Recently, several people have asked me for tips on publishing. Researching your publisher is a key to being published. Market guides, like Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide, exist to help you understand the needs and desires of different publishing houses. These helpful guides will explain a publisher’s genres, guidelines, and manuscript length as well as the name of the acquisition editor and website information. Some of these market guides can be found at the public library, but be sure to use the most up-to-date publication. You don’t want to address your letter to an editor that is no longer with that company!

 Once you have located a publisher that you think might be compatible for your writing style, check out their website. Often these contain further details for prospective writers. Follow all directions from the publisher exactly! If you desire to write for a magazine, read several copies of it first so you have an idea of the publisher’s style. If you are trying to publish a book, study books the publisher has already published.

When you have found a publisher that you are interested in working with, send them a query letter to see if they are interested in your work. A query letter pitches your idea to the publisher. It should include an attention-grabbing hook – possibly an excerpt from your writing, a paragraph explaining your work, and a paragraph that details your writing experience.  You can send query letters to several publishers at a time to see if one of them is interested in seeing your manuscript.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions!

Writing Tip of the Week: Show Don’t Tell

As writers, we need to study people and their behavior. Watch for gestures and habits that demonstrate how a person feels instead of labeling an emotion.  This technique is described as “show, don’t tell.”

For example, instead of saying: The father was sad to see his daughter cry. A writer might say:

The widower sat on the edge of his eight- year- old daughter’s bed. Brushing her hair back from her eyes, he cupped her face in his hands and shakily wiped tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. Turning from him, the girl buried her face into her pillow. The father’s shoulders hunched as his chin dropped to his chest. Still he sat while her slight body wracked with emotion.

 Eventually, the girl became aware of her daddy’s quiet presence. She turned her head slightly to peer at him.  Suddenly she sat straight up and reached for him. “Oh, Daddy,” she whispered as she in turn wiped tears from his eyes with small, clumsy hands. He smiled through the waterfall of grief that he could no longer choke back. His daughter wrapped her thin arms around his neck tightly, “You miss mommy as much as I do.”

Powerful writing creates imagery. It draws pictures for the reader and evokes emotion into the lives of the characters. Imagery makes you feel as if you are watching the scene take place.

So circle your emotion words in your next piece of writing, and rewrite with a “show, don’t tell” technique.