You finished your first draft. And ever since, you have been telling yourself the same thing. I need to find an editor.

Months go by. You Google Christian book editor, scroll through websites, bookmark a few, and never reach out.

Editors are not hard to find. There are plenty of them. What nobody has taught you is what kind of help you actually need, and who you can trust with the message God gave you.

In this episode I walk you through three steps: name the stage of editing you are at, know that affordable and trusted editors exist, and reach out with your word count and a request for a sample edit.

One of our members, Pam, said it plainly. "Through the final draft stage, I was able to self-edit the book more thoroughly and figure out how to hire a professional editor." Notice the order. The self-editing came first.

Once you know what you are asking for, and you are choosing from people who have already been vetted, finding an editor stops being a permanent stall and becomes a doable task.

If you are already a member, pull up the recommended editor list inside Christian Book Academy and pick one editor to contact this week. If you are not yet a member, you can join us at Christian Book Academy.

Have a thought on this episode? Share your comments on YouTube here.

Your testimony is not only part of your past. It may be the very thing God wants to use to encourage, heal, or give hope to someone today.

In this Hitz Blitz, Shelley reflects on Psalm 9:11 and God's invitation to tell others what He has done. She shares how her mom's healing story opened the door for an unexpected conversation in Michaels, and how one Christian Book Academy member turned her life story into a tiny testimony book that continues to impact readers.

You do not have to write your entire memoir or wait for the right platform. Your story can give God glory through a short book, a social post, a podcast, or one conversation with the person He puts in front of you.

For a few years, Hitz Blitz was a private podcast. Short episodes recorded on the way to somewhere else, most of them under ten minutes. A blitz is defined in the dictionary as "a sudden, energetic, and concerted effort, typically on a specific task," and that's what these were meant to be. A quick burst of encouragement for your writing, not a full training.

Now we're opening the archive up here on the Kingdom Writers Podcast.

In this episode, Shelley explains what the Hitz Blitz was, why she's sharing it now, and what to expect. These land on Tuesdays, though not every Tuesday. They show up when there's one to give. Your regular Kingdom Writers episode still arrives on Thursday, same as always.

Some of these run five minutes. Some run two. They'll feel different from what you're used to hearing here, and that's the point.