Kickstarter

Eye of newt and toe of frog. . .

Have you been looking for the right ingredients to bring your fantasy world to life? Are you on a quest for the magic elixir that can lead you to your place on the bookshelf? Then An Author's Grimoire is for you. A grimoire is a textbook for sorcerors, full of the information they need to make magic.

An Author's Grimoire will be a how-to book for fantasy writers: a nitty gritty guide to telling the story of your heart, and what to do with it once you've written it.
This book will include discussions of elements of fiction like pacing, characters and point of view, but with the fantasy writer in mind. Culture-creation, fantasy creatures, uses of magic, and more!

But this book goes beyond the basics. It will explore areas of special interest to take your fantasy into deeper realms like creating resonance, contemplating the role of sacrifice, and the place of sexuality in fiction. Whether your protagonist is a dragon, a wizard, or a butt-kicking demon hunter, this book will give you concrete advice and solid tools for creating a rich, well-rounded fantasy.

An Author's Grimoire will conclude with practical information about how to build your career as a fantasy author, including the painful experiences you'd like to avoid! How can you find an agent? Do you even need one? What should you look for in a contract? How do you promote your work? 

Featuring an annotated version of my popular talk, "Ten Mistakes I Made in my Writing Career so that you Don't Have to." 

My writing mentor, Jeanne Cavelos, director of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, has generously agreed to write a foreword for this book!

An Author's Grimoire will be at least 75,000 words long, building on the articles I wrote during three years as the author of the Lady Blade column at AlienSkin Magazine as well as in the Writer magazine and on blogs like Novelists, Inc. It will incorporate talks that I've given at conventions and writer's workshops. New material will be written to cover a variety of topic areas. The book will guide you from issues of craft and style, to questions of traditional and e-publishing, submissions, and what to expect after a sale.

This project will support:

Editing and revision of the existing articles which will form the backbone of the book.

Writing new articles to give a thorough grounding in important areas of writing and having a career in fantasy.

Professional cover and layout for this writer's manual. Production of the manual in a variety of e-formats.

Let's ramp up!

If the project brings in $8500, An Author's Grimoire will be produced as a bound paperback book, with all backers over the $50 level receiving an autographed copy.


Why I am the right person to write this book:
Library Journal said of my first novel, that it  "portrays a richly detailed world filled with memorable characters."

I have written 15 novels, with three published so far and five more under contract. I've sold short stories, poems and articles, won and lost publishers and agents—and won them again! I am a no-nonsense author of traditional and historical fantasy. I strive to deeply consider my approach to writing and to teaching, and this book will give me the chance to reach a wider audience and hopefully to help more new writers find their way in the world of fantasy.

Jeanne Cavelos says,
" As the director of the Odyssey Writing Workshops Charitable Trust, I have hired Elaine both as an editor, to edit manuscripts of clients of the Odyssey Critique Service, and as a guest lecturer, to teach at the Odyssey Writing Workshop. . . . She explained complex concepts in a clear and compelling manner. She interacted well with students, answering their questions, offering them detailed, helpful feedback on their work, and treating them with care and respect. I highly recommend her as a teacher or speaker. She's also a wonderful editor. She provides thorough, in-depth feedback to clients of the Odyssey Critique Service. . . to help authors understand how to strengthen their work."

Here's my official freelance bio:
Nationally known speaker and workshop leader, Elaine Isaak is the author of The Singer's Crown (Eos, 2005), and sequels The Eunuch's Heir (Eos, 2006), and The Bastard Queen (Swimming Kangaroo, 2010). Her short fiction has recently appeared in Live Free or Undead and Escape Clauses, and you do *not* want to be her hero. 

She has written how-to articles for the Writer Magazine, and authored the Lady Blade fantasy writing column at AlienSkin magazine for three years. Her speaking engagements have included The World Science Fiction Convention, World Fantasy Convention, local chapters of Romance Writers of America, Arisia, Boskone, Balticon, Bay Area Writers League, Maryland Writers Association, and the Odyssey Writing Workshop.

You'll find out more about me at www.ElaineIsaak.com or at Linkedin, Twitter, or Facebook