The Challenges of Writing for Charity

with guests Walt Mussell and Lindi Peterson.

Have you ever had a passion for something? A real wish to change the world in some way? Sometimes, a cause, a situation, or an enlightening triggers us to take action.

As a writer, we have more than one way to influence the world. We can write for charity.
Lindi and I have teamed up with a group of primarily Atlanta-based authors to participate in an anthology to help raise money for a school in Atlanta for children with dyslexia. Lindi will go into detail about our project.

 My purpose is to provide a list of things to consider when writing for charity. 

I remember my first attempt at writing for charity.  I teamed with a now Love Inspired author (back in her pre-fame days). Our project was a book of family recipes from famous authors. We amassed around thirty recipes to start, narrowed it down to two charitable options (Hunger or Autism), and put together a proposal with the help of the other author’s agent. After eighteen publisher rejections, the agent gave up. 

I still have the recipes, and have even made a few of them, but it gnawed at me for a long time that the project never reached fruition. I learned that it’s best to choose your charity at the outset, as some authors, though keen to help, want specifics before committing their time.  

We’ve learned a lot on this project. However, we also wanted to include tips in writing for charity as a single author. For that, I sought advice from Alana Terry, an inspirational suspense author who has dedicated much of her writing to supporting a charity for refugees trying to escape North Korea (over $4,000 raised to date). Whether writing as a solo or a group, some advice works for both

• Make your book connect to the charity.

For many of Alana’s books, the setting is in North Korea, which fits in with her charity. For the school anthology, every story makes a tangential reference to dyslexia. Last year, another group of authors put together an anthology that focused on human trafficking. Every story in the book contained a link to information on trafficking. (For my failed cookbook, we should have focused on hunger.)

• Select a charity that wants to be a partner.

For the dyslexia anthology, there will be a signing at the school, something possible as most of the authors are Atlanta-based. In addition, the lead author works closely with the school, which makes the book more fulfilling. Per Alana, you hope the charity will “promote your work.” This deepens the connection to what you do.

• Ensure your efforts are used for the charity.

For both projects referenced, time was spent ensuring that the funds raised would be put to the needs.

• For a group project, sign a contract.

Writing is still a professional endeavor. You need your rights outlined, such as time donated to the project. Earlier, I mentioned an anthology that focused on human trafficking. The project had a limited time engagement of four months.  

• For a group project, have a back-up plan.

In the case of the dyslexia project, one author had to drop out at the last minute, leaving the project in a quandary as the donated cover art, among other things, specified “twelve” authors. The lead author located a replacement and the project stayed on course.

Lindi here!

My good friend Ciara Knight has dyslexia. Her son also has dyslexia. He goes to a school that specializes in teaching children who are dyslexic. Awesome, huh? But last year they were informed they needed to find a new location for the school, a task that wasn’t easy. They did land in an awesome place, but the budget was tight. 

Lindi and Ciara.

That’s all it took for Ciara to take action. She immediately established a committee and they got to work. They asked authors to write for a boxed set, of which all proceeds will go to the school. GRACEPOINT. The common theme in the boxed set was you had to mention dyslexia in your story. So twelve authors committed to writing a novella and contribute to the boxed set.

What a project!

Like all projects, there have been many amazing moments, as well as challenging moments. Ciara worked hard getting the cover art and formatting donated. What they found in putting all this together is that the writing community is not shy about being willing to help or donate their time and mad skills. A NYT Bestselling author, Sherrilyn Kenyon, also has dyslexia,and agreed to write the forward for the novellas. As Walt mentioned above an author stepped up at almost the last minute when one of the original authors had to back out. The formatting of twelve books was a bit challenging, but people willing to work around the clock were able to get the job done.

It does take a village people!

There are people working on PR right now. As Walt mentioned, there is a book-signing scheduled at the school. There is a Thunderclap set up, as well as a social media blitz going on. We have two parties planned on FB for the release day, one the day before with guest authors, and one the day of with the twelve authors. Everyone is participating 100% because we have a desire to help where and when we can. 

On a personal side, I’ve had four book launches. At each one of those launches, I had a giveaway where all the money collected went to a certain charity. It all depended on what was going on in my life at the time as to what charity the money went to. And let’s be honest, it wasn’t a lot of money, but anytime we can donate to a good cause, why not do it? Through the book launches, I was able to give money to autism, breast cancer, missionaries in Peru. Once again, the readers and writers united to help a cause.
  

Everyone loves giveaways!

I do a lot of my writing events with a local bookstore, FoxTale Book Shoppe. They are an amazing group of people who support writers with a fierceness! The local authors love these people and this book store. Ellen Ward, one of the owners of FoxTale shared that sometimes authors host events where part of the sales goes toward a charity. Customers will occasionally donate toward that charity as well. She also says animal causes seem to garner a lot of attention. 

I’m sure many of you have causes that you are passionate about. Look around your communities. There are probably many ways to help at a local level if you want to donate time. Online access makes it very easy to donate financially.

And of course, look at your favorite authors. Check out what they are doing. You never know the impact you can make by simply buying a book. Walt and I are giving away two copies to a commenter today! Either E book or Print book—whichever the winner chooses.

Seekerville wants in on this fun! We're Seekerville is going to give away four E copies to four commenters. Note this will release on August 30th! So leave a comment. 

Romance for the soul, a gift from the heart. 

This collection of sweet and inspirational novellas has an uplifting love story for everyone. These stories bring a touch of grace to romance and a touch of romance to your heart. 

Can a town save a marriage? Will a high school reunion offer a second chance at love? Can a man with a secret and a woman afraid of being hurt learn to trust? Can a girl running from her past escape her heart? Will a woman trapped in the past discover the true importance of family? Can unexpected love become the best present ever? 

You’ll find hours of enjoyment as well as a satisfying ending to each story. No cliffhangers and no partial novels are offered here, just an escape into worlds of love, families, and grace. 

Pre-order Love and Grace on Amazon
Pre-order Love and Grace on ITunes
Pre-order Love and Grace on Kobo
Pre-order Love and Grace at Barnes and Noble

So, for the typical Seekerville charge, we raise two questions:
1) If you could write for charity, what type of project would you like to be involved in?
2) What should Walt do with those recipes? 


Special thanks to Alana Terry for her help. Please click here to check out her latest work and here to check out her website.    

Walt Mussell lives in the Atlanta area with his wife and two sons. He works for a well-known corporation and writes in his spare time. Walt primarily writes historicals, with a particular focus on Japan, an interest he gained in the four years he lived there. Outside of writing, his favorite activity is trying to keep up with his kids. As one is starting college and the other is starting high school, this is proving more difficult. 

Visit his website “Daddy Needs Decaf” at waltmussell.blogspot.com. Follow on Twitter at @wmussell  



USA Today featured author Lindi Peterson lives in north Georgia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with her husband and a lively array of cats, dogs, and birds. She loves sharing life with her family and friends. Her passion for reading led her to writing, and then God spoke words of love into her heart and changed her life forever. 
Visit her at: lindipeterson.com/inspyromance.com
Twitter@lindipeterson 

A New World For Writers…And Fans

with guest blogger, Walt Mussell.

Have you ever dreamed of visiting a world you’ve read about in someone else’s book?

I have. I would love to sip ale in The Shire or fly aboard the Enterprise. In my own manuscripts, I’ve tried to create a world that I hope people would want to visit (though, in my case, avoid the guys carrying swords because they’re pretty good with them). 

I recently learned that it is possible to play…TO WRITE…in a favorite author’s world.
In October, I received an e-mail from Amazon, asking if I wanted to participate in a Kindle Worlds launch for an author whose work I’ve been reading for years.

My reaction was …huh? I nearly tossed it as spam, but instead e-mailed the author who confirmed it was legit. From there, I asked myself the following:
What the blazes is Kindle Worlds? 

I discovered that Kindle Worlds is a fan fiction offering run by Amazon. Authors license their creations, allowing fans to create their own works based on characters created by the author. Those authors set rules on what’s allowable. Amazon reviews submissions to make sure rules are met. From there, the fan fiction stories are sold as e-books, with the fan fiction writer earning money from his/her story. 

There are currently 31 worlds to choose from. Anyone can submit. (Click here) And though all the worlds are secular, Amazon does have its own rules, most of which center on keeping submissions relatively clean.

As I mentioned, I was asked to participate in a launch. When Amazon launches a new world, some authors are contacted in advance and asked to write stories to be available for the launch or soon afterwards. For me, I joined the most recent launch: Body Movers by Stephanie Bond. When it comes to hilarity, Stephanie occupies the same rarefied air as Mary Connealy. Her funniest work is likely her Body Movers series. 

Body Movers is the story of Carlotta Wren, a young woman growing up rich, until her father, under criminal indictment, skipped town with Carlotta’s mother, leaving then 17-year old Carlotta to raise her nine-year old brother, Wesley. The series begins ten years after Carlotta’s parents left town. The parents are still missing, the police are still looking, and Carlotta’s life is still upside down. (Click here to see the books.)
I have two items out related to this launch.

The first is a short story titled Revenge Is A Body Best Served Cold. It takes place in an interval between two books in the series and is told primarily from the POV of the now college-age Wesley Wren, Carlotta’s younger brother. 

The second one is a novella titled Even Bodies Fall From Trees. Assuming everything is on schedule, it should be out this morning. This story is a prequel that occurs at the time of the initial arrest of the father. However, to indulge my fascination with Japanese history, I set the prequel in the Yokohama foreign settlement of 19th century Japan.  

A number of published authors have also written wonderful books for this launch. Please click here  to see them. 

So, in the comments, let’s try anyone of several topics.

•  If you could enter the favorite world of any author, what world would it be and where would you take the story?

•   Pick a favorite Seekerville story and move it somewhere else. What would you do?

To celebrate, I’m giving away five copies of Even Bodies Fall From Trees. Please note that current Kindle Words’ works can’t be purchased/sent outside the U.S., but they’re working on it. Also note this is obviously not inspirational romance. 

In the meantime, since this is Seekerville, virtual food is a necessity. The virtual food of the day is red velvet cake and Baroida coffee. (This coffee is so good, you’ll drink it black.)








Walt Mussell primarily writes historical fiction with inspirational and romantic elements. His favorite setting is medieval Japan and he refers to his writing as “Like ‘Shogun,’ but the heroine survives.” His Kindle Worlds Body Movers novella, Even Bodies Fall From Trees, debuts today.  He also has a Body Movers short story, Revenge is a Body Best Served Cold. Walt also writes Biblical fiction and is working on a manuscript with a 19th century American setting. He has one published novella in the Christmas anthology, Hot Cocoa for the Heart.

Of Course God Laughed. I Told Him My Plan, by Walt Mussell

I’d like to thank Tina and the rest of Seekerville for having me as a guest blogger today. I’d hoped when I made an appearance here, it would be with my inspirational manuscript sold. (Isn’t naiveté wonderful?) When I do make that first sale, I hope you’ll have me back to celebrate and raffle off free copies. (And speaking of raffles, please read to the end for the prize that will go to one commenter.)

However, as I look forward to that one day of being published, I do sometimes wonder how I got here in the first place. Not to writing. Not to Seekerville. Not to being a RWA member.

I wonder about how I started writing inspirational fiction.

When I began writing a few years ago, my focus was always personal essays on marriage, family, and parenting. I penned a humorous (in my opinion anyway) nonfiction manuscript on marriage from the male POV, targeted to women, and pursued getting that published. In order to build a platform for myself, I began submitting articles to parenting and education magazines. I’ve now earned several publishing credits. I also maintain two blogs. One is called Daddy Needs Decaf, which I do for Atlanta Parent magazine. The other one, Walt’s Place , is my own and deals with the topic my wife considers the greatest love of my life…Auburn football. For several years, I stayed on plan.

Then, in the summer of 2008, I discovered that God may have had a different idea.

That summer, my family and I traveled to Japan to visit friends and relatives. (I spent four years in Japan in the early 90s, meeting my wife there. We visit Japan when we can.) When we go, we do as much touring as possible, as my wife and I want our sons to have an appreciation for that part of their heritage.

On the last trip, we visited Himeji Castle.



Himeji Castle is a six-story structure built to resemble a white heron in flight. It served as the backdrop to such movies as You Only Live Twice and The Last Samurai. It is the finest representation of the Japanese style of castle building and one of the few original castles left in the country.

One feature of many Japanese castles is the circular tiles along the roof edge. The tiles, called “devil’s tiles,” are there to ward against tsunamis, fires, typhoons, etc. Himeji Castle, though, has one special tile: One that bears the impression of a cross.












(Citation: Guide to World Cultural Heritage Site “Himeji Castle)








(Citation.: Maru-Jan by Signal Talk)

The reason it’s special…it shouldn’t be there.


This cross appeared in the late 16th century. The mid-1500s to the mid-1600s are referred to as the Christian century in Japan. Christianity arrived in Japan in the 1540s and flourished for around forty years before the religion was declared illegal in 1587. The Japanese government spent the next sixty years, impoverishing and martyring Christians in an effort to stamp out the religion.

So, at the beginning of a persecution, a cross appears mysteriously at a prominent castle.
And though the blogosphere offers a solution, the official word is that the cross’s origin is unknown. Through a period in which Christians are being killed in ways that would make Nero seem tame, this stone cross lasted through it all. The idea of writing a Japan-based novel was brewing inside me and I had several historical threads in my head. Somehow, though, I knew I wanted to introduce readers to this cross.

The cross isn’t the only secreted object from those days. Christians disguised figurines of Mary to look like a female Bodhisattva.



They also carved crosses into the backs of stone statues.



(Citation: Wikipedia)












( Citation: Cross in Stone )

These items inspired many people over the years. And now I’ve been added to the list.

I hope you enjoyed the history. I also hope it wasn’t too heavy.


As for the prize for today’s post, I was at M&M and Missy Tippens was kind enough to sign a copy of her latest book, His Forever Love. One lucky commenter will win the signed copy.

If you have a chance, please visit me at my blogs. And to all of Seekerville, thanks again for having me.