Finish Your First Draft

A free online event for Christian writers who are ready to stop second-guessing and finally finish the first draft of the book God called them to write.

Kick-Off Call with CJ Hitz

Date: Tuesday, 3/24/26 at 11am-12:30pm eastern (8am-9:30am pacific, 9am-10:30am mountain, 10am-11:30am central).

FREE Access for 5 Days

We are so excited you are here. We don’t want to simply give you information but we are praying that God brings transformation to your life through this conference.

You have free access to watch the recordings for 5 days. Or you can upgrade to the All-Access Pass.

Days
Hours
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It's time to dive in!

(The only real question is... which one will you start with?)

You will learn strategies and practical tips from seasoned experts so you can learn how to stop second-guessing and finally finish the first draft of the book God called them to write.

CJ Hitz

Bio: As writing mentors, CJ and Shelley Hitz are on a mission to help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres, like you, to share your unique gifts with the world. Inside their online membership, Christian Book Academy, they help you write words that will outlive you, self-publish books that fulfill your calling, and reach more readers with your message. Make your God-given dream of writing, publishing, and marketing your book a reality. Find out more here.

Topic: Faithful to Finish: Choosing Persistence Over Perfection for Your First Draft.

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from CJ’s presentation?

Watch the entire kick-off call below.

Shae Bynes

Bio: Affectionately known as the “Chief Fire Igniter,” Shae Bynes is a grace catalyst who equips leaders to create cultures where both people and results flourish.

A pioneer in the Kingdom business movement, she has impacted over one million people globally through her books, courses, podcasts, and speaking, helping leaders embrace a grace-empowered way of life and leadership.

Shae is the author of several influential books, including the best-selling Grace Over Grind, The Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur’s Guide: Doing Business God’s Way, and her latest release, Grace Under Pressure: A Story About Leadership and the Hidden Cost of Ambition.

With 25 years of experience—including leadership at a Fortune 50 company and over a decade as a founder and entrepreneur—Shae brings strategic clarity and transformational insight to her advisory work with both entrepreneurs and executives. She’s known for delivering truth with love, contagious joy, and a bold invitation to lead differently.

Download Shae’s Free Gift: Free Chapter of Grace Under Pressure

Topic: How I Used ChatGPT to Help Me With My Book…and You Can Too!

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Shae’s presentation?

Brian Dixon

Bio: Brian Dixon is a bestselling author, speaker, and coach who helps writers and creatives share their stories with confidence. He is the co‑founder of hope*writers, a community supporting thousands of writers in their craft and calling. His book Start with Your People guides creatives to make meaningful impact by focusing on the people they serve. Brian lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his family.

Download Brian’s Free Gift: Start Writing Guide

Topic: Your Niche: The Journey from Suffering to Success

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Brian’s presentation?

Elizabeth Renicks

Bio: Elizabeth Renicks is an author, speaker, and teacher. A truth teller who infuses every message with encouragement and hope, she offers the wisdom and experience of decades of teaching and studying God’s Word. Elizabeth has more than 35 years’ experience as a writer, editor, writing teacher, and coach. She has spoken around the country at Christian educational events for the Association of Christian Schools International and Classical Conversations. She holds a B.A. in journalism and public policy and a M.A. in secondary language arts education.

Her latest books are the devotional Fully Known, Fully Loved: A 30-Day Journey of Your Identity in Christ, and the Bible study Return and Rest: A Study in Isaiah 30. She is also the author Missio Dei: Joining God on the Adventure of a Lifetime and a contributor to devotional anthologies by Guideposts Publishing and Redemption Press. A wife and mom to two sons, Elizabeth calls Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home.

Download Elizabeth’s Free Gift: The Pay Attention Prayer Guide

Topic: From Stuck to Spirit Led: Learning to Pay Attention to God When Writing Feels Rough

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Elizabeth’s presentation?

Paula Moore

Bio: Paula Moore is a Missouri award-winning watercolorist whose artistic journey has unfolded with purpose and passion. After retiring from a career in banking, she embraced art full-time and now teaches watercolor workshops locally and across the country. She is grateful to share life and world travel with her husband, Terry.


Although Paula loved creating from an early age, she was basically self-taught, learning through curiosity, perseverance, and the guidance of a few key mentors. Her breakthrough came with the realization that art functions like a spinning kaleidoscope—where elements such as line, color, value, shape, texture, and direction come into harmony when aligned with timeless design principles. This insight transformed both her artwork and her teaching.


In recent years, Paula sensed a deeper calling as the parallels between faith and art emerged naturally in her work. This led to the launch of her His Art teaching programs, women’s Gather & Create Bible studies, retreats, and mission-based opportunities.


Her first faith-based book blends art instruction with thoughtful essays, offering readers a fresh perspective on how creativity becomes an act of worship. Paula is an inspirational teacher and speaker and welcomes opportunities to share this message through her website: paulamooreart.com.

Topic: From Messy Draft to Published: How I finally committed to saying, “If Not Now, When?”

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Paula’s presentation?

Karen Ray

Bio: Karen Ray lives in the high desert of southern New Mexico and enjoys reading, anything outdoors, and all things rusty and dusty. She’s been married to her high school sweetheart for over 40 years and has three adult children she’s thrilled to call friends. She loves to travel and collect stories about people and places. Through her memoir services company, Remembering the Time, she helps individuals and families share their life legacies through personal stories. In her roles as oral historian, writer, editor, and memoir coach, Karen focuses on bringing memories and experiences to vivid life. She is available to give life legacy workshops and presentations in person or virtually.

Download Karen’s Free Gift: Memoir Resource Bundle

Topic: How to Use a Life Legacy Timeline to Jumpstart Your Memoir

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Karen’s presentation?

Stephanie Miller

Bio: Stephanie Miller, M.A., is a certified Spiritual Growth and Writing Coach, award-winning author, editor, and speaker passionate about helping faith-filled writers conquer fear, find their voice, and write with clarity and confidence. As the founder of Butterfly Beginnings Coaching, she offers 1:1 coaching, editing, and workshops designed to support writers at every stage of their journey. Her book, The Butterfly Blueprint, reflects her belief that when writers lean into God’s call, their words can be used for transformation.

Whether teaching, coaching, speaking, or writing on Substack (http://liveandwritetransformed.substack.com ) Stephanie’s mission is to encourage writers to faithfully pursue their God-given calling—one story at a time.

Download Stephanie’s Free Gift: The Book Sketch/Transformation Tale Guide

Topic: 5 Reasons You Can and Should Finish Your First Draft 

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Stephanie’s presentation?

Jeremy Bouma

Bio: Jeremy empowers GospelWise Authors like you with the inspiration, skills, tools, and training you need to dream, create, and launch your gospel-ignited projects for God’s glory and human flourishing. With over a decade of experience working with the biggest Christian publishers in the market creating content, editing books, and marketing projects, combined with independently publishing his own works for 18 years, his actionable advice and practical training will help you wield the pen for the sake of the cross.

Download Jeremy’s Free Gift: The StoryWise Framework™ Template

Topic: One Draft Wonder

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Jeremy’s presentation?

Kim Galloway

Bio: Hi, I’m Kim Galloway, best-selling author of over 20 books, and I help message-driven authors to FINALLY write their book so they can share their message, help the people they’re meant to help, and get more clients.

I’m a desert-residing, outdoors-loving, mom of four amazing kiddos. My husband, Ben, and I live in rural New Mexico with wild turkeys, a friendly herd of deer, dogs, and views for days!

My live-by-faith realization was that after working in my dad’s tax office for ten years — a job I couldn’t quit and where I couldn’t get fired — I was squandering my God-given gift of writing and storytelling. My gift is helping authors uncover their DEEPER message (going beyond the “should” book and into a life-changing experience) so that they can write the book that’s on their hearts, but also have fun doing it.

I have a string of best-selling books in my name AND I help authors just like you to write their books, publish them, and go on to have bestselling books as well.

Download Kim’s Free Gift: Perfect Book Outline Template

Topic: Divorcing Your Writing Time from Your Thinking Time (to double your daily writing!)

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Kim’s presentation?

Tunji Olujimi

Bio: Tunji is speaker, pastor, an author, and the CEO of Accelerated Authors Academy. He has worked with over 100 people to write and publish their books and has coached over 1000 people through workshops
and speaking.

He helps coaches, consultants, business owners, speakers, trainers and entrepreneurs to create authority, profitability, credibility and visibility using the power of writing and publishing their first book in 90 days or less to build their business, profile and brand.

Tunji was born premature and weighed 1 pound with no hope of living along with his twin sister, but he also had a hole in his heart and needed an operation. Growing up with Dyslexia made it difficult for him to excel in education but it also gave him the determination to make something of himself and now has
written and published five books, started two businesses, and running a ministry.

He is married to Elizabeth Olujimi and they have a beautiful daughter called Janaya Olujimi.

Download Tunji’s Free Gift: Free Guide: 5 Keys to Plan Your Book

Topic: The 3 Keys you need to plan your book idea in record time

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Tunji’s presentation?

David Lee Martin

Bio: After 21 years of planting and pastoring churches, during which time my wife and I led many creative teams, the Lord prompted me to focus on helping others develop and express their creativity online.

In the past ten years, I’ve written and launched an online Bible School, made over $1,720,889.60 in Amazon royalties from self-published books, and sold thousands of online training products and courses that help people build their lives in God and reach for their dreams.

I would love the privilege of cheering you on as you prioritize your God-given gifts and start sharing them courageously with the world.

Topic: Co-Creation in the Digital AI Age: Stewardship, Storytelling, and the Holy Spirit

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from David’s presentation?

Sarah S. Brown

Bio: Sarah S. Brown is a Christian author and speaker who helps women anchor their identity in Christ and find renewed confidence through life’s hardest seasons. A former teacher, she contributed to Hope for the Holidays, A Year of Hope, and bestseller Stories of Good Grief, Vol.2. Sarah was named a Woman of Influence by the Nashville Business Journal. Her book, Even the Ashes Bloom, invites readers on a faith-filled journey from brokenness to spiritual renewal. Sarah lives in Tennessee with her husband and two sons and believes strong coffee and shared stories can change the world.

Download Sarah’s Free Gift: From Blank Page to Breakthrough Workbook

Topic: From Blank Page To Breakthrough: Writing Strategies That Stick

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Sarah’s presentation?

Cherie Denna

Bio: Cherie Denna’s messages empower audiences to illuminate the shadowy, often stigmatized pages of their stories with the power of truth. She wears many hats as a wife, author, speaker, memoir coach, and women’s pastor.

Her debut book, Beloved Outcast: The Quest for True Belonging, soared to become an Amazon best-seller and earned prestigious accolades in Christian literature, including the 2024 Christian Market Book of the Year and Golden Scrolls Memoir of the Year. A dedicated member of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Cherie brings over two decades of ministry experience to her work.

Beyond her literary achievements, Cherie’s published work includes several anthology contributions and online articles, including the award-winning Leading Hearts Magazine. Cherie worked as Operations Director for a well-known hybrid publisher. She is passionate about helping others find their voice and enjoys coaching aspiring writers.

Aside from looking forward to RV adventures with her Mr. McDreamy husband, Cherie enjoys frothed coffee dates with Jesus, rejuvenating seahabilitation, hiking the Northern California Redwoods, and capturing the perfect golden-hour shot.
For more on her inspiring journey, visit CherieDenna.com and connect with her on social media!

Download Cherie’s Free Gift: Beloved Outcast Chapter Download

Topic: Partnering with Holy Spirit in Your Writing

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Cherie’s presentation?

Joanna Hioe

Bio: Joanna Hioe is a writer, musician, and songwriter-composer whose creative work explores growth, originality and resilience. She is completing a PhD in disaster response in the Philippines and creates music and books that encourage readers to take small steps, trust the process, and share their story.

Download Joanna’s Free Gift: Slow is Fast

Topic: Created to Create

Share your takeaways: What was your biggest takeaway or ah-ha! moment from Joanna’s presentation?

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© CJ and Shelley Hitz, Body and Soul Publishing, All Rights Reserved.