Who Are You Trying To Serve?

Writing for Your Life

If you write, or read, books that matter – books with substance and soul – then this is the place for you. We are here to help you gain inspiration and knowledge to empower your writing. We have a TON of free resources here and if you would like to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter with additional free resources you can do so here. Writing for Your Life is particularly useful for early-stage writers, including those who are not even sure if they consider themselves writers.

Writing for Your Life is committed to offering a wide variety of useful resources and services to support spiritual writers. We offer in-person writing conferences and online videos featuring leading spiritual writers and publishing industry experts. Authors discuss and teach about various aspects of spiritual writing. Industry experts offer advice on how to get published and how to market.  We also provide a host of services and resources to support your spiritual writing. We cannot guarantee that you will become a best-selling author, but we will help you take your best shot. Learn to tell your own story; write for your life!

Publishing in Color

Publishing in Color has only one objective: increase the number of books published by spiritual writers of color. This includes groups such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx Americans, and Native Americans, who have been under-represented in terms of the number of published books.  We seek to achieve this objective in two ways: (1) Publishing in Color conferences, and (2) a TON of free resources for spiritual writers at Writing for Your Life.

The goals of these conferences are to:

• Foster relationships between spiritual writers of color and representatives of spiritual book publishing companies, literary agents, and spiritual magazines
• Provide networking and educational opportunities so that prospective writers can learn more about how to work with these publishing companies, agents and magazines
• Result in an increased number of books and articles published by writers of color

Many book deals, literary agent relationships, devotionals, book contributions, magazine essays, and more have resulted from Publishing in Color conferences.

The Publishing in Color conference series is part of Writing for Your Life, a resource center for all spiritual writers.

Compassionate Christianity

What, you might ask, is Compassionate Christianity?

Christian: We do not promote a creed or tell you what to believe.  Whether or not you identify as a Christian is up to you.

Compassionate: We seek to feature inclusive, welcoming, and affirming voices and resources that reflect the compassion Jesus modeled for us.  We encourage you to belong here. We welcome you to interact with us and with each other on our Facebook Page, Facebook Group, Twitter, and YouTube.

Our objective is to provide you with compassionate Christian thought leadership, nourishment, resources, and community. We seek to provide inclusive, welcoming, and affirming ideas and resources, reflecting the compassion Jesus modeled for us. It is not our objective to make money. Our website and weekly email are completely free, without ads and without a subscription required. We do not solicit donations.

How to Heal Our Divides

If we didn’t recognize them already, 2020 put a spotlight on several serious, deep divides that have had strong negative impacts on our society – racial, political, religious, and other divides. Much has been written describing these divides and how they came about, or encouraging us to look deeply inside ourselves to discover our own flaws.  All good things! But there has been a lack of attention regarding what to do about it. “How to Heal Our Divides” is a project aimed at building awareness of organizations that are taking real action to address these issues. The project is not an attempt to gloss over serious problems or “make happy” but instead to highlight tangible efforts that are solving problems – actually healing divides in effective and practical ways.

Our new book “How to Heal Our Divides: A Practical Guide” is now available on the Writing for Your Life bookstore on Bookshop, and on Amazon and IndieBound! And check out the free Discussion Guide that accompanies the book – download it for free here.

Contact us here to learn more.

Brian Allain founded Writing for Your Life, a resource center and conferences for spiritual writers, and the Publishing in Color conference series, intended to increase the number of books published by spiritual writers of color.  Brian also founded Compassionate Christianity and How to Heal Our Divides. Previously Brian served as Founding Director of the Frederick Buechner Center where he led the launch of Mr. Buechner’s online presence and established several new programs and strategic partnerships. Brian has developed and led spiritual writers conferences at Princeton Theological Seminary, Drew Theological Seminary, Western Theological Seminary, the University of Southern California, Belmont University, New Brunswick Seminary, and several churches. He led the publishing effort for the book Buechner 101: An Introduction to Frederick Buechner in collaboration with Anne Lamott, and also the books in the How to Heal Our Divides series. All of this is a second career, coming after business and technology leadership in high-tech. Brian has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was designated a Palmer Scholar, their highest academic award.

Websites:

compassionatechristianity.org

howtohealourdivides.com

writingforyourlife.com

publishingincolor.com

whoareyoutryingtoserve.com

Facebook:

fb.me/CompassionChr

facebook.com/how2healdivides

facebook.com/spiritualwritingforyourlife/

facebook.com/PublishingInColor/

Twitter:

@CompassionChr

@how2healdivides

@writing4urlife

@publishincolor

@brian_allain

Learn more about Brian here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianallain

Current and past clients include:

“Working with Brian Allain is such a pleasure that it never feels like work. He is one of the most positive, creative, effective and genuinely kind people you will ever meet.”

– Barbara Brown Taylor

“Few in this world are as smart, generous, creative, and kind as Brian Allain. He’s a joy to partner with, honors God with his best, and genuinely loves helping, launching, and leading others. I’m always excited to work with Brian, but especially grateful to call him a friend.”

– Patricia Raybon, Author

“I’m extremely selective in who I partner with when it comes to writing conferences and seminars, and it’s why I’m so excited about Writing For Your Life.”

– Rachel Held Evans, Author

“Brian brings a depth of insight and wisdom to the conversation which is both pragmatic and ambitious. As our consultant, he effortlessly saw a potential flaw in our project which might have kept us from our aspiration.  Through conversation and his support, we re-thought our project and now are well on our way.  He has keen listening skills and a wealth of know-how – all to our project’s benefit.”

– Rev. Nancy Lynne Westfield, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Education, Director of the Forum for Social Justice: Connecting Ideas with Action, Drew University Theological School

“Brian Allain is a gifted communicator and strategist. He has been a valuable resource for helping our team to hone our message, reach new audiences, and grow our social media reach. His experience and creative insight helped us to reach new heights.”

– Anne Stewart, Associate VP for Communication and Deputy to the President, Princeton Theological Seminary

“Brian brings writers sorely needed marketing knowledge and experience, and has built a very impressive network of authors, agents, and publishers. We’ve worked together on several conferences and seminars over the years, and I am always impressed with his integrity and ability.”

– Jeff Munroe, Executive Vice President, Western Theological Seminary

“Brian Allain is smart, responsive and inventive. When you hire Enliven Your Tribe, you’re hiring an advocate who will apply his cutting-edge skills to the ever-changing world of social media. His work on your behalf will allow you to do what writers do best: focus on their writing!”

– Leslie Leyland Fields

“I have been thrilled and impressed with what Brian has accomplished on behalf of his clients. I am so glad he is able to apply what he learned to help other authors.”

– Ami McConnell, former VP and Editor-in-Chief, Howard Books / Simon & Schuster

“Working with Brian is a delight.  He’s inventive, flexible, efficient, and experienced.  He listens.  He’s open to creative ideas and exercises his own considerable creativity.  One need only see what he’s done with his clients to know how thoughtful and aesthetically astute his work is.”

– Marilyn McEntyre, Author

“Brian has done an amazing job taking writer’s work, revitalizing them, and helping them get the global attention they deserve. I believe there are many authors who would be well-advised to seek his support.”

– Stephen W. Hanselman, Founder & President LevelFiveMedia, and former Executive Vice President, HarperCollins

“Brian and I have worked together and known each other for many years.  His business insight and judgement are excellent, and he is a great joy to work with.”

– Raju Rishi, General Partner, RRE Ventures

“Brian’s results on behalf of multiple authors have been nothing short of outstanding.  He has far exceeded what I thought was possible.”

– Lyn Cryderman, Consultant and former Publisher, Zondervan

“Brian and I worked together at multiple companies, including two different positions that I recruited him for.  His performance was outstanding in every case.  He makes things happen, no matter the obstacles. The moment he’d commited to a plan, I considered it complete. In addition he offers a thorough, insightful, “common sense” perspective that has been invaluable.  I highly recommend him.”

– Eric Sumner, Founder and CEO, Lion Cave Capital

“Brian has always been available, supportive, hard working and knowledgeable for me…The whole experience was worthwhile, pleasant and useful for a newbie like myself. Here’s to my next book, and thank you Brian!”

– Justin Wells, documentary film maker and author

“I have had the wonderful experience of working closely with Brian for the last 7 years. Early on, Brian established the warm, comfortable culture that exists in the company to this day. Brian brings a unique wealth of experience to any situation. I think this allows him to see things with a more holistic viewpoint than most people. I very much have valued Brian’s input through the years. When Brian sees something that needs to be done, or he is given a new task, he accomplishes it with thoughtfulness, thoroughness and excellence. On a personal level, Brian is a warm and generous man – I am grateful for the 7 years we have worked together. ”

– Julie Maxwell, Director of Human Resources, Capital Services

“My one-on-one telephone consultations with Brian Allain are always productive…It’s up to me to continue with my communications plan but I feel the work I’ve done with Writing For Your Life (including attending their workshops and conferences) has given me the grounding and momentum to carry on as I move forward. I highly recommend the experience and expertise of Brian Allain and the resources of Writing For Your Life!”

– Vivian Fransen, author

“I worked with Brian for several years at Capital Services. Brian is a seasoned, experienced business professional whose multifaceted strengths allow him success in varied business challenges.  Brian thrives in an environment where he is presented with a business need and he methodically applies creative solutions.  He has a strong understanding of business processes, both operational as well as the revenue side and is able to bring projects to completion.”

– Meredith Murphy, CFO, Capital Services

“Brian has provided generous encouragement and excellent resources to help me focus my approach, build a platform, and develop a way of life with writing closer to its heart. Writing for Your Life sparked a personal and professional overhaul and it’s not over yet. My blog is in the works, and so am I. Breathing feels good.”

– Rev. Jen Adams, pastor

“I have great respect for Brian.  His strengths are too many to attempt to describe here.  I recommend him highly!”

– Rohit Mehra, VP Network Infrastructure, IDC

“You’ll find working with Brian to be a superb experience.  He is excellent at both business strategy and execution.  His years of experience in various business models and industries help him find innovative solutions to business challenges.  He does everything with a high level of integrity.”

– Lorenzo Mejia, veteran start-up executive

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