Writing Update 2019 week 15 & 16

Mike Grist Weekly Writing Update, Writing Leave a Comment

Hardly anything has happened with my writing in the last 2 weeks – it’s all been focused on getting Soul Breaker (Soul Jacker book 2) ready to go out the door, then Soul Killer to follow it. Now Soul Breaker is out, Soul Jacker is up to full price at $2.99, and I am still tallying up sales…

Otherwise, as I finish up the third pass on Soul Killer, I’m also looking ahead to my new incarnation as a thriller writer. I’m reading thrillers and studying their covers and blurbs to get a better idea how to market what I already have.

It is absolutely all about marketing in this crazy old world. It is a wonderful thing to ‘write from the heart’ as I heard somebody on a podcast say, but it is very hard that way to reach people. As much as we all clamor about wanting something original from Hollywood, we really don’t.

We want something just like something we already liked – maybe with small changes. We like the same stories set in the same worlds told in the same ways. That’s people. To tell them stories they want to hear, you have to harness your ‘writing from the heart’ to a frame they already love.

I’m applying this lesson wholeheartedly to my thrillers. They do crazy things, but so much of them is familiar. As the writer I amped up the uniqueness. As the marketer it’s my job to take some of those edges off and present them in a familiar, yet exciting way.

Let’s get it on. Updates on this to come!

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