You guys . . . YOU GUYS! NYT Bestselling author Beth Revis (of
Across the Universe fame) is here today! AND SHE'S GOT WRITING ADVICE! I am off to purchase Paper Hearts and you should too. But I'm going to let Beth tell you why:
DON'T MISS OUT ON THE GIVEAWAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!
And remember all orders of Paper Hearts made before November 15 from
Malaprops will come with a special gift--more details below!
I wrote
Paper Hearts for the writer I used to be. The questions I used to
have plagued me when I was starting this career path.
How do I get to the end? What's
the proper way to structure a novel--is there even a proper way? How do I make
my book stand out from all the other ones on sub?
Now, fifteen years, eleven unpublished books, three
New York
Times bestsellers, one self published book, and countless hours working on
craft and working with other professionals, I think I finally have the answers that I
needed way back then.
Unfortunately, I can't travel back in time.
But what I can do is try to help others. I've been compiling articles on the things I've
learned about writing, publishing, and marketing for years, first informally on blog posts,
then more collectively on Wattpad. After hitting 100000 reads, I realized that I should
take
Paper Hearts more seriously...and that I had not one book, but three.
Fully revised and expanded, the Paper Hearts series will feature three volumes, one each
on writing, publishing, and marketing.
Paper Hearts, Volume 1: Some Writing
Advice will be out on November 1, with the other two following in December
and January.
Preorder it now from:
Independent Bookstore ~
Amazon
~
BN ~
Kobo ~
Smashwords
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Your enemy is the blank page. When it comes to writing, there's no wrong way
to get words on paper. But it's not always easy to make the ink flow.
Paper Hearts:
Some Writing Advice won't make writing any simpler, but it may help spark your
imagination and get your hands back on the keyboard.
Practical Advice Meets Real Experience
With information that takes you from common mistakes in grammar to detailed charts on
story structure, Paper Hearts describes:
- How to Develop Character, Plot, and World
- What Common Advice You Should Ignore
- What Advice Actually Helps
- How to Develop a Novel
- The Basics of Grammar, Style, and Tone
- Four Practical Methods of Charting Story Structure
- How to Get Critiques and Revise Your Novel
- How to Deal with Failure
- And much more!
BONUS! More than 25 "What to do if" scenarios to help writers navigate
problems in writing from a New York Times Bestselling author who's written
more than 2 million words of fiction.
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Remember: if you pre-order the print copy
from my local indie bookstore, Malaprops, you'll also get a chapbook of the best writing
advice from 12 beloved and bestselling YA authors included in your order for
free!
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THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO GET PUBLISHED
Anyone who tells you that there’s only one way to get published is either ignorant, lying,
or trying to sell you something.
You don’t have to know someone. I didn’t. I live in rural North Carolina in an area where
there are more cows in the population than people. I found an agent and got a book deal
regardless. If you have a good book, you don’t have to know anyone. Most writers don’t
have connections.
You don’t have to do one specific thing to get published. I’m seeing “self publishing is
the new query” as advice popping up over and over again. Sure, some self published
people get picked up for book deals. But far more are getting picked up by queries. I also
know some people who handshake a book deal over drinks at literary conferences. There
are several different ways that people get book deals. Queries are still the most common,
but anyone who says that you have do X to get an agent’s attention is wrong.
Some people do better by focusing on traditional publishing. Some do better by focusing
on self publishing. The argument goes that if you traditionally publish first, you gain
experience and an audience that opens you up to more opportunities in the future. On the
flip side, the argument is that if you self publish first, you’ll have publishers coming to
you with better book deals, giving you a stronger platform to negotiate better terms based
on your success. Obviously, some people have had success with both routes, and one
isn’t better than another—they’re just different.
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About the Author: Beth Revis is the New York Times bestselling
author of the Across the Universe trilogy, as well as The Body Electric, Paper
Hearts, and the forthcoming A World Without You. She lives in the
Appalachian mountains with her boys: one husband, one son, and two very large
dogs.
