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Posts Tagged ‘writing techniques’

No More Blah-Blah-Blah

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on 10 Apr 2013| 5 Comments »

Stack of BooksSo…that went well…

The Free Book Promotion for Unraveling Time was a rousing success. Over 1100 copies were downloaded. I hope you all got your free edition. (If you missed it, I’ve modified the regular price and you can now get a copy for only 99¢.)

The downside? Well, first off, Italy and I are no longer on speaking terms (no copies to the .it site), and then, obviously, it’s over, so the book is no longer on the Top Ten. Thus…back to obscurity. The promotion begat some interesting conversations about the value and future of e-books (or, to be more precise, the value and future of hardcopy books), the value and methodology of this kind of promotion, and other topics that I’ll cover in future.

Now, though, it’s time to shift gears. I need to quit screwing around. No more blah-blah-blah (if you get that classic TV reference, let me know) and lots more “On, you huskies!”

Yes, it’s time to start writing.

(more…)

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Secondary Effects

Posted in Books, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 06 Apr 2013| Leave a Comment »

Stack of BooksYesterday’s promotional campaign–offering Unraveling Time free of charge for an entire weekend– came under the heading of “It couldn’t hurt.” I thought it might get my book in front of a couple of new readers. It did, but it did more than that. There are secondary effects.

Unraveling Time is a time-travel/historical/adventure/romance (yep…it is) and as such, I listed it in two sub-sub-genres: Historical fantasy and Time Travel Romance (didn’t know there was a Time Travel Romance sub-sub-genre, did you?) Well, this morning, due to the free copies that people have downloaded, Unraveling Time is in the Top Ten for its genres. Now, I grant you, those are rather specific sub-sub-genres, but here’s the thing. At Amazon, there are people who subscribe to the RSS feed of top sellers in those genres. There is even an RSS feed for top free books in those genres. And that, my friends, is targeting your demographic.

Of course, it’s a free promotion, and I’m not making a dime off it, but as folks in another business say: The first taste is free.

Already, I’ve had emails from people thanking me for the free book, telling me that they’ve started reading it already and are enjoying it, and one email from a brand-new reader just to tell me that she really loved a line from the book (“…and the sand
beneath him that smelled of ancient anger.”)

I can’t tell you how big my grin was when I read that.

So, if you some friend or colleague or even just a blogger like me says, Here’s a book for free, go get it. Even if you don’t read it, you’ll help that person’s book reach new readers and that is, essentially, what most of us are striving for.

k

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Hard-Boiled Writing

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 03 Apr 2013| 2 Comments »

Stack of BooksThere are some things I cannot do and will never be able to do. I will execute a perfect entrechat huit. I will never date Morena Baccarin. I will never be the conductor of a world-famous symphonic orchestra. I will never eat balut. The items on this list are there due to my physical limitations, my not having enough talent or time to achieve the goal, or my strong desire to not ever do such a stupid thing. (You can figure out which goes with which.)

There are other things I cannot do and should be able to do. These are things that are not beyond my physical capabilities or mental acumen. These are things I want to do but simply, at this point in time, cannot.

Like cooking the perfect hard-boiled egg. (more…)

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What Readers Want

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on 19 Mar 2013| 2 Comments »

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiWhat do readers really want?

We’ve been discussing this topic over on some FB threads. The complaint (from writers) is about what readers do not seem to want, i.e., originality. Or at least, they don’t want too much originality.

This isn’t meant as a diss or a put-down. It’s something that’s endemic to many entertainment industries (and do not doubt that publishing is an entertainment industry). Publishers want a sure thing to put their money behind, and readers want a sure thing for their hard-earned cash. Totally understandable.

Readers want something similar to what they already know they like, but they don’t want a complete re-hash of an old story. They want their tropes, their memes, but they also want a new spin, or perhaps a new element. Some genres are extremely hide-bound (detective novels and rom-com movies, for example), while others are more open to “variations on a theme” (e.g., steampunk).  (more…)

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The Ten Percent Solution

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 08 Mar 2013| 4 Comments »

Back in my “The View from Here” series, I addressed one common problem I called “Wiggle Words.” I cannot now remember where I came up with the phrase–perhaps I made it up; I’ve been known to invent a thing or two on my own–but I absolutely remember where I first encountered the concept.

Ken Rand’s The 10% Solution is one of the best how-to-write books on my shelf. It is short, clear, and has more bang-for-buck within its covers than most books 4 times its length. Ken has had a long career in fiction and non-fiction both, from novels and short stories to ad-copy, news reports, and PR work. In brief: Ken knows writing.

And this book is pure gold. I first read it about fifteen years ago, and I came away from it with two major lessons under my belt. (more…)

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Mystical Methods

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on 04 Mar 2013| 1 Comment »

In prep for my next book project, I’m reading some authors whose styles I want to understand better. The first author on my list was Alice Hoffman, and my second is Julio Cortázar.

I turned to Cortázar primarily because of one story I read many years ago. “Axolotl” was a story of such unusual structure and style that it has stuck with me for decades, after only a single reading. This alone is enough do draw me back to it, in this preliminary phase, but its structure also has something I’ve been thinking about for the structure of my next book: shifting POV.

Cortázar’s prose and style is impossible to nail down. Each story in this so different from the others. At times, I thought I found an overarching method, only to find something radically different in the next story. If there is anything that does pertain to all of Cortázar’s stories here, it is density. And by density, I don’t mean that his prose is opaque and hard to understand. To the contrary, his prose is clear, but full of detail, full of depth, and (harkening back to my one recent revelation) full of history and backstory. (more…)

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The View from Here – Contest Results

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on 01 Mar 2013| 1 Comment »

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiTime’s up!

Our “Handwritten MS” Contest is complete. And the winner is…

(more…)

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