Stocking your Christian Book Store

Here are the top ten books that are generating the most cash flow, according to CBA:

 

 1   Captivating   John & Stasi Eldredge, Nelson Books (Nelson)

 2   The Bible Promise Book (NIV)   Toni Sortor, ed.; Barbour, 

 3   The Purpose Driven Life   Rick Warren, Zondervan, 

 4   Standard Lesson Commentary KJV 2005-2006   Standard

5   Forgiven   Karen Kingsbury, Tyndale,

6   The Five Love Languages   Gary Chapman, Northfield (Moody)

7   Wild at Heart   John Eldredge, Nelson Books (Nelson),

8   Blue Like Jazz   Donald Miller, Nelson Books (Nelson),

9   Your Best Life Now   Joel Osteen, Warner Faith,

10   Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World   Joanna Weaver, WaterBrook, 

 

There is only one novel in that line-up, Karen Kingsbury.  

 

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Halo's Eve Tip #1- Need the Hook Up

By now you've either completed your novel or almost have. Or your manuscript has received rave reviews fro your crit group. Or your story placed well in a writer's conference contest. Unless you're a writing phenom who wishes to bless us with some sage advice. Whatever the case Halo's Eve is here. And the angel has a tip for you.

Tip # 1: Get the Hook Up

When I wrote the first draft of my book I had a more than general idea of what the book would be about. Now that the first draft is complete I see many problems with this manuscript. First of which is the premise- the novel's starting point through which the other story elements interact to make a cohesive and coherent plot.

My novel's premise:

Marlo Joyner doesn't want or need a father-figure for her tweenaged daughter, Lily. Even when Lily needs an escort for the Father Daughter Junior Cotillion. But when Marlo gains news that her ex-husband has a parole board hearing and his family has been snooping around Lily's school to gain her trust. She does the unthinkable...Marlo hires a Faux Pop. Fake Daddy.

It sounds cute and interesting, but to be honest--I wouldn't buy it. And I'm a book reviewer, book reading fanatic. So what do I do? I need the Hook Up. I need to raise the stakes of my story.

Donald Maas' Writing the Breakout Novel is my confidant.

What I found through this book is that there are many ways to take the story up a notch. One way to do this is to test my hook against the debut authors in my genre. For me that would be:

• Mary Griffin
• Tia McCollors
• Stacy Hawkins Adams
• Kendra Norman-Bellamy
• Cheri Paris Edwards
• Claudia Hawthorne-Burney

and that does not include crossing over into non-african american women writers, or non christian titles.

But to make matters worst my writing styles is quite different from them.  See. My style is a bit more comical at times and my flow is a little literary, quirky, experimental. Just a pinch.:) And I've read little works this year outside of Claudia, Deanne Gist(historical) and Mary's that is a close second or third to what I'm trying to do.

Is that the same for you? You don't know where your book will fit in?

Well, it shouldn't be a problem. In fact, it has to be a calling.

Why? Go to the message board to find out and to participate in today's Halo's Eve discussion.

Reminder: This week we will provide different tips to help you raise the stakes in your novel. Tomorrow we will talk about another way to add more to your premise through timeliness and generational revelance.

Dee

Am I Doomed from BestSellerDom?

 

Well, according to the guys at Freakonomics I could be..

 

 Three of the current top non-fiction books in the U.S. are written by men who were born and/or raised in the Twin Cities.

 

Before I began novel writing I've been working on a guide for single christian parents. But maybe I should leave that, too under my bed. The fact that I'm a woman and I live in the South disqualifies me from the list. But I am a twin. Does that count?

 

Dee

 

 

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Lori Copeland's Long Cat Nap

Tomorrow is the first day of the Halo's Eve Project. So as I'm perusing my Monday morning blog feeds, I notice Lori Copeland is talking about creating a writing hygiene between a very long cat nap over at Charis Connection.

 

An excerpt...

 So what's my point?

I guess it's this; if you want to be a writer, you have to be disciplined. I’m not. So maybe you don’t have to be so disciplined, just factor in days that you actually work.

 

Why is that important here? Well, for the next month many writers will participate in NaNoWriMo. They will sit down and try to churn out a novel in a month. At Halo's Eve we will sit down and try to polish our novels in a month. Whatever the case, we will be working toward a novel writing goal. And this takes discipline. But as Lori points out, you don't have to be a robot. You can have a life and still make time--through God's grace--to create a novel. So as we do this journey together, please remember not to get upset when you couldn't write today, because your daughter caught a virus in Kindergarten and has to stay home for two days. Or your job decides to launch a new project that requires more overtime hours from you. We do all things through Christ. He will give you the time you need. The only discipline you need to concern yourself with is--keeping God first and treating others as you would have them treat you. Everything else will line up after that. And if your cat nap turns into a post-supper snooze, then dream about your novel.

 

Writing to see what the end's gon' be,

Dee

 

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One Day to Halo's Eve

The last two weeks have been a doozy for Christian Fiction Blog. Great faith-based companies have contacted me about writing for their publications, partnering with their services and advertising their products here at CF. God is good. Selah's Santa Stocking is empty and I want to take her to see Narnia.

 

If you look back on past posts, I was contemplating shutting down the blog. But things have picked up and I even have a list of guest bloggers who will pop in from time to time.

 

On Tuesday, the Halo's Eve Project will kick off. I will pray, study and fast from cheese tomorrow to make sure that this project edifies Christ before all else. If you want to do this with me, I appreciate it. I will be doing my spritual growth story from a great radio blog, Sister 2 Sister Moments. (You don't have to be a woman to listen to this blog.) In fact, I'm listening to it as I write.  I will be listening to it tomorrow as well.  Latara, the site owner also has a great new magazine, Hope for Women. So check that out as well. You may find an article from me in the near future in there. Of course I will let you know.

 

As a reminder, if you are writing a novel, have something that looks like a novel hiding under your bed, or have thoughts of writing a novel, but don't know where to begin, sign into the discussion board and join CF here Tuesday morning.

 

Do you listen to radio blogs? What are your favorites? Christian Fiction would love to do this in the future, but we're not sure what you would like to listen to. Let us. No.

 

Writing to see what the end's gon' be,

Dee

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Secrets in Connor's Grove

 

Since Halloween is tomorrow and Selah's not trick or treating. I think the church is trunk and treating tomorrow. But she may play golf at Publix. Either way, I'm reading something creapy tonight. And I have a great teaser of a story to get you going. Linda Gilmore has a little mystery going on that she's sharing for this month's Celebration of Christian Fiction. Check out Secrets in Connor's Grove and tell me what you think.

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Christian Fiction Call: Revelant Books

Relevant Books different in that we are speaking to a niche group that has been overlooked by the publishing world and especially the Church. We are a staff of twentysomethings creating products for twentysomethings in the areas our tagline states: God, Life and Progressive Culture. We’re currently looking for books that explore the crossroads of faith and culture and everyday life for the twentysomething audience.

We’re looking for books that can break through on a mass-market level and be so life changing, people tell their friends about it. What is that message to you? What matters most spiritually to our generation? What is God saying to our generation? What message does our generation connect with?

We are now accepting proposals for fiction that deals with stories of life in your 20s, the transitions, the relationships, the career path, the spiritual journey (think Chick Lit but with more depth and appeal to a gender-neutral audience).

We are also on the lookout for books that speak specifically to issues women in their 20s and early 30s face—issues of identity, purpose, relationships, significance and practical everyday solutions.

For information about submitting to Relevant Books, click here.

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