Do you have one of these market guides?

If you’re interested in publishing magazine articles, poems, short stories, novels, non-fiction books … anything in the Christian market, then this is the guide that will tell you where to send your work.

I bought my Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide in 2005, so I’m due for an update!

According to Sally Stuart’s website, the guide contains:

695 periodicals
228 poetry markets
355 book publishers
133 online publications
131 card/ speciality markets
1185 markets for the written word
321 photography markets
Foreign markets, literary agents, and more!

I just read a fantastic interview with Sally Stuart, the author of this guide for the last 21 years, at Novel Journey.

And congratulations to a couple of you who e-mailed recently to tell me you just sold an article to a major magazine. YEA! I’m doing back-flips over here for you. And I hope you’ll remember me someday if you become my editor. (That’s how it works, right?)

Here’s an interesting article from the current issue of Writer’s Digest magazine. Do you subscribe to the WD newsletter? It’s free and contains many of the same articles as the print edition.

In this article, Cast a Wider Net, you’ll read this facts like this:

The web now monopolizes a shocking 25 percent of consumers’ overall media time, according to the Online Publishers Association. Readers are downloading webzine content onto their iPods, PDAs and cell phones. And some magazines, notably Teen People and Elle Girl, have ditched print editions altogether in favor of their more cost-effective webzines.

The article is full of tips for freelancers trying to break into the online market. Here’s a bit of advice from one of the editors interviewed:

The biggest thing is to really polish the work. Time is of the essence for editors, and often I’ll see a piece that has potential but needs work and time to bring it to fruition. In a perfect world, I’d have that time to work with a writer to help him shape that promising piece, but the truth is, if I have to choose between a piece that needs little (if any) work, and something that’s a diamond in the rough, I have to take the one that’s ready to go.

This is something to remember if you’re starting to send work out (queries and submissions) and you’re discouraged by rejections. Polish, polish, polish. If you need a little refresher course on English grammar or on magazine writing, I highly recommend the courses from Writer’s Digest.

As with anything, you get out of it what you put into it!

I wanted to post the following call for submissions — if you are a single mom and have a story to tell — or you KNOW a single mom and could help her tell her story, here’s a great opportunity for you. A Cup of Comfort for Single Mothers is seeking submissions — the book will published by Adams Media.

Single Moms: Let Your Voices Be Heard!

As Oprah Winfrey has often said, parenting is the most difficult and important job in the world — even more so for single mothers, who single-handedly face all the usual parenting challenges, plus a whole set of unique ones. While being a single mom can be tough at times, it also brings many joys and rewards, and the positive aspects and outcomes of single motherhood often go unrecognized.

The editor of the bestselling Cup of Comfort (Adams Media) book series is (desperately) seeking personal stories for publication in an anthology for and about single mothers. We want slice-of-life stories that read like good fiction and both entertain and move readers. Any topic and any “voice” goes, as long as the author tells an authentic and compelling story. Stories can be humorous or poignant or both, and must be original, positive, and based on real people and actual events.

* Deadline: March 20, 2007

* Story Length: 1000-2000 words

* $500 grand prize; $100 for each other story published in book

* Simultaneous submissions accepted

* Authors may submit multiple stories

* The title page of each submission must include the author’s full name, mailing address, phone number, and email address

* Submit by email or mail

EMAIL: Copy and paste the story into the body of the email; no attachments. One story per email. Send to wordsinger@aol.com

MAIL: Send a printed copy of the story (no CDs or disks) and an SASE to: Colleen Sell, Cup of Comfort, P.O. Box 1539, Cottage Grove, Oregon 97424, USA

I’ve joined the group of writing parents at Gina Conroy’s site, Writer … Interrupted.

I posted on Saturday about writing conferences. I’d love to share my insights with you on how to cut costs and why it’s worth the effort to attend.

Come visit … and tell me what you think!

I wrote yesterday about how I’ve been praying about which books I should read and review this year, and how I felt led to read Across the China Sky by C. Hope Flinchbaugh.

As I began to read it, I knew there was something unique about this writer — sure enough, I later discovered that Flinchbaugh was a finalist in the 2003 Christy Awards in the First Novel category. Her writing is spectacular, and I felt like every time I picked up the book, I traveled to China. Part of the story takes place in a Chinese orphanage in Shanghai, and part takes place in the countryside, giving me a taste of both city and rural living in China.

You can read an excerpt from the book here. This novel made it very clear to me how powerful fiction can be for drawing in readers so that an author’s message can come through clearly. Although I probably wouldn’t pick up a non-fiction book right now to read about a dangerous cult in China, this novel made me aware of this terrible problem.

It’s such a joy to be able to introduce C. Hope Flinchbaugh to you via this interview! I thank the good people at Bethany House for making this connection for us.

Across the China Sky is such an intriguing title. Can you tell us what your book is about?

Across the China Sky is a novel based on the true testimonies of Chinese Christian leaders that I interviewed in China — leaders who were deceived and kidnapped by the Eastern Lightning cult. Across the China Sky follows the relationship of an engaged Chinese couple who struggle to keep their love alive while being separated and persecuted for their faith.

What inspired you to write this novel?

Several years ago I had the opportunity to go to China to interview some Chinese House Church leaders who were kidnapped by the Eastern Lightning cult. These Christian leaders were devastated by the kidnapping, and they begged me to tell their stories to “President Bush.”

I wasn’t exactly scheduled to have lunch with our president that month, so I wrote their story in my novel, Across the China Sky.

I was stunned to learn about the Eastern Lightning cult, and I was so thankful you included an actual letter from a Chinese pastor in the back of your book. Can you tell about this group? Are they still active?

Yes. The Eastern Lightning cult is a vicious group that seeks to kidnap Christians and brainwash them into believing that Jesus has already returned to the earth, and this time He’s come in the form of a woman who lives in China.

They base their beliefs on Matthew 24:27, which says, “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Their belief is that Jesus was the Western Christ. Now the EASTERN Jesus has returned to the earth, and he is a Chinese woman who is to be worshiped as God.

How does the cult operate?

Eastern Lightning cult members do not walk up to Christians and ask them to join their club. They are very subtle and deceiving. They have decided that instead of finding new converts in China, they would rather deceive and then convert the main Christian leaders. They hope that if they can convert church pastors in China, these will in turn tell all their churches to convert to Eastern Lightning.

To do this, an Eastern Lightning cult member will go to an underground church and pretend to become converted. They will be baptized, sing the songs, read the Scriptures, and even testify about what great things Jesus did for them. They gain the trust of the pastors and evangelists and then lure them away with the promise of bringing them some great blessing.

They promised Brother Chen and all his main leaders (34 of them) a biblical seminary training. The leaders were excited to have the biblical training, but in the end they found out it was all a lie and they’d been kidnapped by a vicious cult that tried to brainwash them.

Brother Chen (not his real name) said, “Let our stumbling be the warning for the future of the church in the rest of the world. May brothers and sisters be alert and watchful, to guard against and resist the schemes of cults and heresies, and to walk in the truth of the Lord.”

I understand this is your second novel. How does your first novel, Daughter of China, relate to this one?

Daughter of China is a novel based on true stories of the persecuted Christians in China and the intense persecution of Chinese women and their daughters due to the one-child policy in China. If you want to peek into a state-run orphanage that is not a showcase orphanage for tourists, read this book.

Your second novel made me more keenly aware of the agonies Chinese women must go through when they aren’t allowed to keep a second baby. It broke my heart and made me realize if I were Chinese, I would only be able to keep my oldest son. How did you become so interested in China?

As a child, I sat in on classes when my mother taught inner city children stories from Child Evangelism Fellowship about missionaries from various countries. China always struck my interest. As a teen, my father handed me books about great Chinese missionaries such as Hudson Taylor, John and Betty Stam, Adoniram Judson, and Watchman Nee.

How did you become interested in the topic of Chinese orphans?

My interest in the orphans began when I saw two documentaries on television, each depicting the dying rooms in China’s state-run orphanages. Videotapes do not lie.

I saw babies lying in a room left to die—they looked like so many scattered rugs on a hard floor. I looked at my second child, a one-year-old baby girl, and realized she would not be with me had I given birth to her in China. I knew then that I had to do something to help these orphans.

I researched the Chinese orphanages by doing interviews with people who had been to China. After one look at Human Rights Watch Asia’s report on Chinese orphanages, called Death by Default, I knew I had to write the book. The lame boy in my first book is named Zhu, after a little one in the Death by Default book. Zhu died of starvation while the workers around him ate three meals a day.

Daughter of China has inspired a number of couples to adopt children in China—it doesn’t get any more rewarding than that.

Who are your sources of inspiration?

The great scientist Isaac Newton was asked in his old age how he accomplished so much in his life. Newton answered, “If I have seen further than anyone else, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”

My giant was my dad — my biological and spiritual father, a mentor, friend, and great evangelist at heart. He personally led thousands of inner city children and teenagers to the Lord through his chalk art evangelism.

When I was a child, he drew chalk pictures at camp meetings, inner city parking lots, street corners, and churches. I sang and played the guitar or piano as he drew, bringing squeals of delight from children as he changed the lights above the picture to yellow, blue, and red, revealing in the end a “hidden picture” under a black light.

My dad and I went to China in October 2002 and met with the leaders together.

Do you know what he did? He fasted meals and gave away every penny he had to the leaders who were still brokenhearted from their recent kidnapping experiences — leaders who needed a gray-haired pastor to love them and tell them it was going to be okay. My dad did that — and they respected him.

Dad drew chalk pictures for Chinese children, put coins into the cups of beggars we saw on the street, and taught in underground seminaries. He died in June 2006, and would you believe, I am still standing on his shoulders? You can see a picture of the two of us together on my website.

That is a wonderful picture of you and your father. What a blessing that you were able to be with him in China. Thank you so much for writing this book and for sharing your insights into the persecuted church in China. I hope to be able to visit there someday.

For now, the very least I can do is pray for my brothers and sisters who are there, struggling to keep their faith strong.

Hope Flinchbaugh is an author, freelance writer, and homeschooling mom from Pennsylvania. Daughter of China received a Catherine Marshall Christy Award of Excellence in 2003. Hope’s nonfiction book, Spiritually Parenting Your Preschooler, was released in August 2003. She’s also a contributor to Soul Matters, a series released in bookstores and Sam’s Clubs in 2005.

Here’s a writer I really look up to. Kathryn Lay is someone who has reached a great level of success in her writing career, yet she’s also extremely generous in willing to give back her time to encourage the rest of us.

She was recently interviewed by her local newspaper, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and I found the story so inspiring I wanted to keep up with this link!

Kathryn Lay has sold over 1400 articles to magazines and is a prolific contributor to Chicken Soup books and others. Her children’s novel, Crown Me, won the Texas State Reading Association’s Golden Spur Award and will be repackaged into paperback and sold by Scholastic Book Clubs under the title, How to Rule the School.

Kathryn is one of my heroes. She is continuing to perservere with writing a new novel while undergoing chemo treatment for uterine cancer.

In the Fort Worth Star interview, she was asked, “How have you sold so much stuff?”

Kathryn’s reply demonstates her tenacity:

“I usually work on a lot of stuff at once. My friends call me the marketing queen. My mantra to all writers: When you sell, always resell. I think I have one Christmas piece that’s been published about 14 times. When summer comes, I start thinking about Christmas. Right now it’s time to start thinking about summer.”

She says her ultimate goal is to become a full-time children’s writer and says, “You’re not preaching at them. You’re just having fun with them. Mostly, adults are already jaded.”

If you need more writing encouragement, Kathryn also has a book called The Organized Writer is a Selling Writer. Sounds like something I could use!

You can learn more about Kathryn Kay at her website.

Chris Anne, editor of C3 Mothering, recently wrote to give me this award. Thank you, Chris!

She has a beautiful site and is gathering a variety of articles. I hope you’ll visit and see what she’s got going on over there. C3 Mothering stands for Crunchy, Conservative, Christian.

“Crunchy Con is a term coined by Rod Dreher in his book: Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of counter-culture conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party).”

As I’m not quite sure what crunchy means, I haven’t submitted an article yet, but if you feel like this might be your niche, go for it!

If you’re a writing parent, the time you have to write is more precious than gold. You need to write; God has given you talent and a calling, yet does it ever seem like an impossible dream that your words will be published?

Today, we’re visited by a PROLIFIC, talented young mom, who has written a million books. OK, not a million, but Tricia Goyer is one of the most amazingly busy writers I know. We had a book giveaway here in November, and one of you won a free signed copy of Tricia’s newest non-fiction book for parents, Generation NeXT Parenting.

Tricia is extremely active in the blogosphere, giving away her words to encourage and uplift all of her readers. Her personal blog is called It’s a Real Life, but she also encourages aspiring writers at her Writer Quotes blog which contains favorite quotes and Tricia’s thoughts on them.

She’s a member of the Christian Authors Network (CAN) where she blogs about marketing for writers. She’s a regular contributor to Girls, God, and the Good Life, along with several other authors who specialize in writing for teen girls. You can also read her encouragement for writing parents at Writer … Interrupted.

Since Tricia also writes historical novels, she contributes to Favorite PASTimes, where several writers explore insights on writing, reading, viewing and researching historical fiction. And there’s more! Her website, Unforgettable Stories of WW II is another place Tricia Goyer shares her passion for World War II memories. She has interviewed many veterans to help research her historical novels.

Welcome to Mom 2 Mom Connection, Tricia! Can you tell us how you got started in writing?

Thanks for having me!

I started writing in 1994. I was 22-years-old and pregnant with my THIRD child, no joke! A friend at church wanted to become a writer and this struck a chord with me. I didn’t think it was something real people could do.

Cindy Martinusen and I attended our first writer’s conference in 1994. A few years (and many rejections) later, I started writing articles. Then I worked on book projects . . . and soon they were getting published too.

I basically attended conferences, read books on writing, and taught myself by trial and error.

How did you make time in your day for writing during those early years? What kept you going?

I used to have a wonderful schedule. Oooo, I long for those days!

Anyway, every afternoon, I had “writing time.” My little kids knew they had to entertain themselves. Since I had three kids in five years, they played well together . . . and I wrote.

Small successes kept me going. Some of my first stories were published in small papers, and I made $10 for the whole story. It didn’t matter . . . I was published.

What was your first book about?

My first non-fiction book was Life Interrupted: The Scoop on Being a Young Mom. And let me tell you it is amazing — a gift from God — that I could offer any type of advice to others. At one time my life was such a mess.

I suppose I was able to write this book because I’d been a teen mom. I started mentoring teen moms because I could understand. I had a heart for their struggles. Yet, my life was transformed as I made good choices — just one tiny step after another. This book is all about helping teen moms do just that.

How did you get into writing novels? What has been the best thing about becoming a novelist?

When I first started writing, my goal was to write novels. I wrote articles and other non-fiction to build up credits under my name. (Then I discovered I liked it. Go figure!)

I had about six unfinished novels on my hard drive when I visited Europe with friends in 2003. There I came upon a story from WWII I knew I had to write.

It’s the true story about 23 American soldiers opening the gates to Gusen and Mauthausen concentration camps and freeing 25,000 prisoners. It’s also a story about a Nazi wife caring for the people her husband was once bent on destroying. Writing that novel led to more stories, more veterans to interview, more novels. And the rest — as they say — is history.

I’m sure it must be so interesting to interview WWII veterans! You now have a new book out for Gen-X parents. Who is a Gen-X parent?

Gen Xers are those born between 1961-1981 . . . or another way to think of it is that if your teen years somehow touched the 80s, then you are one of us. My book is called Generation NeXt Parenting.

Why did you feel a passion for writing to this group?

I wanted to write for this group because our parenting is SO different than the parenting that has gone before us. The issues we face are waaaaay different than the ones our moms faced.

Also, our growing up years deeply affected how we parent. For example, since we grew up with Missing Children on the side of our milk cartons, we have a lot of fears concerning our kids. And since many of us had a latch-key existence, while both parents worked, we (as a generation) try to overcompensate with our kids.

We want to give our kids all, yet we get overwhelmed. My book is to offer hope . . . and help — not as an expert, but as someone who is in the same boat and understands.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of this generation of parenting?

Our strengths are:
Dads are more involved than ever.
We have a “family first” mentality.
We have more resources than those who’ve gone before us.
We are willing to sacrifice for our kids.

Yet here are some weaknesses:
We have too many opportunities and often overextend ourselves and our kids.
We want to give our kids everything we didn’t have.
We live in a have-it-all, have-have-it-now world.
We are flooded with all types of media, and get overwhelmed.

How can we overcome our weaknesses and depend on God more?

In the book, I have tons of little tips on how we can seek God’s help in these many areas, but overall we need to realize two things:

1. God placed us as parents in this time in history for a purpose.
2. He can strength us and give us wisdom for our task.

Do you have any advice for today’s moms?

My number one piece of advice is: Seek God. Pray, asking Him to change your heart. Follow Him in obedience to the small things He asks you to do.

My day goes 100% better when I realize it’s all not up to me. What a concept!

Tricia, you’re involved in several blogging communities. How did you get interested in blogging?

I blog because I have the heart of a teacher. Anything I learn, know, believe, I want to SHARE. I can’t just ponder it. I have to write about it. I suppose that is how truth becomes concrete to me, by writing it out.

Also, I blog because I LOVE feedback. Seeing COMMENTS are one of my favorite things.

That’s a Gen X trait too, by the way. We want the gold star. We want instant feedback and a pat on the back. Comments on blogs give me that feedback. Is that crazy, or what?!

Ha! I can relate to that trait. What do you enjoy most about being a mom who is also a writer?

I LOVE that I can be home with my kids. Since we homeschool, we spend most of every day together.

I LOVE that I can schedule my own time. I can work around dentist appointments, basketball practice, and stop in the middle of the day to play Xbox if I want to.

I LOVE when my writing benefits my family. For example, we get many free books. My kids have been with me to interview WWII veterans (what an opportunity!). I review curriculum, which I get for free. I’ve even gotten my family backstage passes to the Newsboys because of a writing friend. THAT is when my kids thought I’d “made it.”

How old are your kids?

My kids are 17, 14, and 12 now. We homeschool and all three play basketball. (Go Crusaders!) My oldest son, Cory, is also taking college classes. (He’s a Junior and gets both high school and college credits.) My daughter, Leslie, loves singing and playing the piano. My son, Nathan, thinks hanging out and playing with his friends is the coolest thing on earth.

We’re also in the process of adopting a baby girl from China . . . which we’ll most likely have by Winter 2007.

Wow. I hope things go smoothly with your adoption. I’m sure you’ll find much to share about that experience. Thanks for visiting with us here and for passing along your wisdom and encouragement!

Tricia Goyer was named Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference “Writer of the Year” in 2003. She was a finalist for the Gold Medallion Book Award and she also won ACFW’s “Book of the Year” for Long Historial Romance in 2005 and 2006. You can learn more about her at Tricia’s Loft.

Ann Voskamp and Tonia Peckover have created a new blog to explore The Sacred Everyday.

Here’s what Ann says about it:

“In 2007, I am exploring, living, writing, what it means to, consciously, have Jesus keep company with us in this home. Tonia and I have created a space to process the journey …

I thank you for being you and sharing the journey…wherever it weaves… on our way Home to Him. All is gift… Ann”

I’m sure Ann and Tonia’s site will be full of beautiful writing and joy. I’m looking forward to browsing through their growing cyberlibrary of favorite inspiring books.

I’m hanging out at Pioneer Parenting today and hope you’ll stop over for a visit. Author Mary DeMuth has totally revamped her site, and it’s even more of a great place to grow in your journey as a parent.

Mary is gathering an eclectic variety of articles written by and for parents, and she let me share with her readers my passion for journaling.

Do you keep a journal? What do you write in it? I’d love to hear from you over at Pioneer Parenting.