How To Get Your Book Into Schools And Double Your Income With Volume Sales With Dave Hendrickson

happy student girl or woman with books in library

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to full transcript

 

 

How to get your book into schools image

 

Amazon | Goodreads

 

Have you ever dreamed of an entire school reading your book?

 
Would you like to double (or more!) your writing income?

 
This book shows you how.

 

Drawing from his own first-hand experience, David H. Hendrickson leads you through every step of the process. He highlights the critical pitfalls to avoid, and points out ways to maximize your profit when a school adopts your book.

With advice and insights that are adaptable to getting your book in front of audiences ranging from middle grade to high school to college, and even to corporations, this book is for you!

 
“If you have a book you want to get into K-12 schools and sell in the thousands,
you MUST read this book.”
—Maggie Lynch, bestselling author, Career Author Secrets series

 

www.hendricksonwriter.com

 

 

A Worthy Villain – By Allison Brennan

 

Mask villain Hero superhero skull flat style icon logo, illustration

 

 

A Worthy Villain – By Allison Brennan

 

“The villain is the hero of his own journey.”
— Christopher Vogler

 

When I first started writing, I didn’t read any craft books. Everything I learned about writing fiction I learned through reading, falling in with a terrific critique group, and on- line workshops I took through RWA’s Kiss of Death chapter (the online chapter for romantic suspense.) It wasn’t until I sold my first three books that I started picking up craft books to see if I could improve my writing.

I was primarily looking for books that would help me take my books to the next level. By that I didn’t really know what I was looking for, just books that would help me understand my own intuition, I suppose. A lot of books didn’t resonate with me. Anything too technical, or anything that attempted to explain why that way was the best (or only) way to craft a story, irritated or bored me.

Then I read The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler and had that light bulb moment.

The Writer’s Journey is a simplified and far more accessible view of the Hero’s Journey (Hero With a Thousand Faces) as explained by Joseph Campbell. But Vogler took the meat from Campbell and seasoned it with modern examples that resonated with me. I could see in all the books that I’d written that I had intuitively, albeit loosely, adopted a hero’s journey structure. But what really helped me was how I began to view the role of the villain in my books.

The quote from Vogler — that the villain is the hero of his own journey — gave me that lightbulb moment. I loved getting into my villain’s heads, but I’d somewhat separated the villain from the hero. The villain’s were bad; the hero’s were good. In classic fiction this works well — people like to know who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. Yet, to create a compelling story, the villain needs to be more than a caricature. The villain needs to be as strong and three-dimensional as the hero. And while there are some all bad villains, how did they get that way? What made them commit their first illegal or immoral act?

 

 

 

 

 

Villan cartoon image

 

 

 

 

About this time, I read two books that have stuck with me for years. The first was Thomas Harris’s The Red Dragon, which I still believe is superior to The Silence of the Lambs in almost every way. The hero is tortured, the villain is believable, and the dynamic between Will Graham (tortured hero) and Francis Dollarhyde (tortured villain) is truly compelling. (As an aside — don’t watch the movies. Neither movie did the book justice, unlike Silence of the Lambs which is iconic.)

What resonated with me the most was how deep Harris got into his killer. We get into Dollarhyde’s head, we begin to understand how he got to this point in his life. And there is a pivotal scene where he could choose the light—where he could turn away from the violence within him. But why he doesn’t—how he breaks—is so compelling and felt so real that The Red Dragon is one of the few books I’ve read twice. It taught me first and foremost that villains need to be real people. They are not monsters, at least not at first glance. They have backstories and conflicts and goals just like every other character in the story.

In fact, I’d argue that villains must have as strong or stronger conflicts than the hero. Every author should know exactly why their villain is committing the crime they are committing, and be able to justify it when in the killer’s head. It might not make sense to a “normal” person, but it had better make sense to the villain.

The other book I read was Psychopath by Dr. Keith Ablow. What drew me in was an intelligent and almost reasonable villain who had a very specific reason for why and how he killed. In fact, the villain was so compelling, that when the hero (a forensic psychiatrist) and the villain were on the same page, the villain appeared to be a stronger individual. How—why—can some who do such good in the world also be so bad?

 

 

 

Motivation award

 

 

 

Johan Wrens is the Highway Killer. He slits the throats of random people all over the country. His body count is in the dozens. Wrens is also a brilliant psychiatrist who helps disturbed children. He has relationships with women, is attractive and cultured. He’s a bit reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter, Thomas Harris’s “arch-villain”—but in many ways, far more layered. He’s definitely the bad guy, but he also saves children for a living. He detests crimes against children, and that redeeming quality, especially when the reader learns his whole story, makes him a tragic character.

The hero, Dr. Frank Clevenger, had very real problems and very real conflicts. A recovering drug addict who had serious problems with interpersonal relationships, readers wondered if he could overcome his personal adversity to stop a very real—and very intelligent—threat.

Through these two books—The Red Dragon and Psychopath—I realized that the dynamic between the hero and villain needs to be intense; it needs to matter to both characters. I haven’t always been able to achieve this, though I consistently strive to. And that, really, is what being a growing writer is all about: constantly striving to write a stronger, better story with stronger, more compelling characters.

A “good” villain needs to challenge the hero; a good villain must be as smart—or smarter—than the hero. The villain needs to be complex, capable, and cunning so the hero is challenged. It’s the hero’s intelligence, perseverance, and humanity that brings the villain to justice—not merely following the breadcrumbs of a villain who would rank in the Top Ten Stupidest Criminals.

 

 

 

Criminal painting

 

 

 

In essence, not only does the villain need to be worthy of your hero, but your hero needs to be worthy of your villain. It’s the creation of this dynamic that gives the reader what she is looking for in crime thrillers.

When you think about the villain as the hero of his own journey, you realize that there are logical reasons for every action the villain takes. Logical for the villain. This is why authors (or actors) need to spend some time in their villain’s head. Think of the villain as you would the hero, ask the same questions. Know what they want and why. Know how they got to this moment in the story. Give them the option of turning away from evil … and then when they don’t, know why they don’t.

The villain makes—or breaks—your story.

And if you remember that the villain is the hero of his own journey? Well, your job just got a small bit easier.

 

 

 

Allison Brennan image

 

 

Allison Brennan is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of three dozen romantic thrillers and many short stories. RT Book Reviews calls Allison “A master of suspense” and her books “haunting,” “mesmerizing,” “pulse-pounding” and “emotionally complex.” RT Book Reviews gave her recent Lucy Kincaid thriller BREAKING POINT a Top Pick and Lisa Gardner says, “Brennan knows how to deliver.” SHATTERED, currently out in hardcover, will be released in paperback on May 1. The next book in the Maxine Revere series ABANDONED is on sale August 14, and the next Lucy Kincaid thriller TOO FAR GONE will be out on October 30. Allison lives near Sacramento, California with her husband, five children, and assorted animals.

 

 

 

Breaking point

 

Amazon | Goodreads

 

 

 

Shattered book image

 

Amazon | Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

Join the Ficitonary Finish Your Novel Contest

Fictionary FYNC

 

 

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution to finish your novel and get published? Enter Fictionary’s Finish Your Novel Contest and your dream could come true. With FriesenPress.

 

Contest Details: http://bit.ly/2D3WrkC

-Kristina
award-155595_960_720

Join Fictionary’s Finish Your Novel Contest

ENTER

Author kristinastanley-75
Photo by Kimberley Rae Sanderson
Kristina Stanley CEO
Finish Your Novel!

 

Kristina Stanley is the author of the Stone Mountain Mystery Series. Her books have garnered the attention of prestigious crime writing organizations in Canada and England. Crime Writers of Canada nominated her first novel for the Unhanged Arthur award. The Crime Writers’ Association nominated her second novel for the Debut Dagger. Her first short story was published in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

 

Kristinastanley.com | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

 

 

 

Descent

 

 

 

Blaze

 

 

 

Avalanche

 

 

 

Look the other way

 

 

 

 

 

Indie Author Joni Dee & Bookgobbler.com

 

Joni_Dee

 

 

Joni Dee is the author pen name of a UK based young financial professional. His enthusiasm for thrillers in particular and fiction in general, has led Joni to write his debut novel “And the Wolf Shall Dwell”.

While his writing style is inspired by the great masters of imagery such as Hemingway and Clavell, his gripping story lines have taken after giants such as le Carré, Greene and Derek Raymond. A Chief Sergeant (Ret.) from military intelligence, Joni bases his novels loosely on his vast knowledge of the espionage world. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

 

 

 

Where are you originally from?



I grew up in Tel Aviv Israel, although half of my family is from Canada and North America. As a kid,we travelled to North America annually, and I hold both a Canadian Passport as well as an Israeli. I’ve been living in London, UK for the past 7 years, and now also a British national. So, one might say I’m the national version of “the Mixed Up Chameleon” (by Eric Carle).

 

 

 

What did you study in college?



My BA is a dual degree of International Relations and Business Administration. In addition, I hold an MBA specialising in Finance and Business Strategy.

 

 

What led you to become a writer?



Long lost dream perhaps? (chuckles) I always wanted to write and never thought I was good enough. I tried a few genres but always ended up throwing the manuscript in the bin. However, I always still felt like I had something to tell. When I moved to London it finally hit me and I started writing my thriller.

It was a slow process, taking five years or so, with many ups and downs. But once I reached two thirds of the novel, the plot started to write itself and the dramatic ending unravelled itself. In a sense throughout the process the City of London had inspired me, and whenever I got stuck, the local scenery became my salvation: I simply started describing the city and the plot would soon follow.

 

 

How did you determine which genre to write in?



As aforementioned, the thriller genre kind of found me, and not the other way around. I had always been an avid reader of le Carré and wasn’t sure I had it in me to write the complexities of a political/espionage thriller. I’m happy to have proven myself wrong (lol).

 

 

Do you have a current work in progress, or publication?



“And the Wolf Shall Dwell” is my debut novel which has only just been released. It tells the story of John Daniel, a foreign professional working in the city of London who starts his cold London morning by bumping into an old man who’s being chased across Liverpool Street Station. The old man manages a garbled message not before he jumps in front of a speeding train. Meanwhile, retired
MI6 agent Adam Grey receives a call from an old informant: “Your service is rotten…”. Soon Adam is dragged out of retirement, and John is dragged into the murky world of international espionage, politics, and jihadi terrorism.

Link to the novel: And the Wolf Shall Dwell


 

AND_THE_WOLF_PRINT_XXX

 



I am also working on a second novel, trying to keep the “writing flame” burning. It will have the same characters but will be a standalone, with the plot being much less political than the first book, and focuses on ISIS and terror in Europe.

 

 

Why did you create the site BookGobbler and how does it work?



BookGobbler is an initiative that I started after realizing how hard it is to get your work reviewed and build readership. If you’re not publishing with a big traditional publishing house, then you are virtually ignored by everyone, even if you have an extremely talented publisher like myself.

NetGalley, to anyone who knows it, is a service for free books which accommodates big publishers. It costs a few good hundreds to list a book for only a week, and even more to have them promote it. That’s very unfair to unknown authors, small publishers and indie authors. Let’s say I was willing to pay thousands to push my book, even if you did catch a glimpse of it, would you select Joni Dee over Salman Rushdie? I wouldn’t…

BookGobbler is trying to give a chance to everyone. It’s free to read and it’s free to list books, and you are almost guaranteed reviews and exposure (although we may start charging a token fee because the traffic is huge and we are incurring some costs). We are committed to keeping a minimum of 20% self-published authors.

It is set out to address another issue which I’ve encountered: biased reviewers. I found a lot of review web site charges for favourable review or even require some sort of summary to even look at your book. This is a terrible practice and must end. We set out to publish honest reviews, written by real readers, and not an occasional critic / blogger who would not look at your book unless you sent him a sparkly paperback as a gift.

 

 

 

 

bookgobbler-promo

 

 

 
How can it benefit readers?



For the readers, it’s simple: First and foremost – you get books for free and you get a chance to win paperbacks (the odds are very good unlike Goodreads and other websites, with a 10-20% chance of actually winning a paperback, depending on the title’s popularity). Also, there is a platform for honest reviews, where you can also express yourself as a reviewer, without needing to start your own blog and build-up your own crowd.

 

 

How can authors benefit?



Authors get exposure, get their books read, get reviews in return (we ask the readers to post on Amazon so that it increases the general exposure of the title) and it’s free. Plus, we won’t treat you any differently whether you are an indie author or part of a big publishing house, so for the “little guys” it has an added value which they can’t find anywhere else.

 

 

How do the giveaways work?



Very simple:

1. You register to BookGobbler (we need your consent as well as your details)

2. You register to whichever giveaway you want (up to 2-at- a-time for eBooks to make sure people actually write reviews; raffles entries are not limited – you can request them all)

3. You write a review when finished and post it to us, on Amazon and anywhere you want,  really.

4. You may win the paperback when the giveaway ends

 

 

 

 

bookgobbler

 

 

 

 
How did you hear about Mystery Thriller Week?



I’ll admit that I heard about this from two of your organizers. I’ve never actually met them but they’re amazing women, dedicated to thriller authors, who came across my book once in the past when it was crowdfunding (a campaign that succeeded but eventually things didn’t work out with that specific publisher), and they took a chance on me.

These two organizers are dedicated people who truly love thrillers & mysteries and want budding authors like myself to succeed and I will forever be in their debt. They know who they are.

Thanks to all the readers and thanks for the chance to feature here!

 

 

 

Links:



BOOKGOBBLER
Facebook
Amazon
Website

 

 

Have a question for Jon? Drop a comment below!

 

 

Interviews

Chatting Books and Writing with Deborah Raney

Between the Shadow and Lo by Lauren Sapala

Author Interview with Kathleen Doler

 

 

Sign up for Mystery Thriller Week 2018

Author & Specialist Sign up

Readers/Bloggers/Reviewer Sign up

About MTW

 

 

Social Media

Follow us on Twitter:  @MTW_2018

Join the Facebook Group: MTW

Join the Goodreads group: #MysteryThrillerWeek

Spread the word using:  #MTW_2018