Gleaning Ideas

The second day of LittWorld started with a devotion shared by one of the participants. It was wonderful to start the day with a focus on the Word of God. Using John 20:31, the speaker spoke about the power of a new life in Christ and the power of the printed page.

Later, we had a general session on how publishers in difficult places such as Lebanon, Nigeria, Myanmar, and Angola carry on the task of planting hope in their challenging circumstances. This session, as well as the others, was in English, but there were translations in Portuguese and Spanish.

Two sets of eight elective workshops on different topics were held simultaneously on the second day. There were so many interesting workshops to choose from: financial management of the publishing house, keeping staff, illustrating children’s books, dealing with problem manuscripts, investigative reporting, technology in publishing, organizing your work, designing, marketing strategy, children’s curriculum, and others. Although I am primarily a writer, I wanted to attend the other workshops so I could also learn about the other fields of publishing. But due to some conflicts in time and my immediate interest, I decided to attend the workshops on writing the personal experience story and cross-cultural issues in translation.

Before the day was over, participants were given the chance to have a personal consultation with their preferred resource person. I had the privilege of meeting fiction author Robin Jones Gunn and so I didn't lose time to ask her about refining my focus of writing and dealing with editors. She was very kind and very encouraging. Workshops and consultations like this in LittWorld conferences enable me to glean ideas for improving my ministry. I wish others in the publishing and writing ministry would also be able to attend the next LittWorld in Kenya.