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Slim It Down So It Can Sell
Even if your novel is a character-focused piece, it is vital that you can condense the plot down to a single sentence, followed by an overview of the text that takes no more than one, single paragraph. These are vital because they are what your publisher will use for advertising your book and for the blurb surrounding it in literary circles. Considering that you can only really write these out is when you are not certain of the story and only have an idea of how that story is going to conclude. Beyond that, you wind up just being dumbfounded by your subplots, especially if they have no ties to the character(s) you are focusing the book on.
Success Comes to the Swift
You cannot sell a book if it is not on the shelves. In short, if you want to find success as a writer, you need to get that first book out now. Even I was strapped with the "Curse of the 10-Year First Book." This situation is a great disservice to all involved if only because time is the one resource that you can never regain.
Remember, you are mortal and neither you nor your audience is going to be around forever. For new authors, that first book should be finished by the time you finish high school. After that, you should be pumping out a new story every year until time slows down for you. In my case, time slowed around age 32 and I had produced 14 books. Bear in mind that just because things slow down does not always mean your work should slow as well; establishing yourself enough to collect royalties can be a huge boost to output.
If you happen to strike it well enough to live off your royalties, I have two things to say to you.
- Congratulations, you made it!
- This is now one of your main sources of income and you should redouble your efforts for future production. Aim for two books a year.
If you do not manage live off your royalties as a writer by age 35, double up your output once again. You should never stop writing novels, no matter how long it takes and especially if you want to live off of your own products. Fail to abide by this sort of plant and you will be several decades older than the accomplished author you imagined yourself to be in your youth.
Learn From Others' Failures
I realize that my case is sort of a middle of the road outcome; I'm in my fourth decade and popping out at least 12 books a year because I realized how much I squandered my youth creating the perfect story. Consider this writing advice as coming from someone who learned the hard way. I'm still over a decade behind where I should be and it feels like the foundation of my career as an author was made from sand-one good slip-up and it will take forever to get back to even the point I am at now.
In Closing
Anyone can write a story but a proper author can get their stories out in a timely manner and even find a publisher while interest in that particular story is hot. While haste makes waste and leads to mistakes, focus on efficiency in your production and get your stories out as soon as you can. Try to produce at least one book each year and amp up the production to two or more as your experience and brand grows. The less time you spend on your current book, the more time you have to work on the next one and on enjoying your life.
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Nothing ushers in the Halloween cheer like an intriguing vampire story. After all, who doesn’t love vampires? Vampires have been used in fiction for many years due to their mysterious and fascinating nature. If you want to write about vampires, but are running low on fresh ideas, here are ten vampire Halloween Writing Prompts to spark your spooky imagination.
1. Vampire hero
Although Jake is a real vampire, he is not evil, nor does he feed on human blood. Contrary to popular belief, he saves the disadvantaged whenever he can come from society's cruel whims. The real threat is the ruling political party misusing resources for their selfish interests. Led by Patrick, the evil politicians find out about Jake's vampirism and seek to use it to their advantage. So, they train Patrick’s young daughter to lure him to their side and do their evil bidding. However, when Jake and Patrick’s beautiful daughter get to know each other, something happens.
• Does she fall in love with him?
• Does Jake find out the plot behind Patrick’s daughter?
• Is Jake captured for scientific analysis?
• Does Jake runoff because of fear of intimacy?
2. The rookie vampire hunter
Stephan is a rookie vampire hunter who manages to go up the ranks after a short while. One day, he convinces his seniors to go on a hunting mission with other experienced hunters. They get on the trail of the ‘menace vampire' they have been searching for years during the hunting mission. However, they find out that it is only a small child. Stephan begins to have second thoughts about killing the vampire child and can convince a few hunters to spare his life. However, the majority of the experienced hunters want to execute the child.
• Will Stephan and his allies run off with the child in a bid to protect him?
• Will Stephan let the hunters execute the child?
• Will the child kill all the hunters?
• Are the child’s parents and other vampires going to come to his rescue and kill all the hunters?
3. Vampires rule
Vampires are a superior life form. They are immortal, powerful, immune to diseases, and always youthful. Soon, everyone wants to become a vampire. So, society's elite began paying vampires to turn them, while the poor remained mortal. Thousands of years later, the ruling vampires, led by Edward, are still alive and charge mortals a monthly blood tax since they can live ‘peacefully’ with the vampires. But Duke and his friends are tired of living like this.
• Will they rebel against the vampires and kill them one by one?
• Will their world continue as it is?
• Will they run off to look for help to get rid of the vampires?
• Will they beg to get turned into vampires and join the ruling class?
4. Half vampires
Two brothers, Stanley and Robert, are half vampires, also known as dhampirs. Although they are vampires, they are not as strong as real vampires. They are also not immortal, immune to diseases, or need to feed on human blood for sustenance. Since they live among other real vampires, they are always getting picked on and teased. Thus, Robert wants to become a real vampire, but Stanley is not for the idea.
• Will the two brothers go on a mission to find their vampire dad since he is the only one who could turn them into real vampires?
• Will Robert go to find his vampire father alone?
• Will Stanley stand up for himself and his brother against the vampire bullies?
5. The vampire guardian
Years ago, an elderly vampire, Grace, found a human child, George, while she was running from vampire hunters. George was all alone in the woods, crying for help, but no one was in sight. So, Grace decided to take him home with her. She went back to where she found him for a few days to see if anyone came back looking for the child. But months went by, and no one came. Grace then decided to look after the child like he was her child. She gave him the best life possible. He went to a good school, participated in extracurricular activities, had many friends, and so much more. However, Grace had to do all this while hiding not to alert the vampire hunters. But, when George was kidnapped, Grace had no choice.
• Will she have to come out of hiding and show her identity to save her son?
• Did the hunters kidnap George because they knew her identity?
• Is George a child to one of the vampire hunters?
• Was George part of the plan to lure Grace to the vampire hunters?
6. The Human Boy
The entire world majorly consists of vampires now. Thanks to some genius vampire scientists, an alternative to human blood was found. This means vampires don't need to feed on human blood. However, a few rich vampires keep some humans on their farms to harvest their blood throughout their lives and sell it for profit. This is because rich vampires enjoy the luxury and taste of human blood. However, John is tired of living for these vampires. He has grown to become a young adult on these farms, and he manages to convince other young men to find a way out.
• Does he train with the other young men to fight against the rich vampires?
• Does he find a way to poison human blood and kill the rich vampires?
• Does he run away to look for other humans to help in fighting the rich vampires?
• Does he become a vampire and start living like the rich vampires?
7. The girl who became a vampire
Before burying the body of a person who was bit by a vampire, it is a tradition to remove their heart and burn it to prevent them from coming back as a vampire. Helen is the daughter of a vampire hunter, Kim. A vampire who was jailed in Kim's home managed to bite Helen and kill her. However, Kim and his family decided they did not want to mutilate her body, so they buried her whole in a secret ceremony. No one knew about the ceremony. After five days, Helen's mother decided to visit her gravesite. But it was empty, and only a small trench of loose soil was visible.
• Should they hunt down their vampire daughter and kill her before she kills anyone?
• Should they look for her and train her not to hurt people?
• Do they become aloof to the entire situation and hope to meet her one day?
8. The weekend getaway
A group of four friends gets together to go to the woods for a fun weekend. The cottage is in the middle of a haunted town where people believe strange animals eat people. Since they enjoy going to such mysterious places, they think this cabin in the woods adventure will be unique. After the first night, they encounter something terrible.
• Will they get killed by the vampire who lives in the haunted town?
• Will they find out about the vampire and capture him to take him to the authorities?
• Will the vampire turn the four friends into vampires and live in the haunted town forever?
9. Broken system
Daryn is a young and handsome guy who goes to a party with a group of friends. In the middle of the night, he goes to the bathroom in the master bedroom of the house where the party is to find Shelly being sucked dry by a vampire. Immediately the vampire spots him, he runs out, and Daryn goes to check if Shelly is okay. Unfortunately, Jim, Shelly's boyfriend, finds him with her blood all over his body. He automatically thinks Daryn killed Shelly and that he is a vampire. Now, Daryn is arrested and accused of being a vampire.
• Will he get killed by the authorities?
• Will he manage to run away from the police and find the vampire who killed Shelly?
• Will the vampires kill him for impersonating a vampire and drawing attention to them?
• Will the vampires turn him to become a real vampire and give him to the authorities?
10. Different vampires
In today’s society, there are different kinds of vampires. Some enjoy garlic and the sun and those with super speed. Those who do not drink blood and those who need a bloody pick-me-up now and then. Some look young, while others look like the undead. Jimmy and Gwen fall in love, but they are two different vampires. They choose to go to a remote community where they can live in peace and among humans. After a few years, they birth a child.
• Will the child, survive in the new world they live in?
• Will they raise their child usually like a vampire or human child?
• Will they go back to their previous society and live among their own?
Conclusion
Sometimes, it is not easy to find inspiration for spooky movies. Hopefully, this vampire Halloween writing will help you get some inspiration for your film, short story, novel, or screenplay.
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As a sole-proprietor that's offering services, your income relies on bringing in new clients and maintaining your current client list. Part of the ways that people build a potential client network is through emails. However, before you send out that cold email to spread the word about your business, you need to make sure your message is relevant.
An Example of a Badly Targeted Email That Won’t Win You That Client
Dear Team, (Uh oh, you don’t even know who you’re talking to. You didn’t spend 30 seconds on the website to try to determine the owner or manager name. Since this is an actual email I received, I can assume he didn’t even look at the website address! But let’s keep going cause it just gets better.)
Not sure if you knew this but your website X has some problems that you might want to consider looking into. I spent 2-3 minutes looking around and found: ( I just bebunked this in the top paragraph with the greeting.)
- It doesn't work properly on Mobile Phones, at all (which is how people browse the web these days). (Actually, it does. This guy assumes that I don’t have a cell phone and haven't looked at my own website on my cell phone)
- It doesn't adjust properly when you resize the screen (Google recommends RESPONSIVE Websites rather than ADAPTIVE) (Actually, yes it does. I’ve tested this myself. Works on cell phones and tablets. It’ll also resize itself if you adjust the size of your browser on your computer or tablet. Again, did you spend 10 seconds on the website?)
- It's hard to read on larger displays ( bahahahahahaha. This is just complete and utter bullshit.)
- The design looks really, really dated compared to some of your competitors. (Because you want to turn a 2000 page website into a Wordpress site. BTW, I’ve never seen a good one.)
I actually do web design as a living so I figured I'd reach out and let you know there's serious room for dead easy(and affordable) improvement. If you would like, I can send you some of my previous work samples. (hahahahahahahhaa….. My website is shit. BUT this guy can web design it into perfection! Yeah, that’s gonna work.)
I can develop the website on a more advanced platform at an affordable price. That price also includes making it complete mobile responsive which will support all modern devices including all ranges of screen sizes. (Uh huh… sure you can web DESIGNER! This guy doesn’t know the first thing about the platform I use. I’d guarantee it)
Is that something you'd be interested in? (Not a chance in hell)
I do want to point out that this is a form email. I’ve received it numerous times, and this guy now goes directly to my spam folder, but the problem here is that the guy completely insults the website. When you add all this together, he calls the website trash. THEN, after he’s presumably made me doubt my own web development and programming skills, he tells me he can do it better. He can go suck something unpleasant because:
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I have a computer science minor
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That minor specializes in web design and databases.
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I can program in SQL, HTML, Java, Javascript, C and C++
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I used to be a Java programmer
The bottom line is that you should never do this. Don’t insult potential clients, even if you think whatever they already have is terrible. I never tell potential clients that the content on their websites is garbage. I may feel that it is, but I sure as hell do not insert that opinion into my emails. Instead, I tell the individual that I am a freelancer writer. I specialize in X content (whatever industry they are), and I can write content for them. At no point do I ever tell them that there existing content is shit. That’s a sure fire way to piss someone off because they probably paid good money for that content! I also tend to include coupons or free articles in those emails as an incentive.
How Should You really Tailor Those Custom Messages?
1. Do not insult potential customers.
You want this individual or business to give you money for a service that you provide. You do not know who designed the website (unless it says. Sometimes there’s a link at the bottom.) You do not know how much the individual or business paid for their existing website and web development and maintenance services. Sometimes, this can be quite a huge amount of money, so you don’t want to tell this person that they’ve wasted all their money up to this point.
2. Make sure the individual or business lines up with your services.
Don’t offer them a service they don’t need. For a freelancer, this would be looking at the blog posts and checking the date on the most recent blog. If they’ve posted in the last month, they don’t need your services. If it’s been 6 months, they might need your service.
3. Look at the website and figure out who the owner is.
This information is normally located on the About Us page. If it’s not, look at the blog posts. Sometimes you can find the name of the owner in there. If the website is a NAME, well… duh. If you really can’t find a name, skip the Dear X and just get to the point.
4. Get to the point. Quickly.
If you are not asking the individuals something about their website, a product or a book or asking a question that is relevant to the individual you are sending the message to, get to the point. You’re already wasting their time because you don’t need anything. You want something. Specifically, you want this cold email to lead to a new client, and you want them to pay you money for your services.
5. Offer Something Free
If you’re a freelance writer, offer a free blog post. Make sure it’s unique and a good example of your work. Yes, you will have to offer different articles for different potential customers. You do not want to circulate the same email. If they use it, it’ll be dinged for duplicate content. If you’re a graphic artist, make a simple logo. Pick a blog post and create a new top image for it. And say – Hey, I thought you might like this. It’s totally free. Feel free to use it. It is an example of my work.
6. Use a polite closing
Sincerely and Regards are passe, overused and unwelcome. Close your email by thanking the person for their time. Tell them that if they have questions, they can email you back, and you’d be happy to speak with them. Put your contact information under your name, and include your business name if you have one that is separate from your name. If you include links, they may not get clicked, but they may search your business name in their web browser.
By taking these steps, you are helping to ensure that your cold email is read, your potential client is not insulted and that you get your message across in a clear and concise way. In other words, you're going to increase your chances of landing that new client.
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If you haven’t been on LinkedIn lately, you’re missing out. They’ve gone above and beyond to inundate you with advertisements. As you all have probably guessed, I’m not opposed to relevant advertising that’s performed in a non-intrusive way. I mean, after all, look at my Twitter feed. I recommend products all the time. What I don’t do is spam you with DMs regarding my books or Amazon writing products. After all, that’s rude. Well, LinkedIn doesn’t see things the way I do, and I’ve received two of these “sponsored” messages in the last week. The first time, I didn’t realize it was an advertisement, but I did wonder why I didn’t get a notification on my phone. After all, I want to respond to your relevant messages in a timely manner.
Read more: How to Remove LinkedIn Sponsored Messages from Your Inbox
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By
Jill Safran
Imagine that four is your lucky number. Say you are job hunting, and you get an interview on April 4th at 4:00 pm. What are the chances?
With all those fours in the mix, you know you’ll get hired.
So, of course, you do.
Everything about the job is perfect: friendly co-workers, an easy-going boss, and free parking.
Life is pretty good for a while until COVID-19 lockdowns hit your town. A few months later, your company announces they are creating a layoff list. Anyone without a certain number of years will find themselves on that list and out of work.
The number of years they decided upon is five.
And how many years do you have with the company?
Well…four, naturally.
But wait! Isn’t four supposed to be your lucky number? What’s going on here? Not only do you find yourself out of a good job; after several months, you are unable to find a new one. More importantly, you think you can no longer count on the signs from the Universe that once helped guide your path, and you need them more now than ever because you find yourself getting ready to kiss poverty—and you can already tell his breath stinks!
So what can you do?
As a mindfulness practitioner and a person who has experienced a heavy dose of financial hardship, I recommend adopting a few key mindsets.
MINDSET #1 – Deliberately Create a Future for Yourself
That dream of taking a European vacation two years from now is on hold. The money is gone. It went to pay the rent. Heck, you can’t even think about life two years from now when you aren’t even sure where you’ll find the money to cover next month’s electric bill.
Finding yourself in an impoverished state can seemingly rob you of your ability to see yourself doing anything in the distant future. When you held a secure and well-paying job, you could easily conceive of things like a 15- year retirement plan or a 30-year mortgage. However, when a person struggles financially, the individual’s time frame for goals and dreams often shrinks down to months or weeks. Sadly, many who are homeless live a day-to-day existence.
This type of short-term thinking is dangerous, as it can keep you trapped in poverty and lead to depression. Therefore, it is up to you to deliberately create a future for yourself. While the type of goals and achievements in that future might be dramatically different from your previous ones, there are still many things you can realistically see yourself doing.
One thing to consider is learning origami. There are free how-to videos online. Could you see yourself learning this craft and giving away some homemade origami projects to family or friends six months from now?
The important thing here is not what you see yourself doing; what is vital is that you set a goal for yourself at least six months to a year out into the future. If you don’t care for the art of paper folding, envision yourself doing something else. Even seeing yourself having cleaned out and organized the garage is okay as long as you see that as an obtainable goal that you could achieve in the future.
Why?
Because seeing yourself as having an extended future and being open to the possibilities that could enter into it creates the space for opportunities to come into your life. Believing you have opportunities increases happiness.
MINDSET #2 – Consider Yourself to be Your Main Investment
Wealth creation consists of saving money and investing it. Poverty can cause an individual to become preoccupied with the first part of that equation and dismissing the second part. Desperation to find savings on everything from milk to raincoats to toilet paper overtakes the brain. Save. Save. Save becomes your mantra. There usually isn’t any extra money left for investigating things like money market accounts or fine art, so the thought of investing leaves one’s consciousness.
Yet, this is the type of consciousness needed for wealth creation.
The best way to maintain this type of thinking is to reframe your thoughts about spending your money. For example, say you decide you want to save money by buying some online food saver bags. Putting fruits and vegetables into these bags will waste less food and reduce spending on produce.
That’s great.
However, you can also view this purchase as a smart investment in your health as you are prolonging the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in your home to improve your nutritional needs.
Notice how that line of thinking is expansive, whereas the notion of penny-pinching to save a few cents on produce is reductive. Having a balance of both thoughts can help relieve some of the anxiety financially challenged people create by continually entertaining thoughts of needing to save every dime.
MINDSET #3 – Turn Your Situation into a Game When Possible.
If you haven’t seen the film Life is Beautiful, please watch it. The story centers around a Jewish Italian bookshop owner who employs various games to shield his son from the horrors of imprisonment during World War II.
Let’s face it. Poverty isn’t usually fun. Leaky ceilings, worn-out shoes, and insufficient heating aren’t pleasurable experiences. Too much focus on these difficulties lowers our vibration, ignites stress, and increases depression. Since leaving your environment usually isn’t possible, making a game out of your situation is often a practical method for maintaining your sanity and optimism.
Here’s one option if you live with others: Get a small box or jar. Every time anyone in the household encounters stress, they get to write down the experience on a small piece of paper and put it in the container. At the end of the month, you can all play “Guess my Stress,” a type of charades played by taking turns pulling the pieces of paper out of the jar and act out, without speaking, the action on the paper.
The more ridiculous and exaggerated the actions, the better. Should you play this game, you’ll discover you’ve found a way to transmute the energy of stress and negativity into something funny and absurd. In that way, you will feel as if you have power over your troubles instead of feeling as if your troubles have power over you.
#Mindset 4 – Continue to See Yourself as Lucky.
Give the number four a break. Wait a while before seeking a different lucky number or talisman. You might not be as unlucky as you think. Had you stayed there, you might have found that downsizing caused your co-workers to become competitive, transformed your boss into a micromanager, and turned the free parking into a memory.
Keep in mind this quote from the Dalai Lama: “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”
Understand that his message isn’t saying you have to do cartwheels every time something terrible happens to you. The things that push us into financial hardship don’t usually fill us with joy. Death, disease, and betrayal rarely ignite feelings of good fortune. However, if we can find an element of luck within the situation, we can increase our chances of attracting more luck into our lives.
In fact, according to Richard Wiseman, author of Luck Factor, lucky people see the positive side of their bad luck. They believe that any ill-fortune in their lives will, in the long run, work out for the best.
A mindset like this boosts resiliency and increases happiness. Think about using it if poverty forces its way on you and gives you a smelly kiss. No, you don’t have to love the experience, but you can hold your nose and get through it. Maybe afterward, you’ll meet someone who went through the same thing, and they’ll offer you a free beer or even a job.
Who knows?
You might be that lucky.