Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Writer's Digest Tutorials: Writing A Selling Romance


WRITER'S DIGESTWriters DigestTUTORIALS
For ahicks4298@q.comApril 25, 2012
In This Issue
From the Editor

Wherever you are reading this note from—I sincerely hope it's a great day for you! As I work on the tutorials, I always find it interesting as not only do the tutorials relate to our writing goals and careers—I also find that they relate well to life in general. Those of you that read my note last week know about the unfortunate loss of my kitty. The update to that is this: we adopted an 8-month old kitten that had been in a shelter for far too long. She's adjusting well, and we are adjusting well. But this led me to this conclusion (yes, which I already knew, but it was a great reminder): the one constant is change. 

As you are also well aware, publishing is an ever-changing market. And for those of us that write, who doesn't aspire to be a published author? This week's tutorial touches on this, but it also heavily focuses on a super HOT genre in today's market: Romance. 

How to Make Your Romance Hot Enough for an Agent is an enlightening and engaging tutorial. Romance novels represent a huge chunk of fiction sales. Readers devour romance. Agents are hungry to sell romance to publishing houses. If you write in this HOT genre, you need to know what captures the attention of an agent, an editor, and all those voracious readers! 

Side note...but...before you any read further, promise me that you'll come back to the newsletter and finish reading or will at least take a peek at the clip of today's featured tutorial. (Thank you!) Remember how I mentioned the Writer's Digest YouTube channeland the special drawing? The full details of the drawing can be found here:http://bit.ly/Ia1bSu. Any of you that already subscribed to the channel have automatically been entered into the drawing! 

Be looking for next week's newsletter where I'll highlight our newest tutorial. Please also feel free to preview the many tutorials available to you through the Writer's Digest Tutorials site!

Wishing you only the best!
Julie Oblander
Online Education Manager
Writer's Digest Tutorials

Featured Tutorial: How to Make Your Romance Hot Enough for an Agent
Romance novels represent a huge chunk of fiction sales. Readers devour romance. Agents are hungry to sell romance to publishing houses. If you write in this HOT genre, you need to know what captures the attention of an agent, an editor, and all those voracious readers! 

Instructor Sara Megibow has worked at the Nelson Literary Agency since 2006. As a literary agent, Sara has enjoyed tremendous success selling debut romance authors into major New York publishing houses. 

In this 81-minute tutorial video, you'll learn:
 
  • The specific elements of a romance novel agents look for in submissions.
  • How to analyze your writing, your platform, your hook, and your pitch. 
  • Common red flags to avoid in your romance novel. 
  • Places to go to get your work reviewed and critiqued. 
  • How to make an accurate list of legitimate agents who rep romance novels and how to approach them successfully. 
  • How to mold a successful publishing career out of the options you have in today's ever-changing market.
Preview this new tutorial or subscribe to watch it today >
Missed a previous tutorial? Try one of these . . .
A new tutorial is added every week at Writer's Digest Tutorials. Don't miss out!Subscribe today OR download tutorials individually through the Writer's Digest Shop.


Writing the Great
American Romance
Sale: $19.95
Buy Now >

On Writing
Romance eBook
Sale: $16.99
Buy Now >

How to Write & Sell
Your First Novel
Sale: $9.34
Buy Now >


Live Webinar | The Publishable Novel: How to get an Acquisition Editor to say "YES!"
There's still time to register and attend! 
Session date: Thursday, April 26, 2012
Starting time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Duration: 90 minutes 

In this webinar, you will learn the elements and standards used by acquisition editors in selecting material, as well as the criteria and considerations, and even the attitudes that acquisition editors bring to submitted manuscripts. We will show you how to leverage your skills and experience to serve your career goals in publishing. Above all, you will learn how to get the acquisition editor to say, "Yes!" 

This webinar includes a critique! You are invited to submit a one-page synopsis for critique by one of the presenters. 

SPECIAL BONUS! Each registrant will ALSO receive a FREE 3-month subscription to WritersMarket.com. WritersMarket.com is the premiere resource to find agents and publishers who are interested in your type of work.

Learn More or Register Today >
Visit WritersDigestShop.com to browse the full selection of webinars and tutorials >

Writer's Digest Tutorials Membership Options
1-Month Full-Library Subscription
Want to try us out? Buy a 1-month membership and receive access to our entire collection.Subscribe Now >6-Month Full-Library Subscription
Purchase a membership to all of our videos for 6 months and watch them whenever you'd like. Subscribe Now >
12-Month Full-Library Subscription -- Best Value!
Get access to all of our writing workshops for an entire year. Watch every video whenever you like and as often as you would like and be the first to watch the new tutorial we post each week. Subscribe Now >

Special Opportunity: Online Agent Fiction Pitch Slam
Have you ever wished that you had the attention of an agent, as well as the training necessary to craft the perfect pitch? At the Writer's Digest Online Agent Fiction Pitch Slam, you'll get the instruction and opportunity you need to do both! 

This experience begins on Thursday, April 26 and concludes Tuesday, May 1, 2012. 

Space is limited . . . only 8 seats left!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Pacing Your Script

Back in film school, one of my editing teachers said that watching student films was often like watching normal films that were in slow motion. Reading scripts by newer writers is a very similar experience—the mental movie the script is describing “looks” like a normal film, but often plays much more slowly.

One of the elements that makes a professional-level script stand out is it moves in a speed and rhythm that feels like what we’re used to getting in a theater. Like editing, script pacing is something most people only notice when it falls short.

While every writer and screenplay is different, there are several common missteps that often contribute to making the pacing slow or uneven in a script. Finding and addressing these problems will help to turn your scripts into fast, fun, professional reads.

Density. As a form, screenwriting puts a high value on brevity. When you read a novel or article, it’s a solid wall of words. But scripts should be broken up into beats and moments. Paragraphs should be no more than four lines long, and even those ought to be rare. A script should have a ton of white space on the page. If the description is relayed in vast bricks, it’s slamming the read to a stop.

Keep in mind that a movie is, at its core, an emotional experience. A script should reflect the emotions that the movie it will become is trying to relay. For example, a fast and exciting action sequence should be a fast and exciting read. If the scene is relayed to us in a big, undigested wad, it’s undercutting its own efforts.

Many readers won’t even take the time to plow into a dense page. They will simply skip over it and figure out what happened from dialogue.

Length. The standard length of screenplays used to be 120 pages. In the current market, that is more often seen as a maximum. A lot of professional scripts getting shopped around town are in the 90s or low-100s. This especially goes for comedy, action and horror, which tend toward the shorter end of the spectrum. That fact doesn’t mean longer scripts don’t exist, only that a shorter script is an easier read and, to be honest, often a better read. An action-thriller that is cumbersome at 130 pages has a chance to sing if it’s 90 pages. Shorter scripts are often read sooner, as well. Anyone can bang out a 90-page read over lunch, while an epic phone book will usually have to wait for the weekend read.

Along with density, be aware: The fewer words there are in a script, the more likely they will be read.

Focus. One of the reasons scripts get so long is they lose focus on their A-stories; that is, the main spine of “what the movie is about,” the realization of the logline. Every page and every scene should have a direct relation to the A-story. A script that wanders down narrative sideroads and gets distracted by subplots loses its focus. The direction of the story isn’t clear. It’s meandering instead of sprinting.

Have you ever watched deleted scenes on a DVD? They were removed from the theatrical cut for a reason. Even if a scene is well-shot, acted and written, if it doesn’t add to the A-story, it has to go.

If you have a longer script, try this exercise: Pretend that you have a shot at getting traction under the script, but only if you cut 10 pages. What would you lose, and why? Now ask yourself: Why are those 10 pages still there? As much as you may be in love with the story as is, it’s almost guaranteed that there is a great, shorter, and more concentrated version of the same story.

Get in, get out. A script should treat a scene like it’s a house on fire: Run inside at the last possible moment, grab only the most valuable things, and get the hell out.

A script that violates this idea often pads itself with a lot of unnecessary “entry” and “exit.” It forces us to watch a character do things like pull into a driveway and walk up to the door before we get to the reason why he’s here: to talk to the woman in the house. Then, after we get the dialogue, we are treated to the nail-biting tension of the character leaving and driving home, and so on.

This flaw brings us back to focus. You’re probably well-aware that every script has a logline. But every scene has a logline, as well—a single, clear purpose. Even if the scene does add to the A-story, we should only get the absolute necessary part, the sweet center of the beat. Anything else is just clutter.

Unnecessary detail. Screenwriting isn’t novel writing, and a script should never be asked to lug around the same level of detail as a novel. A script is a description of a movie, and cinema is, by nature, a visual medium. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a script should reflect that by giving the reader only as much information as is needed to understand and enjoy the story.

Here’s an example that touches on both “get in, get out” and unnecessary detail:

INT. BOB’S HOUSE — KITCHEN — DAY

Bob wanders into the kitchen. He opens the refrigerator, hunts around for a moment, and pulls out a beer. He gets a glass from the cabinet. Bob pours the beer into the glass and takes a sip.

The phone RINGS. Bob looks at the caller ID and smiles, recognizing the name. He hits a button and answers.

BOB

(into phone)

Hello, Janet. How are you?

JANET (V.O.)

Bob, your dog is dead.

Bob puts the beer down and sits, collecting himself.

Snooze. That’s because it’s loaded with a ton of stuff that has nothing to do with telling a story. The logline of the scene is “Bob finds out his dog is dead.” So, let’s get into that beat as quickly as possible:

INT. BOB’S HOUSE — KITCHEN — DAY

Bob slugs a beer. The phone RINGS. He checks the caller ID and grabs it.

BOB

(into phone)

How’s my dog?

JANET (V.O.)

Sorry, Bob. He’s dead.

Why do we even need the beer? Unless it adds something, let’s drop it. Also, keep the first rule of writing in mind: “Show, don’t tell.” This especially applies in screenwriting. An image is almost always better and more powerful than words. With that in mind:

INT. BOB’S HOUSE — KITCHEN — DAY

BOB

(into phone)

How’s my dog?

He cracks a beer and drinks as he listens. After a moment, he hangs up and THROWS the beer against the wall.

CUT TO:

EXT. PET CEMETERY — DAY

Bob watches a dog-sized coffin lower into the ground.

See what I mean? The function of the beer is to give Bob something to throw to show the audience that the answer to his question is upsetting. Instead of telling Bob/the audience his dog is dead, we cut to the funeral. Action. Images. No padding. We move to the next beat and maintain momentum.

Stutter beats. A “stutter beat” is a scene that has a logline too similar to something that came before it. Instead of just giving the reader one scene that fulfills one plot function, it splits the plot beat across two or more scenes.

Stutter beats are different from build. Let’s say after Bob buries his dog, we get a scene of Bob shooting hoops in his backyard. The logline—and message to the audience—is “Bob shoots hoops when he’s upset.” We cut away to something else, and come back later to see Bob again shooting hoops.

If the scene doesn’t add new information, it’s a stutter beat, as the idea has already been established. But if Bob is getting better at shooting hoops, that’s new information, and a new logline: “Bob gets better.” It’s build, instead of stutter.

Structure. In standard three-act screenplay structure, plot point one typically lands on or around page 30, which is when the main action of the logline kicks in. In order to make sure it lands in the “right” place, sometimes writers force the reader to wade through 29 pages of watching the characters hang around, engage in long conversations, waste time, and do nothing, padding out the page length until the movie can “start.” Not only is this approach incorrect, it front-loads the story with a lot of boring and meaningless scenes, counting on the reader’s patience to make it to page 30 when all the cool stuff happens. Many readers won’t make it that far. After 10 pages of boredom, they will simply dream up a reason to pass, put the script down, and move on to the next one.

It’s better not to force plot point one. If the script doesn’t have enough story to fill 29 pages at the top, consider shifting the beat that is currently your plot point one to the inciting incident, around page 17, or even the opening scene. It’s better to throw the story into the deep and force it to learn how to swim, rather than letting it tread water, if you get my drift. If that method doesn’t work, perhaps a different way into the story will generate more character and conflict. Otherwise, there is the possibility that the concept doesn’t offer enough story to fuel a full feature script.

Dialogue. Dialogue is often the biggest culprit in slowing down a script’s read. Characters love to talk … and talk … and talk … and talk. They require discipline. While good dialogue should feel organic, the characters need to stay on point. It is a fine balance to strike, which is often why some of the best-known screenwriters in the business define themselves through excellent dialogue. There are several ways dialogue can bog down the script. They include:

Repetition. Every piece of dialogue isn’t just something an imaginary person says; as with the logline of a scene, it is also a message to the audience. Thus, if we establish an idea, we should only come back to the idea if it adds something to the script. Otherwise, it’s just repetition, slowing down the read and wasting everyone’s time.

BOB

The plane lands at midnight.

JANET

I can’t wait.

BOB

Only two more hours until midnight, when the plane is going to land.

JANET

You can shut up now, Bob.

A related version of this scene is when characters say things “one-and-a-half” times. That is, they’re adding information, but in an inefficient way—spreading the ideas across multiple lines instead of just hitting the message and moving on. Here’s the one-and-a-half version:

BOB

The plane lands at midnight.

JANET

I can’t wait.

BOB

It’s bringing my new dog.

Better:

BOB

The plane with my new dog lands at midnight.

Instead of burning an eighth of a page, we say that same thing in a single line.

Chitty chat. Characters should sound true, but in the interest of storytelling, movies have their own internal reality. In real life, for instance, people spend a lot of time engaging in small talk and trading empty pleasantries. “Hi.” “Hello.” “How ya doin’?” “Fine.” “Pleased to meet you.” “You, too.”

There are always exceptions. For example, if a character is being purposely distant in order to avoid answering a question, he might hide behind banal small talk until he can get out of the situation. Otherwise, though, chitty chat isn’t just slowing down the read, it’s taking up page space that could be filled with more pertinent and interesting dialogue.

In screenwriting, you don’t earn extra credit for including more than a story needs. It is better to have a shorter script that maintains focus on the A-story, tells it with imagery and sharp, polished dialogue, and breezes through with a ton of white space. Paraphrasing Mark Twain: “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” Apply this idea to your scripts, and they will be lightning.

***************************************************************


Go forward and win!






Through the month of April and May get a 15% discount on Critiques


Screenplays

Critique: $50.00 Flat Fee, Discount fee $42.50
 Includes evaluating the basis elements of a script

  •  Introduction
  •  Development
  •  Climax
  •  Conclusion
  • Character development 
  •  Mid point development
Critiques also provide suggestions for improvements and enhancement. 

Payments are made by Paypal or cashier check by mail.


Other services are at regular price.


Editing: $45.00 Flat Fee

Query Letters: $25.00 Flat Fee 


  •  Evaluating formatting to industry standards
  •  Spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.
Turnaround time:
Editing: 2 weeks
Critique: 2 weeks
Query Letters: 2 weeks

Feel free to contact me at ahicks4298@q.com orahicks4298@msn.com.
Feel to call me at (360) 696-4298. Ask for Frances.

*****************************************************************************************
Film script format, writing film scripts, screenwriting services, coverage service, screenplay formatting margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, Search terms: screenplays, screenwriting service, edit and critique service, writing screenplays, screenplay format, loglines, query letter, film scripts, movie scripts, screenplay format, screenplay synopsis, script synopsis, treatment, proofreading service for writers, novels, writing services, fiction writing, film script format, writing flim scripts, screenwriting service, coverage service, screenplay critique service, screenplay format margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, free writing tutorials,   script consultant, screenwriting jobs, film production companies

Ask the Expert: Creating Characters to Attract Actors

Q: I’ve gotten feedback saying my characters are flat and uninteresting and wouldn’t attract an A-list actor. What’s your advice on how to strengthen my characters?

A: It’s no wonder that some of the greatest writers began their careers as actors.

The art of writing and acting have always been profoundly intertwined. That’s because structurally, movies grow out of character. And character is the thing that actors understand best.

So what is character from an actor’s perspective? And how can that help you as a writer?

CHARACTER BEGINS WITH A WANT

As writers, we are often seduced by “characteristics” when we try to create character. Characteristics can be adjectives like “pretty”, “ugly” “eccentric”, “angry”, “jealous”, “selfish”, “generous”, “wacky”, or they can be elements of carefully crafted backstories “was abused by his father”, “studied chemistry”, “works as a plumber”, “grew up on a farm”.

You put a lot of work into thinking up all these elements, so you’d hope they’d lead to great characters. But unfortunately, more often than not, instead of helping you to create the kinds of characters you’d want to follow for 100 pages, they lead to stereotypes and cliches that neither capture an audience’s attention nor drive your stories forward.

If you don’t believe me, just turn on your TV. Watch any soap opera, and you’ll be amazed at the intricate backstories that have been created for these paper thin characters. Watch an episode of any lousy sit-com, and you’ll see characters with tons of highly unusual characteristics, that nevertheless feel like you’ve seen them before.

As any trained actor will tell you, the reason for this is simple.

Characters are not adjectives.

They’re not backstories. They’re not characteristics, no matter how interesting those characteristics may be.

Characters are verbs. And these verbs begin with a want.

WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING?

When a great actor looks at a screenplay, that’s the question they’re asking. What does this character want more than anything? And what are the unique ways this character pursues that desperate desire, that are different from the way any other character would do so?

These wants affect every aspect of character. The way they speak. The actions they take. The choices they make. The way they dress. And of course, they also affect the choices actors make in performance.

Take a moment to observe the people around you, and you will notice that this is true in life as well. People do bizarre, unexpected, sometimes even incomprehensible things in pursuit of the things they want.

It is the unique way that they do these things that distinguish these people from anyone else in the world, that make you love them or hate them or fear them or desire them.

Take away that want, and all you have is quirk for it’s own sake– a paper thin shell with nothing underneath, like an M&M without the chocolately center.

Let your character pursue the want, and all the other aspects of his or her personality will reveal themselves to you. And when you crack that shell open, you’ll have all kinds of deliciousness to enjoy.

OBJECTIVE AND SUPEROBJECTIVE

Within a scene, the wants that drive a character are called Objectives. They can be as simple as a cold glass of water, or as profound as to reconnect with a lost love. The only thing that matters is that the character wants it desperately, and is willing to go to extraordinarily lengths to get it.

Within a larger movie, these small objectives point toward a larger Superobjective, a big want which governs in some way every choice the character makes, and everything that happens to the character, within the structure of the movie.

As an actor breaks down a script, he or she will find the Objective and Superobjective underlying every line, every action, and even every image, in order to craft a memorable character that pursues those wants in unique but believable ways.

Using an actor’s approach to think about your own characters in this way will not only help you to discover the qualities that differentiate your character, but also point you toward the structural moments to which your plot must build.

Once you learn what your character wants most desperately, you know what you can take away from them, how to test them, and how to make them change. And that, in fact, is the essence of screenplay structure.

ACTORS GET MOVIES MADE

The craft of the writer and the craft of the actor are inextricably intertwined, not just by process, but by business as well. Whether you’re producing your movie yourself, or trying to sell it to a big Hollywood studio, to get your movie made you need to be able to attract great actors. And that means knowing how to think like an actor, so that you can create the kinds of roles they want to play.

Objective and Superobjective are just the beginning. The more you know about the actors craft, the better writer you will become at creating characters, and the more likely you will be to attract the kind of star who can bring your movie to fruition.

Yet strangely, these two interrelated fields are often taught as if they were separate disciplines, with actors receiving little training in writing, and writers receiving even less training in acting.

That’s why all of my screenwriting workshops are fundamentally woven around acting concepts, as well as ideas tied to Jungian psychology, directing, and even editing and cinematography.

***************************************************************


Go forward and win!





Through the month of April and May get a 15% discount on Critiques


Screenplays

Critique: $50.00 Flat Fee, Discount fee $42.50
 Includes evaluating the basis elements of a script

  •  Introduction
  •  Development
  •  Climax
  •  Conclusion
  • Character development 
  •  Mid point development
Critiques also provide suggestions for improvements and enhancement. 

Payments are made by Paypal or cashier check by mail.


Other services are at regular price.


Editing: $45.00 Flat Fee

Query Letters: $25.00 Flat Fee 


  •  Evaluating formatting to industry standards
  •  Spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.
Turnaround time:
Editing: 2 weeks
Critique: 2 weeks
Query Letters: 2 weeks

Feel free to contact me at ahicks4298@q.com orahicks4298@msn.com.
Feel to call me at (360) 696-4298. Ask for Frances.

*****************************************************************************************
Film script format, writing film scripts, screenwriting services, coverage service, screenplay formatting margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, Search terms: screenplays, screenwriting service, edit and critique service, writing screenplays, screenplay format, loglines, query letter, film scripts, movie scripts, screenplay format, screenplay synopsis, script synopsis, treatment, proofreading service for writers, novels, writing services, fiction writing, film script format, writing flim scripts, screenwriting service, coverage service, screenplay critique service, screenplay format margins, screenplay writing, screenplay format example, free writing tutorials,   script consultant, screenwriting jobs, film production companies



Wednesday, April 18, 2012

New Writer's Digest Tutorials

WRITER'S DIGESTWriters DigestTUTORIALS
For ahicks4298@q.comApril 18, 2012
From the Editor
I hope this week's newsletter finds you doing well. It's been a challenging past week for so many people I know. Since I cannot write about anyone else's personal challenges, I can only tell you about myself. Any of you that have furry little family members and are really attached will understand—we lost our kitty at far too young of an age over the weekend (unexpectedly, I might add). I tell you this little tidbit because it reminds me of the featured tutorial today.

If I were to dive into the whole story, drawing you in, taking you through those dreaded phone calls, and making you want to see the story through the to end—it would be right in line with what you'll learn from today's featured tutorial, An Agent's Tips on Story Structures that Sell. When we write, whether a memoir or a novel, we need to be able to structure our plot in a way that keeps anyone, especially a potential agent or editor, turning the page. The story needs to be intriguing—keeping readers on the edge of their seats, so to speak.

An Agent's Tips on Story Structures that Sell is taught by skilled literary agent Andrea Hurst. She also has over 25 years of experience as a published author and a developmental editor. Her client list includes emerging new voices and New York Times bestselling authors. 

Quick tangent—those of you that visited the WD YouTube channel last week and subscribed—THANK YOU! Very soon you'll see a contest where all of our subscribers will be eligible to win. If you didn't subscribe yet, please do! Details on the contest are coming soon!

Be looking for next week's newsletter where I'll highlight our newest tutorial. Please also feel free to preview the many tutorials available to you through the Writer's Digest Tutorials site!

Wishing you only the best!
Julie Oblander
Online Education Manager
Writer's Digest Tutorials

Featured Tutorial: An Agent's Tips on Story Structures that Sell
If you're serious about getting your novel or memoir published, or wondering why your manuscript is not getting the attention you desire, let instructor and literary agent Andrea Hurst show you how to structure a plot that will keep an agent turning the page.

In this tutorial, writers will have the opportunity to learn what agents and editors look for in a marketable novel or memoir—from an exciting beginning to a story's three acts.Once an agent determines an author has mastered the craft of writing, the next thing they look for is an intriguing plot. At agencies, it's often found that even the best writers may not be able to sustain a memorable plot. Andrea presents techniques that will help build your story, solve plot issues, and create a strong beginning, middle, and end. Get noticed, get read, and up your chances of getting sold.

Preview this new tutorial or subscribe to watch it today >

Missed a previous tutorial? Try one of these . . .
A new tutorial is added every week at Writer's Digest Tutorials. Don't miss out!Subscribe today.


New Tutorial Series: 150 Ways to Make Your Book Successful
Last week I gave you a quick sneak peek, letting you know this new series was on its way . . . if you haven't already looked at this new series, I encourage you to!

About the new tutorial series: 

The most expensive part of publishing is a mistake. If you can avoid the most common traps into which unsuccessful authors fall, you significantly increase your chance of success. This three-part tutorial series describes the 150 most important things you need to know about book marketing.

Part 1 | 32-minute tutorial video | You'll discover:
  • Tips 1-50
  • The pros and cons of various ways of getting published
  • How to avoid the mistakes that all novice authors make
  • 50 things you can do to make it more likely you will succeed
  • Why book publishing is as simple as PIE
  • How to succeed using other people's money
  • The difference between working on your business vs. in your business—and how knowing the difference could be the critical aspect on your future
  • The nine guidelines for acting in a professionally, productively, and profitably  
Part 2 | 34-minute tutorial video | You'll discover:
  • Tips 51-100
  • How to write a title that screams, "you-have-to-buy-me!"
  • Why poorly written back-cover copy will destroy your sales—and how to correct it
  • Reasons why you may not need a distributor
  • A checklist for choosing the right distribution partners
  • How you can double the sales of your book to non-bookstore buyers
  • How to write and submit a proposal to distributors that will maximize your chances of getting accepted
  • How to double your profits by knowing the difference between the concepts of price and cost
  • How to price your book right—helping your publishing venture to succeed
{EDITOR'S NOTE: The Part 2 tutorial preview is my absolute favorite out of the three. It's well worth your time to at least watch the preview.}

Part 3 | 34-minute tutorial video | You'll discover:
  • Where and when to promote for maximum impact
  • How using social media incorrectly can minimize your chances of success
  • How to professionally persuade your prospects to buy more of your books
  • New ways to get more impact and sales from your promotion
  • Tips for writing publicity that brings you more exposure and reviews
  • When—and when not—to submit for reviews
  • Why and how award competitions can increase your sales
  • How to time your promotion with a special marketing period for a slingshot effect
Let this series be your GPS for becoming more profitable! 

Preview or learn more about 150 Way to Make Your Book Successful, Part 1Part 2, and Part 3 >

Writer's Digest Tutorials Membership Options
1-Month Full-Library Subscription
Want to try us out? Buy a 1-month membership and receive access to our entire collection.Subscribe Now >
6-Month Full-Library Subscription
Purchase a membership to all of our videos for 6 months and watch them whenever you'd like. Subscribe Now >
12-Month Full-Library Subscription -- Best Value!
Get access to all of our writing workshops for an entire year. Watch every video whenever you like and as often as you would like and be the first to watch the new tutorial we post each week. Subscribe Now >

A Sneak Peek: New Tutorials Coming Your Way
Last Friday, I finished recording the next series I'm bringing to you! (Yes, another three-part series!) You'll learn about pacing picture books with key verbal and visual tools! I'm working on post-production and it's coming soon . . . if you write children's books, you do not want to miss it! 

Continue to visit the WD Tutorials site to find these soon-to-come, helpful tutorials—and so many more!