Week In Review – May 20

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It’s been a busy week, as I finished up my third month of daily blogging. Here’s a recap of what I wrote this week:

Monday – When You Feel Pessimistic about Holiness

Monday Evening – New KevinScottWrites.com Facebook Page

Tuesday – A Sustainable Church Manifesto (In Draft Form)

Wednesday – What Does It Mean To “Submit” In Marriage

Thursday – Take a Look Around, Dig a Little Deeper

Friday – 11+ Things a Daughter Needs from Her Father

Saturday – 7 Reasons to Attend a Writers Conference (including a link to an amusing story that involves the writer of this blog)

Friday’s post for fathers was the second most popular post of my blog’s short history. The Hunger Games post still rules them all.

Thanks for reading and sharing with others the posts that are meaningful to you!

7 Reasons to Attend a Writers Conference

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I’ve just spent three days in Estes Park, Colorado, with an amazing group of writers, editors, and agents at the 2012 Colorado Christian Writers Conference.

If you’re an aspiring writer, there is perhaps no better investment you can make than to attend a good writers conference.

Here are seven reasons to consider attending one soon:

1. To sharpen your writing skills.

2. To get honest, constructive feedback on your writing.

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11+ Things a Daughter Needs from Her Father

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A few weeks ago, I asked my daughters, Courtney (16) and Lauren (13), what I should blog about, and they gave me two ideas. Their first idea became 13 Things I Want My Teenage Daughters to Know About Social Media. Their second idea was for me to write about what a daughter needs from her father. Just so you know, I’ve learned a lot of this the hard way and I still have a long way to go.

Here are eleven things a daughter needs from her father, plus one final thought that is probably the most important of all.

1. Gentleness. One of the most important ways a man can show his strength is by being gentle with his wife and children. Your daughter needs you to treat her gently, not because she’s fragile, although she may be, but because you care.

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Take a Look Around, Dig a Little Deeper

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I am with a couple of hundred writers, agents, and editors at a writers’  conference in Estes Park, Colorado, a quiet little town nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

Instead of posting something brand new today, I want to encourage you to take a look around on my blog, and perhaps read some posts you haven’t read yet.

Here are some easy ways to explore:

1. Popular Posts. Look at some of the most popular posts listed in the sidebar of my home page.

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What Does It Mean To “Submit” In Marriage?

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I said last week, while most discussion about biblical submission focuses on whether a woman should submit to her husband, the real question is whether a man should submit to his wife.

The apostle Paul taught all Christians to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21 ESV). He never made an exception to this general rule, and, in fact, it would have been odd to say the one exception was that a husband should not submit to his wife.

In the ancient world, it was not a radical teaching to say a woman should submit to her husband (Ephesians 5:22). This was absolutely expected, though there have been women in every age who have flaunted their independence.

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A Sustainable Church Manifesto (In Draft Form)

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I recently completed a series of blog posts on Natural Church that was very well received. Then I did a short series on 3 Key Functions of Church Leaders. Now I want to begin to draw all of that and more into a brief declaration on the nature of the church. This is a very rough first draft, and I welcome your thoughts, opinions, and suggestions.

1. The church is founded on the truth that Jesus of Nazareth is the King and Redeemer of heaven and earth. It exists, by His grace and calling, to fulfill His mission on earth.

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New KevinScottWrites.com Facebook Page

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I’ve just launched a new Facebook page.

You can find it at facebook.com/kevinscottwrites. Or you can click the Facebook icon in the top of the sidebar on the right side of my homepage.

This is a great way to follow my blog or to share it with others. All you have to do is “like” the new Facebook page, and a notification about each new blog post should show up in your Facebook feed each day.

Of course, you can still follow by e-mail subscription, on Twitter, or by adding the RSS feed to a blog reader. You can find links to those options in the top of the sidebar on the right side of my homepage.

Thank you to all who read and share my writing!

When You Feel Pessimistic About Holiness

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Life is messy. Becoming a Christian doesn’t eliminate the mess.

In fact, an argument could be made that becoming a Christian makes life feel messier.

Suddenly, you can see the difference between what life can be and what life is right now; and you ache for a better way, but it seems always just out of your grasp.

While progress in holiness is certainly both possible and expected, that doesn’t mean that you will feel at every moment as if you are growing and becoming more like Christ.

Some days (or weeks), you may feel like you’re just the same as you’ve always been and ever will be. Sometimes you may feel as if it’s all a loss, like you’ve sunk lower than you’ve ever been.

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How to Find a Publisher for Your Nonfiction Book: An Overview of the Key Pieces and Players

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Writing an excellent book is one thing; finding the right publisher for it is quite another. It helps to know a little bit about what the acquisitions process looks like. Here are some of the typical phases a nonfiction book project will pass through on the way to acquisition.

The Key Pieces of an Author’s Proposal

1. Query / One-Sheet – A three-minute summary of your book proposal that tells what it’s about, who it’s for, and why you’re the person to write it.

2. Full Proposal – A detailed look at the contents of the book, the author’s marketing plan, and the competition.

3. Sample Chapters – Two or three chapters from the book that are representative of your best writing.

The Gatekeepers of the Acquisitions Process

1. Agent – Your partner in finding the right publisher for your book.

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