CrossReads: A New Hub for Christian Authors Launches, Will Offer Community, Training, and Marketing

MCCORDSVILLE, IN, February 14, 2013 (Press-News.org) Although no man is an island unto himself, authors in today's world can come awfully close.

With the removal of the publishing house bottleneck, authors are entering the publishing fray in droves and quickly coming to realize that being a one-man or one-woman show is exhausting and often not very much fun at all.

The author has gone from being asked to do "some" marketing once the book comes out to being writer, final editor, cover supervisor, formatter, publisher, and point marketing person all rolled into one. Even though many have no formal training and only a strong desire to get their work before the public, authors often find themselves in the position of having to learn a myriad of diverse and sometimes difficult skills or being relegated to the bottom of the Amazon rankings.

"Authors, especially indie authors, are required to be a jack or jill of all trades--including being social media mavens and gurus," Staci Stallings, co-founder of a new website for Christian authors, said. "You run and you run and you run, and it seems there is always farther to go, another site to master, another set of skills to learn, another program to navigate, and always more to do than you ever thought possible."

But help is on the way. Beginning February 14, 2013, Christian authors will no longer be on their own and at the mercy of the tumultuous technology and publishing sea.

The all-new CrossReads.com is here to help all Christian authors navigate not only writing their novel, but publishing it, and marketing it as well.

Established as a hub for Christian readers and authors, CrossReads seeks to guide authors new and established through the maze of new media, the confusing jargon of the new world of publishing, and even age-old author-snares like plots and sentence structure.

"Authors will not only have a place to promote their books but will also receive training on writing, publishing and marketing their books," Shelley Hitz, cofounder of the site, said.

"It really is the site I always wished existed," Stallings, a #1 Best Selling Christian Romance author in her own right, said. "CrossReads is a community of not just authors but readers as well, coming together to encourage one another and to talk about books and life. It is using the technology that's out there to bridge the geographic as well as denominational gaps that have existed for so long in the real world."

In fact, the site's founders, three Best Selling Christian authors--Hitz, Stallings, and their partner Heather Bixler, are breaking new frontiers in the real world as well.

"When I went to the bank to fill out the paperwork for CrossReads," Hitz said, "they said this is a new process and previously what we are doing wouldn't have been possible - that they required all owners to be physically present when opening an account. So praise God that we can even do this!"

Physically present would have been a challenge since CrossReads was formed in three states--Indiana, Colorado, and Texas, and three time zones.

"I had the idea and contacted Shelley," Stallings said. "Initially she said no as she didn't have the time and some of the website-design background needed to do this. Two days later, Heather, who I didn't even know, contacted Shelley with the same idea."

"It's truly been a God thing," Hitz said. "We each bring such different skills to the table, but each piece fits with the others so well."

And now the three authors are thrilled to share their hard-earned knowledge with other Christian authors.

"Community is what God is all about," Stallings said. "Relationships. Networking. Coming together to build something bigger than yourself. I believe when authors get a taste of what it's like to be in a community that lifts people up, that is there to answer questions big and small, that is there to cheer you on and help you build your skills until you reach the next level, they will get a real-world, hands-on understanding of the amazing things God can do and is doing through His people right now, every day."

"It's exciting to be a part of," Bixler said. "Every time I sit down to start to work on CrossReads, I get this big smile on my face."

" CrossReads is an exciting place to be," Hitz said. "Come visit, and we encourage you to stay awhile!" Authors can get more information about CrossReads here: http://crossreads.com/authors/