January 5 Newsletter

January 5 Newsletter
Wednesday, January 5, 2022 by Cindy Sproles

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I KNOW YOU WANT ONE OF THESE!!! I KNOW YOU DO!! Our own Taryn Souders has graciously INVENTED these. They are available on the front page of the website. The shirt is listed in the right sidebar. Just scroll down till you see it. The shirts are $14 small to large. $16 for XXL and up. But here is the really great thing. $2 of every sale goes directly into our Bob Box for the Cystic Fibrosis mission of this ministry. Besides having a fun shirt that folks will definitely comment on, you're helping our mission for the weekend. What are your benefits from purchasing a WARNING: I AM A WRITER shirt? 1) Well, comments. It's a great way to introduce yourself, let folks know what you do for a living, and strike up a conversation that may lead to book sales and speaking engagements.
2) You'll look really COOL, cuz Taryn only makes COOL STUFF.
3) You'll put a star in your heavenly crown for being a benefactor to our mission.
4) Your purchase will help the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation create new and updated medications that Bob's grands and my cousin now take which improves their quality of life. And when that happens, there are happy tears everywhere.
So go to the website, scroll down that sidebar and purchase your shirt. Then send me an email to let me know (as a back up to pay pal) and I can get your info to Taryn. Your shirt will be waiting for you when you arrive at the conference in our conference bookstore. Just tell Bennie, Kevin, or Wendy you're there to pick it up.

YOU NEED ONE OF THESE.

And just a side note: As a many year Mary Kay lady, I can tell you things like this strike up good conversation. Years ago, I won a little sticker for my car window that said, ASK ME WHAT I DO! You would be surprised at the folks who stopped me at my car and said, "Well, what DO you do?" I could give them a business card and go my way. It generated sales. When my first book released, I had a really neat purse (or as we say in the mountains) a pocketbook, made that had my book cover on it. It got me more sales and speaking engagements than I could count. These little things help you market. And market in a fun and comfortable way. Take heed. Order a shirt.

MARKETING DOESN'T HAVE TO BE HARD!

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Just so you know...
We're a little different. Errr, uhhh, maybe you've heard, but the ACWC faculty loves to be unique. We have sorta started some things that other conferences have followed suit with and that's awesome. For example, six years ago we began 1-hour mentoring. Though some conferences may have offered you a short review, we dug in and secured full 1-hour appointments so you could have one-on-one training with a professional. And we do it dirt cheap. Mentoring will cost you, if you seek those services on-line, anywhere from $300-$500 and anywhere in between. So for $50 we set you up with an amazing faculty member who is proficient in the craft and ready and able to assist. THIS MAKES US UNIQUE! Give it a try.

Here's something else that makes us UNIQUE - Extended learning. For the next SEVEN WEEKS we are going to offer you some extended sessions. What does that mean? Well, on our blog you will find Assignment 1 which was tailored for you by Denise Loock. Now, this is not a new assignment. Denise came up with this a couple of years back, but it is VITAL and IMPORTANT for you to dig into. It's a short blog post with a little homework attached, but not the homework you have to turn in. The homework you work on to make your work better. What we hope is that each week you will read through the blog post, then take time to look at your work in progress. Apply what you learn. These little snippets will offer you valuable information and great practice...AND IT MAKES OUR LITTLE CONFERENCE UNIQUE! So click the link, and go to our blog. Take time to practice about the friend or enemy - Adjective. It is our hope you enjoy these next few weeks coming into the conference and that we are able to educate you just a little bit more.
AN ADJECTIVE SAFARI - Denise Loock
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REGISTRATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED BY MONDAY - So it is vital, if you have not completed payment for your conference registration - that you do that TODAY! WHY? Because if I do not have it secured by Monday, you lose your spot in the housing and you lose the money you have paid. I have sent emails and invoices again today. PLEASE, PLEASE, contact me if you have an issue. Let me see if we can help. Don't mess around and lose your money. I have no control over that after Monday. The bills must be paid. That's the nasty fact of being a conference director. Sometimes we just have to be plain and honest. So hop to it gang. We want to see you there. Please send me an email at [email protected] if you have an issue.

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DEADLINES! DEADLINES! DEADLINES! The Sparrow Book Award contest submissions are closed and Sarah has sent the manuscripts across the country to well-published authors for judging. GOOD LUCK! And I'm so proud you stepped out and made this commitment to enter. It's a step in your career that helps you grow. Winning is not the key...entering and placing your work out there IS! I'm proud of ya.

The Devotion Contest goes into February 5. Ignore the website if it still says January (I think I changed it). We want these devotions to continue to come in as entries. I want you to try to step out. YOU CAN DO THIS! So we've extended this until Feb 5.

Mentoring and paid critiques - Terri will let you know if mentors are filled...so ASK! Folks we have some amazing faculty who are willing to mentor and also do paid critiques. Mentoring is so awesome because you get 1 hour of set down PRIVATE time with your mentor. ONE HOUR! They will help you with your manuscript, look at your ministry work with you, help you with your website. You only need to choose. This is an opportunity well worth your additional money. Larry Leech, Eddie Jones, Linda Gilden, DiAnn Mills, Edie Melson, and Les Stobbe all mentor and well, if you ask, maybe another faculty member will do so as well. We are adding Billy Wayne Arrington of Billy Wayne Ministries. Larry does non-fiction and memoirs, Linda Gilden does non-fiction, DiAnn Mills is wonderful in fiction (She's a multi-Christy winner), Eddie Jones does fiction and middle-grade. Taryn Souders does YA, children and middle grade. If one of our faculty is not listed, ASK...you never know. Mentoring depends on their schedules but asking never hurts. Remember, I said this makes us UNIQUE.

PAID CRITIQUES - This is so good for you to do. In a paid critique, a faculty member will read your work in advance, go through and make suggestions to help you improve. As a conferee, I always did paid critiques and I still have every one. The information you glean is so useful and good for years to come. Visit our mentor and critique page here for details.

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BOOKSTORE - We will offer a bookstore for your shopping. It will have books by our faculty. Unfortunately, we can only house faculty books. We simply do not have the space to house conferee books. BUT, that doesn't mean you can't carry your book with you and share it with your peers. If they wish to purchase one, you can work the details out with them. We hope you will visit our bookstore. Your purchases will help our faculty and also help build our scholarship fund.

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REMINDER: THE BOB BOX - If you know our conference, then you know we never do a conference without doing mission work as well. We are, after all, a ministry. Each year we opt to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Our own Bob Hostetler, has two grands who have Cystic Fibrosis, I have a family member with this, and a number of ministry friends also either suffer with CF or have children who do. It is only fitting that we support this as a ministry. Each year, we set a box in our bookstore, lovingly labeled the BOB BOX, and we hope you feel moved to donate. Whatever is in the box at the end of the conference, the ministry matches the amount and we then hand it over to Bob Hostetler, whose son works for a company that doubles every donation. So by all due rights, it's multiplied three times. Which is awesome. Please consider donating to the Bob Box and let's do as we are commanded...to care for others. We will also provide a link via Pay Pay that you can also donate on line. DONATE TO THE BOB BOX.

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NOW FOR THE OTHER NEWS:

WE STILL HAVE OFF CAMPUS REGISTRATIONS AVAILABLE! PASS ALONG THE NEWS TO YOUR PEERS!
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OUTSTANDING INVOICES - ALREADY ADDRESSED BUT HERE'S A REMINDER. We trust you to take care of the remainder of your registration as soon as possible.
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I THINK THAT IS ALL - Continue to check the website NEWSLETTER page for updates. Just before the conference happens we'll post all your registration information on the conference update page.

Take off the Blinders

Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning.
Jeremiah 9:5 NIV

I was recently talking to Eva and found that we share the same deep feelings about Christian World View and the message that readers receive from not only the general market but from the Christian market. It's scary. It's jolting. And, honestly, it's a bit sad that readers are caught between the world and what is truth.

So what does that do to or for you? It should make you sit up and take note because there is a trend against Christian writers that, well, we've sorta brought on ourselves. Here's what general market readers say about Christian writing. "It's hoaky. Cheesy. Not true. It's a lie." Now, why should that bother you? Because, not only are we being attacked because of the message we try to give, but our writing skills are being attacked.

Christian writers try so hard (or most do), to tell a story that ends perfectly. Tied up neatly. God answers all our prayers. No one dies, and every desire we have both in love and life situations works out in our favor. We want the world to see God cares. As Christians we understand how God works. We also understand that though He answers every prayer, they are not always answered the way we ask. God is mighty and His will and ways are supreme. His plan will proceed regardless of what we want. You and I know how this story ends - right? So, when you hear us say, we have to learn to write differently, pay attention. Or at least pay attention if you want to further the Kingdom. Barna did a study a number of years ago and found that of the children growing up in the late 1950s to mid-60s, over 85% either attended church or Sunday School. By the mid 1990s that number flipped and over 85% have never entered a church much less know who God is. Imagine what it is now. That should make you shiver in terror.

It is time to stand up against the world and write truth. Rather than painting Christianity as the perfect pill, non-believers need to understand that life still happens. Our faith sustains us, brings us peace, and yes...eventually specific answers. We, as Christian writers need to stop preaching to the choir and start writing to the world. Non-believers need to see our lives are not perfect, but that we face the same things they face. What is good, is not what is earthly, but what is eternal. Somehow we need to teach those absolutes that the world has stolen. This means, you prayerfully attend your writing. YOU LEARN THE CRAFT OF WRITING so that you are not accused of being cheesy, or a bad writer. You can make a difference. You will make a difference and I know this because you are CALLED to make that difference. When you let go of doing things YOUR way and let God take hold, He will move your work into the hands of the world and use it.

Focus on prayer. Focus on learning. Focus on truth. Focus on writing to a world that needs His Word. That needs God. You can do this. You only have to take off the blinders and obey.

Much love,
Cindy

TYPOS should be forgiven, auto correct hates me!