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| Rose Ross Zediker |
Our mission at Seriously Write includes offering
encouragement to writers. But it’s not one person’s or one organization’s job
to lift up writers. As loving Christians, that responsibility falls on all of
us. Author Rose Ross Zediker
understands that, and she offers four ways we can encourage each other in our
writing journeys.
~ Dawn
Encouraging
Words
Therefore
encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1
Thess. 5:11)
As Christian’s encourage each other in our faith journey,
Christian writers must encourage each other in the long path to publication.
The writing life is filled with disappointments. Hopeful
submissions return with generic rejection forms. Family and friends may fail as
a needed support system. The book line you write for closes. This is why
writers MUST support other writer’s efforts.
How can we do this?
Be
gentle critics. Harsh criticism from our writing peers hurts
our feelings and fuels self-doubt. Remember your manners when stating what
doesn’t work in another writer’s manuscript. Kind suggestions are positive
guides that can help a writer turn their work into a polished manuscript worthy
of publication. Take these types of opportunities to suggest writing books or
courses that address the issues in the writer’s manuscript.
Share
information. Many beginning writers can’t afford a
conference. If you’ve attended one, type up a review of the highlights to share
with your writing buddies. You don’t have to go into specifics, just give them
the flavor of the conference. Point them to an agent, editor, or publisher’s
website or blog. Have you run across a new market or conference that would be a
perfect fit for a writing companions work? Make sure they get the submission
information. Be generous with your knowledge of the craft. Don’t withhold
information because you think of another writer as competition. Chances are
their style and voice differs a great deal from yours.
Give
hope. Share your writing successes even if you are the only one
publishing in your writing circle. Our enthusiasm in being published is
contagious. It lets our peers know it can be done. It may give them the courage
to submit their work, inspire them to research a new market or help them gain
confidence to try a new genre.
Help
market. Word of mouth sells books. Arrange for multiple author book
signings. Talk up others author’s books on your blog or in person, give them as
gifts, read their books and leave them in a public place, like a coffee shop
for someone else to enjoy. Statistics show for every one book purchased, three
people read it. Without doing the math, you can see it doesn’t take long to
build a fan base from one simple gesture.
Writers must realize God gave us a talent and with that
talent comes the responsibility of nurturing others in our profession. The more
we encourage others, the more we too are encouraged.
Tweetables:
Rose Ross
Zediker offers four ways we can encourage each other in our writing journeys.
Click to tweet.
As Christian
writers, we have a responsibility to nurture others in our profession. Click to tweet.
The more we
encourage others, the more we too are encouraged. Click to tweet.
CORA
ANDERSON ISN'T LOOKING FOR LOVE. The
young widow is just trying to make a life on the prairie for herself and her
newborn son. When handsome newcomer Luke Dow shows up at her cabin door, she
soon relies on the man's help with her homestead…and dares to dream of the
future. Luke came to the small South Dakota town to build a hotel and make his
fortune. But he never expected to care for anyone, let alone the beautiful Cora
and her baby boy. When Cora's land claim is challenged by a neighbor, Luke will
do all he can to protect her and her home—and claim her heart.
Rose Ross
Zediker writes for Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents line of inspirational
romance novels. During the two plus decades she’s been writing, her byline’s
been found on over sixty works of fiction, non-fiction and Sunday school
curriculum. Rose and her husband live in rural southeastern South Dakota where
she works full-time at the University of South Dakota. Writing occupies many
evenings and weekends but she balances both careers with relaxing hobbies,
sewing, embroidery, quilting, reading and spoiling her granddaughters.
You can visit Rose on the web at:
