Deborah Halverson, award-winning author (Honk if You Hate Me, Big Mouth, and the upcoming Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies), offers up 10 Tests a Novel Must Pass to Prove It's REALLY Ready for Submission. Need more?
If you've written the world's best novel but have a crappy ending, it might "leave a bad taste in the reader’s mouth and will ensure they don’t want to read your next book," says author . One tip: "Link the story to a larger theme to end on a high note."Suspense/Thriller author Bob Mayer explains why and how conflict is the fuel of your novel. Tension is sort of the "twin" to conflict (sometimes they're the same, sometimes they're not), and one of the other most important elements to a story. Nancy Curteman offers up nine ways to create tension in a mystery novel.
Literary agent Nathan Bransford has a great succinct overview of How to Write a Novel, starting with the main plot arc and working down to style and voice and the climax, with links under each section for related info.
ON PUBLISHING
Many more folks are choosing self-publication these days, but whether you go that route or with an indie press or one of the big five and their subsidiaries, there are pros and cons for each publishing option.
Which media outlets sell books? Patrick Brown surveyed Goodreads to see how well it stacked up against Amazon, NPR, The Daily Show and others.
J.A. Konrath has been a vocal critic of the "old school" publishing industry and a cheerleader for the digital revolution. Here's his take on the changing face of publishing.
What do you do when an agent asks for an exclusive (the privilege of reading a manuscript before any other literary agent is allowed to see it)? Writer's Relief has some advice.
ON MARKETING
Selling and marketing your book via Amazon may sound like a good idea, but where to start? Here are 10 ways...
One overlooked area in book promotion is "niche marketing," a way of tying in your book's themes, characters or setting to specialty groups and events.
Even in this day and age, many people think all published authors are wealthy. (Probably the same 20% of Americans who still think the Earth is the physical center of the universe). But J.B. Stanley, author of 13 published books, has a breakdown of her sales and marketing numbers that should disabuse anyone of the "rich author" notion. Unless you're one of these.
Very interesting post. Thank you.
Posted by: JAB | August 26, 2010 at 12:29 PM
Great post. Full of practical information. I appreciate the many links. Well done.
Posted by: Nancy Curteman | October 08, 2010 at 11:28 PM
Thanks, Nancy! I've visited your blog many times -- for folks who haven't, check out "Global Mysteries" via Nancy's link.
Posted by: BV Lawson | October 09, 2010 at 11:25 AM