Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 281, even more Mystery Title

16 January 2015, Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 281, even more Mystery Title

Announcement: My new novels should be available from any webseller or can be ordered from any brick and mortar bookstore.  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.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

All novels have five discrete parts:
1.  The initial scene (the beginning)
2.  The rising action
3.  The climax
4.  The falling action
5.  The dénouement

The theme statement of my 25th novel, working title, Escape, is this: a girl in a fascist island nation will do anything to escape--a young cargo ferry pilot not following the rules crashes on the island.

I'll make a slight digression because I'm developing advertising and publisher materials for my newest completed novel, Lilly.  Here is the cover proposal for Lilly: Enchantment and the Computer. 

Cover Propsal

If you are setting a title on a work yourself or your publisher asks you for ideas (assuming you don't have a title already), here are some ideas for developing a title.

1.  It needs to be pithy. 

2.  It needs to be marketable. 

3. It needs to be short, but not too simple.            

4.  It needs to be unique, but not too unique. 

5.  It should not be too similar to works with negative connotations. 

6.  It should encapsulate some measure of the theme. 

7.  It should build mystery.  Why should a potential reader buy your book and read it?  This is step one of marketing.  The cover must attract, the title must seduce, and the first page must convince.  We are looking at the title.  Let's evaluate some of my published novels.  Centurion begs the question--who?  There isn't that much mystery, but for a single word title, it conjures thoughts and ideas outside the norm.  The reader thinks of the Roman Legion and should wonder enough to pick up the book.

Aegypt is an obvious mystery.  The potential reader wonders at the spelling and the ideas the word Aegypt conveys.  The whole idea of mystery is encapsulated in a word--plus, who doesn't like old Egyptian ideas: mummies, Pharaohs, Queen Nefertiti, Cleopatra, pyramids, the Sphinx... I mean the word mystery could e defied by such things. 

The Second Mission brings the immediate question to mind: what was the first mission?  That's the point of the novel.  The End of Honor is a mystery question itself.  The immediate question is how did the honor end and what caused it to end?  The Fox's Honor is similar.  The potential reader asks herself, what is the Fox's honor?  A Season of Honor keeps in the same vein--what is a season of honor and what brought it about? 

My two novels and the series that should be published are Sister of Light, Sister of Darkness, and Ancient Light.  These also pose mysteries through their titles--we hope enough mystery to encourage a potential reader to pick up the novel.  The next step is the first page, but that is an entirely different subject.

Once we have a title, we can move to the marketing materials.

At this point everything I'm doing with and for this work is about marketing to a publisher and building a website.

More tomorrow.

For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com

Marketing Materials - A Marketing Website

17 September 2011, Marketing Materials - A Marketing Website

Introduction: I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.  The working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, 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.

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.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

Today's Blog:  If you've been following along, we have a proposed cover, a long form of marketing information that includes a synopsis and some teasers, a short form of information with some teasers.  With this information, you can put together a simple website about your new novel.  That's just what I did at http://www.aksinyanovel.com/.

I use Microsoft HomePage to manage, design, and publish my websites.  There are more modern programs, but this one is simple to use, and I already have it.  To make a website, you just have to choose a style and cut and paste the elements on the page.  That's what I did to make http://www.aksinyanovel.com/.  It is really easy. 

You can use the cover proposal as a linking graphic from all over your websites, and, of course, you can use it as the main graphic for your novel's website.  That's what I did at http://www.aksinyanovel.com/. 

The information to populate the website comes directly from the marketing information I've already shown you how to develop.  You can see it at the site.

I'll write more about this book marketing website tomorrow.

Marketing Materials - Websites

12 September 2011, Marketing Materials - Websites

I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon, the working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, 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, the way I built the scenes.  You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel.

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.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

I showed you in the last week or so how to put together the initial marketing material.  I told you some uses for it.  Now, I'm going to show you how to put it to immediate use.

I think I mentioned about websites.  I'll give it to you again.  When you finish writing a novel and after you set the title, get the website for it.  If you can and want to get all the websites for the title.  Using Aksinya as the example, I wanted to get www.Aksinya.com, but that was taken.  I took www.AksinyaNovel.com.  I could also have taken www.AksinyaStory.com and www.EnchantmentoftheDaemon.com.  I put www.Aksinya.com on back order.  I've been able to get some of my book titles that way. 

The point is to get all the websites directly related to your novel.  I usually try to just get the main title, but as you can see, you can increase your marketing potential with many.  Since I have 21 novels, at about $10 every year to retain the websites, the cost is low.  If I had two per novel or more, the costs would go up significantly.  I'd like to own more websites, but until I have a bestseller that needs it, I'll continue my current policy.

So, after you've written your novel and set the title, get the website for the title.  Oh, by the way, there are many places to go to get a website, but I use www.GoDaddy.com.  I also use them for hosting.   

Tomorrow I'll write more about how to use the marketing information in websites.

Marketing Materials - My Publisher

11 September 2011, Marketing Materials - My Publisher

I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon, the working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, 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, the way I built the scenes.  You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel.

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.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

My publisher is OakTara.  From their website http://www.oaktara.com/:

"OakTara is passionate about creating a new market for inspirational books,especially with readers who may not traditionally enter a Christian bookstore but who avidly shop the Web. Our goal is to provide readers with something different, vibrant, and new—not “just the same old thing” that they’ve seen, time and again, from other inspirational publishers."

They published five of my novels Centurion, Aegypt, The End of Honor, The Fox's Honor, and A Season of Honor.  They have two of my other novels on contract Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness.  I continue to offer them first dibs on my novels.  So, when I finish writing a novel, I prepare the long and short forms, then I prepare the OakTara information.  That information follows.

Information needed for manuscripts submitted to OakTara

Date:  31 July 2011

Name:  L. D. Alford

Address:  1704 N. Cypress
City, State/Province, Country, Zip/Postal Code:  Wichita, KS  67206

Home and/or Work Phone (only in case needed):   (316) 636-9514

Email address:  pilotlion@aol.com

* Your personal information is considered confidential and for OakTara’s purposes only. It will not be distributed or sold to any third party.

Working Manuscript Title:  Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon

Genre:  Historical suspense

* e.g., allegory, biblical, contemporary, fantasy, futuristic, historical, mystery/suspense, romance, or science fiction

Plot Summary/Marketing Hook:

* 200 words or less. Here’s your chance to “sell” a reader on the plot of your book!

In November 1918, the young sorceress Lady Aksinya Andreiovna Golitsyna called the demon Asmodeus to protect her noble family from the Bolsheviks, but she was too late.  When Aksinya and Asmodeus arrived at the estate, her father and mother, brother and sister were already dead.  Unfortunately, Aksinya conjured a demon, whose only purpose was to aid her in accomplishing evil. 

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 Austria and to her relatives there.  He tempts her to sorcery.  He tempts her to take a lover.  Each of the temptations drives her deeper and deeper into the depths of evil and despair.

Asmodeus plans a destruction that will result in the end of Aksinya’s friends, acquaintances, and relatives—a much greater end to everything in her 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?

Here is my commentary.  If you look carefully, this synopsis is a condensed version of the long form.  This is why I told you to begin with the long form.  You can easily go from a 500 to a 200 word synopsis.  You will find it very difficult to write a 200 word synopsis right off the bat.  At least it is difficult for me.  I find it easy to cut and hard to add.  If you can make a 200 from a 500 word synopsis, you can write a 100 word synopsis etc. 

There isn't much more to be said, except, if you are sending information on your manuscript to a publisher, you need to exactly follow their instructions.  They likely won't even take a look at a manuscript or a submittal in the wrong format.

You are selling yourself and your work.  That's in the next section.

Author bio:

* 200 words or less. Please include any previous publishing experience (title and publisher); professional credits (degrees, schooling, etc.); any personal experience that relates to plot/characters of this book; and your reason for writing this book. In addition, please let us know if you're planning any sequels of other titles in a series.

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 uniquely explore the connections between events close and familiar and events of the past—he cleaves them together 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, and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Dayton. He is a graduate of Air War College, Air Command and Staff College, and the US Air Force Test Pilot School.  He is widely traveled and has spent long periods in Europe and Central America.  His writing includes over 40 technical articles, historical fiction novel The Second Mission published by Xulon, and historical fiction novels Centurion and Aegypt and science fiction novels, The End of Honor, and A Season of Honor published by Oaktara.  L. D. Alford is an author who combines intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality.

This is where you sell yourself.  Notice, it is the same bio I use on the long form.  For now, this is way I want to be know and build my market.  If my publisher wants me to change it or vary it--I shall.

The point is to please your publisher.

Tomorrow I'll write about how to use the marketing information in websites.

Marketing Materials - Short Form, About You

8 September 2011, Marketing Materials - Short Form, About You

I realized that I need to introduce this blog a little.  I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon, the working title was Daemon, and this was my 21st novel.  Over the last year, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing.  In the commentary, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I use, the way I build scenes, in addition to other general information on writing.  You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel.

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.  At this moment, I'm showing you the marketing material I put together for a novel.

I'm working on the "short form" right now.  The short form gives you quick and terse words to describe yourself and your work.

Short form information: 

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

Aksinya contracted the demon, Asmodeus to save her family from the Bolsheviks, unfortunately her family was already dead—now, who can save Aksinya.   

The demon, Asmodeus' purpose is to tempt Aksinya to accomplish evil.

Before Aksinya can gain her freedom from the demon, Asmodeus, she might lose her friends, family, and acquaintances, and it will all be her fault.     

2.  One sentence about successful works similar to yours.

The conceptual theme of Aksinya is similar to Faust, a story about a man who makes a contract with the devil. The difference is the main character in Aksinya did not intend evil through her actions and constantly attempts to find some means to break her contract with the demon.

3.  No more than 2 sentences about yourself. (use 3^rd 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 past alive.   

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

Authors need teasers too.  These are short pithy sentences about you.  If you read my long form bio, you will see the similarity and the reuse of some of that language.  The trick is that you want to produce continuity in the way you describe yourself and the way the world sees you.  In this regard, you are building yourself as a marketable commodity. 

 

You are your brand.  The way you describe yourself and the way the world sees you will broadly be the same--unless you already are a celebrity.  Just note that you are selling yourself as a writer, so you need to bring out your strongest and best qualities. 

 

Look carefully at the way I describe myself.  The first sentence uses my pen name and is all about my writing.  It isn't really about me--it is all about the way I write.

 

The second sentence uses my professional name and title and gives more information about me, but in the end--it is still about my writing.  In every case, I don't want my readers to be more interested in me than my writing.  The writing is paramount.  Since I write both historical and science fiction, you can see the reason for the two different focuses of the sentences.  If you write in one genre, you might have two sentences with the same focus, but that vary by the information they give and the way they describe your writing.

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 continue filling out the short form for Aksinya with commentary, of course.

Marketing Materials - Long Form

4 September 2011, Marketing Materials - Long Form

So, what follows is what I call the long form.  I go through this for every book I write.  This form includes all the information you need to approach a publisher or agent.  You can modify this to use it as a cover letter.  It can be used anywhere to explain and advertise your novel.  You can hand it out to prospective publishers or agents.  I use the information for the novel's website.  My publisher has used this information for my author bio in my books and to help write the back and inside cover information.

Once you have this basic information, you can write a shorter synopsis from it, and you can write a shorter bio.  Everything in marketing, that you have to write, becomes easier if you have produced this basic information on your book.  Bear in mind that you should review and rewrite this as much as you review and rewrite your novel.
The complete long form information for Aksinya:

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

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

Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon www.AksinyaNovel.com.

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 adventures of archeologists in modern Greece.

Antebellum 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 www.TheSecondMission 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

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 www.wingsoverkansas.com.

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.

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 look at the short form with commentary.

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.

Marketing Materials - To Synopsis

2 September 2011, Marketing Materials - To Synopsis

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 next section of the long form information.

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? 

         

The first attempt at your synopsis should be about 500 words.  If 500 words won't work, you aren't trying hard enough.  500 words is about the longest synopsis you should write.  It is about 1 and 1/2 page double spaced. 

Write the synopsis in the present tense, only diving back into the past tense for past ideas.  Notice, I start with the past tense as I discuss Aksinya and bring you into the present tense about the temptation by the demon.

Write exciting active prose--just like you write for a good scene.  Try to gain the excitement of your reader.  This is your opportunity to interest an agent or publisher.  Plus, this will become your synopsis.  You will want to use this or shortened versions of this all over the place. This can become part of your cover information or inner cover information.

Use loaded words and ideas.  Don't reveal all.  You don't have the space to show, so you will have to tell, but you want to use your telling to the best effect. 

I like to end my synopsis with a question or an implied question.  Some writing guides recommend that you tell everything in the synopsis.  I assure you, you can barely get the main ideas of your novel in any synopsis.  If I intended to encapsulate the entire novel in a synopsis, I wouldn't have written a novel.  You can't get it all in, and I recommend you not try to give it all or any real spoilers.  If the publisher is interested, they will ask for the novel (or a part).  Or this information might be your cover sheet.  The point is that they will have the whole when they ask.  If the synopsis doesn't capture their imagination, the novel won't either.  That's why the synopsis is so important.

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

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

Short form information: 

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 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 look at more information with commentary.

Marketing Materials - To Author Bio

1 September 2011, Marketing Materials - To Author Bio

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 second section of the long form information.

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, that I will go over with you 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

Your publisher will definitely get involved with the choice of the genre.  This is your first chance to give your opinion of the genre and help focus the thoughts of those you are marketing to.  Remember, this is really your best guess.  Many times, the genre of a work is in the eyes of the beholder and your publisher uses this as a description to drive the market for the work.  Don't get too enamored with your own idea of the genre.

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.   

Author bios can be cutesy.  They can be serious.  They can be familial.  They can be artistic.  The most important idea in an author bio is that it ties the work to you.  Generally, cutesy bios are only good for best selling authors.  Those authors don't have anything to prove, and they don't have to tie themselves to their work--they only need to tie themselves to their readers.

Yes, once you have a best seller, you need to appease your fan base with information about you.  Before you are a best seller, you need to sell your novels.  So, you can observe in my author bio:

It is written in the third person.  It starts out intimately with a quote and some text that explains in exciting terms what my writing attempts to achieve.  Remember, you are marketing your novel.  Then, the bio moves to information that gives some proof text to the assertions about the writing.  In other words, it gives qualifications that define why the statements about the writing might be true.  It closes with a kicker.  That is a single sentence that wraps up what I want the reader to know about my writing.

If you were writing an author bio and you were a mother writing about your experiences with your children, you might open with some intimate statement about what you learned by being a mother.  For example, Life isn't always a bowl of cherries, but with three girls in the house motherhood isn't always about the pits.  You could then give some information that ties your novel to being a mother and why you write.  Finally, you can round it out with your qualifications:  Ms. Blank has been a mother for thirty years and raised five children to semi-adulthood.  The final sentence should be a kicker of some type.

The author bio will likely find its way into your novel--it will be the author information there.  That's why it is important and why it needs to generally reflect your entire stable of writing.  Remember, you are selling your writing. 

Synopsis:  Approximately 500 Words

         

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

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

Short form information: 

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 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 look at more information with commentary.