Marketing Materials - Clean Up on the Long Form

3 September 2011, Marketing Materials - Clean Up on the Long Form

I'm showing you how I prepare marketing material for my novels.  Here is a repeat just to introduce the subject.  Today, I'm working on the final items of the long form information.  Skip on down to the bottom if you've been following this every day.

Marketing a novel is more difficult in my mind than writing a novel.  I'd like to just spend my time writing, unfortunately, before your novel is published, you have the burden of finding a publisher and after your novel is published, you have the burden of following your publisher's marketing instructions.

Marketing is a very important part of writing a novel.  The first thing after writing your novel is get your marketing stuff together.  Marketing information is critical to your writing and it forms the basis for the inner and outer cover and other future marketing materials.  Here is the outline of what is required.  I'll start with the long form information and continue to the short form.

I put all this information together in the same file.  I do produce a second file, I will go over with you later, specifically for my regular publisher.  I put the commentary in italics.  I'm moving on to genre and author bio today.  I'll leave in the past info without commentary.

The long form information:

Title of Work:

Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon

Author(s) Name:

L. D. Alford

Type: Either Screenplay or Book

Book

Length: Either # of words for books, or # of pages for screenplays

121,475 words

Keywords and Market Focus:

Fiction, Russia, Austria, 1918, Wien, Vienna, Daemon, Demon, Aksinya, Asmodeus, Catholic Church, Sorcery, Travel, Orthodox Church, Russian Revolution, WWI, temptation, desire, convent, nobility, Countess, aristocracy, languages, Latin, Greek, German, French, contract, evil, Tobit

Will fascinate anyone interested in sorcery, mystery, and suspense—will appeal particularly to those who enjoy historical mystery and suspense novels.

Genre:

Fiction Suspense

Author Bio: Approximately 120 words

The finest escape in literature is an escape into a real and inviting culture—so asserts L. D. Alford, a novelist who explores with originality those cultures and societies we think we already know.  He builds tales that make ancient people and times real to us.  His stories uniquely explore the connections between present events and history—he combines them with threads of reality that bring the past alive.  L. D. Alford is familiar with technology and cultures—he earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Dayton, and is a graduate of Air War College, and Air Command and Staff College.  He is widely traveled and has spent long periods in Europe and Central America.  L. D. Alford is an author who combines intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality.   

Synopsis:  Approximately 500 Words

In November 1918, Lady Aksinya Andreiovna Golitsyna called the demon Asmodeus to protect her noble family from the Bolsheviks.  At the time, Russia was in the middle of a revolution and a civil war.  The aristocracy was at risk every moment from rapine and murder.  Aksinya conjured a demon to protect her family, but she was too late.  When Aksinya and Asmodeus arrived at the estate, her father and mother, brother and sister were already dead.  She became the Countess of Golitsyna because no one else remained alive.  Aksinya was left in a very trying situation:  she had conjured a demon, whose only purpose was to aid her in accomplishing evil, but Aksinya didn’t desire to accomplish evil—she only wanted to protect her family and now, they were all dead.

Aksinya was unfortunately well trained to accomplish evil.  She was a sorceress and a powerful one.  At every turn, the demon, Asmodeus tempts Aksinya through her sorcery to evil.  Aksinya has other problems as well.  With the demon at her side, the world for Aksinya becomes one of repeated temptation and fall.  The demon tempts her to call a servant, the Lady Natalya.  He tempts her to travel to Wien, Austria and to her relatives there.  He tempts her to sorcery at every turn.  He tempts her to take a lover.  Each of the temptations drives her deeper and deeper into the depths of evil and despair.

Aksinya isn’t passive in her resistance, but she has few tools and fewer chances to fight against Asmodeus.  Plus, she doesn’t want to fight his temptation—that is the nature of temptation.  She desires sorcery.  She desires noble and aristocratic possessions.  She desires control, and the demon gives her all these things.  

What Aksinya doesn’t realize is that Asmodeus’ purpose is not for her good at all, only for evil.  His purpose is to tempt her into destruction, and her destruction will result in the end of her friends, acquaintances, and relatives.  The demon plans a much greater end to everything in Aksinya’s life than she could ever imagine. 

Aksinya wishes to be free from the demon, and she will give up almost everything to achieve that goal.  Will she be able to gain her freedom and will she be able to face the results of that freedom? 

         

Registration: WGA, ISBN, or Library of Congress, Write the number.

None
That's easy.  Most publishers want to know up front if the work is copyrighted by someone else and exactly the status of the work.  Usually, you will have "none."  In this day and age, there is no reason to get a copyright for a work yourself.

Other Information:  If you have more work, a website, anything interesting and professional, especially any awards or recognition.

Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon http://www.aksinyanovel.com/.

Dana-ana: Enchantment of the Maiden http://www.dana-ana.com/ the mystery of Dana-ana Goewyn.

Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth http://www.enchantmentofthehearth.com/ the adventures of archeologists in modern Greece.

Antebellum http://www.antebellumnovel.com/ the adventures about a house that has been missing since the American Civil War and the girl who is called to it.

The Second Mission http://www.thesecondmission.com/ is a historical fiction novel about ancient Greece published in 2003 by Xulon.

Centurion http://www.centurionnovel.com/ published January 2008 and Aegypt http://www.aegyptnovel.com/ also published in January 2008 are historical fiction novels from OakTara Fiction http://www.oaktara.com/

The Chronicles of the Dragon and the Fox is a science fiction series published by OakTara Fiction

            The End of Honor (published, July 2008) http://www.theendofhonor.com/

            The Fox’s Honor (published Oct 2008) http://www.thefoxshonor.com/

            A Season of Honor (published Nov 2008) http://www.aseasonofhonor.com/

More information is available at www.ldalford.com   

L.D. Alford has more than 40 technical papers published in international journals on flight test, military policy, flight safety, space, and cyberwar.  His military aviation writing is featured as Military Aviation Adventures on http://www.wingsoverkansas.com/.

List your works and your websites.  This shows the publisher your experience as an author.

Reviewer’s quotes.

Aksinya is a woman driven to control her world, but she is caught in the web of control of the demon, Asmodeus. 

A super tense novel about temptation and redemption: Aksinya loses her family, her freedom, and her inheritance—she gains a contact with the demon, Asmodeus.  

This novel is about a kind of anti-Faust.  Instead of an evil person who contracts a demon to accomplish evil, Aksinya contracts a demon to save her family—unfortunately, she is too late, and the demon’s desire to do evil won’t be put off.

Now more back cover stuff.  Did you ever wonder where the blurbs come from?  You or your publisher write them.  I suggest you get started.  You know your work better than anyone.  Give it three good blurbs.  Get them from your prepub readers or make them up.  It doesn't matter.  The point is to have three strong statements about your novel.

Short form information: 

1.  No more than 3 sentences about the content of your manuscript.

2.  One sentence about successful works similar to yours.

3.  No more than 2 sentences about yourself. (use 3^rd person)

4.  No more than 2 sentences that include “other,” i.e. any reasons, relationships, or other factors that might make your work more attractive.

Tomorrow, we'll finalize the long form.