Tag Archives: self-publishing

What makes a good first page of your novel?

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You’ve probably read a million times that the first line or page of a book is the most important and most difficult part of the book to write. It is true that the first page of a book can make or break it for the reader; it can mean the difference between them turning the page or putting the book back on the shelf.

I’m always hesitant about saying there are rules you should follow when it comes to writing your novel. Having said that, you do need to take the time to get the first page right. You might do this after you’ve written the whole of the first draft and are ready to go back to the beginning and redraft. On the other hand, you may find it helps to plan your first scene before you start writing. Whichever way you do it, there are certain things to keep in mind that can help you write a gripping first page; these are some of the things I look for when I’m assessing a YA manuscript.

A strong start

I want to be drawn in from the first line – I want to feel like I have to read on to find out what happens next. Make it original, too; give the reader something they won’t be expecting. I also like to be able to see a distinctive voice that’s apparent from that first page.

Making your first line dialogue can be difficult to pull off. It can slow the pace of the beginning, and the reader doesn’t yet know anything about the character speaking, so they have no context for what has been said. However, don’t let your narrative go on for too long without introducing some dialogue, as that can get boring. And I’d rather not see too much background information or backstory on the first page – it’s not gripping enough.

Your main protagonist

I want to be introduced to your main character in some way, so I can start getting to know them straight away. Readers should learn something important about the character as early as possible, something about their personality or identity, something about what’s important to them. What is motivating them?

You can also show the reader the world of the character. Place your character or characters somewhere: where they are, what season, what time, and so on. Don’t go into too much detail, however, as going overboard on the setting on the first page will slow down the narrative. Beginning the first page with the setting could slow down the pace too, so be careful about introducing it too soon.

The plot

I’d like a hint about the main point of the plot, or the premise of the story. Give the reader some idea of what the book is going to be about. This doesn’t mean spelling everything out for them – there would be no reason for them to read on, and obviously there’s no room to do that on the first page anyway – so be subtle.

Conflict

There should be some kind of tension or hint of a problem. You could start with something important that is just about to happen, or some problem that the main character needs to resolve, as a way of creating that tension. The character could go through some sort of change, or a situation may change on the first page. Whatever happens, the reader must care about how the character is going to deal with this situation.

You can start with putting the reader into the middle of the action that’s already happening, but if you do, give the reader an emotional connection to what’s happening; make them care about what’s happening. The reader needs to have some context for whatever action is taking place, or the action won’t grab them, as they won’t understand what is going on.

Examples of first pages done well

Look at the first pages of books that you love and study what the author did. What did he or she do to pull you in? At what point in the story did they start? In the three following examples, you can see how the author introduces the main character, the premise of the story and a conflict.

On the first page of Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell (my favourite YA of the year), we learn of Park’s longing for Eleanor, we know she’s gone, and we know Park has given up on getting her back. We recognise that a lot has happened to bring Park to this circumstance, and we want to know what could have happened for them to find themselves in this situation.

The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn drops us into an action scene, with a stranger holding a gun to the main protagonist’s head – we immediately wonder what’s going on, but the author provides context for what’s happening. The character thinks of his mother and his brother while the gun is to his head, which makes us care about the main character.

In David Levithan’s Every Day, we find the protagonist waking up in a strange body; we learn that this happens every day, and that he must find out whose body he is in. This is an original, intriguing premise.

Make a start

All of this may seem daunting, and you may be wondering how on earth you can possibly fit all of this on the first page. But it’s certainly doable – the three examples above show it can be done. Take your time and choose your words carefully. It’s worth getting that first page right, to entice the reader to give your novel a chance.

The difference between editing and proofreading

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This is the source of some confusion among many people outside the book publishing industry who contract the services of an editor. What does an editor do as opposed to a proofreader? How is structural editing different from copyediting? Can I just use a proofreader to pick up all of the errors in my content?

Read on to understand a little more about the differences.

Structural editing

This is generally the first level of editing that is performed on a manuscript, or any other content for publication. Also called substantive or developmental editing, this is the ‘big picture’ editing stage.

When performing a structural edit on non-fiction text, the editor will look at the overall structure of the text, making sure the information is in the right order, checking that the information is clear and logical, and identifying any important information that may be missing. In a fiction manuscript, the editor will look at things like the plot, characters and pace.

The editor also makes changes to the language and tone where necessary to ensure that it suits the target audience, and to remove any inappropriate text.

Copyediting

Once the structural work is done, it’s time for copyediting. The copyeditor corrects errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation, looks at the flow of the text, identifies any incorrect or missing information, and makes sure the language is appropriate for the audience.

The editor may also attach MS Word styles to the manuscript, which helps ensure a smooth typesetting or ebook creation process.

Proofreading

After the text has been typeset, a PDF or hard copy is presented to a proofreader for a final read-through before publication. If the text is to be published as an ebook, the proofreader is given the text in the relevant format (ePub, mobi, etc.), and content to be published online may be read on-screen.

The proofreader reads the text closely to catch any errors that have slipped through the editing process (this does happen!), ensures that spelling and word style decisions have been applied consistently, and checks that any illustrations or photos appear the way they are supposed to. They ensure that headings are shown correctly, and that paragraphs are indented or justified as required. They also check the small details such as page numbers and running heads or footers.

Proofreaders cross-check page numbers in the Contents page to ensure they point to the correct page number in the text. They also look out for awkward line endings, paragraph spacing that is too loose or too tight, and widows and orphans (short lines at the top of a page, single lines at the top or bottom of a page, or lines of only a few characters at the end of a paragraph).

Structural editing, copyediting and proofreading have distinct differences, and specific roles in the production process. All have their place, and in an ideal world, none of the three stages should be skipped. Your editor may perform both a structural edit and a copyedit, but a different person should always proofread the text, as a pair of fresh eyes will pick up errors that an editor who has been working closely with the text may overlook.

Do you have any other questions about editing or proofreading? If so, get in touch.

* This blog post first appeared on the website of KBA’s affiliate company, Spring Agency.

Are you having trouble with your novel’s beginning?

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Writing the beginning of your novel is one of the most challenging, and most important, aspects of writing a novel. Get it wrong and you’ll lose the reader’s interest pretty quickly. Maybe they’ll come back to the book later in the hope it will get better, or maybe they’ll put the book down, never to pick it up again.

For those of you who are having trouble, I just read a great blog post from the Ampersand Project (Hardie Grant Egmont’s project that accepts new submissions from unpublished writers for a period each year – see more on the project here).

The post outlines some fantastic tips from Writer’s Digest on what to avoid when you’re writing your beginning, including opening with a dream or with an alarm clock buzzing, being unintentionally funny, and opening with dialogue.

Take a look at the post, and revisit the opening scene of your novel. Does it need tweaking?

Good luck!

Formatting a picture book

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If you’re working on a picture book and are unsure about how to present it to prospective publishers, agents or editors, this post looks to provide a little guidance.

A picture book is 32 pages long, and around half of those pages will be illustrations, so try not to go over around 500 or 600 words for the most part. Don’t spell things out too much in the text; let the illustrations tell the story to some extent. Remember that the content of the illustrations should tell a child a lot more about the story than what can be gleaned from reading the text.

The book begins with endpapers, the title page and the dedication and imprint page (although these last two sometimes appear at the back of the book). Look at how other picture books are set out, and if you’re having trouble picturing how to place the text and spread it out evenly throughout the book, it can sometimes help to create a mock book.

When you are ready to submit your manuscript to a publisher or editor, send it as a Word document, using 12-point font, double-spaced. You can indicate with a text break where you think the page breaks should go, if you’d like.

If you are submitting to a publisher, do not include any illustrations; the publisher will choose an illustrator/artist. If you are self-publishing, the illustrator you choose should be happy to get some guidance from you as to what kind of look and feel you have in mind, but they will probably expect some freedom of expression when it comes to actually completing the artwork.

A publisher will require you to submit a synopsis of the book along with the manuscript. The aim of the synopsis is to give the publisher a snapshot of what the book is about, and why they should publish it. Make it as catchy and interesting as you can, but keep it brief, at around four to six sentences for a picture book.

There’s a common misconception that it’s easy to write a picture book; in fact, the opposite is true. The limited number of words and the fact that the text and illustrations need to work together to tell the story make it difficult enough, but the picture book’s audience, the child, is the toughest of critics. Any flat spot or flaw in the story and the child will lose interest. The answer? Redraft, redraft, and redraft again. And seek feedback from trusted sources, such as writing groups, as you go.

Skills needed for self-publishing

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Here’s another interesting article that I stumbled across today, this one about the effort required for those wishing to self-publish. Australian authors Hazel Edwards, Tony Park and Khyiah Angel discuss the need to work hard at distribution, marketing and getting involved online, to try to build your profile and increase the number of readers interested in your book. Writing guest posts on blogs, maintaining a website and learning ebook technology are just some of the things required of self-publishers.