Tag: ACFW conference

I have an agent!

On By LucyTIn Writing Related41 Comments

Hi! Today I am downright ecstatic to announce that I have an agent! Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary.

So begins a whole new chapter of my writing career. 🙂 Thank you for following my journey so far and for taking the time to encourage, explain in the most gentle way possible, teach, Snoopy dance on my behalf (you know who you are!) and cheer me on.

This past year has been a roller coaster of ups and downs of learning the writing craft, finishing a complete novel and then the work of revising and editing it.

God’s hand has been upon me the whole time, guiding (sometimes pushing…), guarding and girding me to where I am now.

A look back on the previous year:

Mid-June 2011: Wrote the first line of my story, and then the next and the next.

November 2011: Joined ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and the Christian Writers Downunder facebook group.

My first meeting with other Christian writers. 🙂

February 2012: Joined Scribes, the ACFW critique loop and went on a steep learning curve of applying edits and craft rules to my work-in-progress.

April 2012: Decided to attend the  biggest writing conference in the world- The ACFW Christian Writers Conference.

May 2012: Joined my critique group and dropped off the big critique loop. I have 5 wonderful critique partners, who I’m sure drink red ink at breakfast time along with slices of grace. They are such a blessing to me. 🙂

June 2012: Finished writing the first draft of my first novel, A Certain Woman of Worth. Came in at about 96,000 words. I was pleased to have written a book in a year.

August 2012: Started my 2nd book, A Certain Woman of Mettle. Wrote 34,000 words in a month. My best ever.

September 2012: Edited like mad… 1st book stands finished at 100,000 words. I flew to Dallas, Texas in the USA to attend the ACFW conference. I met nearly all my critique partners and had an absolute ball with them. Learned lots of things in workshops and met with agents and an editor. Out of three appointments I had two requests for my full manuscript and one request for a proposal. Very humbling and exciting.

October 2012: Both agents liked me and my work and offered to work with me. I chose Chip. He’s funny, brilliant and kind.

So… that’s my writing life up to now. I know this blog post hasn’t offered much in terms of humor or anything writing wise, but I wanted to take the time to thank you for your input into my life and for sharing with me. 🙂

All the best,

Lucy

Balloon Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Preparation for Conference. Are you ready?

On By LucyTIn Writing Related5 Comments

The ACFW conference is just around the corner. For those of you who are panicking, ahem, I mean preparing for it, are you ready?

In the words of Ginger and Bunty from “Chicken Run”

Ginger: Ladies, please. Let’s not lose our heads.

Bunty: Lose our heads? Aaaahh!

Image

I’m not going to tell you what to bring, or what not to bring… These people already do a fabulous job of that.

http://laughoutloudloveourlord.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/a-texans-list-for-comin-on-down/

http://www.acfw.com/blog/?p=5106

Instead I’m going to post some helpful links for One Sheets, Synopsis’s, and Marketing Plans.

I’m not an expert… but I can direct you to places that I’ve found useful, as have a lot of other people. 🙂

One Sheets

Kaye Dacus is the current Go-To girl for some great examples of a One Sheet.

Suzanne Harman has some great links, as well as a lovely One Sheet herself on her blog.

Agent, Rachelle Gardner has this to say about One Sheets.

Synopsis

Camy Tang has a worksheet on how to write a synopsis. It’s $5 and WELL worth it. I’ve used it and found it helpful, as have many other authors-both published and unpublished alike.

A few blogs with synopsis how to’s. Here and here. There are LOTS of how to sites out there, some peddle the same info, and some is just maddeningly unhelpful.

Proposals

This was harder to research, and each agent/editor wants something a little different. My suggestion… check out each individual agent/editor’s site and see what their requirements are.

Rachelle Gardner has a blog post about these.

Marketing Plan

My marketing plan is based a little on this. A few good practical tips for writing a Marketing Plan here. Published Bestsellers have a sample of how to write a Marketing Plan.

Together, we can help each other.

I’m sure there are many, many other blogs and websites out there that I haven’t had the good fortune to stumble upon. Here is just a sampling. I hope you find it palatable. 🙂