Power and Benefits of Groups in Marketing

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Aloha from Karen Whiting CAN offers great benefits to readers and blessings to members. It’s good to follow CAN because we post about marketing that others can adapt. It’s also good to see what a group does to glean ideas for your own group. Let’s chat about how to multiply efforts greatly through team efforts that benefits all the members and blesses others.  

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Uping the Game With Social Media

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Hi everyone! Pamela Meyers here with another discussion on marketing your novel. Recently, while in a discussion with a couple people from my church, a woman asked me if I had a publicist. I replied that the publisher for my book releasing next spring has a publicist on staff that is available to me, but for my small press books, the marketing is pretty much up to me. At that point the man with us spoke up and recited the old adage, “To make money, you have to spend money.” I assured him I agreed, but with a very slim…

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Three Ways to Bring Color to Our Message

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What happens when we get on that stage, ready to deliver a dynamic message, but way deep in our hearts issues of life weigh heavy? What can we do when inspiring others is our task, but we’re the ones who need inspiration? Recently, life was going fine, no glitches or major challenges. Then, without warning, no hint it would happen, it did.

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READING AND WRITING THE FINE PRINT

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                                           Greetings! Maureen Pratt here with my latest CAN blog post about the craft of writing. Today, I thought I'd steer clear of the "big picture" – that is, the major aspects of writing that we so often focus on in our work – plot and character arcs, basic personal attributes, action points. Instead, I thought I'd "sweat the small stuff" and talk about the importance of seeking, seeing and writing about the "fine print," those details that can truly make a huge difference between a piece that is okay from one that is, "Oh! Hey! [That really strikes home/makes this a…

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Tips from the Pros: Debby Giusti

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin! Today I have the honor of interviewing Debby Giusti, multi-published author of romantic suspense, her most recent series focusing on the military. Her latest, The Colonel’s Daughter, released just this month. Debby offers unique insight into the military mindset – not only is she a self-described “Army brat,” but she’s also an Army wife and an Army mom. That’s quite a heritage! Debby, how did you get into writing? Growing up, I loved to read and write, but I also loved science. My mother encouraged me to have a profession, so I majored in medical technology, and…

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Waiting in the Gap

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                            This week I signed two contracts with Harvest House. The first is for a women’s devotional, and the second is for a little book for parents with kids ages 3-8. Did you hear my wahoooo from Canada? Six years have passed since I signed my last contract with a traditional publisher, and it’s not for lack of trying. I’ve wrestled with disappointment and discouragement in the gap. I’ve questioned my call to write there. And I’ve seen God meet me in this place, using unmistakable ways…

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Excellence in Writing

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Hello from sunny Florida! Ava Pennington, CAN Secretary here, desperately hoping the calendar is wrong and summer is not almost over!  🙂 In my previous career as a human resources executive, one of my areas of responsibility was the management of our quality control programs. Phrases such as “Quality First,” “Do it right the first time,” and  “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking” (Henry Ford), pervaded our corporate culture. But corporate America did not invent the concept of working with excellence. God has always required excellence from His people. First Corinthians 10:31 tells us, “Whatever you…

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Texture In Writing. What Is It?

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Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailmartin.com who has been traveling in Europe, but who is here through the magic of the Internet. I always enjoy sharing some writing tips with you. The question, “What is texture in writing” was asked in one of my writing groups, and many floundered to answer it. Texture is something desirous and yet it is one of those illusive craft details that most people can’t define. They just recognize it when they see it, but editors look for it and readers relate to it so texture is something to understand and develop in your…

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Tips from the Pros: Nancy Mehl

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin! Today I have the joy of interviewing multi-published mystery author Nancy Mehl, 2009 recipient of the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award for best mystery. Nancy, how did you get into writing? Many years ago, I heard a message that encouraged people who were confused about their calling to think back to their childhood. Looking at what comes naturally to us as children can give us definite clues to the gifts God has given us. I loved to read and began writing poems in second or third grade. Remembering that made me wonder…

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The Deliverer by Kathi Macias – A New Release

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The Deliverer picks up just months after Special Delivery leaves off, continuing with the stories of Mara, freed from slavery but still struggling with scars and memories from the past; Jonathan, attending Bible college but strongly drawn to Mara, despite her past; and Lawan, having escaped the brothel in Thailand and miraculously reunited with her younger sister in the US and adopted by the same family. Will Mara be able to move past the pain and hatred that bind her, even if it means traveling back to the place where her parents betrayed her and sold her into sexual slavery?…

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