TODAY: Download Writing Treatments to Sell FREE from amazon.com

As part of this interview, the Story Merchant is announcing a giveaway: For twenty-four hours starting with this MA post you can download Writing Treatments to Sell FREE from amazon.com

 

Writing Treatments to Sell - Kenneth Atchity

Writing treatments that sell is a first book of its kind devoted entirely to the function of treatments in film and TV and how to write and present effective ones. The book is a collaboration by Kenneth Atchity and Chi-Li Wong, partners in Atchity Entertainment International, Inc.

Kenneth and Chi – MA is sincerely honored by your willingness to share your knowledge and adventure relating to this new book. So without any further ado here are all our questions.

What made you initiate the idea of providing a guide like Writing Treatments to Sell? 

The most frequent question we were getting from clients—novelists as well as itinerant screenwriters was “what is a treatment?” We realized that book answering this question would be helpful.

Who was your target audience? 

The book’s target audience is anyone who wants to write or sell a story to the motion picture or television world.

Who ended up putting pen to paper?  

We have a process where we outline the content together, Chi-Li takes a shot at the first draft, then Kenneth does the next, etc.

Is the book specifically targeted for the film industry only? 

Although we targeted the book to the film industry, in the years since it was first published we've learned that its useful to writers of all kinds—children’s books, novels, etc.—because it helps them to “get the story straight” before launching into the actual drafting.

Why a book based specifically on treatments? 

Because a treatment is a unique creature that will never itself see publication or production, and therefore everyone wonders why it even exists.

What is a “treatment?” 

To quote directly from the book: “A treatment is a relatively brief, loosely narrative written pitch of a story intended for production as a film for theatrical exhibition or television broadcast. Written in user-friendly, dramatic, but straightforward and highly visual prose, in the present tense, the treatment highlights in broad strokes your story’s hook, primary characters, acts and action line, setting, point of view, and most dramatic scenes and turning points.” The book goes into detail about the meaning of each phrase in this definition, distinguishing the treatment from “coverage,” “synopsis,” “outlines,” among others.

The Story Merchant itself is all about content, branding and consultation in the entertainment and media arena. How does this book tie into the bigger plan of Story Merchant? 

This book, like Atchity’s How to Publish Your Novel or Write Time: A Guide to the Creative Process, from Vision through Revision is a tool by which the Story Merchant shares experience in the commercial world of stories with aspiring storytellers.

Does reading the book create a sense of more business for Story Merchant or is it more directed towards internal growth for each and every writer / screen writer? 

We can’t spend time with every storyteller out there who needs guidance, so we wrote this book to  help anyone who’s motivated enough to buy it—now available in ebook for the first time. But that’s not to say Story Merchant has found coaching clients through this and Atchity’s other books.

Being an aspiring author myself, I find that optimism and endurance are two of the main things to hold onto while craving for acknowledgement towards your own work, what is your advice towards fellow aspirers who look up to yourselves for hope? 

We’ve learned that hope is great, but determination is even better, when it comes to success. Just keep working on your career, whether you’re in a good mood or not, whether you’re hopeful or not. Work is the only sure road to success.

On your website – The Story Merchant – you have your section related to writing Treatments that sell categorized under the following subtitles:

• Reviews of Writing Treatments To Sell.
• Why a book on treatment.
• What is a treatment?
• Writing treatments that sell excerpt.
• About A Writer’s Time.
• Reviews of The Classical Greek Reader
• Reviews of The Mercury Transition.
• Reviews of The Classical Roman Reader.
• Reviews of The Renaissance Reader.
• Reviews of Cajun Household Wisdom

While the first 4 topics are clearly related to the obvious could you explain the collaboration on the balance? What defines these topics? 

Simply that they’re all books from Kenneth Atchity.

In general how has publishing and moving into the entertainment industry changed for writers. I mean – I myself sometimes wish that I had started writing ten years earlier as it seems as if the market might have been less chaotic. In today’s time it’s as if everyone can put pen to paper and call themselves an author. How do you define the word author, writer? 

A writer is someone who WRITES, and who cares enough about her writing to find an audience for it. While everything else has changed, that definition has not changed and will not change.

Last but not least, what else can people look forward to? Being in the industry you are it is important to recreate your image and stay in the zone with current trends, how do you intend on moving forward while carrying the weight of years and years’ experience in the existing field? How do you mould yourself to be eye catching and present in the future?  

More books are in the works, focused on marketing your writing and on selling your writing, as well as a just-completed book of quotes for writers. We move forward by changing because we respond to a changing world.

As always, thanks a lot for your presence and willingness to Share.  

Thanks for providing this wonderful forum.

Kenneth Atchity is known as the Story Merchant. Why has he been defined accordingly? 

Posted by Nadine Maritz

The Academy of Cybertoria Reviews The Messiah Matrix

The Messiah Matrix by Kenneth John Atchity

The newly published fiction novel, The Messiah Matrix by Kenneth John Atchity is a unique hybrid of a detective story, history, and religious fantasy tale in one story.  Atchity serves up a large dose of religious conspiracy theory to satisfy the discriminating tastes of even the most paranoid, staunch atheist reader.

The author goes into extensive detail describing a fictitious, yet well woven quasi-historical  theory of the origins of the Roman Catholic Church and Jesus. In fact, the same readers that actually believed Dan Brown's intricate tales of church intrigue and conspiracy theories in the fictional novel, The Davinci Code, may be the very same gullible readers who may believe that Atchity's tale is in fact true. Because of its realism, I would advise impressionable individuals to pass this novel up as they may be easily led to believe it is true. Yet, this imaginative tale far exceeds the talents of the popular Dan Brown novel with its insertion of authentic historical details and the unique, and unexpected climactic end. I was quite surprised at the  imagination of Atchity.  This fictional work can almost be deemed a clever attempt to re-write ancient history and undermine the authenticity of the biblical gospel and new testament.  At minimum this book calls into question the authority and the credibility of the Christian church, and more specifically, the Roman Catholic Church.  The inclusion of authentic and relevant details intertwined with fictional details, make this a clever piece of deception and this work  may leave the uneducated reader who is less grounded in history, second guessing what he thinks he knows about ancient history and religion.  Nominally religious readers may find they lose their faith altogether.  The insertion of a look a like "Imprimature" on the book's spine may mislead some Catholic readers into thinking this is a religious book sanctioned by the church.  I am fairly certain the bait and switch attempt to draw in the religious audience is not the author's intent. The ancient Catholic symbol of the Chi-Ro within the text, Latin phrases and the illustrations of actual ancient Roman coinage as well as fictionalized false coinage all serve to complete an aura of authenticity in selling this  alternate "historical" reality to the reader.

History as well as archeology enthusiasts  will enjoy the vivid depictions of the sites, fictionalized ancient accounts, historical figures  and archeological references in the various historical time periods and various ancient  cultures.  Josephus, the Roman emperors, Constantine, Herod as well as other ancient personalities are referenced.   The non religious historical details, ancient philosophies and beliefs are educational as well as entertaining.  This book presents a very interesting scenario  of an alternate historical reality involving commonly known events in ancient classical history- namely Jesus, the ancient church and ancient Rome.  The history student will find this book entertaining as an intriguing "what if" type of historical scenario.  In light of all those apocryphal gospels such as the gospel of Thomas and the false works that allegedly claim to bring to light the  infancy and so called "lost" years of Jesus, this book  adds to the plethora of confusion, mystery and subterfuge surrounding the bible and church history.  It even has its own gospel according to Augustus.

I feel that the author's biases against organized religion- specifically the Catholic church is obvious in the writing details.  For example, any reference to a Catholic sacrament included additional opinion as to its efficacy.  For example as early as page 11, the author's opinion is introduced when he calls into questions the last rights offered by the priest in the statement that the absolution "may or may not have opened" the eternal gates.  In otherwords, Atchity second guesses the effectiveness of the sacraments.  Some religious Catholic readers who catch these subtle insults to their faith might take offense. The appendix or chart in the back of the book boldly equates biblical history as "Mythical" history.  Actual historical events are set side by side with biblical events that he calls myth.  Parallels and connections are made between the divine claims of  Jesus with the Roman Caesar. Biblical concepts and spiritual phrases such as the "Keys to the Kingdom", "den of thieves", "loaves and fishes", "hell", "He is risen" and "Son of God" are reinterpreted with new meaning.  Literal and practical interpretations replace the biblical, faith based meanings.  The implication is that the gospels have been misread and misinterpreted, and there is another non spiritual explanation and that the Catholic church has been responsible for a cover-up fooling even sincere clergy as well as the faithful laymen.  Nevertheless, the author is a talented writer, who puts together an intelligently written, researched  work of fiction that will be sure to engage even the most educated reader. The extent of factual historical information might lose some modern day readers.  Yet I feel the detailed historical elements adds to its value and richness as it transports the reader to ancient Rome.  It is not surprising to learn that Atchity is a college professor. To give details as to the actual storyline and the historical scenario presented, would surely spoil the book's surprise for those who wish to read it.  Therefore I find I have to cut this review short.  It is sufficient to say  that the author provides an alternate, non religious, yet interestingly  literal interpretation of some faith based elements of biblical history.  I can imagine the author bursting with excitement in anticipation as to the reactions of surprise  that readers,  as well as his professional colleagues - will certainly have when they get to the end of the story.

Jack Marino, LA Talk Radio Interviews Dennis Walsh about Nobody Walks

Original Show Date: June 14, 2013

Listen to Dennis Walsh Interview

William Diehl with Kenneth John Atchity's Seven Ways to Die is The Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal Winner in Best Mystery/Thriller E-Book

The Independent Publisher Book Awards

Examiner.com Five Star Book review: Dr. Fuddle and the Gold Baton by Warren L. Woodruff

Dr. Fuddle and the Gold Baton by Warren L. Woodruff is an unique musical fantasy children's novel. The book follows the adventure of five kids getting back the Gold Baton and saving the mythical land of Orphea. Each of the kids have a unique personality and the plot features them each having strengths and weaknesses and highlights them working together to succeed.

The classical music nature of the novel may make this a boring read for some, but for those interested in music and/or learning more about music this is an interesting read. Throughout the book there are references to musical terms and in Orphea music is basically magical and can do all sorts of things. The inclusion of historical figures involved in making, playing, and supporting music also makes it a good read for those interested in music history.

While the descriptions of the music can sometimes slow the plot down too much, overall the flow of Dr. Fuddle and the Gold Baton is steady with great peaks for the final battle and ending. The main strength of the book is the unique personalities of the kids making it easy for many different people to relate to at least one of the main characters. For example, there is a scientific skeptical boy, a fashion conscious girl, a boy overcoming fears, a boy tempted by the cool kids/wrong crowd, and a mute girl.

Luxury Reading's Five Star Review of The Messiah Matrix

Review: The Messiah Matrix by Kenneth John Atchity

Reviewed by MaryLu McFall

If it weren’t for the continuing interest in the wickedness of the Catholic Church and the on-going variety of plots imagined, we would be forced to find another perpetual villain. Fortunately for those of us who enjoy a good thriller with romance thrown in, the never-ending variety of writers’ imaginations keeps giving us new ones.

The Messiah Matrix has a plot with all the ingredients to keep us turning pages. A lovely archaeologist with two assistants finds a treasure in the harbor by the ancient port of Caesarea. It is a rare gold coin. Emily Scelba is convinced the coin is authentic, but calls upon a former lover (probably never a really good idea to trust one of them) for help in proving her find authentic. In a somewhat obvious move, he disappears when the value of the coin is deemed to be priceless.

Then we have Father Ryan McKeown, S.J., the tousled brown-haired priest (a Jesuit—in a bit of rather timely choice), who is in his cassock and life of celibacy somewhat reluctantly. He is drawn into a rapidly escalating plot of murder, Vatican politics, and danger. When he meets Emily after the one man they both knew turns up dead, the road to a solution to the many problems presented becomes rocky indeed. Make no mistake about this book; it’s a well-written thriller with a deep secret which would shock the world. Although at this point in history, nothing the Vatican or the Catholic Church does shocks all that much.

This secret has been kept for hundreds of years; the Jesuits (known as the scholars, educators, and sometime rebels of the church) are hell-bent to keep the secret until such time….well, such time that it would be convenient for a power grab.

Emily and Ryan try to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. It’s hard to tell who that is and it seems to depend on the mood of the day. Ryan struggles with his crisis of faith and his attraction to Emily. She moans to herself that the sexiest man she has met in years is a man who has sworn his life to his order and to a life of celibacy. Thankfully, the author does not descend to prurient tastes and manages to escalate the sexual tension without resorting to anything other than the sins of thought and withheld desire. Although the two are trapped once (more than once) and do end up in each other’s arms exchanging a smoldering kiss. Much to their individual dismay.

The author has an impressive background as a scholar. It is obvious in the history that is part and parcel of this story. Augustus Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Roman history of the time of Jesus, and Jesus himself are brought together. But that is the part of the novel that may cause many readers to pause. The parallels between the life of Augustus and Jesus are clearly intended to shock and surprise. The Roman Emperor had himself declared a god, his birth a miracle of conception, and supposedly pulled off miracles of his own.

The introduction of historical facts is covered rather slickly by having Emily tell the skeptic Father Ryan all the “facts” in the form of stories. Emily herself went to a school taught by Jesuits, but has long since left the church. She has a great deal of historical knowledge which continues to shock Ryan. The plot proceeds at a good pace right down to the last chapters. The ending struck me as contrived, and the stretch when the secret is revealed is almost too unbelievable to consider. But that’s from one who also left the church. Those first eight grades in Parochial Catholic School leave an indelible mark.


Rating:  

MaryLu McFall is the author of A Little Karmic Murder, an eBook that is available on Kindle, Nook, and all other electronic readers. She lives, works part-time at an independent bookstore, and will soon have her Young Adult novel, The Family Lancaster, published as an eBook as well.

Check Out HOLLYWOOD HUCKSTER by David Garber It’s the Hollywood celebrity tell-all that picks up where all the other tell-all’s end!

David Garber's outrageous tell-all “HOLLYWOOD HUCKSTER” is the true story of the television and film industry from the mid ‘70s through the mid ‘80s. The pot-smoking, acid-dropping, counter-culture students of the turbulent ’60s were bringing their skewed comedy, irreverent attitudes and anti-establishment views to America via Hollywood. The lunatics started running the asylum.

David names names and reveals Huckster’s Hollywood exploits ... like ...
 

• getting caught peeing on an Oscar winning Best Actress’s house; then becoming her close friend;
• persuading MGM to pull The Wizard of Oz from CBS unless the network caved to his negotiation demands;
• commandeering a t-38 fighter jet for a joy ride;
• convincing Senator Ted Kennedy to give up the rights to his brother, JFK’s, personal letters.
• outwitting Bill Cosby for the use of the Hilton yacht;
• hosting Aaron Spelling, Robert Wagner and all three Charlie’s Angels in his jail cell;
• conning the U.S. Secretary of State to pressure Warner Brothers to pick up his $5,000 bar tab;
• having a gun pulled on him by “Sanford and Son” star, Demond Wilson;
• eluding a “hit” put on him by the L.A. mob 

Tome Tender Gives Jay Atleson's Platinum Blackmail Five Stars!

Platinum Blackmail by Jay Atleson

Platinum Blackmail
by Jay Atleson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ever read a book that had you gripping your seat, clutching at your throat or screaming, "No! No! Don't do it!"????? Platinum Blackmail by Jay Atleson will have yo doing ALL of the above as you travel the twisted tale of Mark Sterling, hot shot computer software salesman and top model, yep, he's hot! Shortly after Mark is assigned to BETA-test a sentient email system code name SAM,he starts receiving strange emails and messages that become threatening, while demanding a million dollars in a blackmail attempt that could ruin him. Never short on beautiful women, when Lisa Lancaster is assigned by her national marketing firm to work with Mark and his boss Dallas Milligan to publicize and promote SAM to the buying public, Mark is mysteriously enamored of her, forgetting all others. She seems to have cast a spell over him and seems willing to help him figure how to best the blackmailer, but, whose side is she really on? What connection does Lisa really have to SAM? For such a smart guy, Mark is running blind into the unknown, at best, his ruination, at worst, his death.

Jay Atleson had me from page one! His writing is like a race car flying through the "S" turns of his twisted tale at breakneck speed! Do NOT expect to be able to put Platinum Blackmail down until you reach the very last page, gasping for breath! As soon as my heart rate slows down, I want to thank the author for the opportunity to read and review this intriguing book!

Platinum Blackmail by Jay Atleson
ASIN: B00984N5CE
Publisher: Story Merchant Books
Date of publish: September 2012
Pages: 232
S.R.P.: $2.99 (Kindle version)
Rating: 5 Stars

Education & Reference Books How to Quit Your Day Job and Live Out Your Dreams: A Guide to... by Kenneth Atchity List Price: $12.95 Price: $2.78 You Save: $10.17 (79%) The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You... by Chris Guillebeau List Price: $23.00 Price: $16.55 You Save: $6.45 (28%) See even more similar items

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DENNIS WALSH FINDS HIS IDEAL AUDIENCE

Making Dashes Correctly

If you want to be perceived of as a professional writer, one of these days (sooner, I hope, rather than later) you’ve got to learn (and teach) how to make a correct dash. There are two kinds of animals that look like dashes:

1)    The em dash (so called because it’s the length of the small letter “m” in most typefaces)…used as you use it here—to separate parts of a sentence, or as casual punctuation; and

2)    The hyphen (known to copy editors as the en dash, because it’s the width of the letter “n”). Used to separate compound words as in forty-seven, tightly-wrapped, etc.

When you confuse one with the other, you cause a nightmare for the copy editors who prepare a book for publication. Every single wrongly-made dash has to be fixed by hand.

So…here’s how to make the em dash on keyboards that don’t HAVE AN ACTUAL em dash (some few do):

          Type two hyphens together, with NO space BEFORE, BETWEEN or AFTER them—like this, not like this- - or like this – or like this – etc.

          The minute I see a manuscript where the dashes are made correctly, the minute I can concentrate on the message it contains instead of on its faulty messengering!

Anatomy of an Amazon Book Page — Deconstructed by BadRedhead Media!

You may not realize it, but each Amazon book page is a wealth of information, much of which you probably don’t even see or notice. Or if you do, perhaps you’re not sure how to interpret it all.



Amazon has always had brilliant retailer marketing. They make it as easy as possible for us to spend more money without much effort (Prime membership and 1-click ordering are just two examples).

Let’s start at the top and work our way down. It might be helpful to visualize this, so open up my book page for Broken Pieces (shameless plug), and follow along:

1)    Search bar: At the very top of every Amazon page is the search window. Duh, you probably already know this. But did you know: if you type in the name of your books(s) and/or author name, you will move up in Search? Yea, truth. So get on that. Books at the top of search tend to get more hits.

2)    Book Title: In black type is the book title, and just below that, author name. I also suggest adding your editor, graphic artist, and, if applicable, who wrote your forward. It’s nice to give people credit who work so hard for us.

3)    Top left: Book cover. This is key. Amazon’s background is white. If your cover is also white, it can fade into nothingness. My suggestion: add a splash of red if possible. Red draws the eye in. If red doesn’t work, add a splash of a bright shade, like green or purple. Even yellow works. Avoid: all grey or black without a splash of color (think Twilight – all black with a bright red apple or ribbon – despite what you think of the writing, the covers rock).

Tip: Be sure to activate the Look Inside feature (You should find the Look Inside feature enabled one week after your book is made available to readers for purchase. If you have a print book enrolled in the Look Inside the Book program, both print and Kindle versions will be available for online previewing). This not only provides a free sample for readers (either to read right then or download to their Kindle), but it also helps your Search rankings.

4)    Review count, Stars: Here’s where you see the yellow stars (draws the eye in, remember?), and if you hover over the stars, you’ll see an average rating. Also the total number of reviews. From a metadata perspective, the overall number of reviews is most important – few people will click on each star and read every single review. This is why getting 1 to 2-star reviews is not that big of a deal because it actually helps your overall review count (even though, yes, it brings down your average ranking).

5)    Price: Price is listed below and to the right. On bright orange buttons (again, bright color).

6)    Book Description: This is where you write your book description. I recommend keeping it short and sweet – a few blurbs, a few bullets as to the content, and a call to action (purchase this book today and see why … etc.). Only a few lines show without the customer pressing ‘see more,’ so make what they see incredibly interesting! Most importantly, include the same keywords you entered into your KDP (where it says ‘keywords or key phrases’). Again this ties to search.

7)    Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought: This is called the ‘recommendation queue’ and tells you what customers like. This is helpful as a reader so we can take a risk on other books that seem to be like the one we just bought. No guarantees of course (except that you can always return the book for a refund). Tip: If you copromote with other authors, you will commonly pop up in the same rec queue.

8)    Editorial Reviews: If your book has been reviewed by a reviewer from an editorial publication (Kirkus, San Francisco Book Review, etc.), this is where you put these reviews.

9)    Product Details: Key info like date of publication, page count, etc. is listed here. What’s most important is your Amazon Best Sellers Rank. This is where your book is ranked at that particular moment in time. This is updated hourly. Below is a snapshot in time of where Broken Pieces is at the moment I’m writing this. Given that there are millions of books on Amazon, I’m okay with this. I can also tell if the categories (see below) I’m using are the same lists I’m ranked on.

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,827 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

• #8 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Women’s Studies
• #38 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Gender Studies
• #47 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Women’s Studies

10) Customer Reviews: this is the breakdown of reviews. If you as a reader have traveled this far down the page, most likely you want to know more, right? They also pull out quotes from reviews, because most of us simply scan a page rather than read the whole review.

11) Most Helpful Customer Reviews: While you can’t influence how people feel about your book, you CAN affect this particular area of the page. How? Simply click YES on what you feel are the most helpful, and NO on the ones you feel are not. Ask others to do the same. (Some people call this ‘gaming;’ however, according to Amazon’s own guidelines, they encourage people to do this. The point is to be ‘helpful.’ Take that as you will.) If this bothers your sensibilities, don’t do it. In conversations with Amazon directly, they encourage this practice.

12)  Most Recent Customer Reviews: On the far right is a sidebar that contains the most recent six or seven reviews. The will automatically update as more reviews come in.


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