Turning words into stories.

Publishing. Writing. Blurbs. Covers. Fiction.

From Colin's blog . . .
Exogenous: 5 weird works that changed Exo
Exogenous: 5 weird works that changed Exo
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Ex libris: 5 books that shaped Exo
Ex libris: 5 books that shaped Exo
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Exo Extract 3: Year One
Exo Extract 3: Year One
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Exo Extract 2: Day One
Exo Extract 2: Day One
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Exo Extract 1: Day Zero
Exo Extract 1: Day Zero
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Exploring Exo – the headland of Dungeness
Exploring Exo – the headland of Dungeness

Discover Dungeness, the real-life inspiration for my novel Exo.

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Extra! Extra! Announcing Exo – a novel of murder and the end of the world
Extra! Extra! Announcing Exo – a novel of murder and the end of the world

After writing the words on the outsides of several thousand books, I’ve decided to take a shot at the insides of one.

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8. The Irresistible End
8. The Irresistible End

‘But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.’ – The House At Pooh Corner, A.A. Milne

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Discover my novel EXO
a story of murder,
multi-dimensions
and the end of the world

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Blurbs in the wild: Space is big, dangerous and secondhand, according to the first lines of @gollancz blurb for Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds. We have aliens. We have genocide. And we have a scientist who'll take big risks to find answers. In
Blurbs in the wild: Pile on the intrigue. The blurb for @georgerrmartin and @harpervoyager_uk A Game of Thrones gives you the world in a four-line headline and then introduces us to Lord Stark and his problems. His problems, in fact, make up the enti
Blurbs in the wild: We read fantasy to be enchanted. And cosy fantasy seeks to put the magic in the mundane. For @travis_baldree and @torbooksuk Bookshops and Bonedust we're pitched the mundane in paragraph one: a wounded soldier in a sleepy town. Th
Immerse your reader. For @particularbooks and @sydney_padua The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, the pitch recreates the joy and fun of the pages within, emphasising both the informative nature of the project and sheer exuberant entertai
What you're reading isn't always what you're reading. The blurb for @solarisbooks and @aliyawhiteley @clarkeaward shortlisted and brilliant Skyward Inn works to undermine itself. The set up of the first paragraph is questioned by the second. The plot
What? How? Why? @vintagebooks and Ed Yong's An Immense World's blurb uses a classic three-part pitch over two paragraphs: What is it? How does it work? Why you should read it? Or: Here's a strange other world. The book explores it with you. Your hori
Blurbs in the wild: Humanising history. In @hutchheinemann and @robertharrishome Precipice, the blurb neatly divides the story into two parts. The first concerns the love affair at the story's heart. The second is about the political consequences. Lo
Blurbs in the wild: Stephen Fry concludes his Greek tetralogy with @michaeljbooks Odyssey which we pitched as 'Can a hero find his way home?' On the back, however, we wanted to broaden the story. The first paragraph is all about the set up and our he
Attention, all Canadian lovers of science fiction! From today until Friday, at @indigo you can purchase a selection of this year's most anticipated SF novels by some of the very best names in the writing game, such as @clairenorth_author @piercebrown
Blurbs in the wild: No one's writing has done more in recent years to convince us to take the love story seriously than @sallyrooneyofficial For @faberbooks blurb for Intermezzo, we are offered the lives and loves of two brothers. Here, it argues, is
Blurbs in the wild: Pitching a story in three simple parts. In three clear sentences, the blurb for @realrachelkushner and @vintagebooks Creation Lake gives us our devil-may-care protagonist, her dangerous mission and why matters won't go to plan. Ot
Planes, ships and automobiles on a junkyard planet. https://www.gadcollection.com/en/g/photographers/cassio-vasconcellos-en/over-en/