Writing a Novel – Read First Chapter.com

Writing a Novel in 8 Layers – Explanation and Time-Saving Tips

LAYER 1 - Putting Together the Skeleton of the Mystery or Crime

In a mystery, crime novel, or thriller, the clues and their revelations need to be planned so the story clues can remain disjointed in the beginning, but then slowly come together like a jigsaw puzzle. This keeps the reader guessing -- which is part of the mystery readers' enjoyment.

Layer 1 requires the skill of story engineer, not so much an author. In my humble opinion, trying to write around this initial phase of story scaffolding is is one reason why novels can take authors years to finish. Scaffolding-panel.png

So the first layer is to storyboard only the crime or the mystery of your novel. This layer can look like a long list of crimes and clue elements,
or it can look like a mind map sketched in pencil on the back of a large piece of wrapping paper, or it can be done in a mind-mapping software.
But there will need to be initial planning of where the mystery begins, where it leads, and how it ends. That's what goes on in this layer.

WHAT TO FOCUS ON IN LAYER 1:

An example for a Layer 1 crime mystery would be the following:

1. Lay out the chronology of the crime.
2. Who is or are the Victims?
3. What is a list of clues that could lead to the solving of this mystery?
4. Determine what the final clue will be that reveals the true culprit and think about how you can hide this clue in plain sight. This will be the clue that solves the mystery.
5. Determine what the first three or four clues will be that will bring in multiple suspects. Give each suspect a motive for the crime and decide how and when you will reveal this motive
6. Choose an unlikely suspect and give this person a good cover story.
7. Even at this early stage, figure out how the mystery or story will end. This can be changed during the creative process, but knowing where your story will end, will give you a writing destination. This will prevent you from winding up writing yourself into a corner somewhere or writing yourself into a tangent that will have to be nixed anyway.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER GENRES?

Now, sometimes you will be writing a story that has a mystery ribboning through it but it's not as organized or as detailed as an actual crime mystery. Your outline will be shorter but will contain a skeleton of all the action. Below are two examples of writing a ghost story and writing a Gothic scary-house story.

LAYER 1 IN A GHOST STORY:

1. Who is the Ghost? Why has the Ghost arisen? Why is the Person not Resting in Peace? What is the Ghost's purpose for appearing? This is the backstory that will be dropped like breadcrumbs throughout the storyline. (Ghost-Story.png)
2. How can the Ghost first appear that will raise the question that maybe the viewer is just crazy? Or maybe the viewer is just paranoid? Give them a reason for this paranoia.
3. How will the Ghost appear and what clues will the ghost drop in order to trigger more of the mystery behind the Ghost's restlessness to play out?
4. Choose how the story will end and if the Ghost will achieve its goal and whether the ghost will now rest in peace or will the Ghost be back for another book in the series?

LAYER 1 IN A SCARY-HOUSE STORY:

1. What is it about the house that's creepy?
2. What is the House hiding? Is there a secret room? Is there a hidden person?
3. What happened in the house to make the house haunted or unsettled?
4. How will the mystery of the house play out? What is the chronology of the clues about the history of the house and why it is haunted? These are the breadcrumbs in this kind of a storyline.
5. Choose how the story will end and if the house is destroyed or if the house destroys someone, etc.

FORMAT OF LAYER 1:

Layer one can be done in a list format or with a mind-mapping software, or even with a pencil drawing your own game board or storyboard on the back of a large piece of wrapping paper. Choose whatever format helps you the most. If you're new, try each one. Finding the right tools for the right job is very helpful.

If your Level 1 looks like any of these, you get A+ Layer 1.

LAYER 2 - Break up the Story into a four-part structure or 3-act structure.

Open up a fresh manuscript document and split the clues and events into a four-part novel structure or a 3-act-story structure, whichever one you prefer. So this layer is easy and takes about five minutes.

LAYER 3 - Writing the Scene Outlines (Scaffolding & Storyboarding)

In Layer 3, you will refer to the Skeleton of the crime outline you already created. Following the chronology of the crime and the clue drops, write an outline of each scene. This is nothing more than another list of what needs to happen in each scene. You are not the writer yet. You are still the story engineer or the storyboard creator. This is the second phase of scaffolding that is setting the story up for when the writer comes in. The list should be concise, more like a list than big paragraph chunks.

Below is a Scene Template I use. I don't worry about the Point of View in this layer because you can wait to choose it. I wait to see who "steals the scene" when I'm actually writing. But I include it in a Scene Template.

POV:
TIME/LOCATION:
PURPOSE/CLUES:

CHOOSE A TIME AND LOCATION:

Choose a time and location, but don't describe any locations or characters yet. Purpose and Clues is a reminder that everything written has to have a purpose and every scene in a mystery should have some clues or a crime.

In the video on this subject matter below, I go into a few extra tips on using the scene template to help you in other ways.

LAYER 4: DOWN-AND-DIRTY FIRST DRAFT - NOW YOU'RE THE WRITER!

In Layer 4, you are finally the writer. The scaffolding is in place and now it's time to start writing the story. The first draft is the hardest layer of writing.

It may help to think of yourself as more of a Town Crier.

Your job in this layer is to blurt out the entire story. Just get it down in paper. Don't worry about spelling, grammar, descriptions of people. Like the cops say -- Just the facts. Write out the story and don't look back. Don't re-read anything. Don't get lost in verb tenses. Write and don't look back. Only look at your scene outline to make sure you have covered everything. That's the only concern.

THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT IN THE FIRST DRAFT:
Choose a location for the scene and a time. (Nothing is written in cement)
Make sure all of the clues and anything else from your scene outline gets into the scenes.

THINGS THAT DON'T MATTER IN THE FIRST DRAFT:
Spelling, grammar, sentence structure, too many adverbs, scene or character descriptions, foreshadowing, cliffhangers, quote marks, etc.
Just write what happens in each scene with whatever dialogue comes to you.

In the video below, I go into some detail about why this is important and how it can save you time in the end.

LAYER 5: 1st Proofread (The Read-through)

I call this the first proofread but it's really the first readthrough. Run a grammar and spell check in the beginning. This will clean up some of the down and dirty mistakes.

Begin to read through the novel as a writer. This is the layer that you will put in the descriptions of your main characters and the scene descriptions. You are not line-editing in this layer. You are reading for context and to make sure that your sentences flow one to the other and that the chapters flow from one to the other.

LAYER 5 CHECKLIST:

1. Are there any descriptions you need to add to this scene?
2. Is there any surprise in this scene? If so, can you rewrite it to make the surprise be a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter?
3. Has the POV been established?
4. Check on head-hopping.

SCRIVENER TIPS FOR LAYER 5:

Using Scrivener Find and Replace feature, set things up where you will automatically focus on your weak points. For example: I make all "ing" endings capitalized. I also capitalize the words BEGIN and BEGAN as well as the phrase IN ORDER TO. This way, I can't just scan over them without noticing them. It forces me to check whether I can change the format of the verbs or the sentence structures to past tense, etc.

Then I proofread the entire novel and focus on these changes. Here is a checklist for the scenes in this layer:

LAYER 6: The 2nd PROOFREAD

This is the layer you start polishing your prose in. Spellcheck and grammar check again before you begin. Then read through the entire novel for context and this time look at your sentence structure and verb choice.

SCRIVENER TIP: USING KEYWORDS FOR A CONTEXT CHECK:

Layer 6 is where I add the keywords in Scrivener. By using keywords, you can isolate certain scenes and then see them isolated from the rest of the novel. This is a great way to check on certain things in any story. Examples: Romantic Subplot, wedding talk, vampire events, interviews, clues dropped, etc.

Layer 7 - The Hardcore Proofread

Below is a list of things I do in Layer 7:
1. List Troublesome words - Just, like, adverbs. Compile a list of your favorites. I have compiled a long list of words that trip me up and I go over them in this layer.
2. Check your chapters in Grammerly for grammar verb tense.
3. Then I compile from Scrivener to a Word .docs file and paste it into an eBook template and save it as a Manuscript. I file it in a folder called Pre-Publication. Then I open it in Word and run Word's spell check and grammar check on it again.
4. Then I read it as a final proofread (even though it's not the final proofread!)
5. Check all Chapter Names are in Heading 1's for the Table of Contents
6. Fill in the Other pages: Title Page, Other Books By Page, Title and Author Page, Copyright, Table of Contents, Note to Reader, Acknowledgements, About the Author, Other Books By Page)
6. Find and check all quotes to make sure your quotes are in sets.

LEVEL 8: - FINAL PROOFREAD AND NARRATION

1. Using the read aloud feature in Microsoft Word, I read the book aloud as I read along with it. This gives you an idea of how the book will sound in the reader's mind.
2. I make any final corrections in this last proofread.
3. From here the manuscript goes to an Editor.
4. Then I forward it to myself as an ePub and while it's being edited, I read it again on my Kindle to see how it looks and feels from the reader's perspective.

VIDEO ON WRITING IN 8 LAYERS IS BELOW:

5 Mistakes I Made in Publishing My Vampire Book Series

LET ME SET THE STAGE:

This post will be about 5 Beginner Mistakes I made in Self-Publishing one of my book series and what I did about it -- which was pretty much nothing. I'll also go into what I am going to do about it now that I learned a lot more about what went wrong.

Most of these mistakes were ones that were not even on my radar at the time they were made.

Let me give you a bit of context: As I came close to retirement, I decided to write a novel or two. I chose to self-publish for many reasons that I've gone over in other videos and I won't go over now. And to this day, in spite of the mistakes I've made, I still consider self-publishing a good fit for me. (Just me)

When I first got the idea of writing a novel, I did research for about a year. I read several how to books on every subject under the title of writing a novel and self-publishing. (Cat on book shelf)

I also watched hundreds of videos on the subject. Like most people, all the information I came upon, especially in video format was great advice, but none of it was curricularized. When you self-study online, you take in just a steady stream of random information and then we're all left to sort it out ourselves. That's how free education works on the internet. (Text Panel 2: Information wasn't curricularized

So above is a list of the chronology I pieced together as being the proper chronological list of how to write and publish a book:

MISTAKE NUMBER ONE:

In this big cloud of random information I took in, I got ARC Readers and Beta Readers kind of mixed up or thought they were too closely related. But they are two different animals.

Beta Readers often times read books very early in the process -- before the book is even finished to give early feedback. This is a great idea if you're not sure about your characters or if the plot is good enough, etc. Let's face it, in the beginning it's hard to think you're book is a masterpiece when it's your first one -- at least it was for me. There is a definite high-level purpose in having Beta Readers. They are worth their weight in gold.

However, here is where I made the terrible mistake and found out the hard way about this particular landmine: I offered my Vampire book Darius - A Vampire Story as a beta book but it had not been finalized, professionally edited or proofread. Now, in the ad copy for the link to download, I clearly posted it as a beta copy that had not been edited, etc. However, once a book is downloaded to an eReader, no one will remember this book is only a beta copy. And the second mistake I made here was that I didn't put anything in the book itself.

I didn't put any explanation paragraph before the First Chapter. I didn't add a watermark. I assumed my explanation about the Beta copy that invited the download was enough.

Well, when I finalized the book and released it, I got slaughtered in early reviews. I assumed as a new author that maybe it wasn't that good. However, several of the reviews referenced typos and/or grammar mistakes. When I went to the finalized copy to of course correct them -- they didn't exist.

The first time this happened, I just thought the reader was a bit crazy. But after this happened several times, it was only then that I realized that I had released hundreds of beta copies that now lived on people's eReaders. And for some reason, there are a lot of readers who take typos or grammar errors personally. It seems to trigger them and their reviews are more like rants.

So poor Darius got all beat up in the early review.

MISTAKE NUMBER 2

Mistake Number 2 was what I did about this problem -- which was pretty much nothing.

I wish I could say that I recognized the gravity of the mistake right away, but I didn't. I just thought that some people had read an earlier copy and that's a shame, but what can I do about it now? I didn't realize that there were probably hundreds of these copies out there. I had no list of who I sent these early copies to.

Now, I also didn't realize that this series was going to go on for 5 books. So, in hindsight, what I should have done was pull the first three books and re-release them as a second edition. This is what I plan to do in January of 2025 because that's when I'll be releasing the fifth book in the series. So doing nothing about this was the second mistake.

Now I have a hard and fast rule: I never give Beta copies in download format. I now only pay for beta copies and send them in Microsoft Word format. I also include verbiage that it is a beta copy and hasn't been edited or proofread.

MISTAKE NUMBER 3:

GoodReads is probably the largest single pool of avid readers and book lovers out there. But goodreads can be a tough crowd for new writers. This is where Darius's bullying started. If I had to do things over again, I would not have focused on Goodreads as a first place to release my books -- even after they were fully edited and proofread. Unfortunately, many of the videos I watched during that first year, talked about how great goodreads was helpful to find beta readers and arc readers and launch a book.

To be honest, I never found any true beta readers or arc readers there. I found mostly people who like to download free books. So I would just caution newbies that GoodReads is not the only game in town and you may need some boxing experience before you enter that ring. That's all I'm going to say about that.

A SIDE NOTE ABOUT GIVEAWAYS:

Goodreads has been purchased by Amazon, I believe, and they did offer a giveaway for $119. At least that's what it was at the time I used that service as a giveaway for edited books. However, I found the reviews very harsh or even snotty at times. I had much better experience giving the books away with Freebooksy and even Fussy Librarian for less than $119. I also got better reviews using Bookfunnel and Storyorigin free book giveaways. As long as you don't put your books into Kindle Select, you can still give them away on these websites.

MISTAKE NUMBER 4:

I didn't realize that the categories on Amazon have a hierarchy to them. It may have been because we were originally allowed to put each book into 10 categories. I had watched a video by Author Chris Fox about writing to market and he was explaining about drilling down in the categories and writing to a specific sub-category. Now, he writes sci-fi and in particular, military sci-fi.

At the time he said this, I thought writing to a specific market just to make marketing easier would be awful. It would be like pulling an assignment out of a hat and having to produce a book about it. I'm just not that type of writer. So I let that concept float away in the wind and just picked ten categories that seemed like they would be a the best fit for my books and the rest of the concept of writing to market was lost on me, at least at that time. I moved onto other things.

Over time, pretty recently, I did figure out that the categories are hierarchical and Chris Fox' advice came back to me. What he was saying was that new authors can focus on subcategories in order to dominate in those smaller categories in their to number 1 on the best seller list. In other words, you can rise to number one in a sub-sub category way faster than rising to the top ten in Romance, which is a top tier in the hierarchy.

In the video below, I do go live at Amazon and demonstrate how the categories are hierarchical and how to dig down and see which ones are available for you.

So the time to think about the categories is before you even plot out or write the book. Once you have a plot idea, that's the time to look at the categories and think about where the book would fit, and what you can tweak about the storyline to fit into a sub category or a less competitive category? Can you make the story happen in the west to be a Western Romance? Can you put the story into olden times to make it a historical novel, ore even better, put it in a specific time period? The time to think about categories is right after you have know you have a workable plotline.

In looking back, I could have tweaked a few of my books to fit them very easily into sub-sub categories without changing the storyline much.

MISTAKE NUMBER 5:

Mistake Number five requires a little explanation. My inspiration for my vampire series was the old Dark Shadows Soap Opera from the late '60s and early '70s. I never watched it as a kid but everyone I knew did. I didn't watch it because I had to walk too far to get home from school in time. This vampire series, like most soap operas at that time, was melodramatic and being a gothic and supernatural story, the storylines were completely crazy. But I loved the show anyway.

What I didn't realize at the time I watched it was that these crazy storylines came from real books. They just seemed crazy to me as they played out in this soap opera. In fairness to the writers of Dark Shadows, they had to produce 5 shows every week without fail.

So, with limited knowledge of the whole vampire genre, I went on to write a vampire book series. My vampire owns and operates a funeral home and keeps a bevy of 3 women to supply the blood he needs. He normally picks up runaways from the train and bus stations, but he winds up falling in love with the daughter of a wealthy, influential family in Newport Rhode Island. There is also a monastery of monks that live on the opposite side of the cemetery that Darius also owns.

No one in the area has any idea they are living next to a vampire and there are some supernatural events that start happening around the Balmont Funeral home, one of which is a mobster from New York looking for his daughter who was last seen with Darius. That's all I'll say about the plotlines.

Now, my series does follow the classic rules on vampirism with a tweak or two. However, there is also a little subtle tongue in cheek narrative in the story, which was more prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s vampire movies.

So how does all this fit into mistake number 5? Well, there's no category for tongue-in-cheek vampire stories. Also, fifty years have passed since this show ended and a lot has happened to the vampire genre in that time. First there was Anne Rice and her books and subsequent movies which are all dead serious and there's no tongue in cheek humor of any kind. I only read the first book and it was steeped in darkness and despair. Because I read for enjoyment, the level of despair was too much for me so I never read the other books.

Then there were the Twilight movies, the TV shows of True Blood and The Vampire Diaries, which were targeted to much younger people. Some of the backdrops were high school or college. And there was the rise of the vampire hunters. My book is a vampire book for adults or young adults who are not interested in high school or college anymore. But there's no amazon category for vampire books for adult. And my books also have no vampire hunters.

None of these were on my radar when I wrote the book. I thought books were judged on how well they were written and if people liked them. I didn't know reader expectations was even a thing!

Then I came upon two videos on a channel called Tristan and the Classics that changed that. It changed my whole trajectory and sent me on a new journey where I learned so much information that is not only helpful but I consider it crucial for newbies.

So as I realized that my books were not really fitting well in any of the vampire categories, I went on to create my own Teach Yourself Gothic Literature course based on Tristan's suggestions. This journey helped me to understand more about writing to market, and about reader expectations in particular, both are which I now feel are critical in self-publishing.

I actually took Tristan's suggestions about the self-study program one step further which I'll go into in the next blog post and video.

WRITING EXERCISE YOU CAN DO WITH A SPOUSE

CHANGE THE WAY YOU WATCH MOVIES:

Turning the viewing of a movie into a writing exercise will change the way in which you watch the movie. For your spouse, it won't change anything. Most people love to go into the story not knowing anything. There are some who any hint of a spoiler will ruin the movie for them. You may be one of them now!

However, in order to watch through a writer's eye, you will need to watch not only the unfolding story, but you want to know ahead of time what action will be playing out. This way, you can watch for the subtleties. In other words, you will be on the lookout for foreshadowing and tiny insignificant clues that are being dropped that will wind up being the clue that solves the mystery.

I started to watch movies in this way several months ago and I have to say it didn't ruin my movie watching, it has enhanced it greatly. Knowing what will happen doesn't ruin a movie for me. I have always been that way, but I get so much more out of the movies I watch with this technique, that I will continue to watch in this way.

So how does it work?

WATCHING A MOVIE WITH A PURPOSE:

Find a summary of the movie on Wikipedia. Most movies have a page about them and it gives all the technical information about who wrote the original story, the producer, director, stars, etc. But there is a section entitled PLOT. This is where the plot is laid out for you.

If you are scheduled to watch a horror movie, decide ahead of time what you will look for. It's important to notice how the movies create a spooky atmosphere. Is it done with fog or lighting? Or maybe sounds of footsteps. These will all come in handy if you write horror yourself.

If you are watching a mystery, watch how some clues are planted but made to seem insignificant. This is slight of hand that is required in writing mysteries. Seeing this play out in a movie will give you many ideas on hiding clues in your books.

For any movie, notice how much information is dropped in the beginning to set the stage. Do they show a panorama of famous buildings to let you know you're in New York or Paris? Do they show carts and horses to let you know you are going back into the 1800 or 1900s? Notice how much information is conveyed with just the presence of certain props and locations. Almost every scene is a lesson in itself.

WON'T KNOWING THE PLOT RUIN THINGS?

To be honest, most plots are too long to even remember or put together with one reading. I can usually follow the plotline for about the first four paragraphs. After that, I can't remember who is who but it doesn't matter. As long as you have a gist of an idea of what will take place, it allows you to watch for it.

You can see whether the drama plays out slowly or whether there is a jump scare to introduce a twist in the plot. All of this is what you will feed on as an author. You are getting an up-close look at how the script writer and the director have choreographed the telling of the tale.

WHY I CHOOSE THE OLD MOVIES:

I choose to watch old movies from the 1960s and 1970s because the method of shooting movies was different back then. The directors tended to fill the scene and writing fiction requires you to 'fill the scene' too. In modern movies, although they spend a fortune on sets, you see the set once in a while, but most scenes are one close-up of one star with a quick move to show a close up of another star. It's not as rich for a writer.

EXAMPLE MOVIE: THE GORGON

This is one of the Hammer Film Production movies that I have recently fell in love with. They are old movies from the 1960s but so charming. These are easy to follow as an author and you can learn a lot about adding suspense, atmosphere, how people show fear, methods of showing distrust. These movies are short and shot on or in one set at a time, so there's a lot of action and background for you to pick up hundreds of tips.

You can even watch with a notebook and pen. Jot down the things you see that would be helpful to you in your writing. If you watch mystery movies with police work, you can write down the specific terms for things that come up over and over. For example, the words having to do with arrest warrants or fingerprint evidence, etc.

A WRITING EXERCISE AFTER THE MOVIE:

CAPTURE A SCENE: If you are watching on a computer, pause the movie in the middle of a great scene. Take a screen shot of the scene for later. If you're watching on a TV, pause and take a picture on your phone.

WRITING EXERCISE: Next time you are sitting down to write, pull up the picture and create a scene in your head -- not from the movie, but from your own imagination. Using this setting as inspiration, think of something that is about to happen in the room or what just happened in the room. Be sure to include a description of the room and/or the main elements in the room. This exercise alone will improve your descriptive writing and could even lead to a short story! You never know.

CONCLUSION:

Read the plotline -- at least three quarters of it so you can be on the lookout for all the techniques of storytelling.
Think ahead of all the information you will want to keep watch for. Make either a mental note of all the techniques you see or write them down.
If you watch police procedurals and write them, jot down all the technical names for things so you have them at your fingertips when you are writing your own fiction.
Take a picture of a great setting in the movie for later. Using that scene as inspiration, think up your own small plot for what is going to happen in this room, what could happen, or what just happened. Be sure to describe the setting adding all of the emotions and/or mood elements you saw in the movie.

So that's it. Follow me on social media and let me know if you like this method of watching movies to learn.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING WHILE WATCHING MOVIES

THIS IS AN EXERCISE IN IMPROVING YOUR NOVEL WRITING BY WATCHING OLDER MOVIES:

gorgon-picture — Screen Shot from "The Gorgon"

I've been doing this exercise for about six months now and it has turned into my favorite way to experience movies. This allows me to experience the movie as a normal viewer but also watch it with an author's third eye.

I choose to watch mostly movies from the 1960s to the late 1970s for a few reasons that I'll go into below:

OLD MOVIES VS. NEWER MOVIES:

FIRST: Classical Hollywood Style: The old classic Hollywood style focused on clear storytelling, three-act structures, and a focus on character development. The writers and directors infused their work with a fresh perspective, but there was a reliable style to the storytelling. I believe this style is easier to learn from as a new author.

SECOND: The Pace of the movie. Modern films tend to have a faster pace, driven by shorter attention spans and the need to engage audiences immediately and constantly. It's common to see the camera move back and forth shooting so fast you can't keep up. As a writer, there's nothing to learn with this.

THIRD: Classic films relied more on dialogue, staging and backdrops to tell the story. This is the richness that I find most helpful to see and learn from as an author. Modern storytelling is worried about the 3-second attention span. Older movies assumed the audience was grown up and could sit still and pay attention for a few minutes without intense stimulation.

FOURTH: The older movies were 'agenda free'. There wasn't any heavy-hand pushing politics or debauchery at every turn. In my humble opinion, this ruins even the best of movies.

FIFTH: Newer movies have upgraded post production technology and CGI, so they are now focused on movie effects, jump scares and gore shocks. Although many of you may enjoy this type of thing, it really doesn't have much to teach a new author.

SIXTH: Even though the costumers and set designers have come so far and their work is breathtaking, the gorgeous backdrops seem to be shown one or twice and the rest of the scenes are filled with quick close-up shots to showcase the facial acting. Whereas, in the older movies, the directors would set up a whole room, have the actors roam through the room while acting. They were constantly doing things, picking up a cigarette, or stoking a fire -- action that you can learn from. This is the type of action that keeps fiction dialogue from being boring. These small movements keep the scene real in the readers' minds.

SEVENTH: There's nothing more irritating than the movies that were made with hand-held cameras and watching it is the equivalent of being on an unattended rollercoaster ride. There is a chaotic feel to the entire movie. This was unthinkable in old Hollywood. Again, you may like this type of film to watch and just enjoy, but there's nothing to be gained as an author from it.

WHICH MOVIES SHOULD I WATCH?

Everyone has to find their own subgenres whether it be old gothic movies or old mystery movies. But a good place to start is at Wikipedia. Below are two links to the 1960s and 1970s in film. Movies made in these years would fall into the categories I mentioned above.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960s_in_film
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_in_film

SO HOW DOES LEARNING FROM MOVIES AS A WRITER WORK?

It requires you to know ahead of time what will happen. If you are the type that hates to know what will happen first, then watch the movie first to enjoy it as a viewer. Then you can go onto the next section where I talk about the process:

Look up the movie on Wikipedia. Most movies have a full pages with all the information about who wrote it, produced it, directed it and starred in it. It also has a section called Plot. Read the Plot before watching the movie.

Knowing the plot ahead of time doesn't ruin the movie for me because it allows me to watch the movie as a viewer but to also watch for how the writer and director choose to dramatize the action of the plot. You will learn how they do foreshadowing, how they create red herrings, how they hide the true culprit.

You will also learn about tropes. For example. I've been watching Hammer Horror movies from the 1960s and they all have gothic settings. Every gothic movie has the carriage and horses. They all have the castles and fog. THey all have the candelabras. These are the tropes that readers and watchers want. Some tropes never get old.

As the plot unfolds, you can see how it all comes together and how they placed and showcased the final clue or the comeuppance or the final chase, etc. I find this so helpful in seeing the story elements handled by the script writers and the directors.

paragraphs describing this WHILE describing an imaginary character interacting in this setting.

TAKE THE EXPERIENCE ONE STEP FURTHER:

If you are watching the movie on a computer, take a screen shot of a scene and then set up an imaginary happenstance that occurs in this setting. Describe the setting in words, attempting to capture the essence of what you saw on film. Doing this a few times will help you get better and better in describing backgrounds and scene settings.

This type of experience can even lead to an actual short story. Just think up what type of problem could go wrong in this setting and take it from there.

10 Minute Exercise - Watch the first ten minutes of any movie or TV show to see how much background and personality info is dumped just by the background, music and setting. Every movie or show assumes viewers are starting out in the dark. There is always a lot of good ideas in the first 10 minutes of a movie on how to convey information from background and props without dialogue or info dumping.

Book Genres – Cozy Fantasy – Magical Realism – Historical Fantasy

In our last installment, we covered the top three book genres: Urban, Dark and Grim Dark Fantasy. Now we will drill down into the Fantasy sub-genre categories.

As stated in previous installments on learning the various sub-genres, knowing all the categories and what makes them different from one another will help you either find the very books you love to read. Or if you are an author, it will help you find the best genre to position your book in the marketplace.

And if you are looking to 'write to market' as some authors do, knowing the expectations and subtle differences between the various genres can help you zero in on what expectations your readership will have.

💥💥 COZY FANTASY 💥💥

Cozy Fantasy is a new sub-genre that was not a thing when bookstores were popular. They are fantasy books but are lighter and less dark. There's often murder and/or other mishaps, but the level of horror is non-existent. Often the story is told with tongue in cheek or a whimsical narration.

Unlike Dark Fantasy or Grim Dark, the characters in a Cozy Fantasy may be flawed but they generally have good hearts. There may be problems being wrestled with, but there is aren't any mean and wretched Charles Dickins like characters. The stories have a general feeling of warmth.

Cozy fantasies are also low stakes stories with small-town charm. There is more focus on interpersonal relationships than elaborate or complicated plotlines. The stories often iinvolves magical elements but in a gentle, inviting or playful way.

They (almost) always have a happy and satisfying ending. Law and order and goodness win the day.

A few classics that would fit under the category of Cozy Fantasy:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: While primarily a children's book, it features elements of magic, healing, and a strong sense of community, aligning with Cozy Fantasy themes.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: This classic novel offers a warm and comforting story focused on family and personal growth, with a touch of magical realism in its depiction of dreams and aspirations.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: This heartwarming tale of community and friendship, set in post-war Guernsey, evokes a cozy atmosphere and gentle magic.

💥💥 MAGICAL REALISM 💥💥

Magical Realism is a newer subgenre too. Magical realism are low fantasy stories as they are rooted in our own world with only one or two fantastical elements -- usually at least one form of magic. They take place in an often-recognizable place and the contemporary world.

Books written in the magical realism genre mix a fictional narrative with a little magic. The elements of magic are often introduced into the story without explanation. Characters often react to magical events with indifference or normalcy.

These stories are more realistic than fantasy and this is why often these books are also contained within the literature & fiction category as well.

Although the stories contain a little magic, the narratives are serious and the stories themselves are very realistic. It is a blend of realistic narrative and fantastical elements often presenting them in a matter-of-fact manner. They tend to blur the line between fantasy and reality, creating a sense of wonder and/or disorientation.

While Cozy Fantasy and Low Fantasy also blend magic and reality, Magical Realism is more focused on the unsettling or surreal aspect of the magical elements, often with a sense of underlying mystery or unease.

Three magical realism classics:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez: A seminal work of Magical Realism, this novel seamlessly blends fantastical elements into a realistic narrative, creating a rich and unforgettable world.
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel: This popular novel combines magical realism with a coming-of-age story, exploring themes of love, loss, and family with a touch of the extraordinary.
Beloved by Toni Morrison: While primarily a historical novel, Morrison incorporates elements of magical realism, particularly in its depiction of Sethe's character and her relationship with her deceased daughter.

💥💥 HISTORICAL FANTASY 💥💥

Historical Fantasy blends historical fiction with fantastical elements, creating a narrative set in a specific historical period such as medieval Europe, ancient Rome, or the Victorian era, with magic, mythical creatures, or other supernatural elements. It strives for historical accuracy as it weaves the magical elements and creatures throughout.

It differs from High Fantasy by grounding the story in a recognizable historical context.

Three classic Historical Fantasy books:

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke: This novel is set in early 19th century England, a time when magic is believed to be lost. Two magicians emerge, bringing magic back into the world, but with unexpected consequences. This book masterfully intertwines historical events with magical realism.
The Once and Future King by T.H. White: Although often categorized as Arthurian legend, this retelling of the King Arthur story incorporates elements of fantasy and magic. The novel explores the life of Arthur from childhood to his reign, blending historical figures with mythical creatures and magical occurrences.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker: This book takes place in late 19th century New York City. It follows the stories of a Golem, a creature of Jewish mythology, and a Jinni, a spirit from Arabian folklore, as they navigate the challenges of their new world. This novel beautifully blends historical fiction with magical realism.

💥💥 ROMANTASY 💥💥

Romantasy is a blend of romance and fantasy genres, where the romantic relationship is as central to the plot as the fantastical elements. It often features strong female protagonists, complex love interests, and immersive fantasy worlds. Equal emphasis is placed on romance and fantasy; in other words, both elements are integral to the story, with neither taking a backseat.

These stories are similar to high or epic fantasy in that they can have a richly detailed fantasy world, but there is as much emphasis put onto the romance. The romance is not just a subplot.

It can be a little harder to isolate three actual romantasy books as this genre is almost too new. But I will list three classics that no one would argue with:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: While primarily a gothic romance, this novel incorporates supernatural elements and a passionate, tumultuous love story that echoes the intensity often found in romantasy.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Though not overtly fantastical, Austen's wit and sharp social commentary, combined with the complex romantic relationships, align with some romantasy tropes. It's a classic example of a love story set against a rich social backdrop, a common element in the genre.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett:While primarily a children's book, it features elements of magic, mystery, and transformation, often present in romantasy. The blossoming of the garden mirrors the characters' personal growth and the budding romance.

💥💥 STEAMPUNK FANTASY 💥💥

Steampunk Fantasy is also a more modern 'separate book genre'. The classics I list below have been around for sometime and lived under either the general Science Fiction category or historical fiction, depending upon how much Victorian history the story contained versus how much science fiction it contained. .

Steampunk is similar to Urban fantasy but has the addition of Victorian-era technology, in particular, steam and steam-technology. What fog and forests are to gothic books, steam and steam-based technology are to Steampunk. They tend to also add some narrative about Victorian era industrialism, either good or bad. It combines historical events, science fiction and fantasy elements. Stories are usually set within the 19th century or a similar era.

Three classic books are:

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: This classic adventure novel features advanced technology and underwater exploration, elements often found in Steampunk.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells: Though primarily a science fiction novel, it explores themes of technology and time travel that resonate with Steampunk aesthetics.
From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: Another Verne classic, this novel showcases imaginative technology and space exploration, aligning with Steampunk's fascination with invention.

💥💥 HOPE PUNK FANTASY 💥💥

A new subgenre for those who like the steampunk aesthetic and/or urban fantasy, Hope Punk Fantasy contains these elements but without all the hopelessness or grim outlook. The story is more hope and/or happiness based.

These books are popular Hopepunk although not quite as old as some of the other cited classics:

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers: This novel beautifully captures the essence of Hope Punk with its focus on community, healing, and environmentalism. It presents a hopeful vision of a future where robots and humans coexist peacefully.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Another work by Chambers, this novel explores themes of diversity, acceptance, and cooperation, creating a sense of optimism in a challenging universe.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison: Although not explicitly labeled Hope Punk, this novel showcases themes of resilience, empathy, and building community in the face of adversity, aligning with the genre's core values.

While these works might not be considered classic bestsellers in the traditional sense, they are influential and widely acclaimed examples of contemporary Hope Punk literature.

Book Genres – Urban Fantasy – Dark Fantasy – Grim Dark Fantasy

In our last installment, we covered the top three book genres: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy and Low Fantasy. Now we will drill down into the Fantasy sub-genre categories.

If you're a reader, knowing all the categories and what makes them different from one another will help you find the very books you love to read. As an author, it will help you find the best genre to position your book in the marketplace.

💥💥 Urban Fantasy 💥💥

Urban Fantasy is similar to Low Fantasy with one or two exceptions. One exception is the setting. The story takes place in our world and in a modern city setting. It can be at another time in the past or in the future, but it takes place on Earth in a city.

Urban Fantasy blends the mundane with the magical, setting fantastical elements within a modern urban environment. It often explores the hidden world of supernatural beings coexisting with humans.

The other difference between low fantasy and urban fantasy is that the environment and characters are grittier, edgier and tougher. Low Fantasy takes place in secluded environments like castles, or rural or suburban environments so the world can be almost fairytale like. Urban fantasy takes place in the bustle and grit of a city.

What distinguishes Urban Fantasy from Low Fantasy is there is a grittier environment and there can be violence. The characters are more human, grittier and they can be morally ambiguous.

Three books that are examples of Urban Fantasy are:

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher: This series is a modern classic of Urban Fantasy, featuring a private investigator with magical abilities in a contemporary setting.
Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton: A popular series blending romance, horror, and fantasy in a modern urban setting.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman: While not strictly Urban Fantasy, it explores the coexistence of old and new gods in modern America, blurring the lines between myth and reality.

💥💥 Dark Fantasy 💥💥

Dark Fantasy is a subgenre of the Low fantasy genre. Dark Fantasy blends elements of fantasy with horror, with more of an emphasis on the horror aspects. Think Cinderella vs. Dracula. This genre explores themes of darkness, supernatural elements such as magic, ghosts, vampires, werewolves and other fantastical creatures who enter our world.

There is also a focus on the psychological, how this is affecting one or more characters in the story. Due to the emphasis on horror, there is an underlying sense of fear, unease and dread running through the story. These stories tend to focus on the darker aspects of the human psyche; think accidental manslaughter vs. Jack the Ripper.

Characters often face internal struggles, psychological struggles, madness, or obsession. Magic, demons, ghosts, or otherworldly creatures are common in this genre.

Ambiguous morality: The lines between good and evil can often be blurred, although not always. Sometimes good wins out, but in dark fantasy, you can't count on it.

These stories also takes place in our world, but unlike urban fantasy, they usually take place in secluded environments like castles, forests, rural or isolated settings.

Three examples of Dark Fantasy:

Dracula by Bram Stoker: A quintessential work of Gothic horror, Dracula blends elements of horror and romance, creating a dark and atmospheric tale.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: While often classified as a psychological horror novel, it incorporates supernatural elements and explores the darker aspects of human nature, aligning with Dark Fantasy themes.
The Shining by Stephen King: Though primarily a horror novel, The Shining delves into psychological horror and explores the supernatural, making it a strong example of Dark Fantasy.

💥💥 Grim Dark Fantasy 💥💥

Grim Dark Fantasy is a rather new genre and it is a sub-genre of Dark Fantasy. What distinguishes a grim dark fantasy from a garden-variety dark fantasy is that the world it takes place in is bleak, often violent and brutal. There can be gore alongside the horror in this genre too.

This genre always focuses on morally-ambiguous characters, anti-heroes and it can be an environment where evil triumphs. There's no promise of a happy ending. Grim Dark fantasy also has a cynical voice running through the narrative, a hopelessness, even despair.

Three books that fall into this category are:

The Black Company by Glen Cook: Often cited as a foundational work in the Grimdark genre, this series features anti-heroes, morally ambiguous characters, and a gritty, cynical world.
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin: Though not exclusively Grimdark, Martin's series showcases many Grimdark elements with its morally complex characters, brutal violence, and bleak worldview.
The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie: A modern classic of Grimdark, this series is renowned for its anti-heroes, dark humor, and unflinching portrayal of war and its consequences.

Book Genres – High Fantasy – Epic Fantasy & Low Fantasy

Before Amazon.com became a behemoth online bookseller, there may have been 20 genres in all of Bookdom. It was all based ono the space available, book cases available and how large he bookstore or library was. All fantasy books were in one section of the store. From there, you needed to come through the author names alphabetically or ask a store clerk if they remembered seeing the book. KDP Publishing and the Website whiz kids at Amazon put an end to that over the last decade or two.Now there are multiple genres of Fantasy and each one can be differentiated by a slight difference. Let's take a look at them starting with the three largest categories: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy and Low Fantasy.

💥💥 High Fantasy 💥💥

This genre is made up of stories that open up a whole new world, with its own geography, culture and even people -- there could be creatures of any and all kinds. These stories are alive with lots of magic, mythology, legends and folklore. High fantasy usually deals with large-scale problems and conflicts. There are life and death stakes and the main characters are heroes, heroines and most are destined for greatness. Their journey is about fulfilling their destiny and/or saving their world from disaster. High fantasy can be more personal than Epic fantasy. High fantasy can be about personal drama, relationships while Epic Fantasy is usually bigger and more about saving the Kingdoms or a whole group of people.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

💥💥 Epic Fantasy 💥💥

Epic fantasy is very similar to High Fantasy in that it introduces the reader to a whole world conjured up by the author, with a unique geography, weather, history and creatures. Epic fantasy also has lots of magic and other worldly powers, all of which have rules and boundaries that are followed. Epic fantasy can have folklore, but there is more of an emphasis on myths and legends that are weaved in and out of the story.

Epic fantasy has the highest stakes, world-altering stakes, life and death stakes. They have sweeping narratives, a large cast of characters with the emphasis on kingdoms, countries or large tribes of people.

Epic fantasies are long sweeping narratives with complex plotlines. They are long stories, detailed, even multi-generational sagas.

Three classic examples of Epic Fantasy:

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: This series, again, is a prime example of Epic Fantasy due to its vast scope, world-altering stakes, and large cast of characters.
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan: A monumental series known for its intricate plot, expansive world, and numerous characters, embodying the essence of Epic Fantasy.
The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson: This series is renowned for its complex mythology, morally ambiguous characters, and epic scale, making it a cornerstone of the genre.

NOTE: Lord of the Rings was cited in both High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy as it fits comfortably in each one. It stared out as high fantasy, but due to the sequels, it is now more of an epic fantasy.

💥💥 Low Fantasy 💥💥

When I first heard of this genre and found out that many vampire books fit into this category, I wasn't happy. It sounds awful -- 'low fantasy'. What kind of a name is that? However, the low fantasy refers to the level of magic and world-building that takes place in a low fantasy book.

In low fantasy, there are elements of magic, but not quite as much as you would find in high fantasy or epic fantasy. Low fantasy is the genre where magic enters the ordinary world. The narratives are grounded on earth, and the focus is on how the magical elements and powers or supernatural creatures living on earth interact with he real world. It contains elements of the supernatural that take place against the normal world.

Often, the supernatural or fantasy takes place in our world but is hidden only known to one or two characters in the story. These stories usually take place in a suburban or rural setting -- as opposed to a city setting, which would make it more of an urban fantasy -- which we will cover next.

Four classic novels that would fit into the Low Fantasy Genre:

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: While not strictly fantasy, this novel introduces supernatural elements into a realistic setting, making it a precursor to Low Fantasy.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: This classic tale explores the duality of human nature through a fantastical lens, fitting the Low Fantasy mold.
Dracula by Bram Stoker would also fit into the Low Fantasy genre. Dracula could also fit into a few other newer more nuanced genre categories which we will also cover next.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: This is a best selling contemporary novel that incorporates supernatural elements into a realistic setting, blurring the lines between the mundane and the magical.

Writers Research – Gypsies from All Over the World

ROMANI (GYPSY SUBGROUPS) EXPLAINED:

Look what I found! This young man explains all of the different subgroups inside the World of Romani. These are the gypsies that are often referred to in fantasy and even vampire stories. I thought this was a great find because these subgroups exist all over the world.

He gives the names of each subgroup on screen, so if you want to do further research, it will be easier to do. This was a great find, so that’s why I’m including it in my Writer’s Research section.

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Book Marketing – Where Do I Start?

BOOK MARKETING STARTS BY SETTING MARKETING GOALS:

Each writer or author will have slightly different goals. My blog post will speak directly to website bloggers and/or to fiction authors. However, if you publish low-content books or children’s books — or even coloring books, all of these techniques will be relevant to you because they are about basic marketing. Just change up whatever technique is mentioned and make it more fitting to whatever type of marketing you need to do.

ESTABLISH REALISTIC MARKETING GOALS:

Marketing is not something that you do. It’s something that you build. Everyone has a first day and sits behind a computer not knowing what to do first. So let’s start there.

BUILD A READERSHIP:

If you are self-publishing any kind of books or launching a blog from scratch, you will need to build a readership. Building a readership is also something you build over time. Everyone starts with no readers but their parents or spouses. However, once you establish a building process, the readers will accumulate slowly but surely.

One of the only things left that professional publishers can offer authors is an automatic reader list. They have gathered millions of names, addresses and emails over fifty years or more. So that is a valuable commodity and the one and only reason you should think about being with a professional publishing company.

However, some younger people who are social media savvy have been able to build millions of followers as an “influencer” so don’t count yourself out as someone who may have good luck with self-marketing.

If you are authoring fiction and selling books, your first order of business is to start collecting emails into a reader list. A reader list is referred to as a “newsletter list” in the industry, but when you are building a readership, I prefer “reader list”. Going forward, just know they are the same thing.

START COLLECTING EMAILS: Collecting emails to send to people about your book or books. I would recommend MailerLite as they are the least expensive but professional platform for a beginner. Everyone starts with a free account. They allow you to collect a couple of hundred emails before they want to get paid. And then they charge you per hundred or so. So your expenses keep steady with your marketing results.

JOIN GOODREADS: Establish a presence on GoodReads.com where the most avid and voracious readers hang out. Sign up for an account with them and you will get a chance to upload your book cover. It can be a little confusing at

Goodreads so I’ll post a video about joining and navigating around there.

The biggest tip I can give you is that Goodreads is a website about readers. When you log in, it recognizes you only as a reader until you go to your author dashboard. It took me a long, long time to figure this out. I was always looking for my book and I was disoriented within five minutes.

ESTABLISH LOCAL COMMUNITY CONTACT: Every library would be interested in who their local authors are. You can set up a talk and sell some books when you do a book launch.

I personally am too shy (and too old) to go this route, but if you happen to be a bit younger or extroverted, this can create a HUGE BUZZ. Local people become fans, they tell people they know you, they buy paperbacks and hardcovers — and many want you to sign them! So don’t underestimate the life of the buzz you can create by talking about your book in front of a few people at the local library.

KINDLE SELECT: Seriously consider entering your book into Kindle Select on Amazon so you can give away many books each quarter. This is the quickest way to get attention and reviews. The more readers you have, the better the odds of getting a review.

Many new authors get too hung up on how long it took them to write the book and they don’t like the idea of not getting paid for it. However, Amazon is the biggest search engine for books. That means that your competition is Steven King, Nora Roberts, Lee Childs, Agatha Christie, etc.

It’s important to understand that allowing people to read your book may create a fan, a repeat reader. That’s your realistic goal. Unless you have hundreds or thousands you can put into marketing each month, you will be building a readership one reader at a time.

LOW-BID AMAZON AD STRATEGY: And the last step for absolute beginners is to learn strategies for low-bid strategies (going for the low-hanging fruit) using Amazon Ads. This is where you bit .12 cents a click. You won’t rocket to the top of the best seller list, but this is a great strategy to begin to crawl your way out of oblivion. I’ll have a dedicated blog post about how to set up a low-bit strategy.

BUILD A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE:

I personally don’t like social media — the whole thing. However, I also don’t really like marketing either! But in today’s world, if you want to self publish, you need to market your books or blog and there are lots of ways to market even if you are shy or introverted, like I am.

First establish Social Media Accounts in your professional Name. This could be your author name, pen name, website name, blogging handle, or some other name that is dedicated to your business. Don’t blend any personal social media with your professional social media presence.

So the first thing to do is to establish accounts at all of the following social media platforms:

FACEBOOK – Facebook is the biggest arena for Boomers, who are retired and have the most money and the most time to read. So you need to establish a presence on Facebook even if you are younger and don’t use it yourself. As stated above, create a Business Page in your author name, blog name, website name or pen name. This will be dedicated to subjects around your writing. If you don’t know how to do this, just search on YouTube for “How to start a Facebook Page”.

TWITTER-NOW-KNOWN-AS X: This website is growing quickly. It has the largest political group and finance group, both left and right, on the internet. This group too also tends to be economically comfortable and will buy what they want. If you don’t write about politics, it’s okay. You will be “posting to google analytics”. More on that below.

Posting to Google Analytics means that Google spider bots crawl the internet without stop. They are constantly cataloguing and making decisions about who is an authority on what subject all the time. So even if you don’t get a lot of views or reposts, the google bots are still absorbing what you are doing.

I don’t get that many reposts, but the most traffic that comes to my website is from Google. So it’s still working. It’s important to know this so you don’t feel like you’re being ignored or wasting your time.

LINKEDIN – If you write on business or off any type of service, anything business people would need or like, then you want to establish a presence on LinkedIn as well. Most people don’t look for their next book or interesting blogs on LinkedIn, but again, you are posting to the algorithms. In the next installment, I’ll be going over how to find complementary products and/or interests to post about, especially if you only have one book.

GAB – This website is a bit controversial because they had a big fight years ago with the ADL, but it is still a place that has a huge Christian presence. I’ve never seen anything anti-Jewish or antisemitic posted so I’m not sure what the big todo was about, but in any event, I thought I would mention this. It could have been just a big ego fight between two guys. But if you write Christian fiction, like I do, or write things that fellow Christians, patriots, or other spiritual people may be interested in, you will want to establish a presence on Gab. Just don’t let this be your own social media because it really specializes in Christian and Patriotic users and they are not the only readers out there.

INSTAGRAM: You also need to post to Instagram. This social media website has a much younger demographic that uses it, but they are also glued to their screens all the time. Instagram is very popular and has lots of graphic posts as well as videos.

PINTEREST – Establish a business page with Pinterest. Pinterest has millions of users and is probably the biggest search engine next to Google and Amazon. So this is a must. Again, don’t mix business with personal. Establish a page as an author, blogger, or writer.

There are ways to create many different pictorial posts representing one book, so be sure to join Pinterest right away.

TIKTOK: If you’re thirty-five and older, I would recommend holding off on TikTok, mainly because it is a platform for videos. Candid videos. There was a trend called “Booktok” that was pretty popular for awhile, but it got so competitive, I think it has blown over — unless you can post videos everyday.

Tiktok is also battling for survival with the US Courts. No one knows their fate at the time of this writing. However, like I said earlier, their platform is for video only. People under 35 have grown up videoing themselves all day long, so posting on Tiktok is easy for them. But for those of us over 35, making a video could be a half day or full day affair. So with that warning, I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether Tiktok is for you.

ESTABLISH A PLAN OF ACTION:

First: It’s only a plan of action if you do something about it all. So be sure to open your social media accounts in the next days if you haven’t established them already.

Second: Establish a mailing list on one of the many platforms out there. I would recommend MailerLite as the first email collection platform. There are others out there but the last time I did research — which was about six months previous to this blog post — they were the best deal for the monthly money. I was paying almost $135 a month to Mailchimp (I had about 3500 emails) and I got the same program for $35 a month at MailerLite.

Most programs start free, but don’t underestimate how soon you will build up a following.

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How to do a Double-Opt-In Email and Giveaway at MailerLite

Double-Opt-In-at-MailerLight

Above is a diagram of most of the moving parts involved in setting up a give away using a double opt-in email and automation at Mailerlite. Seeing it visually will help you understand all the bits and pieces I talk about in the video that goes along with this post.

The video below is a comprehensive tutorial about setting up a giveaway using a double-opt-in email, and sending an email containing a link to a download for an infographic.

For self-publishers, building a reader list, sometimes referred to as a newsletter list, it is important to find ways to build your readership. By offering occasional giveaways, you can build your list a little faster.

People love infographics that organize and simplify information, so that is what I decided to offer as a giveaway in the offer in the video.

WHAT IS A DOUBLE OPT IN EMAIL?

A double-opt in email is one where the person signs up but then they must go and retrieve the email in order to confirm it is a live email. It presents you from gathering made up emails. It keeps your reader list clean of fake emails.

WHAT WILL BE COVERED IN THE VIDEO?

Like the picture above, I will cover the entire process from uploading the giveaway to Google drive and getting the proper link for the ultimate email form.

Then we go to Mailerlight and I walk you through the system as I set up a give away using the double opt-in email.

At the end, I then show you how it works. I also give a secret tip at the end about what to do with all the links you have gathered in order to put something like this together.

VIDEO TIMELINE:

00:01 – What we will cover in the video
Outlining all the components and links we will need
07:57 – Uploading the document at Google Drive
11:17 – MailerLite – First Form, the Sign up form and Success Message
15:20 – Email Settings (I leave them all unchecked)
16:00 – Creating the automation, the workflow
17:50 – Create the Email that is launched when the form is filled out
18:40 – Selecting a Mailerlite Template
20:00 – Creating an Email Template
20:50 – Adding the Google Drive link to the Email Form
22:00 – How to save the finished Email as a reuseable Template
23:00 – Set up the double Opt in
24:00 – How to find the direct link to the Mailerlink Form
27:00 – How the form works

Here is the video for your review:

If anyone is interested in getting a copy of the Infographic about How to Create a Character Arc in a 4-Part Story Structure, you can sign up below!

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