Today I have nothing to say

Today –

If I’m honest, then –

That is to say, if I were to sum up all that I have to say on this Furiously Fun Friday on this Jaunty January morn, then –

Why –

I have nothing. My pockets are empty, the cupboard bare. Even the cat has a sad and solitary look.

I was not burgled. No one robbed, pilfered or mugged my words from me.

But –

I had a stock of words and –

Last night I gave them away. To you. I gave them to you.

Now, if you were One of the Many who came to last night’s Elevator Pitches webinar, then I salute you. I hail you. I give you a plump and quivering partridge to do with as you wish.

If you were not, well, NO PARTRIDGE for you. I am not in the habit of giving out BIRDS to those who make not the slightest effort to –

But we’ll not quarrel. If, let us say, you were last night detained by an unfortunate youth in need of help in his journey to Ouagadougou – or Albuquerque – or Ystradgynlais, then you did the right thing by not attending. And your no show DOESN’T MATTER AT ALL.

That’s because you’ll be able to watch a FREE replay of the workshop next week, once our small team has had the chance to put it online. We’ll include the link in next week’s Tuesday Newsletter and post it on Townhouse. You’ll need to sign up as a member of the community before you can watch – but again, that’s free, free, free. 

I think that the ideas contained in yesterday’s webinar are the most important, and amongst the most overlooked, in the whole of the writer-craft universe.

If you get your core ideas right – well, honestly, the rest of it is just basic competence and hard work. If your core ideas are feeble, no amount of competence will ever see you home.

What’s more, when it comes to selling your book (traditionally or as an indie author), the book with the strongest core pitch – the best DNA – will always win and should always win.

I often talk about an elevator pitch, but I get hesitant about that term.

On the one hand, I like it because if you only had 20 seconds to describe your book, you’d want to cut to the thing that will most excite the listener – will force them to ask you for more information.

On the other hand, a think a lot of writers think, “Ah yes, I’ll write my book, then I’ll find some glossy slogan to stick on top of it, and that slogan will surely, surely make people want to buy it.”

That’s the thought I want you to discard. Any marketing slogan needs to flow straight from the core idea of the book. The cover flows from the core idea of the book. The title, your query letter, all the marketing yadda – that all flows from the core idea of your book.

And the text! Your text! That too comes from that same cold, sweet spring. When all those things line up behind a clear compelling proposition, then success beckons.

So get that proposition right. From the start ideally, but from right now if you’ve not properly thought this through already.

If you came to the webinar and offered a pitch or asked a question, then thank you. If you didn’t, then do watch the replay.

It is, as I say, probably the most important lesson I ever give.

FEEDBACK FRIDAY / The instant hook

This week’s Feedback Friday task is from Holly Seddon, a tutor on The Ultimate Start course. And it’s this:

Identify what the hook of your novel is and share in the forum along with your 500 word opening taking into account what you have learned so far. Before posting check for any energy or intrigue drops.

When you’re ready, post your work to the forum, then read and comment on the thoughts of at least two of your fellow writers. Can you learn anything from their observations? 

Til soon. 

Harry