Non-Fiction Book Review: James Scott Bell x2

by Andrea Grigg

For all your writers out there, I’ve got two beauties for you, both written by the highly-esteemed James Scott Bell. This man knows his stuff, believe me. Let me introduce you to the first book, one that leapt out at me simply because of the title:

Marketing For Writers Who Hate Marketing.

The tagline’s great, too: The No-Stress Way to Sell Books Without Losing Your Mind.

I know, right?

I don’t totally hate marketing, but I know a lot of writers who do, writers who wish they could just hide in their garrets and pound their keyboards, and not have to worry about beastly old marketing. If you’re one of those people, then this book is for you. And if you’re not, then this book is still for you.

I’m paring down a lot of things in my life at the moment, and Marketing For Writers Who Hate Marketing totally hits the spot. For a start, it’s short. According to the ‘about the book’ pop-up, it can be read in one hour and thirty-eight minutes. I read it in less than that, but I’ll be going back to it many times. I’ll tell you why.

As James Scott Bell (a.k.a. JSB) points out on the second page, “You don’t have to love marketing, nor do you have to get sucked into its vortex in order to be good at it.”

Reassuring, hey? Empowering, even.

He goes on to prioritize the basics (yay for basics!), and explains them succinctly in manageable, bite-sized chunks. He states the number one marketing tool (nope, I’m not telling, but you’ll be relieved when you find out what it is) and then outlines the importance of a book’s first impression, the cover. There’s a whole chapter devoted to it. Then comes the following:

·      Tips for writing cover copy, your elevator pitch, a tagline, your author bio, the opening pages

·      An explanation of the mysteries of categories, keywords and search terms

·      Advice on pricing your book and the variables involved; advice concerning giveaways

·      What’s needed in a website, your Amazon author page

·      Advice on book launches, reviews, and key influencers

·      A chapter each on Live Networking, Things That Suck Time, (funnily enough there’s no mention of Social Media in that one, although it is mentioned in another chapter), 15 Things That Cost Money, and more.

Another chapter is devoted to Short Writing as a Marketing Tool, which I found totally intriguing, and leads straight into my second - albeit brief - review:

How To Write Short Stories and Use Them to Further Your Writing Career.

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I found this fascinating. Like novellas, short stories have their place, mainly because ‘time is of the essence’ more than ever. Short stories can be used as giveaways for people who sign up to your email list, or in a collection to be read on the bus or train on the way to work.

JSB suggests a short story should be between 1000-7000 words. Obviously, they’re quicker to write, but there’s a unique skill to it, which he explains beautifully.

Within this ‘short’ book, JSB explains exactly what a short story is and outlines the structure; gives a “big key” then shows you how to use it; suggests publishing strategies; gives easy-to-follow steps to put your short story up on Amazon Kindle Select program (should you wish to do so). The book also includes five short stories (one of which is by JSB himself) all of them containing the elements outlined.

At $3.99 USD each, Marketing For Writers Who Hate Marketing, and How to Write Short Stories and Use Them to Further Your Writing Career, are fantastic value, and well-worth purchasing for your writing craft library.

Andrea Grigg lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland, and is author of two contemporary Christian romance novels, and a novella. She would love to connect with you via: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.andreagrigg?ref=hl

Twitter: @andreagrigg https://twitter.com/andreagrigg

Email:    andreagrigg@live.com

Coming Up Short

by Jeanette O'Hagan

Image courtesy of Apolonia at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Short changed, short-sheeted and the short straw. Nobody likes coming up short - or do they? There are some shorts we may enjoy; shorts or short sleeves in hot weather, short blacks - and short stories.

After all, many of the biblical stories are short (Ruth, Jonah, Esther, and Jesus’ parables). They may be short but they still give a powerful and even life changing message. How much impact has the parable of the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan had over the centuries? Grims' fairy tales, Aesop’s Fables, Rudyard Kipling’s Just So stories, Edgar Allen Poe’s stories, even the adventures of Sherlock Holmes or many of Isaac Asimov’s classic tales (like 'The Bicentennial Man') are told in short story form.

A short story is a fictional piece shorter than a novel or novella. They can range for nanofiction (six words, or 140 characters for instance) to flash fiction (between 300-1000 words), up to about 10,000 or maybe 15,000 words. Short stories are not just miniature novels – they have their own pace, challenges and joys.  You can find them in a collection by a single author, an anthology with different authors often on a common theme or topic, in magazines or journals, on websites or mobile phones, or stand alone "e-books".

To be honest, I have found writing short stories a challenge. My back story and subplots tend to multiply. This has worked well with my fantasy series and it means that I am not likely to run out of writing material anytime soon. However, last year I had an opportunity to submit to a story to an anthology of short stories (Tied in Pink). I decided to take on the challenge. My first two attempts ran a couple of thousand words beyond the 5000 word limit, but I eventually nailed it with The Herbalist’s Daughter. I've written a few more since then. Most of my short stories range between 7000-10,000 words – though I did manage shorter ones for The Faith Writer’s challenge (750 words) and the Tamrin Tales on my website. While I’m still learning how to keep my short stories short, I've really enjoyed writing and reading them.

For a reader short stories:

• May be read and enjoyed in one sitting.
• Can provide a nice transition between longer works.
• May fill the story gaps in larger well-loved tales (as prequels or sequels or tell the story of secondary characters).
• Can be a great introduction to a new authors or genres.

While a short story may leave you wanting more, a good one can be memorable and satisfying.

For writers short stories also have benefits:

• They provide a great way to hone the craft – they help tighten your prose.
• They provide an opportunity to explore a new genre, topics or techniques.
• They don’t take as long to write as a novel and are easier to discard if they don’t work out
• It’s easier (though not necessarily easy) to have a short story published – in journals, anthologies and competitions. Many magazines pay for short stories. 
• They can build a writer's body of work and platform.
• They can give fans something to go on with, while they wait for the next novel (or the first one) to be released, or can be offered as a free sample to hook new readers.
• They can fill in gaps or provide richer layers to your story world.  My Tamrin Tales take up the stories of secondary characters like Anna before the events in the Akrad’s Children. 

So some tips.

• Have a great title and hook.
• Keep it simple. Focus on one theme or event. Have one main plot without a lot of subplots.
• It’s easier to work with fewer characters over a shorter period of time (days or weeks).
• Start towards the end or climax of the story and plunge into the story quickly.
• Avoid getting bogged down with info-dumps or long sections of back story.
• Make your words count. Use telling detail rather than extended description.
• Elements of good story writing like having a great hook, “show don’t tell”, conflict, snappy dialogue, good characterisation, editing etc apply just as much, if not more to short stories as to longer ones.

As a bonus - here’s an example of a six (and seven) word short story:

Lion scares neighbours. Wig slips. Dog? (Based on a Facebook meme)

Stranger offers lift. Six weeks later. Engaged! 

What is your favourite short story and why? What tips do you have for writing them?

Jeanette has practiced medicine, studied communication, history and theology and has taught theology.  She is currently caring for her children, enjoying post-graduate studies in writing at Swinburne University and writing her Akrad's fantasy fiction series.  You can read some of her short fiction here. She has recently had a short story published as part of the general market Tied in Pink Anthology  (profits from the anthology go towards Breast Cancer research) . 

You can find her at her Facebook Page or webistes  JennysThread.com or Jeanette O'Hagan Writes .