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Is Christian Publishing the Easy Road to the World of Writing Success? (Christian publishing) Any community with a special interest will pay for products that cater to that special interest. If that community is of significant size, you can bet that there will be products galore geared to them. There is money to be made where there is a need for a product. The Christian community is one such group that has a desire for a very specific product. They are interested in products that explain their faith and expand their knowledge of what is less understood within that faith. They also seek encouragement in what is already agreed upon. Because of all of these needs, there is certainly a market to be entered into within the Christian publishing network. The question is, since the group is exclusive, does that mean that there are too few writers for the consumers? Is it easier to get published when you’re not competing with the best of the secular authors? Those are difficult questions to answer with any certainty, but there are some topics to explore within that subject. Degree of Expertise In one genre of Christian publishing one qualification is essential. To write with expertise on subjects of faith, it is necessary to have the correct education. A seminary degree at the very least is required for convincing publications. The publishers do not accept authoritative writing from those without the proper education. When it comes to education, separate Christian denominations will expect degrees endorsed from those specific denominations. You may have expected that a Christian would need to write for the Christian community, but the requirements can be much more stringent. Just as a pastor or preacher must have the proper education to teach a congregation, a writer on subjects of theology or other topics from the Bible must also have the credentials to back up his claims. While it is not possible for every writer to obtain the correct degree for authoritative writing, there are other kinds of writing that will easier to achieve within Christian publishing. Experiential Knowledge A huge portion of Christian publishing is made up of personal stories. A Christian has unique experiences related to his faith. People who seek encouragement will buy books that relate to their own circumstances. A typical human problem is grief. If a Christian can effectively write about their grief from a perspective of faith then those writings will be helpful to other struggling Christians. Other important subjects include doubt, blessings and prayer. A lay Christian can back up their experiences and observations with scripture and therefore be much more relevant in their writing to the Christian community. If the writer’s material is not sufficient to fill a book, there are other outlets within Christian publishing for those who are able to inform and encourage fellow Christians. Magazines and church bulletins often publish poetry and short stories for the building up of believers. The Bottom Line Christian publishing may not be necessarily easier to do than secular publishing. If your heart is in the ministry to other Christians however, it may be the best field for you to attempt writing for. Christian publishing is not a ‘first step’ to enter into the publishing world. Most publishers are only looking for sincere and relevant publications. They will avoid writings done only for the money and will favor those with the honest goal of furthering the message of the Christian faith. Specific communities are looking for products geared to their lifestyles, but the best candidates for creating those products are those who have talent invested in that community. Entering into the Christian publishing world will be a similar task to entering into the scientific publishing world. It will take dedication and work. The writer will come out with a deeper understanding and faith of his own.

Want Free Baby Stuff? Visit Favorite Baby Company Websites Are you, or someone you know, expecting? Impending motherhood is a very exciting, but often stressful transition, and also quite an expensive transition. When it comes to becoming a parent, the expenses can often seem overwhelming. But did you know that there are many freebies aimed specifically at the expecting couple? Here are some ways to find the best free baby stuff. General Tips for Getting the Best Free Baby Stuff If you are already familiar with baby companies or have your own favorite baby products, you will find that you can probably finagle some baby freebies. Your first step is to check the website for your favorite baby products company. Many baby product companies will give you a free sample, or other fine freebies, from your favorites. Sign up for baby products company newsletters. Put your name on their mailing list. This is an easy way to receive coupons, special offers, and yes, freebies, from your favorite baby products manufacturer. Get the Latest and Greatest in Free Baby Products from BabyCenter Do you wish you could find a website dedicated especially to finding the latest and greatest in free baby products? If so, you will definitely want to check out BabyCenter. This website features a library of freebie offers directed especially to the expectant parent. Check under Free Stuff and Great Deals for the best freebies, as well as the best in baby product coupons. One of the best things about the BabyCenter website is that it offers you the ability to search according to age or stage of your pregnancy. There is information and freebies for mothers who just learned they are pregnant to toddler parents or mother of young children. A Great Place to Find Free Baby Stuff If you are looking for a website that offers you some of the greatest and latest freebie deals in the baby department, check out Babiesonline.com. This website offers a whole section dedicated to free baby stuff. Here you will find a compendium of some of the best free baby websites. You will also find a link to free baby product samples. You will also find an offer for free pregnancy wristbands. Other free baby offers include free baby photo prints, free baby coupons and you can even sign up for the latest baby freebie alerts so that you never miss out on another great baby freebie. Looking for More Great Baby Freebies? If you still don't have your fill of great baby freebies, here are some more great places to find the best in baby freebies. The website babytobee.com offers many fine resources for the expectant father, including a collection of baby freebies. This is an also a great website to learn more about baby products and equipment. There are a whole section of free baby products, and you can even register for your own personal baby page. Count Down to Baby Time with Free Baby Web Resources Are you blogging your way to parenthood, or simply keeping a family page where you can relate the latest news of your pregnancy with friends and family members? If so, you will be glad to hear that there are many baby web freebies to be had. Check out the Lilypie baby ticker, a free baby due date countdown clock that you can place prominently on your website. This is a fun and easy way to countdown to the expected due date. You can also find free baby blogs, free baby-themed web design features and web hosting services as well as free baby photo upload services. You can create your own online haven for welcoming your newborn into the world.

From the Publisher’s Desk: How Book Publishing looks from the Other Side (book publishing) Many writers aspire to writing books. Writing a book is a long, involved, difficult process. Book publishing is harder. A writer may submit his book time and time again only to be turned down again and again. He may eventually be successful. Wouldn’t it have been easier to have just gotten published the first time? Is that possible? You can improve your chances if you understand a little bit more about what happens at the publisher’s desk. Book publishers are busy people with several projects crossing their desks every day. They must make fast decisions about what will sell. They must also delegate their time efficiently in order to keep the business running. Only occasionally do publishers actually seek out work. Maybe understanding the work day of a publisher will help you to get a book published. Persistence Has a New Meaning You all know that writers must be persistent. Regardless of how many times you get shot down and your ideas are thrown in the trash, you have to keep going back for more discouragement. The idea is that eventually you’ll make it in the door. If you can get all the way through, you will finally get to the place where more of your work is accepted than declined. When working with the book publishing world, the rule is the same. If you have a book that you know will sell, you can’t give up on getting it onto the publisher’s desk again and again. You probably won’t be sending the entire book, but excerpts from it. As you continually send your manuscript again and again to publisher after publisher, you should try to market it in different ways. Publishers are looking for a particular kind of writing and will dismiss anything that doesn’t look like what they are looking for. Variation in your marketing techniques may turn a rejected book into an accepted book. The Right Stuff Book publishing is a strange area of business. The people’s tastes are somewhat fickle and a book publisher has to keep up with what kinds of books will sell. It seems that technically written mysteries will always have a place on the bookshelves, but it is unclear how many authors readers are willing to get to know. That market may be tied up until Crichton and Grisham are finished. That is just one example from one genre of books though. Publishers have to keep track of what is selling in all areas of literature. The best way for you to get your work noticed is to make it look like the other writing that is selling. Be careful not to imitate style or voice of another author. Write with your own unique words while imitating the use of popular public opinion. Another way to improve your chances of getting your work onto the right publisher’s desk is to find out who’s publishing what. Are You Barking Up the Right Tree? Some publishers specialize in a certain kind of writing. If you are writing a novel, it won’t do you any good to send it to the people who publish technical manuals. How do you find out who is the most likely candidate to publish your work? There are reference manuals at your library that will tell you the kinds of book publishing that is happening. It will contain valuable information leading you to children’s book publishers, novel publishers and textbook publishers. If the handbook at your library is not quite up to date, your next option is to check out the new release and best seller rack at the book store. Buy a few books and read them. You’ll have a much better feel for the market if you are a consumer. Book publishing is a difficult field to break into. It can be helpful to approach the issue from the direction of the publisher. Before you send out your manuscript again, there are things you can do to improve your chances. Change your marketing style so that you just may grab some better attention. Make sure that you are a book consumer yourself. You’ll get a better feel for what’s selling and therefore what a publisher will buy. You’ll also find out who is publishing which types of books. Finally, by buying the product you are trying to sell, you will improve the book economy all together. Publishers need to see people buying books before they can commit to publishing more.