Research Your Way to the Bestseller List

The first step in your 100-day book proposal challenge is to determine exactly what book you are pitching. That means researching to find the topic that fits your writing style like a glove. While the answer may seem obvious, be careful to collect all the data before drawing a conclusion. Only once you have taken the following three steps are you ready to write a compelling description that will get the eye of an agent and a publisher.

1. Start with some open ended brainstorming. Even if you have known since you were in third grade that you were going to write the Great American Novel about bacteria and fungi, start by writing all the terms that come to mind on the topic. Look for connections with recent headlines, controversial angles and eye-catching hooks. 

2. Now the research begins. Collect all the information you can on your topic. I don't just mean look it up on wikipedia or google search. Be creative. Who are the faces behind bacillus? What do they look, smell and taste like? How do the good and bad microorganisms live together? What do they have for breakfast?

3. As you follow the meandering information trail, monitor your internal awe-o-meter for what interests you. What makes you want to know more? What makes you sit up in your seat and put down your coffee cup? Chances are those are the topics that will stir enough passion in you to keep you interested during the long months it takes to write a book. That passion is also what will keep your readers interested enough to buy and finish your work of art.

4. Your research also has to include an exhaustive search of all books written on that topic. And don't say this is a completely new subject. Chances are someone has already delved into the sex life of Escherichia coli bacilli. And that is a good thing in the eye of your future publisher. It means that there is a  market for the topic. Now you just have to find your unique, timely, provocative take on the subject. 

5. Write down a few variations. "Aquificae for Fun and Profit", "Tenericutes: The Nitrospirae of a New World" Maybe "Gemmatimonadetes goes Wild". Say your bestselling titles out loud. Do they make you want to know more? Try your titles out on your MasterMind group. Keep trying until you hit on an idea that has legs.

6. Congratulate yourself.  This is important work. Plus, you are going to need all your strength for next week's project. Writing a description of your novella that has the potential to go viral.

Feel free to share.

Yours in Writing

Promtpmasters

Jennifer Sander

JT Long

Labor of Love

As we celebrate Labor Day, remember that the holiday - and the very idea of a weekend - was made possible by a group of people who came together focused on a goal bigger than any of them individually. 

Whether you are a union member fighting for health insurance, an environmentalist trying to save habitat or a writer struggling to overcome writer's block, it helps to have a group of friends you can turn to for support. MasterMind Writers Groups help you learn, grow and do.

Networks open your eyes to a bigger world. You are not alone. They bring resources available only in large, diverse organizations and they make the fight that much more fun.

Plus, when you reach your goal, you have a ready-made pot luck barbecue invite list.

What did your group do over the summer to make the world better for writers everywhere?

What do you plan to do this fall to pave the way for a literary 2010?

Yours in Writing,

Promptmasters

Jennifer Sander

JT Long

Bum in Chair, Pen in Hand (BICPIH)

I have heard the sentiment expressed many ways, "Ass in Chair, Fingers on Keys"; "Bottom in Seat, Hands on Keyboard", A friend from Australia used to say "Bum in Chair". Personally, I like the romantic ideal of using a Pen in Hand to capture fleeting thoughts before subjecting them to the rigors of MS Word Spellcheck and the dreaded Track Changes.

No matter how you say it, the concept is the same. The key to finishing a story, blog or book is to sit down and do it.  

Last week, I asked about your ideal place to write. 

Patricia Brooks replied that her best writing is done "in a cubicle at the library and outdoors when it is cool on the deck."

Damien Grintalis chimed in with "Sitting on my sofa, laptop balanced on my knees from midnight to 5 a.m."

And Joanna Young said "Coffee shop or anywhere my kids aren't." I know that one.

I usually work in my home office with my file folders close at hand, my hot tea at my side, the crazy yellow lab on the daybed by the window and a shelf of shoes to motivate me to work harder. However, modern technology has made it possible to work anywhere and I have been known to bang out a story or two by the pool or in a hotel room.

This week, my MasterMind Writer's Group will be meeting at The Urban Hive www.theurbanhive.com a coworking space in Sacramento designed to allow creative people to work independently while taking advantage of the collective group environment at an affordable price. This can be a big help to writers who get lonely at home or need other people to keep them accountable and out of the kitchen. Sounds more productive than sharing a space with a dog that randomly inserts her head under your hand until you remove your fingers from the keyboard to pet her.

To demonstrate the power of working together independently, the Hive has declared August 13 to be Writer's Day and will allow literary visitors to work there free. I'm looking forward to soaking in the vibe and seeing the magic for myself. 

Hope to see you there.

Yours in Writing

Promptmasters

Jennifer Sander

JT Long