I am officially writing my lack of success in getting published off as a lack of luck...
So, starting today, my career takes off in a different direction. So far my two novels have both been young adult. Well, today I'm writing what I want to write, and I have a unique thought about how to get the next one published.
A few weeks ago, Levi Luck was born. Levi is the protagonist in my next novel, which has barely begun to get underway. Levi's a rock star, albeit a reluctant one (at least at first), and boy does Levi have some surprises in store for you.
Born Levin Gluck, a transformation at the hands of a wannabe producer makes his first album No Such Luck a hit. But stardom always comes at a price, and Levi struggles to see the good in the world through the sparkling glam of the record industry. Disillusioned by a year on the road, Levi decides to spice it up a bit for his big performance as a headliner at historic Madison Square Garden.
Now, I typically do some character building exercises before getting going, like finding a picture online of what I want the character to look like and writing some background stuff I won't actually use in the novel. This time, I decided to take it to the social media level.
I have created a Facebook for Levi, and filling out all the information necessary has certainly helped me get to know my new character. He also has a Twitter. Now, not only did I have to sketch him out in full to create his accounts on both, but I can practice being him--sounds schizophrenic I know--with his Tweets and Facebook commentary. He will also reveal some of his character quirks and maybe some smaller plot points or tips about the plot in doing so.
Having set this up, it then occurred to me that this could be a sales tool. When querying, why not give agents the Facebook and Twitter accounts for them to check out. Also, if some lucky publisher should decide to publish No Such Luck, readers of the book could actually friend, follow, and interact with the character online through social media. How cool is that?
Well, I'm off to do some more pre-writing for the novel. I'll keep y'all updated, and hopefully by the end of summer 2012, Levi's journey will be complete. It'll just take a little perseverance. Oh, and a little bit of Luck!
Follow Levi on Twitter @LeviLuck or friend him on Facebook!
