Angela Breidenbach is Mrs. Montana International 2009 working with the American Heart Association, the Jadyn Fred Foundation and drawing awareness to Fair Trade practices. She also serves as the American Christian Fiction Writer's Publicity Officer and is a multi-award winning inspirational author, speaker, and business owner. Angela is a Stephen Minister certified in mentor/peer counseling and Assisting Minister at her church. Angela supports the study of schizophrenia through awareness of brain donation. Not only did she walk the hard line of deciding to donate her mom's brain, but she is also on the brain donation list at the Brain Bank-Harvard McLean Hospital. She is married, has a combined family of six grown children, one grandson and lives in the Montana mountains. You can interact or learn more about Angela at these sites: http://www.AngelaBreidenbach.com http://www.MyGemofWisdom.com (coming soon.) http://GodUsesBrokenVessels.blogspot.com http://twitter.com/AngBreidenbach Facebook.com/AngelaBreidenbach http://WritingByFaith.blogspot.com http://www.twitter.com/AngBreidenbach

How exciting! I have the pleasure to announce the ACFW Conference Blog Tour to help promote and educate about the upcoming American Christian Fiction Writers conference in Denver, Colorado. Many people know the what, how, and why blog tours exist. But I’ve also found many who don’t understand. Let’s meet folks where they are and share first things first, then we’ll get to the sparkle.

What’s a blog tour?

Online are personally written Web logs. The two words combine together to be called a blog. A blog is at a certain Web address and usually contains posts. These posts contain short written segments often with photos, videos, and personal commentary. It’s like reading a journal. Group blogs have partner bloggers who share days of the week or month. Some of the group blogs we have the pleasure to visit this summer on our tour have dozens of authors posting from their own perspectives.

A blog tour is a set sequence of different blogs focused on a specific goal, such as marketing a book, a product, a service, or even the ACFW conference. It’s a concerted effort to entertain and educate blog readers about the topic. A book blog tour usually occurs during a set period of time, say, a month, with different blog owners posting reviews or interviews with the author. The blog tour creates a buzz about the book and, hopefully, excellent marketing that spawns new readers.

The ACFW Conference Blog Tour will start in June and run through the summer. You’ll be able to read all about the conference from different authors and ACFW members. Some will share their expertise in travel, others in agent/editor appointments, while others will share the best places to eat. Each of these blog posts will enlighten and entertain while imparting know-how about the ACFW conference experience. Several of our reporting blog hosts and hostesses have offered multiple postings, so be sure to check back with them often between June and August. I’m sure we’ll add even more than are listed here throughout the summer.

We’ll be listing the blog tour dates and locations on the official ACFW Web site, http://www.acfw.com, as well as our Facebook and Shoutlife group pages. Please check in often for updates.

I’ll list our ACFW Conference Blog Tour hosts and hostesses at the end of the article, so be sure to visit these conference experts to enhance your knowledge, build your confidence, and grow your career. Enjoy different blogs with completely different topics all summer long!

Trish Perry: ACFW Conference Friendships at all stages of writing careers
http://www.TrishPerry.com

Megan DiMaria: Finding restaurants at conference (visit often for multiple postings)
http://www.megandimaria.blogspot.com

Tiffany Amber Stockton: Pitching with Success
http://www.amberstockton.com/blog.html

Jeannie Campbell: Why I chose the ACFW conference: A newbie’s perspective
http://www.mindhealingfiction.blogspot.com

Sharon Lavy: Prayer Room
http://sharonlavy.blogspot.com
http://sharonalavy.wordpress.com

Kathleen Fuller: Amish fiction, historical romance tracks
http://www.kathleenfuller.blogspot.com

Amish Hearts: Group blog with various conference posts
http://www.amishhearts.com

Linda Kozar and the Internal MonoBlog- Group blog with various conference posts.
http://wwwinternalmonoblogcom.blogspot.com

Tiffany Colter 1: Long-term return on investing in a writer’s conference (multiple posts)
http://writingcareercoach.blogspot.com

Tiffany Colter 2: Investing in your professional development (multiple posts)
http://www.TheBalancedLife.com

Writer’s Rest Group Blog: Trusting God to use conference (multiple posts)
http://writersrest.blogspot.com

Jennifer AlLee: The Value of Face-to-Face Networking in a Twitter & Facebook World
http://jenniferallee.blogspot.com

Angie Breidenbach: Confidence at Conference
http://GodUsesBrokenVessels.blogspot.com

Christa Allan: Evolving Conference Experiences
http://www.christaallan.com

Lena Nelson Dooley 1: Uplifting worship
http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Lena Nelson Dooley 2: Connecting with publishers
http://lenanelsondooleynewsletter.blogspot.com

Ane Mulligan: TBD
http://anemulligan.blogspot.com
http://www.noveljourney.blogspot.com

Jill Elizabeth Nelson: TBD
http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com/artisticblogger.html

Margaret Daley: TBD
http://margaretdaley.blogspot.com

Additional bloggers may still request to join the tour. Please choose a conference topic and date. Contact Angie Breidenbach pr@acfw.com to be listed.