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Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Writing - part xxx404 Writing a Novel, Seoirse, Marketing Materials, Market Focus

08 August 2023, Writing - part xxx404 Writing a Novel, Seoirse, Marketing Materials, Market Focus

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but my primary publisher has gone out of business—they couldn’t succeed in the past business and publishing environment.  I’ll keep you informed, but I need a new publisher.  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 websites 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 31st novel, working title, Cassandra, potential title Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warriors.  The theme statement is: Deirdre and Sorcha are redirected to French finishing school where they discover difficult mysteries, people, and events.     

Here is the cover proposal for Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warriors




Cover Proposal

The most important scene in any novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising action. I am continuing to write on my 30th novel, working title Red Sonja.  I finished my 29th novel, working title Detective.  Writing number 31, working title Shifter.  I just finished 32nd novel, Rose.

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 30:  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.

 

For novel 31:  Deirdre and Sorcha are redirected to French finishing school where they discover difficult mysteries, people, and events. 

 

For Novel 32:  Shiggy Tash finds a lost girl in the isolated Scottish safe house her organization gives her for her latest assignment: Rose Craigie has nothing, is alone, and needs someone or something to rescue and acknowledge her as a human being.

 

For novel 33, Book girl:  Siobhàn Shaw is Morven McLean’s savior—they are both attending Kilgraston School in Scotland when Morven loses everything, her wealth, position, and friends, and Siobhàn Shaw is the only one left to befriend and help her discover the one thing that might save Morven’s family and existence.

 

For novel 34:  Seoirse is assigned to be Rose’s protector and helper at Monmouth while Rose deals with five goddesses and schoolwork; unfortunately Seoirse has fallen in love with Rose.  

 

Here is the scene development outline:

 

1. Scene input (comes from the previous scene output or is an initial scene)

2. Write the scene setting (place, time, stuff, and characters)

3. Imagine the output, creative elements, plot, telic flaw resolution (climax) and develop the tension and release.

4. Write the scene using the output and creative elements to build the tension.

5. Write the release

6. Write the kicker

          

Today:  Let me tell you a little about writing.  Writing isn’t so much a hobby, a career, or a pastime.  Writing is a habit and an obsession.  We who love to write love to write. 

 

If you love to write, the problem is gaining the skills to write well.  We want to write well enough to have others enjoy our writing.  This is important.  No one writes just for themselves the idea is absolutely irrational and silly.  I can prove why.

 

In the first place, the purpose of writing is communication—that’s the only purpose.  Writing is the abstract communication of the mind through symbols.  As time goes by, we as writers gain more and better tools and our readers gain more and better appreciation for those tools and skills—even if they have no idea what they are. 

 

We are in the modern era.  In this time, the action and dialog style along with the push of technology forced novels into the form of third person, past tense, action and dialog style, implying the future.  This is the modern style of the novel.  I also showed how the end of literature created the reflected worldview.  We have three possible worldviews for a novel: the real, the reflected, and the created.  I choose to work in the reflected worldview.

 

Why don’t we go back to the basics and just writing a novel?  I can tell you what I do, and show you how I go about putting a novel together.  We can start with developing an idea then move into the details of the writing. 

 

Ideas.  We need ideas.  Ideas allow us to figure out the protagonist and the telic flaw.  Ideas don’t come fully armed from the mind of Zeus.  We need to cultivate ideas. 

 

1.     Read novels. 

2.     Fill your mind with good stuff—basically the stuff you want to write about. 

3.     Figure out what will build ideas in your mind and what will kill ideas in your mind.

4.     Study.

5.     Teach. 

6.     Make the catharsis. 

7.     Write.

 

The development of ideas is based on study and research, but it is also based on creativity.  Creativity is the extrapolation of older ideas to form new ones or to present old ideas in a new form.  It is a reflection of something new created with ties to the history, science, and logic (the intellect).  Creativity requires consuming, thinking, and producing.

 

If we have filled our mind with all kinds of information and ideas, we are ready to become creative.  Creativity means the extrapolation of older ideas to form new ones or to present old ideas in a new form.  Literally, we are seeing the world in a new way, or actually, we are seeing some part of the world in a new way. 

 

The beginning of creativity is study and effort.  We can use this to extrapolate to creativity.  In addition, we need to look at recording ideas and working with ideas.

 

With that said, where should we go?  Should I delve into ideas and creativity again, or should we just move into the novel again?  Should I develop a new protagonist, which, we know, will result in a new novel.  I’ve got an idea, but it went stale.  Let’s look at the outline for a novel again:

 

1.      The initial scene

2.     The rising action scenes

3.     The climax scene

4.     The falling action scene(s)

5.     The dénouement scene(s)

   

The initial scene is the most important scene and part of any novel.  To get to the initial scene, you don’t need a plot, you need a protagonist.

 

I’m now writing Seoirse, and since I retired from my day job, I’m back to a chapter a day.  I could likely write two chapters a day, but my brain gets tired.  I think it’s important to report again on how to write a novel.  Let’s start at the beginning.

 

I already developed the protagonist for this novel: Seoirse Séamas Wishart.  That is his name in Gaelic.  His common or English name is George James Wishart.  Why the difference.  It all has to do with the worldview of my novels.  The worldview is reflected and therefore the supernatural exists.  We are mainly writing about the common and mythical supernatural in the world.  I’d like to say that whatever the basis for the usual supernatural in human thought exists in the reflected worldview of this and my novels.  Thus there are vampires, werewolves, fairies, the Fae courts, dragons, gods, goddesses, and other mythical creatures.  They aren’t the world.  They world of my novels is the world you see around you.  The supernatural aspects are generally unseen, unknown, and rare.  They exist like the supernatural exists in the world today: generally unseen, unknown, and rare.  That’s the basis of the world in my novels.

 

This is where I am with Seoirse.  I’ve been writing a chapter a day.  That means I’ll likely have a completed novel in less than a month.  That’s what I usually do when I have an idea and a novel to write.  I’m also writing pretty exclusively when I should be working on a publisher or an agent. 

 

I’ve titled my most recent novel, Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment.  I think it’s time to start on the marketing materials.  I’m still editing, but I’m reaching the end stages of that.  I know I went through marketing materials not that long ago with Rose, but that seems like the right way to go, plus, that will force me to work on them—I’d really rather be editing.  That’s the most fun for me.  Reading your own work and fixing the large and small details to make it as perfect as possible is the best part ever of writing.  I’d have to say, writing it in the first place is a close second, but when you see the completed novel on your screen, and you experience the interplay of characters and plot, that’s makes life worth living and writing worth writing.

 

I do need to write this again.  I write to entertain.  The number one person I’m trying to entertain is me.  If my novels aren’t entertaining to me, how can they be entertaining to anyone else.  Further, I write what I love to read.  When I produce a novel, it’s because I love the ideas in the novel.  I craft it to be as entertaining and exciting as possible.  Now, on to marketing materials.  Here’s the basic format I use.  I’ll explain this as I go and as I populate it.

 

Title of Work:

 

Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment

 

Author(s) Name:

 

L. D. Alford

 

Type: Either Screenplay or Book

 

Book

 

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

 

120,000 words

 

Keywords and Market Focus:

 

Fiction, military, military training, intelligence operations, adventure, supernatural, Fae, fairy, Scotland, Rousay, Britain, United Kingdom, Monmouth, MI6, goddess, Dagda, organization, the King; will fascinate anyone interested in mystery, intelligence operations, and the Fae—will appeal particularly to those who enjoy mystery and magic realism novels.

 

You might be asked about the market or the market focus for your work.  In general, you don’t need to tell normal publishers that your work is focused at adults.  That’s a presumption.  If you do have a strongly young adult or child protagonist but your work is not targeted to children or young adults, you might need to state that fact.

 

Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment is indeed an adult focused novel even though the protagonist is a young adult.  I’d rather not state that the novel is only for adults.  Therefore, I just state the most direct points about the market.  Indeed, if your novel is for children or young adults, you should state that in the market focus—that’s indeed one of the main reasons for the market focus.

 

A publisher and an agent wants to know who you wrote your novel for.  Who was and is your target audience?  You are selling your novel to a publisher or an agent, as many, if not most publishers are interested in specific or certain genre or market.  Market is just another way of expressing the idea of genre encapsulating the audience.  Your potential publisher or agent wants to know what is the main point of your novel, who might buy it, and who you are targeting.  If you notice, I broke the market focus into two statements.  The first is the main ideas in the novel and the second is the main target for the novel.  This can vary a lot, and some recommend you craft this to your targeted publisher and/or agent.  This is definitely something you will want to include in a cover letter.

 

For Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment, I stated will fascinate anyone interested in mystery, intelligence operations, and the Fae.  This isn’t necessarily a recitation of the genre, this gets a little deeper than that.  You still don’t want to use certain words, at this time, in these statements.  For example, the word suspense, as I understand it, is a negative word for many if not most publishers.  I’m not certain why, but over time, certain words and descriptions for works get a negative connotation.  On the other hand, over time, certain words and descriptions become popular.  For example, my publisher described my World War Two novels as dystopian because that was a real market seller at the time.  In addition, since Harry Potty, the description magic realism has climbed its way from fantasy to a real genre.  Almost all fantasy should be described as magic realism for now.  Who knows what the market will call the next popular wave of genre or ideas. 

 

In my first statement, I’m trying to excite the potential publisher or agent with the main ideas of mystery, intelligence operations, and the Fae.  These are the main ideas or big ideas in the novel.  I could have stated supernatural instead of the Fae, but supernatural has an entirely different connotation for the market and many publishers.  They mean by supernatural: UFOs, ghosts, and telepathy.  What I mean by supernatural are gods and goddesses, imaginary beings like vampires, dragons, and fairies, as well as their influence and environs.  This is what I can the reflected worldview.  Moder supernatural, as I noted, is more about something not at all related to magic realism.  That’s why the second statement specifies, mystery and magic realism.  As we will see this directly appeals to the genre of the novel.  I should write adults somewhere in these statements, but I’d really rather not.  Although my novels are written for adults and contain adult ideas and vocabulary, I wouldn’t want to not have young adults as my readers.  I’m not exclusionary, I’m a realist.

 

To put everything together, the market focus is definitely something you will want to include in your cover letter.  This is information a publisher really needs to know.  You want to make this as broad as possible, but at the same time inclusive as possible and specific to your novel as possible.  You don’t necessarily want to repeat the genre.  We can restate this for a cover letter like this: Seoirse: Enchantment and the Assignment will fascinate anyone interested in mystery, intelligence operations, and the Fae—the genre is magic realism mystery.

 

You definitely want to express the market focus and the genre somewhere in your cover letter—most publishers specify this and they all want this.  In fact, most of the time, you wouldn’t be marketing to them if you didn’t fit in their genre.  We’ll move to that next.   

 

Genre:

 

Magic Realism Mystery

Author Bio: Approximately 120 words

The finest entertainment in literature is an escape into a real and inviting world—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 and modern people real to us.  His stories uniquely explore the connections between present events, history, and the future—he combines them with threads of reality that bring his fiction alive.  L. D. Alford is familiar with technology and cultures—he earned a B.S. in Chemistry, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, and is a graduate of Air War College, USAF Test Pilot School, and Air Command and Staff College.  He is widely traveled and has spent long periods in Europe, Asia, and Central America.  L. D. Alford is an author who combines intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality.   

 

Synopsis:  Approximately 1000 Words

                    

Synopsis:  Approximately 500 Words

 

Synopsis:  Approximately 200 Words

 

Concept of the Work:  Approximately 250 Words

 

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

None

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

 

Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective www.LumiereNovel.com, the child of a Fae is discovered and trained to become a powerful asset in British supernatural intelligence.

 

Deirdre: Enchantment and the School www.HestiaNovel.com, the child of a Fae secretly attends a girl’s boarding school until Deirdre discovers her.

 

Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse www.GoddessoftheHearth.com, a cursed woman becomes a deadly spy at the hands of a dangerous mistress.

 

Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si www.HearthGoddess.com, a matron rescues and educates the Queen of the fae.

 

Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer www.GoddessofLightNovel.com, a math genius girl gets a boyfriend and becomes a Japanese goddess.

 

Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire www.GoddessofDarkness.com, a British agent accidentally becomes involved with a vampire.  

 

Khione: Enchantment and the Fox www.GoddessNovel.com, a graduate student discovers a demigoddess in modern Boston.

 

Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon www.AksinyaNovel.com, a Russian princess calls a demon to protect her family.

 

Dana-ana: Enchantment of the Maiden www.Dana-ana.com, the mystery of Dana-ana Goewyn.

 

Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth www.EnchantmentoftheHearth.com, the misadventures of archeologists in modern Greece.

 

Antebellum www.AntebellumNovel.com the mystery of a house that has been missing since the American Civil War and the girl who is called to it.

 

The Second Mission www.TheSecondMission.com is a historical fiction novel about ancient Greece published in 2003 by Xulon.

 

Centurion www.CenturionNovel.com published January 2008 and Aegypt www.AegyptNovel.com also published in January 2008 are historical fiction novels from OakTara Fiction 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) www.TheEndofHonor.com

              The Fox’s Honor (published Oct 2008) www.TheFoxsHonor.com

              A Season of Honor (published Nov 2008) www.ASeasonofHonor.com

 

Ancient Light is a suspense series published by Broadstreet, Eleutheria, September 2014 in a three-in-one www.AncientLight.com.

              Aegypt (second edition published by OakTara Fiction, 2014) www.Aegypt.com

              Sister of Light (published by OakTara Fiction, 2014) www.SisterofLight.com

              Sister of Darkness (published by OakTara Fiction, 2014) www.SisterofDarkness.com

 

More information is available at www.ldalford.com   

 

L.D. Alford has more than 70 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 www.wingsoverkansas.com.

 

Reviewer’s quotes.

 

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 3rd person)

L. D. Alford is a novelist whose writing uniquely explores the connections between present events and history—he combines them with threads of reality that bring the supernatural alive.   

Dr. Alford is a scientist and widely traveled author who combines intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality.

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

 

Rose: Enchantment and the Flower continues the magic realism themes introduced in L.D. Alford’s Enchantment and Ancient Light novels.  It is a standalone novel.

 

Rose: Enchantment and the Flower is exciting magical realism mystery fiction from the celebrated author of Blue Rose: Enchantment and the Detective, Deirdre: Enchantment and the School, Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse, Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si, Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer, Valeska: Enchantment and the Vampire, Khione: Enchantment and the Fox, Dana-ana: Enchantment of the Maiden, Hestia: Enchantment of the Hearth, Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon, Antebellum, and published novels: Centurion, Aegypt, The End of Honor, The Fox’s Honor, A Season of Honor, Sister of Light, and Sister of Darkness.

 

I left in generic information which I’ll likely modify a little in the development of the marketing materials.  I’ll go over each second and try to be consistent with what I’ve written before, but who knows what jewels a little creativity will produce.

 

I want to write another book based on Rose and Seoirse, and the topic will be the raising of Ceridwen—at least that’s my plan.  We shall see.

 

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  

fiction, theme, plot, story, storyline, character development, scene, setting, conversation, novel, book, writing, information, study, marketing, tension, release, creative, idea, logic

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