Catch the Wave Wrtier's Conference



Hard at work at the conference.

One of the first things seasoned writers advise beginning writers is to attend writer's conferences. I've been doing this for about ten years now. Long before I finished my first novel. This past weekend I believe I attended the best conference I've been to.

Georgia Christian Authors Guild sponsors the Catch The Wave Writer's Conference in Atlanta, GA once a year. This year a fellow author and friend Jennifer Hallmark rode to the conference with me. She was a great navigator. Thursday evening we arrived and settled in our rooms. Then we went to the evening meal and listened to a couple of speakers. After the speakers all of the staff was introduced. Terry Burns an agent from Texas was there along with his wife Sandra. (in picture below)

The next morning we gathered for a devotional and signing. Then the fun began. We had classes taught by some super authors: Fay Lamb, Terry Burns, Tracy Ruckman, and Lin Johnson just to name a few. Some of the topics were on Deep POV, Creating memorable characters, magazine writing and speaking. There were other topics I didn't have time to hear. When evening came I was tired, but in a good way. Several of us got together for a game of Banana Split (something like scrabble). When my eyes got to tired to stay open it was off to bed for me.

We got up Saturday morning and started all over again. What a day! On both days there were agents and publishers available for appointments and they were busy with authors pitching their writing projects. I didn't come prepared to pitch anything but wound up pitching an idea for a magazine article and it was excepted by Lin Johnson. So I've been busy writing a how to article for writing cozy mysteries. I'll be sure and let you know if and when it is published.

If you've never been to a conference and you are interested in writing then get yourself to one. I know some of them are very expensive, but there are many that are not so expensive and some that are only for one day that are affordable. I have gathered much information from these conferences. You don't have to go broke attending. There are also scholarships with some of the conferences. Check into these. Well I guess this week I'll spend coming back down to earth and getting back into the routine. I can't wait to write! Thank you Cynthia Simmons of the Christian Author's Guild for a great conference.

Deborah Malone is a freelance writer, speaker, and novelist. She has two cozy mysteries available, "Death in Dahlonega" and "Murder in Marietta."





Fun and Fellowship at Fox Tales Book Shoppe

I'm thrilled to tell you about the wonderful book signing I was involved in at Fox Tales Book Shoppe located in historic downtown Woodstock, Georgia. There were eleven authors who brought books to sale and the customers could walk around and mingle with the authors. Fox Tales is an independent book store owned by three lovely ladies. I was told six years ago they met at a writer's conference and decided to open the store and it has been going strong ever since

 

 

I remember not so long ago when I was the one going to author signings, writer's conferences, anything that had to do with books or authors. It's been ten years since I started writing for the historical magazine "Georgia Backroads." I remember mentioning that someone should write about a historic building in Trion, GA. and my boyfriend said why didn't I write it. So I did! And that was the start of my writing journey. Not long after that I started on my first book "Death in Dahlonega", but life got in the way and the going was slow. I have a beautiful daughter, Niki, that is disabled and I needed to take care of her. When I was able to finally get caregivers to help it freed up some time for me to write and that's when I was able to finish "Death in Dahlonega."

 

 

 

 

 

The story of "Death in Dahlonega" is interesting in and of itself. I knew I wanted to write Christian Fiction, but didn't know what it was called at the time. So when I discovered American Christian Fiction Writer's and online group of Christian authors I signed up. It was the best thing I ever did. There is support from other authors, writing classes, critique partners, and much much more. I was able to study the craft of writing as well as writing Christian Fiction. I did have to go back and re-write "Death in Dahlonega" but it was well worth it. I found a floppy disc the other day with "Death in Dahlonega" written on it and it was dated 2002. It was actually published in 2011. So it took ten years from the beginning to the end. Of course, I wasn't writing the whole time. LOL I appreciate all of the people that follow my blog and all of my readers. Why write if there are no readers!  I hope you've enjoyed learning a little more about me.

 

 





 

 

 





Me at Fox Tales Book Shoppe

 

 

 

Two new fans!

 

 

 

I even have little fans!

 

: Deborah Malone’s first novel Death in Dahlonega, finaled in the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Category Five writing contest! Deborah was also nominated for 2012 Georgia Author of the Year in First Novel category. She has worked as a freelance writer and photographer, for the historic magazine “Georgia Backroads.” She has had many articles and photographs published, and her writing is featured in “Tales of the Rails,” edited by Olin Jackson. She is a member of the Georgia Writer’s Association. As a current member of the American Christian Fiction Writer she has established a blog where she reviews Christian Fiction.  

 

 

 

 

 



Successfully Branding a Mystery Series

I want to give a warm Cozy Mystery Magazine welcome to Molly Snow, and award winning goofball who writes clean and adorable mysteries and romance novels!

We're super lucky to have her guest posting today, so I'm gonna zip it and let her talk!

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First, a hello to my fellow colleague and friend, Traci Tyne Hilton. Thank you for having me guest post. I’m thrilled!

So, a little about me: I write YA romances, and enjoy that very much. My heart also has a place for mysteries, so I co-write with my mother Z & C Mysteries under the pen name Claire Kane. The first book in the series was published in 2011, called The Riddles of Hillgate. Our mysteries are very clean, and are full of adventure, so you can feel safe sharing them with your daughters.

My mom and I, like any publishing entrepreneur out there, when we hit “Publish,” wanted our series to be a success. We worked hard on producing quality products that were edited, formatted and designed to capture interest and show professionalism. It wasn’t until the third book in the series, Hexes and X’s, was produced that I started to wonder if one or more of these areas we worked so very hard at perfecting wasn’t up to par. Traci  was actually the first (as my memory recalls) to tell me that I should reconsider the covers.

The covers were all designed well, they looked professional, so why wasn’t that enough?

Two reasons:

1.) There was no branding to speak of. Each cover was so unique to itself, a buyer couldn't tell by glancing at a multitude of random thumbnails which books belonged together. Which isn't good. You want potential readers to see a series as a series, all cohesive; it provides an even greater sense of professionalism, an identity (super important!), and a way for buyers to click around easier to purchase.

2.) If a reader sensed any sort of branding going on whatsoever, the covers still failed to do their purpose. Why? The impressions they gave were off. They looked far too serious, and sometimes too dark or horrific. So, not only was there no brand, the first impression, the “judging the book by its cover” thing, was messed up. This is a big deal, because authors do not want the wrong readers checking out their work; it risks earning low reviews: “I thought I was going to read this type of book,and what I got was something else. ONE star!!!”

So..., thankfully someone spoke up and told us what was obviously wrong with our series! It took some convincing for my mother to be open to seeing alternative covers (even a little working behind her back to surprise her!), but when something clicks it clicks.

Our newer covers hit the mark! You can easily see they are branded together: the fonts, illustrations, silhouettes, author names. And—oh—the feelings they exude are perfect. No one will ever mistake one of our books for something they’re not. If you write mysteries, make sure your brand is clear in these ways, and it can save you a lot of time and wondering what could be wrong.

The moral of this story is, I’m a bit grateful now that the series hasn’t yet been a success. It would have sent mixed messages with the old covers, and garnered lots of bad reviews! There is a time and season for everything. This series is finally ready to face the world without any regrets.Wheeee!

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Molly Snow is a Top 10 Idaho Fiction Author, awarded by The Idaho Book Extravaganza. Her works include quirky teen romances "BeSwitched" and "Fallen Angel." Also a speaker on writing, her school assemblies have been featured in The Contra Costa Times and The Brentwood Press. Snow is married to her high school crush, has a set of silly twin boys and a bobtail cat named Meow-Meow.

Find all of Molly's books at amazon.comAmazon.com

Check out more of what Molly's been up to--including her blogs--at mollysnowfiction.blogspot.com!