writercises | TECH: 101 Tips (48) (Reply)

Original posting 10 September 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"It isn't easy to get 500 pages of manuscript down to one page for a book proposal. This can take weeks to do. Look at the cover jackets of books that are similar to yours. Write a book jacket for your manuscript -- except tell the entire story." Bob Mayer

There's that book jacket again. Imagine walking into a book store, and there's this book there... and you pick it up, and glance at the description. Wow! What a story. And you decide you just have to write that book...

Since of course, the story is yours. But what's the cover have on it? Quotes from people? Okay, what do they say? And the blurb that describes what's inside? What's it say? What about the dreaded cover picture? What is it? Fabio (isn't that the guy's name)? Or what? A sprawling canvas full of...

Go ahead. Write the book jacket. Write the book proposal. Write the publicity blurbs. Use those hints and scraps to help decide what should be in your story. And then, of course, there's the hard work... write, write, write so that the pages are there to fill in the book jacket.