Advice for Novelists (Part 44)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

Don Otis: Take your time and do your research. From my perspective, the best fiction weaves facts, history and a sense of place with a terrific storyline and characters.

As a publicist and nonfiction author, I have to approach this question from the standpoint of marketing. You have to look at fiction publicity the same way you do nonfiction. The broadcast media is primarily information and issues-driven. This means promotion requires a credible angle. Most interviewers are not interested in discussing your characters or plot; they want to know how your writing relates to the real world and what qualifies you to talk about it. Are you an attorney writing about legal issues, a nurse discussing the global proliferation of drug resistant viruses?

Read the rest of Don's answer here!

--Don Otis, publicist and author
Veritas Communications
http://www.veritasincorporated.com/