Power Elements Of Character Development On Sale

This week Power Elements Of Character Development, the second ebook in my Power Elements Of Fiction series, is benefiting from Amazon’s Kindle Countdown Deal, a unique promotional program. Or perhaps I should say, writers who wish instruction about character development will benefit.

The way this program works, Power Elements Of Character Development is on sale today only for $.99. Yep, that’s less than a dollar. There aren’t many things we can buy these days for less than a dollar, even at a 99 Cent Store, so this is a real bargain.

Tomorrow the deal isn’t quite as sweet, but will still be a great buy—the book will be on sale for $1.99. That’s a fifty percent discount, so obviously, it’s still a nice deal.

Thursday the price increases another twenty-five percent—to $2.99. But yes, that means those who buy will still enjoy a twenty-five percent saving.

Finally, on Friday the price will revert to its regular $3.99 rate, which, as books go, still provides a significant amount of important instruction for a modest sum.

Lastly, I’d appreciate any reviews from those who have read or who will read Power Elements Of Character Development. When readers talk about the book, it helps those trying to make a decision know if this book is for them or not.

In that regard, here’s one of my favorite lines in a review: “This was such a refreshing change from the ‘build-a-character’ books that suggest a type-casting approach.”

Oh, yes! The last thing I want to teach is building characters using a type-casting approach!

For those of you who have already bought the book, perhaps you’d consider sharing with others this week’s special pricing so other writers who would like to create the best characters possible can benefit. Thanks in advance for helping to get the word out.

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We Have A Winner

I’m happy to announce that we have a winner of the first ever Power Elements jingle contest. We had some great entries. Thank you to each one of you who entered. You made this contest really, really fun.

Here are the Honorable Mentions:

When heroes wear black
And villains wear white
Complex characters make
Your story ignite
Power Elements of Character Development

By Lisa Godfrees

Write it
Shape it
Then watch it grow
Plot and person
Become the show.
Power Elements of Character Development

By Heather Randall

When heroes struggle
To complete a plan
Readers, invested,
Cheer: You can!
Power Elements of Character Development

By Delores Liesner

And the Runners Up:

Things almost all
Main characters share:
A want, a need,
And a way to get there!
Power Elements of Character Development

By Kathleen Brown

Nice round characters—
Are we need!
Flat ones make for
A boring read!!!!!
Power Elements of Character Development

By Kathleen Brown

Now our top three spots:

In Third Place

Inner conflict
Is a must
Or, like a pie,
Your book’s all crust!
Power Elements of Character Development

By Kathleen Brown

In Second Place

Heroes real
And characters deep
Make a book
They’ll want to keep
Power Elements of Character Development

By Joshua Deem

And our winner in First Place!

A character
without an arc
is like a race car
stuck in PARK.
Power Elements of Character Development

By Kathleen Brown

By the way, I’ll be contacting the winners of the top three places about their prize.

Also, if anyone wants to post the picture of the winning entry, please feel free to copy it or contact me and I’ll send you the jpeg. Thanks again for all the fun and your help in promoting this book.

Contest Time

For the most part, my writing tips deal with fiction, though some principles are true to writing of any genre. I’m departing from the norm today and introducing a contest—a poetry contest, of sorts.

As part of my promotion for the new Power Elements Of Fiction volume, Power Elements Of Character Development, I’ve decided to use the old ad idea put out by a shaving cream company called Burma-Shave. Their ads are actually a bit of Americana, some preserved in the Smithsonian Institute, sort of like Norman Rockwell paintings, only in poetry.

The ads first appeared on small signs along the highway in Minnesota back in 1925 and continued until 1963. The son of the owner of a mom-pop kind of company producing, among other things, shaving cream that could be applied without a brush, came up with the idea. He spent $200 to put up signs that first year. Sales shot up, so the next year, his dad authorized more signs, and the ad campaign expanded. Eventually Burma-Shave signs cropped up in 44 of the lower 48 states, all positioned along the highway, so that roadtrippers could read them.

The ads were actually jingles—short lines of poetry, often with a twist at the end, and often with a bit of humor, though not always—toward the later years, they often gave driving safety tips.

They consisted of four or five lines, usually no more than four syllables in length, with either the second or the third line rhyming with the fifth, and were followed by their famous Burma-Shave signature. Here are some samples:

She eyed
His beard
And said no dice
The wedding’s off–
I’ll cook the rice
Burma-Shave

A beard
That’s rough
And overgrown
is better than
A chaperone
Burma-Shave

Relief
For faces
Chapped and sore
Keeps ’em comin’
Back for more
Burma-Shave

We’re widely read
And often quoted
But it’s shaves
Not signs
For which we’re noted
Burma-Shave

The bearded lady
Tried a jar
She’s now
A famous movie star
Burma-Shave

Shaving brushes
You’ll soon see ’em
On a shelf
In some museum
Burma-Shave

(Ironically, the last one is among those preserved in the Smithsonian. To read more jingles go the the Burma Shave site)

My idea is to use the Burma-Shave ad concept to help promote Power Elements Of Character Development. So I sat down to write some jingles. Except, what I have to admit is, I’m not very good at it.

Consequently I thought, there have to be writers out there better than I am. What if I hold a contest, offering a copy of the book as a prize for the winner? So that’s what this post is all about.

For any and all who would like to try their hand at writing Burma-Shave type jingles about Power Elements Of Character Development, put your efforts in the comments section below. Moderation is on, so I alone will receive your entries.

I’m contemplating a second, third, fourth, and fifth place prize, but I’ll let you know about that once the entries start coming in. I don’t know if there will be five or fifty and I don’t know how many will be ones I can use for the promotion.

But let me show you mine so you can see, you don’t have to do much to make yours better than mine. *Sad truth!

If heroes
Struggle toward
Their goal
Readers won’t
Get bored.
Power Elements Of Character Development

If heroes
Make a plan
Readers won’t
Put their book
Under a ban.
Power Elements Of Character Development

I know this may seem hard to do if you haven’t read the book, but you can see the table of contents by using Amazon’s look inside feature to get some ideas that will reflect the content of the book.

I’m looking forward to whatever you submit. This should be fun. I’ll just add that by submitting, you’re giving me permission to use your entry as part of the promotion for Power Elements Of Character Development.