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As American Christian Fiction
Writers publicity officer, I have the pleasure to promote both our
organization and our authors. This year we’ve added some amazing
opportunities for Christian fiction authors to meet the public!
Upcoming special summer features
include huge opportunities to meet your favorite authors in person! The
Life and Faith Tour 2010 will be held in three enormous 70,000-person
festivals (http://www.LifeandFaithTour.com).
Many ACFW authors will be at each one, signing books for attendees.
Authors like Wanda Dyson, Annalisa Daughety, Jennifer Hudson-Taylor,
Roseanna White, Lynette Eason, Kristin Billerbeck, Creston Mapes, Karen
Kingsbury, Stacy Hawkins Adams, Nicole O’Dell, Diane & David
Munson, Christa Allen, Amy Clipston, Kathleen Fuller, Alice J. Wisler,
Marybeth Whalen, Joyce Magnin, and even myself!
All of these authors
have books to sell and relationships to build with their readers. But
even more special is the opportunity to help others. For every ticket
sold to each of the three events, $10 will be donated to the charity of
the attendee’s choice! Think about that: 210,000 people multiplied by
$10 . . . means over 2 million dollars being
donated to charity!
Through the Life and Faith Tour
2010, the American Christian Fiction Writers will be able to raise
funds for our scholarship program. These scholarships go to deserving
writers in the trenches. They battle through education, often while
working and raising families, and sometimes need a little financial
help to get to the conferences and classes needed to build a career
writing for Christ. If you plan to attend the Life and Faith Tour 2010,
please consider designating your ticket toward the ACFW Scholarship
Fund. It’s your choice which charity receives the contribution from
your ticket. Isn’t it wonderful to support Christian writers? Our world
needs the light that Christ shines through the stories we tell. Help us
continue to mentor and enrich the work you and your children will read
in generations to come by supporting ACFW Scholarship Fund when you
attend the Life and Faith Tour 2010. You never know, you might be
contributing to the classics of the next century.
More big news is happening with
the American Christian Fiction Writers! Our conference is in
Indianapolis September 17 through 20 this year. Registration will open
the beginning of May. Our keynote speaker is Tim Downs, Christy
Award–winning author of Plague Maker and the Bug
Man novels. True to our excellent conference workshops, James Scott
Bell will be our Early Bird presenter. With thirty-five-plus workshops,
representatives from publishing houses, agents, and networking with
other authors, the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference is the
premier conference to attend. Be watching at http://www.acfw.com
for
the opening date to register for the ACFW Conference!
The amazing tool for
booksellers, libraries, and readers, http://www.fictionfinder.com
is a
simple way to search for authors books, bios, and genre. A special
function within Fiction Finder is the ability to screen for personal
taste. You can search for levels of suspense, romance, issue, and
setting. With so many possibilities, you are sure to find your favorite
author and new ones, too.
Where do you find more? Our over
2,000 members are part of a message network called the Main Loop. We
also have a News Loop. Both of these are member benefits that allow us
to communicate with everyone inside the organization. Once you become a
member, all you have to do is login and Get Connected. Use the drop
down box to find E-Loops. Choose those you’d like to be involved with
and get started. Remember, the announcements about promotions, critique
groups, special online classes (free to members), and even submission
news is shared in a spirit of support.
Where else might you encounter
ACFW authors? We have chapters all over the country and even one
outside the borders. Each chapter holds local meetings and has an
E-loop for communicating among members. The meetings are often posted
on our ACFW blog, http://www.acfw.com/blog, so you
can find a meeting
to visit and join.
This month we have a special
event just for ACFW members. Our publicity firm, Phenix &
Phenix, is teaching an online Webinar about marketing and author
platforms in the media. If you aren’t a member, you’ll want to be now
so you can take advantage of this Webinar! The membership
benefits exponentially exceed the cost of joining. Do tell us you heard
about joining from this article. We love to know where our members
heard about ACFW. It helps us to better understand how to share our
special organization.
Have a question? Contact me at
pr@acfw.com. I’ll help you find the right person for the answer you
need.
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