Week #38 – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Last year on Mondays we had fun with books. This year, we'll look at most of the same books but also some new ones, and see if the first line [or first paragraph] met the goal of a first line which is ==> to hook the reader's attention.

Here are some tips on writing a first line

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tips-for-writing-the-opening-line-of-your-novel

Week #38 – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_Thief

First published: September 1, 2005

Here's what the story is about: Liesel Meminger is a 9-year-old German girl living with foster parents who conceal a Jewish man during World War II. Her foster father helps Liesel learn to read and write, and she begins to steal books that the politicians are seeking to destroy. The story is narrated by Death.

First line/paragraph:

DEATH AND CHOCOLATE

First the colors.
Then the humans.
That's usually how I see things.
Or at least, how I try.

***HERE IS A SMALL FACT***
You are going to die.

I am in all truthfulness attempting to be cheerful about this whole topic, though most people find themselves hindered in believing me, no matter my protestations. Please, trust me. I most definitely can be cheerful. I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's only the A's. Just don't ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me.

This is first person POV but the narrator is unusual. He references “the humans” so we know he is apparently not human. Then he goes abruptly into “you are going to die” and is attempting to be cheerful about the topic [but not nice]. He's also humorous, saying he can be cheerful, amiable, agreeable, affable, “and that's only the A's”. But we soon learn the narrator is Death. Nothing about the characters or plot yet, but I'm sufficiently interested in this unusual narrator that I would give it a few pages to see if it hooked me.

Does this first line/paragraph hook your attention? If you had never heard of this story, would you buy this book in 2024? Knowing the story, would you change the first line? Tell us in the comments!

Dear O'Abby: How do I get my self-published book into bookstores?

 Dear O'Abby,

I have self-published a series of fantasy novels and have had pretty good online sales across a variety of online retailers.  But it has always been my dream to have a book on shelves at a bricks-and-mortar bookstore, and I'm not sure how to make this happen.

Do you have any insight how I could do this, even on a small scale?

Thanks so much!

Best,

Unshelved

Dear Unshelved,

I think being on library and bookstore shelves is every writer's dream, so I completely understand.  Unfortunately, it isn't necessarily the easiest thing in the world, and can end up being very uneconomic.  In my case, I end up losing around $10 on every physical book I sell in a physical bookstore, meaning it's not economically sustainable for me to do. But then, I live in New Zealand so the freight costs to get books to me are substantially more than they might be if you live closer to the place your books are printed.  But something to bear in mind.

The other thing to think about is the fact a bookstore needs to make a profit, so they are likely to take a percentage of the sale price (usually 25%-35%).  Which means that to just break even on the cost of producing the book, you're going to need to mark up the price you sell it to booksellers. As they will probably mark it up again to get the profit margin they need to get, you need to think about the customer facing price and whether it's realistic for consumers.  Again, in my case, to make any money out of a bookstore sale, my books would need to sell at around NZ$35-$40.  Which is more than a typical YA paperback would sell for at a local bookstore.

Once you've done your budgeting and figured out whether selling at stores is actually worth it, the easiest first step is to go to bookstores in your local area (or phone first and make an appointment with the owner/book buyer) to pitch your book.  I suggest approaching a store that specializes in your genre first, if there is one in your local area.  It will be easier to get a romance novel into a store that focuses on romance than to get a romance into a more general bookstore.

Bookstores usually take books from self-pubbed authors on consignment, meaning you will only get paid for the book once it has been sold.  If the book doesn't sell the copies you give the store in a certain time period, it's likely the store will return them to you.

Another option is to use a book distributor like IngramSpark which is a print-on-demand company and means you don't need to invest in a massive print run up front. It's important to allow returns when setting up distribution through a system like this - stores are unlikely to buy copies if they can't return them if they don't sell.

And like all things, the more publicity and marketing you put behind your book, the more likely it is to get picked up by stores.  Like all businesses, bookstores need to make money, and they don't make money by having books sitting on their shelves - they need to fly out the door.  So create demand for the book.  If people are asking for it, booksellers are more likely to stock it.  And if the copies they have fly off the shelves, then they're more likely to re-order.

Hope that's helpful!

X O'Abby

Week #37 – Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Last year on Mondays we had fun with books. This year, we'll look at most of the same books but also some new ones, and see if the first line [or first paragraph] met the goal of a first line which is ==> to hook the reader's attention.

Here are some tips on writing a first line

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tips-for-writing-the-opening-line-of-your-novel

Week #37 –   Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind_(novel)

https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200161h.html

First published: June 30, 1936

Here's what the story is about: Scarlett O’Hara is the spoiled daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. The story begins when she is 16 and ends when she is 28. The novel is set in Georgia during the Civil War and Reconstruction period. The book won the Pulitzer Prize and is one of the best-selling books of all time. 

First line/paragraph:

Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. In her face were too sharply blended the delicate features of her mother, a Coast aristocrat of French descent, and the heavy ones of her florid Irish father. But it was an arresting face, pointed of chin, square of jaw. Her eyes were pale green without a touch of hazel, starred with bristly black lashes and slightly tilted at the ends. Above them, her thick black brows slanted upward, cutting a startling oblique line in her magnolia-white skin—that skin so prized by Southern women and so carefully guarded with bonnets, veils and mittens against hot Georgia suns.

This appears to be omniscient voice. The reader is introduced to Scarlett O'Hara, who we assume is the protagonist, with a description of her that focuses on her physical appearance but also gives us some insight as to her personality [charm], the setting [Georgia], and a little of the culture [white skin prized by Southern women]. The voice is good and the description is intriguing. This will hook me for a page or two, but something of the plot must occur in the next few paragraphs or I'd soon lose interest. The next paragraph gives the year 1861 and Scarlett's age of 16. We get more of the setting and a hint of the plot. I'd give the story a few more pages to see if it hooked me.

Does this first line/paragraph hook your attention? If you had never heard of this story, would you buy this book in 2024? Knowing the story, would you change the first line? Tell us in the comments!

O'Abby's September writing prompt

 I have been reading a book that uses metaphor really effectively and beautifully and it made me think a lot about how powerful a metaphor can be in writing.  Especially if it's one that is extended beyond a single sentence and can be brought back throughout a story.

So this month, I'd like you to use a metaphor in a piece of short fiction and to make this metaphor a central part of the story you are creating.

If you're unsure what a metaphor is, here's the dictionary definition:

A metaphor is a figure of speech that implicitly compares two unrelated things, typically by stating that one thing is another (e.g., “that chef is a magician”). Metaphors can be used to create vivid imagery, exaggerate a characteristic or action, or express a complex idea.

Post your story in the comments so we can all see it.

I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with.  Happy writing!

X O'Abby

Week #36 – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Last year on Mondays we had fun with books. This year, we'll look at most of the same books but also some new ones, and see if the first line [or first paragraph] met the goal of a first line which is ==> to hook the reader's attention.

Here are some tips on writing a first line

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tips-for-writing-the-opening-line-of-your-novel

Week #36 – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion,_the_Witch_and_the_Wardrobe

https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/lewiscs-thelionthewitchandthewardrobe/lewiscs-thelionthewitchandthewardrobe-00-h.html

First published: October 16, 1950

Here's what the story is about: The first book in the Chronicles of Narnia. Siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, step through a wardrobe door and into Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the White Witch. Aslan the Great Lion gives his life to save one of the children and later rises from the dead, an allegory of Jesus Christ. Aslan and the children work to free Narnia from the White Witch.

First line/paragraph:

Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids. They were sent to the house of an old Professor who lived in the heart of the country, ten miles from the nearest railway station and two miles from the nearest post office. He had no wife and he lived in a very large house with a housekeeper called Mrs. Macready and three servants. (Their names were Ivy, Margaret and Betty, but they do not come into the story much.) He himself was a very old man with shaggy white hair, which grew over most of his face as well as on his head, and they liked him almost at once; but on the first evening when he came out to meet them at the front door he was so odd-looking that Lucy (who was the youngest) was a little afraid of him, and Edmund (who was the next youngest) wanted to laugh and had to keep on pretending he was blowing his nose to hide it. 

This story has an obvious storyteller and is in omniscient POV. The first paragraph is an introduction and gives background, The reader is introduced to four children and various other characters, and we are told the children were evacuated from London because of war. We don't have anything of the plot yet, just this background. I'm not hooked yet but I'll probably give it a page or two to see if something happens.

Does this first line/paragraph hook your attention? If you had never heard of this story, would you buy this book in 2024? Knowing the story, would you change the first line? Tell us in the comments!