Selling to Libraries

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One of the best places to sell your book is libraries…but we don’t mean you sitting out front, selling to library patrons…no, we mean selling to the libraries themselves. Many sales events are held at locations including book stores, schools, convention centers, museums, galleries, or community meeting spots…but don’t try a book sale at a library. As we mentioned back in More Steps to Marketing, most folks heading to the library are expecting to find free books, so they are less than willing to put out money to buy your book…no matter how good it is.

BUT, if you instead offer to sell your book to the library, then those same folks can come in and check out your book…and if they enjoyed it, they can follow the list you included (you did list your other books as we explained in Hook Your Reader with a 99¢ Book, didn’t you?). It’s almost as if you’re giving away a free copy to a bunch of folks all at once, but you get paid for it!

Distribution

Libraries, as with many bookstores, will only buy books from a wholesale distributor, so your first step is to get listed through as many distributors as you can. KDP’s Extended Distribution Program takes care of a few, but you can do more. Depending on the format of your book, there are different distributors that you need to sign up with.

  • ebook

To get your ebook into libraries, you need Overdrive. You can either go directly to them or use a consolidation service such as Draft2Digital, Publish Drive, or Smash Words* to cover more bases. Of course, adding a middle man will cut into your royalties, but subbing out all that extra work really pays off, and any other sales you make are sales you might not have made at all.

  • Print book (paperback and hard cover)

For all your printed books, you’ll need to go through Ingram Spark. It’s a rather involved process, and they do have an initial set-up fee (as opposed to other sites). If you’re serious about having your book available in more places, you should just consider it an investment.

  • Audio books

For your audio books, use FindAWay Voices. If you already have the audio files, you can upload and use FindAWay just for distribution. If you still need to create the files, they have options similar to other audio book services: pay the full price for the conversion or pay a partial and share the royalties with the narrator.

Get in the Library Listings

Once you’ve gotten into the distributions channels, the second step is to make your book visible to the librarians. The processes to get into these listings is long and laborious, though we may have a future posting that covers all the steps involved. (Let us know if this information would be helpful to you.) The lists you’ll need to access are maintained by Baker & Taylor, Brodart, Midwest Library Service, and Bookazine.

Convince Librarians

Now comes the real work. You need librarians to actually seek out your book in the listings. When you are trying to persuade them, you need to remember that their business is not sales, rather they provide a service. They have different goals than bookstores do. Librarians want to:

  • shelve books their patrons will want to read
  • increase traffic to their site (physical or Internet)
  • serve the folks in their communities
  • most importantly, stay within budget
    (often set by governments or parent organisations)

You should visit your local libraries and give a short pitch (Elevator speech)…offer to give readings or a talk on your subject. It will be good for you—exposure—and good for them—more customers. They are often agreeable to hosting local celebrities (and that’s what you are!), especially if there is an educational aspect to your lecture. See what they need. Then branch out to larger, more distant libraries…citing your local libraries as already having your book…create a snowball effect.

Tools

You‘ll need two tools to make your case.

  • Sales Sheet

A Sales Sheet gives important information about your book. Using a single 8.5×11 sheet, put the title right at the top, then a short paragraph expounding the good points, a picture of the cover, and a short About the Author section. In addition, you need to include the vital details: price, format, trim size, ISBN, publisher, and publication date. Don’t forget your contact info.

  • Author Sheet

Although you have some author info on the Sales Sheet, having a separate Author Sheet gives you more room to brag. Now you’re the focus, so, again on a full 8.5×11 sheet, start with your name and a paragraph all about you and what you can do for them. List topics you are willing to speak on. Include a sample cover of one or two of your best books, and make your contact info plain and clear.

On both sheets, the contact info should include a link to where they can read part of your book…such as on your Author Site. It’s a good idea to include the first few chapters there, so visitors can get a feel for how you write…as well as getting hooked—they’ll just have to buy your book to see how it all comes out.

*We’ve used Smash Words for quite some time, so we’ll be sticking with them. A comment often heard is that their formatting requirements are excessive. Following their free Style Guide is actually a good idea to keep your book organised, for ebook and for print…especially if it’s a long one. Our second choice would be Draft 2 Digital, where they have a disadvantage in that they don’t play well with Amazon…you’ll have to do that for yourself. What they will do for you is all the formatting. Unfortunately, you don’t get your personal touch as you do with Smash Words, so you may not end up with exactly what you want. There are always trade-offs.

Mary Sue (or Marty Stu)

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Earlier we had talked about Author Intrusion, when an author inserts his opinions or beliefs into a story as part of narration…where they don’t belong. Now we’re going to cover what happens when the author literally inserts himself into a story. We use the term self-insertion to refer to this literary device. Not limited to literature, artists during the 16th century occasionally put a self-portrait into paintings they did.

These self-inserted characters (also called author surrogates) are usually blatant representations of the author…taken from the real world and put into the fictional world created by the author. They give authors an opportunity to reveal their philosophy or politics in the story world. When done openly, it gives the author permission to interact with his characters and express personal views…as long as it fits into the story. (Sometimes going so far as having the same name as the author!) Some authors write stories specifically to allow them to pontificate to the world or for humorous or sarcastic effect.

Sometimes an author surrogate exists as a veiled character, with a different name, description, personality…even gender…so the author can distance himself from the actions of the character but still express his stance on various topics. Some aspects of the author will always creep into every character he builds (everything is a little bit autobiographical). The problem is that some characters, intended to be just based on the author, drift into being the author. Unfortunately, when taken too far, the character becomes the author (or vice versa).

Source of the Term

The term Mary Sue (later re-gendered into Marty Stu) originated in the early days of fan fiction. (Fan-fiction is when young writers create stories that take place in existing universes.) Back then, the most common universe used was Star Trek, with Captain Kirk, Mr Spock, Dr McCoy, and Commander Scott. Fan Fiction authors wrote many stories involving those main characters, along with new characters…as it happened, most of the new characters they introduced were specifically intended to represent the writer themselves.

Those author-characters gave rise to the term Mary Sue after Paula Smith wrote a parody in “The Menagerie”, a fan-zine (fan magazine). The main character in the story was Lieutenant Mary Sue, the youngest lieutenant in the fleet. She not only out captained Kirk, and out logic’d Spock, but she also managed to single-handedly rescue all four of the main characters from imprisonment…regrettably (or not so) dying from a disease she caught whilst freeing them. The story ends with everyone on the Enterprise celebrating her birthday as “a national holiday”…”even to this day.”

Nothing is wrong with author surrogates in general, but it sometimes becomes obvious that the author has created a super-character, making him unreasonably skilled or flawless. He has made a self-idealisation of an outrageously gifted author substitute. When an author has created such a super-character so perfect that they never fail, it lacks credibility, and the rest of the story (created just to show off that character’s abilities) falls flat. That is when the term Mary Sue or Marty Stu is applicable to identify the clichéd work.

Spotting a Mary or Marty

If a character is vitally central to the story, always wins the day no matter the obstacles, is impossibly skilled in every task, happens to make all the right decisions, and has remarkable physical characteristics, you might have a Mary Sue.

In fan-fiction, anyone who upstages the pre-existing characters should be questioned. Yes, the author wants his characters to have their moment in the spotlight—but it can’t come at the expense of established characters.

There’s no problem if an author inserts himself into the fictional world. The problem is when he imbues that character with talents unfairly. Maybe the author would personally like to have those abilities…in real life, not just in this story—this is author wish fulfilment.

Caution

Because the term is a put-down, be careful pointing the finger at any character under discussion in your Critique Groups. Just because you don’t like a character doesn’t make them a Mary or Marty. The author may have intended to create an unlikable character. Remember, a true Mary or Marty is unflawed, missing any qualities that make them real, failing to appeal to the reader. Then again, if readers can relate, it can be an escapism for them—who doesn’t wish they were super?

Keep in mind, not every Mary Sue is a stand-in for the author, nor is every stand-in a Mary Sue. The problem arises when the character in question is so amazing that it kills the story…whether or not that character is a proxy for the author. Be careful to not haphazardly apply the label to any character who doesn’t fit into ‘normal’ society…some characters just don’t belong in our society but work well in their fictional world.

Marty Stu

Not to be outdone, many male characters also fit the description of a Mary Sue. We call them Marty Stu, Gary Stu, or Larry Stu (or Sue to keep the same name). As with Mary Sue, Marty is striking, misunderstood, has a heartrending history, and is so ideal as to be disgusting

Although obviously not author surrogates, there are some famous Marty Stu characters. Think about James Bond, Superman, and Wolverine. (Who else gets sliced to bits, shot a dozen times, then just gets up and keeps fighting?) There are arguments about Batman…in his fictional world, they explain how he became so proficient and how he maintains his physical prowess, so the label may not fit.

Amusingly, considering the origin of the name, another famous Marty Stu is Captain Kirk himself!

What Goes on the Copyright Page

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So, you’ve finally finished your story…and you think you’re ready to start printing. Well, as we discussed in Front and Back Matter last year, there are some items that need to be added to the ms to make it a complete book. Most readers wouldn’t miss some of these if you left them out…but reviewers and agents will certainly notice—if the right things aren’t in the right place, it will mark you as an amateur. Proofreaders should note the missing items, but as some of them are optional, ones you want might be overlooked.

This time we’re going to go into depth on the Copyright page…the only page that traditionally starts on the verso side of a sheet. (That is, on the left side, an even numbered page.) This post is a ‘tool’ listing things you don’t want to forget.

What is Required

The only thing that is actually required on the copyright page is the copyright notice itself in its basic form:

  • The word ‘copyright’ or the ‘©’ symbol
  • The year the work was first copyrighted
  • The author’s name

You can get the ‘©’ symbol by typing a ‘c’ in parens…or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl‑Alt‑c. The copyright year is when you completed the ms and it appeared in ‘fixed form’. (We’ll go into that in a bit.) The author’s name is the same as the name on the by-line as recorded in any listing of books. It does not have to be the same as your legal name…if you’re using a pseudonym, then that goes here. Your agent and publisher will know to make the checks out to your legal name.

Let’s deal with that ‘fixed form’ requirement now. In 1886, representatives from almost 200 countries got together in Berne, Switzerland, and established an international agreement on copyrights. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works declared that a creative work is automatically protected as soon as it is written or recorded on some physical medium. That means, just thinking about your story isn’t enough, nor is writing an outline or a few chapters, but printing it out the whole thing so you can hold it in your hot little hands is quite enough. These days, even saving it onto a hard drive might be enough.

Although there is no need to ‘register’ your copyright to have it be valid, recent court decisions have suggested that it is in your best interest to do so. Without registration, you may be limited to actual damages and lost profits, whereas with a registered work, you could receive statutory damages and attorney’s fees as well.

Optional Items

Other items are traditionally included on the copyright page, and you should consider including them…to look more professional.

  • ISBN

The International Standard Book Number identifies each version or edition of your book. Listing the ISBNs for your print book, ebook, audio book, etc. is a good way to spread the news.

  • Rights and permissions

A standard paragraph that claims all rights to copy the content of the book is important. You should specifically mention certain permissions. It can be as simple as “All rights reserved” or as involved as:

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations used in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact Author@AuthorSite.com or Publisher@PubSite.com

You can look through any books on your shelf to see the other various ways it can be written.

  • Disclaimer

In case your story seems to be written about some real people, you might want to distance yourself from any such claim by including a disclaimer. Here’s an example:

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, or conversations is entirely coincidental.

If you’re writing non-fiction or memoir, you could include something along the lines of:

Although based on reality, some of the names have been changed and descriptions altered to protect the identities of persons involved.

Note: We do not offer legal advice here, so if you are uncertain as to the legality of your work, please seek the advice of a licensed Intellectual Property attorney.

Additional Items

  • Design, production, editing, illustration credits

You should use the Acknowledgements page to give thanks to certain folks for helping to create your book, but here you should give official mention of those who have made your book possible.

  • Publisher’s address

Your publisher may insist on this, along with a logo. He deserves mention for all the work he does to get your work before the eyes of the world.

  • Trademark notices

If you’ve used any trademarked names you should identify their ownership, but consider if they are really needed: Product Placement.

  • Edition information

Especially useful for non-fiction is to indicate which Edition this printing is. All you need is “First Edition” or “Second Edition” etc.

  • Country in which the book was printed

Some readers are concerned where their goods are coming from, so you’d include this info to ease their minds.

  • Environmental notices

Mentioning that the paper has been certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program, or that the ink is organically based, are nods to the environmental awareness of the author and printer.

  • Ordering information

Along with listing other version of the book under the ISBN section, you can include references to sites where this or other books by the author can be found.

  • Author website

Definitely included on the About the Author page, you can additionally list contact info for the author here.

Include the ones you want and feel are necessary for your book, but don’t try to be everything to everyone.

Scene and Sequel

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Readers want action in the stories they read…but incessant action is not only tiring, it also gets to be boring as well. Following an action scene with a moment to pause and reflect on that action gives a rise and fall feel to your story…ebb and flow, inhale and exhale, yin and yang. Just another aspect of nature, though an important one. As day follows night, sleep takes turns with wakefulness, and up succumbs to down, your story needs to follow the natural flow. In the writing world, these two phases are referred to as Scene and Sequel, and they each have their own structure…which we will discuss in detail.

Note: When we talk about a scene (lower case ‘s’), we are talking about a single location, time, and POV. Every time we change location, time, or POV, we have a new scene…and that is indicated by a break of some sort: section, chapter, or dinkus. (Avoid using just a blank line as it may end up at a page break, and thus be invisible to the readers.) When we talk about a Scene (upper case ‘S’), we mean that part of a scene where the action occurs…which is then followed by a Sequel.

Scene

Each Scene is composed of three parts: Goal, Conflict, and Disaster. Leaving out any of these parts makes a Scene fall flat, so when Plotting out your story, list the GCDs for each Scene.

Now, let’s examine each of these parts.

  • Goal

Your Hero wants or needs something. It must be some precise item, plainly identifiable—you should be able to point to it and name it. Without a Goal, your Hero is at the whim of the universe…passive and boring. You need a Hero who is going to do something because he wants to do it. Characters who want something are much more appealing than puppets…even if he’s a bad guy, he still has ambition, and that’s what readers want.

  • Conflict

Despite having a Goal, he shouldn’t be able to achieve that goal…in spite of his actions towards it (sometimes because of his actions). There will always be some kind of difficulty…again, refer back to nature: there must needs be opposition in all things. Eventually he will accomplish something on his way to the Goal, but success has no worth if it comes without effort.

  • Disaster

Now comes the good part. Regardless of his intent, his efforts turn sour, making his simple Goal now even more impossibly far away. Whatever he had wanted at the beginning, he now has more to deal with just to get things back to normal…so he can start working towards his Goal all over again.

If he did somehow manage to reach his Goal, the story would be over—no more reason to continue reading. The narrative would have ended. Even when you get to the actual end of your book, you can always leave a few questions open, yet to be tied up…leading to the next book in the series!

Sequel

Each Sequel is also made up of three parts: Reaction, Dilemma, and Choice. As with Scenes, listing out the RDCs for each scene as you plot helps keep the story in line.

Now that your Hero has messed things up even more than before, it’s time for him to sit back and ponder his next move. A Scene is for action…now is a time for re-action.

  • Reaction

The first thing your Hero does is react emotionally to the Disaster that he’s just created, a gut reaction. He’s knocked off balance for a bit…he’s distraught and doesn’t know what to do. If you need time to pass, now is when you do it…not too much, though, because you can’t suffer indefinitely. Sooner or later he has to accept his mistake and check out the remaining opportunities.

  • Dilemma

Unfortunately, there are no good opportunities, and if his Disaster was serious enough, there aren’t any opportunities at all. This is where he has to consider what to do next. Your readers will worry along with him…wondering what he could conceivably do next. Expanding on the horrific possibilities, he finds that none are what he wants, but he has to pick one.

  • Choice

As with the Goal, your Hero is not a wimp—he doesn’t wait for someone else to do something. He is active and boldly goes forward and makes a choice, even though his options are few, and none of them are preferred. Hopefully, he selects the least bad one, but any choice is better than doing nothing. After this monumental choice, he now has a new Goal…and we circle back to another Scene where he is about to do it all over again.

Put Them Together

After a Scene comes a Sequel…and after a Sequel comes a Scene. Alternating through your story, those two elements give readers a feeling of tension, then relief, then more tension and more relief. Although the relief is never quite enough to eliminate the tension, so the tension continues to build.

When you’re ready to end your story, you can let the cycle come to a close…by either letting your Hero finally accomplish what he’s been trying to do all along…or by dishing out some final setback he will never recover from. Remember that throughout your whole story, the Hero is facing a Transformation…reaping either success or failure, life or death, renewal or destruction.

Properly done, the only complaint from your readers will be that they missed dinner because they couldn’t put your book down.

More Steps to Marketing (Press Releases and Special Deals)

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This time we’re going to cover two more techniques to get your book noticed. With over 2,000 books being released daily, it’s no wonder that journalists don’t have time to go out and find them all…and certainly don’t have the time to read even a small portion of them. That’s why you need to write a Press Release to tell them how wonderful your book is. Save them the time and hassle of a bunch of questions by answering them first.

Once everyone has at least heard of your book, you need to convince them to pick up a copy. That’s more easily done by offering them some really Special Deals. We’ll go over a few different methods that should be a good start.

Press Releases

Sample of a Press ReleaseSend out Press Releases to various news agencies to announce some newsworthy information: the release of your book. (There are other styles of Press Releases, but we’re going to stick to this one here.) Fairly short, one or two pages, they answer the important questions someone might have about your release. They are vital to journalists, who depend on you to tell them what’s so great about your book, but remember, journalists aren’t influencers—this is a news article, not an advert, so stick to the facts, no exaggerations. Let the journalist add the appropriate interest.

Your job is to make the journalist’s life easy, so when writing up a Press Release, consider all the questions they might ask…and come up with intriguing answers. Don’t forget to mention your release party, too…scheduled to coincide with your online release.

What goes into a Press Release?

No matter the subject, all Press Releases need to have some basic info:

  • Headline—grab their attention and let them know what it’s all about
  • Subhead—summarise the details (italicised), where and when
  • Release info—traditionally “For Immediate Release: <date>” at the top
  • Dateline—to verify relevancy of info
  • Lead—brief overview: who, what, when, where, why (one sentence)
  • News Peg—why is it important…now?
    Consider tying into current events (NewsJacking)
  • Body—details about info in lead
    • most newsworthy first—basic facts
    • quote—they will use this in their reporting, so make it good
    • background info last—fluffy stuff
  • Boilerplate—common facts (the same for all Press Releases you write)
    • Author info—so they know who you are
      (you can use the About the Author from your book)
    • Logo or picture—so they can visualize you and your brand
    • Contact info—so they can get a hold of you (or your PR team)
  • End mark—traditionally ### to indicate “that’s all”

How to Make a Press Release Work

Make your Headline catchy. You only have one line here, so keep it focused and make it count. Although you should have the headline in mind when writing the body (to keep on topic), I find it easier to write the headline after I’ve finished the rest, as a tie-up. An interesting tool to play around with is the free Headline Analyzer run by ShareThrough.

Write in third person, describing the people and events as an outsider would see them. Avoid “I, we, our, or me”. Break up the Body with a quote or excerpt from the book. Offer a free copy of your book.

Aim for publications that have a Target Audience that matches yours. Make certain to send it to a person, not a generic email box, and use a detailed subject line. Post it on your website and share it with the world in social media.

Send it out on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday between 9am and noon. Earlier in the week gives them more time to work on your story, and before lunch has the best response rates. Try to avoid sending it out at the top of the hour…wait a few minutes, then send it out.

Specials

Everyone enjoys a special, so when you want to give your book sales a boost, consider doing something nice for your readers. If you have a series of books, you can bundle the first few in a box set* at a lower price than the individual books. Once readers have become invested in your stories (dollar-wise as well as devoted to your characters), they’ll be more willing to continue with full-priced books later on.

If you don’t have a series, you can take books with similar themes or settings and put them together likewise. Books that share a common subgenre, characters, or settings would be perfect to combine. Again, once hooked on your story-telling proficiency, readers will gladly pick up your other books at full price.

Either way, you can also add in as-of-yet unpublished extras in the bundle. A novella or short story with some of the same characters, same setting, or same theme would make the boxed set worth even more. Readers who’ve already purchased the separate books might even opt for the bundle just to get the bonus stories.

Local bookstores often host gatherings where authors can sell books. Readings or talks on non-fiction topics can draw quite a crowd. You can bundle books there, too…though not with a fancy cardboard box…just a fat ribbon, or something appropriate to your genre, tied around a stack of books. Also, be certain to offer signed copies!

Consider book festivals in larger, nearby cities. Panel discussions are a good way to get your name (and face) out there, and there are plenty of opportunities to make bundled sales.

Although libraries are a good source for books, having a sale there doesn’t seem to work quite as well…most visitors are expecting to get free books…not have to pay for them.

*When is a Boxed Set not in a Box?

Apparently, when Amazon lets authors combine a series of books into a single “boxed set”, they aren’t actually putting them into a box, despite the fact that the picture shows a nice cardboard sleeve around multiple book spines. That’s why when you set it up, you aren’t allowed to mention the term “boxed set”. All you end up getting is the separate book files merged into one huge book…with a max limit of 828 pages!

To create a real boxed set, you’d have to go through a fulfilment company to put it all together…or you could turn your garage into a book boxing service. If you do, I’d suggest advertising and helping out other local authors.

As You Know, Bob

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This is one of my favourite comments to write on someone’s ms…because it often engenders a long conversation with authors, who often don’t realise what they’ve done. From the name, you can deduce that dialogue where one character tells another something that they both already know is called As You Know, Bob (AYKB). Writing an AYKB dialogue might be used to reveal info to the reader, but if the characters already know it, why would they mention it? Obvious information is never included in casual conversation.

Although it can appear in any kind of story, the two genres that suffer the most from AYKB are historical and speculative fiction. Historical because of all the research needed to maintain accuracy, and speculative fiction because of all the world building. Once that historical research or world building is done, authors just can’t keep it to themselves. They want readers to understand all the work they did to create the background…which should remain in the background.

It’s true that readers love to immerse themselves into a world unlike their current reality, but don’t rub their noses in it. Make everything so common and expected that they feel as if they are actually there. When conversations exist only to leak info to the readers, it feels fake and throws the reader out of the story.

Research

Some research is needed to ensure accurate historical facts or the plausibility of your world, but to do it right, you have to spend hours collecting or creating the material and gathering it together into a Story Bible. You need that tome, but the readers want a book with excitement and action…with people doing things. After so much investigation or construction, it might feel wasted not to share it all with your readers…even if they don’t care. Don’t let the research drive the story—if it doesn’t propel, toss it. You may have spent a lot of time exploring a limited topic…just to perfect a single sentence or even a single word…but only the info the reader needs should remain.

We know readers might need some details to understand your book, but you can’t interrupt the action to dump it on them…find another way that seems ordinary and natural. Sticking those details into dialogue won’t sound realistic, and the readers will know it—flagging you as a newbie. Forcing your characters to talk about something common (to them) would be similar to you explaining to your brother how flipping a light switch lets electricity flow through wires to the bulb and illuminate the room. Either you both already know, or you don’t care…as long as it works. Same in your story: it may not be necessary for the reader to understand…either it works or it doesn’t, but how is irrelevant.

In fact, having characters talk about things that are ordinary in their world tends to make those things stand out…in other words not ordinary…the opposite of what you had in mind. By not discussing something, the characters and the readers will assume it is normal and routine. Again, try to Resist the Urge to Explain…anything.

Examples

Here are a few examples (some of which we’ve seen in mss we’ve edited!). We’ll discuss why they are so bad and how they could be fixed.

  • “Amy, I heard your husband, Brian, got a new job.”

Unless Amy has more than one husband, including both the title and the name is redundant. So how do you let the reader know that Amy’s husband is named Brian? Turn it around in dialogue:

  • “Amy, I heard your husband got a new job.”
    Amy nodded. “Yes, Brian finally got the security approval.”

Takes care of the AYKB and makes an opportunity to let slip more info.

This next one is totally made up, but it demonstrates a point.

  • The pilot came over the PA just as the plane was about to take off.
    “Just a reminder that the partial vacuum created by the accelerated air over the wings will lift us into the air as we fly.”

You probably can’t imagine that anyone would really say that, but just check out the next one.

  • The captain came over the ship-wide comm and announced,
    “All staff, take your duty positions as we are about to breach space through an Einstein-Rosen bridge, not actually travelling faster than light, just covering a huge distance in a short time through a distortion in space-time.”

This is pretty much the same as the one above, just in a different story, but how many times have you heard something just like it in a SciFi book?

How to Fix the Problem

The best way I know to fix this problem is to introduce a character that doesn’t know the detail. Either he doesn’t know that one detail, or he’s just plain stupid and doesn’t know anything. We call these characters a foil—just don’t make him too stupid. A good example of a foil is Robin, Batman’s sidekick. Whenever Batman does something amazing, Robin says, “Wow, Batman, that was neat. Why’d you do it?” When Batman answers, his motivation is revealed to both Robin and the reader. If Batman is always doing amazing things it can get excessive, so either do it rarely, or make it something comical that the reader will come to expect. (Think about it…why else does Robin exist?)

An alternative to a foil or sidekick is a newbie or an outsider. Bring someone new into your world, and they will need explanations that the reader needs to hear. You might have a native tell the explorer that if he even offers a handshake, he might get his hand chopped off…because no one in this village likes to be touched. That would be a good piece of world building that needs to be revealed…but only when a character needs to hear it.

When you think you’ve got it fixed, run it by your Critique Group or beta readers. If they don’t complain about the revelation, then it might pass the AYKB test. You can also read your text aloud…or even have the dialogue read through as if it were a play. Highlight each character’s lines in different colours, gather a few friends, sit around a table, and have them each read a part. Watch to see that they don’t break out into laughter or snigger as they read (unless your work is intended to be humorous!).

Exceptions

Many of us have friends who sound as if they were walking encyclopaedias. They stand around rattling on about things that everyone already knows…or doesn’t care about. If you have a character like that, then you may let him pontificate to his heart’s delight. Just paste in the Wikipedia text, add quotes, and a dialogue tag.

  • Eric sat up and said, “Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal investigations, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal procedure.”
    Everyone else just rolled their eyes and laughed.

With this technique, you can create a character who just randomly spouts out non-sequiturs, data no one needs, facts that no one wants. I’m certain you all know someone like that.

Killing Reviews

Huge blocks of excessive exposition that aren’t part of the story, can lead to readers and reviewers stopping before they get done reading your book. One of the last things you want to see in a review is “Did not finish”.

Forcing readers to put up with extraneous side discussions tempts fate…and that’s a temptation you don’t want to risk.

Weather in Your Book

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People are always talking about the weather…at least in real life, so why not in your book? Weather can have an incredible impact…not only in real life, but in fiction as well. It is constantly affecting us, so why shouldn’t it be included in any story you tell? It can be used to set a mood, suggest events yet to come, or act as a complication to the aims of the characters, and calling attention to the weather makes the world seem real, inviting the readers to experience the story more fully. Even just a bit of weather will enhance the interest in your story.

If you don’t involve the weather, you not only fail to use an effective tool, but also your readers might have a vague feeling that something is missing…fortunately a quick mention is all that’s needed. Right at the beginning of a scene, just make a quick remark about the weather, then move on. Your readers will picture the scene more fully and feel included. Just as you don’t want talking heads in a dark room, you don’t want to leave the whole world in the dark…enlighten your readers with a general setting of weather. If you don’t…if there is never rain, snow, or wind…and the temperature is a constant mild warm, then it must be a future story, and the climate is under total control…of the government. Hmmm….

Weather as a Description

When you’re adding in the weather as a minor scene setting, you have a rare opportunity to Tell, not Show, so take advantage of it! However, you may find that the best way is actually not to tell what the weather is…but to show how your characters are reacting to it. (There we are, back to Show, don’t Tell.) The weather by itself could be, and should be, boring, but how people respond to it is critical. Be certain to use plenty of good, solid, descriptive words, with as many of the senses as you can. It isn’t just cold—the wind is whistling around the corner of the house making Amy’s cheeks burn.

Weather to Avoid

Be aware of the many clichés that abound when discussing the weather:

  • Rain: lashing, ducks, parades, never rains but pours, depressing, funerals, mixing with tears, end of the rainbow giving hope
  • Clouds: on horizons, silver linings, confused, unclear, foggy
  • Storms: lull before, brewing, sideways trees, hell or high water, trouble, change
  • Sun: baking, rain or shine, broad daylight, happiness, cloudless afternoon
  • Snow: white stuff, nipping at noses, bone chilling, winter wonderland, pure as, cleansing

This is just a quick list, so take your pick…and avoid them all. Instead, skip the first description that comes to mind and see if you can come up with something new and original.

Even better, consider the effect of the weather rather than the weather itself. As with all your descriptive pieces, include as many of the senses as you can…how does the weather sound, smell, taste, feel…as well as how it appears. Do the characters have to stop talking because the rain is so loud, or is the lightning so close that they can smell the ozone, or does the flavour of snowflakes on the tongue remind them of childhood? Be creative.

Just be certain to avoid On the Nose Writing where you describe some particular condition, then a character says or thinks exactly what that condition is supposed to mean. Use plenty of metaphors…and make up new ones!

Weather as a Writing Tool

Besides using weather to depict scenes, you can use it to indicate the mood of the characters, hint at some symbolism, or act as a complicating factor.

Mood: To establish the feeling of a scene, a sunshiny day will make your reader feel warm and happy…and an approaching storm will encourage them to anticipate upcoming dread. Also, instead of just watching out for those clichés mentioned earlier, you might want to flip them upside-down. Don’t have the character’s tears masked by rain, have such a bright sunshiny day that it seems the whole world is untouched by her difficulties…deepening her emotional pit—she’s the only one who feels that bad, isolating her even more.

Symbolism: Snow, softly falling on a clear winter night, could make a character pine for home and Christmas…even if he’s in a foxhole in the midst of combat. Your characters could even portray weather. Are any of them so bright and sunny that they are welcome wherever they go? Have any thundered his words? Or storm across a room? Use weather in descriptions and actions, hinting at ambiguous results…bad weather can make a scene more suspenseful, and a sunny day foretells a happy ending.

Complication: Your main character is about to solve the immediate problem…when a sudden downpour interrupts his search of the river bank. You can easily introduce more complications to the story by dropping in some weather. The worst of it is that the characters can’t really do anything about it—the weather isn’t under their control…even if you’re writing a fantasy novel (though it is under your control, so do something about it!).

More Weather

Picture a 90th birthday party…the guests are all sitting around, quietly chatting, and the guest of honour is wandering through the crowd…when suddenly a storm strikes. If it’s an outdoor party, everyone might rush for cover, but the birthday girl instead dances in the rain, enjoying the chance to get away from all the formality. If it’s an indoor party, the power might go out, but instead of calling it quits and everyone going home, they just pull out their phones, light the room, and continue with the party.

—Don’t do the expected.

Picture an early spring morn…a slight fog filtering the sun’s rays, the sound of birds echoing across the field, frogs croaking down by the creek…and soldiers crawling through the mud. Use the weather to emphasise the discrepancies…bad news on a sunny beach, marriage proposal during a lull in the storm, bad guy surrounded by police on a warm summer afternoon.

—Contrasts make the details more intense.

The Importance of Character Names

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How important can character names be? I mean, if an orphan heading to wizard school were named Robert instead of Harry, would it really matter? How about an old miser named William instead of Ebenezer? What would you think of George the White? Not quite as catchy as Gandalf, is it?

But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed. —Iago, Othello Act 3 Scene 3

Finding the just-right name can be bothersome. Some authors spend hours, days, or even weeks trying to name their characters, both major and minor. Combing through phone books, searching cemeteries, reading old family trees—there are dozens of ways to find names, and any one of them could net you an iconic name that will be talked about for years…or trap you into a name…and a character…that is soon forgotten.

Names to Avoid

Naming your characters is similar to naming your children…very similar. You don’t want your children to be saddled with a name that will cause issues later in life (think of a boy named Sue), nor do you want the same for your characters. Some names are to be avoided…unless you really need that kind of character.

As simple and straightforward as it is, the name John has a lot of baggage dragging along. Men seeking prostitutes are always called John. When nature calls, you want a John. And you’ll find that there aren’t any Johns in the royal line…all because of King John, brother of King Richard the Lionhearted, purportedly the worst king in history. Go ahead and use that name…if that’s who your character is, but use it carefully.

To avoid confusing your readers, some editors recommend that every character have a name that starts with a different letter of the alphabet. That means if you have a Bill, you can’t have a Bob or a Betty. Mike prevents a Mitch or Melissa. A Robert precludes a Richard or a Rebecca. Tom blocks Terry or Teresa. For those of you writing immense tomes or a series, that would mean you can’t have more than 26 characters! We know that’s not true…as many of the walk-ons will never even get a name…but do try to keep the names you use different enough so that your readers don’t get the folks mixed up.

Selecting a Name

Names bring with them much more than the obvious. If your character has the wrong name, he might betray the inbuilt personality of the name. That could ruin the expectations of your readers and disappoint, or worse, annoy them. Many Name The Baby sites list etymologies, histories, and source languages of names. Check them out.

Gender assumptions are important, too. If you have a boy named Sue…or a girl named Bill…you’ll want to establish the non-standard name early on…unless you’re intending some sense of confusion in your reader, planning a surprising reveal later.

Also remember that many names get shortened down to nicknames, either by the author or by the other characters in the story, so make certain those diminutives fit as well.

Generators

As would be expected, the web is full of name generators. We’ve experimented with a few for you.

  • Reedsy allows you to pick from various languages sources, historical time periods, several deities, fantasy, and character archetypes (as well as having a lot of interesting articles that may help with writing in general).
  • Fantasy Name Generators has a long list of generators based on lots of different books, movies, and games, so if you’re into one of them, you’ll certainly find an appropriate name there.
  • Behind the Name lets you pick from a large list of nationalities as well as other sources. They also have an option to create a Life Story…rather interesting if you’re stuck for ideas.
  • Be A Better Writer some helpful ideas, then a quick generator that has only one option: gender. After that, you just keep clicking until you see one you like.
  • The Story Shack gives you six names at a time, either male or female, but you can flag them as favourites and see them all in a list. They also have waay too many other name generators on all kinds of topics…keep scrolling through the list and see what inspires you. (Lots of adverts, too.)
  • Pantomime Pony generates pairs of names with the same last name…siblings or spouses? It also has random plot, writing exercises, blank page, plot twist, character profile, first line, and location generators! If you’re stuck for ideas, here’s the place to go.
  • Masterpiece Generator has quite a few options and will even build a profile for you. Plenty of ideas here.
  • Name Generator Fun builds a quick list of 10 names and has options for other name categories.

Check out a few of them…if for no other reason than to see the wide expanse of options.

Test Them Out

Once you’ve narrowed the list down to a few potential names, you need to make certain they will work for your story. Also, some names could be pronounced differently, so you want to check to see how others might interpret your choice. What you need to do is take your list…just the bare list…and present it to your Critique Group, your friends, your family (I’ll bet they’re getting tired of all these requests by now), and ask them a series of questions about each name:

  • How would you pronounce it?
  • Is this character a good guy? or bad?
  • What time period, culture, or society do they belong in?
  • What kind of house do you see them in?
  • Who do you picture in your head?
  • What do they do for a living?
  • Does this name remind you of anyone?

If your test group has the same impression of the name as you hoped for, then you’ve got it.

BUT, if you still can’t come up with an appropriate name, just stick in a temporary one. You could call them badguy or girlfriend. (Remember to flag those temp names somehow. I use square brackets [], so I won’t miss seeing them…and accidently leave them in.)

Then, later, when the right name comes to you in the middle of the night, you can go back and switch them out. Just be careful—global search and replace may change Fran to Kate, but it will also change San Francisco to San Katecisco!

Repeating Yourself 2

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This month we’re going to continue our discussion from last month (Repeating Yourself 1) about repetition. If done correctly, the echo readers hear will resonate within them, making them remember your words all the more. The styles covered in this post are about words that repeat at the beginning or end of phrases. Both can be powerful…if used correctly. See if you can find a way to include either or both in your writing.

Epistrophe

From the Greek meaning ‘return’, this repetitive style uses the same word or phrase at the ends of a series. We already know that the end of a sentence, the end of a paragraph, the end of a story are the most powerful places for your ideas. Well, here we make certain the reader knows what that is. See these examples:

  • The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
  • A government of the people, by the people, and for the people
  • See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
  • When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child
  • What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us

If you really want your readers to take away an idea, repeat it…but carefully.

Anaphora

Here the Greek root means ‘carry back’, and similar to an epistrophe, this form also repeats, but this time at the beginning of a collection of phrases.

  • With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right
  • We cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground
  • This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England
  • Maybe it’s the way the mountains reach the clouds, maybe it’s the way the waterfalls dive off every cliff, maybe it’s the way everything is peaceful and quiet, or maybe it’s all of that combined
  • Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better
  • I came, I saw, I conquered

Extreme Examples

  • It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. (Probably the most famous example)
  • A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. (Probably the longest example)

Not quite as powerful as epistrophe (according to some) but still very useful in getting your point across.

Symploce

Interestingly enough, if you combine anaphora and epistrophe, you get repetition at both ends of a phrase: symploce from the Greek ‘to weave together’. Here are a few examples:

  • For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
    For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
    For want of a horse the rider was lost.
    For want of a rider the message was lost.
    For want of a message the battle was lost.
    For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
    And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
  • Let England have its navigation and fleet
    Let Scotland have its navigation and fleet
    Let Wales have its navigation and fleet
    Let Ireland have its navigation and fleet
  • I say it.
    I voice it.
    I proclaim it.
    And I care not who in heaven or hell opposes it.
  • If there is a mountain, we climb it.
    If there’s a frontier, we cross it.
    If there’s a challenge, we tame it.
    If there’s an opportunity, we seize it.
  • I could not,
    I will not,
    I cannot betray their trust.”

Well, that pretty much covers all the types of repetition that you may come across…there are more…lots more…but we’re going to leave it at this…for now. If we have some discussion about the various types, we may post a few more. Keep at it!

Blurb, Logline, Pitch…what’s the difference?

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In the writing world, there are different ways to promote your material…and they differ based on their targets. Trying to get a potential reader to buy your book is the job of both the Logline and the Blurb, whereas a Pitch is designed to convince Agents or Acquisition Editors to take you on. If you’re into Self-Publishing, then you probably won’t need a Pitch as much, but if you ever plan to sell your work to someone you don’t know, you’ll need a good Logline as well as a Blurb. We covered a step-by-step process for creating Loglines previously, so this time we’ll take that Logline and expand it into a full blown Blurb.

A Blurb is defined as a short description that praises your work so that people will want to buy it, but there are two different kinds: the ones written by others…and the one we are going to create here…written by you. In either case, you’ll use it on your back cover, so readers who have been attracted to your front cover…or title…will be convinced that they need to read the whole thing.

Build a Blurb from a Logline

Starting with a Logline of fewer than 50 words or an Elevator Speech of 50-75 words, we are going to build up a Blurb, perfect for your back cover. Although we covered Loglines in depth when we discussed the difference between Loglines and Taglines, let’s go over a quick description first as a reminder. A Logline consists of:

  • A short description of your Main Character (no name)
  • A bit of setting
  • A reference to the Inciting Event
  • A twist to the story
  • A reason to care about the characters
  • The stakes involved
  • A ticking clock

In that previous post, we had developed the following Logline.

  • A former boy scout, now in his early twenties, is finishing up college and arranges one last great adventure with some fellow scouts. Using some experimental technology, they plan to travel far to experience a new world where they discover more about themselves than they expected. They have to make some crucial decisions to ensure that all return safely before the door to the new world closes.

Add More

We have the bits…just need to expand the concepts. A blurb can be a few short paragraphs, 300-400 words, so we have plenty of room to include more info…the first of which is the main character’s name.

  • Benjamin, a former boy scout

We can also bring in the Antagonist…whether he’s a single person, an organisation, a force of nature, or some other issue. In this case, the Enemy is unidentified, though we can bring up the fact that they are no longer under the influence of the current world.

  • rules no longer apply…no social restraints and no one watching

We can show a scene filling in details about the Inciting Event, explaining why now is the time for a change in their lives. We can also introduce some secondary characters along the way…explaining more of the situation.

  • some of his old scout buddies
  • before they go their separate ways into the adult world
  • Eric, the nerd of the group, offers some technology
  • a Door that opens onto a new world
  • a week-long hunting expedition to explore

We can also expand on the stakes. What will happen if the Protagonist doesn’t achieve his goal? In this story, their safety is at risk.

  • keep the group together

As well as the twist…something that makes the story interesting and unexpected…possibly increasing the obvious conflict or adding a new struggle to contend with.

  • some experimental technology
  • plan to travel far
  • experience a new world
  • they discover more about themselves than they expected

Finally we can expand on the clock, giving more information about how it all works.

  • hoping to make it back to the Door when it opens

That should complete the expansions.

Put it all together

Now that we’ve expanded the info, we need to put it together into a distinct whole, adding connections.

  • One last great adventure…that’s all he wanted, so Benjamin, now in his early twenties, gets together with some of his old scout buddies to make plans before they go their separate ways into the adult world. Pushed by Eric, the nerd of the group, they accept his offer of some experimental technology he has access to: a Door that opens onto a new, distant world.
  • The scouts agree to a week-long hunting expedition to explore this new world, but when they arrive, they realise that the rules they’ve lived with no longer apply…there are no social restraints and no one watching. With this new freedom, they discover more about themselves than they had thought possible.
  • Ben struggles to keep the group together as factions split the friends apart. In the attempt to reunite the troops, they all have to make crucial decisions to ensure that everyone makes it back safely to the Door when it opens…and that they get through before it closes.

This one is a bit short, giving us plenty of room for the other type of Blurb: quotes from others…either someone who has read the book or someone who knows that we are the only one who could have written it. We could ask fellow authors, specialists in the field, or reviewers to give some ideas to use (here is not where you put your mother’s commendations!).

  • “The struggles these characters face are the same as society as a whole faces daily.”—Sociology Expert.
  • “The way Eric talks is so entertaining…sounds like a walking encyclopaedia.”—Gushing Fan.
  • “Could be the start of a series…I look forward to this author’s next works.”—Dedicated Follower.

Try to Avoid

Although she really means it, and you really like it, try to avoid including any obviously gratuitous quotes.

  • “I love the way the author has put this story together and would be thrilled to read anything else he writes.”—Author’s mother.