07 Tuesday Jun 2016
Posted in Messages
It’s that time again!
For those subscribed to Amid the Imaginary’s newsletter: If you have a self-published book and would like to include an advertisement in the July newsletter, please e-mail me at FineFablesPress@gmail.com, Subject Line: Advertisement <Your Genre>.
In your e-mail please include the following:
I’ll do my best to accommodate as many as possible!
21 Sunday Feb 2016
Posted in Messages
It’s that time again!
For those subscribed to Amid the Imaginary’s newsletter: If you have a self-published book and would like to include an advertisement in the April newsletter, please e-mail me at FineFablesPress@gmail.com, Subject Line: Advertisement <Your Genre>.
In your e-mail please include the following:
I’ll do my best to accommodate as many as possible!
18 Wednesday Nov 2015
Posted in Messages
Hi everyone! I have additional space in the newsletter for advertisement of books already self-published.
For those subscribed to Amid the Imaginary’s newsletter: If you have a self-published book and would like to include an advertisement in the January newsletter, please e-mail me at FineFablesPress@gmail.com, Subject Line: Advertisement <Your Genre>.
In your e-mail please include the following:
I’ll do my best to accommodate as many as possible!
14 Saturday Nov 2015
Posted in Messages
For those subscribed to Amid the Imaginary’s newsletter: If you have a book release coming up in the months of January, February, or March and would like to include an advertisement in the January newsletter, please e-mail me at FineFablesPress@gmail.com, Subject Line: New Release <Your Genre>.
In your e-mail please include the following:
I’ll do my best to accommodate as many as possible. I appreciate your understanding on that point:)
05 Thursday Nov 2015
Posted in Messages
Do you plan to run any books on sale in the month of January? For those who subscribe to the Amid the Imaginary newsletter, I’m now accepting submissions to advertise book sales in the upcoming newsletter.
Please e-mail me at FineFablesPress@gmail.com, Subject Line: Book Sale <Your Genre>
In your e-mail please include the following:
I will do my best to fit as many as I can into the newsletter.
Thanks everyone!
28 Wednesday Oct 2015
Posted in Messages
Hey there, fellow scribes!
Just a friendly reminder that the deadline to send in your Short Story contest submission is this Sunday, November 1st, 12:00 pm U.S. CST !
Some fabulous prizes are up for grabs and there’s still space for additional entrants so polish up your story and e-mail it to me at FineFablesPress@gmail.com.
One final note I neglected to include in the original post: By submitting you are authorizing me to publish your story one time in the quarterly newsletter (if you’re the winner) and post it to the blog (if you place in the top three). The copyright and intellectual property rights remain with you.
Need a refresher on the other guidelines, here’s the link
Happy Wednesday!
17 Saturday Oct 2015
Posted in Mission Control
Roger. Transmission received, West Texas.
Below we have the first paragraph of a YA Paranormal novel. As always, to remain unbiased no cover will be shown and the title is found at the end of this post. My comments on the flip side:
From the Prologue:
Ann Marie stood at the edge of the room as she watched her children sleeping peacefully in their beds. She fought the overwhelming urges coursing through her body and the motherly instinct that told her to grab them and run for her life. No doubt she could make it to the edge of the woods that surrounded her house before they caught up to her, but then what would she do? She was only one person; she would not be able to fight them on her own. She wasn’t strong enough to do any real damage to Braedon, the man who had spent the last couple of years searching for her.
This paragraph does a great job of presenting the fear and anxiety Ann Marie is going through. We know several things about her right away: She’s a mother. People are chasing her and she doubts her ability to defend herself against them. Kudos on calling out what may be the main antagonist already.
There are a few suggestions that I think would help to ratchet up the tension even more.
Let’s examine this section by section
Ann Marie stood at the edge of the room as she watched her children sleeping peacefully in their beds. She fought the overwhelming urges coursing through her body and the motherly instinct that told her to grab them and run for her life.
I’d love to see these sentences reversed or even merged into one. The first line establishes a sense of place (although I think “threshold of the room” is a better word choice and would take out one of the “edge” words in this paragraph), but it doesn’t grip the reader like the second one. The second line says “Hey! *smack* Something serious is happening here, pay attention!” Move that one to the front.
I’d also recommend replacing the word “motherly” with “primal”. The first sentence already states these are her children so “motherly” feels repetitive. And consider revising the wording of that last fragment, “run for her life”, as she can’t be a singular subject if she includes her kids in the running. Maybe, “run like hell”?
No doubt she could make it to the edge of the woods that surrounded her house before they caught up to her, but then what would she do?
Again, good sense of place. She’s alone with her children in a house by the woods. The kids are sleeping so it’s likely nighttime. All good elements to elicit fear. Cutting away “No doubt” would make the line cleaner, more declarative.
She was only one person; she would not be able to fight them on her own. She wasn’t strong enough to do any real damage to Braedon, the man who had spent the last couple of years searching for her.
“She was only one person” reads a bit awkward. How many people would she be? And kill that semi-colon!
I’d pare this down to one sentence. It’s essentially saying the same thing in those first two lines.
The last line mentioning the antagonist is a touch expository and feels more like the author “telling” the reader information. Keep things zoomed in to Ann Marie’s perspective. Would she say that to herself? Doubtful since it’s information she already knows. The reader will still want to know who Braedon is even with little to no details. It just needs to infer “bad guy” and we’ll wait a long time to know more.
Flight Director’s proposed adjustment to the flight path
They were coming. It was only a matter of time. Ann Marie watched her children sleep, battling the primal urge to gather them up and run like hell. Instead she went to the window and peered between the curtains at the surrounding woods veiled in shadow. Their concealing thickets tempted her for the briefest of moments. Even if they made it, what then? Fight them all on her own? And Braedon was sure to be among them. She let the curtain fall closed with a shiver. At her best, she never did any real damage to him. Their encounters over the last two years made that as clear as the fact that he’d never stop hunting her.
Amaranthine (Willow Shadows Book 1) by Lanie Jacobs
This book went on sale for $0.99 today through October 24th. Check out the book trailer!
What do you think of this first paragraph? Would you keep reading? Other suggestions or tips?
Want to test out your hook? Email your first paragraph to me at FineFablesPress@gmail.com
10 Saturday Oct 2015
Posted in Messages
Tags
Book Marketing, Craft, Dystopian, Fantasy, Free Advertising, Paranormal, Science-Fiction, Steampunk, Writing Contest
Sharpen your pencils and dust off those keyboards! The next writing contest is at hand!
Up to 50 entrants will be allowed to compete for fabulous prizes.
No entry fee required.
The theme?
Short Stories!
The last contest had a brutal word restriction of just 500 words, so this time I’m throwing in another thousand and allowing stories up to 1500 words. I am nothing if not generous, right?;)
Now for the twist!
Each story must use one of the following prompts as the basis of their story:
Prompt One: Suitcase
Prompt Two: Landscape
Prompt Three: City View
Prompt Four: Knight
Interpret these scenes however you’d like. Pay no attention to the title as far as your writing. I labelled them only for reference purposes.
Guidelines are as follows:
1. Must have at least one self-published book (please provide a link in your e-mail)
2. Must be a subscriber to the quarterly Amid the Imaginary newsletter published through Fine Fables Press
3. Story must be 1500 words or less and in one of the genres of the blog–Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Dystopian, Steampunk. (I’ll allow Horror this time as well, just to include all the subcategories in Speculative fiction.)
4. One entry per person and once submitted the entrant cannot resubmit
5. Story format should be in PDF: Please also title your story, indicate which prompt you’re using by its label, the genre, and include your name in the document (not just the e-mail).
DEADLINE to submit: Noon, 12:00 pm (U.S. Central Standard Time) on Sunday, November 1st. No exceptions.
Email your submission to FineFablesPress@gmail.com, Subject: Writing Contest Submission
Be sure to adhere to the guidelines listed above as it may impact the judgement of your entry if you do not.
On to the good part!
This writing contest is sponsored by Tweet Your Books: Effective Twitter book promotion for authors.
They Tweet your book, blog or author website to 550,000 select and genuine users: readers, editors, publishers & writers who follow them on their Twitter accounts.
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place
Contest Judges:
We’re looking forward to reading your entries!
Please remember to carefully review the guidelines above. We’ll accept the first 50 submissions, and once again, that deadline to submit is 12:00pm (U.S. Central Standard Time) on Sunday, November 1st, 2015.
Questions? Please comment on this post or on the Facebook announcement so everyone can see the answers. Technical difficulties? Then e-mail the question to me directly at FineFablesPress@gmail.com
22 Tuesday Sep 2015
Posted in Mission Control
That’s a 10-4, Annandale. I’ve got you on my view screen.
Below we have the first paragraph of a Fantasy novel. As always, to remain unbiased no cover will be shown and the title is found at the end of this post. My comments on the other side:
Sophia and Gina stood beside a clear pond in which was cupped a perfect reflection of the moon’s full orb. The breeze billowed their gossamer veils and fluttered them about like enormous fairy wings. The two women faced each other an arm’s length apart, mirroring each other’s grace as two versions of the same individual. Sophia was a seasoned Crone, Gina a mature Matron. There was no innocent Maiden here, but two well-ripened women, wise in the ways of this world and of the Otherworld.
Some intriguing imagery to feast upon in this paragraph. It feels like something is about to happen and the writing hints at magic. Great sense of place and of the characters involved. There are a few things that would make this introduction stronger.
Let’s examine this section by section
Sophia and Gina Stood beside a clear pond in which was cupped a perfect reflection of the moon’s full orb. The breeze billowed their gossamer veils and fluttered them about like enormous fairy wings.
This first sentence definitely establishes place clearly, but the imagery is a bit clunky. In general ponds are flat. The word “cupped” implies a bowl-like rim, which is contrary to the usual image of a pond. Also “the moon’s full orb” implies a three dimensional perspective of the moon which, if this is an Earth-like world, isn’t possible. I’d recommend a different word choice to avoid confusion.
There is a lot of action going on with those veils! I’d cut one of the verbs to make the sentence read cleaner. It’s the law of 1 + 1 = 1/2. By using both words to describe essentially the same thing, it diminishes the effect. I’m also not sure about “fairy wings” as those protrude from the back and veils hang from the head.
One technical bit: If it’s super windy, the pond’s surface would be full of ripples and unable to give a perfect reflection of the moon.
The two women faced each other an arm’s length apart, mirroring each other’s grace as two versions of the same individual. Sophia was a seasoned Crone, Gina a mature Matron.
This threw me a bit because the description of “two versions of the same individual” made me think they were twins, but the second line describes them as completely different. And how does one mirror someone else’s grace? Are they synchronized, like those swimmers in the summer Olympics? The word choice is lush and thought provoking, but be careful to ensure it doesn’t confuse or contradict itself.
There was no innocent Maiden here, but two well-ripened women, wise in the ways of this world and of the Otherworld.
In these last two sections, three key words are capitalized: Crone, Matron, Maiden. This leads me to believe they operate in some type of hierarchy, with talents/powers and authority applied to each level. I don’t know what follows this paragraph, but if this is not the case I’d recommend keeping those words in lower case. That will move them from “title” to “description” and keep confusion at bay.
I can’t say I love the word “well-ripened” to describe the women. It makes me think of a banana going brown. Not exactly complimentary…or maybe that’s what the author was going for?
This first paragraph consists of scene description only. That format isn’t usually a great hook unless carefully executed to convey a sense of dread or tension to propel the reader forward. The above could still work but I think it needs to give a firm sense of whose perspective we’re in and cut a bit of description in favor of a promise of action to come.
Flight Director’s proposed adjustment to the flight path
In the deep hours of the night, they made their way to the waters. Darkness clung to the forest, a canopy of ancient trees that blocked the light of the stars, but Sophia’s steps remained sure. This was not her first attempt, though it may prove to be her last. As they reached the sunken edge surrounding the pond, the Matron that accompanied her offered a hand. She gave a faint shake of her head, transfixed by the waters. The moon stared, a lidless eye gazing unto itself on the glassy surface. Not a ripple shivered across the expanse. Not a breath of air stirred the veil that trailed down her back.
The Raven Watched by Karin Weiss
What do you think of this first paragraph? Would you keep reading? Other suggestions or tips?
Want to test out your hook? Email your first paragraph to me at FineFablesPress@gmail.com
12 Wednesday Aug 2015
Posted in Messages
Do you plan to run any books on sale in the month of October? For those who subscribe to the Amid the Imaginary newsletter, I’m now accepting submissions to advertise book sales in the upcoming newsletter.
Please e-mail me at finefablespress@gmail.com, Subject Line: Book Sale <Your Genre>
In your e-mail please include the following:
Again, I will do my best to fit as many as I can into the newsletter.
Thanks everyone!
Amid The Imaginary 