Assignment Four - Prepare a One-Sheet

Diana Flegal

When you attend conferences and meet with agents and editors, you need to prepare a One Sheet to offer them at your appointment time.

This one sheet should fit on ONE page.

The title of you book, it's genre and word count, should be placed at the top of your page, along with your name.

Example:
A second Chance for Family
55,000 word Middle Reader
by Diana Flegal

Next: Think query letter.

The first words under the heading should be your 'tag line'.

Example:
Single mother meets tragic end, leaving 7 yr old Christy Miller orphaned with no living relatives.

Following your tag line should be one to two paragraphs defining the story's plot and conclusion. (Yes, you must reveal the end of your story. Agents and editors do not want to be left guessing the ending.)

Example:
When a tragic accident leaves 7 year old Christy Miller an orphan, an overloaded foster care system looses track of the girl. Resourceful, she manages to live off the street until a bag lady takes her under her wing, and introduces her to Sister Clarisse. Clarisse volunteers at the soup kitchen and lost her husband and son in a way similar to how Christy lost her mother.

Christy is quickly drawn into this loving soup kitchen's misfit family by Sister Clarisse's warm, funny and joyous spirit. She accepts the invitation to sleep on Clarisses couch. After all, winter is on it's way and the streets have lost their adventourous attraction. Clarisse considers what God's plan might be while gently guiding Christy back toward a God that might just still love her after all. After a few months pass, Clarisse asks Christy if she would like to become a permanant member of her 'family' through legal adoption. Christy flies into her loving arms, accepting the offer that answers her nightly prayers.

Follow this with a short bio.

Example:

Author Diana Flegal lives in lovely Asheville NC where she writes from a deck overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her dog Molly drags her from her office periodically to explore the mountain paths and clarify her thoughts. She is a member of ACFW and belongs to the Christian Writers of Black Mountain, a critique group.

Note: You may add appropriate graphics to your page as well as a small personal head-shot at the bottom beside your bio. Just be sure not to over do it. You want the story to be the main emphasis, not your artistic talents or ability to cut and paste a lot of clip art. Use bright color with restraint.

We have attached a few example's of books that have been sold or are under consideration by publishers at this time, with the permission of the authors.

Simple is fine if that is what you are comfortable with. I would rather you have the content correct. Do not be afraid to try this assignment, just do your best.

Assignment Three

Optional pre-assignment for

Advanced Editing seminar:

Chris Yavelow

1) Familiarize yourself with the Word’s Preferences window and it’s many panes. If you use Word for Windows, this is likely called “Word Options.”

Accessing your Preferences is easy on a Macintosh (press command+comma in practically any program, including Word), but this may not be the case if you are using Windows. In Word for Windows 2007, click on the orb in the upper left corner of the frame. Next, click on the 'Word Options' button that appears. In Word for Windows 2011, click the File tab and choose “Options” from the menu that appears.

Hovering your cursor over a Preference option will usually display an information popup about that option. Nowadays, many versions of Word have a “Description” field at the bottom of each Preference Pane to provide more detailed feedback.

Here’s one example of why you should make sure your Preferences are set correctly. I was recently handed a manuscript and noticed that the first pages had sentences beginning with the word “On” in which the “O” was really a zero. I asked the author if he had run the manuscript through Word’s grammar/spell checker. He assured me that he had. It turned out that he had left the “Ignore words with numbers” preference enabled. You may be surprised to discover that Word comes with that option enabled. The time wasted to repair this mistake could have been better spent on writing. This seminar will teach you how to avoid such potentially costly errors.

2) If you want to experiment with the examples that will be covered in the seminar while they are being presented, bring your laptop and a backup copy of your manuscript file (the longer, the better). Note that it is not necessary to follow along with your computer during this seminar because you will be provided with detailed step-by-steps as additional handouts for all the material presented at the seminar. However, if you can apply a few of the techniques right away, it can help you comprehend just how much time you can truly save using the simple steps you will learn.

Assignment Two

Learning to flesh out characters is one of the most important things a writer can do. Characters who have depth and a "real" life, connect the reader to the story...make them care...make them keep reading. Below you'll find a practice writing assignment to help you learn how to build deeper characters. - Boot Camp Staff

Writing Assignment

Ann Tatlock & Yvonne Lehman

Go to the obituary page in your local paper and choose one person listed there. Your assignment is to turn this person into a character in a novel. (This doesn’t have to be a novel you’re actually working on at present.) After reading the highlights of his or her life, feel free to use your imagination to fill in the blanks. Write a paragraph fleshing out this person, making him three-dimensional.

Your character description should include but is not limited to:

* Age and physical description at the time of the story

* Occupation, if applicable

* Main strengths

* Main weakness/character flaw

* Strange habits or unusual hobbies

* External problems the character is facing

* Internal problems the character is facing

* What does this character want? What is keeping this character from getting what he wants? (This is the main conflict that creates the plot.)

Let your imagination soar and have fun!

Bring your assignment to boot camp and email a copy to mountainbreezeministries@gmail.com

Assignment One - THE AUTHOR BIO

Assignment 1

The Author Bio

Cindy Sproles

The author bio is the most important thing, bar none, you will write and it is important the appropriate bio is posted or sent to the proper place.
There are three types of bios: 1) Friendly 2) Working 3) Professional


The Friendly Bio:
The Friendly Bio is one that finds itself on your blog or friendlier environments. This bio can contain your name, tidbits about your family, hobbies, and your writing. Generally, this bio is a one page bio or 350-500 words. It should be up-to-date, accurate, and well-crafted so it doesn’t read like a beginner’s piece of work. Think it through. Weave your sentences together in a neat and orderly fashion so they tell a nice story about you. It should contain your email, website address, and/or blog URL.
Post a friendly picture of yourself in a relaxed environment.

The Working Bio:
The Working Bio is short; 25-100 words. It lists your name, writing credits, and education. It can also list groups or ministries you work with. It contains your website address and/or blog URL. A working bio is what you might submit to magazines, websites, and when you are a guest blogger.
Post a casual to professional headshot. DO NOT post your family or send a photo of your children or grandchildren. Always send your photo as a JPEG file attachment. Do not paste it into the body of an email or document unless instructed to do so.


The Professional Bio:
The Professional Bio is meant to be included in submissions to agents and publishers. The professional bio should be constructed with your name and your professional credentials. Your writing credits, along with teaching and speaking credits, must be here. Publishers do not care about your family life or fun things you enjoy. They are interested in you and your marketability, not how many pets you have or that you like to crochet in front of a fire. So make yourself marketable. Craft this bio and make it tight! Highlight your talents.

For example, my professional bio might read:
Cindy Sproles is an author, speaker, and cofounder of Christian Devotions Ministries. She cowrites the popular syndicated He Said, She Said Devotionals.
Cindy is the Editor of ChristianDevotions.us, managing the website and writing staff. She is the Office Administrator for Comfort Keepers, Kingsport, TN. In the past, Cindy has served as Editor for PLM Enterprises, a national company specializing in training upper management in leadership skills. She is a contributing writer for CBN.com, Common Ground Christian Newspaper, Tri-County News. and is the coauthor of He Said, She Said: Cultivating a Life of Passion. Cindy is a sought-after speaker for women’s conferences and retreats, as well as a faculty member serving and teaching at Christian Writers Conferences from coast to coast.
Visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com or email her at mountainbreezeministries@gmail.com
Your assignment

Write a friendly bio, a working bio, and a professional bio. Return your WORKING BIO along with a JPEG photo to Cindy for the Boot Camp Roster.

Bring all three with you to Boot Camp!
Send to Cindy at mountianbreezeministries@gmail.com.