Day: December 22, 2014

Anorexic Literature – Writing Screenplays for Today’s Market

Screenwriter William MunnsGuest Post
by William Munns

There was a time when writing for movies or TV was like writing a play, with lush descriptions of a scene and robust soliloquies. If you aspire to write a great movie or TV script today, abandon that thought and face the realities of today’s market. Format, high concept log lines, formulaic story structure, and minimalist content are the Four Horsemen of the Screenplay Apocalypse you must confront. If you have written for other forms, especially classical literature, writing a script will be something akin to a head-on collision with a garbage truck. Continue reading “Anorexic Literature – Writing Screenplays for Today’s Market”

Featured Book: Hot in the Saddle

Hot in the Saddle by Ciana StoneHot in the Saddle
by Ciana Stone
Genres: western, romance
Available at Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

Four ranchers as hot as the Arizona desert – men more than willing for a night of loving, but who all think that love is not in their cards.

Four men, four stories, four chances to fall in love.

Book Excerpt:

Her eyes brought him a step closer to her. “Like you breaking down in Arizona and me running over you? You think there’s some reason for that?”

“Yes.”

“Then why don’t you fill me in, Sassy?” His voice dropped to a low sexy growl that sent a shiver racing through her.

“You can call me Ana.” She slid closer, so close that she could feel the wave of heat coming off his body.

“Does that mean we’re friends now?” He moved in, placing one hand on her bare hip to pull her against him.

“No.” She traced one hand up from his chest to his neck then on up to push his hat off his head and rake her fingers through his thick hair. “But we will be.”

What others are saying:

“These four books kept me reading for almost two days straight. I only put them down when I got to tired to read and found myself waking up a few hours later to continue. The passion and love and the intrigue just don’t quit.” – An Amazon Reviewer

Do Book Posts in Facebook Groups Work as Marketing?

Facebook-GroupI am a heavy user of Facebook personally. I belong to a lot of writer groups, and several groups that allow book promotion (you post a spiffy description and link to your book — typically the Amazon link). Several authors I’ve encountered have expressed great disdain at these promo groups, saying they’re a waste of time and filled with other authors posting promos, not real readers. The critics also argue that posting on these sites just clutters your news feed, showing your friends your crappy, lazy marketing efforts.

However, my newsfeed has been cluttered by several authors doing this, and to me, it seemed crazy that people would continue to do something that is completely ineffective. So, being the evidence monger that I am, I decided to conduct an experiment to see if these Facebook marketing posts actually work. My conclusion — sorry Charlie, I’m gonna make you read to the end to find out. Or maybe I’ll tell you at some point before the end so you have to keep reading and can’t just skip to the bottom (I’m laughing maniacally right now). Continue reading “Do Book Posts in Facebook Groups Work as Marketing?”