Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

IWSG Day: Wishy-Washy Me

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InsecureWritersSupportGroupToday is IWSG Day.  IWSG stands for Insecure Writers Support Group and was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh.  You can  or on or on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG. We also have a Facebook page.  The purpose of IWSG is to share and encourage, so today I sharing some market info with you in case some of you are still interested in traditional publishing.

Who needs encouragement out there? I do!

For months I’ve focused on writing four novellas with the intention of ePublishing them myself. So, I’m writing along just singing my song, all happy with myself, when a writer-friend says, “A book from a traditional publisher gets more respect than an eBook you publish yourself. I’d always choose a traditional publisher first.”

Wait! What? Really? I thought “those days” were a thing of the past.

So I back up and start rethinking my plans, and for a day or two I’m completely confused.

I hate that I’m so easily influenced, that anyone and everyone can make me doubt myself and my choices. Yes, I’ve asked a thousand and one times if I really want to be in charge of everything from book covers to bookkeeping. I’m still not sure I do—but I also know I don’t want to earn seven or eight cents off each print book I sell.

Most authors say to choose both—traditional and indie, and that sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I’m back to my original plan: indie publishing for me and if a traditional publisher falls into my lap—then so be it.

How about you? What’s your career plan, and how did you come to choose it?

 

CFBA Introduces Driftwood Tides by Gina Holmes

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After our daughter’s wedding on August 23rd, I came home to find a book in my mailbox. I turned to the first page and didn’t put it down until I’d finished it. Gina Holmes has written a fast paced story in Driftwood Tides. I didn’t feel as though I was reading a book. I felt like I was in the middle of some really dysfunctional lives. Excellent storytelling.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Driftwood Tides
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (September 1, 2014)
by
Gina Holmes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gina Holmes is the founder of Novel Rocket, regularly named as one of Writers Digest’s best websites for writers. Her debut, Crossing Oceans, was a Christy and Gold Medallion finalist and winner of the Carol Award, INSPY, and RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice, as well as being a CBA, ECPA, Amazon and PW bestseller. Her sophomore novel, Dry as Rain was a Christy Award finalist. Her latest novel, Wings of Glass has been named as one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and was a SIBA Okra pick and a finalist for Romantic Times’ Reviewers Choice Award. She holds degrees in science and nursing and currently resides with her family in southern Virginia. She works too hard, laughs too loud, and longs to see others heal from their past and discover their God-given purpose.

ABOUT THE BOOK

He made himself an island until something unexpected washed ashore.When Holton lost his wife, Adele, in a freak accident, he shut himself off from the world, living a life of seclusion, making drifwood sculptures and drowning his pain in gin. Until twenty-three-year-old Libby knocks on his door, asking for a job and claiming to be a friend of his late wife. When he discovers Libby is actually his late wife’s illegitimate daughter, given up for adoption without his knowledge, his life is turned upside down as he struggles to accept that the wife he’d given saint status to was not the woman he thought he knew.

Together Holton and Libby form an unlikely bond as the two struggle to learn the identity of Libby’s father and the truth about Adele, themselves, and each other.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Driftwood Tides, go HERE.

CFBA introduces Gathering Shadows by Nancy Mehl

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Last week was the first time I’ve participated in the CFBA Blog tours in a couple of years. When I took a look at the May books, three sounded interesting but I was scared I couldn’t read them in a month’s time (I’m slow these days) or worse, that they wouldn’t be as good as they sound. Sometimes the blurbs are better than the books. Still, I decided to take a chance and order all three. If you read last week’s post, you know I thoroughly enjoyed Rise and Shine by Sandra D. Bricker. Gathering Shadows was excellent too. There have been times I’ve thought Christian fiction had a long way to go and a lot to learn, but I might be changing my mind. I’ve read three excellent books during the past month, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to any of you. I wonder … is Christian fiction changing or am I?  Maybe a little of both.

Check out Gathering Shadows by Nancy Mehl. I’m looking forward to her next book in this new series.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Gathering Shadows
Bethany House Publishers (May 6, 2014)
by
Nancy Mehl

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nancy Mehl lives in Wichita, Kansas with her husband Norman and their dog, Watson. She’s authored thirteen books and is currently at work on her newest series for Bethany House Publishing.

All of Nancy’s novels have an added touch – something for your spirit as well as your soul. “I welcome the opportunity to share my faith through my writing,” Nancy says. “It’s a part of me and of everything I think or do. God is number one in my life. I wouldn’t be writing at all if I didn’t believe that this is what He’s called me to do. I hope everyone who reads my books will walk away with the most important message I can give them: God is good, and He loves you more than you can imagine. He has a good plan especially for your life, and there is nothing you can’t overcome with His help.”

She and her husband attend Believer’s Tabernacle in Wichita.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Wynter Evans is a promising young reporter for a television station in St. Louis, but even a bright future doesn’t take away her pain over the disappearance of her brother nine years ago. So when she stumbles across a photograph of a boy with an eerie resemblance to him, she can’t pass up the chance to track him down. With research for work as her cover, she sets out with one of the station’s photogs for the place where the picture was taken: the town of Sanctuary. Almost as soon as she arrives, she meets the town’s handsome young mayor, Rueben King, and together they begin to uncover long held secrets that could tear the small town apart and change everything Wynter thought she knew about her life. As the truth of her family’s past hides in the shadows, it’s clear someone will stop at nothing to keep the answers she’s searching for hidden forever–even if the cost is Wynter’s very life. If you’d like to read the first chapter of Gathering Shadows, go HERE.

CFBA Introduces Rise and Shine by Sandra D. Bricker

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I read a fun book a few weeks ago. Fun, meaning, different. Rise and Shine by Sandra D. Bricker,  grabbed me by the throat and wouldn’t let me go until the last page. Well, actually I did put it aside about ten or fifteen pages toward the end because when I read a really good book, I dread the ending. Sometimes that’s where the author screws up. Sometimes, the book is so good, I don’t want it to end. Sometimes I just want to savor what I’ve read before I turn the last page. Bricker did a great job with this book. In fact, I was so impressed, I spewed the entire plot to my daughter … and I don’t usually do that. I never give verbal book reports! I hate listening to them too. So let me ask you a question:
 
How would you like to wake up one day and learn you’d been in a coma for ten years? Pretty scary, huh? Can you even imagine what your life might be like? If you read Christian fiction, give this one a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. And for something a little extra, here’s an interesting blog post about writing by the author.

BTW, I received a complimentary copy for my honest comments about this book.  The opinions shared are mine alone.

 
 
 

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Rise and Shine
River North; New Edition edition (May 1, 2014)
by
Sandra D. Bricker

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

For more than a decade, Sandra D. Bricker lived in Los Angeles. While honing her chosen craft of screenwriting in every spare moment, she worked as a personal assistant and publicist to some of daytime television’s hottest stars. When her mother became ill in Florida, she walked away from that segment of her life and moved across the country to take on a new role: Caregiver.

The author says that it was her 8th novel that opened the door to finding her way as a writer. “I’m a Christian woman, first and foremost,” she says. “So it was a bit of a dream-come-true when Summerside Press chose me as one of two authors to launch the Love Finds You line.”

Sandie’s real-life role as cancer survivor has parlayed into her steadfast commitment to raising awareness and funds for ovarian cancer research. Spearheading a series of devotionals for Summerside Press (such as the popular His Grace is Sufficient…Decaf is Not), the author has stipulated that a portion of each contributor’s proceeds will go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

“Being allowed to combine my faith and my humor with raising funds for my pet projects … and still pursue my writing dream,” says Bricker, “well, that’s the best of all worlds, as far as I’m concerned!”

And one of the author’s pet projects is animal rescue, evidenced by the special bond she has created with one particular formerly-abandoned puppy — a red-haired collie with “killer brown eyes and the heart of the class clown.”

ABOUT THE BOOK

Shannon Malone thought she’d found her happy ending when she married Edmund Ridgeway, but a diving accident on their honeymoon left her in a coma. Waking up to the news that she’s thirty years old would have been daunting enough . . . but she also learns that Edmund has lost his interim battle with cancer and the world has marched on without her. Her gorgeous doctor, Daniel Petros, seems to know everything about her and becomes Shannon’s tour guide into a whole new world of madness where reality television has taken over the planet and everyone’s life appears to revolve around a tiny screen on their cell phones! As Shannon struggles to navigate through the changes-both in the world and in her-she also must discern real memories from imagined ones. Did she really ever wear capris pants and entertain in her living room, or was that Laura Petrie from her favorite classic TV show? And where is her beloved dog, Freeway? Oh, wait! That was Jonathan and Jennifer Hart’s dog, not hers. Shannon’s three elderly aunts flit through her life in true Sleeping Beauty style with her well-being always a priority. And Edmund’s sister Millicent descends like the Evil Queen she is, trying to extract Shannon from any claim on the Ridgeway family fortune. When a tornado moves through town and Shannon is knocked unconscious, will Daniel’s kiss awaken her once and for all?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Rise and Shine, go HERE.