Writers Chat, hosted by Johnnie Alexander, Brandy Brow, and Melissa Stroh, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!
“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”
Writers Chat Recap for October Part 1
From Author to Agent: The Inside Scoop on the Publishing Industry
Bethany Jett shares her journey from reluctant writers conference attendee to literary agent. She gives advice on querying, marketing, and other aspects of the publishing industry plus insightful nuggets of wisdom.
Watch the October 3rd Replay.
Bethany Jett is an associate literary agent with the C.Y.L.E. agency, as well as a multi-award-winning author, and a marketing strategist who earned top honors in her master’s program, where she earned her MFA in Communications focusing on Marketing and PR. Her motto is “Teach as you go,” which she lives out as the co-owner of Serious Writer, a company that teaches and empowers writers and authors. Bethany is married to her college sweetheart, and together they’re raising 3 teen/tween sons and their Pomeranian Sadie
Crafting Thrillers and the Magic of Mentorship
Author Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes presents a two-in-one program on writing thrillers and the the value of mentorship. She shares effective ways to craft a thriller story that has a fast pace and a plot that keeps readers guessing. Katherine also explains the benefits of mentorship. For more on this jam-packed episode be sure to catch this week’s replay.
Watch the October 10th replay.
Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes is an editor, author, speaker, and educational consultant. Katherine hosts the podcast Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Laced with Morality. She’s authored a Christian Bible study and is working on the sequel to her first general market thriller, A Fifth of the Story, debuting on 2/27/2024.
Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I feel called, compelled, and born to write. I can’t not write. It helps me understand what I’m thinking, feeling, experiencing. Whether poems, essays, devotions, or nonfiction, I write with insights and messages to strengthen, encourage, and comfort.
I also write to influence readers to perceive God. To spark a thirst in others to seek God for the first or the umpteenth time. To encourage readers to catch God at work in ordinary life, in playful and revelatory ways.
A core message is to reveal God as he is, not as we imagine him to be. In two poetry chapbooks, I focused on home, family, and the father’s role in a child’s life. A third explored the dynamics of home, place, and transition. With my current book, Collision, my message is God still heals, but not always as we expect. In spotlighting Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals, I encourage readers to consult the Great Physician as they work with the medical community. With his uncanny skill in diagnosing spiritual roots of affliction, I hope readers find healing.
How long have you been writing?
Since childhood, with a diary, school essays, and poems.
Tell us about one of your greatest joy(s) in your writing career.
The greatest joy(s) of receiving an acceptance letter from Finishing Line Press for my first poetry manuscript submission; receiving the first hard copy was a childhood dream fulfilled. The ongoing joy of writing and publishing is the power of discovering God and oneself in the process. Then releasing the writing—a vulnerable time—and watching readers, peers, publishers, and gatekeepers react.
Tell us about one of your darkest moment(s) in your writing career.
When I decided to publish a nonfiction narrative and discovered the implications—financial, time, platform, and the unlikely prospect of finding an agent at my age. I felt like all was lost—I’d arrived too late to the game. Because it was an important book to God, me, my audience, and my colleagues, I felt I’d failed.
Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection? How has rejection shapedyou or your career?
I’ve always understood rejection as part of the landscape on the road to publishing. I viewed rejection as a good barometer of my writing, motivating me to improve. Some lessons learned:
Match submissions to a market’s needs. Be a sniper, searching for the right markets for your material before shooting off a submission.
There are many reasons for a rejection. Don’t take it personally.
Rejection can be God’s way of redirecting your path He has for you.
In what ways has God led you to mentor other writers? Were you surprised when a certain skill or connection led to mentoring opportunities?
The birthing of three new areas of ministry, in the context of missions, converged over the past 20+ years. The timeline:
In the late 90’s: in France, I felt God’s increasing pressure to write for publication. I started with the culture shock poems.
Simultaneously, I felt called by God to focus on reaching the artists in my city, including writers. I also began training in spiritual direction. I was as eager to create, write and hang with artists as to persuade Christian artists and writers to consecrate their gifts to God’s kingdom purposes.
2006: repatriated to the US and joined a writer’s group.
2008-14: when I began publishing my first poetry chapbooks, friends, strangers, and colleagues asked me for advice on writing. I enjoyed helping them take baby steps.
2006-2014: The mentoring role developed to the point of training creatives to minister overseas through their art; working with creatives in spiritual direction.
In 2015: I took a sabbatical with the goal of writing a nonfiction book. When I returned, I switched roles to “Artist at Large,” with the intention of revising and publishing the nonfiction manuscript. I also had a heavy mentoring role, having trained artists in spiritual direction, based on principles I was now writing about.
In 2019: completed a coach-mentoring course, receiving my certificate in 2020.
In 2020, with the pandemic, moved mentoring online. Also participated in emerging online writing conferences, where I found a publisher for my second manuscript.
June 2022: Collision, How I Found My Life by Accident, my first nonfiction book, released!
December 2022, I retired from missions to devote myself full-time to pursue next steps in my writing career.
January 2023: I “met” Norma Poore during the Cultivate Christian Creative Symposium, who invited me to interview for this post and here I am!
And all this surprised me and made perfect sense. I’ve observed at conferences and online how popular coach-mentoring was for writers and speakers and saw a potential lane open for me. God wastes nothing and calls us to consider others better than ourselves. One way I can implement that is to consider other writers’ projects and well-being more than my own through writing, mentoring, and spiritual direction.
Tell us about a facet of mentoring that particularly excites you.
When I see that light in the eyes of someone experiencing an insight or breakthrough. I sense God’s presence and witness transformation—pure gold to me. I’m motivated to listen well and ask the right questions to see the eyes light up with understanding!
What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and mentoring writers?
Meeting someone over a cup of coffee or tea in a quiet café that affords privacy. It’s neutral, hospitable, and lends itself to conversation, not a clinical encounter. Second best is over the kitchen table.
I usually come with prayer, prepared materials, and a set of questions, depending on whether it’s an intake interview or a follow up meeting.
Prepare spiritually by asking God to lead and release the spiritual gifts necessary for a breakthrough. To give me wisdom, discernment, and patience in listening and speaking.
I’ve worked out of a church office as well, which lends a seriousness and professionalism that helps in some situations.
Mentoring in action, especially for personalities that learn better by doing than talking. Especially in missions, a ride to the airport could be life changing.
Pray with someone so they can experience answers from the Spirit, not look to me as an “expert” or someone with whom they could form an unhealthy attachment.
Online. I converted 😊 I once thought it impossible to practice spiritual direction or mentoring online, until the pandemic forced the issue. I know its limits but it’s effective especially with mentoring on practical levels. Now I thank God for the technology that allows me to mentor artists all over the world, far more than I could do locally.
Using creative expression, which can so quickly unlock the inner movements of our souls. A form of art therapy.
Have you organized or led groups to support writers? (Retreats, ACFW chapters, etc.) How has that experience helped you to mentor writers?
Except for creating a writer’s group in France and occasionally filling in for the facilitator of my writer’s group, no. But for creatives in general, yes. Retreats, devotional times, trainings, workshops, prayer meetings, church meetings with staff and/or members, consulting work. The experiences increased my confidence, joy, and versatility in caring for and mentoring writers and artists.
Have you organized or directed a writers’ conference? Tell us about that experience, and/or share an anecdote that illustrates how you saw writers being mentored and encouraged through the event.
No, but I’ve attended so many, I saw this from the beginning: my first online writers’ conference with Redemption Press (She Writes for Him). I was quite surprised by the very ‘girlie’ approach, with lots of silliness that wasn’t exactly my style, but it was all very upbeat, positive, and encouraging. When the publisher shared her story deeply and vulnerably, I heard the holy “why” of her heart. I decided she was someone I could work with, who would understand my story, and called after the conference to discuss a manuscript. I ended up signing with Redemption Press for the publication of Collision.
If you speak at writers’ groups or conferences, what are some of your favorite topics to speak about?
Healing: The Three-Legged Stool
Called to Adventure: The Hero’s Journey with Christ
The Art of Forgiveness
Longing & Babette’s Feast
Lament: When your cape is at the cleaners; finding a cape for the chaos; the hot mess hero.
The Architecture of Faith: how we need structure to flourish. The Hero’s Journey and Rule of Life.
What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers?
Cultivate the relationships as well as your ideas.
Become better writers, in craft and professionalism.
Join a writer’s group and enter as a learner and a listener. Develop a thick skin.
Attend a writer’s conference or workshop to build relationships and learn.
“Let each consider others better than yourself.” Listening to others before speaking or promoting your projects.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to beginning writers?
The Writer’s Journey, 2nd Ed., by Christopher Vogler
Write His Answer: A Bible for Christian Writers, Marlene Bagnull
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to writers who are struggling with discouragement?
When God Calls a Writer, by Deanne Welsh
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writers make?
Focusing on themselves in their fears, anxieties, and comparisons.
Ignoring the industry or letting it intimidate them instead of letting God lead them.
Divorcing their writing from the larger writing community and industry, forgetting to see people, forgetting God in the process.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?
Invite God to be your writing partner, to reveal what project and goals to set, where to find the finances, and to enable your success as he defines it.
Set up a realistic writing practice and stick to it. Write, read, revise.
Learn the craft of writing by reading, studying other authors, attending/listening to author talks and podcasts, asking questions.
Join a writer’s group, learn the business of publishing as you learn the craft of writing.
Attend a writer’s conference as soon as you can.
Pat Butler, author, poet, and pioneer in missional arts, envisions a world in which every Christ follower finds and flourishes in the abundant life Jesus promised. Pat cultivates a global network of artists through writing, mentoring, and spiritual direction. She has traveled to twenty-five countries, lived in two, and holds dual citizenship. Currently residing in Florida, Pat walks with cranes, dodges hurricanes, and enjoys her own pillow. Follow Pat’s musings at www.mythicmonastery.org. Collision, How I Found My Life by Accident, is available at Redemption Press and Amazon.
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I write to help others. I believe we are all here to help each other Home and it is my responsibility to do that through the gifts God gave me in writing and public speaking. It wasn’t long after my husband’s death that I discovered the power of authenticity in the written and spoken word. I am completely transparent in sharing what I have learned as a writer, mother, wife, caregiver, widow, and in my faith journey. I have mined my own pain to help others, so as not waste it. If that sounds somewhat altruistic, keep in mind that helping others helps me, too.
How long have you been writing?
I wrote short stories and poems as a child and was the kind of teen who loved English classes and essay tests. I stopped writing for pleasure during college, though I still loved essay tests. I abandoned my pursuit of a master’s degree after giving birth to my fourth child. That’s when I picked up the pen again, determined to maintain some sort of creative endeavor as a stay-at-home mom of a growing family.
I was paid $50 for my first published piece in 1989, and that was all it took to get me hooked on freelance writing. Determined to have my first book published before the age of 40, I was 37 when Homeschooling from Scratch was released in 1996. I didn’t have another book published for fifteen years.
Working as a newspaper reporter and writing for magazines and anthologies, I stopped counting after I hit 600 published clips. My husband David had always believed I would write more books, but it wasn’t until seven months after his death in 2012 that I signed my next book contract. I’ve signed six more book contracts with Familius Publishing since then.
Tell us about one of your greatest joys in your writing career.
I’ve had many mini moments of joy: the first time I sold an essay to a Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology, being hired to write a weekly column for a local newspaper, an all-expenses paid trip to be featured in a documentary about couponing after my couponing book came out, the first time I discovered what it was to do a presentation on a topic I was passionate about, and the chance to speak with a writing mentor. Those are all lovely memories.
But when I think of true joy, it is the moment I opened the box of advance copies of Called to Be Creative: A Guide to Reigniting Your Creativity in the summer of 2020. I waited until I was in my son’s woods, the land where I’d grown up, to open the box. I still think of it as my mother’s woods, a sacred space she would also retreat to. Because Called to Be Creative celebrates her creative legacy, it seemed the perfect place to catch my first glimpse of the finished product. I’d written the outline of the book just months after my mother had died, a year before I lost my husband. I picked up the manuscript again when I was miserable in a job that should have been perfect for me, as a newspaper reporter.
After writing so much on the difficult topic of grief, it felt wonderful to lose myself in a project that became a tribute to the legacy of a creative mother, a book that would encourage and inspire others to create a life that honored God’s design for them. Though I had several books published in the years after David’s death, Called to Be Creative felt like the book that signified I was no longer actively mourning. I did a Facebook live recording as I opened the box in Mom’s woods. Viewing the recording later, I saw a look in my eyes I hadn’t seen since losing David: one of pure unadulterated joy. Certainly, I’d felt joy in the years since my husband’s death, but I’d failed to capture those moments on camera. On the contrary, it had been much too obvious to me that the cloak of sadness I wore always meant my smile had never reached my eyes.
Tell us about one of your darkest moments in your writing career.
What should have been one of my happiest moments; seeing my book filling the window a local Barnes & Noble store display, instead became a hauntingly sad moment. My husband had encouraged me to write the ethnographic history of extreme couponing. After all, I had lived and breathed the couponing lifestyle for the majority of our marriage. Our date days consisted of strategic shopping expeditions.
It was David who’d spotted the New York Times report on the popularity of couponing as the newest extreme sport, David who had pointed out the timeliness of the topic with the “Extreme Couponing” reality show. I’m not sure I ever would have begun the research and writing of Coupon Crazy: The Science, the Savings, and the Stories Behind America’s Extreme Obsession without David’s support and encouragement. Yet David didn’t live to see the book that had been his idea come to fruition.
I will never forget that moment, standing in front of the bookstore, looking at an entire window display of my book, and feeling…nothing. I was numb with overwhelming grief. Not only had my husband died the year before, but I was facing the loss of a grandson who would die of cancer the following month. While that numbness gradually grew less with each subsequent book release, it wasn’t until Called to Be Creative that I could feel what I imagine most authors experience with their first book release: complete and utter joy.
Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection? How has rejection shaped you or your career?
This is what I tell students in my beginning writing classes: Rejection is integral to writing. The only way to avoid rejection is to never submit anything. Try not to take it personally. Rejection only means you haven’t yet discovered the right fit for your piece or book.
I state those truths, but it remains difficult to repeatedly face rejection. When you’ve put your heart and soul into something that is rejected, it’s hard not to take it personally. I’ve learned to allow myself to wallow in the emotions for a while, and then move on. Tweak the rejected piece if necessary, and then submit elsewhere. It helps to be stubborn. I have proof on paper that I submitted my Chemo-Therapist: How Cancer Cured a Marriage to over 100 agents and publishers before I set it aside for a while. I was more experienced as a writer when I finally found the right fit for it, so it is a better book for having languished in a file cabinet for five years.
In what ways has God led you to mentor other writers? Were you surprised when a certain skill or connection led to mentoring opportunities?
My first mentoring experience was in 2009 with a group of young, homeschooled teenagers. I’d been writing for twenty-five years. An audience of girls the same age as my daughters seemed a safe place to start sharing the lessons I’d learned. I taught them the basics of getting published. I designed a similar course for adults the following winter, after my mother died.
My husband had encouraged me to treat my mother’s empty house as my own private writing retreat. It was there I planned a Beginning Writing course for adults, designed my first power point presentations and wrote the outline for my creativity book. My husband got to see me in action as he sat in the back of the room for my first power point presentation. He remarked later that I came alive during the presentation, and he loved seeing me that way. My first writing class for adults was held at a community college the weekend my husband came home from the hospital following a heart stent surgery. He died sometime during the night two days later.
It would have been easy to give up on the classes and workshops after his death, so little had any meaning to me right then. But my husband was right. I did feel more alive in front of an audience. I found a passion and purpose in helping others. I’m certain the workshops facilitated my healing.
Tell us about a facet of mentoring that particularly excites you.
I love being a part of helping someone discover the fire and talent within themselves. I have worked with men and women who have felt the call to write but believed for way too long that their writing was not good enough to be published. I am just as excited as they are the first time they get something published after I encourage them to submit. One acceptance is all it takes for them to submit again. I see the light go on in their eyes. To be a part of that? It’s an honor and a privilege.
What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and mentoring writers?
I’ve taught writing classes at libraries, community colleges and conferences. I’ve also conducted classes at my workplace as a program coordinator at a spirituality center. I founded a writer’s conference there, as well. Most of my mentoring relationships have come about by accident, not intention. By that, I mean I did not plan to become someone’s mentor, though I’ve certainly felt a kind of “soul connection” with another writer, which is how I discovered my own mentors.
I’ve become an “accidental” mentor when a fledgling writer follows me on social media after taking one of my classes. When they approach me with questions, I answer them, unlike many authors I approached years ago as a new writer myself. I do understand time constraints. I can only imagine how many e-mails some famous authors get asking for help. While I’m not inundated with e-mails like a more famous author might be, I get enough requests that if I were to take the time to help everyone as much as I’d like to, I would never have time for my own writing.
I do answer every e-mail, however briefly, attempting to guide the questioner in the right direction. Even with those writers I take under my wing, I need to limit how much help I can give since I also work fulltime. I learned from my own mentor, Cecil Murphey, who has written over 125 books and mentored many writers, to know my own limits and offer a specific amount of help, such as looking at five double-spaced pages, instead of promising to read an entire manuscript.
Have you organized or led groups to support writers? (Retreats, ACFW chapters, etc.) How has that experience helped you to mentor writers?
I’ve been speaking at the Cedar Falls Christian writer’s workshop since 2012. As a librarian, I began a monthly writer’s critique group at the library. As a program coordinator at the Shalom Spirituality Center, I began a similar monthly group, which pivoted to online during the pandemic. I also founded the annual Faith Writers Conference in February 2020. Our 2021 conference was virtual.
Have you organized or directed a writers’ conference? Tell us about that experience, and/or share an anecdote that illustrates how you saw writers being mentored and encouraged through the event.
My experience in helping with the annual Cedar Falls workshop and in organizing an annual Hope & Healing grief retreat since 2016, led me to believe I could successfully organize a writer’s conference at my workplace, and I was right. The first conference was a resounding success, as was our pivot to a virtual retreat the following year. We had attendees from several other states and even a writer from Nigeria attend. I’m already planning our third conference for February 2022.
If you speak at writers’ groups or conferences, what are some of your favorite topics to speak about?
I’ve spoken on prescriptive topics such as writing book proposals and query letters, navigating social media, marketing and promotion, planning programming as an author, and writing non-fiction and short memoir. Though my workshops are both educational and entertaining, my real strength is in the inspirational and encouraging messages I’ve conveyed in keynote presentations. I’ve opened and closed several conferences with powerful messages that resonate with the audience.
What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers?
The best gift we can give a fellow writer is to review their book on Goodreads, Amazon, and other book sites. As for any envy we might feel about another author’s success, we need to remind ourselves that someone else’s success doesn’t take anything away from us. Their success doesn’t equate to our failure. There’s no room for envy in the world of publishing. We need to revel in each other’s successes.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to beginning writers?
Cecil Murphey Hisbooks Unleash the Writer Within and Writer to Writer and his writer blog are helpful resources
Funds for Writers Sign up for a free weekly e-mail list of markets. C. Hope Clark, founder, has great insight in her columns and is a mystery writer and non-fiction author
Free Electric Speed newsletter via e-mail. Can sign up for her daily blog or weekly blog digest. Also, her book, The Business of Being a Writer, is excellent.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to writers who are struggling with discouragement?
Find your tribe, people that lift, encourage and inspire you. For several years my tribe was a Bible study that gathered in my home until I moved away from them for a job three years ago. I have yet to replicate that emotional and spiritual support but I do have tribes of my own making in the writer’s group and annual writer’s conferences.
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writers make?
Throwing arrows, hoping to hit a deer. By that I mean not targeting markets before submitting. I did it myself early on in my writing career. Desperate for a publisher or agent, I’d submit anywhere, hoping I’d catch the right attention. There’s no excuse for that now when we can find information about publishers and agents online.
I also see too many new writers who become so desperate to be published they fall for a publishing scam. One woman asked me recently which of the two publishers who’d offered her a contract I thought she should choose. One promised a bestseller and the other promised a speedy book release. I told her to Google the publisher name, followed by the word “scam” and see what popped up in the search results. There were pages and pages of complaints about both publishers. She must not have liked my answer, as I never heard from her again. Now, I do workshops on how authors can protect themselves from scams.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?
I wish I’d known how much work it takes to promote and market our books. I also wish I’d known how important it is to keep our books in front of an audience after those first six months following the release. I’d heard about HARO (Help a Reporter Out) long before I took it seriously and started to respond to queries so that I would be quoted as an expert on the topics I was writing about.
I’d stopped getting royalty checks for my couponing book a few years after it was published, but when I started getting quoted as an expert on saving money, royalties started coming in again. I’m regularly featured on ReadersDigest.com, Redbook.com, ThriveGlobal, and others. This is a topic I cover in workshops, as well as a great resource for your readers.
Mary Potter Kenyon graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and is a certified grief counselor and Therapeutic Art coach. Mary is Program Coordinator for the Shalom Spirituality Center in Dubuque, Iowa, where she lives with the youngest of her eight children.
She is widely published in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies, with essays featured in ten Chicken Soup for the Soul titles. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning “Refined By Fire: A Journey of Grief and Grace” and her newest release “Called to Be Creative: A Guide to Reigniting Your Creativity.”
Mary has been teaching writing classes and conducting workshops for community colleges, women’s groups, churches, and libraries since 2011. She is a popular public speaker on the topics of writing, grief, and creativity. She founded the annual Hope & Healing grief retreat and a Faith Writers conference in Dubuque.
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I write because I can’t not write. I’ve long been an avid reader and recorder of ideas, but writing for a Christian commercial audience had not occurred to me until 2012. I discovered a topic in an area which God had blessed me, while many others struggled. As a long time business and life coach as well as a leadership development professional, I believed I could meet a need by sharing what God had shown me.
How long have you been writing?
Since 2012
Tell us about one of your greatest joys in your writing career.
When my box of books was delivered by the publisher for my first book. I could hold the evidence of the work as well as God’s blessing in my hand.
Tell us about one of your darkest moments in your writing career.
Struggling to envision what was next after the first three books were published. I’d had vision and clarity for each of them. Once that was complete, I knew God wanted me to continue, and yet I had no clear direction. It meant motivation was in in short supply.
Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection? How has rejection shaped you or your career?
I had 14 rejections on my first book before the “yes” came. My agent helped me understand two important things:
Rejection is a chance to gain insight into what must be shaped or changed to make the work better. “No thanks” can be a gift if you are willing to see it as an opportunity to learn. Perhaps the pitch needed to be strengthened. Or the proposal more thorough.
Ask for feedback, seek out critiques, and be open to learning.
In what ways has God led you to mentor other writers? Were you surprised when a certain skill or connection led to mentoring opportunities?
I’ve been a business and life coach for years. Mentoring / coaching writers has been a natural transition. I had so many experienced and talented writers who poured into me when I was starting out. I’m grateful beyond words and love paying it forward. You can’t outgive God.
Tell us about a facet of mentoring that particularly excites you.
I love to watch the lightbulbs go on. I solicited 22 not yet published writers to be part of a compilation book organized around a specific theme. I loved educating them. I edited their work and coached every writer. It was exhausting, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. They now have the knowledge, enhanced skills, and confidence- along with a soon to release publishing credit – they did not have prior. Release is scheduled for late July 2021.
What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and mentoring writers?
I’ve taught at conferences – both large and small. I’ve participated in online conferences as well. I’ve build a writing group in North Texas and I’ve mentored authors in every genre from non-fiction to dystopian in one on one coaching sessions.
Have you organized or led groups to support writers? How has that experience helped you to mentor writers?
Living Write Texas is the name of the writing group I founded three years ago. We keep our group small to support trust for critiques and genuine investment in the success of the group members. I was the only published author in the group when we began. Today seven are published. Five have received a variety of awards from the BRMCWC Selahs to AWSA’s Golden Scrolls.
Have you organized or directed a writers’ conference? Tell us about that experience, and/or share an anecdote that illustrates how you saw writers being mentored and encouraged through the event.
As mentioned above, I’ve organized a couple of writers’ conferences. One for a group located in another state that lacked local learning opportunities. In the other I created the content for the annual AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) conference for their protégé program for new writers. Regardless of the gap between the abilities in these two disparate groups, the outcomes were similar.
These programs created quick connection and the openness of attendees. We created a positive environment to learn in a safe place. A thorough but supportive style of critique was presented to them as to how we’d support one another’s growth. When the guard is down, the willingness to hear helpful and appropriately delivered insight about their work was simple and quickly embraced.
If you speak at writers’ groups or conferences, what are some of your favorite topics to speak about?
Writing well / craft essentials. Nothing is more important. Great ideas, poorly written will remain on the aspiring author’s hard drive alone. And it’s a huge category.
Mind Mapping. If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will do. But it won’t lead to publication. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, publishers want books that may have surprise twists and turns for the reader. But the writer must always be the guide that leads them through the story.
One Sheet Design and the essentials of the proposal process. The nuts and bolts of the stuff nobody loves.
Confidence Boosters. Many write well but struggle to represent their work effectively when speaking with agents, editors, and publishers.
What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers?
Comparison is a thief; resist the urge to engage in it with other writers. Resist the urge to let the good work of others diminish, discourage, or derail you from continuing to write. Turn that “I’ll never be as good as he/she is. Who am I kidding? I can’t write” response into: “Wow I’ve found a great resource who might help me with a suggestion, a resource, or simple encouragement. Gold mine!”
Taking that critique partner down a peg. Offering a less than positive (or less than truthful) comment or critique is small, petty. Be honest and offer suggestions, resources, brainstorming time. And it won’t make you feel better about your own.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to beginning writers?
The Christian Writers’ Market Guide – if they are writing in that world.
Local writing groups or national organizations like AWSA, Word Weavers, or others. Great opportunity to find a one-on-one coach or mentor.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to writers who are struggling with discouragement?
For those who write from a faith basis, the Bible.
One-on-One personalized work with a coach. Full focus on the writer’s individual needs.
Groups like those identified above.
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writer’s make?
Inattention to the details – failing to proofread, dismissing the need for learn to self-edit. “The editor will fix those details. That’s their job.”
Closed to feedback.
Focus on the writing alone with little interest in learning to market, build platform, etc.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?
I have to admit that once I made the decision to write, I read voraciously on the craft and business side both. I searched for online resources and engaged a coach. I took online courses and found a writer’s group. I didn’t ignore a single avenue of learning. However, some of those avenues were superior to others, and some a waste of time and $$ altogether. I do wish I hadn’t tried to take in so much at once. Learn how to write well. Without that, nothing else matters.
Deborah DeArmond is a recognized leader in the fields of performance development, facilitation, and executive coaching. She is also an award-winning author.
She is the author of Related by Chance, Family by Choice, I Choose You Today, and Don’t Go to Bed Angry. Stay Up and Fight! All three books focus on relationship dynamics, communication, and conflict resolution. She has published more than 200 articles in print and online, including a monthly column in Lifeway Magazine with an international circulation of 300,000.
Deb helps clients achieve success in becoming the coach others desire to work through through her engaging inquiry, humor, and straightforward approach. Her clients have described Deb as “candid but kind” and skilled at asking the questions that help “guide others to discover their answers and solutions to success.”
Deb’s education is in the field of communications, California State Polytechnic University
Deb holds numerous professional certifications as a master facilitator/trainer including: Conflict Resolution from the Center for Collaborative Solutions, Development Dimensions International, Situational Leadership, and several style/personality profile assessments including Strengths Finders and DiSC. Deb also holds a coaching certification for authors/speaker from AWSA – Advanced Writers and Speakers Association.
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I write because I can’t not write. Writing is like breathing for me. It has always been the best way for me to communicate my ideas. The theme of all my writing is for everyone to live significantly. The goal and message of my books is to move us toward authenticity in our faith and practice thanks to God’s love for us and our love for Him.
How long have you been writing?
As far back into childhood as I can remember I have always been a writer. Songs, poems, plays, and musicals were my first genres. Professionally, I have been writing since 1991, 30 years now.
Tell us about one of your greatest joys in your writing career.
The greatest joys in my writing career come when someone says he or she was changed, touched, encouraged, or motivated by something I have written.
Tell us about one of your darkest moments in your writing career.
The darkest moment in my writing career happened when I pitched my work to a certain literary agency, and they said my platform was much too small for them to represent me. It wasn’t so much what they said, but the way they said it that made me feel insignificant and made me feel my work had no value.
Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection? How has rejection shaped you or your career?
I overcome rejection by realizing every no is getting me closer to yes. No just means that particular company doesn’t need what I have right now, it doesn’t mean my work is unworthy. I wear a t-shirt from time to time that sports a quote from Nelson Mandela that says, “I never lose; I either win or I learn.”
In what ways has God led you to mentor other writers? Were you surprised when a certain skill or connection led to mentoring opportunities?
I mentor other writers by teaching them how to think through their book projects the way a publisher would think about them. I help them build their ideas into publishable products with the readers’ felt needs in mind and a marketing strategy. God gives me discernment. As I listen to my clients tell me about their book ideas, I can mine the gold and diamonds from their thoughts enabling them to clearly see what they are really trying to communicate. I’m grateful every time God opens another vein in the rock, so He’s surprising me at every meeting.
Tell us about a facet of mentoring that particularly excites you.
The facet of mentoring that particularly excites me is what I mentioned in the above answer. I’m excited whenever I see the Holy Spirit move in a meeting. The ideas that blossom as I talk with clients are so awesome that I know they are sparked by Him.
What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and mentoring writers?
Like everyone else, I pivoted to teaching virtually because of the COVID pandemic and that has caused my business to thrive. I also teach at writers’ conferences virtually. Now that the country is opening back up to in-person events, I’m being scheduled at those now too. I am a conference junkie and I love to teach writers and join them on their journey to publication.
Have you organized or led groups to support writers? (Retreats, ACFW chapters, etc.) How has that experience helped you to mentor writers?
I own AuthorizeMe Consulting, Coaching & Editing Firm, and Literary Agency through which I (obviously) consult, coach, edit, agent, and teach masterclasses helping writers reach the publishing goals. My company mentors writers because my clients experience hands-on help making sense of how to implement all they learn from me and from writers’ conferences they attend.
Have you organized or directed a writers’ conference? Tell us about that experience, and/or share an anecdote that illustrates how you saw writers being mentored and encouraged through the event.
Yes, I have been assistant director and director of the Sandy Cove Christian Writers’ Conference, Northeast, MD. I started the first ever teen major track at a writers’ conference at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference, where I served on faculty in various capacities for 20 years. I am currently co-director of the West Coast Christian Writers’ Conference.
There are so many examples I could share. Let’s see. I remember one woman who wanted to write her memoir and I asked her the question I ask all memoir writers, “Who cares? As an unknown, why would people want to read your story? What’s in it for them?”
She returned to the next portion of my workshop the next day realizing that her story was about her release from shame. That was it! The title and table of contents how to focus on release from shame which was the felt need of her audience. We were all excited for her to have had that breakthrough and she was able to finish storyboarding and outlining her book knowing her new direction.
If you speak at writers’ groups or conferences, what are some of your favorite topics to speak about?
Some of my most popular topics for workshops and keynotes are:
“Starting Strong and Maintaining Momentum,”
“Getting Started as a Professional Freelancer,”
“From God Through You,”
“Excuses, Excuses, Excuses,”
“The Magic of Storyboarding,”
“You’re in the Right Place,”
“Branding Your Ministry,”
“Move to the Excellent Level: The Ten P’s of Your Writing Success.”
What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers?
Pray for each other.
Support each other’s work.
Purchase each other’s books.
Write reviews.
Share posts.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to beginning writers?
The Bible.
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
The Synonym Finder by J. I. Rodale.
The Soul at Rest by Tricia McCary Rhodes.
Scribbling in the Sand by Michael Card.
Do you have a favorite resource or two that you recommend to writers who are struggling with discouragement?
The Bible.
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writer’s make?
Giving up on traditional publishing too soon.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?
I heeded advice I was given. I knew nothing about publishing, so I actively did what I was being taught to do. I’d tell aspiring writers to listen to the experts. Do what we tell you to do, the way we tell you to do it, until it does not work for you anymore. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. “In the multitude of counselors, there is safety.” Avail yourself to as many writers’ conferences as possible. Do a little at a time, but just keep at it. Do not settle for mediocrity; reach for perfection.
Sharon Norris Elliott Bio:
“Live significantly!” That’s the inspiring message of Sharon Norris Elliott: author, speaker, Bible teacher, editor, consultant, and literary agent. She writes challenging yet encouraging books in several genres including women’s non-fiction, parenting, devotional, and children’s literature. Her most recently published title is A Woman God Can Bless (2020, Harambee Press). Her 13th book and 3rd parenting book, Didn’t See That Coming: When How They’re Living’s Not How You Raised Them is due to launch from Elk Lake Publishers in late 2021; Elk Lake has also contracted her 7-book children’s I Really Need to Know series.
God’s goodness has brought Sharon from Compton, CA, to standing before great audiences. She’s a cum laude graduate of Biola University, holder of an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree, member of ACE, AWSA, and SCBWI. She is also a religious broadcaster on HSBN.tv, CWWN.tv, Spotify, and other social media outlets. She is Founder and CEO of Life That Matters Ministries; AuthorizeMe® Consulting, Coaching, & Editing Firm,and Literary Agency LLC; and Milk & Honey Life Retreats. Sharon serves as co-director of West Coast Christian Writers’ Conference.
She and her husband James live in Southern California and enjoy their church, their children, and their grandchildren.
All books can be purchased via Amazon, BarnesAndNoble.com, and Sharon’s website.
I can’t imagine a life NOT writing. OR it’s those nasty voices in my head trying to get out. Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books? Forgiveness and trust are probably the two key elements.
How long have you been writing?
I could be cheesy and say that first story in eighth grade hooked, but more seriously, about 28-29 years.
And how long did it take you to get your first book published?
My first novella was published 18 years after I started writing. It took me a while to ‘get it’, that I wasn’t all that good and a nickel!
Tell us about an award you won that was particularly meaningful.
Agent of the Year for ACFW. Meant so much to know that someone cared enough to write an essay that nominated me.
Tell us about a recent/favorite book or article you’ve published.
I have a client who writes historic romance, and she’s received numerous started reviews from Publisher’s Weekly. Having been a part of that has meant a lot.
Tell us about one of your greatest joy(s) in your writing career.
Having a patients at the clinic where I worked asked me to “Please” write a sequel to that first novella. I had thought to sit down and dash off a 500-750 word epilogue that would complete what happened to the secondary characters and give it just to her. Once I started, however, I realized that those characters had their own story to tell, so wrote another novella. She was so pleased.
Tell us about one of your darkest moment(s) in your writing career.
Writing a story about the bombing of the White House, but when I finished it, 9-11 happened and I was encouraged to shelve it for a while. Now, because of circumstances in the story, the theme is a moot point and I have to completely rewrite the entire arc. So until I have that moment when I simple ‘have’ to tell the story differently, I’m stuck waiting. Probably my best and fave writing to boot.
Rejection is a common experience for writers. How do you overcome rejection?
Perseverance and believing how important perseverance is. How has rejection shaped you or your career? I think it prepared me to be an agent more than an author. I know how much it hurts and try not to dish that out to new authors.
How has God led you to mentor other writers?
It’s just what I do. I’ve always taught in many arenas, and when your heart’s in it, you want to help others.
Do you speak at writers’ conferences?
Oh, yes. Love to. What are some of your favorite topics to speak about? Perseverance, Show vs. Tell, Writing first pages that Pop! and other topics.
Tell us about some of your favorite conferences and why you like them.
I tend to love the smaller more intimate conferences where you can really get to know people. But then, there’s the ACFW massive conference which is really awesome in its own right.
Have you organized or led other types of groups to support writers?
Writers groups, but I honestly prefer to leave that to folks with amazing organizational skills. Or, you DON’T want to see my office!!!
How else do you provide support for writers?
Seeing potential in someone and just wanting to help them get it right!
Tell us about a facet of mentoring that particularly excites you.
Starting to work with a new author, and then seeing them receive a contract from a publisher, then seeing readers go crazy for their novels.
What venues/methods have you found most effective for meeting and mentoring writers?
Conferences, for sure. And, of course, referrals.
What advice do you have for writers as we interact with our peers? What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers?
Do your best to show them that you are a professional. Learn to do things the right way first time out and it will show. What can we do to be better supporters and mentors of our fellow writers? Help by reposting new book releases for friends, take part in contests, help by becoming beta readers and being part of friends’ launch teams.
Linda S. Glaz is an agent with Hartline Literary Agency, and also the author of eight novels and two novellas, so she “gets” writers. She represents authors in both the Christian and secular communities. She speaks at numerous conferences and workshops around the country each year. Married with three grown children and four grands, she lives in a small town where everyone is family.
