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Apparently...Joyce Meyer is big in womens prisons.
I have read a few of her books and if were to recommend one it would be Battlefield of the Mind, for both men and women.
The other christian authors that are popular are TD Jakes, and to a lesser extent Jack Canfield who writes Chicken Soup for the Soul series, though I dont think I have read any of those.
The most stolen book in the bookshop though, was The Secret by Rhonda Bryne. She also wrote one called 'The Power'
If you are thinking of donating books to prison, have a think about what a prisoner would most benefit from. It's interesting what kind of responses different books elicit from their readers.
I have read a few of her books and if were to recommend one it would be Battlefield of the Mind, for both men and women.
The other christian authors that are popular are TD Jakes, and to a lesser extent Jack Canfield who writes Chicken Soup for the Soul series, though I dont think I have read any of those.
The most stolen book in the bookshop though, was The Secret by Rhonda Bryne. She also wrote one called 'The Power'
If you are thinking of donating books to prison, have a think about what a prisoner would most benefit from. It's interesting what kind of responses different books elicit from their readers.
Louise Bagshawe...a chicklit Jackie Collins?
Chicklits are usually books set in London or New York about youngish women and their fashionable clothes.
There are usually endless paragraphs of fashion labels name dropping, its not just a handbag, its a Chanel Handbag, its not just underwear, its La Perla. Hair colour is always described, as that is how chicklit authors differentiate between their characters.
I think I could write a downmarket version of chicklit called Chick nugget lit. It will read like the junk mail you get if you dont put a sign on your letterbox.
sHe wore her kMart hoodie and her blonde hair was pulled into a scrunchie. On her feet were some funky adidas that she had sprayed with Glade air freshner. She was driving a Toyota. She was loaded..the items in her boot were from Pak n' Save. She had frozen McCain pizza and Maggi 2 minute noodles.
She warmed her Milo up in the Sharp Microwave and lay back in her sofa from Ikea.
It went with her Spotlight Curtains, and matched her Lighting Direct lightng fixtures in her JG Gardner home. Ah this is the life as she munched on her Pascalls marshmallows.
Chicklits are usually books set in London or New York about youngish women and their fashionable clothes.
There are usually endless paragraphs of fashion labels name dropping, its not just a handbag, its a Chanel Handbag, its not just underwear, its La Perla. Hair colour is always described, as that is how chicklit authors differentiate between their characters.
I think I could write a downmarket version of chicklit called Chick nugget lit. It will read like the junk mail you get if you dont put a sign on your letterbox.
sHe wore her kMart hoodie and her blonde hair was pulled into a scrunchie. On her feet were some funky adidas that she had sprayed with Glade air freshner. She was driving a Toyota. She was loaded..the items in her boot were from Pak n' Save. She had frozen McCain pizza and Maggi 2 minute noodles.
She warmed her Milo up in the Sharp Microwave and lay back in her sofa from Ikea.
It went with her Spotlight Curtains, and matched her Lighting Direct lightng fixtures in her JG Gardner home. Ah this is the life as she munched on her Pascalls marshmallows.
I just finished the first draft of my first novel in January this year after working on it for 15 months.
It is Christian Fiction and is drama/romance.
This is the synopsis:
Simon is a charismatic youth pastor, living a contented life. But after he is fired from his job, he feels lost. He obeyed God, didn't he? So why does everyone in his small town now seem to despise him? Has God forgotten all about him? Why would obeying God lead him into such a painful mess?
Alice is an outgoing young woman, who hides a past filled with tragedy and sorrow behind a buoyant and cheerful attitude. She has had to learn to live without the use of her eyes and has adapted to a new normal. Life is going well, at least it was, until her past comes back to haunt her.
What do you do when the unthinkable happens? How do you forgive what you can't forget? Can Simon and Alice each overcome their past and break the chains that hold them captive?
It is Christian Fiction and is drama/romance.
This is the synopsis:
Simon is a charismatic youth pastor, living a contented life. But after he is fired from his job, he feels lost. He obeyed God, didn't he? So why does everyone in his small town now seem to despise him? Has God forgotten all about him? Why would obeying God lead him into such a painful mess?
Alice is an outgoing young woman, who hides a past filled with tragedy and sorrow behind a buoyant and cheerful attitude. She has had to learn to live without the use of her eyes and has adapted to a new normal. Life is going well, at least it was, until her past comes back to haunt her.
What do you do when the unthinkable happens? How do you forgive what you can't forget? Can Simon and Alice each overcome their past and break the chains that hold them captive?
I just finished reading another Danielle Steel. I think this one was phoned in.
It was called The Cast and was about an empty nester twice divorced mother of three who starts creating a TV series. Cos she is bored/in a rut and has nothing else to do.
The series adds some drama to her life, there are a few tragedies but it always ends in Danielle Steel-land with some babies being born and the handsome love interest tearing off the heroines clothes.
apart from self concious descriptions of what each character is wearing and casual ski holidays in Aspen of course. I mean I dont mind wealthy characters if you have to have them but why do they have to be so smug and boring? I think this one needed a proper villain and not just a cheat on the girlfriend type villian ...every thing was too good to be true and unrealistic.
It was called The Cast and was about an empty nester twice divorced mother of three who starts creating a TV series. Cos she is bored/in a rut and has nothing else to do.
The series adds some drama to her life, there are a few tragedies but it always ends in Danielle Steel-land with some babies being born and the handsome love interest tearing off the heroines clothes.
apart from self concious descriptions of what each character is wearing and casual ski holidays in Aspen of course. I mean I dont mind wealthy characters if you have to have them but why do they have to be so smug and boring? I think this one needed a proper villain and not just a cheat on the girlfriend type villian ...every thing was too good to be true and unrealistic.
Orchard Street by Maurice Gee
set in my home town in the 1950s - which is ancient history to me. Told from a 14 year old boys POV and some politics about the wharfies dispute. I was expecting someone to drown in the creek as what usually happens in Maurice Gee novels but no this time it was just an old fashioned shooting.
set in my home town in the 1950s - which is ancient history to me. Told from a 14 year old boys POV and some politics about the wharfies dispute. I was expecting someone to drown in the creek as what usually happens in Maurice Gee novels but no this time it was just an old fashioned shooting.
send it to a publisher thats what most people do with their manuscripts.
If its worth publishing they will publish it. ie. it has to sell. If its a great story, it will. If its just nothing interesting, people wont buy it, even if you are famous.
The other alternative is to publish as an e-book as that wont cost as much outlay as a real hard copy if you are just self publishing.
If you can get yourself a literary agent or make sure you send it to a publisher that specialises with auobiographies or whatver topic you are writing about. Every believer has a story/testimony.
If its worth publishing they will publish it. ie. it has to sell. If its a great story, it will. If its just nothing interesting, people wont buy it, even if you are famous.
The other alternative is to publish as an e-book as that wont cost as much outlay as a real hard copy if you are just self publishing.
If you can get yourself a literary agent or make sure you send it to a publisher that specialises with auobiographies or whatver topic you are writing about. Every believer has a story/testimony.
is it going to be published?
Zondervan or Thomas Nelson. I dont really read that much Christian fiction, although I have read a few Francine Rivers. She writes dramatic Christian romance novels. She did write one about a pastor that I recall.
The other author I read a lot of was Neta Jackson. She had a whole series called the Yada Yada Prayer Group. It was kind of like chicklit. i.e Novels about women, but humorous.
Zondervan or Thomas Nelson. I dont really read that much Christian fiction, although I have read a few Francine Rivers. She writes dramatic Christian romance novels. She did write one about a pastor that I recall.
The other author I read a lot of was Neta Jackson. She had a whole series called the Yada Yada Prayer Group. It was kind of like chicklit. i.e Novels about women, but humorous.
Eventually I hope to publish it, but that is probably a little ways off.
My book focuses on the need to learn to trust God. The importance of overcoming the baggage in our past and breaking the chains that keep us from healing. Admitting we're broken and allowing God to help us to learn how to trust again and forgive those who have betrayed us.
There is a romance that develops throughout the book, between the main characters, but even that is part of their journey's colliding. Lastly the book tries to show that there is a basic underlying spiritual battle that all Christian face and that it often goes unseen as the enemy convinces people that the bad things that happen in their lives is little more than bad luck or misfortune and the real cause is never dealt with so there is never any real victory.
My book focuses on the need to learn to trust God. The importance of overcoming the baggage in our past and breaking the chains that keep us from healing. Admitting we're broken and allowing God to help us to learn how to trust again and forgive those who have betrayed us.
There is a romance that develops throughout the book, between the main characters, but even that is part of their journey's colliding. Lastly the book tries to show that there is a basic underlying spiritual battle that all Christian face and that it often goes unseen as the enemy convinces people that the bad things that happen in their lives is little more than bad luck or misfortune and the real cause is never dealt with so there is never any real victory.
I looked at the whole publishing world...it's a true maze for trying to monetize your writing works.
My best advice for you is that you first need an editor.
It isn't going to be cheap. But there are several levels and types of editing...some are just going to be expensive.
Then because you are an unpublished author...you are going to have to publish it slowly and basically give the book away on Wattpad or some other site. This can and will draw readers to a site like Patreon where you can make some cash....or even your own personal website that has fees that are very inexpensive.
(Money exchange services and pay walls cost you a fortune on that one)
BUT
People get to read your book and pay you for the privilege.
Do NOT use the services of the "Christian " book sellers on their web pages....(500 club and etc) they are little more than scams. They are extremely expensive and you won't get much in the way of revenue if they actually sell a book. You likely will get a recurring bill each month that your book is listed.
Then there's translation services which are rather inexpensive. And it's a 50/50 proposition. You end up with your book stolen and plagiarized and then the Thief will sue you for copyright infringement....yeah...it's happened more than a few hundred thousand times.
But the patreon and wattpad route is usually the best way anymore. Large publishers simply don't want "one offs" from unpublished writers. They want production....meaning a book a year and don't go to them with less than three completed and well edited books in your hands.
My best advice for you is that you first need an editor.
It isn't going to be cheap. But there are several levels and types of editing...some are just going to be expensive.
Then because you are an unpublished author...you are going to have to publish it slowly and basically give the book away on Wattpad or some other site. This can and will draw readers to a site like Patreon where you can make some cash....or even your own personal website that has fees that are very inexpensive.
(Money exchange services and pay walls cost you a fortune on that one)
BUT
People get to read your book and pay you for the privilege.
Do NOT use the services of the "Christian " book sellers on their web pages....(500 club and etc) they are little more than scams. They are extremely expensive and you won't get much in the way of revenue if they actually sell a book. You likely will get a recurring bill each month that your book is listed.
Then there's translation services which are rather inexpensive. And it's a 50/50 proposition. You end up with your book stolen and plagiarized and then the Thief will sue you for copyright infringement....yeah...it's happened more than a few hundred thousand times.
But the patreon and wattpad route is usually the best way anymore. Large publishers simply don't want "one offs" from unpublished writers. They want production....meaning a book a year and don't go to them with less than three completed and well edited books in your hands.
The first publisher sent a contract, they want $3,000.00 US if I add a couplenpromotional kits it ends up as $5,700.00 Canadian with currency exchange.
Amazon wants between $400-$700 plus $1,700.00 US for publishing and editing. Which makes it about $2,700 Canadian with currency exchange.
I am about to send a manuscriot to another publisher and keep in mind I get $957.00 a month to live on. My Rent is $500.00, I need at least $100 a week for groceries, and on top of tha my phone bill is $22.40 a month, Tithe and ifferings are $100.00 a month.
Basically by the time the bills are paid their is nothing left to work with. I Also took in my dad Last November, with his health problems and kiving on a pension....
Im sure for a working peson the rates are fair to publish, but for me I don't have the financial resources to commit.
Its just too expensive for someone in my situation.
I did but at the end of the day its too expensive for someone in my situation. Ive had a contract Ive been sitting on for about 3 years because I lack the finances to commit.
Being on social assistance means that by the time all the bills are paid and necessities are looked after their is nothing left to invest in economic improvements like publishing a book to increase income or get off the system.
Amazon wants between $400-$700 plus $1,700.00 US for publishing and editing. Which makes it about $2,700 Canadian with currency exchange.
I am about to send a manuscriot to another publisher and keep in mind I get $957.00 a month to live on. My Rent is $500.00, I need at least $100 a week for groceries, and on top of tha my phone bill is $22.40 a month, Tithe and ifferings are $100.00 a month.
Basically by the time the bills are paid their is nothing left to work with. I Also took in my dad Last November, with his health problems and kiving on a pension....
Im sure for a working peson the rates are fair to publish, but for me I don't have the financial resources to commit.
Its just too expensive for someone in my situation.
I did but at the end of the day its too expensive for someone in my situation. Ive had a contract Ive been sitting on for about 3 years because I lack the finances to commit.
Being on social assistance means that by the time all the bills are paid and necessities are looked after their is nothing left to invest in economic improvements like publishing a book to increase income or get off the system.
When I talk about publishing, it's not as if I haven't already looked into this. Traditional publishing is much harder and gives you less control over your book, that's if they choose to publish it at all. Self publishing is more complicated, but gives you far more control over the end product and money. It's not like I'm in a rush to do this and it's not like I am doing it to earn a bunch of money. I already have 3 part time jobs, but it wouldn't hurt to earn a little money from it if I can.
I already have an editor picked out, they are part of the Christian writers forum I am part of and I'm already putting away $2000+ for editing costs and currently looking at who to get to do the cover design.
No. Because I am a unpublished author, it would be cheaper for me to self publish using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing or something similar. There are plenty of sites and videos that explain the process for self publishing. If someone spent over a year writing a serious novel, unless they are going to be writing a lot more, they'd be a fool to give it away on wattpad.
That's why i would never take that path, and I'm not worried about that, I have everything I need to prove I'm the original author of the manuscript. If someone tried to sue me, the burden is upon them to prove they wrote it first.
I already have an editor picked out, they are part of the Christian writers forum I am part of and I'm already putting away $2000+ for editing costs and currently looking at who to get to do the cover design.
No. Because I am a unpublished author, it would be cheaper for me to self publish using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing or something similar. There are plenty of sites and videos that explain the process for self publishing. If someone spent over a year writing a serious novel, unless they are going to be writing a lot more, they'd be a fool to give it away on wattpad.
That's why i would never take that path, and I'm not worried about that, I have everything I need to prove I'm the original author of the manuscript. If someone tried to sue me, the burden is upon them to prove they wrote it first.
I am honest I almost never read any e-books that havent been published as hard copies first. I dont go looking for e-books to read unless Im in a lockdown or something and have totally run out. I have never BOUGHT an e-book. I dont have a kindle. I dont read books on my phone. I only ever borrow e-books free from the library.
