FRIENDS, FUN, AND FIFTEEN POINTS!

Elaine and Becky

Hey Everybody,

Above are two of the wonderful new friends I made this past weekend at the LifeWay Christian Store in Hendersonville, TN! The book signing was so much fun, and part of that was because this LifeWay store is a very special place. Each of the employees considers their position at the store not just a job, but a ministry! Elaine and Becky are two of the friendly, warm faces who welcome all their customers like friends and family!

I'm just going to post a few pics from my fun day! My friend Janet, here in the pink, is a gift from God. I will never forget my introduction to Janet's family. Our kids were going to be playing softball together (this was years ago), and during sign-ups, I was the person who was going around getting everyone's name. When I got to Janet's husband, Don, I said, "What's your child's name?" And he responded, "JEREMIAH--like the prophet!" I knew immediately that I was going to like this family!



My dear friend Sherry (with Rich and me) is the gal who did all the graphic design in my Bible studies! Sherry has such a gifting in arts and organization. Sherry and her husband and Rich and I used to teach a Sunday school class together many years ago for young married couples. From that one class, God has done so much and transformed so many lives! Rich and I, for sure, wouldn't be doing what we're doing now if it hadn't been for the training ground of the Open Door Class!

This precious young woman bought FOUR books! :) This is my beautiful friend Sondra! She (along with my friend Ginger) were the inspiration for Baby Boot Camp! Sondra, you sweetheart, you have always been so supportive of me and my work! Thank you for that!

Jeri, who is also an original member of the Open Door Class, stopped by with her kids who are TOO CUTE, and I had a surprise for this gal. She is on page 141 of the book! She has been instrumental in the lovely's life in that she was her first piano teacher! (get it? instrumental? LOL!) Jeri and her husband Stephen are so precious to us. Stephen was called into the ministry, and the two of them ran away to seminary :) , but now they serve at a church close by. God is so good!

My sister-in-law and her beautiful girls came by (of course, I didn't have the camera out then) and so many other sweet folks, including several of my students--and each one will receive a whopping 15 points for taking time out of their Saturday to come by and see Mrs. P! I hope that one day in the future I get to go to a book signing for one of them! THAT would be something!

My Favorite Book Signing

Since I am so excited about my book signing today, I wanted to share with y'all my favorite book signing memory from my Baby Boot Camp days. I was at a LifeWay in Alabama, and I had gotten promoted on a radio show and in the newsletter of a very large church, so I was hoping that the book signing would be well attended. I was looking forward to meeting lots of new and expecting moms, and I had told the Lord that I wanted to pray for as many of those new moms that I could!

A sweet young woman, and she was tiny, too--you know those petite little women who don't even show from behind, they just look like they swallowed a basketball--it's all out in front? Yeah, she was one of those! She had driven in from a nearby town because she had heard the radio interview. She was due in just a few weeks, I think, and I said, "Oh, let me pray for you!" She was good with that, so as I began praying over her, I heard the Lord tell me to pray, "Take her to the cross." Well, who really wants to pray that for someone who is about to deliver her first child? I imagined horrible suffering, because I was specifically praying about her delivery! And I just thought that what the Lord was telling me to pray sounded kind of scary. I didn't want to do it! But He was insistent, and so I did. I'm telling you, I wouldn't have wanted someone praying that prayer over me as a mom-to-be! But when I finished, and I looked into the glowing face of that beautiful young woman, she was smiling. I just trusted God to do whatever He needed to do with that prayer.

Several months later, that young woman, by then a new mom, sent me an email. In it, she said that her delivery had been difficult. As she stared up at the hospital ceiling, crying and praying on behalf of herself and her baby, she noticed that the tiles were held in place by crosses. She remembered what I had prayed (what God had told me to pray!). She said she realized that God was calling her to come to the cross. He was taking her to the cross early in her life as a mother, and so she leaned on Him, and she trusted Him right then and there with her baby's life. Soon, both mother and baby were doing fine.

God is so good. I am always learning to trust Him more, aren't you?

Top Ten Reasons You Need Season of Change!

Hey Everybody,

For all you writers out there, take note: The hard part isn't writing a book--it's selling it! Whew! I'm still trying to recuperate from the Blog Tour! Well, praise God, here's my latest brainstorm: The Top Ten list. If you've ever heard me speak, then you know that I can really get into a good Top Ten list. In fact, there's a youtube on my website of the Top Ten ways moms are more like their sons than they dare to admit! Click here if you want to watch that. A few years ago I did the Top Ten reasons Carol Brady should have homeschooled. Fun!
Now, I have compiled the Top Ten Reasons why you might need to buy Season of Change! LOL! See if any of these reasons apply to you!

10. Because you need some help figuring out your middle school age son or daughter.
9. Because you need to know that not much has changed between your middle school days and your child’s—except the software.
8. Because when you were a middle schooler, you didn’t want to stop for “coffee.”
7. Because parenting seems to have gotten a lot more difficult.
6. Because no one says “foxy” anymore.
5. Because the Jonas Brothers remind you of Greg, Peter, and Bobby.
4. Because when your child said, “I need my space,” you thought she wanted her own room.
3. Because you heard “10 is the new 13” and it scared you to death!
2. Because as the parent of a middle school girl, you know there’s really no shortage of drama at this age!

1. Because as the parent of a middle school boy, you know there’s really no shortage of gas in Middle Tennessee!

Yeah, the whole gas thing continues to get big laughs, so I'm using it while I can. This top ten list is one I've been sending out locally to promote my book signing coming up in a couple of weeks! I'm excited.

I've told the students in my writing classes that they'll earn 15 points added on to their lowest grade if they come. Is that ethical? Is that bribery?

Do you think it will work? :)

BOOK SIGNING FUN

Hey Everybody,

The lovely loaded my pics and now I am ready for storytime! Aren't you? I hope y'all like it when I ramble...'cause that's what I'm about to do!

About the title of this blog: Please don't be misled. Book signings are not always fun. No ma'am, not always. So before I tell you about all the fun I had Friday, I want you to know that I had a book signing once and nobody came. It was awful. No one even came in the store! And it was a Saturday morning! When two ladies finally did come in the store, they rushed directly to me, with big smiles! "We are so glad to see you!" they announced. "You can tell us where the bathroom is!" Sigh.

That said, now we can proceed. Rich and I got to the bookstore about thirty minutes before the book signing was scheduled. We visited with the LifeWay team a little bit, and then I had time to do what I always do upon entering a Christian bookstore. I begin looking for Baby Boot Camp! I always want to see if they are carrying it on the shelf! And, YAY! they were! And see who my little next door neighbor is there on the shelf? My dear Ginger. So I took a picture, since our books are so cute together, side by side like that. :)

One of the first people to arrive was my friend Pam Cassady. We got acquainted last year during the Girl of Worth conference. Pam writes for the newspaper in Logan County and she covered the conference before and after it took place. Last week, she did a story about Season of Change! Several people who came by LifeWay came because of that article, so THANKS, Pam! (If you would like to read that article, click HERE.) Pam is also one of the stops on my blog tour!


A lovely lady that I've become acquainted with over the past couple of years, Shana, came out to see me as well. I cannot believe that I did not get her picture, but I didn't! Shanna lives in Bowling Green, but she usually attends the SHEM conference in Missouri, (go figure!) and that's where we met. And then when Rich's grandma, uncle, aunt, and aunt's sister came out--well, when the Powells show up, then it becomes a party! (L to R -- Uncle Wilbur, Judy, Aunt Mary Frances, me, Grandma, Rich)

Thanks very much to the LifeWay folks who were so gracious and allowed me to come for the book signing. Below, I'm with Jeremy and Heather. You'll notice before I left I put "Season of Change" where I'll be looking for it the next time I'm in a Christian bookstore--on the best seller shelf! Now, that's prime real estate!

SEE THE INTERVIEW

Hey Everybody,

Just in from a great day in Bowling Green, KY! Thanks to all the kind folks at WBKO, especially Darla Oglesby. I first "met" Darla back in 2001 when I was promoting BBC. Back then, she worked at a Christian radio station, and she interviewed me on her morning show. Last year I finally got to meet her in person when I went to Bowling Green to promote the Girl of Worth conference. So, she gave me an open invitation to come back on Midday, and I took her up on it! See the interview HERE. (On my computer, I have to scroll all the way to the right.)

I will post pictures of the book signing after Danya loads my pictures into the computer. :)

And, in case anyone is wondering, I am so FOR HER and delighted with choice that was announced today! (Even though it almost pre-empted my interview! LOL!)

ANNOUNCING: THE BLOG TOUR!

Hey Everybody!

I am excited to announce my upcoming blog tour for my new book, "Season of Change!" If you're not familiar with a blog tour, this is simply a virtual way to spread the word about my book by chatting with people on different blogs all over the Web! I'm working on scheduling a two-week tour, but I'm so excited about the first week that I've booked that I'm going to post it here now!

Sept. 8--Chatty Kelly
Sept. 9--Sheila Wray Gregoire
Sept. 10--Lara at Moms of Faith
Sept. 11--Leigh Gray
Sept. 12--Dawn at My Home Sweet Home

Another author, Sheila Wray Gregoire, introduced me to this concept, and I'm going to try it! I think it will be lots of fun! The second week of the tour will actually include a Dad's blog, and I think it will be interesting to chat with him and get a dad's questions and concerns about middle school! I don't know if I'll have a full second week, but I'll see how the Lord leads. Whatever and however, it's going to be fun!

It is hard to believe the book "officially" launches next Tuesday; I have had copies of it since Memorial Day weekend and the FPEA conference.

I'll be blogging in the coming days about book promotion, and I'm happy to share with those of you who are writers what I know about it! It isn't easy. You have to get past thinking that you are "self-promoting" and recognize that you are promoting a message you believe in, a message that God gave you. When BBC first came out--oh my goodness--I had half of a room stacked with 5,000 copies of that self-published first edition. They were stacked next to my treadmill and I would get on my treadmill every day and pray, "God, please move that mountain of books." He did. HE DID.

How did He do it? He opened doors for me. Here are just a few ways:

• A rookie LifeWay store manager who bought 100 copies on consignment
• My friend Sherry's husband, who was then editor of Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox, sent word of BBC out to 40,000 pastors through a brief review on the site.
  
• My husband met Lysa Terkeurst, gave her a copy of the book, and she called and invited me to attend the very first She Speaks! back in 2001. About a year and a half later, Lysa gave my name to a ministry that invited me to be a part of three parenting conferences in New Jersey, Texas, and Georgia (and they purchased 150 of my books upfront!)
• A feature article in the Lexington Herald, all because I called the newspaper and asked if there would be any interest in a story.
• A couple of Christian OB-GYN's here in Nashville who bought 300 copies to give to their expecting moms.

Did I have to knock on the doors? Yes, of course, I did! But He led me to those doors, and He gave me the courage to press on when doors did not open, because not every door did. Debra Maffett, who wrote the forward for BBC, told me, "You're on learning curve right now," and I was, indeed. And I still am--which is why my tagline has always been, "Learning as I go!"

J. Hudson Taylor said, "I have found there are three stages to every great work of God: first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”

Think about that today. Are there seeming impossibilities in your life or relationships? Are there dreams, goals, desires of your heart that seem way too out there?

Impossible.
Difficult.
Done.

I like that.

UP TO MY EARS!

The corn is in! Doesn't that just look lovely! And after putting up a ton of it already, I can still honestly say that it looks good to me! If you have corn recipes, please send them my way! My sons brought in 40-50 ears yesterday and my mom-in-law took a few of those, but the rest are in my freezer, with more coming in today! The boys brought in some blackberries today, too! There is probably about a half-gallon of those.

I'm up to my ears with writing work this week, as well! I've been proofing my audio book, and I must say, that is a hard job for me. I am visually oriented, and to listen to a book is just not my thing. Fortunately, the narrator, Melissa, has done an excellent job. She is easy to listen to! She is missing my Tennessee twang, however, but I'm sure that is all for the best! :) I was once told by a guy in Cincinnati that he could not afford to bring me in to speak to his homeschooling parents because he could not afford to pay an interpreter so that they would be able to understand me. Hardee har har. He was a really funny dude. (Can you believe that???? I love what "Homeless Hobbes said in the Mitford books. He said something like: "I used' t' talk real fine but I couldn't understand myself.") But anyway, I finally finished that up today, and now it is on to the rest of my list that is totally too long!

But isn't it good to have work to do? And the strength to do it? Definitely!

Query Letters: A Day in the Life

Kelly wrote to ask me about the life of a query letter. While I don't know how every publication handles their query letters, I am happy to tell you about the life of a query letter when it comes to the ones the She Speaks! attendees submitted to ParentLife magazine.

Those letters went home with me. After I got caught up on some things, I went through the query letters to see what looked like a good fit for the magazine. The writers had lots of good ideas, and several even wrote to query the same subject! (When my friend Jon was the editor of HomeLife magazine, I remember him remarking that he figured great minds really did think alike--he would often get several query letters proposing the same subject at the same time!) I put the queries into three piles:

1. Letters that would go straight to Jodi (the editor)
2. Letters that I wanted to look at with Jodi
   
3. Letters that were not a good fit

If you received an email from me yesterday, then you know that your query letter was one that did not fit the magazine. I am so sorry, ladies! I'm sorry that it had to be a form letter. There were so many submissions that I could not respond personally to everyone. I'm also sorry because I know how it feels to get a rejection letter. It stinks. I know it does. Let me list here a few things that would have caused me to put your letter immediately into the "doesn't fit" pile.

• The topic has been done to death.
• You were not qualified to write the article without expert input. (Read my posts on query letters!)
  
• The article was not directed to our readership.

If you did not hear from me, it could mean:

1. Jodi now has your letter, and she will contact you.
2. You did not include your email address so I could contact you.
3. My letter to you went to your spam folder.
   

Then I took the letters that I knew had potential, along with the ones I wasn't completely sure of, to a meeting with Jodi last week. (I notice that Jodi looks really young. Well, she's not old, like other people in that picture. And she is expecting her first baby, so she has that "glow!") The ones that Jodi liked, she kept. They will go into a huge yellow basket--the very yellow basket that is pictured at the top of this post! Isn't that exciting? :) And before Jodi goes to a planning meeting with the ParentLife team, she goes through that basket and grabs the queries she wants to pitch to the team for that month. If Jodi kept your query letter, you may hear from her next week, next month, or even next year. That's the way it works!

I hope you have enjoyed this series on query letters! If you have questions, please feel free to ask. I hope this has helped!

If you got a rejection letter, I encourage you to keep writing and, please, keep reading! Read the publications to which you are submitting your queries! You can write a better query letter when you are familiar with the magazine you are querying! (duh!) If you would like to browse a copy of ParentLife, just go to the front page of my website and scroll down to the ParentLife icon. It will take you straight to a PDF of our March 2008 issue!

Query Letters: Got Legs?

At the end of a good query letter, the writer normally lists her qualifications for writing the piece. If you've written a book on a topic, you are automatically recognized as an expert. That alone gives you something to offer when you query a related piece. But for a novice writer, this can turn into a vicious cycle. When you don't have any experience, it can mean you get turned down. But how, then, do you acquire the experience you need? What qualifies you to write a magazine article? Certainly, a good grasp of the English language, tightly-honed personal editing skills, and the ability to communicate well through the written word qualify you to be a writer. But these qualities alone do not give you the knowledge to tackle every subject. Personal experience is always a plus, but what will really give your article legs to stand on?

Experts. An expert interview is sometimes a key difference between a devotional-style essay and an article. There are people out there who are experts in their various fields. They love to be interviewed, and they add substance to your article.

For example, if you have helped three children move into their college dorms over the past five years, you are certainly qualified to write something along the lines of: "She's Leaving Home: A Dormitory Supply Checklist for your College Freshman." But would that experience alone qualify you to write something like this: "She's Leaving Home: Preparing Your Family When Your Oldest Child goes to College"? No, probably not for an established magazine that pays its writers. Not unless you happen to be not only a writer, but also a family counselor or education specialist who is qualified by trade to speak on that topic. Find experts by looking for authors on amazon.com and contacting them through their websites. Look to your local area for people who are considered experts in your town. And start watching the local news! Not only will you get some article ideas, but you'll get to know who your local experts are.

Anecdotes. You may certainly use personal anecdotes to help fill out your article, but use the stories of friends and acquaintances, as well. If your best friend was crying on your shoulder the day her son went to college three states away, use her in your article: "Massachusetts mom, Debra Smith, remembers the day her oldest left home. . ." Then get a great quote from her to use.

A query letter will look as though you have a more appealing article behind it when you simply state, for example, that you have interviews lined up with so-and-so and that you will include the personal experiences of three families.

Does this sound like a lot of work? From my own experience, it has been! Getting interviews, researching, talking to people--that takes quite a bit of time and energy. How hard are you willing to work? The truth is, if you want to write for pay, then it is going to look like a job--because it is.

It is, btw, a job I love.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! ENJOY THE WEEKEND! I WILL CONCLUDE THIS SERIES ON QUERY LETTERS ON MONDAY, JULY 7.

Query Letters: Proofreading with Passion and Purpose

Ha! Today's title is a take-off on the title of my new book, Season of Change: Parenting Your Middle Schooler with Passion and Purpose. It is a shameless plug, but it is also, truthfully, the way you must proofread before submitting anything that will be read by a professional. Query letters should NOT contain any errors! When an editor gets tons of queries every day, a spelling error or a misplaced comma will send your letter straight to file 13! Why should she bother with taking a chance on a writer who is going to make her work as an editor that much more difficult?

Proofreeding is not easy, however, and here's why: Our eyes will fool us. We often read what is not there! We read, in fact, what we expect to be there. You may or may not have noticed that I purposely put an error in the first word of this paragraph! Check it out! And let me tell you, it is KILLING me to leave it there! (Oh, the things I do for y'all!) This is why one of the first rules of good writing is to set aside what you have written for a couple of hours, a day, or even several days before going back to clean it up. You will catch more goofs when you look at your work with fresh eyes. (Btw, spelling errors that are in the middle of words are the most difficult to catch!)


Here are some of my favorite proofreading tips!


Read your paper backwards. Reading your paper backwards enables you to slow down, look at each word individually, and be sure that it is spelled correctly.

Have a friend read over your work. Two sets of eyes are better than one!

Read your paper aloud. The egomaniac in you will love reading your own work out loud. Doing this will help you catch the goofs that spell check will miss. For example, one of my writing students recently misused the word "disgust" for "discussed." Spell check didn't catch it, and neither did he.


Finally, use the spell check feature on your computer. It's there, so use it! But use it with caution. Don't rely on it; it will let you down!


When it comes to query letters, your writing style is the editor's first impression of you. Be as passionate about checking for errors as you would be about your personal appearance before an important job interview. Consider spelling errors equivalent to lipstick on your teeth!

Happy proofreading!

Query Letters: Why Read the Magazine?

Before you query a magazine, you need to read it! Yes, it takes some time, but do you want to sell an article or not? Do your homework! Often, it is quite easy for an editor to tell if you have read her magazine--or if you have not. Here's what she knows that you need to know:


Know the readership. Be sure you know who the periodical is targeting as its readership. Obviously, you wouldn't pitch an article about cooking to Sports Illustrated. But you need to read the magazine to notice other details. For example, if you pitch an article about teenagers to ParentLife, you haven't read the magazine. ParentLife targets parents of children ages 0-12. Also, some parenting magazines are parent-driven, while others are child-driven. Read the magazine to know the slant of the articles.


Know the regulars. You may want to read more than one issue of the magazine in order to get a good feel for it. Regular features are usually written by contracted writers. Know who the regular contributors are so you don't pitch an article for a column that has already been contracted out for the next twelve months.


Know the recent topics. If a women's magazine just ran a story on how to protect a marriage from adultery and you query that same topic, your query goes nowhere, and you have wasted your time (not to mention the editor's time!). Read the magazine to know what has been published most recently.


When it is obvious to an editor that you are familiar with her magazine, you will write a better query letter and stand a much better chance of getting your foot in the door!


These are just a few tips. I hope they help!

Clean Desks and Query Letters

I spent the weekend cleaning off my desk, the schoolroom, and the surrounding area. I am a woman with a mission! It is always hard to dig my way out of the mess my procrastination leaves behind, but I love the feeling of getting everything back in shipshape!


This week I hope to be blogging about the makings of a good query letter! I have a stack of them from the She Speaks Conference, and I'll be meeting with my editor at ParentLife soon to hand over the ones I think warrant her attention.

Here are the topics I'll cover:

Why Read the Magazine?
Proofreading with Passion and Purpose
Got Legs?
A Day in the Life

Let me know if you have questions, and I'll try to make sure they get answered in one of my posts!

The Heart Connection

When I first started teaching writing to a group of homeschooled high school students last September, I had no idea that God would knit my heart to theirs. They were all sweet kids, and I already knew many of them through my daughter, but writing is an activity that unveils the heart. It is through the activities of the class that I have made a connection with each one of them, because I have caught glimpses of each student's real world. It's been an amazing journey, and I am delighted that the Lord has allowed me to be a small part of their lives.

Writing is one of the ways that God chooses to reveal Himself to us: through the power of His written Word. The Bible is incredible. I have been constantly reminded lately of the wealth of worth and power in the Scriptures. I have a friend who is a first-year missionary in Jerusalem, and she shared recently about a sermon she had heard:

[The pastor] reminded us that every saved person is in full-time ministry. That Jesus owns us. That He purchased us and paid for us. And if we call ourselves followers of Him, we commit ourselves to partner with Him in establishing His Kingdom on earth. He also reminded us that we have a very real enemy, one who will constantly challenge us with, "Did God really say.....?" and our defense for that is to KNOW what the scriptures DO SAY. For ourselves. Not because we listen to someone else interpret them, but because we READ THEM. He challenged us to wake up and take responsibility for our faith.... or to stop calling ourselves believers.

Once again, I'm challenged to rise to the risk of my faith. We can't THINK the Word, LIVE the Word, PRAY the Word, or DO the Word, unless we READ the Word. Read it to know what He says! Read it to know His heart! The Word is your heart connection to Jesus Christ!

HERE IT IS!

Do you love it? I am thrilled!

SEASON OF CHANGE UPDATE!

Hey Everybody,

I am so pleased with Tate Publishing! I am having a great experience with this company, and that is something worth being very excited about!

My editor has been absolutely incredible! Since I have a degree in English, I teach writing, and I've done freelance editing work, I tend to think that I know everything about editing, LOL! And I don't--not at all! But when it comes to finding typos and grammar goofs, I do believe that I can hold my own (and my students will attest to that--although I do love it when they catch one of my mistakes!) So I'm going to be pretty tough on any editing that is done on anything I write. (I'm just being honest, now, just keeping it real!) I received the first edits of my manuscript last weekend, and I was absolutely thrilled! I felt as though a kindred spirit had gotten a hold of my book--she caught everything that I didn't! In fact, there was only one edit of hers that I took issue with--only one! That's truly remarkable. :) What I also loved about this editor was that she took the time to throw in some encouraging words throughout the manuscript. Everybody knows that a few encouraging words go a very long way! Anyway, so far, so good with Tate!

Now I am eagerly waiting to see the cover design! I spoke with the cover designer a couple of weeks ago, and she was great, too! (Yes, all these Tate people are great!) I have been praying for her. The cover is SOOOOO important! I have got some great covers on my books. God has blessed me with very talented people who were able to catch His vision and develop some very beautiful, eye-catching covers that reveal the heart of my books! Amazing!

One thing that I have prayed for this book is that God will give the designer exactly what He wants for its cover. I have even prayed that He will wake her up in the middle of the night with the design if that's what He needs to do! LOL! I cannot wait to see it!

Excited about the new book!

I am so excited about the new book! I have already received an endorsement from my dear friend, Ginger Plowman. I was thrilled with it:

Rebecca Ingram Powell has hit the ball out of the park with this one! If you desire to truly understand, relate to, and enjoy a fantastic relationship with your middle-schooler, I highly recommend that you read and re-read this power-packed, insightful book. As a result, you and your child will be deeply blessed. ~Ginger Plowman, Author of Don't Make Me Count to Three and Heaven at Home

Ginger and Rich are the two who made it their goal to get this book written! LOL! I've been talking about it for over two years, but it was over the summer that I actually started it. I remember last May, Ginger and I stayed up one night during FPEA to map out the table of contents! Of course, many months later, in the finished product, the table of contents that I ended up with was a far cry with what we discussed that night! But I am so thankful for Ginger's constant encouragement of this project!It is a true blessing to have people who are supporting you when you take on something that seems bigger than you are! My mom-in-law is another one of those people in my life who has the greatest, most positive attitude! She thinks I can do anything! She is always encouraging me and every member of our family. (Yes, I'm blessed!)

By the way, Ginger has a new project of her own that will be released in March! It is called No More Whining! I cannot wait until it is available! Parents everywhere will soon have an actual method for teaching their children how to communicate without whining. :) Isn't that good news?

Sunday

Hey Everybody,

I've been at home all morning with my youngest, who was up sick in the night. This is his second virus this season! Bless his heart. So we watched a couple of preachers (I took notes on Dr. James Merritt's sermon this morning--it was good stuff! I'll write more about that after I process it more!), listened to some praise and worship, and concluded the morning with a few episodes of "I Love Lucy." :) Laughter is good medicine! It has been so good today just to sit and hold my fifth grader! I know he's sick, but that's a pretty good excuse for him to be still and for me to get to hold him for a while. He is, after all, my baby!

This afternoon I am going back through my Season of Change manuscript one last time. One thing I haven't thought about at all is the dedication page. Baby Boot Camp was dedicated to my mom and my mother-in-law. Wise Up! was to Danya. Dig Deep was to my sons. And Get Real! was dedicated to my own dear Boaz, my husband Rich. I'm not real sure what to do with this one, so I am praying through that.

I am excited about this book and excited about the process. I'm already praying about my cover and what God wants to do with that! I've also gotten more emails from folks interested in holding a Girl of Worth conference! Yay! Danya, Misty, and I are ready! Our next stop together is the Girls of Integrity conference in Evansville, IN--it is a mere six weeks away!

Let's Talk about Publishing

My first book, Baby Boot Camp, was self-published. I had been to several different publishers with my little book of devotionals for new moms, and while one of them had seemed very promising, things did not work out. (My entire story concerning the publication of Baby Boot Camp can be found in the book For the Write Reason edited by Marybeth Whalen.) The main reason that any new author struggles to achieve publication is because of her lack of a platform. I have met with editors of publishing houses large and small, and that is always the first question asked: What do you bring to the table? In other words, what is it about YOU that makes your book marketable? Self-publishing gave me the chance to prove not only the market niche for my book, but it also gave me a couple of years to prove myself. After my book had sold several thousand copies and I had begun a speaking ministry, a traditional publishing house picked up Baby Boot Camp. I could say I was a published author-- "for real!!"

My friend GP says no one is completely happy with her publisher! That's probably true--at least, I haven't met an author who is completely happy--not yet, anyway! But I think that is largely because authors go into publishing deals with great expectations of their publisher, and the truth is that the author is primarily responsible for selling her book. You see, when I went to traditional publishing, I thought I could sit back and relax and be marketed! But what I learned was that I had to work just as hard as when my book was self-published. I still had to be out there selling my book!

I've just finished a new book, and today, I'm thrilled to announce the book's title!
Season of Change: Understanding and Relating to Your Middle Schooler

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