writers | Marji Laine

2013/March
by Marji Laine 9 Comments

Author Connections

In an attempt to promote Christian authors, author Leann Harris asked me to participate in a twist on a blog hop. Continue reading →

2012/October
by Marji Laine 4 Comments

A writing conference is a great place to make friends and influence people, unless you have a twisted tongue like mine. My mouth is always getting me into trouble when it starts stumbling over my teeth. You can read my last week’s encounter HERE! Continue reading →

2012/September
by Marji Laine 5 Comments

How NOT to Pitch

I’ve gotten to know Lisa Buffaloe through her website, her radio show, and through mutual friends here in Dallas. She seems like a true kindred spirit. While zealous for the Lord, she also has such a fun personality and a clever sense of humor!

This video of how NOT to pitch at a writers’ conference made me laugh! Tweet this! Continue reading →

2012/August
by Marji Laine 2 Comments

The Olympia Contest for Unpublished Writers!

Get Ready to Spar!

Clash of the Titles Unveils a NEW annual literary contest,

THE OLYMPIA

and it’s strictly for unpublished writers!

Also, you will no longer need to be a previous Clash Champion in order to compete for the crown.

Submissions open September 14, 2012,

As always at COTT, the outcome of the contest is in the hands of readers,

not industry professionals.

You’ve written the book of your dreams, now what do readers think? Enter the arena and find out.

Olympia 2013 Submission Rules

The OLYMPIA provides an opportunity for unpublished novelists to have the first two chapters (or 3,500 words) of their work judged and critiqued by readers that are well-versed in Christian fiction yet not a part of the CBA industry.

ELIGIBILITY: Any author whose novel-length work (30,000+ words) has not been previously published in ANY format is eligible for entry. That includes the manuscript being submitted as well as any other manuscript the submitting author has written. One entry per author. Co-authored entries accepted. The manuscript should not contain profanity, graphic sex, or other objectionable material. Clash of the Titles staff reserves the right to reject submissions not meeting this requirement.

FEE: $10 payable via Paypal

Paypal account: contactcott@gmail.com

If Paypal is not an option for you, please contact senior editor, April Gardner at contactcott@gmail.com.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: All entries must include a single-spaced one page synopsis of the manuscript immediately followed by the first two chapters of the novel. Word count limit is 3,500. Prologues are accepted, so long as the word count limit is not exceeded.

FORMAT: Manuscripts must be in Times New Roman, 12 pt font, double-spaced with pages numbered. One inch margins in Ms Doc (not Docx) or Rich Text Format (RTF). Insert a header which includes the novel’s genre and title, and nothing more. Judging is anonymous. Do NOT include your name anywhere in the document or in the title the document is saved under.

Entries not following the submission and formatting specifications will be returned. Entries may be resubmitted prior to the deadline. Entry fees for returned entries will not be refunded after the contest entry deadline has passed.

JUDGING:

Round One begins November 02, 2012. Entries will first be judged by Clash of the Titles staff, which includes published authors and writers experienced in judging. During this round, COTT staff will be looking for those excerpts which do not meet content standards listed in “Eligibility” above. Because COTT wishes to send only the best quality of writing to its judges, in addition to content eligibility, they will be reading for a higher level of experience in the craft.

Round Two begins November 30, 2012. By this date all entrants will have received an email notifying them whether or not their manuscript has moved on to Round Two. Manuscripts making it to this round will be read by a group of judges who are comprised of your average reader of Christian fiction and that are in no way associated with the CBA industry. This includes agents, writers, avid reviewers, publicists, editors, etc. They are, in short, your audience.

Round Three begins January 21, 2013. By this date, all remaining entrants will be notified of whether or not their manuscript will be moving on. Only three manuscripts will be chosen for this round. Finalist will be announced January 18. Judges pending.

Authors will receive an anonymous digital copy of each of their judge’s scores and comments. Under no circumstance should comments given by a judge be used for publicity or promotional purposes without the express consent of the judge.

PRIZES: One first-place winner will be chosen. He/she will receive a special feature on Clash of the Titles’ blog. A tour through COTT’s Blog Alliance. A dedicated page on COTT’s site for a full year. A podcast interview with author and CAG board member, Cynthia L. Simmons. A beautiful plaque. Additional prizes pending.

DEADLINES: Submissions will open Friday, September 14, 2012. All contest entries and fees must be received no later than 8:00 PM EST Friday, November 02, 2012.

All entries will receive a confirmation e-mail. If this has not occurred by 8:00 PM EST November 03, 2012, the entrant should e-mail COTT senior editor, April Gardner at contactcott@gmail.com.

The winner will be announced Friday, March 01, 2013

Stay tuned for updates by

subscribing to COTT’s blog and “liking” our Facebook page.

2012/July
by Marji Laine 8 Comments

Facebook: Profiles vs. Pages and the ART of Giving Back

The Facebook situation is fun if your just doing the social thing, but for writers and business folks, Facebook provides opportunity to share a message. And used well, it can stir a great following for that message.

But first and foremost, Facebook is social.

Profiles

That’s why anyone using it must have a profile. (Only one to a customer, please.) The profile is the social face of the person. And that section has benefits and rules connected to it.

For instance, on a profile, a person “friends” other people. You friend them and they accept you. So you have a little community of happily cohabitating friends that connect with others as well as each other. When you take a picture of one of these friends, you can “tag” them in it and a notice goes up on their board that you did. They stop whatever they are doing and run over to your wall to check out the picture you took of them.

Cute. Studly. What’s that thing hanging out of your nose?

Anyway. I digress. The point is, you can make a status report or post a note or photo and tag your friends to inform then that it is there and includes them. They’ll come look. No really. They will.

Pages

Pages are different. Being for businesses, nobody can friend them. Sad and lonely place to be. They can be liked though and a whole lot more than just the profiles. See profiles can only add 5,000 friends, but page likes go up and and up. I’m not even sure they have a limit. So as your business grows, so can your outreach.

In the “voice” of your page, you can post on your own page. You can “like” other people’s pages. You can even post on those pages you’ve liked. However, you can’t friend anyone. So you can’t post to anyone’s profile, even if they like your page. You can’t comment on any profile at all.

One is the loneliest number …

There are benefits to pages though. A page establishes a writer as professional. Once published, those books can become part of the timeline and also tabs on the front page. Second, pages offer statistics that you can’t get with your profile. I can see at a glance how many people have liked me, how many have visited my page, and how many have liked or commented on anything I’ve said.

The other stat that I’ve recently noticed makes it clear that Facebook isn’t showing all of my page postings to all of those who liked my page. For instance, the last post on my page was an announcement of yesterday’s blog. Only 20 people saw it. Not that 20 people visited the link. The post only showed up on the feeds of 20 of those who have liked my page. The other 147 went along without knowing that I posted anything.

*Sniff*

So here is some Über-important things you can do, for me and any of your Facebook paging buddies.

Like their page. A page-owner can only invite you once. If you choose not to like their page, you withhold essential encouragement for no good reason. Liking doesn’t hurt. Doesn’t cost. Doesn’t fill your feed with spam. It just encourages your friend.
Like any posts that you see from their page. Again, unless it disagrees with your moral fiber – and I totally get that and won’t chat about politics for that very reason! Yikes! – there’s no good reason to deny your friend the little click of a mouse key. And what do they get when you like a post. BIG! It doubles the amount of people who see the post, giving them a better chance of getting out their message.
Really want to be a good friend? Share their posts. Sharing the ones they post from their profile is fun, but it doesn’t help their business. Sharing posts from their page means SO MUCH! When a page owner has their posts shared, Facebook decides they deserve more attention and shares their following posts with more people.

Didn’t realize you had such power at the tips of your fingers did you? Use the power for good, Luke!

By the way, you can find me at http://www.facebook.com/MarjiLaine

2012/June
by Marji Laine

New Writing Contest Announced

Clash of the Titles’ monthly clashes
have received a makeover!

Our focus is now on novels new to bookstore shelves. COTT’s readers will always have the most up-to-date information on the best and newest Christian literature.

Also…

Thanks to you, our faithful readers, Clash of the Titles’ new unpublished authors literary contest has been christened—

THE OLYMPIA

The path to publication in novel length is the most difficult a writer will embark on. For most, it’s a steep, uphill climb littered with deep crevices and seemingly insurmountable boulders. Often, it feels as though the summit of that mountain is on the move, keeping one toehold ahead of even the most relentless writer.

Ancient Olympia, Greece *Attribution

In classical times ancient Olympia was the site of the original Olympic Games. It sat at the foot of Mount Olympus, the tallest, most formidable mountain in Greece. The first Olympic Games were held in honor of Zeus, but at Clash of the Titles, we give all honor to the Most High God and wish every contestant His greatest blessing!

Authors, submissions for The Olympia pen October 29, 2012. For preliminary details, please visit The Olympia page.

If you would like more information on how to be a part of our monthly New Releases Clashes,

please visit our Submissions page.

*Attribution: This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. United States Public Domain.

2012/June
by Marji Laine

A New Literary Contest Comes To Clash of the Titans

Get Ready to Spar!

Dust off those swords (in the Spirit, of course) and put on that literary armor,

because Clash of the Titles has an announcement.

The Laurel Award is expanding, and we know you’ll be excited about it.

We are creating a NEW annual literary contest, and it’s strictly for unpublished writers!

Also, authors will no longer need to be a previous Clash Champion in order to compete for the crown.

Submissions for this contest open October 29, 2012,

but first we must name it. That’s right! We want your help naming this exciting, new branch of Clash of the Titles. After reading about it, please take a moment to click on which name you think most fitting for this contest—The Spartan OR The Olympia. (Use survey below.)

About this new contest:

All never before published writers of Christian fiction may submit their work.
$10 Entry fee.

First two chapters will be judged.

Final scoring by a select panel of beta-readers.

Prizes:

Special feature on Clash of the Titles’ blog.

Tour through COTT’s Blog Alliance.

Page on our site for a full year.

Podcast interview with Author and CAG board member, Cynthia L. Simmons.

A beautiful plaque.

The outcome is in the hands of readers, not industry professionals.

You’ve written the book of your dreams, now what do readers think? Enter the arena and find out.

Stay tuned for further dates and details by
subscribing to our blog and “liking” our Facebook page.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

2012/March
by Marji Laine

J is for …

Indie Author Lee Carver presented information about
Self-Publishing at the recent DFW Ready Writer meeting.

JOIN!

I have a writer tip. When I first started this gig almost 10 months ago, one of the first things I did was do a search for local writer groups. I knew there had to be some out there! And I found several in and around the metroplex. Yea!

DFW Ready Writer president, Janice Olson

Then I looked at when they met, boo. I’d barely missed every meeting and had to wait several weeks for another chance. My first was a critique group on the east side. It was nice, but not social, so I kept looking. I wanted to find that unique group of folks that I could not only grow with, but connect with, too!

Authors Lena Nelson Dooley, Leann Harris, and Margo Carmichael

I found DFW Ready Writers. They’re the local chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers. At the first meeting I met highly successful authors who were kind and encouraging. I even found not one, but two critique groups, each with it’s own flavor of focus. I don’t always get to go to both every week, but I never regret going when I can. They have stretched me so much!

Authors Lynne Gentry and Jane Thornton

And taught me. Not only writing techniques – just listening to their mastery does that – but also publishing insight as many are well-published authors.

And the best part about them is the connection. I really like these gals (mostly gals) and they like me right back and miss me when I’m not around. How cool is that?

So my tip is this. Find a group of like-minded writers. You don’t have to share a genre to be like-minded. The groups that I’m in write in all types – Amish, fantasy, YA, historical, suspense, contemporary romance, even children’s books. We don’t all write the same genre, but we all share the same goal of glorifying the Lord.

And once you’ve found that group, join them. Both feet. Be willing to put yourself out there and maybe even get your nose tweaked a bit. You’ll grow as a writer and as a professional.

Oh, and if you’re anywhere near the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex, I hope you’ll consider visiting our next meeting. You can find out more information at this link!

Your turn! What’s the best writer tip, or life tip, that you’ve ever gotten?

2011/June
by Marji Laine

Readers with Space Issues?

No, this picture isn’t upside down!

In fact, it is one of the unique new storage ideas that is shared in this article by Jill Harness at neatorama.com. Yes, if I saw this in a house, it would certainly draw my eye!

You really need to take a look at all the crazy designs! They have some great ones, like a staircase that has a place for books under each step; makes me wish I had a second floor!

There are several varieties that offer expandable shelves and some that also roll. Most of them have interesting or unique designs and equally odd names, such as the “Twins,” the “Equation,” “My DNA,” and the “Bed.”

My favorite design was called, “Motion.” Now that is one that I would really get a kick out of!