Do I only represent Christian Writers? by Terry Burns

Well now, that's a good question?

I'm not sure, because I don't ask people about their faith in the submission process. I suspect since people can clearly see that this is a Christian agency (even though we do work in the secular market as well) that they would probably be comfortable with that if they were going to submit to us.

But I don't ask.

I do know one thing, an atheist or non-Christians might be decidedly uncomfortable in my client group. You see, I require all clients to be in a private online group which gives me the ability to contact them all at once. The group offers three options, priority messages only (I'm the only one that can send a priority message), on digest, and on full access where they can talk directly not only with me but with other clients as well.

I do watch what the group talks about and do participate, maybe more than I should. Once the group was set up another interesting aspect came out. They turned out to be an amazing group of prayer warriors who genuinely care for each other and pray for one another with great effectiveness.

See why I think a non-believer would probably not be comfortable in the group?

Then there is the fact that I am drawn to content that has a good faith message. Yes, that narrows the possible places it can be submitted but that is after all why I decided to start doing this. Will I represent something that does not have faith content in it? Sure, we need good family entertainment as well as Christian books. Saying that you can tell I don't park my beliefs and morals at the door even if I am doing general market books.

My mother has passed on now, but she is still my measuring stick for projects. If it is something that would have offended my mother then it isn't something I want my name associated with. It's a measuring stick that I'm comfortable with and I don't mind if people shake their head and say I'm giving up sales. Of course I am, but they aren't sales I want to make. There are plenty of agents that do those, they don't need me doing it.

But I'm taking the long road around the mountain answering the question. Do I only represent Christian authors? Probably. Is it intentional? No, I just think all of my clients are Christians, and whether I actually ask someone or not, that is who I am likely to end up with.

Hartline welcomes new agent- Jim Hart/ interviewed by Diana Flegal

It is my privilege to interview and introduce to you all, Jim Hart, Joyce Hart’s son and Hartline’s newest agent. We are thrilled to have Jim on our team.

Jim Hart is a musician/songwriter/worship leader with an ever-growing library of fictional titles, as well as books on Christian growth, ministry, and biographies of the Heroes of the Faith.

Jim, what are your first memories of books and their influence in the Hart home?

Books have always been scattered about our home growing up. All of us have a love for the written word. I remember my mother having stacks of romance novels in the living room. My brother and I used to pick up the books and read the last page to her. 

Ha, I would have loved to see that Jim. Your mom’s red hair is a good heads up she can get excited!

What do you recall of your Mother starting Hartline or getting into the publishing arena?

I was about 17 or 18 when my mother started working at Whitaker House. It was shortly after that that Mom started Hartline Marketing. I was already out of the house and married by then. I did come on board as an agent for a short time when she began Hartline Literary Agency and succeeded in selling one title. I enjoyed it but with a wife and then a young son, I took a full time position outside our home and am just now returning to agenting.

What is that you personally bring to Hartline Jim?

As a singer songwriter, I understand the creative process and how much courage it takes to put your-self out there. I have my own file folder of rejections. J As an avid reader, I know what I like, what I have seen on the bookshelves of the big box stores and with the agency’s  support, I am learning the markets and establishing myself once again with the editorial markets within the various publishers. It is a huge advantage that I can pull from our agent resources and from my mothers wealth of experience. I know it is a great advantage and blessing.

What are some of the things on your ‘to-do’ list right now?

I will be attending the Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference the end of this month where I will be taking my first author appointments and meeting with a few publishing editors. My mother and I will be traveling and visiting a few publishers in the next few weeks as well. I am also looking at next years conference schedule, seeing what ones I might attend and teach at. Building my workshops on several subjects I am comfortable with.

What is it that you are going to be looking to acquire at Hartline?

I am looking for authors who can write unique and engaging fictional suspense, romance, women’s fiction, spiritual warfare, YA, and some sci-fi. I have a passion for non-fiction regarding church growth, Christian living, and self-help. Of course I have to keep in mind that non-fiction topics require a certain level of credentials, experience and expertise. Unfortunately that can eliminate many good titles.

Jim, thank you for allowing me to speak with you today. We all here at Hartline look forward to working with you.

Readers, please check out our submission guidelines and feel free to contact Jim if you think you have written a title he would be interested in reviewing.

You can read more about Jim at www.Hartline Literary.com

Writing Nest by Andy Scheer

Having just finished cutting the backyard, I was ready to cool off. So I poured some iced coffee and retreated to my writing room. I not only met the assignment deadline, I also got more comfortable.

While I've written about how economically you can equip your writing place, I've neglected the importance of creating a place you can comfortably stay on task.

For me, temperature is a big concern. The basement location for my writing place offers a great solution. In summer, it stays many degrees cooler than our main floor. In winter, its location near the furnace maintains a shirt-sleeve temperature.

A bookcase to my immediate right holds needed resources within arm's reach. A double-wide file drawer to the left secures all my hard copies and holds my printer and spinning mini bookcase. An electric cup warmer beside my monitor maintains my coffee at an ideal temperature. I've installed decent speakers beside of my desk so I can pipe in assignment-suited music from a turntable in the next room.

It took me awhile to get all the adjustment levers on my desk chair to suit my frame. The chair may no longer look beautiful, but it fits like an old chair.

Writing remains hard work, except for those moments when everything comes together and I feel the joy of the process. Today— as I listened to some of Michael Martin Murphey's early vocals and enjoyed the cool comfort of my writing nest—was one of those days.

When I came downstairs I hadn't planned to write this piece. But rather than have to go back upstairs, writing it gave me an excuse to remain a little longer in my nest.

I hope yours also does its job.

A Rose is a rose, but a Pitch is so important! By Linda S. Glaz

Twenty-five words. Seems like enough until you begin to write them down.

How can I get the entire flavor of my book into 25 or 30 words? In May, I conducted a little experiment on my blog. I offered a few first chapter reads for interesting pitches sent to my blog. There were over 172 pitches and/or comments about the pitches. Everyone chimed in and offered their opinions of how the pitches had touched them and how they might make them stronger. 

Everyone participated.

You need enough in your pitch to tease the person you’re talking to, enough to make them ask you more about the novel. Enough to make them sit up and wag their tails with joy.

I want to at least know who and what in this one line. That’s a lot of information for one line.

Is it possible? Well, here was one of my winners in the pitch/first chapter contest.

A spiritually scarred FBI agent pursues a serial killer

who's using the Old Testament as his instruction manual.

That grabbed my attention right away. Not just any old serial killer, not just any old FBI agent.

Why is the agent scarred? What happened to hurt him? When did it happen? Where did it happen? And who was involved in his emotional scarring? A woman, maybe?

How does a killer use the old testament to kill people? What would be the driving force behind the deaths? What hurt him emotionally that he would want to kill? How does God and scripture figure into that killing? There must be pain behind something in the killer’s life, but what?

I was told this was a thriller, and since I’ve started reading???? OH, yeah. It’s one heckuva thriller. And I can’t wait to read the rest. You see, this author had me at the end of 18 words.

18 words???????

Yes, a mere 18 words had me desperately wanting to read the opening of his novel. So he won a read of the first few pages. After which, because he delivered in those 5 pages, I wanted to read more. And then more. And then, well, as the saying goes, the rest is history. I had to sign him to a contract.

Eighteen…words!

Get ‘em ready, polish and shine ‘em, cuz Monday, July 15th we’re going to play with pitches. Everyone’s invited (ask your friends to join us, the more opinions, the better); sharpen your pencils, get ready to offer support and positive suggestions to folks to help them get those pitches ready for conference.

And BTW, Terry Burns is a tough taskmaster when it comes to writing the perfect pitch.

In fact, he wrote a great book which helps keep a writer on track, and offers wonderful hints and tips on pitching to agents and editors, A Writer’s Survival Guide to Getting Published.

Take a Break by Diana L. Flegal

In a perfect world, the first draft of every story or self help title would be camera ready, every agent that spent countless hours finding the right desk for the right project would shout Eureka as a contract for each one came in offering outstanding advances, every author would sell a gazillion copies and be able to quit  his day job, and all in the chain of publishing's lineup had fat bank accounts enabling them to go on exclusive getaway vacations.

Yes, well, the above has to be labeled  Fiction and truthfully is a boring story at that. A story with out conflict or too many sweet moments one after the other is...well boring.

Really we ask? Really?

Rather we might remark, welcome to my life. A life where I have re written this story so many times I can't stand it anymore. Where my bum goes numb because I spend so much time sitting at my desk- pounding out my dreams and having hope deferred over and over again. Coffee no longer helps energize me and my dog or cat and even the fish in the bowl stares in a different direction not knowing how they can encourage me anymore, my sighs depressing even their constant optimism. I am sure my agent cringes when I call her/ him and my husbands or wife's favorite refrain is, Show Me the Money.

Maybe it is time for a vacation. A break.

Rest is something we must have in order to refresh ourselves and renew our vision and passion.

It is a good thing that this 4th of July holiday falls in the middle of the week and messes with our routine. And here in Western North Carolina it is raining. The fireworks might have to be delayed and all of our best laid plans might have to be as well. Which leaves us with a break in our schedule that we all probably need more than we are willing to admit.

My radio is broken in my car. That might seem like a random comment. But seriously when I am driving from point A to B, I have nothing that can distract me. In these mountains I do not always get a strong cell signal. I am left alone with God and myself. It has been a revelation to me that I can enjoy that time, allow myself this enforced downtime and even enjoy it.

I encourage you all to unplug. Schedule your tweets and FB posts ahead of time and 'go off the grid'. Stretch the holiday into a long weekend. RELAX. Do not look at your to-do list. But keep a notebook handy. I know you will get inspired, so yes, jot down that thought but resisting turning on your computer. Save it for later. Your tiny note will jog your memory later on.

I hereby give you permission to take a break. Author Bob Hostetler offers you some suggestions here how you might do that. (Thanks to anonymous for sharing one of Bob's prayers in the comment section.)

Happy 4th you all!

See you next week!

Diana

Homegrown Tech Support by Andy Scheer

My son owns a T-shirt that says, “No, I will not fix your computer.”

Fortunately, he doesn't hold me to that. Working as programmer for a computer company, he's a logical choice to ask when a new technical challenge arises.

I'm grateful he's a good teacher. His explanations of how to solve or prevent problems—plus him looking over my shoulder as he shows me to click there—means I less often need to call on his services.

When that need arises, my wife and I try to pair the request with an invitation for him and his wife to come to dinner—accompanied by their favorite crescent rolls with an extra dozen to take home.

Fortunately, the information exchange goes both ways. My wife and I are often their first go-to resource in matters of cooking, sewing, and home and car maintenance.

As a veteran editor, I'm not surprised to get writing-related questions from people I've met. Unless I'm on a tight deadline, it's usually no trouble to answer. But if those people ask me computer questions, I'm easily stumped if they're running programs with which I'm not familiar.

So I often ask if they have teens in the house—or nearby grandchildren or teens from their church. I suspect a fair amount of tech support is available for the price of a couple dozen home-baked cookies. Or better yet, for showing them how to bake their own.

The Wind up and the Pitch…Home Run or Foul? by Linda S. Glaz

             It’s that time again when folks begin to scurry around, polishing their proposals, putting together exciting one-sheets and dazzling their friends and crit partners with twenty-five words that describe their stories, tease the readers, and draw in the agents and editors.

That sure would be nice, wouldn’t it? You sit down across from the editor; he smiles and you smile back. You give him the pitch which sparkles, and he immediately asks for your one-sheet and first five pages. As he reads the words, he can barely contain himself. “I want this author! She’s mine!” And he leans in and immediately offers a three-book contract.

Okay, that’s how it happens in the world of my  mind. Don’t we all wish.

But in the real world, we feel blessed if the editor smiles as we approach. Will she ask to read our five edited-to-death pages? Will she listen to the pitch? Is she so tired from the other fifty pitches that she can barely keep her eyes open?

Agents and editors go into the conferences with as much optimism as the writers.

They hope and pray that after traveling a thousand miles, worrying about what’s happening at home, dealing with lost luggage, and eating far too many calories at each meal, that they’ll find an author that will blow their socks off. At least make them happy they signed up.

You seen, it’s as scary on the other side of the table as it is on the author’s side.

A great deal of planning, finances, and other prep goes into an agent arranging his or her schedule to be able to attend a conference. They can be tiring as well as fun.

My very first appointment as an author was like salt scraping through an open wound. Let’s just say, it wasn’t my most exciting moment. And I’ll admit to thinking for a few minutes about the hours I’d put into my pitch. What had caused the agent’s eyes to glaze over one minute into that long fifteen minute appointment?

It couldn’t possibly have been the lackluster proposal, the hideous first five pages, or…wait! No…I smiled. I think I smiled. I offered to read the pages myself. And then I realized…I didn’t even like the opening pages. I was reading them out loud for the first time. Really reading them. I gave the pitch again that weekend, and I suddenly understood the importance of the opening of a story and the need to be able to snag a reader with one line.

Don’t wait until conference to read OUT LOUD to yourself. The words sound much different, much more like how they will sound to an editor. Or a reader.

In the coming weeks, we’ll explore pitches. Maybe try a few on for size and see where a needle and thread might make them fit better.

Twenty-five to thirty words. Be prepared to wow us with your story.

If you’re going to train for weeks and months, be sure the wind up and the pitch deliver!