Tag: tribe

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Embrace the Wait

Survival Tips for the Waiting Part of Writing Tip #17 – Prepare a successful launch

I think writers must contemplate individual words much more than the average person. If that weren’t true, I’m convinced we would see hordes of people staring into space much more often. The word launch conjures up everything from ships sailing to teens leaving for college. But for a writer, the word launch encompasses those same concepts and so much more. The day a book launches is the day a dream becomes reality. But to give that dream the best chance to reach its full potential, just like an adept captain or a diligent parent, we must prepare in advance for the big event. Here are a few tips to get your book ready for launch.

1) Rally your tribe. Enlist as many launch team volunteers as you can. As the clock ticks closer to your release date, keep your team engaged through emails and/or by forming a private group, through social media, just for them. Use group posts to generate excitement and to remind your team about important tasks. You can do this in fun ways, like offering weekly giveaways or posting teaser excerpts or illustrations from your upcoming book.

2) Get the word out. It’s likely that you have potential readers out there who have never heard of you or your book. One way to find them is to use your launch team and other connections to introduce yourself. Social media is a great tool for this kind of word of mouth exposure. When a reader first sees a friend’s post about your book, they take casual notice. Then they hear about your amazing book from another source—and it cues their mental radar. But when the potential reader hears about the book a third time, it puts them into action mode.

3) Consider a virtual launch party. Covid has made face-to-face book signings and launch parties almost impossible. But no fear, there are multiple resources available to help you engage with your anxiously awaiting public—via the internet. Online social gatherings and conferences are becoming the norm, and fortunately, we can glean from the experiences of others who have gone before us. Facebook Live, Zoom, and StreamYard are great forums for a launch party. The first place to start is by doing a Google search for online launch parties, specific to your genera. Notice the platforms used, check for what worked and what did not with other parties, then steal your favorite ideas and create the party of your dreams to celebrate the birth of your book baby.

Technology has become the bridge between writers and their audience during this social distancing season. If you find yourself lacking in the tech skill to prepare your book for launch, know that you are not alone. But don’t let that intimidate you. Network with other authors for information and take full advantage of YouTube tutorials to educate yourself. Together, we can do it! Check out the link in the resources below for more information.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1

Fun Fact or Helpful Resource:
How Do Writers Create Book Launch Content?

How to Throw a Virtual Book Launch Using Facebook Live:

https://www.janefriedman.com/how-to-throw-a-virtual-book-launch-using-facebook-live/

My FB Author Page and My Launch Party Invite:

Annette Marie Griffin is a award-winning writer who speaks at local women’s group meetings and women’s retreats on the topic of biblical womanhood and finding our identity in Christ. She is the Operations and Events Coordinator at a private school for special needs students and is the editor of their quarterly newsletter. She has written custom curriculum for women’s retreats and children’s church curriculum for Gateway Church in San Antonio, Texas where she served as Children’s Ministry Director and Family Program Director for over twenty years. She and her husband John have five amazing children and two adorable grands. She’s a member of Word Weavers International, ACFW, SCBWI, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Creative Writing Institute.

Categories
Embrace the Wait

Survival Tips for the Waiting Part of Writing Tip #4 – Divine Appointments

Conference season is upon us writers. With it comes euphoric highs, a whirlwind of preparation, and lightning storms of nerves. If you’ve never attended a writer’s conference, then you’re in the same boat I was three years ago. Prior to my first conference in 2017 I had never considered traveling across the country to purposefully immerse myself into a sea of strangers for days on end. Especially when the strangers were real writers. What would they think about a wannabe writer invading their territory? Nope. That sounded as fun as a root canal.  

But then something weird happened. To my shock and horror my dear husband gave me a writer’s conference registration as a Christmas gift. Ugh. I was stuck. The poor guy was so proud of himself for coming up with such a thoughtful surprise that I couldn’t tell him the neatly wrapped certificate felt more like a sentence than a gift. What choice did I have? I had to attend.   

A Divine Appointment Story

That first conference was unlike anything I had ever imagined. Not only did I find myself, for the first time ever, surrounded by writerly minded people, but God set up some divine appointments for me there that changed my life forever. I was so nervous walking down the conference center hallway to mealtime that first day. I felt like the new kid at school—unsure of my place in the world and even worse—no one to sit with at lunch.

Oh, how I mentally berated myself for not having found a clever way out of the trip. After all, how hard would it have been to feign the flu or a heart attack before the flight? Standing there in the cafeteria line I seriously considered retreating to my room and staying there till the conference ended, but before I could run away a lovely lady joined me in the food line and struck up a conversation. Again, I was stuck.

We enjoyed small talk until we had our dinner firmly in hand. She followed me to a small empty table where we sat and unloaded our trays. Others began to join us, and the introductions began. About halfway through the meal my new food-line friend told us where she lived.  That’s when I knew God was up to something. Something strange and big. This lovely older lady, who just happened to join me in line also just happened to reside in the same remote town where I had lived most of my childhood years. When I say this town was remote, I mean barely on the map. In fact, when I revealed to her that I had grown up there, she insisted that I must be mistaken.

But there was no mistake. That same small town, where hurt had taken root in my heart and left scars I thought had long since faded—that town, that represented my unresolved past and had become such a bur in my soul that it had kept me from finding God’s grace and healing—she lived there. But why? Why had God dragged me a thousand miles from the safety of my own clan, and drawn her to drive hundreds of miles from hers to place us together at that exact time?

Because He knew that my writing journey must begin on solid ground—free from the stumbling blocks of the past. I still get chills when I contemplate how expertly He orchestrated my time with that wonderful woman to bring healing and wholeness to my soul. God wrote an entire chapter of my life during those four precious days, and that chapter paved the way for my writing journey to begin.

Since that experience I’ve had countless divinely arranged encounters with people who have taken my hand to help me find the next foothold in my climb to publishing. Those people have become my mentors, teachers, encouragers, and friends. But the truly awe-inspiring part of it all is the realization that it’s God’s sovereign hand that has placed my palm into theirs.

Tip #4–Look for Divine Appointments

My tip for this month is to be on the lookout for God’s divine appointments. When they come recognize Who arranged the meetings and share your story with others who may be just starting out or those who have been in the trenches so long that they’re tempted to forget the hope that lies in knowing He is the ultimate appointment setter. I’m confident that most of you have benefited from divine appointments which have propelled your writing career. Take a minute to share some of those experiences in the comments below to help others remember how truly awesome our God is.

Scripture: Psalm 71:17-19, Proverbs 16:9, Psalm 37:23

Fun Fact: Famous author, JK Rowling was rejected time after time until she became clinically depressed over the rejections. Finally, the eight-year-old daughter of the chairman of Bloomsbury publishing house saw the opening chapters of her manuscript, insisted upon reading it, devoured it, and then demanded to read the rest of the book. Even after Bloomsbury decided to take a chance on Harry Potter Rowling’s editor, Barry Cunningham, warned Rowling that she needed to get a day job because it was impossible to make a living writing children’s books.

Annette Marie Griffin is a award-winning writer who speaks at local women’s group meetings and women’s retreats on the topic of biblical womanhood and finding our identity in Christ. She is the Operations and Events Coordinator at a private school for special needs students and is the editor of their quarterly newsletter. She has written custom curriculum for women’s retreats and children’s church curriculum for Gateway Church in San Antonio, Texas where she served as Children’s Ministry Director and Family Program Director for over twenty years. She and her husband John have five amazing children and two adorable grands. She’s a member of Word Weavers International, ACFW, SCBWI, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Creative Writing Institute.

Categories
Embrace the Wait

Survival Tips for the Waiting part of Writing Tip 3—Villages and Tribes

Some movie scenes brand your brain with a message that never fades. One such scene, from The End of the Spear, is locked away in my mind forever. If you haven’t seen this film, I highly recommend it. It’s the true story about a group of missionaries in Ecuador who set out to reach the violent Auca Indian tribe with the message of the Gospel. Shockingly, when all the men in the missionary group are killed, their grieving wives and children boldly decide to move into the Auca camp to continue God’s work.

I can’t imagine taking such a risk alone, much less towing my young children with me into the ultimate danger zone. But God worked through these ladies’ stubborn faith to reach a lost group of people with His saving grace. Although faith was the door by which they entered into God’s plan, once in, these brave women had to learn the Auca language, adapt to their way of life, navigate the dos and don’ts of the culture, and most of all they had to prove their sincerity to win the Auca’s trust.

Our God given calling to write is a missionary field of its own. We enter by faith, but then are required to do the hard work needed to see it through. We must learn the cryptic language of the industry, adapt to a writer’s way of life, navigate the ever changing culture of publishing, and win the trust of agents and editors to gain a hearing for our message. As we do this we become part of the village that makes up our writing community. And it truly takes a village to raise our book-babies to maturity.

Trust me—I’m an introvert. If becoming a published author could be done lone ranger style I would gladly do it from the comfort of my writing desk while sipping a caramel latte and wearing my fuzzy slippers. But I’m learning that without the help of this village of mentors, teachers, supporters, prayer warriors, and encouragers the writing life can become an endless stream of untried thoughts and unrealized potential. How sad is that!

Writing conferences, critique groups, online writing courses, and social media groups are perfect opportunities to become one with fellow villagers. Yes—these things take time, effort, risk, and investment. And at times the process of becoming an integral part of the writing community seems overwhelming. But no obstacle is too difficult for God, who has called us to this shared journey. As we step out in faith He will build our village around us and use it to refine both writer and writing.

While our village is forming, we also need to cultivate our tribe. Our tribe are those for whom we write—our target audience. When all is said and done, our message will need an outlet. No matter how profound the thought or how perfect the style, our words will accomplish nothing if only crickets hear them. The good news is that God already had our tribe in mind when he gave us the words to write. His gifts are never bestowed so that we can squander them for our own pleasure. They are always given so that He can use the gifts to glorify Himself.  

Our job is to recognize our tribe and develop meaningful and sincere relationships with them through every possible means. This can be tricky because it’s not formulaic. Sure, we should learn how to market ourselves and take advantage of the tried-and-true techniques to increase our platform numbers. But people are smart. Most can see right through an author who only wants to gain their trust to sell their latest book. People long for connections with others who care about them. And if anyone should care about our readers, we should. This gets straight to the heart of the matter, doesn’t it? I’ve had to do some serious self-examination on this one. What’s my motive? Do I care about those who will be reading my writing, or do I simply want their help to succeed as an author? There is a difference. And that difference won’t only determine the longevity and loyalty of our readers but also the effectiveness of our ministry.

Books will come and go and our mission may change from season to season, but if we do the foundational work required to grow our villages and tribes our impact will be far reaching.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Proverbs 27:17, Romans 11:29, 1 Peter 4:10

Fun Fact: Dr. Seuss’s first book, “And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” was rejected so many times by publishers that he had decided to give up on writing and burn the manuscript. That same day he bumped into a friend from college, who had just taken a job at Vanguard Press as children’s editor. A few hours later the book was signed, and the rest is history.

Annette Marie Griffin is a award-winning writer who speaks at local women’s group meetings and women’s retreats on the topic of biblical womanhood and finding our identity in Christ. She is the Operations and Events Coordinator at a private school for special needs students and is the editor of their quarterly newsletter. She has written custom curriculum for women’s retreats and children’s church curriculum for Gateway Church in San Antonio, Texas where she served as Children’s Ministry Director and Family Program Director for over twenty years. She and her husband John have five amazing children and two adorable grands. She’s a member of Word Weavers International, ACFW, SCBWI, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Creative Writing Institute.