Back from the ACFW conference, I am still recovering. Man, every day is a slow start.

I had a blast seeing old and new friends, and the MBT crowd.

I was able to make a few classes and pick up a few tidbits.

The keynote speaker, Bill Meyer, was fantastic. Very animated, sincere and full of wisdom.

I thought I’d recap some of my take aways from the conference.

What about writing in the general (ABA) market?

Three agents, Sue Brower, Natasha Kern and Karen Solem, presented a workshop on considering the general market.

There is a lot of room for authors who want to write without giving up their faith.

Sweet romances are popular in the general market. Among other things. Spec fiction, etc.

What about Debut authors?

I was encouraged to hear Daisy Hutton from Harper Collins Christian Publishing they are actively acquiring debut authors.

The team feels a responsibility to find new voices.

If they are, then you know other publishers probably feel the same way.

Is the market dying? 

Nope! It’s changing but it’s not dying. Print stales are still strong. But the average CBA reader is aging so there is a push to draw in new an younger readers.

Never know what God will do!

I loved Bill Meyers and his stories, his testimony of all God did in his life.

One thing that really stood out to me was Bill’s willingness to be used by God when he didn’t feel confident or qualified.

Get the recordings to hear his engaging testimony, but at the end of the day, it’s about knowing God and making yourself available to Him.

A few years ago as I prepared for Sunday morning worship, I was keenly aware of how much I needed the Lord to help us with worship.

On my own, I’m not good enough. I’m not musical enough. For a worship leader, I’m not qualified. In the natural.

But in God’s eyes, I loved to worship Him. I used my voice to do so.

I offered Him my weakness.

As I prayed about it the next few days, the Lord said to me, “Most people will not offer me their weakness.”

Meaning, we won’t do something unless we’re really good at it. Or uber qualified.

Bill detailed all the fun things he’d done in his life, the things God was currently doing in his life from writing novels to forming a movie production company.

All because he said, “Yes.”

What does this mean for you?

Finish that manuscript. Get your book submitted. Did you go to conference? Follow up on agent or editor request. Take what you learned and put it into play.

Believe in yourself. Even more, believe in God’s ability to use you!

No more recognized publisher in ACFW.

ACFW lowered the barricade on publisher requirements. There is no more recognized publisher list. If you write from a Christian world view, you can enter the Carol and put you book up on Fiction Finder.

There are also no loop guidelines BUT there is also no more loop self promotion posts allowed.

The loop will be focused on craft and the publishing industry. So be sure to check that out.

I know this is a rather eclectic recap. I don’t get to a lot of classes at conference.

At it’s 9:30 at night and I’m a bit tired. But I wanted to share what I remembered.

Frasier Winner!

Of course it was good to see the Frasier Award given on Thursday evening! Congrats to the Frasier winner, Megan Menard!

Genesius Winner!

It was so fun to be at the table when Lindsay Harrell won the Genesis Award! We were all up on our feet, cheering our hearts out.

Of course we were also proud of Genesius finalist, Jeanne Takenaka.

MP3s.

Okay, don’t forget the MP3s will be available soon. Check them out.

Go write something brilliant!