Your Writing and Publishing Questions Answered - Originality, Book Covers, Comics, & more

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HelloOoOo everybody!

A while back I posted a Writer Q&A video and now we're doing another one. I asked my newsletter subscribers to send me any and all questions about writing, marketing, publishing, or my personal projects, and now I'm answering as many of them as I can. If you want your questions answered in a future video, subscribe to my newsletter. It's linked right here.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to also subscribe to my YouTube channel for more writing tips, sarcasm, and of course, more of Princess Butters!

Maxine asks,

“I have had ideas for stories that I've gotten really excited about, only to find something very similar already exists. I know there are no original stories and that similarities are inevitable, but what can I do to make my story more unique?”

Typically, when you break a story down to its bare bones, it's going to sound very unoriginal. You could do this with any book or movie, and it's always going to happen.

“A young girl is possessed by a demon and her parental figure tries to save her.”

That is the premise of The Exorcist, one of the most popular horror novels of all time. It's also the premise of hundreds of other horror novels, TV shows, and movies. What separates these stories are the details outside of the main premise. The characters, the setting, the dialogue, the themes, and of course, the author's voice. That's how you make your story original.

Say you're writing a young adult vampire book, but you don't want it to read like Twilight or similar novels. Don’t rely on the same cliche that those books rely on. Sure, your book follows a teen vampire, but maybe they live in a city instead of a rural town. Maybe the vampire is a villain rather than a love interest. Maybe there isn't a love triangle with two equally awful options to choose from. Maybe the leading lady actually has agency.

This sounds less like advice and more like a rant about Twilight. Either way, originality comes from the details, the characters, the subplots. All that good shit. Avoid clichés within the genre, develop your own distinctive voice and point of view, and you should be good to go.

VicVicious asks,

“What are your nitpicks in movie adaptations compared to the books? Which ones do you like?”

I'm not that nitpicky about movie adaptations of books. Movies and books are two completely different storytelling mediums. Most of the time, movies stray away from the book’s source material, and while I don't always agree with these decisions, I believe that movies should rarely be identical to the book they're based on. Changes need to be made for the novel to be translated onto the big screen.

Movies are usually shorter than novels. They rely on visuals rather than imagination. That said, I mostly get annoyed when movies whitewash or straightwash their characters. If the characters are Black in the book, it shouldn't be hard to find Black actors. And how can you possibly make a movie about the Trojan War and make Achilles straight?

I will say my most controversial opinion about movie adaptations is that the Harry Potter movies were absolute garbage. They were so boring, the acting was abysmal, and I was honestly shocked that people loved them because I really thought they were going to get panned.

Anywho, my favorite “book” to movie adaptation is obviously the original Clash of the Titans. Not the remake, because that one was offensive. What I liked about the original Clash of the Titans is they did a good job of staying true to the source material, while still making appropriate tweaks that were necessary for the story to translate well for a modern audience. There are some elements in the original myth that are really messed up and would ultimately make the heroism feel shitty, and not heroic at all. I think this movie is a great example of staying true to the source material, while still making changes that are necessary for the new storytelling format, as well as a new modern audience. Well, modern for the time. It was the 80s, after all.

Emi asks,

"I have a Savior’s Series theory for you: What would happen if a savior gave birth to twins?”

In the hundreds of years that the savior's lineage has existed, no savior has ever given birth to twins. No savior has ever had more than one biological child. Period. And every child has always been biologically female. So based on this knowledge, they believe that every savior is only capable of having one female child.

The savior has a magical uterus. It doesn't really work the way a normal human reproductive system works. You'll learn more about that in The Savior's Army. So if the savior were to randomly have kids, the people would either freak the fuck out or declare it a miracle from their god. As the savior lineage grows, the magic passed down from each savior strengthens. So they would probably see twins as evidence of their growing magic.

Ruby asks,

“Would you say there's a big difference between comics or graphic novels and regular novels when it comes to publishing and marketing?”

The comic world is not at all my area of expertise, so I did a little digging to answer this question. Creating a graphic novel takes a lot longer than creating a regular novel. It's also a lot more expensive because you're not just typing up a story, you're producing art. You can self-publish comics through platforms like Comixology or Webtoon. You can also print physical comics. However, I don't know if there are any distribution systems available like there are for self-publishing regular novels. Platforms like Draft2Digital and IngramSpark will print and distribute your novel to retailers. I think platforms like BookBaby can do this for comics, but I'm not 100% sure.

To my knowledge, going traditional with a comic is very similar to going traditional with a novel. You have to query agents and show proof of your work. But it's also common for publishers to hire cartoonists to illustrate stories they've already concocted, rather than seeking out new talent to just create the whole damn thing. Again, this is not my area of expertise. I got this information through speaking with other writers as well as doing research online. So take this with a grain of salt.

Angie asked,

"How do you choose the design for your book cover?”

Your book cover design is largely going to depend on two things: your genre and the current cover trends within that genre. Your cover is a marketing tool. It's the very first thing readers are going to see when they see your book. So you want it to scream: “This is what my book’s about!”

That means you need to pinpoint your exact genre. I mean, get as niche as you can get it, and then research cover trends within that category. It's not enough to research mystery novels. If you're writing a cozy romantic mystery, you need to look up that specific niche, because mystery covers and cozy romantic mystery covers are not going to look the same.

And again, you want to look at current trends. Some older styles might appeal to you, but if you gravitate toward those older styles, you run the risk of making your book look dated. Unfortunately, picking a cover design is less about what you personally like and more about what will hook your readers. I'm about to dip my toes in the romcoms space, and the cover trends going on right now in that genre really aren't my style, but I'll probably still utilize their key elements because I want the right readers to find my books. If you ignore what your audience gravitates toward, you're just going to attract the wrong readers and get a lot of negative reviews.

Angie also asked,

"What writing programs do you use?”

I use good old Microsoft Word for writing and Vellum for formatting. If you're interested in using Vellum for formatting, I highly recommend it. I have an affiliate link listed right here.

And lastly, Angie asked,

"What has your traditional publishing experience been like?”

For those who don't know, my next nonfiction writing craft book, How to Write Romantasy, is going to be traditionally published. I'm working with Ten Speed Press, which is an imprint of Penguin Random House, and so far the process has been amazing. But I'm still in the middle of it, so I can't really give you the full scope just yet. If you'd like me to create a video detailing my traditional publishing experience as well as my query experience, please let me know in the comments below. I would be happy to do so.