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Alright people it’s finally here! Backdoor Politics is finally available for preorder! Fantastic Fiction Publishing Smashwords Amazon Kamal is a by-the-book hitman who keeps to himself. He has very few ties to the world around him since the war that left him broken and betrayed by his lover. An encounter with a fellow thug, whose job it is to kidnap the son of the only man Kamal ever loved, leads Kamal to do something irrational. Stuck in an isolated cabin in the mountains of Bosnia with his hostage, Kamal follows the well laid-out plan of his predecessor, but somewhere along the way things get personal. The boy in his care becomes more than just a stand-in for his father, but a job is a job and Kamal is a professional. Can Kamal get his revenge and the boy or will he have to settle for one or the other?

Tried to promise myself I’d write 100 words a day. Failed. Promised myself 50 words. Wrote 500. My muse is a witch.

Honestly, I’d rather deal with editing than write a summary...or that dreaded two-three sentence marketing blurb. But I try to read it from the perspective of a reader: will it make me want to pick up the book, or did I yawn? I’m with @CloverReef in that keeping it personal works much better than trying to slip in a micro-infodump about the plot or the setting.

Yeah, summaries are tricky things. Ideally, you’d know the audience well where you’re posting or publishing. Or at least have an idea of the general demographic you want reading your story so you can play to them. Like, posting on an erotica site, you probably want to stress the erotica side of your story. But in general, as @Tcr (and @BronxWench?) said, make sure the summary describes something you want to read. Don’t focus on telling the passersby everything you think is important about the plot or the characters. They don’t need to know everything. They just need to know whether they wanna bother clicking on it. Pick out the most interesting points to draw them in. Touch on the romance (If there is any) and the main character’s conflict. I say the main character’s conflict rather than the main conflict of the plot because I tend to be attracted to summaries that are more personal. More character focused. What the elven warrior is struggling with will draw me in quicker than a world in peril, if that makes any sense. That’s how I try to think about it, but it’s by no means a one-size-fits-all thing.

Well, I have the same problem with regards to my own, so I do understand. Not going to lie, even with the advice from the thread I started a while back, it’s still a hard thing for me to do. But, some of the advice has helped. I’ve been working on trying to pick out important parts from the actual story and develop them into a workable summary. For example, if your story is about intergalactic space pirates who raid the wrong colony and are consequently hunted because of it, it could, for example, read something like: One wrong decision. A raid on the wrong colony leads to the crew of the Fortune in possession of a weapon of mass destruction. Capable of destroying any planet in the known universe, Captain Shey Charlton must resist the urge to play God while the Fortune has to outrun the entire might of a galaxy united, hunting them to the ends of the universe and back to reclaim it. But each side of the allied forces have their own dark plans. And the only ones in their paths are the unscrupulous raiders. (...Damn, now I have another plot in my head that won’t go away… lol) I believe it was BW who said that the summary should interest you and make you want to read it as you, yourself, are the one you need to sell it first (paraphrasing of course... And if I messed up the paraphrasing, that’s on me).

So I take months writing stories, look at editing, promoting them and publishing them… the only thing I seem to REALLY struggle with is writing the little summary/description. Having written the whole book I find it hard to summarise. Does anyone have any tips? Thanks <3

You’ll probably write a hundred summaries until you get one that feels right…. only to write another hundred because you didn’t like the first one. Or, is it just me?

“Stop scrolling! Are you ready to read the best story you’ve ever read? Great! You can read this piece of shit until you find it. Rape, snuff, MAGA”.

I find just doing a quick thing can work best. “A hero is late for dinner, hoards of zombies stand in his way but if he doesn't arrive soon, a darker fate awaits him at the hands of his mother/wife” no thought into that little blurb, but hey sounds interesting and funny right?

This is all great advice, thank you @Tcr @CloverReef@BronxWench@SirGeneralSir@JayDee@Desiderius Price <3

Seriously, this story is like that IX one… I have to possess it, and my pre-order is in too. I thought I’d have to wait until I get paid tomorrow, but they don’t charge for pre-orders until delivery… yes! Also, for UK peeps, the amazon uk link is here: Amazon UK So excited to read it again! In fact, I might have to find out all the the old beta docs, lol… I adored being your first test subject for this – it was so awesome! Mostly because I got to read every chapter before anyone else… For me it’s one of those stories. I’ll never forget it for as long as I live.

And my pre-order is in!

I really can’t see Brienne masturbating either. It’s far too outside what she feels is proper, I think. After all, if she’s insisting on a proper courtship…

Here’s a question. Does Brienne masturbate? Or is she the kind of person who would consider that… a distraction? Really going to make all the difference, I think. Hmm.. I think I’m going to go with not. Because I can’t really see her taking time off from being Brienne of Tarth to do that and think about all the things she believe she can’t have. Like love. Or even sex (if she even could think in those terms). She just wouldn’t.

humm, I think the character is the kind that will feel he owes something to the people he hurt, owes them any and everything, most of all for not being killed by the hero (thanks to sisters intervention, no she wasnt getting hurt just showed up) the guy was beat literally almost to death, were talking angry wolverine with no claws vs the mail man, should be dead beaten. I do think I need to expand on the current reactions, make it more drawn out and reactive. I think the drugs that are being used to keep him alive might not make him feel the things that he would under normal conditions though ….. maybe?

I have the dialogue for the Tyrion scene, and I am currently laughing my head off. Oh, Gods… how on earth will I decide whose pov to put this in? I feel like it would be hilarious as Clegane or Tyrion. Although I suppose with Tyrion, the reader gets to be on the inside of the joke in the scene, so in that case maybe it’s better written as Clegane. Maybe I’ll try both.

Put this post in the wrong place yesterday, like an idiot. Just too excited to be writing something, I guess. And chapter two has landed, being as I’m now partway through chapter four… Chapter Two

So I’m at a point. Not a sex scene, but almost. And I’m getting a recurring theme coming from Clegane. And I have no idea if this is right, because it’s a million miles away from my experience, but it feels like it would be right. I mean, I’m a little person. I’m a hobbit. And just in general, I know how annoying it is that the rest of the world is bigger than me. Never mind when you apply it to relationships and such. Now a giant like Clegane, he keeps telling me the reason he likes her so much is that she’s so tall. They’re like equals. He feels like he can’t inadvertently hurt her, so to speak (and I get the sense that’s been a thing for him in the past). Anyway, that’s what’s coming across to me, so I’m kind of going to write him that way. The way he wants himself written. If Tormund was my pov character, I’d probably be getting the same kind of yammering from him too. I mean, he all but said it in that scene he had with Clegane.