Believe~Act~Receive

I have a faith blog where occasionally, I pick one of my favorite verses and write a short thought about it. One verse I chose, that I love a lot, is  "If you believe, you will receive…" (Matthew 21:22, NIV)

On my blog I talk about the importance of fully believing, of letting that belief infiltrate your mind and thoughts so fully that you start to think the belief is true NOW. As such, your actions change, synching with your belief, and before you know it, you have received.

Why am I bringing this up now? How does this tie to writing?

Think about it.

We all dream of being published. We all dream of having our words within the hard covers of a book that others will read and enjoy.

We all sit in front of our computers or before our notepads and write the stories we wish to tell.

But are we really writing the stories we want to tell?

Are we really pursuing publication vigorously?

If you believe that you are a published author, then you have to ACT in a fashion that will make this belief a reality.

How do you do that?

First- think about what's on your heart. Think about the stories that will move you, that will reveal your passion and true gift as a writer, and write those stories.

Second- Be creative. Once that story is written, a synopsis has to be written, too. A query letter, too. A pitch, too. All tools that entice an editor or agent. These tools need to make your literary baby SHINE; therefore, careful creative attention will be necessary.

Third- Be studious. Buy magazines like Writer's Digest. Buy books like 2011 Writer's Market. Check out sites Agent Query. Peruse the front pages of books similar to yours at bookstores. Why? Writer's Digest has awesome articles on many of the tools mentioned above, and it always has information about markets. 2011 Writer's Market has the names and addresses of literary agents and editors who are waiting to discover YOUR book. Agent Query is an easy database to help you find agents. If you go to the bookstore and browse through the front pages of books like yours, then you might come across an agent or editor name that you can look up later and consider submitting to.

Fourth- Be tenacious. Generate a list of agents and editors you'd like to contact. Fine-tune your tools (synopsis, query letter, pitch). Have your book edited. And submit systematically. Every month, submit SOMETHING. And while you're submitting, WRITE the NEXT work. If this is the dream you want, you have to be ALL or NOTHING to make that dream a reality.


Before you is PublishDom, the world of the published author. Between you and PublishDom is the road you must travel to reach it. If you believe you are that published author, you will act upon the above suggestions to help you BECOME that published author.