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1. The Prologue. Agents see prologues as a lazy way to give back story. When you are pitching an agent, the first paragraph of your sample pages is PRIME REAL ESTATE. Don't waste it with a prologue, considered the quickest path to the delete button.
2. The Predictable Opening. An obvious rookie mistake is to start your manuscript by describing the weather. Unless it's raining frogs, the weather is not going to hook the reader, much less an agent. My advice is always, "Get straight to the crazy." A good example is the beginning passage of Scott Turow's novel, Innocent, which goes like this: "A man is sitting on a bed. He is my father. The body of a woman is beneath the covers. She was my mother." How do you not continue reading?
3. The Stupid Hook. An example of a bad hook is when the entire first chapter ends up being a dream. Another is an overtly sexual passage that borders on porn. An example of a GREAT opening hook would the first few sentences of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, which contain the words, "I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Seriously, how do you not continue reading?
4. The Overly-Descriptive. Agents refer to this as "the information dump." It's when a writer feels the need to stuff every bit of the character's back story into the first chapter. Don't do this. Getting to know characters is just like meeting friends in real life, readers want to get to know them over time.
Since last year 14 Shocking Real Life Alums acquired literary agents, four landed book deals and two landed film and/or television deals. YOU'RE NEXT!
Sign up (sand save $40) for the next
Shocking Real Life
Book Writers Boot Camp Weekend
with Hollis Gillespie
May 19--20, 2012, 11-5 p.m.
Use the button below to enroll and save $40
4 spots left!
(regular price: $374. YOUR price: $334)
AND!
Sunday, June 24
11--5
A blogging seminar with Hollis Gillespie and Mike Alvear!
(Reg. price $175, YOUR price $150)
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Upgrade Your Brain at the Shocking Real Life Acadamy with Hollis Gillespie!
Upcoming Classes:
May 19-20 -- The Shocking Real-Life Book Writers Boot Camp Weekend - This is not your average writer's retreat! This is a lively, active, results-oriented symposium of creative and accomplished authors, attendees and answers to the questions that have been dogging you for years regarding how to go about getting a book deal . . . Read more
May 29 -- Travel Writing; How to Get Paid to Travel the World - Have you taken a trip that's changed your life? Do you want to document your adventures with a paying assignment for a magazine or newspaper? This information-packed, inspiring workshop, taught by . . . Read more
June 24 -- Atlanta's Most Popular Blogging Workshop - This is Atlanta's Most Popular Blogging Workshop! If you've been thinking about starting a blog or if you've already started one, this workshop will teach you how to sharpen its concept, write better posts, rank higher on Google, triple your traffic and start making money . . . Read more
June 24 -- Turn Your Blog into a Profit-Making Business - Learn how to discover and leverage your blogging voice, develop killer content, effectively analyze your stats and blog traffic, increase your readership and develop loyalty and improve your "findability" on Google! Read more
By Appointment -- The Pitch Doctor with Hollis Gillespie -- Here's a secret, you don't need to have a finished manuscript to get a book deal. All you need is an amazing idea and as little as 10 pages. I've helped scores of writers get book deals and agent representation, you're next . . . Read more
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The Shocking Real Life [anti]Establishment for Continuing Education LOCATION!
We are now located in the historic Castleberry Artist district in Atlanta! Click HERE for directions from your location to our new space at 311 Nelson Ave., Atlanta, GA 30313!
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More about Hollis Gillespie:
Read her Atlanta magazine column
Check out her
Shocking Real Life blog
Listen to her commentaries on NPR
Watch her appearance on The Tonight Show
(Right: Hollis after her appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno)
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Start the Spring Out Write!
The Shocking Real Life Writers Retreat!
May 19--20 2012
This is not your average writer's retreat! This writing seminar is a lively, active, results-oriented symposium of creative and accomplished authors, attendees and answers to the questions that have been dogging you for years regarding how to go about getting a book deal. Graduates of this workshop have become bestsellers. At the end of this book-writing retreat you will have a surmountable format for mapping out your book, the components you need to pitch a literary agent, including the agent contact information and the sample pages you need to send the agent. So, with that said, what's stopping you?
Sign up right now and save $40!
The Shocking Real Life Writers Retreat
May 19--20, 11--5
Reg. Price: $374,
YOUR price: $334
See below for location.
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Sunday, June 24
A blogging seminar with Hollis Gillespie and Mike Alvear!
If you to turn your blog into a profit-making business, this workshop will teach you how to monetize your concept, write better posts, come up with magnetic headlines, generate more ideas, rank higher on Google, triple your traffic and start making money.
Sign up now and save $25!
Atlanta's Famous Blogging Workshop
June 24, 11--6
(reg. price $175
YOUR price $150)
*we serve mimosas and guarantee inappropriate conversation.
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Congratulations to SRL alum
Lisa Baron
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