Writing Ideas - New Novel, part x161, It’s Finished, Marketing

16 June 2017, Writing Ideas - New Novel, part x161, It’s Finished, Marketing

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but the publisher has delayed all their fiction output due to the economy.  I'll keep you informed.  More information can be found at www.ancientlight.com.  Check out my novels--I think you'll really enjoy them.

Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon. This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.

I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll keep you informed along the way.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The four plus one basic rules I employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.

2. Entertain your readers.

3. Ground your readers in the writing.

4. Don't show (or tell) everything.

     4a. Show what can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted on the stage of the novel.

5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

These are the steps I use to write a novel including the five discrete parts of a novel:

 

1.      Design the initial scene

2.      Develop a theme statement (initial setting, protagonist, protagonist’s helper or antagonist, action statement)

a.       Research as required

b.      Develop the initial setting

c.       Develop the characters

d.      Identify the telic flaw (internal and external)

3.      Write the initial scene (identify the output: implied setting, implied characters, implied action movement)

4.      Write the next scene(s) to the climax (rising action)

5.      Write the climax scene

6.      Write the falling action scene(s)

7.      Write the dénouement scene

I finished writing my 28^th novel, working title, School, potential title Deirdre: Enchantment and the School.  The theme statement is: Sorcha, the abandoned child of an Unseelie and a human, secretly attends Wycombe Abbey girls’ school where she meets the problem child Deirdre and is redeemed.  

Here is the cover proposal for Deirdre: Enchantment and the School. 

Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action. I continued writing my 29^th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 28^th novel, working title School.  If you noticed, I started on number 28, but finished number 29 (in the starting sequence—it’s actually higher than that).  I adjusted the numbering.  I do keep everything clear in my records.  I’ll be providing information on the marketing materials and editing.

How to begin a novel.  Number one thought, we need an entertaining idea.  I usually encapsulate such an idea with a theme statement.  Since I’m writing a new novel, we need a new theme statement.  Here is an initial cut.

 

For novel 29:  Red Sonja, a Soviet spy, infiltrates the X-plane programs at Edwards AFB as a test pilot’s administrative clerk, learns about freedom, and is redeemed.

 

First, you write and write and write until you are competent and someone finally accepts one of your novels for publication. 

 

Second, you keep writing. 

 

Third, you market. 

 

Fourth, you keep writing with the hope your marketing and your writing will finally come to fruition. 

 

Fifth, you market.

 

I’m moving to marketing my newest novel.  Here is some basic information from the long and short form.        

 

Title of Work:

 

Deirdre: Enchantment and the School

 

Author(s) Name:

 

L. D. Alford

 

Type: Either Screenplay or Book

 

Book

 

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

 

120,975 words

 

Keywords and Market Focus:

 

Fiction, friendship, Wycombe Abbey, school, boarding, education, training, boyfriends, Eton, diva, skills, shooting, fencing, fae, fairy, Britain, spy, goddess, Dagda, magic; will fascinate anyone interested in friendship, boarding schools, magic, and the fae—will appeal particularly to those who enjoy mystery and suspense novels.

 

Genre:

 

Historical Suspense

 

If you go to my website at www.ldalford.com and select new novels, you will see examples of websites I produced for my novels.  You can also see websites I produced for my published novels.  The only real difference is that you can purchase one but not the other.  I haven’t developed a website for Deirdre yet.  I will soon put one up.  I’ll reuse or use one of my existing URLs for the website.  I’ll also put links to this new novel from my main site.

 

I’m still a little irritated that the Microsoft extensions no longer are available on most (read all) providers.  I used to be able to edit and work with pages on the web.  Now I have to download the page, edit it and reload it.  Or at least edit it and upload it.  Plus the extensions don’t work well anymore.  You have to play tricks all the time with the pages to make them show correctly.  In any case, enough griping. 

 

If you don’t know how to work with webpages, you need to learn or pay someone to do the work for you.  It isn’t that difficult, but it does take some computer skills.  I suspect you can get classes at most universities or community colleges.  You can also teach yourself.

 

The first step is to host a site.  Go Daddy is one such hosting company.  There are many, but I use Go Daddy so I’m familiar with them.  You log onto Go Daddy and get a URL and have them host it.  There are other options, but to have them host your site is the best plan.  I recommend your primary site be your name.  For example, my primary site is www.AlfordHome.com.  All the other sites are hosted under this URL.  To be simple, all the other URLs are directories under this URL.  I own about 40 URLs for different books and other reasons.  If you can own your full name as a URL for your professional use, I advise it.  For example, I own www.LionelAlford.com and www.LDAlford.com.  One is my name, and the other is my writing name.  I have written 29 novels.  I used to immediately purchase the URL for the title of each novel I wrote.  After changing the titles of a couple of novels due to my publisher’s recommendations, I decided not to purchase a URL until the novel was on contract with a specific title.  If you only have one or just a few novels, why not own the titles if you can get them.  I suggest purchasing the .com for the title, but that’s up to you, and what you can get.

 

In any case, get the www.title.com of your novel or some variant such as www.titlebook.com or www.titlenovel.com or www.titlestory.com.  These should be available.  If they aren’t it might mean your title is not specific enough, and that is another piece of advice altogether. 

 

More tomorrow.

For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:

http://www.ancientlight.com/
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com  

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