Writing More Effective Book Proposals

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  Greetings from Jackie M. Johnson! When I worked at Alive Communications, “the world’s leading literary agency devoted exclusively to the representation of faith-based and inspirational authors,” I read thousands of book queries and submissions. Some were good; most were lacking, both in storyline and presentation. Many writers who can craft a well-written book often forget—or don’t know—that they need to take the same care and effort to create a successful book proposal. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction it is essential to write a book proposal that captures the agent’s attention so he or she will enthusiastically shop it…

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Writing for Kids’ Magazines by Crystal Bowman

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I meet a lot of writers who want to write for children. They come to writers’ conferences with high hopes of making a connection with an editor from a publishing house who is looking for children’s material. Many of the writers I meet have written good stories. Some are short stories written in rhyme, others are slightly longer stories written in prose. But even though they may be good stories, well written stories, and stories with a strong, age-appropriate message, most of these stories will not be published as books. The hardcover premium picture book is getting harder and harder…

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Tips from the pros: Jesse Florea

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A hearty Rocky Mountain greeting today from Davalynn Spencer as we welcome Colorado author, Jesse Florea, who has a fabulous outreach to young people. Tell us, Jesse, how did you get into writing? As a sophomore in high school, I took an introduction-to-journalism course where I fell in love with writing. I started writing for a weekly newspaper covering high school sports.

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Happy About Your Endings?

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Hello! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly CAN blog about the craft of writing. This month, some thoughts about satisfying, "gotta read this author again" endings. Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, each piece has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Although they are each crucial to telling a good story, it’s the ending that gives readers the final feeling, the ultimate impression, of the work as a whole. If your beginning hooked them into starting to read, and if your middle was expertly crafted to keep them reading along with your storytelling, then the ending is that wonderful…

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