Many of you have asked when the deadline is to contribute to our next book. You have nearly a month left, as the deadline is March 1st, 2021. You won’t want to miss out on this!
Our upcoming book is called “Dear God,” a collection of teen prayers from people all around the world. For complete guidelines on how to write and submit, please read here.
This is your opportunity to be published in a book. We’re accepting submissions from guys and girls, old and young, professional and amateur. As always, our writers get fun perks once they’re published, too!
G4C Publications introduces its newest work: a coloring book for Christian teens! In addition to art ready for coloring, the pages include devotions, Bible passages, and other advice to help coloring enthusiasts draw closer to the Lord.
G4C Publications is excited to collect submissions for our next book. In this book of daily prayers, teens and young adults will have the opportunity to pray about subjects that are important and relatable to them. Would you prayerfully consider writing for this book?
We accept authors of all ages from all over the world. It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional writer or if this is the first time you’ve ever submitted anything for publication; we want YOU. Since there will be many writers contributing to this book, it’s important that we have some consistency between each prayer, so please read these guidelines to know what to submit:
Step One: Pick a topic. Prayer topics need to be both broad and specific at the same time. Is that possible? Sure it is! In other words, imagine a teen reading it. (Think of several teens you know- you can even ask them to read your prayer before submitting it.) Can they totally relate to what you wrote? Do you think that will be true of every teen who reads it? Below are a few topics that today’s teens relate to, but you can choose another topic if you truly believe it will have a personal connection to teen readers.
Friendship Backstabbing Family Death Illness Environmental Issues and Being Green Work School Money The Opposite Sex Church Who God Is Learning New Things Celebrations Sin Siblings Parents The Future Fear Worry Global Issues (Orphans, Trafficking, Hunger, etc.) Local Issues Volunteering Classmates Peer Pressure How Others View Christians Goals Politics Purity Personal Time with God Evangelism Loneliness Media Health Disabilities Belonging Cliques and Clubs Role Models Chores Rules Temptations Mental Health
Step Two: Write a verse. We don’t want to publish anything that is not biblically sound. That means the prayer you write should be based on scripture. At the top of your submission, write the verse that you’ll base your prayer off of. Yes, we will be publishing these verses along with the prayers, so prayers cannot be accepted if they don’t have a theme verse!
Step Three: Write 150-250 words of prayer. Here are three of those words: always start with “Dear God” and end with “Amen”. The middle part is up to you. This might go without saying since you’re writing a prayer, but please prayerfully write. Think over the words you put down, and ask someone to read it over or even actually pray it if you’re not sure. We’ll only be publishing the top quality submissions, so consider writing more than one draft.
Step Four: Draw readers to Christ. These are just a few details to consider in your writing, but the heart of every prayer is to draw closer to God. That means don’t write things that will be divisive, offensive, boring, inappropriate (for YA readers), over-spiritualized, unachievable, or otherwise unrealistic.
Step Five: At the bottom, add your name and a 25-50 word bio. The bio should start with your name and be written in third person. If you do not include this, we will assume that you are wishing to submit anonymously.
It’s kind of a miracle in itself that I’m trying to communicate with you right now. I can talk with my friends easily enough. I can even talk with my family. (Although I’ll admit that talking with them sometimes means fighting.) Why is it so hard to talk with you? Is it because I can’t see you? Is it because talking with you requires this formal procedure called prayer? Is it because I’m intimidated to approach the God of all creation, or because I’ve heard others praying who are so much better at talking to you than I am?
Help me to break down any walls and overcome any barriers that keep me from talking to you. I should be willing to pray to you since you’re so willing to listen to me. In fact, from what I’ve read in the Bible and heard at church, it seems like you enjoy our conversations! You care about me as an individual and want to have a personal relationship with me, and communication is key to any good relationship, so it only makes sense that I keep in touch with you as much as possible.
Amen
Jessica Lippe is a writer and editor who has authored six books, including Uncommon Adventures and The Ultimate Survival Guide for Working at Camp. Visit her website at JessicaLippe.com
Introducing a new 80-Day devotional by G4C readers!
Picture for a moment what your life would be like if everything was different. And by different, I mean that nothing at all was the same as your current life. We’re talking a complete one-eighty. Is that what you’re looking for right now? This 80-Day devotional by G4C readers takes you through topics like faith, friendship, and leaning on the Lord through all circumstances. A great resource to start a daily devotion habit, or use as a companion for your personal Bible study time. One True God, 80 Devotions was written by 27 different guys and girls of all ages spanning several countries and continents.
We’ve made it to the sixth month of what may have been the most unusual year of our lives! Normally, time of year, I would be telling you how to get ready for camp, but a lot of summer camps have either delayed their start day or closed entirely for the year. I know many of you live in areas where there are safety concerns, and please know that you are being prayed for. So, what can we do for the month of June?
READ!
That’s right. Many libraries and bookstores are opening back up, and Amazon’s book shipping isn’t so delayed anymore. You may have a library, bookstore, restaurant, or school near you that offers a summer reading program, where you’ll get a prize for reading a certain amount of books this summer. (Don’t gloss over this if you’re an adult now- while a lot of programs are for kids and teens, some summer reading includes adults, too!)
So instead of a summer vacation, we invite you to take a “bookation” and explore new lands through the written word.
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3
Our Top 5 Reading Suggestions
After entering the book giveaway above, and then scrolling down to see G4C’s upcoming book, you may be wondering how else to fill your summer reading list. Here are a few suggestions:
First of all, we’d highly recommend looking for Christian books. They come in all types of genres, but unlike other books, they will better remind you of God, the Ultimate Author. Bookstores and libraries have sections set up just for Christian books. And if you order books online, it’s easy to search for Christian genres. The number one Christian book that we’d recommend above all others happens to also be the world’s number one bestseller: The Bible! We challenge you to read a little bit of that book every day this summer.
We have three published books through G4C Publications. Check them all out here. Our most recent is actually a journal called Diary of a Girl 4 Christ, filled with fun activities and space to write. What a fun way to document your summer!
Need more book ideas? We have a whole Teen Reading List here. We’d love to update this page with your favorite books, so let us know what we should add!
Remember that not all reading has to be done in the form of books. Most of our books are available on Kindle as ebooks, and there are a ton of great blogs out there too. Naturally, we’d recommend reading our blog posts, but we know there are a lot of great blogs out there. Look through Pinterest for blog suggestions on topics you like.
And of course, don’t forget magazines! Here are a few of our past issues of Girlz 4 Christ Magazine that you can order. These ones feature an interview with an author, so you can get even more reading suggestions while getting behind-the-scenes info about the creation of each book!
Reading is great. But it’s a good idea to balance it with a well-rounded lifestyle. Here are a few FREE programs I’ve been using lately, including my invite links so you can join me!
I’m walking my way to some fantastic prizes! Sweatcoin is an app that counts your steps, which you get paid for. Use your sweatcoins to buy some cool rewards. Start using Sweatcoin today!
Do you like shopping? I bet you’d like it even better if it cost less money! Use Ibotta and you can get rebates on your purchases in most popular stores. Some items you can even get for free! Sign up for Ibotta.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths. -Proverbs 3:5&6 HCSB
In case you haven’t heard, we’ve got a giveaway for Beyond the Break, a brand-new book from Penguin Teen.
Beyond the Break is a funny and gorgeous debut about a girl experiencing her first love. Well, second, if you count her faith… and that’s where things may get complicated.
Manhattan Beach native Lovette has two rules in life. One: no surfing. Not after her brother’s accident. Two: absolutely, no dating. And going into her junior year of high school, she’s pretty happy with that arrangement. She has friends, her church youth group, and God to fall back on when things get dicey. But after Jake Evans walks into her life, following these two simple rules gets a lot more complicated.
Jake is the boy from Lovette’s childhood who grew up. Handsome and sweet, he unlocks the part of Lovette that wants nothing more than to surf the waves again. And as their relationship grows, she begins to question what it means to be faithful: to her family, to God, but mostly, to herself.
Told with humor and heart, Heather Buchta delivers a sparkling debut that asks the question: Can you fall in love, be a teenager, and also be a good Christian?
You can read the first chapter of Beyond the Break by Heather Buchta here. If you want to read the whole thing, you have two options. Starting today, you can find it at any online or brick-and-mortar bookstore. Or, you can enter our contest.
EDIT JUNE 1ST 2020: Thank you to everyone who contributed! One True God, 80 Devotions will be a great book featuring all your work, available for preorder soon! If you missed your chance to write this time around, know that we are planning for another book that you can be a part of. Join our newsletter so you can get the next announcement.
Have you been enjoying our newest book, 77 Days of Devos? We’re making another devotional. Except this time, we want YOU to get involved!
Write a short devotional about any topic you’d like. Make sure to follow our devotional format (see examples here) and include:
A Bible verse or two, including the reference and translation
100-200-word life story or application related to the scripture
A short “Action,” something the reader can pray for or do to help apply the lesson of this devotion to their life
Of course, include your name at the bottom of the devotion unless you’d prefer to remain anonymous (If your work is accepted we may ask for a bio line. If you’re not sure what that is, don’t worry- we’ll explain when the time comes.)
If you look carefully, you’ll notice that we published 77 Days of Devos under “G4C Publications” instead of our full name, “Girlz 4 Christ Publications.” That’s because we want girlz AND guyz to have a daily devotional resource that will draw them closer to Christ! We would like this next devotional to be accessible in the same way.
Anyone is welcome to contribute to this book. That means if you know someone else who likes writing, feel free to forward this to them. However, if you’re under 13, please have a parent review and send your submission to us.
All submissions can be sent as a Word document to Girlz4Christ@yahoo.com with the subject line “Devotion Submission”. You’re welcome to submit more than one devotion. If your work is accepted for publication, you will get a free advance digital copy of the book before publication. After publication, you can also get a free paperback copy of the book as well as some free resources to help you as an author get featured in your local news.
Ephesians 5:16 encourages us to redeem our time, because the days are evil. In days like these, I’m often reminded of this verse. But how can we redeem our time for good when we are homebound? We’ve collected some ideas from Girlz 4 Christ and other Christian organizations to help you make the most of your day:
-This is a great time to catch up on previous issues of Girlz 4 Christ Magazine. You can even order print copies here. Right now, we only have a handful of our 40 issues available in print. However, if there’s a certain issue that you’d like to see in print, let us know and we’ll make it available!
-You may remember us reviewing the animated film, “The Pilgrim’s Progress”, in the Fall 2019 issue of Girlz 4 Christ Magazine. The makers of this movie just announced that they are allowing FREE streaming! This is great if you’re at home with siblings, but even if you’re alone, I think the messages behind this allegory are powerful for anyone.
-If you’re at least 18 and aren’t able to work right now due to closures, you cansupplement your income online with Swagbucks. Make money doing simple tasks like taking surveys, watching videos, and even online shopping.
-Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and other streaming services have been getting more subscribers recently. Did you know that there are Christian movies and shows on many of these streaming services? Look for them! You can sign up for a free trial of PureFlix, a streaming service that is filled with wholesome, Christian films. You can also find tons of quality Christian YouTubers. No matter what you end up watching, look for God in the storyline!
-Since so many churches are including streaming their weekly services or currently are only streaming online due to social distancing rules, now is a great time to watch a bunch of great (and often free) sermons from churches all over the world. If there’s an audio-only download option, you can listen while working out, doing chores, or going to bed.
-Catch up on your reading, and make a new TBR (to be read) list. If you normally read fiction, now is a great time to expand your horizons with nonfiction: read about a topic, then try it out in your real life. We have a free book download this week only to get you started.
-Run out of books? Check out some blog posts that allow you to dream. Start with this one.
More than anything, we need peace during this storm. We don’t know how long this will last, but we do know that the next 77 days can be the beginning of peace, hope, and restoration. Our latest book, 77 Days of Devos, is available on Amazon now (in eBook or paperback), and can help guide you towards peace and living life God’s way.
Girlz 4 Christ’s new book, Girls Who Change the World, released on October 1st. Christian news company theDove included a feature with Girlz 4 Christ’s editor and publisher about her work with co-writing this book. Check out the video clip, and then check out the book!
Many of you have loved our recent interview with Overcomer’s movie star, Aryn Wright-Thompson. But we’ve had the privilege of interviewing dozens of amazing young women over the years, and for the first time ever on October 1st, you’ll be able to have these role models all in one place.
Maybe you’ve been inspired by Bethany Hamilton’s new documentary, Unstoppable. Or you love reading books by teen authors. Or you’ve found inspiration with the younger members of the Duck Dynasty crew like Sadie Robertson, John Luke Robertson, and Mary Kate Robertson. In Girlz 4 Christ’s new book, Girls Who Change the World, you’ll find interviews and profiles of people like these and so many more! There are even girls who are making an impact in their everyday lives all across the globe. Of course, there will be tips for how you can change the world, too!
Girls Who Change the Worldis available October 1st, but you can get a sneak peek in the Fall 2019 issue of Girlz 4 Christ Magazine. You can also preorder a Kindle copy from Amazon. (Print copies will be available for preorder soon!)
