the religious caste system in which they find themselves is something they can never scale. It breaks my hearts even more when I hear writers and actors, like on The Big Bang Theory, use these people as a punch line.

Then, there’s the man who spoke at our church recently. He represented Far Reaching Ministries. They minister in the area of South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Congo, as well as South Africa and Russia. The speaker focused mainly on their chaplain ministry in South Sudan. The pictures of northern Sudanese bombers, leveling villages while women and children who survived hid in foxholes, brought tears to our eyes. Other stories of Sudanese women, brutally mutilated for cultural and political advantages, are hellish on so many levels.

So, when I sit down and write my little stories, it causes me to pause. The hurt of the masses cries out to God. The need is so great. What can I do?

Pray. For those lost in darkness to find the Way, the Truth, and the Life. For those who bring the goodness of the Gospel by foot, motorcycle, bicycle, or any which way, to find protection by legions of angels.

Give. I have more than I think. And when I see hundreds of little children being taught the ways of God in a Christian school in Haiti, in a building that’s half-completed, knowing that many of them walked ten miles and more one way to attend, and will do so at the end of the day, I must stop and reflect on the blessings of God in my own life and offer to help in some financial way.

Write. God has given me a gift. One I wish to use for His glory. So, how do I work that into my fiction? It seems miniscule by comparison, until I ask Almighty God how I may use my words to change lives. It is then when my fingers cannot fly fast enough. It is then my finite mind cannot keep up with eternal download from heaven.

I have no idea how my prayers effect change. I feel like my measly offering is, in the words of Jacob Marley, “but a drop in the comprehensive ocean of my business.” And my writing? Who knows who reads it?

But if one person does, and that life is finally challenged to get out of the pew and do great things for God, praise God. If my words on the page cause a lost soul to ask for divine intervention in a great time of need, praise God. If the truths contained in my adventures releases a life from the stranglehold of sin, praise God.

For in the end, will I not be throwing my awards, my published works, and whatever else God graces me with in the future at the foot of His throne?

Yes. So my hands will be free to worship.

To see this blog on the ACFW website, click the link below:

Keeping it All in Perspective