Chip MacGregor


Latest posts from Chip MacGregor


  • August 4, 2010

    Making Yourself Comfortable

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    Dana asked an interesting question: "What kinds of physical challenges have you faced in the daunting regimen of writing, and how have you compensated?"

    I don’t know that I’ve found the writing and agenting life to be all that daunting,

  • July 24, 2010

    Sex and Language in Religious Books?

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    Elizabeth asked this: "With the rules relaxing on language in many general market books, it seems the rules have also relaxed as far as portraying sexuality in Christian books. I know you don't just represent religious books, but can

  • July 22, 2010

    How to Study the Market

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    Clovis asked, "If you are seeking a market for a particular idea, how do you study the market? What steps are critical in matching the work to the right publisher? How much do you rely on the guidelines, samples, catalogs,

  • July 20, 2010

    NEWSDAY TUESDAY …

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    Winter 2010 headshot Recently a friend said to me "it must be so cool to get paid to read
    manuscripts for a living." I knew then that he really had no idea what
    my job entailed. Reading manuscripts and reviewing proposals is an…

  • July 19, 2010

    Making Money through Articles

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    Kerry sent me this question: “Is it realistic to think an author can still sell articles and get paid for them? It seems like magazines and journals are all moving to unpaid, web-based forms.”

    I started out in magazines, and

  • July 16, 2010

    A Dirty Dozen Notes on Agents

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    We had several interesting comments sent to us on that last post. Let me offer a dozen comments…

    1. One author's suggestion to "do your homework" before selecting an agent is key. DON'T sign up with somebody just because they

  • July 12, 2010

    More on working with an agent…

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    After my recent post on agenting, a couple people said they didn't see why anyone would need an agent. One author suggested that all you need is a good proposal, and another asked, "What can an agent do for a

  • July 10, 2010

    Understanding the Financial Side of Writing

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    Amanda asked, “What do beginning writers need to know about the financial aspects of writing?”

    There are only a few thousand people in this country who make a full-time living at writing. Don’t assume, just because you’re hanging out at

  • July 7, 2010

    Waiting. Waiting. And Waiting some more …

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    Winter 2010 headshot News around here is that publishing is operating at a s-l-o-w-e-r than its usual s-l-o-w pace now for a few weeks. I'm trying to take advantage of this by catching up on submission reading. And I'm getting there, though still …

  • July 2, 2010

    Leftover Questions about ICRS

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    I'm finding a bunch of leftover questions regarding ICRS 2010…

    A couple people wrote to ask if there were author signings… A ton of them! The convention keeps some "personality booths" busy, so conventioneers could get autographed books from the

  • July 1, 2010

    The Last Word on ICRS 2010

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    Just back from ICRS 2010 in St Louis. As cities go, St Louis was really nice, so long as you don't want to do anything but look at an arch. And it was 100 degrees (though I'll admit that was,

  • June 29, 2010

    NEWSDAY TUESDAY …

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    Winter 2010 headshot

    With a lot of general market editors at the  Library Convention and CBA editors (and Chip) off at ICRS, it's been quiet around here. Or as quiet as it can be when you work from home, have decided to finally …

  • June 24, 2010

    Advice from a Successful Self-Publisher

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    Steve Henry, a successful businessman with a book idea, came to one of our marketing seminars recently. He left the seminar, completed his book, then began marketing it to his audience. The book has been so successful that I wanted

  • June 24, 2010

    15 Trends Shaping CBA Today

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    I'm about ready to get on a plane and fly to the International Christian Retail Show (the big religious book show) in St Louis. Since I've had several folks ask me what sort of trends we're seeing in CBA, I

  • June 22, 2010

    NEWSDAY TUESDAY …

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    Winter 2010 headshot  


    The sun came out today! (Exclamation point intended.) Seriously. Around here, lately, that's very big news.
    But I know YOU didn't come here to talk about the weather. You're wondering if we have any news. 

    WHY YES, WE 

  • June 17, 2010

    Ten Notes for Today's Writer

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    1. Lots of big news this week, including something nobody seemed to have sniffed… THOMAS NELSON WAS BOUGHT OUT by an equity company, Kohlberg and Company. Remember, Thomas Nelson is one of the largest Christian publishers in the world, and

  • June 16, 2010

    More on the industry

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    Mark sent me this: “It
    seems that slowly the CBA is selling out. Is this true? Is it the ABA getting
    greedy? What does this signal for the future?”

    It signals that the general market has recognized the value of …

  • June 14, 2010

    CBA Trends

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    A little
    bit ago, Shawn wrote and asked about the Christian industry. Here’s his
    question: “Is the biggest trend in religious publishing the fact that none of
    the Christian publishers are owned or run by ministries anymore?”

    I've been saying

  • June 12, 2010

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    In this discussion about the writing life, I think there are a number of factors for an author consider. One is the notion of CONCEPT — for all their talent, is the book idea big enough? Is it salable? Is …

  • June 10, 2010

    Writing Basics: Write What You Know

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    Ever read a bestselling novel in which
    the hero was a construction worker?

    Me neither.

    It's a story-telling basic that writers
    – even published authors – tend to forget. It's the reason
    Stephen King's characters tend to be novelists. It's …