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What is it?

© David A Simpson.

The goal for all writers is to see their work in print and available for sale. All the hours of writing and reading back only to change add or delete text are over.The publishing ordeal has taken forever with your manuscript being passed between you, the editor and several other people until the work is ready for printing. An artist or designer has probably read a good deal of your work to find the inspiration to create a cover picture before everything is submitted to the printer and you join the queue. Patience is however a virtue and the day finally arrives when the glossy covered masterpiece is finally in your hands. All your problems are over now you just have to sit back and wait for the six monthly sales figures and the cheque that comes with it. This really is Science Fiction.

The reality is you are now in the Twilight Zone and your book is flashed around the world via the web waiting to be found by buyers for bookstores as well as book readers. So back to the question, What will make someone select your book?

Answer the question yourself, when you are looking for new reading material do you follow a specific author? No new authors for you, not a good answer for your efforts.

Do you look at the cover picture for inspiration?

Do you wait until someone recommends the book, a friend or possibly a reviewer before you give a new novel a chance?

Is it the size of the book, the price or simply inspiration that will make you take a new book to the check out?

After a quick survey at a local book shop I found that most readers buy a new book from the cover blurb. We are now back to the work of the editor who will suggest from correcting the text the cover blurb, the appetizer to the potential world of readers.

Our unsung hero the editor saves the day again, lets look at how they entice a reader with an example of their expertise.

When space combat hero Captain Mureke receives from his wife, Anastasia, a strange gift - an Atallian, a creature he wraps around his wrist - he little knows it is going to save his life.

Sent on a mission to warn Earth of an impending disaster, Mureke bursts into the White House to alert the president. The leader's cowardly and arrogant reaction sends Mureke - quite literally - to Hell and back, and pitches humanity to the brink of chaos.

The copyright of the article What is it? in Science Fiction is owned by David A Simpson.. Permission to republish What is it? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.