It appears that most publishers these days, whether print or electronic, expect the author to activively participate in the book's marketing. And to test whether or not an author is serious, that publisher will ask for a Marketing Plan to be submitted along with the manuscript, author bio, and synopsis.
How then, does the beginning author come up with a Marketing Plan? Often the publisher will present an outline or list of items for the author to consider. One such list made me think.
How do I ... whose only experience with booksellers is to enter a Barnes & Noble, find the book I want, and pay for it at the checkout counter ... arrange for a book signing?
Well, rather than inventing, I just did a bit of Googling, and have found some great links with instructions on how an author can arrange his own book signings.
http://www.writersweekly.com/this_weeks_article/000585_03062002.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2242859_arrange-book-signing.html
http://www.authorhive.com/bookmarketingadvice/booksigning.aspx
http://www.writing_world.com/promotion/james.shtml
And don't forget, an author can always pay an expert in the process to arrange the book signing for him. To find one, Google how to arrange a book signing.
6/12/10
Synopsis Made Easy
I think for authors who begin a project with a plot outline, whether brief or detailed, when it comes time to write the synopsis that publishers (and some agents) always ask for, the task is easy. Well, maybe not. I've been writing synopses almost as long as I've been writing full-length fiction: going on seventeen years. And it still isn't easy. Why? You guessed it. While I may write an outline of sorts when I'm half or three-quarters of the way through a novel, I never begin a new novel with an outline. So, of course my outline only covers what's left of the novel.
In my synopsis-writing experience, I've tried different styles.
In one, I begin the synopsis by writing in one sentence what significant event opens the novel. After that, I write in one sentence how the novel ends. Then, I write ... you got it ... one sentence that defines the middle of the novel. From there, I fill in around ten more sentences, five that fall between the opening and the middle, and five between the middle and the end. Each entry is a singularly significant event, and it usually follows the format of a standard plot plan.
A second method I've tried is to simply list the standard plot points required for every good novel, then write a sentence that shows what event occurs in my novel to fit each point.
A third method I've tried is to print off page one of every chapter of the completed novel. Using each chapter's text, I write randomly about what occurs in that chapter. In this method, I wind up with a long synopsis. But when I've written the last entry about the final chapter, I go back and edit the synopsis, cutting unnecessary, unimportant, or duplicate information, and tightening wherever possible ... in the same manner I use when editing the actual novel.
A long time ago I read a fascinating study on the Internet written by Bill Johnson who used Clancy's Hunt for Red October as the model for his instructions on how to write a synopsis. You can still read some of it at http://www.storyispromise.com/wsynop.htm. The most significant thing I remember in Mr. Johnson's instruction is that the synopsis should open with what the novel is about (its theme), instead of the protagonist's action. I highly recommend Mr. Johnson's essay for anyone who is writing a synopsis, even if you already have a number of them under your belt. Following his instruction, writing the synopsis does seem fairly easy.
For what it's worth (maybe 2 cents?), for my next synopsis, I plan to create a Word document, write a statement of my story's theme, then create a numbered list of each point in the standard plot, and fill in the blanks below each numbered item with details from my novel.
Not only should I end up with a good synopsis, I will discover if I know what my story's main theme is (heaven help me if I don't know what it is) and I'll discover if I've included all of the plot points (or if I've missed any ... oops!) which will tell me whether or not I've written a good novel.
In my synopsis-writing experience, I've tried different styles.
In one, I begin the synopsis by writing in one sentence what significant event opens the novel. After that, I write in one sentence how the novel ends. Then, I write ... you got it ... one sentence that defines the middle of the novel. From there, I fill in around ten more sentences, five that fall between the opening and the middle, and five between the middle and the end. Each entry is a singularly significant event, and it usually follows the format of a standard plot plan.
A second method I've tried is to simply list the standard plot points required for every good novel, then write a sentence that shows what event occurs in my novel to fit each point.
A third method I've tried is to print off page one of every chapter of the completed novel. Using each chapter's text, I write randomly about what occurs in that chapter. In this method, I wind up with a long synopsis. But when I've written the last entry about the final chapter, I go back and edit the synopsis, cutting unnecessary, unimportant, or duplicate information, and tightening wherever possible ... in the same manner I use when editing the actual novel.
A long time ago I read a fascinating study on the Internet written by Bill Johnson who used Clancy's Hunt for Red October as the model for his instructions on how to write a synopsis. You can still read some of it at http://www.storyispromise.com/wsynop.htm. The most significant thing I remember in Mr. Johnson's instruction is that the synopsis should open with what the novel is about (its theme), instead of the protagonist's action. I highly recommend Mr. Johnson's essay for anyone who is writing a synopsis, even if you already have a number of them under your belt. Following his instruction, writing the synopsis does seem fairly easy.
For what it's worth (maybe 2 cents?), for my next synopsis, I plan to create a Word document, write a statement of my story's theme, then create a numbered list of each point in the standard plot, and fill in the blanks below each numbered item with details from my novel.
Not only should I end up with a good synopsis, I will discover if I know what my story's main theme is (heaven help me if I don't know what it is) and I'll discover if I've included all of the plot points (or if I've missed any ... oops!) which will tell me whether or not I've written a good novel.
6/10/10
Thoughts About How Authors Get Published
I recently remembered when I first heard of Charles Frazier, author of the blockbuster bestseller, Cold Mountain. A friend at work showed me a newspaper article about Frazier, probably thinking that if I read of his remarkable success, I would be encouraged about my own writing. Not! I'd written three novels and only had a file cabinet full of rejection letters to show for my efforts. As the newspaper article said, Frazier spent a mere eight years writing his novel and had stashed it in a bureau drawer only to have his wife (if memory serves) secretly take it from its hiding place and virtually toss it over the transom to a friend in the publishing business. And the rest is history, so to speak.
In comparison, I worked on my novel for going on seventeen years (okay, to be honest, I finished two other novels in that time and took time off to experience life). But there weren't any transoms around, so I did as Frazier did, put my manuscripts in a bureau drawer (I actually use a file cabinet), and let them sit, while I dreamed that someday my fairy godmother would come along with her magic wand.
But this is where Frazier and I part company. I was seventeen years older by now. I'd been through the mill, submitting my work to agents and publishers, entering writing competitions (and doing pretty well in a couple of them), and watching writer friends all around me getting published via their own singular kind of miracle. And one day, I decided it was time to stop trying, even though I knew that everyone says the only writer who doesn't get published is the one who stops trying. But the fun had gone out of writing, and I wanted the fun back. I thought the way to put fun back in writing was to give it away free to anyone who wanted to read it. Kind of like the millionaire who received his joy by giving away his money anonymously ..... something like that. I created a blog (this one) and began to post my novel, one chapter at a time. (I have since read that the majority of readers hate to read novels in serial form, preferring to have the entire book so they can read at their own pace and not have to sit and wait for the next series of chapters.)
And that's when it happened. Charles Frazier all over again. I ran across a friend, who had joined a publishing group, and the friend was eager to read my manuscript. There it was . . . my transom. Ready to have me throw my manuscript over it and be fast-tracked to editors.
Okay, this is not a success story yet. The editors have to like my story enough to want to publish it. But for me, today, I feel like Charles Frazier, and I'm beginning to visualize my book in print, and Mel Gibson playing the lead role in the movie version.
In comparison, I worked on my novel for going on seventeen years (okay, to be honest, I finished two other novels in that time and took time off to experience life). But there weren't any transoms around, so I did as Frazier did, put my manuscripts in a bureau drawer (I actually use a file cabinet), and let them sit, while I dreamed that someday my fairy godmother would come along with her magic wand.
But this is where Frazier and I part company. I was seventeen years older by now. I'd been through the mill, submitting my work to agents and publishers, entering writing competitions (and doing pretty well in a couple of them), and watching writer friends all around me getting published via their own singular kind of miracle. And one day, I decided it was time to stop trying, even though I knew that everyone says the only writer who doesn't get published is the one who stops trying. But the fun had gone out of writing, and I wanted the fun back. I thought the way to put fun back in writing was to give it away free to anyone who wanted to read it. Kind of like the millionaire who received his joy by giving away his money anonymously ..... something like that. I created a blog (this one) and began to post my novel, one chapter at a time. (I have since read that the majority of readers hate to read novels in serial form, preferring to have the entire book so they can read at their own pace and not have to sit and wait for the next series of chapters.)
And that's when it happened. Charles Frazier all over again. I ran across a friend, who had joined a publishing group, and the friend was eager to read my manuscript. There it was . . . my transom. Ready to have me throw my manuscript over it and be fast-tracked to editors.
Okay, this is not a success story yet. The editors have to like my story enough to want to publish it. But for me, today, I feel like Charles Frazier, and I'm beginning to visualize my book in print, and Mel Gibson playing the lead role in the movie version.
Book Reviews, another Singular Opinion
Heaven help those authors who have a book published, being sold at Amazon.com, and get reviews by someone with an agenda. I recently read the reviews for true-crime author Derek Armstrong's book, Drew Peterson Exposed. One review, in particular, has a meanness about it that tells me the reviewer has an ax to grind. The review is angry, and therefore, I don't consider it especially helpful to anyone trying to make a decision about buying or not buying the book.
Why does Amazon.com allow such reviews to get posted? Maybe Amazon believes that controversy will bring more people to their site?
Meanwhile, I'm waiting to receive my copy of the book in the mail so I can read it and decide for myself whether or not I think the book is good/bad/indifferent. The subject matter is certainly timely ... and who of us out here doesn't want a man like Drew Peterson to be exposed. (Those who believe he's guilty, of course.) I also think it's interesting that the names are so similar: Drew Peterson and Stacy Peterson and Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson. Think there's anything to that, or is it just coincidental?
Authors note: After I first wrote this blog entry and posted it on another blog, I have received the book and I've read it. I came away with mixed feelings; not about Peterson's guilt, but about whether the book was intended to show guilt or innocence, or if it just seemed that way to me. Then again, how can any author write a book without including some of his own feelings in it? Mine is not to reason why . . .
Why does Amazon.com allow such reviews to get posted? Maybe Amazon believes that controversy will bring more people to their site?
Meanwhile, I'm waiting to receive my copy of the book in the mail so I can read it and decide for myself whether or not I think the book is good/bad/indifferent. The subject matter is certainly timely ... and who of us out here doesn't want a man like Drew Peterson to be exposed. (Those who believe he's guilty, of course.) I also think it's interesting that the names are so similar: Drew Peterson and Stacy Peterson and Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson. Think there's anything to that, or is it just coincidental?
Authors note: After I first wrote this blog entry and posted it on another blog, I have received the book and I've read it. I came away with mixed feelings; not about Peterson's guilt, but about whether the book was intended to show guilt or innocence, or if it just seemed that way to me. Then again, how can any author write a book without including some of his own feelings in it? Mine is not to reason why . . .
Writers Groups, A Singular Opinion
Okay, we all have opinions about a lot of things. I've recently noticed that my opinion of writers groups is beginning to gel (or is it gell? or is it jell?).
WG's fall into three categories: good, bad, and ugly.
A good WG is one with a strong leader, a good set of rules, and requirements that the authors must meet. If you're in that group you're very fortunate. I call it the "A" group, and it's the one a writer will be most active in. It's also the one a writer benefits from most.
A bad WG is at the other end of the spectrum. Leadership is weak or non-existent. The rules only have to do with posting: what you can and cannot say. Mostly, it's a place where authors socialize. Frankly, I don't know why anyone wants to be a member of that group. I call it the "Z" group, and maybe lurking is the thing to do. read the new posts, and mark them as read and leave the site. I suspect it's where a writer rarely participates, since the majority of new posts are of the socializing kind. Again, why stay?
An ugly WG is indifferent and is almost as bad as a bad WG. Leadership exists, it isn't weak; it just doesn't know how to be strong. I think some leaders don't want to appear mean or tough, or they want to be liked. Or maybe they've been in a tough good WG, and they got burned (usually from not following one of the rules), so their pendulum swings to the other side and they think it's best to not have hard-and-fast rules. I disagree. Authors are people, and all people need rules. They need to know what is expected of them. So, there's the problem. If you're a rules person (and an author) you won't benefit from being a member of a no rules WG. Still, you can participate now and then, and feel you receive some benefit from membership in the group. If you often think you should quit the group and focus solely on the good WG, but don't. Why? It's something to think about.
WG's fall into three categories: good, bad, and ugly.
A good WG is one with a strong leader, a good set of rules, and requirements that the authors must meet. If you're in that group you're very fortunate. I call it the "A" group, and it's the one a writer will be most active in. It's also the one a writer benefits from most.
A bad WG is at the other end of the spectrum. Leadership is weak or non-existent. The rules only have to do with posting: what you can and cannot say. Mostly, it's a place where authors socialize. Frankly, I don't know why anyone wants to be a member of that group. I call it the "Z" group, and maybe lurking is the thing to do. read the new posts, and mark them as read and leave the site. I suspect it's where a writer rarely participates, since the majority of new posts are of the socializing kind. Again, why stay?
An ugly WG is indifferent and is almost as bad as a bad WG. Leadership exists, it isn't weak; it just doesn't know how to be strong. I think some leaders don't want to appear mean or tough, or they want to be liked. Or maybe they've been in a tough good WG, and they got burned (usually from not following one of the rules), so their pendulum swings to the other side and they think it's best to not have hard-and-fast rules. I disagree. Authors are people, and all people need rules. They need to know what is expected of them. So, there's the problem. If you're a rules person (and an author) you won't benefit from being a member of a no rules WG. Still, you can participate now and then, and feel you receive some benefit from membership in the group. If you often think you should quit the group and focus solely on the good WG, but don't. Why? It's something to think about.
A Mentor's Value
A mentor's value is high, and blessed is the author who lives with one.
While writing, I constantly toss out tidbits about my current WIP. My live-in mentor goes off for a while, lets what I said swirl around in his brain, and comes back later with thought-provoking ideas/suggestions/comments. Something like that happened today. Since my mentor knows the identity of my WIP's protagonist, and since my mentor has ideas very different from mine about how this character might think/act/react (which is a good thing....see note below about 'gender'), his comments sometimes seem off the wall; nevertheless, they always stimulate brain action on my part and that generates creativity and plot progress in a direction that had not occurred to me (and that might never have occurred to me without the stimulus).
What might be the most valuable part of my mentor is gender. Being different from mine, everything the mentor brings to the table is from an opposite point of view. And since I want to reach readers of both gender, and even though I consider myself a writer with insight, I wonder if I could write a book that will market as well with male and female readers without my mentor's input.
So, if you find a great mentor of the opposite sex, marry him/her.
While writing, I constantly toss out tidbits about my current WIP. My live-in mentor goes off for a while, lets what I said swirl around in his brain, and comes back later with thought-provoking ideas/suggestions/comments. Something like that happened today. Since my mentor knows the identity of my WIP's protagonist, and since my mentor has ideas very different from mine about how this character might think/act/react (which is a good thing....see note below about 'gender'), his comments sometimes seem off the wall; nevertheless, they always stimulate brain action on my part and that generates creativity and plot progress in a direction that had not occurred to me (and that might never have occurred to me without the stimulus).
What might be the most valuable part of my mentor is gender. Being different from mine, everything the mentor brings to the table is from an opposite point of view. And since I want to reach readers of both gender, and even though I consider myself a writer with insight, I wonder if I could write a book that will market as well with male and female readers without my mentor's input.
So, if you find a great mentor of the opposite sex, marry him/her.
Writing an Epistolary Novel
I've not written in this genre before. Nor have I read many (any) classic or contemporary novels written in this fashion---a novel of letters. As yet. My plan is to read as many as possible while I flesh out a structure, list of characters and their traits/backgrounds, and a basic theme. Already begun, my novel is not yet titled, and like others I've written before, I expect the title will emerge as the story and characters develop.
While I have a fairly good notion, at this point, of who the characters are (four female characters will exchange letters, making this a polylogic type of epistolary novel) as with other of my novels, the characters will come more alive as the story begins to take shape. Employing this method in writing a novel, that of not fully knowing the characters at the outset, requires some additional editing after the novel is finished. Nevertheless, my author style is fairly well set in cement at this time; it's the way I work best, so I'll not change it, nor try to change it, with this novel.
I plan to carry blog readers along on this journey and will post new entries as I take steps toward ultimate completion.....my goal is to complete the novel by year's end. I'm aiming at an approximate word count of 70,000, and my current structure has the novel broken into nine parts, each part containing four chapters (36 chapters in all). With little more than 5 months left in the year, I'll need to write 2 chapters per week (which will allow time to edit at the end), a schedule that is attainable.
That said, we're off and running . . .
While I have a fairly good notion, at this point, of who the characters are (four female characters will exchange letters, making this a polylogic type of epistolary novel) as with other of my novels, the characters will come more alive as the story begins to take shape. Employing this method in writing a novel, that of not fully knowing the characters at the outset, requires some additional editing after the novel is finished. Nevertheless, my author style is fairly well set in cement at this time; it's the way I work best, so I'll not change it, nor try to change it, with this novel.
I plan to carry blog readers along on this journey and will post new entries as I take steps toward ultimate completion.....my goal is to complete the novel by year's end. I'm aiming at an approximate word count of 70,000, and my current structure has the novel broken into nine parts, each part containing four chapters (36 chapters in all). With little more than 5 months left in the year, I'll need to write 2 chapters per week (which will allow time to edit at the end), a schedule that is attainable.
That said, we're off and running . . .
An Author's Plight and Plotting
After a year away from a project, it takes time to get back into the groove of writing again every day. Since I'd nearly forgotten what my story was about, I decided to start by getting the latest version of that story and just start reading. (I had created no plot outline, so I couldn't work from that.) Therefore, while reading, when I came across something that didn't seem right (maybe it needed clarification, maybe it just stunk) I began editing. In that way, I plowed through the finished portions of the novel (from Ch 1 to where I'd stopped), and then I reviewed the "statements" I'd written for each succeeding chapter up to the book's end.
So, then I edited and read, edited and read, edited and read, until I wasn't sure anymore what I was reading. I didn't know if the chapters flowed smoothly one to the next, nor did I know if my plot was cohesive and ran consecutively. In other words, I no longer knew if the plot made sense. Since the WIP is a mystery, it really needs to make sense, and it has to be cohesive, and the clues have to be given up one at a time, in proper order, and not too soon (or the story's over). That, plus the fact that the novel is an "open mystery" meaning the reader knows who the bad guy is but the protagonist does not, and so, as the story unfolds and the plot moves forward, the protagonist eventually comes to the right conclusion and learns what the reader knows, and the mystery is the journey while the protagonist discovers the truth.
As I finished the last few chapters that ended the story (some middle chapters are still left to be written), I realized that once again I had written a story "on the fly" so to speak, with no planning, no outline. That's not all bad. Some very successful authors write this way. They start with Chapter 1 and continue until they reach the final chapter. And it all works out beautifully. But in my case, although I have a strong beginning and I've written the ending three chapters, and I know who the good guy is and who the bad guy is, the middle of the book is wavering. Tottering? Crumbling?
So, what did I do? Well, I took what I've written so far and am creating a plot outline from what's already there. I've created a matrix, and for each scene I'm indicating on that table, the scene goal, the conflict, and the disaster (the dilemma that will carry the character on to the next scene and it's goal). In this way, it's easy to see if one of the three requirements is missing from a scene; maybe there's no clear goal; worse, maybe there's no open conflict (as opposed to conflict inside a character's head, which is usually fairly boring to a reader); and maybe there is no clear "does he get what he wants?" or "does he not get what he wants?" or better yet "surprise! he does get something, but whatever it is puts him in such a bad spot that it looks like he'll never get what he wants".
Another aspect I like about plotting in this manner, I've been able to quickly pinpoint those spots in a chapter that ought to be cut and turned into a sequel to the previous chapter, instead of being written in the present chapter as something that previously occurred. I keep forgetting that the reader likes to be carried on a torrent of "now" with the character and can easily get bored when a character "remembers" something that happened a day or a moment ago.
The last good thing I learned in doing this plotting exercise, I sometimes write a scene where a character rehashes in his head about conflict that occurred in the past, or, he might think to himself about something that upsets him in the present (but he doesn't speak up). Well, that's going to change . . . at least in this current WIP. While creating my plot matrix, any time I see the possibility of "open" conflict (as opposed to in-the-head conflict), I will rewrite that scene. I mean, why have someone frown or scowl, when they can just as easily speak up and tell the other character (in dialogue) what is making them frown or scowl? This can be great dialogue, with lots of hostility, maybe some name-calling (if they're the type to name-call), accompanied by some effective body language, expressions, and at the very least, it will create great drama.
Oh, boy, I can't wait.
So, then I edited and read, edited and read, edited and read, until I wasn't sure anymore what I was reading. I didn't know if the chapters flowed smoothly one to the next, nor did I know if my plot was cohesive and ran consecutively. In other words, I no longer knew if the plot made sense. Since the WIP is a mystery, it really needs to make sense, and it has to be cohesive, and the clues have to be given up one at a time, in proper order, and not too soon (or the story's over). That, plus the fact that the novel is an "open mystery" meaning the reader knows who the bad guy is but the protagonist does not, and so, as the story unfolds and the plot moves forward, the protagonist eventually comes to the right conclusion and learns what the reader knows, and the mystery is the journey while the protagonist discovers the truth.
As I finished the last few chapters that ended the story (some middle chapters are still left to be written), I realized that once again I had written a story "on the fly" so to speak, with no planning, no outline. That's not all bad. Some very successful authors write this way. They start with Chapter 1 and continue until they reach the final chapter. And it all works out beautifully. But in my case, although I have a strong beginning and I've written the ending three chapters, and I know who the good guy is and who the bad guy is, the middle of the book is wavering. Tottering? Crumbling?
So, what did I do? Well, I took what I've written so far and am creating a plot outline from what's already there. I've created a matrix, and for each scene I'm indicating on that table, the scene goal, the conflict, and the disaster (the dilemma that will carry the character on to the next scene and it's goal). In this way, it's easy to see if one of the three requirements is missing from a scene; maybe there's no clear goal; worse, maybe there's no open conflict (as opposed to conflict inside a character's head, which is usually fairly boring to a reader); and maybe there is no clear "does he get what he wants?" or "does he not get what he wants?" or better yet "surprise! he does get something, but whatever it is puts him in such a bad spot that it looks like he'll never get what he wants".
Another aspect I like about plotting in this manner, I've been able to quickly pinpoint those spots in a chapter that ought to be cut and turned into a sequel to the previous chapter, instead of being written in the present chapter as something that previously occurred. I keep forgetting that the reader likes to be carried on a torrent of "now" with the character and can easily get bored when a character "remembers" something that happened a day or a moment ago.
The last good thing I learned in doing this plotting exercise, I sometimes write a scene where a character rehashes in his head about conflict that occurred in the past, or, he might think to himself about something that upsets him in the present (but he doesn't speak up). Well, that's going to change . . . at least in this current WIP. While creating my plot matrix, any time I see the possibility of "open" conflict (as opposed to in-the-head conflict), I will rewrite that scene. I mean, why have someone frown or scowl, when they can just as easily speak up and tell the other character (in dialogue) what is making them frown or scowl? This can be great dialogue, with lots of hostility, maybe some name-calling (if they're the type to name-call), accompanied by some effective body language, expressions, and at the very least, it will create great drama.
Oh, boy, I can't wait.
6/9/10
Where Did The NOVEL Go?????
One never knows what life has in store . . .
After giving you a gander at the opening chapters of Murder at Third Base, I connected with a publishing professional who expressed a strong interest in my manuscript with the possibility of publishing it in print and e-book forms. So, Murder at Third Base will be off my blog while the manuscript is under consideration.
After giving you a gander at the opening chapters of Murder at Third Base, I connected with a publishing professional who expressed a strong interest in my manuscript with the possibility of publishing it in print and e-book forms. So, Murder at Third Base will be off my blog while the manuscript is under consideration.
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