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Activity for Brereton‭

Type On... Excerpt Status Date
Edit Post #23472 Initial revision about 5 years ago
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Answer A: Resources on plotting mystery stories
You should dig into the Detection Club, which had Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Chesterton, etc as its founding members. It's entry oath was: > Do you promise that your detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them using those wits which it may please you to bestow upon th...
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almost 7 years ago
Question What are the stages between publishing a book on KDP and producing an audiobook?
I have known gaps - voiceover artist, studio time, editing, distribution, but what are the unknown unknowns that I need to consider? Having read previous threads, there are some very wise answers, such as going through and breaking down the longer sentences or finding words which are a pain to prono...
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over 7 years ago
Question Is there a hack to bring out your "true" voice?
I've just approved my typeset manuscript and re-reading the book, I'm aware that it sounds very far away from my internal voice. Whilst it has all of the elements in practice, the colour and fluency feel strained. Is there a practice or hack that anyone uses to help bring the final product closer to ...
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over 7 years ago
Answer A: How do you write a character that HATES being born into a well-off family?
Decide whether it's the wealth and comfort of the family which they dislike, or their family which they don't click with. The former scenario would alienate a lot of your readers unless you got it spot on - you're bordering on "poor little rich me" territory here which has far too many cliches alrea...
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over 7 years ago
Question Writing my Watson trope
I've been advised to sharpen my sidekick from an "intriguing second tier" character to the delegate for the readers. Is there a tried and tested formula succinctly captured somewhere? I'm looking to avoid text walls, spoon feeding and a back story dump.
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over 7 years ago
Question Alt History - how do I base an empire on Rome but demonstrate quickly the difference whilst keeping the familiarity?
Are there specific tricks, mechanisms or devices to offer a shortcut to a level of civilisation without confusing the reader? I'm using a Ancient Rome-like country but don't want to base the plot in Rome.
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over 7 years ago
Question How to interpret editor feedback?
I've just received the written feedback from an editor in a large publishing house. On the whole it's very critical, with the occassional "could be good" thrown in at the end of sections with a list of negative points. TLDR: are editors generally negative with infrequent positive comments, or is thi...
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over 7 years ago
Question Use of "salesy" secondary titles on Amazon
I was looking at the sales rankings on Amazon today with my publisher and he pointed out that all of the self-published best sellers have a short title then a semi-colon followed by a pitch line (see pic attached). I'm certainly not a fan, but the proof is evident that it gets visibility. Does anyon...
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over 7 years ago
Question Is it more effective to lead with a physical conflict rather than an emotional one?
I currently have the choice of two routes with my novel - to lead with a knives-and-poisons main conflict, with reference to the protagonist's emotional conflict, or to lead with him conquering his inability to manage his peculiarities (OCD, etc) while untangling the plot. I understand that both will...
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over 7 years ago
Question How far in advance should a new author allow pre-orders on Amazon?
I'm in the final stages of packaging the book and would like to start arranging pre-orders to help with the first week "bump". How far in advance should I allow the pre-order option, and is there any specific pitfalls (e.g. discounting) that I should be aware of? Thanks
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over 7 years ago