Top 9 Reasons to Read the Seekerville Blog Every Day

with guest Melanie Dickerson.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEEKERVILLE!!! 

It’s always fun to be a guest in Seekerville. Thanks, Tina, for the invitation! And yay to the Seekerville ladies for another year of greatness!

I consider Seekerville to be a wonderful resource for learning about how to be a better writer, as well as how to learn the ins and outs of this business, whether you wish to be published by a large traditional publisher, or you decide to go it on your own and be an indie author. And that is why, when someone asks my advice on writing, I always send them to Seekerville. It’s also at the top of my file entitled “Writing Websites” that I hand out when I teach writing. And here’s 9 reasons why.

1. Friendly, helpful experts.

Learning to be an author of novels is a lot of work. There’s a big learning curve. It’s like doing the coursework for a four-year degree without the benefit of a college or classroom. It sure would be nice to find a panel of friendly experts with whom you could converse and ask questions. And in the Seekerville comments section, you can!

2. Articles on every aspect and subject about writing novels.

 Sometimes when you’re learning something new, you don’t even know yet what questions to ask. Seekerville can help with that too. Just start reading Seekerville’s archived articles. There’s even a list of subjects on the right side of the screen if you scroll down. The helpful topics include things every writer needs to know about:  

POV
Character Arc
Backstory
Scenes
Conflict
Editing and Revising
Critiques
Emotions
Show Don’t Tell
Foreshadowing
GMC
Traditional, Indie, Self-pub, Hybrid
Proposal
Black moment/Climax
Hooks, and lots more. You can go right now and read multiple articles on each topic. Isn’t that exciting? And it’s all FREE! So it’s even better than a college degree! Unless you want to be a neurosurgeon. Then the college degree is better.

 3. Contest Updates.

A writing contest can be extremely helpful to writers, not only for the feedback and learning opportunity it provides, but it can even help you get published. Seekerville keeps unpublished writers abreast on contests that are coming up. Once a month there’s a Contest Update, listing the contest, its deadline, and the judges, such as when an acquiring editor from a major publisher is slated to be the final round judge. This is helpful information. 

Seekerville also lists contests for the published author, which is great for someone like me who is allergic to spreadsheets and is unorganized and never remembers contest deadlines but does remember to check the contest updates on Seekerville.

4. No bad language and lots of wholesomeness. 

 I feel perfectly safe sending all my young teen writers to Seekerville. I know all the posts will be profanity-free and safe for all ages. I often have 13-yr-olds who write to me and ask for advice on what to do when you’re stuck or have writer's block, and I tell them about Seekerville, where they can read great articles to help them and find supportive people. And with the healthy spirituality of people like Debby Giusti, who will pray with you at the drop of a hat and are always so uplifting, wise, and kind, I know they are in good hands.

And while it is true that Julie Lessman’s kissing scenes and advice might be slightly on the PG-13 side, I know she will just as quickly show them God’s way of doing romance, so it’s all good. 

5. Holiday awareness.

For the very, very oblivious writer who rarely pokes her head out into the real world and therefore rarely realizes when it’s a holiday, Seekerville can keep you from making a dry run to the post office, since Seekerville is closed on major holidays. 

6. Making new friends.

 You might make a friend in the comments section of Seekerville, like Carol Moncado, Patti Jo Moore, and many others. And certainly, the Seekerville ladies will consider you a friend just for commenting, especially if you comment often, and will sometimes give you a shout-out when you final in a contest or get your first contract! And let’s face it. Being an author can be very solitary and lonely, so it’s nice to make friends you will likely meet face to face someday at a writers’ conference!

7. Giveaways. 

Seekerville gives away something for every single new blog article, which is several times a week, as well as on Saturday on the Weekend Edition. So you can win books, gift cards, and other goodies—even a critique! This is valuable stuff. So you definitely want to comment often.

8. The Weekend Edition.

The Weekend Edition lists links to important information from around the internet that can be helpful to any writer. Stay informed!

9. The daily comradery.

The comradery might be the best thing about Seekerville. It’s a safe place full of genuinely kind and helpful people. And it’s funny to read the friendly jabs between Mary and Ruthy especially. You know they are both really sweet people, so when they insult each other, you don’t feel guilty for laughing. And guilt-free laughter is my favorite.

So there you have it. The Top 9 Reasons to Read and Comment on Seekerville EVERY DAY. Do it. Read it. Every day. Because it’s good for you and it tastes better than broccoli.

Now tell me your favorite thing about the Seekerville blog, and if you can’t keep it to one thing, go ahead and tell me two. I will give away a hardcover copy of The Silent Songbird, which releases November 8th, to three select commenters.

Melanie Dickerson is the author of fairy tale retellings set in Medieval Europe and a new Regency Romance series. Her books have won a Carol Award, two Maggie Awards, a National Readers’ Choice Award, and two Christy Award finals. She lives in north Alabama with her teenage daughter (the other one is a college freshman) her husband, and two guinea pigs, Cecily (named after a character in The Importance of Being Earnest) and Ellie (short for Eleanor, I am told, from Sense and Sensibility). She enjoys watching movies based on Jane Austen’s books, and she literally has no other hobbies, as she’s always writing. Or editing. Or a combination of the two.

SILENT SONGBIRD

Evangeline is gifted with a heavenly voice, but she is trapped in a sinister betrothal until she embarks on a daring escape and meets brave Westley le Wyse. Can he help her discover the freedom to sing again?

Desperate to flee a political marriage to her cousin King Richard II’s closest advisor, Lord Shiveley—a man twice her age with shadowy motives—Evangeline runs away and joins a small band of servants journeying back to Glynval, their home village.

Pretending to be mute, she gets to know Westley le Wyse, their handsome young leader, who is intrigued by the beautiful servant girl. But when the truth comes out, it may shatter any hope that love could grow between them.

In this loose retelling of The Little Mermaid, more than Evangeline’s future is at stake as she finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue that threatens England’s monarchy. Should she give herself up to protect the only person who cares about her? If she does, who will save the king from a plot to steal his throne?