Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
March 18, 2016

 

“Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can.  That is the only secret of style.” – Matthew Arnold, British Poet (1822 – 1888)

 

How to Sell More Books with Great Book Cover Design

March 11, 2016 by Joanna Penn

Investing in professional book cover design is non-negotiable for indie authors who want to make a living with their writing. Readers DO judge a book by its cover, and they won’t read your blurb, download a sample or buy now without connecting to your cover somehow.  In short, you’re unlikely to sell many books unless you have a great cover design.

In this article, JD Smith outlines her tips for book cover design. Her new book is The Importance of Book Cover Design and Formatting for Self-Published Authors. Jane is also my book cover designer and I highly recommend her.

There’s a constant debate about the relevance and importance of cover design, whether you’re a self-published author, part of a collective group of authors, an independent press, or even a large publishing house. If you are publishing your book to give away as Christmas presents, or you only expect a few members of your family to buy them, then the cover is as important as you consider it to be.

But if you are a professional writer and you intend to earn a living or be taken seriously in the literary world, then the book cover is as important as the copy editing, the proofreading, the story and the characters.

It is a part of your marketing … and it’s there to attract the right kind of readers.

So let’s assume you already deem a book cover to be important and I don’t need to convert you. How can you make your cover work for you and sell more books?

(1) Target your audience

Your book cover MUST be targeted at the right audience. How do you find out who that audience is?

Research.

Check out the bestselling lists in your genre, whether that’s crime fiction, women’s fiction, young adult etc. Pick out books by authors who you feel write similarly to you, whose readers you know will enjoy the genre you write in, your style, tone, characters.

Read the full blog post and see more book covers at http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2016/03/11/sell-more-books-with-cover-design/

 

Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2015 – The Winners

http://writetodone.com/top-10-blogs-for-writers-2015/

 

How to Write a Screenplay

Have you ever walked out of a movie theater and said, “I think I could probably write something better than that”? In fact, a great movie idea can be difficult to come up with and a great screenplay can almost be even more difficult to write. Writing for the screen, especially the big screen, means you’re composing something meant for a visual medium. And though it can be difficult to do well, a great screenplay has the power to be transformative for your viewers.

Check out this post on Wikihow — http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Screenplay

and this video on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-QVNc6mruE

 

Who’s up next . . .

March 22: ?

March 29: Fifth Tuesday

April 5: Liam Wilbur (???), Pat Edwards (???), Millie Mader (poem), Lisa McDougal (chapters, Tebow Family Secret), Eva Mays (chapter 3, Dhuoda), Bob Kralapp (???), and Randy Slagel (???).

April 12: ?

April 19: Mike Austin (???), Fran Wiedenhoeft (???), Hannah Marshall (poems), Kashmira Sheth (chapters, Journey to Swaraj), Judith McNeil (short story, part 2, “Just Visiting”), Cindi Dyke (chapter 26, North Road), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 27-30, Killing Ham).

 

Fifth Tuesday coming . . .

This is the month of FIFTH TUESDAY.

Yes, March 29 our two groups will come together for an evening of good food and good times at Ella’s Deli, 2902 East Washington Avenue. Plug that in your GPS and you’ll get there. First-and-third group hosts.

TWS alumni and published sci-fi author Pat Tomlinson will be with us to talk about how he got a book contract.

Here’s our Fifth Tuesday writing challenge: Write a story, essay, or poem using this as your writing prompt: “I’m a curious person. No, I’m a nosy person. No, I’m a snoop, and it’s finally gotten me into trouble.”

Do not, repeat, do not use the prompt as the first sentences of your short short story, essay, or poem.

Max length: 500 words.

Deadline for getting your mini-masterpieces to Jerry Peterson is March 24.

 

Meet our Writers Mail editors . . .

For March: Pat Edwards

For April: Randy Slagel

For May: Lisa McDougal

You, too, could be a part of this illustrious group.  Just volunteer!

 

 

Great word . . .

From Word Spy Paul McFedreis:

guy-cry
Meaning: (adjective) Of or relating to a film that often moves male viewers to tears.
Also Seen As: guy cry

Examples
“I’m left with a personal dilemma at times when it comes to ‘guy-cry’ films like this, where you know what’s going to happen, you may get emotional about it, whatever. But if the film doesn’t deliver on those promises, I sometimes wonder if I’ve finally donated what’s left of my soul to the great and growing ocean of cynicism that comes with film criticism.”
– Ryan Keefer, My All American (Blu-ray), DVD Talk, March 8, 2016

“Shawshank falls under the rubric of ‘guy cry’ movies. Though Deakins’s nuanced cinematography is lost on the small screen, watching Shawshank on TV allows a man to shed a few cathartic tears…while ensconced on his Barcalounger in the privacy of his home.”
– Margaret Heidenry, The Little-Known Story of How The Shawshank Redemption Became One of the Most Beloved Films of All Time, Vanity Fair, September 22, 2014

“In a column in the Chicago Tribune, page two columnist John Kass revealed himself as a ‘crybaby’ at guy cry movies. And male readers jumped at the chance to admit that yes, they too cry at the movies. The Tribune’s Web site is still taking votes for favorite guy cry films.”
– Rebecca Roberts, Movies that Make Grown Men Cry, NPR, April 25, 2007

“Turtle: They rented Brian’s Song, E!
E: I heard you. What do you want me to do?
Drama: The ultimate guy-cry movie.
Turtle: He cries in front of her, shows her he’s sensitive, bang! he moves right in.
Drama: Yeah. His tears will basically act as a lubricant.”
– Exodus, Entourage, Season 2, Episode 13, August 28, 2005

Earliest
“Have you seen the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams? It is one of the few “guy cry” movies, along with maybe The Dirty Dozen and True Grit (kidding).”
– Joseph S. Bonsall, “Joseph S. Bonsall, Sr.,” Arlington National Cemetery, January 9, 2004

–thanks, Jerry!

 

Oops!

Said a reporter on an NPR news broadcast the other day about a shooting in Oregon, “The police fired three shots into the man’s truck fatally killing the man.”

Fatally killing?

It was bad enough to kill the man, but to fatally kill him? . . . Was the reporter listening to hip-hop on her iPod back in high school when, in English class, her fellow students were studying grammar?

–thanks, Jerry!