#publishingtip

[atruebloodwrites]

Attention #amquerying writers! • This Monday I’m going live with a new query series. Just like the feature on my blog, I’ll be sharing successful queries and talking about why the content may have caught an agent’s eye. • I’m starting this series because I’ve been in the trenches twice now and know how difficult it can be. • So join me this upcoming Monday, April 6 at 11 am PST as I share the first query & talk about the process. At the end, I will open the session up for questions you may have about the query process. Hope to see you there! • • • #queryletter #amquerying #aspiringwriterslife #publishingtip #writetip #writersofinstagram #querytip #queryletters #writingcommunity #writershelpingwriters #igauthorlife https://www.instagram.com/p/B-cpataASqE/?igshid=s9u0457jp1w6

[risingsignals]

A lot of us dream about being published authors, but are our dreams accurate? Jody Hedlund (who has a fantastic blog, by the way) offers a glimpse into her personal and professional life.

[risingsignals]

If you intend to hire a freelance editor for your novel, plan ahead. Many are booked months in advance.

– The Novel Doctor (if you're looking for an editor, go with Stephen)

[risingsignals]

#publishingtip

It is a reality check whenever I see questions that publishers actually ask when you are submitting a book. Knowing what they are looking for while you're still writing your novel will help you prepare before the day of sending your book out arrives.

Of particular note from Marcher Lord Press's form, is when they ask you to list the:

novel hook (10 words)

novel premise (100 words)

novel synopsis (750 words)

Having a real publisher ask you those questions is pretty intense. I don't know if I have the answers for them yet, but now I'll be thinking about them.

[risingsignals]

#publishingtip

James Dashner gives some good beginning advice about the journey to getting published. Hopefully some day I'll get to put these tips into practice.

[risingsignals]

Cover designer Chad W. Beckerman walks through the process of designing the cover for Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes.

[risingsignals]

A lot of new books these days have a trailer to help promote it. Another thing you can do is this great idea for The Subterrene War series, by T.C. McCarthy.

Half way through the Subterrene War, a documentary film crew gained access to Bandar Abbas – a key supply point for Western forces in Kazakhstan.

Military leaders denied the filmmaker’s request to embed with frontline troops, but granted rear-area interviews.Censors subsequently seized much of the footage.

We found four clips from these censored interviews.

This reminds me of the great short films for Halo 3. The Believe campaign was positively brilliant, because it really made you wonder, "Could this be real? No, it couldn't be... could it?"

Doing this same sort of thing for books is a great idea. But you have to make sure that you:

Focus on the humanity of the story

Have good writing and acting. 

Make me believe your story is real.

[risingsignals]

Besides offering an informative case study of how the cover of her next novel was designed, Jody Hedlund writes:

I admit. I’ve passed over books based on the cover. The writing techniques may have been perfect and story may have been superb, but because the cover looked cheesy or amateur or boring or whatever, I didn’t give the book a chance. Of course, if the book has a lot of buzz and great reviews, I’m more likely to overlook a dull or poorly done cover. But for new, untried authors the cover-bar is high. Whether traditionally or self-published, there are already a lot of reasons people will say no to a new author’s book. Don’t let the cover be one of them.