2016 BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Nominations for the 2016 Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award are now open. This award honors books produced by small publishers each year for outstanding contribution to Christian life.

Nominations are accepted in 14 categories. “The Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award plays an important role in acknowledging quality books in the growing field of independent Christian publishing,” says Sarah Bolme, Director of Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA), the sponsor of the book award.

Any small publisher or independently published author can nominate books for the award. Books must be published in 2014 or 2015 by a publisher or author with annual revenues of $400,000 or less. Nominated books must be Christian in nature and intended for the Christian marketplace. All nominated books must be printed in English and for sale in the United States. Nominations must be received by November 15, 2016.

Christian retailers and book readers will be invited to vote on the nominated titles in February and March 2016. The winners of the award will be the books that receive the most votes.

Complete guidelines, eligibility, categories, and the nomination form can be found on the Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award’s website at http://www.bookoftheyear.net.

Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award was established in 2007 by Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA) to bring recognition to quality Christian books by small publishers and independently published authors. Publishers and authors do not need to be a member of CSPA to nominate a title for the award.

About Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA)

CSPA exists to represent, promote, and strength publishers in the Christian marketplace. The association represents over 120 member publishers producing materials for the Christian marketplace and is a supplier member of CBA. Christian Small Publishers Association can be found online athttp://www.christianpublishers.net.

ASKING FOR HELP - CREATIONIST

From: James Carlson <jamesrcarlson@outlook.com>
To: stuartcwmg <stuartcwmg@aol.com>
Sent: Mon, Jun 1, 2015 7:00 pm
Subject: Creationist Peer Review

Hello,

                I have written a manuscript on evolution called, The Alchemy of Evolution. I have put it onto the Kindle.com website at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YJCJHJK. I am looking for a peer review from a creationist group or individual. However, creationist ministries do not allow people to contact their members. So I thought you might know where I could find like-minded people to help me get a thorough review of my material.

                I joined a Christian writers group 14 years ago as I wrote a book on the History of Texas and of Religious Freedom, but our focus is on the Hand of God in Texas history (www.godandtexas.org) and not evolution. Since my book is a historical review of evolution, our group is not qualified for such a review. I spent the last 7 years putting this manuscript together. But before I can move forward with it, I would like to get one or more persons involved in proofreading it and then editing it.

                If you know of a creationist writers group that I could network with, or some other avenue for a qualified peer review, I welcome any advice you may have. Thank you for your time and your help.

Thanks,
James

NY TIMES CHRISTIAN BESTSELLERS - WK OF JUNE 7

• THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES by Gary Chapman (Northfield/Moody) is #1 in Relationships; #3 in Advice, How-To & Misc.
• JESUS CALLING by Sarah Young (Thomas Nelson) is #2 in Religion, Spirituality & Faith.
• LOVE THE HOME YOU HAVE by Melissa Michaels (Harvest House) is #2 in Fashion, Manners and Customs.

• SEARCHING FOR SUNDAY by Rachel Held Evans (Thomas Nelson) is #6 in Religion, Spirituality & Faith.
• NOBODY'S CUTER THAN YOU by Melanie Shankle (Tyndale House) is #9 in Relationships.
• UNDEMOCRATIC by Jay Sekulow (Howard Books) is #10 in E-Book Nonfiction.
• LOVE AND RESPECT by Emerson Eggerichs (Thomas Nelson) is #11 in Relationships.
• LOVE DOES by Bob Goff (Thomas Nelson) is #11 in Advice, How-To & Misc.
• THE LOVE DARE by Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick with Lawrence Kimbrough (B&H Books) is #12 in Relationships.
• SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME by Ron Hall and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent (Thomas Nelson) is #12 in Race.
• BOUNDARIES by Henry Cloud and John Townsend (Zondervan) is #12 in Religion, Spirituality & Faith.

From ECPA's Rush to Press@ECPAnews.org/rush

FAIR CONTRACT INITIATIVE

At this year's BookExpo America, the Authors Guild is rolling out its Fair Contract Initiative, a series of commentaries it will publish in the coming months that take a "fresh look at the standard book publishing contract."

"Our guiding principle for this new initiative is to restore balance to the author-publisher relationship and help authors achieve a fair return for the efforts they contribute to the joint venture of book publication," said the Guild. These commentaries, which will be published at authorsguild.org, will first address the "major inequities" in boilerplate contract terms, and then move on to educate authors on which terms are negotiable, according to the Guild.

The group will be distributing its launch statement at BEA on Thursday and Friday.

PHYLLIS TICKLE FACING TERMINAL LUNG CANCER

News of Phyllis Tickle’s diagnosis of terminal lung cancer has rippled through the publishing and religion worlds. On May 22, Religion News Service ran David Gibson’s profile of Tickle. She told Gibson she is working on a book about aging, which has now taken on new meaning, and has been mulling over another book about “the rapprochement between Western Judaism and ‘emergence’ Christianity.” She plans to continue writing as long as she can.

SCENES IN FICTION

Do you ever feel, as I do, that sometimes your scenes fall flat and you’re convinced there’s not enough oomph on the page to move your reader, let alone make an editor want to buy your story?

Here are three things I remind myself when I face that dilemma. Then a quick, but heavy, edit and rewrite usually gets me right back on track.

1. Get off the stage. The toughest challenge for any artistic creator is to resist the urge to show off. Our name will be on the cover, and we’d love to remind the reader with a turn of phrase or a choice word, “I’m the one fashioning this message.”

But the best writers, like the best composers and painters, know it’s not about them. It’s about the art, the content.

Anything that comes between the story and the reader—yes, even you—is intrusive.

A reader aware of your technique, even of your talent, may miss your message. If the pianist dazzles with his technique, the composer’s art may be compromised.

Entice readers by making every word count, using ones they’ll understand rather than ones that will make them wonder.

A true classic transports the reader. Force yourself to get out of the way so the heart of the message can reach the soul of the reader.

2. Don’t compromise. Remain true to your message. Be able to express it in one sentence and post it where you can see it as you write. It will keep you on point throughout the process.

3. Inject conflict. This is the failsafe. When nothing else brings your prose to life, conflict will. You’ve likely seen me write about this before, and you’ll see it again. It’s a sin to bore a reader, so if you have two characters in a scene and they’re merrily agreeing with each other, you’re sinning.

Just have one of them respond in a snarky, sarcastic, mean, disagreeable, angry, or defensive way (or all of the above), and see what happens. Conflict is the engine of fiction, and it will light up the page—and your reader.

Jerry B. Jenkins  

............................  

JerryJenkins.com  

Jerry@JerryJenkins.com  

@JerryBJenkins

ARTICLE WRITING - FINAL PART

ARTICLE CONTRACTS

Although we typically think of publishing contracts in conjunction with book publishing, some periodicals also offer contracts. Such contracts are usually short—about a page—and simply identify the article by name, indicate what rights are being purchased, the amount of payment, scheduled date of publication, etc. I’m only aware of a few Christian publications that use them, but there is no reason to feel nervous about such a contract as long as it spells out the terms exactly as you expected them to be. If they differ from your understanding of the agreement, ask for an explanation and/or necessary changes in the contract. Do not sign it unless you agree with the terms.

Realize, too that you are not obligated to sign such a contract because they offer it. You always have the option of not selling the manuscript if you would be giving up too many rights or not being paid a fair payment. You need to be as careful about signing a publishing contract as you would be about signing a contract in any other area of business.