Author: Rachel Schmoyer

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Devotional/Christian Living

The Cold Call: How to Approach a Church or Women’s Group for Speaking Opportunities

Recently in a devotional/Christian living blogger Facebook group, a woman asked how she could find speaking engagements. She has spoken in several places by invitation but wanted to know how to branch out into new places. 

I remember being in her shoes wondering how I could make the transition from speaking to people I knew in real life to entirely new groups of people. Warning: this transition requires cold calling! But you can do it 🙂 It’s not as scary as you think! 

Here are the different kinds of speaking engagement cold calls I have tried so far and how they worked for me. 

In-Person Cold Calls

I created a one-page flyer with my picture and bio and a description of several possible speaking topics. Then I drove around town to hand out my flyer. The librarian was excited, but she wasn’t sure how she could fit in something that religious into her programming. Next, I went to a church and the pastor met me at the door. She and I had a nice conversation and said that she didn’t have a women’s group but they had been thinking about having some kind of event so she would keep me in mind. The next two churches were less receptive. One secretary scowled as she took my flyer and reluctantly said she would put it on the bulletin board. That was not exactly what I was hoping for. Later a friend of mine said she noticed it on the bulletin board so that was good! The last church was similar. Someone met me at the door and I gave them the flyer. She wasn’t interested in chatting. Oh well. 

The in-person cold calling didn’t do well for me, but I should have followed up with the two that seemed somewhat interested. After my book is published next year, I will try again with topics related to my book and give a copy of my book for free if they seem interested. Having a freebie might be more attention getting and give me some clout with a total stranger. 

Email Cold Calls

Since the in-person cold calls didn’t pan out and took up a lot of my precious kids-are-in-school time, I decided to try email cold calls next. 

I typed in “church” on a Google maps search. I looked at the websites of all the churches within an hour drive to see who had a women’s ministry or MOPS group leader listed. Then I emailed the leader with this rough outline:

1. “I know you always need speakers for your group….” 

2. An introduction of who I am including my speaking/writing experience and why I’d be a good fit to speak to their group.

3. A list of possible speaking topics and an offer to make something new. I also provided a link to the full list of my speaking topics on my website. Now that I have a YouTube channel with a playlist of some of my teachings I would also include that as well. 

4. Contact info including social media links for them to check out who I am and what I am passionate about. 

This method worked for me to get speaking engagements for a MOPS group. They were complete strangers to me, but I think an email was effective because the leader had time to check out the links and get a feel for who I am. An in-person cold call puts a leader on the spot. But an email gives the leader time to look everything over during a time that is convenient for her. 

Online Cold Calls

Although not technically a cold call, it’s important to have an online presence with your speaking so that women’s ministry and group leaders can cold call you. I recommend having a page on your website that lists your speaking topics. (Hint: You do not have to have the whole talk prepared before listing it. Just list the idea and if someone is interested, then develop the idea into a full talk.)

I also recommend having a profile on womenspeakers.com. There are different levels of membership. I have the free membership, but it has worked for me to find speaking engagements. I also appreciate the emails I receive from the owner of the website with encouragement and teachings about speaking ministry. 

I also include my upcoming speaking engagements in my weekly email to my subscribers and post on social media when I have an engagement coming up. Although I haven’t gotten any engagements because of this listing (yet), I know that I am getting lots of prayers for the events! I also run into people who say “wow! You’ve been speaking a lot!” The listing helps solidify in people’s minds that I am a speaker. What I imagine will happen in the future is that when someone says to them “I need a speaker for our women’s group” my name will come to mind. 

No matter which cold calling avenue you travel down, make sure to start the journey with prayer. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you to the right group of women who need to hear the message God has laid on your heart. 

Has cold calling worked for you to get speaking events? Is there another way you have received speaking engagements? Comment below! 

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Categories
Devotional/Christian Living

Spreadsheets: Organizing Wisdom from Author Karen Whiting

I am one of those writers who sits among piles of stuff. That piece of information I need? I know I have it written on a piece of paper…somewhere. When it comes to writing, organizing one small devotion is not hard. Hook, Bible point, application. But now that I am writing devotional books, I’ve been wondering how to organize my writing. How can I be sure that my topics aren’t repetitive? How can I see my writing progress without having to scroll through a long Word document? Where can I jot ideas down so they don’t get lost?

With these questions simmering in the back of my mind, I attended Karen Whiting’s class at Montrose Christian Writer’s Conference in Montrose, PA. Karen Whiting is the award winning author of 26 books including The One Year My Princess Devotions, 52 Weekly Devotions for Families Called to Serve, and The Gift of Bread. Although the title of Karen’s class was Marketing Your Book, she generously shared additional ideas pertaining to organizing all aspects of being a writer. What is her secret?

Spreadsheets.

It sounds like a simple thing, but the idea has changed my writing life. Here’s how Karen uses spreadsheets:

Spreadsheets to Outline a Devotional Book

Rather than a traditional outline, Karen organizes her devotional book writing on a spreadsheet so she can see all the elements of the book at a glance. On her spreadsheet she includes a column for each element in the devotion including the title of each devotion, scripture passage, key verse, quote, and (most importantly) the need of the reader each particular devotion meets. For her upcoming devotional book for moms, she included needs like affirmation, love, and assurance. This way she can make sure that the book as a whole is meeting a range of the spiritual and emotional needs of the reader. She can also see that she does not write towards one need too often while ignoring others. She also uses spreadsheets to outline her parenting, craft, and Christian life books.

Spreadsheets to Organize the Marketing Plan

When I create a marketing plan for a book proposal, I use a bullet point list to brainstorm my marketing ideas. Karen uses a spreadsheet and groups similar marketing together. One section for radio interviews, one for television interviews, one for social media marketing, another for blog post and article ideas. She includes contact information for each radio station or magazine publisher. Then when she is ready to market, she has all the information she needs in one place. She can just go down the spreadsheet like a to-do list and make notes on her progress for each task. When an interview or article is complete, she adds the link on her spreadsheet.

Spreadsheets for the Launch Team

Leading up to the book release, the launch team will read advance copies of the book and generate excitement on social media and other places. Karen said it’s wise to have about 30-40 people on the launch team, but be prepared to see only 20-25% follow through. She uses a spreadsheet to keep track of members of her launch team, their addresses, and ideas for the gifts she will send to them. During the marketing class, Karen offered personalized suggestions to each author in the room by giving ideas for gifts for our launch team members. I was amazed at how creative Karen is on the spot! For my upcoming book Take It to Heart: 30 Days through Revelation, a Devotional Workbook, Karen gave ideas like squishy stress ball hearts and heart shaped candy. Yum! She also encouraged me to create speaking topics about truth since I encourage Christians to find simple truth in Scripture. Such helpful ideas!

I’m so grateful to Karen Whiting for sharing her wisdom with us at Montrose Christian Writer’s Conference. I came home energized and equipped to organize my devotional writing in an effective way.

Do you have any tips for organizing your writing life? Do you use spreadsheets? Comment below!

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Categories
Devotional/Christian Living

The Bridge: How to Choose and Write the Bible Point in a Devotion

The Bible point is the bridge between the hook where you began your devotion and the application point at the end of your devotion. The Bible point bridge must be strong and smooth, a natural arc so your reader can implant God’s word into his or her heart.

A short form devotion is usually three paragraphs: the hook, the Bible point, and the application point. Last month I wrote about the first paragraph, the hook. The hook pulls the reader towards the Bible point in the second paragraph.

How does a devotional writer choose and develop the Bible point? Here is how I do it:

Brainstorm all the Bible points. If I am writing for a publication, I am assigned a Bible passage. If I am writing for my own blog or book, then I chose what Bible passages I will be focusing on for my blog series or book. First I start with a prayer that the Holy Spirit will guide me to see the truth in the Bible passage. Then I read and reread the Bible passage writing down all the things that stand out to me about the passage.

I jot down interesting words that I want to look up to see what they mean in the original language. (You can do that here on blueletterbible.org.) I list descriptions of who God is. I notice any commands someone in the passage had to follow, although, be careful here because not all commands given to others in the Bible are for us to follow as well. The same goes for promises. Not all promises given in the Bible are for all people for all time. I also look for emotion words, too, and jot down if the Bible passage or verse reminds me of any other verses or passages. I also read the context around the Bible passage so that I remember who is speaking and in what time period are they speaking.

Let it simmer. Once I have brainstormed all the possible Bible points, then I pray again and set the list away for another day. I want to give the Holy Spirit time to work on my heart and see what particular Bible point He wants me to focus on for the devotion. During this time, I also read a commentary or two to make sure that I have not missed anything or misunderstood any of the Bible passage.

Pick one Bible point to focus on. If you are writing a longer Bible study lesson or a sermon or a longer blog post, you may be able to focus on many points in the Bible passage, but in a short devotion you will only have room for one point. Many short devotions have a word count of between 250-350 words. Plus, your devotion will be more memorable if you focus on one well-developed Bible point.

Explain the Bible point in simple, but descriptive detail. Once you picked out the one Bible point to focus on, then you can write the hook and the Bible point. Writing about the Bible point is not a retelling of the whole Bible passage. It’s a short paragraph pointing out one observation in the passage. You don’t have a lot of words to spare here, but make sure you reserve some words for descriptive detail to paint the picture of the passage in the reader’s mind.

The bible point bridge in devotional writing. Almost an Author.

Try it out! Pick out a Bible passage. Maybe it could be one that you are reading in your own Bible reading right now. List out the possible Bible points, then pick one to write a devotion on. You can submit it to any of these publications and maybe your devotional will be published! Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions along the way.

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Categories
Devotional/Christian Living

Gotcha! How to Write a Compelling Devotional Hook

A short form devotional has three sections: a hook, a Bible passage connection, and a connection to the life of faith.

Here are three things that will make your devotional hook compelling to the readers:

1. Begin with the end in mind.

The hook should get the reader thinking about the connection to the life of faith that you will make at the end of your devotional. Before I write a devotional, I read the Bible passage several times and list out the possible application points that are presented in the passage. I pick out only one of these as the focus. If there is not a clear command to follow in the passage, I look to see what the passage tells us about who God is and how that particular aspect of God’s character impacts our lives. Make sure that the hook pulls the reader towards the one focus point of the passage.

2. Draw from a variety of sources.

Use stories or illustrations from history, science, nature, or personal experience. Know your audience. Are you writing the devotional for women? Men? Both? Older or younger people? Make sure that the hook you share will be relatable to your readers. Take care to make your hook understandable across cultures since many devotional markets have an international audience. If you are writing a group of devotionals, make sure that there is variety in your hooks.

3. Use descriptive language.

If you are writing a devotional for a publication, they will have guidelines for a word count. Most of the time, you will have between 270-400 words. You need to make sure every word counts. Budget some of those words to use descriptive language in the hook. You want your reader to paint a picture in her mind so that her heart is ready to hear God’s truth and to remember it. Use words that convey emotion as well.

how to write a compelling devotional hook

If you are interested in writing devotionals, keep a notebook nearby during your regular Bible reading. When the Holy Spirit bring a truth to your attention and how it relates to your life, jot it down. From these writings you can write a devotional and submit it to one of these seven places that have open submissions.

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Categories
Devotional/Christian Living

More than Motivational: 3 Ways to Make Your Writing a Ministry

Christian Living and Devotional writing falls under the umbrella of non-fiction writing. In general, non-fiction writing informs and motivates readers to change something about their lives. Although Christian Living and Devotional writing informs and motivates, it also ministers to the reader’s soul.

To minister means to serve or to give aid to someone. In other words, to help someone out. Christian writers know that the only lasting help for our readers is to point them to Jesus. Our writing is a tool that the Holy Spirit can use to change the lives of our readers.

How can we be sure that our writing is a ministry and not just motivational? Here are three ways:

1. Stay in God’s word. If you are continually reading God’s word, the words that you write will be naturally saturated with Scripture. If you are writing out a devotional idea and then looking for a Scripture to support your idea, you are working backwards. The most effective Christian Living and devotional writing flows out of your Scripture reading and study. Make daily Bible reading a habit. Read the whole Bible, not just your favorite parts or the parts that are already familiar to you.

2. Pray for your readers. Prayer is the acknowledgement that it is the Holy Spirit who is at work in your readers, not just your words. Vicar Peter Adam was interviewed about how not to be boring on Nancy Guthrie’s podcast Help Me Teach the Bible. Peter Adam said that in his preparation time for speaking somewhere he spends half his time studying and the other half of the time praying for those who will hear the message. I think we can do the same thing with our writing. Take some of your writing time to pray for your readers that the Holy Spirit would change their lives to make them become more like Christ and that He would meet their needs. This is different than praying for yourself as a writer. Pray for your readers that their spiritual needs would be met however the Holy Spirit sees fit to do that.

3. Connect with the larger body of Christ. Most of our studying and writing takes place alone in our homes away from others. It is very easy in this situation to stray from an orthodox understanding of God’s word. We also can face writer’s block as a devotional or Christian Living author, not sure what to say about a particular passage. To make sure we are accurately handling God’s word, stay connected to the larger body of Christ. Attend church regularly. Ask your pastor or church leaders about a Bible passage when you get stuck. You may even want your pastor and elders to approve your writing and check it for doctrinal accuracy. I have heard that some Christian songwriters like Michael Card do this with their song lyrics.  

make your writing a ministry

The best Christian Living and Devotional writing acknowledges that Jesus is the One that changes the reader’s life. When we stay in Scripture, pray for our readers, and connect with the larger body of Christ, our writing can be a ministry and not just motivational.

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Categories
Devotional/Christian Living

5 Ways to Make Social Media Less Frustrating

If you are going to be a Christian Living or Devotional author, then you are going to need a platform. And if you are going to build a platform, you are going to need social media. But social media can be so frustrating! You pour hours into it while your writing gathers dust. You craft clever posts with beautiful pictures and no one seems to notice. You feel confused or overwhelmed about all the little details of each platform. You feel like throwing in the towel. I know because I have gone through periods of frustration when I was getting started with social media as a writer.

These five thoughts have helped me push through frustration so that social media is now enjoyable and profitable to me.

#1 Don’t wait for perfect. Just try something.

When I was first posting on Instagram, I was enjoying getting to know the followers I had by posting first thing in the morning after my kids went to school. Then I read an article that said the best time to post was 3:00 in the afternoon. So then I held off on posting first thing in the morning until I could hit that perfect time of 3:00 in the afternoon. Except that 3:00 pm wasn’t a good time for me. Days went by and I wasn’t posting at all. I started to feel disappointed in myself rather than enjoying Instagram like back when I was in blissful ignorance about the perfect posting time. So then I just shook that “perfect” time out of my head and went back to posting when it worked for me. It was better for me to just try posting instead of waiting for what others deemed as perfect.

#2 Focus on one platform at a time.

Although I am always at least a little bit active on each social media platform, I pick one at a time to focus most of my energy on. At the moment, I am focusing on Pinterest since that is getting me more blog readers and email list sign-ups than any other platform. For a while I tried to have goals for myself on every platform at the same time, but, realistically, I did not have time to focus on all of the platforms at the same time. That just led to frustration, so now I focus on one platform at a time. I give myself the freedom to change my focus through different seasons of life.

#3 Post genuine questions and real-life updates.

If all you ever post is “buy my book” or “read my blog” you are missing out on the joy of getting to know all the wonderful people who follow you on social media. Social media is primarily for being social. So ask questions, give encouragement, and start conversations. This will make your social media time more fulfilling and less frustrating.

#4 Use a timer.

Even when your social media time is fulfilling, it should not be a total time suck. There is more to life than social media. Set a timer and when it goes off, put it down for the day. Take a walk. Enjoy your family. Read your Bible.

#5 Use a scheduler.

A scheduler can help you save time when using social media. A scheduler is a place where you can plan out what you are going to post on a particular day at a particular time and then the scheduler will automatically post it for you. I like to schedule my posts out on Monday, then I can sit back and focus on interacting with my followers during the week. I like to use Buffer because of its simplicity (and it’s free!) Hootsuite is another popular free scheduler.

social media less frustrating

Social media doesn’t have to be frustrating for a writer. Take it one step at a time and keep it joyful. Explore new elements with curiosity and wonder.

If you are looking for a guide and a support as you explore social media, I highly recommend Victoria Duerstock’s Social Media Squad. She has taken a lot of time to study what works and what doesn’t on every platform and loves to share what she knows. Her guidance has been a huge help to me!

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Categories
Devotional/Christian Living

5 SMART Goals for Christian Living and Devotional Writers

I started out 2019 with one goal: to get a Christian Living or devotional book contract. That didn’t happen. A lot of other wonderful things happened like a lot of speaking engagements and getting meaningful reader feedback from strangers and growing my email list from 240 people to 890 people. But because I did not meet my one goal I felt defeated and discouraged. I started to see myself as a failure as a writer.

Then I remembered a blog post I had written for a copywriting client about SMART goals. I realized that I was not a failure as a Christian living or devotional writer, but the goal I had set was not a SMART goal.

A SMART goal is a goal that is:

Specific

The goal needs to be specific enough that you know when it is complete. To “get better” at something or “do well” at something is not specific enough. My “get a book contract” goal was actually not specific enough. There are so many small steps between the thought of a book and getting a contract. I should have broken up this larger goal into smaller, specific pieces.

Measureable

You need numbers attached to your SMART goals such as submitting three book proposals or sending out one query letter a month.  These numbers also need to be entirely in your control. “Getting one book contract” is not totally in my control. There are agents and editors and publishers that factor into that goal. Instead, I should have focused my goal on submissions and manuscripts and book outlines and drafts as opposed to the book contract itself.

Attainable

Your goals need to be realistic. “Publish ten books this year” is not realistic for most writers. At the same time, the goals need to be challenging enough to spur you on. If you already write two blog posts a month, don’t make that the goal. It’s not challenging.

Relevant

Make sure your goals will actually lead to your overall life goals as a writer. For me at this point, I need to concentrate on submitting articles for websites and publications with larger audiences. In the past, I have guest blogged for smaller blogs which I appreciated doing, but I need to focus on articles now in order to achieve my overall goal of growing my platform and getting my book published.  

Time-bound

If there is no due date for the goal, it’s not happening.

With the SMART goal parameters in mind, and lots of prayer, here are my five realistic goals to start out the New Year:

1. Create and share Pinnable images for all my old blog posts. This goal is important to me because other than Google, Pinterest is my biggest traffic source for my blog, Read the Hard Parts. Pinterest is also where I am getting most of my 50-100 new email subscribers. Along with this goal, I also want to schedule ten pins a day on Tailwind, manually pin once a day, and create one Read the Hard Parts freebie per quarter. These goals should help me reach my overall Pinterest goal of one million Pinterest views per month. At this moment I have 232k views per month. But one million views cannot be my SMART goal because Pinterest could change their algorithm at any time and that is out of my control. But these other goals about sharing and Pinterest images are in my control and will over time contribute to my overall goal.

2. Submit one article a month to a large website or publication. First I need to gather a list of places to pitch my articles, places like The Gospel Coalition, Desiring God, For the Church, incourage.me, and Leading Hearts Magazine. Notice my goal is to submit an article and not get it published. That is in the Lord’s hands.

3. Create a blog post once a month. For the last two years I have been blogging about once a week. Now I have almost one hundred posts on my site. So that I have time to submit articles, focus on Pinterest, and try to write a book, I need to cut back here.

4. Self-publish a short Bible study book by the end of January. Although my goal is traditional publishing, I’m getting back logged with ideas for books that have not found a match in traditional publishing. I wasn’t sure what to do about this until I heard novelist Shawn Smucker speak on a panel at Lancaster Christian Writers. He self-published until he was noticed by a traditional publisher. He said, “Sometimes self-publishing is the right move so that you are not stuck and you can keep moving.” That is exactly what I needed to hear. I was stuck with my half-finished ideas and at this point self-publishing a Bible study book will keep me moving. This goal comes with a myriad of smaller steps and goals like a rough draft by December 1, finish self-edits by December 15th, and then meeting with an author friend in January to learn how to format the book properly with a well-designed cover.

5. Send in my next book proposal to my agent by January 15. A new book idea has been unfolding and it has been a pleasure to see it blossoming. I want to have a deadline for this book proposal so I will get it done!

Will I get traditionally published in 2020? I don’t know. That is not in my control, ultimately. But these five SMART goals can help me get there, Lord willing.

What are your SMART goals for the New Year? Let me know in the comments!

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

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Copywrite/Advertising Devotional/Christian Living

Step Out in Front of the Crowd: How to Add Speaking to Your Writing Life

As a devotional or Christian living writer you have a burden to share the message God has laid on your heart. Your blog, books, and articles can help you reach your audience. So can speaking.

My Read the Hard Parts blog started because I want to encourage women to dig into the hard parts of Scripture, the ones we usually skip like Revelation or Ezekiel. Although I have taught children at our church for my whole adult life I never thought about speaking to adults until I had to give an announcement about social media to two hundred men at our denomination’s pastors conference. After this short announcement I got a lot of feedback about how well spoken I was. I was surprised! Then on the drive home I felt the Holy Spirit say to me “it is time to speak.”

Shortly after that experience, I learned what I could about how a writer can find opportunities to speak. And now I have spoken to almost a dozen ladies groups.

Here are some tips that worked for me for starting out as a speaker:

Develop a couple of topics

Have about three talk topics that are related to your writing. Since I write about the hard parts of Scripture, I started out with a talk on Revelation, one on Proverbs, and then one on how to read and understand the hard parts. I came up with a talk title and a short paragraph of explanation for each topic. I did not develop all the details of the content of my talks until I had a group request that topic in particular. I also decided that I would be willing to create a new talk that would fit the needs of any group that requested one on a particular topic. If I develop a new talk for a group then I can offer that talk to others.

Start Local

Next I created a flyer with my contact information and the topics of my talks. I visited local churches in the area and the libraries. I was nervous every time I did one of these cold calls, but I prayed each time that God would guide me and direct me where He wanted me to go. I also contacted churches in my denomination and let them know I would be available to speak at any event they may be having. I also asked to teach in my own local church and we created a women’s Sunday School class so we could study Revelation together.

Online Presence

In addition to handing out my flyer, I also added a speaking tab to my website with the talk descriptions. I would also highly recommend creating a free profile on womenspeakers.com. There is a location based search on this site so this is especially a good way for nearby churches and Christian groups to find a speaker who they don’t need to fly in from out of state.

Use Video

When I started to get some requests for more information about my speaking, I was often asked for a video clip of my speaking. At first I didn’t have any, so I improvised by sharing my Instagram TV videos and Facebook live videos and even some audio of myself as a guest on a friend’s podcast. Once I got a speaking engagement lined up, I invited a friend along to take pictures and videos to use as examples for future requests. You don’t need to video the whole presentation. Just a clip will do. The organizers just need to know that you are confident as a speaker and pleasant to listen to.

Build Some Excitement

Once you have a speaking engagement lined up, post pictures of your preparation. Share pictures on social media of your travels to the engagement.  Share pictures from your actual engagement. Hopefully some others in the crowd will share, too. All these social media postings will help build excitement around your speaking and will pique other’s interest as well. Take along some freebies and a sign-up sheet for your email list so that those who hear you speak can have opportunity to connect with your writing, too.

Writing life can be isolating. Speaking gives me the opportunity to connect with my audience in person. At my speaking engagements I listen to the questions the ladies have about the hard parts of Scripture so I can address them in my future writing and speaking. Plus I love the “a-ha” look on their faces when they understand a part of Scripture in a new way. Speaking reminds me why I am writing to begin with—to help women find simple truths in hard parts of Scripture.

Rachel Schmoyer is a pastor’s wife who is loving her church life. She writes about the hard parts of Scripture at readthehardparts.com. She has had devotionals published in the past, but now she is looking forward to getting her first Christian Living book published. You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.