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The world never stays the same;
it’s always changing. For those
attending the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference, look for
some wonderful changes! Most writing conferences offer editor and agent
appointments. They are crucial to building an author’s career through
presenting work and networking. But ACFW is always on the cutting edge
to make our conferences not only educational but also stellar in
career-building opportunities.
During the opening of our ACFW
conference registration, you will see
some new registration opportunities. You’re going to want to jump on
them right away because they are limited. We are offering Mentoring
Appointments. Be sure to look at the career and genre of those who are
volunteering as mentors and find out who would best be suited to mentor
you. When you meet with your mentor, you will have fifteen minutes to
ask questions. Be ready with those questions, but also be ready to listen.
One of the biggest mistakes mentees make is to talk too much and listen
too little. Your appointed mentor will want to know who you are, what
your goals are, and what you write, and then they will want to pour
into you. Bring a pen and notebook! Remember ears open, pen ready to
fly across the page.
As a result of many meetings and
brainstorming sessions, this year
we have added some spectacular new concepts to the appointment process
for our authors. You won’t get this anywhere else! We will not only
have editors (who represents publishers) and agents (who help connect
you to the right publisher and manage contract law) available, but we
have added two more incredible appointment opportunities.
I (Angie Breidenbach) will be
available for Media Training 201.
Media Training 101, taught in April, is a prerequisite to the
forty-five-minute appointment that will focus on how to plan, contact,
and present with confidence to the media. Anyone meeting with me can
feel free to go back over any questions from Media Training 101, but
our focus will be conquering the nerves and understanding the concepts
of media presentation. These appointments will be for contracted or
published authors only because of their immediate need to connect
publicly.
Phenix & Phenix
Publicity Firm is the official publicity firm of
American Christian Fiction Writers. Two representatives, Rusty Shelton
and Merritt Talbott, will be attending conference and giving
thirty-minute one-on-one sessions in Media Training 301 for television
and radio—not just training how to do TV and radio, but how to get your
individual platform and message powerfully delivered! Being in the
spotlight can be tough, especially with unknown interviewers. Phenix
& Phenix will specifically focus your message and help you
learn
how to get it across regardless of who is interviewing.
Those authors who have taken
Media Training 101 are eligible to
request the special appointments for additional media training. If
spaces are available for Media Training 201 or 301, we will open them
up to other interested attendees, because our goal is to equip and
prepare ACFW authors to be the best-educated professionals in the
industry.
Have you heard of ACFW’s
www.fictionfinder.com? If not, you can
check it out at http://www.fictionfinder.com and
sign up as a reader,
bookseller, author, publisher, or publicist. You’ll be amazed at the
tools available. Find authors by genre, name, book title, and even
search the amount of suspense or romantic element in a story. Authors
can upload their Christian fiction titles from standard publishers so
readers and booksellers can find them too.
What if you want your bookstore
or library to know about
www.fictionfinder.com? Easy peasy,
just e-mail Angie Breidenbach at
pr@acfw.com and ask for the
bookmark with ACFW’s www.fictionfinder.com
information. Make sure to include your address and the number
of
bookmarks you need and I’ll send them right out. On that note, the
bookmark is two-sided. One side has the fictionfinder.com information
and the other has ACFW’s information. Take them to your critique
groups, churches, book clubs, and any place you might run into a reader
or writer. It’s a gorgeous tool to share about the organization you
love and to promote all your friends’ work too.
One last teaser: Be sure to keep
your eyes peeled and ears open
during the ACFW conference in Indianapolis this September. We will
broadcast another big announcement! Be sure to find ACFW on Facebook
and Twitter, or become a member at http://www.acfw.com to get all the
insider scoops, build your career, and fellowship with other Christian
authors!
Joyous to bring so much good
news,
Angie Breidenbach
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