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    Writing the Past: The Eagles and Dragons Publishing Guide to Researching, Writing, Publishing and Marketing Historical Fiction and Historical Fantasy
    Writing the Past: The Eagles and Dragons Publishing Guide to Researching, Writing, Publishing and Marketing Historical Fiction and Historical Fantasy
    Writing the Past: The Eagles and Dragons Publishing Guide to Researching, Writing, Publishing and Marketing Historical Fiction and Historical Fantasy
    Ebook186 pages2 hours

    Writing the Past: The Eagles and Dragons Publishing Guide to Researching, Writing, Publishing and Marketing Historical Fiction and Historical Fantasy

    By Adam Alexander Haviaras

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    About this ebook

    Eagles and Dragons Publishing Guides – Helping Authors bring the Past to Life


    Have you ever wanted to write a historical novel, but don’t know where to start?


    Have you already written a book, but aren’t sure how to get it out into the world?


    Does modern book publishing and marketing overwhelm you?


    If any of these questions or other challenges are holding you back, then The Eagles and Dragons Publishing Guide to Researching, Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Historical Fiction and Historical Fantasy can help to jumpstart your author career.


    *Please Note: This is not a writing craft book. In addition to helpful publishing and marketing options, this guide contains a series of tips writers can consider when researching and writing an historical novel.


    In this short, easy-to-understand guide, #1 bestselling author and historian, Adam Alexander Haviaras, shares proven, actionable tips and tricks that will help you to learn the following:


    - Historical research methodologies that anyone can use, no matter their level of education, to gather important background information for a novel.


    - Essential writing tips that will help you to write and complete a convincing historical novel that readers will love.


    - Publishing options and crucial steps for the historical novelist to succeed in the modern world.


    - Proven book marketing strategies that will ensure your historical epic gets to readers and turns them into fans.


    This guide also includes two bonus sections on important mindset tips for authors so that they can succeed without burning out, and a proven historical novel book launch strategy blueprint that will help get you to #1.


    Whether you are someone with an idea for a first novel, or a veteran author in need of reinforcements, everyone is guaranteed to get at least one tip or strategy from this book that will move their author career forward to victory.


    It is the best time to be an author. Start your journey today!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEagles and Dragons Publishing
    Release dateOct 28, 2019
    ISBN9781988309347
    Writing the Past: The Eagles and Dragons Publishing Guide to Researching, Writing, Publishing and Marketing Historical Fiction and Historical Fantasy

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      Book preview

      Writing the Past - Adam Alexander Haviaras

      1

      Be Passionate

      When deciding upon a particular period or historical subject to base your book around, pick something that you are passionate about. The history behind your novel and the characters therein are crucial to connecting with your readers.

      Don’t look at the market to decide what to write about. Rather, pick a period of history that you truly love and are willing to immerse yourself in for a long time, and your passion for it will draw readers in like a statue at the heart of a temple.

      2

      Academic Study

      This book is not geared toward academics or people with academic training. However, the work done by academics in your particular field will be useful in the research you do, for they have laid the groundwork for knowledge.

      That said, today, most of the information you need will likely be available online. You do not need to pay for university to write historical novels, unless you want to also be an academic yourself.

      You want to be an author, right? So, where do you go for the information you need to bring your historical novel to life?

      3

      Starting Point

      If you are an author who generally knows that you would like to write a historical novel but are not sure of the setting or period of your novel, then you need to decide at the outset on your specific period of history.

      This may seem odd to some, but I have been asked before by authors who want to write a book what period they should write about. Perhaps this is because they love history in general and the thought of writing in any period is appealing? Perhaps they want to write about what is popular at the moment in order to achieve commercial success?

      Whatever the reason, it comes down to passion again. Which period of history are you most passionate about? This is important because you are going to be eating, breathing and sleeping this period of history, especially if you are planning on writing a series of books.

      Do you want to set your novel in twelfth century Medieval Europe during the Crusades, or do you want your story to take place in the world of ancient Rome during the reign of Emperor Tiberius? Perhaps you have a story in mind that is set in feudal Japan and the age of the Samurai?

      If you can narrow it down to a specific event, or set of events, then that is even better, as history will be the timeline for your novel and the characters within.

      Think about which period, cultural group and historical events you want your novel to revolve around or be modelled on, and then go from there.

      4

      Time to Read!

      Once you have decided on a historical setting and subject matter for your novel, it is time to start reading.

      Find all the books you can on your period and historical events, aspects of life in that age etc., and start reading as much as you can. Immerse yourself in that world, and get to know the people and their ways until that world becomes so familiar to you that it is second nature.

      This will make the actual writing easier because when you think of the history in your story, you will see and smell the land, the objects, the food - everything. If you can do this, then your writing will go much more smoothly and you can focus on your story because you won’t be stopping all the time to look something up.

      Depending on your personal style, you can either take copious amounts of notes, or just fill your head.

      Read as much as you can and absorb everything that is useful.

      5

      Time to Watch!

      In addition to reading, a superb way to get stuck into the world of your chosen period of history is to watch movies, television series, or documentaries and docudramas about it. If books teach you a lot, and pictures are worth a thousand words, then films and videos are worth a million.

      Of course, not every period of history is represented in film, but if it is, even a little bit, then it is worth checking out. Even such things as seeing a medieval village setting in film can give you ideas for your novel, even though it may not be the exact period for your own book.

      Something else to keep in mind when it comes to film…

      You will hear a lot of people, especially academics, criticize historical films for their inaccuracy. My advice for this is to ignore them. It is true that many films may not be historically accurate in their mode of dress or weapons etc., but we need to remember as storytellers that film is a very different medium and not every detail can be incorporated into two hours. The filmmakers are trying to tell a story, and that must come first. Watch them, learn from them, and then fill in the gaps and inaccuracies with all that you have learned from your extensive reading.

      Historical films are a good thing because they generate interest in a particular historical period, and in history in general. For example, when Gladiator came out, it was criticized by historians for its inaccuracies. Someone even told me that ‘Romans didn’t fight like that!’ when referring to the opening scene. That may be true, but Gladiator was a brilliant film with an excellent story, and Classics enrolment in universities around the world shot through the roof following the film’s release because people were interested. That’s a good thing!

      Watch as much as you can, as the images will fill your head and you will get ideas for your novel.

      6

      Where else to go for Information

      The big box and online bookstores are not the only places where you can go to get reading materials while doing research for your novel. Unlike the great library of Alexandria, which attempted to gather all sources in one place, the opportunities for us to find things are myriad, and some of them may surprise you.

      In the next few chapters, we will go over some other sources of information that will give your novel an edge over others.

      It is time to think outside the box!

      7

      Primary Sources

      Primary sources are one of the most important and crucial elements of your research. They are sources from the period itself, from the mouths of the people of the past. For example, if you are writing about the Roman conquest of Gaul, then you would be remiss if you did not read and make use of the details in Julius Caesar’s firsthand account of the campaign. Or if you are writing about the Tudors, you should certainly check out the letters between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, for instance, to get inside their heads.

      Of course, not everything from the past has survived, but if you are fortunate enough to be writing about a period for which there are primary sources available, then you should definitely use them.

      One thing to bear in mind is that even primary sources may not accurately portray historical events. Ancient and medieval writers, for example, were prone to exaggeration when it came to troop or casualty numbers in their accounts. Also, it must be remembered that history was, more often than not, written by the victors in a confrontation. I’m sure that Vercingetorix, if he had had the opportunity to write his memoirs in his prison in Rome, would have had a much different account from Caesar’s of the Roman conquest of his homeland.

      If you are worried about not being able to read these texts, don’t be. Most primary sources have been translated from their original language into English and are available for an affordable price in such series as Penguin Classics and others.

      The bottom line is, use any primary sources from your chosen period, for they will give you crucial insight into that world and the people in it.

      Tip: Excellent translations of various sources are available online for free on sites such as:

      www.perseus.tufts.edu

      www.theoi.com

      www.gutenberg.org

      www.loebclassics.com (fee based)

      8

      Antiquarian Books

      Sometimes, you need to go old school for resources, and early historians or ‘antiquarians’ can be a marvellous source of information.

      It is important to note that not all primary and secondary (written in the modern era) source materials have been digitized. This does not mean they are not important or useful. There are myriad sources from thousands of years of human history, and digitization projects have only really begun in earnest in the last two decades.

      If you are a bookwork, then you will relish the task of going in search

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