WordServe News September 2019

As usual, some great things have been happening this month at WordServe Literary!

On the final post of each month, you’ll find a list of Water Cooler contributors’ recently released books along with a recap of WordServe client news.

New Releases

Congratulations, Cindy McGovern and McGraw Hill for the September 17 release of Every Job is a Sales Job.

An essential roadmap to achieving professional and personal success―from the “First Lady of Sales”

While you may not have “sales” in your title, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to sell. Renowned sales authority Dr. Cindy McGovern believes that everyone is a salesperson, regardless of his or her job description. When you ask for a referral, network to form a new connection, or interview for a job, you’re selling the other person on an ideal version of yourself. Every Job is a Sales Job will help you learn to identify “selling” opportunities that you may have overlooked. This indispensable roadmap will show you how to take control of your personal and professional success.

McGovern shares her proven 5-step sales process to help you attract new business, retain existing customers, and spot opportunities to promote yourself and your ideas. You’ll learn how to:

•Create a plan and set attainable goals
•Identify subtle opportunities that could result in future success
•Establish trust and listen for clues to understand what others need
•Ask for what you want and move past the fear of rejection
•Follow up on your ask, be grateful, and pay it forward
•Muster up the courage to ask for referrals and references

Congratulations to Jamie Sumner for the October 1 release of Roll With It.

“A big-hearted story that’s as sweet as it is awesome.” —R.J. Palacio, author of Wonder

In the tradition of Wonder and Out of My Mind, this big-hearted middle grade debut tells the story of an irrepressible girl with cerebral palsy whose life takes an unexpected turn when she moves to a new town.

Ellie’s a girl who tells it like it is. That surprises some people, who see a kid in a wheelchair and think she’s going to be all sunshine and cuddles. The thing is, Ellie has big dreams: She might be eating Stouffer’s for dinner, but one day she’s going to be a professional baker. If she’s not writing fan letters to her favorite celebrity chefs, she’s practicing recipes on her well-meaning, if overworked, mother.

But when Ellie and her mom move so they can help take care of her ailing grandpa, Ellie has to start all over again in a new town at a new school. Except she’s not just the new kid—she’s the new kid in the wheelchair who lives in the trailer park on the wrong side of town. It all feels like one challenge too many, until Ellie starts to make her first-ever friends. Now she just has to convince her mom that this town might just be the best thing that ever happened to them!

Author Jan Drexler releases the lastest in the Amish of Weaver’s Creek series, The Roll of the Drums, October 1.

Ruby Weaver’s curly red hair isn’t the only thing that sets her apart from her Amish community in 1863. Twenty-eight and single, Ruby doesn’t believe a woman needs to be married in order to be happy. Her ailing friend Lovinia Fischer, however, has other ideas and wants Ruby to promise to marry her husband after she dies. Never imagining she’d have to fulfill that vow, Ruby agrees. And she’s not the only one. Lovinia has extracted a similar promise from her husband, Gideon.

With both Ruby and Gideon reluctant to keep their promises, a compromise must be reached. Ruby will spend her days with Gideon’s family–helping to raise the children and keep the house–but her nights will be spent at her sister’s neighboring house. But this arrangement raises eyebrows in their conservative Amish community, and it soon becomes clear that Ruby must make a decision–marry Gideon or turn her back on her friend, the children she’s grown to love . . . and their father.

Congratulations to Lynne Hartke for her contribution to the October 8, 2019 release of Daily Guideposts 2020: A Spirit-Lifting Devotional.

Daily Guideposts, America’s bestselling annual devotional, is a 365-day devotional from the Editors of Guideposts that will help readers grow in their faith every day of the year.

Daily Guideposts 2020 centers on the theme “He Performs Wonders,” based on Job 5:9, and is filled with brand-new devotions from fifty writers. Each day readers will enjoy a Scripture verse, a true first-person story told in an informal, conversational style, which shares the ways God speaks to us in the ordinary events of life, and a brief prayer to help focus the reader to apply the day’s message. For those who wish for more, “Digging Deeper” provides additional Bible references that relate to the day’s reading.

Enjoy favorite writers like Debbie Macomber, Edward Grinnan, Elizabeth Sherrill, Patricia Lorenz, Julia Attaway, Karen Barber, Sabra Ciancanelli, Mark Collins, and Rick Hamlin.

In just five minutes a day, Daily Guideposts helps readers find the spiritual richness in their own lives and welcomes them into a remarkable family of over one million people brought together by a desire to grow every day of the year.

New October 8 release from Paula Rinehart and Connally Gilliam is…and yet, undaunted: Embraced by the Goodness of God in the Chaos of Life.

Life is hard. We often find ourselves walking through stories that don’t feel like they should be ours. And yet here we are. We wonder where our good God is in the midst of it.

But we are not left without hope. In fact―we have the greatest hope of all. Through vulnerable stories and rich insight, Paula Rinehart and Connally Gilliam point to the Larger Story that carries all the anxiety, longing, and beauty of your life. The backdrop of the big gospel story―creation (how life ought to be), the fall (how life is), redemption (how life can be), and restoration (how life will be one day)―gives context to our lives and hope for walking forward. The grand story of the gospel of Jesus Christ frames our every step.

Discover renewed strength and joy in the middle of your ache . . . and the goodness of God that will give you the courage to remain yet undaunted.

October 8, Andrew T. Le Peau releases, Write Better: A Lifelong Editor on Craft, Art, and Spirituality.

Writing is not easy. But it can get better. In this primer on nonfiction writing, Andrew Le Peau offers insights he has learned as a published author and an editor for over forty years, training, guiding, and cheering on hundreds of writers. Here are skills that writers can master―from finding strong openings and closings, to focusing on an audience, to creating a clear structure, to crafting a persuasive message. With wide-ranging examples from fiction and nonfiction, Le Peau also demystifies aspects of art in writing such as creativity, tone, and metaphor. He considers strategies that can move writers toward fresher, more vital, and perhaps more beautiful expressions of the human condition. One aspect of writing that rarely receives attention is who we are as writers and how writing itself changes us. Self-doubt, fear of criticism, downsides of success, questions of authority, and finding our voice are all a part of the exploration of our spirituality as writers found in these pages. Discover how the act of writing can affect our life in God. Whether you’re a veteran writer, an occasional practitioner, a publishing professional, or a student just starting to explore such skills, Le Peau’s wit and wisdom can speed you on your way.

Keep cool these last few days of summer with Sarah Varland’s release of the Large-Print Edition of Alaskan Christmas: Cold Case.

Christmas Under Fire…

The Ice Maiden Killer is back.

For years, a serial killer has eluded authorities—and he’s set Alaska state trooper Erynn Cooper in his sights. Erynn’s only chance at survival is to trust Moose Haven police chief Noah Dawson with her life and the truth about her past. But with Christmas quickly approaching, Erynn and Noah are running out of time to catch the murderer…before Erynn becomes the next victim.

New Clients

Sarah Sanderson, Colin Paul Cahoon, Daniel Weiss, Joshua Glaser, Jennie McLaurin, Cymbeline T. Culiat, Lucas Johnson, and Robert Weatherwax signed with WordServe in September. Welcome!

Contracts

Cara Whitney signed with Thomas Nelson for Sharing God’s Love with Everyone, Everywhere, to be released in the fall of 2020.

Ed Norwood signed with Elk Lake Publishing, Inc. for his work, Giant Killers to be released late summer 2020.

Rebecca Siegel with Amen Clinics signed with Kensington Publishing Corporation for her work entitled, The Brain on Cannabis, to be released Summer 2021.

Tana Amen signed with Thomas Nelson for One Less Scared Child to be released early 2021.