Tuesday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

HOW NOT TO START A NOVEL: FOUR THINGS TO AVOID ON PAGE ONE

By: Anne R. Allen’s Blog

In these days of the "peek inside" feature on retail sites like Amazon, the opener of your book is more important than ever. 

Whether you're going the query route or self-publishing, your first page is essential to the success of your book...and may be your most crucial sales tool. 

Those first 250 words can make or break a reader's decision to buy your book. All the marketing tricks and advertising in the world cannot make the sale if your first page is a snooze-fest full of info-dumps and backstory. Or if there's so much going on it makes the reader's head hurt. 

Your first page is the hardest part of your book to write: a tightrope-walk between exposition and drama, so it's generally best to write it last, after you know what's absolutely essential for the reader to know. (The  rest can be woven in later.) 

The first page of your early drafts are usually written for you, the writer, to help yourself get to know your characters. But the final version is for the reader—who only needs to know what's going on in this specific incident. Always start with a scene with conflict and action, so the reader feels enticed, not lectured. 

Is your first page ready?

. . .

Read the full article HERE!

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If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. Scenes, Stages, and Representations - § Author Massimo Marino http://ow.ly/znlc6
2. The Big Five haven't signed on. Where did Amazon get 600,000 books? » MobyLives http://ow.ly/zomjv
3. The Kill Zone: The Eternal Fire...I Mean, Kindle Unlimited http://ow.ly/zomu6
4. Words to avoid when writing jacket copy: http://ow.ly/zgwxB @markkrotov
5. Is Your Book Cover Design Stopping You From Being On The Bestseller List? | Write to Done http://ow.ly/zon3y
6. Being the Person Your Writing Needs You to Be | Live Write Thrive http://ow.ly/zontP
7. Anne R. Allen's Blog: How Not to Start a Novel: Four Things to Avoid on Page One http://ow.ly/zonLO
8. Fiction University: Deep POV is Not the Only POV http://ow.ly/zonRU
9. Ghostwriting FAQs: should you get a ghostwriter, do you want to become one? | Nail Your Novel http://ow.ly/zooPa
10. The Unsinkable Molly Greene With 8 Tips You Need! http://ow.ly/zopER
11. Writing: How To Boost Your Productivity | The Passive Voice | http://ow.ly/zopNH
12. How to Become Visible with Social Media http://ow.ly/zopWL
13. What Motivates The Bad Guy? http://ow.ly/zoqU2
14. How to Use the “Save the Cat” Beat Sheet for Revisions | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author http://ow.ly/zor3S
15. How to Win the Spam Battle - Training Authors for Success http://ow.ly/zos6w
16. All Write - Fiction Advice: Top Writing Tips http://ow.ly/zosfx
17. How To Mine Your Dreams For Story Gold | WRITERS HELPING WRITERSWRITERS HELPING WRITERS http://ow.ly/zoss7
18. What is the Shelf Life of Your Social Media? | The Violet Femmes http://ow.ly/zosFT
19. 10 Changes to the Facebook Page Layout: What Marketers Need to Know | Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/zotCJ
20. CreateSpace Community: Resources: All About the Setting http://ow.ly/zpJKU
21. Writer @Ava_Jae talks about the importance of writing practice novels. What do you think? http://bit.ly/wpnov
22. 13 Social Media Post Ideas You Should Try Right Away | SociableBlog http://ow.ly/zq3Xe
23. Mythcreants » 26 – Best and Worst Romances http://ow.ly/zq48w

Happy writing and running, Kathy