I cut my timing even closer on this one. This was mostly a test of a new software upgrade that came through. I messed with it, and when I saw the effect I was floored. I got a very nice response from this, and it is only a whopping EIGHT SECONDS long! Super quick, but I think it gets my point across.
Posted in Marketing Madness
Tagged book trailer, fire in the woods, instagram, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, marketing, trailer
The more I fiddle, I think the better I get at this. Yes, I could be writing, but these little suckers are so much fun!
I’ve gotten a great reaction to this particular trailer. I shot off the idea of the full-length David-POV trailer, and cut it down to 15 seconds. Tough, but I think the impact is totally there.
Posted in Marketing Madness
Tagged fire in the woods, instagram, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, marketing, trailer
Last week I introduced the idea of the 15 second trailer. (Here’s the link to the post if you missed it)
This week’s mini-trailer is a little comedy bit I built. It started off as this still picture meme…
but out of nowhere I started messing with elements moving around. Before I knew it I was adding music and sound effects.
This was a TON of work, because it is essentially stop-motion photography. Hey, I’m learning. And having fun while I do it!
I really have no idea where I was going with this. FIRE IN THE WOODS is not a comedy… I guess I was just in a quirky mood.
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Tagged book marketing, book trailer, fire in the woods, instagram, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, marketing, trailer
Well, last year ended up getting blown out of the water (in a good way) by getting the multi-book deal. That sort of set all my previous writing goals way way way onto the back burner. And for this year, those old 2014 goals are getting pushed back even further. Maybe even to the point of hanging them on the wall to get them completely out of the way (but still in sight, in case I want to grab one. You know what I mean?)
As usual, I need to look at what I “have to do.” This year, per my contract, I “have to:”
That’s a lot to do, but I have some other goals in mind.
Book three is half way done. I need to submit it in March, so that gives me nine whole months to play with something new while I’m not editing. Woohoo!
7. Write a new book in a new world (Complete, polish, and send out to query)
8A. Write first draft of a second new book in a new world, OR
8B. Write the outlined “Book Four” of FIRE IN THE WOODS if my publisher takes up the option.
So, if you’ve been following along my insanity train for the past few years, it’s going to be another fun ride.
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Tagged ashes in the sky, fire in the woods, Goal, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, resolution, writing goal
I’ve been spending a lot of time on Instagram. It’s been great talking books with readers. Tons of fun.
But of course, I’m also there to mention my book once in a while. Mostly this is with pictures of my book, or with snappy memes.
But I’ve also started enjoying 15 second or less mini-trailers.
This has been a huge challenge, and I have to admit… a little bit of fun.
Think it over… how can you entice a reader to check out your book in 15 seconds or less. It’s flash fiction, with videos!
For the next few weeks I’ll be showing these videos here on Fridays. I hope you enjoy them!
Here’s number one. This was really an experiment to see how it was received. I took for granted most people have at least heard of my book (Because they followed me)
Posted in Marketing Madness
Tagged book marketing, book trailer, fire in the woods, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, marketing, Reading, Science fiction, trailer, ya
Since I seem to be on this Friday Vlog kick, I figured I’d show off another piece of “exclusive content” I created for one of the vlog appearances. This is a teaser trailer told from David’s point of view.
And in case you have not seen the actual trailer for FIRE IN THE WOODS, here it is. This one I am super proud of. I think it really shows off Jess’s voice, and what the book is all about. Enjoy!
Posted in Marketing Madness
Tagged David, fire in the woods, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, trailer
It was quite a year for me writing wise. I came into 2014 having queried FIRE IN THE WOODS for quite some time, and I had pretty much decided that the dystopian I was finishing up would probably be my debut novel. I had three more publishers on my bucket list to send FIRE to, and then I was going to tuck it away for a rainy day.
So the big news, or course, is signing the three book deal for FIRE IN THE WOODS.
Plus, with the help of my publisher, Month9Books, I edited and marketed and did two complete blog tours for FIRE IN THE WOODS, bringing FIRE to #6 on Amazon’s ALIENS best sellers list in the UK, and #45 on Amazon’s YA/Aliens best sellers list in the USA.
Whew! Part of me still has trouble digesting that.
But this is what I also accomplished:
That’s a lot. Probably the most I’ve ever done in one year writing wise.
It’s been quite a roller coaster. Here’s to entering into 2015 with the same great luck and support I had in 2014. It was a wonderful year.
What was your greatest accomplishment of 2014?
For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine? You can also click “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar. Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date.
“Magellan walked back from the library slowly, feeling exhausted from studying all day.”
Sorry, Gellan. You’re not allowed to “feel exhausted”. I have totally failed you as a mother author. (Don’t you feel like their parents sometimes?) Anyway… .
According to this publisher, Feeling, Felt, and Feel are very telling words. They are right up there with “look” for setting off the “no-no” meter. Instead of using these words, we should be showing our readers how our characters feel instead. Give us actions that show us that he’s tired without telling us that he is.
“Magellan dragged his feet as he walked home from the library. He could barely keep his eyes open after studying all day.”
Okay, they are forgiven. Point taken. The second one is better. The word count does suffer a little in this example, but I could probably have done better if I gave it a little more thought. (They might even consider “barely keep his eyes open” as tell. too. I could have probably done better there, as well.)
Another bad telly sentence that I would have been guilty of before seeing the Gold Mine Manuscript was something like:
“Magellan was exhausted. He dragged his feet all the way home”
There is no reason to say “Magellan was exhausted” and SHOW that he is exhausted right afterwards. Just delete that first part, and stick with the showing part and it will sound much better.
This tip, will definitely help make your manuscript stand out from the others. I still have to stop myself from doing this. For some reason, I naturally “tell” First, and then I show. I don’t know why. I’m starting to catch myself, but sometimes it’s tough.
If you don’t get it, please drop me a line, and I will discuss in more depth. I think this is a really good point that a lot of people seem to be stumbling with (me included). I saw it a lot critiquing a recent 250 word contest. Set yourself apart by trying to avoid it.
Posted in Gold Mine Manuscript
Tagged editing, fire in the woods, Gold Mine Manuscript, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, Manuscript, polishing
For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine?
I’m not sure I completely agree with this from the angle where it’s marked, but I’m mentioning it nonetheless. In the Gold Mine Manuscript, the MC had something weird happen to him. It’s something that could possibly change his life. One chapter ends (paraphrasing) “He had to find the truth. He cleaned up the mess, closed the doors, and formulated a plan.”
The publisher highlighted “formulated a plan” and called it “Pre-Telling.” They said this is telling us what is happening without telling us what “did happen.” They asked the author to look for instances like this in the novel and eliminate them. They wanted her to show them what happened instead.
Now, I read this as a decent chapter close. It left me wondering what the MC was going to do. I think that was the effect that the author was going for. In my mind, it gives you a little push to turn the page. However, my opinion doesn’t really count, does it? They red-lined it.
Do with this what you like. I’ve seen this in published work. Frankly, I didn’t mind it, but somebody “in the know” did. I suppose, like anything else, once we stop using little writing crutches like these, and we see what we can do without them we will realize what better writers we can be. Which, I suppose is what looking at manuscript red-lines like this is all about… even if we don’t necessarily agree.
In some cases, you need to decide what is best for you. However, I would 
consider trying to write without something like this, and see if you can still get the effect you want without the Pre-Telling. You probably can. If you can’t, and you are unhappy, then maybe you have a decision to make. Just get ready for the red-line (or maybe not… like I’ve said. Some publishers have let this go.)
Hope this helps!
Comments Off on Lesson Eleven from the Gold Mine Manuscript Red Line: Pre-Telling
Posted in Gold Mine Manuscript
Tagged editing, fire in the woods, Gold Mine Manuscript, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton
Here’s installment six of my video interview tour for FIRE IN THE WOODS.This is the last vlog in the series, all about inspiration. I hope you enjoyed watching!Comments Off on Vlog – Video Blog “What is your inspiration for writing an action book?”
Posted in Marketing Madness
Tagged fire in the woods, inspiration, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, vlog
Jennifer M Eaton 