Adam Heine's Blog, page 17

First Impact: DEATHSIGN by C.A. Schmidt

It's time for another First Impact Critique,
where we take a look at your queries, first pages, back cover copy, etc.
You want to make an impact right from the start. We're here to help
you do that.



If you'd like to submit your first impact material, send it to firstimpactAE@gmail.com. Details here.



Remember, anyone who offers their comments is eligible for either $10 for Amazon or B&N OR a 20-page critique from me.






This week we have the first page of a cool-looking YA fantasy. My i...

The Science of Persuasion

A friend directed me to this great video on persuasion. It's about the psychology behind why people make decisions, and how you can ethically apply these concepts to persuading people to do what you want. This is ridiculously useful if you're trying to get somebody to buy something (like, say, a book you wrote), but it also applies to things like getting people to follow your blog, critique your manuscript, or blurb your novel.



(You can use them unethically too, of course. That's the problem...

Query Letters and That Pesky Bio Paragraph

If you've done any research into writing query letters, you've probably read that you need (1) a hook, (2) a mini-synopsis, and (3) a paragraph about you. I see a lot of confusion about what to put in that bio paragraph. Hopefully we can clear that up here.



(NOTE: This is specifically for fiction queries. In non-fiction queries, the bio paragraph is a lot more important).



RULE #1: If you're not sure what to write about yourself, write:

Thank you for your time and consideration.

And NOTHING...

First Impact: MY SISTER'S DATING A SERIAL KILLER by Carolyn Chambers Clark

It's time for another First Impact Critique,
where I take a look at your queries, first pages, back cover copy, etc.
You want to make an impact right from the start. We're here to help
you do that.



Congratulations to commenter PATCHI! The gods of probability have favored you for November's prize!



December's prize will be the same: either $10 for Amazon/B&N OR a 20-page critique from me (seriously, guys, I've had ZERO time to think of/hunt people down for better prizes; I can't imagine w...

Books I Read: Neuromancer

Title: Neuromancer

Author: William Gibson

Genre: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk

Published: 1984

My Content Rating: R for sex, language, and violence

Cliffhanger Ending: No



Case is a washed-up computer hacker; a toxic enzyme from some folks he double-crossed ensures he can never jack into the matrix again. He spends his nights trying to get himself killed in the seamier side of Japan when he's approached by a mysterious man named Armitage and his muscle: a woman with mirrors for eyes and blades...

A Free, Easy Backup Plan

You need to backup your stuff. Not because your computer might get stolen or your house might burn down. But because your hard drive WILL fail within a couple of years. Someone in your house WILL, somehow, put a virus on your machine. You WILL accidentally-but-permanently delete your work in progress.



I am the most tech savvy, obsessively careful person I know, yet all three of these things have happened to me. They'll get you too.



I'm also supremely lazy. So if my backup plan requires any...

First Impact: JUMPING ANTS by Lori Goldstein

It's time for another First Impact Critique,
where I take a look at your queries, first pages, back cover copy, etc.
You want to make an impact right from the start. We're here to help
you do that.



If you'd like to submit your first impact material, send it to firstimpactAE@gmail.com. Details here.



Remember, anyone who offers their comments is eligible for either $10 for Amazon or B&N OR a 20-page critique from me.








Here, in Lori's own words: I'm submitting two takes on a pitch that...

When You Open Your MS for the 1,000,000th Time and You LOATHE It

Thank you for indulging my forced vacation last week. I actually didn't mean to time it with Thanksgiving (I often forget about American holidays out here), but sometimes things just work out, don't they?



So. You sit down to write. You open the Word doc that you've opened a million times before, see the chapter heading or title page and . . . you hate it. You hate that chapter title, that opening paragraph, that scene that you've revised twenty billion times.



This happened to me a little wh...

Vacation

I'm taking a week-long break from blogging for this reason. Things should return to their regular schedule next Monday.



Here's a picture of Batman riding an elephant.

Animal

Probably my favorite muppet (with the possible exception of the Swedish Chef). Here, have a drum solo. Cross-posted from Anthdrawlogy's Muppets week.



Who's your favorite muppet?