Giveaway: Signed Good Morning Beautiful Book and Album

We introduced you to author Paulette George with her post, How to Find a Literary Agent. Now we’re giving you a chance to win a signed copy of her new book, Good Morning Beautiful and a signed copy of Steve Holy’s album Blue Moon, which contains the hit song Good Morning Beautiful.

In Good Morning, Beautiful, published by Ambassador International, Paulette shares her family’s journey through the violent storms of epilepsy and autism. Hanging on to hope as their daughter Christina’s life was being ripped away by more than one hundred villainous seizures a day, the story chronicles their miraculous discovery of a diet with roots in Scripture that helped her and her husband hang on to hope. Theirs is a story of enduring love, unstoppable courage, and overcoming faith in the God of miracles. The book also explains the remarkable role the hit country song Good Morning Beautiful played in her daughter’s recovery. Hearing the family’s story, recording artist Steve Holy has become a close family friend to the George’s and an advocate to Christina.

There are three chances to win this fabulous prize pack. Just make sure you leave a comment every time you do one of these things:

1. Follow author Paulette George on Twitter and send out a tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to use this tweet: Enter to win the book Good Morning Beautiful by @Paulette_George & a signed copy of @SteveHoly album Blue Moon! http://tinyurl.com/yh5dm3m.

2. Become a fan of Paulette George on Facebook.

3. Leave a comment below telling us why you’d like to win Paulette’s book and Steve’s album.

One winner will be chosen at random on March 30! This is only open to US entries. Thanks and good luck!

Tags: Ambassador International, book, Christian book, contest, freebies, giveaway, Good Morning Beautiful

Guest Post: How to Find a Literary Agent by Author Paulette George

Paulette's New Book

Today’s guest post comes from author Paulette George. Her new book “Good Morning Beautiful” hits store shelves this month.  Although Paulette dreamed of becoming a published author, she wasn’t sure how to make it happen. In this guest post she explains how faith and courage helped her make the connections she needed to have in order to accomplish her goal.

It was a warm June morning as I drove in Chicago traffic. Fog thickened as I headed for the writer’s conference I had waited a year to attend. Fear and insecurity began to engulf me, as travel became more difficult and I had 60 miles yet to cover. Finally I panicked and turned the car around, heading toward home. At the Starbucks drive-thru I bartered with God.

Surely You would not want me to risk my life to attend this conference? It’s just too dangerous to drive.

No. I heard in my head. Go back.

Not taking the thought seriously, I continued.

What are you doing? Go back. The nudging persisted.

Pulling over in the parking lot, I phoned my husband, fully expecting him to tell me I was doing the right thing. He didn’t. Instead, he urged me to listen to the tug of the Holy Spirit and follow the lead. Via my earpiece, Larry stayed with me as the highway brought me safely to the conference, one minute before the opening session began. There were no appointments left to meet with an agent or editor. Though disappointed, I knew I was where I was supposed to be.

That evening Jennifer, a fellow writer whom I had just met, strolled with me toward the dining hall. As we passed a man who I thought was an agent, I surprised myself when I asked if we could join his table. I was equally surprised when he agreed. As we ate, Jennifer and another writer shared their stories and pitched their writing. Terrified of rejection, I was silent until Jennifer glared at me, urging me to share. When I didn’t, she spoke for me.

“Well, Paulette has story to tell.”

I gulped, and nothing came out until a concealed kick from Jennifer’s foot prompted me to speak.

My mind flashed back to the class where I had learned about pitching a story. Having memorized the key points, I slowly began my spiel. When I finished, there was silence, which I was sure lasted more than an hour. In reality it was only a minute. As Les finished his last bite of food, he set his fork down on the table.

“What’s your take-away message for the reader?” he queried.

I knew the story so well that my answer was instant.

He nodded and asked, “Who is your target audience?”

Again, I knew the answer.

Les smiled, and pulled out his business card, jotting instructions on the back for me to submit my book proposal to him. Not long after, I received a contract. Today, as I sit in my office and write this article, I am days away from holding my first published book.

My advice to you on how to land an agent is this: have a one-minute elevator pitch ready, and know your take-away message for the reader and your target audience. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to pray.

Thanks again to Paulette for sharing her story and advice on finding a literary agent. Be sure to enter for a chance to win Paulette’s new book along with an autographed copy of the hit album “Blue Moon” by Steve Holy, featuring the song that Paulette’s book is named for, “Good Morning Beautiful.” Details to come here on Christian Publishing Tips shortly.

Tags: Ambassador International, author, book agent, Christian books, literary agent, publishing