Monday, July 26, 2010

My 15 Minutes of Fame...

A few weeks ago, I received an email from the American Christian Fiction Writers conference director, letting me know that they had sent a press release (which she attached to the email) to my local newspaper (the Grand Rapids Press) announcing that I had finaled in the Genesis contest. I was pleasantly surprised because to my knowledge, this is the first time ACFW has done this for finalists. ACFW rocks - they are always looking for new ways to promote Christian authors.

Here is a portion of the press release:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers)

www.acfw.com


LOCAL WRITER FINALS IN PRESTIGIOUS INDUSTRY FICTION WRITING CONTEST


June 2010, FLORIDA – Jenison, Michigan writer Lynda Schab received the honor of finalist in the prestigious Genesis Contest, American Christian Fiction Writers' respected contest for unpublished writers. Since its inception in 2002, the Genesis contest (originally named the Noble Theme) has been the leading fiction contest for unpublished Christian writers. “The Genesis is the premier contest in the Christian Booksellers Association for the unpublished. It's THE place to get noticed by a publisher.” – Colleen Coble, CEO of ACFW.


With nearly 500 entries in this year’s contest, making the finalists list is a noteworthy

accomplishment. Lynda Schab is a finalist in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category. Winners will be announced on September 19, 2010 during the awards event at the ACFW Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.


Pretty cool, right?


I took it upon myself to submit this press release to another local newspaper, the Grand Valley Advance. This is a free weekly press, delivered every Tuesday, that focuses more on community news and events in my immediate area. I was excited when the news reporter contacted me a week or so later with some questions. Well, last weekend I went with my family on a two-day mini vacation to Mackinaw City and when we returned on Tuesday, there was a message on our answering machine from my enthusiastic sister-in-law, Sue, congratulating me on the article. I went outside and grabbed the newspaper off the porch. And there it was.


READ THE ARTICLE HERE


They did get two things wrong:

  1. My agent is not submitting my mystery (which is not complete), but my womens fiction manuscript.
  2. My age...I'm not REALLY 42. Cough.

But, hey, we all make mistakes, right?


I'm hoping this isn't my only 15 minutes of fame, of course. But for now, I'll take it.


What about you? Tell me about your 15 minutes (or more) of fame.



10 comments:

Terri Tiffany said...

How cool and exciting!!! I think it is awesome that ACFW did this for you:))
No 15 minutes of fame yet though did have a reporter interview me when I did my writer's group and did a nice write up in the local paper here:)

Diane said...

15 minutes for now with hours and hours to come! Congrats :O)

Joanne Sher said...

Mistakes. Even I made them. Not sure I've had a 15 minutes of fame yet - SO excited for you. And, by the way, if you win, talk to me. I know some folks over at the Press. Got it?? ;)

Lynda Lee Schab said...

Thanks ladies! Jo, I will definitely take you up on that. I'll keep you posted. :-)

kathy taylor said...

I am so happy for you, Lynda. My 15 minutes of fame: I was on an internationally televised Christian show. But it was more like 5 minutes, not 15. I also was on a local station to inform people about trigeminal neuralgia. I guess I'd call it 15 minutes of unfame. :-)

Lynda Lee Schab said...

Very cool, Kathy. I'm sure many people were blessed by the information you provided. :-)

Cindy R. Wilson said...

Congratulations! This is very exciting.

Jan Cline said...

What a nice treat! Very nice of them. Congrats.

Debbie Dillon said...

Very cool, Lynda. So happy for you:) My 15 minutes of fame? Well, it was several years ago, but I'd just published 3 short stories in a children's publication and before I knew it, a photographer from our local paper come out to photograph me sitting next to a little waterfall/creek, and did a little write up. It was pretty cool.

Lynda Lee Schab said...

VERY cool, Debbie!

Thanks, Janv and Cindy!