The Writing Excuses podcast is so good, I’m linking it here in the sidebar.
And as I am at it, I’d like to point out this very interesting, simple story structure that was discussed in a not-so-recent podcast. It’s the seven-points story structure, and I like it quite a lot.
I wonder if I’ll be able to adapt it to a 10.000 words story.
This is going to be tricky.
I’m about to write 25.000 words – give or take a few paragraphs – in ten days, or I’ll miss a deadline.
And I can’t miss the deadline.
Two deadlines, actually
The plus is, I’ve about 5000 words already – so yes, I’m cheating, I’ll have to write only 20.000
It’s not much, really.
It means writing two thousand words per day.
Twenty hundred good words, that is. Continue reading
This is not exactly a writing prompt.
Fact is, sometimes we chance upon a picture that sums up everything we’ve been searching for.
I’ve been collecting material for a new series now for over a year.
I want the mystery and the magic of the sea.
Castles on the coast, golden in the last hours of the waning day.
I want shipwrecks and underwater action.
I want the enclosed space of a small sea – the Mediterranean.
And the dream of a quiet, simple life.
And yesterday I found this picture, that has it all.
What a wonderful cover it would make!
A few hours back I was chatting with my friend Lucy about one of the trickiest part of publishing.
Synopses, Amazon calls them.
But I prefer blurbs.
You know, the digital equivalent of the book’s back cover copy.
The text that’s splattered under your book details on the Amazon page, and probably you attach to your ebook as part of the metadata.
It’s not the first thing the readers sees about the book – title, cover, author name and price come first – and yet it’s important as hell.
Because if it’s true that often the cover sells the book, the blurb has the all-important purpose of tipping the scales, helping the undecided to go on and shell out their hard-earned money.
There might be a job, in there – blurb-writer.
A sure-fire, 100%-hits writer of blurbs could sell them for five bucks per copy and make a living out of it. Continue reading
As usual, write her story – but try doing it without the verb “to be”…
So, now Amazon lets me offer my ebooks for pre-order*.
Basically the idea is, I upload my files like I always did, and then I can set the publishing date as far as 90 days later.
You can buy straight away, but it will be delivered to your reader on the set date.
Nice and smooth.
I did a small experiment, in August, using a novelette I wrote, in a new series of sword & sandal stories for the Italian market – it’s called Asteria alla Corte di Minosse.
I talked about this story when I was writing it, as part of a bet with a friend and colleague.
The response was good, so much so that my ebook made the Amazon top 100 in the Fantasy category on the strength of the pre-orders alone.
Now that was heartening.
On the other hand, a lot of readers expressed some perplexity – what’s the purpose of pre-ordering an ebook?
After all, the good thing about ebooks is, I see something I like, I click and I’ve got it on my reader straight away.
No delivery times, no waiting, no hassle.
Why wait up to 90 days to get the file? Continue reading
One of the most entertaining and refreshing aspects of working with a great editor is sometimes you spend a whole night discussing swingy thingies.
Which disproves the old legend that authors and editors are often at odds, and engage in fiery discussions.
We were somewhat at odds, but we had a good laugh.
Consider the following contraption
This thing appears in one of the stories that will be published in the forthcoming Aculeo & Amunet collection – The Hand of Isfet. Continue reading
Karavansara 