Win a free copy of my new novel… this week only!
Plus a little content for you today. First, the promotional deal:
My publisher (Turner Publishing) is running a little lottery to give away a few dozen copies of my latest release, “The Seventh Thunder” (click to learn more about the book). There are no strings, though I’ll add that if you’d like to post a review I’m be most grateful.
Click HERE to enter. Your odds are good on this one. (Click HERE for the Amazon page.)
If you run blog and would like a review copy – and you don’t win this time – let me know, I’ll make it happen.
Here’s something to think about in the meantime.
Selling a story is like a job interview.
Maybe you’ve never thought of it like this. Maybe you should, because the parallels are… disturbingly accurate.
Employers have expectations and criteria when they post a job opening. Or even when they consider walk-ins. Applicants need to not only qualify for the job according to those criteria, they need to stand out from the other applications.
Writers tend to miss this perspective. Instead they “write from the heart,” and throw it out there, hoping that their heart is something others will want to read about. The truth is, readers want more from us, they have expectations and standards when they choose what to read.
So, if your story is a job application, the employer is an agent, an editor or simply a reader shopping for a good book… what are you offering them?
Most importantly, how will your book stand out from the crowd?
The crowd itself is genre-dependent. If you write sci-fi you aren’t competing with literary fiction or mysteries, the stage is already set for what you must present upon it.
Ask yourself: what sets your story apart? What makes it worthwhile? What constitutes an edge, something new and fresh and unexpected and – most importantly – compelling?
As in an interview, you get points for presentation, as well. How tight is your pitch (query)? How perfect is your manuscript on the page? How do you introduce the story using a logline that grabs attention, that differentiates, at a first glance?
From my own database of over 600 analyzed stories in the past three years, I can tell you this with certainty: most writers don’t think this way. Most of the stories I receive – and have to assume, represent most of the stories circulating out there – are generic, as if they are actually trying to join the crowd (even imitating it), rather than rising above it.
If it sounds like this: “the story is about two brother growing up in rural Iowa during the depression”… good luck with that. The waiting room is full of applicants with a better story to tell, and you may want to buff up on those criteria before your name is called.
If you want to land the job, make sure you can compete for it. The criteria is available, and when you compare your story to those principles and benchmarks, you may be surprised at the outcome.
Here’s hoping that outcome gets you hired.
But if you have more work to do… I can help.
I’m redesigning my story coaching programs, effective January 1, 2015.
Check back for details, but here’s a hint: you can get your concept evaluated for under fifty bucks, and the Questionnaires I’ve used are now beefed up to the extent they are more tutorials and interactive exercises you can apply immediately to your story, rather than just a pop quiz that accesses where you are (that’s important and useful, but now you’ll have a strategy).
More information will be posted soon on this, stay tuned.
*****
PRICE REDUCTION on my ebook, “Warm Hugs for Writers.” Now available for $2.95.
The book was a finalist in the crowed ebook category of the Next Generation Indie Awards, and delivers a combination of craft and comfort, along with a few laughs and shivers. Hoping you’ll check it out.
Win a free copy of my new novel… this week only! is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com
The post Win a free copy of my new novel… this week only! appeared first on Storyfix.com.
